Yuvraj!!

With 2^nd consecutive 50+ score Yuvraj , I hope, has achieved a level of performance which he wont like to go down again and he now deserves a Test spot. Natural successor to his mentor and guru – the one and only Saurav Ganguly. BTW the match is on in my home town. And this is a new ground. Previous game was also against England and India won it comfortably when Robin Uthappa made his debut and got 86…..

Young guns live to their reputation

The ridiculous dismissals of Raina and Rohit Sharma in Indore ODI proves that this kids aint worth the run in Test matches. When the situation demanded they stay back and reconsolidate, they threw their wkts away to soft dismissals. And they are supposed to be the replacements for the guys like Dravid , Tendulkar and Ganguly….Wishful thinking..

Trash ICC ODI rankings

Picture this :

India loose to Australia 2-4 (2007)
India beat Pakistan 3-2 (2007)
India beat Australia and SL in Australia (2008)
India beat SL 3-2 (2007)

And then this :

Pakistan loose to SA 2-3 in 2007
Pakistan loose to India 2-3 in 2007
Pakistan beat BD 5-0 in 2008
Pakistan beat Zim 5-0 in 2008
Pakistan win Kitply Cup in 2008
Pakistan loose Asia Cup in 2008

And then this :

England loose to NZ home and away (2008)
England beat SL 3-2 (2007)
England beat SA 4-0 (2008)

And the great news is that Pakistan are now # 3 in the ODI rankings, England is # 4, New Zealand is 5 and we the T20 champions and the only 'Asian side' to win in Perth are lingering at 6, just above SL and WI.....

Isnt it bloody ridiculous ? England win one series against SA and they leapfrog to # 3. NZ doesnt win ODIs consistently and they maintain # 3 spot for long time. Pakistan wins against hapless BD, WI and Zim side, loose to SL, India, SA and yet they are #3.... And we the poor 3rd world Indians are sore loosers ?

We beat Australia in Australia, SL in SL, Pakistan in India and yet we hang in at # 6. What kind of ratings are this ? Now again if SA beat BD in Tests which they would they would go back to # 2 and we even after trumping Aussies 2-0 with giving away nothing would drop to # 3. I mean some kind of sense has to prevail. We are the only country to win a Test in Australia 2 times this decade and beat them 2 times this decade...Yet we never reach # 2 spot.

Our players fall prey to whims and fancies of match referres and players like Afridi, Watson and Akhtar get away with the bans. Despite this the world preaches BCCI to excersise its power cautiously. Bloody ridiculous. Didnt Afridi escape ban in Delhi Test last year ? Didnt Akhtar get away with doping scandals, hitting players and with all the indiscipline and sledging in the world. And Gambhir for one elbowing after relentless sledging is banned for a TEST.

Then the players like Ponting and Hayden teach us morality when they themselves are culprit of killing the spirit of game in Sydney 2008. This all proves that India isnt the powerful superpower of world cricket. Its just another nation which has got the major financial boost to the ICC and thanks to the wonderful contribution of Fab Four in Tests and ODis over last decade which makes India garner finance out of the game....

Its ridiculous to see pakistan at # 3 when they havent played any cricket and if they have played any, then they have against minnows and thrashed them and have got thrashed like minnows when playing against stronger opposition...Today when there is a India - Pakistan game, we dont feel the tension anymore or even goosebumps in the tummy cos we know that we would beat Pakistan easily even with no Tendulkar or Dravid in ODis.....And when minnows climb to # 3, a proud cricketing country tradition hurts...

Yuvraj floors England.....High talks Punctured..

India managed to beat England comprehensively and crushingly. 158 runs is a huge margin. Just 20 more than what Yuvraj managed. Not only India did make its higghest score at home, 2nd highest overall but also got England skittled out to its 3rd heaviest defeat in ODIs. That not only punctured high talks from Geofrrey Boycott, but also proved that India is better equipped to change gears from Test mode to ODI mode.


As many as 5 players are playing ODI series after the Aussie Test series....And frankly speaking 7 ODIs across length and breadth of country at obscure venues like Guwahati or Rajkot is too much to ask for. Why not a 5 ODI and 3 test series ?


This should be a long term comeback for Yuvraj not only out of the prolonged batting slump, but also as one of the worthy contender for the Test spot left by his mentor Saurav Ganguly. Right now Yuvraj seems the best choice to fit in the gap. India not only got good opening partnership at the top, but also the middle order kept the runs flowing. Again an victory where everybody contributed except YP. I am not sure if he deserves his place in the team. Irfan would be more better to be in the team for his useful batting skills.


