Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma lead the way

Overs 46-48.1(Ind: 270/5)

Jadeja hit the winning runs and Kohli racked up a valiant century but Rohit Sharma ensured that he would be in the middle for an Indian victory.

With Roach bowling his final over, Rohit Sharma was biting his time with singles but he spotted a slower one early and hoisted one over long-off for the maximum and effectively seal the match for India.

It was getting tense with couple of dot balls after Raina's wicket. Rampaul was bowling in the right areas and Sammy finally got the field in to restrict the singles. Kemar Roach picked up the wicket of Suresh Raina in his 9th over for nought.

Overs 41-45 (Ind: 247/4)

After reaching his hundred Virat Kohli let himself loose with some quick runs. Though he was living dangerously, he was  lucky enough to get few edges to the boundary. He was eventually picked up by Ravi Rampaul on 117 from just 123 deliveries but not before he had put India in a winning position.

Virat Kohli racked up his 8th ODI hundred as he lead the run chase of 270.

Overs 36-40 (Ind: 210/3)

India crossed the 200 run mark and the required run rate was exactly 6. 60 runs needed off 60 balls.

Overs 31-35 (Ind: 172/3)

Sammy missed a trick or two when it came to restircting the duo of Kohli and Rohit as they forged the 100 run partnership.

Overs 26-30 (Ind: 152/3)

Sammy tried himself, Pollard Samuels and Roach to break the partnership but Kohli and Rohit looked solid in the middle milking runs from every corner of the field.

Overs 21-25(Ind: 122/3)

Virat Kohli racked up his 18th ODI fifty as he, along with Rohit Sharma are turning the heat on the Windies.

Overs 16-20 (Ind: 97/3)

The wicket of Viru brought in Rohit Sharma and after three uncomfortable deliveries, he plunged on to a short one from outside-off  to deep midwicket, a classic pull and he was under way. At the other end, Kohli once again was displaying maturity in the run chase.

West Indies had opted for the bowling powerplay and they brought in the part time offie Marlon Samuels in the 16th over. The very first ball Sehwag tired an inside out shot and was holed out at long-off and the plan worked.

Sehwag was playing the waiting  till then and like a raging bull seeing red, Sehwag went after the spinner only to perish on 26.

Overs 11-15 (Ind: 75/2)

After  a slight rain delay the match was resumed and Sehwag looked to force things along with Virat Kohli.

Overs 6-10 (Ind: 45/2)

It was a subdued start by Virender Sehwag as the maverick opener let others do the talking. With Guati and Parthiv back in the hood, Virat Kohli had been the agresssor. The West Indies attack was disciplined to this point. 

Adrian Barath plucked one out of thin air to dismiss Gautam Gambhir (12) for another cheap score. The bowler -- who else than Ravi Rampaul. It was a short and wide delivery and 10 out of 10 times Gauti would have dispatched for a boundary as he would have done numerous times, but not today. Barath timed his jump to perfection stretching out his right hand to intercept the speeding delivery.

Overs 1-5 (Ind: 23/1)

 As is the norm, Sehwag lived dangerously for the first five overs and was even dropped by Sammy.

  Kemar Raoch delivered the first blow as he sent the tentative Parthiv Patel packing fot just 2 runs.

Rampaging Rampaul leads Windies to 269/9

Overs 46-50(WI: 269/9)

Ravi Rampaul finshed off the Windies innings with a cracking six over the bowler's head. Windies made 269 for 9 in 50 overs with Ravi Rampaul unbeaten on 86 ably supported by Kemar Roach (24).

Overs 41-45 (WI: 229/9)

With Rampaul at the helm of affairs, Kemar Roach stuck in supporting his fellow fast bowler as the inexperience of the pace attack was quite evident in the final overs. With Ashwin hit around the park for runs, the pace battery had the opportunity to wrap up the tail but failed to do so.

The trio of Vinay Kumar, Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav tired too many things rather than sticking to wicket-to-wicket bowling. They seldom were on target with their yorkers.

Overs 36-40 (WI: 208/9)

Ravi Rampaul was on a rampage but with the bat as the pacer went beserk clubbing four sixes and three fours en route to a brisk 50 to put some life into the Windies innings.

Lendl Simmons has been the only West Indian basman who has done reasonably well this year and here also he put up a valiant effort of 78 trying to forge partnerships. He played with much maturity and his 102 ball vigil was the only thing that was holding the Windies innings together.

