Enjoy watching Tendulkar as long as you can

The World cricket has already been poorer by expected retirement of the Indian WALL -- Rahul Sharad Dravid, so it would be inept and unjust for those media experts and ex-players cooling off their heels in air conditioned rooms to ask Sachin Tendulkar to quit the game.

Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid have been once in a generation, or perhaps once in a century phenonmenon and we've been lucky to have them play together for India in similar era. And what a partnership they've had for the 3rd wicket in 100s of Test matches over last 15 and half years. And thats a sad fact that this partnership wont take guard any more in the Test cricket for India in future and we've been blessed enough to have witnessed those innumerable rearguards launched by this stalwarts of Indian cricket.

No words on any of the cricketing sites, blogs or forums are enough to describe the legacy of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. People this days love to trash the greats, question their commitment for the country and even ridicule them or joke about them on social networking sites and news channels.

Little do they forget that this players scored 1000s of runs for a country which was deprived of the milestones or winning habit. Though for some time, that winning habit seems to have been forgotten, yet their legacy and contribution to the Indian cricket is unparalleled and would be untouched in the history of the game.

In a country woefully short of sports role models, the players like Tendulkar and Dravid are idles of success, humbleness and modesty. Never has anybody seen this two icons lose their cool in the middle or seen crossing the acceptable on field behavior like Mahela Jayawardhena does so often under the guile of passion. Dedication, concentration and work ethics are emanating out of this 2 proud cricketing sons of the country and it would be just unfair to trash their contribution for past 8 defeats in 8 overseas Tests.

I concur with Sir Viv that lets enjoy the Sachin phenomenon as much as we can as that day of announcement from the master blaster is not years away, but just few series or months away. And i cant imagine the day when I'd be left to watch an Indian team which would never have Tendulkar play for, something which I have witnessed for most part of my cricket watching time (23 of 27 years).

India's failed tactics

India’s tactics in Melbourne for accommodating the new millionaires was baffling.  To play with all slow bowlers in Australia is something that would never win any game for you. When the attack reads PK, VK, RJ, RS and of course R Ashvin, the odds for winning go very high. 

Baffling to see the world cup winners Sehwag and Zak rested / dropped. Also Umesh Yadav who would bowl with much pace than VK+PK combined, was rested.

Tactics ?

No, mental disintegration of the team management whoever forms it. Selector, captain, vice-captain and of course good for nothing coach Duncan Fletcher. Such a move would have been impossible in the days of Gary Kirsten or even John Wright.

Lack of strategy or lack of vision. Stubbornness, adamant, hell bent to play Jadeja no matter if he doesn’t perform or gives too many Six hitting balls.  Whatever you want to call it.  MS Dhoni is now trying to sound as a captain who has a feeling of “I cannot go wrong any time”.  He’s got a 17 strong squad and 2 pace bowlers, 1 bowling allrounder who has proved his worth in this country are resting the bench and the lads like Vinay Kumar and Jadeja who for no worth of their own got million dollars in their bank played in the team.

Result : Jadeja was spanked for 41 runs off 16 balls.  How many runs did he make or save? If you sum them, they wont exceed 41.  So is that an allrounderesque performance?  One game on same ground (different format though) you give 16 runs in 3 overs and immediately the next game 41 runs off 2.4 overs? What about the confidence / momentum/  consistency? Now that he is in CSK, he would virtually be immovable in the team and none can touch him.

Australia were 2/35 in 11 overs when rain stopped the game and when they returned they scored 181 in 21 overs out of which 167 runs were scored off spinners.  R Ashvin and R JAdeja are CSk properties and they would be given an extended run of play in all formats of game irrespective of their performance.

Compare the performance of Ashvin in IPL and then in international games where he has come in place of Harbhajan Singh. And the reason for Bhajji’s ouster ? Not taking enough wickets and more of containing bowler. So how has Ashvin corrected those to justify his continuous inclusion? Why would anybody not doubt that his allegiance to CSK and Srikanth is sole factor for him being in the team and not wickets / performance. He cannot run, he gets run out every 2nd game.

His performance from England tour :

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/26421.html?class=2;spanmin1=01+Aug+2011;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

20 wickets in 15 games. 16 of which are against weak England team in 10 games. And if you remove them then the figures are very poor. 4 wickets off 5 matches. 4 of which are against West Indies in India. 4 in 4 in India are sorry figures. Where are the wickets? Where are the carom balls? Where is good damn performance?

A look at his T20I and T20 career reveals even more stark contrast:

T20Is

6 games, 6 wickets,  Average of 47.5, economy of 7.91 and best figures of 1/22.

Compare that with the T20, most of which are in IPL:

60 games,  74 wickets, 4/18, 6.35 economy rate,  S/R of 18.4 half of T20Is

He has to take wickets and become an aggressive spinner as opposed to the version he is now.

And if India has to compete in Australia and “defend its title”, then they have to respect conditions and chose their sides accordingly.

And you don’t have to rest a player who has hit the highest score in an ODI in his last game.  

My XI for today’s game:

1.      Tendulkar

2.      Sehwag

3.      Kohli

4.      Sharma

5.      Dhoni

6.      Raina

7.      Pathan

8.      Ashvin

9.      Praveen

10.     Zaheer

The road ahead

With great disappointment and disgust here is my take on the reasons why India lost so miserably in the 3 test matches so far.

Opening Pair is silent

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are best bet when it comes to open the innings in any format for India. This pair has been excellent in Test matches across all conditions barring Australia. This was an acid test for the duo and they have failed miserably in this tour. Not technically for Sehwag, because he doesn’t have much of it, but in mental thought process. Something which is surprising given his exploits in Australia over past 2 tours. Gambhir was expected to have come full circle on this tour, but he has failed to live upto those expectations.  Sehwag and Gambhir haven’t fired together or in solo attempt, which makes the task of ageing middle order a bit tough, something which has happened consistently in this tour. Barring the first innings in MCG, Sehwag hasn’t fired. Gambhir has showed some fight in last 3 innings, but that doesn’t redeem of 3 aghast failures in first 3 innings on this tour.

The reason why India was so successful in 2003-04 in Australia was the start Sehwag and Chopra provided. Chopra didn’t make more than 48 in any innings, but he played out the dangerous span of 15-20 overs from Gillespie, Brad Williams and company.  That Australian team was far superior to the one which beat India blue on this tour.

Sehwag and Gambhir are the best bet to continue opening for India in long run, since they are not supposed to tour for another year or so outside subcontinent, they would need to find their mojo back very soon. The replacements for them, the TN implants don’t look promising either.

