TEN YEARS OF GLORY- CAPTAIN COOL

For some reasons, I adore this man. Many says he is a Poster Boy, many says he is a Cool Headed person, many says he is a Man onto Mission but for me he is a perfect Men Manager. The way he marshalls his resources even during the critical times says it all. He knows how to handle the possible resources available. Its always not easy for a man who is coming from a lesser known city in Ranchi and taking over the prestigious post in Indian industry, captain of team India.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni comes from a humble Indian middle-class background. He didn’t go to a high-tech academy to learn his cricket, didn’t have the best of facilities and exposure nor the super fine cricket kits we see these days. He was nowhere in the scene in his under-19 years, didn’t have a popular coach to back him, tell people what this long haired dude was capable of.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• He is the only captain who has led India to all three major ICC events. ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20 and ICC Champions Trophy.
• Dhoni is the fourth fastest batsman who has completed 8000 runs in New Zealand fifth and final match.
• In 2008 and 2009 Dhoni was awarded the ICC Player of the Year trophy.
• In 2007 and 2009 he recieved Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Padma Shri in respective years.
• In 2011, 2012, 2013 under Dhoni’s captaincy India was named as ICC team of the year.
• Dhoni has won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2007.
• 2011 CNN-IBN Indian of the Year in sports.

Dhoni is not just a player, he is a feeling. A feeling of dedication, hard work and passion. He shows us that you can be a successful and effective leader and yet be humble and kind. As he steps down from the captaincy, we thank him for the memories, nerve wrecking performances and the love he has given to the nation as a CAPTAIN. He will always be our ‘THE CAPTAIN COOL’.

ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2013

 

WHAT IS ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY?

The ICC Champions Trophy is a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), second in importance only to the Cricket World Cup. It was inaugurated as the ICC Knock Out Tournament in 1998 and has been played approximately every two years since. Its name was changed to the Champions Trophy in 2002.

Up to 2006 the Champions Trophy was held every two years. The 2008 Champions Trophy which was supposed to be held in Pakistan moved to South Africa in 2009 due to security reasons.From then on it is held every four years like the World Cup.

2013 CHAMPIONS TROPHY

HOST NATION- England and Wales

VENUE- London (at the Oval), Birmingham (at Edgbaston), Cardiff (at the SWALEC Stadium)

TOTAL MATCHES- 15

TIME PERIOD- 6 June to 23 June

WINNER- India

RUNNER UP- England

MEDIA COVERAGE IN INDIA- TV- Star Cricket, Star Sports

Radio- All India Radio

Internet- http://www.starsports.com

CONTROVERSY

• Australian David Warner was suspended by Cricket Australia until the first Ashes Test after an argument with English batsman Joe Root following Australia’s loss to England.                    
• Former England captain Bb Willisaccused one English cricketer of tampering with the ball in order to aid reverse swing during their match against Sri Lanka. Umpire Aleem Dar changed the ball midway through Sri Lanka’s innings, but England coach Ashley Giles denied the accusations, saying that Dar changed the ball because it had gone out of shape.

Pitch invasion incident

The semi-final between India and Sri Lanka at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff saw individuals, possibly Tamil Youth activists, running onto the pitch with flags of Tamil Eelam and banners protesting against the Sri Lankan team playing in the United Kingdom. The first invasion occurred in the 50th over of the Sri Lanka innings, but the two interlopers were soon overpowered by the security staff. However, the second invasion saw at least six protesters run onto the field from various angles from the River Taff End of the ground.

The protests continued after the match had finished, and a fight broke out outside the ground between protesters and supporters in a manner similar to the earlier protests at a group stage game at The Oval. Later, hundreds of members of Britain’s Tamil community held up the Sri Lankan team bus after the encounter and raised anti-Sri Lankan government slogans. No protests were shown to the Indian team and their bus left as scheduled.

The earlier protest at The Oval allegedly saw several Tamils – including women, children and the elderly – being attacked and harassed by Sinhala cricket fans who were leaving the match.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TOURNAMENT

1st MATCH- INDIA VS SOUTH AFRICA (6th June’13)

• South Africa Ab de Villiers had won the toss and put India into bat.
• India beat South Africa by 26 runs.
• Shikhar Dhawan became only the second left handed batsman to score a century against South Africa in 6 years.
• Shikhar Dhawan with Rohit Sharma was the first hundred opening stand against South Africa and they became only the second opening pair in 14 years to have both scored 50 or more against South Africa.

2nd MATCH- PAKISTAN VS WEST INDIES  (7th June’13)

• West Indies won the toss and put Pakistan bat first.
• Roach starts the over with a short and wide delivery which is cut hard by Hafeez.
• The West Indies had a meal of a small chase. Their highest score was just 39 as a number of players got themselves in before giving away their wickets.
• Roach slashes a boundary over point and with that, the West Indies won.

3rd MATCH- ENGLAND VS AUSTRALIA  (8th June’13)

• After winning the toss England elected to bat first.
• England got its Champions Trophy journey off to an ideal start by defeating Australia in the first match.
• The spotlight was on Captain Cook but it was his opening partner who stole the show.
• Ian Bell played in controlled aggression mode and also built solid partnerships with both Alistair Cook and Jonathan Trott to set up England’s total.

