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).

MSD the Batsman saves the day for MSD the ODI captain

Dhoni, the captain was saved today by Dhoni, the ODI batsman. And he is a master class in ODIs batting.  Ice cool, soaks up the pressure, doesn't allow the things going around him affect him, doesn't even allow unreasonable plays from Ashvin and Jadeja batting around him. 

And today he has won India a game through his batting after long time, probably first time after that historical and forever cliched in memory the World Cup winning six. But probably it doesn't take away the question marks around his selection of the playing XI. 

Continued inclusion of Jadeja at 7 and rotation of openers is haunting the team even though it has been winning the last 2 games. But those games have been won too late and in first place they should not have gone this far after the knocks from Delhi lads. But Raina and Sharma have not been able to convert their starts to big ones. And probably once the tournament progresses and if this lads are not able to make big scores, then one of this lads will have to be dropped to accommodate all 3 openers

The bowling attack too looks predictable. Zaheer and Umesh have been top class, but the rest have struggled. Ashvin is inconsistent, Vinay Kumar ditto. And less said about Jadeja, the better. He just has nothing to prove that he deserves this prolonged run in the team. He has played 52 games and till today he has been on the mercy of captain, chief selector and BCCI chief to intervene and book #7 spot for him. He cant hit, he cant run, he cant bowl. Just fielding is decent asset for him. Gives long hop, gives away too many 6 hitting deliveries, no variations, no spin, short dolleys -- thats all he has got. 

And its futile to expect Irfan Pathan or his brother to comeback to the team soon. Any day he is better bowler than Vinay Kumar and Ravinder Jadeja. He is a good fielder and a good batsman too. Not to forget he was often promoted to # 3 spot in ODIs and Tests too and he has scored 50s and 1 Test 100 as well. He might not have pace, but he does have a lot of variations, lot more than Jadeja and for that matter he makes an ideal # 7 player. So that would give an option to play 2 spinners to MSD on a turning track.

But who is going to explain this to the team management ? 

It is correct to say in today's context :" Sachin Tendulkar was dropped / rested to accomodate Ravinder Jadeja". 

The team selection has been a laughing stock all over this tour and its the likes of Ravinder Jadeja and Vinay Kumar who are in the team based on external entities influence and not on basis of their performance. Guess if this was possible in the era of Sourav Ganguly, when there were no freebies places offered to players who didnt perform and it was the magic of Ganguly that converted then considered ordinary players to genuine match winners. 

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.

SCG Test dos and donts for India

Glenn McGrath really sucks. 

A look at his famous habit of predictions suggest that he has been failing miserably in past 2 years. He predicted 5-0 whitewashes for England twice in 2009 and then in 2010-11. 

Both times Aussies lost the series. 

He has predicted 2 things for this series:

1. India would lose 4-0

2. Tendulkar wont score 100th ton in SCG this time.

The onus is now on the Indians  to prove this predictions wrong. The time has come up for the famed batting order to step up and deliver. They havent crossed 300 once in last 5 away tests and if they dont do it this time the chance of squaring test series is lost. 

This part of world, you got to score runs. And India has capable batsmen of doing it.  The time has come to the glorious batsmen to fire and prove the critics wrong. 

The bowling isnt a weak link, but the batting is.  India has capable bowlers who would run through the opposite batting lineup, but its the batsmen who are unable to put up fighting totals.  2 of 6 have to bat long and long. Score runs as they did in 2003-04.

And yes MS Dhoni needs to shut up and find ways to wipe out the tail. This habit is now sucking and leading to a habit of losing Tests from winning positions. From position, India was on day 2 in MCG, there was no business losing the test.

He has to deliver through bat and through captaincy -- aggressive at that.

If India does most of the above things right and the weather is right, then we are going to have a favorable result.

Australia memoirs : 1991-92

Time for some digging in the repository for the memories of tours down under. 

And first in this series is 1991-92 tour, the first one I saw live on TV back when i was 12.  The series which saw the arrival of Shane Warne and more than him, arrival of Tendulkar on world scene as a master class batsman. Also the departure of Ravi Shastri, Kris Shrikanth and Dilip Vengsarkar. 

Shastri played just one more test series after that tour, Srikanth ditto and Dilip Vengsarkar retired after this series at 35. He just managed 2 50s, 54 in each of those innings and he was out.

This was also the last tour of Kapil Dev abroad when he succeeded in grabbing wickets. 32(or 34) wickets in 5 tests and reaching 400 wickets milestone in Perth grabbing Mark Taylor was a highlight of the otherwise disappointing series for India. 

