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.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
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.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Champions Trophy in SouthAfrica
The Champions Trophy scheduled to start Sep-11th in Pakistan is most likely to be changed to SouthAfrica due to security problems. Australia,England and NewZeland have already expressed their concern and few Aussies have confirmed that they will pull out of the tournament if held in Pakistan. Its pretty fair on the players to feel concerned about security when bomb blasts happen in the city where you stay in. The recent bomb blasts in Karachi just a day after the AsiaCup finals has not helped PCB in claiming security cover for players and want to stage the tournament in Pakistan.
In all likelihood, ICC will request SA to conduct the tournament and SA has already started work in anticipation will accept to host the tournament. India has had good times in South Africa in the ODI, reaching WorldCup finals and not to mention the T20 WorldCup finals Victory. The team must be more confident and finally the fast bowlers can heave a sigh of relief to get to bowl in true wickets.
The Selectors have picked the 30 probables in the expected lines giving emphases for the youngsters over the veterans in Rahul and Gangully. With couple of match winning performance in the CB series, Sachin is favored and his mere presence in the dressing room should do a world of good to the youngsters, only worry is that he should be fit after the demanding Test series against the SriLankans. I would not mind if he misses the Champions Trophy to prolong his Test Carrier by another 3 or 4 years.
On the Youngsters in the probables, its nice to see VirathKoli and Jadeja but its very unfortunate that the Under-19 player of IPL Goswami does not find a place and its also understandable that we already have 3 good keepers (Dhoni,Karthik and Parthiv) in the probables. Asnodkar, VenugopalRao, ShikarDawan are the few youngsters names come to my mind who i feel missed to make it to the 30 even after some important performances in the IPL, having said that ODI's are a different ball game from the T20 so i would not be too worried. I would think ShikarDawan should have made it to the 30, he has been very consistent in the domestic tournaments and showed good technique and promise in the IPL. Getting into the 30 itself will give these youngsters confidence a lot of good and work harder to get to the squad as they know that they are just one step away from the Indian Cap.
In all likelihood, ICC will request SA to conduct the tournament and SA has already started work in anticipation will accept to host the tournament. India has had good times in South Africa in the ODI, reaching WorldCup finals and not to mention the T20 WorldCup finals Victory. The team must be more confident and finally the fast bowlers can heave a sigh of relief to get to bowl in true wickets.
The Selectors have picked the 30 probables in the expected lines giving emphases for the youngsters over the veterans in Rahul and Gangully. With couple of match winning performance in the CB series, Sachin is favored and his mere presence in the dressing room should do a world of good to the youngsters, only worry is that he should be fit after the demanding Test series against the SriLankans. I would not mind if he misses the Champions Trophy to prolong his Test Carrier by another 3 or 4 years.
On the Youngsters in the probables, its nice to see VirathKoli and Jadeja but its very unfortunate that the Under-19 player of IPL Goswami does not find a place and its also understandable that we already have 3 good keepers (Dhoni,Karthik and Parthiv) in the probables. Asnodkar, VenugopalRao, ShikarDawan are the few youngsters names come to my mind who i feel missed to make it to the 30 even after some important performances in the IPL, having said that ODI's are a different ball game from the T20 so i would not be too worried. I would think ShikarDawan should have made it to the 30, he has been very consistent in the domestic tournaments and showed good technique and promise in the IPL. Getting into the 30 itself will give these youngsters confidence a lot of good and work harder to get to the squad as they know that they are just one step away from the Indian Cap.
Tough Contests
Cricket purists all over the world are going to have a great time in the coming months with some tough contests. England plays South Africa and India travel to SriLanka for the test series, all the four teams are good in their own way and i am sure all the games should be absorbing.
As expected, here is our first victim of excess cricket M.S.Dhoni our ODI Captain. This issue has been raised by many players in the past and with the introduction of the IPL it is pretty obvious that we will have few players unfit due to non stop cricket. Its sad that a player who is considered as the future Test Team Captain has to opt out from the test series out of exhaustion at the age of 27. There is no point in blaming the board on this, its the players responsibility to make sure they keep them fit and prioritize the games one has to take part. No players place is guaranteed in the team, what if Dinesh Karthik comes with a stellar performance and keeps his place ?? Dhoni will be the loser, not the board. I am sure the break will do lot of good to him but it would have been better to opt out of the IPL or Kitply Cup or for that matter from the Asia Cup instead of a test series where he is yet prove himself as a batsmen.
