Buchanan is on a six-day visit to the city for the IPL team’s talent search programme that starts on Monday.

A strong self-belief is driving the Indians. In the past the side would have just caved in under the pressure of scoring 400 odd runs. But Viru showed the way and the others simply followed in his path. In Sehwag India have found a true match-winner. He along with Gambhir gave India a rollicking start that completely demoralised the English. After his departure early next day, came Sachin and Yuvaraj to complete the task with 20 odd overs to spare. It looks like 20-20 cricket has surely made the Indians a lot more confident in their own abilities. Fast scoring and aggression which is the hallmark of 20-20 cricket has made Tests much more fun.

For more than 3 days England side dominated the show.They were all set to wrap up the match if India didn’t manage a draw. But the complexion of the match changed with Sehwag coming out to bat on the fourth day. He simply belted the ball all over the place like he was playing in a 20-20 match not a Test match. Soon he had scored 85 runs completely dominating the bowlers and demoralizing them.  Gamhir played more sedately from the other end. With Sehwag’s departure early on the 5th day things looked a little more iffy. Gambhir and VVS added a few more runs and departed soon. Dravid’s luck hadn’t turned yet and he went cheaply putting India under slight pressure. In came Yuvaraj and Sachin to bat majestically and with mastery to script a famous victory on a crumbly pitch.

Getting such a huge score on a 5th day wicket when the ball was bouncing unevenly in such a manner is indeed wonderful. It was fitting tribute to Mumbai after the massacre last month. The Chennai Test will be remembered as one of best come from behind victories for India. Dhoni called it the toughest win of his short career 4 test matches as captain.

This should give every member of the team tremendous confidence that they can win in the most of impossible of situations. Congratulations to the Indian team and management for a famous win.

Having competence, talent, gift or ability in cricket alone does not automatically take you to nation level. It is immaterial how much one toils or puts efforts. But what is needed is luck, God’s blessing if one believes in God and extra special skill to woo right person at right time. For want of this special extra skill, umpteen numbers of cricketers are withering away at fringe while waiting for their chances. It is seen that certain relatively less talented players, go to top because of their extra skill rather than their luck or skill in the game.

In 2008, David Hussey has surprised one and all when he fetched a sum, which was more than what his brother and Australian skipper Ricky Ponting fetched in the auction for Indian Premier League. Kolkata Knight Riders, a franchise of IPL, have paid US $ 625,000 to secure David Hussey for their team. This amount is more than the sums offered to his elder brother Michael Hussy and Ricky Ponting. The sum offered to Ricky Ponting was US $ 400,000 and to his brother Michael Hussy was US $ 350,000. Ricky Ponting plays for Kolkata Knight Riders and where as Michael Hussy plays for Chennai Super King.

David Hussey’s Personal information

David Hussey’s full name is David John Hussey and his nicknames are Little Mr. Cricket, Huss, and Bomber. His date of birth is 15 July 1977 and place of birth is Morley, Western Australia, Australia.

David Hussey acquired the nickname from his elder brother who is nicknamed as Mr. Cricket.  To distinguish him from his elder brother, David Hussey is called as Little Mr. Cricket. His elder brother Michael Hussy is a professional cricketer of Australia. .

Hussey brothers have the record of playing together for Australia, in Twenty20 International against India. Waughs brothers were the first to play together for Australia

David Hussey’s Playing Style:

David Hussey bats with his right-hand and bowls with his right-arm. He bowls off break. His height of 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) aids to the quality of his game. He is an attacking and fast scoring batsman. Though his role in the team is as lower middle order batsman but he also bowl when called for with certain success.

David Hussey’s Cricket Career.

In his teen age David Hussey has represented Australia at under-19 level.

David Hussey is though an Australian cricketer he started his serious cricketing career in England like his elder brother Michael Hussy. He started his career in England at Horsham Cricket Club in Sussex. He played more for English clubs rather than his country Australia.

David Hussey has comes to lime light after an innings for the Victoria Bushrangers in 2003-2004. In his very first season of first-class cricket, he scored a quick unbeaten 212. His side went on to score 455 runs for 7 wickets in their 4th innings to beat New South Wales in Newcastle. In this season, he scored 857 runs at 61.

David Hussey shuttles frequently between Australia and England. As summer occurs in Australia and England at different period, he participates in the summer tournaments held in these two countries. In 2004 he played in Australian summer scoring 857 runs at 61 and while playing in the English summer he scored 1208 runs for Nottinghamshire.

David Hussey’s stint at Nottinghamshire,

Nottinghamshire appears to be special and lucky for David Hussey.

In 2005, while playing for Nottinghamshire, he scored 1231 runs. He made two centuries and one double century. His double century was consisting of 232 not out. The match was against Warwickshire. His contribution has made his side to win the championship.

In season 2005-2006 while competing in Pura Cup for Victoria, he made 500 runs at 30. Again at Nottinghamshire in 2006, he made 1103 runs at 50.13, preceded his state-topping 911 Pura Cup runs at 53.58 in 2006-07, when he scored centuries in three consecutive matches.

