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...
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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"
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...
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"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...
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harbhajan debuted about a decade ago... went on to become the 'turbunator' but his current form specially in shorter version of game does not justifies the name he is fondly called even today...
right now he seems to be more into protecting his image... from an attacking off spinner he has confided himself to throwing darts with some success initially but now he is neither saving runs nor taking wickets... at the times when india were looking at him to don the responsibility of being the leader of the pack he seems wanting to even press his claim for just another bowler in our ranks to put it mildly... but for his batting he seems to be on last clutches as far as making into team as bowler alone goes...
on the other hand we have amit mishra...
even after debuting nearly seven years ago... he still seems to be struggling to keep his place in the team as team india still prefers harbhajan as the leading spinner while the form indicates anything but that... whenever he is given limited opportunities mishra has left impression with his guile... flight and spin even on not so helpful pitches... in fact it felt very refreshing after seeing someone spinning the ball which is rare art as far as team india goes... last time when the blogger saw some one using the flight and pace variations in classic manner was ramesh powar which was again left in the cold despite being decent bat and not a bad fielder than harbhajan... but that's beyond the scope of this post...
mishra has always been the sacrificial goat in the name of 'team balance' while even dhoni admitted after smarting from the defeat from pakistan that if a part timer or one of the main bowler goes for lots of runs that anyways puts pressure on the batsmen coz then they have to score much more then they should have... and that's exactly what happened in the encounter between india and pakistan... had we had the choice of second specialist spin bowler in middle overs on that dry surface hard to find even in subcontinent these days... we could have restricted pakistan to a manageable total and as the final result suggested that was the crucial mistake on the part of dhoni and team management... as the seventh batsman, yousuf pathan, could only score 5 runs in 10 balls... aptly showing the futility of the thought behind the defensive move...
india must play their best bowlers which gives them chance to force the issue in the match and if in doing say they need to play two spinners even on not so helpful conditions... so be it...
according to me harbhajan has lost the right to be the leading spinner in the team and he can be better utilised if he is given bit more responsibility as batsman in the team... so i would like to make him the no. 7 batsman in team india... usually reserved for a bowling allrounder and play four specialist bowlers depending upon the prevailing conditions...
he has played very good innings at highest level of late and in fact his partnership with zaheer against australia at home was one of the turning point of the test series that went in india's favor... with zaheer, praveen kumar as well as mishra too are not mug with bat... india will bat deep down with only ishant being of somewhat tailender in real sense though he has shown the glimpse of being india's jason gillespie in past...
it will also be interesting to see how harbhajan reacts to the added responsibility and the emerging competition in the form of mishra in the ranks... making it win-win situation for team india... in short form of the game that is...
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sorry guys...i was away for a while...on forced vacation...in the mid of world cup!! (you can easily understand my plight...)
it seems lots have changed...from being defending world champions...team india now have to defend themselves when they will return to india...against waiting media...
can't comment directly on...coz i missed all recent matches including india's (of which i was (un)fortunate to see last couple of overs of england's innings only)...but here are my thoughts based on perceptions....and some old whines in new bottle...oops...post...
against my wishes team india went on with the mind set of defending world champions title...rather than to win it...they played with the strategy of not losing rather than playing attacking cricket to win it...hence over emphasis on stability (dhoni and later jadeja coming in to 'consolidate' is the point in case...)
dhoni now has become prisoner of flexibility...and of late seems to have developed the knack of fiddling with careers of players (specially batsmen) which is getting increasingly uncomfortable and gaining dangerous proportions...
- he did not let badri settle into any kind of rhythm in spite of him winning a match single handedly for csk...
- successfully managed to mess up raina's great form...india's highest run scorer from recently concluded ipl...
- and his latest victim being poor ravindra jadeja...
while india paid the price of playing poor cricket by becoming the first team to exit from super8...i am wondering when robbing singh will pay the price of india consistently pathetic poor performances in fielding department...
i have been mentioning it for a while now at bored...that's why i call him
'robbing' singh...coz now his 'coaching' has robbed us a chance to win and retain world cup trophy...some guys are born with all the luck and permanent position of fielding coach in indian team...
but what about harbhajan singh...? of what little i saw...but for his dart bowling (he gave away 10 runs for leg side wides and also extra runs that were scored coz of wides...) we could have still won despite all the messing up from dhoni, jadeja and robbing singh's pupils...
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i read this news on cricinfo in which gary kirsten noted that more than the complacency factor...fatigue is going to be the biggest challenge for team india in t20 world cup...
but my disagreement with gary is not on this statement but what he went ahead on stating that india will be playing with only two full time spinners in t20 world cup...
one i know he is talking about...pragyan ojha...
but harbhajan singh? full time spinner...? in t20 format...?
c'mon garry...after so much time you have spent with team india as a coach...i expected better assessment from you...
here are bowling performances of players in ipl 2009 so far...included in t20 world cup...for your reference...
