India Clinched Australia & Reclaimed ICC Test Mace

Team India ended their home season with a eight wicket series win over Australia at Dharamsala. Virat Kohli-led side beat New Zealand, England and Bangladesh before hosting Australia.

Team India with Border-Gavaskar Trophy 

 The Aussies are formidable opponents. They are proud and professional and they play hard. For the Aussies, only winning matters. Everything else is a waste of time. But this series saw a dramatic role reversal, with India trumping the Aussies. It’s been a fiery month, both on and off the field, it was produced riveting cricket, with players pushing the boundaries to get ahead of each other. In this tussle, harsh words were exchanged, allegations and accusations were hurled and charges were made, starting with the infamous Aussie Sikkper Smith's "Brain Fade" moment when he was seeking clue for DRS.

    Kohli’s Indian team is more settled, sorted and successful than teams before it. The core group has excellent work ethic and on the bench sits genuine quality, ready to step in if an opportunity was to present itself. 

India retained the ICC Test Championship mace and also won a cash award of USD one million for holding on to the top position in the Test Team rankings on the annual April 1 cut-off date.

S Gavaskar presenting ICC test mace to V Kohli

      At the end of what has been a gruelling season, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Umesh Yadav has mastered the difficult skill of picking up wickets on sub-continent pitches.

Series Result: 

                              1. Ind v Aus, Pune 

                                   - Aus won by 333 runs.

                              2. Ind v Aus, Bengaluru

                                   - Ind won by 75 runs.

                              3. Ind v Aus, Ranchi

                                   - Match Drawn.

                              4. Ind v Aus,  Dharamshala

                                   - Ind won by 8 wickets. 

Photos: 

Ashwin won the ICC Cricketer of the Year & Test Cricketer of the year award

Indian Players with trophies

Indian Captains v/s all other opponents

Jadeja with Man of the Match & Series awards

  Stats:

            - Jadeja has hit 21 sixes, most by anyone in 2016-17. Bhajji hit 17 sixes 2010-11. 

            - Jadeja became the third player to take 50+ wickets & 500+ runs in a season.                                    Kapil Dev and Mitchell Johnson are the other two to achieve the feat.

            - Jadeja is now the 24th player to score 3000 runs and pick 300 wickets in international                  cricket. He is the fourth Indian to do so. 

            - India became the third nation to win Test series against all their opponents at the same                point of time. Others are Aus(2004-05 & 2006-07), S Africa(2012-13). 

            - Since 2008, India now have been won 4 consecutive test series vs Aus, a rare                              disntiction. 

            - For the first time, India have won seven consecutive Test series – from 2015 till date. 

            - It was Pujara's first duck at home, 3rd over all.

            - It's the fourth time India have come back to win the series after losing the first Test.

            - Pujara, 32nd player who faced 525 or more balls in an innings. 

On a funny note, Virender Sehwag, who is also known for witty side, gave out the #ViruGhareluAwards. In his ‘awards’, he awarded following 'titles’ to players from both the Indian and Australian teams :

        Viart Kohli -Holder, 

        Steven Smith -Tubelight, 

        Pujara -Inverter, 

       Jadeja -TulluPump, 

       KL Rahul -Stabilizer,

       Ashwin, Rahane- Desert Coolers.

Kumble's Haul of Fame on 7 Feb'99

Any sporting record that lasts over 40 years has got to be very very special -- and the effort that equals it, or tops it, has to be applauded to the rooftops.

Today, it was Anil Kumble whose name rings from the rafters -- an analysis that reads 26.3-9-74-10 being the reason why.
On February 7, 1999, Anil Kumble took all the 10 Pakistan wickets in the second Test at the Feroz shah Kotla, in New Delhi and in the process he wrote his name into the annals of cricket folklore and history. Kumble emulated Englishman Jim Laker's feat, finishing with 10-74 from 26.3 overs against Pakistan. The feat was made all the more special since as it was against arch-rival Pakistan, and that too the Test series was the first on Indian soil between the two teams in 12 years.

Kumble's brilliance saw India crush Pakistan by 212 runs in the second Test in New Delhi and square the short two-match series.

Indian test Squad against England announced

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the 15-member squad in Mumbai for the first two test matches in a 5- matches Test series at home against England as the tour is beginning from November 9.

MSK Prasad, the chief of selectors, addressed a press conference in Mumbai and mentioned that they Preferred Hardik Pandya over anyone else even though he is not played that much FC cricket.

Stating Further he reckoned, "at one point of time we all have to agree that we need to identify good all-rounders. After the Australia A tour, his pace has increased, he's able to move the ball and his batsmanship has improved. Rahul Dravid has worked on his mind and techniques and now Anil kumble is guiding him which made me ahead of other contenders."

Delhi's Ranji team skipper Gautam Gambhir retained his spot in the squad as an opener after KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan failed to recover from their injuries. Karun Nayar has been taken in for Rohit sharma who is struggling from a hamstring problem. Pacer Ishant sharma also gets succeeded to make his comeback after an injury.
India are currently ranked No.1 in after thrashing New Zealand 3-0 at home last month. This series though is expected to be a stiffer test for the home side after England beat them 2-1 in 2012 on their previous tour.

India squad (for first two Tests): Virat Kohli (C), Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Gautam Gambhir, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jayant Yadav.

Ind vs NZ Test Series: A Tale of Numbers

Cricket world's two strong teams, India and New Zealand's Test matches series is beginning from September 22, 2016.

The First Test of the three test match series is also going to set a Landmark Indian cricket history as it will be the 500th test match for Indian cricket team.

India vs NZ test series about to begin

According to the schedule, first test is going to start from 22 September at Green Park stadium, Kanpur. Second test, from 30 September at Eden gardens   Kolkata and third one from 8 October at Holkar cricket stadium, Indore. All these three test timings are 9:30 hours, Indian Standard Time.
    
     Besides three-match Test series against New Zealand, India will also play five-match ODI series, starting on October 16 at HPCA Stadium.

 IndvsNZ Test History:
        The first ever test played between India and new Zealand , was on 19th Nov 1955 at Hyderabad. And till yet, A total of 20 series have been played, in which India and new Zealand have been met 54 times where India brought most victories as 18 wins, 10 matches won by Kiwis and rest, 26  are resulted as Drawn.

Series - 20
Matches - 54
Most win- India (18)
Most runs - Dravid (1659)
Most wickets- Sir Hadlee (65)


Breaking News : In a major setback, Indian pace spearhead Ishant Sharma who claimed eight wickets at an average of 32.12 in the recently-concluded four Test matches against West Indies, with his best figures of 3 for 70 coming in the third Test in St Lucia, ruled out of Kanpur Test with Chikenguniya, a mosquito-borne viral infection. While confirming the news, India did not take any replacement of Ishant.