sharing some simple but STRAIGHT POINTS...

team india performace review...

2012-01-04T19:09:00.000+05:30

our bowlers need helpful conditions to be successful...

our batsmen don't...

viru's double...

2011-12-09T12:03:00.001+05:30

here's to the inevitability of the record... and many more if he somehow finds odis interesting...

what last 'draw' test tells us about team india chances in australia...

2011-11-30T13:59:00.001+05:30

thank you golandaaz of 'opinion of cricket'... his latest post "India v Australia - An Early Preview" made me write at sp after a long time...

i liked the way he concluded the post...

Not all wins are equal. Neither are losses. Some loses reveal a lot more than we are willing to read into. India's 4 Test match losses in England were not just shocking and humiliating but it also served an indicator of many collective missteps that no one is willing to talk about. Also a win-loss transaction is not a zero sum game. What England gained from the 4 wins, India lost far more than that. England simply confirmed their standing, India brushed the loss aside as "bad luck" and swept their real problems under the carpet. India are no longer as good as they were a year back and it will show in Australia.

specially the last line...to me india is not as good as year back was so profoundly revealed in last test against west indies team... we somehow managed a 'draw' while weakened west india team was further weakened by injury to their captain sammy... we managed draw against west indies which was reduced to only three front line bowlers and a part timer in samuels at home on such a pan cake of a pitch where a debutant, well almost, in ashwin who is not even a proper batsman scored almost run a ball...

imagine if sehwag not made those runs he did upfront at the pace only he scores... we either would have lost or played for a draw... and that's the pinching reality...

it seems that its written in the contracts of our illustrated seniors that run making has to be left to sehwag they can just carry on doing things at their own pace and comfort...

in england we suffered from this aspect more than anything... there was no one in the team that could have forced the issue or arrest the slump despite no one from our illustrated seniors looked out of form there...

at the twilight of their careers they need the push from upfront more than ever and its not a joke if india looks like batting on different pitch once sehwag departs...so our chances in australia lies how well sehwag plays for if he fails there we might have a repeat of england... in spite of having the experience of more than 37000 test runs and more than 100 centuries at our disposal between fab 3 at the other end and dhoni stubbornly refusing to improve as a test bat...

warm-up games were better in my days...

2011-08-20T11:19:00.000+05:30

so, it seems, we have seen apple falling from tree and discovered the law of gravity...

the parallel of above analogy for team india's beyond dismal performance has boiled down to warm up games...

even the bcci has seen the light and asked for one more warm-up game before the boxing day test... and lo... all team india being slow starter problem will be solved...

this thought it so nobel and yet so simple that i am surprised how we missed it...?

more warm-up games...

i am sure (not even) the second xi players (which is a norm now for warm up games) will give enough match practice to our team... they will indeed push us so hard that we will be properly warmed before the boxing day test... never mind the fact that if that was the case... we would have been giving the same medical treatment to england team by now that we have been receiving... from the second test onwards...

this reminds me of what gary kirsten said in his last public appearance before he took the offer of coaching south africa team...

Kirsten thought before he joined the team, the Indian team did not know how to prepare for a game.

“If I had to rate it out of 10, I thought the way the Indian players practised was about 1 or 2. Basically, what I realised was there was no connection between preparation and play. We just upped the ante on our preparation and we had real purpose to everything we did and then the Indian team probably became the hardest working and preparation team in the world. From 2 we went to 7 or 8.”

are we missing a real story here...?

is dhoni getting exposed...?

2011-08-08T15:04:00.014+05:30

dhoni, the captain, has every trophy in his cupboard that can make any captain envious...

in one day cricket he is undisputed king and one of the most valuable batsman...

but when it comes to tests... the doubts start to creep in... with his keeping... and batting...

dhoni wicket keeping of late is almost everything that has made kamran akmal the butt of all jokes...

he is not going for catches... fumbling with regular takes... standing some steps back only to gift himself some much needed time... and before you jump on me that in english conditions keeper requires bit of time to cover for late movement... you obviously missed the west indies series...

it screws our slip cordon is one side-effect...

dhoni collecting ball below knee is a regular feature... as is ball dissecting him and first slip with him stuck on his feet...

india could have still afforded his keeping services given his batting was as stable as is expected of wicket keeper batsman... but here dhoni is regressing fast to say the least...

when india plays at full strength... the batting line up of viru, gambhir, dravid, sachin, vvs, raina/yuvi/che precede him... followed by a lower order crisis man harbhajan singh... who has played more match winning/turning innings than dhoni for quite a while...

one can clearly see the class in batting line up... and invariably at least two out of first six batsmen clicks for india big time and we manage to score a decent total if not outright winning total to give our bowlers a chance to force result... so dhoni not scoring on consistent basis goes un-noticed... india winning more matches than it loses also glosses over dhoni poor form with bat...

so when team india loses (like in this series with england)... or plays understrength team that requires dhoni to step up as batsman... he gets exposed...

a lot of dhoni being the next gilchrist is based on his odi career... while in tests he is yet to prove his credentials with reasonable consistency...

he was and never will be a technically sound test batsman... his play is based on percentage cricket... so when there is slightest movement in that percentage towards bowler... he obviously finds it difficult...

even gilchrist was not technically accomplished batsman... a lot of his batting was hand eye coordination... but what differentiated him with dhoni is... he trusted his instincts...

if a batting line up of viru, gambhir, dravid, sachinn, vvs, raina/yuvi/che, dhoni followed by bhajji cannot make dhoni confident enough to go for shots... be the player he promised... be the player he can be... wonder what will...

dravid hyperbole...

2011-08-06T13:48:00.003+05:30

dravid contrary to perception is one of the most aggressive... most ruthless player one would come across...

only his method is different...

when players like sehwag will smash you to submission... dravid will kill you step by step to the point that you will stop seeing light... you will yearn for the mercy... he will sap your last ounce of energy... he will kill all the hope that gave you the reason to keep coming back... and then he will kill that reason too... slowly but surely...

dravid is the kind of torture tale that one reads... that how late one kept his victim alive while torturing him by taking one limb at a time...

but of late he looked like the victim of the walls that he built around himself... he would often get the start but then the torture was as equal on him as on his fans... he showed some sparks in between but those were too far too few...

the questions were being asked and rightly so... so in that regard... he could not have timed his two centuries more perfectly... for his sagging career...

suddenly you can see pundits are falling over one other to get the dravid pie... the wall that seen as crumbling has suddenly taken a new lease of life... like tendulkar he too seems to have got the 'second wind'... not many thought was possible given his struggles in doing things that was his second nature...

but on the back of two successive centuries... now everybody is hailing him as the ultimate crisis man...some even went on to proclaim that he is the lone crisis man in the team...

as if all this while when dravid wasn't performing... team india didn't face any crisis at all...

all this while team virtually carried him on the hope that dravid will show his class... and when he has started to show it... is it necessary to praise his contribution at the cost of ones that helped him stay in the team for as long as he did... at the cost of those who gave all the space he needed to perform the way he is performing now...?

why it is necessary to belittle the contribution of one to show the greatness of other...?

ps: just saw the tweet that dravid is recalled to the one day team... well well... india, it seems, has already started preparation for next world cup...

please save my blog...

2011-07-17T15:48:00.005+05:30

i have never played competitive cricket beyond club level... in my school and college days i used to be a decent opener and reasonable off spinner...

i have never seen test cricket live from the ground... not even an one day international... just couple of first class games and some ipl games...

i don't even know if i can even bowl a decent bowl at international level... or even face a worst international bowler...

but i do dare to blog on cricket...

i said dare... coz these days, whenever i feel disappointed about certain aspects of team india performances... try to argue a cricket point... i am forced to shut up...

the words are being invented to describe my sheer ineptness...

ipl chastity protector...

twitter trigger happy fan...

the world's no.1 cricket team fan...

a keyboard warrior..

i have been made to stand on the desk... "how dare you question the decision of team management... do you even understand how difficult it was...?"

"you armchair pundit... you twitter happy fan... you pass judgement sitting on lounge in the comforts of your home... do you even know what it takes to face a 90mph ball snorting at your face...?"

i am losing confidence now...

for i know the next time i even show slightest disappointment or try to make a point... they, those have the grip of international cricket, would bludgeon me to submission using truck loads of stats as sticks to show me how it was not possible and how your observation lacked any cricketing sense coz of your background...

although most of them too have not faced a single dross of ishant... never shared a dressing room with players... never been a part of team management... but who are we to question them...?

they are the ones who have been bestowed by almighty to set the guidelines that would tell me when to feel disappointed or elated with performances of individual player or team... i dearly follow...

suddenly my observations, however genuine (obviously from my point only), have lost the right to be well argued... or dissented in conclusion... and to show my daredevilry and sheer ineptitude its necessary to call me names...

please save me and my blog...

i used to be a simple fan of team india... and believe me when i say that it is not my fault that the team i used to follow, that was not even in cricket radar not many years back, has now become world no.1 ranked test team...

or is there already a name been invented for my predicament...?

DRS is full proof...

2011-07-02T13:08:00.004+05:30

who says DRS is not 100% accurate...? that it is not full proof...?

the problem is with us who can't see its success...

ever since the DRS was conceived it has been 100% successful... its a myth that DRS was conceived to prevent obvious howlers... no it was not...

if that was the case a third umpire could have simply whispered gently into the on-field umpires' ear "mate you have made a howler there..."

but that would have been too simple... too silent and so nonchalant...

bet bureaucracy to come up with system that tries to catch right ear with left hand from the back of head... hence the DRS in its current state...

so the teams were given only two chance to overcome so called 'howlers' and after that left on the mercies on same 'harpers' to cry over them...

the drama was ensured... when DRS was implemented... and even when not... the spot light was conveniently shifted from the ineptness of on-field umpires to the ineptness of teams to use the DRS...

now nobody cuss umpires who make howlers anymore... but the teams who are inapt at handling DRS...

fans, pundits alike have burned and will continue to burn midnight oil to give their two cents on DRS... cameras will continue to strip umpires off their whites... will continue to provide fodder to commentators... pundits and fans alike to engage on duels...

in any case broadcaster are laughing all the way to bank for they have got the tool that can inflate emotions... flare tempers... act as trigger to initiate endless duels...

DRS continue to polarise world... to the extent that if you are not with DRS... you are against cricket...

there is a saying in hindi... "jooari jeetay ya na jeetay... par jooaa khilaane waala hamesha jeetta hai..."
(those who gamble may or may not win... but the one who provide the gambling platform always win...)

do you still think DRS is a failure...?

are you ready to look ugly...?

2011-06-24T12:14:00.000+05:30

most of times even in test matches you get batting beauties for pitches... at least for first three days... where ball will come onto bat nicely... quick out field and lots of open spaces coz captains won't look 'attacking' if they don't place catching fielders even on most patta wickets... with not very threatening bowlers around...

so you will get value for your shots... look very 'positive' and pundits will fall over one another in singing praises for you...

but along with patta wickets sometimes you will encounter pitches where scoring will be difficult... the bounce will be uneven... ball will rise off length... and off same length refuse to rise above knee level... scoring off square will get increasingly difficult and you will realise the shots on bounce, you are so fond of playing, have dried up... there will be lots of nudges... the ball will land in slip cordon on one tip... the shots won't have the timing you are known for... even half decent bowlers will trouble you... basically the pitch where you will not feel in... until you are really in...

what you will do...?

are you ready to look ugly...?

sabrina park was classic pitch of the mold where if you wanted to be in... you would have to be prepared to look ugly... the classic examination of not only your talent... temperament... but your humbleness in accepting the fact that boss... here i will have to give a quarter to bowlers first...

kohli's little innings was classic example in this regard...

he wanted to play flowing cover drives... he wanted to show that he can carry his odi form to the test arena... he wanted to show he can still be positive... but he was not ready to look ugly... despite being in clear discomfort against short balls... he wanted to show he was not... rather than let the phase pass by quietly letting the ball go above his shoulder by ducking humbly underneath... he wanted to show he can ride on it...

forgetting that, sometime in a test match, ducking too is quite a good option... it not only wears the bowlers out quickly... but force him to try something different... seeing that you are not being as disturbed by it as he wanted you to be...

not everybody can play like dravid... not in slower terms of scoring... but on how to let the moments of indiscretion pass without minimum harm... force bowlers to bowl to your strengths... and when you have stayed there enough... unleash yourself on tiring bowlers... or till match situation demands it to go for leather...

there was live example in front of some of our players who still think... its rather better to look 'positive' than look... struggling... ugly...

hope next time... when they will encounter similar situations... pitches... they will be better prepared... for not for nothing we call it... 'test' matches...

when dady bat... kids watch...

2011-06-23T10:35:00.003+05:30

as you grow up... your body slows you down... what you used to do in a flash even in a subconscious state... increasingly requires a conscious effort... your reflexes that stayed by you like a true lover... start to part with you in search of a young companion...

you start to look more and more ugly doing your job and youngsters around you only enhance the effect... of effort... the predicament... in the watchful, glaring eyes of camera... fans...

in that light one has to see rahul dravid's latest 100...

it is not a coincidence that of all the batsmen struggling to score on this pitch... there is just only one centurion... rahul dravid...

the problem with class not being uprooted with youth of today in team india is that even when class is not at the top of its game... its giving you a hundred in most precarious situation... and who knows... win you match too that is played over five days of intense scrutiny...

why runner for batsman...?

2011-06-01T18:51:00.000+05:30

since the icc cricket committee has come up with horse loads of recommendations... not allowing the runner to an injured batsman has been the most argued point on twitter and elsewhere...

the most common reason given against discrimination of providing batsman a runner is... even bowlers get injured but an injured batsman is allowed to keep batting with a runner...

now visualise this scenario...

a runner is allowed to finish run-up for an injured bowler...

the absurdity of above visual is enough to give you clue why an injured batsman is allowed a runner... amongst other sane reasons...

will they 'uncap' some players again...?

2011-05-05T12:16:00.005+05:30

'uncap' players...?

what does that means...? if this is your question... read on...

the selection of west indies tour is upon us and in lieu of most of the senior players taking rest... there will be lots of places up for grabs in our odi outfit...

last time when team india traveled for west indies/zimbabwe series... selectors rewarded many players india cap based on ipl performances... so much so that many saw it virtually as an ipl xi squad...

now i am not against players making the natural progression from a t20 to an odi... but there is small matter that as soon as a player gets selected for team india (even if he will be nothing more than a tourist there) he becomes the capped player and his ipl base price just hits the roof top in a matter of mere an announcement...

ask manish pandey... he is the running symbol of 'capping' discrimination...

the guy suffered the most in ipl 4 auction while certain saurabh tiwari, for example, while doing much less than pandey in ipl as well as domestic circuit, walked laughing all the way to the bank...

i just hope we are not brewing another 'pandey' with the upcoming selection...

why duncan fletcher...?

