U.S. Open 2012: Novak Djokovic makes it into 4th round

NEW YORK — Defending U.S. Open champion Novak Djokovic has advanced to the fourth round of the tournament with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win Sunday over 31st-seeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau on an overcast and humid afternoon.

So far Djokovic, seeded second, hasn't lost a set and has only dropped 14 games. He needed only 1 hour, 37 minutes Sunday. The Serbian won three of the four major tournaments a year ago to become ranked No. 1 in the world. This is the fourth straight year Djokovic, who opened 2012 by taking the Australian Open, has reached the fourth round here.

But Rafael Nadal (who is missing the Open with a knee injury) won the French Open, top-seeded Roger Federer won Wimbledon and third-seeded Andy Murray won the Olympic gold medal, setting up the Open as perhaps the place where the winner will earn bragging rights for the season if not the No. 1 ranking. Djokovic is now 32-3 on hard courts this season and holds a 19-0 streak over French players. Next up for Djokovic will be the winner of a third-round match between 14th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine and 18th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.

Early Sunday morning, close to 2 a.m. and well after most people had left Arthur Ashe Stadium, 23rd-seeded Mardy Fish, completed a mini-upset of 16th-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon. Fish won 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Fish somehow earned a spot against top-seeded Roger Federer, who holds an 8-1 career advantage over Fish, despite committing 75 unforced errors while playing against an opponent who had a sore serving shoulder and who sometimes had a difficult time hitting 100 miles per hour on first serves.

Asked during an on-court interview what he'll need to do to get past Federer, Fish responded: ''I have no idea right now, to be honest. A lot more than I did today. But we'll try to rest as best we can and see what we can do.''

Fish, who lives in Los Angeles, missed part of this season after undergoing a procedure to correct an abnormality with his heart rhythm.

New Zealand on a road to post a big total

31 August, 2012 9:00 AM, Both the Captains Ross Taylor and MS Dhoni face each other for the toss. It was a good start for New Zealand as they won the toss. Ross Taylor Said "Pitch looks good and it looks like that bowl will swing for the first hour.So, we will bat first and try not to loss our wickets and post a big score". Tim Southee replace for Chris Martin. Sunil Gavaskar says it is a typical Indian pitch, it will turn later as the match progresses, but will be good for batting first couple of days. Some movement for the quicks is expected, more because of the overcast conditions. 

 Anyway, MS Dhoni wants Indian pitches to turn more. The Hyderabad wicket wasn't exactly a turning track, he said yesterday. He is right too, it was the bounce that was more threatening in Hyderabad.

As the opners came into bat. M Guptill scored 53, while BB McCullum got out for zero.LRPL Taylor played a perfect Captains Knock for New Zealand and scored his 7th Test Century while he gave his wicket to P Ojha at 113, for India P Ojha was the top wicket taker as New Zealand post a total of 328/6 (CFK van Wyk 63* ,DAJ Bracewell 30*, P Ojha 4/90).

England Captain Announced Retirement from all formats

Andrew Struss has announced his retirement from all the formats of Cricket.He ends his 10-year career in Internation Cricket. Now, Alastair Cook, the one-day Captain will take on Test Job.
He decided to retire right after being defeated by South Africa in Test Series which cause them to loss the No. 1 Ranking Title.
Andrew Strauss as the Captain led the Team England in 50 Test Matches with W/L of 24/ 11 making him 7th Best Captain with respect to the Win-Loss ratio of 2.18 and he is listed as the Third England captains who led the team in the most Tests.

"After much thought over the last few weeks, I have decided to step down as England Test captain and announce my retirement from all forms of cricket," Strauss said. "It has clearly been a tough decision to make, but I believe that it is both in the best interests of the England cricket team and myself to step down at this stage".
"And he led by quiet, calm authority, no shouting, no hair dryers, no abuse. He maintained in some extremely difficult, provocative situations, a tranquil, purposeful approach which excited the admiration of all and ensured sensible decisions were reached. Andrew Strauss has embodied everything that the nation expects from an England cricket captain. It has been a rare privilege to work with such a remarkable man."
ECB chairman Giles Clarke

"He has always been a true gent as well, which stands out with Straussy. He is a very level man and a strong character. He speaks well, thinks about things. He has all the characteristics of a good leader as we have seen over the last few years. He will be missed as a player but probably most for his leadership in taking England to the top. The composure and dignity he has shown. It is probably what he would like to be remembered for, as a good bloke and a strong leader."
Former team-mate and current selector Ashley Giles 

 "It is difficult to rank anybody in order but what you would say he is part of a legacy of very fine captains. The good captains probably care much about other people as they do themselves. Like most good leaders he has been consistent, trustworthy, honest and with a good cricket brain. He has probably picked a good time to go. It has been a great period he has gone through."
Peter Moores, Lancashire and former England coach 


