Story The Natwest Pentangular 2005 -- Begins April 24th

[aditya123]

Press Conference

-------------------Press Conference with Rahul Dravid---------------------
1.) Rahul, what is the mood in th dressing room like after the match ? Relieved with a tie or dissapointed with it ?
Rahul: A tie is never as good as a win . We went there to win and are certainly dissapointed on not being able to win this one .

2.) At 173/9, India looked down and out . What did you tell to Balaji when he was going out to bat ?
Rahul : I knew that both Bala and Zaheer had it in them to take us through . Bala batted snsibly and Zaheer took us close with a few lusty blows .

3.) We have seen 5 runouts in 2 matches . An area of concern ?
Rahul : definitely . We hav lost wickets to runouts at crucial times and ned to sort it out quickly .

4.) 3 games over . No defeats as yet . West Indies match coming up next . How are things shaping up ?
Rahul : As I have said time and again , its a long series and we hav to kep performing consistntly to win this one . Wst Inies are a talented side . They showed it to us the last time in the Champions Trophy . They woul certainly take time to get used to the conditions and we will try and capitalize on that !
----------------------------Ricky Ponting---------------------------------
1.) 2 games gone and still no win. Are we seeing the Australian team under some pressure for the first time in quite a few years .
Ricky : Not really . We have been under pressure quite a few times in the recent past and have come out on top . For instance we have featured in th most high pressure games i.e the world cup finals twice in the last 2 editions and we won !

2.) Your batting does not seem to be as aggressive as always in this series . Anything planned by th team management !
Ricky : The conditions in England hlp seam and swing with the new ball and we decided to keep wickts in hand an attack in th end . We have had 2 good opening partnerships but hve not capitalized .

3.)You now have 2 consecutive games against a West Indies side which has just arrived in England . A good chance to get back to form !
Ricky : I thought that the Windies won the Champions trophy last year . We have to play hard crickt to win the next 2 games .

NEXT MATCH : INDIA V WEST INDIES , OLD TRAFFORD


ANOTHER REMINDER OF THE `ADIDAS KNOW BALL CONTEST`

 

[The Champ]

India should look to win that one with bonus point aditya well played great story mate

 

[ZoraxDoom]

C1

 

[jazz]

i think india should be happy with a tie

 

[aditya123]

PEPSI `KNOW YOUR PLAYER` Contest

ESPNSTAR have decided to launch another contest for the ongoing Natwest Pentangular called as the Pepsi Know Your Player Contest .

*You will be given five pictures of missing players and you hve to identify the players .
*If you identify 3 out of 5 correctly, you win Vcash .
*Here is the first round of the contest .
The entries must be received before the India V West Indies game which starts tomorrow !
*Read the hints carefully ! First up, we have 5 easy ones for you !

 

[jazz]

1. srinath
2. tendulkar
3. vass
4. nehra
5. dravid

they were a bit hard mate

anyway this excellent you providing us with contests

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Srinath
Dravid
D.Hondo
Zaheer?
Tendulkar

 

[faraz haider]

for PEPSI `KNOW YOUR PLAYER` Contest

Srinath
Dravid
D.Hondo
waseem
Tendulkar

for ADIDAS KNOW BALL CONTEST

c1

 

[m_vaughan]

Srinath
Tendulkar
Razzak
Wasim Akram
John Davison

 

[T20]

very good story with interesting contests. keep it up.

 

[faraz haider]

yes agree with shaliesh, with lot of compition i got real attention toward this thread

 

[aditya123]

ADIDAS KNOW BALL CONTEST and Know You Player Contest Results!

The Answer is A-1 . Look at the pic below !
So no winners for the ADIDAS KNOW BALL CONTEST this time .

I would like to just mak you a little more curious saying that one of you has already got 3 out of 5 players right for the `Know Your Player Contest `.

Thank you all for your appreciating my work . It will definitely spur me on for more interesting work in this story !
The INDIA V WEST INDIES match will start in a few moments . So sit back and enjoy another great game of cricket !

UPDATE : THE WINNER OF THE `PEPSI KNOW YOUR PLAYER` CONTEST is M_Vaughan . Congrats !
The Players in the Pics were : 1.) J.Srinath
2.) V.Sehwag
3.)B.Lee
4.) W.Akram
5.) J.Davison (CAnada)

 

[aditya123]

Game 6 : India V West Indies , Old Trafford

-----------------INDIA V WEST INDIES --- LIVE ON STAR SPORTS----------

Harsha Bhogle : After 5 mtches , 4 teams have been on view and today is the turn for the West Indies to join the party . They start their Natwest Pentangular 2005 campaign against India ,here in this fantastic stadium at Old Traffor, Manchester . We have with us in the studio 10,000 test runs and 100 Intl wickets and loads of TV Coverage experience in Sunil Gavaskar, Wasim Akram and Tony Cozier . Welcom to the studio , gentlemen . First Sunny, India the favorites ?

Sunil Gavaskar : Certainly yes . India have played 3 matches alrady and are used to the English conditions whereas West Indies just arrived a couple of days ago and it will take time for them to get used to the conditions . India have just come off from the back of a nerveracking match against Australia and are battle hardened . The heavy rain in Manchester yesterday will hav an effect on th pitch !

Wasim Akram : I agree with what Sunnybhai said .India look is superb form and the West Indies have just come to England after a morale sapping test series against SA . They are not sure about their team composition and there has been lot of controversies surrounding West Indies cricket but they are surely a talented side .The key for this game is Brian Lara . He is a man who can lift the spirits of the team single-handedly . We have 2 of the best batsmen in the world on show today . Sachin Tendulkar Vs Brian Lara !

Tony Cozier : I cannot agree more with Wasim and Sunil . West Indies cricket is going through a tough phase . There is controversy involved in whatever they do . The contract issue has not been sorted out yet. India, on the other hand have performed unexpectedly well in this series . West Indies cricket looked as if it was revived when they won the ICC Champions Trophy in England last year but now the team lacks discipline,balance and above all energy .

Harsha Bhogle : Thank you for your comments . M.Holding is ready with the pitch report !

-------------------Pitch Report With Holding------------------------------
Mike Holding : If I were the captain, I would hop to win the toss and have a bowl on this . Not because it will be fast and bouncy but because it will be the other way round . I will be low and slow due to all the water it has taken in the past few days . 200 shoul be a competitive score on this . We could catch up with a Manchester United match on this if a team gets all out early batting first !

----------------------Toss With Bob Willis---------------------------------

Bob : I have the 2 captains with me . Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid . Rahul to call .
He calls tails and heads it is . Brian , you have won the toss. What have you decided ?

Lara : We`ll have a bat . Though the pitch looks wet, it must play evenly after the early overs . If we make a decent score, we can put them uner pressure .

Bob : Rahul, surprised on Brian elecing to bat first ?
Dravid : Very surprised actually ! We would have bowled first as well .
Bob : Rahul, any changes for this game ?
Dravid : Yes , Veeru (Sehwag) is unfit . He has suffered an ankle injury . Sourav`s suspension has ben cleared . So Sourav will open with Sachin today .
Bob : There you have it . West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first on a damp looking pitch .

 

[borncricketer]

sounds like its going to be an intersting game...Come on India

 

[faraz haider]

Well aditya how could m_vaughn be winner.
this is m_vaughn list:
Srinath
Tendulkar
Razzak
Wasim Akram
John Davison

and this is correct answer list:
1.) J.Srinath
2.) V.Sehwag
3.)B.Lee
4.) W.Akram
5.) J.Davison (CAnada)