MS Dhoni set to break Ganguly's ODI record

MS Dhoni is set to break Sourav Ganguly's captaincy record for second most wins as India skipper.

When India take the field against England in the fourth ODI at PCA Stadium on Wednesday, Dhoni will have a chance to go past Ganguly as the second most successful Indian captain in ODIs.

Dhoni, when he led India to seven-wicket victory over England in the third ODI in Ranchi, equalled Ganguly's 76 wins.

Mohammad Azharuddin is India's most successful ODI captain with 90 wins from 174 games. Under his leadership, India lost 76 matches while there was no result in six encounters and two ended in ties. His winning percentage was 54.16.

Dhoni has a better winning percentage than Azharuddin and Ganguly. So far, Dhoni has won 76 of 133 matches with a percentage of 62. He lost 46 and eight were no results while three were tied.

Ganguly led India in 146 games between 1999 and 2005. His win percentage was 53.90. The left-hander won 76, lost 65 and five were no results.

India's most successful captains in ODIs (Top five) (Read as captain, matches, wins, lost)

Mohammad Azharuddin 174, 90, 76
Sourav Ganguly 146, 76, 65
MS Dhoni 133, 76, 46
Rahul Dravid 79, 42, 33
Kapil Dev 74, 39, 33

Anil Kumble quits RCB, joins Mumbai Indians as chief mentor

Bangalore, Jan 21: Former India captain Anil Kumble has quit Bangalore IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and joined Mumbai Indians (MI) as chief mentor, the Mumbai team announced on Monday night.

"Let's welcome Anil Kumble into the MI family. He has joined us as Chief Mentor," wrote Mumbai Indians on their official twitter page (@mipaltan).

Kumble has parted ways with his local team RCB and moved to Mumbai. Kumble had previously captained RCB and later been with the team as mentor.

Kumble, who is also the President of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), will be with Mumbai from this year's IPL 6.

Monthly earnings of Indian cricketers

Sachin Tendulkar
Monthly Match Income: 9.5 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Suresh Raina
Monthly Match Income: 08 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Monthly Match Income: 09 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Virender Sehwag
Monthly Match Income: 08 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Piyush Chawla
Monthly Match Income: 5 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Ishant Sharma
Monthly Match Income: 5 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Cheteshwar Pujara
Monthly Match Income: 4.3 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Vinay Kumar
Monthly Match Income: 5 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Gautam Gambhir
Monthly Match Income: 08 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Praveen Kumar
Monthly Match Income: 6.5 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Robin Uthappa
Monthly Match Income: 04 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Harbhajan Singh
Monthly Match Income: 7.5 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Virat Kohli
Match Income: 08 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Zaheer Khan
Monthly Match Income: 08 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Lakshmipathy Balaji
Monthly Match Income: 6.5 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Ajinkya Rahane
Monthly Match Income: 4 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Yusuf Pathan
Monthly Match Income: 6.5 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Irfan Pathan
Monthly Match Income: 06 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Yuvraj Singh
Monthly Match Income: 9.5 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Manoj Tiwary
Monthly Match Income: 5 Lakhs Indian Rupees

Rohit Sharma
Monthly Match Income: 7.50 Lakhs Indian Rupees

4th ODI, India vs England: Statistical highlights

The statistical highlights from India's five-wicket win against England at Mohali.

# Suresh Raina has received his ninth Man of the Match award in ODIs - his fourth against England.

# Raina is the first batsman to record three fifties - all in successive innings  - 50 at Rajkot; 55 at Kochi and 89 not out at Mohali. With 194 runs at an average of 97.00 in only three innings, he is the leading run-scorer in the present series.

# Raina's tenth half-century against England in 26 ODIs is his 27th in ODIs.

# Raina's supeerb knock is his highest against England in ODIs, eclipsing the 84 at Lord's on September 11, 2011.

# Under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's capaincy, India have won 77 and lost 46 out of 134 contested in ODIs (NR 8 & Tied 3) - winning % 62.30.  He has bettered Sourav Ganguly's tally of 76 wins in 147 matches.  Only Mohammamd Azharuddin has recorded more wins (90 in 174) than Dhoni as an Indian captain.

# For the first time in India, India have won four consecutive bilateral series against England - 5-1 in 2005-06; 5-0 in 2008-09; 5-0 in 2011-12 and 3-1 in 2012-13.

# India enjoy 100% record at Mohali, winning both their games at PCA Stadium on October 20, 2011 and January 13, 2013.

# Alastair Cook has taken his runs' tally in the series to 185 at an average of 46.25 - the highest by an England player.

# Cook (76 off 106 balls) has registered his 15th fifty in ODIs - his sixth against India.  The said innings is his highest score in ODIs in India, bettering the 75 at Rajkot on January 11, 2013.

