India seal win in dramatic turnaround

Bangladesh were on top with 2o minutes of play left on day 3. Starting their second innings with a massive deficit of 311 runs, they batted like champions to get to 219/1 riding on Tamim Iqbal's 151 and Junaid Siddique's 55, a record partnership of 200, the first double century stand for the hosts. But, Zaheer Khan got both of them out in his last two overs, to bring reign in the Bangladeshis going into day 4. Tamim's wicket was more crucial given the ease with which he was carting boundaries.

Starting the day 4 in bright fashion, Mohammad Ashraful and night watchman Shahadat Hossain frustrated the Indians by denying them a wicket with their half century stand. After the first wicketless overs, it was all one-way as Bangladesh collapsed in spectacular fashion to go from 290/3 to 312 all out. Amit Mishra caught Hossain off Harbhajan Singh to break the stand after having dropped him a few overs before. Pragyan Ojha then got a faint edge off Ashraful to Dhoni and the wicket pushed back the hosts. It also made the Indians not to opt the new ball which was due. It proved to be a wise decision as wickets tumbled. Skipper Shakib-Al-Hasan played a straight into the hands of Gambhir. One was left wondering what was he upto, trying to attack the bowlers senselessly. From then on, it was Zaheer all the way.

He got 3 wickets in four ball to snuff out the contest with some reverse swing, bowling round the wicket, cleverly using the width of the crease. He left Raqibul Hasan stunned as the batsmen found his off stump knocke over after he shouldered arms to a ball that came in sharply. First innings hero Mahmuduallah was deceived by an away going delivery with Murali Vijay taking a stunnin one-handed catch at slips with his left-hand. Zaheer was on a hat-trick after he got past the defenses of No. 10 to knock of the off stump again. Wicketkeeper Rahim remained unbeaten and despite watching the horror show at the other end managed to get two boundaries to avoid an embarassing innings defeat. Zaheer then got his 10th wicket of the match to again knock off the off stump, and duly picked up the Man-of-the-Match and Series awards. India won by 10 wickets as the required two runs came in the form of byes in bit of an anti-climax. The hosts were whitewashed 2-0 in the Test series and the World No. 1 India will now look to defend their crown against SA next month. They will be hoping for their injured players to get back to playing soon.

Seamers put India on top

It was another day of batting collapses for Bangladesh as the Indian seamers wreaked havoc early in the day. Lower order batsmen hung on for so long to avoid some embarassment for the hosts, with Mahmudullah's unbeaten 96 being the face saver. In reply, the Indian opening combo was as impeccable as ever denying any opening for the bowlers, racing away to 69 off just 13 overs.

Bangladesh were guilty of some overconfidence in the first Test after dismissing India cheaply in the first innings. Their batters refused to do the hard-work and paid the price for that. Their captain was quite unrealistic too when he talked off winning the game after day 4. The heavy defeat didn't make his change his mind as he talked about putting up a total in excess of 350 after winning the toss. His counterpart, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, back after recovering from his back injury, read the pitch better as he was not sad on lossing the toss. He was vindicated as the India seamers were spot on from the word go.

The very first over of the innings said everything about what was in store for the hosts. Zaheer Khan came agonisingly close to picking up the wicket of Tamim Iqbal, getting the ball to move both ways. It was Ishant Sharma from the other end who was more lucky than Zaheer as he got the wicket of Imrul Kayes off the very first ball. It was a poor call from the umpire Billy Bowden, who gave the batsman caught behind, but the ball clearly went off the thigh pad. Bowden is definitely not an umpire who deserves a place in the elite panel, as he's just a showman, giving many poor decisions. Indians weren't complaining though, and the hosts were reeling as two more wickets fell in a hurry to reduce the hosts to 13/3. Zaheer got his man Tamim, bowled off his pads and Ishant got Junaid too in similar fashion to Kayes. Under-fire Mohammad Ashraful looked to prove a point as he carted a few boundaries and kept the scoreboard ticking. Just when the hosts looked to get things in order, Ishant struck again to remove Raqibul Hasan caught at slips.

