MS Dhoni recently joined the world in referring to Ravindra Jadeja with the title of “Sir”. A few tweets were made from Dhoni’s verified Twitter account, which were aimed at making fun of “Sir” Ravindra Jadeja. Even CSK teammate Suresh Raina got in on the act.

Here’s the tweet compilation:

Wen sir jadeja drives his jeep, his jeep remains still and road moves and wen he goes in to bat the pavillion moves to the wkt

— Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni) April 9, 2013

Sir jadeja doesn’t run to take the catch but the ball finds him and lands on his hand — Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni) April 9, 2013

Whenever sir jadeja makes an error its an invention and on a daily basis v get plenty of those,all patent pending — Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni) April 9, 2013

Leaving for practice at 3pm but the stadium is coming so tht sir jadeja can practice — Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni) April 9, 2013

God realised RAJNI sir is getting old so he created sir ravindra jadeja

— Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni) April 9, 2013

To these humorous tweets, Jadeja replied saying that he doesn’t wish to become next the Rajinikanth.

I dnt wanna b nxt rajnikant @imraina @msdhoni pls maaf kardo ahahaahah

— ravindrasinh jadeja (@imjadeja) April 9, 2013

Jesse Ryder, who has played in 18 Tests and 39 ODIs for New Zealand, has always come across as the bad boy of New Zealand cricket. His sporting career is filled with talent and trouble in equal proportion. Ryder arrived at the international scene during his country’s home series against England in 2008. Ever since then, he has been behind a problem or two. May be he isn’t as romantic with the Lady Luck as one wanted to be.

The then National selector Richard Hadlee saw him as potential that could give his team an explosive start alongside Brendon McCullum and gave Ryder his first national call up. But former New Zealand wicket-keeper Adam Parore lashed out at Hadlee’s selection by saying that Ryder was too fat to play international cricket.

He added that Ryder’s alcohol problem should be put to an end before he picks up his national duty.

Though he was heavily criticized for his physique, Ryder got better of them by scoring a match winning 79 in only his second one day international in his maiden series. As New Zealand beat England 3-1 (5) in that series, people saw Ryder and McCullum as a formidable opening pair. But Ryder failed to live up to the expectations. While celebrating the series victory, Ryder cut his hand when he tried to gain entry to a toilet in a Christchurch bar, an injury that required surgery. Ryder had been reported to have behaved rudely to staff at Christchurch Hospital when he was being treated for the hand injury. It was also revealed that Ryder had been drinking up until 1.30 AM before the 5th ODI.

In early 2009, when West Indies toured New Zealand, Ryder’s boozing problem saw him axed from national duty. As Ryder indulged in a late night drinking session, he missed the team meeting next morning and wasn’t able to train in the afternoon. As a result of that, he was dropped from the squad for the fourth ODI and Mathew Sinclair was called as a replacement.

Despite this incident, Ryder was picked for the country’s home series against India later that year. New Zealand Cricket CEO Justin Vaughan justified his selection by saying that Ryder had agreed to stop his drinking habits and go cold turkey. Ryder justified his selection by scoring heavily in that series. He was New Zealand’s best batsman in the five ODIs, scoring 225 runs at an average of 56.25 with a century and 63 (to go with his 3-29 in bowling) in the last ODI, which fetched him a “Man of the Match” for his all-rounder performance. In the Test series that followed, Ryder went on to make his maiden double ton (201) at Napier and was involved in a huge partnership of 271 with Ross Taylor – a record 4th wicket partnership for New Zealand in Test cricket. He followed up with another century to become the first cricketer since Nathan Astle to score two consecutive Test centuries.

He didn’t play many games in 2009-10 season until he was called up for the squad that toured India. In the Test series, during the Indian first innings, Ryder took the key wicket of Indian opener Gautam Gambhir. Ryder’s return went well as he scored his third Test century and his first outside New Zealand. This came amidst the fact that New Zealand was chasing a mammoth Indian first innings total of 429. He was engaged in a 194 run partnership with debutant Kane Williamson, who finished the day on 87*. Ryder was given out lbw on the third ball of the final over of the third day; he scored 103.

During the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, Jesse Ryder – after being dismissed for 74 against Sri Lanka – whacked a chair with his bat and was fined 15 per cent of his match fee for “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings”. Speaking about his innings, Daniel Vettori said, “I just think he let out some frustration and it worked for us.“

In March 2012, Ryder announced that he would take an indefinite break from international cricket in lieu of injury concerns and a prolonged history of disciplinary issues. Seeing his good form in domestic circuit, the selector asked him if he was available for selection in December and he rejected and said he still needed more time. He said, ” I am still trying to be happy again and find a love for the game again and stay on that sort of path.”

With this Christchurch Bar incident last Wednesday, his career is turning to be more and more troublesome than he wanted to.

New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder is understood to be in a coma in Christchurch Hospital with a fractured skull and other serious internal injuries. Reports suggest that Ryder had his shirt ripped off his back and was on the ground as four men kicked and punched him outside Aikmans Bar in Merivale. He is currently admitted in an Intensive care unit.

He was all set to leave the country and reach India to play for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. Last year, he and team-mate Doug Bracewell were reprimanded by Black Caps team management for “unacceptable behaviour” after the pair “verbally reacted to taunts from a member of the public” outside a Napier bar. Ryder has been dropped from the Black Caps side multiple times, and in 2010 revealed his own troubled history with alcohol.

