India vs Pakistan, 2nd T20I: Preview

Ahmedabad: India will have to quickly plug their batting shortcomings and pick the right team composition when they go into the second and last Twenty20 cricket international against arch rivals Pakistan on friday, hoping to level the two match series 1-1.

India suffered a five-wicket drubbing in the series opener in Bangalore after a middle-order collapse, which saw the hosts struggle to 130 for nine after being 90 for two at one stage.

The hosts desperately need to win the second game to level the series and the pressure will be on captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men to deliver the goods when it matters the most.

Apart from Gautam Gambhir (43) and Ajinkya Rahane (42), all the other batsmen failed to apply themselves when confronted against a strong bowling attack spearheaded by the experienced Umar Gul.

In fact, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina were the only ones other than the openers to have reached the double figures.

India would need the likes of Virat Kohli, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma to regroup and fire in unison against the traditional rivals who are also equally determined to clinch the T20 series.


The bowling also remains a persistent headache for the Indians.

Except for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who finished with impressive figures of three for nine in his debut game, none of the other bowlers could trouble the Pakistani batsmen.

Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja all struggled to get wickets or even check the flow of runs.

The decision to leave out Ravichandran Ashwin in the last match was seen as a move that worked in Pakistan's favour and Dhoni might be tempted to play him in the must-win tie.

The Indians had opted to go in with three specialist seamers in the last match and it will be interesting to see whether they go in with the same strategy or include a spinner.


Dhoni's decision to go in with Jadeja ahead of Ashwin also drew criticism.

"Ashwin was not there in this team. So our plan was that if we play out the new ball, then their spinners are not world class; I know Yuvraj is in great form, but when you don't have a world class spinner then we can dominate," Pakistan skipper Mohammed Hafeez had said.

Besides, innumerable chances given to Sharma has also been the talking point and the Indian think-tank may have a lot of work to do before they settle for the playing XI for tomorrow's match.

It will be interesting to see if a chance is given to Ambati Rayudu, considering his past performances in this format of the game.

Pakistan, on the other hand, lived up to their reputation of a strong bowling unit with three specialist pacers Gul, Sohail Tanvir and lanky debutant Mohammad Irfan wrecking havoc on a pace-friendly Chinnaswamy track.

They would look to carry on the momentum tomorrow also though the Sardar Patel track may not give them much assistance.

The visitors' batting, however, has been a cause of concern for them with openers Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad struggling to provide a platform during their run chase at Bangalore.

Even the reliable Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi failed to get big scores.

Hafeez and Shoaib Malik were the saving grace and Pakistan would hope that they continue with their exploits along with the others striking form.

Captain Dhoni had blamed the failure of the middle-order batsmen to capitalise on the good start as the reason for his team's defeat in the first match.

"The batsmen got out trying to play big shots. We could have easily scored 200 if we had applied ourselves," Dhoni had said.

It remains to be seen whether the batsmen put up a better display now and not go for wreckless shots in a bid to accelerate the pace of scoring.

Dhoni himself will be under intense pressure with his captaincy coming under the scanner in the aftermath of the recent Test debacle against England

He has always been regarded as a better captain in the shorter formats of the game, but the recent defeats in T20 matches has certainly dented his reputation.

The defeats have come at home, where the team is playing in familiar conditions, and Dhoni has a tough task in lifting the morale of the team.

Teams (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Gautam Gambhir,

Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina,

Yuvraj Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Ravichandran Ashwin,

Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Ashoke Dinda,

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Parvinder Awana.

Pakistan: Mohammed Hafeez (Capt), Nasir Jamshaid,

Kamran Akmal, Umer Akmal, Umer Amin, Shoaib Malik,

Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammed Irfan, Junaid Khan,

Sohail Tanveer, Umer Gul, Asad Ali, Zulfiqar Baber, Ahmad

Shahzad.

On-field umpires: Sudhir Asnani and Vineet Kulkarni

3rd umpire: C Shamshuddin

Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama

Match starts at 5 pm (IST).

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Teary-eyed Sachin Tendulkar thanks his fans for support

Mumbai: Legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar has said that he is indebted for all the support received during his fairytale One Day International career that came to an end after he announced his retirement on Sunday.

