Tendulkar celebrates birthday

Making a rare public appearance, Sachin Tendulkar cut a cake in the presence of mediapersons to mark his 33rd birthday, which he celebrated quietly with family members at home.

Tendulkar, who has scored 74 international centuries, also said he had been receiving a lot of birthday wishes from his well-wishers.

``I have been getting a lot of SMS and phone calls from teammates and friends. It is hard to keep replying but in the next couple of days I should be able to do that.''

Indian team arrives from Abu Dhabi

The Indian cricket team, led by Rahul Dravid, arrived here on Thursday morning( April 20,2006) from Abu Dhabi after squaring the two-match one-day international series against Pakistan on Wednesday night.

Dravid and a few other players of the squad will play in a one-day match here on Friday for the benefit of former Test opener

India In West Indies 2006

Schedule
	Date	Team1	Team2	Venue	Time	D/N
Match 1	May 18, 2006	India	West Indies	Jamaica	8:00 P.M. IST	Day
Match 2	May 20, 2006	India	West Indies	Jamaica	8:00 P.M. IST	Day
Match 3	May 23, 2006	India	West Indies	St. Kitts	7:00 P.M. IST	Day
Match 4	May 26, 2006	India	West Indies	Trinidad	7:00 P.M. IST	Day
Match 5	May 28, 2006	India	West Indies	Trinidad	7:00 P.M. IST	Day
Match 6	June 2, 2006	India	West Indies	Antigua	7:30 P.M. IST	Test Match
Match 7	June 10, 2006	India	West Indies	St. Lucia	7:30 P.M. IST	Test Match
Match 8	June 22, 2006	India	West Indies	St. Kitts	7:30 P.M. IST	Test Match
Match 9	June 30, 2006	India	West Indies	Jamaica	7:30 P.M. IST	Test Match

Dhoni goes to the top of LG ICC Player Rankings

India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni has moved to the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen. Dhoni was in second spot behind Ricky Ponting before the two-match ODI series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi that finished on Wednesday night.

All-round brilliance levels it for India

INDIA Vs PAKISTAN
2nd ODI, DLF Cup, Abu Dhabi
India levelled the series 1-1 through a solid batting performance backed up by a fine bowling effort by a team that understood the need of the hour and sent down a mixture of diligent pace and crafty spin, supported well by the field, to notch up a 51-run win.

Tendulkar opts out of West Indies ODIs

Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of the one-day series on the West Indies tour and his availability for the Test series would be known after a fitness test on May 10.

FIRST ODI at Abu Dhabi

INDIA Vs PAKISTAN

India: Rahul Dravid (capt.), Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Venugopala Rao, Munaf Patel, S. Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Rudra Pratap Singh and Robin Uthappa.

Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt.), Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Asif, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Rana Naved-ul Hasan, Faisal Iqbal and Abdul Rehman.

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen and Brian Jerling; TV umpire: Tyron Wijewardena. Match referee: Roshan Mahanama.

Indian Cricket Toppers

1. Yuvraj Singh: Fantastic all-round performance. Emerged as a very mature cricketer; batted well; hit the only century of the series; took some stunning catches and bowled with guile, got Kevin Pietersen thrice. An asset to the side.

2. Irfan Pathan: His early breakthroughs hit the opposition hard. Provided momentum and stability to the batting.

3. Rahul Dravid: Emerged a confident man at the helm. Decision to open highlighted his leadership qualities; got the best out of the young players.

4. Suresh Raina: Came of age as a one-day player. Played the winning role in one match and guided in two more. Played crucial knocks and was brilliant in the field.

5. Ramesh Powar: Bowled better than expected; batted better than expected. Added to the options in bowling and proved an able replacement for Murali Kartik.

6. M.S. Dhoni: Did not get to bat higher up except once but showed maturity by batting according to the situation; competent behind the stumps; key man in the scheme of things.

7. Harbhajan Singh: Began with five wickets when under pressure. Bowled admirably. Looked a far more confident bowler than in Tests.

8. S. Sreesanth: Only the fourth Indian to take six wickets in a one-day match; made sound progress and impressed with his aggressive attitude; ability to take wickets on placid tracks a strong point.

9. Robin Uthappa: Brilliant debut to grab the opportunity and create selection problems; appears a long term prospect and should learn from the silly run out.

10. Dinesh Kaarthick: Played only one match but was outstanding behind the stumps. Took two superb catches and established himself as a proper replacement for Dhoni when required.

11. Ajit Agarkar: Very important as far as team management is concerned. Still the best exponent of reverse swing in India.

12. Venugopala Rao: Did not get to bat much but showed the right attitude by being involved all the time; can contribute in difficult situations and has the potential to serve long.

13. Virender Sehwag: Wasted good starts but bowled usefully when asked to. Enjoys immense faith of captain and coach.

14. Gautam Gambhir: His cumulative failures caught up with him; deserves a proper run.
15. Munaf Patel: Very good with the old ball but failed to reproduce Test form. Still a long way to go for him to be a regular.

16. R.P. Singh: Over-rated and suffered for being on bench for too long. Has the potential and needs to be persisted with but should be made to work harder and realize the importance of earning a place.

17. V.R.V. Singh: Looked out of depth and surely has a long way to go before he can establish himself. Strove on batting tracks and paid for experimenting at this stage.

18. Mohammad Kaif: Worst run by an Indian in one-day cricket. Lucky to keep his place and needs to make runs urgently. Fielding alone cannot be an asset.

GCA gives refund to 85 ODI ticket-holders

The Goa Cricket Association (GCA) has refunded Rs. 2,05,000 in all to 85 ticket-holders who could not enter the Nehru Stadium in Margao to watch the ODI match between India and England on April 3.

Most of the refunded tickets were of Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 1,000 denominations respectively.

Dhoni - A True Match Winner

He has proved to be a true match-winner, who can bat anywhere in the order, and who thinks his way out of a situation. It helps, of course, that he has the Bollywood looks and the attitude to become a real pin-up boy for Indian cricket. Heck, he's got the looks, the talent and the brains, and provided he doesn't let any of it go to his head, he will be a true superstar.

Pathan's success formula

He wants to be known as an all-rounder, not a bits-and-pieces player.



"I have learnt to listen to my body. If the body is tired, I just stop training. It is important to take proper rest because I am not a machine. I am human and even machines require rest. In today's cricket it is important to have proper training and rest. If you push yourself, you are likely to get injured" Pathan said on april 13.

Dhoni, Agarkar rested for last one-dayer

M.S. Dhoni and Ajit Agarkar have been rested from the seventh and final one-dayer against England to be played at Indore on April 15.

Tendulkar will come back afresh

Tendulkar will come back afresh, says coach Greg Chappell
Indian Cricket Coach Greg Chappell has expressed confidence that star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, currently recuperating from a shoulder operation, will come back refreshed and will have a key role to play in the World Cup.

India v England at Jamshedpur

12 Apr 2006 6th ODI:
India all out for 223 runs.

Top Scorers:

MS Dhoni 96 runs from 106 balls ( 10 fours, 3 sixes ) caught out by Solanki, bowled by Mahmood.

RR Powar 54 runs from 83 balls( 4 fours, 1 six ) caught out by Hoggard, bowled by Collingwood.

Match Result:

England own the match.

Series: India leads the 7-ODI series 4-1.

Sehwag, Kaif should be dropped, says Kapil

Former captain Kapil Dev has suggested that out-of-form opener Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif should be asked to quit the Indian team and play domestic cricket to regain their touch.