India is back to cricket after a gap of 1 month while Sri Lanka have been playing some cricket recently. Sri Lanka started this year with a test series against Bangladesh. And then they took part in a tri-series with Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka toured Pakistan for 3 ODIs. SL won all of the 3 series.
India will want to maintain their dominance while the Sri Lankans will certainly be making every effort to take revenge for their 3-2 loss in the ODI series at home against India in Sep'08.
If either team wants to win, the following players are going to hold a lot of the responsibility...
India:
Virender Sehwag - Gautam Gambhir:
This opening duo has been in sparkling form and have given excellent starts most of the times. The opening stands by this pair are important for the series result to go India's way. Sachin may open the innings with Sehwag while Gambhir comes at No.3 . In any case the performance by both of these players will be important for the team.
Zaheer-Ishant :
Both these bowlers are on roll. They have made invaluable contributions in India's wins recently. They are capable of performing in any conditions and early breakthroughs by these bowlers will be important for India to win.
The middle order is strong with Dhoni, Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina. India are without Harbhajan which may give some advantage to Sri Lanka. It is now a good chance for Ravindra Jadeja and Ojha to prove themselves.
Sri Lanka:
Dilshan : Dilshan has been in good form in recent times and his promotion to opening slot against Pakistan worked wonders for Sri Lanka. Dilshan has been a crucial part in Sri Lanka's wins in the recent times. His innings will be an important one for Sri Lanka.
Mendis-Muralitharan : The spin duo has to strike to turn the series in Sri Lanka's favour. Most of the Indian batsmen struggled to face Mendis in India's tour to Sri Lanka last year and in Asia cup. Their attack from both the ends can worry Indian batsmen and help Sri Lanka gain some advantage. Sri Lanka is strong in spin department as India is without their main spinner Harbhajan.
The main worry for Sri Lanka is the form of their captain, Mahela Jayawardena. He did not have a great tour against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Coming to the pace bowling..Nuwan Kulasekara has been in good form..He is the No.2 bowler in ICC ODI Rankings..
I am eagerly waiting for Mendis vs Sehwag..it will be a cracker of contest....
My playing XI(India): Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Ojha, Munaf Patel.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
India needs an all-rounder
An all-rounder plays a significant role in cricket.
Kallis for South Africa, Michale Clark and Symonds for Australia, Flintoff for England, Malik for Pakistan, Gayle for West Indies, Jacob Oram for New Zealand, Jayasuriya for Sri Lanka have been playing an important role of an all-rounder in their respective teams.
But India lacks a genuine all-rounder.
Almost all teams have a good all-rounder, but India doesn't.
Along with Kapil Dev, the players Mohinder Amarnath, Roger Binny, Ravi Shastri, Madan Lal and Manoj Prabhakar had the capability to change the game either with the bat or with the ball.
After Kapil Dev's retirement, India has been facing this problem of finding a genuine all-rounder.
Robin Singh shined once but out of the team in a short time.
Agarkar and Sreenath had come into the team as all-rounders but settled as bowlers.
Irfan Pathan was thought to be the perfect all-rounder after Kapil Dev..but he is now a total failure in both bowling and batting.
Currently we have Yuvraj, Sehwag, Yusuf Pathan and some others who can fill the fifth bowler's slot.
But what we need is a specific all-rounder who is very good at bowling.
Ravindra Jadeja who got a place in the Indian team as an all-rounder is all set to prove his capabilities in the Sri Lanka tour.
Let's hope Jadeja proves as a worthy successor to Kapil Dev.
Kallis for South Africa, Michale Clark and Symonds for Australia, Flintoff for England, Malik for Pakistan, Gayle for West Indies, Jacob Oram for New Zealand, Jayasuriya for Sri Lanka have been playing an important role of an all-rounder in their respective teams.
But India lacks a genuine all-rounder.
Almost all teams have a good all-rounder, but India doesn't.
Along with Kapil Dev, the players Mohinder Amarnath, Roger Binny, Ravi Shastri, Madan Lal and Manoj Prabhakar had the capability to change the game either with the bat or with the ball.
After Kapil Dev's retirement, India has been facing this problem of finding a genuine all-rounder.
Robin Singh shined once but out of the team in a short time.