The stage was set for Ashraful to score a big knock and rescue his team and himself. But, he shockingly got out stumped, charging down to hit Pragyan Ojha over the top after just having hit a boundary. The wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals before Mahmudullah got into damage control with the tail giving him good company. He nearly got a deserved century, but was stranded at the other end as the last wicket fell, leaving him unbeaten at 96.

The Indian openers then kept their wickets intact and notched up another half century stand. In just 13 overs bowled, Sehwag and Gambhir took the score to 69. India will now look to 'bat once and bat big' with plenty of time in their hand and with the pitch easing out.

Pakistan blown away by Oz quickies

After all the hungama over the IPL snub and all the talk of the Pakistan players who were not picked for IPL 3 being World Class commodities, T20 World Champs at that, there was nothing to show on the field today as Australia crushed the hapless Pakistan by 140 runs. With a 2-0 lead, Australia will now look to wrap up the series in Adelaide, day after.

After winning the toss, Pakistan skipper Mohammad Yousuf chose to bowl. The bowlers weren't in any mood to back up their captain as they bowled too full to start off and then too short trying to over-correct. Shane Watson, in the form of his life, wasn't complaining as he unleashed a barrage of boundaries right from the very first ball of the match, notching up a brilliant half-century. Shaun Marsh was a mere spectator for the first 10 overs as Australia marched on at run-a-ball.

It wasn't before the spinners were introduced in the bowling powerplay that Pakistan was able to bring the batsmen under control. The pressure paid off as Shahid Afridi accounted for both the openers in the space of three overs. The run-rate plummeted from there on and by the 35th over, it was less than 5 an over. Both Ricky Ponting and his deputy Michael Clarke were picked up by Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul respectively, in their second spell.

Michael Hussey and Cameron White did the repair job at a fair clip before Hussey fell to Aamer in search of runs as Australia took the batting powerplay in the last five overs. Wicketkeeper batsman Brad Haddin joined White as they went in search of some desperate boundaries to take the Aussies to a competitive score. They took their time, but eventually racked up 34 runs off the last three overs to take the total past 260. Brad Haddin swished and slashed and was lucky to get a few boundaries. But White was the man who stood up for the second time in a row as he followed up his magnificent counter-attacking hundred in the last game with a well made fifty. By the time he got out in the last over, Australia had reached a fighting total.

The aussie quicks were more than up for the task as they didn't allow the Pakistan openers breathing space. They were fast and accurate, notching up speeds well above 140ks and Peter Siddle even touched 150k. The batsmen couldn't handle it for too long and Doug Bollinger picked up two wickets in the fifth over and Pakistan were tottering at 7/2. The big left armer was brilliant throughout, as the the ball missed the edges of the bat more than a few times. He really showed how to bowl on this bouncy pitch, a lesson for his counterparts. The first boundary came only in the 42nd ball of the innings and the run rate was climbing over the Pakistan batters. But, still it wasn't time to press the panic button, but as you know with the Pakistan side, they are quite unpredictable. Kamran Akmal threw it away as he hared down for a single from the non-strikers end before being sent back rightly by his skipper, and Clint McKay pounced on the ball from his follow through to go to the right side and then threw the stumps down. Kamran's younger brother Umar came to repair the damage, but found his off stump pinned down by a straight one by Siddle. He somehow managed to miss the fast ball, playing inside the line.

Shoaib Malik came and did no good to his team wasting 24 balls for his two runs! He was sent off after a blinder of a catch by the Aussie skipper and the forever fit Ponting. Shahid Afridi was in way too early by the manner in which he plays. Even Pakistan fans back home would have known it was game over by now at 42/5 as Afridi would never last for 30 odd overs. He hit a six off the spinner Nathan Hauritz in classic Afridi style going downtown, but soon perished next over looking to repeat the same shot off pacer Watson, only to be caught by the bowler as the ball came with a bit of snow on it from the skies, again classic Afridi dismissal. Skipper Yousuf watched in horror as his teammates let him down spectacularly. He hobbled along to take the score past 100, before Pakistan were eventually bowled out for 127.

