MUMBAI: India became the number one team in Test rankings after they spanked Sri Lanka by an innings and 24 runs in the third and final Test, on Sunday, to clinch the three-match series by a 2-0 margin.
Needing just four wickets to record an emphatic victory, the hosts took just about 40 minutes to polish off the visiting team's tail to record their second consecutive innings victory.
Resuming at 274/6, the Sri Lankans lost their heroic captain Kumar Sangakkara (137) in the very first over and were bundled out for 309 with Zaheer Khan being the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 5/72.
The Sunday crowd at the Brabourne Stadium, hosting a Test match after a gap of 36 years, witnessed a historic moment as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men crowned themselves the number one team.
The crowd erupted into a frenzy as Muttiah Muralitharan edged a flighted delivery from Harbhajan Singh to Dhoni to bring down the curtains on the Lankan innings.
The Indian players hugged each other and a beaming coach Gary Kirsten greeted them as they returned to the pavilion.
The victory has given India three points in the ICC rankings, taking their overall tally to 122 and leaving them ahead of South Africa and Sri Lanka in the ICC table.
The teams will now gear up for two Twenty20 matches in Nagpur and Mohali followed by a five-match One-day series which begins at Rajkot from December 15.
The match would be best remembered for the blazing 293-run knock that Virender Sehwag played. The right-hander, however, missed out on becoming the first batsman in the game's history to score three triple tons.
Such was India's dominance that Dhoni's men completed the comprehensive victory in just 7.4 overs this morning.
Zaheer hastened Lanka to their doom by claiming three of the last four wickets to finish with his eighth five-wicket innings haul.
The 31-year-old pacer's figures in the morning sessions read an astonishing 4-1-21-3. Sri Lanka needed 59 more runs to make India bat again but with just four wickets in hand to start the day, only a miracle could have saved the match for them.
After having brought down the visitors to their knees last evening, India dismissed Sangakkara off the third ball to start their victory march.
Zaheer swung the ball a bit away and Sangakkara, who struck his 20th four off his previous ball, was drawn to it like a magnet but only managed to edge it to counterpart Dhoni.
He could add only four runs to his overnight score and fell for 137 in 349 minutes after having prevented the hosts from sweeping to victory last evening.
Zaheer then dismissed Rangana Herath in his third over, caught by a diving Pragyan Ojha at short mid-wicket while attempting a pull.
Muthiah Muralitharan then used the long handle against Zaheer by carting the bowler for three fours in one over before the left-arm pacer sent back overnight unbeaten batsman Nuwan Kulasekara.
Kulasekara, resuming at 9, could not negotiate a rising ball from Zaheer and edged it to second slip fielder VVS Laxman. He added 10 more runs including two boundary hits to his individual score.
Harbhajan then brought down curtains on the match by having Muralitharan caught behind as he tried an almighty heave to give Dhoni his sixth catch in the match.
Spinners Harbhajan, who looked unimpressive for the major part, and Pragyan Ojha finished with two wickets apiece for 80 and 84 runs respectively while S Sreesanth bagged 1 for 36.
It was the second successive innings victory for India following their resounding win by an innings and 144 runs in the second Test at Kanpur. The first Test at Ahmedabad was drawn.
It was also India's 101st Test win and their fifth at this venue in 18 matches.
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INDIA Wins the Series 2-0.
Pak Cant Wait For Match Against India
Six years have passed since their humiliating loss to India here in a World Cup match but Pakistan captain Younis Khan says the defeat still hurts and his team would be eyeing revenge when the two sides clash in the Champions Trophy on September 26.
In a 2003 World Cup match here, Pakistan lost the match despite defending a competitive 270 owing to batting fireworks of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.
"It hurts. I played that match. We scored 270 and still lost. A score of 250 in these conditions is considered safe. But the way Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag batted, and backed by Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh, we lay beaten. That defeat still hurts," Younis said in a pre-tournament press conference here.
"Indeed, we have lost to India in most of these ICC match-ups except only once. Ab hamara bhi jeetne ka haq banta hai (even we deserve to win sometimes now)," he added.
Younis said he wished there were more matches between the two sides.
