Sachin's Upset Tweet Irks Bangladesh Supporters

#BanvAus #TestSeries
#Ban beat #Aus by 20 Runs in First Test.

Bangladesh cricket fans are one of the most passionate supporters. The Tigers' fans have had a lot to cheer in the past one year with their team pulling off maiden wins over England, Sri Lanka and now Australia in Tests. Bangladesh also qualified for the semifinals of an ICC event for the first time in June's ICC Champions Trophy in England. Bangladesh scored a thrilling 20-run win over Australia in the first Test in Dhaka on Wednesday and the whole country broke into celebration.

Bangladeshi players were congratulated by past and present players on their historic achievement. Cricket legend and former Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter to congratulate the neighbors. However, Tendulkar's tweet terming the Bangladesh win as an 'upset' did not go down too well with a section of the fans who were quick to remind the Master Blaster that their team were no longer underdogs.

Bangladeshi fans have had a bitter relationship with the Indian players and supporters in the past. A Tigers fan had posted a photoshopped image of Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed carrying M.S. Dhoni's severed head ahead of the 2016 Asia Cup final. The image went viral and made Indian cricket fans angry. India went on to win the final in Dhaka with Dhoni smashing an unbeaten 20 off seven balls.

Bangladesh's current Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim had courted controversy after tweeting his delight at West Indies' win over India in the semifinal of the 2016 ICC World Twenty20.
Rahim later deleted the tweet.

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IPL 2017 Mitchell Starc Moves On From RCB

#IPL2017
#IPL #Season 10 #T20 #Cricket

Royal Challengers Bangalore #RCB, suffered a huge blow ahead of the 2017 Indian Premier League (#IPL) auction as Australia pacer #MitchellStarc will not be a part of this year's tournament.

A tweet from the IPL announced that Mitch and Bangalore had decided to "discontinue their association ahead of 2017 season", confirming reports in certain sections of the international media.

A statement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India explained that the player and RCB have mutually decided to discontinue their association ahead of the upcoming season of #VIVO #IPL Indian Premier League 2017 in accordance with Regulations of the IPL Player Regulations.

This will be a huge blow to the franchise and Bangalore will now go into Monday's auction with an additional purse of INR 5 crore along with an additional slot for an overseas player.

The 27-year old fast bowler, who missed the previous edition of the IPL due to injury, joined the Bangalore franchise in 2014 and has taken 34 wickets for his side till date

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Happy New Year 2017

Here's Wishing All Sport Lovers a 
Very Happy New Year 2017

There is a ton of excitement in 2017 starting with the Australian Open Tennis Grand Slam, England's ODI series vs India, Australia v Pakistan ODIs, Champions Trophy Cricket In England, F1 season, English Premier League, Tennis Grand Slam season, IPL, ISL, Hockey and loads more....

Can't wait to grab a piece of the action!!

Who Will Win The Cup??  

ODI Cricket New Method To Minimise Loss Of Play In Rain-Affected Games

#ODI #Cricket

What happened at #Kingsmead, #QueensParkOval and more recently at #GreenPark in #Kanpur is fresh in memory. Rain had rendered the #Ground #Unfit for play resulting in #TestMatches in Durban and Port of Spain turning out to be a farce.

In the India-New Zealand Test in Kanpur, India's 500th Test match, which India won by 197 runs, the visitors were 152 for one at tea on the second day when it started raining. But though the rain relented and despite bright sunshine, the rest of the day's play was lost as the ground staff feared that removing covers immediately could endanger the ground. Moving the #Water #Logged #Covers, they reckoned, would result in seepage and more damage to ground conditions.

Agreed, elements are beyond control, but a solution to playground management is within reach. At least if Ch Yaamalaiah, a training and place ment officer at Krishna Chaitanya Institute of Technology and Sciences in Markapur of Andhra Pradesh, is to be believed. Yaamalaiah has applied for a patent titled: Methods and apparatus for covering a playground from rain.

The drill when it starts raining is cricket grounds are covered with multiple covers manually. It takes time to cover and they cannot cover the entire ground in time. Even after covering, rain water seeps through the edges and the ground gets damp in case of heavy rain. Even with #SuperSoppers at work, it takes time to dry the covers and matches get delayed or sometimes cancelled after a long wait due to #Wet #Outfield.

Yaamalaiah reckons the outfield would not get wet if the entire ground is covered with a single cover in quick time. #Rain water that falls on the cover, he said, will reach the boundary along the g round and flows out through the gutter/moat along the playing field. If his solution works fine, there will be no need for super soppers. His invention, Yaamalaiah said, does exactly that. The #Unicover method solves the problem by covering the entire ground with a single #WaterProof cover. That can be done by an apparatus which holds, unrolls and rolls back the rain cover. 

