Exceptional series win is an understatement for the way SA came back from difficult situation in both the test matches and turned it around to win the series. Smith and team made history in Australia winning the series for the first time in Australia and Australia has lost a home series after 17 long years.
South Africa's preparation for the series showed that they are going to fight till the last in every game and they have proved that to perfection. One should really feel happy for SA coach for his professional approach to make sure that the team had all that needs to win the mighty Aussies in Australia. He hired Fletcher (under whom the England beat Aussies in 2005) as an consultant and worked with him before the tour, he also took expert advice from Indian Coach Gary Kirsten on how Team India prepared and executed against the Aussies this summer. I would say it was a special moment for South Africa Cricket and hit the last nail on the coffins of the Aussies number one spot.
South Africa did many things right in the series and the whole of 2008, 3 of their top batsmen have crossed the 1000 runs in the calender year and their strike bowler in Steyn (74 wickets in 2008) has been exceptionally good this year and has struck when ever they needed wickets. The real find of the series is J.P.Duminy. The 24 year old has just played like an experienced campaigner under difficult situation and proved that he is here to stay for a long long time with the SA team. His half century in the fourth innings in WACA showed that he can play under pressure and the 160+ in the first innings when SA was 190+ for 7 and behind some 200 runs played a gem of an innings to turn things for SA. Steyn's all round show fetched him the Man of the Match but i thought the trophy should be shared. Maybe the big one "Man of Series" is reserved for this youngster. I don't think i should write about Smith, he has played the major role in every SA surge to top. The innings he played in the wearing pitch in the 4th innings to beat the England was incredible and the powerful strikes in Perth led from the front and should say a role model for a person to lead from the front. It was a brilliant team effort and each and every member of the team contributing for the victory.
South Africa was accused of poor performance in the ODI's against the England after they won the test series and the British media wrote that it was a one of series win. I am sure the same media will hail praise and take back their words and start writing off Australia as they will be touring for the Ashes next summer. I was very sure that the ODI series loss for SA was just because of the hangover they had after winning the test series and they have proved that now.
On the lighter side, i am not sure if South Africans are so jubilant as Indian fans are :) :) All the News Channels had the SA victory covered and also highlighted the downfall of the Mighty Australians. It was kind of a sweet revenge for the Indian fans to see the Aussies come down cropping.
For the Australians nothing seems to be going their way, giving away 400+ in the 4th innings and letting the advantage from 200 + ahead with the tail in the middle to settle for 60 + behind shows that the Aussies just lack everything, bowling,confidence and the fighting spirit which was long associated with the Mighty Aussies. Ricky Ponting and Johnson are the 2 players who will go to Sydney with some confidence with personnel success but Ricky must be feeling very bad to lose a test series at home.
Australian media will make sure that at least few heads roll out from the team. All the senior players are under pressure with the poor show and i think Hayden will be forced to retire at Sydney and strong message for other players but you cannot turn around the bowling department overnight. So Aussies will have to go through this period of transition and should be looking for young talent to come back as a strong team.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Smith,DeVillers does Sehwag,Sachin for South Africa
History repeats in the space of seven days !!! South Africa successfully chase 414 in the fourth innings against Australia in WACA, after India's chase of 384 in the fourth innings in Chennai few days back.
Smith played a repeat of what Sehwag did in the 4th evening for South Africa with an aggressive knock and did bit better than Sehwag to reach his century in pursuit of 414. DeVillers knock was a repeat of what sachin did in cheenai with a watchful and well paced century and reached the target in company with the debutant Duminy. Duminy to an extend played the role Yuvraj played in chennai. On looking at both the run chase, the South African victory was more assured with absolutely no big moments in the course of the run chase even though both India and SA won the match by 6 wickets. Smith and SA is proving to get to the top slot with such fabulous victory and Australia was no match to the SA with hapless bowling performance.
Australia is shot of confidence and needs some big scores from captain Ponting and Hayden and most importantly their spear head in bowling BrettLee. Brett Lee is just out of sorts and has not been able to pick wickets and also proves to be too costly and looks very ordinary without the company of giants McGrath and Warne. Johnson is bowling his best but with very little support in the other end its not easy to tame the SA.
South Africa performance is not just a one off game but it should be attributed for their professional preparation and execution of the plan. South Africa took the help from all the past coach and cricketers who successfully beat the Aussies like Fletcher former England coach when England won the Ashes in 2005 and also took the help from Gary Kirsten as India under him won the home series against Aussies.
Over all South Africa was well prepared for the tough series and most importantly believed in the unit that they can win in Australia. Australia is just short of confidence and aggression which is always associated with the Aussies and without that its not going to be easy.
Smith played a repeat of what Sehwag did in the 4th evening for South Africa with an aggressive knock and did bit better than Sehwag to reach his century in pursuit of 414. DeVillers knock was a repeat of what sachin did in cheenai with a watchful and well paced century and reached the target in company with the debutant Duminy. Duminy to an extend played the role Yuvraj played in chennai. On looking at both the run chase, the South African victory was more assured with absolutely no big moments in the course of the run chase even though both India and SA won the match by 6 wickets. Smith and SA is proving to get to the top slot with such fabulous victory and Australia was no match to the SA with hapless bowling performance.
Australia is shot of confidence and needs some big scores from captain Ponting and Hayden and most importantly their spear head in bowling BrettLee. Brett Lee is just out of sorts and has not been able to pick wickets and also proves to be too costly and looks very ordinary without the company of giants McGrath and Warne. Johnson is bowling his best but with very little support in the other end its not easy to tame the SA.
South Africa performance is not just a one off game but it should be attributed for their professional preparation and execution of the plan. South Africa took the help from all the past coach and cricketers who successfully beat the Aussies like Fletcher former England coach when England won the Ashes in 2005 and also took the help from Gary Kirsten as India under him won the home series against Aussies.
Over all South Africa was well prepared for the tough series and most importantly believed in the unit that they can win in Australia. Australia is just short of confidence and aggression which is always associated with the Aussies and without that its not going to be easy.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Dream Run Continues !!!!!!
Team India continues the dream run with a spectacular victory by 6 wickets in Chennai against the fighting England. Till the last session of the fourth day, england dominated the match in all department but Sehwag changed all that in a blistering knock which changed the course game.
Media is running out of adjectives for Sachin, they have used it all Splendid Sachin,Magical Sachin,SuperStart Sachin,Fighter Sachin etc etc, Hope at least not the critics stop doubting his super natural batting skills and stop writing that he is not a finisher.
Overall this was the perfect test match with all the ingredients of excitement,boredom and clinical finish to the test. England performed exceptionally well given the backdrop of the Mumbai Blast and the uncertainty of the tour. I would have expected the adjudicators to have given the Man Of Match to Strauss. Hundred in each innings is no mean effort and that too in a wicket which was hard to predict the bounce from the third day. England has lot of good performances to go with some confidence, Strauss,Colingwood,Cook and Prior had made decent scores and Swann has been brilliant in his debut with some controlled bowling from Flintoff, they can only improve their performance in Mohali.
For India the only worry now is the form of the Wall (read crumbling), as all of know that he is a class player and one good innings will give him great confidence and should be back in his own soon. I dont think i have to write on the kind of form all the other batsmen are in, Sehwag in his best form,Gambhir full of confidence,Laxman in good nick,Youraj back in form,Dhoni useful contribution and regular cameo from harbajan and off course Sachin. One cannot say the same on the bowling front, Harbhajan was not as good as Swann even though the wicket helped spinners, Mishra needs lot of support from the captain and should be bowling more overs. Zaheer and Ishant has been exceptional even in these dead wickets and showed they can take wickets when it is needed most. Ishant must be worried with too many no balls but i am sure he will overcome with workouts in nets.
India has done well when ever the Sehwag has scored runs and hope he continues to do that in mohali. No doubt that India goes upbeat to Mohali and hope to finish the series 2-0. I am sure England will expect the Mohali wicket to help the fast bowlers, which is their bowling strength, England will also hope their top batsmen Pietersen,Bell and Flintoff come good with the bat to put up a fight.
Media is running out of adjectives for Sachin, they have used it all Splendid Sachin,Magical Sachin,SuperStart Sachin,Fighter Sachin etc etc, Hope at least not the critics stop doubting his super natural batting skills and stop writing that he is not a finisher.
Overall this was the perfect test match with all the ingredients of excitement,boredom and clinical finish to the test. England performed exceptionally well given the backdrop of the Mumbai Blast and the uncertainty of the tour. I would have expected the adjudicators to have given the Man Of Match to Strauss. Hundred in each innings is no mean effort and that too in a wicket which was hard to predict the bounce from the third day. England has lot of good performances to go with some confidence, Strauss,Colingwood,Cook and Prior had made decent scores and Swann has been brilliant in his debut with some controlled bowling from Flintoff, they can only improve their performance in Mohali.
For India the only worry now is the form of the Wall (read crumbling), as all of know that he is a class player and one good innings will give him great confidence and should be back in his own soon. I dont think i have to write on the kind of form all the other batsmen are in, Sehwag in his best form,Gambhir full of confidence,Laxman in good nick,Youraj back in form,Dhoni useful contribution and regular cameo from harbajan and off course Sachin. One cannot say the same on the bowling front, Harbhajan was not as good as Swann even though the wicket helped spinners, Mishra needs lot of support from the captain and should be bowling more overs. Zaheer and Ishant has been exceptional even in these dead wickets and showed they can take wickets when it is needed most. Ishant must be worried with too many no balls but i am sure he will overcome with workouts in nets.
India has done well when ever the Sehwag has scored runs and hope he continues to do that in mohali. No doubt that India goes upbeat to Mohali and hope to finish the series 2-0. I am sure England will expect the Mohali wicket to help the fast bowlers, which is their bowling strength, England will also hope their top batsmen Pietersen,Bell and Flintoff come good with the bat to put up a fight.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Indian Team for Test Series.
As expected cheeka once again proved that he will try his best to push players from TamilNadu. At least now Badrinath should not let srikkanth down, I am sure he will not find a place in the playing XI but for some one ruled out of injury in the last movement. Rohit Sharma and Virath Kohli must be feeling bad for not being part of the team even after performing well against the Aussies. I feel badri is still in the team just b'cas srikkanth beleives that he is good and will come good but i am not sure how long he can take his case in the selection meetings.
Good that Yuvi is getting a change yet again the Indian Team and most likely to play in Ganguly place in the playing XI. Even an ordinary cricket fan knows that Yuvi is a confidence player and if he his given a long run and selectors convey that he is the player for the future. He might not be technically equipped to play good fast bowling in bouncy tracks but if he is confident he can come over that prove successful.
I have a feeling that the series if happens, will be of academic interest alone and nothing more than that. Given the back drop of the Mumbai terror attack, this series will be played under threat and the element of fear in the back of the minds will not let the players to give their best. I also feel that Team India might play soft to thank the ECB for coming to the country to play this series.
As so many observers all over the world have pointed out that we should not given in for terror and cancel sport but as Boycott has mentioned its true that we should not given in for terror but in reality who is going to come for rescue if the stadium is attacked or the English players taken as hostage.
Its tough times for the biggest democracy of the world, I wish and pray that there is no more terror attacks and the country is peaceful.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, M Vijay, Yuvraj Singh, Pragyan Ojha
Good that Yuvi is getting a change yet again the Indian Team and most likely to play in Ganguly place in the playing XI. Even an ordinary cricket fan knows that Yuvi is a confidence player and if he his given a long run and selectors convey that he is the player for the future. He might not be technically equipped to play good fast bowling in bouncy tracks but if he is confident he can come over that prove successful.
I have a feeling that the series if happens, will be of academic interest alone and nothing more than that. Given the back drop of the Mumbai terror attack, this series will be played under threat and the element of fear in the back of the minds will not let the players to give their best. I also feel that Team India might play soft to thank the ECB for coming to the country to play this series.
As so many observers all over the world have pointed out that we should not given in for terror and cancel sport but as Boycott has mentioned its true that we should not given in for terror but in reality who is going to come for rescue if the stadium is attacked or the English players taken as hostage.
Its tough times for the biggest democracy of the world, I wish and pray that there is no more terror attacks and the country is peaceful.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, M Vijay, Yuvraj Singh, Pragyan Ojha
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Dhoni Exposed !!!!
Selection Meeting Leak
This episode has clearly tested Dhoni's communication skills and has also proved that he will not hesitate to speak his mind. I am sure the younger players will have more confidence in Dhoni from now on and will also know that dhoni will fight for them if he feels they are good. I am sure the younger lot will try to keep dhoni happy in all possible way to be in his good books after this episode.
Why would Dhoni want to comment on some news article from a small time regional newspaper if it is not true. I feel its the BCCI duty to reply for the comments made in the news article and not dhoni. From the comments made by dhoni i am sure there was some heated exchange between dhoni and the selectors on R.P and if he had threatened to quit on selection matters and that too for a single player, it is not good for him and the team. Since the team is doing well and there is no real contender for the captaincy things have been smooth for Dhoni but i doubt if the same amount of hand holding and backing will be done by the BCCI in the future when india fails to deliver or his own form declines.
This episode has also exposed the other side of Dhoni "Too Much Too Early" No captain in the past has threatened the selectors and the BCCI and has approved that there was leak in the open. Since he has come out in the open to let the media know that this is a leak, he has confirmed that the news article is somewhat true and he his hurt that the discussions have been leaked to media by one of the eight sitting in the selection meeting. I feel Dhoni has to learn a few things from Ganguly on these things, many a time Ganguly was dragged by the media into the selection matters and he has almost all the time kept silent and left it to the BCCI management to handle things.
May be these are the reasons why it was said that its "Too much Too early for Dhoni"
On Expected Lines ................
As expected Team India won the ODI series winning the first 4 games and England true to its reputation of past performances in the sub-continent played poor cricket. I feel the series will end up with outcome as 5-2 and england will win the next ODI and the last ODI and come with some confidence to take on the Indians in the short 2 Test series.
Team India is having the best ODI run in the recent past and players have come up with some stunning contributions with ball,bat and fielding to make sure that winning has become a habit. Gambhir and Sehwag has just provided the start any team would love to have in almost all the games they have opened the innings and one of them have stayed till the crunch overs and made sure get a big score which is the big strength (I am not sure why Sachin should open when both these guys are doing wonderfully well, may be after all its the england side :)). Yuvraj,Raina,Dhoni all confidence cricketers have come up with some great innings which has changed the course of the match favoring India most of the time. Zaheer has been wonderful through out the season and backed up by some fine bowling from Ishant Sharma,Munaf and Harbajan. Dhoni as a captain has been consistent with the tactics, field placing,bowling changes and most importantly winning toss on crunch games.
