World cup preparation at its end

Preparing For the World Cup:Team India

The series against South Africa-what was known to as a "FINAL FRONTIER" is over now.Indian players showed great courage and determination throughout the series and always came back strongly every time they seemed down and out.One can recall how Indian team responded when they lost the 1st test match or how Indian team won the 2nd ODI when they were bundled out for a paltry total 190 only!


While the above points were the positive side of things,but the worrying part from the series which concluded yesterday was the inability of the Indian middle order in any of the 5 ODI's to hold the innings together and either reach a respectable total or neither they were able to provide solidity to chase South African totals.

HERE ARE SOME POINTS,IF CONSIDERED BY TEAM INDIA CAN HELP THEM AVOID,WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM IN THE PREVIOUS EDITION OF THE WORLD CUP(2007 WORLD CUP) 

1.  What happened in South Africa is over now and India should now prepare with taking all the positives from the just concluded series.As we know South African pitches are quite different from the sub-continent,so first things first that India should get use to sub-continent conditions quickly to avoid any bad performances which can occur due to adaptation to the conditions here.

2.  Middle order of the Indian team at present looks very shaky and they were not at all performing in South Africa.Though the pitches here are batsmen friendly but Indian middle order is really lacking form,though one good inning can change that.


3. India should not take any teams lightly!We all witnessed what happened to India in the previous edition of the world cup when they faced Bangladesh.This time they should not underestimate what surprises the so called "under dogs" can bring up if they start to ignore them.


4. India will benefit with the return of the players like Virendra Sehwag,Gautam Gambhir,Sachin Tendulkar.This will help the Indian team as they will get a Proper opening duo and will get some solidity in the middle order department with the return of Sachin Tendulkar.

5. The bowling department does need some attention.Though the Indian bowlers performed very well in South African conditions but one thing to notice was that whenever the pace battery of the Indian team were unable to pick up wickets,the so called spin department of the Indian team also failed to take wickets apart from Yuvraj Singh.(Take the example of the 1st ODI,the 4th and the 5th ODI).So the Spinners need to perform better in the world cup to cause trouble in the opposition in sub-continent conditions as the pacers here will not be that effective in the Sub-continent


6. Dhoni should come over with his negative tactics that he showcased in the recently concluded series.Take for instance in the 4th ODI when JP Duminy came to the crease he allowed him to get singles easily and guess what happened.He scored a brilliant century with hitting very only 2 fours and his strike was very good as well.

Team india in confident for the 2nd test

Most of the cricket lovers are keenly waiting for the second test match between India and Australia to start tomorrow in Bangalore. Question in everybody’s mind is whether the second test match will be able to create the anxiety and suspense as it was there in first test match held in Mohali.

Fitness of some of the key players has become a point of major concern for both the teams. Australia’s Doug Bollinger has very high chances of missing the match. For India it is more worrisome as Ishant Sharma is already confirmed to be out of second match due to injury.

VVS Laxman is still recovering from his backache. Gautam Gambhir’s selection  is not sure due to his injury.

Still, both the teams are sure to give a tough fight to each other and provide a full entertaining match to the public. Questions are being raised on how Australia will retain their killer instinct in bowling sections without the presence of Bollinger.

Marcus North’s performance is under question.

On the other hand India’s Ace Spinner Harbhajan Singh has not been able to display his peak performance during the last two series. His fitness is still under observation. Sreesanth may or may not be able to create the magical spells like Ishant Sharma did in the first test match.

Suresh Raina’s weakness for bouncers is quite well known now. He must find out a solution to it at the earliest.

Last few evenings, it is raining in Bangalore, which has become a cause of worry for the match.

Capitans note 

Looking ahead at the second Test, the Australian skipper Ponting: “We are well prepared. Hopefully we can go out and play a very similar game to what we played last week and the result can be different.”

And he hinted that the lack of a proper interval between the Champions League in South Africa and the current series did take a toll on the players.

“It was hard work for Doug, Mike Hussey and even Dhoni. I know from the Australian players' side that they were doing everything to try and arrive here early but it wasn't to be,” Ponting said and fired a salvo: “I will be back to India for another Test tour.”

MS Dhoni :“The wicket is damp and once it dries up we will have a look. There is not too much grass cover and we will see how hard it is before taking a call,” 

" S. Sreesanth bowled well in the nets and hoped that his team can ‘close this series without any controversies', though he was fully aware that the Australians would slug it out to level the series. The Australians will come up strong. That's their culture and they don't give up easily, we have to prepare for that and respond to the task,” 

Our Shooters does'nt miss

CWG 2010:India shooters shot first gold for India on Tuesday in the Commonwealth Games 2010 (CWG). Olympian gold winnerAbhinav Bindra and World Champion Gagan Narang won first gold medal for India in the Pairs 10 m Air Rifle Mens event at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday.

