Last time India came to Australia.. Now Neither Bhaji or Simo will feautre.

Whenever India and Australia meet a buzz around the cricketing community occurs. The fact that I am a neutral in this series doesn’t stop the interest I have for this upcoming Boxing Day clash at the legendary MCG; doesn’t get much better for a cricket nut.

The beauty of the Boxing Day Test is the build up and then the actual match which always pans out completely differently in comparison to the headlines a few days before the contest. So no one can quite predict what will actually happen as there is so much pressure on the players.

After the match is completed everyone will realise there are three more tests to go. India or Australia; who will stamp their authority?

For me Australia get the first advantage and that is because it’s their home series and we all know that the Australians at home are a tough beast to tame. The pitches which are true, fast and bouncy, are features that the Aussies are accustomed to and the Indians will struggle with the pitches. Although the Indian fan will say that India’s batting is world class and will be able to handle the tough conditions.

The big three from India; Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman will have to lead the way as they are experienced pros at this level. Looking at the recent series between the Black caps and Australia, the ball will move around so India’s batting will face a steep challenge. Batting is India’s strength and Australia will go hard at them especially with tall swing bowlers like Pattinson, and possibly Hilfenhaus, who will challenge India.

Looking at the bowling attacks of both sides, Australia has the upper hand; they have more pace and more form. Pattinson is bowling well, Siddle looks good and the offspinner Lyon has impressed everyone. India has a weaker bowling attack but some of their young guns like Yadav are very capable. Guys like Ishant Sharma, who was the best bowler last time around in Australia, could trouble the Aussie batsmen with his height and seam movement but he needs to find rhythm. Zaheer Khan is badly needed by India, he has shown in the past to be a class bowler early in the innings with swinging the new ball and then reverse swing with the old ball; if he stays fit he could be the difference.

Australia’s batting will fancy their chances against a moderate Indian bowling attack but they need confidence to do that and by looking at the last 12 to 18 months there is not much to be confident about for the Aussie batsmen. There is a major collapse every few innings it feels these days for the Aussies so India will know that and should try to take early wickets and put pressure on guys like Ponting and Hussey who are not in great touch. Also the inclusion of Ed Cowan as and hopefully a fit Shaun Marsh will give the line-up a new look compared to the last few months. However, this means the team isn’t really settled, which gives the Indian side an opportunity to pounce.

Guys to look out for…

Nathan Lyon – he has impressed so far but his greatest test to date will be against the skilful Indian batsmen starting on Boxing Day.

Ricky Ponting – many want him out of the side but don’t count Punter out. By the way he is due and I recall him getting consecutive double tons against……………………………………………… India!

Virat Kohli – tipped to be the next superstar, Kohli is a stylish player with all the shots, and he’s in some good form. This is his chance to make his mark on the big stage.

Virender Sehwag – the most destructive opener these days and if he gets going he could put India well and truly on the front foot.

My Prediction

I believe this Test series will be an exciting one because to me the bowlers will decide it. The pitches will assist the bowlers and the batsmen will be kept honest and based on the bowling I believe Australia have the upper hand. So with no real confidence out of four Tests, I think there will be one draw and a 2-1 win to Australia. That’s a safe bet but I really think India have a chance if they bowl well.

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Do England deserve #1 status after dominating India?

The current enthralling test series between England and India in England has sparked a certain amount of debate and banter on the topic of who really is the number one test team in the world. Officially in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings India hold the number one spot, so what is the fuss about?

To counter that argument the English supporters will say that England is the number one test team and not India. This point of view is backed up by the opinion that England has been the more dominant side over the last 12 to 18 months where they overpowered Australia in Australia, which is a monumental achievement in Test Cricket.

To add to this the ‘poms’ corner will add India have not earned the number one ranking as they have played against the same teams over again and played on flat wickets that the likes of Sewhag and Tendulkar star on. Is this a fair assessment?

Well if you look back to the 2010/2011 season India did not lose any Test series, they won all of their home series and drew their away series. The most challenging series was India’s tour to South Africa where all three matches were full of ‘ups and downs’.