As his condition hit the media, several players and officials from cricketing world lend their word of support for him through twitter.

My heart goes out to Jesse Ryder who’s suffered some serious injuries last night. His condition,I’m told,is critical. Hope he gets well soon— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) March 28, 2013

Will Have Jesse in my prayer- thanks for info. RT @vinoduk6: @henrygayle hey man… Pray for Jesse Ryder. Lets hope he gets better soon — Chris Gayle (@henrygayle) March 28, 2013

Shocked to hear about what’s happened to Jesse Ryder..please pray for his well being — Kartik Murali (@kartikmurali) March 28, 2013

Shocking news about Jesse Ryder, fingers crossed for a full and speedy recovery for the big man — Graeme Swann (@Swannyg66) March 27, 2013

Thoughts are with @dijaryder & his family hope your ok big fella. — Damien Wright (@wrightmove6) March 27, 2013

Morning Jesse (@dijaryder). Be strong bro. The world’s cricketing family is with you. — Richie Benaud (@RichieBenaud_) March 27, 2013

The whole NZC team’s thoughts are with @dijaryder this morning.— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 27, 2013

Thinking of you mate @dijaryder— Ross Taylor (@RossLTaylor) March 27, 2013

Devastating news regarding Jesse Ryder… Just hope he can pull through… Thoughts are with him and his family…— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 27, 2013

Let us pray and wish that Jesse Ryder recovers soon.

The people of Tamil Nadu, especially the students, have been protesting for social good of Tamil Eelam living in Sri Lanka. As a result of the rage between the two places, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Ms. J. Jayalalitha had written a letter for Prime Minister insisting the denial of Sri Lankan players’ participation in the matches that are scheduled to be held at Chennai. The IPL Governing council had taken this into consideration and have arrived at a decision that Sri Lankan Players will not be playing at matches in Chennai. “The Governing Council decided that Sri Lankan players will not participate in the Pepsi IPL 2013 League matches in Chennai and will advise the nine franchises accordingly“ said Rajiv Shukla, IPL Chairman.

Franchises are disappointed at this decision as out of 13 Sri Lankan players, 2 are captains of their respective sides. They insisted BCCI to drop Chennai as an IPL venue. Meanwhile, considering this as an opportunity, Kerala Cricket Association have come forward and offered to host CSK’s home matches at Kochi. But BCCI didn’t consider this offer.

CSK is a strong team to beat at their home turf. They have literally built a fort in their home ground. In the 4th season, CSK became champions by winning all their home matches. This shows their dominance on home turf. Considering this as context and if the opponent teams miss top players like Malinga in MI, Sangakkara in Hyderabad, Jayawardene in Delhi, they would look so brittle against the mighty Chennai team at Chepauk. So, Chennai doesn’t want to move their home matches away from Chepauk.

When CNN-IBN asked about this to Muralitharan who plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore, he said, “ If IPL asks us not to play, we will not play. Can’t comment as no one from IPL has contacted me yet.“

Meanwhile Siddarth, a well known actor in South India, has shown his support for this move by TN government.

We have neighbours who are under scanners for human rights atrocities. There is nothing wrong in suspending sporting ties temporarily.

— Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) March 26, 2013

It is a much known fact that Pakistan players have been ruled out of IPL since second season due to their country’s involvement in 26/11 incident. If Sri Lanka players too get the axe, BCCI’s sporting ties with the neighbouring countries will be severely affected.

- Suresh Raina scored 83 off 98 balls. This is the longest innings he played in India in terms of balls faced. His previous best  also came against the same opponent when India played them at Faridabad in 2006. Raina had scored 81* runs off 89 balls in that match.

- Raina has now scored 4 half-centuries in as many innings he has played. The record for India is shared between Sachin Tendulkar (1996) and Virat Kohli (2012), who had scored 5 in a row.

- In the process of scoring his 4th half century of the series, Raina has crossed 4000 ODI runs. He is the 13th Indian to do so and 84th international cricketer to achieve this feat.

- Raina scored his 4000 ODI runs at a strike rate of 91.55. This is the 6th best strike rate overall for a player who have scored more than 4000 runs and 2nd best for India. Virender Sehwag has a strike rate of 104.33 with 8273 ODI runs under his belt.

- Suresh Raina’s batting average is 92.33 in this series. This is the best average in a bilateral series. However, his overall best series average is 105 that came in a tri series held at Bangladesh in 2009/10 with Sri Lanka as the third participant.

- Suresh Raina has amassed 277 runs with the bat in this series. These are his best figures in the billateral series. He surpassed his previous best of 242 runs, which he scored in 6-match home series against England in 2005/06.

- Suresh Raina has scored 29 fours in this series. This is his most number of fours scored in a bilateral series. His previous best also came against England in the 2011/12 home series where he scored 22 boundaries.

- Ravinder Jadeja has amassed 128 runs, with an average of 64, courtesy of his 2 not-out-innings. This is his best average in a bilateral series.

- Rohit Sharma was dismissed for 4 runs off Bresnan in today’s match. He has been dismissed for the same score for 4 times in his last 5 ODI innings.

