Second blow given by England to India`

Indians were whitewashed in the test series that was played against England few days ago. England have come back strongly stating that even they can dominate cricket in all the aspects. England won all the four test matches played against India and became the #1 test team in the world. India dropped to 3rd position from 1st.

Indian being a strong team in both T20 cricket and ODI cricket, played a T20 match against England yesterday at Old Trafford, Manchester, England. The toss was won by the Indian skipper and elected to bat first. India gave an marvelous start and were almost scoring 10 runs per over. At one point of time, they were 104/2 in just 11.4 overs. Rahul Dravid was beautiful with his bat as he scored 3 sixes but not even a single four, just imagine 3 sixes that too by Rahul Dravid. It was something like unbelievable thing. The newest entry Ajinkya Rahane played magnificently and put up a very good partnership with the Wall and he scored 61 runs. Later on Suresh Raina came in to bat and he also played nicely and scored 33 runs in just 19 deliveries which included 2 fours and 3 sixes. After this fall, rest of the team collapsed and ended up scoring only 165 runs loosing all 10 wickets with 2 deliveries to spare (IND - 165/10, 19.4 over). Everything ended up with a mess. Jade Dernbach from England took 4 wickets.

In reply to this England opened its batting innings but soon lost its first wicket in the very second delivery of the innings. England was in trouble as it lost its first wicket without opening the run account itself. But after this, things changed as the batsmen started to attack Indians bowlers. They played very wisely and kept on momentum going. This helped them a lot to build up some useful partnerships. England in 19.3 over, chased 165 runs successfully and became victorious. England scored 169 runs in 19.3 over loosing only 4 wickets (ENG - 169/4, 19.3 over). Eoin Morgan was the highest scorer for England who scored 49 runs in just 27 deliveries that inlcuded 7 fours and a six.

England won the match by 6 wickets. Man of the match was Jade Dernbach. By winning this match, England has sent a strong message to rest of the teams in the world stating that; apart from test cricket, they have become a strong contender in T20 cricket as well.

MS Dhoni can create a reverse history too !!!!!

After triumphing over West Indies, Indians headed to England to play a test series on the hosts. But everything went in vain. India being a best team is now suffering a lot of damage done by England. The wall of India i.e, Rahul Dravid is the only consistent performer who is saving the prestige of India being drastically hindered. I will tell you that it is not India tour of England, it should be "Dravid tour of England" :-)

The first match was little OK for India as they lost the opening match by 196 runs. After this, things began to worsen very much. In the second match they lost by 319 runs. In the 3rd match, England won by an innings and 242 runs. By this, England won the series and also took the #1 position pushing India to drop down the second position.

Indians had  to at-least make a draw in the fourth test if they want to remain in #2 position. But even this has become a doubt now. England scored a total of 491 runs loosing only 6 wickets (ENG - 491/6) and finally declared. Ian Bell contributed 235 runs and Kevin Pietersen contributed 175 runs to the team's score. India were all out scoring only 300 runs (IND - 300/10) and started to play their second innings as follow on. Highest scorer from India was Rahul Dravid who was unbeaten scoring 146 runs. As of now, India have scored 25 runs with no loss in the follow on innings (IND - 25/0).

Second test match: India vs England

Today was the first day of the second test match played between England and India at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England. The toss was won by the Indian skipper MS Dhoni and he decided to field first.

England started its first innings with the openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook. Things started to go weird for the England as they lost first wicket when they reached only 7 runs. Third wicket partnership resulted in 50 runs, which gave some hopes to the team and bought back into the game. However, Indians managed to take 8 wickets in just 124 runs and they failed to remove the 9th wicket quickly. This costed them 73 runs partnership and later on Praveen Kumar managed to take the 9th wicket. Soon after the break of this great partnership Indians some how managed to remove the 10th wicket and ended up the England's first innings with a total of 221 runs (ENG - 221/10). Stuart Broad was the highest scorer in the innings who did the damage for India and he scored 64 runs in just 66 deliveries. Praveen Kumar, Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma took 3 wickets each for India.

