There has been a lot of discussion over the future of Indian cricket after Ganguly, Laxman, Dravid, Sachin, who have been the main pillars of Indian cricket for over a decade, retire. Many people thought that there are no perfect players now to replace the above players. Yuvraj or Rohit Sharma looks to be the replacement for Ganguly.
There is a player who seems to be the perfect replacement for Dravid. He has been scoring a lot of runs in every match and waiting for a test spot. He is a Saurashtra player, Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara. With the levels of concentration and determination he has, he will surely reach great heights.
Scorpicity wrote an excellent post, The wall 2.0 , on Pujara.
Pujara signed on with the Kolkata Knight Riders of IPL. But he did not get a chance to play. Ganguly will surely bring in Pujara after watching him scoring centuries one after other.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
An attempt to make India unsafe for visitors?
After a terrorist attack in Mumbai, cricket all over India is affected. England's ongoing ODI tour is cancelled. Champions League is postponed as Middlesex is not willing to participate and Australia suspended all travel to India. ICL called off its ongoing world series. Indian domestic tournament, Ranji Trophy, has also been affected.
Many countries will now surely show reluctance to play in India due to security reasons.
Is this attack an attempt to make India an unsafe place, like Pakistan right now, for visitors ?
Many countries will now surely show reluctance to play in India due to security reasons.
Is this attack an attempt to make India an unsafe place, like Pakistan right now, for visitors ?
My commiserations to victims of Mumbai terrorist attack
Terrorism has struck India once again..It is a very sad day for Mumbai and India..Terrorism has become a part of people's day to day life.. Several Indian cities like Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmadabad, Assam, Malegaon, Jaipur etc have been attacked over the last few years...
This attack proves once again how inefficient our indian cops and government are. We see security checks only for a few days after a bomb blast occurs...after that it's normal..no security checks till another bomb blast occurs.. The security needs to be tightened at each and every place. All the political parties should unite in fighting against terrorism instead of throwing mud on each other about terrorism.
The government should take the necessary steps to make sure that there are no recurrences. The world need a long term solution to this f***king terrorism... Hoping for the day to come soon...
My deep condolences to the victims' families and the injured.
This attack proves once again how inefficient our indian cops and government are. We see security checks only for a few days after a bomb blast occurs...after that it's normal..no security checks till another bomb blast occurs.. The security needs to be tightened at each and every place. All the political parties should unite in fighting against terrorism instead of throwing mud on each other about terrorism.
The government should take the necessary steps to make sure that there are no recurrences. The world need a long term solution to this f***king terrorism... Hoping for the day to come soon...
My deep condolences to the victims' families and the injured.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Was Dhoni right?
India was shocked to hear that Dhoni had offered to resign from the captaincy following Irfan Pathan's inclusion ahead of RP Singh.
The rift between captain and the selectors is not new. Almost all countires have been facing the same situation, especially Pakistan. But the main concern here is the leak of selection report.
Dhoni took charge of India as a captain during T20 world cup last year. In one year, he has become the captain for India in all formats. India has been very consistent and winning the series under his captaincy. He might have thought that the team is completely under his control as he has not faced any problem with his captaincy till now. This might have lead to the rift between Dhoni and the selectors.
No doubt he is a talented batsman and a good captain. But Dhoni has a long way to go before he reaches his potential as a captain. Dhoni has been safe as India is winnig the matches. If India starts to lose, then Dhoni has to face a lot of criticism. If you are in good form, people praise you and if you lose your form, the same people will criticise you.
The best example is India's 2007 World Cup failure. Dhoni was out of form in that tournament and the fans damaged Dhoni's under construction house in Ranchi. Selectors need to back if you lose your form and if you are under pressure. So Dhoni needs to calm down a bit and has act with restraint.
There was only one captain who took complete contorl of his team selection. It was Imran Khan of Pakistan. Selectors would not say a word when Imran picks the team. It was largely due to his all rounder qualities with which he was able to lead his team successfully.
If the captain can decide who should be in the team, and who should not be, then what is the use of selection committee? I am not saying that the captain should not be given a chance in picking the team. The captain and the coach should be given a chance in picking the team. Consider a player's recent performance, his ability to play on any kind of surface in any situation while picking him.
What do you guys say?
The rift between captain and the selectors is not new. Almost all countires have been facing the same situation, especially Pakistan. But the main concern here is the leak of selection report.
Dhoni took charge of India as a captain during T20 world cup last year. In one year, he has become the captain for India in all formats. India has been very consistent and winning the series under his captaincy. He might have thought that the team is completely under his control as he has not faced any problem with his captaincy till now. This might have lead to the rift between Dhoni and the selectors.
No doubt he is a talented batsman and a good captain. But Dhoni has a long way to go before he reaches his potential as a captain. Dhoni has been safe as India is winnig the matches. If India starts to lose, then Dhoni has to face a lot of criticism. If you are in good form, people praise you and if you lose your form, the same people will criticise you.
The best example is India's 2007 World Cup failure. Dhoni was out of form in that tournament and the fans damaged Dhoni's under construction house in Ranchi. Selectors need to back if you lose your form and if you are under pressure. So Dhoni needs to calm down a bit and has act with restraint.
There was only one captain who took complete contorl of his team selection. It was Imran Khan of Pakistan. Selectors would not say a word when Imran picks the team. It was largely due to his all rounder qualities with which he was able to lead his team successfully.
If the captain can decide who should be in the team, and who should not be, then what is the use of selection committee? I am not saying that the captain should not be given a chance in picking the team. The captain and the coach should be given a chance in picking the team. Consider a player's recent performance, his ability to play on any kind of surface in any situation while picking him.
What do you guys say?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Where is the common sense?
India have won the 3rd ODI by D/L method. It's very sad that we did not have the full match. England was very unfortunate. They set a chaseable target for India and got wickets at regular intervals. They were set back by bad light.
The toss was delayed because of the haze and overcast conditions. And we lost 45 mins before the start of the play. Finally the match was reduced to 49 overs per team. When we have lost 45 mins and you expect bad light at the end of the day, 2-3 more overs should have been deducted per innings.
And adding to this the lunch break was not shortened. A 10-15 min lunch break would have been fine in this situtaion.
In a ODI match played between England and New Zealand at Edgbaston on 18th June 2008, England's time wasting tactics cost New Zealand the match. ICC changed the rule after this match to prevent such instances.
As per the rule, the 10 minute's break will be taken only if we lose more than an hour of play. We lost 45 minutes here and the bad light was expected at the end of the day. So, why wouldn't they implement this rule and reduce the lunch break to 10 minutes?
And why didn't they make use of the flood lights?
I strongly feel that D/L method should come into play only when any further play is not possible because of rain. In situations like bad light or anything other than rain, they must make use of the flood lights.
Suresh Menon at cricinfo says 'Have a full game at any cost'.
The toss was delayed because of the haze and overcast conditions. And we lost 45 mins before the start of the play. Finally the match was reduced to 49 overs per team. When we have lost 45 mins and you expect bad light at the end of the day, 2-3 more overs should have been deducted per innings.
And adding to this the lunch break was not shortened. A 10-15 min lunch break would have been fine in this situtaion.
In a ODI match played between England and New Zealand at Edgbaston on 18th June 2008, England's time wasting tactics cost New Zealand the match. ICC changed the rule after this match to prevent such instances.
As per the rule, the 10 minute's break will be taken only if we lose more than an hour of play. We lost 45 minutes here and the bad light was expected at the end of the day. So, why wouldn't they implement this rule and reduce the lunch break to 10 minutes?
And why didn't they make use of the flood lights?
I strongly feel that D/L method should come into play only when any further play is not possible because of rain. In situations like bad light or anything other than rain, they must make use of the flood lights.
Suresh Menon at cricinfo says 'Have a full game at any cost'.
The struggle continues
After 2-0 humiliation by India, Australia is now playing against New Zealand and their struggle continues, especially Ponting's poor form.
New Zealand did well to restrict Australia to a low first innings total. Except Michael Clark, no one showed the signs of offering resistance. Tim Southee was the star of the day with his superb bowling.
But New Zealand has a reputation for inconsistent performance. If NZ bowlers can bowl out Australia then New Zealand may be bowled out for a score less than Australia's. Anything can happen with New Zealand. But the clash between Australia and New Zealand is always interesing.
Unusual thing happened:
Andrew Symonds scored 8 runs of one ball when he hit O'Brien and ran four runs and then got four overthrows from New Zealand fielding.
New Zealand did well to restrict Australia to a low first innings total. Except Michael Clark, no one showed the signs of offering resistance. Tim Southee was the star of the day with his superb bowling.
But New Zealand has a reputation for inconsistent performance. If NZ bowlers can bowl out Australia then New Zealand may be bowled out for a score less than Australia's. Anything can happen with New Zealand. But the clash between Australia and New Zealand is always interesing.
Unusual thing happened:
Andrew Symonds scored 8 runs of one ball when he hit O'Brien and ran four runs and then got four overthrows from New Zealand fielding.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Asif to join ICL?
Mohammad Asif, along with Sohail Khan, may join ICL.
ICL has got tremendous response in Pakistan because of Lahore Badshahs, which consists of some of the great Pakistan players. Most of the Pakistan players have joined ICL. Mohammad Yousuf has joined ICL recently. And now it seems to be Sohail and Asif's turn. Asif trained with ICL players after he was suspended for using a banned substance during IPL.
Sohail Khan, a right-arm fast-medium bowler, is a quality bowler who took 104 wickets in 18 first class matches with 2 10-wicket hauls and 10 5-wicket hauls. Pakistan will be another Bangladesh if they lose all these players.
Inzamam is very confident that Pakistan will lift ban on the players participating in ICL. It will definitely do good for them.
ICL has got tremendous response in Pakistan because of Lahore Badshahs, which consists of some of the great Pakistan players. Most of the Pakistan players have joined ICL. Mohammad Yousuf has joined ICL recently. And now it seems to be Sohail and Asif's turn. Asif trained with ICL players after he was suspended for using a banned substance during IPL.
Sohail Khan, a right-arm fast-medium bowler, is a quality bowler who took 104 wickets in 18 first class matches with 2 10-wicket hauls and 10 5-wicket hauls. Pakistan will be another Bangladesh if they lose all these players.
Inzamam is very confident that Pakistan will lift ban on the players participating in ICL. It will definitely do good for them.
What say now, Ponting?
Ponting felt that Dhoni and his side are better suited for T20 than Tests.
Dhoni made his point clear to Ponting during VB series and Border-Gavaskar Trophy. So Ponting, do u really think u were right?
Dhoni made his point clear to Ponting during VB series and Border-Gavaskar Trophy. So Ponting, do u really think u were right?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
ICL and Indian domestic players
Everyone thought that ICL won't be a great success when it was started on April 3, 2007. But it's proving us wrong with its success. The league started becuase BCCI was ignoring many talented young players at the domestic level.
Though the first season of ICL was not successful, this season was a grand success with large crowd coming for all the matches. The quality of cricket was good and so was the crowd at all the grounds.
ICL started with 6 teams, which expanded to 8 in early 2008 and added one more in the second half of the same year.
ICL television ratings were very strong towards the end of their first season. 55 million people watched the first series of the tournament and most estimates have this season's television audience at above 100 million viewers.
