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It took nearly 40 years of waiting and it was well worth it. Sachin Tendulkar chose one of the better bowling attacks doing the rounds, to eclipse the record for the highest score, before bringing up the first double-hundred in ODI history. The spectators at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium became the envy of cricket fans as they witnessed one of the country’s favourite sporting heroes play a breathtaking innings which not only set up a 153-run annihilation but also the series victory. He may have been run-out cheaply in the previous match, but nothing could deny him today – be it bowlers, fielders, mix-ups or cramps.Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni stood by and admired as the master unfurled all the shots in his repertoire.

At 36, Tendulkar hasn’t shown signs of ageing, and his sparkling touch in both forms of the game has ruled out all possibilities of him checking out anytime soon. Fatigue, cramps and paucity of time have stood in the way of batsmen going that extra mile to get to the 200-mark. Tendulkar did cramp up after crossing 150, but he didn’t opt for a runner. His experience of 20 years at the international level came into play in this historic innings, staying at the crease from the first ball to the last, never once losing focus. There were no chances offered, no dropped catches, making his innings absolutely flawless.

A swirl of emotions must have run through his mind as he approached one record after another but he ensured he was never lost in the moment. His running between the wickets remained just as swift as it had been at the start of the innings. The humidity in Gwalior was bound to test him but he stood above it all and played like he owned the game, toying with the bowling with a mix of nonchalance and brute power.

In the 46th over, with a flick for two past short fine-leg, Tendulkar broke the record for the highest ODI score, going past the 194 made by Zimbabwe’s Charles Coventry and Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar, and to say that he acknowledged his feat modestly would be an understatement. His muted celebration on going past 194, true to style, made his innings all the more endearing. He didn’t raise his bat, merely shook hands with Mark Boucher and simply carried on batting amid the din. Coming from a man who is not known to showing too much emotion with the bat in hand, it wasn’t surprising. He reserved his celebrations for the magic figure of 200, which he reached in the final over with a squirt off Charl Langeveldt past backward point. He raised his bat, took off his helmet and looked up at the skies and it was only fitting that one-day cricket’s highest run-getter reached the landmark.

Tendulkar’s innings featured strokes of the highest quality, but his true genius was exemplified by one particular shot which rendered even the best bowler in the world helpless. In the first over of the batting Powerplay – taken in the 35th over – Dale Steyn fired it in the block-hole for three deliveries outside off to keep him quiet. Tendulkar, feeling the need to improvise, walked right across his stumps and nonchalantly flicked him across the line, hopping in his crease on one leg to bisect the gap at midwicket. A helpless Steyn watched the ball speed away and merely shrugged his shoulders. There was no use searching for excuses or venting frustrations at the temerity of that shot. It was just that kind of afternoon for the bowlers.

It wasn’t all just about the cheekiness of his shots. His timing and placement were the hallmarks at the start of his innings. On a road of a pitch which offered no margin of error for the bowlers, he squeezed out full deliveries past the covers and off his pads. With no seam movement on offer, Jacques Kallis took the slips off and placed them in catching positions within the 15-yard circle, hoping to induce a mistake. But Tendulkar outplayed all of them, making room to manoeuver it past a number of green shirts. There were a minimum of two runs on offer each time the ball was placed wide of them and the quick outfield did the rest.

Once he got his eye in, the short boundaries and the flat pitch were too inviting. Virender Sehwag’s dismissal for 11, caught at third man, was just an aberration as Karthik, Pathan and Dhoni traded cricket bats for golf clubs. Driving and lofting through the line had never been this easy. Tendulkar could have driven them inside out in his sleep.

The two century stands, with Karthik and then with Dhoni, may well get lost in the scorecard but they were vital building blocks. Karthik rotated the strike well in their stand of 194, struck three clean sixes and helped himself to his career-best performance. That partnership sent out ominous signs to the South Africans that they were in for something massive. Add Dhoni’s bludgeoning hits and scoops and you had a score in excess of 400.

Tendulkar reached his fifty off 37 balls and his century off 90. Ironically, he struck his first six – over long-on – when on 111. Pathan bashed it around at the other end, clubbing full tosses and short deliveries in his 23-ball 36, as India amassed 63 runs in the batting Powerplay. The South African seamers made the mistake of trying to bowl too fast and as a result, sent down too many full tosses and full deliveries. The unplayable yorkers remained elusive and Tendulkar, who was seeing it like a beach ball, picked the gaps, made room and improvised.

