best catch in ipl

mystery spinner narine takes hat-trick

mishra's third hat-trick in ipl

third hat-trick for amit mishra in ipl history

CRAZY FANS IN IPL

A boy pulls a leaf out Sourav Ganguly's book as Kings XI Punjab wins the match against Kolkata Knight Riders played at PCA stadium in Mohali on April 16.

Royal Challengers Bangalore fans of cheer their team in 'Kathakali' costumes during the during match against the Delhi Daredevils at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on April 16.

Sari mania - Women fans of Chennai Super Kings fans cheer for their team in traditional outfits at a match against Pune Warriors in Chennai on April 15.

Its not only the cricketers or celebs who are grabbing all the eyeballs at the ongoing IPL 6 matches. But the true stars are these fans who make the stadium come alive with their crazy love for the game of cricket. In the next few slides, take a look at some of the craziest fans supporting their respective IPl teams.

Only for Virat Kohli - A female fan shows the poster of Royal Challengers Bangalore captain during the IPL-6 match against Chennai Supper Kings at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. (PTI)

spectacular nail bitting last over from RP SINGH

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kohli,gambhir fight on the field

kohli,gambhir clash on the field

ipl current standings

Teams P W L NR Pts NRR

Bangalore 4 3 1 0 6 +0.58 Mumbai 3 2 1 0 4 +0.85 Rajasthan 3 2 1 0 4 +0.19 Hyderabad 3 2 1 0 4 +0.08 Punjab 2 1 1 0 2 +0.99 Chennai 2 1 1 0 2 +0.30 Kolkata 3 1 2 0 2 -0.52 Pune 3 1 2 0 2 -1.11 Delhi 3 0 3 0 0 -1.02

india's tour to southafrica kept to three tests and seven odi's

India will tour South Africa for three Tests, seven ODIs and two Twenty20s beginning in December this year and extending to early 2014. This will be the teams' first meeting since two seasons ago when they battled for the No.1 ranking which India held onto under Gary Kirsten. Now, South Africa are mace holders with Kirsten in their camp.

There was talk of a fourth Test being built into the schedule but that has not materialised. Mike Gajjar, CSA's manager cricket operations, said it was only ever a "possibility" to have an additional Test and the two boards stuck to what was "entrenched in the FTP."

But there is some good news for fans of the longest format. ESPNcricinfo understands the traditional Boxing Day Test will return to Durban after it was cancelled previous season because CSA opted to play three festive T20s instead. Although the other venues have not been confirmed, it is a given that Cape Town will host the New Year's Test and either Johannesburg or Centurion should get the third fixture.

Both teams will be short on Test cricket before the meeting. South Africa last played the format in February and will only meet Pakistan for two matches in the UAE before hosting India while their opposition will not play a single Test between now and then. India whitewashed Australia at home in March but have only fifty-over engagements until they fly to South Africa.

That includes seven ODIs against Australia after the Champions Trophy which adds to the glut of matches in the format. South Africa do not usually host ODI series of longer than five matches so India's scheduled seven is unusual. It should present an opportunity for some of the less visited grounds in the country, such as the Maritzburg Oval, the chance to host international cricket.

India's tour forms part of a bumper summer for South Africa. They also host Australia for three Tests in February-March 2014. Both series are among the more lucrative incoming tours with only England being the other team to bring in sizeable profits from television rights.

tit for tat

tit for tat

Wisden chides 'arrogant' Pietersen

Wisden has turned on Kevin Pietersen, terming him arrogant, self-pitying and isolated, for his part in the furore which destabilised English cricket last summer.

There have been more trenchant Notes by the Editor than those which grace the 150th edition of the Almanack, published today, but Lawrence Booth reserves his sternest criticism for Pietersen's behaviour during England's Test series defeat against South Africa.

The wisdom of Wisden "I would have preferred 99. I thought that was enough" - Simon Barnes finds echoes of Don Bradman in Sachin Tendulkar. "Being a cricketer helps because it is a decent world and I haven't had a single jibe" - Steve Davies, the Surrey and England wicketkeeper, on coming out as gay in professional sport." "Affection continues to elude him. There are reasons for this and most of them involve self-absorption, self-promotion and a distressing absence of self-awareness" - Patrick Collins asks why Kevin Pietersen has not become universally revered in English cricket. "He was notoriously (and often infuriatingly) tardy, to the extent that his memorial service at St Paul's should have been scheduled at "11.15am for 11" as mark of respect - with directions to the wrong church." - Mike Selvey on his friend and fellow journalist, Christopher Martin-Jenkins. "Ramps and Test cricket: it was never really going to work out. Wrong genius, wrong time." - Barney Ronay bemoans the retirement of a prolific county runscorer.

