S No	Series (Opponents)	Season	Series Performance
1	Sri Lanka in India ODI Series	2005/06	346 Runs (7 Matches & 5 Innings, 1x100, 1x50); 6 Catches & 3 Stumpings
2[58]	India in Bangladesh ODI Series	2007	127 Runs (2 Matches & 2 Innings, 1x50); 1 Catches & 2 Stumpings

Six Man of the match awards:

S No	Opponent	Venue	Season	Match Performance
1	Pakistan	Vishakapatnam	2004/05	148 (123b, 15x4, 4x6); 2 Catches
2	Sri Lanka	Jaipur	2005/06	183* (145b, 15x4, 10x6); 1 Catch
3	Pakistan	Lahore	2005/06	72 (46b, 12x4); 3 Catches
4	Bangladesh	Mirpur	2007	91* (106b, 7x4); 1 Stumping
5	Africa XI[54]	Chennai	2007	139* (97b, 15x4, 5x6); 3 Stumpings
6	Australia	Chandigarh	2007	50* ( 35 b, 5x4 1x6); 2 Stumpings

Test cricket

Test performance:

Test career records by opposition
#	Opponent	Matches	Runs	Average	High Score	100s	50s	Catches	Stumping
1	Bangladesh	2	104	104.00	51*	0	1	6	1
2	England	6	315	35.00	92	0	3	19	3
3	Pakistan	3	179	59.66	148	1	0	7	1
4	South Africa	2	104	26.00	47	0	0	3	0
5	Sri Lanka	4	149	37.25	51*	0	1	5	1
6	West Indies	4	168	24.00	69	0	1	13	4
Total		20	1019	36.39	148	1	6	53	10

Test centuries

Test centuries
#	Runs	Match	Against	Stadium	City/Country	Year
1	148	5	Pakistan	Iqbal Stadium	Faisalabad, Pakistan	2006

Test records:

• Dhoni's maiden century against Pakistan in Faisalabad (148) is the fastest century scored by an Indian wicket keeper. Only three centuries by two players (Kamran Akmal and Adam Gilchrist - 2) were faster than Dhoni's 93 ball century.^[59]

ODI records:

• On 31 October 2005 Dhoni scored 183* runs of just 145 balls against Sri Lanka in Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. The following is the list of records created during the innings.^[32]
  • The score of 183 is the highest in ODI cricket in the second innings (Earlier record: 153 by Lara). During the epic Aus-SA 2006 match, Herschelle Gibbs came close to the record by scoring 175.
  • The innings featured 10 Sixes, the most by an Indian in an Innings, and the second highest in ODI cricket (The highest is 11 by Sanath Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi)
  • He broke Adam Gilchrist's record of 172 for the highest score made by a wicket keeper
  • The innings set the record for the most number of runs scored in boundaries (120 - 15x4; 10x6) breaking the record held by Saeed Anwar. The record was broken by Herschelle Gibbs (126 runs in boundaries - 21x4; 7x6) against Australia during his knock of 175.
  • In the same match, Kumar Sangakkara also made a century, making it the first match in which both wicket keepers scored a century
  • The score of 183 equaled the record of the highest score against Sri Lanka in ODI cricket set by Ganguly during the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

• Among Indian batsmen who have played more than 50 matches, Dhoni has the second highest average.^[55] Dhoni's batting average is the highest amongst wicketkeeper in ODIs.

• In April 2006 Dhoni was briefly ranked No.1 in the ICC one day Batsmen's ratings.

• In June 2007, Dhoni(139*) and Mahela Jayawardene(107)^[54] set a new world record for the sixth wicket partnership of 218 runs against Africa XI during the Afro-Asia Cup.^[56]
  • Dhoni erased Shaun Pollock's record for highest individual innings by a number seven batsman in one-day internationals during his unbeaten innings of 139.^[57] Incidentally, Pollock record stood for just three days as his score of 130 came in the first match of the 2007 Afro-Asia Cup while Dhoni's century came in the third and final match of the series.
  • Dhoni also holds the records of the most dismissals by an Indian wicketkeeper and joint International (with Adam Gilchrist) with 6 dismissals (5 catches and one stumping) against England at Headlingly 2 September 2007

Test career

Following his good one-day form against Sri Lanka, Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in December 2005 as the Indian Test wicket-keeper.^[45] Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match that was marred by rain. Dhoni came to the crease when the team was struggling at 109/5 and as wickets kept falling around him, he played an aggressive innings and was the last man dismissed.^[46] Dhoni made his maiden half-century in the second Test and his quick scoring rate (half century came off 51 balls) aided India to set a target of 436 and the Sri Lankans were bowled out for 247.^[47]

India toured Pakistan in January/February 2006 and Dhoni scored his maiden century in the second Test at Faisalabad. India were left in a tight spot as Dhoni was joined by Irfan Pathan with the team still 107 away from avoiding follow-on. Dhoni played his typical aggressive innings as he scored his maiden test century in just 93 balls after scoring his first fifty in just 34 deliveries.^[48]

Dhoni followed his maiden test century with some prosaic batting performances over the next three matches, one against Pakistan that India lost and two against England that had India holding a 1-0 lead going into the test match. Dhoni was the top scorer in India's first innings in the third test at Wankhede Stadium as his 64 aided India post a respectable 279 in reply to England's 400. However Dhoni and the Indian fielders dropped too many catches and missed many dismissal chances including a key stumping opportunity of Andrew Flintoff (14).^[49] Dhoni failed to collect the Harbhajan Singh delivery cleanly as Flintoff went on to make 36 more runs as England set a target of 313 for the home team, a target that India were never in the reckoning. A batting collapse saw the team being dismissed for 100 and Dhoni scored just 5 runs and faced criticism for his wicket-keeping lapses as well as his shot selections.

