Gautam Gambhir (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.
Gambhir was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
He 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. He has often been criticized as not being able to convert his starts of 20 and 30 into larger scores and his string of poor scores is continually cited as evidence for this assertion.
While he has been out of the Test team, he has 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. If he does become more consistent, he could cement his place as a One Day International opener in the Indian cricket team.
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.
Gambhir was forced to miss the Test series in Australia due to a shoulder injury. In the 2007-08 CB Series, he scored an unbeaten 102 at the Gabba against Sri Lanka in a match washed out due to rain. Three weeks later at Sydney, he scored a career-best 113 off 119 balls against Australia, in a high scoring match which India lost by 18 runs. He finished the CB series as the leading run-scorer with 440 runs.
Gambhir scored a double century in the Kotla Test against Australia in October 2008.
*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org and owner of Youtube Video.
Gautam Gambhir (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.
Gambhir was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
He 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. He has often been criticized as not being able to convert his starts of 20 and 30 into larger scores and his string of poor scores is continually cited as evidence for this assertion.
While he has been out of the Test team, he has 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. If he does become more consistent, he could cement his place as a One Day International opener in the Indian cricket team.
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.
Gambhir was forced to miss the Test series in Australia due to a shoulder injury. In the 2007-08 CB Series, he scored an unbeaten 102 at the Gabba against Sri Lanka in a match washed out due to rain. Three weeks later at Sydney, he scored a career-best 113 off 119 balls against Australia, in a high scoring match which India lost by 18 runs. He finished the CB series as the leading run-scorer with 440 runs.
Gambhir scored a double century in the Kotla Test against Australia in October 2008.
*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia.org and owner of Youtube Video.
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (Marathi: सचिन रमेश तेंडुलकर) (born April 24, 1973 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India) is an Indian cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman, and the greatest One-day international batsman.[citation needed]
He holds several highly regarded batting records and is the leading scorer of centuries in both Test cricket and one-day internationals. He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so. He is the most prolific run scorer in ODIs by a margin of over 4000 runs and has scored the most runs in international cricket as a whole. He crossed 16,000 runs in ODIs on February 5, 2008 while playing against Sri Lanka in Brisbane, Australia. Affectionately called ‘The Little Master’ or ‘The Master Blaster’, Tendulkar made his first-class debut for the Mumbai cricket team aged 14 and scored a century on debut. He made his international test debut in 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi at age 16.
He is the only cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honour and the only cricketer and one of the first sportsmen (along with Vishwanathan Anand) to receive the Padma Vibhushan (2008), the second highest civilian honour of India. He is the most sponsored player in world cricket and has a huge fan following even amongst foreign audiences. Tendulkar has made numerous commercial ventures including opening a chain of restaurants in India.
HIS PLAYING STYLE:
Tendulkar’s batting style has been compared to that of Sir Donald Bradman.
Tendulkar is ambidextrous: He bats, bowls, and throws with his right hand, but writes with his left hand. He also practices left-handed throws at the nets on a regular basis. Cricinfo columnist Sambit Bal has described him as the “most wholesome batsman of his time”. His batting is based on complete balance and poise while limiting unnecessary movements and flourishes. He is strong in hitting the ball to all parts of the field with a large variety of shots. He appears to show little preference for the slow and low wickets which are typical in India, and has scored many centuries on the hard, bouncy pitches in the Caribbean Islands and Australia. He is known for his unique punch style of hitting the ball over square.
Sir Donald Bradman, the greatest batsman of all time, considered Tendulkar to have a batting style similar to his. In his biography, it is stated that “Bradman was most taken by Tendulkar’s technique, compactness and shot production, and had asked his wife to have a look at Tendulkar, having felt that Tendulkar played like him. Bradman’s wife, Jessie, agreed that they did appear similar. “
Former Australian cricket team coach John Buchanan voiced his opinion that Tendulkar had become susceptible to the short ball early in his innings because of a lack of footwork. Buchanan also believes Tendulkar has a weakness while playing left-arm pace. He was affected by a series of injuries since 2004. Since then Tendulkar’s batting has tended to be less attacking. Explaining this change in his batting style, he has acknowledged that he is batting differently due to that fact that (1) No batsman can bat the same way for the entire length of a long career and (2) He is a senior member of the team now and thus has more responsibility. However, it cannot be denied that his batting became less attractive since 2004 and while a string of his highest scores have come within this time period, the consistency has been lacking.[citation needed] During the early part of his career he was a more attacking batsman and frequently scored centuries at over a run a ball. Ian Chappell, former Australian player, believes “Tendulkar now, is nothing like the player he was when he was a young bloke”. However, during the latest tour of Australia in 2008, Tendulkar displayed glimpses of his attacking style with several masterful innings.
