ICC Rankings biased towards India

Gambhir makes 1134 runs in 8 tests in 2008. Sehwag 1462 i n 10. But they lurch outside the top spot in the ICC rankings. Out of nowhere Younis Khan comes in and scores 313 in a game. And he is at top of the table. I must say the rankings are biased towards India in every sense.

Updates on SA- Aus Test series and my bet with Achettup

Hey doesn’t cricket seem to be a great leveler. Over confident Indians brought down in a format where they are world champs and have played their last game before they go to the defence of the title they won 2 years back. I would hate to see Indians do a 1987 in 2009. And the other one is for Graeme Smith. Man of the series in Australia for his heroics, falls for a duck. Australia is in a soup at 38/3 on day 1. And then 182/5. A debutant scores a 100, Haddin scores a 50 and then Mitch Johnson enjoys himself in the middle to remain stranded for 96*. Wow, he has now a test average of 32. Way greater than Pidge and Lee.

SA stuttered at 5/2. The heroes of down under series were back in hut in a flash and then boy. Kallis gone too but with a selfish milestone. DeVilliers and McKenzie still on crease though, but still. I am on course for a victory in the bet with Achettup. 2-1 or 3-0 for Australia or even 1-0 or 2-0, I win. Any other scoreline than the ones here I lose.

So its kinda back to the old world order. Australia thumping Saffers and Indians being blowed away by star less Kiwis. Gotta ask for Sharma and Raina, how much beer they had and how many babes they wandered with ?

T20 updates: I

Dhoni was lucky with toss in SL in 4 games. He won all those games. Mahela won the 5^th toss and the game. Vettori won the 1^st T20 toss and won the game. He has won the toss in 2^nd game too. Will he win ? Thank God Rohit Sharma is gone. Yipeeeeee. Ravinder Jadeja comes in for him. What if he plays well today ? Will he still be sent home ? Or will he replace Rohit Sharma or Dinesh Karthik ?

We all set for 2^nd of the 2 T20s of the series. Can India break its T20 jinx against this lowly Kiwi team ? Will the so called Rockstars of Indian cricket rock or rock off in over confidence ? Somehow Indians sounded rash and rude in 1^st defeat. So that answers my mate from Colombo who wanted to listen my views on Indian defeat in Kiwi land.

Irfan Pathan continues to be an enigma. From what he was to what he is now. He is hurting India’s chances in every game India plays. But then there is no bowler with his batting prowess.

Match gets underway

Sehwag on fire. 10 balls 24. 5 fours. Difference from other day. 10 balls 26 runs, 3 sixes. Today he is grounded. Hopefully he remains and realizes he has to stay back.

Gambhir seems edgy. He gotta have patience. He should stick around. Runs would come by.

Sehwag gone. Freakish hell.

Raina gone too. Now would he and Rohit Sharma go for partying ? Beer and babes ? Very much. Why not we just throw them out of the team ?

Dream on

“Our focus is on playing better cricket than Australia in this series and if we can really beat them at home it will be a comprehensive beating of Australia home and away,". "That's something that we really want to achieve. They were able to do it against us for a period of time and we feel that we're capable of doing it but it's going to be tough work. It's a sign of the success that we've had if we do get there [to No. 1]. We basically can look at ourselves and say we've earned that ranking through good results, through winning on pretty much every continent over the last period of time. That's a really good, satisfying feeling for any team, for any player”

Dream on. Wishful thinking doesn’t always come true. 2-1 away victory was a flash in the pan. A storm in the cup of tea. Last 2 series results in SA read 0-3 and 1-2 for SA. This would be no different. 2-1 to Australia and Achettup, our bet begins today. You see Ponting is gonna swarm Smith out of his feet and regain the lost glory. Bingo!! Go Aussies.

Rohit Sharma.........

Is out for 7 again and his failures continue. My views get a point and a valid one J

Dear Mr Mark Richardson

Is that out of being under awe or is it just out of frustration Mr Richardson ? The text in red is in very bad taste.

“However Messrs Tendulkar, Dravid and Co can rest easy this time round because I can almost guarantee conditions will be vastly different. Why? Well, because New Zealanders and New Zealand cricket understand who pays the wages nowadays and this tour for the Black Caps is very much the scenario of playing your boss at golf. You need to put up a good account for yourself if you want to get the desired invite again. However, if you are going to win you don't want to stuff him out of sight in some sort of perceived under-handed manner. If you do win, do so in a manner that allows the boss to retain some sort of dignity, and if you lose, make sure he felt the engagement worthy of his time. That way you may just get the invite to join the country club.

In cricket terms what New Zealand really need to achieve from this tour is a sense of goodwill towards New Zealand cricket from Indian cricket once the tour is over. That does not mean rolling over and dying, because fans of New Zealand cricket also like to win. However, this could be the last time New Zealand fans see these great batting names of Indian cricket on our shores, and both nations may feel cheated if seaming wickets nullify the Indian batting machine. “

I don’t think that’s needed. We have many Kiwi players in ICL, many in IPL (McCullum, Ryder, Vettori, Oram, Taylor etc). Nobody asked for the behavior out of NZ the way you portray Mr Richardson.

”You can expect a lot of wind too. All venues in New Zealand can get windy, let alone Wellington, which on most days blows a gale. It ruins the bowling rhythm, makes your eyes water, chills you to the bone, affects you balance and back-lift, and most of all is exhausting. You must have strategies, preferably developed through experience, to deal with the wind in New Zealand. “

Wind and a bit of chill also leads to old, and even young, bones getting a little stiff. It can take a bit of extra time to get the body loosened up and moving early in an innings or bowling spell. For those used to starting warm and loose, special attention needs to be taken to ensure stiffness does not result in sloppiness.

New Zealand is not that dissimilar to England, but it is most certainly not the subcontinent, and thus takes a bit of getting used to as far as the Indians are concerned. However, the only advantage in terms of assistance the New Zealand bowlers may get this time round against a touring Indian side may simply be an initial psychological one, based on the mental scarring from the last time the Indian players toured, and stories of horror told to the new guys in the squad.

