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Indian team who bounce back into the test match after striking in the last two overs of the day yesterday by removing both set batsman just before close of play. First it was K.Pietersen who was given out lbw for well made 144 runs then A.Mishra removed A.Flintoff on the last ball of the day on 62 runs to give India an edge.

On forth day due to heavy fog play get underway after waiting for two long hours. But Indian team just took 45 minutes to polish the England tail to restrict the visitors for 302 runs. Harbhajan Singh who didn't bowled well yesterday was looks in super bowling form as he picked up three wickets of four to fall on the fourth day morning. Zaheer Khan also picked one to get three wickets in the inning.

Gautam Gambhir (8) and Virender Sehwag (1) were in the middle at the lunch break, having stretched India's overall lead to 160 runs after the hosts had bowled out England for 302 in a misty morning.

England has lost their last six wickets for just 22 runs and they have only themselves to blame. Fourth day morning Indian captain M.S.Dhoni started the proceeding with Spin colleagues Harbhajan and Amit Mishra and the off-spinner struck with his seventh delivery of the day which kissed Matt Prior's (2 run) blade and Mahendra Singh Dhoni neatly collected the catch down the legside. Harbhajan Singh claimed his second wicket of the day in the very next over by removing Stuart Broad (1 runs). He was out by a terrible judge of the turn as he left the ball alone only to see it straighten and knock back his off-stump.

Match Summary (Day4 Lunch)

India 1^st Inning– 453/10 in 158.2 Overs

G.Gambhir- 179 R.Dravid – 136

A.Flintoff- 30.2-10-54-3 G.Swann– 45-11-122-3

England 1^st Inning– 302/10 in 83.5 Overs

K.Pietersen- 144 A.Flintoff – 62

H.Singh- 20.2-2-68-4 G.Swann– 21-3-76-3

India 2^nd Inning– 29/0 in 5 Overs

G.Gambhir- 12* V.Sehwag – 17*

J.Anderson- 3-0-23-0 S.Broad– 2-0-6-0

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir slam fourth century of his test career to put his team on a way to get big first inning total against Engalnd. He lost his partner very early in the 2nd over of play when Stuart Broad removed dangerous Virendra Sehwag in his very first over for duck.

Rahul Dravid also marked his return to form as he manages to hit his 54^th half-century. When bad light stopped play on day one both G.Gambhir and R.Dravid were not out on 106 and 65.

Virendra Sehwag early dismissal was big set back for the Indians as expected they didn’t get a quick fire start. However G.Gambhir and R.Dravid both batted sensibly to guide the Indian ship to comfort zone. Both put on unbeaten 173 runs partnership for the second wicket.

Only 72 overs could be bowled on Friday before bad light dropped early curtains on the proceedings 45 minutes before scheduled close.

Earlier Indian captain M.S.Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first on cloudy and chilly morning. But due to bad light played was delayed by 20 minutes.

Due to seaming and swinging condition both batsman have to fight for every run scored. R.Dravid looks anxious at start but grew his confidence as the time gone by and manage to hit a well compiled and much needed fifty which may be a career saving innings for him.

On the other end G.Gambhir looks in superb form right from the word go and hit 12 fours and one huge six in his inning of 106 runs. Overall, it was a day of hard toil for the England attack, which managed just one wicket in three sessions.

Playing XI for both teams (Match will be played from 19^th Dec. to 23^rd Dec. 2008 at P.C.A Stadium, Mohali)

India: Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, S.R.Tendulkar, V.V.S.Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M.S.Dhoni (Captain & WK), Harbhajan Singh,

A.Mishra, Z.Khan and I.Sharma

England: A.Cook, A.Strauss, I.Bell, K.Pietersen (Captain), P.Collingwood, A.Flintoff,

M.Prior (WK), G.Swann, J.Anderson, S.Broad and M.Panesar.

Match Summary (Day1)

India – 179/1 in 72 Overs

G.Gambhir- 106* R.Dravid – 65*

S.Braod– 16-7-45-1 J.Anderson– 15-3-29-0

Highlights – India Vs England 2^nd Test Day1 at Mohali

Chasing a daunting task of 387 runs for victory, India reached to the target with ease with six wickets in hand. Sachin Tendulkar scored unbeaten 103 runs and involved in a crucial partnership of 163 runs with Yuvraj Singh (85 runs).

India run chase in the fourth inning of 387 runs is the fourth highest total which is chased down successfully. Tendulkar and Yuvraj both played with caution and aggression to guide India to famous win at M.Chidamram Stadium,Chepauk.

