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Monday, June 28, 2010

Ravindranath Rampaul

Ravindranath Rampaul (born October 15, 1984 in Preysal, Trinidad and Tobago) is a West Indian cricketer. He is the first quick bowler of Indian descent to represent West Indies at international level,[1] playing Tests, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. Capable of decent pace and accuracy from a simple, smooth bowling action, Rampaul has been identified, along with Jerome Taylor, as a potential leader of the West Indies bowling attack in the years to come.Rampaul played youth cricket for West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago, playing at the World Under-15 Challenge in England in 2000, and at the 2002 Under-19 World Cup, before breaking the record wicket tally in the regional youth tournament in West Indies after taking 45 wickets in five matches during the 2002 tournament. The following season, he took 27 wickets, as Trinidad and Tobago won their first youth title since 1987. By that time, however, he had also made his first class debut, playing three Busta Cup matches for Trinidad and Tobago during the 2001–02 season and taking six wickets.[2] [edit] International career After playing six further matches during the 2002–03 season, and taking 18 wickets, with only Marlon Black taking more for Trinidad and Tobago that season,[3] Rampaul was selected for West Indies Under-19s in the 2003–04 Red Stripe Bowl one-day tournament. Rampaul was leading wicket-taker for the U-19 team, as his eight wickets was double that of any other,[4] and after the tournament completed, Rampaul was called up to represent West Indies in their tour of Zimbabwe in October and November.[5] Rampaul went wicketless in his first game, sending down 13 no-balls in 30 overs,[6] and was not selected for either of the two Test matches. However, after taking two wickets, including opener Dion Ebrahim, in the one-day warm-up match against Zimbabwe A,[7] Rampaul played in four of the five ODIs. He failed to take a wicket in the series, which West Indies eventually claimed 3–2 with a win in the final game, and Rampaul was the most expensive West Indian bowler among those bowling more than four overs per game

Shivnarine 'Shiv' Chanderpaul

Shivnarine 'Shiv' Chanderpaul (born 16 August 1974 in Unity Village, Demerara-Mahaica, Guyana) is a cricketer, and former captain of the West Indies cricket team. He is the first Indo-Caribbean in the West Indies team to play 100 Tests for the West Indies and has captained them in 14 Tests and 16 One Day Internationals. Chanderpaul is one of the top ranked batsmen in the world under the current ICC test rankings, and has previously been ranked as high as one.A West Indian cricketer of Indian origin, the left-handed Chanderpaul is known for his doggedness and ability to stick on the wicket for long hours. He is known in the cricketing world for his unorthodox front-on batting stance, although he shifts his body into a more conventional position when he plays the ball, thus making him a prolific scorer on both sides of the wicket. His stance allows him to get most of his runs behind the wicket. Chanderpaul is renowned for playing left arm spin bowlers by getting his pad outside the line of off-stump, and hiding his bat behind the pad, in imitation of a shot, but without the risk of edging the ball. Chanderpaul's first notable impact on Test cricket was as being the last batting partner of Brian Lara when Lara broke Gary Sobers' record of 365 not out in the fifth and final Test against England in 1993–94. Lara went on to make 375 before he was caught off Andrew Caddick's bowling, sharing a 219-run stand with Chanderpaul, who was left not out on 75. Chanderpaul made his first Test century in his 19th Test match – after having scored 15 half-centuries in the preceding 18 matches. In the third of a five-Test series against India in 1996–97, he made 137* at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. He also featured with his Guyanese counterpart, and current West Indian vice captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, making 104 in chasing a world record 418 to win in the fourth innings of the final Test match versus Australia in 2002–03.

Christopher Henry Gayle

Christopher Henry Gayle (born 21 September 1979 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a West Indian cricketer who is captain of the West Indies cricket team and plays domestic cricket for Jamaica. He is a hard-hitting left-handed opening batsman with a wide-range of shots, and bowls useful part-time right-arm off spin. Gayle is a successful One Day International player, with over 200 appearances for his country and 19 centuries. He is also a successful Test batsman, averaging just over 40.00, with a landmark 317 against South Africa. As a prominent one day player, Gayle was chosen by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.[1] He has recently finished playing in the third season of the IPL.Gayle played for the West Indies at youth international level prior to making his first-class debut aged 19 for Jamaica. He played his first One Day International 11 months later, and his first Test match 6 months after that. Gayle, who normally opens the innings when he plays for the West Indies, is a destructive batsman who is most effective playing square of the wicket. In July 2001, Gayle (175), together with Daren Ganga (89) established the record for opening partnerships at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo when they put on 214 together against Zimbabwe. However, generally speaking he had a slow start to his international career, but invigorated it in 2002, ending the year with three centuries against India in November and becoming the third West Indian to score 1,000 runs in a calendar year. Along with Vivian Richards and Brian Lara. He is one of only five players in One Day International history to have three or more scores of 150. In 2005, Gayle was dropped for the first Test against South Africa along with six other players following a dispute over sponsorship issues (see below). He returned for the second test but had a poor series until the fourth Test, where he made his career-best: a match-saving 317. It was the first ever triple century against South Africa and up until Mahela Jayawardene made 374, it was the highest individual Test score against them.

Johannes Albertus Morkel

Johannes Albertus Morkel (born 10 June 1981 in Vereeniging, Transvaal Province, South Africa), usually referred to as just Albie Morkel, is a South African cricketer. He is an all-rounder who bowls right-arm- medium fast and bats left-handed. He is famous for his six hitting abilities in Twenty20 cricket. Albie has a brother, Morne Morkel, who also plays international cricket for South Africa while his father played provincial cricket in South Africa.His bowling was quite impressive in his first seasons in first class cricket, as he burst onto the scene with six for 36 for Easterns against Griqualand West, but in the 2004/05 season he was expected to take more of the bowling effort for the Titans, but only took 20 wickets at a bowling average of 40.65. However, that coincided with an improvement in his batting, as he made his first double century of his career, with 204 not out against Western Province Boland. During the 2008 Summer season Albie played for Durham County Cricket Club in the North East of England along with fellow South African Shaun Pollock mainly in the Twenty20 Cup competition. He was dropped from the National team to the tour of Windies to open door for Dave Miller and others .

Herschelle Herman Gibbs

Herschelle Herman Gibbs (born 23 February 1974 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a South African cricketer, more specifically a batsman. Gibbs was schooled at St Joseph's Marist College and then Diocesan College in Rondebosch. Gibbs was a gifted sportman at school playing provincial rugby, cricket and soccer and featuring in SA Schools teams for all three sports. At backward point, he is considered by some to be the next Jonty Rhodes in his ability to hit the stumps, with a report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the eighth highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the tenth highest success rate.[1] Gibbs is said to rarely practice in the nets before a match. It is said he prefers to play on instinct in this case. Gibbs is remembered for dropping a comparatively simple catch off Australia's Steve Waugh during the 1999 World Cup. He became the first player to hit six sixes in one over in One Day International cricket, doing so against the Netherlands in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. On 8 June 2007 he got married in St Kitts to Tenielle Povey, [2]but divorced soon afterwards.

