ASHES 2009: England crush Aussies to reclaim the urn

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Andrew Strauss holds the Ashes Urn trophy

England Beat Australia by 179 runs. Wins the series 2-1
England 1st inn: 332 all out , Bell 72
Australia 1nd inn: 160 all out , Katich 50
England 2nd Inn: 373-9 , Trott 119
Australia 2nd inn: 348 all out , Hussey 121
Player of the match : Stuart Broad , Player of series : M Clarke and A Strauss

Highlights: (click here for video highlights)
England had fully taken the revenge of 5-0 defeat in 2006-07 Ashes. This time the England team has come up with 2-1 victory.

The final test came to an end on the last session of day 4. With one more day to go England came over Australia. It was always the fact that England bowled a superb first innings where they restricted Australia for 160 still 172 runs behind. Ten nothing went for Australia. England batted superbly in the second innings and set the target of 546 runs from about 9 and half session of test cricket.

England's pace bowler Stuart Broad came hero taking five wickets in the 1st innings. Spinner Graeme Swann supported him a lot with four in his bag. Debutant Trott made an impressive century in second innings. Chasing 546, Aussie had somehow good start and they seemed to be quite happy before they loose their captain and vice both from silly run outs. Mike Hussey tried a lot scoring 121 runs but became the last one to get out. Swann piked again 4 wickets and Harmission struck 3 wickets in the secod innings.

Tags: Ashes 2009 5th test highlights, Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss, Ricky Ponting, United Kingdom, Australia, Ashes series, Australia Cricket team, England Cricket team, Hussey

Little master Sachin Tendulkar childhood Cricket days

Sachin Tendulkar is the GOD of the Indian Cricket.I would like to share one famous incident that turned Sachin's life.Sachin's mentor Achrekar asked Sachin to concentrate on his batting,but Sachin was more interested to become a fast bowler.Then slowly Sachin realized that talent in his batting but even then he used to loose concentration.Achrekar coach of Sachin used to keep a coin on Sachin's stumps and will give a open statement to the bowlers that if they get the wicket of Sachin the coin belongs to them,but if no one claims Sachin's wicket in the whole net session then Sachin will have the coin.

Sachin has got 13 coins till now and he claims that is the best gift and the most treasured one in his life.I was really fascinated to know about this information.Hope you feel the same.If you know any other rare information about Sachin please share it.Thanks in advance

Tags: Sachin Tendulkar, Sachin's mentor, life history of sachin, Achrekar, little master, Tendulkar, master blaster, sachin 's images, Sachin Tendulkar's images

India makes history by clinching first ever ODI series win in New Zealand

Virender Sehwag sped to a century from 60 balls, the seventh fastest in limited-overs international history, as India beat New Zealand by 10 wickets in a rain-reduced contest Wednesday to clinch the series with a match to spare.

The win gave India an unbeatable 3-0 lead and their first one-day series victory on New Zealand soil in 33 years, with Saturday's final game at Auckland still to be played.

Sehwag's hundred was the fastest by an Indian batsman in one day internationals, beating Mohammad Azharuddin's 62-ball effort against New Zealand at Baroda 21 years ago, and helped clinched India's first win in a limited-overs series in New Zealand.

Sehwag finished 125 not out from 74 ball and Gautam Gambhir was 63 not out as India reached 201 without loss in 23.3 overs, replying to New Zealand's 270 from 47 overs in a rain-affected match. India's unbroken opening partnership was the largest to win a match in one-day international history.

Sehwag blasted 14 fours and six sixes in an innings which, around three rain interruptions, occupied only 139 minutes. He rushed to a half century from 31 balls and helped India reached 100 in 54 minutes from 69 balls.

Sehwag passed his century in 87 minutes with 13 fours and four sixes, adding his second 50 from only 29 balls.

Two rain interruptions during New Zealand's innings left them facing only 47 overs and they seemed to have achieved a competitive total of 270 for five.

Tags: Virender Sehwag, fastest century, Sehwag's hundred, india vs New Zealand, cricket, 4th odi

IPL season-2 schedule

IPL Season 2 match schedule was recently released where the opening match will be Rajasthan Royals facing Delhi Daredevils with the grand opening ceremony like last year said Lalit Modi the Chairman & League Commissioner of IPL, the match will starts on April 10 at Jaipur. The two Semi-Finals matches will be hosted in Chennai and the Final match will be hosted by Mumbai. This time Deccan Chargers will be hosting its matches at two venues, Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi Stadium and the ACA and VDCA stadium at visakhapatnam.