Ageing Middle Order

When your middle order is past the prime, the usability date, such failures are long due. And sadly India did not learn through the mistakes of England tour.  No one expected India to lose 0-4 in England and so badly in Australia. Perhaps this was the best chance for India to beat Australia first time in Australia. Instead they ran to their worst defeat in Australia in 13 years.  Dravid,Tendulkar and Laxman are ageing stalwarts and they look no good to extend their career beyond this tour. Tendulkar has been under severe pressure for that elusive 100th century from the media and perhaps that has got to him. As a result the team has suffered. He has been the best batsman on this tour and every time he has walked on the crease, he has looked assured in the start only to grow nervous in the end of the innings. He is going to be 39 in April and perhaps he is the only man who looks to play a few more series at home before he calls it a day.

Dravid has been in superb form in 2011 with 5 hundreds and topping the run charts, but he has been back to 1999 form on this tour. Worst, his defence has been breached. He finds unique ways to get bowled and that is a sign for you to go.  Its time for the fans and selectors to say thank you to the great man and move on. It’s a disgrace for fans, his loyal fans over the years to see him get bowled, given the fact he has been THE WALL and one of the most complete Test batsmen of the history, something very rare this era.  He has made few runs, but they are not enough and they are not the premium that would extend his golden career beyond this tour.   He has to sign off post Adelaide and since he is already 39, he would be remembered to have retired still at top (little lower than that though).

Laxman has to be dropped from the team after the Perth test. He was expected to make runs against his favorite opposition, but he has struggled miserably. Silken Hyderabadi should read the writing on the wall and should announce his retirement immediately. He hasn’t been dropped in ages and if he is dropped for Adelaide, then it would be a blot on his career. Again, a time to say thank you to Laxman for his contribution to the Indian Test arena in past 16 years.

Until England tour, we believed that the golden generation of Indian cricket has turned around the way it plays cricket in away series, but last 2 tours have diminished that notion, that belief which was installed by this very men in 2000s under the lion hearted Sourav Ganguly.  It would now take perhaps another decade or so (less the better) to turn around from this moment of darkness in Test arena.

Defensive Captaincy

MS Dhoni, the ODI captain and MS Dhoni, the Test captain.  Two different personalities, split personalities may be.  MS Dhoni in limited overs is a different batsmen and captain altogether than what he is in Tests. The morning of MCG test, day 4 was the turn around for Indian team which pushed the team to the darkness it find itself in. And the culprit has to be Dhoni himself. Spreading out the field to 10 and 11 is aghast. When you have the last pair of an insecure batting lineup on the crease, you’d rather look for wiping out the tail and have less target to chase than what was actually. But those visuals implant a permanent memory in Indian fans that the captaincy from the world cup winning captain was insipid and timid. The timid captaincy in England and Australia have cost 7 tests on the trot.

Way ahead

The winds of change have to start blowing and the replacements for Dravid and Laxman have to be handy.  Kohli has promised a lot and he should be persisted despite uneven scores in Australia. He is a prodigy and he has to be preserved from the evils of IPL to ensure he is transformed to a complete international batsman in all formats of game.   There is a lot of young talent coming through. Rohit Sharma is certain to debut sooner than later and along side Suresh Raina, provided he cures his short ball weakness, the middle order for Indian Test team should be good, if not as formidable as in 2000s at least for few seasons. It took a few years for the likes of Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly to blossom into the batsmen they were. And similar chances have to be provided to the next generation of Indian cricket.  The good news is there is a lot of young talent that is shining. Ajinkya Rahane,  Cheteshwar Pujara, Manoj Tiwary, Ashok Menaria,  Manish Pandey etc are few very good prospects in the pipeline that should find their spots in the Indian team very soon. It’s the dawn of the new era in Indian cricket and it has to be ensured the evil clutches of easy money of IPL doesn’t hamper the transition from golden batting to the new gen batting.

The IPL has to be toned down and one more moderate or flop viewership would ensure that this monster is grounded, if not buried totally.

The ODI team looks well set and the transition from the oldies to the new gen was almost smooth. Sure, there were few hiccups in between, but the victories came more than defeats and the ODIs ahead do look promising and they evoke some kind of hope after the doom of the tests.

May be a different captain for ODIs and Tests could be a theme to follow just like 2007-08 or what South Africa follows, or England follows (they go to a maddening extreme with one captain per format).  MS Dhoni has looked clueless in Tests in batting and captaincy. May be the one test ban might serve as a deterrent for him and he could arrest the slide.  He looks top notch in ODIs, but he has to catch up on the Test front. And if he is making way for another captain, then may be somebody young as Virat Kohli could be an option, but that would be too soon for him for now. Once he finds his mojo in Tests too, he wont make a bad captain. And the need of the hour for India’s test team is to play aggressive cricket, something they did over past 2 tours in Australia.  And they need an aggressive captain for that.

Coaching regime

The coaching regime has to undergo a change and 7 tests is good enough to judge the resume of Duncan Fletcher. To me, he seems the biggest culprit for the disasters.   Something which Gary Kirsten did in 2 years, it didn’t take even a year for Fletcher to demolish all the good work done by Kirsten and of course John Wright. So for sure he needs to be shown the door.  5-0 for England in 2006-07 laid the foundation for their success running into 2011 and similar whitewash for India (England and probable Australian) should lead to a change in coaching regime and a new coach has to be found out.  May be likes of Wasim Akram could be a good option to start with for the bowling department and hire somebody for batting too, as the transition begins. Something which Justin Langer does for Australia.

Duncan Fletcher has escaped the media attention and the buck has to stop at this man, the culprit to sow seeds of disaster by making the team negative and defensive.

The signs were visible in 3rd test in West Indies when India decided to close the shop with 86 runs to get in 15 overs and 7 wickets in hand. In modern T20 era, this is a cheap target and then even though Laxman, Dravid were at crease, the runs should have been gotten. For me that was the turning point when the team stopped belief. And the same set of batsmen performed credibly in South Africa, almost winning the series. And sooner, one tour later, the technique and attitude of the same batsmen were found deficient. Hard to believe. More to do with the external advice coming from the so called coaches.  India struggled to bowl out weaker Windies team in Windies in 2nd and 3rd test and as a result 3-0 became 1-0 and then the famous cold act of R Ashvin which ensured India let go of whitewashing a team again in the return tour.

And not to cite the numerous occasions, which were encountered in England where some defensive and inexplicable tactics led to a 0-4 rout.

