Indian Cricket Team Updates

Former Australia pacer Shaun Tait on Thursday rated batting great Sachin Tendulkar higher than compatriot Ricky Ponting and West Indian legend Brian Lara. "It was a short span of career I had with Australia. I was lucky enough to play against Brian Lara, play with Ricky Ponting and play against Sachin. I think Sachin is probably just above those other two," Tait told reporters at the launch of KOOH Sports Cricket Development Centre. The 30-year old, who retired from ODI and Test cricket, said he cherished taking Tendulkar's wicket for the last time in the 2011 World Cup match against India. "Obviously my last match was against India in the 2011 World Cup. It was actually the last time I got to dismiss him and I got his wicket. He obviously made a good 50 in that match and India beat us. But for me the memory of taking his wicket will always remain," he said. Tendulkar will retire from Test cricket after playing the second Test against West Indies and...

Ricky Ponting recently said that he rated Brian Lara above Sachin Tendulkar because according to him the former has won more games for West Indies than Sachin has done for India. When a statement like that comes from a veteran like Ponting, we inevitably tend to check the numbers and compare the records of the two players. (Also Read:  Brian Lara more dangerous than Sachin Tendulkar - Ricky Ponting ) We decided to save you the trouble and make a statistical comparison between these two cricketing legends. Test record Record Sachin Tendulkar Brian Lara Carrier Matches: 198 Runs: 15837 Average: 53.86 Hundreds: 51 Fifties: 67 Matches: 131 Runs: 11953 Average: 52.88 Hundreds: 34 Fifties: 48 Hundreds in Test matches won 20 8 Hundreds in Test matches lost 11 13 In Tests won Matches: 70 Runs: 5862 Average: 62.36 Matches: 32 Runs: 2929 Average: 61.02 In T...

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has rated Brian Lara ahead of Sachin Tendulkar as he feels the West Indian batsman enabled his team win more matches. (Also Read:  Sachin Tendulkar vs Brian Lara - Statistical Records ) "Sachin and Lara were the two stand-out batsmen for me. Lara won more games for his team than Sachin probably has. I'd lose more sleep as captain knowing Lara was coming in to bat next day than I would with Sachin," said Ponting.  "You always found a way to restrict Sachin if you needed to. Lara could turn it on in half an hour and take a game away from you. For me, it has never been about making hundreds, it is about winning games and series," Ponting was quoted as saying by the 'Evening Standard'. Australia may have suffered an agonising defeat in the first Ashes Test against England but Ponting believes that the Aussies will win the series 2-1. "I said 2-1 to Australia at the start and nothing has change...

A few days back, Dinesh Karthik told this website that Ricky Ponting was the best thing to have happened to Mumbai Indians. One thing that all the MI players vouch for is the positivism that the most successful Australian captain has brought into the camp.    (Also Read:  CSK vs MI - Final Report & Stats: IPL 2013 ) He played no more than six matches in IPL 2013, but Ponting’s involvement with the team was unmistakable every time he stepped on the field during a timeout. And in the end, the three-time World Cup winning captain, along with some stellar names in mentoring – John Wright and Anil Kumble – fulfilled a dream that the Mumbai franchise have harboured for the last six years.     (Also See:  IPL 2013 Winner Mumbai Indians Celebrations - Pics ) As the glittering IPL Trophy went into the MI dressing room, Ponting took time out to talk to IPLT20.com about his role in the team and how he, along with the team coach and mentor, helped MI ...

Great sporting careers, as difficult as it is to fit them into a small mould of description, are often capable of being identified by a singular trait of those who lived them. From Muhammad Ali’s shuffle to David Beckham’s free kick and Roger Federer’s one-handed inside-out sliced backhand to Sachin Tendulkar’s straight drive – these shots or moves are known as one with the men who mastered them. Similarly, if one was to dwell into the glorious batting career of Ricky Thomas Ponting, the pull shot would take precedence over the other strokes he played, perhaps, equally deftly. How did he achieve such mastery in countering the fast bowler’s most lethal weapon on the field – the bouncer? What was the technical and mental side to it? We asked the man himself to dissect the shot that gave him the bulk of his 27,483 international runs. Is it a true story that when you first walked into the Australian Cricket Academy, Rod Marsh put you up against a 6’6 feet tall fast bowler...

Mumbai Indians, in consultation with its newly appointed Chief Mentor Anil Kumble, Head Coach John Wright along with icon player Sachin Tendulkar, today announced the appointment of Ricky Ponting as the teams’ new Captain. The former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was awarded to Mumbai Indians at the recently held auction in Chennai. Ricky Ponting will lead the experienced Mumbai Indians side for the IPL 2013. Commenting on the decision, Chief Mentor Anil Kumble said, “Ricky has a lot of experience to lead a competitive and a high-profile side like Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Sachin readily agreed to my suggestion that Mumbai Indians is best served when he leads the batting unburdened by the rigours of captaincy. It was our idea (Sachin and mine) to bring in Ricky as the captain of the Mumbai Indians.” Ricky Ponting, on his new role in the team, said, “It’s a huge honor and I thank Mrs Ambani and the Mumbai Indians management for the faith they have reposed in my abil...