Coming to the teams composition for the test series, i feel the selectors have picked the best possible team within the available players. Good that Gambhir is picked ahead of Wasim Jaffer and R.Sharma included in the squad in place of Youraj, nothing much to discuss about the other legends of Indian batting in Sachin,Dravid,Gangully and Laxman. After a long time we have all the three combination of spinners in the squad and i would think it is little early for Ojha and not sure why Murali Karthik was not considered (may be he is still not fit). On the fast bowling front, i dont think they will play a big part in the series as the wickets are tailor made for the spinners. I also feel there is no need to bring in 2 keepers in the squad for a short tour, this will only create pressure in the minds of the players. Lets see how our famed batting line up fair against the wily Muralidharan and awkward Mendis??
As expected, here is our first victim of excess cricket M.S.Dhoni our ODI Captain. This issue has been raised by many players in the past and with the introduction of the IPL it is pretty obvious that we will have few players unfit due to non stop cricket. Its sad that a player who is considered as the future Test Team Captain has to opt out from the test series out of exhaustion at the age of 27. There is no point in blaming the board on this, its the players responsibility to make sure they keep them fit and prioritize the games one has to take part. No players place is guaranteed in the team, what if Dinesh Karthik comes with a stellar performance and keeps his place ?? Dhoni will be the loser, not the board. I am sure the break will do lot of good to him but it would have been better to opt out of the IPL or Kitply Cup or for that matter from the Asia Cup instead of a test series where he is yet prove himself as a batsmen.
Coming to the teams composition for the test series, i feel the selectors have picked the best possible team within the available players. Good that Gambhir is picked ahead of Wasim Jaffer and R.Sharma included in the squad in place of Youraj, nothing much to discuss about the other legends of Indian batting in Sachin,Dravid,Gangully and Laxman. After a long time we have all the three combination of spinners in the squad and i would think it is little early for Ojha and not sure why Murali Karthik was not considered (may be he is still not fit). On the fast bowling front, i dont think they will play a big part in the series as the wickets are tailor made for the spinners. I also feel there is no need to bring in 2 keepers in the squad for a short tour, this will only create pressure in the minds of the players. Lets see how our famed batting line up fair against the wily Muralidharan and awkward Mendis??
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Magical Mendis Wins AsiaCup for SriLanka
Magical spell by Mendis helped SriLanka win the AsiaCup with dream figures of 6-13, its going to take a long long time for Mendis himself to reproduce such figures. SriLankan players experience and youth combination proved vital at all the important stages of the finals. When SriLanka were batting it was the experience of Jayasurya and Dhilshan to put up a 100+ partnership to make sure that they reach a reasonable total. Jayasurya just dominated the proceedings even though they were tottering at 50+ for 4 with some great display of pace bowling by Ishant Sharma, good that he is back in picking wickets. After some very poor bowling from the seamer's, it was left to the young Mendis to take charge of the game and it was procession from the great Indian batting order. Indian batsmen had no clue on what was Mendis doing with the ball, it was nightmare in the middle for the young Indian star studded batting lineup.
Once again the batting line up looked wanting on experience with all the youngsters choking under pressure. I feel that Sachin/Dravid/Gangully any one of them in the batting line up would have made a difference, at least to put up a fight. India has lost the 2 finals in less than three weeks experimenting with the youngsters, i am sure the results could have been different if Sachin was fit. I think its high time that Sehwag,Youraj win matches for India, rather than playing a few good knocks.
India started of well to put the SriLankan batting to back foot with 90+ for 4, then Jayasurya and Dhilshan played some sensible cricket, with the experienced jayasurya taking control of the match (this was missed badly when India were batting) I.Sharma bowled his heartout but there was very little support from the other seamers. It was left to the spinner Ohja and Sehwag to restrict in the middle overs. It was a pain to watch IrfanPathan gifting away 67 runs of his 10 and that to when the batsmen were struggling, his first over cost almost 12+, I am not sure how he is persisted in the eleven, if the selectors don't axe him now it can only prove correct what MohinderAmarnath once quated as saying "Selectors are a bunch of Jokers".
When India batted, after the first 9 overs it was purely Mendis show, Sehwag as usual threw his wicket and gave the much needed confidence to the youngster. Youraj had no clue on the flipper from Mendis and was castled and then a rank bad shot from the in-form Raina proved that the dressing room was tensed and the same is reflecting in the batsmen, RohitSharma played across the line early in the innings to get caught plumb in front. Dhoni was a mute spectator from the other-end and could not take control of the game. RobinUthappa stayed for some time but Murali proved too clever inviting him to play across the line get caught in front of the stumps, from here it was a procession with the bowling all rounder IrfanPathan playing no part.