Instead of allowing water and #Mopping, this apparatus prevents rain water from falling on the outfield surface and the cover does not allow water #Seeping on to the ground as the said cover has no gaps. Water that falls on the cover reaches the edge/boundary of the ground and exits through the #Gutter.

Yaamalaiah said the apparatus is installed on one side of the ground near the boundary. It comprises two vertical bars, one rotatable horizontal bar and one rain cover. The waterproof cover, equivalent in size and shape of the playground, is wound to the horizontal bar that can be rotated with th e help of an electric motor.

When it starts raining, the apparatus' cover holding the bar is rotated so that the waterproof cover rolls on to the ground. Groundsmen spread the cover and rain water that collects on the cover rolls into the moat - as most playgrounds have surfaces that slope towards the boundary - so the ground staff can immediately roll back the covers, he said. 

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WT20 Virat Ind Take On Gayle WI In Semifinal2

#IndvsWI #Semifinal #WT20
from Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Termed as battle between David and Goliath by Darren Sammy​ (WI skipper) but also warned public about who won that battle? Its going to be an intriguing game that will depend a lot of which WI team will land up on the pitch. They are too mercurial. On their day, they can blast any opposition away while on others, they can just capitulate against minnows (that loss to Afghanistan couple of days ago is a strong reminder)

Also pitted against each other are the batting powerhouses Chris Gayle-SPARTAN​ vs Virat Kohli​.
It could come down to their battle as well. Who performs well on the day may determine the outcome.

The Mumbai pitch being a batting paradise so far, gives Indian batsman a first opportunity to score a few runs. Their top order is woefully out of form and will look to redeem themselves. Ashwin was brutally dealt with in the last game and he'll look to make amends especially bowling to Gayle at the top.

WI bowlers have done well too. Bravo's end over bankability, Badree's spin and Russell's pace seem to be doing the job at the moment but will be tested by this Indian batting lineup.

As for their batting, WI look better at the top with Charleston and Samuels looking solid while their powerhouses Fletcher, Gayle, Sammy and Russell could do a lot of damage all through.

However, the biggest deciding factor in the game seems to be MS Dhoni's cool captaincy.
He's just taken that to another level and can win games on his cool attitude alone.
Lets see how it goes? Odds in favour of India but their performances have revolved around Virat and that has hidden some big flaws in their batting top order. Also, with Yuvraj Singh​ out due to an ankle injury some forced changes seem inevitable. No injury worries for WI but their only worry would be how would they handle the 78000 Indian fans. Its 15 vs 78000.

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WT20 - Virat Masterclass Against Aus Propels India In Semis

‪#‎IND‬ v ‪#‎AUS‬

Group 2 Match, Mohali

An absolute superlative batting performance from Virat Kohli ensured India beating Australia's challenging total of 160 to book a semi-final berth at ‪#‎WT20‬. It was almost surreal batting from Virat after India were rocked earlier and struggling at 50 for 3 in 8 overs.

Firstly, along with Yuvraj he steadied things before Yuvraj sprained his ankle and got out soon after. Once MS Dhoni joined him, they started pushing the Aussie fielders and ran wonderfully between the wickets to get the target in sight.

However it was still daunting to score 39 in 3 overs.
This is when Virat unleashed his astonishing mental and batting skills to cruise through to the target. He first smashed 19 runs off Faulkner's 18th over and then 16 in Coulter-Nile's 19th over to set up just 4 in the final over. Dhoni finished the game in his customary smash over midwicket for a boundary.

Stunning win for Indian Cricket Team
They will now play West Indies in the second semifinal of #WT20 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. NZ play England in the first semis at Kotla, New Delhi.

‪#‎LIVE‬ ‪#‎SCORE‬
Aus: 160 for 6, 20 overs
Ind: 161 for 4, 19.1 overs

Man of the Match: Virat Kohli (82 off 51 balls)

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WT20 Indias Houdini Escape Vs Bangladesh In A 1 Run Classic

#Ind v #Ban
#WT20 - Group 2 Match
Chinnaswany Stadium, Bengaluru

What is it about Bangladesh that gives Indian cricket team nightmares?

It was on the same day, 23rd Mar 2007, that Bangladesh announced them on world stage beating the fancied Indian team in a group game at #ICC 50-Over #WorldCup in West Indies. Wreckers in chief - Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan (all brimming youngsters then)!

