FAKE IPL Player lies dormant!!

Fake IPL player hasnt updated his blog in 3 days. Since the mumbai game. The supposed fake ipl player didnt play yesterday's game against Royal challengers. So where was he? Busted or restrained or waiting to explode. Write up man, you give a good recipe for laughter. And of course entertainment like a Bollywood comic crapper. Arindam Ghosh, is he the fake IPL player or was he an insider from SRK boot camp ?

Fake IPL player busted

Decoding IPL fake player isn’t tough now. And neither is decoding the cryptic names he uses for reference to his coach, captain, owner of the franchisee and the other team players including Sourav. Till the last post titled “ Bhookha Nan” which obviously is the reference to Buchanan, he used to mention that he hasn’t played in any of the IPL game. And in his last post which was done today he hasn’t mentioned anything of that sort. That implies if he is really an insider, then it has to be a player who played the last KKR game against MI. Now there are a few pointers to the identity of this blogger which are as below:

· He mentions that he didn’t play the IPL season 1 and has been included in the team from season 2. That he is blogging still, it implies that he hasn’t been sent off from the South African safari. There is one player who fulfills the above criterion.

· He mentions that he is from Calcutta and has been brought up in the city of Joy. He is a BONG and has a lot of respect for Sourav, which is obvious. DADA is God figure or all Bongs and of course for a non Bong like me. So the respect is obvious. The player has to be from Bengal. Not many except Sourav himself hail from Bengal in KKR.

· He says he made his debut last season. He did it against MP in Nov 2008. His t20 debut came against Orissa in Apr 2007 in the era when BCCI was reluctant to play T20. How ironic. He made his IPL debut against MI (Point mentioned in the 1^st Para above). The match against MI was on Monday i.e. on 27/4 a day after he wrote the Bhookha Nan post on his blog. He didn’t mention a single bit that he played in last IPL game but in erstwhile posts he mentioned that he didn’t get a game and there were chances that he won’t get any. That didn’t happened anyhow.

· The only Indians left in the KKR squad are : Ganguly, Agarkar, Murali Kartik, Arindam Ghosh, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Laxmi Shukla, Yashpal Singh, Dinda, Rohan Banerjee (oh wow he hasn’t made his iPL debut so far), Anureet Singh, Shoaib Sheikh (yet to make debut). Ganguly, Agarkar, Sharma, Shukla, Kartik are international pros, they are ruled out. Out of the rest Saha and Dinda are experienced pros for Bengal team, so they are ruled out. Yashpal Singh plays for services and is 57 FC games old, so he is gone. That leaves just Banerjee, Ghosh and Sheikh who are new on the horizon. Banerjee looks kid and isn’t much experience on the cricketing circuit to understand the details mentioned in the blog (I assume, he can beat me still). Sheikh is an unknown commodity. I am not sure about him.

· The only player which fulfills the criterion listed in points 1,2 and 3 is Arindam Ghosh.

So if the fake IPL player if he has to be a KKR insider he has got to be Arindam Ghosh or it could be Shahrukh Khan himself. You see the names of the fake IPL player here on Arm Ball first time. Read the fake ipl player blog many times and then read this pointers. All roads lead to one name.

Host World cup final in Eden Gardens

Now that India is going to host the major chunk of WC'11 games the finals should be played in the best and oldest ground country has, not where the head of BCCI (one whose word runs the show) comes from. That city might have the tradition of cricket unparalleled in the country, but the renovated Wankhede and CCI aint good enough to match the intensity and mahol of Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Let the final be played there. But for BCCI politics............

Australia lead 2-1

Strong team lost yet again. 1-2 now for them. The opposite skipper did them in first with batting and then with bowling. Yes he is a spinner too and the strong team is supposed to be @2 in playing spin. Yet they lost. Big words came falling. Return to normalcy follows.

FAKE IPL Player exposed

I feel the fake IPL player is playing for the 1st time in IPL. There is a new player in the team : Arindam Ghosh or Bose. And the blog has not been updated. So have I unearthed the fake IPL player? Hahhaha

Tendulkar rips Mendis apart!!!!!!

Sachin on fire. He almost murdered Ajantha mendis's confidence. And whatever remained Jayasuriya finishing off.

Huge sixxxxxxxxxxxxxxx to Mendis.......Go get it man...2008 revenge getting even sweeter :) Am I not njoying it. Take a bow, take a bow.....A blow job given to Mendis and Dinda and Sharma....Vintage batting....Splendidgiri nikal gayi.......Mendis ki hawa nikal gayi!!!

Wah bhiya kya ballebaaji...........Oye Balle Balle Sachin paiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!

Aa jao Hodge bhaiya, hume to Aussies pasand hai......Aapko bhi uda denge!!!

Dada used to laugh when he partnered GOD for batting. Today he would be laughing too for his ex ODi partner and 5th wkt partner in Tests secretly to have a go at weird Dildo and Boochie Boo!!! Triple Nelson @ strategic break!!

Fuck you Laxmi Shukla. Wrong decision!!!! Wrong wrong wrong!!! Fuck fuck fuck!! You fuckin whore umpire.......Poor decision!! Throw Laxxmi Shukla and umpire in the sea!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that GOD is gone, getting ready for DADA blitz!!!!!!!! DADA rock on!!!! Give a slap on the face of Boochie boo and SRK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Men vs San and Ten

Chance for Sachin Tendulkar to set the record straight against Ajantha Mendis.....Would be del.ico.us prospect to see Mendis being spanked all over by Ten and San :)

Decoding Fake IPL player

For sure Fake IPL player is born and brought up in Calcutta. So he is not from the following:

Ishant Sharma

Ajit Agarkar

Sourav Ganguly

Murali Karthik

Yashpal Singh

And he may be one of :

Wriddhiman Saha

Ashok Dinda...........

More clues later...........

Stop your Emotional Atyachar SRK and Buchie Boo

Have been reading the IPL fake blog which is creating flutters all over. One thing I can conclude for sure from the blog posts is that DADA is a hurt man. He is unhappy with the way he has been handled by the coach and owner of the franchisee. His pride is hurt, his ego has been dented big time. He is the best captain India has ever had and would ever have. He has ridiculed all the set rules, he has single handedly changed the mindset of the young cricketers in the country and gave them self belief that they can be the best if they work hard and not care about backing. He has been the leader of men in a country which had none. He has led his troops in a proud and remarkable way all the years. He has transformed meek abroad Indian teams to winning teams abroad. He has carved playing careers for likes of Dhoni, Veeru, Gautam, Yuvraj, Zaheer and Harbhajan.

Alright we all know this. But the treatment meted out to the great man has been poor and ridiculous. SRK has been vocal and diplomatic in handling this issue. In real sense he is the one who has messed up more on this issue than Buchanan. He anyway never was a coach, but a manager who never performs and always speaks jargons which mean nothing. His wisdom on the cricket field can be judged by a simple fact that he didn’t remove the stray balls off the nets in the run up to the 4th Ashes Test which ultimately his team lost and lost the Ashes in 2005. No need for me to tell who stepped on the stray ball and what happened thereon.

There were talks of dropping Ganguly out of the team. And get whom? Chopra or Bangar? Somebody whose selection in T20 itself is questionable. One of them is a Test batsman who at best could hold one end and make no runs. The other one was a dibly dobly wobbly bubbly. He last played for India in 2004. And since then he has lost even in the Ranji games. Who got them in the team? Certainly not Ganguly. Or some obscure Bengal Ranji player? One of them is the fake blogger as he mentions he was born in Calcutta. Who replaces the man of stature of Ganguly? And based on the cricket wisdom of a nachaniya SRK ? (haha I got sholay mindset). What good does he know on the game besides his routine terms “hot and cold” ,”hugs and kisses” and stuff like that ? IS he going to decide if Ganguly gonna play? If the great man flops, surely dump him of the team, but if you do it for politics or appeasing a dumb founded coach, then you make a ullu of yourself.