"Cricket, some suspected, existed only as an extension of Pietersen's whims (and unlike team, cricket definitely has an "I" in it). Emboldened by a lucrative new Indian Premier League deal, he was arrogant, attempting to bulldoze over the terms of his central contract. He was self-pitying, claiming he had never been looked after. And he was a man apart, sending silly texts to the South Africans," Booth writes.

Those texts were regarded in much of the media last summer as a national scandal. Perhaps in the use of the term "silly" Wisden has stumbled upon a greater truth.

Wisden, condemning the rift as a "mishmash in many genres", does not spare ECB officials from criticism, concluding: "Only the dressing room knew just how troublesome Pietersen had become; for outsiders to lecture Andy Flower on man-management was plain ludicrous. But as his exile dragged on, the ECB began to look petty, if they showed their faces at all.

"Pietersen's pursuit of Twenty20's riches at the expense of the Test side - the format which had made his name - was unattractive, although those attitudes can filter down from the top. If there was a have-cake-and-eat-it feel to his simultaneous grouse about excessive cricket and his yearning for IPL, it was hard to ignore a wider truth: a bloated schedule has asked the players to make unfair choices.

"The dilemma is not going away, however much English cricket wishes it would."

Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year - an award specific to the English season and winnable only once - are Hashim Amla, Nick Compton, Jacques Kallis, Marlon Samuels and Dale Steyn. The Leading Cricketer in the World award goes to the Australian captain, Michael Clarke.

SIXER KING - MS DHONI

What a brave man to hit a SIX for that huge distance.

Man of Success and Patience

" CAPTAIN COOL MS DHONI"

punjab ready for home against csk

Mohali: Kings XI Punjab, fresh off a commanding win over Pune Warriors India, host the two-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings at the PCA Stadium here on Wednesday.

After losing their opening encounter against Mumbai Indians by nine runs, CSK will hope to kick-start their season against Punjab. Traditionally slow starters, MS Dhoni's team knows how to peak, which is exactly what they will aim against Adam Gilchrist's team.

A CSK top order comprising Murali Vijay, Mike Hussey and Suresh Raina has to get its act together as the batsmen threw their wickets away cheaply in the opening match against Mumbai. Dhoni looks in fine form as he almost took his side home with a brisk half-century until a magnificent catch by Kieron Pollard in the deep ended his knock. Dhoni will expect some support from the middle order which includes the likes of allrounder Dwayne Bravo and S Badrinath.

Though their batting came a cropper against Mumbai, CSK can certainly take heart from the discipline their bowlers showed. With conditions expected to be cloudy on Wednesday, things might work in favour of Dirk Nannes and talented domestic medium-pacer Ankit Rajpoot. Nannes bowled at good pace and was right on the money in the opening encounter. Rajpoot hit the deck hard in his IPL debut and can trouble the Punjab top order. Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja will share the responsibility of putting the brakes in the middle overs. Chennai's spin department will be led again by R Aswhin, who remains Dhoni's trump card.

Punjab, on the other hand, are coming into the match on the back of a comprehensive win over Pune in their first match where they comfortably chased down the paltry target of 100. Gilchrist looked to be hitting the ball crisply in his short stay and is always a threat for the opposition even at the age of 40.

Punjab are blessed to have young talents like Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra in their ranks. Vohra played a solid innings against Pune, though it remains to be seen how he responds when put under pressure. Allrounders Azhar Mahmood and David Hussey are two other match-winners in the Punjab line-up that otherwise lacks big names.

Punjab bowlers barely put a foot wrong against Pune in the opener. With Mahmood being a prized asset with both bat and ball, pacer Ryan Harris and Praveen Kumar can wreck the opposition top order with their pace and swing early in the innings. Parvinder Awana was a revelation for Punjab last season and will hope to show come consistency in IPL 6, along with another Indian bowler, legspinner Piyush Chawla.

On current form, Punjab look good but will surely be tested by the former champions, who will look to get their first points of IPL 6.

Probable XIs:

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Mike Hussey, 2 Murali Vijay, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Dwayne Bravo, 5 S Badrinath, 6 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Chris Morris/Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Ankit Rajpoot, 11 Dirk Nannes

Kings XI Punjab: 1 Adam Gilchrist (capt/wk), 2 Mandeep Singh, 3 Manan Vohra, 4 Azhar Mahmood, 5 David Hussey, 6 Gurkeerat Singh, 7 R Sathish, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Ryan Harris, 11 Parvinder Awana

saqlain appointed bowling coach for bangladesh

Saqlain Mushtaq will rejoin Bangladesh as their spin bowling consultant for the side's tour of Zimbabwe. He will join the squad in Dubai on Wednesday from where the team will travel to Harare.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has a deal with the former Pakistan offspinner for 100 days of work this year, after his previous contract ended last December. This will be Saqlain's first assignment with Bangladesh in 2013. He wasn't with the team on their tour of Sri Lanka.

