WC Remembrances - 2007 ICC World Twenty20

It was a matter of pride. They had been brutally thrown out of the 50 over world cup in the group stage. They were beaten by minnows like Bangladesh & Ireland. But they came back. They made the first T20 world cup final the most memorable final in the history of wold cup finals. Yes, it were 'THE ARCH-RIVALS' India & Pakistan fighting for the inaugural T20 World cup. And I must say I was no less than any of wars India-Pak have had. But... it was the slighter better side, India who went home with the world cup.

In a match worthy of final, India won the all-crucial toss and decided to bat first. Save as Gautam Gambhir & Rohit Sharma no other batsmen crossed 15. India wraped up its innings with an average 157 on board. Playing a world cup final after 8 years, Pakistan didn't have a start it would have have wanted. They lost Hafeez in the very first over, thanks to a surprise first over by spinner Bhajji. Though they kept up with the required runrate they lost wickets at regular interval. Everything seemed to be going India's way till the 16th over, Pakistan requring 13.5 runs per over then. But then suddenly Misbah u Haq went mad. He stuck India's trump card, Harbhajan Singh for 3 huge sixes in the next over. Sohail Tanvir complimented him with a couple more in the next over and the game looked completely reversed.

Now the climax! Pakistan needs 13 runs off the last over with in form Misbah on crease. India going for the new medium pacer Joginder Sharma over experienced Bhajji for an over on which depends the result of hours & hours of hard work.
1st ball wide!
1st ball again-no run.
The second goes for a six!
6 needed off 4 balls with 1 wicket in hand
& the third, Pakistan is all out and loose by 5 runs! That easy!!
Misbah plays a highly risky scoop shot over short fine leg but straight in the hands of Sreesanth. India has beaten Pakistan by 5 runs. The catch by Sreesanth can undoubtedly be called the catch of the decade imagining the amount of pressure he was under.

It is worthwhile to note that both India & Pakistan were in the same group D at the group stage & their match was a tie! It was decided in India's favour by a bowl out. Winning the last 3 consecutive 50 over world cups, Australia came as favorites but were beaten by India in the semis. Also the Black caps just managed to reach the semis.

The inaugural T20 World cup was hosted by South Africa. A total of 12 teams participated. Besides the 10 Test playing nations, including Zimbabwe, Kenya & Scotland also qualified. 12 teams were divided into 4 groups of 3. Top two teams from each group entered the Super 8's in which the 8 teams were divided in two groups of 4 each. Top two teams of both the groups made it to the semis and winner of the semis played in the final. The matches were spread over a period of 13 days - a considerably short period comparing to the 50 over world cups.

It was not about record breaking this time but record making. Yuvraj hit 6 sixes in an over & fifty off just 12 bowls! Sri Lanka marauded Kenya when they scored a whooping 260 runs in 20 overs and won the match by 172 runs; a team total which is usually enough to win a T20 match. Chris Gayle scored a massive 10 sixes in his knock of 117 which will remain a record for a huge time for sure. Even a score of 117 in T20 is a world record as on date. Even then West Indies was eliminated after the group stage itself. Australia lost their first match to Zimbabwe! The T20 world cup saw a massive 265 sixes, 659 fours, 32 fifties & a century. And the poor Sanath Jayasuriya was hit 64 in is 4 overs against Pakistan. This clearly shows that it is mainly a batsman's game!

India went into the world cup with a young side. It was reported in media that Sachin had convinced Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid & VVS Laxman to skip the cup so as to give the young blood an opportunity. So with the disaster of 2007 50 over world cup & relatively inexperienced side, India were the least favorites. But under the able captain-ship of MS Dhoni, India won the World cup. It was an all round performance by the team.

A summary of results

Group Stages

1st Match, Group A: South Africa v West Indies at Johannesburg - Sep 11, 2007
West Indies 205/6 (20/20 ov); South Africa 208/2 (17.4/20 ov)
South Africa won by 8 wickets (with 14 balls remaining)

2nd Match, Group C: Kenya v New Zealand at Durban - Sep 12, 2007
Kenya 73 (16.5/20 ov); New Zealand 74/1 (7.4/20 ov)
New Zealand won by 9 wickets (with 74 balls remaining)

3rd Match, Group D: Pakistan v Scotland at Durban - Sep 12, 2007
Pakistan 171/9 (20/20 ov); Scotland 120 (19.5/20 ov)
Pakistan won by 51 runs

4th Match, Group B: Australia v Zimbabwe at Cape Town - Sep 12, 2007
Australia 138/9 (20/20 ov); Zimbabwe 139/5 (19.5/20 ov)
Zimbabwe won by 5 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)

5th Match, Group A: Bangladesh v West Indies at Johannesburg - Sep 13, 2007
West Indies 164/8 (20/20 ov); Bangladesh 165/4 (18/20 ov)
Bangladesh won by 6 wickets (with 12 balls remaining)

6th Match, Group B: England v Zimbabwe at Cape Town - Sep 13, 2007
England 188/9 (20/20 ov); Zimbabwe 138/7 (20/20 ov)
England won by 50 runs

7th Match, Group D: India v Scotland at Durban - Sep 13, 2007
No result (abandoned with a toss)

8th Match, Group C: Kenya v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg - Sep 14, 2007
Sri Lanka 260/6 (20/20 ov); Kenya 88 (19.3/20 ov)
Sri Lanka won by 172 runs

9th Match, Group B: Australia v England at Cape Town - Sep 14, 2007
England 135 (20/20 ov); Australia 136/2 (14.5/20 ov)
Australia won by 8 wickets (with 31 balls remaining)

10th Match, Group D: India v Pakistan at Durban - Sep 14, 2007
India 141/9 (20/20 ov); Pakistan 141/7 (20/20 ov)
Match tied (India won the bowl-out)

11th Match, Group C: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg - Sep 15, 2007
New Zealand 164/7 (20/20 ov); Sri Lanka 168/3 (18.5/20 ov)
Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)

12th Match, Group A: South Africa v Bangladesh at Cape Town - Sep 15, 2007
Bangladesh 144 (19.3/20 ov); South Africa 146/3 (18.5/20 ov)
South Africa won by 7 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)

Super Eights

13th Match, Group E: India v New Zealand at Johannesburg - Sep 16, 2007
New Zealand 190 (20/20 ov); India 180/9 (20/20 ov)
New Zealand won by 10 runs

14th Match, Group F: Australia v Bangladesh at Cape Town - Sep 16, 2007
Bangladesh 123/8 (20/20 ov); Australia 124/1 (13.5/20 ov)
Australia won by 9 wickets (with 37 balls remaining)

15th Match, Group E: South Africa v England at Cape Town - Sep 16, 2007
South Africa 154/8 (20/20 ov); England 135/7 (20/20 ov)
South Africa won by 19 runs

16th Match, Group F: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg - Sep 17, 2007
Pakistan 189/6 (20/20 ov); Sri Lanka 156/9 (20/20 ov)
Pakistan won by 33 runs

17th Match, Group E: England v New Zealand at Durban - Sep 18, 2007
New Zealand 164/9 (20/20 ov); England 159/8 (20/20 ov)
New Zealand won by 5 runs

18th Match, Group F: Australia v Pakistan at Johannesburg - Sep 18, 2007
Australia 164/7 (20/20 ov); Pakistan 165/4 (19.1/20 ov)
Pakistan won by 6 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)

19th Match, Group F: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg - Sep 18, 2007
Sri Lanka 147/5 (20/20 ov); Bangladesh 83 (15.5/20 ov)
Sri Lanka won by 64 runs

