India Cricket

Sachin Tendulkar's complaint to British Airways has caused a stir online after the airline's response suggested they did not know who he was.

The India legend took to Twitter on Friday to air his grievance concerning a family member's flight, before receiving a somewhat standardised reply.

With companies usually keen to avoid negative publicity on social media, Tendulkar's many fans may have expected to see a more personal response to one of the biggest names in the history of international cricket.

British Airways doesn't know Sachin Tendulkar's Full name ? Sachin Fans : THIS IS SPARTAAAAAA pic.twitter.com/uIsWO1Hwg7

— Aditya (@forwardshortleg) November 13, 2015

Happy Friday 13th @British_Airways - You've probably just made an enemy of the entire Indian subcontinent. :-/ https://t.co/jROaQf0OGU

— Nicholas Tollervey (@ntoll) November 13, 2015

Can't imagine how bad @British_Airways service must be. They managed to do what 24 years of sledging didn't - make @sachin_rt lose his cool.

— Papa CJ (@PapaCJ) November 13, 2015

It's likely Tendulkar himself won't mind—so long as they sort out his flight.

[Twitter: @faizanlakhani]

Amla dismissed in bizarre fashion on day two in Mohali. WATCH: https://t.co/Jz08aI3rnP #INDvSA… https://t.co/VuGB7XwZ0T

— TCS India (@TCrS_India) November 6, 2015

Ravichandran Ashwin's 5-51 earned India a narrow first-innings lead as they bowled South Africa out for 184 in Mohali.

Ashwin's haul took him past 150 wickets in just his 29th Test, reaching the milestone faster than both Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Only three players have reached 150 Test wickets quicker than in Ashwin's 29 Tests https://t.co/wjFY78SfSy pic.twitter.com/7EXPU9EKck

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 6, 2015

Quickest to 150 Test wkts Tests 24 SF Barnes 27 Waqar Younis 28 C Grimmett 29 H Tayfield/I Botham/D Steyn/Saeed Ajmal/R ASHWIN #IndvSA

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) November 6, 2015

His 13th Test five-for included the prized scalp of Hashim Amla, who was dismissed by a freakish stumping via wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha's chest.

AB de Villiers made 63 for South Africa as the tourists finished their first innings 17 runs behind the hosts.

[Twitter

Virat Kohli hit 138 as India set South Africa 300 to win the fourth one-day international and seal the five-match series.

Kohli's brilliant knock came off 140 balls and included five sixes, one of which brought up his 23rd ODI century.

Well Played Virat Kohli #INDvSA #Cricfit https://t.co/5vUr2q9EPJ

— Rajesh Khilare (@Cricrajeshpk) October 22, 2015

Essentially, at the age of 26 Virat Kohli is already one of the greatest ODI batsmen of all time - and could easily end as the best. #IndvSA

— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) October 22, 2015

There were contributions from Suresh Raina (53) and Ajinkya Rahane (45) as well, while Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada took three wickets each for the tourists.

South Africa went into the game 2-1 up, needing just one more win to secure the series, while India required at least one victory from the remaining two games to hold on to second place in the ICC's ODI rankings.

[Twitter: @RoyalViraTian]

They stand on the brink of the new season in India’s domestic Ranji Trophy competition, but the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association appear to be in disarray already.

As such, they must be named world cricket’s clowns of the month for September.

Their campaign in the Ranji Trophy begins on October 1, but September has been dominated by some curious selection decisions.

It all began as India’s fast bowler Ishant Sharma was initially left out of Delhi’s Ranji Trophy squad, reportedly because he did not respond to calls or text messages from the chairman of selectors, Vinay Lamba.

This development came hot on the heels of three separate squads being asked to report to training camp and no coach being formally appointed by the board.

However, the following day (September 24), Delhi announced they would in fact be selecting Sharma for the first game, even though the man himself said he would be available for the second game.

Sharma's initial absence was made all the more curious given his good form in the recent Test series India won against Sri Lanka 2-1. 

In addition, he is banned from the first Test of the Indian summer following a spat with Dinesh Chandimal in the final Test match against the Sri Lankans, which made him available for the Ranji Trophy.

