IPL 4 auctions on JAN 8 and JAN 9

                                         The IPL player auction for the 2011 season will be held on January 8 and 9 in Mumbai, the league's governing council has announced. The tournament itself will feature eight teams, playing 60 matches, and run from April 8 to May 22.The tournament, which begins a week after the World Cup ends, will involve each of the eight sides playing playing 14 games, adding up to 56 matches, the same as in previous IPL editions. The top two from the league rounds will then contest a play-off match, with the winner qualifying for the "Grand Final." The teams that finish third and fourth in the league stage will contest the other play-off, and the winner of that game will play the defeated team from the first play-off to decide the second finalist.

                                       Kochi have until November 27 to reply to the IPL's notice asking it to set its house in order; if, as seems likely, the franchise owners decide to call it quits, the IPL will start the auction process for a replacement team. With a majority of the current franchises in the southern half of the country, any new franchise is likely to be from the north - Ahmedabad being the front-runner.

The new auction rules governing player retention, which have been criticised by the franchises, allow a team to keep up to four players but at a steep price.The first player retained will cost a team $1.8 million against the salary cap of $9 million, regardless of the amount the player is actually paid. The second player will cost $1.3 million, the third $900,000 and the fourth $500,000.

New Zealand's Tour Of India 2010-2011 -- 2ND TEST (DAY 5)

                                          The last day of the game. Oh ! Its all over. Its the last day and the result might be be a Draw as New Zealand are batting at 237/4 with McCullum on 121 and Williamson on 12. It will be Williamson on strike and Sreesanth will be bowling. A poor over that was as Williamson smacks 3 fours. These two started playing really well slowly and steadily without losing their wicket. They played well hitting boundaries without risks and put up a fifty partnership. Williamson was on the virgin of his 50 and McCullum on the virgin of his first ever 150. At 149, McCullum had a chance to get out but Pujara has simply dropped his catch. He finally put up his 150 and boosted the Kiwi's score past 300. They both had nice footwork and so put up their 100 partnership. Williamson too was playing well giving a perfect play to McCullum. Now, the tension rose over the Indians.  They did not get a wicket since morning. But Bhajji had cleared the tension by breaking Williamson from McCullum. He sent Williamson back to the pavilion after a score of 69 and a partnership with McCullum of 122. Then came the Skipper, Daniel Vettori. McCullum did play well and moved past 175. Vettori gave perfect company for McCullum as he did not get out and played really well. Pujara was given another chance for a catch but he dropped it. McCullum slowly moved into the 190's. He hit 2 fours in a row to complete his first-ever 200 in Test Cricket and a 50 partnership with Vettori. Pretty Well Batting by the keeper ! But Vettori got out at 23 caught by Dravid and bowled by Raina. McCullum did not stop at all. He was smacking and smacking. Then came Hopkins. McCullum and Hopkins played well and put the score past 400. One fine over by Sreesanth, McCullum after smacking 2 boundaries was gone of the third ball caught by Raina and bowled by Sreesanth. Brilliant Knock for the keeper of 225. Then came Tim Southee. Southee and Hopkins did play well but Southee was out after making 11 runs, clean bowled by Sreesanth. The score was - 447/8. Then came Brent Arnel. But after making one run, Vettori declared at 448/8 off 135 overs with the lead of 326 runs. India have to make 326 runs in the remaining day.
                                 The openers Sehwag and Gambhir came to the crease. Chris Martin started bowling to Gautham Gambhir. Sehwag and Gambhir started slowly and soon picked up by smacking fours and sixes in between. Gambhir was too slow at 8  while Sehwag was past 30. Sehwag like an airplane finished his fifty and to end the day at 68/0 off 17.0 overs. The game is a DRAW finally. Its all over. The match is over in Hyderabad.

