Gambhir-Sachin-Azhar-Aus-Ind

Gambhir's formula for success in Australia

India's dashing batsman Gautam Gambhir has devised a simple formula to be successful in Australian conditions in the ongoing cricket tri-series -- see the ball, hit the ball and play in the 'V'.

The young Gambhir, the lone centurion in the series so far with a 99-ball unbeaten 102 against Sri Lanka at Brisbane last Tuesday, said the conditions Down Under were conducive for strokeplay and he preferred to meet the ball on the front foot. "The plan is simple, see the ball, hit the ball and play in the 'V'. The conditions here give a batsman full value for his strokes though (admittedly) you need a lot of courage and determination," said Gambhir, who joined the Indian squad for the Twenty20 and tri-series matches.

"There is a lot of talk that when you come to Australia you play on the backfoot all the time. But if you ask me, the plan should be to meet the ball on the front foot", he said.

The Delhi batsman admitted that going on the front foot against genuine fast bowlers like Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson may not be easy.

"It's difficult to get on to the front foot when you are facing genuine quick bowlers like Brett Lee or Mitchell Johnson but there is very little chance when you are sitting on the backfoot," he added.

Unlike most of his team-mates, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gambhir has experience of playing in Australia as well as of facing some of the quicks who are now part of their national squad.

"I had played in Australia for India 'A' before and have faced the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait. I did well then and to be honest, I have never felt this confident before," Gambhir said.

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There can only be one Azhar On his 45th birthday, Gautam Sheth tries to touch the wristygenius life of a fallen hero. "Yaa!! The boys played well" with an upright collar of the shirt was his trademark or call it a copyright. Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin or Azza as you call him has turned 45 today. Rather call it a fit 45 years old today.

Even at 45 years Azhar can give many youngsters in the cricketing fraternity a run for their money. If you get a chance to go to the CCI and if you spot the stylish Hyderabadi, you will be surprised to see the number of rounds he takes of the ground.

He can appositely be called destiny's child. His brush with the recipe of life, luck and love has been nothing short of a Bollywood winner. No batsman in the world even with immense talent has been able to achieve some of the feats Azzabhai has pulled off. Scoring three centuries in the first three tests of the career is a feat achieved by none other.

He still is the proud owner of the record of the fastest century by an Indian in ODI. His 62-ball mayhem was borne by the Kiwis in 1988. He jointly shares the fastest century by an Indian in Test match with Kapil Dev. The 74-ball century came against a hapless South African bowling comprised of 'White Lightning' Allan Donald and a fresh Lance Klusener. This century came at his favourite Eden Garden in 1996-97.

But his game was not about wham bam. He was an artist at work. Cricket experts as well as his fans and a general cricket lover would remember him for his pristine wrist-abled strokes. The way this former banker batted made batting look an unreasonably easy job.

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Sachin Tendulkar offers tips to youngsters

Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar offered tips to younger members of the Indian team in the first outdoor session which the players managed here on Thursday evening after a long lay-off due to rains.

Struck by persistent rain in the last one week in Melbourne and Brisbane which restricted them to unfinished games and indoor nets, the visitors had their first full-blown nets at the MCG with Tendulkar having ears of star-struck youngsters of the team.

No sooner than the trainer John Gloster had made the squad go through their stretching exercises, Tendulkar took Robin Uthappa and Suresh Raina aside and spoke at length about the conditions and pitches which they would come up against in the coming weeks.

Tendulkar then reserved a good part of his discourse for Rohit Sharma who seemed eager to latch on to the pearls of wisdom from the great man. Indeed Sharma made sure that he was tackling the deliveries in the desired manner by having his batting video-taped by team's computer analyst Dhananjay.

Lalchand Rajput, assistant manager of the team, said "Sachin has so much of experience and he is eager to share it with the youngsters. They would benefit greatly by his advice." Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni appeared to enjoy himself in bowling to Raina and later spoke at length to a few youngsters on how to play short-pitched deliveries on these surfaces.

