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ARYABHATTA

England scripted an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Australia to clinch the ICC World Twenty20 title. This was England's first win in an ICC tournament. This was also England's only eighth win in a major tournament. Here's a glance at their major wins...

Tournament	Venue	Year	Defeated in final
ICC World Twenty20	West Indies	2010	Australia
CB Series	Australia	2007	Australia
NatWest Series	England	2003	South Africa
NatWest Series	England	2000	Zimbabwe
Champions Trophy	UAE	1997	West Indies
Sharjah Cup	UAE	1987	**
B & H World Series Cup	Australia	1987	Australia
B & H Challenge	Australia	1987	Pakistan

Note: The shared title wins have not been considered.
** played on round-robin basis.

       

THIS DAY THAT YEAR

Pakistan's Saeed Anwar scored 194 against India at Chennai, the highest individual innings in a ODI, which was equalled by Zimbabwean Charles Coventry in 2009 and broken by India's Sachin Tendulkar earlier this year

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May

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• Dilshan to lead Sri Lanka in Zimbabwe
• ICC probe Pak's performance in Sydney Test
• T20 not cricket, Pollard not a cricketer: Holding
• Lash-out on Dhoni's team unfair: Murali
• ICC gives clean chit to IPL-3
• English counties to give CL T20 a miss
• Print Wrap: Daily dose of headlines

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Leg spinner hopes to come good for India during the World T20 Championship

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Nothing comes easy when you're playing for your country

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King of Spin

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In an exclusive interview, Bhajji talks about the South African challenge, journey to Test summit & 'Kumble Effect'

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PHOTO GALLERY

2nd T20 (Antigua): SA vs WI

1st T20 (Antigua): SA vs WI

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Bangalore Royal Challengers

IPL Cricket 2010 Bangalore Royal Challengers

Bangalore Royal Challengers 

Bangalore Royal Challengers Team Owner: Vijay Mallya, UB Group

The team is owned by the drinks magnate Vijay Mallya, through his flagship firm UB Group. Brijesh Patel is the CEO of the RCB and Anil Kumble is the captain.

Bangalore Royal Challengers Team Coach : Venkatesh Prasad

Bangalore Royal Challengers Team Players: Kevin Pietersen, Abhmanyu Mithun, Anil Kumble, Balachandra Akhil, Bharat Chipli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cameron White, Dale Steyn, Devraj Patil, Dillon du Preez, Gaurav Dhiman, Ishank Jaggi, Jacques Kallis, Jagadeesh Arun Kumar, Jesse Ryder, Jitendra Patil, Karan Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Kotarangada Appanna, Manish Pandey,Mark Boucher, Muralidharen Gautam, Nathan Bracken, Pankaj Singh, Praveen Kumar,R. Suteesh, Rahul Dravid, Rajesh Bishnoi, Raju Bhatkal, Robin Uthappa, Roelof van der Merwe, Rohit Sabharwal, Ross Taylor, Saurabh Bandekar, Sreesanth Aravind, Srivastava Goswami, Sunil Joshi, Tinu Yohannan, Udit Patel, Vinay Kumar, Virat Kohli, Wasim Jaffer

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BCCI needs to rethink county ban on players

May 21, 2010 09:17 IST

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Not so long ago, Ishant Sharma [ Images ], S Sreesanth [ Images ], R P Singh, Munaf Patel [ Images ] and Irfan Pathan [ Images ] were an integral cog in the Indian bowling attack.

But things changed drastically over the last couple of seasons. All these fast bowlers were not only dropped from the Indian squad, but also ignored for the upcoming India A tour to England [ Images ].

Worse, all of them, and a few others, were denied permission to play in the ongoing English county season.

Piyush Chawla [ Images ] (Sussex), Irfan Pathan (Essex and Yorkshire), S Sreesanth (Warwickshire), Ishant Sharma (Kent and Hampshire), Amit Mishra [Images ] (Worcestershire) and Virender Sehwag [ Images ] (Northamptonshire) evoked interest from the counties, but were forced to turn down offers.

Over the years, Indian players, particularly fast bowlers, used English county cricket as a good tool to prove fitness after injury lay-offs or keep themselves in shape during the Indian  off-season.

But, strangely, this year the Board of Control for Cricket in India refused all it's contracted players the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to play in England. Their reasoning -- a season of county cricket, which stretches to nearly three months, can take a toll on the players with a busy international schedule ahead and also keeping the 2011 World Cup in mind.

The BCCI want all its players to train at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) under a team of specialised coaches and physical trainers.

"We want our players to use their time in training and fitness. That is why we have said no to all our contracted players.

"There is lot of pressure on overseas players in county cricket. And the fringe players will not get enough rest," BCCI Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty had told The Indian Express earlier this month.

