Know About Your Favourite Sport Stars

Virat Kohli

noreply@blogger.com (michael) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 04:25:00 -0700

Virat Kohli (born November 5, 1988) is an Indian international cricketer. He was the captain of the victorious Indian team at the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup held in Malaysia. He represents Delhi in first-class cricket. He played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008 and 2009 Indian Premier League. He learned his cricket in the West Delhi Cricket Academy.[citation needed]

Kohli is a middle order batsman, who can also open the batting. He is known for his shots through the cover region. He can also bowl right arm medium pace.[1] He currently has a Grade D contract worth Rs. 1.25 lakh per month with the BCCI[2]

An attacking player with a cool head, Virat Kohli has already earned a reputation as a level-headed and mature cricketer. Batting at his favourite No. 4 position, he has a penchant for converting his fifties into big scores, as he showed in 2005 when he single-handedly took Delhi from 70 for 4 to a first-innings lead with 251 off 431 balls against Himachal Pradesh in the Under-17 championships. Kohli made his first-class debut for Delhi in the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy and in January 2008 was named captain of the Indian U-19 squad for the 2008 World Cup. He contributed 235 runs and became the second Indian U-19 captain to bring home the World Cup as he led India's unbeaten campaign in Malaysia. He was included in India's squad for the one-day series in Sri Lanka in August 2008 and the Champions Trophy to follow in Pakistan. Kohli was handed a debut in the opening match of the Sri Lanka series as a replacement for the injured Virender Sehwag, and finished the five-match contest as the fourth-highest run-getter with 159.
Nagraj Gollapudi September 2008

Personal information
Full name	Virat Kohli
Born	5 November 1988 (age 21) Delhi, India
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm medium
Role	Batsman
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2006-present	Delhi
2008-present	Royal Challengers Bangalore
ODIs debut	18 Aug 2008 India v Sri Lanka
First-Class debut	23 Nov 2006 Delhi v Tamil Nadu
Career statistics
Competition	ODIs	First Class	List A
Matches	27	24	40
Runs scored	1015	1,617	1,586
Batting average	50.75	55.75	56.26
100s/50s	3/8	5/6	6/8
Top score	118	197	124
Balls bowled	18	126	18
Wickets	0	1	–
Bowling average	-	101.00	–
5 wickets in innings	0	0	–
10 wickets in match	0	0	–
Best bowling	n/a	1/23	–
Catches/stumpings	14/–	21/–	18/–
Source:CricketArchive[http://www.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/253802.html

Suresh Raina

noreply@blogger.com (michael) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 10:58:00 -0700

Full Name: Suresh Kumar Raina
Date of Birth: 27 November 1986
Major teams India, Chennai Super Kings, India Blue,India Under-19s, Indian Board President's XI,Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI, Uttar Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh Under-16s
Also known as Sanu
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

This man has been in the limelight for quite a while now, for all the good reasons, of course. Way back in the year 1999, Suresh Raina could have only imagined himself being a part of the National team, when he moved from his hometown Ghaziabad to Lucknow to attend the government Sports College (Mohammed Kaif, too comes from the same college). After a successful under-19 campaign, Raina was then awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship to train at the Australian Cricket Academy. He returned to the domestic circuit, thereafter.

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	2	3	1	223	120	111.50	384	58.07	1	1	26	3	4
ODIs	99	82	17	2385	116*	36.69	2657	89.76	3	15	202	53	44
T20Is	18	17	3	468	101	33.42	338	138.46	1	3	42	18	5
First-class	53	89	4	3907	203	45.96	6522	59.90	7	26			58
List A	142	124	21	3900	129	37.86	4237	92.04	4	27			59
Twenty20	64	61	11	1843	101	36.86	1305	141.22	1	12	159	79	32

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w
Tests	2	1	30	21	0	-	-	-	4.20	-	0
ODIs	99	21	344	309	6	1/13	1/13	51.50	5.38	57.3	0
T20Is	18	3	24	39	1	1/6	1/6	39.00	9.75	24.0	0
First-class	53		960	424	12	3/31		35.33	2.65	80.0	0
List A	142		1044	873	24	4/23	4/23	36.37	5.01	43.5	2
Twenty20	64	27	353	411	15	2/17	2/17	27.40	6.98	23.5	0

An aggressive young batsman who has dismantled bowling attacks across the country, the prodigious Raina puts people in mind of Yuvraj Singh. A string of fine performances at the junior levels - where he frequently bullied his way to double-hundreds - landed him a spot in the India Under-19 squad. His 620 runs in six games, in the 2005-06 season, propelled Uttar Pradesh to Ranji Trophy glory and a couple of composed knocks, when given the opportunity in one-dayers, got Rahul Dravid to gush: "Raina has shown what a phenomenal player he can turn into." His electric fielding added zing to the one-day side and it came as no surprise when, even before getting an ODI fifty, he was fast-tracked into the Test side against England in March 2006, and on the subsequent tour to the West Indies. However, his early promise turned into a false dawn - he couldn't manage a half-century in 15 innings - and lost his place in the one-day side on the South African tour. He played two ODIs in January 2007 but was not recalled until a year later, when India named their 16-man squad for the CB Series in Australia. Raina finally played to his true potential in the Asia Cup, slamming two centuries and finishing the second-highest run-getter.