"If you get beaten, it's a long wait to get even. It keeps hurting you," he quipped.
Also hurting Younis and his team-mates are accusations from former players and media back home that Pakistani players might be involved in match fixing.
ICC Champions Trophy
The ICC Champions Trophy is the second biggest ODI tournament after the World Cup. This time it’s the elite eight (top eight teams in the ICC ODI rankings) that will be vying for the coveted trophy. The trophy, which is made of sterling silver, is 46cm in height and weighs 3.1 kg. On the top of the trophy is a silver gilt cricket ball.
The pedestal of the trophy is made of black lacquered wood with a silver band for engraving. The total weight of the silver used in the trophy is 2.5 kg and it took around 60 hours to craft the trophy. The magnificent trophy was made by the renowned London-based jewellers Asprey at a cost of £14,900. The 2009 edition of Champions Trophy offers total prize money of $4 million.
WI Claims To Have Unearthed 'next Tendulkar'.
Road Town (British Virgin Islands): If former player Keith Arthurton is to be believed, West Indies has unearthed the next Sachin Tendulkar in a seven-year-old hailing from Hannah Estate in Tortola.
Arthurton conducted a three-day coaching clinic this weekend on the islands of Tortola and Virgin Gorda and he had no doubt whatsoever that he has seen the next Tendulkar in Aidan Gorege.
"While he was batting, I heard someone in the crowd shout out that he looked like Sachin Tendulkar I thought the same thing because of the way he bats, his stance and his attitude," said Arthurton, who represented West Indies in 33 Tests and 105 ODI between 1988 and 1999.
"You don't really see that in kids who are that young but he has something special in him and the local coaches should work with him so that he can develop his cricket skills," Arthurton said of Aidan, who is originally from Dominica.
Youngest participant of the camp, Aidan looks older than his age and has a stance which is almost a replica of Tendulkar's, according to a report in the Anguilla News.
Talking about the kid's technique, Arthurton said, "His stance is very good and he moved his feet at the right times and with ease. I certainly would like to work with him in future as I think he has the potential to develop into a very good player," Arthurton said.
Star players Chris Gayle, and Dinesh Ramdin also turned up in the camp to share their experience with the kids.
A 20-over match at the H Lavity Stoutt Community College marked the end of the camp.
Afridi looks forward to India match in Champions Trophy
Karachi Flamboyant Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi is looking forward to play against India in the Champions Trophy in South Africa where his side had not beaten their neighbours in an ICC tournament in recent years.
Afridi said he has a lot of respect for India which had a very good One-day combination and the match between the two arch rivals should produce fireworks.
"India are a strong side and our present team is also well balanced and has depth so we should have a good match. I am looking forward to it," he told reporters in Lahore.
"The rivalry and intensity of playing against each other is always there. It does not matter who wins or loses. What is important is I want to play with passion and aggression and I
expect our players to show 100 per cent commitment," he added.
Pakistan lost their 2003 World Cup match to India at the Centurion and were twice beaten in the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.
"I think our team is very experienced and balanced and we can do well in South Africa and try to change our past record there," Afridi said.
He said Pakistan have some good players particularly like Muhammad Yousuf, Shoib Malikh and Misbah-ul-Haq
"Although Malik and Misbah have recently not scored many runs but they are quality players and they have played some brilliant innings in the past. So I am expecting them to do
well in Champions Trophy. It will add a lot of depth to our batting if they click," he said.
Australian Phil Hughes wants batting lessons from Master Blaster Sachin
Melbourne: Admiring Sachin Tendulkar's consistency over close to two decades, dumped Australian opener Phil Hughes plans to seek batting tips from the Indian great to get back into the national team.
The 20-year-old Hughes, who was dropped after the first two Ashes Tests in England, is in Nagpur to work on his technique with his coach Neil D'Costa and plans a special Mumbai visit to catch up with Tendulkar.
"I'll chew his ear off. I've got questions about a lot of things that I want to ask him. I like getting around and talking to the guys who have been around for a long time," Hughes said.
