All-round show gives India series lead..!!!!

It was fitting that Shoaib Akhtar caused one final dent in India's run down the home stretch but it was equally apt that VVS Laxman was at the crease when the winning runs were knocked off and India took a 1-0 lead in this three-Test series. Sachin Tendulkar was unbeaten on a half-century and India chased down a target they had never managed before at the Feroz Shah Kotla with six wickets to spare.

When Akhtar bounced Sourav Ganguly and the ball got big on the pull shot, resulting in a swirling top-edge to fine leg, Pakistan supporters would have got a whiff of the unlikely. A wicket had fallen, Ganguly on 48, with 22 still needed for victory. But there would be no more heroics as Tendulkar took the lead and knocked off the required runs with a minimum of fuss.

In some ways it was ironic that Laxman was at crease when victory was sealed, for the lead-up to this Test match was full of questions over what the composition of the Indian team, especially the middle order, should be. Amid overwhelming calls to include the in-form Yuvraj Singh, Laxman came under pressure for his spot, as he often does. But he delivered in the first innings with a classy unbeaten 76, when it mattered the most, setting up an India win.

Vintage Sachin seals series for India..!!!!!!

Sachin Tendulkar fell within tantalising distance of a first match-winning century in a run chase since July 2001, but India weren't to be denied as they romped to a six-wicket victory [with 21 balls remaining] that wrapped up the series with a match to spare. As in 2006, when India won 4-1 in Pakistan, there was a considerable gulf between the two sides, best exemplified by Tendulkar's sublime batting as India set about their pursuit of 256. Pakistan's total owed much to their own 90s man - Mohammad Yousuf finished the innings on 99 not out - but ultimately, they paid the price for their diffidence in the Powerplay, when only 79 runs were scored.

On a pitch where most other batsmen were restricted in their shot-making, Tendulkar played with the fluency and confidence of old, finding gaps with effortless ease. To compound Pakistan's problems, Shoaib Akhtar, who bowled with genuine menace for three overs, went off with what looked like a shin injury after completing his fourth. He returned only in the 25th over, by which time India were well past half-way. In his absence, Tendulkar unveiled some stunning drives, including a couple of pushes through the covers off the back foot that brought back memories of the halcyon years.

Sourav Ganguly and Gautam Gambhir didn't make much of an impression. Ganguly poked one into the slip cordon off Shoaib, and Gambhir pulled a poor delivery from Rao Iftikhar Anjum straight to Sohail Tanvir at midwicket. That brought Virender Sehwag to the crease, and though he was scratchy early on, Tendulkar's punched drives and measured clips off the pads gave him the time to play himself into form. A chop behind point set the tone, and a withering cover drive then suggested that Redemption Road wasn't too far away.

Kingsize affair expected at princely state..!!!!

For a ground that still does not have a 300-plus score to its name, the size of the Captain Roop Singh stadium in Gwalior might take a few by surprise.

Picturesque but of noticeably small proportions, the ground may achieve this distinction (hit the elusive 300-plus score) in limited overs cricket when India take on Pakistan in the fourth ODI of the Indian Oil Cup.

The pitch curator Ajay Shastri expects at least 550 runs on Thursday. He assures that the wicket has been prepared with one thought in mind - to create a belter.

“I hope it rains fours and sixes. We need respite from the heat. With the kind of wicket we have made, you could expect a run feast. Both the sides have power-hitters who are in great form. It will be a cracker of a game,” says Shastri.

Shastri contends that since it is a newly laid wicket, bowlers will get help only in the initial stages of the game. While he was happy with the pitch and was confident of having all the ingredients to hand out an entertaining affair, an eminent personality was hell bent in making sure that all arrangements were in place.

Anil Kumble..India's Test Captain..!!!!!!

After days of media speculation and hearsay, veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble has won the two-horse race for the Test captaincy, edging out Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was billed as the popular favourite for the position.

India’s leading wicket taker will lead the country in the upcoming three-Test series against Pakistan at home. Kumble is India’s 30th Test captain. He is the third spinner to lead India after Bishan Singh Bedi and Srinivas Venkataraghavan.

The selectors didn’t want to cast MS Dhoni in the inferno for the two arduous assignments against Pakistan and Australia. Ex-cricketers had also felt that Dhoni still has to grow as a Test-match player. Kumble was deputy to Sachin Tendulkar and was overlooked many times for the position. India’s old warhorse had led the country in a one-day game against England in 2001-02.

“It’s a great honour, something which every cricketer dreams of. It’s a high pressure job, a challenge and I am looking forward to it,” Kumble told CNN-IBN. “I thought I was pretty close to it when I was the vice-captain. But I just played my game and contributed to the team. It (the captaincy) has happened very late but it is better late than never,” Kumble told CNN-IBN.

Sachin Tendulkar refuses capataincy..!!!!

Sachin Tendulkar today turned down the offer to become the captain of India's Test cricket team just two days before his appointment was to be formally announced here. The veteran batsman, who had initially agreed to take over the mantle after Rahul Dravid stepped down, has informed the Board President Sharad Pawar and national selectors about his decision.

A highly-placed BCCI source said Tendulkar had given his views to the President and selectors. "I cannot say what prompted him to take such a decision but it is some personal reason. All I can say is that he does not want to be the Test captain at this stage," the source said.

The selectors will meet here on Thursday to announce team for the remaining three one-dayers against Pakistan and also the new Test captain with Mahendra singh Dhoni now emerging as the front-runner for the hot-seat.

India has been without a Test captain ever since Dravid abruptly quit the post after the team's successful tour of England. With Tendulkar now out of the equation the 26-year-old Dhoni, who has been impressive in the Twenty20 and ODIs, appears to also take up the responsibilities in the longer of version of the game.

One of the selectors told PTI on condition of anonymity that Dhoni now stood a good chance to be the Test captain. "Tendulkar was the preferred choice but now it will be Dhoni, who has done a good job in one-dayers as well as in Twenty20," he said.

Easy win for the Indians.....!!!!!!!!!!!!

India had the best of Pakistan in a lacklustre contest on a slightly demanding pitch, restricting them to 239 and then knocking off the runs through a string of contributions from the top order. It was not the most spectacular cricket, but it was sensible from India and perhaps a touch too circumspect from Pakistan, whose batsmen did not do enough, and whose bowlers were committed and disciplined but rarely penetrative.

When Shoaib Malik won the toss and chose to bat it appeared to be a sound decision, given that the pitch was dry, on the slower side, and threatened to break up in the second half. And when Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal got off to a breezy start, it appeared that India would have their work cut out. Akmal square drove crisply for boundaries when he was offered width and Butt used his wrists to guide the ball into gaps with excellent timing.

Both Yuvraj and Dhoni reached the half-century mark, and with only 22 needed for victory Pakistan broke the partnership. Yuvraj (58) slog-swept Abdur Rahman, the left-arm spinner, but did not quite get hold of the ball and failed to clear Afridi in the deep. Soon after, Dhoni (63) flashed at Shoaib, who returned to the attack in the 45th over, and India wobbled at the doorstep of victory. Only 15 were needed for victory at that stage, and you wondered why Malik had not re-introduced Shoaib earlier. Robin Uthappa and Pathan knocked off the remaining runs and the five-wicket win gave India a 1-0 lead in this five-match series.