The CB Series

"Aur Saurav Ganguly ek football khiladi ki tarah apni shirt hawa mein hilata huye Bharat ki jeet ka jashn mana rahe hain"(And Saurav Ganguly celebrates India's win by waving his shirt in the air like a football player.)

When did this happen? What exactly was it? Does anyone know? Yes it was India's win over England in an ODI played on 13 July 2002 at Lord's. Not only was it an ODI but it was also the Nat-West series final. This was the triangular series played in England between India, Sri Lanka and England.

Well this was a happy moment for India but after this there was a long time when no such happy moment came. In this match England had set India a target of 326 runs which India reached after losing eight wickets and took the tri-series trophy with them.

This was the last ODI series containing more than two teams which India won without sharing the series award with any other team. Many other ODI series and tournaments were played in which more than two teams were involved but India never won the award without sharing it.

India either didn't reach the finals or lost the finals or the final match ended without a result and India had to share the trophy with its opponent in the finals.

Well, if we try to recall some of the instances which are described above, they were the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 (trophy was shared with Sri Lanka), the tri-series played between India, South Africa, and Bangladesh (the trophy was shared with South Africa), the 2003 World Cup (lost the finals), the tri-series played between India, New Zealand, and Australia (lost the finals), and the tri-series played between India, Australia, and Zimbabwe (lost the two finals).

There was also the Asia Cup played in 2004 (lost the finals), the Videocon Cup played between India, Pakistan and Australia (didn't reach the finals), the ICC Champions Trophy 2005 (didn't reach the finals), the tri series played between India, New Zealand and Zimbabwe (lost the finals) the Indian Oil Cup played between India, Sri Lanka and West Indies (lost the finals), and the DLF Cup played between India, Australia. and West Indies (lost the finals).

Oh, and don't forget the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 (didn't reach the finals) and the World Cup 2007 (didn't reach the finals).

There must be some more instances also but India did not win the finals and took the award without sharing it.

Well finally the time came on 4 March 2008 when India defeated Australia by nine runs in the second final of the CB series at the BCG (Brisbane Cricket Ground).

India set a target of 259 runs for Australia. There were some great performances in the Indian batting with Sachin Tendulkar making 91 and Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh and M.S Dhoni chipping in with 30, 38 and 36 runs respectively.

Then in the Indian bowling new bowler Praveen Kumar bowled 10 overs with an economy rate of 4.60 and took four wickets and got the Man of the Match award. He took the important wickets of Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke.

Then he also took the wicket of Australian tail ender Brett Lee. Irfan Pathan and Shantakumaran Sreesanth also chipped in by taking two wickets each. These were the great performers of the second final of the CB series who helped India to hoist the trophy.

When India first went to Australia to play the four match Test Series against Australia, it lost the series 2-1. India knew it had to seek revenge of the test series loss, which it had lost only because of the wrong eight wrong decisions given in the favor of the Australians by the umpires in the second test.

So the selection panel selected a young ODI squad for the CB series including only one senior member (Sachin Tendulkar) in the squad. Well everyone thought that the panel should have also included Saurav Ganguly in the squad but they did not.

So some hopes were not as lively as the other because the thought that not including Saurav Ganguly in the squad would make it difficult for India to win the tri series. Well in the end they were proved wrong but now we will look at some of the individual performances.

Virender Sehwag- He played five matches out of the 10 played by India in the series but didn’t do well at all. Starting with six and ending with 17 he just kept on struggling with his form. His best score was 33. As far as his bowling is concerned he managed to take just one wicket.

Sachin Tendulkar- The Master Blaster didn’t perform as well as he performed against England in the Nat-West series 2006 but played four poor knocks (including a duck) and four good knocks.

But the two outstanding knocks he played in the two finals were unforgettable. As for his bowling he didn’t get the chance to bowl very much so didn’t take any wickets.

Gautam Gambhir- The highest run scorer of the series played to outstanding hundred plus knocks but unfortunately both his knocks were unrewarded. The first was against Sri Lanka but the match ended without a result and the second was against Australia and the Australia turned out to be victorious in the match.

But his other good knocks were also not rewarded but at least they were considered.