Hard decisions bestow,  some culling to follow and probably more than anything else, the mental belief and attitude of winning and aggression needs to return for the remainder of the tour and the next series India plays at home against England and then Australia should dawn the new age and a scoreline of 3-0 and 4-0 should be aimed at least in home.

Indore ODI

Cricket returns to the Holkar land once again after 3 years. In a new stadium, first day nighter ever in the history of city famous for its eating culture. Called as Mini Mumbai, given the diversity it has in its population and also famed for its poha jalebi world wide, Indore has hosted few ODIs on the older and pathetic Nehru stadium before. I had a chance to watch 3 of those ODIs, Australia playing in all of those,Steve Waugh playing in all of those. 1987 World Cup ODI, Aus vs NZ, 1996 Titan Cup Aus vs SA and 2001 India vs Aus when Tendulkar scored yet another ODI 100 and reached 10000 run milestone.

India goes in the 4th ODI as favorites despite losing the 3rd game which they should not have. And they are 1 win away from taking the series. Previous 2 ODIs on this new ground (Holkar stadium, much apt given the Holkars have ruled this city before Freedom and  the Ranji team has had a glorious past), India beat England twice. Sreesanth took a 6-for in 2006 and Robin Uthappa made best Indian ODI debut then.

India's top order has been sluggish with lack of runs for Sehwag, Gambhir and Patel. Patel has been a disappointment and he is hampering the run flow on the top. Expected to bat longer or provide brisk start, he has failed to provide both. Him batting on top means Gambhir continues to bat at 3, his World Cup slot. He has failed to score much runs at 3. I think he should move back on the top as in the future he would be opening once again with Sehwag, now that we know Tendulkar would not play any ODI in the future.

And so does Sehwag who has been off color with the bat this series.

And so does Suresh Raina who was in prolific form in Ranji, but has no runs in ODIs.

Rohit Sharma is in pristine form, Kohli has got runs, but besides 2 no other batsman is so confident to take the team through.

The bowling attack is confused once again. Umesh Yadav is flying to Australia early, so he isnt playing remaining 2 ODIs.  Vinay Kumar is so flummoxed in the slog overs when hit that he forgets how to bowl yorkers. 99 runs in 2nd ODI and then 73 in last 5 in 3rd one say pitiful figures about this useless lad from Karnataka, once famed for providing 2 of best modern day bowlers to India (Srinath and Kumble).  Irfan Pathan is back for two ODIs and it is heartening to see him back. And if he gets a chance to play and he performs, nothing better than that.

Ideally he should have been on the plane to Australia for tests, but again some cryogenic freeze in Srikanth's non existent brain made a nod to Abhimanyu Mithun ahead of Pathan. Now the pace attack in Australia reads Yadav, Aaron, Mithun, Sharma and provisional Zaheer Khan. So if the latter 2 break down, the 3 inexperienced lads are expected to take 20 wickets for India along side IPL Ashvin 'who cant run sala' and Pragyan Ojha. All of whom test experience hardly adds to 50 tests.

India needs its openers (Sehwag, Gambhir) and Raina to fire immediately and seal the series in Indore, which has been a happy hunting ground for India in last 5 years.

Leaving anything to the 5th ODI would just make things difficult and India wont want to lose a home ODI series in land where it was crowned World Champions 8 months back.

Vinod Kambli's exaggerated fixing claims

Put your head in shame Kambli

Rewind back to 1996 World Cup Semi final in Eden Gardens. 

India vs Sri Lanka. 

SL unexpectedly in the semi finals riding on the back of  hitting from Jayasuriya and Kaluwith'rna.  India on home pitches making a smooth transition to the semis beating the defending champions in Quarter finals. 

A little understatement of the journey of Lanka to the semi final was the fact that they had won most of their games chasing in that tournament. In the quarters they had demolished England on the back of 44 ball 82 from Sanath J.

In Delhi's league game, they had chased down 271 in 48.4 overs thanks to some nasty hitting from the 2 openers and other Lankans. 

So the common sense suggested that the Lankans should be put into bat cos they had a decent bowling lineup, nothing great about it. 

Azharuddin, the Indian captain did the same and invited Lanka to bat first. A dream start followed. Lanka lost both of its openers in first over from Srinath, thanks to some intelligent field placing from Azhar. Lanka then recovered to 251 for 8. India were cruising to a win when Tendulkar was batting tremendously as he had done entire world cup. 

Once he was out, the team lost composure and the scoreline read 8/120 in 35th over.  Manjrekar, Azharuddin, Jadeja, Tendulkar, Siddhu, Mongia were back in the hut and our hero Mr Vinod Kambli was on crease. Crowd trouble began and later on Clive Lloyd awarded the game to Lanka and they made it to their first final and later won it. 

So no signs of match fixing. Not a suspicion even.  Common sense from Azhar made him put Lanka to bat first and that was a correct decision given the way Lankans had chased the targets earlier.  4 quick wickets before 100 on the board vindicated his decision. While chasing Tendulkar made the target look even small. But then the disaster ensued. 

Now after Sir Condon opened his mouth over the tall claims of fixing being rampant in the international cricket in 90s and 2000s, Mr Vinod Kambli, after 15 years of quietness opens his mouth and doubts that the semi final game was fixed. 

Just cos Azharuddin had his name dragged in match fixing episode in 2000, Mr Kambli tries to put the blame again to Azhar for losing that game. And an ugly debate follows. Mr Kambli, the self styled victim, who had earlier blamed Tendulkar for not helping him much in his chequered career, now goes after Azharuddin. He talks of how his career was ruined after that game. 

He says that everyone was stunned by the decision to bowl first rather than bat first. He also said Wadekar, then coach, knew everything. None of his team mates and coach have confirmed his gibberish. 

His Test career was well over before the world cup 1996 started. He last played test against touring Kiwis in the winter of 1995. Perhaps he might want to puke some shit about Courteny Walsh and Winston Benjamin too as those lads sorted him out in 1994 series and since then he never was the batsman who shone after a Bradmanesque average in 1993. He ended up with an average of 54 in 17 tests. After that world cup game he played 35 more games for India in different broken phases. He never could cement his place in the team permanently. He got chances under Azhar, Tendulkar and even Ganguly gave him one final chance in that 2000 series in Sharjah. And post that series, he never made it to the Indian team again. 

