250-260 pitch
2 spinners
Ashwin in
Raina in
......that was almost the perfect recipe for India. It is our home ground. So, it is not, by any means, illegal or unsporting to make pitches that suit us. Featherbeds donot suit us, neither do green tops. I am not saying we cant win on those pitches. But the Mortera wicket was ideal for us against Australia. It is the ideal wicket for us to play against most teams except for may be SriLanka. Should we meet the islanders in Mumbai, a green top may be the order of the day for us.
Indian bowling is badly exposed on featherbeds and this was brilliant from the Indian thinktank (if indeed they asked the curator to prepare this kind of wicket). Playing 2 spinners, playing Raina for Yusuf(as we were not able to bat 50 overs in previous games) were again good decisions. The only worry now for India is Munaf Patel. Did we really need him? I guess, the answer was no today.
But looking ahead to the Pak game, the Mohali pitch has traditionally has had something in it for the quicks and we will need Munaf there (though there is still some doubt if he qualifies as a 'quick'!!) Quite ironic, if you think that a few years back he was India's fastest bowler!! (http://www.canadiandesi.com/read.php?TID=736)
The reason Munaf is playing is that he is more economical than Sreesanth and Nehra. He was our 4 bowler today, bowled 7 overs for 44 runs without picking up a wicket. In the Windies game he was our fifth bowler, and bowled 5 overs. Now I would assume that the logic behind not playing Sreesanth is that we can't rely on him completing his 10 overs, given his erratic nature (of bowling!). But between these, Sreesanth is definitely more of a wicket taker. He is more likely to produce the 'magic ball' to give us the break through. So, if Munaf is only bowling 5 over spells, why not play Sreesanth?? That is something for Kirsten, Dhoni and co to think about.
Everything else looks good for us. I cannot see Pakistan defeating us. I know the "cricket...game.....glorious.....uncertainities" but Paki batting is too weak.
Kamran Akmal, Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Misbah, Umar Akmal, Afridi, Razzaq. I really cant see this batting line-up score more than 250 consistently. Umar Gul is their only bowler that will really concern India. I cannot see Afridi picking easy wickets against our batting the way he has against the likes of WIndies, Canada and Kenya.
Unless something dramatic happens, India should beat Pakistan pretty comfortably........
Showing posts with label Dhoni. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dhoni. Show all posts
Friday, March 25, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
CRicket World Cup 2011 and India
Well, the India-South Africa match a classic for a neutral, but for an Indian fan it was a horrible memory which needs to be erased with a good performance against WI.
One of the best things about the match from the Indian perspective was the message from the skipper to his team at the post-match conference. He said it twice.
Which is why Dhoni's 12 off 21 balls may have received a lot of flak from a lot of crowd, but that was what was required at the time. To not bat 50 overs was criminal. And had India won the game from there, it would have put paper on lot of cracks. So, even though there is a slight chance of India being knocked out before the qrtrs, I think this is a good kick on the backside of this Indian team and I am hopeful they will revive their performance against the West Indies.
1) One HUGE question is when the batting powerplay needs to be taken? and more importantly how we approach it?
a) Take it from overs 16-20, especially in the situation that we were in the SA match. Sehwag and Sachin were butchering the SA attack. So why not
b) Second option is take it from overs 46-50. So even if we commit hara-kiri like the SA match it would not ahve as drastic as effect as it did when we took at around the 38 over mark.
But most importantly, its not when you take it, but how you bat in the PP.
It does not matter when you take it, 5 overs 29 for 4 is not something we can afford in any 5-over period of a 50 over game.
2) 2nd seamer and 3rd bowler
India would be better off preparing spin-friendly pitches and going in with 2 seamer + 2 spinner combo. (Nehra + Munaf) is a very weak combination. We cannot play both in the same match. Both are decent bowlers, who have performed reasonably well over the last few months. But both are ordinary fielders a can barely hold the bat. We do not have the bowling attack which can restrict batsmen on featherbeds like the one in Nagpur. So why dont we take the home advantage? Lets prepare 250-260 wickets and get our spinners into action.
The WIndies are loaded with lefties (Gayle, Devon Smith, Chanderpaul and the "Lara-clone" Dwayne Bravo). I am almost certain that Aswhin will play this game, which would mean either Nehra or Munaf will make way.
While India are top of the pool and almost assured of a place in the qrters, there is still a chance that they can go out.
These are the games that remain in our pool:
1) West Indies vs England
2) Ire VS SA
3) Ban vs SA
4) India vs West Indies
Ind are on 7 points from 5 games (1 to play)
WI are on 6 points from 4 games (2 to play)
SA are on 6 points from 4 games (2 to play)
Ban are on 6 points from 5 games(1 to play)
Eng are on 5 points from 54 games(1 to play)
For India to go out, the following has to happen
WI loses to Eng
SA beats Ireland (which is a given)
Ban beats SA
India loses to WI
Point to note is that when SA plays Ban they would have already qualified (assuming they would have beaten Ireland by then). So there is a good chance they will give the likes of Kallis and Steyn a break. That gives Ban all the more opportunity to cause an upset with the crowd behind them.
By the time, India plays WI, all the other matches would have been played.
Either way, they must have all bases covered, "Be Men" and "Do the right things"!!
One of the best things about the match from the Indian perspective was the message from the skipper to his team at the post-match conference. He said it twice.
We should play for the country and not for the crowds
Which is why Dhoni's 12 off 21 balls may have received a lot of flak from a lot of crowd, but that was what was required at the time. To not bat 50 overs was criminal. And had India won the game from there, it would have put paper on lot of cracks. So, even though there is a slight chance of India being knocked out before the qrtrs, I think this is a good kick on the backside of this Indian team and I am hopeful they will revive their performance against the West Indies.