There is a lot of talent at the domestic level with the hunger to prove themselves and represent their country. Most of the domestic players are proving their talent in ICL.
The following players(Indian) were very successful in ICL.
Rajagopal Sathish : This all-rounder plays for Chennai Super Stars and scored 287 runs from 9 matches at an average of 47.83 in this tournament with 76* being his highest score. He scored 843 runs from 36 matches at an average of 32.42 in ICL Twenty20s with 86* being his highest score and took 14 wickets. He has the most number(6) of fifties in ICL Twenty20s. He is also the captain of ICL IndiaXI.
His first class average is 37.03 with 1222 runs in 22 matches. His highest score is 204*.
Ambati Rayudu : He is a great talent and can play according to the situation. He has been one of the consistent performers for Hyderabad Heroes. He played an important role in Heroes winning the first season title. People, especially Hyderabadis, saw Azharuddin in Rayudu. But he was unfortunate to get a call to national team.
He scored 212 runs in 12 matches in this tournament where as he scored 738 runs in 35 ICL Twenty20 matches at an average of 23.81.
Ganapathi Vignesh : Vignesh is a good all-rounder. He plays for Chennai Super Stars. He averaged 29.11 in 9 matches and scored 262 runs. 88 was his highest score in this tournament.
In all 32 ICL Twenty20 matches he played, he scored 882 runs at an average of 27.56 and took 28 wickets.
Stuart Binny : Stuart Binny is the son of former Indian cricketer Rojer Binny. Stuart plays for Hyderabad Heroes in ICL and has been a part of their success in the tournament. He scored 258 runs at average of 25.80 and took 5 wickets in 12 matches. In all 29 ICL Twenty20 matches he played, he scored 667 at an average of 27.79 and took 16 wickets.
Ibrahim Khaleel : This wicketkeeper-batsman has a lot of talent. He provided good starts for Hyderabad Heroes. He scored 219 runs in 12 matches at an average of 73.00 in this tournament. He played an important role in Heroes' win. In all 22 ICL Twenty20 matches he played, he scored 449 runs at an average of 32.07.
TP Singh : This left-handed batsman plays for Chandigarh Lions in ICL. He is useful with the ball also. He scored 219 in 12 matches with an average of 31.28 and took 4 wickets in this tournament where as he scored 828 runs in 34 ICL Twenty20 matches with an average of 26.71 and took 13 wickets.
Inder Shekar Reddy : This slow left-arm orthodox bowler plays for Hyderabad Heroes. He took 15 wicketsin 12 matches at an average of 15.00 in this tournament. In all 34 ICL Twenty20 matches he played, he took 31 wickets at an average of 23.42.
T Kumaran: This right-arm medium bowler plays for Chennai Super Stars and was very successful in the first season of ICL. He played only one match in this season. He took 35 wickets in all the 20 matches he played.
ICL proved the perfect platform for many players to showcase their talents. I strongly feel these players make a strong bench strength for India. It is a great talent and unfortunately we may not see them in indian team.
BCCI shouldn't ignore the talented players for the reasons other than talent. It needs to support the players irrespective of whether they play for a rebel league or BCCI.
Courtesy: indiancricketleauge.in and cricinfo.com
Though the first season of ICL was not successful, this season was a grand success with large crowd coming for all the matches. The quality of cricket was good and so was the crowd at all the grounds.
ICL started with 6 teams, which expanded to 8 in early 2008 and added one more in the second half of the same year.
ICL television ratings were very strong towards the end of their first season. 55 million people watched the first series of the tournament and most estimates have this season's television audience at above 100 million viewers.
There is a lot of talent at the domestic level with the hunger to prove themselves and represent their country. Most of the domestic players are proving their talent in ICL.
The following players(Indian) were very successful in ICL.
Rajagopal Sathish : This all-rounder plays for Chennai Super Stars and scored 287 runs from 9 matches at an average of 47.83 in this tournament with 76* being his highest score. He scored 843 runs from 36 matches at an average of 32.42 in ICL Twenty20s with 86* being his highest score and took 14 wickets. He has the most number(6) of fifties in ICL Twenty20s. He is also the captain of ICL IndiaXI.
His first class average is 37.03 with 1222 runs in 22 matches. His highest score is 204*.
Ambati Rayudu : He is a great talent and can play according to the situation. He has been one of the consistent performers for Hyderabad Heroes. He played an important role in Heroes winning the first season title. People, especially Hyderabadis, saw Azharuddin in Rayudu. But he was unfortunate to get a call to national team.
He scored 212 runs in 12 matches in this tournament where as he scored 738 runs in 35 ICL Twenty20 matches at an average of 23.81.
Ganapathi Vignesh : Vignesh is a good all-rounder. He plays for Chennai Super Stars. He averaged 29.11 in 9 matches and scored 262 runs. 88 was his highest score in this tournament.
In all 32 ICL Twenty20 matches he played, he scored 882 runs at an average of 27.56 and took 28 wickets.
Stuart Binny : Stuart Binny is the son of former Indian cricketer Rojer Binny. Stuart plays for Hyderabad Heroes in ICL and has been a part of their success in the tournament. He scored 258 runs at average of 25.80 and took 5 wickets in 12 matches. In all 29 ICL Twenty20 matches he played, he scored 667 at an average of 27.79 and took 16 wickets.
Ibrahim Khaleel : This wicketkeeper-batsman has a lot of talent. He provided good starts for Hyderabad Heroes. He scored 219 runs in 12 matches at an average of 73.00 in this tournament. He played an important role in Heroes' win. In all 22 ICL Twenty20 matches he played, he scored 449 runs at an average of 32.07.
TP Singh : This left-handed batsman plays for Chandigarh Lions in ICL. He is useful with the ball also. He scored 219 in 12 matches with an average of 31.28 and took 4 wickets in this tournament where as he scored 828 runs in 34 ICL Twenty20 matches with an average of 26.71 and took 13 wickets.
Inder Shekar Reddy : This slow left-arm orthodox bowler plays for Hyderabad Heroes. He took 15 wicketsin 12 matches at an average of 15.00 in this tournament. In all 34 ICL Twenty20 matches he played, he took 31 wickets at an average of 23.42.
T Kumaran: This right-arm medium bowler plays for Chennai Super Stars and was very successful in the first season of ICL. He played only one match in this season. He took 35 wickets in all the 20 matches he played.
ICL proved the perfect platform for many players to showcase their talents. I strongly feel these players make a strong bench strength for India. It is a great talent and unfortunately we may not see them in indian team.
BCCI shouldn't ignore the talented players for the reasons other than talent. It needs to support the players irrespective of whether they play for a rebel league or BCCI.
Courtesy: indiancricketleauge.in and cricinfo.com
Monday, November 17, 2008
Singh is king
It was an awesome performance by Yuvraj. His effort, both with the bat and the ball, powered India to gain 2-0 lead in 7 match ODI series.
He hit 2nd consecutive century followed by a 4-wicket haul. This century was special and important than the one in the first ODI as he got this one when the team needed. It was definitely one of his memorable innings. He is more confident now and needs to make sure he continues his good form.
After winning the toss and elected to bat, India got off to a poor start. Sehwag(1), Raina(4) and Rohit Sharma(3) were dismissed early by Stuart Broad.
After their departure, Yuvraj and Gambhir(70) added 134 runs in 22.3 overs for the 4th wicket to take India to a comfortable position before Pietersen dismissed Gambhir. Yuvraj Singh took India out of trouble with his wonderful batting. Gambhir did excellent for his 70, but failed again to reach 100 after getting it to 50.
Dhoni made just 15 before Paul Collingwood dismissed him. Broad returned in the 3rd powerplay , for his second spell, and removed Yuvraj. Harbhajan and Zaheer were run out trying to get the runs quickly. Harmison dismissed RP Singh the last over. Yusuf Pathan took the responsibility after Yuvraj and scored an unbeaten 50 from 29 deliveries to take India to 292/9 in 50 overs. It was his maiden half century in ODIs.
England managed only 238 from 47 overs in reply. England began their innings on a disatrous note when Suresh Raina run out Ian Bell(1) with brilliant fielding, in the first over of England's innings. Owais Shah(58) and Prior(38) took the responsibility of building up the innings and scored 96 runs in 22.1 overs before Yuvraj struck. He dismissed Shah and Prior in two overs.
Ashes heroes, Pietersen(33) and Flintoff(43), found it difficult to score runs as Yuvraj and Harbhajan quickly chipped in with economical overs, and the required-rate crept up towards 9 an over. England skipper took a smart move by opting for the 3rd powerplay at that time and England scored 59 in that 5 overs which brought the visitors a ray of hope.
But Yuvraj's two wicket over, just after power play, turned the match completely towards India. He dismissed Flintoff and Pietersen in that over to make it 4-28, his scond best in ODIs. Harbhajan Singh took a return catch to dismiss Paul Collingwood (2). Yusuf Pathan dismissed Ravinder Bopara (3) in his first over. Virender Sehwag then took the next three England wickets dismissing Samit Patel (20), Steve Harmison (6) and Stuart Broad (22) to all out England for 238.
Interestingly, all the England wickets(except Bell's run out) were taken by the spinners. But England spinners have managed to take only 1 Indian wicket.
One thing, I don't understand with England is why they sent Bopara after Samit Patel. When you take Bopara as a batsman you have to use him. England need to send him before Patel and Collingwood.
The two teams will now travel to Kanpur for the third match to be played on Thursday.
He hit 2nd consecutive century followed by a 4-wicket haul. This century was special and important than the one in the first ODI as he got this one when the team needed. It was definitely one of his memorable innings. He is more confident now and needs to make sure he continues his good form.
After winning the toss and elected to bat, India got off to a poor start. Sehwag(1), Raina(4) and Rohit Sharma(3) were dismissed early by Stuart Broad.
After their departure, Yuvraj and Gambhir(70) added 134 runs in 22.3 overs for the 4th wicket to take India to a comfortable position before Pietersen dismissed Gambhir. Yuvraj Singh took India out of trouble with his wonderful batting. Gambhir did excellent for his 70, but failed again to reach 100 after getting it to 50.
Dhoni made just 15 before Paul Collingwood dismissed him. Broad returned in the 3rd powerplay , for his second spell, and removed Yuvraj. Harbhajan and Zaheer were run out trying to get the runs quickly. Harmison dismissed RP Singh the last over. Yusuf Pathan took the responsibility after Yuvraj and scored an unbeaten 50 from 29 deliveries to take India to 292/9 in 50 overs. It was his maiden half century in ODIs.
England managed only 238 from 47 overs in reply. England began their innings on a disatrous note when Suresh Raina run out Ian Bell(1) with brilliant fielding, in the first over of England's innings. Owais Shah(58) and Prior(38) took the responsibility of building up the innings and scored 96 runs in 22.1 overs before Yuvraj struck. He dismissed Shah and Prior in two overs.
Ashes heroes, Pietersen(33) and Flintoff(43), found it difficult to score runs as Yuvraj and Harbhajan quickly chipped in with economical overs, and the required-rate crept up towards 9 an over. England skipper took a smart move by opting for the 3rd powerplay at that time and England scored 59 in that 5 overs which brought the visitors a ray of hope.