Agarkar and Sreenath had come into the team as all-rounders but settled as bowlers.
Irfan Pathan was thought to be the perfect all-rounder after Kapil Dev..but he is now a total failure in both bowling and batting.
Currently we have Yuvraj, Sehwag, Yusuf Pathan and some others who can fill the fifth bowler's slot.
But what we need is a specific all-rounder who is very good at bowling.
Ravindra Jadeja who got a place in the Indian team as an all-rounder is all set to prove his capabilities in the Sri Lanka tour.
Let's hope Jadeja proves as a worthy successor to Kapil Dev.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Was the selection good?
Indian selectors, on Jan 18th, announced the squad that tours Sri Lanka in Jan-Feb 09. Out of Ravindra Jadeja, Pujara, Rahane and D Kulakarni who performed well in recently concluded Ranji Trophy, only Jadeja earned a place in the 15-member Indian squad. Dhoni, Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj, Zaheer and Ishant are sure selections.
It's a little unfortunate that Kohli wasn't selected despite his good performance. Badrinath is another unlucky one. He lacks the support to perform..Although he had given chances, he did not get a chance to bat most of the times.
Pathan brothers, Raina, Ojha and Munaf have retained their place. Praveen Kumar, who was left out for ODI series against England, has been recalled. A hamstring injury had ruled out Harbhajan Singh's selection.
I am eagerly waiting to see Uthappa back in the team who has been in good form..
The lineup is good but there are some questions to be answered.
Harbhajan was fit during the 2nd test against England and he hasn't played a match after that test. How and when was he injured?
Why are there two left-arm spinners in the squad? There is no right arm spinner in the squad. Either Piyush Chawla or Amit Mishra should have been selected.
Dhaval kulkarni could have been given a chance. He was the highest wicket taker along with Jadeja in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy. He should have been selected ahead of Irfan Pathan/Praveen.
Why is Praveen selected as extra seamer? Why wasn't he selected for ODI series against England if he is considered a quality bowler?
Jadeja has been awesome at domestic level..let's see how he performs at international level....
It's a little unfortunate that Kohli wasn't selected despite his good performance. Badrinath is another unlucky one. He lacks the support to perform..Although he had given chances, he did not get a chance to bat most of the times.
Pathan brothers, Raina, Ojha and Munaf have retained their place. Praveen Kumar, who was left out for ODI series against England, has been recalled. A hamstring injury had ruled out Harbhajan Singh's selection.
I am eagerly waiting to see Uthappa back in the team who has been in good form..
The lineup is good but there are some questions to be answered.
Harbhajan was fit during the 2nd test against England and he hasn't played a match after that test. How and when was he injured?
Why are there two left-arm spinners in the squad? There is no right arm spinner in the squad. Either Piyush Chawla or Amit Mishra should have been selected.
Dhaval kulkarni could have been given a chance. He was the highest wicket taker along with Jadeja in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy. He should have been selected ahead of Irfan Pathan/Praveen.
Why is Praveen selected as extra seamer? Why wasn't he selected for ODI series against England if he is considered a quality bowler?
Jadeja has been awesome at domestic level..let's see how he performs at international level....
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Australia..Can you retain No.1 spot?
Australia have posted a tempting total for SA to chase in the 3rd test. I don't know if it was a wise decision from Ponting.
SA chased 414 easily in the first test at Perth. SA has been good against Australia in chasing 'big' totals.SA stunned the world by chasing 434 against Australia in a ODI in 2006.
I don't think it won't at all be a problem for SA to chase this total with all of SA batsmen in good touch.
But let's see if Australia can win/draw this match to retain their No.1 spot.
SA chased 414 easily in the first test at Perth. SA has been good against Australia in chasing 'big' totals.SA stunned the world by chasing 434 against Australia in a ODI in 2006.
I don't think it won't at all be a problem for SA to chase this total with all of SA batsmen in good touch.
But let's see if Australia can win/draw this match to retain their No.1 spot.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Happy New Year
Hi all..
I wish you and your family a happy and prosperous new year 2009..
May this new year all your dreams turn into reality and all your efforts into great achievements...
-Srinivasarao Vundavalli
I wish you and your family a happy and prosperous new year 2009..