Jacques Henry Kallis

Jacques Henry Kallis (born 16 October 1975 in Pinelands, Cape Town, South Africa) is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 10,000 runs and 250 wickets in both one day and Test match cricket.[1][2] From October-December 2007 he produced a streak of five centuries in four Test Matches; he has 34 in total. He was named Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2008 Wisden for his performances in 2007 in addition to being the "ICC Test Player of the Year" and ICC Player of the Year in 2005.[3] He has been described by Kevin Pietersen and Daryll Cullinan as the greatest cricketer to play the game.

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (born 17 February 1984, Pretoria, Transvaal Province, South Africa) more commonly known by his initials AB plays cricket for South Africa and the Northern Titans. He also plays for the Delhi DareDevils in the Indian Premier League. De Villiers is a right-handed batsman, who, in a very short space of time, has accumulated many runs in Tests including centuries against England, India, the West Indies and Australia. He has been dismissed in the 90s on five occasions in Tests. He still holds the record for most Test innings without registering a duck (78)[1], before being dismissed for nought against Bangladesh in November 2008. He is an occasional wicketkeeper for the South African cricket team, and is commonly regarded as one of the best fielders currently in international cricket. AB de Villiers blasted the seventh fastest century in ODI cricket, in 58 balls, when he slammed an unbeaten 102 off just 59 balls against India in Ahmedabad in February 2010.

Daniel Luca Vettori

Daniel Luca Vettori (born 27 January 1979) is a cricketer who is the current captain of the New Zealand cricket team. He is the eighth player in Test history to take 300 wickets and score 3,000 runs. He is the youngest player to have represented New Zealand in Test cricket, having made his debut in 1996–97 at the age of 18. Vettori is a bowling all-rounder who bowls slow left-arm orthodox spin, he is known for his flight and guile rather than prodigious turn or pinpoint accuracy. He has a Test batting average of around 30 making him one of the more consistent and better batsmen in the New Zealand cricket team. He was born in Auckland and brought up in Hamilton, attending Marian School and later St. Paul's Collegiate School. When available, he plays provincial cricket for Northern Districts and is also an international member of Indian Premier League team the Delhi DareDevils. Vettori also represents the Queensland Bulls in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. He is one of only a few international sports stars to wear prescription spectacles while playing sport and is the first cricketer of Italian descent to represent New Zealand.

Shane Edward Bond

Shane Edward Bond (born 7 June 1975 in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a New Zealand cricketer, described as "New Zealand's best fast bowler since Sir Richard Hadlee".[1] He has represented New Zealand in Test, ODI and Twenty20 International cricket as well as playing for Canterbury in New Zealand domestic cricket and Warwickshire in English domestic cricket. Bond is a right-arm fast bowler. Bond's career has been plagued with injuries, chiefly recurring stress fractures of the back. He had surgery in 2004 to try and prevent further injury,[2] but it was only partially successful. In recent years he has suffered back problems, knee injuries and an abdominal tear. These problems, in conjunction with a late start to his fully professional cricket career, have limited his appearances in both international and domestic cricket. Since his debut in the 2001/02 season, he only managed to appear in 18 Test matches for New Zealand. Bond retired from Test cricket in December 2009 at the age of 34.[1] His international career also suffered a hiatus of 18 months,[3] due to Bond's involvement with the Delhi Giants in, the 'rebel' Indian Cricket League during March 2008, which caused the New Zealand cricket board to terminate his central contract in January 2008.[4] However, in June 2009 Bond severed ties with the rebel league and declared himself available to be selected for the national side once again.[5] In January 2010, Bond was selected to play in the 3rd season of the Indian Premier League for the Kolkata Knight Riders. As of 13 May 2010 he has since retired from all forms of the game and is not planning to continue in the 4th season of Indian Premier League.

Jacob David Philip Oram

Jacob David Philip Oram (born 28 July 1978, Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand) is a New Zealand cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler. His abilities with both bat and ball has made him a regular fixture in the current New Zealand International sides. Usually batting in the middle to lower order, Oram's bowling has been more successful in the shorter format—reaching as high as 5 in the ICC ODI Player Rankings. Standing at 1.98m (6 ft 6 in), he was a schoolboy representative as a soccer goalkeeper. He played for the Manawatu cricket team in the Hawke Cup. He plays for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.

Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor

Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor, abbreviated in cricket scorecards to LRPL Taylor, but more commonly known as Ross Taylor (born 8 March 1984 in Lower Hutt) is a New Zealand cricketer. He has captained the New Zealand Under-19 side in youth internationals. Taylor has a highest first-class score of 132* in the State Shield domestic one-day competition in 2003–04, and 217 in the State Championship in 2007–08.

Mohammad Azharuddin pronunciation

Mohammad Azharuddin pronunciation (help·info) (born 8 February 1963, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh) also known as Azhar, is an Indian politician and former cricketer. He was an accomplished batsman and captained the Indian cricket team for much of the 1990s, until his involvement in a match-fixing scandal forced him into retirement.[1] A member of the Indian National Congress, Azharuddin won election from the Moradabad constituency of Uttar Pradesh to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. In his prime, he had a graceful, fluid batting style, comparable to that of his English contemporary, David Gower and Australian batsman Greg Chappell. The wrist flick was his most characteristic shot and he fared best against spinners. The grace and fluidity of his wrist once prompted John Woodcock, a noted cricket writer, to say, "It's no use asking an Englishman to bat like Mohammad Azharuddin. For, it would be like expecting a greyhound to win the London Derby!" [1] Former Indian captain and International umpire Venkataraghavan said that "Azharuddin had the best wrists in the game, but Tendulkar isn't too far behind" while praising Sachin Tendulkar.

Bapu Krishnarao Venkatesh Prasad

Bapu Krishnarao Venkatesh Prasad(Kannada: ಬಾಪು ಕೃಷ್ಣರಾವ್‌ ವೆಂಕಟೇಶ್‌ ಪ್ರಸಾದ್‌) pronunciation (help·info) (born 5 August 1969 in Bangalore, Karnataka)[1] is a former Indian cricketer. He is the bowling coach for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, having formerly performed the same role for the Indian cricket team from 2007 to 2009. He made his debut in 1996. Primarily a right-arm medium-fast bowler, Prasad was noted for his bowling combination with Javagal Srinath. Prasad took 96 wickets from 33 Tests at an average of 35, and 196 wickets from 161 ODIs at an average of 32.3. Prasad was more effective on wickets that helped seam bowling even though his best Test bowling figures of 6 for 33, achieved against Pakistan in the 1999 Test series in India, came on a docile pitch in Chennai; these figures included a spell of bowling in which he took 5 wickets for 0 runs. Notably, he once took 10 wickets in a Test match in Durban, South Africa, in December 1996. It remains his only ten wicket haul in Test cricket. Prasad also took five wicket hauls in England, in 1996, in Sri Lanka, in 2001, and in the West Indies, in 1997. Prasad played his final Test match in Sri Lanka in 2001. One of his finest moments came in 1996 Cricket World Cup when after being hit for a boundary and openly sledged by Pakistan batsman Aamir Sohail, Prasad clean bowled Sohail the very next ball, (which many consider the turning point of the match). [2] Prasad struggled with injuries and dipping form towards the end of his career. He was dropped from the Indian team after 2001 test series in Sri Lanka. Prasad tried unsuccessfully to make a come back after that before retiring from all cricket in May 2005, having secured two Ranji Trophy championships with Karnataka. He was made coach of the India Under-19 Cricket team in January. He was the coach of the U-19 team that finished runners-up in the 2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup. He is currently the bowling coach of the Indian National cricket team. After the disappointing performance of the Indian Team in World Cup 2007, Prasad was appointed as the bowling coach of the team for the Bangladesh Tour in May. It was his return to the Indian team after a span of 3 years. On October 15 2009, Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh were sacked by the BCCI, which did not give any reasons for the unceremonious dumping

Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri pronunciation

Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri pronunciation (help·info) (born 27 May 1962, Bombay, Maharashtra, India) is a former Indian cricketer and captain. He was an all–rounder who batted right–handed and bowled left arm spin. His international career started when he was 18 years old and lasted for 12 years. He started his career purely as a bowler but gradually became more of a batsman who could bowl. As a batsman, he was essentially defensive with the "chapati shot"[1][2] (a flick off the pads) being his trademark shot, but could raise his strike rate when required. Due to his above-average height (he stood 6' 3" tall) and an upright stance, he had a limited number of shots against fast bowling, but was able to put the lofted shot to good use against spin bowling. Shastri played either as an opening batsmen or in the middle order. The highlight of his career was when he was elected the Champion of Champions in the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985. In the same season, he equalled West Indian Garry Sobers's record of hitting six sixes in an over in first class cricket. He was regarded as a potential captain, but his image outside cricket [3], injuries and tendency to lose form at crucial times meant that he captained India in only one Test match. In domestic cricket, he played for Bombay and led them to the Ranji Trophy title in his final year of playing. He also played four seasons of county cricket for Glamorgan. He was forced to retire aged 31 due to a recurring knee injury. He is now a noted TV cricket commentator.

Kevin Peter Pietersen

Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE (born 27 June 1980) is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for Hampshire County Cricket Club, England, and was the captain of the Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore in second season of the IPL. He was captain of the England Test and One Day International teams from 4 August 2008 to 7 January 2009. He resigned after just three tests and nine One Day Internationals, following a dispute with England coach Peter Moores, who was sacked the same day.[3] Pieterson was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa. He made his first-class debut for Natal in 1997 before moving to England after voicing his displeasure at the racial quota system in place in South Africa,[4] despite good opportunities for playing at international level. His English mother gave Pietersen eligibility to play for England, and after serving a qualifying period of four years playing at county level, he was called up almost immediately into the national side. He made his international debut in the One Day International match against Zimbabwe in 2004,[5] and his Test match debut in the 2005 Ashes series against Australia the following year.[6] Englands subsequent reliance on Pietersen since his debut has resulted in only one first-class appearance for Hampshire since 2005, which resulted in Pietersen looking to leave the club in 2010.[7] Pietersen became the fastest batsman to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 runs in One Day International cricket,[8][9] and the quickest in terms of time to 5,000 Test runs.[10] He has the highest average of any England player to have played more than 20 innings of one-day cricket.[11] He has the second-highest run total from his first 25 Tests, behind only the Australian Donald Bradman,[12] and was the fastest player, in terms of days, to reach 4,000 Test runs.[13] He became only the third English batsman to top the ICC One Day International rankings, doing so in March 2007.[14] In July 2008, after a century against South Africa, The Times called him "the most complete batsman in cricket".[15] Shane Warne, a close friend, in a September serial for the same newspaper, wrote, "I don't think he has an obvious flaw in his technique."

Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan

Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan (born October 14, 1976 in Kalutara, Sri Lanka) is a Sri Lankan cricketer and member of the Sri Lankan national cricket team since November 1999. Known as Tuwan Mohammad Dilshan prior to his conversion from Islam to Buddhism,[1] an aggressive right-hand batsman, he is also a capable spin bowler and his off breaks are mostly used in the one-day arena. T.M. Dilshan won the award of Twenty20 International Performance of the Year at the ICC awards 2009 for his 96 off 57 balls against West Indies in the semi-final of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England.

David John Hussey

David John Hussey (born 15 July 1977 in Morley, Western Australia) is an Australian cricketer. Hussey is a right-handed batsman and can also bowl right-arm offbreaks. His elder brother is Australian Test cricketer Michael Hussey.Hussey's cricketing prowess was perhaps first widely acknowledged after an innings for the Victorian Bushrangers in 2003-04, his first full season of first-class cricket. Hussey scored an unbeaten 212 as his side scored a record 7-455 in the 4th innings to beat New South Wales in Newcastle.[1] He finished the Australian season with an aggregate 857 runs at an average of 61. In 2004-5 his four day form let him down and he was dropped from the Victorian Pura Cup side. Hussey unsuccessfully asked Cricket Victoria for a release to return to Western Australia. [1] Another modest Pura Cup season for Victoria in 2005-06 saw him make 500 runs at an average of just over 30. It was again in the one day arena where he impressed as he smashed 535 runs at 76.42. This tally included 130 against Queensland and he won the state's limited-overs player-of-the-year award.In 2006-07 he repeated his Newcastle heroics with another match winning unbeaten century to beat NSW in the 4th innings. Captaining the side in the absence of Cameron White and Brad Hodge, Hussey finished with 125 as his side made 362 for 7 chasing 360 for victory. The winning runs came from his bat with a 6 off Stuart MacGill. It took his first thousand-run season in 2007-08 - he made 1008 in the Pura Cup at 56 - before he was finally chosen for a tour, the ODI series in the West Indies in 2008, and earned his first Cricket Australia contract. In February 2008 Hussey made the 2nd fastest Australian domestic one-day hundred, off 60 balls. Hussey played as a Twenty20 allrounder, bowling in all Victoria's matches with success (a wicket in all but one game and leaving him with 10 for the tournament). In 2007-8 Hussey was named Victoria's Player of the Year in all three domestic cricket formats. After this feat he was dubbed by Australian fans "The Good Hussey" In reference to his older brother who was amidst a severe form slump at the same time.

Michael Edward Killeen Hussey

Michael Edward Killeen Hussey (born 27 May 1975, Morley, Western Australia) is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective formats, with 15,313 first-class runs before making his Test debut.[1] However, he has had a highly successful international career, being the top-ranked ODI batsman in the world in 2006.[2] He plays first-class cricket as vice-captain of the Western Warriors in Australia and has played for three counties in England. He also plays in the Indian Premier League for the Chennai Super Kings, although he opted out of the 2009 season. He is currently the only player in the history of cricket to average over 50 in both International Test and One Day cricket.