On the West Indies tour, Dhoni scored a quick and aggressive 69 in the first Test at Antigua. The rest of the series was unremarkable for Dhoni as he scored 99 runs in the remaining 6 innings but his wicket-keeping skills improved and Dhoni finished the series with 13 catches and 4 stumpings. In the test series in South Africa, Dhoni's scores of 34 and 47 were not sufficient to save the second test against the Proteas as India lost the test series 2-1, squandering the chance to build on their first ever Test victory in South Africa (achieved in the first Test match). Dhoni's bruised hands ruled him out of the third test match.^[50]

ODI career records by opposition
#	Opponent	Matches	Runs	Average	High Score	100s	50s	Catches	Stumping
1	Africa XI[54]	3	174	87.00	139*	1	0	3	3
2	Australia	9	222	37.00	58	0	2	7	4
3	Bangladesh	6	146	36.50	93*	0	1	6	6
4	Bermuda	1	29	29.00	28	0	0	1	0
5	England	13	359	32.63	96	0	2	15	3
6	New Zealand	3	50	25.00	37*	0	0	3	1
7	Pakistan	13	542	60.22	148	1	4	14	1
8	Scotland	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	South Africa	10	196	24.50	55	0	1	7	1
10	Sri Lanka	16	490	61.25	183*	1	2	17	3
11	West Indies	13	317	39.62	62*	0	2	10	2
12	Zimbabwe	2	123	123.00	67*	0	2	0	1
Total		90	2648	44.13	183*	3	16	85

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

The Indian team in the 2000s saw the use of Rahul Dravid as the wicket-keeper to ensure that the wicket-keeper spot didn't lack in batting talent.^[24] The Indian cricket establishment also saw the entry of wicket-keeper/batsmen from the junior ranks with talents like Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik - both India U-19 Captains in the test squads.^[24] With Dhoni making a mark in the India-A squad, he was picked in the ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour in 2004/05.^[26] Dhoni did not have a great start to his ODI career, getting run out for a duck on debut.^[27] In spite of an average series against Bangladesh, Dhoni was picked for the Pakistan ODI series.^[28] In the second match of the series, Dhoni in his fifth one-day international, scored 148 in Vishakapatnam off only 123 deliveries. Dhoni's 148 erased the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper,^[29] a record that he would re-write before the end of the year.

Dhoni had few batting opportunities in the first two games of the Sri Lankan bilateral ODI series (October-November 2005) and was promoted to No. 3 in the third ODI at Sawai Mansingh Stadium (Jaipur). Sri Lanka had set India a target of 299 after a Kumar Sangakkara century and in reply. India lost Tendulkar early. Dhoni was promoted to accelerate the scoring and ended the game with an unbeaten 183 off 145 balls, winning the game for India^[30] - an innings described in Wisden Almanack (2006) as 'Uninhibited, yet anything but crude'.^[31] The innings set various records including the highest score in ODI cricket in the second innings,^[32] a record that still stands. Dhoni ended the series with the highest run aggregate (346)^[33] and was awarded the Man of the series award for his efforts. In December 2005, Dhoni was signed by BCCI to a B-grade contract, skipping the initial C-grade level due to his performance on the cricketing field.[

India scored 328 in 50 overs with Dhoni contributing 68 in their first match of 2006 against Pakistan. However the team finished poorly, scoring just 43 runs in the last eight overs and lost the match due to Duckworth-Lewis method.^[35] In the third match of the series, Dhoni came in with India in a precarious situation and scored 72 runs off just 46 balls that included 13 boundaries to help India take a 2-1 lead in the series.^[36][37] The final match of the series had a repeat performance as Dhoni scored 77 runs off 56 balls to enable India win the series 4-1.^[38] In recognition of his consistent ODI performances, Dhoni overtook Ricky Ponting as number one in the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen on April 20, 2006.^[39] His reign lasted just a week as Adam Gilchrist's performance against Bangladesh moved him to the top spot.^[40]

Two canceled series in Sri Lanka, one due to the withdrawal of South Africa from the Unitech Cup due to security concerns^[41] and the replacement 3-match ODI bilateral series against Sri Lanka washed due to rain,^[42] was India's prelude to another disappointing tournament - DLF Cup 2006-07. Dhoni scored 43 runs as the team lost twice in three games and did not qualify for the finals. India's lack of preparation showed in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy as they lost to West Indies and Australia, though Dhoni scored an half-century against West Indies. The story of the ODI series in South Africa was the same for both Dhoni and India as Dhoni scored 139 runs in 4 matches and India lost the series 4-0. From the start of the WI ODI series, Dhoni had played 16 matches, hit just two fifties and averaged 25.93. Dhoni received criticism on his wicket keeping technique from former wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani.^[43]

Preparations for the 2007 Cricket World Cup improved as India recorded identical 3-1 victories over West Indies and Sri Lanka and Dhoni had averages in excess of 100 in both these series. However, India unexpectedly crashed out the World Cup after losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Dhoni was out for a duck in both these matches and scored 29 runs in the whole tournament. Dhoni put behind his disappointment in the World cup by scoring 91* against Bangladesh after India were left in a tight spot earlier in the run-chase. Dhoni was declared the man of the match for his performance, his fourth in ODI cricket. He was also later adjudged the man of the series after the third game of the series was washed away. Dhoni had a good Afro-Asia Cup, getting 174 runs in 3 matches at an average of 87.00, with a blitzkrieg 139 not out of 97 balls, a Man Of The Match innings, in the 3rd ODI.

Dhoni was nominated as the vice-captain of the ODI team for the series against South Africa in Ireland and the subsequent India-England 7-match ODI series.^[2] Dhoni, who received a 'B' grade contract in December 2005, was awarded an 'A' grade contract in June 2007. And also he was elected as captain of Indian Twenty-20 Cricket Team for the World Twenty20 in September 2007. On 2 September 2007 Mahendra Singh Dhoni equalled his idol Adam Gilchrist's international record for the most dismissals in an innings in ODI by catching 5 English players and stumping one.^[44] He led India to the ICC World Twenty 20 trophy in South Africa with a victory over arch rivals Pakistan in an intensely fought final on 24 September 2007, and became the second Indian captain to have won a World cup in any form of cricket, after Kapil Dev.

Twenty20 career

On September 19, 2007 against England in the ICC World Twenty20 Super 8 match held at Kingsmead in Durban, he hit 6 sixes off one Stuart Broad over. This helped him to reach the fastest fifty ever in Twenty20 game, off just 12 balls and also the fastest in any form of international cricket.^{[17] [18] [19]} This was the fourth time that six sixes had been hit in one over in senior cricket, the first time in Twenty20 cricket, and the first time in any form of international cricket against a bowler from a test playing nation. (Garfield Sobers and Ravi Shastri did it in first class matches, and Herschelle Gibbs did it in a 2007 Cricket World Cup match against Dutch bowler Daan van Bunge.) He has also hit the longest six of the tournament:119 meters and currently is the world's leading 20-20 batsman in terms of strike rate (235.09)^[20]

Yuvraj was awarded a Porsche 911 car for his 6 sixes achievement by the Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Yuvraj also received Rs.10,000,000 (US$252,716) in cash from the BCCI for his splendid performance in the tournament. ^[21]

Yuvraj also scored 70 runs off 30 balls and went on to claim the Man of the Match against Australia in the World Twenty20 semifinals at Durban.^[22]

Test career

Yuvraj made his Test debut against New Zealand in Mohali in late 2003 in front of his home crowd in Punjab due to the absence of regular captain Sourav Ganguly in the No. 6 position.^[15] He was omitted upon Ganguly's return but got another opportunity in the Test team in the 2004 Tour to Pakistan, when Ganguly was again injured. He scored his first Test century in a losing effort against Pakistan in the second Test at Lahore. When Ganguly returned for the third Test, Akash Chopra was dropped and it appeared that the Indian selectors wanted to give him a regular place in the team. He was subsequently played as Virender Sehwag's opening partner, but after two poor matches in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia,^[16] he was dropped in favour of Gautam Gambhir. He was recalled to the Test team, batting in the No. 6 position for the away series against Zimbabwe in August 2005 after Sachin Tendulkar was sidelined with tennis elbow. He then retained his position in the Test team after Ganguly was axed following a row with coach Greg Chappell. He scored a second Test century in the third and final Test in Pakistan in the series in January 2006, which India again lost. However, Yuvraj has struggled subsequently in 2006, failing to pass 50 in six Tests against England (two, both at home) and the West Indies (four, all away from home). His injury in late 2006 allowed the return of former captain Ganguly to the team, who subsequently top-scored in the series.

