Twenty20 team receives a hero's welcome

After conquering the world in the Twenty20 tournament just concluded at South Africa, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his boys have reached India on 26 September 2007.

They were awarded a hero's welcome.

From the airport the team went taken to Wankade Stadium for a felicitation ceremony organized in their honour. They travelled the route in an open bus, waving out to the thousands of fans who lined the streets to greet them.

Traffic jams and rains failed to douse any of the enthusiasm of either the fans or the cricketers.

At the stadium, however, the politicians tried to hog the show. BCCI big guns and Maharashtra politicos sat in the front row on the stage. Captain Dhoni was the only one to get a seat in the front row.

The politicians were immediately taken by the press for trying to shine in the light of the cricketers achievements.

The team prepares for the forthcoming games against the Australians which will be played in India.

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

Impressive start to the Twenty20 games in South Africa

It was powerplay all throughout.

A combined total of 413 runs in 40 overs by the two sides in a playtime of about 3 hours.

South Africa won the toss and elected to field first.

The West Indies amassed 205 runs, as what would appear to be a massive total by One Day International standards, in the allotted 20 overs. South Africa delivered an equally fast game by scoring 208 runs to achieve that target in 2nd ball of the 18th over.

The game today saw a shower of boundaries. There were 54 occasions in the course of the match when the balls travelled across the boundary for a 4 or 6 during the game. The impressive knock of 117 runs in 57 balls with 7 fours and 10 sixes earned him his man of the match.

The series certainly promises to be entertaining from the perspecitve of an audience.

ICC World Twenty20 starts today at South Africa

ICC World Twenty20 - South Africa 2007 starts today at South Africa. The first game of the World Cup tournament will be played between South Africa and West Indies at Johannesburg.

The Twenty20 tournament at South Africa is set to usher a new era in the life of the game of Cricket. Each match in this tournament is expected to last about 3 hours, during which each side will face one inning each of maximum of 20 overs.

Some of the major differences in the rules from convention cricket are as follows...

• Each no ball will cost the bowler 2 runs and the next ball shall be a free hit ball. The rules for a no-ball will apply for this ball, ie The batsman can be dismissed only by a run-out, hitting the ball twice, obstructing the field or handling the ball.


• Each bowler gets maximum 4 overs.


• Umpires can penalize either side with 5-run penalties for wasting time.


• At the most there can be 5 fielders on the leg side at any time.


• Maximum 2 fielders outside the 30 yard circle for the first 6 overs.


• Maximum 5 fielders outside the 30 yard circle after the first 6 overs.


• 20th over must start by the 75th minute. 6 penalty runs per over will be added to the score for the overs bowled after the 75th minute.


• In case of a tie there will be a bowl-out to decide the winner.

The popularity of the present tournament will decide the fate of the Twenty20 format. The first international game in this format was first played on 13 June 2005 between England and Australia in Hampshire.