Pearls of Wisdom

IPL starts with a big bang!

2008-04-18T17:14:00.002-04:00

It was breathtaking and was by far the best opening ceremony any cricket tournament has had. The gymnasts hanging upside down without any safety nets, woman on stilts, fairies inside giant bubbles was all a real visual treat. If you missed any of it check out the videos at the end of this post.

When the cricket started after the wonderful opening ceremony Brendon McCullum decided to take the standards even higher. The home team bowlers simply had no answer to his awesome hitting. It was not as though he was hitting domestic bowlers, all the Banglore bowlers were of international class but none could contain the rampaging kiwi. 13 sixes and 10 fours punctuated a world record T20 score of 158* off just 73 balls. With the departure of Gilly from International cricket this guy is definitely the best wicketkeeper batsman in the world today.

Once Kolkata got 222 on the board on a wicket that had a bit in it for the fast bowlers, Banglore was out of the match. Ishant and Dinda ensured that Banglore didnt get a good start. The opening combination of the Royal Challengers seems all wrong. Dravid and Jaffer are not likely to scare any bowler in T20 and a more attacking batsman needs to be sent in to open. It would probably be a good idea to ask Praveen Kumar to go out and slog a few early on. Their next match is against the Mumbai Indians and I am sure Dravid will make the necessary changes and put up a better performance.

There are two big games tomorrow with Chennai V Punjab and Rajasthan V Delhi. The first match is a mouth watering prospect with Dhoni taking on Yuvraj. There are a lot of interesting mini battles to look forward to in this match. Brett Lee bowling to Matthew Hayden, Murali bowling to Sangakkara, Sreesanth having a go at Dhoni are some interesting battles to look forward to. The second match seems to really be an easy one for Delhi but then T20 can always throw up surprises. Lets hope for a cracker of a game tomorrow.

Opening ceremony videos:

The IPL - Fantasy League

2008-04-17T16:42:00.002-04:00

Remember super selector?
Here is something similar for the IPL.
Pick your teams and start scoring and winning!!

http://ipl.presino.com/htplay.jsp?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=how_to_play&utm_campaign=promotion

The IPL - Teams

2008-04-17T15:07:00.003-04:00

Here are the teams and the players to watch out for:

Deccan Chargers

VVS Laxman, Sanjay Bangar, Halhadar Das, Herschelle Gibbs, Adam Gilchrist, Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna, Pragyan Ojha, Dwaraka Ravi Teja, Sarvesh Kumar, Shahid Afridi, Rohit Sharma, Chamara Silva, RP Singh, Scott Styris, Andrew Symonds, Chaminda Vaas, Venugopal Rao, Paidikalva Vijaykumar, Arjun Yadav, Nuwan Zoysa.

Profile

Gilly in any team will be a person to watch for, fireworks from him will please the crowd. Big hitters in Afridi,Symonds,and Gibbs might hit or miss while Laxman,Rohit, and Styris provide a calming influence. The bowling does not look ideal with Vaas,RP,and Zoysa leading the pack.

My man to Watch
The mercurial Shahid Afridi can create havoc if he gets going and his bowling will be useful too.

Kings XI Punjab

Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Sreesanth, James Hopes, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Kyle Mills, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ajitesh Argal, Piyush Chawla, Pankaj Dharmani, Rishi Dhawan, Karan Goel, Uday Kaul, Sahil Kukreja, Wilkin Mota, Nitin Saini, Vikram Singh, Sunny Sohal, Tanmay Srivastava

Profile

A very interesting combination. Yuvraj,Jayawardene,Sangakkara, and Sarwan form a formidable batting core with hitters in Hopes and Pomersbach providing the thrust. Lee,Sreesanth,Pathan, and Chawla form a good bowling combination. A very well balanced team.

My man to Watch
Yuvraj Singh is certainly a force to reckon with in T20 cricket. Can he replicate the six 6s?

Rajasthan Royals

Shane Warne, Aditya Angle, Swapnil Asnodkar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Kaif, Kamran Akmal, Sumit Khatri, Taruwar Kohli, Justin Langer, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Parag More, Morne Morkel, Pankaj Singh, Munaf Patel, Niraj Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Mahesh Rawat, Anup Revandkar, Dinesh Salunke, Jaydev Shah, Graeme Smith, Sohail Tanvir, Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson, Younis Khan.

Profile

The least spending franchise and arguably the weakest team on paper. Kaif,Langer,Smith & Younis form the core of the batting and will be relying on Yusuf Pathan,Shane Watson,& Mascarenhas to provide the big hits. Warne leads a weak bowling attack and he will be hoping the younsters can perform.

My man to Watch
Morne Morkel just had a wonderful test series in India and he will be tough to get away. If Dmitri Mascarenhas plays he will make an impression.

Delhi Daredevils

Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwary, Mohammad Asif, Daniel Vettori, Dinesh Karthik, Shoaib Malik, Glenn McGrath, AB de Villiers, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof, Rajat Bhatia, Shikhar Dhawan, Brett Geeves, Yo Mahesh, Mithun Manhas, Pradeep Sangwan, Mayank Tehlan.

Profile

The name really suits this team and its captain. Sehwag leads a good bunch of cricketers. This looks to be the best fielding team on paper with Dilshan,Tiwary,DK,Malik, and De Villiers. McGrath and Asif in tandem will be brilliant to see and the batsman might struggle to get going against these two. Sangwan did well for India U19 and will be interesting to see how he goes.

My man to Watch
Gautham Gambhir had a wonderful T20 world cup and given his good form is likely to score heavily. It might also be the chance for Manoj Tiwary to showcase his talent.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Sourav Ganguly, Ishant Sharma, Murali Kartik, Ajit Agarkar, Chris Gayle, Ricky Ponting, David Hussey, Brendon McCullum, Mohammad Hafeez, Salman Butt, Umar Gul, Tatenda Taibu, Laxmi Shukla, Saurasish Lahiri, Siddarth Kaul, Iqbal Abdulla, Wriddhiman Prasanta Saha, Rohan Banerjee, Yashpal Singh, Aakash Chopra, Debabrata Das, Cheteshwar Pujara.

Profile

King Khan has got himself a good team. Sourav leads an explosive batting line up with the likes of Gayle,Ponting, and McCullum. The absence of Shoaib was a blow and Ishant Sharma leads the attack alongwith Gul,Agarkar, and Murali Kartik. Iqbal Abdulla is a young left arm spinner India will be watching closely. The participation of the foreign players is a concern and might leave the team a bit thin.

My man to Watch
Sourav Ganguly is dangerous when he thinks he needs to prove people wrong. He is sure to play some spectacular innings at the top of the order. David Hussey is talked about a lot and it will be interesting to see how he goes.

Mumbai Indians

Sachin Tendulkar, Loots Bosman, Ankeet Chavan, Siddharth Chitnis, Gaurav Dhiman, Dilhara Fernando, Harbhajan Singh, Sanath Jayasuriya, Musavir Khote, Dhawal Kulkarni, Lasith Malinga Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Manish Pandey, Rajesh Pawar, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohan Raje, Luke Ronchi, Pinal Shah, Swapnil Singh, Yogesh Vijay Takawale, Dominic Thornely, Saurabh Tiwary, Robin Uthappa, Vikrant Yeligati.

Profile

Sachin leads a team with a few stellar names and a lot of unknown commodities. Sachin and Sanath at the top promises a few fireworks. Uthappa,Bosman, and Rahane will fill the middle order. Manish Pandey and Saurabh Tiwary are a couple of talented batsmen to watch out for. Pollock leads the bowling attack with Harbhajan as the spin option. Injuries to Malinga and Fernando leaves the bowling a bit thin.

My man to Watch
When Sachin Tendulkar plays you have to watch him. This version of the game is new to him and he will surely be looking to leave a mark.

Banglore Royal Challengers

Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan, Cameron White, Wasim Jaffer, Dale Steyn, Ashley Noffke, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Mark Boucher, Misbah-ul-Haq, Ross Taylor, Abdur Razzak, KP Appanna, Balachandra Akhil, Jagadeesh Arunkumar, Bharat Chipli, Shreevats Goswami, Sunil Joshi, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Devraj Patil, Vinay Kumar.

Profile

Dravid leads a team with possibly the best bowling attack. Dale Steyn is red hot and he is supported by Zaheer,Praveen Kumar,Kumble,Kallis, and White. Dravid,Kallis,Jaffer,Chanderpaul might not look to be the best for T20 but as Chanders showed recently they have the experience to adapt to the situation. Boucher,White, and Razzak provide the firepower. India U19 captain Virat Kohli will be looking to impress one and all. Martin Crowe as coach could also bring in a few innovations to the table.

My man to Watch
Misbah-ul-Haq had a wonderful T20 and almost pulled it off for Pakistan. His cool head under pressure will help the Royals.

Chennai Super Kings

MS Dhoni, Matthew Hayden, Stephen Fleming, Mike Hussey, Jacob Oram, Makhaya Ntini, Muttiah Muralitharan, Albie Morkel, Joginder Sharma, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, Abhinav Mukund, Suresh Kumar, Arun Karthik, Shadab Jakati, Napoleon Einstein, Subramaniam Badrinath, Lakshmipathy Balaji, R Ashwin, Srikkanth Anirudha, Viraj Vilas Kadbe, Palani Amarnath, Manpreet Gony.

Profile

The costliest man in the league captains my home team. MS Dhoni leads a good Chennai team with a wonderfully balanced batting line up. With Fleming and Hayden opening the batting followed by Hussey,Raina,Dhoni,Oram, and Morkel they have the ability both to build and to explode. Parthiv will be keeping wickets while Dhoni plays as a batsman. Bowling will depend on Ntini, Murali, Morkel, and Joginder Sharma. It will be interesting to see how the local lads Mukund,Vidyut, and Badrinath perform.

My man to Watch
Albie Morkel can hit the ball a long way and can keep things quiet at the death with the ball. Dhoni as captain will get the best out of this team.

The IPL - Fixtures

2008-04-17T15:05:00.001-04:00

Here is the complete schedule which promises an action packed couple of months.