Having been whitewashed 3-0 in the Test Series, Pakistan would have been gunning for revenge in the ODIs. They looked on course for a victory in the first game, where they played well, before the "White" lightning struck them. Today's performance has shattered any chances of an upset series win in the ODIs. All they could look to is to avoid the series in the third game itself. With just a day's gap, things are happening a bit too quickly for the hapless Pakistanis.

India look for series whitewash

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is back for the second Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka, starting on Sunday, and he has taken back the reins from Virender Sehwag. As expected of him, he was sensible rather than too frank as Sehwag was before the first match. The words of Sehwag certainly fired up the Bangladeshis who performed better than expected. The same could continue in the next match too as the hosts would be itching to prove a point.

India missed two of their regulars in the skipper and Harbhajan Singh in the first game and it will be the case with the next match too as VVS Laxman and Sreesanth have been ruled out due to injury. Although Sreesanth won't be missed owing to his horror show last time out, but absence of Laxman leaves a hole in the middle order, especially with Yuvraj's Test nightmares coming back to haunt him again. Its not clear whether India would go for the opener Murali Vijay, who is the only reserve batsman in the squad or the wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik, who didn't bat well as was expected of him in the first match.

India will be expected to go for two pacers and two spinners, the same combination which ran through the aussies back home in '08. Ishant Sharma has found some of his confidence and his bowling skills back with an impressive showing in Chittagong, where he proved too good for the hosts. Zaheer Khan was as impeccable as ever and is back to his best after his return from injury layoff. Amit Mishra didn't trouble the batters too much, though he did the thankless job of cleaning up the tail, an area where the pacers were found wanting. The inability of the Indian pacers to produce good yorkers even against tail-enders has been quite a headache for the team management, and with a new bowling consultant in South African Eric Simons in place, things will be expected to improve. The batting is solid, despite a blip in the first innings in Chittagong with openers in scintillating form.

The opening combo of Delhiites Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir is already considered among the best ever opening combinations in the world. The leftie Gambhir, the reigning ICC Test Player of the Year and No. 1 in ICC Test Rankings for batsmen for quite some time, is enjoying an unparalleled purple patch stroking five hundreds in as many consecutive matches. His eight of the nine Test Centuries have come in the last 10 Tests, and he would look to extend the run to match the Great Don Bradman's record of six consecutive hundreds. He has managed to hog the headlines despite being in the company of some of the game's greatest. India would hope for more of the same as the team gears up for a perfect to defend its ICC World No. 1 ranking against SA next

The most optimistic follower

Yes, I am one of the millions of Indians who are eternal optimists when it comes to cricket matches involving Team India. As they say, the game ain't over till the last ball is bowled, so I keep praying and hoping that a miracle will happen and the Men in Blue would win even those matches that might have been lost long time back. Just though about all this stuff inspired by a wonderful article in Cricinfo.

Some cynical supporters in the stadium would be walking out, when all hopes fade, trying to beat the traffic snarls. I am hardly one of those. I just say to myself, "miracles do happen". It did happen once, and it is those kind of days that I look out for always since. It was the semi-final of the Champions Tropy, 2002 in Sri Lanka. South Africa were cruising to their target of 262 against India, with Herschelle Gibbs scoring a century and Jacques Kallis giving him great company. I was frustrated, cursing the Indian bowlers for their toothless display as SA closed in on 200 with just one wicket down. I had stopped watching and got a book to read, but didn't leave the room.

