Test Cricket

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?

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

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

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...

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...

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!

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!