Team India on top in test

It has been a 77 years long stay. Indian cricket team, under the leadership of captain MS Dhoni, reached a historic achievement when it secured 124 points in ICC Test rankings to attain at the top spot. India defeated Sri Lanka on the home soil by an innings and 24 runs, thereby confirm the 3-match Test series win with 2-0. It was the second consecutive innings defeat of the Sri Lanka. Now, South Africa has been consigning to the second place. Surely it was the combined team efforts, as commented by skipper Dhoni did the magic. It was the excellent contribution of all departments of the game- the batsmen, the bowlers and the fielders, which saw the defeat of the Lankans. Sehwag's super performance has merited him with `Man of the Match' and the `Man of the Series' award. Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakara put the defeat due to the shortcomings of their bowlers. Brabourne stadium saw Test cricket returning to it after 36 years where the fans had turned up in great numbers to cheer for the team.

Now, the real defy lies with the Indian boys to sustain the top honor. Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has termed the side under MS Dhoni to be the best one. It is the combined efforts of the players which has made India proud to be on the number one spot in the Test matches.

Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar expressed his delight at India becoming the No. 1 Test team in the world. It's not just the team and the support staff, you also have to give it to the selection board, who often get criticized, to the cricket board, which has backed the team, which has backed the support staff and the selection committee,".

India in good position in Mumbai Test

India took control of the third and final test match against Sri Lanka in Mumbai, with a record-breaking score of 726/9. In reply to Sri Lanka's first innings total of 393, India declared at 726/9, which is its highest score in test cricket. Sehwag was the top scorer with 293, while Dhoni remained unbeaten on 100.

India took a massive 333-run over Sri Lanka in the first innings and all set to press for a win in Mumbai. From here, India cannot lose the match. If they win this test, that will propel them to the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test Rankings.

Earlier, Virender Sehwag missed a milestone by a whisker. He was out for 293 and lost the golden opportunity to become the first cricketer in test history to score three triple hundreds. Sachin Tendulkar too fell short of completing his 13,000 runs in test cricket. He made 53. Laxman scored 62.

For Sri Lanka, Muttiah Muralitharan took 4 wickets, while Rangana Herath took 3 wickets. Sri Lanka were 11/0 at stumps on Day 3. It would be interesting to see whether the Sri Lankan batsmen can withstand the pressure and save this test match.

India make their task fine in day 1 of Mumbai test

Sri Lanka finished Day 1 of the third and final test match in Mumbai at 366/8. Tillakaratne Dilshan led from the front and was wrongly given out on 109. Paranavitana and Prasanna Jayawardene made 53 and 43 respectively. Angelo Mathews is batting on 86. For India, Harbhajan Singh took 4 wickets.

The Sri Lankan batsmen played positive cricket throughout the day and scored at an average of above 4 runs per over. Indian fast bowlers were not so effective, while Harbhajan was the pick of the bowlers today. He took four wickets. Pragyan Ojha took 2 wickets.

Sri Lanka would like to score at least 425-450 and put pressure on the Indian batsmen on a turning wicket. Muralitharan and Herath have the abilities to run through the Indian batting order, while Gautam Gambhir's absence may hurt India badly.

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.

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.

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

Zaheer, Sreesanth, got back in the line up for Test Series against Sri Lanka

The 15-man Indian team for the three-Test series in opposition to Sri Lanka opening November 16 was announced in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The selection panels, headed by K Srikkanth summon up fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and S. Sreesanth to share the bowling responsibilities, while Ashish Nehra has again sidelined despite his consistent performance in the ongoing seven game ODI series against Australia.

Khan, who played his last Test match against New Zealand in Wellington in April, has recovered from his shoulder injury and proved his match fitness in a Ranji Trophy match last week.

Meanwhile, the batting order has been retained with Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni.

The selectors have also recalled Tamil Nadu batsmen M Vijay and S Badrinath, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and leg spinner Amit Mishra.

The first Test will be played at Ahmedabad from November 16-20, the second at Kanpur from November 24-28 and the third at Mumbai from December 2-6.

Team:
MS Dhoni (Captain/wicket keeper), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M Vijay, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra. (ANI)