A Straight Drive

BCCI's Business

2011-05-29T14:41:00.004+05:30

BCCI struggles to fit the 'fit' 11 to board the flight to WI. Short-sightedness or too much greed or complete carelessness about the players?
I think all of these and the root cause is the way BCCI runs its business.
It's a shame that for a fantastic business that BCCI has in this country, it is so grossly mis-managed (understatement of the century may be) and survives solely due to the monopoly it enjoys in this country of over a billion customers!
Adage goes "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". Nothing proves this more than the BCCI mess.
BCCI has upon itself to plan the domestic tournaments, international tournaments, and IPL extravaganza. These are business commitments that it makes to its customers. When you are running a business where demand far outstrips the supply, the key is to manage inventory of resources.
It is a business of providing service and hence all the more important to keep its customers happy. However, its services are based on human resources and hence also important to keep those resources happy and fit to serve its business interests. Considering that each business commitment is equally important for all the stakeholders.
It is running the business similar to a lot of Indian IT service companies - who in order to get more business, overcommit and then exploit the resources to meet those business commitments. Exploited resources often underperform eventually not satisfying the customer's business plans. Failure written all over the way BCCI conducts its business.
That 'Survival' and 'Profit' are the only two drivers for any business is well known but solely focusing on profit in short term often can lead to survival issues in the long run.
Administration is one thing and management another.
When will BCCI learn this or rather when will BCCI 'want' to learn this?
One hopes soon.

Cricket: The Game

2011-01-22T23:19:00.003+05:30

A wonderful cricketing season is now over where we saw Australia start the slide after a peak of decade in test cricket and emergence of England and India as the top test teams, where we saw NZ reach nadir until they finally maanged to beat Pakistan in the ODI - Pakistan, who have looked very Pakistani, if I can say so, in the last year that they played - miraculously brilliant and plain horrid in equal parts.

What a busy the season it was, but I want to comment now how delightful the game is, and how it continues to give us the joy and keep the child in us alive.

Hearing different commentrators, journos and critics talk of technicalities of the game, in terms of pitch, angle of bat, footwork, run-up etc always enlightens a layman like me. But the one word that I am confused hearing and reading often about the game is that it is a team-game.

Is it really a team game?
To me, it always is a battle between two individuals.
Two individuals out there in the sun, fighting it out against each other and more importantly against the demons in their own mind.

The first one is the one who takes the ball in his hands, checks it out for its shape and shine, shines the side as required as he walks to his run up already thinking in his mind the various ways / ploys that he should use to bowl the ball at the other individual, reaches the end of his run up, decides in his mind on the line, length and speed he will use for this ball and starts his run up to get into the rythm required before he lands his foot exactly where required simultaneously turning his arm over, keeping his eyes on the spot where he wants the ball to land and releasing the ball using arm, elbow, wrist and fingers depending upon the type of the bowler he is, but always using his mind irrespective of the bowler he is and then bowls the ball with all his skill, may it be pace or spin or swing or action or sometimes sounds...the ball races to the other end...

The other end, where the other guy is patiently waiting, waiting with a bat firmly in his hand, waiting as he sees the bowler start his run up to the point that he bowls the ball. This batsman, all along has also calculated different ways, speeds and heights the ball will come to him and he has played different strokes to each of them in his mind. He is the one who requires more skill because he has to react. The bowler controls his action and it is upto him to complete it the way he can. But the batsman is not so lucky and he has to react to bowler's action. In a fraction. Fraction of second when the ball hits the ground before jumping on to him and in that fraction he needs to implement one of the plans that he had played in his mind while being patient. While his mind was playing the game, his hands were busy gripping the bat exactly as necessary, his eyes were focussing on the ball in bowler's hand and his feet were readying for the stance. And when the ball hits the ball, he has to think of where on the bat is the ball touching and what angle/force of the shot he should play.

And as he reacts, there is this sudden realization to both batsman and bowler that there are 11 others waiting in the same ground, wearing the same whites, playing in the same match. This contest then is extrapolated to the fielders and the rest of the team.

But essentially, it is a contest between the batsman and the bowler. Two individuals. Every individual playing his game against the other one. It is a one-to-one match, just like in boxing or chess.

And we are mere mortals who soak in the joy given by these immensely talented and gifted individuals, each playing against his own demons and for his own reasons.

Take a bow, gentlemen.

A post on Sachin Tendulkar

2010-02-26T15:23:00.011+05:30

After a majestic and a maiden ODI double ton of Sachin, my friend Abhijit asked me to write a post on Sachin and told me that it should be my best post!

I gave it a thought and shrugged thinking all that needs to be said about the great man has already been said, all the possible adjectives have been consumed and he has been called "The God"a zillion times already. What else can I write about HIM?

Then I thought about the innings that he played on 24th Feb 2010. It was as fluent as any of his great innings with the shots flying everywhere. There was nothing different about this inning.

But then here was a man as old as me but playing on the field for over last 20 years, having endured physical and mental duress, slumps in form, surgeries on body parts, faced criticism and yet never quit. There were many others who were supposed to be as special as him if not better who quit the game long time back in their careers but this man has kept his flame for the game going. With such a determination and focus to play cricket, and the hunger for runs like a black hole in the universe, he has ensured that his body is keeping up with his mental strength.

This man has been out in the most ridiculous ways to most average bowlers in his lowest form and has answered his critics who have asked whether his time is up time and again with his bat. This man is a legend. They dont make them like him anymore. He has inspired many and united the Indians and even adversaries together. He has achieved what national leaders could not. He has scaled peaks after peaks. He has provided joy to millions the world over. And yet he remains humblest .

To me, his desire and love for cricket, his never-say-die spirit and his humility make this short man stand tallest in the world of cricket!

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar - Take a bow and Thank You!

Twitter

2010-02-07T19:56:00.002+05:30

I am more active here now: http://twitter.com/CricketFella

Test Cricket

2010-01-07T23:20:00.001+05:30

Ah! Does it get any better than this?

A nail-biting draw achieved by England in SA when the cricket lovers world over held their breath...Onions surviving the last over especially the caught behind appeal on the penultimate delivery...

Australia snatching a brilliant victory from the jaws of defeat against the irrepressible Pakistan... Hussey and Hauritz scripting an unlikely victory...Hauritz doing a Kumble, but for a winning cause by bowling with a bandaged finger...

Simply Superb!It just doesnt get better than this...

Give me this any day over the T20 or ODI World Cup!

India No 1 Test Side?

2009-12-05T19:54:00.005+05:30

Updates at the bottom of the post

Yes, ICC will say tomorrow.

For me, I am not really convinced they are.

I think all the top 6 teams in international cricket are more or less of the same calibre and Aussies and SA are a notch higher simply because they have been more consistent than the other teams including India.

Here is the supporting to my argument:

1) If we were really no 1, the other batsmen after Sehwag would have tried to continue the momentum that Veeru had given and decimated the Lankans. Instead, we had the typical conservative India trying to bat with a run-rate of 2-3 with the exception being only MSD who played big hits probably because he was batting with the last man and had no other options but to hit big in order to complete his century (I am not saying he was being selfish, but it did serve both purposes)

2) Second is a more stronger argument, and that is the way Indians bowled on the day 4 of the test (today) and managed only 6 wickets with the strong Sangakkara providing a stubborn and spirited resistance(Superb!). Only 6 wickets? The number one team in the world would have definitely finished the Lankan innings today. Attack would and should have been the only thing in MSD's mind while pressing for the win. Instead we saw a mixed field settings and a patchy performance in bowling. I am not impressed.

This cannot be number 1 team in the world.

Sorry.

Update: India swiftly finished it on Day 5 in true style of a Number 1 side. That's more like it. Zak was super as he is when on a song. One hopes that they continue on the same lines and show some consistency for me to start believing that they are indeed number 1.

Virendra Sehwag

2009-12-04T01:03:00.004+05:30

Virendra Sehwag always bats like a king...today he was an emperor! He demolished SL attack at will for the whole day to budgeon 284 NO!

With Veeru, cricket is never boring...he is always in some kind of hurry . Plays for the joy of it, nothing less and nothing more. Reminds me of Lance Klusner who played for the joy, victory or defeat can go for a walk, who cares.

Veeru keeps it simple, in his own words "I play ball by ball, throw me a bad ball, I will hit"... and we like it, oh yes we do! One cant feel sorry for the bowlers who just wait for the storm called Sehwag to pass, unable to do anything to control it. He has no qualms about the requirements, no strategic thinking, no thinking caps, no pressure of any expectations, and absolutely no nervous nineties or one hundred nineties or two hundred nineties !!!!!!!!

Yes, he is the same man who was woefully out of form a couple of years ago and who looks funny at times for lack of technique. For all the intelligence of BCCI selection committees, sense prevailed and they kept picking him despite some outcry and has he rewarded them?

Sehwag's interview which I read on cricinfo through Prem Panicker's blog was a sheer delight to read. WIll post a link over here whenever I get time.

What a man! Take a bow, Veeru! Thank you for providing us with the joy of watching cricket and for enthusing life in test cricket for when you bat, the result is bound to be there.

Image courtesy: Cricinfo

SL in India

2009-11-29T12:10:00.002+05:30

2 tests down and 1 more to go... here are my thoughts...
Gautam Gambhir is slated to become one of the best Indian batsmen
Sehwag is a treasure to have in the team as he can set up the most improbable of victories and fail without caring a damn
Sachin still has a lot of cricket left in him
India in Tests needs Rahul Wall Dravid, VVS Laxman
Bhajji needs to be chucked out of the team NOW
Spinners Pragyan and Amit need to be given the confidence, freedom and motivation to bowl only to take wickets
Dhoni is doing well...
How the same Mendis who mesmerized Indians on SL soil can fail in India?
I think the Brabourne match is going to be tough without Gauti in Indian team....
The same old conclusion is that India always do well in Indian pitches and Indians look better cricketers when they play in India...

On the other side,

Excellent cricket happening between NZ and Pak - Superb bowling and fighting cricket
Dream Debut for the West Indian Barath who gave Aussies a wonderful Challenge

Some Dope on Doping...

2009-08-02T21:01:00.003+05:30

The ICC wants cricketers to be checked for dope.
BCCI does not agree and stands by its players.
Players are sceptical. They say that anti-doping tests when they are playing cricket is fine, but no such tests in non-cricketing season.
The point being contested is as follows:
The new code mandates the establishment of an International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP) of players who are nominated for random testing based on their ICC rankings. Players from this pool have to inform the ICC at the beginning of every quarter (three-month period) of the year, a location and time that they will be available for an hour each day in that quarter for testing. If a player changes his/her schedule in between, then he/she needs to update the whereabouts information to the nodal officer either online or even through SMS. However, if the player is not in the location at the time specified, he/she will have a strike recorded against his name. Three such strikes and the player will have breached the code and can face up to a two-year suspension from the game.
Those in the ICC's testing pool feel that the code infringes on their privacy and personal space, especially during off-season or when they are not playing cricket. They have also raised concerns on a practical level and claim the system has a high risk of catching athletes who are simply not administratively inclined.
(Source: Cricinfo)
FIFA and players like Federer have also raised same concerns.

I think that the players should agree to this rule. There is no point in crying 'breach of privacy' and being high headed demi gods of Indian cricket when all other country players have agreed to it. While you are availing all the benefits that you get by playing ICC tournaments, you need to follow the discipline put by ICC.

Rudi cries sour grapes...

2009-07-23T23:14:00.001+05:30

Rudi Koertzen says: “Don’t blame umpires as the players are not honest”!

Now this is an outrageous statement coming from an umpire in elite panel of ICC. What is player’s behaviour got to do with an umpire’s decision???

It is like a judge saying the next day after delivering a wrong judgment ”Don’t blame me for the judgment, you were rude in the courtroom”!!!

Hello?

Until the time the game rises above the pampered egos of umpires and hands over decision making to the technology in order to give justice to the hard work put in by the players, we will have such baseless arguments.

Down with high-headed umpires!

Bangla Create History!

2009-07-14T22:31:00.003+05:30

A country which was just born when the Windies were ruling world cricket, took pains, insult and derogatory treatment in world cricket for years, decades only to rise and create history by beating the same Windies in test cricket and that too in West Indies !!! Lovely!
Bangla tigers, Jai Ho!

Pakistan - A Mystery!

2009-07-14T22:24:00.005+05:30

Pakistan team, Oh Pakistan team – what art thou?

In Test no. 1, you almost defeated SL and in the second test in innings 1 , you were all out for 90! If that was a blip, you followed it up with an awesome fightback going to 285 for 1 and then unexplicably catapulting to 320 all out!!! I don’t think there is any other team in the whole world which is capable of such contrasting display in just a couple of days!
And to think of it, for god’s sake it was (and is) a batting pitch! Kumar Sangakkara’s batting average on this ground is a near 90! And then SL got the winning total of 172 within 32 overs!!!

That makes Nuwan Kulasekara a superman, doesn’t it? He was simply unplayable yesterday and Herath. Tushara bowled very well too. Pakistan all out for 90 by Sri Lanka and then again last 9 wickets in 35 runs in the second innings without Muralitharan in the team!

Add to that the enigma of a reverse sweep reversing fortunes of a match, a nation and history!!!

I think Pakistan teams will always remain the most enigmatic, charismatic and yet mystifying teams that has ever played world cricket.

Unlikely batting heroes for England!

2009-07-14T22:19:00.003+05:30

Move over, Kevin Pieterson, Cook, Strauss and Collingwood. The new English batting heroes are here: James Anderson and Monty Panesar!

Well done, boys. Very very well done indeed! It was a great contest between the bat and the ball and made for a riveting show.