Rohit Sharma- The newcomer performed well if you see on an average basis his knock of 66 against Australia in the first final was the best.

M.S Dhoni- The Indian Captain had a quite a good tour as he played at least a thirty plus knock in every match he got a chance to bat for a fair period of time. As far as his wicket keeping is concerned he affected 19 dismissals (17 catches and two stumpings).

Robin Uthappa- The part time wicket keeper had quite a bad tour. In most of the matches either he didn’t play well or he didn’t get a chance to bat. Except for his knock of 51 (excluding the knock of 30 in the second final), which he posted in the fourth ODI against Australia he didn’t do well at all.

Irfan Pathan- The Indian all rounder had a fairly good tour as he scored 118 runs and took 11 wickets.

Harbhajan Singh- The India off spinner had a bad tour as he could only take eight wickets in the 10 matches he played.

Shantakumaran Sreesanth- The Indian pacer didn't have a good series because he was expensive in all the matches he played and took only nine wickets.

Ishant Sharma- The new Indian pacer played nine matches in the series and put up a fairly good performance. Even though his economy rate didn't go below 4.00 in any match, he took 14 wickets including two four-wicket hauls in two different matches.

Yuvraj Singh- The Indian vice captain had quite a bad series because he didn't move into double figures in half of the matches. His best was 76 against Sri Lanka in the eighth match of the series.

He took just one wicket and also chipped in with 36 in the 11th match against Sri Lanka which was a must win for the Indians to make it to the finals.

Praveen Kumar- The new India all rounder played only three matches but put up a really good show. He took 10 wickets including two four-wicket hauls and earning the man of the match on both the occasions.

These were some of the individual performances. Now we will look at India's journey to the finals i.e. how it performed in each and every match.

In its first match against Australia, India won the toss and chose to bat first. India didn't do well at all. Gautam Gambhir top scored with 39 and M.S Dhoni chipped in with 37 but the batting order collapsed.

India was all out for 194. Brett Lee took a five-wicket haul and pierced through the Indian middle order. In reply the Australians were cruising with a run rate of 6.95 runs per over and had made only 51 runs in 7.2 overs when rain halted the play and the match ended without a result and both India and Australia were awarded two points each.

In its secondmatch India won the toss and chose to bat first against Sri Lanka. The Indian openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag chipped in with 33 and 35 respectively.

Then the India batting order started collapsing and India was 83 for 4. But then Gautam Gambhir and M.S Dhoni put up a 184 run partnership for the fifth wicket and India ended up with 267 for four in 50 overs.

But the Indian effort went in vain as rain again halted the play before the Sri Lankan innings could start and both teams were given two points each.

In its third match against Australia, India lost the toss and was asked to bowl. But even though India lost the toss it bowled so well that the Australian batting order collapsed and Australia ended at 159 all out with Micheal Hussey to scoring with 65*.

Ishant Sharma took four wickets in 9.1 overs with an economy rat of 4.14. Shantakumaran Sreesanth also took three wickets and Harbhajan Singh took two wickets.

In reply, India finished the job by reaching their 160 run target in 45.5 overs. But unfortunately, India couldn't achieve a bonus point because they didn't reach the target in less than 40 overs. Ishant Sharma was named Man of the Match.

In its fourth match against Sri Lanka, India lost the toss and was asked to bat first.  The batting order started collapsing and India were 195 for 5 in 29 overs with Rohit Sharma batting on 70 and Robin Uthappa batting on zero.

Then the rain halted play and Sri Lanka were set the target of 154 runs in 21 overs according to the D/L rule. After the play was resumed Sri Lanka reached their target in 19 overs and lost only two wickets. Man of the Match Tilkaratne Dilshan remained not out and made 62 of 59 balls.

Sri Lanka was awarded four points.

In its fifth match against Australia, India lost the toss and was asked to bowl first. The Australians didn't do very well and made only 203 for nine in 50 overs with Michael Clarke top scoring with 79.

Irfan Pathan took four wickets and Ishant Sharma took two. In reply the Indian batting order collapsed and India was 153 all out in 41.2 overs. Mitchell Johnson took three wickets and Nathan Bracken, Brad Hogg and James Hopes took two wickets each.