The score at the end of Day 5 -

IND  -- 68/0 off 17.0 overs
Sehwag - 54(54)
Gambhir - 14(48) 
Brent Arnel - 0/11
Southee - 0/11  
RESULT -- THE GAME ENDS IN A DRAW.
MAN OF THE MATCH -- BRENDON MCCULLUM (NZ)

New Zealand's Tour Of India 2010-2011 -- 2ND TEST (DAY 4)

                            Back on the ground on the 4th day. At present, the Indians are batting with the lead of 86 with Harbhajan and Sreesanth. Harbhajan was on his way to his 2ND test 100 while Sreesanth accompanied him. Bhajji , playing slowly completed his century. And in the next over, completed the 100 partnership with Sreesanth. 100 partnership for the last wicket .Awesome ! Sreesanth on 24 was sent back to the pavilion by Daniel Vettori. Daniel Vettori claims five as India end their innings at 472 with a lead of 122 runs and the partnership was 105 runs and that too for the last wicket. Brilliant batting by Bhajji as he scores 112.
                           The Kiwi Batsmen come to the crease consisting Tim McIntosh and  Brendon McCullum. They had a very good start as they quickly put up their 50 partnership. Not the same like before, McCullum did play well and completed his fifty. Pujara was sent for substitution for a while for Zaheer. They both completed their first 100 partnership. At 125, McIntosh was sent back to pavilion by Ojha by a brilliant catch by Cheteshwar Pujara at 49. Oh ! He missed his fifty. Then came Martin Guptill. Martin Guptill started his innings with few fours giving perfect company for McCullum. They both played steadily and slowly making the lead rise higher. McCullum was playing good by hitting brilliant fours and sixes. It was McCullum on the virgin of his first hundred and had completed it by smacking the ball to the boundary. Soon after McCullum completed his 100, Guptill was out, bowled by Ojha and caught by Dhoni after making 18 runs. Oho ! They missed their 50 partnership. The score was 174/2.Dhoni ordered Sachin to bowl to McCullum. The crowd reacted really good in that over. The next batsman was Ross Taylor. They played very slow but Taylor couldn't last long and was sent back by Sreesanth. He was bowled at 7. The score was 187/3 . Then came the hefty personality Jesse Ryder. They both hit fours and sixes and made New Zealand's score past 200. At 221, Ryder was out, bowled by Raina and caught by the Indian Skipper. The came Kane Williamson. They both started playing well and ended the day without losing their wicket at 237/4

The score at the end of Day 4 was -

NZ -- 237/4 off 75.0 overs
McCullum - 124(177)
Williamson - 12(33)
Ojha - 2/60
Raina - 1/7 

New Zealand's Tour Of India 2010-2011 -- 2ND TEST (DAY 3)

                      The third day !! The game is thrilling and the players return to the ground after the day 2's play. The score at the end of Day 2 was 178/2 with Tendulkar and Dravid .. Tendulkar couldn't stay long with his partner Dravid but departed at the start of day 3 caught by Taylor and bowled by Vettori at 13. Then came Very Very Special batsman of the team " VVS Laxman " who was waiting to play at home. They played really well. They boosted India's score to 250 with Dravid at the virgin of his 50.But it did not happen as so. Dravid at 45 was sent back by Tim Southee. Poor guy couldn't complete his fifty. Never mind, Laxman did play well and completed his fifty as Raina accompanied him. Soon after they completed their fifty partnership, Raina got out by Vettori caught by Marin Guptill at 20. Then came "The Indian Skipper" , MS Dhoni. After 15 runs, i.e. after making 15runs when Dhoni entered, Laxman couldn't play long and was sent back to the pavilion by Chris Martin after a brilliant knock of 74. Soon after his partner fell Dhoni went back at 14 by Vettori. Vettori bags 4 wickets same like Zaheer and Bhajji. Then came "India's Superstar" Harbhajan Singh who was accompanied y Zaheer.
             They made India's score to the 350 mark. Harbhajan should be promoted from a bowler to an all-rounder. He plays really well in Tests. At 355, Khan couldn't stay long and was sent to pavilion by Southee at 7. Ojha comes in. Pretty good playing by Harbhajan as he boosts India's score past 350. He hits boundaries and sixes in between and encourages the crowds. Ojha was short of the crease and was run out for 0. Then came the Kerala Player - Shanthakumaran Sreesanth. He did play well and did not take any risks and put Bhajji towards his 50 mark. Another 50 for the Indian Superstar. He is truly an all-rounder. He made India's score past 400. At 422, our batsman put up their 50 partnership for the last wicket. Harbhajan boosts to 71.Finally, Bhajji and Sreesanth end the day at 436/9 off 134.0 overs with their partnership of 69.