The match schedule is given below, Day matches would held at 4pm to 7pm and those at night would be held from 8pm to 11pm. I wish this IPL Season 2 to be a successful one like the last year and we should welcome this IPL with more enthusiasm than the last year because some new players are also taking part in it.This match schedule may be changed in the coming days due to the parliament elections but till now this is the match schedule for IPL Season 2.

IPL Season 2 Schedule with date and venue given below

Date : April 10, 2009
Teams: Rajasthan Royals Vs Delhi Daredevils
Venue: Rajpur

Date : April 11, 2009
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Deccan Chargers
Venue: Kolkata

Date : April 11, 2009
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Deccan Chargers
Venue: Kolkata

Date : April 10, 2009
Teams: Chennai Super Kings Vs Royal Challengers
Venue: Chennai

Date : April 12, 2009
Teams: Delhi Daredevils Vs Kings XI Punjab
Venue: Delhi

Date : April 12, 2009
Teams: Mumbai Indians Vs Rajasthan Royals
Venue:Mumbai

Date : April 13, 2009
Teams: Deccan Chargers Vs Chennai Super Kings
Venue: Hyderabad

Date : April 14, 2009
Teams: Royal Challengers Vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue: Bangalore

Date : April 15, 2009
Teams: Kings XI Punjab Vs Mumbai Indians
Venue: Mohali

Date : April 16, 2009
Teams: Deccan Chargers Vs Delhi Daredevils
Venue: Hyderabad

Date : April 16, 2009
Teams: Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals
Venue: Chennai

Date : April 17, 2009
Teams: Mumbai Indians Vs Royal Challengers
Venue: Mumbai

Date : April 18, 2009
Teams: Kings XI Punjab Vs Deccan Chargers
Venue:Mohali

Date : April 18, 2009
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Delhi Daredevils
Venue: Kolkata

Date : April 19, 2009
Teams: Mumbai Indians Vs Chennai Super Kings
Venue: Mumbai

Date : April 19, 2009
Teams: Royal Challengers Vs Rajasthan Royals
Venue: Bangalore

Date : April 20, 2009
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Kings XI Punjab
Venue: Kolkata

Date : April 21, 2009
Teams: Delhi Daredevils Vs Mumbai Indians
Venue: Delhi

Date : April 22, 2009
Teams: Rajasthan Royals Vs Deccan Chargers
Venue: Jaipur

Date : April 23, 2009
Teams: Royal Challengers Vs Kings XI Punjab
Venue: Bangalore

Date : April 24, 2009
Teams: Mumbai Indians Vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue: Mumbai

Date : April 25, 2009
Teams: Delhi Daredevils Vs Royal Challengers
Venue: Delhi

Date : April 25, 2009
Teams: Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab
Venue: Chennai

Date : April 26, 2009
Teams: Rajasthan Royals Vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue:Jaipur

Date : April 26, 2009
Teams: Deccan Chargers Vs Mumbai Indians
Venue: Hyderabad

Date : April 27, 2009
Teams: Kings XI Punjab Vs Royal Challengers
Venue:Mohali

Date : April 28, 2009
Teams:Mumbai Indians Vs Delhi Daredevils
Venue: Mumbai

Date : April 29, 2009
Teams: Kings XI Punjab Vs Rajasthan Royals
Venue: Mohali

Date : April 30, 2009
Teams: Deccan Chargers Vs Rajasthan Royals
Venue: Vizag

Date : May 1, 2009
Teams: Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils
Venue: Chennai

Date : May 2, 2009
Teams: Mumbai Indians Vs Deccan Chargers
Venue: Mumbai

Date : May 2, 2009
Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals
Venue: Kolkata

Date : May 3, 2009
Teams: Kings XI Punjab Vs Chennai Super Kings
Venue: Mohali

Date : May 3, 2009
Teams:Royal Challengers Vs Delhi Daredevils
Venue: Bangalore

Date : May 4, 2009
Teams:Deccan Chargers Vs Rajasthan Royals
Venue:Hyderabad

Date : May 5, 2009
Teams:Delhi Daredevils Vs Chennai Super Kings
Venue:Delhi

Date : May 6, 2009
Teams:Rajasthan Royals Vs Kings XI Punjab
Venue:Jaipur

Date : May 6, 2009
Teams:Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Mumbai Indians
Venue:Kolkata

