CSK fixing

There have been news reports on CNN-IBN that 2009 auctions for IPL were fixed. Now foes, then friends N Srinivasan and Lalit Modi fixed Flintoff for CSK. The news reports also suggest that Srini actually tried convincing MI this season not to go for Keiron Pollard but unfortunately Ambanis did not heed to him when the tiebreak was broken (MI tied with CSK for Pollard).

It seems that Srinivasan is a true manipulator besides the screen and no wonder this reports lend some credibility to the earlier report of sacking of Pravin Amre as coach of India A. Now this two things are unrelated to each other, but this for sure indicates how strong CSK owner is.

More dirt comes out of the IPL closet and this also indicates how the corporate relationships are fragile. There have been some email leaks from IBN which indicate Srini saying "you are sweet" to Modi. What does that indicate.

Lalit Modi is tweeting videos exposing Srinivasan in this scenario but is not saying a tweet on his role in fixing Freddie for CSK. He was all powerful man in 2009 edition of IPL and if this fixing happened, it sure had (must have) Modi's blessings.

Who helps IPL franchisees with player profiling

2009's highest paid IPL cricketers were flop.

2010's highest paid IPL cricketers --Keiron Pollard.

Will he be a hit or will he be a flop ?

I am not sure if one or two T20 innings play role in this pricing and bidding.  The reason behind such a huge price is not clear. Not helping the fact is also that I dont know much about Polly.

Who helps the non cricketing owners of the teams in player profiling is a bit of questionable fact.

KP, Duminy and Freddie's successes are well documented.

Bash India

All this years since Jaggu revolutionized cricket finances the world (read western) dreaded India as evil force and BCCI as masked daemon.

In short "Gangotri" of all evils.

When ICL came and IPL took T20 revolution a step further, the same forces got more vociferous in Indian bashing.

Now that India has won T20 World Cup, been # 1 in ODIs for a while and now are number 1 in Tests, the same forces crib on high runathons, results oriented picthes (2 of 3 Tests in India this year yielded results) and freelancings inspired from cash rich T20 leagues.

Who is the freelancer ? Any Indian ? Nope, the English man. The very English who have been the custodians of the game all this years.

Who is the highest paid cricketer in IPL ? Ten ? Viru  ? MS ? Nope. The same freelancer and his friend whose alter ego costed him the captaincy of the national side and IPL team almost out of the tourney before a desi took over and almost won the IPL.

Any Indian who defected to ICL from international cricket ? Nobody.

Any Indian who cries foul on UDRS ?

Any Indian who pointed fingers to the umps to raise the fingers to win 17th test in row thus killing the spirits of the game ? Nobody.

And yet anything Indian is filth.

PS : Inspired from SP's post "Growing racism". Just could not hold back.

Freelancing and BCCI

Few days back in the Tony Greig show on cricinfo I read that he had blamed India for the freelance concept in cricket.

It was quite amusing for me to find India being blamed for this concept. He conviniently forgot that he was one of those who began the exodus to the Packer circus in 70s and then was the board member in the ICL which began in 2007 and which gave rise to the "lucrative" options available to modern day cricketers today.

Andrew Flintoff rejected ECB's central contract to be able to play in T20 tournaments world wide. For all the injuries and form concerns aside, he along with his friend KP remains IPL's highest paid cricketers. And its ironical that the concerns on the freelance concept getting popular come from this 2 cricketers.

KP was quoted to have said that the English setup needs a change as players may find the county cricket a bit too exuastive.

The bottom line is that the English cricket season coincides with the start of IPL every year.

English cricket writers and admins easily forget that they began the T20 concept in 2003 and now they are the ones who are suddenly bothered about the life of Test cricket. Perhaps their vision is limited to the Ashes and perhaps for them life begins at the Ashes and ends at Ashes.

Its their own players now who have concerns over their own schedule and the domestic setup. Its very easy for them to go blame BCCI for all the ills in the cricket, but they forget one thing no big player from BCCI's custody has slipped to go play in ICL or has embraced the concept of freelance cricket.

