Praveen Amre fired for not playing a regional bowler

It has been reported in ToI that Praveen Amre was sacked in the middle of India A tour to England in May and June this year and was replaced by B Arun. This move was initiated by the man in fire : N Srinivasan, the powerful BCCI sec who is also the owner of Chennai Super Kings franchise and perhaps head of TNCA.  He is also at loggerheads with Lalit Modi and is seen as the man behind downfall of Modi from the top position he occupied in the board ranks.

That apart, the reason why Praveen Amre was sacked?  Very much the same which I have thought is behind the sudden influx of Tamil Nadu players in the Indian team as replacements for everything – keepers, batsmen, spinners, bowlers, fielders and waterboys.

Its been said that bunch of Southie players complained to Srini that coach is not playing Ganapathy in the final XI and instead giving chance to Mumbai bowler Dhawal Kulkarni. Dhawal was selected for Indian tour to New Zealand and perhaps he did not play (I don’t remember he did).  Praveen Amre hails from Mumbai too and is one of the famed disciples of Ramakant Achrekar (Sachin being the other).  Pravin Amre had a decent career which began superbly with a debut hundred vs SA in SA. He has had successful coaching stints too with different teams at domestic level.

So if the reports of Amre being sacked on not playing Ganapathy are true, then they reflect to a very serious and a wrong trend in Indian cricket – regional bias and quota system. I have constantly believed that the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Murali Vijay,  R Ashvin, Dabrinath have been in and out of the teams with an alarmed frequency. A look at their performances does not paint a rosy picture though, but they still keep coming in.

Dinesh Karthik is out one series for non performance, he is back next one without doing any substantial. Right now he is playing in SL riding on 66 he made in Asia cup final.  On 10^th, he misfielded, failed with the bat and blah. He would still open with Sehwag on 16^th replacing Virat Kohli. Tough for Delhi lad cos he has had an awesome ODI year in 2010. He has been consistent in batting and is a wonderful fielder. He floats around, makes runs whenever he is in the team. Way better than Dinesh Karthik, who is forever young. He has been around now for 6 years and is just 24. Unbelievable. Where is Ajay Ratra?  Deep Dasgupta? Parthiv Patel? This lads have been redundant now in Indian cricket as the keeper right now is the captain of team in all 3 formats and does not seem to be failing in near future. 

Saurabh Tiwary is travelling since 2 series now and has not played a single game despite hailing from Dhoni’s own state. What does that mean? Is there a diktat to the tour selection committee to play one or 2 Tamil Nadu players every game? Murali was automatic replacement for Gambhir in Tests, Karthik is replacement for Gambhir in ODIs.  Awesome man!!

Cheekanth is into a deep running mission to Tamil Naduise Indian cricket and that would end in a disaster. No offence for anybody from TN, but are the players selected from TN right now worthy of playing? If there are 3 glittering TN players who are playing awesome domestic and A cricket, get them in the team. But don’t get in the failing stars who are just in cos they have Cheekas and Srini backing them up owing to the clout they enjoy in BCCI.

IPL's greatest service to Indian cricket(A wish)

If we could sniff out huge great great huge Pommie Mbangwa and what a good hitman Laxman Sivramkrishna (yawn, what a big name) of the commentary box alongside their sponsors booting jingles -- Karbon Kamal Katch, Citi moment of Success, DLF maximums and other fucking words, the IPL would be a good thing to watch.

Also if the producers of the broadcasting channel stopped focussing on dumbasses like Zinta, Shetty and other Bollywood asswols who know nothing about the game yet keep dancing on every 2 runs taken or a 6 being hit, the IPL would glow even more.

But thats foolhardy thinking.

At least what IPL could do good for Indian spectators is improve the basic watching facilities in the top grounds. Almost the same grounds on which the IPL is being played would host world cup games next year (sans Mumbai's 2 grounds), so if this IPL could lead to improved facilities, that would be the greatest service IPL would do for the Indian cricket. I am not even talking of the moolah the stakeholders would rake in.