Date : May 7, 2009
Teams:Royal Challengers Vs Deccan Chargers
Venue:Bangalore

Date : May 8, 2009
Teams:Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Chennai Super Kings
Venue:Kolkata

Date : May 9, 2009
Teams:Rajasthan Royals Vs Mumbai Indians
Venue: Jaipur

Date : May 9, 2009
Teams:Kings XI Punjab Vs Delhi Daredevils
Venue:Mohali

Date : May 10, 2009
Teams:Deccan Chargers Vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue:Hyderabad

Date : May 11, 2009
Teams:Delhi Daredevils Vs Rajasthan Royals
Venue:Delhi

Date : May 12, 2009
Teams:Mumbai Indians Vs Kings XI Punjab
Venue:Mumbai

Date : May 12, 2009
Teams:Chennai Super Kings Vs Deccan Chargers
Venue:Chennai

Date : May 13, 2009
Teams:Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Royal Challengers
Venue:Kolkata

Date : May 14, 2009
Teams: Rajasthan Royals Vs Chennai Super Kings
Venue:Jaipur

Date : May 14, 2009
Teams:Delhi Daredevils Vs Deccan Chargers
Venue:Delhi

Date : May 15, 2009
Teams:Royal Challengers Vs Mumbai Indians
Venue:Bangalore

Date : May 16, 2009
Teams:Delhi Daredevils Vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue:Delhi

Date : May 16, 2009
Teams:Deccan Chargers Vs Kings XI Punjab
Venue:Hyderabad

Date : May 17, 2009
Teams:Rajasthan Royals Vs Royal Challengers
Venue:Jaipur

Date : May 17, 2009
Teams:Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians
Venue:Chennai

Date : May 18, 2009
Teams:Kings XI Punjab Vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue:Mohali

Date : May 19, 2009
Teams:Royal Challengers Vs Chennai Super Kings
Venue:Bangalore

Date : May 21, 2009
Teams:First Semi-Finals
Venue:Chennai

Date : May 22, 2009
Teams:Second Semi-Finals
Venue:Chennai

Date : May 24, 2009
Teams:Finals
Venue:Mumbai

Tags: IPL season-2 schedule.ipl schedule

Jayawardene steps down as SL captain

Colombo: Mahela Jayawardene has decided to step down as captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team after the country’s upcoming tour of Pakistan. Jayawardene announced his decision through a media release yesterday following a meeting with the national selection committee.

His decision to step down comes after Sri Lanka were mauled 4-1 by India in the recent five match ODI series at home and there’s been a public outcry for him to be removed as captain after successive failures.

“Mahela has decided to step down as captain after the Pakistan series and he will address the media tomorrow at the SLC headquarters,” Chief Executive of the board Duleep Mendis told .

Ever since leading the team to the World Cup finals in 2007, Jayawardene became the first Sri Lankan captain to lose a home series to England in 2007 October and followed that up with a first ever series defeat to India in August 2008.

Mahela Jayawardene will step down as Sri Lanka's captain after the upcoming Test series in Pakistan

There were also series defeats against West Indies and Pakistan away from home and the team failed to qualify for the tri-nation Commonwealth Bank finals in Australia that also involved India.

During his charge, the Sri Lankan team won the Asia Cup and a series against Pakistan, but overall, the team’s performance had taken a downward slope.

Since the 2007 World Cup, Jayawardene had captained the team in 49 ODIs winning 25 games, but of those wins 13 came against minnows Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates.

However, the team had done well under Jayawardene’s captaincy with series wins against England and India at home and squared a two match series in the West Indies.

Jayawardene also had struggled for form in ODIs having managed just one half-century in his last 17 ODI innings.

“In the best interests of the Sri Lanka team, I have decided to stand down as Sri Lanka captain after this Pakistan tour. This is something I have been considering for some time as it has been my long-held belief that my successor should have at least 18 months in the job to imprint his vision on the team for the 2011 World Cup,” Jayawardene said in a statement.

"It was not an easy decision to make because being Sri Lanka National Captain has been the source of enormous pride."