Looking at that season India has done well and it’s hard to say they do not deserve the top spot. Although what many are saying is that India need to bet Australia in Australia to take that next step. In the same season the English have had impressive Test series wins over Australia (away) and Sri Lanka at home.

To be honest both sides have number one qualities.

After these types of discussions, it is important to note when they came about. It is quite obvious that this issue was highlighted right after England won the first Test in the current series, which the hosts lead two-zip. World number one India was exposed to say the least, not talent wise but the all-round professionalism of the team.

The preparation was poor for this major series and it led to the leader of the bowling attack, Zaheer Khan, getting injured on day one. This was criticised by all experts who took the opinion of India not acting like a number one team. The scrutiny was immense, from the English Television commentators having a laugh about some of the Indian players ‘putting a few pounds on’ to Sanjay Manjrekar (former Indian cricketer) saying that India need to change their approach to fitness and preparation.

So which team takes the top spot? Well according to my good friend Morne in South Africa it is the Proteas. But honestly India is the number one team in the world, no doubt about it, I know. Do you know why I know? Because it’s official, go check the ICC website. For now India are number one and if the poms don’t like it then all they have to do is win this series by a margin of two tests. Good luck to the lads, that’s about it though.

India and England will clash today in one of the most heavily anticipated test matches and series in recent memory.

The amount of statistical value for this match has been heavily documented over the past week. But in case you don’t know, not only is it the 2000^th international test match to be played, but it is also the 100^th test between India and England.

To further add to that is the fact that Indian legend, Sachin Tendulkar, currently sits on 99 test hundreds going into this match.

It’s at Lords, the home of cricket, and represents what should be the start of a thrilling contest between first and second in the world.

Effectively, if England wins the four match series by a margin of two or more tests, they will overtake the Indians in the number one test ranking.

Out of the 99 tests played between the two nations thus far, England hold a commanding advantage at 34 wins to India’s 19, with 46 draws.

India also has a poor record in England. They’ve only managed to muster up five wins out of 48 tests matches in the country.

However, from the 42 tests played post the 1980’s, it is India who has won more matches – holding a slight advantage of 12 wins to England’s 8, with 22 drawn.

So as can be seen, these sides don’t mind a draw (might fancy a punt on that result!).

The teams are balanced fairly evenly and have decent form coming into the series.

The Bowling

If one had to choose the main difference between the two sides though, you might say England’s bowling attack is stronger than India’s.

The combination of Anderson, Swann, Tremlett and either Broad or Bresnan is sure to cause problems for the Indian top order.

There has been some selection debate over whom out of Broad and Bresnan will be picked for the third seamer. However, I think most would agree that Bresnan has performed the best (at least in tests), over the past year or so.

Whilst on the other hand, whilst India will have the mercurial Zaheer Khan back, their other four seamers aren’t assured of a place. Ishant Sharma was good against the Windies and will probably get the nod, but that third seamers spot battle between Praveen Kumar and Sressanth is probably what gives England the edge.

The Batting

In terms of the batting, both line ups are strong.

England has one of the best opening partnerships in world cricket with Strauss and Cook. The likes of Bell and Pietersen will sure up the middle order. All of those players carry good form as well.

Johnny Trott at number three has been a rock for the national side in the past year and a bit. He doesn’t always score the fanciest of runs, but boy is he effective. If India let this lad get a start, he’s shown that he will punish you.

India will virtually play a completely different top six to that in the West Indies. Gambhir, Tendulkar and Yuvraj all look like coming back into the squad. Add to that Laxman, Dravid and Dhoni and you might start salivating a little.

The question for India will be which two batsmen to include out of the combination of Raina, Mukund and Yuvraj.

Raina scored a wonderful hundred in the tour match against Somerset, however, are India prepared to give him an opener’s birth with Mukund holds? Probably not. So if it does come down to Yuvraj and Raina, that will be interesting, cause both can be dangerous and both have some quite decent bowling. Maybe throw Dravid to open for Mukund?

The X-Factor

James Anderson

Anderson has become one of the premium fast bowlers on the planet in recent years. His ability to swing the ball both ways and find consistently dangerous lengths will cause trouble for the Indians no doubt. However, the issue for Anderson is his average against India is over 32, so he’ll see this series as to prove himself against another top quality side.