England got to do a soul searching mode in the next 2 days when they play next ODI at venue where they lost comfortably in 2006 in Indore -- my home town on a new built wonderful stadium. Freddie , Colly and Bell will have to be among runs and so would Harmison, Anderson to stop leaking the runs......


Today was Yuvraj's day. But would he be fit for 2nd ODI ? Watching oDIs now is a bit of boring after being used to 5 day Razmattaazzz

England fav to beat India !!! Really Geofrrey ?

I think Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen as batsmen and Flintoff again will be the key figures. I really do think the Indians will get a surprise in the one-dayers from the little left-arm spinner Samit Patel. He has been a surprise choice for England. He has a low centre of gravity, he keeps the ball low and he doesn't throw it up in the air too much. He is not easy to hit in one-day cricket.

I also think India are under pressure. England have a better chance of beating India now because my Prince of Calcutta, Sourav Ganguly, is gone. Kumble is gone. Rahul Dravid is struggling to get runs in Tests and he's the next to go. There is huge pressure from the BCCI for Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman to retire also. I think that's wrong, but that is only my opinion. They are very good players and it makes it very hard for them when they are under the cosh from their board. It is not easy to perform with people telling them to retire. That is just extra stress that a player doesn't need. So in many ways it is a good time for England to be playing in India.

English cricket writers have been cynical no doubt. But this one is super cynical. For heaven’s sake India have just trumped Aussies 2-0, the best in the world and England have lost a Test series to SA 1-2 and lost a Stanford T20 after being dismissed for 99 and then for 98 against a 3^rd string Mumbai team in a tour game in India. Yet England good to beat India ? Wow.

Childish Miandad

“Security situation in Indian is also not very good. But despite this our players are playing in ICL and IPL. So it was imperative that Indians keep up the sporting exchanges with Pakistan.

While Pakistan is thinking positively for India, what message Indians are sending around the world by cancelling their hockey team's tour to Pakistan?

The participation of our players in ICL and IPL is not mandatory but they are honoring their commitments…..”

Javed Miandad quotes on possibility of cancellation of India ‘s Pakistan tour early next year. He has been a lose tounged man and has often puked out verbal diarrohea, but this one goes even beyond that. I am not bothered about political situation in India or Pakistan and neither this is biased or partial post as few people might feel. But equating Indian situation to Pakistan is rubbish and uncalled for when it comes to security. And whom is Miandad kidding ? Are Pakistan players playing in ICL or IPL representing their country ? ICL players are in here from Pakistan for their selfish vested interests and of course money is a huge factor in here. When the likes of Yousuf can ditch their national career for ICL, then what do we expect out of other lesser players of Pakistan.

Can you imagine any Indian player ditching his national side to play for ICL ? Forget the fringe players. Have the likes of VVS Laxman ditched Indian colors for ICL when he can also claim like Yousuf that he wasn’t treated well after missing out the ODI tourneys and T20s ? Some sense should prevail in the likes of Miandad when it comes to speak of other security situation in India. A balanced outlook is essential, but then was he ever famous for balanced outlook. A player which took cricket field with a war like attitude can never be expected to speak sense. I remember fiery statements of the likes of Miandad and Imran Khan during those one sided favored Friday finals in Sharjah when Pakistan took field with 13 players (umps)…When they said Kashmir should be decided on result of Sharjah. Come lets decide Kashmir now on basis of previous tour results and games ? Makes sense ? No, sounds rubbish isn’t it ?

And it doesn’t make any sense for India’s team to act brotherly and go to Pakistan when no other team is going to tour the troubled land. We don’t have to risk our players by sending them to Pakistan and aint Indians the natural targets of terror groups ? Aint they ? Cross me for this, but I don’t see any sense in going to Pakistan and scrapping tour would actually be helpful for Pakistan as they would avoid a whitewash in both ODIs (0-5) and Tests (0-3). With current buoyant Indian team and after trumping Aussies, its but natural that Pakistan would be a no-hopper for India…And for that matter Mendis’s SL too…..

Scrap Pakistan tour

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Suicide_attack_at_Peshawar_stadium_2_killed/articleshow/3700729.cms

Scrap India's Pakistan tour. Now when a suicide bomber can blow up people within stadium with security guards sitting idle, we cannot be sure how our cricketers would be guarded in Pakistan. And likes of Rahul and Sachin are already under security threat from terror groups.....Let Butt decide a neutral venue for the series or else we are better off playing in India than going to Pakistan....

