Cricket: How India won the cup

Dhoni leads India to bring home the unicorn. It was first among, many in the sense; it was the first time the host country won the cup. It was just the third instance that a team won chasing the score. It was the first instance that a batsman had scored a century and found himself on the losing side. It was an awesome win. The memories will remain quiet fresh for a long time. The celebrations and the joys were for all to see as Holi, Diwali, X-Mas, Eid, Independence and republic Day had come together. It was a joyous moment for us all to cherish, beyond the seas, as FB and twitter were updates by friends beyond the good seven seas. Indian team won the world cup in style defeating pervious world cup holders in sequence, West Indies, Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the precise order in which these teams won the world. This was just for trivia, surreal but incident.


Toss goes for a toss – along with selections.

This was a first of sorts in the matches I have seen, two tosses Crowe didn’t hell Sanga’s call and the toss flipped again. The jury is still out on who won the toss but then it doesn’t matter any more.
Dhoni replaced Nehra with a lucky charm of sorts, Sreesanth, what he did was to add charm to Lankan score. Lankans on their part were forced to make four changes. A couple of changes made sense, but four changes in the final? Angelo Matthews was injured forcing the Lankan side to be over balanced with a longish tail. Thisara, Kulasekara, Kapugedara, Randiv were replacing Mendis, Matthews. Mendis not playing was a bigger blunder, he can run through a middle order is pretty accurate bowls to attacking fields. A few Indian batsmen would have thought their prayers of not wanting to bat against Mendis were answers. Its tough to say what Mendis would have done, but if anyone saw India-Pak match, the Indians bats most competent against spin had no clue what Saeed Ajmal was bowling. Afridi too him out of the attack and that was the turning point of the game. I think Mendis would have fancied himself against Indian batsmen. He would have done better then Randiv on most accounts.

Indian bowling in rhythm and control

Zaheer bowled three maidens in his first five overs. It was not until Sreesanth was bought into the attack did he charm Lankan batsman into making runs, otherwise Zaheer had kept the Lankans batsman quiet. The fielding was superb, it was not only the best fielding effort in the tournament it was one of the best fielding efforts in last 50 games or so. Yuvraj Singh could do no wrong, diving and attacking and cutting the angles down. This helped Indian bowling to look more incisive. It was for our fielding that we saved 20-25 runs or we would be chasing in excess of 300 runs.

A single problem that haunts every single time.

Bhajji bowling round the wicket to right-handers doesn’t help him one bit, Dilshan’s wicket was a bonus rather than coaxing the batsman into a false stroke. Bhajji bowling round the wicket actually helped Sanga and Jayawardene to get in and have a partnership going. Bhajji bowling round the wicket negates a few modes of dismissals the classic bowled though the gate, the edge of a straighter delivery and the LBW. Jayawardene and Sanga who are class acts and classic touch players would have smiled to themselves as they knew only way getting out was to fool themselves. A steady partnership paved way for an imposing total; bowlers were changed and rotated adding resolve to Lankan batting. Yuvraj meanwhile did get Sanga after he edge one to Dhoni. The best part of Indian bowling was now a thing of the past.

Jayawardene pulls in his weight in with a ton.

Jayawardene is one of the last classic touch players in the power hitting game of today. There was no bowler to challenge him, there was no one who made him think and wanting to get off strike and think to do different. His play proved once again the brain still commands a premium when viz a viz to brawn. It was for the first grit and indomitable will was on show. Jayawardene kept stringing some effective and vital leadership. The Indian bowling seems to break step and wither against touch play of Jayawardene. The shots he seems to hit were nothing more than changing the direction of the deliveries and guiding them into the empty spaces. The lower end batsmen used the long handle and the crease really well while Jayawardene shepherd them at the end. His 10o was a glittering achievement. His innings ensured Indians had their task cut out and forced them to put their best foot forward.
Blink and blank

Sehwag forced of to the back foot by Malinga straighter delivery. He was wrapped on the pads and was plumb in front. His dismissal caused many fissure in Indian hopes of chasing a gallant score. It was the second delivery f the innings that claimed Sewage, a rare ducked. Sehwag’s world cup had started with a valiant 175 ended with a cipher - touching a sky and crashing landing. Gambhir tough kept the trend of staring the Indian scoring with a boundary, that shot would have given him a feel good factor. Malinga was assisted with Kulasekara at the other end. Tendulkar decided to cut loose few boundaries and few dot deliveries a story in the making of a thrilling encounter. Tendudlkar edged one off Malinga and Sanga did the rest, India 31/2. The method and the madness both back in the hut. Kohli and Gambhir had a massive repair job to do.

