New Zealand vs India, 1st Test Day 1

Today India began to play its 500th Test Match at the historic Green Park Oval in Kanpur. In a pitch that was expected to aid the home side India won the toss and elected to bat. The start was brilliant in the first session India managed to score 105 runs for the loss of just one wicket. 

It seemed like India will easily score 500 plus runs in its first innings. However the second session turned things on its head. After Pujara was out caught and bowled, Kohli ended up giving his wicket away for a very little score. He tried to hook a short ball, that took the top edge of the bat and went straight to the hands of the fielder Sodhi. Williamson posted two fielders for that particular stroke and Kohli fell into the trap. 

This started a procession of wickets in the second session India lost 3 wickets and managed to score only 79 runs. The final session of the day was going well till Ashwin and Rohit were batting but suddenly Rohit played a lose shot and got out caught and that opened the floodgates. Boult picked up the wicket of Wriddhiman Saha clean bowled for a duck. India lost 5 wickets in the last session. At the end of the day India was struggling at a score of 291/9.

However on the flip side, the pitch is turning and the wicket is deteriorating fast. India gets and opportunity to use the heavy roller in the morning. On this pitch using a heavy roller can make it deteriorate fast and then New Zealand can have real problems with the bowling of Ashwin and Jadeja.

Tomorrow there will be a real test of Indian bowling. 

India vs West Indies - 2nd Test

Cricket is called a game of glorious uncertainties. This showed again in the last day of the second test between India and West Indies. On the fourth day which was mostly rained off India managed to get 4 top order wickets for just 48 runs in the 15.5 overs bowled. However in the fifth day it was a different story. 

The last day of the Test match was a clear day with the sun shining hard play started on time. Anyone would have thought that 98.1 overs were more than enough to dislodge the West Indian middle and lower order. However things took a different turn. First Blackwood and Chase formed an excellent partnership 93 runs. They scored the runs very fast, in fact Blackwood got one of the fastest fifty ever made in a test match by a West Indian player. 

At the fall of Blackwood's wicket, Dowrich came in to bat, Chase and Dowrich batted aggressively. They added 144 runs to their partnership but unfortunately Dowrich got a bad decision from umpire Ian Gould and was adjudged out LBW. At the fall of Dowrich's wicket captain Jason Holder came in to bat and he made the most of the situation scoring 64 of 99 balls. 

Chase who got 5 wickets in Indian innings scored a brilliant 137 not out of 269 balls. India were able to take only 2 wickets in the 88 odd overs bowled by them. 

It was indeed a huge surprise to see the batting that was tottering against Indian bowling put up such a positive and spirited display. This performance should have increased the self confidence of the people involved  in the partnerships on the 5th day. We can expect to see better batting performance from West Indies for the rest of the series, it may rub into their bowling performance as well. 

Chase was rightly given the Man of the Match award for his all round performance. 

Rain in second Test - India vs West Indies- Jamica

Weather and cricket are closely related. The greatest enemy of cricket is rain. Soccer can be played even when it is raining, there are many other sports that can be played in rain. However cricket is not one of them. Even a slight drizzle can result in the stoppage of a match. Surprisingly it is observed that rain follows cricket. Even deserts like Sharjah received rains when cricket matches were scheduled there.

While the Indian team has dominated all the session in the second test with West Indies, the only thing that stands between India and a possible innings victory is the weather. Yesterday, a session and half was lost due to rain. This happened immediately after India declared the innings at 500/9. At the moment India has a healthy lead of 304 runs, with all pace and spin bowlers in form, an Indian victory seems imminent. 

However the weather forecast for today is not great either. There is storm and heavy rains forecasted. If the weather report turns out to be correct then we can lose the entire day today not a single ball may be bowled. One just hopes that the weathermen got it wrong or the storm weakens before hitting the shore. 

That leaves us to tomorrow however the wet ground and pitch may lead to further delay and India may get very few overs to bowl West Indies out. India scored their runs slowly, had they batted faster the declaration would have come earlier and it would have been possible to bowl few overs to the Windies batsmen who were struggling in the first innings. 

The nature is not under anyone's control one can just keep the fingers crossed and hope that we get maximum possible cricket with little or no rain. Everyone wants to see Indian pace trio and Ashwin and Mishra pick up wickets. It is up to the West Indian batsman's ability and technique, if they are to save the match. 

India vs West Indies - Antigua Test

Had you told anyone in the 70s,80s and even in the early 90s that Indian fast bowlers are faster than West Indian fast bowlers, people would have laughed at you and called you crazy. But today it is a fact. West Indies does not have the bowlers who are even close to the standards of Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Marshall, Hall, Griffith etc. In the 70s the West Indian team had so many good fast bowlers that a great bowler like Sylvester Clarke had to sit out. 

In stark contrast today the West Indies hardly has any top class fast bowlers leave out world class ones. Their batting is way below the the batting standards of the teams of 70s and 80s. Very few of them average above 40. Add to that there are internal problems in WICB and talented players like Chris Gayle, Andre Russel, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Lendel Simmons are not a part of the current West Indian side which is a shame. West Indies needs them. 

The Indian team on the other hand outclassed West Indies in every department be it fielding, bowling or batting. Except for the first few overs by Shannon Gabriel, no West Indian bowler threatened Indian batting. The Indian batsmen were merrily making runs and the pitch was also good to bat on although the outfield was a bit slow on the first day. 

Virat Kohli helped himself to his first Test double century. Ashwin got his century as well and Mishra cashed in on the situation and got a nice fifty for himself. Indians just had to bat only one innings and that was enough. India enforced follow on after getting the Windies early and in the second innings West Indian batting did not improve, in fact the likes of Bishoo and Holder batted way better than the top order. Although Indian bowlers were tired the did get the 10 wickets in the second innings thanks to the 7 wicket haul by Ashwin. 

In the first innings the pitch aided fast bowling Shami and Umesh made most of the situation picking up 4 wickets each, Mishra got 2 wickets. Ishant bowled well in patches in both the innings however in the entire Test Match he managed to get only one wicket. The match was completely dominated by the Indians and it was over in 4 days with about 120 overs to spare. 

If the weather stays well in rest of the matches we may see a complete whitewash of the West Indian team by India. As an Indian cricket fan I will love to see that happening.  

IPL and water crisis

Many states of India are currently going through a situation of tremendous drought. Adverse scarcity of water is making people walk miles for water or live on contaminated water. Maharashtra is the most most drought affected state in the country. This year there are 20 IPL matches scheduled to be played in Maharashtra, in the cities of Nagpur, Pune and Mumbai. 

To maintain the stadium and pitch large amounts of water is needed. An estimated 6 million litres of water is needed in these three venues. In a state like Maharashtra, where the problem of water scarcity is extremely acute, it is absolutely inhuman to use water to maintain the grounds.

While it is true that not playing the IPL matches in Maharashtra will not solve the water problem of Maharashtra, at the same time one cannot let the precious little water left in the state, be used up in stadiums. The matches scheduled to be played in Maharashtra can easily be moved to places where water is in abundance. There are many venues in India which has no water shortage. Venues like Kolkata, Mohali, Dharmasala etc has no water shortage.