Just then it happened. Gibbs looked more tired than a marathon sprinter, playing under the humid conditions of Colombo, alien to the Proteas. He went in retired hurt and there opened a small window of opportunity for India. SA still had many batters including Lance Klusener to come, but Indians finally got their act together. I don't remember about Harbhajan Singh's performance that day, but the scorecard says he was the one who started the downfall, taking out Jonty Rhodes and Boeta Dippenaar in the same over. Then as I clearly remember, it was Virender Sehwag all the way. He had got a half century in the 1st innings, and now he showed his all-round skills with some wonderful bowling. He picked up Mark Boucher first and I was on cloud nine by then and had already thrown the book away.

But Klusener and Kallis stood in the way of India and a place in the final. Sehwag bowled at one end for the last ten overs, including the last one. Some tight bowling by him and others had turned the game in India's favour, with SA needing 21 runs off the last over. It looked all over for SA, but to my horror, the first ball of the last over was dispatched for a six by Kallis. Suddenly, panic set in inside me, don't know if it was the case with the Indians as well. But, Sehwag looked cool as ever, as he got the wicket of Kallis caught behind by Rahul Dravid (Wicketkeeer then). The equation came down to 11 off last two balls. Klusener was on strike and called up all the gods in desperation. It worked and there were no more runs scored and Klusener got out last ball as well. So, India had staged the greatest of comebacks. One could also say that SA "grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory". The perennial under achievers had lost another semi-final. And HOW?!!

India start off New Year with a Win

Yes, they have done it. India beat Bangladesh in the 1st Test in Chittagong by 113 runs, despite fog and bad light affecting play on all days and hence shortening the duration of the match. India virtually won the game in 3 1/2 days, which is really good, despite the opposition being minnows, because it came on a pitch that did not offer any help by the time the Indians came in to bowl. The ICC World No. 1 Test Team hence got off to good start to the new year, without their influential captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and highest wicket taker Harbhajan Singh. Credit must go to the bowlers who chipped in quite well and also to the stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag who marshaled his resources quite well. Also to Man-of-the-Match Sachin Tendulkar, whose vital unbeaten century in the 1st innings gave India a fighting total, after they were in deep trouble.

The day started off with Bangladesh with too big job in their hands, having to save the Test with just 8 wickets in hand. Ishant Sharma, who seems to be getting back to his best after a long period of poor form, got the breakthrough early getting Mohammad Ashraful caught at slips. The World Record holder for most number of catches in Test Cricket, Rahul Dravid, didn't make any mistake there. Ishant continued to trouble the batsmen with his impressive line and length and control. He got the ball to move both ways and also to lift off the pitch, hitting Raqibul Hasan on the elbow. He soon got the batsman out plumb in front with an incoming delivery. On the other hand, comeback man Sreesanth rounded of his horrible match with another disappointing day. Despite Ishant troubling the batsmen at the other end, Sreesanth hardly provided the batsmen any challenge, let alone taking wickets. He bowled too short throughout the day and paid for it by getting a spanking from just about all the batsmen. Finally he left off limping after pulling a muscle. He might as well be dropped for the next game.

Meanwhile, Amit Mishra too didn't look too threatening, not helped by a pitch that only provided slow turn. The batsmen seemed to have all the time in the world to pick his deliveries. It was the skipper Sehwag himself who provided the breakthrough by getting Tamim Iqbal to slash hard at a wide delivery that turned away. Tamim, known for his hard hitting, controlled his aggression for a long period, but finally ran out of patience. Bangladesh Skipper Shakib-Al-Hasan once again let his team down by getting out cheaply. He didn't back up his words with his action. He had announced after day 4 that his team would look to bat out the day and go for win. Certainly the Indians had other ideas. Shakib was caught at silly point, once again by his counterpart, off a rising googly. Then, 1st innings top-scorer, Mahmudullah got carried away after having a row with Zaheer Khan. He fell for the trap laid by the experienced Zaheer, who got under the skin of the batsman. Mahmuduallah was in no mood of looking to save his team as he slashed at everything. Zaheer worked him up with lots of short stuff, with some going for streaky boundaries, but finally got his man caught behind of a full delivery. He enjoyed it and lent out a war cry.

