With just 100 days left, batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has been named the brand ambassador for the 2011 cricket World Cup that would be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: “We are very lucky to have such an extraordinary player Sachin Tendulkar supporting the flag ship event

I don’t think any other player in any format of games has inspired a nation like he has and the respect and affection he enjoys goes way beyond his native India. Many other athletes and sports fans around the globe admire what he consistently achieves and what he does for cricket,” Lorgat added.

Tendulkar said playing in the World Cup at home will make the event special for him.

In his role as World Cup 2011 ambassador, he will be called upon to promote and support a variety of ICC initiatives for the tournament, which is the third biggest sporting event in the world and will take place from February 19 to April 2.

“There are just 100 days to go and I am really looking forward to playing in another Cricket World Cup,” said Tendulkar, who will join Pakistan’s Javed Miandad as the only other player to take part in six World Cups.

“In terms of limited-overs cricket, the ICC Cricket World Cup is the highest level you can play, so it is always a thrill to take part in such an important and widely followed event,” Tendulkar said.

“The fact that the 2011 event will be staged here in the sub-continent makes it even more special for me and I am keen to ensure we play well. As a team we would be doing everything we can to win the world cup on home soil ” he said.

Here is the solution of the last weeks chess puzzle!

WHITE-BLACK
1.Bg6!
White struck hard with this brilliant piece of move.The white queen is untouchable on account of Rd8 besides, taking the offered bishop   opens the h file( 2.Qh4 Kg8 3.Rxf8 Kxf8 4.Qd8 Kf7 5.Rf1+ posing serious threat). so with these considerations blacks responds with.
1…Rg8 2.Bxh7 White rips open the king’s position
2…Kxh73.Qh4+ Kg6 4.Rd3 Qh5 5.Rg3+ 1-0 and black resigned at this position in the actual game. A possible continuation from here would be the helpless retreat of blacks king to h6 wherefrom 6. Qf4+ Kh7 7.Qxb8 or Rh3 with white in complete control of the game.

Dmitri Mascarenhas also had twisted his ankle and in-form Yusuf Pathan hurt his shoulder as he landed while diving against the Daredevils. Shane Warne, the captain of Rajasthan Royals said that the injuries have put a question mark over the availability of the trio for the Jaipur based team’s next game.

Not much to smile about, outplayed in everything, and injuries to three pretty big players as well and also missing Ravindra Jedeja who is having an IPL ban for 2010 . Cant get much worse than that. Its not yet to conclude any thing, the 2008 champions have 12 more games left .. any thing can happen..  Remember Kolkatta Knight riders had a roaring start to the IPL 2008 with Mc Cullum’s century and ended up 6th in the tournament also Mumbai Indians had a decent start last time ….still nothing is predictable ..

Hey folks spend a minute in solving this interesting puzzle Prepare your brain for the battle. Find out the tricks in chess with this  weekly updated post.  In this game Vishvanath Anand played white. Black has just placed its queen on e5, white is in trouble as his bishop on f7 cannot move. Can you find the winning move for white that Vishy employed in leading to a 1-0. Do comment for this post.

Ponder over!
The answer to this problem will be announced in the next issue of the weekly chess puzzle.

Indian Premier League

The Indian Premier League (often abbreviated as IPL), is a Twenty20 cricket competition created by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and chaired by the Chairman & Commissioner IPL, BCCI Vice President Lalit Modi. The first season of the Indian Premier League commenced on 18 April 2008, and ended on 30 June 2008 with the victory of the Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in the final at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai. As the second season of the IPL coincided with multi-phase 2009 Indian general elections, the Indian Central Government refused to release the Indian paramilitary forces to provide security, saying the forces would be stretched too thinly if they were to safeguard both the IPL and the elections. As a result, the BCCI decided to host the second season of the league outside India. On 24 March 2009, the BCCI officially announced that the second season of the IPL will be held in South Africa.Though India did not host the second season, the format of the tournament remained unchanged from the 2008 season format.
The third season of IPL is scheduled to be held in India from 12 March 2010 over a period of 45 days. Four new venues, Nagpur, Vishakhapatnam, Ahmedabad and Dharamsala, have been added. Other changes include removal of icon players and granting permission to players who were involved in the Indian Cricket League to play in the tournament.