I think that instead of using North, Ponting should have thrown Hauritz along with Hilfenhaus who was clearly one of the best bowlers of the innings for Aussies, at both Monty and Anderson. But what’s happened has happened and the record books have recorded a fighting draw for England at Cardiff.

Paul Collingwood yet again stood like a rock for a long time, I think for a long time now; he has been the Man Friday of English Cricket.

This brings me to yet another important thought on test cricket. Most of the teams have great batsmen in them; very few have world class bowlers. And test matches are not won on runs, they are won on wickets. There is no rocket science here, simple fact: A team that manages 20 wickets in 5 days wins the match. So, it is the teams that have the best bowlers who will be champions and stay champions.

That is why you had WI dominating in the 80’s and then Australians in the new millennium.

Coming back to this game, I think it was an overall a super-credible fighting performance from the Brits on Day 5 at Cardiff to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat.
Thank you to both teams for such exhilarating Test Cricket!

I'm Back...

2009-07-11T09:48:00.003+05:30

All of you millions of fans out there, I am still alive and not gone the MJ way yet!
So rejoice!
OK, lot of stuff has been hapenning in the cricket world and I have followed it diligently; only could not find time to blog about the same.
So here goes:
T20 World Cup was as entertaining as it always is and threw some new heroes, thanks to IPL.
The Ashes are here as a super relief from the Mad Mad World of T20 (which is a great world too, but nothing beats Test Cricket). Bad boy Ricky hit a mangnificient 150 to close in on Sachin's records and more importantly to put the match beyond England. English attack looks depleted (as usual?)
In other news, SL have beaten Pakistan in a keen home contest that had fans like me sitting up and taking notice as Pakistan almost managed the unthinkable - beating SL in SL!!!
India manged to beat WI 2-1 in a not so just result, but was great to watch the Carribeans in action after a long time.

Keep watching this space for more analysis and criticisms and appreciations.

I have also updated my other blog linked to the right of your screen. Go read.

Terrorist attack on cricket

2009-03-08T16:50:00.002+05:30

The horrible cowardly attack on SL cricketers was the worst day in the life of glorious game, worse than any other.
The Lankan cricketers took it on their chin saying that they are used to bombs and bullets flying around in their country.
If the terrorists truly want to fight the SL cricketers, let them throw a bowler to stop a marauding Samarweera who notched twin double centuries or throw the gun away and hold a bat against the wily Murali.
Terrorists are cowards, pityful cowards.
There is no cause that can justify attack on fellow humans and especially sportsmen.
I think Pakistan is in a state where things have got horribly out of control and no international team will visit them for any cricket. One feels sad for the immensly talented Pakistani cricketers, though and hopes that they re-locate or at least they get to visit the other nations to play for their nation or club side.
The terrorsits have fled for now, and the game of Cricket moves on....

Empire striking back?

2009-03-08T16:38:00.002+05:30

Are the Aussies bouncing back in the Cricketing world with the Test victories over SA? (looks like the 2nd test also going Aussie way)
Certainly looks that way with the way Mitchell Johnson of all the members took it away from Proteas with the batting in 1st innings and bowling throughout the series.
Beating the Proteas in their home ground is not easy - but Aussies are doing it just the way they did it over so many years to everyone else.
Ponting's Aussies are hitting back with revenge.
And it's a pretty sight for a cricket lover.

India leads ODI Series in NZ 2-0!

2009-03-08T16:22:00.003+05:30

This 2-0 lead over NZ in NZ has been a super performance by a truly formidable Indian side.
Sachin firing all cylinders after so long, Raina and Gambhir coming good in the scheme of team things, Sehwag just being himself, Zaheer swinging it around and Dhoi leading from the front, it looks pretty solid and good.
I, for one, definitely will give it a thumbs up after the last dismal performance in the series where the whole Indian team failed to even notch up century.
Good job guys, and I hope that this form continues till the end of ODI series which we should win. Also dont forget that the real Test is around the corner with a Test series coming up. It will be a great test of character for both bowlers and batsmen.
Time to grab some popcorn, sit back and enjoy!

Who needs Cheergirls...

2009-02-22T18:45:00.001+05:30

When we have Fidel Edwards?
Test Cricket simply rocks!!!

It's all hapenning!

2009-02-08T12:58:00.002+05:30

In the times of recession, the game of cricket continues to provide Unadulterated Joy!
While IPL continues to hog the headlines with mind boggling figures that the Indian corporates and Bollywood biggies shell out to buy out known and unknown cricket talent worldwide, the game itself has been superbly keeping the fans rivetted!

Dhoni & Co have proved all pessimistic naysayers (like me) wrong and went ahead to create history in Sri Lanka by beating the Lankans on all fronts and extending the winning streak to 9 matches in a row already! Indian fans have never had it so good for so long!
Lage Raho Dhonibhai! Nothing succeeds like success! And Dhoni has led from the front with some super support from his team!

The Windies, meanwhile, have completely and ruthelessly demolished Englishmen in thesecond innings with some amazing bowling figures and went one up in the test series! That is test cricket at its best!

The South Africa have toppled the Australians by some amazing cricket down under and the Kiwis continue their good work by leading the aussies 2-0 already! Smith and Co, take a bow!

Ponting asked to rest, Sachin not firing (fans crying loud against LBW decisions), Mortaza picked up at super price by SRK, Jerome Taylor and Duminy firing all cylinders, Pieterson and Flintoff getting richer than Dhoni, Gambhir finally arriving on the world scene, Zaheer back to his best, Jayasuriya continuing to dazzle the world, Mendis flopping, its all happenning here in the world of cricket!

Bring it on, I say!

Goodbye, Jumbo!

2008-11-02T21:21:00.004+05:30

The "Nicest Gentleman" to ever play cricket has bid adeau to his beloved game!

Anil Kumble, the ever-fighter and the warrier who never stopped trying, the thinking cricketer who always put his team duty above himself, the only bowler to have bowled with a broken jaw and a finger with 11 stiches for the sake of his team, the mild mannered cricketer who respected others and earned respect from opponents all over the world, who never raised a brow or had an altercation in the field, who always was there untiringly trying and trying and trying for another wicket with every ball he bowled, has decided that it is time.the

It is time for us to salute one of the true heroes of the game to have ever played the game the way it is supposed to be played - in the right spirit, always with more than 100% committment and always ready to put duty above own rights.

Jumbo also timed the goodbye decision declaration in a way that his team mates had nothing on their minds except that they were playing against the Aussies and that they needed to win.

Goodbye Anil, we will miss you.

Take a bow, Jumbo!

(Image courtesy: Google Images)

Dada says Tata!!!

2008-10-07T22:45:00.004+05:30

Last week, Tata said Tata to Bengal and today the Bengal Tiger said Tata to Indian Cricket!!!

This one was a bolt out of the blue - It came out of nowhere as a 'and by the way....' sheepish announcement from the man himself.
I am sure this is a huge news! Not only for Kolkatta, or Bengal, or India but for the World Cricket! The whole cricketing world is already talking about it and whether it was a forced retirement or a voluntary one.

I did not like the way he announced "This is my last series... I have decided to quit". He looked stiff / bitter and sounded glum till he let out a small wry smile at the end of the sentence.
But still, I want to believe that Dada took his own decision looking at the overall Indian Cricket situation and I like it! I like it that he took this brave decision and I am sure this decision is going to make him look good in the average cricket fan's eyes. A masterstroke from Dada?
The man has had his flaws, but so has every man who lived on this earth and enough dirt has been thrown on Dada in public by the amazingly unforgiving Indian Cricket Fans and media.

All said and done, the most aggressive captain India has ever seen, is saying farewell.
Time to say "Thank you Dada" for many great memories, victories, pure cricketing joy and an all out entertainment for almost 15 years!

Happy Durga Puja!
PS: And I thought that Sachin is going to announce his retirement after Australia series after giving it his best shot....

Sachin: Failure in SL

2008-08-11T11:15:00.004+05:30

OK, where do I start?
I hate to say it, but Sachin Tendulkar has failed in the 3 test series. He has failed not the fans or the country but he has failed himself.
It is not his poor average of 15.83 that makes a compelling case to support my statement. Neither it is the fact that he has not scored more than 31 in any of the 6 innings he played on the sub-continent pitches. Every batsman goes through a phase where runs dry up and things go wrong even when you try your best. And who knows it better than someone who has played the cricket at highest level for over 17 years!!!
But where I think he has failed himself is the way he played.
Here is why.
He had two Sri Lanka LBW appeals being turned down in just last over where he did not play a shot.
Both went to a review (I agree with Mahela for taking the chance, it was worth it) and yet, in the very next over, he attempts to not play a ball on turning pitch only to be given out this time and rightly so.
What in the god's name was he thinking????????
When the team is down in dumps, when you know that the floodgates will open if you depart, when the team's / country's future lies in your hands, when opposition thinks and understands all this, and yet when you have had 2 close LBW shouts going for you just 2 minutes ago, you take this risk of not playing the ball!!!
This is another instance of a legend who looks like he has mentally decided (and declared to the whole world) that "I am not 25 anymore and I am 35. So don't expect any superhuman stuff from me." Once any sportsman thinks this way and imbibes this thought in his mind, he begins to lose. And Sachin has lost it.
And I am sure that this is not the Sachin Tendulkar that he would have wanted to grow up into.
Sigh...

Update: A cricinfo comment: "Since 1999, India has won 36 test matches. Most surprisingly Sachin Tendulkar was not man of the match in a single match. It shows he is not a match winning player. On the other hand man of the match award in these winning matches have gone to: Kumble -7, Dravid - 5, Harbhajan - 5, Sehwag - 3, Ganguly - 2, Laxman - 2 and Zaheer Khan - 2."!

Smith: The man who was never a boy!

2008-08-07T10:20:00.003+05:30

Graeme Smith has been an epitome of what a Team Captain should be like over the years that he has captained SA. For me, he has always been Captain No 1 in this era.
He has led from the front many a times and this time he almost outdid himself in leading from the front. Smith hit 154 not out when chasing 283 successfully (they were 93/4 and 171/5 at one time) and beating England in England to win the test series! What a moment to take the bull by its horns! What a super-achievement!!! All this at the age of 27 years!!! He is sure to leave his imprint in the Cricketing Greats of all times!
Take a bow, Graeme Smith!

India - Galle Test Victory

2008-08-06T09:33:00.003+05:30

I think Team India played some excellent cricket in the second innings to win the Galle test match.
I think that although you need high class bowlers to win a test match (remember the opposite side has to be bowled out twice to win the match?) Sehwag rightly got the MoM award becuase his both innings (and more importantly his approach) is what made the difference between two teams. Ishant bowled superbly aided well by Zaheer and theduo set the victory up for India. I would have felt miserable had India not won the match after such a great start, but Bhajji and Kumble did well to undo the pedesterian bowling in the first test. In fact, the pitch and conditions suited the spinners and they did their job. What I loved was the way Ishant kept hitting the deck ball after ball.
However, I felt sad with the way the Lankan warrior Mahela actually threw his wicket away at the crucial juncture with an aerial shot straight to Dravid. Not to take anything away from Indian bowlers and fielders who did a fantastic job thoroughout the match.
One exception was Kartik though, and India should not continue with him in the third match. Although he is an excellent batsman to have in the team at that position, he was poor in his wicket keeping skills. When everyone knows that one missed catch can cost you a match, think of what happens when you drop two or three in a match! I think strong signal needs to go to Indian fielders and this is the right time.
I am looking forward to the third match -I am sure that Lankans will be back strongly - they might get a fit Fernando in the match as well.
Super Sehwag continues to dazzle and one statistic after his first inning was that this was his consecutive 11th hundred that he had crossed 150!!! Hats off! I think this is one player who India should persist with at all times, irrespective of his inconsistency at times. Another player who needs to be in the team according to me is Irfan Pathan The guy needs a relook at his career and do what he has always done best - bowl, bowl fast and swing the balls. He is a great asset with bat too and that confidence must be given back to him somehow by the Captain and the coach.
With the current team though, it is essential that the think-tank sorts out Medis and Murali threats and have a game plan for their deliveries. Otherwise, just hope that Sehwag is at it again!
Well played, India! Keep it up!

Bhajji

2008-08-01T19:52:00.003+05:30

Just when I was about to sing "Bhajji can't bowl saalaa", he comes up with this !!!

The Mystery Man Mendis!!!

2008-07-31T18:44:00.002+05:30

He came, he saw and he conquered!!!
Ajantha Mendis might become the man a lot of Indian olympians would like to thank. The emotional cricket followers of the country just might desert the sinking Indian cricket ship (while the Mendis-phobia lasts for the famed Indian line-up) and watch the Bejing Olympics instead! Wishful thinking? May be, but the Indians are playing the spin in such a way as if they have never encountered spin before.
Yes, I feel that while the Indian batsmen appear to have forgotten how to play spin, the credit does undoubtedly go to Mendis and the way he made all the great batsmen around him crumble, time and again. My verdict after watching him (not so closely) Ajantha Mendis is that he is good. May not be as good as Murali (who can be?), but he is here to stay and he is a real threat on SL pitches more than anyone else. He is cool and he is a killer. He has a clean action and nothing to fear. Call it the carrom ball or anything else, Mendis rocks!
As far as the 2nd test Day 1 goes, Sehwag rocked too! And how? This was anotherSehwag special and this went on to prove how Sehwag should always be inm the team, irrespective of his failures at times. Just like Sehwag, another player who should be in playign eleven for India is Irfan Pathan. Someone needs to get that lad back to where he started.
Well, what can one say about Dravid, Ganguly and Tendulkar? Two failures on a trot doesn't mean much in the long journey of cricket that they have played, and they are definitely going to hit back sooner if not later...but that does not take away the shine from the Mendis-Murali combo rocking the Indian boat led by Kumble.
For me, the real failure in test 1 was that of Indian bowling on the same track where Murali-Mendis played havoc. Kumble with all his experience and Bhajji with all his aggression (and nothing else, really - I continue to wonder why he is in the Indian team for so long at all) came out a complete zero!!! :-(
Let's wait and watch how the 2nd test goes!

