SUNIL GAVASKAR HISTORY

Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar pronunciation (help·info) (Marathi: सुनिल मनोहर गावसकर) (born 10 July 1949 in Bombay, Bombay State (now Mumbai, Maharashtra)), is a former cricketer who played during the 1970s and 1980s for Bombay and India. Widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen in test match history, Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most runs and most centuries scored by any batsman. He held the record of 34 Test centuries for almost two decades before it was broken by Sachin Tendulkar in December 2005.

Gavaskar was widely admired for his technique against fast bowling, with a particularly high average of 65.45 against the West Indies, who possessed a four-pronged fast bowling attack regarded as the most vicious in Test history. His captaincy of the Indian team, however, was less successful. The team at one stage went 31 Test matches without a victory. There were incidents like crowd displeasure at Eden Gardens in Calcutta leading to multiple matches being disrupted, in response to the poor performance of the Indian team. Turbulent performances of the team led to multiple exchanges of captaincy between Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, with one of Gavaskar's sackings coming just six months before Kapil led India to victory at the 1983 Cricket World Cup.

Style

Gavaskar was also a fine slip fielder and his safe catching in the slips helped him become the first Indian (excluding wicket-keepers) to take over a hundred catches in Test matches. In one ODI against Pakistan in Sharjah in 1985, he took four catches and helped India defend a small total of 125. Early in his Test career, when India rarely used pace bowlers, Gavaskar also opened the bowling for a short spell on occasions if only one pace bowler was playing, before a three-pronged spin attack took over. The only wicket claimed by him is that of Pakistani Zaheer Abbas in 1978–79.

While Gavaskar could not be described as an attacking batsman, he had the ability of keeping the scoreboard ticking with unique shots such as the "late flick". His focus of technical correctness over flair meant that his style of play was usually less suited to the shorter form of the game, at which he had less success. His renowned 36 not out in the 1975 World Cup, carrying his bat through the full 60 overs against England, lead Indian supporters to storm the field and confront him. Gavaskar almost went through his career without scoring a one-day century. He managed his first (and only ODI century) in the 1987 World Cup, when he hit 103 not out against New Zealand in his penultimate ODI innings at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur.

Personal life

Sunil is married to Marshneil Gavaskar (née Mehrotra), daughter of a leather industrialist in Kanpur. They have a son Rohan. Sunil Gavaskar also played a heroic role in the 1993 Bombay Riots, where he sheltered a Muslim family[9] . He also shielded victims with his body, saying "first you have to hit me" to the rioters

source:http://en.wikipedia.org

KAPIL DEV HISTORY

Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj[1] (Hindi: कपिल देव) ( pronunciation (help·info)) (born 6 January 1959, Chandigarh), better known as Kapil Dev, is a former Indian cricketer. He captained the Indian cricket team which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup. Named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002,[2] Kapil Dev was also India's national cricket coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000.


Kapil was a right-arm pace bowler noted for his graceful action and potent outswinger, and was India's main strike bowler for most of his career. He also developed a fine inswinging yorker during the 1980s, which he used very effectively against tail-enders. As a batsman, he was a natural striker of the ball who could hook and drive effectively. A naturally aggressive player, he often helped India in difficult situations by taking the attack to the opposition. Nicknamed The Haryana Hurricane, he represented the Haryana cricket team in domestic cricket.[3] He retired in 1994, holding the world record for the most number of wickets taken in test cricket, a record subsequently broken by Courtney Walsh in 2000. At the time, he was also India's highest wicket taker in both major forms of cricket, Tests and ODIs). He is the only player in the history of cricket to have taken more than 400 wickets and scored more than 5,000 runs in test cricket, making him one of the greatest all-rounders to have played the game. On 8 March 2010, Kapil Dev was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame [4]

Early life

Born in a Punjabi family to Ram Lal Nikhanj and Raj Kumari Lajwanti (maiden name), Kapil Dev was the sixth of seven siblings. His parents had emigrated from a village near Rawalpindi during Partition, whereafter Ram Lal Nikhanj settled in Chandigarh and into a prosperous building and timber business. Kapil Dev was a student at D.A.V. School and joined Desh Prem Azad in 1971.