“After much thought, I have concluded that the right time has now come for fresh leadership to takeover. It was not an easy decision to make because being Sri Lanka National Captain has been the source of enormous pride,” he added in the statement.

Jayawardene also lost public support after an ugly standoff with the board to skip a Test tour to England to keep the players Indian Premier League contracts in tact.

Kumar Sangakkara, Jayawardene’s deputy for a long time is tipped to take over the leadership role on a permanent basis

Tags: Colombo, Jayawardene, flash news, breaking news, Sri Lankan team, Indian Premier League, Sri Lanka National Captain, captain, Kumar Sangakkara

The brothers Pathan clinch India victory

Yusuf Pathan and Irfan Pathan led India to a thrilling three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the Twenty20 match at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday.

Irfan hit a six and a four in the 19th over bowled by Dilhara Fernando to bring India’s run-chase on the track.

Irfan hit a six off the second delivery of the last over to seal an emphatic win for India.

Yusuf hit two sixes and a four in his 10-ball 22, while Irfan's knock of 33 runs came off 16 balls.

The Pathan brothers came together when India lost three quick wickets in 3 overs to be reduced to 132/7 in 16 overs.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (13) was dismissed when he was clean bowled by Malinga Bandara.

In the next over, Rohit Sharma (4) hit to long on for Jehan Mubarak to take the catch and give Sanath Jayasuriya his first wicket and in the next over, Malinga dismissed debutant Ravindra Jadeja (5) for the seventh Indian wicket.

India lost Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina in successive overs to be at 101/4 in 11 overs.

India lost the fourth wicket when Raina hit to deep mid-wicket for Indika de Saram to take the catch off Malinga Bandara. Raina's 35-run knock came off 27 balls and was studded with 5 fours and a six.

India were reduced to 81/3 in in 8.1 overs when Jehan Mubarak dismissed Yuvraj Singh with his first delivery.

Yuvraj went to the back foot to cut, insted edged the delivery into the hands of captain and wicket-keeper Tillakaratne Dilshan. Yuvraj hit 2 sixes and 3 fours in his knock of 32 runs that came off 21 balls.

Yuvraj and Raina added 67 runs for the third wicket at a time when India were reeling at 14/2 in 1.1 overs after losing Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in quick succession.

Gambhir tapped the last delivery of the first over to backward point and Sehwag (1) called for a quick single but the right-hander was unable to beat the direct hit from Chamara Kapugedera.

On the first delivery of the next over, Gambhir mistimed a hit high up in the air for Kaushalya Weeraratne to take the catch at mid-on off Thilan Thushara. Gambhir hit 3 fours in his 6-ball 13.

Earlier, Sri Lanka scored 171 runs for the loss of four wickets in their 20 overs.

Tillakaratne Dilshan slammed his maiden T20 half-century to power Sri Lanka post a challenging total.

Dilshan scored 61 runs before he was dismissed by Ishant.

Dilshan mistimed a hit to mid-off for Suresh Raina to take the catch after hitting a six and 7 fours in his magnificent knock of 61 runs that came off 47 balls.

Yusuf Pathan took 2 wickets in 2 overs to reduce Sri Lanka to 113/3 in 14 overs.

Pathan claimed his second wicket when Chamara Kapugedera tried to pull but edged the delivery up in the air. Sehwag took a fine catch at point.

Kapugedera hit 3 fours in his 9-ball 16.

Yusuf dismissed Jehan Mubarak (13) by taking a simple return catch.

Irfan Pathan struck in his first over when he dismissed opener Sanath Jayasuriya to put Sri Lanka at 59/1 in 6 overs.

Jayasuriya mistimed a hit over mid-off where Ishant Sharma took back a couple of steps and jumped to take a one-handed catch using his height to good effect.

Jayasuriya and captain Tillakaratne Dilshan gave Sri Lanka a blitzkrieg start scoring 53 runs in 5 overs.

Jayasuriya was given a reprieve when he was dropped by Irfan Pathan in the first over of the match itself.

The fiery start came after Dilshan won the toss and elected to bat first.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan.

Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Thilan Thushara, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Malinga Bandara.

