IPL-4: 350 players to be auctioned

350 best cricketers of the world will go under the hammer Jan 8-9 in Bangalore during the auction for the fourth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The Indian cricket board said Wednesday that top Indian players like Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Yuvraj Singh will be up for grabs for the 10 franchises. But the participation of Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals in the auction is subject to court orders.

The auction will be conducted by Richard Madley, a professional auctioneer from England who has conducted each of the previous IPL player auctions. The proceedings will be broadcast live by Sony Set Max.

Out of 421 cricketers, who had expressed an interest to participate in the auction, a short list of 350 cricketers has been produced by the various IPL franchises.


The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Gift
Inception (Two-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray]
Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology

India beat SA to level series 1-1

India underlined their status as the world's top Test team by outclassing South Africa by 87 runs to win the second Test and level the three-match series 1-1, on Day 4 at Kingsmead, Durban.


South Africa were dismissed for 215 in 72.3 overs in their second innings, pacers Zaheer Khan (3 for 57) and S Sreesanth (3 for 54) claiming three wickets each.

Ashwell Prince was left stranded on 39 from 108 balls after Lonwabo Tsotsobe (0) was the final wicket to fall; he was run-out by a sharp piece of fielding from Cheteshwar Pujara at short leg.

VVS Laxman also played a decisive role in India's victory, scoring a fluent 96 from 171 balls, the only half-century of the match to guide India to a respectable 228 in their second innings, on a pitch offering a lot of help to the pacers.

South Africa were dismissed for a paltry 131 in 37.2 overs in their first innings, after India had folded for 205 in 65.1 overs, as 18 wickets fell on day two of the Test.

Kallis wicket was the turning point of the end result. The Kerela speedster came up with a blinder of a delivery that bounced sharply on to Kallis from just short of length and the big man had no other option but to fend at it, only to glove it to Virender Sehwag at gully. Kallis made 17 off 52 deliveries and hit two boundaries in the process.

                         The Gift

It turned out to be an extraordinary Test with fortune fluctuating from one team to the other but the Indians eventually tilted the balance in their favour on a bouncy Kingsmead track which saw 40 wickets fall in three and half days.

The Indians, who had lost the first Test at Centurion by an innings and 25 runs, showed great character and resilience to demolish the Proteas in their own den and in conditions tailor-made to suit the home team.

It was India's second Test triumph in South Africa. The 123-run victory in the first Test at Johannesburg in 2006 was their first Test victory on South African soil.

The two teams will now travel to Cape Town for the third and final Test starting on Sunday.

Laxman was adjusted Man of the Match in the end. He again rise as a saviour for India.

Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 3G Works Globally, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology

Eng slug Australia at MCG to retain the Ashes

England retained the Ashes on Australian soil for the first time in 24 years by completing an emphatic innings and 157-run win over Australia before lunch on Wednesday's fourth day of the fourth Test.

England's victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground means it travels to the final Test in Sydney starting on Sunday with a 2-1 series lead, but as the Ashes-holder, England needed to only draw the series to keep the urn.

The England team completed a lap of honour to the cheers of a vocal MCG crowd dominated by England's 'Barmy Army' fans.

After the match England cricket team break out the "sprinkler dance".

                                    The Gift

Australia's loss looked inevitable from day one when it was dismissed for a paltry 98 in two rain-shortened sessions on the first day. A capitulation became inevitable early on the third day when England replied with a first-innings total of 513 for a massive 415-run lead.

Bresnan claimed the vital wickets of Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey after tea on Tuesday to become the architect of yet another poor Australian batting performance.

Bresnan, who replaced Steven Finn in England's bowling attack for the fourth Test, ended the innings with figures of 4-50. Tremlett had 1-71, Anderson had 1-71 and Swan finished with 2-59.

Shane Watson provided Australia's second highest score of the match with 54, while the England lineup featured knocks of 168 from man of the match Jonathan Trott, 85 from Matt Prior and 82 by Alastair Cook, proving that the MCG wicket had plenty to offer the batsmen.

                                   Pride and Prejudice

Siddle's bowling provided the only highlight for the Australians, taking 6-75. Johnson, who took 9 wickets in Australia's 267-run win at Perth in the third Test, was far less effective in Melbourne, conceding 134 runs for his two wickets.