In reply to this, India opened its batting innings with the openers Abhinav Mukund and Rahul Dravid. In the very first delivery, James Anderson took Abhinav Mukund's wicket. This left India into jeopardy as they lost a wicket without scoring a single run which was a bad start for them. VVS Laxman came in to bat at number 3 position. At the end of the day, Rahul Dravid was unbeaten scoring 7 runs and VVS Laxman at 13 runs. India has scored a total of 24 runs for the loss of 1 wicket (IND - 24/1).

Lots of action will happen tomorrow and i want Indians to play extraordinarily well and do not end up all out in the second day itself. 

First Test match: India vs England

After triumphing over West Indies, Now India will be touring England. They will be playing 4 test match cricket series which will be followed by 1 T20 match and 5 ODI cricket series. On 21st of June India and England will be playing the first test match that will be played at Lord's, London.

From past few years India have shown up some extraordinary performances and they have won many series which includes World Cup 2011. England is very keen about playing against the World champs and they are waiting for the moment. On the other hand, India are also looking to triumph over England as well. Plenty of actions to happen out in England for the next 2 months. After this tour, England in return will visit India.

RCB are back again.... now into IPL finals

It was an joyful day for me as RCB took their revenge on MI by winning the match. In the first playoff match, CSK and RCB faced each other. CSK won the match and marked their place in the IPL4 finals.

I was not disappointed at all, because i had confidence that RCB will definitely outplay MI and so i was cool. I considered it as an opportunity for the RCB to take their revenge on MI as they had been defeated by them in the league match. Things went well today for RCB as the big man Chris Gayle alone belted all the bowlers of MI. He just played magnificently and took the pressure off for the rest of the batsmen. He scored 89 runs in just 47 deliveries that included 9 fours and 5 sixes. RCB in their first innings scored a total of 185 and lost 4 wickets. I was not sure at that time the RCB will reach finals that easily.

But things went on Royal Challengers Bangalore way, All most all the bowlers bowled well. RCB skipper Daniel Vettori was very economical and took 3 major wickets. Mumbai Indians were struggling to score runs till the end of the innings. They could only manage to score a total of 142 runs with the loss of 8 wickets. Thereby Royal Challengers Bangalore won the match by 43 runs. Mumbai Indians dream of lifting up the IPL trophy again comes to an end.

Now RCB has better chance to lift the cup as they have one more revenge pending in their account. In this IPL, CSK won against RCB in the playoff. Thank god for the playoff system, due to this my team RCB is back on track again. The best part is that it is the time for RCB to have their revenge and lift the IPL trophy for the first time.

RCB are on top...... :-)

Yesterday's IPL match was very crucial for the top 4 four teams. The top four teams before the match were,
1. Chennai Super Kings
2. Royal Challengers Bangalore
3. Mumbai Indians
4. Kolkata Knight Riders

Before their 14th IPL match, it was already known that these 4 teams are into playoffs. Now the fight was to get into first 2 positions to gain advantage. If they could not, atleast they should get into first 3 positions to get an entry to Champions League. It was already known that RCB and CSK are into Champions League even if they loose the match. There were so many combinations possible like, if CSK wins, RCB will end up 3rd. if CSK looses, RCB comes first and CSK ends up 2nd only if their net run rate is better than MI. On the other hand, If KKR wins against MI, they have chances to get into 2nd or 3rd position depending upon how CSK looses against RCB. If MI wins, KKR ends up 4th position there by missing Champions League this time.

Yesterday first match was played between RCB and CSK. CSK put up a total of 128 runs only as they could not face RCB's bowling attack. It was skipper MS Dhoni who helped to put up this total. He quick fired to score 70 runs in just 40 deliveries that included 3 fours and 6 sixes. For RCB this total was not that challenging. Chris Gayle who is at top form scored a magnificent 75 runs in just 50 deliveries that included 4 fours and 6 sixes. He was unbeaten till the end of the innings. RCB scored 129 runs in 18 overs and won the match by 8 wickets. After this win there was a swap in the ranking RCB were back on top and CSK on 2nd.