Michael Clarke was named man of the match and Australia achieved five points, including a bonus point because India couldn't score 162 runs and lost by a margin of 50 runs.

In its sixth match against Sri Lanka, India lost the toss and was asked to bowl first. The Sri Lankans lost six wickets and made 238 runs with Kumara Sangakkara making 128 and Mahela Jaywardene scoring 71.

In reply, the Indian to order collapsed and India were 99 for four, but then Yuvraj Singh and M.S Dhoni saved India by scoring 76 and 50* respectively. India reached its 239 runs target in 49.1 overs. During this innings India lost eight wickets. Kumara Sangakkara was named Man of the Match.

By this time Australia had already achieved enough points to reach the finals and everybody was thinking what will happen next. Did Australia want India in the finals or Sri Lanka?

India had to play one match against Australia and one match against Sri Lanka in the series. India had to win at least one of the two matches to enter the finals. Everyone had their fingers crossed and waited for India's seventh match to be played.

In its seventh match against Australia, India lost the toss and was asked to bowl first. The Australians did really well with Ricky Ponting top scoring with 124, Mathew Hayden scoring 54, Andrew Symonds scoring 59 and Michael Clarke chipping in with 31 runs. The Australians reached a good score of 317 runs after losing seven wickets in 50 overs.

This made it clear that the Australians wanted Sri Lanka in the finals otherwise they wouldn't have given India a difficult target of 318 runs. In reply the Indian batting order started collapsing and India was 51 for four.

But then Gautam Gambhir batted well and scored a great 113 of 119 balls. M.S Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, and Harbhajan Singh assisted him by scoring 36, 51, 22 and 20 runs respectively.

But after Harbhajan Singh got out the tailenders couldn't do anything and India were all out for 299 in 49.1 overs. Brett Lee took 5 wickets and Stuart Clarke took two. Ricky Ponting was named Man of the Match.           

Now was the crucial time for India. Its eighth match was a must win for it to make it to the finals. Everyone had their fingers crossed and when the match begun this is what happened- In its eighth match against Sri Lanka, India won the toss and chose to bowl.

The Sri Lankan batting order collapsed with C.K Kapugedera top scoring with 57. Sri Lanka was all out in 47.1 overs for 179. Both Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma took four wickets each. In reply India made 180 in just 32.2 overs with Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir top scoring with 63 each. India advanced to the finals and Praveen Kumar was named Man of the Match.

Well now came the time when everyone was praying for India to win the series. Australia was quite a strong team and India needed to play really well to beat them. All was on India’s performance.

In the first final Australia won the toss and asked India to bowl first. The Australians made a moderate score which was 239 for eight in 50 overs. Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh took two wickets each. Mathew Hayden top scored with 82 and was assisted by Michael Hussey and Andrew Symonds who chipped in with 45 and 31 respectively.

In reply the Indian opener Sachin Tendulkar finally reached his 42nd ODI century. He made 117* of 120 balls. Rohit Sharma also made a 66 of 87 balls and India made 242 in 45.5 overs. Sachin Tendulkar was named Man of the Match.

Now the hopes were rising some people were saying India will win the series some were saying Australia will bounce back but nobody new the truth until the second final ended.

In the second final, India won the toss and chose to bat first. Robin Uthappa chipped in with 30 runs and Sachin Tendulkar again missed on a century and got out on 91.

Then Yuvraj Singh and M.S Dhoni chipped in with 38 and 36 respectively and India finally reached a Moderate total of 258 for nine in 50 overs. Nathan Bracken and Michael Clarke took three wickets each and Brett Lee, Stuart Clarke and Andrew Symonds took one wicket each.

In reply the Australians were all out for 249 in 49.4 overs. Mathew Hayden scored 55 runs, Andrew Symonds scored 42 runs, Michael Hussey scored 44 runs and James Hopes top scored with 63 runs. Shantakumaran Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan took two wickets each and Praveen Kumar took four wickets.

Harbhajan Singh also took one wicket. India had won the series. Praveen Kumar was named Man of the Match and Nathan Bracken was named man of the series.

This was how finally India won a series in which three or more teams were involved after six years.