While Tendulkar is not a regular bowler, he is adept at bowling medium pace, leg spin, and off spin with equal ease. He often bowls when two batsmen of the opposite team have been batting together for a long period, and he can often be a useful partnership breaker. With his bowling, he has helped secure an Indian victory on more than one occasion.
EARLY YEARS AND PERSONAL LIFE:
Tendulkar was born in in Mumbai . His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, who was a Marathi novelist, named him after his favorite music director, Sachin Dev Burman. Tendulkar’s elder brother, Ajit, encouraged him to play cricket. Tendulkar has two other siblings: brother, Nitin, and sister, Savitai.
Tendulkar attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School), where he began his cricketing career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. During his school days, he attended the MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler, but the fast bowling trainer there, Dennis Lillee, suggested to him to “just focus” on his batting.
When Tendulkar was young, he would practice for hours with his coach. He would often get bored of practicing. So his coach would put a one-Rupee-coin on the top of the stumps. The bowler who dismissed Sachin would get the coin. If Sachin passed the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin. Sachin says today that the 13 coins he won then are his most prized possessions.
While at school, he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who also went on to represent India. The destructive pair reduced one bowler to tears and made the rest of the opposition unwilling to continue the game. Sachin scored over 320 in this innings and scored over a thousand runs in the tournament. This was the record partnership in any form of cricket, until 2006 when it was broken by two under-13 batsmen in a match held at Hyderabad in India. When he was 14 Indian batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his used ultra light pads. “It was the greatest source of encouragement for me,” he said nearly 20 years later after passing Gavaskar’s top world record of 34 Test centuries.
In 1995, Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali (born 10 November 1967), the paediatrician daughter of Gujarati industrialist, Anand Mehta. They have two children, Sara (born 12 October 1997), and Arjun (born 24 September 1999).
Tendulkar sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annaben Mehta. He is reluctant to speak about his charitable activities[citation needed], choosing to preserve the sanctity of his personal life despite media interest in him.[citation needed]
In commemorating Sachin Tendulkar’s feat of equalling Don Bradman’s 29 centuries in Test Cricket, automotive giant Ferrari invited Sachin Tendulkar to its paddock in Silverstone on the eve of the British Grand Prix (23 July 2002) to receive a Ferrari 360 Modena from the legendary F1 racer Michael Schumacher. On September 4, 2002 India’s then finance minister Jaswant Singh wrote to Sachin telling him that the government will waive custom’s duty imposed on the car as a measure to applaud his feat. However the rules at the time stated that the customs duty can be waived only when receiving an automobile as a prize and not as a gift. It is claimed that the proposals to change the law (Customs Act) was put forth in Financial Bill in February 2003 and amended was passed as a law in May 2003. Subsequently the Ferrari was allowed to be brought to India without payment of the customs duty (Rs 1.13 Crores or 120% on the car value of Rs 75 Lakhs). When the move to waive customs duty became public in July 2003, political and social activists protested the waiver and filed PIL in the Delhi High Court. With the controversy snowballing, Sachin offered to pay the customs duty and the tab was finally picked up by Ferrari. Tendulkar has been seen taking his Ferrari 360 Modena for late-night drives in Mumbai.
More information about Sachin can be found here —>>
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (Marathi: सचिन रमेश तेंडुलकर) (born April 24, 1973 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India) is an Indian cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman, and the greatest One-day international batsman.[citation needed]
He holds several highly regarded batting records and is the leading scorer of centuries in both Test cricket and one-day internationals. He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so. He is the most prolific run scorer in ODIs by a margin of over 4000 runs and has scored the most runs in international cricket as a whole. He crossed 16,000 runs in ODIs on February 5, 2008 while playing against Sri Lanka in Brisbane, Australia. Affectionately called ‘The Little Master’ or ‘The Master Blaster’, Tendulkar made his first-class debut for the Mumbai cricket team aged 14 and scored a century on debut. He made his international test debut in 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi at age 16.
He is the only cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honour and the only cricketer and one of the first sportsmen (along with Vishwanathan Anand) to receive the Padma Vibhushan (2008), the second highest civilian honour of India. He is the most sponsored player in world cricket and has a huge fan following even amongst foreign audiences. Tendulkar has made numerous commercial ventures including opening a chain of restaurants in India.
HIS PLAYING STYLE:
Tendulkar’s batting style has been compared to that of Sir Donald Bradman.