Overall Team India is enjoying the best period under Captain Cool.
This episode has clearly tested Dhoni's communication skills and has also proved that he will not hesitate to speak his mind. I am sure the younger players will have more confidence in Dhoni from now on and will also know that dhoni will fight for them if he feels they are good. I am sure the younger lot will try to keep dhoni happy in all possible way to be in his good books after this episode.
Why would Dhoni want to comment on some news article from a small time regional newspaper if it is not true. I feel its the BCCI duty to reply for the comments made in the news article and not dhoni. From the comments made by dhoni i am sure there was some heated exchange between dhoni and the selectors on R.P and if he had threatened to quit on selection matters and that too for a single player, it is not good for him and the team. Since the team is doing well and there is no real contender for the captaincy things have been smooth for Dhoni but i doubt if the same amount of hand holding and backing will be done by the BCCI in the future when india fails to deliver or his own form declines.
This episode has also exposed the other side of Dhoni "Too Much Too Early" No captain in the past has threatened the selectors and the BCCI and has approved that there was leak in the open. Since he has come out in the open to let the media know that this is a leak, he has confirmed that the news article is somewhat true and he his hurt that the discussions have been leaked to media by one of the eight sitting in the selection meeting. I feel Dhoni has to learn a few things from Ganguly on these things, many a time Ganguly was dragged by the media into the selection matters and he has almost all the time kept silent and left it to the BCCI management to handle things.
May be these are the reasons why it was said that its "Too much Too early for Dhoni"
On Expected Lines ................
As expected Team India won the ODI series winning the first 4 games and England true to its reputation of past performances in the sub-continent played poor cricket. I feel the series will end up with outcome as 5-2 and england will win the next ODI and the last ODI and come with some confidence to take on the Indians in the short 2 Test series.
Team India is having the best ODI run in the recent past and players have come up with some stunning contributions with ball,bat and fielding to make sure that winning has become a habit. Gambhir and Sehwag has just provided the start any team would love to have in almost all the games they have opened the innings and one of them have stayed till the crunch overs and made sure get a big score which is the big strength (I am not sure why Sachin should open when both these guys are doing wonderfully well, may be after all its the england side :)). Yuvraj,Raina,Dhoni all confidence cricketers have come up with some great innings which has changed the course of the match favoring India most of the time. Zaheer has been wonderful through out the season and backed up by some fine bowling from Ishant Sharma,Munaf and Harbajan. Dhoni as a captain has been consistent with the tactics, field placing,bowling changes and most importantly winning toss on crunch games.
Overall Team India is enjoying the best period under Captain Cool.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Yuvraj Yuvraj Yuvraj !!!
Yuvraj has yet again proved that he is real match winner and there is no stopping him when his confidence is high. The runs have come at the right time and must be pushing to claim the place vacated by Ganguly. Srikanth has also been impressed with yuvraj performance recently and has hinted that he is sure to find a place in the test team. As Srikanth rightly observed that Yuvraj is a confidence player and if his morale is upbeat he will perform well. Another striking aspect is when ever he is provoked for bad performance by the media and the past players, he has come out and answered them through his bat. His poor run in Australia and the Srilanka was the talking point and people started raising doubts on his attitude and future, i am sure the same lot of people will start to praise on his performance.
As expected it has been easy for India in the first 2 matches with brilliant performance from Yuvraj with both bat and ball backed by some good seam bowling from Zaheer and company. England has to re-group themself quickly and show some improved performance in the 3rd ODI to keep the series alive. England's main problem is their bowling, i fail to understand, how they could come to india packed with fast bowlers when the pitches here are not going to help fast bowling. Pieterson and Flintoff are the key players and if they don't get real big scores its going to be tough to see match winning performances from others. Both of them showed some glimses of their striking in the 2nd ODI and if they get into the rhythm, players like Collingwood,Bell,Shaw,Bopara can play around them to put up a fight. I think it will happen if they bat first and put some big score to back their ordinary bowling to restrict India.
For India there is lot of room for improvement in the bowling, except for Zaheer all the others have taken the stick.
I have a feeling that the current England team is like the SriLankan team in late 80's and early 90's, they will put up some good individual performance but fail to win matches.
As expected it has been easy for India in the first 2 matches with brilliant performance from Yuvraj with both bat and ball backed by some good seam bowling from Zaheer and company. England has to re-group themself quickly and show some improved performance in the 3rd ODI to keep the series alive. England's main problem is their bowling, i fail to understand, how they could come to india packed with fast bowlers when the pitches here are not going to help fast bowling. Pieterson and Flintoff are the key players and if they don't get real big scores its going to be tough to see match winning performances from others. Both of them showed some glimses of their striking in the 2nd ODI and if they get into the rhythm, players like Collingwood,Bell,Shaw,Bopara can play around them to put up a fight. I think it will happen if they bat first and put some big score to back their ordinary bowling to restrict India.
For India there is lot of room for improvement in the bowling, except for Zaheer all the others have taken the stick.
I have a feeling that the current England team is like the SriLankan team in late 80's and early 90's, they will put up some good individual performance but fail to win matches.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Dhoni the Captain
India has found the most thinking and lucky captain in M.S Dhoni, what ever he does turns out to be a success. The 2 games he captained the tests, he won the toss and used some tricky strategy to overwhelm the Aussies. India and Dhoni must be wishing to repeat the same against the visiting England team in the ODI and the 2 Test Series. England might spring up some surprise in the ODI but i am sure Team India will dominate and win the Test series pretty comfortably. Having said that the ODI performance will set the tide for the 2 test series.
I am sure the England team must be worried with the current form of the Indian players and most importantly to see the whole team perform together. India starts as favorites and will try to dominate the series early on with couple good games and keep up the momentum to big victory.
Kevin Peiterson and team will be hoping to put up a good performance with contributions from the leading players in Flintoff,Collingwood,Bell,Prior,Shaw and Harmison. England has picked only one spinner in Patel for the whole ODI series and will be banking on the fast bowlers to perform well but in Indian flat pitches it will be a big task. The batsmen will have to play their best to win matches in batsmen friendly wickets and collingwood with his slow medium should be handy. If England has to put up a fight Peiterson and Flintoff should perform well.
Dhoni goes into series with in-form batsmen in Sehwag,Gambhir,himself in full form, R.G.Sharma,Yuvraj and Kholi having good time in the domestic cricket should be raring to go in these kind of wickets. The bowling looks a bit ordinary without Ishant Sharma but Zaheer in great form should lead from the front. India will have the problem in picking the correct combination and it should take Dhoni a few games to settle the team for the long and grueling 7 ODI.
I am not sure why BCCI and ECB should plan a tour packed with ODI, already the season is full and we saw empty stands for such great 4th test in Nagpur. The scenario is not great in Rajkot the officials hoping at least half the stadium will get filled, its a little bit of a overkill. Today the crowd is not coming to the stadium and it will not take long for the people to stop watching the games in the TV, which is feeding the game of cricket with huge sums of sponsorship money.
I am sure the England team must be worried with the current form of the Indian players and most importantly to see the whole team perform together. India starts as favorites and will try to dominate the series early on with couple good games and keep up the momentum to big victory.
Kevin Peiterson and team will be hoping to put up a good performance with contributions from the leading players in Flintoff,Collingwood,Bell,Prior,Shaw and Harmison. England has picked only one spinner in Patel for the whole ODI series and will be banking on the fast bowlers to perform well but in Indian flat pitches it will be a big task. The batsmen will have to play their best to win matches in batsmen friendly wickets and collingwood with his slow medium should be handy. If England has to put up a fight Peiterson and Flintoff should perform well.
Dhoni goes into series with in-form batsmen in Sehwag,Gambhir,himself in full form, R.G.Sharma,Yuvraj and Kholi having good time in the domestic cricket should be raring to go in these kind of wickets. The bowling looks a bit ordinary without Ishant Sharma but Zaheer in great form should lead from the front. India will have the problem in picking the correct combination and it should take Dhoni a few games to settle the team for the long and grueling 7 ODI.
I am not sure why BCCI and ECB should plan a tour packed with ODI, already the season is full and we saw empty stands for such great 4th test in Nagpur. The scenario is not great in Rajkot the officials hoping at least half the stadium will get filled, its a little bit of a overkill. Today the crowd is not coming to the stadium and it will not take long for the people to stop watching the games in the TV, which is feeding the game of cricket with huge sums of sponsorship money.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Exciting Final Day's Play
Will Australia successfully chase the big total on the final day of the final test of the series ??? I am sure it will not be easy but i am confident that the Aussies will not settle for a draw.
If Australia does not loose Hayden and Ponting before lunch, we have a great game in the final two sessions. I wish Hayden or Ponting plays their life time innings and lite up the day. Clark,Hussey can help the chase and with Watson and white in the side it will be a great chase to watch.
For India, if we manage to get the top order (Hayden,Ponting,Clark,Hussey) before tea, we have a great chance to win the series 2-0. If Dhoni is going to use the negative tactics like he did on the 3rd morning, i think it will kill the charm of test cricket. Dhoni and India were lucky to find break through on 3rd afternoon and make a match. If Australia had been successful in the 1st innings with some lead India would have been in trouble.
I feel the session before lunch is going to set the days progress and the series outcome, for Aussies its a great chance to solve some pride and draw the series. Aussies will go all out tomorrow to make a match and in all probability will go to chase the score.
This is one great chance for both Dhoni and Ponting to help keep up the great charm in this longer version of the game. Looking forward to watch a great final days game.
If Australia does not loose Hayden and Ponting before lunch, we have a great game in the final two sessions. I wish Hayden or Ponting plays their life time innings and lite up the day. Clark,Hussey can help the chase and with Watson and white in the side it will be a great chase to watch.
For India, if we manage to get the top order (Hayden,Ponting,Clark,Hussey) before tea, we have a great chance to win the series 2-0. If Dhoni is going to use the negative tactics like he did on the 3rd morning, i think it will kill the charm of test cricket. Dhoni and India were lucky to find break through on 3rd afternoon and make a match. If Australia had been successful in the 1st innings with some lead India would have been in trouble.
I feel the session before lunch is going to set the days progress and the series outcome, for Aussies its a great chance to solve some pride and draw the series. Aussies will go all out tomorrow to make a match and in all probability will go to chase the score.
This is one great chance for both Dhoni and Ponting to help keep up the great charm in this longer version of the game. Looking forward to watch a great final days game.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Farewell to Data the leader.
Ganguly the most aggressive and successful captain India has ever had will be playing his last test match in Nagpur. Its been a long and eventful journey for Ganguly starting with a brilliant hundred in England and gaining strength on every encounter to finally take over captaincy and rest is history.
Ganguly stands apart for his natural leadership and the strong decision making capability which transformed the team in believing in them self. He was the most aggressive captain India has ever had, he never chose to keeps things with himself and showed the world that he is a fierce competitor and enjoys every bit of it (can any one forget the stripping of t-shirt in the lords !!). He made things very comfortable for the youngsters and he was instrumental in the successful carriers of Harbajan,Youraj,Sehwag,Dhoni and Zaheer. He also managed his senior partners well, that they were never felt ignored and not wanted. The high point is the oversees victory's and taking the team to Worlcup finals in South Africa.
Ganguly was always pegged by the critics for taking selection matters to his hands and made changes as he liked but that was his strength. Ganguly some how pursued the selection panel to get the team he wanted and also enjoyed the board backing to do that. As a player he was immensely successful in both formats of the game, i personally feel that he was more successful in ODI when compared to the tests. In his long carrier he has picked few important wickets which mostly were very vital in the context of the game.
One aspect on Ganguly i really admire is the fearlessness, he never chose to hide his emotions. I doubt if any other player would have come out so strongly against the national coach and still fight back to find his place in the team. Team India was fortunate to have a leader like Ganguly, who just transformed the way the game was played in India.
I wish him all success and sure he will soon start the second innings as Team India Coach.
Ganguly stands apart for his natural leadership and the strong decision making capability which transformed the team in believing in them self. He was the most aggressive captain India has ever had, he never chose to keeps things with himself and showed the world that he is a fierce competitor and enjoys every bit of it (can any one forget the stripping of t-shirt in the lords !!). He made things very comfortable for the youngsters and he was instrumental in the successful carriers of Harbajan,Youraj,Sehwag,Dhoni and Zaheer. He also managed his senior partners well, that they were never felt ignored and not wanted. The high point is the oversees victory's and taking the team to Worlcup finals in South Africa.
Ganguly was always pegged by the critics for taking selection matters to his hands and made changes as he liked but that was his strength. Ganguly some how pursued the selection panel to get the team he wanted and also enjoyed the board backing to do that. As a player he was immensely successful in both formats of the game, i personally feel that he was more successful in ODI when compared to the tests. In his long carrier he has picked few important wickets which mostly were very vital in the context of the game.
One aspect on Ganguly i really admire is the fearlessness, he never chose to hide his emotions. I doubt if any other player would have come out so strongly against the national coach and still fight back to find his place in the team. Team India was fortunate to have a leader like Ganguly, who just transformed the way the game was played in India.
I wish him all success and sure he will soon start the second innings as Team India Coach.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Jumbo the Gentleman :)
AnilKumble == Commitment & 200% all the time
Over the past two decades Jumbo Anil Kumble has been the bowling success for India after the aging Kapil retired. Anil is known to be the well behaved and level headed guy in the sport and considered to be the true ambassador for team india. Kumble has been the reflection of a true hard worker with great amount of determination and dedication, he has set a very high level of commitment for the youngsters to learn and practice the same.
Its a very tough decision to retire from the most celebrated profession in the country and that too when one is performing and leading the team with fair amount of success. Kudos to Anil for taking a decision and its meaning less to talk/write that he was forced to retire, In India no one can be forced to retire and if done will not escape the media so lets hail the bold decision and wish no one scrutinize the legends performance.
The great thing about Anil is, even though the country did not recognize his contributions initially because the people were obsessed with batting stars like Azharuddin and Sachin, he did not let that affect his performances.He just kept things simple and settled to basics all the time, even when the whole world of former spinners criticized him of not turning the ball, he never just changed his style of bowling and proved that line and length is more important and has been successful in all formats of the game. He has actually created a new style of bowling leg spin which has proved a success and we already see another person in Ajantha Mendis following the same. We can easily say that he is one bowler in the international context who has not been fined for verbal abuse or on-field/off field issue and has never showed his anger on the field, even though he is aggressive on the field.
Wish him all success in his future engagements.
