Bob and Mike Bryan won their 10th men’s doubles Grand Slam title together, producing a straight sets masterclass against the reformed partnership of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes in the Australian Open 2011 final.

The ‘Indian Express,’ as the two have been dubbed, reunited after nine years apart with one aim – to win the Australian Open, and complete their career doubles Grand Slam.

But it was their bad luck to face the Bryan twins for the first time in 10 years, the world’s most successful men’s doubles pairing, not only the current world No.1s, but with the added impetus of chasing their fifth Australian Open title.

The twins started impeccably, immediately breaking to lead 4-2 in the first set, and maintain their lead to take the first set 6-3 after just under half an hour.

Louis Cayer, one of the world’s doubles experts, teaches the mantra that if you serve 73% of first serves or higher in men’s doubles, you will win the match. And so it proved, the Bryans getting an astonishing 87% of their first serves in, and facing just three break points. The Indians, by comparison, achieved just 50% of their first serves. The numbers do not lie.

The second set was marginally tighter, as Bhupathi and Paes rediscovered more of the tennis that had propelled them into the final, but there was little they could do to dent the Bryans’ armour, improving their serving to 69%, but still far below the twins’ 81%.

With the Americans serving for the title, there was a brief glimmer of a way back in for Bhupathi and Paes, as they yielded their only break point of the set, but it was too little, too late, and the Bryans converted their first championship point after just an hour and eight minutes.

“First of all I’d like to congratulate Mike and Bob, there’s a reason these guys are the best team in the world, they did everything perfect tonight,” said Bhupathi.

“I just want to say a word about these guys, it’s great to see them playing again after 10 years,” said Mike Bryan. “They’re the Indian Express, it’s great to have you guys back”.

“We had to play our best tonight, probably the best match we’ve played in a long time,” said Bob Bryan. “Thanks again guys, we’ll see you again next year.”

The Bryan twins are the most successful Australian Open men’s doubles champions in the Open Era, having surpassed their own record of four titles together. The previous Open Era record for a team other than the Bryans was two Australian Open doubles titles. John Bromwich and Adrian Quist hold the record for all-time men’s doubles titles in Australia, winning eight titles between 1938 and 1950.

Spinners Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha wreaked havoc on a turning track as India recorded one of their most convincing Test wins in recent times by thrashing New Zealand by an innings and 198 runs in third and final Test to clinch the three-match series 1-0 at Nagpur on Tuesday.

Both Harbhajan (3/56) and Ojha (2/67) got appreciable turn and bounce as the Black Caps batsmen literally struggled to stay put on a track that was suddenly looking difficult to bat on. There was sharp turn on offer and some of the balls were also keeping low.

If Harbhajan and Ojha decimated the top-order, Ishant Sharma (3/15) and Suresh Raina (2/1) blasted out the lower order as New Zealand were all out for 175 in only 51.2 overs.

Needing 349 runs to clear the first innings deficit, the visitors needed to show a lot of application but not having encountered appreciable turn and bounce in the previous matches meant that there wasn’t a lot of homework done.

The pressure was immense and Daniel Vettori’s men surrendered meekly with the match lasting barely three and half days.

Brendon McCullum (25), the double centurion of the last Test, on whom Vettori must have depended a lot went back in the 14th over as he missed a ball trying to play on the backfoot. It would have hit the leg stump and Simon Taufel made no mistake in ruling the batsman leg before.

Martin Guptill (0) who has had a woeful Test match saw a delivery from Ojha pitched on the leg stump and turn sharply towards the middle stump finding the batsman’s pads. Taufel took some time before raising his finger as Ojha was in with a hat-trick chance.

At 38 for three, New Zealand were looking down the barrel. Ross Taylor (29) tried to hit the spinners more out of desperation as the noose got tighter. Wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins – certainly not the best among the wicketkeeper batsman who are playing international cricket was the next man out.

VVS Laxman

What a day for India! The Team India clinched a thriller of a match by beating Australia by one wicket in the first of the two test matches Mohali while Gagan Narang and Abhinav Bindra won the first gold medal for the country followed by another gold by Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Samobat in shooting event of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

 VVS Laxman overcame his sore back to become the hero of a nail-biting one-wicket victory for India, who retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in dramatic fashion in Mohali. In one of the most memorable finishes in recent history, Pragyan Ojha picked up two leg-byes off Mitchell Johnson to seal the result, which until that delivery could also have been a tie or an Australian win. Australia 428 and 192; India 405 and 216 for 9.

