World Of Cricket

Birmingham: England confirmed they will go top of the ICC Test rankings for the first time at the end of this npower series, which they emphatically won with a game to spare by completing an innings-and-242-run victory over India at Edgbaston.

 

 

England – currently third, also behind South Africa – will knock India off their perch for the first time since December 2009 and move to the summit for the first time since the rankings were introduced in 2003.

 

They have utterly outplayed Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side so far in this rubber and will whitewash the tourists with victory in the Kia Oval finale, which starts on Thursday.

 

Such has been the hosts’ dominance that a win here seemed just a matter of time when India resumed 451 behind with nine wickets left this morning, the fourth.

 

That proved to be the case as James Anderson tore through the top order in the first hour and Graeme Swann added another before running out Sachin Tendulkar in cruel fashion prior to lunch.

 

Dhoni launched a stunning counter-attack thereafter, adding 75 with Praveen Kumar inside eight overs to avoid India’s heaviest Test defeat.

 

It was predictably in vain, though, with Stuart Broad striking twice and Tim Bresnan taking the final wicket shortly after 3pm to leave Dhoni stranded on 74.

 

India began the day on 35 for one in reply to England’s mammoth first-innings 710 for seven declared, with hope only of maintaining their status at the rankings’ summit rather than keeping the series alive.

 

Anderson needed one less ball to remove Gautam Gambhir – Swann holding on at second slip – than he did to complete Virender Sehwag’s king pair yesterday.

 

Anderson, exploiting ideal seam bowling conditions, had Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman caught behind in identical fashion, with Tendulkar taking him for three fours between.

 

After Andrew Strauss ended Anderson’s six-over spell of 3-17, Suresh Raina survived on one when the captain could not hold the left-hander’s edge off Swann low at gully.

 

Tendulkar drove Bresnan for fours either side of the wicket and Raina repeated the trick off Swann, but the spinner trapped him in front next ball.

 

Tendulkar, out of luck searching for his 100th international century, followed for 40 when he was narrowly short of his ground at the non-striker’s end after Swann touched Dhoni’s drive.

 

Amit Mishra responded by bludgeoning Swann for four over midwicket and smashing Kevin Pietersen’s part-time spin for consecutive boundaries.

 

Mishra perished shortly after lunch, though, Broad taking a smart catch to his left at mid-on off Swann, who Praveen edged first ball over slip for four. Praveen was again fortunate when another nick – this time off Anderson – carried just over Swann at second slip.

 

With attack India’s only hope, Praveen smote Swann for a four and two sixes, consecutively, down the ground. In doing so, he ensured India avoided their heaviest Test loss.

 

Dhoni’s back-to-back leg-side fours off Anderson then heralded the half-century stand from only 28 balls.

 

Praveen lifted Swann for a maximum over midwicket before Matt Prior missed a chance to stump the tail-ender on 40 with 21 coming from the over, taking India past 200.

 

Prior’s miss was not costly as Kumar skied Broad, without further addition, to Ravi Bopara running round from mid-off.

 

Dhoni would not admit defeat, going to a fifty with the second of three fours in one Anderson over.

 

Broad had Ishant Sharma lbw before Dhoni hit Anderson, who took 4-85, out of the attack with two more boundaries.

 

The skipper continued to fight, but Bresnan ended the contest by having Sreesanth caught by Pietersen at gully with the total 244.

 

Result: England won by an innings and 242 runs.

Man Of The Match: Alastair Cook (England).

 

Comments by both captains and by man of the match:

 

MS Dhoni (Captain of India): “We need to see what limitations we have. A few of our players are not great fielders and we’re not the best looking fielding side in the world. What we’re really proud of is our bowling and batting. We have not been able to keep good deliveries out, it’s a major area of concern. We need to see out the good ones and make use of the loose deliveries. A couple of defeats doesn’t change anything I am still proud of my team. When you play for India there is a lot of expectation and people expect us to win everything but that’s not possible. Being No. 1 or not being No. 1 is not important, it’s all about being consistent. I’ve been quite happy with the preparation but it’s one of those series where nothing has really clicked for us.”

 

Andrew Strauss (Captain of England): ”It wasn’t a massive gamble to bowl first, there was probably less in the wicket than we thought there would be and by the time we batted the wicket had gone flat. The wickets have been shared around the bowlers and the pressure they have applied has been relentless, I don’t think there are many better in the world right now. It was fantastic to get runs myself and then sit on the sofa and watch Cookie bat for two days. He has amazing concentration and determination, he’s in this patch at the moment where he’s very clear what his game was and he’s an example for us all. Getting to No. 1 has been a goal for a long time and it fills me with a lot of pride to know we have completed something very special. We have had to work very had and the guys have put a lot of hard graft to get to No. 1.”

