England agree to play after 26/11, and the big fourth-innings chaseIndia v England, Chennai, 2008It isnt often that cricket becomes a distraction in India. Kids watch it with hours to go for exams. Adults peek at the score in spite of deadlines at work. But after the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, the nation was in mourning. A bombing took place at the hotel the England team was supposed to stay at for the first Test.Kevin Pietersen and his men left for home to be with their families. Backroom talks began. Assurances were given. The BCCI shifted the match to Chennai, with 5,000 policemen for protection. England came back. That mere fact made this series noteworthy. The five days of play at the MA Chidambaram stadium were the encore. India chased down 387, then the fourth-highest chase in Test history. Yuvraj Singh produced his best innings in a year, and Mumbais own Sachin Tendulkar hit the winning runs, securing a 41st Test hundred in the process.It was the fourth hundred of the match. Andrew Strauss had two against his name. There was an important one for Paul Collingwood in the second innings. England gained the advantage of scoreboard pressure and a pitch with footmarks the size of large pizzas. That was fine for Virender Sehwag. He came in and dined out. Without his 83 off 68 balls, India may never have believed they could win. When the chase began, I didnt give Dhoni and Co. more than a 10% chance. Sehwag, however, changed everything, Kapil Dev said.Before the series Tendulkar had appeared in an advertisement. I play for India, now more than ever, he said. He wore blue. He was solemn. But he was also reading from a script. It was make-believe. What he did in Chennai though was very real and the pain of Mumbai eased, if only a little.By Alagappan MuthuVVS overcomes back pain and the LankansSri Lanka v India, Colombo, 2010In the previous match between India and Sri Lanka, a run-fest on a featherbed at the Sinhalese Sports Club, there were five centuries, including two double-centuries. VVS Laxman made 29. But at the P Sara Oval, with India 62 for 4 chasing 257 to draw the series, Laxman showed yet again why he was such a highly valued member of Indias middle order.On a tricky fifth-day pitch, against the biting offspin of Suraj Randiv, and battling back spasms to boot, Laxman made a treacherous run chase look routine. He stroked 12 fours in his unbeaten 103 to steer India past the target with five wickets in hand.With him, at the moment of victory, was Virender Sehwag -- not as a batting partner, but as a runner. That, too, was fitting given Sehwags contribution to the victory in the form of a hard-hitting century in Indias first innings and three wickets in Sri Lankas second.But the moment belonged to Indias long-time middle-order saviour. The match situation, Laxman explained later, had superseded his back pain. And he, in turn, had superseded the match situation to come up trumps once again.By Sirish RaghavanNear-perfect Test in Mohali -- and in October, tooIndia v Australia, Mohali, 2010Octobers in north India used to be a great place to be once upon a time, with festivities and a slight chill in the air. Now they are just part of an extended seemingly never-ending summer. In 2010 though, over in Mohali we had a Test so perfect it belonged to the perfect Octobers of old. Australia won the toss, had to be watchful against the new ball, and Shane Watson played an innings close to perfection. India replied to Australias 428 with 405, leaving the Test ripe for explosion once the pitch started to break up.When the pitch obliged, Ishant Sharma fashioned a top-order collapse, the spinners chipped away at the middle and Zaheer Khan ran through the lower order, giving India 216 to win. At 76 for 5 an injured VVS Laxman walked out, played some of the most beautiful shots that can be imagined under duress, drew every ounce of support from the lower order and his runner, and on his injured back carried India to a one-wicket win. In the process he shielded Ishant Sharma once Mitchell Johnsons bouncers got too much, and even swore at Pragyan Ojha for not being alert to a run.By Sidharth MongaA slice of Laxman magic -- in Durban this timeSouth Africa v India, Durban, 2010Having suffered an innings defeat in the first Test, India did not begin the second encouragingly, as a Dale Steyn six-for rolled them over for 205 on a green Kingsmead pitch. But their bowling attack, so lacklustre in Centurion, had teeth and direction with its leader Zaheer Khan back after recovering from a hamstring strain. Zaheer took three wickets, including those of both openers, and Harbhajan Singh ran through the lower order, as South Africa folded for 131.A lead of 74 was crucial but not quite match-winning, and South Africa had India on the mat again when Steyn, Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe reduced them to 56 for 4 in their second innings. It was a situation made for VVS Laxman, and his 96 was the decisive innings of a match in which no other batsman made more than 39. Set 303 to win, South Africa only managed 215, with Zaheer and Sreesanth picking up three wickets each. Sreesanth also produced the ball of the match, a brute of a lifter that an airborne Jacques Kallis could only fend to point.By Karthik Krishnaswamy Cheap Yeezy Black Friday . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Wholesale Yeezy Black Friday .