- Yuvraj Singh’s batting average of 25.20 is the 4th worst series average in a 5 match bilateral series.

- In the 5th ODI, it is interesting to note that India had lost their first 6 wickets in the following manner – 1st (21.1 ov), 2nd (12.2 ov), 3rd (3.3 ov), 4th (3.4 ov), 5th (6.5 ov) & 6th (46.6 ov)

- Jane Dernbach has dismissed MS Dhoni 3 times and James Tredwell has dismissed Yuvraj Singh 4 times in this series.

- In the 4th ODI, Jane Dernbach has become the most expensive ODI bowler with an economy rate of 6.28. (Minimum Qual: 1000 balls bowled ). This infamous record was previously held by India’s S. Sreesanth who has the economy rate of 6.08.

- In the 4th ODI, Kevin Pietersen had scored his 50 in 84 balls. This is his slowest ODI fifty in terms of balls faced. His previous slowest was 53 in 82 balls in 2007, which was also against India at The Oval.

- In the 3rd ODI, Virat Kohli became the 12th Indian and 83rd international player to total 4000 ODI runs. He became the second quickest after Sir Vivian Richards to achieve this feat in terms of matches played. ( 96 m, 93 inn)

- With the age of 24 years and 75 days, Kohli became the second youngest cricketer to score 4000 ODI runs. Sachin Tendulkar achieved this feat when he was 22 years and 359 days.

- By winning the 3rd ODI against England, India moved to number 1 spot in the ICC ODI rankings followed by England and South Africa.

- In the 2nd ODI, England lost to India by 127 runs. This is their 8th biggest loss overall in terms of runs they fell short of and 2nd biggest against India.

- Kevin Pietersen scored 1000 ODI runs against India. He is the first English man and 41st international player to do so.

- In the 1st ODI, England beat India by 7 runs. This is their first win to go with the sole tie in this country in the 13 games they have played here.

- In the 1st ODI, MS Dhoni has hit his 150th ODI six. He is the 6th international player to achieve this feat.

- In the 1st ODI, England and India aggregated 641 runs without a single centurion from either side. This is the 4th highest total under this criteria.

- Before the series began, India’s Yuvraj Singh had the most ODI runs and most ODI wickets among all the players from either side.

The Australian middle order batsman has called it a day from international Cricket. The new year Test between Australia and Sri Lanka will be his 79th Test and his final international appearance for Australia.

Fondly called as Mr.Cricket by his fans, Hussey is known for his consistency across all formats. Though he started late, he was more of a  run machine for Australian cricket. He was Australia’s 393rd Test cap when he debuted at the age of 30. In ODIs, he was seen as a successor of Michael Bevan – the best finisher Australian cricket ever had. When he left the void, Hussey stepped in and did no harm.

He came into limelight when he notched up two back to back centuries in his debut series against West Indies. He was cool and was calm like a sea whenever he stepped on to the ground. His stunning average of 51.52 in Tests and 48.15 in ODIs speaks volumes of his credibility.

In the shortest format, he didn’t get a perfect position. He came at 3rd position in the recently concluded t2o world cup while was a finisher in the previous World Cup. In a nerve biting 2010 T20 WC semifinal, Hussey had hammerd 21 runs in the last over against Pakistan’s mystery spinner Ajmal to guide Australia to a World Cup final.

Mr Sutherland announced Hussey’s retirement on Saturday. “An incredibly reliable player and leader within the Australian cricket team, Michael will retire from Test cricket with a record that puts him amongst the very best Australian batsmen of all time.Beyond his contributions to team success, he will be remembered for the way he has carried himself on and off the field – and in doing so he has won the respect and admiration of players, officials and fans all around the world.” Mr Sutherland said

Apart from batting, he puts his 100 percent on the field. He was as active as a youngster. He was one of the reliable fielders in the Australian line up and took 206 international catches. He would always be a man hard to replace.

For all cricket fans, the year 2012 would have been hard as cricketing heroes like Dravid, Laxman, Boucher, Ponting, Sachin (in ODIs) and now Hussey have announced retirement.

Pakistan is currently touring India for 2 T20I and 3 ODI matches. The T20I leg of the tour ended on Friday with the two teams sharing the trophy as the series was squared at 1 all. The ODI matches begin on Sunday at Chennai and have fixtures on 3rd and 6th at Kolkata and Delhi.

India are currently ranked 3rd in ICC ODI rankings that is topped by England, and followed by South Africa.

If India can win the series by a 3-0 margin, they can eye for a top spot in the ICC ODI rankings with 123 points. Winning the series with 2-1 margin will have no effect on ratings as India would remain at 3rd position.

Pakistan are currently at 6th with 104 points behind Australia and Sri Lanka. If Pakistan wins the series by a 3-0 margin, they would still be remaining at 6th position with 110 points.

Yuvraj pulls Tanvir for a six in the second T20I

In the penultimate over, he hit Ajmal for 3 sixes on the trot. With that, he surpassed Australian opener David Warner’s tally of 51 international T20 sixes and moved to 4th in the list. He is the highest-placed Indian, while the second is Suresh Raina with 30 sixes.

Sri Lanka were made to surrender in little more than 2 days to Australia in the Boxing Day test match. They were unfortunate to lose three of their players to injuries – Sangakkara, Welegedara, and P. Jayawardene.

