The God of Cricket Sachine Tendulkar

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar is all set to return to the Test arena after a break of two months but

all eyes will be on another veteran VVS Laxman`s future when selectors pick the squad for the

two-match series against New Zealand starting August 23.

The selectors will also pick the final squad for the World Twenty20 Championship in Sri Lanka in

September and Yuvraj Singh, who is training at the NCA after recovering from a rare germ cell

cancer, is in contention for a spot.

"It will depend on the fitness certificate that he will get from the NCA," a selection committee

source said.

The first Test against New Zealand will be held in Hyderabad while the second match will be

played at Bangalore from August 31.Between 1996 and 2012, the duo played 143 matches together,

scored 6920 runs (a world record) at a pretty phenomenal average (considering the length of

their careers) of 50.51 with 20 century-plus partnerships (also a world record) and 29 50-plus

partnerships.In 86 Tests, Dravid-Laxman put on 4065 runs together — with a highest partnership

of 376 runs (we all remember Kolkata) — and their average partnership was 51.45 runs. Twelve

century partnerships and 14 fifty-run partnerships show that even though Laxman batted pretty

low down the order, it was never over for India as long as they were there in the middle.

India’s next best partnership, (Sachin-Dravid and Dravid-VVS are the top two), is between

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. And that gives you an idea of just how vital Dravid was to

India’s Test plans.

And of course, when we mention Dravid — it is important to remember that he wasn’t only about

the partnerships. There were times when he single-handedly took India to safety — his 13,288

test runs are testament to that fact.

Cricket History

Cricket was invented in the vast fields of England, supposedly by shepherds who herded their

flock. Later on this game was shown benevolence by aristocrats, and now has the stature of being

England's national game. After a century now, cricket stands in the international arena, with a

place of its own.The game of cricket has a known history spanning from the 16th century to the

present day, with international matches played since 1844, although the official history of

international Test cricket began in 1877. During this time, the game developed from its origins

in England into a game which is now played professionally in most of the Commonwealth of

Nations.

Playing these game:-
Cricket involves two teams with 11 players on each side. The captain who wins the toss decides

whether his team bats or bowls first. If they bat first , their aim is to score a lot of runs

and make sure the other team does not reach that score.

First match in Cricket History:-
Test - England vs Australia at Melbourne in 1876-77
ODI - England vs Australia at Melbourne in 1970-71

First One Day Match - Aus V/S ENGLAND - 40 Overs each - 1971
First test Match - 1877 AUS V/S ENGLAND

Australia v England
England won by 4 wickets