DHONI'S CAPTAINCY SKILLS

Dhoni was recommended for captaincy by Sachin Tendulkar. In 2007, when Rahul Dravid resigned as Test and ODI captain, Sachin Tendulkar was offered captaincy by the board of selectors and Sharad Pawar, but Sachin politely refused and said, "Give it to someone like Dhoni". The Board agreed.

Team India went on to win the inaugural T20 cricket World Cup 2007

First ever trilateral ODI series win in Australia versus Australia and Sri Lanka [[2007-08 Commonwealth Bank SeriesCB Series of 2007-08]].

First ever bilateral ODI series win in Sri Lanka (IDEA CUP) in August 2008.

He captained Team India to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2008 at home versus Australia. India went on to win the coveted 4 match Test series(2-0).

Also Team India to win the RBS Cup 2008 at home versus England. India went on to win the coveted 2 match Test series(1-0) and the 7 match ODI series (5 -0) with the rest of the remaining two ODIs being abandoned.

Under his captaincy, India beat Sri Lanka for the second time to clinch the IBDI Fortis Wealthsurance Cup ODI series 2009 (4-1) and the only Twenty20 International, the first Twenty20 International match held in Sri lanka. This is the second staright series win for Team India in Sri Lanka.

M.S. Dhoni is the first Indian Captain to achieve nine consecutive ODI wins (between 14/11/2008 and 05/02/2009). Earlier the record of having eight consecutive ODI wins were owned by Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.

Previous captains Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly have said that under Dhoni India will reach greater heights and even all time great Richard Hadlee said that "Under Dhoni,India will become the world no.1 team" and he also said that by this 2-0 win that the Australian dominance in the cricket world had finally come to an end.

As a farewell gift to former Indian captain, Saurav Ganguly who was set to retire after the Nagpur test against Australia, Dhoni asked Saurav Ganguly to lead the team for one last time towards the end of the Australian innings in the last test at Nagpur.

Dhoni has already been compared to Australia's Steve Waugh for his captaincy skills. In the battle of nerves, the mental toughness accompanied with the cool temperament exhibited by Dhoni just resembles the times of Steve Waugh’s leadership.

During the ODI Series 2009 in Sri Lanka, Dhoni had equalled the record of Zimbabwe's Andy Flower who has also played 46 ODIs in both roles of Wicket Keeper/Captain.

Please leave your messages for MS Dhoni in the comment box than Dhoni "The Dynamite Dhamaka"

DHONI'S TEST CAREER

Following his good one-day form against Sri Lanka, Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in December 2005 as the Indian Test wicket-keeper.[43] Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match that was marred by rain. Dhoni came to the crease when the team was struggling at 109/5 and as wickets kept falling around him, he played an aggressive innings and was the last man dismissed. Dhoni made his maiden half-century in the second Test and his quick scoring rate (half century came off 51 balls) aided India to set a target of 436 and the Sri Lankans were bowled out for 247.
India toured Pakistan in January/February 2006 and Dhoni scored his maiden century in the second Test at Faisalabad. India were left in a tight spot as Dhoni was joined by Irfan Pathan with the team still 107 away from avoiding follow-on. Dhoni played his typical aggressive innings as he scored his maiden test century in just 93 balls after scoring his first fifty in just 34 deliveries.

Dhoni followed his maiden test century with some prosaic batting performances over the next three matches, one against Pakistan that India lost and two against England that had India holding a 1-0 lead going into the test match. Dhoni was the top scorer in India's first innings in the third test at Wankhede Stadium as his 64 aided India post a respectable 279 in reply to England's 400. However Dhoni and the Indian fielders dropped too many catches and missed many dismissal chances including a key stumping opportunity of Andrew Flintoff (14). Dhoni failed to collect the Harbhajan Singh delivery cleanly as Flintoff went on to make 36 more runs as England set a target of 313 for the home team, a target that India were never in the reckoning. A batting collapse saw the team being dismissed for 100 and Dhoni scored just 5 runs and faced criticism for his wicket-keeping lapses as well as his shot selections.
On the West Indies tour, Dhoni scored a quick and aggressive 69 in the first Test at Antigua. The rest of the series was unremarkable for Dhoni as he scored 99 runs in the remaining 6 innings but his wicket-keeping skills improved and Dhoni finished the series with 13 catches and 4 stumpings. In the test series in South Africa, Dhoni's scores of 34 and 47 were not sufficient to save the second test against the Proteas as India lost the test series 2-1, squandering the chance to build on their first ever Test victory in South Africa (achieved in the first Test match). Dhoni's bruised hands ruled him out of the third test match.