Aged 15, Suresh Raina was spotted by Indian selectors playing for Uttar Pradesh under-16s and was drafted into India's under-19 tour of England where he notched two fifties. Aged 16, he made his first-class debut for Uttar Pradesh against Assam in February 2003, although didn't play another match until the following season.Following injuries to Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly he was selected for the Indian Oil Cup 2005 in Sri Lanka, but was dismissed for a golden duck on debut to Muttiah Muralidaran. Since then, Raina has enjoyed a love-hate relationship with the selectors on account of some hot-and-cold consistency.In June 2008, he was drafted into the side for the Kitply Cup but it wasn't until the subsequent Asia Cup that Raina showed what a potentially lethal batsman he can be. He scored two centuries and two half centuries in that series and thus sealed his reputation as a clean striker of the ball. Since then he has been a regular in the ODI and Twenty20 International setup and has delivered on numerous occasions. He did, however, have a disastrous World Twenty20 2009, a series he will be looking to put behind him at the earliest.It is because of inconsistent performances like this that the selectors have not shown faith in him for the longest version of the game. Raina is more of an attacking cricketer that may come across as reckless at times because of his affinity for fast runs. He is a vital member of his Chennai franchise in the IPL and an extremely sharp fielder.

Virender Sehwag (India)

noreply@blogger.com (michael) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:05:00 -0700

Full name: Virender Sehwag
Born: October 20, 1978, Delhi
Teams: India, Asia XI, Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, ICC World XI, India Blue, Leicestershire, Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

About Virender Sehwag:

Virender Sehwag, nicknamed ‘Viru’, is an international cricketer, who is known for his aggressive right-hand batting style. He was born to Mr.Krishan and his wife Krishna Sehwag on October 20, 1978 in Delhi, India and has three siblings. Virender Sehwag got married to Aarti Alhawat in April 2004 and they have a son born on October 18, 2007.

Virender Sehwag made his Test match debut in 2001 as a middle-order batsman for the Indian team against South Africa with a century to his name, scoring 105. After home series in 2001-02 against England and Zimbabwe, Virender Sehwag was promoted up the order to open the innings in the 2002 England tour and he remained in the order ever since. During the 2002-03 season, he scored his maiden home century of 147 against West Indies, earning his first Man of the Match award and on December 26, 2003 test match against Australia, he scored 195. In 2004, Virender Sehwag scored the first ever triple century by an Indian with 309 runs against Pakistan, earning the Man of the Match award and later, the Man of the Series award. The same year, he scored 155 against Australia in Chennai and 164 in the First Test of the series against South Africa and 88 in the second, claiming the Man of the Series award once again. At the 2005 three-match Test series against Pakistan, Virender Sehwag scored a total of 544 runs at an average of 90.66, and he went on to cross 3000 runs becoming the fastest Indian to reach it in terms of innings played. For his performance in the earlier 12-months period, Virender Sehwag got selected in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Team of the Year and also got nominated for the Test Player of the Year award. He captained the side in the third Test match of a series against Sri Lanka in the absence of Rahul Dravid, leading the team to victory.

In January 2005, Virender Sehwag scored 254 against Pakistan, which was the highest ever Test score at a strike rate of above 100 and the second fastest double century. In the process, he was also involved in the 410 run partnership with Rahul Dravid, which was just four run short of a record opening partnership in Test matches. In the second Test match of the 2006 West Indies tour, Virender Sehwag hit 180 runs in 190 balls and also took four wickets and for his good efforts, he was named the Man of the Match. In the fourth Test match of the December 2007 series against Australia, he scored a match-saving 151 in the second innings, his first century in the second innings of a test match. In the April 2008 home series against South Africa, Virender Sehwag claimed the fastest Test triple century with 319 in the first Test in Chennai, becoming the third batsman to score 2 triple centuries.

Virender Sehwag made his One Day International (ODI) debut in April 1999, but came to prominence in March 2001, when he earned a Man of the Match award for his all-round performance in a game against Australia. In August 2001, in a tri-series involving India, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand, Virender Sehwag was given the opportunity to open the innings for India on the absence of Sachin Tendulkar. In the finalist-decider against New Zealand, he scored his maiden ODI century in just 69 balls, the second fastest ODI century by an Indian. In 2002, he scored the Indian second fastest half-century in just 22 balls against Kenya in Bloemfontein. In the India-England ODI Series in January 2002, Virender Sehwag entered the pitch as an opening batsman on Sourav Ganguly’s absence, and this time he sealed the opening spot for himself, by proving that he is more fruitful at the top of the order. In the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, Virender Sehwag scored 271 runs at an average of 90.33, earning two Man of the Match awards in the tournament.

