Dhoni's strange ways

Indian team captain MS Dhoni is on a path to become the most successful captain of India. Under his leadership, the team is winning matches and it has become number 1 ranked team in test matches. Although there will always be naysayers and doubters about the number 1 ranking but there is no denying that he is a good leader of people and that he leads from the front.

The media has, in fact, has already anointed him as Captain Courageous. And he has actually become very courageous or so it seems.

Consider this:

• During 2009 ICC T20 World Cup when media questioned the team unity after Sehwag's unfortunate injury, rather than clearing any doubts or misgivings, he took the whole team out to the ground for a photo shoot. He  just wanted to show that the team is united.
• During 2008 Hero Honda Cup one day series when selectors selected Irfan Pathan ahead of RP Singh for last 2 matches, there was a alleged leak from an unknown selector that Dhoni threatened to resign during the selection committee meeting. It was said that Dhoni preferred RP Singh. In response to these allegations Dhoni challenged the so called selector to come out into open and proclaimed  that, because of the selector's blunder, it will now be difficult to manage team unity.
• And recently in ongoing SA-India test series he wanted Kirstein to stay as India's coach even after the World Cup 2011.

Family may keep Kirsten from renewing contract - Dhoni

These are the kind of things no-one in Indian cricket team has done or can dare to do. But then we are talking about Captain Courageous. May his courage wins us more matches than create news headlines.

Be Warnied!

An English model already under wraps; next English cricketers. Light, Camera, Action!

 Warnie, your team needs you

Cook's concoction to make 50 test centuries

More than a year I had written a post on Tendulkar's test tons. I tried to find out who would be able to overhaul his test centuries. My assessment was that Tendulkar's record is unlikely to be broken.

Most Hundreds in tests

Recently I read an article about Cook's hundreds.

Younger than the Don, a little older than Tendulkar

The author is making a case for English Opener AN Cook. He thinks Cook might be able to surpass Tendulkar's centuries.

At the time of writing this post Tendulkar has scored 49 centuries which is 10 more than, next in line, Ponting. Ponting, till about a few months ago, was a contender for surpassing Tendulkar's record. At the time of writing this post Ponting has fallen from grace. Australia is in middle of 2010-11 Ashes and Ponting is at the receiving a lot of flak for Australia's poor performance. There has been a talk to remove him as a captain of the team. Only time will tell whether he retains his place.

Personally I believe Ponting is the best man to do the job right now (even though I suspect his captaining ability). But that is another story. Whether Ponting revives his career or not, Cook is certainly brewing winning a concoction. But will Cook's recepie bear the fruit?

I don't think so. Consider this:
1. Did cricket pundits pronounce Cook as a great the moment he walked into test arena?


2. Do connosieurs of cricket think Cook as a great batsman or even a very good one?
3. Does Cook create a awe in bowlers as Tendulkar does?
4. Can Cook match Tendulkar's aura and passion for cricket?
5. Can Cook match Tendulkar's longevity?

The answers to all these Q is a big NO. And still he is the best bet of our times to do the job...

Can Australia redeem?

As I write, both Australia and England are fighting it out for Ashes 2010. Only time will tell who will win the series; but at the moment Australia is in dire straits. Australia is 0-1 down after 2 test matches. Even before this series started many pundits, world over, had predicted an unfaourable result for Australia.

Can Australia redeem? Do they even have a chance to come from behind and win the Ashes?

I do not have the answer. However, Australia are unlikely to be a decent force in test cricket for another 2-3 years.

I looked at the official ICC test player ranking. Although these rankings are not a fair measure to gauge team strength albeit they do tell a bit about players' ability and form.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/rankings/content/page/211270.html

I was not a wee-bit surprised to see that none of the Australian player is part of top 10 list. Does it give you any indication of times to come?

Did Sehwag get his century?

India vs. SL
India-SL-NZ Trieseries, 2010

There is a whole debate raging on how SL/Sangakara/Randiv conspired to deny a well deerverd century to Sehwag. There is another aspect to the whole debate - did umpires decide correctly?

