Gambhir for England tour and Raina to lead in Bangladesh ODIs

It was announced by BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel after the conclusion of a meeting of their selection panel in Mumbai on May 28, 2014 that Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead an 18-man squad for next month’s Test series against England. Opener Gautam Gambhir has made a comeback to the Indian squad for the England tour. Also on board are uncapped medium pacers Ishwar Pandey and Pankaj Singh. Varun Aaron and Stuart Binny have made it too while injured Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan and Ojha were not considered. India will play five Tests followed by a one-day series on the three-month tour of England commencing on June 26 till mid-September. It was also added that Suresh Raina will lead India for the three-match One-Day International series against Bangladesh. Dhoni, Kohli, Rohit, Jadeja and Ashwin will be rested for the series that will be played in Mirpur on June 15, 17 and 19. Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parveez Rasool found a place in the squad. Robin Uthappa the leading scorer in the ongoing Pepsi IPL 7, Maharashtra batsman Kedar Jadhav and left-arm spinner Akshar Patel of Gujarat have also been selected for the squad. The squad for England comprises of Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Anjinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ajay Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ishwar Pandey, Ishant Sharma, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron, Wridhimann Saha, Pankaj Singh The squad for Bangladesh: Suresh Raina (captain), Robin Uthappa, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Wriddhimaan Saha, Parveez Rasool, Akshar Patel, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Amit...

Team India logistics manager Satheesh sent home

With the Indian cricket team enjoying its moment under the spotlight for having qualified to the last four after seven years at the ongoing WT20 tournament in Bangladesh it seemed that their overseas debacles were a distant past. However the IPL betting and fixing controversy continues to remind them of the current turmoil that is going on in the cricketing circles involving BCCI, Srinivasan, Gurunath, the Supreme Court of India and India Cements during the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 matches. The Indian cricket team’s logistics manager M A Satheesh has been sent back home relating him to the controversy over India Cements employees being given positions as support staff with the national side was confirmed by the team’s media manager Dr R N Baba through an email. Satheesh was found to be absent from the Indian cricket team’s training session yesterday on Saturday, March 29th, 2014. Dr Baba’s email also proclaimed that the replacement for Satheesh is set to join the team as soon as his visa processing is over during the weekend. Dr Baba is also a Tamil Nadu Cricket Association official but is not an India Cements employee. Team India has only two remaining India Cements employees left in their ranks. They are Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Advertisement If you need Online Truck Booking Hyderabad then the team of professionals from Tulip Logistics is here to help...

Debacle continues for Indian cricket team

Perhaps Dhoni would never be able to excuse him for leaving the second India vs New Zealand test in a draw after a dramatic performance in the first innings. Indian pace battery seemed to sing song on the first day, whereby New Zealand had been bowled out at 192 only. India could consolidate a solid innings to keep a steep target in front of the Kiwis. India had remained in the commanding position even on the third day, where people started speculating that the victory of India would be just a matter of time. McCullum could lead the team from the front with his exemplary triple century to save New Zealand from a sure defeat. Indian bowlers could manage to take only one wicket on the fourth day and the game twisted to Kiwis side. However, New Zealand did not take any risk and declared their second knock at 680 for 8. India lost the first few wickets in quick succession, but finally managed to save another humiliating defeat. Their dismal performances in the overseas ground keep on...

Indian cricket continues to lose out in overseas

Yet, another debacle. The tradition of dismal performances of the Indian cricket team continue in the overseas grounds and the second ODI against New Zealand can be considered as a feather to the cap of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who have been blessed with unflinching faith from the board and selectors. Finally, India had lost their top rank even in ODI and the Duckworth –Lewis has worked as the fig-leaf on Dhoni’s face. The asking rate did not seem to be steep and India had to score 293 to level the current series, but their batsmen started faltering in the green top pitch, as usual. Virat Kohli stood as an exception with his solid 78 and the skipper scored 56 at Hamilton, but they had been proved inadequate to beat the Kiwis. Indian pace battery failed miserably except Shami. Kane Williamson with his superb innings had won the Man of the Match award. It is yet to be unraveled, what hail has been Raina or Ishant Sharma doing till date? The cricket fans may raise question about Dhoni’s dogmatic stances...

Indian Cricket team tastes the eluding triumph

Finally Indian Cricket team has been able to clinch a super duper win against England in One Day International Cricket series belying the predictions of many. The victory has been glorious as India has been able to manage to steer to the 3 – 1 lead at a time when the team was seemingly in disarray and news of lot of inner clashes are coming as headliners. The track record of India and England in ODIs do not allow us to become jubilant, though India has been able to hold back the number one position in ODI after such a triumphant win. While Indian bowlers have bowled really well, the England batsmen could hardly meet up the expectation level. Even Pietersen or Cook, the two key actors of the Test Squad failed miserably. We must admire the stupendous blowing performances of the youngsters like Shami Ahmed, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar or Jadeja. It’s wiser not to talk much about the England team after the exhibition of such string of miserable showpieces. England has failed even when the asking rate had not been steep. When Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been battered by criticism from all corners, such a magnificent victory may push the critics back for a while. The journalists or even the old cricketers will be forced to swallow back the humble pie temporarily, but that does hardly justify the shabby presentation of Dhoni and team India in the test version. The media had been roaring against the nexus between the Board President and Indian Captain. Dhoni has also failed to show his impartiality during the selection of squad for each match. Rather, certain players outside the squad have ascertained their claims of berths in the national squad of all three versions of Indian cricket. The glitters of the victory in ODI may offer Mahendra Singh Dhoni a bit of breathing space, but it may hardly cast any impact on the long term benefit of the Indian...