He, with Sourav Ganguly, had two big ODI partnerships, 192 against England, in which he scored 126 from 104 balls, and 196 against West Indies, in which he scored unbeaten 114 from 82 balls. Virender Sehwag was the only batsman to score a century in the 7 match ODI series against New Zealand, scoring two centuries, 108 in Napier and 112 in Auckland. He played in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup and scored his tournament highest of 82 in the final against Australia. At the 2003-04 ODI series, Virender Sehwag scored one century and 3 fifties and in 2004 and at the 2004-05 ODI series, he earned 3 Man of the Match awards. In the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, he scored 114 from 87 deliveries against Bermuda in India’s total score of 413, which is the highest team total in a World Cup match.

Virender Sehwag is naturally an attacking batsman and Twenty20 (T20) format is considered to suit his style of play better. He played in 19 T20 matches and scored 374 runs with a highest score of 68, and in Indian Premier League (IPL), Virender Sehwag is the Delhi Daredevils’ most expensive player with a contract worth $833,750. He lead the team from the front in 13 matches during the inaugural IPL season, scoring 403 runs, with a highest score of unbeaten 94, and also claimed 3 wickets with his off-spin bowling.

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	68	117	4	5697	319	50.41	7255	78.52	15	18	807	65	54	0
ODIs	205	200	8	6592	130	34.33	6472	101.85	11	35	902	107	79	0
T20Is	12	11	0	223	68	20.27	154	144.80	0	1	24	10	1	0
First-class	130	216	8	10174	319	48.91			29	36			113	0
List A	275	265	13	8545	130	33.90			12	52			103	0
Twenty20	36	35	3	831	94*	25.96	518	160.42	0	5	95	36	5	0

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	68	64	2413	1240	29	5/104	5/118	42.75	3.08	83.2	0	1	0
ODIs	205	129	4015	3531	87	3/25	3/25	40.58	5.27	46.1	0	0	0
T20Is	12	1	6	20	0	-	-	-	20.00	-	0	0	0
First-class	130		7044	3673	93	5/104		39.49	3.12	75.7		1	0
List A	275		5620	4824	133	4/17	4/17	36.27	5.15	42.2	2	0	0
Twenty20	36	16	252	345	16	3/14	3/14	21.56	8.21	15.7	0	0	0

Know About Yuvraj Singh (India)

noreply@blogger.com (michael) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:35:00 -0700

Full name Yuvraj Singh
Born December 12, 1981, Chandigarh
Age 27 years 90 days
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Slow left-arm orthodox

About Yuvraj

Yuvraj Singh as the name indicates always is the would-be king of Indian cricket.
As the limelight centered around Sachin Tendulkar or any other timely kings of the cricket field, he never left the field, without making his presence felt.
(Be it as a flop or in setting new records). However, the last months of 2007 brought Yuvraj Singh really into limelight with the continuous six sixers in Twenty 20 world cup and rumors with the present dream girl Deepika Padukone.

A tall, well-built lad, Yuvraj Singh has undoubtedly added some interesting flavour to the Indian middle-order through the test debut at Mohali in March 2003 against New Zealand. He is regarded as a better player of fast bowling with a good aim at the stumps. He was the fourth most prolific fielder in effecting ODI run outs and of those on the list of prolific fielders, he had the second highest rate of affecting a run out.

Yuvraj's success in the maiden field took him to the new fields of life very soon. After the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Yuvraj was signed by Yorkshire, becoming only the second Indian after Tendulkar to represent the county. In 2006 he was signed by Microsoft to be a brand ambassador for the Xbox 360 video game console when it was launched in India. He also started to appear on advertisements alongside the bollywood giants. Codemaster's cricket video game Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 was released with his endorsement in India titled "Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007."

Matches Innings Runs NO Avg. SR 100's 50's
Test 25 40 1262 5 36.06 56.87 3 5
ODI 231 212 6839 30 37.58 88.9 11 40
T20 10 9 262 1 32.75 164.78 0 3

Know About Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India)

noreply@blogger.com (michael) — Sun, 1 Mar 2009 11:03:00 -0800

Full Name : Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Date of Birth : July 7, 1981, Ranchi, Bihar
Age : 27 years
Also Know As : Mahi
Batting Style : Right Hand Batsmen
Skills : Wicket Keeper
Current Position in Indian team as Captian

M S Dhoni was born and brought up in the city of Ranchi. He has two siblings. A sister who is married and a brother who lives in Almora. Almora is a high-lying town at the foot of the Himalaya which is his father's home town. His father's name is Pan Singh and mother's name is Devki Devi.

MS Dhoni, made his debut for Jharkhand in the 1999-2000 season as an eighteen year old. He was noticed by the national team selectors in 2004 after his performances in first class tournaments such as the Deodhar Trophy and the Duleep Trophy.

Dhoni was selected to represent India 'A' on a tour of Kenya and his performances were good enough to win him selection in the Indian national team, making his one-day international debut against Bangladesh in Chittagong in December of that year.

Luck wasnt on his side in the first four matches he played. Where as on the fifth match which was played against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam, Dhoni came to the crease one down and managed to score 148 runs from just 123 balls. He hit 15 boundaries and four sixes. He got his first man of the match award that day.

