Story India's Road to the World Cup 2011 *** Indians set Windies a target ***

[shantanu_rooney]

India's Road to the World Cup 2011

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After the World Twenty20 Champions were knocked out in Super Eight stages in 2009 World Twenty20 Championship in England, India are now looking forward to produce a much better performances in upcoming 2011 World Cup which is going to take place in the subcontinent. But the journey to the World Cup is much difficult and the Indians will face some very tough obstacles in between.

The Indians had a some of brilliant series before the World Twnety20 Championship which took place in England. They had successful Test Series against the Aussies at home which they won 2-0 and then later that year they trashed England at home, 5-0 in the One Day Series and 1-0 in the Test Series. The Indians had a short tour of Sri Lanka where they defeated the host 4-1 in the One Day Series and also won the only Twenty20 International between the two sides. The Indians then had their final international tour in New Zealand before the World Twenty20 Championship in England. Indians got off the worst start by losing the two international T20 games but later created history by winning their first ever One Day and Test Series on New Zealand soil.

Then came the Twenty20 World Championships in England and the defending champions India were termed as the favourites along with mighty South Africans. Indians got off to a good start in the tournament by beating both Bangladesh and Ireland comfortably in the group stages but failed to deliver when needed in Super Eights against West Indies and England, and so the defending champions were knocked out of the World Championships.

The Indian fans were angry by the team's poor show during the World Championship and most of them blamed skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni - who lead India to victory the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup - for poor captaincy. Many people also blamed the BCCI by saying that the Indian Premier League which was played in South Africa a week before the start of the World Championship, created a lot of fatigue in the players.

But now is the time for the Indian Cricket team to regroup and forget about the defeat in the Twenty20 World Championship and move forward and concentrate on the future. There is still a lot of time for the World Cup but the Indians have a very tough schedule ahead with the tour of West Indies, ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa and many more.

 

[OrderDX]

wow good opening mate and i am looking forward to seeing where this is going to go. It will be interesting to see if India can have a good run firstly to the world cup and then after the world cup. Good luck mate

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Selectors Announce 16-man Squad for West Indies Tour

The selectors have selected their 16-man squad for the upcoming four One Day International Series in West Indies via a teleconference meeting held in London and Mumbai. As expected the fatigue and injuries are the reason for the changes in the successful Indian One Day side. Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan are all out injured while Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan who were a part of India's one day side in New Zealand have been dropped. Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ashish Nehra, Abhishek Nayar and Ravidra Jadeja have all been selected.

The selectors have considered the performances of the players in both domestic tournaments, the Ranji Trophy and the Indian Premier League. Badrinath and Murali Vijay had a great ranji season and so they have been given a chance. While, Ashish Nehra and RP Singh are in squad because of their brilliant performances in this season's Indian Premier League which took place in South Africa. Nehra also makes his return to the Indian side after almost four years. Abhishek Nayar has been consistent for the Mumbai ranji team and played a vital role in helping Mumbai win their 38th title. He also showed his abilities in the Indian Premier League for the Mumbai Indians. And finally the selectors have put faith in Ravindra Jadeja by giving him another chance, after his knock of 25 in 35 balls against England was main reason for their exit from the World Twenty20 Championship.

 

[just_cricket]

Very nice presentation, as I'd expect. Not the strongest side due to injuries, not a lot of experience. It's one of those situations where if they perform badly everyone would blame the lack of experience but if they do well everyone would say it was ingenious selecting and the amount of youth and audacity made the team so good...
Anyway, enough waffle from me, kiu

 

[Ollie_H]

Good start Shan, your stories are always good but it really would help if you could actually carry them on for a long period of time!

 

[OffCutters]

Good start mate, the loss of Sehwag, Tendulkar, Khan and Raina could prove costly. keep it up.

 

[Pakistani Army]

A very good decision to include some youth for the West Indies tour. With this, they can get an idea as to if they can perform on the International stage.