Its very easy for everybody in the world to blame BCCI for the ills in the world. Be it in the sports minister in India who suggests BCCI to accept WADA proposals or the lesser sportsmen in the country who at many times are benefitted by the grant provided by the BCCI for their expenses. Be it the ex-players who jump the gun to ICL and when the shop is closed they come back asking for favors.

Likes of PCB, Arjuna Ranatunga, Tony Greig, WICB blame BCCI for the ills in their own countries respectively. But little do they forget that the ICC is being funded by the star players and the money from India.

Before pointing out a finger to India for every ill, the respective board or individual should review their own position in the context and then point a finger to anybody else. That is take responsibility for your own actions.

BCCI is no saint, but its certainly not the evil its made out to be. After all it has shown the world that in a country like ours where everything is a creamy job for politicians, the game can still rule the headlines 9 out of 10 times for its performance on the field and has given the country some real valued sportsmen who have kept performing despite every road block and stumbling blocks.

But are we ready to accept this achievement of BCCI or is it going to be always eggs and pichkaris thrown at BCCI's face...

Get Freddied

Freddie Flintoff now is the inspiration of all evil practices in cricket.

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.....

Boring headlines

Flintoff injured....

Faction in Pakistan team after Galle loss and Sara collapse, claims Inzy Aloo Haq.

Ricky Ponting questions England tactics....

Buchanan slams Indian greats......

This headlines make no difference to the readers. They are default and keep coming once in a while. I guess they shouldnt even be published in the newspapers or sites. Flintoff is always injured, Pakistan is always riddled with factions and ex-players always slam current players. Aussie coaches reel Indians and Ricky Ponting talks of moral high.....

Are they joking us?

Ashes day 1

Its been a Australia's day till now. England have lost their key and best batsmen. Flintoff and Prior are the last recognized pair on the crease. KP crossed 1000 runs against Aussies in just 11th Test, but he would also know that 69 would not be the score England look from him.

Strauss, Cook, Bopara didnt score high and got carried away in hype and hoopla. Fell to cheap dismissals.

Hilfy and Johnson have been the bowlers for the Australia who have bowled quite well. Somehow Australia right now lack a genuine pace bowler like Lee who could run down the opposition in a torrid spell.

Not so long ago Clark was their best bowler, but he is not in the side today. Hauritz hasnt bowled that bad so far. Right now Ponting is trying to run through the 80 overs to may be get the new ball. 17 more balls to go right now.

Australia would be happy to restrict England below 335 or 340. All in all a good Test match cricket on day 1 of Ashes.

Session wise scoreline :

Session 1 : Australia
Session 2 : England
Session 3 : Australia so far.

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......

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.

Hail West Indies

A West Indies victory in 2000s over stronger teams is a NEWS as it was an Indian victory in 1980s. And yesterday they not only achieved the improbable but also broke a jinx of 9 years of being not able to beat England anywhere. The last time they beat England was in 2000 1^st test in England as they began their way in typical then routing England fashion, but fell apart horribly in the next 4. One of the Tests was even finished in 2 days with Andy Caddick taking 4 wkts in a over. And then their woes continued in 2004 home series when we had the rise of Steve Harmison with 7/12 in Sabina Park. Its an irony that the ground where they suffered worst defeat by being bowled out for 47, they won the Test match at the same ground by dismissing England for 4 more runs. 51 to be precise.

The victory wasn’t a news amidst the IPL auction. But it is very significant for West Indian cricket. It should give them a huge boost to the upcoming Tests especially with Jerome Taylor showing the caliber. 5 for 11 are superb figures against a team which has highest paid IPL cricketers in the world. Too early to say that their revival would begin, but this should definitely begin their upward sojourn.

Gayle, Sarwan and Chandu should form the batting trio if they are to win more and consistently. May be a draw NZ series gave them a boost to perform well so much so the pre series mess and the awful proceedings in England over captain coach row.

What would KP and Freddie feel ? On moon one day and buried deep down in shame the next ? So is the game. A great leveler.

Bravo and Hail the West Indies. Good job.