Ricky Ponting: “It was one of the exciting test matches I have played. Full credit to India; they outplayed us today. We tried our best. It was satisfying effort from the boys. I told them to just take out the scorecard out of the mind. The partnership between Ishant an Laxman was great and it made the difference I guess. Bollinger’s injury probably didnt help us there; we needed a fresh bowler to give it a shake but that’s the game.”

Dhoni: It was one of the best. This game was full of emotions. We lost Ishant in the first innings; the way we bowled in the second and third session was remarkable and that got us back. We could have got the first-inings lead but we didn’t. The bowlers again did well to bowl them out in teh second innings. Our batting collapsed but Laxman and Ishant . . Laxman is a remarkable batsman, whatever a field you set, he can keep scoring. He did a very good job for us. For me it was a very special (innings). We just wanted teh dressing room to be calm and cool. Ishant played loads of deliveries and in between got boundaries as well. It worked out well for us. Frankly speaking, when the game started no one expected we will have a result in 4 and half days. The bowlers from both sides have done well to get a result in this game.”

Man of the match is Zaheer Khan: “Winning is very important; it was a great game of cricket. Both teams fought hard and we did just enough to end up on the winning side. I was just waiting for the ball to reverse; that’s what MS was also waiting. And it did. It worked for me. 250 wicets .. tis been hard work. I am happy that the hard work that I have put in on my fitness over the last 6 weeks has paid off. Everyone were nervous in the dressing room; we tried to remain calm and hoped that the two batters would gets us through.”

In the Delhi Commonwealth Games, Indian men and women shooters on Tuesday hit the bull’s eye to give the country two gold medals. The men also won a silver in the shooting event.

The Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang pair bagged the first gold by shooting a total 1,193 points, breaking their own pair bagged the first gold by shooting a total 1,193 points, breaking their own record of 1,189 points scored at Melbourne games four years ago in the 10m air rifle pair event.

This was followed by the pair of Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Samobat shooting to a gold in 25m pistol event for women. The men’s pair of Omkar Singh and Deepak Sharma took home silver in the 50 metres pistol pair event.

With these three medals, India’s tally goes up to 7 – two golds, three silvers and two bronzes behind the top of the table Australia with 4 gold and 3 silver medals.

Sonia Chanu and Suken Dey had bagged silver and Sandhya Rani and V. Srinivas Rao bronze in weightlifting event on Monday, the first day of the competitions.

With marriage to Sakshi Singh Rawat, Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become richer by $US42 million ($48 million). Dhoni has, according to media reports from India,  signed the richest marketing deal in the sport’s history, earning him US $ 42 million for over two years.

Dhoni, 29, has signed up with an Indian sports management company Rhiti, which will handle his endorsements, merchandise, corporate profile, patents and digital rights, as well as visibility on social networking sites.

“We have entered into a two-year contract with Dhoni for 2000 million rupees ($48 million),” Rhiti general manager Sanjay Pandey told newsmen.

“We signed the contract a week back. From now onwards we will be handling Dhoni’s endorsements.”

The deal, the richest in Indian cricket history, surpasses batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar’s $US40 million ($45.62 million) three-year contract with sports management firm Iconix in 2006.

Dhoni, often described as India’s most eligible bachelor, married childhood sweetheart and hotel management student Sakshi Singh Rawat at a private ceremony outside the northern town of Dehra Dun last week.

Dhoni is reported to currently endorse 22 leading brands, including Pepsi, Reebok, Aircel, Godrej and Hersheys.

A Forbes study last year on the world’s richest cricketers put him at the top with an annual earning of $US10 million ($11.4 million), followed by Tendulkar at $US8 million ($9.12 million).

Two other Indian cricketers, Yuvraj Singh ($6.27 million) and Rahul Dravid ($5.7 million), were ranked third and fourth, while England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was in fifth place with ($4.56 million), Forbes said.