Read on it is an interesting article.

http://in.yfittopostblog.com/2010/08/17/sehwag-did-get-his-century/

I can add another point to the many convincing points already written in the article above. If the no-ball bowled by Randiv is counted towards Sehwag's score so why not the 6 runs.

Keep on munching!

Who is a better captain?

Who is a better captain - Sangkara or Ponting?

Yes, I wanted to ask a question and it is not an opinion poll; I just want opinions :)

Think in terms of:
1. Eloquence while talking to the media
2. Leadership of team
3. Being defensive on the ground
4. Sledging

Please write comments. It will be interesting reading for all.

A brief history of Paistan cricket

Pakistan goes to England to play test series against Australia and England - 2010

• Shoaib Malik has been pardoned
• Kamran Akmal is part of test sqaud for Australia and England series; so is Shoaib Malik.
• Afridi renounces captaincy and test cricket after disasterous Ist test against Australia (of course no questions asked)
• Salman Butt was made the captain and the team (huffed and puffed but eventually) won
• Asif/Aamer pronounced the best fast bowling pair in the world
• Pakistan has the best bowling attack in the world
• Yousuf recalled even though he has no match practice
• Younis waiting to be recalled although he is playing in England
• Danish Kanaria replace with an unknown bowler

Is that surprising? Pakistan cricket team (courtsey their administration and infighting within team) are predictable. You can predict them to lose a test match and that too abysmally.

Alas! It is sad for world cricket. World cricket needs a strong Pakistan team . As such there are only 9 test playing nations out of which one should not have been there in first place.

Indian Team Selection

India in SL, 2010

Test Series

India and SL will be back for yet another series. Even ardent fans of SL and India will be bored by now. Have some heart, this time it is different. It is a test series and not any hastily organized one day tournament.

BCCI selection committee has declared the final 16 who will be playing for the country. Overall, I believe, it is a good selection except for two selections:

• Wriddhiman Saha as a reserve wicket keeper - What does BCCI want to achieve. Is he in fray for any future tournament? Did they forget Dinesh Karthik, the perennial prover. He is a decent wicketkeeper and much better batsman than Saha. Moreover, he has immense international experience; whenever a batsman  is injured, he is the first one to be called.
• Recall of Yuvraj Singh - Yuvraj has the talent to become one of the best batsman in the world. He is as talented as KP or even SRT. But his performance proves otherwise. Today he is not even as good as  Dada, whom he replaced. He has to value and respect his place in test side.

I think selection on Suresh Raina and Vijay was spot on. There are skeptics who believe Raina does not have the required skills to survive a test match; especially his weakness against the short ball. He has proven, time and again, in both one day and T20 cricket that he can survive short deliveries. His one day record, especially over last 2 years, is a case to the point. Raina should be give a chance to fail.

Vijay is another talented youngster who has not done too badly in test cricket. His Ranji Trophy record is excellent and is one of the better batsman in Indian cricket today. His T20 performances should not be used as a benchmark for test selection.

Talking about youngsters, the selection committee should start blooding some of the others as well. Selectors have to start thinking about the future. Big 3 may not be there after 2-3 years. They have taken us to the top of ICC ranking but new talent has to retain that top ranking. Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey, Pujara, Kohli and Badrinath could be future of Indian test scene. Especially Badri and Pujara. Badri may not be a youngster but he has few years of cricket left in him.

All these players have been knocking on selection committee doors for many years. Of course selectors can't (and shouldn't) accommodate all but they should devise a strategy so that these youngsters can play with big 3 when there is still some time. The selectors can take following approach:

• Have a rotation policy in place.
• Always choose 16 players (even when the matches are being held in India) in the squad
• Drop Yuvraj - I would love to see him the team but not an usual irresponsible Yuvraj. 

This aint a "I told you so" post

Team selection for Zimbabwe Tri series 2010


Last month I wrote a post about poor team selection for Zimbabwe tour.


