India vs. England 3rd ODI

India vs England, England tour of India 2012-13, 3rd ODI

Venue: HEC International Cricket Stadium Complex, Ranchi

Date: January 19, 2013   Start Time: 12:00 pm IST

India

1MS Dhoni (c & wk)

2Ajinkya Rahane

3Gautam Gambhir

4Virat Kohli

5Yuvraj Singh

6Suresh Raina

7Ravindra Jadeja

8Ravichandran Ashwin

9Bhuvneshwar Kumar

10Ashok Dinda

11Shami Ahmed

12Ishant Sharma

13Rohit Sharma

14Cheteshwar Pujara

15Amit Mishra

England

1Alastair Cook (c)

2Craig Kieswetter (wk)

3Ian Bell

4Kevin Pietersen

5Joseph Root

6Eoin Morgan

7Samit Patel

8Chris Woakes

9James Tredwell

10Steven Finn

11Jade Dernbach

12Tim Bresnan

13Stuart Broad

14Stuart Meaker

15Jos Buttler

16Danny Briggs

Commentary

Preview by Nikhil Narain

The stage is set, the stakes are high and the expectations even higher as India take on England in the crucial 3rd ODI in the hometown of the Indian skipper, MS Dhoni. Rest assured, thousands would storm the stadium hours before the actual start of the match and there would be a similar number outside, just waiting to get a glimpse of Ranchi's and for that matter Jharkhand's favourite son - Mahendra Singh Dhoni. His pictures - of all shapes and sizes, would be all over the hoardings leading in to the stadium. The atmosphere is expected to be electrifying with chants of 'Mahi, Mahi, Mahi...' bursting out from the roof of the stadium. With the series tied at 1-1, both the teams have everything to play for and establish supremacy in the 5 match ODI series.

India

Most of the Indian batsmen have looked impressive in the series thus far. India would look for a good start from their openers, Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir as that would provide the base for their explosive middle order to launch an attack on the English bowlers. Virat Kohli is perhaps the only Indian batsman, who is playing way below his potential and ability and he would certainly look to make amends for that. Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh look in great touch and with Ravindra Jadeja producing a cameo in the previous match, the batting looks a class apart.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed have brought with them the energy and spark much required in the Indian bowling. Their ability to swing and seam the new ball would stand them in good stead. Ishant Sharma has been in rather indifferent form and might be replaced by Ashok Dinda. Ravindra Jadeja has been a revelation and along with R Ashwin and Yuvraj Singh would add variety to the spin department.

England

The visitors would want to erase the memories of the 2nd ODI. Alistair Cook and Ian Bell are a formidable opening pair as they displayed in the first ODI at Rajkot. Kevin Pietersen has shown us glimpses of his class and destructiveness and would be hoping to convert his starts into triple figures. India should be wary of the firepower in the English lower middle order with the likes of Eoin Morgan and Samit Patel well capable of turning a match on its head in a matter of overs.

The bowling is a worry for England and looked rather flat, both at Rajkot and at Kochi. They would be particularly concerned about the number of runs they conceded in the death overs in the previous ODI. The fast bowlers have been poor and guilty of bowling a touch short. The spinners - James Tredwell and Samit Patel have been impressive with the former being the stand out bowler for the visitors thus far.

Look out for

Virat Kohli has been a patch of the player he is and he would be desperate to prove a point or two and knowing his penchant for performing in crucial encounters, England need to be wary of this flamboyant Indian batsman.

Teams:

India (From): Ajinkya Rahane, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Shami Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Amit Mishra

England (From): Alastair Cook(c), Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Joseph Root, Eoin Morgan, Craig Kieswetter(w), Samit Patel, Chris Woakes, James Tredwell, Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Stuart Meaker, Jos Buttler, Danny Briggs

Match details

Umpires

Steve Davis (Aus) and S Ravi (Ind)

TV umpire

: Vineet Kulkarni

Match referee

: Andy Pycroft(Zim)

Squads

India:  

MS Dhoni(c & wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Shami Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Amit Mishra

England:  

Alastair Cook(c), Craig Kieswetter(wk), Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Joseph Root, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Chris Woakes, James Tredwell, Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Stuart Meaker, Jos Buttler, Danny Briggs

Weak at spelling and grammar? Your passwords are safer

London: The secret to finding more secure passwords could be straightforward - just don't use good grammar or spelling, scientists including an Indian-origin researcher have suggested. Ashwini Rao and colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University researched the current generation of password cracking systems and found that many people, on being asked to choose longer passwords, made them just as easy to guess.