Cricket: Turning a new leaf

2008-06-17T21:51:00.006+05:30

Finally, I am glad that those who run cricket have shown some spunk in announcing the experimental implementation of refarrals. A batting team can now ask for 3 decisions to be reviewed by 3rd TV umpire if it disagrees with the on-field umpires.
It is such a joy and relief to stand vindicated.

Despite a promising start, here are a couple of things I want to happen as we go ahead:
1) Why only the batting side, even bowling side should be allowed for referrals in the matches
2) Why only 3 decisions, should be as many as required.

I am sure that going forward these improvements will be imlemented, and rightly so.

Seeing the brighter sides of international cricket in this post, here are 2 more:
1) I am glad that KP's stance is allowed by MCC.
2) Windies showed amazing spunk in fighting the Aussies and Chanderpaul has been superb!
:-)

Sports and Villians.

2008-06-15T20:15:00.008+05:30

It has been a super sporting month so far!
Just concluded tri-series was interesting and keenly contested with a deserved Pakistan winning it, Eng and NZ are playing some amazing cricket and Lee inspired Aussie fightback has been terrific against the West Indies at home!

And I haven'e even talked about the just concluded French open and the ongoing Euro 2008 which has been simply superb so far although my favourites France were bamboozled by the rampaging Dutch 4-1!

This makes me wonder what Bollywood's Bad Boys would say about this overdose of sports.

Gabbar would probably put it : " Aankhe 2, aur match itne saare......Bahot na-insaafi hai"

Mogambo might still say" Mogambo, Khush hua"

And since I share my name with another Bollywood villian, I kinda agree with both! :-)
Lage Raho!

IPL!

2008-06-01T18:45:00.002+05:30

Sorry for the inactivity on this blog for some months now, was totally kept busy on the professional front by the demanding client and the application deliveries !!!

Having said that, I haven't missed all the action and controversies in the thick of it of the ongoing IPL!!!

It has been superb show , to say the least, and thankfully hasn't remained showbiz but has had all fast track ingredients of cricket stamped all over it.

The Shauns, Shanes and the unknown Indian/international talent on show has surely changed the way cricket is played lover and given a great chance to those who always deserved it, but never got a chance due to non cricketing reasons.

I have been thrilled by many of the cricketers, not to mention the cheerleaders doing their bit!

Today being the final, it is a clash of the clinical Rajasthan Royals vs the Super Kings led by Dhoni. With Smith not playing, I'd think Chennai has some edge, but T20 has thrown the Deccan Chargers out against all possible odds showing that there is no logic based on reputations and past performances!

Three cheers to IPL and waiting to watch who gets the crown today!!!

Umpiring, Monkeys and racism!!! Sigh!

2008-01-13T12:25:00.000+05:30

About poor umpiring standards in current cricketing world, almost an year back, I wrote this: http://chendufali.blogspot.com/2007/02/technology-umpires.html and I am still of the same opinion. Its a nice feeling to stand vindicated - however, the ICC still does not see the light!

About racism, I think Bhajji deserves the stick if he has actually racially abused Symmo. However, so do the Arrogant (and unfair) Aussies for the way they have played the game for last couple of years. If Rashid Latif got suspended by ICC when he was captaining Pakistan and appealed for a catch he had not taken cleanly, why does Ponting always get away? When will the double standards of ICC stop?

Anil Kumble epitomised the cricket world's view when he said that only one team played in the right spirit of the game!

Can we have some cricket on the ground please?
Sigh!

Going for the Kill!

2007-12-12T11:48:00.000+05:30

Day 5 - India go for lunch at 221/5 . The scoring rater this morning has been 3.6!!!

One basic quality required for a winning captain is to go in for the kill when the opposite team is down on their knees - Time and again, we have seen that Indian captains completely lack the same with notable exception of Sourav Ganguly.

With Kumble, I had high expectations and they stemmed from the fact that he is a warhorse. But I was wrong, a captain has to have different skills than a good player. Kumble is an excellent player but that does not make him a good captain. While he marshaled his resources well, I do not see why a team on verge of a victory decides to bat slow enough to leave its bowlers very little time to get the opposition out - and that too when a bowler is a captain!

It happened in the last test and there is no difference in this test, the way Dravid batted was as if he is batting in the fourth innings to save the test match! Forget yesterday, even today the run rate was around 3.6!!! When all that was required was T20 batting! I don't know that in absence of a quality coach and presence of a captain who is happy with a 1-0 series win, what else should I have expected?

Yes, the batsmen and the bowlers - both let victory slip away but there is no bigger culprit than the captain who did not simply force the run-scoring yesterday and today morning on his players.

"Mr. Anil Kumble, if you are not able to bundle out the Pakistan team (which incidentally has the un-dodgable Misbah in the middle of it ) in the last 2 sessions, I will place the blame of lacklustre and non-aggressive captaincy on you and bestow the award of 'snatching a draw out of victory's jaws' on your able shoulders. You disappoint me!"

The Lord of Rings!

2007-12-09T19:53:00.001+05:30

The Lord of Rings is here!

Take a bow, Yuvraj Singh!

(Pic Courtesy: Cricinfo)

Decision Time

2007-12-03T14:43:00.000+05:30

Updates at the bottom of this post
----------------------------------

India (1st innings) - 616/5 decl
Pak (1st innings) - 456
Only 1 and 1/2 days play remaining in the match.

If you are Anil Kumble - what would you do?

Option A) Play safe - Give the batsmen batting practice for 1 and 1/2 days and tire the Pakistan bowlers
Option B) Go for a result - Bat today, score quick runs and declare by end of the day to set a target for Pakistan tomorrow - Let the team that plays well win.

I would go for option B, I am sure so would Ponting and Smith. I just hope that Kumble too would opt for Option B - what about you?

Update: India lost first wicket and Kumble sent in Dhoni. I like it. Yunis, the stand in captain, asks Salman Butt to bowl, I like it all the more. Excellent Captaincy from both sides. Tomorrow will be Paisa Vasool.
Update 2: India lost the plot when they batted quite slowly on 4th evening and also on 5th morning. And giving Yunis the credit of a great knock, the bowling unfortunately didn't click because we were as usual not aggressive - same story of a tireless Kumble bowling on 5th day and yet unable to win! Sigh!

Wasim Jaffer hits a beautiful century!

2007-11-30T14:24:00.000+05:30

Update: Jaffer went on to hit a magnificient double century (yet another one to his name after the one in WI) - proves that he scores bigwhen he scores! Made a case for his picture to be put up on this site ;-) so here goes: A young Bandra Boy Wasim Jaffer making his Ranji runs in tonnes...

The way that Jaffer is currently playing (he is 131* as I write this) is quite there_is_no_other_word_for_it beautiful!

I could only see glimpses of the way he played and thought that he was batting effortlessly and some of the shots he played were simply beautiful! Not savage, not boring, but well paced and sublime - a treat to watch! One just hopes that he continues in this vein to complete at least a double century if not more.

If only he was consistent like this in his career, it would have taken him to greater heights and me to being a prouder Mumbaikar!

Way to go, Wasim! You bat this way and I might even be inclined to send you Down Under ;-)

Curious Case of Kartik!

2007-11-30T09:54:00.000+05:30

Dinesh Kartik continues to baffle the team, selection committee and an average Indian cricket fan.

Not long ago, he was the toast of nation when he outscored everyone on the English tour - In fact, he was the leading run scorer for India in Test Matches this year! Not Rahul Dravid, Not Sachin Tendulkar, and not Sourav Ganguly. It was Dinesh Kartik who led Indian batting in test matches till this Pakistan tour.

Suddenly, at home, he is struggling to find the runs that came so easily to him on foreign pitches! He has failed in 3 innings as an opener against Pakistan (the third failure came today morning). Not only that, Jaffer is suddenly batting well and so is Gambhir. And almost everyone has forgotten Kartik's superb batting in England and is baying for his blood.

The other day, on the radio program after Kotla victory, a caller called in to ask what is Dinesh Kartik doing in the team!!! And the so-called 'experts' replied that 'Murali Karthik' is not in form and deserves to go!! I almost braked the car in disbelief. Radio experts apart, everyone is talking about how he should go. People are talking about how Jaffer and Gambhir should go on the Australian tour.

I think that Kartik should be persisted with. He is one person who gives his 100% and he has batted well in English conditions, although he is not clicking at home. Mostly we have had cases where a batsman makes double and triple hundreds at home and fails badly on foreign pitches. We had many such cases like Raman, Jaffer, Kambli etc. Jaffer himself was a big failure when he toured Australia last time. And believe me, he was technically as sound with the bat last time as he is today.

I would want to take Kartik and Gambhir to Australia more than Jaffer.

Coach Gary Kirsten?

2007-11-29T10:58:00.000+05:30

BCCI throws yet another googly at the cricketing world!

Of all the people in the world, BCCI is supposedly paying Gary Kirsten the same amount that they allegedly paid Greg Chapell!

Why Gary Kirsten? As per his profle on Cricinfo, the coaching stint he has had so far is this: "After retiring, he spent some time with the Warriors as a consultant batting coach and, in 2006, set up his own academy in Cape Town".

Sorry, but logic gets stumped at this googly from BCCI.

Don't get me wrong, he is one of the finest batsmen to have batted for South Africa - his averages in both forms of the game are a testimony to his abilities and I respect him for that.
But coaching? Isn't it supposed to be a different ball game altogether? The skills required are simply different. If you have to go for a player, at least go for a former captain with a long stint at captaincy, those skills might overlap a little. But basically why not go for someone who is a proven successful coach in any form of the game?

Either BCCI is proving what my friend Sanjeev calls them - "Board of Corrupt Comedians of India" or else I am Big Moose from the Archie comics. D-uh!

Shielding The Tail

2007-11-24T11:07:00.000+05:30

In the First Test against Pakistan, Misbah showed the benefits of shielding tail enders by taking wonderful singles off the last ball and Pakistan lasted much longer due to this approach by Misbah. I have seen this ability in a lot of players worldwide like Bevan, Cullinan, Steve Waugh, Pieterson etc.

However, the Indians lack this ability or attitude or god-knows-what but it seems like a common sense to me. Time and again, continuously over last 4 -5 decades, the Indian batsmen have not shielded their tail enders and India has lost the cause. Be it Gavaskar, Kapil, Sachin, Rahul, Sourav or any other main batsman. They always exposed the tail instead of shielding and Indian innings always ended with a batsman stranded alone. This time too, while playing a wonderfully stoic knock, VVS rotated the strike and exposed the tailenders and the Indian team lost the plot and could manage only a lead of 45 runs leaving VVS stranded.

This is where a coach (?) , Captain and mature batsman like VVS should have understood the gravity and importance of a first innings lead on a crumbling Kotla wicket and shielded the tail by hook or crook.

Indo-Pak ODI Series

2007-11-24T10:57:00.000+05:30

Couldn't write much about the Indo-Pak ODI Series, but here are the positives for India that I saw from the 3-2 win:

1) Dhoni has done well as a ODI captain and also as a player - real test will come in Australia but I think he would pass the test
2) Yuvraj is the shining star for India in ODIs - he was by far the best Indian batsman on display
3) Sachin is back! :-)
4) Rohit Sharma looks very very promising - should be taken down under for the next tour!
5) R P Singh should be persisted with - continues to impress me.

From Pakistan's perspective:
1) Sohail tanvir was impressive
2) Shoaib as usual is a treat to watch for the eyes
3) Misbah looks like Pakistani Yuvraj - Superb!
4) Mohd Yousuf and Younis Khan will be pillars for Pakistan middle orfder for a couple of years along with Misbah
5) Young openers like Salman, Yaseer etc. should be persisted by Pakistan

Overall a nice fitting series, although both sides showed a tendency to throw in the towel early - That fighting / killing / winning spirit was missed a bit.

Over to real cricket- Test Matches now - First one is underway already!

Chokers No More!

2007-11-24T10:54:00.000+05:30

South Africa will be glad to shed the chokers tag finally!

My Test Team

2007-11-14T13:27:00.000+05:30

My playing test team against Pakistan:

1 Dinesh Karthik
2 Gautam Gambhir
3 Rahul Dravid
4 Sachin Tendulkar
5 Yuvraj Singh
6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni
7 Anil Kumble
8 Murali Kartik
9 Zaheer Khan
10 Irfan Pathan
11 RP Singh
12th man: S Sreesanth

Observation 1: There is no Ganguly/ Laxman.
Reason: Time to phase out certain players due to age and to give new skilled players a chance. No point in keeping them as 12th man since they cant move swiftly in the field if services of a 12th man are required.

Observation 2: There are 5 bowlers in the playing eleven.
Reason: Need to take 20 wickets to win a test match.

Observation 3: No Sehwag / Bhajji / Jaffer
Reason: Would have liked to play Sehwag, but sorry no place. As for Bhajji, I still do not have faith in him. Jaffer would probably be a good bet in domestic conditions, but with Gambhir in form and deserving a chance, I'd go with Gambhir.

Dropping Dravid!

2007-10-30T01:12:00.000+05:30

Well, as speculated by some of my friends, Dravid has been rested...i mean dropped...er...um...no rested for fitness...um....whatever, you get the point, right?

As expected, this has led to a national outcry, ridiculous suggestions, and an expected 'mum' from the man himself.

I do not support the 'Dravid Dropping' decision.
I do not understand it.

