Tendulkar only current player in ESPNcricinfo all-time World XI

Sachin Tendulkar is the only current player in ESPNcricinfo's all-time Test World XI, which is dominated by Australians and West Indians, reflecting their pre-eminence in Test cricket over the years. 

Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Wasim Akram were the other players from the last two decades to make it to the XI, which featured seven players who made their debuts after 1970. 

Four Australians, three West Indians, two Englishmen, an Indian and a Pakistani make up the XI. 

The World XI: Jack Hobbs, Len Hutton, Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Viv Richards, Garry Sobers, Adam Gilchrist, Malcolm Marshall, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Dennis Lillee

The Second XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Barry Richards, George Headley, Brian Lara, Wally Hammond, Imran Khan, Alan Knott, Bill O'Reilly, Fred Trueman, Muttiah Muralitharan, SF Barnes

Readers' XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Garry Sobers, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath

India win series as 3rd ODI called off

A damp outfield caused by overnight rains forced cancellation of the third and final ODI between India and Australia without a ball being bowled to give the hosts a 1-0 series victory, their first at home in over two decades, here on Sunday.

With the abandonment of Sunday's ODI, the second in the three-match series, Australia returned home without winning a single game in their tour of India. They had lost the two-match Test series 0-2 before the ODI series.

India had beaten Australia by five wickets in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam on October 20 while the first match in Kochi on October 17 was washed out.

This was the first time that India have beaten Australia in an ODI series since 1998.

The series win by India is also the first at home in over two decades against Australia. The last time the Aussies had lost an ODI series in India was in 1986-87 when the hosts had won by a 3-2 margin.

Umpires Billy Bowden and Amish Saheba made two inspections of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium ground at 11 am and 12:15 pm before deciding to abandon the match because of the wet conditions in the outfield that persisted despite the sun shining brightly.

In between these two inspections rival skippers Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Michael Clarke also came out to go around the outfield and were seen having a long discussion with the umpires.

The match was later called off without a ball being bowled, thus making it the second time it has happened at this venue.

The wicket looked in perfect condition but the seepage of rain water through the covers left outfield damp and slippery.

The morning though began with the prospect of a curtailed match being played with the sun shining brightly.

The ground was covered by tarpaulins overnight which protected most parts of it but still there were some seepages at the outfield. Super sopper was employed to suck up the water from the covers.

The match organizers, Goa Cricket Association, have already promised to refund the entire ticket amount through branches of Federal Bank all over India from October 28.

The capacity crowd of 27,000 sat through the entire rigmarole before trooping home disappointed.

Even the players of both the sides, except for the two captains, did not come to the stadium. The two coaches, Gary Kirsten and Tim Nielsen were also seen at the ground.

SA sweep series with gigantic win

South Africa beat Zimbabwe by the second biggest margin in one-day international history on Friday, powering to a 272-run win at Willowmoore Park to sweep the series 3-0.

JP Duminy and AB de Villiers made centuries and shared a South African record 219-run partnership for the third wicket as the Proteas racked up 399-6 against the struggling Zimbabweans.

Zimbabwe was skittled out for 127 for its heaviest defeat and South Africa's biggest win in ODIs.

Duminy made an ODI career-best 129 and man of the series De Villiers scored his second successive hundred, with 109 off 99 balls. Juan Theron led the Proteas bowlers with 3-18 as Zimbabwe was all out in just 29 overs. Albie Morkel, Wayne Parnell and Johan Botha took two wickets each.

New Zealand's 290-run win over Ireland in 2008 is the heaviest margin of victory in a 50-over international, with Friday's result just 18 runs behind.

It was the perfect send-off as South Africa departs on Sunday for a Twenty20, ODI and two-Test series against Pakistan in United Arab Emirates. South Africa won all three one-dayers against Zimbabwe convincingly and also took the two-match Twenty20 series 2-0.

De Villiers' ninth ODI hundred, and fifth in 2010, followed on from his 101 not out in the last game. He crashed five fours and five sixes as South Africa raced from 59-2 to 278-3. Duminy, who was man of the match, hit seven fours and four sixes in his second one-day century.

South Africa missed out on just the 10th score of 400 or above in ODIs by one run when David Miller pummeled a four down the ground off the last ball.

Already reeling at 30-3, Zimbabwe lost topscorer Tatenda Taibu (28) and Craig Ervine to Botha in the 16th over and Chigumbura was bowled by Theron off the first ball of the 17th.

Theron then sent a trademark skidding yorker hammering into Shingirai Masakadza's pads, knocking him off his feet and clattering into his middle stump as Zimbabwe slumped to 127-9. The right-arm seamer had Ian Nicolson caught by wicketkeeper De Villiers three balls later to wrap up the match, adding another three wickets to the 5-44 he took in the second one-dayer.