IPL :.Would fashion writers have a ball ? Dont kill the game

IPL is back and back are this dumb faces who know nothing about the game and the rules and all they know is the glam quotient and the mannerisms. Ah give us a break. IPL is all about cricket and the players. Yes there is money and fun. Razmataazz is there, but dumb dolls not needed. Shilpa Shetty sitting with Warney, Ambani N with GOD and then Zinta babes with Yuvraj. Few Kollywood starlets (Laxmi Rai as magazines suggest with MS) with Chennai team :)

Who is more dumb ?

Preitz
Shilpa
Juhi
Neeta?

Fashion writers would have ball at the IPL venues. Gays too would have ball (gay writers who write for Fashion magazines). More than the performance with the bat and ball they would write who was more hot and who got more kisses (flying of course)and with whom you (girl) would like to go to bed with.....Ahh that would be crap!! Imagine Freddie in crickat gear appearing on same fashion magazine :) or MS and the ex favorite of girls -- mr Wall. Oodi baba.

Alright there is fun, money and auction. Bottomline is its CRICKET -- a game of bat and ball. Not the other balls. Let the game maintain its sanity amidst the intrusion of dirt and unwanted glitz elements.

IPL Auctions : Update 1.

As auction reports set in, the new Jeanie has been roped in by Mumbai Indians. Chennai Super Kings have bagged Andy Flintoff for $1.55 million eclipsing MS. And the test side have got Kevin Pietersen for same amount again eclipsing MS. So the 2 maverick players become the costliest pick. One who would never know when he would be unfit and the other who would never know when his king size ego would blow off.

Bret Lee’s pace cousin Shaun Tait goes to his Aussie legend’s team Rajasthan Royals, the defending champions. And Fidel Edwards, the West Indian bowler goes to Gilly’s Deccan Chargers.

Jean Paul Duminy, the new Aussie flesh in the thorn has been bagged by Mumbai Indians. He would flex his muscles with the likes of Bravo, Zaheer, Jayasuriya and of course The legend Tendulkar.

And Owais Shah goes to Delhi Daredevils, my numero uno favorite.

Chennai Test, Day 1

As I predicted that this is the test going the Lord’s 2007 way, it came true. After Strauss was dismissed (then and now) England collapsed. 164 for 1 to 229 for 5. Big guns like KP, Colly and Bell failing putting the onus on Freddie and then on Prior to salvage the team to a respectable score.

350 should be a decent score. England were defensive. Hell they scored at a rate of 2.5 runs an over. Just like what Aussies did and see what happened to them. For India too, once the openers are gone, there comes a tendency to slow down and that where the opportunities arise and the floodgates open.

4 more mins to go for 2^nd day s play to begin @ Chepauk. Thank god, no rains till now.

Harbhajan got it right in saying England were defensive. I mean its of no use to be circumspect and cautious in the start to go to 1/164 and then end up the day @ 5/229.

Preview to the 1st Test : India vs England

India vs England begins in 2 days and talking from fresh cricket perspective with no backdrop of 11/26, the favorites are India to win fair and square.

Expected scoreline : 2-0 (if no rains in Chennai) or 1-0 (if Chennai is rained out) to India.

Key players to watch for :

From Indian perspective :

1. Yuvraj Singh : needless to mention that this might be a last chance for himself to establish on the Test level. A fair run is essential to be granted to the maverick southpaw.

2. Rahul Dravid : Critics are out to get him. His send-offs are written and just a matter of time they are rolled out in anticipation of a possible retirement announcement. However, this blog supports him to the core and is hopeful that he would bounce back rock solid and hard to the critics. Write him off @ ur perils.

3. Mahendra Singh Dhoni : First Test series as full time captain. No Ganguly and no Kumble. First series in 20 years when India goes to a series without Kumble (excluding his injury breaks) and onus on MSD how he handles Amit Mishra as Anil ‘s replacement.

4. Virender Sehwag : Back to what he does the best. Hammer the bowlers. Primary reason for 5-0 washout in the oDIs, but was overshadowed by majestic hundreds by Yuvraj. Except for one game gave starts in all 5 games. Is one of the top scorer in Tests this year (beside Graeme Smith). A hundred or 2 in the offing.

