NEXT FAB 4 OF INDIAN CRICKET

     When ganguly , one of the fab four of Indian cricket , yuvraj looked the only person to replace the southpaw. But the years have gone by and India is now oozing with talented youngsters. The youngistan has done a commendable job in limited overs cricket and are now on the back of the senior pros of test cricket
for a test berth , which also brings out the best out of seniors.

     Virat kohli, Rohit sharma , Suresh raina and Yuvraj singh, who have taken India to a great level in one day cricket, will form the India's next fab four of test cricket. They will be challenged by cheteshwar pujara, manoj tiwary and badrinath. but these four are expected to be the next middle order of India's batting in the future.

     Virat kohli is in phenomenal form for the past two years during which he was the highest run getter in ODIs and has never looked since he made his debut. He is the best of the four at the moment. having made the no.3 spot in one day team as his own he looks deserving enough to take the same spot in test team as well. Although he has not made a mark in the limited opportunities got till now he has shown tremendous temperament in his knocks in limted overs cricket which can surely help him in test arena.

     Rohit sharma is a player who has impressed one and all right from the time he played a great knock in CB series final in Australia. The comment of Indian coach "It is very unfortunate that you have still not played a Test match" tells how he is rated as by everyone in the world. He missed the test cap just by a whisker last year when he got injured just an hour before the match started was a big disappointment for him. The man of the series award in the recently concluded India-west indies series is a proof of him playing under pressure and giving out the best.

     Suresh raina another player like virat kohli who has done exceedingly well in limited overs cricket will form the next back bone of Indian batting line up. A century on test debut against sri lanka two seasons back was a perfect start to his test career. A player with aggression and smartness on field will be of great asset to the team. he has been consistent in limited overs.

     Yuvraj Singh , the hero of two world cup winning teams , completes the fab four. Having faced a lot of criticism from different quarters of the world for not extending his great one day record into tests yet this man has ability to be part of the Indian test setup for few more years. He is a great finisher and his bowling supplements  his batting skills in giving the important break through s. After recovering from the lung tumor he will be again in contention for the 6Th spot which is up for grabs.

     These players will form a great fielding unit which is also an integral part of cricket. these players playing along with the seniors in the team and rubbing shoulders with them will give them the necessary experience and inputs of the test cricket. with few more test matches under their belt before the big 3 retire will help them stand in better shape to take on the test reins from the seniors. 

The SWASHBUCKLER SEHWAG !!!!!

       The man who first stated that 200 is possible in one day cricket has done it but he is not the first to do so. yet it doesn't take anything away from an innings of lifetime. and as many say once a thing gets started it doesn't take long to doing on it on regular basis as it took just two years to break the master tendulkar's, record for highest individual score in odis. sehwag hammered windies to get to the second double hundred of ODIs by scoring 219 off 149 deliveries including 25 fours and 7 sixes.

                   
      Before the match started there was a lot of talk about him not in best of touches and not giving the good starts to the innings but it was just a matter of time before the great match winner was in his elements. he was into his own from the start of the innings hitting roach to six in third over of the day and that was good enough indication that he was out there for something special.

       He was in a demolition and murderous mood right from the start itself as he hit 4 sixes in his first 50 runs and one of them over long on got him to his fifty. he was scoring at brisk pace as he got his next fifty runs in just 29 balls and got to his hundred in his trademark style with a boundary. he along with gambhir gave india their best start in ODIs after 22 long innings. After losing gambhir right after his century he continued the run riot along with raina as they continued the windies agony scoring at will and often stealing and taking quick singles on offer. He also reached 8000 odi runs in the process before scoring the double ton again in his own style by cutting russell to the point boundary.

      As the match progressed the crowd at Indore and the world watched in amazement as he thrashed the windies bowlers to all parts of the ground with his elegant sixes, deft touches, slices , square cuts etc and became India's highest individual run scorer in both forms of the game tests(319) and odis.

      For someone who was criticized that he is a good test batsman than in limited overs cricket by looking at his records but he simply works on a simple formula "if its in his zone he will go for it" without looking at the scoreboard and the situation. Thursday afternoon he came out firing on all cylinders and guided India to its fourth total in excess of 400 and also lead from the front as captain as he put India well on course for a series win. he was ably supported by his fellow partners , gambhir and raina, who were also running short of form , as they build good partnerships with him and in the process scored a fifty each.

      This innings of his has come at the right time for Indian team as they have a big test ahead of them in the form of tour down under. this will give him lots of confidence going to Australia as nothing is better than having runs under your belt before an important tour. lets hope to see many more innings of such kind from the dangerous batsman in today's cricketing world. 

India back to best !!!!!!