Mendis used the pace in the wicket to good effect with some stunning flippers, i feel he is a bowler like Kumble and to an extend like Chandra, he has a very peculiar action and uses his index finger to deliver. I am pretty sure that the batsmen around the world will quickly adjust to this and play normally but he should be very handy if he keeps his line and length and the pitch is quick.
Once again the batting line up looked wanting on experience with all the youngsters choking under pressure. I feel that Sachin/Dravid/Gangully any one of them in the batting line up would have made a difference, at least to put up a fight. India has lost the 2 finals in less than three weeks experimenting with the youngsters, i am sure the results could have been different if Sachin was fit. I think its high time that Sehwag,Youraj win matches for India, rather than playing a few good knocks.
India started of well to put the SriLankan batting to back foot with 90+ for 4, then Jayasurya and Dhilshan played some sensible cricket, with the experienced jayasurya taking control of the match (this was missed badly when India were batting) I.Sharma bowled his heartout but there was very little support from the other seamers. It was left to the spinner Ohja and Sehwag to restrict in the middle overs. It was a pain to watch IrfanPathan gifting away 67 runs of his 10 and that to when the batsmen were struggling, his first over cost almost 12+, I am not sure how he is persisted in the eleven, if the selectors don't axe him now it can only prove correct what MohinderAmarnath once quated as saying "Selectors are a bunch of Jokers".
When India batted, after the first 9 overs it was purely Mendis show, Sehwag as usual threw his wicket and gave the much needed confidence to the youngster. Youraj had no clue on the flipper from Mendis and was castled and then a rank bad shot from the in-form Raina proved that the dressing room was tensed and the same is reflecting in the batsmen, RohitSharma played across the line early in the innings to get caught plumb in front. Dhoni was a mute spectator from the other-end and could not take control of the game. RobinUthappa stayed for some time but Murali proved too clever inviting him to play across the line get caught in front of the stumps, from here it was a procession with the bowling all rounder IrfanPathan playing no part.
Mendis used the pace in the wicket to good effect with some stunning flippers, i feel he is a bowler like Kumble and to an extend like Chandra, he has a very peculiar action and uses his index finger to deliver. I am pretty sure that the batsmen around the world will quickly adjust to this and play normally but he should be very handy if he keeps his line and length and the pitch is quick.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Mr Curator plays his role to perfection
The Karachi pitch Curator must be too good to provide such wickets all through the tournament. If there is an award for non cricketing skills, he should be awarded for Man of the Tournament. Over 600 runs was scored in 95 overs for the third time in the tournament and it has been a paradise for batsmen and hell for the bowlers. It should be no different for the finals and the toss will play a vital role in the finals outcome of the match.
It was really heartening to see that after a long time India has chased a big total with contributions from all its top order batsmen. In the past it used to be either Sachin,Sehwag or Gangully to score big hundred and few other batsmen used to play around them but yesterday it was from all the top four scoring runs and at no stage the opposition looked to come back into the match. Sehwag and Gambhir started well, Raina and Dhoni played their part to perfection for Youraj and R.Sharma to finish the match comfortably. Murali was the one bowler who could produce some turn and bounce even in this wicket to finish with figures of 2-44 from his 10, all other bowlers looked ordinary in this flat track. Good to see Ishant Sharma getting some wickets in the early overs and surprisingly R.P.Singh bowled a controlled spell to support I.Sharma, seems Ohja is gaining in confidence on every match he plays. Irfan Pathan played his part by gifting 80 runs from his 10, in the last 24 matches he has taken 22 wickets at an average of over 44 and economy rate of 6.25, do we still need him in the XI. Hope Kirsten and Dhoni drop him for the finals and give a chance to Gony.
I am still not comfortable to see Dhoni at No 4, he should be batting at No 6 and that is the place where he can change the course of the match. Also for long term in good tracks like Australia,SouthAfrica or England, i dont think he has the technique to survive the swing,bounce and at times the new ball. He might play some big innings in the sub-continent but i feel it should be for the pure batsmen like R.sharma,Raina to take that position and gain in experience, even Youraj has been struggling to perform in oversees bouncy tracks.
BCCI warns coach Kirsten for writing in his personnel blog (garykirsten.com) on Team India. Kirsten has quickly put the issue to rest by confirming to the board that this will not happen again. Big BCCI is just twisting its muscle in all possible ways to keep its internal affairs under the board rooms carpet.