India wins emphatically in old age cricket

India finally won a Test series and a test match against the world champions and thus began a new stride to the excellence in the longer and purest form of the game. It was a dream to achieve for the senior players and what a way to bid adieu to the 2of India ‘s greatest cricketers on a winning style. It was a series that we were supposed to loose big time after a poor SL sojourn and the seniors were put on VRS and were subject to intense of scrutiny by the media , the expats and the so called cricket experts. And boy didn’t the so called fading boys deliver ? In a very unIndian way and defeating a team which was very unAustralian in the nature, a team which never got going in the series except for the 1st test in Bangalore. Is that the beginning of the end for the dominance of the world champions ? Not quite, but the warning signals are on the envil. The bowling attack, the tactics and the captaincy skills were all subdued for the world champions and for those who say SL are the worthiest contenders to the Aussie throne , here is the answer to them. Yes we did. We did beat the Aussies to win the Border Gavaskar trophy – the most intense fought and the most important Test series on the planet of the earth.

This series is comparable to the Ashes 2006-07 down under where a mass exodus happened for Australians and so it did for India. We have lost 2 of our greatest cricketers – one who was a greatest skipper of the country and the other one who was greatest match winner we ever had but never got his due. The moment he knew he wont be fit enough for the deciding test of the series, he quit. That’s Anil Kumble for you. His bowling skills were fading and his shoulder wasn’t able to cope up the responsibility of delivering major quota of bowling, he quit. And he did it in style. The mental strength and the spirit was unmatched throughout his career.

The so called old aged cricket simply outclassed the new age cricket. The aggression, the intent, the motivation and the spirits of the game always rested on one side of the teams and that was WE the INDIANS. This victory is one of the greatest wins achieved in the history of Test cricket. Beating a team best in the world by 2-0 with no corner left unconquered is a big achievement and it couldn’t have come up unless everybody in the team could have contributed. It was the opening partnership of Sehwag and Gambhir/ Vijay that led the foundation, with not so solid contributions from the WALL, supreme batting display by the middle order often calming the tempers and adjusting the tempo of the game by Sachin, VVS and of course Laxman. When in trouble rescued by Dhoni and so were the contributions from Zak and Bhajji in batting. AK contributed with bat, not so much with ball, but kept the spirits of the team high with a dream and today we have achieved that dream of beating the best in the world without loosing anything.

If batsmen were supreme, then so were the bowlers. Ishant was the pick of bowlers and then Zaheer Khan often got his bunny Hayden for major part of series. Bhajji contributed in his way though not as the way he would have liked to. Mishra delivered when the onus was given to him and he could be heir apparent to AK but he has got a long way to go. Ishant Sharma has evolved to an altogether different class and now he is ready to deliver goods everywhere. Very important for India to preserve this rare commodity and use him sensibly.

The seniors have slammed their critics and after Mohali victory, the media didn’t have a word to say against them. Sachin Tendulkar achieved personal milestones, but never lost the cause of winning the series against Australians. He has scored 900 runs against them in 8 tests this year with 3 hundreds and 3 fiftees which has helped team win 3 Test matches to 2 losses against the mighty team. If Laxman appeared lax in first 2 games, he stuck with a mighty return to form so much so that Aussies had to wait for 324 runs to finally dismiss him. Ganguly never distracted from his ultimate mission to overcome the Aussies in his last hurrah and not only did he score a wonderful 100, but also rescued India in Bangalore and Delhi with gritty knocks. This is Ganguly’s team. He has made it with his skills and acumen. Dhoni, Sehwag, Bhajji, Zaheer prospered under his leadership. He transformed the team from a ordinary team to a team of world beaters. And what a fitting farewell he gets. With a victory in the series and gaining back the Border- Gavaskar trophy after 5 years.

Australians were out-thought, out classed in every department. They got their team composition wrong and it was shocking to see the tactics on the day 4 last session when they had last chance to seal the series and retain the coveted trophy. Slow over rate for sure is going to land Ponting to trouble. He should be lucky that the next 3 series he plays are against weaker teams of NZ and SA, so he would escape the scrutiny. But for sure the Aussies are no more invincible. It was shocking to see them fold up in 50 overs. Patience lacked and nobody showed intent to save the game. Except Hayden nobody wished to stay on the crease.

Lee had a forgettable tour with just 8 wkts and trouble with Ponting in 2nd test didn’t help him either. Clark would learn how to ball on unhelpful wkts. Johnson took wkts but leaked out rains. Siddle was ok in the only test he played. Cameron White never looked menacing with bat and ball. And Krejza had a crazy debut, leaking 360 runs for 12 wkts. He might be or might not be a good spinner for Aussies, but then he s got to look into the runs he concedes for the wkts he takes. Except Hussey, no batsmen lived upto his reputation. Watson is no Symmo and Haddin is no Gilchrist either. Perhaps Aussies need back Roy and for good he is eligible to come back to the folds again.