This time the season begin with ” WHO WILL BE THE NEXT CHAMPION????? ” find out more schedules, stats and expert opinions from mediasplash.

Fri Mar 12

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 1st match – Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders

Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai

Sat Mar 13

09:30 GMT | 15:00 local

15:00 IST 2nd match – Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals

Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Sat Mar 13

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 3rd match – Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils

Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Sun Mar 14

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 4th match – Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore

Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Sun Mar 14

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 5th match – Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

Mon Mar 15

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 6th match – Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils

Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

Tue Mar 16

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 7th match – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Tue Mar 16

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 8th match – Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings

Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Wed Mar 17

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 9th match – Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians

Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Thu Mar 18

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 10th match – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rajasthan Royals

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Fri Mar 19

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 11th match – Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings

Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Fri Mar 19

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 12th match – Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab

Barabati Stadium, Cuttack

Sat Mar 20

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 13th match – Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders

Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

Sat Mar 20

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 14th match – Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore

Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Sun Mar 21

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 15th match – Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils

Barabati Stadium, Cuttack

Sun Mar 21

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 16th match – Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

Mon Mar 22

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 17th match – Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders

Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Tue Mar 23

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 18th match – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Wed Mar 24

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 19th match – Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals

Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Thu Mar 25

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 20th match – Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings

Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Fri Mar 26

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 21st match – Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers

Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

Sat Mar 27

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 22nd match – Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders

Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Sat Mar 27

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 23rd match – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Sun Mar 28

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 24th match – Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings

Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

Sun Mar 28

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 25th match – Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians

Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai

Mon Mar 29

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 26th match – Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders

Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Tue Mar 30

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 27th match – Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab

Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Wed Mar 31

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 28th match – Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

Wed Mar 31

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 29th match – Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals

Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Thu Apr 1

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 30th match – Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers

Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Fri Apr 2

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 31st match – Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore

Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Sat Apr 3

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 32nd match – Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

Sat Apr 3

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 33rd match – Mumbai Indians v Deccan Chargers

Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Sun Apr 4

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 34th match – Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab

Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Sun Apr 4

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 35th match – Delhi Daredevils v Royal Challengers Bangalore

Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Mon Apr 5

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 36th match – Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals

Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

Tue Apr 6

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 37th match – Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

Wed Apr 7

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 38th match – Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab

Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

Wed Apr 7

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 39th match – Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils

Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Thu Apr 8

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 40th match – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Deccan Chargers

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Fri Apr 9

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 41st match – Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians

Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Sat Apr 10

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 42nd match – Deccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings

Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

Sat Apr 10

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 43rd match – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Sun Apr 11

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 44th match – Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab

Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Sun Apr 11

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 45th match – Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians

Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

Mon Apr 12

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 46th match – Deccan Chargers v Royal Challengers Bangalore

Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

Tue Apr 13

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 47th match – Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils

Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Tue Apr 13

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 48th match – Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

Wed Apr 14

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 49th match – Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore

Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

Thu Apr 15

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 50th match – Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

Fri Apr 16

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 51st match – Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers

Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharmasala

Sat Apr 17

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 52nd match – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Sat Apr 17

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 53rd match – Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals

Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Sun Apr 18

10:30 GMT | 16:00 local

16:00 IST 54th match – Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings

Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharmasala

Sun Apr 18

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 55th match – Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers

Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Mon Apr 19

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 56th match – Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians

Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Wed Apr 21

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST Semi-Final – TBC v TBC

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Thu Apr 22

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST Semi-Final – TBC v TBC

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Sat Apr 24

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST 3rd Place Play-off – TBC v TBC

Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai

Sun Apr 25

14:30 GMT | 20:00 local

20:00 IST Final – TBC v TBC

Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai

First man ever in the history of cricket to score a double century in One Day International; he is none other than Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar; the living legend of World Cricket and India’s pride.