With defeat in sight, Bangladesh lower order started swinging at everything. With India setting up attacking fields in search of wickets, runs flowed with plenty of boundaries. Indians waited for their chance patiently as Amit Mishra finally wrapped up the final three wickets, but not before Bangladesh Wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim getting a fine century. He batted much better than others, but the century certainly didn't have the value of one as it came under zero pressure with Bangladesh on the verge of defeat. There was bad news for India after the win as VVS Laxman will miss the next Test due to finger injury. But with Dhoni and Harbhajan, who were already practising after getting over their niggles, set to come back, India should have no problems. The 2nd and final Test starts off on Sunday, the 24th after just two days of gap. Virender Sehwag though had the last laugh with not only the side posting an easy win, but also he got his words right, as Bangladesh's "ordinary" bowling unit failed to get 20 Indian wickets, just as he had predicted. Thanks to him, the otherwise dull series got something going.

India press towards victory

So, finally there's hope of getting a result in the weather battered 1st Test between India and Bangladesh. Bangladesh facing a daunting target of 414 runs to win, set up by Gautam Gambhir's 9th Test Hundred, were 67/2 at stumps, and would be hoping for some weather interruptions to eke out a draw. The Indians would feel they could force the issue on the day 5 track.

Starting the day on 122/1, Gautam Gambhir and night watchman Amit Mishra started off positively, scoring freely at fair pace. The leggie Mishra notched up his maiden Test Half Century after playing sensibly. He soon perished trying to up the ante, but Gambhir marched along all the way to the three figure mark. This was the 5th 100 in as many consecutive matches for Gambhir, a record for an Indian. This was also his 8th hundred in last 10 matches. He was positive and played with controlled aggression right from the start. He once again showed why he was chosen as the ICC Test Player of the Year for '08-'09. He would be looking to notch up another 100 in the next Test to equal the Great Donald Bradman's record of 6 consecutive centuries. He certainly is scoring runs at will.

The other batsmen were not even as good as Mishra let alone Gambhir, as wickets fell in regulart intervals. In fact, ther was not a single century partnership in the innings and no 50 run stands either after the 1st two wickets. Dravid paid the praise for some Sehwag-like complacency of not grounding the bat, as Shakib-Al-Hasan threw a direct hit. Tendulkar couldn't keep away an incoming delivery from thudding his pads plumb, and Yuvraj brought back memories of his travails in Test Cricket until last year again. He was constantly trouble by the short stuff and finally ended up with a soft dismissal hitting a full delivery straight to short cover. Dinesh Karthick too perished in search of quick runs after a few reverse sweeps and pulls. VVS Laxman was the only middle order batsman to play an innings of substance, remaining unbeaten on 69. He struggled with his running between the wickets more than usual, and also to up the ante towards the end as well. He mostly relied on singles and few twos, and rare stylish boundaries. India though played for bit too many overs than required, even after getting to 384/7 at tea, with Zaheer Khan going berserk with three boundaries in the last over prior to the interval. One thought the Indians were probably targeting 400, but that too didn't bring the signal from the Skipper Virender Sehwag, who kept everyone waiting for few more overs, until the score read 413/8. He certainly had no plans to continue if the penultimate wicket had fallen as last man Sreesanth was seen warming up to bowl. This was to avoid some embarrassment to himself by not letting Bangladesh get 20 Indian wickets in the match, something the Delhi dasher had scoffed at prior to the match.

