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!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Cricket: Turning a new leaf
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!
:-)
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!
:-)
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Sports and Villians.
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!
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!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
IPL!
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!!!
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!!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Umpiring, Monkeys and racism!!! Sigh!
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!
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!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Going for the Kill!
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!"
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!"
Sunday, December 9, 2007
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