Fast forward to 23rd Mar 2016 (exactly 9 years on), they planned another coup on India in #TW20 World Cup and it almost came off.... almost, well .... they gave it away to India on a plate really. Such was Bangladesh's dominance that off the 240 balls bowled by both sides, they were all but winning on the first 237 of them. 3 balls later they had gifted a match to India on a golden platter (when Indian team had already started packing their bags after a dismal WT20 campaign). It just summed up the entire show.

Winning the toss and electing to field on a "tacky" wicket, Bangladesh seamers and spinners never really allowed the Indian batsmen to get away. India's top-order in woeful form didnt help matters either. Shikhar and Rohit tried to hit their way out of trouble but claimed by Shakib and Mustafizur respectively for not many. In form Virat Kohli walked to a raucous applause from his #RCB crowd and he set up to do a repair job with another out-of-form batsman in Raina. His sublime batting and ability to run ones-twos helped India to crawl back into the lead.

Just like previous matches though, a middle order collapse ensued. Kohli was bowled by Suvagata. Hardik Pandya, who was prromoted ahead of Yuvraj and Dhoni inflicted some lusty blows but Raina and him were caught in the deep off consecutive deliveries by Al-Amin left India reeling. Sowmya Sarkar's catch to dismiss Pandya should easily win him the "Catch of the Tournament" award. Yuvraj came and went. Dhoni and Ashwin tried to hit out but could only scrape through the last few overs to set up a well below par 146 on a not-so-bad wicket.

Considering evening dew and pitch improving, Bangladesh had the best chance to upstage India. In came Tamim with the same mindset as that 2007. Flashing hard, he set out punishing the Indian bowlers. India's fielding was well below par too. A dropped chance off Ashwin by Bumrah proved more than costly. In the following over, Bumrah was dispatched for 4 boundaries by Tamim (rubbing a lot of salt and pepper on the injuries).

Although India kept picking wickets, Bangladesh was always ahead. They had a plan. Every batsman coming in was looking to be aggressive and this kept the runs coming in. Dhoni;s smartness accounted for Sabbir's stumping, Mashrafe promoted himself and smashed Raina for six signalling his intentions. Ravindra Jadeja though came up with his variety of spin to dismiss both Tamim and Mashrafe to balance the scales.

Meanwhile Shakib was collecting boundaries and sixes at regular intervals to keep Bangladesh within touching distance but once he edged to slip off a beauty from Ashwin, things began to look interesting.

With Sowmya Sarkar and Mahmadullah at the crease, things were still in Bangla control. Both of them were cautious and the occasional big shot was all that was needed to cross the finish line. 

34 from 24 balls.

Dhoni's spinners had completed their quota. Bumrah had forgettable night thus far (2 overs for 21) while the fifth bowler still had one over to go. Bangladesh were probably waiting for that over to come. Smartly, Dhoni opted to get the seasoned bowlers first and gambled with Bumrah. It paid off. Just 6 runs from the 17th over. With wonderful ball control and ability to york, Bumrah ensured a low scoring over. 

28 from 18 balls.  

Ball passed on to veteran Nehra. His second ball smashed to boundary by Sowmya but ballooned a low full toss the same over (off Nehra). Advantage India. In walks Mushfiqur, the dimunitive, tenacious player tailor-made for these tense situations. The final ball of the over smashed by Mahmudullah through covers for four. Advantage Bangladesh again.

17 from 12 balls.

It had to be toss up between Bumrah and Pandya. Should Dhoni hold back Bumrah for the final over and squeeze in the yorkers or get him on now and make it as difficult as possible in the final over. He chose the latter option. Bumrah once again bowled beautifully conceding just 6 singles.

11 from 6 balls.

So, stage set for the final over showdown.
Bangladesh's best finisher in Mahmudullah and supercool experienced Mushfiqur vs rookie medium pacer Pandya (who was taken to the cleaners earlier in the innings). 

Ball 1 - Pandya bowls outside off, Mahmudullah strokes to deep cover for a single

Ball 2 - Pandya balls wider of the shuffling Mushfiqur but on length and thats good enough for him to smash it over covers for four. Jubilant Bangla fans dance in the aisles.

Ball 3 - Pandya goes a bit fuller but then again cheeky Mushfiqur scoops it over his shoulder past the outstretched hands of Dhoni for another four at fine leg. Mushiqur starts celebrating and punching the air. Bangla fans go wild. Job almost done!

9 off 3 achieved already, 2 from 3 balls needed.
Plain and simple. Two singles would do it. The field was still in-out type to cater to the boundary hit.