The Bangladeshis were clearly out of the game once India piled on their agony going past 300. Despite the track being good for batting, their batters would struggle to even force a draw against some quality Indian bowling. They certainly don't have a solid player in their side who could bat out a day. Their task got even more tougher with two wickets falling in the 18 overs bowled late in the day. Opener Imrul Kayes and No. 3 Shahriar Nafees fell caught behind and caught at gully to Zaheer and Ishant Sharma respectively. Zaheer troubled the batsmen throughout his 8-over spell and should have got Nafees' wicket as well, but Laxman dropped an easy chance at 2nd slip. One was wondering why was he standing at that position with injured fingers, when Dravid was available. Ishant made up for that by setting up Nafees beautifully with an incoming delivery that barely missed the stumps and then getting his man with the one that moved away. Sehwag pulled off a smart catch at gully barely inches from the ground. Sreesanth was disappointing and never looked like getting a wicket. All the bowlers though will have to bowl really well to force a win for the World No. 1 in the limited overs they would get to bowl. Another bright sunny day would help for some great action on the final day.

India consolidate after eking out 1 run lead

Team India, the World No. 1 team in tests just about managed to save their face when they prevented Bangladesh from overhauling their first innings score of 243. Bangladesh conceded a lead of 1 run after they looked set to go well beyond the Indian score recovering from 98/6. The pair of Wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim and all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad stitched together a 108 run partnership for the 7th wicket, which after taking Bangladesh out of danger, threatened to embarass the Indians. Mahmudullah top-scored with 69 on a sunny day which most number of overs (71) were bowled in the match, still well short of full-quota.

It was same story at the start of the day with play delayed by fog. But it became better later in the day, with bright sunshine for the first time in this match. Both teams started off from where they left yesterday, with the Indian pacers reducing Bangladesh from 59/3 to 98/6. Ishant Sharma got the wicket of Mohammad Ashraful after he was dropped at nought by VVS Laxman off Zaheer Khan. Zaheer soon got free-scoring Bangladesh Captain Shakib-Al-Hasan caught brilliantly at wide gully by his counterpart Virender Sehwag. Sreesanth picked up his first wicket of the match getting Raqibul Hasan caught by Wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthick. Just when India threatened to run through the Bangladeshi lineup and get a sizeable lead, the vital partnership blossomed, thanks in part to some sloppy bowling and the usual complacency. The breakthrough came courtesy a poor shot by Rahim, trying to slog leggie Amit Mishra against the turn. Mahmuduallah then got some important runs along with the tail that wagged a bit, but in the end the Bangladeshis came short by a solitary run.

It was then the turn of the Indians to come out and face "ordinary" Bangladeshi bowling again. Sehwag played as usual at the start, but was more restrained once he got settled. Gambhir too followed suit after he was the aggressor at the start, and the pair got another 50-run partnership. The score moved along nicely in ODI mode at 5 RPO, despite which Sehwag lost patience to throw his wicket away once again to his counterpart. India then surprisingly sent in Amit Mishra as night-watchman, who was all but that. He managed 5 boundaries in his 24, including lofted shots coming down the wicket. The day ended with India at 122/1 with a lead of 123 runs. Weather permitting, this test match could still produce a result, with India firmly on the driver's seat.

IPL auction 3:- Bidding wars cross all limits

Yes, the IPL franchise owners were at it again, doing what they could do the worst. The setting was the auction before the IPL 3. Even with limited slots available for the teams to fill up and a limited amount to spend too, the Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders still managed to dump in huge chunks of money on a player each.

The players in the spotlight were Kieron Pollard, who broke all IPL records after he was snapped for over 12 crores ($2.75 millions) by Mumbai Indians and Shane Bond, bought by Knight Riders for around 6 crores ($1.3 millions). Although the two players would only get the $750,000, the purse-limit for the teams, the rest of the amount went to IPL after a contentious "silent tie-breaker". There were four teams deadlocked for Pollard and two for Bond, and the two teams that shelved out mind-boggling sums on the table got their men. In all 11 players were sold of in the auction out of a list of 66 players. None of the players from reigning T20 World Champions Pakistan were picked up by the franchises, in the wake of uncertainty over their visas.