Australia captain Ponting's future has come under intense scrutiny in the light of the series loss, his failure with the bat, a finger injury and his unseemly remonstrations with the on-field umpires on Monday after having a reviewed decision ruled not out.

After making just 10 runs in Australia's disastrous first innings, Ponting was unable to make amends and managed 20 in the second.

Tendulkar´s historic ton - Smashed 50th test century

Cricket history was created at SuperSport Park on Sunday when Sachin Tendulkar posted a century against South Africa -- his 50th in Test Cricket.

Tendulkar thus became the first batsman in the 133-year history of Test cricket to complete a half-century of centuries.

                           The Gift

Test players showered lot of praise on Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar. Some of there statements links are below..have a look..

Tendulkar showed why he is great: Harris

Former Pak players salute the maestro

the 'professor of batting': Kirsten

'Sachin's records are insurmountable': Dilip Vengsarkar

• Sanjay Manjrekar: "He has got it finally! and judging from his reaction..meant a lot to him...the 50th test ton..this is one record that is there to stay."

• Harsha Bhogle: "All great players redefine their profession.50 Test hundreds was considered unthinkable. Sachin has done it."

• Yuvraj Singh: "Greatest achievement by a bats man ever! His name is sachinnnnnnn tendulkarrrrrrrrrr!! Wooohooooooooo."

• Iain O'Brien: "Congrats you little massive legend!"

Shane Warne may return for Sydney test

A superb Cricket drama is running on Australia pitch.

As Australian cricket is in desperate times. After crashing to their first innings defeat on home soil against England in 23 years, the Australian board is rumoured to be approaching spin legend Shane Warne to rush out of retirement and help the Aussies redeem themselves in the spin legend’s favourite cricketing destination, Syndey Cricket Ground.

When former Australian batsman Damien Martyn, who is a good friend of the king of spin Shane Warne, tweeted about the talks between Cricket Australia and Channel 9 on the leg spinner's availability, it took the whole world by surprise.

Even Australian coach Tim Nielsen revealed that selectors could today discuss a Warne comeback for the Sydney Test. Nielsen said Warne must quickly decide whether to make a sensational comeback.

After coach disclosure the desperation for Shane Warne to become Australia's Ashes saviour has reached fever pitch with a group of Queensland businessmen reportedly offering the King of Spin $1 million to make himself available for selection.

MI retain Tendulkar, Harbhajan, Pollard, Malinga

Mumbai Indians have informed the BCCI-owned Indian Premier League that they were retaining four players Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh,
West Indian Kieron Pollard and Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga for the next two seasons. 


The MI official also claimed that the franchisees have the option of retaining more than one foreigner in their squad as per the decision of the IPL governing council on retention of players.


A media release issued by the BCCI over player retention after the meeting of the IPL GC on September 5 stated: "Up to including four players per franchise may be signed for retention of which only up to three shall be Indian players. The Player must have been included in the franchise's registered squad for the 2010 season.


As a result of MI's decision to retain all four players as permitted, the franchise will have only $4.5 million at their disposal for buying the remaining members for 2011 and 2012 at next month's player auction as its salary cap has been halved.


The player contract will be for a period of two years plus one year right of extension by franchise, as per the decision of the IPL's governing council.

England win by an innings and 71 runs

England take a priceless 1-0 lead in ASHES. Swann had been identified as the man to spearhead England's push on the fifth day and he's done just that, finishing with 5 for 91to bowl England to their 100th Test win over Australia.


The hosts suffer the ignominy of their first innings defeat at home since their capitulation to the West Indies at Perth in 1993 and, to be brutally honest, it's hard to see them bouncing back to win two of the next three games to reclaim the urn. Stranger things have happened, of course, but Australia will need something truly inspirational.

                 Toy Story 3



Andrew Strauss's decision to bat on on the fourth morning is vindicated by the eventual result - the 69 runs added tallying nicely with the victory by an innings and 71. England will be slighted dented by the loss of Broad, but they've got the likes of Chris Tremlett, Ajmal Shahzad and Tim Bresnan as back-up. Tremlett, in particular, could be a real handful at the WACA, while Shahzad has the ability to reverse the old ball.


