MS Dhoni first captain to feature in four tied ODIs

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become the first captain to be involved in four ODI ties. This feat was achieved as India tied the third ODI against New Zealand in Auckland on January 25, 2014.

MS Dhoni's first tied ODI was in the ICC World Cup 2011 against England in Bangalore. His second was also against England, but this time it was at Lord's on September 11, 2011. His third tie came against Sri Lanka in Adelaide on February 2012. 

West Indies' Richie Richardson, Australia's Steve Waugh and South Africa's Shaun Pollock were involved in three ties each.

The tied game is the first between India and New Zealand in ODIs.

India have participated in seven tied games in ODIs - two each vs Zimbabwe and England and one each vs New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

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Team India regains No. 1 ranking in ODIs

India on Friday (24-01-2014) regained their No 1 ranking in the ICC ODI list after Australia lost their fourth one day international against England by 57 runs thereby dropping to the second place in the 13-team table.

As per the latest ICC table, India is back on top with 117 points while Australia is second with 116 points.

India lost their No 1 spot in the ODI ranking on Wednesday (22-01-2014) when they lost to New Zealand in the second ODI at Hamilton by 15 runs courtesy Duckworth-Lewis method.

India was on 119 points before the second ODI against New Zealand while Australia was on 118 points. The defeat against New Zealand saw India losing a couple of points and slipped behind Australia at 117 points.

India lost its No. 1 spot in the ODI rankings after a 15-run loss in the second ODI at Hamilton, need to win the third game against New Zealand at Auckland to ensure they stay at the top of the rankings.

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Most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in ODIs

• Adam Gilchrist (Australia) 472 - 417 catches, 55 stumpings in 287 matches (281 innings)
• Mark Boucher (South Africa) 424 - 402, 22 in 295 matches (290 innings)
• Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 424 - 337, 87 in 362 matches (311 innings)
• MS Dhoni (India) 300 - 221, 79 in 239 matches (236 innnings)
• Moin Khan (Pakistan) 287 - 214, 73 in 219 matches (209 innings)

Records upto 20^th January 2014.

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MS Dhoni - First Indian wicket keeper to cross 300 dismissals in ODIs

Mr Cool captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first Indian wicket keeper and the fourth overall to effect 300 dismissals in One Day Internationals when he caught a Ross Taylor nick in the opening ODI against New Zealand at McLean Park stadium, Napier, New Zealand on Sunday 19th January 2014.

Prior to the series, Dhoni had 299 dismissals (220 caught and 79 stumpings).

The 32-year-old joins Adam Gilchrist (472 dismissals in 287 matches), Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (424 dismissals in 362 matches) and South Africa's Mark Boucher (424 dismissals in 295 matches). Of the three international stars, only Sangakkara is an active player.

Dhoni achieved the record off young pacer Mohammed Shami's bowling in the match here. In the 37th over of the game, Shami got Taylor to play a tired shot outside off which only took the edge on the way to Dhoni

Besides, Dhoni has now surpassed Mohammad Azharuddin for most number of catches against New Zealand by an Indian captain. His catch of Taylor was his 10th against the Kiwis.

At the start of the series, MS Dhoni had 25 sixes to his name on foreign soil. With two sixes in the first ODI, he became the only wicketkeeper-captain to score more 25-plus sixes away from home. As for boundaries, Dhoni had 148 away from home, at the start of the game and at the end of his 46-ball knock of 40, he became the first wicketkeeper-captain to score 150-plus fours away from home.

Dhoni also became the first wicketkeeper-captain to hit more than 400 fours in ODIs. His first four off Adam Milne in during the first ODI was his 400th boundary.

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Sachin Tendulkar will receive Bharat Ratna on 4th February 2014

Former India captain and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar will get Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, in an awards function at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on 4th February 2014.

According to a report, President Pranab Mukherjee will confer the award on the legendary cricketer. A rehearsal of the awards function will be held on February 3.

Tendulkar, who retired from international cricket on November 16, 2013, was chosen for Bharat Ratna honour on the same day.

The Master Blaster played his 200th and final Test against West Indies on that day at his home ground - Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Tendulkar became the first sportsperson to be picked for Bharat Ratna. He and eminent scientist Prof. CNR Rao were chosen for the award last year.

An official statement said Tendulkar has been a true Ambassador of India in the world of sports and his achievements in cricket are unparalleled, the records set by him unmatched, and the spirit of sportsmanship displayed by him exemplary.

At 40, Tendulkar is the youngest to be chosen for Bharat Ratna. He will be the 42nd recipient of the honour.

Tendulkar was also the first active sportsperson to become a Rajya Sabha member last year. The Bharat Ratna was announced after a gap of four years with Hindustani music doyen Bhimsen Joshi being the last recipient in 2009.

The legend cricketer has already received Padma Vibhushan (2008), Padma Shri (1999), Arjun Award (1994) and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (1997-98).

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India announce squad for Under-19 World Cup

India will defend its Under-19 World Cup title under Vijay Zol‘s captaincy, who recently led India to junior Asia Cup victory, as the talented batsman has been named skipper of the 15-man squad.

Vijay Zol, who had scored a match-winning hundred for the team against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final in Sharjah on January 4. Zol also played a key role for Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final last week, scoring an unbeaten 91 to help them run down a target of 252 to dump domestic giants Mumbai out of the competition. He is one of only two players in the squad with previous World Cup experience, having been part of the squad that won the title in Australia in 2012. The other is batsman Akhil Herwadkar, who had scored a century and a fifty in five games in the Asia Cup.

The ICC Under-19 World Cup is scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in February. The All-India Junior Selection Committee met here to select the Indian team for the big event.