Tendulkar is ambidextrous: He bats, bowls, and throws with his right hand, but writes with his left hand. He also practices left-handed throws at the nets on a regular basis. Cricinfo columnist Sambit Bal has described him as the “most wholesome batsman of his time”. His batting is based on complete balance and poise while limiting unnecessary movements and flourishes. He is strong in hitting the ball to all parts of the field with a large variety of shots. He appears to show little preference for the slow and low wickets which are typical in India, and has scored many centuries on the hard, bouncy pitches in the Caribbean Islands and Australia. He is known for his unique punch style of hitting the ball over square.
Sir Donald Bradman, the greatest batsman of all time, considered Tendulkar to have a batting style similar to his. In his biography, it is stated that “Bradman was most taken by Tendulkar’s technique, compactness and shot production, and had asked his wife to have a look at Tendulkar, having felt that Tendulkar played like him. Bradman’s wife, Jessie, agreed that they did appear similar. “
Former Australian cricket team coach John Buchanan voiced his opinion that Tendulkar had become susceptible to the short ball early in his innings because of a lack of footwork. Buchanan also believes Tendulkar has a weakness while playing left-arm pace. He was affected by a series of injuries since 2004. Since then Tendulkar’s batting has tended to be less attacking. Explaining this change in his batting style, he has acknowledged that he is batting differently due to that fact that (1) No batsman can bat the same way for the entire length of a long career and (2) He is a senior member of the team now and thus has more responsibility. However, it cannot be denied that his batting became less attractive since 2004 and while a string of his highest scores have come within this time period, the consistency has been lacking.[citation needed] During the early part of his career he was a more attacking batsman and frequently scored centuries at over a run a ball. Ian Chappell, former Australian player, believes “Tendulkar now, is nothing like the player he was when he was a young bloke”. However, during the latest tour of Australia in 2008, Tendulkar displayed glimpses of his attacking style with several masterful innings.
While Tendulkar is not a regular bowler, he is adept at bowling medium pace, leg spin, and off spin with equal ease. He often bowls when two batsmen of the opposite team have been batting together for a long period, and he can often be a useful partnership breaker. With his bowling, he has helped secure an Indian victory on more than one occasion.
EARLY YEARS AND PERSONAL LIFE:
Tendulkar was born in in Mumbai . His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, who was a Marathi novelist, named him after his favorite music director, Sachin Dev Burman. Tendulkar’s elder brother, Ajit, encouraged him to play cricket. Tendulkar has two other siblings: brother, Nitin, and sister, Savitai.
Tendulkar attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School), where he began his cricketing career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. During his school days, he attended the MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler, but the fast bowling trainer there, Dennis Lillee, suggested to him to “just focus” on his batting.
When Tendulkar was young, he would practice for hours with his coach. He would often get bored of practicing. So his coach would put a one-Rupee-coin on the top of the stumps. The bowler who dismissed Sachin would get the coin. If Sachin passed the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin. Sachin says today that the 13 coins he won then are his most prized possessions.
While at school, he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who also went on to represent India. The destructive pair reduced one bowler to tears and made the rest of the opposition unwilling to continue the game. Sachin scored over 320 in this innings and scored over a thousand runs in the tournament. This was the record partnership in any form of cricket, until 2006 when it was broken by two under-13 batsmen in a match held at Hyderabad in India. When he was 14 Indian batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his used ultra light pads. “It was the greatest source of encouragement for me,” he said nearly 20 years later after passing Gavaskar’s top world record of 34 Test centuries.
In 1995, Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali (born 10 November 1967), the paediatrician daughter of Gujarati industrialist, Anand Mehta. They have two children, Sara (born 12 October 1997), and Arjun (born 24 September 1999).
Tendulkar sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annaben Mehta. He is reluctant to speak about his charitable activities[citation needed], choosing to preserve the sanctity of his personal life despite media interest in him.[citation needed]
In commemorating Sachin Tendulkar’s feat of equalling Don Bradman’s 29 centuries in Test Cricket, automotive giant Ferrari invited Sachin Tendulkar to its paddock in Silverstone on the eve of the British Grand Prix (23 July 2002) to receive a Ferrari 360 Modena from the legendary F1 racer Michael Schumacher. On September 4, 2002 India’s then finance minister Jaswant Singh wrote to Sachin telling him that the government will waive custom’s duty imposed on the car as a measure to applaud his feat. However the rules at the time stated that the customs duty can be waived only when receiving an automobile as a prize and not as a gift. It is claimed that the proposals to change the law (Customs Act) was put forth in Financial Bill in February 2003 and amended was passed as a law in May 2003. Subsequently the Ferrari was allowed to be brought to India without payment of the customs duty (Rs 1.13 Crores or 120% on the car value of Rs 75 Lakhs). When the move to waive customs duty became public in July 2003, political and social activists protested the waiver and filed PIL in the Delhi High Court. With the controversy snowballing, Sachin offered to pay the customs duty and the tab was finally picked up by Ferrari. Tendulkar has been seen taking his Ferrari 360 Modena for late-night drives in Mumbai.