Brett Lee

Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976 in Wollongong, New South Wales) is an Australian cricketer. After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket. In each of his first two years, he averaged less than 20 with the ball, but since then has mostly achieved figures in the early 30s.[1] He is an athletic fielder and useful lower-order batsman, with a batting average exceeding 20 in Test cricket. Together with Mike Hussey, he has held the record for highest 7th wicket partnership for Australia in ODIs since 2005–06 (123).

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara (Sinhala:කුමාර් සන්ගක්කාර) (born 27 October 1977, Matale, Sri Lanka) is a Sri Lankan cricketer and captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is a left-handed batsman who plays primarily as a wicket-keeper.Sangakkara began his career as a batsman but subsequently became a wicket-keeper. His batting has developed to such an extent that he once topped the LG ICC Test batting rankings. However, in 2006 he gave the gloves to Prasanna Jayawardene in Tests and has since played as a specialist batsman. He remains Sri Lanka's wicket-keeper in One Day International and Twenty20 cricket. As of September 2009, he was ranked 1st on the Test batting rankings. Sangakkara peaked at 6th on the ICC all-time Test batting rankings. Sangakkara likes to hit the ball square of the wicket on the off-side and upon making a century, consistently continues on past 150. On the 6 December 2007 he was named as the new Number 1 batsman in the LG ICC Test player rankings with a rating of 938, the highest rating ever achieved by a Sri Lankan player, and became the first batsman ever to score in excess of 150 in four consecutive tests.[2] His skill was recognized worldwide when he earned selection for the ICC World XI One International Day team that competed against Australia in the Johnnie Walker Series in October 2005. Despite the World XI losing all of the one-day games by considerable margins, Sangakkara left the series with some credit, averaging 46. Sangakkara was billed as a future captain of Sri Lanka.[3][4] On Sri Lanka's tour to England in May 2006, he was named the vice-captain of the side. In March 2009 he was appointed to captain the Sri Lankan team for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20. Sangakkara has won a certain degree of admiration for his clever use of sledging and is one of few cricketers who are willing to talk about it openly.

Mohammad Younus Khan

Mohammad Younus Khan (Pashto: محمد یونس خان), (born November 29, 1977 in Mardan, North-West Frontier Province) is a Pakistani cricketer and former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Younus' name is often spelled Younis Khan, but he has been quoted as saying, "My name is Younus Khan. I tell people that everywhere, but they don’t listen."[1] He is only the third Pakistani player to score 300 or more runs in an innings.[2] On March 10, 2010, Khan, along with another player, Mohammad Yousuf were axed by the Pakistan Cricket Board from playing for Pakistan in any format for an indefinite period, following an inquiry report which suggested that both the player were involved in breaches of discipline by inciting divisions within the team.

Mohammad Yousuf

Mohammad Yousuf (Punjabi, Urdu: محمد یوسف ; formerly Yousuf Youhana, یوسف یوحنا; born 27 August 1974, Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan) is a former Pakistani right-handed batsman. He is best known in cricket for his achievement in 2006 when he broke the world record for most Test runs in a single calendar year.[1] Prior to his conversion to Islam in 2005, Yousuf was one of only a few Christians to play for the Pakistan cricket team. Yousuf was effectively banned from playing international cricket for Pakistan, for an indefinite period by the Pakistan Cricket Board on 10 March 2010, following an inquiry into the team's defeat during the tour of Australia.[2] An official statement was released by the Pakistan Cricket Board, saying that he would not be selected again on the grounds of inciting infighting within the team.[2] On 29 March 2010, Yousuf announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket[3], a direct reaction of the indefinite ban handed out to him by the PCB.

Kamran Akmal

He is a quick-scoring batsman and a wicket-keeper, who has achieved 6 centuries and 12 fifties in Test innings. However, his first century was vital - his 109 from the number eight position at Mohali, coming in with Pakistan in a lead of 39 against India in the first Test, ensured that the visitors could draw the match. His form against the touring English in 2005 made him one of the most important players in the team. Naturally, he is a batsman that plays lower down the order but has sometimes opened in both Test and One-day cricket. As an opener he has scored two back to back centuries in ODIs against England. Coming in lower down the order in Test matches, he played one memorable innings. He saved Pakistan from a score of 39/6, scoring a century, to a competitive 245 which helped Pakistan win the match and the series. His batting was highly productive in early 2006 as he scored seven international hundreds within the space of 6 months. Since his tour of England in Summer 2006 however his batting form dwindled and steadily become worse. His wicket-keeping also worsened and dropped many catches on both the England tour and on a tour to South Africa in early 2007. He then scored an international hundred in the Bangladeshi tour of Pakistan in 2008. Akmal was dropped for the Asia Cup 2008 as a result of his poor wicket-keeping. He was replaced by Sarfraz Ahmed who performed very well at the domestic level and also because of Sarfraz's strong showing in the U-19 World Cup. Kamran was named in the 30 man probable squad for the 2008 ICC Champions Trophy. Akmal was part of the Pakistan team that won the T20 World Cup in 2009. He was notable for his quick stumpings, dismissing 4 batsmen in one match against Netherlands. On 12 November 2008, Akmal hit two consecutive 6s in the last over. As a result Pakistan won the first ODI in Abu Dhabi against West Indies.

Yusuf Khan Pathan

Yusuf Khan Pathan (born 17 November 1982 in Baroda) is an Indian cricketer. Pathan made his debut in first-class cricket in 2001/02. He is a powerful and aggressive right-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. His half-brother Irfan Pathan is also an Indian cricketer. Though younger than Yusuf, it was Irfan who entered the Indian team first. Following his impressive performances in the 2007 Deodhar Trophy and the Inter-state domestic Twenty20 competition held in April 2007, Pathan was made a part of the Indian squad for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship, held in South Africa in September 2007. He made his Twenty20 international debut in the final against Pakistan. He opened the batting for India in the match, and scored 15 runs in the process.[1] After a good domestic season in 2007/08, he was signed by the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League for USD 475,000 (INR 1.9 crore). In the 2008 IPL season, he scored 435 runs and took 8 wickets. He recorded the season's fastest half century (from 21 balls) against the Deccan Chargers, and was also the Man of the Match in the final against the Chennai Super Kings. Following his good showing in the IPL, he was selected for the Indian one-day team. After the IPL though he played all the games in the Kitply Cup and Asia Cup he got to bat only four times. He couldn't perform very well with the bat and the ball in the Asia Cup and in the Kitply Cup and so he wasn't selected for the Series.against Sri Lanka. He performed well in domestic circuit and impressed the selectors and was selected for the England ODI series in November. He scored a fifty off just 29 balls in the second ODI against England in Indore, on his 26th birthday.[2]. Yusuf had made his One-Day International debut for India against Pakistan at Dhaka on 10 June 2008. He became a regular feature of the national One-Day International team, but has yet to make his test debut [3]. Even though Pathan could not repeat his first IPL performance in the second season, he was selected in the Indian team to play the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 championships in England. In the second of the Super 8 matches of India, he made an unbeaten 33 from 17 balls against England, despite his team losing the game and crashing out of the tournament before the semi-finals. In late-2009, Pathan was dropped from the limited overs team after a series of unproductive performances and the allrounder's position was taken over by Ravindra Jadeja. In the final of the 2010 Duleep Trophy cricket tournament, Pathan scored a hundred in the first innings and a double hundred in the second and led his team West Zone to a three wicket win over South Zone. Pathan made 108 in the first innings and an unbeaten 210 from 190 balls in the second innings. This became a world record in cricket for the highest successful run chase in first class cricket history.[4] On 13 March 2010, Pathan scored a century off 37 balls, in an Indian Premier League match against Mumbai Indians. The innings also included record 11 consecutive hits to the boundary (6, 6, 6, 6, 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, 4, 4).