Particularly Dharmasala, this year there is not a single IPL match is scheduled in Dharmasala. The stadium in Dharmasala is ideal for holding cricket matches in summer. The current temperature in the city of Dharmasala is between 13 degree centigrade to 25 degree centigrade. In most other parts of India the temperature is above 35 degrees Celsius. So looking at the weather conditions, it makes sense to shift the IPL matches from Maharashtra to Dharmasala. 

Dharmasala stadium is one of the most beautiful cricket ground in the world. The pitch of Dharmasala is also a good one where one can expect to see high scoring matches. So shifting the the matches from Maharashtra to Dharmasala will be beneficial to IPL as well.

T20 World Cup and West Indies

Sometime back in 2015, I wrote an article about West Indian cricket, how it rose and dominated in the past and how it went down. I also wrote about the importance of revival of West Indian cricket. This year has been absolutely wonderful for West Indian cricket. Till now they have won three cricket world cups first it was the under 19 limited overs cricket world cup, then they won the Women's T20 cricket world cup and now West Indian men's cricket team are the new World T20 champions.

The final was played in very good pitch in Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Batting first England were unable to play the leg spin of Samuel Badree and lost wickets regularly. Although English batsmen played freely, the regular fall of wickets led to the slowing down of scoring rate and at the end of 20 overs, England only managed to get 155 runs. 

The pitch was very good to bat on, England were 30 runs short of a good total on this wicket. West Indies started their innings badly. In the second over captain Eion Morgan tried the off spin of Joe Root. Opener Jhonston Charles was so impatient that the tried to make room in the very first ball he faced and tried to flat bat Root over long on. However the bll took the upper part of his bat and went straight to Stokes at long on. In the same over Gayle tried to hit Root over long on, the ball did not hit the bat in the middle, the ball went up in the air and Stokes took the second catch. 

In a way West Indies gifted two easy wickets to England and made their job much tougher. To add to West Indian misery in the very next over Wiley brought one ball back to Lendel Simmons, Simmons missed the ball and the ball thudded into his pad. The umpire rightly adjudged him LBW. After the first three dismissals Dwayne Bravo and Marlon Samuels slowly built the West Indian innings. Samuels was batting well and was scoring fast, Bravo struggled a bit. In the last ball of the 14th over he fell to the leg spin of Adil Rashid. 

After that wickets of Andre Russel and Darren Sammy fell soon. However Samules was hitting the ball well and scoring fast on the other end he got decent support from Carlos Brathwaite who scored 10 of just 6 balls but the amount of runs they were able to garner till the 19th over was not good enough. At the end of 19th over West Indies were 137/6, needing 19 runs of the last over to win, it was a really daunting task.

Morgan gave the ball to Stokes. The batsman on strike was Brathwaite. The very first ball he faced from Stokes he tried to clear his left foot, but the ball was bowled in the direction of his legs and it was a length ball. Brathwaite just lifted the ball between square leg and long leg, the ball travelled 67 metres without bouncing to give Brathwait the first six of the over. 

In the next ball, Stokes tried to ball a bouncer, but he got the length wrong and the ball pitched a yard or two behind the popping crease. Brathwaite cleared his left leg and then lofted the ball over the head of long on for a 94 meters six. Now the possibility of a West Indian win was withing reach. The Windies needed 7 of the next 4 balls. 

In the third ball Stokes tried another yorker outside off stump, but this one also fell short and it was a nice juicy half volley that Brathwaite hit over long off after clearing his front leg. With this six the scores were level. Most people at the end of 19th over thought that England will win the World Cup, however three sixes in 3 consecutive balls changed the course of the match.

When the third six was hit, Ben Stokes was absolutely devastated. He sat on his knees with hands on his head. He collected himself and went back to bowl the fourth ball of the over, again it was an attempted yorker that fell short and Carlos Brathwaite after clearing his front leg, hit the ball over long on for the fourth six of the over. With this West Indies won the T20 world cup for the second time. 

It was one of the most exciting World Cup finals in the history of T20 cricket, enjoyed by fans across the cricket playing world. The match was played to a full house in Eden Gardens, when the last four sixes were hit, every six was greeted with a huge roar. The West Indies got lot of neutral support in Eden Gardens. 

Hopefully this year will mark a resurgence in West Indian cricket, with more and more youngsters in Caribbean taking up the game. In the Caribbean islands the game of cricket is under threat from soccer and basketball. The world cup of cricket in India has been a great success. People enjoyed the games thoroughly. 

World Cup T20 till now

World Cup T20 started with hosts India taking on New Zealand. The Kiwis are an excellent T20 side, India has lost all 4 matches earlier it played against New Zealand. The opening match took place between the two teams in Nagpur. The pitch was far from being an ideal T20 wicket. Indian bowlers bowled well, managed to restrict the Kiwis to 126 in the stipulated 20 overs. 

However when it was India's turn to bat things took a wrong turn. The kept deteriorating fast and the amount of spin generated by the spinners kept increasing. Its amazing how New Zealand knew in advance that the pitch would be a turner and had picked three spinners in their side. Although in terms of calibre the Kiwi spinners are average, but the pitch offered so much assistance to the spinners that even low quality spin bowlers were able to turn the ball square. 

The famed Indian batting line up was not able to stand up to the Kiwi spinners on that wicket and were all out for a paltry score of 79. 

The next two matches were complete run feast. The Pakistan batting side, whose performances in Asia cup was below average suddenly came to form this afternoon in Eden Gardens and on that flat wicket, were able to score 201 against Bangladesh's bowling attack. After many days Shahid Afridi got among runs scoring a quick fire 49. Before him Mohammed Hafeez and Ahmed Sehzad scored quick fifties. The Bangladeshis were not able to score the required runs against the mighty Pakistan bowling line up and lost the match.

The second match played this evening between England and West Indies was another run feast. The track in Wankhade was flat one and England scored 183 batting first. It was a good total, but luck was not with England. The dew on the ground was pretty heavy and they were not able to get the wicket of Chris Gayle. Gayle was in wonderful form and he scored 48 ball century today. The innings was a treat to watch as he hit the English bowlers all around the park. 

Gayle hit 11 sixes, some of them were so huge that they ended up in the second tier of the stands. Gayle has tremendous power in his arms and wrists coupled by the heavy bat he uses, it imparts great momentum to his shots. People come to watch cricket matches to see sixes and fours being hit. Gayle is able to provide them in plenty. This explains why he is such a popular cricketer in India. In fact for Gayle, the Chennaswami Stadium in Banglore is his home ground. He is player who is capable of winning not just a single match but tournaments for his team. Dropping such player from the West Indian side was the stupidest decision that West Indian selectors could have taken. 

Looking at the way West Indies have played, they are surely one of the favourites for this world cup. Pakistan are always unpredictable but the are definitely capable of winning the world cup as well, if their batsmen keep performing consistently. 