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. http://www.blackfridayyeezy.com/ . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. Cheap Yeezy Black Friday . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Yeezy Black Friday Sale .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. The end of an international season brings thoughts on what has been achieved and what challenges next lie ahead. For Andrew Strauss, the director of cricket who spent Friday and Saturday appraising all of Englands centrally and incrementally contracted players at Loughborough, there is plenty to ponder on both counts.At the forefront is the situation regarding the limited-overs captain, Eoin Morgan, and the likelihood that he will not tour Bangladesh for the one-day series. Unless Strauss powers of negotiation have worked unexpectedly in allaying Morgans concerns, there does not appear much chance of changing his mind. Final confirmation is expected Sunday evening.No Morgan, who turned 30 on Saturday, would mean a new one-day captain would be needed for the three matches in Bangladesh. Jos Buttler, as vice-captain, would head the list - he has led England once before, in a T20 against Pakistan - although, given his workload as wicketkeeper, longer-term Joe Root could be the likelier successor to Morgan when a permanent change is made.Players have been assured that pulling out of the tour will not be held against them, but Strauss could not guarantee an open door straight back if others take their chance. If the player given a place by Morgans absence - Jonny Bairstow or Ben Duckett, for example - enjoys a prolific series against Bangladesh there will be a challenging situation for Strauss and the England selectors, although it seems highly unlikely that Morgan will not be Englands captain at the Champions Trophy. That could be the time it is considered whether he is the man to lead England all the way to the 2019 World Cup.Beyond the difficulties presented by the Bangladesh tour, Strauss remit is also to keep thinking ahead. With that in mind, and the proximity of two major global one-day events in three years, there are likely to be some changes to Englands central contracts system when the new cohort are confirmed at the end of the September.Since Strauss was appointed last May his mantra has been the importance of treating limited-overs cricket seriously. Led by the coaching staff, Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace, plus Morgans captaincy, Englands white-ball cricket has often been spectacular in the last 18 months.That is likely to be reflected in the updated contracts system, which could give greater weighting to white-ball performances while an increased number of deals could be handed out in order to include one-day specialists ahead of the Champions Trophy; the likes of Jason Roy, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett and David Willey could benefiit.ddddddddddddMorgan holds one of the current 11 central contracts as does Buttler who has been a limited-overs specialist for much of the last 12 months.Ian Bell is also in the current batch but will lose his barring an unlikely recall for the winter tours. Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes, two of Englands major successes in Test cricket this season, will be in line for significant central contracts having only been on incremental deals for 2015-16.Ive spoken a lot about taking white-ball cricket more seriously and creating a balance between the formats, Strauss said. I dont think our central contracts system as it stands does that and weve been working on a creating a system that reflects that better.There is also a focus on the coaching staff as well as the players. There will be rotation among coaches this winter with Andy Hurry, the U-19 head coach, Paul Collingwood, Graham Thorpe and Steve Rhodes all having spells with the senior side.We understand how demanding touring non-stop is and how important it is for the support staff to be fresh but its also a way of introucing people to the environment, Strauss said. What we are trying to do with our coaching staff is ensure they are working up and down the programme from U-19s up to the England team.In terms of the selection process there will not be changes in the immediate future. There appeared to be tensions earlier this season when a majority of the selectors, led by medical advice, overruled Bayliss and Alastair Cooks desire to have James Anderson available for the first Test against Pakistan after he had suffered a shoulder injury in the lead-up to the series.Strauss, who has attended most selection meetings this season but does not have a vote, said he remains happy with the panel headed by James Whitaker which includes Mick Newell and Angus Fraser as well as Bayliss. Strauss focus continues to be making the vast amount of information collected on players used more effectively in selection.In terms of the personalities, I think its working well, Strauss said. The selection process has worked really well in the time Ive been there. For me the real focus is the information we give the people making the decisions. Better use of technology, analysis, making it easier to tap into the huge amount of data we have on computers.The final names those selectors come up with for Bangladesh and India, which will be announced on Friday, will no doubt provoke much debate. ' ' '