More information about Sachin can be found here —>>
Mohammad Ashraful (Bengali: মোহাম্মদ আশরাফুল) (born July 7, 1984 in Dhaka) is a Bangladeshi international cricket player and the captain of both the Test and ODI of Bangladeshi national cricket team. He has also been selected to represent ACC Asia XI ODI side.
TEST CRICKET: Ashraful made his test debut on 6 September 2001 against Sri Lanka. In the first innings he was dismissed for 26 runs from 53 balls, but in the second innings he scored his maiden Test century – 114 runs from 212 balls. The century made him the youngest player to score a test century in an international match. There has been some uncertainty regarding his birth date – some sources claim it is July 7, but others, as well as his passport, record it as September 9; although either date would qualify him for his world record status (previously held by Pakistani Mushtaq Mohammad, aged 17 years 82 days in 1960-1).
Following the century, Ashraful began receiving high expectations. However, a prolonged string of poor performances and soft dismissals resulted in him being dropped from the national team. He returned to the team in 2004 against the Indian cricket team and scored his second century, 158 not out, claiming the record for the highest individual Test score by a Bangladeshi. In 2006 he scored his third century, with 136 in the first test against Sri Lanka. In his maiden match as captain of Bangladeshi, during the 2007 season, against Sri Lanka, he made 7 runs in the first innings and the 37 in the second. In the second match of the tour and his captaincy Ashraful was out for a duck in the first innings but scored his fourth century in the second innings. He scored 129 not out, making him the first Bangladeshi cricketer to score 4 centuries. To date Ashraful is Bangladesh’s second highest run-scorer in Test cricket behind Habibul Bashar.
ONE DAY INTERNATIONAL CAREER: Ashraful made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe on 11 April 2001, where he made just 9 runs and Bangladesh lost the match by 36 runs. He had a poor first World Cup – the 2003 Cricket World Cup – making 71 runs at an average of 14.20, with Bangladesh being eliminated in the Group Stage. Despite a poor start to his ODI career Ashraful has been one of the the key batsmen in several of Bangladesh’s famous victories. He made exactly 100 in Bangladesh’s win over Australia at Cardiff in the 2005 NatWest Series, possibly one of the greatest upsets in sporting history. During the 2007 Cricket World Cup, he made 87 from 83 balls against the ICC ODI Championship world number 1 ranked South African team, helping his team clinch a 67 run win, with Ashraful being named the Man of the Match. With 216 runs at an average of 24, he was Bangladesh’s highest run scorer in the World Cup. To date, Ashraful is Bangladesh’s second highest run-scorer in ODIs, behind Habibul Bashar.
DOMESTIC CRICKET: When not playing with the national team, Ashraful plays domestic cricket for the Dhaka Division cricket team in Bangladesh’s domestic one-day and First-class competitions, captaining both sides on occasion but with no real regularity. In November 2006 he set a league record score of 263, against Chittagong Division for Bangladeshi First-class cricket – although this record has since been bettered by Raqibul Hasan. Ashraful also captains Sonargaon Cricketers, a club in the Dhaka Premier League. He became captain at a crucial period as his team were placed at the bottom and turned team with a second place finish at the end of the season. He played for Rainhill CC in a local cricket league in UK.
CAPTAINCY: Although Bangladesh performed well under the captaincy of Habibul Bashar in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the Bangladesh Cricket Board decided to replace Bashar as the national team ODI captain after losing 2-0 to a touring Indian side in May 2007. There was a lot of criticism of the BCB for their decision from many cricket pundits, including the departing national coach Dav Whatmore, who believed the change was unnecessary. Bashar agreed to step down from the post of ODI captaincy but insisted that he wanted to remain as the national Test captain, but after losing the Test series in the same Indian tour of Bangladesh, the BCB also decided to replace him as Test captain.
The two favourites for the captain’s role were Shahriar Nafees (who was vice-captain at the time) and Ashraful. Perhaps due to Nafees’s poor form in both the World Cup and the India series the board awarded the captaincy to Ashraful – becoming the second youngest captain of an international cricket team at 22 – with Mashrafe Mortaza replacing Shahriar Nafees as vice-captain of the team. Ashraful and Mortaza took on these roles from the start of the Sri Lanka tour in June 2007. High hopes were placed on the shoulders of Ashraful by the Bangladeshi fans to motivate the team during the tour, but Bangladesh lost all three of the Test matches by large margins of an innings and 234 runs, an innings and 90 runs and an innings and 193 runs respectively, Ashraful scored a century in the second test.