The owners played smart overall by opting only for players who would be available for the entire duration of the tournament. This meant that Aussies like Brad Haddin, Doug Bollinger and England's Graeme Swann missed out despite being very good options. The teams largely went for players who stole the limelight in recent times in the international stage rather than for more experienced and consistent performers. This meant that someone like Eoin Morgan got picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore for his heroics against South Africa, whereas his compatriot Jonathan Trott missed out despite having an incredible T20 batting average of 40.

The Deccan Chargers were certainly charged up when they bid for West Indian Kemar Roach all the way to $720,000, despite his inexperience. Bangladesh Skipper Shakib-Al-Hasan failed to interest any of the team owners once again despite his fantastic all-round abilities, even as newcomer Thissara Perera of Sri Lanka made it to Chennai Super Kings by virtue of his blinders against India in recent ODIs.

Delhi Daredevils got what they wanted, a fast bowler (after they bought out ageing Glenn McGrath), in the form of Wayne Parnell of South Africa. His brilliant showing in the T20 World Cup and consistent showings in ODIs won him a spot for $610,000 after a fierce bidding war between the Daredevils and the Chargers.

Kings XI Punjab went without success after Pollard and Roach, and thus had to settle for Yusuf Abdulla and Mohammad Kaif, and Adrian Barath bought outside the auction.

Chennai Super Kings did not get anyone they wanted as lost bidding wars one after another. They lost out the "silent tie-breaker" for Pollard to Mumbai, and could not keep up with fierce biddings from Kolkata, Deccan and Bangalore for Bond, Roach and Morgan respectively. In the end they had to settle for their second choices, Perera and Justin Kemp from South Africa, bothe of whom came unopposed for their base prices.

Rajasthan Royals on the other hand kept themselves aways from all the bidding hungama and got their men they wanted as usual for their base prices., in the form of Australians Damien Martyn and Adam Voges. They also got Englishman Michael Lumb outside the auction.

Bangalore got Eoin Morgan cheaply at $220,000 considering the money lavished on others. The Royal Challengers had to settle for Morgan after they could not get Pollard. But, that could well turn out to be for the good.

This 3rd IPL auction, short but yet exciting, is only a curtain raiser to the "BIG ONE" come next year. There would be 2 more teams in IPL 4 and hence all the players would go under the hammer just like befor IPL 1. For now, with the sides ready with their ammunitions, its now just a wait for the battles to resume come March.

India roar back

After all the talk about ordinary bowling attacks, it was the batting of the two teams that has come a cropper in the 1st Test between India and Bangladesh. On day 2, Indians managed to add 30 runs to the overnight score to finish at 243, with the "little" master standing tall among the wreckage, unbeaten on 105. It was then the turn of the hosts batsmen to falter, with 3 wickets falling in quick time after a steady start. But for bad light halting play, with no more play possible beyond the 17 overs in the Bangladeshi innings. Just 24.2 overs were bowled throughout the day and in all, one full day's was already lost in the match. With more fog and even rain forecast for the coming days, a result in this match on a sporting wicket looks highly unlikely at this stage.

There was something to cheer for the Indian fans even in this highly truncated day, with Sachin Tendulkar scoring yet another hundred. This was his 44th Test Century, among the more crucial ones for the team. He took calculated risks to score some valuable runs for the team. The Bangladeshi Skipper made it tough to score runs with spread out fields of up to 7 outfielders for first four balls of an over and then bringing them all in to contain singles. Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth hung around for just enough time for the master blaster to reach his 100. The knock was the face saver for India, but the tale would have been completely different had Sachin not been dropped when on 16.