He came out of a poor family, to be precise, a scheduled cast family, rose to limelight on the back of that 664 partnership with Sachin in school cricket in Mumbai and the cricket pundits said he was more talented than Tendulkar. In 1992 - 94 his ODI average was more than Tendulkar. He got his first ODI hundred very soon in first few ODIs only. Tendulkar had to wait for 78 games and 6 years. He made 2 double hundreds in space of 2-3 months in few tests, Tendulkar had to wait 10 years for his first double hundred (against NZ in 1999). 

Success got in the head of Kambli and he couldnt handle it. Boozing, clubbing, breaking team curfew, going behind girls (he has had 2 hot wives and thats a big achievement for him given his bald looks) was his strength instead of being in runs on the field. Tendulkar managed success with maturity, never let his priorities  wander besides cricket field and thats why Tendulkar is at the stage where he is and today Kambli has to puke some shit to remain in headlines. 

He keeps saying some Ijaz Butt style statements, good enough to laugh at and  then forget. He has no moral standing of his own, he has no character, he has had a decent cricket career. He stopped playing first class cricket in 2003 or 2004 and then announced his retirement in 2010 or 2011. Who did bother if he is playing or not playing or what the hell he is doing. His image in the cricketing folklore is going to be of a spoilt brat who got his chances (much more than he deserved) but couldnt cash in on any of those. 

He was from Mumbai, the powerhouse of Indian cricket, yet he let that chance go to earn a big name for himself through cricketing records. Instead he chose the wrong way to be in the limelight. By making the fixing claims on that painful game of 1996 world cup, he has let his credibility down and it wont be wrong to label him as Ijaz Butt of Indian cricket.

Ranji form of incumbent Indians

Tracking Test contenders:

Suresh Raina :

Hit a double ton against Punjab. Good show of form, but would depend on how Yuvraj and Kohli fare in the Tests. A comeback seems far off for now. 

Harbhajan Singh

No favors done playing in the Ranji game on a lifeless track. Went wicketless and only delaying the possible comeback for the Tests.

Rohit Sharma

A century against Railways shows good recovery from injury. Could comeback in the ODI team.

Manoj Tiwary

A hundred in the game vs Gujarat would mean he can retain his place in the ODI series should some seniors chose to rest before Australia tour.

India wins the payback series

India won yet another game vs England in India. They now lead the series 3-0 and if everything goes the way it has for past 3 Odis, the story would soon be 5-0 and yet another whitewash for England in India. England have been hammered top, right, left and center in India over last 5 years. The scorelines of 1-5, 0-5 and probably 0-5 now read a very sorry figure. They have been competitive in their own conditions, but they have been very poor abroad. They showed up better performance in World Cup with some enthralling finishes and tight contests. But this tour, they simply have come abject with nothing good to show on the paper, no positives, no gains, no player gaining that extra mile in his career or benefitting from playing in this conditions.

The openers haven’t been able to give them good starts, the middle order has got starts, but rarely they have converted to big 100s or 90s except one or 2 out of the blue scoring occasional 90s. The late middle order has flourished but only sporadically. The bowling attack has been sorted out with ease, the same bowlers who were menacing in rainy conditions in England are looking ordinary. Only Steven Finn looks a bit better, but the rest of the pack are just ordinary. None of Bresnan, Dernbach or Patel do have skills to take wickets and stop the 2nd string Indian batting from scoring runs. There is no Sehwag, Yuvraj, Tendulkar in this batting lineup and the openers are part timers in Patel and Rahane, who any given day would sit out of any Indian team if they have full strength team available to play.

Simply said, England don’t have skills to win in conditions which don’t seam or swing. And even in seaming or swinging conditions in England, where they won 3-0, they had to rely on rain rules to win. Take this series win out and you’d find for most part of this decade, India have had a strong over England in ODIs and Tests too (barring 4-0 loss). England haven’t won a ODI series in India for 27 years and that stretch would just get longer after today’s defeat.

For India today there was a new batting star born in Ajinkya Rahane, the Mumbai batsman who has been pitched in as an opener in absence of regular ones. Very lucky to have been playing ODIs still as the seniors are out injured and selectors impressed to pip regular opener down to # 3, the batsman has picked up his chances good enough to have a suggestion drawn from Harsha Bhogle that he should be opening in all forms of cricket he plays in. That to me, is a far fetched suggestion. What happens when normal openers return to the team in ODIs – Sachin and Sehwag? Even if Sachin gives up ODIs soon, then we have Viru – Gauti pair to fall back upon, would still Rahane open? And this was just one inning of substance from him. At the max, it’s a stepping stone to the bigger things. That doesn’t indicate by any means that he should open in all forms in international cricket. Should the seniors continue to be injured, there are lot of other players who are good openers and natural openers – likes of Uthappa waiting to play.

Parthiv Patel shouldn’t even be in the 15, let alone playing 11. Dropping Gambhir to 3 to accommodate Patel is insane. Drop Patel and get in Manoj Tiwary for next 2 games. Let Rahane and Gambhir open, Kohli at 3 and so forth.

India’s bowling continues to be pedestal and the likes of Vinay Kumar, R Ashvin don’t inspire any form of confidence. Ashvin isn’t getting bucketful of wickets, the way he used to get in IPL (for same captain), he is happy stopping runs, who wants this kind of spinners who are happy containing? Basically that’s the main reason why Harbhajan was dropped and if Ashvin does the same thing, then let him go back and play for Tamil Nadu team. Play Rahul Sharma for next 2 games, at least give him few games before he is handed out the treatment similar to Ojha and Mishra.

The core group who’s won India the 3 games is the same – Kohli, Gambhir, Raina and of course well MS Dhoni. Raina flopped today, but Kohli and Dhoni batted sensibly in the stretch when England threatened to come back with 4 quick wickets. MS Dhoni is back among the runs and back in the job he does the best – finish the game. He has been not out 28 times in India’s victories and when he has been not out, India hasn’t lost a single game chasing. Remarkable statistic.

Its time for some experimentation over the next 2 games in terms of opening in batting and few pacers. Varun Aaron can be played in place of Umesh Yadav and probably Sreenath Aravind in the 5th game in place of Vinay Kumar. Rahul Sharma in place of R Ashvin. But would team management tinker the winning combination, that remains to be seen.

And yes Duncan Fletcher still is the coach of Indian team, if people forgot that.

India vs England 1st ODI Review

India has won an international game after 4 months and few days.  Last game it had won was the 1st test vs West Indies and then the only game it didnt lose was the tied 4th game in England. A lot has happened since then. 

But its always good to get to the winning start and winning in own backyard is always pleasent. 