C'mon, give him a break! He has not been in form for about 10 matches and you feel he is a droppable candidate? Just think about it - some months back, he was :
1) Captain of India in ODIs
2) Wicket Keeper for the team
3) Mainstay in batting (Yes, he had learnt to bat well in ODIs - it was a good adaptation - required for survival)

And suddenly you have a team which struggles to justify presence of 2 regular wicket keepers and he is no more the captain, he struggles for runs for a few matches and , yes, we are dropping him?

I do not believe that a player should be in the team purely based on past laurels and achievements as I have mentioned above. But my reasons for not dropping Dravid are as follows:

1) Series against Pakistan at home - Home is the best place to regain form
2) We need someone strong like Dravid to bat and bat well on pitches in Australia - He can do so only if he is in form - we need to get him back in the form and we need it NOW
3) Dropping someone who has just run out of form and then replacing him with a 100 times more out of form player is for god's sake, crazy !!! (Yes, I do not support the replacement by Sehwag)
4) We have to learn to trust our strong players and give them enough chances to bounce back.
5) I think the chap needs to get his rhythm back and if he had failed in series against Pakistan, yes, then I would have dropped him because your bad patch has to end quick at home and if it is not, then "Houston, we have a problem".

Now, unless there is a strong hidden agenda behind this 2-match-rest(!), I do not see any logic in this move by BCCI.

I sincerely hope that the already fragile Indian House will not come crashing down without The Wall.

Miss-Bah!

2007-10-30T01:02:00.000+05:30

Misbah Ul Haq!!! What art thou?

Despite the promising star that he truly is (remember the match against Australia in T20 WC?) , these are tough times on poor Misbah.

He seems to be getting adept at championing the losing cause.

While people remember only the Twnety20 finals where he threw it away, not long ago and in the same Twenty20 WC, Misbah also had the ignominy of not been able to score a run in last 2 balls to win and Pakistan had to go into a bowl out and finally lose, yet again to India!

If that was not enough, in the last ODI against SA, when Pakistan were cruising towards victory with only 32 required in 10 overs and 5 wickets in hand, Misbah had the misfortune of opening the gates after getting out to give SA the match and the series!!!!

The lad sure has the knack of being 'almost there'! I think he should consider himself renaming to Miss-Bah!!

Miles To Go...

2007-10-18T21:41:00.000+05:30

India managed to win the match in Mumbai through a rare rearguard action and a superb spell by Murali Kartik in his comeback match.

However, the way Indian batsmen batted was demoralizing to say the least - I am glad I was not in Mumbai to watch the game live in the stadium. Luckily, Murali came good in both batting and bowling and drove India home.

It was a close match just as the other victory that Indians managed in this tour. This is where they say that the statistics don't tell the entire story. A 4-2 doesn't look very bad but really both Indian victories came through narrow margins and were matches they could have easily lost and fairly so. However each one of Australian victories was a convincing one. It could very well have been 7-0 and still fair. It could also very well have been 4-3 but then it would have been really unfair.

The Aussies really rule the game in this era. Indians manage one big achievement in a decade to follow it up with consistent mediocre performances for the rest of the decade with little gems here and there to keep the interest (and money) going.

There is one T20 match - the solitary one on this tour - and knowing the Aussies, they will give everything in their power to win this one - to show to the rest of the world that they are still the best in any form of the game. Indians, on the other hand, will have to play out of their skins (rhino skins) to once again salvage their T20 WC victory.

But really, whom are we fooling here?

Ganguly seems to be on the wane, Dravid is woefully out of form, Tendulkar is still riding strong but not at his best, Dhoni is weighed down completely by his captaincy and has forgotten how to bat aggressively and bat strong-n-long, Bhajji is still in the team, we have no wonderful spinner to replace Kumble, and the fast bowlers are as in-consistent as the successful batsmen like Yuvraj and Uthappa!

One just hopes that Dhoni is singing Frost:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Goodbye, Inzy!

2007-10-12T20:14:00.001+05:30

Inzy achieved what not many Pakistanis have achieved in their lifetimes - Love, from Indian cricket fans!

Others like Zahir Abbas, Imran, Javed, Salim Malik, Shoaib have had their share of Indian fans - but have no doubts - if there ever was one Lovable Pakistani Player - it had to be Inzy! Good Ol' Inzy! The Lovable Giant! The Silent Assassin!

Osman Samiuddin of Cricinfo writes about his favourite Inzy moment here.

I, for one, loved the way he batted so easily - the laid back attitude, the subtle humour, the down to earth attitude, the rare moment(s) of emotional display, the big shots, the elegant cuts, drives and flicks, the way he made batting look so simple, his commitment to the game, and his hilarious legacy of run outs!!!

Take a bow, Inzamam-Ul-Haq!

Australia Lead India 3-1

2007-10-11T21:54:00.000+05:30

There they go again!!! Indians were streamrolled, crushed, shredded to pieces, burnt down and then thumped away from the ground today.

I think that outside the stadium in Vadodara, a passer-by would have asked another passer-by "Itna sannata kyu hai bhai?"

This match showed yet again that Aussies are made up of stuff that is not available anywhere else. If I was Gabbar, I would ask Ponting "Ye Australia wale apne betonko kaunse chakki ka aate khilate hai?"

Now, that is a victory - and although it is bad for those watching it, because it was a no show just like World Cup finals 4 years back - it was a thumping victory - the one which does दूध का दूध, पानी का पानी !

Awesome show by the Aussies - looks like they don't like losing one bit! They had to get back after the narrow loss at Chandigarh. Lee and Johnson were superb and so were Aussie fielders. And for once, Hayden gave Gilly the chance to get back in form.

Let us look at what is hapenning with the Indian side:
It was good to see Sachin bat so sublimely yesterday! I hope that he continues this form for rest of the series. But Mr. Rahul Dravid, what is wrong with you? 5 matches and only 44 runs??? What is it? So far, Dhoni has been cool in face of losing matches - one hopes that he gets back into his batting groove soon.

This match went on to show how crucial it is to get a good start. Really bad start and Indian team almost never manages to recover from them. This one was the same case.

Indians really need to pull themselves us and got to turn the series around with some good thumping victories against Aussies - Yes, yes, I know it is much easier to say than to put it in practice even once - but what the heck, let us at least say it!

Cricketing Action

2007-10-08T20:35:00.000+05:30

In a lovely season worldwide, everyone seems to be playing cricket.

The tourists - Australia in India, England in SL and SA in Pakistan - have been highly successful so far and it is indeed engrossing cricket. Test matches in Pakistan and ODIs in India and SL have always been a treat to watch. Especially when all the good teams in the world are playing competitive cricket.

Kallis has rocked Pakistan hard while Swann has impressed me for England. Hayden has been prolific as is his wont against the hapless Indians.

On the domestic front, Munaf Patel who struggled in the first innings against Mumbai is on a roll in the second innings of the Irani Trophy match, having taken 3 wickets for just 19 runs leaving Mumbai in a precarious position of 98/6!

Cricket rocks!!!

That man, Haydos!

2007-10-05T20:39:00.000+05:30

What is up with Matthew Hayden???

He never seems to stop batting well!!! At least once, one hopes against hope, that he will get out cheaply and quicky - but he seems to reserve his best against India-the land where he re-discovered his career.

There goes a story that before his maiden first-class innings, Hayden asked if anyone had made 200 on debut, then went out and hit 149. He has plundered and plundered runs all around the world and doesn't seem to be in any mood to give up just yet! Except for one season of slump in his form, "Haydos" has been prolific on the ground. In the last world cup, he was the highest run getter with an average of 73.22 and scoring 659 runs! And then it seems he did all that with a fractured toe and a broken bone in his other foot!!!!

This man is almost 36 years old, his average in test cricket is 53, that in ODIs is 44.28 and he averages 58.20 in T20 !!!! And we thought T20 is all about the youth!!!

Easily one of the most dangerous players in the world, he has swiftly overtaken the likes of Tendulkar, Jayasuriya, Kallis and others in that class to emerge as "The Boss"!!!

Matthew Hayden, take a bow!

MS Dhoni

2007-10-03T02:12:00.000+05:30

With T20 WC victory, MS Dhoni tasted success almost as much if not more than what Kapil Dev did back in 1983.

Everyone started comparing MSD to KD and gushed how India has found a cool captain and how he managed resources smartly to ensure the victory.

I have no doubts that Dhoni has a cool head on his strong shoulders but I think it is too premature for us to start celebrating 'The Captain' just yet for the following reasons:
1) Dhoni was plain lucky as a captain to have a team that wanted to prove something and in the format of the game where strategies can be thrown to winds and ball out of the grounds, the team delivered under pressure - every individual played his part, including Dhoni. And he will be the first to admit that he was lucky.
2) Dhoni did not show any smart moves to ensure this victory - in fact I do not support his decision of giving the final overs in 2 most important matches to inexperienced and dull bowler - Joginder Sharma. In fact he looked more like a captain who did not try too many experiments and went with the tried and tested methods.
3) Nothing succeeds like success and Dhoni knows it now better than anyone else

While it was a fantabulistic effort by the Indian team including MSD, let us keep our feet firmly on ground and hope that MSD does the same too.

India: World Champions!

2007-09-25T09:47:00.000+05:30

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss !!!
:-)

T20 WC FInals: India-Pakistan!!!

2007-09-24T12:02:00.000+05:30

It doesn't get better than this! What a performance by Team India!!!

Beating Australia in a pressure game like this one where Indian bowlers simply outperformed the Aussie Batsmen was simply mind blowing! And what can one say about Yuvraj? He has been outstanding in last couple of games and one can only hope that he continues his form at least for one more match!

One of the commentators said the other day that the moment when India won the bowl outs, they were probably destined to win this WC against all odds. I don't know about destiny, but these boys have surely played their hearts out - all the games that India has won in this series have been fighting wins - unlike Pakistan who have won handsomely at times. So this has been a fighting series for India while an inconsistent one for Pakistan.

I am goign to pray and hope for a historic victory finish for Team India in this World Cup.

Prediction!

2007-09-21T12:27:00.000+05:30

Wise Men Say... Only Fools Rush In... But I can't help... predicting the finalists! :-)

OK, I know it is really foolish to predict anything in Twenty20 but I am going to stick my neck out and predict that the finals might be played between arch rivals Australia and New Zealand.

I would love to see India vs Pak in the finals and I hope for the same but I do not have the confidence in both these teams to beat their opponents in semis. Australia have learnt from their mistakes and Kiwis are in rocking form too.

Pakistan, being unpredictable anyways, are more so in Twenty20. India, on the other hand, have played out of their skins in the last two matches, and it might just be a tad too much to expect them to continue their fighting form anymore in the tournament against Aussies.

But as they say, "उम्मीद पे दुनिया कायम है !"

India Storms into Twenty20 Semis!

2007-09-21T11:08:00.000+05:30

India literally stormed into the semis yesterday by knocking the most in-form team out of the world cup!!!

If the match against England was a fighting one for India to stay in the tournament, yesterday's match against SA was an awesome display of spirit, skill and attitude displayed by Team India.

Rohit Sharma saved the day for India along with MSD - I thought MSD should have come up the order after the collapse instead of sending in a newcomer to face the bullets - but Rohit fared really well and MSD also supported him eventually.

Another observation on MSD is that he is not a risk taking captain - he persists with the tried and tested methods - Even though Joginder was hit in the earlier match, he did not try to change him to give it to Sehwag or Yuvraj in that match. Similarly in yesterday's match Bhajji was hit for 15 runs and he did not try to change things - he persisted and luckily for him, the bowlers delivered. So far, he has not been seen thinking out of box. But these are early days and one hopes that he will improve with time.

One feels sorry for Smith and his team who almost had the cup in their pockets till yesterday - they had played superb cricket throughout the tournament. But this is a cruel game and a great leveller - Lankans and Proteas have learnt it the hard way in this tournament.

RP Singh was my star of the day - superb penetrative bowling by him is what wan the match for India. Pathan was accurate and impressive. Someone needs to talk to Sreesanth and teach him how not to bowl so many wides!!! India also fielded well and catch by Kartik was super too!

The semis are lined up nicely now and the there is a great chance to finals between arch rivals - India and Pakistan OR Australia and NZ. It might as well be India vs NZ and Aus vs Pak in the finals and either ways we haev some great cricket coming up.

Will Indians continue their fighting momentum in the semis against Aussies or will the Aussies steamroll them like they did with another in-form team - Sri Lanka? We will wait and watch!

Like the advertisement of McDonald's says, "I'm Loving It"!

Yuvraj, Gibbs, Shastri and Sobers!

2007-09-20T11:30:00.000+05:30

Six Sixes in an over! Awesome hitting by Yuvraj - It was clean hitting and those towering sixes were a super treat to eyes! The ball went so high and so far! Super shots!

It had happened only once in the history of international cricket in all these years (Shastri's was in domestic First Class Cricket) , and suddenly, in 2007, it has happened twice already. Something tells me that this feat is not going to be as rare as it was till today.

India's ODI Squad for home series

2007-09-18T16:25:00.000+05:30

My take on India's just announced ODI side for home series against Australia and Pakistan:

As expected, Dhoni is declared the Captain - My disapproval nod and best wishes.
It is always good to have Pathan back.
I am not so happy to have Bhajji back in the team. But it will ensure that Powar will not be complacent.
I would have liked to see Sehwag in the team. Home series is always good to get someone important back in form.
While all the batsman have picked themselves up naturally, it is sad to see the young Rohit Sharma replaced for the series.
I am glad that Agarkar has been dropped - I just hope that this time it is for good.

I think that this series can be a landmark series for Indian fast bowling. India can afford to play 3 fast bowlers in a match and 2 spinners-such is current form of Indian seamers. Pathan and Zaheer will be automatic choices and RP or Sree can give them good support with Chawla and Powar/Bhajji.