4th MATCH- NEW ZEALAND VS SRI LANKA  (9th June’13)

• Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first.
• Sri Lankans were all out after making 138in 37.5 overs.
• It was 4 needed from 14 overs for New Zealand.
• Both the batsmen took a single each and then Dilshan bowled a wide as the batsmen ran a single pulling off a nervous win.

5th MATCH- PAKISTAN VS SOUTH AFRICA  (10th June’13)

• South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first against Pakistan.
• 3 wickets in 5 overs. Pakistan bowlers had done a commendable job to keep South Africa in check with these quick wickets.
• SA managed to reach a respectable total of 234 for 9 despite losing wickets at regular intervals.
• South Africa won by 67 runs.

6th MATCH- INDIA VS WEST INDIES  (11th June’13)

• India won the toss and elected to field.
• Shikhar Dhawan posted his first century against the West Indies (102* off 107)
• He had become the first Indian batsman to post a 100 against the WI in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.
• Johanson Charles registered his first fifty in ODIs.
• India won by 8 wickets.

7th MATCH- AUSTRALIA VS NEW ZEALAND   (12th June’13)

• Australia won the toss and elected to bat against NZ.
• Australia opener David Warner dropped for allegedly getting involved in an alcohol-related incident.
• Rain stopped the play after the 15th over when the score of NZ was 51/2.
• Match could never begin again and was called off. Each team was rewarded a point each.

8th MATCH- ENGLAND VS SRI LANKA  (13th June’13)

• Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl against England.
• Alaistar Cook works it towards deep midwicket for a single and brings up his 17th ODI fifty for England.
• It turned out to be a different ball game altogether for the Sri Lankans in the last game, as their bowling which seems to be their weeker link stood up to challenge.
• Sri Lanka were set a target of 294 but an inspired batting performance saw them beat England by seven wickets.

9th MATCH- SOUTH AFRICA VS WEST INDIES (14th June’13)

• Due to rain, the match has been reduced to 31 overs per side.
• Score by South Africa in 31 overs-230/6.
• Over 28- 190/6 by West Indies. The rain started, called off the match.
• The Duckworth/Lewis score changes depending on wickets lost. The West Indies would have been ahead of the DL score if they were five wickets down but Pollard was caught off the final ball and the result was a tie.
• South Africa were ahead on run rate before this match so a tie saw South Africa through to the semi-finals and send West Indies packing.

10th MATCH- INDIA VS PAKISTAN (15th June’13)

• India won the toss and chose to field against Pakistan.
• Due to rain interruption, the overs had been reduced to 40 per side.
• India defeated Pakistan by eight wickets.
• Once Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck early in the innings, it was a match dominated by Indian bowlers who picked wickets at regular intervals.
•  While chasing, the Indian openers got off to a decent start and Shikhar Dhawan once again proved that he is meant for the big stage.
• India had entered into semi finals.

11th MATCH- ENGLAND VS NEW ZEALAND (16th June’13)

• New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first against Sri Lanka.
• England openers got off to a good start as they added 16 runs in the first two overs.
• New Zealand needed 23 runs to win off the last over bowled by James Anderson who bowled superbly and thus fell short by ten runs as Nathan McCullum was dismissed off the final ball of the innings.
• England moved to semi finals.

12th MATCH- AUSTRALIA VS SRI LANKA (17th June’13)

• Australia won the toss and decided to bowl first.
• Mitchell Johnson and Faulkner were dismissed.
• Australia needed 28 runs from 60 balls.
• Dilshan took a blinder off his own bowling and it was all out for Australia.
• Australia was out from the semi finals.

13th MATCH- ENGLAND VS SOUTH AFRICA  (19th June’13)

• England opt to bowl against South Africa in the 1st semi final at the Oval.
• Graeme Swann misses out due to injury and Tim Bresman sits out of this game.
• Jonathan Trott, who hit the winning boundary, remained unbeaten on 82 along with Eoin Morgan, 15*
• England reaches a final after registering a 7 wicket win over South Africa.

14th MATCH- INDIA VS SRI LANKA  (20th June’13)

• R Ashwin and Ishant Sharma picked up 3 wickets each as a brilliant bowling performance from India restricted Sri Lanka to a paltry 181/8.
• Shikhar Dhawan continued his amazing run in international cricket and registered a solid fifty.
• India routed Sri Lanka by 8 wickets with 15 overs to spare and marched into finals of the Champions Trophy.

15th MATCH- INDIA VS ENGLAND (23rd June’13)

• England won the toss and elected to field.
• Rain delayed the start of play and reduced the match to 20 overs per side.
• India held their nerve and beat England by 5 runs in a thriller at Edgbaston to win the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.
• Shikhar Dhawan won the golden bat for the maximum aggregate runs in the tournament.
• He also won the match of the series award.
• Ravindra Jadeja won the golden ball for taking maximum number of wickets in the tournament.
• He also got the man of the match award.

 STATISTICS