India, Pakistan meet in Ahmedabad
India and Pakistan will play the second of two Twenty20 matches in Ahmedabad, India, later this week, which is in the middle of a busy period for the two cricketing nations.
This is the second of two exciting T20 matches between the two sides during the week. The first match was on December 25. Additionally, the Men in Blue will host three One Day Internationals against their rivals late in December and into January.
There is a long history between the two cricketing sides, but this hasn't played out much in the newer T20 setup. The short-form version of cricket will get its fourth meeting all-time of these two nations when they clash at the end of the month.
The match takes place at 10:30 p.m. EST on December 29, at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad.
Want to see India-Pakistan Twenty20 action live, as well as other great cricket fixtures? If you are a first-time Xoom customer who makes a transfer of $150 or more at Xoom.com/cricket, you can!! This gives you a free online subscription to Willow.tv, so you can catch all of the great action. Act soon, as you won't want to miss another bowl, six or wicket!!
Pakistan visits India in Bangalore for T20
Pakistan is set to travel to India this week, as the two cricketing nations will meet for a Twenty20 match in Bangalore.
The match will take place on December 25, at 8 a.m. EST at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. The last time the two nations played a T20 was in Colombo during September. India won the match by eight wickets, which was the second consecutive victory for the Men in Blue, so the Pakistani side will be looking to get even.
This is the first match between the two sides for a long stretch at the end of December and early January. The nations will play in two T20 matches before embarking on three exciting One Day Internationals. The second T20 takes place in Ahmedabad, while the ODIs are in Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi.
Want to see India-Pakistan Twenty20 action live, as well as other great cricket fixtures? If you are a first-time Xoom customer who makes a transfer of $150 or more at Xoom.com/cricket, you can!! This gives you a free online subscription to Willow.tv, so you can catch all of the great action. Act soon, as you won't want to miss another bowl, six or wicket!!
Uttar Pradesh faces Baroda in Ranji Trophy fixture
The Board of Control for Cricket in India's Ranji Trophy is in full swing, and both Uttar Pradesh and Baroda look to move up the table in their upcoming match.
Both sides meet in the Group B match in Kanpur on Friday, November 30, at 11 p.m. EST. The fixture continues until the final meeting three days later.
Currently, Baroda sits in second in Group B after four matches, with one win and three draws, giving the side 13 points. Uttar Pradesh played three matches so far, with one win and two draws. Both Uttar Pradesh and Baroda won their previous matches, defeating Delhi and Karnataka, respectively.
Want to see Ranji Trophy action live, as well as other great cricket fixtures? If you are a first-time Xoom customer who makes a transfer of $150 or more by December 10, 2012, at Xoom.com, you can!! This gives you a free online subscription to Willow.tv, so you can catch all of the great action. Act soon, as you won't want to miss another bowl, six or wicket!!
England continues India test tour in Mumbai
The England tour of India continues with the second test later this week, with the visitors looking to dig themselves out of an early hole.
England lost the first of its four matches to India at Motera earlier this week, and the side will need to play much better if they are to get back into the test. India won convincingly on the final day, as the Men in Blue posted a 521/8 and 80/1. England was only able to muster a 191 and 406.
The two sides meet again at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 22, at 11 p.m. EST. This test continues until the final match on November 26.
Are you a fan of test cricket? Then you shouldn't miss this match, or any of the others on tap over the next few weeks. Luckily, by making a transfer of $150 or more by December 10, you will get all the cricket action you can handle!! This will get you a free subscription to Willow.tv. But, you need to hurry!!
England tours India for four test matches
Two of the biggest cricket nations will clash later this week as England begins its tour of India for four test matches.
The first test between the two sides will begin at 11 p.m. EST on November 14, at Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad. This match will continue until its final match kick off on November 18.
The second test will start on November 22, at 11 p.m. EST, at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. This will continue until the final match commences on November 26.
India and England will reconvene on December 4, at 10:30 p.m. EST, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The final match of this test will begin on December 8.
The fourth and final test between the two nations will take place on December 12, at 11 p.m. EST, at VCA Stadium in Nagpur. The test will continue until its final match on December 16.
England and India are two of the most successful cricket nations in the world. The latest test rankings from the International Cricket Council showed England in second place, with a rating of 117. India currently sits in fifth spot, with a rating of 106.
