Two sides of the coin!!

This incident occured during the CB series match yesterday between Srilanka and Australia.
Watch out for Lee's sportsmanship and Andrew Symonds's cheap try to run the batsman out. Two opposing characters comes to light during this single incident:

The 'Supposed' Sachin slump

There has been much talk about Sachin's supposed slump during this CB series, and some people are even going to the extent of saying that he should be dropped. It seems as though some people seem very jealous of the little master's achievement and are desperate to see him failing.

So why has this topic come up at all. Ofcourse Sachin would be the first one to admit that he has not made as many runs as he would like to. Then there is the talk about his poor average while chasing over the last few seasons. And some others are even suggesting that he is unable to handle the new ball which is simply ludicrous.

Lets have a look at what Sachin has done this series so far:
Game 1:v Aus: Batting 1st - 10 - Freak hit-wicket - Match abandoned due to rain
Game 2:v SL : Batting 1st - 35 - Played on to Malinga - Match abandoned
Game 3:v Aus: Chasing 160- made a brisk 44 - sent India on its way to a win.
Game 4:v SL: Batting 1st - 32(30) - Gave a quick start in a rain curtailed match.
Game 5:v Aus: Chasing - 5 lbw to an inswinger from Bracken.
Game 6:v SL: Chasing - Duck - Bowled by an unplayable Malinga delivery.
Game 7:v Aus:Chasing - 2 - lbw to a quick one from Lee - was late on the ball.

So it is actually just two dismissals in the last 2 games against Australia that has caused such a silly debate about his form. He has got 3 starts out of which one was as good as match winning, another was in a rain curtailed game where he was trying to score quickly.

Now that we have seen Sachin's scores,lets see how the other openers have fared in this series:
Hayden - 6 matches - Avg:26.83
Gilchrist - 7 matches -Avg:32.85 (which includes 1 hundred also)
Sanath - 6 matches - Avg: 9.20
Sehwag - 5 matches - Avg: 16.20

This just goes to show how difficult the conditions have been for the openers and also how good the bowling has been. It is just because we are used to big runs from Sachin that there is a feeling that he is in a slump. There is absolutely no reason for worry and it is only a matter of time before he fires in a big way. Given the support Yuvraj got from Dhoni when he was not even able to put bat to ball, he should zip his lip with regards to Sachin.

Just thinking about Sachin's lack of runs while chasing in the last couple of years and the modes of his dismissal while chasing it occurs to me that he is getting a bit weary after fielding for 50 overs (and bowling a bit) and hence his reactions are not upto speed when he comes out to bat. Dhoni needs to make sure Sachin is fresh when he comes out to bat by giving him a break towards the end of the first innings. These days the over rates are so abysmal that the openers dont even get the alloted 40 mins between innings. That is definitely a concern.

Class is permanent, form is temporary.

Hilarious

An interesting video I came across:


This one is the latest:

India @U19 World Cup

The Under-19 World Cup is currently being played in Kualalampur,Malaysia.
The Indian team has been performing admirably and have won all 3 matches in their group stages and are through to the Quarterfinals.

Young Virat Kohli looks terrific with the bat and it should not be long before he makes it to the Indian team:


Pradeep Sangwan seems to be yet another good left arm quickie in the pipeline. It is strange how India is now producing so many left arm quicks:

The IPL Extravaganza

Cricketers have become business ventures with the advent of the Indian Premier League. The auctions were held today and big bucks were rolling, with cricketers getting a price on their head.

Here are the teams thus far:

Jaipur Shane Warne (US$450,000), Graeme Smith (US$475,000), Younis Khan (US$225,000), Kamran Akmal (US$150,000), Yusuf Pathan (US$475,000), Mohammad Kaif (US$675,000), Munaf Patel (US$275,000), Justin Langer (US$200,000)
Owner: Emerging Media (Manoj Badale, Lachlan Murdoch, Suresh Chellaram and investors)
Cost: $67 Million

Chennai MS Dhoni (US$1.5 million), Muttiah Muralitharan (US$600,000), Matthew Hayden (US$375,000), Jacob Oram (US$675,000), Stephen Fleming (US$350,000), Parthiv Patel (US$325,000), Joginder Sharma (US$225,000), Albie Morkel (US$675,000), Suresh Raina (US$650,000), Makhaya Ntini (US$200,000), Michael Hussey (US$350,000)
Owner: India Cements
Cost: $91 Million