20th Match, Group E: South Africa v New Zealand at Durban - Sep 19, 2007
New Zealand 153/8 (20/20 ov); South Africa 158/4 (19.1/20 ov)
South Africa won by 6 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)

21st Match, Group E: England v India at Durban - Sep 19, 2007
India 218/4 (20/20 ov); England 200/6 (20/20 ov)
India won by 18 runs

22nd Match, Group F: Australia v Sri Lanka at Cape Town - Sep 20, 2007
Sri Lanka 101 (19.3/20 ov); Australia 102/0 (10.2/20 ov)
Australia won by 10 wickets (with 58 balls remaining)

23rd Match, Group F: Bangladesh v Pakistan at Cape Town - Sep 20, 2007
Bangladesh 140 (19.4/20 ov); Pakistan 141/6 (19/20 ov)
Pakistan won by 4 wickets (with 6 balls remaining)

24th Match, Group E: South Africa v India at Durban - Sep 20, 2007
India 153/5 (20/20 ov); South Africa 116/9 (20/20 ov)
India won by 37 runs

Semifinals

1st Semi Final: New Zealand v Pakistan at Cape Town - Sep 22, 2007
New Zealand 143/8 (20/20 ov); Pakistan 147/4 (18.5/20 ov)
Pakistan won by 6 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)

2nd Semi Final: Australia v India at Durban - Sep 22, 2007
India 188/5 (20/20 ov); Australia 173/7 (20/20 ov)
India won by 15 runs

Final

Final: India v Pakistan at Johannesburg - Sep 24, 2007
India 157/5 (20/20 ov); Pakistan 152 (19.3/20 ov)
India won by 5 runs

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WC Remembrances - 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup

The Aussies have once again proved their worth. The way they ran over whoever came their way is simply amazing. They spared none. Suffering a horror 5 losses in a row just prior to the mega event, Australia came back strongly and took their winning streak in the world cups to 23. The mighty Lankans, Proteas, Kiwis - all meekingly bowed down to the champions. Under the able leadership of Ricky Ponting, Australia defeated Sri Lanka by 53 runs(D/L method) in the final reduced by rain to secure their fourth world cup victory and third in the row.

The champions, placed in Group A, commenced their world cup tour against Scotland on Mar 14 where they brutully defeated them by 203 runs. Next came the defeats for Netherlands and much hyped South Africa. Australia thus strommed their way to the super eights with 3 wins, 3 300+ scores, 2 points and NRR of +1.66. The super eights brought much more beating for the opponents as Australia defeated West Indies, Bangladesh, England, Ireland, Lanka and New Zealand. Placed at 1 place it moved to semis and played Graeme Smith's men just like the 1999 world cup semi-final. But this time not taking any chances it defeated South Africa with 8 wickets and moved to the finals, full of confidence. To ensure there victory in the finals against Sri Lanka, Gilcrist made the move and Mcgrath did the rest so as to ensure that Australia is the best.

For the first time 16 teams competed in the world cup which included new comers Ireland and Bermuda. The playing of 16 teams made the itinearary quite long. With 52 matches the cup was spread over 49 days. The teams were divided into 4 groups of 4 teams each. Top 2 teams from each group were to move to super eights where each team played 6 matches. Next the top four were to fight in the semi finals and the top two moved to the finals.

The 9th edition of the world cup held in the colourful Carribean islands commenced with the opening ceremony in Trelawny Stadium when the teams marched and the captains posed with the cup. Like the previous of its type, the world cup was very eventful. The group stages which were seen only as a formality showed way home to previous world cup winners and neighbours India and Pakistan. Just a few hours after Pakistan declared out of the world cup, Pakistan coach and one of the greatest contributer of cricket, Bob Woolmer breath his last after being strangled by a towel in his room. As for minnows Bangladesh and Ireland - both produced unimagined setbacks with Bangladesh beating India (group stage) and South Africa (super eights) and Ireland beating Pakistan

Record are meant to be broken. A number of records were broken and set in this world cup. Herchelle Gibbs smashed Netherlands bowler Bunge for six 6's in an over, something that has happenned for the first time in international cricket. India scored the highest world cup score of 413/5 against Bermuda to break the previous best set by Sri Lanka of 398 eleven years ago. Lankan spedster Lasith Malinga took 4 wickets off 4 bowls against Proteas, which also happenned for the first time. Glenn McGrath took record 26 wickets and took his overall tally to 71 n world cups much beyond Pakistan's Wasim Akrams's 55.

This time we bid goodbye to 4 cricket legends. McGrath who is the Man of the tournament for the world cup will be soon announcing his retirement on a high of his carrer. Brain Lara, against whose name number of records are named has announced his retirement after the match against England on 21st Apr. Even Inzamam-ul-Haq announced his retirement from ODI's but hopes to play in tests. Opposite to him, the dashing Lankan batsman, Sanath Jayasuriya, announced his retirement from tests.

Now its time that we discuss about India's failures at this world cup. A much hyped 'balanced' Indian team under the captainship of Rahul Dravid had a disastrous world cup being thrown out of the world in group stage. Though India did make many records against the minnows Bermuda, its losses against Bangla and Lankans showed it the way back home. Except from Saurav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag, all the top guns failed to fire.

A summary of results

Group Stages

GroupD
Tue 13: West Indies v Pakistan, Jamaica
West Indies won by 54 runs, West Indies 241/9 (50 overs) Pakistan 187/10 (47.2 overs)

GroupA
Wed 14: Australia v Scotland, St. Kitts
Australia won by 203 runs, Australia 334/6 (50 overs) Scotland 131/9 (40.1 overs)

GroupC
Wed 14: Canada v Kenya, St. Lucia
Kenya won by 7 wickets, Canada 199/10 (50 overs) Kenya 203/3 (43.2 overs)

GroupB
Thu 15: Sri Lanka v Bermuda, Trinidad
Sri Lanka won by 243 runs, Sri Lanka 321/6 (50 overs) Bermuda 78/10 (24.4 overs)

GroupD
Thu 15: Ireland v Zimbabwe, Jamaica
Tie, Ireland 221/9 (50 overs) Zimbabwe 221/10 (50 overs)

GroupA
Fri 16: Netherlands v South Africa, St Kitts
South Africa won by 221 runs, South Africa 353/3 (40 overs) Netherlands 132/9 (40 overs)
***Due to rain match was reduced to 40 overs each side***

GroupC
Fri 16: England v New Zealand, St Lucia
New Zealand won by 6 wickets, England 209/7 (50 overs) New Zealand 210/4 (41 overs)

GroupB
Sat 17: Bangladesh v India, Trinidad
Bangladesh won by 5 wickets, India 191/10 (49.3 overs) Bangladesh 192/5 (48.5 overs)

GroupD
Sat 17: Pakistan v Ireland, Jamaica
Ireland won by 3 wickets, Pakistan 132/10 (45.4 overs) Ireland 133/7 (41.4 overs)
***Target for Ireland was revised to 128 in 47 overs under D/L method***

GroupA
Sun 18: Australia v Netherlands, St Kitts
Australia won 229 runs, 358/5 (50 overs) Netherlands 129/10 (26.5 overs)

GroupC
Sun 18: Canada v England, St Lucia
England won by 51 runs, England 279/6 (50 overs) Canada 228/7 (50 overs)

GroupB
Mon 19: India v Bermuda, Trinidad
India won by 257 runs, India 413/5 (50 overs) Bermuda 156/10 (43.1 overs)