“Words are not enough to express my thanks to each of you for all the love & support I have received over the years.....” Sachin Tendulkar tweeted on Tuesday morning.

The “Little Master” said the overwhelming response to his decision to end his limited over career has made him emotional bringing “a tear to his eye.”

“...& especially now in the last couple of days. Your expressions have brought joy to my heart...& at times a tear to my eye!...” he posted on the micro blogging site.

Tendulkar signed off saying he will remember the “magical moments” of his epic ODI journey for the rest of his life.

“Those magical moments of our ODI journey will stay with me for the rest of my life. Thank you so much :-)” he said.

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Muralitharan says Lyon not ‘good enough’ to hassle Lankan batsmen

Sydney: Legendary spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan has said Australia’s Nathan Lyon doesn’t possess enough skills to hassle Sri Lankan batsmen, and added that had Mahela Jayawardene’s men attacked the off spinner during the Hobart Test the outcome of the match could have been different.

Murali believes Rangana Herath can win Sri Lanka the second Test match in Melbourne considering the fact that Australian batsmen have never been comfortable against slow left arm spinners.



Murali is also confident the tourists will break their duck on Australian soil after nine losses and two draws in 11 matches, News.com.au reports. The spin great said if Sri Lanka bats first and scores big, then Herath could help them win if the wicket starts turning.

Orthodox spinner Herath took 5-95 in the second innings as the Bellerive wicket broke up in Hobart after going wicket less in the first dig.

On the other hand, Muralitharan said Lyon`s finger spin held no such fear for the Lankans. Muralitharan also said Australia would struggle to bowl out Sri Lanka twice in Melbourne, a city where the tourists have always enjoyed great crowd support from a large ex-pat community.

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Sachin Tendulkar: Man who became god

New Delhi: It did not take much for the cricket pundits to spot a genius in Sachin Tendulkar after he made his international debut in a Test match in Karachi Nov 15, 1989. He was 16 then. More than two decades later, he has gone on to become one of the greatest batsman the world will ever see.

Twenty-three years, one month, and eight days from his debut, the five-feet-five-inch cricketing genius has called time on a glittering one-day career. With 18,426 runs from 463 matches at an average of 44.83, Tendulkar has most batting records under his belt in the 50-over format as also in Tests.

He holds the record for the maximum number of appearances and is the highest run-getter and century-maker in both versions. He has turned out in six World Cups at a stretch, playing a key role in winning the title in 2011 and finishing runners-up in 2003.

The `Little Master`, as he is often called, is the only man to hit 100 centuries - 51 in Tests and 49 in ODIs - and also the first man to score a double-century in the 50-over format.

However, it was not all smooth sailing for the champion batsman in his initial ODIs. It took him all of five years and 78 matches to score his maiden hundred.

But experts never lost faith in him. Another Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar commented that once he gets his first one, there will be no stopping him. Finally the big day came Sep 9, 1994, when Tendulkar struck a blazing 110 against Australia in Colombo.

The jinx broken, Tendulkar celebrated with two more three-figure knocks in the next two months. From then on, there was no looking back.

The memories of Tendulkar tearing into one of the greatest spinners of all-time, Shane Warne, at Sharjah, will forever be etched in the minds of cricket fans. In that tournament, he hit two back-to-back centuries (143; 134) against Australia -- the first helped India qualify for the final based on a better Net Run Rate and the second, in the finals -- which was played on Tendulkar`s 25th birthday, helped India beat Australia to win the title.

After the tournament, Warne claimed that he had "nightmares" at the thought of bowling to Tendulkar after being dominated by him.

An abiding image of Tendulkar would be the hundred he scored in the 1999 World Cup match at Bristol. Ramesh Tendulkar, a novelist and professor, who had deeply inculcated in his son the virtues of modesty and humility, died when India were in the midst of the Cup campaign.

Tendulkar flew home to attend his father`s last rites, and returned to the tournament, beating the Kenyan bowlers to pulp scoring 140 off 101 balls, and dedicated his innings to his father. On completing the hundred, Tendulkar looked at the sky, praying for his father, and has done likewise after reaching every milestone of his glittering career since then.