.....................................Dhoni... The Great

DHONI'S ODI CAREER

The Indian team in the 2000s saw the use of Rahul Dravid as the wicket-keeper to ensure that the wicket-keeper spot didn't lack in batting talent.[22] The Indian cricket establishment also saw the entry of wicket-keeper/batsmen from the junior ranks with talents like Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik - both India U-19 Captains in the test squads.[22] With Dhoni making a mark in the India-A squad, he was picked in the ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour in 2004/05.[24] Dhoni did not have a great start to his ODI career, getting run out for a duck on debut.[25] In spite of an average series against Bangladesh, Dhoni was picked for the Pakistan ODI series.[26] In the second match of the series, Dhoni in his fifth one-day international, scored 148 in Vishakapatnam off only 123 deliveries. Dhoni's 148 erased the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper,[27] a record that he would re-write before the end of the year.
Dhoni had few batting opportunities in the first two games of the Sri Lankan bilateral ODI series (October-November 2005) and was promoted to No. 3 in the third ODI at Sawai Mansingh Stadium (Jaipur). Sri Lanka had set India a target of 299 after a Kumar Sangakkara century and in reply. India lost Tendulkar early. Dhoni was promoted to accelerate the scoring and ended the game with an unbeaten 183 off 145 balls, winning the game for India[28] - an innings described in Wisden Almanack (2006) as 'Uninhibited, yet anything but crude'.[29] The innings set various records including the highest score in ODI cricket in the second innings,[30] a record that still stands. Dhoni ended the series with the highest run aggregate (346)[31] and was awarded the Man of the series award for his efforts. In December 2005, Dhoni was signed by BCCI to a B-grade contract, skipping the initial C-grade level due to his performance on the cricketing field.

India scored 328 in 50 overs with Dhoni contributing 68 in their first match of 2006 against Pakistan. However the team finished poorly, scoring just 43 runs in the last eight overs and lost the match due to Duckworth-Lewis method. In the third match of the series, Dhoni came in with India in a precarious situation and scored 72 runs off just 46 balls that included 13 boundaries to help India take a 2-1 lead in the series. The final match of the series had a repeat performance as Dhoni scored 77 runs off 56 balls to enable India win the series 4-1. In recognition of his consistent ODI performances, Dhoni overtook Ricky Ponting as number one in the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen on April 20, 2006.His reign lasted just a week as Adam Gilchrist's performance against Bangladesh moved him to the top spot.
Two canceled series in Sri Lanka, one due to the withdrawal of South Africa from the Unitech Cup due to security concerns and the replacement 3-match ODI bilateral series against Sri Lanka washed due to rain, was India's prelude to another disappointing tournament - DLF Cup 2006-07. Dhoni scored 43 runs as the team lost twice in three games and did not qualify for the finals. India's lack of preparation showed in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy as they lost to West Indies and Australia, though Dhoni scored an half-century against West Indies. The story of the ODI series in South Africa was the same for both Dhoni and India as Dhoni scored 139 runs in 4 matches and India lost the series 4-0. From the start of the WI ODI series, Dhoni had played 16 matches, hit just two fifties and averaged 25.93. Dhoni received criticism on his wicket keeping technique from former wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani.
Preparations for the 2007 Cricket World Cup improved as India recorded identical 3-1 victories over West Indies and Sri Lanka and Dhoni had averages in excess of 100 in both these series. However, India unexpectedly crashed out the World Cup after losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Dhoni was out for a duck in both these matches and scored 29 runs in the whole tournament. Dhoni put behind his disappointment in the World cup by scoring 91* against Bangladesh after India were left in a tight spot earlier in the run-chase. Dhoni was declared the man of the match for his performance, his fourth in ODI cricket. He was also later adjudged the man of the series after the third game of the series was washed away. Dhoni had a good Afro-Asia Cup, getting 174 runs in 3 matches at an average of 87.00, with a blitzkrieg 139 not out of 97 balls, a Man Of The Match innings, in the 3rd ODI.
Dhoni was nominated as the vice-captain of the ODI team for the series against South Africa in Ireland and the subsequent India-England 7-match ODI series.[6] Dhoni, who received a 'B' grade contract in December 2005, was awarded an 'A' grade contract in June 2007. And also he was elected as captain of Indian Twenty-20 Cricket Team for the World Twenty20 in September 2007. On 2 September 2007 Mahendra Singh Dhoni equalled his idol Adam Gilchrist's international record for the most dismissals in an innings in ODI by catching 5 English players and stumping one.[42] He led India to the ICC World Twenty 20 trophy in South Africa with a victory over arch rivals Pakistan in an intensely fought final on 24 September 2007, and became the second Indian captain to have won a World cup in any form of cricket, after Kapil Dev.


