Daily Sports News

Last world cup they were not favorites at all but they manage to turn the odds in their favor, India now have a humongous task in England. They start the round one with low ranking teams and are sure to qualify to the next level. MSD and his men will face the first major challenge when they reach the supper eight. Dhoni’s men have an excellent track record on paper, but the question remains- Can they do it again?

They were defeated in the first warm-up game but won the second game easily, to MSD’s respite came in Rohit Sharma who filled in for the injured Sehwag. There has been some positives on the bowling front too with some good performances by the likes of Ishant Sharma. To all Indian fans we have just one thing to say,

“Hope that MSD’s magical captaincy run continues”.

MS Dhoni: Age – 27 Captain Cool – Current ICC ODI Batsman Ranking – 1. One of the most deadly batsman in the world and not to forget his wicket keeping skills. He has changed the way India plays ODI and is also known for his out of the box thinking.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
13	215	45	23.88	0	103.86	-	-	-		-

Virender Sehwag: Age – 30 – Current ICC ODI Batsman Ranking – 7.Is rated amongst the most devastating opening batsman in the world, can hit an excellent delivery to the boundary with ease. The only danger he faces, is from himself as at times he goes after the wrong deliveries. He is also an excellent part-time bowling option.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
12	223	68	20.27	1	144.80	0	-	-		20.0

Gautam Gambhir: Age – 27 – Current ICC ODI Batsman Ranking – 16. A complete T20 player, he can change his role according to the requirement and is excellent on the field. He opens the innings for the country in all forms of the game. His consistency will be key to India’s success in the tournament.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
12	328	75	29.81	4	126.64	0	-	-		-

Yuvraj Singh: Age – 27 – Current ICC ODI Batsman Ranking – 4. A complete T20 player and is best remembered for his 6 sixes in one over in the last world cup against England. Once Yuvi starts hitting, there is nothing that can stop him, certainly one of the most dangerous batsman in the Indian side.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
10	262	70	32.75	3	164.77	2	36.00	1-17		12.00

Suresh Raina: Age – 22 – Current ICC ODI Batsman Ranking – 31. An excellent middle order batsman and also considered as one of the best fielders in the Indian squad. His also an excellent part-time bowling option. He is coming to the world cup after an impressive performance in the recently concluded IPL.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
5	5	61	36.33	1	126.75	-	-	-		-

Rohit Sharma: Age – 22 Current ICC ODI Batsman Ranking – N/A. An excellent middle order batsman and in the last two T20 warm-up games has proved that he can open the Indian innings too. He was one of the key contributors towards the Hyderabad side which lifted the IPL. His also an excellent part-time bowling option and has had good success on that front too in IPL.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
8	107	50*	35.66	1	122.98	-	-	-		-

Yusuf Pathan: Age – 26 – Current ICC ODI Batsman Ranking – N/A. He is someone who can tarnish the bowling attack and is very effective in the ending over’s. He can hit the ball really big and is an effective bowling option.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
4	57	22*	19.00	0	203.57	2	32.50	2-23		8.29

Harbhajan Singh: Age – 28 – Current ICC ODI Bowler Ranking – 23. Terbinator was confused about his role in the Mumbai side in the concluded IPL but under MSD he has always risen to the occasion and performed. Bhaji is also a good striker of the ball and comes handy in the slog over’s.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
12	30	21	7.50	0	85.71	11	23.81	2-24		6.55

Praveen Kumar: Age – 22 – Current ICC ODI Bowler Ranking – 27. Bowls wicket to wicket and keeps his line tight which sometimes make him difficult to play. He also has the ability to swing the ball at a descent pace and also comes handy with the bat.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
1	6	6	6.00	0	60.00	1	15	1-15		7.50

Zaheer Khan: Age – 30  – Current ICC ODI Bowler Ranking – 16. He the spearhead of the Indian bowling attack but at present recovering a shoulder injury he received during an IPL match. He might be fully fit by the start of the tournament and will provide an edge to the Indian attack.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
4	-	-	-	-	-	4	24.75	2-1		6.19

Ishant Sharma: Age – 20 – Current ICC ODI Bowler Ranking – 41. He has not been impressive in the IPL but had a great outing in the warm-up game against New Zealand where he took four wickets. He is the fastest bowler in the Indian attack and is expected to perform better on English pitches.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
4	3	3*	-	-	50.00	2	51.00	1-35		9.00

RP Singh: Age – 23 – Current ICC ODI Bowler Ranking – 67. He has been the most successful bowler in the recently concluded IPL. He is an effective user of the new ball and gives MSD options to use him in the absence of Zahir Khan.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
8	1	1*	-	-	100.00	13	14.69	4-13		6.82

Irfan Pathan: Age – 24 – Current ICC ODI Bowler Ranking – 66. Had a good show at the IPL with both bat and the ball. Irfan is trying to make a comeback and is trying to get back to his old bowling speed and swing. But if he has to cement his place in the side he has to show consistency.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
13	120	33*	30.00	0	120	15	22.93	3-16		7.81

Ravindra Jadeja: Age – 20 – Current ICC ODI Bowler Ranking – N/A. He is an excellent fielder, a useful bowler and can be effective in the slog over’s. But with so many options in front of MSD, it is difficult for him to find a place in the playing eleven.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
2	24	19	12.00	0	104.34	-	-	-		6.25

Pragyan Ojha: Age – 22 – Current ICC ODI Bowler Ranking – 83. He is an excellent left-arm spinner and has shown good results in his last few appearances, but will MSG find a place in the playing eleven is a tough question.
Matches	Runs	Hs	Avg	50	SR	Wkts	Avg	Best		ER
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		-

T20 is a known to throw surprises and as the pundits of the game have said that the shorter the game, the more the chances of an upset and it happened with the underdogs Netherlands beating England in the opening match of the T20 World Cup on Friday at the Lords.