Soccer(Football) can become popular in India

When you talk about sports in India, only one sport would come to your mind, cricket. Indeed Cricket is the most popular sport in India, the people of the country follow the sport with great passion. No other sport in India comes close to cricket in terms of popularity. Having said this though it is not true that other sports in India cannot do well. 

India has population of over 1.25 billion people. Most of the population is below 25 years in age. In the last few years leagues of other sports have started that includes hockey and soccer. India is ranked very low among the soccer playing nations.

India has enough talent and the sport is quite popular in certain states of the country. India can potentially become a future soccer giant if proper training and exposure is given to young talents. 

Soccer is very popular in the states of West Bengal, Kerala, Goa and North East states of Assam, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya. The combined population of all these states almost same as the population of Brazil.

The state of West Bengal is twice as populous as Argentina. So considering the love that people have for football in this parts of the country, if young players get good training and then get good amount of experience of playing with teams that are ranked higher in FIFA rankings, it can result in India producing a world class soccer team in the future. 

Indian Soccer League, in its first and second season has also given an opportunity to Indian players to play with world class players. The quality of Indian football has also improved. If the soccer talent in the above mentioned states get enough opportunity, the country can produce world class soccer players. 

Soccer is game that can be played by all sections of the society, regardless their income. Unlike cricket, this game does not require any expensive gears. The only thing you need is pair of soccer shoes and some inexpensive shin guards and then you can play the simple but beautiful game that is loved by most people in the world. 

If the game is properly marketed and promoted, it will achieve great popularity among the common masses of India. 

Asia Cup Final

As expected India won the last match of the Asia Cup. However the win was not a cakewalk. The match was shortened by rain. It was only because of the good drainage of the stadium that we were able to get a match. The match was shortened to 15 overs per team. 

Dhoni won the toss and put Bangladesh in to bat. Obviously in shortened matches the side batting second has the advantage of knowing the score that it has to get. Indians bowled well till the 11th over, the Bangladesh scoring was in check. But once Mahmudullah came in to bat , he scored runs fast, right from the word go. He scored a super fast 33 of 13 balls. 

Mahmudullah is in excellent form and one can't help thinking that he is batting too low in the order, he should have been given more overs to bat, Bangladesh would have scored much more runs if he had batted at number four or number five. Mahmudullah scored lots of runs of Nehra and Pandya's bowling. Bhumrah bowled beautifully, he gave only 13 runs of his 3 overs.

For the first time in the series the pitch was a complete pata wicket. The bowl swung for the first few overs when Indians were batting other than that it was simply a batting paradise. In this match for the first time in Asia Cup Dhoni decided to open the bowling with Ashwin.

The first five balls that Ashwin bowled were great, a few of them were his newly developed slider that he balls of one finger. The slider swings a lot in air. The last ball of the first over was also an attempted slider, however it ended up being too full outside the off stump. Batsman Saumya Sarkar was able to hit that ball for a boundary. Ashwin was the other economical bowler in this match. He conceded only 14 of his allotted 3 overs. 

Indian start was not good. India lost the wicket of Rohit Sharma early in the second over. After a first few quite overs Dhawan and Kohli went after the bowling and were able to bring down the asking rate from around 9.5 runs per over to 8. The Bangladeshi bowlers bowled pretty well but the class of Shikhar and Virat made sure that India managed to keep up with the asking rate. Kohli played some crisp cricketing shots for boundaries, he scored runs very fast without taking too many risks. 

Shikhar took a few calculated risks and scored 60 of 44 balls. He was out caught brilliantly by Saumya Sarkar at point, had Sarkar missed the ball it would have gone crashing into the boundary. Dhoni came in to bat at 99/2 in 12.4th  over. In the next two balls 3 runs were scored. India needed 19 runs of the last two overs. This is when the Dhoni show began, Al - Amin(whose bowling action seems suspect) came in to bowl. The first ball that Dhoni faced was hit over wide long on for a six. 

In the fourth ball of that over Dhoni was on strike again, he hit the ball for a one bounce boundary over wide long off. Now India needed 5 runs of 7 balls. Dhoni hit the next ball for a six over mid wicket. Thus India won the match by 8 wickets with 7 balls to spare. 

It was a wonderful final which saw the best two teams competing in the final. Bangladesh has outplayed Sri Lanka and Pakistan in this tournament. Bangladesh can be proud of their performance. Their performance has been at par with the best since the World Cup. There is immense passion for cricket in Bangladesh and it is great to see that the nation is emerging as a power house of cricket. 

Alternative if Pakistan does not play the T20 Cricket World Cup

There is some controversy regarding Pakistan refusing to send a team to play the T20 cricket world cup. The less we talk about Pakistan's recent performances the better. The batsmen and fielders performances have been really pathetic(The only thing that has saved Pakistan from disgrace is their bowling unit).  So even if Pakistan does not play the T20 World Cup it won't make much of a difference.

In a situation where Pakistan indeed does not play the World Cup, how can ICC make up for it? Every country has players who are good enough to play for the national side but they are unable to make it to their national squads. So ICC can consider creating a cricket team out of all players of the Test playing nations who are currently not a part of the their respective country's playing XI.

We can call such a team World XI. It would not only make up for the absence of Pakistani squad, but it would also give an opportunity to the lesser known but talented players. It would be wonderful to see players from different countries playing together in a World Team.

The players in such a team would be pumped up since that would be a wonderful opportunity for them to prove that their respective boards have done a great mistake by not picking them in their national teams. If the World XI does manage to win the world cup , it would be an achievement that the entire cricket loving world would cherish. 

ICC and BCCI should not give into dirty and pedestrian publicity tactics of PCB. The World Cup can happen without Pakistan.

Asia Cup final

Tomorrow India and Bangladesh play the final of the Asia Cup. It promises to be an exciting match. India won all four matches in the league stage of the Cup. Bangladesh lost to India but it was able to beat the other three teams that  included Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 

The league match between Bangladesh and India was won convincigly by India. India lost early wickets in that match however after Rohit's catch was dropped, he went hammer and tongs after Bangladeshi bowling. On a lively wicket, Indian were able to score the higest total of the tournament. 

Bangladesh is a highly spirited and improved side. India cannot take it lightly, but India does stand a good chance to win the match looking at its current form and performances, of the last 9 matches India played, it has won 8. Tomorrow's match promises to be thrilling encounter, although Bangladesh will have home advantage, India will go into the match as all out favorites. 

Asia Cup - Bangladesh in the finals, India win all four league matches

It was like stealing candies from babies, India effortlessly beat UAE in a match of very little significance in the ongoing Asia Cup tournament. The Emiraties had no answer to India's tight bowling. They were able to garner only 81 runs in their allotted 20 overs, losing 9 wickets in that process. The match turned out to be an opportunity for India to give an opportunity to the players who were in the bench. It was nice to see Bhuvaneswar Kumar getting his swing back, Harbhajan Singh also bowled well.