2011-04-27T17:37:00.003+05:30

now that the news of duncan fletcher has started to sink in... i started to wonder whether fletcher was the only realistic candidate to coach team india left with as the reports filtering out wants me to believe...?

the template of team india coach was more or less set by gary kirsten...

a coach that has a formidable record... a fierce competitor but not on your face kinda competitor... a trier who will keep coming at you... likes only his work do the talking... likes to remain in background... allergic to media... should have seen the game from close quarters to understand and know the demands of modern game... the more recent one the better...

duncan fletcher meets some of the requirements but if only india not kept its eyes set obsessively on foreign shores it could have easily found the man that fits the above template to the T...

anil kumble...

the man is one of the best match winner india has produced... a fierce competitor but never crossed the line... genuinely respected in cricketing circles... one of the architect of team india being numero uno... knows all players inside out... specially could have been the guiding influence on young players hence could have handled the imminent transition phase more aptly than the most... never runs to talk to media but when he does cricket world listens...

contrary to many beliefs... "only one team was playing with the spirit of game" statement kumble made did more in capturing the gravity of the sydney-gate... made them rise from the slumber to act than the so called arm twisting methods of bcci...

has seen the game evolved from as close quarters as one could get... and most importantly knows exactly where the heart and mind is... of himself and that of indian cricket...

but as i said if only bcci and team think tank were bit more flexible and not obsessed with looking over the shoulder...

in praise of 'pundits' of game...

2011-04-25T11:56:00.007+05:30

lets look at these bowling figures...

4 0 28 0 7.00
4 0 19 2 4.75
4 0 41 1 10.25
4 0 28 2 7.00
4 0 28 1 7.00
4 0 14 2 3.50

if batsmen like sehwag, gayle, watson, yuvraj, dhoni, hussey etc are already not nightmares for bowlers... just release them the fear of losing wickets and you would shudder to think what they can do to you if you are a bowler...

its like you are thrown in a cage full of tigers who are programmed to fear for nothing... there is just no place to hide... only hope is to summon all your skills to combat them for your survival...

it takes balls to come up with figures like above... specially if you are a wrist spinner bowling with boundaries resembling 30 yards circle...

you won't be wrong in assuming that pundits would be singing praises... falling over one another to record their own sound bites... and if not all that at least you would think that there would be some buzz about the bowler...

but you won't even get a passing mention if your name happens to be amit mishra...

what, instead, we are hearing pundits singing songs on the 'comebacks' of players like rohits, jadejas, valthatys in a format that encourages them to not care for their wickets...

well done mushy...

by the way... you didn't find your name mentioned even in the title of this post...

world cupped...

2011-04-03T12:24:00.008+05:30

at 31 for 2... with sehwag and sachin back in pavilion... chasing the total never been chased in world cup finals history... the odds were stacked against team india...

india needed to chase that total... it was not only the world champions title that was at stake... but it was whether next gen cricketers had it in them to see team india through from that precarious situation...

and our next-gen did make an emphatic statement...

yes we are ready...

without them performing the way they did... the world champions title would have felt bit hollow... at least to me...

the glorious tribute to sachin was not only the world cup title that was missing from his otherwise illustrious career... but the feeling that yes... the baton has been passed on to right hands... the legacy is being carried forward... that even if when some of the stalwarts will walk into the sunset... they will sleep peacefully... knowing very well that the this team will keep going... to overhaul many more milestones...

and in this light i heard what kohli, who played a crucial role in soothing the nerves in middle, said after the world cup triumph..

"sachin has carried us on his shoulders for 21 years... now its our turn to carry him..."

thank you sachin... thank you gary... thank you team india... thank you for the wonderful game....

well played sri lanka... but we played little better...

my mom is smarter than boycott's mom...

2011-03-14T13:45:00.003+05:30

sometimes it just takes a simple question to force you see light... bring some much needed perspective...

after the match against south africa... another tsunami has struck india... it is called 'why dhoni opted to bowl nehra...?'

you walk around park... only to find self appointed postmortem surgeons making reports on india's chances at the world cup...

you switch any channel and the question was forced on to your throat like salesman hard-sells knowing he is getting short on monthly target...

frustrated by what was going on... my mom simply asked me...

didn't we win the t20 world cup when joginder sharma bowled last over...?

why this fixation with 'domination'...?

2011-03-08T12:12:00.008+05:30

look around almost everybody is so animatedly disappointed with team india's performance so far... the reason being...?

we are not dominating while still winning... we should blast our opponents out in our quest to win world cup...

since the fall of oz empire... no team can be called the true dominating team in the world... in fact any of first 5-6 teams can defeat one another on its day... and for no reason this world cup is being called the most open world cup so far...

but still the narrative seems set... just dominate...

as if the world cup trophy will value less if we were to win in anything less than the domination fashion... as if it is written in holy books of world cup that only the team that win... sorry blast its opponent is entitled to the world cup trophy...

the better suggestion to those seeking domination from team india will be to watch or play cricket on play-station where they can make team india do what they want it to do on field... coz i am more than happy if we score just one run more or restrict them to just one run less in our way to the win the title... specially given the conditions this world cup is being played in... the resources and limitations we have in certain aspect of game like fielding etc...

in fact i feel better that team india is winning more and more consistently despite not playing 'dominating cricket'... which means team india accept, understand and yet prevail over the limitations instead of cribbing about it... which is the beauty of sport and the team i follow...

Shane Warne can be a genius but prediction can be a fixing too

2011-03-01T20:24:00.006+05:30

It can't be said for certain, why Andrew Strauss, the England captain, called Shane Warne a genius, when he got to know that Warney had already predicted the outcome of the India-England match (that it'll be a tie).

One can be very unsure for a couple of reasons:

1) it may be a sarcastic remark by Strauss

2) it may be a careless remark, as he was quite saddened by the fact that England managed to pull a tie, when India seems to have given them the game in platter.

3) it can be a remark to distract the world from the real doings beneath.

Please don't look the third reason with a raised brow, even if you want to.

As -- Can't it be another fixing, involving English and India? With Warne having some role to play in it. He may have been a 'better' who is close to the bookies.

After all -- How is fixing in its basic form explained ?

Isn't it ensuring a particular outcome?

This outcome was known to Warne before hand; how? that is a matter of investigation, and going thru ups and downs; the outcome known before hand is ensured by the two teams.

This not skeptism. This's looking things with an equal eye.

Had the cricketing fraternity taken the news that casually, if it involved Pakistan?

What Pakistani players have been accused of is staging an outcome on the bookie instructions; playing a dot ball here, balling a no ball there! How can it be different from the issue we are discussing now?

No one is defending Pakistan; or blaming England or India. What is being put forth is: doesn't Shane Warne's remark, demand an investigation into the matter?

Warne's prediction, can be a work of a genius; but can't there be a possiility of a fixing?

what is pathan doing in the team...?

2011-02-28T14:28:00.001+05:30

india's campaign is just two match old but one can already see a spot being wasted... the no.7 batsman...

sachin, sehwag, gambhir, kohli, yuvi, dhoni is the batting order to die for and on our wickets you won't see pathan batting too often to make an impact...

dhoni is not using him to 'up the ante' like yesterday match when the situation was ripe to steal some quick runs but decided to send yuvi instead of him... although holding kohli, a last match centurion, was a daft move in first place but that is beyond the scope of this post...

the less said about his bowling the better... even dhoni don't have any confidence on his bowling and there you go... its not hard to see the point...

as we go more into the business end of world cup... i guess india will have to rethink its strategy... keep on wasting a spot as a protection for 'those days' or continue to give itself an option of a specialist bowler to throw ball to...

dhoni's message is loud and clear...

2011-02-15T14:47:00.004+05:30

if piyush chawla was looking at dhoni with some positive intent after his match winning performance in the warm-up match against australia... dhoni was quick to dispel that in no uncertain terms...

"Well, he has done really well in whatever games he has played. But I think he needs to contribute with the bat. One of the main reasons for his selection was our need to have a specialist spinner who could also bat a bit. If he could bat a bit better and contribute 15-20 runs then it would be good for the side. But as a specialist spinner he has done well in whatever games he has played," Dhoni said.

what dhoni is trying to say is that he don't need a 'specialist bowler' who will take four wickets in successfully defending 200 odd runs...

but what he needs is a 'specialist bowler' who can contribute with 15-20 odd runs with bat and if, in doing so, he doesn't take 4 odd wickets in defending a small total is cool with him...

and we blamed bhajji for going defensive all this while...

chawla... now you exactly know what you have to do in next warm-up game against new zealand...

not with the ball you stupid...

seven batsmen irony...

2011-01-21T13:24:00.005+05:30

during the wonderful debate on my last post - first thoughts on team india world cup squad selection - and even elsewhere one point that stands out is that almost everybody considers it given that only way to go out in this world cup or even in general is... pick seven batsmen... that, naturally, i find bit baffling...

the first thing that crosses captain's mind whenever he sees tinge of grass on pitch is how to beef up the batting to cover for the exaggerated movement of ball swinging or seaming or both...

going by the same count... why not then the same captain should not trust his batsmen on patta wickets to come good and aid his bowling instead where the bowlers will be reduced to the level of just being there to make up for the numbers...?

i think not only the cricket but fans too in general are getting more and more defensive and don't demand positive or attacking cricket from their respective teams...

so next time when you see a captain deploying a fielder at the rope after just one hit to the fence... think again before calling him a defensive captain...

first thoughts on team india world cup squad selection

2011-01-17T14:26:00.002+05:30

i for once in perfect agreement with the world cup squad selection...

the selection seems to be an attacking one... for a change they have trusted batsmen to deliver and beefed up bowling...

i was looking for one inspired, instinctive selection that has come in the name of piyush chawla... that, to me, seems to be the case of a request coming from team management down there in south africa...

now if only they play harbhajan at no.7 and chawla at no.8 with three pacers... and sehwag coming down at no.4 in middle order...

so my starting eleven will be...

sachin, gambhir, kohli, sehwag, raina, dhoni, bhajji, chawla, zaheer, nehra, munaf

the squad...
MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin

update:
more than anything i am surprised and baffled at the appointment of sehwag as vice captain... why opt for a reluctant leader when you have gambhir or even raina in your squad...?

can we 'cap' the age instead...?

2011-01-16T13:36:00.000+05:30

ganguly's so called 'unceremonious' exclusion from ipl-4 has once again initiated an age old debate...

when a player should hang his boots...?

the stakes in cricket has increased to such a level that of late, and not even at ipl only, there has been growing tendency to overstay the welcome... to stretch the sell-by date as much as possible... to squeeze every ounce of past laurels before being forced to say good bye and some don't even get that... they get 'rested' instead...

now i am of the opinion that a champion player should get the deserving send off respecting and befitting the services he rendered to his respective country...

but what if that champion player refuses to see the light...?

ideal situation is that selectors should keep the team's interest in mind more than anything else... that a player can never be bigger than team's cause or the game itself... but we don't live in perfect world...

so despite knowing the writing on wall... selector do hesitate to take that hard call... they don't want to be seen as villains... specially if that players in question has the potential to polarize fans and cricketing fraternity alike a la ganguly...

why not 'cap' the age then...?

lets say if 36 years is fixed for the retirement of a cricketer... everybody will know and reconcile to the fact that given date will be the last he will see his favorite player play... no over the top drama... no fuss...

selectors knowing the fateful date in advance cannot shrug their shoulders that they have been caught off guard by the mass exodus...

selectors knowing that the end-date is nearing can plan and groom players in advance without much bothering about the backlash of untimely 'rest' they will be forced to give some of the 'champion' players...

no deserving player will see his youth and prime form getting killed coz one 'great' player thought that he can still continue to milk his 'services'...

why not...?

how do you feel about the stalemate...?

2011-01-07T13:11:00.003+05:30

so InSaf ho gaya... and we tied the test series 1-1 with south africa...

before the series started not many gave chance to team india but ended up saying they could have pressed more to create history... this is as lop sided assessment as one could get...

before the series started... there were customary or shall i say phony talks of bouncy pacy wickets that will test this 'aging' line up... how india will be cream rolled coz they don't know how to play short bowling etc etc... the talks that creates headlines before every series only to melt into oblivion after the series is over...

so how do you feel about the stalemate now...?

would you boast about the fact that south africa with arguably the best bowling attack in the form of life... with the pitches of their liking... could not press matter beyond a point...

that with all the class and pluck... they could not get pass that 'aging' line up in their own backyard...

that india with arguably the thinnest bowling line-up were in a position to actually win the series against the batting line-up that consist of some of the best in business in the comforts of homely conditions...

that despite the goof-up, even before the first ball of series were to be bowled, from the bcci in the form of accepting/finalising such itinerary in first place and selectors doing the icing on cake act with the kind of selection blunders only they can manage and getting paid for it... and yet despite all those hiccups team india not only surmounted the challenges from the opponent but also from a bigger opponent at home... their own board... their own selectors...

south africa had all they wanted to upset indians... but they would or rather should be the first to admit that their best of best was not good enough against the grit of team india... that despite all the requisite armory in their tank they could achieve only a stalemate... to show for their efforts...

if left to me i would say... gautam gambhir's performances on the proteas tour epitomizes team india in all possible ways...

before the start of the series... there were doubts raised about gambhir's technique and temperament...

it was gambhir's first tour of south africa where even the best in business have come short before him... first innings started with 'look what we said'... but by the time tour ended... lots of those doubts were put to bin... step by step... innings by innings...

gambhir emerged with an enhanced and enviable reputation... and so did team india...

curious case of cheteshwar pujara...