On the 31st of October, Dhoni broke the record of highest runs scored by a wicket keeper by securing 183 runs against Srilanka which was played at Jaipur, beating Adam Gilchrist's former record of 172 runs.

On the 2nd of December 2005, Dhoni made his Test cricket debut against Srilanka which was played in Chennai, India.

He is currently ranked number one in the official ICC cricket rankings for batsmen in Limited over internationals.

Dhoni's current batting average in ODIs is just over 50 (as of April 2006), the highest by any Indian player with more than 20 innings. With a career ODI batting strike rate of more than 100 he remains the only batsman with the unique double of a 50+ average scored at more than a run a ball. Currently, Dhoni has one of the highest strike rates in the world (103.00 runs per hundred balls). With 44 sixes in 38 ODI innings, Dhoni has hit more sixes than he's played internationals.

He made his maiden Test century against Pakistan in the 2nd Test at Faisalabad in January 2006, reaching the landmark in just 93 balls. Dhoni's career batting average at the end of the ODI series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi stands at 52.76, which is the fourth highest for any batsman having scored at least 1,000 runs in one-day internationals, behind Australians, Mike Hussey Michael Bevan, and Englishman Kevin Pietersen.

Latest News MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Won Rs 6 Crore Tag

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the one day cricket captain of Indian team was won by Chennai team at DLF Indian Premier League held at Mumbai on February 20th for the staggering price of $1.5 million (approx to 6 crore) by Chennai team for twenty-twenty matches held at Mumbai. This bidding for IPL league is expected to state a new era in international cricket. The Chennai franchise acquired 26 year old Indian one day captain on contract of three years. Multi-million dollar Indian Premier League will formally be inaugurated in mid-April.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni - the Man of the Match

Laurels don’t seem to end for the new and young Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni aka Mahi. After the glorious win of the inaugural World Cup 20-20 championship, Dhoni has won the ODI match against Australia in Chandigarh, holding the Man of the Match title.

The match was a crucial one in the India- Australia series because India had already lost 2 matches in the course of 7. So the players tried to perform to the best of their capacities. The master blaster Sachin Tendulkar gave a wonderful start with 79 runs while Mahendra contributed 50 runs in 35 balls (not out) and wrapped up the Indian innings beautifully.

When asked about how he felt about this long awaited victory, Mahi gave the credit to the entire team especially to Sachin, RP Singh and Harbhajan. He said that beating Australia is a team effort.

India beat Pakistan by 5 wickets, lifts inagural T20 World Cup. Congratulations :) to mahender sing dhoni(ms dhoni) and ofcourse india.

Batting Statistics
	Test	ODI
Matches Played	35	130
Innings Played	56	117
Not Outs	6	30
Runs	1807	4201
Highest	148	183 *
Balls Faced	2873	4628
200+	0	0
100's	1	4
50's	14	28
4's	-	322
6's	-	96
Avg	36.14	48.29
St/R	62.90	90.77

Know About Sunil Gavaskar (India)

noreply@blogger.com (michael) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:53:00 -0800

Full name Sunil Manohar Gavaskar
Born July 10, 1949, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Age 59 years
Major teams India, Mumbai, Somerset
Also known as Sunny
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium, Right-arm offbreak
Other Referee
Height 5 ft 5 in
Education St Xavier's College; Bombay University

Sunil Gavaskar was one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time, and certainly the most successful. His game was built around a near perfect technique and enormous powers of concentration. It is hard to visualise a more beautiful defence: virtually unbreachable, it made his wicket among the hardest to earn. He played with equal felicity off both front and back foot, had an excellent judgement of length and line and was beautifully balanced. He had virtually every stroke in the book but traded flair for the solidity his side needed more. His record for the highest number of Test hundreds was recently overtaken by Sachin Tendulkar, but statistics alone don't reveal Gavaskar's true value to India. He earned respect for Indian cricket and he taught his team-mates the virtue of professionalism. The self-actualisation of Indian cricket began under him. Since retiring, Gavaskar has served as a television commentator, analyst and columnist, as well as various responsibilites with the BCCI and chairman of the ICC cricket committee. He recently stepped down - after some controversial comments - from the latter in orer to continue as a media columnist and commentator.

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	6s	Ct
Tests	125	214	16	10122	236*	51.12			34	45	26	108
ODIs	108	102	14	3092	103*	35.13	4966	62.26	1	27		22
First-class	348	563	61	25834	340	51.46			81	105		293
List A	151	144	17	4594	123	36.17			5	37		37

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w
Tests	125	29	380	206	1	1/34	1/34	206.00	3.25	380.0	0
ODIs	108	4	20	25	1	1/10	1/10	25.00	7.50	20.0	0
First-class	348		1987	1240	22	3/43		56.36	3.74	90.3
List A	151		108	81	2	1/10	1/10	40.50	4.50	54.0	0

Sunil Gavaskar is a former Indian cricketing great who shone for India. Nicknamed 'Sunny', Sunil is often regarded as one of the greatest opening batsman in Indian Test history and also has several records to his name. His full name is Sunil Manohar Gavaskar and he was born on 10th July, 1949, at Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. His uncle is Madhav Mantri, a former Indian Test wicketkeeper. He is married to Marshaniel Gavaskar with a son Rohan, who is also a domestic level cricketer.