Ball 4 - Very very short of length ball that sat up and Mushfiqur goes for the glory shot. A pull over midwicket. Instead he mistimes it holes it straight down deep midwicket's throat. Shikhar Dhawan accepting a dolly. Mushfiq is gutted and ambles back. Batsmen have crossed over, so Mahmudullah on strike which is advantage Bangladesh. Shuvagata the new batsman at the non-striker's end.

Ball 5 - Inexplicably (or was it planned), Pandya delivers a low full toss that Mahmudullah can park anywhere in the stadium but he chooses height over distance. His looping shot is wonderfully taken by Jadeja at deep midwicket (this was smart captaincy by Dhoni to replace Dhawan with Jadeja at midwicket). Batsman cross over, Shuvagata on strike for the final ball. Mustafizur, the new man in, will be off strike, ready to run his fastest no matter what Suvagata comes up on that last ball.

2 runs from  1 ball.

Its all about this last ball now. From an easy walk in the park, Bangladesh have managed to dig themselves into a hole from nowhere. Most importantly, their experienced batsmen have done this!

After a lot of deliberation, mid pitch talks and lot of advice from all round, Pandya starts from the top of his bowling mark.

The plan looks to be set. Bounce it outside off, hope batsman misses and run the batsman out. Dhoni even removes his right glove to grip the ball better if needed. 

Pandya pitches short and wide of offstump (but well within the wide marker), Shuvagata swings and misses, Dhoni gathers and starts running towards the stumps (smartly does not throw from his place to avoid missing them or ricochets for overthrows). Mustafizur is out of his blocks from the non-striker's end too. Its all about who wins this running race now. Bolt vs Gatlin? Dhoni wins. He whips the stumps while Mustafizur slides his bat in the popping crease. Who won? Third umpire called on to make the decision.

Everyone is tense. Players, Umpires, Crowd all waiting for the flash screen to indicate the result. OUT would mean India win, NOT OUT would mean the match goes into a super over knock out. Wow!

And O - U - T appears on the screen announcing an amazing Houdini escape for the Indian team. Nowhere for the first 237 balls, winners by virtue of the last three! 

Amazing scenes at the Chinnaswany Stadium. Crowd goes wild, India players celebrate while Bangla supporters and players are gutted. Cruel, cruel game this!

INDIA WIN BY 1 RUN.

One for the memories. A classic to remember for all time. 
The day Bangladesh will never forget and so will India. The day when Bangladesh gave away their win and a chance for India to move to the semifinals.

Man of the Match: Ravi Ashwin

Brief Score:
India: 146 for 7, 20 overs
Bangladesh: 145 for 9, 20 overs

WT20 Blockbuster - India vs Pakistan At Eden Gardens

The Blockbuster!!
‪#‎India‬ v ‪#‎Pakistan‬ from Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 19th Mar 2016

India enter this must-win game under tremendous pressure of their poor outing against New Zealand few days ago. They have to win to hope for any chance to qualify for the semi-finals. Interestingly, they have never beaten Pakistan in a One- Day game at Kolkata. That makes it even more challenging for them.

The batting that was looking very settled showed their weaknesses against spin and temperament when chasing down a smallish total and inexperienced spin attack of NZ.

Pakistan on the other hand look upbeat after their solid all-round victory against Bangladesh at this venue. They will also have advantage of knowing these conditions better than India, having already played here.

On recent form and head to head comparison, India does look the better side and their record over Pakistan in last few years has been better, but they are under the weather of a MUST-WIN game, against Pak, at Kolkata in a ‪#‎WT20‬ game! Wow!!

Virat Kohli holds key for India in a run chase while Rohit and Dhawan need to fire at the top if India are batting first. MS Dhoni is the all seasons man but needs able support from Raina, Yuvraj and Jadeja to anchor around him in tense situations.

Pakistan's bowling, their biggest strength, had a good outing in Kolkata. Mohamad Amir is by far the best pacer on view in this tournament so far and he will hold key for them upfront. Wahab Riaz, Irfan and Sami will need to support him well.

All in all, a mouth-watering prospect for spectators.

Can imagine the buzz around the Eden Gardens tomorrow.

Can't wait for the game to begin!

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Ind v Aus T20 Series After High Scoring ODIs

#Ind v #Aus

#T20 Series, Game 1 - #AdelaideOval

After a super high scoring 5 ODI series, (300+ scores in all but one games), the centre-stage now moves to 3 T20 series starting at the Adelaide Oval on 26th Jan 2016.

26th Jan is India's #RepublicDay and #AustraliaDay too! So, its a great occasion for both teams facing off to determine the better T20 team. Given the team's batting strengths, its difficult to pick an outright winner although Aussie bowlers have held their own at crucial stages to snatch games from India during the ODI series. That could still be the deciding factor.