GroupD
Mar 19: Zimbabwe v West Indies, Jamaica
West Indies won by 4 wickets, Zimbabwe 202/5 (50 overs) West Indies 204/5 (47.5 overs)

GroupA
Mar 20: South Africa v Scotland, St Kitts
South Africa won by 7 wickets, Scotland 186/8 (50 overs) South Africa 188/3 (23.2 overs)

GroupC
Mar 20: New Zealand v Kenya, Jamaica
New Zealand won by 148 runs, New Zealand 331/7 (50 overs) Kenya 183/10 (49.2 overs)

GroupB
Mar 21: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, Trinidad
Sri Lanka won by 198 runs, Sri Lanka 318/4 (50 overs) Bangladesh 112/10 (37 overs)
***Target for Bangladesh was revised to 311 in 46 overs under D/L method***

GroupD
Mar 21: Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Jamaica
Pakistan won by 93 runs, Pakistan 349/10 (49.5 overs) Zimbabwe 99/10 (19.1 overs)
***Target for Zimbabwe was revised to 193 in 20 overs under D/L method***

GroupC
Mar 22: Canada v New Zealand, St Lucia
New Zealand won by 114 runs, New Zealand 363/5 (50 overs) Canada 249/9 (49.2 overs)

GroupA
Mar 22: Netherlands v Scotland, St Kitts
Netherlands won by 8 wickets, Scotland 136/10 (34.1 overs) Netherlands 140/2 (23.5 overs)

GroupB
Mar 23: India v Sri Lanka, Trinidad
Sri Lanka won by 69 runs, Sri Lanka 254/6 (50 overs) India 185/10 (43.3 overs)

GroupD
Mar 23: West Indies v Ireland, Jamaica
West Indies won by 8 wickets, Ireland 183/8 (48 overs) West Indies 190/2 (38.1 overs)
***The Match was reduced to 48 overs each and West Indies were set a revised target of 190 in 48 overs under D/L method***

GroupA
Mar 24: Australia v South Africa, St Kitts
Australia won by 83 runs, Australia 377/6 (50 overs) South Africa 294/10 (48 overs)

GroupC
Mar 24: England v Kenya, St Lucia
England won by 7 wickets, Kenya 177/10 (43 overs) England 178/3 (33 overs)

GroupB
Mar 25: Bangladesh v Bermuda, Trinidad
Bangladesh won by 7 wickets, Bermuda 94/9 (21 overs) Bangladesh 96/3 (17.3 overs)
***Due to rain match was reduced to 21 overs each side***

Super Eight

Mar 27: West Indies v Australia, Antigua
Australia won by 103 runs, Australia 322/6 (50 overs) West Indies 219/10 (45.3 overs)

Mar 28: South Africa v Sri Lanka, Guyana
South Africa won by 1 wicket, Sri Lanka 209/10 (49.3 overs) South Africa 212/9 (48.2 overs)

Mar 29: West Indies v New Zealand, Antigua
New Zealand won by 7 wickets, West Indies 177/10 (44.4 overs) New Zealand 179/3 (39.2 overs)

Mar 30: England v Ireland, Guyana
England won by 48 runs, England 266/7 (50 overs) Ireland 218/10 (48.1 overs)

Mar 31: Australia v Bangladesh, Antigua
Australia won by 10 wickets, Bangladesh 104/6 (22 overs) Australia 106/0 (13.5 overs)
***Due to rain, the match was reduced to 22 overs each side***

Apr 1: Sri Lanka v West Indies, Guyana
Sri Lanka won by 113 runs, Sri Lanka 303/5 (50 overs) West Indies 190/10 (44.3 overs)

Apr 2: Bangladesh v New Zealand, Antigua
New Zealand won by 9 wickets, Bangladesh 174/10 (48.3 overs) New Zealand 178/1 (29.2 overs)

Apr 3: South Africa v Ireland, Guyana
South Africa won by 7 wickets, Ireland 152/8 (35 overs) South Africa 165/3 (31.3 overs)
***The match was reduced to 35 overs each side due to rain and South Africa was given a revised target of 160 in 35 overs under D/L method***

Apr 4: Sri Lanka v England, Antigua
Sri Lanka won by 2 runs, Sri Lanka 235/10 (50 overs) England 233/8 (50 overs)

Apr 7: Bangladesh v South Africa, Guyana
Bangladesh won by 67 runs, Bangladesh 251/8 (50 overs) South Africa 184/10 (48.4 overs)

Apr 8: Australia v England, Antigua
Australia won by 7 wickets, England 247/10 (49.5 overs) Australia 248/3 (47.2 overs)

Apr 9: Ireland v New Zealand, Guyana
New Zealand won by 129 runs, New Zealand 263/8 (50 overs) Ireland 134/10 (37.4 overs)

Apr 10: South Africa v West Indies, Grenada
South Africa won by 67 runs, South Africa 356/4 (50 overs) West Indies 289/9 (50 overs)

Apr 11: Bangladesh v England, Barbados
England won by 4 wickets, Bangladesh 143/10 (37.2 overs) England 147/6 (44.5 overs)

Apr 12: New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Grenada
Sri Lanka won 6 wickets, New Zealand 219/7 (50 overs) Sri Lanka 222/4 (45.1 overs)

Apr 13: Australia v Ireland, Barbados
Australia won by 9 wickets, Ireland 91/10(30 overs) Australia 92/1 (12.2 overs

Apr 14: New Zealand v South Africa, Grenada
New Zealand won by 5 wickets, South Africa 193/7 (50 overs) New Zealand 196/5 (48.2 overs)

Apr 15: Bangladesh v Ireland, Barbados
Ireland won by 74 runs, Ireland 243/7 (50 overs) Bangladesh 169/10 (41.2 overs)

Apr 16: Australia v Sri Lanka, Grenada
Australia won by 7 wickets, Sri Lanka 226/10 (49.4 overs) Australia 232/3 (42.4 overs)

Apr 17: England v South Africa, Barbados
South Africa won by 9 wickets, England 154/10 (48 overs) South Africa 157/1 (19.2 overs)

Apr 18: Ireland v Sri Lanka, Grenada
Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets, Ireland 77/10 (27.4 overs) Sri Lanka 81/2 (10 overs)

Apr 19: Bangladesh v West Indies, Barbados
West Indies won by 99 runs, West Indies 230/5 (50 overs) Bangladesh 131/10 (43.5 overs)

Apr 20: New Zealand v Australia, Grenada
Australia won by 215 runs, Australia 348/6 (50 overs) New Zealand 133/10 (25.5 overs)

Apr 21: West Indies v England, Barbados
England won by 1 wicket, West Indies 300/10 (49.4 overs) England 301/9 (49.5 overs)

Semi-finals

Apr 24: New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Jamaica
Sri Lanka won by 81 runs, Sri Lanka 289/5 (50 overs) New Zealand 208/10 (41.4 overs)

Apr 25: Australia v South Afica, St Lucia
Australia won by 7 wickets, South Africa 149/10 (43.5 overs) Australia 153/3 (31.3 overs)

Final

Apr 28: Australia v Sri Lanka, Barbados
Australia won by 53 runs, Australia 281/4 (38 overs) Sri Lanka 215/8 (36 overs)
***Due to rain the match was reduced to 38 overs each side and due to bad light the target was revised to 269 in 36 overs for Sri Lanka under the D/L method***

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World Cup - Highest Team Totals

The West Indian pitches look to be a batsmen paradise with
already 16 300+ team totals scored excluding 1 in the
Warm up matches scored by India against Netherlands.
Here are the Top Ten.