With great cricket influences in his family, Sunil's interest in cricket began since his school days, where for his brilliant performances he was even named 'India's Best Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year' in 1966. Since then, he has come a long way in Indian cricket, and now, although retired from the game, still plays a significant role in advising and managing affairs of the cricketing fraternity in India and as a commentator and ICC official. The major sides that Sunil Gavaskar has represented are India, Mumbai and Somerset.

Despite his diminutive stature, he was an outstanding right-hand batsman with brilliant batting technique, noted 'late-flicks' and impenetrable defensive stance, especially against fast bowling. Sunil was a backbone for the team's innings in a match, along with his ability to be a good slip fielder. It was in his era that Indian cricket realized its potential and began performing well at Tests and ODI's. Sunil made his first class debut for Vazir Sultan Colts XI and then played on with the Bombay squad, until he was selected in 1970/71 to the Indian cricket team.

Sunil made his Test debut against West Indies at Port of Spain in March 1971 and helped India clinch their first ever win, as well as their first ever series victory over the West Indies. Since then he has played as many as 125 Tests, scoring 10122 runs while becoming the first batsman to reach 10,000 Test runs; with a record 34 centuries. His record was recently surpassed by Sachin Tendulkar in 2005. Gavaskar's highest Test score was 236 not-out against West Indies at Madras in their 6th Test in 1983/84. He has also taken 108 catches in Tests, besides being a fine slip fielder.

Sunil made his One Day international debut against England at Leeds in July 1974. Since then he has played as many as 108 ODI's scoring 3092 runs, with an average of 35.13, and a strike rate of 62.26. He has also taken 22 catches in ODI, with the most memorable being 4 catches in an ODI against Pakistan in Sharjah in 1985. Sunil has played in the 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1987 Cricket World Cups, playing a big role in India's 1983 World Cup win. He has played 19 World Cup matches, scoring 561 runs, with his highest ODI score being 103 not-out.

Gavaskar created many records including breaking Sir Donald Bradman's prestigious total of 29 Test centuries in 1983 and also becoming the first batsman to reach 10,000 Test runs. Despite some outstanding performances, Sunil has also had his share of downs, like some controversial performances and unsuccessful stints at captaincy and at ODI games. Sunil was honored with the Padma Bhushan, the 1980 'Wisden Cricketer of the Year', and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was jointly instituted in his and Allan Border's honour.

Know About Kapil Dev (India)

noreply@blogger.com (michael) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:25:00 -0800

Full name Kapildev Ramlal Nikhanj
Born January 6, 1959, Chandigarh
Age 50 years
Major teams India, Haryana, Northamptonshire, Worcestershire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Profile:

Wisden Overview:Kapil Dev was the greatest pace bowler India has produced, and their greatest fast-bowling allrounder. If he had played at any other time - not when Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee were contemporaries - he would surely have been recognised as the best allrounder in the world. In any case he did enough to be voted India's Cricketer of the Century during 2002, ahead of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. His greatest feats were to lead India almost jauntily, and by his allround example, to the 1983 World Cup, and to take the world-record aggregate of Test wickets from Hadlee. It was the stamina of the marathon runner that took him finally to 431 wickets and only a yard beyond. He might not have been quite the bowling equal of Imran, Hadlee or Botham at his best, and his strike rate was less than four wickets per Test. But he was still outstanding in his accuracy and ability to swing the ball, usually away from right-handers. And he could hit a ball even more brilliantly than he bowled it, with uncomplicated flair.

Kapil had a rather ordinary stint as India's coach for ten months between October 1999 and August 2000. Att the height of the match fixing allegation by Manoj Prabhakar -- a charge that was subsequently dismissed - Kapil resigned as coach. Hurt by the betting controversy, he announced that he was leaving the game. However, he returned from a significantly quiet period when Wisden named him as one of 16 finalists for the Indian Cricketer of the Century award. He won, and then returned to cricket as a bowling consultant and served as chairman of National Cricket Academy for two years. In May 2007, Kapil joined the breakaway Indian Cricket League, which led to his removal from the NCA.
Scyld Berry June 2008

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1983

Staistics:

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	6s	Ct
Tests	131	184	15	5248	163	31.05			8	27	61	64
ODIs	225	198	39	3783	175*	23.79	3979	95.07	1	14		71
First-class	275	384	39	11356	193	32.91			18	56		192
List A	309	270	48	5461	175*	24.59			2	23		99

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	131	227	27740	12867	434	9/83	11/146	29.64	2.78	63.9	17	23	2
ODIs	225	221	11202	6945	253	5/43	5/43	27.45	3.71	44.2	3	1	0
First-class	275		48853	22626	835	9/83		27.09	2.77	58.5		39	3
List A	309		14947	9161	335	5/43	5/43	27.34	3.67	44.6	3	2	0


Test debut	Pakistan v India at Faisalabad, Oct 16-21, 1978
Last Test	New Zealand v India at Hamilton, Mar 19-23, 1994

