India Blue wins Challenger Trophy

Virender Sehwag-led India Blue beat India Red by six wickets in the final to win the NPK Salve Challenger Trophy ODI tournament at Ahmedabad. India Red scored 269 in 49.3 overs. Gautam Gambhir scored a fine 82. S Badrinath made 55 and Mahesh Rawat remained unbeaten on 43.

India Blue did not start the run chase on a positive note and were 55/3 at one stage. However, Dinesh Karthik had a point to prove before the selectors who dropped him from the ODI squad for the forthcoming series against Pakistan. And he did it in style. Karthik scored an unbeaten knock of 116 off 92 balls. Suresh Raina continued his good form with the bat by scoring 50. Neeraj Patel contributed an unbeaten 62. India Blue reached the target with 9 overs to spare.

Dinesh Karthik was declared "Player of the Match". Suresh Raina was named "Player of the Series". Ironically, both the players failed to get the selectors' nod. This is the biggest tragedy of Indian cricket.