CLT20: Mumbai Indians are out of the tournament.

CLT20 :  Qualifier round  in which Mumbai Indians has to qualify atleast 2 wins from 3 matches.
The first match of Mumbai Indians with Lahore Lions  took place in Raipur under the captaincy of  KA Pollard as Rohit Sharma was injured.The Match started by toss in which Lahore Lions won the toss & chose to field..It was not at all a good start as wickets were going.In 20 overs Mumbai Indians scored 135/7. In 2nd innings which was Lahore Lions,they won by 6wickets(8balls remaining)139/6.This was the first lost.
 In 2nd match which was Mumbai Indians vs Southern Express.In which Mumbai Indians captain Pollard won the toss & chose to field .Southern Express scored 161/6 in 20 overs.Mumbai Indians where they played very well the star was Simmons 76,Hussey 60,Pollard 20.This of them completed the target which was 162. Mumbai Indians won by 9 wickets(22 balls remaining)165/1.
   And the 3rd match which anyhow Mumbai Indians wants to win.The match was between Mumbai Indians vs Northern Knight.Northern Knights won the toss & chose to field.Mumbai Indians gave the target 132/9.A very bad start or can say Northern ballers has done great job.Northern knights knock out Mumbai Indians.And Mumbai Indians was out of the tournament.
     Whereas there was comments like  Rohit Sharma absence caused this.But  actually I think,its a game and a bad luck for Mumbai Indians.The team has done a good job & Pollard well done.
   Will be back next year with bang.

    

Rayudu & Simmons hit half-centuries in Mumbai Indians 7 wicket victory

Mumbai Indians on Monday defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad convincingly by seven wickets and captain Rohit Sharma described their show as their most clinical performance of IPL VII

“It was a perfect game for us. I believe it was the most clinical performance by us so far this year,” said Rohit at the post-match presentation in Hyderabad.

Poor batting has often let the MI down this season. It was no wonder that Rohit also praised opener Lendl Simmons and No. 3 Ambati Rayudu for stitching together a 130-run partnership for the third wicket that laid the foundation for the victory.

“Even our batting was perfect today. We always looked for a good opening stand and solid middle-order batting. Today we got that as Simmons got us off to flying start. He smacked the ball pretty well. And then we got to see some brilliant batting after Rayudu joined him in the middle,” he added.

Excerpts
Rohit Sharma: It was a perfect game for us. I believe it was the most clinical performance by us so far this year.

We are capable of such a performance and we always expected this from the team. First of all, we bowled well to restrict them to 157 for three. And then we chased it down with ease… it was simply superb. I think we did everything right today ever since we went out in the field.

I must give credit to the bowlers for the way they bowled today. It is not easy to bowl to players like David Warner and Aaron Finch, especially when they are set.

Even our batting was perfect today. We always looked for a good opening stand and solid middle-order batting. Today we got that as Simmons got us off to flying start. He smacked the ball pretty well. and then we got to see some brilliant batting after Rayudu joined him in the middle. Having good partnerships is crucial to win games, and I am happy that today we got that.

As I had said after the last match, we will treat every match now as knock-out and take one at a time. We are happy to have got one out of our way. We will keep doing the right things from our end.
Ambati Rayudu (MoM): I am happy with this innings. It came after some time. Perhaps my head was in the UAE, my legs were in Hyderabad and my bat somewhere else…

I had to bring them all together. My technique was going haywire. So I worked hard in the nets to bring it back in order. The coaches also helped me a lot.

Simmons batted beautifully and took a lot of pressure off me. He ensured that I could go and play all my shots. We started taking on the bowlers as soon as we got set. It is a good win and we have to keep the momentum going forward.

Kieron Pollard: We didn’t start the tournament well and even in the last game, we lost. So, obviously there was pressure on us to win. If you see the trend in IPL, defending champions, barring Chennai Super Kings, don’t do well.

Pollard and Starc fined for ugly scenes

Mumbai:Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc have been fined for their behavior offences during the Mumbai Indians-Royal Challengers Bangalore tie at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday, the Indian Premier League said in a statement on Wednesday evening. A big altercation broke out between the two - towards the end of MI's innings - and both players almost came to blows.