Over the past two decades Jumbo Anil Kumble has been the bowling success for India after the aging Kapil retired. Anil is known to be the well behaved and level headed guy in the sport and considered to be the true ambassador for team india. Kumble has been the reflection of a true hard worker with great amount of determination and dedication, he has set a very high level of commitment for the youngsters to learn and practice the same.
Its a very tough decision to retire from the most celebrated profession in the country and that too when one is performing and leading the team with fair amount of success. Kudos to Anil for taking a decision and its meaning less to talk/write that he was forced to retire, In India no one can be forced to retire and if done will not escape the media so lets hail the bold decision and wish no one scrutinize the legends performance.
The great thing about Anil is, even though the country did not recognize his contributions initially because the people were obsessed with batting stars like Azharuddin and Sachin, he did not let that affect his performances.He just kept things simple and settled to basics all the time, even when the whole world of former spinners criticized him of not turning the ball, he never just changed his style of bowling and proved that line and length is more important and has been successful in all formats of the game. He has actually created a new style of bowling leg spin which has proved a success and we already see another person in Ajantha Mendis following the same. We can easily say that he is one bowler in the international context who has not been fined for verbal abuse or on-field/off field issue and has never showed his anger on the field, even though he is aggressive on the field.
Wish him all success in his future engagements.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Kumble in Delhi Test
3rd Test starts tomorrow (29-10-08) in Kumble's happy hunting venue and the one question in all the cricket lovers mind is "Will the Aussies put up a fight in this test match". Kumble is back to lead the team and fully fit to take his place and with 55 wickets in last 6 tests in Delhi, he must be raring to go and hoping that the favorite ground brings him back to form. After long long years Indian Team Management has a very tough task in picking the playing XI and Cheeka must be wishing that Harbhajan is not fit to play the match so that there is no issues in selection. Harbhajan is nursing a toe injury and is a doubtful starter for the Delhi test.
Aussies are under great pressure to perform and prove that they are as good a team as they were few years ago. This Australian team reminds me the AlanBorder team which was fighting the transition from retirements of Hughes,Lillie,Marsh etc. Pontings top guns are not firing and the Australian media is making things worse by accusing that the seniors are not playing their part and forces few changes in the team. Clark has made it clear in his pre-match interview that the senior players need to come good to save the test series. He has also mentioned that the seniors should be thinking of the present series and not get carried away with the long season ahead (summer in SA,Ashes etc).
Ponting started with a brilliant century in Bangalore but has not been able to repeat the same in Mohali, he has even gone to S.Waugh to get his problem corrected in playing the in- swingers. Hayden,Clark,Hussey,katich,Ponting should score runs and there should be a big innings from these guys to put up a decent score. Bowling has been the weak link and i don't thing S.Clark inclusion will change things dramatically, with Lee losing his wicket taking ability in the dry slow wickets its going to be a uphill task for the Aussies to come back to terms and win the test, having said that, i have a feeling that, if Hayden and Ponting get runs the whole thing will change and the bowlers will get confidence and runs behind them to get the wickets.
The curator has mentioned that as usual the ball will start turning square from the third days afternoon session and the toss is going to be very vital. Kumble might even send Dhoni the lucky man to spin the coin to win the toss and bat first and make full use of the turning track from the 3rd day.
Wish that Australians put up a fight in this test.
Aussies are under great pressure to perform and prove that they are as good a team as they were few years ago. This Australian team reminds me the AlanBorder team which was fighting the transition from retirements of Hughes,Lillie,Marsh etc. Pontings top guns are not firing and the Australian media is making things worse by accusing that the seniors are not playing their part and forces few changes in the team. Clark has made it clear in his pre-match interview that the senior players need to come good to save the test series. He has also mentioned that the seniors should be thinking of the present series and not get carried away with the long season ahead (summer in SA,Ashes etc).
Ponting started with a brilliant century in Bangalore but has not been able to repeat the same in Mohali, he has even gone to S.Waugh to get his problem corrected in playing the in- swingers. Hayden,Clark,Hussey,katich,Ponting should score runs and there should be a big innings from these guys to put up a decent score. Bowling has been the weak link and i don't thing S.Clark inclusion will change things dramatically, with Lee losing his wicket taking ability in the dry slow wickets its going to be a uphill task for the Aussies to come back to terms and win the test, having said that, i have a feeling that, if Hayden and Ponting get runs the whole thing will change and the bowlers will get confidence and runs behind them to get the wickets.
The curator has mentioned that as usual the ball will start turning square from the third days afternoon session and the toss is going to be very vital. Kumble might even send Dhoni the lucky man to spin the coin to win the toss and bat first and make full use of the turning track from the 3rd day.
Wish that Australians put up a fight in this test.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Emphatic Victory - Empty Stands - Worrying Trend
First up congratulations to Dhoni and Team India on the brilliant victory against the world champ Aussies. The whole five days were dominated by the Indian's and never let the Aussies to come back into the game. Dhoni the most successful and to an extend lucky captain in the recent times was adjudged Man of the Match ahead of some brilliant performances from Gambhir,Mishra,Zaheer,Ishant,Ganguly,Harbhajan and the champ Sachin. After long long time we could see a collective effort from the team translating to a brilliant win. Aussies were not in their element and gave too many quick runs in both the innings and their bowling looked very ordinary. Ponting mentioned that the Indian seamers were performing far better than the Aussies in the series. Also their main stay Hayden and Clark are not in form and that shows in their performance, apart from this they seem to be missing the services of McGrath,Warne and Gilli very much. Lets hope Aussies put up a good show in the coming two tests.
My fears on stadiums going empty for Test Series even in India has come true with the Mohali Test. Its worrying to see the empty stands played between equals (India vs Australia :) ), we have been watching some very interesting 3 days and in fact India has been dominating all the 3 days but still there is no crowd to watch the game. The same thing happened in WestIndies when took on the Aussies last summer and i feared that the same could happen in India with the advent of the slam bang IPL (emptystands)and it has happened.
Mohali crowd is respected for being very knowledgeable on the game and come in scores to watch good contests, the Punjab Cricket Association did its best by letting in school students free but that was not enough. The most troubling fact is even on the week-ends we don't see the crowds, even though India was not batting India was dominating the match and it was the most exiting 2& 3rd day in the very important series.
Team India's international commitment is already full and with the advent of IPL and ICL the Indian public is already provided with too much of cricket entertainment. Test cricket which is like the true cricket and the purists cricket with its nature of slow run scoring and battle of mental strength is not liked by the crowds after the slam bang version T20 made its way into the living rooms of millions of homes all around the world. Its time cricket administrators all over the world take note of this depressing trend and do something to preserve the Test Cricket.
My fears on stadiums going empty for Test Series even in India has come true with the Mohali Test. Its worrying to see the empty stands played between equals (India vs Australia :) ), we have been watching some very interesting 3 days and in fact India has been dominating all the 3 days but still there is no crowd to watch the game. The same thing happened in WestIndies when took on the Aussies last summer and i feared that the same could happen in India with the advent of the slam bang IPL (emptystands)and it has happened.
Mohali crowd is respected for being very knowledgeable on the game and come in scores to watch good contests, the Punjab Cricket Association did its best by letting in school students free but that was not enough. The most troubling fact is even on the week-ends we don't see the crowds, even though India was not batting India was dominating the match and it was the most exiting 2& 3rd day in the very important series.
Team India's international commitment is already full and with the advent of IPL and ICL the Indian public is already provided with too much of cricket entertainment. Test cricket which is like the true cricket and the purists cricket with its nature of slow run scoring and battle of mental strength is not liked by the crowds after the slam bang version T20 made its way into the living rooms of millions of homes all around the world. Its time cricket administrators all over the world take note of this depressing trend and do something to preserve the Test Cricket.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Sachin on Top -- We are Fortunate
I am lost of words when ever i try to write some thing on Sachin, We are just fortunate to have watched him grow from strength to strength and shape up his long innings in the middle. You just can not measure the kind of joy he has brought to the fans with his brilliant performances year after year. Again are fortunate to have Sachin in India and get to watch the whole 19 years of great batting.
How can one forget his test century's in his early days in England and Australia, the maturity in getting runs in the middle of his carrier, one stage he was just the only player to score for India abroad before Dravid,Ganguly and laxman gave him a break.
This is yet another milestone and nothing much for a person like Sachin and wish him good health and luck to enthral fans like me for at least another 2-3 years.
How can one forget his test century's in his early days in England and Australia, the maturity in getting runs in the middle of his carrier, one stage he was just the only player to score for India abroad before Dravid,Ganguly and laxman gave him a break.
This is yet another milestone and nothing much for a person like Sachin and wish him good health and luck to enthral fans like me for at least another 2-3 years.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Mohali Test
Team India and Australia are working hard in preparation for the 2nd test in Mohali, the whether has been a dampener for the teams preparation and also the pitch preparation. Mohali as we all know will be a true wicket for all the five days and the conditions in this season will help the seam bowlers and batsmen would love to see the ball nicely coming on to the bat. Overall we can expect some good cricket over the next 5 days.
With the 1st test drawn, its a 3 test series with interesting battle in the field. I would say both the teams are even with slight advantage towards the Aussies going into the 2nd test. I expect both the teams to play some positive cricket rather than playing defensive cricket. Its very unusual to see that Australia score under 3 runs per over in the 1st innings of a test match. Indian top order has been struggling for form for some time now, hence as expected were playing time rather than scoring runs.
Aussie batting looks solid with Ponting,Hussey and Katich in good form backed by Watson and Haddin. We all know that Hayden does not stay out of action for long and sure he will enjoy the bounce and pace in the Mohali wicket and Clark is good player to fail for too long. The Aussies must be worried about the bowling attack for sure, their spin attack is very weak and India should be planning to exploit this, having said that Lee and Johnson will be very tough to negotiate in helpful wickets.
India's biggest worry is their top order, the fab-4 managed to score some runs but all the four struggled to get the runs. Sachin in particular looked out of touch and his feat was not moving and was playing away from the body against the spinners most of the time. No doubt that he is the champion batsmen the world has ever seen and also as a die hard fan, i wish to see a good knock in Mohali. Ganguly,Dravid,Laxman managed to score runs but as the wicket in Bangalore was under-prepared they had to struggle to get their scores. Of the fab-4 Dravid looked much better and hope he gets big score in Mohali. Sehwag and Gambhir should continue to provide good starts and hopefully gambhir will capitalize on the good starts.
Kumble must be hoping to see a repeat or better performance from his seamers. Zaheer khan and Ishant were just brilliant in the 1st test and Ishant should be just raring to go in the helpful Mohali wicket. Zaheer's past performance has been in patches and has not been consistent meaning if he picks wickets in a test the next will not be that good. Hope he is maturing as a bowler and will start performing consistently. Harbhajan playing in front of his home ground should be hoping to do well but i doubt if the wicket will help spinners much, if kumble is fit the wicket should help him to get back to his stride.
With the 1st test drawn, its a 3 test series with interesting battle in the field. I would say both the teams are even with slight advantage towards the Aussies going into the 2nd test. I expect both the teams to play some positive cricket rather than playing defensive cricket. Its very unusual to see that Australia score under 3 runs per over in the 1st innings of a test match. Indian top order has been struggling for form for some time now, hence as expected were playing time rather than scoring runs.
Aussie batting looks solid with Ponting,Hussey and Katich in good form backed by Watson and Haddin. We all know that Hayden does not stay out of action for long and sure he will enjoy the bounce and pace in the Mohali wicket and Clark is good player to fail for too long. The Aussies must be worried about the bowling attack for sure, their spin attack is very weak and India should be planning to exploit this, having said that Lee and Johnson will be very tough to negotiate in helpful wickets.
India's biggest worry is their top order, the fab-4 managed to score some runs but all the four struggled to get the runs. Sachin in particular looked out of touch and his feat was not moving and was playing away from the body against the spinners most of the time. No doubt that he is the champion batsmen the world has ever seen and also as a die hard fan, i wish to see a good knock in Mohali. Ganguly,Dravid,Laxman managed to score runs but as the wicket in Bangalore was under-prepared they had to struggle to get their scores. Of the fab-4 Dravid looked much better and hope he gets big score in Mohali. Sehwag and Gambhir should continue to provide good starts and hopefully gambhir will capitalize on the good starts.
Kumble must be hoping to see a repeat or better performance from his seamers. Zaheer khan and Ishant were just brilliant in the 1st test and Ishant should be just raring to go in the helpful Mohali wicket. Zaheer's past performance has been in patches and has not been consistent meaning if he picks wickets in a test the next will not be that good. Hope he is maturing as a bowler and will start performing consistently. Harbhajan playing in front of his home ground should be hoping to do well but i doubt if the wicket will help spinners much, if kumble is fit the wicket should help him to get back to his stride.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Curse of TN Cricket
Its has been the curse of TamilNadu Cricket for a long long time now and it just continues over and over now. I am talking about the recent failures of S.Badrinath in the Irani Trophy and the BPXI game against the Aussies. I am sure Srikkanth must be feeling let down so much more than Badrinath himself, Cheeka picked Badri ahead of Youraj,R.Sharma and Kholi for the first 2 test matches. All the three scored hundreads in the practice game and proved the selection commitees selection of badrinath is wrong.
Chances of playing in the XI in the first test is very bleak with fab-4 and the openers in Sehwag and Gambhir are fit and certain to play in the test. If any one of the fab-4 gets hurt and not fit for the 2nd test there will be a chance for him to play the match, if that does not happen i think this is the end of his international carrier and has to slog in the domestic cricket for rest of his cricketing life.
Badri is not alone and he has many many cricketers from TamilNadu in the past who have wasted the chances that has come their way. S.Sriram,Dinesh Karthick,L.Balaji,W.V.Raman,B.Arun,Sharath (has never scored runs against the visiting teams, even though he has scored tons and tons of runs in domestic cricket) the list is just endless.
M.Vijay has been exceptional in the past couple of seasons and has been good in performing in the A matches and he is the next in line to make an impression and the only hope from TN to make it into Team India. I just pray and wish the people who are involved in running the sport in tamil nadu needs to do something to make sure he also does not go the way the past cricketers from TN have gone.
Chances of playing in the XI in the first test is very bleak with fab-4 and the openers in Sehwag and Gambhir are fit and certain to play in the test. If any one of the fab-4 gets hurt and not fit for the 2nd test there will be a chance for him to play the match, if that does not happen i think this is the end of his international carrier and has to slog in the domestic cricket for rest of his cricketing life.
