Cricket: Riders feel the Charge

As I said Cricket and T20 are like two subjects too be prepared from the text book, but the maxims of the two games remains the same. I think even the punters know this fact. I didn’t see the curtailed match as I opted for the siesta instead. But yeah Sehwag did fire, he has had one of the most interesting last 18 months and his opening partner too seem to have a run full time. I think Delhi and Chennai have the most potent bowling attack hence favourites to win. Others are good but remain untest.

I saw the Knight Riders vs Decaan Chargers match. So here are 20 point blog from the match Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers.

1. Fidel Edwards 6 in four overs, brilliant, gearing up to see Edwards vs Malinga.
2. All hype of Gayle, McCullum and Ganguly was settled in first 20 minutes of the game, all three in the hut and KKR reeling soon.
3. The variety of reasons may have taken IPL away from India but lots many things in terms of must-do-basics-of-cricket have between bought closer.
4. Did I see turn on SAf pitches? Ojha and Karthik would be still rubbing there eyes in some disbelief.
5. Scott Styris was saved from the blushes by two brilliant catches by Gibbs and Sharma.
6. Gibbs the swash-buckler he is tuned it on big time, scored a meaty 53 not out, made sure the driver advantage is bought all the way to deliver point.
7. The onus is on Rohit Sharma tough, he need to prove both fitness and form and temperament and technique, there is no doubt over the quality of talent.
8. RP rips apart Kolkatta Knight Riders with four wickets.
9. Ganguly missing Eden gardens and tailor made pitches there.
10. There is a case of going back to the basics and have specialist openers for this IPL-2.
11. Agarkar, the question his can he bowl without embarrassing his captain?
12. Laxmi Ratan Shukla, well, he smacked a couple but was deceived by stupid and turning orthodox left arm spin.
13. Laxman should read “For Dummies - How to run between the wickets?”
14. But he need no master class in batting, the six off Ishant was very very special.
15. Deccan Chargers are really in some different colour altogether.
16. It is matter of time before Dada comes good atleast once, though he needs some soul searching to do, something he looked to be doing when facing Fidel.
17. I think almost all team needs to fine tune their batting order, almost all have screwed up, but it is just one match.
18. I think Harmeet Singh bowled well and impressed, look sgood but would do good to add pace.
19. Where was Mushraffe Mortaza for Kolkatta Knight Riders?
20. I think all of us viewers should enjoy what is happening rather than reminiscence on what has happened last year, this IPL is on, with a difference.

Cricket: India vs W.I. Third Test.

There was no doubt that this would have been the weakest West Indian team that India would have faced in ages but my doubt is whether if the Indian team is good enough to beat even this West Indian team. I say some ordinary and at times baffling team selection pulled India down and we have yet to see a result. The chances of this match are as great as chances of not raining at Saint Kitts. There would be some excitement if Lara decides to declare the innings. I don’t think there is not too much in the West Indian bowling either which can claim India wickets twice, but then Indian batsmen flounder often so won’t stick my neck and say this is cake walk for Indian batsmen.

Sehwag is inconsistent; then Gayle is a Gayle.
If one talks of Sehwag and Gayle they are together linked with inconsistent. There is inconsistency in the runs they score but there is no inconsistency in the power they use to score. They both are stand and deliver stuff.

Good opening spell undone.
Munaf and Sree Santh started well. The ball thud into Dhoni’s gloves and there was an extra movement and carry. Gayle though had different ideas he hammered a sixer and a boundary in a Sree Santh over. He hammered 5 sixes and 8 fours in all of 83 runs and would be kicking himself not to register a ton. He and Ganga put on a first wicket stand of 143 runs before Munaf dismissed Gayle. The agony continued for Indian bowlers as Sarwan walked out of pavilion and bad form. He is all about touch and so good to watch . At the days end West Indies were 207 for one.

Day two: Same story.
Ganga and Sarwan kept on the temp and agony continued. Munaf was hit for 25 in an over. Six fours and a no ball. He came back to bowled Ganga who played on and Lara who was trapped in front. The West Indian score read 356 for 3. West Indies racked upto 420 for 5 before rain stopped play.

Cricket: India vs W.I Final O.D.I.

The series ended before it actually ended. Good things come to an end so does India’s good run, what ever comes up comes down. The only thing being it was not expected against West Indies. It is a bitter dose to swallow but nothing is as harsh as reality. I remember Dean Jones saying that West Indies would cruise to victory.

