Slogging Sehwag Shines

Virender Sehwag scored the fastest triple century in test history this morning as India closed day 3 of the 1st test against South Africa in Chennai on 468-1. Sehwag himself finished on 309 not out after reaching his triple century in only 278 balls. He needs just 92 runs to break Brian Lara’s record of 400 not out for an individual in an innings. The Delhi Daredevils batsman gave the Chennai crowd a glimpse of what they should come to expect from him in the up and coming Indian Premier League.

Click on the video to see Sehwag in action in the 1st test.

Who Will Be IPL Top Run Scorer?

As the tournament draws ever closer and the excitement intensifies, It has become ever harder to predict which team will win the Indian Premier League Title. Looking at the team line-ups is like looking at the equivalent of the Brazil team in football (quality in every position!)

My favourite for the title however, is Mumbai. Any team which contains Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya is going to be difficult to beat. Despite having these two, they are a little short on good batsman but they make up for it with thier bowlers such as Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Pollock and Harbhajan Singh – Enough said. My predicted top run scorer however is Matthew Hayden. He has returned to some sort of form of late and has always been a big hitting, quick fire scorer. He will push the likes of Dhoni, Gayle, Tendulkar, Jayasuriya and Symonds all the way.

My top wicket taker will always be a spinner in Twenty20, so I am going to chose Daniel Vettori at the top, with Muralitharan in second. With bags of experience and a cool head he is bound to do well.

Let us know what you think…………….

Click here to view the IPL squads

  

Aussies Not Certain For IPL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australia’s players are still not certain to play in the Indian Premier League despite the postponed tour to Pakistan. The series would have clashed with the IPL, but Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland stated that the Aussies still have a tour of the West Indies to think about.

“The Indian Premier League is due to commence on April 18,” Sutherland said. “The Australian team is due to arrive in the West Indies for a tour in early May. So there is a small window of opportunity there for players to perhaps play in IPL.

“But at the same time we’ve now got this calendar issue, where players won’t have had much preparation leading into the West Indies tour. So our coaching staff and team management are now considering what the appropriate lead-in is going to be for the team.”

Australia’s first match in the Caribbean starts on May 16, which would seem to give the players time for a short IPL hit-out before flying out to the West Indies. The first Test begins in Jamaica on May 22.

That means the IPL-signed Test players Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee and Michael Hussey need to be in the Caribbean from early May. One-day players like Nathan Bracken, however, might have the chance for a longer IPL spell with the one-dayers starting in the West Indies in mid-June.

Sutherland also said it was too soon to confirm any involvement of Australia’s cricketers in the IPL. “With this decision being made today we need to do a little bit more work,” he said, “just to work out exactly what the best preparation for the West Indies tour is going to be.”

For further updates and information about this story click the link below:

 Cricket Australia

Mascarenhas Joins Jaipur

Mar 11 2008 By George Dobell, Chief Cricket Writer (Birmingham Post)

It is often stated that it takes time and hindsight to pinpoint the key moments in history, but it seems safe to state that Dimitri Mascarenhas’ decision to sign for the Indian Premier League (IPL) is a momentous day for English cricket. Mascarenhas became the first Englishman to sign up for the Indian cricket board’s (the BCCI) Twenty20 tournament when he was snapped up for £50,000 by Jaipur. He will miss several weeks of the county season in 2008 and much more in 2009 and 2010.His county, Hampshire, claim they are happy with the compromise. Just as they did when Shane Warne, their captain, told them he had changed his plans and would only be available from August.In truth they are probably sick to their stomachs. But there’s little they can do. Such are the sums available, that Mascarenhas and Warne could simply walk away from county cricket if forced to make a choice.Hampshire will, at least, be compensated for the time he is away. As a result they will issue Mascarenhas with a ‘No Objection Certificate’, freeing him to play in India. As he is not centrally contracted, the England and Wales Cricket Board are not required to approve.Hampshire say that Mascarenhas will only miss a couple of weeks of the season. Fraser Castellino, the CEO of the Jaipur franchise, told a different story, however and says Mascarenhas “will be available with us 100% for the first season.”Hampshire also seem sure to lose Shane Bond. The New Zealander has signed for the ‘unofficial’ Indian Cricket League and looks set to be banned from all other forms of the game. Sussex pair Mushtaq Ahmed and Murray Goodwin are among the other players facing similar bans; a scenario that would vastly weaken the champions.The news about Mascarenhas also raises grave doubts over the ECB’

s policy towards the leagues. While they have taken steps to ban any player involved in the ICL, they have tried to appease the Indian board by passively supporting the IPL.