Mumbai Sachin Tendulkar (icon), Sanath Jayasuriya (US$975,000), Harbhajan Singh (US$850,000), Shaun Pollock (US$550,000), Robin Uthappa (US$800,000), Lasith Malinga (US$350,000), Dilhara Fernando (US$150,000), Loots Bosman (US$175,000)
Owner:Mukesh Ambani(Reliance Industries)
Cost: $111.9 Million

Bangalore Rahul Dravid (icon), Anil Kumble (US$500,000), Jacques Kallis (US$900,000), Zaheer Khan (US$450,000), Mark Boucher (US$450,000), Cameron White (US$500,000), Wasim Jaffer (US$150,000), Dale Steyn (US$325,000), Nathan Bracken (US$325,000), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (US$200,000)
Owner: Vijay Mallya(UB Group)
Cost: $111.6 Million

Hyderabad Adam Gilchrist (US$700,000), Andrew Symonds (US$1.35 million), Herschelle Gibbs (US$575,000), Shahid Afridi (US$675,000), Scott Styris (US$175,000), VVS Laxman (US$375,000), Rohit Sharma (US$750,000), Chamara Silva (US$100,000), RP Singh (US$875,000), Chaminda Vaas (US$200,000), Nuwan Zoysa (US$110,000)
Owner: Deccan Chronicle
Cost: $107 Million

Mohali Yuvraj Singh (icon), Mahela Jayawardene (US$475,000), Kumar Sangakkara (US$700,000), Brett Lee (US$900,000), Sreesanth (US$625,000), Irfan Pathan (US$925,000), Ramesh Powar (US$170,000), Piyush Chawla (US$400,000), Simon Katich (US$200,000), Ramnaresh Sarwan (US$225,000)
Owner: Preity Zinta,Ness Wadia(Bombay Dyeing),Karan Paul(Apeejay),& Mohit Burman(Dabur)
Cost: $76 Million

Kolkata Sourav Ganguly (icon), Shoaib Akhtar (US$425,000), Ricky Ponting (US$400,000), Brendon McCullum (US$700,000), Chris Gayle (US$800,000), Ajit Agarkar (US$330,000), David Hussey (US$675,000), Ishant Sharma (US$950,000), Murali Kartik (US$425,000), Umar Gul (US$150,000), Tatenda Taibu (US$125,000)
Owner: SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment
Cost: $75.09 Million

Delhi Virender Sehwag (icon), Daniel Vettori (US$625,000), Shoaib Malik (US$500,000), Mohammad Asif (US$650,000), AB de Villiers (US$300,000), Dinesh Karthik (US$525,000), Farveez Maharoof (US$225,000), Tillakaratne Dilshan (US$250,000), Manoj Tiwary (US$675,000), Gautam Gambhir (US$725,000), Glenn McGrath (US$350,000)
Owner: GMR Group
Cost: $84 Million

Strange thing to note is how the overseas stars sold for lesser than the young guns from India.

Some more interesting figures:

Top ten players at the auction

Player	Franchise	Base price	Winning bid
Mahendra Singh Dhoni	Chennai	400,000	1,500,000
Andrew Symonds	Hyderabad	250,000	1,350,000
Sanath Jayasuriya	Mumbai	250,000	975,000
Ishant Sharma	Kolkata	150,000	950,000
Irfan Pathan	Mohali	200,000	925,000
Jacques Kallis	Bangalore	225,000	900,000
Brett Lee	Mohali	300,000	900,000
RP Singh	Hyderabad	200,000	875,000
Harbhajan Singh	Mumbai	250,000	850,000
Robin Uthappa	Mumbai	200,000	800,000

Icon players

Player	Franchise	Price
Sachin Tendulkar	Mumbai	1,121,250
Sourav Ganguly	Kolkata	1,092,500
Yuvraj Singh	Mohali	1,063,750
Rahul Dravid	Bangalore	1,035,000
Virender Sehwag	Delhi	833,750

In the land of the Rupee so many dollars flying around is absolutely unbelievable. Many people including my mom are wondering "Who is spending whose money?", an interesting question indeed.

You can get more detailed information here.

