Sakshi Singh Rawat’s name poped up in the news two years earlier itself, but later this matter was not highlighted much. She is 23 years old and she studied Hotel Management from Aurangabad’s Institute of Hotel Management. She is a daughter of IPS Officer, who is presently working in Assam. It is reported that they started dating since two years, when Dhoni met her at the front desk of Kolkata’s Taj Bengal hotel.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sakshi Singh Rawat Pictures

India defeated Pakistan by three wickets in a thrilling finish on Saturday to knock their archrivals out of the four-nation Asia Cup.

Harbhajan Singh struck a six off the penultimate delivery as India clinched an exciting three-wicket victory by chasing down a victory target of 268 runs.

Gautam Gambhir and captain MS Dhoni struck half-centuries and Suresh Raina contributed with a 27-ball 34 before Harbhajan, who hit 2 sixes in his 11-ball 15, took centre stage.

Earlier, Salman Butt (74) and Kamran Akmal (51) made contrasting half centuries before India made a remarkable comeback to bowl out Pakistan for 267.

Butt was involved in two substantial partnerships at the start of the innings — first a 71-run opening stand with Imran Farhat (25) and then shared 73 runs with Shoaib Malik (39) — before three quick wickets in the middle overs put brakes on the Pakistani scoring.

Praveen Kumar (3/53), Zaheer Khan (2/41) and Harbhajan Singh (2/47) was the pick of the Indian bowlers, sharing eight wickets between them at the Rangiri International stadium.

Opting to bat in the do-or-die match, Pakistan were crusing at 144 for one in the 29th over and looked good to make a total in excess of 290 before Indian bowlers scalped three wickets in just 17 balls to storm back into the game.

The wickets slowly but assuredly tightened the noose around the Pakistan middle-order, who failed to get going on a slow and low Dambulla wicket.

Pakistan got off to a solid start with Butt and Indian Cricket League-returnee Imran Farhat posting 71 runs for the first wicket.

The openers were right on top of the Indian attack when Harbhajan produced the much-needed breakthrough, having comeback man Farhat smartly snaffled by Virender Sehwag at the first slip.

But from there on India had to wait for 13 overs for another wicket as Butt and former captain Shoaib Malik, who is returning to the national team after three months following the removal of his 12-month ban, batted with rare aplomb to set the platform for a big total.

The duo rotated the strike to upset the line of the spinners and occasionally scored a boundary to keep the score card ticking.

But just as Pakistan began to assert themselves in the middle, left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan went through Mali’s defence to give India the breakthrough.

To add to Pakistan’s dismay, Butt followed suit in the next over. He fell to a spectacular piece of fielding from Ranvindra Jadeja on his follow through.

Butt, who has scored five of his eight ODI hundreds against India, struck nine boundaries during his 85-ball stay.

As if the double blow was not enough, Umar Amin (5) was brilliantly caught by Virat Kohli off Harbhajan four overs later but inspite of that Pakistan were in a good position at 159 for four in the 33rd over.

But then Umar Akmal (21) and skipper Shahid Afridi, who asserted himself in the middle with a towering straight six off Harbhajan, steadied the Pakistani ship with a 37-run fifth-wicket stand that came off just 29 balls.

Just when it was time to step on the accelerator, Umar Akmal was caught behind by Dhoni off Ravindra Jadeja.

Afridi too perished in the 44th over, trapped in front of the wicket by Praveen but not before hitting two fours and a six.

However, a late cameo from Kamran Akmal helped Pakistan go beyond the 250-mark. The wicket-keeper batsman struck three fours and as many sixes to pile up 40 runs in the last five overs and help Pakistan reach the competitive total.

Source: Times of India

“If the overseas players want to find a place in the playing eleven, they have to fight among themselves and not against Indian stock,” Dhoni said in Chennai ahead of the third season of the IPL. “It is perfect right now and I am quite happy with the system of only four players finding place in the final eleven.”

