Proudest Moment of Sachin Tendulkar,

Sachin Tendulkar said 2011 World Cup triumph was the proudest moment of his life, such as India and Sri Lanka won by six wickets to capture the "ultimate" prize. "I could not have asked for more," said Tendulkar. "" Winning the World Cup is the ultimate thing. Is the proudest moment of my life. This shows it is never too late. I thank my colleagues who were wonderful. I could not really hold back my tears. These are happy tears so I do not mind crying. " Virat Kohli said victory was a fitting tribute to Tendulkar. "This goes out to all the people in India. Tendulkar carried the burden of the nation for 21 years, and it was time we did." Said Gautam Gambhir, who played a key role with the bat in making 97 of 122 balls, and was a gift to win great teammate Sachin Tendulkar from the entire squad. "All the credit for this win should go to Tendulkar. We were all playing for him, and this is the cup for him." Tendulkar a little bit, for his part, thanked all of his team-mates, his support staff including Mike century polar explorer. I would like to thank the support staff especially Mike Horn who joined us at the beginning of the tournament and was there for a couple of our share of games, "he was working on the psychological side and helped us deal with the expectations and pressure. Team stuck together in the rough stages and proved people wrong who doubted our ability. The self-confidence there is always a but in the past two years, we were very consistent.

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Sachin Tendulkar's 95th half century

Sayed added another half-century for his flavoury Kitty roles in this first test of the match in 3 kiwis, and this being his 95. I would like to say though he missed as he was looking good for more than Gambhir ton.Joining 73/1 and then Dravid in 75/2 runs scored Excellent 62 from 85 balls with 4 11 therein. Strike rate nearly 73% and Mr. literally jumping on top of each ball to a slap on the boudnary. He looked excellent touch, especially through the cover and the point where a few wacked four. Our Bombay Bomber is definitely continuning to be a thorn in the caps and black in this innings again and he looked very comfortable and was trying different strokes, including a few over the goalkeeper (like in the picture to the right). Lost his wicket to flashy stroke similar to Chris Martin, who finished with the best figures for NZ with 4 wickets. As is every fan, and I am disappointed that he missed the last century, but I hope not sure or level will continue in the roles of the second and right in practice through the IPL :) so we can more of it.

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Sachin's 163 against The NewZeland in the 2009 series

India lost 2 wickets early but it does not seem Sachin to worry about that. In fact burst through confidence through out the innings. Scored 163 * 133 only if the balls with 16 and 5 four sixes. If you've missed out on the * next to that 163 let me tell you that he was looking good for a few hundred. I did not even overdo my eyes to see this world record from another master, but thanks to that he had a hit on retirement of roles, can rest assured that he had already India to a good score. View roles below; enjoy and let other do not know your thoughts.

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Tendulkar backs MS Dhoni's team for T20 title.

Sachin Tendulkar record-breaking batsman, who does not play in international matches and Twenty20 team said MS Dhoni was the best in the world the most explosive form of the game, and believes India will retain the Twenty20 World Cup next month. India is the most balanced side in the world, and there is no doubt that we are able to defend the title. Our very good cricketers in our side and we have proved that this combination is the deadliest. Led the Indian youth team Donny to surprise success in South Africa two years ago to ensure the shorter format of the game gained instant popularity in cricket commercial center. Wicketkeeper - batsman Denis headed young, dynamic group for the second edition in England starting on June 5. India in Group A with Bangladesh and Ireland. The best part is that our team can take any amount of pressure and still performing, our players actually thrive on pressure. So I would put my money in India. The master of our attack to seek to have a lot of diversity and that would come in handy in such circumstances. We have today, we can not demolish any batting side. We come as a package and this package is the best in the business at the moment. This package all that is necessary to make us world champions again ...