With the Bangladeshi batsmen looking to go after the bowling, the score moved along quickly past 50. It was not until Sreesanth was replaced by Ishant that Indians could keep the run scoring in check. They certainly couldn't afford to over attack and give away easy runs as they had very little runs to play with. Zaheer Khan finally broke through after a long spell, in which he came agonizingly close to getting wickets a few times, getting Kayes lbw after being turned down an appeal two balls ago. Ishant then got Nafees caught at slip of a beautiful rising leg-cutter that the batsman couldn't negotiate despite standing way outside the crease to counter the swing. Zaheer Khan finally got the big fish Tamim Iqbal clean bowled in the next over to make it 3 wickets in 3 overs . Another in-swinger did the trick with the low bounce making the ball creep through the defenses of the batsman to make a mess of the stumps. 53/0 became 58/3 and Indian was all over Bangladesh. The batsmen understandably accpeted the light and went in, to do some hard thinking. The Indians on the other hand would have breathed a sigh of relief after their bowling effort and would feel they could run through the opposition weather permitting.

Ordinary: Bangladesh or India?

Well well, what a mess the Indians find themselves in, in the first test in Chittagong. Having lost the toss and asked to bat, they ended the day without being dismissed thanks to bad light stopping play late in the day. Only 63 overs were bowled in the day, but India found itself in deep waters at 213/8 with Sachin Tendulkar being the only batsman standing. A performance quite unworthy of the World No. 1 side against World No. 9. They couldn't even blame the pitch as it certainly didn't have any demons. Just that it was unlike the batting beauties served up in India.

All this after stand-in Skipper Virender Sehwag made statements in the pre-match press conference that left everyone stunned. No other captain would call his opponents an ordinary side, even if that may be the truth, but Sehwag did that. Bangladesh coach hoped that Sehwag's words would come back to bite him in few days time, but that has now happened the very next day. One only thinks why on earth did Dhoni get injured. India really could have done without this embarassment.

Coming back to the match, Sehwag certainly looked an overconfident man with a complete contempt of his opponents just like his words. He was swishing at everything, more reckless than his usual self. Gambhir was his usual self at the other end and India held all their wickets intact going into lunch with score at 63.

But as Ravi Shastri said later, it seems in the lunch that Indians had "दाल में कुछ ज़्यादा ही काला था"! Thats how Indians played post lunch, losing 6 wickets for 87 runs! Sehwag got out to a loose shot off his counterpart Shakib-al-Hasan soon after reaching yet another half century, upping the ante since resumption. Gambhir soon followed just two balls later, cutting hard at a wide rising delivery to edge to the keeper, similar to the balls he was leaving early on. Dravid "the Wall" didn't last long either with Shahadat Hossain making mess of the stumps with a full swinging delivery. Classic test match batting of old days was relived after that with Sachin and VVS Laxman happy to block it out, not wanting to lose another wicket. The RPO dropped from 5 to under 4, but just when the pair looked to have got things under control, VVS was stumped after a poor shot, overbalancing himself out of the crease, with the keeper doing a super quick job. Yuvraj has this habit of being tentative at the start, but today was a different day. He got his eye in without much of a trouble, only to get caught in a deepish mid-on off a full-toss! Karthik was in and out, swishing away at a wide delivery off his 4th ball, caught at gully. Amit Mishra fought hard briefly but couldn't keep down a superb yorker and Zaheer too didn't last long after getting a reprieve.

All this while the "little Master" was playing his usual self. Apart from a two loose shots which weren't held by Bangladesh, Sachin looked solid. He played himself in slowly, then displaying a few shots from his armoury. The cover drive, paddle sweep and even a lofted six were on show as Sachin went on to remain unbeaten on 76 at stumps. He was certainly left out of partners, which certainly give him the freedom to launch himself fully after settling in.

Going into day 2, India would look upto Sachin, who went past 13000 runs today, to pile up his 44th century and take India take as far as possible. Although Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth are not the most reliable tail enders, Indians would be hoping against hope to get close to 300 to save their face. The bowlers will have their task cut out with the pitch expected to ease up on day 2. Without Harbhajan Singh, India might struggle to get Bangladesh out as cheaply as they did to India today. Intriguing day 2 lies ahead.