The ugly scenes unfolded in the 17^th over when Starc used some pretty choice language against Pollard after beating him with a bouncer. The West Indian disdainfully signed to Starc to go away, and off the next ball backed away from the crease at the last minute. Starc instead of stopping himself followed the West Indian on the legside and almost hit him, leaving a seething Pollard to throw his bat towards the bowler in a menacing way.

Both Pollard and Starc have admitted to the level 2 offence (2.2.11) of conduct contrary to the spirit of the game and accepted the sanction of a fine of 75 and 50 per cent of their match fee respectively.

MI captain Rohit Sharma and RCB captain Virat Kohli have also been fined for allowing a slow over rate. Since it was Rohit's second offence this season, he has been fined Rs 24 lakh, while each member of the MI eleven incurred a fine of 25 per cent of their match fee. It was Kohli's first offence so he has been slapped a fine of Rs 12 lakh.

RCB medium pacer Varon Aaron also violated article 2.1.1 of the Code of Conduct for a breach of paragraph 4.2 of the IPL Clothing Regulations, for which he got reprimanded.
    This is a game,be sporty.play fair game.

New Zealand beat India by 15 runs in second ODI

Hamilton: After failure of bowlers, batting brigade failed to chase target of 297 runs given by Duckworth/Lewis method in the rain-curtailed second one-dayer here today.

New Zealand, batting first scored an imposing 271 for seven in 42 overs.

While chasing a D/L target of 297 in 42 overs, India made 277 for nine in 41.3 overs.

New Zealand lead the five-match ODI series 2-0.
Brief Scores:
New Zealand: 271/7 in 42 overs (Kane Williamson 77, Ross Taylor 57, Corey Anderson 44, Martin Guptill 44, Md Shami
3/55).

India (D/L Target) 297: 277/9 in 41.3 overs (Virat Kohli 78, M S Dhoni 56; Tim Southee 4/72).

As per Duckworth Lewis method, India will have to score 297 runs in the stipulated overs largely due to home team's brutal assault in the death overs during which they scored a whopping 101 runs in 8.4 overs.

Kane Williamson set the platform with a polished knock of 77 helping all-rounder Corey Anderson to cut loose as he played a brilliant cameo smashing 44 off only 17 balls with five huge sixes. Skipper Ross Taylor also 57 off 56 balls with seven hits to the fence.

For India, Mohammad Shami (3-55) was once again the most successful bowler. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-43), Ishant Sharma (1-46), Ravindra Jadeja (1-46) and Suresh Raina (1-18) took a wicket apiece while R Ashwin (0-50)'s poor form with the ball continued.

The lengthy rain break didn't put the brakes on home team's scoring although they lost five wickets post interval.

Williamson and Taylor started off after the rain break, looking to up the ante immediately as the Kiwis had a little over eight overs left to play.

The former though was stumped in the 34th over off Jadeja. Williamson's 77 off 87 balls, with five fours and one six and he added 60 runs with Taylor.

Skipper Brendon McCullum's decision to send Anderson ahead of himself to take advantage of the bowling Powerplay was a good move.

Anderson made full use of it as he pummelled the Indian bowling for five sixes in his 17 ball stay, carting two each off Ashwin and Ishant. His 50-run partnership with Taylor came up in only 21 balls, and in total adding a massive 74 runs in 4.4 overs.

His partner Taylor wasn't quiet either, reaching his 26 ODI fifty in the process. The big-hitting all-rounder was out caught in the deep in the 39th over, but by then, he had done his job. Off the four Powerplay overs, 58 runs had come with the loss of just one wicket.

Tendulkar will mentor 11 emerging players, including Rasool and Unmukt

New Delhi: Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar will mentor eleven emerging players, including Parveez Rasool and Unmukt Chand, as part of an initiative by sports apparel giant Adidas.

Adidas, which has already signed up Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina added some more names to its roster.

Tendulkar welcomed the newest members of team adidas -- Unmukt Chand, Parveez Rasool, Vijay Zol, Manan Vohra, Manpreet Juneja, Rush Kalaria, Chirag Khurana, Akshdeep Nath, Vikas Mishra, Sarfaraz Khan and Aparajith Baba.