"Sachin has been around and I've been watching him since I was a youngster. He hardly ever seemed to miss out, he always seems to be scoring runs and not just on one or two parks, he gets them everywhere. His consistency is so great and I still love watching him now," he was quoted as saying by The Australian.
Hughes disclosed he would play in the Champions League for the New South Wales and then at Shield level, so that he can force his way back into the Test side.
Hughes is also working on his batting technique with D'Costa, who is helping out at the newly built academy there.
"The goal is to always get better. I had always planned to catch up with Neil no matter what happened. I wanted to get in the nets with him and keep working on my game," said Hughes said.
Indian Cricket Team In Net Practice @ NCA Bangalore
BANGALORE: After a nearly two-month break, Indian players on Friday hit the ground with net practice on second day of the preparatory camp ahead of Tri-series in Srilanka and Champions Trophy in South Africa.
The opening day of the camp at the National Cricket Academy was marked by fitness tests.
However, Friday's practice session was all outdoor with the 15-member squad engaging themselves in stretching exercises, batting and fielding drills besides playing football for a while at the Karnataka State Cricket Association ground adjacent to the NCA.
Coach Gary Kirsten, who expressed happiness over the fitness of players, guided the proceedings. He was assisted by newly appointed trainer Ramji Srinivasan, mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton, bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh.
The camp will conclude on Sunday after which most of the players will leave to play for their employers in the season-opener Sahara BCCI Corporate tournament starting from September 1 at Mohali, Dharamsala, Vishakhapatnam and Bangalore.
Kirsten believes the Sri Lanka and South Africa-bound cricketers
' participation in the Corporate trophy would be a good practice outing for the players.
Flintoff to retire fromODIs after 2015 World Cup
London Victory in the Ashes series in his swansong Test was a perfect way to bid adieu to Test cricket and now Andrew Flintoff longs to end his one-day career on a similar high: by winning the 2015 World Cup.
Flintoff, who underwent a knee surgery on Monday night, said he is keen to return to cricket field.
"Obviously there are no guarantees but, having spoken to the surgeon, I'm confident I'll be able to get back on the field. However long the rehab takes I'm prepared to do it to give myself the best chance of playing international cricket again.
"I want to play at the World Cup in 2011 and the one after that too. I've finished my Test career with an Ashes victory and I want to finish my one-day career with a World
Cup win in 2015. That would be perfect," Flintoff was quoted as saying by the Guardian.
The burly all rounder also revealed how emotions overpowered him after playing the final Test of his career at The Oval on Sunday.
"I admit I was tearful. And then I saw one of the Sky Sports cameras hovering and thought 'Nobody's seeing my crying', so I nipped into the toilets, gave myself a minute, got myself together and got on with the job of celebrating."
Flintoff admitted that it would not be easy to get to full fitness but said he was determined to help England play well in short version of the game.
"The harsh reality is that I need my knee sorting out. It's a long road back to fitness but I've done it before. And seeing the scenes at The Oval, it's made me more determined to get back fit and play in front of the full houses in England or abroad and try to make a difference with the one-day side," he said.
Flintoff said he was eyeing Bangladesh tour for his comeback to competitive cricket.
"The surgeon's got a good idea what he's going to find. We'll see how I wake up after the anaesthetic but, realistically, I'm going to struggle to get back playing before Christmas.
"I've retired from Test cricket but there's a tour to Bangladesh [early next year] which I desperately want to be involved in. That could be my first cricket back," he said.
Meanwhile, the retired Test all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has asked his teammates to follow in the footsteps of arch-rival Australia and back their Ashes success with more wins if they desire to dominate world cricket.
"If lessons can be learned from the past, it's that now is the time to try and dominate the world of cricket as a Test team," Flintoff was quoted as saying.
"Enjoy this week, celebrate, get it out of your system and then move on, almost be Australia-like in the way that they've gone about it.
"They've won series in the past and they've continued to beat people," he added.
At six feet and four inches, the 31-year-old may not come across as an emotional person but Flintoff said he had his teary moments after the Oval Test.
"I didn't think I'd get emotional but I did a little bit," said Flintoff, who quit Test cricket to concentrate his on one-day career.
