Equal series wins in limited overs in UK

The Indians were expected to easily win the two matches in Ireland, which they did easily. In England, they were facing a team that whitewashed Australia 5-0 in ODI series! The T20I series was first and the Indians pulled off a series win versus the hosts. Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur were tried out as new ball bowlers but the wrist spinners not only undid all their inexperience but also restricted the scoring and took important wickets at the right time.This did not stop India to lose their first ODI series under Kohli.

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India pulled back things with a win in the T20I series to make it level. All over to the test series. Again, the weather has been good, ball is not doing anything in the air, wickets are perfect for batting. If it continues, India will outbat the hosts for a 2-1 series win. Any change in the brittle weather will alter the result. Virat Kohli & Ajinkya Rahane are the two batsmen who have to lead from the front, scoring a couple of centuries if India has to do well!The Indian team, for the last two series has lost the one who has got his name on the Lords Board - Praveen Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The loss of Bhuvi will be more than that of Bumrah. Umesh Yadav and Isant Sharma should take the burden of the seam bowlers while Ashwin and Jadeja will be back. How will Kuldeep fit in is a question mark.Pandya is the all-rounder and the Indians must be feeling very confident to start the test series after the limited overs series!

T20I tri-series - Last-ball six gets India the Nidahas Cup

After the South African tour, the Indian selectors picked virtually a second-string Indian team to participate in the tri-series with hosts Sri Lanka and neighbor Bangladesh. No room for players like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya. In came new faces like Washington Sundar, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur. With such a galaxy of new faces, India stormed to the finals and won the Cup, thanks to a cool Dinesh Karthik!

The Indian team closed out the international season with a memorable win and a dominating performance in the tournament, even with a second-string team. Kudos!!

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Clearly convincing wins by the Indians  over Bangladesh by 6 wickets, 17 runs, 4 wickets in the finals and over the hosts by 6 wickets, Only one loss versus Sri Lanka in the first match dented the performance slightly!

Karthik fidgeted around in his case and changed the lengths of the eight balls he faced, to slap a quick 29 to seal the match and tournament for India.

Throughout the tournament, it was consistent performances by Washington Sundar, Y. Chahal, Shardul Thakur that caught the eye of the Indian fans and Management. It augurs well to see that the pool for the Indian team is expanding with new faces. If Vijay Shankar had contributed as well with the bat, as he did with the ball, it would have been brilliant. But, nevertheless, this tournament was a BIG gain for the Indians! Next is IPL, where I am looking for newer faces!

South Africa T20Is - India finish series at the pinnacle

After the ODI series drubbing,the Proteas decided to rest most of their seniors and announced a new-look team. With nothing to lose, the Indians continued their momentum to win the T20I series 2-1 to finish a great series for themselves (especially after the revversal in tests). The Indians won two matches by comfortable margins(28 runs, 7 wickets). Like the one-days, there was just one loss, mainly due to the weather. The confidence was so high that the Indians rested their captain in one match and still won!

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's good performances throughout the series was remarkable for his consistency, irrespective of the format - he started with a five-wicket haul in the first match and ended as the joint highest wicket taker in the series!

Suresh Raina chipped in with fast-paced knocks that were not convincing - his skills and temperament though will be useful to the Indian team in days to come.

The Indians on the field were super, probably better than the home team in some cases! If they can continue this progress for few more years, it is difficult to stop them!
In MS Dhoni, Kohli has a great guide and friend on and off the field - he can only get better from here!

The emergence of Jasprit Bumrah as a dependable force in the limited overs format was another BIG takeaway for India!

Shikhar Dhawan shone in the limited over variety but could not translate the same to whites! But, he was a revelation in the T20I format!

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South Africa away tests - Indian batsmen lose way to bring their team down

In the first test match against South Africa, India played after NO practice games, only for their bowlers to lift the nation's hopes with a great display of seam bowling. Reduced to 12-3, the Proteans managed to post a respectable 286. Till then, the two surprise picks in the playing eleven had done well. Firstly, Jasprit Bumrah, had given a good performance with the ball (picking the wicket of the great AB De Viliers) while Hardik Pandya chipped with that of Faf du Plessis. Even Ashwin picked up two to finish off a great display by Indian bowlers.