The three-time champions, India have been clubbed with Pakistan, Scotland and Papua New Guinea in Group A. India will open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 15 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. India won the U-19 World Cup title in 2000, 2008 and 2012.

Indian squad:

Vijay Zol (c), Akhil Herwadkar, Ankush Bains, Ricky Bhui, Sanju Vishwanadh Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Kuldeep Yadav, Amir Gani, Karan Kaila, C.V. Milind, Avesh Khan, Monu Kumar Singh and Atit Seth.

Team Management:

B. Arun (Coach), R Sridhar (Assistant Coach), Biju George (Fielding), Sreenivas PR (Physio), Anant Date (Trainer), Ashutosh Dandige (Video Analyst) and RI Palani

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IPL 7: Full list of players retained by teams

The Indian Premier League announced the list of players retained by the franchises for the 2014 edition of the Twenty20 tournament.

Barring Delhi Daredevils, all other 7 teams have preferred to retain players for IPL 7. The players auction will be held in Bangalore on February 12 and 13. Two-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) are the teams to have retained the full quota of players – five - while Delhi Daredevils did not retain any of their players due to management issues.

Twenty four players have been retained, including fourteen Indian players (of which three are uncapped) and ten overseas players as per reports.

Delhi Daredevils have chosen not to retain any of their players. The decision means that players like David Warner, Virender Sehwag and Kevin Pietersen will be going into the auction pool.

Here is the full list of retained players

Chennai Super Kings	RavichandranAshwin	India
	Dwayne Bravo	West Indies
	MS Dhoni	India
	Ravindra Jadeja	India
	Suresh Raina	India
Kings XI Punjab	David Miller	South africa
	Manan Vohra	India (uncapped)
Kolkata Knight Riders	Gautam Gambhir	India
	Sunil Narine	West Indies
Mumbai Indians	Lasith Malinga	Sri Lanka
	Kieron Pollard	West Indies
	Ambati Rayudu	India
	Rohit Sharma	India
	Harbhajan Singh	India
Rajasthan Royals	Stuart Binny	India(uncapped)
	James Faulkner	Australia
	Ajinkya Rahane	India
	Sanju Samson	India(uncapped)
	Shane Watson	Australia
Royal Challengers Bangalore	AB De Villiers	South Africa
	Chris Gayle	West Indies
	Virat Kohli	India
Sunrisers Hyderabad	Shikhar Dhawan	India
	Dale Steyn	South Africa

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India U-19 win ACC U-19 Asia Cup with 40-run victory over Pakistan U-19

India beat arch-nemesis Pakistan to be crowned Asian champions in the U-19 tournament at Sharjah on Saturday. Indian skipper Vijay Zol and IPL star Sanju Samson laid the foundation with centuries. Pakistan, chasing a stiff total, failed to keep up with the asking rate and finished 40 runs short.

Chasing a target of 315, Pakistan managed 274 for nine in their 50 overs. It was a disciplined performance from India with the batsmen leading the charge. Skipper Vijay Zol (100) and Sanju Samson (100) scored centuries to put up a challenging target for the opposition.

For Pakistan, their skipper Sami Aslam (87) and Kamran Ghulam (102 not out) were the only batsmen to make an impact in the chase. Their partnership of 93 runs was the only stage where the team was in hunt to surpass the huge total.

Earlier, India were put in to bat by Pakistan after winning the toss. India got off to a rollicking start through Ankush Bains. Zol and Samson shared a crucial 180-run stand to propel India to a huge score. Zol hit seven fours and two sixes, while Samson was more aggressive hitting eight fours and four sixes. India could have scored a few more in the death overs if they had not lost a flurry of wickets towards the end.

India had started their campaign against UAE with a convincing 189-run win and then cruised to victory against Nepal before losing to Pakistan by two wickets in their third match. In the semi-final, India defeated Sri Lanka to setup a title clash with their arch-rivals. The last time these two clashed in an Asia Cup final was in 2012 when the match ended in a tie. With this title finish, the Indians will be favourites to win the U-19 World Cup in February 2014.

Brief scores:

• India U-19 Team: 314 for 8 in 50 overs (Ankush Bains 47, Vijay Zol 100, Sanju Samson 100; Zia-ul-Haq 2 for 56, Zafar Gohar 2 for 56)
• Pakistan U-19 274 for 9 in 50 overs(Sami Aslam 87, Kamran Ghulam 102*; Kuldeep Yadav 3 for 72) by 40 runs.
• Result: India beat Pakistan by 40 runs
• Man of the match: Vijay Zol.
• Player of the tournament: Kamran Ghulam.
• Best batsman: Sami Eslam.
• Best bowler: Karamat Ali

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Corey Anderson hits fastest ODI century

Corey Anderson clubbed the fastest century in the history of one-day internationals from 36 balls

New Zealand’s Corey Anderson broke the record for the fastest ODI century - his hundred came off only 36 deliveries as they cruised to a 159-run win over the West Indies.

Anderson's century is the fastest in List-A too, equalling Graham Rose's 36-ball century for Somerset in 1990.

Anderson hit 12 sixes and four fours to break the record by one delivery of a 37-ball century scored by Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi against Sri Lanka which has stood for almost 18 years against Sri Lanka, in Nairobi in 1996.

New Zealand scored at 13 runs per over, and the 23-year-old all rounder finished on 131 not out from only 47 balls.

Anderson was 95 not out after 35 balls, needing a six to break Afridi’s record and, though unaware of the fact, he swatted the next ball from spinner Nikita Miller out of the ground to break the world record.

The New Zealand innings contained 22 sixes and 22 fours or 220 run from boundaries.

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