But, if they don't get a chance to prove their fitness or form by playing in competitive tournaments like the English county, how will these pacers impress the selectors?

This same BCCI never asked any of the franchises to rest the contracted players during the hectic third season of the Indian Premier League [ Images ] last month.

A player, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he approached the Board several times for the NOC, but the powers-that-be did not budge.

"At the end of the day, I will go by whatever the BCCI decides. I was approached by an English county, but I rejected their offer thinking that I would be playing international matches for India.

"But that has not happened, so now I would be happy if they give me the NOC. If they allow me, I will go and play county cricket, else I will be training in India for the next few months to get myself in the best shape for the upcoming season," the player told rediff.com.

The player's expectations are not surprising, since the pleasant English summer provides the perfect stage to train and play cricket unlike India, where summer is burning hot and that follows three months of non-stop rain. To add to that are the benefits of playing in a professional environment, which cannot be discounted.

The best example that of Zaheer Khan [ Images ], who returned to the national team after a successful season in 2006 with Worcestershire, where he took 78 wickets and since emerged the spearhead of the Indian bowling attack.

Even Piyush Chawla made an impact playing for Sussex last season, when he took 36 wickets and made important contributions with the bat.

Former selector Kiran More is if the opinion that players who are on the fringe of selection to the national squad should be encouraged to play county cricket, since there is no domestic cricket happening in the country at that time.

"Playing in county cricket helps to improve fitness. It also gets your bowling rhythm back, because you are playing non-stop cricket. It is very unfair on players like Irfan [Pathan] or Sreesanth that they were not given permission, because a fast bowler benefits a lot by playing in English conditions.

"County cricket is an excellent platform for the fast bowlers because the conditions are very helpful at the start of the season; if they pick a lot of wickets then they can take that confidence with them while playing for the Indian team," More told rediff.com.

"Everyone, including Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ], Rahul Dravid [ Images ], Sourav Ganguly [ Images ] and Zaheer Khan, have tried their hand in county cricket to get their form back or keep themselves fit during off-season. So why suddenly has the BCCI stopped its players from going to England?" he asked.

Even Zaheer had admitted that it was the county stint that helped him make a comeback to the Indian squad.

"It (the county stint) helped me grow as a cricketer. You play six days a week and my bowling fitness improved a lot. It helped me get into a routine which is very helpful for your cricket. You get to experiment with a lot of things, and if you are doing things well you are able to continue those things over a period of time. It definitely gave me a boost in confidence and county is good, competitive cricket," Zaheer had said after a successful stint with Worcestershire in 2006.

With no domestic cricket taking place for the next few months, it is imperative that the BCCI does a rethink of its decision to disallow players from traveling to England. After all, playing even a few competitive matches in the county circuit is better than just lumbering up in the nets at the NCA.

Photograph: Reuters

Harish Kotian

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Monday, March 15, 2010

IPL Cricket Mumbai Indians

IPL Cricket 2010 Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians - Mumbai Team
Mumbai Indians Owner: Mukesh Ambani
Mumbai Indians Captain: Sachin Tendulkar
The Mumbai team is owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited for $111.9 million for a period of 10 years. ‘Icon player’ Sachin Tendulkar is the captain of Mumbai Indians. Former Team India manager, Lalchand Rajput is the coach of the team. Check IPL 2009 Schedule or log on to IPLT20.com for more details
Mumbai Indians Coach: Lalchand Rajput
Mumbai Indians Players: Sachin Tendulkar, Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane, Chaitanya Nanda, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dilhara Fernando, Dwayne Bravo,
Graham Napier, Harbhajan Singh, Jaydev Shah, Jean Paul Duminy, Jude Singh, Kyle Mills, Lasith Malinga, Luke Ronchi, Mohammad Ashraful, Pinal Shah,
Rahil Shaikh, Rohan Raje, Ryan McLaren, Sanath Jayasuriya, Saurabh Tiwary, Shikhar Dhawan, Yogesh Vijay Takawale, Zaheer Khan

Anil Kapoor Saifali Khan in Mumbai Indians

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IPL Team Rajasthan Royals

IPL Cricket 2010 Jaipur Team - Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals - Jaipur Team
Rajasthan Royals Owner: Emerging Media Group
Rajasthan Royals Captain: Shane Warne
The Jaipur team was bought by UK-based company Emerging Media for $67 million to own the team for a period of 10 years. Former Australian spin bowler Shane Warne is both the captain and coach of Rajasthan Royals. Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her business partner Raj Kundra recently bought a 12 per cent stake in the Indian Premier League team Rajasthan Royals.