Poor start for both teams.
If anything was to go buy the catch that Dhoni dropped in the very first over was writing on the wall. It set the tone for West Indies. Sreesaanth seems to be unlucky with edges, they always seem to slip away from fielders hands. Poor soul I wish his luck changes in Test series. Agrakar ruined the day for the other West Indian opener claiming he for nothing. An Indian opener Robin Uthappa also failed to get going when Indian turned into bat.

It is a threatening Gayle.
Gayle looks ready to blow away the Indian bowling. It will be a very interesting series. I was always looking for to test series. If we are to loose the test series then it is a matter of concern. Gayle has got the better of Indian spearhead Irfan Pathan. He was ordinary at best against West Indies. He has a problem with bringing the ball back into left hander.

No wicket at all.
The Indian bowling has always struggled in the regions beyond Arabian Sea. The lack of penetrative bowling often cost as more than any other team. A team which has a good bowling attack will always look threatening in any form of cricket. The matters look bleaker with forced absence of Agarkar. Sarwan and Gayle and then Lara and Sarwan build a nice platform for them to accelerate in the end.
Indians playing an extra batsman meant that Viru had to bowl. I think he and Yuvraj should be often used as a bowling option as both are thinking bowlers. Viru knocked of Gayle after being struck for two consecutive fours.

Bravo is indeed very good.
Bravo helped them winning Champion Trophy couple of years back. As far as I remember it was a tight match. He also batted well against the Aussies in Aussies earlier in the year. He is a good prospect for West Indian team. There is a flourish in his strokes which is often a hallmark of a genuinely good batsman. He did not murdered the bowling put stepped on the paddle with Hinds and made sure the Indians have a tough task on their hands. The matters were helped by giving an extended spell to Agarkar in the death.

Indian also start poor.
Robin Uthappa was sent packing for nothing. Dravid came in and tried steadied the innings was run out soon. Indians looked in shambles. The batsmen scored at a rapid pace but the rate of batsmen getting out seemed to be quicker. No two batsmen seemed eager to sew a partnership and steady the innings. Then Kaif was given a raw deal asking hin to bat way below. I think Kaif a steady player same mould as Dravid. He is more of grafter rather than a basher and seems to need some time before accelerating.

No partnerships sank the ship.
There were not enough building blocks of runs which could have bought Indians closed to the target. The partnership looked threatening. The West Indians cleaned up most of what Indian batting had to offer. The end result was obvious. The Indian batsmen have undermined themselves and the body language was that of a person going about his job after resigning. I think Indian team had a very bad body language.
Does India losing 1-4 makes Dravid a bad captain and Chapell a bad coach?

The game of cricket is never over unless the last wicket is taken and the last run score.
This series reiterated this cricketing adage. I hope Indians put up a better show in Tests.

Cricket: India vs West Indies, First ODI

The dream run continues.

Tough task set.
The West Indies might be ruing the fact that they could have driven home the advantage by amassing a total inexcess of 20 but that was not the possibility as the Indian bowlers did a good cleaning up job by restricting the hosts to just 251. This made sure that in form but a fragile middle order could keep things in control. A 250 was a tough ask tough and India needed to almost pull this match with all the muscle they had.

Sehwag without run scoring ideas. Raina must be tested.
He still seems out of sorts. He looks feeble and lack lustre. The best thing for him would be too stick around and get some momentum going for himself even if it means playing an unfamiliar and uncharacteristic manner. He hardly looked in tune with the pace of the game. Could anyone believe Dravid playing at run a ball while Sehwag just defending? But that was the story in the last game. There is a case of pushing Sehwag down the order if not dropping him and make way for a young Raina to open the innings. I think if ( and when )Tendulkar comes back to open in O.D.I.’s he and Raina would be a good pair (right and left opening batsmen at that ) and who better partner for Raina then Tendulkar at the other end from ball one. Raina has a decent technique suited for One Days, he isn’t flashy enough and doesn’t mind hitting over the top.

Yuvraj takes a deep plunge in knee level waters.
Yuvraj try to repeat performance which he was displaying in recent history did not amuse many by playing a nothing shot, kudos to Samuel as he held onto a very good catch. I think would advise him to look and leap. Over confidence has ruined a many. I think I would have preferred him settling down and some quiet over wouldn’t have mattered much coz he is a very good finisher of the One Day game along with Abdur Razaaq, Brendon McCullum, Andrew Symonds and Kevin Pietersen. He is perhaps on the top one feels. I think number four is a place best suited for him, number three is a bit too much.