Zaheer Khan

India’s main man on the bowling front needs to perform. When he is bowling well the whole team bowls well. We saw exactly that in the ODI World Cup, in the famous draw between these two exact opponents. Zaks was the one who turned that game around when England had it wrapped up. His slower ball is probably the best in the world, the armoury is there, can he use it effectively?

Predicted XI’s

The England side pretty much picks itself, with little debate over the bulk of positions. Guys like Eoin Morgan will need to perform if they want to keep their spots for the next match, whilst the pressure will be firmly on whoever is picked as the third seamer, I’ve gone with Bresnan.

England: A. Cook, A. Strauss, J.Trott, K. Pietersen, I. Bell, E. Morgan, M. Prior, G. Swann, T. Bresnan, J. Anderson, C. Tremlett.

Meanwhile, for India, selection is a bit trickier. I’ve gone with Dravid to open with Gambhir, with Tendulkar or possibly even Yuvraj to come in at three. Praveen should be rewarded with a decent series in the Windies with a start here.

India: G. Gambhir, R. Dravid, S. Tendulkar, V. Laxman, Yuravj, S. Raina, M. Dhoni, Harbhajan, P. Kumar, Zaheer, I. Sharma.

Our Tip?

Draw. Cause you didn’t see that one coming! I get the feeling this series could be really tight, as it should be. I think if anything it will be England that might be pushing for a win late in this match, with India possibly having to hold on. It’s been raining A LOT lately in England, no surprises yes, but fingers crossed we get the five wonderful days of test cricket this historic match deserves.

The World Cup is over, India are champs, Australia have fallen and someone please explain to Ravi Shastri that yes, there are only two sides on a coin.

Today we bring you all the fun of the Injury Time ICC World Cup Awards! So with no further delay let’s get started!

The Champions

India

After 28 long years of frustration the most passionate cricketing nation in the world finally has the trophy it always wanted. They applied themselves wonderfully, strong batting, disciplined bowling and for a change, decent fielding. After some early middle order woes, Suresh Raina came in to provide some end of innings glue and also super fielding. Zaheer Khan was the best quick bowler on the tournament and the young brigade really stepped up when the old heads failed. Dhoni was a master captain and saved his best innings for last. A much deserved win for India, who could be the new ‘Australia’ of world cricket (I’m sure they wouldn’t want that tag though!).

Player of the Tournament Award

Yuvraj Singh

Undeniably the best player this world cup, there can be no doubt of that. When you amass 362 runs, in eight innings, at an average of 90.50 and delivering a strike rate of 86.19, sometimes that alone would be enough. But add to that 15 wickets at 25.13 and you have a star. Yuvraj has been under pressure to hold his spot for quite a while in the India side. Doubt that’s a problem anymore.

Honourable mentions: Kumar Sangakkara, Johnny Trott, Zaheer Khan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Shahid Afridi.

One for the future... Imran was a surprise packet this World Cup.

Kevin O’Brien Award (Find of the Tournament)

Imran Tahir

Probably a controversial decision, but given the matches he played and wickets taken one thinks he will be huge for South African cricket in the future. He only played 5 matches but picked up 14 wickets at an amazing average of 10.71. With South Africa having lacked consistent quality in the spinning department, Tahir could be a gem.

Honourable Mentions: Collins Obuya, Ashish Bagai, Wahab Riaz, Robin Peterson, Harvir Baidwan.

Best Match Award

India v England

How could it not feature England. It was India’s second match and no one saw this game coming. The hosts were cruising to a score of 350+ thanks to a Sachin hundred, before some minor stutters to still total a huge 338. Most would think game over for England already, but Andrew Strauss played one of the great ODI innings to guide England to 272/2 with only 67needed of the last 10. That’s where the fun started thanks to a wicket from Zaks, a six from Shazad and a single from Swann it all ended even. It was a great showcase of one day cricket that feature twists, turns, runs, wickets and every other thing possible.

Honourable Mentions: India v Sri Lanka, England v Ireland, England v South Africa, Australia v Pakistan, New Zealand v South Africa.

