Tendulkar tips seamers to shine

Sachin Tendulkar has said he is confident about India defending its World Twenty20 title and expects the pace attack to come good in English conditions. "It is on par with the best," he told Daily News and Analysis. "Zaheer [Khan], Ishant [Sharma] and RP Singh form a lethal combination, particularly in English conditions. Our seam attack has a lot of variety and would come handy in such conditions. On our day, we can demolish any batting side."

Tendulkar, who will not take part in the World Twenty20, had stressed the need for the Indian players to get adequate rest ahead of the competition after an intense IPL. He had singled out India's opening combination, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, which had struggled in the IPL, to fight fatigue in the lead-up to the tournament in England.

When asked about Sehwag's poor run, Tendulkar said: "Every player has ups and downs in his career and Viru [Sehwag] is no exception. But an on-song Viru is a delight to watch. If he gets one cover drive right, he'll mesmerise everybody and will again be back to his best. The bowlers will be at his mercy then. He is a superb striker of the ball ... on his day, he can do anything."

Tendulkar tipped India as the favourites for competition, for he felt that rather than just some individuals making the difference, the team is the best balanced outfit around. "We come as a package," he said. "I am certain this package is the best in business at the moment. This package has everything which is necessary to make us world champions once again.

"India is the most balanced side in the world and there is no doubt we can defend the title. We have very good cricketers in our side and we have proved that this combination is the deadliest."

source: www. cricinfo.com Tendulkar tips seamers to shine

India's T20 Stars in IPL-2 Report Card

Dhoni's army is ready to go to England to defend their crown as the T20 world champions. And as a matter of fact they had a long preparation camp for 37 days in South Africa. Yes, I'm talking about IPL Season 2. Here is an analysis of how the Members of India's T20 World Cup Squad Fared in IPL-2

1.Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Wicket Keeper & Captain, India & Chennai Super Kings)
332 runs in 14 games 13 innings. Avg: 41.50, SR: 127.20 H.S: 58* vs Deccan Chargers, 2 fifties. Took 4 catches and stumped 4 batters.
It was a typical Dhoni show. His team weren't in the best of form, especially his bowlers and fielders were so poor. The skipper himself looked a bit inconsistent at times, but somehow he was able to lead and inspire his team to a semifinal berth as the second placed team in the league stages. Played couple of magnificient innings against Deccan and Kings XI and was at his elements as a captain in close games against Delhi, Rajastan Royals and Kings XI. Had a 24% dot ball ratio as a batsman, lowest among all batters. Was off-colour in the semifinal both as a skipper and a batsman in the Semifinal loss against Bangalore Royal Challengers.
Marks out of 10: Dhoni the Captain 7/10, Dhoni the Player 6/10; Average 6.5/10

2.Virender Sehwag (Vice Captain, India & Captain, Delhi Daredevils)
198 runs in 11 games 11 innings. Avg:19.80 SR:143.47 H.S: 50 vs Mumbai Indians, 1 Fifty. Bowled 1 over and was taken for 25 by Gilchrist. Took 3 catches.
Sehwag started the tournament with a bang. Scored 38 off 16 balls against Punjab Kings XI to lead his team to a 10 wicket win in a Rain Shortened Game. Then he went off the boil, played too many shots and got out early. Missed 4 gamed due to a broken finger. Found form with a 50 off 27 balls against Mumbai in the last league game. Delhi Dare Devils were the most balanced team of IPL 2. So despite the failure of Sehwag and his famous opening partner Gambhir, Delhi made their way to semifinals, living up to the pre-tournament favorites tag. A magnificient assault from Deccan Chargers Skipper Adam Gilchrist denied them of a final birth.
Marks out of 10: Sehwag the Player 3/10, Sehwag the Captain 4/10; Average 3.5/10

3. Gautam Gambhir (Opener India & Stand-in Captain, Delhi Daredevils)
286 runs in 15 games 15 innings. Avg:22.00 SR: 102.87 H.S: 71* vs Kolkatta Knight Riders, 1 fifty. Took 2 catches in the tournament.
India's best batsman in the first T20 World Cup in South Africa. India's Leading Run Scorer in all forms of cricket in the past 18 months. 534 runs in IPL-1. A devestating opening partnership with Sehwag. All pointed towards some sensational performances. But it was not the case. Despite a scratchy 71* (he was reprived by the umpire on 45) and a near convincing 47 against Mumbai Indians, Gambhir was an utter failure. Lead his team well when Sehwag was nursing an Injury.
Marks out of 10: Gambhir the Player 3/10, Gambhir the Captain 4/10; Average 3.5/10