Yet another Batting Collapse

Another golden opportunity lost due to an inept batting display. This would be the story of India's loss yesterday. Ofcourse this was what many would have expected from the young batting line. However what nobody expected was the bowling to be so good and the Australian batting to be so fragile. Reducing Australia to modest totals in two consecutive games is no mean feat, and all credit to the Indian bowlers.

The batsman should really be kicking themselves for missing out yesterday. All they had to do was apply themselves and a couple of good partnerships would have taken them home. But alas they seemed to be in a hurry to catch a flight and gifted the Australians easy wickets. Yuvraj finally seemed to be able to hit the ball with the bat and he got himself into the perfect position for redeeming himself. But then he played a horrendous shot when all that was needed was singles and then Dhoni's unfortunate run-out triggered a lower-order collapse. The lower didnt think the bonus point was needed either and they perished to mindless swings.

Dhoni's comments after the game really infuriated me. I have always felt he spoke with a level head and common sense, but of late he has been making comments which have been out of order. It seems as though he will back certain players come what may. Anybody who knows a little bit of cricket can tell Yuvraj is struggling on the field. He is more like a statue at mid-off who picks up the ball when it comes to him. He is not bowling in the nets but Dhoni wants to use him as a bowler in the matches at crucial times. His 4th over yesterday cost 12 runs which started a period of good scoring from the Australians who were struggling until then. Then while batting he plays himself in (which was rare) and then gets out to a stupid shot which Dhoni defends saying "the shot was on, but was executed poorly". It is high time Yuvraj sorts out his fitness issues and shows more commitment and desire on the field. Gavaskar has flayed Munaf for his poor display on the field but Yuvraj was no better.

Dhoni's comments on Rohit Sharma and Irfan Pathan were even worse. He blamed Rohit squarely for his run-out when the young kid dived and tried his best to beat the bullet throw from Hayden. The run-out was a result of excellent fielding from Hayden rather than poor running. Blaming young Rohit for that is totally unjustified.

It is acceptable that he defends his decisions on the field but to say "Sending Irfan up balances the batting order and keep it stable. And Irfan at 8 or 3 doesn't make too much of a difference." What message does that send out to a young all-rounder in the making? And I really believe Irfan at No.7 would be much more valuable than at No.3 when the ball is new and moving a little bit.

Robin Uthappa is another player Dhoni backs to the hilt, and he might be talented too but he shows no common sense and the way he got out yesterday was pathetic. It was his responsibility as a specialist batsman to get the tail to support him and take as much strike as possible. The tail always plays well when they have a batsman at the other side who is willing to guide them. He will need to show a better temperament to go with his talent in order to succeed in the long run.

It is not from the loss but the way a team loses that the character of a team can be seen. This Indian team needs to show a better character to become a successful unit.

Another grassed catch

Symonds might be a good fielder, but did he catch this one?

decide for yourself:



That was channel nine, now listen to the Star Sports panel:


Just to show how a proper catch should be taken (thought it was similar):

Messers Duckworth and Lewis!!

If there is one thing in cricket which I do not understand, it is the famous Duckworth-Lewis system. In fact it would be fair to say that I do not make head or tail of it.

Just take yesterdays example:
Ind v S.Lanka
Match is reduced to 29 overs - India bat first and make 195 for 5 in the 29 overs - Rain comes down and match is reduced to 21 overs - Revised target is 154 from 21 overs for the Lankans which is a slightly greater required rate than the original score but with 8 lesser overs.

Eng v NZland
Englan bat first - Rain comes after 12 overs and match reduced to a 36 over game - Eng are bowled out for 158 in 35 overs - You would think that would be the target but no! it is 165 to win in 36 overs for Nzland!!

Explain somebody...pleaseeee!!!

For people interested to go through the intricacies of the method. You can find it here.

A big blow in the offing

Just read an article which says that Simon Taufel might be retiring at the end of next month. This will be a real blow to the already suffering elite panel. A result of overload, one wonders.....

Here is the article:

Simon Taufel, the Australian umpire ranked the best in the world over the past four years, has revealed he could walk away from the game when his contract expires on March 31.

The news would be a huge blow to the ICC, with the spotlight on umpiring standards burning more fiercely than ever. Last month, Steve Bucknor was in the eye of another storm when the ICC removed him from officiating any further in Australia's series against India. And yesterday, during the fourth match of the CB Series, Rudi Koertzen gave Adam Gilchrist out lbw despite the left-hander apparently edging the ball.