Rahul Dravid's Resignation

2007-09-18T12:59:00.000+05:30

Rahul Dravid's resignation after the English tour has opened a can of worms in Indian Cricket.
These worms come in different shapes and sizes, some of them are called as 'reasons', some called as 'impacts' and some are called as 'perennial problems in Indian Cricket'.

Each of these categories automatically calls for an intense, passionate discussion at lunch tables in offices, chowrahas, naakaas and panwallahs all across India.

I think it is better to put some things in perspective before analysing the root causes and preparing for impacts.

Rahul Dravid was never a great captain.
His captaincy was unimaginative at times and un-aggressive all the times.
He was opposite of captains like Graeme Smith and Ricky Ponting who play only to win.
Rahul was given this position in circumstances best forgotten.
At the end, captain is as good or bad as the team.

Now I can start my analysis of the situation at hand.

The reasons for Rahul's resignation are best known to him and those close to him. His public statement is that the reasons are personal, and the public should respect the same. The talk of his timing being so un-patriotic on the verge of important tour and all that is bull-shit and people are talking as if he has left the tour mid-way and returned back like someone we all know did. He has completed the tour which started when chips were down, got a series victory and a ODI series loss and then came back and resigned. He did not resign mid-way in the tour, he did not trigger any rumours to such an effect while the tour was going on and he certainly ensured that there was no leakage and no bad blood like in the case of Chappel-Ganguly feud.
His resignation has to be taken by the public and more importantly by BCCI in the right spirit and they need to move on as they have rightly done so far.

About the impact, well a team certainly needs a captain and preferably a coach. The candidates for whom captaincy is up for grabs are supposed to be Tendulkar and Dhoni. Kumble has said that he will be honoured if it is offered to him as well. Ganguly's name came up for discussion and public debates too.

Let us take the candidates one by one.

1) Sachin Tendulkar: Certainly the most experienced batsman in the world today. With acute cricketing mind, he should be able to have the best of strategies in all conditions. With the richness of skill and experience he will also have the respect of the remaining 10 members of the side. However, he has failed as a captain and also has shown to be a fragile batsman while handling pressures of captaincy. Not only that, a captain needs a lot of other skills than cricketing ones. He needs to be a leader. He needs to lead from front. He needs to be bold, to be positive and to motivate the others in the team to outperform themselves. Sadly, I do not see these qualities in Sachin. I would not recommend Sachin's name as a captain. We have had too many captains who have not been aggressive and we certainly should not repeat the mistakes we did once. Not recommended.

2) MS Dhoni: The most exciting batsman of Indian cricket team today - he has also shown a balanced head on his strong shoulders. He has also shown cricketing acumen while batting and keeping. However, he is still quite young and has not seen the troughs in a waveform when it comes to one's form. Like Pathan, Sehwag etc. who rode high on public wave when their forms were on the crests of a waveform, Dhoni too is today touted as the next captain. Sehwag was even made a Vice Captain once. I think that Dhoni is still too raw and yet not as mature as we would want to have for someone who will lead India. He is yet to gain the respect that the famed trio have in the team. I doubt whether he will have it in him to tame the trio as and when required or to take tough decisions regarding their batting slots etc. Twenty20 is a different ball game and he should retain that captaincy since he is India's first Twenty20 captain (almost) and he will get the respect in this form of the game from seniors, but I doubt what and how they will treat him when he tries to lead them in tests and ODIs. Not recommended.

3) Anil Kumble: Extremely talented, a war-horse, a 200% committed cricketer who tries and tries and tries and tries till he can. Again not a motivator, not a leader and certainly not aggressive. Not recommended.

4) Sourav Ganguly: Post-Chappell saga, we see a different Ganguly now a days - a much more mature senior person who thinks before he talks now - someone who has probably lost a touch of his flamboyancy off the field and gained a lot of it on the field. Has always gelled well with Dravid and off late jelling well with Sachin too. Certainly has it in him to lead a side. The most aggressive Indian Captain till date. Back in form. More mature. My choice for Captain is Dada - Yes, in both forms of the game.

Twenty20

2007-09-16T17:22:00.000+05:30

I like Twenty20.

While cynics will scoff at it for being completely against the spirit of the natural cricket game, it brings to viewers great excitement, quicker matches and lovely shots - cricketing or not.

Apart from the fast pace and zest on the ground to get moving, the game also brings to fore a few extra characteristics other than cricketing skills - it brings to fore skills like character, playing under pressure, thinking out of the box and thinking superfast. It brings about a speed to the game one sees so rarely while watching the leisurely test cricket.

It requires a complete different set of characteristic really and that is what makes it different and exciting.

It makes heroes of players normally ignored in the comparatively longer versions of the game, it brings in a difference to the normal game and is obviously raw, but will soon gain ground.

I think that with changing times, one needs to appreciate a younger breed of talent, bring in changes which make the game popular and more watchable.

It has been fun so far, with the likes of Gayle, Jayasuriya, Gibbs and Pieterson setting the tournament on fire. While it makes bowlers suffer many ignominious moments, the very focus of the game is on batsmen. Bowlers can take a heart that there are test matches still being played.
:-)

We shall enjoy the game, in whatever way the bat and the ball fight with each other!

Sachin Tendulkar - Natwest Series 2007

2007-09-06T10:28:00.000+05:30

For one man who has been criticised by many (including yours truly) for his old age, lost passion, tired body and weakened spirit, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has stood tall in this series with performances to keep his head held high.

In the six matches so far, his scores have been as follows: 17, 99, 8, 55, 71 and 91.

Apart from these individual scores, he is second highest scorer from both sides so far with an impressive average of 57.33 and a strike rate of 88.20!!! If these are not enough, he also missed out on a couple of centuries in the 3 match ODI series against SA played earlier.

His form can be measured by his scores as above, but to watch his spirit, passion and his attitude, one has to watch any one of the last 3 ODIs to see him back to his batting during those glorious days.

Simply Superb Sachin! Go ahead and make the finals on Saturday the crowning glory of your scintillating series so far!

All we can say is - "Lage Raho Sachinbhai"!!!

6th ODI: Super Win for India!

2007-09-06T09:51:00.000+05:30

What a rocking thriller-cliffhanger-of a match!!!

First the Indian bowlers struck gold by taking early wickets, then Owais Shah, Pieterson and debutant Luke Wright spoiled their party by some truly wonderful batting. Especially Dimitri Mascarenhas's delightful batting in the last over for 5 consecutive sixes was straight from one of those 'Believe it or not' series. Experts even commented that this last over could easily cost India the match!

I love Dimitri Mascarenhas for the sheer joy he brings to the viewers - what clean hitting! - He reminds me of Ricardo Powell of WI who sadly went into oblivion as fast as the balls he hit for sixes! (Readers would not be surprised to know that Dimitri was brought up in Australia.)

Chasing 317 in a do-or-die match was never going to be easy, especially for poor chasers like India.

It needed a herculean effort from everyone who could pitch in - and as the stakes were high, the already high expectations from Sachin-Sourav-Rahul sky rocketed. And did they fulfil the expectations? Boy, they did and did it in style! Sachin and Sourav batted superbly, timed the ball perfectly and hit cleanly. Especially Sachin was a treat to watch with ferocious cuts and pulls and dabs and crisp drives and big hits. Sourav being Sourav delighted the viewers and supporters by dancing down to hit Broad out of the ground - Both gave India a start that made 316 easily gettable.

But as it often happens in Bollywood movies and Indian run chases, when the going is good, it turns on its head against the run of the play. Both Sourav and Sachin got out back to back after giving India a tremendous start and then Dravid came and went and so did Yuvraj- suddenly it was the great Indian saver this English summer - Dhoni and the dashing Uthappa at the crease trying to keep Indian hopes alive by making a match of it. Most of Indian supported would have lost their hopes by now and switched off their television sets.

Dhoni was not on top of his form, but was doing his best to keep fighting. But the young Robin Uthappa had something else in his mind. He literally played Robin Hood and robbed the English victory from their hands playing an intelligent innings. It was a display of tremendous character, never-say-die spirit and intelligent and clean batting by the 21 year old. Not once did he flinch, and in fact, in the last ball of the second last over, he hit the ball where he could have taken two, but showed super maturity and took only one to retain strike for the all important last over! I have a feeling here that no other Indian batsman - how-so-ever senior or talented, would have done what Uthappa did. He shouldered the responsibility thrust on him by the situation and what a cool head he has on those able shoulders! The scoop and then the off drive - he clearly outplayed the English think tank on the field and brought India a wonderful victory to get them back in the series!

Robin Uthappa, take a bow!

5th ODI - India fight to stay afloat

2007-09-03T11:24:00.000+05:30

The Indian batsmen, after an indifferent performance earlier, came back strongly in this match, led by a rejuvenated Sachin, and gave India a solid total.

Sachin was back to his 2nd ODI mode and he blasted the opposition bowlers all over the ground. It is always a treat to watch him in his elements. Ganguly played the perfect foil(though I wonder sometimes whether it is a necessity to play foil or just a cultural habit of Indian cricket) and also hit some wonderful strokes. Gambhir was good too and Yuvraj was ruthless after being lucky not to be given out when on 25. Dravid and Dhoni were scintillating and helped India reach a formidable 324.

The Indian bowlers started off well but the fielders started as miserably as the series has been for them. Senior pros dropped regulation catches, newcomers fumbled in stopping the ball and most importantly, the team dropped 3 sitters !!! Now, it is cardinal mistake if you drop a single sitter, but this time they were saved by 2 factors: Total Runs scored by India and M/s Duckworth and Lewis. A third factor was a combination of good bowling by Ganguly (made me wonder why was the ball not given to Yuvraj as well to bowl some slow medium pacers) and excellent work behind the stumps by Dhoni.

About England, Collingwood was awesome and led from front yesterday. Had it not been for rains and D&L, who knows what the results might have been.

Overall, Indians have managed to keep the series alive. With two more games to go, it sure makes for some interesting cricket.

All Rounders

2007-08-31T14:22:00.000+05:30

Indian think tank now blames lack of an all rounder in the team for its losses!

Funny, I see most well-rounded men in the Indian team - look at Sachin Tendulkar, or till recently there was a Sehwag, and how can we forget Ramesh Powar? Pot-bellies are our birth right and we shall have them, right guys? Running around and catching the ball and saving runs, well, that's for lesser mortals!

But seriously, if all the 'specialists' in the team do their job well, who needs all rounders? All we need is a pack of men who are out there with a common objective - 'to perform to win' and that's it.

What we lack is the killer instinct, which makes us bat the way we did in 4th ODI, what we lack is the total commitment and winning attitude which makes us so inconsistent, what we lack is coherence, homogeneity in the team which makes us so 'self-oriented' match winners, what we lack is the team spirit where individuals forget their lives for a common cause of victory, what we lack is the spirit of playing the game for love of it which makes us think about match fees and selections.

We do not lack all rounders, we simply lack the Commitment!

मेरा भारत महान!

4th ODI - Terrific match

2007-08-31T11:33:00.000+05:30

The fourth ODI was an exhibition of some terrific competitive cricket played by both in the second half. The team which kept its nerves eventually won, and rightly so.

The first half was absolutely un-inspiring and insipid cricket played by Indians - makes me wonder why do they bat like tests in ODIs? In an era where 300 is a normal score and not an impossible one, every team that bats first must attempt to bat to go higher than 300. No approach taken by any Indian batsman met this objective. Highly defensive is the only way to bat when you are batting in a fourth innings of a test match you are trying to save, not when you decide to bat first in an ODI!

After the pathetic display of what some would call as batting, Indian bowlers turned the table and had England reeling at 103/7 in an inspired burst by seamers, led by the one and only -
Ajit once-a-year Agarkar. His special spell has earned him the next couple of matches in the tournament and that, is what matters to these guys, looks like.

It was a nice thriller towards the end of the match though with both sides trying to give their best.

Broad and Bopara were awesome and so was Collingwood in the match yesterday. England sure look like the deserved winners of this trophy.

I wonder which jelly-bean will it take now to inspire the Indians!

4th ODI - My Team

2007-08-30T10:47:00.000+05:30

Going by the current form of Indian cricketers, I believe the new team I am proposing as follows will not be able to do any worse than the current team when it comes to batting, bowling or fielding. (However, it simply will not be able to match the acting done by curent team members in various advertisements)

1. Ranjeet
2. Ranjeet
3. Ranjeet (C)
4. Ranjeet
5. Ranjeet (VC)
6. Ranjeet
7. Ranjeet (WK)
8. Ranjeet
9. Ranjeet
10. Ranjeet
11. Ranjeet

OK, I am all ready and padded up - Bring them on.

3rd ODI: England Superior

2007-08-28T12:27:00.000+05:30

This match brought about a clear indication of which side is superior in fielding and overall attitude on the ground.

The catches that were taken by English fielders were great and those spilled by Indians were simple ones.

After the test series, Indian seam bowling has lost its edge while English bowlers have managed to retain the same.

Sachin had to fail after the super knock! :-( The consistency which made him a great cricketer seems to have deserted him long back now.

Sourav is playing a dream series and was solid yesterday. Dravid started from where he had left it and was good too. Apart from these two and Yuvraj, there was nothing in Indian batting.

There is no point in blaming the toss and the decisions. The blame lies with the players who failed to deliver (time and again).

2nd ODI - Sachin rewinds to 1998!

2007-08-28T11:45:00.000+05:30

What a super knock from Sachin in the 2nd ODI!!!

It was vintage Sachin all the way with confident drives, dancing down the pitch with lofted shots and sheer aggression. It was a rewind to 1998 where we held him in highest esteem, respect, awe and reverence. Even the way he was given out was similar to how he was given out in his desert storm of 1998 against Aussies at Sharjah.