April 2008
Fri 18 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	1st match - Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kolkata Knight Riders M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Sat 19 17:00 local, 11:30 GMT	2nd match - Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Sat 19 20:30 local, 15:00 GMT	3rd match - Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Sun 20 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	4th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Sun 20 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	5th match - Mumbai Indians v Bangalore Royal Challengers Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Mon 21 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	6th match - Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Tue 22 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	7th match - Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Wed 23 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	8th match - Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Thu 24 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	9th match - Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Fri 25 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	10th match - Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Sat 26 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	11th match - Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Sat 26 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	12th match - Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Sun 27 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	13th match - Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Sun 27 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	14th match - Mumbai Indians v Deccan Chargers Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai
Mon 28 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	15th match - Bangalore Royal Challengers v Chennai Super Kings M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Tue 29 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	16th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Wed 30 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	17th match - Delhi Daredevils v Bangalore Royal Challengers Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
May 2008
Thu 1 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	18th match - Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Thu 1 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	19th match - Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Fri 2 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	20th match - Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Sat 3 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	21st match - Bangalore Royal Challengers v Deccan Chargers M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Sat 3 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	22nd match - Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Sun 4 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	23rd match - Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai
Sun 4 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	24th match - Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Mon 5 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	25th match - Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kings XI Punjab M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Tue 6 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	26th match - Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Wed 7 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	27th match - Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai
Thu 8 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	28th match - Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Thu 8 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	29th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Bangalore Royal Challengers Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Fri 9 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	30th match - Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Sat 10 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	31st match - Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Sun 11 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	32nd match - Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sun 11 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	33rd match - Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Mon 12 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	34th match - Kings XI Punjab v Bangalore Royal Challengers Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Tue 13 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	35th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Wed 14 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	36th match - Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai
Thu 15 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	37th match - Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Fri 16 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	38th match - Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai
Sat 17 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	39th match - Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore Royal Challengers Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Sat 17 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	40th match - Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Sun 18 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	41st match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Sun 18 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	42nd match - Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Mon 19 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	43rd match - Bangalore Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Tue 20 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	44th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Wed 21 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	45th match - Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai
Wed 21 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	46th match - Chennai Super Kings v Bangalore Royal Challengers MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Thu 22 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	47th match - Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Fri 23 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	48th match - Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Sat 24 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	49th match - Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Sat 24 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	50th match - Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Sun 25 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	52nd match - Deccan Chargers v Bangalore Royal Challengers Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sun 25 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	51st match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Mon 26 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	53rd match - Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Tue 27 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	54th match - Deccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Wed 28 16:00 local, 10:30 GMT	55th match - Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Wed 28 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	56th match - Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Fri 30 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	1st Semi-Final - TBC v TBC Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Sat 31 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	2nd Semi-Final - TBC v TBC Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
June 2008
Sun 1 20:00 local, 14:30 GMT	Final - TBC v TBC Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

The IPL - A preview

2008-04-17T13:08:00.002-04:00

The wait is finally over. The IPL is all set to roll tomorrow with the Royal Challengers taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first game at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Banglore. There is a sense of anticipation for something special, there is a feeling that something special is going to happen to the game of cricket in India. The entertainment value is immense despite the cloud of media boycott hanging over the tournament. The opening ceremony has been planned to be worthy of a world cup and the atmosphere is set to be electric. With stilt walkers, floating damsels, cheerleaders from the US, Shankar Ehsan Loy with the music, and fireworks it is sure to be some spectacle.

A novel toss is being planned. When Ganguly and Dravid go out for the toss the whole stadium is going to be in darkness and spotlights are going to follow the two captains to the middle and the toss is said to happen under the spotlight, before the lights come on again for the opening ball. It will be quite eerie and exciting and the crowd might just go wild!!

Will the cricket match up to all the hype? That will be the question in everybody's mind. The talent is definitely there and some of the youngsters must be eager to shine in the limelight. It is their chance to become famous playing against some international stars. Crowd support will be an interesting factor, while most of the crowd will be cheering for the home team they will also be supporting their favorite cricketers playing for the opposition.

All in all a mouth watering prospect. Get set folks, it is time for India to change the face of world cricket!!

Promising Youngsters

2008-04-17T12:32:00.002-04:00

The series between West Indies and Sri Lanka involved a lot of new faces. With the lankans going in with a very young team there were a few who made use of the opportunity. Chamara Kapugedera has shown on a few occasions that he has a good temperament with the bat and he came good in this series. Kulasekara with the new ball was impressive and picked up some good wickets. But the stand out new face was definitely Ajantha Mendis, a young spinner. You cannot term him as an off spinner or a leg spinner because he bowls the conventional off spinner, a delivery that goes away and also an Anil Kumble type of googly. The batsmen just could not pick him and he is definitely a mystery spinner. There are already comparisons with Murali but that is not fair to this youngster because there can only be one Murali. But this fellow seems to have magic in his fingers and the prospects for him look really bright and Sri Lanka might have unearthed another gem of a spinner.
Take a look:

As for the West Indies they might have finally found the answer to their search for an opening partner to Chris Gayle in Sewnarine Chattergoon. The similarities in the name to Shivnarine Chanderpaul is rather interesting. However the similarities dont end there, this fellow is also from Guyana and he is also a diminutive left hander with quite the same build. But his batting looks much neater than Chanderpaul's and it remains to be seen if it will be as effective. I was really impressed at the compsure he displayed at the crease and he looks at home at the international level with a good technique for an opening bat. He has made some neat 40s so far and West Indies will hope that he can convert them into big scores and have a long career at the highest level.

A face saving victory

2008-04-17T12:01:00.002-04:00

India won the third match against the proteas to level the series and prevent an embarassing series defeat at home. The pitch lived up to the expectations providing turn and unpredictable bounce for both the spinners and the pacers. Excellent batting from Laxman and Ganguly and a gritty last wicket stand helped India get a lead of 60 which demoralised the proteas. On the third day the pitch got into the minds of the visitors and Harbhajan and co. made the most of it to bundle them out cheaply.

There has been a lot of debate on the pitch with people questioning whether the pitch was fit for a test match. I firmly do believe that this pitch really tested the abilities of the players and we do need to play on such pitches once in a while especially in India. India need to make spinner friendly wickets when playing at home not sporting pitches which help the opposition. This needs to be done in the first match of any home series so that the opposition is immediately put on the backfoot. India need to win at home and the best way to do that is by making turning tracks. Ofcourse that does not mean that we need to make underprepared wickets like this one. The red soil in India is conducive for spin and all that needs to be done is to use a higher proportion of this soil in the making of the pitch. With the right amount of watering these pitches with start turning from day 3 and days 4 & 5 will see the ball bouncing from a length of the spinners. And these wickets will not keep low and hence runs can also be scored. These were the type of wickets we used to see in the 90s when India hardly lost a match at home and that is how it needs to be.

Sporting pitches need to be made for domestic matches which will ensure the all round development of the youngsters so that they will ready for the challenges abroad. When youngsters play on both kinds of wickets they will be completely ready to face all conditions that they encounter. Spin is as essential a component as pace bowling is and if India does not develop that then who will?

Coming back to the test match, Ishant Sharma made a big difference to the Indian attack. Coming back from injury he initially looked rusty but quickly hit his straps. He showed a new facet to his bowling which was not seen earlier - the ability to reverse swing the ball. The abrasive nature of the pitch meant that the ball reversed quite early in the innings and Ishant's bursts with the old ball made the difference. His 5 wickets in the match eased the pressure on Harbhajan and kept the pressure on the proteas. Sreesanth also bowled well and his opening spell in the second innings when he got the initial breakthrough was superb.

Finally a word on Dhoni, there are already many people saying that he captained brilliantly but it would not be judicious to pass a judgement on his captaincy skills after just 1 test match, especially one on such a wicket. It is easy to captain on such pitches but considering that it was his first match he did do a good job. I still feel he needs to mature more as a cricketer and as long as Kumble keeps going he will have time to learn.

India managed to retain the No.2 spot in the ICC rankings at the end of the cycle. It has a been a wonderful effort from this team. The next test series for India is only in July when they visit Sri Lanka. Now it is time to relax and party with the IPL!!

Reckless Dhoni

2008-04-12T22:43:00.002-04:00

A wonderful partnership has been built, the fielding team are weary and on the backfoot, India are 17 runs short of the SA total, the new ball is due in 3 overs, and there is only the tail to follow. Watch for the shot the Indian captain plays:

The best bad wicket batsman I have seen:

India V SA - Third test - Kanpur

2008-04-10T18:13:00.002-04:00

India go into the final match of the series in total disarray. Their batting failed miserably in the previous match, their fast bowlers are in terrible form returning from injuries, Kumble is a doubtful starter for this match, and above all the pitch at the Green Park oval seems to be an unpredictable one. All this goes in favour of the tourists who have a settled and confident look about them.

India are still not sure about their bowling attack. Ishant has been passed fit and he is certain to play. However it remains to be seen if he can get back the rhythm he had in Australia and he will be under pressure right away. There is a thought of playing three spinners but if Kumble does not play the combination of Harbhajan,Chawla,& Powar does not look too promising. Powar is not the kind of bowler who can utilise a crumbling track effectively, India will miss Murali Kartik here. It would be better to go in with Sreesanth instead of Powar. It will also be interesting to see if India persist with Pathan. He showed good application with the bat in the last match but his bowling was poor. However he would be a better option compared to Yuvraj as this wicket would not suit Yuvraj's style of batting.

It looks as though the 2-0 scoreline of the 1999 series is set to be repeated again. India have to fight against all odds and play out of their skins to win this one. The toss will play a huge role and if SA win the toss India will have little hope of levelling the series. Victory in this series would mean that South Africa have almost conquered the subcontinent with wins in Pakistan,Bangladesh, and India. For a team known to be poor players of spin, that would indeed be a significant achievement.

Good signs for West Indian cricket

2008-04-06T16:58:00.002-04:00

West Indies have just squared the series against Sri Lanka with a well deserved 6 wicket win at the Queens park oval, T&T. The celebrations in the West Indian camp and the elation of the spectators present in the ground gives an indication of how much this victory meant to West Indian cricket. They had lost 7 consecutive test series before this and had not won a match at the Queens park oval since 2000. This was also just their 3rd win at home since the dawn of the new millennium.

'Flattering to deceive' has been the most commonly used phrase with reference to the Windies off late. This has been because of their tendency to implode from positions of strength. Winning test matches require a consistent and all round effort and the west indians had provided flashes of brilliance but had failed to stitch an overall effort to win matches.

The current West Indian team has a good look about it. Taylor,Powell, and Edwards form a potent pace attack with able support from Bravo and Gayle. On their day they can rip through any batting line up as they showed both in South Africa and again in this test match. These bowlers are gaining experience and are improved performers and this bodes well for the Windies. With Ramnaresh Sarwan back in the team the batting looks much better. When Gayle,Sarwan, and Chanderpaul are in good form they have the capability to post decent totals. What they need is for youngsters like Chattergoon who made his debut to consistenly contribute at the top of the order. They need to make better use of Bravo as a batsman and should play him at 5 or 6.

These are all good signs for West Indian cricket and it always makes me happy to see them doing well. One hopes that they will continue to build on this performance and become a decent test match team again.

A collapse of mammoth proportions

2008-04-03T11:14:00.003-04:00

A day which India would like to forget as quickly as they can. Probably the worst batting performance at home in the last 10 years. The pitch offered some movement off the deck and it required some hard work from the batsmen to keep the bowlers out. But the Indian batters showed no application and some of dismissals were really silly. South Africa talked about peppering the Indians and it looked as though the batsmen were scared to come on to the front foot and that caused their downfall.
Was this the same team which played so well at the WACA?

