The crowd at Tendulkar's feet

After the fall of the second wicket, time stood still. The state of the game, or the performance of the other batsman got little attention. The crowd of 25,000 came to see just one man

At 3.31pm, M Vijay gets out to a bat-pad catch off Shane Shillingford. There are about 20 overs to go to stumps. Two wickets are down. You don't expect a nightwatchman, with so much time to go, but sometimes people expect the worst. They all look towards the Indian dressing room. A support staff person moves about. There is no sight of either the regular No.4 or a nightwatchman. People keep looking. No signs. Anticipation builds. Tension builds. Suddenly someone realises the umpires have asked Vijay to wait because they are checking the legitimacy of the delivery. A minute has passed, and now someone has realised that. Time has stopped in India once again. Perhaps one last time, who knows?

There are old folk in the crowd, old enough to be his father, who might have seen him as the curly-haired kid in the maidans. Middle-aged people who have given up work today, who have grown with him, who have lived their lives with him as a part of them. Eighteen to 20-year olds who weren't even born when he debuted. Not a single person is sitting. Then they see Vijay has been given the marching orders, 25,000 heads - the loudest 25,000 you can ever imagine - turn to the dressing room. Two wickets have fallen in this over, but nobody is bothered.

	People are so busy counting his steps down the pavilion stairs they haven't even noticed the West Indies team have already formed a guard of honour for him © BCCI  Enlarge

Vijay has become Shillingford's victim twice, twice he has come back flexing his elbow, but nobody has read into the reaction because they are too busy waiting to give the next man in the best possible welcome. So Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar puts on his arm guard, helmet, then gloves, and gets up. Now he comes into public view, and people lose control. They are so busy counting his steps down the pavilion stairs they haven't even noticed the West Indies team have already formed a guard of honour for him. Cheteshwar Pujara, the unbeaten batsman, has joined in. The umpires join in too.

There walks Tendulkar. Possibly for the last time, because the West Indies batsmen haven't turned up in this series. He looks up to adjust to the outside light. Shakes the hand of the West Indies captain, Darren Sammy. Raises his bat to the opposition who earlier in the day gifted him a jersey signed by all of them. Nods once again in acknowledgement.

Tendulkar now bends, picks a piece of the soil, touches it on the peak of his forehead, and sort of crosses his heart. One of the umpires now gives Tendulkar the proper guard. By the time everything has settled down and Tendulkar faces his first ball, it's 3.35pm. Slow over-rate? Nobody cares.

Shillingford bowls, Tendulkar defends with the turn, it reaches on the bounce to short leg. People worry, people go quiet. "A mini heart-attack," one man shouts. Tendulkar defends the next ball, and the over is done.

It's 3.37pm when the next over starts. Six minutes, two balls, countless emotions. Now Pujara takes strike. Now Pujara cuts. Half-cut, half-punch. Past point for four. The crowd goes "Sachiiiiiin, Sachin". Now Pujara drives exquisitely through cover for four. The crowd goes "Sachiiiiin, Sachin". Pujara plays the whole over, but a man invokes the underworld classic, Satya, and shouts "Mumbai ka king kaun? [Who is the king of Mumbai]?" The whole stand replies, "Sachiiiiin, Sachin". "Cricket ka king kaun?" "Sachiiiiin, Sachin."

It's been 10 minutes since they stood up in the stands. Not one person has sat down. Shillingford starts a fresh over. Long-on back, a slip and two short legs in. Tendulkar stands tall, bat in air, squats, then the bat touches down once before the ball is delivered. He sweeps, and a cheer as loud as when India won the World Cup here more than two years ago goes up. We won't have another Bradman. Or maybe we will in the next innings.

You have got to keep in mind that this is a batsman who last scored a Test century in the first week of 2011. Averages 32 since then. Many Indians have argued over the last year that he has overstayed his welcome. The farewell series has been made garish by tasteless administrators trying to milk it. Then you watch this, and wonder what a loss it would have been had he gone without giving people this opportunity.

Forget the garishness. Forget that the opposition has left its Test-match temperament at the customs. Let's escape ephemerally once again. Let's lose ourselves again. Let's forget the last local train before peak-hour traffic. Let's applaud a forward-defensive like a goal.