But Yuvraj's two wicket over, just after power play, turned the match completely towards India. He dismissed Flintoff and Pietersen in that over to make it 4-28, his scond best in ODIs. Harbhajan Singh took a return catch to dismiss Paul Collingwood (2). Yusuf Pathan dismissed Ravinder Bopara (3) in his first over. Virender Sehwag then took the next three England wickets dismissing Samit Patel (20), Steve Harmison (6) and Stuart Broad (22) to all out England for 238.
Interestingly, all the England wickets(except Bell's run out) were taken by the spinners. But England spinners have managed to take only 1 Indian wicket.
One thing, I don't understand with England is why they sent Bopara after Samit Patel. When you take Bopara as a batsman you have to use him. England need to send him before Patel and Collingwood.
The two teams will now travel to Kanpur for the third match to be played on Thursday.
Badshahs take revenge on Heroes
What an excellent innings from Imran Nazir...
I expected this match to be interesing as in the 2nd fianl, but Nazir made it look one-sided. He took Badshahs to a comfortable 8-wicket win in the 3rd final of best of 3 finals to win this season's ICL title. He blasted a sparkling 44-ball 111 with 7-4s and 11-6s.
Hyderabad Heroes couldn't retain their championship. After losing the first final, Heroes came back strongly and won the 2nd final with plenty of drama to make it to the third final. Both the finals were a bit close.
Badshahs won the first match by 4 wickets after they were asked to chase 170. The 2nd one very close match. Defending 158, Heroes did well to win the match by taking wickets at regular intervals. But Sami and Saqlain batted well and were looking to take the match away from Heroes. But a stunning catch from Kemp sent Sami back to the pavilion. But even after all the umpires gave it out, Badshahs were not happy and play was stopped for sometime, and finally they agreed. Run-out of Saqlain in the last over ended Badshahs chase and Heroes won the match by 8 runs.
Rana Naved was the man of the series for his all round performance in the tournament. He was the the highest wicket taker of the tournament with 22 from 11 matches and also scored 189 runs from 11 matchs with an average of 27.00 with 2 fifties.
ICL has been a success with almost 90% of the stadiums filling up. With this success they move on to the next tournament ICL 20s World Series. ICL 20s World Series will start on Nov 23rd which features the teams ICL India, ICL Pakistan, ICL Bangladesh, and ICL World. Each team will play a match against the other 3 teams and the final will take place between the top 2 teams on 29th November.
It will be much more interesting.....
I expected this match to be interesing as in the 2nd fianl, but Nazir made it look one-sided. He took Badshahs to a comfortable 8-wicket win in the 3rd final of best of 3 finals to win this season's ICL title. He blasted a sparkling 44-ball 111 with 7-4s and 11-6s.
Hyderabad Heroes couldn't retain their championship. After losing the first final, Heroes came back strongly and won the 2nd final with plenty of drama to make it to the third final. Both the finals were a bit close.
Badshahs won the first match by 4 wickets after they were asked to chase 170. The 2nd one very close match. Defending 158, Heroes did well to win the match by taking wickets at regular intervals. But Sami and Saqlain batted well and were looking to take the match away from Heroes. But a stunning catch from Kemp sent Sami back to the pavilion. But even after all the umpires gave it out, Badshahs were not happy and play was stopped for sometime, and finally they agreed. Run-out of Saqlain in the last over ended Badshahs chase and Heroes won the match by 8 runs.
Rana Naved was the man of the series for his all round performance in the tournament. He was the the highest wicket taker of the tournament with 22 from 11 matches and also scored 189 runs from 11 matchs with an average of 27.00 with 2 fifties.
ICL has been a success with almost 90% of the stadiums filling up. With this success they move on to the next tournament ICL 20s World Series. ICL 20s World Series will start on Nov 23rd which features the teams ICL India, ICL Pakistan, ICL Bangladesh, and ICL World. Each team will play a match against the other 3 teams and the final will take place between the top 2 teams on 29th November.
It will be much more interesting.....
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Advantage India
Just 3 days after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India is ready to take on England.
India has the destructive opening pair of Sehwag and Gambhir (M Vijay as back up opener) compared to England's Ian Bell and Matt Prior (A Cook as back p opener).
Both teams have a good pace attack. England has no quality/experienced spinner while India has got Bhajji.
Both teams have strong middle-order. England's middle order has players like Pietersen, Flintoff, Collingwood, Bopara and Owais Shah while India has Rohit Sharma, Raina, Dhoni, Kohli and Yuvraj.
The teams are almost equal in terms of their batting, bowling and fielding.
But India is mentally strong after winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-0 while England goes into the series after thet were humiliated by Mumbai Cricket Association XI in the 2nd practice match and Stanford Super Stars in the Stanford Twenty 20 match.
India has clearly an edge over England.
It will be interesting to see how the new powerplay rules are going to effect the game.
India has the destructive opening pair of Sehwag and Gambhir (M Vijay as back up opener) compared to England's Ian Bell and Matt Prior (A Cook as back p opener).
Both teams have a good pace attack. England has no quality/experienced spinner while India has got Bhajji.
Both teams have strong middle-order. England's middle order has players like Pietersen, Flintoff, Collingwood, Bopara and Owais Shah while India has Rohit Sharma, Raina, Dhoni, Kohli and Yuvraj.
The teams are almost equal in terms of their batting, bowling and fielding.
But India is mentally strong after winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-0 while England goes into the series after thet were humiliated by Mumbai Cricket Association XI in the 2nd practice match and Stanford Super Stars in the Stanford Twenty 20 match.
India has clearly an edge over England.
It will be interesting to see how the new powerplay rules are going to effect the game.
Heroes Vs Badshahs
Last ICL tournament finalists, Hyderabad Heros and Lahore Badshahs, are once again ready to face each other in the on-going ICL tournament.
Hyderabad Heros won the best of 3 finals in the last tournament.
Heros won 7 out of 9 matches they played where as Badshahs won 6.
Both of the are looking good and it's going to be an entertaining best of 3 finals.
I hope Heroes will retain the ICL trophy :)
Hyderabad Heros won the best of 3 finals in the last tournament.
Heros won 7 out of 9 matches they played where as Badshahs won 6.
Both of the are looking good and it's going to be an entertaining best of 3 finals.
I hope Heroes will retain the ICL trophy :)
Pakistan clinches the nail biting thriller
What a match!
Pakistan won the nail biting thriller against West Indies.
West Indies set a target of 295 for Pakistan, thanx to the brilliant 113 from Chris Gayle.
Needing 17 off the last over, Kamran Akmal hit 2 sixes in that over to win the match for Pakistan.
A very entertaining knock from Akmal...
Pakistan won the nail biting thriller against West Indies.
West Indies set a target of 295 for Pakistan, thanx to the brilliant 113 from Chris Gayle.
Needing 17 off the last over, Kamran Akmal hit 2 sixes in that over to win the match for Pakistan.
A very entertaining knock from Akmal...
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Is it possible
to have a multi-nation series in test cricket as in ODIs?
Test matches are usually played between two teams in a group of matches. We are always fed up with watching the test matches between two teams only. As in ODIs, I want to watch a test series which is played among 3 or more nations. Can we have multi-nation series in test cricket as in ODIs?
What do u say guys??
Test matches are usually played between two teams in a group of matches. We are always fed up with watching the test matches between two teams only. As in ODIs, I want to watch a test series which is played among 3 or more nations. Can we have multi-nation series in test cricket as in ODIs?
What do u say guys??
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2008 Review
India created a history yesterday by regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India is on its way to the No.1 spot in test cricket. It was not just one or two individuals who made this historic series win possible but a perfect team effort from India. Australia was outclassed in all the departments.
This series has seen two great Indian cricket legends retire, the wall cracking, master breaking the world record, Australians struggling in all the departments, Ishant evolving as one of the best bowlers in the world, Ponting under fire, and many more....
This is a sincere effort to review this entertaining series....
India:
Opening: Sehwag and Gambhir proved they are the best opening pair. They have been very consistent and they provided excellent starts in this series. The left-right combination also gone well with this pair. The understanding between these two is amazing. They played an important role in putting up big totals by scoring the runs quickly. Vijay, who played last test match in place of Gambhir, also gave India good starts with Sehwag.
Rating: 4.5/5
Middle Order: No doubt India has got the outstanding middle-order with players like Sachin, Laxman, Ganguly, Dravid and Dhoni. They all were upto their mark except Dravid who has to forget this series( in terms of his performance) as soon as possible. Sachin and Laxman came up with excellent innings at times they needed. Ganguly played well in his last test series. Dhoni too came up with good innings when the team was in trouble. This series is a disaster for Dravid in terms of batting and fielding. He dropped a few simple catches.
Rating: 4/5
Pace Bowling: This was the major difference between the two teams in the series. Everyone thought that Indian pitches are not suitable for the pace bowlers. The job of pace bowlers is to make the ball old, give it to the spinners and let the spinners do the rest. But Zaheer and Ishant proved it wrong. They made good use of reverse-swing. Australian batsmen struggled against these two bowlers. They have taken 26 wickets together.
Rating: 4.75/5
Spin Bowling: On Indian pitches, spinners have been threat to the visitors. This time it was not all their show though they contributed much to the series win. Anil Kumble was struggling in the first test and did not play the second test. He came back for the third test and yet he was not effective. He finally announced his retirement after he was injured during the third test. Amit Mishra, who replaced Kumble for the second and fourth tests and Harbhajan for the third test, was a hit on his debut match. But he had to fight hard in the third test. He came up with a good performance at an important time in the last test. Harbhajan was quite beautiful with his bowling. Actually he played an all-rounder role in this series. Sehwag too tried his hand at bowling and bowled well to take 5 wickets in the third test.
Rating: 3.5/5
Fielding: Indian fielders missed a few simple catches. Dravid, Laxman, Dhoni and Ishant missed many catches among them. Had Ishant taken the catch of Clarke in the third test, we would have won the series 3-0. Viajy did excellent to run out Hussey, Hayden while Mishra did well to run out Ponting. On a whole, fielding is a bit disappointment. Fielding standards are average and India should concentrate on this.
Rating: 3/5
Captaincy: Dhoni has already evolved as a successful captain in the shorter versions of the game. He is now the captain for India in all forms of the game after Anil Kumble announced his retirement during the third test. Dhoni had taken a very timely and wise decisions in the series (2nd and 4th tests) and India won both of them. Both Kumble and Dhoni were successful in inspiring the team. They came up with a plan and executed their plan to perfection without mistakes.
Rating: 4.25/5
Australia:
Opening: Hayden struggled through out the series, especially against Zaheer. He did well in the last match but could not win the match for Aussies. Katich was consistent throughout the series. But these openers failed to give good starts for Australia.
Rating: 3.5/5
Middle Order: With the batsmen like Ponting, Hussey, Clarke, Watson and Haddin at the middle of the order, one would expect big partnerships among these batsmen. But that was never the case in this series. Hussey was impressive. Clarke made a century which helped them to draw the third test. Watson was OK... Haddin was a big disappointment with the bat and behind the stumps.
Rating: 3.25/5
Pace Bowling: The fast bowlers had a lean time. If I had to pick one bowler from Australia who bowled quite well in this series, I would prefer Shane Watson. Watson bowled beautifully in the last test match. Mitchell Johnson bowled well and is the leading wicket taker for Australia in this series. Lee and Stuart Clark were average. The weakness of Australian bowlers was exposed when they could not break the partnership between Harbhajan and Zaheer in the first innings of the first test.