A disturbing fact for me has been Anil Kumble's demeanor in the last couple of days. The usual calm and composed Anil is missing and he seems tense and not at peace with something. Even at the toss yesterday he seemed pretty grim and I wonder what is going on inside the dressing room. Whether he is contemplating retirement after this series, we have to wait and see.

Here is a look at the Indian collapse:

It is almost certain that the proteas will take this match and with it an unassailable lead in the series. India will have its work cut out at Kanpur to prevent an embarrassing series loss.

PS: We now know the reason for Kumble's grim demeanor. It has been reported that he had a fall out with the curator Dhiraj Parsanna over the pitch. The curator reportedly did not heed Kumble's requests with regards to the pitch. Reminds me of Nagpur 2004 when Ganguly skipped the test match after problems with the pitch there. The Indians capitulated on the 1st day on that occasion too and in the next match at the Wankhede were provided with a rank turner and they won the match in 3 days. Hopefully we will get a similar turner in Kanpur for the 3rd test.

One wonders why curators in India dont provide pitches to the strength of the home team, especially with our best pace bowlers out injured. Sadly that has not been happening and the curators seem to be dancing to a different tune, whether that tune is set by the BCCI, we do not know.

Ind V SA - Test 2 - Ahmedabad

2008-04-02T21:11:00.002-04:00

In a couple of hours the second test is set to begin. After a docile pitch at Chennai resulted in a lame draw the pitch at the Motera is expected to provide a result. The proteas are going into this test as the team with the greater confidence and form. But for Virender Sehwag's blitzkrieg and Dravid's gritty effort there was nothing much to talk about for India. RP and Sreesanth were wayward and Irfan Pathan is expected to play in the second test. With Sachin out injured it remains to be seen whether India go in with the extra bowler in Piyush Chawla or go for the safety of a batsman at No.6.

India will have to lift their performance levels if they hope to take the lead in the test series. With Steyn and Morkel threatening to fire big the Indian batters will have to use all their experience to keep them out. Hashim Amla has improved leaps and bounds and has become a force to reckon with. Kallis will be eager to get among the runs after missing out in Chennai.

The curator at the Motera has said that the pitch is a sporting one likely to produce a result. It has a hint of grass on the surface which will help the pacers on the first day. However Indian pitches in the past have seen last minute changes with the grass being shaved off on the morning of the match. It will be interesting to see if that happens today.

Hoping for a more interesting test match than the previous one.

Sensational Sehwag

2008-03-31T10:57:00.002-04:00

Use any adjective that comes to your mind such as brilliant, spectacular, audacious, stupendous, and so on. You will find that all of them are suitable to describe Sehwag's innings at Chennai. It was an innings which no cricket lover should miss. Here is a video of the innings:

Gary Kirsten feels 'Indian'

2008-03-25T11:28:00.002-04:00

In his latest newsletter Kirsten talks about how it feels to be the coach of India.
An interesting read:

First of all, many thanks to so many of you for the words of encouragement and support I have received over the last few months. From the moment I accepted the job I have been inundated with good wishes, not to mention requests for interviews! Apologies if I have been unable to respond personally to all of you, but I'm still trying.

I was never in doubt about the enormity of the position as coach of Team India but if I had been unsure then I certainly would not be by now. I have only been in Bangalore for a few days but I'm settling in very quickly, as I knew I would. My wife, Deborah, hasn't been to India since the South African tour of 1997 and is amazed by the changes the country has undergone. Having two small children this time around will also ensure that it is a very different experience!

I am delighted to be able to confirm that Paddy Upton has agreed terms with the BCCI to join me as Mental and Fitness Coach to the national squad.

Paddy and I have a connection going all the way back to school days and, of course, he was part of the South African National Team as fitness trainer in the mid '90s while I was playing.

More recently we became business partners when we established Performance Zone 18 months ago, a business focusing on assisting people to improve both business and sports performance.

Our third partner in Performance Zone, master coach Dale Williams, will be looking after our business interests while we focus on Indian Cricket. There are some exciting new projects we are working on and we'll tell you more about them in our next newsletters.

The most obvious question I have been asked about the beginning of my two-year contract has been about the fact that we are playing against South Africa. Whilst I appreciate the fascination and irony about the scheduling, I must say that everybody else seems far more fascinated by that aspect of the contest than I do.

To be honest, having spent three highly enjoyable and productive weeks with the Indian team in Australia, and having maintained almost daily contact with Anil and Mahendra, I feel completely 'Indian' as we approach the series. I won't ever renounce my nationality, obviously, but I like to think of cricket as a completely professional game and I am a professional. But it goes beyond that. I feel passionate about the Indian team, and Indian cricket. The Indian team, given its numbers and resources, should be dominating world cricket. On the field as well as off it! I would love to be a part of that happening.

My time with Sachin, Rahul, Anil, Sourav, MS and VVS - as well as the incredibly talented youngsters in the squad, has been invigorating and inspiring. I can't wait for the real stuff to begin.

We will continue to use this newsletter to keep you up to date on what is happening within our world. With the South Africans coming out to India in the next few weeks, our first challenge is going to take them on with the best that we have.

Thank you once again for your generous support and please pass this newsletter along to anyone wanting to follow our progress in India and keep up with the latest thinking in the world of performance.

All the best

Gary

India Vs SA - A Preview

2008-03-24T17:49:00.003-04:00

India are taking on South Africa at home for a 3 match test series kicking off on the 26th at Chennai. A series between these two teams has never generated as much excitement as a series against Australia,Pakistan, or even England. Considering the just concluded high voltage series down under the build-up to this series has been pretty meek.

South Africa have a superb record in test matches against India and they have also won a series in India under Cronje. Hence the hosts cannot take the visitors lightly and this will be a very tight series. The incentive for the team winning the series is the No.2 test spot in the ICC rankings and a chance to close the gap with the Aussies. Both teams are high on confidence and it will be the team that wins the crucial moments which will emerge victorious.

India's game plan will be to pile the runs on the board and attack the South African batsmen with the spinners. South Africa on the other hand will rely on the sheer pace of Dale Steyn to cripple the Indian batting. Paul Harris is their left-arm spinner and India have a history of trouble against left-arm spinners.

Some milestones to look forward to:

Sachin Tendulkar is 171 runs short of becoming the world's highest run scorer and though I wish he gets that in Chennai, it is more likely that he will achieve that in Ahmedabad, where a number of previous records have been broken.
However it is an interesting fact that South Africa is the only country against whom Sachin averages under 40 and I am sure he will be itching to change that.
Sachin also needs just 2 more catches to reach the landmark of 100 catches in tests.

Rahul Dravid is 80 runs short of reaching the 10000 run mark which will make him the third Indian batsman to reach the landmark. It will be a special moment in the career of a modern great and one of the most selfless cricketers India have ever produced.
Dravid is also 46 runs short of reaching a 1000 runs against the proteas. Again it is interesting to note that SA are the only country against whom he averages less than 40.

VVS Laxman needs 4 catches to reach 100 catches in test matches which will be a testament to his wonderful close catching skills.

Overall I am eagerly looking forward to watching some thrilling test-cricket and I hope the rain-gods allow us a full game at Chennai.

Ridiculous Reporting

2008-03-19T15:58:00.003-04:00

This was an article that appeared last week on cricketnext.com, just before the selection of the Indian team for the SA series:

Gambhir, Chopra certain to earn Test recall

V Veera Kumar | Cricketnext.com

With Test opener Wasim Jaffer struggling for runs during the recent tour of Australia, in-form opening batsmen from Delhi – Gautam Gambhir and Aakash Chopra are almost certain to be picked for the home series against South Africa starting at Chennai on March 26.

Another Delhi batsman, Virender Sehwag, who give a fine display after being given a chance in the last two Test matches in Australia, is likely to be the third option for opener.

"Jaffer’s form has been dismal while Sehwag has struggled for runs during the Australian tour and with both Gambhir, who was the highest scorer during the tri-series which India won, and Chopra, who topped the domestic run-getters’ list, it is almost certain they will make it to the Test squad for the three-match Test series against the Proteas," according to a selector here on Sunday.

I was really incensed by this piece which claims Sehwag struggled for runs in Australia and that he would be the third option. These were Sehwags scores in the two tests that he played in Australia:

Perth: 29&43
Adelaide: 61&151

Do you call that struggling for runs? Such ridiculous reporting with erroneous claims are really damaging and is an attempt to twist public perception. And if a selector really said that then he does not deserve to be in that position. A cricket news website should not publish articles without verifying their facts and it is really atrocious to see such articles published.

Team for SA Test Series

2008-03-19T15:20:00.002-04:00

The team for the first two tests against the proteas has been announced. As usual there were a few ripples caused by the selections.

Jaffer was retained despite performing poorly against Lee and the Aussies. He probably got the nod based on his fine performances at home last year. This will probably be his last chance and he will have a tough battle against Dale Steyn's fearsome pace and form. The fortunate or unfortunate thing is that India have two openers knocking on the doors. One is Gautham Gambhir who despite not having the best technique is in excellent form and his performances in the ODI series have brought him into reckoning for the tests. The other person is Akash Chopra who has had the most phenomenal year in domestic cricket notching up over 1400 runs last year and is somebody who has shown the right temperament to play at the international level and more importantly is somebody who complements Sehwag brilliantly. Opening is about partnerships and based on that Chopra is the best man to open with Sehwag. If Jaffer fails in the first two tests he should be replaced by Chopra.

Yuvraj Singh failed miserably in the test matches in Australia, is not fully fit, and will anyway not be part of the playing eleven. Why on earth the selectors want him to warm the bench is something which cannot be explained. This would have been an ideal time for Yuvraj to get back into shape and play some domestic cricket to get his form back before the next ODI series. Instead a youngster like Rohit Sharma could have been given a spot just to experience the feeling of being in the test side alongside the big players. It would be the best way to give the youngsters adequate feel for the test matches so that they will be ready when the need arises.

The fitness concerns over a number of players is indeed a worrying factor. Zaheer was ruled out, Ishant has been ruled out for the first two tests. Harbhajan and Dhoni are going to take fitness tests to determine if they are fit to play. And spare a thought for the ever-so-unlucky Murali Kartik, just when he gets another chance to wear the India cap he twists his ankle and is ruled out. Luckily RP Singh has recovered his fitness and will lead the pace attack. One hopes he will find his rhythm soon enough because it is never an easy thing to return after a break. Sreesanth will share the new ball with RP and captain Kumble will take charge of the spin duties alongside Harbhajan/Piyush. Irfan will have to sit out unless India want to play five bowlers.

It will be coach Gary Kirsten's first assignment and it will be interesting to see how he goes.