....................Dhoni... The Dynamite Dhamaka.

DHONI PRACTISING

...................................Dhoni practising...



.............Dhoni with his buddy Yuvi.


Mahendra Singh Dhoni Achievements

Awards

13/02/2006: Becomes the man of the match against Pakistan at Gadaffi Stadium for an unbeaten 72 runs.

31/10/2005: Man of the match against Sri Lanka for scoring his highest ever unbeaten 183 runs at Sawai Mansingh Stadium

05/04/2005: Receives his first man of the match award against Pakistan at AC-VDCA Stadium for scoring 148 runs



..................Dhoni... The Cool Guy.



Dhoni's Ranking in ICC

20/04/2006: Moves to the top at no. 1 postion on LG's ICC ODI player rankings

16/04/2006: Ranked at no. 2 position on LG's ICC ODI player rankings


.....................................Yuvi & Dhoni

POWERFUL STRIKER-DHONI

Dhoni "A Powerful Striker of Ball"

Dhoni is an aggressive right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper. Dhoni is one of the number of wicket-keepers who have come through the ranks of junior and India A cricket teams to represent the national team — Parthiv Patel, Ajay Ratra and Dinesh Karthik also followed this route. Dhoni, referred to as 'Mahi' by his friends, debuted in the Bihar cricket team during the 1998/99 cricket season and was selected to represent India-A for a tour to Kenya in 2004. Along with Gautam Gambhir, Dhoni made multiple centuries against the Pakistan-A team in a tri-nation series and was selected in the Indian national team later in that year.Dhoni tends to play mostly from the back foot with a pronounced bottom hand grip.He has a very fast hand speed through the ball which often results in the ball racing across the ground. From this initial stance his feets do not show much movement which sometimes results in chasing balls while not coming to the pitch of the ball or inside edging a lot of balls.Dhoni scored 148 against Pakistan in his fifth ODI match in 2005 — then the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper. Later in the year, he broke his own record as well as set the current world record for the highest score in the second innings in ODI matches as he scored 183* against Sri Lanka. Dhoni's success in the limited overs format secured him a place in the test team. Consistent performances in ODI cricket through the end of the 2005/06 season saw Dhoni briefly ranked as the No. 1 batsman in the ICC ODI ratings
Dhoni's form dipped through 2006 as India lost matches at the ICC Champions trophy, DLF Cup, away bilateral series against West Indies and South Africa. A return to form in the home series against West Indies and SriLanka in early 2007 proved to be an inaccurate indicator of Dhoni's form as India crashed out of the first round in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Dhoni was out for a duck in both India's losses. After the World Cup, Dhoni won the Man of the series award in the bilateral ODI tournament against Bangladesh. For the tour of England, Dhoni was named the ODI team vice-captain.
As a batsman, Dhoni has shown the maturity to restrain his aggressive nature and play a responsible innings when the situation requires. Apart from traditional shots, Dhoni has two very unorthodox but effective cricket strokes. Since his entry into the Indian cricket team, Dhoni's aggressive batting style, success on the field, personality, and long hair have made him one of the most marketable cricketers in India.


He rarely bowls in matches...