India has just lost one game in India in last 2 years or so.  And that was against South Africa in this year's world cup in Nagpur and then a little time back last year, just after that 200* game in Motera to the same team.. Perhaps that was the start of the times for India to play depleted side in ODI until the world cup 2011 and then the same practice is back this year. 

Its a pity that the world cup winning team hasnt played another game together after that memorable night in Mumbai on 4/2. Chances are that the same team might never step on the field again to play another ODI, let go a bunch of games.

India started off sluggishly to reach 4/139 in 34 overs with both rookie openers, Gambhir and Kohli out and there were signs of a collapse, but Raina and Dhoni put on some sensible partnership and India were able to get to 300 mark. 

Dhoni hit his 4th consecutive 50 in ODIs and first one in winning cause after the world cup win. It seemed that he is still in that world cup final mode and he just carried ahead where he had left in Mumbai. He played his helicopter shots, most of them came good and he was hitting balls all over the place yet again. People had criticized him for giving away his natural style of play ever since he was the captain of India. 

He has been one of the best finishers in the ODI game in last few years and his average has gone back to 50+ again.  And also he is the best runner between the wickets in the modern Indian cricket. 

He was supported by Jadeja(hate to write this) and later Ashvin and PK to help India reach 300.  Jadeja is back in the team and having him play for the world champion team is a huge insult to the world champion tag. No matter he contributes or he doesnt, he shall always remain a jinxed player and someone who always comes good in losing cause. 

He also caused collapse in the English batting lineup after Cook was gone and surprisingly he ended up with 3 wickets. Ashvin, the other IPL guy got 2. And for time being Harbhajan Singh would be continuing to left out of the team. Perhaps that might give him the time to boost himself for tougher Test challenges ahead(Read Australia). 

Its on him how he takes this drop as. Whether he takes it positively and comes back hungry for success, nothing better for himself and the team. And if he takes it in a negative sense, then again himself and the team are going to lose a lot out of it. 

Umesh Yadav was expensive, got 2 wickets and had some pace too. Vinay Kumar continued to be useless, Praveen Kumar was his usual self and the 2 spinners caused the collapse in the English ranks to win a game by 126 runs. 

England have been horrible in India for last 5 years at least in ODIs.  And Friday's game just extended that run. How do they come back in next 4 games would be very keen for every one of us to watch. Unless they play well here, no one is going to take their claim as being best in the world seriously. But then they were never good in ODIs in last 20 years. They stopped being good ODI outfit since  that World cup final loss in Australia 1992. And as usual after a series win out of nowhere, the English start some rants and this series would decide, if that rant continues for longer or meets its natural end after the series. 

As of India is concerned, they have started to show what they really are in their own backyard. 

A win after 4 months is a good thing and if it continues further, it shall just play a huge role in getting the disgruntled and hopeless fans back to watching India games after that disastrous England tour.a

India vs England Preview

A depleted India begins its first home series after being crowned as World Champions in 2 days time against England, the team which they failed to get past single time this entire year. The World Cup game was a tie and then in England there was one more tie and one wash out and then there were 3 losses. The similarity in the England series and this series is that the core players who won India the world cup 6 months back are still out injured and the bowling too looks thin in absence of four first choice bowlers. The game is in Hyderabad, the same venue where England made 219 and 367 in the tour games and where English bowlers enjoyed a lot of success.

India are without the services of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Yuvraj in batting department and there is no Ishant Sharma, Munfa Patel and Zaheer Khan in bowling. There are replacements, there are question marks over those replacements. Over the quality and of course on the nature of the selection for those replacements.

Injuries, fatigue and too much of cricket is an issue that still exists for India. The best example is MS Dhoni. He has been playing non stop cricket for over a year now. The only gap came in the ODI series vs NZ last year and then in the West Indies series this year just after World cup (or after IPL). In between he has played SA series, the World Cup, the IPL, West Indies tests, full England tour and league phase of CLT20. He just earned 10 days of break since his franchisee failed to get past the league stage. Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli are other lads who have been playing cricket continously for most part of the year. They have played all LOIs in last year. They also fulfilled their IPL obligations for their franchisees.

How much fresh and rejuvenated they would feel in a supposedly grudge series, is anybody's guess.

Gautam Gambhir has had his stints with the injuries -- shoulder in IPL saw him miss West Indies tour, then a concussion in England tour saw him miss ODIs and then once he recovered, he had to lead KKR in CLT20 and then one of the Challenger teams. It seems he is going to miss the final of that tourney and probably he has joined the Indian team.

So the issues that bogged India down in England still exist and there has been no steps sadly from team management and the board. Duncan Fletcher seems to have been disappeared totally. No one remembers if he is actually the coach of Indian team. Since he has taken over, the fortunes of the team have dipped drastically. One wonders whether he is assertive enough to stress the need for rest, injury management and player management. It may be too early to judge him, but in a cricket frenzy country like India it would be very good for him to get his act and experience together to see the team he coaches out of the rut. Else the cruel network of fans and media shall be gunning for his head. He better remember the fate of Greg Chappell in 2007.

There is no Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra in the ODIs. The spin department would be with Chennai's R Ashvin, debutant Rahul Sharma and of course much abused and maligned Ravinder Jadeja. The pace bowlers read S Arvind, Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav. Its an insult to genuine allrounders to label the likes of Jadeja -- an allrounder. So the probable XI imo looks something like this:

1. Gambhir

2. Rahane

3. Kohli

4. Raina

5. Dhoni

6. Tiwary

7. Jadeja / Patel

8. Praveen

9. Sharma

10. Ashvin

11. Aaron / Vinay

5 pace bowlers on docile flat Indian wickets is another question mark over the wisdom of selectors. Just 2 specialist spinners with no option for the 3rd specialist one is another ? mark. The only bold move selectors made was to drop Harbhajan rather than rest him. Perhaps him winning the CLT20 for MI and taking his challenger team to the final might see him coming back for 3rd ODI ownwards.

But if India lose this series too at home, then more than the players' performance, it would be the blame to be put on selectors for their poor team selection and BCCI for their injury mismanagement.

For record purposes India has not lost an ODI series to England in more than 27 years. They won 5-0 in 2008, 5-1 in 2006, drew 3-3 in 2001 and 1993. And also they have not lost the home ODI series in last 4 years since losing 2-4 to Australia in 2007 which was Dravid's last home ODI series. 