The team for the first two tests:

Squad for the first two Tests Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Sreesanth, RP Singh.

Back-up: Dinesh Karthik

Schedule:

March 2008
Wed 26 - Sun 30 10:00 local, 04:30 GMT	1st Test - India v South Africa MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
April 2008
Thu 3 - Mon 7 10:00 local, 04:30 GMT	2nd Test - India v South Africa Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Fri 11 - Tue 15 10:00 local, 04:30 GMT	3rd Test - India v South Africa Green Park, Kanpur

Chak De India!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-03-04T14:31:00.002-05:00

What an amazing performance for Team India to beat the Aussies hands down and lift the CB Series. It was a brilliant series for the Indians and they emerged deserving victors. The Aussies claim that they dominated the group phase and lost out in the finals but that was not the case at all. All the matches between India and Aus in this series were close affairs with the Indian bowlers troubling the Aussie batsmen in all the matches. The difference in the finals was that the little master turned it on and the Aussies had no hope.

This was a young Indian team and most people (myself included) thought they were going to lose pretty badly and even doubted if they would make the final. They have proved everybody wrong and have played some unbelievable cricket. The stand out point for me has been the performance of some of the young players like Gautham Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, and Praveen Kumar. When the big players like Sachin,Sehwag,and Yuvraj were not making big runs these youngsters stood up and took the responsibility along with the captain MS Dhoni who has shown immense maturity in his batting this series. This bodes well for the future and Indian cricket and lets hope the youngsters continue to perform in the same vein.

One thing that was evident in the finals was the hunger that this Indian team showed. They wanted to win desperately and that is something we have not seen much of in the past. Some part of it might be attributed to the foolish comments made by Hayden which really worked to spur this team on. Harbhajan was targeted by the players and the crowd and not only did he show tremendous guts to handle that but also raised his level of performance in the finals. That he took the wickets of Hayden and Symonds in the finals really proves the point.

The Aussies were outplayed in totality by this Indian team and their off the field antics did not really help them score any psychological points either. With the great Gilly departing they will be further weakened and their dominance over world cricket is all set to be a thing of the past.

The winning moment:

India's find of the series:

An example of 'Aussie rules' cricket:

Gilly's last act with the gloves :)

Master at Work

2008-03-03T16:54:00.002-05:00

Sachin Tendulkar gave a masterly performance in the first final of the CB series to give Australia a thorough bashing. His innings was filled with some delightful strokes and some wonderfully placed shots for singles and twos. It was a very important century because this was his first ODI century in Australia and that was something he definitely needed to get. It brought back memories of his knock against the Aussies in Sharjah in April 1998 which was also a chase in the final. It is hard to believe that a decade has passed since that because that innings still remains in the hearts of all Indian fans.

For those who missed the treat at the SCG here are the highlights of his innings:

I enjoyed this interview after the game:

And just to rekindle memories of his innings at Sharjah:

India U-19 Triumph

2008-03-03T16:39:00.002-05:00

The Indian under-19 team are world champions!!!
It was a brilliant performance from the young Indians right through the 2 week tournament. That they did not lose even a single match shows how well they played. There were some outstanding individual performances and a few surely have a bright future ahead.

The captain Virat Kohli led from the front with good runs. His hundred against the Windies was the innings of the tournament. Opener Taruwar Kohli gave the team solid starts in most of the matches which laid the platform for the others to build on. He seems to have modelled his game on Rahul Dravid so let us hope India get another wall for the future. Tanmay Srivastava at number 3 is a tall upright batsman and a clean striker of the cricket ball. He played some cracking shots and was India's highest run getter of the series. Suresh Tiwary played a few responsible knocks and Manish Pandey in the few opportunities he got in the middle showed a lot of style and class and is a big hope for Karnataka and possibly India. Pradeep Sangwan led the bowling attack well and the spinners Abdullah and Jadeja took wickets in the middle overs. In the final it was Argal who bowled beautifully to achieve the victory against the proteas.

Lets celebrate the triumph and wish these youngsters a great future ahead!!!

Two sides of the coin!!

2008-02-29T16:39:00.002-05:00

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

2008-02-25T15:22:00.003-05:00

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

2008-02-23T19:25:00.001-05:00

An interesting video I came across:

This one is the latest:

India @U19 World Cup

2008-02-22T14:50:00.003-05:00

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

2008-02-20T13:57:00.004-05:00

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

2008-02-17T18:40:00.004-05:00

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

2008-02-15T15:28:00.003-05:00

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!!

2008-02-12T13:06:00.000-05:00

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

2008-02-11T11:34:00.000-05:00

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'

2008-02-10T18:47:00.000-05:00

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

2008-02-08T16:45:00.000-05:00

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

2008-02-08T11:21:00.000-05:00

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

2008-02-06T13:42:00.000-05:00

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!!

Jokers in the BCCI

2008-01-30T09:11:00.000-05:00

Here is a rib-tickling interview given by BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah about the selection of the one day team. Have a good laugh.....

'We cannot be run by public opinion'

BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah responds to MIHIR SRIVASTAVA's questions about the ouster of Saurav Ganguly and the Board's changing policies.

Photo:Pradeep Mandhani

Why was Ganguly not selected for the one-day team?
I was not part of the selection committee so I cannot say anything about it. The selection committee has gone for youngsters and they have emphasised on fielding. They are looking at the future.

Do you not think the team selection should reflect top 16 available players?
No. We have a lot of cricket to be played. Many players feel that there is too much of cricket. We have to go for rotation (policy). And must (have) a bigger pool of players.

The buzz is that Dhoni insisted for youngsters that the lead selection committee should drop Ganguly.
It was a collective decision. The captain can only give his opinion. He has no vote. It is not this fellow or that fellow. It is totally a collective decision.

What is the idea of this rotation policy?
To give players rest. They play so much cricket these days, they may need rest.

So will this rotation policy apply to players like Tendulkar or will it be used selectively?
See, when there is so much of international cricket lined up for future there are all the chances that players might get injured or something like this. And we should be able to replace them. Immediately after this there is a three match series against South Africa. After that there is a full series against Sri Lanka. There's lots of cricket to be played.

My question is whether the rotation policy be applied to Tendulkar? Doesn't he also run the risk of getting injured?
If he wants rest, why not?

Ganguly did not want to rest. He is very disappointed.
There is a certain combination you require in the team. Suppose there are five one day series. He will play three. We will actually help him.

As you just said, players can rest even when they are in the team, if they want. But not selecting a good performer, doesn't it send the wrong message?
How senior players feel about the workload, they can always go and ask for a rest.

There were a lot of protests on Ganguly’s ouster because people felt it was unjustified.
It is happening only in Bengal. There are protests in Bangalore for Rahul. There is no end to this. We have a selection committee that is technically very sound. They are yesteryear’s players. They know what the combination should be. We cannot be run on public opinion. There is a need for a bigger pool (of players). There is no doubt about it.

Why only certain players are seen to be targeted?
Suppose we are basically using only three fast bowlers…then we will soon be without bowlers.

We are discussing batsman here..
The selectors were looking for a young team.

Isn't the Australia tour too important to be experimenting with players?
The youngsters who will play well in Australia will emerge as the best players for the future.

For the sake of argument, what is the more important criterion for selection: performance or rotation policy? Would you drop the best performing players for rotation policy?
Rahul's performance is not there. Lakshman's performance is not there.

I am talking about Ganguly. He has done well.
Lakshman has done well too.

We are talking about ODI.
Selection was made for ODIs.

Why are you looking at ODI?
Actually, it is a selection committee matter. We do not get into it.

Putting new blood to test, why only for ODIs, why not for test cricket?
Test cricket is very important for any (one playing) world cricket. Many people do not see it but for us it is very important. All these one-day players like to be test players.

But why is this rotation policy is not applicable to test cricket?
Why look at tests, there are domestic tournaments like Ranji Trophy. One day cricket requires a lot of energy, so fielding capability has to be seen, everything has to be seen. But the tests are a real test for cricket players. The tests are very important for every country. We like to be a test winning country and not a one-day winning country. Youngsters need lot of cricketing abilities to stay there for five days. In ODI you may just go in and slog couple of overs, here you have to play for five days. After all, they get to play the long form of cricket in domestic cricket.

Does Dhoni deserve to be in the Test Team?

2008-01-29T15:24:00.000-05:00

Mahendra Singh Dhoni fell to Brett Lee for 20, Australia v India, 4th Test, Adelaide, 5th day, January 28, 2008

Before the ODI series begins and MS Dhoni once again impresses one and all with his captaincy and batting, there is one question that needs to be asked - Does Dhoni really deserve to play in the Indian test team or is he in the team because he has been made the ODI captain?

Forget his captaincy and his ODI performances. Just look at him as a test-match wicket-keeper who bats at No.7. He averaged a mere 17 in this series against Australia while both Harbhajan and Kumble who bat below him managed better averages. Infact even India's No.11 Ishant Sharma averaged 21.50 in the series. So the fact is that India needs more runs from its No.7 batsman. Dhoni's failures have been covered up by the performance of the tail in this series. But it is something which needs to be addressed.

What is most astonishing is the bench strength that India has on the wicket keeping front. Ofcourse there is Dinesh Karthick who was opening the innings until sometime back. But the more interesting option is Parthiv Patel. He burst on to the International scene as a kid and was hailed as a wonderful talent. His batting was solid but his keeping which was brilliant at the start went bad and he was dropped. Now Parthiv is playing at No.3 for Gujarat and the India A teams and has made heaps of runs last season. His keeping is back to what it was at the beginning of his career and everybody is gushing about how his batting has come of age. How much longer are the selectors going to ignore him? It is only fair that he is given a chance when Dhoni is failing in the test arena.

India's next test series is against the proteas at home. So Dhoni might well play and make some runs on home pitches. It is on away pitches and against quality bowling that the question arises. India might well have to consider having two different keepers and two different captains for the two forms of the game.

The Maverick-Gentleman calls it a day...

2008-01-28T14:31:00.000-05:00

Adam Gilchrist, souvenir stump in hand, leaves Test cricket behind

There is only one person in world cricket who can be a called a Maverick as well as a Gentleman. It is none other than Adam Gilchrist who has announced his retirement from International cricket. Though I do not like the Australian team in general, the only exception had to be Gilly. There cannot be anybody who does not like this champion cricketer. There are few cricketers for whom people go miles to watch and Gilly is definitely one of those.

Wicketkeepers were never thought of as matchwinners. They used to be just somebody who caught everything behind the wicket and held their end up with the bat. But the emergence of Gilly changed all that. The world of wicketkeeping was revolutionized. Here was a guy who not only caught everything behind the wicket but came in at no.7 and won matches single handedly with the bat. His batting won Australia many a test match and was feared by most opponents. Though he began his career in the ODIs it was in test matches that his brilliance came to the fore. Just when teams took 5 australian wickets and thought they could run through the side, Gilly would bound to the crease and counter-attack in a way that only he could and the match would be changed in a matter of minutes.