Taufel, ranked No.1 in the world by the ICC, is only 37 but is already growing weary at the constant travelling his job demands.

"After [March 31] I am on the open market," he told the Daily Telegraph. "I am taking it year by year. It's important to spend time with my family, spend more time with my kids. I am always looking for new opportunities, not necessarily umpiring.

"There is lots of room for improvement with training and support at the ICC level," he said. "It's challenging. The difference between us and the players is we don't have a home series as such. That makes it harder. There are fewer opportunities for us.

"How do you balance that with hobbies and family life and celebrating anniversaries?"

In the past two weeks, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Bond have retired from international cricket but both will appear in the Indian Premier League (IPL), attracted by huge salaries for a relatively short period of work. Like the players, Taufel isn't ruling out the IPL who, according to the Daily Telegraph, are set to make him an offer.

Young India conquer the 'G'

First it was a test-match at the WACA and now it is an ODI at the MCG or the 'G' as it is commonly known. India last won an ODI there 21 years ago, a long time indeed. And this was a fledgling Indian side which was expected to be steamrolled by the champion Australian side. But the tables were turned due to some high quality pace bowling from the young Indian bowlers.



Leading the pack was the teenager from Delhi, Ishant Sharma. Boy what a find for India on this tour. Before the tour started nobody knew much about this fellow other than that he was tall and lanky. Nobody really thought he would pose any threat to the Aussies. He first played in the Sydney test but the real making of Ishant was the spell to Ricky Ponting at Perth. Since then he has gone from strength to strength and whats more, he has made Ponting his bunny. What has amazed me is the improvement in his pace. He started off bowling in the 130s and is now consistently clocking above the 140s. In fact yesterday one delivery was clocked at 149.9 kph. Now that is serious pace, add to that an uncomfortable length(I call it the Ambrose length) and steep bounce, and the result is lethal. Credit to the selectors and to the bowling coach who have unearthed a real gem. Now the important thing for Ishant is to maintain his fitness and keep his head in place, and he has the chance to be one of the best around.

Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan gave wonderful support to Ishant and the pressure was well and firmly on the Aussies. It is good to see Sreesanth talk more with the ball than with his mouth. Harbhajan got a chance to bowl at the lower order and managed a tidy spell. If at all there was a flaw in the Indian bowling it was the fifth bowling option. It is a problem that has always dogged them and even when they have a chance of solving it, they are not using it. With Pathan in the team there is no reason why another bowler should not play. Uthappa playing at number 7 is totally useless(infact he was at no.8 today). Pathan is perfectly capable of playing at No.7 and holding his own. Plus there is Praveen Kumar on the bench who is a good swing bowler and a hard hitting lower order player, and he would be the perfect choice to play at No.8. India didnt realise the need today but on another day they might rue the absence of a 5th bowler.

The batting again showed signs of frailty. Sachin is carrying the batting on his shoulders and he looks to be in terrific form. His straight drives off Lee were a treat to watch. Yuvraj Singh on the other hand is a major worry. He looks a pale shadow of his old self and seems to have totally lost the confidence that he had. He seems to be fighting the devils in his own mind and is failing at a time when India needs him most. He needs to be talked to and made to understand his responsibilities and role in the middle order. Rohit looks to be evolving into a fantastic player and looks to be a better option at No.4 than Yuvraj at the moment. Dhoni has been playing responsibly and Uthappa has not really been useful at No.7. India need to get their batting combination right and cannot always expect their bowlers to perform as they did today. It was a match the batters should have won with the bonus point but atleast they managed to win it with 5 wickets left which will give the team the confidence to improve.

After seeing this pace combination in action I am amazed at the development of pace bowlers in India. Remember that the two regular opening bowlers are out injured - Zaheer and RP. It is indeed a mouthwatering prospect to see these two joining Ishant and Sreesanth. On conducive pitches India might even have a chance to go in with an all pace attack in the future. Well that is something that has never happened. Lets keep our fingers crossed, we might yet see it happening sometime soon. Exciting times ahead!!!

Joke on Ponting

Here is a joke on the Aussie captain that I came across:

"God asks Donald Bradman: "What do you believe?" Donald thinks long and hard, looks God in the eye, and says, "I believe in hard work, and in staying true to family and friends. I believe in giving. I was lucky, but I always tried to do right by my fans."
God can't help but see the essential goodness of Bradman, and offers him a seat to his left.