Serene and Serious Gautam Gambhir.

At 31/2 and a competitive bowling line up to face Gambhir and Kohli started cautiously. A flurry of boundaries and changing strike with singles helped string partnerships and that gave enough momentum to the side. Virat got out to a very sharp return catch accepted by Dilshan a good 80 plus run partnership soothe a lot of nerves. This partnership ensured that the run rate required was never too daunting. A run rate of six was manageable, as Dhoni and Yuvraj along with Raina would give it more than a chance. The sign of things to come, a change in the tide

Kohli dismissal got Dhoni to the crease. Dhoni the captain self promoted himself to negate the spinners. The Indian captain is a better player of spin then Raina and Yuvraj put together. A left and right-handed effort negated the advantage of Lankan spinners. Murali was bought on the attack pretty much like an after thought. A slow start by Dhoni and Gambhir. Their effort showed the indomitable will for the second time in the match. The second doggedness would prove too good for Lankans. Gambhir and Dhoni flayed the Lankans like King Viv and Collins King in 1979 final. They didn’t quiet match Viv and Kings swagger but Collin Kings would have felt good seeing Dhoni bat. He hit some powerful extra cover drives and Murali was clueless, he started slow but caught with a run a ball rate by the time he stuck his half century. Gambhir and Dhoni almost sealed the game, and when Indians crossed 200, it was a matter of time before the cup was lifted.

Gambhir goes, Yuvraj enters.

Gambhir played a tired looking shot and saw the stumps shattered. Yuvraj came to the crease and struck the fourth ball he faced to a boundary, India was four runs closer. Dhoni and Yuvraj ran quick between the wickets, Dhoni had a close call but was saved by just a frame, the game also saw some nervous moments and then floodgates open and Nuwan Kulasekara and Malinga were dispatched all over. Dhoni was on strike when India was a hit away from a famous win. He hit one out of the park that celebrated chaotic celebrations across the country.

Indian high on MSD

He is the man of the moment. He is the captain who whose team won the world. There is a lot of adulation that he deserves. He leads a team who are ODI World Champions and Numero uno in Test matches no wonder we the fans are grinning year to year. This man has just started his journey there are more peaks for him to conquer.

Cricket: Preview Aus vs India

Aussies are the defending champions in this world cup. Aussies know most about the way to get to the finals. They have depended on individual brilliance and sustained team effort to make it to finals of five world cup finals out of the last six. India meanwhile have been anywhere on the chart, swinging between good and ordinary. Aussies meet India in the quarters of cwc11.


The men who matter.

Tendulkar has notched up 99 centuries, our expectation of one more against a side that always got stiff competition and centuries for Tendulkar. One more centuries seems almost inevitable. Bhajji at the current form finds himself in the company of Prosper Utseya of Zimabawe and Rizwan Cheema of Canada. Bhajji to his discredit is striking with one wicket every match conceding 43 runs in his ten overs. Bhajji needs to pull in his weight. Ponting is been bait/bunny he would love to devour. Zaheer, on Indian pitches coming back in reverse gear to catch the teams on tentative footwork, inducing edges, false stokes and LBWs.
Ponting captain marvellous (last edition circa 2007) and a struggling batsman with form, fitness. He can come good with one last innings. India bowlers beware. Hussey is another one, a competent bat, quick run, clean hitter, can change gears and momentum at will. Lee always has bowled hostile, may want to turn back to his debut match against Indians in Adelaide where he just blew us away.

The men who would have mattered.

V.V.S. Laxman


In many ways.

India seem worthy successor to Aussies at times, But SAf look equally worthy, with better bowling line up and discipline in the field. Indian perhaps with better batting. SAf and us both don’t have that aura of menacing skill of winning from any point. The Aussie batting and Indian bowling both look fragile; needless to say both will be tested.
Aussies have won the toss amd elected to bat. A second edit of this blog soon.

Cricket: India trudges into QFs

A few people like conspiracy theorists and chartists find patterns so very interesting. Lets have a look at Indian teams performances (botched up efforts) in the context of establish test playing teams in our group namely, Windies, SAfs and Poms. I am leaving out Bangladesh because other teams have been playing test matches for more than two decades, Bangladeshi team may do well in the future in the test arena.