Man of the match  - KP Pietersen (England)


Captain's take after match -
Ricky Ponting - "We got off to a shambolic start to the Test match, and it was always going to be hard to fight back from there,". "We needed to make a big score in the first innings and 245 was never going to be enough. We also put down a few crucial catches in the field. It's just those little things which are literally slipping through our hands at the moment, you can't give good players second and third chances. We've got to go away and do some soul-searching. England have kept us under real pressure, and we've got to find a way to cope with that."


Andrew Strauss - "You're always thinking back to what happened here four years ago and asking 'could Australia find a way to get back into this game?' but we were pretty clinical out there. A lot of boxes ticked in this game,". "When you're confident things start happening for you as a matter of course, you don't have to push it," he says of England's dramatic start to this Test with the ball. 

Australia needs 137 runs to avoid innings defeat

England's Kevin Pietersen took the key wicket of Michael Clarke with the last ball of the fourth day of the second Ashes test Monday to reduce Australia to 238-4, still trailing the tourists by 137 runs.

                         The Gift


Clarke, who made 80, and Mike Hussey (44 not out) had fought a desperate rearguard action after England declared on 620-5 with a first-innings lead of 375 in the morning.


England took three Australian wickets after lunch and the Adelaide rain provided only an hour of respite for the hosts as they looked to the skies to help them avoid an innings defeat.


Pietersen, who had completed his career-best innings of 227 in the morning, was giving the specialist bowlers some rest as the day drew to a close when he made another crucial intervention.


Clarke initially walked when Alastair Cook took the catch but returned to his crease as the decision was reviewed by TV pictures. He was walking again when they clearly showed the ball hit the face of his bat.


Importantly, all the Australian batsmen played positively, refusing to simply bat for time and allow England to dictate the flow. Clarke struck 11 boundaries and Hussey, who continued his excellent series, slammed Swann over midwicket for six late in the day, ensuring that any bad balls were put away, as they would be in happier circumstances.

The only batsman who really struggled was Ponting, who was mesmerised by Swann and couldn't get off the mark until his 13th delivery. Despite punishing Swann with a vicious cut for four and a powerful sweep to the boundary, Ponting was eliminated by Swann on 9 when he played for the offspinner and edged a straighter ball low to Paul Collingwood at first slip.

The visitors would be sorely disappointed if that effort doesn't turn into a win. They'll want a lift from James Anderson, who didn't bowl at his best, while a stomach strain could keep Stuart Broad from playing much of a part on the final day. England can only hope the weather doesn't play any role either.

Tendulkar "Bradman of this era": Brain Lara

More extolment for Sachin Tendulkar. This time once again former West Indies captain and Tendulkar's good friend Brian Lara has called Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar the Don Bradman of this era.

Lara, himself a great batsman who broke the world records for highest Test score with an unbeaten 400 and an unconquered 501 in first class cricket, said he admires Tendulkar's longevity in the game and is looking forward to his 50th Test hundred.

1st December - Cricket surroundings all over

 

1th December is the day on which 6 teams will test their competitor on different locations.                                                                                                    Interestingly 3 teams are from Asia only and they are not facing each other, this battle of three Asian team will be on their respective grounds only.                                                                                                                       To start with India, they will face New Zealand on their 2nd one dayer of five match series. This match will bulge out in the morning of Jaipur on Sawai Mansingh Stadium. India is leading the series with 1-0.                                                          

In the second encounter Bangladesh will face Zimbabwe on the beginner one day match of 5 match series at Dhaka. With the World Cup round the corner, the cricketing world has its collective eye trained on Bangladesh. By thumping New Zealand 4-0 at home, they have announced themselves as a real threat to the teams in Group B, who will all have to find a way past their spinners in slow and low conditions.
                                                                              


Another match on 1st December is between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Pallekele. It is the last test of this series, both the starting one turn into draw. It will be the debut test in Pallekele. The Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, the venue for the decider, and one being groomed for the World Cup, is untested at the highest level, though it has staged a fair share of domestic games earlier this year, sporting a pitch that has shown a tendency to favour batting.

England gain confidence in Ashes first Test

England gain some confidence after dominating Australia over the final two days of the Ashes opener which ended in a draw at the Gabba today.

England ensured they would not be beaten in the first match of their Ashes defence after conceding a 221-run innings deficit when Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott shared in England's highest partnership in Australia of 329 runs.

England's skipper Andrew Strauss declared at 517 for one, 40 minutes before tea. In the end Australia manage 107 for one in 26 overs, chasing 297.

