Dhoni in the past one year

The acrimonious Test series was followed by a long tri-series in January-February with Sri Lanka as the third participant. India won the tournament, beating hosts and four-time world champions Australia 2-0 in the final.





The ODI series was followed by a three-Test series against the arch-rivals in December.













India then played Pakistan at home in a five-ODI series in November. This was Dhoni's first series win as captain in the 50-over format.














India then lead India for the first time in the 50-over format against Australia at home in October.






























From England, India straight went to South Africa for the Twenty20 World Championships in September. MS Dhoni led India to a superb win to bag the trophy, stunning one and all.

The Test series was followed by seven-ODI series against England in August. This was Dhoni's last ODI series as the Indian vice-captain.

India then played in a three-Test series in June-July against England, which India won 1-0. Dhoni's crucial knock at Lord's in the first Test saved the game for

Mohammad Asif

Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif was banned for one year after testing positive for 'nandrolone' during the 2006 Champions Trophy. The ban was later reversed. In 2008, he was detained in Dubai for possession of a contraband substance.

Shoaib Akhtar

Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar tested positive for performance enhancing drug 'nandrolone' in 2006.

Herschelle Gibbs and Andre Nel

Herschelle Gibbs and Andre Nel were fined for smoking marijuana during South Africa's tour of West Indies in 2001.

Cricket's past drug offenders

England all-rounder Ian Botham was suspended for smoking cannabis in 1986.

Brett Lee

Brett Lee and Michael Atherton made sure there was dearth of animosity during the 2001 Ashes series.

AnotherCricket's biggest fights

In one of the most heated altercations the game has seen, Dennis Lillee and Javed Miandad had a coming together at the WACA in 1981.

Cricket's biggest fights

Shoaib Akhtar and Rahul Dravid had a huge showdown during the ICC Champions Trophy in England in 2004.

Time for old warhorses to live up to reputation

KEEP THE RECORDS ASIDE: Personal records hold little value when the team has been humiliated to the core. For Sachin Tendulkar, the focus should be on scoring runs to lead India to a win, rest should be forgotten, at least till the time some pride is restored.

How Ishant Sharma matures into a match winner

Ishant took five wickets in his second Test match, against Pakistan at Bangalore, which was a precursor for better times to come on a tour of Australia. He had not done much, but still became one of the bowlers to watch out for.

How Ishant Sharma matures into a match winner

Ishant Sharma caught the eye early on the domestic circuit, his height of 6’ 4” and a smooth high-arm action making the selectors sit up and take notice. The Delhi bowler got to make his Test debut at Dhaka in the summer of 2007. He looked raw, but had potential.

Yuvraj speaks his heart out

The southpaw who holds the record of slamming six sixes off an over spoke to celebrity news magazine People in an exclusive interview regarding all the controversies that have dogged him both on and off the cricket field."I was playing well at the time when Dravid [Rahul] stepped down. My critics couldn't say that I wasn't performing," said Yuvraj. "It is very unfair for people to judge me on what I do off the field. I love to party and I have no problems in saying this... As long as it doesn't affect my cricket, I am going to keep doing what I'm doing. I have been playing international cricket for eight years now and that's not a joke," he added.

Yuvraj speaks his heart out

Yuvraj Singh may not be in India's Test scheme of things right now but the swashbuckling left-hander harbours the dream of taking over as the captain of the side at some point in his career.Stressing that his biggest love remains cricket and his ultimate dream is to take over the captain's reins, Yuvraj said, "I would love to captain India one day." Yuvraj has been the vice captain of the ODI side but lost out on captaining the ODI team, something he attributes to "various other reasons" and not to his party animal image. "I was performing well at the time when (Rahul) Dravid stepped down. My critics couldn't say I was not performing," he said