	Score		Team		Agst.		Stage		Venue		W/L/D
1	413/5 (50 overs)		IND		BER		Group		Trinidad		W
2	377/6 (50 overs)		AUS		SA		Group		St Kitts		W
3	363/5 (50 overs)		NZ		CAN		Group		St Lucia		W
4	358/5 (50 overs)		AUS		NET		Group		St Kitts		W
5	356/4 (50 overs)		SA		WI		Super8		Grenada		W
6	353/3 (40 overs)		SA		NET		Group		St Kitts		W
7	349/10 (49.5 overs)		PAK		ZIM		Group		Jamaica		W
8	348/6 (50 overs)		AUS		NZ		Super8		Grenada		W
9	334/6 (50 overs)		AUS		SCO		Group		St Kitts		W
10	331/7 (50 overs)		NZ		KEN		Group		St Lucia		W

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World Cup - Most runs in 4's & 6's

	Name	Country	Runs in 4's & 6's	4's	6's	% of Total Runs
1	ML Hayden	AUS	212	38	10	60.92
2	SP Fleming	NZ	176	32	8	62.86
3	GC Smith	SA	176	35	6	60.48
4	ST Jayasuriya	SL	162	24	11	58.27
5	RT Ponting	AUS	154	25	9	58.78
6	AC Gilchrist	AUS	140	32	2	66.35
7	AB de Villiers	SA	126	27	3	81.82
8	Imran Nazir	PAK	122	17	9	64.21
9	SB Styris	NZ	118	25	3	45.74
10	MJ Clarke	AUS	114	18	7	47.30

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World Cup - Top 10 Wicket Takers

	Name	Country	Wickets	Overs	Ave	SR	Econ	BBF
1	GD McGrath	AUS	26	80.5	13.73	18.60	4.41	3 for 14
2	M Muralitharan	SL	23	84.4	15.26	22.00	4.14	4 for 19
3	SW Tait	AUS	23	84.3	20.30	22.00	5.52	4 for 39
4	GB Hogg	AUS	21	82.5	15.80	23.60	4.00	4 for 27
5	SL Malinga	SL	18	58.2	15.77	19.40	4.86	4 for 54
6	NW Bracken	AUS	16	71.4	16.12	26.80	3.60	4 for 19
7	DL Vettori	NZ	16	97.4	27.93	36.60	4.57	4 for 23
8	A Flintoff	ENG	14	69	21.28	29.50	4.31	4 for 43
9	AJ Hall	SA	14	76	23.92	32.50	4.40	5 for 18
10	CK Langeveldt	SA	14	66	25.78	28.20	5.46	5 for 39

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World Cup - Top 10 Run Scorers

	Name	Country	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	50/100
1	ML Hayden	AUS	11	11	1	659	158	73.22	101.07	1/3
2	DPMD Jayawardhane	SL	11	11	2	548	115*	60.88	85.09	4/1
3	RT Ponting	AUS	11	9	1	539	113	67.37	95.39	4/1
4	SB Styris	NZ	10	9	3	499	111*	83.16	83.44	4/1
5	JH Kallis	SA	10	9	3	485	128*	80.83	83.91	3/1
6	ST Jayasuriya	SL	11	11	1	467	115	46.70	98.31	2/2
7	AC Gilchrist	AUS	11	11	1	453	149	45.30	103.89	2/1
8	KP Pietersen	ENG	9	9	1	444	104	55.50	81.02	3/2
9	GC Smith	SA	10	10	1	443	91	49.22	104.48	5/0
10	MJ Clarke	AUS	11	9	4	436	93*	87.20	94.98	4/0

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World Cup 2007 - Points Table

So friends the Super Eight stage has reached its last stages and we have the top four teams getting ready for the semifinals. As expected, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa have made it to the final four leaving behind the hosts West Indies and England. Even Bangladesh and the debutants Eire did put up a great fight but not great enough to secure them a spot in the semifinals

SUPER EIGHT

	Team	MP	W	D	L	PCF	Pts	NRR
	AUS	7	7	0	0	2	14	+2.40
	SL	7	5	0	2	2	10	+1.48
	NZ	7	5	0	2	2	10	+0.25
	SA	7	4	0	3	0	8	+0.31
	ENG	7	3	0	4	0	6	-0.39
	WI	7	2	0	5	2	4	-0.57
	BAN	7	1	0	6	0	2	-1.51
	IRE	7	1	0	6	0	2	-1.73

GROUP STAGE

Group A

	Team	MP	W	D	L	Pts	NRR
	AUS	3	3	0	0	6	+3.43
	SA	3	2	0	1	4	+2.40
	NET	3	1	0	2	2	-2.53
	SCO	3	0	0	3	0	-3.79

Group B

	Team	MP	W	D	L	Pts	NRR
	SL	3	3	0	0	6	+3.49
	BAN	3	2	0	1	4	-1.52
	IND	3	1	0	2	0	+1.21
	BER	3	0	0	3	0	-4.34

Group C

	Team	MP	W	D	L	Pts	NRR
	NZ	3	3	0	0	6	+2.14
	ENG	3	2	0	1	4	+0.42
	KEN	3	1	0	2	2	-1.19
	CAN	3	0	0	3	0	-1.39

Group D

	Team	MP	W	D	L	Pts	NRR
	WI	3	3	0	0	4	+0.76
	IRE	3	1	1	1	3	-0.09
	PAK	3	1	0	2	2	+0.09
	ZIM	3	0	1	2	1	-0.89

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Saurav Ganguly

Full name: Sourav Chandidas Ganguly
Nickname: Dada, Maharaj, Bengal Tiger, Prince of Calcutta, Lord Snooty
Born: July 8, 1972, Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal
Major teams: India, ACC Asian XI, Bengal, Glamorgan, Lancashire
Height: 5.11 ft
Education: St Xavier's College
Relations: Brother - Snehasish C Ganguly

Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

Test debut: England v India at Lord's - Jun 20-24, 1996

ODI debut: India v West Indies at Brisbane - Jan 11, 1992

Born on 8th July, 1972, Saurav Ganguly made his One Day International debut against Australia in 1992, and a Test debut versus England in 1996. He went on to become the captain of Indian cricket team from 2000 to 2005. He has led India to the World Cup 2003 finals, and holds the Indian captaincy record for the most Test victories. He was dropped from the national team in early 2006 due to conflicts with the then new coach Greg Chappell. He was recalled to the Indian Test side in December, to fill the position of a left handed batsman (Yuvraj Singh) who was injured. With reasonably consistant scores during the 2006 - 2007 Indian tour of South Africa, this could be remembered as his succesful comeback to international cricket

Some felt he couldn't play the bouncer, others swore that he was God on the off-side; some laughed at his lack of athleticism, others took immense pride in his ability to galvanise a side. Sourav Ganguly's ability to polarise opinion led to one of the most fascinating dramas in Indian cricket. Yet, nobody can dispute that he was India's most successful Test captain. When he took over the captaincy after the match-fixing exposes in 2000, he quickly proved to be a tough, intuitive and uncompromising leader. Under his stewardship India started winning Test matches away, and put together a splendid streak that took them all the way to the World Cup final in 2003.