Tags: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Thilan Thushara, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Malinga Bandara, Sri Lanka v India, Twenty20 international, Colombo

ICC ranking: India claims no.2 spot

India on Friday (Feb 6) moved on to Number.2 spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) one-day rankings. This after New Zealand beat Australia in the second ODI at Melbourne. Australia who have been in poor form have already lost a one-day series agains South Africa before this.

Former world number one Australia on Friday slumped to their second successive defeat against New Zealand to go 0-2 down in the five-match cricket series and slide to third sport in the ICC ODI rankings.

Put into bat, Australia cut a sorry figure, managing just 225 for five in 50 overs with stand-in captain Michael Clarke (98) and Michael Hussey (75) scoring bulk of the runs. Chasing the modest target, New Zealand rode on Grant Elliot's unbeaten 61 and useful contributions from Brendon McCullum (43) and Ross Taylor (47) to canter to a six-wicket win with seven balls to spare. This was Australia's fifth consecutive defeat.

India though have had a golden run leading up to the current Sri Lanak one-day series. Indian beat England two months ago 5-0 and now are leading the series in Sri Lanka 4-0, with one more game left.

In the latest ICC team rankings for ODI's South Africa has maintained its hold of the no.1 spot but India has now piped South Africa to claim no.2 spot after beating Sri Lanka 4-nil in the 5-match ODI series with the final still to be played.

New Zealand's 6 wicket thrashing to Australia in the 2nd ODi has reduced the Aussies to the 3rd place in the table. A win in the final ODI against Lanka and Australia's loss too NZ in their 3rd ODI will move the men in blue closer to the numero uno positin.

INDIA RISE TO 2ND SPOT

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1 South Africa 34 125
2 India 45 122
3 Australia 34 121

Tags: ICC ODI rankingS, India, South Africa, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia

Final list of players sold in IPL auction

The following is the list of 16 players sold at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction here on Friday:

Sixteen out of the available 17 slots were bought by the eight IPL franchisees in the auction that lasted a little over two hours.

Players-Country-Team-Price

Kevin Pietersen (England) Bangalore Royal Challengers, $1.55 million

Andrew Flintoff (England) Chennai Super Kings, $1.55 million

Jean-Paul Duminy (South Africa) Mumbai Indians, $950,000

Shaun Tait (Australia) Rajasthan Royals, $375,000

Fidel Edwards (West Indies) Deccan Chargers $150,000

Paul Collingwood (England) Delhi Daredevils, $275,000

Owais Shah (England) Delhi Daredevils, $275,000

Ravi Bopara (England) Kings XI Punjab, $450,000

Tyron Henderson (South Africa) Rajasthan Royals, $650,000

Thilan Thusara (Sri Lanka) Chennai Super Kings, $140,000

Jesse Ryder (New Zealand) Bangalore Royal Challengers, $160,000

Kyle Mills (New Zealand) Mumbai Indians, $150,000

Jerome Taylor (West Indies), Kings XI Punjab, $150,000

George Bailey (Australia) Chennai Super Kings, $50,000

Dwayne Smith (West Indies) Deccan Chargers $100,000

Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh) Kolkata Knight Riders $600,000

Teams: Rajasthan Royals (2 players), Kolkata Knight Riders (1), Bangalore Royal Challengers (2), Deccan Chargers (2), Chennai Super Kings (3), Mumbai Indians (2), Delhi Daredevils (2), Kings XI Punjab (2).

Unsold players: Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Chamara Kapugedara, Samit Patel, Shakib-al-Hassan, Morne Van Wyk, Stephen Smith, Ashley Noffke, Gulam Bodi, Mohammed Ashraful, Darren Powell, Ashwell Prince, Phil Jaques, Andre Nel, Luke Wright, Nuwan Kulasekara, Tamim Iqbal, Jon Moss, Bryce McGain, James Franklin, Aiden Blizzard, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Michael Klinger, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Prasanna Jayawardene, Dominic Thornley, Yusuf Abdulla, Daniel Harris, Kemar Roach, Aaron Bird, Michael Dighton, Michael Hill, Brett Geeves.

Tags: IPL auction, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Indian Premier League, most expensive players in IPL, auction, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Rajasthan Royals, Mallya, Chennai Super Kings, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jean-Paul Duminy, Shilpa Shetty, second edition of the IPL, Mukesh Ambani, Mumbai Indians, Sachin Tendulkar, Cricket, Indian Premiere League, Panaji, Preity Zinta, INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE AUCTION, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab

KP, Freddie beat Dhoni, fetch $1.55 mn each

Panaji: England's Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff joined the Indian Premier League as its most expensive players after being sold for 1.55 million dollars each here on Friday.