The English gods were to against their own team with the match starting late due to rain and then it was the toss, Paul Collingwood lost the toss and the English team was sent to bat. England got a dream start to the game with Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright providing a 102 run stand for the first wicket. Once Bopara was out in the 12th over after scoring an impressive 46 of 34 balls the English team fell and could just manage to score 162 runs in the 20 overs. Luke Wright scored an impressive 71 of 49 deliveries. Owais Shah, Eoin Morgan and Paul Collingwood were disappointing and were out in just a single digit.

The misery for the English did not end with there batting, but continued in there bowling too. Missed run outs, dropped catches and some exhibition of lousy fielding made sure that the English were digging their own grave. Netherlands got to off to a disastrous start and lost both their openers in the first four over’s with just a score of 23 runs.  Tom de Grooth kept the Dutch hopes alive with an excellent innings and scored a magnificent 40 of just 30 deliveries. Peter Borren contributed with 30 runs of 25 deliveries and it was left to Ryan ten Doeschate to finish for the Dutch. The match was decided on the last delivery of the match and Stuart Broad gifted the Dutch a victory with an over throws. In the same over he all missed a run out and also dropped a catch.

English batsman’s failed to exploit the final over’s as they could just manage to score 60 runs of the last 52 balls and that is where I think England lost the game. Tom de Grooth was given the Man-of-the-Match for his dazzling display with bat that made sure Netherlands had an unforgettable win against home side.

India wasted the excellent start if got in the warm up match against New Zealand and ended up getting defeated by just 9 runs. Rohit Sharma was asked to open the innings and showed his class with a 36 run knock. His batting caliber could be judged when he his Iain O’Brien for 18 runs is his second over for two massive sixes and a four. Other major contributors in the Indian chase were Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja scoring 45 and 41 runs respectively.

The blow to the Indian batting came when Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori struck twice in his first over with wickets of Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. There was some joy in the Indian camp when Raina who played some excellent shots with great running between the wickets. It was surely not India’s day as they could not reach the 171 target even though Jadeja tried his best.

To everyone’s surprise, the bowler in question over his performance in the concluded IPL, Ishant Sharma showed character and took four wickets. He bowled Jesse Ryder for 2 run making sure that Ryder’s poor form from IPL continued in England too. He also dismissed the Kiwi danger man McCullum. Ishant Sharma in the later part of the Indian bowling dismissed Jacob Oram and Styris. The other wickets were taken by Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh in the form of Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor.

James Franklin scored 27 not out off 10 balls and on-course also hit RP Singh for two successive sixes which were followed by a four. This over in the end part of the Indian bowling certainly pushed the kiwi score. Though India lost the match but certainly it provided the team to make necessary changes to its tournament strategy.

MSD in a post game interview said that the last two over’s of the Indian bowling where they conceded 31 runs were the main reason for the loss. India also missed the services of ace batsmen like Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag. Yuvi was down with food poisoning and Viru missed the game due to a shoulder injury, but they are expected to be fit when the tournament starts. India is now going to play Pakistan in its next warm-up match on 5th June 2009.

One of the best farewell presents a team could offer to their coach was done by Chelsea, with and excellent win over Everton 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. Though Everton had a dream start to the match when striker Louis Saha put Everton ahead after just 26 seconds and also scored the fastest goal in FA Cup Final but the day surely belonged to Chelsea.

Chelsea scored two amazing goals to get back into a 2-1 lead through strikes Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard scoring in 20th minute and the 72nd minutes respectively.

Chelsea was the hot favorite to qualify ahead of United for the Champions league when they conceded a last minute goal which resulted in a draw, taking United to the final. On Sunday Chelsea proved a point that they were the best side in English Club Football.

Chelsea, playing under Hiddink for the last time before he returns to coaching Russia’s national team, equalised after 20 minutes when Didier Drogba rose virtually unmarked to head past Tim Howard.

Frank Lampard said in a post match interview

“It was amazing, to be 1-0 down in one minute, we showed a lot of character. We basically dominated the game. The second half wasn’t quite so good, but I was always felt like we could win the game so I’m pleased to get the goal to help us win it.”

This win also helped England defender Ashley Cole to win his fifth FA Cup winner’s medals, the highest since the tournaments. He had previously won three with Arsenal and now has two with Chelsea.

Hiddink is a post match interview said

“We are very demanding on each other but that is a strength, they know how to react when they are on the back foot. That is why I like them. It hasn’t just been an in between job for me, it has been more than that. This is one of my biggest adventures, to win at football’s mecca is quite something.”

David Moyes the Everton coach gracefully accepted defeat and said

“Chelsea were the better team, however, we made a semi-final last year and now a final this year and the guys are growing in stature out there.”