His downfall began in Nagpur match ODI where he was withdrawn from the team. Then his consistent failures went side by side with the consistent failures of the Indian team, which was at its best in the upto 2003. The ban of 6 matches did the plot. Rahul Dravid became the captain which led to the remarkable revival of the team. The odd 20-30 runs didn't help Saurav and he was dropped from the team in October 2005. Seeing his then good performance in the English County Season and domestic cricket he was recalled to the team in December 2006. On January 12th 2007 he was recalled for the one day squad as well, where India play host to West Indies and Sri Lanka in a one day tournament. On January 21st, Ganguly hit a match winning 98 against the West Indies.
Also Visit http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/28779.html

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Anil Kumble

Full name: Anil Kumble
Nickname: Jumbo, Kumbles
Born: October 17, 1970, Bangalore, Karnataka
Major teams: India, ACC Asian XI, Karnataka, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Surrey
Education: Mechanical Engineer from R.V. College of Engineering

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Leg break googly

Test debut: India v England at Manchester - Aug 9-14, 1990

ODI debut: India v Sri Lanka at Sharjah - Apr 25, 1990

1996 - Wisden cricketer of the year 1996

PROFILE
He is one of those rare personalities in the cricket world who has the qualities of both a great player and a great person. Though stardom has always evaded Kumble, he has never felt sad or disappointed. Every delivery he bowls is with a new spirit and enthusiasm and onfeild behaviour is an example for others. His record list, which is a never ending list, speaks of him. In 1999 he became the first and the only Indian player to take all the 10 wickets in an innings, the feat performed only once before by Jim Laker back in 1955. Its Anil only who holds the Indian record of the most number of wickets in both ODI and test. Kumble also owns the Indian record of the most the test wins by a bowler.....disheartened

Anil Kumble who hails from Banglore in Karnataka, has his parental background in village Kumble situated in the Kasargod district of Kerala. After doing mechanical engineering from R.V. college of engineering he decided to take up cricket as his profession. He made his debut as a right arm medium pacer but soon established himself as a leg spinner. Due to this very reason, his bowls are nearer to the medium pace speed. By the year 1992 he had become a regular member of the national team owing to some spectacular regular performances.

The season 1995-96 was a golden period as Kumble's ODI perfomance was awesome. He took 61 wickets at an average of 20.24 and strike rate of just 4.06. It was same year in which the World cup was held in Asia. Owing to such great performance he was also named as the Wisden Cricketer of the year.

Anil Kumble is rather an unorthodox leg spinner. His deliveries have more of speed and less turn. With a clever mix of top-spinners, googlies, leg-breaks, flight and a variation of pace he has ability to frighten the best batsmen of the world. His flipper is one deadly deliveries which rather than hanging in the air speeds up after hitting the ground. His bowling ability can been seen by the no. of players he has dismissed by LBW's.

After arrival of Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble has been sidelined as a test player. He has been regularly been dropped from the ODI team though his place in the test squad has been firmly held by him. Even then he has been able to make to the Indian world cup squads in 1999, 2003 and now even in cricket world cup 2007. Recently he also announced that world cup would be his last ODI tournament.
View Anil Kumble's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/30176.html

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Zaheer Khan

Full name: Zaheer Khan
Nickname: Zak
Born: October 7, 1978, Shrirampur, Maharashtra
Major teams: India, ACC Asian XI, Baroda, Surrey, Worcestershire

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Left-arm fast-medium

Test debut: India v Bangladesh at Dhaka - Nov 10-13, 2000

ODI debut: India v Kenya at Nairobi (Gym) - Oct 3, 2000

Twenty20: Debut India v South Africa at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

PROFILE
Zaheer Khan has been one of the best findings of the Indian team. Zaheer who made his international debut in 2001, left his engineering studies in between to pursue a career in cricket. Showing great skills at the national arena, Zaheer was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Soon he made his international debut in both test and ODI in the same year.

Zaheer's impressive debut in the ICC Knockout, when two yorkers in three balls speared into the off stumps of Kenyan batsmen, heightened people's expectations. He lived to these expectations and took India to the finals of the world cup 2003. He ended the world cup as the fourth highest wicket taker with 18 wickets from 11 matches at an average of 20.

Zaheer holds the world record for the highest Test score by a number 11 when he scored 75 for India v Bangladesh in Dhaka, 2004. His partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which produced 133 runs is an Indian-record for the tenth-wicket. Also he hit 4 sixes off the last 4 bowls of the innings to Henry Olonga in Jodhpur which unveils his other potent dimension.

Zaheer Khan has the rare courage to bowl to all batsmen with the same aggressiveness and vigor. He has the talent to swing the ball both ways off the wicket and swing the old ball at the same pace. But after a hamstring injury in late 2003, Zaheer has lost both his pace and place in the team to the new pace generation. But a great English County Season, 2006 and Ranji Trophy, 2006 has got him a place in the national team of which he made the most. Now he is sure to be part of the Indian team for 2007 world cup. Good Luck Zaheer!
Veiw Zaheer's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/30102.html

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Irfan Pathan

Full name: Irfan Khan Pathan
Nickname: Guddu
Born: October 27, 1984, Baroda, Gujarat
Major teams: India, Baroda, Middlesex
Relations: Brother - YK Pathan

Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Left-arm medium-fast

Test debut: India v Australia at Adelaide - Dec 12-16, 2003

ODI debut: India v Australia at Melbourne - Jan 9, 2004

Twenty20 debut: India v South Africa at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

2004 - ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2004

PROFILE
Irfan Pathan was born to an impoverished father who served as a muezzin in a local mosque. Thus Irfan and his brother spent most of their childhood days in the mosque corridors. Irfan Pathan's parents wanted their sons to be Islamic scholars but the two brothers took more interest in cricket. Slowly and steadily Irfan developed his bowling skills. Irfan practiced for more than six hours daily to sharpen his cricketing skills. Soon under the guidance and supervision of the former Indian captain, Datta Gaekwad, Pathan was selected in the under-14 Baroda team.

Pathan, who rejoiced watching Wasim Akram bowling, made his first class debut at the age of 16 in the 2000-01 season. Soon in the year 2002 he was selected for the Under 19 world cup to be held New Zealand. His haul of 18 wickets in the U-19 Asian tournament got him selection in the national team. Pathan debut games in both the versions of the game were not so good but he came back strongly in both the versions. He earned his first man of the match award in his first ODI series only against Zimbabwe at Perth. After such a glorious start to the carrer, Pathan just blew away to new heights.

Before the team's departure to Pakistan in 2004, Javed Miandad commented that bowlers like Irfan could be found in every street of Pakistan. Pathan soon proved that Miandad had made a mistake as he ended the series as one of the top wicket-taker and helped India to secure its first series victory over Pakistan in two decades. Irfan's regular performances also earned him the prestigious award of the ICC Emerging Player of the Year 2004

Greg Chappel, who took over as the new team coach in 2005, saw Irfan as the the best allrounder in India's cricket history after Kapil Dev. He sparkled Irfan's batting skills and Irfan also showed results. His 83 vs Sri Lanka is one of his memorable innings. Since then Irfan has batted at all positions from opening slot to ninth down. But to his and our dismay, Irfan's form and pace, both have dropped since then. During 2006, for most of the time, he has remained out of the national team due to poor form. In December 2006, he became the first player to be sent back from a foreign tour when he was sent back from the tour of South Africa to find his form. Besides all this Pathan has been selected in the world cup 2007 squad owing to his past form and reputation.
View Irfan's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/32685.html

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MS Dhoni

Full name: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Nickname: Mahi
Born: July 7, 1981, Ranchi, Bihar
Major teams: India, Jharkhand, East Zone, Bihar

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium
Fielding position: Wicketkeeper

Test debut: India v Sri Lanka at Chennai - Dec 2-6, 2005

ODI debut: India v Bangladesh at Chittagong (MAA) - Dec 23, 2004

Twenty20 debut: India v South Africa at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

PROFILE
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, popularly known as Dhoni is an aggressive batsman with good wicketkeeping skills. This lad from the backwaters of Jharkhand and With Adam Gilcrist as his idol, started playing for Bihar in 1999 at the age of just 18 years. Initially his performance with both bat and gloves were only modest but he kept on improving. After regular good performances he was noticed by the national selectors and was selected to represent India 'A' on the tour of Kenya. No sooner he was selected to represent the national team and awarded by the BCCI with a B-grade contract.