Domestic career

Kapil Dev made an impressive debut for Haryana in November 1975 against Punjab with a 6 wicket haul, restricting Punjab to just 63 runs and helping Haryana to victory. Kapil finished the season with 12 wickets in 3 matches.

In the 1976–77 season opener against Jammu & Kashmir, he had a match haul of 8/36 to win the match for his team. While his contributions for the rest of the season was ordinary, Haryana qualified for the pre quarterfinals. Kapil Dev achieved his then best innings haul of 7/20 in just 9 overs in the second innings to skittle Bengal for 58 runs in under 19 overs. Although Haryana lost to Bombay in the quarter finals, his form made the nation sit up and take notice.

Kapil began his 1977–78 season claiming 8/38 in the first innings against Services. With 3 wickets in the second innings, he took his maiden 10-wicket haul in first-class cricket, a feat he would later achieve twice in Test cricket. With 23 wickets in 4 matches, he was selected for the Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Wills Trophy matches.

For the 1978–79 season, Haryana had a repeat encounter with Bengal in the pre-quarterfinal match after a lackluster bowling season from Kapil Dev (12 wickets from 4 matches), riding on the performance of the season's leading wicket-taker – Rajinder Kaul. Kapil Dev however scored 2 half-centuries in the group stage matches. In the pre-quarterfinal match, he rose to the occasion by taking a 5-wicket haul in the first innings. Poor batting by Haryana in the second innings meant Bengal could avenge their loss from 2 seasons back by scoring the required 161 runs for the loss of just 4 wickets. Kapil Dev stood out in the Irani Trophy match scoring 62 runs coming in at number 8. He also took 5 catches in the game where Karnataka was defeated by the Rest of India XI. Kapil Dev arrived in the national spotlight with a trademark standout performance in the finals of the Duleep Trophy taking a first innings haul of 7/65 in 24 overs. Kapil was included in the North Zone squad for Deodhar Trophy and Wills Trophy for the first time. He played his first Test match in the season against Pakistan

In the 1979–80 season, Kapil showed his batting talent with a maiden century against Delhi when he scored his career best 193. In the pre-quarterfinal match, where he captained Haryana for the first time against Uttar Pradesh, he took a five wicket haul in the second innings to advance to quarter finals where they lost to Karnataka. With Kapil cementing his place in the Indian national squad, his appearances in domestic matches dwindled.

Post World Cup

After the World Cup, India hosted the West Indies cricket team and felt their fury as the tourists won the Test series 3–0 and the ODI Series 6–0. Kapil Dev achieved his best test bowling performance in a loss at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad with a return of 9/83[31]. His bowling performance in the test and ODI series was let down by his poor batting performance. The selectors ended the Kapil's reign by reappointing Gavaskar as captain in early 1984.
source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapil_Dev

AJAY JADEJA HISTORY

Ajay Jadeja

Ajaysinhji Daulatsinhji Jadeja pronunciation (help·info) was born on 1 February 1971 in Jamnagar, Gujarat in a Rajput family. He was a regular in the Indian cricket team between 1992 and 2000, playing in 15 Test matches and 196 One Day Internationals. His cricketing achievements were overshadowed by a 5 year ban for match-fixing. The ban was later quashed by the Delhi High Court on 27 January 2003, making Jadeja eligible to play domestic and international cricket.

Early life

Jadeja was born into the Rajput royal family of Nawanagar, now Jamnagar, which has a cricketing pedigree, producing the likes of K. S. Ranjitsinhji and K. S. Duleepsinhji


Career

Jadeja was a regular in the Indian cricket team between 1992 and 2000, playing in 15 Test matches and 196 One Day Internationals. He was regarded as one of the best fielders in the Indian team in his time. One of his most remembered innings was his cameo innings in 1996 Cricket World Cup quarter-final against arch rivals Pakistan when he blasted 45 off 25 balls, including 40 from the final two overs by Waqar Younis. Jadeja along with Mohammed Azharuddin holds the record for the highest one day partnership record for the 4th and 5th wicket, set against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka respectively.

Another memorable occasion of his career was taking 3 wickets for 3 runs in 1 over against England in Sharjah to win the match for India. Jadeja has captained India in 13 One-day matches. One of Jadeja's favourite hunting grounds was the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, the venue of the quarter-final against Pakistan in the 1996 World Cup. The last time Jadeja played in a one day international was against Pakistan in the Pepsi Asia Cup on 3 June 2000. He scored 93 in a game that India eventually lost. Jadeja was the top scorer hitting 8 fours and 4 sixes.