Irfan Khan Pathan

Irfan Khan Pathan (Hindi: इरफ़ान ख़ान पठान, Urdu:عرفان خان پٹھان) pronunciation (help·info), born October 27, 1984 in Baroda, Gujarat, India) is an Indian cricketer who made his debut for India in late-2003 and was a core member of the national team until a decline in form set in during 2006, forcing him out of the team. Since then, he has been in and out of the limited-overs team, and has only sporadic appearances in Test cricket. Beginning his career as a left-arm fast-medium swing bowler, Pathan broke into the national team soon after turning 19, and evoked comparisons with Pakistan's Wasim Akram, regarded as one of the finest left-arm pacemen of all time, with his promising performances and prodigious swing. He cemented his position in the team and was named by the International Cricket Council as the 2004 Emerging Player of the Year. In late-2004 he took 18 wickets in two Tests against Bangladesh, but the start of 2005 he performed poorly and conceded runs at a high rate, leading to a brief exile from the one-day international (ODI) team. Immediately thereafter, Australian Greg Chappell, one of the leading batsmen of his time, became India's coach and identified Pathan's batting potential. The bowler improved his batting skills to become a bowling all-rounder, and he opened the batting on occasions in ODIs and scored 93 in a Test match in the role after an illness to Virender Sehwag. He made three scores beyond 80 in the space of four Test innings. For the first nine months of Chappell's stint at the helm, Pathan performed strongly with both bat and ball, scoring runs regularly and frequently taking top-order wickets. He rose to No. 2 in the ICC's ODI rankings for all-rounders and was also in the top five in the Test rankings. This led critics to compare him to former Indian pace bowling allrounder Kapil Dev.[1] However, the productive run did not last and after the start of 2006, Pathan began to steadily lose pace and swing, and his wicket-taking dwindled. Although Pathan's batting continued to be productive, he was not regarded as a specialist and was dropped from the team in both Tests and ODIs by the end of 2006, and by 2007 was no longer in the squad. He returned to international cricket in September 2007 for the inaugural World Twenty20, where he took three wickets and was man of the match as India beat Pakistan in the final. This earned him a recall into the ODI team, where he was a regular for most of the next 12 months before being dropped as his economy rate continued to trend upwards. In late-2007 Pathan was recalled into the Test team and hit his maiden Test century, but could not maintain his place in the team as his bowling was not effective enough with only two pacemen needed. He continues to perform with both bat and ball at domestic level, although his sedate pace is frequently criticised as being irrelevant at international level.

Praveenkumar Sakat Singh

Praveenkumar Sakat Singh or Praveen Kumar (born 2 October 1986 in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India) is an Indian cricketer. In first class cricket, he plays for Uttar Pradesh. He is a right-arm medium pace bowler who relies on his ability to swing the ball both ways along with line and length over speed. Because of his ability to swing the ball, he is most effective when given the new ball. Kumar is also considered as a pinch hitter with the bat. In domestic cricket, he has also opened the batting for his side.

Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble (Kannada: ಅನಿಲ್ ಕುಂಬ್ಳೆ) pronunciation (help·info) (born 17 October 1970 in Bangalore, Karnataka) is a former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian Test cricket team. He is a right-arm leg spin (legbreak googly) bowler and a right-hand batsman. He is currently the leading wicket-taker for India in both Test and One Day International matches. At present he is the third highest wicket-taker in Test cricket and one of only three bowlers to have taken more than 600 Test wickets. Kumble has had success bowling with other spinners, notably Venkatapathy Raju and Rajesh Chauhan in the 1990s and Harbhajan Singh since 2000. Kumble was appointed the captain of the Indian Test cricket team on 8 November 2007[1]. His first assignment as captain was the three-test home series against Pakistan that India won 1-0. Then he led the Indian Test team on its tour to Australia for the 2007-08 four-test series of The Border-Gavaskar Trophy that India lost 1-2. Kumble succeeded his state team mate Rahul Dravid, who resigned as the captain in September 2007 [2]. Since his debut in international cricket on 25 April 1990, he has taken 619 Test wickets and 337 ODI wickets. Although often criticized as not a big turner of the ball[3], Kumble is the second highest wicket taker among leg spinners in Test cricket behind leg spinner Shane Warne of Australia and the third of all bowlers after Warne and off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and has claimed 619 Test wickets. He is one of only two bowlers in the history of cricket to have taken all 10 wickets in a test innings, the other being Jim Laker of England.[4] Kumble is currently ranked the 18th best bowler in Tests by the International Cricket Council[5]. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's 4th highest civilian honour, by the Government of India in 2005. After playing for India for 18 years, he announced his retirement on 2 November 2008. His last match was against Australia at his favourite venue, the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground in Delhi.

Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene

Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene, known as Mahela Jayawardene (born 27 May 1977), is the former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He is a specialist batsman who has a Test average of over 50, and an ODI average in the 30s. Despite his relatively low ODI average, Jayawardene is considered to be one of the best batsmen produced by Sri Lanka and is generally held in high regard as a legend of the modern game along with team-mate Kumar Sangakkara. In 2006, he was named by the International Cricket Council as the best international captain of the year and he was nominated in 2007 as the best test cricket player of the year. He is also known for his fielding skills in the inner ring, with a report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the most number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the fifth highest run-out/match ratio in ODI's.[1] Statistics also reveal that c Jayawardene b Muralitharan is the most common bowler-fielder combination in the history of test cricket. Jayawardene led Sri Lanka to Pakistan for a Test series in March – April 2009. The series was conducted after the Indian team withdrew from playing in Pakistan, following the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. The first Test ended in a draw. Even though he scored a double century in the first Test, Jayawardene was to resign from captaincy after the second Test in the series. Sri Lanka was in a good position in the Test with Thilan Samaraweera hitting his second successive double hundred of the series and Tillakaratne Dilshan scoring a century. On their way to the Gaddafi Stadium for the third day's play, the bus that carried the Sri Lankan players was fired at by 12 masked gunmen. Jayawardene, along with six other Sri Lankan cricketers sustained injuries. Six policemen that guarded the bus and two civilians were killed in the attack.