1) One HUGE question is when the batting powerplay needs to be taken? and more importantly how we approach it?
a) Take it from overs 16-20, especially in the situation that we were in the SA match. Sehwag and Sachin were butchering the SA attack. So why not
b) Second option is take it from overs 46-50. So even if we commit hara-kiri like the SA match it would not ahve as drastic as effect as it did when we took at around the 38 over mark.
But most importantly, its not when you take it, but how you bat in the PP.
It does not matter when you take it, 5 overs 29 for 4 is not something we can afford in any 5-over period of a 50 over game.
2) 2nd seamer and 3rd bowler
India would be better off preparing spin-friendly pitches and going in with 2 seamer + 2 spinner combo. (Nehra + Munaf) is a very weak combination. We cannot play both in the same match. Both are decent bowlers, who have performed reasonably well over the last few months. But both are ordinary fielders a can barely hold the bat. We do not have the bowling attack which can restrict batsmen on featherbeds like the one in Nagpur. So why dont we take the home advantage? Lets prepare 250-260 wickets and get our spinners into action.
The WIndies are loaded with lefties (Gayle, Devon Smith, Chanderpaul and the "Lara-clone" Dwayne Bravo). I am almost certain that Aswhin will play this game, which would mean either Nehra or Munaf will make way.
While India are top of the pool and almost assured of a place in the qrters, there is still a chance that they can go out.
These are the games that remain in our pool:
1) West Indies vs England
2) Ire VS SA
3) Ban vs SA
4) India vs West Indies
Ind are on 7 points from 5 games (1 to play)
WI are on 6 points from 4 games (2 to play)
SA are on 6 points from 4 games (2 to play)
Ban are on 6 points from 5 games(1 to play)
Eng are on 5 points from 54 games(1 to play)
For India to go out, the following has to happen
WI loses to Eng
SA beats Ireland (which is a given)
Ban beats SA
India loses to WI
Point to note is that when SA plays Ban they would have already qualified (assuming they would have beaten Ireland by then). So there is a good chance they will give the likes of Kallis and Steyn a break. That gives Ban all the more opportunity to cause an upset with the crowd behind them.
By the time, India plays WI, all the other matches would have been played.
Either way, they must have all bases covered, "Be Men" and "Do the right things"!!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
India's World cup squad and the Australian open- Fighting Sania loses to Henin
So, here is the world cup squad for the world cup for India
MS Dhoni (capt & wk) -
Icy Cold Captain. I like the way he does not celebrate after we pick up a crucial wicket, or even after victories. Accused of trying to include CSK players, though I think that's rubbish. With a weakish bowling line-up, his captaincy will be tested again.
Sachin Tendulkar - His last World cup and surely there is a world cup written in his fate........Surely that is why the final is in Wankhede and (not in Kolkata).....An unbeaten century from the little master in the final to take India to a victory........
Man of the series of 2003 WC. Was asked to retire by many, (most famously by Ian Chappel and his 'mirror mirror on the wall' statement). Quite amazingly, has enjoyed his best years of cricket since then.
Is definitely going to retire from ODIs after the world cup
Virender Sehwag - Not much to say. There is only one way he plays.
Gautam Gambhir - He gives us that extra bit of steel. Not one to back off or hold back with the bat and also with his mouth. Plays the short ball well (unlike a few others in our line-up), got a good temperament in big chases.
Yuvraj Singh - Some question marks about his selection. But, I do feel we need him. Has the art of Pacing the innings. Will be an integral part coming in at 4/5 as India will try to maintain the lefty/righty combinations. His bowling could be more than a bonus.
Suresh Raina - Ideally he should come in after the 30th over, as then it will be like a T20 game for him! I don't think he should be as automatic a selection as he is since his ability to play long innings is yet to be proven.
Virat Kohli - Another one who can pace his innings. So that makes it Sachin, Dhoni, Gambhir, Yuvraj and him who can pace their innings in chases.
With a weak bowling line-up and flat pitches, bowling first could well be our mantra for the world cup.
Yusuf Pathan - He will battle for a place in the team with Raina. To be fair to him, Raina is as inconsistent as him. His bowling is better than Raina's. But, overall a tough call between the two. I do prefer Baroda man as he gives us the X-Factor.
Harbhajan Singh -
Praveen Kumar - Can swing the ball both ways. The last significant ODI trophy we won was the VB series in Australia 2007-08. He was instrumental in us winning the two VB series finals. His batting comes handy down the order. If fit, will be an automatic selection
Zaheer Khan - His form will be one of the keys for us. Except for the 2003 World Cup, the world cup winner has had the highest wicket taker. I dont think any of our bowlers will end up with the highest wickets (I hope I am wrong), but his form will be vital.
Ashish Nehra & Munaf Patel
Dont inspire a great deal of confidence, both Nehra and Patel. Both are sloppy fielders, and both cant really hold a bat. Since they are very similar, only one of them should have been in the squad. Which one? I dont know.
Piyush Chawla - Is he our wild card? I would think so. I do like his attitude. Has also been the stand out performer for Kings XI Punjab. But he has not played for 2 and a half years. Maybe, that might work in our favour. Will he be in the XI, a lot depends on the wicket we will play on. Interesting selection, and one that I am in favor of.
R Ashwin - Another interesting selection. Might play if the opposition is stacked with lefties. Could also be used by Dhoni in the opening overs since our fast bowlers leak too many runs in the first fifteen. Another selection that I do approve, since he has a lot of variations in his pace and flight.
Australian Open' 11
The raw power of Sania Mirza lost to the efficiency, deft touch, one-handed back hand and the fitness of Henin in the first round of the first grand slam of 2011. The 141st ranked India, who was the most googled-for tennis player last year (after her marriage with Shoaib Malik), won the first set 7-5. It was pretty neck and neck in the second before she lost 6-3. She ran out of steam completely in the third to lose 6-1. She has, unluckily, been pitted against the top players in a lot of these slams. I remember the 2005 Wimbledon when she lost to Kuznetsova.