"We will only call Saqlain when the need arises," BCB's cricket operations chairman Enayet Hossain Siraj said. "We will not ask him to stay with us for a prolonged period. He will work for 100 days in a year, and this will start with the series against Zimbabwe."

Saqlain was appointed in July last year when Richard Pybus was head coach. He was with the team during the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka and the subsequent home series against West Indies.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh have had to cancel their official training session scheduled for Tuesday due to the countrywide general strike. The team will get five days of training in Harare ahead of the first Test that begins on April 17.

team clash again after super over thriller

With two wins in two games, including the remarkable Super Over victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, Sunrisers Hyderabad have begun IPL 2013 well. Their consistency will be tested once again in a rematch of that thrilling game, this time in Bangalore.

For one, they will have to adjust quickly to a pitch that's different from the sluggish surface in Hyderabad. The Chinnaswamy track is far more conducive to pace and movement, and while that could give Sunrisers an advantage - with their attack of Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma and Thisara Perera - it could also expose the weaknesses in their batting early on. Perera's and Hanuma Vihari's innings aside, the Sunrisers have had no other contributions of note in their matches so far.

Royal Challengers have similar problems. Like in their first match, their total in Hyderabad was built around two batsmen, as the others were dismissed in single digits. Tillakaratne Dilshan's form is a worry for Royal Challengers and it remains to be seen if they will persevere with him.

AB de Villiers, who missed Royal Challengers' first two matches due to his cricket commitments in South Africa will arrive tomorrow. According to a franchise spokesperson, de Villiers "will be available for selection". While his presence will boost a struggling batting side, it will mean a new combination of overseas players.

Both teams have a settled bowling line-up. For Royal Challengers, Vinay Kumar has excelled in the death overs, though he slipped up in the Super Over on Sunday. Henriques and Jaydev Unadkat have been promising at the start. For Sunrisers, Amit Mishra and Dale Steyn have impressed, while Perera has bowled important spells, curbing the flow of runs.

Players to watch

Cameron White hasn't had the most memorable season. He lost Australia's Twenty20 captaincy to George Bailey after a run of poor performances in the Big Bash League. However, the two sixes in the Super Over might be the impetus he needs to score big for Sunrisers.

Jaydev Unadkat has bowled well with the new ball and the pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium should help him extract bounce and some movement. He bowled a good ball to dismiss Kumar Sangakkara at a crucial stage of the match and would look to continue in the same vein against Sunrisers on Tuesday.

Stats and trivia

• Moises Henriques went past 1000 Twenty20 runs during the previous match and needs one wicket to get to 50 wickets.
• His run-out in the last match put Amit Mishra on top of the list of batsmen with the most ducks in the IPL. Mishra has eight, as does Manish Pandey, who was out for a duck in the game against Kings XI Punjab.

Quotes

"From a batting point of view, myself definitely included, we have to make the bowlers' job a bit easier and bat better." Cameron White on Sunrisers' weaknesses

parnell gets bail

Wayne Parnell, the South Africa and Pune Warriors bowler, has been granted bail by a Mumbai court after surrendering before it on charges of testing positive for recreational drugs, following a police raid on a party in the city last year. Legspinner Rahul Sharma, who also tested positive in that case, played for Warriors on Sunday against Kings XI Punjab.

A Warriors spokesman said Parnell went to the authorities with his lawyer. "He still hasn't joined the squad," the spokesman said. "He cannot do so until he gets bail and BCCI clearance." However, it is understood that securing bail will make it much easier for him to secure the BCCI clearance - Sharma has already obtained it.

Tony Irish, CEO of the South African Cricketers' Association (SACA), said the issue was being dealt with as an individual matter with Parnell and his agent. "He [Parnell] knew this was going to happen and he appointed Indian lawyers to deal with it," Irish said to ESPNcricinfo. "He is going through the process and we don't believe there is any substance to the charges. The next step is for the prosecution to see if there is sufficient evidence to have a trial or if they will dismiss the charges."

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo last month, Parnell had confirmed he would play in the IPL and claimed innocence on the drug charge. "As far as I am concerned, everything is fine," he said. "I've received a mail from Pune saying I have to come. I've got nothing to hide. The full story will come out once I get over there. They tested everyone that was at the party. I need to find my sample, because if they tested me they must have my sample and we need to match that up.