Dhoni quoted the examples of youngsters who have either gone on to play for India after making a mark in the IPL, or cement their places in the national side, as in the case of Suresh Raina.

“We had Manpreet Gony, M Vijay and S Badrinath coming into the side,” Dhoni said. “We are contributing a lot towards Indian cricket. Overall, we are trying to groom the Indian cricketers for the betterment of the game in India.

“I want to make more players for ourselves. We are grooming Indian players from the Under-19 level or players on the verge of making debut for India. All those individuals rubbing their shoulders with international cricketers from India and overseas help them in learning cricketing skills.”

Stephen Fleming, the Chennai coach, had his first practice session with the squad on Monday and said he was confident the Indian players in the squad would respond well to the challenge.

“Our team’s performance will depend on how well our local players perform,” Fleming said. “We are lucky to have some talented players from Tamil Nadu.”

The team was jolted ahead of the third season with the news of Andrew Flintoff’s pull-out due to injury and the likelihood of allrounder Jacob Oram missing the entire tournament, also due to injury. The two other overseas bowlers, Muttiah Muralitharan and Makhaya Ntini, have struggled for form, thereby affecting the balance of the team, whose strength lies in the batting.

But Dhoni felt there was no need to panic, as the local stock looked capable of filling the void. “As a team we rely more on our batting strength. We have strong options in bowlers like Gony, L Balaji, Sudeep Tyagi and spinners like R Ashwin in our ranks,” Dhoni said.

“When our main bowlers have an off-day, we have strong options to use others as bowlers and Justin Kemp is one of them. Such options in a Twenty20 match are good for the team. Kemp is a big hitter. He can be an asset to the side.”

He was also confident that Murali would deliver. “He is the best spinner in the world and still in the international circuit,” Dhoni said. “He can be useful in every format of the game. He is a great guy to have in the dressing-room, like Makhaya Nitini and others.”

VVS Laxman (143) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (132) slammed sparkling unbeaten centuries to compound South Africa’s misery as India took a stranglehold of the second and final Test with a mammoth 347-run first innings lead on Tuesday.

Laxman notched up his 15th Test ton while Dhoni recorded his fourth as the hosts piled up a monumental 643 for six, their highest total against South Africa, before declaring their first innings about half an hour before close of play on the third day.

The visitors got to face just five balls and were six for no loss before bad light forced play to be stopped early on a day completely dominated by the home team.

Laxman and Dhoni gave a fine exhibition of strokeplay as they stitched a record 259-run partnership for the seventh wicket to put India in a commanding position from where they can push for a series-levelling victory.

With two days left and the Eden track expected to deteriorate, the Proteas are faced with a herculean task to save the game.

Resuming at the overnight score of 342 for five, the hosts lost nightwatchman Amit Mishra (28) before Laxman, who has produced some of his classy knocks at the Eden, and captain Dhoni virtually batted the visitors out of the contest.

Both the experienced batsmen paced their innings brilliantly and the score of 643 for six turned out to be India’s highest-ever total against South Africa, eclipsing the previous best of 628 at Chennai in 2008.

The vociferous crowd at the Eden was treated to some scintillating strokeplay for the second day running as Laxman and Dhoni toyed with the clueless South African bowlers to consolidate the position for India.

The Proteas had to take some of the blame for finding themselves in such a position as they dropped a few catches and the bowlers also lacked the penetration after the second new ball wore out.

If India manage to win the Test, they will retain their number one position in the ICC Test rankings. However, if the South Africans draw the match and clinch the series 1-0, they will dislodge India from the number one position.

The day began with nightwatchman Mishra hitting a quick-fire 38-ball 28 to put on a 48-run sixth wicket partnership with Laxman.

Dropped on five by Jacques Kallis in the slip, Mishra took the attack to the Proteas camp. With Laxman displaying control at the one end, Mishra took on the pace of Steyn and the slow spin of Paul Harris to help India build on the lead.