The match played day before yesterday was really exciting. The Pakistani batting disappointed once again. They were able to manage only 129 runs of 20 overs. The pitch did help the bowlers but it was not very bad, it was a 160 run pitch. Pakistan fell short by at least 31 runs. 

Pakistanis had a strong bowling line up. However they decided to play an extra batsman leaving out Wahab Riaz. Fast bowling is Pakistan's strength, it was not a smart decision to do away with Raiz as it turned out the replacement medium paced all-rounder went for runs and did not create any impact on the Bangladeshi batsmen. 

Mohommad Aamir again bowled beautifully. Pakistan did pick up wickets at regular intervals but when it mattered their fielding and bowling let them down. When Mortaza, the Bangladesh captain came to bat, he hit the first ball he faced powerfully towards long off, Mohommad Sami could have stopped the ball however he ended missing it and it went for four, giving 3 runs too many. The next ball was an excellent bouncer however Mortaza was able to connect his bat to the ball and it went for a boundary.

When two boundaries were hit back to back, Aamir started bowling away from the stumps, Mortaza missed both the balls. The penultimate over was bowled by Mohommad Shami, however he ended up bowling two no balls in the over. The first no ball was caught at long on, the fielder threw the ball in the air thinking that Pakistan got a wicket, however the batsmen were able to sneak an extra run. 

There was one more no ball in the over. The combination of no balls,free hits and not getting the wicket of the no ball cost Pakistan lot of runs in the over. The first ball of the last over was a full toss and Bangladesh won the match. 

Had Pakistan played Wahab Raiz and Mohommad Shami not bowled those no balls, the story of the game might have been different. It was great moment for Bangladesh cricket as it was apparent from the reaction of the 40,000 odd crowd in the stands. They have made it to the finals where they face India. The entire cricket loving world is looking forward to the final of the tournament. 

Asia Cup - Some exciting T20 cricket ahead

India won the match against Sri Lanka today and has made it to the finals of the Asia Cup. With only one match remaining in the the league phase against minnows UAE, India seem on course to win all the matches in the league phase. Sri Lanka are now out of Asia Cup, since they lost two matches - one against India and the other one against Bangladesh. 

The only two teams that can join India in the finals are going to be either Bangladesh or Pakistan. Looking at the way in which Pakistani fast bowlers bowled against India, there seems very little likelihood of Bangladesh batsmen being able to stand up against them. Although UAE's performance against Pakistan was quite commendable. They managed to garner 129 runs against such a strong bowling line up.

Pakistan seems to be the most likely team to qualify for the finals. But Bangladesh has done upsets in the past. In fact just a few months ago, Bangladesh whitewashed Pakistan in a one day series held in Bangladesh. Tomorrow, the match between the two teams will take place, a win for Bangladesh will guarantee them a position in the finals. 

If Bangladesh wins tomorrow, it would be a great moment in the history of the cricket crazy nation. If Pakistan wins then it would set up a great India vs Pakistan encounter. One thing is for sure, we will definitely get some exciting T20 cricket.

India is the favorite for T20 World Cup

The last time India won the T20 World cup was in 2007 in South Africa. It was the first edition of the T20 world cup. In 2014, India were the T20 World Cup finalists. The recent form of Indian team raises hopes about India's chance in the upcoming T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in India, during the months of March and April.

When India went to play the 5 one day and 3 T20 matches in Australia, no one expected India to do a complete whitewash of Australia in the T20 series. For the first time ever in the history of the game a visiting team in Australia whitewashed Australia in their home.

In the home series against Sri Lanka India won the series 2-1 and has won the first two matches of the of the ongoing Asia cup. All the batsmen are in good form, the bowlers are bowling well and the addition of Hardik Pandya and Jaspreet Bhumrah has changed the balance of the team.

If the Indian T20 plays in the same way it has done in the last eight matches, then India can very well become World T20 champions. This time India will have the home advantage as well. 

Asia Cup- 5th Match - India vs Pakistan

The most keenly fought contest in the world of cricket today is a match between India and Pakistan. India probably have the best batsmen in world cricket today. Pakistan have the best fast bowlers in the world. The match played today at Mirpur, on a green wicket, between the two subcontinent giants, was very exciting, although it was a low scoring match. 

India put Pakistan into bat, the pitch helped Nehra and Bhumrah. Nehra got a wicket in the very first over. Bhumrah came close to getting a lbw in the second over but the umprie ruled otherwise. That over was a maiden though. When it seemed like Pakistani batsmen were settling down and looking to score big, Bhumrah managed to get the edge of Sharjeel Khan, the catch was taken comfortably by Rahane. 

In the next over, Nehra managed to get an edge of Manzoor, however the decision was not given by the umpire in favour of the bowler. The decision did not cost India too much, in the next over, there was some misunderstanding between Malik and Manzoor, while taking a quick single. Malik sent Manzoor back, Manzoor slipped, the bat fell from the hands of Manzoor, Kohli collected the ball and hit the stumps direct. After that wickets fell in quick succession. 

At one stage the Pakistanis were 52/7, Wahab Riaz and Sarfaraz managed to add 18 to the total, but then Riaz was out lbw to Jadeja. In the next over bowled by Ashwin, the first ball was swept square by Mohommad Shami for a one bounce boundary. In the next ball, Ashwin tried to bowl a slider that probably slipped out of his hands and went way down the leg side. This over added some runs to the paltry Pakistani total. Pandya bowled the next over and managed to get wickets in consecutive deliveries, thus stopping the Pakistanis at 83/5 in 17.3 overs.

However the win was not easy for India. India did have some very difficult time facing the fiery Pakistani fast bowling. Mohommad Aamir, who has come back to the side after a 5 year ban bowled a magical spell. In the very first over of the Indian innings he managed to get the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. Both the balls were real beauties. Both the bowls were bowled at over 145 kph and they swung back like banana. There was very little that Rohit and Ajinkya could have done, they were just new to the crease. 

On the other end Mohommad Shami bowled a very good second over. In the third over Aamir got the wicket of Raina, who ended up lobbing a catch to mid on. Yuvraj came in to bat, the ball was swinging and the Pakistani fast bowlers were bowling with real pace. All of them -- Aamir, Shami, Irfan and Wahab bowled at over 145 kph. Some of the balls clocked 150 kph. However Virat Kohli batted steadily at the other end. He scored freely. Yuvraj struggled but managed to hang on. 

Kohli, the man of the match, played some delightful strokes, he batted well under pressure and reached a score of 49. However the umpire gave a wrong decision adjudging him lbw, replays clearly showed that he had edged the ball to his pads. Pandya followed him without adding to the total. Captain Dhoni got the winning runs and India thus won the match by a margin of 5 wickets. 

It was an incredible bowling performance by the Pakistani bowlers. They made a match out of a paltry total given to them by their batsmen. Had the Pakistani batsmen batted better and made even 120 to 130. India would have found it really difficult to get to the total.

It is wonderful to see India winning this match. One hopes that India performs well against Sri Lanka and UAE as well and win the next two matches to make it to the final. 