In 2006-2007, he led Newcastle in absence of regular captain Cameron White. His side was chasing 360 in the fourth innings.  In this match he made unbeaten 125 runs and beat New South Wales. When they finished their score was 362 for 7. The exciting winning run came from his bat with a six. In the succeeding season while playing against Essex at Trent Bridge, he scored his careers best score of 275 runs. The 275 runs came off 227 balls. It includes 14 sixes. His total score for the season was 1219 runs at average 93.76.

In the 2007 he was the part of Australian ‘A’ team, touring Pakistan. On this tour he made two centuries.

David Hussey Plays for the following team:

Australia,
Australia A,
Nottinghamshire,
Sussex Cricket Board, Victoria
Kolkata Knight Riders,

David Hussey’s Domestic First Class Carrier:

He played 125 first class cricket matches scoring 9,401 at 54.97. He made 32 centuries and 42 half centuries. His top score in an inning was 275 runs.

In 125 matches, he bowled 1,911 balls claiming 20 wickets at average 61.35. His best bowling in an inning is 4 for 105 runs. His 152 catches in 125 matches speak about his fielding ability.

David Hussey’s Domestic List ‘A’ Carrier

He played 141 List ‘A’ matches scoring 4,569 runs at 41.43. In 141 matches he scored 6 centuries and 31 half centuries. His top score in the List ‘A’ matches was 130. He bowled 1,102 balls taking 26 wickets at 37.53. His best bowling figure was 3 for 26. He took  69 catches in 141 matches.

It was again in the one day competitions, he has impressed by scoring  535 runs at 76.42. This tally included 130 against Queensland and he won the state’s limited-overs player-of-the-year award

David Hussey’s One Day International Carrier:

His ODI debut was on 4th July 2008 against West Indies and the last one was on 6th September 2008 against Bangladesh. Between 4 July 2008 and 6th September 2008 he played five ODIs. In five ODI’s he scored 137 runs at 34.25. He just bowled 41 balls and took 1 wicket. His best bowling effort was 1 for 16 runs.

In the season 2007-08, he scored over thousand runs (1008) in the Pura Cup at 56 impressed the selectors. He was chosen to tour West Indies in 2008 for ODI series His superb performance has also earned him first Australian cricket contract.

A month later to his impressive performance for FR Cup, he made the 2nd fastest Australian domestic one-day hundred in 60 balls which includes eight sixes. It is considered as the second fastest century in Australian domestic one-day history.  It was in this period that Hussey was almost upgraded to a Twenty20 all rounder as he was required to bowl in all Victoria’s matches.  . This as well as brilliant batting form earned him his Australian spot and Player of the Tournament

David Hussey’s International Twenty20:

He made his debut to Twenty20 for Australia against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne. It was on February 1, 2008. In this match he had a chance only to bowl.  He took one wicket for 12 runs and a catch.

David Hussey’s Stint with Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders, a franchise team of the lucrative Indian Premier League, has paid $625,000 to secure him for their team.

For Kolkata Knight Riders, David Hussey has played 13 matches scoring 318 runs at an average of 28.90. His strike rate in these matches was 122.77. He made two half century. His highest score was 71 against Punjab XI Kings.  He bowled 13 overs and given away 130 runs at 65 and took two wickets. His best bowling performance was 1 for 23 against Mohali. He also took two catches.

Bright future awaits for David Hussy:

David Hussey is on track to make his national debut after convincing the selectors of his high quality with consistent domestic seasons for Victoria and Nottinghamshire. Hilditch has pin-pointed him as a contender for the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup

The other casuality is of course the Champions League which was to have started Dec 03. No dates have been announced yet.

But India is the most powerful cricketing nation in the world. We have thousands of youngsters playing cricket, we have the richest cricketing body in the world, we have the biggest endorsements and biggest cricketing stars, we have the biggest fan base and we have the richest cricketing league. So, not playing cricket in India will suck the life out of cricket. Sri Lanka has had a civil war for years, Zimbabwe has its racial and corruption issues, Pakistan has turned too dangerous but still cricket was not as threatened as it is today.

India is the lifeline for cricket and not having cricket in India will mean the end of the game as we know it today.

So, what direction will cricket take? How will the future of cricket be affected?

Will terrorism spell the doom for cricket and many other things we enjoy as our freedoms in a democratic India?

Share your thoughts.

It’s one more horrible reminder of how vulnerable we are to terrorists. These guys came in boats and started firing on innocent people in hotels, train stations and roads.  Our top police and commandos have been killed in the attack.

But my take is that the teams from the foreign shores have the advantage of a surprise element. We don’t know much about these teams or the players who constitute the teams. So, it’s an even advantage.

The crowd ofcourse will root for the local teams.
So, let’s see how things go.

Sourav is known to most of us as one of the jewels of our countries cricketer. We know him as record holder in cricket, as a batsman, bowler and above all as a most successful captain. But how many of us know him as present days Maharaja Prithiviraj Chowhan? If Prithiviraj Chowhan eloped with princess Samyukta, Dada Sourav, eloped with his schooldays sweet heart Dona. Both have eloped for the same purpose. It was to marry their sweet hearts. Difference being Prithiviraj carried Samyukta on horse back where as Sourav driven her in one of the 32 cars owned by his house hold. Isn’t interesting?