Marvin Atapattu

Marvan Samson Atapattu (born 22 November 1970 in Kalutara) is a Sri Lankan cricketer and former Sri Lankan captain. Towards the end of his career he joined the Indian Cricket League and captained the Delhi Giants.Although being a technically correct batsman, he can occasionally show an initial tendency to chop an inswinging delivery back onto his stumps. Making his Test debut in November 1990 just after his 20th birthday, his first six innings yielded five ducks and a 1, but supporters insist that his debut-innings duck puts him in good company with batsmen such as Michael Atherton, Graham Gooch, Len Hutton, Saeed Anwar and Wasim Akram, who all made debut-innings ducks and went on to score at least 2500 Test runs.[citation needed] After this difficult start in his first three matches, he didn't score above 29 in his next 11 innings, before hitting his first Test century in his 10th match, against India, seven years after his debut. He has 22 Test-match career ducks and 4 pairs (two ducks in a single match), both records for a top-order batsman. He made his one-Day International debut against India at Nagpur.He was appointed as captain of the one-day team on April 2003. He registered his highest Test score of 249 against Zimbabwe in 2004, sharing a 438-run partnership with Kumar Sangakkara for the second wicket. Atapattu is a skilful fielder with an accurate throw. A report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showed that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the second highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the seventh highest success rate.[1] He was controversially[citation needed] left out of the squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, and as a result, asked for his removal from the list of Sri Lanka contracted players. Atapattu was to miss the 2007-08 tour of Australia, but was added to the squad after the intervention of Sri Lankan Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge. Atapattu played solidly in the First Test, but subsequently angrily labelled the selectors: "A set of Muppets, basically, headed by a joker," at a post-stumps press conference. After Sri Lanka lost the series 2-0, Atapattu announced his international retirement after the second Test at Hobart.[2] He finished with 5,502 Test runs at an average of 39.02 in 90 Tests with a One-day International average of 37.57 after hitting 8,529 runs in 268 matches. Atapattu subsequently played out the 2007/08 season with Sydney grade club St George.

Zaheer Khan

A left arm Fast bowler, Zaheer is known for his ability to swing the ball both ways, and as a batsman also holds the record for the highest Test score by a No. 11. After leading the Indian pace attack for much of the early 2000s, recurring hamstring injuries in 2003 and 2004 forced him out of the team, and after returning for a year, he was dropped again in late 2005. Strong performances on the domestic circuit have seen him recalled to the team as its leading pace bowler.[1] Zaheer was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore,[2] He made his Test debut against Bangladesh at Dhaka and ODI debut against Kenya at Nairobi during the ICC KnockOut Trophy in the same year.[1] In late 2005 pacemen Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and R. P. Singh made their international debuts and became regular members of the Indian team making it difficult for Zaheer to retain his position in the playing eleven. The Board of Control for Cricket in India demoted Zaheer from a B-grade to a C-grade contract at the end of the year. He returned for the 2006 tour of Pakistan, where India fielded three left arm pacemen and had difficulty dismissing Pakistan with a lack of variety in the bowling attack. Zaheer, with inferior results to those of Irfan Pathan and Singh, was dropped. In Indian domestic cricket, Zaheer made his name playing for Baroda, but transferred to Mumbai at the start of the [[2006-07 Indian cricket season|his debut for Mumbai until the final of the Ranji Trophy in which he took 9 wickets as Mumbai defeated Bengal. In 2006 Zaheer signed for Worcestershire County Cricket Club as their second overseas player as a replacement for Australian Nathan Bracken. He became the first Worcestershire player to take 10 wickets in a match on debut for over 100 years against Somerset, even though Worcestershire eventually lost the game. In June 2006 he took the first nine wickets to fall in the first innings against Essex, ending with 9-138; had wicket-keeper Steven Davies not dropped a catch offered by last man Darren Gough he would have become the first bowler ever to take all ten for the county. In late 2006, Zaheer was recalled to the Test and ODI team for the tour of South Africa, following a form slump to Baroda team-mate Irfan Pathan and injuries to Munaf Patel. After consistent performances on tour, his performance in early 2007 in home ODIs against the West Indies and Sri Lanka, including a career best 5/42, saw him named in the squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. He is moulded on the likes of Wasim Akram and Chaminda Vaas, though not as successful as they are. He won the Man of the Match award in the first test between India and Australia, at Bangalore, in the 2008-2009 series for his all round performance with the bat and the ball. He became the third Indian, after Rusi Surti and Kapil Dev, to score a half century and take five wickets in an innings in the same match against Australia. He has since become the strike-bowler and a permanent fixture in the Indian team.Zaheer also won the Man of the Match award in the T20 Worldcup 2009 against Ireland for taking 4 wickets by giving only 19 runs.

Waseem Akram

Wasim Akram (Punjabi, Urdu: وسیم اکرم; born 3 June 1966) is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left handed batsman in cricket, who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches. Akram is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in cricket. He holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket with 881 and is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of One Day International wickets with 502. He is considered to be one of the founders and perhaps the finest exponent of reverse swing bowling.[1][2][3] The revolutionary nature of reverse swing initially resulted in accusations of ball tampering by cricket critics, although the skill of the reverse swing delivery has now been accepted as a legitimate features of ability in cricket. Akram's later career was also tarnished with accusations of match fixing by critics, although these remain unproven. On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

sunil gavaskar

Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar pronunciation (help·info) (Marathi: सुनिल मनोहर गावसकर) (born 10 July 1949 in Bombay, Bombay State (now Mumbai, Maharashtra)), is a former cricketer who played during the 1970s and 1980s for Bombay and India. Widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen in test match history, Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most runs and most centuries scored by any batsman. He held the record of 34 Test centuries for almost two decades before it was broken by Sachin Tendulkar in December 2005. Gavaskar was widely admired for his technique against fast bowling, with a particularly high average of 65.45 against the West Indies, who possessed a four-pronged fast bowling attack regarded as the most vicious in Test history. His captaincy of the Indian team, however, was less successful. The team at one stage went 31 Test matches without a victory. There were incidents like crowd displeasure at Eden Gardens in Calcutta leading to multiple matches being disrupted, in response to the poor performance of the Indian team. Turbulent performances of the team led to multiple exchanges of captaincy between Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, with one of Gavaskar's sackings coming just six months before Kapil led India to victory at the 1983 Cricket World Cup.