May this new year all your dreams turn into reality and all your efforts into great achievements...
-Srinivasarao Vundavalli
A great year for cricket
The year 2008 will be remembered in cricket history forever... 2008 is the beginning of the end of an era of Australia's domination in the world cricket. 2008 brought a new life to test cricket. India and South Africa are the stars in 2008. Both these teams are the strong contenders for the top spot in test cricket.
IPL was a great success... "We don't even watch one day cricket...then how can we watch test cricket....the future is Twenty20 cricket's"....This is what we have been hearing recently...All the cricket fans, former players, cricket analysts.....everyone who is attached to cricket have been saying just one thing..."Test cricket is in danger"...
But the two test match results, at the end of 2008, in a span of a week gave a new life to test cricket....one is the first test between India and England Chennai in December, and the second one is the first test between Australia and South Africa at Perth in December...And also out of 46 test matches that took place in 2008, 35 matches got the results which shows that test cricket has gained some speed.
And the year ended on Australia losing a test series to South Africa, at home, after 16 years..
The performances of teams in 2008.
India: No doubt 2008 will remain as a wonderful year in India cricket. Dhoni took on the test captaincy and now he is the captain of team India in all formats of the game. There are so many unforgettable moments like test series win against Australia in India, CB series win, test and ODI series win against England, IPL etc.. Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Zaheer, Ishant, Harbhajan and Dhoni's captaincy took India to great heights.. Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar and Laxman crossed 1000 runs in tests in a calender year..The year marked the end of an era with Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble bidding adieu to international cricket.
South Africa: South Africa is on a roll under Smith's captaincy. SA won 11 of their 15 test matches played in 2008. SA has been very consistent in all the formats of the game. Smith is the leading run scorer in tests in 2008 with 1656 runs in 15 test matches. Amla also crossed 100 runs in tests in 2008. Steyn is the leading wicket taker in tests in 2008. SA has got a new talent in the form of Duminy. De Villiers has been in good touch..If they continue this form, they will surely be No.1 in all formats..
Australia: 2008 is the year Australia don't want to remember. 2008 marked the end of an era of Australia's dominance. Australia's great wicket-keeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist retired in 2008 after CB series. The effect of the retirement of McGrath and Warne was completely visible on the team's performance. Australia lost to India and SA in successive test series at the end of the year. The form of their top order batsmen like Hayden, Ponting and Hussey has been their main concern. Bowling department is also looking weak with no one, except Johnson, performing well. Retaining Ashes is their main focus in 2009.
Sri Lanka: Mendis is SL's new weapon. Asia cup win was their biggest win in 2008. The team was not up to the mark in a series with Zimbabwe. With Mendis and Murlai in the bowling department, and Jayawardena, Sangakkara, Dilshan in batting department, SL looks ahead for a great future.
New Zealand: Stephen Fleming retired after the test match against England in Napier. Except Vettori and McCullum no other player performed well for New Zealand. New Zealand has many new players. It will take a little time before they all adjust. NZ got mixed results in 2008.
England: After England lost the four match series against South Africa, captain Michael Vaughan stepped down from the captaincy. England appointed Kevin Pietersen as their new captain. England's whole concentration has been on Ashes. England won the hearts of many people by coming to India and play the test series after Mumbai blasts. Pietersen was their star in 2008 with Flintoff, Strauss, Collingwood performing consistently. Stuart Broad is a rising talent. England's bowling department is also good with Sidebottom, Anderson and Harmison.
West Indies: The form of West Indies was very bad. They won only one test match in 2008. The team depends a lot on Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
Pakistan: 2008 is a worst year in Pakistan's cricket. Pak did not played even a single test. They played some ODIs and won many matches but all of them came against weak teams. Pak is pleading other teams to come and play in Pak. Neutral venues seems to be the only option for Pakistan. Pakistan's great player Mohammad Yousuf joined ICL. It was a big shock to Pak. Aisf was accused of using drugs in IPL and banned from all formats of cricket.
Bangladesh: Bangladesh cricket was under shock when 14 of their cricketers joined ICL. But with many other youngsters like Shakib-ul-Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mortaza, the team performed well under the captaincy of Ashraful. But the results were not satisfying. On a whole, their performance improved a little bit.
Smith, Sehwag, Gambhir, Steyn and Mendis were the stars of 2008.
Hoping for a much more exciting cricket in 2009...
IPL was a great success... "We don't even watch one day cricket...then how can we watch test cricket....the future is Twenty20 cricket's"....This is what we have been hearing recently...All the cricket fans, former players, cricket analysts.....everyone who is attached to cricket have been saying just one thing..."Test cricket is in danger"...
But the two test match results, at the end of 2008, in a span of a week gave a new life to test cricket....one is the first test between India and England Chennai in December, and the second one is the first test between Australia and South Africa at Perth in December...And also out of 46 test matches that took place in 2008, 35 matches got the results which shows that test cricket has gained some speed.
And the year ended on Australia losing a test series to South Africa, at home, after 16 years..
The performances of teams in 2008.
India: No doubt 2008 will remain as a wonderful year in India cricket. Dhoni took on the test captaincy and now he is the captain of team India in all formats of the game. There are so many unforgettable moments like test series win against Australia in India, CB series win, test and ODI series win against England, IPL etc.. Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Zaheer, Ishant, Harbhajan and Dhoni's captaincy took India to great heights.. Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar and Laxman crossed 1000 runs in tests in a calender year..The year marked the end of an era with Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble bidding adieu to international cricket.
South Africa: South Africa is on a roll under Smith's captaincy. SA won 11 of their 15 test matches played in 2008. SA has been very consistent in all the formats of the game. Smith is the leading run scorer in tests in 2008 with 1656 runs in 15 test matches. Amla also crossed 100 runs in tests in 2008. Steyn is the leading wicket taker in tests in 2008. SA has got a new talent in the form of Duminy. De Villiers has been in good touch..If they continue this form, they will surely be No.1 in all formats..
Australia: 2008 is the year Australia don't want to remember. 2008 marked the end of an era of Australia's dominance. Australia's great wicket-keeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist retired in 2008 after CB series. The effect of the retirement of McGrath and Warne was completely visible on the team's performance. Australia lost to India and SA in successive test series at the end of the year. The form of their top order batsmen like Hayden, Ponting and Hussey has been their main concern. Bowling department is also looking weak with no one, except Johnson, performing well. Retaining Ashes is their main focus in 2009.
Sri Lanka: Mendis is SL's new weapon. Asia cup win was their biggest win in 2008. The team was not up to the mark in a series with Zimbabwe. With Mendis and Murlai in the bowling department, and Jayawardena, Sangakkara, Dilshan in batting department, SL looks ahead for a great future.
New Zealand: Stephen Fleming retired after the test match against England in Napier. Except Vettori and McCullum no other player performed well for New Zealand. New Zealand has many new players. It will take a little time before they all adjust. NZ got mixed results in 2008.
England: After England lost the four match series against South Africa, captain Michael Vaughan stepped down from the captaincy. England appointed Kevin Pietersen as their new captain. England's whole concentration has been on Ashes. England won the hearts of many people by coming to India and play the test series after Mumbai blasts. Pietersen was their star in 2008 with Flintoff, Strauss, Collingwood performing consistently. Stuart Broad is a rising talent. England's bowling department is also good with Sidebottom, Anderson and Harmison.
West Indies: The form of West Indies was very bad. They won only one test match in 2008. The team depends a lot on Gayle, Sarwan and Chanderpaul.
Pakistan: 2008 is a worst year in Pakistan's cricket. Pak did not played even a single test. They played some ODIs and won many matches but all of them came against weak teams. Pak is pleading other teams to come and play in Pak. Neutral venues seems to be the only option for Pakistan. Pakistan's great player Mohammad Yousuf joined ICL. It was a big shock to Pak. Aisf was accused of using drugs in IPL and banned from all formats of cricket.
Bangladesh: Bangladesh cricket was under shock when 14 of their cricketers joined ICL. But with many other youngsters like Shakib-ul-Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mortaza, the team performed well under the captaincy of Ashraful. But the results were not satisfying. On a whole, their performance improved a little bit.
Smith, Sehwag, Gambhir, Steyn and Mendis were the stars of 2008.
Hoping for a much more exciting cricket in 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?
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