"Use of long sentence-like or phrase-like passwords such as 'abiggerbetterpassword' and 'thecommunistfairy' is increasing," the researchers said in their paper. They said that other types of familiar structures like postal addresses, email addresses and uniform resource locators (URLs) may also make for less secure passwords, even if they are long, the Daily Mail reported.

Scientists said bad grammar can make a huge difference, as hackers are increasingly searching for passwords using correct grammar and spellings in 'brute force' attacks that simply run through combinations of words in a dictionary. Incorrect spelling and grammar can fool many of these attacks, the team found.

"Using an analytical model based on Parts-of-Speech tagging we show that the decrease in search space due to the presence of grammatical structures can be as high as 50 per cent," they said.

Researchers found that in general, asking users for longer passwords didn't work. "A significant result of our work is that the strength of long passwords does not increase uniformly with length," they said. The team also developed an algorithm to improve the cracking of long passwords. The study will be presented at the Conference on Data and Application Security and Privacy in San Antonio, Texas.

Dhoni: Demolition Man in ODIs

As India’s top order continues to misfire, MS Dhoni delivers in crunch situations.

New Delhi: The Indian batting has been revolving around its talismanic captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for quite some time now. It was once again evident in the victory against England in Kochi on Tuesday when he pulled the team out after another top order failure.

It’s not for nothing that England captain Alastair Cook called Dhoni as the most difficult batsman to bowl at the death. Dhoni’s counterpunching knock of 72 off 66 balls — adding 108 in 10 overs withRavindra Jadeja — came after India were 119 for four at one stage.

The dependency on Dhoni’s batting has never been as stark as was seen in the ODI series against Pakistan and now England.

The top order has repeatedly crumbled and Dhoni has been the saviour.

It has made it all the more difficult for him to perform with the sword forever hanging over his head post the disastrous results in the past couple of Test series.

There have been growing calls to sack him as captain of the Test side, but Dhoni has gone about his job unruffled.

With the Test series against Australia to follow, Dhoni has hardly got any breathing space.

But keeping with his image of captain cool, he has given his best every time he has walked on to the field.

With the array of strokes that he has, and an ability to guide the innings with a calm head, Dhoni has been India’s best batsman in ODIs. And when he brings out his trademark helicopter stroke, it is a treat for the fans.

“He is certainly the crisis man of the Indian team,” former captain Ajit Wadekar told MAIL TODAY. “Earlier the Indian batting revolved around Sachin Tendulkar, then Dravid and even Virender Sehwag. Dhoni has taken over that role now. And with the top order not performing that well, Dhoni has taken the extra responsibility on his shoulders.” With the recent spate of poor performances by the top order that includes the like of Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, the image of Dhoni, the batsman, has only got enhanced.

His century knock in the second ODI against Pakistan in Chennai, where he bailed out his team from a perilous 29 for five is already being ranked as one of the greatest ODI innings ever by an Indian.

Calm and calculative as ever, Dhoni stands amid the ruins collecting runs in bits and pieces.

The spadework done, Dhoni explodes the way only he can.

When Dhoni the batsman broke through the Indian ranks, he carved his own space in a team that had stroke- makers of the caliber of Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvraj. He came as a powerful hitter of the cricket ball, the strength in his wrists and forearms taking the ball to distance.

But over the years, Dhoni has moulded his game brilliantly to supplement his stroke- making ability. It seems he knows exactly when to grind and when to take the aerial route, and against which bowler.

The other attribute that makes Dhoni so dangerous is his running between the wickets. He will always have an eye on that scoreboard, and that makes him a master of managing an innings.

Without doubt he is one of fittest Indian cricketers in the world at the moment, as he showed in that knock in Chennai.