Jadeja's cricketing achievements were later overshadowed by a 5 year ban for match-fixing. The ban was later quashed by the Delhi High Court on 27 January 2003, making Jadeja eligible to play domestic and international cricket. Jadeja had approached the Delhi High Court on 2 February 2001, challenging the BCCI order imposing the five-year ban on the basis of the K. Madhavan Committee recommendations.

Jadeja is currently the coach of Rajasthan and a cricket commentator.

source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajay_Jadeja

JAVAGAL SRINATH HISTORY

Javagal Srinath (Kannada: ಜಾವಗಲ್‌ ಶ್ರೀನಾಥ್‌) pronunciation (help·info) (born August 31, 1969 in Mysore, Karnataka) is a former Indian cricketer. He was a frontline fast bowler for the Indian cricket team until his retirement, being the only Indian pace bowler apart from Kapil Dev to take 200 Test wickets, until Zaheer Khan achieved that milestone. At his peak, he was arguably one of the world's fastest bowlers. One ball that he bowled during the 1996 tour of South Africa measured 156kph. He also clocked 154.5 km/h at the 1999 World Cup[1]

Personal life

Srinath was born in Mysore in Karnataka. He was attracted towards cricket right from an early age. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Instrumentation Technology from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore

Career summary

Although Srinath was a batsman as a youth, it was in a club match that he caught the eye of former Indian Test batsman Gundappa Viswanath, now a selector for the state team. In 1989/90, Srinath made his first class debut for Karnataka against Hyderabad, taking a hat trick in the first innings. He followed this with wickets from successive balls in the second innings. Srinath finished the season with 25 wickets from six matches, and took another 20 the following season. The second season involved a display of reverse swing against Maharashtra at the Nehru Stadium in Pune, taking 7/93 to dismiss the home team for 311 in response to a Karnataka total of 638 on a good batting track.

Srinath was selected to the Indian cricket team for the 1991/92 tour of Australia. Making his Test debut against Australia at Brisbane, he took 3/59 while playing as the third pace bowler. He finished the tour with ten wickets at 55.30. He was given an opportunity to take the new ball against South Africa in Cape Town, where he took an economical 4/33 in 27 overs. Srinath ended the tour with 12 wickets at 26.08. However, due to wickets in India being conducive to spin, he subsequently spent seven consecutive home Tests watching from the sidelines as India only fielded two pacemen. It was not until three years after his international debut, in late 1994 and with the retirement of Kapil Dev that Srinath played his first home Test, against the West Indies. He took five wickets and scored 60 in the second innings to be named Man of the Match as India won by 96 runs. His increased opportunities also coincided with an improvement in his batting, scoring two half-centuries in the series.

Srinath then made his One Day International debut in the Wills Trophy at Sharjah in 1992. He became the fastest bowler to take 100 ODI wickets, reaching the mark 3 years and 19 days after his debut. He is also India's most prolific wicket-taker at World Cups with 44 wickets from 34 matches.

Srinath took over 500 first class wickets, playing for Karnataka he took 96 at 24.06. In 1995, he joined Gloucestershire, and took 87 wickets in his one and only season with them including taking 9-76 against Glamorgan. He has also played English county cricket with Leicestershire and Durham.

In the 1996-97 series in South Africa, Srinath's speeds were timed at 150 km/h with one particular delivery measured at 156 km/h. [2] For many years, Srinath was India's only regular pace bowler, and the workload is often believed to be the partial cause of injuries, which forced him to undergo an operation on his right shoulder in 1997.

Some critics argue that Srinath's average and strike rate suffered as a result of bowling on the predominantly dry and spin-friendly wickets in India; however, his average at home was in fact superior to his average away from India. Srinath knew how to reverse swing the ball.

Though his batting average is not impressive, he has played quite a few scintillating innings and won matches for India with his batting. He scored a vital 30 runs off 23 balls against Australia in the 8th match of Titan cup series (1996) in Bangalore, thus winning the match and securing a berth in the finals for India. This innings contained 2 fours and a six. In the same series he also scored a 50 against South Africa in Rajkot.