"This is a great initiative from adidas to support the future of this sport, which encourages aspiring athletes to follow their passion and be part of an extraordinary league.

Mentoring these talented young cricketers will let me be close to what I love and give back to the sport," Tendulkar, who retired from international cricket last year, said at the event.

The 21-year-old Unmukt, is former Captain of the 2012 Under-19 World Cup champion team and played for the Delhi Daredevils in IPL this year.

Rasool, 25, is the first Jammu and Kashmir cricketer to represent the Indian senior team. He captained his state team to the Ranji trophy knock-out phase this year.

Ranji Trophy: Maharashtra crush Bengal to enter final

Wriddhiman Saha’s gutsy century went in vain as Maharashtra crushed Bengal by 10 wickets to enter the final of the Ranji Trophy after a gap of two decades.
Maharashtra will take on the winner of the other ongoing semi-final between Karnataka and Punjab. Maharashtra last played in the Ranji Trophy final in the 1992-93 season where they lost to Punjab.
After a batting collapse in the first innings, Bengal put up a relatively better show in the second essay courtesy Wriddhiman’s unbeaten 108 as they scored 348 managing to avert the ignominy of innings defeat.
Harshad Khadiwale knocked off the required eight runs in two overs on the third day as Maharashtra continued their dream run in the national championship entering the summit clash from Group C.
Still it was a dominant performance by the Surendra Bhave coached side that finished the game inside three days having beaten heavyweights Mumbai well inside four days.
Left-arm seamer Samad Fallah (3/110) claimed three in the second innings to complete a match-haul of 10 wickets, while Dominic Joseph (3/80) and Anupam Sanklecha (3/84) also shared the spoils.
On the third day, the question was how long Maharashtra will take to dismiss Bengal for the second time rather than any imminent chance of a miracle.
The match went along the expected lined despite Saha’s impressive effort that came off 146 balls. Saha hit 15 fours and a couple of sixes off left-arm spinner Akshay Darekar as he completed his eighth first-class century with a picture perfect straight drive off Joseph.
Saha was able to complete his century with some good effort from the tail-enders Sourav Sarkar (35), Ashoke Dinda (25) and Shib Shankar Paul (13). The eighth, ninth and 10th wicket partnerships yielded 45, 62 and 53 runs, respectively.
Although he is not expected to play any part in the New Zealand Test series, the century would definitely keep him in high spirits as he leaves for New Zealand with the other Test specialists like Cheteshwar Pujara and Zaheer Khan in a week’s time.
However, it was the same old story from the other end as none of the batsmen save left-hander Sudip Chatterjee (49, 92 balls, 9×4) contributed enough.
Likes of Arindam Das (34), Abhimanyu Easwaran (6) and Sandipan Das (12) failed consistently in the past few games as Bengal managed to cross 400-run mark only once this season.
It was due to herculean effort from skipper LR Shukla (608 runs and 12 wickets) and wickets on ‘green-tops’ from Dinda (40 wickets) that helped Bengal reach this far. Others have had minuscule contribution in the team’s journey so far.
On the other hand, Maharashtra have put up a stunning performance since Bhave took over from Englishman Dermot Reeve under whom the team had got relegated to the group C in the last season.
With the likes of Kedar Jadhav, Harshad Khadiwale, Vijay Zol, Ankit Bawne and Sangram Atitkar scoring tons of runs, it became easier for the likes of Fallah, Sanklecha and Shrikant Mundhe (injured in this game) to attack the opposition with runs on board.
Their best win will certainly be against Mumbai, whom they defeated by eight wickets chasing a 250-plus score after conceding a first innings lead in excess of 120.

 

1st ODI: Kohli ton goes in vain as New Zealand beat India by 24 runs.

NAPIER: Virat Kohli's exhilarating hundred went in vain as New Zealand staged a dramatic turnaround to pull off a thrilling 24-run win in the first one-dayer against India to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series on Sunday.

 

Set a formidable target of 293, India seemed on track for a facile win with Kohli (123 off 110 balls) anchoring the chase with his 18th ODI century before pacer Mitchell McClenaghan's three-wicket burst 11 balls changed the complexion of the game completely .From a comfortable 224 for five, the Indians were all out for 268 in 48.4 overs with McClenaghan being the wrecker-in-chief with a match haul of 4/68.