Theron was only a late call-up for the ODI series following injuries to three of South Africa's leading bowlers.

South Africa's series against Pakistan begins with two T20 games next week. It then meets No.1 ranked test team India at home in three tests, five ODIs and a one-off Twenty20 match before the World Cup starts in February.

Bangladesh complete clean sweep against NZ

Paceman Rubel Hossain stunned New Zealand with four wickets to help Bangladesh beat the tourists by three runs on Sunday and complete a 4-0 series sweep.

New Zealand were bowled out for 171 with just three balls remaining and just shy of their target of 174, with Rubel taking the final wicket when he bowled Kyle Mills in a dramatic finish at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.

Rubel finished with four for 25 -- his best figures in limited-overs internationals -- as Bangladesh successfully defended what was a meagre total.

It was the fifth and final one-dayer of the series. One match was rained off.

Rubel removed dangerman Brendon McCullum and helped reduce New Zealand to 20-5 with his fierce opening spell of 3-13 before Daniel Vettori and Grant Elliott put on 86 for the sixth wicket.

Vettori, the New Zealand captain, made 43 and Elliott top-scored with 59 as the tourists recovered before the momentum shifted back.

Captain Shakib Al Hasan had earlier top-scored for Bangladesh with 36 off 47 balls. Opener Imrul Kayes made 34 as the home side were bowled out in 44.2 overs.

Vettori took 3-32 and Mills 3-36.

India wipe out Aus to win series 2-0

After a tight finish in Mohali a week ago, it was a tame finish in Bangalore as hosts India comfortably beat Australia by seven-wickets on day five of the second Test to wrap up the two-match series 2-0 on Wednesday and register their first win here in 15 years.

Needing 207 runs off a stipulated 77 overs, India achieved the target just after tea with Sachin Tendulkar (53) hitting the winning runs. Rahul Dravid was at the other end on 21. This was also the highest successful chase in Bangalore.

But it was Chesteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay who laid the foundation for the chase after the early loss of Virender Sehwag. Debutante Pujara, who was included in the lineup in place of the injured VVS Laxman, showed great poise and maturity at the No. 3 spot as he and Vijay matched stroke for stroke to send the Aussies on a leather hunt.

They duo put on 72 runs off just 78 deliveries before the first innings centurion was trapped lbw by Shane Watson for 37. Pujara, who was one-year-old when Tendulkar made his debut, then added 57 runs with the Master Blaster, bringing up his maiden Test fifty in the process.

Pujara, who has more than 4000 runs in first-class cricket, was unlucky to miss out on his 100 when he was bowled by Nathan Hauritz off 72 against the run of play.

India were then just 61 runs away and Tendulkar and Dravid made it look so easy from there.

Earlier in the day, the Australians added 21 runs to their overnight score and ended up being dismissed for 223 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The Aussies lost the three wickets with Zaheer Khan dismissing Mitchell Johnson and Peter George and Sreesanth scalped Nathan Hauritz.

Zaheer Khan had a spell of 5.2-1-9-2, while Sreesanth 5-1-8-1. Resuming at their overnight score of 202 for 7, both Johnson and Hauritz were seen not taking too many chances against the Indian pace duo.

Zaheer was able to get the reverse swing quite often and succeeded in dismissing Johnson (11) in his fourth over of the first session. The ball jag sharply off the pitch to take Johnson's off stump.

The Australian added four more runs to his overnight score of seven.

In the very next over, Sreesanth who was bowling menacingly, was paid for his hard work. A totally dried up pitch was giving some movements and Sreesanth was able to beat the batsmen since morning time and again.

Sreesanth's full length delivery cut in after pitching on outside the off stump and the ball contacted Ben Hilfenhaus' pads before hitting the stumps.

Zaheer ended the innings with a short ball that was gloved behind by Peter George (0), and Nathan Hauritz remained unbeaten on 21.

In the end Sachin Tendulkar awarded Man-of-the-Match & Man-of-the-Series after scoring 403 runs at an average of 134.33 in the series.

Dhawan called up, Tendulkar rested for One Day Series

India's cricket selectors on Tuesday left out seven star players for a three-match One-day series against Australia starting on October 17.

 

Among the glaring omissions in the 14-man squad are world batting record holder Sachin Tendulkar, dashing opener Virender Sehwag, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and spin duo Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha.

Also missing are opening batsman Gautam Gambhir and seamer Ishant Sharma, who were forced out of the ongoing second Test in Bangalore due to knee injuries.

Tendulkar, Harbhajan, Zaheer and Ojha have been rested, while the others are nursing injuries, a cricket board statement said. Delhi batsman Shikhar Dhawan is the only new face in the squad.