Yuvraj was included in India's Test squad to face Pakistan in November 2007, but was not included in the playing 11 for the first test. Yuvraj was picked in the 3rd Test due to an injured Sachin Tendulkar. India were 61/4 before he and Sourav Ganguly made a 300 run partnership with Yuvraj recording his highest Test score of 169.

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj made his One Day International debut against Kenya at Nairobi in 2000, at the ICC KnockOut Trophy. He showed his potential in his second ODI which was against the Australians where he scored a quickfire 84 off 82 balls against a quality pace attack consisting of bowlers like Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie.^[5] However, after a lean run of form, he was dropped for the one-dayers against Australia in India in early 2001,^[6] but returned later in the year and helped India to victory in a match in Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 98.^[7]

One of his most memorable innings was a partnership with Mohammad Kaif in the NatWest Series final against England in July 2002 which led India to victory.^[8] He was selected and represented India at the 2003 Cricket World Cup. He scored his first century in his fourth season with the Indian team against Bangladesh in 2003. After that he also scored hundreds against Zimbabwe and Australia, including a 139 off 119 balls at the Sydney Cricket Ground.^[9] In the Indian Oil Cup 2005, he made 110 (off 114 balls) (his third century) and an important partnership worth 165 runs with Mohammad Kaif, to become the man of the match against West Indies in the last match of the round robin league. After reaching his century, he attracted attention by angry gesticulations to the Indian dressing room, which was postulated to be due to his clashes with team management - Greg Chappell had been appointed as the new Indian coach and he had criticised Yuvraj.^[10] He later praised Chappell's techniques.^[11]

Yuvraj has had a recent (late 2005 to early 2006) run of good form in the ODI format of the game. He was named as the man of the series in three consecutive series, against South Africa (joint with Graeme Smith),^[12] and then against Pakistan and England, in which he scored three centuries and four half-centuries in fifteen matches, which propelled him into the top ten of the ICC ODI batting rankings. During the Pakistan tour, at times when captain and vice-captain Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag were absent, Yuvraj was the on-field captain, indicating that he may be seen as a potential captain.^[13] In the next series in the West Indies, Yuvraj hit two fifties in four games, even though India lost the series 4-1. His performance was recognised with his shortlisting by the ICC as one of four nominees for the Internation One Day player of the year award.

Yuvraj missed the first game in the series after that, the tri-series against Australia and West Indies in Kuala Lumpur, due to illness and after failing to reach double figures in the following two games, was axed for Mohammed Kaif in the last group match. He showed signs of returning to form in the Champions Trophy, hitting a restrained unbeaten 27 to guide India to victory against England in the opening game after he was recalled in place of Kaif, but a knee injury forced him out of the final group match. He subsequently missed the tour of South Africa and was in doubt for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, but made a faster than expected recovery to play in the ODI series against the West Indies in India in January 2007. He struck a fluent 95* from 83 balls in India's final match against Sri Lanka before heading to the World Cup.

At the World Cup, Yuvraj only managed one fifty against a lowly Bermuda and along with rest of the squad, was criticized for India's first-round exit. Nevertheless, Yuvraj kept his place in the side for the tours of Bangladesh and Ireland in 2007.

In September 2007, he was named as the ODI vice captain of Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the resignation of Rahul Dravid. He then scored 121 in a losing cause during India's One-day International series defeat at the hands of Australia before enjoying a return to form as India beat Pakistan 3-2 on home soil in November 2007 and he was named Man of the series. In the five matches, he scored four half-centuries, although he was fined after showing dissent in the final match in Jaipur.^[14]

Style

With a strong technique, he has been the backbone for the Indian cricket team. Beginning with the reputation of being a defensive batsman who should be confined to Test cricket, he was dropped from ODIs as he was slow in making runs. However, in a period of his career he began consistently scoring runs in ODIs as well, earning him the award of ICC player of the year. His nickname of 'The Wall' in Reebok advertisements has now become a tribute to his consistency. Dravid has scored 24 centuries in Test cricket at an average of 55.11, including 5 double centuries. In one-dayers though he has an average of 39.49, and a strike rate of 71.22. He is one of the few Indians who average more at away matches than at home, averaging over 10 more runs a match abroad than on Indian pitches. As of 9 August, 2006, Dravid's average in overseas Tests stood at 65.28 as against his overall Test average of 58.75, and his average for away ODI stands at 42.03 as against overall ODI average of 40.05. In matches that India has won, Dravid averages 78.72 in Tests and 53.40 in ODIs.

Dravid's sole Test wicket was that of Ridley Jacobs in the fourth Test against the West Indies during the 2001-2002 series. While he has no pretensions to being a bowler, Dravid often kept wicket for India in ODIs. He has since delegated the wicket-keeping gloves, first to Parthiv Patel and more recently to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dravid is now purely a batsman, one who has averaged 63.51 in matches played since 1 January, 2000.

Dravid was involved in two of the largest partnerships in ODIs: a 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly, the first pair to combine for a 300-run partnership, and then a 331-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which is the present world record. He also holds the record for the greatest number of innings since debut before being dismissed for a duck. His highest scores in ODIs and Tests are 153 and 270 respectively. Uniquely, each of his five double centuries in Tests was a higher score than his previous double century (200*, 217, 222, 233, 270).

Also, Dravid is the current world record holder for the highest percentage(%) contribution of runs scored in matches won under a single captain, where the captain has won more than 20 Tests. ^[26] In the 21 Test matches India won under Sourav Ganguly's leadership, Dravid played his part in every single one of those wins, scoring at a record average of 102.84 and piling up an astonishing 2571 runs, with nine hundreds - three of them double-centuries - and ten fifties in 32 innings. He contributed nearly 23% of the total runs scored by India those 21 matches, which is almost one run out of every four runs the team scored.