Earlier, electing to bowl after winning the toss, India's inconsistent bowling effort helped New Zealand pile up 292 for seven.

For the Kiwis, apart McClenaghan, Corey Anderson shone bright with an all-round effort, scoring 68 runs off 40 deliveries before knocking off two wickets in his 10 overs of medium pace bowling.

Tim Southee (1-43 in 9.4 overs) and Adam Milne (1-40 in 7.3 overs) gave Anderson good support, even as the latter walked off mid-way in the 41st over with a side-strain.

After being put in to bat, half-centuries from Anderson, Kane Williamson (71) and Ross Taylor (55) helped the hosts reach 292/7 in their allotted 50 overs.

However, the brightest star of the match ended up in the losing side.

Kohli, who scored his a first hundred in a losing cause while chasing, found no support from otherbatsmen, none of who managed to reach even the 50-run mark.

Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan started with great caution. Southee bowled two maiden overs first up as the batsmen took time settling down.

In fact, the first wicket came before the first boundary in this innings, as Rohit failed to rotate strike and came under pressure to score, holing out to Southee off a short ball from McClenaghan in the sixth over. He scored only 3 runs off 23 balls.

Kohli came to the crease and got off the mark with a signature cover drive, the first four for India on the 29th ball of the innings.

Along with Dhawan, he put on 58 runs for the second wicket as the two batsmen tried to build a platform from which to launch the chase.

The runs were coming in a trickle and the first 10 overs yielded only 43. India's 50 came up in the 12th over, while their 50-partnership came four overs later.

Dhawan tried to be the more aggressive of the two, but his timing was off as he could only muster a strike-rate of 69.56. His dismissal in the 19th over reflected as much, a mistimed pull off a short ball from Anderson. It was a huge blow for the team as the partnership was developing well at that time.

On 15 not out, Dhawan had been given a life in the ninth over, when Anderson, at square leg, managed to only get a hand on a high pull shot.

But the Indian failed to capitalise and was finally out for 32 runs off 46 balls. He hit three fours. It resulted in two more quick wickets with Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina back in the hut within ten overs. Rahane (7) was out to a superb one-handed catch by Nathan McCullum. The ball, played towards mid-off, seemed to dip before the off-spinner caught it, leaving the batsman shocked.

Raina added 45 runs with Kohli for the fourth wicket and their runs came in good time at a runrate of 6.14. But even so, the asking run-rate was always climbing higher and trouble resurfaced when Raina was out, attempting a loose pull-shot like Dhawan, off Milne. He scored 18 runs off 22balls, with two fours.

At the other end, however, Kohli continued unfazed. He had come to the crease to pull off this chase and he went about the job not caring about the dismissals too much.

In Raina's company, in the 26th over, he had brought up his half-century off 58 balls, hitting four fours and one six. But after the double blows in the middle overs, he settled down with skipper Dhoni to try and dig India out of the hole.

The Indian captain scored 40 runs off only 46 balls, with two fours and two sixes. More importantly, he rotated the strike well with Kohli as the two put up 95 runs for the fifth wicket in just 85 balls.

In the 38th over, Kohli reached his 18th ODI hundred, off 94 balls with 10 fours and a six. He celebrated with joy as the chase looked set. They accelerated with a plan in mind as 51 runs came off the second powerplay without any loss of wickets.

But the turning point came when Dhoni was out caught behind in the 43rd over, off McClenaghan.

Three balls later, he removed Ravindra Jadeja (0), also caught behind fending a rising delivery. Kohli still didn't give up, hitting boundaries at will, but he was finally out in the 45th over, caught sharply by Jesse Ryder, who had earlier misjudged a skier from Kohli when he was on 95, at cover.In the next over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was run-out for 6 runs. R Ashwin (12 runs) was out to Kane Williamson, who completed Milne's 41st over after he had walked off with a side strain.

The Indian innings came to an end when Southee bowled Ishant Sharma (5). Mohammed Shami was unbeaten on 7 runs.