Unfortunately my premonition about a poor series for India came true. Far from being poor, we were dismal in Zimbabwe. The sad thing is that it was bound to happen as there is no system governing Indian cricket - both BCCI and Media are at fault.


What has BCCI achieved? Are there any new finds? Have they identified any new talent which was unknown before? Have they boosted the moral of new players? Have they done justice to the fans?


Far from it. Team India has been relegated to number 3 position in ICC ranking...


On the other side of system, Media is blind even after having the advantage of the hindsight. In last few days there have been many media stories castigating the players and the team. How callous and irrelevant? They could not recognize that young inexperienced team, however talented, was never going to win matches on their own. I am sure if 1 or 2 players were part of the regular squad, they would have excelled. Alas! that never happened.


All is not lost though. We can still learn some lessons:
1. BCCI should only play reasonable number of matches in a year so regular players are rested for important matches.
2. BCCI should adopt a rotation policy to give young talent a chance and build bench strength rather than making wholesale changes.
3. Media should not become over-enamored by young talent and try to provide positive criticism.


Whether it will happen. I have my doubts but we all have to do our bit to "save the tiger"...

Message from England! BCCI - Are you listening?

I read an interesting side story after recently concluded England-Bangladesh test series.

http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/current/story/462319.html

An excerpt

"Steven Finn has had an impressive start to the summer and will now undertake a strengthening programme similar to that recently undertaken by Stuart Broad," said Geoff Miller, England's national selector. "This will also rule Steven out of the NatWest Series against Australia and Bangladesh before his preparation for the npower Test series against Pakistan."

 Finn is a young lad with oodles of talent. He has been undoubtedly the best bowler of both sides and has been the find of the series. Much like Ishant Sharma or Irfan Pathan in their early days. And what does England do - send him for strength training without even considering him for domestic tournaments.

Is it strange? Far from it.

It is the right way to nurture young talent. He is being told that success is not easy so the young lad should better work on it.

There is a lesson for BCCI, Indian Media and India team fans. We have a unique affinity for young talent. Whenever a young player bursts on the scene, we want him to participate in each and every game, however insignificant. We shower him with excessive praises and slowly burn him out. We always try to find the next Kapil Dev or Sachin Tendulkar.

Look where are our yesteryear bowling talents today? Munaf has dropped pace, so has Irfan, Sreesanth has attitude problem as got too much praise initially, RP Singh in no longer accurate and Ishant is wayward.

It is easy to blame all these players but we have to look within ourselves to find a solution.

We should give some time and mentor a new player properly - play him in full domestic season, slug it out on the ground with no fans, train hard, give him chance to play in few internationals so as to acclimatise him different cultures and grounds, take tips from senior players.

BCCI - Are you listening?

Poor team selection

Team selection for Zimbabwe Tri series 2010

I wrote a post Let us pray! earlier this year. The title of this post could also have been same as I am writing about a similar situation. India were scheduled to play SA in a dead rubber and selectors rested top players of Indian team just to give chance to youngsters. And guess what, India lost. Even though that was a dead rubber and now we are talking about playing in Zimbabwe, we should be ruthless while it comes to playing international matches. We should select the best team possible. Remember it is a tri-series and we would be playing against SL as well.

I have no doubt about the talent of youngsters picked for the squad. They are all good players and proven themselves in IPL and other domestic matches. They would also be hungry to showcase their talent in International arena. But cricket is a team sport and individuals can win you only few matches. I feel that making wholesale changes tot the team composition is not a good idea.

A few factors that goes against the selected squad:
1. The squad has never played together as a team.
2. The coach and other support staff will have to guide an entirely new team.
3. All players are low in experience.
4. The experience is even lower when it comes to playing matches abroad.

An excerpt from my earlier post

It is true that the replacements are worthy and talented but all of them lack experience. It is a good idea to test the reserves and give bench some chance to secure a team for future. But wholesale replacements are not good even if it is a dead rubber. We must learn from Australia of old. They also had a rotation policy but never at the expense of a game. They never got complacent and were so ruthless that many games were won even before starting. We must make winning a habit.