What a pity that Eden Gardens with a capacity of 100000 people would not host a World Cup final instead a shoddy stadium situated behind the slums of Marine Lines railway line Wankhede would host the final just cos Sharad Pawar is the BCCI henchman.

Test cricket in Mumbai

Its an irony that Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium, the original numero uno ground of the city would host a Test match almost same time when it was expected to host a Test last year against visiting Poms.  That could never happen as 11/26 sent the city and the country in shock, anger and grieveing mode.

Its a strange irony that Test cricket returns to Mumbai after 3 years.   Nobody in the current line up in the team has played a Test on this ground, but the most famous first class double hundred in the country came on this ground. Most famous cricketer made it against most famous team with the most famous world spinner in it with most famous captain skippering (patent) the team.

Brabourne, Sachin Tendulkar, Australia, Shane Warne, Mark Taylor , 1998, Mumbai, Ranji champs are the key words that describe the above riddle.

This Test would be a remarkable with Murali playing his last test overseas and possibly his career too.  And what an occasion it would be when Sach would finish 13000 runs in Tests in front of his home crowd.

An unnecessary comment

....from Sachin Tendulkar on Mumbai being open for all Indians has invited typical criticism from the so called custodians of Mumbai -- the Thackerays. That criticism from the ageing Thackeray has proved that he is gone nuts and he would only lose whatsoever respect  the so called "Marathi Manoos" from Mumbai had for this man.

In simple words if you criticise Sachin Tendulkar in this country when he has said nothing wrong, you would be taken to task or may be even suggested to go take a mental checkup.

Rightly so, Mr BT was criticised by one and all.

For one I also think Sachin should have avoided making this statement, everyone knows that Mumbai is a Mini India and the pulse of the country. Just that Thackeray family doesnt agree that this is the thing. Nobody would buy it and with time everybody would think that they are crazy people gone nuts.

Sachin should avoid making any statement on Mumbai even though he is at no fault, but saying this when the madness on the name of language and regions is ongoing, this kind of things is just not right.

We rever Sachin as a semi-GOD in this country and when people like BT and RT say their crap on language stuff, its a bit disturbing to see this man being dragged in needless controversy.

Sachin @ 20. Facts -- 2

Sachin is the pride of the country bereft of the public idols. The so called role models are feeble and bare behind the scenes. Where the morality ends in the so called role models, those who have lots of grey areas within their persona, this man from Mumbai, MH is the tallest and greatest in the century. Not only he has made the country proud but he has also set an example what pride and honor for the country means. What it takes for playing for country and the pride for the cap has to be learnt from the man from Mumbai.

Sachin @ 20 is a celebration of a phenomenon and expressing our gratitude and acknowledgement to have witnessed his gems and marvels over the 20 years. 70% of my life. And for most part more than what they have lived. Lol.

Take a bow. Take a bow. Sachin Tendulkar cometh, cometh the pride and honor that he is an Indian. Nothing is magical and nothing is surreal when he bats. Nothing gives a more high than what he gives for his straight shots or the cover drives.

His long time mate and partner in crime to transform India's fortunes in Tests Saurav sums it up. Nothing more can be said better than what Saurav has said for him.

Having witnessed Saurav and Sachin bat together over 200 ODIs and 100+ Test innings is an experience of lifetime and what more a cricket fan can ask for.

Mumbai not fit for hosting World Cup final

Which is better venue to host a World Cup final ? 40000 capacity Wankhede in Mumbai or 1 lac seated Eden Garden in Kolkata ?

Just cos Sharad Pawar is from Mumbai, the world cup final is in Mumbai. Be real, Mumbai has rich cricket tradition, but its facilities in Cricket stadiums are ass.

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.

A note to Rohit IPL Sharma

Mr Rohit Sharma,

A self righteous individual would take a call now and offer the captain to get himself dropped and fly out the first taxi or cruise back to Borivali(W), contact the local coach and get a few nets in Azad Maidan or even CCI club or for that matter any local Gymkhana in your own surroundings, get a few lads to bowl you underarm, hit a few sixes, smash some windows, get some hits from the fellow society dwellers and then prepare for a long grind in the domestic cricket and pray that in a year or 2, if you regain your never existing silken touch and your spot is still up for grabs by 2010, then you should come back or else we have decided to remove you out of our system.