MISCELLANIOUS: •Ashraful’s family given nickname is Matin but his teammates call him Ash (short for Ashraful), a nickname given to him by former Bangladesh coach and South African international Eddie Barlow.
•He and Bangladesh teammate and opener Shahriar Nafees are very good friends, having been trained by the same coach in the BKSP when they were young.
•3 of 4 of his Test centuries were against Sri Lanka. The other was against India.
•Ashraful has been caught out more than any other dismissal types in both Tests and ODIs.
•In Tests, he has been dismissed most by Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka , Muraltharan has dismissed Ashraful 6 times. In ODIs he has been dismissed most by Dilhara Fernando of Sri Lanka, who has dismissed Ashraful four times.
•In 1997, Sourav Ganguly came to Dhaka to open Amarjyoti cricket club where 12 year old Ashraful met him and asked him for an autograph and a photo, little that either of them knew that they would be playing against each other in the future. When India toured Bangladesh in 2007, Ashraful went up to the Indian team’s dinner table in Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka where Ganguly was seated with his team-mates and showed him and the other Indian players the picture.
•He started his cricket career as a leg-spinner who could bat.
Mohammad Ashraful (Bengali: মোহাম্মদ আশরাফুল) (born July 7, 1984 in Dhaka) is a Bangladeshi international cricket player and the captain of both the Test and ODI of Bangladeshi national cricket team. He has also been selected to represent ACC Asia XI ODI side.
TEST CRICKET: Ashraful made his test debut on 6 September 2001 against Sri Lanka. In the first innings he was dismissed for 26 runs from 53 balls, but in the second innings he scored his maiden Test century – 114 runs from 212 balls. The century made him the youngest player to score a test century in an international match. There has been some uncertainty regarding his birth date – some sources claim it is July 7,[1] but others, as well as his passport, record it as September 9;[2] although either date would qualify him for his world record status (previously held by Pakistani Mushtaq Mohammad, aged 17 years 82 days in 1960-1).
Following the century, Ashraful began receiving high expectations. However, a prolonged string of poor performances and soft dismissals resulted in him being dropped from the national team. He returned to the team in 2004 against the Indian cricket team and scored his second century, 158 not out, claiming the record for the highest individual Test score by a Bangladeshi.[3] In 2006 he scored his third century, with 136 in the first test against Sri Lanka. In his maiden match as captain of Bangladeshi, during the 2007 season, against Sri Lanka, he made 7 runs in the first innings and the 37 in the second. In the second match of the tour and his captaincy Ashraful was out for a duck in the first innings but scored his fourth century in the second innings. He scored 129 not out, making him the first Bangladeshi cricketer to score 4 centuries.[4] To date Ashraful is Bangladesh’s second highest run-scorer in Test cricket behind Habibul Bashar.[5]
ONE DAY INTERNATIONAL CAREER: Ashraful made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe on 11 April 2001, where he made just 9 runs and Bangladesh lost the match by 36 runs. He had a poor first World Cup – the 2003 Cricket World Cup – making 71 runs at an average of 14.20, with Bangladesh being eliminated in the Group Stage. Despite a poor start to his ODI career Ashraful has been one of the the key batsmen in several of Bangladesh’s famous victories. He made exactly 100 in Bangladesh’s win over Australia at Cardiff in the 2005 NatWest Series, possibly one of the greatest upsets in sporting history. During the 2007 Cricket World Cup, he made 87 from 83 balls against the ICC ODI Championship world number 1 ranked South African team,[6] helping his team clinch a 67 run win, with Ashraful being named the Man of the Match. With 216 runs at an average of 24, he was Bangladesh’s highest run scorer in the World Cup. To date, Ashraful is Bangladesh’s second highest run-scorer in ODIs, behind Habibul Bashar.[7]
DOMESTIC CRICKET: When not playing with the national team, Ashraful plays domestic cricket for the Dhaka Division cricket team in Bangladesh’s domestic one-day and First-class competitions, captaining both sides on occasion but with no real regularity. In November 2006 he set a league record score of 263, against Chittagong Division for Bangladeshi First-class cricket – although this record has since been bettered by Raqibul Hasan.[8] Ashraful also captains Sonargaon Cricketers, a club in the Dhaka Premier League. He became captain at a crucial period as his team were placed at the bottom and turned team with a second place finish at the end of the season.[9] He played for Rainhill CC in a local cricket league in UK.[10]
CAPTAINCY: Although Bangladesh performed well under the captaincy of Habibul Bashar in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the Bangladesh Cricket Board decided to replace Bashar as the national team ODI captain after losing 2-0 to a touring Indian side in May 2007. There was a lot of criticism of the BCB for their decision from many cricket pundits, including the departing national coach Dav Whatmore, who believed the change was unnecessary. Bashar agreed to step down from the post of ODI captaincy but insisted that he wanted to remain as the national Test captain, but after losing the Test series in the same Indian tour of Bangladesh, the BCB also decided to replace him as Test captain.