He was named one of the Wisden cricketers of the year 2000.

In 2004, Dravid was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. On 7 September, 2004, he was awarded the inaugural Player of the year award and the Test player of the year by the International Cricket Council, ICC (associated image below). Dravid's batting average of 95.46 in the past year has made him the only Indian to be in the Test team of the year. On 18th March, 2006, Dravid played his 100th Test against England in Mumbai.

In 2005, a biography of Rahul Dravid written by Devendra Prabhudesai was published, 'The Nice Guy Who Finished First'.

In the 2005 ICC Awards he was the only Indian to be named to the World one-day XI.

In 2006, it was announced that he would remain captain of the Indian team up to the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

After the England Series however, he stepped down as captain of India due to personal reasons. Mahendra Singh Dhoni took over as ODI captain. Anil Kumble replaced him in test matches.

In 2007, he was dropped from the Indian ODI Squad following poor series against Australia. Dravid went back to play for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy, scoring 218 against Mumbai.

In 2008, he made 93 in the first innings of the Perth test, the highest score of the match, to help India win and make the series 1-2. However, he struggled for the remaining test match and was ignored by selectors for the subsequent one-day tri-series.

Dravid in World Cup

Dravid had a very successful 1999 Cricket World Cup scoring 461 runs and he was the highest run getter in the VII world cup. He was vice captain during 2003 World cup where India reached the final, serving his team in the dual capacity of batsman and wicket keeper to accommodate additional batsman, a move that paid huge dividends for India. Dravid was captain during 2007 cricket world cup in West Indies. He and the Indian cricket team had a dismal 2007 Cricket World Cup Campaign. Dravid had scores of 14 (Bangladesh), 7* (Bermuda) and 60 (Sri Lanka).

Rahul Sharad Dravid

Dravid had a disappointing start to his career making his debut in one-dayers against Sri Lankan cricket team in the Singer Cup in Singapore immediately after World Cup in March 1996, replacing Vinod Kambli. Subsequently he was dropped from the team until he was picked again for the tour of England when Sanjay Manjrekar was injured.

With Manjrekar sidelined, he then made his debut in the Second Test against England along with Sourav Ganguly, scoring 95 ^[1]. He held his position on Manjrekar's return for the Third Test, scoring 84 ^[17]. After moderate home series against Australia and South Africa, Dravid broke through on the 1996-97 tour of South Africa. He batted at No. 3 in the third Test in Johannesburg, scoring his maiden century with 148 and 81, the top score in each innings to claim his first man of the match award ^[2]. He also finally made his first half-century against Pakistan in the Sahara Cup in 1996, scoring 90 in his 10th ODI ^[18].

In the 18 months ending in mid-1998, he played in an away series against the West Indies, home and away series against Sri Lanka and a home series against Australia, he scored consistently, with 964 runs at an average of 56.7. He scored eleven half-centuries but was unable to convert them to triple figures ^[3]. He scored his second century in late 1998 against Zimbabwe in a one-off Test match, top-scoring in both innings with 148 and 44, but was unable to prevent an Indian defeat ^[4]. He then became the third Indian batsman after Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar to score centuries in both innings of a match during the 1999 New Year's Test match against New Zealand with 190 and 103* to force a draw ^[5], batting for a total of 653 minutes ^[19]. He had a moderate subcontinental season in early 1999, scoring 269 runs at 38.42 with one century before scoring 239 at 39.8 including a century against New Zealand in late 1999^[6]. This was followed by a poor away series against Australia and another poor home series against South Africa, accumulating just 187 runs at an average of 18.7. He then scored 200*, his first double century, against Zimbabwe in Delhi which along with 70* in the second innings helped India to victory. It was the first time he had passed 50 in 12 months and he followed this with a 162 in the following Test, giving him 432 runs in the two match series at an average of 432 ^[7].

In the second test of a three match test series against Australia at Kolkata in 2001, Dravid joined hands with VVS Laxman to produce one of the greatest comeback victories in the history of the game. Following on, the pair put on 376 runs for the fifth wicket in the second innings of the match. Dravid scored 180 while Laxman made 281. ^[20] Though Dravid ended up second-best, it remains one of his greatest performances till date. Later that year in Port Elizabeth against South Africa, he made a crucial match-saving 87 runs in the second innings to deny South Africa the win. ^[21]

2002 was the year Dravid started to emerge out of Tendulkar's shadow and established himself as India's premier Test batsman. In the month of April at Georgetown against West Indies in first test match of the series, he scored an unbeaten 144 ^[22] in the first innings after being hit by a Mervyn Dillon delivery. Later that year, he raked up four consecutive centuries against England(3) and West Indies(1). In August 2002, against England at Headingley Stadium,Leeds in the third test match of the series, he scored a 148 in the first innings on a seamer-friendly to set up a famous Indian win. ^[23] He won the man of the match award for this performance. Dravid's astonishing aggregate of 602 runs in the four match test series against England also fetched him the man of the series award.

In 2003-2004 season, Dravid scored three double centuries, one each against New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan. Against Australia at Adelaide in second match of the four match series, the batting pair of Dravid and VVS Laxman proved to be Australia's nemesis again. In the first innings, India were looking down the barrel at 4 wickets down for 85 runs in reply to Australia's massive 556 when the duo joined hands. By the time their partnership was broken, the pair had put on 303 runs. Laxman was dismissed for 148 while Dravid went on make 233. At that time, this was the highest individual score by an Indian batsman overseas. By the time Dravid was done, India was only 33 short of Australia's first innings score. Dravid followed this with an unbeaten 72 under immense pressure in the second innings to set up a famous victory. ^[24] Dravid scored 619 runs in that four-match series against Australia at an average of 103.16 and won the man of the series award. During the later part of the season, Dravid, in Ganguly's absence, led India to its first test victory over Pakistan in Pakistan in the first test match at Multan. In the third and the final match of the series At Rawalpindi, Dravid stroked a masterly 270 to take India to a historic test series win over Pakistan. ^[25]

Sourav Ganguly The Only Bengal Tiger of Indian Cricket

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly

Ganguly made his One Day International (ODI) debut for India against West Indies in 1992 scoring just 3 he was dropped immediately. He returned to International cricket four years later, following a good domestic record, he was recalled into the national side for a Test series in England. He made his Test debut at Lord's, scoring a century he became only the third cricketer to score a century on debut at Lord's, after Harry Graham and John Hampshire. (Andrew Strauss has also since accomplished this feat). In the next Test match at Trent Bridge he scored another century, 136, sharing in a 255 run stand with Sachin Tendulkar.

