Best Scorecard ever in Cricket History

The IPL Teams

Following are the IPL teams after Wednesday's auctions
Bangalore:
Rahul Dravid (icon player)
Jacques Kallis - USD 900,000
Anil Kumble - USD 500,000
Cameron White - USD 500,000
Zaheer Khan - USD 450,000
Mark Boucher - USD 450,000
Wasim Jaffer - USD 150,000
Dale Steyn - USD 325,000
Shivnarine Chanderpaul - USD 200,000

Kolkata:
Sourav Ganguly (icon player)
Ishant Sharma - USD 950,000
Chris Gayle - USD 800,000
Brendon McCullum - USD 700,000
David Hussey- USD 625,000
Shoaib Akhtar - USD 425,000
Ricky Ponting - USD 400,000
Ajit Agarkar - USD 350,000
Murali Kartik - USD 425,000
Umar Gul - USD 150,000
Tatenda Taibu - USD 125,000

Chennai:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni - USD 1.5 million
Jacob Oram - USD 675,000
Albie Morkel - USD 675,000
Suresh Raina - USD 650,000
Muttiah Muralitharan - USD 600,000
Matthew Hayden - USD 375,000
Stephen Fleming - USD 350,000
Parthiv Patel - USD 325,000
Joginder Sharma - USD 225,000
Makhaya Ntini - USD 200,000
Michael Hussey - USD 350,000

Delhi:
Virender Sehwag (icon player)
Gautam Gambhir - USD 725,000
Manoj Tiwari - USD 675,000
Mohammad Asif - USD 650,000
Daniel Vettori - USD 625,000
Dinesh Karthik - USD 525,000
Shoaib Malik - USD 500,000
AB de Villiers - USD 300,000
Tillekaratne Dilshan - USD 250,000
Farveez Maharoof - USD 225,000
Glenn McGrath - USD 350,000

Hyderabad:
Andrew Symonds - USD 1.35 million
Rudra Pratap Singh - USD 875,000
Rohit Sharma - USD 750,000
Adam Gilchrist - USD 700,000
Shahid Afridi - USD 675,000
Herschelle Gibbs - USD 575,000
VVS Laxman - USD 375,000
Chaminda Vaas - USD 200,000
Scott Styris - USD 175,000
Nuwan Zoysa - USD 110,000
Chamara Silva - USD 100,000

Jaipur:
Mohammad Kaif - USD 675,000
Graeme Smith - USD 475,000
Yusuf Pathan - USD 475,000
Shane Warne - USD 450,000
Munaf Patel - USD 275,000
Younis Khan - USD 225,000
Kamran Akmal - USD 150,000
Justin Langer - USD 200,000

Mohali:
Yuvraj Singh (icon player)
Irfan Pathan - USD 925,000
Brett Lee - USD 900,000
Kumar Sangakkara - USD 700,000
Shantakumaran Sreesanth - USD 625,000
Mahela Jayawardene - USD 475,000
Piyush Chawla - USD 400,000
Ramesh Powar - USD 170,000
Ramnaresh Sarwan - USD 225,000
Simon Katich - USD 200,000

Mumbai:
Sachin Tendulkar (icon player)
Sanath Jayasuriya - USD 975,000
Harbhajan Singh - USD 850,000
Robin Uthappa - USD 800,000
Shaun Pollock - USD 550,000
Lasith Malinga - USD 350,000
Dilhara Fernando - USD 150,000
Loots Bosman - USD 150,000

Pictures of 8th ODI in CB series @ Adelaide

Mahendra Singh Dhoni cheers after getting the winning run.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni dives flat out to make the crease.

Yuvraj Singh is bowled by a yorker from Chaminda Vaas.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni plays it behind square leg.

Yuvraj Singh acknowledges the crowd after reaching his fifty.

Muttiah Muralitharan delivers the ball.

Yuvraj Singh drives to the off side.