ODI debut	Pakistan v India at Quetta, Oct 1, 1978
Last ODI	India v West Indies at Faridabad, Oct 17, 1994

First-class span	1975/76 - 1993/94
List A span	1977/78 - 1994/95

Know About Rahul Dravid (India)

noreply@blogger.com (michael) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:17:00 -0800

Full Name :

Rahul Sharad Dravid

Birthday :

Jan. 11, 1973

Birth Place :

Indore

Country :

India

Batting :

Right hand batsman

Bowling :

Right arm Off Break

ODI Debut :

Vs. Sri Lanka at Singapore, on 3/4/96

Test Debut :

India v England at Lord's, 2nd Test, 1996

Rahul has been one of the main pillars of the Indian batting with his blend of technical proficiency & stylish strokes. His strokes are so perfect technically that he is considered as the "wall" of the Indian Team. His batting style was regarded slow for the ODI’s initially but with his imaginative placing of the ball & innovative strokes he made himself as an integral part of the Indian team for both Tests as well as ODI’s. His temperament for both the versions of the game is exemplary and has earned him respect from all the other players. The Indian Vice Captain has frequently played the sheet anchor role to perfection. . He was verily the batsman of the 1999 World Cup with two hundreds and the highest aggregate. For this, he was named as Wisden cricketer of the year, one of the few Indians to receive this special accolade. His good and innocent looks make him very popular among the girls.

Family

Dad's Name : Sharad Dravid
Mom's Name : Pushpa Dravid
Brother's Name : Vijay Dravid
Name of his house : "Srishti"

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Education

School : St. Joseph's, Bangalore
College : St. Joseph's, Bangalore
Indian School First Unofficial Century : St. Anthony's when he was 10 years old

Cricket in Blood

The game of cricket runs in Dravid's family. His father has played the game and his uncle, K.V.Dravid played for the Holkars.

First step towards Cricket

Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 10 in the streets of Banglore. His school had a good cricket team and Rahul performed well in the Junior Tournaments to merit selection in the state under 15, under 17 and under 19 tournaments. Rahul though failed to deliver in his debut ODI match at Singapore in the Triangular Tournament( India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), it was his Test debut performance in the England tour which earned him a permanent berth in the Indian Team.

Guides

According to Dravid G R Vishwanath, K K Tarapore, Roger Binny and Brijesh Patel are the ones who helped him in polishing his batting techniques .

Favourites of Dravid

Singers : Sting, Chris de Burgh, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
Movies : Braveheart, Ghost
Books : Thrillers and Philosophical
Car : Maruti 800, BMW
Actors : Tom Cruise, Aamir Khan
Actresses : Demi Moore, Michelle Pfieffer
Drink : Mango Milkshake
Pastime : Listening to old Hindi songs
Channel : Discovery
Colour : Blue
Cartoon Character : Superman
Hangouts : Shezan, Paradise Island
Ads : "Any one that figures me!!"

Eating Habits

Prefers Indian food, especially home-cooked. As per him his mother is the best cook. He prefers his mother's food to any five star hotel in the world. He is a 'Daal Chawal' kind of person, who also enjoys chicken and fish occasionally.

Travelling

Likes travelling and seeing different places. Was a little disappointed that he could not see Sun City during his trip to South Africa.

Most Embarrassing Moment

Once he got out in a Junior match and started crying in the dressing room. Seeing this his friends started laughing and teasing him.

Love for Animals

He loves nature and animals and is more of a country person. He is always willing to contribute to a good cause. Loves watching wild life programs.

Favourite Music

Unchained Melodies (Air Supply)
I believe I can fly (R.Kelly)
Could you be loved (Bob Marley)
Greatest love of all (Whiteny Houston)
O Sanam (Lucky Ali)
Afreen (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan)
Because you loved me (Celine Dion)

Other's

Greatest Asset : Concentration
Memorable Moment : Debut at Lord's and 148 at Johannesburg
Inspiration : Family
Hobbies : Reading, Listening to music
Goals : Likes to keep them to himself
Dream Woman : Unfortunately, he doesn't remember what he dreams
Coach : Keki Tarapore
Enjoys in his free time : With family and friends
Hates : Nothing in particular

View about fans

Fans are great as long as they do not trouble his family and privacy.

Know About Sourav Ganguly (India)

noreply@blogger.com (michael) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:52:00 -0800

Family
Dad's Name : Chandi Das Ganguly
Wife's Name : Dona Ganguly

Heritage

Ganguly was born to a life of luxury and comfort as he was the son of an affluent printer. Ganguly is perhaps one of the richest Indian cricketer of recent times. Ganguly's father presides over a big joint family of over 50 people, though they all do not live in the same house. There are 22 bedrooms in his house, and the family possesses over 20 cars.