Soon after lunch break V.V.S Laxman was dismissed by debutant G.Swann to gave England a much needed breakthrough. Yuvraj Singh arrives to the crease with much expectation from the crowd and till now holding his ends with S.R.Tendulkar to guide India to one of the most famous win in the history of test cricket. Both batsmna were batting on 34 and 57 runs.

Earlier with the help of brilliant century from England opener A.Strauss (108 runs) and P.Collingwood (108 runs) England able to set India a daunting task to chase in the fourth innings at Chepauk. Indian opener especially V.Sehwag takes the attack to the opposition as he smashed third fastest fifty from Indian batsman in the history of test cricket. Finally he got out playing a cute shot to give his wicket away to G.Swann for wll made 83 runs of 68 balls.

Virendra Sehwag was declared Man of the Match for his quick fire 83 runs of 68 balls.

Match Summary (Day5)

England 1^st Inning – 316/10 in 128.4 Overs

A.Strauss- 123 M.Prior – 53*

H.Singh– 38-2-96-3 A.Mishra– 34-6-99-3

India 1^st Inning – 241/10 in 69.4 Overs

M.S.Dhoni- 53 H.Singh –40

A.Flintoff– 18.4-2-49-3 M.Panesar– 19-4-65-3

England 2^nd Inning – 311/9 dec. in 105.5 Overs

A.Strauss- 108 P.Collingwood – 108

Z.Khan– 27-7-40-3 I.Sharma– 22.5-1-57-3

India 2^nd Inning – 387/4 in 98.3 Overs

V.Sehwag- 83 G.Gambhir –66

S.Tendulkar – 103* Y .Singh- 85*

G.Swan– 28.3-2-103-2 J .Anderson– 11-1-51-1

England takes full control at the end of day 2 play at Chepauk with the help of some fine bowling performance by their bowlers. At stumps India were struggling at 155/6 with Harbhajan Singh batting on 13 runs with the skipper M.S. Dhoni on 24 runs. India are still 161 runs behind from England 1^st inning total.

England right arm off spinner G.Swann made a sensational debut as he picked up two important wickets in his one over bowled just before tea. First he removed in form G.Gambhir (19 runs) and then out of form R.Dravid (9 runs) to reduce the Indian team score to 37/3 at tea. Both batsmen were dismissed lbw.

Earlier dangerous Virendra Sehwag was removed by pacer J.Anderson for 3 runs. However after tea Indian spectator has something to cheer about when S.R.Tendulkar (37 runs) and V.V.S Laxman (24 runs) put of 61 runs for the fourth wicket. But just when both were looking set dismissed in quick succession.

Laxman was first to go when M.Panesar picked his man caught and bowled. A.Flintoff then removed S.Tendulkar to break the back bone of Indian middle order. Yuvraj Singh once again failed to deliver in the longer version of the game as was out by S.Harmission for 14 runs.

Earlier A.Mishra removed A.Flintoff in the third over of days play to reduce the England score to 229/6. However J.Anderson (19 runs) and M.Prior (53 runs) played well to get the team score total close to 300 run mark. Yuvraj Singh and Ishant Sharma rounded off India's splendid bowling effort by taking the last two England wickets to bowl them out for 316 shortly after lunch on the second day here.

From India H.Singh and A.Mishra were most successful bowler picking up three wickets each, while Zaheer Khan able to grab two wickets, I.Sharma and Yuvraj manages one wicket each to their name.

Match Summary (Day2)

England 1^st Inning – 316/10 in 128.4 Overs

A.Strauss- 123 M.Prior – 53*

H.Singh– 38-2-96-3 A.Mishra– 34-6-99-3

India 1^st Inning – 155/6 in 45 Overs

S.Tendulkar- 37 M.S.Dhoni – 24*

G.Swann– 7-0-35-2 J.Anderson– 10-3-26-1

Electing to bat, both opener gave their team a much needed dream start by putting on 118 runs for the first wicket but the cheap dismissals of Ian Bell (17), Kevin Pietersen (4) and Paul Collingwood (9) helped the hosts to tilt the balance slightly in their favour on a placid track at the MA Chidambaram stadium.

At stumps All-rounder A.Flintoff batting on 18 runs with night watchman J.Anderson (2 runs). India bowlers all day bowled with discipline and didn’t give away too many runs. They kept their cool while England openers were going nicely. England were cruising along comfortably at 164/1 but suddenly lost their way as score reduce to 221/5.

England lost their last four wicket of day to just 57 runs. A.Strauss dismissal was the big blow for visitors as he was caught and bowled by A.Mishra. With his dismissal visitors hope of reaching to big score in their first inning are under threat as they now fully depend on how A.Flintoff plays on day2 of the test match.