Having said that, the win at #SCG will give India renewed hope and much needed morale to take on the Aussies in their den and tame them as well. 

Both teams are packed with T20 specialists and games can change in matter of couple of overs. Thats how tight and close this one is going to be!

There was talk that #ViratKohli would be picked to lead India ahead of #MSDhoni considering his poor run of form. However, the Sydney win seams to have sealed MS his place as captain. His wobbly 40 in that chase were important too, especially that last over six against Mitch Marsh was very crucial before #ManishPandey sealed the game for them.

Australia will look at #DavidWarner and #GlennMaxwell to power their innings with some big hitting alongside #GeorgeBailey and #SteveSmith. Their Indian counterparts have even more firepower with likes of #RohitSharma, #ViratKohli, #MSDhoni, #SureshRaina and #YuvrajSingh (may be his last hurrah at world cricket stage .. if he fails to grab this opportunity).

#JamesFaulker, #MarkRichardson and #JohnHastings have bowled wonderfully at the death and  pulled things back for Australia in the ODIs. They will look to do the same here. For India, the death bowling remains a huge problem and that could just be the difference in the two sides at the end of it.

All eyes on the #AdelaideOval tomorrow when both teams line up for their respective #NationalAnthems and a cracking T20 game!!

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Batsman's Game?? - Just One Century In IPL 2015 So Far...

#IPL2015

And so we thought IPL, or T20 for that matter, was a batsman's game?
Think again. With all rules stacked heavily in their favor - the powerplay, the two bouncers per over rule, the Freehit, massive bats (but the ball has remained unchanged over the years), field restrictions and everything else - the batsmen are still not able to strike it rich in this year's edition so far!

Just one century in 34 games!
#Brendon McCullum is the only one to get to the three figure mark this year with a stunning 100 for 56 deliveries against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Rohit has come close with 98 but other than that there havent been huge individual scores from batsmen.

Goes to show, its not about the rules or advantages, its about skill and applying it to score runs!

Edges are flying for sixes, mishits are clearing ropes easily, defensive shots are screaming to the fence and short boundaries making life easy for batsmen.. Yet .. just one century.

Why?
Is the level of batsmanship and skill going down overall?
Are bowlers doing better than expected?
Too much pressure on batsmen to perform given their advantages?

Just feel, the overall skills are dropping and cricketers making entry to international sides, especially in test cricket, via IPL will struggle big time. There will be odd exceptions but generally the level of batting is going down. Sad but true!

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CWC 2015 - Technology - Fire Bails and Stumps

#CWC15 - #Cricket #Technology

Anyone watching this cricket world cup will have seen some amazing technology innovations being used. Be it the #Spidercam or the #Bowling Comparison meter. But, the #Fire #Bails and #Stumps seem to be hogging the highest attention of them all.

Its definitely a sight to behold.
Stumps being broken by express deliveries, #runouts, #stumpings, etc.
Everytime these stumps illuminate giving an awesome feel to the action.
This technology is to aid umpires in making decisions in close shaves, ideally runouts and stumpings. The results are encouraging already.

There is one problem though.
They are helluva expensive.
One set of 6 stumps and 4 bails costs a whopping AUD 7000. Whoa!
A supplier from #NewZealand has the contract to supply these "limited edition" stumps and bails for the World cup. Umpires have been strictly advised to prevent players from taking stumps away after winning matches. Some notable examples of this issue was during the #Irish victory over #WestIndies when players were stopped halfway and asked to leave stumps on the ground.

#ShikharDhawan wanted a piece for his showcase after his man of the match winning perfomance against #SA at the #MCG but umpires didn't allow him to take the stump away.

All in all ... a fabulous innovation and here to stay for years to come I guess!! 

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Astrology - Virat Kohli's Personality Traits

He likes to be admired and respected. If allowed to be in control of situations he will do wonders. He is an honest and well informed person others can safely rely on him for any kind of judgment. Love him or hate him you cannot ignore him. 

Consciously or unconsciously he is committed to his game and wants to be the number one. His greatest challenge is self reliance. He needs to be confident and the way forward for him is to understand that as long as he relies on others for a sense of self worth he will not be in control of his life. He needs to go out and show his worth.

Luck is enhanced when he celebrates being who he is for only when he is comfortable with himself can he be confident in his skill and talents, attracting the luck and recognition he deserves.

If he is able to establish his sense of identity he will do tremendously well.

His Power Thought
“I am at the center of my world. What I think and feel matters”.

God Bless
Dolly Manghat
http://www.dollymanghat.com

Player Watch At ICC World Cup 2015 - M S Dhoni