He holds the record of standing in more than 100 test matches and the second highest in ODIs. He also holds the record of standing in five successive world cup finals. But this much experienced umpire has a grudge against India. Every time he stands in match played by India, there would be atleast one decision against India. And he continues his villainy even after retiring from the umpiring.
Mr. Bucknor, you have to consider apologizing the indian team and BCCI for your wrong decisions against India instead of claiming that BCCI is the reason behind your retirement.
Anyway one thing that makes me feel happy is that he retired :)
Is there any instance of a retired umpire coming back to international cricket? Don't tell me there is..
Showing posts with label test cricket. Show all posts
Showing posts with label test cricket. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Day/Night test cricket
Wouldn't it be fun to watch the final hours of test cricket at night after coming home from work.
Keeping in mind the amount of damage T20 is causing to Test Cricket and as popularity of test cricket is decreasing among spectators , it seems to be a better idea to implement day/night test cricket.
Cricket Australia has been very keen to introduce the day and night tests. But the major problem in this kind of tests is to find a ball that can be used for 80 overs and make sure that it does not lose its visibility under any the circumstances.
Positive points :
1. There won't be any instances of game being stopped due to bad light.
2. This move would allow more people to watch at grounds and on television.
3. Hot and humid climates can be avoided.
4. Bad light would no more be a problem.
Negative Points:
1. Teams bowling at night may have problems with the ball. But as it is a 5-day game, it won't effect the game much as the other team may also get into the same situation to bowl during the night.
2. Changing the ball to suit the day/night cricket.
3. Color of the ball.
4. Fielding may be difficult in presence of dew factor. There will be a lot mis-fields as the ball easily slips away from hands.
2nd and 3rd problems are solved by Cricket Australia. It has been trying to host Test matches at nights for the long time. CA commissioned the CSIRO in July to manufacture a revolutionary all-conditions ball suitable for Tests in Australia played from 1pm to 9pm. Cricket Australia is assured that it is possible to develop a suitable ball for day-night tests.
Australia and Pakistan are going to become the first teams to play a night Test next November in Adelaide according to a report.
I think a bit of thinking should go in before putting this idea into practice.
any thoughts?
Keeping in mind the amount of damage T20 is causing to Test Cricket and as popularity of test cricket is decreasing among spectators , it seems to be a better idea to implement day/night test cricket.
Cricket Australia has been very keen to introduce the day and night tests. But the major problem in this kind of tests is to find a ball that can be used for 80 overs and make sure that it does not lose its visibility under any the circumstances.
Positive points :
1. There won't be any instances of game being stopped due to bad light.
2. This move would allow more people to watch at grounds and on television.
3. Hot and humid climates can be avoided.
4. Bad light would no more be a problem.
Negative Points:
1. Teams bowling at night may have problems with the ball. But as it is a 5-day game, it won't effect the game much as the other team may also get into the same situation to bowl during the night.
2. Changing the ball to suit the day/night cricket.
3. Color of the ball.
4. Fielding may be difficult in presence of dew factor. There will be a lot mis-fields as the ball easily slips away from hands.
2nd and 3rd problems are solved by Cricket Australia. It has been trying to host Test matches at nights for the long time. CA commissioned the CSIRO in July to manufacture a revolutionary all-conditions ball suitable for Tests in Australia played from 1pm to 9pm. Cricket Australia is assured that it is possible to develop a suitable ball for day-night tests.
Australia and Pakistan are going to become the first teams to play a night Test next November in Adelaide according to a report.
I think a bit of thinking should go in before putting this idea into practice.
any thoughts?
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
What went wrong for England? Plan or Effort ?
I was very thrilled to watch the first test match between India and England.This is one of the test matches in the recent times that I enjoyed to the full extent. Thanks to Sehwag who changed the complexion of the game with his awesome innings.
Englang dominated the test till 2nd session on day-4. They set a seemingly unchasable target. But Sehwag's brilliant innings moved the game into India's hands. Sachin and Yuvi completed the formalities. Sachin was simply awesome with his match winning century.
Pietersen and his men might have been really happy after they set a target of 387 to India. But their happiness did not last long. England dominated about 70% of the game but ended up on losing side becuase of firing Sehwag, cautios Sachin and coolheaded Yuvraj. England missed a golden opportunity to win the test match. They would have gained a lot of confidence before the Ashes had they won the game.
England coach Peter Moores said that it was because of the poor team effort England lost the game after being in the driver's seat for 11 sessions. Except Strauss, Cook and Collingwood, the rest of the English batsmen were not up to the mark. In bowling department, except Flintoff, all the other bowlers failed. Panesar was a huge disappointment.
England scored less than 3 runs per over in both the innings where as India scored more than 3 runs per over(close to 4 runs per over) in both the innings. Englang should have been a bit more aggressive like India. Had they scored a bit quicker, they could have set a much more tougher target and made sure that India had no chance to win the game.
I think it was a combination of poor game plan and team effort that cost England the match.
But again it was the complete team effort from India which won them the test match. India has been the best in every form of cricket in recent times and continues to be the best...
Thanks to England for coming to India after mumbai terror and for a brilliant game.
looking forward to another thrilling match in Mohali...
Englang dominated the test till 2nd session on day-4. They set a seemingly unchasable target. But Sehwag's brilliant innings moved the game into India's hands. Sachin and Yuvi completed the formalities. Sachin was simply awesome with his match winning century.
Pietersen and his men might have been really happy after they set a target of 387 to India. But their happiness did not last long. England dominated about 70% of the game but ended up on losing side becuase of firing Sehwag, cautios Sachin and coolheaded Yuvraj. England missed a golden opportunity to win the test match. They would have gained a lot of confidence before the Ashes had they won the game.
