English Double Talk

When IPL was underway, England spoke of how 20-20 would hamper the international cricket and how bad it is for the spirit of cricket. ECB didnt allow its contracted players to sneak into IPL and as a result the English cricketers were stuck up with a loveless relationship with glamourless NZ and won the series. But were rightly deflated by South Africa later, which saw the end of Michael Vaughan as skipper and perhaps as cricketer too.

Now on a roll for time being with a test victory and 4 ODIs on trot against SA, for English authors it seems like England is the BEST team in world and they can rightly topple Australia from top of test and ODI tables. They have scant or no regard for Indian tour. They see it as a forced opportunity and they are furious about the choice of venues for ODIs and Tests.

If English calendar has its own importance, then so does Indian calendar. Nobody cannot disregard India's calendar in international cricket. And now English media is going gaga over Stanford 20-20 Super Series in Antigua in October. Now that England is on winning ways and is involved in some serious money encashment, the talks about 20-20 overdose and Test spirits have taken a backseat and every day you would find an English author whinning how good the Stanford SS would be and how united England team is. Sad to see that English authors still see India as a country where their players would fall sick on the day of a test match or it is polluted and a dustbowl. Guys, you are not needed anymore. Your series isnt that lucrative as Australia's. You won a test series last time against India about 12 years back. Since then you lost 2, drew 2. Remember last Indian tour -- 6-1 defeat in ODIs.

why this double talk ? If India runs IPL successfully and English players aint part of the cash bonanza, IPL is a threat. But on the other hand Stanford Super Series is rewarding for England given the fact they are fancing their chances on victory bowl of 4 ODis vs SA. How come such a shift in paradigam all of a sudden ?

That is aap pahne to chaddi, hum pahne to pajama. Why ?

Punish hime for his misdeeds!!

This dude takes on the support of vengsarkar and Sharad Pawar to be in the team. This man in his last ODi scored a 90 and a 100 in one before that. He has been suggested to retire from international cricket, cos he is no good and he plays for himself. He has slowed down, his reflexes are weak, he is injury s pride and cricket s curse. He has been shunned by Pepsi for youngistan meri jaan campaign for the kids who are not even the age of the number of years the man has played selfish cricket for India.

Famed for most 90s in a year than the combined number of 90s and 100s the youngsters of India have scored in their career, the man is now a burden on the team and a roadblock in a youngster s career. His replacement in ODI series against SL set world on fire with the scorelines of 28*, 6, 3 and has created noise to be in the team after years of ignorance.

The man is termed GOD by few fantics and is termed by Sir Don as replica of himself in his younger days. One of the very few batsmen to have conquered the legend of Shane Warne, this man has made 81 hundreds in international cricket, which any youngster of today can make it. Its a kid's play to score 81 tons of which 18 are against Australia and 11 against England.

He hails from Mumbai and is city's last batsman of note. Old, selfish, sucker, this man has been nominated for ICC ODI player of the year 2007 when he scored 1310 runs in 28 games with 1 100, 8 90s. Selfish right. Eight 90s, if converted to 100s make the count to 50 in ODIs and 90 in all. This man now is a liability on the team and at the max should go and retire himself from the international cricket.

This man is Sachin Tendulkar. The ugly face of Indian cricket.

Inconsistent Selections

By dropping Saurav Ganguly out of the RoI squad, the selectors have opened a pandora box. They have let the cat out of the bag. The axe is totally unfair and uncalled for. The grounds on which Ganguly has been dropped aint satisfactory. Since his comeback he has had one dull series and since he has been the one on tight rope ever since he lost his captaincy, he was dropped.

If we look at the stats since his comeback he stands tallest amongst all batsmen in 21 Tests in the duration (Dec 06 - Sep 08) with 1600+ runs @ 46. Not even Dravid, not even Tendulkar or Laxman have scored this many runs. So whats the criteria for selection committee to drop Ganguly ? Form ? Fitness ? Politics ? What ?

I still reiterate that the so called young guns aint ready for Test transit. Unfortunately the guys who were supposed to have eased out to the test mode aint confident over their ability. You can say some of them have been unfair like Kaif who got an axe following every worthy inning he played (91 against England 06, 148 vs WI 06)or you can say some of them didnt deserve to play 23 Tests who yet to date dont know their responsibilities. Yuvraj, that is.

