CHAK DE..........CHAK DE INDIA................

It’s like perching at the top of Mt. Everest or setting your foot on the moon….err perhaps it’s much more than that. What a World Cup we’ve had…..I really don’t know how to start this blog and I am groping for words to describe the feeling I have.

Dhoni, the gambler, made 2 game changing decisions. First was picking Sreesanth ahead of Ashwin which tilted the match in Sri Lanka’s favor even before the 1st ball was bowled. 2nd was Dhoni coming ahead of Yuvraj to play a match winning innings under pressure and thereby compensating his ridiculous erroneous decision of picking Sreesanth. Finally, allz well that ends well.

The youngest in the squad Kohli summed it all up “Sachin carried the Indian cricket on his shoulders for 21years. It’s time we carried him”. I thought it was quite a great statement he made.

For a fact that a home victory has never been achieved, India had to win.
For a fact that 1.2Billion + people shouldn’t be disappointed, India needed to win.
For a fact that we played with a lot of passion, commitment and purpose, India deserved to win.
For a fact that Sachin Tendulkar has carried the hopes of entire nation for the last 21 years, India owes this WC to him.

India and Tendulkar have waited for 28 years for this day…….finally it’s a dream come true for all of us.

What an incredible feeling we all have :-)

Let the party begin !!!

PS: As always, any comments/feedback will be highly appreciated.

Oh My God - Not Again !!!

I would like to publish a list of “Oh My God – Not Again” incidents in cricket. These happen regularly but you wish you don’t see them:

1. Ashish Nehra – His wide ugly smile showing all his teeth whenever he is hit for a boundary. Fact that these days almost every ball disappears for a boundary – his wry smile makes horrible viewing.

2. Ricky Ponting – Gets Away again….after bad behavior. Match after match…incident after incident Ponting seems to escape the wrath of Match Referee and escapes match bans….wonder how and why he is so bloody lucky. Ponting – an epitome of un-sportmanship from Aus.

3. Anil Kumble – The Bowler: Bowls such a shocker that even if god was fielding he can’t cut it off. Reaction: Shouts at the Fielder.

4. Anil Kumble – The Fielder: People should learn from him, how not to dive. Ball will be so close to him that it won’t deserve a dive. But our man dives over the ball (only he can do it) and lets it go for a boundary. It really makes a funny watching.

5. Ricky Ponting – Charging at the umpire for decisions against Aus……Example: claiming a catch of even a bump ball….OMG gimme a break.

6. Fixing – Pakistan and fixing are like Fevicol ki Jodi. Am tired of non-stop fixing charges around the Pak team. Am sure none of them are false. Is Pakistan going to get out of this or continue to cheat the fans worldwide ?

7. Post Match Ceremony – Any Pakistan Captain: “Bis*i*l*ah ……… R***m Sabse Pehle mein A…h ……….”

8. Post Match Ceremony – MS Dhoni: “Well ofcourse………..”

9. Australia – They have won their last 31 matches in WC – it’s so boring to see them win all the time. Is any other team ready to beat Aus and win WC 2011 ?

10. Ravi Shastri’s Commentary – If anything could get boring, it’s this. Too many adjectives to describe IPL or to praise Lalit Modi (l**k his you know what). Lofty praises for Indian cricket and finally his booming noise can wake up even a dead man. Shastri….take a chill pill – no need to dramatize all the time.

11. Kamran Akmal Dropping a catch: He can’t catch for nuts. Pak cricket board selects him everytime and Pak’s so called think-tank (well do they really have brains??) plays him in the 11, match after match hoping he would improve. Who is the bigger fool ? PCB or Pak cricket team’s selection committee. I guess they all are. Doesn't matter how much time, money and energy you spend on a DONKEY to perform like a HORSE, it will remain DONKEY. (Sorry DONKEY for insulting you).


PS: If you think of more such incidents, do send me a note.
      As always, any comments/feedback will be highly appreciated.

India vs. Bangladesh - Preview

World Cup Interactive Schedule:
http://sports.ndtv.com/world-cup-2011/schedule/interactive-schedules

Big Match coming up tomorrow. I say big, only because we lost the 1st match against BL in the 2007 WC. As far as India (I am) is concerned – it’s a revenge match. After the loss last time, India couldn’t play catch up and got booted out in the 1st round itself. A repeat should not, must not (and hopefully will not) happen this time.

Batting
Most of them pick themselves. Kohli is in supreme form and there should be no question about his place in the 11. Going by what happened in the last practice match – he must play at 4 behind Gambhir. Toss is between Yuvraj and Raina. Yuvraj didn’t bat last (practice) match and not in form. Raina played well. Yuvi’s been bowling ok and bcoz of that he might get the nod over Raina.

Bowling
Bhajji and Zaheer are automatic choices. After the (poor and insipid) performance of our seamers, I feel Chawla should play since he has been bowling well in the practice games. For the last bowler’s spot – it can be a toss between Sreesanth and Munaf. Nehra is definitely a NO NO. Given the form and the team – India should go with 2 + 2 bowling combo + part time options of Yuvraj/Raina, Y Pathan and Kohli (if needed).

Strategy
BL will unleash their battery of spin bowlers. Razzaq, Shakib, Shuvo, Mahmudullah etc. Dhoni must send Pathan up the order to unsettle the spinners. Dhoni should think ahead of the game and must play pro-active cricket rather than catch up. For heaven’s sake – don’t wait till 40+ overs to take the batting power play – take it earlier when the going is good.

BL’s batting will revolve around Tamim and Shakib. Tamim likes the ball coming with some pace and Shakib likes spinners. So the strategy to outwit them should be straightforward. Ashraful can be dangerous on his day – but he is not in form off late. But India is quite generous in that aspect – they always make the opponents get back to form J This should be avoided.

Behavior
Off late most of the guys in our team seem to celebrate like indecent, uncivilized and uncultured individuals – either when they get to a 50 or a 100 or take a wicket. Use of the F word or the B word (in Hindi) is becoming common for these guys: Harbhajan, Kohli, Yuvraj, Gambhir (to a small extent). This momentary victory is by no means conquering the world. Important thing is to behave like humans. Just look at your teammate “Sachin” and draw some inspiration. He has conquered the world – yet he is so humble. His behavior is a role model for present and future generations.

Indian 11
V Sehwag, S Tendulkar, G Gambhir, V Kohli, Yuvraj/Raina, M Dhoni, Y Pathan, Harbhajan, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth

On paper India should thrash Bangladesh – but matches are not played on paper but on the ground. Play with a cool head and play with passion….we can then win not only the 1st match…..but also the last match.


PS: As always, any comments/feedback will be highly appreciated.

West Indies - WC 2011 Preview

I have kept the worst for the last. Two time champions WI have struggled to find consistency even to the smallest degree. Their batting is over dependent on Gayle these days for the fiery starts he can provide. Darren Bravo seems to be a player to watch for the future. With a Lara like technique ala high backlift and style, I am beginning to like him and off late he has been pretty consistent as well. Sarwan and Shiv provide calming influence but Dwayne Bravo and Pollard will be looked upon to provide final thrust to the innings.

WI bowling – let’s face it – is very weak. It’s a shame that the yesteryear fearsome fast bowlers have given way to these bowlers in this squad. Pity WI cricket is in shambles – the bowlers have to perform a miracle, match after match to show that WI have serious chances of going all the way. Sadly, that will exist only on paper….

Strategy
• Unleash Pollard in the middle of the innings and catch the opponents off guard
• Use their heads and most importantly play with some passion which seems to be lacking in WI these days
• Can ask Shiv to open the innings (if need be) and ask him to play positively

Missing Out
• Fidel Edwards instead of the useless forever under-performing Ravi Rampaul

Strengths
• Gayle can provide tornados at the start
• Darren Bravo is an attractive south-paw and plays very similar to Lara
• All-rounders in Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Pollard
• Sarwan is back and provides experience in the middle order (esp. in the middle of the innings)

Weaknesses
• If not a captain, Sammy will struggle to find a place in the 11 – not fit for captaincy
• Lack of consistency
• Bowling is very weak

Dark Horse / X-Factor
• Darren Bravo
• K Pollard

My Take
• Quarters

My Playing 11
• C Gayle, A Barath, Darren Bravo, R Sarwan, S Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, K Pollard, C Baugh(wk), D Sammy, S Benn, Kemar Roach

Drinks
• N Miller, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Devon Smith


PS: As always, any comments/feedback will be highly appreciated.

Sri Lanka - WC 2011 Preview

One of the strong favorites for this year’s title, SL have a good all-round squad ideally suited for sub continental conditions. They have been pretty consistent in the last few world cups (96 Winners, 03 Semis, 07 Finals).

Sanga, Mahela, Murali and Malinga will be their crucial impact players, while Dilshan can sometimes blow hot or cold in batting. Mathews who is really growing in stature as a cricketer will provide the crucial balance as an all-rounder.

Kula, Sam and Tharanga form the rest of the team who will need to provide a good supporting act if SL are to reach the finals or win the cup.

Strategy
• Dilshan will charge from ball 1 and they have Sanga and Mahela to steady the ship
• Given the limited choices down the order – it may well be worth a risk trying to send Kapu earlier to try and force the pace against spinners in the middle overs
• Sanga and Mahela will form the think-tank

Missing Out
• They should have selected a good solid hitter to play at the end of the innings

Strengths
• Good all-rounder in Angelo Mathews
• Slinga Malinga is virtually impossible to get away at death overs
• At 38 Murali is still a handful esp. in subcontinent
• Dilshan can explode at the start of innings

Weaknesses
• Weak lower-middle order – Kapu and Silva have been given too many chances and have failed
• Lack a bit of support to Malinga in fast bowling department

Dark Horse / X-Factor
• T Dilshan
• A Mathews

My Take
• Finals / Winners

My Playing 11
• Upul Tharanga, T Dilshan, Sangakkara(wk), M Jayawardena, T Samaraweera, A Mathews, C Kapugedera, T Perera, N Kulasekara, L Malinga, M Muralitharan

Drinks
• Chamara Silva, A Mendis, R Herath, D Fernando


PS: As always, any comments/feedback will be highly appreciated.

South Africa - WC 2011 Preview

Perennial chokers at grand stage, South Africa enter this tournament yet again as one of the favorites. A good bowling unit and an experienced top order should take them till semis atleast. Kallis, Smith, Steyn and spinners hold the key to Proteas’ success. Their lower middle order consisting of Faf and Ingram are low on experience.

However, this time around they have selected a variety of bowlers – right arm fast, bouncy, left armers, off spinners and leg spinners – so that should give them flexibility in terms of personnel. What they need big time is flexibility in approach and positive mindset. Do they have it in this squad or do they keep up their name as “Chokers” ?