This is a beginning of new age for Indian cricket when it moves to transition from a greatest middle order to a pretty thin and relatively less famed middle order, though for few months to come RD, ST and VVS would be there. But they wont be playing forever. And unfortunately the new aged batsmen aint patient or gifted as this 4 greats. And MSD is the best of leader for India in this new transition.

Kudos to India and a bid adieu to AK and SG…..

Australia has nexus with match refree ?

It’s disgusting to see Aussies escaping the ban or fine or punishment on slow over rates on virtually every day of this Test series. Even extra half hour extension isn’t good enough for them to complete 90 overs in the day ignoring the innings change. Ponting should consider himself very lucky in this regard that he has always escaped the referee summon. He has tend to show a lax attitude in dealing with the issue of over rates on the field. He has wasted times in talking to bowler or the field placements thus screwing up the over rate.

I am forced to presume that if India were in his place, then till now MSD would have got a 3 Test ban and perhaps AK would have got a Test ban. Not to mention cut in the match fees. Doesn’t this indicate that referees are biased ? Doesn’t this prove that BCCI are not misusing their so called power and financial clout to influence the decisions ? Had they been, Ponting would have been suspended for the rest of the series by now. BCCI hasn’t been proactive in taking ICC heads on, though it did react in a childish way for the Gambhir ban, but wasn’t the abusing and sledging by the Aussies overlooked by the referee.

The other day when Dhoni employed 8-1 field (Bowler and himself excluded) Ian Chappell fumed in his daily analysis in cricinfo. But it was only after 4^th day’s play yesterday when Aussies almost gave away the series to India, the former captain spanked Ponting on his back. Double standards aha ?

Indians would almost walk away with the trophy and give a riveting farewell to Ganguly and Kumble. And with a 2 day break, the ODI brigade takes on England in the 1^st of 7 ODIs somewhere in Gujarat…..(Ignore Narendra Modi here, but Niranjan Shah aka Niru has ensured that every time a team tours India Gujarat centers get matches in heaps). Ahmedabad hosts its 2^nd Test of the year against England, Baroda and Rajkot almost every tour host a tour game or an ODI…..And India ‘s best ground in Eden Gardens hasn’t hosted a single international game since Pakistan test 2007. May be cos Jaggu is back in the folds.

Australia's intent and Nagpur test in delicate balance

Aussies finally managed to reduce the lead to 86 from what one time it seemed it would be 100+. Match still hangs in delicate stage and much would depend upon how Sehwag bats tomorrow 1^st session and how Krejza bowls. India would need to atleast give 3 and half sessions to Aussies to chase the target of 300+ should India bat long and fast. A possible distraction could be Saurav Ganguly’s final international innings. He could even be promoted to # 3 ahead of RD to have a go at Aussies for one last time….

Australian strategy and runs scoring today was ridiculous and little less than 100 runs in first 2 sessions spoke how much Aussies have given up a hope to win this Test and retain the BG trophy. What were they trying to do by scoring at a snail pace ? Have they lost the zeal to win ? Or may be Bret Lee ‘s absence mattered big time to them ? Even if Australian bowling is ridiculous, they have been batting decently and are expected to have a go on India tomorrow to try and dismiss them cheaply.

Dhoni tried restrictive strategies to good results. Dried the runs in 1^st session and then all out in 2^nd session. Results were instantly to see. 230/2 to 270/6. That’s what restrictive style of cricket does and Aussies have never been known to play below run rate of 3…The “new age cricket” certainly isn’t helping Australia’s case. Except Gilchrist and Jacques, this batting line up still remains the same as the one which played entire last year since the retirements of Langer, Martyn and bowler duo after Ashes 2006. But the approaches remain stark contrasted.

Tomorrow ‘s day could also be a deciding factor for RD to book a place for England Tests or be dropped and hence retire. If that happens, it would be disastrous for India and certainly not affordable right now when already 2 of the 5 greats have walked into a retirement.

Cricket watching is going to change drastically the next time India plays a test match and the results of Kumble’s retirement are already showing up with Mishra showing no signs of being hair apparent or even 40% of his form in Mohali. After the 5-for in Mohali, he s got just 4 wkts in 3 innings. Plus he cannot bat and he cannot ball. Heir apparent to Anil who could bat decently well for 25-30 runs and hangin there in crunch times.