 

Alastair Cook (Man Of The Match): ”The work put in over the week off has paid dividends for me. Over the last 12 months scoring big hundreds was what I needed to work at and I’m glad that’s happened. You want the attacking middle order players to go at the tiring bowlers later in the day. I’m very pleased but it’s a huge team effort to bowl a team like that out for less than 250 on a flat wicket in both innings.”

 

Nottingham: Tim Bresnan’s magnificent all-round efforts helped England take a 2-0 lead against India in the four-match npower Test series with a resounding 319-run victory at Trent Bridge.

 

 

The Yorkshireman shone with the bat this morning, although he missed out on a first Test hundred when he was dismissed for 90 as Andrew Strauss’ men set the tourists an improbable victory target of 478 after being bowled out for 544.

 

Stuart Broad and James Anderson then accounted for veteran India batsmen Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, before Bresnan took 5-48 to complete a memorable day as India collapsed to 158 all out, with six of their top seven failing to reach double figures.

 

Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh put up dogged resistance and there were high hopes the former would achieve his 100th international hundred when he moved past 50. However, his exit for 56 left India on the brink.

 

Harbhajan fell four runs short of his own fifty in a counter-attacking 44-ball innings, which ended when he holed out to deep square-leg to give the irrepressible Bresnan his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

 

The 26-year-old was playing in his first Test since helping England retain the Ashes and was well supported by Anderson and Broad, who took 3-51 and 2-30 respectively and shared the final two wickets, as the hosts bullied India’s batsmen into submission.

 

In truth, the spirit of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side had been sapped yesterday and this morning as England, who triumphed by 196 runs at Lord’s last week, piled on the runs against an increasingly fatigued attack.

 

In the wake of the the run out that never was furore, it was easy to forget how brilliantly England batted in the final session yesterday, adding 187 runs, with an unbroken partnership of 102 between Prior and Bresnan a major factor.

 

The duo seemed keen to assert their dominance this morning and Bresnan reached his fifty from the third ball of the morning when a top-edge off Sreesanth flew over the slips for four.

 

However, Prior was out in the next over when he edged a short and wide delivery from Praveen Kumar to wicketkeeper Dhoni.

 

Broad wasted no time in finding his rhythm with a superb drive wide of mid-off that just about reached the boundary, whilst Bresnan produced the shot of the morning with a glorious cover-drive off Ishant Sharma to take England’s total past 500.

 

 

Broad, who top-scored with 64 for England in the first innings, then hit Suresh Raina for two successive sixes over midwicket as runs continued to flow freely.

 

The left-hander fell just after the drinks interval for 44 when he pushed Praveen to cover and set off for a risky single, with substitute fielder Wriddhiman Saha’s direct hit ensuring Broad would not get his second half-century of the match.

 

Bresnan was out off the next ball, one run short of his best Test score, when a rising delivery from Praveen found the safe hands of Rahul Dravid at gully and Graeme Swann was last man out when he drove Ishant to Saha at mid-off.

 

Anderson, who snared Abhinav Mukund with the first delivery of India’s first innings, almost repeated the trick but Bresnan dropped a tough chance high to his right at second slip.

 

 

However, Broad claimed the wicket England would have really cherished before lunch when first-innings centurion Dravid came forward and edged a back-of-a-length delivery to a grateful Prior.

 

Their position of strength was further enhanced in the second over after lunch when Laxman had his off stump removed by a fantastic delivery from Anderson that held its line.

 

Tendulkar showed his incredible timing with a flick to midwicket and followed that up by driving down the ground in the same over off Anderson to remind the hosts they were not home and hosed.

 

But unlike their counterparts this morning, England’s pacemen were able to extract considerable bounce as well as movement off the pitch and Bresnan made amends for dropping Abhinav when the opener could only fend a vicious bouncer to Strauss at first slip to depart for three off 36 balls.

 

A similar delivery off Bresnan’s second over was hooked by Raina to substitute fielder Scott Elstone at deep square-leg as the left-hander’s travails against the short ball continued.

 

India looked to be sinking without trace and although Tendulkar looked untroubled, Broad thought he had Yuvraj Singh caught behind with another lifting delivery. After a review, umpire Marais Erasmus’ decision of not out was upheld.