Dhoni on entering the Indian team showed them how important was he for the team. In Dec. 2005 he hit an amazing 183 off just 145 deliveries against Sri Lanka, equaling Saurav Ganguly's score for the highest individual score by an Indian in Odi. He also hit 10 huge sixes and surpassed the previous Indian record of 7 and just short of world record of 11. Averaging over 50, he soon overtook the Aussie captain Ricky Ponting as number one in the ICC ODI batsmen ranking, in Apr2006 but was soon dethroned. But even then he stills continues to be in the top 10.

In such a short time Dhoni has already written a list of records in his name, which is expected to expand by multiples in future. Such performances have ousted the likes of Dinesh Kartick and Parthiv Patel and Dhoni has taken over the responsibility of the Indian wicketkeeper cum batsman. Since then this man has never looked back and has become the most beloved player of all Indian cricket fans. The chicks have been fida on him due to his great looks and not to forget his long hair.

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Dinesh Karthik

Full name: Krishna Kumar Dinesh Karthik
Born: June 1, 1985, Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu
Major teams: India, India A, India Under-19s, Indian Board President's XI, Tamil Nadu

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Fielding position: Wicketkeeper

Test debut: India v Australia at Mumbai - Nov 3-5, 2004

ODI debut: England v India at Lord's - Sep 5, 2004

Twenty20 debut: South Africa v India at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

PROFILE
Dinesh Karthik started playing cricket at the age of 10 under the coaching of his father Krishna Kumar. His father, a first division cricket player from Chennai always wanted his son to excel in cricket. He had suffered when he was forced to put studies ahead of cricket and didn't want his son to face the same. So training under his father, Karthik, made his first class debut at a young age of 17 for Tamil Nadu. Initially he was just a batsman but he added wicketkeeping to his game to give himself better future prospects. Robin Singh also regarded him as having very high level of fitness.

In his first first class season, Karthik couldn't make a mark. Though his batting was pretty good and he averaged over 35, his regular mistakes behind the wicket went against him and he was dropped for the final matches. So to improve his wicketkeeping he joined an off-season wicketkeeping camp under the guidance of India's former wicketkeeper and the then chief selector Kiran More. He came back as a better and wicketkeeper and batsman as he accumulated 438 runs and took 20 catches. This also included a century in both semi-final and final of the Ranji Trophy.

Despite such good performances, Dinesh was ignored for the South Zone team for the Duleep Trophy. But Dinesh Karthik continued his good run as he scored a gritty 70 off 39 balls in the under 19 cricket world cup in Bangladesh. At last Kartik was selected in the national team after the selectors decided to cease using Rahul Dravid as a part time wicketkeeper. So he made his ODI debut in sept, 2004 but was out for just 1 run. His continuing batting slump forced the selectors to drop him and the lad from the state of Jharkhand, MS Dhoni took over his place in the one day side.

Karthik made his test debut in the late 2004 against Australia after Parthiv Patel was dropped due to poor form. Though he could add only 16 runs and 2 catches to his kitty, he was praised for his wonderful wicketkeeping. His memorable innings came in early 2005 when he scored an outstanding 93 against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. However his batting didn't show the required promise and MS Dhoni took over his place.

After being dropped from both the teams, Karthik remained out of international arena for over a year. Meantime he played first class cricket to improve his batting skills. Owing to his regular good performances at the first class level, Karthik was recalled to the ODI team in April, 2006 mainly to give Dhoni some rest. With Yuvraj Singh injured in late 2006, he was included in the team as a specialist batsman. Though he was not played in all the matches, he proved himself in every game he played. He even bagged his first man of the match for his score of 63 against WestIndies at the Barabati Stadium. Such good form has also awarded this youngster a place in the Indian squad for the world cup 2007
View Karthik's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/30045.html

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Yuvraj Singh

Full name: Yuvraj Singh
Nickname: Yuvi
Born: December 12, 1981, Chandigarh
Major teams: India, Punjab, Yorkshire
Relations: Father - B Yograj Singh

Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Slow left-arm orthodox

Test debut: India v New Zealand at Chandigarh - Oct 16-20, 2003

ODI debut: Kenya v India at Nairobi (Gym) - Oct 3, 2000

PROFILE
Yuvraj Singh is primarily a left-handed batsman but can bowl part-time left-arm orthodox spin. This flamboyant batsman first came into attention when he made a dashing 358 captaining the the Punjab U-19 team in the final of the Cooch-Behar Trophy against Bihar U-19s. Owing to his superb performance he was then selected in the U-19 national team for the world cup to be held in Sri Lanka in 1999 under the captaincy of Mohammad Kaif. Being part of the winning team of the U-19 world cup, Yuvraj Singh was chosen in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

Yuvraj made a classy start to his international career. It was his second ODI, when he made a quickfire 84 off 82 and that too against the Aussies studded with bowlers like McGrath, Lee and Gillespie. But after that innings he subsequently dropped from the team due to his poor form. But soon he made a wonderful return to the team with a score of 98 against the Lankans. One of his most memorable innings was a partnership with Mohammad Kaif in the NatWest Series final against England in July 2002 which led India to victory and it cemented his place in the Indian team.

The 2005-06 season proved to be a watershed for Yuvraj, with 1161 runs at 58 in the one-dayers, as he transformed himself into one of the keystones in India's batting line-up. Besides being a gifted batsman, Yuvraj is a great fielder also. Very often he can be seen standing at the Jonty Rhodes Corner. He has the ability to take stunning catches and make awesome stops. A Cricinfo report published in late 2005 showed that since 1999, he was the fourth most prolific fielder in effecting ODI run outs, and of those on the list of prolific fielders, he had the second highest rate of effecting a run out. Even he also a good part time bowler who has the ability to take wickets. After having a great 2005-06 season he was out of action for oer three months due to knee injury and made his return in January, 2006.

Though being such a talented player Yuvraj has had a number of critics. Many complain about his attitude. Also he attracted attention by angry gesticulations to the Indian dressing room after he reached his century against West Indies, which was postulated to be due to his clashes with team management - Greg Chappell had been appointed as the new Indian coach and he had criticised Yuvraj. He later praised Chappell's techniques.