This was also the first series for Javagal Srinath, lean and tall fast bowler who would go on to become then 2nd successful fast bowler in India (now upstaged by Zaheer Khan in terms of Test wickets).  Subroto Banerjee was other debutant, but he fell out soon. In the ODIs, the triseries Benson & Hedges world series then, Sourav Ganguly debuted in 2 odd ODIs and then was dumped for 4 years. 

From Australian perspective it was a series of Craig McDermott and Bruce Reid. Indians had no answer to the pace and bounce from this Aussie pacers and the likes of Whiteny and Paul Reiffel who debuted in that series supported the likes of McDermott and Reid aptly. 

Those days, the ODIs were interspersed between the Tests unlike today's age when ODIs / Tests are played in clusters.  It was also the first slice of viewing to the Indian spectators where in they got up early morning 530 AM and watched out those games.  Hearing the likes of Bill Lawry, Richie Benaud, Ian Chappell was a delightful experience. Tony Greig was a good chap then, he hadnt fell in love with Sri Lankan jugglery those days. 

Getting up at 530 AM and watch out the first session of the Test matches before going out to school was a superb experience. That was also the first time Indians saw the high end technology in cricket (colored clothes in ODIs, stump cams and of course pointers used by commentators used for field placings etc). Sunil Gavaskar was the lone commentator from Indian side and of course he was starter in the commentary business then as it was India's first tour to Australia post Gavaskar and with Tendulkar.

Gavaskar is now 62 and Tendulkar is 38, but its hard to believe that there was just a gap of 2 years between former’s retirement and later’s initiation.

That tour lasted for 4 months and by the end of the tour, India had played out 5 Tests, a tri-series in which they won just 4 games and a world cup they exited first round with just 2 wins to credit.  The tests were spanned across 3 months, as opposed to just about a month this time.   India had played out a tie game against West Indies, who were not so weak those days as they are now. Probably it was their first Australian tour sans Vivian Richards who had retired few months earlier, but was still available for the World Cup. At least he thought so, but the selectors didn’t think like him.   That game in Perth, in which India were rolled over for 126 gave the world a bowler in Sachin Tendulkar, who bowled the final over of the game and taking the final wicket of West Indies, thus tying the game. In the wake of famous Hero cup last over against South Africa, this spell or this game for Tendulkar as a bowler is sort of diminished. 

Cant imagine the fact today that there was gap of 24 days between first test in Brisbane and Boxing day test in Melbourne and then again a gap of 20 days between SCG test and the Adelaide Test. India played out a total of 5 first class games amidst the test series, a kind of thing unimaginable in the modern era of IPL, BBL and CLT20.

India were rolled over in the first test in Brisbane by 10 wickets. Australian batting comprised of Geoff Marsh and Mark Taylor as openers, Boon and Border at 3 and 4, Jones and M Waugh at 5 and 6. Healy at 7.  The bowling attack read  Big Merv, Mike Whiteny, Peter Taylor and of course Craig McDermott.

Indian batsmen had no answer to the pace, swing and bounce offered from the Australian fast bowlers who were stronger than the current lot.  Except for Sachin Tendulkar who scored classy hundreds in Perth (114) and Sydney (141), only Azhar (123) and Shastri scored 100s(he scored 206).  Srikanth, Manjrekar, Vengie and More were sheer failures.  Sachin's love for Aussies began on that tour which is ongoing till date and would continue till he retires.  

India lost heavily in 4 Tests in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. The only places where Indians did show some fight was in Sydney, where they were denied victory due to a day being washed out in rain and then in Adelaide where they scored 400 odd in 4th innings, though they lost by 140 runs. They rolled over in Perth and lost the series 0-4.

After the tests were lost, the Indians showed some fight in the B&H world series by beating Australia once and West Indies twice, tying once and then reaching finals. Their show in the world cup was a disaster in the modern era.

Bowling wise, Manoj Prabhakar and Kapil Dev were potent new ball pair, but lack of runs from batsmen crippled the experienced duo. Javagal Srinath emerged from this test series as fastest Indian bowler since Nissar Mohammed and the figures of 18 wickets in 4/ 5 tests proved this fact.

The small matter of the fact was that Shane Warne debuted in Sydney test and was taken up for runs by Tendulkar and Shastri. None expected what was to come from this blonde guy further down the years. He was promptly dropped for the next 2 Tests after returns of 1 for 150 and then he rocked the world starting Lanka tour later in 1992.