Effectively, Delhi have selected Sharma for a game he has said he would like to be rested from, which is understandable given India’s pre-season camp finishes only three days before.

Not content with one selection controversy, the Delhi selectors also left out all-rounder Rajat Bhatia despite a good record in all forms of the game over the last few years.

ESPN Cricinfo reported there is a rift between Bhatia and captain Gautam Gambhir, which may have played a part in his non-selection. However, this was denied in the ESPN Cricinfo piece. 

Later, Bhatia was critical of the DDCA, accusing them of not providing adequate facilities for practice and not communicating that he was dropped from the squad.

Bhatia said this to the Press Trust of India, (per ESPN Cricinfo):

I turned up at the nets on Thursday only to find out that hardly anything was in place a week before the first Ranji game. There were not enough balls to practise with and something as basic as drinking water was also hard to find. And then later in the day, I found out that I was dropped from the team. I have not seen a worse time than this.

Delhi’s newly appointed coach Ajay Jadeja said there should be better communication with the media, although perhaps better internal communication might be a good idea, too.

Little wonder that senior players like Virender Sehwag and Mithun Manhas transferred to other teams ahead of the new season.

The first Test between Sri Lanka and India was a tale of two spinners. Harbhajan Singh, though, was not one of them.

Harbhajan's team-mate Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 10 wickets in the match, and India manoeuvred themselves into a match-winning position by the end of Day 3 in Galle, Sri Lanka.

However, chasing 176 in the final innings, the tourists somehow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

They fell under the spell of Rangana Herath in their second innings. The Sri Lankan left-armer picked up seven for 48 to see the home side to a 63-run triumph.

Herath's heroics left India to ponder the makeup of their side. India fielded five front-line bowlers in the series opener, meaning wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha batted at six in the order.

Their policy looked set to pay off, but India would have welcomed an extra batsman in their lineup when they fell apart in pursuit of such a meagre target on Day 4. 

Defeats like that leave scars. They will not want history to be repeated in the second Test, which starts on August 20.

If they want to strengthen their batting resources, one of the quintet of bowlers will have to go.

Ashwin’s place in the XI for the next match in Colombo is guaranteed after his performance in the series opener, but fellow offspinner Harbhajan is not so certain to avoid the ax.

The 35-year-old was a peripheral figure in Galle, finishing with figures of one for 90 from 25 overs. Of the trio of spinners selected by India—Ashwin and leggie Amit Mishra, who picked up five wickets, being the others—he was the least successful.

Harbhajan is no stranger to being in the spotlight—he has experienced plenty of ups and downs in a Test career that has now spanned more than 17 years.

No active bowler in the world game has taken more than his 417 scalps in 103 Test appearances. He took 32 of them in a three-match series against Australia in 2001 that he will forever be remembered for, as he helped India to a 2-1 victory after they had lost the first Test and been forced to follow on in the second. 

That stunning series, though, was over 14 years ago.

It was not the same Harbahajan who was in action in Galle, per Ajit Vijaykumar of Sport360.com: 

In the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle, Harbhajan was simply poor, there is no other way to put it.

On a wicket that had so much for the slow bowlers, Bhajji was disconcertingly easy to handle. Gone are the loop, revolutions on the ball, dip and turn.

His line of attack is more in line with the stumps now, which is a classic sign of an off-spinner looking to restrict rather than attack.

Harbhajan has not been a regular for India since midway through 2011.

He appeared in his first Test in more than two years when he was picked to play away against Bangladesh in Fatullah in June this year. The comeback was a quiet one—he claimed three wickets in a game that was ruined by rain.

However, he was chosen for the one-day tour to Zimbabwe that followed, playing in all three 50-over games and one of the Twenty20 fixtures.

His selection in limited-overs cricket came off the back of a successful Indian Premier League campaign with Mumbai Indians. He picked up 18 wickets in the tournament at an average of 24.77, showing there is life in the old dog yet.

However, Aakash Chopra of ESPN Cricinfo believes the growth of T20 cricket in recent years has not helped Harbhajan's Test prospects, writing: "I think the reason his offices became less effective was that he didn't bowl enough of them in the nets and in matches. And that might have something to do with the introduction of T20 cricket and with playing a lot of one-day cricket."