Elsewhere the top seeds went through easily- including Federer, Berdych, Roddick, Del Potro, Nadal and Murray. Soderling is also on his way to a win.
MS Dhoni (capt & wk) -
Icy Cold Captain. I like the way he does not celebrate after we pick up a crucial wicket, or even after victories. Accused of trying to include CSK players, though I think that's rubbish. With a weakish bowling line-up, his captaincy will be tested again.
Sachin Tendulkar - His last World cup and surely there is a world cup written in his fate........Surely that is why the final is in Wankhede and (not in Kolkata).....An unbeaten century from the little master in the final to take India to a victory........
Man of the series of 2003 WC. Was asked to retire by many, (most famously by Ian Chappel and his 'mirror mirror on the wall' statement). Quite amazingly, has enjoyed his best years of cricket since then.
Is definitely going to retire from ODIs after the world cup
Virender Sehwag - Not much to say. There is only one way he plays.
Gautam Gambhir - He gives us that extra bit of steel. Not one to back off or hold back with the bat and also with his mouth. Plays the short ball well (unlike a few others in our line-up), got a good temperament in big chases.
Yuvraj Singh - Some question marks about his selection. But, I do feel we need him. Has the art of Pacing the innings. Will be an integral part coming in at 4/5 as India will try to maintain the lefty/righty combinations. His bowling could be more than a bonus.
Suresh Raina - Ideally he should come in after the 30th over, as then it will be like a T20 game for him! I don't think he should be as automatic a selection as he is since his ability to play long innings is yet to be proven.
Virat Kohli - Another one who can pace his innings. So that makes it Sachin, Dhoni, Gambhir, Yuvraj and him who can pace their innings in chases.
With a weak bowling line-up and flat pitches, bowling first could well be our mantra for the world cup.
Yusuf Pathan - He will battle for a place in the team with Raina. To be fair to him, Raina is as inconsistent as him. His bowling is better than Raina's. But, overall a tough call between the two. I do prefer Baroda man as he gives us the X-Factor.
Harbhajan Singh -
Praveen Kumar - Can swing the ball both ways. The last significant ODI trophy we won was the VB series in Australia 2007-08. He was instrumental in us winning the two VB series finals. His batting comes handy down the order. If fit, will be an automatic selection
Zaheer Khan - His form will be one of the keys for us. Except for the 2003 World Cup, the world cup winner has had the highest wicket taker. I dont think any of our bowlers will end up with the highest wickets (I hope I am wrong), but his form will be vital.
Ashish Nehra & Munaf Patel
Dont inspire a great deal of confidence, both Nehra and Patel. Both are sloppy fielders, and both cant really hold a bat. Since they are very similar, only one of them should have been in the squad. Which one? I dont know.
Piyush Chawla - Is he our wild card? I would think so. I do like his attitude. Has also been the stand out performer for Kings XI Punjab. But he has not played for 2 and a half years. Maybe, that might work in our favour. Will he be in the XI, a lot depends on the wicket we will play on. Interesting selection, and one that I am in favor of.
R Ashwin - Another interesting selection. Might play if the opposition is stacked with lefties. Could also be used by Dhoni in the opening overs since our fast bowlers leak too many runs in the first fifteen. Another selection that I do approve, since he has a lot of variations in his pace and flight.
Australian Open' 11
The raw power of Sania Mirza lost to the efficiency, deft touch, one-handed back hand and the fitness of Henin in the first round of the first grand slam of 2011. The 141st ranked India, who was the most googled-for tennis player last year (after her marriage with Shoaib Malik), won the first set 7-5. It was pretty neck and neck in the second before she lost 6-3. She ran out of steam completely in the third to lose 6-1. She has, unluckily, been pitted against the top players in a lot of these slams. I remember the 2005 Wimbledon when she lost to Kuznetsova.
Elsewhere the top seeds went through easily- including Federer, Berdych, Roddick, Del Potro, Nadal and Murray. Soderling is also on his way to a win.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Arsenal vs Ipswich, SA vs India, Rahul Dravid, Arsene -the best coach of the decade
So, Arsenal go to Ipswich to play the first of the Carling Cup semi-final ties (2nd one will be at home after 2 weeks). They got a real kick up their arse, drawing 1-1 at home to Leeds.
On Vermaelen, Wenger says
On Squilacci,
He has mentioned that he is on the look out for a defender. It is not often that Wenger comes out in public and says he is looking for someone. So, if he has said it, then rest assured, he really does mean it.
On Ignasi Miquel, the young Spanish center back, Wenger said
Young Gunner- Ignasi Miquel
So, we can expect a mix of the our "first" and "second" teams, a mix of the team we played against Wigan and the one that played Chelsea/Birmingham. Ipswich were hammered by Chelsea 7-0. But that is hardly any good news for us. We had hammered Newcastle in their home in Carling cup only to lose to them at home in the premier league game. So, nothing is done till it is done. We have a great chance to get home a trophy and we can not relax till we put it in the cabinet.
India take on South Africa in one of the more "meaningful" ODIs of the recent times. Like Vettori said recently, there are far too many non-meaningful ODIs. This one is important for both teams as they prepare for the world cup. I know the conditions over there will be totally different to the one that will be there in the world cup. But, for India it will be a test of character. Nothing better than a win against a strong team, as far as building the confidence in concerned. With injuries to Sehwag and Gambhir, the team almost picks itself. At least the batting order.