Let us just pray that the team is able to win a few matches.

Analysis 2010 continued

ICC T20 World Cup 2010

This is a followup post to my last post Analysis 2010 on potential weakness of each team playing in the Super 8.

Why can SL lose?

• They are not looking like the side they were last year
• In both their group games they lacked intensity
• No other batsman apart from Jayawardene has fired

 Why can Australia lose?

• They have been inconsistent. They performed well against Pakistan but lost the track against Bangladesh.
• So far they have an extremely poor record in T20. Read my earlier post Australian Team is favourite

Why can India lose?

• The dreaded C word - Complacency. They are the champions or so the Indian Media and fans think.
• The weakness from last world cup might haunt them again - short pitched bouncers.

Why can WI lose?

• The dreaded I word - Inconsistency.

Evey team has chinks in its armour. And in T20 form on the match day matters more than anything else. However, I think it will be extremely difficult for NZ, Pakistan and SL to reach the semis.

Analysis 2010

ICC T20 World Cup 2010

This post is similar to my last year's post on second edition of ICC T20 World cup.

Analyze this

Like in last year's post I have analyzed what chinks hinder a team to not go on and win the tournament. I am writing this post just before the start of Super 8s. We have had a look at teams' form while teams have had a look at weather and ground conditions.

According to Lardbrokes, at the time of writing, Australia are still favourites with odds at 3. In fact they have improved their odds since tournament beginning. India and SA hold the next 2 positions with odds at 4 and 5 respectively. Also look at my last post

Australian Team is favourite

Let us see why a team can lose.

Why can Pakistan lose?

• The dreaded I word - Inconsistency. One their day they are world beaters and another day they are worse than a club cricket team.
• Nothing remains permanent in Pakistan cricket - They have a new captain who has a history of being on the wrong side of cricket administration and a new team which is low on experience.
• Batting looks weak as compared to other teams.

They can take heart from the fact that their batting fought hard against Australian bowling.

Why can NZ lose?

• The dreaded D word - They are perennial Dark Horses. They raise the expectations of their fans by giving a good fight but never go on and win a big tournament.
• They are a formidable unit but they struggled against lackadaisical SL.

Why can SA lose?

• The dreaded C word - They are not called Chokers for nothing. They inspire hope, excitement and confidence till they lose at the final frontier.
• They were unable to put up a decent fight against India team who were missing key players. Their batsmen struggled against part-time spinners.
• They were unable to put up a decent total against a inexperienced bowling attack of Afghanistan.

Why can England lose?

• The dreaded F word - They are a formidable unit but at the same time fickle in nature. They played well against WI only going on to lose due to DL system but against Ireland their batting failed miserably. And this time DL system helped them to post a win.
• Their country is the home of cricket but till now they beli all expectations of their fans in major competitions.

 Watch out for my next post for rest of the analysis.

Australian Team is favourite

ICC T20 World Cup 2010

Or this is what betting men think!

As per Lardbrokes Odds in favour of Australia wining the tournament is 7/2 which is better than any other team. This seems to be ridiculous. It is true that they have the pedigree and are the best side in One day internationals but T20 is a different ballgame. Consider this:

• Australia has just won 15 of the 29 Internationals played by them.
• Their record in World Cups is even poor. They have lost 5 of the 8 T20 matches played in ICC T20 World Cups.
• They have a new look team with players having little international experience.
• They have a new captain.
• They could not even qualify for Super 8s in last World cup.

I would not discount Australia. They can still go on to win the tournament but I think the odds are heavy. In T20, on their day, even a weak team can beat a stronger team. Remember how India in 2007 and Pakistan in 2009 became world champions despite odds.

In my opinion Australia are a beatable side and putting a pre-tournament favourite tag on them is too much. There are better team in fray.