 

Yet the left-handed all-rounder never looked assured at the crease and Bresnan ended his stay for eight when another short-pitched delivery was snaffled by Cook, who took the catch over his head at short gully.

 

Dhoni’s woeful form with the bat continued when he offered no shot to a full, inswinging delivery off the next ball.

 

Bresnan had to wait until his next over to try to complete a hat-trick, but a full toss was dispatched wide of mid-off for a rare India four by Harbhajan. The seamer could still be content with a fiery eight-over spell that yielded 4-17.

 

Tendulkar offered up a rare chance when he hammered Swann over mid-on and just past the outstretched hands of Kevin Pietersen, and the Little Master brought up a 60th half-century in Tests when he cut Anderson for his eighth four.

 

However, he then shouldered arms to one that jagged back to be trapped in front by the Lancashire seamer, who has now dismissed Tendulkar seven times in eight Test matches.

 

After a golden duck in the first innings, Harbhajan would not go quietly. He had already smashed Swann over midwicket for India’s first six before Tendulkar’s demise and followed that up with a pulverising four off Anderson.

 

He was still giving a couple of half-chances, though, and eventually perished when a leg-side delivery from Bresnan was flicked to Elstone at deep square-leg, who just about held on to the catch, having dropped Praveen moments earlier.

 

A brief cameo from Praveen, who made 25, was ended as he failed to keep out a yorker from Anderson, while a similar delivery from Broad accounted for Sreesanth to start the celebrations.

 

 

Result: England won by 319 runs.

Man Of The Match: Stuart Broad (England).

 

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Comments from both captain and from ‘man of the match’:

 

MS Dhoni (Captain of India): ”Those 100 really mattered when we were bowling and when we were batting we were four down but couldn’t see that new ball through. I felt the bowlers were tired but their batsmen played some great shots. It is a bit of a concern that we haven’t made 300 and it’s a continuation of the series in West Indies, we haven’t really had a gap, where we were struggling.”

 

“Right now Zaheer is out there practising but I don’t really know where he is with his fitness. Injuries happen in the game but when you go down to three bowlers it’s hard work on the bowlers. My form is a concern because if you are the leader you need to perform. But you have to look at your preparation and if that is right and the processes are right the form will follow.”

 

“Inside I felt none of us felt right about it [the Bell run out]. That’s what really matters, not the rules, not the spirit of the game. You want to feel good about what you’ve done when you go back to the dressing room. We had something similar with Laxman in the West Indies and didn’t want to be in revenge for that or anything.”

 

“Well of course we can turn it around. You have to have belief in yourself and the team.”

 

Andrew Strauss (Captain of England): “There have been some outstanding performances in the two Test matches. It was a fantastic turnaround and I’m very proud on what we’ve done this week. Bresnan was unlucky not to be playing in the first Test match and he keeps putting his credentials in place making it harder and harder to pick the team.”

 

“I didn’t tell Swann and Broad to do anything other than play their natural games. Bell was outstanding. To score that freely in tough conditions was outstanding. He’s in the form of his life.”

 

“It was very commendable of Dhoni, he has set a great example to myself and other captains. I like to think I would have done the same in similar circumstances.”

 

“We don’t know at this stage about Trott’s fitness he’s gone for a scan. The primary goal is just to win the next Test match, we’ll let everything else look after itself.

 

Stuart Broad (Man Of The Match): ”We’re delighted to go 2-0 up. It’s pleasing to pick up some wickets after they were harder to come by earlier in the season. My and Swanny never need encouragement to have a bit of a slog. Of course I’ve now found a fuller length and it’s paid off but I tend not to look back and worry. We have a lot of depth and a lot of confidence in our unit.”

 

London: England won the 1st test at Lord’s against India by 196 runs. Kevin Pietersen scored double hundred in the 1st innings and received ’Man Of The Match’ award. Stuart Broad and James Anderson took 7, 7 wickets.

 

 

A collision between top 2 teams of ‘World Of Cricket’ brought the craze and sensation back. Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar didn’t made his 100th century here but received the standing ovation and grand applause from the crowd.

 

People will remember this 2000th test match as they still remember the 1000th test match between Pakistan and New Zealand which was played in November 1984 at Niaz Stadium of Hyderabad, Pakistan. Javed Miandad made it a memorial by scoring centuries in both innings. Because of fabulous performance, Pakistan won that match by 7 wickets.