Rating: 2.75/5
Spin Bowling: Australia struggled through out the series with their spin department. Krejza was very impressive in his debut match. He was smart and patient. White, Clarke and Katich were the other spinners who were below average.
Rating: 2.75/5
Fielding: Fielding was good except for a few occasions where they dropped some catches. Haddin was not good behind the stumps. He gave away many byes.
Rating: 4/5
Captaincy: Ponting never looked like a captain he used to be. A captain has to lead his team from the front. Except for a century in the first test, he did not play a big innings. His tactics in the last test match, where he used his part time bowlers instead of pace bowlers, raised questions over his captaincy. Instead of trying to win the test match, he was afraid of his ban because of slow over-rate and used his part-time bowlers. He could not inspire his team in this series.
Rating: 3.5/5
India has to be consistent in order to be the No.1 in the test cricket... But with this hectic schedule, India need to protect its players from injuries by rotating the players which would otherwise be an obstacle for its aim to be No.1... India has a great bench strength in the form of many youngsters like Rohit Sharma, Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Vijay, Munaf RP Singh, Irfan Pathan etc...Use them wisely and protect the players...
Congratulations and all the best India....
This series has seen two great Indian cricket legends retire, the wall cracking, master breaking the world record, Australians struggling in all the departments, Ishant evolving as one of the best bowlers in the world, Ponting under fire, and many more....
This is a sincere effort to review this entertaining series....
India:
Opening: Sehwag and Gambhir proved they are the best opening pair. They have been very consistent and they provided excellent starts in this series. The left-right combination also gone well with this pair. The understanding between these two is amazing. They played an important role in putting up big totals by scoring the runs quickly. Vijay, who played last test match in place of Gambhir, also gave India good starts with Sehwag.
Rating: 4.5/5
Middle Order: No doubt India has got the outstanding middle-order with players like Sachin, Laxman, Ganguly, Dravid and Dhoni. They all were upto their mark except Dravid who has to forget this series( in terms of his performance) as soon as possible. Sachin and Laxman came up with excellent innings at times they needed. Ganguly played well in his last test series. Dhoni too came up with good innings when the team was in trouble. This series is a disaster for Dravid in terms of batting and fielding. He dropped a few simple catches.
Rating: 4/5
Pace Bowling: This was the major difference between the two teams in the series. Everyone thought that Indian pitches are not suitable for the pace bowlers. The job of pace bowlers is to make the ball old, give it to the spinners and let the spinners do the rest. But Zaheer and Ishant proved it wrong. They made good use of reverse-swing. Australian batsmen struggled against these two bowlers. They have taken 26 wickets together.
Rating: 4.75/5
Spin Bowling: On Indian pitches, spinners have been threat to the visitors. This time it was not all their show though they contributed much to the series win. Anil Kumble was struggling in the first test and did not play the second test. He came back for the third test and yet he was not effective. He finally announced his retirement after he was injured during the third test. Amit Mishra, who replaced Kumble for the second and fourth tests and Harbhajan for the third test, was a hit on his debut match. But he had to fight hard in the third test. He came up with a good performance at an important time in the last test. Harbhajan was quite beautiful with his bowling. Actually he played an all-rounder role in this series. Sehwag too tried his hand at bowling and bowled well to take 5 wickets in the third test.
Rating: 3.5/5
Fielding: Indian fielders missed a few simple catches. Dravid, Laxman, Dhoni and Ishant missed many catches among them. Had Ishant taken the catch of Clarke in the third test, we would have won the series 3-0. Viajy did excellent to run out Hussey, Hayden while Mishra did well to run out Ponting. On a whole, fielding is a bit disappointment. Fielding standards are average and India should concentrate on this.
Rating: 3/5
Captaincy: Dhoni has already evolved as a successful captain in the shorter versions of the game. He is now the captain for India in all forms of the game after Anil Kumble announced his retirement during the third test. Dhoni had taken a very timely and wise decisions in the series (2nd and 4th tests) and India won both of them. Both Kumble and Dhoni were successful in inspiring the team. They came up with a plan and executed their plan to perfection without mistakes.
Rating: 4.25/5
Australia:
Opening: Hayden struggled through out the series, especially against Zaheer. He did well in the last match but could not win the match for Aussies. Katich was consistent throughout the series. But these openers failed to give good starts for Australia.
Rating: 3.5/5
Middle Order: With the batsmen like Ponting, Hussey, Clarke, Watson and Haddin at the middle of the order, one would expect big partnerships among these batsmen. But that was never the case in this series. Hussey was impressive. Clarke made a century which helped them to draw the third test. Watson was OK... Haddin was a big disappointment with the bat and behind the stumps.
Rating: 3.25/5
Pace Bowling: The fast bowlers had a lean time. If I had to pick one bowler from Australia who bowled quite well in this series, I would prefer Shane Watson. Watson bowled beautifully in the last test match. Mitchell Johnson bowled well and is the leading wicket taker for Australia in this series. Lee and Stuart Clark were average. The weakness of Australian bowlers was exposed when they could not break the partnership between Harbhajan and Zaheer in the first innings of the first test.
Rating: 2.75/5
Spin Bowling: Australia struggled through out the series with their spin department. Krejza was very impressive in his debut match. He was smart and patient. White, Clarke and Katich were the other spinners who were below average.
Rating: 2.75/5
Fielding: Fielding was good except for a few occasions where they dropped some catches. Haddin was not good behind the stumps. He gave away many byes.
Rating: 4/5
Captaincy: Ponting never looked like a captain he used to be. A captain has to lead his team from the front. Except for a century in the first test, he did not play a big innings. His tactics in the last test match, where he used his part time bowlers instead of pace bowlers, raised questions over his captaincy. Instead of trying to win the test match, he was afraid of his ban because of slow over-rate and used his part-time bowlers. He could not inspire his team in this series.
Rating: 3.5/5
India has to be consistent in order to be the No.1 in the test cricket... But with this hectic schedule, India need to protect its players from injuries by rotating the players which would otherwise be an obstacle for its aim to be No.1... India has a great bench strength in the form of many youngsters like Rohit Sharma, Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Vijay, Munaf RP Singh, Irfan Pathan etc...Use them wisely and protect the players...
Congratulations and all the best India....
Monday, November 10, 2008
India regains Border-Gavaskar Trophy
India ended Australia's record 16-match winning streak, when India recorded one of their most amazing Test victory in the third cricket Test match against Australia at Perth earlier this year. But this win today and the series win ends Australian domination in the world cricket. It was an awesome win and a perfect team effort.
India regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 172-run win over Australia to wrap up a deserved 2-0 series win at Nagpur in the fourth and final test match. The Indians celebrated by hugging each other after Harbhajan trapped last man Johnson in front of the wickets. It ended a dramatic day of test match cricket.
Australia resumed their innings on 13/0. 369 runs in 90.3 overs on the last day of the test match in India was never going to be easy. But Hayden attacked indian bowlers from the begining. He was dropped twice by Dhoni and Dravid. Both were easy ones. Ishant got the breakthrough by dismissing Katich in the 6th over of Australian innings. In the next over, Amit Mishra run out Ponting. It was similar to the Hayden run out in the first innings. Clarke was promoted ahead of Hussey. Clarke was gone for a beauty from Ishant.
Mishra struck in his first over of the day by dismissing Hussey with a beautiful delivery. Hayden(73) was dropped twice by Dhoni and Dravid before he was trapped in front of the wickets by Harbhajan. Hayden was looking to take the match away from India. But his wicket was a big relief for India. It was very easy for the Indians there after. Mishra and Harbhajan ripped through Australian tail. Mishra dismissed Haddin and Krejza while Harbhaja dismissed Watson, Lee and Johnson to bowl out Australia for 209, win the match by 172 runs and the series 2-0.
Dhoni let Ganguly captain for a few overs at the end of the Australian Innings. Ganguly made his debut as the captain of India 8 years ago on this day.
Jason Krejza received man of the match for his great debut (12 wickets). Ishant received man of the series awrad for his excellent bowling (15 wickets) throughout the series.
The ultimate reason Australia lost this test match, the series is Ponting. They had a chance to win the match and level the series when India were 6-down yesterday. But bowling changes by Ponting cost them the match and the series. Ponting has to face a lot of criticism now. Cricket Australia is already ready to question him over his tactics on day-4.
Billy Bowden is the next Steve Buckor?
7.2 Sharma to Clarke, no run, big big shout for lbw. That looked very close. It was full, it was swinging and thudded into the pad in front of middle. It would have taken out the leg stump. Hawk eye confirms that. Ishant can't believe that Bowden has not given it out. That's that. Let's move on.
Billy has given out M Vijay for a delivery that was going down the leg-side. But here, the ball was in line and as per Hawk-Eye it was going to hit the middle of off and leg stump.
Goodluck Ganguly and Kumble for the future...
India regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 172-run win over Australia to wrap up a deserved 2-0 series win at Nagpur in the fourth and final test match. The Indians celebrated by hugging each other after Harbhajan trapped last man Johnson in front of the wickets. It ended a dramatic day of test match cricket.
Australia resumed their innings on 13/0. 369 runs in 90.3 overs on the last day of the test match in India was never going to be easy. But Hayden attacked indian bowlers from the begining. He was dropped twice by Dhoni and Dravid. Both were easy ones. Ishant got the breakthrough by dismissing Katich in the 6th over of Australian innings. In the next over, Amit Mishra run out Ponting. It was similar to the Hayden run out in the first innings. Clarke was promoted ahead of Hussey. Clarke was gone for a beauty from Ishant.
Mishra struck in his first over of the day by dismissing Hussey with a beautiful delivery. Hayden(73) was dropped twice by Dhoni and Dravid before he was trapped in front of the wickets by Harbhajan. Hayden was looking to take the match away from India. But his wicket was a big relief for India. It was very easy for the Indians there after. Mishra and Harbhajan ripped through Australian tail. Mishra dismissed Haddin and Krejza while Harbhaja dismissed Watson, Lee and Johnson to bowl out Australia for 209, win the match by 172 runs and the series 2-0.
Dhoni let Ganguly captain for a few overs at the end of the Australian Innings. Ganguly made his debut as the captain of India 8 years ago on this day.
Jason Krejza received man of the match for his great debut (12 wickets). Ishant received man of the series awrad for his excellent bowling (15 wickets) throughout the series.
The ultimate reason Australia lost this test match, the series is Ponting. They had a chance to win the match and level the series when India were 6-down yesterday. But bowling changes by Ponting cost them the match and the series. Ponting has to face a lot of criticism now. Cricket Australia is already ready to question him over his tactics on day-4.
Billy Bowden is the next Steve Buckor?
7.2 Sharma to Clarke, no run, big big shout for lbw. That looked very close. It was full, it was swinging and thudded into the pad in front of middle. It would have taken out the leg stump. Hawk eye confirms that. Ishant can't believe that Bowden has not given it out. That's that. Let's move on.
Billy has given out M Vijay for a delivery that was going down the leg-side. But here, the ball was in line and as per Hawk-Eye it was going to hit the middle of off and leg stump.
Goodluck Ganguly and Kumble for the future...
Sunday, November 9, 2008
A great final day ahead
An awesome day of test cricket this......India dominated Australia in pre lunch session, Australia came back strongly and dominated dramatic post-lunch session and India was back in the game in post-tea session mainly because of Ponting's bowling changes.
India resumed their innings with an overnight score of 0/0.
Virender Sehwag and M Vijay scored 116 in quick time for the first wicket, before Vijay was trapped, just after lunch, in front of the wicket by a beautiful delivery from Watson. Viru demolished Krejza in the first over after lunch by taking 14 runs in that over.
Shane Watson dismissed Rahul Dravid for 3 with a beautiful outswinger. Dravid edged it to Haddin. Dravid's poor form continues. Dravid should not have been sent at No.3 today.
What's next Dravid? Are you going to announce your retirement tomorrow? Or are you going to take some rest and come back ?
Brett Lee dismissed Virender Sehwag for 92 to reduce India to 142/3. And then Krejza brought Australia back in the match by dismissing VVS Laxman(4) and Sourav Ganguly(0) in successive deliveries. Krejza's delivery to Laxman was a beauty. It pitched outside off and turned a lot to hit the stumps. Ganguly was dismissed for a first ball duck. A disappointing last innings to a great career.
Sachin Tendulkar (12) was run out in the last over before tea. It was an unncesessary run.
The post lunch session raised hopes of series levelling victory for Australia. India were in a losing position at tea.
But after tea, Dhoni(55) and Harbhajan(52) shattered Australia's hopes by scoring 108 runs for the seventh wicket, there by got India to a decent total and set a target of 382 for Australia in 92 overs thanks to the slow overrate of Australia which made Ponting to use his part-time bowlers.
Hussey took a great catch to dismiss Dhoni in Krejza's bowling and then Krejza dismissed Zaheer. After reaching his 6th test fifty, 4th Vs Australia and 2nd in this series Harbhajan was dismissed by Watson by a good delivery. Watson bowled Amit Mishra to bowl out India for 295 in their second innings.
Krejza and Watson took 4 wickets each.
Ponting surely cost Australia the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Why did he use his part time bowlers instead of trying to win the test match by using Watson who was bowling so well at that moment ?. Becuase, he thought of his suspension due to slow over-rate. He wanted to save himself from the suspension. Slow overrates have been the problem for Australia throughout the series.
Australia were at 13/0 at the end of day-4. Bad light stopped play with 3 more deliveries to go. Australia need 369 more to win from 90.3 overs.
A great final day ahead...
India resumed their innings with an overnight score of 0/0.
Virender Sehwag and M Vijay scored 116 in quick time for the first wicket, before Vijay was trapped, just after lunch, in front of the wicket by a beautiful delivery from Watson. Viru demolished Krejza in the first over after lunch by taking 14 runs in that over.
Shane Watson dismissed Rahul Dravid for 3 with a beautiful outswinger. Dravid edged it to Haddin. Dravid's poor form continues. Dravid should not have been sent at No.3 today.
What's next Dravid? Are you going to announce your retirement tomorrow? Or are you going to take some rest and come back ?
Brett Lee dismissed Virender Sehwag for 92 to reduce India to 142/3. And then Krejza brought Australia back in the match by dismissing VVS Laxman(4) and Sourav Ganguly(0) in successive deliveries. Krejza's delivery to Laxman was a beauty. It pitched outside off and turned a lot to hit the stumps. Ganguly was dismissed for a first ball duck. A disappointing last innings to a great career.
Sachin Tendulkar (12) was run out in the last over before tea. It was an unncesessary run.
The post lunch session raised hopes of series levelling victory for Australia. India were in a losing position at tea.
But after tea, Dhoni(55) and Harbhajan(52) shattered Australia's hopes by scoring 108 runs for the seventh wicket, there by got India to a decent total and set a target of 382 for Australia in 92 overs thanks to the slow overrate of Australia which made Ponting to use his part-time bowlers.
Hussey took a great catch to dismiss Dhoni in Krejza's bowling and then Krejza dismissed Zaheer. After reaching his 6th test fifty, 4th Vs Australia and 2nd in this series Harbhajan was dismissed by Watson by a good delivery. Watson bowled Amit Mishra to bowl out India for 295 in their second innings.
Krejza and Watson took 4 wickets each.
Ponting surely cost Australia the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Why did he use his part time bowlers instead of trying to win the test match by using Watson who was bowling so well at that moment ?. Becuase, he thought of his suspension due to slow over-rate. He wanted to save himself from the suspension. Slow overrates have been the problem for Australia throughout the series.
Australia were at 13/0 at the end of day-4. Bad light stopped play with 3 more deliveries to go. Australia need 369 more to win from 90.3 overs.
A great final day ahead...
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Tight Schedule
Australians are still here playing test cricket. England have already reached India for 7 ODIs and 2 Tests. And they have already started their preparations. ODI series between India and England begins on 14th November, just 3 days after the test series with Australia concludes.
The players(Indian) have no time to rest. It's not this time, it is going to be the case for the next 9 months.
Indian players are going to play non-stop cricket for the next 9 months, which starts with the ODI series against Egland. The ODI series will be followed by Champions Twenty20 Leauge in India and then the 2-test series with England. Soon after India will facing Pakistan in Pakistan for a three-match Test series, 5 match ODI series and a Twenty20 match. Then India will play 2 tests, 5 ODIs and a Twenty20 against New Zealand in New Zealand. Soon after this series finishes, they will take part in the 2nd season of Indian Premium League. They have to fly all across the country during the IPL. Within a week, India have to go to Egland to play in ICC Twenty20 World Cup, followed by 4 ODIs with West Indies in West Indies.
The schedule for India in next 9 months is as follows.
India Vs England : 7 ODIs and 2 Tests, 14th Nov'08 - 23rd Dec'08
Champions Twenty20 Leauge : 3rd Dec'08 - 10th Dec'08
India Vs Pakistan : 5 ODIs, 1 Twenty20 and 3 Tests, 6th Jan'09 - 19 Feb'09
India Vs New Zealand : 5 ODIs, 1 Twenty20 and 2 Tests, 6th Mar'09 - 7th Apr'09
IPL 2nd season 10th Apr'09 - 29th May'09
ICC World Twenty20 : 5th June'09 - 21st June'09
India Vs West Indies : 4 ODIs 26th Jun'09 - 5th July'09
There has been a lot of debate over too much cricket in India. This schedule causes a lot of problems to the players' fitness. Many players are prone to injuries because of this kind of schedule.
Many people were surprised over Sachin's decision to opt out of the first 3 ODIs. He wanted rest and so he opted out for first 3 ODIs. Many players would follow Sachin if such is the case with this tight schedule. Dhoni pulled himself out of test series against Sri Lanka this year because of the tight schedule at that time.
The cricket fans will enjoy this, but not the players...a tough time ahead for the players...
I am afraid some of Indian players may pull out themselves during these 9 months. BCCI need to implement rotation policy.
The players(Indian) have no time to rest. It's not this time, it is going to be the case for the next 9 months.
Indian players are going to play non-stop cricket for the next 9 months, which starts with the ODI series against Egland. The ODI series will be followed by Champions Twenty20 Leauge in India and then the 2-test series with England. Soon after India will facing Pakistan in Pakistan for a three-match Test series, 5 match ODI series and a Twenty20 match. Then India will play 2 tests, 5 ODIs and a Twenty20 against New Zealand in New Zealand. Soon after this series finishes, they will take part in the 2nd season of Indian Premium League. They have to fly all across the country during the IPL. Within a week, India have to go to Egland to play in ICC Twenty20 World Cup, followed by 4 ODIs with West Indies in West Indies.
The schedule for India in next 9 months is as follows.
India Vs England : 7 ODIs and 2 Tests, 14th Nov'08 - 23rd Dec'08
Champions Twenty20 Leauge : 3rd Dec'08 - 10th Dec'08
India Vs Pakistan : 5 ODIs, 1 Twenty20 and 3 Tests, 6th Jan'09 - 19 Feb'09
India Vs New Zealand : 5 ODIs, 1 Twenty20 and 2 Tests, 6th Mar'09 - 7th Apr'09
IPL 2nd season 10th Apr'09 - 29th May'09
ICC World Twenty20 : 5th June'09 - 21st June'09
India Vs West Indies : 4 ODIs 26th Jun'09 - 5th July'09
There has been a lot of debate over too much cricket in India. This schedule causes a lot of problems to the players' fitness. Many players are prone to injuries because of this kind of schedule.
Many people were surprised over Sachin's decision to opt out of the first 3 ODIs. He wanted rest and so he opted out for first 3 ODIs. Many players would follow Sachin if such is the case with this tight schedule. Dhoni pulled himself out of test series against Sri Lanka this year because of the tight schedule at that time.
The cricket fans will enjoy this, but not the players...a tough time ahead for the players...
I am afraid some of Indian players may pull out themselves during these 9 months. BCCI need to implement rotation policy.
An absorbing day of test cricket
It's been a hard day for India. Had the catches been taken, India might have got a bigger lead. But they finally managed to get a 89-run lead.
Resuming at the overnight score of 189/2, Hussey reached his fifty in the third over of the day and Katich reached his hundred after he was dropped by Dravid at first slip when he was on 94. That catch did not cost India in terms of number of runs. But, he played for nearly 2 hrs from there on and scored just 8 runs from 63 balls. Had Dravid been taken that catch, India might have got 1 or 2 wickets in the pre-lunch session and put pressure on Australia. Katich has been consistent in this series.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni deployed 8-1 field against Katich and Hussey when Ishant and Zaheer were bowling. Both these bowlers bowled outside off and the bastmen never tried to play those balls. When it came to Harbhajan, Dhoni deployed in and out field, close-in fielders around the wickets and fielders at the bounderies. Zaheer dismissed Katich for lbw with a beatiful yorker. Katich played very well for his 102. Soon after Katich fell, Michael Clark was dismissed by Ishant.
Excellent fielding by Vijay sent Hussey back to pavilion when he drove a ball from Harbhajan to silly mid-on and went for a run. Great reflexes there from Vijay. Harbhajan struck in his next over by dismissing Watson. Haddin and White offered a bit of resistance for sometime and scored 52 for the 7th wickets before Mishra removed Haddin for 28. Ishant dismissed Krejza, Harbhajan dismissed White and finally Mishra got Johnson.
Australia were 355/10 in their first innings, giving a first innings lead of 89 to India.
India played 1 over before the day ended and is on 0 for no loss.
The contest is still alive. If India bats tomorrow and declare one hour before the end of the day by setting a target of around 350 for Australia, they have chances to win this game. But if Australia manages to get 2-3 quick wickets before lunch, I think India will surely play for a draw.
A lot depends on Sehwag. If he stays there till lunch, India can easily set a huge target for Australia.
Ganguly at No.3 ahead of Dravid ?
Field Setting:
Dhoni deployed a defensive field in the first session and an attacking field from the post-lunch session. Mahendra Singh Dhoni deployed 8-1 field against Katich and Hussey when Ishant and Zaheer were bowling. Ishant and Zaheer kept on bowling outside off and controlled the batsmen from scoring the runs.
I think Dhoni wanted to control the run rate and let Aussies try to score runs. In that process, they may loose the wickets which helps India to gain a big first innings total. Finally after Katich was out, he brought in the spinners and attacked the Aussies batsmen and put them in pressure.
I am sure Dhoni came up with a perfect plan and he executed it to perfection. The match was completely changed after the post-lunch session once India started attacking. They got wickets at regular intervals, but Australia managed to get closer to India's total.
Many people said that this is a negative tactic by Dhoni.
But what have Australia done throughout the series ? The way Mitchel Johnson bowled throughout the series is no different from what Indians did today.
Resuming at the overnight score of 189/2, Hussey reached his fifty in the third over of the day and Katich reached his hundred after he was dropped by Dravid at first slip when he was on 94. That catch did not cost India in terms of number of runs. But, he played for nearly 2 hrs from there on and scored just 8 runs from 63 balls. Had Dravid been taken that catch, India might have got 1 or 2 wickets in the pre-lunch session and put pressure on Australia. Katich has been consistent in this series.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni deployed 8-1 field against Katich and Hussey when Ishant and Zaheer were bowling. Both these bowlers bowled outside off and the bastmen never tried to play those balls. When it came to Harbhajan, Dhoni deployed in and out field, close-in fielders around the wickets and fielders at the bounderies. Zaheer dismissed Katich for lbw with a beatiful yorker. Katich played very well for his 102. Soon after Katich fell, Michael Clark was dismissed by Ishant.
Excellent fielding by Vijay sent Hussey back to pavilion when he drove a ball from Harbhajan to silly mid-on and went for a run. Great reflexes there from Vijay. Harbhajan struck in his next over by dismissing Watson. Haddin and White offered a bit of resistance for sometime and scored 52 for the 7th wickets before Mishra removed Haddin for 28. Ishant dismissed Krejza, Harbhajan dismissed White and finally Mishra got Johnson.
Australia were 355/10 in their first innings, giving a first innings lead of 89 to India.
India played 1 over before the day ended and is on 0 for no loss.
The contest is still alive. If India bats tomorrow and declare one hour before the end of the day by setting a target of around 350 for Australia, they have chances to win this game. But if Australia manages to get 2-3 quick wickets before lunch, I think India will surely play for a draw.
A lot depends on Sehwag. If he stays there till lunch, India can easily set a huge target for Australia.
Ganguly at No.3 ahead of Dravid ?
Field Setting:
Dhoni deployed a defensive field in the first session and an attacking field from the post-lunch session. Mahendra Singh Dhoni deployed 8-1 field against Katich and Hussey when Ishant and Zaheer were bowling. Ishant and Zaheer kept on bowling outside off and controlled the batsmen from scoring the runs.
I think Dhoni wanted to control the run rate and let Aussies try to score runs. In that process, they may loose the wickets which helps India to gain a big first innings total. Finally after Katich was out, he brought in the spinners and attacked the Aussies batsmen and put them in pressure.
I am sure Dhoni came up with a perfect plan and he executed it to perfection. The match was completely changed after the post-lunch session once India started attacking. They got wickets at regular intervals, but Australia managed to get closer to India's total.
Many people said that this is a negative tactic by Dhoni.
But what have Australia done throughout the series ? The way Mitchel Johnson bowled throughout the series is no different from what Indians did today.
Friday, November 7, 2008
A warning to Yuvi ?
A few days ago, I wrote about Yuvraj's place in the Indian team.
He should now give a serious thought on his current form and his place in the team as BCCI has sent a strong message to Yuvraj by promoting Sehwag as India's Vice-Captain.
Yuvraj is removed from the duty of Vice Captain and Sehwag is the new Vice-Captain. So, Yuvraj, if you still don't concentrate on your batting and come back strongly, the next step BCCI would take is to drop you for the future tours and you would loose your place in the ODI team too.
He should now give a serious thought on his current form and his place in the team as BCCI has sent a strong message to Yuvraj by promoting Sehwag as India's Vice-Captain.
Yuvraj is removed from the duty of Vice Captain and Sehwag is the new Vice-Captain. So, Yuvraj, if you still don't concentrate on your batting and come back strongly, the next step BCCI would take is to drop you for the future tours and you would loose your place in the ODI team too.
Krejza on cloud 9
What a moment this for Jason Krejza. He has taken 8 wickets in India's first innings. I think he was given more than he deserved. Many of those wickets were the result of some poor shots from the Indians. But in the end what matters is the number of wickets. So, Jason did extremely well to claim 8 wickets in his debut match. One thing I like in him is that he was not depressed and was courageous even he gave away many runs. He kept bowling and got wickets, that too the wickets of great batsmen like dravid, laxman, sehwag, ganguly and dhoni. He goes into the second innings with much more confidence.
None of the other Australian bowlers looked like taking a wicket. Ricky Ponting might be wondering why he did not bring Jason Krejza on for the first three Tests.
Starting at the overnight score of 311/5, Sourav Ganguly(85) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni(56) batted wonderfully together and added 119 for the sixth wicket before Krejza dismissed both of them in a span of 3 balls. While Ganguly showed elegance in his drives through the off-side, Dhoni batted with his own style in his 56. Playing his last Test, Ganguly displayed a great determination to get to his fifty. Unfortunately he missed a well deserved century. He missed becoming one of the batsmen to score a century on his debut as well as in his last test match. He still has a chance to score a century in the second innings.
It was very easy for Krejza after Ganguly and Dhoni were dismissed. He ripped through India's tail and stopped India from scoring a big total. India were allout for 441.
Australian openers Hayden and Katich started their innings confidently. After a brisk start to their innings, M Vijay ran out opener Matthew Hayden with a direct hit. It was an unnecessary run and Hayden paid the price. Harbhajan got his 300th wicket by dismissing Ponting. His dismissal was similar to that of Sehwag and Laxman. Hussey joined Katich and both of them looked solid at the crease. They never looked facing any trouble from the Indian bowlers. Great batting display by Katich and Hussey.
Australia is on 189/2 at the end of day-2 with the two well set batsmen, Katich and Hussey, at the crease. Katich is on 92 and on his way to a century. Hussey is on 45.
In the end, it was a great day for Australia.
None of the other Australian bowlers looked like taking a wicket. Ricky Ponting might be wondering why he did not bring Jason Krejza on for the first three Tests.
Starting at the overnight score of 311/5, Sourav Ganguly(85) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni(56) batted wonderfully together and added 119 for the sixth wicket before Krejza dismissed both of them in a span of 3 balls. While Ganguly showed elegance in his drives through the off-side, Dhoni batted with his own style in his 56. Playing his last Test, Ganguly displayed a great determination to get to his fifty. Unfortunately he missed a well deserved century. He missed becoming one of the batsmen to score a century on his debut as well as in his last test match. He still has a chance to score a century in the second innings.
It was very easy for Krejza after Ganguly and Dhoni were dismissed. He ripped through India's tail and stopped India from scoring a big total. India were allout for 441.
Australian openers Hayden and Katich started their innings confidently. After a brisk start to their innings, M Vijay ran out opener Matthew Hayden with a direct hit. It was an unnecessary run and Hayden paid the price. Harbhajan got his 300th wicket by dismissing Ponting. His dismissal was similar to that of Sehwag and Laxman. Hussey joined Katich and both of them looked solid at the crease. They never looked facing any trouble from the Indian bowlers. Great batting display by Katich and Hussey.
Australia is on 189/2 at the end of day-2 with the two well set batsmen, Katich and Hussey, at the crease. Katich is on 92 and on his way to a century. Hussey is on 45.
In the end, it was a great day for Australia.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Master reaches another century
After Indian skipper Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first, India got off to a flyer on day one of the second Test against Australia in Mohali before Australia came back to remove 3 wickets in quick succession.
After being selected into the side to replace the banned Gautam Gambhir, Vijay started confidently and played well for his 33 before being dismissed by Watson. Sehwag and Vijay scored 98 for the first wicket. The debutant Krejza took 3 wickets on day-1. But Sachin was not his first test wicket :). He dismissed Dravid, Sehwag and Laxman. But he gave mway any runs. Sehwag was looking dangerous but got out playing a bad shot. Rahul Dravid once again failed to score and was out for a duck. The wall is cracking... The pressure is on him and I think we are going to hear about his retirement soon.
After the collapse both Tendulkar and Laxman played some beautiful strokes and rebuilt the innings. Theyscored 146 for the 4th wicket. Laxman scored another fifty in this series. Ganguly came to the crease after Laxman departed. Tendulkar reached his 40th century after being dropped by Lee when he was on 98 and was dismissed by Johnson for 109. He was dropped by Haddin already and missed a run-out chance too.
India is on 311/5 with Ganguly and Dhoni are on 27 and 4 at the end of the day. This was Tendulkar's day. Jason Krejza made a decent debut too. India need big runs from Dhoni, Ganguly and the lower order if they want to make the best use of winning the toss and batting first.
After being selected into the side to replace the banned Gautam Gambhir, Vijay started confidently and played well for his 33 before being dismissed by Watson. Sehwag and Vijay scored 98 for the first wicket. The debutant Krejza took 3 wickets on day-1. But Sachin was not his first test wicket :). He dismissed Dravid, Sehwag and Laxman. But he gave mway any runs. Sehwag was looking dangerous but got out playing a bad shot. Rahul Dravid once again failed to score and was out for a duck. The wall is cracking... The pressure is on him and I think we are going to hear about his retirement soon.
After the collapse both Tendulkar and Laxman played some beautiful strokes and rebuilt the innings. Theyscored 146 for the 4th wicket. Laxman scored another fifty in this series. Ganguly came to the crease after Laxman departed. Tendulkar reached his 40th century after being dropped by Lee when he was on 98 and was dismissed by Johnson for 109. He was dropped by Haddin already and missed a run-out chance too.
India is on 311/5 with Ganguly and Dhoni are on 27 and 4 at the end of the day. This was Tendulkar's day. Jason Krejza made a decent debut too. India need big runs from Dhoni, Ganguly and the lower order if they want to make the best use of winning the toss and batting first.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Pakistan cricket in shock
He has been in dilemma for the last eight months whether to join ICL or not. Finally he comes out and joins ICL...
Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan signed up for ICL and as expected he is banned by Pakistan cricket board from all forms of the game. He will play for Lahore Badshahs in ICL.
Yousuf is the No.3 batsman in Tests and No.5 bastsman in ODIs. He is the Pakistan's best batsman now. It's a big shock and a big loss for Pakistan. None of the Pakistani players can replace this batsman. Pakistan will have to suffer in their next series against India. Not only against India, Pakistan will be outplayed by every other nations.
Yousuf said "I have decided to sign for ICL. There was a misunderstanding with the ICL. I was misguided and confused and not able to take a decision earlier. See, I want to continue playing for Pakistan and the ICL authorities also have no problem with that."
But Yousuf, you have done a great mistake by choosing ICL ahead of your nation though you know you will be banned. The pakistan cricket is in a grim situation now and you left your team aside for money when you are supposed to be with the team. Really shame on you Yousuf. You made pakistan cricket even worser...
Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan signed up for ICL and as expected he is banned by Pakistan cricket board from all forms of the game. He will play for Lahore Badshahs in ICL.
Yousuf is the No.3 batsman in Tests and No.5 bastsman in ODIs. He is the Pakistan's best batsman now. It's a big shock and a big loss for Pakistan. None of the Pakistani players can replace this batsman. Pakistan will have to suffer in their next series against India. Not only against India, Pakistan will be outplayed by every other nations.
Yousuf said "I have decided to sign for ICL. There was a misunderstanding with the ICL. I was misguided and confused and not able to take a decision earlier. See, I want to continue playing for Pakistan and the ICL authorities also have no problem with that."