Australia plays West Indies in the carrebian with absolutely no interest left in the series as Australia has already won the series 3-0.
It was really heartening to see that after a long time India has chased a big total with contributions from all its top order batsmen. In the past it used to be either Sachin,Sehwag or Gangully to score big hundred and few other batsmen used to play around them but yesterday it was from all the top four scoring runs and at no stage the opposition looked to come back into the match. Sehwag and Gambhir started well, Raina and Dhoni played their part to perfection for Youraj and R.Sharma to finish the match comfortably. Murali was the one bowler who could produce some turn and bounce even in this wicket to finish with figures of 2-44 from his 10, all other bowlers looked ordinary in this flat track. Good to see Ishant Sharma getting some wickets in the early overs and surprisingly R.P.Singh bowled a controlled spell to support I.Sharma, seems Ohja is gaining in confidence on every match he plays. Irfan Pathan played his part by gifting 80 runs from his 10, in the last 24 matches he has taken 22 wickets at an average of over 44 and economy rate of 6.25, do we still need him in the XI. Hope Kirsten and Dhoni drop him for the finals and give a chance to Gony.
I am still not comfortable to see Dhoni at No 4, he should be batting at No 6 and that is the place where he can change the course of the match. Also for long term in good tracks like Australia,SouthAfrica or England, i dont think he has the technique to survive the swing,bounce and at times the new ball. He might play some big innings in the sub-continent but i feel it should be for the pure batsmen like R.sharma,Raina to take that position and gain in experience, even Youraj has been struggling to perform in oversees bouncy tracks.
BCCI warns coach Kirsten for writing in his personnel blog (garykirsten.com) on Team India. Kirsten has quickly put the issue to rest by confirming to the board that this will not happen again. Big BCCI is just twisting its muscle in all possible ways to keep its internal affairs under the board rooms carpet.
Australia plays West Indies in the carrebian with absolutely no interest left in the series as Australia has already won the series 3-0.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Team India Must Win
India is back in its own familiar position where the team must win against Srilanka or pray for rain or a Bangladesh victory against Pakistan to reach the finals. If Srilanka wins todays match and Pakistan wins against Bangladesh, both of them play the finals this Sunday as Pakistan has beaten India in the Super Four stage.
YounisKhan's flawless century and some good partnerships with opener Nasir and Misbah sealed a easy victory for Pakistan chasing 308. Indian hapless bowling and fielding and the killer of the match "Mr Curator" made sure that even scores of over 350+ could be a challenge to defend. One can not take away the credit from Pakistan batsmen for some superb display of controlled aggression which made the chase look very easy. Indian batsmen did well to reach 308 after at one stage tottering at 93-3, Dhoni played a class innings and was ably supported by Rohit Sharma and some contribution from Yuvraj and Irfan helped pep up the score. Yousuf Pathan failed again and the inform Raina played a bad shot early in the innings to get out cheaply. At the break, it looked that India had some advantage as the total was 300+ but after first 15-20 overs Pakistan was firmly in grip of the match and never gave any chance for India to come back.
Seems that in such flat tracks toss is going to decide on the result of the match, chasing seems to be the best thing to do in these flat wickets. I don't understand why Dhoni opted to bat first winning the toss even after successfully chasing 299 against Pakistan in the league phase. I know spat the reply would be that, if we would have won the match these things will not be talked about but thinking from cricketing aspects, India had a 3 day break and should be fresh to go all out with the fast bowlers, the whether is hot and humid under the lights and could drain you in the first 15-20 overs. We could see our players just could not run or field as they normally do under the heat, leave alone the brilliant fielding stuff, Ishant sharma was almost breaking down couple of times while fielding.
Its going to be a tough task on Dhoni to energize the players in just under 24 hours to take on the in form SriLankans in a must win match. India needs to re-think on the combination of the team to put up a better show today, Chawla has been just out of sorts in this tournament and feel ohja can be tried in his place and i would prefer to save Ishant Sharma for the future rather than playing him in this flat tracks. India's strength is its batting and if we win the toss we should be chasing.
YounisKhan's flawless century and some good partnerships with opener Nasir and Misbah sealed a easy victory for Pakistan chasing 308. Indian hapless bowling and fielding and the killer of the match "Mr Curator" made sure that even scores of over 350+ could be a challenge to defend. One can not take away the credit from Pakistan batsmen for some superb display of controlled aggression which made the chase look very easy. Indian batsmen did well to reach 308 after at one stage tottering at 93-3, Dhoni played a class innings and was ably supported by Rohit Sharma and some contribution from Yuvraj and Irfan helped pep up the score. Yousuf Pathan failed again and the inform Raina played a bad shot early in the innings to get out cheaply. At the break, it looked that India had some advantage as the total was 300+ but after first 15-20 overs Pakistan was firmly in grip of the match and never gave any chance for India to come back.