 

Here in the 2000th test match, again the home team won the contest. Performances by both teams were awesome and stunning.

 

The 1st day of the test was interrupted by rain showers but the commander of Indian bowling department, Zaheer Khan was greeted by the two main wickets of English openers.

 

Kevin Pietersen who was feeling something good about his coming days scored a sensational and classic double century. His effort helped England to declare at the score of 474/8 on second day.

 

Kevin was not only the hero of the day because Parveen Kumar was also brilliant on that day as he took a 5 wickets haul.

 

India who was feeling the absence of Sehwag started their innings with Mukund and Gambhir and was on 16/0 at the end of 2nd day.

 

On the 3rd day, the man who stood for India was ‘The Wall’, Rahul Dravid who became the 1st Indian among his team mates to register a century at Lord’s. He resisted against the tall and fast bowlers of England.

 

There were a lot of expectations attached with Sachin Tendulkar which were crashed when he got out at the score of 34 at the ball of Stuart Broad.

 

Broad was sensational on that day as he took 4 wickets for 37 runs in 22.0 overs and strongly responded to the criticism against him. The Indian innings was wrapped up at the score of 286.

 

With the lead of 188 runs, England started their innings and scored 5 runs in 5.0 overs.

 

 

 

On the next day, there was a target in the minds of English batsmen. But the mission of Indian bowlers was to derail the struggle of England.

 

Ishant Sharma who wasn’t impressive in the 1st innings broke the backbone of England by taking 3 wickets in a limited period of time. It was 62/5 when Prior came in and pulled England out of this boggy situation. He scored 103 runs and remained not-out.

 

He was assisted by Stuart Broad who also remained not-out at the score of 74. Their partnership took England to a suitable position of 269/6 where they declared. Ishant was the pick of the bowlers as he took 4 wickets. Sachin Tendulkar didn’t came out for fielding for the 1st two session because of fever.

 

The target for India was 458 which was very difficult to achieve but the draw was on the cards. There was no Gambhir to open the innings as he was in the hospital for the examination of his left elbow.

 

Dravid started the innings with Mukund for India. Broad who bowled well in the 1st innings got Mukund here again. An early wicket put an extra pressure on the upcoming batsmen.

 

VVS Laxman then assisted Rahul Dravid and played remaining 18 overs. At the end of the day, the score of India was 80/1.

 

India was now 378 runs away from the victory. Experts were commenting in favour of England because of their bowling attack.

 

On the last day, James Anderson brought smiles on the faces of his team mates. First Dravid and then Laxman became victim of Anderson’s bowling.

 

Swann took Gambhir on a lbw shout. At the departure of Gambhir, the score of India was 135/4. Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina tried their best to take India out of this jeopardy.

 

 

 

Dozens of dot balls from Swann put an extra pressure on Tendulkar and at last he got lbw out at  the ball of Anderson. This broke the hearts of Indian fans.

 

Dhoni then came out and tried to make a partnership with Raina. A couple of overs before the tea, English captain Strauss gave the ball to Trott and Pietersen. Dhoni and Raina added some runs in front of their names in this short time.

 

After the tea, Tremlett got rid of Dhoni with his short ball. It was slow, wide of off stump and without any movement but Dhoni tried to cut it and in the end nicked it which went straight into the gloves of Prior.

 

The tail was exposed. Harbhajan Singh who was not having good test arrived at the crease to show his heroics. He first added the excitement by smashing two FOURS and then got out at the ball of Anderson. Suresh Raina who was giving fight also became victim of James Anderson and caught behind after scoring 78 runs. Broad took the honour of taking the last two wickets.

 

It was an all round performance by England, all their bowlers stood up with their batsman. There were some drop catches but after all it is cricket. The bowling attack of India was week, their batsman failed to make up. Umpiring was almost up to mark, Billy Bowden and Asad Rauf stood in a match where was no DRS for lbw’s.

 

Result: England won by 196 runs.

Man Of The Match: Kevin Pietersen (England).

 

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Comments from both captains and by man of the match:

 

Andrew Strauss (Captain of England): ”KP’s innings was one of the best I’ve seen by an England batsmen in the long time. Broad came back well. The wicket was flat, we had to build pressure and stick to it. It’s always tough to bowl sides out here on the 5th day, if you’re going to do it you have to be very disciplined and I can’t praise the bowlers highly enough.