"I've been subjected to drug testing in my last five years as a professional cricketer, and I haven't tested positive once. So I've got nothing to worry about. As far as I am aware, they didn't give any specific samples and put them to names. They just said that a certain number of people tested positive. The individual samples need to be shown now."

Parnell and Sharma were among 90 people detained following the party at a hotel in the Juhu suburb of Mumbai on May 20 last year, a day after Pune Warriors' IPL 2012 campaign ended. According to reports, drugs including cocaine, MDMA and cannabis were consumed at the party.

Of the 90 people, 86 apparently tested positive - including 35 foreign nationals, who have been "shown as wanted" according to a police official. These 86 people had a 1200-page charge sheet drawn up against them last month, according to PTI.

rajasthan beats defending champs

A brace of double-wicket overs from fast bowlers, Rahul Shukla and Siddharth Trivedi, was the decisive blow that secured a second consecutive victory for Rajasthan Royals this season. They did not pick a spinner on a fast and bouncy pitch in their first home game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium and the strategy worked; all five quicks took wickets and were able to prevent a dogged Eoin Morgan from single-handedly dragging Kolkata Knight Riders to the target.

Knight Riders had also read the pitch right, replacing the slower seamer L Balaji with Shami Ahmed, and Sunil Narine was their sole spinner. Narine, however, went for 18 in his third over - his most expensive in the IPL - as Royals managed to accumulate 144, because of a steady innings from Brad Hodge and a cameo from Dishant Yagnik. Their fast bowlers then vindicated their selections, dismissing Knight Riders in 19 overs.

Sreesanth opened the Royals' defence with a 14-run over but that did not set the tone. Shaun Tait hustled batsmen with speeds that touched 150 kph, and the less-heralded seamers did the damage. Shukla bustled in, bowling in the early 140 kph-range, and had immediate impact, demolishing Manvinder Bisla's stumps and drawing an edge from Jacques Kallis off successive deliveries in the third over.

In the seventh over Rahul Dravid brought on his fifth seamer, Trivedi, who trapped Manoj Tiwary lbw with his first ball, and then had Gautam Gambhir caught behind with his fifth. Knight Riders were floundering at 43 for 4. When Kevon Cooper drew another edge, this time from the potentially dangerous Yusuf Pathan, only Morgan remained in Royals' way.

Morgan was in the way for a while, transforming his innings that began scratchily into a threatening one with precise shots through the infield and over the boundary. His pick-up loft over long leg against Tait was the highlight and he kept the asking-rate under control. What he couldn't control, however, was the tendency of his partners to play rash shots - like Brett Lee did. At the start of the penultimate over, Knight Riders needed 23 off 12 but only had two wickets left. Morgan was bowled by Cooper first ball, and that was that.

The Royals innings had also suffered from the fall of regular wickets but they had Ajinkya Rahane anchoring the start and Brad Hodge staying until the finish to provide them with a competitive total. They recovered from the failure of Shane Watson, who was playing his first game of the season, and the fall of Dravid and Stuart Binny, who had played valuable innings in the victory against Delhi Daredevils.

Narine then derailed the innings in the 16th over, having Rahane caught behind and Cooper stumped. At 114 for 5 at the start of the 19th over, Royals needed something special and Hodge and Yagnik provided it. They attacked Narine for 18 runs, and then Hodge ensured 12 more came off the final over, as he finished on 46 to give his fast bowlers enough to defend.

akram request bcci to allow pak players in ipl

Karachi: Former Pakistan captain and pace legend Wasim Akram has requested the Indian cricket board (BCCI) to allow Pakistani players to participate in the cash-rich Indian Premier League. Akram said that Pakistani players would only help add color to the Twenty20 tournament.

"I have always been a great believer that sports and politics should be kept apart and if our players take part in the IPL it will only raise the bar of the event," said Akram, who was the bowling consultant of current IP champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

Pakistani cricketers have not been allowed to take part in the lucrative IPL after the first edition due to varied reasons but mainly because of the diplomatic tensions between the two countries. Although Pakistani umpires, commentators and coaches will feature in the ongoing sixth edition of the IPL but no cricketer has been invited for the event.

"I am happy that now I will be able to play some role in Pakistan cricket because I want to give back what Pakistan cricket has given me. I want young bowlers to take advantage of my expertise and experience," Akram said.

Akram feels that since Pakistani bowlers are better than India's, it will only benefit the IPL. Although Pakistan team toured India for a short ODI series in December last year but the BCCI still didn't clear the way for the players from the neighbouring country to participate in the IPL. Last year the BCCI, however, for the first time allowed a Pakistani team to take part in the Champions League Twenty20 held in South Africa.