I would play Sachin, Kohli, Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma, Dhoni, Raina, Y Pathan, Zaheer, Ishant/ Munaf, Harbhajan and Nehra
The reason I will not play Vijay (despite him being a natural opener) is that with Gambhir and Sehwag returning to the squad, I do not see Vijay making it into the team for the world cup. It will also give Kohli the opportunity to play the new ball, which he might have to if he comes in at the fall of two early wickets (batting at four in the world cup). We still need a second spinner for the world cup and the tussle is between Ashwin, Ojha and Chawla. From what we have seen in the IPL, Ashwin seems to have the variations needed for the limited-over format. However, with the likes of Yuvraj, Pathan, Raina, Rohit in the side, I do not see a need for a second spinner, unless he is a top notch one. So, maybe he might be replaced by Harbhajan. I also think that we need to keep faith in Yusuf Pathan. As inconsistent as he maybe, he gives us the X factor, as we saw in the 4th ODI against NZ. Especially in the sub-continent, he can turn the game on its head in the space of five overs. For South Africa, there is talk that they might play two spinners (World cup in mind again!!!), Plessis and Pakistani born Imran Tahir. I do think that only one of them will play. If Tahir does make his debut, he will be the second Pakistani born to play for another country in the space of 10 days (Usman Khawaja, the other). Stein-Tendulkar contest promises to be another cracker! As does the Zaheer- Smith contest, this one only for the Indians! Praveen Kumar's injury must be a concern for the Indians. Not only can he swing the ball both ways, he is very handy with the bat down the order and a safe fielder. Munaf/Ishant do not really inspire too much confidence in most Indian supporters.
Talking about confidence, on 11th Jan Dravid celebrated his 38th birthday. Just like his batting, this one went unnoticed. Here's a toast to the one-and-only Jammy!
Oh, and to those who doubt our gaffer's credentials, here is something for you:
http://www.espnstar.com/home/news/detail/item561747/Wenger:-World-Coach-of-the-Decade/
Arsene Wenger has been named the best coach of the decade, beating Alex Ferguson and the rusty little twat coach of Real Madrid.
Overall, I believe Wenger is the best!!
Ryan Babel has been fined/reproached by the FA for putting this picture up on his twitter:
The ref gave soft penalty to Man U and sent off Gerard in the FA cup game between Liverpool and Man U.
On Vermaelen, Wenger says
Vermaelen is out for another setback, which could keep him out for another month
On Squilacci,
Squilacci is out for minimum two weeks and maximum three weeks
He has mentioned that he is on the look out for a defender. It is not often that Wenger comes out in public and says he is looking for someone. So, if he has said it, then rest assured, he really does mean it.
On Ignasi Miquel, the young Spanish center back, Wenger said
He will be, at minimum, on the bench
So, we can expect a mix of the our "first" and "second" teams, a mix of the team we played against Wigan and the one that played Chelsea/Birmingham. Ipswich were hammered by Chelsea 7-0. But that is hardly any good news for us. We had hammered Newcastle in their home in Carling cup only to lose to them at home in the premier league game. So, nothing is done till it is done. We have a great chance to get home a trophy and we can not relax till we put it in the cabinet.
India take on South Africa in one of the more "meaningful" ODIs of the recent times. Like Vettori said recently, there are far too many non-meaningful ODIs. This one is important for both teams as they prepare for the world cup. I know the conditions over there will be totally different to the one that will be there in the world cup. But, for India it will be a test of character. Nothing better than a win against a strong team, as far as building the confidence in concerned. With injuries to Sehwag and Gambhir, the team almost picks itself. At least the batting order.
I would play Sachin, Kohli, Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma, Dhoni, Raina, Y Pathan, Zaheer, Ishant/ Munaf, Harbhajan and Nehra
The reason I will not play Vijay (despite him being a natural opener) is that with Gambhir and Sehwag returning to the squad, I do not see Vijay making it into the team for the world cup. It will also give Kohli the opportunity to play the new ball, which he might have to if he comes in at the fall of two early wickets (batting at four in the world cup). We still need a second spinner for the world cup and the tussle is between Ashwin, Ojha and Chawla. From what we have seen in the IPL, Ashwin seems to have the variations needed for the limited-over format. However, with the likes of Yuvraj, Pathan, Raina, Rohit in the side, I do not see a need for a second spinner, unless he is a top notch one. So, maybe he might be replaced by Harbhajan. I also think that we need to keep faith in Yusuf Pathan. As inconsistent as he maybe, he gives us the X factor, as we saw in the 4th ODI against NZ. Especially in the sub-continent, he can turn the game on its head in the space of five overs. For South Africa, there is talk that they might play two spinners (World cup in mind again!!!), Plessis and Pakistani born Imran Tahir. I do think that only one of them will play. If Tahir does make his debut, he will be the second Pakistani born to play for another country in the space of 10 days (Usman Khawaja, the other). Stein-Tendulkar contest promises to be another cracker! As does the Zaheer- Smith contest, this one only for the Indians! Praveen Kumar's injury must be a concern for the Indians. Not only can he swing the ball both ways, he is very handy with the bat down the order and a safe fielder. Munaf/Ishant do not really inspire too much confidence in most Indian supporters.
Talking about confidence, on 11th Jan Dravid celebrated his 38th birthday. Just like his batting, this one went unnoticed. Here's a toast to the one-and-only Jammy!
Oh, and to those who doubt our gaffer's credentials, here is something for you:
http://www.espnstar.com/home/news/detail/item561747/Wenger:-World-Coach-of-the-Decade/
Arsene Wenger has been named the best coach of the decade, beating Alex Ferguson and the rusty little twat coach of Real Madrid.
Overall, I believe Wenger is the best!!