Australian Test captain Ricky Ponting was in sixth place with ($3.99 million) a year, the magazine said, adding the figures included club and national team salaries and commercial endorsements.With

Former BCCI chief Sharad Pawar has taken over as ICC president from England’s David Morgan following the body’s annual conference in Singapore. Pawar will lead the ICC for two years after having served as Morgan’s deputy for a similar period, and his appointment comes after the controversial rejection of former Australian prime minister John Howard’s bid for the vice-president’s job , report agencies.

 Pawar is the second Indian to hold the ICC’s top job, after Jagmohan Dalmiya’s stint in the late nineties. He praised the leadership of outgoing president Morgan, terming it an ‘impressive innings’. “David Morgan has set the principles by which the ICC operates and now it is our responsibility to build on his legacy,” Pawar said.

One of India’s most influential regional politicians, Pawar’s rise to the most powerful post in cricket administration started with a fractious victory over former India captain Ajit Wadekar in the elections to the Mumbai cricket board in 2001. The next big step was the defeat of Dalmiya’s candidate in the tussle for control of the BCCI in 2005 after losing by one vote in the previous year

MUMBAI: Sharad Pawar on Friday arrived from Singapore after formally taking over as the ICC president and rubbished suggestions that rejection of John Howard’s candidacy for the vice-president’s post would divide world cricket.

Pawar, who succeeded Englishman David Morgan, returned here this morning after taking charge as president during the ICC Executive Committee meeting in Singapore.

Upon arrival, the union agriculture minister was bombarded with questions about Asian bloc’s refusal to back Howard but he rejected talk of any divide by insisting that the former Australian Prime Minister just didn’t get enough support in a democratically-held election.

“The majority did not support him. Ultimately in any democratic organisation, there has to be support from the majority but that was not there in his case,” he said.

Asked whether the rejection would divide world cricket, Pawar said, “I don’t think so. We have discussed the matter individually and collectively with everybody including Australia, England and New Zealand. We took a collective decision.”

The 69-year-old Pawar will now have to shoulder twin responsibilities of being a minister and ICC president but the veteran politician said would be able to handle with a little help from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“Fortunately the ICC headquarter is in Dubai and Dubai works on Saturday and Sunday. So, it’s a matter of two hours flight. So, I think there won’t be any difficulty. Secondly I will discuss with Prime Minister about my responsibilities and will take appropriate decision so that my government work is not affected,” he said.

“I may suggest for more hands. I had asked for three ministers but they have given only one. If I request to reduce some of my work, we may find some solution. I won’t allow my work in government to suffer,” he said.

Asked what he considers the biggest challenge of his new job, Pawar said, “We have to preserve all the formats of the game. Today we have 105 countries who are ICC members. But in true sense unless we expand the game to China, USA, some parts of Eastern Europe and some parts of Africa, the game would not reach every corner of the world.”

New Delhi: A rousing welcome was accorded to ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal after she completed a spectacular hat-trick of titles by clinching the Indonesia Open Super Series with a three-game triumph over Japan’s Sayaka Sato on Sunday last. The reception comes in the wake of her criticism that she is more popular in Indonesia and Malaysia than in her own country.

On arrival back in the country, Saina, told reporters that she would work even harder to win the World Championship, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

‘When I can become world number 3, I can also become world number 1 but would not push myself so fast and would like to work hard on the coming tournaments.”

‘I am quite happy that I have reached number three spot. But it is important for me to work hard and win tournaments rather than focus on rankings,’ she said.

‘After winning three tournaments in a row, the confidence level has gone up. For me it is important to stay focused and keep working hard the same way, play selective tournaments so that I can stay injury free and play well in these tournaments,’ said a proud Saina while displaying her medals.

Unbeaten for the past three weeks, the top seeded defending champion defeated her unseeded but resolute rival 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 in a rollercoaster encounter that lasted 45 minutes.

This was Saina’s third successive title, having won the Indian Open Grand Prix at home and the Singapore Open Super Series Tournament last week. This is also the 20-year-old world number three’s third Super Series title overall.

In a see-saw battle, the 19-year-old Sato matched the defending champion shot for shot for most part of the opening game but was undone by her own mistakes at crucial junctures.

The first game that lasted 14 minutes had both the players tied 11-11 at one stage and though Saina remained ahead for most part after that, a gritty Sato did have her share of chances.

Leading 20-18, Saina could have finished it off on her own serve but she handed Sato a chance by hitting the shuttle wide.