He reached his 150 by making room to Parnell and chipping him over midwicket with a simple bat twirl at the point of contact. The heartbreak of Hyderabad, when his scintillating 175 all but won India the match against Australia last year, must have lingered in his mind as he approached that score again. A towering six over long-on later, he not only eclipsed Kapil Dev’s 175 but also looked set to wipe out his own record. He started clutching his thighs, indicating that cramps had set in, but even that could not stop him today.

He equalled his highest score of 186 by pulling a lollipop of a full toss off Kallis and broke his own and India’s record with a single to square leg. Fortunately, he didn’t have to do much running and played the spectator’s role for a change as Dhoni bulldozed his way to a 35-ball 68, muscling four sixes. The Dhoni bottom-hand is the strongest in the business these days and the exhausted spectators had enough energy left in their vocal chords to cheer him on as well.

The record of 200, however, was yet to be attained and the crowd were desperate for Tendulkar to get the strike. Dhoni tore into Steyn for 17 off the 49th over and retained the strike for the 50th. After hammering the first ball of the 50th for six, he shoveled a full toss to deep midwicket where Hashim Amla made a brilliant save. Tendulkar settled for a single and the crowd were on their feet as they watched him make history. It was all the more fitting for another reason because it was on this very day, back in 1988, that he and Vinod Kambli added a mammoth 664 – then a world record – in a school match.

There was to be no repeat of the 434-chase at the Wanderers, when South Africa took guard, perhaps mentally and physically shaken after the assault, and with a partisan crowd to contend with. AB de Villiers‘ attacking ton got completely lost in the chase as South Africa merely went through the motions. It was all a question of how quickly India could wrap it up.

Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Roelof van der Merwe and Jacques Kallis all got out cheaply within the first 15 overs. de Villiers motored along at more than a run-a-ball, and collected 13 fours and two sixes. South Africa had to rely on the services of nine men to muster 200 – for India one man sufficed.

Tendulkar’s knock drew parallels with Brendon McCullum’s frenetic 158 in the IPL opener in Bangalore two years ago. The match was all about individual brilliance but not a contest. While such games are good in small doses, for one-day cricket to survive on the whole, it needs more contests between bat and ball.

Sachin Tendulkar and Vangipurappu Laxman struck half centuries as India continued to torment Sri Lanka in the third and final test on Friday after Virender Sehwag fell seven runs short of a record-breaking third triple century.

Sehwag resumed on his overnight score of 284 but was caught and bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan for 293, before Tendulkar (53) and Laxman (62) helped India carve out a commanding first innings lead of 236 by tea on the third day.

Sri Lanka struck back by claiming four wickets after lunch before skipper Mahendra Dhoni (21) and Zaheer Khan (3) guided India to 629 for seven in their pursuit of a victory that would secure their spot at the top of the test rankings.
Starting the day on 443-1 in reply to Sri Lanka’s first-innings 393, India lost Sehwag in the fourth over, much to the disappointment of an expectant and packed Brabourne Stadium.

Left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara struck in his first over of the day when he had overnight batsman Rahul Dravid caught behind for 74 to briefly raise Sri Lankan hopes of a revival.
However, Laxman, who hit eight fours, and Tendulkar shared in a 71-run stand for the fourth wicket to pile on the agony before Nuwan Kulasekara broke the stand after lunch when Tendulkar played on to the stumps.

Muralitharan, playing in his last overseas test, had Laxman caught at mid-on before Rangana Herath forced a chancy Yuvraj Singh to be caught at mid off for 23.
Muralitharan then bowled Harbhajan Singh, who bottom edged a reserve sweep onto the stumps, for one before Dhoni and Zaheer guided the hosts to the break.

Sehwag, only the third batsman to score two triple centuries after Australia’s Don Bradman and West Indian Brian Lara, had shared in double century stands with opener Murali Vijay (87) and Dravid on the second day to put India in command.
India hold a 1-0 after they won the second test by an innings and 144 runs. The first test ended in a draw.