Hoping for some reverse swing from Kallis, Smith delayed taking the new ball by four overs as Mishra played with aggression.

Mishra once again got a life when he was dropped by Smith (short extra-cover) while on 25.

Mishra’s innings was ended by pacer Dale Steyn in the very next over when he was caught by Kallis at the second slip.

Laxman was slow in his approach and had luck on his side when he edged one to the left of an outstretched AB de Villiers who failed to pouch it.

Dhoni joined Laxman in the middle for the seventh wicket as India continued scoring briskly taking a 100-run lead over South Africa in the 93rd over.

Dhoni and Laxman milked the South African attack at ease with the skipper attacking Harris, charging one down over long-off for a six.

Both Laxman and Dhoni cashed in on the lacklustre fielding efforts by the visitors and made full use of the dropped chances, building up a mammoth stand for the seventh wicket.

With local hero and former captain Sourav Ganguly in the stands, Laxman completed his century to continue his love affair at the Eden, where he played his best knock of 281 against Australia in 2001.

Earlier Dhoni was lucky when on 27 Kallis failed to get hold of the ball at first slip as Harris shouted in frustration, summing up the agony of South Africa.

Both Dhoni and Laxman accelerated the pace of scoring after notching up their centuries.

Source: Times of India

At the close of the third day’s play of the second cricket Test between India and Bangladesh, the former was still in control of the match despite a brillaint 151 from Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal and a steady 55 by middle-order bat Junaid Siddique.

Replying to India’s mammoth 544 for eight declared, Bangladesh were 228 for three in their second innings and still 83 runs short of making India bat for a second time. Earlier, Bangladesh had scored 233 in their first innings.

Indian spearhead Zaheer Khan claimed three wickets for 63 runs to push Bangladesh on the defensive. Mohammad Ashraful and Shahadat Hossain with two runs apiece were at the crease at the draw of stumps.
A scintillating counterattack from Tamim Iqbal led Bangladesh’s resistance after they conceded a 311-run first-innings lead in Mirpur.

He was involved in Bangladesh’s largest-ever Test partnership, a 200-run effort with Junaid Siddique for the second wicket. The home side were looking good at 219 for 1 with 20 minutes left to play, but Zaheer Khan removed both settled batsmen to take the sheen off Bangladesh’s effort.

Iqbal unleashed an array of brilliant counter-attacking strokes to pose an injury-ridden Indian side some searching questions on the third afternoon. Severe on the pace bowlers, he also attacked the spinners as Bangladesh stormed to 118 for 1 at tea. With Junaid Siddique providing solidity at the other end, Iqbal was unbeaten on 79 at the interval.

Harbhajan Singh was the most economical of the bowlers on view, but even he wasn’t spared.

Earlier, India added 85 to their overnight total, with Dhoni’s 89 quite similar in character to the innings he played against Sri Lanka at the Brabourne Stadium in December.

With Rahul Dravid just discharged from hospital and about to head back to India, and Yuvraj Singh nursing an injured ligament in his left hand, India’s batting resources were depleted, but with Bangladesh adopting confused tactics against the lower order, Dhoni was able to combine watchfulness with some typically brutal strokeplay.

His intentions were clear when play resumed, with Shafiul Islam clubbed for a one-handed four over midwicket. And though Zaheer fell, miscuing a hook to fine leg, Dhoni was undaunted, walloping Shakib Al Hasan over long-off for six. By then, he had already changed his bat, and a wide offering from Shafiul was soon carved through the offside for four more.

Ishant Sharma eventually edged Mohammad Ashraful behind, but the Bangladeshi ordeal was far from over. With a landmark in sight, Dhoni shielded Ojha and targeted the wayward balls. Mahmudullah was thumped over cover for four and then over wide long-on for six and with Ashraful’s legspin also not making a dent, it was a depressing morning for the hosts.

