Spark Spot

Today is the Grand Finale of the exciting ICC Champions Trophy 2009! The two deserving finalists are battling it out right now at South Africa. Newzealand and Australia have played reasonably well to reach the final of the gorgeous trophy. I really feel for India who could not make thir way to the final. India struggled right from the first match and it was unfortunate for their exit in the first stage of the tournament.

There is absolutely no doubt that today;s contest is going to be fantastic. It was so sad to hear the Newzealand Skipper Daniel Vettori is missing out today due to injury. This may turn out to be a major blow to the nEwzealand team. But Skipper for today Brendon Mccullum has got the toss right and Newzealand without any hesitation have decided to bat first as they feel that setting a good target might put aussie team under pressure.

I feel that this match is evenly poised except for the fact that Vettori is not playing just adds something to the favor of Australian team led by Ponting. In fact Aussie team is the defending champion and they sure will try their best to prove that they still are the champions of ODI Cricket. Let us hope that the better team win today.

The trination series in srilanka has come to an end with India emerging as pure winners. First of all i would like to congratulate Dhoni and his boys for putting up a tremendous show in the island of lanka. Newzealand was defeated in the first round and it was India and Srilanka who fought the final battle of Compaq Cup 2009!

Indian team was solid and confident right from the beginning of the final match. It was Littele Master Sachin Tendulkar who played a tremendous knock to reach his 44th ODI century at Premedasa on Monday. Sachin with all his skill and experience guided the team well and put India in a comfortable position.

India won an entertaining final game  in a comprehensive manner. Sachin was awarded the Man of the match and Man of the Series. This Little Master is still proving that age is not a criteria for any sport. Sachin is still young and fresh in his mind and thoughts and that is the reason for he can come up strong delivering as and when it is required for India.

Congratulations Indian Cricket Team for all your efforts to capture the Compaq Cup 2009 at Srilanks. Hats off Sachin! We all love you Sachin! Hope you play for India forever!

India and Pakistan clashed in the warm up game for 2009 T20 Worldcup. It was India which won the match in absolute style. Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq helped Pakistan put on 158 for six against India in a sold-out warmup tie at the Oval that resembled the final of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup tournament.

Tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani supporters packed the Oval cricket ground, and cheered every boundary and wicket in a match that swung wildly at the start before skipper and veteran batsman Younis Khan helped to stabilize his side. Electing to bat before a nearly exclusive South Asian crowd, Pakistan began disastrously, losing opener Shahzaid Hasan for a duck to Praveen Kumar in the first over.

Spinner Harbhajan Singh dropped teenage batting sensation Ahmed Shehzad in the very next over off R.P. Singh before Shehzad (25 off 19 balls, 5 fours) and Kamran Akmal (19 off nine, 4 fours) wreaked a brief carnage on the Indian bowlers, hammering Kumar and Singh for a flurry of boundaries.

The men in blue then bounced back, to the delight of their delirious supporters and india won the match by 9 wickets comfortably. Great performance by Dhoni and his boys..

The T20 world cup is about to commence in just a few days. Every team has made its way to England. The Pakistan cricket team has proceeded to England for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup without any of the players having undergone dope tests as has been the practice in recent times.

A senior official of the board confirmed today that no out-of-competition tests were carried out by the board this time prior to the World Cup. The reason is that we have already been constantly educating and informing the players about the anti-doping policy and regulations of the ICC. Pakistan Cricket Board had conducted out-of-competition tests few months back and all the players tested negative.

ICC would pick nine players from each men’s team and two from women’s teams in the Twenty20 World Cup for the tests. The Pakistan cricket board is confident that there will no problem with pakistan players regarding the doping issues.  Two of the Pakistani players, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, who have faced doping issues in recent times are both not in the Pakistan squad for this tournament.

Deccan Chargers will be looking to get back to wining ways against last year’s runners-up Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. For Super Kings it is just the opposite. They are on a two-match winning streak and will be hoping to make a hat-trick of wins, which was done by Deccan Chargers early on in the league.