He retired from international cricket after the 2003 World Cup in South Africa in which he performed strongly until the final against Australia, where he appeared to be overwhelmed by the pressure of the occasion, conceding 87 off his 10 overs. He toured England with the famous Lashings World XI team in the summer of 2005, and also served as a commentator for the India-England Test series in 2006.

In April 2006, he was selected as a match referee by the International Cricket Council and served during the 2007 World Cup.

SOURCE:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javagal_Srinath 

sourav ganguly's history

                                                     sourav ganguly's life
Name : Sourav Chandidas Ganguly.
Nick name : Dada, The Prince of Kolkata.
Date of Birth : July 08, 1972.
Place of Birth : Kolkata, INDIA.
Batting Style : Left Handed Batsman.
Bowling Style : Right Arm Medium.
Role : Middle order batsman in Test’s.
ODI Debut : With West Indies in 1992.
TEST Debut : With England in 1996 at Lords.
Playing Teams :Bengal, INDIA and Kolkata Knight Riders (Captain).


ONE DAY INTERNATIONAL CARRIER::

About Batting ::

Matches : 311(As on April2008)
Runs : 11363
Best : 183 vs. Sri Lanka@Tauton,England in 1999.
Strike Rate : 82.78
Average : 41.02
100’s : 22
50’s : 72

About Bowling ::

Matches : 311
Wickets : 100
Best figures : 16/5 with Pakistan in 1999.
Economy :: 5.34run’s per over.
Average : 38.49
Catches : 100.

TEST CARRIER::

About Batting ::

Matches : 109*(As on October 2008).
Runs : 6935.
Best : 239 with Pakistan in 2007.
Strike Rate :: 49.65 .
Average : 42.74.
100’s : 15.
50’s : 34.

About Bowling::

Matches : 106*.
Wickets : 34.
Best figures : 37/3.
Economy : 4.67run’s per over.
Average : 51.31.
Catches : 69

Ganguly’s personal information::

Ganguly full name is Sourav Chandidas Ganguly in which in his name, the middle name is his fathers name i.e., Chandidas and his mothers name is Nirupa Ganguly. Ganguly was the youngest son of Nirupa and chandidas ganguly. His father was a secretary of the cricket Association of Bengal and was of riches person in whole city. His family was very big family with 45 relatives in joint family. By the inspiration of his brother, Ganguly stepped into the cricketing field, his brother Snehasish Ganguly would play for Bengal. Although Ganguly was Right Handed Batsman, he was inspired by his brothers technique, in order to use the technique of his brother he started practicing in Left handed. Ganguly joined one of the cricket academy in Bengal and worked hard to make his career bright, though his family was so not supporting him, as they want Ganguly to concentrate on studies not on cricket. An indoor multi-gyan and concrete wicket was built at home for him and his brother, and he would often watch cricket videos especially his hero David Gower. He did his schooling in “St. Xavier’s school”.


Starting from his carrier::

As Ganguly began his career in 1990-91.Actually Ganguly was picked into Indian team in 1990-91 season, but due to his inconsistent performance he was taken out from the team. In his first ODI he just scored only 3 run’s against West Indies in1992.
As we all know “Failure is the stepping stone for success” Ganguly also learnt how to solve his mistakes after being excluded from the team, he rushed into Domestic cricket and scored ton’s of run’s through out that season i.e.,4-5 years. That season was unforgettable for his life, and also bounced back into in national side against tour of England in 1996.

He was selected for only one ODI and again omitted from Test cricket as there was no place in Test squad, but luck was so good that due to the controversies between his teammates Navjot Singh Siddu and captain Mohammad Azharuddin, siddu left the touring party, and so Ganguly was included alongside Rahul Dravid. On his Test Debut Ganguly made century and became the only third cricketer to score a century on debut and there on Dada did not see backside and went on scoring run’s for team India.

As Ganguly made his ODI debut in1992 against West Indies, but he could manage to make his maiden ODI century in the year 1997 against Sri Lanka by scoring 113 smashing all over the park. There on Ganguly opened the innings for every ODI match that was played. Ganguly was very keen playing against Pakistan, and at the same season where he was in great touch with bat, SAHARA cup has been started; he performed so brilliantly not only with bat but also with bowl. He made his best bowling figures in that series (16/5).