5. Gautam Gambhir : Back after the Test ban, he would be back on his favorite spot. In form of his life, much depends on the starts he and Viru provide in every innings. Easily on the road of being India’s best opening pair EVER.

From English perspective :

1. Kevin Pieterson : England s captain and best batsman. Got form late in ODIs but made little difference in Cuttack. A lot would depend on the man if England are to show up a good performance out here. Lot of responsibilities off the field too dealing with the security issues.

2. Freddie Flintoff : Back to full fitness (?) and amongst the top 3 batsmen of the England team. First change bowler and a hard hitting batsman at 6 or 7. Would be key with both bat and ball for fortunes of England in the series.

3. Ali Cook : A man who has not hit a single six in international cricket career so far would have lot of responsibility to give a good start to the team with Andrew Strauss. Back in the country where he was rushed to the Test debut 2 yrs back, he would be eyeing few runs in his belt before of course England’s bread and butter series against Aussies begin.

4. Monty Panesar : England win or lose, lot depends on his performance. A lot of promise was showed in his debut in the same country 2 yrs back and with SRT as 1^st Test wicket, would be keen to resume his battle with Tendulkar and Dravid. Would be interesting to see how he balls to Sehwag. If he is able to keep runs in the check and take wkts, he would have done a world of good to his expectations.

Chennai is a spoil sport venue this days. Its been 6 years since a game was played with a result in Chennai (WI, 2002). Since then owing to rains or flat tracks, the games have either being drawn or abandoned. Thanks to the security issues and the ongoing tussle between the BCCI and CAB, Kolkata missed out on hosting the test match.

And with concerns over Mohali too, it would be interesting to see where the second Test is held. Delhi could be one option, Kolkata wont be any, Bangalore could be third.

Let cricket begin with no mention of 11/26. No statements, no over the top opinions on separating terror from cricket, no pointings to the fragile Indian mindset right now and god sake no equating with the country lying in the north west of us. A silence on 11/26 from cricketing point of view is needed. We don’t need to listen what Indian cricketers or English cricketers feel. We must thank England for the resumption of tour in the wake of crisis and security concerns. And for now lets get on with the game. Lets get on with our RELIGION. The one factor that binds entire country and unites it.

Gentlemen PLAY!!!

Yuvraj sinks England yet again.....

As if Rajkot 100 wasnt enough, Yuvraj Singh scored another 100 in Indore 's new ultra chick stadium and took 4/28 to seal India's victory in style. Thats for sure Yuvraj's redemption. And he must now walk straight at # 6 in Ahmedabad Test against England to step in Ganguly's place. He has been a natural aggresive player with all shots in his armoury except good attitude....And guess what, the recent failures in Challengers, SL series and Kitply, Asia cup have made him even more hungrier for success....That augurs well for India. He, Dhoni and Sehwag are next generation of Indian batting greats...And they gotta take responsibilities sooner than later as mass exodus has began in Indian test side....

Never mind the likes of Rohit Sharma, Badrinath, Raina arent worth the invaluable Indian Test cap and it was evident today with reckless batting of this t20 kids who are still basking in T20 glory, but little they do understand that they wont be remembered for long for T20 success than Test or ODi success. So its very essential for Yuvraj to mend his ways and give away his flambuyoance off the field for some time......

England are now left with no option but to reinvent themselves with 5 games to go and series at stake. KP and Freddie Flintoff along with Bell and Colly will have to step up their games and make big scores but 30s or 40s....After a 4-0 success against SA, England have been brought brutally back to earth.....

With this successful hosting, Indore should host many more tour and international games than the venues like Rajkot or Baroda or Guwahati or Kanpur....The new stadium MPCA has built is superb and has got all modern amenties. Its not in outskirts of the city, but within the heart of the city......Its my hometown and it boasts of rich cricket tradition in form of Holkars and it gave country its first test captain in 1932......I wish Mr Jyoti Scindia takes the cause of Indore with much intesity than ever before. And wow man, the next game could well be a D/N affair with flood lights being installed......