England's star all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, and his teammate Kevin Pietersen joined the Indian Premier League as its most expensive players after being sold for 1.55 million dollars each at an auction in Goa on Friday
Pietersen was bought by liquor baron Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers at a televised auction in this popular holiday resort, while Flintoff went for the same price to Chennai Super Kings.

Both players broke the existing record of India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was purchased by the Chennai franchise for 1.50 million dollars last year.

Pietersen and Flintoff will, however, receive only half their money as England players are available for just the first three weeks of the lucrative six-week Twenty20 tournament.

Tournament rules stipulate that payments are made on a pro-rata basis for matches played.

"A player like Kevin is a great buy for us," said a beaming Mallya, whose team finished seventh out of eight teams in the inaugural edition of the tournament last year.

"He is one of the most explosive batsmen in the world and will bring a lot of class to our team."


Star England batsman Kevin Pietersen, was bought by liquor baron Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers at a televised auction for the Indian Premier League in Goa on Friday.
Indian cricket board secretary N. Srinivasan, who owns the Chennai Super Kings, said he was delighted to have all-rounder Flintoff on board.

"Twenty20 cricket is a game for all-rounders and Flintoff is one of the best in the business," said Srinivasan, whose team entered last year's final where they lost to the Shane Warne-led Rajasthan Royals.

The Royals, partly owned by Bollywood actress and British reality TV star Shilpa Shetty, picked up Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait for 375,000 dollars.

Young South African Jean-Paul Duminy confirmed his rising stature in the sport when Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians, owned by industralist Mukesh Ambani, bought him for a whopping 950,000 dollars.

The Preity Zinta-Ness Wadia-owned franchise pocketed West Indies pacer Jerome Taylor at his base price of $150,000 to wrap up the player auction

About 50 international cricketers are being auctioned for a likely 17 spots that will fill the total available purse of 13.59 million dollars.

None of the Indian players are part of the auction as they were snapped up last year.

The second edition of the tournament, featuring the eight teams owned by tycoons, film stars and leading business houses, will be played across India in April-May.

Tags: Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Indian Premier League, most expensive players in IPL, auction, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Rajasthan Royals, Mallya, Chennai Super Kings, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jean-Paul Duminy, Shilpa Shetty, second edition of the IPL, Mukesh Ambani, Mumbai Indians, Sachin Tendulkar, Cricket, Indian Premiere League, Panaji, Preity Zinta, INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE AUCTION

India vs Srilanka 3rd ODI cricket highlights

Watch India vs Srilanka 3rd ODI cricket highlights of the 3rd ODI - India vs Sri Lanka from Colombo Feb 2009.

India started innings with a beautiful six by Sachin in the free hit delivery. But Fernando came back strongly by picking the wicket of Sachin in the same over though it is not out. The bad luck of Sachin continued in yesterday match also. Gambhir got out in an unexpected way. India was 24/2 at that time. Then Yuvraj and Sehwag started to show the magical innings which you should not miss. No one expected that these two players will go after the bowlers at that situation.

Click here for highlights: India vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI Highlights

Yuvraj and Sehwag mauled Sri Lanka with hundreds with some of the finest shots you'll ever see in cricket. Srilanka didn't help themselves - dropped catches and severe misfields. India piled on towards the end through Yusuf Pathan- a blazing 59 off 38 deliveries. Earlier, Tendulkar had his third wrong LBW decision in 3 games, but he was in the balcony watching his proteges tear into Mendis and the others. (Indian players targeting Mendis in each match for some reason)

Scores: India 363. Yuvraj Singh 117 (95) and Virender Sehwag 116 (90). SL 216 all out. Kumar Sangakkara 83 (82). India win the series with two more games to go.

Tags: India vs Srilanka 3rd ODI, Sachin, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Yusuf Pathan, India vs Srilanka 3rd ODI scores, cricket scores

Sehwag to play, Murali on verge of record

	Muttiah Muralitharan is on the verge of becoming the highest wicket-taker in ODIs

India's 3-2 victory in August last year was their first-ever bilateral series win in Sri Lanka and their chances of making it two in a row will increase significantly if the result of Saturday's day-night contest goes their way. India gain a massive boost with the return of Virender Sehwag - who missed the first ODI due to a hip injury - and a win for them will leave the hosts needing three consecutive victories to prevent defeat; a Sri Lankan success will bring the series back on an even keel.