4. Harbhajan Singh (Off Spinner, India & Mumbai Indians)
84 runs in 13 games 10 innings. Avg: 10.50 SR: 158.49. H.S: 20 vs Deccan Chargers. 12 wickets in 13 games. SR: 22.00 Avg: 21.33 ER: 5.81 BB: 4/17 vs Delhi Daredevils. Took 3 catches
In a tournament dominated surprisingly by Slow bowlers, Harbhajan was not at his best. Not so well used by his skipper Sachin Tendulkar at times, Bhajji's 4/17 in a loosing cause against Daredevils and a magnificient spell of 4-0-9-1 against Kings XI Punjab were standouts. He bowled economically but always lacked creativity.
Marks out of 10: 5/10

5.Ravindra Jadeja (All-rounder, India & Rajastan Royals)
295 runs in 13 games 13 innings. Avg: 26.81 SR: 110.90 H.S: 42 vs Mumbai Indians. 6 wickets in 13 games. SR: 23.30 Avg: 25.16 ER: 6.47 BB: 3/15 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore. Took 4 catches.
Jadeja was his teams top run scorer. He came up with useful contributions to a medicore batting line up, without really making a huge contribution. Took 6 wickets with his left arm spin and was brilliant on the field. Failed miserably to live up to the reputation he created during 2008/09 Indian Domestic season where he was the best all rounder by a fair margin with 739 runs and 42 wickets.
Marks out of 10: 5/10

6. Zakeer Khan (Fast Bowler, India & Mumbai Indians)
8 runs in 6 games. 6 wickets in 6 games. SR: 21.00 Avg: 23.66 ER: 6.76 BB: 3/31 vs Kolkatta Knight Riders. Took 2 catches.
Zak, India's pacebowling spearhead these days had steady 6 games before injuring his left shoulder in a game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. His absense made a huge impact in Mumbai's semifinal hopes since He and Malinga bowled some good opening and death spells. Although his tally of 6 wickets including 3 in one game was not up to the high standards he sets for himself.
Marks out of 10: 3/10

7. Praveen Kumar (Seam Bowler, India & Royal Challengers Bangalore)
65 runs in 13 games 8 innings. Avg: 13.00 SR: 141.30. 13 wickets in 13 games. SR: 22.9 Avg: 30.30 ER: 7.93 BB: 3/30 vs Delhi Daredevils. Took 1 catch.
The angry young man got his team off to a great start with a magnificient opening spell against Rajastan Royals taking two crucial wickets. With Kumble taking 5 wickets for 5 runs BRC got off to a dream start by bowling the defending champions out for 58. BRC won only 2 out of their first 6 matches under Kevin Pietersen, but made it to the finals by winning 9 out of the 7, including the semifinal, after Kumble became the captain. Praveen was trusted by Kumble but he was brilliant one over and ordinary in the next. His 20 run over in the final against Deccan proved to be the difference in the end as BRC fell short by 6 runs.
Marks out of 10: 4/10

8. Pragyan Ojha (Left Arm Spinner, India & Deccan Chargers)
1 run in 15 games 4 innings. 18 wickets in 15 games. SR: 17.8 Avg: 19.33 ER: BB: 3/21 vs Mumbai Indians. Took 2 Catches
Ojha was the best Indian spinner on show. (Barring Anil Kumble). His three wickets in the final were good but his 3 wickets against Mumbai Indians, including the prized wickets of Sachin and JP Duminy was one of the spells of the tournament. Missed a match due to injury. The way he lured right handers out of the crease to have them stumped by Gilchrist and the celeberation after that were common sights in this IPL and are sights to behold for a hardcore Indian fan.
Marks out of 10: 6/10

9. Irfan Pathan (All-rounder, India & Kings XI Punjab)
196 runs in 14 games 12 innings. Avg: 19.60 SR: 124.05 HS: 39 vs Rajastan Royals. 17 wickets in 14 games SR: 17.7 Avg: 22.94 ER: 7.74 BB: 3/35 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore. Took 4 catches.
Not flattering numbers, but weren't bad either. Formed a good bowling combination with Yusuf Abdulla and Brett Lee and was Punjab's highest wicket taker. Got his famous swing back but the pace was in the mid 120's and early 130's. Played couple of crucial innings down the order against Rajastan Royals and Delhi Daredevils, both turned out to be match winning contributions.
Marks out of 10: 5.5/10