India’s powerful batting line-up has often had to compensate for errant bowling and slack fielding in the past but the tables were turned in Mohali. MS Dhoni praised his bowlers for restricting Australia to 250; he said the fielding effort was India’s best in the last one-and-a-half years; but he criticised the batsmen for a lack of partnerships which ultimately led to a 24-run defeat in the fourth ODI.

“It was a good effort by the bowlers to restrict them to a total like 250,” Dhoni said. “We got a decent start to our chase also. But subsequently, we failed as a batting unit. We should have batted the full 50 overs but that was not possible because we kept losing wickets at regular intervals.”

Dhoni defended his decision to field, saying the dew factor would have made it difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball under lights. “Dew is a big factor that always plays on your mind. From overs 15-40, generally the spinners do the job for us. That would have been taking a risk. Of course, it can backfire as well, so it’s difficult to choose. But we knew in Mohali, the wicket would not break much and ball would come nicely onto the bat with a bit of dew. I think our bowlers did a great job and 251 is something we should have scored.”

India’s chase had a terrific start with Virender Sehwag caning Mitchell Johnson for 30 runs off 14 balls. Australia began to fight back after Sehwag fell but India were on course while Sachin Tendulkar was batting. However, his dismissal for 40 – the highest score of the innings – was the beginning of the end as wickets fell frequently thereafter.

“We badly needed some partnerships going,” Dhoni said. “We got the start but we could not take advantage of that. If at least one batsman got going, it would have made things easy.”

Dhoni also said the younger batsmen like Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli would need to learn how to overhaul a difficult target. “Raina today got out to a beautiful delivery, while Jadeja was run out after a mix-up,” Dhoni said. “Batting at No. 6 or 7 is not easy, since you don’t get much opportunity to bat. You cannot pace your innings either, for you have to play according to the platform given to you. Sometimes, you have to accelerate or keep a partnership going. They are still inexperienced and I hope they learn from their mistakes.”

On the decision to send Kohli at No. 3, Dhoni said: “The best way to give someone an opportunity is to let him bat higher. At No. 6 or 7, you score 20-30 in quick time or can get out for 10-12 also. I think it’s important to give them a chance. Virat is a talented batsman, good on the field and brings in lot of energy.”

India’s defeat in Mohali prevented them from taking Australia’s No. 1 ranking in ODIs and the gap between the teams is now three points. The next match is in Hyderabad on November 5.

The two teams that ended up last in the second season of the Indian Premier League earlier this year Mumbai Indians and Knight Riders have been the first to take initiatives for Season 3 of the event.
While the Knight Riders are all set to bring in 45-year-old Englishman Richard Pybus as coach, the Mumbai Indians have settled in on former Indian allrounder Robin Singh.
The Knight Riders , who had shortlisted a host of coaches during a fortnight-long screening process last month to replace John Buchanan, will be making the announcement on Friday.
Pybus impressive CV includes coaching the Pakistan team (1999 World Cup) and South Africas domestic team Titans. The Cricket South Africas coach of 2009, had guided the Titans to their domestic Twenty20 title last year before quitting the post three months ago.
Another Englishman , Dermott Reeve, too had been shortlisted but Pybus T20 successes tilted the scales, according to a team source.
While Knight Riders have rung in critical changes, the Mumbai Indians have added new personnel while retaining the old order.
According to team sources, Robin Singh, the former Deccan Chargers coach, won the confidence of Mumbai Indians owners after a positive input from Sachin Tendulkar. Former Mumbai allrounder Meanwhile, Paras Mhambrey has been drafted in as his deputy.
With Shaun Pollock too agreeing to continue with the mentors role, the Mumbai outfits coaching staff is almost finalised. Jonty Rhodes continues as the fielding coach.

India Will Miss Explosive Batsmans Spinning Skills Too

Another subdued practice session, another day of eerie silence. Team India is still coping with the unexpected loss of Yuvraj Singh and rejigging the middle order is on top of their list of priorities. However, with the Pakistan clash looming, the absence of Yuvrajs big-hitting talents could prove easier to tide over than his recently-developed skills as a part-time slow bowler.

