It Was A Good Test Match For Us: Dhoni

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was happy with the way his team performed under pressure against England in the first Test that ended in a draw at the Trent Bridge here Sunday. "We needed a partnership this morning and we got it. It was a good Test match for us, we managed to put pressure on them and then we held up well when we were under pressure," he said. The India captain doesn't regret playing a second spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin and was happy with the performance of seam bowling all-rounder Stuart Binny, who went wicketless but struck a priceless 78 on debut to save the day for the visitors. "We haven't had a seaming allrounder but Stuart Binny can be someone who can really contribute for us in the future. I don't regret not playing Ashwin because there was no help for the spinner. We had good combinations and I was happy with the bowling attack," he said. Asked about the record last-wicket stand of 198 runs between Joe Root and James Anderson, Dhoni said : "I don't think I could have changed much when Root and Anderson were going, we tried a few things but the ball got soft and the bowlers got tired and I don't think there was much else we could have done. "A lot of youngsters have played really well. We wanted to see what kind of fight they are putting in and we're pleased." England captain Alastair Cook made it clear he was not happy having a docile pitch for the match that offered nothing to his pacers. "In this game we had a poor session, losing six wickets on a really good pitch. Thankfully we got out of it. Joe Root has come back really well, leading the time and marshalling those partnerships. It's a tough job being a groundsman and he's admitted he's got it wrong but you have to adapt and we adapted well," he said.

On This Day

On this day back in 2002, Indian Cricket Teamwon NatWest Series final match beating England by 2 wickets. Hero of that match were Yuvraj Singh(69) and M Kaif(87*)

Cook's dismissal betrays frazzled mind

It was days like this that persuaded Edvard Munch to paint The Scream, Thomas Hardy to write Jude The Obscure and Leonard Cohen to pick up a guitar. And it has been days like this that have persuaded many captains that the time has come to step down.

This was a day during which the pressure uponAlastair Cook mounted. It mounted when Matt Prior put down a chance to dismiss MS Dhoni before he had added to his overnight total. It mounted when Moeen Ali was unable to fill the role of controlling spinner. And it mounted when he saw his champion fast bowler, James Anderson, thrashed for six back over his head by a tailender who started the match with a Test average of 3.33 amid an agonising tenth-wicket partnership that left England exhausted, embarrassed and exposed.

But it culminated in Cook's own dismissal. Finally given the opportunity to make use of a pitch holding few alarms, Cook not just failed to take advantage, not just failed to mount the defence his side required, but betrayed the extent to which his own personal game has sunk.

The Indian cricket team has a chance to go up a rung and be third in the ICC rankings

The Indian cricket team has a chance to go up a rung and be third in the ICC rankings if it beats England in the upcoming five-Test series starting July 9. As things stand at present, India occupy fourth position with 102 ratings points, while England are a spot behind with 100 ratings points. Depending upon the outcome of the Test series, both teams can go as high as number three or drop to as low as number seven. For India, the equation is straightforward -- a series win will be sufficient to help it leapfrog Pakistan into third position, the ICC said in a statement. However, a vault up the rankings is a bit trickier for England, who need to win the series by a difference of no less than two Tests to take on the third place. Victory by just one Test will help them swap places with India Meanwhile, both teams can potentially drop to number seven. If India win all five Tests, Alastair Cook's side will plummet to seventh position, while a 4-1 series result will see England slip to sixth. Conversely, if England win the series 4-0 or better, India will drop to seventh spot.

God Of The Match - Sachin

Man Of The Match Is Decided Between 22 Players, But God Of The Match Award Don't Need Any Discussion, It's Dedicated To Only One..Sacccchin. ..Sacccchinnn..!!

Who Is Sachin Tendulkar ?

1.A Player Who Is Directed Gifted By God. - Wasim Akram. 2.A Man Who Has The Capability To Hit The Same Ball In 5 Different Areas On The Field. - Michael Clarke. 3.A Player Who Can Hit You For Sixes inspite Of Your Bouncer. - G Macgrath. 4.My Night Mare. - Shane Warne Our All Plans Were Made For Him Only. - Steve Waugh. 6.God Of Straight Drive. - Ricky Pointing. Best Batsmen Of Among All Era "I Want My Son To Become Sachin Tendulkar."- B C Lara. 7.We Did Not Lose To A Team Called India, We Lost To Man Called Sachin Tandukar"-Mark Taylor (Aus). 8.Nothing Bad Can Happen To Us If We Were On A Plane In India With Sachin Tendulkar On It.- Hashim Amla {SA}. 9.There Are To Kind Of Batsman In The World. 1. SachinTendulkar And 2. All The Others.- Andy Flower (ZIM). 10.I Have Seen God. He Bats At No. 4 For India In Tests. - Matthew Hayden (AUS). 11.Do Your Crime When Sachin Is Batting, Because Even God Is Busy Watching His Batting. - Australian Fan. 12.I Don't Know About Cricket But Still I Watch Cricket To See Sachin Play..Not Because I Love His Play Its Because I Want To Know... The Reason Why My Country's Production Goes Down By 5% When He's In Batting. - Barack Obama