In 1997 Ganguly scored his maiden ODI century, opening the innings he scored 113, in his side's 238, against Sri Lanka later that year he won four consecutive Man of the match awards in the Sahara Cup with Pakistan the second of these was won after he took 5/16 off 10 overs, his best bowling in a ODI. After a barren run in Test cricket his form returned at the end of the year with three centuries in four Tests all against Sri Lanka two of this involved 250+ stands with Sachin Tendulkar.

In January 1998, he had one of his most memorable performances in the final of the Independence Cup at Dhaka against Pakistan he scored 124 as India successfully chased down 315 off 48 overs, winning the Man of the match award. In March 1998 he was part of the India team that beat Australia his biggest impact came in Calcutta as he took three wickets having opened the bowling with his medium pace.

In the 1999 World Cup Ganguly smashed 183 against Sri Lanka at Taunton, the innings took 158 balls and included 17 fours and 7 sixes. It is the second highest in World Cup history and the highest by an Indian in the tournament. His partnership of 318 with Rahul Dravid is the highest ever in the World Cup and is the second highest in all ODI cricket.

In 1999/00 India lost series to both Australia and South Africa in the five Tests Ganguly struggled scoring 224 runs at 22.40. However his ODI form was impressive with five centuries over the season taking him to the top of PwC One Day Ratings for batsmen.^[8]

In 2000, after the match fixing scandal Ganguly was named the captain of the India team. In the Champions Trophy of that year he scored 2 centuries but his second in the final was in vain as New Zealand won by four wickets.

In 2003 under his captaincy India reached the World Cup Final, where they lost to the Australians.

While he has achieved significant success as captain, his individual performance deteriorated during his captaincy, especially after successes in the World Cup, the tour of Australia in 2003 and the Pakistan series in 2004. Following indifferent form in 2004 and poor form in 2005, he was dropped from the team in October 2005. He remained active on the first-class cricket scene in hopes of a recall, but his performance was a mixed bag - he hit a couple of centuries in domestic cricket, but his English county stint in 2005 and subsequent appearances in the Challenger Trophy were failures.

Ganguly has 22 centuries in ODIs, in terms of number of centuries in ODIs, he is only behind ^[9] Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya and Ricky Ponting. Sourav, along with Sachin Tendulkar, formed by far the most successful opening pair in One Day Cricket, having amassed the highest number of century partnerships (26) for the first wicket. Together, they have scored more than 7000 runs at an average of 48.98, now with Sachin he is a world record holder for creating most no. of 50 run partnership in the first wicket(44 fifties) ^[10].

Ganguly is the fourth player to cross 11,000 ODI runs and third player to cross 10,000 ODI runs and so far the fastest in ODI history, after Sachin Tendulkar. He also reached 6000, 7000, 8000 and 9000 ODI runs milestones in the fewest number of matches. Sourav can bowl medium-pacers as well, but has under-achieved in this aspect in Test matches, taking 31 wickets in 99 matches, at an average of 52.47. As of 2006, he is the only Indian captain to win a Test series in Pakistan (although two of the three tests of that series was led by Rahul Dravid). He is also one of the 3 players in the world to achieve amazing treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODI cricket history, the others being Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya.

In 2004, he was awarded the Padma Shri.

His older brother Snehasish Ganguly played first-class cricket for Bengal.

Ganguly's international cricket career could be bisected into 2 halves, the pre and the post Y2K eras. The significance of the year 2000 lies not only in the fact that he became the captain of the Indian team but also in the fact that the ICC introduced the one bouncer per over rule in ODIs starting from that year. This introduction of the rule by the ICC had a negative impact on Sourav Ganguly's batting average, which plunged from a high 45.5 before the year 2000 to a low 34.9 between the 5 year period of 2001-2005 ^[11]. Also, against Test playing nations (which included Zimbabwe and Bangladesh), his overall average plunged further down to 30.66, as did his 'away' average which fell to 29. He managed to score only (6) centuries between 2001-2005, of which 3 centuries were against Kenya & 1 was against Namibia.^[12] This sudden drop in his batting average against Test playing nations after 2001 was clearly a result of the short pitched bowling he had to encounter from opposition bowlers. As S.Rajesh, the assistant editor of Cricinfo analyzes, Ganguly has been dismissed numerous times fending off the short ball.^[13]

Also, Ganguly's Test career had been riddled with lean patches, the first of which stretched for 3 years from Dec 1999 to Dec 2002 ^[14], during which his batting average fell to 31.77 in 36 consecutive Test matches over 60 innings. The next biggest lean patch of his career occurred after the 2003 World Cup, when his ODI average fell to 28 and this was when his place in the team was questioned by numerous Indian cricket fans. He averaged 24.95 in 25 ODI matches between August 2004 and September 2005 ^[15], before being finally dropped from the ODI side.

Despite his hot and cold streaks Ganguly is only the third Indian Test match batsman to maintain a career average that never dipped below 40 runs per innings for his entire Test career. The other two who achieved this feat are Sunil Gavaskar and Mohammad Azharuddin.

Ganguly also shares with G.R. Viswanath the Indian record for scoring at least 10 or more centuries and never being on the losing side in every match in which they had scored a century. He also shares with Mohammad Azharuddin the record of scoring two consecutive hundreds in his first two Test matches, though Azharuddin bettered that by scoring a third consecutive hundred in his third Test match.

Ganguly has the highest Test and ODI aggregate of any left-handed batsman India has produced and his 13 Test and 22 ODI centuries are also a record for any Indian left-hander.

It was, however, as captain of the Indian team that Ganguly's biggest achievements occurred. He led India in 49 Test Matches, winning 21 of those, including 12 of them outside India. All three figures are records for Indian Test captains. He also led India to their first series wins in both Tests and ODIs in Pakistan, a feat that had eluded India for over 50 years. Ganguly also led India to more Test wins (12) outside India between 2000 and 2005 than all Indian captains had done between 1980 and 2000. He led India to victory over Steve Waugh's Australia in the 2001 Border-Gavaskar trophy which is considered one of the greatest in Indian cricket history.

Rahul Dravid once commented, "On the off-side, first there is God, then there is Ganguly”.

Sachin Tendulkar Memorabilia

As a tribute to this outstanding feat, we are proud to release a magnificent, full colour print, titled "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar 35". ". This collage style print contains the details of all of Sachin's 35 Test Centuries, various images taken during his career and also his Record Breaking innings. Unlimited in volume, this piece has been especially created to enable Sachin fans all around the World to be able to own a little piece of this historic achievement. Unsigned and unframed, this print is a very affordable piece of cricket memorabilia.
"While every Cricketer dreams of being the best in his time, this boy dreamt a little more - of being the best there ever was. Even as a little boy playing in the park, he was introspective, quiet, critical of every century he scored, every shot he played. At 16, he debuted for India, and is today the only batsman ever to have been compared with Sir Donald Bradman universally, including by Bradman himself.