 

“It was very tough batting conditions on the first morning, as tough as I’ve encountered here. We back ourselves to bowl teams out, we back ourselves to get 20 wickets. It’s hard work on flat wickets but we expect to do that. India are a very very good side, they showed glimpses of that this game and they’ll improve as the series continues.”

 

MS Dhoni (Captain of India):  ”Considering we missed Zaheer early and that it wasn’t spinning much for Harbhajan I was pleased with how the bowlers stuck to it. After that it was hard, we missed Sachin who was out with a viral infection and Gambhir got injured so we were in unfamiliar order in the second innings but overall I’m happy with how we played over the five days.”

 

A few more days would have been really effective because it rained when we got here. But we can’t make excuses. Zaheer might bowl at Trent Bridge but we don’t know as yet. I hope not to be bowling, it’s a tough job, my whole body hurts from my toe-nail to my head.”

 

Kevin Pietersen (Man Of The Match): ”Brilliant for the team. But we know that it is just 1 out of 4. It will be a tough job to dominate this Indian team. It reminded me of 2005 at Old Trafford, it was a special occasion. All bases seem to be covered in this team but but we know not to relax.”

 

Mumbai: Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, the world’s leading scorer in both Test and ODI cricket, won the Polly Umrigar award at a glittering function held by the Board of Control for Cricket.

 

 

 

The master batsman scored 1,064 runs, including one double-century and five hundreds, in 10 Tests during the year in question, October 2009 to September 2010, at an average of 82. Tendulkar also scored 695 runs in 12 one-day internationals, including the first double-century in One-dayers, against South Africa at Gwalior in February 2010.

On receiving the prestigious award Tendulkar said, “Indeed it’s a great honour to win the Polly Umrigar Trophy once again. I won it few years ago.”

Humble as ever, Tendulkar thanked his teammates saying, “It wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Indian team members who are all here. I congratulate the team for becoming number one in Tests which was our dream followed by something absolutely magical less than two months ago… We won the World Cup.”

“It was a combined effort of all the team members and superb leadership exhibited by Dhoni. I also want to thank the support staff. They worked very hard and planned very well. We executed the plans and the results came,” Tendulkar added.

Tendulkar received a trophy and cheque for Rs 5 lakh from BCCI President Shashank Manohar and Secretary N Srinivasan.

Mumbai: Photos from the life of famous Indian and world-renowned batsman, Sachin Tendulkar. (By Saulat Rizvi)

Mumbai: India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium to win the ‘World Cup’ after 28 years. MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh named as ‘Man Of The Match’  & ‘Man Of The Tournament’ respectively.

Sri Lanka had appeared in excellent shape after Mahela Jayawardene’s 103 not out from 88 balls underpinned a total of 274-6 at the Wankhede Stadium.

Lasith Malinga removed Virender Sehwag and local hero Sachin Tendulkar to reduce India to 31-2 in reply, before Gambhir took control of proceedings.

The left-hander shared stands worth 83 with Virat Kohli (35) and 109 alongside Dhoni to turn the tide in the hosts’ favour.

He missed out on a century, bowled for 97 after advancing to Thisara Perera, but a perfectly paced run chase was completed in the penultimate over by a huge six from Dhoni, who finished on 91 not out.

India’s triumph ended a 28-year wait to add a second World Cup victory to their inaugural success in 1983, while Sri Lanka, the winners in 1996, have now lost in the last two finals.

 

Toss:

Sri Lanka, who surprisingly dropped Ajantha Mendis among four changes to their starting XI, were earlier indebted to a masterful 14th one-day international ton from Jayawardene to ensure a decent total.

The day had begun in somewhat strange circumstances; match referee Jeff Crowe allowing a re-toss after nobody – apart from, presumably, the man himself – was quite sure what Kumar Sangakkara called the first time around.

The Sri Lanka captain got it right at the second attempt and had no hestiation in batting first on a bare pitch that looked full of runs.

 

 

 

Sri Lanka Innings:

Zaheer Khan, however, opened proceedings with three consecutive maidens and, with the first delivery of his fourth over – the seventh of the innings – had Upul Tharanga caught by Virender Sehwag at slip.

Tharanga’s contribution of two off 20 balls was not exactly the start his side had in mind, but Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sangakkara restored order during a second-wicket alliance of 43.

Dilshan’s promising innings was terminated at 33 in unfortunate circumstances in the 17th over when an attempt to sweep Harbhajan Singh deflected onto his stumps via a combination of glove and leg.