10. Yusuf Pathan (All-rounder, India & Rajastan Royals)
243 runs in 13 games 13 innings. Avg: 20.25 SR: 132.78 HS: 62* vs Delhi Daredevils, 1 fifty. 7 wickets in 13 games. SR: 30.00 Avg: 34.71 ER: 6.94 BB: 3/34 vs Deccan Chargers Took 2 Catches.
Pathan Sr was a mere shadow of the entertainer who took the inaugural IPL by Storm, with 435 runs at a strike rate of 179 and 8 wickets. Played couple of Match winning hands with a brutal 62* off 30 balls vs Daredevils and a 21 ball 42 followed by a 4 ball 18 in the superover against Kolkatta Knight Riders. His skipper put extra pressure on him by asking him to come down the order and hit at a rate of 10 an over, and Yusuf struggled. Did a respectable job with the ball, at times opening the bowling.
Marks out of 10: 4/10

11. Suresh Raina (Batsman, India & Chennai Super Kings)
434 runs in 14 matches 14 innings. Avg: 31.00 SR: 140.90 H.S: 98 vs Rajastan Royals, 2 fifties. 7 wickets in 14 games. SR: 23.70 Avg: 23.42 ER: 5.92 BB: 2/17 vs Kings XI Punjab. Took 7 catches.
Raina was one of the Sucess stories of the last IPL and he didn't dissappoint this season too. Scored valuable runs at the top of the order to back up Matty Hayden, who smacked 572 runs, and was a surprise package as a bowler with his off spinners, bowling some tight death overs. A magnificient 98 vs Rajastan Royals (the scoreboard flashed he was on 100 and Raina played a careless shot next ball and got out thinking he was the first Indian to score an IPL ton) was an innings to remember.
Marks out of 10: 7/10

12. Ishant Sharma (Fast Bowler, India & Kolkatta Knight Riders)
16 runs in 11 games. 11 wickets in 11 games. SR: 23.4 Avg: 27.00 ER: 6.90 BB: 2/15 vs Bangalore Royal Challengers. Took 1 catch.
His agression and committment was the only positive for the Wooden Spoon winners Kolkatta Knight Riders. Still lacked consistency and was poor at the death. Easily KKR's best bowler by miles and was rested for the last 2 games. Surprisingly KKR won both matches. (They won only 1 out of the 11 he played). His spat with Yuvraj was one of the not so good incidents of the season.
Marks out of 10: 3.5/10

13. Rohit Sharma (Batsman, India & Deccan Chargers)
362 runs in 16 games 16 innings. Avg: 27.84 SR:114.92 HS: 52 vs Bangalore Royal Challengers, 1 fifty. 11 wickets in 16 games. SR: 12.5 Avg: 14.63 ER: 7.00 BB: 4/6 vs Mumbai Indians. Took 5 catches.
Has Rohit atlast arrived at the Big Stage?? May be not. But was the most sensational player of the IPL. Runs a plenty, useful wickets, a match winning Hattrick, brilliant fielding...what else you want. Rohit provided everything. Hit 26 off the last over in a tight chase against KKR to win the match. He almost did it again vs Punjab in a 1 run loss when he hit 42 off 26. Was tidy with his off-spinners and bowled a dream 2-0-6-4 spell against Mumbai Indians, which included a hattrick. Rightly named the City Under-23 Sucess of IPL2
Marks out of 10: 7.1/10

14. Rudra Pratap Singh (Fast Bowler, India & Deccan Chargers)
8 runs in 16 games 6 innings. 23 wickets in 16 games. SR: 15.5 Avg: 18.13 ER: 6.98 BB:4/22 vs Kolkatta Knight Riders. Took 7 catches.
RP was a front runner for purple cap in last IPL. Was the key figure in India's test series win in England, T20 Worldcup and perth test. But injuries and loss of form found him out of India's best 16 of late. Boy did he make a come back like a pheonix. With 23 wickets he won the purple cap. despite some slip ups in the middle part of the tournament, he was the best active Indian Bowler on show. (A close contender may be Ashish Nehra). It was apt that this come-back king added the finishing touches to Deccans Rise from the Ashes of last year (Last in 2008, Winners of 2009) with a nerveless final over. Hope RP improves his fielding, inspite of the 7 catches he took.
Marks out 10: 6.9/10