So Tendulkar defends and we applaud. Then he takes a single to move to 3 off 9. In the next over, Shillingford provides a short ball, which he cuts away for four. About the 100-odd people who had sat down are back up again. They are watching from the terrace of the nearby Income Tax building. The big screen now shows Ramakant Achrekar, Tendulkar's coach, and Rajni Tendulkar, his mother, who are also here. They are both in wheelchairs now. How proud they must be.

	The farewell series has been made garish by tasteless administrators trying to milk it. Then you watch this, and wonder what a loss it would have been had he gone without giving people this opportunity

Slowly, Tendulkar finds the rhythm. He is looking as assured as he has done in this year. He is also getting into the last-dance spirit. The 14th ball he faces, he reaches its pitch and drives it against the turn, because the gaps are on the off side. Past mid-off it goes. Tendulkar 12 off 14. India? It doesn't matter.

By now, every possible rhythmical chant "Sachin" can be made into has been chanted. "Sachiiiiin, Sachin." "Saaaaaachin." "Sachin, Sachin-Sachin-Sachin, Saaaachin." How come no one is out of tune when they chant his name?

This is the same ground where Tendulkar made his first-class debut. Lalchand Rajput, who was run out for 99 batting with Tendulkar, is here. Shishir Hattangadi, the opener in that match, is here. Many players who made their first-class debuts after that are here. Ashok Patel, the bowler who got him out for the first time in first-class cricket, and now lives in the US, has also come here. The Wankhede has changed completely. From the intimate concrete bowl it has now become a classy monster. Tendulkar is still there. Possibly one last time, but he is still batting. A banner in Wankhede says, "Now only humans will play cricket."

Cheteshwar Pujara's sole purpose in life by now is to take the single, and hand over the strike to Tendulkar. Once he drives to long-on, and Mexican wave dies abruptly because Tendulkar is now on strike. Tendulkar is looking solid. Moving right forward in defence against the quicks. Staying back to Shillingford because he hasn't been the best at reading the doosra, so he wants to give himself time to adjust to them off the pitch. He clips Marlon Samuels off the toes in the 27th over, and with that reaches 29 off 45. In his next over, Samuels pitches short, and he punches it to reach 33 off 52.

Tino Best, in the meantime, lobs a throw direct into the stumps at Tendulkar's end. The whole crowd goes "aye aye", which in Mumbai doesn't mean yes. It is their way of pulling someone up. Someone who is threatening their boy. Tendulkar, 40, is still their boy. They will protect him. When Best bowls a bouncer. When Best goes too far in the follow-through. "Tino sucks," shouts one stand. "Shush," goes the rest of the stadium. Best does a namaste [folded hands] as he walks back to his fielding position at fine leg, and all is well between him and the crowd.

The crowd actually couldn't be bothered less. They have come here to watch Tendulkar bat. They want to return tomorrow to watch him bat. They also want him to take most of the bowling left. Story of Tendulkar's life. Realistic expectations and him don't go together.

At 4.54pm, Tendulkar has played out the last ball of the day. He is 38 off 73. Pujara is 34 off 49, and has played some pretty decent shots, but no one has noticed. He could have streaked, and no one would have noticed. It's all forgiven this last time. You can focus on that man's batting alone, especially given he has batted well.

For about 10 seconds, Tendulkar looks at the pitch, waits for Pujara to join him, and then walks back. He raises the bat as he does. That's his promise. Time will stop tomorrow again.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-west-indies-2013-14/content/current/story/688629.html

Tendulkar: forever icon

In some ways, we know less about him now than before: the more he has played, the more godlike and inscrutable he has become

Ed Smith

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Tendulkar has had no choice but to go along with what a billion people wanted him to be

Change is constant, but the pace of change is wildly inconstant. Some lives are played out in the context of continuity and stability; others must adapt to dizzying change and upheaval. Endurance, perseverance and resilience are all relative concepts: standing your ground is much harder when the sands are shifting all around you.

In 1989, when Sachin Tendulkar first took guard for India, cricket was mostly played in whites. The dominant team in the world was West Indies. ODI cricket was emerging but Test cricket firmly remained the game's gold standard. T20 was an accidental form of the game, a solution used only when rain shortened the duration of play. When the England Test team played away from home, it still wore the egg-and-bacon colours of the MCC, a strip invented in the 19th century. India was a passionate cricketing nation but a marginal player within the game's power structure and governance - money and influence lay elsewhere.