We do have windy conditions in India too, not extreme though. We are very good travelers. We have never complained about the crowd, the pollution or whatsoever conditions prevalent in touring country. We go about playing our cricket, winning fans and hearts even after losing. Its just few years since we have started winning cricket matches abroad too besides the hearts. So doing that isn’t an offence and it doesn’t warrant an article like this coming up. We have played in windy conditions in England and have emerged victorious in 2007, drew in 2002. For that matter we are yet to lose an English test series since 1996 home and away. We almost got the hold of Aussie series 2 times in row but for Bucknor. And for that one mad go slow session in Cape town against Lord Harris, we almost beat SA in SA too. We have won in Australia, England, West Indies, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka. No matter last two countries we haven’t won a Test series but we would do that soon. We haven’t said a word about how good we are or how good we would be. We already have sold our hearts to you guys by posing ourselves as underdogs. Your coach and your premier batsman say India is the best. We haven’t said anything of that sort. This blogger still believes Australia are the best side with India and South Africa joint 2^nd. We have got the work ethic in the team. And that’s precisely the reason you see that the only defeat we have suffered in last 5 months is in an ODI to SL (SL fans happy cheeeeeeeeeez). We have won against Aus and Eng in Tests. Against Eng, SL in ODIs. That’s not a meek opposition. Gotta have a strong work ethic to beat Aussies 2-0 their weakness notwithstanding. We have always respected Kiwis side for being fighters and being supreme fit. We have always compared our cricketers with yours and have found our cricketers lacking in the heart and stamina to fight. But that was past. Present is different. Unfortunately NZ has no Fleming and no Bond. No Tuffy and No Adams. With due respect to Martin, Southee we don’t see the bowling attack as threatening that was in 2002 (if it was). We have Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan who have proved themselves in dead subcontinental pitches. So if they get a juicy pitch with bounce and carry till shin, then who would complaint ?

Lets not get into the pleasing mode Mr Richardson and lets just watch the cricket. The game of uncertain certainties.

Disclaimers and Clarifications...

Yawn….Boring stuff. That’s now what we want on the name of Test cricket. Please for God sake, no. We need an even contest between bat and ball. Not long scoring draws where every team would compete with each other how long wud it bat and how many records one would make. Great. Malik got a 50, his place secure for some time. Misbah cautious against M&M, Younis got a 100, perhaps 150 and even 5000 runs. But guys what about the result ? What about competitiveness ? What about level of cricket you play ? Karachi is one such venue which should be banned for international cricket. Flattest track in the world. In ODIs, in Tests. I think this Test series doesn’t even a post from me. But I wont say total no. When I get a juicy bit on my favorite Mahela Man I would write something.

By the way I am surprised to see charged up comments from few lads from SL on my previous posts. Perhaps they fail to understand that emotional comments arrive out of their end rather than from the Indian bloggers. I perfectly mentioned that I don’t dislike the individuals but dislike the brand of cricket SL play. Long batting just puts me off. Test matches aint meant for torture but for fun, they are for pure delight, test of character. Not meant for high scoring dull draws on a pitch where even I could score a 50. So I would request fiery SL supporters to kindly understand the pretext of the post and then think and then dish out the venom out here. Going back to 1996 or saying what Azhar did or 2007 WC debacle just doesn’t make any sense. World has turned upside down since then. So no point going there.

I am gonna write something next on India vs NZ series.

Alright the day 3 is over. M & M figures read : 79 – 16 – 170 – 2. Figures say it all.

Bucknor going going going would be gone............

http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/News/News/West-Indian-umpire-Bucknor-to-retire/articleshow/4172219.cms

If this news had broken a year earlier before India toured Australia in 2007-08 then we would have been the first team to have won the series down-under in 15 years rather than Saffers. Had he retired after 2003 World Cup final, we would have won the 2003-04 series down under too. So it was not any Aussie legend that stood between us and the series win, but it was this man from West Indies who stopped us from doing so on 2 consecutive occasions. Good lord, he is retiring and now he won’t be around to give farcical decisions. Mind you Bucknor is from Caribbean and not from Emerald Isle, so now nobody can pester me for being a “farce blogger” for feeling relieved that Bucknor is gone. And thank god he won’t officiate in the NZ series.

Test Cricket ki yahi kahani....

Win the toss. Bat long, long and longer. Couple of them make double hundreds, a batting record partnership most in the history, batting records, bowling records...Bored, yawning and dozing effect...Even bore than a Govinda or a Mithun flick...One of them would be christened as great. Already dying Test cricket in Pakistan would even die...

Ok hate me for being anti Srilankan, the one being harmles, polite and friendly. Wow. They really are. Just that their brand of cricket appears boring to me.

Typicall Emerald Farce

One hand we have classics in Carribean and then on other hand there is farce in subcontinent...Pakistan fielding its weakest team in the history and SL makine merry....Typical Lanka stuff. Voila that doesnt stop me from snoring whenever i stop by Ten Sports......GOD spare us from Lanka's boring Test torture....

50 for MJ

He may be scratchy like a dog in the ODI, but he is aplomb and supreme as a Teddy Bear without hair in the Tests…..4 more runs and he would leave Sir Gary Sobers behind. That would be great ? Will he be greater batsman than Gary Sobers ? Better somebody doesn’t come up with a claim like that. The SL blogger I know is a MJ freak hater like me, but how about other fellas ? Boy he has 24 hundreds and Dravid has 26. Azhar has 22. Ganguly had 16. Does that all mean MJ is better than Azhar and Ganguly and would get better than Dravid soon ? Ah man……Heck no. 5 Hundreds against BD and Zim. Easy hundreds, easy runs. Mostly at home. I wonder if he would some day over come likes of Sunny and Steve Waugh. Then would still those greats be better than him or MJ would claim to be better than them ?

Test cricket returns to....

………Pakistan and guess against whom ? The dashers and the bashers and then the dampners…….Dashers against Pakistan in Pakistan, bashers against the minnows and the dampners against stronger teams. Test of how Younis (only Y now) takes on his new role of skipper clubbed with the best batsman of the team. Test of how M&M group again after disaster against India. Test of how Mahela Jaywardhena shapes up in his final test series (as captain). And test of how Pakistan fare in the form of game they have not played in 14 months. The last test they played, was almost a miraculous escape thanks to fading Bangalore daylight. Good for them, good for us. Good for world cricket that Pakistan returns to the Test cricket albeit with the weakest team in years. No Inzy, No Yusuf, No Akhtar, no Tanveer (shocking to drop him)…New team, new skipper, new age, let them go and take a bus back to the past when Ws rocked the world and batsmen like Inzy ruled the laziness….