Strategy
• Use 3 pacers (Steyn, Morkel, Kallis) and a bunch of spinners (Tahir, Botha, Duminy, Faf)
• Tsosobe can play instead of a spinner if the pitch is slightly fast or depending on the opposition
• Be positive against spinners and be flexible in approach

Missing Out
• Albie Morkel – his sub-continental experience, all-round skills and slog overs hitting would have been very useful

Strengths
• Amla has grown into a tremendous ODI opener
• Kallis, Duminy and AB are good allrounders
• Imran Tahir is of unknown quantity (he can be the next Ajantha Mendis atleast for this tournament)
• Best opening bowling combo in the world presently ; Steyn (Fast and Accurate) and Morkel (Fast and Bouncy)

Weaknesses
• Inability to play high quality spin
• Choking in pressure situations
• Too much rigidity in the way they play
• Faf and Ingram are inexperienced in the lower middle order

Dark Horse / X-Factor
• AB de Villiers
• Imran Tahir (if he plays)

My Take
• Semis

My Playing 11
• G Smith, H Amla, J Kallis, AB de Villers(wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, J Botha, D Steyn, M Morkel, Imran Tahir

Drinks
• W Parnell, L Tsotsobe, Robin Peterson, Morne van Wyk


PS: As always, any comments/feedback will be highly appreciated.

Pakistan - WC 2011 Preview

The 92 World Cup winners are one of the few teams that can self-destruct (other is India). They can lose from winning positions and can win from hopeless situations as well. Overall what they lack is consistency.

They have a decent captain in Afridi – who can thrill or kill. A bowling attack to envy esp if the Mohammads were there. Their batting is mostly hit or miss. However the calming influence of Younis and Misbah should make sure they can get to Quarters. After that it’s their attitude and discipline that can help them proceed. Does Afridi have it in him to bind the team together and carry it forward? Can he be the next Imran Khan ?

Strategy
• Make sure Younis Khan and Misbah don’t play in tandem
• Be flexible in the batting order – Afridi must come in earlier when spinners are bowling
• Afridi should take advice from Younis and Misbah in tight situations – and he must make sure he doesn’t bite another ball

Missing Out
• Mohammad Yousuf – who was the rock of their middle order
• The Mohammads – Asif and Amir – what a great bowling combo Pak would have had if not for spot fixing (btw – they deserve to be out)

Strengths
• Power hitting in the middle-lower order in the form of Afridi and Razzaq
• Mad-man Razzaq’s maniac slogover hitting can take their team to unreachable heights
• Umar Gul’s death bowling (and reverse swing) is very good
• Difficult to get away S Ajmal’s bowling

Weaknesses
• Unpredictable and highly volatile team
• Don’t use their heads when they play
• Ability to self-destruct
• Younis Khan, U Akmal are not in form
• Misbah has tendency to play slowly

Dark Horse / X-Factor
• A Razzaq
• A Shehzad

My Take
• Quarters

My Playing 11
• M Hafeez, A Shehzad, K Akmal(wk), Younis Khan, U Akmal, Misbah ul-Haq, S Afridi, A Razzaq, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, S Ajmal

Drinks
• Shoaib Akhtar, Junaid Khan, Asad Shafiq, Abdur Rehman

PS: As always, any comments/feedback will be highly appreciated.

New Zealand - WC 2011 Preview

The last 3 ODIs series for Kiwis have been nothing short of disasters. A 4-0 pasting from Bangladesh, followed by 5-0 loss against India and then now a home series loss against Pakistan. But things can’t worse for Kiwis now.

They have an astute captain and a very good spinner in Vettori. A bunch of dibbly-dobbly allrounders should make sure they can get to Quarters easily. After that, it’s a question of whether Ryder, Baz and Taylor (their best 3) can explode in batting, in tandem. Their fielding will back every little bit of effort put in by their bowlers.

How good their bowlers bowl and how great their best 3 bat – will dictate if NZ can go further than quarters. Whatever the situation, there will be no lacking of effort from the Kiwis though……

Strategy
• Ryder to play positively at the top of the order
• McCullum should play at No3 – that will give him some breathing space esp while chasing
• R Taylor should look to anchor the innings and at the same time keep up with the run rate

Missing Out
• Ram Koundinya if he was a New Zealand Citizen…..j/k
• Seriously can’t say anyone worthy missed the boat – selectors have done their best with whatever little talent they have at their disposal

Strengths
• Ryder at the top packs a punch (if he keeps his head)
• Vettori is a smart operator in ODIs
• Lots of bits and pieces all-rounders
• Fielding is top class

Weaknesses
• Oram is not in any form – bowling or batting
• Absence of (so called) stars
• Not able to convert starts into big scores on a consistent basis

Dark Horse / X-Factor
• J Ryder
• R Taylor

My Take
• Quarterfinals

My Playing 11
• M Guptill, J Ryder, B McCullum(wk), R Taylor, S Styris, J Franklin, J Oram, D Vettori, N McCullum, K Mills, T Southee

Drinks
• K Williamson, Woodcock, Jamie How, H Bennett


PS: As always, any comments/feedback will be highly appreciated.

England - WC 2011 Preview

Back from a successful ASHES campaign in AUS, they failed miserably in ODI series (1-6 loss). Most of their key players got injured and still are. The ECB is to be blamed for scheduling a 7 match (too long) series that ended just 2 weeks before the world cup.

England’s batting is always going to be led by KP whenever he is in the team. Strauss, Trott etc offer excellent back up support – but Eng will miss the finishing touches of Morgan especially while chasing. P Collingwood is not in form so Eng may play an extra batsman in the team and depend on part time bowling services of Colly, KP, Trott and Bopara.

Their bowling which was the main reason why they won ASHES is pretty good. Eng would welcome back Broad who will continue to form the opening combination with Anderson. Shahzad in his brief career has shown that he has pace and variety in his bowling suited for ODI format. In Swann and Yardy they have 2 good spinners – 1 who tries to take wickets and the other who will try to contain runs and can bat a bit as well. Overall this England team is well balanced.

But I feel the Eng players will be drained after such a hard battle against Aus. The question is – do they have it in them to show the same tenacity they displayed during the ASHES ?? Can they add the ODI title to their T-20 they won last year ?