This is only the second time in cricket history that a team has been bowled out after losing 7 or fewer wickets.  The previous instance of this happened between India and West Indies way back in 1976. Gaekwad, Bedi, Vishwanath, Patel and Chandrasekar were all lost to injuries as India were bowled out in second innings, losing only 5 wickets.

Wisden reported that the injuries were due to the unpredictability of bounce, saying:

It was the unpredictability of bounce that contributed to the unsafe manner in which the Indian batsmen took evasive action and, consequently, suffered nasty injuries.

Holding took use of this opportunity by exploiting the uneven bounce, and bowled around the wicket to reduce the room for batsman to make any sort of contact. Though matches can be called off citing the improper behaviour of the pitch, that did not happen.

This is not to say that there was no short-pitched bowling. There was a surfeit of it — overdone, in fact, to the extent where the umpires should have intervened.

At the end of day, Holding’s brilliant-yet-unfair spell fetched the West Indies another win.

SCORECARD:

Read Group A match reviews here.

REVIEW DAY 1
GROUP B:
Haryana vs Vidharbha at Rohtak
STUMPS, Day 1 – Vidharbha 53/1 (19 overs) [ Fazal 28*(65) ] Haryana 55/10 (37.1 overs) [Tehlan 18(90) | Yadav 5/18, Sandeep 4/11]

A season-opener can never be worse than this for Haryana. They were bundled out for 55 runs – their lowest in Ranji Trophy history. Yadav has begun this season in a promising note. He bowled 6 maidens in a row as his initial 6 overs read 6-6-0-1. He ended up with a 5-wicket haul. Sandeep Singh also aided Yadav by picking a 4 wicket haul.

Tamil Nadu vs Odhisa at Cuttack
STUMPS, Day 1 – Tamil Nadu 66/2 (31 overs) [Mukundh 21*(95)]

Rain scripted its part even before the toss.  As a result, only one session of play was possible at Cuttack.  Opener Mukundh remained unbeaten on 21 as Tamil Nadu looked worried as it had lost 2 wickets already for 66 runs.

Baroda vs Karnataka at Vadodara
STUMPS, Day 1 – Baroda 308/4 (90 overs) [Waghmod 121*(262), I Pathan 105*(155)]

When Baroda was reduced to 88/4 in less 39 overs, star players like Yusuf Pathan and Ambati Raydu were already back in hut. Pathan’s partnership with Waghmod gave solace to Baroda fans as the duo scored 220 runs and took Baroda to the total they are at now. Both the players reached their century mark. Pathan was quicker than Waghmod in number of balls consumed to score the century. Pathan launched 4 sixes in his innings.

Delhi vs Uttar Pradesh at Ghaziabad
STUMPS, Day 1 – Uttar Pradesh 40/1 (13 overs) [Dagar 18*(43)] Delhi 232/10 [Bisht 52(69) | Ahmed 5/59]

Imtiaz Ahmed ran through the star-studded Delhi line up with his 5 wicket haul. Having the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli in the line up, Delhi looked strong on paper and odds were favouring them. Yet, Ahmed’s bowling display scripted the story otherwise. Sehwag (25) , Gambhir (32), Kohli (14) were not as threatening as one thought.  With Bisht’s 52 and Manhans’ 42 ,Delhi reached a respectable total of 235.

GROUP C:
Assam vs Tripura at Guwhati
STUMPS, Day 1 – Assam 220/5 (90 overs) [Jhadav 127*(280) | Chanda 5/50]

It was an even contest that took place between these two teams at Guwahati. Jhadav’s century  and Chanda’s five-for are the two performances that glued their respective teams in commanding positions. At the end of team, it was an even contest.

Jammu and Kashmir vs Jharkhand at Jammu
STUMPS, Day 1 – JK 195/10 (56.5 overs) [Hardeep 49*(89) | Nadeem 3/50]

Barring Adil and Hardeep, none contributed much to disturb the scorers. Adil laid the platform with his 42 that wasn’t well utilized by the middle order players. Hardeep ensured that JK crossed 175 mark before getting bundled out. Nadeem roped in 3 wickets for 50 runs for Jharkand.

Kerala vs Himachal Pradesh at Nadaun
STUMPS, Day 1 – Kerala 196/8 (73.4 overs) [Samson 100*(173) | R Dhawan 3/56]

Wicket-keeping batsmen Samson’s century aided Kerala to near the 200 run mark after a delayed start. Parameshwaran was at the middle at the end of the day batting with him.

Services vs Andhra Pradesh at Anantapur
STUMPS, Day 1 – Services 73/5 (28 overs) [Swain 21(46)]

Another rain affected game of the day. Services looking weak at 73 runs losing 5 wickets already. Paliwal and Sarbjit are at the middle at the end of day’s play. For Andhra  Pradesh, Shivkumar and Atchuta Rao took 2 wickets each.

Thus 6 centuries and 2 five-wicket haul were scored in Day 1 of  Ranji Trophy 2012/13 season. Few rain affected games saw less number of overs being bowled especially in group C where only 2 teams will progress to the next stage. If weather permits, Day 2 will be even more entertaining as teams would begin to chase and try to gain the much important first innings lead.