England coach Peter Moores said that it was because of the poor team effort England lost the game after being in the driver's seat for 11 sessions. Except Strauss, Cook and Collingwood, the rest of the English batsmen were not up to the mark. In bowling department, except Flintoff, all the other bowlers failed. Panesar was a huge disappointment.
England scored less than 3 runs per over in both the innings where as India scored more than 3 runs per over(close to 4 runs per over) in both the innings. Englang should have been a bit more aggressive like India. Had they scored a bit quicker, they could have set a much more tougher target and made sure that India had no chance to win the game.
I think it was a combination of poor game plan and team effort that cost England the match.
But again it was the complete team effort from India which won them the test match. India has been the best in every form of cricket in recent times and continues to be the best...
Thanks to England for coming to India after mumbai terror and for a brilliant game.
looking forward to another thrilling match in Mohali...
Friday, December 5, 2008
Whatelse are the selectors expecting from him?
I was shocked to know that Pujara is not included in India's 15-member Test squad for the two match series against England.
Many current and former cricketers and the critics have praised Pujara as next Dravid.
He is a new wall in the making....
He is India's new run machine...
Scoring runs is a routine for him...
He scored 3 triple centuries for Saurashtra in a span of 24 days - one in the Ranji Trophy and two in an Under-22 tournament -- this season.
He has consistently displayed the quality of playing long innings.
The levels of concentration and determination, he shows at this age, are awesome.
It looks to me that he is completely addicted to scoring hundreds.....
If selectors consider the form, Pujara should not have been left out.
I think this is the right time to give a chance to Pujara.
"Pujara's shown his ability to stay at the wicket for long and that's the most important ingredient to a Test prospect.", says Srikkanth.
Then why didn't they select him ?
Whatelse are the selectors expecting from Pujara?
Many current and former cricketers and the critics have praised Pujara as next Dravid.
He is a new wall in the making....
He is India's new run machine...
Scoring runs is a routine for him...
He scored 3 triple centuries for Saurashtra in a span of 24 days - one in the Ranji Trophy and two in an Under-22 tournament -- this season.
He has consistently displayed the quality of playing long innings.
The levels of concentration and determination, he shows at this age, are awesome.
It looks to me that he is completely addicted to scoring hundreds.....
If selectors consider the form, Pujara should not have been left out.
I think this is the right time to give a chance to Pujara.
"Pujara's shown his ability to stay at the wicket for long and that's the most important ingredient to a Test prospect.", says Srikkanth.
Then why didn't they select him ?
Whatelse are the selectors expecting from Pujara?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
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
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?
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
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
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.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Cricket-Past, Present and Future
Cricket is one of the greatest games ever played. It is a mind game than body. Going back to the past, it was a game played by a minimum number of nations, but as time passed on, the game raised interest in the hearts of millions. The number of cricket playing nations have increased over time.
Cricket was discovered in England and the only countries which played it initially were England and Australia. Then the countries South Africa, West Indies, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Srilanka and Bangladesh have joined the list. Now cricket is played in more than 100 countries. It all started with test matches which do not have a limit on time. Then the time was limited to 5 days and later the limited overs game was established which are the one-dayer. The one-day matches were initially 60 overs but were later reduced to 50 overs. Now the new format of the game is established which are the 20-20's. This was introduced in England to provide the tired workers with some evening entertainment and it proved prosperous. Thus the unlimited time matches has reduced to a very much limited time. And what might be the future. It might even reduce to 10 overs.
In the past cricket was even seen with pride ,but now its been a business with a lot of sponserships, telecasting rights and even high amount of betting. The players are giving top priority to money than game. Now by introducing different leagues like IPL,ICL and the Champions league which are drawing more crowds, the number of one-days and tests played will get down. Even the players are giving priority to the leagues than playing to their country. Many players already said that Test matches are no more interesting. The interest in test cricket has gone down. The stadium in India which are always seen filled up are now seen empty during the test matches between India and Australia. Even the 50-50 format is slowly loosing its grip. ICC is taking care to limit the number of 20-20 played every year. But this cannot avoid the fact that other formats of the game are dipping. The future might well give way to short time matches like the 20-20 where the importance of class-play is minimum. The test matches might not be eradicated but might loose their importance.
Cricket was discovered in England and the only countries which played it initially were England and Australia. Then the countries South Africa, West Indies, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Srilanka and Bangladesh have joined the list. Now cricket is played in more than 100 countries. It all started with test matches which do not have a limit on time. Then the time was limited to 5 days and later the limited overs game was established which are the one-dayer. The one-day matches were initially 60 overs but were later reduced to 50 overs. Now the new format of the game is established which are the 20-20's. This was introduced in England to provide the tired workers with some evening entertainment and it proved prosperous. Thus the unlimited time matches has reduced to a very much limited time. And what might be the future. It might even reduce to 10 overs.
In the past cricket was even seen with pride ,but now its been a business with a lot of sponserships, telecasting rights and even high amount of betting. The players are giving top priority to money than game. Now by introducing different leagues like IPL,ICL and the Champions league which are drawing more crowds, the number of one-days and tests played will get down. Even the players are giving priority to the leagues than playing to their country. Many players already said that Test matches are no more interesting. The interest in test cricket has gone down. The stadium in India which are always seen filled up are now seen empty during the test matches between India and Australia. Even the 50-50 format is slowly loosing its grip. ICC is taking care to limit the number of 20-20 played every year. But this cannot avoid the fact that other formats of the game are dipping. The future might well give way to short time matches like the 20-20 where the importance of class-play is minimum. The test matches might not be eradicated but might loose their importance.
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