The grip that he used was not a very common one, he held the bat at the very top and was able to produce crisp shots with awesome timing. He was particularly good square of the wicket and the most important thing was that he never ever looked ugly while batting. Steve Waugh gave him the opportunity to open the innings in the ODIs and he did not look back. When Gilly got going at the top of the order it was mostly curtains for the other side. He made 17 test centuries and Australia invariably won most of those matches.Such was the impact that Gilly had on the game.

Though his batting stole the limelight his keeping was not far behind. He rarely dropped any catches but for the last few months and was extremely acrobatic behind the stumps. One often got to see him flying down the leg side to pouch a one-handed stunner. His keeping to Warne on the 4th and 5th days of test-matches deserves special mention. But then his batting was so out of the world that nobody really talked about his keeping.

Another important reason why this cricketer was loved by one and all is the way he played the game. Playing in an Australian team which plays hard and aggressive cricket, with the 'any means to win' attitude, Gilly walked when he nicked a ball without ever waiting for the umpire's decision. His way of coming out to bat and going back after being dismissed were very interesting too. He would definitely be the quickest to reach the middle and the same was true for the walk back too!! His conduct on and off the field made him a wonderful ambassador of cricket around the world.

His retirement is a big blow to Australia who will find that he cannot really be replaced. The world of cricket will miss one of its finest entertainers of all time.

Thanks Gilly!!!

A sample of Gilly's best:

A Tribute to a true Legend

2008-01-22T17:50:00.000-05:00

I had briefly touched upon the achievement of Anil Kumble in my last post but Harsha's tribute to this wonderful cricketer really showcases the man that 'Jumbo' is.

This is Harsha Bhogle's article from espnstar.com:

And still the Quiet Titan

By: Harsha Bhogle

India's Captain Anil Kumble shows the ball after taking his 600th wicket. (Getty Images)

Many years ago, when the nineties had just come upon us, a young man with an unusual bowling action but no passport was picked for India. But selection can have side-effects and a passport was hastily organized and a vegetarian leg spinner landed in Sharjah.

Three months later he made his test debut and could scarcely have imagined that one day the figure 601 would stand alongside his name. Being the engineering student he then was he might well have thought it was, like the Avogadro number, one of those strange numbers that appear only in text books. It was far too many wickets to contemplate.

But he has soared since then. For in his corner stood perseverance, aggression and dignity, great human qualities if you are searching for a role model, terrible friends, it seems, if you have to become an advertising personality. There has to be something wrong there. Every time a challenge presented itself, Kumble bit his lip, locked those piercing eyes on his target and returned to the top of his run-up.

Every time the captain looked at him he wanted the ball, every time people said he didn’t turn the ball he took more wickets. That is how six hundred came about.

With grit and toil and a spirit that said it could be done. You can tell I’m a fan. And I’m proud to be one.

I looked at a star, not a meteor.

Many years ago, I was asked to do a piece on him and we called it the quiet titan. He worked for the watch company then and so the match seemed right. It still is. Without doubt he is the best slow bowler India has produced; home and away, on a good pitch and bad. Even the best spinners normally start tailing off, their wiles recognized, their guile no longer as enticing, their tricks a bit tired. Kumble, at 37, is amazingly picking up wickets with the same frequency. He is adding new deliveries to his repertoire and is disturbingly ahead of anyone in India as a bowler at the moment. He is a titan and he is still quiet and thank god for that. And he is a substantial man. If he doesn’t feature very prominently in the Republic Day Honours List, he may not feel bad but India should.

And yet he has been the forgotten spinner. While Warne and Murali fought epic duels in print and in words, sparked debates across continents, he did what he knows best. He kept picking wickets. Unlike Murali, there is no sleight of hand, not a murmur about an action. Unlike Warne, there is no scandal and he certainly won’t be signing up to play poker. Each of the three enriched the sport they played and you might say Kumble was the most prosaic of all. You might say he is the bricklayer and that will do him no discredit for this is a mighty fine structure he has built.

And as he basks in the evening of his career, not a short winter evening but a splendid, long summer evening he finds himself captain of India. Various people who marveled at his insights and determination wondered why he wasn’t captain earlier. That too has now come about through a strange, unpredictable configuration of events. But it hasn’t taken him by surprise for he brings to his role the same dignity and perseverance that he brought, and still does, to his bowling. Or, for that matter, to his batting. As fires raged around our game in Sydney last week, I felt comforted to know that Indian cricket was in safe hands.

I don’t know how far he will go. I don’t think he does either. Sometime ago he told me that six hundred would be nice but knowing him, even his targets would be dynamic, changing to accommodate changing situations.

He says he is taking life match by match and certainly no further than a series at a time but he won’t be surprised if six hundred and fifty comes about. For he has got a second wind and it is blowing him towards greater success. His desire hasn’t dulled, his will remains strong, the fingers are doing fine, the mind is ready for battle and there is even need to put in an extra bat into the kit bag.

Six hundred is special and it is a special man who holds that honour.

Dada deserves Better

2008-01-20T19:41:00.000-05:00

The team for the ODI tri-series against Australia and Srilanka was announced today. The major talking point is the omission of Sourav Ganguly, arguably the one Indian batsman in the best of form. The selectors have as usual cited 'fielding' and 'future' as the reasons for the axing. A third f which was 'form' was also used when Dravid was axed but that was not applicable in this case.

The selection exhibited a complete lack of brains in the selection committee. Some articles are suggesting rumours that the selections were forced by the Indian ODI captain. The Indian selectors always seem to go from total lack of support to too much support for the captain. The selections also showcased a lack of understanding of the process of transition. Just throwing inexperienced players into the middle might work in T20 but is really not going to be effective in longer forms of the game. A young player has to be slowly eased into International cricket and there is no better way of doing that than by having experienced pros around the dressing room who can help the young kid.

This series was a wonderful opportunity for the selectors to do just that. This is possibly the longest ODI tri-series with lots of matches in the group stages. The best thing for the selectors to do would have been to rotate both the seniors and the young players so that all of them got the opportunity to play and more importantly win some matches during this time. The selectors always seem to be going from the past to the future without ever thinking about the present.

This is how the Indian batting card is going to read: Sachin Gambhir Sehwag Yuvraj Raina Robin Dhoni. There is no sense of stability in that middle order. Each of these players with the exception of Sachin are highly inconsistent. Yuvraj might have been pretty consistent in the last year but the form that he is in right now and his 'mental disintegration' that the Aussies have managed suggested that a solid batting option was required. You look at the options available on the bench and you see Rohit and DK, hardly people who inspire confidence. So folks, here is a batting disaster waiting to happen!!

Sourav Ganguly is definitely in the form of his life, batting better than he has ever done. Besides his bowling might have also proved helpful on the Aussie wickets. To drop a player like that is totally unjustified and if the selectors want Dravid and Ganguly to retire from ODI cricket then they must be given the choice of going out on their own terms. They have certainly served Indian cricket enough to be given a grand stage to end their glittering ODI careers.

The Perth Conquest

2008-01-19T19:28:00.000-05:00

A great day in the history of Indian cricket. Even if you isolate the events leading up to this test and see, you will still understand the enormity of this achievement. A victory over the worlds best team in the world's fastest pitch is no mean feat. And when you take everything thats been happening off the field it just makes it all the more brilliant. Kudos to team India and to their lion-hearted captain Anil Kumble.

India's bowling on this tour has been a revelation. This attack was considered as the third string attack with Zaheer and Sreesanth out injured. But RP,Irfan, and the young Ishant bowled as well as any seasoned attack could have. While RP and Irfan got the wickets with swing, Ishant combined swing with spiteful seam off the pitch to torment Ponting over a 8 over spell. That particular spell was a joy to watch. Ishant reminds me a lot of the young Javagal Srinath and if he can stay fit he can well emulate the glorious deeds of his predecessor.

Anil Kumble has been a great leader and a wonderful statesman. To keep the team focussed amidst all the chaos was some achievement. At the same time he handled all the media and other commitments off the field brilliantly and performed on the field as well. To reach the 600 wicket milestone was a simply outstanding effort and I dont think any Indian is going to beat his tally, atleast for some time to come.

Australia are not a side to be feared. In Melbourne India made the mistake of letting theirs bowlers dictate the terms. But that can be attributed to the lack of match practice on the Aussie wickets. Since then they have managed to throw punches back at the Aussie bowlers and achieved good totals. Sydney was a match where India dominated a majority of the time and the result would have been in India's favor had the umpiring been slightly better. The umpiring in this match was not the best either but an equal number of bad decisions were shared between the two teams and hence evened out. But to bounce back like they did at Perth shows the teams character and if they can continue the good cricket in Adelaide a draw in this series would taste much sweeter than a win!!

Going Overboard

2007-09-27T08:35:00.000-04:00

The announcements are flowing in, itz a windfall for the victorious Indian team.
Here are a few examples:
Indian Team: $200000 from BCCI
Yuvraj - 1 Crore and a 911 Porsche from the BCCI for his six sixes
Rohit Sharma & Ajit Agarkar - 10 Lakhs from the Maharashtra govt.
Joginder Sharma - 21 Lakhs from Himachal govt.
Dinesh Karthick - 5 Lakhs from the TN Govt.

I am sure this list is going to continue with the governments vying with each other to make a political statement out of it. But think about this from a purely cricketing standpoint, what is all this money going to achieve? Yes for the players from a poor background like Joginder or Rohit this will definitely help them lead a better life. But for the others it is just going to be a distraction and might detract from their future performances.

BCCI giving bonuses and gifts to the players is very good, they are the paymasters and they are rewarding the players for their good work but the governments, in making a political statement might actually be harming the future of Indian cricket. Maybe a public felicitation and praise would be a much better way to encourage these youngsters to achieve greater things rather than simply giving them money. If these youngsters get complacent and get chucked out of the team, then they realize that the fall from glory is rather a very steep one and then there is nobody to help them out. Ask Irfan and you will get the confirmation.

Final Word: 'As long as politicians are involved in the running of sport, sporting achievements are always going to be politicised, and the sport itself will be the loser'.

World T20 Champions and the future of Team India

2007-09-26T10:21:00.000-04:00

India are World Champions!!! Sounds good doesn't it, albeit the form of the game being Twenty 20.