Cricket’s best format is the format where patience outvalues aggression; class belittles innovations; lost form begins to patch up; performance gets credits. With no international fixtures currently, India’s big names like Sachin, Sehwag, Zaheer are playing this Ranji season’s first match for their respective states in.  But for Dhoni and Yuvraj, all those likely members of the Indian squad have decided to get warmed up before serving the cold revenge for the touring English team.

The attention these players bring to India’s oldest domestic series adds responsibilities to younger players who are trying to impress the selectors. The format of Ranji Trophy was revamped prior to this season benefitting the underdogs as they would play more number of matches than they did in previous seasons. The revamped format divided 27 teams into 3 groups – A,B and C – Top 3 from group A and B and Top 2 from group C gets in to knock out phase of tournament.

REVIEW – DAY 1

GROUP A:

Mumbai vs Railways at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

STUMPS, DAY 1 – MUMBAI 343/4 [ Sachin 137(136), Rahane  105* (207)]

After Jaffer’s exit, Agarkar leads this season’s Mumbai which known for their domination in this tournament. Tendulkar, who was bowled in his last three test innings against New Zealand, played for Mumbai after two years in today’s match to regain his form. He was quick and aggressive. Sending in Rohit ahead of him surprised many. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make most of it as he was run out for 18.  Tendulkar scored better than a run-a-ball century. With 21 fours and 3 sixes, he scored 137 runs in 136 balls. Rahane, playing for Mumbai a little less than 24 hours after playing for India A in the warm up game against England, showed no sign of fatigue. His temperament was again on display, as he went on to score a century in 193 balls.

Gujarat vs Madhya Pradesh at Indore

STUMPS, DAY 1 – GUJARAT 317/5 (90 0vers) [ Parthiv Patel 162*]

After being reduced to 30/2 in less than 10 overs, Parthiv led from front with a fine century, his 17th in first-class cricket. Gujarat’s playing XI had 5 Patels in the line up – Smit, Neeraj, Partiv, Mehul, Akshar – making the scorers’ job a misery. As Wriddhiman Saha has been most often considered as the reserve keeper for India lately, this innings of Patel’s might give a slight edge over him.

Hyderabad vs Punjab at PCA Stadium, Mohali

STUMPS, Day 1 – Hyderabad 244/7 (90 0vers) [ A Reddy 63(154) Laxman 23(42) | M Gony 3/51 ]

Playing his first first-class match after his retirement from international cricket, Laxman didn’t have a good day at office, scoring only 23 runs. Openers Ravi Teja and Akshath Reddy gave Hyderabad a good start, scoring 77 runs in first session. Soon after lunch, Teja (36) got out. Reddy scored at a slower pace to make sure that Hyderabad didn’t lose quick wickets. But his efforts went in vain, as after his dismissal, the batsman who followed him couldn’t contribute much, leaving a little too much to do for the wicket-keeper batsman Khaleel, who remained unbeaten on 38 at the end of the day.

Bengal vs Rajasthan at Eden Gardens, Kolkatta

STUMPS, Day 1- Bengal  187/4 (59 0vers) [ Das 95(154), Tiwari 42(70) | Pankaj Singh 3/30]

Despite Rajasthan getting early in-roads by picking Basu in the 3rd over, they couldn’t stop Das from scoring runs. His brilliant innings of 95 runs at a strike rate of little more than 60 ensured that Bengal was always in the driver’s seat. He was unlucky to get out five runs shy of a first class century. Skipper Manoj Tiwari too chipped with a valuable 70-ball 42. Pankaj Singh bagged 3 wickets for 30 runs.

Chennai Super Kings suffer a big blow as their opener Mike Hussey leaves for Australia tonight. It is believed that he is leaving due to personal and family reasons. Earlier, Shane Watson of Sydney Sixers was called back by Cricket Australia for test preparations.

Mike Hussey is leaving for Australia and will not play any more matches in #clt20

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) October 20, 2012

Mike Hussey leaves back to Australia due to personal and family reasons.

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) October 20, 2012

In case of any injuries to others, Hussey will remain back in South Africa to play for CSK.

Former England Captain Tony Greig has been diagnosed with Lung Cancer.  His cancer has been found as  a lesion on right lung. Recently, New Zealand Cricket Martin Crowe had been diagnosed with cancer too. Earlier last year, Yuvraj was also diagnosed with cancer from which he has come out strongly.

Greig turned 66 on October 6. He represented England in 58 Tests and 22 One day Internationals since his debut from 1972. He was awarded as “Wisden Cricketer of the Year” in the year 1975.  After his retirement in 1977, he became a commentator for Sky Sports and Channel 9.

His fans across the world wish that it is benign and wish him for a speedy recovery.

Giles Clarke, current ECB Chairman, addressed in the press conference at Columbo: “Kevin will be engaged in a reintegration process which has already started today with a lengthy meeting with myself and the process will continue in early October and will be led by the England team director, Andy Flower.”

He also added that Andy Flower’s voice will be taken into consideration for the inclusion of Pietersen.

“Andy Flower will determine the progress of this process and he will advise the Board when he believes that the dressing room, the England management and Kevin himself are ready for Kevin to be reconsidered for selection.”