It seems that the betting is rigged. Or are we missing some information here.

Some defeats are harder to digest than others!

DD vs KKR at Eden Gardens, Kolkatta
IPL Season 3

Today was one of those defeats when DD was well ahead till 15th over then wickets started tumbling.

ICL was good for cricket

It is a common knowledge that ICL was the first professional T20 league in India. Mr. Subhash Chandra, of Zee fame, announced ICL much before India won the inaugral T20 World Cup. It was announced immediately after India lost in first round of World Cup 2007 held in West Indies. At that time very few people in India knew about T20. And travesty is BCCI resisted entry of T20 cricket in India.

  

ICL was a moderately popular league but it could not survive the onslaught of cash rich BCCI and financial ressures. It sparkled for few seasons before it died down. Its promoters are trying to salvage some pride by engaging BCCI in a legal battle. In all probablity nothing will come out of the legal battle. By launching T20 in India and giving respect to neglected domestic players in India, ICL spawned a whole new era. It gave the cricket world following:

• IPL and the only Mr. Modi we know - ICL was initiated and run by a certain Mr. Himanshu Mody. IPL would never have started unless BCCI felt the heat from ICL. Today IPL is hugely popular and Mr. Modi is a househld name.
• New techniques like overhead moving camera - this innovation was first introduced in ICL.
• Excellent talent like Ambati Rayadu, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Rajagopal Sathish.
• Respect for domestic players.

A healthy competition is good for everything. Although unlikely, revival of ICL may give rise to betterment of IPL and Indian cricket.

What is worst thing about DD?

What else? Cheerleaders outfit...

IPL Season 3 - Halfway

All 8 teams have played 6 matches except MI and DC, who have played 5 matches. The positions of different teams and how they have played till now gives a inkling of how they are likely to perform in future.

MI and RCB are looking settled and they are likely to go through to semis. MI, with Tendulkar at helm, is looking formidable to go all the way through. But one can never safely predict in this fickle format. Remember what happened to DD in the last season.

DC are doing OK. They are not performing as well as last year as bowling attack is missing sharpness.

CSK, as in last 2 seasons, is without good bowling attack but their batting line up is extremely good. They may have lost few matches in a row but they still are contenders for semis spot.

At the start of season 3 DD were looking very powerful as their team was settled but injuries to Nehra and Gambhir have cost them dearly. The balance is missing but somehow they are still perfoming well. Gambhir's return may augur well for them.

RR is looking more weak then it was in last 2 seasons. Watson is playing to Australia, Smith and Dmitri are injured and Jadeja is not playing. But still they have started gelling well as team.

KKR is looking better than they were in the last year. Unnecessary controversies were very costly. They, in all probability will do much better than last spot of IPL season 2.

KXIP are a poor shadow of first two seasons. Neither their batting order nor their bowling is looking settled. It looks as if Sangakara's captaincy is brewing unrest in the team.

The best thing is India can look forward to new breed of talented youngsters.

A logical deduction - DD is the best team of IPL Season 2010

Indian squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2010:

MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma

There are 4 players from DD, 2 each from CSK, KXIP, RCB, MI & RR (if Jadeja is still considered part of RR) and 1 from DC. There is no player from KKR.

By sheer numbers, it seems that, DD has best Indian lineup. Unfortunately 2 out of 4 are not playing in IPL 3 due to Injuries and DD is not doing as well as last year.

Does it mean KKR is the worst team in the competition?

Why is Rajasthan team called Rajasthan Royals?

Read it on Cricinfo

Rajasthan Royals at their globalising best today. An Englishman born in South Africa is opening with a batsman from Madhya Pradesh. The players who follow represent the following teams: Vidarbha, Baroda, Western Australia/Notts, Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Hampshire/Victoria, Mumbai, Gujarat and South Australia. Now someone please tell me why they are called the Rajasthan Royals?