But Sato could not capitalise and smacked a forehand into the net to give Saina the opening game.

The second game saw Sato making a comeback with the change of ends also leading to a change in fortunes. The Japanese proved to be the more dominant of the two players in these 15 minutes as she raced to a 4-9 lead.

Sato sent down some powerful shots from the baseline and Saina could only watch as they fell out of her range. The frustration of being out-witted by a rival ranked 26th in the world showed when Saina clinched her fist at one of Sato’s unforced errors.

Shaken by the setback, Saina roared back in the decisive third game. The Indian took a comprehensive 11-5 lead but continuing her never-say-die attitude, Sato reduced the margin to 9-13.

The Indian, however, was in no mood to slip up and emerged triumphant after reeling off four successive points.

A jubilant Saina let out a huge scream after winning the title, which also made her richer by $18,750.

Earlier, Saina had clinched the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game triumph over qualifier Tzu Ying Tai in the finals on Sunday.

Top seed Saina took just 33 minutes to beat Chinese Taipei’s Tai 21-18 21-15 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, according to media reports.

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar added another feather to his cap when he became the first batsman to cross the 200-run mark in an one-day international at Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior on Wednesday. The double ton also helped India go past the 400 mark setting a target of 402 for the tourists. India bowled out South Africa for 248 and winning the three match series 2-0

Tendulkar achieved the unique landmark when he run a single off Langeveldt against South Africa in the second one-dayer of the ongoing three-match series. Sachin’s 200 came off 147 balls, which include 25 fours and 3 sixes. The master surpassed the previous highest individual score made by Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar (194 against India in 1997) and Charles Coventry of Zimbabwe (194 not out against Bangladesh in 1999). Continue Reading

When Sunil Gavaskar read the pitch in the morning, Sangakkara took the cue and opted for batting upon winning the toss. But Gambhir (150) and Virat Kohli (107) showed grit not only to overcome the fiery bowling of rookies pace bowlers Suranga Lakmal and Perera assault that claimed both the openers Sehwag and Tendulkar but also clinched the 5-match series.

For the first time in four matches an even contest between bat and ball was on display. And even though the willow had a slight edge, especially in the second session because dew made it difficult for bowlers to grip the ball, the medium-pacers had their share of dominance early in both innings. After Sangakkara won the toss and decided to set a target, home side bowlers Nehra and Zaheer Khan started off beautifully, restraining the destructive opening duo of Dilshan and Tharanga.  In fact, Nehra started off with a maiden over — India’s first in the ongoing five-match series. Continue Reading

Team India after its series win over Sri Lanka in Mumbai

After over 77 tests and remaining minnows for several decades, India today became the number one team in Test rankings following it victory over  Sri Lanka by an innings and 24 runs in the third and final cricket Test to clinch the three-match series by a 2-0 margin. Needing just four wickets to record an emphatic victory, the hosts took just about 40 minutes to polish off the visiting team’s tail to record their second consecutive innings victory.

Resuming at 274 for six, the Sri Lankans lost their heroic captain Kumar Sangakkara (137) in the very first over and were bundled out for 309 with Zaheer Khan being the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 5/72. The Sunday crowd at the Brabourne Stadium, hosting a Test match after a gap of 36 years, witnessed a historic moment as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men crowned themselves the number one team. Continue Reading

Sachin and Gambhir frustrated Sri Lankans to draw the first Test at Motera

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has reached another milestone in his career by completing a phenomenal 30,000 runs in international cricket during the ongoing Ahmedabad Test against Sri Lanka on Friday. Tendulkar, who completed 20 glorious years in cricket on Sunday (November 15), needed 35 runs to reach the landmark at the start of India’s second innings in the Ahmedabad Test against Sri Lanka. Next in line for the feat is is Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who had recently crossed 24,000 runs.

Tendulkar has 17,178 runs in ODI cricket, 10 runs in the only T20 International he’s played, and 12,878 Test runs after the first test against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad on 19th November 2009.He holds the record for most ODI and Test runs and centuries. He also completed his 43rd test century in the just concluded test. Tendulkar is clearly widening the gap between him and his contemporaries and it is certainly going to be difficult for anybody to catch up with the great batsman. Continue Reading