Asia Cup T20- 3rd match (Bangladesh vs UAE)

UAE again bowled well but when it came to batting they floundered once again. The batsmen of UAE have no experience of playing quality bowling on green wickets. Coach Aquib Javed has done a wonderful job when it comes to preparing UAE's bowling unit. The emiraties bowled well, tied Bangladeshi batsmen down, at the end of 20 overs, they were able to score a mere 133. The last over went for 18 runs.

However when UAE came to bat, their inexperience was clearly visible. The batting performance was worse than that against Sri Lanka. But UAE cannot be blamed, after all they are just a team of amateur club cricketers pitted against well experienced professional players. However their bowling will get appreciation from every quarter. 

It is commonly observed that every associate team seems to have decent batting line up. Normally it is bowling where they are found wanting. However in case of UAE, the opposite is true. UAE has a decent bowling line up but it has to find better batsmen. 

Their performance in both the matches has been better than expected. They are capable of causing an upset if any team takes them lightly. Bangladesh were lucky to get away with a mediocre batting performance, thanks to some good bowling done by the likes of Taskin, Mustafizur and Mortaza. 

Today's match between India and Pakistan is much eagerly awaited across the subcontinent. It is going to be the match of the tournament. 

Asia Cup 2nd match - Sri Lanka vs UAE

The match was supposed to be simple cakewalk for Sri Lanka, who are the reigning world champions in the T20 format. On a green Dhaka wicket, Sri Lanka were batting first, they started well, however the UAE bowlers bowled well and the fielders backed up their bowlers well by taking all the catches and stopping the runs.  

Sri Lanka huffed and puffed to get a paltry total of 129 runs in the allotted 20 overs. All Sri Lankan batsmen struggled against a bunch of amateur UAE players. However when Sri Lankans came to bowl, the story did turn around. Lasith Malinga, who is one of the best bowlers in the world and a completely unorthodox bowler, whom the UAE batsmen faced for the first time, left them shocked.

In the very first ball of the second innings, Malinga took a wicket by bowling a fast yorker. In the last ball of the over, he bowled another yorker that dipped as it reached the batsman. The batsman missed the ball and it hit the wicket giving him the second wicket in the match. 

However UAE did not surrender meekly, their batsmen fought on, however they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They kept falling behind the required rate every over. In the end, they ended up scoring 115/9, 14 runs short of Sri Lanka's score. 

If the UAE batsmen were more experienced in terms of playing international cricket and had they played the like of Lasith Malinga earlier, they surely would have batted better and might have comfortably won the match. 

Anyway the performance of UAE was quite commendable, considering a fact that all its players are amateurs, which means that they have a day job and only practice in the evening. Compare that to SL players, who are professional full time cricketers, who are way more experienced as compared to the guys from Emirates. 

Today Emirates are to face Bangladesh in another T20 encounter in Mirpur. One hopes that the experience of facing the Lankans and the confidence of their good performance against them reflects in this match and they are able to give Bangladesh a run for their money. 

Asia Cup - Bangladesh vs India

India comfortably won the first match of Asia Cup T20 beating hosts Bangladesh by a margin of 45 runs. Bangladesh were not even able to score 75% of the runs that India scored. The pitch was a green wicket with lots of help for the quick bowlers. There was dew in the evening and bowlers did struggle to grip the ball at the later part of the innings. 

India were put into bat, in the beginning the ball was swinging a lot and scoring was tough, India lost Shikhar Dhawan early. Virat Kohli was also not able to score fluently he got out caught at mid off scoring just 8 of 8 balls. Raina tried to come down the track to the spin of Memudullah, but the ball did not turn at all and it hit the middle stump. 

Yuvraj came to bat he did score at a run a ball. At the end of the 10th over India had managed only 52 runs, but as the ball got wet and Rohit got set, Rohit started going after the bowling. Rohit increased the scoring rate hitting boundaries and sixes after his catch was dropped at point. The missed catch of Rohit Sharma was probably the turning point of the match. Yuvraj tried to hit Shakib for a six however the ball went straight to the fielder. 

Now Hardik Pandya was sent to bat and he went after the bowling, he hit four boundaries and one six to score a super fast 31 of 18 balls. Between the 15th and 20th overs India scored over 60 runs and Rohit scored a wonderful 83 of 55 balls with 3 sixes and 7 boundaries. Dhoni played the last two balls of the match scoring 2 of the first ball and hit a six of the last ball. India ended up with a total of 166, which no one expected after the 10th over.  

Bangladesh simply had no answer to India's mammoth score on this pitch. The were never really up to the challenge. Nehra and Bhumra bowled well, they got lot of assistance from the wicket and were able to pick up wickets as well inside the power play. Dhoni did not use Ashwin in the beginning of the innings, as he had done in the earlier T20 matches. 

Since the ball was wet Ashwin found it difficult to grip. Most of the balls he bowled were sliders which swung quite a bit in the air. He managed to bowl economically and got the wicket of Imrul Keyes. Pandya bowled well at the other end and managed to pick up a wicket as well. 

The addition of Bhumrah and Pandya to India's T20 side has made Indian team more powerful and one of the reason's why India won 6 of the last 7 T20 Internationals. 

The performance of Team India is very encouraging and as Indian fan one can only wish that the current form and performance continues till T20 World Cup. 

Sri Lanka vs India, 3rd T20

India won the the final and deciding T20 match in the three match series against Sri Lanka convincingly. Thus India, for the first time won a T20 series in India. 

The wicket at Vizag was not a pata wicket, it had good amount of help for bowlers specially spinners. India won the toss and put Sri Lanka in to bat. Today again Ashwin opened the bowling and boy didn't he bowl well. In the first over Ashwin picked up 2 wickets giving only 3 runs.

It seemed like a repeat of first T20 match, only this time Sri Lanka were at the receving end. In the first T20 Indians lost two wickets in the very first over. Ashwin was not done yet he came back to bowl in the next over, Chandimal tried to take the aeriel route by coming down the track, but he was caught by Pandya at long off. 

In his third over, Ashwin got the wicket of Gunaratne. However replays showed that the decision was probably a bit harsh as there seemed no connection between the bat and the ball. The sixth over was bowled by Nehra who got the wicket of Siriwardana who tried to pull a ball that was not very short. The ball hit the wicket travelling under the bat of Siriwardana. 

Ashwin and Jadeja got the ball a lot, they were simply unplayable. Jadeja gave just 11 runs in his four overs and got the wicket of Shanaka. The ball was turning so much in the pitch that even Raina joined the party and the wickets of two lower end batsmen giving just 6 runs in 2 overs. 

The number 11 batsman Dilhara Fernando was clean bowled by fast swinging yorker bowled by Bhumrah. Sri Lanka did not last the entire 20 overs and the team had only scored 82 runs. 

It was expected that the Sri Lankan spinners would make work difficult for Indian batsmen but when they came to bowl, they were not able to extract the amount of bite of the wicket which the Indian spinners were getting. All Sri Lankan quicks except Chameera seemed ineffective. 