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Match Details

Mon Dec 26 - Fri Dec 30

1st Test - Australia vs Indi
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne


Tue Jan 3 - Sat Jan 7

2nd Test - Australia vs India
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney


Tue Jan 24 - Sat Jan 28


4th Test - Australia vs India
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide


Wed Feb 1


1st T20 - Australia vs India
ANZ Stadium, Sydney


Fri Feb 3

2nd T20 - Australia vs India
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne

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ICC World Twenty20

The ICC World Twenty20 or ICC World T20 also referred to as the T20 World Cup is the international championship of Twenty20 cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament consists of 12 teams in which all the ten ICC Full Members are automatically qualified and the remaining two spots will be contested through ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. The event is held every two years.

The inaugural event, the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, was staged in South Africa from 11–24 September 2007. The tournament was won by India, who became the first World T20 Champions after defeating Pakistan by 5 runs in the final at Johannesburg. The second event, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 took place in England from 5–21 June 2009. This tournament was won by the previous runners-up Pakistan who defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the final at Lord's, London.[1] The third tournament, the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 was held from 30 April–16 May 2010 and hosted by the West Indies. The winners were England who defeated Australia by 7 wickets in the final at Kensington Oval, Barbados. This was the first ever ICC tournament won by England.

Format


Rules and regulations

During the group stage and Super Eight, points are awarded to the teams as follows:


Results Points
Win 2 points
No result 1 point
Loss 0 points
In case of a Tie (i.e. both teams score exactly the same number of runs at the end of their respective innings), a Super Over would decide the winner. In case of a Tie again in the Super Over, the match is won by the team that has scored the most 6s in their innings. This is applicable in all stages of the tournament. But this provision came in existence from 2009. During the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 tournament, the provision for deciding the winner in case of a Tie was a Bowl-out.[2]
Within each group (both group stage & Super Eight stage), teams are ranked against each other based on the following criteria:[3]

1. Higher number of points
2. If equal, higher number of wins
3. If still equal, higher net run rate
4. If still equal, lower bowling strike rate
5. If still equal, result of head to head meeting.

Qualification
All Test-playing nations achieve automatic qualification to the tournament, with the remaining places filled by ICC associate member nations through a qualification tournament.

Qualification for the 2007 World Twenty20 came from the results of the first cycle of the ICC World Cricket League - a 50-over format league for non-Test playing nations. The two finalists of the Division One tournament - Kenya and Scotland - qualified for the inaugural World Twenty20 tournament alongside the Test-playing nations. Qualification for subsequent tournaments, beginning with the 2009 event, is achieved through a special event using the twenty20 format.

A World Twenty20 Qualifier was held in 2008 as qualifier for the 2009 World Twenty20 and currently is the main qualification tournament for all the upcoming World Twenty20's tournaments. The 2008 Qualifiers were played between 2 August and 5 August 2008 in Stormont, Belfast in Northern Ireland. The six competing teams were: Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, The Netherlands and Scotland, with the top three earning a place at the 2009 World Twenty20 in England. The competition was won by Ireland and the Netherlands, who shared the trophy after rain forced the final to be abandoned without a ball bowled. Both teams qualified for the 2009 finals in England. Due to the withdrawal of Zimbabwe from the competition, the two finalists were joined by third-placed Scotland.

The 2010 Qualifier was the largest so far, with eight competing teams. It was played in the United Arab Emirates from 9–13 February 2010 with the top two teams progressing to the 2010 tournament in the Caribbean. The eight competing teams were: Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, the Netherlands, Scotland, UAE and the USA.[4] The competition was won by Afghanistan who qualified along with Ireland who were second.

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni pronunciation (help·info) (Hindi: महेन्द्र सिंह धोनी) (born 7 July 1981) is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian national cricket team. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut in December 2004 against Bangladesh, and a year later played his first Test, this time against Sri Lanka.

Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, CB Series of 2007–08, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2008 and 2010 against Australia 2–0 and 2011 World Cup. His Test, ODI record is best among all the Indian captains to date. He also captained Chennai Super Kings to victory in the recent 2011 IPL and in the Champions League. He is now captain of India in all three forms of the game and also led the team to their first ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Under Dhoni's captaincy India became the first team after a gap of more than 20 years to whitewash Australia in a Test series. Dhoni also led the Indian team to the number one position in ICC rankings in Test cricket for the first time. Dhoni has also been the recipient of many awards including the ICC ODI Player of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 (the first Indian player to achieve this feat), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour in 2009. In 2009 Dhoni topped the list of world’s top 10 earning cricketers compiled by Forbes.[1] He was named as the captain of ICC World Test and ICC ODI teams for 2009. In the final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, he hit 91 not out of just 79 balls to lead India to victory. For his outstanding batting in the final, he was awarded as the man of the match. The TIME magazine added him in its "Time 100" list of 100 most influential people of 2011.[2] According to the SportsPro magazine Dhoni is 10th most valuable brand in field of sports worldwide and number 1 among all Asian superstars.[3]
Personal life

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was born in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand) in a Rajput family to Pan Singh and Devaki Devi.[4] His paternal village Lvali is in the Lamgarha block of the Almora District of Uttarakhand. Dhoni's parents, moved from Uttarakhand to Ranchi where Pan Singh worked in junior management positions in MECON. Dhoni has a sister Jayanti and a brother Narendra. Dhoni had long hair which he has now shortened; he cut it because he wanted to look like his favourite film star John Abraham(actor). He likes bikes. A Hummer to add to the four cars and 23 high-speed motorcycles already parked in his garage in Ranchi. He endorses 15 brands from clothes to cold Drinks. He is also one of the highest income tax payers in last year[5] Dhoni is a fan of Adam Gilchrist, and his childhood idols were cricket teammate Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and singer Lata Mangeshkar.Shreya Ghoshal is his current favourite singer. He said this in front a press conference with Pune Mirror.[6][7]
Dhoni studied at DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali,(now the school is known as JVM, Shyamli, Ranchi) Ranchi, Jharkhand where he initially excelled in badminton and football and was selected at district and club level in these sports. Dhoni was a goalkeeper for his football team and was sent to play cricket for a local cricket club by his football coach. Though he had not played cricket, Dhoni impressed with his wicket-keeping skills and became the regular wicketkeeper at the Commando cricket club (1995–1998). Based on his performance at club cricket, he was picked for the 1997/98 season Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under-16 Championship and he performed well.[5] Dhoni focused on cricket after his 10th standard.[8]
Dhoni married Sakshi (née Rawat) on 4 July 2010. Sakshi Dhoni, a native of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. At the time of their marriage, she was studying Hotel Management and was working as a trainee at the Taj Bengal, Kolkata. After the retirement of Sakshi’s father from tea gardens, their family shifted to their native place, Dehradun.
The wedding stumped the media and the fans as it took place only a day after the couple got engaged.[9][10] Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu, a close friend of Dhoni, was quick to inform the media that the wedding was planned for months and was not a spur of the moment decision.[11]

ODI career

The Indian team in the 2000s saw the use of Rahul Dravid as the wicket-keeper to ensure that the wicket-keeper spot didn't lack in batting talent.[29] The Indian cricket establishment also saw the entry of wicket-keeper/batsmen from the junior ranks with talents like Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik – both India U-19 Captains in the test squads.[29] With Dhoni making a mark in the India-A squad, he was picked in the ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour in 2004/05.[31] Dhoni did not have a great start to his ODI career, getting run out for a duck on debut.[32] In spite of an average series against Bangladesh, Dhoni was picked for the Pakistan ODI series.[33] In the second match of the series, Dhoni in his fifth one-day international, scored 148 in Vishakapatnam off only 123 deliveries. Dhoni's 148 surpassed the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper,[34] a record that he would re-write before the end of the year.