But he was run out attempting to take a second run.

Overs 31-35 (WI: 167/8)

Andre Russell was clean bowled by Ravindra Jadeja for 11 runs as Lendl Simmons waged a lone a battle in the middle. Windies were able to cross the 150 run mark in the 31st over.

Overs 26-30 (WI: 148/7)

West Indies were in total disarray as wickets tumbled in heap and captain Darren Sammy once again failed to impress with the bat. He was not able to judge the length of the ball and stayed back in his crease as the ball spun in.

Overs 21-25 (WI: 120/6)

Pollard and Simmons resuced Windies from the mess that the Indian pacers had put them in and were rebuilt the innings. Sehwag got in spinners to operate from both ends and the man of the moment Ravichandran Ashwin bagged the important wicket of Keiron Pollard.

After hitting Aswhin for two massive sixes, Pollard went for a forward defence only to loop the ball up to silly point. Pollard was the sixth batsmen out and with Lendl Simmons remaining as the lone recognised batsmen, Windies might struggle to play out the 50 overs.

Simmons at the other end completed yet another enterprising half century.

Overs 16-20(WI: 88/5)

Umesh Yadav's good run with the ball continued as the pacer bagged his third wicket to leave Windies tottering with five wickets down.

Its been pace all along for India and Windies have been rattled. Sehwag was attacking from ball one and he got the dividends in the form of quick wickets.

Overs 11-15 (WI: 62/4)

Against the run of play, Darren Bravo gifted his wicket to Vinay Kumar when he was on 13. Simmons and Bravo were looking good for a solid partnership but the classy left hander tried clearing mid-on with a uppish delivery only to end up giving a simple catch to mid-on.

One ball later Vinay struck again with the wicket of Danza Hyatt to leave Windies tottering at 55-4.

Overs 6-10 (WI: 39/2)

Umesh Yadav continued to bowl well barring the 10th over where he was a bit wayward. Lendl Simmons on the other hand looked in good touch and West Indies got a move on after a shaky start.

Yadav in the 7th over had again produced a near perfect delivery to scalp Marlon Samuels (4). Samuels managed to get a leading edge to third slip were Raina executed a fine low catch.

Overs 1-5 (WI: 13/1)

Visakhapatnam: One could say this is just a mediocre West Indies line-up but the inexperienced pace attack are getting it easy, but don’t be fooled because they are bowling like a well oiled machine. Vinay Kumar swung the ball well, Umesh Yadav with pace produced a couple of wicket taking deliveries in the first five overs.

Umesh Yadav sent opener Adrian Barath packing for nought in his first over.

Yadav had been extracting pace and was probing at the outside off line and produced a perfect out swinger in the final ball to induce an edge off Barath duly taken by Parthiv behind the stumps.

The ball pitched a little short of good length and moved away very very late.

After a slight delay owing to the mild drizzle, Indian captain Virender Sehwag won the toss and elected to bowl first at Vizag.

The conditons at Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium are overcast and with two new balls being employed from either ends, Indian seamers would have a field day in the first hour of play.

Has CLT20 come up a cropper?

So another Twenty20 tournament in the form of Champions League T20 is done and dusted with and within days another international fixture for the Indian fans is waiting to happen (England in India ODI series). There was a lot of scepticism around the Champions League Twenty20 right from the beginning and questions were being raised on whether cricket fans would turn up for the event especially on the backdrop of a depressing India’s tour of England. 

More so after the World Cup, IPL was held immediately and there was lot of hue and cry over the crunch schedules. India went to West Indies in between then landed in England then flew back to India for the Champions League and now England is waiting. If we suppose one calendar year to a day, The Indian team would have worked round the clock, i.e. 24 hours a day and as cricket fans or die hard (Indian) cricket fans one would still be watching a 24x7 news channel at a stretch.

Not to forget other international fixtures where the resurgent young Australian setup got the better of a below average Sri Lankan team. Also Shoaib Malik, now better known as Tennis sensation (what kind of sensation !!!) Sania Mirza’s husband made it back to the Pakistan squad. Pakistan blanked a spirited Zimbabwe in ODIs and T20s in the most unconvincing fashion. But as Indian cricket fan one is bound to miss all that. 