The Don Award (Best Innings)

Mahela Jayawardene (v India)

Beauty... Legendary World Cup Final century.

Despite his century in the final being in vain, no one can deny the absolute brilliance about this knock. His country was struggling big time when he came out to the middle and had he thrown his wicket away the final would have skittled out. But his array of attacking shots, placing the ball in the gaps, not trying to hit it too hard, was a masterpiece performance. On any other day you’d think it would be the type of innings that would win you the World Cup. Batting with the lower order, Jayawardene sped things up at the end and nearly got Sri Lanka a competitive enough total. It was another remarkable World Cup final innings under immense pressure.

Honourable Mentions: Kevin O’Brien( v England), MS Dhoni (v Sri Lanka), Ricky Ponting (v India), Andrew Strauss (v India), Ross Taylor (v Pakistan).

Aakash Chopra Award (Biggest Let Down)

Yusuf Pathan

In a team filled of players who rocked the World Cup, Yusuf was easily the worst. Coming in with the end-of-innings-blaster reputation Yusuf failed to deliver. He averaged 14.80 in his six innings and that simply wasn’t good enough. He’s also a terrible excuse for part time spin and a poor fielder. Suresh Raina said thank you very much and took his spot. The second decline of the second Pathan perhaps, Irfan?

Honourable Mentions: Shoaib Akthar, Cameron White, Graeme Smith, James Anderson, Daniel Vettori.

South Africa fell well short... again.

The Tiger Woods Award (How Did We Mess This Up?)

South Africa v New Zealand

My word South Africa, when, oh when, will you ever learn? Chasing a low 222 for victory in the quarter-final against New Zealand, the Saffas were sitting at 4 for 121. They then lost 6 for 51 to complete another shocking cho.. I mean disappointing loss. You’re lucky England, you had this award tied up till this mess happened.

Honourable Mentions: South Africa (v England), England (v India), England (v Ireland), England (v Bangladesh), Bangladesh (v West Indies).

The Snapper Award (Best Catch)

Steve Smith (v Sri Lanka)

Probably the one thing young Smithy did right all tournament and this truly was a beauty. In a crunch game against Sri Lanka, Upul Tharanga threw his fists at a wide one and it looked destined for the boundary. But Smith had other ideas, leaping high, one-handed and gripping it out of thin air. A wonderful sight.

Honourable Mentions: Mahela Jayawardene (v Zimbabwe), Jesse Ryder (v Sri Lanka), Munaf Patel (v England), Robin Peterson (v New Zealand), Kieron Pollard (v Ireland)

Butter Fingers Award (Easiest Dropped Catch)

Kamran Akmal (v EVERYONE)

The controversial keeper copped a lot of flak for his work with the gloves during this world cup and frankly, he deserved it. He was so poor that it came a point where if he caught anything it was a surprise. He hit his peak against New Zealand dropping some of the easiest edges you’ll see. You have to see to believe.

Honourable Mentions: Pakistan, England.

She’s Outta Here Award (Best Six)

MS Dhoni (v Sri Lanka)

Given the circumstances, the form and the final, we couldn’t go past this one. With the game wrapped up for India in the final, MS fittingly signed the competition with a wonderful heave down the ground to seal the Cup for India. It looked effortless and cleared the boundary by miles. The power from the shot was unbelievable given the back-lift and was a demonstration that MS hasn’t lost it. Very, very close second to Pollard.

Honourable Mentions: Kieron Pollard (v Netherlands), Ross Taylor (v Pakistan), Hiral Patel (v Australia), Andrew Strauss (v India), MS Dhoni (v England).

Really Shahid, really?

Shahid Afridi Award (Most Annoying Wicket-Taking Celebration)

Shahid Afridi

Seriously Afridi. You’re meant to be the guy the young lads look up too. Yet those bloody raised arms/ ‘I’m the freaking best’ pose is getting silly. When you start to actually bat maybe it’ll get more acceptable (in hindsight it wont, get rid of it mate).