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The batsmen started in the evening of the first day and conditions looked they were easier, in comparison. The weather conditions was bright on Day 2 but the Indian dressing room was gloomy - the wickets were falling regularly to the quartet. Rahane was dropped to accommodate Rohit Sharma, based on current form - this pick didn't go as per form (as did Dhawan's inclusion over KL Rahul). The Indians gave a lead of 77 runs.  Thanks to a near-hundred by Hardik Pandya, the lead was manageable! Pandya rode his luck to take India to a respectable situation.If only, the others had shown similar guts and determination!!

The second innings saw the Indian team score five more runs than their rivals but the lead conceded was more than enough to lose the test match!

The bowlers showed they could do well overseas but the batsmen couldnt match them - Only if the two shine, India has a chance in this series!!

ODIs - India reach No.1 position

Thanks to their wins away versus Sri Lanka and at home versus the Aussies, India reached the No.1 position in ICC Rankings!

Sri Lanka series

The ODIs were closer as compared to the test series, thanks to the young spinner Akhila Dananjaya. India coasted while chasing - winning by nine, three, six and six wickets  - and crushed the Lankans after setting a huge target.Openers Rohit, Rahane or Dhawan continued their good form while Pandya surprised everyone with his exploits with bat and ball. MSD showed he could still win matches for his country while Manish Pandey remained in contention for a spot in the middle order with Jadhav. Bhuvi took his first five wicket haul while Shardul Thakur impressed as a backup quick The spinners and Bumrah were terrific to hand India a sweep of the ODI series!

IPL10 - Third title win for Mumbai

IPL 10 started after a series of tests at home. The pace quickened and how - it seemed tests were on fast forward mode.

From the beginning, the slot for the top and bottom three teams remained the same. RCB was the biggest disappointment, especially with the team on paper. Another heavyweight, Mumbai Indians, funded by ultra-rich Ambanis won the title, pipping the Pune team by a single. Overall, the final reflected the closeness of the tournament.
This year saw the emergence of Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan with the bat - let us see if they go on to bigger things.MSD also showed that he was still a force to reckon with,
It has been a great tournament so far. In 10 years, all the initial icon players have become coaches or mentors. New players have emerged, both domestic and foreign. New captains have been identified. Let us see what happens next year for that will dictate the next ten years of cricket, not just IPL!

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England Home ODIs - India win run-fest of a series

• 1st ODI - England scored 350 and lost as India overtook them
• 2nd ODI - England scored 350 and lost again as India scored 15 more!
• 3rd ODI - England scored 340+ and just about won as they scored 5 runs more.

Indian (and English bowlers) must have been glad that the series finished, such a run-fest it was.
India though was happy with Jadhav and Pandya's emergence as lower-order batsmen, resurgence of Dhoni and Yuvraj  in their old style just before the ICC  Champions Trophy starts.

Jadeja and Ashwin will not take part in the T20I series though I dont think the series result will change :)

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NZ Home ODIs - NZ strike baack to level series

In Dhoni's hometown, Black Caps scored a total that was just beyond India's reach. Kohli, Dhoni left early, putting the onus on lower middle order. They tried their best, learning a lot in the process, but could not win the match. Dhoni asked for more patience, which is fair.

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NZ Home ODIs - NZ sneak past Indians to level the series

The Indian bowlers continued their good work to pull back the target but even that turned out to be tall by six runs for the Indian batting.

Kohli failed for once and MSD couldnt get going in a rare occurence. Hardik Pandya tried his best but that could only reduce the losing margin. NZ levelled the series but the Indians will be keen  to come back and win the series.

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T20 World Cup - India pip Bangla thanks to MSD and Joginder Pandya

India had to win the match against Bangladesh to stay in the tournament but thhe team was distracted, it looked. A sub-par score on a small ground, dropped catches (three at that) were enough hints to suggest this but its captain was very much turned on in his strategic move.. In a repeat of his move to let Joginder bowl the last over in the inaugural T20I World Cup, he asked Hardik Pandya to bowl the last over here when less than a dozen was required with three batsmen remaining. Pandya held his cool and head after the hundred conferences to help India win the match. The finishing touch was provided by the captain himself (one-gloved 15v-metre runout to wrap the match and heave a huge sigh of relief for the time being).

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