Earlier in the day, Corey Anderson hit 68 off 40 balls, his first ODI half-century, to take New Zealand to 292/7 in their allotted fifty overs. This was after Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor put on 121 runs for the third wicket.

Mohammed Shami was the most successful bowler for the visitors, finishing with 4-55 from nine overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-38), Ishant Sharma (1-72) and Ravindra Jadeja (1-61) were the other wicket-takers, while R Ashwin (0-52) and Virat Kohli (0-13) finished wicket-less. Taylor and Williamson together flayed the Indian bowling in the middle overs. The two batsmen put on a hundred-plus stand for the third wicket during which they amply punished the two spinners, Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

Taylor completed 4000 ODI runs in 121 innings, at the personal score of 15 not out, becoming thesecond-quickest Kiwi batsman after Nathan Astle (120 innings) to do so. In the 23rd over of the innings, Williamson brought up his seventh ODI half-century, off 66 balls and hitting five fours.

Eventually Taylor edged to Dhoni in the 37th over off Shami, becoming the Indian skipper's 300^th ODI victim. Dhoni is the first Indian wicket-keeper to breach this mark, in 239 matches, and the fourth overall after Australia's Adam Gilchrist (472 dismissals in 287 matches), Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (424 dismissals in 362 matches) and South Africa's Mark Boucher (424 dismissals in 295 matches). Taylor was the only batsman to fall in the second powerplay as Brendon McCullum and Corey.Anderson took 41 runs off those five overs.

 

NZ include fast bowler Milne for India series

Auckland: New Zealand picked a settled line-up, the only change being the inclusion of fast bowler Adam Milne, for the five-match ODI series against World No.1 India starting at Napier on Sunday.

The 13-man-squad is identical to the one which drew the recent ODI series against the West Indies, with the exception of Auckland batsman Colin Munro who will return to play for his province.

General Manager National Selection Bruce Edgar said the players had been rewarded for a number of strong performances against the West Indies.

“It was pleasing to see every player stand up at some stage of that series and there were some simply outstanding efforts headlined by Corey Anderson’s world record one day ton,” he said.

Edgar says the New Zealand now face one of their toughest challenges at home against a side ranked at the top in the 50 over game and No.2 in Tests.

“We know we’ll have to play out of our skins, and out match them player for player to be competitive against such a powerful side. But we showed against the West Indies that we can play extremely well on our day and are capable of beating any side,” he said.

Head Coach Mike Hesson says the team is fully aware of the challenges that lie ahead.

“Matching yourself against the best in the world is what you play international cricket for and I know the guys are buzzing about this opportunity. It’s also an important part of our build-up for next year’s World Cup where India are the defending champions,” he said.

The ODIs are slated for Napier (Jan 19), Hamilton (Jan 22), Auckland (Jan 25), Hamilton (Jany 28) and Wellington (Jan 31). The two Tests will be played in Auckland and Wellington and the squad will be announced after the ODI series.

The ODI squad: Brendon McCullum (captain), Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Jimmy Neesham, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne

Team India leaves for New Zealand; to play 2 Tests, 5 ODIs

Mumbai: The Indian squad led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni departed for New Zealand from here today for a five-match ODI series followed by a best-of-two Test rubber against the hosts.

The limited overs contest will start on January 19 at Napier and conclude on January 31 at Wellington with the other three games to be held at Hamilton (January 22), Auckland (January 25) and Hamilton (January 28).

The Test series would be held after that with the opener scheduled from February 6-10 (Auckland) followed by the second and final match at Wellington (February 14-18).

The tourists would play a two-day warm-up game on February 2 and 3 at Whangarei ahead of the Tests.

Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara, Zaheer Khan, Murali Vijay and Umesh Yadav did not leave with the others today and are slated to leave a week later.

This is India's ninth visit to New Zealand for a bilateral contest and their first since 2008-09 that they won 1-0.

The ODI team: M S Dhoni (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit
Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh
Raina, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Ishwar Pandey, Stuart Binny and Varun Aaron.

The Test team: M S Dhoni (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan,
Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma,
Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Mohammed Shami,

Ranji Trophy 2013-14: Maharashtra coach Surendra Bhave praises his players for their performance against Mumbai

Maharashtra coach Surendra Bhave praised his players after they defeated Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy 2013-14 quarter-final on Saturday. It was the first time they have beaten Mumbai in a knockout game of the Ranji Trophy.