Strategy
• If Collingwood is not finding form, replace him with R Bopara
• May need to re-jig their batting order so that they have someone who can blast away at the end (since Morgan is no longer available)

Missing Out
• Owais Shah instead of Luke Wright (totally useless guy – go check his record for proof)

Strengths
• Swann is the best off-spinner in the world at the moment
• Pietersen can thrash any attack (reason why Eng won T-20 WC last year)
• J Trott is in form

Weaknesses
• Players will be weary and tired after a VERY VERY long Aus tour
• E Morgan is injured and out of World Cup
• Paul Collingwood is not in form
• Many of their players are injured after the long Aus tour
• Anderson can be vulnerable if ball doesn’t swing

Dark Horse / X-Factor
• K Pietersen
• A Strauss

My Take
• Semi Finals / Quarters

My Playing 11
• A Strauss, M Prior (wk), J Trott, K Pietersen, Ian Bell, P Collingwood, M Yardy, G Swann, S Broad, Ajmal Shahzad, J Anderson

Drinks
• T Bresnan, Luke Wright, R Bopara, J Tredwell


PS: As always, any comments/feedback will be highly appreciated.

Australia - WC 2011 Preview

Four time winners Aus enter the WC’11 against a background of injuries. Hussey and Hauritz were just ruled out. Ponting’s just coming back. You can never count on Lee and Shaun Tait to be injury free. That being said, they are still Champs.

From the last WC, Haddin has replaced Gilchrist in the 11….but definitely doesn’t instill the same fear as Gilly did in the opponents’ minds. Hayden is also gone – his replacement Watson can biff it up – but does he have it in him to score big 100s and play long innings??

I am not sure why Steven Smith is selected – he has done very little in his batting and bowling. Also, the logic of having a second keeper in Tim Paine baffles me. To me, the Aus selectors have screwed up (a couple of places) just like the Ashes.

Brett Lee and Shaun Tait are back. Tait (2nd highest wicket taker in 2007) together with McGrath formed a potent combination in leading Aus to WC win. If he can keep his fitness, he will be more than handful with his pace, bounce and variations even in sub-continental conditions.

Watson is in form of his life and he gives Aus a perfect all-round option. D Hussey, M Clarke and C White (if needed) will share part time spinning options. M Johnson’s job as pinch hitter against Eng in the 6th ODI was a successful punt. But what is appreciable is that Aus does try to surprise by doing the unthinkable…..that kind of strategy will be needed if Aus (Ponting) is to win the WC for the 4th time on the run….

Strategy
• With the 11 I have mentioned below they have 4 regular bowlers (1 spinner in Krejza and 3 Faster Men in Johnson, Lee & Tait)
• 5th bowler can be a combo of Watson, D Hussey and M Clarke
• Be flexible to send Johnson up the order to take risks

Missing Out
• David Warner (his electric starts and great fielding) instead of Steven Smith + he would have been a better choice than Haddin (as an opener)
• Dan Christian (hard hitting all-rounder) instead of Tim Paine (why do you need 2 wicket keepers) ??

Strengths
• Fielding, Team Strength, Fearlessness, Ruthlessness
• Fast bowling fire power
• No matter what Aus will fight right till the end (remember last year T-20 against Pak ??)
• White’s hitting in the death overs can be mind boggling

Weaknesses
• Ponting had missed the ODIs (v England) due to injury and he is not in form
• M Hussey the finisher was declared out of the WC due to injury
• Shaun Tait can blow hot or cold
• Haddin at the top of the order doesn’t make sense

Dark Horse / X-Factor
• S Watson
• D Hussey

My Take
• Finals / Winner

My Playing 11
• S Watson, B Haddin(wk), R Ponting, M Clarke, C White, C Ferguson, D Hussey, J Krejza, M Johnson, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait

Drinks
• D Bollinger, T Paine, Hastings, Steven Smith

India - WC 2011 Preview

Coming back from a successful tour of SA, India are favorites on paper simply because they are playing at home. A reality check would show that India lacks penetrative bowling and hence in my opinion, their chances take a beating. It’s not a surprise that past world cup winning teams have had successful bowlers throughout the tournament. In this squad barring Zaheer Khan (only to a small extent) others are very ordinary.


An ODI series win (in SA) which was there for the taking was lost due to poor strategy. Even though Ashwin and Chawla may be resigned to drinks, they should have played a couple of games against SA, given that they are in the WC Squad. There is a question mark over the form of Raina & Nehra and they should not be in the 1st choice 11 for WC.
India haven’t played with their 1st choice 11 for a long time. Sachin’s last proper ODI was almost a year back. Yuvraj, Raina and Dhoni are not in much form. Sehwag missed the ODIs against SA and NZ and was out of form in tests (v. SA). So I am worried a bit on our batting front. Our bowling has always been ordinary – so am just hoping against hope that they bowl well.

Strategy
• Sachin to hold the innings while others go berserk. Dhoni should be flexible in changing the batting order as and when required.
• If need be, Yusuf Pathan should come up the order….esp when spinners are bowling.
• When spinners are bowling the middle overs, effort should be made to cut the singles by having extra fielders inside the circle and make the batsmen take risks.
• Take the Batting Powerplay when set batsmen are playing – not at the end of the innings…else it’ll be too late.
• Bat first….ALL the time

Missing Out
• Robin Uthappa as an extra batsman and backup keeper (instead of Piyush)
• Irfan Pathan as all-rounder (instead of Nehra)


Strengths
• Dhoni’s captaincy
• Batting – if players are in form and not injured
• Lot of part time spinners


Weaknesses
• Very poor fielding unit
• Nehra, Munaf are liabilities. To an extent Sachin, Sehwag, Zaheer also are…
• Not a great bowling lineup to send shivers down the spine of opposing batsmen
• Lack of practice for Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir and Praveen Kumar
• Yuvraj, Raina, Dhoni are not in form (they didn’t light up the scoreboards in SA)

Dark Horse / X-Factor
• Virat Kohli

My Take
• Quarterfinals (Semis if lucky)
• I hope am proved wrong and India wins it

My Playing 11
• Sehwag, Tendulkar, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni*(wk), Y Pathan, Harbhajan, Zaheer, P Kumar, Munaf Patel

Drinks
• Raina, Nehra, Ashwin, Chawla

PS: As always, any comments/feedback will be highly appreciated.