Well if we read his romantic love story, we will be reminded of host of romantic film stories of Bollywood or even better.

Sourav is a very ‘ziddi’ person and have a tremendous will power. If he desires to achieve some thing, he will realize it. It is immaterial how and at what cost. He is very calculative and plans meticulously. He does not mingle one activity with other one.

During his very tender age, he wanted to use his elder brother’s cricket gear. He could not use it as his brother was a left hand batsman. This has not deterred him. He practiced to play with his left hand to use his brother’s gears. He has ultimately become an established left hand batsman. He does everything else with his right hand. That is Sourav!

His romantic story is not different from his story of left hand bating. Dona was a Padosan of Dada Sourav. Both grew up together as good friends. Later the friendship developed into a romance. For Dada, Dancing Queen Dona was ‘Chand ka Tukda’. His romance appears to have started during his school days. Sourav was studying in St. Xavier School while Dona at Loreto Convent School. Sourav frequently used to drive around Loreto Convent School in a car to have a glimpse of her.

Sourav and Dona’s romance was not without any twist and turn or hurdles. Sourav and Dona are from different cast. Sourav is a Brahmin and Dona a non-Brahmin. His parents are orthodox Brahmins. To make them to agree to get married to a non-Brahmin girl, was one of the impossibilities. It was his fist hurdle. Sourav’s father, Chandidas Ganguly and Dona’s father Roy were not only nest door neighbor but were also good business partner. At later date over some business matter, their relationship soured and become bitter enemies.. It was a second hurled. But Sourav have capability to overcome any hurdle successfully, if he determines.

Undaunted by the barrier developed in the families of romantic pair, they kept meeting secretly and were in touch with each other. Dona watched Sourav playing cricket and Sourav attended her dance concert.

It is not possible to keep certain secrete for long time. When the parents of both the families sensed about the romance between Sourav and Dona, they become furious. There was turbulence atmosphere in the household of both the families. They sternly warned their ward to keep away form each other. Sourav was told that he can’t marry a non-Brahmin girl. But the romance between Sourav and Dona developed like a solid rock. Threatening from parents did not work.

Sourav and Dona were much matured personalities. They knew how to achieve their goal. They remained patient and waited for appropriate opportunity to act Sourav continued with his full gusto to make a permanent place in national team while Dona started rigorously practicing Odissi dance under her guru, a renowned odissi dancer, Late Kelucharan Mahapatra. It was her cherished desire to become an accomplished Odissi dancer. She could achieve it. She is presently, a proficient and skilled Odissi dancer with numerous credits to her name. Now days she runs her own dance school in Kolkata.

Sourav’s scheming skill has not only helped in his cricket carrier as captain to win matches but also solving his personal problems. He has decided with his romantic partner Dona that they would get married only when they becoming successful in their chosen carriers that is Sourav in cricket and Dona on dancing. Sourav started concentrated on cricket with full dedication while Dona on her dancing. They also decided to give some time to their enraged parents to cool down.

Some time in August 1996, when Sourav returned from his triumphant Test debut at Lord’s, he thought of making his final poly He thought that it was the proper time to carryout his ploy. His returned from his triumphant Test debut at Lord’s has generated extra love for Sourav among the members of his family. Even People of Kolkatta were jubilant. Sensing it as favorable time for final assult, he sought the help of Moloy Banerjee whom he respected and had a lot of confidence in him. Moloy Banarjee is most respected cricketer of Bengal Initially Banarjee shown his reluctance to help Saorav. He was scared that it may go against the interest of Sourav’s parents. But on insistence and pursuance of Sourav’s he agreed.

There after meticulous planning was made. On 12th August 1996 the date for marriage was fixed. It was to be registry marriage at Registrar office of Marriage. The news could not be kept secrete. It has leaked to the media. Well in advance media persons in full strength flocked at Registrar’s Office. To avoid publicity and problem at family front, Banerjee persuaded the Registrar to conduct the marriage at his residence without the knowledge of media. Accordingly the marriage was solemnized at Benarjee’s residence. At the time of registry of marriage, Sourav was 23 and Dona, just 20 years of age

As was planed, after two days of the marriage, Sourav left for Colombo. When the news broke among the families, there was turmoil in both the families. But Sourav was not there to attack. As it is said that the time is the best heeler, with passing of time anger cooled down. Both the parents accepted the decision of their children. On February 21, 1997 formal wedding was performed on grand scale. There after the Prince Sourav and Dancing Queen Dona lived together happily. On November 3, 2001 they were blessed with a lovely fairy daughter. They named her Sana. It said Sena is center of attraction in the entire family.

Now both Sourav and Dona are pursuing their respective careers with full ardency and devotion. Their marriage has been able to withstand all pressures, be it Sourav’s hectic schedule or rumors appearing in film magazines. Thus, the love story of the Prince Sourav and the Dancing Queen Dana has come to the perfect ending.