Ryan Babel has been fined/reproached by the FA for putting this picture up on his twitter:
The ref gave soft penalty to Man U and sent off Gerard in the FA cup game between Liverpool and Man U.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Arspective: Post Everton, IND-NZ 2nd test and Roddick's into the ATP finals
We, as Arsenal fans, have complained so many times that we deserved to win and yet lost the match. That was the case against Chelsea. Against New Castle we hit the woodwork three times and had about six or seven shots on target compared to NewCastle's one when they beat us at the Grove. But, against Wolves, for once, the story was the complete opposite. We won a game which, honestly I think, we were lucky to get three points.
Against Everton, we were much better defensively. Fabianski fails to convince me still. While he, admittedly, produced a match-winning performance against Wolves, in the Everton game he was very lucky when he flapped at a deep corner and the linesman adjudged that the ball had gone out when it had actually not. He flapped, missed and the ball bounced off him before he could do anything. Denilson and Djourou had particularly good games, while Nasri, Cesc, Song, Chamakh and Wilshere just continued from where they left and did what was expected of them. Arshavin continues to perform short of expectations. I do feel, however, that a 'magic' performance from him is not far away, when he will single-handedly win a game for us. come on Arsha!
Against Everton, we performed well over-all. Sagna rifled home at the 35 minute mark after Nasri had cut-in and unleashed a fierceful left-footed shot at Tim Howard. Arshavin reacted first to the lose ball and played it to Sagna. The Everton defence were either a little slow or did not expect Sagna to shoot. By the time Sagna let go, it was too let for Everton's defence and the American keeper had no chance. Fabregas doubled the lead about three minutes into the second half, when Denilson drove upfield, played to Cesc, who had a neat interchange (not exactly a one-two) with Chamakh before he let go into the bottom corner across Tim Howard. Then the Moroccan could have put the game to bed, but somehow pulled off an 'Adeb' and missed from inside the 6-yard box. Then Cahill pulled one back for Everton, but we hung on nervily for a well-deserved, HUGE, VITAL three points which sees us go past Man Utd and within two points of Chelsea, whose shock/meek surrender to Sunderland was music to our ears. It magnified their over-dependence on Essien, in whose absence they were, yet again, ordinary.
India, in the 2nd test, have seemingly taken control after a second consecutive century from Harbhajan. He seems to be following the Irfan Pathan pattern. Unfortunately, his bowling average is increasing along with his batting average. Nevertheless, his century was crucial, given the context of the game and helped India take control of the test. While draw seems to be a highly likely outcome, India do have a chance to force home the issue. Dhoni achieved the feat of taking the max. number of catches as keeper-captain in NZ's first innings. He went past Gerry Alexander of the West Indies. He once, famously stopped
Roy Gilchrist from bowling as the Jamaican was hurling beamers in Pakistan.
Three intersting facts about him from the wiki:
1) Gilchrist is considered to be one of only four bowlers ever, to have actually hit the sightscreen after first bounce on the pitch, on the full.
2)While playing in the Lancashire League (after being banned by the West Indies Cricket), he removed a stump from the playing arena and hit an opposition batsman in the head.
3) Gilchrist deliberately overstepped the bowling mark by six metres after being taunted by Kripal Singh of India and delivered a bouncer which hit the Sikh batsman in the head and dislodged his turban.
Anyway, so Mccullum's century sees NZ about 100 runs ahead with 6 wickets in hand. India may be without Zak again on the final day, who is nursing his groin injury.
Roddick, meanwhile has qualified into the top eight of the london ATP world tour finals to be held from Nov. 21 to 28. Wimbledon finalist, Thomas Berdych and the Spaniard Devid Ferrer also join Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Soderling and Murray who had all already qualified. This was after No.9 Verdasco lost to Mofils in the third round of the Paris open (which Soderling went on to win, beating Monfils in two sets) and Roddick beat Ernest Gulbis of Lativa.
Against Everton, we were much better defensively. Fabianski fails to convince me still. While he, admittedly, produced a match-winning performance against Wolves, in the Everton game he was very lucky when he flapped at a deep corner and the linesman adjudged that the ball had gone out when it had actually not. He flapped, missed and the ball bounced off him before he could do anything. Denilson and Djourou had particularly good games, while Nasri, Cesc, Song, Chamakh and Wilshere just continued from where they left and did what was expected of them. Arshavin continues to perform short of expectations. I do feel, however, that a 'magic' performance from him is not far away, when he will single-handedly win a game for us. come on Arsha!
Against Everton, we performed well over-all. Sagna rifled home at the 35 minute mark after Nasri had cut-in and unleashed a fierceful left-footed shot at Tim Howard. Arshavin reacted first to the lose ball and played it to Sagna. The Everton defence were either a little slow or did not expect Sagna to shoot. By the time Sagna let go, it was too let for Everton's defence and the American keeper had no chance. Fabregas doubled the lead about three minutes into the second half, when Denilson drove upfield, played to Cesc, who had a neat interchange (not exactly a one-two) with Chamakh before he let go into the bottom corner across Tim Howard. Then the Moroccan could have put the game to bed, but somehow pulled off an 'Adeb' and missed from inside the 6-yard box. Then Cahill pulled one back for Everton, but we hung on nervily for a well-deserved, HUGE, VITAL three points which sees us go past Man Utd and within two points of Chelsea, whose shock/meek surrender to Sunderland was music to our ears. It magnified their over-dependence on Essien, in whose absence they were, yet again, ordinary.
India, in the 2nd test, have seemingly taken control after a second consecutive century from Harbhajan. He seems to be following the Irfan Pathan pattern. Unfortunately, his bowling average is increasing along with his batting average. Nevertheless, his century was crucial, given the context of the game and helped India take control of the test. While draw seems to be a highly likely outcome, India do have a chance to force home the issue. Dhoni achieved the feat of taking the max. number of catches as keeper-captain in NZ's first innings. He went past Gerry Alexander of the West Indies. He once, famously stopped
Roy Gilchrist from bowling as the Jamaican was hurling beamers in Pakistan.