England openers Cook and Strauss adapted to the slow track which offered little for the fast bowlers in the morning session as the duo went for lunch at 63 without being separated. However both opener picked up their pace after post lunch session. Z.Khan and I.Sharma also struggled earlier as they didn’t get much support from the wicket.

But the turning point of the first day’s play was when both Indian pacers started to reverse swing the ball in the last session of play. Zaheer Khan first removed I.Bell for 17 and then picked up dangerous Kevin Pietersen for 4. By the time pitch was also started to provide some help for the spinners as both spinners went on to picked one wicket each in the last session of play.

Match Summary (Day1)

England – 229/5 in 90 Overs

A.Strauss- 123 A.Cook – 53

Z.Khan– 17-7-36-2 H.Singh– 26-2-67-2

Highlights - India Vs England 1^st Test Day1

Finally after so much no-yes England has arrived here in India to play two match test series after terror attack in Mumbai. India will start the series as firm favorite after beating the World Champion Australia in the previous test series and winning the hero honda cup by 5-0 against England in ODI Series.

England team who came here with full strength squad and will be hoping to make good impression in test series after poor show in the one dayers. For India it will be the first test match after the retirement of Bengal Tiger Saurav Ganguly that means Yuvraj Singh is likely to take his place in the final playing XI.

India pace bowling attack looks more solid and posses more variety than England attacks. Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are in prime form and both have put together 50-plus stands in seven of their last eight innings. Harbhajan Singh and A.Mishra are also in superb bowling form and can put England middle order under pressure if both continue their good show.

Indian team will also look to regain the 2nd spot in the ICC Test ranking by beating England by 1-0 margin. On the other hand England will look to beat India by 2-0 to gain fourth spot in ICC Test Ranking moving ahead of Sri Lanka.

Team News

Gautam Gambhir after one match ban will make come back to the Indian team while Yuvraj Singh is likely to be included in the playing XI to fulfill Saurav Ganguly spot. On the other hand England will go into the match with full strength squad with three pacer and two spinners. G.Swann will is most likely to make his test debut against India at Chepauk.

Likely Playing XI for both teams (Match will begin from 09:30 AM India Time)

India: Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, S.R.Tendulkar, V.V.S.Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M.S.Dhoni (Captain & WK), Harbhajan Singh,

A.Mishra, Z.Khan and I.Sharma

England: A.Cook, A.Strauss, I.Bell, K.Pietersen (Captain), P.Collingwood, A.Flintoff,

M.Prior (WK), G.Swann, J.Anderson, S.Harmision and M.Panesar.

Watch out for

Sachin Tendulkar: A man with the most number of runs in test cricket to his name will be keen to make a good impact at this ground. He needs six more run to get to 2000 Test runs against England only second after Sunil Gavaskar to achieve this milestone.

J.Anderson: The most wicket takers for England in the current year who already make his mark in India in 2006 with six wickets and will be ready for another challenge.

Pitch and conditions

Pitch at M.A. Chidambram Stadium will assist spinner as the game progresses and will also get slow and low. Rain is also likely to affect the game.

Yuvraj Singh sparkling knock in the recently concluded One Dayers against England earn him a spot in the 15 member test squad announced by the Selectors. Today selectors sit to pick the 15 member squad after ECB shows green signal for the test series to play here in India. P.Ojha also included in the squad as a third spinner after H.Singh and Amit Mishra.

M.Vijay who made his test debut in the last test match against Australians is able to retain his place. R.P.Singh who shows inconsistent form with the bowl in the ODI against England is dropped from the squad. S.Badrinath also able to retain his place in the team.

The first Test will be played in Chennai from December 11. Mohali will host the second Test from December 19.

Indian 15 member Test Squad for Test series against England: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain & WK), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag (Vice Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, S Badrinath, M Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, and Amit Mishra.

England Test Squad for tour of India

Test squad: Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen (Captain), Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Owais Shah, Matt Prior (WK), Tim Ambrose (WK), Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, Steve Harmison, James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom, Monty Panesar.

India Vs England Schedule (All timing are mentioned in GMT+05:30)

Zimbabwe team will travel to Bangladesh to play a triangular series involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from 10^th of January to 16^th of January. After that they will play three match ODI series against Bangladesh on 19^th, 21^st and 23^rd of January.

Zimbabwe Vs Bangladesh Schedule (All timing are mentioned in GMT+05:30)

Triangular Series involving Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe Schedule (All timing are mentioned in GMT+05:30)