India Ready for the Mubai test and to maintain the 1st place in the test ranking

Indian winning skipper M S Dhoni says that the players will go all out for the series win against Sri Lanka in the 3rd Test. A win against Sri Lanka in Mumbai will do the ruse and it all sets up perfectly with the Brabourne playing hosts. It's a rare prospect for India to hold onto the No 1 position in Mumbai.

After winning the first Test they jumped to the number 1 mark in Test rankings and will become the clear No 1 with 124 points. South Africa will be in the second spot and Australia will overtake Sri Lanka to the 3rd spot.

A draw will also guarantee the top spot separated only by a minor difference from South Africa.

However, if India loses to Sri Lanka in the 3rd and final Test it will be back to square one and India will slip back to the 3rd position with 119 points behind South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, all eyes will be on Sreesanth following his planetary performance in the Kanpur Test but there was a minor injury scare while the Indian team was practicing in Mumbai ahead of the final Test. Sreesanth injured his little finger of his right hand and was immediately attended to and MS Dhoni has made clear that Sreesanth will be available for the final test in Mubai.

In the meantime, his successful comeback has inspired his Kings XI teammate Irfan Pathan who is also eyeing a comeback to the national fold.

Expectations on Murali

Sri Lanka are backing Muttiah Muralitharan to return to form in the third and final test against India starting on Wednesday, the master spinner's last overseas test.

The world record holder for test and one-day international wickets will retire from the Test cricket next year but the Sri Lankans are hoping he can help them record their first test win on Indian soil to square the series 1-1.

The 37-year-old had a rough time in the first two matches, picking up five wickets at a cost of 396 runs on unhelpful pitches.

"Murali is still the lead of our attack and we back him 100 percent to turn it around and win the match for us," Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara told reporters on Tuesday.

"He's still our best spinner and he still might be the best spinner in the world. When you have that quality in the side you have to back that quality, that ability."

Leg-spinner Ajantha Mendis will miss out as Sri Lanka opt for a more balanced attack after playing three specialist spinners in the second-test defeat in Kanpur.

Indian, SL players spend time with Deprived children

It crooked out to be a memorable evening for needy children from ‘Make A Wish Foundation’ as they got to spend few fun moments with members of the Indian and Sri Lankan team on Monday.

The juncture was a fun fair at the G D Somani School in south Mumbai here organized by the Yuvraj Singh Foundation.

Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, left arm spinner Pragan Ojha and stylish middle order batsman Yuvraj were present from the Indian side; the Sri Lankans were represented by Captain Kumar Sangakara and Mahela Jayawardene.

The children, many of them distress with life bullying diseases, had to wait for over two hours from the scheduled time but the cricketers made up for the delay by handing them gifts of their choice, besides taking stills with them.

“It’s a great opportunity to make a few wishes of these kids possible,” Yuvraj said on the occasion.

India's 1st Test victory in 1952 Century Victory in 2009 1952 victory in Madras(Chennai)2009 Victory in Kanpur put India on top of the table

India attains their biggest victory in opposition to Sri Lanka and in the process confirms their 100th Test win on the fourth day of the second Test in Kanpur. India's previous best against their neighbors was a victory by an innings and 119 runs in 1994 and they well again that with easy win today. Thilan Samaraweera resisted the inevitable with an assured fifty but it was always just a matter of time before India swathed up the match.

The only question at the start of the day was how long Sri Lanka would delay defeat. They batted positively, adding 149 runs in the first session, but India kept taking wickets at regular intervals. Samaraweera was involved in two fighting partnerships with Prasanna Jayawardene and Ajantha Mendis, which not only proved that the pitch wasn't bad for batting but also showed the top order in poor light.

India's only concern was Zaheer Khan's no-ball problems but he started the day by send away Angelo Mathews in his first over. Mathews had hit three consecutive fours, which included a pull, and Zaheer placed a man at deep square-leg and tested Mathews with more bouncers. The first was fended off in an ungainly manner and the next was top-edged to backward point where Rahul Dravid took a grabbing catch.

Samaraweera continued to stitch together a 61-run partnership with Prasanna who, much like in the first innings, grateful to mislead. He was looking good with his cuts and sweeps but was cleaned up by an off break from round the stumps from Harbhajan Singh. It glides away and broke back in but Prasanna left a big bat-pad gap and was bowled. Muttiah Muralitharan indulged himself with a typical hit-and-giggle knock filled with slog sweeps but fell, going for yet another big hit.

Samaraweera, who then added 73 runs with a determined Ajantha Mendis to frustrate India, was rarely troubled during his stay, the highlight of which was a whippy on-drive to a delivery on off and middle stump from Sreesanth. He rarely looked hurried, tackled the spinners and seemers and unfurled several pleasing on drives. The series now moves to Mumbai for the third Test that starts on December 2.