FOR ALL DHONI FANS

Mahindra Singh Dhoni recieving the ICC T20 WorldCup Trophy

Name: MS Dhoni
Country: India
Full name:Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Born: July 7, 1981, Ranchi, Bihar
Current Age: 25 years
Major teams:India, Jharkhand.
Batting style:Right-hand bat
Bowling style:Right-arm medium
Fielding position: Wicketkeeper
Test debut:India v Sri Lanka at Chennai - Dec 2-6, 2005
ODI debut: Bangladesh v India at Chittagong (MAA) - Dec 23, 2004
His hobbies and interests include:Hearing music, ghazals and songs by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore KumarLoves to ride bikesEnjoys playing computer games and badminton

Special qualities:Thinks positive,Highly confident about himself,Is aggressive on the field

His Idol:Adam Gilchrist

Sreesanth likely to become Kerala captain

Kochi: India speedster S Sreesanth, who was left out of the national team for the Champions Trophy to be held in South Africa, is likely to be appointed captain of the Kerala Ranji Trophy team for the coming season.

Even though selection of the team as well as the captain rests entirely with the state selection committee, Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has expressed desire that Sreesanth may be given the chance to lead the state, KCA sources said.

The coaching camp for the Ranji Trophy team will begin on Thursday and would be held at Kothamangalam, in Ernakulam district, where the first Regional Cricket Coaching Academy was inaugurated recently.

After the two-week long coaching camp, the captain for the coming Ranji season will be announced. About 36 players, including some under-19 players, have been chosen for the camp.

The under-19 players have been included with a view to giving them exposure.

KCA has embarked on a project, 'Mission 2020' envisaging the state moving up from Plate to Elite group and ultimately winning the Ranji Trophy, sources said.

WORLD CUP-2011 LAUNCHED WITH FANFARE

World Cup 2011 launched with fanfare

The 2011 World Cup, to be hosted in the sub-continent, was launched on Tuesday in Mumbai with all the fanfare by the International Cricket Council (ICC) with a member each from most of the previous winners present along with ICC Vice-President Haroon Lorgat.

Kambli denies making remarks against Tendulkar

Mumbai: Former Indiancricketer Vinod Kambli today denied having accused his childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar of not helping him enough and said such reports had left him and his family shattered.

Kambli, who studied with Tendulkar in the 'Shardashram' school, said he had never spoken anything against Tendulkar in a reality TV show and termed the report as "completely baseless".

"I have never said anything against Tendulkar. He is my friend for 26 years, people should know that I will never say such a thing against my friend. He is currently in London and I will meet him soon," Kambli told reporters here.

The 37-year-old former batsman apologised to Tendulkar for the inconvenience cause to him and his family by the report.

"We share a very good family relationship and I and a lot of my friends are shattered by this. My family is also shattered by this," he said.

Vinod Kambli says Sachin Tendulkar ditched him

New DelHi: The Cricket Board today dismissed as "baseless" former Indian player Vinod Kambli's charge that he was a victim of racial discrimination on selection matters.

Kambli, a failed cricketer who began with much promise but fizzled out after innumerable comebacks, is reported to have made these allegations against the BCCI in a TV reality show where he also spoke against his childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar for not helping him enough.

"It is completely a baseless and uncalled for charge.

BCCI does not believe in getting into all this. In fact, BCCI is one body which is fighting against racism at the international level," BCCI's Finance and Media Committee Chairman Rajiv Shukla said.

Shukla said also selectors always took performance-based decisions while choosing the national team.

"It was purely performance-based decision. Selectors take only performance-based decisions and the same yardstick was used for Kambli," he said.

On Kambli's remarks on Tendulkar, Shukla defended the batting maestro, saying he always helped his teammates.

"Tendulkar is one man who has always been helping all the players, even the juniors. This charge cannot be subscribed against Tendulkar," Shukla added.

In the TV reality show, the 37-year-old Kambli is reported to have said that Tendulkar did not help him when he was on decline. "We are very close... We were very close. He could have done a little more, but he didn't," Kambli is quoted as saying by a newspaper.

About BCCI, Kambli said "I always felt discriminated because of my cast and colour by the Cricket Board."

Despite repeated attempts, Kambli could not be reached for his comments but one of his associates said that the former player will address the press later in the day.

Aussie cricketers yet to get guidelines on on-field behaviour

London: Australian cricketers haven't received the guidelines set by Cricket Australia (CA) to uphold the spirit of the game during the Ashes.

Last month, CA commissioned a survey among fans, who asked Ricky Ponting's team not to sledge, swear, cheat and spit during the ongoing Ashes Test series. CA said that it will send the results of the survey to all contracted players and they have to follow the guidelines.