The youngsters, by the looks of it, appeared relaxed and after an extensive session of nets, headed for the middle of the MCG and did some practice in the field. Yuvraj Singh, despite his failure, too looked relaxed and eagerly participated in the nets.

"Yuvraj and Dhoni have played important roles for India in one-dayers. Yuvraj, I am sure, would soon be displaying his best form," said Rajput. Rajput was almost grateful for the first outdoor nets which his team could have at the MCG today.

"Before the nets, I spoke to the team members and wanted them to make the most of the first outdoor nets which were now available to them." India team will practice on Friday morning and would want to be in the best shape for the game on Sunday when they take on Australia in the fourth tri-series match at the MCG. Sachin Tendulkar offers tips to youngsters

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India occupies 4th spot in ICC ODI rankings

Team India occupies the fourth spot in the latest ICC Cricket Rankings for ODIs with 110 points while world champions Australia leads the pack with 130 points. Among the batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar is the highest ranked Indian at the ninth spot. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is next on rank 11 while Yuvraj Singh is at 15.

Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting occupies the top spot, followed by Andrew Symonds and South African captain Graeme Smith at the second and third spots respectively. However, no Indian features in top twenty in the the bowling list which is headed by Kiwi fast bowler Shane Bond.

His compatriot Daniel Vettori is at the second spot while Aussie spearhead Brett Lee is at third. Nathan Bracken and Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who are at the fourth and fifth spots respectively, complete the top five. Sanath Jayasuriya heads the list for all-rounders with Andrew Symonds a close second. Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik is third with Jacques Kallis and West Indian Chris Gayle at the fourth and fifth spots

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'India-Australia bigger than Ashes'

Former India captain Ravi Shastri feels Australia's cricket rivalry with India has upstaged their traditional Ashes contests against England. Speaking of the current India tour's financial benefit to Australian cricket, Shastri said it was "bigger than the Ashes." The Indian television rights to the series were huge with the triangular one-day series alone believed to have been worth about $50 million.

Former Australian batsman Dean Jones agreed. "The biggest cricket tournament in the world is India versus Australia. We will earn five to 10 times what we will earn off our Ashes series," Jones told 'The Age.' "Television rights. It's not about bums on seats; you make your dough, about 70 per cent of your income comes from TV. It is massive." Australia's recent dominance of the sport had fostered a fierce drive among India's young players to compete against it, Shastri said.

"The young kids who are coming on the block now from India, they're right in your face, they're not overawed by names and reputations. The bottom line is they want to compete against the best sides in the world," Shastri said at a Lindsay Hassett Club lunch. "And that's the biggest difference. Respect Australia for the way they play but we're not out there to just fill in the numbers; they're out there to compete. And that's the attitude they bring to the table. If there's one team competing against Australia, it's India."

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‘Better to be friends with Lara, Sachin’ Aussie spin legend Shane Warne says sledging was an effective tactic to intimidate any batsman barring the two .

It was “better to be friends” with Sachin Tendulkar than sledge him, says former leg-spinner Shane Warne of his contest with the Indian batting maestro, even though the Australian believed that sledging without abusing opponents is fine.

“I found it an extremely effective tactic against an insecure batsman who could be intimidated. South Africa’s Darryl Cullinan springs to mind as a good player who was not confident against Australia, particularly leg spin,” Warne wrote in his column in The Times. “On the other hand, with Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, it was better to be friends and make them smile rather than wind them up,” he said.

Tendulkar and Warne are known to be friends off the field. Even after being thrashed mercilessly by Tendulkar on Australia’s tour of India in late 1990s and famously in a one-day tournament in Sharjah besides elsewhere, Warne has remained friends with him. Warne also disclosed that he called Tendulkar up after he scored a century in the fourth and final Test of the series in Adelaide.

“Tendulkar batted brilliantly for his hundred in Adelaide. I am pleased that he marked his last Test in Australia that way,” he said. “I spoke to him before the game and we reminisced about going to see Sir Donald Bradman together many years ago. Sachin has been a great ambassador and he deserved to leave on a strong personal note.”