Fortunately for the sparse crowd, Tamim’s Catherine-wheel shotmaking changed the mood after lunch.
Bangladesh 233 and 228 for 1 (Tamim 151, Junaid 55) trail India 544 for 8 dec ( Tendulkar 143, Dravid 111, Dhoni 89, Gambhir 68, Sehwag 56). (ANI)

Mahendra Singh Dhoni led from the front with a crafty unbeaten 101 as India recovered from early jolt to register comprehensive six-wicket win over Bangladesh in the third match of the cricket tri-series here on Thursday.

Chasing 297 for victory under lights, India were precariously placed at 51 for three before Dhoni combined with Virat Kohli (91) and Suresh Raina (51 not out off 43) to steer the team to victory with 15 balls to spare.

Dhoni not only notnched up his seventh ODI century but paced his innings brilliantly to share a 152-run foruth wicket stand with Kohli to put India on course of the victory.

Dhoni, who was let off on 61 and struck nine fours in his 107-ball knock, got admirable support from young Kohli, who hit seven fours during his 102-ball knock.

India, however, were dealt with some early blows by the Bangladeshi bowlers as openers Gautam Gambhir (18), Virender Sehwag (1) and Yuvraj Singh (1) all feel cheaply inside the first nine overs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Suresh Raina, who hit five fours and a six during his unbeaten knock, hit the winning runs a boundary to take India to 297 for four to the stunned silence of 25,000-odd Bangladesh supporters.

Young Kohli, who hit his fourth ODI fifty in his 17th match, was unlucky to miss out on his second hundred by nine runs as he was caught and bowled by Bangladesh captain Sakib al Hasan in the 35th over.

Earlier, Indian bowlers continued their unimpressive show with a patchy performance as Bangladesh posted a challenging 296 for six in their second match of the Idea Cup tri-nation.

Surprisingly electing to bat after winning the toss apparently due to less prospect of due at night, the home team capitalised on the Indian bowlers’ ordinary performance to register their fifth highest one-day score in the day-nighter at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium here.

Imrul Kayes top-scored with 70 off 100 balls with the help of five fours and a six while his opening partner Tamim Iqbal made a quick 42-ball 60 which was studded with 10 fours and a six.

Mahmadullah Riyad used his long handle to great effect towards the end with a quickfire 45-ball 60 to pile up 88 runs in the last 10 overs and take Bangladesh to the huge score.

Philem Dipak Singh, Yahoo News…

Sri Lanka squared the five-match series 1-1 by winning the day-night game in Nagpur by three wickets with five balls remaining.

The match ended 45 minutes after the scheduled time due to frequent discussions between the Indian players in the tight chase.

India were ruled to be three overs short of target, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement on Saturday.

“The captain receives two suspension points while the players are fined 10 percent of their match fees for the first two overs short and 20 percent for every additional over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time,” the ICC said.

Two suspension points resulted in a ban of one test or two ODIs, depending on which came first for the player, the statement said.

“The India side was at par until the 42nd over but bowled only eight overs in the last hour which is unacceptable,” match referee Jeff Crowe said in the statement.

Dhoni, who smashed a century on Friday, will miss the third and fourth matches in Cuttack on Monday and in Kolkata on Thursday. India named Virender Sehwag as stand-in captain.

The final match will be played in Delhi on Dec. 27.

Sri Lanka managed to hold on to their nerves to level the series 1-1 by registering a three-wicket victory over India.

Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan gave Sri Lanka a flying start, chasing a target of 302.
It was offie Harbhajan Singh, who gave India their first breakthrough by sending back Upul Tharanga.

But Dilshan continued to play his shots and the new batsman in Kumar Sangakkara also helped ante the momentum.

Even Sangakkara’s departure could not stop Dilshan from maintaing the rhythm and in the process he reached his century to put the islanders right on top.

Dilshan departed after hitting a fabulous century that put Sri Lanka on top. Lankans were still in command when they lost Mahela Jayawardene. But they found themselves in a bit of a bother as Thilina Kandamby departed.