2011-01-05T13:44:00.004+05:30

since his debut che's (as we fondly call him at bored) case is getting bit curious with his each outing...

his debut innings dismissal was strikingly unlucky...

in his second innings he impressed everybody with his temperament and stroke play and played a decisive knock which helped india whitewash australia...

and yesterday he received the delivery which was almost unplayable...

in between some freak or unlucky dismissals he has impressed pundits and fans alike and shown enough glimpses that he belongs to the highest arena... test cricket... without a decent score to show for the efforts...

mind you, though pujara's average at domestic level is very good, but it is also a factor that he would not have played anything resembling the quality of bowling at display that too overseas at as difficult a place as south africa where even many best at business have come short...

he still has second innings at newlands, capetown to post a decent score to wave off some doubts that might be creeping in the mind of those that matter most... selectors... but given the quality of bowling he will have to counter on the fourth innings at a wearing pitch of a series decider match for who the no.1 team in the world is... one can easily understand the pressure...

at one time he has shown enough promise... but at the same time his honeymoon period might be running off faster than one would like to believe... and given that we won't play tests for quite some time and there is world cup in between where players like raina, kohli, rohit sharma etc can stake claims with their good performances at the world stage...

how many more chances pujara will get if he were to fail again in the fourth innings at capetown...?

when getting dropped is not a setback...

2010-12-24T13:03:00.003+05:30

come durban test... and we might see a very talented cricketer in suresh raina being dropped for another talented player... cheteshwar pujara...

but this post is about suresh raina...

recent failures of suresh raina has not been well received... pundits have already started calling him limited overs cricket bully not suited for test cricket... his perennial problems against short pitch bowling... his lack of foot work... basically you name it and he has that deficiency in his game...

for once i don't think he has any more short coming against short pitch bowling than the other talents around... its just that it has been hyped so much that he has fallen into no-man's land... the mind is cluttered with so many thoughts that it has started to infiltrate the functioning of his more strong skills... now more than the talent or skills it has become a question of temperament...

right now he seems to be in quandary whether to play a pull shot, he is perfectly capable of than most, or leave it... and in doing so isn't doing both... hence we saw him giving catching practice to slip cordon in centurion test... that was the shot of a man who wanted to leave it till last minute but played coz of instinct...

make no mistake... he has better footwork than most famed left-handers... he is one of the better players of spin... and has the skills that can change the complexion of the game by his sheer stroke play in just one session... given right dose of confidence and care... he could be the game breaker in the mold of gilchrist for india at no.6... but like many before him... he needs to find the right bearings to make a career in highest form of game... test cricket...

its only going to serve him good that he has been confronted with some uncomfortable questions at the very beginning of his test career and now knows exactly what it takes to be consistently successful at highest level... coz unlike one day cricket one can not get away in test cricket by just playing shots...

he needs to find his batting arc but for that he needs to be in relaxed and right frame of mind... which can only come from facing the same uncomfortable question again and again till it stops bothering you... once he will be able to make distinction of batting arc viz a viz which (short) ball to play and leave he will become that game-breaker at no.6 everyone wants in his team but only dreams about...

i know it is easier said than done but when playing at highest level was supposed to be easy...?

the same south africa tour last time saw another stalwart in virender sehwag getting dropped from team india... felt the pain of seeing team india playing from the idiot box in his own words... how he used that pain and how he has returned with vengence since then is a story worth telling...

so, if i were suresh raina, i won't see getting dropped from playing eleven as a setback... but a timely learning towards a long fulfilling journey...

let's ALWAYS play the natural game...

2010-12-22T18:23:00.000+05:30

this seems to be the mantra of sehwags of today's cricketing world...

what is more important...?

always play your natural game or sometimes alter it for your team's cause if situation demands it...

i have tried to 'guest' it at clear cricket... sehwag – natural play vs team cause...

do check it out...

sachin tendulkar... the centurion...

2010-12-20T11:41:00.002+05:30

they call him god...
i say let him stay human...
only then we will realise...
his feats are actually humanly possible...

in the realm of senses...

2010-12-17T12:14:00.006+05:30

if you came here looking for Nagisa Ôshima's classic of same titled movie In the realm of Senses review... sorry to bother you... its about cricket...

first day at centurion of india vs south africa test series to be precise that will decide who is the second best team in the world... InSaf ho ke rahega...

it is very easy to dismiss india's performance on opening day as "oh! look how they would struggle in south africa coz these ain't roads..."

how india would struggle to keep straight face on sa pitches with bounce and pace... i would like to remind them that this was just the day one of fifteen days of competitive test cricket to come... remember we did the same to them with better results last time in johannesburg in similar circumstances... so just wait and relax...

if i say india were kanpoored at centurion it won't be an exaggeration...

but having said that... i was most disappointed by two performances...

our openers... sehwag and gambhir...

sehwag coz... if you see action replays of his dismissals of last fateful tour of sa that cost him his place... his dismissal in just the 2nd over of the match would just be that... action replay... which in turn means that he has not learned anything from his last experience... that you just can't play ball on the up so early in innings without taking the stock of things... when there is bit of movement and carry... as we witnessed yesterday...

before you jump on me and say "o come on... this is the way he bats.." i say it means that of late you are not watching sehwag bat in tests... or rather just watching him bat in evening highlight shows...

the sehwag of today is more patient than ever before... today's sehwag gives four-five overs to bowlers... leaves lots of balls outside off stump... let his eye in... take stock of the bowling and pitch and then unleash himself on balls that to him are boundary balls...

contrary to perception he is very shrewd cricketer and he must feel disappointed with his shot selection so early in his innings of a historical tour...

its one thing to accept the challenge and its completely another to blindly succumb to the billing of the most feared batsmen in indian lineup... the champion players don't walk into that obvious a trap... not on the second over of the match...

sehwag of yesterday was the sehwag of last south africa tour who was rightly dropped...

another disappointment came from gambir... who never looked like an opener of a no.1 test team... he looked very nervous from the start... appeared like cat on hot tin roof... and never looked like the partner of most lethal opening pair in cricket world today...

the conditions were no doubt difficult... but he never appeared that he belonged to the test on offer... and his eventual dismissal rather had the air of inevitability than anything else...

it remains to be seen how he compose himself coz i fear the damage could be deep than just the half-hearted poke... that eventually cost him his wicket... and a long walk back to some serious introspection...

this tour will go a long way in establishing gambhir as the true world class opening batsman or he will just simply chicken out... like his last dismissal...

why calls for shane warne comeback should be taken seriously...

2010-12-09T20:09:00.006+05:30

finally something happened during 'the asses'... not necessarily on-field... that caught yours truly eye...

calls for shane warne comeback...

some fans have started a campaign to call him back to save ashes...

now the obvious and natural reaction is to dismiss it as stupid over-reaction without caring a glance... but if you scratch beneath this 'stupid move' you might find something concerning...

for once this is fans, the most important yet often overlooked insignificant something, way of telling the board running cricket that they have lost faith in the way they are managing team and to be precise... talent...

of late cricket australia is like a house on fire where every incident or failure on field requires nothing short of maniac moves and reactions... and it is not a surprise that australian team has seen numerous chops and changes that would make even bangladesh proud...

its a statement on the functioning of so called 'world class system'... that forces an injured opener, in katich, to play in first place... thereby admitting they don't have any alternative in their supposedly best domestic structure in the world...

so why not call warne instead then...?

it seems cricket australia are just not sure what they want to do or who their next best men for the job are... so with each failure there must be a scape goat to be found and necessarily sacrificed just to show something is done...

best examples are the dropping of hilfenhaus after just one below par test... when he was the most impressive oz bowler in india...

dropping hauritz after series in india where even the spinner of the caliber of shane warne has found it difficult to either contain or take wickets...

this 'chop and change' at the drop of hat policy has obviously led to so much insecurity in the team that players are not sure whether they will be playing next test or not... how their performances will be evaluated... instead on focusing on the job at hand...

and yet... at the same time they expect the fans to just observe the show like mute spectators sitting on the sidelines...

so rather than dismissing shane warne comeback campaign without caring a glance... cricket australia or for that matter any cricket board must look at why and what prompted fans, their biggest stake holders, to 'stupidly' demand such thing in first place...

It doesn't feel good to talk about religion in a sports Blog

2010-12-09T17:24:00.004+05:30

it doesn't feel good to talk about religion on a sports Blog.

But sometimes it becomes necessary. As it's the players, the torch bearers of sportsmanship, who themselves bring religion to the foray; making it necessary to make a comment.

Remember, Pakistan player named Yousuf Yohanna, a Christian. He is the same player who now plays as Mohammad Yousuf. What is important to note that, during the period, Mohammad Yousuf changed his faith to Islam; and started sporting a mustache less non-trimmed beard; the entire Pak team started blatant exhibitionism of their faith and also started carrying visible religious symbols. They also started crediting Almighty for their every win in post match events.

There's nothing wrong in having faith and sporting its symbols publicly, if the sport you play doesn't forbid you. But this over reliance on religion dents the sportsmanship. A player is known for achieving things on his own; he strives, toils, sheds his sweat and blood for the victory. Relying on God, every time, dents this spirit. Pakistan Team is a clear example of this.

On a different perspective, this blatant use of God, follows a trend too. A player who begins his career as an ideal sportsman, carrying nothing but himself; when gets dropped; and then makes a comeback shows more such religious exhibitionism compared to others. It may be true that during his lean phase, no one else but the God may have helped him; But still why undergo such drastic personality modification that simply gives away what is in the heart.

Here, an Indian player, Yousuf Pathan comes into picture.Yousuf remained out of Indian team for quite some time; and then made a comeback in this series. But this Yousuf looks different, the beard is much bigger now and he tried to bring God into the frame on a couple of occasions.

Some among esteemed readers will call this write-up bigoted; but I have seen write-ups and artistic expressions showing as if Yousuf is on a road to some vengeance, with religion by its side. Take aside, Islam, how will cricket fans see a player who suddenly starts sporting a Hare Krishna style bald head and a "shikha" and come on ground with vermilion smeared forehead. obviously people will call him very religious; and suspect him for having a drastic change.

That said, it's not about freedom of religion; it's about one simple question: Does a non trimmed beard, vermilion on forehead, bald head with a hare krishna like shikha make a player more comfortable on field; he may be getting eternal motivation; but what is more safe and convenient for a sportsman, all these body add-ons or army style trimmed hair, trimmed nails, clean shave look ?

I still feel, Hashim Amla, the South African Cricketer sports a beard not because of his belief; but because he feels he has not been given his due. His exhibitionism has nothing to do with religion. Religion is just a symbol of the deprivation.

You can decide better.

my two cents on... is dedication dying...?

2010-12-01T16:56:00.007+05:30

once again the only comment from me on 'the asses' going on is that i can wait for the adelaide test to start... so if you came here looking for the asses... this is it...

thanks to mayank of freehit fame's hat-tip via tweet... i read latest aakash chopra's article... is dedication dying...?

he laments...

"The scales are heavily tilted in favour of the ones playing in the money-spinning IPL with regard to both money and recognition, and in some cases even selection. And if nothing is done soon enough to change that rather warped perception, at the risk of sounding cynical, this current set of players might be the last group who will see India at the top of Test rankings."

chopra of late is falling into the trap of populist themed articles where everybody comes knocking with customary wah! wah!... and this one is no different...

the article is written off the cuff that tries to sweep youngsters with one populist beaten to death stroke... "oh! look how ipl is corrupting the mindsets of our youngsters into easy money without putting much of an effort..."

first of all it just dismiss t20 cricket as if it does not require any skill set to be successful in it... if that was the case chopra would have been a star in indian premium league but that's obviously not the case...

the shorter form of any stream requires a different mindset and skill level which should not be dismissed disdainfully when compared to the longer format of same stream...

every 100 meter sprinter cannot be successful marathon runner... every ad film maker cannot be a good full length feature film maker... so while this is true its opposite is also equally true but that does not mean those who pursue careers in shorter forms should be simply dismissed in favor of those who pursue their careers in longer forms...

market gives equal opportunities for all talent to find their pastures... and so does ipl... i don't know if 100 meter sprinters or ad filmmakers are seen in lesser esteem... their work... their success dismissed with such disdain... just coz they happen to be successful in short form of stream that has longer form too...

in any case why would team india need players who would sell themselves short for lessor pastures...?

for every such players there are equal, if not more, players who want to grind it out in the middle dreaming of making it big at the highest level... yearn for that illusive opportunity and when it comes knocking... grab it with both hands...

our greats did not make a great team overnight and while when they won't be there and team india might slip a bit that would not necessarily be because of ipl... or comment on our youngsters ethics... it is too simplistic...

the cricketing world is filled with success stories like zaheer's who was what sree is today in terms of temperament, was rightly dropped from the team more on attitude rather than talent, spent quality time in wilderness of county cricket where you are on your own without many noticing it... and came back to become a spear head of team india's bowling attack...

he did not fell for lessor postures or sold himself short coz he wanted to be known as good cricketer at the highest level...

and he is not alone... for every so called 'ipl dreamer' we have che waiting impatiently to just break into the test team...

dhoni's curious stand on suresh raina's 'mental fatigue'...

2010-11-26T16:54:00.006+05:30

first accept my sincere apology to talk about sundry matters like india vs south africa test series when the flavor of the moment is 'the asses'...

dhoni, after crushing new zealand in final test match of the test series, stood up for raina... and pronounced...

"If he doesn't get a break in the ODI series [after the first 2 games] then you have to [replace him]," Dhoni said. "He is at a point where he needs a break from cricket.

A 10 to 15-day break will really help him. He has played as much cricket as I have or most of other cricketers. He has played one more series in Zimbabwe. At times international cricket really drains you. More than the physical part it's always that mental part that is important. Unfortunately, most of the senior players are missing from the ODI series which means he had to play."

now no denying the fact that after dhoni, if any player that deserved the rest... it was suresh raina... he is the most busy player in team india, after dhoni, who has featured in almost all games without a break... but if he has really reached the 'tipping point' as mentioned by dhoni... why they continued to play him against no.8 team in the world...?

dhoni's excuse that they kept him playing thinking he would be given rest in one day series against new zealand don't cut the ice simply because why would you risk a fatigued player for three back to back five day games to limit team's potential when you have more fit and eager player in ranks in the form of cheteshwar pujara...?

as things stands now... if raina is not rested in later half of the odis (which i hope he will be) he is going to miss the first test against south africa in their home soil... and guess who will replace him...? cheteshwar pujara... in all probability...

this is baffling on many counts... if che is deemed capable enough to play in far tough conditions than the roads that were laid for new zealand test series at home... why he was not given an outing here instead of opting to include a player who is on the 'tipping point' as far as mental fatigue goes... hence, can be safely assumed, was not able to give his 100%... thereby limiting the potential of a team...?

dhoni himself acknowledged that india did not play to its potential in the test series against new zealand when he himself opted to do so...

another aspect is that if team management can decide who plays after selectors have done their job by selecting 15-16 players... can decide and announce more than a fortnight ago that so and so player will be rested... what was stopping the same think tank for doing it at home against a much lessor opponent...?

poor che... who had to spend time at bench when the roads were waiting for him to have a decent knocks against his name while a mentally fatigued player was allowed to keep playing to give him easy runs... but when the conditions will be more demanding... more challenging he will be picked to play coz the same fatigued player will be rested... and irrespective of whether che succeed or not will see his place being taken over again by the same player... who will come 'refreshed' after a well deserved break...

must say our team think tank has already made the forthcoming india vs south africa test series interesting without even a ball being bowled... at least for me...

abhimanyu mithun deserves an explanation...