The combination of his large assembly of skills, some natural and some practiced with dedication, makes him one of the best finishers ODI cricket has seen.

“His biggest strength is that he keeps the scoreboard moving. He will never tire,” says Wadekar. “He is so confident about his ability. He leads by example. He is among the best finishers surely,” he says.

When he promoted himself up the order in that historic night at Wankhede, he won India the World Cup. But he has not done that often. Wadekar says it is because he is also the captain and he has to give confidence to the middle order.

“Don’t forget that he is leading the side and he has to think of so many things. He may not want to shatter the confidence of the middle order which is not amongst runs.”

Dharamsala set to host its first international cricket match

Dharamsala, Jan 17 (IANS) This picturesque Himalayan hill station, which has lured hundreds of thousands of Westerners since Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama settled here in 1960, is all set witness its first international cricket match this month.

The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) is leaving no stone unturned to make the fifth and final ODI between India and England Jan 27 at its new showpiece venue, located at an altitude of 4,000 feet above sea level, with the mighty snow-clad Dhauladhar Ranges forming the backdrop, a warm and welcoming affair.

"If everything goes as planned, the stadium has the potential to become a permanent fixture for future international matches," HPCA president Anurag Thakur, a member of the Lok Sabha, told IANS.

The stadium, 250 km from state capital Shimla, has a 21,600-seating capacity, besides a world-class indoor stadium comprising video analysis facilities for both bowlers and players, a club lounge, restaurant, bar and banquet hall.

He said the popularity of the venue soared after the seven IPL matches in the past three seasons.

"We are going provide not only the players but also the spectators with a world-class facility," Thakur, the force behind the Rs.100 crore stadium and ultra-luxurious residential complex, said.

He said the HPCA has been working overtime to get the stadium ready for the match.

"For the players, the Pavilion residential complex is almost ready. It has 32 huts made of imported wood and 38 concrete rooms. A world-class multi-gym is the new addition," he added.

The Pavilion, overlooking the stadium, is some three kilometres from the stadium.

However, the HPCA admits the spectators might face problems in getting suitable accommodation.

The town has 56 registered hotels and guest houses with a bed capacity of 1,100. Similarly, McLeodganj, eight kilometres from Dharamsala, has around 91 registered hotels which can accommodate 1,000 people.

"We have got some bookings but we are advising spectators to get bookings at nearby destinations also like Palampur and Jwalamukhi," Mohit Sood, HPCA's press secretary, said.

There is no five-star hotel in the vicinity of this small town. Even the airport at Gaggal, near here, has been shut for over five months now.

Thakur said a request has been made to the civil aviation ministry to start special Air India flights during the match as lack of air connectivity might prove a hindrance to the arrival of cricket fans.

According to espncricinfo, the HPCA venue is the first in India to use winter rye grass scattered around the outfield, which prevents the grass from dying when temperatures fall below 10 degrees Celsius.

The stadium figured first on the international cricket map in 2005 when it hosted a warm-up tie between the touring Pakistan team and the Indian Board President's XI.

Since then, the stadium has hosted 24 matches in the Ranji Trophy, apart from hosting two ODIs between India Under 19 vs Australia Under 19 Sep 24 and 25, 2005.

Cook is all praise for Dhoni

Cook said Dhoni's late-order surge changed the complexion of the match at Kochi.

Kochi: For Alastair Cook, the 100-odd runs in the death overs was what made the difference between the two teams on Tuesday, in the second one-day International.

From 177 for five at the end of the 40th over, India went on to post 285 for six in 50 overs. The host finally won the match by 127 runs.

“India dominated specially after the 40th over. We gave away 100-odd runs in the last 10 overs. If we could have taken a couple of wickets and restricted them to 250-260, it would have been still gettable,” Cook said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“It’s very tough when you’ve got people like Dhoni batting. You get exposed when you don’t quite get the skills right,” Cook added.

Dhoni made 72 while Man of the MatchRavindra Jadeja was unbeaten on 61. The bowlers skittled out the visitors for a paltry 158 in just 36 overs to level the five-match series 1-1.