Club vs Country after IPL

The IPL has taken one more World Cup winner down with the injury list and now following members are either not available or are resting:

 

1. Virender Sehwag

2. Gautam Gambhir

3. Yuvraj Singh

4. Sachin Tendulkar

5. Che Pujara

 

Sehwag, Gambhir played almost full IPL through their injuries and withdrew at the end of their franchisee's campaign to go for further treatment. Gambhir played full IPL for KKR and when he was to lead India in WI he opted out of the  tour due to the injury.

 

Tendulkar has played entire IPL till today's loss and now he wants to skip the Windies test tour too to be with his family.  Arrogance.  Why couldnt he have skipped the IPL or part of it to be with his family? Why skip the test tour of West Indies? What if it was England tour?

 

Even more bizzare case is for Gambhir, the most expensive buy of IPL 4 and man who won the final for India. He is not only the best player of spin in the world but also a very valuable cog in the ODIs and Tests for India. Now India's and world's best opening pair wont be around in Windies. Why did Gambhir play through the IPL with a sore shoulder? Did Dildo Khan force him to? Did he inform BCCI about this? Does he qualify of being guilty to chose club over country? Is he right to play full IPL and skip test / odis of West Indies.

 

Still India shall win both ODI and test series in West Indies, but this entire episode leaves a very bad taste in the mouth and I hate IPL now.  Its just killing the soul and spirit of world cricket. Indian players have set a very bad precedent in the world by skipping the national tour and playing the crappy IPL.  Even worse is the role from BCCI who manages both and it needs to decide where does it loyalty lie? IPL or world cricket?

 

As a result the Tamil Nadu folks have made a comeback in the Test team and instead of Delhi lads, Chennai lads would open for India in Tests. The new Mukund and the failed Vijay. Also finding a place in the test team is Dabrinath, the same lad who failed when given the chances. Mukund sounds good prospect, would be keen to see how he performs.

 

Just 4 fast bowlers and 3 spinners. Riches. 2 of the fast bowlers are Sreesanth and Munaf Patel, that says the strength of the attack.  They both were termed as "best pace attack of last 15 years" in 2006 when India under Dravid won the test series, but then Munaf had pace then, now he has just a nagging length and no pace. Sreesanth has everything except what it takes to excel in the middle of the ground.  3 spinners in West Indies is again a poor selection. Now suddenly Pragyan Ojha is back in contention...Basis of what? IPL? He failed miserably in the IPL.

 

Probable XI :

 

1. Mukund

2. Vijay

3. Dravid

4. Laxman

5. Raina

6. Kohli

7. Dhoni

8. Harbhajan

9. Ishant

10. Zaheer

11. Freesanth

 

The batting order suddenly looks depleted and the opening pair seems wobbly. Thanks to the IPL and player priorities. Tendulkar especially is the one to blame the most.

Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma.

The man who troubled Ricky Ponting, the man who has got pace, height, bounce. But he does not have consistency. 

A sure starter in Tests, but havent played an ODI since Aug 2009.

Ishant Sharma today wrecked Kochi Tuskers starring Mahila and Sreesanth with a 5-for. 

A pure delight to see him succeed at the international level (IPL is domestic with some international touch to it). Only if he could replicate this performance many more times so that the bare cupboards in pace bowling in India would be full again.

Not only he would benefit out of such performances, but India would also be benefited of such performances and we would then no longer need the likes of Sreesanth and Munaf Patel in the teams.

Way to go Ishant Sharma.

Players to watch out this IPL

Players to watch out for this IPL from Indian perspective. 

1. Ishant Sharma  for the 3rd seamer in the ODIs. He leaks out runs and isnt very wicket taking bowler, yet he is better than Munaf and Freesanth, for he has a nack to get the bounce and carry. And he has got the pace to ruffle the batsmen.

2. Irfan Pathan for that # 7 spot in the ODIs. Compete with his brother. He is far better player than Yusuf Pathan and what he is billed for now. If he gets that swing back and is back to fitness, look no further than Irfan. A man who has had 90s and has batted at # 3 in both Tests and ODIs should be a lucrative prospect back in the team when fit and on the top of the game. 

3. Manish Pandey : Can he now stake a claim in the ODI team if he has a successful IPL? If the likes of Vijay and Dhawan can get their chances owing to small success they had in IPL, then this lad who'z got some tremendous knocks in IPL and Ranji should get a look ahead in the lesser significant ODI series. 

4.  Cheteshwar Pujara: The things for that # 6 spot in the Tests would hot up once again when team travels to West Indies now that Yuvraj and Raina are back in the form.  Tests are a bit too far for now, but if he proves his mettle for RCB, then he might also come in the reckoning as a backup player in the ODI setup as well. 

There are not many open spots in the world champion team at the moment except # 7 spot. Sachin Tendulkar might not play ODIs any more, so the opening shall be going back to the Gauti - Viru combo followed by Kohli and Yuvraj. And then Raina and Dhoni. 

So if there are couple of lads like Irfan or Saurabh Tiwary can get some success this IPL they can edge through the likes of tested and failed Jadeja and Fuddi Pathan. 

Ravinder Jadeja today batted like he always does in the IPL, but he fails for India.  One of those players who hit iron hot form in IPL, but flounder in the national colors.  Freesanth, Rohit Sharma, IPL Ojha, Amit Mishra, Jadeja, Fuddi Pathan are the proud members of this lot.

Gary Kirsten

Gary Kirsten has farewelled coach of India position and he is off to Capetown, SA to be with his young family. Some time later when he returns to mainstream coaching, he shall more likely than not take up job with SA and he gave a lot of feelers for the same when he departed today.

He has been a major factor responsible for the turnaround India has shown in past 4 years. He gave his everything, worked on every player, worked on strengths of players, gave them confidence, backed them up and what not. Thats why today we find players like Raina, Kohli, Zaheer and others a touch above than they were in the previous regime. He remained a backroom guy and did his stuff wonderfully well but quietly.

The results are for everyone to see. The respect he has got from every one, his contemporaries in Test side, his young lads in the ODIs and everyone have just good words for him. VVS Laxman, Kumble, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid have played against SA side of which Gary has been the part of. Even add Harbhajan, Zaheer, Nehra, Yuvraj in it.  All this players have publicly spoken high about the man.

He is definetely going to be missed and he is going to make the job of BCCI very difficult to find an able and worthy replacement for him before the West Indies tour and I just hope they can avoid the Graham Ford episode and they are able to find somebody who shall accept the position. But 2007 is different from 2011. Then we were first round crashers, today we are world champions.