Twenty-four years later, as Tendulkar lifts his bat for the last time in Indian colours, survey the contours of the cricketing world today. Many more cricket fans love and understand the white-ball version than the red. India is the game's great superpower; it commands such huge television contracts that every other country wants a slice of the goodies. A whole dynasty, the Australian machine of the 1990s and 2000s, one of sport's greatest empires, has risen and retreated. T20, once a mere entertainment, drives the commercial imperatives of the sport.

When the final history of cricket is written - for our purposes here, let's call it the age of Tendulkar - his period has been seen as one of deep change and constant uncertainty. Yet throughout Tendulkar has adapted and endured. He has found answers to every new question - his 49 ODI hundreds are arguably the more remarkable achievement than his 51 Test centuries. And yet he has also belonged to the great, timeless tradition of pure batsmanship. Modern and classical at the same time, Tendulkar has been a cricketer for every stage.

It is a truism that he has faced a unique burden of expectation. That is partly because the changes in Indian society between Tendulkar's first Test and his 200th have trumped even the revolutions in cricket. In 1989, the Indian economy languished from protectionism and introversion. The beginning of India's economic recovery was the moment of Tendulkar's emergence as a global talent. That Tendulkar's career coincided with the emergence of India as an economic power was just that - a coincidence. But the subliminal link between the "Little Master" and a resurgent India provided yet another dimension of pressure and expectation.

So in celebrating Tendulkar's achievements, we are partly paying testament to the weight he has carried. When India won the 2011 World Cup final, Virat Kohli captured a deep truth: "He has carried the burden of our nation on his shoulders for the past 21 years. So it is time that we carried him."

Despite all this - all the many ways in which Tendulkar is admirable and impressive and inspiring - I have found it very difficult to gather together my thoughts about his retirement. My feelings about his career will not settle into a shape or a narrative. I can see the achievements but not the thread. I can list the feats and accolades, but the personality that achieved them eludes me. When I describe him as an enigma, I feel a failure on my part, as a writer. It is my job to find the man underneath the enigma. And I regret that I cannot.

“My feelings about his career will not settle into a shape or a narrative. I can see the achievements, but not the thread. I can list the feats and accolades, but the personality that achieved them eludes me

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When we watch athletes perform hundreds of times, we nearly always get to know them. Not from their quotes and their interviews but from the sporting performance itself. "An artist is usually a damned liar," DH Lawrence wrote in Studies in Classic American Literature, "but his art, if it be art, will tell you the truth of his day." Change the word "artist" for the word "sportsman" and the same point holds: trust the runs and wickets, not the press-conference quotes.

We see into a sportsman's character by watching him play. We know when they relish the battle, when they allow themselves to enjoy it, when they are anxious and unsettled, when they are confident or in the zone. With players we care deeply about, we know and understand them almost as close friends. Knowing and being known, the mask slipped from the face: that was the playwright Tom Stoppard's definition of the emotion that sustains meaningful relationships.

But there is a strange paradox at the core of Tendulkar's career. The more he has played, the less we can see the real man. The mask has not slipped, it has risen. The carapace has not shrunk, it has grown. In a strange way, less is known about Tendulkar than ever before. The icon has supplanted the man.

Only a handful of human beings can understand what it has been like to be Tendulkar. Bob Dylan, writing in his autobiographyChronicles, said the hardest thing to handle was not criticism but deification. When they called him a prophet, hero and saviour, Dylan replied, "I'm just a song and dance man." Dylan drew upon his innate savvy to wriggle free from the straightjacket of being a redemptive hero. Sportsmen, sadly, find it harder to escape the traps of idolatrous celebrity.

I used to think that Tiger Woods had experienced the weirdest of all sports careers. In his heyday, Woods treated his own humanity almost as a flaw, like a kink in his backswing that needed to be ironed out. Woods wished to ascend from human frailty into machine-like invulnerability.

Now I realise that becoming a machine is much easier than being turned into a god - as Tendulkar has been. Perhaps he had no choice but to go along with what a billion people yearned for him to be. But I cannot avoid the feeling that the god has gradually displaced the man.