15. Yuvraj Singh (Batsman, India & Captain, Kings XI Punjab)
340 runs in 14 games 14 innings. Avg: 28.33 SR: 115. 64 HS: 58* vs Chennai Super Kings. 2 fifties. 6 wickets in 14 games. SR: 20.00 Avg: 23.66 ER: 7.10 BB: 3/13 vs Deccan Chargers. Took 5 catches.
A satisfying return for any others but not for Yuvraj. Scored just 299 runs with 1 fifty last season. Was always angry as a leader and had reasons too. Took a hat-trick and scored a 50 vs Bangalore Royal Challengers only to see his team loose by 8 runs. Took another hat-trick and took his team to victory over Deccan but in a must win game against Chennai, chasing a modest 117, he and his glamorous team wilted under the guiles of MS Dhoni. Hit 16 sixers, and hit the longest off'em all, a 119 meter monster of Albie Morkel.
Marks out of 10: Yuvraj the Player: 6/10 Yuvraj the Captain 6/10; Average 6/10

Warne vs Dhoni.

IPL season 1 and 2 gave us the chance of watching two of the best captains of our Era. Season 1 Final saw both of them in action and Warne's just put it past of the last ball over Dhoni's Super Kings and won the finals. Even in the couple of games they met at League stages saw Warne ruling over Dhoni. Warne led a relatively moderate team to a remarkable win. But Dhoni and his team were not far behind. Dhoni also had to deal with a fairly moderate squad, which lost form midway through. Furthermore Dhoni was just one year old as a captain. IPL 2 again gave us the opportunity two watch these two charismatic gentle men locking horns again.

CSK started their tournament in a bumpy way. They were beaten by Mumbai Indians, Delhi Dare Devils and Deccan Chargers; They beat Bengalore Royal Challengers; They had a game against Kolkatta Knight Riders Washed out. So after 5 games, they were languishing at the bottom Just above Kolkatta Knight Riders. Rajastan's start was even more disastrous. They were bowled out for 58 against Bangalore Royal Challengers. They had only a win over KKR and their game against MI was also washed out. Then they met for the first time. Hayden was in great form for CSK, tearing into all seam attacks. Warne opened with Yusuf Pathan's off-spin and got Hayden out for 1. Suresh Raina's magnificient 98 and some impressive bowling meant CSK beat Royals for the first time in 4 meetings, by 38 runs. Not much of a tactical war there. Dissappointed? Dhoni and Warne were back to business for the second league meeting with their respective teams and they both now had 11 points in 9 games. Dhoni's team beat tournament favorites Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils where Dhoni was at his best, both as a player and captain. While Royals also beat Delhi Daredevils through Yusuf Pathan's brute power and they kicked Kings XI Punjab by 78 runs, achieving IPL-2's first 200+ score. And on May 09, 2009 they met again. And we saw a classic battle of two outstanding leaders.

The battle started off-field. Warne won the toss and chose to bat. And he had a go at Dhoni and CSK saying they were not the best chasers. Dhoni retorted, saying given his strong batting line-up, the Rajasthan batsmen would be under immense pressure to set a defendable total. And they exchanged blow after blow. Dhoni was impeccabel with his bowling changes and field placings. Warne came up with a 11 ball 21 that took Rajastan Royals to 140/7 in 20 overs. Moderate. Isn't it?? With Hayden, Raina and Dhoni in great form, it's a cake walk for CSK. Isn't it? No way, Warne came up with Ideas. After 8 overs CSK were 49/2. Murali Vijay and Raina back in the hut. Hayden was given only 14 balls to face. Warne bowled a great over where Badrinath hardly put Bat to Ball. In the ninth over Warne bowled to Hayden for the first time, throwing the first ball wide, which was called wide despite big turn. The next one was flighted wide again, and Hayden decided to reverse-sweep late but perfectly. He then walked down to Warne, as if the keeper was standing back, and got to the pitch and hit him flat over long-on. That over may have got Chennai only 12 runs, but the statement that Hayden made was huge. But Warne was not the one to back off. He kept rotating his bowlers and with Badrinath struggling CSK needed 44 in 5 overs. But there was the Dhoni effect. Dhoni had kept faith in Badri and even had promoted him above himself in such a tricky chase. Like his captain Badri stayed calm and hit Shane Harwood for 20 runs in the 16th over. Runrate came to managable proportions. Warne again didn't back-off. He had Hayden brilliantly stumped down the legside. But, Badri saw CSK home with 10 balls to spare.

