Karthikeyan Survives Crash

Narain Karthikeyan, the Indian sensation ones again makes the headlines. This time the topic is a little different, but still related to A-1 GP. No has not brought another A-1 GP win but survived in a car crash . On Sunday in Taupo, New Zealand Narain Karthikeyan survived a crash and fought his way up from the 20th place on the starting grid order of the sprint race to guide A1 Team India to a 10th-spot finish in the format race.

Karthikeyan’s 10th spot finish in the sprint race earned Team India a point taking their total to 28 points equaling that of Team China.  In the feature race Karthikeyan made a good start but unfortunately spun out and was hit from behind by another car. The “undrivable” car had to retire from the race resulting in Team India scoring nothing in the feature race.

In the sprint race, New Zealand’s Jonny Reid powered his way to  victory while Germany’s Vietoris was the second to finish and France’s Loic Duval raced to a strong third place. Germany’s Vietoris clocked the fastet lap of the race in lap nine fetching him a bonus point for this achievement.

In the feature race, Team Germany’s Christian Vietoris secured his first A1GP race win. Germany was joined on the podium by Canada’s Robert Wickens in second, and pole-sitter France’s Loic Duval in third. Eight of the 22 teams failed to finish the race.

The next race is in Sydney and I seriously hope  that Narain clinches one of the races there. It will really do good to A-1 Team India. Till then “All The Best Team India.”

Stirring up the Indian Team

The BCCI Selection Committee on 20th January selected the Indian team for the Tri-Series in Australia in February which also involves Sri Lanka. The Selectors sprang up a surprise when they dropped Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid from the India’s 16 member squad for the lone T-20 and the Tri-Series.

Though Dravid was not included in the ODI squad that played Pakistan, Ganguly was a regular in side after his comeback from wilderness. The reason the selectors give for this change is that they wanted a young side emphasizing on fielding abilities. As a result they included a lot of youngsters in the side. The selectors also kept an eye on the future and so decided to invest in youth rather rather sticking with experience.

The Selection Committee also selected three back-up players who can fly to Australia and serve the team in case of any injury during the tour. Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel have been asigned this role.

Yuvraj Singh retained his vice-captaincy despite rumours about his fitness and an alleged attitude problem. Virender Sehwag also retained his place in the 16-member squad for India’s lone Twenty20 match against Australia, followed by the tri-series starting on February 3. Ishant Sharma earned his place in the side after his impressive performance in the ongoing test series while Shanthakumaran Sreesanth also made a comeback after an injury break to bolster the pace attack that includes all-rounder Pravin Kumar.

The ODI Squad includes- MS Dhoni (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh (Vice Captain), Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, R P Singh, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Kaarthick, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar.

The Standby includes- Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel.

Lets see how well this gamble made by the selectors pays off? If the Indian team achieves the feat of winning the series then the selectors decision will be fully and whole-heartedly appreciated. But if something goes wrong then the media and the critics will literally make the life of the players and selectors a hell. But as it is said “Whatever happens is always for a reason” This maybe also the same case.

Conquest of Perth

The Indian team on 19th January wrote a new page in the history of cricket in golden letters. They proved that beating the Aussies can not only be achieved in dreams but also in the real world. This historic win of the Indians over Australia by 72 runs not only stopped the Aussies’ winning streak of 16 consecutive victories but also stopped Punter from setting a new world record of 17 consecutive test victories. Bad luck skipper. Maybe he’ll achieve this record in his dreams when the Indians return to India.

The Indian side became the first team to beat Australia in Australia in five years. Before that the Indians were the only ones who defeated the Kangaroos in their home continent. During their last tour of Australia, Indians drew the test series 1-1. The first and last matches in Brisbane and Sydney resp. were drawn. The second match in Adelaide belonged to the Indians while the third one in Melbourne went in Australia’s pocket. The Indian batsmen dominated the series as 3 of the 4 man of the matches went India’s way and only one in Aussies’ way. Not only this, the Man of Series was also bagged by the Indian vice-captain in that tour- Rahul Dravid.

This victory of the MEN IN BLUE was not just a victory for them but a fight for pride in which they emerged as the only winners. Snatching a victory from the Australians in Perth and that too in four days was nothing less than a humiliation for the Aussies. Punter admitted that the Aussies were outplayed in each and every department of the game in the last four days. But in the coming days they are going to train harder than the Indians. Lets see what happens in coming days or I shall say lets see what happens in Adelaide.

All The Best to the Indian Team for Adelaide.