IPL to take place outside India

The following Indian authorities inability to provide security has made BCCI to shift IPL outside India. In view of security as a reason stated by the Indian government , BCCI team announced their decision over shifting to another country.Though the new venue was not stated by the BCCI officials , the decision has been made at the emergency meeting held on Sunday. Many cricket boards have expressed their concern in hosting IPL matches , IPL officials said . BCCI said that they are forced to take this decision as Indian government failed to give an assurance for security to the IPL matches. Also they have stated that Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra government were also behind the decision of changing the place. Earlier these governments assured for security but later they have taken their assurance back . Security for the IPL matches is very important as it involves many International players. The seriousness of the security issue raised only after the Mumbai 26/11 attack made by the terrorists which caused the rage waves in International side.Indian Elections seem to have won the battle against Cricket and BCCI has decided to hold IPL matches either in South Africa or England. The event will primarily be a TV event and the direct connect of Indians with the IPL cricket stands snapped, or is it still live and kicking.

India record first Test win in New Zealand in 33 years

India's 10 wicket win broke India's 33 year Test jinx in New Zealand against them in 1st test match. Bhajji's 6 wicket made the host to end up the second innings by setting the mere 39 runs lead against India.

India scored 39 runs through Gambhir and Dravid after making New Zealand bowled out for 279 . McCullum scored half century in the second innings. Indian Team lead the series by 1-0 in the three match series .

Since 1976 , this was the India's first win in New Zealand that Dhoni brought for our Indians. Indian team are keen to win the series win against New Zealand for the first time since 1968 when they also recorded their maiden overseas Test series win.

The second Test slated to begin at Napier on Thursday.

South Africa to host ICC Champions Trophy

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday decided that the Champions Trophy will be hosted by South Africa. The tournament will be held from Sept 24 to Oct 5 this year.

The ICC Board met via teleconference to discuss a recommendation of the ICC Chief Executives' Committee on the issue last week.

Sri Lanka offered to host the event but weather condition does not suit well which made ICC to look for the place change. The tournament was first decided to conduct at Pakistan but due to security issues and volatile situation , the event got postponed . Now the rights were given to South Africa in order to minimize risk and provide certainty for the entire event.

The duration of this year's ICC Champions Trophy has been fixed for sharp 12 days as on that basis there would be no room for reserve days.

Dravid equals Waugh's record of most catches

Rahul Dravid reached a special landmark on Wednesday when he took the catch of Martin Guptill in the slips off Zaheer Khan on the first day of the first Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park.

Dravid equalled the previous record of Mark Waugh's 181 catches - the most in Test cricket. It took 132 Test matches for Dravid to reach this landmark.

This was India's first success of the day. Dravid standing at third slip fumbled a bit before securing this record equaling catch.

The new Zealand was all out for 279 . Vettori completed his century and join hands with Jesse Ryder, put on a record 186 runs for the seventh wicket partnership.At the end of the first day,India were 29/0 in their first innings, trailing the New Zealand score by 250 runs.

Kiwis bag consolatory 5th ODI, India win series

New Zealand on 14th March 2009 beat India by eight wickets in the fifth and final ODI match held at New Zealand of National Bank series .

Anyhow India clinched the series by winning three matches against them bringing the series to 3-1. Sehwag was declared as 'Man of the Series' for his spectacular and marvelous performance . Jesse Ryder was declared Man of the Match for the 5th ODI. Showing good performance in the final ODI, New Zealand part time bowlers toppled the strong Indian batting line-up, restricting India to put high score on the board.

Jesse Ryder has picked three wickets which brought the Indian team score to 149 .
Ryder claimed prized wickets of Yuvraj Singh, skipper Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan.
Both the teams would renew their rivalry in a three-match Test series starting March 18.

Australia stay No. 1 after series win

When Austrilian won the second Test by 175 runs at Kingsmead here on Tuesday , they bagged the Test series against South Africa. The series win by Australia helps them to bounce back after losing a home series against the same South Africa earlier in the season."I'm extremely proud of the players," Ponting quoted after they made series won against South Africa.Australia has placed their position at the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table now that it has an unassailable lead in the ongoing Test series in South Africa.Now that a series defeat for the proteas is unavoidable, Australia will take home the cheque of 175,000 dollars as they have reached the top position in Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship Rankings before the cut off date of April 1.

Proteas have now their chances of getting consolation price amount of 75000 dollars only if they win the 3rd test against Australia . But if Australia wins the third and final Test in Cape Town, South Africa will drop below India into third position and it will be the Indian team that claims the prize money for coming second in the rankings on the April 1 cut-off date.

Australia's wins is India's gain. Lets hope for the best.

Sachin Tendulkar at Madame Tussauds wax museum

Tendulkar`s triumphant image will go up at the famous waxwork museum in April, next to other cricketing greats such as retired West Indies batsman Brian Lara and Australian spinner Shane Warne, Tussauds said in a statement.Sachin will be the first Indian sportsperson to be featured in the famous wax museum.Tendulkar follows in the footsteps of famous Bollywood giants Amitabh Bachan, Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan and will join other cricket legends Brian Lara and Shane Warne to become the very first Indian sports personality to be potrayed.The figure will be created at Madame Tussauds studios in West London in the next three months at a cost of £150,000. The highest Test and one-day run-getter`s figure will also rub shoulders with sporting headliners such as David Beckham and Tiger Woods in the museum`s interactive sports zone.

Tennis and Squash Tournament calls off in Pakistan

A junior tennis tournament scheduled this month in Karachi, Pakistan, was called off by the International Tennis Federation because of security concerns in the wake of the attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team.

Luca Santilli, the ITF manager of junior tennis, said today that the attack that killed six police officers and injured seven Sri Lankan players in Lahore was not the only factor in postponing the March 16-21 tournament.

"It was more the general atmosphere in the country, the general security in the country," said Santilli, adding that the decision was made yesterday and no makeup date has been set.

In addition to this , The Professional Squash Association called off next month's tour event in Pakistan because of the attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team.

The PSA had scheduled a tournament for Islamabad in April, but said yesterday it was postponing the event in the wake of the attack in Lahore.

IPL's new schedule under stake till friday

A decision on whether the Indian Premier League can go ahead with a revised schedule would be taken after the Central government discusses the matter with the host states and the Election Commission.The IPL organisers have conveyed to the home ministry that they do not require any central forces for the security.The ripples of the shocking terror attack in Lahore was felt back home with the Home Minister P Chidambaram announced that it is impossible to have a high profile event like IPL during the election.Cancelling the event would mean incurring mind-boggling money so that would obviously be the last option for the organisers.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) governing committee met on Wednesday and worked out a latest schedule, which has been forwarded to the Home Ministry for consideration. A absolute word on it is predictable by Friday.
According to the present schedule, 24 Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches clash with the elections. Indian Premier League (IPL) is worried that if the Home Ministry hinders them from going in advance, the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament may not take place this year given the busy international calendar of the teams.
The states where the IPL matches are scheduled to be held are Delhi, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Lets hope for the best.

Security fears hit India’s IPL

Indian Premier League bosses are battling to try to save their multi-million-dollar tournament, after a government call for it to be postponed for security reasons.

In the wake of Tuesday’s deadly assault on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan, questions are also being asked about whether the top world players signed up by the IPL will be prepared to play in South Asia.The attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore Tuesday has put a question mark on the participation of overseas players in the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting next month. Australia, New Zealand and England cricketers expressed security concerns, as the IPL would be played at a time when general elections also are to be held in India.

To be in favour of the event , Paul Collingwood intends to feature in this year's Indian Premier League in the aftermath of the Lahore terrorist attack.

England star Collingwood has a contract with Delhi Daredevils and expects to fulfil it, security permitting, despite cricket's latest disruption due to terrorism.

Yuvraj No3 in ODI rankings

Yuvraj Singh the flamboyant left hander jumped 4 places to reach the Rank NO 3.This was mainly because o his great performance in SriLankan series where he scored 284 runs at an average of 56.80 . Dhoni the Indian captain leads the ICC Rankings.Gambhir climbed 8 spots to become 12th.Sehwag the another dashing opener from India got back to top 20.He is right now placed in 15th place.Only Sachin Tendulkar slipped in rankings ans was placed at 21.This was mainly due to the poor umpiring in SriLanka where he was adjudged LBW in 3 continuous occasions.

India thrashed New Zealand by 53runs (D/L method) in 1st ODI at Napier

Chasing a rain reduced target of 216 runs to win in 28 overs, New Zealand fell short by 53 runs to hand over India their first win of the tour. When rain interrupted the game during New Zealand chase, New Zealand was 111/4 in 20.5 overs. But after resumption they get huge task of chasing 105 runs in 43 balls. There impossible looking run chase begin badly as they lost J.Oram on the very first ball bowled by Yuvraj Singh after rain interruption to reduce New Zeland score to 111/5 at the end of 21 over.Suresh Raina and M.S.Dhoni partnership of 110 runs in just 74 balls to helped India to post a massive total of 273/4 in just 38 overs. Suresh Raina looks in prime form and was in full flow right from ball one. In his inning of 66 runs of 39 balls he hit four huge sixes and five fours. M.S.Dhoni on the other hand played a role of holding one end and made 84 runs of 89 balls with six fours. Suresh Raina got out in the 35th over of Indian inning, but it was too late for kiwis. Yusuf Pathan sues long handle to good effect scoring 20 runs of 10 balls with one huge six and two fours.

M.S.Dhoni was declared Man of the Match for his inning of 84 runs of 89 balls.

IPL Matches clash with Election dates

The Indian Premier League tournament committee said it will reschedule the matches that coincides with the Lok Sabha elections.
The dates for the general elections were announced on Monday and it was observed that the Kolkata Knight Riders' home match against Bangalore Royal Challengers on May 13 falls on the same day the city goes to polls.

This means that the match has to be rescheduled.

"There's no other way out. We have to reschedule the matches that are clashing with the LS polls," said IPL tournament director Dheeraj Malhotra.

While Indian voters will pick a new government over five phases between 16 April and 13 May, the second edition of the IPL kicks off on 10 April. The inaugural day of the IPL will, thus, remain unchanged.

“We have always maintained that the tournament schedule was tentative as it was likely to clash with the polls. But more importantly, the IPL Season II window from 10 April to 24 May will remain unchanged,” IPL CEO Sundar Raman said .

INDIA VS NEWZELAND 1st ODI :TENDULKARS INCLUSION WILL GIVE INDIA A MORAL BOOST

India are set to recall record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar as they head into a one-day series against New Zealand today looking to bounce back from two Twenty20 defeats.
India have won the toss and elected to bat first.

The Indian team
SR Tendulkar, V Sehwag, G Gambhir, SK Raina, Yuvraj Singh, captainwicketkeeperMS Dhoni, YK Pathan, P Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, MM Patel

The New Zealand Team
JD Ryder, wicketkeeperBB McCullum, MJ Guptill, LRPL Taylor, GD Elliott, NT Broom, JDP Oram, captainDL Vettori, IG Butler, IE O'Brien, KD Mills

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is confident that master blaster Sachin will boost the tourists."When you're playing against him, it plays on your mind," he said of Tendulkar, who has amassed a record 16,440 runs in 422 ODIs."It's not just his batting and bowling, you see the amount of contributions he makes with his experience," he added.But the home side will be be hoping they can repeat their successes against the master batsman during India's 2002-03 tour of New Zealand, when Tendulkar had a dismal run with innings of a duck, one and one.Skipper Daniel Vettori said New Zealand had strategies in place to deal with Tendulkar but they would have to be precise."You can have plans for him but it has to be inch-perfect," he said.

Pacers help Australia take 1-0 lead

Australia claimed three wickets before lunch as they moved within sight of victory on the fifth and final day of the first Test against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium on Monday.Mitchell Johnson picked up 4 for 112 as Australia beat South Africa by 162 runs in the first Test at Johannesburg .

South Africa survived until after tea on the final day before being bowled out for 291.

Their resistance was worn down by accurate, disciplined Australian bowling. Left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Johnson sealed the win when he bowled Dale Steyn eight balls after tea.

Man of the match Johnson finished with four for 112. He took four for 25 in the first innings and also made 96 not out with the bat.