 "He can take an enormous amount of pride from not only the way he has played and captained but also the way he has conducted himself. It is sad for England and sad for Middlesex as well because the career of one of our greatest cricketers has come to an end but he has been a great ambassador for cricket. You turn up to Test matches and wonder if the same buzz is there. You use lots of methods to try to reinvigorate yourself and get your enthusiasm and energy levels up but it is a full-on job, spending most waking hours working out how to try to make this England team better, and it does take its toll.
Angus Fraser, former Middlesex team-mate and now director of cricket 


 "I don't think it would have changed his mind if the Pietersen incident hadn't happened. I think it's coincidental. I know for a fact he bought a dog a year ago and I told him at the time that if he's bought a dog then retirement is just around the corner. You don't buy a dog for it to sit in the house while you're abroad in India."
Former England team-mate Paul Collingwood 

 "A fantastic servant to the game of cricket. I am lucky to have played with him."
Former team-mate Matthew Hoggard 

And on Twitter 

 "A.Strauss should be very proud of his outstanding career & achievements. As a player & captain one of the very best to wear the Eng shirt."
Alec Stewart, the former England captain


 "Well done Straussy on a great career. Always put the team first and has taken the England team to where it should be."
 England team-mate Chris Tremlett

 "Wishing Straussy the best of luck in retirement. He's been a great player, a credit to England and got them to number 1 in the world..."
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell 

 "Really sad to hear Straussy has called it a day. He's done so much for this England team not just as captain but also as a player...."
Former team-mate James Anderson

 "If anyone thinks that KP influenced Strauss they obviously don't know him." Graeme Fowler, Strauss' former coach at Durham MCCU 

 "Awesome guy, great leader, dependable batsman and a solid 1 slip catcher. Cheers Straussy you'll be playing scratch golf within a year..."
England team-mate Stuart Broad

India Wins the ICC U-19 World Cup 2012

India wins the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup by 6 Wickets. In 2012, Unmukt Chand was named as the Captain of Team India .At start it was not easy task to do so. As for Team India they lost 1  match in the group stage which lead them to face Pakistan Quater-final. 
In Quater-final India was much under pressure but India hold their nerve at the last moment and wins the Quater-final with 1 wicket left.
And finally Team India and their hard work did not stop till the end. Unmukt Chand himself lead india to lift the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup. 
India's Road to the final:
Lost to West Indies by 4 wickets, beat Zimbabwe by 63 runs, beat Papua New Guinea by 107 runs, beat Pakistan by 1 wicket in the quarter-final, beat New Zealand by 9 runs in the semi-final.
Australia's Road to the final:
Beat England by 6 wickets, beat Nepal by 212 runs, beat Ireland by 6 wickets, beat Bangladesh by 5 wickets in the quarter-final, and beat South Africa by 4 wickets in the semi-final.
At the start India won the toss choses to field first.
Australian Team  scored 225/8 in 50 overs with the good Captain Knock WG Bosisto of 87 in 120 Balls.
When Indian Openers came at the crease it was not an easy to chase such total cause of the tough pressure of beating the defending Champion at their home ground.
But Unmukt Chand scored a Brillant Century of 111 of 130 Balls with 6 Sixes and 7 fours. It was his 5th U-19 Century and he stayed till the end with Smit Patel who also scored 62 runs of 54 balls with a partnership of over 130 runs and led the Team to win the ICC U-19 World Cup 2012 for the third time. 
At the time of Presentation 

Unmukt Chand the Man-of-the-Match:
I do not know what is happening right now, thankful to God, taken the team through, the Aussies played very well but we came on top. Townsville has been amazing for us. The journey has been good. I would like to thank the support staff, my team, we had a great time together, it is a very emotional moment, like to thank all the people in India, who prayed for us and to all the Indian fans at the ground.

Bosisto the Man-of-the-Series:
Everyone is pretty depleted, we appreciate all the support, we dropped crucial catches and we were caught on the wrong side, the Indians did a great work, it is not the first time he (Unmukt) has terrorized us. Thanks to all and the India team.

Smit Patel:
The captain appreciated me, I was tentative intially, he gave me confidence and then I got going. Stick to the basics as the coach advised. About Chand, he is a fluent player, it was awesome batting with him, we were confident that if we batted together till the end we could do it.

"Muhammad Akram"-Pakistan New Bowling Coach

"Muhammad Akram" has been appointed as the Pakistan New Bowling Coach.PCB has appointed him as the bowling coach for 1 year span.
"cricket is actually played on ground [and] not on laptops".This is what he said during the interview

Further, he said that his low profile CV will disproves his ability and the knowledge he has learnt from his experience.
Knowing the fact that Muhammad Akram was earlier rejected by the PCB,he has played 9 tests Matches and 23 ODI's in which he has not taken more than 36 wickets in both the format. 
Also, many people said he was at the time when our bowling department (Two W's and rawalpindi express) was at its best in which getting selected and play for the PAKISTAN Team as the fast bowler was not even an easy task to do.
With low profile career, critics show much negative attitude toward his selection but Muhammad Akram confidence and his excellent communication skills has given a good impression to many people. 
Right now, we think it is not a good time to judge him. 
Let us just hope for the best and wish him best of luck for this tough job.