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Posts tagged Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Pietersen and Flintoff sold for 7.35 crore each
Feb 6th
Panaji: England’s star players Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff became the most costly players of the Indian Premier League after being sold for a huge $1.55 million (appr Rs 7.35 crore) in the second edition, receiving Rs 1.35 crore more than what Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni got in the first edition.
The hard-hitting Pietersen, who was England’s captain till lately, was bought by Bangalore Royal Challengers while Flintoff went to Chennai Super Kings at the auction which was beamed live by nearly all television channels.
Bangalore Royal Challenger, who had ended at the bottom half of the high-profile League in the opening edition, used most of their total amount of $1.95 million on the extremely capable Pietersen who had base price of $1.35 million.
Flintoff, one more former England captain, expectedly got a good bidding and will now feature in the same team as Dhoni who is the captain of Chennai Super Kings.
Among other players first to be auctioned, Australia’s Shuan Tait was purchased by title holders of the inaugural edition Rajasthan Royals for $375,000 while forthcoming South African batsman Jean Paul Duminy went to Mumbai Indians for $950,000.
West Indian paceman Fidel Edwards was bought for his base price of $150,000 by Deccan Chargers. England’s Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood were bought by Delhi Daredevils for $275,000 each.
IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi said that the contracts of all the auctioned players will be for two years.
Owner of Bangalore Royal Challengers Vijay Mallya said he was constantly keen to get the services of Pietersen as he would add value to the team.
“I was always keen to get Pietersen. He would be a superb addition to the team. We had a list of players before the auction and KP topped that list. We needed to strengthen our batting and I was prepared to pay more for him,” Mallya said.
“It is a worthwhile investment and ensure the balance that we wanted in our team”, he said.
South African all rounder Tyron Henderson was bought by Rajasthan Royals for $650,000 (appr Rs 3.18 crore), a enormous jump from his base price of $100,000.
Australian opener Phil Jaques went unsold alongwith South African batsman Ashwell Prince. Australian paceman Stuart Clark, who had a base price of $250,000 also failed to attract a buyer in the initial round of auctioning.
One more Australian Luke Wright also went unsold with the bidders not showing much interest on the Australians who were up for auction.
England all-rounder Ravi Bopara was bought by Kings XI Punjab for $450,000 (appr Rs 2.20 crore), far beyond his base price of $150,000.
New Zealand all-rounder Jesse Ryder was bought for $160,000 by Bangalore Royal Challengers while another Kiwis cricketer Kyle Mills was taken by Mumbai Indians for $150,000.
South African paceman Andre Nel went unsold. Sri Lankan paceman Nuwan Kulasekara also failed to make much of an impact with no team showing any interest on him.
With a total of $13.59 million in their pocket, the eight Indian Premier League franchisees have the option of buying 17 players from a pool of 50.w.
In the auction, 18 players from Australia, seven from England, five from Sri Lanka, three from New Zealand, seven from South Africa, six from West Indies and four from Bangladesh were up for grabs.
Chennai Super Kings have a spending limit of upto $two million for two slots, the Deccan Chargers $1.9 million for two, the Knight Riders $1.21 for one, the Kings’ XI Punjab $1.45 million for two, Mumbai Indians $1.76 million for three players, Rajasthan Royals $1.875 million for two and Bangalore Royal Challengers $1.945 for two slots.
Bangladesh paceman Mashrafe Mortaza went for 12 times his base price of $50,000.
In a fierce bidding war between King XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders, which lasted close to half an hour, the Shah Rukh Khan-owned outfit bought him for a whopping $600,000 (approx Rs 2.94 cr).
Knight Riders had made their concentration in Mortaza known even before the bidding.
The Aussies were once again unnoticed with their wicket-keeper Brad Haddin failing to find a buyer.
After the second round of auction, Modi said the number of unsold players has gone up this year because of the limited slots the teams have.
“More unsold players is a result of limited slots. The teams have just 17 slots to fill,” he said.
Kings XI stake-holder Preity Zinta said she badly wanted Mortaza.
“Mortaza is a great player, an all-rounder and we wanted him. But you win some, you lose some,” the Bollywood star said.
Rajasthan Royals stake-holder Shilpa Shetty was, on the other hand, was pleased to have to got the players her team required.
“We got what we wanted,” she said after Royals acquired Aussie pacer Shaun Tait and big-hitting South African all-rounder Tyron Henderson.
With help of Yuvi & Viru, India bagged the series
Feb 4th
Colombo: On Tuesday Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag scored centuries as a ruthless India won the five-match cricket series against Sri Lanka by beating the hosts by 147 runs in the third ODI in Colombo.
Electing to bat first, India rode on a 221-run stand for the third wicket involving Sehwag (116) and Yuvraj (117) to build up 363 for five, their highest score in Sri Lanka.
Chasing the huge total, Sri Lanka folded for 216 in 41.4 overs, in spite of Kumar Sangakkara’s rebellious 83 off 82 balls. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha did the utmost damage to Sri Lanka, claiming 4 for 38.
India thus took an incontrovertible 3-0 lead in the series and both the teams will square off again here on Thursday for the fourth match.