Coming back to Champions League T20, like IPL, it was clearly stuffed into the cricketing schedule likepaneer being stuffed into every possible North Indian cuisine. The BCCI has been at the centre of it all and as an arrogant brat they have shown all their detractors the finger and have went about their business as usual. It was evident that the 20 day tournament (how ironical for a Twenty20 competition!!!) failed to pull the amount of crowd an IPL match or an International fixture would be able to do. 

Just as a causal observation, entire sections of the stadiums where the games were played in were empty and even the finals was no difference. The fact that Sunil Gavaskar and the widely respected Harsha Bhogle repeatedly emphasised the sporting spirit of Chennai crowd in the finals was quite misleading to put it rather politely. The qualifying stages which featured the teams from New Zealand (Auckland Aces) and England (Leicestershire Lions) were played out to near empty stadiums. 

So, has the Champions League T20 come up as a cropper? As marketing proposition not all, and surprisingly even in the cricketing front it has done well. Even though it’s Twenty20, CLT20 was able to produce some high quality matches and equally stupendous performances. David Warners’s back to back centuries, RCB’s back to back over 200 run chases. Trinidad and Tobago’s nerve wracking last ball matches. Malinga’s exploits with the bat, Tait’s five-for, Dan Harris’s ton, class of Virat Kohli and Callum Feguson and the dream final of Mumbai and RCB were definitely the highlights of CLT20. 

So was Champions League T20 a flop show even after such great cricket? Unfortunately, it has been a flop show just because of the overdose of cricket. Twenty20 format is like the goose that lays the golden eggs and with the business conglomerates coming together for their share; it could lead to the killing of the goose. 

Comparing the tournament to the UEFA Champions League would be a cardinal sin, even thought the concept and the trophy is similar to UEFA Champions League. CLT20 so far has been a pale shadow of the extravagant soccer tourney. Even IPL is far better an event than CLT20. To make it a tournament which could be widely accepted, credibility is a big factor. With the organising committee already under the scanner with conflict of interest, the rules were bent to accommodate certain teams. The Champions League qualifier was evidently played out to give a second chance to a popular IPL team, an extra foreign player was allowed to accommodate another team. 

Even the composition of the teams was not equal to say the least. With three Indian team or rather IPL teams, two Australian outfits, two England county teams and just one each from Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand, the odds were clearly stacked keeping in mind the monetary benefits and this is precisely were CLT20 fails and UEFA Champions League scores big time. Also CLT20 need to go global to make an impact but will it go the distance to actually make it global?


This article was first published in zeenews.com
(http://zeenews.india.com/sports/cricket/will-clt20-match-upto-uefa-champions-league_730657.html)

CLT20: Mumbai Indians -- Champion of Champions

 Mumbai Indians won the third edition of Champions League Twenty20 on the back of a spirited bowling performance led by Captain Harbhajan Singh as the franchise got the taste of success for the first time in 4 years and their first piece of silverware. 

With a modest total of 139 to defend, that too against a RCB line-up that had chased down above 200 twice before coming into the final was an improbable task but with the likes of talismanic Malinga, mercurial Pollard and the charismatic Harbhajan Singh in the ranks, the Bangalore challenge was squashed by the Indians at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

Without their big guns in the squad, the depleted and wounded Mumbai franchise was in the news for all the wrong reasons at the start yet they scrapped past the league stages with few low scoring and heart stopping affairs to reach the finals against the formidable RCB which was powered by Gayle force and brute Kohli aggression.

For Mumbai Indians, Harbhajan led from the front and took the Man of the Match award with an impressive tally of three wickets with a run rate under six. He was ably supported by the young Yazuvendra Chahal who kept the pressure on from one end finishing off with 3-0-9-2 with an economy of 3.00. Even big man Keiron Pollard did his bit with the ball even though he failed with the bat in the entire series. James Franklin once again proved to be the man of the moment for Mumbai as the lanky New Zealander came up with another crucial knock with the bat scoring a very vital 41, the top score for the entire match.

Royal Challengers Bangalore were definitely the favourites going into the second innings to chase down a modest total of 139. The RCB bowling came to the fore in the decider with the likes of Nannes and Vettori coming up with stellar performances to restrict the Mumbai batsmen. Sreenath Arvind who is in the Indians squad which would be squaring off against England again had a bad day at the office going for more than 8 runs per over. Raju Bhatkal was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets. In batting, Dilshan top scored with 27 as the star performers Gayle and Virat Kohli failed to deliver in the decider.