India lost the wicket of Rohit when the team's score was 29. The next batsman sent to the crease was Rahane. It made sense because on this track Rahane's technique was needed and not quick runs. However both Rahane and Dhawan scored at almost a run a ball to get the paltry total of 84 in the 13th over. 

The match seemed a repeat of the first T20 only Sri Lankans were at the receiving end this time. Sri Lankan batsmen did play some irresponsible shots when the wickets were tumbling one after another. Had they adjusted the game according to the track and played the entire 20 overs they could have got 30 runs more. 

However Sri Lankan bowling specially spin bowling was not as effective as it should have been on this track. While Indians managed to pick up 5 Sri Lankan wickets in the first T20, Sri Lanka picked up only one Indian wicket today. Sri Lanka was totally outplayed by India and its great to see India win the series 2-1. 

With this India has now won 5 of the last 6 T20 matches they played. India rightly are one of the firm favorites to win the T20 World Cup. 

West Indies won the T20 World Cup

Earlier in this blog I had written about the demise of West Indies cricket. In spite of having some of the best players in the world, West Indies cricket team is not doing well. However today, in the Under 19 World Cup played in Bangladesh, West Indies beat India in the finals and became the champions. 

It is very heartening to see how the West Indies youngsters played. They not only batted well, but bowled and fielded beautifully as well. The West Indian quicks were the fastest in the tournament some of the balls were bowled at 147 kph. 

If the West Indies board can resolve the players payment issue, we may be able to see the great West Indies team of the past again. West Indies team of 70s and 80s were a force to reckon with and cricket looks incomplete without a strong West Indies side. 

As a true cricket fan one just hopes that this achievement of the youth West Indian team is the first step towards West Indies becoming a great cricket side again.

Sri Lanka vs India, 2nd T20

Cricket is indeed a funny game and a great leveller. You can be hero one day and the very next day you may be reduced to dust. A similar thing happened with Sri Lanka in the second T20 international played in Ranchi today. The wicket was absolutely opposite to the Pune pitch.

While the Pune pitch was a green top, the Ranchi wicket was a flat wicket with absolutely no grass on it. It was a batting paradise. However the outfield was not in great condition, it was not a lush green outfield because of the draught in Jharkhand. 

Sri Lanka won the toss and asked India to bat first. Rohit Sharma hit the first ball for a boundary and after that it was all Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma show. Shikhar Dhawan hit a ball for a six, attempting a similar stroke Dhawan was caught at third man in the previous match. However today this did not happen as the ball did not swing at all. 

In the first 6 overs Indians were able to maintain a run-rate of above 11 runs an over. India did not lose any wicket in the first six overs. The first wicket to fall was the wicket of Dhawan,he scored 51 of 25 balls. The new batsman Rahane scored runs at a decent rate while Rohit hit the ball all around. Rohit was out after making 43 from 36 balls.

He was followed by Raina who joined in the run feast. He scored a brisk 30 of 19 balls. After the fall of Rohit's wicket, Dhoni took a strange decision, instead of bringing himself or Yuvraj to the crease, he sent Pandya. Well, Dhoni's faith in Pandya was not misplaced. The youngster batted beautifully and scored a whirlwind 27 runs of 12 balls he faced. He hit two sixes and a boundary in his innings. 

The Sri Lankan bowlers were looking helpless but in the 18th over Thisara Periera managed to get a hattrick. The wicket taking deliveries were not extraordinary but the batsmen were trying to score fast and in that process they ended up giving their wickets away. By the end of the 20th over India had scored a mammoth 196/6. It was an excellent total. 

When India came in to bowl captain Dhoni took another surprising decision. He gave the new white ball to Ashwin. It was a great decision as Ashwin managed to get danger man Dilshan stumped when he faced his first ball. It was just the second ball of the Sri Lankan innings. Nehra bowled from the other side and managed to get a wicket in his first over. 

Three out of the first six overs during which field restrictions applied were bowled by Ashwin. He bowled economically. In the first 6 overs Sri Lanka managed to amass only 37 runs after losing 3 wickets. The Srilankans were having problems in scoring, after a brief partnership between Kapugedra and Chandimal, Kapugedra got out when the Sri Lankan total was just 68 in the 12th over. The Sri Lankans hardly made any impact with the bat. They scored at a slow rate and kept losing wickets regularly, the match ended with Sri Lanka managing a mere 127/9 of 20 overs.  Ashwin picked up 3 wickets while Bhumrah, Nehra and Jadeja picked up two wickets each.

After the debacle in the first match, it was heartening to see India win by a massive 69 runs. Let's hope that they perform equally well in the next match scheduled on Valentine's day. 

Sri Lanka vs India - first T20

T20 cricket is all about big shots, quick runs, taking risks and scoring the runs very very fast. Well that's true if you have a tailor made wicket for T20. In T20s, the pitches normally are made in such a way that they don't offer any lateral movement to the quicks and give very little turn to the spinners.

However on certain occasions the pitch curators have different ideas. In the match played between Sri Lanka and India in Pune today, we did not get the pitch that's ideal for T20 cricket.The pitch in Pune had lot of grass on it which gave lot of lateral movement to the the quicks.

Sri Lanka won the toss and put India in to bat. The Indian batsmen were in great form and they probably were expecting to maul the inexperienced Sri Lankan bowling today. However the young Srilankan bowlers bowled beautifully. 

The débutante fast medium bowler Kasun Rajitha got the wicket of in form Rohit Sharma of the second ball of the match. Rohit Sharma mistimed a drive that was caught by Chameera at mid off.

In the same over Rahane mistimed a shot that was caught by Chandimal. This two early blows set Indians back. However Dhawan and Raina played well till the 5th over, it was difficult to score on the wicket since it offered a lot of bounce and lateral movement to the quicks. 

Raina's catch was dropped in the 3rd over. When Dhawan tried to hit a ball over the midwicket the ball took the top edge of the bat and ended up in the hands of the fielder at third man. 

Yuvraj came to bat and hit the second ball he faced for a six. Raina was batting in his normal aggressive style regardless of the fact that Indians had lost three wickets. Raina was clean bowled by ball that came back after pitching. 

Now captain Dhoni and Yuvraj were expected to steady the ship in that lively pitch, however Dhoni tried to pull the very second ball he faced and ended up giving a catch to the wicket-keeper. Dhoni could have easily left the ball, he did not need to play that shot so early. 

Yuvraj was out in exactly the same way the tried to pull a ball, did not make a good connection and ended up giving an easy catch to the fielder. Wickets of Pandya and Jadeja fell quickly. However Ashwin and Nehra did form a good partnership for the ninth wicket.

Nehra scored only 6 runs of 19 balls and gave good support to Ashwin. It is this partnership that enabled India to cross the 100 run mark in 18.3 overs. The very next ball after pushing the team total to 100, Nehra hit the ball in the air which was caught by Chameera. 