The capacity crowd at the R Premadasa Stadium found the only solace when off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan impassive Yuvraj to equal Wasim Akram’s world record tally of 502 ODI wickets.
This was India’s highest total on Sri Lankan soil, leave back the previous best of 307 for 6 in 1998 at the same venue.
Chasing such a huge total, Sri Lanka badly needed a big knock from Sanath Jayasuriya but the veteran opener let the side down today.
He came dancing down the track to hit Praveen out of the park only to find Sehwag at mid-off.
Sehwag then bowled out Thilina Kandamby (10) and, in the next over, Pragyan Ojha cleaned up Chamara Kapugedera (2) to tighten the noose around the hosts.
Sangakkara did try his best but by then, it was too late and the Lankan tail merely didn’t had it in them to achieve such a staggering task.
Earlier, Sehwag and Yuvraj set the stadium on fire with some sparkling stroke-play as the duo stitched a record 221 runs for the third wicket.
Yusuf Pathan (59 not out) and Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (35 not out) were the other prominent contributors for the visitors.
The twin centuries also broke a curse as no Indian batsman had hit a ODI century on Sri Lankan soil in the last 10 years.
Yuvraj’s 95-ball 117 contained as many as 17 boundaries and a six while Sehwag was equally ruthless in his 90-ball 116 which was studded with 17 boundaries.
The Punjab southpaw was adjudged man of the match.
Yusuf Pathan and Dhoni then provided the late sparks to the innings by using the long handle to overwhelming effect in the slog overs.
Sehwag and Yuvraj maintained a brisk scoring rate of over seven runs per over right through their partnership.
The Sri Lankan bowlers looked completely clueless against the rampaging duo. While the pacemen strayed down the leg side and bled runs, the two spinners — Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis — also failed to contain the run flow.
To make it worse for them, Jayasuriya missed Sehwag when the batsman was 73 and the slip proved expensive.
Yuvraj’s belligerence finally came to an end when he was caught by Jayawardene off Muralitharan. Sehwag soon joined him in the pavilion being run out off a direct hit from Jayasuriya.
But with Pathan and Dhoni milking runs at will, there was no break for the hosts.
India won by 15 runs, 2-0 lead in series
Feb 1st
Colombo: ‘Win the toss, win the match’ has been said by most winning teams in day-nighters here at R. Premadasa Stadium and India on Saturday was same. With the sea breeze blowing across the ground and with the aid of a slow pitch acting up under lights, India’s bowlers set up a15-run win over the hosts in the second of the five-match ODI series.
Middle-order batsman Thilina Kandamby (93 n.o., 129b) tried hard to put up a fight, playing the anchor’s role as he stitched together a 100-run stand for the third wicket with captain Mahela Jayawardena and then later opened up to help his side inch close to India’s 256/9.
But the target eventually proved too steep to mount and with Lanka needing 20 off the last eight balls, Kandamby could not find deal the killer punch. Lanka were all out for 241 with 3 balls to spare.
Ishant Sharma scalped 4/57, Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar — who replaced the injured Munaf Patel — took one each as the trio got the ball to zip around, creating a ridicule of the already stressed Lankan batting line-up.
India had been powered by one more intensive batting attempt led by Yuvraj Singh’s 66 (88 b, 7×4) and Virender Sehwag’s 46 (28b), and though the win gave them a 2-0 lead in the series, they looked a far cry from the team that had walloped Lanka in the first ODI. While one reason was the restricted fare dished out Muttiah Muralitharan and Farveez Mahroof in the middle overs and mistaken stroke play by some Indian batsmen, controversial umpiring decisions didn’t help either.
Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar (6, 9b) was adjudged plumb in front to a delivery that was drifting down the leg-side, Yuvraj was given out lbw in spite of edging the ball and early into the Lankan innings and Tillakartne Dilshan seemed to have got a feather to a Zaheer out-swinger enroute to Tendulkar at second slip. In the end, though, the circumstances evened out any benefit Lankans may have enjoyed.
The hosts were in problem from the start of their pursue with Dilshan not able to capitalize in the first over. He holed out to fine-leg going for the pull in the third with Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakarra following him back in the first powerplay.
Jayawardene and Kandamby stemmed the fall of wickets, but with the run rate climbing, there was no necessity in going for the boundaries. After the two fell, Lanka sustained to join until close to the end of the match.
Earlier, with Sehwag back in the fold in place of Rohit Sharma, the toss was a easy decision for Dhoni, though the start wasn’t the greatest. Nuwan Kulasekara was cracked over point for a boundary by Sehwag to get the ball rolling, but the fast bowler got back when he dismissed Tendulkar in his next over. Pitched on off, the ball jagged back in to hit the master blaster in front of the leg-stump, but the replays showed that it was drifting further down.
India won by 6 wickets, Dhoni Played match winning knock
Jan 29th
Sri Lanka: On Wednesday Calm Mahendra Singh Dhoni led by example as India relied on a clinical all-round display to beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match cricket ODI series in Dambulla.
Chasing 247, India rode on important contributions from Gautam Gambhir (62) and Suresh Raina (54) before losing both the set batsmen but Dhoni (61 not out) was his composed self as he guided the team to success with 11 balls to spare.
The ageing Sanath Jayasuriya’s 28th ODI century went in vain as the Indians never permitted the islanders to break loose on a slow track. Kumar Sangakkara contributed 44 as Sri Lanka posted 246 for seven wickets in their selected 50 overs.
Both the teams now move to Colombo for the second match on Saturday.
This was India’s sixth ODI win in a row, coming after their 5-0 whitewash of England at home.
With a hip injury keeping Virender Sehwag out of match and Sachin Tendulkar (5) back in the hut in the fourth over, the chase on a slow track was far from easy. But with Gambhir and Raina on song, India barely had a reason to worry.
The left-handed duo went on to stitch together a 113-run stand for the second wicket which laid the perfect foundation for a winning chase, besides offsetting the setback of losing Tendulkar early in the innings.
Thilana Thushara’s ball had pitched bit outside the leg stump before rapping Tendulkar’s pad and Kumar Dharmasena, making his ODI debut as umpire, took his time before keeping the vocal request.
The Gambhir and Raina partnership laid the stage for the other batsmen as the visitors chased down the highest-ever total at this venue which has so far hosted 26 matches.
Gambhir and Raina, however, were a little fortunate.
Early in his innings, a diving Nuwan Kulasekara apparently caught Gambhir off his own bowling but frequent replays proved uncertain and the Delhi left-hander finally had the benefit of doubt.
Raina, on his part, was spilled at point by Tillakaratne Dilshan off Thushara when he was on seven.
But once they got their eyes in, there was no stopping the Indians. Gambhir milked the Lankan attack with complete ease and often stepped out to unsettle them. A streaky boundary off Dilshan brought up his fifty but his daring bid to hit Muttiah Muralitharan out of the park saw him perish at long-off.
Raina, who had hit Nuwan Kulasekara for a couple of fours and a six in the same over, finished his fifty as well but going for a non-existent second run cost him his wicket.
Yuvraj Singh (23) looked ill at ease against the Lankan spinners, mainly Ajantha Mendis, but it was Farveez Maharoof who detached the left-hander.
Dhoni and Rohit Sharma (25 not out) played wisely to guide the team to victory.
Earlier, Dhoni won an vital toss at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium and asked the hosts to take first strike and Jayasuriya proved he still has it in him to excel at the highest level.
A recurrent thorn in India’s flesh, Jayasuriya’s 28th ODI century was studded with 10 fours and a six off Pragyan Ojha.
Jayasuriya also became the second man, after Sachin Tendulkar, to score 13,000 runs in ODIs when he steered Ishant in the 14th over for his 37th run.
At 39 years and 212 days, Jayasuriya also became the oldest cricketer to score an ODI century. Geoff Boycott held the previous record for scoring 105 against Australia in 1979 when he was 39 years and 51 days old.
Sri Lanka lost in-form opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (0) in the third ball but Jayasuriya and Sangakkara cobbled a 118-run second wicket partnership to guide Sri Lanka to a decent total on slow track.
Zaheer Khan was virtually unplayable this morning and the first run came off his 18th delivery, such was his accuracy.
Apart from Ojha, the lone specialist spinner in the side, Dhoni pressed in service Yusuf Pathan, Rohit and Raina as well and all of them did a decent containing job.
Boundaries not really flowing, Jayasuriya and Sangakkara ran hard between the wickets and once he reached his fifty, Jayasuriya provided a glimpse of his typical savage batting when he stepped out to hit Ojha to the sightscreen for a clean six.
A half-century, however, eluded Sangakkara who came down the track to hit Ojha but didn’t get the elevation and found Raina at mid-on.
A couple off Rohit brought up Jayasuriya’s hundred but the toil had started taking its toll on his stamina and the opener soon developed cramps. A clearly exhausted Jayasuriya finally perished in the 40th over when he lobbed a slower full toss from Zaheer to mid-off.
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Injured Bhajji out, Jadeja enters
Jan 19th
Mumbai: Ravindra Jadeja Saurashtra all-rounder is the only fresh face in the 15-man team for India’s tour of Sri Lanka beginning from January 28 which includes five one-day internationals and a lone Twenty20 international.
As well, Praveen Kumar who was out of favour for the whole England home series has been given one more chance after playing a crucial role in the Ranji Trophy, helping Uttar Pradesh to make in final. Harbhajan Singh was left out owing to a hamstring injury.
Jadeja has impressed all and varied with his all-round performance this season for Saurashtra. In the Ranji Trophy, he was the top joint wicket-taker with 42 scalps and also scored 739 runs with an average of 67.18.
The selectors mostly fixed to the team that thrashed England recently in the ODI series. Rohit Sharma, who scored twin hundreds in the final against Uttar Pradesh, has been given a chance in spite of having an average series against England while Suresh Raina just manages to make the cut in spite of having a forgetful England series and also a poor Ranji Trophy season.
Unexpectedly, the selectors opted for merely one high-quality spinner in Pragyan Ojha, though skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has a plenty of spin options available in Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Yusuf Pathan and Jadeja. However, it would be interesting to see how Dhoni handles his part timers following Harbhajan’s keeping out.
