I am back!!

Sorry guys, I was unable to login to the Armball blog due to some reasons and I had to contend with the posts through email from my official ID. So i couldnt comment on each of your blogs and as a result rare visits on my blog even became rarer!! Phew!!

With a draw in Bangalore Test, my blogging was saved. If India had lost, i would have given up blogging on cricket for sure. I hope I am still existing on blogrolls of few good men and they would still like to read my views on the game which are not biased for seniors but they are to the point.

This days watching cricket in news channels or even reading print media is boring as there are similar flavored articles with senior bashing and ridiculous statements from ex-players. Like Aaj Tak forgot the importance of Tendulkar's 49 yesterday and harped more about his miss of the record......

I hope I am back for good here.....

Draw seems logical result now

India are 3/130 at the tea. One more session and 169 runs to get. Most unlikely given the rate at which India has batted so far. Had Sehwag got a flying start, India was in with a chance and with quick dismissal of Dravid, it seems India would be more happy to get a draw here and go to Mohali with more confidence given the bowling it has happened in the Test match with some doubts over form and fitness of Anil Kumble.

Tendulkar needs 17 more runs to get the world record on his name. It doesn’t matter as long as he lasts on the crease and guides India to safety. Australia are for sure lacking a quality spinner now. Clark and White don’t make up for even McGill, let alone Warney.

An intriguing final session of play in the order.

Chance to win ?

Ishant Sharma gets Watson and now the Australians are 6 down for 203. Ahead by 273. If India could now polish up the tail within 300(lead), then do we need to go for a win ? Yes we should. Opening partnership could be the key and if Sehwag and Gambhir give us a good start followed by some sensible positive batting by middle order, we could see a chance of probable win. Against the odds.

Whats up Ausssis ?

By being slow are Aussies trying to be defensive ? This is one aspect of their cricket this test match that has been baffling. 2.84 runs per over in 1st inns and now 2 runs per over. What are they upto ?

Laudable effort from tail

Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan have given an outside chance to India to save the game. Laudable efforts. First a 5-for and now a 50. Truely Zaheer has come of age :)

Missed Live Blogging.....

I was all set to do the live blogging for Day 1 of the First Test at Bangalore but lack of TV coverage did me in. Neo Sports isn’t available on Dish TV. And DD1 bothered more to rant over some needless program but to telecast the mother of all series in Test cricket. So the idea had to be dropped. I set up my wireless router and got the cable long enough for me to take my laptop in front of the TV and write up live as it happened.

I also checked for the streaming version on the Internet, but didn’t find any. Does anybody know the URLs of the sites that offer the live cricket on the net ? During the tour down under I watched Perth and Adelaide Test live on net while being in US. Not sure if its possible in India.

If anybody knows, please share with me. Cannot help myself being starved off the live action.

Australians prove a point

Australia proved a point on day 1 when it comes to Test cricket. They had not very good outings in the RCA game and the tour game in Hyd, but when it comes to the real cricket, it’s the business. Simple mean business without getting fuzzy about it. They got off to a bad start losing Hayden in 1^st over of the day, but then Katich – Aussie version of Laxman (in terms of always being on edge and fringe) and Ponting doing the scoring in the 1^st and 2^nd session of the day.

India ‘s late bursts in 3^rd session made it an even-steven day but at the end Indian camp would be rightly thinking not to take Aussies lightly despite whatever weaknesses this side has as being portrayed by the media and ass ex-cricketers. This is Australia, the world champions. Period. Batting is formidable. Bowling is formidable too. Lee, Johnson, Clarke. Top class fast bowlers.

But then don’t we have Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhoni as stalwarts of the game in the country ? Fascinating battle continued on day 1 and for sure it would go on to the day 2 as well.

Bangalore Test - Day 1

254 for 4 seems to be a decent score on end of day 1. Ponting proved a point he wanted to. Yet he fell to Harbhajan. Today was day 1 and it was a batting wicket. So the runs were expected. Getting 2 wkts in last session was fruitful for us and we would have our nose ahead on day 2. I know there would be talks on Kumble in media, but then its just day 1. Yet Hayden and Clark were bundled out cheaply. Good signs for us.

4 years back Australia ended with a similar scoreline. With Clark ending on a 100* he forged up partnership and then Glen McGrath did the rest. The ball that got Dravid nailed India 's fortune in that series. I hope we dont see that happening tomorrow which would be very crucial for the outcome of the series.

Australia 2 India 1 -- session scoreline.

Bangalore Test - Day 1, session 1

So that is lunch on day one of this Test series. It will go Australia's way because Ponting and Katich have smoothed over the loss of Hayden (who has incorrectly given out) for a duck rather well. It has not always been pretty, but it has been a crucial partnership. Ponting has moved along to 41, his second highest score in India, and Katich has offered solid support with 28. This is a batting pitch, make no mistake. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma bowled well with the new ball but there has been little on offer for India's spinners. Not a lot of runs in the first session, but a good one to watch.

Incorrectly given out ? How many times has that been said for an Indian batsmen dismissed due to umpire mistake. Countless times we suffered, be it Australia or the SL series where refferals mostly went Lankans way.....Grow up cricinfo, stop being biased...

A session to Australia, but a mental block scored over Hayden by Zaheer Khan who continues his supremacy over lefties...A couple of wkts should do the trick for India. And full marks to Ponting, he is really determined to make amends to his patchy record in India...

Australia 1 India 0. Pressure mounts on Kumble :))))))))))))))))))))))))

Ponting infuriated at One tip Catch claim by Veeru !!

Veeru unbiased straight to the task :

 

“We'd have won the Sydney Test match if they hadn't claimed catches taken off half-volleys in that game” (Sydney 2008)

Ponting infuriated as if somebody has hit his weak nerve….

That's fairly insulting. In the first innings [at the SCG] I didn't claim a catch because I wasn't 100% sure. “

"It's amazing how they've picked out a lot of negatives from that game and don't seem to be speaking about the Perth Test [the third match of that series, which Australia lost], where we probably had the same things happen to us. Not one member of the Australian team has spoken about it. We go about our cricket in different ways. I'm not sure what they are trying to achieve. It was a Test we won, a crucial Test for the overall series. As I said at the time, it was one of the best moments I've had on a cricket field. To win the way we did was an outstanding effort by the team.”

Perhaps Ponting thought that the one tip catch is permissible in international cricket as well . Ricky dude, that’s Indian patent for street and backdoor cricket. Dint know that you guys would rob it out of us to win the Test by hook or crook. Anyways we for 2^nd time broke your 16 win streak and no doubt we would gobble you up 3-1 (as per Sehwag) or 4-0 (as per Bhajji).