2010-11-22T13:01:00.009+05:30

in my last post... is team india a one man army again..? the debate in comments section touched upon the arbitrary selections from our selectors...

the debate was on the way they have played musical chairs with pace bowlers and specially abhimanyu mithun who did more than ok against sri lanka... a tough assignment for any bowler there considering how good sri lanka are at home...

but instead of appreciating his performance there by the way of giving him more opportunities... they have done exactly the opposite... first they replaced jaidev unadkat with injured zaheer and now they have selected unadkat for the sa tour...

what message selectors wants to give a player like abhimanyu mithun...?

that now you are not even an option as fifth bowler...? is this the way our selection panel reward a decent performance against tough opponent in their own den...?

selectors are picking and dropping pace bowlers at random without any apparent logic... another case in point is the selection of umesh yadav... who is the surprise inclusion for sa tour...

may be it was the demand of team think tank... zaheer, nehra, gambhir, sehwag etc have spoken some nice words about yadav in past... as he is seen as india's answer to pace bowler that can give it back to opposition in short bursts...

but if he is going to tour south africa wouldn't it be good for yadav had they selected him for the one day series against new zealand to give him as much overs as possible against a competitive opposition in real match situations...?

south africa tour is seen as 'the tour' for team india... the series win there will go a long way in establishing credentials as the real no.1 test cricket nation... one would assume in such tours where there is lots at stake... there is no scope of passengers... every place would go to the player who can replace a first choice player in case of injury without much loss of balance or keep the first choice players on their heels...

mithun was such bowler who has performed in tough conditions but selectors have preferred a passengers in yadav and unadkat much like dhawal kulkarni who was considered good to be sent to the new zealand tour and forgotten afterwards without given a glance...

is team india a one man army again...?

2010-11-17T11:20:00.016+05:30

if you have come to read it thinking about certain sachin in mind... please don't even bother to read beyond this line coz this post is not about him...

its about zak... zaheer khan... when no one can...

Zaheer takes a wicket every 58.6 balls. Of all the bowlers who played for India and took 100 wickets or more; no one has a better strike rate. For reference Kapil stands @ 63.9, Kumble and Chandrashekhar @ 65.9 and Bedi @ 80.3

- facts courtesy opinions on cricket...

naturally when zaheer don't take wickets... india struggles... considering bhajji has refused to take the lead spinner role let alone the lead bowler... and ojha being a defensive bowler at best...

together they are not creating enough wicket taking opportunities and reasons are apparent... obvious...

india is playing with virtually non-existent second pace bowler... sree has been erratic at best... ishant struggling with fitness and form... and selectors not showing enough balls to look for pace bowlers beyond these two until unless forced by the way of injury...

this has resulted in a tremendous pressure on zak who is supposed to take wickets with new ball... with old ball... supposed to check the flow of runs and keep the one end going while the bowlers from other end seem more interested in creating bowling dots all over the pitch...

still zaheer's name is not taken in the same breath as his more pedigreed colleagues as the reason india rose to the summit of test ranking... but this rant is for another day...

unlike previous dominant forces... team india has adopted a different route to achieve results... their no-nonsense batting...

although test match advances coz of wickets but team india is consistently putting up huge totals or over coming it in no time which not only gives our bowler enough time to bowl opposition out but give an additional teeth of pressure of total on board...

australia becoming the first team to lose a test match in india despite putting up 450+ score in first innings recently is the case in point...

but this strategy backfires when pitches doesn't even have the semblance of life coz then it neutralises everything... one of the reason india could not force issues in current series with new zealand... on the likes of pitches where even a tailender in sree could play out 70 odd deliveries without looking much in trouble against the likes of vettori and company...

it seems that curator's and team india's missions are poles apart... that simply defies the endeavor of a world no.1 test ranking nation... that team india is no.1 despite all these limitations is testimony to its character, attitude, intent and mental strength...

but in short india can afford to have an off day from any bowler but zak... the fit zaheer could have still extracted the result from this track and there in lies the story...

india should have gone for a win...

2010-11-08T19:13:00.004+05:30

at the end of day four... india were reeling at 82 for six with a paltry lead of just 110 with all recognised batsmen gone but for VVS laxman... with irratic bhajji on crease with him...

now bhajji is no ishant... he is known more for the flamboyance than the assurity ishant exudes when he is at crease... not many gave team india a chance at the end of day four of even drawing this test let alone winning from that position considering the factors were stacked against team india...

india not only needed to score some runs to first achieve what they would have felt a safe total but in doing so needed to consume at least 40-45 overs out of 90 possible overs on final day... with only bowlers at other end of VVS... and make no mistake... no ishant to follow...

india managed to do exactly the same with bhajji century being icing on the cake... and of course we all know how VVS revel under these, now his patent, circumstances... shows a character of this team that invariably finds a player who puts his hand up and say 'i will do it'...

so basically india had about 45 overs to bowl out new zealand had they declared and considering the last hour is cut off to call a draw about 30 overs to be precise to make things happen on a track when no wicket fell in first session... knowing the fact that it was easy to shut the shop on this track which had no apparent demons in it... even on third session of the fifth day...

but we would take none of it... rather than applauding the fact that just in past three test matches india has come from the brink of an almost certain defeat twice... ended up winning one of them... we must criticise... question our team's intention... motive... character and take moralistic stands on things which are highly subjective...

if team india is special... we the fan are even more so...

so now, being the true fan of team india, i too think that india should have gone for a win too, however improbable it might have been, and next time even if there are two overs left in the fifth day i would demand team india to declare and go for a win...

technically it takes just ten balls to achieve it...

is irfan pathan paying the price of being a left-arm bowler...?

2010-11-03T17:44:00.002+05:30

in my quest to find solution to india's no.7 conundrum... the one name which keeps coming back to my mind, and i am sure i am not alone, is of irfan pathan's...

the selectors and more importantly team management has virtually shut the door on him at least for the world cup squad, if not completely for the future...

the reason being given is that he does not inspire confidence of about 10 'safe' overs if not wicket taking ones... while nobody doubts his batting prowess...

now i have this theory...

since zaheer khan and ashish nehra are given names in final xi baring alarming drop in form or freak injury... irfan's candidature is not looked upon as feasible option coz the team management fears the sameness of attack might prove counter productive...

this theory gains some weight if we look upon most sides no.7 or so called 'allrounders'... collingwood, shane watson, angelo mathews, abdul razzaq etc... now don't tell me they are superior both in terms of variety, skill or pace than irfu bhai...

golandaaz returns...

2010-11-02T14:28:00.008+05:30

earlier he used to co-blog at smart cricket talk with vidooshak... if my memory serves me right...

the blog, as the name goes, used to be just that... one of the few engaging and opinionated blog without resorting to beating the chest... hence the name... but somehow those smart cricket talks slowly went on mute...

from time to time... golandaaz's voice could be heard here and there in the form of engaging comments when he would somehow be back from the deep slumber he was in... but soon he got frustrated of being shuttle cock between going on off... on off...and off on... off on... though not exactly in same pattern...

so golandaaz has not only decided to resume blogging... but would be going solo this time after realising and re-discovering the dictum... apna haath jagannath... hence his profile appropriately read as... i have got one too...

golandaaz's new avtaar and his blog is now known as... opinions on cricket...

do drop in there... you won't be disappointed...

first thoughts after seeing abdul razzaq's blistering innings...

2010-11-01T20:24:00.004+05:30

i could not see the innings live at first place... actually to be precise could not commit myself to see another pak vs sa match... its only when friend and fellow bored member, gaurav of naked cricket pinged me how he razzaqed sa, i realised what i missed...

but this post is not about adding my two cents in appreciation of razzaq's innings... this is already done by naked cricket on bored which i can't better...

the first thought that flashed in mind, after seeing razzaq's innings, was how dearly india would love to have the kind of game breaker at no.7... like abdul bhai...

few regulars of this blog would recall i advocated robin uthappa's candidature for the no.7 position for the same reason... and more i watched razzaq's innings, knowing fate, more i get convinced that uthappa is just the type of player to do it for us and lamented how selectors missed the golden opportunity to try him out during the recent oz series... not that they can't try it now against new zealand... its still worth to take a chance...

its no rocket science now that at no.7 india needs a player who can either play down some quite overs or go full berserk like razzaq did yesterday... ek dum masst pagalpann... although if that is the situation then it probably means your top order has left you to do too much either in terms of no. of overs left to first do a repair job... or in terms of too steep a required run rate to overcome... but however i like kohli, i just can't fathom him doing the later part...

this is where the selectors and team think tank have gone wrong on two counts in my opinion...

first not checking out if players like uthappa can add value to the team... or if they have already made-up their mind that kohli is the one who will take that job, then not testing him out at that position in real match situations to see how he plays... finish...

the natural question which comes to mind is... are they just going to wake up one day and discover the player they are going to play at no.7 without giving the player in question the opportunity to play at the vital position...?

yawn... sp turned three...

2010-10-22T13:13:00.019+05:30

though the state of personal affairs are not too different... but such is the state of this bored of odi series... that one could not keep up with one of the vital date of this blog...

sp turned three on october 20th, 2010...

i mean only a bored cricket crazy indian can miss the rare date like 20.10.2010 that too if it happense to be his blog's birthday... and shares his blog's birthday with the player one adores absolutely... virender sehwag... the jatman...

though hardly a surprise considering i once set up a bored meeting on the same date of my marriage anniversary!

a lot has remained constant in three years like my diffident self but one thing changed recently at sp which deserves a special mention... step in friend anil bisht of cricketUA fame... he gifted me such a beautiful header that now it has become the identity of sp...

thank you anil... without you i would have remained locked in the compulsive header changing mode till i burn myself with that insatiable itch...

and how can i go back to the waiting boredom before thanking you guys... the oxygen for sp...

so thank you for the continued support... without which the boredom of doing soliloquy with impulsive spurts of rants on cricket would have definitely killed me by now...

the pleasure of hosting you is all mine...

bangladesh exposes new zealand think tank...

2010-10-15T18:41:00.003+05:30

new zealand thought, like home, apart from a sheep and a cow boy, nobody would notice, come and watch their one day series with bangladesh... so why waste energy by turning up for the series...?

but as the luck would have it... somebody not even watched but uploaded this image of deshi team taking a victory lap to celebrate a historic series win over them...

how could you do this to denial vettori deshis...?

why dhoni the maahi never says naahi...

2010-10-14T15:00:00.016+05:30

o yess... how well i slept yesterday and woke up a fresh after watching team india doing soopda saaf of aussies... only to be stirred and shaken by the friend and fellow bored member naked cricket's candid boredwaani... is one day team selection rigged...?

this got me thinking about our one day team... many usual suspects are rested and many usual suspects walk in without doing anything... as if the door was never closed on them... like they have the pass to the team that never expires irrespective of what they do... or to be precise not do on field which matters most to other players who get dropped even before one blinks an eye...

this brings me to an usual suspect who is, unusually, not rested despite being in visible discomfort... dhoni...

dhoni, inarguably, is the most busy international player today... reportedly his back is not holding well... his hands are swollen... his right hand's middle finger is badly damaged and taped so heavily that it takes an effort to fit it in gloves... if any player who needed rest more than anyone else from this farce of an odi series... it was mahender singh dhoni... mahi... but why he never says naahi (no) to rest is THE question worth wondering... specially the same dhoni who took rest from a test series sighting fatigue...

i have always wondered... why dhoni subject himself to be treated like a machine that has to be installed on every venue... every match... every series... however inconsequential...?

i fear, that dhoni becoming the most valuable player... the face of team india in corporate world... and lastly... his latest 200 crore endorsement deal has nothing to do with it... where he is required to feature in every game irrespective of its significance... and if it is not... i don't think he likes his middle finger that much... does he...? :)

satisfaction!

2010-10-13T17:51:00.006+05:30

though you might be thinking that i am indicating to the 2-0 soopda saaf (white wash) of australia in the latest edition of border gavaskar trophy... err... teri maa ki series as we call it on bored... and you won't be too off the mark...

but i am talking about the satisfaction of a different kind...

the satisfaction of next-gen looking capable of taking the charge as and when the time will come to hand over the baton...

i am sure the seniors of team india, past and present, will not only be immensely proud on winning the series this way but deep down they will be even more happy in knowing the fact that baton will get passed on to the capable hands... the legacy will keep going...

murali vijay in first and second innings... and the moment cheteshwar pujara (CHE) stepped in at no.3... he ensured the game was team india's by the time he left the crease for sachin to take over... and it was only fitting that two veterans of the team gave finishing touches to the comprehensive win... the soopda saaf...

kumble, when he took over as test captain, made a very big and important statement... as future course for team india... that he would want india to play to win taking pitch out of equation... and when i saw him in stands applauding cheteshwar pujara, i could sense how mightily pleased he must have been seeing it happening for actual in front of him... the satisfaction on his face could be seen and felt even from the distance... transcending the live stream straight to the heart...

so sleep well today... not only for that we have established yet again that why there is no other team right now that deserve no.1 spot more than team india for we don't depend on toss... or fixed eleven to win matches as this series has shown... but sleep well knowing that we have the next-gen players who have it in them to ensure many such wins in future once the baton... the legacy... will be passed on to them when their time will come...

talk about cricket fitness...

2010-10-11T17:19:00.003+05:30

this is what murali vijay said after the end of day's play... after scoring a well deserved hundred...