I try to understand men; gods leave me cold. Perhaps that is why, when I write about Tendulkar, for all my admiration and awe in the face of his great achievements, the words will not come.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/sachinfarewell/content/story/688093.html

Kohli, Dhawan gun down 350 again

50 overs India 351 for 4 (Kohli 115*, Dhawan 100, Rohit 79) beat Australia 350 for 6 (Bailey 156, Watson 102) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Champion of the chase: Virat Kohli now has 11 hundreds in 64 chases © BCCI  Enlarge

Push the boundaries, shift the goalposts, change vocabularies. Three hundred and fifty no longer inspires awe. Not when Indian batsmen are batting on flat Indian pitches surrounded by quick outfields with only four fielders outside the circle and two new balls to kill any chance of reverse swing. With Shikhar Dhawan's assured century at the top, and Virat Kohli's 61-ball one at No. 3 - the third-fastest by an Indian, challenging his own record of 52 balls - India became the first team to have chased down 350 or more twice, both of them in this series, and both without much frenzy.

The belief and the absolute absence of any slogging was remarkable once again, but India did face some nerves this time around. The match was doing a pretty fine job of retelling the Jaipur ODI story - Dhawan was dropped early, there was a big opening partnership, and Kohli was bursting through the target - when Dhawan played a rare low-percentage shot and exposed Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. Mitchell Johnson duly removed them, and 62 off 48 required became 35 off 18 at one point.

Kohli, though, pulled out some of the most incredible shots of his innings, driving chest-high balls for fours wide of long-off, to take India through with three balls to spare. With this result the series remained alive, and George Bailey, who might have had reason to believe he had booked his Ashes spot with a 114-ball 156, will have to put in the drawer possible plans of going home early for Ashes preparation.

Alongside Bailey, adding 168 for the third wicket, was another Ashes candidate, Shane Watson, who scored a century. The two did seem to be struggling against spin, with Australia 89 for 2 after 22 overs, but Watson did enjoy some luck as Ravindra Jadeja overstepped when he edged a slog-sweep to point. Once Bailey started taking on the spinners, the wheels came off, India began to bowl poorly, and a colossal 261 runs came in the last 28 overs.

As the hitherto respectable figures of all the bowlers took a beating, Bailey reached a host of landmarks. He beat the records for most runs in a bilateral series by an Australian or a captain, becoming the second-fastest man to 1,500 runs, and overtaking Misbah-ul-Haq as the leading run-getter this year. In the end, he was left with a rueful smile, half marvelling at the quality of the batting, half resigned to the playing conditions and the pitch and the outfield.

MS Dhoni, although he won, shared the views about the lopsided nature of the contest, but at one level you can't take away from the composure Kohli, Dhawan and Rohit showed for a majority of the massive chase. It was as if they didn't acknowledge the enormity of the task of maintaining a run rate of seven an over for 50 overs. There was no anxiety, no need to hit out, even if Rohit - for example - struggled to find the gaps early in the innings.

Glenn Maxwell, who later took a diving catch at point off a free hit, will rue dropping an easy offering from Dhawan when the batsman was 19 off 22. Crisp shots and lovely placement remained the feature of the rest of the 178-run partnership as Rohit made up for a slow start with two sixes off Glenn Maxwell in the 29th over. He picked out deep midwicket off a long hop, but that only hastened the chase with Kohli's entry.

From the moment Kohli drove the fifth ball he faced for four through extra cover, he knew he was good for an encore of Jaipur. A few blinks later, the partnership for the second wicket was worth 50 runs, out of which Dhawan had scored just nine runs. Kohli was 40 off 26 then. Dhawan, who was cramping by the time he reached his hundred, walked across next ball, and was bowled, giving Australia an opening.

Before Australia could enter that opening, though, Kohli brought up his fifth consecutive score of fifty or more. He would soon make it a third consecutive year with 1000 runs or more. There would be a hiccup before the win, though. Johnson, who had been kept back for the middler order, was brought back on, and he accounted for Raina and Yuvraj in the same over.

Out came Dhoni, and India suddenly slowed down. James Faulkner and Johnson both began to get the ball to move away from the right-hand batsmen, and slowly the asking rate began to climb. Dhoni told Kohli to wait for Johnson to finish off, and that the big over can come in the last four. Johnson finished off with three overs to go and 35 to get.