Three intersting facts about him from the wiki:
1) Gilchrist is considered to be one of only four bowlers ever, to have actually hit the sightscreen after first bounce on the pitch, on the full.
2)While playing in the Lancashire League (after being banned by the West Indies Cricket), he removed a stump from the playing arena and hit an opposition batsman in the head.
3) Gilchrist deliberately overstepped the bowling mark by six metres after being taunted by Kripal Singh of India and delivered a bouncer which hit the Sikh batsman in the head and dislodged his turban.
Anyway, so Mccullum's century sees NZ about 100 runs ahead with 6 wickets in hand. India may be without Zak again on the final day, who is nursing his groin injury.
Roddick, meanwhile has qualified into the top eight of the london ATP world tour finals to be held from Nov. 21 to 28. Wimbledon finalist, Thomas Berdych and the Spaniard Devid Ferrer also join Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Soderling and Murray who had all already qualified. This was after No.9 Verdasco lost to Mofils in the third round of the Paris open (which Soderling went on to win, beating Monfils in two sets) and Roddick beat Ernest Gulbis of Lativa.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Champions League cricket
So, Chennai romped home, beating the Warriors in the Champions League T20 final game. Indeed, they have been the team to beat ever. They have been the most consistent team since the dawn the T20/IPL/CL era. The reached the final of IPL 2008, semi final on IPL 2009. winners of IPL 2010 and now CL 2010 winners. I don’t care if people call Dhoni lucky, over-optimistic, talks-too-much captain. To me, he has delivered, he has won matches, as captain of the India and as the captain of CSK. So, congrats to MSD and congrats to CSK.
Coming to the popularity of the CL T20, or the lack of it, I think it would be unfair and makes no sense to compare it with Champions League Football. The CL football has a long, rich history (started in 1955). The Champions League Final, football, is the most watched annual event, drawing more than 100 million viewers. To compare an event more than 50 years old with one that is hardly two or three years old is, as I said, wasteful.
So, what can be done to increase its popularity and make it more meaningful?
Well, for starters, we cannot have new auctions every 3 or 4 years. I am talking about IPL here. There is, as you might know, going to be a new auction window before the next IPL, which would see all the teams being re-shuffled. While, Sachin and Dhoni have stated that they want to hold on to as many players as possible, only time will tell how successful they can be. Even so, the idea of having fresh auctions every 3 years is not a great idea. One of the things that makes Champions League football and club football in general so special is the traditions of the clubs, the rivalries between clubs, the “animosity” between the fans. A player has to think a million times before he makes a switch from Real Madrid to Barcelona. Athletic Bilbao, for example, is a team that recruits only home-grown players. As I said, we do need to give it some time to create rivalries between teams. But random re-shuffling of players every other year is not going to help the cause in anyway.
Then, you have the case of one player playing for different clubs and choosing the “bigger” club in the Champions League for obvious reasons. E.g: Jacques Kallis plays for the Warriors and also for the RCB (Bangalore). In the CL he chose to play for Bangalore. (It is a different matter that he was injured and dint play in the CL) Now, that is something for organizers to look at. Surely, a player must give preference to the local team/ team of his nationality. I would not like to see a situation where Kallis is taking 3-fors and scoring fifties against his own Warriors, or Ross Taylor taking apart the Central Districts. They should only be allowed to chose the “bigger” team if their local team did not make it to the CL.
The idea of “home and away” games also seems tasty. While the Sri Lankan (Wayamba), New Zealand (Central Districts) and West Indian (Guyana) teams were outplayed by the the CSKs and the RCBs, it would be interesting to see how, e.g South Australia would would play Wayamba on a slow-low turner at Galle. Can Suresh Raina play his pick-ups and hoicks against Central Districts on a green top at Napier? I know, it will be difficult to have teams travel all over in such a short period of time. But, this is just an idea that the organizers could keep in mind and try to implement.
Coming to the popularity of the CL T20, or the lack of it, I think it would be unfair and makes no sense to compare it with Champions League Football. The CL football has a long, rich history (started in 1955). The Champions League Final, football, is the most watched annual event, drawing more than 100 million viewers. To compare an event more than 50 years old with one that is hardly two or three years old is, as I said, wasteful.
So, what can be done to increase its popularity and make it more meaningful?
Well, for starters, we cannot have new auctions every 3 or 4 years. I am talking about IPL here. There is, as you might know, going to be a new auction window before the next IPL, which would see all the teams being re-shuffled. While, Sachin and Dhoni have stated that they want to hold on to as many players as possible, only time will tell how successful they can be. Even so, the idea of having fresh auctions every 3 years is not a great idea. One of the things that makes Champions League football and club football in general so special is the traditions of the clubs, the rivalries between clubs, the “animosity” between the fans. A player has to think a million times before he makes a switch from Real Madrid to Barcelona. Athletic Bilbao, for example, is a team that recruits only home-grown players. As I said, we do need to give it some time to create rivalries between teams. But random re-shuffling of players every other year is not going to help the cause in anyway.
Then, you have the case of one player playing for different clubs and choosing the “bigger” club in the Champions League for obvious reasons. E.g: Jacques Kallis plays for the Warriors and also for the RCB (Bangalore). In the CL he chose to play for Bangalore. (It is a different matter that he was injured and dint play in the CL) Now, that is something for organizers to look at. Surely, a player must give preference to the local team/ team of his nationality. I would not like to see a situation where Kallis is taking 3-fors and scoring fifties against his own Warriors, or Ross Taylor taking apart the Central Districts. They should only be allowed to chose the “bigger” team if their local team did not make it to the CL.