"It was really special knock for me. I would like to dedicate this to my mom. It was a dream come true for me to play with Sachin. I was just focused on each ball and not try to think too far ahead. In that regard Sachin paaji helped me a lot. He gave me pep-talks through the day. After the tea I got tired; I didn't want to give my wicket away but ended up playing a bad shot. I am trying to just keep things simple and work on my basics; whenever I get my opportunities I want to do well."

this is a significant statement coming from a youngster of about 26 years of age just into international cricket... who batted alongside the veteran of 21 years of almost non-stop international cricket at the age of more than 37 year... and still batting as strong and as relaxed as if he has just come to crease... taking quick singles or twos with youngsters like murali... raina.... and later with dhoni... during his marathon innings of 190+

yes... age is just a number... right murali...?

14000 reasons to salute sachin...

2010-10-11T13:17:00.006+05:30

they say he has been playing international cricket for about 21 years...

to me... he started batting at international level the momement he picked up the bat... its not sachin's fault that they don't play international cricket for that age... so cricket waited patiently for him to become a teenager...
so that we all could feel privileged to watch him bat ever since...
its not only us who feel privileged though...
even milestones feel honored to have their name taken alongside sachin... thank you sachin!

Sportpersons should be their own spokespersons

2010-10-08T19:52:00.014+05:30

Sportpersons should be their own spokespersons. If they want, they can hire some professional to speak on their behalf; but for God's sake don't allow your parents or any of your family member to do so; neither professionally nor out of affection.

When I think of Yuvraj Singh-- more than him; the images of his parents come to my mind. Images like, "Yuvi's mum at an NGO function, requesting media to spare her son" or Yuvi's dad, in some Punjab cricket ground, with young lads carrying on their cricket training in the background, Clarifying, "Both Yuvraj and Dhoni are close to my heart; whosoever becomes the captain is not something I give a thought about". The write-up needs to be to the point so, I better not drag the visualization further; but I underline, there are many such images.

I can't see a single instance when Yuvraj addressed the media the way his parents do. Some rare instances when Yuvi actually tried to take on media; give an impression of more self pity than the conviction of a person so much gifted; with concluding remarks like, "I think I have to act in reality shows soon". [NOTE: Journalists will laugh encouraging at such remarks from legends; as they like Legends fall more than they like them rise; but their laugh should not be misunderstood]

Alright, that may be Yuvi's method of clearing himself of the vicious attacks of ever scrutinizing media; but the method is surely not of someone in control.

Taking the debate further, I think media likes images that people can relate to. If you can recall, at one time, when Sehwag was hitting double and triple centuries against Pakistan; Media was knocking the main gate of Sehwag's Delhi residence many times in a week; asking his mom, "what are you preparing for your lad ?" Kheer ? (porridge made up of milk and rice). Electronic media took the cue from an ad in which Sehwag's mom is shown as a doting mother who prepares his favorite dish daily.

I want to bring the electronic media's obsession with images that too showing "a bonded family" in another legend, the skipper Dhoni. Call it emotions, Dhoni once told to his manager that when he used to be a kid, his mum would give him cooked rice and milk when he would return from his daily practice sessions. The manager, impromptu shared this bite with the world, in some talk show.

To some it'll appear entirely silly but for a long time, succeeding the revelation, Dhoni was asked the same question by all, junior senior, journalist of all types; but in a more maternal affection induced sentence(snow ball effect) "Dhoni tell our readers how your mum used to make you drink two to three litres of milk every day". Luckily, Dhoni was smart to evade the media trap. how? in concluding paragraph.

Yuvraj, though a very gifted and brave young man, has not shown the kind of smartness Dhoni and after a few trappings Sehwag managed to show. Talking of smartness metric in this regards, a famous proverb comes handy, "Some change their routes seeing the light, others do so feeling the heat". Still both managed their professional issues well.

Yuvraj seems unwilling to know; he is still not donning the role of the spokesperson for himself for his good. Dhoni, it appears, always knew, family and profession are two different paths. On the path of one's profession, one has to always travel alone.

To conclude, let I come back to how Dhoni evaded the media's love for images trap. When a senior anchor asked him, "whether he used to have two to three litres of milk daily?" Dhoni replied as a matter of fact, "how can it be that way, after all I come from an ordinary family."

can india do bit differently at bangalore...?

2010-10-07T13:50:00.006+05:30

after the thrilling finale of mohali test all eyes are now on bangalore test... and rightly so... the farce for a test series is still living up to its hype and fans from both sides can't wait for the next test to begin...

should india go for the kill and whitewash the series 2-0 to silence its critics or can selectors show some balls by distancing themselves from the hype of expectations and take stock of things...?

did i say stock of things...? what is there to take stock of... you say...?

well... you will know in a minute...

murali has shown in past that he has this un-flustered temperament about him... that is why he could fit in the side seamlessly in short notice in past... plus he is high on confidence now so i don't think there is much to dispute his selection as sehwag's partner...

ishant's place will be replaced by sreesanth and more than his bowling we might miss him for his rear-guard play when he bats... which tells us a lot about the kind of bowling ishant is dishing apart from his consistent over-stepping problem that can make even dilhara fernando proud...

india has nothing to lose as far as this series goes... even if they lose the next test... we will retain the border-gavaskar trophy... as well as the no.1 status... but being bit more proactive we can still gain something out of bangalore tests... in real sense...

this leaves us only one place where i would like selectors to use their discretion and look for future at the same time...

however much one wants to see vvs bat after mohali test... it will be nothing short of a risk india could ill afford given the number of tests we are going to play in near future...

so i would give vvs the precautionary rest... and replace him with cheteshwar pujara and play him at no.3 with dravid taking the spot vacated by vvs laxman...

the reason being... dhoni is not in greatest of form these days... his test batting is regressing by each outing... so having che and raina followed by dhoni will be bit of a risk and i think dravid's experience will be best used there...

of whatever little i saw of che in field... he appears to be a good close-in fielder... stays low till the last possible moment... no hurried movements... and more importantly looks relaxed... no wonder he took a very good catch fielding there... plus he is coming at the back of mountain of runs on every platform he has been given the opportunity to perform... so its time he is given the nod to see what he brings in to the table...

as i said... india has nothing to lose... not the series... not the border-gavasker trophy... not even the no.1 position... on the other hand we can test how murali, sreesanth (who is making bit of comeback in test team) and of course che cope with the pressure when oz will be trying their best to make a comeback in the series...

to me its another god send opportunity (after they missed on the bangladesh tour) with a win-win situation for us as well as che & co. and if we can use this opportunity to provide them glorified net-practice against exhausted australia team i think we must enchash it... until unless we want to have bragging rights on them for a while and lose focus on the impending transition...

This country misses Ajay Jadeja or does it not ?

2010-10-06T22:20:00.004+05:30

Yesterday, Indian news channels were buzzing with the India's win over Australia at Mohali. Just move from one channel to the other and one will find a panel of experts discussing the win and of course, the VVS.

On NDTV India, Sunil Gavaskar and Ajay Jadeja were doing the honors. Sunny, though at his sarcastic best when taking on British and Aussie commentators; looked a bit subdued. i think, the part of the damp sunny was the not so fluent anchor, but the presence of Jadeja was affecting Sunny too. Jadeja -- Someone who speaks his mind without much laag-na-lapet (approximately means ' With no value Addition on aesthetics')

Jadeja has been with NDTV for more than a year now, and most of the times I find him very accurate with his predictions. In the recently concluded Sri Lanka Test series, in the second match when all the experts , Indians and others alike, were saying Sri Lanka has chance, that too during the lunch break discussion; Jadeja pitched a very non-ambiguous stance in India's favor.

I even go a step further, i believe, if the match fixing incident would not had happened Jadeja would prove to be a good captain too. What do you say ?

australia lost mohali test on another dustbed...

2010-10-06T17:06:00.003+05:30

Let's get one thing straight: losing to India in the subcontinent is no disgrace.

Plenty of great Australian teams have returned home from those dry dustbeds with their tails between their legs.

no it's not me... this is what ben dorries said who's article got published in herald sun, australia... thanks for the hat tip by friend and fellow blogger bala...

back to the dust-bed...

i wonder which test match ben reported and herald let it publish... so although the date of article seems october 6, 2010, but correct me if i am wrong... is he referring to the same mohali test that went on till almost the tea of fifth day... the same test match in which pace bowlers took 25 wickets out of 39 wicket that fell during the course of match with two run outs being other mode of dismissals...?

new poster boys... vvs laxman... ishant sharma...

2010-10-05T16:03:00.004+05:30

first there was spell from ishant and then vvs laxman decided to cast his own spell on aussies...

so move over vvs-dravid... vvs-ishant is the new classic poster...

why blame ishant... or even bhajji for that matter...?

2010-10-01T17:54:00.006+05:30

once there was poet summit (kavi-sammelan) going on... and this poet was reciting one of the most boring poems one can come across, one after another, saw this man who was frowning back and forth across the stage with a long bulky stick in hand and looking really angry... obviously this poet got worried of his safety and asked this person if everything is ok...? shall i stop...?

this person said "nah... you are our guest... please carry on... i am looking for the guy who called you..."

now you would wonder what this joke has anything to do with cricket... and specially ishant and bhajji for that matter... but give me a minute...

ishant was getting lots of flak for his no balls and wayward bowling... and even now one can read it in at the end of day's 'analysis'... but should ishant be really be blamed for that...?

for quite some time now it is getting increasingly clear that ishant is not only declining as bowler but his fitness is going down even more alarmingly as if there is competition between his skills and his body that who will give in first... and yet our wise men at helm keep in selecting him in the squad and our team think tank in the final xi...

do they sleep when ishant bowls at net...?

for, i am sure, this problem of over stepping... him spraying balls everywhere but on spot he needs to land on can be easily noticed when he is bowling in the nets... but still he continues to find a place in final xi instead of playing and rectifying it in at domestic games... given the long season we have ahead...?

same goes with bhajji... he has become the butt of joke and i am not even trying to defending him here coz with his 'consistent' bowling performances he has become indefensible... but what can bhajji do when team management is hell bent on picking him to play even when he was ill (in sri lanka) or not even half fit here at mohali...?

i am sure you got the joke now...

india vs australia: another test series... another rambling...

2010-09-27T12:08:00.002+05:30

the farce for a test series will be played between 'arch rivals' india and australia in a few days time... but the rambling in the name of 'mind games' is already on from oz team...

that how indians (specially sehwag) don't like short pitch bowling... there will be chin music... blah.. blah... blah... coming from a team that got thrashed last time when they toured india... why they forgot to implement this 'strategy' last time is the question best left un-answered as far as ponting goes...

can't they find some different expressions... thoughts... to talk about game...? and if not... keep shut like indian camp that is instead of delivery these yawning beauties are just focusing on the preparation for the series...?

coming to preparation... australia's only chance, if there is any, lies in the first innings of team india's batting... that too if they manage to cause damage big enough that can't be recovered in the second innings... as india continue to suffer from this perennial problem of not hitting the ground running... and if australia can't exploit this weakness first up... they can safely say good bye to this series...

...and this is my rambling about india being slow-starters... :)

what i learnt from pakistan's tour of england...

2010-09-24T18:41:00.004+05:30

that, technically speaking, players can be suspended for bowling no-balls...

that henceforth any team that score slowly in two overs when they should be looking to 'up the ante' shall invite immediate investigation by icc...

that an unknown journalist's word carries more weight in icc's eye than the president of an associate board...

finally... icc is willing to run cricket at the whim and fancy of tabloids...

pakistan was disturbed...

2010-09-23T11:26:00.001+05:30

"We were very absolutely outraged by ecb's demand for butt's apology" Afridi said. "We refute them completely and we were very disturbed that someone would come out and demand apology for our president's "innocent remarks" without any proof to back their innocence. When this news broke there was a lot of raw emotion around and we needed to let that subside. But we didn't have a lot of time to do that. Once the emotion did subside, we as a group of players realised that the best option available to us was to play the game."

this is what afridi said after losing yet another series against a team that was already very disturbed and lost lord's odi earlier coz of that...

england is disturbed...

2010-09-21T13:06:00.004+05:30

"We were very absolutely outraged by the allegations yesterday," Strauss said. "We refute them completely and we were very disturbed that someone would come out with those allegations without any proof to back them up. When the allegations first surfaced there was a lot of raw emotion around and we needed to let that subside. But we didn't have a lot of time to do that. Once the emotion did subside, we as a group of players realised that the best option available to us was to play the game."

this is what strauss said after losing consecutive odi against a team that is marred with match fixing allegations...

against a team that is not allowed to drop a catch... score a blob... can't even score low for two consecutive overs... can't even play a maiden over after a reasonable high scoring over or icc will launch another investigation... have to deal with a unique nut like ijaz butt on daily basis... when they eventually win the same nut, their own president, goes on air to accuse opposition team of losing it for money and finally against the team that can't even afford to smile in diversity for the very act will invite further suspicion... scrutiny...

if for anything... strauss should be disturbed coz he can't even win against a beleaguered team...

how do you feel about yuvraj getting dropped from test team...?

2010-09-20T17:24:00.002+05:30

so yuvraj singh is dropped from the test team...and not 'rested' as they mildly put for more accomplished players...

he was recently dropped from an odi team owing to 'fitness and form' and then was allowed to sleep walk later both in test and odi team without proving either fitness or form so i am not reading too much into him getting dropped...

or should i...?

if i were yuvraj i would punish myself no less than spending a day with ijaz butt for squandering a spot which was presented to him on platter after ganguly's retirement... for not respecting the highest form of cricket enough although one can hear the tape recorded statements that how one loves and yearns to be a test cricketer...

he was seen as natural successor of ganguly but with more attacking game if not grit to fight it out... and that is where, i think, he let it go...

we might never know whether yuvraj could offer us only that much or with more application he had it in him to seal the spot for competition...

so on a day when yuvraj being dropped from the team seems much bigger news than the selection of cheteshwar pujara... sadly i don't feel sad about yuvraj getting dropped from the test team...

what you would be doing if you were cheteshwar pujara...?