Jonty Rhodes Award (Best Run Out)

Chris Mpofu (v Australia)

As if Ricky Ponting wasn’t already under enough pressure to perform, Chris Mpofu put him under ever more. A flick from Clarke to deep midwicket looked like an easy two. But Mpofu in a flowing motion picked up the ball and launched it some 30-40 metres on the fly and hit the non-strikers stumps directly. It was a piece of magic in an otherwise disappointing World Cup for Zimbabwe.

Honourable Mentions: Hamish Bennet (v Zimbabwe), Brendon McCullum (v Zimbabwe), Steve Smith (v Sri Lanka), Ian Bell (v South Africa), Shahid Afridi (v Canada).

Tiger Woods Award (Biggest Controversy)

The Coin Toss

Really too much of a big deal was made out of this, how hard is it to toss a coin as they say? Sanga called heads, no one heard it, Dhoni heard tails, it landed heads. Do over. Same result and Sri Lanka batted. It all fizzled out in the end and no one will really remember it too much, however, if Sri Lanka ended up winning or India’s innings crumbled batting second, we might have heard a tad more about it.

The Chocolate Award (Is it Good or Bad?)

UDRS

The Umpire Decision Review System was again under the spotlight again, in particular the quite foreign 2.5 metre rule. It all began when India appealed an Ian Bell lbw not out decision and controversy grew from there. However, on a whole the system did work well. We also saw that without hot spot, lbws are the only real thing you can appeal against. Although, perhaps the lack of hot spot ensured the UDRS was a little less under pressure than in recent times. Is it good or bad? Nothing conclusive as yet.

Symonds v Harbhajan Award (Biggest Farce/Digrace)

The ICC

This news comes just after the Cup finished, the fact that the associate nations like Ireland, Netherlands and Kenya will play no role in the future few World Cups. It’s a decision of utter stupidity and what can only be assumed as bribery. Ireland in particular will be filthy, they’ve beaten test playing nations in the past two Cups and can really mix it in the ODI format. How this decision was achieved I have no idea. Length of the tournament? Big wins? No clue. The fact is that it is a WORLD CUP not strongest teams only cup. Imagine if we only saw Argentina, Brazil, England, Portugal, Spain etc battling out for the FIFA World Cup. Get your act together ICC.

The Verdict

Best World Cup Ever

It started off slowly with some big wins for the test playing nations, but as teams got accustomed to the conditions things got more exciting. The associate nations gave everything, even getting some great results, England were all over the place and New Zealand continued to defy, making another semi-final. The cricket was really of the highest quality and the combination of that with some below-par stuff in nervous situation resulted in some great matches. This was the World Cup ODI cricket needed after the joke that was West Indies 2007. Let’s just hope ICC change their decision before Australia and New Zealand come around in 2015!

Mahendra Singh Dhoni put on a masterclass to guide India home by six wickets over Sri Lanka in the 2011 ICC World Cup Final.

Earlier, Mahela Jayawardene hit a majestic hundred to take Sri Lanka to 274.

But Gambhir (97) and Dhoni (91 n.o.) ensured the pre-tournament favourites claimed a historic and memorable win.

The win for India meant they became the first ever team to win the World Cup on home soil.

It all started when Sri Lanka recovered thanks to some late hitting to go from 5-182 to 6-274 after 50 overs.

Jayawardene (103 n.o.), Kulasekara (32 of 30) and Perera (22 of 9) ensured that Sri Lanka, who looked like they would struggle to break 250, got to a competitive total.

The trio added 91 runs in the final ten overs to give their side the momentum.

And they would have been even more over the moon when slinger Malinga first struck Sehwag lbw of the second ball of the Indian innings, then removed talisman Sachin Tendulkar in a wonderful spell.

It left India with a stern test of character, knowing that if they stayed with the run rate they could cruise home.

Virat Kohli (35 of 49) along with the great knocks from Gambhir and Dhoni meant that India took home the coveted trophy, with the captain smashing a huge six to fittingly finish the game.

Yuvraj Singh was named a not-so-shocking player of the tournament, whilst Kumar Sangakkara was chosen as the best captain.

The win sees India move up to second on the ODI rankings, seven points behind Australia. Although, most will regard the side as the best in the world, having beaten the likes of West Indies, Australia and Pakistan on their way to the final.