Dhoni had few batting opportunities in the first two games of the Sri Lankan bilateral ODI series (October–November 2005) and was promoted to No. 3 in the third ODI at Sawai Mansingh Stadium (Jaipur). Sri Lanka had set India a target of 299 after a Kumar Sangakkara century and in reply, India lost Tendulkar early. Dhoni was promoted to accelerate the scoring and ended the game with an unbeaten 183 off 145 balls, winning the game for India[35] – an innings described in Wisden Almanack (2006) as 'Uninhibited, yet anything but crude'.[36] The innings set various records including the highest Individual score in ODI cricket in the second innings,[37] a record that still stands. Dhoni ended the series with the highest run aggregate (346)[38] and was awarded the Man of the series award for his efforts. In December 2005, Dhoni was signed by BCCI to a B-grade contract, skipping the initial C-grade level due to his performance on the cricketing field.[39]
India scored 328 in 50 overs with Dhoni contributing 68 in their first match of 2006 against Pakistan. However the team finished poorly, scoring just 43 runs in the last eight overs and lost the match due to Duckworth-Lewis method.[40] In the third match of the series, Dhoni came in with India in a precarious situation and scored 72 runs off just 46 balls that included 13 boundaries to help India take a 2–1 lead in the series.[41][42] The final match of the series had a repeat performance as Dhoni scored 77 runs off 56 balls to enable India win the series 4–1.[43] In recognition of his consistent ODI performances, Dhoni overtook Ricky Ponting as number one in the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen on 20 April 2006.[44] His reign lasted just a week as Adam Gilchrist's performance against Bangladesh moved him to the top spot.[45]
Two cancelled series in Sri Lanka, one due to the withdrawal of South Africa from the Unitech Cup due to security concerns[46] and the replacement 3-match ODI bilateral series against Sri Lanka washed due to rain,[47] was India's prelude to another disappointing tournament – DLF Cup 2006-07. Dhoni scored 43 runs as the team lost twice in three games and did not qualify for the finals. India's lack of preparation showed in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy as they lost to West Indies and Australia, though Dhoni scored a half-century against West Indies. The story of the ODI series in South Africa was the same for both Dhoni and India as Dhoni scored 139 runs in 4 matches and India lost the series 4–0. From the start of the WI ODI series, Dhoni had played 16 matches, hit just two fifties and averaged 25.93. Dhoni received criticism on his wicket keeping technique from former wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani.[48]
Preparations for the 2007 Cricket World Cup improved as India recorded identical 3–1 victories over West Indies and Sri Lanka and Dhoni had averages in excess of 100 in both these series. However, India unexpectedly crashed out the World Cup after losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Dhoni was out for a duck in both these matches and scored 29 runs in the tournament. After the loss to Bangladesh in 2007 Cricket World Cup, the house that Dhoni was constructing in his home-town Ranchi was vandalised and damaged by political activists of JMM.[49] The local police arranged for security for his family as India exited the World cup in the first round.[50]
Dhoni put his disappointment in the World cup behind him by scoring 91* against Bangladesh after India were left in a tight spot earlier in the run-chase. Dhoni was declared the man of the match for his performance, his fourth in ODI cricket. He was also later adjudged the man of the series after the third game of the series was washed away. Dhoni had a good Afro-Asia Cup, getting 174 runs in 3 matches at an average of 87.00, with a blitzkrieg 139 not out of 97 balls, a Man Of The Match innings, in the 3rd ODI.
Dhoni was nominated as the vice-captain of the ODI team for the series against South Africa in Ireland and the subsequent India-England 7-match ODI series.[13] Dhoni, who received a 'B' grade contract in December 2005, was awarded an 'A' grade contract in June 2007. And also he was elected as captain of Indian Twenty-20 Cricket Team for the World Twenty20 in September 2007. On 2 September 2007 Mahendra Singh Dhoni equalled his idol Adam Gilchrist's international record for the most dismissals in an innings in ODI by catching 5 English players and stumping one.[51] He led India to the ICC World Twenty 20 trophy in South Africa with a victory over arch rivals Pakistan in an intensely fought final on 24 September 2007, and became the second Indian captain to have won a World cup in any form of cricket, after Kapil Dev. Dhoni took his first wicket and ODI wicket on 30 September 2009. He bowled Travis Dowlin from the West Indies. During the series between India and Australia, Dhoni hit an aggressive 124 runs in just 107 balls, in the second ODI, and a measured knock of 71 runs in 95 balls, along with Yuvraj Singh, saw India home by 6 wickets, in the third ODI.
Dhoni topped the ICC ODI Batsman rankings for several months continuously in 2009, it was Hussy from Australia who replaced him for the top spot in the beginning of 2010.
Dhoni had an excellent year in ODIs in 2009 scoring 1198 runs in just 24 innings at an astonishing average of 70.43. Dhoni was also the joint top-scorer in ODIs in 2009 along with Ricky Ponting, but the latter having played in 30 innings.