2010-09-20T14:16:00.007+05:30

selectors are not going to wait till BPXI game... they will be meeting today to select the test team for the home series against australia...

so another potential selection awaits CHE'teshwar pujara...

how will the day end for him...?

will he be looking forward to the BPXI game to justify the faith selectors would show on him by selecting him...? or will he look at that game to show that there is no cure for the myopia selectors are suffering from...?

in my team CHE would have made it far ahead of rohit sharmas, suresh rainas but that is my team... in team india... he will have to wait till endless chances would be bestowed on players like yuvraj... rohit sharmas to make it certain that there is no test cricket in them...or drag seniors like dravid, sachin and laxman till there is no test cricket left in them...

but then will pujara be able to hold the forte without assurance of performance appreciation coming for that long or will he let the disappointment of consistent ignorance without explanation eat his trusted companions like talent... temperament... that have kept him going till now...

we shall see in not so distant future...

update:

guess who said this...

but i am not losing on hope and my gut feeling is that he will be selected (if not play) for oz home series...

finally selectors could not afford to keep him out... cheteshwar pujara has finally made it to team india... lets see when he breaks into final xi...

the team:
MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Cheteshwar Pujara, M Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Sreesanth and Amit Mishra

why forcing pcb to act is just a 'righteous' move...

2010-09-16T18:30:00.003+05:30

there have been calls that cricket fraternity should force pcb to act so that the corrupt players are not let off with mild punishment making the mockery of cricket war against match or spot fixing given the past record of pcb...

well... i don't have issues with other boards forcing pcb to act decisively... but what would penalising three tainted players will achieve...? will cricket become immune to the fixing just by getting rid of three tainted players...?

what about all boards collectively forcing icc to make acsu not only capable enough to act proactively but accountable to such glaring lapses when they were literally caught with their pants down by NOTW...?

a classic example of how acsu function... first they cleared the kamaran's sydneygate test of any suspicion of match fixing but now they are reinvestigating the same test after the NOTW exposé... means either their inquiry into sydney test earlier was shoddy and hurried... or they just want to be seen on working sincerely gauging the prevalent sentiment now...

till we have these customary watch dogs that exists just for the sake of it... that take millions to sleep at work... i am sure we are not far behind from exposing another tainted players of match fixing coz if only stringent actions against the culprits would decidedly serve as the deterrent... we would never see a murder in life...

can 'informant' amir really escape life ban...?

2010-09-14T13:56:00.008+05:30

if this report is to be believed... mohammad amir could become icc informant and reveal "dodgy betting identities that corrupted him" to escape life ban from the spot fixining charges...

but in doing so... can amir escape the life ban in real...?

let me explain...

in life one can become informant of authorities to escape harsh punishment coz he has the option to start life afresh elsewhere... but can cricketer who will have to return to the same system... same colleagues to earn living by playing for them do that...?

although in open... pcb and his colleagues will pat his back for exposing the malice in cricket... but will they trust him the same way in closet...?

will the very system, pcb in this case, that didn't act earlier coz its own hands were muddled in corruption, continue to pick him like they would normally after amir exposing "dodgy betting identities that corrupted him"...?

incidentally... the first casualty of spot fixing saga is not from the tainted trio but it is yasir hameed, who on camera bragged about all his colleagues being involved in match fixing, and one can be pretty assured he won't share the same dressing room again...

hameed is the one who will be serving the unofficial life ban... without even charged for spot fixing...

why you want to shift attention...?

2010-09-11T13:10:00.007+05:30

look around almost everybody is welcoming champions league (CLT20) as the savior of cricket... the much needed refreshing shift of attention cricket needed from spot fixing saga...

why we would want to shift attention from spot-fixing when the time is ripe to nip it in the bud...?

why you want to just do the first aid with supporting dose of painkiller to do away the pain when its really is the time to operate...?

painkillers never heal the wound... the faith that was the first and biggest casualty... painkillers just takes the pain of being cheated away from us... the attention gets diverted and this is exactly what the incompetent authorities are waiting for... the moment the attention is shifted they will pounce on the opportunity to create the illusion of action...

they will keep on throwing painkillers like a bait to fans hoping to get much needed time for negotiations to appease and protect their vested interests and we as fan would keep on falling to these baits coz they know we don't have options...

but if ever there was time ripe for over-reactions in cricket... this is the time...

cricket will be played... there won't be dearth of it... the upcoming season is full of it... and as a fan i am ready to do away with some of the side shows that are being run in the name of cricket, the pundits are already proclaiming as welcome shift of attention, if it leads to some concrete, if not conclusive, actions to restore the lost faith...

newTON's laws of cricket...

2010-09-10T13:53:00.001+05:30

first law... (specific)
cricket remains in a state of uniform motion until unless there is a lahore or act of fixing involved...

first law...(universal)
cricket remains in a state of immunity until unless there is case of IPL or BCCI involved...

second law...
action taken by ICC is directly proportional to the pressure exerted by BCCI...

third law...
for every gideon haigh there is an equal and opposite harsha bhogle...

soulberry wants to 'spot fix' ranji trophy...

2010-09-03T19:30:00.002+05:30

pardon the headline... but amongst the hoohaa of spot fixing saga... soulberry has taken a less treaded path of ranji trophy and eloquently argues it to be established as THE selectorial pointer for tests...

Having seen the better days of Ranji and participated in its viewing as one of a crowd, I understand the nurturing role Ranji Trophy played to foster essential cricket in India.

Let us make Ranji THE selectorial point for Tests. It doesn't have to be how many T20s you have playd or how many ODIs you have played. Rare exceptions may find their way via these routes, but that should not be the norm. It is in the overall benefit of the player and the game of cricket in India to have a sound, well-rounded game honed in a tesing, competitive Ranji environment. Also, grounds and pitces must be such that they foster good cricket and allow expression and polishing of all skills - batting, bowling and fielding - hile employing them in a fiercely contested match.

Imagine the sad irony if Rohit Sharma plays ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara in Tests!

if your head has already started spinning from spot fixing saga... and even if not... you know where to head...

a refreshing read on rarely talked about ranji trophy... makarand waingankar scores a bullseye...

prem panicker on icc's anti corruption unit functioning...

2010-09-02T12:32:00.004+05:30

pp's latest post on his blog smoke signal has this very interesting little passage about how icc anti corruption unit (ACU) function...

Said ICC president and his personally chosen successor are so invested in a ‘zero tolerance’ policy that they agreed to allow the ICC’s anti-corruption unit to monitor the 2009 edition of the IPL. Remember how that came about?

The ICC offered the services of its unit; the BCCI sat on the request for months, taking no action whatsoever. When the news hit the media, the BCCI pushed back, saying the ICC was charging an inordinate sum for its services. It turned out that the ICC’s bill for having its inspectors present at all venues, rigorously covering the games and off-field activities, was $1.2 million — a paltry sum when contrasted with what the BCCI was earning from the IPL. When its ‘exorbitant charge’ excuse began to look threadbare, the BCCI promised to ‘study the issue’ and ‘arrive at a solution’. It finally did — on April 17, 2009, it told the ICC that the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit was welcome to monitor the IPL.

The catch? The BCCI had green-lighted the ACSU late afternoon of the day before the IPL actually kicked off. In other words, by sitting on the proposal for months, the BCCI had effectively ensured that the ACSU would not have the time to deploy its personnel to provide adequate safeguards [typically, the ACSU works on a series or tournament two to three months before the start deadline].

so is it safe to assume that icc's acsu that charges millions for its services... would have deployed it's inspectors two to three months in advance and during the england pakistan 'spot fix' series...?

is that right mr. prem panicker...?

recommended story: hatchet on...

pakistan bowlers vs indian batsmen

2010-09-01T16:57:00.006+05:30

i was reading this article from aakash chopra... what makes pakistan produce so many fast bowlers...? and suddenly this thought came to my mind...

it may sound simplistic... but i feel... since pakistan produces so many fast bowlers... they tend to crush the budding batsmen confidence in very early stage hence we see few pakistan batsmen cross the hurdle and flourish...

but since india do not produce quality pace bowlers that much... the budding batsmen of india do not face same searching questions like pak batsmen hence we see them prosper more...

explains the famous adage that pakistan produces great fast bowlers while india the batsmen...?

jrod has proof of spot fixing in ipl...

2010-08-30T13:17:00.003+05:30

i know i would be hated for this... but if you don't believe me... here is the definite pointer...

I’m not naïve about spot fixing, I’ve written more than a few pieces about it. I know it goes on. But in pointless ICL, IPL or Pro40 games.

before you link my nationality with this post and dismiss it as rant of another ipl chastity protector... let me clear at outset that i am not beating my chest over ipl... it is the matter of principle, attitude and responsibility...

the matter of spraying words just to make an interesting narrative... and bcoz jrod is angry that his cricket, he so dearly loves, which has been maligned, so he has got the right to throw accusations at anything he pleases...

it is also surprising as well as disappointing that on one count coz he is looking to make career out of cricket, he dearly loves, and is one of the most followed blogger on blogosphere... who has just given in to the verbal diarrhea over facts and substance just to make narrative interesting...

and here, i was thinking that here comes the one who will not at least give in to cheap sensationalism over substance that is so prevalent these days...

so either jrod has conclusive proofs of spot fixing in ipl and will share it with all of us for the benefit of cleansing cricket he dearly loves or at least has the grace to put an apology to admit that this was one lose word too many...

coz in failing to do so he invariably stands in same corner like the ones who blaim cricketers... players are cheats and hence malign cricket more than anything without actually having anything in support to show for their accusations...

stuart broad makes century at lord's...

2010-08-28T12:05:00.002+05:30

obviously pakistan bowlers were not passionate and frustrated enough... coz i am yet to hear any ball throwing incident at broad or trott to show their competitiveness and passion to play for country...

although all the ingredients to make them feel like one were there for them to explore... like...

top order folding like nine pins... and suddenly when you are expecting to relax at dressing room after folding england for next to nothing... here comes the epic partnership which could have annoyed even the lousiest ones...

but not pak bowlers... they just bowled to create opportunities... and even if they would have felt frustrated about it... didn't let emotions reflect it with their demeanor on field...

crap!

how do you feel about upcoming oz series...?

2010-08-26T13:16:00.004+05:30

despite virtually non existent middle order... hue and cry over our youngster's performance in ongoing tri-series... india have made it to yet another final with sri lanka being the other team...

the pattern of this tournament is very consistent... no team has reached any level of consistency... every team's campaign has been 'blow hot blow cold' type with win or loss coming with equal massive margins... which shows that the matches have been more or less like lotteries where rather than team efforts the wins have come from the individual brilliances from player like sehwag in india's case...

although team india's youngsters performances have been disappointing with no one coming close to make an effort to stay at wicket and make his innings count... hence not a single score of even 50... in fact at times they could not even muster 50 runs collectively...

the allrounder in jadeja neither could help team india finish 50 overs after coming to crease when there were more that 10 overs left in the match (which could have proved crucial) nor he was deemed fit to bowl even at no.10, 11 batsmen...

so jadeja is neither a grafter... certainly not a hard hitter... can't be trusted to even bowl at tailenders... basically he fails in every department of what is expected from no.7 player...

but our presumed weakest link... bowling has shown that given the helpful conditions we are as good as any other bowling attack if not the best...

so what if someone from our young crop goes on to play a blinder of innings in finals and we win yet another final even with the some unresolved problems at hand...?

i would have certainly liked them to be tested against oz at home before making a final decision... but thanks to test cricket saving brigade... and bcci generosity of providing ponting some lifeline... we would be playing only three ODIs instead of at least five (though it was originally a seven match LOI series)...

although dravid or vvs would not agree with me... but two test series in the midst of world cup season is nothing but a distraction...

i would have loved to see the full LOI series with world cup being just a few months away and some question marks looming large on our young crop... the oz series could have given us strong pointers...

the three odi series is too brief that would be over before anyone could notice it... what will happen is... there will be so much pressure to win every game in that brief series and given the pressure exerted by media (and fans too) we can safely say good bye to seeing any experiment in that series in terms of combination or strategy...

apart from a scoreline... what we will gain from that series...?

this is why one wonders... what the 'save test cricket romantics' smoke..?

let us tease... you sledgers...

2010-08-25T16:27:00.005+05:30

inimitable peter roebuck has done it again... this time by trying to justify the thinking of one culture (read oz) against the thinking of other cultures (read rest of world but specially subcontinental) against the back drop of 'spirit of game'...

bored member achettup of soal fame has not only helped us decipher roebuck's pearls of wisdom at bored... but goes on to expose the 'consistency' only the inimitable peter can manage...

how the very culture that relish to seize any opportunity to 'tease' others... about 'mental disintegration' of others... how it is expected of others to take the 'tease' on chin and move on... the ones who talks so much about inability of others to face the 'tease'... suddenly become crying sissy babies before 'others' can even blink when they taste their own medicine... err tease... and love to play 'teacher-teacher'...

what a 'teaser'...

world cup 2011: are we on track...?

2010-08-23T12:33:00.002+05:30

in the three matches in ongoing tri series in sri lanka, india has suffered two massive defeats... and won one on the back of some refreshingly restrained batting from sehwag... naturally the question which comes to mind is... are we on track as far as world cup 2011 concerned...?

there are two ways to look at it...

india is playing in sri lanka without sachin, gambhir, zaheer and some common sense... as it can only happen in indian team that the batsman who averages 43 is made to sit in favor of a batsman who hardly averages 30!

but when our first choice players will be back, we will be the team to beat and this is exactly my problem with our world cup preparation...

the replacement players are not making their comeback into team any hard... as if they are warming the bench knowing their fate and hence busy laying red carpet for them to just sleep walk into the team...

not even the bad decisions of dharamsena can camouflage ineptness of their batting and their visible allergy to spent some time in the middle... to dig it out the tough period to form an innings of substance...

karthiks, rohits and jadejas are refusing to take their game to next level... in fact they are struggling to maintain any level they have had in first place... yet team management is playing them... giving them enough exposure in the hope that they will come good since they have invested so much in them... but it's getting increasingly clear that there is only so much they can do...

ideally we should have been very clear by now who are going to represent team india for the world cup but if our back up players are going to be rohits, karthiks and jadejas then there is an instant reason to worry about our world cup prospects...

how to show 'character'...

2010-08-17T11:32:00.006+05:30

had randiv thrown the ball out of boundary he would have looked far more innocent...

no surprise it has come from the team that talks about 'character' so much they can't even complete a sentence without using it...

on bored: Randiv, see what YOU have left FAR BEHIND!

rotation policy: sangakkara is right on money...

2010-08-16T14:49:00.004+05:30

every now and then someone from the power circle comes out and gives lip service to the rotation policy... but as soon as the statement is over... the issue is forgotten and brushed aside safely under the carpet like unwanted rust...

of late almost every team is struggling to put up their first choice players specially bowlers on the park and given the way cricket is on air every alternate day this situation is not going to change... it will only get worse if proper attention is not given to this 'everybody-talks-about-no-one-follows' problem...

sangakkara is right on money when he suggested...