Cook was all praise for Dhoni’s big-hitting prowess and said his late-order surge changed the complexion of the match. “He (Dhoni) is probably the best player in the world in those situations, in these conditions.”

Dhoni sent the pace trio of Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach and Chris Woakes to all parts of the park in the closing stages but Cook declined to introduce the occasional spin of Joe Root, which the English captain said wasn’t an option.

“You’re always going to get a hindsight, but probably one batsman you don’t want an off-spinner bowling to is Dhoni. We’ve seen him a number of times and with a spinner at the end, it’s very hard to bowl to him,” he said.

Good that I misread Kochi wicket: Dhoni

While the India captain thought the pitch to be flat one, the spinners got enough turn to help the team to a comfortable win.

Kochi: India’s thumping 127-run victory on Tuesday may suggest that captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had complete control over the match.

But surprisingly, Dhoni, at the post-match presentation ceremony, admitted that he misread the pitch. While the India captain thought the pitch to be flat one, the India spinners got enough turn to help the team to a comfortable win.

The following are excerpts

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Everyone performed well. We didn’t get a good start, initially the openers were finding it difficult as the ball was seaming around a bit. Yuvraj and Kohli gave us the platform.

It seemed like a wicket that may flatten, we thought it will dry up and the spinners may not get much turn. Good that I was wrong and our spinners got turn. It was not a wicket where you could win the toss and bowl first.

The onus was on the batsmen. When I was batting with Raina, we thought let us look for 240 or 250, and then when we are settled, lets target 260… We ended up getting 25 more.

We have our own things to worry about. The last time we played well as a batting unit, our bowlers were more experienced, who knew what to do in the Powerplays and death overs, how to use the new balls. We’re going through a stage when we don’t have the same firepower when it comes to the bowling department. Our batting department has also not been able to convert those starts into big innings. But we’re fielding really well, and that’s a big positive for us.

If you look at the good side, our batsmen are getting starts. Yes, I would like them to convert their starts to a big innings so that it won’t put pressure on the rest.

Today’s (Tuesday) performance was very important for Jadeja. Till now, he had done well as a bowler. He had scored runs, the fifties and forties, but it’s important for him to get these runs going, because it eases the pressure on the lower order.

He’s someone who can hit big sixes. This innings will really help him because, it will help him read the game, where he can hit the bowlers and what the bowlers are looking to do. We’re all really happy with the amount of runs he’s got for the side.

We need to groom the bowlers we have now, it’s not only about Bhuvneshwar. He is someone who can swing the ball both ways.

He is not exceptionally quick, but he bowls at a decent pace. He is quite street-smart, he knows where to bowl and what needs to be done. With a bit more exposure he can start executing the yorkers well and mix them up with the slower ones. And not to forget Shami.

He is someone who bowls at a good pace. So we need to keep going with these guys, back them and give them a bit of cushioning so that they become very good bowlers for us. These guys are doing a good job.

The Helicopter Shot fetches me a lot of runs. It’s not an easy shot to play with a heavy bat. It's something I used to play when I played with the tennis ball. That’s something everybody plays in India and everyone thinks he is Sachin Tendulkar. That has really helped me, especially to have good command in the last 10 overs when the bowlers are looking for yorkers, or even the short-pitched delivery, which you can flick.

The next game is in my city, Ranchi, and it will be very special. I think the wicket was a perfect Test wicket, something for the fast bowlers and some turn for the spinners.

It’s a bit unfair for the spinners to bowl with one extra fielder inside. It becomes difficult for the spinners to contain the batsmen in the last 10 overs, especially if the opposition have wickets in hand.

It’s a bit unfair on bowlers, but over the years we have seen bowlers adjusting to it.

Ravindra Jadeja: I enjoyed my batting… The wicket was good. The ball was coming on and I tried to play cricketing shots. I played for Kochi in the IPL in 2011, so I knew the wicket was a bit slow. But once you get in, you can score runs. Mahibhai was telling me ‘don’t throw away your wicket’. While bowling, I was talking to Rainabhai, I said ‘the ball is turning, so I might get wickets on this surface’.

India smash England to level series

2ND ODI: CSK boys, Bhuvaneshwar delivery 127-run win in Kochi.