"I sat in my corner in the place where I always sit at The Oval, on the left in the corner with all my kit everywhere.
!! Dhoni Very Happy With The Good Begining !!
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni didn't try to hide his glee at the team's perfect start to their title defence in the Twenty20 World Cup even though he felt the side settled for a below-par score.
"It's a great start and it's always important to win the first match of any tournament," an elated Dhoni said after the side beat Bangladesh by 25 runs in their Group A opener.
According to him, the side could not make the most of the flying start given by openers Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir even though the total proved enough for a facile win.
"We got off to a great start but could not capitalise on that. Me and Gautam tried to accelerate but we could not. At that phase, we were going below-par. Looking at 180, I would say it's a par score here and we reached it thanks to Yuvraj's (Singh) brilliant knock down the order. Rohit (Sharma) too played a crucial knock at the top," he said.
Dhoni singled out Yuvraj, who hammered 41 off just 18 balls, and said it was always great to watch the left-hander on song.
"He is a kind of player who can have great impact on a game. Whenever he plays like that, the biggest of ground can be small for him," Dhoni said.
Dhoni also took the occasion to underline that the team was a close-knit unit and there was no rift in it.
"We always have been a close unit and we are not bothered about what people think outside," he said.
Introducing Yusuf Pathan as early as in the third over turned out to be Dhoni's master-stroke as the off-spinner broke Bangladesh's opening stand just when it started looking dangerous. Dhoni said with the pacers proving ineffective, he had to try something different.
"See, Yusuf is one of those bowlers who are very consistent. Even in IPL, we have seen part-time bowlers like Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina doing a great job. So if nothing works, you better try something out of the box than just going with the fast bowlers," he explained.
His Bangladesh counterpart Mohammad Ashraful felt they conceded 20 extra runs which cost them the match.
"I think we didn't bowl and field well. We gave away 20 runs too many and it proved costly in the end," he rued.
Pragyan Ojha, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his four-wicket haul, was beaming after shining in his debut Twenty20 International, something he would never forget.
"It was cold out there because of the breeze and bowling was not easy. But I'm happy with the way I performed. It was a great feeling and a memorable debut for me," he said.
T20 IS A BATSMAN GAME ALL THE WAY!!!
After Friday's performance against the Netherlands, it would be easy to believe that England are still not taking Twenty20 seriously. I think that's far from the truth. What I believe is that England are taking 20-over cricket seriously, but are not good enough at it yet. What other explanation could there be for the way in which they were limited to 162 when they were 102/1 at one stage? The least they should have got was 180.
The thing is, Twenty20 is a batting game, no matter what spin you try to put on it, and England have shown that they are at least aware of the problem by leaving out the Test players and packing the side with youngsters like Ewan Morgan and Adil Rashid. However, the old tendency to collapse like a pack of cards persists.
The other thing they are suffering from is a lack of leadership. Make no mistake, I think Paul Collingwood is a lovely lad, but he always was, and remains, a reluctant captain. He even gave it up last year, if you remember. And against the Netherlands, he appeared to be leading by committee as everyone kept going into huddles. Great captains allow only so much democracy in the team, and my belief is that the shorter the version of the game, the greater the role of the captain. Therefore, Robert Key, who captions Kent, would have been ideal for the role of captain in the absence of Kevin Pietersen.
But the problem is that Key hasn't been batting too well of late, which may have prevented the selectors from appointing him as leader. As it is, he only got picked because of Pietersen's injury. So what we have is a situation in which a team fairly full of newcomers has a reluctant leader at the helm: not exactly a recipe for success.
To make matters worse, tomorrow's game against Pakistan is likely to be a huge one for England. It ought to be a high-scoring encounter, given that the Oval is among the truest and flattest pitches in England, with the ball coming on nicely to the bat on an even bounce, but self-destruction is a quality that defines the teams of both Pakistan and England, so it remains to be seen who will blink first.