Lets see how SL fare against a favorite team. Amazingly they have got good record against Pakistan in Pakistan, which not many teams boast of. But then that’s SL for you. Jo baki teams nahi kar pati, Wo SL karti he. Good luck to the skippers. One who starts his journey, one who ends his journey (giving us respite)…..

BTW here is a quick look at the captains of the teams and a classification if they are the best batsmen or bowlers of their team:

Australia : Ricky Ponting : Only good batsman in the team (for bloggers who hate him). For me the best batsman in the team.

India : MS Dhoni (not the best batsman in tests, but yes best finisher in the ODI in the team and perhaps the world)

SL : Mahela Jaywardhena : Best batsman of the team.

Eng: Andrew Strauss : He is the compromise man. An underrated batsman and a “miya kaptani karoge” types.

WI : Chris Gayle : Almost the best batsman

Pak : Younis Khan : Best batsman

SA : Graeme Smith : Best batsman

NZ : Dan Vettori : Best bowler

So you see except India and England, most teams are lead by the best batsman in the team in Tests and ODIs. For NZ their best bowler does the job. May be cos they aint sure who their best batsman is amongst the rookies and transitioning team.

One more salvo....

Have you failed to notice that Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik would always be present in a party or a ramp walkdown for a product launch or even a jersey launch. Only place you wont find them laughing and enjoying themselves is the middle. That is the field. 22 Yards. All they gotta do is clubbing, laughing aloud with babes around and of course fame and glitz. Reality shows, dance shows, product launches, calendar launches…Name them and this guys would be there. Oh man, who said cricketers this age lived a monotonous life. Few more additions to the group of Salim Durrani, Farookh Engineer etc….I wonder nobody from the golden generation of cricket (1990-2009) got so much distractions. Alright endorsements were always there, but I could never see the greats lining up on the ramp for a fashion show.

And I am not anti TN or anti Mumbai person. (else DMK or MNS would sue me)

Much ado about everything!!

Whats so much hue and cry about the new Indian team jersey. So what if we emulate Australians in 2 separate jerseys for ODis and 20Ts ? is that a problem or is the colors and shades a problem ?

India Vs NZ : facts and predictions

Some facts about India and New Zealand rivalry:

· India is touring NZ after 6 years. That’s the longest margin in 2000 that India is touring any decent cricket playing country.

· India would play a Test against NZ after 5 years. Last it was in Mohali – 03 prior to tour of Australia.

· India would play a ODI against NZ after 3 years. Last one it played was in the disturbing tour of Zimbabwe in 2005.

· India’s first loss in T20 came against NZ in 2007. Since that India has not played any international game against NZ.

· This tour was supposed to happen in 2006 or 2007 end, but then it was postponed to the current dates.

· Veeru Sehwag was the only successful batsman in Indian team that toured NZ in 2002 ODIs. He had 2 hundreds.

· Only 5 Indians have played an ODI before in NZ in the current team. They are Tendulkar, Sehwag, Harbhajan, Zaheer and Yuvraj

· Only 6 Indians have played a Test before in NZ in the current team. They are Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag, Laxman, Zaheer and Harbhajan.

· This is first full tour as skipper for MS.

· Last time India won a Test in NZ was in 1976.

· This is 5^th tour of Sachin Tendulkar in NZ. 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2009. He almost missed a hundred in 1^st Test (Wellington) in 1990. Overnite not out on 80, he was dismissed on 88 the next morning.

My predictions for the series:

Tests: India 2-0

ODIs : India 4-1

T20s : India 2-0

StanFord falls!

"Kahe paise pe itna guurroor kare he..Yehi Paisa to apno se door kare he......"

I just wished Alan Stanford listened to this song along with Ramalinga Raju -- Desi Stanford!! Greed leads to doom, later or sooner. Satyam proved it, now Stanford proves it.

Keep going guys.

"Paise se kya kya khareedoge"

Sachin : Reserved opener in ODIs?

I really laugh aloud when somebody says that Sachin Tendulkar is reserved opener for ODIs.

Curious case of KKD Karthik

The irony. Kartik is one of those very few players for the NZ tour who is in all forms of the game. Amazing fact right.

His career stats:

T20: 67 runs in 8 games with highest of 31* (1^st ever T20 India played in 2006)

ODIs : 330 runs in 26 games with highest of 63 and average of 22.

Tests: 967 runs in 21 games with highest of 129 at avg of 29

He also figured in the dance reality show in one of the channels. So cricket team in India is going to have clubbers, dancers too in the ranks.

So if one of the openers injure and suppose MS doesn’t play, then this lad is going to be an opener in Tests. And not only then he would disrupt the opening combo of Veeru and Gauti( may be he plays when MS is injured) but also ensure that RD walks in quickly again with virtual opening position. The reason he might open the innings is most of his runs in Tests came in the SA, Eng, Pak series when he was an opener with Wasim Jaffer (Sehwag was dropped to middle order in 2006 SA tour 3^rd Test).

And 330 runs in 26 ODIs means he is one of the front runners to come in for injured and rested players. Wow, he along with Rohit Sharma are nice replacement players with an average of 20s. Why ? Just cos they are young. (22 and 21 resp). Contrast that with poor RD. Just cos he is 36 now and wont be playing in 2011 world cup and had a poor Australia ODI series in 2007, he was dropped. People forget that he scored 3 50s in the 3-4 loss to England in England. And on basis of one poor series and of course age, he was dropped. Lads like Karthik, Sharma keep coming into the side even though they aint decent performers just cos they are young. But then is that the ticket for them to be in the team and not performing ? Is that our bench strength which we boast of to be front runners for # 1 ? Faulty selections, quota system, regional attitude of selectors and favoritism of skipper would be major factor if India falls short of the goals it has set for itself in the year.

Australia SA series predictions

My predictions for Aus vs SA Test series beginning 26/2 are :

South Africa : 1

Australia : 2

Series 2-1 to Australia.

Ways Pujara can get into reckoning!

May be Pujara now should switch Ranji side and play from Tamil Nadu or Mumbai. Perhaps only then he would be considered for selection, let go of being selected. And may be dance in a reality show. Play a T20 and have an affair with a Bollywood starlet. Only thing he should not do is score 3 consecutive triple hundreds and then 3 consecutive failures. Bloody fuck, just nobody bothers to see him score runs...Cos he is a Pujara and not Pujhara. And not a "kar" or a Kulkarni in his last name...Or may be he doesnt have anythin to get the Jokers notice him!!