Akram also confirmed that he had signed an agreement with the Pakistan Cricket Board and as per the contract he would help in producing more pace bowlers for the country. Akram has also entered into a partnership with a leading cellular company, Ufone to hold trials and search for raw pacers throughout the country. But he said he will be holding a 10-day specialised camp for the Pakistan team pacers and upcoming youngsters performing in domestic cricket in Karachi later this month.

NEW franchise sunrisers after spirted win over pune

Hyderabad: A new-look Sunrisers Hyderabad made an inspired start to their IPL 6 campaign by defending a total of 126 with venom, beating a timid Pune Warriors by 22 runs to make it three wins in a row at their home ground of Uppal. The previous two came at the end of the 2012 season when the Hyderabad-based franchise was known as Deccan Chargers, but on Thursday, with a new name, new captain and new players, the home team gave their fans plenty to cheer about.
Pune simply choked on a gettable target, losing wickets in two decisive clusters - 4 for 15 after a 36-run opening stand and 6 for 21 after a 33-run stand between Abhishek Nayar and Ross Taylor. Pune's first fell behind the Powerplay, which produced just 27 runs, and just when it looked like Robin Uthappa (24) was starting to find his rhythm with a six and two fours, he steered a harmless delivery from Thisara Perera to Parthiv Patel behind the stumps.
Moments later Perera had his second wicket when Marlon Samuels played straight to Cameron White at slip. Then it was Amit Mishra's turn to hit Pune harder, with Yuvraj Singh stumped for 2 off a lovely delivery and Manish Pandey caught at point for a 28-ball 15. Mishra pocketed a third with his penultimate delivery, as Nayar (19) spooned a catch to extra cover to leave Pune needing 43 from the last four overs.
shish Reddy returned and bowled Taylor (17) with a full and swinging delivery and then Mitchell Marsh was run out after a firm blow from Angelo Mathews deflected off Perera's fingers onto the nonstriker's stumps. Defending 24 off 12 balls, Dale Steyn came back and cleaned up Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rahul Sharma in consecutive deliveries and then Dinda caught by White to spark celebrations from the Hyderabad fans. Steyn finished with excellent figures of 3 for 11 in 3.5 overs, having played a big role in not allowing Pune to get off to a flier at the start.
Hyderabad's performance in the field was needed after they struggled with the bat - they managed just 12 fours and a six, with no batsman able to cross 30 after Mathews opted to field. Just five boundaries peppered the Powerplay as Parthiv and Akshath Reddy played more deliveries to fielders than to the ropes. Dinda struck the first blow in the sixth over by bowling Parthiv (19) and Hyderabad didn't really cash in on the Powerplay, which produced just 38.
At this stage Reddy was on 12 off 14 balls, and 23 deliveries later, when Kumar Sangakkara advanced to Rahul Sharma and was bowled for 15, the 22-year-old had crawled to 23 off 25. Reddy's misery was put to an end when he too swung across the line and missed to give Yuvraj a wicket in his IPL comeback match, and with White falling to Samuels for 10 the hone team slumped to 87 for 4 in 15 overs. Perera slugged Samuels for four and six in the 17th over to raise Hyderabad's 100 but got as far as 30 before top-edging a full toss from Dinda to long-on. Dinda then held a smart catch at short fine leg to get rid of Hanuma Vihari, and then gave nine in the final over to finish with 2 for 29.

RAJASTHAN aims for winning start against delhi

New Delhi: After getting off with a loss in the season-opener, Delhi Daredevils would like to put up a better show when they take on an inexperienced Rajasthan Royals here on Saturday.
Already marred with injuries in the form of Kevin Pietersen, abd Jesse Ryder , Delhi's middle order has been weakened and this was exposed in the last match against Kolkata Knight Riders. But the continued absence of Virender Sehwag, who missed the last match due to back spasms, will deprive Delhi of a major batsman.
At the Eden Gardens, it was Delhi's middle order that flopped and failed to cash on the start provided by Mahela Jayawardene and David Warner after opting to bat first. Moreover, the experiment of playing Manprit Juneja in place of the experienced Venugopal Rao didn't work out and Delhi should think of undoing that in this match.

