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This seems like the right time for holding a world championship for achieving the top test team honours. The reason is simple. After nearly a decade there are worthy contenders to dethrone Australia in the form of India and South Africa and the number one spot no longer seems preoccupied by the Aussies. England too could prove worthy contenders but as the England coach Peter Moores recently commented, they don’t have the needed variation when it comes to bowling in Tests and this is something that India and Australia will continue to take advantage of.

Recently, there have been some significant run chases in closely contested test matches at Chennai and at Perth. Both the Tests have signalled a new pattern wherein the team chasing isn’t looked upon as being doomed the way it was though earlier. Both the run chases have created history of some sort and it lays out an interesting conclusion — if a world championship test series is organised, it is more than likely that results will be achieved. This is again something very vital for making a championship of Test matches more appealing.

India does look like the more balanced team capable of dethroning the Aussies and the Proteas too aren’t far behind. There are a few vital differences though. In the bowling department, India is blessed with a more-than-decent spin combination of Harbhajan Singh and Mishra as reliable spinners whereas all the other teams, i.e. Australia, England and SA don’t have a regular world class spinner in their respective sides. The Proteas have a rather similar-looking, one-dimensional pace attack like that of England.

Again, India seems to have more young talent waiting for proving themselves whereas England’s and SA’s middle-order still remains pretty vulnerable. Australia is well set in terms of batting but their bowling is going downhill with no real variety. The dark horse in this race to the top could be the other Islanders — Sri Lanka. They have it in them to spring to the top spot or at least give the above-listed teams a real chase. Their bowling is pretty potent and they have a well-defined and experienced batting order. A Quadrangular World Test Championship with these four teams would be ideal.

Dropped catches, missed stumping, shoddy glovework and scores of 9, 0, 7 and 20 - Dinesh Karthik has been an all-round failure in the two Test matches against Sri Lanka. The question isn’t really why has he failed; it really is why he continues to get so many chances.In the first Test, Karthik dropped two catches. In the second, he missed another catch and muffed a stumping chance. Generally speaking, his collection has been extremely sub-par. His choice of shots too is far from sagacious. In the first Test, he struck a reverse sweep when India was five wickets down and 350 runs behind.

Visit:http://cricketpulse.blog.co.in/2008/08/05/the-strange-case-of-karthik/

Watch Live Streaming of 3rd Test Match Day 1 of Idea Cup 2008 between India vs Sri Lanka from Colombo on 8th August, 2008. The match will start at 05:00 GMT. Watch live scorecard of this match of Idea Cup 2008 at CricketPulse.com.

Visit:http://www.cricketpulse.com/News/IndiavsSriLankaTest3D1LiveStreaming.asp

Watch Live Streaming of England vs South Africa 4th (Fourth) Test Match Day 1 from London. The match will start at 10:00 GMT on 7th August July, 2008. Watch live scorecard at CricketPulse.com.

Visit:http://www.cricketpulse.com/News/EnglandvsSouthAfricaTest4D1LiveStreaming.asp

India made amends for the Colombo debacle by trouncing Sri Lanka by 170 runs within four days to level the three-match Test series 1-1 on Sunday.After setting Sri Lanka a target of 307, Harbhajan Singh (4/51) and Ishant Sharma (3/20) bundled out the home team for a paltry 136 on a dramatic fourth day’s play which saw as many as 16 wickets fall.

Visit:http://cricketpulse.blog.co.in/2008/08/04/india-beat-sri-lanka-to-level-series-1-1/

Michael Vaughan has decided to step down as England “Test captain in the wake of the series defeat by South Africa, he told a news conference in London “on Sunday.“Today I have decided to stand down as England captain. To be honest it is the hardest decision I have ever had to make but also the easiest,” said Vaughan.His decision after five years as captain followed England’s five-wicket loss to South Africa on Saturday.

Visit:http://cricketpulse.blog.co.in/2008/08/04/vaughan-steps-down-as-test-captain/

Watch Live Streaming of 2nd Test Match Day 4 of Idea Cup 2008 between India vs Sri Lanka from Galle on 3rd August, 2008. The match will start at 05:00 GMT. Watch live scorecard of this match of Idea Cup 2008 at CricketPulse.com.

Visit:http://www.cricketpulse.com/News/IndiavsSriLankaTest2D4LiveStreaming.asp

The ICC has retained Pakistan as the host of next month’s Champions Trophy for now but former captains like Imran Khan fear that the event would be taken away from the troubled country at the eleventh hour due to mounting security worries.Imran said he remained pessimistic about the eight-nation tournament being held in Pakistan. The former all-rounder felt there was every possibility of ICC taking it away as it would be difficult to convince countries like Australia and England about the security situation here.

Visit:http://cricketpulse.blog.co.in/2008/08/02/icc-may-take-away-ct-from-pak-at-last-minute/

Pakistani cricket officials will try to arrange a meeting between International Cricket Council ’s (ICC) special task force and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani next month in their bid to pave the way for a successful Champions Trophy in September.According to a report in ‘The News’ Thursday, a special task force has been formed by the ICC to help allay security fears surrounding the Champions Trophy.

Visit:http://cricketpulse.blog.co.in/2008/08/01/pcb-to-arrange-icc-task-force-pakistan-premier-meeting/

Virender Sehwag blasted a quickfire, unbeaten 128 as India squandered a flying start, losing four wickets in 20 balls, on a rain-truncated opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Thursday.The flamboyant Sehwag notched his 15th Test century, but India, who were cruising along comfortably at 167 for no loss, lost four wickets in quick succession before being reduced to 214 for 4 when play was called off early because of bad light.

Visit:http://www.cricketpulse.com/Articles/IndiavsSriLankaNews3.asp