“It is an outstanding feeling to beat Mumbai in Mumbai and beating them in the knockout is even more special. All the credit goes to the players who have been outstanding. You are 122 down on a seamer friendly pitch, not many would have given a chance but it was a lion-hearted effort from the players and hats off to them,” Bhave said at the Wankhede Stadium.

Maharashtra were a wicket down at the end of Day Three and the match was hanging in balance. Bhave credited Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Zol for their unbeaten 215-run partnership. Jadhav scored 120 while Zol scored 91.

“Given the conditions, the match was in balance. I think Kedar [Jadhav] and Vijay [Zol] took the match away. First they soaked the pressure and took the match away.”

Bhave heaped praise on centurion Kedar Jadhav for shepherding a young Vijay Zol and showing his experience to plan the chase maturely. Bhave said, “I am sure he helped Vijay when he went after Nayar bowling outside off-stump. Kedar put him right and told him not go that wide and preserve his area of strokeplay. He has helped the other team members quietly in his own way. This year Kedar has showed he has matured much more to hold the batting together.”

About the young Zol, the coach said “I think he has got to take it slowly and not get too ahead of himself. Vijay being just 19 will help him a lot. By nature Vijay is an aggressive batsman. The fact that he had to leave a lot of balls in the morning showed his patience. When the bowlers bowl wicket to wicket he is good at playing them.”

He emphasised on the importance of winning every session. “If you see the session pie, four sessions were won in a row by Mumbai and five in arrow then by Maharashtra. So 5-4, there’s your winner. Winning five sessions together will make a miracle happen.”

Maharashtra were bowled out for 280 thereby, conceding a 122-run first innings lead. “I thought we could have taken their score much closer to the Mumbai total.

“Having said that, the bowlers hit the right areas. And I knew when the bowlers hit the right areas nicks are going to happen. So it was all about the catching.

“And that brought us back in the match. The lines held by the bowlers were very tight on off-stump. And they hardly anything to leave and they had to play. Since they had to play some of them were going to nick it and it was taken very well behind the wickets,” Bhave said.

When asked about the brilliant turnaround, Bhave added, “Most of them are brilliant individual players. Last season four or five batsmen were averaging about 50 in the Elite league. For those performances to come together and convert them into wins was important. That’s exactly what we have done so far and potentially there are two more matches to go and we want to play them well.”

IPL 7: Mumbai Indians retain Rohit, Malinga, Pollard, Harbhajan and Rayudu

Defending champions Mumbai Indians on Friday retained five players including skipper Rohit Sharma and dashing West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard, for the upcoming seventh season of Indian Premier League.

Apart from skipper Rohit and Pollard, the three others retained are senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, Sri Lankan speedster Lasith Malinga and talented batsman Ambati Rayudu, who can also double up as a wicketkeeper.

Ashes hero Mitchell Johnson, who picked up 37 wickets during the Test series against England, will now be favourite to be obtained through 'Right to Match' cards that the franchise can exercise during the two-day auction on February 12 and 13.

"The formidable combination of these five players - Rohit, Pollard, Malinga, Bhajji and Rayudu - forms the nucleus of Mumbai Indians. They have exemplified the spirit of Mumbai Indians and are match-winners in their own right," Nita Ambani, owner of MI, was quoted as saying in a press release.

"With the retention of the core players, Mumbai Indians look forward to build a stronger, well-knit teamand share the joy of an enthralling and entertaining performance with its ever-growing fans in the coming season," she further added.

Dinesh Karthik missed out on retention to Rayudu, whose ability to do a decent job behind the stumps and being a specialist batsman tilted the scales in his favour.
As far as Malinga is concerned, he has been a 'Game Changer' for MI at the death overs and the possibility of some of the matches being played in Sri Lanka may have prompted the team management to take a call in the slinger's favour.

Mumbai Indians have had phenomenal success over the last four years, both on and off the field, emerging as one of the most successful and followed teams.