This game may seem like a one sided game. But it was a brilliant battle between two charismatic leaders. Warne never captained his country but he has played top level cricket for 16 years. Dhoni didn't even cement his place in the team when he was made captain. But, man he has come off age. Experience wise, Dhoni is a child compared to Warne. But, his tactics as effective as Warne. As it turned out, Dhoni has a better team in this IPL than Warne's. But still it takes some cool head to counter Warne's tactical brilliance. Both are charismatic and have their own ways of leading the side on the field. Warne is like a colonel in action while Dhoni is the macho man. Both have one common aspect. They have strong believe in their ability as well as their teams' ability. On the night Dhoni may have been leading the better side, but as far as the battle of captains goes, Warne and Dhoni are locked. May be in 5 years time, with experience at international level, Dhoni may have his nose ahead of Warne. But for the moment Dhoni = Warne

Faces of Indian Cricket

Since Playing their first test against England in 1932 at Lord's London, India's contribution to World Cricket is Immense. Up to today India has seen some highs and lows as a cricket team. Legends like Lala Amarnath, Tiger Pataudi, Vinoo Mankad, Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, Bagawath Chandrasekar, Erapalli Prasanna, Bishen Bedi, Srinivas Venkatraghavan, Mohinder Amarnath, Kapil Dev. Dilip Vengsarkar, Kris Srikanth, Ravi Shastri, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Javaghal Srinath all added colour to cricket. A fiesty new Indian team of present adds the much needed glamour. But India has become a nation which loved Field Hockey to a nation that hates everything except cricket. This transition took place gradually. These are the 5 main factors that influenced that transition in my point of view.

Sunil Manohar Gavaskar Explodes as India conquers West Indies :

West Indies during those days wasn't the place for a 5 ft 5 inch guy to make a debut. They boasted of pace bowlers who were hunting in packs. Although the West Indian attack of Gavaskar's first series wasn't that devestating compared to some other attacks they've had, it was a formidable. Gavaskar, made his debut in the second test at Port-of-Spain in Trinidad. And what a debut it was, Sunny made 65 & 67* as India, led by Ajit Wadekar beat the West Indian cricket team for the first time in Carribean Soil. Gavaskar was in awesome form all through out the series with 774 runs in 8 innings at an average of 154.80 with 4 hundreds and 3 fifties. It included 124 and 220 in the last test at Port-of-Spain again. Gavaskar ended his career with 10,122 test runs at an average of 51.12 in 125 tests with 34 hundreds and 45 fifties. His record of 34 test hundreds stood untill 2005, before deservedly overtaken by Sachin Tendulkar. Sunny, inspired more and more kids to take up to batting. His most famous follower is none other than Sachin Tendulkar. Known as Little Master, Sunny did master the art of batting and did take batting to another level.

Kapil Leads his devils to World Cup Success in 1983:

1975 World Cup Final: Australia vs Westindies, Australian team that included Dennis Lillie, Jeff Thompson, Rodney Marsh and Greg Chappel lead by Ian Chappel was beaten with minimum fuss. 1979 World Cup Final: England vs West Indies. England were hammered badly. 1983 final, somehow Kapil Dev lead his team to the finals. But up against them was, you guessed it, the mighty Windies team lead by Clive Lloyd. A hattrick of World Cups for West Indies?? Off course it looked like that when India finished their batting. 183 all out. Blown away by Westindian Pace Battery. With a batting line up of Grreenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lloyd, Gomes, Bachchas and Dujon ahead of him, Malcolm Marshall was begging the team management to allow him to go out for shopping. Most fans turned off their Radio Sets. Almost everybody resigned to the fate except Kapil and his Devils. In 52 overs of Inspired and Intelligent bowling and fielding effort, India bowled out West Indies for 140 and lifted their most significant world trophy todate. The portrait of Kapil holding the trophy aloft in Lord's pavalion became a household item in India. Kapil, who hails from a modest background in Haryana, inspired many poor, not so gifted youngsters to become cricketers. He is the only true all-rounder produced by India, and untill overtaken by Courtney Walsh, he held the world record for Highest Number of Wickets in Test Cricket with 434 scalps.