In the second match, KKR played well a put up a total of 175 runs on board. All the batsmen contributed runs which helped in building in this total. In reply to this, MI also played equally good and chased the target successfully in the last delivery of the innings. There was one over from Lakshmipathy Balaji where he conceded 21 runs in just 6 deliveries which turned the match in favor of MI. MI won the match by 5 wickets. After the second match, the rankings table remained same with RCB topping the table.

Rajasthan Royals outplay Mumbai Indians

On Friday, Rajasthan Royals played their home match against Mumbai Indians at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. The toss was won by Shane Warne and he chose to bowl first.

Davy Jacobs and Sachin Tendulkar opened the batting innings for the MI. The start was pretty good, but they likewise the wickets were also started to fall. Not even a single batsman showed his performance in this match. Everyone failed to play their trademark shots as well. Even Kieron Pollard, Andrew Symonds who love to hunt the ball failed in this match. Mumbai Indians could not resist the bowling attack done by Rajasthan Royals and they finally ended  scoring a total of just 94 runs on board in 20 overs with the loss of 8 wickets (MI - 94/8, 20over). Johan Botha was the most economical bowler whose economy rate was just 3 runs per over and took 3 wickets. Apart from him, other bowlers also bowled well.

Rajasthan Royals in reply, chased their target of 95 runs in 18.1 overs with the loss of 3 wickets (RR - 95/3, 18.1over). Shane Watson scored 26 runs and Johan Botha who bowled an awesome spell, batted magnificently  as well. He scored 45 runs in 39 balls that included 2 fours and a six. Ali Murtaza was economical from MI side but failed to take a wicket.

Rajasthan Royals won the match by 7 wickets. Man of the match was Johan Botha for hitting 45 runs, taking 3 wickets and a catch.

IPL 2011: MI vs RCB

On 12th April, Mumbai Indians played against Royal Challengers Bangalore at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. The toss was won by Mumbai Indians and they chose to field first.

Mayank Agarwal and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the batting innings for RCB. In the very first ball of the innings, Lasith Malinga bowled and yorker length delivery to Mayank Agarwal and bowled him. He departed getting a duck and the batting team became quite upset with Malinga's bowling attack. Virat Kohli came in and did not survive for a long time. He only scored 12 runs from 19 deliveries. AB de Villiers and Dilshan put up some good partnership that helped RCB to come out of the critical situation. AB de villiers scored 38 runs before getting caught and bowled by Kieron Pollard. Dilshan managed to put up a half-century and remained unbeaten scoring 59 runs in 52 deliveries that included 4 fours and 2 sixes. In 20 overs, RCB managed to put up a total score of 140 runs for the loss of 4 wickets (RCB - 140/4, 20 over). 


The total was not a big or challenging one for the Mumbai Indians as they have a pretty aggressive batting line-up. Right from the start of the innings, MI batsmen started to play some big shots. Davy Jacobs scored 22 runs and departed. Dirk Nannes picked up his wicket and gave 0 runs in his first over. Dirk Nannes after this over did not bowl as he got injured. Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu put up a unbeaten partnership of 110 runs. Sachin Tendulkar remained unbeaten scoring 55 runs and Ambati Rayudu remained unbeaten scoring 63 runs. In 18.3 overs, Mumbai Indians managed to chase the target successfully scoring a total of 143 runs for the loss of 1 wicket (MI - 143/1, 18.3 over).

Mumbai Indians won the match by 9 wickets. Man of the match for Sachin Tendulkar. This victory has made Mumbai Indians to move to the first place of the ranking table. I am really disappointed with my home teams performance. They have lost a match, that too at their home ground.

Srilanka vs India in World Cup 2011 finals

Yesterday, India won semi-finals against Pakistan at Mohali and enter into finals. Earlier to this, first semi-finals was played between Srilanka and Newzealand. Srilanka won the match and they were the first team to enter into the finals of World Cup 2011. Now India will be playing against its sub-continent Srilanka in the finals of the World Cup on Saturday at Wankhede pitch, Mumbai.

The 2 two teams a similar kind of background,
India have won 1 world cup so far, So is Srilanka.
India have entered 2 finals and 3rd time they are appearing, So is Srilanka.
In the very first finals, India has won the World Cup, So is Srilanka.
In the second finals, India lost to Australia, So is Srilanka.