World Cup 2011 - Preview

Starting today I’ll be writing articles on Cricket World Cup 2011. Each day I’ll analyze a team and talk about their strengths, weaknesses etc.

Enjoy reading (and sorry if you are not a cricket fan).

World Cup 2011 - Preview

This world cup (after a long time) will be closely fought in my opinion. Reason being no single team can boast that it’s at the peak of all the 3 departments of the game (batting, bowling and fielding).

Australia – the hatrick of winners – have lost so many match winners (due to retirement) that suddenly people don’t call them the favorites.

India – at home is very good – but inconsistency and a weak bowling/fielding line up may punt them back into trouble.

Sri Lanka – last year runners up. Have fire power at the top but a weak lower/middle order will cause problems. Decent bowling line up makes them one of the contenders.

South Africa – cough cough….choke choke……chokers at big stage. But they do have the all-round skills to compete well. Susceptible to high quality spin.

England – One of the contenders till a few days back – but the long Aus tour has left so many of their players injured. With a world T-20 cup at the bank – not a bad team (for once).

New Zealand – Lost some direction in the last 6 months. Tenacious fighters with limited ability. World will go upside down if they win this cup.

West Indies – My favorite after India. But sadly, they always talk of revival in WI cricket without showing any performance. Gayle remains the only force with some help from Pollard.

Pakistan – the less said the better….totally useless team but can wake up from perennial slumber for just 1 day…..opponent beware…

My Semi-Final Lineup

• Australia
• South Africa
• Sri Lanka
• England / India

I am guessing this time that Sri Lanka may win the world cup but with eternal optimism stuck at the corner of my heart I will hope its India…not only this year but for every single match….every single cup…that they play………
BTW – it was such a embarrassment that Eden Gardens wouldn’t be ready for Feb 27 game. This is ridiculous. Officials are to be blamed. Pity no one took lessons from the CWG mishap last year…..BCCI and Dalmiya hide your face….
…Adios….from a crazy Indian cricket fan….

– Ram Koundinya –
PS: As always, any comments/feedback will be highly appreciated.

India vs South Africa Tests - Wrap Up

What an awesome 2nd Test Match at Kolkatta. It was a perfect marketing for Test Matches that make us to say "Tests are Indeed the Best". One team was fighting for survival and other trying to force a win. Both were fighting hard to win the series...good bowling and splendid batting by Amla made the series hard fought.

I wish this was a 4 Test series or atleast 3 Tests. But at the end of the day one can't complain since from a full ODI series this was converted to a 2 test series.

Is India really the un-disputed No. 1 ? Many of the hard core fans will be Yes. I am more than a hard core fan....but I would say ~NO~. Its 'coz of multiple reasons:

1. We are yet to WIN a test series against SA in the last 10-12 years. We haven't beaten them at home or abroad. Strange but true.

2. Need to win a test series in Aus, SA and also in SL. We have beaten them at home, but not in away series.

When they were No.1 - the Aussies won everywhere. They even beat India a few years back. Same with SA - they beat Aus in Aus (2008), Eng in Eng last series and also won many other away series.

Until India wins the abroad series rather than winning the "odd" one test, I don't think we can call ourselves un-disputed no.1.

I reiterate we need a few good fast bowlers and a good batting allrounder (aka Ganguly or Kallis) to start winning "series" away.

On a closing note - Just look at the way the Indian Team and fans reacted after the win. This passion is not found in ODIs or T-20s. That really explain how much they enjoyed the test win. Come on BCCI...make India play more tests and give Chennai & Kolkata a test (minimum) every year.

Test Cricket is here to stay !!!

India vs. South Africa Post 1st Test

Wow....Steyn and co. did walk their talk....SA just thumped India. It was an awesome team performance by SA. Amla and Kallis took care of the batting. Steyn and company including Harris (who was made to look like Lord Harris....damn it) took care of bowling out the Indians.

My earlier blog and predictions were 100% accurate. India really had to blame their bowling for allowing SA to get away from a start of 6/2. I don't understand the obsession with Bhajji and Ishant...these 2 really need a break. One 4-fer against Bangladesh doesn't put Ishant back in form. Bhajji struggled even against BL.

Sehwag commented that Bangladesh won't be able take 20 Indian wickets in a test match. Now the tables are turned....with this bowling line up its almost certain that India won't take 20 wickets - unless Zaheer and Sreesanth (assuming he plays the 2nd test) do some magic along with the most important thing in the match "the pitch".

It was unfortunate that Rohit was injured before the toss and the blame fell on selectors for not picking an extra batsmen. I thought Srikanth (chairman of selectors) gracefully accepted that they may have made a mistake....how many of the past selectors have done that ?

Gambhir had a rare failure - we must accept that he may have some bad days....others were not consistent - those who played well in the 1st innings didn't in the 2nd and vice vera....lack of consistency hurt us. This showed how badly we missed Dravid and Laxman.

I hope Laxman is fit for the 2nd test...however I am not worried about our batting....its our bowling which is looking terribly weak.......Ian Chappell was right......no wonder he was a great thinking captain for Australia.