Check this out –

Dhoni wins the toss. Dhoni winning the toss is as big a headline as Kamran Akmal taking catches. India bats, there are a flurry of boundaries nice tempo going for the team a top player gets to 110 (or there abouts), holds out to a tame catch. The batting collapse starts. There is this wedding procession like scene people come in with a flurry and get out. The opposition team’s fast/opening bowler gets 5 wickets (Bresnan, Steyn, Rampaul). The Indian batsmen at 9 10 and 11 deflect the ball rather intelligently of the inside edges to the wickets. Indians haven’t batted allotted 50 overs in all these match. Zaheer starts with an insipid spell the part times strike, Bhajji bowls, leaks runs. He then gets lucky with a wicket, or two. Then Zaheer comes back and nips out a couple of wickets, inspiring hopes from the people watching it on the TV and also helps in raising the decibels up a few notches in the stadium. We have favourable result in previous match against Windies, we tied one Poms and we lost against SAfs in the last over. The over, which gave Nehra his 15 minutes of fortune, which he wasn’t looking forward too.
It is too obvious. It is setting a precedent, which will weigh heavy on us. We need to bat all fifty overs doesn’t matter is the batting power play fetches us a dozen runs. Each of the Indian victory has highlight the grey areas. It is crucial to rectify those so that we have the best chance of winning the world cup i.e. by entering the finals. We should also look forward to beating the best teams, Aussies, Pak, SAf if we are to lay claims being the best team. The next match is India vs. Aus which Ganguly has dubbed it the match to set the wrong doings in the Finals of 2003.


The ever magnificent will now be magnanimous.

Tendulkar walked. Rampaul was bowling in a dream spell – (you know, Inception). The stocky bowler got to what looked like missing an inside edge, the umpire turned down the appeal and the broadcasters devoid of hot spot and inconclusive replays, Tendulkar chose to walk. He could have stayed and scores. But when people moan why didn’t Ponting walk against Pak, was a bit ridiculous. Ponting looks at the umpire and wait for the umpire even when he is bowled. He is an eternal optimist. But he may not believe Kamran Akmal would take the edge off his bat standing up to the wickets for a spinner, clearly, Ponting is out of luck, apart from being out of match practice and runs. The one last thing about Ponting getting out is the look on his face. It will be very interesting to see what happens if Tendulkar faces a similar delivery gets a familiar edge and it is the crunch match (say the semis or finals) Tendulkar reaction would decide the topic of discussion among millions of people and will also fetch a few their next breakfast or cup of tea. Will he or wont he. But his decision to walk gives you a peek into the confidence of the man. He know when he comes out to bat the next time, he will strive equally hard (hopeful gets) more runs. It was a good sporting gesture. It shows his confidence in his own ability.

Yuri still strives for form but looks good.

So far so good for Yuvraj. He started with a boundary and now among the runs, he kept the scoreboard ticking and had a good partnership going with Kohli after Gambhir cut one to third man and Tendulkar chose to walk. Benn was called on, all spinner worth their salt look forward to bowling to Yuvraj but Benn was one of the reason for Yuvraj’s fluid innings. The timing seem to be coming back, but the transfer back to form is still not complete, something is missing I hope he hungrier for more. His form is crucial. Yuvraj got out to Pollard, the big man. His dismissal was the difference between the score of 290 - 295 and the score which we finally got.

The great and ominous but fragile batting line up and frequent collapses.

India has great and ominous batting line up, you know great numbers, in the average and strike rate columns and huge amount of runs big power hits are signs of the great batting line up. But Indian batting line-up has been very fragile of late. We have batted out our 50 overs once in one last month, the frailty if batting comes up once to often. It is a weird aberration. I hope the fact that we play 7 batsmen doesn’t let a sense of complacency to creep into the batsmen. If that’s the case one of the batsmen Kohli or Gambhir, have to give way to in the next match. I don’t think bowling order would change much.Yuvraj, Pathan and Raina together are likely to bowl more than 12 overs between themselves, giving Dhoni lot of options and help ease the pressure off Bhajji. Bhajji needs to be among wickets, his bowling form amuses me.


On the other side of fence.