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh pronunciation (help·info) (Punjabi: ਯੁਵਰਾਜ ਸਿੰਘ, born 12 December 1981 in a Jat[1]family from Chandigarh, India) is a cricketer from India, and the son of former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi movie star Yograj Singh.[2] He has been a member of the Indian cricket team since 2000 (ODIs) and played his first Test match in 2003. He was the vice captain of the ODI team from late-2007 to late-2008. At the 2007 World Twenty20 he hit six sixes in an over against England's Stuart Broad - a feat only performed three times previously in any form of senior cricket, and never previously in an international match between two Test cricket nations.Yuvraj first came to attention when he captained the U-19 Punjab cricket team in the final of the Cooch-Behar Trophy against Bihar U-19s, in which he scored 358.[3] He then gained selection for the U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2000, where he was part of a team lead by Mohammed Kaif which won the tournament.[4] Yuvraj was subsequently selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

Stephen Rodger Waugh

Stephen Rodger Waugh, AO (born 2 June 1965) is a former Australian cricketer, and fraternal twin of former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh. Steve Waugh captained the Australian Test cricket team from 1999 to 2004. He is the most capped Test player in history with 168 appearances. He is known amongst friends as "Tugga" (as in tug of war), and amongst the public as "Iceman" for his ability to remain calm and cool in high-pressure situations throughout his career.[1] Dean Waugh, another of Steve's brothers, is also a cricketer, having played first-class and list A cricket in Australia. He is known for his philanthropic work, and he was named Australian of the Year in 2004.[2] On 30 September 2009, Steve Waugh was one of five new members announced as part of the growing class of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.[3] On 4 January 2010, he was formally inducted into the Hall of Fame in front of his home fans at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Adam Craig Gilchrist

Adam Craig Gilchrist AM[1] (born 14 November 1971), nicknamed Gilly or Church,[2] is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Middlesex.[3] He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national team through his aggressive batting. He is considered to be one of the greatest wicket-keeper-batsmen in the history of the game.[4][5] He holds the world record for the most dismissals by a wicket keeper in One Day International cricket and the most by an Australian in Test cricket.[6][7] His strike rate is amongst the highest in the history of both One-day and Test cricket and he currently holds the record for the second fastest century in Test cricket.[8] He is the only player to have hit 100 sixes in Test cricket.[9] His 17 Test and 16 ODI centuries are the most by a wicket-keeper.[10][11] He holds the unique record of scoring at least 50 runs in successive World Cup finals (in 1999, 2003 and 2007)[12] and is one of only three players to have won three titles.[13] Gilchrist is renowned for walking when he considers himself to be out, sometimes contrary to the decision of the umpire.[14][15] He made his first-class debut in 1992, his first One-Day International appearance in 1996 in India and his Test debut in 1999.[3] During his career, he played for Australia in 96 Test matches and over 270 One-day internationals. He was Australia's vice-captain in both forms of the game, captaining the team when regular captains Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting were unavailable.[16][17] He retired from international cricket in March 2008,[18] however he continues to play cricket for the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition, replacing VVS Laxman as captain in 2009.[19] He led Deccan to the 2009 title.

Ricky Thomas Ponting

Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974 in Launceston, Tasmania), nicknamed Punter, is the current captain of the Australian cricket team. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very occasional bowler. He represents the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket and played in the Indian Premier League with the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2008. Ponting made his first-class debut for Tasmania in November 1992, when just 17 years and 337 days old, becoming the youngest Tasmanian to play in a Sheffield Shield match. However, he had to wait until 1995 before making his One Day International (ODI) debut, during a quadrangular tournament in New Zealand in a match against South Africa. His Test debut followed shortly after, when selected for the first Test of the 1995 home series against Sri Lanka in Perth, in which he scored 96. He lost his place in the national team several times in the period before early-1999, due to lack of form and discipline, before becoming One Day International captain in early-2002 and Test captain in early-2004. After being involved in over 139 Tests and 300 ODIs, Ponting is Australia's leading run-scorer in Test and ODI cricket, with more than 24,000 international runs as of February 2010. He has scored 39 Test centuries—behind only Indian Sachin Tendulkar (47)—and third for most runs in ODIs behind Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya and behind only Tendulkar for most centuries in the format.

Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh pronunciation (help·info) (Punjabi: ਹਰਭਜਨ ਸਿੰਘ, born: 3 July 1980 in Jalandhar, Punjab, India) is an Indian cricketer. A specialist bowler, he has the second-highest number of Test wickets by an off spinner behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan. Harbhajan made his Test and One Day International (ODI) debuts in early 1998. His career was initially beset by investigations into the legality of his bowling action and disciplinary incidents that raised the ire of cricket authorities. However in 2001, with leading leg spinner Anil Kumble injured, Harbhajan's career was resuscitated after Indian captain Sourav Ganguly called for his inclusion in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy team. In that series victory over Australia, Harbhajan established himself as the team's leading spinner by taking 32 wickets, becoming the first Indian bowler to take a hat trick in Test cricket.[1] A finger injury in mid 2003 sidelined him for much of the following year, allowing Kumble to regain his position as the first choice spinner. Harbhajan reclaimed a regular position in the team upon his return in late 2004, but often found himself watching from the sidelines in Test matches outside the Indian subcontinent with typically only one spinner, Kumble, being used. Throughout 2006 and into early 2007, Harbhajan's accumulation of wickets fell and his bowling average increased, and he was increasingly criticised for bowling defensively with less loop. Following India's first-round elimination from the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Harbhajan was replaced by other spinners in the national squad for both formats. He regained a regular position in the team in late 2007, but became the subject of more controversy. In early 2008, he was given a ban by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for racially vilifying Andrew Symonds. The ban was revoked upon appeal, but in April, Harbhajan was banned from the 2008 Indian Premier League and suspended from the ODI team by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for slapping Sreesanth after a match.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, pronunciation (help·info) (Hindi: महेन्द्र सिंह धोनी) (born 7 July 1981 in Ranchi, Bihar) (now in Jharkhand) is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian team. Initially recognized as an extravagantly flamboyant and destructive batsman, Dhoni has come to be regarded as one of the coolest heads to captain the Indian ODI side. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, CB Series of 2007–08 , and the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2008 in which they beat Australia 2–0. He also captained Chennai Super Kings to victory in the recent IPL 2010. He is now captain of India in all three forms of the game and also led the team to their first ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Dhoni also led team India to number one position in ICC rankings in test cricket for the first time. Dhoni has also been the recipient of many awards including the ICC ODI Player of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 (the first Indian player to achieve this feat), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour in 2009. As of January 2010, Dhoni is the highest ranked ODI batsman on the ICC Rankings List. Dhoni was named as captain of Wisden's first-ever Dream Test XI Team in 2009 and has topped the list of world’s top 10 earning cricketers compiled by Forbes. He was named as the captain of ICC World Test and ICC ODI teams for 2009.