Kohli had seen enough. His proximity to the hundred - his 11th in 64 chases, behind only Sachin Tendulkar's 17 in 242 attempts - didn't matter. He would charge down the wicket, the bowler would drop short, and he would still manage to drive him to wide long-off. When Australia plugged that gap, he began going wide long-on with similar success. Eventually the asking rate came down to a run a ball in the last over, and India were through with three balls to spare.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013-14/content/current/story/683863.html

India blaze down target of 360

India 362 for 1 (Rohit 141*, Kohli 100*, Dhawan 95) beat Australia 359 for 5 (Bailey 92*, Hughes 83) by nine wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	India's openers put on 176 in 26.1 overs © BCCI  Enlarge

"Now this is another fine mess you've got us into," goes the constant refrain from India's batsmen to their bowlers. At times, the mess is so huge the batsmen fail to clear it up, despite their best efforts. At times, the batsmen do such a thorough job, their refrain to the bowlers changes to, "So that's all you've got?" It was the latter occasion tonight. India's bowlers leaked 359, the same score they had in the 2003 World Cup final. Only once had a bigger target been chased in ODI history, the famous Wanderers 438 game. Leave alone 359, India had never chased even 300 successfully against Australia.

All that changed, as Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharmaand Virat Kohli made a mockery of the target, if a mockery can indeed be made of a target of 360. India got there with nine wickets and 39 deliveries to spare. Kohli registered the fastest ODI century by an Indian, in 52 balls. Rohit, accommodated by the team management and scrutinised by the media and fans for years, made his third hundred in 104 games, and his first since 2010. But it was Shikhar Dhawan, the golden boy of 2013, who set up the chase with a bludgeoned 95.

Dhawan and Rohit racked up 176 for the opening wicket in 26.1 overs, and Rohit and Kohli 186 for the second in only 17.2 overs. India began solidly against the fast bowlers and went through a short lull against the spinners before Dhawan hit a flurry of boundaries that more than made up for the brief let-up. During his brief career, Dhawan has made sure he makes let-offs and good fortune count. He was put down on 18 off Clint McKay and survived a very close stumping appeal on 42 against Xavier Doherty. After both reprieves, he let loose a volley of imperious strokes. He charged the fast bowlers, especially Shane Watson repeatedly, to power them through the covers. He pulled with confidence, and even the extra pace of Mitchell Johnson could not rein him in.

Rohit wasn't as free-flowing at the time but that did not take away from his contribution to the stand. He was strong through and over the covers against the quicks. He ended the fallow period of five overs for 18 runs against the spinners by stepping out and lifting Glenn Maxwell for six. Barring that insignificant sequence, Australia were never able to build any pressure, conceding boundaries regularly.

The only challenge in front of India now was whether the rest would be able to keep up with the frenetic pace the openers had set. Kohli came in and stepped up the tempo so emphatically, the conclusion was foregone long before India arrived home.

The openers had ensured India stayed in sight of an asking-rate of over seven; Kohli made it drop rapidly. As soon as he arrived, he started stepping out and muscling sixes, against seam and spin alike. Kohli hit seven sixes in all, and on the whole, the match descended into a Twenty20-style innings where one boundary merged into each successive one with the collective impact of deflating the bowlers and rendering them almost irrelevant.

Rohit played second fiddle in both partnerships, but was always in control of the situation. As he pulled a six to move to 75, he collapsed in pain from a cramp in his leg. He's been accused of being soft, of lacking temperament, but he took treatment and nearly doubled his score. He hared back for twos as the non-striker, and celebrated an emotional and long overdue century with screams and invectives.

It was improbable to even imagine Australia losing after making 359. Their first three batsmen delivered the platform with three half-centuries and George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell savaged an already clueless India attack. Roughed up by Aaron Finch, Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson, India's bowlers leaked 96 in 8.3 overs against the fourth-wicket duo of Bailey and Maxwell, and 122 in the last ten overs. It was the first time the first five batsmen had made fifties in an ODI. But it was also to be the night India executed their highest successful chase.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013-14/content/current/story/679829.html

Hussey stars as Super Kings cruise into semi-finals

Chennai Super Kings 140 for 2 (Hussey 57*, Vijay 42) beat Brisbane Heat 137 for 7 (Cutting 42, Hartley 35) by eight wickets

	Michael Hussey struck seven fours in his half-century © BCCI  Enlarge

Chennai Super Kings sauntered through to the Champions League semi-finals with an effortless eight-wicket win in Ranchi, while scuttling Brisbane Heat's tournament hopes. A stuttering Heat top order laid a mediocre foundation, before the men in the middle ran aground on Super Kings' spin.

R Ashwin was almost indecipherable in the middle overs, but Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina contributed fine spells as well; the trio shared four wickets and conceded just 37 runs in 11 overs collectively. Michael Hussey then stroked an unhurried, unbeaten half century, to help run down the target of 138 in 15.5 overs.