Badri is not alone and he has many many cricketers from TamilNadu in the past who have wasted the chances that has come their way. S.Sriram,Dinesh Karthick,L.Balaji,W.V.Raman,B.Arun,Sharath (has never scored runs against the visiting teams, even though he has scored tons and tons of runs in domestic cricket) the list is just endless.
M.Vijay has been exceptional in the past couple of seasons and has been good in performing in the A matches and he is the next in line to make an impression and the only hope from TN to make it into Team India. I just pray and wish the people who are involved in running the sport in tamil nadu needs to do something to make sure he also does not go the way the past cricketers from TN have gone.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Why Fab -4 is Targeted ??
Its been written in all possible manner that the Fab-4 will have to retire with grace and in fact i am also one among the other writers who have gone for the kill of players like Gangully,Kumble etc. After looking at the so called young replacements for the fab-4 , S.Badrinath,MdKaif,R.D.Sharma,Youraj none of them can claim a place with performance but for being considered as they have the age on their side, it is a pity that the seniors have to go out just b'cas age is not on their side and in spite of better performance compared to the youngsters.
Take the instance of S.Badrinath and Kaif, both of them had the chance of their life to prove that they are good enough to replace the fab-4 but failed so badly in the Irani trophy. Ishant Sharma had just one good spell to wipe out the youngsters and that too in a not so helpful wicket. Both of them will get yet another chance against the Aussies in the 3 day warm up game and if they don't get to perform, they have only them self to blame rather than to cry out in the media for chances.
I am also little lost on why Gangully is being targeted so badly when all the senior players failed to perform in the Srilankan series. Gangully was the man of the series against Pakistan and played a match winning innings against SA in the home series. The only aspect that is against him is his fitness and age, i don't remember Gangully dropping catches and that costing the match or his slow running costing the game. Its a non issue when other seniors also have the same problems.
Yet another player who was treated badly over the years is Murali Karthick, when ever he had a chance to play for India he has performed well. He was the Man of the Match in the last test match he played against Australia a year ago.He has been very successful in playing county cricket and has been regarded very high by the english legends David Gower,Artheton,Nasser Hussein and many others but he has not been included in the India A or the Boards Presidents XI game against the Aussies. The sad part is selector after selector mentions his name says that he is a great talent and will get his chances but he is already 30+ and if he does not get a chance now, i think its the end for his international carrier aspirations.
I am also surprised on why Dravid and Laxman should be given B grade contracts when Kumble is given A grade even though he also does not figure in the ODI scheme of things. I feel all those who are regulars in ODI and Tests should be in the A grade and others including Sachin should be in the B grade, he has not played many games in the last year with fitness issues. After all these fab-4 had made lots and lots of money in their colorful carriers and they don't need the BCCI contract money (A- 60 L,B-40 L & C - 20 L) its only matter of pride being in the top grade and these guys don't have to prove any one that they are great players.
IMO i feel that the Fab-4 has another 2 good years and all the 4 including Sachin should be picked to play only Tests and BCCI should provide a graceful exit from the ODI.
(Fabulous - 4 (Sachin,Dravid,Laxman & Gangully))
Take the instance of S.Badrinath and Kaif, both of them had the chance of their life to prove that they are good enough to replace the fab-4 but failed so badly in the Irani trophy. Ishant Sharma had just one good spell to wipe out the youngsters and that too in a not so helpful wicket. Both of them will get yet another chance against the Aussies in the 3 day warm up game and if they don't get to perform, they have only them self to blame rather than to cry out in the media for chances.
I am also little lost on why Gangully is being targeted so badly when all the senior players failed to perform in the Srilankan series. Gangully was the man of the series against Pakistan and played a match winning innings against SA in the home series. The only aspect that is against him is his fitness and age, i don't remember Gangully dropping catches and that costing the match or his slow running costing the game. Its a non issue when other seniors also have the same problems.
Yet another player who was treated badly over the years is Murali Karthick, when ever he had a chance to play for India he has performed well. He was the Man of the Match in the last test match he played against Australia a year ago.He has been very successful in playing county cricket and has been regarded very high by the english legends David Gower,Artheton,Nasser Hussein and many others but he has not been included in the India A or the Boards Presidents XI game against the Aussies. The sad part is selector after selector mentions his name says that he is a great talent and will get his chances but he is already 30+ and if he does not get a chance now, i think its the end for his international carrier aspirations.
I am also surprised on why Dravid and Laxman should be given B grade contracts when Kumble is given A grade even though he also does not figure in the ODI scheme of things. I feel all those who are regulars in ODI and Tests should be in the A grade and others including Sachin should be in the B grade, he has not played many games in the last year with fitness issues. After all these fab-4 had made lots and lots of money in their colorful carriers and they don't need the BCCI contract money (A- 60 L,B-40 L & C - 20 L) its only matter of pride being in the top grade and these guys don't have to prove any one that they are great players.
IMO i feel that the Fab-4 has another 2 good years and all the 4 including Sachin should be picked to play only Tests and BCCI should provide a graceful exit from the ODI.
(Fabulous - 4 (Sachin,Dravid,Laxman & Gangully))
Friday, September 26, 2008
Good Luck Cheeka !!!!
Its great news that Srikkanth has been recommended to be the chairman of the senior selection panel. Srikkanth's playing days were just dynamic and sparkling with all the slam bang stuff on and off the field. One stroke that still stays fresh in almost all the cricket lovers eyes is the square drive he hit in the 1983 worldcup finals which stunned the world with such class.
Fondly called as Cheeka in the cricketing circles and a player who re-defined the way cricket was played in the early 80s with his slam bang hitting in the early overs. He was instrumental in transforming the ODI games into high scoring contests with big hitting in first 15 overs.
Srikkanth was instrumental in shaping up the greatest player the world has ever sean in Sachin, Sachin made his debut under srikkath captaincy and the captain shared his dressing room with the youngest player on the tour and made the youngster comfortable in the tour against pakistan in pakistan. He was also the first captain to rebal against the BCCI for better treatment and payment for the cricketers and he never captained the side again inspit of the test series was the first drawn series in pakistan.
We cricket lovers will miss the comments from the true cricketer who has never worried about coming out with the facts and pointing fingers on failures even if it was the top bross of the BCCI or the top cricketers. Since he is a paid selector of the BCCI, i am sure he will not be allowed to talk much but i am sure he will do justice to the great expectations of the people of India in grouming a top class Indian Cricket Team. Srikkanth has never encouraged half backed cricketers here in tamilnadu and i am sure he will not encourage that in the senior selection too.
Srikkanth has been very much in touch with cricket with his involment with the junior teams and the IPL (CSK) and he knows who is who and who performs in the domestic cricket and has the quality of picking the right talent.
Golden chance for the TN cricketers, if some one performs well, here is the chairman of selctors in your home city to take note of that and take your case to the selection panel. If our state cricketers continue to perform well in domestic tournament but fail to perform against quality visiting teams there is no way he can push their case with the selection panel. We have had lot of selectors from TN in the past but have never helped in the selction process as they have been too diplomatic and wanted to stick to the job but i am sure cheeka is different and i know he will fight to bring in good talent and even go to the extent of quiting if injustice is done for good performers. Great time for TN cricketers, please amke use of the rare chance that comes your way.
Lets hope Srikkanth brings back the great team combination that works as a team to acheive great heights. Good Luck Cheeka.
Fondly called as Cheeka in the cricketing circles and a player who re-defined the way cricket was played in the early 80s with his slam bang hitting in the early overs. He was instrumental in transforming the ODI games into high scoring contests with big hitting in first 15 overs.
Srikkanth was instrumental in shaping up the greatest player the world has ever sean in Sachin, Sachin made his debut under srikkath captaincy and the captain shared his dressing room with the youngest player on the tour and made the youngster comfortable in the tour against pakistan in pakistan. He was also the first captain to rebal against the BCCI for better treatment and payment for the cricketers and he never captained the side again inspit of the test series was the first drawn series in pakistan.
We cricket lovers will miss the comments from the true cricketer who has never worried about coming out with the facts and pointing fingers on failures even if it was the top bross of the BCCI or the top cricketers. Since he is a paid selector of the BCCI, i am sure he will not be allowed to talk much but i am sure he will do justice to the great expectations of the people of India in grouming a top class Indian Cricket Team. Srikkanth has never encouraged half backed cricketers here in tamilnadu and i am sure he will not encourage that in the senior selection too.
Srikkanth has been very much in touch with cricket with his involment with the junior teams and the IPL (CSK) and he knows who is who and who performs in the domestic cricket and has the quality of picking the right talent.
Golden chance for the TN cricketers, if some one performs well, here is the chairman of selctors in your home city to take note of that and take your case to the selection panel. If our state cricketers continue to perform well in domestic tournament but fail to perform against quality visiting teams there is no way he can push their case with the selection panel. We have had lot of selectors from TN in the past but have never helped in the selction process as they have been too diplomatic and wanted to stick to the job but i am sure cheeka is different and i know he will fight to bring in good talent and even go to the extent of quiting if injustice is done for good performers. Great time for TN cricketers, please amke use of the rare chance that comes your way.
Lets hope Srikkanth brings back the great team combination that works as a team to acheive great heights. Good Luck Cheeka.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Pakistan blames Cricket Australia of Double Standards
Australian team will reach India on September-21st after lot of speculation that they might cancel the tour due to the recent bomb blasts in the capital city. All the news channels carried news related to Australian tour of India in the wake of the bomb blasts and suggested that Australia may cancel the tour sighting security reasons but BCCI took the initiative to put a stop to this speculation and briefed Cricket Australia about the security and assured that the team will be given the best possible security cover, even though one of the venue of the series is Delhi. Australia has agreed to this and will be reaching India this sunday.
Pakistan Cricket Board is not too happy with this development blaming Australia of double standards. Australian cricketers were the first to voice their concerns on security in Pakistan which paved way for cancellation of the Test Series and postponement of the Champions Trophy but Cricket Australia going ahead with the tour to India even after the recent bomb blasts has irked the PCB officials.
Back to cricket, Australia has included many new names and hope to surprise the Indian team including them in the playing XI. After the retirement of the greats McGrath,Warne and performer in McGill and Gillespie the Australian side is lacking in bowling and it was very much evident in the test series in the West Indies. They have included two new spinners and one of them is a 36 year old leg spinner and hopes to make his debut in India. Australia will also be missing Langer,Gilli from the last tour to India and the in form Symonds. Australia will be banking more on the top guns in Ponting,Hayden,Hussey and Clark to come good in all the games and will also be looking for some solid starts from Simon katich. Lee and Clark to spear head the bowling attack with some support from part timers in clark and the new commers.
ROI vs Delhi game should bring back the old legs in shape and give them the much needed confidence to come good against the Aussies. IMHO India starts favorites in the series with bowling looking very good after the Srilanka series with Harbajan,Ishant,Zaheer in good form and kumble is expected to come good in spinner friendly wickets. The big worry for India is the batting, the top 3 (Sachin,Dravid,Laxman) has not scored many runs and Dhoni has not played a test match for almost 6 months now, Kumble must be banking on Sehwag,Gambhir for good starts and hoping the top 3 to come good.
Looking forward to some exciting matches in the Aussies tour to India.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
ICC Awards
It should be morale booster for Youraj to have been chosen the T20 player of the year when he is struggling to get runs in the ODI. Dhoni has been fantastic with all aspects of the game in the ODI format and no surprise that he got away with the ODI player of the year. It has become a habit of taking the best umpire award for Simon Taufel, its the 5th consecutive time he has won the award. He has been brilliant in the middle with near perfect decisions even the pressure on umpires is getting too much with all the technology and the harsh comments from the former cricketers sitting in the comforts. Having said that it also raises questions on the ability of the umpires in the elite panel.Chanderpaul won the all important ICC cricketer of the year award.
If you guys remember, there was a english cricketer with 40 thousand runs with over 100 hundreds and 250 fifty's in the first class cricket Greame Hick , he is calling it a day this week after such monumental contribution to his county team. Sadly for Hick and the cricket lovers all over the world he was not able to produce the magic of scoring big runs in the International Arena.
Ganguly back in Bengal Ranji Squad.
Ganguly the fighter is back to basics and is in the Bengal team for the Ranji trophy, he has also made it clear that he has 2 more years left in the international stage. As we all know he is a fighter and could make a come back but IMHO this is time for him to retire with some respect and dignity, rather than announce his retirement when people would have forgotten him at the international level. I also feel the same way for Kumble, even though he has couple of years more as a player in the test cricket but its better for him to call it quits as captain now and make the transition for Dhoni smoother. I feel its the same for Dravid and Laxman to announce them self not available for ODI, it will be better for them and the selectors to not feel bad for leaving them out of the team even though they have already been side lined.
Some how it has not been the case with the Indian cricketers calling it a day when they are in their prime. Australians,NewZeland and England cricketers do that to an extend, take the case of Border, Marsh, Taylor, SteveWaugh, Gilli, NasserHussain, Gower, Bothem,Flemming and so many other examples. Its time our cricketers follow the same and bow out of international cricket when they are performing.
If you guys remember, there was a english cricketer with 40 thousand runs with over 100 hundreds and 250 fifty's in the first class cricket Greame Hick , he is calling it a day this week after such monumental contribution to his county team. Sadly for Hick and the cricket lovers all over the world he was not able to produce the magic of scoring big runs in the International Arena.
Ganguly back in Bengal Ranji Squad.
Ganguly the fighter is back to basics and is in the Bengal team for the Ranji trophy, he has also made it clear that he has 2 more years left in the international stage. As we all know he is a fighter and could make a come back but IMHO this is time for him to retire with some respect and dignity, rather than announce his retirement when people would have forgotten him at the international level. I also feel the same way for Kumble, even though he has couple of years more as a player in the test cricket but its better for him to call it quits as captain now and make the transition for Dhoni smoother. I feel its the same for Dravid and Laxman to announce them self not available for ODI, it will be better for them and the selectors to not feel bad for leaving them out of the team even though they have already been side lined.
Some how it has not been the case with the Indian cricketers calling it a day when they are in their prime. Australians,NewZeland and England cricketers do that to an extend, take the case of Border, Marsh, Taylor, SteveWaugh, Gilli, NasserHussain, Gower, Bothem,Flemming and so many other examples. Its time our cricketers follow the same and bow out of international cricket when they are performing.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
My Test Squad For Australia Series
Indian team has the luxury of a full month to prepare for the forth coming series against Australia here in India. Its been long time since the team has had this long break before a test series and should do lot of good for the team and especially for the tired old legs of Sachin,Kumble,Dravid and Laxman.
