The third day of the fourth test, played at the Wankhede Stadium last week Saturday, saw Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, share a century stand as India started out strong in reply to England’s total of 400 on Friday, the second day of the fourth test played at the Wankhede Stadium.

After Lokesh Rahul had fallen following an opening stand of 39 with Vijay, the right handed pair added 107 runs for the second wicket.

From both ends after seven overs, Alastair Cook, England’s captain introduced spin which saw a considerable turn on over from Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali.

In his 24, Rahul went on to hit four crisp boundaries, before Moeen, off spinner, breached his defences to bowl him.

Twice, Vijay mis-hit Rashid, with the ball landing safely beyond the reach of the fielders on the two occasions. And over the long-off boundary, the opener hit the leg spinner for six. Continue reading 'INDIA IN STRONG START TO FIRST INNINGS IN BID TO REPLY ENGLAND’S 400'»

The Rajasthan Royals are one of those Indian Premier League franchises that do not have too many star names.

They are a low budget team basically, but, the reason why they are so important to the league and even to the Indian Cricket is that they always unleash a few exciting talents.

Every season, you would see somebody new in that Royals jersey that would just catch your eyes.

This season, it’s the young Deepak Hooda.

The 19-year old right handed batsman, who had not played at all in the Indian Premier League before the ongoing season, has shown extraordinary hitting abilities with the bat.

The tall, well built player hits the ball so hard that it made the Royals captain Shane Watson call him a ‘special player’ the other day.

Normally, the young players coming through the ranks in India rely mostly on timing.

But, Hooda is different. He is a bit of a muscleman and he hits huge sixes. His innings against Delhi Daredevils, the stage at which he came in and the way he took the bowlers apart, it was wonderful to watch.

And, he is very young. With a couple of proper domestic seasons and a bit of limited-over international cricket in between, he would get better. Continue reading 'Rajasthan Royals performing best even after Low Budgeting'»