TOP STORIES

• IPL 6: Rajasthan aim for winning start against Delhi
• Injured Sehwag to miss Rajasthan Royals tie
• IPL 6: Mumbai Indians face up to all-round CSK's might
• IPL 6: New dawn for Sunrisers after spirited win over Pune Warriors
• PCB ropes in psychologist to regain Shahid Afridi's bowling form
• Rahul Dravid receives Padma Bhushan
• PCB plans to rope in Moin as cricket manager
• Pakistan need to work on swing bowling, advises Akram
• Dravid and Warne are different as captains, says Rahane
• Jasprit Bumrah: Unorthodox but effective find for Mumbai Indians

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IPL 6: Rajasthan aim for winning start against Delhi

cricketnext, Updated Apr 05, 2013 at 09:25pm IST

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New Delhi: After getting off with a loss in the season-opener, Delhi Daredevils would like to put up a better show when they take on an inexperienced Rajasthan Royals here on Saturday.
Already marred with injuries in the form of Kevin Pietersen, abd Jesse Ryder , Delhi's middle order has been weakened and this was exposed in the last match against Kolkata Knight Riders. But the continued absence of Virender Sehwag, who missed the last match due to back spasms, will deprive Delhi of a major batsman.
At the Eden Gardens, it was Delhi's middle order that flopped and failed to cash on the start provided by Mahela Jayawardene and David Warner after opting to bat first. Moreover, the experiment of playing Manprit Juneja in place of the experienced Venugopal Rao didn't work out and Delhi should think of undoing that in this match.

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After losing their season opener, Delhi Daredevils would like to change the tide when they take on Rajasthan Royals on their home turf.

Rahul Dravid will lead Rajasthan Royals for second year in a row.

Delhi's bowling in absence of Morne Morkel looks balanced with a three-pronged pace attack of Ashish Nehra, Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav. The spin department will be taken care of by left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and Johan Botha.
Rajasthan, after a dream start in the 2008 season, haven't made any significant impression in the later editions and finished bottom of the table. This time around they need to build momentum.
Under Rahul Dravid, the youngsters would be fired to do better for the bidding veteran and the team. The presence of Shane Watson in the camp can do wonders, but the opener will be joining the team from the second match. Rajasthan would be expecting a lot from Ajinkya Rahane who in the last season amassed 560 runs which also included a century from 16 matches.
Most likely, Dravid will again open with Rahane and the responsibility of the middle order will be shouldered by T20 veterans Brad Hodge and Owais Shah. Rajasthan have a decent bunch of Indian domestic players like Ashok Menaria, Stuart Binny and Dishant Yagnik and their role will matter a lot.
But on the bowling front, the signing of Fidel Edwards gives Rajasthan an alternative in place of Shaun Tait and a fit-again Sreesanth and Sidharth Trivedi can boost the attack. It would be interesting to see, if Rajasthan decide to blood young spinner Harmeet Singh early in the tournament and if not then they have Sunil Badree, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandela.
Going into the match, Delhi have the upper hand against Rajasthan with six wins and four losses out of 10 matches played against each other.
Probable XIs:
Delhi Daredevils: 1 Unmukt Chand, 2 David Warner, 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Venugopal Rao, 5 Naman Ojha (wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Johan Botha, 9 Ashish Nehra, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Shahbaz Nadeem
Rajasthan Royals: 1 Rahul Dravid (capt), 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Brad Hodge, 4 James Faulkner, 5 Owais Shah, 6 Stuart Binny, 7 Sreevats Goswami (wk), 8 S Sreesanth, 9 Siddharth Trivedi, 10 Harmeet Singh, 11 Brad Hogg/Fidel Edwards

aussies look to stop the defeat

Continuous losing in professional sport brings the worst out of people. Especially in Test cricket where individuals can perform outstandingly and still lose, where a match doesn't end for five days and tours go on for months, where you are stuck with the same faces preparing for the same results.

It brought the worst out of India when they were in Australia. They kept on picking the same failing batsmen, kept on batting in the same order, waited for some higher power to authorise the firings, and hoped that past glory will miraculously pull them out of the hole.

If India sleepwalked, as if on sedatives, through the losses, Australia have been behaving as if on crack. The thing they have been wielding is not so much an axe as it is a chainsaw. Nathan Lyon experienced it after the first Test, losing out to a limited-overs spinner. Now four others are out for discipline issues that the team management says have been accumulating.

Australia have made it clear that failing to show intent, discipline and subordination in team meetings is a bigger sin than not scoring a run off spinners or under-bowling a fast bowler on fire and over-bowling him into dust when he is not or making poor selections or failing to reverse-swing the ball.

The first set of things is what they can control, the latter depends more on skill and the application of that skill, which is not always in their control. Even if Australia lose every match on the trip, and there is a strong likelihood they will, they perhaps want to know they tried everything in their control.

There's not much left in their control, though: they might have only 12 men left to choose from, Steven Smith and Brad Haddin could be playing in the top six, but it's fair to say they will rather be on the field than in front of a green backdrop with strings of VB and Cricket Australia logos in the press conference room.

Form guide

India WWDLL (Last five matches, most recent first)
Australia LLWWW

Watch out for...

Phil Hughes will be aware he is allowed to sit in this test only because some others have been asked to stand outside the class for the next period. Hughes has faced 39 balls from spinners this series, and has been out four times without scoring a run. That spin barrage is not likely to stop any time soon. It will be interesting to see how he counters it.