The below are my players for the test series and this is the team for the whole series as i have never believed in selecting a team for the first 2 tests and leave doubts in the minds of the players.
I think this will be his last series as captain and may be he will lead against England before Dhoni takes over or may be the selectors may surprise by naming Dhoni as captain. In my view Kumble should continue to be the captain for the Australia series and Dhoni can take over the captaincy against England. I have a feeling that Ganguly may get the axe from the team and Raina will take his place and get a chance to play in the XI depending on whether india wants to play 5 bowlers. I feel it will not be fair to select Ganguly and keep him out of the playing XI. As almost 10 of the 13 virtually take their place, its going to be either Kholi or Sharma to play the 12 man and the other bowler in ohja/R.P.Singh/Sreesanth to be the other reserves in the squad. As the series progress we will have choices in making changes depending on the performance. As we are playing in Mohali and Delhi where the ball seams and swings a bit we may even play 3 fast bowlers.
If Dhoni and the top order (Gambhir,Sehwag,Sachin,Dravid & Laxmaan) comes up with good scores, we can even go with the 5th bowler dropping the 6th specialist batsman.
Badrinath Fails Again
Its sad that Badri has failed yet again and i am sure this failure is not going to do him any good when the test squad is selected. Kholi has come with a fine unbeaten half century and in all probability will feature in the test squad with shear performance. Badri reminds me of Sharath who scored tons and tons of runs in the domestic cricket but when ever there was a chance against the visiting team he failed and never got a chance to play for India. I wish Badri does not repeat the same mistake again and feel pity for himself, its not going to do any good for his future.
The below are my players for the test series and this is the team for the whole series as i have never believed in selecting a team for the first 2 tests and leave doubts in the minds of the players.
- Kumble (Captain)
- Sachin
- Dravid
- Sehwag
- Laxmaan
- Gambhir
- Raina / Ganguly
- Dhoni
- Harbhajan
- I.Sharma
- Z.Khan
- Kholi / R.G.Sharma
- Ohja /Sreesanth/R.P.Singh/
I think this will be his last series as captain and may be he will lead against England before Dhoni takes over or may be the selectors may surprise by naming Dhoni as captain. In my view Kumble should continue to be the captain for the Australia series and Dhoni can take over the captaincy against England. I have a feeling that Ganguly may get the axe from the team and Raina will take his place and get a chance to play in the XI depending on whether india wants to play 5 bowlers. I feel it will not be fair to select Ganguly and keep him out of the playing XI. As almost 10 of the 13 virtually take their place, its going to be either Kholi or Sharma to play the 12 man and the other bowler in ohja/R.P.Singh/Sreesanth to be the other reserves in the squad. As the series progress we will have choices in making changes depending on the performance. As we are playing in Mohali and Delhi where the ball seams and swings a bit we may even play 3 fast bowlers.
If Dhoni and the top order (Gambhir,Sehwag,Sachin,Dravid & Laxmaan) comes up with good scores, we can even go with the 5th bowler dropping the 6th specialist batsman.
| OCT -Thu 9 - Mon 13 09:30 local, 04:00 GMT | 1st Test - India v Australia M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore |
| OCT- Fri 17 - Tue 21 09:30 local, 04:00 GMT | 2nd Test - India v Australia Punjab Cricket Association Stadium,Mohali, Chandigarh |
| OCT-Wed 29 - Sun 2 09:30 local, 04:00 GMT | 3rd Test - India v Australia Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi |
| November 2008 | |
| Thu 6 - Mon 10 09:30 local, 04:00 GMT | 4th Test - India v Australia Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur |
Badrinath Fails Again
Its sad that Badri has failed yet again and i am sure this failure is not going to do him any good when the test squad is selected. Kholi has come with a fine unbeaten half century and in all probability will feature in the test squad with shear performance. Badri reminds me of Sharath who scored tons and tons of runs in the domestic cricket but when ever there was a chance against the visiting team he failed and never got a chance to play for India. I wish Badri does not repeat the same mistake again and feel pity for himself, its not going to do any good for his future.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
First Ever ODI Series WIN in Srilanka for India
Dhoni and team posted a comfortable victory over Srilanka in the 4th ODI on the reserve day to make history. This is India's first ever ODI series win in SriLanka. It was an all round effort from the Indians with important contributions from Kholi,Dhoni,Raina,Munaf,Zaheer and Harbhajan. For SriLanka the top order failed to fire yet again to put up a chase of a seemingly moderate Indian total. Dhoni and team was desperate to win the series as they have lost 2 ODI tournament in the recent past (kitply & AsiaCup).
V.Kholi provided the start India needed with a solid half century but quickly India was in trouble losing 3 quick wickets. Dhoni and Raina put up a 100+ partnership to reach a respectable total. Dhoni is proving to be a very good batsmen in the recent past with some mature innings and its a real good sign that we have a batsmen who can put his head down and also pep-up run rate when the run rate goes down and when the batsmen is your team captain the whole team confidence goes up. Raina is also gaining in confidence match after match to play some brilliant innings to prove that he is here to stay. Youraj is just out of sorts and not among runs and may be he need to come bit late in the order so that he can free his arms and get back the much needed runs. As expected the lower order Badrinath,Sharma did not have many overs to settle down to get big runs, this is the reason one has to grab the chances that come your way to stay in the thick of action. Once Sachin and Sehwag is back in the team, i doubt if badrinath and sharma will have a place in the playing 11 or even in the team.
The fast bowlers in Munaf,Zaheer and Pravinkumar played their part to perfection in all the 4 matches. Munaf has been splendid with lot of control in the line and length and has been among the wickets, i have always felt that he is a good bowler and little lazy in the out field but watching him in the IPL gave us think differently on him and he proved he can be very good if used properly. Zaheer has been a lot more fit and willing to give the extra effort and that was visible in his bowling figures through out the series. PravinKumar IMO is a ordinary bowler but has a big heart to fight it out, he has been belted for runs in this series but was lucky enough to pick wickets at crucial stages of the game. Harbhajan has been fantastic through out the series both in Test and ODI with lot more flight and direction but the over exuberance at times in the middle is not doing any good.
Over all we have a wonderful,young team in good hands and can wish for some good times in the coming years in the ODI tournaments.
V.Kholi provided the start India needed with a solid half century but quickly India was in trouble losing 3 quick wickets. Dhoni and Raina put up a 100+ partnership to reach a respectable total. Dhoni is proving to be a very good batsmen in the recent past with some mature innings and its a real good sign that we have a batsmen who can put his head down and also pep-up run rate when the run rate goes down and when the batsmen is your team captain the whole team confidence goes up. Raina is also gaining in confidence match after match to play some brilliant innings to prove that he is here to stay. Youraj is just out of sorts and not among runs and may be he need to come bit late in the order so that he can free his arms and get back the much needed runs. As expected the lower order Badrinath,Sharma did not have many overs to settle down to get big runs, this is the reason one has to grab the chances that come your way to stay in the thick of action. Once Sachin and Sehwag is back in the team, i doubt if badrinath and sharma will have a place in the playing 11 or even in the team.
The fast bowlers in Munaf,Zaheer and Pravinkumar played their part to perfection in all the 4 matches. Munaf has been splendid with lot of control in the line and length and has been among the wickets, i have always felt that he is a good bowler and little lazy in the out field but watching him in the IPL gave us think differently on him and he proved he can be very good if used properly. Zaheer has been a lot more fit and willing to give the extra effort and that was visible in his bowling figures through out the series. PravinKumar IMO is a ordinary bowler but has a big heart to fight it out, he has been belted for runs in this series but was lucky enough to pick wickets at crucial stages of the game. Harbhajan has been fantastic through out the series both in Test and ODI with lot more flight and direction but the over exuberance at times in the middle is not doing any good.
Over all we have a wonderful,young team in good hands and can wish for some good times in the coming years in the ODI tournaments.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Bradman's Centenary
Today is a very special day for all the cricketers and cricket lovers all over the world its the centenary of Sir Donald Bradman. The man who changed the way the batsmen looked at how to score runs and a reference book for all the cricketers in the world, Sachin must be the most lucky person to have got accolades from the great saying that he saw him bat when Sachin bats.
England Crush SouthAfrica
England beat SouthAfrica by 10 wickets in the 2nd ODI to lead the series by 2-0. Stuart Broad bowled his best to reduce SA to its lowest total in its ODI history. SouthAfrica was bowled out for 85 with S.Broad taking 5 wickets and FlintOff and Harmison picking the other 5 wickets. SA lost too many quick wickets in the initial overs and never inclined to come back to put up a decent score. Stuart Broad used the overcast conditions to full effect and the wicket was assisting seam movement of the pitch which made life difficult for the SA batsmen. Big Flintoff was in good form that he hit the deck and was able to produce fair amount of bounce and seam movement, Harmison had to bowl just 1 over and he took 2 wickets.
I think Smith and team is still to come out the hangover of winning the test series, there are few new faces but the core is from the Test team and the way the team crumbled looked like they are little too complacent about the ODI series. Not sure why on a overcast conditions one would want to bat first after winning the toss, may be the failed run chase in the previous match influenced the decision but it totally back fired. SA brought in Gibbs,Albie Morkel (IPL fame) and few other new comers in the side but none of them were successful. Hope SA puts up a better show in the next ODI.
Team India Praying for Rain
Dhoni and team must be praying for rain to go back winning the ODI series (2-1). Rain has washed out the 4th match and the Srilankan whether department has forecast rain for the rest of the week and hence there may not be any match even on the reserve day and the last ODI on Friday/Saturday. For once the Indian players must be wishing rain to make sure that they need not play the last 2 games to make sure that they go back with a series win after losing the Asia Cup and the KitplyCup.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Missed Opportunity
Its been a tale for more than 2 decades now that regularly cricketers from TamilNadu throw the opportunity at the International level. The list is pretty big starting from W.V.Raman,B.Arun, Venkatramana,AshishKappor, Hemang Badani and recently L.Balaji,Sriram and D.Karthick and now waiting to get added into the list is Badrinath.
TamilNadu has one of the best infrastructure in India for cricket with dedicated grounds and league system to run cricket. TN is lucky to have very good cricket administrators at every level (state,district,college & school) and has full support from corporates (TVS,Chemplast,IndiaPistons,IndiaCements) ,Govt Banks (SBI,IB,IOB etc) and Railways are all part of the league systems and who have been with the TNCA for decades and helped cricketers and promote cricket in the state. TNCA has announced that they are planning to build a world class cricket stadium with seating capacity of over 1 lakh and this facility will be inaugurated in time for the WorldCup 2011. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Chennai_set_to_beat_Eden_Gardens/articleshow/3405937.cms
In spite of all this support we have not been able to produce cricketers who are regular in the Indian Team over a period of time. We have had glimpses of class from players like Venkatraghavan, Srikanth and RobinSingh to name a few who were regulars in their playing days and after that we have not had a single player who was sure of his place for years now. I am not sure if its our style of game (all aggressive stroke players) or the complacent nature with in our culture. Our neighboring state Karnataka has produced some great players in Vishwanath,Chandrasekar and recently Srinath,Dravid and Kumble who have played important roles for Team India in the past few decades.
Any organization or institution has the mind set of looking into talent from the past performance of the region and the dismal display of TN cricketers have not helped the budding youngsters here to get a positive look unless you are exceptional. I think its very natural in any selection process, you take the states like Bombay,Karnataka,Delhi,Punjab (to an extent), they have had good cricketers all the time, its pretty obvious that a player from Bombay with decent scores gets the nod over a player from say UP,TN because the past players have proved in with lot character and toughness to succeed at the highest level.
TNCA has been one of the best run associations and its hard to believe that with such infrastructure we have produced only handful of players with high quality. Its time the people responsible for running the game wake up and take note of this and bring in innovative methods to improve the confidence level and prepare players for the big stage.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Captain's Lead From the Front.
India and England were lucky to see their captains play matching winning innings but SriLanka was not that lucky. M.S.Dhoni played a good patient knock to make sure that India reach a respectable total after losing losing 4 wickets for 90+. Pieterson was in a better position with openers giving a flying start of 70+ and had the big hitting Flintoff scoring 70+ in quick time to reach 275 in 50 overs and was 90 not out.
India started slowly with Gambhir looking very ordinary and couple of missed run-outs. Kholi played some nice shots in the leg side and reached 25 to get run-out and Gambhir was out in quick time. Yuvraj who showed sign's of getting back to form with a well timed six over mid-wicket got out cheaply poking to good out swinger. Raina was on the other end grafting, Badrinath the hero of the 2nd ODI played one of the worst shots in the given scenario of the match to throw his wicket. Dhoni came in and played a patient knock to build a partnership with Raina to take the score to 140+. When both the batsmen looked to free themselves with some hitting, there was this terrible mix-up and Raina was run out. R.Sharma scored a quick 32 and finally India scored a respectable total of 237.
Srilankans started very badly with losing wickets quickly to be in a bad stage of 59-6. It was left to captain Jayawardane and Thusara to show some resistance and at one stage Jayawardene looked to take the game from India but it was too much for asking. Good to see Zaheer among wickets in this series and looks more fit to give his best. Praveen Kumar has been among wickets but has been giving away too many runs for his wickets. Munaf a good steady bowler is back in thick of action and among wickets and its good for India. Harbajan has been good through out the series with some steady bowling and Yuvraj filled the 5th bowler slot. For Srilankans their top order batsmen Jayasurya,Sangakkara,Silva were not getting runs and jayawardane must be a worried captain.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
India in Beijing Olympics
After Abhinav Bindra's Gold, India has not had many success in Beijing. Rathore,Saina,Sania and other contingent is all out of the games, the only hopes for another medal is from the Tennis Stars Mahesh & Peas pair and to an extent Anju George.
It was heart breaking for the whole of India and Saina to have missed from a formidable position in the quarter-final. Good that her performance is being noticed and the Netball Federation has recognized her feet to award cash prize of 1 lakh (Yes you read it correct its just 1 lakh) at least they have come forward to recognize her effort. This is the most sad state of affairs of many federations with no funds and no initiative to approach corporates for sponsor's. I am 200% sure that the big corporates like Tata,Reliance,UBGroup,Sahara would have provided funds to reward her achievements with much better cash award, its the lack of initiative and will to do that.
She is young and talented and this is the time to appreciate her efforts and keep faith and provide all facilities to get her ready for the next Olympics. Cash award of 1 lakh in these days will not help in any way but feel bad. I also feel that the corporates should take some interest in special talents like Saina and spend time and money and provide her with what ever is needed to make her the champion. I am hopeful and this will happen in time and its up to the sports governing body to move things in their favor.