yuvraj singh

Kevin Pietersens pie-chucker took two hat-tricks during the second edition of the Indian Premier League on South African soil and has bowled 194 overs in 56 games in the last two years. It is in the past year, though, that his bowling skills have gone up a notch as he bagged 12 wickets at 30.91. In the past 17 ODIs, he has even bowled his full quota of 10 overs twice, both away from home, at Christchurch and at Colombo, where he finished with a three-wicket haul against New Zealand at 3.10.
In Hamilton this year, he bowled nine overs in the fourth ODI at an economy rate of 4.44, picking up one wicket. Yuvrajs loopy tweakers have enabled MS Dhoni to play one specialist spinner in Harbhajan Singh more often than not and that luxury would have come in handy on a dry surface like at the Supersport Park in Centurion , where India play two crucial league games against Pakistan and Australia.
Now, either Yusuf Pathan or Suresh Raina will have to step up, with the only other part-time option being replacement Virat Kohli, who is expected to arrive only on Friday morning.
While Dhoni finds his hands tied on this fifth-bowler dilemma, there will be discussions aplenty on how to plug the yawning gap in the middle order. Dhoni might have to step up to the plate and return to his aggressive ways, but then who will play finisher as skillfully as the skipper has in the recent past Sachin Tendulkar too might have to attempt to play steadfastly throughout. Gambhir is back as opener but with Yuvrajs match-winning presence unavailable in the latter stages, will Dravid be under more pressure to up the ante
In the context of the upcoming Pakistan game, too, Yuvrajs absence acquires relevance. He was man of the series in Indias last full series against Pakistan. Besides , during the memorable 2003 World Cup game at Centurion, in a match made memorable by Sachin Tendulkars 98, Yuvraj had scored a crucial, unbeaten 50 as India successfully chased 273. The ground will miss his presence in this reprise of that big clash.
Incidentally, the batsmen is expected to stay back in South Africa for a while and has been advised rest.

Indian crickets spoilt child has finally called it quits. Vinod Kambli , who last played an ODI in 2000 against Sri Lanka at Sharjah, and in a Test back in 1995 against New Zealand at Cuttack, has decided to end his international career .
Kambli made the announcement while launching his sports academy at Vikhroli, in the presence of coach Ramakant Achrekar and former India captain Ajit Wadekar. Kambli had invited childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar too, but the latter could not make it.
Kambli has, however, admitted that he is still available for domestic cricket. Kambli last played first-class cricket in 2004-05 . Kambli made his ODI debut in 1991 and played 104 ODIs overall, scoring 2,477 runs. He made 1,084 runs from 16 Tests, with four centuries. After an explosive start at the international level, with two double hundreds on the trot and two centuries in his first seven Tests, Kambli floundered, with the West Indian quicks exposing his weakness against the short ball in 1994.
Kambli made as many as nine comebacks, but failed to cement a place. He played his last Test even before turning 24. 

After two years, Rahul Dravid is back in Indias Oneday team. The selectors wanted him back for the Champions Trophy in South Africa, so did the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) mandarins . Even if there was a hint of opposition from the team management , by 1 pm on Sunday it was evident that Dravid would once again take guard for India in ODIs.
If BCCIs backing was one of the reasons, the non-availability of Virender Sehwag for the Sri Lanka tri-series and the Champions Trophy also paved the way for the exskippers comeback. Even if there was a whiff of a chance of Sehwag getting fit for the Champions Trophy, the selectors made it clear that they would go for the same squad for both the Sri Lanka tri-series and the Champions Trophy.
There was a grey area about Sehwags fitness for the Champions Trophy and no one was inclined to take a chance, a well-placed source pointed out, adding that the basic idea was to ensure that the team didnt go to South Africa underprepared.
It was middle-order solidity the selectors were looking for and Dravid fitted the bill perfectly. Even though Rohit Sharmas name came up for some serious consideration (courtesy Dhoni), Srikkanth & Co felt that the Mumbai batsman was woefully out of form.
Our batting looked suspect during the T20 World Cup and the West Indies series. So we thought Dravid was the right man to add some spunk to the lineup, especially on the fast and bouncy tracks of South Africa, the source said, adding there were India A trips coming up to enable Rohit to rediscover form.
But wasnt Dravids recall a retrogade step Its a matter of horses-forcourses when it comes to a tournament like the Champions Trophy and we have done precisely that, a selector said, echoing chairman Krishnamachari Srikkanths words that this is the best team we could have sent .
But one selection that raised a few eyebrows was that of Amit Mishra ahead of Pragyan Ojha. Even though he had made his ODI debut way back in 2003, the leggie is considered more of a Test bowler. However, the selection committee insisted that Mishra was brilliant in the Emerging Players tournament in Australia and that he should get his chance in ODIs. Not that they are too displeased with Ojha, but the five wise men felt that the wrist-spinners experience would come in handy.
With Zaheer (Khan) and (Virender ) Sehwag not there, were short of two genuine matchwinners. Basically, we were looking at more impact players , the selector added. Mishra, along with Harbhajan Singh, will be the two spinners while RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar fill the pacers slot.
Its understood that Munaf Patels name was also discussed, but Praveen got the nod because of his fielder.
Abhishek Nayar is the only allrounder in the squad while wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik will be considered as the third opener in case of a crisis. He did the job successfully in the West Indies and is a multi-utility cricketer, a selector added.

