Indian world cup cricket team members

Ashish Nehra

Ashish Nehra pronunciation (help·info) (born April 29, 1979 in Delhi) is an Indian cricketer (left-arm fast bowler) who has represented India at the international level since 1999. Nehra started playing first-class cricket for his hometown, Delhi, in the 1997/1998 season and made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Colombo in 1999 and his ODI debut against Zimbabwe at Harare in 2001. On his Test debut, Nehra started out well, dismissing Marvan Atapattu early but then failed to pick up any more wickets. Similarly, he dismissed Alistair Campbell with only his 2nd ball in ODIs. He was also part of the Indian team's run at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. It was there against England, that he got his career-best ODI figures of six for 23. His performance in the other matches in the World Cup were also noteworthy. He was also the only Indian bowler who had an economy rate of less than 6 runs an over during the finals of the World Cup when Australia racked up 359.

However inconsistency and successive back and ankle injuries have prevented him from cementing his place in the Indian team. His career statistics are better in ODI cricket than in Test cricket, but with 144 ODI wickets at an average of 30.54 his average is higher(lesser the best) than all three of his main competitors for fast bowling places in the Indian team - Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar, who all have bowling averages below 30. The new crop of fast bowlers like Munaf Patel, RP Singh and Ishant Sharma also add to the competition. Nevertheless, Nehra completed recovery from a back injury in March 2006 and is trying to make a comeback into the Indian team.

Nehra has often been criticised for his poor fielding, and is regarded as one of the worst in international cricket, particularly his apparent disinterest and casual attitude towards fielding.He hit the headlines with creditable showings in the second season of the IPL, and was recalled to the ODI squad for the tour of West Indies in June 2009 after 4 years due to an injury to Zaheer Khan.After recovering from the ankle injury that prevented him from playing for the Delhi Ranji Team in the 2007-08 season, Nehra joined the Indian Premier League and signed up for the Mumbai Indians franchise. He won the Man of the Match for the game versus Rajasthan Royals taking three wickets on 7 May 2008. He plays for the Delhi DareDevils from 2009. He was picked up by Sahara Pune Warriors in the latest IPL auction for a sum of 3.91 Crores.

Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir Punjabi: ਗੈਤਮ ਗਂਭੀਰ, Hindi: गौतम गंभीर pronunciation (help·info) (born 14 October 1981, in Delhi) is an Indian opening batsman. He has been a member of the Indian national cricket team since 2003 (ODIs) and 2004 (Tests). Gambhir had been a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket with an average of over 50 but his two successive double-hundreds in 2002 (one of them against the visiting Zimbabweans) made him a strong contender for India's opening slot. He became only the fourth Indian batsman to score a double century in a tour game at home; the previous three being Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar. He is the only Indian batsman to score more than 300 runs in four consecutive Test series. He is also the only Indian, and one of only four international cricketers, to have scored five hundreds in five consecutive test matches. On July 2009, for a period of ten days he was the number one ranked batsman in ICC Test rankings.

Gambhir made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in the TVS Cup in 2003. In his third match, he scored 71 and was named Man of the Match. His maiden century (103 off 97 balls) came against Sri Lanka in 2005. In 2004, he made his Test debut against Australia in the fourth and last Test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy but did himself no favours by getting out for 3 and 1. He made amends in his second Test, however, scoring 96 against the South Africans. His maiden Test century came against Bangladesh in December 2004. Gambhir then made a number of starts in the home series against Pakistan in 2005, but was able to make only one half-century in six innings. He made 97 in Zimbabwe later that year, but failed to reach 30 against Sri Lanka at home, repeatedly struggling against Chaminda Vaas, and was subsequently dropped from the Test team. He was replaced in Tests by Wasim Jaffer, who made a double hundred and a hundred in seven Tests.

While Gambhir was out of the Test team, he played a number of One Day Internationals for India between 2005 and 2007. However, he was not selected for the 2007 Cricket World Cup as the selectors opted for a top-order of Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, and Sachin Tendulkar. After India's first-round exit from the tournament, Gambhir was selected for the One Day International on India's 2007 tour of Bangladesh. Gambhir scored his second century on that tour and was subsequently selected for the One Day International on India's tour to Ireland in 2007. He scored an unbeaten 80 against Ireland in the first game of that tour and was awarded the man of the match award for that effort. In the post-match interview, he indicated that performing more consistently was a top priority for his career as he had done so in the past.

Gambhir was selected in India's squad for the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, which India went on to win in South Africa, beating Pakistan in the final. Gambhir performed well in the shortest form of the game, ending the tournament as India's top run scorer, with 227 at an average of 37.83, including three half-centuries which included a crucial 75 runs off 54 balls against Pakistan in the final.

2008 started well for Gambhir. At home, he scored an unbeaten 130 in the Ranji Trophy final to help Delhi beat Uttar Pradesh by nine wickets just two days before the team for the ODI tournament in Australia was to be announced.

Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh pronunciation (help·info) (Punjabi: ਹਰਭਜਨ ਸਿੰਘ, born: 3 July 1980 in Jalandhar, Punjab, India) is an Indian cricketer. A specialist bowler, he has the second-highest number of Test wickets by an off spinner behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

Harbhajan made his Test and One Day International (ODI) debuts in early 1998. His career was initially beset by investigations into the legality of his bowling action and disciplinary incidents that raised the ire of cricket authorities. However in 2001, with leading leg spinner Anil Kumble injured, Harbhajan's career was resuscitated after Indian captain Sourav Ganguly called for his inclusion in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy team. In that series victory over Australia, Harbhajan established himself as the team's leading spinner by taking 32 wickets, becoming the first Indian bowler to take a hat trick in Test cricket.

A finger injury in mid 2003 sidelined him for much of the following year, allowing Kumble to regain his position as the first choice spinner. Harbhajan reclaimed a regular position in the team upon his return in late 2004, but often found himself watching from the sidelines in Test matches outside the Indian subcontinent with typically only one spinner, Kumble, being used. Throughout 2006 and into early 2007, Harbhajan's accumulation of wickets fell and his bowling average increased, and he was increasingly criticised for bowling defensively with less loop. Following India's first-round elimination from the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Harbhajan was replaced by other spinners in the national squad for both formats. He regained a regular position in the team in late 2007, but became the subject of more controversy. In early 2008, he was given a ban by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for racially vilifying Andrew Symonds. The ban was revoked upon appeal, but in April, Harbhajan was banned from the 2008 Indian Premier League and suspended from the ODI team by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for slapping Sreesanth after a match.