Yuvraj Singh sweeps to behind square.

Lasith Malinga is charged up after dismissing Sachin Tendulkar with his first ball.

Chamara Silva swivels around to pull.

Ishant Sharma unsuccessfully appeals for a wicket.

A determined Kumar Sangakkara after reaching the century.

Kumar Sangakkara uses his wrists to good effect while playing a sweep shot.

Praveen Kumar celebrates after running out Mahela Jayawardene.

Munaf Patel appeals for a run-out after deflecting a ball onto the non-striker's stump.

Match Structure

The Toss

The two opposing captains toss a coin before the match, and the captain who wins chooses either to bat or bowl first. The captain's decision is usually based on whether the team's bowlers are likely to gain immediate advantage from the pitch and weather conditions (these can vary significantly), or whether it is more likely that the pitch will deteriorate and make batting more difficult later in the game.

Overs

Each innings is divided into overs, each consisting of six consecutive legal deliveries bowled by the same bowler. For the definition of illegal deliveries, see Extras. No bowler may bowl two consecutive overs, so at the end of the over the bowler takes up a fielding position and another player bowls.

Overs are bowled from alternate ends of the pitch; at the end of each over the umpires swap, the umpire at the bowler's end moving to square leg, and the umpire at square leg moving to the new bowler's end. The fielders also usually change positions.

End of Innings

An innings is completed if:

1. Ten out of eleven batsmen are out (dismissed); the team are said to be "all out".
   
2. The team has only one batsman left who can bat, one or more of the remaining players being unavailable owing to injury, illness or absence; again, the team is said to be "all out".
   
3. The team batting last reaches the score required to win the match.
4. The predetermined number of overs has been bowled (in a one-day match only, most commonly 50 overs).
   
5. A captain declares his team's innings closed (this does not apply in one-day limited over matches).
   

Playing Time

Typically, two-innings matches are played over three to five days with at least six hours of cricket played each day. One-innings matches are usually played in one day, and often last six hours or more. There are usually formal intervals on each day for lunch and tea, and brief informal breaks for drinks. There is also a short interval between innings.

The game is usually only played in dry weather; play is also usually stopped if it becomes too dark for the batsmen to be able to see the ball safely. Some one-day games are now played under floodlights but, apart from a few experimental games in Australia, floodlights are not used in longer games. Professional cricket is usually played outdoors. These requirements mean that in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe the game is usually restricted to the summer. In the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh games are played in the winter. These countries' hurricane and monsoon seasons coincide with their summer.

Batting

The batsman may play a "shot" or "stroke", attempting to hit the bowled ball with the flat surface of the bat. If the ball brushes the side of the bat it is called an "edge". There is no requirement for the batsman to play a shot, and there is no requirement to run if the ball is struck. The batsman automatically scores runs if he hits the ball to the boundary. Shots are named according to the style of swing and the direction aimed. As part of the team's strategy, the player may bat defensively, blocking the ball downwards, or aggressively, hitting the ball hard to empty spaces in order to score runs.

Batsmen come in to bat in a batting order, decided by the team captain. The first two batsmen - the "openers" - usually face the most hostile bowling, from fresh fast bowlers with a new ball. The top batting positions are usually given to the most competent batsmen in the team, and the non-batsmen typically bat last. The batting order is not agreed beforehand, and if a wicket falls any player who has not batted yet may bat next.

Run Scoring

To score a run, a striker must run to the opposite end of the pitch, while his non-striking partner runs to his end. To register a run, both runners must touch the ground behind the crease with either their bats or their bodies (the batsmen carry their bats as they run). If the striker hits the ball well enough, the batsmen may double back to score two or more runs. However, no rule requires the batsman to run upon striking the ball. The decision to attempt a run is ideally made by the batsman who has the better view of the ball's position, and this is communicated by calling: "yes", "no" and "wait" are often heard. The batsmen swap ends every time an odd number of runs are scored.