The two favourites for the captain’s role were Shahriar Nafees (who was vice-captain at the time) and Ashraful. Perhaps due to Nafees’s poor form in both the World Cup and the India series the board awarded the captaincy to Ashraful – becoming the second youngest captain of an international cricket team at 22 – with Mashrafe Mortaza replacing Shahriar Nafees as vice-captain of the team. Ashraful and Mortaza took on these roles from the start of the Sri Lanka tour in June 2007. High hopes were placed on the shoulders of Ashraful by the Bangladeshi fans to motivate the team during the tour, but Bangladesh lost all three of the Test matches by large margins of an innings and 234 runs, an innings and 90 runs and an innings and 193 runs respectively, Ashraful scored a century in the second test.
MISCELLANIOUS: •Ashraful’s family given nickname is Matin but his teammates call him Ash (short for Ashraful), a nickname given to him by former Bangladesh coach and South African international Eddie Barlow.
•He and Bangladesh teammate and opener Shahriar Nafees are very good friends, having been trained by the same coach in the BKSP when they were young.
•3 of 4 of his Test centuries were against Sri Lanka. The other was against India.
•Ashraful has been caught out more than any other dismissal types in both Tests and ODIs.
•In Tests, he has been dismissed most by Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka , Muraltharan has dismissed Ashraful 6 times.[11] In ODIs he has been dismissed most by Dilhara Fernando of Sri Lanka, who has dismissed Ashraful four times..[12]
•In 1997, Sourav Ganguly came to Dhaka to open Amarjyoti cricket club where 12 year old Ashraful met him and asked him for an autograph and a photo, little that either of them knew that they would be playing against each other in the future. When India toured Bangladesh in 2007, Ashraful went up to the Indian team’s dinner table in Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka where Ganguly was seated with his team-mates and showed him and the other Indian players the picture.[13]
•He started his cricket career as a leg-spinner who could bat.
Jonathan Neil “Jonty” Rhodes (born 27 July 1969) is a former South African Test and One Day International cricketer who played for the South African cricket team between 1992 and 2003. Rhodes is a born-again Christian.
Rhodes was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. As a right-handed batsman he was noted for his quick running. He was also especially noted for his fielding, particularly ground fielding and throwing from his most common position of backward point. A report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showed that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the ninth highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the third highest success rate.
During his career he also played for the Irish cricket team and played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, KwaZulu-Natal and Natal. Rhodes retired from Test cricket in 2000, and from one day cricket in 2003 after an injury during the 2003 Cricket World Cup ruled him out of the rest of the tournament.
Rhodes also represented South Africa at hockey, and was chosen as part of the 1992 Olympic Games squad to go to Barcelona, however the squad did not qualify to go to the tournament. He was also called up for trials to play in the 1996 Olympics but was ruled out by a hamstring injury.
Rhodes made his Test début against India in the first Test of the “Friendship Tour” at his home ground in Kingsmead, Durban on 13 November 1992, scoring 41 in the first innings and 26 not out in the second.
Rhodes scored his first Test century during the first Test of a three match series against Sri Lanka at Moratuwa during the 1993–1994 season. Batting on the last day, Rhodes scored 101 not out and along with Clive Eksteen salvaged a draw. South Africa went on to win the series 1-0 by winning the second match and drawing the third.
Rhodes announced his retirement from Test match cricket in 2001 in order to allow him to continue playing until the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. His last Test match was on 6 August 2000 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo against Sri Lanka. Rhodes made scores of 21 and 54 in the two innings. Sri Lanka went on to win the match by six wickets.
ODI career:
Rhodes made his one-day international début against Australia in South Africa’s opening match of the 1992 Cricket World Cup at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 26 February 1992. Australia batted first, scoring 170, and Rhodes dismissed Craig McDermott via a run out. South Africa scored 171 to win the match by nine wickets; Rhodes was not required to bat.