If Antigua was in India!!

Just imagining what would have happened if Antigua was in India or a venue say Wankhede or Chepauk had something like this ? Media would have gone mad and the world would have chance to throw mud on India's face..Esp the English media with likes of Hussein and Athers..... Though i m still not sure what happened in Antigua to lead the game to abandonment!!

Poor selection

Another farcial selection for the Test tour to NZ. Shades of quota system back in the picture. Kris Srikanth gets 3 from his state : Vijay (OK, he faired decently in Nagpur), Balaji and Kartik. Balaji is max 120-130 kmph and Karthik once had an edge over MS but now he is in as a batsman or an opener (can he threaten Veeru ?)...And then Rohit Sharma continues to be in the team. Good lord for him. NZ babes might get better for him and he would spend more time in clubs than on the nets. Jesse Ryder would have good company :)

And then Dhawal Kulkarni makes his way to the team. Amazing. Just a season with .....and he is into the team. If Karthick can be in the team for some 1100 runs in Ranji, then what the heck has Pujara done wrong ? May be not from Chennai or ...... ?

Selection of Munaf Patel is also a bit questionable as he would be injury prone more than taking wickets. Test batting line up selects automatically. Hopefully nobody would speak again of 5 batsmen theory. That doesnt work for India. Not untill we have a decent alrounder or half one like Irfan.

Sad to see the quota system still existing in Indian team even now. Unfortunately not all are Saurav Ganguly who could ride over the allegations and prove their critics wrong. Lets see what this lads riding on favoritism do. Lets see what specifically the Kulkarni lad does ?

Rohit Sharma in Numbers.

Ok, I drew lot of flak for being critical of Rohit Sharma. Not cos I wrote he is a under delivering performer, but bcos he is from Mumbai. Mumbaikars shouldn’t be criticized. A harsh learning. I was thumped loud cos I referenced Mumbai for his origins. So is it that Mumbaikars fail and then they get away with it ? One greater man than this young kid continues to have to prove to his critics that he is worth the adulations and the records, yet he never cares about them. One great man who is an icon for the country who hails from the same city, same terrain, same geography as this Rohit Sharma, but then those detractors keep quiet on different grounds. Youth rules in the country. Being young is in, despite you perform or not. Oldies, move aside.

Alright, then here is dissection of this man’s performance in the ODIs. He is yet to perform in Tests and T20s doesn’t really hold that significance as its too short, so I wont count his contributions for now. Not that he has got a great record there. He has got few hundreds in Ranji games but those 100s failed to give him the confidence and attitude to take the scoring opportunities in SL. I feel this is the worst time in Indian cricket not to perform. Cos if you fail to perform, probability might be that you might never get a chance more to play. Yeah the money would keep coming in from IPL and other sources, but if you don’t make runs, then no endorsements and then no invitations to the parties as well.

Alright again, I shut myself up and let figures speak :

He has played 35 games for 637 runs with the highest score of 70* against SL in SL (2008) with an average of 25.48 runs per game. Great.

Here is his record in India in last 2 years:

filtered

6

103

52

25.75

0

-

-

-

-

1

0

6 games, 103 runs, highest of 52 vs Pakistan in 2007. 4 games against England 50 runs in 2008 (when India won 5-0) and then he was dropped. And 1 run against Australia in 2007. Sumps up to 103 in 6 games. An average of 25.75, 0.27 more than his career average. So slight home advantage for him.

Now lets see for his overseas figures in last 2 years for giving him a bit of benefit of doubt:

29

534

70*

25.42

29 games, 534 runs and highest of 70* with an avg of 25.42 runs. Diseccting more he has got 138 runs in 6 games vs Aussies (take out 66 and then he has 72 in 5 games). Aussies were the world champs (officially still) when he played them last.

Now for minnows Bangladesh : 2 games and 48 runs. Highest of 26. No distinct advantage here too. More trouble. Against HongKong its 11 runs in 1 game.

A bit weaker teams but stronger than Zim and BD (based on ICC rankings).

Vs Pakistan he has played 4 games 91 runs at 30.33 (best average against a country). Vs SL he has played max 14 games and made 238 runs at 26.44. Further breakdown gives him 8 runs against SA (long back in 2007).

He has never hit off. Not scored runs anywhere. Prodigies never average for under 26s for long. They get one defining moment and then the career turns around. 2 years for this man and that moment is still to come. The so called my critics now have the figures to compare and peek through. Judge them for yourself. And if you say still he should be given chances, then go ahead with the opinion. Its pretty clear that he has been given chances in 35 games just cos he is young and for most part of his 2 yr career, Mr DBV was at the helm of national selection committee. It would be interesting to see how Kris Srikanth deals with him.

Rohit Sharma : Time to dispatch him to domestic cricket

This days if you happen to be young lad in Indian cricket and on top of that if you hail from Ranji Champion team Mumbai, then trust me you are going to be in the team for infinite time. Doesn’t matter, if you perform or if you don’t. To add to the toppings on the icing on the pizza cake, if your captain trusts you and ex-chief of selector publicly banks you as next Tendulkar shamelessly and if you once play a 55 in a must win T20 game in world championship and then you make 70 in the company of the BAAP of cricketing knowledge and batting down under (till then down under was big thing winning, this days anybody can do it), then you are in for the team for good.

Doesn’t matter if you average paltry 15 in the ODIs and just 4 in the T20s, you are still high hopes and billed as the next big thing in the Indian cricket. You happen to live in a chawl in Mumbai in not so good conditions and then suddenly you win the T20, be a part of world cup winning team something the greats Sachin, Rahul, Saurav, VVS and Anil couldn’t do, your life changes , you go and live in swanky Bandra apartment and you become a poster boy of media and cricket glitz. Despite all this runs never flow out of your bat and you never take the game to the next level.

Only way then left for the skipper is to drop you out of the playing XI and then for the selectors is to throw you back to the grind of domestic cricket. Yes, that’s what fate lies for you. Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai cricketer, the failure Indian batsman of SL series who neither had any bad decision going against him or neither he was suffering from any distraction. Time is ripe for him to be dropped from the NZ touring party and get another new face mostly Pujara and ask Sharma to get the temperament, attitude and moreover the self-belief right. Till then no place for him in the Indian cricket.