Two nations share storied rivalry
Both England and India have met several times through the years in test cricket, with England winning 16 of the tests through the years. The Men in Blue won nine times through the years, with four draws between the two sides.
While England is far ahead all-time, India experienced the majority of the recent spoils. England won last year's Pataudi Trophy, but since 1986, India captured five tests against England, as well as two draws and only three losses. This includes two of the latest clashes, including the 2007 Pataudi Trophy and the 2008-09 England tour of India. Meanwhile, the aforementioned 2011 Pataudi Trophy was won easily by England, by four tests to zero.
With so much great cricket action on tap in the coming weeks, you won't want to miss any of it!! All you need to do is make a transfer of $150 or more at Xoom.com by December 10, and you will get all the cricket you can handle. This gives you a free subscription to Willow.tv until the end of the Australia Tour of India on March 31, 2013, so you can watch matches anywhere. But you need to hurry!!
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka face-off in Ranji Trophy
Both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka look to find the first win of their respective Ranji Trophy campaigns, as the two play in Chennai later this week.
The two sides each had one match already on the schedule, but neither earned an outright win. Baroda earned a 237 and a 249 against. Karnataka, as that side only managed a 284 and a 102/1, but the match ended in a draw after 32 overs. This gave Baroda three points and left Karnataka with one.
Tamil Nadu registered a 67/3 against Odisha, but the match was called with no result due to rain. Each side earned a point.
The match between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu starts at 11 p.m. EST on Thursday, November 8.
You don't need to go far to make sure you get all the Ranji Trophy action you can handle, as well as any other major cricket tournaments around the world. If you make a transfer of $150 or more at Xoom.com by December 10, you will earn a free subscription to Willow.tv. But, you may want to hurry! There's plenty of can't miss action on right now!!
Ranji Trophy opens with Rajasthan title defense
The Board of Control for Cricket in India's latest edition of the Ranji Trophy will kick off on November 2, with a battle between Bengal and two-time defending champions Rajasthan.
Rajasthan dominated the trophy in recent years, as it won the past two finals. The first trophy occurred in the 2010-11 edition of the trophy, as the side overcame Tamil Nadu for the final victory in Chennai. The previous tournament won by Team Rajasthan was over Baroda.
While Rajasthan had most of the recent success, this was not always the case. Mumbai is the most successful side in the Trophy competition, and recent history helped add to the overall tally. In the 2006-07 tournament, Mumbai defeated Bengal in the final. After Delhi's win over Uttar Pradesh in the next edition of the trophy, Mumbai returned to its winning ways in 2008-09, with a win against Uttar Pradesh. The latest win for Mumbai occurred in 2009-10, when it defeated Kanataka in the final.
Setup of the Ranji Trophy
The competition's Super League is split into two groups with a total of 15 teams. There is also the Plate League, which consists of another 12 teams divided into two groups. While the first aspect of the tournament pits the teams in each group into a round-robin setup, this is only the beginning. The Knockout tournament takes six of the teams from the groups – the top three finishers in A and B – and the top two of each group in the Plate League. Once this is complete, there will be two play-in matches before a standard quarterfinals, semifinals and final.
While the tournament begins in early November, the group stage continues through early January. The remainder of January will be for the knockout stage, with the final ending the tournament from January 26 to 30.
Cricket fans looking for the best matches available from the Ranji trophy, as well as other major competitions, don't need to look far to get what they want. All you need to do to get these matches directly to your computer is to make your first transfer at Xoom.com of $150 or more by December 10, 2012. This will give you all the cricket action you can handle! Make sure you hurry so you won't miss any of the exciting wickets and sixes!
Officials dismiss suggestion of an impending tax on Indian remittances
As an Indian immigrant whose family still resides there, your ability to send money to India is likely a major aspect of your life, as it may be their primary form of income to use for daily expenses. That said, you were probably frustrated to hear the reports indicating that Indian officials were planning on taxing non-resident Indians for the remittances they sent home.
But according to multiple news reports, any suggestion that a tax will be imposed is inaccurate.
In recent days, rumors had been swirling that Indians who were working overseas would soon be issued a tax levy of nearly 12.40 percent when they transfer money abroad. The speculation took on a life of its own when it was reported that Indian officials were mulling whether or not they wanted to implement the tax soon or impose them at a later date.
These speculations came to a grinding halt, however, when India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, was informed of them.