Rhodes shot to fame after South Africa’s fifth game of the World Cup, against Pakistan on the 8 March 1992 at the Brisbane Cricket Ground. South Africa batted first, scoring 211 off 50 overs. Pakistan’s innings was reduced to 36 overs because of rain interruptions, with the target revised from 212 to 194 runs. Inzamam-ul-Haq and Pakistan captain Imran Khan resumed the innings when play was restarted. With the score at 135/2 Inzamam, who was at the time on 48, set off for a run but was turned back by Khan. The ball had rolled out towards Rhodes who ran in from backward point, gathered the ball and raced the retreating Inzamam to the wicket. Rhodes, with ball in hand, dived full length to break the stumps and effect the run out. The run out, the subject of a famous photograph, is still considered one of the more spectacular feats of that World Cup and the defining moment of Rhodes’ career. Pakistan’s innings faltered from then on, eventually finishing on 173/8 with South Africa winning by twenty runs.
On 14 November 1993 Jonty Rhodes took a world record of five catches, to achieve the most dismissals by a fielder (other than a wicketkeeper) against the West Indies at Brabourne Stadium, Bombay.
Rhodes announced that he planned to retire from One-Day International cricket after the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. However, his tournament was cut short when he got injured in a match against Kenya. In Kenya’s innings, Maurice Odumbe hit the ball in the air toward Rhodes. Rhodes dropped the catch and in the process broke his hand. The South African team’s medical staff concluded that it would take four to five weeks to heal, effectively ruling Rhodes out of the rest of the tournament. Rhodes was withdrawn from the squad and replaced by Graeme Smith.
After retirement Rhodes was employed by Standard Bank as an account executive and is also involved with the bank’s cricket sponsorship in South Africa. He is presently working as a fielding coach in the South African national cricket team.
He married Kate McCarthy, a niece of Cuan McCarthy, on 16 April 1994 in Pietermaritzburg.
Awards:
In 1999 he was voted as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
In 2004 he was voted 29th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in SABC3’s Great South Africans television series.
In 1999 he was voted as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. In 2004 he was voted 29th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in SABC3’s Great South Africans television series.
Jonathan Neil “Jonty” Rhodes (born 27 July 1969) is a former South African Test and One Day International cricketer who played for the South African cricket team between 1992 and 2003. Rhodes is a born-again Christian.
Rhodes was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. As a right-handed batsman he was noted for his quick running. He was also especially noted for his fielding, particularly ground fielding and throwing from his most common position of backward point. A report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showed that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the ninth highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the third highest success rate.
During his career he also played for the Irish cricket team and played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, KwaZulu-Natal and Natal. Rhodes retired from Test cricket in 2000, and from one day cricket in 2003 after an injury during the 2003 Cricket World Cup ruled him out of the rest of the tournament.
Rhodes also represented South Africa at hockey, and was chosen as part of the 1992 Olympic Games squad to go to Barcelona, however the squad did not qualify to go to the tournament. He was also called up for trials to play in the 1996 Olympics but was ruled out by a hamstring injury.
Rhodes made his Test début against India in the first Test of the “Friendship Tour” at his home ground in Kingsmead, Durban on 13 November 1992, scoring 41 in the first innings and 26 not out in the second.
Rhodes scored his first Test century during the first Test of a three match series against Sri Lanka at Moratuwa during the 1993–1994 season. Batting on the last day, Rhodes scored 101 not out and along with Clive Eksteen salvaged a draw. South Africa went on to win the series 1-0 by winning the second match and drawing the third.
Rhodes announced his retirement from Test match cricket in 2001 in order to allow him to continue playing until the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. His last Test match was on 6 August 2000 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo against Sri Lanka. Rhodes made scores of 21 and 54 in the two innings. Sri Lanka went on to win the match by six wickets.
ODI career:
Rhodes made his one-day international début against Australia in South Africa’s opening match of the 1992 Cricket World Cup at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 26 February 1992. Australia batted first, scoring 170, and Rhodes dismissed Craig McDermott via a run out. South Africa scored 171 to win the match by nine wickets; Rhodes was not required to bat.
Rhodes shot to fame after South Africa’s fifth game of the World Cup, against Pakistan on the 8 March 1992 at the Brisbane Cricket Ground. South Africa batted first, scoring 211 off 50 overs. Pakistan’s innings was reduced to 36 overs because of rain interruptions, with the target revised from 212 to 194 runs. Inzamam-ul-Haq and Pakistan captain Imran Khan resumed the innings when play was restarted. With the score at 135/2 Inzamam, who was at the time on 48, set off for a run but was turned back by Khan. The ball had rolled out towards Rhodes who ran in from backward point, gathered the ball and raced the retreating Inzamam to the wicket. Rhodes, with ball in hand, dived full length to break the stumps and effect the run out. The run out, the subject of a famous photograph, is still considered one of the more spectacular feats of that World Cup and the defining moment of Rhodes’ career. Pakistan’s innings faltered from then on, eventually finishing on 173/8 with South Africa winning by twenty runs.