Come on India - prove me wrong....else its going to be 1-0 to SA after a fighting draw in Kolkata.

Adios...............

Australia and Pakistan @ Down Under 2009-10

Hello and welcome to Ram Koundinya’s Blog. This time am gonna cover the on going series between Pakistan and Australia in the Down Under.

Pakistan
3-0 in tests and 5-0 in ODIs loss to Australia…if this is not enough, Pakistan’s captain Afridi is suspended for 2 games. Can it get any better than this ? It can for most teams but certainly not for Pakistan.

After the 5th match, when Afridi had to confront the match referee, this is what he had to say “I am bored of playing for Pakistan and losing match after match. Yes I bit the ball…I mean the cricket ball and I plead guilty to the charges”. He also added “Now I can take a quick trip to India and plead Lalit Modi if I can be squeezed into some IPL Team. I am not sad that we lost 8 games to Aus…but I am extremely hurt we can’t play in the IPL.”

While Younis and Yousuf have been fighting it out with one another to see who wins the battle to score least runs, Kamran Akmal has been practicing so much goal keeping that he has forgotten to catch a cricket ball. Insider sources tell us that he has now signed a deal with EPL as a goal keeper now that IPL has shown the door to him. EPL County is now hoping (and praying) that Kamran atleast catches the bigger ball.

Yousuf said at the presentation: “Bis……….Rahim…..sabse pehle I want to thank Afridi for what he did. We were desperate to make an impact in the series…leave a footprint in Australia….since I was sitting out (dropped) for the last match, am happy Afridi did it for all us…he left his teethprint.”

Former captain Younis Khan wrapped up “yeah we were keeping up the tradition of Pak cricket…we need to create some problem or the other in every series….we are the 1st team to prove that we can tamper the ball with teeth…am happy the boys have done it again….keep it up guys….”

PS: There is a secret going around that the best team award for unity will be going to Pakistan…

What next Pakistan……?

Australia

They should be extremely happy after winning 3-0 especially with the support of 2 Umpires + 3rd Umpire + 1 Match Referee. Australia esp in Australia would be thankful to this support staff – match after match…year after year. Hard to imagine what it would be for them without these guys. Time and again the Aussie commentators talk about role modeling, sportsmanship, good behavior etc that the Australian players follow. Some classic examples are McGrath, Ponting, Steve Waugh, Shane Warne etc etc. Its high time other countries pick these things up and give it right back to Aus.

Ponting said “Winning is all that matters to us. Even if I edge a ball and it takes 45 degrees deviation, I will wait for umpire to lift this finger…I mean his index finger not the middle finger. I expect opposition players to walk off even if we take a close bump ball catch – to me that is sportsmanship.”

Talking about the Ashes, Ponting said “yeah I am confident we can beat the Poms when they come to Aus – after all we have a good support staff here. But I am waiting for the next Ashes in England. I want to lead this team there for the 3rd time. I want my name in the record books as the only captain not to win Ashes in England…”

World No 1 team….upholding the true spirit of unsportmanship….

Pakistan bashing is silver…….but……Aussie bashing is Golden…

Any or all quotes and facts in this article may be wholly or partly fiction and is purely intended for fun (but you knew that already by now…don’t you?)

As always any feedback is highly appreciated….

India vs Bangladesh and South Africa Test Series

Hello and welcome to my Blog. I will have a quick round up of India vs. Bangladesh before talking about the tests against the Proteas.

India vs. Bangladesh
A series which India expected to win 2-0 did really happen. Barring a few hiccups like the 1st test batting collapse and last test where Tamim Iqbal played out of his skins, India played the cricket expected out of them to beat BD. Still a lot of areas to improve like fielding, catching (less said about them – the better) and ofcourse bowling. Our bowling lacks sting and if we are to become a top test team we need to add fire power in our bowling to take 20 wickets consistently.

India vs. South Africa
South Africa have a balanced team with 4 bowlers + Kallis the all rounder. However their batting is a bit brittle – Prince is a liability at the top of the order and Duminy is struggling for form. SA are known to struggle against quality spin. Warne had great success against them and so did Swann in the last series. So Amit Mishra will be key in my opinion. Harbhajan must start flighting the ball if he wants to be successful in tests again….can’t expect to pick up wickets if he throws darts like in ODIs. I feel we are missing a good aggressive off spinner.

In the batting front, with Dravid and Yuvraj out of the tests, it’s a wonderful opportunity for Vijay and Badrinath to make a statement. They have loads of runs in the domestic tournaments to back them up and its time to translate them into match winning performances for Indian team. This will also inspire confidence and test the bench out, once the middle order retires in the next few years.

I hope Dhoni picks Mithun in the 11 instead of Ishant. But I know Dhoni will go for Ishant citing experience and improvement in the tests against Bangladesh. I feel Ishant is down on form badly and he needs time off from game. Else he is gonna be a canon fodder for South African batsmen who like ball coming on to the bat nicely and at a good pace.

I do hope that India plays Harris positively and not treat him like Lord Harris like what transpired in the previous tour to SA.

Do we miss anyone ?
In a country of 1 Billion + people, am sad that we are not able to find someone like Kallis – primarily a batsman and who can bowl good 15 overs of seamup in a test match day. We have many batsmen in India who can spin, but I feel we miss a seamer in this mould. This could really help in the balance of the team irrespective of home or away tests…more so in India since we have the habit of playing 2 + 2.

My Playing 11
Gambhir, Sehwag, Vijay, Tendulkar, Laxman, Badrinath, Dhoni, Mishra, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Abhimanyu Mithun

2 Tests Only ??
Why do India alone play these 2 tests series ? Last year against NZ as well only 2 tests were scheduled which was luckily changed to 3 by cancelling the practice matches. A Big gun team like South Africa comes and we should be playing atleast 4 tests. But at the end of the day, we should be happy – an only ODI series of 5 matches which was originally planned was changed to 3 ODIs and 2 tests included after Tendulkar’s and Dhoni’s request to include more tests.