The idea of “home and away” games also seems tasty. While the Sri Lankan (Wayamba), New Zealand (Central Districts) and West Indian (Guyana) teams were outplayed by the the CSKs and the RCBs, it would be interesting to see how, e.g South Australia would would play Wayamba on a slow-low turner at Galle. Can Suresh Raina play his pick-ups and hoicks against Central Districts on a green top at Napier? I know, it will be difficult to have teams travel all over in such a short period of time. But, this is just an idea that the organizers could keep in mind and try to implement.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
India's T20 WC 2010 Debacle - Who is to blame?
Today is the final of T20 world cup between Australia and England. India got out of the cup 4-5 days ago and since then every news channel is discussing the reasons for the loss and making their own predictions regarding who will be out of the team and who will be retained. From late night brawl in West Indies in which Nehra is accused of misbehaving with the others people in the bar to Kirsten one-o-ones with 7 players, everything is being debated day and night in media.
Here are few reasons which I feel are responsible for India’s debacle.
IPL
I don’t think 14 matches are responsible for India’s loss in world cup, not even IPL parties. IPL matches used to end at around 11.30 so what if players came to a party for 1-2 hours to relax and enjoy. Players are expected to be professional and if they feel that they bodies can’t handle the glamour of girls and drinks of IPL Nights they should have controlled themselves. This is at least expected from senior players. IPL nights might have done harm to younger players. Arjun Rampal’s wife the organizer of IPL nights might have said that players were not forced attend the parties but I think their owners might have pushed them to attend these. Sachin could say no to these parties because he is Sachin no player can dare to fight against the BCCI, if you dare to fight you will be kicked out for sure.
Illogical traveling around the country for the matches is the main reason for fatigue and tiring bodies. If a team is playing match in Bangalore schedule should be made such that if plays its following matches in Chennai, Hyderabad so that traveling is less.
Dhoni has given an invalid reason of IPL nights being responsible for the failure.
Team Selection:
I am not lover of BCCI infact all useless sports bodies of India being run by old politicians who I am sure would not clearly know the rules of the sports for whose body they are head.Chief selector is ambassador of Chennai Super Kings, Srinivasan secretary of BCCI is owner of CSK are they working for BCCI of CSK.
Bindra is handling a big Punjab lobby. Arun Jaitely head of Delhi cricket association. n number of politicians are head of their respective sports bodies why because cricket has money and power simple.
Punjab lobby pushed for Chawla as a spinner in Indian team despite the fact that Pragyan Ojha and Mishra. Robin Uthappa is getting huge sympathy votes for not getting selected despite being in from. Sehwag was fit to play matches in IPL but as they were kicked out of IPL he got injured, its clear he wanted to make money playing IPL matches he should have the guts to say that he is injured during the IPL tournament. He clearly put DD over ICC World Cup.
Yuvraj who is now filled with fatty acids and loads of chicken tikka should have been dropped, he is so sad after being kicked out of captaincy of Kings X1 team that he has started eating chicken in breakfast , lunch and dinner.
Shortpitch Delivery
In the last WC we failed against the short pitch balls, this time it also happened. We are vulnerable since time immemorial against the short ball. Its just the last 4-5 years when greats like Sachin, Dravid , Laxman were there in Indian team who could handle short ball easily that opponents stopped using the weapon.
We need to practice for these type of deliveries, point is we don’t have time to practice. BCCI wants to mint as much money as possible by playing use less tournaments against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Srilanka again and again. We have played I think every second month against SriLanka in the past year. Thanks to India being no-1 in test that BCCI now is trying hard to convert 7 ODI series to 2 test 3 odi wherever its possible but to BCCI it’s a loss of huge revenue as ODI gets more ads. Weren’t the BCCI a charitable body who is evading taxes since many years and filling their coffins?
When the player can go to National Cricket Academy to practice?
Poor Fielding and Running between wickets:
Outfield is very slow in west indies and one needs to run fast b/w the wickets but Indians players are adapted to hitting 4s in flat pitches in India. There was no practice match or time to practice in WI so we couldn’t adapt. Who is at fault again here – BCCI.
Player Fatigue:
We play lots of matches round the year. In 90's we were playing 35-40 ODI's are year and now we are playing lot of T20's ODIs round the year. Tours after tours is the routine , we will be playing in Triangular series in Zimbabwe, Asia Cup in Dambulla, Test series again in Sri Lanka , Triangular Series with NZ , SL in August. Australia coming to India and what not.
Ok we can't lesson the tours so lets make a bigger pool of players lets rotate them but that is also not possible till now. Players want to play as much as possible as you never know when you get kicked out, Fear of BCCI. ODI teams are not getting selected on basis of IPL performance which is wrong. Where is our bench strength. How many India A team tours to Australia , England , NZ took place in last 2 years. If same 15-18 players are playing so much cricket they will obviously get tired and fatigued, lets enlarge the pool and try to start rotation policy.
Indian crowd also need to understand that these are players not super humans. Saying that they keep on doing ads, party a lot and not play at all is wrong. Its good they lost now they will focus on test cricket which is the best.
Its very sad that we are having very less test matches when we have players like Sachin, Dravid , Laxman. Australia plays 8-10 tests a year and we should have used given these great players lot more chance to play test cricket in these years.
Its time to celebrate Vishy victory again, its a very big achievement to beat Topalov in his home. Indian hockey team is also performing well reaching the finals of Azlan Shat Tournament , today is the final.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Bhains Ki Taang, We Won!!!
It was the Great Indian Wet Dream, having an India-Pakistan WorldCup final, and surely proved to be one. Starting with the resolution this tournament has been quite up on its sex quotient. This was twenty twenty is all about, its what Sex and Violence do to frigid cinema, its all about adding that extra much needed masala to a great game going through its worst phase after a uber-boring World Cup and suppa-disappointing Champion's Trophy last year.