Test career

Following his good one-day form against Sri Lanka, Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in December 2005 as the Indian Test wicket-keeper.[52] Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match that was marred by rain. Dhoni came to the crease when the team was struggling at 109/5 and as wickets kept falling around him, he played an aggressive innings and was the last man dismissed.[53] Dhoni made his maiden half-century in the second Test and his quick scoring rate (half century came off 51 balls) aided India to set a target of 436 and the Sri Lankans were bowled out for 247.[54]
Following his good one-day form against Sri Lanka, Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in December 2005 as the Indian Test wicket-keeper.[52] Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match that was marred by rain. Dhoni came to the crease when the team was struggling at 109/5 and as wickets kept falling around him, he played an aggressive innings and was the last man dismissed.[53] Dhoni made his maiden half-century in the second Test and his quick scoring rate (half century came off 51 balls) aided India to set a target of 436 and the Sri Lankans were bowled out for 247.[54]
Dhoni followed his maiden test century with some prosaic batting performances over the next three matches, one against Pakistan that India lost and two against England that had India holding a 1–0 lead going into the test match. Dhoni was the top scorer in India's first innings in the third test at Wankhede Stadium as his 64 aided India post a respectable 279 in reply to England's 400. However Dhoni and the Indian fielders dropped too many catches and missed many dismissal chances including a key stumping opportunity of Andrew Flintoff (14).[56] Dhoni failed to collect the Harbhajan Singh delivery cleanly as Flintoff went on to make 36 more runs as England set a target of 313 for the home team, a target that India were never in the reckoning. A batting collapse saw the team being dismissed for 100 and Dhoni scored just 5 runs and faced criticism for his wicket-keeping lapses as well as his shot selections.
On the West Indies tour in 2006, Dhoni scored a quick and aggressive 69 in the first Test at Antigua. The rest of the series was unremarkable for Dhoni as he scored 99 runs in the remaining 6 innings but his wicket-keeping skills improved and he finished the series with 13 catches and 4 stumpings. In the test series in South Africa, Dhoni's scores of 34 and 47 were not sufficient to save the second test against the Proteas as India lost the test series 2–1, squandering the chance to build on their first ever Test victory in South Africa (achieved in the first Test match). Dhoni's bruised hands ruled him out of the third test match.[57]
On the fourth day of the first Test match at Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's, Antigua during India's tour of West Indies, 2006, Dhoni's flick off Dave Mohammed to the midwicket region was caught by Daren Ganga. As the batsman started to walk back, captain Dravid declared

the innings when confusion started as the umpires were not certain if the fielder stepped on the ropes and Dhoni stayed for the umpire's verdict. While the replays were inconclusive, the captain of the West Indies side, Brian Lara, wanted Dhoni to walk-off based on the fielder's assertion of the catch. The impasse continued for more than 15 minutes and Lara's temper was on display with finger wagging against the umpires and snatching the ball from umpire Asad Rauf. Ultimately, Dhoni walked-off and Dravid's declaration was effected but the game was delayed, and Lara's action was criticised by the commentators and former players. Lara was summoned by the match referee to give an explanation of his actions but he was not fined.[58]
Dhoni scored two centuries in Sri Lanka's tour of India in 2009, a series of 3 matches in which he led India to a 2–0 victory. With this feat, India soared up to the number 1 position in Test cricket for the first time in history. India scored 726–9 (decl) in the third match of this series, which is their highest Test total ever.[59]

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