Its tad unfortunate that you exist in the team even now after long haul of listless performances and its a test of our patience that we have to see your disgusting lovelorn face every time 1 or 3 wkts fall. Dude, the Fashion week is around the corner and then there are lots of hot chics in South Mumbai party circuit or if you cant afford them there are lots of dance bars too open even now in Mumbai suburbs. A lot of them in Dahisar, few minutes walk from your place. You would certainly find few there. After all a cricketer is even a hot property right now. You dont have hunger for runs, albeit other hunger(s) would get satisfied and by chance if you still make it to the Champs Trophy team (you never know DBV could plant you anywhere, even on moon's cricket team) at least you would look happy and I would be able to curse you openly seeing your face.

Right now you look remorse and sad, so i feel pity on you. Right now you look like a daily waged labourer who travels free of cost in Mumbai locals. Hell no, even he pays. What do you do? Do nothing and still grab those fat pay cheques. IPL, tour fee, ad contracts, fashion show invites and stuff. But did you know kid, all this lasts till the runs from your bat flow. If you dream of Rakhi Sawant when you bat, you are gonna get what Rakhi Sawant gets. Bhai, yeh jo IPL ka contract hai na, yeh bhi tab tak hai jub tak aapke paas runs hai. Runs nahi banaoge to ICL bhi nahi lega tumhe mere dost. Fir kisi bridge ke neeche khade hokar tum apne Mumbai Ranji mate ko nahi kah paoge "mere paas gadi hai bangla hai south mumbai flat hai tumhare paas kya hai". And he would reply "Rohit tum aur mai isi Borivali national park ke fly over ke neeche se chale the kisi cricket ground ki aur. Fir tum kaha pahuch gaye aur me kaha chal pada. Aaj tumhare pass yeh sab hai mere bhai, lekin mere paas INDIA CAP aur IPL CONTRACT hai". Tab kya karoge dost? yeah Mahesh Bhatt jaroor koi movie de dega tumhe.

Bhai hume maaf karo aur aapko dekhne ka jo hume majboori hai nee use door karo. Jao bhai kahi aur jao. Wo Kandivali kanda poha club me captain ki vacancy hai, waha kheloge ? Mast captain banke? Gimme a buzz if you want to.

Mumbai custodian at it again

Another joker performance by the chokers and the lad gets mad on everybody who says mumbai choked. Yeah yeah he is angry that his Mumbai choked, but then he scoffin at everybody who sayin the same thing. Blame it on Warne, blame it on Smithie, blame it on Aleem Dar, blame it on Lalit Modi, but dont blame it on the choker gang of his city -- of which he is the sole custodian and protector from the evil eyes of other bloggers. And belittling other winning teams is a common trait. Ah man, i should not say this. My blog hits are going to go down cos he is an influential blogger around. Polarisation is going to harm me, not him. He might lobby people against me. Having a good life :)

On his blog, on my blog and on Leela's blog. I have no words for this except saying GOD bless him for his narrowed glucomic vision that doesnt make him see the other side of picture...And all for me and my lack of "sanity" and "vocablaryyyyyyyyyyy".

Blogging never got interesting than this stage and this age.

Khud ko hilwa denge : Mumbai Indians.

With Sachin gone to a freak dismissal, the proudy rowdy Mumbai Indians are down to dumps. Easy woozy doozy walk in the park style win for Delhi Daredevils beckons.

Go Delhi. Top of the table.

Whosoever suggested Ronchi and Duminy to open the innings. I doubt Nayars or Rahanes have that ability to bail the Bambai Indians out of the trouble. Blowing trumpets on a team which has no talent except 4 top international pros and no application is like making an ass of yourself.

Its being showed where Mumbai Indians belong who they are and how they are. Barring skipper, nobody else seems keen to apply themselves. Be it Rahane, Raje, Shahane, Raje or Baje...