The slow pitch of MA Chidambaram Stadium had something for the bowlers as well as the batsmen and the Mumbai spinners utilized the conditions and extracted maximum out of the pitch to choke the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsmen during the run chase. Even RCB bowlers enjoyed the slowness of the pitch with Vettori taking full advantage. He had Pollard and Bhajji out in the 16th over to give RCB the advantage. But, Lasith Malinga who was adjudged the Man of the Series came good with the bat as well pushing the Mumbai total past 130.

The batting of Royal challengers had predominantly revolved around the top four and once Bhajji scalped the wickets of Gayle and Kohli who were clearly struggling to come to terms with the pitch, the match tilted in Mumbai’s favour. The young Indian players forgot the basics and went for glory shots when the need of the hour was to take singles, doubles and rotate the strike. Mayank Aggarwal, Arun Karthik, Sourabh Tiwari and even the veteran M Kaif crumbled under pressure and went for big shots. From here on it was matter of chipping away the wickets which was done in the usual fashion by Malinga. 


This article was first published in zeenews.com
(http://zeenews.india.com/sports/cricket/clt20-mumbai-indians-win-their-first-piece-of-silverware_730634.html)

Debutant Bairstow powers England to a clean sweep

Debutant Jonny Bairstow won the man of the match award for a powerful cameo of 41 off just 21 balls which included three massive hits over the ropes. He and Ravi Bopara had held their nerves in the end to put England over the line which at one time seemed highly improbable.

Overs: 31-32.2, Eng: 241/4

The winnings runs came in the 32nd over with Ravi Bopara flicking Vinay Kumar for an easy single.

Virat Kohli was hammered for 14 runs in the 31st over and with that the result of the match was more or less settle and India were all set to end the England tour without a single victory. Jonny Baristow again proved how strong the England setup has become with youngsters coming in an owning the international stage like none other.

Overs: 26-30, Eng: 215/4

This set of five overs cost India 51 runs and England more or less took the game away from the visitors in these five overs. Ravi Bopara once again was in the middle of it all keeping his cool and nonchalantly working his way through.

Jonny Bairstow proved to be the difference as England amassed 35 runs in the last three overs courtesy of some fearless brave hitting by the youngster thus closing in on the revised target.

Dhoni took the gamble by giving the ball to Jadeja who was milked for 21 runs in his last over and the gamble paid off as the itchy Trott while trying to cut a ball ended up giving a simple catch to RP Singh at backward square leg. Trott was looking ominous with a well made 63.

Debutant Jonny Bairstow though held his nerve and connected a massive slog to deep mid-wicket then reverse swept Jadeja for a boundary in the same over to ease some pressure.

Overs: 21-25, Eng: 164/3

Ian Bell, trying to clear the long-off boundary wasted his wicket to hand back India with a slim advantage after scoring a quick fire 26 of 21 balls.

Trott and Bell had got another a big over taking 10 runs off RP Singh. Trott had upped the ante and the 

pair of Bell and Trott reached fifty-run partnership in just 36 balls.

Jonathan Trott did not have a single six to his name in 34 ODI, but in this match Trott already hit two as both Trott and Bell milked Jadeja for 21 runs thus putting England back in the reckoning and India in a spot of bother.

Overs: 16-20, Eng: 116/2

Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja bowled few tidy overs to keep a check on the England score.

The 17th over produced a crafty reverse paddle sweep to four, a fifty for Cook, a dropped catch by Dravid the very next ball and finally the prized wicket of Cook with a slower delivery, and bowler, Virat Kohli. The wicket gave given India the advantage in Duckworth Lewis calculations with the required rate creeping up for England.

Munaf Patel slipped on the grass and tumbled on to the sponsor’s logo while attempting to catch a skier from Cook. The fall was very awkward and stretchers were out with Munaf in visible pain. India are now concerned about a player as well as losing out on few overs as well.

Overs: 11-15, Eng: 89/1

With rain pouring down in the backdrop, England seemed really desperate to get a move on as Trott and Alastair Cook went for unorthodox shots. Trott in fact was caught off a no-ball at mid-off in the 11th over.

But the pair evidently kicked off to their gears and the running between wickets was a proof of that. 

Ravichandran Ashwin had troubles gripping the bowl and even in the field, it was getting real tough.

Overs: 6-10, Eng: 58/1

Play resumed with a revised total of 241 in 34 overs.

