Instead of celebrating the narrow win against Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was fuming after poor catching threatened to cost them the high-scoring IPL thriller on Thursday.
Muttiah Muralitharan claimed five wickets to put Sri Lanka firmly in command of the first Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday, the off-spinner's haul leaving the hosts on 177 for nine at the end of the second day. After Bangladesh had made a confident start with an opening stand of 44 in response to Sri Lanka's first innings total of 293, wickets fell at regular intervals as Muralitharan ripped through the home batting line-up.
309 - Number of Test wickets taken by Harbhajan Singh, same as that of West Indian Lance Gibbs. Among the off-spinners only Muttiah Muralitharan (756) has taken more.
Wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara on Sunday sympathised with Indian batsmen for the humiliation they received at the hands of Sri Lanka's dreadful spin combination -- Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis -- in their first Test at the SSC.
A total of 62 players were sold at the auction for the 13th edition with the eight franchises spending a total of 1.403 billion rupees ($19.73 million). Australia's Pat Cummins became the most expensive overseas buy ever in the Indian Premier League when the Kolkata Knight Riders paid a staggering Rs 15.50 crore ($2.18 million) for the fast bowler in Thursday's auction in Kolkata on Thursday.
Harbhajan Singh does not doubt mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis' potentials but the star off-spinner believes it is old trickster Muttiah Muralitharan who would pose bigger threat for the Indian batsmen in the forthcoming Test series. Harbhajan heaps praise on Mendis, who ran through India's batting order in the Asia Cup final in Karachi, and said it was an extraordinary display of quality spin bowling.
Habibul Bashar won the toss and elected to field against Sri Lanka in the first qualifying match of the ICC Champions Trophy.
Ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has demanded the money as damages for making 'derogatory' comments about his bowling action.
'Dhoni was a very shrewd captain in terms of his out of the box thinking and getting the work done.'
Bengal may be excited about having roped in Test cricket's leading wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan to revive its fortunes in the Ranji Trophy Plate League, but the Sri Lankan off-spinner says he is yet to sign a formal contract and his priority is his country. Speaking from Colombo on Tuesday, Muralitharan said he is still unsure about his availability though the Sri Lankan Cricket Board has given him a go-ahead.
"It's obviously an amazing feat while it is not very nice being a victim. Maybe I will look back at my career I think I was his 709th," he added.
After becoming only the second bowler in international cricket to take 500 one-day wickets and help his team thrash Pakistan in the third ODI, Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan on Saturday warned Indian batsmen of a tough challenge when they visit Sri Lanka next week.
Tillakaratne Dilshan blasted a career-best unbeaten 137 while Muttiah Muralitharan grabbed his 500th ODI wicket as Sri Lanka bulldozed Pakistan by 235 runs to win the three-match cricket series 2-1 in Lahore on Saturday.
Former Australia captain Steve Waugh has overlooked legends Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne to select Adam Gilchrist as the greatest player of the 21st century. Waugh said Gilchrist's game-changing career, in which he effectively evolved the wicketkeeping position to wicketkeeper-batsman, was what made him his No.1 choice. "I think the guy who's changed the game the most you would have to say is Adam Gilchrist," Waugh told Cricket Australia.
Anderson was close to tears after finishing the series as the leading wicket-taker with 24 in five Tests.
'I felt Test cricket is just beyond my reach.' 'And slowly, slowly, I started doing well.' 'In the second Test against Pakistan, I scored a fifty and when we went to Sialkot I played a series-saving innings, which was a game changer for me.' 'At that stage that was the most important innings of my life.'
Sri Lanka would not emulate India's ultra-aggressive tactics against Australia during their upcoming two-Test series, ace off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan said.
Dammika Prasad struck two decisive blows before Muttiah Muralitharan completed a 10-wicket haul to kill off Bangladesh's hopes of an unlikely record run chase as Sri Lanka won the first test by 107 runs on Wednesday.
Skipper Mohammad Ashraful hit an unbeaten half-century as Bangladesh batted defiantly in pursuit of a massive victory target in the first test against Sri Lanka at Mirpur on Tuesday.
'We need to respect our players. Our players are as good as anybody.'
A spineless India slumped to their third heaviest Test defeat as Sri Lanka clinched the first Test by an innings and 239 runs with the spin combination of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis plotting the visitors' downfall in Colombo on Saturday. After enforcing the follow-on, Muralitharan (6 for 26) and Mendis (4 for 60) tore through the Indian batting order to bundle out the visitors for a paltry 138 to record Sri Lanka's biggest victory at home with a day to spare.
Foolish to focus only on Mendis: Dravid The Sri Lankan attack is not all about Ajantha Mendis. It will be foolish to focus only on the mystery spinner and ignore others, like Muralitharan and Vaas, warned former India captain Rahul Dravid.
Yuvraj Singh will forever remain an enigma in Indian cricket -- one of the country's greatest white ball players who could never really crack the Test code.
A Zimbabwean batting collapse ensured Sri Lanka an easy win in Harare on Thursday in the first of the five one-day internationals.
Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya believes Sri Lanka's new mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis could be a bigger threat than veteran Muttiah Muralitharan in their five-match one-day series starting on Thursday. Zimbabwe, struggling to stay afloat against a background of political turmoil, have not hosted an international side since West Indies won a five-match series 3-1 last December.
Out-of-favour India batsman Virender Sehwag and Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan will lead two MCC sides in a series of matches in the Middle East to help launch the new county season.
Sanath Jayasuriya scored a superb 130 as Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 132 runs in their Asia Cup match.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is optimistic of the team's chances at the upcoming Asia Cup.
India captain Anil Kumble retired from international cricket after the third Test against Australia at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on Sunday. The 38-year-old is Test cricket's third highest wicket-taker with 619 wickets in 132 Tests, trailing only Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia's retired Shane Warne.
Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga on Monday said he believes that ace off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan can end up with more than 1000 Test wickets if he plays for another few years. The 47-year-old was effusive in his praise of India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and said India are on the right track in their preparation for the 2011 World Cup.
Sachin Tendulkar, who dropped a rung to 14th in the batsmen's rankings, leads a pack of five Indians in the top-20.
The Sri Lanka off-spinner broke the previous record of 708 wickets, held by retired Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, when he bowled England's Paul Collingwood for 45 on the third day of the first Test.
Muttiah Muralitharan will have to wait for next month's series against England to break Shane Warne's world record for most Test wickets.
The dashing batsman will be on a short-term contract to cover for the absence of fellow-Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan.
Spin wizards Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne on Thursday ended their brief war of words after patching up at the unveiling ceremony of the 'Warne-Muralitharan Trophy' and described the entire saga as 'miscommunication'.
The Warne-Muralitharan Trophy is a joint initiative from Cricket Australia and Sri Lanka Cricket to celebrate 25 years of Test cricket between the two countries.
With the humiliating loss in Colombo still rankling the Indian cricket team, Indian opener Gautam Gambhir on Monday asserted that the visitors will find a way to tackle the menacing spin duo of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis in the second cricket Test starting July 31 in Galle.
Spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis bowled Sri Lanka to an innings and 239-run victory in the first Test against India on Saturday.
With the famed Indian batting order's reputation in tatters, a dejected India captain Anil Kumble on Saturday said his side will have to find ways to take on the Lankan spin duo of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis if they have to come back in the second Test. Muralitharan and debutant Mendis shared 19 wickets between them to hand the Indians a humiliating innings and 239-run defeat in the first Test.
Australian fans showed no let up in their hostility towards Muttiah Muralitharan and a group of fans threw an egg on the Sri Lankan.
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