Pakistani Chuck plays on

The new chuck, the Pakistani one is bowling in the 3rd ham game in Abu Dhabi despite being called for illegal action. Why ? Now 2 bowlers with illegal action in the Pakistan team : Ajmal kasab and Shoaib Bear Hug Akhtar. I laughed my heart out when i read in cricinfo.com that Ajmal thought Watson sparked the process of him getting called for illegal bowling. How insane. Is he 3 yr old kid or 31 year old kid? I am sure even if Watson wud have kicked start the process, the umpire duo of Pakistan are mindless duds to accept blindly what Watson has to say ?

I think Pakistan needs to be set right here. Somebody got to sit with the mindless duo of PCB and warn them up left right and center to stop this bullshitting and fuckin crying foul. Pakistan has them all - Talibanis, Illegal bowlers, crying babies who are 50+ year old and of course Javed Miandad who feels that security in all 4 countries hosting WC 11 is whore. Ever since the country was carved out in 1947 it has been crying foul on Indians. Politically, physically, sportily and in almost every almost aspect.

Soulberry has written an excellent article on moaning and cribbing of Inti Alam on Ajam reporting.. Akram Ajam if in terms of IPL fake blogger. I would suggest some ICC boss sit with PCB and warn them stringently on this self pity crying.

Ajmal has a suspect action

Qasab's cousin Mohd Ajmal Saeed has been reported for illegal action and thats a respite for Aussies as one spinner less will be needed to counter. Things going omnious for Aussies as they are on track for 4-1 win. And there can be no conspiracy here and no whinning on India and BCCI here. The reporting umpires were Pakistanti themselves.

Aha the whinning has begun :

Ajmal has played against four countries and nobody raised any finger on his action and suddenly this decision comes," Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam told AFP. "I think they [ICC] are lacking consistency in this process. He bowled exceptionally well and suddenly they decided that he has a problem with his action."

It wonders me why do Pakistani cricket bosses do always have to sulk and whine? May be Q has some answers.

Chopra or Bangar, the fake IPL player

Shah Rukh Khan feels that the fake IPL player blogger is one of Bangar or Chopra who have been sent home for some or the other reasons. CNN-IBN is believed to have quoted the same. And guess what Maninder Singh has confirmed the same. Couldnt be more funny. Bangar and Chopra seem to be harmless sorta guys. More drama ensured.!!

Pragyan taught a lesson or 2.

The sexy orgasmic six by Tendulkar to Pragyan Ojha would bring the high flying spinner down to the ground and now he would come to know what it is to bowl the legend and a real batsman rather than getting cheap wikats of lesser players. Go boy get the ball.

"Strong Team" loses

Roy does it. A new look Roy does it. Free of clutches of past baggage and tormenting times Symo does it and helps Australia levels the series against a supposedly strong team of subcontinent. Strong teams consistenly make large scores and if they make small scores they have the firepower to defend it. 1-1 now and 4-1 to go with Australia. Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Kasab;s cousin Ajmal and Pathan Afridi couldnt repeat the 1st ODI heroics to dislodge the Aussie rail this time. Good show Aussiess!!!

Freddie out of IPL

Its a breaking news on Aaj Tak that Freddie is out of IPL for the rest of the duration he was supposed to be with CSK. The reason they cite is the knee injury. Cricinfo confirms that he would undergo knee surgery and that would mean he would be just in time for Ashes. Poms need him for Ashes more than ever. Thats a major blow to struggling Chennai Super Kings team......

FAKE IPL Player exposed?

There have been news or rumors that Ranadeb Bose(Gulu Ezikel claims this) was the fake IPL player and there have been rumors that the blog has been disappeared (TOI). What is true not sure but one thing for sure he has created lotsa flutters and given a tight slap to the owner of KKR -- SRK.

The basis on which the author claims the Bose man to be fake IPL player is that last year he was kicked out the team midway. So going on that grounds we would even have a fake IPL blog on Rajasthan Royals team as 7 players were axed. I am game to read more and more about the Bigg Brother victorious lady who besides acting cheap and fake on racial comment by Jade Goody on UK tc show has nothing on platter to flaunt as her achievement. 16 years into the Bollywood and she has no movie to flaunt as a major success. Anybody for a blog on her insider talks ?

An embattled Aussie fan writes in desparation

A note to Timmy (not Dimmy) and Punter :

Guys, please get in Shane Warne off IPL to bowl on to your ODI team in desert. Warnie is a legend even in the age of 40 and post him there is just no body in the Aussie la la land who could spin the ball half way a bit as he did. Watching him in IPL is pure delight and a walk back to those golden years of Aussie dominance when we used to get up early in morning to see him and Pidge bowl.

You guys need him. Not as a team member then as a supportive coach for bowling. He would give a lesson or two to the likes of Marsh, Roy, Clarke, Hussey and other who are just embarrasing the Australian name tag in the ODI arena. Guys let me not remind you that you are the world champions and you lost to a team that hasnt played any serious cricket in ages. You are loosing to a team which is full of rookies and attitude kings, guys who consider themselves over the team and just need some bit of pressure to crack out. Get that pressure in guys.

I am embarrased and fuckingly disappointed to see you give away victories to undeserving teams on a platter. Dont do that. You have only one supporter left in the entire world. And thats me. Keep pride of my predictions 4-1 victory for you guys in this desert safari.

Cheers,

A embattled Aussie fan

Match 9 and 10 updates.

The IPL games yesterday were cracker of a contests and showed that cricket triumphed over all the glitz and glamor. We also saw the first glimpse of Super Over that replaced Super Bowl though it was already implemented in NZ-WI T20 clash earlier this year.

Yousuf Pathan and Kamran Khan were the stars of the game Royals vs Riders and then there was AB all over against Chennai Super Kings. This year the Kings and the Royals aint coming good. MSD has suffered 2 losses out of 3. I would rather wish he suffers all losses he is destined to for this year in IPL, so that when he returns to national fold, he carries back the superb momentum his team is carrying in all forms of the game.

Kamran Khan bowled a super last over in the 2nd game. He is a future star for India if he maintains his progress. Warnie almost handled him like a kid. Lets hope he doesnt become another Munaf Patel who was his usual ridiculous on the field. No passion, no improvisation, same grin and same lax attitude. Kick him out,

Ganguly almost saw Knight Riders home but again he lend few nasty punches to Dildo and Coachie. Haha. I am catching up on the Fake IPL player terminologies.

In the other match Hayden showed what Australia are missing from their national team. Gilchrist and Hayden are sorely missed in the national team. Hayden continued his superb run of form although Freddie and MSD continued to dazzle off.

Veeru and Gautam suffered a rare failure. Again I would wish they suffer more failures destined for them in the year here rather than in the national colors or whites.

One more final thing. Ajantha Mendis is no more a surprise or mystery element. He was sorted and cleaned up by Yousuf Pathan. haha. 18 runs off 4 balls. Amazing man. Mendis could have been good in his main 4 overs spell but he was unimaginative in Super Over and whosoever decided to give him a ball was short visioned. For sure it was not Ganguly. His passion for the game even this stage was visible when he was annoyed with himself and Yashpal Singh when latter got out.

Best day of IPL - 2 so far. Also best in the sense that we didnt have to listen the blabbers and irritating laughters of Shilpa Shetty.

Players to look for T20 World Cup

Alright Deccan won the game last night. Not to forget the positives for TEAM INDIA out of the duel. The players who shone for their respective games: RP Singh for Deccan with his accurate bowling and Virat Kohli with his super orthodox innings. No hoiking, no cross batting , simple text book shots such a joy to watch.

Rohit Sharma is useless. He would show glittering form here but would fail in ODIs. So I am through him. From the matches so far I feel following players should be on selectors' radar for the world T20:

1. RP Singh
2. Virat Kohli
3. Karan Goel

RP Singh was more than handy in England 07 and with the world cup happening there he would be an ideal partner to Zaheer and Ishant in World T20. And Kohli at 5 or 6 would be ideal. Oh yes that would make Mumbai contribution to world T20 team to just 1. Zaheer Khan.

Rahul, you beauty!!!

Rahul Dravid, you beauty........Whatta player, whatta underrated player he is. One more slap from him to the owners of Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Bangalore vs Deccan Live..

Gilchrist has won the toss and elected to bat. Tis Gilly and Gibbsie opening the batting. Laxman at 3. Its Praveen Kumar opening the bowling. Overhyped, overhyped. Steyn should be the one doing that. I hope PK doesnt open the batting too. Gilly on fire. 3 on 3. Rant on pehelwan from Meerut. I guess if it was a kushti akhada, Pehelwan Kumar would have dared Gilly to have a go at him..Boy he has a gun too.

Super shot from Gilly he is on fire. May be Australia would recall him in Dubai against new minnows Pakistan. And again. 2 in this over. 3 in first. KP surely needs to think something more. Mark Nicholas and Ravi Shastri, 2 of the best 3 on fire as well. Laxman vs Kumble would be a great contest to watch. Six, but say it six Markie. Not DLF maximum. Gibbs takes over. Orgasmic start. Kallis on. 4 skippers in the BRC team. 2 Indians and 2 Saffers. Kallis and Uthappa think that they have got Gibbs, but umpire unmoved. 0/33 in 3.3. Poor keeping by Uthappa. Boy PK was sweeped for a 6 by Gibbs. Shows how paceful Kumar is. And he is gone. 1st wkt.

Pehelwan ko gussa aa gaya. Sala Bewda Pehelwan ko jhadu marta hai. Le tu out. LOL..Lacchu pehelwan in. Praveen Pehelwan to Lacchu pehelwan. Now the PP would know what batting means and artistery means. Gibbs looked not out. Laxman plays one down to Kumble at gully. How ironic. In Tests Laxman used to watch Kumble from 2/3rd slip standing in gully. And today he is playing one to his ex-captain. Kallis back in attack. DD 1/49 in 5 overs.

GIlly on fire. 1 six and 1 four. Vintage Gilly. Kumble in. Laxman faces. Almost foxed. Vintage Indians on the opposite side. Jesse boy in and gets Laxman out 1st ball. Laxman was never a hitter of the ball in air. And now bikini man ROhit Sharma would be in. Mostly would have got lotsa kisses and hugs from cheerleaders. So an extra motivaation to score runs and hit sixes, pass on flying kisses to the babes around...He is a mumbaikar playing for hyderabad. Saying anything against him is saying it against Mumbai. Anil bowling well. Uthappa propping him up. Almost had Gilly. Vintage Kumble. Get in the bikini man too.

KP has a golden arm....2 wkts now. Just that he shud bat good too.KP now has 2wickets and a catch. Bikini man was out. 52 runs made. Consideration for t20 world cup done. Dhoni and coach happpy. Cheerleaders happy. Dude got stuff worth 2-3 days to live with. 185 to win for Royal Challengers. I dont think they can do it.

Whoa whatta start for Bengaluru? 3rd in row a duck. ROTFL. Jesse Ryder must be feeling huge to go back home. He had lot of success against India in Test and ODI series, but IPl has been nightmare. 2 games and 2 ducks.

Kallis is next skipper for BRC. He is gone too. Hopelessness continues. KP is in. I doubt Dravid on his own would be able to do anything. But he is doing. Oye Pappe. Kise ghoor riya he ? Crease pe jo khada he wo sabka baap hai. Haha. Harmeet singh giving a stare to Dravid after being taken for runs. Now RD hits back in style to the men who kicked him off the captaincy. He has been the sole run getter for BRC this year and last year. The so called valuable pickings and most payed cricketers from foreign land have turned dud. Its all around Rahul Dravid. Pieterson falling for 11, Kallis the next skipper for 15 n the young gun Uthappa for 12. Dravid is making runs at strike rate of 195 runs per 100 balls. Its insane to term Rahul guilty of low fortunes for BRC team. Mallaya owns answers. He owes a public apology to Rahul. And all those bloggers and assholes who have termed Rahul as a test player. Do they forget that he possess record of fastest 50 by an Indian in ODIs. And amongst famed Indian batsmen in iPL he owns one of the highest strike rates. Less than Veeru but higher than MS, Sharma lalla and others. And with him gone, the hopes of a victory are gone.

Praveen Kumar is run out after making no efforts to reach to the crease. And he did have to say a lot to Kohli. Pehelwan ko fir gussa aaya. Thank God utha ke patak nahi diya. Kohli coming of age here, he is keeping BRC alive. Future prospects look bright for Kohli. Way better than Rohit Sharma. No slogs, no slangs, pure cricketing shots. Jeeyo Kohli bhiya Jeeyo.

Orgasmic hell Rameez!!

Oh did i just hear Rameez Raja say that Pakistan vs Australia contest is the most intense and intriguing in the international cricket. is he joking? Alright pakistan are on top somehow for the moment. But then lets not forget that pak are 1/6 in 4 overs. And it cud soon be 5/20 or 9/80. But saying Pakistan is most intense team in world is laughable. Scoffable. Goaning. Orgasmic insane. Booooooooooooooooh

Go Away Bollywood

What has Bollywood gotta do with the IPL? Besides the owners of franchisees, there is no business for Bollywood to come in and ruin the cricket party. IPL has given a chance for odd fashion designers, dancers and entities who never watch cricket (read Tests and ODIs) for lack of time to come together and rant about how cool IPL is and how uncool the traditional cricket is. Oh man that runs for 5 days, who has got that time? Now for example consider Mandy. Mandira Bedi. Now whats her business in South African grounds?

Yesterday during the waiting time to get the much hyped MI vs. RR match to get started, she was interviewing SRK and they were talking on all other things in the world than cricket. Why ? Why talk all that rubbish in the cricket match timings? Will we be interested to know if SRK launched Mandy or Preity or Shilpi or Deepiky? Kiya hoga bhai launch kabhi to bhi. Abhi cricket ka kya wasta uske saath? Obviously SRK didn’t know what went wrong with KKR in the first game against Chargers. He just mumbled “we started cold and they started hot”. C’mon man get some cricketing terminologies. Game is more than the kisses and the hugs you shower on bollywood dumb lasses.

Shilpa Shetty is a torture and when I see her laugh more and speak less I feel I throw my entire double bed on her. Stop torturing us. We would love cricket to be a carnival and abridged with the entertainment but when the spirit of the game is in danger we would rather want this so called glitterati to leave rather than stay.

Commentary in IPL

The commentary in the IPL is ridiculous and barring Shastri, Sunny and Mark Nicholas there is nobody who could claim to be a good orator. Abbas Ali Baig was hell and Fernando as usual copy pastes the contents of the fellow commentator to his mouth and then makes a delay of 0.5-1.5 seconds and speaks the same thing with a tongue twist. Wicket becomes wikat and Murali becomes Murralidaran. Greg Blewett is Modi’ere ‘s crush and I have seen her 2 or 3 times making advances towards poor Aussie. Mandira Bedi and the Max presenters including Chang and Channel V VJ are pathetic. They believe the cricket public in India is bit moderate in knowledge and the IPL would be an unknown commodity for them.

If you watch Extra Innings with extra patience you would get what I want to say. Arun Lal, man, he runs into my nerves. I seriously believe he should gracefully leave the studio before he becomes the 5th man in India to have hurled the footwear at. And not to say that the jargons of the sponsors are as irritating as the flashing smiles of Shilpa Shetty. Every six is being termed as DLF maximum. So now every single would be a DLF minimum. Shastri or the opening commentator thanks the sponsors in the initial moments of every match and that’s ridiculous to hear. DLF maximum could be another term coined now to call the “eunuch” in India who go often on the ransom rounds. A six in Hindi is a chakka and that’s the common man’s term used to refer a eunuch.

Oh Aussies, stop playing for a while.

Damn you Aussies. 119/8 in 29. And that to Pakistan. The new minnows. There is a Ajmal in the team who reminds me of Kasab, the 11/26 perpator. I have no words for this scoreline. Abandon the series, go back to Australia, cite security issues, stop this non-sense. Stop playing for a while Aussies. Spinners are achiles hiilll. You guys are making the likes of Johan Botha, Shahid Afridi, Ajmal, Van de Merve look like Warne and Kumble. And Afridi gets 6-for. Cmon man he is a part timer and he is no regular bowler. 6 wkts for him. Ridiculous.

Is match being fixed to give some confidence to belaugered team of Pakistan. Gone are the days when you had McGrath or Warne or Lee to have responded in similar fashion and have betted to win. Damn damn damn. I rest my case. Geoff Boycott and Rameez Poor Raza are laughing.

Turnaround for Roy and Chance for Australia to get back to winning ways.

6 years back in world cup match against Pakistan, Australia were tottering. It was the opening game for the world champions and it was against a team they had thumped in their last world cup game : 1999 WC final. One man turned it on for Australia in the game and his life on the highest stage changed. He hit a career turning century against a team that had Akhtar, Akram and Younis. He was Roy, Andrew Symonds. Pakiatan never recovered from that onslaught. They were kicked out in 1st round of the world cup and Australia won the world cup.

Tomorrow Pakistan takes on Australia in the series of 5 ODIs and 1/2 T20Is in Dubai sports city. Pakistan is coming out of a rare cricketing season and Australia is coming from a wrecthed ODI form where they have lost 2 series to SA and a drawn series against NZ. Aus have rested Ponting, Mitch and Siddle. No Lee as well. The bowling attack looks thin. Bracken is no longer a force he was. And now the onus for batting would depend on Clarke along with David Hussey. Return of Shaun Marsh would be morale booster for Australia..

But Pakistan isnt the team it was in 2005 and 2006. Lot of rookies plus menace called Shoaib Akhtar. Another series, another set of tantrums (fitness and attitude) from Akhtar. Cant they just get rid of this guy ?

This would be the last chance for this 2 teams to choose players for T20 world cup in England and since this teams dont play in IPL, the players who get a headstart here would stand a good chance to play in World T20.

Scoreline expected: 4-1 Australia. Somehow my predictions on Australia do come true, so this time would be no different. At least Achettup thinks so.

Ganguly ka Tashan and KKR on victory road

Never write off this man. He would come back in any sort and hit you back on face so much so that you wont even know what hit you. 2/25 in 4 overs and in return of this success bloody Buch demoted Ganguly to 4th spot. Cant imagine Hodge ahead of Ganguly...Ki korbo Buchanan Dada? Bodmash!!


If the game doesnt go ahead then KKR will win the game on D/L. 2nd game in row when KXIP suffer the wrath of rains. 15 mins more and if no game on then KKR spot on. The architect of the victory was indeed John Buchanan....

Untouchable ME

I seriously get a feeling now that my cricket blogs are untouchable. Readers read but dont comment. Its ridiculous. Live blogging, reactive blogging doesnt help. Everybody has their own set of likings and dislikings. I do have them too. But I feel that its a grave sin for bloggers to comment on Arm Ball or its allied blogs. Its dampening. I write with excitement to get reviews, comments and readership. I get neither. I seriously dont know whats wrong with me or my cricket blogs. Am i untouchable ?

CSK Vs BRC

Chennai are batting against Royal Challengers. Parthiv Patel and Hayden are the openers. For a change Anil is the leading wicket taker and Rahul is leading run scorer. Formats dont matter, greatness always excels. I think MS will need to come up the order may be at 3 or 4. # 5 is too down the order for him to get the freedom to play hiss shots. Steyn will need to get the wickets. And seeing Hayden he would be reminded of Aussies, so he would get that motivation. He has troubled Aussies entire summer.

With Albie Morkel back in the team, Amy would be very happy to see him :).

And Laxman Shivramkrishnan is back in the commentary box to torture all of us. Why in the world we need to listen him and Arun Lal. Praveen Kumar is a let down. He doesnt relish non swinging conditions. I am sure Rahul Dravid would hate Port Elizabeth. In 2007 New year test India had a first innings lead and they squandered the chance to win the series by treating Paul Harris as Shane Warne, slowed down the proceedings and ultimately lost the test and the series.

Kallis is being leaking runs. 3 in over so far. 20 runs off the over.

CSK cruising along. 104 in 10th over. Hayden on fire. Australia are missing him. Tactical time out to follow something which has been criticised by Sachin Tendulkar too. Ranjit Fernando is back too.

So the tactical break worked for bowling team once again. 2 quick wickets. Hayden and Patel gone. Thanks to dumbass Raina, well set hayden was run out. Run flow seems to have stopped for time being. KP bowlin gdecently. Damn Steyn drops Raina...Dhoni gone and that gives chance for showdown of KP vs Freddie. Raina is useless. CSK is not getting to that stage as it was planning to be at start. 180 is the expected score...

Expectedly BRC are chasing 180 and who opened ? Praveen Kumar. That is INSANE. He has opened. Whose idea was that ? He made a total ass of himself. Kallis is the new man and he is off the mark with a 4. Super batting by Kallis...And Fernando is sucking. Somebody make him quiet.

ICC vs ICL showdown

ICL vs ICC.

See you in the court.

Recognition plea failed. So ICL now takes ICC to the court...Outcome ? Will they get the recognition ? And what do they do if they get by muscle pulling ? They dont have a format defined for their set of the game plan. Besides T20s they dont have anything in their kitty. So on what basis are they going to benefit the fringe players?

Million dollar question. I need answer.

Deccan chargers beat KKR convincingly

Deccan chargers got off to a walloping start in their first game. Thanks to the renewed spirits under Gilly. Though he didnt fire with the bat, he still showed his leadership skills. For most part he had been deputy to Ponting for Australia and had he been the skipper, Aussies would have better record than now.

RP Singh was a reveleation. He just loves this format. He should be in for the World T20. Ganguly, Laxman failed. Knight Riders have no strength in their ranks. Whatever they had SRK and Buch robbed them in the pre match runup. Imagine likes of Chopra batting in T20. He never played in any 50 over game. Ridiculous.

And Rohit Sharma played another "cameo". He comes good when he plays in IPL. He doesnt when he plays for country. May be IPL has more motivation for him as there are lots of Shettys, Zintas and others, while international cricket doesnt.

So after the end of 1st round, the teams that had won their first games last season, have lost their 1st games this season except Delhi Daredevils. This season Deccan would be one of the favorites for semi-final spot.

Live updates for KKR vs Deccan Chargers....

So Knight Riders have won the toss and elected to bat. Gayle and mcCool open with Saurav coming on 3. Thank god, he is playing. If bloody Buchanan had his day, he would have sent Saurav back home and next year when IPL returns to India, Kolkattans would have barred Buch's entry to the city. Ask Chappell.

Fidel Edwards would bowl to his captain. This is a game between 2 teams whose legends have been replaced by 2 bidesi cricketers. Ganguly and Laxman, # 5 and # 6 of the India's best ever Test team of 2000's were the incumbents. Cricket is not about the pretty lasses. Its not about oomph or the sex quotient of the Bollywood dumb beauties, but its about the contest bw the bat and ball. Its been the same since ages and would forever remain so. So move over Shetty's , Zintas and Kaifs.

RP strikes. The skipper is gone. McCullum is gone. Poor dismissal. Oh man. Go away dude. Such a man is the skipper. Sourav comes in. Off the mark......Get going DADA.......We still love you captain or no captain. You are the legend, you will be the legend. Just 2 runs in 10 balls. Good start by Deccan chargers. Gayle getting impatient. Hit and miss. Will RP bring one in the left hander ?

Good 3rd over by Edwards. Almost got Ganguly. And now Gayle cuts loose for first boundary. And a huge six now. Hugest...Gayle starts the fireworks. RP can just laugh and then scoff. Gayle goes for big one and goes. Now its about Ganguly once again. Deccan Chargers looking very intense. Ganguly goes. End of match for me. The coach captain controversy has seemed to have effect on the knight riders. Laxman caught his ex-captain and his batting partner of countless partnerships in the Test team.

Btw with Hodge and Chopra on crease, its turned out to be a yawning game....Harmeet Pappe seems to be a kewl bowler jee. Pragyan Ojha is no legendary spinner. So i dont expect Vettori kinda success for him.

Pakistan loses World Cup

India had to move their high-profile league because of security fears," he said, referring to the IPL, which was moved to South Africa as the competition clashed with India's parliamentary elections.

Intiqab Alam gets it all wrong. Horribly wrong. The IPL was moved out of the country to South Africa not for the security fears but for the smooth completion and execution of elections in the country. And the security fears, if they are in India, they emanate from the terror threats from the land which was stripped of World Cup. Every body knows Ajmal Kasab and 9 others who showered terror in Mumbai on 11/26 were Pakistani nationals. The terrorists who attacked SL cricketers in Lahore were Pakistanis and Afghans.

So this pretendence of victim and self pity isnt going to help Alam and his cricketing setup. It would be good for him to look forward to the ODI series against Australia.

ICC has been just in taking the world cup out of Pakistan. And i wont be surprised if the world cup would be moved out of subcontinent (whatever that is) altogether, thanks to the Pak sponsered terror in the region. That could be a valid move cos we dont want the game to get affected to this useless jihadis (if you ask me i would like to shower lot of abuses on this terror elements)....

So as usual Pakistanis have been crying foul and sissy babies to see an ice candy being snatched away from them. Its amazing that they are ready to cry foul rather than have a strong will and eradicate their own bred terror elements from their western border...

Delhi DareDevils vs Punjab Kings Update

The match between the Daredevils and Punjab Kings has been delayed by the game. As i hear on the TV, its gonna be a 14 over game. Albeit the 7 mins tactical cum money churning break remains. I seriously doubt the idea of this. Why not do away with those 15 mins and get 2-3 more overs in. Ludicrous.

No McGrath. Why ?

First tactical break now. Sehwag has been in Napier mode for the captaincy. The bowlers he has trusted to get the breakthrough havent been to the mark. They have pitched in too short and that has given free hand to Goel and Bopara to go for runs. 67 runs in 6 overs would mean 150 odd in 12 overs. That would setup a great contest and that would mean the hottest pair (cricket wise) in international cricket would have their task cut out.

And Danny boy strikes off first ball. Bopara gone lbw. Vetts is the best bet for wickets and stopping the runs in T20. In short, the Vetts boy is the best in business for T20. Meanwhile King Sangakara is being troubled by Danny for 2 balls in row. Things seem to be turning now. It would be interesting to see how Yuvraj takes on Danny which most prolly would now happen in 9th over. Spinners have had more success this iPL than fast bowlers. Kumble, Warne, Bhajji, Jaya and now Danny.

Danny boy gets Sangakara. 2 in 2. Sangakara taking the field for first time after Lahore fiasco. With time he would just get better. Blabba king is on the field now. I just love him. And he claims Yuvraj Singh, who had started looking good. He had just hit a six. Damn Mahela Jayawardhena. Age old theory : look at the partner than the ball. And he is gone too. Poor shot. Damn you dude. Useless fellow. 5/98. Doesnt look if that Kings XI would now cross max 115. Delhi on fire. One more run out could be. Sehwag would now be a happy man. Tiwary this time. He gets his man. Piyush Chawla gone. 6 for 98 in 11. Coming back to Sehwag, he should have been the man to lead India after Dravid. Unfortunately he lost his form in 2007 and for stupid reasons Dilip Vengsarkar dropped him off the Test side. And since then Dhoni rose to the peak. And Sehwag faded. Albeit now he is back with bang.

Irfan Pathan unable to connect to the ball. 2 dot balls in final over. 100 reached. Punjab doesnt have enough firepower to stop Sehwag and Gambhir. And unless Sehwag doesnt get himself out ridiculously like in Napier, he should see Delhi Daredevils home easily. The fielding has been superb for Delhi today. AB this time.

By the way 2 errors by Veeru. Mishra and McGrath should have been in for Sangwan and Nannes. 104 for 7 is not a winning score. Not when you dont have bowling firepower in the lineup and when there is the most dangerous opening pair in the opposite camp. Danny boy continues his excellence and the script of spinners' excellence this IPL goes on.

Second Innings:

Sehwag and Gambhir are on. No Warner, no McGrath. Delhi batting looks good. Following this 2, there is Dilshan, AB, Tiwary, Karthik (LOL) and Danny boy. First up Pathan and Sanga stands up to the stumps. Will Pathan get some swing and force his way back to this earlier reputation of 2003-05. Now will Gambhir will walk down ? First boundary. Pace is lacking. One more. 9 now in first over. Looking to Sehwag and Gambhir, I rememeber Sholay evergreen song

Yeh dosti hum nahi todenge

First ball to Veeru and he hits one down the leg side. Almost gone, but still a 4. Abdullah ka Bismillah isnt good in IPL. One more. 2 in 2. Full toss to Veeru. Are you kidding? Would be gone in stands. Ravi says 5 overs is the D/L cutoff. Rains started. Edged and 4. They are heading off. Covers being brought in. DD 0/24 in 1.5. Have that as a tactical break. If the match gets underway dont break again for the tactics. I think its ridiculous to have a tactical break when it would rain. So 10 overs are bowled, no rains, a tactical break. Match resumes, rains come down, match broke. Whats the use of the break here? That time should have been used as a continution to the game and time lost to rains can be taken as tactical break.

Meanwhile its raining stronger than ever before in the day. Things looking bad. Now its looking that the match would get underway and also the 2nd one would get underway though it depends on the rains. The score is going to be reduced. Ahh its mockery. 54 to win in 6 overs. So 30 to win in 25 balls. i guess it would be 10 balls more. Poor fielding by VRV Singh and 4 more. 26 in 24 needed. Man of the match candidate : One of this batsmen or Danny Boy. 25 off 23 now. Veeru on strike. A slog and a miss. Sanga having bad day. 24 off 22 now. 23 off 21 now. No urgency or warming up shown by Kings Punjab. Have they already believed that they have lost ? The reason is this. Sehwag. Huge hit. Ease, ease and easy. Bottom hand. One more try. Misses. 17 off 19. Effortless and in no time. Edged and 4. 13 off 3 overs.

This is tailor made situation for Sehwag. He has been hitting runs at furious speed in ODIs and tests. T20s give him more of freedom and license to do so. And he is going for it. Edges or nudges doenst matter to him. No for me too. And for his fans too. VRV comes in. Long time i saw him last, precisely to be after 2007 SA series. 12 off 17. 2 sixes. Now ? Miscue. 11 off 16. Yuvraj looks subdued. Good running. V and G are best runners in the team between the wickets. 9 off 15. One more walk down the track and single. Sehwag on strike. 8 off 14. 29 off 11 for the Najafgarh Sultan. Missed. Whats he gonna do now ? No run. 8 off 2 overs. rare 2 dot balls. Chawla comes in. He is no Warne or Kumble. Sehwag is now on strike. Go hit the Melbourne style six when he tried and got out. But he got 2. 5 off 10. One. 4 off 9. 50 for DD. Good running again. 3 off 8. Hit the four or six Veeru!!! Wide. 2 off 8. Thats it. 6 for Veeru. And DD win. Whatta style....Sehwag rocks. Gambhir playing 2nd fiddle and thats what makes this pair the rock star it is. The ODIs, the Tests and the T20Is. Vettori looks good for the MoM award..

One tight slap.......

.............is what Rahul Dravid gave to Dr Vijay Mallaya with a match winning 66 against the champions of season 1 in RCB's opening game...And now on Mallaya wont mess up with Jammy boy...

Veterans steal the show on day 1

It was a magical day. 4 all time greats lit up the opening day @ Capetown. 2 batsmen and 2 bowlers. 3 of them Indians, one of them Australian. And somebody said IPL or T20 was for young guns.

If on one hand there were classical Warne dismissals on perfect leg spin deliveries, then there was a sheet anchor role from the Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar who showed how to play in a difficult pitch. This when no other player from either side made a major contribution in the 1st game.

And then there was belaugered and under pressure former Indian skipper, former RCB skipper Rahul Dravid who holded the fort single handedly and guided the team to a decent 8/133 score in 20. And then it was left to the greatest bowler in Indian history, the one who had to retire amidst culling calls in Delhi to get the RCB to a fabulous start in the tournament. 5 for 5 were fabulous figures for Anil Kumble.

Cricket was center stage in the opening day and it was the memories rekindled with some electric performances on the field by battle sacred veterans. Some greatest gems of the cricketing world coming good in T20 too suggesting that you dont need to be a slam bam whinger to succeed in T20. Playing perfect cricket shots and bowling balls at perfect length can get you success too. And Sachin, Rahul, Warne and Kumble proved it.

***BOWS***

New IPL blog

IPL is the buzzword of the season and to make justice to the purity of cricket -- Tets and ODIs, i have a new blog for IPL. Here is the link : http://iplatarmball.blogspot.com/.

Please at least comment on the new blog. Would motivate me to keep me going and alter my cricket writing.

Prologue...

Welcome to the IPL coverage and blogging at Arm Ball. A separate section for T20 glitz and glmorous tamasha on my blog. For next 38 days, i shall try and present my reviews and my take on the cricketing part of the IPL -2 and a digg at the Bollywood chaff that has crept in the game of the cricket.

I am rooting this time for:

• Mumbai Indians for the sole presence of Sachin Tendulkar
• Delhi DareDevils for the presence of India's dynamite duo in addition with Pidge.

I want Kolkata Knight Riders to lose all their games for the humiliation the coach and the spineless owner of the franchisee handed over to Saurav Ganguly.

Welcome to the IPL @ Arm Ball. My 2nd blog and main one for next 38 days.

IPL Kicks off today

IPL kicks off today.

My bet on today s winners:

1st game : Mumbai Indians simply for presence of Zaheer, Padma Miss Bhajan and Sachin Tendulkar....

2nd game : Royals with talisman presence of Shane Warne who can now ball with speed of 100 mph and swing ball more and more with bowling under the wicket thanks to Ms Dumb Shilpa Bihar Chor Shetty.

Insanity reaches crescendo

If the reports of untried Brendon McCullum replacing DADA as KKR skipper are true then John Buchanan has gone mad and he needs mental rehabilitation soon. May be a brain replacement. Cos he has been just simply a poor brother of Greg Chappell, the Aussie ego rich coach who almost destroyed Indian cricket.

What factor makes Ganguly being replaced by a man who has never led his team in a major game except a washed out game ? And if multiple theory is gona be executed who would be next skipper ? Hodge ? Gayle ? Or Ishant Sharma ? or a non playing captain? Or may be John Buchanan's son ? There is a thin line of difference between being innovative and insane. I know which side of line Buch falls.

Talibanisation of cricket

There is no point in goin gung ho about Afghanistan making to world cup cricket (whenever and if they make it). We dont talibanis on the 22 yards, we dont need fatwas on the cricket field. We dont need grenades or rocket launchers on 22 yards. We dont need Hikmatyar followers on 22 yards. Pakistan cud well be playing its last series ever in cricket against Australia cos once Taliban takes over Pakistan, the cricket would be banned for obvious reasons and so no Pakistan team in future.

So it would be back to 1981 when we just had 7 test playing nations :) All then we could see is Taliban IPL with teams from Pakistan and Afghanistan participating with riflemen, bombers and of course Azmal Kasab leading the way :) Manmohan Singh will inaugrate the tourney when he goes in a plane to release Azmal Kasab to his native in Pakistan :)

Mondire IPL Bedi..

Guess who is she? Mondira Bedi, who said in 2003 that Bhajji is a leg spinner and Anil is a fast bowler. She is back with new look and she is going back to SA where she first emerged on cricket scene.

Who needs her ? Is she going to widen the audience base for cricket in India and world wide? At least rediff.com says so. Cudnt be more ridiculous statement than this. Who is going to watch her ? Her cheap flashy smile ? Before she emerged on the scene people in India used to watch cricket and she has got nothing to do with her sex appeal (whatever that means in cricketing context)....

And with Sony broadcasting more buffooons like her and Arbaaz Khan along with Karan Johar are expected to give their thumbs up to the IPL ceremony and telecast. That means in innings break, the 7 and half mins break and post match conf we wont hear about the match analysis but which cricketer was more sexy and whom wud take out on a "gay trip". Precisely this is what i wished didnt happen. But then this is consumer age and recession hasnt caught up wid Sony and Mody. Be ready for more Johar and Mondira Bedi moments in South Africa during 2009 IPL. The presence of this elements make IPL a tamasha and not the cricketing part of it which has sadly taken the back seat.

Aaan do bhai, aan do..Aur kachra patti aan do....(Welcome more dirt and dust in the IPL)....

Déjà-vu on IPL

With the intense 7 or 8 last months in Indian cricket, it’s a bit of let down to see the team playing against each other in the IPL. Somehow I am not able to digest the pills of IPL this time. I watched IPL – 1 with full excitement and enthu. But this time I find it bit tough to gather the same enthusiasm and support. I was off the blog last year when IPL – 1 happened. More so to do with the 1-2 loss in Australia especially in the Sydney test. That was wrecking. But somehow I did manage to recollect my enthu in 2008 later half and this blog was born. However due to the tight situations in the project in the workplace given the global recession and followed by crappy Dish TV when I had no access to Neo Sports for Aus and Eng home series, I lost the chance to watch LIVE the high Indians had in 2008. Besides retirements of Saurav Ganguly and Anil Kumble were further dampeners.

I am not able to swallow the glitz and glamour of IPL. Moreso with the entry of chaff in the ring with the likes of dumb headed boozoes like Ms Shetty, Ms Zinta and Mr SRK who have no idea of what cricket is. They have mixed the business and ROI with the dynamics of the game. And armed with that power, this elements don’t bother with whom they are dealing. As a result you have Sunny Gavaskar being ridiculed by a man who has never stepped on to a cricket field with a bat or ball in his hand, the likes of Dravid and Laxman were replaced by men who don’t know what concentration and power of silken touch means. There have been elements in the blog world who have mocked the concept of IPL and are against it. I am no big fan of IPL too, but I am more keen to watch few players play, otherwise it would be impossible to see them play. The love for the game is such that you always want to go and watch :

· Shane Warne

· Mathew Hayden

· Glenn McGrath and of course

· Saurav Ganguly.

In IPL.

I would never get a chance to see this players again in traditional form of game in whites or colored clothings of national teams. IPL gives me a chance to watch them with limited pleasure for a limited time. So I am pitching myself to watch the tamasha of the game which doesn’t stand a chance before the purity of a Test match or a tension of a ODI. I also don’t understand the logic of replacing RD with KP as skipper for Royal Challengers. And then when KP is far away for WI series Jacques Kallis replacing him. Kallis isn’t considered worthy enough to lead his own team for long, then how can he lead a IPL franchisee ? Not to forget amidst other failures in RC, Dravid was their highest scorer in the tournament. 347 @ 118 runs per 100 balls. Not bad for somebody who is considered to be a Test specialist. The problem with Dravid has been the intensity and the crave for perfection. He had a horrible team with his disposition. Jaffer was opening in T20 whereas he was never suited to open even in Tests. Mark Boucher has had a good record as a lower order hitter in ODIs, but he didn’t come good. And moreover he had to oversee the cynics of Vijay Malaya.

This year Dada has already been cut to size by his coach cum manager. Dada was a flash in manager’s eye when he coached Aussies. Out of 3 series at the helm, the Dada team got better of the coach’s team 2 times though won just 1 series. So all kinds of hoodlum politics is already in place in the franchisees…..

I just wish that the game of cricket wins over the chaffers and the dust particles trying to intrude the game we all love very much in the 2^nd season of IPL. Meanwhile the glaring contest to watch will be:

· Sachin and Jayasuriya opening the batting for Mumbai Indians.

· Old iconic contest between Sachin and Warne, McGrath though only for few overs or not at all. Not that this would matter though. Being a purist, I crave for the contests between greatest icons.

· Though he is no more hype now than he was in last year, Mendis would be a cult figure to watch. It would be interesting to see how Sachin and Jaya play against him. No doubt Jayasuriya would hit him if in form, but also Tendulkar would try to get better of him for the misery he suffered in SL test series last year.

Déjà-vu just can’t get better than this.

Blame it to BCCI and Whinning Ponting....

In continuation with Boatha the Chuck, i hope the bloggers dont attribute this to the captain tired, whinning and losing Ricky Ponting. And of course not BCCI!! puleeeeeeeeez. This age BCCI and Ponting seem to be the root cause of all evils in world cricket...........Indie bloggers wud curse Ponting, Lankans and Pommie bloggers along with few Aussie ones would blame BCCI!!! Gosh gimme a break!! And whom do i blame? Of course Chuck king. He set the wrong precedent in bending the rules for bending the arm by 50 degrees....

Captain Chuck!!

Chuckers galore :)

After Lankan chuck its now Saffer chuck :) And guess wot he was a skipper. Reported for suspect action..And guess wot he wud continue to play cricket :). Further killing of spirit of cricket.

Here is a list of chuckers :

1. Muralitharan
2. Botha
3. Rajesh Chauhan
4. Lasith Malinga
5. Pieterson (SA)
6. Shoaib Akhhtar
7. Shabbir Ahmed....

Wud ICC roll back those wickets taken on doubtful deliveries and also change the results of the games that were affected due to those wickets ?

Pata nahi :)

Keep chucking....And worst part is continue to be # 1 in the rankings that are at best trashy like Manmohan Singh!!

IPL Tamasha : 4 days to go

Time to stop thinking of international cricket for now and get colored in the T20 glitz and glamour albeit not in India but in faraway land of SA. The land where India won T20 World cup in 2007, land where they lost ODI series 0-4, their worst in years, the land where they made Paul Harris look like GOD Harris in Capetown, the land where they almost won the World Cup in 2003. And now the Indian players disintegrated to the city loyalties play against each other and hope to have prepared for the defense of their title in England soon after. Indians have not been good defenders of their title. Only time they went in to the defense of their title in 1987, they lost in their own home turf against England. And this time they go to England to defend their T20 title. What would happen to IPL if India fail to win the T20 again? Will it survive to see the season 3? Will the hype be the same as it has been for Season 1 and 2?

India haven’t fared well in their last 3 T20s. Almost lost to SL in SL and then lost the next 2 to Kiwis in Kiwi land. I am not sure how the IPL would be ideal preparation for World T20. Dancing to the tunes of bosses of the franchisees who know nothing on the game of the cricket, who ask fast bowler to spin more than to swing more or run in harder to bowl wouldn’t prepare the Indians to the World T20 title defense. Fir bhi yeh India ka cricket he boss. Yaha kuch bhi ho sakta hain. There is no clear cut favorite for World T20 either. SA have won 2 and lost 2. Aussies ditto. Indians won 1 and lost 2, England and WI are inconsistent. Pakistan are no more strong and SL is in shock with what happened in their tour to Pakistan. So it could be India, SA, Aus and one of Eng / NZ in the semis.

For now lets stop worrying about World T20 and bother about:

· KP vs Ray Jennings. Both are shot tempered and egoistic. Add Vijay Mallaya to it. What does RD do in here in the team of his city ? And heck will Anil play?

· Sachin Tendulkar in MI. Will he continue his supreme form in Tests and ODIs to this format he doesn’t like? Will his presence along with Bhajji and Jaya turn the tables? How good the partnership of Sach and Sanath be? The two of most destructive openers of ODI cricket.

· Saurav Ganguly ? Will he be the captain entire tourney or he would reduce to a strategist in the next game after being captain in one.

· Sehwag leading DD to final ?

· How close Yuvi and Zinta babes go?

· And finally will the maverick Warne spin his magic once again?

Let the tamasha begin..

Oh Aussies!!!

Aussies suck now. Its disgusting to see them lose to Saffers in ODIs. Its 7-2 for SA this year. And given the way Aussies are playing the ODIs, they aint lookin good to defend their title in 2011. Pakistan would fancy their chances to beat Aussies 5-0 if its the way Aussies are going to play. Jesus, no way in the world Michael Clark looks like an ODI opener. You cannot make a orange taste like an apple. Plus Aussies are falling to spinners, the rookie ones. Botha and Van de Marve are absolutely not the most dangerous spinners in the world.

The tour has been disastrous for Aussies. And the summer even worse. They are now # 3 in ODIs. India go up to 2. Undeserving. They deserve top spot in ODIs. SA are by no means the # 1 team in ODis.

I think Ponting needs a break before the Ashes begin. He has got one from the Pak series, but he also would accept that it has been the most disastrous summer for him in all forms of the game. Ponting, Hussey and Clark are the most experienced cricketers left now in Australia and their slump has caused more trouble than advantage to the team. They need some break, some soul searching and may be a fresh perspective.

Its a very sad plight for an Aussie fan like me to see them lose.....I hope they turn around the ride and the tide a bit soon!!!

I hope you can spin more.

"I hope you can spin more."
Rajasthan Royals stakeholder Shilpa Shetty has great expectations of one of the team's fast bowlers, Siddharth Trivedi, at an event announcing the team's sponsor

Stop making the mock of the game. Got a stake? Alright, be happy and content. Stay out of free advice on cricketing matters to the players you picked up. Let the captain and coach do what they want to do to drive the things on field and on 22 yards. You should be content with giving a shake shake to your hips and roll a leg or two. Or better sit in London apartment and sip a coffee / wine or 2. But please don’t spoil the game of cricket with your sheer ignorance, ridiculous at its best. Or else if you aint content with the rock n roll thingie, stick around with Warney as Zinta does with her skipper (Yuvraj Singh). I hope you don’t give advice to Warney to swing the ball more in or out.

Hirl a shoe!!

http://blogs.cricinfo.com/surfer/archives/2009/04/dhoni_special_o.php

I just resited hurling a shoe at this writer.....

Best Indian opener

http://content.cricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/399133.html

 

If Gambhir is the best opener since Sunil Gavaskar for India, then what the heck is Virender Sehwag?  Not to forget that this statement has been given by Sehwag himself. If you ask me, he is the best Indian opener ever produced on par with Sunil Gavaskar.

 

Pakistan breathes back to cricket...

On off on On Off and then on...

Yes No Yes No Yes no

In out in out in Out

Director no director director advisor

ICL no ICL IPL no IPL legal suit ICL ICL freezed...

ICL players in ICL players dropped....

Thats Pakistan cricket for you. Dynamic, interesting and maverick. The director point is for Javed Miandad who was captain and not captain 'n' times in his playing career. He retired many times, came back and retired. ICL no ICL analogy is for Youhana or Yousuf, whatever you like. ICL players taken in for T20 World cup, next day dropped. One day Ijaz Butt is asking teams to tour the country, next day a bomb goes off, he distracts.

Imran Khan retired, came back, retired. So did Razzaq, Afridi, Waqar and countless other desi cricketers. The only legend Pakistan cricket has had with some dignity was Wasim Akram though he too had his stints with match fixing, drugs and dissent within the team. He was iconic. He had performance to back him. Till he was playing, Pakistan team looked dangerous. Post him they have been a touch better than minnows.

Younis Khan is miffed on Ponting being dropped / rested from the Pak series. Fair enough. Its cricket by luck for Pakistan this days.

I think the sight of Akram from one end and ever running Waqar Younis would never be repeated in Pakistan cricket ever. What this generation saw in 90s and early 2000's was something of a delight. And yes now its time Pakistan gets rid of Shoaib Akhtar forever.

Series predictions for Aus - Pak:

3-2 Australia if Aussies play like the last 2 ODIs in SA including today.

5-0 if they are real self and Roy, Binga fire.

2008 Wisden XI

THE WISDEN TEST XI OF 2008
V. Sehwag (India)
§G. C. Smith (South Africa)
R. T. Ponting (Australia)
S. R. Tendulkar (India)
K. P. Pietersen (England)
S. Chanderpaul (West Indies)
*†M. S. Dhoni (India)
Harbhajan Singh (India)
M. G. Johnson (Australia)
D. W. Steyn (South Africa)
Zaheer Khan (India)

5 Indians in here means the Indian presence in the Test arena is getting stronger and louder. South Africans had a better test result percentage than India in 2008, yet the number of Indians outnumber the Saffers. SA had 4 or 5 batsmen who scored over 1000 runs in Tests in 08 and India had 3 or 4. Skipper choice is again a proof that Ponting is on a decline and the star of MSD is on rise. Though there are couple of differences here. Harbhajan Singh in my opinion didn't deserve the place. Surprisingly there is no Chuck and "Mendis". No SL cricketer finds a place here despite having won the Test series against India. And many of their batsmen scored big hundreds. So it proves that big runs in drawn games doesn't matter. Consistency does, that's where the likes of Sehwag, Tendulkar, Smith, Chandu scored.

Pace attack seems balanced. 2 left armers and a right armer. 2 express followed by one who is master of seam and swing. Lack of success and injury break for Freddie Flintoff meant there is no bowling / batting alrounder in this team. Presence of MS Dhoni makes this team looks unbeatable as he not only provides the depth in the batting plus brings the freshness in the captaincy.

The number of Indians here prove that India is the team TOBE in the future Test world.

2-0 would have been better

1-0 is good. 2-0 would have been better. Down the years the scoreline of 1-0 wont be reflecting on how India dominated the hapless Kiwis and only rain preceeded by delayed declaration prevented them to go 2-0 up. I didnt watch the day 4 start and entire day 5, so wont be able to tell how much delayed declaration affected the bid to win the Test.

This was a Test when effective 3rd and 4th bowler could have got the result in Indian favor. Ishant was off color and Munaf was as usual ridiculous. I mean what is the use of getting him in the team? When captain doesnt trust him to bowl more than 10 overs in an innings followed by his attitude followed by irritating habit to run to the bowler 100 times better than him and offer him free advice after every delivery ?

No attempt to bowl bouncers, no attempt to bowl different length. Much said about him in this blog and other blogs. he is not the kind of bowler you would turn to maintain the pressure after 2 bowlers have done the hard work to put pressure.

And one more thing comes in here to ask. Why was no Sachin Tendulkar given bowling before?

No doubt that Indians are now a different Test team altogether. Better than South africans and Australians, but to be like Aussies of yore, the Indians would need to go for the kill in every Test match and remove the weak links like Munfa Patel.

Multiple strategists or multiple captains?

What do you mean by “group of "strategists" who would report to one on-field captain while making decisions” ? And how does that qualify that as multiple captain theory? Would SRK clarify on that? In my opinion he should shut his mouth on cricketing issues as he is not aware of the facts and certainly he is unqualified to comment on Sunil Gavaskar ’s observations on John Buchanan’s flawed theory. There is always a group of core strategists in every team and terming them as multiple captains is ridiculous. In Indian team whosoever the captain is, he always consults the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid or Laxman for their ideas when the things don’t go per planned way. In older times with Kumble around, Dravid as captain would always turn to him for advice. Or even in ODIs when Sachin plays, MSD turns on to him for some advice. That doesn’t make the consulted players as multiple captains. Either here the media is wrong to have panned out the new term “multiple captains” for multiple strategists or Mr John Buchanan proposed a flawed idea which just cannot work in modern cricket be it International or IPL. Or it could also be the case of KKR owners who have nothing to do with the game of cricket besides putting money in it to coin this term “multiple strategists” to douse this controversy.

Can you imagine a team named Kolkata Knight Riders with no Ganguly as skipper? Cmon whom is John Buchanan kidding? And who would replace Ganguly as skipper if Buch has his way? Hussey or McCullum or Akash Chopra or for that matter Chris Gayle who might be unavailable given the English tour of West Indies? Are this so called buffer skippers better than Ganguly in leading a team? Kolkata cannot exist without Saurav Ganguly. I mean any team related to Kolkata. Though the influence of Saurav isn’t limited to Kolkata alone, but pan India, but Kolkata without Ganguly is like fish without water.

SRK, this is not a new format being tried out. At least not in my knowledge of 22 years of watching and following cricket. I also feel that Sunil Gavaskar ’s criticism on John Buchanan is bit harsh, but that’s not unexpected as he is well known for his dislike for anything Australian and English.

Wellington recession

Slowing down the run rate when the total lead is 450+, its over cast and a forecast for 5th day rains is beyond my comprehension. Cautious approach by Laxman is a bit of downcast in this Test which has been epitome of Indian turnaround from Oval 2007 days when they were content to bat long time to win the series 1-0.

I hope for a wicket to fall and somebody out of MS or Yuvraj comes in to step up the gas. 550+ should be an ideal target for the demoralised Kiwis to chase.

जीत की और बढ़ता भारत....

बहुत जल्दी सचिन तेंदुलकर और राहुल द्रविड़ नेव्ज़ेअलन्द की सरज़मी पर अपनी आखरी टेस्ट इनिंग्स खेलने उतरेंगे। और जिस तरह से ज़हीर खान ने आज गेंदबाजी की है, उससे लगता है, की भारत के यह दो महानतम बल्लेबाज़ अपने टेस्ट करियर की नज़ में आखरी पारी यादगार जीत में खेलेंगे।

तेंदुलकर का यह छतवा किवी दौरा है और द्रविड़ का तीसरा। इससे पहले कभी भी यह दोनों नज़ से विजयी टीम का हिस्सा बनकर नही लौटे। बहुत प्रबल सम्भावना है की इस बारी यह सम्भव होगा और इस जोड़ी ने अपने अल्लोचाको को मुहतोड़ जवाब दिया होगा जो श्रीलंका के हादसे के बाद इन्हे क्रिकेट छोड़ने की बात कर रहे थे।

दूसरी पारी में सहवाग से एक शतक की दरकार होगी और यह उम्मीद होगी की वो अपना विकट दान नही करे। आज का खेल पूरी तरह से ज़हीर खान के नाम रहा है। न सिर्फ़ उन्होंने ५ विकट लिए बल्कि बहुमूल्य ३३ रन भी बनाये।

१००वि टेस्ट जीत अब ज्यादा दूर नही है। दूर हटो ऐ ऑस्ट्रेलिया और अफ्रीका वालो, टेस्ट सरताज खिताब हमारा हैं। टेस्ट में बेस्ट होना , यह संकल्प हमारा है...दूर हटो ऐ दुनिया वालो क्रिकेट पर राज हमारा है.

Translated for Amy:

Very soon Sachin and Rahul are going to step to play their last innings in New Zealend for their illustrative career. And the way Zaheer has been bowling, it seems that innings would come in a memorable winning cause.

Sachin is touring NZ 5th time and Dravid 3rd time. Never before they were part of winning team. The duo has hit back hard at the critics who suggested them retire post diaster in SL.

It would be glad if Sehwag scores a 100 (I wrote this when NZ were 9/186) in 2nd innings and doesnt throw his wicket away. But the man of the day has been Zaheer who not only made 33 invaluable runs but also took 5 wkts for 65 runs.

Right now 100th Test win doesnt seem too far and also the crown of the world championship seems within the reach. The coming age belongs to the Indian cricket team.

100th Test win in pursuit!!

MSD is very much crucial to the plans for victory in 3rd test. Not just to bring the alleged luck, but to lend the stability to the lower order and of course good catching. His replacement was a dud and almost let down the team with his keeping, catching and batting. And yes leave Sehwag to do just he does the best -- whack the bowlers with no respect. Only thing one would expect Veeru is to do a Nottingham on 3rd. That is score a 100 in windy and cold conditions.

100th Test win beckons and it would be great to do that in a venue where we havent won in 33 years.