If a fielder knocks the bails off the stumps with the ball while no part of the batsman is grounded behind the popping crease, the batsman nearer the broken wicket is run out. The batsman may ground the bat, provided he or she is holding it.

If the ball reaches the boundary, then runs are automatically scored: six if the ball goes over the boundary without touching the ground, four if it touched the ground. These are scored instead of any runs the batsmen may have already run (unless they have run more, which is unlikely), and they return to the ends at which they started.

Bowling

A bowler delivers the ball toward the batsmen: during the bowling action the elbow may be held at any angle and may bend further, but may not straighten out. If the elbow straightens illegally then the square-leg umpire may call no-ball. The current laws allow a bowler to straighten his arm 15 degrees or less.

The bowler's primary goal is usually to get the batsman out; the most common modes of dismissal (except run out) are credited to the bowler, who is said to have taken a wicket. Dismissing an accomplished batsman is more difficult than dismissing a non-batsman. The bowler's secondary task is usually to limit the numbers of runs scored. Occasionally the match situation makes it more important to limit runs than take wickets.

There are many types of bowler, and many nuances of bowling techniques. Two categories are pace bowlers, who aim to bowl quicker than the batsman's reaction speed, and spin bowlers who bowl slower deliveries that bounce and curve in unpredictable ways.

Extras

Every run scored by the batsmen contributes to the team's total. A team's total also includes a number of runs which are unaccredited to any batsmen. These runs are known as extras; in Australia they are also called "sundries".

Pictures of 5th ODI in CB series @ Canberra

Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan celebrate their win.

Mahela Jayawardene shapes to dab one through the off side.

Tillakaratne Dilshan cuts during his unbeaten 62.

Tillakaratne Dilshan dives in an unsuccessful attempt to stop four runs .

Mahendra Singh Dhoni plays his version of the double-fisted forehand.

Rohit Sharma raises his bat after completing his half-century.

Rohit Sharma carves the ball over the covers during his unbeaten 64-ball 70.

Lasith Malinga hits the stumps to get rid of Gautam Gambhir.

Sachin Tendulkar follows the course of the ball after playing a shot in the air.

Indian fans keep the cheer despite the rain delay.

Pictures of 4th ODI in CB series @ Melbourne

India's winning run came via a wide from Andrew Symonds.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma added 58 to guide India home.

Rohit Sharma's patient 39 ensured India's victory.

Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed for 44.

Brett Lee is thrilled at dismissing Gautam Gambhir.

Nathan Bracken trapped Virender Sehwag lbw.

Sachin Tendulkar plays the ball behind point.

Ishant Sharma finished with figures of 4 for 38.

Michael Hussey celebrates his fifty.

Irfan Pathan had Brett Lee caught by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Michael Clarke was dismissed for 11.

Ishant Sharma dismissed Matthew Hayden for 25.

Sreesanth celebrates Adam Gilchrist's wicket.

Pictures of 1st ODI in CB series @ Brisbane

Michael Clarke and Sachin Tendulkar walks off as the rain pours down.

Sreesanth signals the fall of Ricky Ponting.

An ecstatic Ishant Sharma celebrates the wicket of James Hopes.

James Hopes is cleaned up by Ishant Sharma.

Harbhajan Singh reacts to the crowd's boos.

The covers were brought out as rain interrupted play.

Adam Gilchrist gets room to cut the ball.

Sreesanth is run out while attempting to steal a third run off the last ball of India's innings.

Harbhajan Singh tries to swat the ball.

Irfan Pathan guides one through the off side.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni pulls the ball.

Rohit Sharma hits out and is caught behind of the bowling of Brett Lee.

Manoj Tiwary is cleaned up by a scorching yorker.

Eyes wide shut: Rohit Sharma ducks under a bouncer.

Brett Lee signals Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal.

Sachin Tendulkar walks off after being dismissed cheaply by Brett Lee .