Images that shall itch in memories forever

Images courtesy : www.cricinfo.com

World Champions India

What an emphatic win in the end to become the World Champions. Its still takign a huge time to sink in. That the Indians are the world champions after 28 years. The country swung into celebrations and into wild frenzy. The world cup win rejoiced India after a long long time. Every one was happy. Every one rejoiced for Indian team which amongst everything won the world cup as the most deserving team. Going through the entire campaign as almighty just makes this victory even sweeter.

There were a few jitters in the game on Saturday, but in the end super Dhoni and cool Gambhir proved that they are the best team in the world. Doesnt matter if India lose  Sachin and Viru early, there are few other guys in the hut to do the job. Yuvraj all the while and Dhoni in the final.

What a way to rise above the occasion and lead as they say by front. Setting an example, captain's innings, return to form. Call any adjective to it. Dhoni would fulfill all of that. Having had a quiet tournament with just 150 runs in 8 games and then suddenly coming at 5 ahead of man of the tournament Yuvraj was a super move that paid off in the end. It was very apt in the end that MSD hit the winning runs.

He was cool as cucumber in the entire game. He kept his nerves, he soaked the tremendous pressure for good 6 weeks and in the end emerged triumphant.  He came in at edgy 3/114 and Dilshan on fire, but he kept the score board ticking and kept pacing his innings even when Gambhir was stuck in 90s between 38 and 42nd over. 

There were wild celebrations in the entire country. And I missed being part of those celebrations. Couldnt scream, couldnt dance and couldnt shout with all the might I have fearing a ticket, but witnessing those scenes on NDTV made me almost compensate the loss. All celebrations I had were few beers in the end with friends and cursing Sangakara big time.

Sri Lanka Innings:

SL started off cautiously living up to the billing that they become minnows against strong teams. 1/31 off 10 overs was their slowest start of the tournament. Their opening pair which plundered runs against minnows and hapless Kiwis and Pommies were subdued and off color.  Dilshan made edgy 33 and Tharanga fell to Zaheer for single digit score. Zaheer had unbelieveable figures when he was done with his first spell. 1/6 in 5 overs with 3 maidens.  Munaf bowled within his limits and all the pressure they built was quickly released by typical 'I - am - nuts' Sreesanth. He somehow finds himself in the world cup winning team every time. And for this very reason he shall be rememebred in the future as a moron mongrel who figured in 2007 and 2011 World event winning teams.

He leaked 52 runs in 8 overs this time and was little less comical in the field. Sanga Nanga and Mahila continued what they do best. 62 runs for the 3rd wicket and Nanga was gone. 

Mahila continued her good innings and joined the list of elite players who made a world cup final 100. Kulasekra and Parera in the end ensured SL made 274. Zaheer messed up in the final 5 overs and those 63 runs could have been dear, but it was not to be.  274 was going to be a  difficult chase given they had Murali and Malinga in the attack. They also beefed up their pace attack getting in Kulasekra and Parera who had tormented India in past with 2 5 wkt hauls.

Also came in were Randi bhai.  They proved to be easy meat for Indians in the end.

India Innings

India couldnt have asked for more worse start than losing Sehwag in 2nd ball of the innings and that got SL into thinking that they could win the game from there. They also got Sachin in 7th over and they had a premature celebration. There on, they had no chance. Kohli and Gambhir, then Gambhir and Dhoni got them to the target good 14 balls before to spare.

The best part of the chase was India neevr lost the self belief and promoting himself to 5 ahead of Yuvraj was a master stroke.  Gambhir played equal crucial role in this chase and he lost his nerved 3 runs before a well deserved 100.

Murali, Malinga, Randi bhai, Parera and Kulasekara were rendred ineffective in the end and they blamed the loss to the wet ball. But for this they should kick Sanga Naga in his ball who controversially didnt speak anything in the toss confusion. That for you is Sri Lankan spirit. They cheat, they want to win the game by hook and crook, but they cant win it by either.

They tried hard, they spoke, they cheated and they didnt walk. In the end they ended up 2nd best. They had to be. They didnt beat any strong team except England. They couldnt get past Australia, India and Pakistan.

On the other hand India had tough games against Australia, Pakistan, England, South Africa and West Indies. Except NZ, they played almost every test playing team and got through each of them. Some through defending, some through chasing. Every one came good except Pathan and Sreesanth, they should soon find themselves out.  Raina chipped in with valuable 30s in both knock out games which are well better than all other runs he has scored in his life. Yuvraj's 362 runs and 15 wickets would give him immense satisfaction through out his life / career.

Sehwag gave starts in all games almost, though much more was expected out of him. MS if not batted well before final captained team well. He's a colossus.  Kohli got runs, though he got out many times when he should have scored big. Gambhir got 4 50s, the most valuable of them coming in the biggest stage.

In the end India ended up being world cup champions. Deservedly so.

INDIA ARE THE WORLD CUP CHAMPS

WE ARE BLOODY WORLD CHAMPIONS OF CRICKET IN ODIS AND TESTS. 

WE ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS. 

KINGS OF THE WORLD. MOVE AWAY FOLKS, THIS IS OURS. THE WORLD CUP IS OURS. A TIGHT SLAP TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN DOUBTING THE INTEGRITY OF INDIAN CRICKET, THIS IS PROUD MOMENT FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.ALL INDIANS ACROSS THE GLOBE, INDIA, USA ALL OVER COUNTRY.

WORLD CUP FOR SACHIN TENDULKAR. 

WORLD CUP FOR EVERY INDIAN. EVERY PROUD INDIAN. IT HAS TO BE A MOMENT WE AS ENTIRE NATION HAS TO BE PROUD OF. 

INDIA WOULD NEVER REJOICE LIKE IT WOULD TODAY,

INDIA ARE THE WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS.  WORLD CUP CHAMPS.

Lanka dahan on Saturday in Mumbai

Its time to face the Lankans in the final of the world cup in our own country. Sri Lanka, the old warhorses who play all their games at home and then come to Mumbai to play the final and claim the trophy as if its  their own without any fight. Just cos Murali is retiring, they want to lift that trophy and touch it. Get off folks.

You are in India, the land where you lost last 2 series 1-5 and 1-3. And in the last ODI you played here against India, you were so shit scared of the rising ball, that your captain got the pitch in Kotla banned for a good year.  2 victories and 8 losses in last 10 completed games is a very proud record isnt it.  I remember Sangakara making a lot of noise when they travelled to Mumbai to play NZ. And now they are saying they know the pitch well, the conditions well just cos they played one game there and Malinga played 2 IPL seasons there.