As a favourite sports team, Mumbai Indians is closely followed by 4.2 million fans across the globe.
Brand Mumbai Indians was ranked No.1 cricket club in India and 146th among the 250 best sports brand in the world (BrandFinance pls, UK 2012).
In the Social Media space, Mumbai Indians featured among the top ten most followed Indian brands (INCITE 2012 by Nielsen & McKinsey).

Zol, Samson star as India beat Pakistan to lift U-19 Asia Cup

MUMBAI: The World champions of junior cricket have roared at the perfect time. With less than two months to go before they begin defending their Under-19 World Cup crown, India made an emphatic statement by winning the Asia Cup in Sharjah on Sunday, beating arch-rivals Pakistan by 40 runs in a thrilling final.

Put into bat, the Indian colts made 314 for four, with skipper Vijay Zol and Sanju Samson - two of the hottest young talents in India presently - smashing hundreds after India enjoyed a 65-run stand in just 6.4 overs, largely due to opener Ankush Bains, who smashed 47 (34b, 7x4, 1x6). Both made exactly 100.

While Zol's effort took him 120 balls, and included seven fours and a couple of sixes, Samson's knock came off merely 87 balls (8x4, 4x6). Both added 180 for the third wicket to ensure India finished with a massive total. Pakistan, in reply, were restricted to 287 for eight, as Kamran Gulam (102 not out) and skipper Sami Aslam's (87) efforts went in vain. For India, left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav took three for 72.

It is a triumph that should stand India in good stead for the forthcoming World Cup which will be held in UAE too.

"Ankush gave us a fabulous start and then both Samson and Zol, whose roles were critical, batted brilliantly before losing concentration on getting their hundreds. We should have got 360-odd but still got a reasonable total. We then bowled and fielded well to defend our score successfully against a very good Pakistan side. Even beating Sri Lanka in the semis wasn't easy. It was an excellent all-round performance by the boys and an ideal exposure to the conditions that will be prevalent during the World Cup. Both the teams enjoyed tremendous crowd support and the atmosphere of the final was electric. It was a joy to win this tournament with this lovely bunch," an elated Bharat Arun, coach of the India U-19 team, told TOI moments after the victory.

It was redemption time for the colts too. In the last Asia Cup, back in July 2012, India had to share the trophy with Pakistan after the final finished in a tie. In this edition, India had already lost to the Green Brigade once in the league stage - on December 31 - by two wickets.

"Pakistan won that game by a whisker. Before the final, our boys were fired up in the team meeting. I'm glad we pulled off a comfortable win in a tough match," Arun said, revealing an interesting fact - this team has as many as seven left-handers!

While the coach understandably chose to praise all his wards, he conceded that Maharashtra's Zol and Kerala's Samson were 'special boys.' "Both are technically sound. They don't play rash strokes. They have tremendous power and the gift of timing which enables them to clear boundaries comfortably. They have the experience of the IPL and the Ranji behind them now. They are in for a bigger league," Arun gushed.

Amongst the bowlers, he singled out Kuldeep Yadav and medium-pacers Deepak Hooda and pacer Avesh Khan for special praise.

"Yadav is a real talent. He has great attitude and he is a wicket-taking bowler. He can bowl well under pressure and batsmen would find it tough to hit him out of the attack."

Arun revealed that his wards were "too tired right now to celebrate". "They will turn out for their Ranji sides after returning. We will then have a camp for the World Cup before launching into the campaign."

Brief scores: India Under-19 314 for 8 (Zol 100, Samson 100) beat Pakistan Under-19 274 for 9 (Ghulam 102, Aslam 87*) by 40 runs.

Breaking Afridi’s record, New Zealand’s Corey Anderson hits fastest ever century in ODI

Queenstown/New Delhi: Giving New Year gift to his country, New Zealand batsman Corey Anderson set a new world record by hitting fastest ever century in one-day International cricket format, making a ton off 36 balls against the West Indies in Queenstown.

Anderson broke the previous record set by Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi who hit century on 37 balls against Sri Lanka at Nairobi in 1996.

The young New Zealand all-rounder hit 12 sixes and 4 fours in his 100 runs.

Anderson was unbeaten on 131 runs off 47 balls with 14 sixes and half a dozen fours.