And the winner of wooden spoon is

IPL Season 3, 2010

It looks as if there is tough contention between KXIP and RR to get the woosen spoon. KXIP has lost 3 out of 3. Apart from few individual brilliances, they are yet to play as a team.

As for RR, check my earlier post Or is it Royals are doing the KKR?

Alas! DD lost but it not so sad

IPL Season 3, 2010
DD v. MI Ist Match

I am a staunch DD supporter having stayed most of my life in Delhi. I was definitely sad when DD lost yesterday. Winning is never easy when opposition posts 200+ total on the board. Moreover DD lost one of the best T20 batsmen and their captain right at the starting of the match; it made the arduous task much more difficult.

But like every SRT fan, I was more than pleased to his batting. It is true that he plays for MI but he is an icon of our age. He took the game away from DD; bowlers just didn't have answer to his range of shots. His batting was riskfree to the extent of being faultless. May he do even better in forthcoming days but not at the expense of DD.

Signed
Confused SRT and DD fan...

Or is it Royals are doing the KKR?

IPL Season 3

This is in continuation to my last post KKR is doing the Royals

RR has lost 2 games in a row and they seem to lack energy. Except for Pathan's 100, their bith batting or bowling looks wobbly. To add to this there are some unhappy surprises - Smith and Dmitri are injured and unlikely to play further.

KKR is doing the Royals

IPL Season 3, 2010

It is still early days this season; both KKR and Royals have played 2 matches each. But it looks, as if KKR is following the footsteps of Royals of 2008.

In 2008 Royals were written off before the tournament started as they didn't have star power. They were ably led by an inspirational captain who won them the tournament. Can KKR repeat the history with Saurav Ganguly?

Delhi Daredevils - Would they be third time lucky?

IPL Season 3, 2010

I sincerely hope so. And I will passionatley root for them. There are no points for guessing which team do I support. :) Still the question is can they go all the way?

They have the team, tenacity, brilliance and above all pedigree to win the tournament. Let us keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Some of the the things that may go against them this season:
1. There is o Glenn McGrath
2. There is a new bowling coach as TA Sekar over to Mumbai. This one and the point above may not have direct bearing on the team as a coach works at the back end while McGrath didn't even get a game in IPL season 2. But things change when 2 senior bowling experts leave the camp. I hope the change is not too bad as the new coach is extremely good.
3. The other teams, especially DC, MI and RC are more formidable & settled then before.
4. DD's best spinner (in fact the world's best), Daniel Vettori, is on national duty.

It is so unlike last year

IPL season 3 - 2010

1. Ex-ICL players are part of the tournament.
2. The tournament is happening in India despite security concerns and subtle threats from foreign players and Federation of International Cricketers' Associations(FICA).
3. No Pakistan cricketer is playing. There are many theories doing the rounds for their non-participation but that is part of another story
4. All teams look formidable to go through to semis - It is still early days but last year you could still count out few teams.

Like last year there is still lot of buzz and moolah. Let the best team win...

Yipee! Starting tomorrow we will have overdose of cricket...

Or would it be under dose? For test connoisseurs, it definitely would definitely be an under dose. In a test match 90 overs are bowled during a day with healthy competition between bat and bowl. Whereas from tomorrow onwards we will watch 7 week long IPL extravaganza with only 40 overs bowled during a day. And bowlers being treated as second class citizens.

I am not trying to marginalize T20 cricket. I am great fan of all 3 formats of cricket as each format needs different type of skills. I just feel sad for bowlers who are slogged mercilessly all around the park. Maybe in next few years bowlers will develop new weapons for T20 cricket or we will see some changes in rules. Till that time let's enjoy our cricket.

One thing is definitely sure the cricketers will enjoy overdose of fans...

Aamir Khan might take an affront

Everyone knows Austrains are competitive but this is also good
Australian team has a "handful of idiots": John Reid

Let us pray!