SQUAD:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wicketkepper ), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir , Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh (vice-capt ), Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, Abhishek Nayar.

The icon status of Indias most cher ished cricketers will soon come to an end. From 2010 onwards, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh, who enjoyed this special status the inaugural two seasons, will be like any oth er player in the Indian Premier League (IPL) In the original plan itself, icon status was only for two years. That time IPL was a new concept and we wanted to build a strong base for teams. But it is not mandatory to keep these players after the next season, IPL commis sioner Lalit Modi said here on Tuesday. They can be traded or other teams can bid for them in the fresh auctions after the 2010 season. They will not be icon players anymore, he added.
Abolishing the icons tag would mean that these players no more stand to earn 15% more than the highest-earning player from his fran chise. The fees will be at the discretion of the franchise. This was among the many decisions taken during the IPL governing council meet ing held in Mumbai on Tuesday.
It also decided to add four new venues the IPL tournament, Nagpur, Ahmedabad Dharamsala and Vishakapatnam, which will act as home venues for Mumbai Indians, Team Jaipur, Kings XI and Team Hyderabad re spectively. The franchisees can decide the num ber of matches at these venues. IPL season will be played from March 12-April 25, for which the schedule has already been charted out.
The opening match will be between Team Hyderabad and Knight Riders in Hyderabad while the total number of matches has been increased from 59 to 60, to include a third place play-off after the two semifinals. The schedule has been prepared eight months in advance to help franchisees and sponsors get ready in time for the event, Modi said.
The IPL has also brought a change in strategy (time-out ) breaks that were introduced in 2009. Instead of a seven-and-half minute break per innings (which equals to 15 minutes per game), there will now be two twoand-half minute breaks per innings (equaling to 10 minutes per game). The first break will be called by the bowling captain between the sixth and the tenth over while second by the batsman at the crease between the 11th and 15th over.The IPL has also decided to tweak the NOC rule a bit to deal with players not signing their board contracts in time and missing out on FTP commitments.

Once, an enraptured Don Bradman found Sachin Tendulkars batting style closest to his own. Now, Tendulkar himself has praised Virender Sehwag, saying the fluent, attacking Delhi opener reminded him of himself. In an interview, Tendulkar, asked if any contemporary batsmans style resembled his own, said: I would say Virender Sehwag comes closest to my style.
Tendulkar also hit back at controversial coach John Buchanan, who had said before Indias tour to Australia in 2007-08 that the batsmans footwork early on had become sluggish, making him susceptible to the short ball. It is only his opinion. If I couldnt handle short deliveries, then I wouldnt still be scoring runs. Maybe he needs to change his opinion. There must be something very wrong with all the bowlers around the world that they have allowed me to score so many runs, Tendulkar told Wisden.
In the interview, Tendulkar also reveals that he was not satisfied with his batting accomplishments and wanted to score 15,000 Test runs, apart from seeing India lift the 2011 World Cup. I am not pleased yet with what I have done, Tendulkar said. Sunil Gavaskar has told me that I have to get to 15,000 runs. He said he would be angry with me and would come and catch me if I didnt . I admire him so much and to score that many would be a terrific achievement, but that is not the only aim. The other one is to win the World Cup in 2011 .
He also dismissed speculation that Test cricket had lost its sheen. There is no way Test cricket is dying. T20 is the dessert. Who wants to eat only desserts
He also said money should not be the prime motivation. I started playing cricket at six with a tennis ball not because I wanted to be a millionaire but because I loved cricket. I worry about runs, not contracts.