Yuvraj floors England.....High talks Punctured..

India managed to beat England comprehensively and crushingly. 158 runs is a huge margin. Just 20 more than what Yuvraj managed. Not only India did make its higghest score at home, 2nd highest overall but also got England skittled out to its 3rd heaviest defeat in ODIs. That not only punctured high talks from Geofrrey Boycott, but also proved that India is better equipped to change gears from Test mode to ODI mode.


As many as 5 players are playing ODI series after the Aussie Test series....And frankly speaking 7 ODIs across length and breadth of country at obscure venues like Guwahati or Rajkot is too much to ask for. Why not a 5 ODI and 3 test series ?


This should be a long term comeback for Yuvraj not only out of the prolonged batting slump, but also as one of the worthy contender for the Test spot left by his mentor Saurav Ganguly. Right now Yuvraj seems the best choice to fit in the gap. India not only got good opening partnership at the top, but also the middle order kept the runs flowing. Again an victory where everybody contributed except YP. I am not sure if he deserves his place in the team. Irfan would be more better to be in the team for his useful batting skills.


England got to do a soul searching mode in the next 2 days when they play next ODI at venue where they lost comfortably in 2006 in Indore -- my home town on a new built wonderful stadium. Freddie , Colly and Bell will have to be among runs and so would Harmison, Anderson to stop leaking the runs......


Today was Yuvraj's day. But would he be fit for 2nd ODI ? Watching oDIs now is a bit of boring after being used to 5 day Razmattaazzz

Silly Billy Geofrey

One of them is injured forever , makes appearences every now and then, then breaks down, then an operation, then talks of comeback, comeback, again a breakdown to injury.

The other one is a nervous traveller. When he steps in to Heathrow to board the flight out of England, he feels goosebumps in his tummy, misses his family and kids (4) and fades out soon, bowls the first ball in much anticipated Ashes as wide wide outside off stump much in contrast to the short ball he did in home Ashes...With time he fades, retires, is dropped from the team, comes back rejuvenated in ONE DEAD RUBBER TEST which his team wins under a new captain and the usual rants of "WE ARE THE BEST" goes high.....and then for the shining dollars(Stanford t20) comes out of retirement of ODIs...

Guys the 1st one is Freddie Flintoff -- the weak knee man and the first England captain to have suffered whitewash in ages....

Second one is Steve Harmison -- the one time # 1 bowler in world and now nobody.

This are the guys Geofrrey Boycott banks to fear Indian fading greats in the upcoming England series.

"The pace of Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison will be England’s biggest weapon, because the senior batsmen should all be vulnerable early on to quality fast bowling. OK, the pitches won’t give you much, so you have to be precise and accurate. But the way England have been playing since Pietersen became captain, they’ve got to think positive and believe that they can bowl India out"

Silly words. Utter silly. Laugh it out guys. I m. Please you guys too. Did i forget that you sent spectators sleeping with boredom playin helluva slow innings of 242 in 2 days and then you were dropped the next test match ? And then were you not thrown out of the team for 3 years ?

It amazes me that how England get euphoric on basis of just 1 test win against SA in a dead rubber. They wish tht they can take on Australia next summer Ashes and beat them. A series win over them in 20 years on basis of cheating and Murray Mints isnt a worthy record to be proud of. But yes 4 back to back epic series --2001, 2003, 2004 and 2008 are smthin to be really proud of. Yes WE the INDIANS proudly solemnize that we have kicked England's ass to replace them as Australia's worthy rivals and form the greatest test rivalry of the modern day cricket. Move away Brits, its INDIA show.

Lets see if England can win even a session in the upcoming Test series in India. I bet for 2-0 scoreline for India in Tests and a 5-2 or 6-1 in ODIs. Grow up sir Geoffrey. Set your inhouse cricket right and leave our seniors to us. We would take care of that. Have good sleep sir, you need that. If you get that you wont puke venom and rubbish which would make us laugh at you in your face. Alright Sir, get well soon :)