4/33 says it all. Chokers, not even them. For choke they need to be in a winnign situation. This lads aint willing to put in efforts to stay and make a game out of it. Most of the local lads of the MI team play fr Mumbai Ranji team. IF this is the talent, then beware of them playing for India. That would be doom for India. Pity that such a team won the Ranji trophy. Contrast this team to the teams of yore which had greats like Sunny Gavaskar, DBV, Ashok Mankad in their ranks and defeating them in the Ranji was like beating Australia in their prime.

The current team is pale shadow of those great teams of the past. If you have the might and the strength in the team, shout and scream. If you dont, get off and sit silent in the corner. If you scream just cos its "MUMBAI" and there is no talent/might in the team, then you make an ass of yourself.

What a pity that the IPL teams of 2 of India's greatest ODI batsmen have been knocked out of the IPL not for their own mistakes but the ridiculous team selections and dearth of the talent. Royals of Rajasthan too doesnt have talent as Mumbai, but those lads are ready to apply themselves, attend to the call of their captain and perform. They have turned the table around after a disappointing start to second season. Unfortunately for mumbai, the lads didnt heed to the captain's call and his inspiration. What more you need than the presence of Sachin Tendulkar in the dressing room. If the likes of Raina, Sharma, Y Pathan and Yuvraj Singh get inspired from Tendulkar in team's presence, then why the heck this local lads from Mumbai dont get that inspiration from the man.

Rant on Mumbai fans.

Ways Pujara can get into reckoning!

May be Pujara now should switch Ranji side and play from Tamil Nadu or Mumbai. Perhaps only then he would be considered for selection, let go of being selected. And may be dance in a reality show. Play a T20 and have an affair with a Bollywood starlet. Only thing he should not do is score 3 consecutive triple hundreds and then 3 consecutive failures. Bloody fuck, just nobody bothers to see him score runs...Cos he is a Pujara and not Pujhara. And not a "kar" or a Kulkarni in his last name...Or may be he doesnt have anythin to get the Jokers notice him!!

Poor selection

Another farcial selection for the Test tour to NZ. Shades of quota system back in the picture. Kris Srikanth gets 3 from his state : Vijay (OK, he faired decently in Nagpur), Balaji and Kartik. Balaji is max 120-130 kmph and Karthik once had an edge over MS but now he is in as a batsman or an opener (can he threaten Veeru ?)...And then Rohit Sharma continues to be in the team. Good lord for him. NZ babes might get better for him and he would spend more time in clubs than on the nets. Jesse Ryder would have good company :)

And then Dhawal Kulkarni makes his way to the team. Amazing. Just a season with .....and he is into the team. If Karthick can be in the team for some 1100 runs in Ranji, then what the heck has Pujara done wrong ? May be not from Chennai or ...... ?

Selection of Munaf Patel is also a bit questionable as he would be injury prone more than taking wickets. Test batting line up selects automatically. Hopefully nobody would speak again of 5 batsmen theory. That doesnt work for India. Not untill we have a decent alrounder or half one like Irfan.

Sad to see the quota system still existing in Indian team even now. Unfortunately not all are Saurav Ganguly who could ride over the allegations and prove their critics wrong. Lets see what this lads riding on favoritism do. Lets see what specifically the Kulkarni lad does ?

Rohit Sharma : Time to dispatch him to domestic cricket

This days if you happen to be young lad in Indian cricket and on top of that if you hail from Ranji Champion team Mumbai, then trust me you are going to be in the team for infinite time. Doesn’t matter, if you perform or if you don’t. To add to the toppings on the icing on the pizza cake, if your captain trusts you and ex-chief of selector publicly banks you as next Tendulkar shamelessly and if you once play a 55 in a must win T20 game in world championship and then you make 70 in the company of the BAAP of cricketing knowledge and batting down under (till then down under was big thing winning, this days anybody can do it), then you are in for the team for good.

Doesn’t matter if you average paltry 15 in the ODIs and just 4 in the T20s, you are still high hopes and billed as the next big thing in the Indian cricket. You happen to live in a chawl in Mumbai in not so good conditions and then suddenly you win the T20, be a part of world cup winning team something the greats Sachin, Rahul, Saurav, VVS and Anil couldn’t do, your life changes , you go and live in swanky Bandra apartment and you become a poster boy of media and cricket glitz. Despite all this runs never flow out of your bat and you never take the game to the next level.