Before the interruption, Munaf Patel came in as the first change and Trott hoisted him straight for a massive yet an elegant six.

Kumar and Singh after the rusty start made amends with good spell of medium fast bowling backed by superlative effort in the field by the Indians. Cook had troubles in the middle as he got lucky inside edges on couple of occasions as Trott got singles on a regular basis to tick over the scorecard.

Overs: 0-5, Eng: 29/1

After two expensive overs, Vinay Kumar bounced back well to scalp the dangerous Craig Keiswetter. With a scrambled seam the ball kept low as the wicket-keeper batsmen tried to play across the line only to be adjudged Leg before wicket by umpire Nigel Long

The opening bowlers Kumar and RP Singh were wayward to say the least at first giving the England batsmen too many loose deliveries to score off. They failed to stick to the plan and did not bowl according to the field. Both strayed down the leg side on many occasions.

Kesiwetter was evidently the dominant partner with Cook playing the second fiddle.

With a revised total of 270 in 40 overs, it is an uphill task for England to chase down the target with an economy of 6.81. Vinay Kumar started off the proceeding for India as Alastair Cook and Craig Keiswetter got 8 runs in the first over.

On Dravid's swansong Kohli, Dhoni propel Ind to 304

On Dravid’s swansong, when ‘The Wall’ complied a well made 69, Virat Kohli took center stage with an enterprising 107 and Dhoni finally came good to launch a late assault on England bowlers to propel India to 304 for 6 in the fifth and final ODI at Cardiff.

Overs: (46- 50), Ind: 304/2

Dhoni finally came good putting the England bowlers under pressure as he cleared past the 300 run mark with some absolutely brutal hitting. Jade Dernbach who bowled the final over was all over the place and when Samit Patel dropped Dhoni, the frustration in his face was evident. The next ball was launched into the Cardiff crowd with disdain. It took India 304 for six at the end of 50 overs.


India had their best pair on crease for the slog overs and for a change in this tour the pair delivered bang on. MS Dhoni’s maverick hitting was a long due one and he produced his ‘A’ game in the 5th ODI. He employed the helicopter shot, the hammer shot milking Bresnan for 17 runs in the 47th over.

Raina on the other hand played the supporting role giving the strike to his captain.

Overs: (41- 45), Ind: 249/2

Batting Power play was taken in the 44th over as Raina hoisted Bresnan straight over his head for a massive six.

Virat Kohli’s enterprising innings of 107 off 93 deliveries came to a grinding halt as he was out hit-wicket at the worst possible time for India. A set batsmen was what India needed in the slog overs, but he went back a bit too much while flicking Swann to square leg and disturbed the stumps in the process.


Earlier as Raina joined Kohli in the middle, the controversial Hot-spot was employed for a possible glove to keeper from Kohli and again at times the hot-spot was in cold waters. Though the final decision went in favour of India. Rahul Dravid had been already dismissed by Swann in the 42nd over.


Dravid had danced down the track, was beaten in the flight, the ball rattled the middle and leg stump; ‘The Wall’ had fallen, fallen for one last time on 69. Everyone in the field shook hands with the legend. This was his swansong and as he accumulated his runs, Kohli on the other hand was taking the center stage and probably the limelight as well away from Dravid. But, it’s Dravid, he would have been least bothered.

Overs: (35- 40), Ind: 216/2

Virat Kohli unleashed a flurry of boundaries and a top class six off Samit Patel to propel India past 200 under forty overs and also entered the nineties. In the process the pair of Kohli and Dravid registered partnership of over 150 runs.


With two set batsmen in the crease India were all set to build on a solid platform for the slog overs. Rahul Dravid also reached his fifty of 62 deliveries and that too without much fuss as has been the case with him over the years. He let the youngster Kohli take the risk and pushed himself to the hilt running alongside his quick partner.

The pair were able to put England fielders under pressure converting the ones into two and couple of times twos into threes as well.

Overs: (31- 35), Ind: 173/2

Virat Kohli who had some low scores in the series so far proved good here and along with Dravid played sensibly with some quick running between the wickets, attacking the loose ball and trying to rotate the strike constantly.


After reaching his fifty he evidently shifted to a higher gear and took on Jade Dernbach in the 35th over with two boundaries.

Fifty runs came of this set of five overs.