Some Salient features of the Match:

• Cook became only the fourth Englishman to score a Test double-century in Australia with his unconquered 235, he joined Wally Hammond (3), Reg Foster and Paul Collingwood as double centurions with his 625-minute epic off 428 balls in the highest score by either team in 19 Ashes Tests at the Gabba.

• Cook & Trott unbroken partnership surpassed the previous highest stand by England in this country of 323 held by Jack Hobbs and Wilfred Rhodes at Melbourne in 1911-1912.

• When Trott's 100 came up it was the first time three English players have scored a century in an innings of a Test match since 1924, on other occasion the top three batsmen -- Jack Hobbs (211), Herbert Sutcliffe (122) and Frank Woolley (134 no) -- all scored hundreds against South Africa at Lord's.

• It was also only the second match in Test match history to feature two 300-plus partnerships following Mike Hussey-Brad Haddin's 307-run stand in Australia's first innings 481, the other was the drawn Pakistan v India first Test in Lahore in 2006.

                                    Man of the Match: A Cook

                                             The Gift

Easy win for India in the first one-dayer

India scored a easy 40-run win over New Zealand in the first one-dayer at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Chasing a competitive target (277), the visitors could only muster 236 in 45.2 overs.

With India's 242 against Pakistan in 2007 being the highest total chased on this ground, the visitors had a tough task ahead of them when they stepped out to bat.

And New Zealand losing too many wickets and leaving too much for too late meant they were never going to pose any serious threats. The fact that the light was fading fast didn't help matters either.

Ross Taylor was the only New Zealand batsman to put up a semblance of a resistance. His 69-ball 66 was inclusive of three hits to the fence and an equal number over it.

At one stage (169 for eight), the visitors seemed set for a heavy defeat. But an aggressive 67-run (off 58 balls) ninth wicket stand between Kyle Mills (32) and Nathan McCullum (35) helped them put up a rearguard resistance and saved them the blushes.

S Sreesanth was India's most impressive bowler with figures of three for 30. Yuvraj Singh (three for 43) and  R Ashwin (three for 50) provided adequate support.

It was a winning start for Gautam Gambhir as captain of Team India while also being Taylor's first loss in charge of New Zealand.

                              The Gift

Virat Kohli was named the man-of-the-match for his impressive 105. It was Kohli's second successive ODI hundred.

The Delhi player had hit 118 against Australia at Vishakhapatnam in his last ODI. This made him only the sixth Indian batsman to register successive hundreds in one-dayers.

Earlier, Taylor called correctly and New Zealand opted to bowl.

It is Gautam Gambhir's first match as India's captain. And he seemed confident in his new role.

IPL-IV: List of Indian Cricketers up for auction

For the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) around 62 Indian cricketers up for auction with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the legendary Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the top-bracket of cricketers valued at Rs 1.84 crore.


List of Players Up for auction -

      Andhra: Yelakka Venugopal Rao
     Assam: Sridharan Sriram
     Baroda: Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ambati Rayudu, Munaf Patel
      Bengal: Sourav Ganguly, Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha, Ashok Dinda
     Delhi: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma      
      Gujarat: Parthiv Patel, Siddharth Trivedi
     Haryana: Joginder Sharma, Amit Mishra
     Hyderabad: VVS Laxman, T Suman, Pragyan Ojha
     Jharkhand: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Saurabh Tiwary
     Karnataka: Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Manish Pandey, Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar, Robin Uthappa
     Kerala: S Sreesanth
     Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Wasim Jaffer, Abhishek Raut, Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ramesh Powar
     Madhya Pradesh: Naman Ojha
     Punjab: Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Manpreet Gony, VRV Singh
     Railways: Murali Kartik
     Rajasthan: Pankaj Singh
     Saurahstra: Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara
     Tamil Nadu: Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath, R Sathish, R Ashwin, M Vijay, L Balaji
     Uttar Pradesh: Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar, Sudeep Tyagi, Piyush Chawla, Rudra Pratap Singh
     Vidarbha: Umesh Yadav

However, Tendulkar and Dhoni are likely to be retained by their respective franchises -- Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.

The five brackets of base price:

1st: Rs 1.84 crore

2nd: Rs 1.3 crore

3rd: Rs 92 lakh

4th: Rs 46 lakh

5th bracket: Rs 23 lakh.

The cricketers who will command the highest base price of Rs 1.84 crore are Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, and Yuvraj Singh. 