Apart from this, the only advantage Srilanka have is that they have a well balanced team. Their bowling performance is just brilliant so far. This is lacking in India side. But India has a luck factor with them.

Let us see, what happens in finals. My cheers will always be to India. India India....... Dhak Dhak go...... :-)

India vs Australia in quarter finals facing each other

India won against West Indies in the last league match of the ICC World Cup 2011 that took place at Chennai, yesterday. This victory has led to face against the toughest team Australia in the quarter finals. Australians are the defending champions who are defending from last 3 World Cup's which was in 1999, 2003 and 2007.

In 2003, India and Australia were in the finals. Australia outplayed India and defended the cup. Now, this is the time for the Indians to take their revenge against the Aussies for their World Cup loss. As you can see from the league matches, India have not performed at a good level against the strong teams so far. On the other side, Aussies have lost only one match so far and a match was drawn. Aussies have not performed that great though, but they have played sensible cricket so far.

Aussies looks to be a silent killer. On the other side, Indians apart from poor bowling, now their batting performance is also getting inhibited. But both the rivals will face against each other after the finals that was played in 2003 World Cup.

Other quarter finalists are Pakistan playing against West Indies, Srilanka playing against England and South Africa taking against the Kiwis. All the top teams of the World are into the quarter finals. This World Cup is going to be full of excitement and entertainment with lots of action.

India vs Srilanka / India vs Australia at quarter finals??

In Group A, Pakistan tops the table followed by Srilanka and third stands Australia finally Kiwis at the last. In Group B, South Africa are at the top and England are at the fourth position. The fight for second and third place is between India and West Indies.

Based on the todays match result which will be played against India and West Indies, we will come to know that who will be in the second and third position. If India wins this match, India will play against Australia and West Indies will play against Srilanka in the quarter finals of the ICC World Cup 2011. If India looses, West Indies will come to the second position and they will be facing the Aussies in the quarter finals and Indians will face against Srilankans.

India have already completed its batting innings, Yuvaraj Singh was the top scorer scoring 113 runs and Virat Kohli scoring a half-century. Indians did not perform well with the bat today and again they were all-out in 49.1 over scoring only 268 runs in total. Ravi Rampaul took 5 wickets.

After seeing the match and the performance by the Indians i lost the hope that they will win this match. It looks like they will end up with a loss and face Srilankans in the quarter finals.

ICC World Cup 2011 updates: Day 22

On the 22nd day of the ICC World Cup 2011, India and South Africa faced against each other at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur, India. The toss went into the favor of India and they chose to bat first.

India gave a fine start with the openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. Right from the start of the innings, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were hitting the ball all over the ground. Sachin Tendulkar was more aggressive than Sehwag. The both put up a partnership of 142 runs in just 17.4 overs. Sehwag was out and Gautam Gambhir came in to bat. He also batted well and put up his half century. The second wicket partnership consisted of 125 runs. Sachin Tendulkar got out and finally South Africans managed to remove the little master. This was the turning point for them. When Sachin departed, India's total was 267 for the loss of 2 wickets in just 39.4 overs. He scored his 48th ODI century scoring 111 runs in 101 deliveries. After this, India collapsed and lost all its remaining 8 wickets scoring only 29 runs. They could not even complete the 50 overs nor could score a total of 300 runs. The worst batting performance i have ever seen in my life. India after 48.4 overs, put up a total of only 296 runs and lost all 10 wickets (IND- 296/10, 48.4 over). Dale Steyn took 5 wickets.

In reply, South Africa also started off very well. The top order batsmen played their part and put very useful runs to the total. Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers put up half-centuries each. Other batsmen, played some good knocks. The match went on closer as if the match could be won be any team. Till the last over, there was no confirmation on who will the match. In the last over, South Africa needed 13 runs with 3 wickets on hand. The ball given to Ashish Nehra on whom the match depended on. The very first ball went for a four then next delivery went for a Six. This 2 deliveries decided that South Africa have almost won the match. In that over, Petersen hit 4,6,2,4 and won the match with 2 deliveries in spare. South Africa scored a total of 300 runs in 49.4 overs (SA - 300/7, 49.4 over). Harbhajan Singh took 3 wickets.