Blabba King resigns.

Cricket is a great game of levels. A day it props you to the ascendency the next day it pulls you down. Not long back in Aug 2008, a 1-2 defeat and a lacklusture bowling performance by India’s greatest matchwinner Anil Kumble slid to his sunset of an illustrious career. That defeat was to SL under Mahela Jayewardene. Indians however went on to win the ODI series 3-2 .

And then SL went to struggle against meek oppositions. The teams once they hunt with cunning efficiency suddenly started to pose challenge to the Lanka. SL still won but the efficiency and ruthlessness wasn’t there. They almost lost the tri series in BD but won in Pakistan. And then the disaster followed.

India thumped SL 4-1 in the home ODI series and the home team slid to 3^rd consecutive home series defeat in 3 yrs. Something which was unthinkable even in 90s when they were not as strong as they are / were in 2000. And the skipper was in false dawn. He was in denial. He suffered loss of form. Hit only 1 50 in last 17 innings (or 16). Yet he found himself in false dawn that he is in good nick and whatever. Dhoni left no stone unturned to ensure his team won 4-1 in a land where Indians choked even during peak days of Sachin, Saurav, Azhar and Kumble, Dravid. And what Jayewardene did to Anil Kumble, Dhoni did the same to MJ. The blabba king goes silent post Pakistan tour. SL is no Pakistan and skipper once gone never comes back.

Most prolly the next choice for skipper is obvious – Kumar Sangakara, but then he is untested on international front. And he has to don three duties now (if) : skipper, keeper and best batsman of the team. He is no Dhoni. But then Dhoni isn’t the best batsman India has. He can play with free mind cos he knows the test team has Fab Three plus Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj. ODI team has Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj ahead him. Sanga might not have that luxury. If Mahela is not the skipper then on his current form, he doesn’t deserve a place in the ODIs at least.

Here is what he blabbered may be for one last time:

In the best interests of the Sri Lanka team, I have decided to stand down as Sri Lanka captain after this Pakistan tour," Jayewardene said in a statement. "This is something I have been considering for some time as it has been my long-held belief that my successor should have at least 18 months in the job to imprint his vision on the team for the 2011 World Cup.

"After much thought, I have concluded that the right time has now come for fresh leadership to takeover. It was not an easy decision to make because being the Sri Lanka captain has been the source of enormous pride. I am very grateful to have been granted the honour of leading the team during the last three years. I would like to extend a special thank-you to my team-mates for making the job so easy and fulfilling, to the Sri Lanka Cricket officials and selectors who placed their faith in me, and to family, friends and fans who have provided so much support. I look forward now to extending my full support to my successor and hope to play a major part in the team's success during coming years as a batsman.

Good lord, we would now be saved from his monotonous speak unless he becomes MoM. But he did handle his part with grace. His high point was certainly the World Cup final of 2007. And in Tests it was 2-1 defeat to India and the draw in England in 2006. Besides that it’s the same old story for him in the Tests. Minnow wins and losses to major teams.

Vaughan can stem in England rot ?

Perhaps tahis time England need Vaughan and may be he as a batsman can stem the rot England are fast sliding to. Now its their 3^rd consecutive series loss (almost) and the batsmen aint performing especially Ali Cook and Ian Bell. Vaughan can be inspirational provided he is back in runs and may be his presence could boost the spirits as he is a bit like Saurav Ganguly to England as he built the team brick by brick post Nasser Hussein in 2004 – 2006. But the big question is will the selectors bet on him ? Or is he still on ?

No KP for captaincy!!

Kevin Pietersen is likely to captain Bangalore Royal Challengers for the first three weeks of this IPL season for which he is available. Pietersen will then hand over the leadership to Rahul Dravid or Mark Boucher, a team source said.

If that happens, it would be very unfortunate and ridiculous. KP doesn’t boast of a very good record as a captain in his limited time. 4 ODIs won and 5 lost out of 9. 1 test won and 1 lost with a draw out of 3. Hardly inspiring. And look what he has done to England ? Left the team in a mess that there are murmurs now that England are new West Indies of late 90s and 2000s.

Warner

Warner was given a chance after slam bang success in T20, hailed up as new Hayden, barring one 50 in ODIs he didn’t live up to his potential, he was termed Shahid Afridi in temperament barring leg spin. And now he is dropped. What about the future ? Wouldn’t the kid’s confidence be affected ? Has a prospective talent being nipped in the bud ?

Hail West Indies

A West Indies victory in 2000s over stronger teams is a NEWS as it was an Indian victory in 1980s. And yesterday they not only achieved the improbable but also broke a jinx of 9 years of being not able to beat England anywhere. The last time they beat England was in 2000 1^st test in England as they began their way in typical then routing England fashion, but fell apart horribly in the next 4. One of the Tests was even finished in 2 days with Andy Caddick taking 4 wkts in a over. And then their woes continued in 2004 home series when we had the rise of Steve Harmison with 7/12 in Sabina Park. Its an irony that the ground where they suffered worst defeat by being bowled out for 47, they won the Test match at the same ground by dismissing England for 4 more runs. 51 to be precise.

The victory wasn’t a news amidst the IPL auction. But it is very significant for West Indian cricket. It should give them a huge boost to the upcoming Tests especially with Jerome Taylor showing the caliber. 5 for 11 are superb figures against a team which has highest paid IPL cricketers in the world. Too early to say that their revival would begin, but this should definitely begin their upward sojourn.

Gayle, Sarwan and Chandu should form the batting trio if they are to win more and consistently. May be a draw NZ series gave them a boost to perform well so much so the pre series mess and the awful proceedings in England over captain coach row.

What would KP and Freddie feel ? On moon one day and buried deep down in shame the next ? So is the game. A great leveler.

Bravo and Hail the West Indies. Good job.

Anil's perfect 10

A decade ago Anil Kumble, India’s former skipper and greatest Test matchwinning bowler took perfect 10 in a Test match at his favorite ground Kotla in Delhi. And his victims were no minnows, no cheap wickets, no frills but 10 Pakistanis who were gung ho after the victory in Chennai few days before.