If England lose on Sunday, they are likely to find themselves struggling to stay in the tournament and depending on other teams to play badly. Pakistan, not having tasted defeat yet, have a slight edge there, but given their unpredictability, cannot be relied upon to walk away with the spoils. However, it ought to help if England panic the way they did against the Netherlands, and if the captain is unable to think on the move. When you have a format in which two overs can change the course of a game, there's no substitute for quick thinking. Protracted team discussions in the middle are only going to make matters worse.
ICC World Twenty20 CUP : SPECIAL
Fri Jun 5  17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 1st Match, Group B - England v Netherlands Lord's, London |  9 - 17° C  |  |
| Sat Jun 6 10:00 local | 09:00 GMT | 2nd Match, Group D - New Zealand v Scotland Kennington Oval, London |  8 - 16° C | |
| Sat Jun 6 14:00 local | 13:00 GMT | 3rd Match, Group C - Australia v West Indies Kennington Oval, London | 8 - 16° C | |
| Sat Jun 6 18:00 local | 17:00 GMT | 4th Match, Group A - Bangladesh v India Trent Bridge, Nottingham |  6 - 13° C | |
| Sun Jun 7 13:30 local | 12:30 GMT | 5th Match, Group D - Scotland v South Africa Kennington Oval, London | 8 - 17° C | |
| Sun Jun 7 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 6th Match, Group B - England v Pakistan Kennington Oval, London | 8 - 17° C | |
| Mon Jun 8 13:30 local | 12:30 GMT | 7th Match, Group A - Bangladesh v Ireland Trent Bridge, Nottingham | | |
| Mon Jun 8 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 8th Match, Group C - Australia v Sri Lanka Trent Bridge, Nottingham | | |
| Tue Jun 9 13:30 local | 12:30 GMT | 9th Match, Group B - Netherlands v Pakistan Lord's, London | | |
| Tue Jun 9 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 10th Match, Group D - New Zealand v South Africa Lord's, London | | |
| Wed Jun 10 13:30 local | 12:30 GMT | 11th Match, Group C - Sri Lanka v West Indies Trent Bridge, Nottingham | | |
| Wed Jun 10 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 12th Match, Group A - India v Ireland Trent Bridge, Nottingham | | |
| Thu Jun 11 13:30 local | 12:30 GMT | 13th Match, Group F - TBC v TBC (D1 v A2) Trent Bridge, Nottingham | | |
| Thu Jun 11 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 14th Match, Group E - TBC v TBC (B2 v D2) Trent Bridge, Nottingham | | |
| Fri Jun 12 13:30 local | 12:30 GMT | 15th Match, Group F - TBC v TBC (B1 v C2) Lord's, London | | |
| Fri Jun 12 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 16th Match, Group E - TBC v TBC (A1 v C1) Lord's, London | | |
| Sat Jun 13 13:30 local | 12:30 GMT | 17th Match, Group E - TBC v TBC (C1 v D2) Kennington Oval, London | | |
| Sat Jun 13 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 18th Match, Group F - TBC v TBC (D1 v B1) Kennington Oval, London | | |
| Sun Jun 14 13:30 local | 12:30 GMT | 19th Match, Group F - TBC v TBC (A2 v C2) Lord's, London | | |
| Sun Jun 14 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 20th Match, Group E - TBC v TBC (A1 v B2) Lord's, London | | |
| Mon Jun 15 13:30 local | 12:30 GMT | 21st Match, Group E - TBC v TBC (B2 v C1) Kennington Oval, London | | |
| Mon Jun 15 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 22nd Match, Group F - TBC v TBC (B1 v A2) Kennington Oval, London | | |
| Tue Jun 16 13:30 local | 12:30 GMT | 23rd Match, Group F - TBC v TBC (D1 v C2) Trent Bridge, Nottingham | | |
| Tue Jun 16 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 24th Match, Group E - TBC v TBC (D2 v A1) Trent Bridge, Nottingham | | |
| Thu Jun 18 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 1st Semi-Final - TBC v TBC Trent Bridge, Nottingham | | |
| Fri Jun 19 17:30 local | 16:30 GMT | 2nd Semi-Final - TBC v TBC Kennington Oval, London | | |
| Sun Jun 21 15:00 local | 14:00 GMT | Final - TBC v TBC Lord's, London | ||