Shane Warne picks Tendulkar, Lara as best batsmen

Having reached the twilight of his career, spin wizard Shane Warne yearns for a Test hundred even as he picks Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara as the two best batsmen of his era and hardest to bowl at.
"Im proud of what Ive achieved in cricket. I dont usually set too many personal goals, but a Test hundred is still something Id like. Ive messed up my six best chances," Warne told Observer sports monthly in an interview. "There are a lot of statistics linked to me, most of which I dont worry about - being hit for the most sixes in international cricket, for example - while having the most Test wickets is obviously great. "The one statistic that does annoy me is having the most Test runs in the history of the game without a hundred. I dont like that." The 37-year-old worlds highest Test wicket-taker interestingly holds the record of accumulating most Test runs (2958) without having scored a hundred. His highest has been 99 he scored in Perth in 2001-02 against New Zealand. He had scored 11 fifties and has a batting average of 16.61. Warne also said Indias master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and current West Indies captain Brian Lara were the hardest batsmen to bowl at. "The hardest batsmen would be Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar, the two best of my era," said the Hampshire captain. He, however, said South African Daryll Cullinan was his favourite prey batsman and thought he could get him out every ball.

Sachin's Latest World Record

India's Sachin Tendulkar celebrated becoming cricket's most prolific Test century scorer when he hit his 35th ton against Sri Lanka. Tendulkar brought up the world record with a single off Chaminda Vaas in fading light as play ended on the first day of the second Test in Delhi. He surpasses the record held by compatriot Sunil Gavaskar. India ended the day on 245-3 with VVS Laxman hitting 69 and Sourav Ganguly unbeaten on 39. Tendulkar, who had not been in great batting form since returning from a six-month injury absence, took 177 balls for his century, hitting 13 fours and a six along the way. And he reached the milestone in 125 Tests, the same amount Gavaskar took to score 34 centuries.

Captaincy

Tendulkar's two tenures as captain of the Indian cricket team were not very successful. When Tendulkar took over as Captain in 1996, it was with huge hopes and expectations. However, by 1997 the team was performing poorly. Azharuddin was credited with saying "Nahin jeetega! Chote ki naseeb main jeet nahin hai!",^[28] which translates into: "He won't win! It's not in the small one's destiny".

Tendulkar, succeeding Azharuddin as captain for his second term, then led India on a tour of Australia, where the visitors were comprehensively beaten 3-0^[29] by the newly-crowned world champions. After another Test series defeat, this time by a 0-2 margin at home against South Africa, Tendulkar resigned, and Sourav Ganguly took over as captain in 2000.

Tendulkar remains an integral part of the Indian team's strategic processes. He's often found discussing with the captain and involved in building strategies. Former captain Rahul Dravid publicly acknowledged that Tendulkar had been suggesting moves such as the promotion of Irfan Pathan up the batting order.

Individual Honours

• Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, 2008
• ICC World ODI XI: 2004, 2007
• Player of the tournament in 2003 Cricket World Cup
• Wisden Cricketer of the Year: 1997
• Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, 1999
• Arjuna Award, by the government of India in recognization of his outstanding achievement in Cricket, 1994
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports, 1997-98

In September 2007, Australia's former leg-spinner Shane Warne published his list of 50 greatest cricketers ever, in which Sachin had secured the number 1 spot.^[48] In January 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suggested that Sachin should be conferred with an honorary knighthood for his contribution to international cricke

Career achievement of sachin tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is the most prolific run scorer in one-day internationals with 16,361 runs and the second highest run scorer in Test matches with 11,782 runs after Brian Lara. He also holds the record of highest number of centuries in both Test (39) and ODI cricket (42). Throughout his career, he has made a strong impact on Indian cricket and was, at one time, the foundation of most of the team's victories. In recognition with his impact on sport in a cricket-loving country like India, Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India. He was also elected Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997 and is ranked by the objective scoring method of the Wisden 100 as the second best test batsman and best ODI batsman of all time.

Tendulkar has also consistently done well in Cricket World Cups (excluding the 2007 Cricket World Cup in which India were knocked out after only 3 matches). Tendulkar was the highest run scorer of the 2003 Cricket World Cup and 1996 Cricket World Cup. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODIs 7 times, and in one of these years he scored 1894 runs, easily the record for the highest number of runs scored by any player in a single calendar year for one day internationals. Tendulkar has the most centuries in both ODIs and Tests.Tendulkar is also one of the very few players who are still playing in international cricket from the 1980's.

Mohammad Azharuddin

International career

Azhar scored a total of 22 centuries in Test cricket at an average of 45, and 7 in ODIs at an average of 37. He scored a century in each of his first three Tests which is a record. An excellent fielder, he took a world record 156 catches in ODI cricket.

He was given LBW out for 199 in a test match against Sri Lanka and it was his highest Test Score.

In 1991 he was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year and was for many years an inspirational figure in the Indian team with his athletic fielding and leadership.

Azar was the captain of Indian team for most of the 1990s. Statistically he is one of India's most successful captains. He won a record 103 ODI matches as the captain of the Indian team. His 14 Test Match wins as captain, was a record until it was bettered by Sourav Ganguly.

Captain: 1983 World Cup Champions (1982 - 1984)

Kapil Dev debuted as India's captain in the 1982-83 season against Sri Lanka (before the Pakistan tour) when Sunil Gavaskar was rested. Kapil Dev's first assignment as the regular captain was the tour of West Indies where the biggest accomplishment was a lone ODI victory. Kapil Dev (72) and Sunil Gavaskar (90) led India to a huge score - 282/5 in 47 overs and Kapil's 2 wickets aided India to restrict West Indies for 255 and a victory^[19] that Indian cricketers claim gave them the confidence to face the West Indies team in 1983 Cricket World Cup^[20]. Overall, Kapil Dev had a good series in West Indies as he scored a century to save the second test match^[21] as well as picking up 17 wickets (Average: 24.94).