What a logic.

Sachin Tendulkar grew up playing cricket in Wankhede all his life. Most of them who play for India have played in Wankhede before in either a IPL game or ODI or a Test match.  Zaheer Khan plays his domestic cricket in Wankhede (whenever).  So do they expect on back of just 1 league game in Mumbai and Malinga's 2 IPL seasons, they have a better idea of the pitch and ground?  Cmon get real.

They have a shaky middle order with guys like Masarweera, Mathews, Chamaras (whom their own fans mock as Sir Kapu or Lord Silva), those who have not yet been tested to full. A team which rides on the top 3 is never going to succeed if they lose the 3 in cheap. Game against Pakistan is a testimony.  Even the game against Kiwis is a testimony. Plus India has played SL too often, so they know the way Lankans play their game. Spin heavy attack isnt going to work against India in India. 

They are pressing Murali beyond a point to play the final cos they know without him they cant win a single game. Test matches are examples of that.

The key to beat SL is get rid of Dilshan, Tharanga and Sangananga and they are exposed, bared in the mid sun, unable to lift their game.  They have also called Randiv back and also Vaas back cos they feel Angelo I  m Not out Always Mathews and Muttiah Murali are unfit. Randiv, the same man who looked poor man's no - bowler might not play as they have not yet applied for replacements. They are making Murali bowl on half a leg, even if he is not fit. 

SL fans are obsessed with India and they want SL to win against India to shut the f** up the BCCI. The anger and disgust feelings of Indian victory in SF is visible on SLCricket.com. They badly wanted Stanis to win cos they feel they can beat them in India.

Unfortunately they still run into rampant India who would want to win one more game emphatically and crown themselves as world champions. Besides the revenge of 1996 SF is also on cards. I just want to see how would they react to the loss in the finals.  They blamed squash ball for Gilly's 2007 final 100 and they kept calling for rematch as they felt it was cheating. Cheaters calling the world cheaters cos this time they were on the receiving end.  Think about those 1000s of wickets their bowlers have got who had suspect actions or those who have bent arms beyond 15 degrees and yet got away. Think about those buffoon umpires all this years who've given numerous horrendous decisions on fields.

India through to the finals

What a feeling it is. To be in the world cup finals beating Pakistan for the 5th time in the world cup. Its just difficult to digest. Goosebumps in the  tummy. Butterflies flew all around, screaming and abusing was a bit low key thanks to being in the foren country.

The tension to see in the finals after 8 long years and this time go one step further to lift the cup of glory in homeland was unpalpable. All superstitions were followed. Unmoved at times when things went right for India and when runs were leaked, when wickets didnt fall. Reeling Munna and Bhajji when they leaked runs. Blowing off Kamran Akamal when he showed his stupid poker face on screen during keeping and batting was all done.

Facebooking and watching cricket has been the trend this world cup. Update the status message on FB, update stats on FB, update number crunching there and put on some superstitions like Cmonnnnnnnnnnnnnn and to see a wicket tumble moments after that was all fun. Dont have the luxury to watch on TV on any channel, so have to rely on  the ISP and host of live streaming sites to watch the action LIVE.

It all happened on a day remarkable for Indian cricket, what a day it has been. Reaching 3rd world cup final, 2nd in 8 years and almost with the same group as it was in 2003.  Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Nehra are the survivors of that match India lost in Wanderers to rampaging Ponting and co. This time its a step to go further. Win the world cup in Mumbai, the hometown of Sachin Tendulkar, country's greatest sports icon and perhaps the best ever batsmen to play cricket in all times.

Thanks to Pakistan to turn up in India despite the hot and cold diplomatic relations, thanks to them for making the match living all the hype it had before this game even began. Thanks for them to provide us yet another opportunity to savior this victory. Beating Australia, Pakistan in the route to finals is amazing. The contests with this 2 countries have always been intense, thrilling and top quality. And Pakistan did go out in a proud fashion, forget what Misbah did in final overs, they have done their nation proud with almost flawless and mostly controversy less performance in the world cup. None expected them to come this far given what happened in past year in their build up to the world cup, so Afridi must be a proud man given how his men have delivered.

Sachin Tendulkar has played all 5 victorious games against Pakistan in World cups and he has been man of the match in 3 of them. He has scored 54, 31, 45, 98 and 85 in this 5 games. He has played with great Kapil Dev to Azhar to Jadeja, Mongia, Venkatesh Prasad and the great trio of Dravid, Ganguly and Kumble. Not to forget Javagal Srinath.

India won its first semi final at home. Previously it had lost its 2 semi finals, both chasing in 1987 to England and pretty controversially in 1996 to SL. This time India defended a 260 and won. 

The biggest turning point of the game was the dismissal of Gambhir in the 20th over which led to a mini-collapse in the 25th - 30 th over and a score of 350 became 260. Sehwag in his super assault on Umar Gul had set India on another huge total, but once he was out and the rest just went in the shell. Gambhir has been erractic this tournament. he has thrown away his wicket in almost every game. Something not expected from man of his stature.

Tendulkar was cratchy, scratchy and whatever, but his 85 set India to cross 250 and that proved to be the difference in the end.  MSD is excelling in captaincy, but his batting is concern.

What was too heartening to see was only 5 bowlers were used and everybody took 2 wkts each. Zahee was little bit off color, but he was made up by super Nehra and surprisingly Munaf.  Ashvin;s dropping was a debatable issue, but I still feel he will be a key man in the final and he should replace Munaf in the XI. Nehra got his rythm back in the 2nd spell and at helped him in the super final spell when he just gave few and got Riaz.

It was a day when the bowling and fielding excelled yet again and the batting was iffy.

In the end Younis and Misbah combined together to stall the stanis chase and its likely that this guys wont be part of the LoI set up in the future.  Misbah is test captain, but then who knows what happen in Pak cricket. The others -- Shafiq, Hafeez and UKumal didnt quite turnup to play long innings that could have won their team this game. Yet they came this far and thats applaudable.

For a change there was no sledging this time and there was no "war cry" on the ground at least.  Expecting Pak to react to this loss graciously back their home and not call for the people's head who featured in this tournament. They've got some very good positives in form of Riaz, Shafiq etc and once they are given chances they could come up as well finished product.

But for now lets savior the superb Indian victory and rally behind them to trounce the cheats of the world to avenge the painful defeats of 2007 and 1996. Lets burn the Lanka this time in Mumbai 8 months before the Dusshera festival.