The love affair with viewing Australian cricket broadcast began then and is still ongoing.

Next : 1999 Series.

Viru's 219 and what it means to Indore

What a player. What a player.

219 is now a  benchmark for a captain's innings and that benchmark would be bettered very few times in the World cricket, at least in ODIs. 

A man who was out first ball duck in Motera scores a double hundred in Indore's Holkar stadium. The man who was best bet to score a 200 in ODI and he took 12 years to get there, but when he got there, he got in style when he cut Pollard for a four to go past his idol's 200*. What a player, if I can chant in Tony Greg style.

Virender Sehwag, the Indian captain for this series and the terrific Delhi opener has scored a 200 in ODIs, which is scored only for 2nd time in history of ODI cricket. And both of those scores of 200+ have come in the state of Madhya Pradesh, not famous for many things. But now its on the world cricket map. Indore is on the world cricket map to have hosted this incredible match which saw highest individual ODI score and highest ODI total for India. 

India's 419 is its highest ODI total ever making it only team to go past 400 4 times. The other teams have either not crossed this mark or at max done it 2 times. 

Virender Sehwag has scored 219 in ODIs as his highest score, 319 in Tests. And he also crossed 8000 runs in ODIs and he is 20 runs away in Tests. Too much for a man who didnt have a good technique and was dismissed as flop star in 1999?

Dilip Vengsarkar almost ruined the career of this incredible batsman in 2007 when he dropped Sehwag from the team to Australia in favor of Boss DK. Thanks to Anil Kumble who got the man back for Perth test and since then its been a revamped Sehwag.  The likes of Sehwag make the game more interesting to watch in the era flooded by T20 bandagwons and for this precise reason and the ODI highs India has seen this year, the ODI cricket must stay on. 

Sehwag makes everything in record book look obsolete and its not long before Sehwag gets a double double hundred in Tests too eclipsing Brian Charles Lara, another cricketing great.

South Africa would be relieved team today passing on the buck to West Indies to leak the highest ODI score.   Both 200 scores have come in MP. Gwalior and now Indore. Indore is now redeemed in the cricketing world and after the 1997 fiasco when a match was abandoned due to bad pitch, the cricket is truly back in the city of Poha Jalebi. 

Indore has had a rich cricketing history in India unfortunately, it didnt get its share of matches or didnt give country many players. CK Naydu, the first Indian captain, Narendra Hirwani, the current selector and famous 16 man are the 2 most famous cricketers from this city besides some domestic giants. And yes Indore is also the city where great Rahul Dravid was born!! But thats it. 

The pathetic Nehru stadium was a blot on Indore and this excellent cricket stadium in the heart of the city makes a grand return of cricket in the city of Indore. Like every other city in the country, the city of Indore has rejoiced on every great cricketing milestone of India and people have congregated in the heart of city -- Rajwada in thousands, lacs waving tricolor and chanting India India. Be it 2011 World cup wins (QF, SF and then final) or 1996 win over Pakistan or Dhaka win in 1998 or Lords 2002, people in this city have always celebrated with rigor and highest enthusiasm. Its not like Mumbai which boos its own heroes or is indifferent to the cricket in the town. Or like the other big centers where the crowd interest is dwindling. 

Holkar stadium today wrote the name of Indore with bright golden letters on world cricket map -- city to host highest ODI score in history of 40 years. And what a pity, I am not around in my own hometown to witness this epic moment in the history of Indian cricket and of course, the history of Indore.

Virender Sehwag well done, we Indoris are proud of you and thank you to redeem our city's cricket and bringing back the glory and respect it always deserved.

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.

Eden Gardens Test : Day 2

India have scored the highest score in last 11 games for themselves. And also crossed 300 first time after 10 innings. Something that reflects the torrid times the team had in England quite unexpectedly.  The 2nd day at Eden Gardens saw quite a lot of milestones:

1. Dhoni scored a hundred after 32 innings and 21 months on the same ground. Last one being against SA in that hard fought victory.

2. Laxman scored # 17, 5th in Edens and first in 15 months. He also became highest scorer in any ground in India.

And with a mammonth 631 on board, the bowlers did a good job in sending back 2 West Indian openers to hut for only 34 runs. And then bad light came to WI's help. Else few more wickets would have tumbled.