X-Factor
Abhimanyu Mithun from India (I hope he is in the starting 11) and Morne Morkel from SA.

My Prediction
I am going to stick my neck out and say 1-0. 1-0 to whom is something you’ll all have to guess and let me know. I’ll let you guys experience the suspense for next few days. But trust me this series will be pretty closely fought.

As always any feedback is highly appreciated….

India vs. New Zealand – 1st Test Review

So was an Indian victory expected in the 1st Test? Certainly not from my side. Most of the times India loses its first test and tries to catch up in the remainder of the series. So that’s why I had predicted 2-1 to India. Now that India has won the 1st test, I have to change my prediction to 2-0 to India.

With due respects to New Zealand, I guess one of the reasons we won the 1st test is the Kiwis are a weaker team (and ranked a low 8th). Another main reason is that usually we start an away tour with the test series. But this time around we started off with 2 unimportant T-20s and 5 ODIs. India being slow starters stayed put with their record and lost both the T-20s which served them as a warning and they came up with uninhibited stroke play and won the one day series 3-1. This gave the team enough confidence and that showed up in the 1st test match. The win was a pure team effort and everybody contributed handsomely for the cause.

For New Zealand to match India or atleast come closer – they need to produce seaming tracks. The kiwis may need to change their bowling combination. Mills doesn’t seem to be a man in form. Vettori batted well as he has been doing over the past 2 years but his bowling is not going to cause alarms. Also, Vettori should flight the ball more and try to take wickets and not just look to contain. He may not be too confident in doing that but that’s his best chance of picking up wickets. They may also need to look at what Franklin has to offer while batting at 6 or coming in as a change bowler. Is he really good enough to bat at 6 ?

Historically India has a (bad) habit of picking up an opposition player and gifting him with runs and wickets in a series. In this one it clearly happens to be (my dark horse) Jesse Ryder.

However for India, the victory shouldn’t mask a few things that happened. As always there is a scope of improvement. Yuvraj needs to get some confidence in tests. His defence is very poor and its better off for him to play like One days…bat a bit aggressive at the same time don’t go overboard. Controlled aggression is the key. The other thing is why do we always fail to wrap up the tail quickly. New Zealand recovered from 60-6 in the 1st innings and in the second McCullum and O’Brien added 70+ for the 9th wicket. India should go for the kill and not let their guard down even if the tail is batting.

India should not settle for a 1-0 lead and try to play for a draw. That will sow seeds for problems. I didn’t like the way India declared against Pakistan (3rd Test in Bangalore, 2007) and against England (3rd Test at The Oval, 2007) – that’s very conservative. The typical Indian mind set should end. India should be ruthless.

This team is clearly erasing all the bad history. Lets us now see if we can win all the 3 tests and start creating (good) history. Under Dhoni, I would expect India to aim for that.

India vs. New Zealand (Test Series)

Hello and welcome to my blog. Am sorry for the big delay between my earlier blog and this one. I will try my best to write regularly. Also, due to additional requests I plan to write about non India series as well. This time around let me write about India vs. New Zealand test series.

As you know by now that being a cricket purist, I crave a lot for India test matches. In that aspect I am happy that the 2 test series has been changed to 3.

Talking about India’s bowling, they probably have the best opening bowling combination in the world cricket at the moment – in Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. The problem is who’s going to be the 3rd seamer from Munaf, Balaji and Dhawal Kulkarni. I feel the lack of a settled 3rd fast bowler may hurt India’s chances. All 3 of them have been affected by lack of practice. Munaf and Balaji have been not tested outside the sub continent while Dhawal’s chances lie on how hostile he is at the nets. Munaf just pulled up sore in Sri Lanka and Balaji has had a really long lay off from international level. Here is where I feel selectors missed a trick by not including Sreesanth. As he is very aggressive, has good body language and his bowling is perfectly suited to swinging conditions in NZ, India might miss him. Anyway, I think Munaf is better of the given lot. If he can keep up his fitness and can get the ball to seam around then he can be pretty dangerous.

Bowling full and allowing the ball to swing would just be enough to keep the batsmen guessing and pick up wickets. Short balls should be judiciously used since they can disappear to the fence easily – the square boundaries are very small.

India will most probably go with 6 batsmen + 1 keeper + 4 bowlers. Harbhajan might be the lone recognized spinner. If he can loop and flight the ball and use the doosra intelligently then he can pick up a few wickets inspite of the conditions. But if he goes back to One day mode and starts throwing it darts then he is going to be useless. Sehwag and Yuvraj might be the part time spinners – but I feel Dhoni must use Tendulkar. I use the word “must” because, of late, Dhoni has been reluctant to use Tendulkar and his leg spin is more than handy and he can trouble the Kiwis with his variations. History and record books point to the fact that Shane Warne had a good record and more than troubled the Kiwis.

Lets now turn our attention to the Indian batsmen. The current Indian batting line-up has predominance of stroke players. They have to be patient in the initial overs when it seams and swings around, else India will find themselves in trouble. Once the ball becomes older, then they can play their strokes. It is imperative that Sehwag and Gambhir curb their attacking instincts at the start so the stroke players make hay later. Controlled aggression can help demoralize the NZ attack initially and set the tempo for the middle order since too much defense will bog them down.

Dravid has not been in the greatest of international form. Laxman is coming back from an injury sustained in the domestic season. Yuvraj’s struggles in away tests are well known. How well he can adjust to the conditions quickly will be key to India’s success. So India’s batting can be vulnerable if openers don’t provide them good starts or atleast bat out the new ball.