Pietersen apologized to his team mates in the press conference, saying: “I would just like to take this opportunity to apologise to my team-mates, all the England supporters and the ECB for the situation which has arisen over the last couple of months. Thankfully we have drawn a line under it and it is time to move forward.

“I am entirely committed to completing the reintegration process we have agreed over the coming weeks and resuming my England career in all formats, hopefully until the World Cup in 2015, or as long as my body allows. I want my son growing up seeing me playing for England and I hope that one day he will put an England shirt on himself,” quoted Pietersen on his reintegration.

Fans will be happy to see him playing for the nation again rather than analyzing games in pre and post-match shows.

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA – OCTOBER 02: M S Dhoni (C) along with teammates Gautam Gambhir (L) and Zaheer Khan of India walk back to the pavilion after the game during the ICC World Twenty20 2012 Super Eights Group 2 match between South Africa and India at R. Premadasa Stadium on October 2, 2012 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

South Africa made sure India didn’t get a semi-final berth as they had done in 2007. Despite this, India managed to sneak in a one-run victory in the last Super Eight game in Colombo.

South Africa brought in Faf du Plessis in place of the out-of-form Richard Levi. Du Plessis was in good touch from the very first ball he faced. His cover drives were well connected, his lofted drives were well-placed. He found the middle of the bat often, and the sound of ball meeting bat was rhythmic. His innings of sixty-five off thirty eight was studded with six beautiful fours and two huge sixes.

It does make people wonder as to why South Africa had dropped him from their previous match against Australia. Chasing 152, the Proteas began their innings in abysmal fashion, losing Hashim Amla for nought, Jacques Kallis for six and deVilliers for 13 in the space of their first six overs. As the wickets tumbled at the other end, du Plessis began to cut loose and was able to find the boundary rather easily, and they had been quite hard to come by until he began to rhythmically dispatch the ball towards the ropes.

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA – OCTOBER 02: Jacques Kallis of South Africa walks back after getting out during the ICC World Twenty20 2012 Super Eights Group 2 match between South Africa and India at R. Premadasa Stadium on October 2, 2012 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

By the time he had been dismissed by Yuvraj, the damage had already been done. Alviro Peterson did the honour of eliminating India from this edition of the T20 World Cup by scoring the South Africans’ 122nd run. Amazingly enough, Ravichandran Ashwin had Peterson out twice – once off a no-ball, the other during a free hit – in as many deliveries. Peterson was taking the game away from India. But Zaheer Khan popped up to throw South Africa a sucker-punch with two wickets from two balls.

When Lakshmipathy Balaji was handed the ball to bowl the last over, South Africa needed 14 runs with Albie Morkel taking strike. He hit a six, but was sent walking the next ball. Morne came in to replace his brother, and did the same, meaning which South Africa were bundled out, falling a solitary run short of India’s total of 152.

For India, Zaheer Khan finished with 3/22 and Yuvraj with 2/24, as they picked up some prize scalps. Balaji, who went for plenty in this all-important match, ended up with the figures if 3/37

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA – OCTOBER 02: Yuvraj Singh of India celebrates the wicket of AB De Villiers of South Africa with teammate Suresh Raina during the ICC World Twenty20 2012 Super Eights Group 2 match between South Africa and India at R. Premadasa Stadium on October 2, 2012 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

India hadn’t started start well either. Their top three failed miserably, which meant that by the end of their Power Play, India were reduced to 36/3. Yuvraj chipped in with a fifteen-ball twenty-one, before Morne uprooted his off-stump. Rohit Sharma played a cautious innings of 25 off 27 deliveries where he found boundaries hard to come by

Suresh Raina underlined why the best of him came out in this format, as he donned the mantle of saviour for Team India. He, alongside MS Dhoni punished Dale Steyn all over the park, and their aggressive finish ensured India had reached the 150 mark.

Steyn, as usual, was miserly enough but couldn’t pick up any wickets. Morne dismissed both Yuvraj and Gambhir for the loss of 28 runs, while Peterson  conceded 24 runs, picking up Sehwag and Sharma en route.

Pakistan now face Sri Lanka, while Australia faces the West Indies in the semi- finals of the tournament to decide the finalists of this year’s edition of the T20 World Cup.

Legendary cricketers like Sachin, Dravid, Ponting couldn’t adjust well with this form of cricket. John Buchanan, former coach of Australia, once said, “Homegrown heroes such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman, were expected to influence, and on some occasions single-handedly win IPL matches,Yet their subdued performances highlight that Test match temperament does not necessarily ensure prolonged success in the T20 game.” Clearly, successful test players have found it difficult to handle the shortest format of the game.

Players like Gayle, McCullum and Raina have been regarded as T20 specialists, given that their usual way of batting is purely aggressive rather than defensive. As a matter of fact, McCullum’s T20 average is higher than his Test and ODI averages.

These special talents of modern day cricket approach the format in a different way. Here I briefly talk about how a team should go in for a T20 game.

Powerplay : 1 – 6 overs

The mandatory powerplay overs has only 2 fielders outside the ring and batsmen have to make effective use of this. A few hard hits and well timed shots will be beneficial for the team. On average, a team should look to score 45-55 runs for the loss of a single wicket at most. This would set a platform for the batsmen following up, to play their natural game. The combination of a hard-hitter(Gayle, Watson, Warner, Sehwag, Dilshan, McCullum) and effective-timer (Amla, Jayawardene, Kohli, Hussey) in top-3 will be effective enough to achieve the target of this period of 6 overs.