On 14 November 1993 Jonty Rhodes took a world record of five catches, to achieve the most dismissals by a fielder (other than a wicketkeeper) against the West Indies at Brabourne Stadium, Bombay.
Rhodes announced that he planned to retire from One-Day International cricket after the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. However, his tournament was cut short when he got injured in a match against Kenya. In Kenya’s innings, Maurice Odumbe hit the ball in the air toward Rhodes. Rhodes dropped the catch and in the process broke his hand. The South African team’s medical staff concluded that it would take four to five weeks to heal, effectively ruling Rhodes out of the rest of the tournament. Rhodes was withdrawn from the squad and replaced by Graeme Smith.
After retirement Rhodes was employed by Standard Bank as an account executive and is also involved with the bank’s cricket sponsorship in South Africa. He is presently working as a fielding coach in the South African national cricket team.
He married Kate McCarthy, a niece of Cuan McCarthy, on 16 April 1994 in Pietermaritzburg.
Awards
·In 1999 he was voted as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
·In 2004 he was voted 29th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in SABC3’s Great South Africans television series.
Here are some references and other articles that link to information about Jonty Rhodes:
Everyone must know the resilient effort that the Ireland team conjured up to stun most cricketing critics to reach the Super Eights stage of last years Cricket World Cup in the West Indies. They toppled Pakistan, which in cricketing circles has been a very legendary side and was the winner of the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia/New Zealand. A few players were key to that effort and Eion Morgan was one of those players that shone.
Eoin Joseph Gerard Morgan born 10 September 1986 in Dublin is an Irish cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman, part-time right-arm medium bowler and an occasional wicket-keeper. He plays in English county cricket for Middlesex. Morgan was a regular member of Ireland’s youth teams and represented them at Under-15 and Under-17 level. He was selected in the Irish Under-19 squad for the 2003-04 Under-19 World Cup, and was Ireland’s top run-scorer in the competition. Two years later, he captained Ireland in the 2005-06 Under-19 World Cup where he finished as the second-highest overall run-scorer. Morgan made his One Day International debut for Ireland on 5 August 2006 at the European Championships against Scotland. He nearly made a century on debut, scoring 99 before he was run out. It was the first time in ODI history that a player had been dismissed for 99 on debut. Only two other batsmen passed 20 as Ireland beat Scotland by 85 runs. His maiden ODI hundred came not long after, on the 4 February 2007 against Canada in Nairobi. He became the youngest ever non-subcontinental player to make a century in ODI cricket.
Morgan is the first cricketer to have scored a first-class double century for Ireland with an unbeaten 209 against the United Arab Emirates in February 2007 at Abu Dhabi. In February 2007, Morgan was named in Ireland’s 15-man squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup
In May 2007, Morgan was named as one of England’s twelfth men for the Lord’s Test versus West Indies, and came on for Matthew Hoggard on the third day. Eoin was educated at Catholic University School on leeson street and won several senior cup cricket winners medals playing for CUS.
Everyone must know the resilient effort that the Ireland team conjured up to stun most cricketing critics to reach the Super Eights stage of last years Cricket World Cup in the West Indies. They toppled Pakistan, which in cricketing circles has been a very legendary side and was the winner of the 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia/New Zealand. A few players were key to that effort and Eion Morgan was one of those players that shone.
Morgan was a regular member of Ireland’s youth teams and represented them at Under-15 and Under-17 level. He was selected in the Irish Under-19 squad for the 2003-04 Under-19 World Cup, and was Ireland’s top run-scorer in the competition.[1] Two years later, he captained Ireland in the 2005-06 Under-19 World Cup where he finished as the second-highest overall run-scorer.[2]
Morgan made his One Day International debut for Ireland on 5 August2006 at the European Championships against Scotland. He nearly made a century on debut, scoring 99 before he was run out. It was the first time in ODI history that a player had been dismissed for 99 on debut. Only two other batsmen passed 20 as Ireland beat Scotland by 85 runs.[3] His maiden ODI hundred came not long after, on the 4 February2007 against Canada in Nairobi. He became the youngest ever non-subcontinental player to make a century in ODI cricket.[4]
Morgan is the first cricketer to have scored a first-class double century for Ireland with an unbeaten 209 against the United Arab Emirates in February 2007 at Abu Dhabi.[5]
In May 2007, Morgan was named as one of England’s twelfth men for the Lord’s Test versus West Indies[7], and came on for Matthew Hoggard on the third day.[8]
Eoin was educated at Catholic University School on leeson street and won several senior cup cricket winners medals playing for CUS.
Cricket, the Brilliant Game! 