In the 1999 world cup, he smashed his career best 183 against Sri Lanka at Tauton of 158 balls by smashing 17four’s and 7six’s, and that was the same match where sachin and himself(Ganguly) made second best record partnership(318)…..


After naming him as a captain::

It was year 2000, after the match fixing scandal Sourav Ganguly was named as a captain of Indian team. Under his Captaincy India played brilliantly in the world cup 2003. India reached the world cup Final, where they lost to the Australians in the Final’s.
During his captaincy, he was able to concentrate only his captaincy, but not on his individual performance. He was very much happy that team was performing well under captaincy after the success of 2003 world cup. As his performance was going down and down, the winning margin of team India was also going down and he was dropped from the team in October 2005. Again he went to his domestic cricket and English county cricket, did well there and proved everyone wrong that he his player that should and must play for team India. Ganguly is the only fourth player to score 22centuries behind Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky ponting, Sanath Jayasuriya.

After his comeback in 2006::

Ganguly made his comeback when team India was struggling with opening slot and middle order batting slot against South Africa in One Day Series in South Africa. So he was recalled for the Test squad against South Africa, and performed well in the tour match against Rest of South Africa team by scoring 83 runs. The first Test was started and opening slot and number3 batsman
Went out very cheaply, and then Ganguly came in and stood for very long time in crease and scored crucial 51 runs in low scoring game which helped India to win in South Africa for the first time. As his performance was good in that series and as he is one of the senior members of Indian team he was included in 2007 world cup. There were lots of controversies when he was dropped from his team.


Controversary between Chappel and Ganguly::

When India played against Zimbabwe in the year 2005, Ganguly scored majestic century against Zimbabwe where his form was not so good at that period. He was interviewed by the Harsha Bhogle in the later evening session after day’s match was completed talking about his century .He was interviewed many questions asking about his shots and his return form then Harsha Bhogle asked that “Some has told you to step down from captaincy” is it right? Then Ganguly answered “ya it is true” and told it is part of a game, but that issue was stopped there later in the early 206, Greg Chappel who was coach of Indian team emailed to BCCI stating that Ganguly was unfit to lead team India. This email was leaked through out media and country and created history in home town of Ganguly. However 10 months later he was again picked into Indian team.


Ganguly in Indian premier League(IPL)::

Ganguly named as captain of Kolkata Knight Riders team which was owned by Shah Rukh Khan, though he was not a specialist of 20-20 format he has ton’s of experience of captaincy in his bags, so he has given to led Kolkata Knight Riders team. He could able to score only 10 runs in his opening match against Bangalore Royal Challengers, but team got victory in a long margin of 148 runs in which Mccullam’s great knock of 158 not out including 10fours and 13six’s helped them to a victory. They won first 2 matches quite handsomely but, they started losing the matches when team lost the crucial players like Mccullam and ponting…. His team was on the top of the table for few days, when they were performing well it was everything good and fine but started losing there after when they lost their players, however they managed to win 4 more matches in the next 12 matches in which one was no result. His team in the race of semi finals when they won 6 of 12 matches, but on the other side teams like Mumbai Indians and Delhi Dare Devils were cruising, so they out of IPL tournament and other four different teams were qualified for the semi finals.


Some Achievements and records of Ganguly::

~ Ganguly and Sachin is a world record holder for creating most number of 50 run parternerships in the first wicket(44) and they also have (26)century parternerships for the first wicket.

~ Ganguly is the only fourth player to cross 11,000 ODI runs besides Sachin, Ponting and Jayasuriya.
~ He also holds the record to reach 6000, 7000, 8000 and 9000 ODI runs in the fewest number of matches.

~ In the year 2004, Ganguly was awarded the “Padma Sri”.

~ He captained team India in a record of 49 Test matches in which he won 21 of these, including 12 of them outside India was his biggest Achievement.

~ He also led India to their first series win in both Test and ODI’s in Pakistan.

~ He also led India to victory over Steve Waugh’s Australia in the 2001 Border Gavaskar Trophy which is considered one of he greatest in Indian cricket history

~ Ganguly and Sachin holds the record of most 200+ODI partnerships (6 times).

~ He was involved in the first 300 run ODI partnership with Rahul Dravid.

~ He scored highest number of ODI runs in the year 1997, 1999 and 2000.