India takes on SriLanka in ODI
Dhoni was in the receiving end this time from the sports journalists with the repeated question on " How Indian Batsmen plan to take on the Magical Mendis". Dhoni put it rightly stating that its up to the individual person and what were you talk and plan in the dressing room its up to the player to tackle the bowling on the pitch on a given day. He is perfectly true, even if you see 100's of video its not going to help, how one plays on the given day makes the difference.
Yet another accolade for Sachin from his captain on scahin's absence due to injury and how it affects the team.
"It's not just his contribution with bat and the ball, but he comes up with brilliant suggestions and advice on the field. The impact he has in the dressing room is great."
I think this is the best chance for the youngsters like RohitSharma,Raina,Kohli,Badrinath to prove that they can deliver in the main stage and its also a challenge for Youraj and Gambhir to prove that they can take the responsibility of carrying the team to victory. Good that finally the selectors have given a break to Ishant Sharma and it should do good to him and be fit for the forth coming Australian Test Series at home.
On the side line, Sreeshanth is making waves in Bollywood functions playing host with Mandira. He was left out from the Indian team for fitness problems but was fit to perform a full dance sequence with Mandira Bedi and also kept the crowd enjoying with his acting skills. Good he has a carrier after cricket :):)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Bindra Lives India's Dream.
Bindra took the world by surprise and India into cheer and celebrations when he won the Olympic Gold, the first in an individual sport for India in Olympic history. As he has mentioned in his post victory interview its just the beginning and hope that the young kids show interest beyond Cricket.As expected the whole country started to pour in cash awards to the champion and has proved successful sports men will be rewarded and over a period this will change to upcoming sports people will get the kind of encouragement and support to achieve greater targets.Four state governments had announced cash rewards to the tune of 1.4 crores. As usual BCCI also announced a reward of Rs 50 lakh for Bindra and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad gifted lifetime AC first-class travel pass and SpiceJet gave him free unlimited travel for life.
Now is the time for the SAI (Sports Authority of India) to take advantage of the interest and support extended by the corporates into tie-up for sponsors to support good talent in various sports to reach greater high's in the coming CommonWealthGames and the next Olympics. I would even go to the extent of asking people like LalithModi,I.S.Bindra to help run these federations and build infrastructure and most importantly sell the sports and make the transition happen. I think this is the golden opportunity for the federations to take a leaf from BCCI and start doing things rather than accusing that Cricket is eating their lunch.
On Cricket
As expected Srilanka won the match and the series without much of a problem and England won the fourth test to end the series as the losing side with series score line as 2-1.
There is bug difference in how SouthAfrica won the series and Srilanka won the series, SA had to fight session by session to win the test matches, where as Srilanka had no problems they were dominating the series so much that the results were mostly in the expected lines. India's famed batting order played worst cricket in the recent memories and never looked to make a fight and rather they were losing steam to fight as the series progressed. England had some fabulous performances from Peiterson,Anderson,Flintoff,I.Bell event hough they lost the series, where as India had just 3 names in Sehwag,Gambhi and Harbhajan to name with some good performances. SA had some brilliant performance from its captain Smith and the top order never gave up and fought well with Prince,McCanze,Amla and DeVillars coming good at important stages of the game. SA bowlers in Styen,Morkel,Ntini all played their role to perfection and Boucher kept wickets like a champ and scored runs when mattered most. Fro Srilanka it most the two magical spinners all the way and some good batting by their captain and deputy and one has also mention about the fielding and good judgment from Jaywardene on the referral which made lot of difference to the outcome of the game. Overall SA fought their victory and Srilanka won it by discipline.
IMHO its time that the selectors need to think in bringing in fresh blood into the test series also, I can see at least 2 of the top 4 needs to be replaced to bring in the young talent to test. I also feel its time that we replace the aging Kumble and bring in fresh talent so that we have some time to build the team.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Mega Week End For Sports Lovers.
Olympics kick starts today in Beijing with grand opening ceremony and rest of the world can take some time to appreciate how China has turned around to host the mega event in style.Media reports suggest that China is doing all the is possible to make this a great success and show the world that China has arrived into the main stream. Already they are making giant strides in various business and now into sports.
From India's Medal prospects, the shooting contingent is confident of repeating the feat achieved by Rothore and pretty sure of bringing back couple of Gold this time. We also have the great individual players in Tennis Sania Mirza and the doubles Kings Mahesh and Peas to bring some medals. Good luck to all the participants and China for a successful Olympics.
We also have Cricket this week end!!!!!!
For the first time in years that cricket has been pushed out of the main sports page in the Indian newspapers to give way to the Mega event Olympics. India takes on Srilanka today to play the decider of the series with both winning 1 match each. Even though India won the 2nd test Srilanka starts favorites for the decider with home advantage. The Curator has given hopes for the fast bowlers stating that the pitch will have good bounce and pace, hope its not part of the off the field game plan of the Srilankan think tank. Toss will be very vital on the result of the match, as in all the sub-continent wickets the pitch plays true for the first 2 days and starts to break and keep low from the 3rd day winning the toss and posting reasonable total of say 450+ will always help take the 1st innings lead and put pressure on the side batting 4th.
Kumble must be praying for his top guns to fire in this test, Sachin,Dravid and Ganguly have not scored a 50 in this series and Laxman has only one to credit. Karthik is the biggest failure in the tour with bad performances behind and in front of the stumps , dropping at least 4 catches and not scoring many runs. IMHO kumble just should not play a combination because they won the last test match, its ridiculous if karthick plays this test match in spite of having a reserve keeper in Parthiv Patel.
Sorry about not writing on Indian's big victory on the 2nd test, i was not able watch the match fully so could not write my views on the match. I just thought it would not reflect my opinion if i write based on news paper reports. Any way i will try to write on this 3rd test catching the highlights.
England Dominates Day 1
England bundled out South Africa for 190+ and sitting pretty at 50 for 1. South Africa was at 100 for 1 at one stage and some brilliant bowling from Harmison and Anderson quickly pushed them to 140 for 5 with harmison taking 2 and Anderson taking 3 and reached a personal milestone of 100 test wickets. Panesar and Broad helped to finish of the SA tail with 2 wickets each and it was thumps up for the new England Captain Peiterson on day one on his new role. Ntini sent back strauss early but could not push for another wicket as Bell and Cook played the rest of the day with no problems and stroke the ball well.
Wish the readers enjoy all the sporting actions in store in the coming weekend and through out the Olympics.
From India's Medal prospects, the shooting contingent is confident of repeating the feat achieved by Rothore and pretty sure of bringing back couple of Gold this time. We also have the great individual players in Tennis Sania Mirza and the doubles Kings Mahesh and Peas to bring some medals. Good luck to all the participants and China for a successful Olympics.
We also have Cricket this week end!!!!!!
For the first time in years that cricket has been pushed out of the main sports page in the Indian newspapers to give way to the Mega event Olympics. India takes on Srilanka today to play the decider of the series with both winning 1 match each. Even though India won the 2nd test Srilanka starts favorites for the decider with home advantage. The Curator has given hopes for the fast bowlers stating that the pitch will have good bounce and pace, hope its not part of the off the field game plan of the Srilankan think tank. Toss will be very vital on the result of the match, as in all the sub-continent wickets the pitch plays true for the first 2 days and starts to break and keep low from the 3rd day winning the toss and posting reasonable total of say 450+ will always help take the 1st innings lead and put pressure on the side batting 4th.
Kumble must be praying for his top guns to fire in this test, Sachin,Dravid and Ganguly have not scored a 50 in this series and Laxman has only one to credit. Karthik is the biggest failure in the tour with bad performances behind and in front of the stumps , dropping at least 4 catches and not scoring many runs. IMHO kumble just should not play a combination because they won the last test match, its ridiculous if karthick plays this test match in spite of having a reserve keeper in Parthiv Patel.
Sorry about not writing on Indian's big victory on the 2nd test, i was not able watch the match fully so could not write my views on the match. I just thought it would not reflect my opinion if i write based on news paper reports. Any way i will try to write on this 3rd test catching the highlights.
England Dominates Day 1
England bundled out South Africa for 190+ and sitting pretty at 50 for 1. South Africa was at 100 for 1 at one stage and some brilliant bowling from Harmison and Anderson quickly pushed them to 140 for 5 with harmison taking 2 and Anderson taking 3 and reached a personal milestone of 100 test wickets. Panesar and Broad helped to finish of the SA tail with 2 wickets each and it was thumps up for the new England Captain Peiterson on day one on his new role. Ntini sent back strauss early but could not push for another wicket as Bell and Cook played the rest of the day with no problems and stroke the ball well.
Wish the readers enjoy all the sporting actions in store in the coming weekend and through out the Olympics.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Too Early for Khel Ratna
Khel Ratna the most prestigeious award for sports person in India has been conferred to Dhoni for leading India to the T20 World Cup victory and recent ODI series victory. Happy that after Sachin a cricketer is getting this award and it should do a lot of good to Dhoni's confidence. Thanks to BCCI for getting this award to a cricketer.
IMHO its too big an award too early in his carrier. I just can not think that he is greater player than the stalwarts like Sunil Gavasker, KapilDev, Vishwanath,Rahul Dravid, Saurav, Kumble and many more to name who have acheived a lot for the sport. Cricket being a team game and winning a T20 world cup should not have been the criteria for this award. Its pretty early days in his carrier and this award is too big for him.
England runs out of choice to make Kevin Peterson the captaincy, I think Strauss would have been the correct choice with the experience and maturity he has shown over the years of good and bad form. Peterson is a free flowing batsmen and england is adding to the pressure already on him to perform all the time he walks to the field. It should not be any big pressure for both the teams as the series has already been decided.
IMHO its too big an award too early in his carrier. I just can not think that he is greater player than the stalwarts like Sunil Gavasker, KapilDev, Vishwanath,Rahul Dravid, Saurav, Kumble and many more to name who have acheived a lot for the sport. Cricket being a team game and winning a T20 world cup should not have been the criteria for this award. Its pretty early days in his carrier and this award is too big for him.
England runs out of choice to make Kevin Peterson the captaincy, I think Strauss would have been the correct choice with the experience and maturity he has shown over the years of good and bad form. Peterson is a free flowing batsmen and england is adding to the pressure already on him to perform all the time he walks to the field. It should not be any big pressure for both the teams as the series has already been decided.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Splendid Smith spearheads series win
South African captain played his lifetime innings (150+ not out) to take SA to series victory against England in England after 40 years. SA were chasing a target of 280+ and started well with 50+ partnership but quickly lost 4 wickets with some dubious decisions and were at 93-4 and the game could have gone any way but for the brilliant performance from captain Smith.
Smith was in his best through out the innings, the short arm pull, the unorthodox straight drives and the superb square drives were simply brilliant. From 93-4 he put a 75 partnership with devillers and reached the target with the company of the experienced boucher. Smith just played his natural game and it was treat to see the ball flowing to the boundary between the country and the deep-midwicket in-spite of the fielders in the line. He was under immense pressure as Flintoff and Panesar were bowling their heart out but he never looked getting out and just dominated the bowling. Boucher with all his experience, played yet another gem of an innings to support his captain to reach the total. Boucher has been accorded as one of the best wicket keepers but he has played many important innings for SA and i am sure this knock will get him the respect he deserves.
I think after long long time a captain has made runs in the 4th innings to win a test and series, Ponting and Lara has done this a few times. I doubt if the great Sachin has played an innings like this in his long carrier to score runs in the 4th innings to take the team to victory. I can remember the chennai test where he failed to finish after getting century against pakistan and the 120 run chase in WI which India failed. Even though there is comparing players, this was such a special innings from Smith which i am sure will not be matched in the near future and will stand tall in the memories of the cricket fraternity.
After this innings Smith stands tall in the list of batsmen who have done well with shear determination, even though he lacks the grace of the top cricketers.
Smith was in his best through out the innings, the short arm pull, the unorthodox straight drives and the superb square drives were simply brilliant. From 93-4 he put a 75 partnership with devillers and reached the target with the company of the experienced boucher. Smith just played his natural game and it was treat to see the ball flowing to the boundary between the country and the deep-midwicket in-spite of the fielders in the line. He was under immense pressure as Flintoff and Panesar were bowling their heart out but he never looked getting out and just dominated the bowling. Boucher with all his experience, played yet another gem of an innings to support his captain to reach the total. Boucher has been accorded as one of the best wicket keepers but he has played many important innings for SA and i am sure this knock will get him the respect he deserves.
I think after long long time a captain has made runs in the 4th innings to win a test and series, Ponting and Lara has done this a few times. I doubt if the great Sachin has played an innings like this in his long carrier to score runs in the 4th innings to take the team to victory. I can remember the chennai test where he failed to finish after getting century against pakistan and the 120 run chase in WI which India failed. Even though there is comparing players, this was such a special innings from Smith which i am sure will not be matched in the near future and will stand tall in the memories of the cricket fraternity.
After this innings Smith stands tall in the list of batsmen who have done well with shear determination, even though he lacks the grace of the top cricketers.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Rain Gods Greets 2nd Test
The curator has mentioned that the wicket will turn square from start of day 3 and mentioned that the test will not go till the last day if rain does not spoil sport. As i write this post the players are welcome with showers to stop the game at lunch time when Sehwag and Gambhir are going great guns with both reaching 50 and total 150 no loss. The whether forecast is not very good and they expect rains all the five days in the scenic cricket ground.
Kumble does not seem to have made any changes in spite of the pitch report and chose to retain the same XI with the hope that all will come good in this test. He himself must also be hoping to come good along with Bajji back to form and if India could post a big 1st innings total (500+) then i think we have a very good chance.
SouthAfrica Dominates Yet Again
South Africa dominated the proceeding on the 1st day bowling out england for 200+ with some disciplined bowling from all the bowlers. Nel playing in place of Styen came up with 3 wickets and Kallis has been bowling well in this series to finish with 3 wickets and Ntini took 2. For England Cook and Bell scored 50's, Cook was too good punishing all the short stuff to the fence and Bell played a patient knock and got out of a beauty from Ntini, Flintoff ran out of partners scoring 38, england bowlers also struck early removing SA captain cheaply.
We can expect some exciting cricket in the coming four days from the top 4 teams.
Kumble does not seem to have made any changes in spite of the pitch report and chose to retain the same XI with the hope that all will come good in this test. He himself must also be hoping to come good along with Bajji back to form and if India could post a big 1st innings total (500+) then i think we have a very good chance.