Only way then left for the skipper is to drop you out of the playing XI and then for the selectors is to throw you back to the grind of domestic cricket. Yes, that’s what fate lies for you. Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai cricketer, the failure Indian batsman of SL series who neither had any bad decision going against him or neither he was suffering from any distraction. Time is ripe for him to be dropped from the NZ touring party and get another new face mostly Pujara and ask Sharma to get the temperament, attitude and moreover the self-belief right. Till then no place for him in the Indian cricket.

Quota system back ?

Kris Srikanth is chief selector....
.
Balaji comes in the team for Munaf.

If Vengsarkar was chief selector even now, Dhaval Kulkarni wud have been into the team. The same lame duck bowler in IPL who bowls max 126 kmph fastest and is amazingly highest wicket taker in the Ranjis.

Thats why the likes of Jaffer got the chance when they were ordinary or for that matter Badrinath continues to be in Grade B when he hasnt even played a single decent knock at highest level. How come he is in the central contracts list and no PUJARA ?

Rajput is shamelessly backing Dhaval Kulkarni on a show on Neo Cricket. Mumbai mumbai bhai bhai.

India unsafe to play cricket in ?

“Pakistan has barred its players from participating in the IPL after its foreign ministry deemed it was unsafe for the cricketers to travel to India in the wake of the November terrorist attacks in Mumbai”

Sour grapes ? Unsafe security situation in India ? Who caused it ? Who sent the attackers ? Non state actors ?

At best this ban on Pak players for IPL is out of vengeance and revenge for India’s cancellation of full tour to the troubled country. By the way except for Sohail Tanvir no other Pakistan cricketer was of any use to the franchisees. Ok Younis Captain Khan too. But then who else ?

It’s a funny situation. Don’t want to get into political perspective, but this ban evokes laughter out of me.

Sachin Tendulkar hits a 100 being sick!!

He was feverish

He was weak,

He was running temperature,

He was determined

He was focussed

he was in his 20th yr

He had 67 of them before

One more was in the offing

He had an aim , a mission

Make his team go to the final

He did with precision,

5 sixes and 17 fours

Sachin Tendulkar for you bloggies

hits a 100 despite being sick!!!

SL snubs Pakistan too ??

That’s what you call double catastrophe. After royale Indian snub, most likely Lankans are also planning to drop Pakistan in lurch……All cos Arjuna Ranatunga was sacked. Good idea right now for Pakistan would be to have a domestic cricket tourney with ex-international players led by Shoaib Malik, the ICL dump led by Inzamam Ul Haq and terrorist team led by anybody out of LeT or Huji or any militant organization flourishing in Pakistan………

.Srilanka is unlikely to tour Pakistan with authorities reconsidering the decision of sacked Cricket Board Chairman Arjuna Ranatunga to support India's stance of not touring that country following the recent terror attacks in Mumbai

"We follow a pro-India policy. We know the circumstances in which the Indian tour to Pakistan was called off. The tour (of Sri Lanka to Pakistan) is unlikely," top sources said.

When contacted, Sri Lankan Sports and Recreation Minister Gamini Lokuge said he would hold discussions with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the issue. "We are reconsidering the decisions taken by Arjuna Ranatunga," Lokuge said adding that the Foreign Ministry would also be consulted on the proposed tour.

And this is not worse, ICL and IPL are also planning to dump Pakistani players out of their leagues…..So no cricket for them!!! All their bloggers could do is have a wishful thinking of a fight between Sachin or Dravid and Dhoni or Yuvraj………….

GOD save Pakistan cricket and may it provide some relief to the beleaguered PCB with some decent cricket………May be invite BD for a Test series or Zimbabwe for an ODI series…..

Cricket resumes in the country

A min more and the first ball would be bowled in the country shocked and ripped by ghastly terror strikes. And amazingly or to my horrors, the mind is still stuck in the 11/26. And the game is not untouched by the happenings either.