Sachin: Little Master version 2

Off course, Sachin is Little Master version 2. He also hails from Mumbai as Sunny Gavaskar. He also is a complete batsman. His height is also the same as SMG. But Sachin made his debut as a baby. Yes, he was just 16 then. In an exibhition match Pakistan legend Abdul Kadhir did ask Sachin, "What are you doing here baby" or something in that lines. Reply was, three sixers in one over. Gavaskar and Kapil brought General Public towards cricket. But Sachin made cricket a cult in India. Anything less than a 100 from his bat was considered a failure. He continues to revel even today. Cricinfo says "Sachin Tendulkar has been the most complete batsman of his time, and arguably the biggest cricket icon as well. His batting is based on the purest principles: perfect balance, economy of movement, precision in stroke-making, and that intangible quality given only to geniuses, anticipation. If he doesn't have a signature stroke - the upright, back-foot punch comes close - it is because he is equally proficient in each of the full range of orthodox shots (and plenty of improvised ones as well) and can pull them out at will. Tendulkar's considerable achievements seem greater still when looked at in the light of the burden of expectations he has had to bear from his adoring but somewhat unreasonable followers, who have been prone to regard anything less than a hundred as a failure. The aura may have dimmed, if only slightly, as the years on the international circuit have taken their toll on the body, but Tendulkar remains, by a distance, the most worshipped cricketer in the world." With 12, 773 test runs with 42 hundreds at 54.58, and 16,684 one day runs with 43 hundreds at 44.37, Sachin has scaled almost every batting record that is available. (stats as of 09 May, 2009). And the image of him celebrating a hundred would be etched in the memories of all who follow cricket.

Sehwag: Say Whack

Sehwag idolized his batting on Sachin. His major breakthrough also came as a replacement of his Idol, when he smacked a memorable 69 ball 100 vs Newzealand in a One Day Match at Colombo. Eversince, despite some minor hiccups here and there, Sehwag hasn't looked back. Despite a 100 on test Debut in South Africa, Sehwag was not considered a permanent fixture in Indian test team, especially in the middle order because of his Audacity. Sehwag was asked to open in a test match in England, and there started a career that changed the face of test match opening. Asked to open the innings in Tests on the tour of England in 2002, Sehwag proved an instant hit, cracking an 80 and a 100 in the first two matches. Regularly thereafter, he kept conjuring pivotal innings at the top of the order, none as significant as India's first 300 (which he bought up, characteristically, with a six), at Multan against Pakistan in early 2004. He became only the second batsman in test history, after Sir.Don Bradman and Brian Lara, to score two triple centuries in test cricket when he smacked a strong South African attack to all corners of the ground at Chennai Chepauk on his way to a blistering 319. His triple was brought up off Just 278 balls, a world record. This "freak" continues to entertain crowds all around the world.



M.S. Dhoni: The Macho Man

This article about MS, sums it up nicely: "The spectacular arrival of Virender Sehwag was bound to inspire others to bat with the same mindset. But the odds of a clone emerging from the backwaters of Jharkhand, whose state side has consistently scraped the bottom, was highly remote. That was until Mahendra Singh Dhoni arrived. He can be swashbuckling with the bat and secure with the wicketkeeping gloves. His neck-length hair adds to his dash. Though Dhoni made his first-class debut in the 1999-2000 season, it was only in 2004 that he became a serious contender for national selection with some stirring performances when the occasion demanded. With his two centuries against Pakistan A, in the triangular tournament in Kenya, that he established himself as a clinical destroyer of bowling attacks. In just his fifth one-dayer, against Pakistan at Vishakapatnam, he cracked a dazzling 148 - putting even Sehwag in the shade - and followed that up with a colossal 183 not out at Jaipur against Sri Lanka in November, when he broke Adam Gilchrist's record for the highest score by a wicketkeeper in ODIs. He made an instant impact on the Test level too, pounding 148 at Faisalabad, in only his fifth Test. He was elevated to the vice-captaincy of the one-day squad for the tour of England and Ireland in 2007 and, soon after, was appointed captain of the Twenty20 squad for the World Championship in South Africa. A heady title triumph marked him out as a leader for the future and was handed over the reins of the one-day side in September 2007 after Rahul Dravid decided to step down as captain. It didn't take too long for him to enhance his reputation, claiming India's first tri-series triumph in Australia. He captained Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, losing out to Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals in a tense final. As a stop-gap Test captain, he was credited with leading India to their biggest ever win in terms of runs (320), against Australia in Mohali."

Giving due respect to legends like Pataudi, Wadekar, Azhar, Dada, Jumbo and Dravid, I feel these are the 5 faces that gave Indian cricket the Glow they've got now.

Sources used: www.cricinfo.com