New Delhi: Abdul Qadir, the former Pakistan legspinner, has tipped India as finalists for the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy while stressing on the team's batting as giving them the upper hand in Saturday's match against Pakistan in Birmingham. India are the only team to so far qualify for the knockout stage - having failed to do so for the past three editions of the tournament - and Qadir said they were the favourites in what he termed "the final before the final".
"India are playing like a champion and I think they will play the final. Their strength lies in their batting. Despite the absence of Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir in their line up, they are scoring 300 plus runs," he told PTI-Bhasha. "They played brilliantly in first two matches. They also have two new match-winners in Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja. India enjoy upper hand but Pakistan is capable of springing surprises. They will give their best in this match and we must not forget that Pakistan has one of the best bowling combinations."
Pakistan's elimination from the tournament following defeats to West Indies and South Africa has left Saturday's fixture without any bearing on the tournament, but Qadir - who played 19 of his 104 ODIs against India - felt it would still be massive for the passionate fans of both teams.
"Whenever India and Pakistan play, there is always a different kind of feeling. People do not
07:13 PM, Jun 13, 2013
Birmingham: He has been coaching in England for past three decades but for Debu Mitra, it was an immensely enjoyable experience as he witnessed one his favourite wards Ravindra Jadeja's brilliant spell from the Oval stands. "It was great to hear the crowd cheering his name whenever he took wickets. Such adulation is normally reserved for the big boys of Indian cricket like a Tendulkar. For me, Jadeja is a...
03:06 PM, Jun 13, 2013
London: India's newest 'Man Friday' Ravindra Jadeja feels that secret of his success lies in "keeping things simple" which helped him get a career-best of five for 36 against West Indies in a group league of Champions Trophy on Tuesday. "This is my best bowling performance and I am very happy about it. I have had three four-wicket hauls, but this one is special. I just tried to keep things...
08:07 AM, Jun 12, 2013
London: Ravindra Jadeja produced the best bowling figures by an Indian in the ICC Champions Trophy and Shikhar Dhawan collected his second ODI century in as many matches as India became the first team to reach the semi-finals following an eight-wicket drubbing of West Indies at The Oval on Tuesday. Jadeja's career-best 5 for 36 helped keep West Indies to 233 for 9 and Dhawan's unbeaten 102 hastened an eight...
07:11 PM, Jun 11, 2013
Cardiff: Shikhar Dhawan's maiden ODI century proved the crux of India's 331 for 7 in the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy, in what unfolded as 50 overs of two differing halves. The majority of the momentum lay with India as their makeshift opening pair of Dhawan (114) and Rohit Sharma (65) put on 127, but from 210 for 1 India were pulled back by South Africa and where...
06:57 PM, Jun 06, 2013
Birmingham: The new ODI rules and the conditions in England will force India to go in with five specialist bowlers in the upcoming Champions Trophy, according to captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who reckons all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will play a key role. "Conditions are very different compared to the sub-continent. We have to look at the composition of the side and see what kind of bowlers we use but the conditions...
05:54 PM, May 30, 2013
New Delhi: The Sandip Patil-led BCCI selection committee on Saturday awarded medium pacer Vinay Kumar and wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik for their good show in IPL 6 with a call-up to India's ODI squad for the Champions Trophy in England next month. However, veteran opener Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh didn't find a place in the 15-member touring party. The All-India Senior Selection Committee met at the Cricket Centre in...
12:59 PM, May 04, 2013
Kolkata: There were serious concerns about impending showers when the two captains walked out for the toss under grey skies, but the actual storm was played out on the field as Chennai Super Kings got the better of Kolkata Knight Riders in a low-scorer highlighted by sloppy batting and manic running between the wickets. Cricket-wise it was a match to forget, but the drama made for another scrappy thriller as...
07:05 PM, Apr 20, 2013
New Delhi: Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday once again tickled his fans' funny bones by cracking few more jokes on his IPL teammate 'Sir' Ravindra Jadeja. "If ever Rajni sir had to face sir jadeja's bowling,the battle would be known as CLASH OF THE TITANS," Dhoni wrote on his twitter handle. Dhoni cracked another joke at his teammate, tweeting, "On 17.4.13 no planes landed at delhi...
05:02 PM, Apr 19, 2013
A look back at the first two weeks of the IPL and what has been notable about it, in particular the way teams have been dependent on certain individuals. Chris Gayle scoring = RCB winning Ravi Rampaul and R Vinay Kumar can say otherwise, but Royal Challengers Bangalore's success is interlinked with Chris Gayle. The big-hitting West Indian has clicked big time in two of RCB's four matches, and both...
01:14 PM, Apr 16, 2013
Chennai: Clutch innings from two Australian imports at either end of Pune Warriors 20 overs set up a match-winning total of 159 for 5, which was made to appear like a lot more for Chennai Super Kings against a superb catching performance. Aaron Finch took on a strong CSK bowling attack from the start, dominating an opening stand worth 96, and after a flurry of wickets it was Steven Smith's...
11:25 PM, Apr 15, 2013
Live updates from the Game 19 of the IPL 6 between Chennai Super Kings and Pune Warriors played at Chennai. Pune Warriors India are without their regular slipper Angelo Mathews who is sitting out due to political pressure in southern India in protest over the war crimes in Sri Lanka bars the islanders from playing in Chennai and Yuvraj is unlikely to take the field . CSK, though, are still...
07:20 PM, Apr 15, 2013
Chennai: Calling it a 'joke', Ravindra Jadeja says he has no problem with the prefix 'Sir' before his name as long as his Chennai Super Kings and India team-mates are enjoying the allrounder's 'knighthood'. "I think it is a joke and we are enjoying it. [There is] nothing serious in that matter. I don't think I am a great man. I just want to be what I am right now....
12:12 PM, Apr 14, 2013
Chennai: Ravindra Jadeja played an important hand as Chennai Super Kings took 16 runs off the last over to register a four-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chidambaram Stadium here on Saturday. It was Chennai's second IPL 6 win in three matches, while Bangalore suffered their second loss in five matches. In pursuit of 166, the hosts got off to a bad start when Murali Vijay was wrongly...
11:54 PM, Apr 13, 2013
New Delhi: Days after a Wikipedia entry described cricketer Ravindra Jadeja as a philanthropist and a Nobel laureate, his mates from the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings - Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin - had a field day pulling his leg with their own versions of the viral 'Sir Ravindra Jadeja' jokes that have been doing the rounds of social networking sites for some time...
12:24 PM, Apr 10, 2013
Mohali: Chennai Super Kings might have lost their opening IPL match at home, but the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side were not a demoralised lot, said all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja here on Tuesday. "We (CSK) are not demoralised by the last defeat. It's T20 where things can change quickly. So, we will give our best in the match against Kings XI Punjab," Jadeja told reporters after his team's practice session here. Jadeja...
10:28 PM, Apr 09, 2013
Going into the sixth edition of the IPL, the two-time champions need to find the right combination and also remain consistent. ...
08:07 AM, Apr 02, 2013
India's four 4-0 Test win over Australia was punctuated by telling performances from four CSK rock stars that form the core of the IPL outfit; and that's not the full story. ...
12:23 PM, Mar 29, 2013
Vijay, Pujara, Dhawan, Ashwin and Jadeja all proved thorns in Australia's side while masking over the absence of experienced players in the Test side. ...
11:22 AM, Mar 26, 2013
Braving crests and troughs with aplomb, Ravindra Jadeja has emerged as a fine bowling allrounder in Indian conditions. ...
01:56 PM, Mar 25, 2013