Sourav Ganguly at age 5

His first step towards cricket

Ganguly's first step towards cricket was a happy accident of fate: Ganguly was not encouraged to play cricket because his parents wanted him to focus on his studies. But his elder brother Snehasish was an accomplished cricketer. He was a left-hander so Sourav simply followed his brother and started playing with left hand. It was convenient for him because he could thus use his brother's cricket equipment; for his fans, it was a blessed stroke of luck, for the joys of the left-handed drive in cricket surpass almost everything else. One fine day during his holidays, Sourav asked his father to get him enrolled in a cricket academy as he was finding difficult to pass his time.

Tour Photos from England. A group photo of his first tour.

And this one along with Sachin and Vinod Kambli from the same tour

Setbacks

An under-15 Orissa cricket team happened to be in Calcutta, and Sourav happened to smash them with a century. Young
Sourav had found his métier. But the pain was yet to come. A hundred (121) for East Zone against West Zone in the Duleep Trophy in 1991 earned Sourav a place on the tour of Australia in 1991-92. He was played in only one One-day International
match and was then forgotten for over four years. He thought that his career as an international cricketer was over as he was ridiculed as a non-talent, and it was alleged that he had 'attitude problems'. They said he refused to carry drinks for his teammates, he was too high-headed and arrogant, he behaved like a Maharaja, an emperor. None of it was true, says Sourav. But the labels stuck, and Sourav was a forgotten man. He was left alone to sort out his career, and to reinforce his shattered confidence, with some help from an English rugby team sports psychologist.

Success at last !

But fate had more surprises in store. Sourav was chosen to tour England with the Indian team in 1996. Navjot SinghSidhu, his roommate on the tour, chose to walk out of the team after a misunderstanding with captain Azharuddin, while Sanjay Manjrekar was injured. Sourav thus got a chance to make his Test debut. There was a crescendo of criticism on his selection for the tour; that the Bengal lobby was at the base of his inclusion was the harsh and unanimous verdict. But all that lasted only till the second Test at Lord's where he blasted a superb century.

As a person

Sourav Ganguly is a quiet, unassuming, undemonstrative man with nerves of steel. As the current captain of the team, Ganguly's aggressive batting and big scores testify to the fact that he has learnt to deal with pressure and the burden of leading the country does not constraint him. In fact, the responsibility seems to have had an encouraging effect; he is beginning to emerge from the shadow of Sachin Tendulkar. Sourav is a deeply religious person and observes a fast every Tuesday.

His marriage

He is married to Dona, who was a next-door neighbour to the Ganguly family. Their fathers were once friends but the relationship was strained and the young couple got married under cover. It was a typical Hindi movie love story where the hero and heroine are separated by their parents and so they run off to get married. And like the movie ends their families too reconciled but only in the end i.e. after the marraige.

Sourav with wife Dona Ganguly. In his early schooldays, he used to write her essays.

His first love

You all will be surprised to know that 'Football' is Saurav's first love. He played for his school football team for four years. But since there were not many opportunities in football, he shifted to cricket. This shift of game was because of his father, who made him join a cricket coaching club. His father Mr. Chandi Ganguly had also played for the state.

If not cricket, he would probably have been a football player. A self confessed fan of the great game.

His Secret

Now we will tell you a private habit of your favourite cricketer.............The first thing Saurav does after he checks into a hotel room is to place the portrait of goddess Kali and the picture of his wife Dona on his bed side table. For this Bengal Tiger there
is nothing more relaxing than watching Dona (his wife who is a classical dancer)perform a dance routine.

The first families of cricket Sourav and Sachin along with children.

Achievements

Ganguly was appointed the Captain of the Indian cricket team in February, 2000.

Ganguly was the Man of the Series in the New Zealand-India 5 match ODI series in November 1999.
Ganguly made a mammoth 183 against Sri Lanka in World Cup 1999, which, at that time, was the Highest ODI Score by an Indian, beating Kapil Dev's Record of 175*.
Ganguly was the Man of the Series in the Pepsi Cup 1999 (March-April) for scoring 278 runs and taking 6 wickets in total.
Saurav Ganguly has the distinction of being one of the few players in the World to Score a century and take 4 wickets in the same match. (ODIs)
Saurav Ganguly along with Tendulkar forms the 4th Best Opening Pair in the History of One-day cricket.
Saurav Ganguly and Tendulkar were involved in a World Record Opening Partnership of 252.
Saurav Ganguly scored a Century on Debut at Lords in 1996, and went on to score a century in the very next match as well.

Saurav Ganguly was named Sport star Person of the Year 1998. He also won the Arjuna Award in 1998.
Saurav Ganguly was the Highest Run-Scorer for India in ODIs in 1997.

In the Sahara Cup 1997, Saurav Ganguly set a new World Record for 5 consecutive Man of the Match Awards. He was also the Man of the Series.

Know About Sachin Tendulkar (India)

noreply@blogger.com (michael) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:54:00 -0800

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (born April 24, 1973) is an Indian cricketer, widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He currently holds the records for the most cumulative runs in One-Day Internationals, and the most number of centuries scored in both One-day Internationals and Test cricket. He made his international debut against Pakistan in 1989 at the age of sixteen, becoming India's youngest Test player. Although primarily a top-order batsman, Tendulkar has often proved to be a useful and effective slow bowler. He received India's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in the year 1997-1998 and the civilian award Padma Shri in 1999. His cricketing and batting abilities are widely regarded as genius by many stalwarts of the game. For instance, Sir Donald Bradman, the Australian great said of Sachin, "He reminds me of myself". He is affectionately known as The Little Master by his adoring fans.