Bindra and Narang won the gold in 10 mAir Rifle pair event on the second day of Commonwealth Games 2010. The pair of Gagan Narang and Abhinav Bindra scored 1193 out of 1200 at the Karni Singh shooting range in New Delhi. Narang shot 598 out of 600 while Bindra shot 595. Bindra scored 595 and Narang scored 498.

Ace marksman Abhinav Bindra, who shot down India's first gold in the 19th Commonwealth Games here today, said he was relieved that he gave the country the glory for the second time in two years after his Olympic triumph.

Bindra and Gangan Narang fired a Games record of 1193 points in men's 10m air rifle pairs event to give the country its first gold medal in the Commonwealth Games today. "After the Olympics I got a lot of love and affection from the people of India and I specifically wanted to shoot at the Commonwealth Games for India, to do well for the country and to give all Indians a little gift. That's (the gold) my gift today. I have an opportunity to shoot tomorrow and I will try to do my best tomorrow as well," said Bindra, India's only individual Olympic gold medallist. "It's special to win a gold medal and it's for the first time I am participating in such a big event in India. It's absolutely fantastic. I am delighted," he added. Bindra praised his partner Narang for the victory and expressed happiness that they were able to comer over the pressure and emerge victorious. "I think Gagan shot really well, I was not too bad either. And yeah, there was a lot of stress on us, all eyes were on us. It made it much, much tougher, it wasn't the simplest of things on earth. It was hard work," Bindra told CNN-IBN.

India Looking confidently at the shooting range

Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra will spearhead the Indian shooting challenge in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games along with other top marksmen such as Gagan Narang and Manavjit Singh Sandhu. 

Bindra along with Narang will represent the country in 10m air rifle event in the October 3 to 14 Delhi Commonwealth Games, the National Rifles Association of India said in a statement. 

"Narang, however, will also compete in the 50m prone and 50m 3 position events. He will be the only shooter to participate in three rifle events," the NRAI said. 

"This the best team we could have picked and it is picked purely on current form and caliber. The selection trials were transparent and all the guys who have done well have made the team," national coach Sunny Thomas, who attended the selection committee meeting here today, said. 

However, there was disappointment for rifle shooter Sanjeev Rajput as he failed to make the team for Delhi Games but managed to get into the Asian Games squad. 

"Sanjeev was not in good form earlier but he has been recovering and seems to be getting back in touch. I am happy that he could make the Asian Games," said Thomas. 

Pistol shooter Samresh Jung, nicknamed 'Goldfinger' after his five gold, a silver and a bronze in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, has only qualified for standard pistol event for the upcoming edition. 

In the double trap event, in the absence of Athens Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who skipped the trials to protest the selection policy, the slot has been filled by upcoming shooter Asher Noria. 

Ronjan Sodhi is the other shooter in the event. The trap event expectedly features former world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu, who would be seen in action in both Commonwealth and Asian Games. 

The women's team didn't offer many surprises with Tejaswini Sawant, who became the first ever Indian woman shooter to become a world champion by clinching the 50m Rifle prone Air Rifle gold in the Munich edition last month, getting the nod for both the Asian and Commonwealth Games. 

The Teams: 

COMMONWEALTH GAMES: MEN RIFLE: Abhinav Bindra, Hariom Singh, Gagan Narang, Imran Hassan Khan 

MEN PISTOL: Deepak Sharma, Omkar Singh, Vijay Kumar, Gurpreet Singh, Samaresh Jung, C K Chaudhary, Harpreet Singh 

MEN SHOTGUN: Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Mansher Singh, Mairaj Ahmad Khan, A D Peoples, Ronjon Sodhi, Asher Noria 

WOMEN RIFLE: Suma Shirur, Kavitha Yadav, Meena Kumari, Tejaswini Sawant, Lajja Gauswami 

WOMEN PISTOL: Anisa Sayyed, Rahi Sarnobat, Heena Sidhu, Annuraj Singh 

WOMEN SHOTGUN: Seema Tomar, Shreyasi Singh ASIAN GAMES: MEN RIFLE: Hariom Singh, Gagan Narang, Surendra Singh Rathod, Imran Hasan Khan, Sanjeev Rajput, Abhinav Bidnra 