Seems that in such flat tracks toss is going to decide on the result of the match, chasing seems to be the best thing to do in these flat wickets. I don't understand why Dhoni opted to bat first winning the toss even after successfully chasing 299 against Pakistan in the league phase. I know spat the reply would be that, if we would have won the match these things will not be talked about but thinking from cricketing aspects, India had a 3 day break and should be fresh to go all out with the fast bowlers, the whether is hot and humid under the lights and could drain you in the first 15-20 overs. We could see our players just could not run or field as they normally do under the heat, leave alone the brilliant fielding stuff, Ishant sharma was almost breaking down couple of times while fielding.
Its going to be a tough task on Dhoni to energize the players in just under 24 hours to take on the in form SriLankans in a must win match. India needs to re-think on the combination of the team to put up a better show today, Chawla has been just out of sorts in this tournament and feel ohja can be tried in his place and i would prefer to save Ishant Sharma for the future rather than playing him in this flat tracks. India's strength is its batting and if we win the toss we should be chasing.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
LalithModi in Euro-2008
One has to fully appreciate the IPL Management Team and LalithModi in particular for the efforts he has been making to ensure that the 2nd edition of IPL is a bigger success than the inaugural edition. Modi and SRK have spent the last week of Euro-2008 with their favorite team Germany. Modi was mentioning that, he has learned a lot and will use the learning for the IPL. SRK said that the crowds are just wonderful and he also would like to do certain things for his franchise in the lines of the Euro-2008.
AsiaCup
The tournament has reached its final stages with Pakistan hoping to win both the matches and also prays that SriLanka to beat India. Its not easy for India either, we need to win atleast one match to reach to the finals. India is planning to make quite a few changes, bringing in Sehwag,Praveenkumar,Irfan in place of Uthappa,Ishant and Yousuf (unfit), Dhoni is most likely to play two spinners in Chawla and Ohja. I hope Team India should be fresh after 3 days break but the thought of playing yet another game tomorrow will again dampen the enthusiasm for sure. India starts favorites today with the Indian top order batsmen in good form in flat tracks and Pakistan's lack of quality bowling. Pakistan bowling looks very ordinary in the absence of UmarGul,Asif and Akthar. Afridi suppose to be an all rounder has not performed for a long long time with the bat and mostly finds a place as a bowler in the team. If Pakistan bats second and with a target of say 270-280 I think Pakistan has a fair chance of winning but if they had to restrict the same total its not going to be easy.
Coach Gary Kirsten has come in support of Dhoni's post-match comments on back-to-back matches and understands that its very difficult for players like Dhoni in particular. Dhoni has been playing non-stop cricket since the SA tour last year, there has been very little time to rest and recover from injury. He is also the most sort after personality for endorsements today and IMHO its for the individual to manage time and keep himself fit for the demands of the international carrier.
AsiaCup
The tournament has reached its final stages with Pakistan hoping to win both the matches and also prays that SriLanka to beat India. Its not easy for India either, we need to win atleast one match to reach to the finals. India is planning to make quite a few changes, bringing in Sehwag,Praveenkumar,Irfan in place of Uthappa,Ishant and Yousuf (unfit), Dhoni is most likely to play two spinners in Chawla and Ohja. I hope Team India should be fresh after 3 days break but the thought of playing yet another game tomorrow will again dampen the enthusiasm for sure. India starts favorites today with the Indian top order batsmen in good form in flat tracks and Pakistan's lack of quality bowling. Pakistan bowling looks very ordinary in the absence of UmarGul,Asif and Akthar. Afridi suppose to be an all rounder has not performed for a long long time with the bat and mostly finds a place as a bowler in the team. If Pakistan bats second and with a target of say 270-280 I think Pakistan has a fair chance of winning but if they had to restrict the same total its not going to be easy.
Coach Gary Kirsten has come in support of Dhoni's post-match comments on back-to-back matches and understands that its very difficult for players like Dhoni in particular. Dhoni has been playing non-stop cricket since the SA tour last year, there has been very little time to rest and recover from injury. He is also the most sort after personality for endorsements today and IMHO its for the individual to manage time and keep himself fit for the demands of the international carrier.
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