Zaheer Khan’s twin strike push Sri Lanka on to the back foot but ultimately they managed to prevail.

Earlier, a superbly-paced century from Mahendra Singh Dhoni propelled India to a challenging total in the second one-dayer against Sri Lanka in Nagpur.

India wobbled at the start, losing Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir cheaply, but recovered with half-centuries from Virat Kohli (54) and Suresh Raina (68), while Dhoni’s innings of 107 spurred his side to 301 for seven.

Dhoni’s decision to bat first looked to have backfired when Sehwag went cheaply, caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara in the first over from left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara.

Gambhir was then run out in unfortunate circumstances, a collision with Welegedara ensuring he was caught short of his crease.

Gambhir had pushed a delivery from Welegedara to mid-on, but collided with the bowler and was caught short of the crease when Angelo Mathews broke the stumps with a direct hit.

At 19 for two, India were in a spot of bother, but the home side recovered nicely through Sachin Tendulkar (43) and Kohli.

Tendulkar’s stay was circumspect as he focused on rebuilding. He put on 62 for the third wicket with Kohli but fell while attempting to accelerate the pace.

He walked out to cart Ajantha Mendis over the top, failed to make contact and was stumped by Sangakkara.

Kohli, who initially dealt primarily in boundaries, thereafter played a steady knock as he got the home side back on track.

He added 51 for the fourth wicket with Dhoni, but just when India were beginning to break the shackles, debutant off-spinner Suraj Randhiv trapped Kohli in front, claiming him for his first wicket in international cricket.

Left-hand batsman Raina joined his captain at the crease and, after a cautious start, put Sri Lanka’s attack to the sword.

He hammered four boundaries and smashed three towering sixes, reaching his 13th ODI half-century off just 44 deliveries before eventually holing out in the deep.

Dhoni, off the mark with an edged boundary, was fortunate to have reached his half-century.

He was dropped by Sangakkara on 49, the Sri Lanka captain already having missed an opportunity when the batsman was on 25.

The India skipper was then grassed again by Mendis on 94.

By then, Dhoni had thrown caution to the wind and he reached his sixth ODI century with two runs off Mathews. His second 50 came off just 36 deliveries.

Dhoni fell in the final over, handing Randhiv his second wicket, but by then India had breached the 300-mark.

Teams:

India: V Sehwag, SR Tendulkar, G Gambhir, V Kohli, MS Dhoni*†, SK Raina, RA Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, P Kumar, Z Khan, A Nehra.

Sri Lanka: WU Tharanga, TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara*†, DPMD Jayawardene, SHT Kandamby, CK Kapugedera, AD Mathews, S Randiv, RAS Lakmal, UWMBCA Welegedara, BAW Mendis.

Source: ESPN Cricket

Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni shared a serene 148-run stand to help India win a battle of attrition on a sluggish track at the Feroz Shah Kotla and take a 2-1 lead in the seven-ODI series. Australia would perhaps rue the fact that they settled for 229 when they batted after winning an important toss.

“A total of 220 should be a good score on this pitch,” Ponting had said and Australia’s approach while batting reflected his mindset. Their bowlers did pick up three quick top-order wickets to leave India wobbling at 53 for 3 but Yuvraj and Dhoni batted with the knowledge that sufficient time spent at the crease would ensure a risk-free victory. The pitch was slow and not conducive to stroke making but it did not spin treacherously, despite the visibly dramatic wear and tear.

The game was evenly balanced mid way during the chase with India in consolidation mode at 101 for 3, but Yuvraj and Dhoni slowly and surely pulled India ahead. They batted with restraint while settling in on this track because, as Michael Hussey proved earlier during an unbeaten 81, batting got easier with more time spent on it.