Post-Powerplay : 7-10 overs

On most occasions, a team’s No 3 and No 4 will be playing during this period. A fall in the run-rate is likely to happen. The player’s primary motive should be keeping their wickets safe. Batsmen should try to rotate the singles and find some odd boundaries and maximums. Team should look for scoring 25-35 runs in this period.

11-14 overs

A team’s No 3 or No 4 will start to shift gears to carry the momentum on their team’s favour. This sometimes can backfire. If he clicks, he can find boundaries time and again and has a chance of seeing his team through the innings. If he fails, the coming batsmen should set himself in short period and start to find boundaries at will. So either of No 4 and No 5 batsmen should be both effective-timer and hard-hitter (Yuvraj, DeVilliers, Sangakkara, Pietersen, Morgan). Adding 30-40 runs in this period of game will be handy.

15-18 overs

If No 3 succeeds in his attempt of shifting gears, he will be playing, seeing this period through. Else, it is the job of No 4 and No 5. If boundaries are hard to come by, they should be capable of at least rotating the strike easily. Typically, a team would love to add 40-45 runs in this period.

Death stage: 19 – 20 overs

This is the period of smacking and whacking. So a hard-hitter at No 6 will be handy (Raina, Pollard, Bravo, White, Afridi). They should be capable of clearing fences at will. A minimum of 25 should be scored in this small period of 2 overs.

Generally experts believe that a team should double their 30-over score by the end of 50th over in ODIs. A simple calculation and similar logic suggests that teams should double their 12-over score at the end of 20 overs in T20.

So the best possible line up will be like this:

On average, 160 above score on a track that is friedly to both batsmen and bowler will be a sound total to play their cards with.

Tension amidst these two players creates a hush. As India takes on Pakistan in a must-win match on Sunday, fans all over the world demand the inclusion of Sehwag in the line up saying his best comes out whenever he takes on Pakistan, be it any format. Indeed yes. Statistics reveal that his average against Pakistan across all the formats sees a peak when compared with other nations.However until today, Sehwag has played only one match against Pakistan in the shortest format.

Ravi Shastri, former Indian Cricketer, also insisted on Sehwag’s inclusion in the line up.He said, “You just have to look at Sehwag’s record against Pakistan – it’s Bradman-like when you look at his average against them. So Sehwag will have the psychological edge when he gets out there plus the fact that he’s been asked to sit out, and I think rightly so, in the last game against Australia, he’ll be fired up“.

However, the factor that is to be considered is Sehwag’s recent form. His last international century is his 219 – a record highest individual ODI score.

Clearly Sehwag isn’t in the best of his form for the past 10 months. However, whenever its India-Pakistan match, players from both the teams tend to give all out of them to take their team through. Adding all to that, “Sehwag- The name itself is big factor”. Just 45 minutes before the start of match, Ravichandran Ashwin have hinted that India might go back with 7-4 combination. He posted ” As you people wished Virender sehwag might be back to the team :) Probably 7,4 combination! ” on his facebook page.

Fans, if weather permits, we have a cracker of a match on hand.

India won the toss and elected to bat. Unfortunately Gambhir was injured in the 3rd ball of today’s warm-up match. Malinga’s ball hit him in his fingers and he immediately left the ground. Fans all over the nation wishes that it is nothing serious. His is one of the dependables for India in this World Cup. His nomination in the ICC ODI TEAM OF THE YEAR depicts his consistency in the shorter format over last 12 months. Adding to woes, India’s top order bit dust as all were dismissed cheaply

Rohit, who has been on the receiving side of critics, grabbed this opportunity with the well made 37(26). Coming at a position where India’s top 5 were back with just 51 runs on the board,  Rohit instantly stepped on the accelerator and aggressively scored boundaries in every over. Dhoni, at the other end, played in his own style scoring at a strike rate of 50, untill he reached 14. Upon Rohit’s dismissal , Dhoni switched gears and lofted the deliveries over the boundaries thrice. Malinga was in the receiving side all the three times as he ended with a paltry spell of 0/50 in his 4 overs. Kulasekara was the pick of bowlers for Sri Lanka with 3 wickets.  Dhoni’s last over credited India’s total to 146, as Dhoni made a 42 ball 55.

Chasing India’s 146, Sri Lanka again opted for Munaweera to open along with Dilshan rather than going for Jayawardene. The move backfired and Munaweera was dismissed for 3 and Dilshan for 4. As Sangakkara (32) scored runs slowly and steadily, wickets started to fall. But for him and Jeevan Mendis(26) everyone were dismissed cheaply. Jayawardene who came down the order was dismissed without disturbing the scorers.

Pathan, who is seemed to be in good rhythm since the SL series, extended his good patch and took  5 wickets in bargain for 25 runs. Harbhajan too had an impressive and note worthy return by giving away only17 runs in his 4 over and took a price scalp of well set Sangakkara. Balaji too made his contribution with a 3-for. Eventually, Sri Lanka were bundled out for 120 in 19.3 overs falling 26 runs short of India’s target.