Rajasthan Royals Coach: Shane Warne
Rajasthan Royals Players: Shane Warne, Abhishek Raut, Swapnil Asnodkar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Kaif, Kamran Akmal (wk), Ahad Malek, Amit Singh, Ashraf Makda, Atul Sharma, Gajendra Singh, Lee Carseldine, Mohammad Arif, Mahesh Rawat,
Dimitri Mascarenhas, Parag More, Morne Morkel, Pankaj Singh, Munaf Patel, Niraj Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Naman Ojha, Paras Dogra, Paul Valthaty, Pratmesh Salunke,
Pushkarraj Chavan, Raiphi Gomez, Anup Revandkar, Jaydev Shah, Graeme Smith, Sohail Tanvir, Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson, Younis Khan, Robert Quiney, Justin Langer,
Shane Harwood, Shaun Tait, Siddharth Chitnis, Srideep Mangela, Tyron Henderson, Dinesh Salunke

Rajasthan Royals LogoJaipur Team- Rajasthan Royals

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in Rajasthan RoyalsIPL Team Rajasthan Royals

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Sunday, March 14, 2010

IPL Cricket Team Delhi Daredevils

Collection of Delhi Daredevils 2010, Delhi Team

Delhi Daredevils - Delhi Team
Delhi Daredevils Owner: GMR Group
Delhi Daredevils Captain: Virender Sehwag
The Delhi team is owned by GMR Holdings for $84 million for a period of 10 years. ‘Icon player’ Virender Sehwag is the captain of Delhi Daredevils. Australia’s Greg Shipperd is the coach of the team.

Delhi Daredevils Coach : Greg Shipperd
Delhi Daredevils Players: Virender Sehwag, Aavishkar Salvi, AB de Villiers, Amit Mishra, Andrew McDonald, Ashish Nehra, Daniel Vettori, David Warner, Dinesh Karthik, Dirk Nannes, Farveez Maharoof, Gautam Gambhir, Glenn McGrath, Manoj Tiwary, Mithun Manhas, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Pradeep Sangwan, Rajat Bhatia, Tejashwi Yadav, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Umesh Yadav, Yo Mahesh, Yogesh Nagar

IPL Team Delhi Daredevils 2010

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Delhi Daredevils Wallpapers

IPL Cricket 2010 Photo
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IPL Team Chennai Super Kings

IPL Cricket 2010 Chennai Team - Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings - Chennai Team
Chennai Super King's Owner: India Cements
Chennai Super King's Captain: MS Dhoni
The Chennai team was bought by India Cements for $91 million to own the team for 10 years. Team India ODI and T20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the captain of Chennai Super Kings. Former South Africa cricket team captain Kepler Wessels is the coach of the team.

Chennai Super King's Coach: Kepler Wessels
Chennai Super King's Players: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Viraj Vilas Kadbe, Palani Amarnath, Manpreet Gony, Srikkanth Anirudha, Murali Vijay, Napoleon Einstein, George Bailey, Stephen Fleming, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, Subramaniam Badrinath, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Shadab Jakati, Joginder Sharma, Arun Karthik, Sudeep Tyagi, Suresh Kumar, Palani Amarnath, Ravichandran Ashwin, Makhaya Ntini, Jacob Oram, Parthiv Patel (wk, Suresh Raina, Thilan Thushara, Muttiah Muralitharan

Chennai Super Kings

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Captain of Chennai Team 

Chennai Super Kings Poster

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni

IPL Cricket Kings XI Punjab

IPL Cricket Team Kings XI Punjab, Mohali Team

Kings XI Punjab - Mohali Team
Kings XI Punjab Team Coach : Tom Moody
Kings XI Punjab Owner: Preity Zinta/Ness Wadia
Kings XI Punjab Team Captain: Yuvraj Singh
The Mohali team was bought by Bollywood diva Preity Zinta, her industrialist beau Ness Wadia, along with renowned industrialists Karan Paul and Mohit Burman for $76 million for a period of 10 years. ‘Icon player’ Yuvraj Singh is the captain of Kings XI Punjab. Australia’s Tom Moody is the coach of the team.

Kings XI Punjab Players : Yuvraj Singh, Ajitesh Argal, Amanpreet Singh, Brett Lee, Burt Cockley, Irfan Pathan, James Hopes, Jerome Taylor, Karan Goel, Karan Goel, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Luke Pomersbach, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Ranadeb Bose, Ravi Bopara, Ravikant shukla, Sahil Kukreja, Ryan Ninan, Shaun Marsh, S. Sreesanth, Simon Katich, Sunny Sohal,Taruwar Kohli, Uday Kaul, Vikramjeet Malik, VRV Singh, Wilkin Mota, Yash Gandhi, Tanmay Srivastava

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IPL Cricket Team Kings XI Punjab

Yuvraj Singh Captain of Kings XI Punjab

Preity Zinta Owner of Kings XI Punjab Team

Mohali Team Kings XI Punjab