"From team point of view, we can recommend rest to certain players, especially fast bowlers because of their load. But the final call has to come from selectors, otherwise there is too much responsibility on the individual player.

"And when you have a rotational policy, I think it is important that the player has the confidence that if you are rotated out of the team, you get first choice back. It doesn't matter if your replacement scores a hundred or a double."

sanga's suggestion addresses two points very clearly... first, that it is the system who will have to make the call... and secondly but more importantly... while making rotation calls the system must address to the insecurity aspect of the player... the very core problem of the issue...

administrators have been passing the buck by saying that player should be honest and should themselves take calls on whether they need rest or not or in declaring injuries which just goes to show that they are living in cages and are not in sync with how cricket is being played and how much the stakes are involved these days...

with the amount of money players are getting these days through endorsements which are directly or indirectly linked with whether the player in question is in the team or not... its not hard to understand why they want to make the most of it while they can...

another core aspect is the insecurity... what if the player opts for rest and the replacement player goes on to score a century or a five-for...? will the player who opted to take rest have to again fight for the spot again he vacated willingly...?

until unless the insecurity aspect is not taken care of and we have selectors of integrity and authority... we will never reach to a workable implementation of rotation policy... that is why sanga is right on money for honestly coming out in open with the players concerns yet at the same time asking system to take the call...

my two cents on no.7 bandwagon...

2010-08-14T13:54:00.008+05:30

with world cup few months away india suddenly seems awake to the no.7 problem...

blame it on our obsession to find a decent allrounder leave alone proper allrounder... despite its being clear that we just don't have any... hence we might pay the price of wasting too much time on making allrounders out of pathans and now jadeja but still there is some time left and we can still find a solution that is workable...

although it sound simplistic but sometimes the solution of most problem are indeed simple and available but if only we don't keep making it more complicated than it is and then feeling frustrated about the whole effort...

the solution, according to me, lies in sharing...

just like when one of the four front line bowler has an off day part timers steps in we should or i dare say must look to share the requirement from no.7 spot from players like bhaji and praveen kumar... with the addition of a specialist... either a bowler or batsman according to the requirement...

bhajji and praveen kumar (and to some extent zaheer) are no mugs with bat... infact bhajji's batting has improved very much of late and he has the skills to make clean strong hits... though one can sight his daft shot in first innings of first test at galle but that was more of brain-fade than anything... the very reason we were so disappointed of him is the acknowledgment of his batting skills...

the challenge is on making them aware of their responsibilities and keep them focused throughout the tournament... this is where team management steps in... they should show faith but at the same time they should be firm in telling them what is expected of them... no mincing of words there...

sehwag, yuvraj, raina, bhajji, praveen and even zaheer can all share their secondary skills to make up for an illusive allrounder...

what we need is a floater as a specialist batsman who has the ability of an impact player... the game breaker... and i think robin uthappa, if fit, can be the real steal... he has it in him to change the course of match with his on your face kind of big hitting and is also a decent bat to let pass some quite overs if the need be...

so my team for the tournament will be...

sachin, sehwag, gambhir, yuvraj, uthappa, raina, dhoni, bhajji, praveen, zaheer, nehra/ojha

with ishant, kohli, sharma being in reserve... and without a single passenger that is...

we don't mind praveen amre's sacking...

2010-08-13T11:55:00.004+05:30

if this toi report is to be believed... praveen amre was axed for not playing chennai bowler... chandrasekar ganapathy... although question mark left at the end of headline is enough to raise doubts about the authenticity of the report... but even though the report turns out to be true... we really don't mind it...

the 'deserving' word is very subjective and emotions associated with it can't always be set aside from the geography of the one who is using it... but one thing is for sure... this 'news' has put the lad in an unnecessary lime light...

as i said we really don't mind if a coach is sacked for not playing a 'deserving' player... and we know certain CHE'teshwar pujara won't really mind this development... but what we really want to see is that coaches, and dare say, selectors getting sacked for playing non-deserving players...

for perennially attempting to make allrounders out of pathans and jadejas when a specialist would do a fab job...

for making the india cap so cheap that even you and me who know how to hold bat and roll the arm over can lay claim to being an allrounder...

for making insult to legends like kapil dev by calling these players allrounders when the fact of the matter is that they can neither bat nor bowl...

dhoni refuses to offer any excuse...

2010-08-11T12:28:00.003+05:30

Dhoni, who had been praised by the likes of VVS Laxman recently for his manner of handling victories and defeats with equal poise, refused to offer any excuses for India's fourth-biggest ODI defeat in terms of runs.

However, he did single out the toss, Mithun's heatstroke, the rushed schedule right after a gruelling Test series, and of course the spongy bounce of the surface.

dhoni is right to blame the toss here... once we lost the toss coupled with spongy bounce of the surface... india had no choice but to bundle out for 88 runs...

the rushed schedule also played its part although one skeptic pointed out that karthik, rohit, jadeja, praveen and nehra were not the part of the test team... yuvi did not play last two tests... and dhoni could well have taken rest coz he was in deep discomfort keeping wickets in last test match that would have meant seven fresh players would have played to negate the 'rushed schedule' but it was rightly dismissed as arm-chair pundit's hindsight knee-jerk reaction after the loss...

so one can see there were no excuses given for team india's fourth biggest odi defeat... we just did it to generate some interest towards this meaningless 'rushed' tri-series...

move on sachin... stuart broad is here...

2010-08-09T14:08:00.010+05:30

although sachin is crowned the (unofficial) god of cricket... but we are not yet convinced...

unlike stuart broad... we have never seen sachin given the god like status...

stuart broad, of all players, has unlimited access to umpires to quiz them as and when he desires... allowed to show frustration whereas others are booked for dissents trying to ape him by showing similar 'frustration'... he has the power to stop the ball at play with his spiked shoes... and unlike lesser mortals... he does not need to appeal to take the wicket...

and they still call sachin the god of cricket...

on bored: spare the broad and spoil the child...

on sachin being rested from tri-series...

2010-08-02T14:14:00.005+05:30

as expected... sachin has been rested from the upcoming tri-series between india, sri lanka and new zealand...

sachin has been given rest is not an ordinary decision but a comment on sign of times to come... when a player will be rested from meaningless international series to play in more commercially viable... glamorised designer domestic level tournament... the future of cricket... aptly named... champions league...

coz that is where champion players play...

why should a champion player, like sachin, play in an unglamorous, increasingly meaningless and about to die format... limited overs internationals... nobody cares about...?

let's have a ball then...

2010-07-31T11:29:00.001+05:30

recently a side got out to 88 runs and had it not being the ineptness of the team that bowled them out... the match would have been over in 2 and a half days...

yesterday another team came close to get bowled out to even less... it didn't... yet even after the bad light stoppage and a wicket keeper standing as 12th man for opposition team... the match could still be over in three days...

i saw as many as seven fielders in the slip cordon and wicket taking was not an event anymore... run making was...

cut to ssc...

the wickets were at premium there... the premium was so high that captains... even before bowlers... stopped thinking about purchasing them and let batters collect as many freebies as possible... how high the premium on wickets was can be proved by the fact that... one captain... sangakkara was seen having sweepers on even for no.10 and 11 batsmen... yet some call him attacking captain but that's beside the point...

on one pitch batsmen were there to just go and edge it to the gleefully waiting seven slip fielders... and on another fielders were employed as far from batsmen as possible to stop run making...

while in both cases there was just no competition between bat and ball... yet its only the ssc pitch which draws the criticism...

so correct me if i am wrong... it can be safely concluded that yawning draws on five days on flat pitches are test match killers... but a lottery of a pitch where 'who can pitch ball straight to get wicket'... where 'match' is as good as over in almost half days allotted for 'test'... actually saves the test cricket...

what will they do...?

2010-07-27T16:57:00.003+05:30

if these centuries will come in testing conditions... circumstances...?

good bye no. 1 ranking...

2010-07-26T12:58:00.008+05:30

it was nice till it lasted... was nice up there for a while...

if there were already doubts that we are actually no.1 or not in the real sense... then be prepared to safely say good bye even to the no.1 ranking and not only coz of the skills or talent the current team has at its disposal... which is how unfortunate it can be...

for quite some time it is clear that there is no synchrony between team management or to be precise dhoni and our bunch of jokers... if one is heading north then other is heading south just to show who is actually the boss... there just does not seem to have any thought or effort put into to not only keep the rating at the helm going but taking it to beyond the realms of ranking...

i agree that injuries have not helped but the functioning of current regime goes beyond buffoonery...

we have already discussed here that how 'farsighted' was the selection of ishant and sreesanth... but the ongoing omission of mishra is the classic example of open tussle that is going on between dhoni and the selectors...

it is clear that dhoni does not like mishra... and he has good reason to not... you don't boost your chances of play when you say "sehwag will be better captain than dhoni" while playing under later without putting up performances that can't be ignored...

without going on the merits and demerits of mishra's (non)selection in final xi... under the circumstances picking mishra is just a waste of place as it is happening in sri lanka right now... despite below par performances of harbhajan who is refusing to be the leader of the pack despite his claims and ojha who not even looking like restricting the scoring to bolt one end up leave alone coming close to taking wicket... is playing second tests on a pitch which is offering some bounce where mishra would have been more effective and logical choice...

amit mishra is a seasoned campaigner... he was bowled 20637 deliveries and taken 367 wicket in domestic cricket... and so its not that they want to give exposure to him by selecting him for tests and away tours... but somehow the rope given to him is so short that before you notice him bowl in tests you see him carrying drinks for his mates...

if you pick a player with an intention of not playing him then this is a waste of place to me... no.1 teams do not carry passengers with them... but the ongoing tussle between leadership and bunch of jokers has ensured that we are one option short to fall back to... one place that could have gone to ashwin... piyush chawla (sangakkara rates him as best leg spinner from india) or even to murali karthik or ramesh powar...

in a well settled team most players pick themselves... but selectors gain reputations for their selection of fringe players... which not only shows which direction they are heading to but keep the talent at disposal interested... but current selection panel is hell bent on killing everything their predecessor have managed... and if our team is still performing well and winning more matches than they are losing... then it is despite their buffoonery...

part of the blame should go to dhoni as well who seems more interested in creating his comfort zone... massaging his ego with his set of pet players rather than rise above it and play final xi on its merit... and if someone is thinking that in second test there at ssc we are playing with best xi then i must be watching different cricket...

shri shri muttiah muralitharan 800 spinbaaz...

2010-07-22T16:00:00.000+05:30

cut above the rest...

very very selfish laxman...?

2010-07-22T12:02:00.004+05:30

the batting or to be precise farming of strike from vvs laxman has been very strange in this test... though he has done it earlier but this galle test takes the cake... as if he is hell bent on giving every opportunity to murali to achieve that magic figure of 800 wickets...

when the more accomplished batsman is at crease batting with tailenders one would assume that the former will take the lead and farm the strike as much as possible... muck like hussey who is master at the art of batting with tailenders...

now there are two schools of thoughts one says that take every run which is available and trust tailender to do the job... another, like me, thinks that irrespective of what the personal belief you as a batsman may have... keep the team interest in mind and optimize every opportunity specially when one is saving the tests where occupation at crease become much more important... sometimes it does not take anything away from you if you play for your mate...

one instance from this match comes to my mind... when yuvi came to the crease it was clear that only few overs of the day were left... we all know that yuvi, specially in early part of his innings, does not play spinners that good... it was clear from the gestures of umpires that the next over, due to be bowled by murali, is most probably going to be the last over of the days play... but yet laxman showed no inclination to take the lead and play out murali instead...

now one can come up and say that if no.6 batsman can't play out last over of the day then he should sit out which is perfectly reasonable... but as a part of the team... one must sense these little things... as these small little things adds up to the final tally... who knows if laxman played out that over from murali things could have been bit different for team india today... knowing that two front line batsmen will be at crease followed by dhoni...

we all know about the dosti of sehwag and gambhir... and in one interview gambhir categorically said that when he would feel the pressure or would not time the ball as good as he would like... or struggle against particular bowler... viru will take the cue and play out that bowler or made him stand in non-striker end to let that phase pass out... no wonder they share such level of camaraderie and respect for each other...

now one cannot expect the same level of camaraderie from ever member of the team but the point is same as i said earlier... it does not take away anything from your game or reputation or your so called personal belief if you play for your mate...

as i was writing this mithun got out and laxman took the single off first ball of murali to expose ishant sharma for full over after doing the same with mithun for a while... one wonders...

first test: india showing age old problem...

2010-07-21T13:01:00.010+05:30

when returning from break... team india always takes time to warm up to the game... is known to be the slow starter ever since they have started playing game...

years have come and gone and so the players of different mind sets... but one thing which has been going on like a true legacy is... our inability to hit the ground running...

the reason given this time is that india has players like dravid... laxman who plays only one format of the game... tests that is... and tendulkar who misses many matches due to him taking rest or forced rest... it takes some time for them to be back in the groove... wonder why the same was not said in justification for the players like langer(s) of yesteryear's or katich(s) from the more contemporary players...

before the series began, dravid and sehwag labeled this series as unfinished business... wonder whether that was their individual opinion or they really represented the views of team as whole... but even our 'slow start' enigma permitting... some of the shots played by our batsmen defied the sentiment of a team on to some unfinished business...

coming back to slow start... this is why first test of the test series... home or away does not matter... becomes very important for the teams playing against us... this is where we are at our vulnerable best... and once we are out of first test jittery we become a different team altogether... so even if the bowlers might be bit tired sangakkara must press for follow-on and should go for no-holds-barred approach... the only team that can lose this game is india and he must press for it... this is his best... and i dare say... only chance...

elbowgate: chris broad give reason... at last...

2010-07-17T12:42:00.001+05:30

only yesterday this blog asked chris broad to give reasons why he let ponting off the hook...? why he was not reprimanded... at least...?

chris broad has allegedly confessed...

reprimanding ponting would have meant discussing the elbowgate issue with him in close proximity and after seeing the video who with the semblance of mind would risk that...? so i decided to...

for more repercussions of elbowgate... checkout at bored...

elbowgate: icc accepts they are partial...