IPL :.Would fashion writers have a ball ? Dont kill the game

IPL is back and back are this dumb faces who know nothing about the game and the rules and all they know is the glam quotient and the mannerisms. Ah give us a break. IPL is all about cricket and the players. Yes there is money and fun. Razmataazz is there, but dumb dolls not needed. Shilpa Shetty sitting with Warney, Ambani N with GOD and then Zinta babes with Yuvraj. Few Kollywood starlets (Laxmi Rai as magazines suggest with MS) with Chennai team :)

Who is more dumb ?

Preitz
Shilpa
Juhi
Neeta?

Fashion writers would have ball at the IPL venues. Gays too would have ball (gay writers who write for Fashion magazines). More than the performance with the bat and ball they would write who was more hot and who got more kisses (flying of course)and with whom you (girl) would like to go to bed with.....Ahh that would be crap!! Imagine Freddie in crickat gear appearing on same fashion magazine :) or MS and the ex favorite of girls -- mr Wall. Oodi baba.

Alright there is fun, money and auction. Bottomline is its CRICKET -- a game of bat and ball. Not the other balls. Let the game maintain its sanity amidst the intrusion of dirt and unwanted glitz elements.

IPL Auction : Updates 3

Australia's cricket recession was evident in the IPL auction with no buyers for Stuart Clark and withdrawl of Pup led to Modi firing a poor salvo at him. Mumbai Indians was represented by Mrs Mukesh Ambani and when she was asked question why was JP Duminy selected, she was at bay to answer the reason. Now how are this so called intelligent celebrity wives clad in top attire supposed to know the basics of the game ?

Alright there were few Bollywood dumb starlets too but then their homework was done by their respective beaus. Missis Ambani sounded dumb and I was laughing. LMAO. This big intensity. I guess Deccan Chargers lived up to their reputation of being weakest and dumbest team. Mumbai Indians were dumb again though they got Duminy, i guess somebody else would have advised Missis to snap up Jeanie.

Kolkata Knight Riders, my senti favorite are the biggest losers in the second season with no Gul and Akhtar. And Mash raffe is no Gul or even unfit Akhtar. But then they do have the fading Splendis. And Ishant Sharma is in his elements too. Besides its DADA. So anything is possible.

Am not sure how much KP would turn around fortunes of Bangalore Royal challengers given that the team has Kallis and Jaffer in its ranks. Dravid is the skipper, but then he is not unfit for the format. He has over 10k runs in ODIs and has record for fastest Indian 50 in ODI. So those who question the great man over the ability to play fast, would suggest them go find the record books and watch videos.

IPL has started the buzz and I fear that it would fade out the upcoming NZ tour. No we are not even talking of the last ODI in RP, we have won that and the T20 too :)

Mourtaza : IPL Auction Update - II

He was nemesis of Indian defeat in 2007 World Cup. He was also one of the reason responsible for defeat in 2004 in Bangladesh. He was supposed to be one of the ok type player to be put on the auction. He has been poor man’s Shoaib Akhtar. One of the good players in BD team who can be termed as decent. Injuries’ famous son and now the most talked about player in the IPL Auction 2. Being sold for 1100% more than his base price is like ooh la la. His life has been made and his folks in BD would celebrate the windfall. And guess wot who got him. Dada. Dada replaced Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul with Mourtaza. How much change it would bring to SRK;s team is yet to be known but for sure the KKR have created a furore by buying out for 1100% more than what cud have been base price.

Shakib Al Hasan, surprising # 1 allrounder (never mind he got there by playing against SL, Zim and Ken) was not touched by anybody. ICC was shown again in black face when its rankings weren’t considered.

Besides this it was English flavor in the auction. Perhaps indicator of the things to come. Few days back ECB was against IPL, now its own 2 former skippers are the most sought players in the IPL. Strange times this. Never mind. The stage is set for season 2 of the cricket with Bollywood entertainment mix. It had PZ, SRK in it last season, now it has Big Brother Shilpa Shetty too. Thin is in.

IPL Auctions : Update 1.

As auction reports set in, the new Jeanie has been roped in by Mumbai Indians. Chennai Super Kings have bagged Andy Flintoff for $1.55 million eclipsing MS. And the test side have got Kevin Pietersen for same amount again eclipsing MS. So the 2 maverick players become the costliest pick. One who would never know when he would be unfit and the other who would never know when his king size ego would blow off.

Bret Lee’s pace cousin Shaun Tait goes to his Aussie legend’s team Rajasthan Royals, the defending champions. And Fidel Edwards, the West Indian bowler goes to Gilly’s Deccan Chargers.

Jean Paul Duminy, the new Aussie flesh in the thorn has been bagged by Mumbai Indians. He would flex his muscles with the likes of Bravo, Zaheer, Jayasuriya and of course The legend Tendulkar.

And Owais Shah goes to Delhi Daredevils, my numero uno favorite.

Indians missiled

When Sri Lanka loose, its fans pelt stones on Indian fielders. Not first instance but 2nd in last 3 ODIs. Sour eggs ? May be a few but they rot the entire basket. Poor umpiring, stale captaicy, few rotten eggs in the mostly cheerful crowd...Wats up SL? I understand their apathy, but why target Indian players?

9 in row.

9 in row. National record. Well done India.

No Sach, no Veeru, no Yuvi....Never mind

Dhoni and Gautam do it..........

Unfortunately for SL Kulasekara does the hitting much for putting MJ and KS to shame....What does he do ? May be he shud step down or take a break and think on whats going wrong. And for god sake stop speaking. I puke when I listen him saying same things. "Character", "wikat","guys","blah blah"..............

What now for SL ? Where do they go ?

And please take away torturous commentators barring Sunny. Give Sivramkrishna a citizenship of some lonely island with no cricket coverage. He tortures big time. 5-0 in cards. My prediction comes true. Somebody scoffed at me for this prediction.

McGrath didnt get his prediction right. I would get :) So am I new McGrath ?

Fixed pattern for LBW fails....

Kulasekara to Gambhir, no run, appeal for lbw, pitched outside leg stump and moved into Gambhir, was also a touch high as he tried to whip that away towards square leg

Unfortunately Kulasekara didn’t get that today. May be no Sachin there, may be no Gamzie there.

Pattern the same : pitch anywhere, ball hits the pads anywhere front of stump, scream large and large and huge, umpire frustrated would give out. Worked so far, did not this time, future not sure. Anything can happen in SL cricket.

If not Sach, then Sehwag. All for you Gamzi!!!

