FUTURE CUP WIN & Signs of Future Team India

We are getting back in shape, a Sign of Relief and Excitement shows in the faces of all Indian Cricket Fans!! We are trying to forget the world cup misery and let go of it with the new wins from India Team.

India won the Future Cup Series 2-1 against South Africa by thrashing them in the final match by 6 wkts. Yet another superb finish by Yuvi steered Team India to win the 2nd match in 3 ODI match series. It was India's first one-day series triumph outside the subcontinent since their memorable Natwest Series win in 2002.

Flashback - Revenge against Bangla Tigers

After coming out of great failure in Worldcup, Team India played some good cricket against Bangla Tigers in their own territory. The series was really well planned to take the revenge against Bangla for their win against India in Worldcup paving way for India early exit. We won both the one day and Test Series. With both wins, Team India reviving back the image they lost against Bangla Tigers. But that still doesn't pure anything to show the world that we are way better team.

Tour in England & Ireland

After a short break, Team India is touring England and Ireland. Its a outing after 5 years since 2002. This tour has its own importance of being played on the foreign land against top teams after their exile from Worldcup. Its expected to be a real test for Dravid and team especially young guys to showcase their performance to bring their talents on the table which will eventually help to build a strong side for future Team India.

Somethings to be noted. India Team is going on to this tour without the star opener Sehwag failing to get selected and favorite spinner Harbajhan. Another special note, the team will be traveling without a full time coach after Graham Ford refusing to take up the position.

Match with Host(Ireland)

They started off the tour against the host Ireland in Belfast. We played with 5 bowlers Agarkar, RP Sing, Sreeshanth, Piyush and Ganguly. We were able to restrict Irish for a total of mere 193/all out and chasing them brilliantly to win by 9 wkts. Sachin showed good signs of his great form returning back with excellent knock partnering with Gautam Gambhir. We won this match with great ease.

Future Cup

With the good start and a win under the belt with loads of confidence, Team India came on board to play 3 match One day series against South Africans for the Future Cup. Team India jumped to 3 match series against South Africans. This tour is somewhat different comparing to others. Its hosted by England and Ireland but we get to play different teams like South Africans and Pak's otherthan the host.

Ist Match Vs S.A

Toss - SA won the toss and elected field first.

India Batting - Sachin played yet another excellent innings to score 99 missing a hundred. His partnership with Dravid took the team to a reasonable score added with last min run from Yuvi and Karthik to put up a score of 242/7.

S.A Batting - Started off with ease and able to reach the target with some great batting by Kallis putting Sachin's effort to vain. They won the match by 4 wickets to lead the series to 1-0.

Points to be noted - We went with few new faces like Chawla and RP Sharma hoping them to shine and gave yet another chance to show their tricks. We also played only with 4 full time bowlers in a hard bowling pitch which might have been on more reason for losing this one. Chawla showed some signs of being a good bowling hand for the team.

IInd Match Vs S.A

Learning few things from the previous match, Dravid choose to enter this 2nd one with 5 full time bowlers.

Toss - India won the toss and elected to field first. Its a good toss to win on yet another pitch which favored bowling.

SA Batting - With 5 full time bowlers and few part time bowlers in hand, dravid played it well to restrict South Africans to 226/6 in 50 overs. Zaheer and RP Singh came out with some good spell taking 1 wkt each supported by a very good bowling by Yuvi. He was able to contain as well take 3 wkts in his 9 over for just 36 runs.

India Batting - Following the same techique, Sachin and Ganguly started off well to put a good opening partnership. 17th 100 run partnership by this pair which is the highest in record. Ganguly supporting Sachin's know like good old days able to take the team half way to the win. Sachin missing again his hundred with just 7 runs. At one stage, we were all set to win by flash suddenly 4 wickets fall in just 8 runs. Yuvi and Karthik join hands at the last min to take us to the finish line with some great batting. India won by 6 wkts.

Points to be noted: 5 bowler technique worked. Sachin setting yet another milestone to reach 15,000 runs first ever by batsmen to mark the history. Yuvi and Karthik sensible batting to finish the match with great win.

IIIrd Match Vs S.A

Leveling the series, both teams want to win this match to take the series home. It became a crucial and series decider. Rain interrupted and shortened the match to just 31 overs.

Toss: India won the toss again and elected to field first.

SA Batting - Dravid boys came back with same vigor from the previous game to reduce the Africans to 29/4 at time but failing to stop them. A great partnership from Kemp and Gibbs allowed them to put 148/7 in 31 overs. Excellent bowling by veteran Agarkar with 2 wkts, RP Singh, Zaheer, Ganguly (2wkts) and part timer Sachin.

India Batting - Sachin and Ganguly partnership couldn't able to serve long enough. Dravid and Yuvi tried stick on the grease for long time to take the team to good score. Then Yuvi joined by Dhoni putting their head on the ground to show their a sensible and responsible partnership steering us to taste the win of the 2nd match to take the series home. India won by 6 wkts, 5 balls remaining.

Points to be noted: Yuvi seems to show great confidence and composure in the tense situation. Dravid as a WALL played important role to build a good score. Dhoni tried to make an impact with the last min runs to help reach the finish line.

Man of the Series - Shared by Sachin and Yuvraj

Sachin's, the great shared his Man of the Series with Yuvi praising him for his batting which took us to series win.

Future of Team India

Just 3 match wins aren't enough to say that Team India is all shinning and glowing. But we can confidently commend on the team's performance and great come back against the strongest team in the world. We are surely heading on the right path for building a strong side.

We got some good young players, trying to mix-n-match them to suit the pitch and day of the match to make them shine and show their talents will help to find a right choice.

Dravid, as a captain still need to work on lot of things. He needs to brainstorm on bowling logics to finish a team after a some incredible bowling attack. Seniors Sachin and Ganguly showing their compassion and getting back to their form is refreshing to watch. Zaheer and Agarkar both coming back with great rhythm with good line and length is surely a plus for our bowling arsenal. This all will really help to boost the moral of the team.

Yuvi, a well suited candidate to do the job of savior and way better than Sehwag is growing confidence on his every match. Its real good progress of the team. Gambhir proved that he is still a batting material for the team. Chawla so young to the team has lot more to work at but really showed some good bowling. Karthik also came back with great knocks and making use of his chance on 2nd match. Dhoni not doing so well, needs to continue to strive at his batting. Powar, yet another bowler who is making some good impression in his contained bowling attack. Last but not least, RP Singh is gaining moment with his bowling attack will be a good support for Zaheer.

All in all, these matches really showed lots of good signs for a well balanced India for the future to hold. Team effort never fails and these matches proved exactly that truth.

We have a great match coming up with Pak's tomorrow. Don't miss out!!!