2010-07-15T20:53:00.002+05:30

sorry for uploading the same image twice within few posts... but i thought it was necessary to make the point...

since i have been following cricket... i have never seen icc recognising the instigator or provocateur... they have always punished the offender irrespectively... the cricket history is flooded with such instances and there is not need to mention them separately... collectively...

now under this light if we see both incidents (coz they are the most recent elbow incidents) gambhir was banned for the same offense but ponting got scot free even after it is established beyond doubt that both gambhir and ponting 'deliberately elbowed' their opponents...

once it is established that both deliberately made 'contact' then even as per the icc and the judgement they have been handing out in the name of 'spirit of cricket' or 'justice' the preceeding circumstances that led them to 'deliberately elbow' their opponent becomes irrelevant...

now see what chris broad said during his 'unofficial' public reprimand of aamer...

"It has happened twice now so we as a playing control team thought it would be sensible for me to have a word with him. He accepted it graciously and undertook to avoid a repeat occurrence. As far as we are concerned the issue is now closed."

so ponting has the right to deliberately stretch his elbow with the intention of making contact... coz amir has done it twice...?!

don't you think that this is bit rich of broad to almost justify what ponting did...? and who would explain why and under what justification ponting was let off without even a word uttered to his empty vessel so that it would have resonated loud and clear to all and sundry...?

lord's elbowgate: landmark judgement from chris broad...

2010-07-14T17:11:00.004+05:30

mohammad amir (you read it right... it's amir not ricky ponting) has been gently reprimanded by chris broad... he noted...

"Amir is a young, exciting, talented player full of enthusiasm for this great sport and that is to be celebrated and nurtured," Broad said. "But there are a few things he still has to learn in relation to how to conduct himself on the field of play.

but chris... what about the player who has been captaining national team for years... is second highest scorer in the history of test cricket and featured in more matches than the overs amir has bowled...? why not even a word on him on 'how to conduct himself on field of play'...?

"I told him that when he takes a wicket, he should celebrate with his team-mates rather than getting himself into the personal space of the outgoing batsman. It's a spirit of cricket issue.

so under the (new) spirit of cricket... it is OK if to get elbowed in full glare of fans and media if you infringe a player's space...

no surprise then that pricky does not even find a mention in the judgment and since the precedence has been set... batsmen who were finding it bit restrictive for the want of their personal space but could not find a way to get out of it... now they can elbow whoever who dare to come within their range of 'personal space'... and once again its pricky who has shown them the way by putting his neck on the line...

look at it any which way... this is a remarkable observation... judgment from chris broad...

from now onwards you have elbowed a player or not is not even the contention point anymore... the (other) player stepped into your personal space or not is...

BRILLIANT!!!

my elbow is penalty free than yours...

2010-07-14T13:15:00.007+05:30

when ponting successfully managed to elbow amir the way that it was visible to everybody but to the on-field umpires and match referee... michael holding was on air... and this is what he said (though the words may not be the same) almost justifying him elbowing amir... on behalf of pricky...

"ponting was just trying to create the space for himself... by stretching his elbow he was showing aamer that this is my space and i don't think there is anything wrong with that..."

i did not know, before this, that only pricky is entitled to create his space this way...

though there is also this small matter of icc rule that says... under no-circumstances... you cannot make physical contact with your opponent with an intent to hurt him... and i don't think ponting meant a gentle hello to amir there... but this is pricky... the most 'behaved' captain in the history of cricket... and this is our system... if one cannot see it... one cannot penalise it...

i also blame pakistani players and for that matter... all players other than oz team... who just do not show courage to stand up for their mates... remember... only a gentle pat at the back of brett lee by harbhajan, which even lee did not mind, led to monkeygate...?

related story – log-on to achettup's soal... guess who? we’ll be keeping an eye on this... for more insight into this incident...

so who is next for the musical chair game...?

2010-07-12T12:25:00.005+05:30

after zaheer khan's injury the latest news being that sreesanth too is returning home leaving the already reeling bowling attack bit more thin...

although it is questionable that why zaheer was selected in the first place coz he was struggling even in odi series... was not looking fully fit... but at least there our bunch-of-jokers were consistent with their 'selection policy' which is to select (unfit) players on hope that they will be fit by the time series will start... rather than proven fitness though certain yuvraj would like to disagree with me...

one would like to believe that sree's injury is bit freakish and can happen to any bowler... but closer look at the 'selection policy' makes one think differently...

it's common knowledge in cricket that bowlers... specially pace bowlers... need some overs under their belt to be back in the groove... to gain bowling rhythm... loosen up bowling muscles... they cannot be installed from one place to another like bowling machines out of cold... though even machines require bit of warming up...

if it was clear in our bunch-of-jokers minds that ishant and sreesanth will be our 'test bowlers' then why they deprived both these bowlers some good overs and exposure in england for india-a tour...?

now suddenly the onus is on 'cold' ishant to be the leader of the pace attack and i will be least surprised if he too falls out midway during the series...

the least common sense we can expects from these gents, who get paid 40 lacs per annum to play the musical chair game, was to send them on india-a tour so that they would have been in perfect shape going into the sri lanka series which has already been labeled as unfinished business...

but as they say... common sense is the most uncommon thing these days...

insecurity or irreplaceable camaraderie...?

2010-07-08T15:03:00.004+05:30

before india's departure to unfinished business in sri lanka... kadambari murali talked to gautam gambhir... and this section caught my attention...

Like Sehwag does... Was it tough not having him around?
It did play on my mind, his not being there. We know each others' games and needs so well and it's always great fun batting to open with Sehwag. It also takes time to understand someone else's batting and change your role to adapt to theirs and there's not always that time.

it's good to have a close friend at the other end which is comforting coz you both know each other inside out hence you tend to be more relax... but is it good to take it to the level that, if your friend is not there, it plays in your mind... you feel bit insecure... and take time to adjust to the player who is batting at the other end...

if suppose... your close friend is your opponent would you bat or bowl differently facing him...?

being a professional cricketer you are supposed to do your job and if other than the competitiveness of your opponent... the pressure of playing at international level for your country... and your form bothers you... and prevents you to be at the top of your game... it should count as superfluous thought... and certainly a handicap...

gambhir is stretching 'yeh-dosti' thingy too far and should guard against it...

thank you murali...

2010-07-07T11:32:00.002+05:30

i wrote this post on murali in my early days of blogging... since then nothing has changed... i admire him like i used to... and though with age the tweaker in him has slown down a bit but spirit to fight is still intact... so to salute murali... i re-produce it here... as it is...

its no modesty but i sincerely believe that i am too small to write anything about murali... in any case there is not much left that can be said about murali...

...some believe he is bradman of bowling... some spit venom at the sight of him... never have been a player in the history of game who has invoked so contrasting observations, views...

some say the laws were bended to accommodate him... though many find no reason what murali has anything to do with it... some see it as the natural progression of laws to be more contemporary... though i must admit here that i am the one who thinks that laws are made to be changed with time... otherwise there won't be any meaning of that law which doesn't reflect the way society is behaving, living...

i read somewhere...

"Most people think that they are thinking when they actually are merely re-arranging their prejudices."

if only we can change our tinted specs for a while....

the picture will emerge of a man who inspite of facing criticism, calls of cheats, serious doubts about career... had the guts and stronger-than-steel mind to go there and do what he loves most... bowling to get batsmen out... on and on and on... who still hates when someone scores against him... even for a single... who single handedly have changed more matches than anybody in game... without getting the support his contemporaries enjoyed...

if for not for world record, we must salute the man for showing us, and the world, that how to fight demons and still come out on top...

i was seeing super slow mo other day and those eyes left me mesmerized... they were so focused... like arjuna who saw nothing but an eye of a bird...

thanks murali for showing us the class, the grit without necessarily indulging in sledging, on the face kind of verbals or any antics which many believed and believes the way to go...

thanks... for telling us that one can still do things gentlemanly and quietly and yet being fiercely aggressive... i don't know about many but i feel privileged to have seen him bowling... feel proud for him and i don't feel ashamed of my confessions...

and i know i am not alone...

india's best off spinner is a part timer...

2010-07-06T20:27:00.001+05:30

ever talkative bishen singh bedi never known to shy away from saying what is in his mind... the formar indian captain who once said all murali's wickets are actually run outs... has come up with another gem...

"I think Sehwag is probably the best offspinner in the Indian team. He has a clean action and also spins the ball"

» on bored:
balls to sehwag...

though we agree that bedi was one of the best tweaker india has produced... and he certainly is more than qualified to talk about another... but i am not sure whether his comment is on riches of sehwag... or the 'riches' of india's best and first choice spinner...

but if you ask me... read between the lines... i think 'clean action' is the operative thought here...

john howard: an exposé...

2010-07-05T17:11:00.002+05:30

fellow bloggers kartikeya of 'a cricketing view'... soulberry of 'the cricket watcher's journal' and achettup of 'short of a length' have covered, dissected and exposed the hypocrisy of howardgate and how it is managed and reported in media that there is nothing much left to add...

as usual... largely bcci 'the mother of all cricketing ills' is the focal point of all the venom that has been spit in press and media in the name of journalism... you do not have to be a rocket scientist to see the concentrated 'efforts' they are putting up one after another is coz of hurt that has caused their ego to take over senses...

now my question is... if one is stooping to the level of calling president of one of the associate board 'a buffoon' and another calls journalist 'a tabloid tv jock' and tries to stuff words in his mouth to please his argument... resorting to name names unapologetically... arguing like either you are on my side or you are wrong... using media to vent venom instead of airing well rounded views... thereby abusing the power of media because they can... then with what face and credibility they are asking icc or more accurately bcci to behave...?

so to me this howardgate has exposed many 'experts' and their so called 'insight' to me... since they are in no mood to listen as slithering ego and anger has blocked all voices of reasoning... i must thank icc and bcci for the exposé...

cheeka on CHE...

2010-07-03T13:56:00.008+05:30

inspired by this tweet of homer... i decided somebody has to talk about our beloved but almost conspiratorially ignored CHE... the player nobody in power circle talks about despite consistently putting up solid numbers at every available opportunity, well almost, and you will know why in due course...

so i had a chat with cheeka... kris srikkanth... the chief selector of india... about CHE... the full transcript of the chat is reproduced verbatim at bored... the result is anything but...

okay... don't let me color your opinion... decide for yourself...

have voice... will preach...

2010-07-02T18:54:00.000+05:30

in the world where harsha yells dlf maximums when a six is hit... states open secrets of mrf-blimp whenever the camera zooms on it... coz every other commentator is doing it... for money... he asks bcci to act statesmanlike...

And yet, I would love it if India was different, if it could indeed take the lead in governance and transparency, focus on making cricket a richer sport rather than dragging it through controversy.

one wonders... where the irony lies...

what will sachin do...?

2010-06-30T12:18:00.003+05:30

from mid july onwards india will play test series with sri lanka which will be followed up by the tri series with new zealand as the third team that will end in last week of august...

from 10th september onwards champions league t20 will start in south africa in its new format which will end late september... after that, almost immediately, it will be time to play home test series followed by an odi series with australia ...

here is india's schedule... and this is champions league's schedule...

now considering the workload from the upcoming hectic season... and considering that sachin excused himself from an international event, asia cup, in lieu of some well deserved rest and spending valuable time with his family... will sachin excuse himself from champions league, a t20 league, to be ready for much important australia test series after playing in sri lanka...?

or will he take rest from tri-series in sri lanka, another international series, to be ready for the champions league which is not even an international tournament...?

what the hell was that...?!

2010-06-25T14:03:00.002+05:30

this is a classic bemused expression representing every batsman who is brought up on patta wickets where bowlers are there to be treated as human bowling machines...

the moment ball starts to do the talking they don't even bother to show up knowing very well that this is just an aberration... sooner run making will be like bread and butter on batting heavens... and things will be back to normal in the name of providing 'wholesome entertainment' to the fans...

is it so easy being dinesh karthik...?

2010-06-23T12:12:00.001+05:30

regulars of this blog know i have been a strong backer of dinesk karthik (BossDK) but that is changing of late...

i have tried to explore the curious of BossDK at bored... here is an excerpt from the post over there...

to his credit he never appears out of form... he is sort of player who is like 'quick-fix' that can be summoned on 11th hour and still he would do what he is supposed to do... the difference of time-zone does not seems to matter to him neither does jet-leg... and as a bonus... he ranks right there as far as fielding of his preferred peers concerned...

is it so easy being BossDK...?

on why bhajji will hit six again than taking easy singles...

2010-06-20T14:41:00.002+05:30

"Bhajji has always been a super hero, a larger than life figure. Whether it is Test match or one-dayers, Bhajji has always contributed runs whenever needed," Dhoni said. "But I think we should not call an allrounder and put pressure on him, and let him be the way that he is and allow him to contribute with the bat."

when the captain is happy with a chance win than a professional performance... when the captain (and a friend) wants bhajji to be like hitting sixes when the task could have been achieved by taking easy singles without unwanted frills... bhajii will keep on looking for a chance to become hero... sorry... super hero...

spinach without a salt!

2010-06-16T17:04:00.003+05:30

this is what abdul razzaq is... easily minceable... and as spineless as spinach...

yesterday he let down his team badly... if there were 'match ka mujrim' to be found look no further... the title aptly belongs to razzaq...

yesterday... razzaq escorted pakistan to a spectacular defeat... in last few overs... he anchored pakistan from the non-striker end...

the guy was so consumed in protecting his selfish arse that when afridi was losing bit of momentum due to injury... and even after his departure razzaq continued to do the same...

team be damned...

how to show 'character'...

2010-06-14T19:32:00.001+05:30

by turning up for official, asia cup trophy unveiling, function in casuals... without team uniform...

cricket australia owes me some beer...

2010-06-11T20:14:00.001+05:30

cricket australia has confirmed that they, from next summer onwards, will try out split-innings one day games in their domestic cricket... but it won't be two t20 games played back to back...

"One of the things that's come back as the feedback from fans and also from a television audience perspective is that by having a split innings, after the dinner break, no matter, you will get to see both teams bat in the evening. That is something that people who might be going to the game after work or coming home after work see as being a very significant plus for this format."

well here at sp... i did a post on september 2009 proposing exactly the same... how splitting odi innings can work... this is what i proposed then...

so if teamA scores say 180/5 in first 25 overs... the innings should be called off automatically and the opposition teamB steps in and if say they score160/4 after their first innings of 25 overs the teamA should resume their innings from 180/5 score onwards...

needless to say my vote goes for this trial... rather than left to die slow death if not dead already... one day cricket needs some innovations very urgently for if not for this format many boards would have closed the shop many moons ago...