India have always performed well when they have been given the 'underdogs' tag and they have failed without fail when termed as the 'Favorites'. I had my reservations like almost every other Indian when MS Dhoni was named the captain of the side. 'What is this macho swashbuckling wk-bat gonna do as captain?' was the question in mind. Well, the answer couldn't have been better. Calm, cool, and Clever can be used to define the leadership skills he displayed. I quite liked the term used by Ian Chappell on air 'No Fear Cricket'. Here 'Fear' with regards to the Indian team is not of the opposition but of failure and defeat. In almost all his press interations MS has made it clear that he doesn't care about defeat and that I believe is the reason for the high performance level of this team. Indian teams of the past have wilted under pressure and have not been able to perform at their best.

Any post about this T20 world cup would not be complete without mention of the man who took batting to another level - Yuvraj Singh. His hitting was simply out of the world and only the Pak spinners in the final could curb his brilliance. One hopes he continues in the same vein in the ODI series against the Aussies.

The most promising aspect of this Indian team was the future prospects of Indian cricket. This was literally the new face of India with team missing all the three big guns and having an average age of 24. The brightest star on the horizon and probably the find of the tournament was undoubtedly Rohit Sharma. His batting style and temperament looks so good that it should not take him too long to knock on the door of the test team. At 20 he displayed a cool head to make a big difference in the end overs and the ease with which he cleared the boundaries was a revelation. This boy will go a long way and will be a cornerstone of the Indian batting in times to come.

The Indian bowling looked to be deceptively dangerous. It was considered to be the weak link but in the end proved to be a very potent one. The most heartening aspect for Indian cricket lovers would be the comeback of Irfan Pathan, and he should be back to the No.7 spot in the ODIs as well which immediately gives the side a more balanced look. RP Singh was phenomenal through the tournament and Sreesanth was mercurial as ever. Bhajji was good in patches but am still not convinced that he is back to his best.

A word about Dravid's decision would be in order. I feel it is a very good decision for Indian cricket because it ll give them the best of Dravid the batsman for a couple of years and that will definitely win India a lot of matches. Dhoni will be a good ODI captain but it is still too early to give him the captaincy for the test matches. I believe that should go to VVS though many might disagree with me. I think he is a pretty good captain and I believe captaincy will bring the best out of VVS the batsman. And who better to lead the team against the Aussies than VVS?

But for now it is time to shout from the rooftops : " We are World Champions!!!"

Final Word: 'The future of Team India lies in good hands'

The World Cup that was...or Wasn't

2007-05-01T20:10:00.000-04:00

The World Cup has come to an end.....Finally!!!!!
To say that the tournament was a total disaster wouldn't be too far from the truth. It was truly one of the worst world cups ever and Aussies winning again didn't make it any better.

The thing that was most dismal was the way the ICC tried to impose themselves on the Carribean cricketing culture. The control freaks that they are, they imposed restrictions on the crowds which took out the most interesting aspects of cricket in the carribean.

Needless to say the India-Pakistan debacle led to a tepid super-8 stage. This is probably the first time there have been so many one-sided affairs. I am not talking about close finishes here but say a 30 run or a 3 wicket loss in place of a 60 run loss or a 7 wicket loss which was how most matches ended up.

The fiasco with the Duckworth-Lewis calculations in the final was a fitting end to this miserable tournament and summed up the whole affair. Credit to Australia for maintaining their level of play and I guess their losses to the Kiwis just before the tournament pumped them up for the big one.

One just hopes the ICC can learn from their mistakes and put up a better one in 4 years time....

Final Word: A World Cup to be forgotten..........

The Kiwis

2007-04-21T18:12:00.000-04:00

The One team that I have not talked about thus far is New Zealand.

A bunch of honest blokes who are always up for a fight - this might be a good description for this team. They have never really boasted of big superstars but have always been the eternal dark horses in the WCs. Like the Proteas they could also be called unlucky and it is indeed surprising that they have not even reached the finals ever. They have tended to lose their most crucial matches and with it the tournament.

This time around they have reached the semis and it remains to be seen whether they can convert it into the big one. Allround ability is the strength of this team. They bat way down and have useful variations with the ball. Ofcourse Bondy is the key bowler and if they need to beat the Aussies one feels that Bondy needs to perform. On the batting front the skipper leads the charge along with Styris and McMillan in the middle. The big hitters down the order like Oram and Mccullum are always dangerous. They have been unlucky with injuries and Vincent who was in such good form is a definite loss.

The last word about this team has to be reserved for its captain - Stephen Fleming. One of the most astute and clever captains ever he has managed to use the minimal resources he has to its fullest capability. One of the most long-standing captains in world cricket he has led this team magnificently and has earned world wide respect.

Final Word: If ever there was a captain who deserved to win a world cup then Fleming is definitely the one.

The Home Boys

2007-04-01T19:10:00.000-04:00

The West Indies.....

When you think of the West Indies the first thing that comes to mind is fiery pace, the flourishing blade, the panache, the wonderful spirit, and above all a true joy in playing the game.

Alas very few of the above characteristics hold true for the current bunch. Cricket has taken a back seat in the Windies and this is very evident on the field. Darren Powell seems to be the only penetrating force in the bowling attack which otherwise wears a timid look. The batting, as has been for a long time now is dependent on Lara with the others being utterly inconsistent.

To add to their woes there are problems within the team with Lara not happy at being omitted from the selection of the team. Moreover the turnout has been poor which has dampened the spirit of the team.

All in all one can only feel sorry for this team which only has an outside chance of making the semis after their defeat to the Lankans today.

Final Word: Hope the future can recapture the past.

What went wrong?

2007-03-26T17:14:00.000-04:00

Well that is the question on every Indian's mind. Being one among a billion heartbroken fans, that is indeed the question on top of my mind.

Did we not have players who had the ability to match the best? Yes we did.
Did we not have experience in the team? Yes we did.

Then what on earth went so wrong that we are out of the world cup already?

The first and the most important error that the Indians made was in the make up of the team they played. One could sense even when they played the first match that something was wrong with this line up. There was no balance in the team and the wrong players were playing at the wrong positions. Chappel and Dravid might talk about being flexible with the batting line up but the fact remains that certain players have to be played at certain positions. It is well known that Sachin is at his best while opening the innings and that was the major driving force behind India's wonderful run in the last world cup. Why on earth would you bat him at 4 and open with somebody like Uthappa who most certainly lacks the technique to do well against quality attacks. The opening slot is arguably the most important in ODIs as the tone of the match can be set right at the outset. Against Srilanka it was evident the way Vaas managed to set the tone right away as Uthappa played out a maiden and that is where a player like Sachin would have seized the initiative. This mistake of playing Sachin at 4 led to Yuvraj playing at 6 which was another crucial error. Yuvi is the player in best form and 4 was the perfect slot for him to play. Dhoni at 6 and Pathan at 7 would have been ideal to follow Dravid at 5. This batting lineup would have been the most balanced and would have given each of the players the best opportunity to perform to their potential.

The second factor which was pretty evident was a lack of energy in the team. By energy I mean the vitality that the team displayed. As I had said in my earlier post this Indian team needed somebody to give them an impetus and to drive them forward. Ganguly did that brilliantly in the previous world cup but alas Dravid isnt the leader of men that Ganguly was. The team ended up looking flat in the field and their bowling and fielding lacked purpose. The bowlers did bowl well against Lanka but still they let them off the hook when they should have finished them off.

The third and final aspect is that of the spinner they played. They played Harbhajan in the first match and he did not look very impressive. Then they played Kumble against Bermuda and he was his usual self. Again against Lanka they went back to Harbhajan just because Lanka had a few left handers in their line up. It was obvious that between Bhajji and Kumble the latter was in better form and hence it made absolutely no sense to go back to Harbhajan and he bowled poorly against the lankans. Out of the Lankan top 6 only 3 were left handers that too at the top of the order, hence the selection was really illogical.

All in all it was a pathetic performance and they got the deserved result. Ofcourse changes are needed in the team, not because of lack of talent but for lack of vitality. This just goes to show how much a Kaif diving around the covers and screaming words of encouragement can do to a side. I believe he is a future captain and is important to India's future.

The captain and the coach need to take the blame for the debacle and there is no way Chappell will get his contract extended after this.

Final Word: Attitude is as important as talent.

Black Saturday

2007-03-18T02:39:00.000-04:00

A day India and Pakistan will never forget………

I am taking a break from analyzing the teams and their chances in this world cup to speak about a day which has made its way into world cup annals as one in which the so-called minnows overcame all odds to defeat their illustrious counterparts.

Bangladesh is a team which no longer deserves to be called a minnow. They are showing tremendous improvement in all aspects of the game and their place among the test playing nations is well deserved. They displayed ample proof of that by a comprehensive thrashing of India today at Trinidad. It was the first game of the world cup for both teams and the Bangladeshis could not have asked for a better start to the tournament.

Complacency…overconfidence…many experts might use these words to describe the way India played today. I choose to simply say that they were outplayed in all parts of the game. True it might have been a different story had Dravid decided to bowl first….but the fact remains that he chose to bat first and they batted poorly. The Bangladesh bowlers did the basics right and were disciplined right from the start. They gave nothing away to the Indians and reaped rich rewards.

Slow pitches…Left arm spinners….this has come to be the cause for India’s failures in the recent past. There was a time when no spinner to bowl to an Indian line up without getting walloped, but this is no longer the case. The Indians just don’t like to graft. Ganguly did his best but threw it away when he should ideally have looked to play the full fifty overs. Yuvraj was the one man who looked fluent from the word go but could not go on to make the much-needed big score. In the it was the last wicket pair of Munaf and Zaheer who had to take them to a score which made them think they could defend.

The aspect of India’s loss today which worries me most was the lack of enthusiasm in the field when they came out to bowl. They knew they had a low score on the board, they knew they needed to make early inroads to have a chance of winning. But they seemed to come out with a feeling they would just roll over the Bangladeshi batsmen. They almost looked as though they were just waiting for the batmen to make mistakes rather than make things happen. It was then that they needed to show some real urgency and put the pressure on the batsmen. Instead there were easy runs given away and absolutely no pressure on the batsmen. It was then that Dravid’s deficiency as a captain was displayed. He might be a good thinker of the game and excellent at reading the game. But he is certainly not a good leader of men, unlike a Ganguly or a Graeme Smith. This is also where the wicket keeper comes into play. Good wicket keepers can bring the team alive by constant chattering and encouragement, but there was absolutely no sound from Dhoni behind the stumps. Karthick definitely wins over Dhoni in that regard.

All said and done, it was a simply superb performance from Bangladesh. It was heartening to see the improvement made by the team as a whole. What was even more heartening that the team is so young and show signs of going places. The fielding was simply outstanding and India could learn from them in this regard. The way the youngsters came out all guns blazing was amazing to watch. One particular incident stood out : Zaheer Khan has his tail up after getting a wicket, charges in and hits Tamim Iqbal on the throat….the response – two smacking hits to the boundary the second an audacious shot coming down the track….was simply superb to watch. The future of Bangladesh cricket is in good hands.