Owing to his great personality, Yuvraj was signed by Microsoft to be a brand ambassador for the Xbox 360 video game console when it was launched in India in 2006. He appeared in advertisements for the console alongside Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. A cricket game with his endorsement, Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007, was announced for release in 2007 in India. Besides this Yuvraj has also walked down the ramp in various fashion shows alongside other celebrities and models.
Veiw Yuvraj's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/36084.html

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Ajit Agarkar

Full name: Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar
Born: December 4, 1977, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Major teams: India, Middlesex, Mumbai

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium

Test debut: Zimbabwe v India at Harare - Oct 7-10, 1998

ODI debut: India v Australia at Kochi - Apr 1, 1998

Twenty20 debut: South Africa v India at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

PROFILE
Ajit Agarkar gave a speedy start to his career as he became the fastest to reach 50 wickets in One Day Internationals. But such speed was accompanied by batting slump of 7 ducks in a row against Australia. Besides them he has many records to his name. He holds the world record of being the quickest in terms taking least no. of matches in reaching the feat of 200 wickets and completeing 1000 runs in ODI. He completed this feat in 133 matches breaking the previous record held by Shaun Pollock in 138. He also holds the fastest Indian record of hiiting a ODI half-century, hitting it in just 21 balls

Agarkar was born in the Shivaji Park area of Mumbai and was raised by his grandparents. He from the starting took interest in cricket. Agarkar, at the school level, was a top order batsman who could bowl a bit. Once he was made to open the bowling attack and he performed well. So he started opening the bowling attack. When he played at the state level, he was an allrounder. At the national level, under the captainship of Md. Azharuddin he was a bowler and a lower order batsman. But by the time Azhar left, he was left as a pacer and a tailender.

Agarkar records in the one day arena has been a good one. When he is to his terms he can take quick wickets. But in other cases he can expensive. Though a lean and not so tall personality, unlike other quicks, he has the rare talent to swing the ball both ways and generate a speed of 140 kph regularly. Agarkar's run in test matches has been disappointing. Besides some good performances he has not been able to make a mark in the longer version of the game. But he too has to his name the unbeaten test century at Lords in 2002, while batting at eighth number.

Agarkar, besides being such a good bowler has been in and out of the team, sometimes due to form, in other cases due to injury. Since now he has made nine comebacks in the national team and won the match of the award in 5 of these comebacks. But he has been able to make to all the three world cups, since he made his international debut in 1998. Though he played only 3 matches in the 1999 world cup and not even a single match in 2003 world cup, he is expected to spearhead the Indian bowling attack allong with Zaheer Khan in the Cricket world cup 2007.

View Ajit Agarkar's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/26184.html

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Sachin Tendulkar

Full name: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Nickname: Tendlya, Little Master, Master Blaster, Slashin Sachin, The Bombay Bomber, 10dulkar, 4+6=10dulkar
Born: April 24, 1973, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra
Major teams: India, ACC Asian XI, Mumbai, Yorkshire
Height: 5.05 ft
Education: Sharadashram Vidyamandir School

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Legbreak googly

Test debut: Pakistan v India at Karachi - Nov 15-20, 1989

ODI debut: Pakistan v India at Gujranwala - Dec 18, 1989

Only Twenty20 Int.: South Africa v India at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1997
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 1997-98
Padma Shri 1999

PROFILE

The name, Sachin Tendulkar, itself spells excellence. It won't be wrong to call him a genius batsman. He became the first batsmen to reach the 50 centuries mark in international cricket and at present leads the list of the number of runs scored in ODI cricket. He is the best ever batsman in the Indian cricket history and can be called second only to the legendry cricketer Sir Donald Bradman. His bravery was proved after he was hit on the head on his Test debut in Pakistan, when he was only 16; and his commitment to the Indian cause has never been in doubt.

Sachin, born in a middle class Rajapur Saraswat Brahmins community in Bombay, now known as Mumbai, was named after his family's favorite music director Sachin Dev Burman. His late father Ramesh Tendulkar was a Marathi novelist. He was encouraged to play cricket by his elder brother, Ajit Tendulkar. While at school, he was involved in an unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who also went on to represent India. He also became the only player to score a century while making his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debut before entering the international arena.

Tendulkar's debut in both test and one day cricket was disappointing but he soon showed signs that he is the best out there. Tendulkar, succeeded Mohammad Azharuddin as captain and led India on a tour of Australia, where the visitors were comprehensively beaten 3-0 [5] by the newly-crowned world champions. After another Test series defeat, this time by a 0-2 margin at home against South Africa, Tendulkar resigned, and Sourav Ganguly took over as captain in 2000. In the CWC1996 he scored with an awesome average and scored 673 runs in the CWC2003 to win the Man of the series award. Shane Warne, the Australian cricketer once ruefully joked that he was having nightmares about his Indian nemesis.

But after all these things he has always been in a grip of injuries. A chronic back problem flared up when Pakistan toured India in 1999. Tennis elbow then took its toll on Tendulkar, leaving him out of the side for the first two Tests when Australia toured India in 2004. In 2006 again he remained out of action for over 2 months following shoulder injury. After recovering from this injury he has returned to the team but can't be said in top of his form. But even then he it can't be said Tendulkar is finished. Let's hope that like the previous world cup, Tendulkar becomes the largest runs scorer and helps India bring world cup 2007 home.

Also visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachin_Tendulkar

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Robin Uthappa

Full name Aiyudda Robin Uthappa
Born November 11, 1985, Coorg, Karnataka
Major teams India, India Under-19s, Karnataka, Reebok XI

Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Fielding position Wicketkeeper

ODI debut India v England at Indore - Apr 15, 2006

PROFILE
Son of an international hockey referee, Venu Uthappa, Robin is a very promising cricket. In his international debut only he scored a illustrious 86 before being run out. It is the highest score by an Indian on his international debut in the limited overs game. Robin Uthappa was initially a wicketkeeper-batsman. But to concentrate on batting more, he gave up wicketkeeping and started bowling medium pace.

Robin Uthappa's batting is a treat to watch. He is a batsman who is not afraid to play his shots and has all type of shots in his book. He has the ability to hit huge sixes along with lofty fours. Besides this he is not a batsman who settles down before playing his shots. Besides this he is also quick on the field.

He scores at a speed of over run a ball. Uthappa first class record is just a modest one where he averages a so-so 32. But when it comes to the limited overs version he has something to say with his averages touching the forty mark and strike rate of over 93. He first came into limelight when he scored a brilliant 66 for India B against India A in the Challenger Trophy in 2005. But a blistering ton off 93 balls in the very next edition of the same tournament showed his ability to strike the ball.

After giving a remarkable start to his international career with a 86 on debut, his next two outings weren't great. Subsequently he was dropped from the side but he did return to the squad in Jan, 2007 for the series against West Indies. Here again he proved his mettle with fifty. He smashed 70 from just 41 deliveries. Recently he has been included in the Indian squad for the world cup 2007 to be held in West Indies and is the only one who is yet to make his test debut. He is expected to open the innings there.
View Robin's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/35582.html

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Virender Sehwag

Full name: Virender Sehwag
Nicknames: Viru, Nawab of Najafgarh, Sultan of Multan
Born: October 20, 1978, Delhi
Major teams: India, ACC Asian XI, Delhi, ICC World XI, Leicestershire, Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

Test debut: South Africa v India at Bloemfontein - Nov 3-6, 2001

ODI debut: India v Pakistan at Chandigarh (Punjab C.A.) - Apr 1, 1999

Twenty20 debut: India v South Africa at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

2005 Selected in the ICC World XI for the 2005 ICC Super Series
2005 "Most exciting opener in the world" by Wisden

PROFILE
This dashing batsman has everything in his batting which the spectators enjoy- huge sixes, lofty shots, straighter straight drives, powerful backfoot punches and not to forget the aggresiveness. Virender Sehwag, son of a grain merchant was born in Delhi. Academically poor, he pestered his parents to pursue a carrer in cricket. But at the age of 12, when he broke his tooth while playing cricket, his father tried to end his carrer but with help of mother Krishna Sehwag he was able to continue playing. Sehwag made his debut in first class cricket in 1997-98 season playing for Delhi. The very next season he was selected to represent the north zone and he also made his ODI debut. His regular performances at the national and international level made him a regular member of the Indian team.