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now decide for yourself...who is part time bowler...who is full time...
the bowlers with lessor skills are not afraid to flight the ball...getting more purchase from the same pitches...getting more drift...and more importantly wickets...but the bowler with more than 500 international wickets and 600 first class wickets...is reluctant of doing the basic things even an average spinner is doing even in t20 games...is
bowling darts after darts...match after match...
why?
is he afraid...? is he more interested in protecting his so called 'the turbanator' image he has left long way behind...? does he even deserve to be there in t20 world cup squad...?
at least i don't think so...
ps:
was it me...or anyone else also noticed that in yesterday's match between mumbai indians and delhi daredevils...harbhajan appeared as if he was suffering from constipation...?
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following on report in cricinfo that both sree and bhajji are keen to move on i specifically liked this portion...
Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth offered to share a room, had lunch together and told Sudhir Nanavati, the BCCI's probe commissioner, during his hearing on Friday into their controversial face-off after an Indian Premier League match last month, that they would prefer to forget the incident and move on from there.
i think its an excellent idea...
they can settle some pending scores in the confined atmosphere of hotel room...
who ever steps out night after gets selected in the team...
and we all move on...
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sources close to bhajji said that like last time this time too it was 'misinterpretation' of words...
instead of 'hard luck' he allegedly heard 'hard @uck'...
hence the slap...
anyway, Bhajji is banned from rest of IPL for doing what others were contemplating to do but had no courage....but now they wont have to worry...
hopefully sree santh too has learnt overtly due lesson...
Hayden and Symods too know what to expect when shaking hands with bhajji next time...
we have learned from our sources close to BCCI that more than the slap...huge charges of 'that' chartered plane did it for bhajji...
BCCI just gleefully accepted the long awaited opportunity...
as for bhajji...
he has more options up his sleeves...
see everybody is happy...
except for certain Mr. Mukesh Ambani...
last heard...he is looking for where to complain for the daylight robbery of his $112 millions...
can you help him...oh sorry...who can help him...?
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i truly believe hayden when he says he innocent...
he is innocent. period.
i know you are feeling uneasy. so let me explain...
whatever he said in radio interview was said in true spirit of the game...of 'hard and fair' cricket...he even hurled abuses on air in the 'spirit' (of cricket?)...
he did not murder anybody...even if he (or anybody from oz team) commits murder will be 'in true spirit of the game' so he will be innocent then too...
CA will say coz he was not booked for murder earlier, we are leaving him with just a reprimand...
so what the fuss is all about...
move on guys...(read everybody apart from oz team...)
and hail the spirit of game, oz way or no way i.e.
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with so many nicely put round ups...nothing left to add anyway...so here are my doosras...
those who still feel that kumble was not aggressive in declaration should read very nicely argued posts of fellow blogger kartikeya's discussing declatations...and friend soulberry's hope and hopelessness needless to say i totally agree with them...
at the risk of repeating myself (i have already commented this) i would say that don't get carried away by pak's 'india gate' kind of batting...the way they were getting out...and please uneven bounce was nothing to do with their dismissals...with bats at least a foot away from the line of bowl...would have embarrassed even club cricketers...
that result was possible irrespective of declaration timing but coz another team was hell bent on committing mass suicide...and surprisingly no one has uttered a single word on how pak batsmen started unfolding...
......
everybody seems unanimous that the misbah was the find for pak in this series...while not taking away any credit from him...of how he batted and how he saved pak from precarious positions every time without fail...and people all over calling him another 'wall'...worthy replacement of 'ul-haq' etc etc...
i would wait for another series...just for the reason that in virtually every innings he gave clear and grabable chances to our fielders in very early stages of his innings and had we got some of them his averages (and dare say series result) could have been very different of what they are now...specially after not so good SA series...i know that its not the fault of misbah and he did not let these chances distract him and build upon that...but you can not expect other team to be so magnanimous in their approach...so lets wait for another series...
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i still don't know what harbhajan has done in this series to be on oz tour...i thought he has already seen sydney...isn't it??
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i should also give credit where its due...me included...some of us infact...no...many of us questioned the probables selection but it also takes courage to correct mistakes...they should be appreciated for that and by giving kumble more say at team selection coz ultimately he is the one who is gonna face the music... they deserve praise too...although i still feel that they are taking one too many rookie in bowling department...but who knows??? this pankaj singh could well turn out to be another ace in a pack of cards??
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theories were going on that dravid will be asked to open the innings to accommodate yuvraj...and going by some reports in media even team management started thinking in this line...and suddenly we (and yuvi) see sehwag coming in...by all probability he will play in boxing day coz you dont want to look fool by selecting him only to warm benches out there...
sehwags selection is 'googly' for everyone...without going into that this is another 'feather' in kumble's cap without even landing in oz...that what this selection means to sehwag coz he would be headless chicken if he doesn't know already...i would be interested in how yuvi see this selection...
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