The biggest thorn in Indian flesh is going to be Shiv Chanderpaul and if he is accounted for soon, then India would have a very strong chance to win sooner than the case when Chanderpaul gets going with his irritating (though effective for West Indies) batting style.

There are few questions going to be asked after this Test is over for Yuvraj Singh -- how many more chances he is going to get to prove he belongs at the Test level. He is  the most talked about player right now in terms of players who are insecure or whose position in thet eam is not secure. There are too many incumbents around to take his place and Yuvraj isnt helping his own case with low scores like he has had in 3 innings so far. He might not be coming out to bat again in 2nd innings, but I feel he should be given a free run of 4-5 tests and then a judgement call be made if he belongs to the test level or not. He has rarely got more than 5-6 Tests at stretch to prove himself. Most of the chances have came after Sourav retired in 2008.

And since then Kohli, Raina and Pujara have been tried for # 6, none being successful to make that place his own for different reasons (form or injury whatsoever). Yuvraj should make it to the touring party to Australia where his left arm spin would be handy to break partnerships. India is not going to play 2 spinners in Australia and most probably its going to be a toss up between Harbhajan(experience), Ojha and Ashvin to occupy that slot of lone spinner. Sehwag has a dodgy shoulder and he doesnt bowl that much now as he used to say a couple of years back. So Yuvraj would be one handy person to turn to roll his arm over to break a partnership. Having said that, the primary responsibility of Yuvraj would still be to score runs and score big. And if fails over course of next 2-3 Tests then may be it would be apt to ignore for the future.

I also feel once the holy trinity of Tests is gone, Yuvraj would be one of the replacements, but again depending on how good he comes through this set of opportunities.

And as of Sachin's most awaited 100th 100, the only folks continue to be worried are the mediamen and those impatient fans. The man himself, as Rahul Dravid mentioned, isnt bothered about the impending milestone. The 100 would come when it has to. The media is continuing to create some needless pressure on the man who today completed 22 years in international cricket.

And Rahul Dravid continues to be in golden run of form when he has almost 1000 test runs and 5 hundreds, most by any batsman in 2011. He is all set to finish up with 1000+ runs and 13000 runs by the year end (2 more tests India plays before year end). He is just 21 runs away from the 13000 run mark -- 2nd Indian and 2nd in the world to do so when he reaches there.

India vs West Indies : First Test at an interesting stage

India are 124 runs away from a win in Delhi Test.  This has been an attritional Test match, albeit an old school classic. One team ending up dominating a day's play followed up by comeback by the other next day. Something I hope wont be the case on day 4 and in almost session and half India shall be home with a comfortable win in the end. 

The pitch has been slow, low and having variable bounce. Not that it has impacted a lot of stroke playing or resulted in dismissals of a lot of batsmen. If one is ready to grind on this wicket and have patience, the runs scoring would be lot easier. Chanderpaul showed it in both innings, Dravid has shown in both innings aided by Tendulkar in 2nd innings. Sehwag too had said that the collapse in the first innings had to do with the soft dismissals rather than the demon in the pitch.  

India were typical of them in the first innings when they batted, collapsed. Worrisome part is they havent got to 300 more often than they would have liked to in past 8 Tests (starting WI tour, disastrous England tour). 209 is not a  score that reflects the batting might of the line up India has, but it does say of the sorry state of mind India had on day 2.  They self destructed, which they so very often have done in the 2nd part of this year in longest format of the game. It seemed that India were still stuck in the ODI mode. The likes of Tendulkar, Laxman and Yuvraj fell to soft dismissals. Sehwag and Gambhir fell to freak ones.  And Dravid in first innings was setup off a short ball by Rampaul which invoked wild celebrations by WI captain Sammy.

Can you believe 3 wickets in first innings fell to Sammy and he further had a hand in 2 more wickets.  Barring openers and Dravid, none reached 25 and India conceeded 95 run lead. The highlight of the first innings was the approach from Sehwag that showed that he is almost back to full fitness.  Dravid continued his good form and barring that nothing much to write about. Chanderpaul continued to torment Indian bowlers for 10th year in row now which began in 2002. 3 hundreds then followed by 2 this year in back to back tests.  His stance has grown weirder than ever before and he has been dour and ugly to watch. But he continues to make runs, valuable to the team which boasts of youngsters and has inexperienced batsmen.  

Ojha got 6-for and Ashvin got 3. 