Where are those Jadeja jokes now?

Match Scores 

It was hot and humid, the wicket was seaming and India got off to a bad start in the Kochi ODI. But two turn-arounds, the first triggered by Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni, and the second by Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s game-winning burst of three wickets, delivered India a big win. 

Electing to bat, India posted 285-6, thanks in big part to a frantic 96-run partnership in the last 10 overs between Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, who had a great game all-round before a packed crowd at the Nehru Stadium. 

England began promisingly despite losing Ian Bell cheaply. But what really did them in was Bhuvaneshwar’s trademark in swing. In one spell, the young seamer from Uttar Pradesh accounted for Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan.

Pietersen, who looked in great touch with a quick 42, had been walking down the wicket to cover  Bhuvaneshwar’s swing. It prompted Dhoni to stand up to the stumps to keep Pietersen in the crease. It worked. Rooted to the crease, Pietersen missed an inswinger and the game changed decisively with the wicket. 

POOR START, AGAIN

As for India’s batsmen, Kochi was the same old tale playing old. The top and middle order failed, just as it has done all winter long. And so it was left for the lower order to rally around their captain and take the score to respectability. 

Dhoni played another brilliant innings at No. 6. Will he bring himself up the order?Jade Dernbach began the day bowling a line that would be perfect for right-handers: on a good length, moving away from the off-stump. For left-handers, it was leg-side filth. He had conceded an astonishing 66% of his runs in the Rajkot ODI behind the wicket on the leg-side. His troubles continued in his first over where he began with a five-wide down the legs of Gambhir. 

But Gambhir has had problems of his own. Out of form, the odds were against him. The moment Dernbach managed to land a ball on the cut strip, it bent back into the stumps and found its way through the gap between pad and bat. 

Next over, Rahane was bowled by Finn, courtesy a bat-pad gap so large, a Mumbai realtor could have erected a skyscraper on it. Gambhir’s rut, along with Rahane’s inability to cash in on the opportunities given to him at Virender Sehwag’s expense meant that India were once again on the back-foot. 

CHANCES WASTED

Yuvraj Singh led the counter-attack with some crunching drives. He once stood tall to Dernbach and punched the ball through cover for four, invoking his 19-year-old self who could smoke a ball through the off-side. 

Both he and Virat Kohli have been getting off to starts but not producing the big innings. In the last few months, Yuvraj has had plenty of chances in good batting conditions but we’re yet to see the one big performance that would repay the faith posed in him. Today, however, he was unlucky. Sweeping James Tredwell, Yuvraj edged the ball to his pads but umpire Steve Davis still upheld the LBW appeal.

On the other hand, Kohli had himself to blame. Short of runs all winter, he worked hard to 37 off 54. He threw it all away, slicing Chris Woakes to the man on the cover boundary, walking back hitting himself on the head with his own bat. 

Raina did better than Yuvraj and Kohli. But with these great batting conditions, he could have made a hundred today. Having worked for his fifty, he was bowled swinging across the line to Steven Finn. It set the stage for the Jadeja and Dhoni show. 

THE ENTERTAINMENT

This season, Dhoni has been the best of India’s batsmen, at least in the ODIs. But he has continued holding himself down to No. 6 instead of bringing himself up the order and use the chance to make bigger scores. 

He had a reprieve on 7 when a caught-behind shout was turned down of Woakes. Replays showed no deviation off the bat but there was a hint of an edge provided by the microphone. Dhoni made England pay for it. 

The massive boundaries at the Nehru Stadium have been considerably shortened with the ropes being brought up. Not that this would have mattered to Dhoni. He played some fearsome bottom-hand strokes that rocketed to the fence. He rammed Woakes down the ground and then brought out his helicopter shot against Finn and Dernbach. 

But the differentiator of the day was Jadeja’s. India were looking at best at a score of 250 when Jadeja got over his tentative start — thanks to Dhoni's timely tempering of the young player — and started lofting the pacers. England bowled a poor line to him. Jadeja kept slogging the leg-and-middle balls over the infield. He took 20 off the final over from Dernbach, providing the icing to an extraordinary finish to the innings.