Surprsingly Chawla and Yuvraj didn’t bowl as Zaheer, Pathan, Ashwin, Harbhajan, Balaji(3.3) bowled 4 overs each. In the end, India have kickstarted their campaign in a positive note.

India plays Pakistan on 17th after which the campaign for glory starts on 19th with first match against Afghanistan and the second match on 23rd against England.

India have lost to New Zealand again in a T20I – a jinx that is yet to be broken by India. Kiwis pulled out a one-run victory from the jaws of defeat. It looked like a cakewalk when Kohli and Yuvraj were going all guns blazing. From the situation of requiring 49 runs from 42 balls, India’s failure to cross the line highlighted their poor finishing technique.

Hailed as one of the great modern day finishers in ODIs, MS Dhoni doesn’t carry the same cloak when it comes to the shortest form of the game. His strike rate of 109. 51 is poor given the calibre he has. His numbers doesn’t reflect his ability. He is yet to reach the half century mark in a T20I. He has scored 238 runs of his 587 runs in boundaries (4 x 34 ; 6 x 17) which means he has scored the remaining 349 runs at a abysmal strike rate of  71.96. This clearly shows that he is failing to rotate the strike as effectively as he does in ODIs. His inconsistency in the middle order affects Indian team that mostly favours chasing.

When it comes to the T20 world Cup, India’s campaign depends on Dhoni’s contribution to the team. If not as main contributor, his quick fire 2os can be game changing and he consistently delivers in world cup matches.

In the 2007 T20WC held at South Africa which India emerged as Champions,  Dhoni averaged 30.80 in 6 innings he played with the highest score of 45. With just one not-out innings he has summed up 154 runs at a strike rate of 128.33. Though Gambhir and Yuvraj were main contributers in that World Cup, he delivered when India wanted one from him.

In the 2009 T20 WC held at England, Dhoni failed miserably. His average was below his career average and his strike rate wasn’t that impressive at all. In fact, he scored at below run-a-ball rate in the tournament. India ended up exiting during Super Six stages.

Dhoni’s poor run in WC continued as India again failed to enter into the knock-out phases in the 2010 T20WC at West Indies. Though his average peaked to 42.50, it was attributed mainly by the 3 innings in which he remained not out. With an impressive strike rate of 149.12, he was lethal and dominant in the series.

The 2012 WC is happening at Sri Lanka which would be home-friendly conditions for Dhoni. His stats at the sub-continent conditions reveal that he wishes to stay longer at the crease rather than scoring quickly in subcontinent conditions.

Is his approach of staying longer than scoring quick runs an effective one? Most experts disagree but Dhoni has his own style of proving them wrong. This T20WC will clearly depict  if he should be granted a pass in the playing XI or should he be axed from the team citing these reasons. Only time will reveal the answer and we better wait for it.

The T2oI to be played is important as many factors have to be determined based upon that. Listed below are the top 3 factors that carry more value for India going in to the T20 CWC.

Yuvraj‘s return to international Scene

After getting diagnosed for germ cell cancer, post the victorious World Cup campaign in 2011, Yuvraj is all set to return to international cricket. He is going into the T20 World Cup without much match practice. He has so far played 3 matches in NCA. As the 1st T2oI between the two teams has been washed out due to inclement weather, the 2nd T20I will be the only international match that he will be playing before he travels to the island nation for the warm up matches and World Cup matches.

To pick the best of two: Tiwari/Rohit

Rohit‘s off-late poor performances have received a lot of negative remarks from the cricket experts. As a result of that, his position in the playing XI is in danger. He is talented but his talent is not reflected in the runs he scores for the nation. In the T20 format, he has been a tremendous batsman for every franchise he had played, be it Deccan Chargers or Mumbai Indians, and someone on whom fans can lay their hopes. If one looks upon the other side of the balance, Tiwari has been grabbing the opportunities he had been provided with, with both the hands. He had picked up a four-for in an ODI in the recently concluded series between India and Sri Lanka and had scored a  century against West India in the previous innings  he played for the nation. Tiwari has been consistently performing for Bengal in domestic competitions. Rohit‘s inclusion might give a biased looked to an Indian line up studded with off spinners in the form of Harbhajan, Ashwin, Raina, Sehwag;  unlike Tiwari‘s inclusion, whose leg-spin gives a new dimension to the bowling line up.

To choose a bowler to support Zak:

Balaji‘s return to the international squad might surprise many. He was instrumental for KKR in winning the championship title this season in IPL. However there is no guarantee that he will receive a place in the primary eleven. With Dinda, Pathan and Zaheer in the squad as bowlers, he is less likely to get a place, as Zaheer by default will be in the playing eleven. With only one more place for a pace bowler, Dhoni and team management had to choose between the remaining three. Pathan‘s all round ability might give him a slight edge over the other two. Yet, given Zaheer is a left armer, Dhoni might go in for a right arm medium pace attack. Balaji has an excellent run up which enables him to swing the ball away from right handers and in to the left handers. However, he is less threatening with the pace unlike Dinda, who has become a regular feature in Indian Squad for the past 6 months.

With both the teams leaving directly for the World Cup, this match, if it gets washed out too, will result in both teams having to land in Sri Lanka wishing that things will be sorted out in the warm up games. If no play is possible, India’s  best XI for the first match against Afghanistan can be decided only in the warm up matches that it plays against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.