CRICKET DONS OF INDIA

Kapil Dev(International career)

Early Years (1978 - 1982)

Kapil Dev made his Test cricket debut in Faisalabad, Pakistan on 16 October 1978 and though his match figures were unimpressive, the numbers did not convey any measure of Kapil's contribution in the match. With his speed and bounce, he bought glee to the Indian players when Pakistani batsmen were startled with bouncers that clanged the helmet on more than one occasion.^[5] Kapil Dev also captured his maiden wicket of Sadiq Mohammad with his trademark outswinger.^[6] Kapil Dev showcased his all-rounder talent when he scored India's fastest Test half-century off 33 balls and 2 sixes in each of the innings during the 3^rd Test match at National Stadium, Karachi^[7], though India lost the match and the series 2-0. In the ensuring series against a visiting West Indies team, he scored his maiden Test century (126) at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi in just 124 balls^[8] and had a steady bowling performance (17 wickets at 33.00). Ominous signs of Kapil Dev's liking for England showed up in the ensuring series, Kapil's first outside the sub-continent. Kapil Dev picked up his first 5-wicket haul and all of England's wickets, though it came at a huge cost (48 overs and 146 runs conceded) as England scored a mammoth 633 and won the match comfortably^[9]. Kapil Dev finished the series with 16 wickets though his batting haul of 45 runs (Average: 7.5) was unimpressive. Kapil Dev's debut in ODI Cricket happened in the earlier tour of Pakistan where his individual performance was ordinary and it stayed the same as both Kapil Dev and India had a poor campaign at the 1979 Cricket World Cup.

Kapil Dev established himself as India's premier fast bowler when he took two 5-wicket hauls and ended the home series against Australia with 28 wickets (Average: 22.32) and also 212 runs that included a half-century.^[10] Kapil Dev gained fame in the 6-Test home series against Pakistan in the 1979-80 season when he led India to 2 victories against the visitors - once with the bat (69) at Wankhede Stadium, Bombay (Now Mumbai)^[11] and the second time with bat and ball (10-wicket haul in match - 4/90 in the first innings and 7/56 in the second innings, 84 in 98 balls with his bat) at Chepauk, Madras (Now Chennai).^[12] Kapil Dev rates his all-round performance in this match as his best bowling effort in his career and his second innings figure of 7/56 was his best to-date.^[5] During the series, he also became the youngest Test player to achieve the all-round double of 100 Wickets and 1000 Runs and in 25 matches (although Ian Botham took just 21 matches to achieve the same feat) and finished the series with 32 wickets (Ave: 17.68) and 278 runs that included 2 fifties.^[13]

India's tour of Australia in 1980-81 had the looks of the familiar Indian series as India were 1-0 down and were defending a meager 143 runs and Kapil Dev virtually ruled out with a groin injury. When Australia finished the fourth day at 18/3, Kapil willed himself to play the final day with pain-killing injections and removed the dangerous Australia middle order. Kapil won the match for India with the innings bowling performance of 16.4-4-28-5, a bowling performance that figures in his five best bowling performance^[5]. During the Australian tour, he scored his first fifty in ODIs against New Zealand at Brisbane. Somehow India's Test cricket sensation was unable to adjust to ODI cricket and had a career start of 278 runs (Average: 17.38) and 17 wickets after 16 ODI matches.

A dismal New Zealand tour later,^[14] Kapil Dev was ready for the 1981-82 home series against England where his five-wicket haul won the first test at Wankhede Stadium, Bombay (Now Mumbai). Kapil Dev scored 318 runs (Average: 53, 1 century, 1 fifty) and took 22 wickets (2 5-wicket hauls) and walked away with the Man of the Series honours.^[15] England saw more of Kapil in the ensuing series at home against the Indian cricket team in the 1982 season when Kapil opened with a 5-wicket haul and 130 runs in a losing cause at Lord's.^[16] Kapil Dev finished the 3-match series with 292 runs (Ave: 73, 3 fifties) and 10 Wickets and bagged the Man of the Series again.^[17]

Facing Sri Lanka for the first time, Kapil Dev helped himself to a five-wicket haul to kick start the 1982-83 season. In the following tour to Pakistan, Kapil Dev along with Mohinder Amarnath were the only bright spots in a series dominated by rival all-rounder Imran Khan (40 wickets and 1 century).^[18] Kapil Dev took a 5/102 haul in the second Test at National Stadium, Karachi, 7/220 in the third Test at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad and 8/85 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore while he received little support from other team members. After this disastrous tour, Kapil Dev was made the captain of the Indian cricket team in place of Sunil Gavaskar.

Bowling crease

One bowling crease is drawn at each end of the pitch so that the three stumps in the set of stumps at that end of the pitch fall on it (and consequently it is perpendicular to the imaginary line joining the centres of both middle stumps). Each bowling crease should be 8 feet 8 inches (2.64 metres) in length, centred on the middle stump at each end, and each bowling crease terminates at one of the return creases.

The bowling creases lie 22 yards (66 feet or 20.12 m) apart and mark the ends of the pitch, and so may be used to determine whether there is a no ball because a fielder has encroached on the pitch or the wicket-keeper has moved in front of the wicket before they are permitted to do so.

Formerly, part of the bowler's back foot in the delivery stride was required to fall behind the bowling crease to avoid a delivery being a no ball. This rule was replaced by a requirement that the bowler's front foot in the delivery stride must fall behind the popping crease (see below).

Cricket pitch

A cricket pitch is the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets. The pitch is 22 yards (20.12 m) long and 10 feet (3 m) wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the pitch.

In amateur matches, artificial pitches are commonly used. These can be a slab of concrete, overlaid with a coir mat, artificial turf, some times dirt is put over the coir mat to provide a authentic feeling wicket. Artificial pitches are rare in professional cricket - only being used when exhibition matches are played in regions where cricket is not a common sport.

The pitch has very specific markings delineating the creases, as specified by the Laws of Cricket.

The word wicket is often used to refer to the pitch. Although technically incorrect according the Laws of Cricket (Law 7 covers the pitch and Law 8 the wickets, distinguishing between them), cricket players, followers, and commentators persist in the usage, with context eliminating any possible ambiguity. Track is yet another synonym for pitch.

The rectangular central area of the field that is used for pitches is known as the square.

Laws of cricket

The game is played in accordance with 42 laws, which have been developed by the Marylebone Cricket Club in discussion with the main cricketing nations. Teams may agree before a game to introduce other rules or alter some of the existing rules. In particular, there are a number of modifications to rules dictating fielding positions for professional limited overs matches.

Players and officials

Players

A team consists of eleven players. Depending on his or her primary skills, a player may be classified as a specialist batsman or bowler. A balanced team usually has five or six specialist batsmen and four or five specialist bowlers. Teams nearly always include a specialist wicket-keeper because of the importance of this fielding position. Each team is headed by a captain, who is responsible for making tactical decisions such as determining the batting order, the placement of fielders and the rotation of bowlers.

A player who excels in both batting and bowling is known as an all-rounder. One who excels as a batsman and wicket-keeper is known as a "wicket-keeper/batsman", sometimes regarded as a type of all-rounder. True all-rounders are rare; most players focus on either batting or bowling skills.