SouthAfrica Dominates Yet Again
South Africa dominated the proceeding on the 1st day bowling out england for 200+ with some disciplined bowling from all the bowlers. Nel playing in place of Styen came up with 3 wickets and Kallis has been bowling well in this series to finish with 3 wickets and Ntini took 2. For England Cook and Bell scored 50's, Cook was too good punishing all the short stuff to the fence and Bell played a patient knock and got out of a beauty from Ntini, Flintoff ran out of partners scoring 38, england bowlers also struck early removing SA captain cheaply.
We can expect some exciting cricket in the coming four days from the top 4 teams.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Srilankan Tigers crush Indian Paper Tigers
Team India succumbs under pressure yet again. India is again in its familiar state after the 1st test in a tour by a huge lose. India was not able dominate even a single session in the four days of the match and after end of day 3 only rain could have saved the match for India. All praise to Srilanka for keeping the pressure on the famed Indian batting line up through out the match and most importantly posting a big first innings total with 4 centurions which also exposed Indian bowling's standard. Full credit to Murali and Mendis for such fantastic performance to prove yet again that the famed Indian Batting line up is made of individual brilliance and can not collectively raise to the occasion and save a match. I can not remember a single test match saved by our Indian batsmen playing for two full days in the past decade.
The second test is starting in just three days break and its going to be tough on the team to pull their socks and come back from the huge drubbing to perform better. I don't think one can make many changes to the playing XI as there are not many bench strength in the team. The obvious change is drop karthick and pick parthiv and i also feel that india should be playing another bowler in the 2nd test after taking a look at the pitch but i am not sure who they would drop. Gambhir has done reasonably well in both the innings and as usual we can not drop anyone from the famed 4 and sehwag, i am sure Kumble does not have the teeth to drop one from the famed lineup to include a extra bowler. Indian teams strength is their batting and India has a chance to level the series only if the batsmen get going, as we have never had bowlers who could run through the opposition on quick time.
Review System
IMHO the review system has not been used properly in the 1st test and i am sure the umpires will use them better in the coming tests. The decision's on Dhilshan and Sehwag proves that the technology can only help to make a decision but the on field umpires should take control of the decisions. As i had mentioned in one of earlier posts, the LBW decisions should be referred only to make sure that the ball has pitched in line and not for the direction and height of the bounce after pitching and sehwags decision proves that right. If the review system is used prudently the system can help to avoid issues but over relying on the technology for everything will kill the charm of the game.
Is Robin & Venkatesh Prasad Accountable
After looking at the shabby performance in the field from the indian team for quite some time i have a feeling that our fielding coach is not accountable. Our fielding performance has been below par for the last year and we have lost couple of tournaments and test matches due to poor catching and fielding. Robin was a great all rounder cricketer and a great fielder as we all known but i doubt that he is able to bring in the best in the field from the players. Its the same with V.Prasad, he has been the bowling coach of the team for the past couple of years and i don't see any player genuinely benefiting from his services. I understand that the coach's are only motivate and teach the intricacies but its up to the players to perform in the field but the support staff should be accountable.
The second test is starting in just three days break and its going to be tough on the team to pull their socks and come back from the huge drubbing to perform better. I don't think one can make many changes to the playing XI as there are not many bench strength in the team. The obvious change is drop karthick and pick parthiv and i also feel that india should be playing another bowler in the 2nd test after taking a look at the pitch but i am not sure who they would drop. Gambhir has done reasonably well in both the innings and as usual we can not drop anyone from the famed 4 and sehwag, i am sure Kumble does not have the teeth to drop one from the famed lineup to include a extra bowler. Indian teams strength is their batting and India has a chance to level the series only if the batsmen get going, as we have never had bowlers who could run through the opposition on quick time.
Review System
IMHO the review system has not been used properly in the 1st test and i am sure the umpires will use them better in the coming tests. The decision's on Dhilshan and Sehwag proves that the technology can only help to make a decision but the on field umpires should take control of the decisions. As i had mentioned in one of earlier posts, the LBW decisions should be referred only to make sure that the ball has pitched in line and not for the direction and height of the bounce after pitching and sehwags decision proves that right. If the review system is used prudently the system can help to avoid issues but over relying on the technology for everything will kill the charm of the game.
Is Robin & Venkatesh Prasad Accountable
After looking at the shabby performance in the field from the indian team for quite some time i have a feeling that our fielding coach is not accountable. Our fielding performance has been below par for the last year and we have lost couple of tournaments and test matches due to poor catching and fielding. Robin was a great all rounder cricketer and a great fielder as we all known but i doubt that he is able to bring in the best in the field from the players. Its the same with V.Prasad, he has been the bowling coach of the team for the past couple of years and i don't see any player genuinely benefiting from his services. I understand that the coach's are only motivate and teach the intricacies but its up to the players to perform in the field but the support staff should be accountable.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
South Africa completes Formalities
SouthAfrica completed the formalities to win the 2nd test by 10 wickets. Some fine performances from the fast bowlers made sure that there is no surprise. England batsmen never showed any signs of fighting it out, wickets were falling in regular intervals. Broad's late hitting made sure that SA batted again to finish the formalities.
Overall it was a match dominated by SA on all the 4 days with both the ball and the bat. Morkel,Steyn,Prince,devilliers all played their part to perfection. where as for england nothing went right with Vaughan failling badly yet again and come back man Flintoff could not make any big impact in the bowling or batting. Hope England puts up a fight in the 3rd and 4th Tests.
India will be taking on the spinning SriLankans tomorrow in the 1st test and it should be huge pressure for the great Indian Batting line up to face the new found magic finger spinner Mendis and the willy Murali. I am sure mendis will also be under huge pressure to perform in home with such big expectations after the AsiaCup success.
I think toss holds the key in SriLanka, in general the wicket used to play good for the first two days and then start to break a bit and turn square. I don't have to talk about our batting line up, hoping that Gambhir will get a chance and wish he will make full use of it. Kumble may even go with the make shift opener in karthick and include a additional spinner in place of Gambhir. Not sure if the wicket will assist the fast bowlers, if it does then i am confident that Ishant should be among the wickets. A good series ahead and wish we get full 5 days play without any rain.
Overall it was a match dominated by SA on all the 4 days with both the ball and the bat. Morkel,Steyn,Prince,devilliers all played their part to perfection. where as for england nothing went right with Vaughan failling badly yet again and come back man Flintoff could not make any big impact in the bowling or batting. Hope England puts up a fight in the 3rd and 4th Tests.
India will be taking on the spinning SriLankans tomorrow in the 1st test and it should be huge pressure for the great Indian Batting line up to face the new found magic finger spinner Mendis and the willy Murali. I am sure mendis will also be under huge pressure to perform in home with such big expectations after the AsiaCup success.
I think toss holds the key in SriLanka, in general the wicket used to play good for the first two days and then start to break a bit and turn square. I don't have to talk about our batting line up, hoping that Gambhir will get a chance and wish he will make full use of it. Kumble may even go with the make shift opener in karthick and include a additional spinner in place of Gambhir. Not sure if the wicket will assist the fast bowlers, if it does then i am confident that Ishant should be among the wickets. A good series ahead and wish we get full 5 days play without any rain.
Monday, July 21, 2008
SouthAfrica set for Big Victory.
After 3 days of good cricket, south africa is poised to win the match in leeds comfortably provided there is no rain. England is 50-2 at the end of day 3 trailing by 250+ runs, if England has to save the match from here it should be the rains or a life time knock from the england top order. SouthAfrica is sitting pretty with all the top bowlers striking, Ntinin who was out of sorts in the 1st test and in the 1st innings but struck twice in quick time.
I think Prince is playing his best cricket ever with back to back hundreds and both coming when the team most needed them. Prince innings was controlled aggression and near flawless but for few close calls for LBW from flintoff. He played the england bowlers with much ease and struck mighty blows of panesar. AB de Villiers played an important and patient knock to reach his hundred and carried on to score 174 and propelled the lead over 300+.
Not many journalists mentioned about the un-sporting stuff from both the team in day 1 at leeds. I am sure if the team involved was an Asian nation, the whole lot of english press would have painted black for the actions. de Villiers and Vaughan claimed catches which they did not take properly and both the occasion the 3rd umpire had to turn down the appeal. From what we could see in the TV, i am sure the fielders will know that they have not taken it cleanly but still chose to make a claim, its sad that cricket is turning out to be a very un-sportive game these days.
I think Prince is playing his best cricket ever with back to back hundreds and both coming when the team most needed them. Prince innings was controlled aggression and near flawless but for few close calls for LBW from flintoff. He played the england bowlers with much ease and struck mighty blows of panesar. AB de Villiers played an important and patient knock to reach his hundred and carried on to score 174 and propelled the lead over 300+.
Not many journalists mentioned about the un-sporting stuff from both the team in day 1 at leeds. I am sure if the team involved was an Asian nation, the whole lot of english press would have painted black for the actions. de Villiers and Vaughan claimed catches which they did not take properly and both the occasion the 3rd umpire had to turn down the appeal. From what we could see in the TV, i am sure the fielders will know that they have not taken it cleanly but still chose to make a claim, its sad that cricket is turning out to be a very un-sportive game these days.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
BCCI Flexes Muscle
Niranjan Shah and the board is adamant to make sure that no BCCI contracted player is involved with any sort of engagement with the counties in which the ICL players are involved. BCCI has stopped Chawla from playing county cricket for Hampshire since there are few players contracted with ICL, the others who have been given similar advise is Lakshman and Agarkar. I feel this is getting little too much and the board needs to show some maturity in handling things like these, 15 of the 18 county teams have ICL contracted players and its not fair to restrict players from playing recognized league.
At some point the ICL management team needs to talk about the status of the league to the ICC and make things smooth for the players involved in the league. ICL has not gone to the ICC / BCCI for recognizing their league and they need to do that first for the league to survive. IMHO With the success of IPL, unless ICL joins hands with the BCCI or any of the recognized board, there is no way it can sign star cricketers and create intrest for the league.
On the otherside the SriLankan Cricket officials are facing with all sorts of issues and have gone to the extent of canceling Test series to make sure their players are available for the IPL. SC has not paid their players since this Feb and has also friezed salary for the senior players for the current season. Sports ministry is rejecting the appointment of Thilakarathna as cricket manager for unknown reasons a day after SC's appoints him and today the SC says that the appointment is valid and he will continue as manager for the series against India. Its great that even under such unstable conditions they perform well and win trophy's.
May be the critics are correct in raising doubts on the commitment from our own young Indian players, after all the players get all the facilities a cricketer could ask for and yet the performance has not been consistent and not many victory's after the T20 WorldCup victory.
At some point the ICL management team needs to talk about the status of the league to the ICC and make things smooth for the players involved in the league. ICL has not gone to the ICC / BCCI for recognizing their league and they need to do that first for the league to survive. IMHO With the success of IPL, unless ICL joins hands with the BCCI or any of the recognized board, there is no way it can sign star cricketers and create intrest for the league.
On the otherside the SriLankan Cricket officials are facing with all sorts of issues and have gone to the extent of canceling Test series to make sure their players are available for the IPL. SC has not paid their players since this Feb and has also friezed salary for the senior players for the current season. Sports ministry is rejecting the appointment of Thilakarathna as cricket manager for unknown reasons a day after SC's appoints him and today the SC says that the appointment is valid and he will continue as manager for the series against India. Its great that even under such unstable conditions they perform well and win trophy's.
May be the critics are correct in raising doubts on the commitment from our own young Indian players, after all the players get all the facilities a cricketer could ask for and yet the performance has not been consistent and not many victory's after the T20 WorldCup victory.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
BCCI the perceived Ghost
BCCI is blamed quite often for the lack of imagination and initiative to promote cricket in the rural and urban areas. The BCCI is the ghost of all the other sports federations, sports person and in few cases the general public on the kind of money is generated by cricket and the marketing done by the ghost to make more money. There have been allegations that the board is controlled by few big names time to time and they are the guardians of cricket in India without much credibility. Even in some cases the BCCI has been blamed by its own fraternity (past members and cricketers) for high handedness of the officials on individuals.
Its the kind of acceptance to the sport from the people of the country and the sustained success of Team India in the international competitions and the lack of it on other sports. The kind of work put up by the BCCI (ghost) team in promoting the sports in the country, building infrastructure,marketing, packaging etc etc in a way that the game is today more than a religion in the country. The board took full advantage of the WorldCup victory and the special talents like SunilGavaskar,KapilDev,Sachin helped the game spread even to the nook and corner of the country. The board worked proactively to telecast live the boring 6 day (1 rest day after 3rd day) test matches in radio when TV was not popular and extended that to TV when the same arrived to our living rooms. The board was quick to recognize that the govt can not provide the funds to promote the game and took the first steps to get sponsors from the corporate world.All these are positive effects to the sport, where as other sports federations failed miserably in promoting their respective games irrespective of high success (Olympic victory for hockey).
Basically the hard work and proactive measures taken to promote the game in the early 80's and 90's are bearing fruit today that the Indian Public can not think of any other sports today. One can easily see that kind of change that has happened in the infrastructure side, we have very few centers hosting international games in the past (Bombay,Madras,Calcutta,Kanpur,Delhi) today we have 15+ full fledged centers to host international games with world class facilities and BCCI has a very vital role in this change in infrastructure. In the 80's we could see very few coaching academy and it would be in the city but today apart from the NCA, we have cricket academy in all the leading associations to help develop the game, Again the other sports federations failed miserably in this and mostly gave full control to the government and lost the advantage of functioning independently. One can easily see the difference between the NCA and SAI camp in Bangalore to validate how the BCCI has progressed to a world class promoter of sports. The introduction of the pension scheme for the domestic cricketers has made life reasonable for so many dedicated cricketers.
BCCI has showed the way to other sports organizations on how to promote a game and capitalize on success. Its now for them to take a leaf from BCCI and start working on promoting their sport instead of crying foul that BCCI is raking huge money in the expense of what is due for them. It is for the Sports federations to maintain good relations with the industry to make sure that the corporates support their respective sport instead of depending on the government. The industry and sponsors are not dump to just put money on cricket if it does not produce results, we saw this fact in the last cricket world cup debacle when the industry started to dump cricket but the quick come back to the top with the T20 victory turned the tides back to the sport. There is also this classic example of Sania Mirza making huge sponsorship deals but Anju Bobby george is not making much explains the dependence of government funding for athletics and industry support for tennis and cricket.
Finally the huge money flow into the game has not happened overnight, it has been long years of hard work, good leadership and proactive measures which has brought the fame and money to the sport. The domestic cricketers have benefited immensely
due to this change and as i had mentioned in one of my earlier post, today we cannot see a domestic cricketer starve in the streets where as we hear that internationals in other sports are left in the lurch.
