Indian Cricket Team Updates

India lost their second match of the Carlton Mid ODI series to England by nine wickets in Brisbane. After MS Dhoni’s side succumbed to the Steven Finn-James Anderson attack for 153, Ian Bell took England to victory with an unbeaten 88. The opener was ably assisted in the chase by James Taylor (56*).  Finn and bounce were India’s undoing after electing to bat at the Gabba. Using the conditions to his advantage, the pacer left India tottering on 67/5 with his first three wickets after Anderson had accounted for Shikhar Dhawan in the third over of the day. Although Dhoni and Stuart Binny painstakingly worked to revive the innings, the bottom half crumbled after the end of the 70-run stand. While India had lost four wickets prior to the sixth wicket partnership for 10 runs, they lost the last five wickets for 16 runs. Finn finished with 5/33, his maiden fifer; while Anderson picked 4/18 to bundle India out in 39.3 overs.  Done in by extra bounce, Dhawan nicked the first ball h...

Alastair Cook was captaining England for the 63rd time in an ODI. He now holds the record of captaining England on most occasions in ODIs, surpassing Andrew Strauss’ tally of 62 matches. ( Also Read:   Joe Root century sets up win for England ) Cook also became England’s leading run-scoring captain in ODIs. At the end of this match his tally stands at 2383, which takes him past Strauss’ tally of 2367 runs.  ( Also Read:  Skipper MS Dhoni lists positives from England series and points out areas that need improvement ) Joe Root (113) made his second ODI hundred in 36th match. This was also his highest score in ODIs. He had made 107 against West Indies at North South earlier this year. At 23 years 249 days Root is the third youngest England batsman to score an ODI hundred in England after David Gower (21 years 55 days) and Alastair Cook (22 years 239 days). Before this match, Root had scored 448 runs in 20 matches at home at an average of 23.58 with a highest of 68, whi...

Joe Root (149*) made his fifth Test century. Only one England batsman- Alastair Cook- has scored more centuries before turning 24. Cook had seven centuries. Len Hutton had also scored five centuries before the age of 24. (Also Read:  Report: England vs India, 5th Investec Test ) For the fourth consecutive time in the series India lost first six wickets with 66 or fewer runs on the board – 63 for six at Manchester (first innings), 66 for six at Manchester (second innings), 44 for six at the Oval (first innings) and 62 for six at the Oval (second innings). India were dismissed for 94 in the second innings – their lowest total at the Oval, obliterating the 98 they made in 1952. India’s total is also their sixth lowest in a Test in England. India’s second innings lasted for only 29.2 overs – their sixth shortest innings in terms of overs. The shortest lasted for 17 overs – vs England at Lord’s in 1974 (with one man absent).  James Anderson ended with 25 wickets in the series ...

England beat India inside three days in the fifth Test to complete a 3-1 series victory. The visitors were skittled out for 94 in only 29.2 overs as England won by an innings and 244 runs at The Oval.  (Also Read:  Stats Highlights: England vs India, 5th Investec Test ) Their third successive victory scripted an extraordinary turnaround since the hosts were beaten by 95 runs in the second Test at Lord's to go 1-0 behind in the series. After James Anderson and Stuart Broad broke through with the new ball, Chris Jordan took four of the last five wickets to put the final nail in the coffin. England had earlier smashed 101 runs in 11.3 overs to post 486 in reply to India's first-innings 148, with Joe Root making an unbeaten 149. England had registered a lead of 338. They then claimed the scalps of M Vijay and Gautam Gambhir, to a run out, to send India in to lunch at 9 for 2, after rain forced an early break. After a delay of an hour-and-a-half, the match resumed. Ande...

Jos Buttler (70) became the fourth player to score fifties in first two Test innings as a wicketkeeper after India’s Dilawar Hussain, West Indies’ Desmond Lewis and Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal. (Also Read:  Report: England vs India, 4th Investec Test - Day 3 ) Pankaj Singh finally took his first Test wicket off his 416th delivery when he dismissed Joe Root. He is, however, very far off the record of most balls bowled by a bowler before taking his first Test wicket. Another Indian AG Milkha Singh holds this record, as his maiden Test wicket came off his 652nd ball! Stuart Broad had to retire hurt when Varun Aaron’s bouncer hit him on the face. The last batsman to get retired hurt against India after being hit was Australia’s Steve Waugh (Melbourne in December 2003). Waugh got hit on the left elbow by Ajit Agarkar. Indian openers once again failed to put on a fifty stand. It has now been 31 consecutive innings outside India that the opening pair has not managed a fifty-stand sin...