~ He scored 7centuries in a single year 2000 and stood second in the list of highest number of centuries in a single calendar.

~ He won 3 Man of the Series awards in Test cricket which was against England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and 7 in ODI cricket which was against Pakistan(2), Sri Lanka(1), West Indies(2), New Zealand(1) and Zimbabwe(1).

~ He won 6 Man of the Match awards in Test cricket which was against England, Sri Lanka(2), Australia and South Africa, and 31 awards in ODI’s.
source:http://cricketershistory.blogspot.com/2008/06/sourav-ganguly-name-sourav-chandidas.html

SACHIN'S HIOSTORY

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                                                  sachin's history
Full Name: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born: April 24, 1973, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Major teams: India, Mumbai, Yorkshire
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Slow medium pace and spin

Achievements:
Most runs and most centuries in ODIs
Highest number of Test centuries
First cricketer to make 10,000 runs in ODIs
Most runs in World Cup history
Highest individual score by an Indian (186 not out)
Most Man of the Man awards in ODIs
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1997
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 1997-98
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, generally known as Sachin Tendulkar is an Indian Cricket player who is considered to be one of the all time greatest batsmen to have ever played the game of Cricket. The renowned Cricket magazine Wisden ranked Sachin Tendulkar the 2nd all time greatest Test Cricket batsman, only after Sir Donald Bradman at the 1st place in the year 2002. Also, the magazine ranked him the 2nd all time greatest ODI batsman after Viv Richards at the first spot.

Accolades
Shane Warne, the leg spinner from Australia had once remarked Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest player he has played with, and Tendulkar, also known as the Little Master has also to his credit the honor of being the only player of the current generation who was included by Sir Donald Bradman in his dream team named Bradman’s Eleven.

Sachin Tendulkar is the batsman to have scored the biggest number of runs both in Test Cricket and ODI Cricket the world over, and has also to his credit the biggest number of centuries in both the forms of the game. He has scored over 80 centuries in the game of Cricket till now, and is the first batsman ever to score more than 50 centuries.

He is the first Cricket player who has scored over 10,000 runs in the One Day International (ODI) Cricket. Sachin has been conferred upon the Padma Vibhushan award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for his services to the nation as a sportsperson.

Early Life
Sachin Tendulkar was born on 24th of April, 1973 in Mumbai to a Marathi Novelist, Ramesh Tendulkar. Sachin got inspired to play cricket from his elder brother Ajit, and started playing the game at an early age in his school, Sharadashram Vidya Mandir. Under the guidance of his coach, Ramakant Achrekar, he learnt the basics of the game and showed his prowess along with his school mate and another future batsman of the Indian team, Vinod Kambli.

Test and ODI Debut
Sachin Tendulkar made his Test Cricket debut with a Test match played against Pakistan in Karachi in the year 1989, in which he scored 15 runs before being bowled out by Waqar Younis, a yet another Cricketer who debuted with this match. He began his ODI Cricket career in a match against Pakistan played on 18th of December 1989 at Gujranwala, Pakistan. He could, though, not make a single run in this match and just after facing 2 balls was caught by Wasim Akram on a Waqar Younis ball.

Remarkable Achievements
Tendulkar has shown some of his best batting performances against the Cricket team of Australia, one of the strongest teams during his period. As a matter of fact, the legendry Sir Donald Bradman had at one time reportedly told her wife that the playing style of Sachin reminded him of his own game in his youth.

Sachin has always created new records and destroyed innumerable of them that had been already established. At the age of 17 years he scored his first Test century, and by the age of 25 he had scored 16 of them. At the moment he is the Cricketer with largest number of Test and ODI centuries to his credit, and outclassed Brian Lara as the biggest Test scorer in the year 2008.

Captaincy
Twice in his Cricket career, Sachin had been nominated the Captain of the Indian Cricket team, but none of them proved to be much successful. Also, the pressure of Captaincy took a toll upon his performance as a batsman.

Overall Performance
In his overall Test Career till April 2009, Sachin Tendulkar has played 159 Test matches and has scored 12773 runs in them, including 42 centuries and 53 half-centuries, with an average of 54.58 runs and a highest score of 248 Not Out. In these matches, he also grabbed 44 wickets giving away 2272 runs at an average of 51.63 runs.

