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M.S.Dhoni and his confident team fly to England on Friday morning to take part in the tournament in which they are World Champion. India will start their 2020 world cup campaign with the game against Bangladesh on 6^th of June and then they will take on Ireland in their last group stage encounter on June 10^th.

Indian team has one week in their hand to get used to English condition. India will also play two warm-up games against two strong teams New Zealand and Pakistan. In the first warm-up game they will take on New Zealand on June 1^st and then on 3^rd of June a big clash between their arch-rivals Pakistan.

Most of the Indian players have full match practice of 2020 as they have already played recently concluded IPL T20 in South Africa and team is already treated as one of the firm favourites to win the second T20 world cup in a row.

Just before flying to England, Indian captain representing to press conference said his team has fire-power to retain the World T20 crown. Although his team is little tired after playing so much cricket in past six month but he also give assurance that this will not affect the performance of individuals in ICC World Twenty20.

Dhoni was also happy about some of his part time bowlers in recently concluded T20. Likes of Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh already taken hat-trick and they will come handy in Twenty20 World Cup. Suresh Raina, R.Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan can also bowl with good line and length as we have seen in IPL.

Dhoni said the team members would have to make best use of the days they have at their disposal after reaching England prior to India’s opening match. He also stated that every team got chance in such shorter version of the game.

Indian team management will be hoping that left arm pacer Zaheer Khan will be fit before their first game in world twenty20. He got injured while playing for Mumbai Indian in rich-cash IPL in South Africa.

Indian team after playing in both season of IPL has plenty twenty20 match experience under their belt and confident Indian team will go into the tournament as overwhelming favourite. They departed to England with hopes and aspirations of billions rooting for their success in England.

Here is the Indian Squad that flew to England to defend their World Twenty20 title:

India twenty20 World Cup Squad: MS Dhoni (Captain & Wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan Singh.

Indian Team World Twenty20 Schedule

Warm-up Games Schedule

1^st June – India Vs New Zealand (Warm-up game at Lord’s, London)

3^rd June – India Vs Pakistan (Warm-up game at Kennington Oval, London)

World T20 Group Stage Match Schedule

6^th June – India Vs Bangladesh (Group A World T20 Match at Trent Bridge)

10^th June – India Vs Ireland (Group A World T20 Match at Trent Bridge)

Check out Complete 2020 World Cup 2009 Fixtures-Schedule-Results

Andrew Flintoff ruled out of twenty20 World Cup

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has been ruled out of 2020 world cup 2009. Adil Rashid the Yorkshire legspinner has been included in the squad in place of allrounder Andrew Flintoff.

Flintoff was included by England selectors in 15 member squad for world twenty20 but he is not recovered fully from his injury.

England twenty20 captain Paul Collingwood showed concerned over Andrew Flintoff unavailability from world twenty20. He consider it as a big blows for England in world twenty20 however he also said that he has players to fill up for his absence.

Flintoff, 31, sustained a tear to the meniscus in his right knee while playing for Chennai Super Kings in the recent Indian Premier League.

Andrew Flintoff who missed almost all of the test series as well as ODI against West Indies this season will now eye Ashes series against Australia to make come back into the team.

Sanjay Manjrekar feels India as one of the firm favourites to win t20 World Cup

Sanjay Manjrekar feels India as one of the firm favourites to win the 2020 World Cup to be played in England from June 5^th. He said in an interview that with IPL experienced behind Indian players will help them a lot going into twenty20 world cup. Players like Rohit Sharma and Yusuf Pathan matured enough in these two years since 2007 twenty20 world cup and that will give India edge over other country.

He also told that Australia, South Africa and England are other teams that might pose a good challenge to the Indians.

New Zealand beat Ireland by 7 Wickets in warm-up game

Ross Taylor continued his good form of IPL as he smashed 74 runs in just 36 balls with eight huge sixes and two fours to help his team chase down the target of 153 runs in just 17 overs against Ireland.

After winning the toss New Zealand Captain Daniel Vettori put Ireland into bat. Batting first Ireland manages to post 152 runs with the loss of five wickets in the quota of 20 overs. Opener J Bray was top scorer with 48 runs from 43 balls.

Chasing the target of 153 runs New Zealand were 44/2 in the sixth over with both openers back in the hut. Ross Taylor (74 runs of 36 balls) and Martin Guptill (45 runs of 42 balls) put on 103 runs in just 65 balls to guide New Zealand to a comfortable win.

Shoiab Akhtar ruled out of twenty20 world cup

Pakistan fast Bowler Shoiab Akhtar has been ruled out from twenty20 World Cup 2009. Rao Iftikhar Anjum's name has been sent to the ICC's technical committee by the PCB as a replacement. Rawalpindi express Shoaib Akhtar hadn’t recovered from skin infection and has also missed three practice games which Pakistan cricket team is playing ahead of twenty20 world cup. Shoaib has not trained since coming back from the series against Australia in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

So now he will miss the twenty20 world cup for the second time in a row. In inaugural world cup also he was sent back home after verbal fight with his teammates in South Africa in 2007 and now he will miss the 2009 world cup also. Pakistan is runners-up of 2007 twenty20 world cup and is firm favourites to win the title.