2nd innings, West Indies had a chance to extend the lead to 350 plus and shut the door on Indians but they collapsed in the end and except Chanders and Sammy, none of the batters contributed. Ashvin got a dream debut with a 9 wicket haul, 2nd best to Hirwani, current selector.  Ojha got 7 wickets in the match, Ashvin got 9, Yadav got 2 and Ishant Sharma got 2. 

Ishant Sharma impressed with his rythm and pace. He almost got 3 wkts on 3rd morning but for crooked ignorance of Dharmsena to a plumb lbw and a drop catch (tough) from Ashvin, he could just show for 1.  Umesh Yadav showed pace, but leaked runs at critical juncture on 3rd morning just before lunch to ease off pressure on the Windies. Still early days for him in Tests and he would (should) learn in the future.  Both spinners earning wickets mean more bench time for Harbhajan Singh. He going wicketless in Ranji game didnt help his case either.  Except for injuries and dramatic collapse on day 4, the team for 2nd Test shouldnt change.

India's 2 most experienced batsmen are on crease and they would want to ensure on day 4 that they do the job for India rather than leave it to the next 3.  They survived the day 3 with some resolute batting and gritty determination. 

IPL Ashvin has evolved a great deal and I have to eat my own humble pie when I said previously I wasnt a big fan of Ashvin.  He would need to continue to be in the wickets for the remaining 2 Tests to be able to remain in contention for Australian tour later this year. 

Gambhir and Sehwag need to bat longer than just 12 and 9 overs in this game and convert 50-100 to a 100-150 as they did in the past.   Laxman and Dhoni would need to get some runs under their belt too. 

All and all a good Test match with a classic finish in sight.

100th Ton

Let the 100th ton come in the first inning Tendulkar plays against West Indies in Kotla. A worried media would sigh a big relief.

Selection anomalies

The first test vs West Indies at home after 9 years is 4 days away and the Test team for it is declared. The usual suspects in batting have returned, the injured players have returned and the selectors have chosen to revamp the bowling attack altogether. They have committed as usual blunders and thats going to cost heavily to the team.

Here are the anomalies:

1. Harbhajan Singh has been dropped from Test squad on the basis of his England Test form and previous ODI form of 2011. He hasnt had that bad tests altogether as selectors think so. He bowled fairly decent in SA and in West Indies before failing in England. The problem with him has been he has had quieter periods with the ball followed by a 3 or 4 wicket haul in Test. The consistency he used to have in 2002 - 2006 days is no longer around. And that probably takes selectors and his critics to think that he is woeful in Tests too.

A look at his 12 month record doesnt paint a very sorry picture that deserved him to be dropped.

Over last 12 months he has played 11 Tests and accounted for 38 wickets at not so decent average of 38. This figures involve a poor return of 2/287 in England. And fairly decent returns of 15 in 3 in SA and 11 in 3 in West Indies.

SA and WI are countries where he hasnt had much of success in the past. Whats worrying though is in last 12 months he's got just 1 5-for. And that was against SA in SA.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/29264.html?class=1;home_or_away=1;home_or_away=2;spanmax1=02+Nov+2011;spanmin1=02+Nov+2010;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

I think he should have been given one more series to prove his mettle and if another failure, then perhaps he should have been then dropped. Alternatively, the second aspect of this drop can be that he would get to play 3-4 Ranji games and if he gets some form in it, that would be handy in Australia as he would be the only spinner to have some experience in there.

Replacements

The replacement for Harbhajan is R Ashvin who showed up decent figures in ODIs vs England. 11 in 5 with most of them holing out to the middle. Not sure if that should count in judging him to be a very good spinner. His carrom balls and doosras were easily negotiated. And basis of this and some decent success in IPL Ashvin has got in the team. Also dont forget that the selection head has pushed out TN openers out of the team and so to keep N Srinivasan happy, he's got Ashvin in the team. Thats for the conspiracy mongers to be happy.

Pragyan Ojha is back after some good performances in domestic circuit and Rahul Sharma is also finding a place in the Test team after ODI team. Worse, he has even got a contract in Grade C with IPL success. Superb!! His domestic record for Punjab is patchy. 18 wickets off 10 games. Average of 45 and best figures of 6/92. Last outing in whites got him 2 wickets in the entire game. Betetr thing would have been he should have playing in Ranji games.