Sachin’s mindblowing performance was in India vs South Africa, 2nd ODI, at Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior. Sachin Tendulkar became the first man ever to score double hundred in one-dayers when he unlocked the game’s biggest and most awaited milestone.

Bio:

Full name Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born April 24, 1973, Bombay (Mumbai), Maharashtra Current age 35 years
Major teams India, Asia XI, Mumbai, Mumbai Indians, Yorkshire
Nickname Tendlya, Little Master
Height 5 ft 5 in
Education Sharadashram Vidyamandir School

Sachin’s unbreakable career records are 71 in number

1. Only Double Century in ODI
2. Highest Run scorer in the ODI
3. Most number of hundreds in the ODI 41
4. Most number of nineties in the ODI
5. Most number of man of the matches(56) in the ODI’s
6. Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI’s
7. Best average for man of the matches in ODI’s
8. First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI
9. First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI
10. He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)
11. Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup
12. Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16
13. Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup
14. He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
15. Most number of Fifties in ODI’s 87
16. Appeared in Most Number of ODI’s 441
17. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.
18. Most number of 100′s in test’s 39.
19. He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so
20. He is thus far the only cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honor
21. In 2003, Wisden rated Tendulkar as d No. 1 and Richards at No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI player
22. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman.
23. he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli,
24. Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts
25. In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire
26. Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma Shri by Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them.
27. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI’s 7 times
28. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI’s most by any batsman
29. He is the highest earning cricketer in the world
30. He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a match. Out of his 56 man of the match awards only 5 times India has lost.
31. Tendulkar most number man of match awards(10) against Australia
32. In August of 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the “Greatest Sportsman” of the country in the sport personalities category in the Best of India poll conducted by Zee News.
33. In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.
34. In December 2006, he was named “Sports person of the Year
35. The current India Poised campaign run by The Times of India has nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others.
36. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket
37. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket:79 centuries
38. Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+Twenty20s), as of 30 June 2007 he had accumulated almost 26,000 runs overall.
39. Is second on the most number of runs in test cricket just after Brian Lara
40. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,271 runs in 128 matches
41. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record
42. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hold the world record for the highest partnership in ODI matches when they scored 331 runs against New Zealand in 1999
43. Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches – a record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
44. Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998
45. Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (41 Centuries and 87 Fifties)(as of 18th Nov, 2007)
46. the only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 and 15,000 run marks IN ODI.
47. Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999).
48. The score of 186* is listed the fifth highest score recorded in ODI matches
49. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.
50. Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs
51. Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds
52. Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185
53. On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world
54. When Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to score a century
55. Tendulkar’s record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record
56. Tendulkar holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side
57. Tendulkar has scored centuries against all test playing nations.[7] He was the third batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten
58. Tendulkar has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs – 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).[6] Gavaskar is the only other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs
59. He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.
60. On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara’s (5736) world record of runs scored in Tests away from home
61. Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. Both of them achieved this in 195 innings
62. Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches
63. Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.
64. Tendulkar is fourth on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168 Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests), Shane Warne (145 Tests) have appeared in more games than Tendulkar
65. Tendulkar has played the most number of Test Matches(144) for India (Kapil Dev is second with 131 Test appearances).
66. First to 25,000 international runs
67. Tendulkar’s 25,016 runs in international cricket include 14,537 runs in ODI’s, 10,469 Tests runs and 10 runs in the lone Twenty20 that India has played.
68. On December 10, 2005, Tendulkar made his 35th century in Tests at Delhi against Sri Lanka. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 centuries to becomethe man with the most number of hundreds in Test cricket.
69. Tendulkar is the only player who has 150 wkts and more than 15000 runs in ODI
70. Tendulkar is the only player who has 40 wkts and more than 11000 runs in Tests
71. Only batsman to have 100 hundreds in the first class cricket

Latest Achievements:

1. Double Century in test match against Sri Lanka
2. 14000 runs in test cricket
3. Double century in test mach against Australia in Banglore (12 October 2010) as his latest achievement.

Long live Sachin!