Australia too have rested skipper Ricky Ponting, all-rounder Shane Watson and fast bowler Mitchell Johnson for the series.

The first One-dayer will be played in Kochi on October 17, followed by the remaining two in Visakhapatnam on October 20 and Goa on October 24.  

India's One-day squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Saurav Tiwary, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma.

Indian spinners shake Australia

The second and final test between India and Australia was heading for a gripping climax after bowlers dominated the fourth day on Tuesday.

The Indian spinners reduced Australia to 202 for seven at the close, with Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz facing the task of extending a slender lead of 185 runs for the touring side who lost the first test by one wicket.

Captain Ricky Ponting made a defiant 72 to hold the innings together before falling to Zaheer Khan in the final session.

The tourists were let down by their top order which struggled against Indian spinners Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh.

Ojha removed in-form opener Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey, while Harbhajan accounted for Simon Katich and Marcus North.

India resumed on a commanding 435 for five and Sachin Tendulkar cruised to his sixth test double century before falling for 214.

Tendulkar, who hit two sixes and 22 fours, became debutant Peter George's first test victim when he dragged a delivery on to his stumps and Hauritz polished off the tail as India slumped to 495 all out.

The match can tilt any where. Whatever Aussie got is gettable but India have to bat sensibly tomorrow. The wicket is turning a lot.

Even Master predicted a close finish in the second and final cricket Test against Australia after scoring a brilliant double century. "This match is at a critical stage and it is all about how we handle pressure on the last day," Tendulkar said after the fourth day's play at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.

Tanmay, Manoj guide India Blues to Challenger victory

Opener Tanmay Srivastava scored a run-a-ball 103 while talented Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary smashed a quick-fire 84 to help India Blue win the NKP Salve Challenger Series with a thumping 140-run victory over India Green here on Monday.

 

In reply to Blue's challenging score of 287 for seven, the Greens were all-out for 147 in 36.4 overs.

India discard Rudra Pratap Singh took three for 20 for the winners.

For the second day in a row, India Blue captain Yuvraj Singh opted to bat after winning the toss.

Srivastava and in-form Shikhar Dhawan (44, 51 balls, 4x6, 1x6) added 67 runs before the Delhi batsman was caught by Ravichandran Ashwin at deep square leg off Abhimanyu Mithun's bowling.

Ajinkya Rahane (7) and Yuvraj Singh (12) were both dismissed off leggie Sarabjit Ladda.

While Rahane mistimed a pull-shot, Yuvraj was done in by a googly.

At 118 for three, Srivastava was joined by Tiwary who was fluent from the onset, giving Srivastava a chance to score freely.

The centurion hit nine boundaries, while Tiwary hit seven fours and a six, adding 97 runs for the fourth wicket. 

After Srivastava departed in the 41st over, it was Tiwary who single-handedly took the score close to 300 with some delightful strokes.

The Bengal batsman hit Mithun for a four and a six off successive deliveries before falling in deep. 

When the Green team batted, they looked completely out of sorts as pacers Rudra Pratap, V Yomahesh and spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Piyush Chawla bowled well.

Robin Uthappa was the top scorer with 30, while S Badrinath, Kedar Jadhav, Aniruddha Srikkanth and Rohit Sharma fell cheaply.

Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab out of IPL

Governing Concil of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday axed two franchisees teams- Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. A showcase notice was served on IPL Kochi team.


Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi was earlier accused of having financial connections with these two teams.

The Governing Council of the IPL met at MCA Recreation Centre, BKC, Mumbai to discuss and decide on the breaches committed by three of the Franchisees viz., K.P.H. Dream Cricket Pvt. Ltd., Jaipur IPL Cricket Pvt. Ltd. and the Unincorporated Joint Venture holding the Kochi Franchise.


On the other hand Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi lashed out at the Indian Cricket Board's decision to axe Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab from T20 tournament. He termed the BCCI action "illegal", and said the Board has chosen the path of vengeance.

Tendulkar completes 14000, leads Indian recovery

India started off shakily but Sachin Tendulkar scaled a new peak crossing 14,000 runs in Test cricket and steadied the hosts' innings against a massive Australian score of 478, at stumps, on the second day, of the second and final Test match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Courtesy an unbroken 90-run third wicket stand between Tendulkar (44 batting, 88 balls, 6x4) and opener Murali Vijay (42 batting, 83 balls, 4x4, 1x6), India were 128 for two when play was stopped after 34.2 overs.

Tendulkar's feat was watched by a packed Chinnaswamy stadium crowd and the maestro got a standing ovation from all present in the stadium. Australian captain Ricky Ponting remains Tendulkar's nearest rival but the Aussie is still behind by 1822 runs.

Ponting was one of the first among the opposition players to come up and congratulate Tendulkar for his achievement.