In his One Day International (ODI) Cricket career, however, Sachin has played 425 matches till April 2009, and scored 16684 runs including 43 centuries and 91 half-centuries, with an average of 44.37 runs and a highest score of 186 Not Out.

Awards and Recognitions
For his great capabilities as a Cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar has been bestowed upon the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India. The Cricket magazine Wisden named him the Cricketer of the year in 1997, and according to Wisden 100, he is the 2nd Best Test Batsman and the Best ODI Bestman of all times.
source:http://www.iloveindia.com/sports/cricket/cricketers/sachin.htm

SEHWAG HISTORY

 Sehwag history

Full Name: Virender Sehwag
Born: October 20, 1978, Delhi
Major teams: India, Delhi, ICC World XI, Leicestershire,
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

Achievements:
First ever Indian to score 300 runs in a Test innings
Highest individual score by an Indian in Tests (309)
Highest-ever Test score at over a run-a-ball (254 off 247 balls against Pakistan)
Involved in the highest opening partnership for a Test played away from India (410 with Dravid)
Virender Sehwag, fondly known as Viru, is an Indian Cricket player and considered to be one of the best batsmen India has got. He is a right handed batsman and a casual Off Spin bowler. Sehwag has a number of records to his credit, including the highest score by an Indian player in a Test match that he achieved in a match against South Africa played at Chennai on 26th of March 2008. He scored 319 runs off just 278 balls in the match, which was also the fastest Triple Century in Test Cricket. Sehwag is one of the three batsmen in the world who have scored 2 Triple Centuries in Test Cricket, and scored the fastest ODI century by an Indian Cricketer in March 2009 off just 60 balls in an ODI match against New Zealand on 11th of March 2009 at Hamilton.

Early Life
Virender Sehwag was born on the 20th of October 1978 at New Delhi in a business family. He developed a liking for the game of Cricket at quite an early age, and received his education at Arora Vidya School in Delhi where he started learning to play Cricket seriously under the guidance of his coach A.N. Sharma.

He started playing for the Delhi Cricket team in the year 1997-98, and played for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy tournament in the year 1998-99. In the year 1999 he was selected for the National Under-19 Cricket team of India, and was chosen for the National Cricket team 2 years later.

One Day International (ODI) Debut
The One Day International (ODI) Cricket career of Virender Sehwag began with an ODI match against Pakistan played in Chandigarh on 1st of April 1999, although he just faced 2 balls by Shoaib Akhtar and got LBW out after scoring a single run in this match. 2 years later, he scored 58 runs off 54 balls in an ODI match against Australia played in Bangalore to win his first Man of the Match award. He also took 3 wickets, giving away 59 runs in this match.

Test Debut
Sehwag debuted in Test Cricket with a Test match against South Africa played at Bloemfontein on 3rd of November 2001. He played an impressive 105 runs in the first innings and 31 runs in the second innings of the match, although he took no wickets and gave away 22 runs in the match.

He is known for making huge scores, and the last 11 centuries he has scored have been over 150 runs, breaking Sir Donald Bradman’s record of scoring 7 centuries more than 150 runs in a row.

Overall Performance
In his overall Test Cricket career till April 2009, Sehwag has played 69 Test matches and has scored 5757 runs including 15 centuries and 18 half-centuries with an average of 50.06 runs and a highest score of 319 runs. He also took 29 wickets in these matches giving away 1265 runs, with an average of 43.62 runs.

Sehwag has also played 205 One Day International (ODI) matches, and has scored 6592 runs in these matches with an average of 34.33 runs and a highest score of 130 runs. He has managed to grab 84 wickets in ODI matches, giving away 3531 runs at an average of 40.58 runs.

Delhi Daredevils Captaincy
Virender Sehwag has been leading the Delhi Daredevils team in the Indian Premiere League 2009, as he was the Captain of the team last year too. Under his leadership, Delhi Daredevils have defeated Kings XI Punjab in the Twenty 20 match played on 19th of April 2009 at Cape Town by 10 wickets. Due to rains, the target for Delhi Daredevils had been limited to 54 runs from 6 overs, and they accomplished it in 4.5 overs. Sehwag contributed by scoring 38 runs (Not Out) off just 16 balls to get his team the victory in its first IPL match in the year 2009.

source:http://www.iloveindia.com/sports/cricket/cricketers/sehwag.html

RAHUL DRAVID HISTORY

                                                   RAHUL'S LIFE
Full Name: Rahul Sharad Dravid
Born: January 11, 1973, Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Major teams: India, Scotland, ICC World XI, Karnataka, Kent
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm off break

Achievements:
Longest streak of consecutive Tests since debut (94)
Greatest number of innings since debut before being dismissed for a duck
The best career test average among the contemporary test batsmen (58.55)
Involved in the highest partnership (331 runs) in the history of ODI cricket along with Sachin Tendulkar vs New Zealand
ICC Player of the Year 2004.
Rahul Sharad Dravid, generally known as Rahul Dravid is an Indian Cricket player and has been the Captain of the team for some time. Owing to his long and steady innings at the crease, Dravid is sometimes referred to as “The Wall” by Indian media and fans. Apart from Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid is the only Indian batsman who has scored over 10,000 runs in Test Cricket, and the 6th batsman in the world to have scored 10,000 runs in One Day International (ODI) Cricket, although 2 other Indian batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly had achieved the feat before him.

Dravid also has grabbed the biggest number of catches in the history of Test Cricket with a total of 182 catches, and has partnered in 72 centuries with 18 different batsmen which is in itself a world record.

Early Life
Rahul Dravid was born on the 11th of January 1973 at Indore, Madhya Pradesh and was brought up in Bangalore, Karnataka. He studied at St. Joseph’s Boys’ High School, Bangalore and St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore.

Dravid had begun playing Cricket at quite an early age, and made a place for himself in the State Cricket team at Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 levels. In the year 1991 he made his debut in Ranji Trophy while playing against Maharashtra. He scored 82 runs in the match, which was eventually resulted in a draw. In the year 1991-12 he also represented South Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

Test and ODI Debut
Rahul made his debut in One Day International (ODI) Cricket with an ODI match between India and Sri Lanka, played at Singapore on 3rd of April, 1996. He scored just 3 runs in the match. His debut in the Test Cricket was made on the June 20th, 1996 with a Test match against England, and he scored 95 runs in the match.

Remarkable Achievements
He got his first Man of the Match award in a Test match against South Africa in the year 1996-97. He scored 148 and 81 runs, which were top score in both the innings respectively. Also, in the New Year Test match played against New Zealand in the year 1999, he scored 190 and 103 (Not Out) runs respectively, achieving the rare feat of scoring a century each in both the innings of a Test match. Till then, this feat had been accomplished by only 2 Indians, viz. Sunil Gavaskar and Vijay Hazare.

In the year 2001, Dravid delivered his best performance in partnership with V.V.S. Laxman in a Test match against Australia. The pair together added 376 runs for the 6th wicket, out of which 180 were scored by Dravid while 281 were scored by Laxman.

Dravid scored 4 consecutive centuries against England ( 3 centuries) and West Indies (1 century) in the year 2002. In the year 2003-2004, he raked in 3 double centuries against New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan. He also got India its first Test match victory over Pakistan in Pakistan itself in the year 2003-2004. In the final match of the Test Series being played at Rawalpindi, Dravid added 270 runs to the total, making India victorious upon Pakistan in the country itself for the first time.

Rahul Dravid made the highest total score in the ICC World Cup Cricket 1999, with 461 runs. He was the Captain of the Indian team during ICC World Cup Cricket 2007, although his performance like other teammates in this tournament didn’t meet the expectations of the nation. Personally, Dravid scored 14 runs against Bangladesh, 7 not out against Bermuda and 60 against Sri Lanka in the tournament.

He was also the Captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the IPL Twenty-20 Tournament 2008, although in the 2009 he was replaced by Kevin Pietersen.

Dravid scored 314 runs in the Test Series against New Zealand played in the year 2008-09.

Overall Performance
In his overall Test Cricket career, Rahul Dravid has played 134 Test matches till April 2009. In these matches, he has scored 10823 runs with an average of 52.53 runs and the highest score of 270 runs. While in ODI Cricket, he has played 333 ODI matches till April 2009 and has scored 10585 runs with an average of 39.49 runs. His highest ODI score is 153 runs.
SOURCE:http://www.iloveindia.com/sports/cricket/cricketers/rahul.html