The second bracket is that of Rs 1.3 crore where Twenty20 hitter Yusuf Pathan finds a place along Zaheer Khan and Suresh Raina. 

The third bracket is of Rs 92 lakh with the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli,  Irfan Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and veterans such as Ganguly, Kumble, Dravid and Laxman.

The fourth bracket is of Rs 46 lakh which consists of domestic cricketers and the fringe India players who have represented the country since 2005. 

Bengal players Wriddhiman Saha, Manoj Tiwary, Ashok Dinda along with Saurashtra's Cheteshwar Pujara are some of the players in the fourth bracket. 

The fifth and final bracket is of Rs 23 lakh where there are India discards such as Manpreet Gony, Sudeep Tyagi, Sridharan Sriram to name a few.

Siddle rocked England on the first day of Ashes

Birthday boy Peter Siddle was on fire today, in his first Test for 10 months. He gave himself a birthday to remember by claiming a hat-trick and a career-best 6 for 54, which removed England for 260. Alastair Cook played calmly for his 67 and Ian Bell produced one of his finest international innings, but the visitors will feel they've let a golden chance slip and Australia closed on 0 for 25. 

Today in the morning England Captain A. Straus won the toss and decide to bat first. After losing some quick wickets, Cook and Bell put them on track. But in the mid Siddle break their momentum by picking up Cook, Prior and Broad, which give him the Landmark of hat-trick. 

Hat-trick Brief :

A Cook c Watson b Siddle 67 (282m, 168b, 6*4, 0*6), 

M Prior b Siddle 0 (1m, 1b, 0*4, 0*6), 

S Broad lbw b Siddle 0 (1b, 0*4, 0*6)

                     Decision Points  - Siddle's Wicket

On the hat-trick ball, Stuart Broad was caught on the toe from a full delivery to make Siddle the 11th Australian to grab a test hat-trick and the fifth of his countrymen to do so in England-Australia contests.

Broad challenged the decision, and after the initial roar from home fans and celebrations on the pitch there was a delay until the hat trick was confirmed by the TV umpire. 

The day began in a dramatic fashion when England captain Andrew Strauss, after winning the toss and electing to bat on a slow Gabba pitch, was dismissed without scoring from the third ball of the day, caught by Mike Hussey at third slip off the bowling of Ben Hilfenhaus.

The lone bright spot for England on the day was the form of Ian Bell who top-scored with a sparkling 76 before becoming the ninth man to fall when he lofted the ball to Watson at deep point, becoming Doherty's first test wicket.XJ Doherty (Australia) took two wickets in the on hhis debut.

SRK made SRT dance

Shahrukh Khan has made the ace cricketer of the world Sachin Tendulkar dance during the recently held Sahara India Sports Award where Shahrukh Khan was the host. To make SRT dance on the stage was a challenge which Virendra Sehwag had thrown to SRK.

Decision Points

King Khan called Viru on the stage to dance. Viru in return bet Shahrukh that if he can make Sachin dance on the stage then he would do anything for him. Shahrukh took up the challenge, went up to Tendulkar hold his hand to the stage and made him dance.

Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, 6" Display - with New E Ink (Pearl) Technology 

Then matching to SRK’s steps, he did slight side movements.

India win by an innings and 198 runs to clinch series

Spinners Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha wreaked havoc on a turning track as India recorded one of their most convincing Test wins in recent times by thrashing New Zealand by an innings and 198 runs in third and final Test to clinch the three-match series 1-0.

The spin duo never looked threatening during the entire series but proved to be an altogether different proposition with turn and bounce that was on offer.

Both Harbhajan (3/56) and Ojha (2/67) got appreciable turn and bounce as the Black Caps batsmen literally struggled to stay put on a track that was suddenly looking difficult to bat on. There was sharp turn on offer and some of the balls were also keeping low.

Man of tha Match: Rahul Dravid 

Decision Points

Man of the Series: Harbhajan Singh

Anil Kumble is now Karnataka State Association President

Former India captain Anil Kumble and former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath romped home to a thumping victory in Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) polls held on Sunday. At 40 and 39 respectively, Kumble and Srinath are the youngest president and secretary of the state cricket association. The Kumble group wiped out the prospects of their rivals, headed by the former Maharaja of Mysore, Srikantadatta Wodeyar. 