But with both the teams heading towards the second Test starting at Lord's Thursday, Australian cricketers are yet to get any guidelines from their board.

Australian fast bowler Peter Siddle said that he had heard of the survey but was unaware of any such guidelines sent to the players for the series.

"I don't know if they sent it, but it never arrived," Siddle was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.

Australian players' on-field behaviour came under heavy criticism during the Sydney Test against India in 2008 when Andrew Symonds alleged that he was racially abused by Harbahjan Singh. Ponting's on-field behaviour also divided the Australian fans.

The survey found that the Australian side's acceptability of their behaviour dropped to 8.17 from last year's 8.47 out of 10.

The cricketers' individual score on their behaviour was between 5.67 and 8.42 out of 10, way below some of the top Australian sportspersons like golfer Geoff Ogilvy (8.85) and swimmer Grant Hackett (8.91).

Younis asks for more time to ‘rebuild’ team

Colombo: Upset over his team’s defeat in the second Test match against Sri Lanka, Pakistan captain Younis Khan has said he needs more time to ‘rebuild’ the team which has played “very little cricket over the last 18 months”.

Talking to media persons here, Khan said the players needed more time to adapt and blamed the lack of international exposure for the team’s lackluster performance in both Test matches

“Give this team some time, don't point fingers too early. It will be very easy for me too to blame particular players, even myself. But the reality is we haven't been playing any Test cricket. It's very easy for me to give up, to say I can't captain this team. But somebody will have to stand up and fix the situation,” The News quoted Khan, as saying.

“There is only 20 percent that we are lacking. If we play to our potential, everybody knows about us, we will start winning. It is all about concentration and how to adapt to conditions,” he added.

The Pakistan batting order collapsed like a house of cards in the second innings of the second Test match here on Tuesday resulting in a seven wicket loss.

Pakistan was 285 for one on day three, but crumpled to 320 all out thanks to some irresponsible shots by middle order batsmen and disciplined bowling by Lankan bowlers.

The defeat helped Sri Lanka gain an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match series.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt has denied reports about any grouping in the team.

“There cannot be any chance of grouping in the team as I believe the captain has very good relations with senior players like Misbah-ul-Haq,” Butt said.

He said the board has no intention to remove the captain, even though the team had to face humiliating defeat in both the matches.

“First of all it is not a joke to change captains again and again and furthermore Younis is doing quite well. I think as our players are playing Test cricket after a long layoff, they will take some time to come back to this form of cricket,” Butt added.

Dhoni, Harbhajan had reasons for missing award ceremony

New Delhi: The government, on Tuesday, said that Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and spinner Harbhajan Singh did not attend Padma award ceremony owing to personal reasons.

"Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh did not attend the Padma Award ceremony, 2009 due to personal reasons," Minister of State for Home Affairs Mullapally Ramachandran told Lok Sabha.

"It is not unusual for a few persons to convey their inability to attend the ceremony every year due to constraints like preoccupation, old age, ill health etc," the Minister said.

Both the cricketers skipped the April 14 ceremony despite being in the country which was perceived as lack of respect for the national awards.

An irked Sports Minister MS Gill subsequently asked all sports federations to ensure that the sportspersons turn up personally to receive the award or convey their inability due to any pre-occupations beforehand.

In the case of such awardees, who are not able to attend the ceremony, the decoration of the award is delivered to them through a senior representative of the Central or State government.

Arguments over spirit-of-cricket debate heat up

London: Four former England captains have criticized the time-wasting tactics used by the hosts after they drew the first Ashes test against Australia.

England drew the match in Wales on Sunday after last batting pair James Anderson and Monty Panesar held out for 69 balls. But Australia captain Ricky Ponting was upset by England's 12th man twice running on to the pitch in the final overs, the second time accompanied by the team physiotherapist, describing the tactics as "ordinary" and suggesting the umpires should have intervened.

England coach Andy Flower denied his team did anything wrong.

"In that last hour of the game, there was no time wasting by us. Have a look at the footage yourself. Never did we consciously try to waste time," Flower said Tuesday. "There was perceived confusion out in the middle about what time the game was going to end."

"We needed to get messages out to them to make sure they were clear. We have not got walkie-talkies to those guys out there and the only way to communicate is to send people out."

But Ponting received support from former England leaders Nasser Hussain, Bob Willis, Ray Illingworth and John Emburey.