That brought together Sangakkara and Jayawardene – Sri Lanka’s middle-order engine room throughout the last decade – and once again they mixed sharp running with the occasional boundary in a 62-run stand.

It was something of a surprise when Sangakkara edged behind attempting to cut a short ball from Yuvraj Singh’s left-arm spin.

The skipper’s departure reduced Sri Lanka to 122-3 in the 28th over and was the start of a fightback in the field by India as Jayawardene, having brought up his half-century from 49 balls, lost Thilan Samaraweera and Chamara Kapugedera in consecutive overs.

Samaraweera was lbw to the golden arm of Yuvraj and Kapugedera, making only his second appearance of the tournament, chipped Zaheer’s slower delivery straight to Suresh Raina in the covers.

Needing an ally, Jayawardene found one in Nuwan Kulasekara and the sixth-wicket pair upped the tempo, helped by their decision to save the batting power play for the final five overs.

Jayawardene went to three figures with consecutive boundaries off Zaheer in the 48th over, which concluded with the run out of Kulasekara as he tried to steal one to the wicketkeeper.

Perera ensured the innings finished with a flourish, belting a six and three fours in a nine-ball 22 as Zaheer’s final two overs disappeared for 35 to ruin his figures (2-60).

 

 

 

India Innings:

India’s pursuit had begun badly, as Malinga removed Sehwag for a duck with the second ball and followed up with the prize scalp of Tendulkar later in his opening spell.

Sehwag was lbw trying to work a straight delivery into the leg-side, a fact confirmed by a DRS review, and Tendulkar (18), having hit a couple of early boundaries to raise hopes of a fairytale 100th international hundred in his home city, edged a drive low to wicketkeeper Sangakkara.

Gambhir and Kohli stabilised the run chase with an 83-run partnership in 15.3 overs, Gambhir surviving on 30 when Kulasekara failed to hold a tumbling chance at long-off in the first over of spin from Suraj Randiv.

Kohli did fall to spin, albeit of the part-time variety, as Dilshan accepted a difficult return catch.

With 161 needed off 170 balls, India captain Dhoni promoted himself and set about the task with relish.

Both Gambhir and Dhoni advanced to half-centuries and had reduced the equation to 52 required from 53 when Gambhir suffered a rush of blood against Perera to deny himself a century.

Dhoni and Yuvraj always retained control and, with the batting power play used for the final five overs, were able to complete the job with 10 balls to spare.

Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s final international appearance ended in disappointment as the leading wicket taker in Test and ODI history, patently unfit, finished with figures of 0-39 from eight overs.

 

 

 

Result: India won by 6 wickets.

Man Of The Match: MS Dhoni (India).

 

Winner of the ‘ICC Cricket World Cup 2011′: India.

Man Of The Tournament: Yuvraj Singh (India).

Note: For watching the highlights of the glorious final, please click here.

 

 

Comments by both captains, by man of the match and by man of the tournament:

Kumar Sangakkara (Captain of Sri Lanka): ”Very proud of everyone, especially Mahela who rose up to the occasion and put up a great hundred. When you look at this Indian team anything less than 350 looks less! They deserved this title, the way they played in front of a great crowd. Both Sri Lanka and India will be proud with the way they have played. Thanks to Sri Lankan fans. Congrats India, you were the better side today. The only way to stop India is to get atleast 7 wickets. Gautam was outstanding and Dhoni stepped up and performed.”

MS Dhoni (Captain of India and Man Of The Match): ”I took a quite few decisions tonight, if we hadn’t won I would have been asked quite a few questions: Why no Ashwin, Why sreesanth. Why no Yuvraj, Why did I bat ahead?! That pushed me and motivated to do well.The pressure had got to me in the previous games. In this game, I wanted to bat up the order and Gary backed me and by the senior players. I had a point to prove to myself. Virat and Gautam batted brillantly; lots of singles. Then with the help of bit of dew , we put pressure on the spinners. I would have liked Gautam to go on and get that big hundred.”

Yuvraj Singh (Man Of The Tournament): ”This is unbelievable. Under-19 World cup, then Twenty20 but this is the most special. For Sachin, for everyone else. I want to dedicate this to my guru ji, for my mother and my friends. Last time we were in World-cup final, we made lots of mistakes. Batting second is lot of pressure but Gauti and MS played outstandingly. They played like it was a normal game. We batted like champions. We don;t have a proper left-arm spinner and so it was my job to do it. Narendra Hirwani has been helping me and I have been working hard. Tonight is going to be good night! Thank you India!”

 

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