He was conferred the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, in 2009.Harbhajan is an attacking-minded bowler who is regarded for his ball control and ability to vary his length and pace, although he is often criticised for his flat trajectory. His main wicket-taking ball climbs wickedly on the unsuspecting batsman from a good length, forcing him to alter his stroke at the last second. With a whippy bowling action, he was reported for throwing in November 1998. Although forced to travel to England for tests, his action was cleared by former English player Fred Titmus.

He has developed an ability to bowl the doosra, which was the subject of an official report by match referee Chris Broad, on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Mark Benson, and TV umpire Mahbubur Rahman after the Second Test between India and Bangladesh at Chittagong, Bangladesh in December 2004. The ICC cleared his action in May 2005, saying that the straightening of his elbow fell within the permitted limits.Anil Kumble (pictured), Harbhajan's former Test captain and long-time bowling partner.

Among off spinners, Harbhajan is the second highest wicket-taker in Test history, behind Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka. He is the third-highest Test wicket-taker among all Indians. Harbhajan average with the ball in home Test matches hovers in the mid-20s. All five of his man of the match awards and both of his man of the series awards have been obtained in India. Outside India, his bowling average climbs to around 40. Statistically, his bowling in Test matches is most effective against the West Indies and Australia. As of May 2008, his most productive hunting grounds have been Eden Gardens in Calcutta, where he has taken 38 wickets at 23.10 in six Tests, while the Chepauk in Chennai, where he has claimed two man of the match awards, has yield 34 wickets at 24.25 in five Tests. Harbhajan has claimed his wickets most cheaply at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, where he has taken 22 wickets at 19.45. Compared to Muralitharan, Harbhajan is less reliant on targeting the stumps for his dismissals; he captures more than 60% of his wickets via catches and less than 25% by bowling or trapping batsmen leg before wicket, whereas the corresponding figures for Muralitharan are in the 40s. Harbhajan's off spin complements Kumble's leg spin. While Harbhajan is known for his emotional and extroverted celebrations, which are part of a deliberate strategy of aggression, Kumble is known for his undemonstrative and composed approach. Both spinners have opined that they bowl more effectively in tandem via persistent application of pressure to batsmen, but statistics have shown that while Kumble has performed better when paired with Harbhajan, Harbhajan has been more effective in Kumble's absence.Ricky Ponting (pictured), has been dismissed by Harbhajan ten times in Tests.

Harbhajan has been particularly successful against Australian batsman Ricky Ponting, taking his wicket on ten occasions in Test cricket.

In an interview in 2001, Harbhajan stated his ambition to become an all-rounder. Although he has recorded a few half-centuries at Test level, his batting average hovers around 15 in both Tests and ODIs. However, in the span of four years starting from 2003, he has shown improved performance, averaging around 20 with the bat. His style is frequently described as unorthodox, with pundits agreeing with his self-assessment attributing his batting achievements to his hand-eye coordination, rather than his footwork or technique. The aggression in Harbhajan's bowling also extends to his batting, with a Test strike rate in the 60s, placing him in the ten highest strike rates among players who have scored more than 1000 runs in Test cricket.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, pronunciation (help·info) (Hindi: महेन्द्र सिंह धोनी) (born July 7, 1981 in Ranchi, Bihar) (now in Jharkhand) is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian national cricket team.

Initially recognized as an extravagantly flamboyant and destructive batsman, Dhoni has come to be regarded as one of the coolest heads to captain the Indian ODI side. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, CB Series of 2007–08 , and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2008 in which they beat Australia 2–0. He also captained Chennai Super Kings to victory in the recent IPL 2010. He is now captain of India in all three forms of the game and also led the team to their first ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Dhoni also led team India to number one position in ICC rankings in test cricket for the first time. Dhoni has also been the recipient of many awards including the ICC ODI Player of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 (the first Indian player to achieve this feat), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour in 2009. As of January 2010, Dhoni is the highest ranked ODI batsman on the ICC Rankings List. Dhoni was named as captain of Wisden's first-ever Dream Test XI Team in 2009 and has topped the list of world’s top 10 earning cricketers compiled by Forbes. He was named as the captain of ICC World Test and ICC ODI teams for 2009.

The Indian team in the 2000s saw the use of Rahul Dravid as the wicket-keeper to ensure that the wicket-keeper spot didn't lack in batting talent. The Indian cricket establishment also saw the entry of wicket-keeper/batsmen from the junior ranks with talents like Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik – both India U-19 Captains in the test squads. With Dhoni making a mark in the India-A squad, he was picked in the ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour in 2004/05. Dhoni did not have a great start to his ODI career, getting run out for a duck on debut. In spite of an average series against Bangladesh, Dhoni was picked for the Pakistan ODI series. In the second match of the series, Dhoni in his fifth one-day international, scored 148 in Vishakapatnam off only 123 deliveries. Dhoni's 148 erased the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper, a record that he would re-write before the end of the year.

Dhoni had few batting opportunities in the first two games of the Sri Lankan bilateral ODI series (October–November 2005) and was promoted to No. 3 in the third ODI at Sawai Mansingh Stadium (Jaipur). Sri Lanka had set India a target of 299 after a Kumar Sangakkara century and in reply, India lost Tendulkar early. Dhoni was promoted to accelerate the scoring and ended the game with an unbeaten 183 off 145 balls, winning the game for India – an innings described in Wisden Almanack (2006) as 'Uninhibited, yet anything but crude'. The innings set various records including the highest Individual score in ODI cricket in the second innings,a record that still stands. Dhoni ended the series with the highest run aggregate (346) and was awarded the Man of the series award for his efforts. In December 2005, Dhoni was signed by BCCI to a B-grade contract, skipping the initial C-grade level due to his performance on the cricketing field.Dhoni bowling in the nets. He rarely bowls at international level.

India scored 328 in 50 overs with Dhoni contributing 68 in their first match of 2006 against Pakistan. However the team finished poorly, scoring just 43 runs in the last eight overs and lost the match due to Duckworth-Lewis method. In the third match of the series, Dhoni came in with India in a precarious situation and scored 72 runs off just 46 balls that included 13 boundaries to help India take a 2–1 lead in the series. The final match of the series had a repeat performance as Dhoni scored 77 runs off 56 balls to enable India win the series 4–1. In recognition of his consistent ODI performances, Dhoni overtook Ricky Ponting as number one in the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen on 20 April 2006. His reign lasted just a week as Adam Gilchrist's performance against Bangladesh moved him to the top spot.

Two canceled series in Sri Lanka, one due to the withdrawal of South Africa from the Unitech Cup due to security concerns and the replacement 3-match ODI bilateral series against Sri Lanka washed due to rain, was India's prelude to another disappointing tournament – DLF Cup 2006-07. Dhoni scored 43 runs as the team lost twice in three games and did not qualify for the finals. India's lack of preparation showed in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy as they lost to West Indies and Australia, though Dhoni scored a half-century against West Indies. The story of the ODI series in South Africa was the same for both Dhoni and India as Dhoni scored 139 runs in 4 matches and India lost the series 4–0. From the start of the WI ODI series, Dhoni had played 16 matches, hit just two fifties and averaged 25.93. Dhoni received criticism on his wicket keeping technique from former wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani.

Preparations for the 2007 Cricket World Cup improved as India recorded identical 3–1 victories over West Indies and Sri Lanka and Dhoni had averages in excess of 100 in both these series. However, India unexpectedly crashed out the World Cup after losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Dhoni was out for a duck in both these matches and scored 29 runs in the tournament. After the loss to Bangladesh in 2007 Cricket World Cup, the house that Dhoni was constructing in his home-town Ranchi was vandalized and damaged by political activists of JMM. The local police arranged for security for his family as India exited the World cup in the first round.

Dhoni put behind his disappointment in the World cup by scoring 91* against Bangladesh after India were left in a tight spot earlier in the run-chase. Dhoni was declared the man of the match for his performance, his fourth in ODI cricket. He was also later adjudged the man of the series after the third game of the series was washed away. Dhoni had a good Afro-Asia Cup, getting 174 runs in 3 matches at an average of 87.00, with a blitzkrieg 139 not out of 97 balls, a Man Of The Match innings, in the 3rd ODI.

Dhoni was nominated as the vice-captain of the ODI team for the series against South Africa in Ireland and the subsequent India-England 7-match ODI series. Dhoni, who received a 'B' grade contract in December 2005, was awarded an 'A' grade contract in June 2007. And also he was elected as captain of Indian Twenty-20 Cricket Team for the World Twenty20 in September 2007. On 2 September 2007 Mahendra Singh Dhoni equalled his idol Adam Gilchrist's international record for the most dismissals in an innings in ODI by catching 5 English players and stumping one. He led India to the ICC World Twenty 20 trophy in South Africa with a victory over arch rivals Pakistan in an intensely fought final on 24 September 2007, and became the second Indian captain to have won a World cup in any form of cricket, after Kapil Dev. Dhoni took his first wicket and ODI wicket on 30 September 2009. He bowled Travis Dowlin from the West Indies. During the series between India and Australia, Dhoni hit an aggressive 124 runs in just 107 balls, in the second ODI, and a measured knock of 71 runs in 95 balls, along with Yuvraj Singh, saw India home by 6 wickets, in the third ODI.

Dhoni topped the ICC ODI Batsman rankings for several months continuously in 2009, it was Hussy from Australia who replaced him for the top spot in the beginning of 2010.

Dhoni had an excellent year in ODIs in 2009 scoring 1198 runs in just 24 innings at an astonishing average of 70.43. Dhoni was also the joint top-scorer in ODIs in 2009 along with Ricky Ponting, but the latter having played in 30 innings.

Munaf Patel

Munaf Musa Patel pronunciation (help·info) (born 12 July 1983, Ikhar, Gujarat, India) is an Indian cricketer who has also played for the West Zone in the Duleep Trophy and Gujarat, Mumbai cricket team and Maharashtra cricket team.

Born to a Muslim family which was opposed to cricket, Patel first gained prominence in 2003 at the age of 20 before he had even played first class cricket for Gujarat, when he was invited to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai by the Indian chairman of selectors Kiran More. There he attracted the attention of visiting Australian captain Steve Waugh, and the director Dennis Lillee, a former Australian fast bowler with his raw pace. However, with the backing of Sachin Tendulkar, he was captured by Mumbai in a transfer deal, in late 2003, without ever representing his native Gujarat.

In 2004, he struggled with injuries, and was criticized by India A coach Sandeep Patil, who believed that he had a mental problem dealing with his injuries. He was also sent to Australian Institute of Sport for bio-mechanical analysis on his bowling action, to improve its efficiency. In August 2005, he transferred to Maharashtra, and after taking 10 wickets against England in a tour match for the Board President's XI, he was rewarded with his selection in the Indian Test Squad for the 2nd Test against England in Mohali, when he made his Test debut.

Patel recorded the figures of 7/97 on debut, including an impressive 4/25 in the second innings and demonstrated an ability to swing the ball in both directions.

In the 2005-2006 Test Series against West Indies, Munaf proved he was arguably the fastest bowler in India, bowling regularly at speeds of over 57 mph and has produced balls at a pace over the 60mph mark. However, more impressive than his ability to bowl at a very quick pace has been his control, a skill lacking in recent Indian fast bowlers. In the West Indies, however, Munaf suffered the ignominy of being hit for 6 fours in an over by Ramnaresh Sarwan. Patel fell short of the record of conceding the most runs off an over by 4 runs.

In the second match of the DLF Cup in Malaysia, Munaf came up with impressive figures of 3/54 against Australia, picking up the wickets of Phil Jacques, Michael Clarke and Stuart Clark. In the final game of the same tournament, he dismissed Australian captain Ricky Ponting for just 4, on the way to 1/32 off 9 overs.

In the first match of the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy against England, Munaf Patel again produced impressive figures of 3/18 - winning the match for India and gaining the man of the match award.He was part of the Indian 2007 Cricket World Cup squad which failed to progress from the group stage and played during India's One-day International series against Bangladesh shortly after the tournament before playing 2 games in England in August 2007. He took four wickets before being ruled out of the remainder of the series through injury. He was subsequently left out of the squad to play Pakistan in November although was recalled to the Test squad following injuries to R. P. Singh and S. Sreesanth.He was selected for the 2009 tour to Sri Lanka and played in the opening match. He bowled five wicketless overs for 32 runs. He then picked up a groin injury before the second match and was replaced in the squad by Lakshmipathy Balaji

He was brought back into the ODI squad for India's last preparatory series before the 2011 Cricket World Cup, with the series taking place in South Africa. After India were beaten quite handily in the first match, they made only 190 when Dhoni chose to bat first in the second match. However, Patel put in a Man of the Match performance to return personal best figures of 4/29 off nine overs, taking the final wicket of Wayne Parnell to lead India to a spectacular 1-run victory, India's first against South Africa in South Africa since 2003. He was eventually named to India's World Cup squad.

In India's first World Cup match against Bangladesh, Patel again took four wickets, albeit with India defending a comfortable 370 from their innings.

Piyush Chawla

Piyush Pramod Chawla pronunciation (help·info) (born 24 December 1988, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India) is an Indian cricketer who has played for the India U-19 team and the Central Zone. He is seen as a leg-spinning allrounder in domestic cricket, but has not fired as a batsman in the One Day International format.

He first played for India U-19 against the England U-19 team in 2004-05, claiming 13 wickets from two Under-19 Tests at a bowling average of just above 12. He also played in the 2005-06 home series against Australia U-19, where they won the five-match limited overs series 4-1, taking eight wickets.Piyush Chawla has a bowling speed of between 80 km to 85 rather he has also reached a maximum of 91km/ph

In the 2005-06 Challenger Trophy, Chawla was selected to play for India B. Although he only bowled three of a possible ten overs in the first match of the series, conceding 21, he picked up two wickets in the next match against India A, and as India B reached the final against the Seniors, he took the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar - bowled with a googly - in an effort described by Cricinfo as "impressive". He also dismissed Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, to end with three for 49, but the Seniors still won by three wickets. Two weeks later, he made his first class debut for Central Zone against South Zone in the Duleep Trophy, and scored 60 in a 92-run eighth-wicket stand with Harvinder Singh. He also finished with match bowling figures of 27.2-3-100-6, admittedly only getting one of the top five batsman once. He has been known by Kiran More since the age of 15 and at only 17 has potentially got a great cricketing future in front of him. He proved himself again when he took 4 wickets in 8 overs conceding only 8 runs in the U-19 World Cup final of 2006. He also made 25 (n.o.) runs.

This resulted in his selection in the Indian Test Squad for the 1st Test against England in Nagpur, in March 2006, and was selected for his debut in the 2nd Test against England in Mohali, making him the second youngest Test debutant for India after Sachin Tendulkar. It was in this Test that he claimed his sole wicket of Andrew Flintoff.

Piyush played his first ODI with India on 12 May 2007, against Bangladesh. His debut was highly successful, with him taking 3 wickets. In the second ODI with Ireland, he was equally impressive with three wickets.

In 2009, Chawla signed for Sussex County Cricket Club for a month, as cover for Yasir Arafat who was with Pakistan.

In his first County Championship match against Worcestershire, he took a total of 8 wickets in the match, and came in at number 9 in the first innings, and scored 102* from only 86 balls.

He has signed to play for Surrey as their overseas player in 2010, joining up with them after the 2010 IPL has finished.

Piyush was also selected for 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in West Indies.

Piyush Chawla has also been selected as part of Indian Team's 15-man World Cup Squad for the 2011 World Cup

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin (born September 17, 1986) is an Indian national cricket team player, who plays for India and Tamil Nadu cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and right arm off-break bowler. He is the only bowler of recent times apart from Ajantha Mendis of Sri Lanka to bowl the carrom ball. He also got selected in the Indian squad for upcoming World Cup championship.Ashwin is an all-rounder for Tamil Nadu and has taken 6/64 against Vidarbha in first-class cricket. He made his debut against Andhra Pradesh in Twenty20 cricket. He did his Engineering (B.Tech IT) in SSNCE. He plays first-class cricket for Tamil Nadu and has played in the Duleep Trophy for South Zone. He was nicknamed "Dada" during his U-19 days while touring Dharamsala.

He played for Chennai Super Kings in the 2010 Indian Premier League. He has a BCCI contract but has not yet played for the national team. His bowling spells in a few crucial matches for Chennai won him good appreciations. He was declared Man of the Match for his spell of 3/16 (4 overs) against Kolkata Knight Riders. Chennai won the match by 9 wickets.

He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka on June 5, 2010. He scored 38 runs from 32 balls(4 fours and 1 six) in a losing game.

He became the highest wicket taker of the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 tournament for Chennai Super Kings in the tournament with 13 wickets and was adjudged as the player of the tournament and also got the Golden Wicket. During IPL 2011 auction which happened on 5th and 6th of january 2011, he has been retained by Chennai Super Kings for the amount of 900000$. Later, on that month he has been included in the squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 to represent India along with the spinners Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla. He scored a decent 25 not out in the first warm-up match of India against Australia on 13 February 2011. His innings helped India post a score of 214 which looked difficult at one stage.

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar pronunciation (help·info) (Marathi: सचिन रमेश तेंडुलकर; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket.In 2002, just 12 years into his career, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one-day-international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards. In September 2007, the Australian leg spinner Shane Warne rated Tendulkar as the greatest player he has played with or against.

Tendulkar is the first and the only player in Test Cricket history to score fifty centuries, and the first to score fifty centuries in all international cricket combined; he now has 97 centuries in international cricket. On 17 October 2008, when he surpassed Brian Lara's record for the most runs scored in Test cricket, he also became the first batsman to score 12,000, 13,000 and 14,000 runs in that form of the game, having also been the third batsman and first Indian to pass 11,000 runs in Test cricket. He was also the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals, and also the first player to cross every subsequent 1000-run mark that has been crossed in ODI cricket history and 200 runs in a one-day international match. In the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, Tendulkar surpassed Australia's Allan Border to become the player to cross the 50-run mark the most number of times in Test cricket history, and also the second ever player to score 11 Test centuries against Australia, tying with Sir Jack Hobbs of England more than 70 years previously. Tendulkar passed 30,000 runs in international cricket on 20 November 2009. He also holds the world record for playing highest number of Test and ODI matches.Tendulkar has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second highest civilian award, and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honor. Tendulkar became the first sportsperson and the first personality without an aviation background to be awarded the honorary rank of Group Captain by the Indian Air Force. He has received honorary doctorates from Mysore University and Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences  He won the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the ICC awards.

Sachin Tendulkar is the most prolific run scorer in one-day internationals with 17,598 runs. With a current aggregate of 14240 Test runs, he surpassed Brian Lara's previous record tally of 11,953 runs as the highest run scorer in test matches in the second Test of Australia's 2008 tour of India in Mohali. Tendulkar described "It is definitely the biggest achievement in 19 years of my career" on the day he achieved the record. He also holds the record of highest number of centuries in both Test (51) and ODI cricket (46). Throughout his career, he has made a strong impact on Indian cricket and was, at one time, the foundation of most of the team's victories. In recognition with his impact on sport in a cricket-loving country like India, Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India. He was also chosen as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1997 and is ranked by the Wisden 100 as the second best test batsman and best ODI batsman of all time.

Tendulkar has also consistently done well in Cricket World Cups. Tendulkar was the highest run scorer of the 2003 Cricket World Cup and 1996 Cricket World Cup. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODIs 7 times, and in 1998 he scored 1894 runs, easily the record for the highest number of runs scored by any player in a single calendar year for one day internationals. Tendulkar is also one of the very few players who are still playing in international cricket from the 1980s. On 24 February 2010, Tendulkar broke the previous world record for highest individual run scorer in an ODI and became the first male cricketer to score double century in ODI. He scored 200 runs and broke the previous record of 194 runs jointly held by Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar and Zimbabwe's Charles Coventry.

He has been Man of the Match 13 times in Test matches and Man of the Series four times, out of them twice in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. The performances earned him respect from Australian cricket fans and players. Similarly he has been Man of the Match 60 times in One day International matches and Man of the Series 14 times.

Sreesanth

Sreesanth (Malayalam: ശ്രീശാന്ത്‌) pronunciation (help·info) (born February 6, 1983 in Kothamangalam, Kerala, India) (also known as S. Sreesanth, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, and Sreesunth for a brief period), is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-arm fast-medium-pace bowler and a right-handed tail-ender batsman. In first class cricket, he plays for Kerala and in the Indian Premier League, he plays for Kochi. He is the first Kerala Ranji player to play Twenty20 cricket for India. He is noted for his exuberant and emotional behaviour, especially whilst appealing for and celebrating wickets. Such trademark behaviour has seen him frequently fined for violating the player conduct guidelines of the International Cricket Council. In October 2009, the BCCI and Kerala Cricket Association issued separate warnings to Sreesanth for indiscipline, failure of which could invite drastic actions such as ban from domestic cricket.

Outside cricket, Sreesanth is a psychology student. In his childhood, he was a breakdancer, and had become a national champion when he was in eighth grade.Sreesanth was born to Shanthakumaran Nair and Savithri Devi. He has one elder brother and a sister. His brother Dipu Santhan owns a music company in Kochi and his sister Nivedita is a television actress in Kerala. His brother in law, Madhu Balakrishnan is a famous South Indian playback singer.

Sreesanth initially was a leg-spinner in his childhood, modelling his action on India's leading Test wicket-taker Anil Kumble, who was to become his Test captain. However, his habit of bowling yorkers led him to convert to fast bowling, after being encouraged by his elder brother. Following in the footsteps of fellow Kerala fast bowler Tinu Yohannan, who earned selection to the National Cricket Academy in 2000, Sreesanth was selected for the MRF Pace foundation in Chennai. He then made his first-class debut against Goa in the 2002-03 domestic season, claiming 22 wickets in seven matches in the Ranji Trophy and winning selection for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy squad in the same season.

He was selected for India-A side in a tour match against the visiting New Zealand side at Rajkot. He claimed one wicket in twelve overs after being restricted with a hamstring injury. He also missed five Ranji Trophy games in that season, although he still travelled with the side for away games. This led to rumours that an astrologer convinced him to take a break from competition to preserve his longevity in the sport, which Sreesanth categorically denied, maintaining that he was training only to regain his fitness.

In November 2004, Sreesanth entered the record books when he took a hat-trick against Himachal Pradesh in a Ranji trophy game, the first time it was achieved by a Kerala bowler, earning him the nickname The Prince of hat-tricks amongst Keralites. He was selected to represent India B in the Challenger Trophy in October 2005, a domestic limited-overs tournament. He performed impressively in that tournament, earning the Man of the Series award and being the leading wicket taker (7) with the third best bowling average. This led to his selection to Indian team for the home ODI series against Sri Lanka.Sreesanth was given the new ball in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. After being punished early by Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya, Sreesanth returned to claim his first two ODI wickets at the end of the match. He was left out of the team and was later recalled for the fourth, fifth and sixth ODIs as coach Greg Chappell tinkered with the line-up. He was retained in the squad but did not play in the 5 match series against South Africa, but played all five matches in the tour to Pakistan, recording a haul of 4/58 in the fifth ODI against Pakistani cricket team in Karachi. A good home series against the England in April 2006, in which he claimed 10 wickets at an average of 16.3, including a career best 6/55 in the final match at Indore (in which he was awarded the man of the match award. led to him subsequently being awarded a BCCI contract, in the C-grade in May.

His disappointing economy rate led him to be left out of the ICC Champions Trophy squad of 14, with the beneficiary being R. P. Singh. He made an unexpected come back to the blue squad due to the injury to Ajit Agarkar later in the tournament. He was also out of the Indian ODI team for the England tour.

Suresh Raina

Suresh Kumar Raina (Kashmiri: सुरेश कुमार रैना (Devanagari), سریش کمار رائنا (Nastaleeq)) pronunciation (help·info) (born 27 November 1986) is an Indian cricketer from the town of Rainawari, a Kashmiri diaspora locality in Jammu & Kashmir. Raina has been a member of the Indian cricket team for ODIs since July 2005, and was included in the Test squad in early 2006, but did not make his test debut until the second test against Sri Lanka on the 26th July 2010. Domestically he plays for Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy and Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy. He is an attacking left-handed batsman, and a renowned fielder who is known for his ability to hit the stumps from the infield. He is also an occasional off-spinner.

Suresh Raina was the youngest in a Kashmiri Pandit family of five children, who have origins in the Rainawari quarter of Srinagar, a city in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. Raina decided to take up cricket seriously in 1999, and moved from Ghaziabad, near New Delhi to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, to attend the specialist government Sports College. He rose to become the captain of the Uttar Pradesh U-16s came to prominence amongst Indian selectors in 2002, when he was selected at the age of 15 and a half years for the U-19 tour to England, where he made a pair of half-centuries in the U-19 Test matches. He toured Sri Lanka later that year with the U-17 team. He made his Ranji Trophy debut for Uttar Pradesh against Assam in February 2003 at the age of 16, but did not play another match until the following season. In late 2003, he toured Pakistan for the U-19 Asian ODI Championship before being selected for the 2004 U-19 World Cup, where he scored three half centuries, including a 90 scored off only 38 balls. He was then awarded a Border-Gavaskar scholarship to train at the Australian Cricket Academy and in early 2005, he made his first-class limited overs debut, and scored 645 runs that season at an average of 53.75. He was selected to participate in the Challenger Series in early 2005, and after injury to Sachin Tendulkar and suspension to captain Sourav Ganguly, Raina was selected for the Indian Oil Cup 2005 in Sri Lanka.

Raina had a difficult start to his international career, being dismissed for a golden duck by a doosra from spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. After scoring 37 runs in the tournament at an average of 12.33, and with the return of Ganguly from suspension, Raina was omitted from the starting XI for the tour of Zimbabwe. With Ganguly being sacked after a row with Indian coach Greg Chappell and Mohammed Kaif injured, Raina played in five of the matches against Sri Lanka in India, mostly as a supersub, and made a cameo 39 not out to guide the team to victory in the fourth ODI. He was again watching from the sidelines in the series against South Africa after Kaif's return and Gautam Gambhir forced his entry into the team with a century, but got another chance to become a regular member of the Indian middle order during the 2006 tour of Pakistan, after vice-captain Virender Sehwag returned home injured. He was only required to bat in one match, in which he helped guide the latter part of the successful run chase in the fourth ODI.

Upon his return to India, he was called up to the Test squad, at the expense of former captain Sourav Ganguly, although he did not play in the Test series against England. He earned his first man of the match award in the subsequent ODI series after scoing an unbeaten 81* in a successful run-chase at Faridabad. After scoring two more half-centuries in the series at an average of 48, Raina was awarded a BCCI C-grade contract. He was selected for both squads for the tour to the West Indies, but is yet to make his Test debut.

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli (born November 5, 1988) is an Indian international cricketer. He was the captain of the victorious Indian team at the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup held in Malaysia. He represents Delhi in first-class cricket. He played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008 and 2009 Indian Premier League. He learned his cricket in the West Delhi Cricket Academy.

Kohli is a middle order batsman, who can also open the batting. Kohli with 784 points is on first position with South Africa’s batsman A.B. De Villiers in the ICC ODI rankings for Batsman. He is known for his shots through the cover region. He can also bowl right arm medium pace.Kohli first came into the limelight when he played for Delhi in a Ranji trophy match against Karnataka on the day of his father's death. His team mates needed him at a crucial moment when he was much more needed at home. But he said that he wanted to bat and scored 90 runs. This shows his determination towards cricket.The innings was crucial in saving the match for Delhi.

Kohli captained the victorious Indian team at the 2008 U/19 Cricket World Cup held in Malaysia. Batting at number 4, he scored 235 runs in 6 matches at an average of 47, including a century against the West Indies U-19s. He was also commended for making several tactical bowling changes during the tournament.

Kohli was instrumental in India's win of the 2009 Emerging Players Tournament in Australia. In the final against South Africa, Kohli scored a century for India. India went on to win the game by 17 runs. Kohli emerged as the leading run scorer of the tournament, aggregating 398 runs from seven matches including two centuries and two fifties.Kohli played for at the 2008 Indian Premier League. He was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for $30,000 before the first season of IPL in 2008. He did not perform well in his first season of IPL, scoring only 165 runs in 13 innings at an average of 15 and taking only 2 wickets in his bowling both of them against Deccan Chargers and taking only 2 catches in the entire season. But he improved marginally in the second season of IPL scoring 215 runs of 11 innings with an average of 21.5 and taking 9 catches and 2 run outs. In the third season of the Indian Premier League he scored two half centuries. Interestingly he was the only player that Royal Challengers Bangalore retained, preferred over the likes of Rahul Dravid and Ross Taylor.

Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag pronunciation (help·info) (Hindi: वीरेंद्र सेहवाग) (born 20 October 1978, in Delhi, India), affectionately known as Viru, the Nawab of Najafgarh, or the Zen master of modern cricket, is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler. He played his first One Day International in 1999 and joined the Indian Test cricket team in 2001. In April 2009, Sehwag became the only Indian to be honored as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in 2008, subsequently becoming the first player of any nationality to retain the award for 2009.

Sehwag holds multiple records including the highest score made by an Indian in Test cricket (319), which was also the fastest triple century in the history of international cricket (reached 300 off only 278 balls) as well as the fastest 250 by any batsman (in 207 balls against Sri Lanka on 3 December 2009 at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai). Sehwag also holds the distinction of being one of four batsmen in the world to have ever surpassed 300 twice in Test cricket, and the only one to score two triple centuries and take a five-wicket innings haul. In March 2009, Sehwag smashed the fastest century ever scored by an Indian in ODI cricket, from 60 balls.

Sehwag was appointed as vice-captain of the Indian team under Rahul Dravid in October 2005 but due to poor form, he was later replaced by V. V. S. Laxman in December 2006 as Test vice-captain. In January 2007, Sehwag was dropped from the ODI team and later from the Test team as well. During his term as vice-captain, Sehwag skippered the team in place of injured Dravid in 2 ODIs and 1 Test. Following his return to form in 2008 and the retirement of Anil Kumble, Sehwag has been reappointed as the vice-captain for both Tests and ODIs. By early 2009, Sehwag had reestablished himself as one of the best performing batsmen in ODI cricket.Sehwag was born in a Jat family from Haryana. The son of a grain merchant, Sehwag spent his childhood in a bungalow in a joint family, with siblings, uncles, aunts and sixteen cousins. Though now settled in New Delhi, the Sehwag family hails from Haryana. Sehwag was the third of four children born to father Krishan and mother Krishna Sehwag, with two older sisters Manju and Anju, and younger brother Vinod. His father attributes his interest in cricket to a toy bat which he was given when he was seven months old. He attended Arora Vidya School in Delhi, and pestered his parents to let him play cricket, on the basis that he was not academically gifted. His father tried to end his career when he broke a tooth as a child in 1990, but Sehwag evaded the ban with the help of his mother. Later he attended Jamia Milia Islamia for graduation.Sehwag made his debut for Delhi cricket team in first class cricket in the 1997–98 season. He was selected to the North Zone cricket team for the Duleep Trophy the following 1998-99 season, ending fifth in the total runscoring list. The following year he was fourth on the Duleep Trophy run scoring list, including a 274, the highest score of the competition. This was attained against South Zone at Agartala in just 327 balls, and followed a rapid 187 from just 175 in a Ranji Trophy match against Punjab. He was then selected for the U-19 team which toured South Africa. He was seventh in the 2000–01 season with two centuries, but his consistency earned the attention of selectors and he became a regular member of the national team in mid 2001.

Since his international career started, he has continued to play for Delhi in the domestic competition whilst he is not occupied with international duty and has captained North Zone to victory in the Deodhar Trophy in 2004–05 and 2005–-06. He also had a short stint with Leicestershire in county cricket in 2003, but a back injury lead to a mutual termination of the contract.

Yusuf Pathan

Yusuf Khan Pathan(born 17 November 1982 in Baroda) is an Indian cricketer. Pathan made his debut in first-class cricket in 2001/02. He is a powerful and aggressive right-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. His brother Irfan Pathan is also an Indian cricketer. Though younger than Yusuf, it was Irfan who entered the Indian team first.Following his impressive performances in the 2007 Deodhar Trophy and the Inter-state domestic Twenty20 competition held in April 2007, Pathan was made a part of the Indian squad for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship, held in South Africa in September 2007. He made his Twenty20 international debut in the final against Pakistan. He opened the batting for India in the match, and scored 15 runs in the process.

After a good domestic season in 2007/08, he was signed by the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League for USD 475,000 (INR 1.9 crore). In the 2008 IPL season, he scored 435 runs and took 8 wickets. He recorded the season's fastest half century (from 21 balls) against the Deccan Chargers, and was also the Man of the Match in the final against the Chennai Super Kings.

Following his good showing in the IPL, he was selected for the Indian one-day team. After the IPL though he played all the games in the Kitply Cup and Asia Cup he got to bat only four times. He could not perform very well with the bat and the ball in the Asia Cup and in the Kitply Cup and so he wasn't selected for the Series.against Sri Lanka. He performed well in domestic circuit and impressed the selectors and was selected for the England ODI series in November. He scored a fifty off just 29 balls in the second ODI against England in Indore, on his 26th birthday.

Yusuf had made his One-Day International debut for India against Pakistan at Dhaka on 10 June 2008. He became a regular feature of the national One-Day International team, but has yet to make his test debut.

Even though Pathan could not repeat his first IPL performance in the second season, he was selected in the Indian team to play the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 championships in England. In the second of the Super 8 matches of India, he made an unbeaten 33 from 17 balls against England, despite his team losing the game and crashing out of the tournament before the semi-finals.

In late-2009, Pathan was dropped from the limited overs team after a series of unproductive performances and the allrounder's position was taken over by Ravindra Jadeja.

In the final of the 2010 Duleep Trophy cricket tournament, Pathan scored a hundred in the first innings and a double hundred in the second and led his team West Zone to a three wicket win over South Zone. Pathan made 108 in the first innings and an unbeaten 210 from 190 balls in the second innings. This became a world record in cricket for the highest successful run chase in first class cricket history.

On 13 March 2010, Pathan scored a century off 37 balls, in an Indian Premier League match against Mumbai Indians. The innings also included record 11 consecutive hits to the boundary (6, 6, 6, 6, 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, 4, 4).

On 7 December 2010 Pathan magic seals win for India. Pathan clobbered the New Zealand attack with his aggressive innings, Yusuf Pathan smashed an unbeaten 123 from 96 balls and shared an unbroken 133-run partnership with Saurabh Tiwary to guide India to a huge target of 316 with seven balls to spare and give the hosts a 4-0 lead in the series.He was named man of the match. The all-rounder clubbed seven fours and seven sixes on the way to his maiden one-day century to help the hosts overhaul New Zealand's challenging 315-7 with seven balls to spare at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

At the awards distribution ceremony he stated that "this knock will boost my career". Indian captain Gautam Gambhir said "I have always said Pathan can finish games on his own, and that's what he did today," "I had never seen something like this before. But I knew till the time Pathan was there, we would win the game."

New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori said "It was a great game of cricket," "We were in the game, but Pathan was pretty amazing and took the game away from us."

In the 2011 IPL auction, he was bought for $2.1 million by Kolkata Knight Riders.

In the MTN ODI series against South Africa before the 2011 World Cup, he gave a stand out performance in a match against South Africa in Pretoria where he scored a brilliant 105 in 70 deliveries (comprising 8 fours and 8 sixes), even though India lost the match, his performance was complimented heavily. During this knock, he reached his century off 68 balls which is the sixth fastest by an Indian and the second fastest by an Indian outside the subcontinent. His batting performance during the entire series has elevated his chance to be part of the playing XI for India in the upcoming World Cup.

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh pronunciation (help·info) (Punjabi: ਯੁਵਰਾਜ ਸਿੰਘ, born 12 December 1981 in a Punjabi Jat family from Chandigarh, India) is a cricketer from India, and the son of former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi movie star Yograj Singh. He has been a member of the Indian cricket team since 2000 (ODIs) and played his first Test match in 2003. He was the vice captain of the ODI team from late-2007 to late-2008. At the 2007 World Twenty20 he hit six sixes in an over against England's Stuart Broad—a feat only performed three times previously in any form of senior cricket, and never previously in an international match between two Test cricket nations.Yuvraj first came to attention when he captained the U-19 Punjab cricket team in the final of the Cooch-Behar Trophy against Bihar U-19s, in which he scored 358. He then gained selection for the U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2000, where he was part of a team lead by Mohammed Kaif which won the tournament. Yuvraj was subsequently selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

Yuvraj made his One Day International debut against Kenya at Nairobi in 2000, at the ICC KnockOut Trophy. He showed his potential in his second ODI which was against the Australians where he scored a quickfire 84 off 82 balls against a quality pace attack consisting of bowlers like Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie. However, after a lean run of form, he was dropped for the one-dayers against Australia in India in early 2001, but returned later in the year and helped India to victory in a match in Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 98.

One of his most memorable innings was a partnership with Mohammad Kaif in the NatWest Series final against England in July 2002 which led India to victory. He was selected and represented India at the 2003 Cricket World Cup. He scored his first century in his fourth season with the Indian team against Bangladesh in 2003. After that he also scored hundreds against Zimbabwe and Australia, including a 139 off 119 balls at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In the Indian Oil Cup 2005, he made 110 (off 114 balls) (his third century) and an important partnership worth 165 runs with Mohammad Kaif, to become the man of the match against West Indies in the last match of the round robin league. After reaching his century, he attracted attention by angry gesticulations to the Indian dressing room, which was postulated to be due to his clashes with team management - Greg Chappell had been appointed as the new Indian coach and he had criticised Yuvraj. He later praised Chappell's techniques.

Yuvraj had a good run of form late in 2005 and early in 2006, in the ODI format of the game. He was named as the man of the series in three consecutive series, against South Africa (joint with Graeme Smith), and then against Pakistan and England, in which he scored three centuries and four half-centuries in fifteen matches, which propelled him into the top ten of the ICC ODI batting rankings. During the Pakistan tour, at times when captain and vice-captain Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag were absent, Yuvraj was the on-field captain, indicating that he may be seen as a potential captain. In the next series in the West Indies, Yuvraj hit two fifties in four games, even though India lost the series 4-1. His performance was recognised with his shortlisting by the ICC as one of four nominees for the Internation One Day player of the year award.

Yuvraj missed the first game in the series after that, the tri-series against Australia and West Indies in Kuala Lumpur, due to illness and after failing to reach double figures in the following two games, was axed for Mohammed Kaif in the last group match. He showed signs of returning to form in the Champions Trophy, hitting a restrained unbeaten 27 to guide India to victory against England in the opening game after he was recalled in place of Kaif, but a knee injury forced him out of the final group match. He subsequently missed the tour of South Africa and was in doubt for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, but made a faster than expected recovery to play in the ODI series against the West Indies in India in January 2007. He struck a fluent 95* from 83 balls in India's final match against Sri Lanka before heading to the World Cup.

At the World Cup, Yuvraj only managed one fifty against a lowly Bermuda and along with rest of the squad, was criticized for India's first-round exit. Nevertheless, Yuvraj kept his place in the side for the tours of Bangladesh and Ireland in 2007.

In September 2007, he was named as the ODI vice captain of Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the resignation of Rahul Dravid. He then scored 121 in a losing cause during India's One-day International series defeat at the hands of Australia before enjoying a return to form as India beat Pakistan 3-2 on home soil in November 2007 and he was named Man of the series. In the five matches, he scored four half-centuries, although he was fined after showing dissent in the final match in Jaipur.

In November 2008, he hit 138* from 78 balls against England at Rajkot, taking 64 balls to reach his century, which at the time was the second fastest by an Indian in ODIs, after Mohammad Azharuddin's century in 1988 against New Zealand came off 62 balls. After reaching 50 from 42 balls, he added a further 88 in the next 36 balls. He did so despite straining his back, which necessitated the use of Gautam Gambhir as a runner. This was followed by 118 from 122 balls and a 4/28—all his wickets being specialist batsmen—in the next match in Indore, earning him two consecutive man of the match awards.

Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan (Marathi: झहीर खान) pronunciation (help·info) (born 7 October 1978, Shrirampur town in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra), is an Indian cricketer who has been a member of the Indian cricket team since 2000.

A left arm Fast bowler considered as the spearhead of the Indian bowling attack, Zaheer is known for his ability to swing the ball both ways, and as a batsman also holds the record for the highest Test score by a No. 11. After leading the Indian pace attack for much of the early 2000s, recurring hamstring injuries in 2003 and 2004 forced him out of the team, and after returning for a year, he was dropped again in late 2005. Strong performances on the domestic circuit have seen him recalled to the team as its leading pace bowler.Zaheer is also a pioneer in the art of reverse swing bowling

Zaheer was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, He made his Test debut against Bangladesh at Dhaka and ODI debut against Kenya at Nairobi during the ICC KnockOut Trophy in the same year.

In late 2005 pacemen Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and R. P. Singh made their international debuts and became regular members of the Indian team making it difficult for Zaheer to retain his position in the playing eleven. The Board of Control for Cricket in India demoted Zaheer from a B-grade to a C-grade contract at the end of the year.

He returned for the 2006 tour of Pakistan, where India fielded three left arm pacemen and had difficulty dismissing Pakistan with a lack of variety in the bowling attack. Zaheer, with inferior results to those of Irfan Pathan and Singh, was dropped.

In Indian domestic cricket, Zaheer made his name playing for Baroda, but transferred to Mumbai at the start of the 2006-07 Indian cricket season his debut for Mumbai until the final of the Ranji Trophy in which he took 9 wickets as Mumbai defeated Bengal.

In 2006 Zaheer signed for Worcestershire County Cricket Club as their second overseas player as a replacement for Australian Nathan Bracken. He became the first Worcestershire player to take 10 wickets in a match on debut for over 100 years against Somerset, even though Worcestershire eventually lost the game. In June 2006 he took the first nine wickets to fall in the first innings against Essex, ending with 9-138; had wicket-keeper Steven Davies not dropped a catch offered by last man Darren Gough he would have become the first bowler ever to take all ten for the county.

In late 2006, Zaheer was recalled to the Test and ODI team for the tour of South Africa, following a form slump to Baroda team-mate Irfan Pathan and injuries to Munaf Patel. After consistent performances on tour, his performance in early 2007 in home ODIs against the West Indies and Sri Lanka, including a career best 5/42, saw him named in the squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. He is moulded on the likes of Wasim Akram and Chaminda Vaas, though not as successful as they are.

He won the Man of the Match award in the first test between India and Australia, at Bangalore, in the 2008-2009 series for his all round performance with the bat and the ball. He became the third Indian, after Rusi Surti and Kapil Dev, to score a half century and take five wickets in an innings in the same match against Australia. He has since become the strike-bowler and a permanent fixture in the Indian team.Zaheer also won the Man of the Match award in the T20 Worldcup 2009 against Ireland for taking 4 wickets by giving only 19 runs.

Khan is currently tied with James Anderson of England at No.4 in ICC Test bowlers ranking.

He has taken over 250 ODI wickets at an average of 26 runs per wicket taking 4 wickets in a match 6 times (4 times against Zimbabwe) including 32 wickets against Zimbabwe at an average of 17.46 runs per dismissal. He, along with other seamers like Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra helped India to make it to the finals of the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Zaheer finished the 2003 World cup as 4th highest wicket taker - 18 wickets from 11 matches at an average of 20 runs per wicket. Zaheer will be the mainstay of Indian bowling attack considering the inexperience in the squad during th Cricket World Cup 2011.

(source:wikipedia)