MEN PISTOL: Deepak Sharma, Omkar Singh, Amanpreet Singh, Vijay Kumar, Rahul Panwar, Gurpreet Singh, Samaresh Jung, C K Chaudhary, Pemba Tamang, Harpreet Singh 

MEN SHOTGUN: Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Mansher Singh, Zorawar Singh Sandhu, Mairaj Ahmad Khan, A D Peoples, Smit Singh, Ronjon Sodhi, Asher Noria, Vikram Bhatnagar 

WOMEN RIFLE: Suma Shirur, Kavitha Yadav, Tejaswini Sawant, Meena Kumari, Lajja Gauswami, Chetanpreet Kaur Nilon 

WOMEN PISTOL: Anisa SAyyed, Rahi Sarnobat, Annuraj Singh, Heena Sidhu, Shweta Chaudhary/Sonia Rai 

WOMEN SHOTGUN: Seema Tomar, Shreyasi Singh, Shagun Chowdhary, Aarti Singh Rao.

India started wiith bagging two medals

India Have started getting medals in 19th Commonwealth competition. India got a Silver medal and a Bronze medal in weight lifting. 

In 48kg weight lifting competition Sonia Shanu(2nd Place), Sandhya Rani(3rd Place) were participated for India and won a Silver and A Bronze Medal respectively. Agastina Nigam from Nigeeria won the Gold medal.

With Silver and a Bronze medal (totally 2 medals) India is leading the first place in the Commonwealth competition.

Later, men weightlifters Sukhen Dey and V Srinivasa Rao picked up two more medals for the home side by winning the silver and bronze, respectively, in the 56 kg class behind Malaysia's Ibrahim Amirul Hamizan, who took the gold.

Chanu was the pre-event favourite for the 48 kg gold, but had to settle for silver as she cleared 167 kg, eight kg below what Nigeria's Augustina Nwaokolo lifted to emerge the surprise winner and give her country the first gold of the Games.

Both were tied with the same clearance of 94 kg in the snatch but Nwaokolo settled the issue in the clean and jerk. Sandhya Rani got the bronze with a total clearance of 165 kg. She lifted the same as Malaysia's Zaira Zakaria but got the medal for being the lighter competitor.

The 17-year-old Nwaokolo set new Games records in the snatch, clean and jerk and overall categories to win with a lift of 175 kg.

Nwaokolo became the first Nigerian woman to win a gold in the Games in a sport other than athletics.

All the 48 kg Commonwealth Games records were formerly held by India's Kunjarani Devi.

In swimming, the Indian quartet of Virdhawal Khade, Anshul Kothari, Arjun Jayaprakash and Aaron D'Souza finished sixth in their preliminary round race with 3:28:06.

Badrinath Melkote and Subha Chittaranjan made it to the next stage in the individual events but many of their compatriots failed to make it.

India's Leander Paes and Sania Mirza swamped Stacey Roheman and Alberton Richeliue of St. Lucia 6-1, 6-0 in just 39 minutes in the opening round of the mixed doubles today as tennis made its debut in the Commonwealth Game.

It was a good day for the hosts as Rohan Bopanna, Rushmi Chakravarthi and Poojashree Venkatesh also won their singles matches against much weaker opponents.

India's Rohan Bopanna and Nirupama Sanjeev during their first round mixed doubles match against Paul Hanley and Anastasia Rodionovo, which they lost 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 in the CommonwealthGames in New Delhi on October 4, 2010.

However, Bopanna and Nirupama Sanjeev lost 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 to Paul Hanley and Anastasia Rodionova in another mixed doubles first round match.

Paes and Mirza will now meet Colin Fleming and Jocelyn Rae of Scotland in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles event.

In table tennis, India had won their opening match in the women's team competition but were edged out 3-2 by New Zealand in their second outing.

Both teams knew that a second win would virtually guarantee them a place in the last eight and it was a close affair that lasted for nearly two and a half hours.

For New Zealand, Karen Li won two matches, coming from behind twice in the fourth match to level the tie at 2-2 by beating Shamini Kumaresan 6-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-4.

Annie Yang then sealed it for New Zealand with an impressive 11-4, 11-13, 15-13, 11-4 victory over Madhurika Suhas Patkar.

In the men's team championship, India began its title defence in style by beating Vanuatu 3-0. They had rested their top singles player Sharath Kamal for the match.

In women's hockey, the hosts, who were runners-up at the last Games in Melbourne in 2006, came from behind to manage a 1-1 tie against Scotland after failing to penetrate the Scottish defence in the early stages of the match.

Holly Cram helped Scotland take a 1-0 lead in the third minute, making no mistake in converting a pass from mid-fielder Vikki Bunce.