In the next ball Bhumrah was run out when he slipped when trying to return back to the crease. India ended up with a paltry total of 101 runs, 40 runs short of a good total. Had the middle order played according to the pitch conditions, India could have easily scored 30 or 40 runs more, giving a challenging target to the Lankans.

Even with this paltry total India did compete well. The Lankans did not find scoring very easy. Nehra did pick up a wicket in his first and third over. Bhumrah also bowled well on the other side. However Sri Lanka were able to maintain the required run rate, which was just 5.1 runs an over. 

Since the Lankans knew the required total, they took far lesser risks as compared to the their Indian counterparts. Most of Indians actually gave their wicket away in trying to score freely and quickly. Their ploy would have worked had this pitch been like the ones they had in Australia in the T20 and one day series. 

Indians did manage to pick up 5 wickets but since the burden of scoring runs was not very high, with some sensible batting Lankans were able to get the total. The bowlers of both the teams bowled well but Sri Lanka batted better than India and that's where the match was won by Sri Lanka going 1-0 up in the series. 

In next two matches we will probably see better pitch than this one. In all likely hood the pitches for the next matches would be flatter and more runs will be scored.

Let's hope that Indian batsmen perform better in the next matches. It is wonderful to see an excellent performance by the Sri Lankan team who have very little in terms of experience. 

A bit of cricket

The improvement of cricket bats have played a big role in the evolution of cricket. Earlier bats were thin and light. The weight of the bat was not evenly distributed. Also the batsmen focused more on defence and did not concentrate on hitting the ball hard. The depended more on timing the ball. 

This meant that if there is a miss hit the ball more often than not ended up in the hands of the fielder. So batsmen were weary of hitting the ball in the air. With time bats changed. Bats today are heavier, larger. The willow is unpressed, the bats are thicker as well. Hence if the ball hits the edge, it flies off it. 

Today when the batmen is not able to connect the shot properly even then the ball goes a long distance. Many a times for six. That's why bowling has become very difficult because of the bats. A lot more sixes are hit today than earlier. 

Once upon a time getting 220 runs to 250 runs in a one day match was considered a winning total. Today the team batting second can notch this runs in 40 overs, that too without taking too many risks. The batsmen today hit the ball a lot harder. The work very hard on getting stronger and their strength is apparent in the amount of force they are able to impart to their shots. 

A few batsmen like AB de Villers are able to hit the ball over the head of the wicket keeper for sixes. In modern cricket even a total of 300 is not safe. These days a team has to get 330 runs or more to challenge the opposition. The pitches for one day matches are made flat and they give hardly any assistance to the bowlers. 

There are players who are able to get 200+ runs in one day matches. Also many teams have crossed more than 400 runs total multiple times. People come to see boundaries and sixes being hit. The changes in games have come as per their demands. 

Cricket was always exiting in the last 10 overs of the game and since 1996, the first 15 overs when field restrictions were on, yielded lots of runs. So the T20 format of cricket came into existence. A T20 game finishes within three and half hours. So so little time to play the batsmen go after the bowling from the first over. 

In T20 cricket we consistently get to see a score of 160+ made in 20 overs. On many occasion it touches and crosses 200. The T20 format of the game is extremely exiting and is popular all over the world. One day cricket consumed an entire day. However T20 cricket is a wonderful evening pastime. 

That's why cricket leagues like Indian Premier League(IPL), Big Bash, Carabbien Cricket League etc. have sprung up. This leagues have given players lots of opportunity to show their ability. The players who were never known to public because they never got a chance to play international cricket have shown great performances in this leagues. 

While Test match cricket will always rule. T20 cricket will popularise cricket in more countries across the world. 

Yuvraj Singh could have almost become a villain

Cricket is the most popular sport in India and indeed a very funny game. The gap between becoming a hero and villain is very thin, probably thinner than the width of hair. The best example can be seen in today's match. 

Last time Yuvraj got an opportunity to bat in a T20 international match was in the ICC T20 World Cup. In that match Yuvraj struggled to score runs and that resulted in India setting a low winning total for Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka won the match. Yuvraj was criticized from all corners and ultimately 2011 World Cup hero was dropped from the side. 

Almost after two years Yuvraj got this opportunity to bat in a international T20 match today. But he came at a time when the team needed to score quick runs. It was not an easy task for someone who just came to bat to start scoring. Yuvraj struggled and not at the right time, thankfully on the other end he had Raina who was batting wonderfully well. 

Before the last over, Yuvraj had scored only 2 runs of 8 balls. Many would have recalled the horrors of the World Cup Final two years ago. Thankfully Yuvraj was lucky this time, the first ball bowled by Andrew Tie was towards the legside which Yuvraj hit for four. He probably tried to ball a yorker next ball, but got the length wrong , the result was it became half volley which Yuvraj hit over midwicket with great timing and power for a six. 

Had Yuvraj not been able to hit either of the shots, India would have lost the match and he would have been abused across social media. The print media would have written him off as a villain as a lost cause and this match might have been the last T20 or one dayer for him. He just managed to save himself by the breadth of hair. 

Lucky Yuvraj, one hopes we get to see lots of wonderful T20 and one day innings from his bat in the future. 

India vs Australia - Last T20 - History Made

In the last 140 years, no visiting team in Australia has made complete sweep of a series. However today India has changed all that. India won the 3 match T20 series against Australia 3-0. The Australians decided to bat when the saw a flat track in Sydney. 

Shane Watson batted beautifully and scored 124 runs of 71 balls. He started slow, but when he got two back to back free hits of Bhumra, he started hitting boundaries. India did take wickets at regular intervals in the first 10 overs, however Watson continued demolishing Indian bowling. 

Few runout chances were missed off Watson. Virat Kohli was unable to hang on to a catch of Watson. The spin duo of Jadeja and Ashwin were not as effective as the other two matches. Australia managed to make a mammoth total of 197 runs in the stipulated 20 overs.

When India came in to bat, openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan made a cracking start. In the first 6 overs Indian managed more than 70 runs and just lost one wicket of Dhawan. Virat Kohli and Rohit both batted beautifully. However Aussie leg spinner Boyce managed to slow down the scoring. He was giving the ball lot of air.

Rohit Sharma was caught by Watson of the bowling of Boyce. Boyce also took the wicket of Virat Kohli. Virat came down the track to his ball, the ball hit Virat's pad and rolled back to wicket dislodging the bail. While Raina was batting well and aggressively,  Yuvraj struggled initially.

All throughout Indian batsmen managed to keep a good scoring rate. India needed 22 runs of 12 balls. In the 19th over, India got only 5 runs. Which meant India now needed 17 of the last over with Yuvraj on strike. Yuvraj was then struggling to score. He had scored only 2 of 8 balls.

In the last over when Tie came in to bowl, Yuvraj hit the first ball for a boundary. The next ball was hit for a six. Yuvraj managed a bye of the next ball. India needed 6 of the next 3 balls. Raina got 2 of the fourth ball,in the next ball he scored 2 more. In the last ball India needed 2 runs , Raina hit the ball over the head of the point fielder and it went to the boundary. 