The 23-year-old left hander batsman has played 6 ODIs so far for the Kiwi team. West Indies lead the five match series by 1-0.

Brave Ajinkya Rahane wins hearts of cricket guru's

Durban:  Ajinkya Rahane's patience bore fruit and he made the most of the chances that came his way in the two-Test series which India lost to South Africa yesterday.

Rahane hit 47 and 15 in the Johannesburg Test, and followed it up with a fighting 51 and 96 here. And it was his courage that impressed everyone who saw him bat. “Ajinkya Rahane will go a long way and he will score heavily in international cricket from now,” said Ravi Shastri who is here as a commentator. The former all-rounder felt Rahane should be promoted to the No 5 spot in the forthcoming series against New Zealand.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni said: “He spent a lot of time on the bench. But he did not sit idle. He worked very hard on his fitness, technique and temperament.”
Jacques Kallis who bid adieu to Test cricket yesterday said: “Rahane is a wonderful player. He will shine because of his technique.” Former SA captain Kepler Wessels observed: “Although he did not get his 100, he will learn the value of those four runs now. He is confident both on his front and back foot.

Former chief of the SA cricket board, Dr Ali Bacher said: “He could not reach his 100 because he did not have strong partners. I think the courage he showed against Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel was remarkable. “He played well to delay the South African victory. He is ready, he is mature, and has a bright future.”

Rahane’s coach Pravin Amre too was happy with his performance. When contacted, Amre said: “I watched the innings. So far he has played well.” Incidentally, Amre scored a century at the same venue in 1992 on his debut.

4th Ashes Test: Australia beat England by 8 wickets to take 4-0 lead

MELBOURNE: Australia cruised to an eight-wicket win over demoralised England with more than a day to spare on Sunday to claim a 4-0 series lead and stand on the cusp of an Ashes whitewash.

Scorecard
Led by a century from opener Chris Rogers and a 136-run stand with Shane Watson, the Australians had few problems getting the required 201 runs on the fourth day to seal England's fate at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
England contributed to their own demise with two confidence-sapping dropped catches by skipper Alastair Cook early in the day to take all the steam out of the dispirited tourists.

The two fielding blunders from the team leader were psychological body blows for England and evidence of batsman Kevin Pietersen's comments on Saturday in a television interview that the tourists were "mentally fragile".

England now face the monumental challenge of fighting off an Australian clean sweep of the series in the fifth and final Test, starting in Sydney on Friday.

Playing on his home ground, veteran left-hander Rogers claimed his second Test century after scoring 110 against England in the last series earlier this year at Durham.

Rogers, 36, was out caught behind for 116 off 155 balls cutting Monty Panesar, with his team some 31 runs short of victory.

At the end, Watson was unbeaten on 83 with skipper Michael Clarke not out six with Australia 231/2.

Clarke reached 8,000 Test runs in his unbeaten knock.

It was the best fourth innings run chase in 51 years at the Melbourne Cricket Ground since England's 237/3 in 1962-63.

While England have been on the end of heavy defeats this Test series, Sunday was a particularly dispiriting loss for England, who were well on top and led the home side by 116 with 10 wickets in hand after lunch on Saturday's third day.

Man-of-the-match Mitchell Johnson and spinner Nathan Lyon staged a dramatic turnaround, with England bowled out for 179, leaving Australia with what became a comfortable task of scoring 231 in more than two days for victory.

It was Australia's fourth consecutive win over England and comes four months after they lost the last series 3-0 in England.

English heads dropped when Cook got his right hand to a snick from Rogers on 19 through slips after wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow failed to respond, and then grassed a straightforward two-handed chance from David Warner (22) off Stuart Broad.

Warner scored only three more runs before he was caught behind off Ben Stokes and Australia's first wicket came down at 64.

Symbolic of England's malaise, Cook did not bring on his specialist spinner Monty Panesar until 90 minutes into the fourth day and he had little effect on stemming the Australian run flow until he finally removed Rogers.

There will be selection questions ahead of the final Ashes Test for an England team in decline with the most pressure on Panesar, Bairstow, whose technique behind the stumps was exposed, and seamer Tim Bresnan.