After making ODI debut in 1999, Sehwag made his first fifty agianst Australia in his fourth match scoring at a strike rate of over 100. But it took some time for Sehwag to score a century which came in 2001 only. But it was a hundred of just 69 balls and it earned him his first man of the match award. Since then he became the permanent member of the Indian team and played at the opening slot mainly with Sachin or Saurav.

In tests, Sehwag got a flying start, hitting a ton on his debut. He was awarded one match suspension in his second match for over appealing which became a political issue. The failure of experiments with other players for the opening slot awarded him the a new position which took him to new heights. In early 2004 he became the only Indian to cross the triple century mark(which he completed with a six) scoring 309 against Pakistan at Multan. His other memorable innings is 254 vs Pakistan at Lahore sharing the second best opening stand with skipper Rahul Dravid.

Since 2005 Sehwag has been on a drier side. His one day form has been dreadful. He was even dropped from the team in the early Jan-Feb, 2007 due to his poor form. He was selected in the final 15 Indian squad for the world cup 2007 to be held in WestIndies only due to Rahul Dravid's immense confidence on him. Besides batting, Sehwag is a handy offspinner also who has the knack to take wickets at odd times.

Sehwag who has his idol in Sachin Tendulkar, has much in common to him. His straight drives, backfoot punches, leg glances often reminds you of the old Sachin. Besides cricket Sehwag also opened a resturant named Sehwag favourites at Fun Republic cineplex in 2005 , here also following his idol. Sehwag also does a lot of charity work for Unicef. He donated for the tsunami victoms, auctioning his bat for Rs.70000 with which he had hit the triple century.
Veiw Sehwag's stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/35263.html

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Sreesanth

Full name: Shanthakumaran Sreesanth
Nicknmes: Gopu, Kerala express, The Prince of hat-tricks
Born: February 6, 1983, Kothamangalam, Kerala
Major teams: India, Kerala, Kerala Under-19s

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium

Test debut: India v England at Nagpur - Mar 1-5, 2006

ODI debut: India v Sri Lanka at Nagpur - Oct 25, 2005

Twenty20 debut: India v South Africa at Johannesburg - Dec 1, 2006

PROFILE
"To me, the find of the series for India has undoubtedly been Sreesanth and irrespective of what happens, this lad has the ability to go a long way and serve his country with merit and distinction." This is what Moin Khan said after the 3rd test at Multan. Blessed with unique capability to swing the ball late and generate sudden movement off the pitch, Sreesanth's rise has been quite rapid. Since making a debut he has usually been a regular member of the national team and at many times spearheaded the bowling attack.

Sreesanth was initially a leg-spinner and being a great fan of Anil Kumble, he tried to copy his bowling action. But his habit of bowling the yorkers forced him to convert to pace bowling. Sreesanth made his first class debut in the year 2002-03 against Goa. His fine bowling and large haul of wickets earned him place in the South Zone Team for the Duleep Trophy in the very same season- a feat accomplished by many few cricketers. But during a warm -up match against the touring New Zealand team he suffered a hamstring injury which kept him out for a month. But he returned with much more energy and claimed his first Ranji hat-trick against Himachal, also the first one for Kerala in Ranji Trophy ever. This also earned him the nickname The 'Prince of hat-tricks' among the Keralites.

In his international ODI debut in Oct, 2005, Sreesanth was a bit expensive during the opening overs but he later came back to take two wickets. He was subsequently dropped from the playing eleven before being recalled for the fourth, fifth and sixth ODI. But Sreesanth's good performances starting coming after the Tour of Pakistan in 2006 where in the last match he ended with a figures of 4/58. In the very next home series against England, Sreesanth earned his first man of the match award.

It took a long 5 months for Sreesanth to make a test debut after making his international debut. Sreesanth was included in the squad at the expense of Zaheer Khan for the Ist test at Nagpur against England in 2006. He recorded figures of 4/95 on his debut. After that he went to the tour of West Indies as the leading pace bowler. But it the tour of South Africa,2006 after which he rose to fame, helping India to score its first test win on South African soil. Besides this he has been fined by the ICC twice, once for breaching the ICC logo policy and the other time for sending South African Batsman Hashim Amla back after dismissing him. He has also been involved in a spat while batting with pacer Andre Nel, responding to the taunt of the fast bowler by charging the next delivery, hitting for a six and the most of it, running and swinging his bat after Nel to perform dance(Video can be seen below)

Besides cricket Sreesanth has varied talents and interests. He is an accomplished break dancer who has even won a national award for this in the eighth standard. He also good at playing football, table tennis and hockey. Also he is capable of speaking Tamil, Hindi and English besides his mother tongue Malayalam. Another fact about Sreesanth - he studies psychology at university when not playing cricket.

View his stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/34274.html

Sreesanth swinging his bat

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Munaf Patel

Full name: Munaf Musa Patel
Born: July 12, 1983, Ikhar, Gujarat
Major teams: India, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Indian Board President's XI, Reebok XI

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium-fast

Test debut: India v England at Mohali - Mar 9-13, 2006

ODI debut: India v England at Margao - Apr 3, 2006

PROFILE
Born in a anti-cricket family, Munaf can be indisputably said as the fastest pacer this pace-starved nation has found. Much before he made his first class debut, he was invited to join the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai after Kiran More saw him practising at nets. While he trained under the legendary Australian player Dennis Lillee, he even surprised the all time great, Steve Waugh, with his pace. The surprised and impressed fellow shot out 'This bloke's quick, where did he come from.

While Munaf trained at the MRF Pace Academy, he even impressed the Little Master - Sachin Tendulkar. Seeing his tremendous abilities, Tendulkar asked him to join the Mumbai team. So before Munaf could debut for Baroda or Gujrat he had been transferred to Mumbai. Even then the road ahead was not clear. Before he could make his first class debut from Mumbai, he was made the strike bowler for the team as Avishkar Salvi was down with an injury and Ajit Agarkar was playing for the national team. Even then he took a respectable haul of 14 wickets in his first season.

Regular performances at the national level - not to forget 10 wickets against England while playing from Board's President XI, at last earned him a place in the national team. Patel recorded an awesome figures of 7/97 on his debut with 4 wickets in the second innings, a feat rarely accomplished. He bowled regularly at a speed of over 87 mph and touching the 90 mph regularly. But its his pace along with control on line and length that he was able to rip through the English line up. Again when West Indies toured India he proved his mettle by bowling at over 85mph with control regularly. But during the same series he was forced to face the dishonour of being hit for 6 fours in an over by Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Though Munaf has been the fastest Indian pacer unearthed till now, his injuries are a worrying factor. He has been surrounded by a stint of injuries in his early career only. His rounded bowling action, unsteady head and other reasons has kept him injured most of the time. He missed most of the 2004-05 season playing only three games due to various injuries and was written off by many. He was even sent to the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra for bio-mechanical tests on his bowling action. Munaf was also down due to sore ankle for over two months in the late 2006 and missed almost whole of the tour of South Africa. Due to these varied injuries his speed has dropped from the quick 145 kph to a normal 130 kph. Besides this he isn't quick on the field, another point against him. Even then he has been picked for the world cup 2007 to be held in the Caribbeans. Bets of luck Munaf!
View his stats at http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/32965.html

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