Regarding Ashish Nehra, I remember him bowling superbly in the 2003 World Cup. Hopefully, if he bowls well on this upcoming tour, he will be able to secure a place into the team.

Very good presentation is has to be said Shantanu. Best of luck for the upcoming tour. :banana2

 

[shantanu_rooney]

West Indies Announce 15-man squad for the One Day Series

The West Indies sectors have decided to keep the same 15-man squad that was there for the World T20 Championships in England. The West Indies had a brilliant World Twenty20 Championships - after their poor show on their tour of England - reaching the semi-finals and losing to eventual winners Sri Lanka. The selectors have decided to keep Chris Gayle as the skipper of the side after, Gayle had said earlier he wants to quit his captaincy. Denesh Ramdin will continue as his deputy.

West indies will be looking to carry their form from the Twenty20 World Championship and hoping to improve on their poor showing during their tour of England where they failed to win a single match in the Digicel One Day Series.

 

[OrderDX]

great pres mate and i really like the pics you have done of the players, looking forward to the matches beginning

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Sky Sports win Telecasting Rights

Welcome to Sky Sports and we have got news about the telecasting rights for the upcoming Digicel One Day International Series and we are happy to announce that we, Sky Sports have won the telecasting rights for the West Indies-India ODI Series. The matches will be shown live on Sky Sports HD in West Indies, England and New Zealand only and Ten Sports will show them live in the Indian Subcontinent only.

The channels that competed for the bid of getting the rights were

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ESPN

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Star Cricket

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Star Sports

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Channel Nine

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Sky Sports

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Super Sport

Sk Sports will be bring all new technology which includes the hawkeye, hotspot, snickometer, dartfish to name a few. The Sky Sports will bring you top quality presentation with new scorecard, wagon wheel, partnership graph, pitchmap. The Live coverage of the match will be accompanied by some quality commentary done by the best commentators like Harsha Bhogle, Anil Kumble, Ian Bishop, Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Holding, Ravi Shastri, Wasim Akram and Saurav Ganguly. So just sit back and watch the thrilling series between the two top teams as it unfolds.

 

[Roofrom50]

Sky sports always take the win in your stories But it's good to see all the new technology that you promised us. Hawkeye and all the rest.
Will be looking forward to reading this story, as your past stories have been talented.
Keep up the good work mate

 

[coolz_hari]

Sachin & sehwag isn't there in the list ?

Good story though .KIU

 

[hedger_14]

they aren't there cause they're injured

 

[King Cricket]

Great presentation, mate. And those player pics are just excellent. Keep up the good work. The Indian side looks quite strong. Looking forward to the tour. Go MSD!

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Indians Arrive in West Indies

Just three days after their World Twenty20 campaign ended, the Indian team has landed in Jamaica and have started practicing for their next assignment, a four-one day international series against Wets Indies.

India have been in great form in the one-dayers over the past twelve months, losing only three matches from eighteen games, and all of them where after the series had been won by the Indians. While the West Indies performed brilliantly in the World twenty20 by reaching the semi0finals after a forgettable show against England in Test and one-dayers.

"I think its going to be a very competitive cricket series and all of us are looking forward to it," India captain Ms Dhoni said, "They(West Indies) are playing some really good cricket at moment. They were just brilliant in World Twenty20 championship. But 50 overs format is completely different, and you have time to settle and play according to the situation."

India are without their four firt team players on the tour - Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Suresh Raina and Virender Sehwag - but coach Gary Kirsten said this was time for the youngsters to shine. "yeah, we are always going to miss them because they are great players, but this is a great opportunity to the new comers or youngsters to show the world what they are made up of. "

Meanwhile skipper Chris Gayle has said West Indies wont be underestimating the Indians despite the visitors fielding an understrength team. "Its never an easy game against India. There are lot of guys still there to give us a lot of trouble, so we just need to stick with our plans and execute it properly."