India vs. SA
3rd ODI
Season 2009-10

This post is a continuation from the last post

Headlines and the art of selling news

I also want India to win and make a clean sweep but I have certain apprehensions. The first ODI was close. India, of course, had an upper hand till 44th over or so but they became complacent and let the advantage whittle away. While batting also the batsmen gave away good starts otherwise the total could have been higher. The second ODI was put beyond SA reach by only one man - Tendulkar. Remove him from the equation and you have evenly matched teams. And introduce new and inexperienced blood, it is advantage SA.

We already have depleted team with injuries to Gambhir, Yuvraj and Zaheer - all top 10 players as per ICC ranking. On top of it the selectors have rested Sehwag & Tendulkar and have extended Harbhajan's rest. Again all three are top 10 players. Tendulkar's rest is justified but resting Sehwag and Harbhjan when team is already depleted is not a good idea. If anybody needed rest it was Dhoni. He has been playing non-stop in all form of the games and he has a tough schedule ahead.

It is true that the replacements are worthy and talented but all of them lack experience. It is a good idea to test the reserves and give bench some chance to secure a team for future. But wholesale replacements are not good even if it is a dead rubber. We must learn from Australia of old. They also had a rotation policy but never at the expense of a game. They never got complacent and were so ruthless that many games were won even before starting. We must make winning a habit.

We can still win today's game but chances have diminished. Let us pray for today's win.

Headlines and the art of selling news

India vs. SA
3rd ODI
Season 2009-10

All major previews for the 3rd ODI suggest that India has a upperhand while SA will try to avoid clean sweap. Consider the following:

India target first sweep against South Africa

India seek series sweep at Motera

SA look to avoid a clean sweep

Depleted India seek series sweep at Motera

I think the headlines are created in line with the expectations of the readers - in this case the fans of Indian cricket team. We always want our team to win and are prejudiced by what are our team's strengths rather than dispassionately reviewing the whole picture. But that is another story...

Let us pray for today's win.

Tendulkar's Double - The moments of agony

India vs. SA
2009-2010 Season
2nd ODI

Experts have written and filled many a reams to eulogize Tendulkar's double. So much praise, bordering upon adoration, has been showered on him that I do not want to add more to it.

Sachin's double has broken many records and along the way it had its side effects as well. One of the pleasant side effect was Cricinfo's servers breakdown. Here is a truthful admission from Cricinfo

Tendulkar breaks Cricinfo records

I was among the many unfortunate ones who was not able to watch Sachin's innings live on TV. So I did the next best thing by following it online on Cricinfo. And Cricinfo's server glitch left me heartbroken. I had to go through many agonizing moments when I couldn't follow the online commentary.

May I have many more 'Sach' agonizing moments.

My name is also Khan!

This would have been more appropriate title for Imran Khan's article published in Outlook India. It would have given Mr. Khan more visibility.

The Secret Diary Of Imran Khan

Mr. Khan suggestion that Shahid Afridi was merely smelling the ball and not tempering it, is not only outlandish but also downright hilarious. He quotes

Shahid can also smell with his mouth and his teeth

Even if we believe it is true then why did Afridi admit and apologized. Read more about the ball tampering incident at

Afridi banned for two T20s for ball-tampering

Blessing in Disguise

South Africa in India
Season: 2009-10

Indian team is carrying long list of injuries – VVS, Sreesanth, Dravid and Yuvraj. Sreesanth, Dravid and Yuvraj have been left out while VVS may not play the first test. It is, of course, not an idle situation; the frontline players are cannot play and the opponent is supposed to be the best team in World cricket today. The competition will be all the more difficult as it could decide the number 1 spot in ICC test ranking.

Sreesanth absence will not hurt Indian team. His services, in all probability, will not be needed given that Zaheer and Ishant are bowling well. Dravid is a great player and his absence cannot be compensated. On the other hand Yuvraj has done little to prove that he values test berth and is a fair replacement for Dada.

I think the situation presents a very good opportunity to India if VVS plays. In the absence of Dravid and Yuvraj, Vijay and Badrinath are likely to play the first test. Vijay, in a short tenure, has already impressed with his solid technique and unflappable temperament. Badrinath has been on fringes of Indian team and has been knocking the doors for long.