Exclusions

Whats baffling is the ouster of Praveen Kumar. Dunno whats the basis of his ouster. He was the one of the very few performers on that ill fated England tour. 15 wickets in 3 games @ 29 is not a bad performance inviting an axe. 27 wickets in 6 tests with a strike rate of 59 and average of 25 is very good figure for a bowler once touted to be only ODI specialist. What forms the reasons for his ouster are beyond comprehension. Worse, the selectors didnt even offer an explanation if he was injured or has some other constraint. Performance is certainly not the reason why he is dropped. And if it is, then selectors are real jokers.

Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav are supposedly pacy bowlers in the nation and they found a place too soon in the test squad. They havent really been in wickets in the games they played and except for few pace deliveries, they havent shown real hope that they would be knocking the timber off the batsmen.

In absence of Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth, a half fit Ishant Sharms shall be leading the pace attack before the Australian tour.

Ajinkya Rahane shall be confined to the benches unless somebody (2 at least) get injured in the first choice XI.

Yuvraj Singh should find a spot in the starting Xi given he made a 50 in his last test innings before he got injured.

Probable XI :

1. Sehwag

2. Gambhir

3. Dravid

4. Tendulkar

5. Laxman

6. Yuvraj

7. Dhoni

8. Ashvin

9. Ishant

10. Ojha

11. Yadav / Aaron

The other sad aspect is the rushing of the injured players in the team. Sehwag, Tendulkar, Sharma and Yuvraj return from the injury. Except for Sehwag who has played some form of cricket to gain fitness, the others havent played much cricket to prove they are ready for internation cricket once again. Specially Tendulkar who has been busy with waving chequered flag to the Indian GP F1 race and moving to new house. And the mad hype for his 100th 100 would be on once again.

It would be a pity that he would be playing his first test against West Indies in 9 years time. The last time he played was in 2002, the last series WI played in India. He missed the 2006 and 2011 tours to West Indies on the pretext of injuries and rest.

"Sachin's Jinx"

Sachin scored a 100 and as his critics would point out his team lost. They shall call it as a jinx. Happened in world cup, happened in IPL.

So they say Sachin shouldnt score a 100 to let his team win.

The opening partnership of Baz and Jayawardene was well capitalised by Sir Jadeja who hit a few sixes. Now he is a different player when it comes to IPL and when it comes to play for India. When he plays for India, he scratches around, doesnt know what to do when the run rate climbs. 

But in IPL he has a spark in the eyes. He becomes a different player in IPL. Suddenly he finds sixes, fours coming out of his bat, he springs and all. 

And now except Pune, all teams have now lost at least 1 game. 

Still Mumbai looks the strongest team in the tournament and the man is yet to get dismissed in the tournament. 

Mumbai and Kings XI win

Mumbai prevailed over Bangalore yesterday with Sachin continuing his super run into this tournament as well. The best thing about his innings was he allowed Rayudu to take over and he was happy playing second fiddle. And the gesture to share the MoM award with him was even better. 

Zaheer was struggling and that was the difference between defeat and victory for Bangalore. Virat Kohli now needs to be little less innovative to find new ways to get out. 

In other game Praveen showed how dangerous he is when ball swings and how ordinary he is when ball stops moving.  Vijay and Dabri showed how good they are for IPL. Dhoni continued his superb batting run. No matter how many runs he makes now from this point, his super six off Kula would itch forever. That 6 got India the world cup.

Paul Valtathy hit a super 111 to see Kings XI home in a tough chase of 189 runs. Given the fact that CSK have been exceptional while defending scores of 180+,the effort from Kings was kingsman. They have had a brittle batting lineup, but today promoting Valtathy to opening spot was a master stroke.

CSK havent got going this tournament, but they are led by MS and thats the singlemost USP for them. As long as MS doesnt run out of the ideas, they are always in the contention to go the distance. 

Rajasthan, Pune and Mumbai are the only  teams to have won 2 games of 2. 

Delhi banished

Lasith Malinga did what he did best, bowled yorkers and demolished Daredevils batting lineup for just 95 and in the end Sachin Tendulkar saw Mumbai home.

Sehwag scored just 19 and that wasnt enough for DD to post a competitive total. He, Warner and Aaron Finch are the only men who were of some quality in the exodus'ed team. They lost AB, Dilshan, Vettori and Gambhir in the auction to see themselves as one of the weakest team in this IPL.

A heartening site was to see some swing for Irfan Pathan, though he didnt get the wickets. He did trouble the batsmen with the balls that came in. That has been his strength in his peak years.

Sehwag would need to do more than what he did today and perhaps he shall need to bat 20 overs to ensure DD post a competitive total in the other games.

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.

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.

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.