Dom Michael had had quite a road to the Champions League in 2013, but could not manage to make a run in his first Twenty20 match, departing in the first over to Mohit Sharma. James Hopes then promised much during his 14-ball 20, but mis-hit Albie Morkel to mid-off to leave his side at 29 for 2 in the fourth over.

It wasn't until spin arrived after the Powerplay, however, that Heat's evening truly took a nosedive. Ravindra Jadeja had had a poor tournament with the ball until tonight, and perhaps Heat had planned to dominate him early, but Dan Christian's attempt to hit Jadeja's first ball for a straight six, ended with him being caught at long-off for three. Four balls later, Joe Burns edged Jadeja to slip to collect a golden duck.

All this did was set the scene for Ashwin's last three overs, which cost two runs and claimed the wicket of Chris Lynn who underestimated the turn Ashwin generated from a conventional offbreak, and top-edged to short third man. The remaining 17 deliveries were a canny mix of googlies, offbreaks, carrom balls and more big-spinning leggies. Heat's middle order could hardly lay a bat on his deliveries, and soon abandoned any thoughts of hitting him to the fence.

The six overs following the Powerplay cost Heat four wickets for 12 runs, and from 66 for 6, a total below 120 beckoned. Ben Cutting, however, stroked his best Twenty20 innings to elevate his side toward credibility. He was watchful alongside Chris Hartley to begin with, hitting six from his first 14 balls, but adopted violence as the innings drew to a close, hitting five sixes from the last 10 balls he faced to finish on 42 not out from 25.

On a decent batting pitch, and with dew collecting on the outfield, 137 for 7 would rarely have been a base for victory, and at no stage in the chase did it test a purring Super Kings batting order. Hussey and Vijay punished indiscipline, but the pair were largely content to push runs into the outfield when the bowlers found their line.

With Super Kings' bowlers having prospered, Nathan Hauritz's overs shaped as crucial ones for Heat, but he was launched for two sixes in his first over, and was almost as expensive in his two subsequent overs. Vijay departed for 42, breaking a run of three consecutive ducks, but after having helped put on 75 runs for the first wicket in 9.2 overs, the side were well on their way to victory. MS Dhoni finished the match with a six, much to the delight of his home crowd, and Super Kings confirmed themselves as the in-form side of yet another tournament.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/champions-league-twenty20-2013/content/story/675359.html

Yuvraj back in limited-overs squad

Yuvraj Singh has made a comeback to India's limited-overs squad for the Twenty20 and first three ODIs of the home series against Australia. There were four changes made to India's last first-choice ODI squad, the one that won the Champions Trophy in England. Yuvraj replaced opener M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik lost out to his Mumbai Indians team-mate Ambati Rayudu, the injured Irfan Pathan made way for Mohammed Shami, and Jaydev Unadkat's left-arm seam was preferred to Umesh Yadav's erratic-at-times pace.

Yuvraj's last ODI was against England in Dharamsala in January 2013. He was dropped from the squad for the Champions Trophy and did not feature in the Zimbabwe series either, when India had rested several first-choice players. However, following a fitness programme in France, he has shown a return to top form in List A cricket. He was the leading run-getter for India A in the limited-overs series against the touring West Indies A, with 224 runs from three matches, including one hundred and a fifty at an average of 74.66. He also scored a half-century for India Blue in the Challenger Trophy, a domestic 50-overs tournament.

A fit Yuvraj is seen as a bigger asset than Karthik. Karthik had a decent run in England and in Zimbabwe, but he failed to reach 50 in the tri-series in the West Indies. In effect, Karthik has lost out to Rayudu, who scored 101 runs off 163 balls at an average of 50.5 against Zimbabwe.

Two other changes from the Champions Trophy squad mostly explain themselves. Vijay struggled in Zimbabwe, and Irfan is injured. Yadav, though, remains a curious case. He cannot have been considered unfit because he played the Challenger Trophy last week. He cannot have been rested because he is just coming out of a break. The selectors have either begun to look at him as a Test-only prospect or it was his performance in the Champions Trophy that has got him the axe: four wickets and an economy rate of 5.55 in a mostly low-scoring tournament. His economy rate in the West Indies tri-series hovered around the same mark. His career economy rate also stands at over six, and an average of 41.58 doesn't do him any favours.