Suresh Raina

Suresh Kumar Raina pronunciation (help·info) (born 27 November 1986, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India) is an Indian cricketer from the state of Uttar Pradesh. Raina has been a member of the Indian cricket team for ODIs since July 2005, and was included in the Test squad in early 2006, but has yet to make his Test debut. Domestically he plays for Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy and Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy. He is an attacking left-handed batsman , who is known for his ability to hit the stumps from the infield. He is also an occasional off-spinner.The youngest in a family of five children, Raina decided to take up cricket seriously in 1999, and moved from his home town of Ghaziabad, near New Delhi to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, to attend the specialist government Sports College. He rose to become the captain of the Uttar Pradesh U-16s came to prominence amongst Indian selectors in 2002, when he was selected at the age of 15 and a half years for the U-19 tour to England, where he made a pair of half-centuries in the U-19 Test matches He toured Sri Lanka later that year with the U-17 team. He made his Ranji Trophy debut for Uttar Pradesh against Assam in February 2003 at the age of 16, but did not play another match until the following season. In late 2003, he toured Pakistan for the U-19 Asian ODI Championship before being selected for the 2004 U-19 World Cup, where he scored three half centuries, including a 90 scored off only 38 balls. He was then awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship to train at the Australian Cricket Academy and in early 2005, he made his first-class limited overs debut, and scored 645 runs that season at an average of 53.75[1]. He was selected to participate in the Challenger Series in early 2005, and after injury to Sachin Tendulkar and suspension to captain Sourav Ganguly, Raina was selected for the Indian Oil Cup 2005 in Sri Lanka

Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag pronunciation (help·info) (Hindi: वीरेंद्र सेहवाग) (born 20 October 1978, in Delhi, India), affectionately known as Viru, is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and an occasional right-arm off-spin bowler. He played his first One Day International in 1999 and joined the Indian Test cricket team in 2001. In April 2009, Sehwag became the only Indian to be honored as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in 2008, subsequently becoming the first player of any nationality to retain the award for 2009. Sehwag holds multiple records including the highest score made by an Indian in Test cricket (319), which was also the fastest triple century in the history of international cricket (reached 300 off only 278 balls) as well as the fastest 250 by any batsman (in 207 balls against Sri Lanka on 3rd December, 2009 at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai). Sehwag also holds the distinction of being one of three batsmen in the world to have ever surpassed 300 twice in Test cricket, and the only one to score two triple centuries and take a five-wicket innings haul.[5] In March 2009, Sehwag smashed the fastest century ever scored by an Indian in ODI cricket, from 60 balls. Sehwag was appointed as vice-captain of the Indian team under Rahul Dravid in October 2005 but due to poor form, he was later replaced by V. V. S. Laxman in December 2006 as Test vice-captain. In January 2007, Sehwag was dropped from the ODI team and later from the Test team as well. During his term as vice-captain, Sehwag skippered the team in place of injured Dravid in 2 ODIs and 1 Test. Following his return to form in 2008 and the retirement of Anil Kumble, Sehwag has been reappointed as the vice-captain for both Tests and ODIs. By early 2009, Sehwag had reestablished himself as one of the best performing batsmen in ODI cricket.

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (Bengali: সৌরভ গাঙ্গুলী)( pronunciation (help·info)) (born 8 July 1972) is a former Indian cricketer, and captain of the Indian national team. Born into an affluent family, Ganguly was introduced into the world of cricket by his elder brother Snehasish. He started his career by playing in state and school teams. Currently, he is the 5th highest run scorer in ODIs and was the 5th person in history to cross the 10,000 run landmark and only the 2nd Indian to cross that landmark after Sachin Tendulkar. Wisden ranked him the sixth greatest one day international (ODI) batsman of all time, next to Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Dean Jones and Michael Bevan. After a series of plays in different Indian domestic tournaments such as the Ranji and Duleep trophies, Ganguly got his big-break while playing for India on their tour of England. He scored 131 runs and cemented his place in the Indian team. Ganguly's place in the team was assured after successful performances in series against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia, winning the Man of the Match awards. In the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he was involved in a partnership of 318 runs with Rahul Dravid, which remains the highest overall partnership score in the World Cup tournament history. Due to the match-fixing scandals in 2000 by other players of the team, and for his poor health, Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar resigned his position, and Ganguly was made the captain of the Indian cricket team. He soon received media criticism after an unsuccessful stint for county side Durham and for taking off his shirt in the final of the 2002 Natwest Trophy. He led India into the 2003 World Cup final, where they were defeated by Australia. Due to a decrease in individual performance, he was dropped from the team in the following year. Ganguly was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004, one of India's highest awards. He returned to the National team in 2006, and had successful batting displays. Around this time, he became involved in a dispute with Indian team coach Greg Chappell over several misunderstandings. Ganguly was again dropped from the team, however he was selected to play in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Ganguly joined the Kolkata Knight Riders team as captain for the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament in 2008. The same year, after a home Test series against Australia, he announced his retirement from cricket. After his retirement, Ganguly continued to play for the Bengal team and was appointed the chairman of the Cricket Association of Bengal's Cricket Development Committee. The left-handed Ganguly was a prolific One Day International (ODI) batsman, with over 11,000 ODI runs to his credit. He is India's one of the most successful Test Captain to date, winning 21 out of 49 test matches. An aggressive Captain, Ganguly is credited with having nurtured the careers of many young players who played under him.

Rahul Dravid

Rahul Sharad Dravid (Kannada: ರಾಹುಲ್ ಶರದ್ ದ್ರಾವಿಡ, Marathi: राहुल शरद द्रविड) pronunciation (help·info) (born 11 January 1973) is one of the most experienced cricketers in the Indian national team, of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in September 2007. Dravid was honored as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000. Dravid was also awarded the ICC Player of the Year and the Test Player of the Year at the inaugural awards ceremony held in 2004. Known as the Wall due to his ability to bat for long durations, and Jammy due to his endorsement for Kissan and also because his father worked in Kissan, a jam company, Dravid holds multiple world cricketing records. He is the second Indian batsman, after Sachin Tendulkar, and the fifth international player to have scored more than 11,000 runs in Test cricket. On 14 February 2007, he became the sixth player in the history of world cricket and the third Indian, after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, to score 10,000 runs in ODI cricket. He is the first and the only batsman to score a century in all ten Test playing nations. With more than 185 catches, Dravid currently holds the world record for the highest number of catches in Test cricket. Dravid has also been involved in more than 80 century partnerships with 18 different partners — a world record.

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar pronunciation (help·info) (Marathi: सचिन रमेश तेंडुलकर [səʨin rəmeˑɕ t̪eˑɳɖulkər]; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and One Day International cricket. is the only player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket. In 2002, just 12 years into his career Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one day international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards. In September 2007, the Australian leg spinner Shane Warne rated Tendulkar as the greatest player he has played with or against. was the only player of the current generation to be included in Bradman's Eleven.[nb 1] He is sometimes referred to as Little Master or Master Blaster.[14][15] Tendulkar is the first player to score fifty centuries in all international cricket combined, he now has 93 centuries in international cricket. On 17 October 2008, when he surpassed Brian Lara's record for the most runs scored in Test Cricket, he also became the first batsman to score 12,000 runs in that form of the game, having also been the third batsman and first Indian to pass 11,000 runs in Test cricket. He was also the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals, and also the first player to cross every subsequent 1000-run mark that has been crossed in ODI cricket history and 200 runs in a one-day international match. In the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, Tendulkar surpassed Australia's Allan Border to become the player to cross the 50-run mark the most number of times in Test cricket history, and also the second ever player to score 10 Test centuries against Australia, after only Sir Jack Hobbs of England more than 70 years previously. Tendulkar passed 30,000 runs in international cricket on 20 November 2009, and has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second highest civilian award, and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honour.

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