By far Kaif and Yuvraj should have been ready to take the Test places, but they are not. Unfortunately Australia is not the team against which you can throw in young rookies citing change or transition. Success against them might boost them and the road to fame would be easier, but in case they fail then the career would be gone and finished. We certainly wont need a future prospect ruin his chances this way.

To be very honest, SL series is the only series in many years when the Fab Four have failed. Australia 07, Pakistan 07, England 07, South Africa 06, West Indies 06 -- all series have had Fab four firing the guns. You got to be consistent in deciding criteria to drop or retain a player. Performance should be the single most criterion to judge a place. Doesnt matter if the player is 35 or 25. Rohit Sharma hasnt played any significant innings post CB series 2nd final. Yuvraj Singh has squandered away all starts he has got in ODIs. The 2 guys are integral part of ODI scheme of things.

And Ganguly isnt. I wont yet write off Saurav Ganguly. He is a fighter and he would claw back in the team with even greater vengenance than before. He can be down, but not out. He would fight out this crisis and trust me he would emerge victorious yet again.

Mendis Diarrohea...

Ajantha Mendis, the Sri Lankan spinner, has said he will need to find ways to beat the Indians after they managed to play him reasonably well during the recently-concluded one-day series.

Mendis forgets that there are 8 other teams than India that he is gotta play cricket against. And for another year or 2 there is no test / ODI cricket scheduled against India. So dood come over of India fantasy. And when you tour next time to India, I am sure you would be sorted out. And when great Shane Warne was nipped into the oblivion, then who the hell are you dood.

Irani trophy.

The selectors choose the RoI squad for the Irani Trophy -- the season kickass starter today. And the choice of skipper (MSD or AK) would say a big deal about the plans to come for the rest of the season. RoI is going to be virtually the Test squad going to play against the Aussies minus the openers and the premier bowler who troubled Ponting down under -- Ishant Sharma.

If MSD plays, then it doesnt make sense to pick one more keeper. If MSD is up for Tests, then I dont think PP or DK are playing unless MSD is injured or Gambhir gets a slump in the form. So i dont see any reason for Karthik or Pappu Patel to play.

Fab four and Kaif along with Raina would form the batting line up. Zaheer, Munaf, Santh and RP could be the front runners for the pace attack and with Kumble, Bhajji forming what we call as the spin attack.

Fingers crossed.

Update :

The squad is declared with Ganguly not bein selected for the trophy. That doesnt mean his career has ended. He would be right there to take on the Auzzies in Chinna stadia. And few pointers if the squad indicates :

1. MSD got to wait for Test captaincy a bit longer. Pretty logical.
2. No new "yung shot" for test series against the best.
3. Jaffer -- bhai konsi chakki ka aata khate ho ? 175 runs in 11 innings and you still in dude. Ganguly 600+ in 11 innings and he finds himself out. Perhaps thats an advantage Mumbai has when its got a reputed ex-player as selectos head. No matter how irrelevant it might seem as cricketing logic might suggest. Rohit Sharma still finds a place. Dhanya he.

Comment karo bhai.

MSD worth Test Captaincy ?

Every one is saying "give Tests captaincy to Mahendra Singh Dhoni". Few say "Sack Kumble". Another few say "Let Kumble play till he wants and then as natural progression, the test captaincy would go to MSD".

Now a question from my end to those who savior MSD as Test skipper. Dhoni took a break from the SL Test series complaining of fatigue. A break where he walked the ramp, did endorsements and stuff like that. In a nutshell everything except cricket.

Kumble s men struggled to a rookie and a cheat in Lanka. Lost the series. Now MSD came back and won the ODI series for India. Fair and awesome.

Before we create a hype about his captaincy for Tests, did somebody ask Dhoni if he is ready to play Tests again for country or is he happy leading India in ODIs and T20? What would be the priorities for Dhoni in december 08 -- Champions Trophy or India England Test series ? Does anybody know the answer ?