In the 45th minute, Jasjeet Kaur Handa of India scored with a reverse stick shot between the Scottish goalkeeper's legs to give the hosts the equaliser.

At the Siri Fort Complex, in badminton, India got off to a flying start, demolishing Kenya 5-0 in its opening match in Group D.

India's top player Chetan Anand gave his team the lead with a straight games win over Victor Munga. World number 3 Saina Nehwal prevailed over Mercy Joseph with ease to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

The men's doubles pair of Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar made it 3-0 for the home team.

In squash, India's Saurav Ghosal beat Ian Rukunya of Uganda 11-1, 11-4, 11-0 in the men's singles while Harinder Pal Sandhu outplayed Mohammed Shopon Pervez of Bangladesh 11-3, 11-1, 11-2.

India, along with England, dominated archery events on the opening day. Rahul Banerjee and Jayanta Talukdar were at the top of the men's individual recurve rankings. Forrmer world champion Deepik Kumari, with a score of 609, was at the top in the women's individual recurve rankings ahead of tomorrow's elimination round, with compatriot Dola Banerjee behind her in second place.

Hours to wait for the opening ceremony of CWG 2010

The 2010 Commonwealth Games get underway on Sunday with a grand opening ceremony on the cards at Delhi's iconic Nehru stadium. The ceremony designed by a creative team including directors Shyam Benegal and Bharat Bala will showcase India and its traditions to the world.

It is a D-day for the Organising Committee, for Delhi and for India. After seven years of planning,controversies and delays three billion people around the world will tune in to see what India has to offer.The opening ceremony after all always sets the tone for multi –discipline Games of this kind.

The renovated Jawaharlal Nehru stadium will host the nearly three-hour ceremony. CNN-IBN can share some exclusive details of just what to expect today. The aerostat will be the centerpiece of the ceremony. It will rise to the top with drums from all over India and flutes taking the crescendo to a fever pitch.

Singer Hariharan will perform the ‘Swagatam’ song which will welcome the Commonwealth countres to India with school children forming the ‘namaste’ on the ground. The tree of knowledge segment will showcase India's ‘guru shishya’ tradition with folk dancers and musicians taking centre stage. A yoga performance will raise the bar while the great Indian journey will showcase the spirit of India.

The grand finale will be Oscar winner AR Rahman performing live and while the magic unfolds the athletes will for the first time witness the ceremony from the stands. Australia will lead out the teams while hosts India will be led out by Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra.

This will be the third time that India to hosts an opening ceremony after the 1951 Asian Games with former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in attendance. Thirty-one years later the Nehru stadium showcased one of the best opening ceremonies ever in the 1982 Asian Games.

Fore More images

Ind vs Aus Mohali Test 2010 Day 2 Summary

India and Australia, the two arch rivals clashed off into in a riveting match contest for the first test match of the 3 test series. Kangaroo captain Ricky Ponting Chose batting first after winning the toss. Katich, and Clarke were shown the door on 14 and 6 respectively. However, the captain Ricky Ponting with the running partnership of Shane Watson repaired the damage by elevating Australia into century partnership. Ponting was dismissed in run out at the score of 71.

Zaheer Khan showed his delivery spell by hunting Marcus North who was sent to pavilion without opening any account. However, Shane Watson stood like a firm rock, scored a neat century and stayed not-out till the end of the match. After 90 over of deliveries, Australia stood 224/5 on the scoreboard with Watson and Tim Paine not-out.

Day 2 : Tim Paine gave real pain to Indian bowlers on day 2 and scored 92 runs and due to efforts of Tim paine and MG Johnson, Australia manage to score 428 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 151.4 overs.

India need to play well and try to go as near as they can of Australia’s 428 runs first inns lead. As always V Sehwag shown his real colors and scored fast 59 runs in 51 balls. he got catch out on ball of Johnson just before the close of the day. India were 110-2 at the end of Second day. Night Watchman Ishant Sharma (0) and Rahul Dravid (21) were on the crease at the end of day.

For India Zaheer Khan was the most successful bowler. He claimed five wickets haul in his comeback match. Harbhajan Singh scalped three wickets while Ojha took one wicket.
Earlier resuming from overnight score of 224/5, Watson and Paine provided cautius start to the visitors. Watson was the first man to be dismissed on second day. He scored 126 runs before dismissed by Harbhajan Singh.
Brief Score: Shane Watson:126, Paine: 92, Ponting: 71. Zaheer Khan: 94/5, Harbhajan Singh 114/3.For Higlight of the match Click the link below