"When the 12th man and physio came on at the same time, they went too far," Hussain said in his column for The Daily Mail newspaper. "It wasn't a street-wise move at all it was village-green stuff. It was amateur and embarrassing to watch. And it was bad for the game more like diving to win a penalty than delaying a throw-in."

"It didn't spoil a classic Test match but it did lead to a slightly farcical finish, which was a shame. If I were Ponting, I would have been angry, too, and would have told the physio to get off."

Emburey said the move could have backfired and broken the concentration of Anderson or Panesar, Willis said Ponting's reaction was proportionate and measured, while Illingworth was annoyed by what he claims were pathetic excuses for the interruptions.

"If the series finishes 0-0 or England win 1-0, it will come up again," Emburey said in The Guardian.

However, the Australian camp has since sought to downplay the issue to focus on the second test starting Thursday at Lord's. But also possibly to ensure it doesn't become a similar incident to rival the time Ponting, angry at being run out by a substitute fielder whose on-field presence he considered not in the spirit of the sport, gesticulated toward the England team during the 2005 series.

2008-09 Season: India's Top Bowlers in Tests, ODIs and T20 Cricket

As Team India takes a much deserved rest after that long season we decided to make a report-card for their bowlers. Take a look at the top-five bowlers in all formats who gave top-class perfomances for the Men-in-Blue.

India's Top 5 Bowlers inTests

Harbhajan Singh

Mat:8 Inns:15 Overs:419.5 Mdns:72 Runs:1055 Wkts:39 BBI:6/63 BBM:7/102 Ave:27.05 Econ:2.51 SR:64.5 5:1 10:0

Zaheer Khan

Mat:9 Inns:16 Overs:333.2 Mdns:74 Runs:1043 Wkts:32 BBI:5/65 BBM:7/122 Ave:32.59 Econ:3.12 SR:62.5 5:2 10:0

Ishant Sharma

Mat:9 Inns:16 Overs:291.5 Mdns:58 Runs:891 Wkts:29 BBI:4/73 BBM:7/117 Ave:30.72 Econ:3.05 SR:60.3 5:0 10:0

Amit Mishra

Mat:5 Inns:10 Overs:205.0 Mdns:37 Runs:593 Wkts:20 BBI:5/71 BBM:7/106 Ave:29.65 Econ:2.89 SR:61.5 5:1 10:0

Munaf Patel

Mat:3 Inns:5 Overs:84.0 Mdns:15 Runs:290 Wkts:6 BBI:3/60 BBM:5/120 Ave:48.33 Econ:3.45 SR:84.0 5:0 10:0

Harbhajan Singh has shouldered the responsibility of being India's No.1 spinner after Anil Kumble retired in 2008.The 'Turbanator' took 39 wickets to emerge as India's leading wicket-taker in Tests. 16 of those wickets came against the Kiwis in India's tour of New Zealand early this year. Harbhajan was the leading wicket-taker in the series with a best of 6/63.

England's Flintoff retires from Test cricket

London: England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff announced on Wednesday that he will retire from Test cricket after the Ashes series against Australia because of his ongoing struggle with injuries.

The 31-year-old Flintoff is still determined to feature in the four remaining Tests of the current series-despite aggravating a knee injury during the drawn first test against Australia which ended on Sunday.

"My body has told me it's time to stop," the former England captain said. "For the next four test matches I'll do everything I need to do to get on a cricket field and I'm desperate to make my mark."

"I want to finish playing for England on a high and if you look at the fixtures going forward, the way my body is suggests I won't be able to get through that."

Flintoff has struggled with injuries since being at the heart of the 2005 Ashes triumph and is sacrificing five-day cricket to try to ensure his fitness for the 50-over and Twenty20 international matches. He has played Test cricket for 11 years.

"I've been through four ankle operations, I had knee surgery just a couple of months ago and had three jabs in my knee on Monday just to get me right for this test so I took that as my body telling me that I can't cope with the rigors of test cricket," he said.

"Since 2005 I've done two years when I've done nothing but rehab from one injury or another. Two of the last four years I've spent just in rehabilitation and I just can't keep doing it for myself, my own sanity, my family and also for the team-because they need to move on as well."

England captain Andrew Strauss revealed that although he had prior knowledge, Flintoff made the announcement to the team on Wednesday morning.