South Africa won the match by 3 wickets. Man of the match went to Dale Steyn who took 5 wickets and was responsible for the collapse of the Indian batting.

ICC World Cup 2011 updates: Day 8

On the 8th day of the ICC World Cup 2011, India played against England at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India. Toss went into the favor of MS Dhoni and he chose to bat first.

The big guns Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar opened the batting innings for India. Sehwag hit 4 in the first delivery of the innings itself, it was an awesome start for India. Sehwag kept on firing and on the other end Sachin Tendulkar did not strike well. Sehwag departed after scoring 35 runs from 26 deliveries. Gautam Gambhir came in to bat and he also started playing well. Mean while Sachin took the responsibility and started hitting the ball. Gauti departed after scoring his half century and Yuvi came in to bat. Yuvaraj Singh partnered with master blaster and played some decent knocks while Sachin kept on hitting few sixes. Sachin Tendulkar looking to hit a big one, but at-last he changed his mind and tried to flick towards leg side which got edged and went straight to Michael Yardy who made no mistake. Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar went back to pavilion after scoring 120 runs in 115 deliveries that included 10 fours and 5 sixes. Yuvaraj Singh made his half century and returned back. Immediately Indian skipper MS Dhoni followed him. After this things changed, India lost remaining wickets and were all out in 49.5 overs with 1 delivery to spare. India scored 338 runs with the loss of 10 wickets. Tim Bresnan took 5 wickets.

England needed 339 runs to win the match, which is not an easy go for them. Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen started the batting innings for England. They both started off well and right from the beginning boundaries kept on adding. After the fall of Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell came in and made a good partnership of 170 runs. This partnership took away India's hope of winning the match. In the 43rd over, Zaheer Khan came back and broke the partnership claiming both the wickets back to back. Andrew Strauss scored an amazing score of 158 runs and Ian Bell scored 69 runs. After this, things turned towards Indian side and they were looking stronger back with hopes. But this didn't last long as they started giving runs but at the same time taking wickets. When Piyush Chawla bowled the 49th over, he went for 2 sixes which almost turned the match towards England. But, he picked up his prey in the last delivery. At this point of time England were 325 runs with the loss of 8 wickets. They were in need of 14 runs in 6 deliveries with 2 wickets remaining. After a six was hit, England were little relieved and the hope for India was again gone as England needed only 4 runs from 2 deliveries. In the next delivery they made 2 more runs thus requiring only 2 runs from 1 ball to win the match. Last delivery Munaf bowled a good one and gave just only one run. Both the teams were releaved as the match did not go in to anyones favor.

Match was drawn and the points was shared by both the teams. Man of the match was Andrew Strauss.

ICC World Cup 2011 updates: Day 3

On the Day 3 of the ICC World Cup 2011, Australia and Zimbabwe played their first World Cup 2011 match facing each other at Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera, India. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first.

Right from the start, Australians felt pressure and were struggling to score runs. But they did not loose a wicket till the end of 19th over. Brad Haddin departed at the last delivery of the 19th over scoring only 29 runs of 66 deliveries. Australian opener Shane Watson and Michael Clarke helped the team to put up some runs and increased the run rate to just over the 5 runs per over. Shane Watson scored 79 runs of 92 balls and Michael Clarke 58 runs from 55 deliveries. This helped Australia to end up scoring a good total of 262 runs with the loss of 6 wickets in 50 overs. Graeme Cremer was very economical bowler for Zimbabwe as his economy rate was 4.1 runs per over and he also picked up a wicket.

Zimbabwe needed 263 runs to win the match against Australia. Zimbabwe gave a good flying start and managed to score at the required run rate until the fall of their 1st wicket that was in 5.4 over. After the first fall, Zimbabweans started to loose wickets at regular intervals and their run rate dropped eventually. When 7th wicket fell, Graeme Cremer came in to bat and partnered Prosper Utseya. They both played well where Aussies were struggling to break the partnership and were really pissed off. After a long struggle, at 40th over, Aussies managed to break the partnership and removed remaining wickets. Zimbabwe ended up scoring a total of 171 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 46.2 overs.