This time under a new captain in Adam Gilchrist, Deccan Chargers have forced everyone to stand up and take notice of their performance. Their batting has looked solid with Gilchrist leading the charge. Youngsters like Rohit Sharma and Azhar Bilakhia have also come out with good innings.

The bowlers also have done well, especially fast bowlers Rudra Pratap Singh and Fidel Edwards. Rudra Pratap is the second highest wicket-taker in the IPL while Edwards has checked the run flow. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has been one of the most successful spinner in the second IPL and was chief architect in Chargers’ win over Mumbai Indians.Batting and bowling aside, Deccan Chargers’ fielding has been exceptional. Live wire fielders like Herschelle Gibbs and Sharma have really set the benchmarks on the field.

Not doubt it will be a challenge for the Super Kings to put a challenging total on board. Except Suresh Raina and Subramaniam Badrinath, big names like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel are due for a big score.Their opening pair has been a problem.

While the veteran Matthew Hayden has been in fine nick, he hasn’t got good support from the other end. Parthiv Patel looked out of sorts and his replacement Murali Vijay was a misfit in the Twenty20. The bowlers have come up with good performances. Saturday night little known Shadab Jakat spun Super Kings to a terrific win over Daredevils. Sudip Tyagi and the wily Muttiah Muralitharan have been economical.

So can Chennai make it three in a row by smashing chargers. Lets hope so!

Yusuf Pathan, the big power machine of Royals,  blazed his way to an unbeaten half-century to propel Rajasthan Royals to a five-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.

Pathan smashed 62 not out off 30 balls with three fours and six sixes as Rajasthan reached 147 for five to overhaul Delhi’s 143 for seven with nine balls to spare. It was second-placed Delhi’s first defeat in four matches in this year’s tournament.

Pathan and Graeme Smith shared an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 83 in 47 balls, with the South Africa captain contributing an unbeaten 44 after the Royals had slumped to 64 for five.Pathan, who was dropped on 30, brought up his half-century in 26 balls as the holders claimed their second win of the competition to go fourth in the table.

It was Pathan again for Royals to smash the oppenents. Last time Pathan drove Royals to an emphatic win over Knight Riders in a super over by smashing the srilankan spinner Mendis all over the park. Pathan in this kind of form, i am sure that royals would feel their place in the semi finals.

Chennai super kings, one of the victorious team in the last season of IPL, is playing very ordinary cricket in this season of IPL. Chennai led by Dhoni, inspite of having a pretty balanced team in the paper, is not performing even upto 70% of its strength. Matthew Hayden, 37 year old aussie player, is the only man showing great amusing stuffs with his bat in the same way as he use to do for Aistralia.

Chennai has no problems with the start and the run rate is more than good in the powerplay overs. But the middle order fails in all the matches so far. The 11-15 overs is really a period of worry for super kings. I personally feel that Dhoni should look into the team selection for the next match and he has to get the right combination going.

Chennai, one of the most favorite team is struggling a lot at the moment against all teams. Chennai fans are really frustrated over their teams efforts in this season of IPL.  Chennai should their best in order to clinch their position in the semi finals. Let us hope that Chennai Super Kings fires all guns in the upcoming matches by playing to the expectation.

Pakistan, after the Lankan attack has become even more threatening place for many cricketers. ICC decided to meet on discussing the issues regarding hosting the 2011 world cup matches in pakistan.

During an important ICC meet held in Dubai,  it was decided that no world cup match could be held in Pakistan, following a uncertain political and security situation prevailing in that country. The decision is anticipated to cost Pakistan Cricket Board an approximate loss of 800,000 to 100,000 dollars.

Pakistan was scheduled to host 14 matches and the semi-final of the World Cup, which was to be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as per previous arrangements. Doubts emerged over the prospects of Pakistan hosting the World Cup matches after the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore last month, following which the ICC also indicated it would be difficult to convince teams to play in the country.