Harbhajan's doosra—a onetime devastating delivery that spins away from right-handed batsmen rather than his stock ball that turns in—no longer has the same element of surprise.

With the mystery gone, Harbhajan no longer carries the same threat in the longer format. 

Since August 2011, he has taken 11 wickets at an average of 41.19 in five Tests, comfortably below his career mark of 32.46. 

He will hope to get one more chance to impress in the longest format, though the announcement that Stuart Binny has been called up to India's squad is a signal changes may be afoot.

Per ESPN Cricinfo, Binny—a seam-bowling all-rounder who can bat at six in the order—was an
"addition" to the touring party in Sri Lanka rather than arriving as cover for injuries.

No longer the force he once was, Harbhajan could find himself left out of India’s team again. It is an experience he has become used to, but being dropped in Sri Lanka could be the final chapter in his Test story.

All stats used in the article are from ESPN Cricinfo

Opener Shikhar Dhawan and captain Virat Kohli put on a 227-run partnership to put India in firm control of the first Test against Sri Lanka.

Dhawan hit 134 while Kohli managed 103 as the pair helped the tourists recover from 28-2 to 255-2 before Tharindu Kaushal trapped Kohli lbw to bring an end to a fine partnership.

Kaushal quickly followed up the wicket of Kohli with another, bowling Ajinkya Rahane for a duck. Nuwan Pradeep soon chipped in with the wickets of Dhawan and Ravichandran Ashwin to leave India 302-6, a lead of 121 runs.

Splendid Ton by Dhawan & Kohli is as usual playing a Captain's knock. They are paying perfect tribute in #SangakkaraFarewellseries #INDvsSL

— Mohammad Kaif (@KaifSays) August 13, 2015

Congrats @imVkohli and @SDhawan25.. For a wonderful century. Well played #INDvSL

— Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074) August 13, 2015

For Kohli, it was his fourth century in four Tests as captain and 11th overall. Dhawan's effort was his fourth hundred, an innings that also took him past 1,000 runs. Now they just need to work on their handshake...

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin put India in control of the first Test with six wickets to limit Sri Lanka to just 183 on the first day in Galle. Ashwin finished with figures of 6-46 to claim his 11th five-wicket haul in Tests.

Ashwin runs through the Lankan lineup with 6 for 46 - his 11th Test five-for. SL 183 all-out in 49.4 overs. #SLvsINDpic.twitter.com/llyzaKzVVr

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 12, 2015

Having been reduced to 60-5 in 21.3 overs, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, playing in his 50th Test, provided some resistance for the hosts. He scored 64 and enjoyed a 79-run partnership with Dinesh Chandimal, before Ashwin returned to put India back in control.

Outstanding stuff from Ashwin...flight, turn, dip and bounce--all four elements of spin bowling on full display. Well done. #SLvIND

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) August 12, 2015

Ashwin is the hero for first day of test #INDvSL 6 wickets. Simply WOW

— Deepak Pal (@Deepakpal) August 12, 2015

Amit Mishra chipped in with two wickets as Sri Lanka were bowled out in less than 50 overs, with India reaching 32-2 in their response at the time of writing.

India completed a 3-0 one-day international series whitewash over Zimbabwe with an 83-run victory in Harare.

Kedar Jadhav hit a maiden international century as the tourists made 276-5 after being put into bat.

The Zimmies could make only 193 in their reply as India followed up their victories on Friday and Sunday.

Jadhav's previous top score in ODIs was only 20, but he made an unbeaten 105 to help rescue India from 82-4.

The 30-year-old hit 12 boundaries and a six in his 87-ball innings, sharing a 144-run fifth-wicket partnership with Manish Pandey.

Debutant Pandey made 71 from 86 balls with four boundaries and a six before being dismissed in the 47th over.

Chamu Chibhabha hit 82 to anchor the run chase, but the hosts lost wickets at regular intervals.

When Chibhabha became the second of Stuart Binny's three victims in the 37th over, Zimbabwe were in some trouble.

Harbhajan Singh then picked up two wickets as the hosts were dismissed in the 43rd over.

Twenty20 internationals on Friday and Sunday complete the tour.