Mahi had enough of Gamini’s poor decisions.  So he dropped Sachin.  Now who would be the victim of the poor decision ? Mahela would wish its Sehwag.  He has been thorn in their flesh.  And the best Indian batsman in ODIs since long time. Yes Yuvraj and Gambhir too, but Sehwag is a class apart.

Gamini would love to give Sehwag out when he is not. If not the master, then his clone. 

"India isnt that superior"

“don't think India are far superior but they are playing really good, consistent cricket with bat and ball. They've got bowlers who are in form and at the same time 4-5 of their batters are in form as well and are actually taking control of things.”

Really Mahela ? India isn’t that superior ?  147 run loss is your worst at home.  Mendis and Murali have been pedestals and look like club bowlers. Still you feel they aint superior.  Positive talk and intent is always good, I owe to learn that from you. But acknowledging the problem and not denying it is always good. That’s the first step to being positive to bring about the change to the grey area you have in the team, be it cricket or  a project team.  You lead an international team well famed and I lead a small team in some part of India.  Our job is same. So some advice free of cost to you, hope you talk less and deliver more. 

Priceless KP

Perhaps the captain coach row was blessing in disguise for peerless and expensive pricelesss Kevin Pieterson in the less followed England WI series. He blazes off to 97 and then throws wicket away. But that in a way proves his commitment lies with England.... More price now expected in IPL auction..

An Ashes year never got so chaotic with Poms caught in captain coach row and the Awesome Aussies caught in their own mess. You scoundrel Ponting, you are a cheat!! Accept it. Would make hell lot of souls happy at least in blogs world :)

SMS row and Yuvraj

Ponting says he got an sms from Dan Vettori for apology on Haddin gate. Vettori says he didn’t send any such sms. Vettori boy is furious. Why so much of hue and cry when Vettori won the first game ? Is he thinking that Aussies would be fired up and would win the rest of 4 ? Or is he thinking that he can cry sympathy and get more reeling for poor Punter who is forcibly rested.

I miss the usual sights of Awesome Aussies with sights of Gilly, Pidge, Warney, Langer, Tugga and Junior. Yes of course Punter pulling the ball through to the fence. I have enjoyed that every time except when they do it to India. But it’s a matter of time when Aussies do come back. The NZ side is getting wrong boost to their confidence. We are due to play them next. So we might not want them to get more confidence boost before the series gets underway end of the month.

Meanwhile it was double delight to watch Yuvi and Sehwag damage the Lankan confidence especially Mendis and Murali. It might well would have destroyed the aura of Mendis and he might turn to spinner next door. No Warne, no Kumble, we need talismanic spinners. Mendis was “assumed and supposed to be one”, but no more now. Even delicious aspect is Yuvraj shed his inhibitions against Mendis. 3 100s in 8 games we have won. Amazing. He is sure Dada’s successor in the Tests as well. Indian cricket just got richer with or without Shilpa Shetty ‘s “toned down” figure in Rajasthan Royals.

Bottomline....

I am simply an avid Indian supporter and even moreso a Tendulkar supporter. Thats the bottomline and reason for fiery posts ever since this one sided series began...

Lankans blown away......

Do whatever, claim Tendulkar when he is not. Talk crap in the media with "character" and "pride in the boys" or "dirty players", you are not gonna win even a single game. And then Sanga goes in cheapest of way possible. Is that a vice captain supposed to do ? Rather than fight a lone battle, leave the field and run away.

And now they send Chuckali up the order. Ridiculous? Insane stuff. And he is out. 8 gone. A big thumping win around the corner. 4 for Ojha. Not sure if he has arrived. 9 gone. Tendulkar takes it. Minnow hunters reduced to a minnow.

Mahela shoud step down now.

8 in row for India. Equal their own record of 2003 WC.....Bow Wow Ex splendid Mendis on the field :)

Unfortunately cheating doesnt help guys. Be it for so called Haddin or Mahela jaywardhena. Lets see what blabbering the idiot does today. Fuck u idiot!!

M&M no more a threat

Murali and Mendis, no more a threat. Of course they never were, but whatever aura they had, its all down the drains now after an amazing assault from Yuvraj and Sehwag. Though one of them should have carried on till the end. Splendid Mendis, ohooooo. 53 runs in 8 overs and a wkt. Chuck goes for 55 runs in 8.2 overs and just a wkt, though equalizes the record, but whats the use if leaking the runs ? I am happy. But the duo should have ripped apart the SL bowling like a butcher pair. Go get the revenge for poor umpiring for Tendulkar. ICC taking a note ? May be India should lodge a protest against the umpiring like they did in Sydney 08. Why do all cheats come India’s way ? Have lost the count of umpires who all have given Tendulkar out when he was not. Bucknor the most famous and crooked of them.

2 for 111 in 17 overs are the combined figures of M&M.

There are no words enough condemning the 3 in row dismissals of Tendulkar. Silva or Dharmsena, the poor insane individuals have no right with half baked cricketing knowledge to judge Tendulkar out. They should tender an unconditional apology from Tendulkar like Rudi did it for Sangakara. But then are they gracious enough to accept their mistake ?

Mendis tapes

Mendis being asked to remove tape from fingers. Was that the secret behind the fastest 50 wkts ? Is that another example of cheating ? Wonder this team has been getting spirits of cricket award for last 2 years.

Hattrick for poor decisions to GOD

3 in row now.

Fernando to Tendulkar, OUT, Tendulkar's gone! lbw, nips in towards the batsmen, pitched up by Fernando, hits the batsman on front of leg stump, that looked to be sliding down, another not-too-great decision ends Tendulkar's innings

SR Tendulkar lbw b Fernando 7 (12b 0x4 1x6) SR: 58.33

Aint the Lankans cheat now ? Those crying foul on Aussies would cry now for their own home grown batsmen or is that they would still be obsessed by Aussies ?

It is disgusting to see GOD given out by poor mortals who are inept and aint worthy of umpiring anymore. Sri Lankans are cheats and now its proved. 3 in 3. I am writing this from office, so holding myself. Once I am home, I would let in my max anger and disgust on the buffoon whosoever has given Sachin out. May be Symmo’s comments hold (lump in ***) hold good for those 3 SL umpires and Mahela Jaywardhena for claiming Tendulkar out when he was not. Biggest cheater of world cricket. Go drown yourself in Indian ocean

Aussies no cheaters

Its ridiculous and childish to term Aussies as cheaters. I dont buy the opinion for free or for $1.35 million. The blogs and persons who have been terming Aussies as cheaters do that out of hatred and inability to stand their dominance.