Kumble beat outgoing KSCA president and scion of the Mysore royal family, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, by 43 votes in a tough fight for the president’s post, Srinath had an easy outing as he beat former ICC panel umpire AV Jayaprakash by a huge margin of 245 votes to become secretary. A total of 1,080 votes were polled out of the 1,489 voters.

All 12 members of Team Kumble won. Former Indian players Venkatesh Prasad and Roger Binny, who were also part of Kumble’s team, were elected vice-presidents along with Sadanand Mayya. Vijay Bharadwaj and Sujith Somasunder were elected to the managing committee. Tallam Venkatesh retained his position as the treasurer.

Kumble & Co have won 22 out of the 24 managing committee seats.

Kumble also had the support of Vijay Mallya, owner of IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, and outgoing secretary of KSCA, Brijesh Patel.

India named Team against New Zealand ODI and Test series South Africa

Gautam Gambhir will lead a young Indian team as regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been rested for the first two ODI matches against New Zealand.

Along with Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag have also been rested due to injury concerns. Both Tendulkar and Sehwag have a bit of shoulder problem and the Indian cricket board didn't find it wise to aggravate their injuries ahead of an important tour to South Africa.

Wriddhiman has been rewarded for his brilliant 178 not out against Assam in the just-concluded Ranji Trophy match. Murali Vijay will open alongside Gambhir in the absence of Sehwag and Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, the very experienced Yuvraj Singh and Saurabh Tiwary will comprise the middle-order.

The spin department consists of R Ashwin, Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja.

The pace bowling department will be spearheaded by S Sreesanth and supported by R Vinay Kumar, Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar.

Team for first two ODIs against New Zealand:

Gautam Gambhir (captain), Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Sourav Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Munaf Patel, S Sreesanth, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja.

Team for Test series against South Africa:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha.

Enjoy Free beer if Australia win 'Ashes'

An Australian brewery will provide a free beer for every adult in the country if the Australian cricket team wins the Ashes test series against England starting this month. 

Team sponsor Carlton & United Breweries announced the promotion in Sydney on Tuesday at a launch attended by captain Ricky Ponting.

If Australia wins back the Ashes, the brewery will print vouchers in five Australian newspapers which can be redeemed for a bottle of its beer. The promotion could cost the brewer as much as 20 million Australian dollars. 

The first test begins at Brisbane on November 25, with the final test in January. England has not won a series in Australia for 24 years, but has won its past two home Ashes series. Till now, England have won all their tour matches and look in scintillating form, and it seems as if the Australian brewery has already hedged their chances of making a loss.

Tendulkar named ICC's ambassador for 2011 World Cup

The International Cricket Council on Thursday announced the appointment of Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar as the official event ambassador for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. 

With exactly 100 days to go, Tendulkar in his role as ambassador will be called upon to promote and support a variety of ICC initiatives for the World Cup, which will take place in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka from February 19 to April 2 next year. 

"There are just 100 days to go and I am really looking forward to playing in another Cricket World Cup," said Tendulkar, who will join Pakistan's Javed Miandad as the only other player to take part in six World Cups. 

"The fact that the 2011 event will be staged here in the sub-continent makes it even more special for me and I am keen to ensure we play well. As a team we would be doing everything we can to win the world cup on home soil," Tendulkar added. 

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "We are very lucky to have such an extraordinary player as Sachin supporting our flagship event. 

Hyderabad all out for 21 runs

In Ranji Trophy Plate League 2010/11 Hyderabad was bowled out for the lowest score in Ranji Trophy history. 21 runs was all that the side could accumulate, as their batting was clincally dismantled by a rookie pacer Deepak Chahar.

Unheralded debutant Deepak Chahar, an 18-year-old paceman from Rajasthan, picked up eight wickets for 10 runs to bowl out Hyderabad for 21, the lowest-ever score in Ranji Trophy.

First day of the opening season of India's premier domestic cricket competition, Ranji Trophy, was off to a historic but albeit an infamous start.

 Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, 6" Display, Graphite - Latest Generation

Hyderabad took on Rajasthan in their Ranji opener at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Hyderabad's day of disgrace though was early Diwali for debutant fast bowler Deepak Chahar, who bowled his way to cricketing glory.

Hyderabad were bowled out in just 78 minutes, and none of their batsmen reached double figures. Pankaj Singh took the other two wickets that fell.