# Cook and Pietersen were involved in a stand of 95 - England's highest for the second wicket at Mohali.

# Kevin Pietersen's brilliant innings of 76 off 93 balls is his eighth fifty against India - his 24th in ODIs.

# Ravindra Jadeja, with eight wickets at an average of 14.50, is his best performance in a series in terms of averages.  He is the leading wicket-taker for India in the present series.

# Joe Root (57 not out off 45 balls) has registered his maiden fifty in ODIs.   

# Rohit Sharma (83 off 93 balls) has recorded his first fifty  against England - his 13th in ODIs. The said knock is his first fifty as an opener in ODIs.  Since recording 95 against the West Indies at Ahmedabad on December 5, 2011, Sharma has posted his highest score in 16 innings.

# In the course of his aforesaid knock, Sharma has completed his 2,000 runs in ODIs - 2061 at an average of 31.22 in 87 matches.

A poetic tribute to Sachin Tendulkar

We call him God, he has got the power,
Ohh! SACHIN, Ohh! SACHIN… Thanks for the runs you shower.
You started your career with a series of records,
With your splendid shots, you make bowlers feel short.

***

First series in Pakistan, you thrashed the ball,
Everyone accepted, you are above all.
You went to England, showed exquisite timing,
Can’t think of anything else rhyming.

***

Then first century came, you saved the test,
We all say, that it was one of the best.
Your era was growing, and I was growing too,
Was excited about what I would be a witness to.

***

You lived up to expectations, did more than the rest,
World never had any doubt, that you are better then the best.
You gave me reasons to smile, you gave me tears of joy,
You made cricket my passion, when I was just a boy.

***

My heart beat goes up, with each ball you face,
Each of your shots are full of elegance and grace.
You terrorise the bowlers, you hit them with flair,
Warney sees you in dreams, accepts you are a nightmare.

***

We just name it, you will break that record,
Brett Lee no more has his 6 strings, you have broken his chord.
Caddick opened his mouth, you slapped him hard,
Even Shoaib fears to bowl, when you take guard.

***

Sir Don Bradman admired you, only you belong to his class,
We all are sure, each record you will surpass.
Injuries took toll, many said you are down & out,
You came back with a bang, though I never had any doubt.

***

I wish to meet you someday, it will be a dream come true,
We will talk CRICKET, And will have a cup of Bru.
I end this now, with a prayer to God,
May he bless you with a great life, and an unbeatable record.

Dhoni's legacy for Ranchi and Cricket

Sometime ago, I had written an article on the role of a “pioneer” in leading the growth of a sport in a region. I had put in quite a few examples to present my case. But the important thing was that all the examples presented were of individual sports – Indian chess, Russian tennis etc. I dadn’t quite come up with any example for a team game as such.

However, the India-England ODI in Ranchi last Saturday got me thinking again on these lines. It wasn’t just any other random ODI. It was a celebration of Dhoni’s legacy. The home town boy leading the national team in the first ever international match in the city.

Why do I refer to this game as Dhoni’s legacy, when he still has a few good years to go? The answer is simple. If Dhoni hadn’t been the player he was, its quite unlikely that Ranchi would have got such an impressive stadium and certainly not hosting this game. After all, Keenan stadium in Jamshedpur has been the one hosting whenever Bihar/Jharkhand were allotted a game. It was the back-up provided by the Tatas who had built the necessary infrastructure. And now, its Dhoni’s immense popularity and success which has brought the sponsors flocking to Ranchi, his home town. And Ranchi, which hardly hosted Ranji games, certainly wouldn’t have been hosting an international one.

And it is not just the paying public in Ranchi who have benefited from Dhoni’s success. The benefits have started moving down to Jharkhand cricket all around. Before Dhoni made his international debut, there were very few cricketers from Bihar (Jharkhand hadn’t been created then) who had made it to the national team but did not have much success. Ramesh Saxena, Subroto Banerjee, Saba Karim did make it to the Indian team but hardly made much of an impact. Saba Karim had to shift to Bengal before getting an India call. However, an unfortunate eye injury cut short his career.

Now lets look at the post-Dhoni era in Jharkhand cricket. Saurabh Tiwary and Varun Aaron have made their India debuts, though currently neither of them is in the team due to form and injury issues. If all are available, currently Jharkhand can field three internationals in their playing XI. Now that’s something which would have been considered almost unthinkable even ten years ago. No wonder the team reached the Ranji knockouts.

As for the home game, I haven’t seen so much fanfare even for the 2011 world cup final. After all, how many stadiums get an opening ceremony? 40000 noisy fans were there to cheer for their boy. Amongst them were at least 15000 with whom Dhoni must have played cricket with (his words, not mine). The result seemed incidental. They hadn’t come to watch just India play. They had come to watch Dhoni. And their boy certainly didn’t disappoint them

Certainly Dhoni has already built his legacy. This game was the perfect celebration.

Stats: ICC ODI ranking table

The latest ICC ODI rankings show India at top of the perch with a healthy lead over England as far as the points are concerned. The Indian side knocked off the English from the top spot as they won the ongoing ODI series.

Check out how the rest of the sides are lining up