But Yousuf, you have done a great mistake by choosing ICL ahead of your nation though you know you will be banned. The pakistan cricket is in a grim situation now and you left your team aside for money when you are supposed to be with the team. Really shame on you Yousuf. You made pakistan cricket even worser...
India Vs Australia 4th test preview
India is going into the 4th test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy with 1-0 lead. Australia must win this test match to retain the Trophy.
Indian team composition:
The selectors called up M Vijay as back up for Gambhir as Gambhir is banned for one test match. Vijay has been in good form. He scored a double century against Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy. If he gets a chance, it's Vireder Sehwag who has to score for the team as Vijay will be under pressure in his first match. This looks to be the only change in the indian team apart from Bhajji returning to team in place of Anil Kumble. Bhajji is one wicket away from his 300 test wickets. Amit Mishra is confident and is bowling well.
There is also a possiblity of Dravid and Sehwag open for India and bring Badrinath in. But I do't think it happens. Dravid is under pressure as he hasn't played a big innings in the series. If he is sent to open the innings, it will add more to his pressure.
So, Vijay will make his test debut.
Indian Team(Probable) : Virender Sehwag, M Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Gangly, MS Dhoni(captain & wicket-keeper), Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra
This is the last test for Sourav Ganguly and the 100th test for VVS Laxman.
Australian team Composition:
Australia won the series in India after nearly 34 years by winning a test match here in 2004. It was for that match Ganguly and Harbhajan were absent. Gilchrist mentioned this in his auto-biography.
Asutralia is in a better position to win/draw the 4th test as all their batsmen are in good touch and have got some runs in the 3rd test match. Australia's only concern is their bowling line-up. They are looking at all possible options for the last test match. Ponting indicates that Stuart Clark may have to sit out and Krejza might debut. But I think Australia should drop White and bring in Krejza. White never looked dangerous and he struggled against the Indian bastmen.
Australian Team(Probable) : Simon Katich, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting(captain), Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin(wicket-keeper), Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Jason Krejza
Gambhir's ban might help Australia and they might be happy as he is not playing. He is the leading run scorer, with 463 runs with 2 centuries and a fifty in three matches, in the series.
They have to concentrate on their bowling and come up with a better team effort to win the test and retain the trophy.
Indian team composition:
The selectors called up M Vijay as back up for Gambhir as Gambhir is banned for one test match. Vijay has been in good form. He scored a double century against Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy. If he gets a chance, it's Vireder Sehwag who has to score for the team as Vijay will be under pressure in his first match. This looks to be the only change in the indian team apart from Bhajji returning to team in place of Anil Kumble. Bhajji is one wicket away from his 300 test wickets. Amit Mishra is confident and is bowling well.
There is also a possiblity of Dravid and Sehwag open for India and bring Badrinath in. But I do't think it happens. Dravid is under pressure as he hasn't played a big innings in the series. If he is sent to open the innings, it will add more to his pressure.
So, Vijay will make his test debut.
Indian Team(Probable) : Virender Sehwag, M Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Gangly, MS Dhoni(captain & wicket-keeper), Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra
This is the last test for Sourav Ganguly and the 100th test for VVS Laxman.
Australian team Composition:
Australia won the series in India after nearly 34 years by winning a test match here in 2004. It was for that match Ganguly and Harbhajan were absent. Gilchrist mentioned this in his auto-biography.
Asutralia is in a better position to win/draw the 4th test as all their batsmen are in good touch and have got some runs in the 3rd test match. Australia's only concern is their bowling line-up. They are looking at all possible options for the last test match. Ponting indicates that Stuart Clark may have to sit out and Krejza might debut. But I think Australia should drop White and bring in Krejza. White never looked dangerous and he struggled against the Indian bastmen.
Australian Team(Probable) : Simon Katich, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting(captain), Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin(wicket-keeper), Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Jason Krejza
Gambhir's ban might help Australia and they might be happy as he is not playing. He is the leading run scorer, with 463 runs with 2 centuries and a fifty in three matches, in the series.
They have to concentrate on their bowling and come up with a better team effort to win the test and retain the trophy.
Probable Indian Squad for ODI series against England
The selectors will meet today in Nagpur to pick the 14-member Indian team for the ODI series against England starting on Nov 14. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, who missed the last ODI series in Sri Lanka, are set to return to the Indian squad. The squad may consists of 8 batsmen, including wicket-keeper, 4 pace bowlers and 2 spinners.
Batting:
There is no doubt about the selcetion of Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Dhoni, Yuvra, Raina. So the remaining two slots may be filled by Rohit Sharma, Badrinath, Uthappa and Virat Kohli. There is a tough competetion among these four. But I think the selectors will stick to Rohit and Badrinath considering their recent performances. Uthappa may have to wait for some more time before he gets a call up. Yusuf Pathan, a big disappointment with bat in the Challenger Trophy, is likely to be left out.
Pace Bowling:
Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma lead the pace bowling attack. The other options for the remaining two places are Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar. The selectors may stick to Munaf and Praveen Kumar. Irfan Pathan's recent performance, except in the Challenger's trophy, is not upto the mark. But if one of Zaher and Ishant is rested, Pathan might get a chance.
Spin Bowling:
Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla are the other options for the second spinner besides Harbhajan. Amit Mishra is a better option for the selectors considering his form in the on-going test series against Australia. There are also a few chances for Pragyan Ojha to be selected.
Probable India Squad: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni(captain & wicket-keeper), Suresh Raina, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra.
My Favourite Playing XI (in that oder):
Sachin Tendulkar
Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Rohit Sharma
Yuvraj Singh
Suresh Raina
MS Dhoni
Zaheer Khan
Praveen Kumar
Harbhajan Singh
Ishant Sharma
Batting:
There is no doubt about the selcetion of Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Dhoni, Yuvra, Raina. So the remaining two slots may be filled by Rohit Sharma, Badrinath, Uthappa and Virat Kohli. There is a tough competetion among these four. But I think the selectors will stick to Rohit and Badrinath considering their recent performances. Uthappa may have to wait for some more time before he gets a call up. Yusuf Pathan, a big disappointment with bat in the Challenger Trophy, is likely to be left out.
Pace Bowling:
Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma lead the pace bowling attack. The other options for the remaining two places are Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar. The selectors may stick to Munaf and Praveen Kumar. Irfan Pathan's recent performance, except in the Challenger's trophy, is not upto the mark. But if one of Zaher and Ishant is rested, Pathan might get a chance.
Spin Bowling:
Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla are the other options for the second spinner besides Harbhajan. Amit Mishra is a better option for the selectors considering his form in the on-going test series against Australia. There are also a few chances for Pragyan Ojha to be selected.
Probable India Squad: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni(captain & wicket-keeper), Suresh Raina, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra.
My Favourite Playing XI (in that oder):
Sachin Tendulkar
Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Rohit Sharma
Yuvraj Singh
Suresh Raina
MS Dhoni
Zaheer Khan
Praveen Kumar
Harbhajan Singh
Ishant Sharma
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A weird question
Guys.. what if Ganguly is given one last chance to captain indian team in his last test ( 4th test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2008) at Nagpur :) ?
All the 11 players in the team bowls
Yesterday, when I was looking at the scorecard for the test match between India and West Indies at Antigua in 2002 where Kumble bowled with a broken jaw, I found an interesting stat. All the 11 indian players bowled in an innings in that match. It happened twice before this match.
Here are the other two matches.
All 11 England players bowlers bowled during Australia's score of 551 at the Oval, London on August 12, 1884. In fact in this Test match Australia became the first team in Test cricket to score over 500 runs. Interestingly WG Grace kept wickets for some time thus allowing regular keeper Alfred Lyttelton to bowl during Australia's innings. He went on to claim four wickets - his figures being 12-5-19-4 - which still remains the best bowling performance by a wicket-keeper in Test cricket.
Then nearly 95 years later, on March 11, 1980 all 11 Australians bowled in Pakistan's innings of 382-2 at Faisalabad. Australia batting upto the fourth afternoon while scoring 617 runs, hardly left any time for Pakistan to bat more than once. So on the last day the Australians made all their 11 players to bowl, including their keeper Rodney Marsh (skipper Greg Chappell kept wickets after tea on the final day). Not surprisingly both the above Tests were boring drawn matches.
Source: http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2001/apr/28answer.htm
Here are the other two matches.
All 11 England players bowlers bowled during Australia's score of 551 at the Oval, London on August 12, 1884. In fact in this Test match Australia became the first team in Test cricket to score over 500 runs. Interestingly WG Grace kept wickets for some time thus allowing regular keeper Alfred Lyttelton to bowl during Australia's innings. He went on to claim four wickets - his figures being 12-5-19-4 - which still remains the best bowling performance by a wicket-keeper in Test cricket.
Then nearly 95 years later, on March 11, 1980 all 11 Australians bowled in Pakistan's innings of 382-2 at Faisalabad. Australia batting upto the fourth afternoon while scoring 617 runs, hardly left any time for Pakistan to bat more than once. So on the last day the Australians made all their 11 players to bowl, including their keeper Rodney Marsh (skipper Greg Chappell kept wickets after tea on the final day). Not surprisingly both the above Tests were boring drawn matches.
Source: http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2001/apr/28answer.htm
Monday, November 3, 2008
We miss you Jumbo
Anil kumble announced his retirement during the third test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2008. It was a shocking decision. He would have been satisfied to retire after winning the series. But the injury forced him to retire. He retired from ODIs in March 2007. I was a bit emotional when I heard about his retirement yesterday.
In his career of 18 years, he has done a lot to Indian cricket. He is the most successful bowler in Indian cricket and he is one of the best bowlers in the world cricket. He has won many matches for India. He is India's greatest match winner. His commitment to the game is unquestionable. You can't forget him bowling in West Indies with a fractured jaw or his 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan at Ferozshah Kotla or his century against England last year.
The incident where he bowled with a bandage covering the broken jaw just shows the determination of Kumble. And in the 3rd test match against Australia at Kotla, he has shown it again by walking on the field with 11 stitches in his left hand, took the ball straightaway and claiming three wickets. He took an excellent catch of Mitchell Johnson. He doesn't give up easily in any situation. Match winning bowlers of his ability are harder to come by.
He is often criticized as not a big turner of the ball. He kept his critics silent with his match-winnings performances throughout his career. He has taken 619 wickets in tests and 337 wickets in ODIS with many match-winnings performances. His best one-day performance was six for 12 against West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 1993. And his best test performance was 14 for 149 against Pakistan in 1999 at Ferozshah Kotla where he claimed all 10 wickets in an innings. He is in the top 10 wicket takers list in ODIs and Tests.
Columnist and former cricketer Peter Roebuck said "Curiously, Kumble has little in common with his two great contemporaries, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. They relied on excess, spinning the ball ferociously and able, by sleight of hand, to fool batsmen into playing at thin air. They created error by destroying hope. Kumble more closely resembles Glenn McGrath because he does not so much baffle batsmen as torture them with precisely-pitched deliveries. Like the Australian, he does not tear opponents apart, just works away methodically till the deed has been done. Apparently he is an engineer, but he belongs in the courts of law as an inquisitor."
Kumble has been an inspiration to indian cricket generations. I have seen him play for India all these years and I don't think he got involved in any controversy or charged for an offense in his 18 years of career. He has portrayed himself as one of the most dedicated player on the field.