Australia won the match by 91 runs. Man of the match went to Shane Watson for hitting 79 runs, took 2 catches and bowled well with an economy rate of 2.33 runs per over.

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ICC World Cup 2011 Opening ceremony

Today ICC World Cup 2011 opening ceremony was held at Dhaka, Bangladesh. All the 14 team skippers were in present in this ceremony. The stadium was filled with excitement with full colors and music. The main performers were Sonu Nigam, Runa Laila and the Canadian rocker Bryan Adams who rocked the stadium.

There would have been plenty of taught that had come in the minds of all the skippers. As of now, they should be having their own gaming strategies and plans prepared for this World Cup. Each players dream would be to lift the ICC World Cup along with their team members and return to their homes with glory.

In total 49 matches will be played in a span 6 weeks. The decider match i.e, the finals between the 2 glorious team performing in this World Cup will be played on 2nd April in Mumbai. One shall stand victorious while others shall fall. 

An update on the World Cup 2011

As we all are set and ready to watch the crickets biggest event "ICC World Cup" which will start from 19th February, The warm-up matches has already been started. Till now 6 warm-up matches has been played.

The 6th match was played between the world's top 2 team, India and Australia. This match was held at Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore. India won the toss and chose to bat first. As usual, the Delhi duals Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag opened the innings for India. Gauti could not make it big for the day, Viru took the charge and played some brilliant knocks and finally departed scoring an half-century. After the fall of Sehwag, Indians could not resist the Aussies bowling attack. They kept on loosing wickets, there was a very good 8th wicket partnership that helped India to add some useful runs which helped India to put up a total score of 214 runs.

Australia opened its batting innings with a four, and kept on adding runs at an faster rate. Indians could not resist Aussies batting attack until Piyush Chawla came in. That was the turning point for India. Chawla bowled some magical spell which helped him to take 4 important wickets. This helped India to get back to the track and managed to take all the 10 wickets. Australia were bowled out for 176 runs. India won the match by 38 runs.

Though India did not show any star performance, they somehow managed to win the match against the World #1 team. This victory would have definitely increased the team morale and gain some more confidence to win the World Cup.

The warm-up matched will be played till 18th of Feb. The last match would be between England and Pakistan at Fatullah.

Warm-up match between India and Australia

Today, India and Australia are playing their warm-up match facing against each other. This warm-up match will be played in Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore. In parallel to the match, another interesting event happening in Bangalore is Aero show at Yelahanka air base. I think that many people don't want to miss both the events. As soon as they leave the aero show, they will head straight towards the stadium or to their respective houses.

ICC World Cup 2011 will be starting from February 19th onwards. It will be hosted in India, Bangladesh and Srilanka. Fourteen teams around the globe are participating in the Cricket's biggest event.

India and Australia started their warm-up match at 9:00AM IST. India won the toss and elect to bat first. India lost Gautam Gambhir when the total was just 12. Virender Sehwag played some beautiful knocks and scored 54 runs in 56 deliveries. This included 8 fours and 1 six. After the fall of Sehwag, India started to loose wickets quickly. By 29.5 overs, India lost 8 wickets and scored only 138 runs in total. Australians bowlers are looking dominant and Brett Lee is the most economical bowler so far. His economy rate is just 3.33 runs per over and has taken 3 wickets in 9 overs. As of now, India has scored 150 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Yusuf Pathan and Ravichandran Ashwin are batting.

The cricketer's who might be playing their last world cup: Part1

Shoaib Akhtar, 35: Once the fastest bowler in the world, his career has always been on the brink of an abrupt end due to injuries and misdemeanours. But he has surprisingly hung on. Shoaib was runners-up in the 1999 World cup and bowled a delivery at 161 KMPH in the 2003 event. He's now one of the fading stars of a once brilliant team.

Jacques Kallis, 35: The finest all-rounder this side of the 1990s, Kallis has seen many World Cup heart-breaks: the quarterfinal in 1996, semi-finals in 1999 and 2007, and the rain-rule blunder of 2003. His team has a point to prove in 2011.