Aussies did miss a stumping chance of Raina. The second ball of the last over was a no ball but the umpire missed it. 

All said and done this is a tremendous result for Team India. Due to this clean sweep, India now tops the charts of T20 rankings. This series win makes India firm favourite for the T20 World Cup. 

India vs Australia 2nd T20

Finally after 8 years India has won another series in Australia under Dhoni's leadership. India won today's T20 encounter with Australia. Australia won the toss and sent India to bat. Indian batsmen did not disappoint at all. Today even Shikhar got among the runs, he made 42 of 32 balls.

Rohit Sharma played another excellent innings scoring 60 of just 47 balls before being run out due to a misunderstanding with Virat Kohli. Dhawan and Rohit had given an excellent start to India and together they scored 97 runs. Shikhar tried to reverse sweep Maxwell, he managed to connect well. However the shot went in the air directly to the fielder at short third man. 

Virat, who had scored an unbeaten 90 runs in the previous match, kept his good form going by scoring a fast 59 of 33 balls. He tonked the Aussie bowlers all around the park. When Rohit's wicket fell Dhoni came in to bat and he scored a quick 14 runs of 9 balls. Dhoni fell in the last over trying to score fast.

Indians finished with a good total of 184. No team has won an international  T20 match in Australia scoring that many runs, so Australia had to make history to win this match. The Australians started well. Openers Finch and Shaun Marsh started scoring runs fast. In the first 9 overs Australia managed an excellent 10 runs an over without losing any wicket. Indians were not fielding well, they dropped a few catches and Dhoni missed a stumping chance of Finch. 

However things changed in the 10th over when Ashwin managed to get the wicket of Marsh. In the next over bowled by Pandya, Dhoni took an excellent catch to dismiss Lynn. Now wickets started falling. In the 12th over Maxwell was brilliantly stumped by Dhoni, Yuvraj took the wicket. Indian spinners managed to get wickets and at the same time stem the flow of runs. 

The wicket of Watson came of an amazing return catch taken by Ravindra Jadeja. Watson hit back the ball very hard. Jadeja took a blinder of a catch, he had less than half a second to react. Wickets kept falling and the new batsmen found it hard to score runs at required rate. Australia ended the innings with a total of 157/8. Bhumrah got two wickets in the last over. 

Again the secret of India's victory in this match was the ability to pick up wickets. Indians took 8 wickets in quick succession. When Indians were batting, Aussies barely managed to take 3 wickets. The top 3 Indian batsmen had enough time to get their eye in and hence India scored the mamoth total in the large MCG ground. 

It is really heart warming to see India win a series in Australia. It would be great to see India win the series 3-0 on Sunday. But one feels that the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Raina, Pandya and others must get a fair chance to bat in the next match. 

We are just a month away from the T20 cricket world cup. India's wonderful performance in Australia raises hopes that India may become the T20 World Champion once again. 

India vs Australia - first T20

Today 26th of January happened to be the Indian Republic Day and Australia Day as well. The first of the three T20 encounters between India and host Australia was played today in Adelaide. Indians were pretty confident after their win in the last one day match.

Australia won the toss and put India into bat. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, both of whom are in excellent form started the innings. In the first over of the match, Rohit hit Shaun Tait for a boundary and six, Tait bowled very fast, his first ball clocked 150 kph, but since he was not accurate today, his speed became useful to the batsmen and they scored of him. 

In the first four overs India scored 40 runs. Most of the runs were made by Rohit Sharma. However when Shane Watson came to bowl in the fifth over he picked up the wicket of Rohit in the first ball. Rohit mistimed the shot and he was picked up by the fielder at mid on. Although Watson was slower than the other two fast bowlers who bowled before him, he was far more effective than them, simply because a bowled better line and length. 

In the same over Watson picked up the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan of a ball which was a disguised slower bouncer. He tried to direct the bouncer over the head of keeper but was deceived by the lack of pace and ended up giving an easy catch to Wade. Watson thus gave only one run in the fifth over and picked up both the openers. This slowed India's scoring rate. 

At number four Raina came to bat. He did manage to score runs but was not really his fluent self, at times Raina struggled with the short pitched stuff. On the other side Virat was going hammer and tongs on all the Australian bowlers, hitting them at will. Except for Shane Watson, all bowlers conceded lots of runs to the Indian total. Australia failed to pick up regular wickets and this helped Indian batsmen to get their eye in and then score big. In the later part of the innings even Raina scored briskly. 

India lost its third wicket in the last over. Dhoni came into bat and hit a helicopter shot of the first ball he faced over midwicket for a six. The next ball was hit over point for a four, this shot fell a few inches away from the rope. Dhoni scored 11 runs of the three balls he faced by picking a single of the fifth ball of the over. India ended up with a score of 188, with man of the match Virat Kohli scoring a lightning 90 of 55 balls.

Australia too started their innings at a blitzkrieg pace. While the first over went for just 5 runs, in the next over bowled by Ashwin, 17 runs were scored. Australians kept scoring fast till Bhumrah was introduced into the attack. Warner tried to pull a ball that Bhumrah bowled way outside the offstump, but he ended up giving Kohli an easy catch. 

Steve Smith came into bat and the scoring rate continued to be fast. When Pandya came to bowl, he ended up bowling five wides in an over and that over went for 19 runs. However the game turned when Steve Smith was caught by Kohli off Ravindra Jadeja's bowling and after that carnage followed for Australia.

The next over was bowled by Ashwin, he decided to bowl round the wicket. The first ball he bowled in his second over, he appealed for a LBW. However the umpire didn't give it and told Ashwin that he was not able to see anything since Ashwin blocked his view in his follow through. 

Ashwin rectified this in the next ball, the umpire had a better view this time and adjuged Finch LBW. After this Australia's scoring rate came down and at the same time they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

The Aussie batsmen were constantly under pressure since none of them had time to get their eye in. They had to go for their shots and fell to some high quality spin bowling of Ashwin and Jadeja. The spin duo picked up 2 wickets each.

Ashwin who went for 17 runs in his first over gave just 11 of next 3 overs, picking up 2 wickets at the same time as well. Pandya came in to bowl in his second spell and even he ended up getting a couple of wickets. Every Indian bowler got wickets except Yuvraj who bowled just one over. 

Australia were all out for 151 runs, Bhumrah picked up 3 wickets and the last wicket was also picked by him. This gave India a victory with a nice margin of 37 runs. 

The major difference between the two teams was the ability to pick up wickets. While Australia were not able to take wickets. The much criticized Indian bowling bowled the entire Aussie side out. This is the first occasion after 2012 that an entire Australian side has been bowled out in a T20 encounter in Australia. 

From an Indian cricket fan's point of view, this is a heartwarming performance. One just hopes that Team India continues such performances in the next two T20 matches as well.

After losing the one day series, it would be wonderful to see India win the T20 series against Australia. It would be a great confidence booster for the Indian team keeping in mind that in March, T20 World Cup will be played in India.