The seam-bowling replacements, Shami and Unadkat, played all the five ODIs in Zimbabwe, and have been retained. Mohit, who played two of them and was Man of the Match in the first of them, was expected to replace Vinay Kumar, but the Karnataka quick has retained his place. Vinay went at 6.03 in the recently concluded Challenger Trophy, although he did pick up eight wickets in three matches.

Batsmen Karthik, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, seamer Mohit and spinner Parvez Rasool missed out from the team that played Zimbabwe.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013-14/content/current/story/675727.html

Raina, Rohit cement India A advantage

South Africa A 20 for 1 (Hendricks 10, Unadkat 1-12) trail India A 582 for 9 dec (Raina 135, Rohit 119, Duminy 3-80) by 562 runs

	File Photo: Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma added 106 for the fourth wicket © Associated Press  Enlarge

More toil awaited the South Africa A bowlers as Rohit Sharma, unbeaten on 70 overnight, scored his 16th first-class century and shared a 106-run stand withSuresh Raina to power India A past 500. India A's lower order then frustrated South Africa A before the visitors declared their innings at 582 for 9. South Africa were further hampered by the loss of Reeza Hendricks two overs before close of play.

The morning session began with Raina and Rohit playing out six consecutive maidens, but things changed rapidly in the 99th over when Rohit pulled Andrew Birch over the boundary line and Raina helped himself to two successive fours on the off side.

Unlike the one set at the start of the day, this scoring trend continued, capping off with Rohit stroking his 12th four, through the covers, to bring up his century. Raina celebrated his fifty soon after with a cut that found the boundary for four.

South Africa gained some respite after lunch, when Duminy had Rohit caught by Temba Bavuma at short leg. Ajinkya Rahane, another contender eyeing a slot in the senior side, struck two fours but became Duminy's second victim on the stroke of drinks. Wriddhiman Saha followed suit, falling to the Bavuma-Duminy combine as India went from 376 for 3 to 418 for 6.

However, Raina held firm, with a brisk Ishwar Pandey, for company and India A racked up 79 runs off 74 balls to reach 500. Raina brought up a vital century, his 12th in first-class cricket, and with the landmark behind him, tore into Duminy, slugging him for 19 runs in the 143rd over.

His wicket, eight balls after tea, ushered two more dismissals as India slipped to 500 for 9. An enterprising 82-run stand between No. 10 and 11, Jaydev Unadkat and Shahbaz Nadeem looked good to push India past 600, but Pujara chose to declare at 582 to have a few overs at the South African openers. The decision proved profitable as Hendricks nicked Unadkat to the keeper in the seventh over, two overs before close of play.

Rohit credited the time he spent in the middle to be more beneficial than his final score. "I'm happy that I played close to 250 balls," he said "Rather than getting 119, I feel facing that amount of balls was important.

"It was a crucial phase of the game when I went in and it was important that I stay in because we didn't want to lose any more wickets. I wanted to prove a point to myself, and nobody else, that I could battle out the situation if needed. In that process I didn't play my natural game, which normally includes a lot of shots."

Duminy conceded the new ball was doing a bit, but was hopeful of his side seeing it off and cashing in with the older ball.

"Conditions become easier to bat the longer you stay in but there is a little bit in it for the new ball," Duminy said. "It's quite an abrasive field so if you get past the new ball phase the ball gets old quite quickly and becomes flat. Hopefully we will be able to cash in on that."

"There is a little bit of help for the spinners," he added. "I think it is obviously because of the rough the seamers have created, which brings the offspinners into play."

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/current/story/663345.html

India A vs South Africa A: Shikhar Dhawan's 248 drives India A into tri-series final

Pretoria: Riding on Shikhar Dhawan's rambunctious, boundary-laden 248 off 150 balls, India A beat South Africa A by 39 runs at the LC de Villiers Oval on Monday to set a date with their Australian counterparts in the tri-series final in two days. Dhawan, rested for the 25-run defeat to Australia A that left India in a must-win situation, returned to the line-up and smashed a career-best List A score while dominating a second-wicket stand of 285 with Cheteshwar Pujara who made 109*.

In doing so, Dhawan came within 21 runs of the highest List A score of all time. India's total of 433 for 3 was also the sixth-highest ever in the format, and despite the flat nature of the pitch it proved well beyond the hosts' reach. Reeza Hendricks (106 off 78 balls) gave India a scare he once was dismissed in the 25th over the chase lost steam.