The score at the end of Day 3 was - 
IND - 436 for 9 off 134.0 overs
Harbhajan - 85(82)
Sreesanth - 14(47)
Vettori - 4/123
Southee - 3/95

New Zealand's Tour Of India 2010-2011 -- 2ND TEST (DAY 2)

                               After the hot,humid first day the Indian players return to the ground with the Kiwi Batsmen - Jesse Ryder and Gareth Hopkins..The players and the umpires get ready to start the second day's play.. Even the crowd is eager to see how will India perform today.It was Zaheer who started bowling to Jesse Ryder. Ryder smashed 3 fours making Khan surprise. In the following over, Dhoni was hurt due to a dive for stopping the ball. But he was fine said Ravi Shaz.In the following over bowled by Khan, it was Hopkins who was smashing boundaries but Khan put a full stop to Gareth Hopkins' play. He was trapped in front of the ball and the umpire had given it out. Khan gets three. Wow ! That was amazing ! It was Williamson who came next. Ryder did not stop smashing boundaries. He was truly looking strong. After a few overs it was Khan again who put a full stop to Williamson. It was dead plumb and no question for the umpire rather giving it out.
                            The BLACKCAP Daniel Vettori comes over to the crease to accompany Ryder. Ryder did not stop smashing boundaries and did not even mind to the wickets fallen. Vettori accompanied Ryder till his fifty. Ryder, Ryder, Ryder was the only word for the Kiwis. But Vettori was sent back to pavilion by Harbhajan Singh trapped in front of the wicket.Then came the bowler Tim Southee. Ryder hit a few boundaries but the game was going very slow. One fine delivery by Harbhajan made Laxman catch Ryder. Ryder was out finally for a brilliant innings of 70. The score was 331/8. The next man was Brent Arnel. Southee playing well was accompanied by Arnel. After 2 overs, Southee was sent back by Dhoni stumping him perfectly bowled by Bhajji. The last man was Chris Martin. After 6 overs Martin was sent back by Bhajji caught by Sehwag. This put the Kiwis' innings to an end. The score they made was 350. Harbhajan and Khan bag 4 wickets each. That sounds great rite..The Indian players will be back for batting after a break of 15minutes.
                   Sehwag and Gambhir open India's innings. "A good start" anyone would say seeing the performances by Gambhir and Sehwag. They boosted India's score to 50,100,160 and so on. Sehwag looking strong had completed his half century. Oh ! The first wicket has fallen. Sehwag has missed his test century bowled down by Kiwi Skipper at 96. A brilliant innings comes to an end.Dravid joins Gambhir. Experiencing his partner's wicket Gambhir couldn't stay long but after four deliveries was sent back by Southee at 54. The crowd shouts louder as The Master Blaster joins the game. Dravid and Tendulkar did not take risks and ended the 2 day's play.

The score at the end of Day 2 -
IND - 178/2
Sachin - 11(18)
Dravid - 7(28)
Southee - 1/45
Vettori - 1/45

New Zealand's Tour Of India 2010-2011 -- 2ND TEST (DAY 1)

          Whew!!! Back on after 22 years in Hyderabad. It is a 5-day match in Hyderabad after 22 years !! Sounds thrilling.. Let us make it simple for the first day of the game. It was Daniel Vettori who won the toss and chose to bat."Yes.I would like to bat first.We have Guptill in for Watling,Bret Arnel for Hamish Bennet and Southee for Jeetan Patel." said Daniel Vettori in the morning.Dhoni was unhappy losing the toss and said"Never Mind.My boys will do well and its Laxman playing at home for us."

          It was Brendon McCullum and TG MacIntosh were visible as the openers. An early breakthrough for the Blackcaps as their keeper McCullum falls for 4, bowled by India's Sreesanth and caught by the Indian skipper.An ugly start a person would say but the Kiwis did not bother but put forth a partnership of 147 between Guptill And McIntosh.Then came the breakthrough by the Off-Breaker Pragyan Ojha. The ball was struck in front of Guptill's leg and the umpire had no other option than giving it OUT. Guptill played well but missed his century by 15runs but McIntosh was looking strong and had completed his first fifty in test cricket.

Then came Ross Taylor. Taylor was looking strong but Khan had put him down at 24.The next one was Jesse Ryder, the husky,hefty and a huge person from Masterton,Auckland. Coming back to the opener McIntosh was on his way to his first century. He had made it but as soon he made his century was put down by Khan struck in front of the wicket, an inside edge which would close the play of Day 1.

The score at the end of day 1 was-

NZ - 258/4 off 90.0 overs

Jesse Ryder - 22(64)

Gareth Hopkins - 0(5)

Khan - 2/41

Ojha - 1/60

   Its all over for today... See you tomorrow... Good Evening..