Kaif accidentally discovers some runs.
Kaif’s runs getting capabilities seemed to waning after guiding his state to Ranji success. His batting woes were worsened by some poor opportunities given to him. He looked rugged as well and two dropped catches only helped his cause. The fact that he hit winning runs in a tight match makes we wonder if he has left behind his bad form. His form was so poor that he just averaged in binaries in couple of series and he might have saved more runs than he scored. He is a good prospect for both forms of the game as he has better technique to Yuvraj in the longer form. The comparison between Kaif and Yuvraj often reminds me of Dravid and Ganguly. Kaif has perhaps the best qualities of Azhar and Dravid.
The fact that Dravid was other end to guide him also might have clamed his nerves. He plays well with Dravid. A good partnership between him and Dravid was the key to Indian success. It is so good to see someone from the middle order to raise his hand up when there is a crisis. So far so good for Dravid Chapell and Indian cricket team.

All and all it’s just another brick in the Wall.
The team has done exceedingly well so has the Captain courageous, Rahul Dravid. A century in the very first game is a chasing cause will help the team a great deal and perhaps set the tone for the coming Test Series as well. There is a lot of class in Rahul Dravid, I will again reiterate what I love about Dravid, he is a timeless classic, if ever anyone wishes to write an illustrated manual of batting he has to include Dravid picture perfect snaps. Dravid’s strokeplay is shear delight as it covers all angle of batting be it a powerful cut or a pull or an elegant silken cover drive or the timing of a signature flick to the mid wicket boundary or just a push to long on and long off he is a pure delight.. He can play for ages and I don’t mind him seeing ever.
The middle order has done so exceedingly well and credits lies to the man who has picked up the gauntlet of opening the innings in absence of Tendulkar and now a prolonged and sad exclusion of Ganguly from the O.D.I. It is no mean task opening especially after not having much experience. This is Dravid’s determination. He leads by setting examples that’s what has taken the team to this level.

Indians caught in a Gayle.

The series and the match started an hour late.The series started in a manner most hated by true Cricket fans, the ground staff did a great work to ensure there is atleast 90% of the game was ensured. The pitch, that was coloured in aq colour which the Indian team envies the most, the Indian fan prayed Indians won the toss. They did it and managed to put West Indies into bat.

Poor Show Ten Sports.
I miss ESPN-STAR although they enjoyed cricketing broadcast privilege for nearly a decade the other channels coming up still have to catch up standards set by them. The coverage was awfull as the TV screens only displayed the playing members of this team.

Poor start with the ball.
Irfan Pathan taking wicket in the opening spell is now a custom. He was wayward and off the line and I remember another left arm quick who seems to played in the team while ago aka Zaheer Khan there was a similar disastrous start then and I remember knowing the result after the first over itself. I don’t want to feel the déjà vu again. The first over saw couple of wides no-balls some pitched up and some half tracker. There was one particular delivery which Chris Gayle very reluctantly hit towards the boundary, it was a real half tracker. Dravid had the luxury of the other 3 bowlers out of whom only one put his hand up. The West Indies score read 87 for none in 13.3 overs after which the first wicket fell.

Agarkar rises to challenge.Harbhajan stamps the rot.
Agarkar is a tremendous first change bowler. I think he has a lot more control once the white ball loses its shine. He proved it once again. He maintained line and length got rewarded with a wicket of a very impressive Morton. He also maintained enough pressure ensuring that Harbhajan snarls up Sarwan for not too many. He returned with the figures of 9-0-37-2.

Lara and Gayle steadied the ship.
The two got a partnership going and not only steadied the ship but also rocked the Indian bowling with some Calypso cricket. This resulted in a solid partnership of 82 runs in 14 over and three balls. The strokeplay was a blitzkrieg with spinners being tonked out of the park. The partnership was also helped by extras. There were plenty of them actually. Gayle then notched up a very bludgeoning century. I wonder if it is his best score. It was a strokeful century with nearly two thirds of his runs coming in boundaries.

Indians mop up.
The Indian bowlers mopped up some poor show with ball in the frist innings. It is upto the batsmen to score a good challenging 251 in 45 overs. There is no doubt over the capability but the Indians have to lay to rest fear of chasing in second innings abroad and the West Indian bowling is not something our batsmen may be accustomed to. The Indian bowlers held onto their nerves and managed to restrict West Indians to 251 which at one time looked 275.

The end of the first edit.
It is getting really late as I finish up and I have to go to sleep against my wishes of watching Indian chase. Lets see of this night has some surprise stored up for me. I hope we are not underestimating West Indies in the light of recent Indian performances at home.