For the third match in a row, India were given a platform by their openers. Today, the chosen pair was Dhawan and Murali Vijay and they put on 91 for the first wicket, with each batsman trying to outdo the other in the scoring stakes. Both took a boundary off the first over bowled by Hardus Viljoen but Dhawan galloped ahead of his partner by cracking three consecutive fours off Viljoen in the third over. Vijay replied with three boundaries in three overs, moving to within eight runs of Dhawan's 29. Dhawan proceeded to clatter three fours off left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe; Vijay replied by hitting Viljoen for three boundaries in the ninth over.

Dhawan smashed a career-best double-ton while adding 285 with Cheteshwar Pujara, setting up a 39-run win over South Africa A in Pretoria.

Dhawan reached fifty in 31 balls but Vijay (40) was unable to catch up, nicking Beuran Hendricks behind the wicket in the 12th over. That ushered in Pujara, who ticked along at a decent clip while offering the strike to Dhawan. Dhawan slowed down once Vijay departed, taking 55 balls to scored his second 50 runs but still reached a century at a strike-rate of 86 - his fourth of the summer following three at ODI level - with a boundary off van der Merwe to long-on. The celebration was two twos in a row, followed by consecutive sixes off medium-pacer Justy Theron, the second of which raised the 100 stand with Pujara. The skipper's contribution was 30 off 40 balls.

Dhawan chose to step on the pedal, hitting a four and six in the next two overs as India's total crossed 200 in the 29th over. Hendricks was hit for three fours in a row as Dhawan galloped to 150, while at the other end Pujara hit his first four - a glance to fine leg off Viljoen. With his 19th boundary, a drive to long-on off the hapless Viljoen, Dhawan surpassed his previous best List A score of 155* scored for his state team Delhi. At the drinks break after 33 overs, India were 251 for 1.

The landmark came in 132 balls with a push into the covers, a momentarily release of emotion before Dhawan went back to belting the cover off the ball. Vaughn van Jaarsveld was punished for three fours, Hendricks launched over the ropes twice in an over, and six No. seven came when Viljoen was driven over extra cover. Having hit back-to-back boundaries off Theron in the 45th over, Dhawan was bowled for 248 - 21 runs short of beating Ali Brown's record score of 268* in List A cricket.

Pujara also got a brisk century, in 90 balls, helped by seven boundaries. Though Suresh Raina (6) fell in the pursuit of quick runs at the death, Dinesh Karthik collected a breezy 18 off 12 balls.

In reply to that mountain of a target, South Africa were given a rousing start by Rilee Roussow and Reeza Hendricks who rattled off 119 in 12.4 overs. The 100 came up in the tenth over, with both openers taking a liking to India's bowlers.Ishwar Pandey came in for punishment, conceding 32 in his first three overs, while Jaydev Unadkat was carved for nine boundaries by Reeza Hendricks during his opening spell. Pujara opted to bowl Parvez Rasool for the seventh over and the offspinner went for 15 as Roussow took him apart.

Reeza Hendricks raced to his half-century in just 28 deliveries, but lost Roussow (43) in the 13th over, bowled by left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem. Raina produced the next wicket, dismissing Test hopeful Dean Elgar (15) in the 15th over. The two wickets did not slow South Africa's charge, with van Jaarsveld hitting Raina for six and four and Reeza Hendricks moving into the nineties with a maximum off Nadeem. He got his hundred in in the 25th over by smashing Stuart Binny for 4 but was bowled five balls later.

Vaughn van Jaarsveld scored 108 off just 91 balls with seven fours and five big sixes and was also the top scorer for South Africa A. He was well supported by Justin Ontong, who scored 49 off 36 balls with eight boundaries. Roelof van der Merwe played a cameo of 36 to take South Africa A past 350 before falling to Ishwar Pandey. Pandey took four wickets and was the pick of the bowlers for India A. Jaydev Unadkat picked up two wickets as South Africa A were all out for 394.

The pitch at the LC De Villiers stadium was as flat as the one available at Rajkot as 827 runs were scored in total 98.4 overs. The Indian bowlers were hit all over the park and Hendricks and Russouw thrashed the visitors for 121 runs in only 12.1 overs.

Ishwar Chand Pandey got important breakthroughs in the slog overs but not before getting a pasting from the Proteas batsmen. The 89-run sixth-wicket stand between Van Jaarsveld and Van der Merwe almost took South Africa to the required target before Pandey removed the duo in a space of three deliveries to finally ensure an Indian win.

Source:  ibnlive.in