Well the only consolation for India is that they weren’t the worst team on the day…Pakistan were even worse!!!! Ireland, playing their first world cup bundled them out for 132 and managed to overhaul that in spite of a few jitters!!! The Irish are playing with a wonderful spirit and have quite a few supporters in the windies. But its indeed a sad end to Inzy’s last world cup though he has already lifted the cup in 1992. Hopefully the people of Pakistan will not remember him for this terrible loss.

All in all a bad day for the subcontinent. I guess it would need another rollicking from the Indian media to get their team going before it is too late.

The Proteas

2007-03-15T19:29:00.000-04:00

Its time for the Final four!!!!

Yes the teams that I am writing about are the ones which will reach the super eight.(thats pretty obvious aint it?) And the first four teams that I wrote about are the one which I think will not make it to the semi-finals. Why? Because I think all of those 4 teams will lose to these four teams.

Having said that I shall now discuss the Proteas - South Africa.

The two words that come to mind when you think about this team and past world cups are : CHOKERS and UNLUCKY.

'Chokers' is a term oft used to describe this team and many rule this team out just because of this tag. They have somehow managed to lose out during the big matches and that has probably been the difference between them and the Aussies. But if there is somebody who can remove that tag for them then it is going to be Graeme Smith.

'Unlucky'- One can say that they have been one of the most unlucky teams in world cup history. 1996 - A perfect route to the quarters was spoiled by a Lara blitz and they were out of it.
1999 - A controversial Herchelle Gibbs catch and a semifinal tie and once again they were denied.

Coming to the present team, the immediate feeling one gets is that this is a strong outfit especially in the shorter version of the game. In terms of leading from the front, Graeme Smith stands out. Though I am not a huge fan of his, I have to admit that his attitude and strong leadership is definitely praiseworthy.

Smith, Gibbs, Kallis, Prince - They form the crux of the batting order. While Smith and Gibbs are attacking players, Kallis provides the right balance, and Prince is the rock in their middle order who lends solidity to their batting. Following them are hitters like Kemp, Boucher, and Pollock all of whom can cause tremendous damage in the final overs.

The bowling could be a cause for their undoing. Nel, Ntini, Pollock, Langeveldt, Kemp, and Hall sounds like a very good attack not to forget Kallis. But the biggest problem with this attack is the sameness and lack of variety. On pitches that are expected in the West Indies, the team that is successful is likely to be the one having a good variety in their attack. Ofcourse on a helpful deck these bowlers could wreak havoc and South Africa's chances in this world cup might revolve around their bowling attack.

This is definitely the last world cup for Pollock, Gibbs, and Kallis who have been stalwarts of South African cricket and they will definitely want to leave a mark on this world cup.

The format of this world cup is one where bad luck is not going to play a big part until they reach the semifinals. But its the Proteas, so anything can happen!!!!!

The only reason I place them at the bottom of my final four is again because they are Chokers!!!

Final Word: A good team but not world cup winners!!!

England

2007-03-03T18:57:00.000-05:00

It was a hard decision whether to place Srilanka and England lower down my pecking order. In the end I chose to place England above the lankans purely on the question of team morale and confidence. England was a team that had sunk to its lowest ebb in the beginning of February 2006, but they came up with 4 phenomenal performances and sunk the Kiwis and the Aussies to go on to win the CB tournament. What more can a team ask to boost its morale and confidence?

However morale and confidence alone cannot win the world cup for them. Theirs is a team which wears a totally unsettled look. Why, they are not even sure if their captain is going to be Vaughan or Flintoff. I personally feel that England would be better served by Freddie the player rather than Freddie the captain and hence would hope for their good and Vaughan is fit to play and takes on the captaincy. If it were not for captaincy I doubt if he would even have a place in the team but then he has been chosen and the team needs to live with that.

Bowling seems to be their weakest link and is probably going to be their achilles heel in this world cup. Their bowling line up will probably read as - Plunkett, Mahmood, Flintoff, Anderson,Panesar, Collingwood & Dalrymple. None of these names with the exception of Freddie are proven performers. Good performances from Plunkett and Collingwood got them the CB cup but you just cannot rely on that. There isnt much bench strength either with just Bopara and Jon Lewis the options. It is going to be very tough for England to win this world cup with this bowling attack.

Their batting looks much much better and they will infact have a problem of plenty if Vaughan is fit to play. It will be interesting to see if they drop Strauss or Joyce, the former is more experienced while the latter has put in some impressive performances recently. Ian Bell has been pretty consistent and provides solidity to their middle order. Collingwood is in simply superb form as he showed in the CB cup. Dalrymple has come up with some important knocks and can be a dangerous player. Flintoff is a worry, he hasnt been in great touch with the bat and England will hope he can get going in the World cup. But the key to England's batting and to their hopes in this world cup lies with one man alone - Kevin Pietersen. Returning from injury all English supporters will be praying he can continue where he left off. A definite matchwinner as he has shown many times, he can certainly destroy any attack and can leave an impression on this world cup. I would love see him in full flow and the small ground in the Windies are certainly not going to prevent him from raining sixes!!!

England have more negatives than positives. Their wicketkeeper is pretty inexperienced to add to their woes. They will be hoping for some miracles like what happened at the CB cup to win the world cup.

Final Word: Watch out for KP.

Srilanka

2007-03-02T18:15:00.000-05:00

The Lankans led by Mahela Jayawardene are next on my list.

A comprehensive defeat in the recent series against India is the build up for this team as the World cup draws nearer. Not ideal, one could say. The morale and self-confidence within the team couldn't be too high at the moment. The only solace lies in the fact that Vaas and Murali, the core of their bowling attack were not playing in India. However I do not think that will change their fortunes too much in World Cup.

The sad thing with this team is that they are still totally dependent on their old warhorses to win matches. Sanath,Vaas,Murali,Atapattu,Jayawardene, and Arnold were all part of their triumph in 1996 when they took the world by storm. In the current team the only match winner apart from these players is Kumar Sangakarra. This stylish left hander is a shining star in their batting line up. But consistency has always been his problem. He never really looks out of form but often throws his wicket away by being over ambitious and reckless. Srilanka will be well served if he can put a price on his wicket and play more responsibly. There are other youngsters such as the dashing Upul Tharanga and the impressive Chamara Silva who are undoubtedly very talented but are yet to cement their places in the team.

Their bowling department is a cause for concern. Apart from Vaas and Murali nobody else poses a serious threat either by way of wicket taking or in being miserly. Maharoof who recently opened the bowling in India was extremely wayward and looked to have completely lost his rhythm. Malinga, their fast man seems to trying more things with his hair than with his bowling, and he gives away too many free hits. Fernando is one person who has promised a lot over the years and when in good rhythm (which is rare) he does pose a threat to the batsmen. He bowls one of the best slower deliveries in the world which is extremely difficult to pick up. Malinga Bandara is their other spin option who is more of a restrictive type of bowler than a wicket taker. Ofcourse there is always the wily Jayasuriya who goes through his overs extremely quickly and can be useful in the middle overs.
A matter of serious thought is the Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene. A tremendously gifted batsman who is facing a serious lack of form at the moment. He has gone through these troughs before and Srilanka will hope he regains form which could be crucial to their chances. If not his captaincy could also be affected and this will put a lot of pressure on the team.

Final Word:
Fireworks from one of the most destructive players in world cricket, for whom this world cup will be a swansong..yes the one and only Sanath Jayasuriya. But can he win the world cup for them once again....I dont think so.

Final Word:

The Pakis

2007-02-26T20:28:00.000-05:00

Yes, its Pakistan.
Unpredicatable, talented, attractive....these are various terms which have been used over the years to describe this team. A team which is capable of playing like champions one day and like minnows the very next day. Consistency is something you seldom associate with this team which is why they never have a very long streak of winning matches.

Assessing the current form of the team that is traveling to the Caribbean, you do not get a sense of confidence about the team. There is still a cloud over Shoaib and Asif and I believe the latter rather than the former holds the key to Pakistan's bowling in this world cup. Asif can set the tone at the start of the innings and knock a few over then the others like Gul, Rana, Razzaq and Kaneria become effective. The batting revolves completely around the big three - Younis, Yousuf, and Inzy. Inzy these days bats way down the order and is rendering himself completely ineffective as he cannot impose himself on the game batting at 5 and 6. The openers are eternally young and inexperienced with the same bunch being rotated around all the time. Kamran Akmal, the all important wicket keeper has suddenly lost his way and is struggling for form.
Then there is always the mercurial Shahid Afridi who can come up with a match winning knock any day but then it is also a 'maybe' just like a lot of other things with this team. Inzy as captain is not likely to inspire the boys as Imran so effectively did in 1992.
Expect a few sparks from this team but not a huge fire.

Final Word: Inconsistent performances will not see them through.

The Men from down under - Australia

2007-02-24T17:48:00.000-05:00

As promised I start with the team I least favor to win this world cup which also happens to be the team which is going into the world cup with the worst form possible. Yes as the title of this post says I am talking about Australia, the 2 time defending champions.

Till a few months people were raving about how good a team Australia is and how easily they will win a 3rd world cup. But then things have changed, defeat in the CB series to a toothless English team and then the blackwash at the hands of the Kiwis has caused a complete turnaround in their fortunes and they have even lost their No.1 ranking to the Proteas. Injuries to Andrew Symonds,and Brett Lee was cited as the reason for their pathetic performance, but hey wasn't Australia the team which did not depend on individuals, or did I hear wrongly?

Be as it may the truth is that Australia is no longer invincible and their weaknesses have been ruthlessly exposed in recent months. Being anti-aussie myself, this comes as something to rejoice about.

Why I think Australia will not win the world cup:
Number 1: Too many frequent changes to the team has caused a lack of stability within the team.
Number 2: Inexperienced and ineffective bowling attack further setback by the injury to Lee. McGrath is no longer the bowler he was, the rookies in Tait and Johnson are way too inconsistent and unreliable, Bracken,Watson, and Clark are inconsistent performers, Hogg is the only spin option and he is not at his best. All in all an attack which is likely to concede a lot of big scores.
Number 3: Batting is dependent on Ponting and Hussey who are the two consistent batsmen. Pressure is on Ponting to deliver and he is just returning from injury which does not help his cause.
Number 4: Ponting is a poor captain under pressure, anybody can lead a team when they are doing well but it is when the team is doing badly that a good captain makes the difference. Ponting is definitely not a captain of that quality.
Number 5: The format of this world cup does not allow easy routes into the super 8, so Australia cannot take time to peak like in 1999.

Last Word: If Australia loses the cup then Cricket will be the winner.

ICC World Cup 2007

2007-02-23T19:10:00.000-05:00

The countdown has begun, the teams have been announced, and millions around the world are getting ready for the Cricket world cup 2007. As a true cricket fan I just have to write about it and here we go.....