Sachin Tendulkar wins ICC Cricketer of the Year & People`s Choice Award at ICC Awards 2010

India's cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar named Cricketer of the Year at the prestigious LG ICC Awards, held at a glittering ceremony in Bengaluru.

Tendulkar was also named as the first recipient of the inaugural LG People's Choice Award and was named in both the Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

Tendulkar was joined on the winners' list by team-mate Virender Sehwag, who took the Test Player of the Year award while South Africa batsman AB de Villiers was named ODI Player of the Year. England's Steven Finn claimed his first ever ICC award when he was named Emerging Player of the Year.

During the period under consideration for the award - August 24, 2009 to August 10, 2010 - Tendulkar scored 1064 runs at an average of 81.84 in ten Tests. He made 914 runs in 17 ODIs at 65.28, and also scored the format's first double-century against South Africa in Gwalior.

Tendulkar also received the People's Choice Award.

Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand batsman, won the award for the best Twenty20 Performance of the Year for his 116 not out against Australia in Christchurch in February

Netherlands allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate won the Associate Player of the Year award.

New Zealand won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for the second time in row and the third time overall. Aleem Dar, the Pakistani umpire, also won the Umpire of the Year Award for the second time in a row.

Rachel Heyhoe-Flint, the former England women's captain, was the first woman cricketer inducted into the ICC's Hall of Fame, while Shelley Nitschke, the Australian allrounder, was the Woman Cricketer of the Year.

MS Dhoni was named captain of the Test team of the year, which included Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, Swann, Tendulkar, Amla, Simon Katich, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, James Anderson and Doug Bollinger.

Ricky Ponting was captain of the ODI team of the year, leading a side comprising Tendulkar, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, de Villiers, Paul Collingwood, Dhoni, Daniel Vettori, Stuart Broad, Bollinger and Ryan Harris.

Parthiv Patel & Mukund hits ton for Rest of India

A fine century by wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel and Abhinav Mukund helped Rest of India pile up a mammoth total of 668 in the Irani trophy against Ranji champions Mumbai at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday.

At the end of the second day's play, Mumbai were at 26 (rpt) 26 for no loss in 10 overs with Wasim Jaffer batting on 18 and S Marasthe on seven.

Earlier, an excellent five-wicket haul by medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni, who removed the likes of Abhinav Mukund (161), Yuvraj Singh (4) and S Badrinath (94) in the first session raised Mumbai's hopes.

But Virat Kohli (90) and Parthiv Patel dispelled all fears of a Mumbai comeback as the duo batted freely. While Badrinath (94) and Kohli missed out on hundreds, Parthiv plundered Mumbai attack sans veteran Ajit Agarkar, who did not the field today due to fever.

The biggest disappointment of the day was Yuvraj Singh, who fell cheaply.

Meanwhile, the lanky Mumbai lad Kurkarni finished with figures of five for 148 from 35.5 overs, while Rohit Sharma took three for 23 and Ramesh Powar chipped in with two for 160.

Brief Scores:

Rest of India 1st innings: 668 all out in 165.5 overs (A Mukund 161, Parthiv Patel 125, S Badrinath 94, Virat Kohli 90; D Kulkarni 5/148, Rohit Sharma 3/23).

Australia slightly ahead after Paine's blow

India rode on Virender Sehwag's record-equalling half-century to reach 110-2 in their first innings in reply to Australia's 428 in the opening Test on Saturday. The Indian opener scored a blazing 59 off 54 balls with 10 fours in the final session after Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine (92) had missed out on a maiden Test hundred on the second day.

Sehwag equalled the record of scoring a 50 or more in 11 consecutive Tests. West Indies' Viv Richards and Indian Gautam Gambhir are the other batsmen to have achieved the feat.

With the pitch offering no help to bowlers, Australia struggled to contain runs as Sehwag went for his shots from the beginning and raced to his half-century off 38 balls.

Australia introduced spin after 12 overs, but Nathan Hauritz was greeted with two fours by Sehwag, who was eventually caught by Michael Clarke in the covers off a leading edge to become paceman Mitchell Johnson's second victim.
Wicketkeeper Paine, playing only his third Test, was earlier instrumental in boosting Australia with a solid knock that came off 196 balls with the help of 12 boundaries.

Paine, who added 53 for the sixth wicket with opener Shane Watson (126), put on 82 for the seventh with Johnson and 54 for the ninth with Hilfenhaus to shatter India's hopes of restricting the tourists to a modest total.


India's bowlers struggled against determined Australian batting on an easy-paced pitch, taking just one wicket in the first session and two in the second.
Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan was the most impressive bowler with 5-94, his 10th haul of five or more wickets in a Test innings. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh finished with 3-114.