Also the way Dravid hit 92* was absolutely refreshing!

These knocks tell us that these seniors are (STILL) capable of batting this way - it is only a pity that they themselves often seem to forget this fact.

First ODI - England Crush India

2007-08-22T11:17:00.000+05:30

England clinically demolished India in the first ODI yesterday. It was a super performance from the English Team.

I was glad to see my favourite English batsman - Alaister Cook crush the pedestrian Indian bowlers all around the ground with the man in form - Ian Bell. If the Indian bowling was mediocre at best, the lesser said about yesterday's batting, fielding and running between the wickets performance, the better.

It was spineless and pathetic, and not one batsman showed the stomach to fight it out except Dravid and Karthik.

The signs were there for all to see, a run out in the initial overs is as suicidal as it can get. A run out of a man in form (by Monty of all the people) is worse for the morale of a team. Sachin getting out caught at short midwicket (yet again) is also indicative of throwing away wicket and not applying one's mind. English bowlers bowled well and Anderson has been particularly terrific this season to deserve his best haul so far in international cricket.

Round 1 goes to England, whom the media surprisingly has called underdogs for this series.
I hope that the media will acknowledge the more superior team out of the at two least now .
With Cook and Bell in sublime form, KP being KP and Flintoff back in the team, Indians should open their eyes and look at saving the series.

For India, was it a matter of continuing what they left off at the World Cup, or just a bad day at office? Let us wait and watch. One thing is sure - England were home handsomely and deservedly so.

My Eleven

2007-08-21T10:13:00.000+05:30

My Indian Eleven for the first ODI to be played today:

1. Gautam Gambhir
2. Sourav Ganguly
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. Dinesh Karthik
7. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
8. Zaheer Khan
9. Ramesh Powar
10. Ajit Agarkar
11. R P Singh

My England Eleven for the first ODI to be played today:

1. Ian Bell
2. Alaister Cook
3. Kevin Piteson
4. Ravi Bopara
5. PaulCollingwood
6. Andrew Flintoff
7. Matt Prior
8. Stuart Broad
9. James Anderson
10. Chris Tremlett
11. Monty Panesar

Dravid Declaration and Series Victory

2007-08-15T12:37:00.000+05:30

This post is not a long analytical post, but a short one of my conclusions.

Conclusion # 1> India has it in them to win overseas consistently
Conclusion # 2> Team India can play like a team
Conclusion # 3> India won without a formal coach!
Conclusion # 4> Sachin's child-like smile still charms me
Conclusion # 5> I did not like the defensive (play safe) approach taken by Dravid.
Conclusion # 6> Rahul Dravid is not and cannot become Sourav Ganguly. (Update: Dada does not agree with me)
Conclusion # 7> Somehow, for me, series victory lost it's sweet taste the moment Indian team danced with joy after England fought back valiantly to draw the match.
Conclusion # 8> India lost a golden chance to win 2-0 and rub it in with a moral victory due to an unimaginative and a gutless captaincy.

Sawal Ek Crore ka!

2007-08-13T13:47:00.000+05:30

Three questions have plagued the whole of India. They are:

1) Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyu Aata Hai?
2) Balbir Pasha ko AIDS hoga kya?
3) Rahul Dravid ne itna late declare kyu kiya?

A Tribute To 'Jumbo'!

2007-08-12T11:13:00.000+05:30

Spoiler: This may sound like a post written after Jumbo's retirement from cricket, but please bear with me.

"Jumbo" is a name one normally associated with an elephant. It starts right from childhood when one hears a story of a baby elephant named Jumbo. He is a good elephant, lives long and has great memory.

Anil Kumble is called as' Jumbo' by his teammates - it started in his Karnataka team and that is how his Indian team mates call him. My guess is that the name was associated with him for his height and the way his ball would rise swiftly to a batsman foxing him completely. However, Anil has truly displayed the characteristics of the elephant in the story - he has been around in the cricketing arena for a mind-boggling 17 years and has as sharp memory and a cricketing acumen as one can have.

It all started when the tall, bespectacled , and a slender young engineer with a boyish moustache on his lips appeared in his whites in the year 1990 against England in England. He joined the team when India was coming to grips with the magical Hirwani - and yet managed to make an impact in the very first innings by taking 3 wickets. From there on, Kumble has bowled in every ground in the world and played against every possible country for the last 17 years - In the event, the moustache disappeared, the boy became a man, and he gained little weight and immense respect from all around the world. He broke many records, his own jaw and went on to become the most wicket taking bowler for India and will now be the third highest wicket taker in the whole world, not to mention his 10 wickets in an innings!

This man, who today is toast of the world was however ridiculed by many during his initial years for not turning the ball enough and being ineffective on foreign pitches.(yours truly was not an exception) But one quality which this man has, is that of not giving up which amazes me to no extent. He toils and toils and toils in any condition - just keeps going on and on and on for over after over, thinking before every ball and delivering the goods - or even when not able to deliver, he still toils and toils. Jumbo may be the name of an elephant, but a true quality this Jumbo has exemplified has that been of a 'warhorse'. Just like his teammate Jammy, Jumbo has been the warhorse for India. He is unstoppable and unplayable.

But he has had his share of failures too. One of the many instances when he could not secure a win for India on the last day of a test match was when a dogged Cullinan and rains stopped Anil Kumble in his tracks - I am sure that the whole country looking towards him to deliver the goods, but when he could not get Cullinan out, Anil must have been devastated like the rest of us - but he is a learner and a keen one at that. He bounced back from every failure to give better than he could for the team and the country.

A keen learner, Kumble has been giving a lot of attention to his batting and fielding skills. Yes he looks funny when he lunges at the ball at Gully and he might have scored his maiden century only after 17 years in international cricket, but this man has been a pillar for the team - his batting style has been unique - his front foot would come ahead first and then the bat, and invariably, the ball would go towards the third man - I am sure that more than half of his total runs have come from third man area. His defence has always been solid and he puts a heavy price on his wicket - it was funny to hear Dravid say about Kumble that whenever the latter is given out LBW - he always denies being truly out! This tells either how much he has learnt to avoid being given a LBW or how much he can bluff with his teammates! :-)

Never touched by any controversy, ever a gentleman who gave his best to the game of gentlemen and a true team man who was never bothered by competition and always encouraged youngsters - no doubt everyone in dressing room was jumping with joy when Jumbo got his first century! Talking of this innings, it was a characteristic Kumble inning - started cautiously, gained confidence and played strokes whenever required, but was always cautious till the end - and hence he remained unbeaten and rightfully so.

Nice guys always do not finish last! :-)
(Images Courtesy: Google Images and Cricinfo)

India on Top!

2007-08-11T10:59:00.000+05:30

Awesome batting display by everyone in the 1st inning of the 3rd test at The Oval enabled India post a mammoth 664! Has Indian team come truly of age or is it just another flash in the pan?

Whatever the analysts say, it is a glorious moment to soak oneself in patriotic joy after seeing this tremendous batting on a foreign soil by everyone - not a single person got out in single digits!!! Now how often have you seen this happen with the Indian team???

Kartik once again was fabulous and as Chappell said rightly, he has an Australian heart. He is Super! We need more such hearts please. I love the guts he has and the game he plays. His confidence definitely rubs off on players like Jaffer who for a change, batted fluently and not defensively as he is so famous for.

Dhoni surely has one and except for his immense disappointment in the World Cup, he has been my favourite Indian batsman since the time he joined the team. Watch out for Dhoni, I sued to say before the WC. Isn't he fabulous? Even when given out in the 90's, he comes back to the dressing room in the same speed that he had got out of it to bat - he came, he batted and he went back - no qualms about waiting in the crease, nodding his head with a forlorn face, nothing of that sort - just finished my business at the batting crease and off I go. It definitely brought the test match alive for the spectators and gave India the impetus that always lacked - never seen Kapil Dev and Sehwag has Indian team seen test batting with such ferocity, disdain and speed. Bravo Dhoni!

Anil Kumble is a man at whom many Indians scorned at earlier in his career for his inability to turn the ball, but he is one team man I would love to have - I cannot forget his bowling in the fourth Innings with a fractured jaw - I cannot forget the partnership with Srinath in 1998 to win a ODI against Australians and all odds and who can forget his outstanding bowling figures throughout his career! Take a bow, Jumbo! This is certainly an achievement he deserves. I think "Kumble - the fighter" deserves a separate post, and I shall deliver the same later!

The famous trio of Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly too batted well and am I glad that I am not Ganguly - he looked in silken touch till he was robbed - yet again - by poor decision - how much he would have loved to loft the bowlers like Panesar outside the ground time and again! Dravid was superb and his wicket was completely against the run of play. Tendulkar stuck in there thanks to the reprieve of Prior and showed glimpses of Tendlya we all loved at one time.

That man Lax-man was not lax this time and played an elegant knock too! Worth watching when you are relaxing at home. Nice crisp drives and flicks. Everybody feasted out there on poor English bowling and fielding and a batting paradise.

Super knocks by tail-enders eventually ensured India post a 664 and it looks like Diwali is arriving a tad too early this year - ironically - in the month of Indian independence from England!

India's Twenty20 Team

2007-08-08T10:34:00.000+05:30

BCCI has announced that Dhoni will be the captain of India's team 20/20 World Cup.

This is a good decision, and one hopes that captaincy does not weigh down heavily on Dhoni's strong shoulders. Yuvraj will be his deputy and I like it that way. Seniority should not always decide the position.

However, I am not entirely convinced with inclusion of Bhajji, but Sehwag should come handy in this tournament. Also, India's luckiest cricketer - Ajit Agarkar - is back again!

What really saddens me is that I see no real 'youngsters' being included in this team - That India's bench strength is so poor that we call back Bhajji, Agarkar and Sehwag is indeed a sad state of affairs. Dig deep into the domestic tournaments and one will see bundle of talents waiting to be picked - but sadly, no one in interested. One can only see two promising youngsters in the entire team - Piyush Chawla and Rohit Sharma. India A team did very well in Kenya recently and there should have been more inclusions from that team.

About Pathan siblings, I did not see any stellar performances from Yusuf in the domestic cricket for him to be picked up for the series but I second the inclusion of Irfan and sincerely hope that he is back to his old swinging ways.

Jelly Beans

2007-08-03T11:47:00.000+05:30

I swear that I had to Google up what a "jelly bean" means after the whole controversy regarding it in the last test.

Seriously, I think that every player sometimes needs the extra drive (if playing for the country or money is not a drive enough) to outperform himself and the sledging and pranks played by Englishmen probably acted as that drive for Zaheer. At the same time, the nerves and sledging got better of Sreesanth and the English nailed him all right.

Coming to think of it, sledging is now a commonly accepted phenomenon in World Cricket.
Gone are the glorious days of West Indian domination, where sledging was not required to take a wicket or to hit a bowler out of bowling attack.
The bat and the ball did everything.

Aussies started sledging in their typical aggressive way as a psychological ploy and soon mastered it. Instead of following the best practices of Australian cricket, the rest of the nations followed Aussies in this bad habit. So much so that soon, this became a norm. Now you can see the umpires turn blind eye when a bowler is allowed a mouthful at a batsman and the wicket keeper / close in fielders can be a chatter box all the time. As of now, a physical contact is disallowed but soon, I fear that the ICC will allow soccerisation of cricket where certain physical contact would be allowed with some conditions.

Yes yes, I know a fast bowler today has to be aggressive and all that, but still, I prefer the good-old game of cricket.
The game where a fast bowler comes in furiously and swings the ball beautifully, the batsman defends it with his best abilities and nods to the bowler appreciating the ball and the bowler lauds the batsman's technique and goes back to his bowling crease.

No sledging, no bad blood, and definitely no directed beamers!

Wicket Keeprs and Spinners

2007-08-03T11:21:00.000+05:30

One decade ago, India was a country of spinners.
A country which had at least 2 spinners in playing 11 if not more.
A country which looked up and tried to emulate the famed trio of spin bowling in the whole world - Bedi, Prasanna and Chandra.
A country where spinning tracks were prepared for playing cricket.
A country which had only one wicket keeper in the team without a back-up.
A country where the leading batsman and Vice Captain had to play a role of a wicket keeper because we could not afford a specialist wicket keeper.

How times change!

Today, Indian team has 2 wicket keepers in the playing 11 . Plus, there is a third wicket keeper (Parthiv Patel) waiting in the wings and scoring centuries for India A.

Today, Indian team has only one place for spinner in the playing 11. Apart from him, there are only 3 names doing the rounds from all over the country - Bhajji, Powar and Piyush Chawla.

For good or bad, the times do change!

India wins!!!

2007-07-31T20:44:00.000+05:30

Great win for India - Team India which saw almost everyone chip in their unique styles.

Especially outstanding efforts by Dinesh Kartik and Zaheer Khan! Great contribution by Saurav, Sachin, Jaffer, Laxman, Kumble and RP Singh!

Finally it was a team effort which saw this victory come India's way - and deservedly so.

Rejoice !!!

Taufel and Tendulkar

2007-07-31T11:24:00.000+05:30

Everyone is talking how unfortunate Sachin Tendulkar was to miss out on yet another century when he was wrongly given out by Simon Taufel. More so when Taufel himself admitted it being wrong.

For me, it brings out three points:

1) If Taufel understood his mistake while seeing it on the big screen when Tendulkar was walking back, why did he not call Tendulkar back - like they had earlier called Pieterson back at Lord's?
2) What about so many other instances in the same innings when Tendulkar was out, but not given out ?
3) Even if Taufel would have called Tendulkar back and it would have been justice for the batsman, what about the instances when a player is out but not given out due to an umpiring error? Can the bowler also claim for similar justice?