         The Indian team is back to what it was doing for a few years now. Demolishing opponents day in day out after a rather forgettable tour of England. first they drowned the English in the revenge series with a 5-0 whitewash in ODIs series and now almost clean swept the windies in the test series and it will not be a surprise if they blank the windies in ODIs.
        This return of form for the Indian team ahead of the important tour of Australia is heartening to see. and the great starts of the youngsters or the debutantes to say in the international arena has pleased every indian fan , for whom the only disappointment from the series was of sachin missing out on the 100th ton twice in the series after coming close to it.
       The dramatic series against west indies has contributed to the rise of some of the best talents of the country in the likes of batsman virat kohli , charismatic spinner ravichandran ashwin and the rare breed of fast bowlers of Indian cricket , umesh yadav and varun aaron. Along with these youngsters the old pro's and the other players have played their part to perfection in winning the series.
       As the history goes with the indian cricket they are the slow starters and it was proved again as they got bowled out cheaply in the first innings of first test and conceded a lead of near 100 runs to not so great opponents. but they managed to pull back things and won the first test courtesy brilliant bowling by R.Ashwin and decent chase by the batsmen.
       In the second test it was batsmen turn to pile on the misery of the visitors as three of the batsman managed to score hundreds during the course of huge first innings score which was enough to bowl out the windies twice and take india to the series win. v.v.s laxman made a big 176 to earn himself a mom and umesh yadav made significant contribution with the ball in this test taking 9 wickets and providing breakthroughs when the team required.
       The final test was a dramatic and thrilling one and also turned out to be great advertisement for test cricket after the dull first four days with the wicket not helping the bowlers. The drama started from the fourth day when sachin failed to notch up his 100th ton when he got out on 94 much to the disappointment of the home crowd of mumbai. but it was ashwin's day out who earlier took 5-for in the first innings of west indies turned out to be the savior with the bat as he raced away to his maiden test ton and becoming the only Indian player in almost 5 decades to accomplish the task of taking 5 wickets and scoring a hundred in the same test. the fifth day pitch was an opposite of first four days as the wicket started taking turn quite sharply which was too hot to handle for the windies batsmen and they were folded out cheaply by the indian spin duo of ojha and ashwin leaving india a chasable target of 242. India this time decided to go for the win after being criticized for not opting to do so earlier in the year against the same opposition in their backyard. and they almost pulled it off the last ball but couldn't do so after failing to consolidate on a good start given by sehwag and then resurrected by kohli. The match ended in a draw with scores level giving india the series 2-0.
       The man of the series was none other than R.Ashwin who made the series his own by taking 22 wickets and also scoring his maiden ton and in the process shut the doors for harbhajan for the tour "down under". He performed brilliantly bowling with a lot of control and out doing the batsmen with the variety in his armory. he also got a lot of support from his senior pragyan ojha who kept the pressure from other end as they complemented each other by taking 42 wickets among them.
       Umesh yadav bowled with great speeds and took wickets at regular intervals. He was at his best in kolkata test taking 9 wickets and helped india win by an innings in that match. Varun aaron as like umesh was fast and initially might have pressurized himself after good debuts from ashwin and umesh but got into his rhythm on second day of last test and took 3 wickets. The view of watching indian fast bowler notching up speeds of 140  kmph on consistent basis, ahead of australian tour where the speedsters rule, would have pleased every indian cricket fan.

VIRAT "dependable" KOHLI

    

       A man who caught everyone's attention when he led India to the U-19 world cup victory in 2008 is now the most consistent batsman for India and his franchise, royal challengers Bangalore in limited overs cricket after making his international debut three years ago.

       Having started his career as an ordinary player this youngster came into his own since the last two years, the period in which he was one the top run getter in 2010 season and then played a key role in India's world cup victory and also in RCB's tremendous success in this year's IPL and champions league with valuable performances.

      A player with inborn aggression also has a cool head on his shoulders. he is also a brilliant fielder apart from being a good batsman. After seeing his captaincy skills in the Under-19 world cup one can say he has the potential to lead a team in the future and looks the next best man to lead Indian team after Dhoni.

      He plays his part to perfection in teams filled with the sachin tendulkar, sehwag and chris gayle and walked away with many honors. He has made the no.4 slot his own in the Indian ODI batting line up. He is now the main stay in India's and RCB's ODI line up batting top of the order.

      His notable performances in the Indian colors started off with the hundred against the Australians in Visakhapatnam when India chased down a near 300 target and from then on he never looked back and performed consistently till date by scoring in all conditions including a century in recently concluded England series and good scores in South Africa and West indies.

      Although he hasn't made a mark in the lone - 3 test - series he has played in the west indies but he along with other young Indian players like suresh raina and rohit sharma are expected to fill the big shoes of the Indian batting legends, in test cricket, when they retire. He is the most technically correct young Indian batsman and can be vital part of the team in the longer format of the game in the future provided he keeps his hunger for runs going.

      This Delhi lad has been the RCB's Mr.Dependable since they bought them and it came as no surprise when he was named as the only retained player by the franchise. In this year's champions league he is among the top run scorers scoring heavily at a brisk pace. He has been hugely instrumental in the last two matches of RCB in which they chased down the mammoth targets of above 200 in front of their home crowd and will now play a key role along with fellow mates Gayle and Dilshan if RCB are to win the champions league 2011.

      He has started his career now on a very bright note and if he continues this consistency and improves further in the days to come then he can be one of the finest batsman the world has seen.