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Australia completed the formalities to register a series whitewash when it defeated Pakistan in the 5 th one-day international at the WACA, with the ball tampering allegations proving to add fuel to the tensed atmosphere. Australia romped home to reach the target of 213, with three balls left unused in the Australian innings. The dramatic finish witnessed the winning run come in the form of a no-ball when Ryan Harris had hit the ball in the air to mid-off, as the no-ball then got declared by the square leg umpire. Mike Hussey, yet again played the role of a hero to perfection, with his 40 runs complied from 46 deliveries. His knock made sure that Australia completed the series with a 5-0 win. The sporting events were pushed to the backburner when investigations were initiated with respect to the ball tempering incident perpetrated by Shahid Afridi, the stand-in Pakistan captain. Caught by the camera, when he was using is teeth on the ball, the third umpire had reported the same to t

Pakistan has a big task ahead at it now has to play to its potentials to avoid the 5-0 whitewash, which is the second ever in their annals, to register their first victory in this grueling tour. The first of the whitewash had come under the reign of Imran’s captaincy, when the West Indies were the opponents in 1988. Mohammad Yousuf and his men have tasted just the defeat since the test at Sydney. Though the Pakistan team was expected to bounce back in the ODIs, they haven’t done justice to the talent, despite shades of brilliant fight backs getting witnessed in all of the 4 ODIs, in which Australia has proved its dominance by trouncing the disparate Pakistan team. The batting has let the Pakistan team down, and the middle order hasn’t lived up to its expectations. The two ‘Y’s have just 145 runs scored between them which tells the story of Pakistan batting collapse in this series. The bowling has hit a new low as the bowlers barring Mohammed Asif haven’t found their rhythm, and the

The Indian premier league auction has now lifted the ban related to Pakistani players, and seven Pakistani players have stormed into the subsequent Indian premier League auction. The IPL had banned Pakistani players for the last IPL auction owing to the dastardly Mumbai terror attacks, but the Pakistani cricketers now find themselves in the thick of things as they have been allowed to be a part of the third Twenty 20 league edition, which is scheduled to be staged from March 12, which is sure to delight the cricketing world till April 25. Shahid Afridi, the Twenty 20 captain for Pakistan, Umar Akmal, a promising batsman and Mohammad Aamir, the upcoming Pakistani pace bowler are all a part of the shortlisted Pakistani cricketers as the list also includes Imran Nazir, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Razzaq and Rana Naved who have been benefactors of the Indian Premier League auction. As it was the case of Pakistani cricketers to miss out last IPL league edition, it is now the turn of English cric

Zaheer Khan unleashed a devastating spell that was too much for the Bangladeshi batsmen, to come up with a haul of 7 for 87, which knocked the wind out of the opponents sail to enable a comfortable Indian test victory and with it an unassailable 2-0 test series victory. Bangladesh’s second innings total read 312 when Zaheer’s magic had the batsmen reeling and which triggered the inevitable collapse. Shewag and Gambhir completed the formalities, as the two winning runs came in the form of byes and India has now inched closer to dethrone doubts of many who still aren’t able to fathom the fact pertaining to India holding on to the Number 1 ICC spot in test cricket. With the overnight score of 228 for 3, the first hour saw the Bangladeshi batsmen offer stiff resistance, as the first 13 overs yielded 50 runs. After Shahadat had made use of the long handle to a telling effect, he fell to the rush of blood as Harbajan emerged victorious by capturing his wicket. This was just the beginning a

Tamim Iqbal scored a defiant 151, choosing to take the attack to the opposition, after India declared its first innings total at 544 for eight. With an able partner in Junaid Siddiqui, who scored 55, Tamim Iqbal has helped Bangladesh wipe off 228 of the total lead of 311. Tamim Iqbal handled both the pace bowlers as well as the spinners tactfully, as he hooked and drove when the pace bowlers were operating, and used his feet to the spinners to find the gaps on both sides of the wicket. Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddiqui added 200 runs before Zaheer Khan dismissed both of them. The crowd loved the fighting spirit exhibited by both the left hand batsmen as the spin bowlers Harbajan and Pragyan Ojha weren’t allowed to settle down. With the second fastest of centuries by a Bangladeshi batsmen, Tanim Iqbal was in full flow as he played some enchanting strokes to delight the crowd at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium. Earlier India resuming its first innings in the morning found skipper Dhoni take

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul David eclipsed Ponting-Hayden and Greenidge-Haynes alliance’s record for 100-run partnerships, as they registered the 17 th 100-run partnership at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium on the second day of the second test match between India and Bangladesh. Taking advantage of the early reprieves, the duo flayed the Bangladeshi attack to take India to a commanding total of 459 for five, with a sizeable lead of 226 to India’s credit. Though accolades lavishing praise on the two master craftsmen have poured from all quarters, the only concerning factor has come in the form of an injury to Rahul Dravid, when a delivery from Shahadat Hossain pounded him on the helmet causing him to retire back into the pavilion. Tendulkar taking his time to set in pierced the infield with some resplendent strokes, a whip off the bowling of Rubel being the pick of the lot. Rahul Dravid making use of his feet played some lovely inside-out drives as the partnership flourished to a tally of 2

India was 69 for no loss at the end of the first day of the second test after fiery Virender Shewag and determined Gambhir knocked runs at a rapid pace. Earlier, Zaheer khan and Ishant Sharma reduced Bangladesh to 51 for 5, but, India failed to wrap up the tail as the gritty Mahamudullah remaining unconquered on 96 n.o. offered staunch resistance to guide his team to a respectable if not a match winning total of 233. Having won the toss, skipper Shakib Al Hasan elected to bat first, and was soon to occupy the center stage when his team was reeling at 44 for four. Imrul Kayes, a victim of a bad decision and Tamim Iqbal were back in the pavilion, both openers out for a blob. Raqibul Hasan and Junaid Siddique were soon exhibiting loose stroke play and paid the penalty too. A defiant 39 from the middle-order batsman Mohammad Asraful who had earlier found a place in the XI amid protests from various quarters had given a glimmer of hope for Bangladesh, before Mohammad Asraful fell a victim

The IPL twenty 20 cricket 2010 is round the corner with the bidding spewing venomous exchanges between arch rivals India and Pakistan, as the battle for the championship begins with a bloodied warrior style of bidding, and is sure to witness more of such politically entwined unwarranted issues ruling the roost with cricket paling into insignificance. Has cricket lost the sheen, has it lost the gentlemanly characteristic so inherent of the game? Is Twenty 20 cricket the real savior to inject life back into the game of cricket? Dailies and other forms of newsprint have been filled to the gunwales with the eminent columnists propounding their views on the Twenty 20 cricket as well as about the role of this format in today’s cricket. But doubts still linger in the minds of many who have chosen to go with Imran Khan’s formula of ‘Temperament, Talent and Technique’ as being the surefire formula to test a batsman’s success, and the testing platform unarguably being test cricket. For such in