Then God turns to Allan Border and says, "What do you believe?"

Allan says, "I believe passion, discipline, courage and honour are the fundamentals of life. I, too, have been lucky, but win or lose, I've always tried to be a true sportsman, both on and off the playing fields."

God is greatly moved by Allan's sincere eloquence, and he offers him a seat to his right.

Finally, God turns to Ricky Ponting: "And you, Ricky, what do you believe?"
Ricky replies, "I believe you're in my seat."

Taufel Speaks

On the same lines as my previous post, read an interview given by Simon Taufel, regarded as the best umpire around. Some points he made were pretty interesting.

Answering a question on the role of media he says:
"All I would like to see from the media is balanced reporting – we don’t seem to get much credit for all the good decisions we make and when the odd error is made, then that is where the focus and comment is on. How many times does a good decision get replayed on TV or noted in the press? Compare this to an error! The media and paying public expect perfection from all match officials all of the time – a tough ask don’t you think?

We cannot be perfect but we can be excellent."

I think that this is a very valid point and it seems like the media of today is bent upon sensationalizing things rather than presenting it in proper perspective.

When asked if increasing the number of umpires would help in reducing stress he makes another interesting reply:

"Stress? What is stress? Like pressure, stress only exists if you let it. An increased number of international Emirates Elite Panel umpires will allow more potential for recovery periods which is a good thing and should help match officials recover and prepare for series providing they use the time and opportunity wisely. At this point in time, the amount of cricket played in the year is not the issue for me but how much time there is to recover in between appointments."

You can find the full interview here.

The Importance of being Elite

The quality of umpiring by the men in the Elite panel is getting worse by the day. The umpiring in the India-Australia test series was the worst that I have seen in recent times with about 30 odd bad decisions in the 4 test matches. Some of these decisions were horrendous to say the least. Unfortunately the blunders were not restricted to a single person and all the 4 umpires who officiated had their share of booboos. Ofcourse Steve Bucknor was the worst of the lot and was sent home, this was only because of the impact that his decisions had on the outcome of the Sydney test match. The umpiring errors in the other matches were considered to have evened out between the two sides and hence were not talked about in great detail.


The sad part is that it has not stopped there. We saw a horrendous decision from Rudi Koertzen in the second ODI of the CB series and that was not the first time we are seeing a blunder from this man. Ofcourse I completely agree that umpiring is a difficult job and mistakes are bound to happen at times. But it is the frequency of these mistakes and the sheer absurdity of the mistakes made that calls for an upheaval of the Elite Panel. If memory serves me right the ICC used to have a yardstick wherein the elite umpires were ones who got more than 95% decisions right or something like that. It is all right on paper but the ICC does not have any monitoring system whereby the umpires are continually monitored so that they maintain their level of performance.

Atleast this news release I read today seems to suggest that the ICC are realising the need to do something about it:

ICC to appoint selectors to choose umpires

Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to appoint a four-member selection panel for the appointment of umpires, it is learnt here. According to the highly placed sources in the ICC, the panel members will be named before March this year.

The new panel will be responsible for the nomination of the Elite Panel Umpires List. The panel will also hike the present number of umpires from ten to twelve.

Till now the appointment of the Elite Panel Umpires was governed by the ICC management. However, perhaps to avoid controversies surrounding them, the ICC may not be wishing to have repeats of Darrell Hair and Steve Bucknor incidents in future.

It was not known whether the postings of the new Elite Panel umpires and referees for the different series would be named by the new selectors or would be done by Doug Cowie, the 61-year-old ICC'manager for umpires. He was one of New Zealand's leading umpires.

The future of these two controversial umpires whose contracts expire in March this year also will rest with the new selection panel.

While it is welcome to note that there will now be selectors for the Elite umpires, the increase in the number of umpires from 10 to 12 is definitely not good enough. There are 10 test playing countries and one would think that atleast 20 top notch umpires wont be too difficult to find. With the amount of cricket being played there is too much load on these 10-12 umpires, which might actually be the underlying cause for the deteriorating quality of umpiring.

Lets hope that the focus in the coming matches will be on the players rather than the men in the white coats!!