As always there is room for improvement in anything one does and it is applicable even for the BCCI and i am very confident that BCCI will improve and move in the correct direction in the interest of the game.
Its the kind of acceptance to the sport from the people of the country and the sustained success of Team India in the international competitions and the lack of it on other sports. The kind of work put up by the BCCI (ghost) team in promoting the sports in the country, building infrastructure,marketing, packaging etc etc in a way that the game is today more than a religion in the country. The board took full advantage of the WorldCup victory and the special talents like SunilGavaskar,KapilDev,Sachin helped the game spread even to the nook and corner of the country. The board worked proactively to telecast live the boring 6 day (1 rest day after 3rd day) test matches in radio when TV was not popular and extended that to TV when the same arrived to our living rooms. The board was quick to recognize that the govt can not provide the funds to promote the game and took the first steps to get sponsors from the corporate world.All these are positive effects to the sport, where as other sports federations failed miserably in promoting their respective games irrespective of high success (Olympic victory for hockey).
Basically the hard work and proactive measures taken to promote the game in the early 80's and 90's are bearing fruit today that the Indian Public can not think of any other sports today. One can easily see that kind of change that has happened in the infrastructure side, we have very few centers hosting international games in the past (Bombay,Madras,Calcutta,Kanpur,Delhi) today we have 15+ full fledged centers to host international games with world class facilities and BCCI has a very vital role in this change in infrastructure. In the 80's we could see very few coaching academy and it would be in the city but today apart from the NCA, we have cricket academy in all the leading associations to help develop the game, Again the other sports federations failed miserably in this and mostly gave full control to the government and lost the advantage of functioning independently. One can easily see the difference between the NCA and SAI camp in Bangalore to validate how the BCCI has progressed to a world class promoter of sports. The introduction of the pension scheme for the domestic cricketers has made life reasonable for so many dedicated cricketers.
BCCI has showed the way to other sports organizations on how to promote a game and capitalize on success. Its now for them to take a leaf from BCCI and start working on promoting their sport instead of crying foul that BCCI is raking huge money in the expense of what is due for them. It is for the Sports federations to maintain good relations with the industry to make sure that the corporates support their respective sport instead of depending on the government. The industry and sponsors are not dump to just put money on cricket if it does not produce results, we saw this fact in the last cricket world cup debacle when the industry started to dump cricket but the quick come back to the top with the T20 victory turned the tides back to the sport. There is also this classic example of Sania Mirza making huge sponsorship deals but Anju Bobby george is not making much explains the dependence of government funding for athletics and industry support for tennis and cricket.
Finally the huge money flow into the game has not happened overnight, it has been long years of hard work, good leadership and proactive measures which has brought the fame and money to the sport. The domestic cricketers have benefited immensely
due to this change and as i had mentioned in one of my earlier post, today we cannot see a domestic cricketer starve in the streets where as we hear that internationals in other sports are left in the lurch.
As always there is room for improvement in anything one does and it is applicable even for the BCCI and i am very confident that BCCI will improve and move in the correct direction in the interest of the game.
Monday, July 14, 2008
BCCI under IncomeTax Net :-( :-(
The Indian Finance Ministry has brought about a rude shock to the BCCI by bringing all commercial dealing by the BCCI under the tax net for the assessment year 2008-2009. As the per the initial understanding, the IT dept is not liable to send any notice to BCCI to comply to the rules as the definition for Trust registered as charity have been made clear in the 2008 budget. BCCI so for was enjoying tax holiday as promoting cricket is a public utility and service. The IPL,matches conducted by the BCCI,TV rights etc will be under the tax net and will be on the high end of 33+ bracket and the IT dept expects the board to comply and pay advance tax.
I am sure the board will fight hard to stop this from getting implemented in all possible way. For once BCCI is fortunate to have a political person as the president in Sharad Pawar, he will go all out to see that BCCI does not pay / pays less on tax. Overall its not a good news for the cricketing community and if this is implemented the funds spent on domestic cricket and infrastructure will be the first casualty and who knows this move may also slow down the development of cricket in India.
No result in Lords Yet Again
Since 2005 Lords has not produced any result in the Test Matches whether its 5 days of cricket or hampered by rain. SA finally drew the 1st test in Lords with yet another fine hundred by Amla the third in the same innings after Smith and McKenzie. England bowlers never looked to finish the SA lineup in the 2nd innings after the good start and blame it on the pitch which did absolutely nothing to help the bowlers and the very slow turn meant that the spinners in Panesar and Pieterson was not effective. Hope we have some sporting and true wicket for the 2nd Test.
IPL draws flak from WADA
The WADA has criticized the IPL management for letting out the name of the player before the B sample verification. The WADA has also mentioned it is a violation of the regulation. As expected it was the Pakistani fast bowler Asif to have tested positive and the future looks very bleak for him. Even the PCB is learned to be very upset with the findings as Asif has been warned earlier for similar issue. IPL by letting out the name of the player has in a way indirectly helped Asif to fight the case with the WADA unhappy with the IPL management. Asif has also denied the reports stating that he has been very careful in taking drugs during the IPL and pleads innocence.
I am sure the board will fight hard to stop this from getting implemented in all possible way. For once BCCI is fortunate to have a political person as the president in Sharad Pawar, he will go all out to see that BCCI does not pay / pays less on tax. Overall its not a good news for the cricketing community and if this is implemented the funds spent on domestic cricket and infrastructure will be the first casualty and who knows this move may also slow down the development of cricket in India.
No result in Lords Yet Again
Since 2005 Lords has not produced any result in the Test Matches whether its 5 days of cricket or hampered by rain. SA finally drew the 1st test in Lords with yet another fine hundred by Amla the third in the same innings after Smith and McKenzie. England bowlers never looked to finish the SA lineup in the 2nd innings after the good start and blame it on the pitch which did absolutely nothing to help the bowlers and the very slow turn meant that the spinners in Panesar and Pieterson was not effective. Hope we have some sporting and true wicket for the 2nd Test.
IPL draws flak from WADA
The WADA has criticized the IPL management for letting out the name of the player before the B sample verification. The WADA has also mentioned it is a violation of the regulation. As expected it was the Pakistani fast bowler Asif to have tested positive and the future looks very bleak for him. Even the PCB is learned to be very upset with the findings as Asif has been warned earlier for similar issue. IPL by letting out the name of the player has in a way indirectly helped Asif to fight the case with the WADA unhappy with the IPL management. Asif has also denied the reports stating that he has been very careful in taking drugs during the IPL and pleads innocence.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
SA Fighting To Draw Test
Smith and McKenzie scored century's to save the day for SouthAfrica (SA), still SA has a very daunting task of saving the match with one full day left and behind 100+ runs after following on. Smith and McKenzie played the most patient innings to make sure that they provide a good start, both reached their hundreds and Smith got out to a tired cross batted shot. McKenzie and Amla saw the day through without much damage and if this pair can bat through till lunch in the final day i think SA is safe and can go into the 2nd Test with lot of confidence. England bowling was not menacing with all the four waiting for the batsmen to make mistakes rather than induce mistakes. We have a very interesting final day in the Lords, if SA lose from here it should only blame its batsmen.
W.V.Raman to coach Tamil Nadu
As many past cricketers taking to coaching, Raman has been coaching various teams in the past and was successful to an extent in getting the Bengal team to semi-finals in 2001-2002 Ranji Season. Raman who was the coach of TN team last season did not have a great season but was successful in transforming the youngsters in playing bigger roles for the side. Bengal had requested Raman to coach their Ranji Team which is relegated to the plate group from the elite group, but due to personnel and cricketing reasons Raman is staying with the TN team for the current season. TNCA has lot of faith in Raman putting up a better show this time to make sure that TN Ranji team performs better.
IPL Update
The random dope test done during the IPL and the subsequent testing has confirmed at least one fast bowler from the sub-continent has been found to have used drugs during the IPL. Lalith Modi confirmed this and said that the player in question will be made known latter today after confirmation from the Swedish agency. As usual the Indian New Channels started to put the possible player and suspected that it would be Mohammed Asif ???
W.V.Raman to coach Tamil Nadu
As many past cricketers taking to coaching, Raman has been coaching various teams in the past and was successful to an extent in getting the Bengal team to semi-finals in 2001-2002 Ranji Season. Raman who was the coach of TN team last season did not have a great season but was successful in transforming the youngsters in playing bigger roles for the side. Bengal had requested Raman to coach their Ranji Team which is relegated to the plate group from the elite group, but due to personnel and cricketing reasons Raman is staying with the TN team for the current season. TNCA has lot of faith in Raman putting up a better show this time to make sure that TN Ranji team performs better.
IPL Update
The random dope test done during the IPL and the subsequent testing has confirmed at least one fast bowler from the sub-continent has been found to have used drugs during the IPL. Lalith Modi confirmed this and said that the player in question will be made known latter today after confirmation from the Swedish agency. As usual the Indian New Channels started to put the possible player and suspected that it would be Mohammed Asif ???
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Pieterson's Ton helps England Post 309
England starts the 1st test positively with a century from Pieterson and half century's from Cook and Bell. Strauss and Cook started with a 100+ partnership with both of them stroking the ball nicely. Cook took control of the attack with some brilliant strokes on the off side and Strauss joined the party with some good shorts in front of the wicket, Unfortunately Strauss was a victim of bad decision from Harper, the ball pitched outside the leg stump was given LBW. Steyn brought one back in and Vaughan was bowled and Morkel followed removing Cook in quick time and England was in its familiar stage with 3-117 and then came the big partnership between IanBell and Pieterson which was unbroken till the end of days play on day 1.
Pieterson was intimidated with some bouncers from Steyn and also got one in the back of his neck and England were 163-3 when they took tea. After that it was Pieterson's show and the bowler to suffer most is harris and steyn hit all over the park and reached his 4th century in Lords. Pieterson a southafrican by birth and played cricket till recently in southafrica got a very disappointing reception for this hundred with SA captain and most of the players not acknowledging the century with the customary clapping. England is sitting nicely with 309-3 and if this pair could play the first one hour on day 2 its going to be advantage England.
IPL Update
Srilankan Cricket Board has decided to head to the request from the senior players in accepting to negotiating with the ECB to put off the tour during the IPL season 2. The first full test series fall out due to the IPL, the turn of events only suggests that the alarm raised by Ponting on the T20 games effect on Test Cricket has come true. ICC and the cricketing boards all over the world needs to agree upon some solution to this serious problem on hand.
Pieterson was intimidated with some bouncers from Steyn and also got one in the back of his neck and England were 163-3 when they took tea. After that it was Pieterson's show and the bowler to suffer most is harris and steyn hit all over the park and reached his 4th century in Lords. Pieterson a southafrican by birth and played cricket till recently in southafrica got a very disappointing reception for this hundred with SA captain and most of the players not acknowledging the century with the customary clapping. England is sitting nicely with 309-3 and if this pair could play the first one hour on day 2 its going to be advantage England.
IPL Update
Srilankan Cricket Board has decided to head to the request from the senior players in accepting to negotiating with the ECB to put off the tour during the IPL season 2. The first full test series fall out due to the IPL, the turn of events only suggests that the alarm raised by Ponting on the T20 games effect on Test Cricket has come true. ICC and the cricketing boards all over the world needs to agree upon some solution to this serious problem on hand.
IPL Season 2
Planning and preparation has already started for IPL season 2, the first cricket board to face tricky issues is the SriLankan Cricket Board. SriLanka has accepted to fill next summer for England team as tour of zimbabawe is put off. England has finalized the schedule tentatively starting April 21st through May 30th, the issue is IPL season 2 starts April 10th and ends by 29th May. 13 SriLankan national cricketers are signed by the 6 IPL teams, which means the SriLankans need to leave with just 10 days into the IPL which in all probability will not go well with the franchises nor the players as lot of money is in stake. The SriLankan Board is meeting this week to decide on this and other player contract issues.
Its very unfortunate that the SriLankan players have not been paid since feb-2008 and in spite of these issues they were able to win the Asia Cup in style but the cash rich board like ours and Pakistan were not able to put up a fight. Hope there is some sort of a solution to this problem which benefits the players, after all these guys are spending their prime years of their life to the game.
England takes on South Africa in Lords.
England has announced an unchanged team for the 1st Test against the South Africans in the Lords. South Africa is banking on its fast bowlers to come good in helping conditions in the Lords. SA has included their 3 seamer Ntini,Steyn and Morkel in the bowling line up and banking on the experience of Kallis,Smith and Boucher on the batting to come good, for all the other batsmen in the squad this is the first time they will be playing a Test match in England.
England is going with the same 11 for a world record 6th time in a row. Kevin Peterson,Vaughan,Strauss are expected to score the bulk of the runs and hope that Collingwood comes back to form after a torrid time last season. England bowling seems good with Sidebottom,Anderson and Board with the seam attack and Panesar's left arm spin. Comparatively SA bowling looks good and lethel with all the three capable of striking in quick time, Steyn has been in great form in lot of 5 wicket hauls in a short span and we all know how good he was even in the placid wickets in India. If England should win a test match against the SA, Panesar should come good ably supported by the seamer's. I feel all tests are going to be hard fought and will be played the full 5 days provided there is no rain.
Its very unfortunate that the SriLankan players have not been paid since feb-2008 and in spite of these issues they were able to win the Asia Cup in style but the cash rich board like ours and Pakistan were not able to put up a fight. Hope there is some sort of a solution to this problem which benefits the players, after all these guys are spending their prime years of their life to the game.
England takes on South Africa in Lords.
England has announced an unchanged team for the 1st Test against the South Africans in the Lords. South Africa is banking on its fast bowlers to come good in helping conditions in the Lords. SA has included their 3 seamer Ntini,Steyn and Morkel in the bowling line up and banking on the experience of Kallis,Smith and Boucher on the batting to come good, for all the other batsmen in the squad this is the first time they will be playing a Test match in England.
England is going with the same 11 for a world record 6th time in a row. Kevin Peterson,Vaughan,Strauss are expected to score the bulk of the runs and hope that Collingwood comes back to form after a torrid time last season. England bowling seems good with Sidebottom,Anderson and Board with the seam attack and Panesar's left arm spin. Comparatively SA bowling looks good and lethel with all the three capable of striking in quick time, Steyn has been in great form in lot of 5 wicket hauls in a short span and we all know how good he was even in the placid wickets in India. If England should win a test match against the SA, Panesar should come good ably supported by the seamer's. I feel all tests are going to be hard fought and will be played the full 5 days provided there is no rain.
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