They scored largely in singles and twos before Yuvraj attacked in the 34th over with 94 needed in 17 overs. He flicked for six and hit an extra-cover drive off Moises Henriques before he repeated the sequence next over with a bludgeoned six over long-on and a square-driven boundary against Adam Voges. The momentum shifted permanently after that and Yuvraj played several exquisite drives. He fell 29 runs short of the target but Dhoni struck a couple of boundaries to ward off any hiccups.

Australia had tried their best to apply the squeeze in the middle overs of the chase with the spin-seam combo of Nathan Hauritz and Doug Bollinger. The fast-improving Hauritz slowed his pace and punctuated his offbreaks with the one that went on with the arm. Dhoni chose to play Hauritz off the back foot while Yuvraj pressed forward. Bollinger, who replaced Ben Hilfenhaus, bowled a nagging line and length to strangle the batsmen. Peter Siddle, too, was economical and Australia’s bowling, in the absence of Brett Lee and a quality spinner, was as tight as Ponting could hope for but perhaps they had erred in their conservative estimate of a total on this sluggish track.

Once Australia decided not to play specialist opener Shaun Marsh, and possessing a thin middle-order inexperienced in such conditions, they were going to depend heavily on Ponting, Hussey and Shane Watson to reach a competitive total. Their approach seemed to indicate wariness that a collapse was never too far away on a demanding surface. Ponting, who opened only for the second time in his 327-ODI career in Tim Paine’s absence, and Watson didn’t try anything fancy during a sedate but solid start before Hussey took charge of seeing Australia through to the finish.

Hussey’s innings was tailored to the situation. He played numerous little dabs and nudges, cut and swept whenever he could, and never got ahead of himself at any stage. He did play a reverse sweep against Yuvraj but it wasn’t a shot of flamboyance but one that exploited the gap in the field. He only hit three more boundaries – the first was a result of a misfield, the second came in the 48th over when he finally heaved one across the line and the highlight was the last, when he charged out to clatter Ashish Nehra over long-on in the 50th over.

Before Hussey played his characteristic innings, Ponting and Watson played uncharacteristic ones to give the innings a steady start. With swing out of the question, the Indian seamers tried to win lbw decisions by bowling as straight as possible and the spinners slowed their pace and kept to an off and middle stump line. Ponting began cautiously, taking care to get his bat in front of the pads, and dealt in singles. Watson also batted in a similar vein and just when he was beginning to cut loose, he fell to Yuvraj after he was beaten by flight and turn and dragged his back foot out of the crease. Hussey came to Australia’s rescue with an assured knock but it wasn’t enough to stop India from going ahead in the series.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

MS Dhoni won his fourth toss of the series and even as he chose to field the rain came down to delay the start. It’s bound to be another stop-and-start affair as the forecast is for 60% of rain. India lead the series 2-1 and this is their last game of the season.

West Indies have to do all the running here to level the series. They have played pretty good cricket in the series so far. They weren’t rattled by the big target in the first game, won the second one without breaking into a sweat and, as Gary Kirsten said, they were a touch unlucky in the third because of the rain. There are a few issues, though. Sulieman Benn and David Bernard are yet to put their hand up to be counted and Jerome Taylor has continued to struggle in the end overs. However, the comeback of Ravi Rampaul and the emergence of Darren Bravo have to be a big positive. Runako Morton doesn’t look the complete package yet but, to his credit, he has contributed consistently in this series.

India too are trying to get their puzzles to fall in place. Gautam Gambhir showed he was willing to look ugly in the previous game and put in a decent contribution. Rohit Sharma, though, is still to cash in on the numerous opportunities at this level. Even Yusuf Pathan, who has performed so consistently in IPL, is yet to show the same sense of belonging at the higher level. And there is Ishant Sharma, who has continued to struggle in the limited-overs format. On the positive side, Dinesh Karthik has looked good in the recent games and Ashish Nehra has shaped up well on his comeback.

West Indies: Chris Gayle (capt), Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Jerome Taylor, David Bernard, Sulieman Benn, Ravi Rampaul

India: Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma