WORLD TWENTY20 final, Johannesburg: India v Pakistan The inaugural Twenty20 World cup final, on Monday, is a marketing man's

dream - with Pakistan taking on India. India held its nerve against a brave charge by Australia to win the spectacle by a handsome margin of 15 runs after setting a target of 189 while earlier in the day, Umar Gul's sensational seam bowling and Imran Nazir's half-century ensured Pakistan the first spot in the ICC World Twenty20 final at New Zealand's expense. Chasing a target of 144 runs, after a combination of poor batting and excellent bowling restricted New Zealand to 143-8 from their 20 overs, Pakistan won the semi-final encounter at the Newlands cricket ground in Cape Town by six wickets after knocking off 147 runs in 18.5 overs. A middle order collapse had cost New Zealand vital runs after a promising start, Ross Taylor top-scoring with 37. At Durban, brilliant left-hander Yuvraj Singh hit 70 off just 30 balls as India won the toss and recovered spectacularly from a sluggish start to total 188-5. Australia crumbled when 30 were needed from the last three to end on 173-7.
WORLD TWENTY20 semi-final, Durban: India 188-5 (20 overs) beat Australia 173-7 (20 overs) by 15 runs WORLD TWENTY20 semi-final, Cape Town: Pakistan 147-4 (18.5 overs) beat New Zealand 143-8 (20 overs) by six wickets

The Ouster Of Lalit Modi

What a bizarre month its been if youre an ardent follower of cricket! Lalit Modis off field activities have dominated the headlines even more than the great on field action. The hours after Chennai won the IPL trophy were dominated not by news of Chennai partying and rejoicing or even the highlights of the final but rather the suspension of Lalit Modi as the Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League. While it might seem strange that the face of the IPL has gone from being a marketing whizkid to the villain he is seen now, the actions of Lalit Modi are not surprising. Allegations still standing, Modi has fallen a victim to his ego and despite his abilities hasn't been able to manage his own greed.

The League Of Extraordinary Money

Have You Ever Seen A 100 Crore People Doing The Same Thing At The Same Time? , that s the ad doing the rounds on Indian TV. The product being advertised is the biggest phenomenon to ever come out of the Indian subcontinent and easily the biggest in the game of Cricket.The sporting spectacle known as the Indian Premier League or the IPL for short kicks off on the Tenth of April. This time the stakes are higher, the number of players are more, the viewership is guaranteed to be much more than the number we saw last year. What should however have the big men in the BCCI grinning from one ear to the next is the amount of money that is expected to come into the IPL.As Lalit Modi said a few weeks ago The IPL Is Recession Proof . That s food for thought.

ESPN-STAR Score BIG

Less than a week after the ESPN-STAR group won the rights to host the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 Champions Cricket League to be held in India from December 3 to the Tenth, a clearer picture has emerged in the sub-continent. The business side of cricket continues to prosper, the BCCI continues to get richer and most importantly, the ESPN-STAR group have become without doubt the most dominating sports broadcasting entity in this part of the world and now provide sports content for over a sixth of the worlds population.

The India Street review of Cricinfo.com

Indians love cricket. As a matter of fact, its like religion to them. You may not believe at first but its true that cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and MS Dhoni are even more popular than Bollywood stars like Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan. We also created a virtual cricket stock exchange example and believe there is a need for such a site.

India becomes world s seventh largest IPO market

The Indian economy is in full form, much like the Indian cricket team. According to experts, Indian companies are flocking to the stock markets in droves to raise capital.

Stephen Brenkley: A sporting spectacle to savour and an inspiration for Mumbai

Sparkling Test showcased the game's power as a force for good

Yuvraj Singh celebrates India's extraordinary success against England in Chennai yesterday

Test cricket can do no more. The humdinger of a match which finished yesterday in a deserved victory for India embodied the essence of cricket, maybe of all sport. This is a tall claim to make but anybody deluded enough to think that Twenty20 is the only way to go after this may as well take to supporting one-legged underwater pancake racing for their kicks. England lost for all sorts of reasons, not least their reluctance to push for victory, but they

played a significant part in a contest which went to the last hour of the last session on the last day and will be remembered down the ages. India successfully chased 387 to win, the fourth highest winning pursuit in the whole history of Test cricket, now numbering 1898 matches. It beat by more than 100 runs the previous highest winning fourth innings in the country and the man who secured the victory in sublime fashion was the iconic Sachin Tendulkar. In accumulating the 41st Test hundred of his matchlessly auspicious career he was simply consummate. Previous highest fourth inning's total on Indian soil: India v Pakistan, Delhi, 4 December 1979, 364-6 (Match drawn) Pakistan: 273 & 242 India: 126 & 364 (DB Vengsarkar 146 not out) Previous highest successful 4th Innings run chase on Indian soil: West Indies v India, Delhi, 25 November 1987, 1st Test, 276-5 India: 75 & 327; West Indies: 127 & 276-5 (IVA Richards 109 not out)

Applaud and preserve Sachin-like champions can we?

Tendulkars batting magnificence has been chronicled so much over the years that anything written about him generates as much passion as he does on any cricket field.

His 200-run spectacle against South Africa was another opportunity for his fans to erupt, cheer, sing and write praises. But with such performances come expectations. So much that almost every time this champion comes in to bat, high expectations generate a sort of fear in the stadium, homes, TV stations, internet and wherever he is revered. If he failed to perform, disappointment and even a rare criticism would follow. His every shot, movement and stint on the ground is monitored not by commentators and experts alone, but by every single cricket fan. In a country like India, where peoples emotions are driven by instant self-gratification, the fear of criticism after singing paeans is inevitable. Tendulkar has had a fair share of brickbats and criticism for his performance on the ground and otherwise. In 2003, there was a huge outcry in India with huge protests against a waiver given to Tendulkar to import a Fiat car. Less than three years ago, the same TV channels which usually spend hours discussing his performances, showed him about to cut a cake decorated with the tricolour flag of India. And he was greeted with protests and salvos. A year later, Tendulkars place in the national side was being questioned. And most recently, the champions integrity was being questioned when a political party warned him to stay away from politics.

But all this has rarely affected Tendulkars behaviour on and off the field. He remains humble and warm, polite and obliging, after every spectacle he produces in an attempt to win his country a match.

But can we assure Tendulkar and champions from other sports and walks of life a sort of respect forever? Can people in India be mindful of preserving their excellence?

India brought about the rebirth of never-say-die

There was early evidence of this in Zaheer Khan's aggressive bowling and Sourav Ganguly's passion-filled hundred in the first Test. It has since grown with every over, every passing day, in every player, reaching truly Himalayan heights in the batting of Rahul Dravid in the second Test. The cynical had reckoned a 0-4 drubbing for India, the more indulgent believed that a 0-2 scoreline would be respectable'. Going into the third Test, India lead 1-0, and Australia's status as world champions is under serious threat for the first time in many years. The series is far from over, of course. Australia even with a weakened attack, were unrelenting on the fifth day, so one can expect them to come back with renewed vigour. But skepticism about India's grit has evaporated in the blazing Aussie summer. And no needless aggro involved either, in the transformation, just steely resolve and focus. Why, even Ganguly showed restraint, and did not tear off his shirt as a metaphor of joy after this famous victory. Having caught Steve Waugh with his pants down perhaps he didn't have to.