To beat a clinical Indian outfit, however, Sri Lanka will have to shape up in disciplines that let them down in the first one-dayer in Dambulla. Apart from their batsmen failing to build substantially on Sanath Jayasuriya's century, Sri Lanka also to gave India leeway with loose running between the wickets and sloppy catching, aspects that are usually second nature to them. Tillakaratne Dilshan dropped Suresh Raina early in India's chase, and his run-out earlier in the match was the first of two in the innings, and the seventh of eight in their last six ODIs.

India, on the other hand, did little wrong during their six-wicket victory. There were traces of rustiness in the field, and a couple of batsmen fell to forgettable dismissals, but on the whole, the execution of the chase was calm and efficient even though Sehwag, a critical cog in the batting line-up, was missing. Their handling of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis - the duo that caused nightmares during the last Test series - was particularly effective: between them, Murali and Mendis took only 1 for 99 in 20 overs.

Watch out for ...

Muttiah Muralitharan has 501 wickets and is two away from overtaking Wasim Akram to become the highest wicket-taker in ODIs. He took only 1 for 52 in the first ODI but his being so close to the record could inspire him and the rest of the Sri Lankans to raise their game.

Tags: Muttiah Muralitharan, India, Sri Lanka, Virender Sehwag, Sanath Jayasuriya, Virender Sehwag's hip injury

South Africa win Perth ODI; displace Australia as no.1

Perth: South Africa registered a convincing 35-run victory in the fifth and final one-day international against Australia at the WACA in Perth on Friday to clinch the series by a convincing 4-1 margin and in the process displacing Australia as the number one team in the ICC Rankings in ODIs. | Scorecard

South Africa have no doubt been one of the most successful teams in one-day cricket over the last three years. In 2007, they won 19 of their 30 ODIs, while in 2008 they won 12 of the 17 ODIs. This year they have a 4-1 win-loss record from five matches. That converts to an impressive success rate of 67% in the last three seasons.

Fielding an inexperienced team – in the absence of Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn and injured skipper Graeme Smith – South Africa registered a handsome total of 288 – thanks largely to half-centuries by Hashim Amla (97), AB de Villiers (60) and a late flourish from JP Duminy who remained unbeaten on 60. In reply, the Aussies were bundled out for 249 in 49 overs as debutant left-arm pacer Lonwabo Tsotsobe claimed four wickets.

In pursuit of 289 runs, Australia were reeling at 53-4 at one stage, until the Hussey brothers – Michael (78) and David (32) – resurrected the innings. A late flourish from wicketkeeper batsman Brad Haddin (63) kept them in the hunt but it was never going to be enough as South Africa outclassed them in every department of the game.

Hashim Amla was the man of the match for his superlative knock of 97 that formed the cornerstone of the innings while Albie Morkel won the man of the series award for his outstanding performance with the bat.

Very precious pictures

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Sachin Tendulkar, the best India role model: poll

Mumbai: Indian cricketers have often enjoyed an iconic status in the country.

And cricketing hero Sachin Tendulkar has been voted as the best role model in a nationwide poll, even beating Big B.

Tendulkar has been an Indian icon for a couple of decades now and this nation wide survey conducted by a health magazine is proof of that.

Touching a chord after an emotional win over England, Sachin says, “I thank the England team who came to play. Mumbai attack was an attack on India and every Indian should be angry, I dedicate this century to all Indians who had to go through such terrible time.”

Tendulkar came in ahead of former president APJ Abdul Kalam and Amitabh Bachchan as the happiest Indian and a role model.

The survey proves that Tendulkar retains a special place in the hearts and minds of India's people because of his simplicity and dedication to the game and his family.

Publisher and editor, Complete Wellbeing Manoj Khatri says, “People have gone with the tried and tested Sachin. It is a gift to him for whatever he has given for India to be proud of.”

Interestingly the poll was conducted before the series against Australia when Tendulkar wasn't in the best form and that perhaps is the greatest tribute from an adoring nation.

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