Umpires

Two on-field umpires preside over a match. One umpire stands behind the bowler's wicket, and adjudicates on most decisions. The other (the "square leg umpire") stands with a side view of the batsman (usually near the fielding position called square leg), and assists in decisions for which he or she has a better view. In some professional matches the facility exists for them to refer some decisions to a third umpire, who has the assistance of television replays. In international matches a match referee ensures that play is within the laws of cricket and the spirit of the game. The third umpire and referee do not take the field during play.

Scorers

Two scorers are appointed; usually, one is provided by each team. The laws of cricket specify that the official scorers are to record all runs scored, wickets taken and (where appropriate) overs bowled. They are to acknowledge signals from the umpires, and to check the accuracy of the score regularly both with each other and, at playing intervals, with the umpires. In practice scorers also keep track of other matters, such as bowlers' analyses, the rate at which the teams bowl their overs, and team statistics such as averages and records. In international and national cricket competitions, the media often require notification of records and statistics, so unofficial scorers often keep tally for broadcast commentators and newspaper journalists. The official scorers occasionally make mistakes, but unlike umpires' mistakes these can be corrected after the event.

CRICKET OVERVIEW

The aim of the batting team is to score as many runs as possible. A run is scored when both batsmen successfully move to their respective opposite ends of the pitch. (The batsmen will usually only attempt to score runs after the striker has hit the ball, but this is not required by the rules—the batsmen can attempt runs at any time after the ball has been bowled.) Runs are also scored if the batsman hits the ball to the boundary of the playing area (this scores six runs if the ball crosses the boundary without having touched the ground, or four runs otherwise), or if the bowler commits some technical infringement like bowling the ball out of reach of the batsman.^[3]

The aim of the bowler's team is to get each batsman out (this is called a "taking a wicket", or a "dismissal").^[4]in a variety of ways. The most direct way is for the bowler to bowl the ball so that the batsman misses it and it hits the stumps, dislodging a bail. While the batsmen are attempting a run, the fielders may dismiss either batsman by using the ball to knock the bails off the set of stumps to which the batsman is closest before he has grounded himself or his bat in the crease. Other ways for the fielding side to dismiss a batsman include catching the ball off the bat before it touches the ground, or having the batsman adjudged "leg before wicket" (abbreviated "L.B.W." or "lbw") if the ball strikes the batsman's body and would have gone on to hit the wicket.^[5] Once the batsmen are not attempting to score any more runs, the ball is "dead", and is bowled again (each attempt at bowling the ball is referred to as a "ball" or a "delivery").^[6] Dismissals are achieved

The game is divided into overs of six (legal) balls. At the end of an over another bowler from the fielding side bowls from the opposite end of the pitch. The two umpires also change positions between overs (the umpire previously at square-leg becomes the bowler's umpire at what is now the bowling end, and vice versa). The fielders also usually change positions between overs.

Once out, a batsman is replaced by the next batsman in the team's line-up. (The batting side can reorder their line-up at any time, but no batsman may bat twice in one innings.) The innings (singular) of the batting team ends when the tenth batsman is given out, leaving one batsman not out but without a partner. When this happens, the team is said to be "all out". (In limited overs cricket the innings ends either when the batting team is all out or a predetermined number of overs has been bowled.) At the end of an innings, the two teams exchange roles, and the side that has been fielding bats.

A team's score is reported in terms of the number of runs scored and the number of batsmen that have been dismissed. For example, if five batsmen are out and the team has scored 224 runs, they are said to have scored 224 for the loss of 5 wickets (commonly shortened to "224 for five" and written 224/5 or, in Australia, "five for 224" and 5/224).

The team that has scored more runs at the end of the completed match wins. Different varieties of the game have different definitions of "completion"; for instance there may be restrictions on the number of overs, the number of innings, and the number of balls in each innings.

Results

Main article: The result in cricket

If the team that bats last is all out having scored fewer runs than their opponents, the team is said to have "lost by n runs" (where n is the difference between the number of runs scored by the teams). If the team that bats last scores enough runs to win, it is said to have "won by n wickets", where n is the number of wickets left to fall. For instance a team that passes its opponents' score having only lost six wickets would have won "by four wickets".

In a two-innings-a-side match, one team's combined first and second innings total may be less than the other side's first innings total. The team with the greater score is then said to have won by an innings and n runs, and does not need to bat again: n is the difference between the two teams' aggregate scores.

If the team batting last is all out, and both sides have scored the same number of runs, then the match is a tie; this result is quite rare in matches of two innings a side. In the traditional form of the game, if the time allotted for the match expires before either side can win, then the game is declared a draw.

If the match has only a single innings per side, then a maximum number of deliveries for each innings is often imposed. Such a match is called a "limited overs" or "one-day" match, and the side scoring more runs wins regardless of the number of wickets lost, so that a draw cannot occur. If this kind of match is temporarily interrupted by bad weather, then a complex mathematical formula, known as the Duckworth-Lewis method after its developers, is often used to recalculate a new target score. A one-day match can also be declared a "no-result" if fewer than a previously agreed number of overs have been bowled by either team, in circumstances that make normal resumption of play impossible; for example, wet weather.

CRICKET

Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport contested by two teams, usually of eleven players each.^[1] A cricket match is played on a grass field, roughly oval in shape, in the centre of which is a flat strip of ground 22 yards (20.12 m) long, called a cricket pitch. A wicket, usually made of wood, is placed at each end of the pitch.

The bowler, a player from the fielding team, bowls a hard, fist-sized cricket ball from the vicinity of one wicket towards the other. The ball usually bounces once before reaching the batsman, a player from the opposing team. In defence of the wicket, the batsman plays the ball with a wooden cricket bat. Meanwhile, the other members of the bowler's team stand in various positions around the field as fielders, players who retrieve the ball in an effort to stop the batsman scoring runs, and if possible to get him or her out. The batsman — if he or she does not get out — may run between the wickets, exchanging ends with a second batsman (the "non-striker"), who has been waiting near the bowler's wicket. Each completed exchange of ends scores one run. Runs are also scored if the batsman hits the ball to the boundary of the playing area. The match is won by the team that scores more runs.

Cricket has been an established team sport for hundreds of years and is thought to be the second most popular sport in the world.^[2] More than 100 countries are affiliated to the International Cricket Council, cricket's international governing body. The sport's modern form originated in England, and is most popular in the present and former members of the Commonwealth. In many countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri LankaAustralia, cricket is the most popular sport. It is also a major sport in England, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean, which are collectively known in cricketing parlance as the West Indies. Many countries also have well-established amateur club competitions, including the Netherlands, Kenya, Nepal and Argentina. and

The sport is followed with passion in many different parts of the world. It has even occasionally given rise to diplomatic outrage, notoriously the Basil D'Oliveira affair (which led to the banning of South Africa from sporting events) and the Bodyline Test series in the early 1930s (which led to a temporary deterioration in relations between Australia and the United Kingdom).