With the left-handed Sourav Ganguly, Tendulkar formed the greatest opening partnership in limited overs cricket, and the pair holds the world record for the most number of runs - 6609 in 136 matches that includes 21 century and 23 half-century stands. In 40 other matches, batting together but not as openers, the duo partnered another 1668 runs, taking their total aggregate partnership to 8277.

"These were the moments of my career I always cherish. My batting with Sachin in one-day internationals at the top was a huge learning experience," Ganguly once said.

But the greatest adulation for the Mumbaikar came from the legendary Don Bradman - considered the greatest batsman of all times. Sir Don once asked his wife to take a look at the Indian as he felt Tendulkar played like him.

It was Tendulkar`s technique, compactness, and shot production that endeared him most to the Aussie, according to Roland Perry, who authored the book `Don`s Best`.

But in a revelation that even the `god of cricket` has his human frailties, it took Tendulkar 370 days to get over an agonising century-less period after the 99th international hundred he got March 12, 2011 facing South Africa in Nagpur during the World Cup.

In recognition for the laurels he brought to the country, Tendulkar was nominated to the Rajya Sabha as an eminent personality by then president Pratibha Patil in April this year - the first sports personality to get the honour.

Mentored in his early cricketing days by his elder brother Ajit, Sachin later honed his skills under celebrated coach Ramakant Achrekar.

Tendulkar`s talent stood out since his school days, and partnered by his friend Vinod Kambli the duo made the cricketing circles sit up and take notice after an unbroken 664-run stand in a Lord Harris Shield international school game in 1988.

The rest as they say is history.

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India vs Pakistan 2012: Bangalore T20I - Preview

 SCORECARD

Bangalore: Five years after their bilateral cricket ties snapped due to the Mumbai terror attack, India and Pakistan are set to slug it out in what promises to be a high-voltage limited-over series starting with the first Twenty20 international here on Tuesday.

The two-match T20 and three-match ODI series has been squeezed in between India`s ongoing full series against the England cricket team, which has taken a break to go home for Christmas and New Year holidays.

India and Pakistan, which last played a bilateral series in 2007, squared off in multi-national events several times after 2008 but for the first time, a Pakistani cricket team will be hosted for a series after the attacks.

The Indian team is going through some testing times as they renew rivalry with Pakistan since the side has been struggling for success.

India did well in the T20s against England after being humiliated in Tests but bowling remains a persistent headache for them in all the formats.

The likes of Alex Hales, Michael Lumb and Eoin Morgan put the Indian attack on sword during the short T20 series and the Pakistan batsmen would be looking to exploit this weakness of the hosts.


Except for a spirited show put up by Ashok Dinda, none of the Indian bowlers made an impact on the English batsmen. Parvinder Awana, Ravichandran Ashwin and Piyush Chawla have all struggled to get wickets

This may prompt skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to give a chance to either Abhimanyu Mithun or Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Surprisingly, Yuvraj Singh was the most successful bowler with six wickets and he also batted stupendously for India.

India would want the Chandigarh boy to continue with his good touch against a very tricky opponent.

Flamboyant Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and skipper Dhoni himself have had some runs under their belts and they would like to continue in the same vein against Pakistan.

It will be interesting to see if Dhoni gives a chance to Ambati Rayudu, considering his past performances in this format of the game.

But it will be a tough test for Indian batsmen against Pakistan`s formidable pace attack, led by Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir.


Not only the pacers but Pakistan have an extremely good spin attack in the form of Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and captain Mohammad Hafeez to choke the strong Indian batting.

Afridi`s dwindling form has been a worry for the Pakistani captain which at times muzzles the team`s batting prospects. However, Hafeez has tremendous confidence in his all round abilities.

Pakistan have landed in India after making wholesale changes to their bowling. They have made six changes to the squad that went to Sri Lanka for the T20 World Cup.

Fast bowler Junaid Khan, who was dropped from World T20 squad, has been included for his ability to do well in the death overs.

Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Amin and M Irfan have also made a comeback while Asad Ali and Zulfiqar Babar are the other inclusions.

India and Pakistan met last time in the 2012 T20 World Cup which the former won by eight wickets

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