Sachin sets new Test runs record

Oct 17, 2008

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has become the world record Test runs scorer, surpassing Brian Lara's previous best mark of 11,953.
Tendulkar, 35, needed 15 runs to overtake West Indies legend Lara in the standings on the first day of the second Test against Australia in Mohali. And despite being forced to go to tea on 13 not out, the 'Little Master' came out after the interval to hit Australian debutant Peter Siddle's first ball of the session for three runs to spark wild celebrations in the ground.
The crowd gave Tendulkar a standing ovation to celebrate his achievement, while a pre-prepared fireworks display was also set off outside. The entire Australian team also stood to applaud the batsman, who received warm handshakes from each member of the opposition lineup.
Tendulkar already held the record for Test centuries with 39 in 152 Test matches for India and he is regarded as a living legend in many parts of his homeland - particularly in his native city, Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The batsman's achievement - and brilliance on the big occasion - was almost underlined with a 40th Test century, but it was not to be as he was dismissed on 88 after a catch at slip by Matthew Hayden off the bowling of Sidde.
The innings takes Tendulkar's career total to 12,041 – making him the first batsman ever to surpass 12,000 Test runs.

Sachin Tendulkar Memorabilia

Unframed and Unsigned print - 80cm x 40cm - 22 USD

As a tribute to this outstanding feat, we are proud to release a magnificent, full colour print, titled "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar 35". ". This collage style print contains the details of all of Sachin's 35 Test Centuries, various images taken during his career and also his Record Breaking innings. Unlimited in volume, this piece has been especially created to enable Sachin fans all around the World to be able to own a little piece of this historic achievement. Unsigned and unframed, this print is a very affordable piece of cricket memorabilia.
"While every Cricketer dreams of being the best in his time, this boy dreamt a little more - of being the best there ever was. Even as a little boy playing in the park, he was introspective, quiet, critical of every century he scored, every shot he played. At 16, he debuted for India, and is today the only batsman ever to have been compared with Sir Donald Bradman universally, including by Bradman himself."

Signed and Framed print

Signed and Framed print - 100cm x 50cm - 550 USD

During the 1st Test, Pakistan v India at Karachi in November 1989, a quiet 16 year-old named Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar made his Test debut for his beloved India.
Then, during the 2nd Test, England v India at Manchester in 1990, Sachin showed the cricket world what he was capable of, scoring his first ever Test century, he finished 119 not out after facing 189 balls.
On December 10th 2005, during the 2nd Test, India v Sri Lanka at Delhi, Sachin Tendulkar scored an amazing 109. This Test century, being the 35th of his career, saw Sachin surpass the World Test Record of 34, previously held by Indian great Sunil Gavaskar since his retirement in 1987. Facing 196 balls, Sachin displayed his true brilliance at the crease, hitting 14 fours and 1 six, until being trapped LBW by a spectacular delivery from Muralitharan.
This outstanding achievement is destined to stand for many years to come.
As a tribute to this outstanding feat, we are proud to release a limited edition of 1000 prints, titled "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar 35". This collage style print contains the details of all of Sachin's 35 Test Centuries, various images taken during his career and also his Record Breaking innings. These prints have been elegantly framed in a quality timber and frame and Perspex glazed.
This strictly limited piece of Test Cricket history has been personally signed by Sachin and will be the only signed print released World wide to officially commemorate his World Test Record.
This product is supported by A-Tag Authentication Technology and includes an official a-Tag Certificate of Authenticity.
"While every Cricketer dreams of being the best in his time, this boy dreamt a little more - of being the best there ever was. Even as a little boy playing in the park, he was introspective, quiet, critical of every century he scored, every shot he played. At 16, he debuted for India, and is today the only batsman ever to have been compared with Sir Donald Bradman universally, including by Bradman himself."

Framed bat

Framed bat - 105cm x 60.5cm - 827 USD

As a tribute to this outstanding feat, we are proud to release a limited edition of 1000 of this special piece, titled "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar 35". This "SRT 35" cricket bat has been elegantly framed in a quality timber box frame and Perspex glazed alongside four photos of Sachin taken during his World Record innings. This quality collectable also contains the details of all of Sachin's 35 Test Centuries printed onto the mat board in gold text.
This strictly limited piece of Test Cricket history has been personally signed by Sachin and will be the only signed bat released World wide to officially commemorate his World Test Record.
This product is supported by A-Tag Authentication Technology and includes an official a-Tag Certificate of Authenticity.
"While every Cricketer dreams of being the best in his time, this boy dreamt a little more - of being the best there ever was. Even as a little boy playing in the park, he was introspective, quiet, critical of every century he scored, every shot he played. At 16, he debuted for India, and is today the only batsman ever to have been compared with Sir Donald Bradman universally, including by Bradman himself."