Michael Clarke has finally decided to move up in the order in an attempt to prevent fires as opposed to doing all the firefighting with fewer specialist batsmen for company. You can seen, though, why Clarke wanted to cling on to No. 5: he averages 64 and 51 at Nos. 5 and 6, and only 22 and 25 at 4 and 3. We are not sure yet where exactly he will bat, but he has made the decision for the good of the team.

This will be Ishant Sharma's 50th Test. He averages 38.52 with the ball. No specialist bowler who has played 50 Tests has ended with an average that bad. Looking at India's pace resources, Ishant still has time to correct this statistic. Mohali at least should provide him more help than the two earlier pitches.

praveen kumar set for return

Praveen Kumar is set to return to competitive cricket after the BCCI lifted his suspension over the charge of misconduct during the Corporate Trophy and let him off after a month but not before giving the Indian medium pacer a severe reprimand for the incident. Kumar pleaded guilty after the BCCI issued him a show cause notice in February and now the board's disciplinary committee has decided to let him off giving a stern reprimand not to indulge in such misbehavior in the future. 

"BCCI has lifted the suspension and the president has decided to let Praveen off with a warning this time. The members felt that the month-long suspension was punishment enough. He had missed domestic games," a top BCCI official was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. "Praveen has been told in no uncertain terms that any kind of misbehavior henceforth will not be tolerated," the official added. 

Kumar had abused Ajitesh Argal and made intimidating advances during the match between ONGC and Income Tax despite the repeated warnings by the on-field umpire. The match referee, Dhananjay Singh, charged him with a fine of hundred percent match fee and further wrote a letter to the board terming him "mentally unfit". The BCCI issued a show cause notice and barred him to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Kumar will now feature in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament which starts from March 17, 2013. 

competitive pitch awaits teams in mohali

Australia have been promised a "competitive" pitch at Mohali, venue of the third Test beginning March 14, unlike the turners at Chennai and Hyderabad where they were mauled by Indian spinners. 

The track prepared for the match will suit both the bowlers and the batsmen and the organisers expect the game to go the full distance. 

"The wicket at the PCA ground will not be of the same character (as it was in Chennai and Hyderabad). The pitch here will be good for both the sides. It will not bring out a one-sided result as has happened in the first two matches," said PCA Secretary M.P. Pandove. 

"It will suit both the batsmen and the bowlers. The ball will come on to the bat nicely and there will be enough assistance for the pacers. The spinners will come into play later on. We would like to have real good cricket here," Pandove added. 

India completely outplayed the visitors in the first two Tests, winning by eight wickets in Chennai and by an innings and 135 runs in Hyderabad. 

PCA president I S Bindra said that the groundsmen in Mohali have made a "competitive pitch". 

"We have done exactly this (made a competitive pitch) so that spectators also enjoy and players also put in their best," he said. 

Mohali has traditionally helped the seamers in the initial stages of the match before it becomes a good batting track. The spinners generally get some assistance towards the end of the fourth day. 

The PCA Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for India, who have lost just one match of the 10 Tests played here. They have won four while five matches ended in draws. 

New Zealand have recorded the highest score of 636/6 declared in a drawn match against India in 2003 while the lowest ever score was registered by the hosts in 1994 when they were bowled out for a paltry 114 in the second innings against the West Indies while chasing 358. 

Bindra, meanwhile, said since PCA wants more spectators to come for the match, tickets prices have been kept low. 

"Other centers have also started adopting our policy," he added. 

Pandove further said that for attracting youngsters, the rate of the tickets for the students have been priced as low as Rs 150 for five days. 

"The cricket academies in the tri-city -- Chandigarh Mohali and Panchkula -- will be given a discount of 25 per cent so that they can accommodate the poor trainees who cannot even afford the cheap tickets," he added. 

The air-conditioned lounge tickets have been priced at Rs 4,000, box seat at Rs 5,000, VIP enclosure Rs 750 and Chair Class Rs 250, Pandove informed, adding that the sale of tickets will commence on Friday. 

clarke need some assistance

Australia's wicketkeeper Matthew Wade has said the batsmen need to find the right balance between patience and aggression if they are to give Michael Clarke the support he needs to turn the Test tour of India around. Clarke has scored more than twice as many runs as any other member of Australia's top six during the first two Tests and will move up the order from No.5 for the third Test in Mohali in an effort to exert greater influence on Australia's batting innings.