9.25am The two teams line up for a moment's silence to remember the tragic losses of the Mumbai attacks

Everything being written about cricket in India post 11/26 involves a mention of the event. The way security has changed, the way the crowds would be keeping away from the game, the way the English have come back to play the Tests, the way IPL and money factor was attributed to the return, some murmur in the neibhouring lands about the double standards over the cricket in India and Pakistan. Everything has a mention of 11/26.

Imagine what Sachin Tendulkar would be going through, a city in which he was born, brought up and lived his life in, was attacked and he must be for sure having one part of his mind in the Mumbai events. So even if we see a below par Indian performance nobody should blame the team. Given the situations, the mood and mindset is just not there.

But since the game has resumed and we being the religious followers of the only ‘TRUE RELIGION’ of INDIA, lets support it in whatever way we can. But it would be very difficult for us to look solely on cricket and not the backdrop of the events. Just too tough. Imagine the mindset of cricketers, one eye on the ball and other one outside the stadium.

God Bless the INDIAN cricket, INDIAN terrain and the country along with its proud citizens.

Let the spirit of humanity and the game resume and triumph …..

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!!!

responsibility of India to tour Pakistan ?

Any post on this blog on cricket in Pakistan is skipped. May be for being politically correct or avoid any controversies. Whatever it is, i find it a bit two edged sword. If somebody other than me writes anything on Pakistan, opinions are penned. Me is skipped. Is it wrong to term or voice my opinion on the current happenings. i feel may be this is a case of saving readership as many Pakistani bloggers visit Indian blogs. Whatever it is, it is a bit disappointing. Leg Slip or cricket files or well pitched -- have openly shown insensitivities on the 11/26 bombings or though they pretend to be sporty blog, they in fact are open forum for anti-Indian rheoteric. I am no political blogger, but as a citizen of this country ripped apart by TERROR, i find it tough to co-relate to them. Tough for me to accept any cricketing ties with them.

It will be the first step towards showing the world that neither the Commonwealth Games nor the World Cup in 2011 needs to be in danger of being taken away from India. Perhaps mixed with the relief will be somewhat warmer feelings towards a neighbor whose cricket has suffered because no one wants to go there.

If India understand the frustration of being an outcast and the joy that comes with acceptance, then they have a responsibility to tour Pakistan next month. Things might change between now and then, but in principle at least India must accept that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Suresh Menon speaks for the responsibility of India to tour Pakistan.

This is a very flawed argument to support the tour Pakistan, which is a terror strife country and is directly accountable for the Mumbai attacks. Several reports, evidences suggest that Pakistan trained and sent the 10 terrorists to carry out 11/26 bombings in Mumbai. We don’t have any responsibility to a country which binges on hatred and spite for us. We cannot be playing cricket with them in their own dynamic militant backyards in an age when a bomb can go off anytime anywhere. More chance of that happening in Pakistan than anywhere else.

In the past bombs have went off outside Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore stadiums – 3 of the supposed venues where India was to play.

There is a lot of difference in the security situation in India and Pakistan. India is a global hub of financial booty for cricket. Pakistan has neither money, nor team to back itself. All it has is AK-47, bombs and free to use terrorists. Why do we need to go and play there ? The players or the reporters home and away, who equate India and Pakistan in same bracket, joke around.

FYI, I am in anguish, anger and despair post 11/26. Cannot expect sane, logic and restraint in this crisis situation. So I would always say NO to any cricket between us and them. Not that my view matters hugely to anybody, but this is what I feel. The outrage and the pics of 11/26 are still afresh and to go and read some fanatic Pakie bloggers justifying the attacks or questioning the claims of terrorists from Pakistan adds fuel to fire. Its an open and shut case. What evidences they are talking about ? Have they ever acted on so many evidences we have provided ? We have told them the brand of lingerie the men behind Mumbai bomb blats (1993) wear, the exact co-ordinates of the terror camps in their own land, yet they speak of no evidence. We cannot play any friendly or unfriendly contests on the 22 yards field.