A Great Come back by Sreesanth in the Kanpur testhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

It was one of the greatest days of leading the side for MS Dhoni as his team almost dominated the Sri Lankan.

Sri Lanka were left staring at one of their most crushing defeats of recent times, hoping for a miracle as their scorecard at the end of the third day’s play read a dismal 57/4, trailing by 356 runs.

Sreesanth was emitting toxin all over again in the islanders’ second innings as he claimed opener Tillakaratne Dilshan early-on. Harbhajan too wasted no time in getting into the center of the action, getting the wicket of Captain Kumar Sangakara.

Virender Sehwag, the man with the good spin, came well and scalped Tharanga Paranavitana at a score of twenty runs, giving India its second breakthrough of the innings. It would have been sweeter if Dravid had not dropped Jayawardene yet again, but the outfit would look to amend such issues at the continuation of play tomorrow.

However, the fielding drifts was made-up for, with Yuvraj Singh being lightning fast to run Mahela Jayawardene out of his crease. The top order yet again futile to make for Sri Lanka, that too on the same 3rd day of the Kanpur test.

Dravid make India to pass 600 run mark

India piled up 642 in their first innings of the second Test at Kanpur and has Sri Lanka battling hard at 66 for 1 at Stumps on Day 2. The visitors had lost Tillakaratne Dilshan in the very first ball of their innings when he played a flick shot too early off Zaheer Khan to get caught off a leading edge. Paranavitana (30) and Sangakkara (30) have gone past some nervous moments against pace and spin to see the day through for Lanka who had to bat for 24 overs before stumps.

Overnight batsman Rahul Dravid went onto score 144 (from 226 balls with 15 fours and a six) before getting run out at the non-striker’s end for no fault of his. His overnight partner Sachin Tendulkar was the first to depart on the second day after failing in an attemt to loft Ajantha Mendis over mid off. It was in the same over that Tendulkar had taken the bowler for a straight six over his head. Sachin fell having scored 40 from 91 balls. VVS Laxman and Yuvraj Singh helped themselves to score 60s to put on a century stand for the fifth wicket.

India was charging towards the 700-run mark but were bowled out for less than 650 itself with left arm spinner Rangana Herath producing some late magic. Herath produced a couple of sensational deliveries that came back with the arm instead of turning away from the right hander. Skipper MS Dhoni and Harbhajan were the victims of those deliveries as they got bowled through the bat pad gap. Herath wrapped up the Indian innings with a five-wicket haul.

Virender Sehwag Expectations for the win in Kanpur test

Virender Sehwag smack a reverberating century at the placid Green Park Stadium pitch here and promptly predicted a score upwards of 700 for the home side. "Once we have 700 or 800 on the board, we can put them under strain and go for a win," said Sehwag, who struck 131 and was coupled in an important 233-run stand with opening partner Gautam Gambhir, the second double-century stand between the two at the venue.

"I think the pitch will help spinners later on in the match and I am optimistic we can bag the 20 wickets needed for a win. We have done that long-ago, against Australia in Mohali last year, and we can do it again," said Sehwag. "As of now, this pitch looks as good for batting as Motera, but it is slightly slower and the ball skids on a little. I think we have done a good job of capitalizing batting on the first day as it may not be so easy batting on it towards the end," he added.

Sehwag said the opening pair's plan of seeing off the early overs had paid rich dividends. "I got an early chance but I decided to leave balls outside the off stump from then on. I knew it was a matter of seeing off some overs and was confident of knocking the spinners around for some runs, though we were not targeting any bowler as such," said the opener, who was all extol for Gambhir. "Gautam is in superb form and I told him early on to concentrate and get a fourth consecutive century in Tests and go on to set some kind of record. He once hit centuries in five consecutive Ranji Trophy matches, so he is used to this kind of run," reminded Sehwag.

Sehwag said he was not concerned at missing a 150-plus score after passing that figure in each of his previous 10 Test centuries. "I don't repent playing that shot against to the spin of Muralitharan. And 131 is not a small score," he said.

India Ready for the Test inKanpur

Their batting inconsistency and bowling frailties laid bare in the yard-earned draw in Ahmedabad, India go into the second Test against Sri Lanka on Tuesday hoping not to repeat the follies again.

The famed Indian batting line-up both embarrassed and redeemed itself in the Ahmedabad shirtfront, where it collapsed like a house of cards in the first innings and then rose from its ruins in the second to salvage a draw from the jaws of a seemingly imminent defeat.

But to expect such resurgence everyday would be to invite trouble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men would do well to learn the lessons from their Ahmedabad escapade and mend their way.

Source: CNN