Muttiah Muralitharan, 38: Murali is the most successful bowler ever in international cricket. He retired from Tests last year with a mind-boggling 800 wickets and will retire from ODIs after the World Cup. Sri Lanka won the 1996 World Cup with him, reached the 2003 semis and the 2007 final. Playing at home again, can they do an encore for Murali?

Tillakaratne Dilshan, 34: He started his international career at 23, but blossomed late. He is one of the most destructive openers on sub-continental flatbeds and has also invented the ‘Dilscoop’. Sri Lanka is an aging side with lots of senior batsmen in their mid-30s. Dilshan might not be around in 2015.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 36: Chanders will be playing his fifth World Cup. In 1996, he almost took West Indies in to the final but his wicket triggered a collapse leading to an Australian win. Since then, the two-time champs have performed poorly at the World cup. Will this time be different?

Zaheer Khan, 32: Fast bowlers tend to have a shorter shelf-life than other cricketers. Given Zaheer's work-load and injury record, he would do well to stay fit for the 2015 World Cup. It's a difficult task, but let's hope India’s best pacer is still around taking loads of wickets.

The cricketer's who might be playing their last world cup: Part2

Here are some predictions for the cricketer's in which i think this might be their last World Cup.

Sachin Tendulkar, 37: He owns nearly every batting record there is but World Cup glory has eluded him. He single-handedly took India to the semis in 1996 and the final in 2003. This is his sixth World Cup and he will be 42 by the time the next World Cup comes around. In all probability, this is his last chance to wear the winner's medal.

Steve Tikolo, 39: He’s been the rock of Kenyan cricket ever since they started playing ODI cricket in 1996. A fluent middle-order batsman and an off-spinner, Tikolo astonishingly lead the minnows to the semi-final of the 2003 World Cup. 2011 is his fifth World Cup, and he’ll be plotting some upsets.

Ricky Ponting, 36: The Australia captain has been a middle-order force since the late 90s. But his poor form with the bat has coincided with Australia's worst slump in many years. Ponting has tasted World Cup success in 1999, 2003 and 2007 but this could be his final shot at the title.

Brett Lee, 35: Once the fastest bowler in the world alongside Shoaib Akhtar, Lee's career has been curtailed by recurring injuries. He's fought back into the team, but it will be a struggle for him to remain there for long. He's won the World Cup in 2003 and 2007.

Paul Collingwood, 34: He holds the distinction of leading England to their first world title, the World T20 in 2010. He's been England's blue-collared hero --- a hard-working batsman, attacking fielder and useful seamer --- but this may be his last chance to end his team's World Cup jinx.

Scott Styris, 35: He's a dependable middle-order batsman and an annoyingly good seamer. Styris will be 40 by the time the next World Cup happens in 2015. He has a good cup record, averaging 69.2 in just 18 matches. His experience will be much needed if this Kiwi team has to reverse its losing trend.

2nd test match: India vs Australia

Yesterday was one of the glorious moment for the Indians won the test series against the Australians by 2-0. On the day 5, Australia had 3 wickets on hand to end its second batting innings. Zaheer Khan bowled an in-swing that which hit the stumps and Mitchell Johnson got out. Another 6 runs were added before Australia lost all its 10th wicket before lunch and ended up scoring 223 runs in the second innings (223/10).

India needed 207 runs to win the match and win the test series. Virender Sehwag got out when reached 7 runs and India lost its first wicket when the total score was just 17 runs. This seemed to be a bad start for the Indians as they lost Virender Sehwag in the early condition. The new entry to the team Cheteshwar Pujara came in to bat partnering Murali Vijay and they both put up a partnership of 62 runs. After the fall of Murali Vijay, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar who is in form came in to bat and put up a very good partnership of 57 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara made his debut half century and scored 72 runs before being sent back to the pavilion by Nathan Hauritz. The Wall, Rahul Dravid came in to bat partnering Sachin Tendulkar and both played till the end putting up a partnership of 61 runs. Sachin Tendulkar completed half century and scored 53 runs.  

India scored a total of 207 runs for the loss of 3 wickets and won the match by 7 wickets. India won the series by clean sweeping Australians by 2-0. Man of the match and the Man of the series award went to Sachin Tendulkar.