More than a quarter of Australia's runs in the series have come off the bat of Clarke but only two batsmen have accompanied him for meaningful partnerships, Moises Henriques, in a 151-run stand in Chennai, and Wade for a 145-run partnership in Hyderabad. That ended when Wade cut a catch to backward point off Harbhajan Singh for 62, the ball after a missed stumping, and Wade said he knew he had thrown away a chance to really influence the game.

"Michael has had to score a truckload of runs for us," Wade said. "I felt very disappointed when I got out in this Test match. We'd put on nearly 150 runs and we were both really going. If I could have hung around with him, it could have been endless. Individually we'd like to stick around with him and help him out a little bit more and take the pressure off him. But I'm sure he's going to keep scoring runs no matter what."

For most of Australia's batsmen getting starts has not been the problem, but rather finding a way to stay at the crease long and push through to a much longer innings. In some cases they have fallen trying to force some runs to relieve pressure, while in other instances they have found themselves too tentative. Achieving the right balance is a fine art that the Indian batsmen have mastered in this series.

"Getting a boundary away or playing a scoring shot relieves the pressure a little bit," Wade said. "It's hard work to try to stay mentally in your game plan and not go away from that when the spinners are bowling really well. One thing that I definitely saw in the first innings [in Hyderabad] is when you do get on top, things start to happen a lot quicker. You can go from 20 to 50 quickly in these conditions.

"We might have to be a little bit more aggressive at times to get India to do something different because if they get into a rhythm and just bowl dot after dot, the game's not going anywhere for us. We're just sitting ducks. We've got to try to be a little bit more aggressive and put the pressure back on their bowlers."

However, in some cases when the Australians have tried to do just that it has cost them their wickets. Two Tests in to the series, the batsmen are starting to realise just how difficult the Indian conditions can be in Test cricket, which is a new experience for all but Clarke and Shane Watson among the batting group. Wade said the first two Tests had "definitely" been a wake-up call for the batsmen, who had a centre-wicket practice session on the Hyderabad pitch on what should have been day five of the Test.

"The West Indies [2012 tour] was similar to these kinds of conditions, big-spinning wickets, hard to score, good spinners, good quicks bowling reverse," Wade said. "Coming from Australian conditions to these conditions is a massive difference and it has taken a little bit of time to adapt. But that's no excuse. We had two trials games where our batters got good innings and our bowlers had a good bowl.

"We were a little bit flat [after the loss] but training has helped the mood, to get out there and start honing our skills again. Going to a ground day five when you were supposed to be playing, it's not a great result when you are there training, but everyone was pretty focused individually on how to get better. The bigger thing is that as a team we need to get better so as the training session went on people got a little more relaxed and came out of their shell."

nawab of najafgarh dropped from remaining tests

Virender Sehwag has been dropped from India's Test side for the first time since he made an emphatic comeback to the long format with a century in Adelaide in 2008-09. That, incidentally, remains his last century outside Asia. No replacement has been named for Sehwag for the remaining two Tests of the series against Australia, which makes Shikhar Dhawan a favourite to open in the Mohali Test starting on March 14

The two remaining Tests of the current series, which India lead 2-0, are the last ones they are scheduled to play before they go on four continuous overseas tours beginning with South Africa later this year.

In his first reaction, Sehwag - who had been dropped from the ODI side for the series against England in January - tweeted: "Will continue to work hard for my place in the team. I trust my game and am confident that, 'I'll be back.' Best wishes to the team."

Since his comeback, Sehwag's performance outside Asia might have been questionable, but he kept his place in the side with typically dazzling match-winning knocks on the lower and slower tracks. Outside Asia, since Adelaide, Sehwag has scored just 523 runs in 12 Tests, at an average of 22.73 with a highest of 67. In Asia, though, over the same period he has amassed 3622 runs at 57.49, at a game-changing strike rate of 94.1.

However, over the last two years, the big innings began to dry up even in Asia. After his 173 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad in November 2010, he had to wait more than two years for another Test century. In November 2012, Sehwag earned another lease of life with a typical century against England again in Ahmedabad but, between then and being dropped, he has had scores of 25, 30, 9, 23, 49, 0, 2, 19 and 6.

This is a big fall for India's most prolific opening combination in Tests: Gautam Gambhir was dropped before the start of the Australia after three years without a Test century. Now India are possibly looking at a raw opening combination going into South Africa.

Not even naming a replacement opener is a big statement made by selectors who don't seem to have other options available but have still gone ahead and omitted him. Dhawan, his Delhi team-mate, is now a front-runner for Mohali, but Ajinkya Rahane can't be ruled out either. Sandeep Patil, the chairman of selectors, did say before the start of the England series that Rahane was picked as a middle-order batsman, but the Indian team management has been flexible and doesn't always stick to statements made in the press.

India squad: MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), M Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Cheteshwar Pujara.