As far as New Zealand team is concerned, they don’t have star players – but they are well led by Vettori and exercise a fighting team spirit. Their batting however is going to be heavily dependent on Ross Taylor and McCullum down the order. I must say I am very impressed by the way this new kid Martin Guptill plays. He plays fearless and attacking cricket. How he adjusts to the demands of test cricket will be interesting to see. But the first signs are definitely promising.

Bowling will be dependent on Vettori but I feel he might struggle against India given that they play spin well. Mills is going to be their key bowler since he has a good habit of picking up early wickets. Butler and O’Brien can be a handful given that they are playing in home conditions. But if India can weather the initial storm then the Kiwi bowlers may run into problems.

The key batsmen for me, from the India team will be Sehwag and Dravid. For the Kiwis it will be Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill. The bowlers who can make a difference are Zaheer and Ishant from India and Mills & Butler from the Kiwis.

So my prediction for the series is 2:1………..to India.

Shocking Umpiring

It might be very obvious but umpiring these days is very much below International Standards. Consider the recent goof ups that come to my memory:

1. 2nd Test Sydney - atleast 5-6 blunders
(i) Ponting was caught behind off Ganguly
(ii) Ponting had inside edged on to the pad and was given LBW
(iii) Symonds was caught behind
(iv) Symonds was stumped
(v) Symonds was LBW
(vi) Symonds was stumped (2nd day again)

2. Jacques Kallis was not out against West Indies but was wrongly given out caught behind in the 1st test and this decisively changed the course of the match.

3. Melbourne Test - Ind vs Aus -
(i) Mitchel Johnson was given NOT OUT when he clearly nicked it.
(ii) Yuvraj was wrongly given out caught behind when replays weren't conclusive.
In that case benefit of doubt should have gone to the batsman.

4. Sangakkara was given out wrongly by Rudi Koertzen in the last test against Aus when Sri Lanka were chasing 500+. That turned out to be a match turning decision.

Well ICC seriously needs to look at the current umpires and the blunders they are making thus ruining the contests. Symonds should have been out on 30 but scored more than 150 (at the time of writing) and he has changed the course of the match (because of horrible decisions).

The present list of umpires needs to be changed. They should be trained and given a serious warning of making costly blunders. Only Simon Taufel and Aleem Dar (to a decent extent) are of any International Quality these days.

What I don't understand is that if there is technology and why can't it be used for all close decisions. It will hardly delay the game because the close calls that happen in a game are just a few but they usually change the course of the match.

Until that happens, screwed up umpires (like Bucknor) will continue to give horrible shockers..........

India - Down and Under - Post 1st Test

Well...looks like my predictions are correct. India always performs horribly in the 1st test of an away series. The Melbourne test was no different.

The low par bowling lineup somehow managed to dismiss Aus for less than 350. This has rarely happens to Aus in Aus, since visiting teams are usually chasing the leather until Aus are 550+ or so.

First of all, I felt India went with a bad bowling attack and a decent batting lineup. Usually 2 fast bowlers and 2 spinners are not the right lineup except may be at Sydney. Bhajji is bowling such a negative length these days that he is not effective for tests at all. Tossing the ball up more and beating the batsmen in flight is a better way to take wickets. He was wicketless in the 1st innings and somehow was lucky to pick up 3 in the second innings. Another fast bowler (Ishant) in his place would have been been a better choice.

RP Singh bowled average and it might be worth it to have a look at Irfan since he can bat as well. After the 1st test in England, RP hasn't performed that well. He took 7 wickets in the 1st test, 3 in the second and just 2 in the last test against England. So thats an "OK" performance overall considering that English swinging conditions helped him a lot.

My bowling line up for the 2nd test is: Zaheer, Irfan, Kumble, Ishant or Bhajji. Bhajji only if its really a big time spinning track. If we need a second spinner Sachin can bowl good leg breaks and I feel Aus might not pick his variations. He was underbowled big time in the 1st test.

Moving on to the batting now. There were no positives from the match. Except Sachin in the 1st innings and Ganguly in both the innings none of them showed any stomach for fight. They caved in so badly - our so called big 4....so called awesome batting lineup...Why are these tigers performing only on paper and not on the field....esp abroad against good teams ?

Dravid opened just to accomodate Yuvraj in the lineup. And both of them failed. The fact that both our openers - Dravid and Jaffer are in the same mould paved way for our failure. Both of them couldn't get going. Dravid was horrible. What on earth was he doing ? Sleeping or what ? Dravid is mentally down. You win by scoring runs not by staying on the pitch. The openers let the Aus bowlers bowl at them and allowed them to set attacking fields.

In the last 12 months (Dec 2006 to Dec 2007) - Dravid has scored 655 runs at an average of 31.19. Take away his only century (of 129) against Bangladesh this year and it becomes 526 runs at average of 26.3...and that too without any match winning innings. That is really poor statistics from a top order player. Are the selectors listening ? Is it time he was dropped from the Test Team as well ?

There has to be a change in the batting order. Either the current openers should score fast if Kumble decides to retain the same batting order. If not, then Sehwag should come back as opener. In that case Yuvi might lose out. So be it. The gamble is worth it. It can't be worse from here on. Kumble has to do something quick, else 1-0 will quickly be 2-0 and that will effectively shut India out of the series.

Sehwag might just help us provide some momentum to our batting. He is a gamble no doubt. Its worth it. He can double up as a bowler as well. Sometimes Sehwag flights more than Bhajji. And he is more than a useful offspinner in tests.

You have to beat Aus by getting on the top of them. Aggression is a must to defeat them. Until that happens, I might have to change my prediction from 2:1 to 3:0 or even 4:0.