Why did MSD take a break during SL test series ? Didnt he think to take a rest during IPL (haha) or the 2 meaningless ODI tourneys in June ? Why did he play in Kitply Cup and Asia cup and skipped the Test series ? And is it worth to give the captaincy to a player who is selective in representing the country on international level ? Dont they say that Tests are the ultimate challenge for a player ?

Would somebody like to address this question ? Committed players look for taking a break from meaningless ODIs and T20s, our skipper takes it from the meaningful Tests. And didnt he see how his replacements worked in Test matches ? Dropped chances which could have turned the series either way ? Didnt MSD feel that he was being missed by the team in Tests where he has evolved to a great deal in past 1 yr starting Lords 2007 or even during the Windies tour of 2006 ? Some questions which MSD or ppl supporting him for Test captaincy got to answer!!

Commitment and Bangladesh s place in International cricket ?

Alright, the rare lull in Indian cricket. No games, no international fixtures. All cool and calm. Cricketers free to do what they want to after a long gruelling season in the past and upcoming. Dhoni decides to get a degree for himself, Yuvraj decides to walk the ramp (thats what expected of him this days) with Sania Mirza givin sleepless nights to Shahid Kapoor (Sania s beau), Zaheer decides to make a mock of himself on the ramp.

What the heck do seniors do ? Rather than sitting home with retirement announcements, they make themselves battle ready by playing for different teams in available first class tournaments in India at the start of season.

1. Sehwag and Gambhir play for Delhi in Nisar Khan tourney where Ranji champ takes on Pakistan's domestic champ. They also play for Delhi in Irani trophy later this month as a run up to the Aussie series.
2. Rahul Dravid -- the ex Indian captain decided to play in Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai for Karnataka as non captain. Thats something to get back in the groove.
3. Tendulkar the fallen corporate brandsman now declares himself fit and is available for Irani trophy. Robbed a slot for "youngster" in Irani trophy?
4. MSD, AK, SG (currently training in Eden Gardens) are expected to play for RoI in Irani trophy with AK or MSD as skipper (remember captaincy debate ?)

Have you heard of any such news from the young players tipped for replacing the Fab 4 ? Raina, Sharma any one ? Sharma has been in poor run since IPL days and has he decided to do anything to get rid of this ? Did you hear Yuvraj slogging out in nets to come out of lump ? That says about the commitment the young generation has for cricket. And we want this lurky lads to represent India in its most important series ?

Meanwhile BD lost yet another series to Australia and has invited some more questions over its place in ODIs and Tests ? Do we need headless chickens to play for the sake of expansion of the game and get thrashed every game they play ? Not even a single game BD could run close to Australia's second string XI who played in this series. So what is the use of them playing the ODIs at the top level ? Degrade them. Have best 8 teams play each other. May be that wud not help likes of Murali who like to increase their wikat count by hunting poor Bangaladeshi batsmen in heaps.

Rahul Dravid

Is the guy over or finished ? Should he retire and make way for geeks like Raina or Sharma ? Rahul Dravid, who not so long ago was the indian skipper and one of the mainstay of Indian batting in ODIs and Tests. He was the man who won us the series in West Indies after 35 years and in England after 21 years. Mean achievements ah ?

And not to mention a superb run with the bat during Ganguly's era. Hand in epic victories in Adelaide, Headingley, Perth (greatest of all overseas win), RawalPindi, West Indies and many such far away neverlands where India was never successful historically. He has been struggling for runs this year and the last year. He has been looked pedestal against the likes of Mendis and every cheating Muralitharan, but that doesnt take away the gloss away off a superb batting career for India.

He has been the captain who has been under severest of media scrutiny and undue pressure from ex-cricketers who were like a whiff of sand before him. He had to deal with the tantrums of an ego rich coach in Greg Chappell and then deal with the post world cup failure of 2007 and a coach less period for most part of 2007.

I dont think Dravid has finished or should retire now or in a year. He is just 35 and the law of averages has stuck him for the first time in 9 years. Thats fair. Every batsman goes through a high or a low and this is not a new phenomenon. Going on since 1876 when Test cricket began. The crap media scrutiny has began few years back. He has had to face most of the scrutiny in the past 3 years since the era of Ganguly as captain ended. First he was hailed for his winning ways with Chappell, then he was accused of plotting SG s down fall which appeared kiddish to me. The blokes have played their test cricket and odis together like conjoined twins. They have been delight to watch and the media goons got nothing better than plotting 1 against the other.