Winning is always great and when you dont do that anymore, you are sure to draw a lot of flak. Poor Punter is doing the same. And on top of that being termed as cheat is like demeaning a person.

Guys, this is just a game. So chill up.

Go Aussies, thump Kiwis 4-1 and then the Poms 3-1 in the Ashes. I am an Aussie supporter after India.

Quota system back ?

Kris Srikanth is chief selector....
.
Balaji comes in the team for Munaf.

If Vengsarkar was chief selector even now, Dhaval Kulkarni wud have been into the team. The same lame duck bowler in IPL who bowls max 126 kmph fastest and is amazingly highest wicket taker in the Ranjis.

Thats why the likes of Jaffer got the chance when they were ordinary or for that matter Badrinath continues to be in Grade B when he hasnt even played a single decent knock at highest level. How come he is in the central contracts list and no PUJARA ?

Rajput is shamelessly backing Dhaval Kulkarni on a show on Neo Cricket. Mumbai mumbai bhai bhai.

Are the Aussies only cheaters ? Look around, you wud find many

Every body speaks of Punter and Haddin as cheats and against the spirits of the game. Hardly except this blogger, anybody speaks of :

1. A bowler with suspect bowling action continues to ball for 16 yrs raking up 1270 wkts in international cricket with ICC bending rules in his favor thanks to the lobbying his board does.
2. A batsman from India given out 2 times in row when he was not. Consecutive appealing by this specific bowler earns him suspicious wickets. Not once but twice in a same game. Many times across multiple games.

Is that fair ?

Aint the bloggers who term Aussies cheat being guilty of biased view ? If Aussies are cheats then the players listed above in the numbered points are cheats too. Raise your horizon. You would find many cheaters.

Even Shoaib Akhtar and Wasim Akram were guilty of one such act in Kolkata Test of 1999 when they appealed for run out dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar even when latter was in the crease. Weren't they cheaters ?

India unsafe to play cricket in ?

“Pakistan has barred its players from participating in the IPL after its foreign ministry deemed it was unsafe for the cricketers to travel to India in the wake of the November terrorist attacks in Mumbai”

Sour grapes ? Unsafe security situation in India ? Who caused it ? Who sent the attackers ? Non state actors ?

At best this ban on Pak players for IPL is out of vengeance and revenge for India’s cancellation of full tour to the troubled country. By the way except for Sohail Tanvir no other Pakistan cricketer was of any use to the franchisees. Ok Younis Captain Khan too. But then who else ?

It’s a funny situation. Don’t want to get into political perspective, but this ban evokes laughter out of me.

Host Champions trophy in Australia

No SL please for Champions trophy. Why not Australia for the same ? That’s the best country to see the live CRICKET in added by superb commentary and jovial crowd atmosphere. I know few of the bloggers – perennial Aussie haters would oppose the idea. But why everything in the subcontinent ?

Congratulations to Hesh - Sania

For winning the mixed doubles Australian open title. You guys have made the country proud of the non-cricketing entities by becoming the sports persons to repeat the success @ international level consistently.

Walk when you are not an Indian, dont if you are one.

Read the post on Leela’s blog whether to walk or not to walk. I was mighty pissed to see Dhoni walk off without even looking at umpire. I was sure he was going to give Dhoni not out. That could have in a sense neutralized the wrong decisions 0-3 a bit. We suffer in SL. Last time in the Test series, in the referrals we had 3-26. 3 decisions went in our favor. 26 in their favor. Huge imbalance. If the referrals were correctly balanced out we could have had 2-1 scoreline in our favor and Saurav would have been playing even today.

Anyways back to the walking theory, there is one I feel which should work. I would say a batsman should walk if he is not an Indian and more so if he is a Australian or a Pakistani (remember Salim Malik or Ijaz or Miandad, they never walked or even Inzamam) or a Sri Lankan. Indians are usually the victims of poor umpiring. Everywhere. Australia or SriLanka or even at their own den. Phew!! So Dhoni shouldn’t have walked even if the score was 100-6 or he was on 99. Grab the benefit of doubt the umpire gives. Not sure when the next favorable decision in favor of a brown skinned Indian would come.

Roy should have walked twice in Sydney 08 like Gilly did in Durban 03.

Interesting facts and figures.

Sri Lankan bands play Indian music, they depend on Indian Board to bell them out of the financial crisis. That’s why we are there playing them again in their own backyard despite some security problem. Not from LTTE but from the own Samaritan Sri Lankan crowd who missiled Ishant Sharma yesterday. Perhaps it’s a love and hate relationship between SLC and BCCI. BCCI was in some loss after 11/26 led to cancellation of tour to Pakistan. They needed some money, so did Pakistanis and so did SL.

So SL toured Pakistan giving an impression to the world that they play normal teams too besides minnows. But the trick reversed. SL struggled against weak teams and whipped Pakistan like minnows. Now Pakistan is touring BD hoping to learn some tricks from Shakib and other team to torment SL in the return tour to the Emerald Isle. Wonder what tough times do to you. Once a time Pakistan was flexing its muscles and biceps with the strongest in the world. Today they have to make away with SL twice in a year and BD.

Coming back to neighborhood camaraderie between boards BCCI helped SLC who in turn helped PCB who were duped by BCCI. Bhai ho to aise. Good perfect pair of “Amar Akbar Anthonysinghe”.

Kulasekhra has learnt one trick to get his batsmen out. Scream loud even after normal window time has gone. Pissed off at the scream, the umpire would give the batsman out. And thus Kula found his way to no 2 in ICC rankings. Wonder how no Indian bowler finds his way to the top.

Australian woes continue in Perth. They are 1/21 in 7 overs with Marsh gone. Now if they cant beat Kiwis at home, they are up for a change in captaincy. Like Indians and Pakistanis hate losing against each other and the losing captaincy usually faces axe, the Aussies hate losing to Kiwis. Michael Hussey lost to Kiwis 0-3 before World Cup 07 and has ceased to be the vice-captain since. Ponting if loses this series, is the end of his tenure. The year which sees Aussies host SA and NZ usually see the captaincy exchange hands. 2001-02 saw Steve Waugh’s ODI career end. That was the year when first time in long time Aussies failed to reach the finals of then VB(and now CB) series J.