"As players we've had a feeling this was coming sooner rather than later with the injuries he's had over the last couple of years," Strauss said. "Test match bowling puts so much pressure on his body that this seemed the logical thing to do."

"It's sad that he's made this decision at this age but maybe it will make him more motivated for the next four Tests. He wants to go out with a bang."

Strauss was confident that Flintoff would be fit enough to get through the Lord's Test that starts on Thursday and also the rest of the series.

"We spoke to the medical staff and we would never play a guy in a Test if we didn't have a huge amount of confidence that he could get through," he said. "He feels better the news is out there and with the injury surrounding this game he felt it was the right time."

Gambhir moves to the top of ICC's Test batting ranking

Dubai: India's Gautam Gambhir has moved to the top of ranking in the Reliance Mobile International Cricket Council's rankings for Test batsmen.

Gambhir, who climbed two spots, has become the first India batsman in over four years to head the batting rankings after a failure by Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf against Sri Lanka in the second Test saw him drop four places.

Both the Test and ODI batting rankings are now headed by India. Mahendra Singh Dhoni leads the ODI rankings with Yuvraj Singh placed second.

Gambhir benefitted from the poor form of Yousuf and second placed Younis Khan.

Yousuf, who returned to lead the batting table last week after his century in the first Test at Galle, scored only 10 and six in the second Test and has dropped to fifth position.

Pakistan captain Younis retained the second spot, but has fallen nine points behind Gambhir.

Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka is placed third.

There is also a change at the top of the bowling charts for the first time in more than three years with Muttiah Muralitharan handing over the baton to South African fast bowler Dale Steyn. Australian Mitchell Johnson is placed third.

Muralitharan, who missed both the Tests of the ongoing series against Pakistan, due to an injury, has dropped to second position for the first time since February 2006.

Jacques Kallis continues to lead the Test all-rounders list with Mitchell Johnson of Australia in second, New Zealand's Daniel Vettori third.

I want to be the best player in ODIs, says Flintoff

London: England's talented but injury-plagued allrounder Andrew Flintoff wants to become the best player in the world in limited overs cricket after announcing on Wednesday he is quitting Test matches.

Flintoff, 31, has endured regular injury since making his Test debut in 1998 against South Africa, when he was criticized for being overweight as a flabby 20-year-old.

Having got his body in shape and gone on to be man of the series against World Cup holders Australia in 2005, he was rarely fit for a prolonged period. This has ultimately ended a Test career that seemingly had more to offer.

"I've had four ankle operations and knee surgery my body is telling me things, I'm actually starting to listen now," Flintoff told reporters on Wednesday at Lord's, where he hopes to play the second Ashes test against Australia in his farewell series.

"I can't keep just playing games here and there, waiting until I'm fit. Not just for my own sanity but my family's. They have to live with me, as I've gone through two years of rehab in the past four. It's not been ideal so I'm going to draw a line under it and after this series concentrate on one-day international cricket and Twenty20s."

"We've got a (50-over) World Cup coming up in 2011 and I would like to play on after that as well. There is a lot of cricket left in me. I want to be the best in the world in that form of the game."

Flintoff has played 76 Tests, though one of those was for a World XI against Australia. He currently has 3,708 runs in Tests at an average of 31.69, with five centuries the last of which was four years ago against Australia.

He has been relied upon more in recent years for his hostile bowling, which has accrued him 219 wickets at 32.51. Despite being recognized as one of the world's best bowlers, he has just two five-wicket hauls in a Test innings.

"If you look through his bare statistics they probably don't read that flatteringly, but as far as someone who has an impact on how a team plays and performs, then he's got to be right up there," Australia captain Ricky Ponting said.

England skipper Andrew Strauss agreed that Flintoff, nicknamed Fred or Freddie, has been a better player at least as a bowler than his statistics suggest.

"He's had a dramatic impact for England over the last few years," Strauss said. "He's a been a bowler in world cricket who opposition batsmen don't like facing even though his stats do not show that."

IRFAN PATHAN IN DUS KA DUM-2

This week, Salman Khan brings together Shilpa Shetty and cricketer Irfan Pathan on 'Dus Ka Dum 2'. The awesome threesome reportedly bonded big time talking cricket, IPL, relationships, and more!

Here are some exclusive pics from this week's episode!

Source: India Syndicate