Harbhajan slap leaves Sreesanth in tears

Mohali: It is not just the Aussie players that get under the skin of Harbhajan Singh. On Friday night, after the game between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, Harbhajan reportedly slapped S Sreesanth. The aggressive pacer was seen crying and being consoled by his teammates and the Mohali team owner Preity Zinta.
Kings XI Punjab skipper Yuvraj Singh told the media that "the act" was unacceptable but did not confirm if Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth. However, he said that Harbhajan apologised to Sreesanth after the incident took place.
"That was unacceptable behavior. But Harbhajan late came to the dressing and spoke with Sree and am sure apologised," Yuvraj said.
The coach of Kings XI Punjab, Tom Moody said the matter must be left with the authorities to deal with.
"I had a long chat with Sree. This was unacceptable. I don't know what the ramifications will be but I am sure officials will deal with it in their own fashion," he said.
When CNN-IBN’s Nishant Arora spoke with the two players, both played down the incident.
"He didn't slap me. May be the handshake was in the wrong place," Sreesanth said. However, he did let it slip that he was a "little hurt".
"It was just a misunderstanding, a part of the game. After all we all play together and share the same dressing room. So I did not take it too seriously and have not much to complain about him (Harbhajan). We all know Bhajji and need not take it seriously. I was a little hurt but am fine with it," he said.
He also said Harbhajan apologised after he broke down on the field.
"I just cried because, I don’t know. I am fine, he spoke with me, apologised. But there was no need because end of the day, we play for the same team and we have to go together a long way. Whatever happens in IPL should not be taken too seriously as end of the day it's just entertainment. Whatever happened shouldn't have happened but it's okay,” he said.
Harbhajan too confirmed this and said they had kissed and made up. "It's not a big issue, people making it an issue. As far as both of us are concerned, the matter is solved. Nothing happened between us. he is like my younger brother and respects me. I did push him, may be just a little too hard, but later apologised. We sat, we talked and it's over. I told him I was sorry if he felt bad. We have been together for so long and have to go a long way. These things are between us. We are over with it."
IPL Chairman Lalit Modi says the authorities have not received any complain and will take action only after an official complain is lodged.
He also said if match referee complains, action will be taken according to the ICC law.

Indian Premier League

Ashraful faces angry board

Mohammad Ashraful, the Bangladesh captain, has endured a grilling from the Bangladesh Cricket Board over the side’s poor showing in Pakistan this month.
The team suffered a comprehensive 5-0 loss in the ODI series and was beaten in the Twenty20 International but Ashraful was initially keen to find positives from the whitewash, telling reporters upon returning home that his side ‘played competitive cricket’.
However, he changed his tune after a meeting with the board members Gazi Ashraf Hossain, Shafiqur Rahman Munna and Ahmed Sajjadul Alam. ‘The board arranged the meeting after this Pakistan series as they are very much worried about our recent poor performances,’ Ashraful told the Daily Star. ‘And undoubtedly our performance was not good in the last couple of series.
‘We may have some individual achievements in the series but no doubt as a team our performance was not up to any mark. But we have to play cricket with a positive frame of mind.’
He said the team’s lack of experience should still be taken into account. ‘I played more than hundred One-day Internationals and good number of Test matches, but you have to consider the age while talking about experience,’ he said. ‘I believe we can reach a standard if the current crop of players play together for a period of time.’
Ashraf, the chairman of the BCB’s cricket operations committee, said the board was displeased with the team�s efforts in Pakistan. ‘We watched the performance on TV screen that’s why we have had the idea about their approach on the field,’ Ashraf said. ‘We made one thing clear that we totally disagreed with their explanation and observations about their poor showing.’
As well as meeting with Ashraful and the vice-captain Mashrafe Mortaza, the board members sat down with the rest of the squad to discuss their concerns. ‘This kind of meeting was first since we have taken the responsibility,’ Ashraf said. ‘What we felt is that there was a need for interactions between players and the officials to find a way. We just cannot sit over a disaster after another, rather we have to motivate them by taking necessary actions.
‘I don’t believe we can take comfort after putting on only 200 runs on the board. We are not in a stage to think like that. We are not ready to hear the same old explanations any more.

Desperate PCB for Champion’s Trophy

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary has said in a remarkable statement that India sees no problem in hosting the Champion’s Trophy, and there is not much serious problem of security of Pakistan, and it would be good for cricket to have such a resilient attitude to play in not so cozy environment, and it would only add to the flair and the thrill of the game.
Tony Irish, the chief executive of the South Africa Cricketers’ Association (SACA) is hoping now publicly that International Cricket Council would surely move the venue from Pakistan to South Africa, and he has also said that many players from South Africa are not willing to go to Pakistan for the prestigious tournament.
Whereas Pakistan Cricket Board is pulling every string to win the tournament. Shafqat Naghmi of PCB is sure that Pakistan will be retained as the event’s venue following today’s teleconference among the representatives of the ten Test-playing nations in Dubai. A 7-3 vote is needed for the relocation of the Champions Trophy, which would become impossible if the so-called Asia bloc that also includes Sri Lanka and Bangladesh support Pakistan.
There is fifty fifty chance that Pakistan would get or not get the tournament.