"Prime Minister [Singh] has dismissed reports that the government is planning to charge 12.36 per cent on all foreign remittances to India," said Oommen Chandy, Kerela chief minister, recently told reporters. "He has assured status quo on the service tax issue."
Reports indicate that officials within the Indian government had discussed the possibility of installing a tax on foreign remittances as a means of boosting India's economy. Experts, however, were quick to cite that the tax would likely do more harm than good and could wind up impacting millions of Indians working abroad.
Bikram Singh Majithia, affairs minister for non-resident Indians, told reporters that the move would send mixed signals to expatriates.
"On one hand, we are luring NRIs to invest in [the] country and become part of India's economic growth," said Majithia. "The service tax on remittances by them to their parent country would discourage them to help [the] country with their remittance."
According to World Bank data, India is the world's largest recipient of foreign remittances, as approximately $64 billion worth were sent last year alone.
Despite the considerable amount of revenue from Indians and other people who send money online, India's economy has yet to take off. The World Bank says that India's gross domestic product – which is the total value of goods and service produced in a given year – slowed.
World Bank experts say one of the reasons why India's economic is lagging largely relates to a lack of infrastructure, particularly road development. In addition, strict rules and regulations imposed by the government have discouraged private investment, preventing the country from obtaining some of the financial means to kickstart its economy.
More remittances allowed into India
There's some good news to report for people who routinely send money to India, as officials in the country are allowing more remittances in to help spur its economy.
According to Dow Jones, India's central bank – the Reserve Bank of India – recently more than doubled the number of remittances non-resident Indians can make to family in India in a given year, as the maximum number of permitted money transfers increased from 12 to 30.
Economists say that one of the reasons why the RBI decided to do this was to support the rupee, which has lost a considerable amount of value in recent months, down 10 percent when compared to the U.S. dollar, Dow Jones reports. In addition, since June 2011, the value of the rupee has diminished 20 percent.
The higher limit on number of transactions makes it easier to send money home to support your families in India
With Indian officials permitting more remittances to be sent to the country, you may want to consider sending your next money transfer with Xoom. While there may be a lot of money transfer services available, people choose Xoom to send money to India because of how simple the process is, not to mention affordable and fast.
Xoom offers bank deposits within 24 hours for almost all bank accounts in India, including Axis Bank, Citibank, HDFC, ICICI, Punjab National Bank, SBI, State Bank of India, and several others. Plus you can get great locked-in exchange rates and "fee-free money transfers" when you send more than $1,000.
Xoom is confident you'll like what you find when you send your money with today's best online money transfer service. You'll be even more impressed with how fast delivery is.
Kolkata wins tight IPL final over Chennai to deny third straight title
The Indian Premier League season came to a close over the weekend, as Kolkata Knight Riders overcame a strong performance by Chennai Super Kings to deny the club a third consecutive championship, as well as bring the trophy to Kolkata for the first time.
Chennai went to bat first and put up an impressive 190/3, but it would not be enough. Kolkata was able to surpass Chennai's total with 19.4 overs, for a score of 192/5, shifting the title to them.
Chennai was led by Suresh Raina, who hit 73 runs from 38 balls to get to the impressive mark. However, despite stumbling to an early wicket, Kolkata charged back. Manvinder Bisla scored the most runs out of any player for the match, with a total of 89 runs. In addition, Jacques Kallis scored an additional 69 runs. Manoj Tiwary hit the final runs of the match, which was enough to overcome Chennai's early charge.
The loss ended Chennai's chance for three consecutive titles, as the club won against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2011 and also defeated Mumbai Indians in 2010. In the league's short history, Kolkata only made it to the semifinals once – in 2011 – before getting this year's trophy.
Kolkata became the fourth team to win the IPL title in its five years of existence. Beyond Chennai's wins in the previous two years, Deccan defeated Royal Challengers in 2009, while Rajasthan Royals defeated Chennai in the inaugural season. For this season, beyond the two finalists, Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai will receive prize money for their third- and fourth-place finishes, respectively.
Those who have business connections or family in India may benefit from using Xoom.com's money transfer service, as this will allow people to send money directly to banks in less than 24 hours. If a person sends more than $1,000, they will be able to have the transfer fee waived if it is from a U.S. bank account. The process is easy, as all you need to do is go online to make the transfer. Furthermore, India is only one of many international transfer destinations Xoom.com allows you to send money to, so there are options for any situation.