After a decent start by India, England had crawled back in to the game in the middle overs in previous encounters but this time around a solid fifty by Virat Kohli and equally firm innings of Rahul Dravid ensured that the side were in a good position with 15 overs remaining.

Overs: (26- 30), Ind: 133/2


29th over produced a boundary after long time as Dravid and Kohli, in typical Indian style went after the spinners without any risk. Meanwhile Graeme Swann retreated back to the pavilion possibly due to a sprain.



Ravi Bopara was introduced by Alastair Cook to get in some quiet quick overs. Dravid and Kohli reached fifty-run partnership and steadied the Indian innings.



Overs: (21- 25), Ind: 105/2
Spinners operated from both the ends with Indian batsmen looking far more comfortable. Dravid and Kohli maneuvered the ball into gaps taking at least four singles per overs.

Overs: (16- 20), Ind: 84/2


Greame Swann was given the ball and immediately he scalped Parthiv Patel. Patel who scored 19 off 39 balls had looked itchy and in a foolish act stepped out against the offie only to lob the ball to mid-on.

Again after a decent start both the openers are back in the hut with England evening out things early on.

Virat Kohli joined Dravid in the middle and India would need a solid partnership from the veteran and from the youngster who could fill in the shoes of ‘The Wall’ in the days to come.

Overs: (11- 15), Ind: /0

Ajinkya Rahane ran out of luck as his chancy innings of 26 came to an end with a well judged catch at third man by Steve Finn off the bowling of Jade Dernbach. In walked the wall, Rahul Dravid for his swansong innings to a resounding welcome.

Overs: (6- 10), Ind: /0


Steven Finn produced a testing 6th over which include two unplayable deliveries. Parthiv Patel was beaten comprehensively and in Wasim Akram’s words, it was just too good get a nick.

Bresnan on the other hand bowled well within his limitations sticking to an off-stump line well supported by his fielders. That prompted Rahane to take some risk and tried going over the in-field couple of times which almost cost him his wicket.

Samit Patel dropped a sitter from Rahane at third man off the bowling of Steve Finn. Rahane, though undeterred continued with his offensive attitude.

Overs: (0- 5), Ind: 19/0

Ajinkya Rahane and Parthiv Patel started of steadily against Steve Finn and Tim Bresnan. Parthiv was positive with his footwork and got a cheeky boundary to the fine leg in the very first ball whereas Rahane played with intent first up.

Finn bowled well early on making Rahane uncomfortable with some pace and bounce



England won the toss and opted to bowl first in the fifth and final ODI against India on Friday.

(This post was first published in zeenews.com)
http://zeenews.india.com/sports/cricket/live-india-vs-england-5th-odi_729486.html

Wanted: A fit Indian

Southampton: When team India takes the field at The Rose Bowl, Southampton for the second ODI against England on Tuesday, there would hardly be any player sitting in the dressing room. Half of the original squad is out of the series and have flown back and some of them have been asked to join the team from India.

The ODI series is a chance at redemption for the men in blues but putting up a fit XI seems to be bigger task than the one at redemption.

Interestingly, Indian team would have only six batsmen to choose from the squad to play in the XI if the likes of Tiwary, Jadeja and Badrinath fail to reach in time. Though, it has been confirmed that Manoj Tiwary has just landed in time for the match. At least, India team can afford to choose out of seven now.

It has been a wretched series for India so far, not only because of the performance but the untimely injuries and the rain interruption in the first ODI where India could have put up a good show.

The injury list started swelling on a daily basis right from the start of the series and out of the original squad seven players have been ruled out so far.


Virender Sehwag is out with hearing problem and failing to recover from the shoulder injury.

Zaheer Khan, who opted out of West Indies tour, in a cruel twist of fate, had hamstring pull in the very first Day of the England tour. Later on, he picked up an ankle injury which lead to an immediate surgery. This has put him out of cricket for nearly 8 months. His availability for the all important Australia series is also in doubt.

Ishant Sharma also has an ankle niggle and has wisely decided to sit out.

Harbhajan had a stomach injury, Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma fractured their fingers and Gautam Gambhir is suffering concussion and vision problems.

The Master Blaster also has been ruled out with inflammation on the toe.


It seems Sourav Ganguly might as well be ready to pad up to complete the playing XI.

(This article was first published in zeenews.com)

http://zeenews.india.com/sports/cricket/wanted-a-fit-indian_728976.html