And then Dravid was compared to peerless Tendulkar. They both dont compete against each other, they play with each other. No other pair has ever made more runs for 3rd wkt partnership than the peerless pair of Tendulkar and Dravid. Occasional success of over enthusiastics like Raina and Sharma cant force the man of stature liek Dravid to go back and call curtains on his peerless career. And neither can any of the selector present or the future who were not even as half as good as the man from Bangalore himself.

I back Dravid totally to come good against his fav opposition in his home turf where he doesnt boast a very good record (60 in 2004 against Aus is his highest), yet he would overcome his nerves and resucrrect his career for another 2-3 years. Critics better watch out and be prepared to fag yourself in the dust bowl nearby.

Gary Hit Wickets Himself

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is "ready" to captain India in all forms of the game but added that there was no immediate need for change because Anil Kumble was doing "an exceptional job" leading the Test side.

"He [Dhoni] is ready for it [Test captaincy] but there is no need to rush as of now. Anil has done an exceptional job, he is a great leader. He is prepared to do 30 overs in a day but he is on the other side of the physical side of the game

Well said Gary. I really doubt the timing and the validity of this statement, right before the biggest series of the year is set to begin in a month s time. Alright MSD is cool cucumber and is very inspirational skipper in short format of the game, but then has Kumble lost it ? He is still fit to play and is very good candidate to lead India in his home ground against Australia on Oct 9.

This kind of immaturish statements which is also holdin quite a paradox is not needed on coach's part and that raises questions over Gary Kirsten's commitment to the Test team. The blokes he coaches in the Test team are one time opponents of the dood and I feel there could be a certain awkwardness in Gary s mind to tip the Fab 4 or skipper.

Whatever it is this is not a good statement to make. With time MSD is set to get the Test captaincy as well, no doubt. But not by replacing Kumble just cos MSD has won a ODI series in SL. Replacing Kumble wont be a very good gesture to return to the immense and invaluable service Kumble has given to Indian cricket since last 18 years. And Gary might not get this, but the selectors got to get it in their head.

England s resurgence, Roy s indiscipline and Mahela s fool paradise

Mahela thinks that India gave in to the pressure created by Sri Lankan bowlers in the recently concluded ODI series which his team lost 2-3. May be he forgot that his top order always collapsed barring 1st ODI and before team could reach 100 runs most of the batsmen were back in the hut. Thats what you call fool's paradise. Good for him if he s got to cool off his bruised ego and a pride swayed in loosing back to back ODi series at home turf.

There are already talks of how England is resurgent and how they can take on Australia in both forms of the game. Alright, they have done a terrific job of beating Zulus 4 times on trot. But resurgence good enough to beat Australia ? Every time England wins a series after a long spell of losses, they come back and claim they are ready to take on Australia. Chill off Poms. Before they get ready to face off Oz next season, Poms got to take on India in India and West Indies in West Indies. That counts for some efforts right doesnt it ? Last time they toured India, they lost 1-6 in ODIs. So guys take it easy. And two claps for KP and Freddie. Still England dont look intimidating as a ODI side.

And have we seen the end of Andrew Symonds ? If so then its a huge loss for the world cricket. He is too good a cricketer to loose to a phishin session. Attitudes cost players dear but then they got to look at his utility and presence in the team. His roles, responsibilities. Rather than showing him the door, a closed door one on one feedback sharing team 's concerns with the maverick dood would have been a better option. may be Australia can afford loosing Symmo given their rich bench strength, but any other team cannot think of loosing a player like Symmo. Look at pakistan, they lost Shoaib and Asif, they are no more the same team they were before. A choice finally has to be made out of the discipline and value of a player to the team. Australia are already into a transition mode and they got to take a call if they can afford to loose a player of caliber of Symonds for the tough season ahead which involves India series, African safari and of course overhyped Ashes in England. They have already lost Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist, Gillespie , Martyn and Hayden is injured with no visible decent spinner in sight, it would be tough for them to beat India in India.