However his form slipped during the tour of Sri Lanka and there was pressure on him to quit after a wicketless performance in the Bangalore Test against Australia. A shoulder injury and the recent injury added fuel to the fire. He announced his retirement during the third test.
He said "Eventually it was an injury to the hand that told me it was time. The stitches would have been out on November 8, which would have been the third day of the fourth Test, and I don't want to go into the Test less than a 100 per cent fit. I didn't want to hurt India's chances, and I made the decision last night.."
You can have a look at the timeline of Anil Kumble here.
He received the prestigious Arjuna Award in 1995. Kumble was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the year in 1996. The Government of India presented him with the Padma Shri in 2005.
India is proud of you ...
Good bye Jumbo...we will miss you...
In his career of 18 years, he has done a lot to Indian cricket. He is the most successful bowler in Indian cricket and he is one of the best bowlers in the world cricket. He has won many matches for India. He is India's greatest match winner. His commitment to the game is unquestionable. You can't forget him bowling in West Indies with a fractured jaw or his 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan at Ferozshah Kotla or his century against England last year.
The incident where he bowled with a bandage covering the broken jaw just shows the determination of Kumble. And in the 3rd test match against Australia at Kotla, he has shown it again by walking on the field with 11 stitches in his left hand, took the ball straightaway and claiming three wickets. He took an excellent catch of Mitchell Johnson. He doesn't give up easily in any situation. Match winning bowlers of his ability are harder to come by.
He is often criticized as not a big turner of the ball. He kept his critics silent with his match-winnings performances throughout his career. He has taken 619 wickets in tests and 337 wickets in ODIS with many match-winnings performances. His best one-day performance was six for 12 against West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 1993. And his best test performance was 14 for 149 against Pakistan in 1999 at Ferozshah Kotla where he claimed all 10 wickets in an innings. He is in the top 10 wicket takers list in ODIs and Tests.
Columnist and former cricketer Peter Roebuck said "Curiously, Kumble has little in common with his two great contemporaries, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. They relied on excess, spinning the ball ferociously and able, by sleight of hand, to fool batsmen into playing at thin air. They created error by destroying hope. Kumble more closely resembles Glenn McGrath because he does not so much baffle batsmen as torture them with precisely-pitched deliveries. Like the Australian, he does not tear opponents apart, just works away methodically till the deed has been done. Apparently he is an engineer, but he belongs in the courts of law as an inquisitor."
Kumble has been an inspiration to indian cricket generations. I have seen him play for India all these years and I don't think he got involved in any controversy or charged for an offense in his 18 years of career. He has portrayed himself as one of the most dedicated player on the field.
However his form slipped during the tour of Sri Lanka and there was pressure on him to quit after a wicketless performance in the Bangalore Test against Australia. A shoulder injury and the recent injury added fuel to the fire. He announced his retirement during the third test.
He said "Eventually it was an injury to the hand that told me it was time. The stitches would have been out on November 8, which would have been the third day of the fourth Test, and I don't want to go into the Test less than a 100 per cent fit. I didn't want to hurt India's chances, and I made the decision last night.."
You can have a look at the timeline of Anil Kumble here.
He received the prestigious Arjuna Award in 1995. Kumble was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the year in 1996. The Government of India presented him with the Padma Shri in 2005.
India is proud of you ...
Good bye Jumbo...we will miss you...
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Kumble retires as the third test ends in a draw
The third test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia ended in a draw. Michael Clarke's century helped Australia to save the test. However, it was the Indians who created the chances for Australia to save the match by missing the simple catches.
Starting at the overnight score of 43/2 India lost Dravid early. Brett Lee dismissed Dravid by a beautiful delivery. Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir tried to build a partnership before the opener was given out for a lbw off Mitchell Johnson. But TV replays showed the ball would have missed the leg stump. Gambhir was a bit unlucky there.
The early breakthrough gave Ozs some hope of dismissing all the Indian batsmen early and win the test to level the series. But Laxman along with Tendulkar and Ganguly shattered their hopes by giving them no chance. Tendulkar missed another half century. White dismissed him when he was on 47. Following his double hundred in the first innings, Laxman added another half-century in his second innings. He played some delightful drives in his unbeaten 59. Ganguly was on 32 when the declaration came.
Finally India declared at 208/5 after tea setting Australia a target of 245 runs to level the series. Australia scored 31 runs with both the openers remained not out.
Laxman was the man of the match for his wonderful double hundred in the first innings and a half century in the second innings.
There are a few positives to be taken for Ozs.
Unavailability of Harbhajan and fielding mistakes made India to compromise on a draw. Dravid's form is also a concern for India. Dravid disappointed once again and the focus will now be on his retirement now after Ganguly and Kumble.
India skipper Anil Kumble announced his retirement after the third test against Australia.
Anil Kumble said "It's a tough decision when you have played 18 years of cricket and been so competitive. But my body helped making the decision and also, this injury. I had already made the decision yesterday as I knew I won't be hundred percent for the next game. I had already decided to leave the game after this series any way."
It was a disappointing end to Kumble's great career.
India now leads series 1-0 with only one test to play at Nagpur. The fourth and final Test will be played in Nagpur from Nov 6-10.
First Day Report
Second Day Report
Third Day Report
Fourth Day Report
Starting at the overnight score of 43/2 India lost Dravid early. Brett Lee dismissed Dravid by a beautiful delivery. Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir tried to build a partnership before the opener was given out for a lbw off Mitchell Johnson. But TV replays showed the ball would have missed the leg stump. Gambhir was a bit unlucky there.
The early breakthrough gave Ozs some hope of dismissing all the Indian batsmen early and win the test to level the series. But Laxman along with Tendulkar and Ganguly shattered their hopes by giving them no chance. Tendulkar missed another half century. White dismissed him when he was on 47. Following his double hundred in the first innings, Laxman added another half-century in his second innings. He played some delightful drives in his unbeaten 59. Ganguly was on 32 when the declaration came.
Finally India declared at 208/5 after tea setting Australia a target of 245 runs to level the series. Australia scored 31 runs with both the openers remained not out.
Laxman was the man of the match for his wonderful double hundred in the first innings and a half century in the second innings.
There are a few positives to be taken for Ozs.
- Brett Lee finally finds his rhythm.
- All of Australian batsmen performed well.
Unavailability of Harbhajan and fielding mistakes made India to compromise on a draw. Dravid's form is also a concern for India. Dravid disappointed once again and the focus will now be on his retirement now after Ganguly and Kumble.
India skipper Anil Kumble announced his retirement after the third test against Australia.
Anil Kumble said "It's a tough decision when you have played 18 years of cricket and been so competitive. But my body helped making the decision and also, this injury. I had already made the decision yesterday as I knew I won't be hundred percent for the next game. I had already decided to leave the game after this series any way."
It was a disappointing end to Kumble's great career.
India now leads series 1-0 with only one test to play at Nagpur. The fourth and final Test will be played in Nagpur from Nov 6-10.
First Day Report
Second Day Report
Third Day Report
Fourth Day Report
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Australia dominates India on day-4
Australia dominated India on day-4 of the 3rd test match of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2008. Australia finished their first innings fo 577, 36 runs behind India's first innings total. Michael Clarke's timely innings with some support from Watson and White helped Australia to reduce India's first innings lead. Clarke was lucky to survive three times when he was on 21 and in 90s. He gave 3 simple catches to Ishant Sharma, Laxman and Amit Mishra. They missed thse catches and Clarke went on to score 112 before he was dismissed by Mishra. His knock was an absolute delight to watch. He was determined and timed his shots to perfection. His footwork was good. Clarke put on valuable partnerships with Watson and White.
Fielding mistakes by India, manily the simple catches, helped Australia to get into a safe position.
Sehwag picked his career best figures of 5-104. Harbhajan would have really enjoyed bowling on this pitch. Kumble finally got some wickets in this seris. He finished with 3-112. Amit Mishra took 2 wickets.
Australia put India under pressure by removing Sehwag and the nightwatchman Ishant Sharma early in India's 2nd innings. Brett Lee dismissed Sehwag for the second time in this match. Ishant Sharma was welcomed by a short pitch delivery. The ball hit his bat and was in air for sometime. Fortunately for him, the ball landed safely. But he was dismissed the next ball faced for a similar delivery off Stuart Clark by giving a simple catch to Ponting.
India's hopes of clinching the series by winning this match were destroyed by Australia. For India to win this test, they have to score quickly 2morrow morning and set a target of 250-300 in 30-35 overs before Australia and then bowl them out. I think it won't be possible without Bhajii :)...
Fielding mistakes by India, manily the simple catches, helped Australia to get into a safe position.
Sehwag picked his career best figures of 5-104. Harbhajan would have really enjoyed bowling on this pitch. Kumble finally got some wickets in this seris. He finished with 3-112. Amit Mishra took 2 wickets.
Australia put India under pressure by removing Sehwag and the nightwatchman Ishant Sharma early in India's 2nd innings. Brett Lee dismissed Sehwag for the second time in this match. Ishant Sharma was welcomed by a short pitch delivery. The ball hit his bat and was in air for sometime. Fortunately for him, the ball landed safely. But he was dismissed the next ball faced for a similar delivery off Stuart Clark by giving a simple catch to Ponting.
India's hopes of clinching the series by winning this match were destroyed by Australia. For India to win this test, they have to score quickly 2morrow morning and set a target of 250-300 in 30-35 overs before Australia and then bowl them out. I think it won't be possible without Bhajii :)...
Who wants to be Stanford's millionaire?
A Match can change their life.....Yes I'm talking about Stanford T20. After a lot of publicity and practice matches, the final showdown is here. The US $20 million match between England and Stanford Superstars is all set to begin on Saturday, 1st November.
The winner of the match takes all the money. The losing team gets nothing. The player who takes his team to victory will be a hero. If a player commits a mistake and if his team loses the match, everyone in the team has to suffer. And all of them see that player as villian who cost them $20 million.
This match is going to be an interesting one. But it won't at all do good for the game of cricket. There is a famous saying "Money is the root of all evil". And that's the case with these Twenty20's.
If Stanford really wants to help West Indies cricket why doesn't he directly involve with the board and give the money directly to the West Indies board.
Twenty-20 is for money, fun and excitement. Twenty-20 surely destroys the Test cricket. Test
cricket is the best form of the game and ICC must fo something to protect test cricket.
Everyone thinks Twenty-20 is always exciting, but unless you get a close match, games can be as uninteresting as in any other forms of cricket.
The winner of the match takes all the money. The losing team gets nothing. The player who takes his team to victory will be a hero. If a player commits a mistake and if his team loses the match, everyone in the team has to suffer. And all of them see that player as villian who cost them $20 million.
This match is going to be an interesting one. But it won't at all do good for the game of cricket. There is a famous saying "Money is the root of all evil". And that's the case with these Twenty20's.
If Stanford really wants to help West Indies cricket why doesn't he directly involve with the board and give the money directly to the West Indies board.
Twenty-20 is for money, fun and excitement. Twenty-20 surely destroys the Test cricket. Test
cricket is the best form of the game and ICC must fo something to protect test cricket.
Everyone thinks Twenty-20 is always exciting, but unless you get a close match, games can be as uninteresting as in any other forms of cricket.
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