India were playing their first Test at Manchester in 24 years. They had last played here in 1990. Gautam Gambhir was making a comeback to Indian side after a gap of nearly 19 months. His last Test was also against England at Nagpur in December 2012. (Also Read:  Report: England vs India, 4th Investec Test - Day 1 ) MS Dhoni was leading India for the 14th time in a Test against England, thus equalling Sunil Gavaskar’s Indian record of most appearances as captain against England. Alastair Cook was playing his 106th consecutive Test. Now only Allan Border (153) and Mark Waugh (107) have appeared in more consecutive Tests than Cook (India’s Sunil Gavaskar also had a streak of 106 matches on the trot). When he caught Murali Vijay off the bowling of James Anderson, it was 23rd time Alastair Cook held a catch off Anderson’s bowling – most by a fielder / bowler combination for England.  From 8 for no loss India were soon down to 8 for four – their third worst start ever ...

Moeen Ali’s figures of six for 67 are the second best by an England spinner against India in England, after Ray Illingworth’s 6 for 29 at Lord’s in 1967.  (Also Read:  Report: England vs India, 3rd Investec Test - Day 5 ) Incidentally Moeen is the first English spinner to take five wickets in fourth innings of a Test against India in England. Moeen’s match figures of 8 for 129 are the third best by an England spinner against India at home after Graeme Swann’s 9 for 208 at The Oval in 2011 and Norman Gifford’s 8 for 127 at Lord’s in 1971.  Moeen’s 15 wickets in the series are the most by an England spinner in a home series since 1967 when Ray Illingworth took 20 wickets in three matches. James Anderson -by dismissing Rohit Sharma- completed his 50 wickets against India at home. He became fourth bowler to complete half-century of wickets against India at home after Imran Khan (67), Muttiah Muralitharan (65) and Fred Trueman (53). James Anderson dismissed MS Dhoni for th...

India lost the third Test of the five-match series to England by 266 runs on the fifth morning in Southampton. The Indian line-up disintegrated in the first session of the final day as they lost six wickets for 66 runs. While Ajinkya Rahane fought to keep the team afloat, James Anderson and Moeen Ali ran through the line-up at the other end. Rahane was left stranded on 52 as Anderson claimed two wickets while the off-spinner finished with six to help England level the series 1-1.  (Also Read:  Stats Highlights: England vs India, 3rd Investec Test - Day 4 ) Resuming on 112 for four, India were 333 runs short of the target but more pertinently, the visitors needed to dig in their heels and save the game. The Indian line-up though caved in to the England bowling attack without much resistance. On the ninth ball of the day they lost their fifth wicket of the innings. Anderson who has been instrumental in England’s fortune in the third Test this far, claimed Rohit Sharma with...

James Anderson (5/53) completed a five-wicket haul on his birthday. Interestingly he had also taken a five-wicket haul on his 28th birthday – against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 2010. (Also Read:  Report: England vs India, 3rd Investec Test - Day 4 ) Alastair Cook provided the 13th instance of an opposing captain not enforcing the follow-on on India (despite being entitled to do so). Of the previous 12 such instances, India managed to earn a draw only once and lost 11. India lost all four against England in such circumstances.   (Also Read:  Will be hard to save the Test: Shikhar Dhawan ) Pankaj Singh conceded 179 runs in 47 overs without taking a wicket. He now holds the dubious distinction of conceding most runs by a wicketless bowler on debut. Pakistan’s Sohail Khan conceded 164 against Sri Lanka at Karachi in 2008-09. England’s run-rate of 5.04 in the second innings is their highest against India in an innings of 200 or more. At Lord’s in 1990 England h...

Facing a daunting 445-run target, India were left struggling on 112/4 at stumps on the penultimate day of the third Test. When play ended on Day 4 in Southampton, Ajinkya Rahane (18*) and Rohit Sharma (6*) were fighting it out in the middle to salvage the game while England are eying a win. After being bowled out for 330 earlier in the morning session, the MS Dhoni-led side were set a stiff target by England before declaring their innings later in the second session.  (Also Read:  Stats Highlights: England vs India, 3rd Investec Test - Day 4 ) Although India were 40 runs short of the follow-on target Alastair Cook chose not to enforce it and opted to bat again. Responding to the captain’s decision, the Englishmen played breezy knocks with the intent to set the tourists a formidable target. While the England captain anchored the innings, batsmen at the other end played cameos. Joe Root accelerated with a quick-fire half-century before being castled by Ravindra Jadeja. Wit...