The most beautiful thing about this world cup which makes it stand apart from its predecessors is that it is being held for the very first time in the beautiful Caribbean islands. The place, the people, the beaches truly create an atmosphere unlike any other in the world. The World Cup has taken long enough to reach these shores and I am sure the wait is definitely going to be worth it.

The other point of note in this version is the format. It is designed to eliminate the minnows in the first round and the super 8 is going to be the best, all the teams play each other and the winner will definitely be better than the rest.

So friends, a truly spectacular event awaits us in the Caribbean and I wish the event grand success!!!

I shall start a series of posts wherein I shall review each team and assess their chances from my view point.
I shall start with the team I least favour to win and end with my favourite.

Watch out for those...

Blogging again

2006-11-09T00:08:00.000-05:00

Ha...Finally am blogging again!!!

A new place, a new country, a new experience.....
I am now in the United States of America...y did I come here? Was it because it was my dream to come to this so called land of opportunities...No. Was it because I hated India and wanted to get away...No. Was it because I wanted to do a Masters in Electrical Engineering real bad...Not really....then y on earth am I here...Well to tell the truth I do not have an answer to that question. But the fact is that I have left everything I love back home and am here in the US doing my MS in EE and that is something that cannot be changed now.

Well now that I am in the US do I want to make it my country? Ha..I do know the answer to this one..its an emphatic NO!!...are you kidding...India is home and it is my intention to get back there as soon as I possibly can. The culture, the tradition, the heritage, the people, the temples, the language all these and much much more endears me to my country and no matter what the facilities available anywhere in the world...there can be no place like home!!!

Interaction with Americans has given me an idea of how outsiders look at India. One thing I know is that most foreigners have two views of India...One is the brilliant culture, architecture and all the goodness....and the second is the picture of poverty, illiteracy, and all the negative aspects. Hence most of them have a mixed view about the country. But all the same they always end up saying "I want to visit that country..I have heard so much about it"...It really is good to get an external perspective of your country, it makes you all the more proud of your motherland.

So the lesson I have learnt is that you realize how much something or someone means to you only when you dont have that thing/person around .

(I promise to try and keep blogging this time around. A fresh beginning!!)

I am back!!!!!!!!!!

2005-10-07T12:57:00.000-04:00

Its been eons since I have typed anything in here. Work work and more work...well thats always the excuse aint' it...but then I am back here and will try to make up for all the lost time!!!

ASHES & THE SUPER SERIES

As usual a cricket blog from me.
No superlatives can describe the series that was the ASHES-2005. Put simply it was the best cricket series that I have ever seen and probably the best of the century. Never have I seen consecutive test matches(4 to be precise) with fluctuating fortunes and the possibility of either team winning until the final ball is bowled.
Kudos to all the players for making it such a great spectacle.

Aftermath of the Ashes

There is already a lot of talk about how England have replaced the men from down under as the numero uno. But as Dravid rightly put it England have a long way to go before they stake a claim for that position. Away tours to India and Pakistan are acid tests by the end of which the world will know what this English team is really made of. Watch out guys.............

Super-Series

The much awaited and the much hyped Johnnie Walker super series has proved to be a damp squib. It is always a tough ask for 14 champion cricketers to come together as a team and perform with the same fervour as they would when they play for their own countries. It was very evident from the first two matches and the poor attendence did not help either. None of the World-X1 batters have fired big time. Lara is clearly short of match practise and the aussies must be really happy about this as he is generally a thorn in their flesh. But the biggest let down for cricket lovers around the world was when Sachin said he would not be fit for the super series. Lara and Sachin at the crease together was the spectacle that every cricket fan was looking forward to, and this was probably the last chance that could have happened.
Hopefully the super test will be more competitive and the Aussies will not be allowed to forget their English nightmares.

Rest is next folks!!!!

"Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven."
-- Yiddish Proverb

Birthday and more!!!!

2005-07-20T23:10:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since I last wrote something here. This was because of a combination of not having time and not having enough enthu to write.
hmm so here I am again to scribble something that comes to my head.

Birthdays---- how important are birthdays?? Well it is the day that you were born on earth and so it is highly important that you be grateful for that. I have always been happy on most of my birthdays, I guess there is inherent joy in knowing that a day is special for you. Friends and relatives make birthdays the most wonderful events, if I am asked to remember the last few birthdays then the first thing that comes to mind is the way my friends celebrate my birthday....simply awesome. I guess that is enough on birthdays.....

I recently happened to visit a few places so some thoughts on my trips........
Firstly it was Gods own country--Kerala..That trip was a short but extremely nostalgic one. Nostalgic because I was visiting my birthplace after a decade. The weather was absolutely awesome, lots and lots of rain, a huge difference from dry hot chennai. As a friend of mine rightly remarked the green of the trees gives you the difference, there the leaves are rich green and lustrous whereas here they are dull and lifeless. Weather apart it was interesting to note how little things have changed there...communist rule is pretty evident when you see most of the shops closed on a sunday. That was Chennai is a whole lot advanced than places like Eranankulam and Cochin.
Then last week it was Valliyur and Madurai. Valliyur is a small place near Tirunelveli and is famous for its Murugan temple. The interesting thing about the temple is that it is inside a hill i.e The sanctum sanctorum comes right under the peak of the hill. Then it was Madurai, the temple city. They say that nobody goes to Madurai and comes back without visiting the Meenakshi temple. The temple is a really massive structure with entrances on all the four directions and huge gopurams. But the crowd was horrible, and I happen to be allergic to crowds so that was not a happy experience. Neverthless the temple shone with magnificence and is a place to be seen. Madurai as a town is like a Mylapore or a triplicane....ancient and congested with people, especially in the streets around the temple.

All in all I had a good time 'going places'.

Quote of the Day:
"The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life,
The clearer we should see through it"
-- Jean Paul

The Ashes...........................

2005-06-30T00:16:00.000-04:00

To start with let me tell you that I am a die-hard Aussie hater. I hate them for the way they go about playing cricket. Cricket is a game of passion where the heart and not the mind, should rule. For the aussies it is just a job which they do well and the arrogant bunch that they are they think there is nobody to compete with them. They also look down upon non-whites and Kumar Sangakkara will definitely testify for that.

THE ASHES...what is the speciality behind the Ashes. Is it really worth all the hype and hoopla surrounding it. Well to be frank the ashes for the past two decades have been very boring. An India-Australia or even a Srilanka-Pakistan series would rank higher on interest. Legend has it that the ashes is actually an urn which contains the remains of a burnt bat/ball/bail (it has not been confirmed as to which it is) and which is always kept in England no matter who wins the series. The pattern the last few ashes have followed has been that Australia would win 3 tests and then england will win the inconsequential final test match. Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath between them have almost 250 test wickets against England alone.....that is massive. Infact it is the Ashes that has made Warne what he is, starting from the magic ball he bowled to Gatting. English batsmen shake in their boots when Warne comes onto bowl and they are out even before he bowls a ball. A case of a good bowler made to look great. More than a 100 of his 500 odd wickets have come in the ashes. It is normal for a bowler to have a couple of batsmen as his bunny, but a whole team....sheesh. Wonder how many wickets Murali would have if he too got to play so many matches against England.

Ashes'05 promises to change the trend. The English are an improved lot with a lot of recent successes and the Aussies are looking shaky with a lot of old legs in the team. Vaughan has spoken brave words in saying that England will rip into the Aussies, but it is to be seen if his young team can carry that out. A closely contested series is what the cricketing fraternity is hoping for and if England indeed manage to topple the aussies, Cricket will definitely be the winner.
So I hope and pray that Ashes'05 will be the beginning of the end of the Aussie domination!!!!!

Today's Quote:
"A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort."
-- Sydney Smith

ANNIYAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2005-06-27T00:16:00.000-04:00

The eagerly awaited weekend finally arrived, and with it the excitement of watching Anniyan. Having booked tickets for Saturday evening at Padmam I was thrilled to be able to watch the most expected movie of the year. The evening did not start too well though, because of some traffic problems near the theatre which cost me the opening scene. But then on it was absolutely smashing!!!!!!!
For starters Anniyan is an amazing movie. It is visible that Shankar has been inspired by Sidney Sheldon's "Tell me Your Dreams" for Vikram's characters and the theme of the movie is a bit like "Indian", but the movie has been taken brilliantly and the characters extremely well defined. Best thing in the movie is obviously VIKRAM. He essays three totally different roles and almost makes you beleive they are indeed three different people. The best was the climax scene with Prakash Raj where Vikram alternates between two characters throughout a dialogue.....hats off!!!!
Vivek makes a brilliant comeback with this movie, he appears both with the hero and with the antagonist which is very different. Other highlights of the movie are some great sets (Sabu Cyrils work), and some great camera work. Only negative point could be that the "Anniyan" character is made to look supernatural at times which takes it out of the realms of plausibility, but then Vikram makes it watchable all the same.
Bottom line: Anniyan is a must-see, not once but twice or thrice.

Today's Quote:
"I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge, silence to be ignorance, and affection to be art."
--Khalil Gibran

Sania Mirza

2005-06-23T00:01:00.000-04:00

I know I promised post on Cricket, but after watching Sania in action at Wimbledon yesterday I just had to write about her.
The stage was Centre Court at Wimbledon, the third day of the All England Lawn Tennis Championships(Wimbledon in Short). It is the Mecca of tennis as is Lords to cricket and it just does not get any bigger than this. To add to all this it has been 20 long years since an Indian has stepped on this exalted grass. Out comes this little 19 year old kid, her first Wimbledon and up against the No.5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the current US Open champion. No nerves, no inhibitions, it would have been completely normal to be overawed by the occasion but it was not to be. Sania came out firing on all cylinders, like she had played here all her life and it was a moment of pride for all Indians. With spitting ground strokes she made her opponent sweat and was onto an early lead in the first set. But her achilles heel is a weak serve and that let her down once again. She went down in the first set but showed great resilience in the second and totally dominated her opponet before winning a long tie-breaker.
At the end of two sets it did not matter if she won or lost, she had made all her fans proud and had won over the entire centre court crowd.
It was a pity she lost the match but she was'nt far and she left a lasting impression.
Sania is special and has all the makings of a great great player and icon.
Go Sania!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Beginning

2005-06-21T00:32:00.000-04:00

Finally I am all set to blog......I never really thought I would be blogging, but working in a s/w company has given me enough motivation and enthu...and I am here!!!
About my Blog:
Pearls of Wisdom...well dont take this too literally...just what came to my mind. So please dont complain if you read my blog and dont end up any wiser!!!
The cricket fanatic that I am, you will probably find a lot of cricket related blogs here........and will try to keep the posts short and sweet......so Happy reading!!!!
Till next time....it is me signing off!!!

Quote for today:
"We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them."
---- Khalil Gibran