This glorious game, sadly, is not perfect because it allows for these errors and mistakes to rule and decide the fate of the game being played.

That is why it is utmost important for those in governance to give more freedom to technology and to stop treating umpires as if they are gods. Someone at the top has to understand that umpires are human and if the umpires can take help technology, it will benefit the game in the long run. Why is it that umpires get away with their mistakes when players don't? The point is not that players should also get away, but that there should be no mistakes. That should be the aim of ICC.

Till the time this knowledge dawns upon them or they do something about it, there will be missed centuries, lost games, and god knows whether it is true, but fixed matches too!!!

India in England - First Test

2007-07-24T11:46:00.000+05:30

Hi All, mercifully, my employer has re-opened the rights to blogger website (as a probable measure to reduce the side- effects of the peanuts (I mean increments) that came out last month) and I can breathe (blog) again!

Yes, I know - it feels like the birds can fly, Govinda can dance and rivers can flow again!
Hum-ho! OK! Back to cricket!

Where shall I start after such a long break? OK - Let us start with the first test with England that was completed (!) yesterday.

To sum it up, England were hard done by the rains - they deserved to win fair and square. And obviously, there were more take-aways for England than for India

Takeaways for England -
1) James Anderson - Amazing bowler, why he was out of playing 11 for such a long time is a mystery. England's bowling line up should be ideally - Harmison, Flintoff, Anderson, Sidebottom, Monty.
2) Monty Panesar - Improving continuously and impressing everyone with his attitude
3) Matt Prior - Good Wicket keeper, Better Sledger and still better as a Batsman - will go a long way to play for England
4) Kevin Pieterson - England's best bet to survive and do well in World Cricket - Rightly the next leader for England -> My take - KP = 2 times Yuvraj Singh in his best form.
He was busy hammering Kumble all around Lord's , while our 'masters blasters' struggled against Monty.
5) England almost won - without Flintoff and Harmison!

Takeaways for India-
1) Rain is always not a spoilsport. - Good revenge for India - I am still not able to forget how Cullinan and rain thwarted Indian win (and spirited Kumble bowling) on SA soil years back - and so this feels good.
2) R P Singh - bowled really well (on a bowler friendly wicket)
3) Dhoni - Sensible batting - shielded the tail enders as much as he could - please note that this trait was / is never seen before in Indian cricket.
4) Dinesh Kartik - the guy has a spunk - thankfully, sense prevails sometimes in Indian cricket corridor and he is in the team.

As far as the much famed Indian line up(!) goes, this is my take:

Yes they were great.
There are times when everyone fails to a wonderful delivery, a situation, a mistake, opposite captain's / bowler's acumen etc., and so did they at times.
Overall, they have served Indian cricket well - for years together.
They have changed over time - their strengths, their thinking, their objectives all have changed in the years that have gone by - but we have not changed - our expectations still remain the same - that we, a nation in cricketing despair, will be saved by these armoured knights on white horses - they will save the game for India, they will destroy the opposition so on and so forth
The only thing to do is accept what they themselves have - they are not what they were before.
Yes, they were brilliant and gifted cricketers and that gift will show on occasions - but consistency? Sorry mate, consistency has shifter her residence now.
Let us stop expecting that Tendulkar / Ganguly / Laxman / Dravid will save us anymore. They will come and try their best, but sadly, their best is not so good anymore. Tendulkar's dismissal to Monty in second innings was - yet again - a sad one for me. For a batsman at his level, getting LBW to an arm ball - is somehow not digestible. But this is where our digestion power needs to change - because this is a common thing now - we will need to digest such failures from these one time greats - till they retire gracefully (!) or are asked to retire like Kapil Dev.
So my amigos, let us not start dreaming after yet another century by Ton-dulkar, another miraculous knock by That-man-Laxman, another aggressive century by Dada and another display of dogged defence by the Wall. - let us applaud the knock it deserves, but let the expectations not start coming out of your pocket again - put them and lock them up. Open them for someone like a KP or a Karthik or a Chawla, but not for the ones that ruled once.

Sigh.

Another point to be noted in this match was coming back from being dead of KP - a reversal of decision. I fully support this and hope that it should be a norm soon. However, similar facilities should also be provided for the bowlers who feel that they are served injustice at times.

Justice should prevail in this glorious game - at the cost of anything and everything!

Off to Trent Bridge now, for another match at the mercy of weather I'm told.

Chandu and Chandru!

2007-06-18T09:24:00.000+05:30

Two men who are rocking the cricket world are Chandu and Chandru!

Chandu - Chandu Borde
Chandru - Chanderpaul

While the former is shining merely because he has been thrust into a position of paramount importance to the hungry curiosity if 100 million people, the latter is doing what he does best - bat in test cricket! Second consecutive century against the England and he is truly rocking !!! Chanderpaul has become the 'Last Man Standing' of WI after Lara's retirement!

While I stand in awe in front of Chandru's square drives and flicks, I only pity Chandu for what he has become from what he was in his heydays....

Cricket Won!

2007-06-12T16:20:00.002+05:30

West Indies lost to England on the final day.

But all was not lost.

Chanderpaul played one of his most tenacious and fighting knocks, Fiedel Edwards showed that speed and fire still exists in WI bowlers and DJ Sammy had a dream debut.

Importantly, both teams played really competitive cricket, and Monty and Cook continue to impress.

More importantly, it was a loss despite which WI team could hold its head high - for the fight and spirit the entrie team showed.

Most improtantly, the game of Cricket won too, after a long time!

No, Thanks.

2007-06-12T09:21:00.000+05:30

Wow! This feels so goooood!

This is how the story went!

Long time ago, in the land of "MoneyGetsYouEverything"there lived a king named Sharad.

He had a daughter - a princess who went by the name / adjectives of "Beautiful Cute Cuddly and Intelligent" - let's call her BCCI to shorten the long name.

The princess was not only like the adjectives her name went by, but she was also pompous and arrogant. She simply had to have her way as did Sharad.

They decided that she needed to have a new groom - the title to the groom was that of 'The Coach' for some funny reason.

Mind you, this was an era when a mariage lasted maximum 3 years and BCCI had her grooms before and the last marriage she had with the world renowned groom Chappell, left a sore taste in her mouth and she needed a replacement, and a fast one at that.

They started sailing worldwide to find suitors for BCCI. It was an unspoken fact that the suitor who took up the job would be rewarded in huge amount of money.

Bride's important uncle Rahul suggested the name of hitherto unknown 'Graham Ford' saying he is the best of the lot.

BCCI decided to listen to the uncle since it was important in those days for a marriage to succeed that the groom had to get along very well with the bride's uncle.

They had other proposals of well known deserving candidates, some domestic ones who had put up their hands for so long that the hand now looked longer than their entire height!

But King Sharad and BCCI decided that she would marry Ford.

They announced the wedding in a worldwide media campaign.

Uncle Rahul was very happy.
BCCI was happy.
Sharad was delighted with the match.

And then, the bomb dropped on them.

Graham Ford simply said "No, thank you."

(I imagine that there was so much egg on the face of King Sharad that he asked the responsible Rahul to clean it up personally. )

The story ends here.

I am happy that someone gave it back to King and BCCI like never before.

News Around The World During My Small Sabbatical!

2007-06-11T10:31:00.000+05:30

While I was on my home-coming hiatus- a lot of things hapenned in the world of cricket and here is my belated take on them:
1) Kevin Pieterson : KP has stomped his feet to show his genes of a Royal Bengal Tiger, a real one. To me, he is a superior version of "Yuvraj Singh in full flow".

2) Dhoni : Back again on domestic pitches! Yawn...

3) Cook : Consecutive and impressive centuries - A Tiger in his own den or will he be here for good?

4) Afro-Asia cup - A wate of resources, time and money.

5) SRT won another man of the tournament - I am not impressed, though. We all know that he has years of cricket left in him - the question is how will he like to play it? Like an old man, or like a young Jayasuriya at 38?

6) West Indies are back to where they truly belong as of now minus Lara - in a rut. This is a challenge for them to be back where they once belonged - unfortunately, no one is puttign the hand up to take them there - only plus has been debutant Sammy's amazingly impressive 7 wicket haul. The question that will be answered tomorrow will be "Can Chanderpaul's fighting knock help them win a match they so desparately need?" Let's wait and watch the only real cricket being played around the world today!

7) Mohammad Ashraful should be renamed Mohammad Delightful - he is the Andy Flower of the Bangla team.

8) What will it take for Habibul Bashar to retire from playing cricket?

9) Graham Ford is appointed as India coach. I think that there is no better time to take over as India's coach - heck, even I 'd put a hand up to BCCI for the job - things simply cannot get any worse! Seriously, appointing Ford is a good move, captain trusts him (but Ganguly trusted Chappel too before Chappel 'took over', didn't he?), his record asa coach has been good and it is simple truth than you need not be a good player to be a good coach. For those who want to know what a coach can achieve in terms of miracle, please watch 'Coach Carter'! But of course, coaching a team of 'bloated-super-egos and billioniare-superstars' is another ball game all together. Anyways, I give a thumbs up to BCCI for choosing Ford over Embury.

10) Maninder singh is in some crisis - let's leave him alone in his personal life - we have nothing to do with it.

11) On a small non-cricketing aside, Nadal was delightful yesterday - he clearly outplayed the great Federer. Also, the young Lewis Hamilton continues to win hearts and make strides! Alonso this time has a real fight. My favourite driver of last seasons, Kimi, alas, has been down and out this season.

Afridi is Back!

2007-05-19T02:19:00.000+05:30

Shahid Afridi is back - back to the league he belongs!

The league that boasts of a presence of the ones with "a License to Kill" - to Kill, to Demoralize, to completely Demolish and Humiliate a bowler and then Powder him to dust and Dance on the powder with a bat in one hand!

(Question to Myself : Is this a WWE blog or a Cricket one?)

The league where his compatriots are the likes of Gibbs, Dhoni, Gilchrist, Jayasuriya, Hayden etc.

The ever-adorable (yet mostly foolish) Afridi hit 32 in a Bandara over where he completely changed the face of the game! Till that over, it was neck-to-neck between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and all of a sudden, in the space of 5 maniac minutes and 6 decent balls, Afridi put Pakistan into the winner's throne, barring some formalities. Two fours and four sixes!

All that the spectators could have said would have been to the likes of 'Oh My God!' with gaping mouths in their respective languages!

They call it a whirlwind hurricane! Or a Thunderstorm ? A Tornado? A Hailstorm?

We call it a typical Afridi knock!

Link

2007-05-18T23:46:00.000+05:30

Meghana has written an amazing post! I couldn't stop myself from linking it here.

(Please Note: It is in Marathi and it is about Sachin)

England Ride on 4 Centuries!

2007-05-18T22:54:00.000+05:30

England did an Australia today!

While we should sit back and applaud all the four centurions (especially the debutant Prior), WI have only themselves to blame - not only were they up against a solid England today morning when they took up the field, they missed chances galore and had they taken half of those, it could very well have been a different story.

England are sitting pretty with 553/5 after 2 days of play and it will not be long before they declare tomorrow - probably in the first session itself. The WI team, then will have a real uphill task, first to avoid follow on and then to avoid defeat. And whatever the result, they have only themselves to blame.

In the meanwhile, let's look at the English batting:
1) Cook played really well yesterday but went home early today.
2) Collingwood, ODI specialist, rode his luck for an important century.
3) Ian Bell, an opener of one time, came at 4 down and has played exceedingly well to hit a balanced unbeaten century.
4) And Matt Prior has batted almost run-a-ball to strike a wonderful unbeaten century on debut at Lords!
Prior to Prior, England had the old Nixon who was good, but with Prior, if he continues in this vein, they have an excellent addition to their team. And mind it, there is no Flintoff in this match.
Great team work!

So - well done England !
Bravo!
(Er...not Dwyane, but just "Bravo, England!')

Sri Lanka - Jayawardene

2007-05-18T21:45:00.001+05:30

Sri Lanka struggled against an admirably effective Pak attack to limp to 235 /9 after 50 overs - thanks to a surprising knock of 69 n.o. by their bowling all rounder Mahroof!

And this when they have not one but two Jayawadanes in the midst of them! Yes - and I couldn't help but notice the scorecard with each of them having 4 initials in their name!

On further probing, I found their names to be as follows:
Mahela's full name : Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene
Prasanna's full name: Hewasandatchige Asiri Prasanna Wishvanath Jayawardene

Now we know the secret to Mahela's batting talent! He has a 'De Silva' hidden in his name! :-)

India vs B'desh - Day 1 of Test 1

2007-05-18T21:21:00.000+05:30

Wasim Jaffer was unlucky.
Kartik is a delight to have in the team.
Dravid is still 'The Wall'
Tendulkar and Ganguly - need to play like this consistently. Yes, they were edgy to start with , but it was a pleasure to watch them when in full flow.
B'desh - have a real uphill task ahead.
If I was Bashar, I would not try to stem the flow, but to get the wickets. Surround the batsmen with all fielding positions and ask Mortaza to bowl bouncers and slower ones and get more variety in the morning. And in the later part, with left arm spinners bowling, I would still surround the batsmen and try for wickets.

I don't want to see too much in the batting of Indian batsmen - because it is still a match played on the sub-continent batting paradise pitch and even I can bat out there. (OK, I can't - but you get the point, right?)

Cook Cooks!

2007-05-17T23:35:00.000+05:30

Yes, this man, Alastair Cook, all of 22 years old, a delightful left handed opener, not only cooked but also served a delicious dish today at the Lord's!

His 5th Century in 14 tests at an average of 43 odd.

Tremendous potential, led the under 19 team, had a great debut against India in India (who doesn't?), learnt a lot in the Ashes down under last year, and a promising prospect for the Poms.

