New Zealand stops Dhoni's Men

After a streak of wins in the Twenty20 (T20) games, New Zealand has finally brought the Indian winning spree to a grinding halt - 2 consecutive matches lost. Much to the disappointment of the cricket fans from India, there favourite team India has lost 2 games in succession to the New Zealand team.

Yeah! Yeah! I know! No team can go on winning all the games they play, but one cannot stop expectations from building up when we see our countrymen winning game after game, match after match. This time, too, the team had left for New Zealand after a successful tour of Sri Lanka.

Quite naturally, expectations from the team are at a long time high.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the team's captain, has demonstrated praiseworthy leadership. He has received a lot of recognition for being able to maintain his cool even in the toughest of times and this particular trait of his has been attributed to be the main reason behind team's improved performance in the last few series.

But then, I believe it is good for the team to lose a match or two once in a while. It reminds everyone that they are not unbeatable and must keep up the practice and hard work at all times.

I would only like to say to the team - "Don't get disheartened by a couple of lost matches, there are many more to come where you can prove that you have it in you. You must go out and prove that we are the best."

Andrew Symonds shines at Nagpur

Australian middle order batsman and all-rounder - Andew Symonds - was the man of the day at Nagpur in the 6th ODI against India on 14 October 2007, Sunday.

A consistent and reliable player - Andrew - played true to his reputation.

His unbeaten century (107 in 88 balls) paved the wave for a huge total of 317 that the Australian side compiled when they batted first after winning the toss. As a bowler he proved himself to be the most economical - 10 overs 39 runs.

All in all - he stood out as the single name that played an important role in Australia's 18 run win against India.

Phew! India and its close finish victories

It seems that the Indian cricket side has made it an habit of close finish / nail biting victories.

Since the start of the Twenty20 games, all the victories that the country's cricket team has managed to claim all have been close finishes. All games were open right to the last over with scales tipping from one side to the other like a wild pendulum.

This was also the case in the yesterday's 4 ODI match against Australia that was played at Chandigarh. After loosing 2 games and 1 draw (washout) the Indian team fought back hard to bring itself back into the series.

Right into the last over the game was wide open with the opponents standing a better chance to win Dhoni's Devils fought and fought good. They managed to win the match and tame the Australian Kangaroos who have been on a winning spree all around the global arena.

The Indian team needs to buck up and put a little more into the game so that the audiences have a comfortable time watching their team win, instead of the present high tension scenario that sends the viewers' blood pressure shooting through the roof.

Dhoni and his boys lift 1st Twenty20 World Cup

India has done it.

The young men of Dhoni have done what the seniors were unable to do at West Indies earlier this year. They have restored the faith of the nation on India's cricketing strength.

Dhoni and his team has lifted the First Twenty20 World Cup at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa on 24th September 2007.

It was a nail biting finish. Traditional arch rivals India and Pakistan fought hard for the trophy.

Pakistani bowlers put the breaks on the Indian batsmen. They successfully restricted the Indian batting order to a score of 157 at the loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs - a big score by conventional cricketing standards but quite small in the Twenty20 format.

When it was their turn, the Indian bowlers were not to be left behind. RP Singh and Irfan Pathan took 3-3 wickets each, while Sreesanth got 1. JP Sharma got 2 wickets, including the last wicket which got Misbah-ul-Haq. The sweep from Misbah-ul-Haq misfired and landed in the hands of Sreesanth.

All the best to the MS Dhoni and his boys on a splendid performance and congratulations everybody.

For more on the last match - see what the official web site has to say.

Here's an interesting heading... Wow! What a game. 1st Twenty20 World Cup goes to India

MS Dhoni is captain of Indian ODI team

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, first arrived on the One-Day international cricket scene in Dec 2004 at Chittagong against Bangladesh. He made is Test Match debut almost a year later in Dec 2005 in Chennai against Sri Lanka.

Within 3 years, he has been selected as the Captain of the One Day International team of India. He shall lead the ODI team on the forth coming Australian tour.

The captain's berth had been recently vacated by Rahul Dravid when he put in his papers after the returning home from the England series.

The quest to finalize the captain for the Test Match teams is still on. Sachin Tendulkar has, reportedly, turned down the offer for the position.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is also the captain of the Indian Twenty20 team that is playing in ICC World Twenty20 - South Africa 2007.