Although the World Cup central secretariat is in Lahore and the ICC recently approved appointment of a Pakistani Managing Director there but it is yet to be fully operational following the prevailing troublesome environment and uncertainty.

Indian Premier League is all set to commence on April 18 at South Africa. The second season of IPL is ready to entertain us. IPL is played in a entertaining T20 foramt which is adored by all the cricket lovers.The teams to participate in IPL are : Chennai Super Kings, Kolkatta Knight Riders, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Dare Devils, Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab. Get Ready for the exciting tournament. IPL rocks!!!

IPL Matches Schedule 2009

Date                                                   Matches
Apr 18     Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings -  Cape Town
Apr 18     Rajasthan Royals vs Bangalore Royal Challengers - Cape Town

Apr 19     Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab -  Cape Town
Apr 19     Deccan Chargers vs Kolkata Knight Riders -  Cape Town

Apr 20     Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers - Port Elizabeth

Apr 21     Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Durban
Apr 21     Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians - Durban

Apr 22     Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Deccan Chargers - Cape Town

Apr 23     Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils - Durban
Apr 23     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals - Cape Town

Apr 24     Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kings XI Punjab - Durban

Apr 25     Mumbai Indians vs Deccan Chargers - Durban
Apr 25     Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Cape Town

Apr 26     Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Delhi Daredevils - Port Elizabeth
Apr 26     Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals - Cape Town

Apr 27     Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings - Durban
Apr 27     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians - Port Elizabeth

Apr 28     Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals - Pretoria

Apr 29     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers - Durban
Apr 29     Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians - Durban

Apr 30     Deccan Chargers vs Delhi Daredevils - Pretoria
Apr 30     Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings - Pretoria

May 1     Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders - East London
May 1     Kings XI Punjab vs Bangalore Royal Challengers - Durban

May 2     Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals - Port Elizabeth
May 2     Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings - Johannesburg

May 3     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab - Port Elizabeth
May 3     Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Mumbai Indians - Johannesburg

May 4     Chennai Super Kings vs Deccan Chargers - East London

May 5     Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab - Durban
May 5     Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Durban

May 6     Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians - Pretoria

May 7     Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals - Pretoria
May 7     Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings - Pretoria

May 8     Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians - East London

May 9     Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab - Kimberley
May 9     Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals - Kimberley

May 10     Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers - Port Elizabeth
May 10     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils - Johannesburg

May 11     Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers - Kimberley

May 12     Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Pretoria
May 12     Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab - Pretoria

May 13     Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers - Durban

May 14     Royal Challengers vs Chennai Super Kings - Durban
May 14     Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals - Durban

May 15     Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils - Bloemfontein

May 16     Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians - Port Elizabeth
May 16     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers - Johannesburg

May 17     Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers - Johannesburg
May 17     Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils - Bloemfontein

May 18     Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings- Pretoria

May 19     Delhi Daredevils vs  Royal Challengers - Johannesburg

May 20     Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Durban
May 20     Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab - Durban

May 21     Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils - Pretoria
May 21     Deccan Chargers vs  Royal Challengers - Pretoria

May 22                        Semi Final 1 - Pretoria
May 23                       Semi Final 2 - Johannesburg

May 24                            FINAL - Johannesburg

Enter the spark zone

India’s master batsman Sachin Tendulkar praises coach Gary Kirsten for assisting in building a strong team that seems to threaten the world cricket.
India won their first test series on New Zealand soil in four decades this week, their third successive test series victory since defeating top-ranked Australia in November.

Sachin told that the secret to this success is the players are playing their natural game and that can only happen if the atmosphere is good and the mind is free of any kind of pressure. He also added that the team environment is allowing players to play their natural game and that is the secret.

Tendulkar, the world’s highest run-getter in test and one-day cricket, has praised Gary Kirsten for his earnest efforts in developing a better team and the coach has played a kernel role in the team’s success rain. Former South African opener Kirsten took over from Greg Chappell last year and has helped the Indian team improve their performances, earning the respect of the players for his quiet approach following a turbulent period.