Will Badrinath grab the opportunity and do justice to his debut? Only time will tell. If he does well and gets more chances, India can look forward to another good middle order batsman. The situation is a blessing in disguise and let us hope for the best.

I hope Indian selection panel can learn something from this situation. They rotate the players to test the bench strength. Australia could rotate players in first half of the last decade; India can do it now and they should do it well before Big 3 will retire.

Sunil Gavaskar comments

In a recent article in The Hindustan Times Mr. Gavaskar wrote

Virender Sehwag speaks like he bats and that’s why he is so refreshing, for there are no diplomatic niceties for him. He thinks that Bangladesh are an ordinary side incapable of taking 20 India wickets.

Read the complete article at When batsmen leave their teams and fans demoralised

Read more about the 'Ordinary' analysis at An 'Ordinary' Sehwag and An 'Ordinary' Bangladesh

Oh! Not again.

Sri Lanka planning visit by India

An excerpt.

In the past five years, in fact, Sri Lanka and India have been involved in over 50 contests - nine Tests, 39 ODIs and three Twenty20s.

Gimme a break!

An ordinary Bangladesh

India in Bangladesh
1st test, 2009/10 season

It is true that Sehwag called Bangladesh an 'Ordinary' team. Was it a figure of speech? Or Was it an hyperbole? No, it was straight talking. Sehwag does not mince words while talking and he talks straight from the heart. Read my previous post on the same subject.

An 'Ordinary' Sehwag

However, Sehwag shot himself on foot, or so it seemed, when India got out at 243. Media went GaGa over it and Bangla fans went delirious. But did anyone realize that India had one poor session when they lost 6 wickets. In the morning session they were going great guns and last session too was OK. It was only after lunch that they floundered.

To further substantiate my point, I did some research on the past performances of Bangladesh. I checked test match data of last 2 years and compared it with India's. It is considered that in last 2 years Bangladesh has improved tremendously. But the data proves that there was nothing out of ordinary in Sehwag's comments.


Bangladesh scored under 200 in 11 innings out of 21 completed innings - more than 50% times. If we consider under 250 scores the percentage jumps to 80%. If we think scores of 254 and 259 are also under par than the percentage jumps to 90%.



India, on the other hand, just has 4 out 28 under 200 innings - a very low 14%. India also had 11 450+ scores in last 2 years whereas Bangladesh had none. Another interesting inference is Bangladesh lost 20 wickets more often than not - 21 out of possible 24 innings.

It is not a comparison between India and Bangladesh. India is at the top while Bangladesh is at the bottom of ICC test ranking. I collated the stats just to prove the veracity of Sehwag's statement. Bangladesh are truly 'Ordinary'.

An 'Ordinary' Sehwag

India in Bangladesh Test Series - 1st Test
2009/10 season

Sehwag is a misfit in Gentleman's game. He is an 'Ordinary' person with Extra'Ordinary' batting skill. He does not believe in slow nature of test cricket, makes his own rules about the batting and more often than not talks straight.

He makes (Seh)wacky comments which are sometimes misconstrued. Yesterday was an another exhibition of his Ordinary nature. He said Bangladesh is an Ordinary team which evoked surprise, shock and awe. It is true that it would have bruised, nay, shattered Bangla ego but the comment, in itself, was not out of Ordinary. It came out naturally and was a straight response to a straight question. Sehwag does not know how to polish the words. He calls a spade a spade.

Read my recent post on another Sehwag comment and forget about yesterday's press conference.

Trust Sehwag to entertain you - Always

In essence he is (Seh)wack - See the ball hit the ball.

Tendulkar and Pakistan

I wanted to share two very good articles. First one is an anlysis of Tendulkar's batting in Ist test with Bangladesh and another is an essay on current state of Pakistan cricket.

When familiarity breeds respect

Pakistan's fielding caught in a time warp