Bangladesh Coach wants his team to qualify for Super eights by beating India at group stage

Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach said he would like his team to beat India at group stage and make it to the super eight stages. Bangladesh is in Group A along with India and Ireland.

Siddons said that his team main goal is to beat India in their first game and confirm their berth in the super eight stages. He also said that India is world champions in twenty20 cricket but if his top three players fire on that day then Indian team will be in big trouble.

In the inaugural World twenty20 in 2007 also they shocked the world by beating West Indies by six wickets in their first game and qualified for the Super Eights. Their win came as surprise to West Indies as they were thrown out of the competition.

Ireland Coach wants his team to qualify for Super Eights berth

Ireland coach wants his team to perform exceptionally well and qualify for the super eights berth. They are placed with World Champions India and Bangladesh in Group A. A win against Bangladesh will confirm their place in the super eights stage.

Simmons wants his team to repeat the performance of 2007 world cup played in West Indies. In 50-over world cup played in West Indies they reached the last eight after beating Pakistan in the qualifying section. Ireland also beat Bangladesh later in the tournament.

India will play two warm-up games before beginning their 2020 World Cup campaigns. First warm-up game they will play against New Zealand on 1^st of June and then they will clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on 3^rd of June.

India will play New Zealand at Lord’s London and then they will take on Pakistan in Kennington Oval, London. That means we can expect a match something similar to twenty20 World Cup 2007 Final. India came out as winner in both occasions in twenty20 world cup played in South Africa.

India will start their 2020 World up campaign on 6^th of June with the game against BangladeshIreland on 10^th of June. India will play both of their games at Trent Bridge. Top two teams from Group A will then qualify for the Super Eights stage. and then they will take on

Not only India but other teams will also feature in warm-up games before starting their 2020 world cup campaign.

Twenty20 world cup 2009 Warm-up Games Fixtures (All timings are mentioned in GMT+05:30)

Last year top team from the bottom becomes the top team from the top in 2009, what a turnaround this has been for Deccan Chargers. Who have thought at the start of the tournament that Deccan Chargers will be the IPL twenty20 2009 Champions? At Johannesburg they have done it and that too in great style.

A.Gilchrist and his team snatch a thriller against Royal Challengers Bangalore to become the IPL twenty20 2009 Champion on Sunday at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. After put into bat Deccan Chargers were held to 143/6 with some fine bowling from Captain Anil Kumble and R Vinay Kumar. They reached 143 thanks to H.Gibbs patience knock of 53 runs of 38 balls.

Royal Challengers Bangalore were on course of their target, but some tight bowling in the middle overs by Harmeet Singh, Pragyan Ojha kept Chargers in hunt and the key moments came when Andrew Symonds removed Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli in two successive deliveries of his 3^rd over.

Andrew Symonds over turn the game on their heads as Deccan Chargers started to feel comfortable afterwards. Royal Challengers Bangalore failed to put any decent partnership during their run chase and that is the main reason they failed to achieve a smaller target of 144 runs to clinch the IPL title.

Earlier Anil Kumble won the toss and put Deccan Chargers into bat. He also made a brave move by bringing himself on in the very first over and same over he get rid off dangerous Adam Gilchrist for duck to make a dream start for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Deccan Chargers Kept loosing wickets at regular interval and in the end manage just 143/6 in their quota of 20 overs. Apart from Gibbs 53 runs. Rohit Sharma (24 runs of 23 balls) and Andrew Symonds (33 runs of 21 balls) were other contributor which helped Deccan Chargers to reach the score of 143 runs/

Awards in IPL 2009

Deccan Chargers has been awarded 6 Crore Indian Rupees with IPL trophy for becoming the IPL 2009 Champions.

A.Kumble was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant performance with the ball. He took 4 for 16 in his quota of four overs.

R.P.Singh has been awarded the Purple Cap for taking the most number of wickets in the tournament. He has taken 23 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 18.13.

Mathew Hayden has been awarded Orange Cap for scoring most number of runs in the tournament. He has scored 572 runs in 12 matches with an Average of 52.00.

Match Summary (Deccan Chargers won by 6 Runs)

Deccan Chargers – 143/6 in 20 Overs

H.Gibbs- 53* A.Symonds –33

A.Kumble – 4-0-16-4 R.Vinay Kumar– 4-0-30-2

Royal Challengers Bangalore – 137/9 in 20 Overs

R.van der Merwe- 32 R.Taylor –27

P.Ojha– 4-0-28-3 Harmeet Singh– 4-0-23-2

Here are the points table of Indian Premier League twenty20 2009 involving Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Bangalore Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers.

There will be total 56 league matches will be played before top four teams will qualify for semi finals. Each team will play with each other twice that mean each team will play total number of 14 matches. Top Four teams with most number of wins will qualify for 1^st and 2^nd semi finals. Finals of IPL twenty20 2009 will be played on 24^th of May 2009 at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.

Here are the fixtures and results of IPL twenty20: