Sambit's point.

http://blogs.cricinfo.com/fromeditor/archives/2009/08/how_good_is_samaraweera.php

Sambit Bal questions inflating averages of Thilana Samarweera and the SL readers pounce upon him. Fair enough.

They also leach Indian batsmen. Not fair.

Problem is well known. Less tests abroad, more home. More against weaker teams. An Indian series happens in 7 yrs, an Australian series in 6 years and South African series in 4 years. In Sri Lanka.

They tour England, India, Australia rarely. They toured India in 1982, 1987, 1990 and 1994. And then in 1997 and finally in 2005. Australia -- 1995, 2004, 2007. Look at the gaps. And in 1995.

Contrast that with Pakistan. 2003, 2006 and 2009. Pakistan isnt a Test force it was when it had Ws and Inzys.

Or Bangladesh. Frequent tours from BD and to BD. And for that matter check SL record in India. 8 losses in 14 Tests and 9 wins, 21 losses in ODIs in India :)

How would this batsmen get a chance to prove their worth in all conditions.

You cant compare a Samarweera, Jaywardhena, Sangakara to a Ponting, Lara, Inzy, Tendulkar or Dravid.

Last lot of batsmen got runs in all conditions. Didnt they ?

Dany's 140 and Sri Lankan Character

Good jab Danny Baby.

140 in the pack of inept batsmen is a glitteratti.........And perhaps an indication of how bad other batsmen are and perhaps Danny should bat up the order.

"The boys showed character to fight through the weather"

SL boys always show character. But only at home. Not abroad. Lol. Why so much of stress on character in every Test / ODI ? Are they having lose characters that htey have to emphasize every time ?

Herath's 5-for means end of road for Mendis. Perhaps he also escapes a stringent punishment from Indians in their next test series.

We would see how Sanga boys show their character in a country where they havent won a single Test yet and chances are will not win in near future.

Arm Ball turns one.

So its a happy Birthday for my blog. 1 year complete when I returned to full fledged blogging. This has been an amazing ride. I was opinionated, passionate, looked upon as hater, chauvinist pig, racist, anti -- this, anti--that.......But in the end I enjoyed this.

IPL got me huge hits. 22000 hits in a year is a decent stat. People from USA, India and SL read this blog. I write a lot. Write more what comes in my mind. I have strong opinions on cricket. Strong liking for my generation of players -- the players of 90s. The players who attained their peak in 2000s. That was an era when the Indian cricket changed for good.

From being a good team who won occasionally it became one of the best team in the world.

I had another blog then -- Taking Strike, 22 Yards, Willow and Leather blog. All one. Finally google deleted that blog on behest of somebody I dont know. I was measured and practical over that blog. This is my 3rd cricket blog.

And the longest one.

First one lasted for a month when I accidentally deleted it after the worst tournament country ever played. Yup the 50 over world cup of 2007. Then the second one. 8 months, 340 posts and 5130 hits.

Sydney 2008 broke me on cricket blogging and I closed it down. Didnt blog during IPL - 1. Thought about it, didnt feel so to blog.

And then India won SL series in 2008 after Mendis wrecked the reputations of Indian middle order and prompted two of its best players to fade out. Thats one of the reasons I dislike SL (if you use word dislike)

I was back to the blog and with time I grew cynical. People whacked me. Some truths they didnt want to hear. Q labelled me as hater. Homer took me on when I commented as Sam and happily replied to my posts when I was anonymous :P.

Prabhu and Raj(ni) termed me anti-Tamil Nadu cos I dislike dancing jack of Indian cricket -- KKD and Subbu Dabri.

All happened here, I did not fade. I wont fade. I shall blog. I shall continue. Arm Ball turns one. If you feel something for it, do drop a note for it even if you hate it.

I know I cant attain the skills of writing some of the bloggers -- Homer, Gaurav, SP, Soulberry have. But I am here to express my joy and my anger when my team plays. My team as in my country.

So something would change here. The content. The style. The "hatred". Sri Lanka wont be blogged. 26/11 wont be blogged. Tough to forget this but then this hurts.

Happy Birthday AB.

Salman's IPL team dress

Whichever team Salman Khan would buy in IPL he would ensure that the team plays all its bakes with no shirt on. Just the pajamas and the bare minimum inside.............

Sallu bhai's style is infectious you see.

Future of ODIs

Is the future for Tests really in danger ?

I dont think so.

Consider this :

Shane Warne is critical of ODIs.

Last month BCCI dropped domestic Deodhar trophy out of 2009-10 schedule for a corporate T20 tourney. However it rollbacked.

ECB dumped 40/50 over format from the county season 2010.

And now SA have ended the domestic 45 over game next season.

ODIs are in danger, not the Tests.

England were never good in ODIs or T20s. They have got they always wanted. The Ashes. South Africa are # 1 in ODIs. India are the best ODI team in last year and half.

So why are this countries trying to scrap the domestic tourneys for ODIs ?

And then there is lot of drama from Ijaz Butt on ODI World Cup 2011.

Inflated Averages

Is Mahela Jaywardhena really a great batsman ?

v Australia 2004-2007 4 274 104 34.25 1 - - - - 3 0 v

Bangladesh 2006-2009 4 304 166 50.66 1 - - - - 6 0 v

England 1998-2006 7 511 119 42.58 2 0 - - 0 11 0

v India 2005-2005 3 255 71 51.00 0 - - - - 1 0 v

New Zealand 2005-2006 4 194 141 27.71 1 0 - - 0 4 0

Pakistan 1999-2009 9 684 240 42.75 1 2 1/7 24.00 0 15 0

South Africa 2000-2002 5 314 98 31.40 0 0 - - 0 2 0

West Indies 2003-2008 4 294 136 42.00 1 - - - - 3 0

Zimbabwe 1999-2004 5 253 100* 63.25 1 0 - - 0 13 0

Away record of the man. 3090 runs in 41 Tests and an avg of 41......

The averages read 50+ for Sanga and Mahila because they play most against weak Test teams. Sanga has played just 6 tests against Australia.

He averages 54 vs SA, thanks mostly to that ridiculous 624 run partnership with Mahila.

Very soon Mahila would be in 9000 run club and soon Sanga Singh would overcome GC Chappell and Saurav Ganguly in runs. Will that make him great than this players. Jai ho BD and Zim.

Away Test victories record

Away records :

SL 13 wins out of 40 Tests in this decade.

6 out of which are in BD and SL. Out of remaining 7 , 4 in Pakistan, 1 in NZ, 1 in England and 1 in WI. No win in Australia, South Africa and India.

South Africa 21 wins out of 54 and 18 losses.

2 wins in Australia, 3 in India. Their impressive record has been in last 3 years when they have won series in England and Australia. Drew in India. They havent won a series in India in 9 years now. Chance to set that right later this year.
And in 16 years in SL.

England 16 wins out of 57 abroad. 22 losses.

No series wins in India and Australia. Not won a series in Australia in 2 decades, 2 decades in India. Solitary wins in Australia and India in 10 and 9 tests resp. On contrary not so bad record in Lanka when they have won 2 and lost 3.

Pakistan 15 out of 47.

Major blot : 0 in 6 in Australia. In fact its 15 years they won last against Australia. One in India out of 6. One in SA out of 6. They have toured India 2 times this decade (05 and 07, first time ). Just 1 win in 6 in England. Major wins in Zim, BD, WI and NZ. And yes SL too :D

Australia

34 wins in 56. The best. Only unfavorable record in India. 3 wins and 5 losses. And just about favorable in England. 6-5. No win in Pakistan cos no test played in 11 years.

India is the pain in Australia's ass.

And finally India :

Even stevens.

19 wins and 19 losses in 56. Most number of Tests after England.

2 wins in Australia. Should have been 4. 2 wins in England with just one loss. 2-2 in WI. 2-2 in Pak. Major blot -- SL and SA.

Records all for saying who is the best and who gets the backdoor entry on rankings.

India dream Test XI

Cricinfo has got England n Australia all time XIs. So the next in line should be India or West Indies. In the order of test debuts. No wait. It could be Bangladesh or South Africa. So may be I thought I should have Arm Ball all time Indian XI in Tests.

Openers :

Little doubt here that the 2 most successful openers qualify for the slot have played for India in last 38 years.

1. Sunny Gavaskar
2. Virender Sehwag

One of them an immaculate opener with tremendous concentration and technique followed by ability to blunt out the new ball. West Indies in their prime were example of how Gavaskar could be while opening the batting. 2749 runs in 27 tests with 13 hundreds in an era when their quicks dominated tells all about the greatsness of the man who brought the recognition to Indian cricket in lacklusture 70s.

Virender Sehwag the makeshift opener who has made huge centuries everywhere -- dead pitches of Pakistan, bouncy tracks of Australia, slow and low pitches of SL, seaming tracks of England and SA followed by flat tracks of Chennai. He has been an unorthodox opener in the modern era and the only slot available for him to play when the middle order was the BEST country ever had. His record itself suggests the value for the country. When he bats big, India usually doesnt lose.

3. Rahul Dravid.
4. Sachin Tendulkar

The only choices.

5. VVS Laxman
6. Saurav Ganguly

The possible choices. Not many again who could compete with the modern greats. Made runs in all conditions and against all oppositions home and away. Silken touch. Classy, wristy.

7. Kapil Dev

The obvious choice who turned the tables around for India in fast bowling. Before him there were almost nobody in the fast bowling dept except for Mohd Nisar who got india's first 5-for. Bowlers used to bowl for 4 or 5 over spell to take the shine off the ball and then the spinners used to come on. 434 wkts in 131 Tests meant he was country's first great fast bowler.

8. Kirmani

For now as a wicket keeper who has made most runs and played most tests as Indian keeper. 88 Tests and 2759 runs. Would soon be got past by MS, but for now he is the one who is India's best so far. He played his cricket with the greats like Kapil, Gavaskar and the spinners.

9. Anil Kumble

The first choice for the spinner with 619 wickets in 132 Tests and in all conditions against all countries. Very less people would know of his stats against Australia. 111 wkts in 20 odd Tests in an era when Australia have dominated like no other team.

10. J Srinath

The second fast bowler after Kapil Dev to have succeeded in country. 236 wkts in 67 Tests wont much say for his talent as he had to sit out his 3 best years in the early stages of his career to accomodate Kapil Dev. One time in 1996 he partnered Venkatesh Prasad to form one of the lethal new ball pairs before injury to 1997 WI tour began his stint of missing tests more than playing.

11. E. Prassana

The off spinner of the yester years to get in my team. Done in by his failure against Pakistan in 1979 tour he was left out in the haste.

There could have been more choices here :

Bedi and Chandra for Kumble.

Vijay Manjrekar for Dravid. Polly Umrigar or Vinoo Mankad at 5 or 6. Azhar for Laxman.

Laxman and Ganguly have played more often in winning teams and have set out in an era when the country has won more matches abroad than lost. In fact this decade the win ratio abroad is just next to Australia and South Africa.

Bedi and Chandra excelled in conditions that suited them. They flopped badly when the pitch didnt offer them the turn. Their pathetic record abroad is the epitome. Besides Kumble wasnt supposed to be the best of the turners and he didnt get cheap wkts either against BD or Zim.

The biggest question : who captains the team. Is it Kapil Dev or Sunil Gavaskar or Saurav Ganguly ?

Its anybody's guess.

ICC settles Pak WC dispute

Butt gets his pie.

Sue ICC.

Blackmail them. Cry foul. Evoke sympathies.

Dont touch the core of the problem. Beat around the bush. Go rounds in circles.

Settle for an out of court agreement.

Retain host fees, get additional payment.

Fill up the empty coffers, arm twist the ICC.

Drop legal case. Everybody happy.

Cricket back in Pakistan ? Long way no. Butt back to smiling ways and with even stronger verbal diaorrhea (Spelt wrong).

Jeete Raho Butt Mia.

Torture......

Run rate of 2.91 on day 1 when batting is easy and the opposition is inexperienced would be pathetic. Just imagine how tough would it be for the spectators to watch it.

Is another record making spree to come in or it is an attempt to draw to win the series.

I just cant get enough of this negative approach.

Tests would just survive

Harbhajan wants to play 12-15 Tests a year to keep the format alive.

Sachin wants kids to get a free entry to the Tests over the weekend help the little ones develop penchant for longest n oldest form of cricket.

ICC wants 4 day Tests.

Ponting wants to return to England in 2013.

India has a realistic chance to be top team in Tests by beating the Lankans (3-0) and SA (2-1) later this year.

Who said Tests are dying ?

Not everybody is a Flintoff. A few exceptions like Afridi, Freddie and few more could go the T20 way, but the game wont be poor without them.

We do have lot of characters and entertainers in addition to purists in the longest form of the game. To add more we have flat track bullies, we have few who cherish batting on minefields and through injuries -- Dravid, Smith. We have had players who have bowled with a broken jaw and we have had a few who have chickened out of Tests owing to some freak knee injury and returned to play ODIs days after Tests got over.

When we have all this kinda varied characters who would want the Tests to fizz out.

Imagine the intensity of the contest between South Africa and India. Or Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh. And to top it all India vs Pakistan.

A T20 wont provide the long lasting excitement of the above contests. Not even IPL.

Mumbaikar quits blogging.

Homer quit the blogging. Well the world knows me as anti Homer blogger. Somebody who willingly took him on. That was not the case. I was on his side for most of the issues especially when it came to taking on PCB and its headless boss. Or taking on the case of Test cricket. I wasnt quite well with him when he was supporting Mumbai. There was a reason behind it. IMO Mumbai isnt the team it was in the past. And barring Zaheer, Tendulkar there is just no one who could carry the baton forward. The MI players are shit and they fade when taken in same breath as the old greats.

There was an interesting comment on his bid adieu post from my bete noir Prabu. He feels that I copy pasted topics for my blog from Homer. Ridiculous. Disgusting. I have my own ideas and opinions, the world finds them crooked or too passionate or too anti -- something (SL, TN, Pak, .....) but I dont copy paste from anywhere. Not that I can write to soothe anybody and win over comments. I used to bother a lot before for the comments, but now I dont. I write for myself n shall do so as long as I like.

Homer was excellent in his analysis and there is no doubt that I can never do that kind of analysis over rules and other issues. My passion rules over the logic most of the times. I believe in facts and figures too. And the same when quoted put off people who want to see their heroes immortalized here too. Sorry. Not my forte.

I just hope that the Mumbai man returns to the blogging and rethinks. In fact does a Abdul Razzaq or a Imran Khan to blogging.

If not then like its bid adieu to Freddie, its wishing all the best to Homer as well and lot of thinking caps to Prabu to get well soon over his hysteria for me.

Good jab Homer as they say it here in America. Yo Baby.

The ultimate challenge

I dont care what happens to Australia after this defeat, but the intensity of the battles between India and Australia in Tests shouldnt fizz off.

A test series win in that country is the only thing which has been beyond this glorious team. Thanks to Steve Bucknor, we came close two times out of 2 but.............

2011 should be the big big time for Indian Test cricket and perhaps Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid should target retiring with a high after beating Australia in Australia.

Post Ashes scenario

Congratulations England.

Well done Aussies.

A series well decided in the decider.

Batting collapses cost Australia dear. So Pakistan now have company. They aint alone on Collapsistan. Aussies have joined them.

England were old inhabitants of that planet. They did that many times in 90s. They holded on to their nerve this Ashes. Especially in Cardiff which would rankle Aussies for long.

Indians joined Collapsistan in 90s too when they toured SA. SA were part of the Collapsistan too when they played any big ICC event. They still make their occasional trips there. India too made a recent trip there in England T20 WC.

So aussies would now undergo sea change. Change of captain may be. Ponting cant decide to be captain or not. He has lost 2 consecutive Ashes in England. England and India have been a bumpy ride for Punter. In this 2 countries he has never won a series as captain.

Let alone a series in India, he has not even won a Test as a captain in India.

So what India started late last year, England finished it off. South Africa did it too. Result they are on top.

SL are 2. Yeah yeah I know. I know.

India are 3. England remain 5 and Aussies drop to 4. Pakistan are just touch above NZ and WI. 80s.

The order should be :

SA
Ind
Aus
Eng
SL
.........

But then this is ICC. It has special romance for SL. I too.

Heads would roll. Hussey would go. Ponting as captain would go. There would be end of illusion that Watson is a Test player. Search for a decent spinner would be on in Australia. Though they dont have a big series coming up this year, but they would be eyeing a 5-0 whitewash again next Ashes.

Pakistan and West Indies would be swept apart later this year. That would mark the rebuilding process of the Australian team. Its imminent that Ponting should go. He hasnt done any worthwhile when his star players retired. He is no Border. He has now become a whinner. He couldnt even play a 156 in Oval like he did in Old Trafford 2005.

Bret Lee would be back. Johnson would go out for a while. Hughes would be back and Hussey would end up his career.

England would now aim to beat SA in SA, which they could. Last tour they did it. 2004. Pietersen rose in that tour. SA were poor in Tests those times and today they are 1 not by effort but by luck partly.

England won their first home series against serious opposition in 4 years. Ironically their last significant win was against the same team. Since then they won against BD, WI, NZ and Pak, but these teams aint serious Test teams. They lost to India, SA and drew with SL. Yeah they couldnt get past SL in their home conditions.

Test cricket got a boost with this result. The battle for top spot has opened up. I dont bother about ICC rankings. For me India and SA remain the top 2 test teams. And the battle early next year in India would be a decider who is the best. Before that India would edge past SL in India. Not to forget that the Lankan spinners never have had good times in India. And those flat track bullies too.

Freddie wont play Test cricket longer. I doubt if ever he would play any cricket any more. He is injured again. Thats not a news anymore.

Winners :

Strauss
Swann
Trott
Broad

Losers

Flintoff
Bell
Collingwood

Winners (A)

North
Hilfenhaus
Siddle
Watson

Losers

Ponting
Hussey
Clark(M)
Haddin
Mitch

One more test in the Lanka land and the ODIs take over the limelight starting with a tri-series in Lanka land and 7 ODI series in England followed by CT.

Why should the tri-series even be played. India are going to win it anyway.

Pro India whinning. Yup. If people whine for Mumbai, England and Australia, I proudly whine it for India. India India India. And I am not shameful for it. Hate me or shun me. Pro India whinning shall go on.

Inch closer to # 2.

One step to # 2 achieved. Just need to win one more against hapless featherless Kiwis and there we go. # 2 in the world.

Yippieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Special thing about India vs Pakistan

While every match will be important, the game against India, as always, will be special for both the sides," Gul said. "No rivalry can match the India-Pakistan rivalry and I think the match will be something billions of people all over the world will be waiting for.

"For us, the match is also important for the simple fact that we haven't beaten them in an ICC event and we're desperate to break that sequence [Pakistan have actually beaten India in the 2004 Champions Trophy]

Yo baby, we are waiting for the same too. More than you. More than any other game. And did we forgot to add that the game is in Centurion, the place where Sehwag demolished Waqar's career for good and Sachin pushed Akram to retirement before teaching a couple of lessons to Shoaib Akhtar.

India and Pakistan are special teams. Even special is their rivalry and even special is when India beats Pakistan. You see forgetting those tormenting 90s Sharjah defeats when every match used to be scheduled on Friday for some unknown reasons. Those humiliating moments of 90s when the umpires wont budge to call off the game even if it was dark and the batsmen couldnt see the ball. That was the age when likes of Imran Khan used to add fuel in the fire by saying let Kashmir be decided on Sharjah. Idiot.

It feels special when Indian team of 90s wipes out those painful memories by beating Pakistan convincingly. In fact its now ages Pakistan last won a ODI series against India (2-4 in 2005 and before that in 1999). In between its 3-2 for India in Pakistan, 4-1 in Pakistan and then again 3-2 in India.

A generation of players in India played with an inferiority complex against Pakistan in Sharjah. Bring in any new player and he would excel against India. That was till Saurav Ganguly came in. Tendulkar had shown that the Akrams, Imrans, Qadirs and Waqars can be hit, but team didnt have the confidence till then. Ganguly changed it all and now Dhoni is carrying forward before Dravid did it in 2006.

India vs Pakistan is most awaited match now after all damp series in England, SL and elsewhere. Time for some crackers and time for some rivetting, breath taking action. Who better than India and Pakistan vs each other.

Stating the obvious

http://www.cricinfo.com/slvnz2009/content/current/story/421448.html
Everyone knows it, but why say it after a loss ?

Mendis

Mendis is on a way down.

I still want him to tour India in October and November. I want him to get hit all over by Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Yuvraj.

And then I wont care if he plays or get dropped.

He has been a major hyped player who just failed to live up to expectations. Players like him get some success against players like Tendulkar and Dravid and then are hyped.

One such player was Shoaib Akhtar. He bowled off this 2 greats on consecutive balls in Kolkata and went off on huge pitch. Hyped and then fell flat on the face with the egg on the face.

I want Mendis to suffer the same fate.

He should know what it means to get success against Tendulkar, Ganguly ,Rahul and Laxman. If this players wont be enough to bay for his blood, Sehwag would play that series as return one from the injury.

So beta Ajantha keep some excuses ready when you tour India. But thats on doubt. He got taile enders against NZ and that wont add to his reputation.

Bring on ur mummy too beta cos u would need somebody to run to when you get hit.

3-0 result for India. That would be some result. Fair and just.

I refuse to accept SL as # 2 or # 3 in Test Cricket. They win at home and they become # 2. They play boring Test cricket. And they are nation responsible for landing Test cricket in such stage when nobody wants to go to stadium and see the game. Their batsmen bat long and long. No reason they hold highest score and highest partnership. They rank bottom in terms of entertainment and quality. Something Blabba King and his deputy Sanga doesnt understand.

I rememeber 90s when India toured SL and the players batted and batted. Sheer disgrace. They kill the game.

Arrange more Tests for them vs BD and collapso kings at Galle and Premdasa. That would give them victories at home and records which no one want to break.

England have their nose ahead

England are going gaga. They feel they are going to win the Ashes. They are sensing the euphoria of 2005 once again. They feel the Aussies would falter in the chase of 466 runs in 2 days and finally they would regain the Ashes 2-1 and then lose it again 0-5 next year.

Right now they have nose a bit ahead, but then Ponting and co cannot be discounted. The 2nd day madness would be very tough to set in again.

Trott is the new star. Wonder who would go out in SA when KP returns ? Collingwood or Bell ?

Australia have made a good start in the pursuit of 546. The positive intent is there. So anything can happen.

All eyes would be on day 4. Make or break day for Aussies ashes bid. if they lose, SA become 1, SL become 2. No.....

Go Aussies!!!!!!!

My second ball duck.

I did an amazing thing today. In the land of baseball and American football, I played desi game and made something which would make Don Bradman and Saurav Ganguly proud.

I made a second ball duck and the team overall made 12 runs.

Lost the game in the first over itself. It was a T12 game and 8 player each side game.

The warmup to the game was pretty good. I bowled with good swing, but didnt get a chance to roll the arms in actual match situation.

I bowled with an action remix of Sachin and Munaf. And had i bowled in real match situation I would have knocked a couple of stumps. I fielded in deep extra cover for good 8 balls and one ball flew over my head for a six.

My first stint with the game ended in a disappointment. But yes I didnt get any cramps or pain. Thanks to the good 7 kg wt loss in 2 weeks here. 82 kg to 74 kg now. I am targetting 68 kg in another month.

Cricket in Middletown, CT, Homerland.

Good start for Aussies, Drug Peddler returns and NZ struggle

So finally Australia bundled out England for less than 340 score and are on a solid start just about at lunch when rain intervened are 0/61 after surviving a hostile bowling spell from outgoing hero Freddie.

On the other hand NZ are struggling but they would be able to save it. Rains. Rains would help them. 1/30 in pursuit of 413. Only Thushara and Murali threat. Mendis is negated and dusted. He is zeroed now. No more splendid, no more mystery. 26 in 3 and then 17 in next 7. Flattened.

In another development Spinnach is left out of teh Pakistan team and drug peddler comes in. Wow. Pakistan doesnt find anybody beyond drug-addicts, rebels, selfish players. Keep going guys. Tight slap to ICC and WADA. And they cry foul on BCCI that they compromise against the spirits of the game.

Here is PCB openly playing a player who has been caught with drugs not once but 2 good times. What precedent he would set on the youngsters like Fawad Alam and Amer is all for a guess.

Comparing an apple and an orange

One innings at the top in Tests for Dilshan and there are comparisons with Sehwag. Hold it. Dilshan is a very attractive batsman to watch when in flow. Equally crap when he sulks. Dont agree. Remember the lone T20 match India played in tour of SL earlier this year which Dilly captained.

Now there is no comparison between Sehwag and Dilshan in Tests. Sehwag has batted for almost 61 odd Tests at the top out of his 69 Tests and made run in almost every conditions -- centuries in Lanka, West Indies, Australia (195 and 151), South Africa (117), England (112), Pakistan (wow 309), India (many more)... and at lightning fast rate. His last 12 100s have been huge. In fact last time he got out less than 150 was good 7 years back against West Indies in 2002. <>

Dilshan has just been promoted to the top cos Warnpura was flopping consistently and they have no Jaya, PattaAttu and Tharanga. He mostly bats at 6 and has tail for his company. But then again when you play mostly against BD and at home, the figures are sure to bulge up.

Contrast that with Sehwag who has played at the top for most of his career and has blunted most of the new ball attacks everywhere. Can anyone forget his 195 at Melbourne or 170 odd in Chennai 2004 against McGrath, Kasper and Warne. Or 201 last year when 2Ms wrecked havoc in Indian middle order. 309 and 319 were on flat tracks but they were against better attacks than Dilly's innings. 254 for that matter too was on flat track, but that was the fastest double century.

Sehwag plays attacking shots in the new ball duration when most of the attacking fields are set and balls does something early on. Dilly comes in at 6 when the ball has lost the shine and is relatively easier to bat on. Plus he plays on flat tracks of Lanka and mostly against BD. So his record wont count against Sehwag.

The story which prompted this was :

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/420632.html

This is like comparing apples to oranges. I have nothing against Dilly. He has been the most underrated player of SL with the likes of Blabba king, Sangakara, 2 Ms and Malinga taking away the limelight. But he is certainly not big as Sehwag at the top and if he has to evoke any comparisons he has to bat consistently on the top n against better teams in all the conditions.

Oval Test, Day 1

England are 8/307 at the end of 1st day of overhyped Ashes finale. Flintoff has one more Test inning to go and he just made 7 on the most hyped final test of any player in recent memory. For that matter Ganguly and Kumble were far ahead than Freddie in greatness, but they dint have that hyped farewell. Ditto for McGrath, Gilchrist and Langer. All big and great than Freddie.

None from England managed to stick to the wicket and play a long innings to bat Australia out of the game. Bell was at 3, Trott was at 5. Finally after lot of mulling and thought process hardly any change was made in the England team. Much ado about anything. Thats like khoda pahad nikla chuha.

Siddle has been an unsung hero for australia and his 4 wkts got Australia back into the contest at 2/176.

The Ashes has been low on quality, more on the hype. Both sides have failed to create the spark of 2005, or even 2006 - 07.

In the end I shall stick to my scoreline of 2-1 for Australia. 340 would be the par score for Australia to bundle out England and then bat the way they have done in the past to get an edge over England for rest of the series.

2001 and 2007 Australia - India series were far better than this contest.....

An effort to clean up DDCA

Virender Sehwag has threatened DDCA that he might go and play for Harayana if some of his demands are not met. DDCA suggests it is a ploy to get few of his cousins and fav players on board. Before there could have been meeting with Arun Jaitley, he was joined in by Gauti and Ishant Sharma.

Sunil Dev, the official who not so long ago was charged on match fixing (2000s when he was manager of often touring teams) has fired a salvo at Sehwag that he just wants to have his cousin in the team.

Thats what always happens in the country. Any issue when raised for good is nipped in the bud and cover firing is done to save the ass.

Sehwag has a mettle in Delhi cricket. He is default captain of Ranji team. When he doesnt play for India, he captains Delhi. He is like Sachin Tendulkar to Delhi. Jaitley has rightly appealed for calm and may be they would meet to find some solution.

For now the Delhi's Indian players have joined the coup against DDCA and it might take a while before the issue is resolved. I dont know if this was a right time to take over the issue given the season is about to start and the cricket administrators in the country mostly are ASS. So expectation of maturity would be futile on behalf of DDCA officials.

If this revolt cleans up the DDCA now famous for corruption, it would be a good jab done by Sehwag.

Right now Delhi has 4 players in the national team -- Sehwag, Mishra (he plays for Harayana but is a Delhi lad), Gambhir, Nehra and 5th one Ishant Sharma. Count in Kohli and it makes 6.

Sehwag should ensure he takes the matter to logical conclusion and doesnt give in the middle.

How to become # 2 in Tests

Bat bigger, bigger, way bigger.

Score 3 runs in 2 overs. Score hundred...

Win the series and be # 2.

Win at home, lose abroad.

Win all against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Be # 2.

A chuck, a splendid, a fastest off spinner and a blond bowler.

Lose against strong teams. Win against all others.

My son note this down, thats the key to be # 2 in the world.

Dravid and Sharma : Time levels everybody

The time is a great leveller. 2 years back Dravid was dropped on account of his age and in the euphoria of youngistan humari jaan just after the 2007 T20 victory. He had just relinquished the ODI and Test captaincy after a successful Old Blighty tour, but had come under unjust criticism from Mumbaikar DBV. He suffered on form in ODIs against home series against Australia and was dropped.

A series later Ganguly was dropped. It was marked as great era for Indian cricket, the era of youth. Likes of Raina, Rohit and Tiwary were the poster boys. CB series followed and then the euphoria of 2008 n 09 when India won everything in ODIs that came its way.

But the young guns Murugans didnt fire as expected. Sharma kept baffling, this space is world famous for being an anti-Sharma rheoteric. Raina evolved quite a bit from the evil clutches of Greg Chapell and now he stands as the only youth member in the team.

A look at the composition of the team and we find that this youth term is a bit misnomer. Barring Ishant Sharma and Yusuf Pathan, all players are the products of Ganguly - Wright era and Dravid - Chappell era including MSD himself.

Sehwag, Yuvraj, MS, Gambhir, Zaheer, Bhajji, Nehra in Ganguly era.

Raina in Dravid era.

Its just that the present combo has been doing well under the Kirsten MS combo.

But thats not without the iconic presence of Tendulkar and Dravid in Tests and Tendulkar in ODIs.

Now with Rohit Sharma out of the contention until October, its time for all the batsmen in the team to perform well. It took 10 games for Dravid to be axed and 41 games for Sharma to be axed.

Sharma could be a talented batsman and all that, but then there have been thousands of batsmen in Indian domestic cricket over the years who have been talented but never got chance to don the Indian cap. This lad got the chance and he let it go. What a waste. Now its upto him what does he do. Go to domestic cricket or go the Kambli way.

Why Ijaz Butt should go

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/417134.html

explained too good in this article.........

Vinod Kambli retires to concentrate on his media career

Not that it matters anyway, but fed up of ignorance and cold shoulder talented Mumbai batsman Vinod Kambli has announced his retirement from international cricket. Ah really ? Did he even have to declare ? He would continue to play domestic cricket for some lesser known clubs in suburb club cricket, may be in Cotton Green or Bhandup or Dharavi. It was also learnt that few clubs from Chinchpokli and Masjid Bandar have lined up to sign him for the 10-10 gully cricket. Wadala was the last club who was mulling to sign Kambli for their pre-Ganpati festival dance and dhamaka show.

Naupada and Kulupwadi galli cricket association too have showed interest in Kambli's profile. We at Arm Ball wish VK a very good luck in upcoming Dahi Handi (oops it was banned), Ganpati processions dancing over Mithun and Prabhu Deva patti rap songs, club cricket in less known suburbs and least not the last in the reality shows of India TV, Aaj Tak and Tehelka.

ODI team

My 15 for NZ series in SL :

1) MSD
2) Sachin
3) Rahul
4) Gambhir
5) Yuvraj
6) Raina
7) Pathan Y
8) Harbhajan
9) RP Singh
10) Ishant Sharma
11) Ashish Nehra
12) Pragyan Ojha
13) Amit Mishra
14) Abhishek Nayar
15) Praveen Kumar
16) Sudeep Tyagi

No DK, MV, Dabri.

For the record :

Last 5 ODIs India has beat NZ 3 times and in last 10 ODI beat SL 7 times. And the series is in Lanka. No collapsys would be sung in Hindi as they were sung in urdu last month....

3 games to play and all to win.

Match of the season :

India vs Australia : first since 2008 CB series win and loss of Aussies supremacy in ODIs.

India vs Pakistan for obvious reasons. First since Asia cup 2008 and of course 11/26. T20 was easily won by India, later Pakies won the world cup.

A season of hopes beckons.

The Indian cricket is approaching the end of the break and other season expected out of huge achievements and success beckons. CT win, avenge SL defeat of 2008, SA series win, ODI series win against hapless and then tired Aussies, regaining T20 crown are some of the wishlists. And there is no reason why that wont happen.

The youth brigade might have derailed for a while. But then the so called youths were only Sharma and Raina. Sharma is almost at the end of the chances in the ODIs and Raina has evolved quite a bit.

On Tests front, the challenge this season wont be as huge as it was last season --- Australia, England and NZ. Albeit India has lot to prove against SL. A 3-0 win would be sweet icing on cake. It would be interesting to see how Sehwag and Gambhir go this season followed by the greats -- Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman, followed by Yuvraj and Dhoni. The choice amongst Mishra and Ojha would continue to baffle for good to the selectors as the spinning partner for Harbhajan. In his last series, Bhajji was good and would be expected to carry in the Tests this season. 1st season for him when he would be the leader of the pack and most experienced bowler in the attack.

ODIs, no team is better than India right now. 5 consecutive wins in different conditions and one more to follow against Australia at home would be a huge high. With possible return of Dravid, the batting would be strong as ever. Sehwag, Tendulkar, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Dravid, Dhoni, Raina, Pathan Y -- the batting looks formidable. Bowling could be a bit weak in absence of Zaheer, but then he would be needed in the more important battles later....

All said and done cant wait for the men in Blue to return back to fold once again. After an insipid Ashes and Sri Lanka - Pak series, all cricket needs is a India team back in colors.......

We dont go to India. World cup doesnt go on.

Our team can only play in India if our government allows it," Butt said. "And if we have a situation where our team is not able to travel to India then the World Cup could be affected or cancelled."

Ahoy Butt. My favorite Butt. Whenever he says something, its got to be gibberish. Crap and stupid. Laughable.

If Pakistan doesnt travel to India for its world cup game, simple award the game to the opposition. Why cancel the world cup ? On what premise ?

In 1996 SL won 3 games on forfeit, 2 league games against WI and Aus cos they refused to travel to SL and then the semi-final.

In 2003 Zim got through to the Super Six on account of England's forfeiture. Kenya got through to the semis cos NZ awarded them a game.

So given the history that there is no cancellation of World Cup when a country refuses to travel to other then why does Pakistan wants the world cup to be cancelled if its government who was in all terms behind 11/26 refuses its team to go to India. And its not for the security fears Pak team wont go to India..

There should be no discount to Pakistan for its blackmailing on not to go to India. If they dont go declare them the losers. Anyway they are known to take a step ahead and then take 3 steps behind. Sue ICC, fight a legal case only to withdraw it.

Ban drug addicts only to withdraw later.

Ban ICl players only to withdraw later.

Sacking, reappointing, match fixing allegations on every defeat, groupism, Miandads, Sarfarazs, Rashids and Butts. Wow man so much of soap opera in the Pakistan cricket. Who needs T20 ? Watch PCB and its headless chicken. Laughters guaranteed.

Bored Bday

BCC! turns a year tomorrow and there are grand celebrations all over.....Biggest one is in Mumbai.....Join it live.

If i was in Swine Flu hit Pune, i would have joined, but my sanity resumed and i came to Middletown in Connecticut.....

A chance gone begging to meet many of my fellow krikeet blaaggerz......

Dead Rubber Bullies :)

Pakistan to me are dead match kings. When they had lost the ODI series, suddenly they got their pride back and won the last 2 games with huge margins. And not only this they also won the t20 easily confirming their world champion status......But then question arises what happened in last 3 games which didnt happen in the 3 Tests and first 3 ODIs ?

What happened when they had chance to win and they simply collapsed innings after innings ? Groupism, match fixing ? Neither. Lack of team spirits, I would suggest. Sri Lanka never won, Pakistan always lost. SL team didnt deserve to win either but then in the game of cricket you gotta win or lose, no half way measure.

Now in T20 Boom Boomer rocked whereas he was quiet in ODIs. Captaincy effect ? I would say pure selfishism.

For SL MJ flopped. His big words are fast disappearing. Soon he shall disappear too :P

End of an agonizing series for Pakistan. They better go home relaxed, take a break, throw away the manager who claimed bookies, throw away the PCB head in dust bin and then dump the trio of Razzaq, Yusuf and Misbah.......

Racism, Drugism

My first post from USA.

If you get caught in drugs dope scandal either :

1) Blame it on your mom pleading ignorance.

2) Blame it on the injury like Asif or now Steyn

3) Blame it to the disruptive element like Afridi....

Whatever it is, its always a touchy affair to draw a conclusion on players in contention on drugs ;P...Whats WADA doing now ? Quiet ? Whats with them they bark only on Indians ?

BTW did I say Indians suffer a huge deal of racism in DUBAI ?

Homerland........

I am now in homerland!!!!!!!!!!!!

Advice to Indian sportsmen

WADA let the cat out of the bag and the non existent sportsmen in India began advicing cricketers on WADA contentious clause. Sushil Kumar, Sania Mirza, Bhoopatni and other sundries have their views on this clause.

I would just say before you speak on this why dont you guys match your performance in your sports at par with the cricketers ? And if you do then speak else shut your mouth.

Test rankings

…are real crap. As per the annual update the Lankans are # 3 and Indians are # 4. How come that happened ?

A look at their record suggests they played 2 against Australia and lost. Drew in WI, won 2-0 against BD, that’s their default scoreline. Who bothers and then 2-1 win against India, thanks to the disgusting referral decisions (26 – 3 in favor of SL). They beat Pakistan 2-0 but then Pakistan weren’t at the top of the table.

Amazing man.

India won against England 1-0 twice, 2-0 against Australia, 1-0 against Pakistan, drew 1-1 against SA and lost 1-2 against Australia (should have won 2-1) and Sri Lanka. Beating strong teams doesn’t count? Winning 2-0 against top team doesn’t count and losing 0-2 against them counts. Wow man. And yes 1-0 in NZ too.

I believe the ICC doesn’t look into the quality of the opposition. It just sees the rankings how and which team beat when and what numbered. Bizzare. Rankings are biased towards Sri Lankans. Out of nowhere Kulasekra becomes # 1 in ODIs, Sangakara leaps to # 1 out of nowhere. MoYo returns and becomes # 1. Guys like Gambhir who have been in platinum form are briefly numbered 1. Chandu forever remains in top 10. Tendulkar despite being in tremendous form in 2008 – 09 never jumps to top 10. Sehwag lingers on 20s and Laxman never reaches top 15. Dravid who was in peak form from 2002 – 2006 hardly became # 1.

Who said India rules the cricket world ? There is no other Test team other than India and South Africa who have got better results anywhere. Look at the performance of this 2 teams in Australia. India won in Perth, something which no one was able to do besides fading Windies of 1991. India did in 2008, SA repeated in 2009. If there was no Bucknor, India would have won Sydney in 2004 and then again in 2008. England lost 0-5 in 2006 in Australia. SL lost 0-2 in 2008 when Murali got only 4 wkts. Pakistan lost 0-3 in 2004-05.

Look at India’s performance in Tests. They have been the best of teams in the pure real cricket over last 2 years. And they drop to # 4. And then contrast that with SL who play boring draws everywhere and win only in their own home conditions and Bangladesh. There is no comparison even. Yet they go up to # 3. A 2-0 or 3-0 win later this year would be apt result for India and set this crap stuff right.

Moving Base........

I am moving my base from India to a location where cricket is not followed at all. No live coverage, no cricket played. In such a scenario continuing the blog would be a challenge. No i am not running away from blog. Cricket is a passion, its a life, its a healing and its in the veins. So is this blog.

20000 hits to this blog is a huge high to me. I get this without gulping a Olifant or Long Island coffee or not even Shakeela.

This blog is about cricket. My individual preferences do come in picture. I am not neutral or one who wants to write goody stuff. people might get a picture i hate some country, that is a myth. I always believe attack the opinion, reason argue it, not the person, not the blogger within. And when you disagree do not quote "lack of facts" or "data isnt there".

I have got strong memories and here is a challenge. Ask me any incident in Indian cricket from 1985 - 2009,, i would recall it for you. Every game India played in this duration, every victory, every loss, every series, every thing related to this era. And i wont even refer the sites. I would just query my database, run a select query, publish the result sets and commit the transaction.

So the blog would continue. Ripping apart Butt's butt, ridiculing Badri Dabri, DK, supporting ST, RD, MS, VS and GG would continue. Supporting Aussies would go on despite Ponting. This would continue to be what it is. A cricket blog. No matter if i am in India or Hong Kong or France. Cricket would find a way back in my life , no TV or TV.

There would be a lull over the weekend on this blog. Not that people would miss it. Just notifying in advance so that people do not feel I vanished like team feeling for MoYo.

WADA Aaj Kal

What do we want ? Taking on fokat WADA or saving Test cricket ? WADA is ass, its crap and its not needed. We dont need it. Fuck you WADA.

Do we need Tests ? yes pretty much.

MS Gill says his two cents (or dimes) on WADA issue and since it involves cricket, he takes "panga" with BCCI. Quite expected. There is a lobby in India comprising of other sports who are against cricket. And it leaves no stone unturned to pass gibes (or jibes or fibes) on cricket.

Not that we do bother.....

I again reiterate its double standards of WADA. A proved drug addict (nashedi) in Asif and Akhtar finds way to cricket every time they are found positive. And a guy called Tendulkar along with Sehwag, Dhoni, Yuvraj are framed in IRTP or whatever list for random off season testing.

Is there even a comparison ? If WADA is so concerned on the doping free world or say doping free cricket, then pester Butt's ass to hand over a life ban to Asif and not play him the CT.

Just that the Indian players had the guts to come out in open and other players of other countries meekly surrendered. But i guess other players esp from Australia and England should follow the suit and trash WADA from cricket.

Pakistan lose the series.

Wipe out the PCB current administration. They are a woeful lot and they are affecting the team performance. Induction of ICL rebels, drug addicts, super stars in the team over youngsters and talented players is hurting the cricket of Pakistan.

They cant win a Test, they cant beat a A team and they cant win a ODI.

Repurcussion ? Younis Khan would be sacked and entire team would be replaced with unknown players just like 2003 World Cup debacle.

Biggest reason for the losses is the induction of this anti team players who jump the boat to ICL or put their staticstics over the team.....

Persisting with Misbah for his 2007 T20 heroics, persisting with MoYo and Bugsy Akamal -- the bugs bunny rabbit is hurting the Pakistan team. Even the boomer isnt able to lift the spirits. The only team right now Pakistan seem capable to beat is Papua New Guinea or New Samoa. Let the cleansing action begin and let Butt be the first one to go. Once he is gone entire Pakistan cricket would see a turn around.

WADA

According to an article on cricinfo on the ongoing fuss on WADA, one of the 11 on the list of Indian players to be tested randomly is Sachin Tendulkar. The list is called IRTP. There are 2 ladies, there are few lesser mortals like Munaf, Irfan on the list. Barring this 4 the other ones in the list are high profile cricketers. Sehwag, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Yuvraj, Gambhir and Zaheer Khan – the only cricketers in India who play all 3 formats consistently and form the backbone of this highly successful Indian team. Imagine a situation that one of this cricketers is busy spending some quality time with their families or say dining in a restaurant or watching movie in a multiplex. They come out and WADA intercepts them and asks for a Test. What would be the reaction ? The situation would be very embarrassing and downgrading for the cricketers.

And can we imagine this players taking drugs? I mean is this insane ? Declare your whereabouts and be ready for Test. Sachin Tendulkar is tested for drugs. How disgusting this would look in the news. It would be a humiliation to the great man. Or imagine somebody saying drugs being the reason behind success of Sehwag in Tests. How disgusting would that be? 3 breaches for failing the test and the player would be banned. What the hell. Imagine this situation, if a player like MS fails to go for the test and gets banned. And when the known and proven drugaddicts like Asif and Shoaib can play international cricket without even getting banned for what they did, how shameful would it look for the players with clean image. Banned for failing to appear the drugs test.

Sorry but WADA is not needed in CRICKET. Since 130 years the game has gone on with an exception of few peddlers and addicts, but mostly it has been drugs free and I see no reason why doping tests should be a part of cricket NOW. Inspect the cricketers who are having a past with the drugs who are making a return to the cricket on behest of some mad cricket admins. Why target people who wont even bother to go drugs way when they can perform miraculously without getting into drugs trap. Why doesn’t WADA force PCB to impose a ban on Mohd Asif who has been caught with drugs 2 times in 2 years. Or for that matter why is Shoaib Akhtar even playing cricket in any form? When Warne was banned for one year and Australia didn’t give two hoots to him returning to ODIs, then who are Asifs and Akhtars? What would WADA do on them? Why didn’t they make a strong case against this players? Can you imagine a Tendulkar or a Sehwag or a Dhoni going for performance enhancing medicines or drugs? The one who imagines so or thinks it could be a reality need to go have a brain check.

WADA hume maaf karo, aage badho. Chutte paise nahi hai.

Justice...

.........done to the performance of Indian ODI team finally when the annual update in the ODI ICC rankings sees India go to the #2 spot with just 1 point behind leaders South Africa. This is just apt and deserving for the country which has now won 5 ODI series in a row and beaten every team in every conditions in ODIs.

And now with victory of Emerging Indian players in the tourney down under with valiant contributions from Virat Kohli, Abhishek Nayar and Sudeep Tyagi, its just the upward path for the ODi team in the future. Not to mention that the patchy forms of few young men of the team wont deter the team's chances to march ahead in the journey to recapture ODI world cup in Mumbai in 2011.

RIP BCCI

....over the WADA dispute with ICC.. I m amused to see people quiet over this issue. Only losers like Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang, whom nobody in the country even remembers beside one night stars, have spoken on this issue against the cricketers. But then this sportsmen always need some issue to go against cricket. Inferiority complex or may be frustration.....

What did Abhinav Bindra do? Won a gold in the olympics. Fine. What after that and what before that ? Who bothers about olympics in the country ? Who the fuck even cares what this lad is upto ?

Do we bother about the cricketers? Hell lot. Why WADA wants to poke its nose in cricket ? Indians dont dope. At least not the cricketers. Go inspect the country which has its two cricketers caught in known drugs case. Why bother taking heads on the BCCI ? Whatever be the case, its gonna be BCCI who is going to be winners. And can any world tournament happen without the Indians ? The answer is well known to all of us. So WADA, try going after BCCI and then have a look at how this body is bundled and thrown out of ICC......