It hits back badly on purists, most notably the well known Greg Chappell, last employed on the post of decimator of Indian Cricket Team, the one who thought Tendulkar lacked attitude and skill, Pathan is always low on confidence and I won't mention what he did to my favourite cricketer Dada. According to that guy this is just hitting, I just pity him now that this team which doesn't include his favourite player Suresh Raina (wtf) won the world Cup without the coach.
Match Day
Superstitions, a Mallu Star, a Mazdur and a back in Form Pathan
Venue- Quark's Den
Edibles- Veg Puffs, thums Up, Some Desi Namkeen, Some Haldiram stuff and those cheesy chips by Lays (which give me a nauseating hit)
Match started on a poor note, our Match routine which involved,
- a can of Kingfisher for the quark.
- a bottle of Knock Out again for quark.
- a bottle of Fosters/Budweiser for Daisy. ( no Fosters in Australian Match)
- Mast Mirchi Bhajji worth Rs.15.00
was missing. As if this was not enough our sitting arrangements were much more varied then the previous ones and I think that lead ton
Although the Pakistani Bowling was superb. Main mast moments were the opening sequence(run out appeal against Yusuf Pathan), six hit again by him and Rohit Sharma's mast knock. I like this guy because his favourite dish is Kanda Poha which his family was telling the recipe on AajTak. I love Poha(also called Pouva someweher). Just one of many reasons why I simply adore Shara-Pova ;-)...
The second one was the real thing, RP was up right from the word go, it just took an innovative profanity(read Mayawati ka Bhai) to generate that spark and make him pick up the first wicket.
Sreesanth according to me was the real match winner for us, offlate we have compared him to a dangai (rowdy or something, the one involved actively in riots) who can't even throw stones properly. They are all over the place. The Mallu Star is as unpredictable as one could get. Ok he is a match winner if can bowl well, but that rarely happens as it happened against
Anyway in case these kinds of bowlers are more popularly known as Rhythm bowlers, who bowl when they are Rhythm, utter crap, even I can bowl 6 yorkers an over if I am in Rhythm. Also I think Agression is OK as long as you have stuff within, a samosa without aloo can't even become a papdi.
So such a bowler didn't even hear to all the profanities flying all around the room like charms were in Howgarts (refer final few chapters The Deathly Hallows). In came a new idea to call on Sankatmochan and a round of Hanauman Chalisa brought calm and produced a maiden and another good over.
Similar chants were fixed for each and every bowler,
- Irfan- Jai Dada, with dashes of Jai Dona-Dada
- Sreesanth- Hanuman Chalisa
- Bhajji- Nothing really worked, we tried everything from Jai Siddhu to Jai Monty Panessar to Jai Bhajji himself.
- Joginder- Main Mazdur mujhe devo ki basti se kya- "Ramdhari Singh Dinkar". Refer Bal Bharti NCERT, Class VII. It seems people identified him as a Mazdur from that poem.
We were damn superstitious with sitting arrangements fixed, a particular person locked inside a room and me diving at every lofted bowl to the foot of TV stand.
Anyway all this crap somehow worked till the deadly bhajji over and then it were the Indians who won the game. Although I should Pakistanis were an awesome side. Misab is surely the new age Miandad (he almost did a name change from Joginder to Chetan...)
The end would have been surely a disastrous one, all the mantras failed in final four overs, so our brave Sreesanth didn't find his Rhythm and jerked of few forgettable ones. He took a wicket later with a sensible one. RP's next over was again a mast one.
Then came the final one, I have backed Joginder throughout this tournament, according to me belongs to the league of Gavin Larsen/Chris Harris kinda bowlers who can suck of the runs in the middle overs for opposition by their slow line length bowling. Although when his first wide happened, I thought its over, and then a six and it WAS over.
The End couldn't have been this bigger, bigger than the Jim Morrison the end or a Hindi Cinema The End. Or much ironical as Sreesanth held on to an awesome catch (whatever it be it was still awesome for me). In the words of one of my friends company mate,
Misbah thought he was sending the ball to a place where there was no one. He did not know that there is a Malayali in every corner of the world!!!
Anyhow no qualms against Sreesanth as of now, he is the part of the best cricketing moment we ever witnessed. Pathan's comeback has been the most delightful thing which happened, amazing comeback to prove his strength as a bowler and fowl all attempts made by Chappel to destroy his career. Also RP has been awesome throughout the tournament. all in all our bowling looked nice and quite non-scrappy.
What we witnessed was the Best Blue Film ever with 11 Men in Blue completely You-Know-What the pakistanis...
Post Match
It was surreal, completely unbelievable, we were dancing, hugging each other, the neighbours and their kids came out to the balconies, everyone was dancing running around, firecrakcers all around, millions of SMS's being sent around. And when Dhoni lifted the Cup, it was just so GREAT.
Shoaib Malik's post match comments etc...hmm, they were extremely disappointingly. I won't reiterate the same but with so much ire back home it must have been something to avoid it.
Aur Main Ban
Dhoni is here to stay, after Dada he looks the only guy who suits the job. Dravid's captaincy should be forgotten as a pathetic phase in Indian Cricket(though I don't have anything against Dravid the batsman). Dhoni is calm on field, he TALKS, shows less of emotional jhol jhaal, has loads of ads under his tummy (he too has one) and quite unlike most of the Captain brigade he is much more fit.
He has lead
What Next???
Nothing let us roll our Aussies in India, about Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar I won't comment much, but for people already starting to shout in favour me not so much in agreement with them.
All in all a great victory and a moment to cherish throughout our lifetime. But all this makes the next year for me and few of my friends so much difficult following celibacy as fallout of the victory.
Never mind anything for the country...:)
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