This is as fresh as it gets in the good-ol Brit cricket empire !

Well done, mate!

My India-Test-Team

2007-05-17T23:05:00.000+05:30

Here is my playing 11 for India's first test against Bangladesh:

1. Wasim Jaffer
2. Dinesh Kartik
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. VVS Laxman
6. Yuvraj Singh
7. MS Dhoni
8. Anil Kumble
9. Ramesh Powar
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Munaf Patel

I am going in with 4 bowlers and want Dravid to be more aggressive as a captain to support his 4 bowlers.

I have not given Dada a place in my playing 11 just yet as the only place he can take up is either Sachin or Dhoni (since we already have Kartik as a keeper and an opener) . But Sachin can bowl his spinners and Dhoni deserves to be in the team in absence of Sehwag.
Don't ask me about Laxman - I think Laxman is a solid test player to have in the team.
The rest pick themselves up.
This is my 11! Let's see what 11 the 'think-tank' picks!

Pot Calling The Kettle Black!

2007-05-17T22:50:00.000+05:30

The enquiry commission set up by PCB for the WC debacle, has slammed the good-old-Inzy for WC debacle and called him as a dictator in his days!

""Inzamam's attitude was haughty and that of a dictator and more than one incident proved that," Ijaz Butt, head of the committee, told AFP. "Inzamam should have been removed from the captaincy. As a player he was world-class but his attitude was haughty during and before the tournament."

So what is it that you are saying, PCB? Are you saying that "Dictators are not good people or good leaders?"

I wonder what a certain Mr. Musharraf has to say on this, and, doesn't he also head the PCB?

Uh...Oh...you just overstepped there, didn't ya?

Indian Openers

2007-05-15T01:03:00.000+05:30

India has tried so many different opening pairs , that it is really puzzling to understand what is India's strategy.

Here are the opening pairs tried by India in last season:

1) Sehwag - Gambhir
2) Sehwag - Uthappa
3) Sehwag - Ganguly
4) Sehwag - Tendulkar
5) Sehwag - Jaffer
6) Jaffer - Kartik
7) Tendulkar-Jaffer
8) Uthappa - Ganguly
9) Uthappa- Gambhir
10) Gambhir - Ganguly
11) Dravid - Tendulkar !!! (Aug 2006)

So if you are an opener, you are a lucky dork! You know that you are never out of reconing for a game or two if you are in the 15!

Funny game, funnier administration, funniest politics!

Sorry, but it ain't funny nomore ! Get a grip, BCCI.

Zimbabwe and Cricket

2007-05-14T21:05:00.002+05:30

Robert Mugabe rules Zimbabawe. He is a dictator. Not many people like him and his brutal ways. A lot of countries from all over the world have renounced their relationships with Zimbabwe because of it's dictator.

Unfortunately, he also controls Zimbabwe Cricket!

Some countries in the past have linked politics with sports and cancelled playing matches with Zimbabwe or tours to and from Zimbabwe. This time, Australian Govt has decided to step in to cancel the Zimbabwe tour.

My Take:
Cricket is a sport. Play it. If you feel unsafe to play within Zimbabwe, invite their players home, or play at a venue where it will make business sense to host matches. But don't mix politics with sports and kill the sport in a war-ravaged country where it has a scope to spread some joy. Please.

Afro-Asia Cup

2007-05-11T20:47:00.000+05:30

In my opinion, Afro-Asia Cup to be held in June in B'lore where the Asia-11 plays Africa-11 for 3 ODIs is not-such-a-good-idea.

Firstly, there is no bonhomie / team-spirit among the players and no patriotic fervor for them to win it - for them, it is simply all money.
Secondly, there is a risk of injury to the players before important tournaments.
Thirdly, 10 out of 11 players in Africa-11 will be South African players - SO why not call it South Africa vs Asia?

If you want to hold such matches for pure entertainment, at least hold an Australia vs RoW or something like that.

Having said that, there will be Women's 20-20 matches just before the time when boys take the field. This, in my books, is a great idea to promote the women's game!

WC 2011

2007-05-11T02:15:00.000+05:30

Got this in a mail forward -
----------
ICC has decided to shorten the duration of the World Cup 2011.

It will consist of:
1) Opening Ceremony
2) Presenting the world cup to Australia .......
3) Closing Ceremony
----------
:-D

The Curious Case of Mahendra Singh Dhoni

2007-05-10T20:23:00.000+05:30

There he goes again!

Another good and measured innings from him today saved India the repeat blushes against B'desh.

This man makes me go mad in my head trying to figure him out.

He is a performer everywhere , but failed in both the World Cup matches. He is one player from whom I had great hopes for the WC - "This World Cup is Dhoni's - mark my words" I would say to my friends and on my blog. And all the man got was a paltry 29 runs against the lowly Bermuda and two ducks in key matches!

What is it with the man?

He is the only Indian player full of confidence and has played wonderful cricket before and after the world cup, both in and out of India, but what happened to him at the world cup really perplexes me!

(Image Source: Cricinfo)

PS: The man missed his century today, but I hit mine with this post! :-)

As you sow....

2007-05-09T04:16:00.000+05:30

So you reap! A certain Sharad Pawar would be smiling today!

Cricket after WC

2007-05-07T21:34:00.000+05:30

Pakistan vs SL:
PCB has done it again!
Mohd Asif, of all available players, is the Vice Captain for the tour to Sri Lanka! Yes, yes the same Asif who was under the drugs cloud a couple of months ago and could not make it to the WC because of the same, is now the second leader of the pack!
Why can't they make up their mind on what is right and what is not?

WI vs England:
Samuels is dropped from the squad and I wonder why! Easily one of the few 'correct' players in the WI, is probably being punished for WC effort (or lack of it). Ganga is announced as VC to support Sarawan. I wonder how the team will now fare minus the great Lara!

India vs Bangladesh:
The teams look even - The delightful Ashraful is now the VC of Bangladesh and the first ODI will be played on 10th May. What is to be seen is that who plays in the 11 for India. Will the new guys get a place?

Adam Gilchrist And Squash Ball

2007-05-05T04:39:00.000+05:30

After an amazing innings in the WC finals, everybody is talking about Gilly's squash ball!

While the critics call it illegal and unfair, the fans of Gilly dismiss the theory of using a squash ball in his glove as one of his attempts to improve his own game and see nothing wrong in it.

My take on this is as follows:

1) This technique made his a less bottom hand player and altered his game which was known to his opponents. Whether it increased the power of his top hand and hence his performance, is as grey as it can get. No one else in my knowledge has used the same technique and there has been no evidence to prove either-ways.
2) Usage of a squash ball is not allowed in ICC rules as permissible. Whether it makes sense or not, a law is a law.
3) An analogy can be drawn in usage of squash ball by Gilly and usage of microphone by Cronje and Woolmer.
4) However, if the law is so clear, umpires did not object to it in any of the games.
5) Umpire is the king on the ground. (Umpires do mistakes which decide fates of players and countries. That, of course, is another topic as I have talked before)

In view of the above legal / technical arguments and counter arguments, as a cricket lover, I would always like both the teams being given same number and amount of resources to fight against each other and then the yardstick is much clearer.

Innovations in any field in life should be encouraged and cricket is no exception.
However, such innovations should be declared (they cannot hide under the word 'strategy' just like a captain cannot move a fielder while his bowler runs in to bowl) and approved before being used.

In fact, I support use of microphones - but they should be given to both the sides. A law should support justice as it is paramount, even in the art like game of cricket.

The nicest man in baddest team in the world, has done something which I do not approve of.

Australiaaaaaaaaaaaa !!!!!

2007-04-29T06:59:00.000+05:30

Yes, - Australia are the World Champions yet again!!!! That is a hat-trick as was Gilchrist's performance in the 3 consecutive finals !!! What a performance by Australia!

If ever there was a clear winner in a WC tournament since the West Indian dominance ended, it was Australia in WC 2007 !

Let us not taking anything away from the fighting Lankans, in fact they bowled excellently and batted like fighters in the most difficult conditions!!! But after Jayasuriya and Sangakara, there was no one left to take them home against the Aussies!

I think that both teams played excellent cricket and were fitting finalists and there was only one difference in two sides - Adam Gilchrist!

And that difference won Australia the world cup and deservedly so - they have dominated the cup right from onset and it would have been unjust if they would have lost today! As my friend Kannan pointed out, it makes one think that there should be more than one match for the finals - may be best of three or something.

Coming back to the nicest man in the 'baddest' team, Adam Gilchrist played an amazing innings on a track where others like Hayden, Ponting, Jayasuriya etc. struggled to stroke the ball with same ferocity as his. Gilly was on his way right from the beginning while Haydos was surprisingly subdued and Gilly set the on side on fire and in fact equalled the record for maximum sixes in an ODI innings jointly held by Ponting and Imran Nazir! One has to only see the wagon wheel of Gilly's innings to see how much he scored on the leg side! Amazing strokeplay, exhilarating display of batting by the ever-dangerous Gilly! Paisa Wassool !

Others played their part in the whole match and so did the spoilsport weather, but it was a good game of cricket overall and the side that deserved to win, did! That brings me to another point that a final should not be curtailed and definitely not be decided on the D/L method, but more on that in some later post.

But this game was not all about Gilly's strokelplay and it was also an important game for 3 people retiring / moving on from their current roles:

Ever-accurate and nagging Glenn McGrath, an awesomely effective John Buchanan and also the fighter Russel Arnold!

McGrath capped his career by the player-of-the-tournament award (which I personally feel should have gone to Hayden), but what a man he has been! He has been accuracy personified in the world of cricket and no bowler even comes close to the accuracy with which McGrath bowled in both forms of cricket. Often disliked for his aggressive sledging by lot of people (including yours truly), one has to applaud the discipline and effectiveness that this great man brought to Australian Cricket and world cricket.
Glenn McGrath - Take a bow!

I was fortunate to listen to and meet John Buchanan in person and he is no doubt effective as Gilly called him a legend today! It has been a fairytale for John and his team and kudos to them for showing and teaching others how cricket should be played!

Congratulations and a big "thank you" to Australia ! The True World Champions!

(Images Courtesy: Cricinfo)

Australia: Threats

2007-04-27T01:13:00.000+05:30

Just one more match to go and Aussies will reign supreme officially once again!

Let us put ourselves in shoes of Lankans and see what we have on our plates:
(Aussies in their current form)

Batting :
Matthew Hayden: Clearly, the man of the tournament so far - in the form of his life - their biggest threat if Aussies bat first. (or second, or third...oh, just don't give the bat in his hands)
Adam Gilchrist: As explosive player and more dangerous than Hayden himself! If clicked, a dynamite! Has been inconsistent in the tournament so far, but you never know when he might just come on top again. A threat even though he is not as much in form.
Ricky Ponting: A thorn in flesh of bowlers all around the world - sticks to his wicket in ODI's like the combined efforts of Rahul Dravid+ Jayawardane+ mcMillan+Chanderpaul in test cricket! Currently in the form of his life.
(Do we even need to go any further and analyze the rest of the players?)
M Clarke: Was supposed to step in the shoes of Steve Waugh, and is warming up to the task handsomely. Unbelievably(?), he has the highest average in the entire Australian team in the world cup currently!
Brad Hodge: Started with a , but hasn't got a bat in his hands and played only 1 inning after the century!
Symonds and Hussey: They were supposed to light the world cup up, but have not done much so far - against spinners, both have the ability to turn a match around!
Shane Watson: Believe it or not, no bowler has been able to get him out in this tournament! His 32 ball 65 were any indication, he is a threat as big as Gilchrist!

Bowling :
Glen McGrath: The pigeon is flying higher than everybody else! As accurate as ever, he is the silent assassin. He runs in, throws the ball, ball lands on the off stump line, moves just to take the edge and lands happily in Gilly's gloves! Wicket - after wicket- after wicket! This man is not a pigeon, he is a warhorse! Big big threat. (as always)
Shaun Tait: Not thought of much before, has been the pleasant surprise for the Aussies. Has bowled the new ball extremely well and swung the ball superbly to trouble both right and left- handers. Bowls a lot of wides, but takes a lot of wickets too! Big threat!
Nathan Bracken: They say that the best hunters 'hunt in pairs'. Bracken and Tait have done just what no other pair could do in the World Cup. Bracken almost averages as good as McGrath in this world cup and is in a great form too. Big Threat!
Brad Hogg: Bowling on top of his form. Just to give an example of his current form, here is a small comparison:
Murali : 78 overs - 23 wickets. Hogg: 80 overs - 20 wickets.
Not bad, eh? But if I am a Lankan, I wouldn't be too bothered about Hogg, he is not a threat. If Lankans manage to flay the first 3 bowlers, Hogg would not be a problem.

The only time Sri Lanka have ever won a world cup, that has been against Aussies in the finals.

This time, it only looks tougher!!!

Finals : Australia vs Sri Lanka

2007-04-26T01:52:00.000+05:30

It is Australia in the red corner and Sri Lanka in the blue!!!!

Yes, the Australians have crushed Proteas very comfortably and as expected by all at the beginning of WC, they go on in the finals to meet Lankans.

Almost nobody gave Lankans a chance at the beginning of the WC that they will reach finals, and neither did they fancy themselves is my guess.

Well done to both the finalists!

A preview of the game coming up soon.

PS on Aus-SA game: Why did Smith not bowl himself? The most creative / innovative and thinking captain of the tournament, but will not play in the finals. Sigh.

Awesome Aussies Unstoppable

2007-04-25T20:15:00.000+05:30

Man, what are they made of?

South Africa are 27/5 in the semi finals and all Aussie pacers led by McGrath are creating havoc !!! Great stuff, Aussies!

This sure looks like it's going to be another one sided affair ! :-(