Pollard’s dismissal was turning point of the match. It was a rush of blood or what, he was caught in the deep of Bhajji, strange actually, considering the way he smacks it all over the park, however it was a catalyst to trigger a collapse. Bhajji to bowled tight for couple of overs, his second maiden in six matches all credit to Sarwan, who being to prod and block. Gayle and Chanderpaul didn’t play for some reason. Chanderpaul doesn’t seem to get out and keeps nudging the single, I don’t know if he is off the boil but looks good for many. The lack of experience in batting line up showed. Devon Smith batted well. His straight drive off Zaheer was the shot of the match. Devon Smith was bowled by Zak and that triggered the second collapse of the match. Windies lost their last 8 wickets for 30 runs.
The Windies look good, if Dwayne Bravo join in and Chanderpaul is in good form then Gayle, Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Bravo brothers, Pollard Sammy. Three fat bowlerd including Fidel Edwards, Roach, Russel, Benn. Indians are touring West Indies and it will be a good tour.

Cricket: Moving on hapless

India’s stupendous win over Ireland (???) gives rise to more questions than answers. All those who follow cricket and some of us Indian team fans have to confess that Indian batting excites us more then our bowling. A team almost chased 338 so I think if there is a batting collapse while we bat first, bowling in its present form will be shredded or second scenario,the wheels coming off from are toothless bowling then the opposition sets us a steep chase and if the top order collapses then an unsavoury result hopes to meet us soon. It will not be ill fate it would be our own misdeeds. If we are praying that our bowling shines once in a while then we must aceept the top order will collapse once in a while.

Yuvraj looking ragged for more than a season now, would be thanking the Irish, and would have treated them with double Patialas of Irish beers in huge mugs. A five-for and fifty made him look ominous. He would do well against the SAfs as well, ball turning away from batting line consisting of Amla, Kallis, De Villiers, Van Wyk, Du Plessis all right hand bat. Yuvraj would fancy his chance considering SAfs collapsed more than once when we were there in South Africa, guess we could trigger another collapse to see of the SAfs, easier said then done though. There are couple of shot that convince me that Yuvraj isn’t in his prime, a flick of Johnston when he moved from 45 to 49 and the shot at which he got out in the match vs England, Yuvraj in his prime would have cleared the boundary by some margin. The interesting question to be asked is, if Yuvraj’s best a thing of the past or is he priming himself to knock the winds out of the opposition?

Harsha Bhogle calls him Khade Khade Pathan. Yusuf Pathan blocks blocks and bangs. I am vying for Pathan-Razzaq-Aridi blast it would be such a fun. Pathan came on after Dhoni went hammered and dented a few over the ropes and without further ado got India couple of points.

Bhajji, exudes no confidence at this point in time, he kept feeding Strauss with cut and sweep, can remember him bowling only two or three deliveries which invited batsmen to drive on the front through covers. At this point in time, even the Aussie off spinner Jason Krezja offers better average and economy compared to Bhajji. The last time when we got to a world cup final, Nehra, Zaheer and Srinath were on fire and had bagged more than a dozen wickets each. Yes, it was South Africa, seamer friendly condition. I think teams like SAf, may be west Indies as well along with possible quarter final teams from other group Pak, Aus, Lanka would fancy having Bhajji bowl to them. Bhajji in this phase of form, he would provide the teams an ideal platform for the death overs where we know we are bound to go in excess of 7.5 to 8 an over (by very conservative estimate). There is minor concern of leaking singles and not rotating the strike enough which is well covered in the shimmering shinning boundary hitting habbits of our batsmen.

Any team winning a toss against India should fancy chasing the score because our bowling is a threat to our batting prowess.

England vs. SAf.

Indians look bunny rabbits on swinging and seaming wickets, SAfs look equally cute on typical Indian wickets where spinners are in charge and make the cherry spin like a top. I remember seeing the English innings, the second ball of the first over of the match that Peterson bowled pitch middle and went past Strauss’ pad wide down leg, if a SAf spinner I turning it proverbial mile the match was not to last full 100 overs. Strauss got out when he skied one to de Villers who took a tumbling catch. Half as good as pie - Pietersen followed Strauss when scored read 3-2. It was 15-3 when bell got out. Then mysteriously Smith took Peterson off the attack that was perhaps one of the turning points of the match. There were a few turning points in the match which happened before the toss took place, Collingwood sitting out, personally I believe whatever his form, he should be batting in the top order, could be a useful bowler. The SAf decided to play Wan Vyk, which is an excellent move. I think the game hasn’t turned so modern that you can do without a specialist keeper. But the fact is SAfs have left their best fire fighters home, Boucher and Albie Morkel, both were worth of their places, their experience, and their record speaks for them. Morgan and Hussey are joining their teams are injuries have forced teams to switch players, wonder if there is any injury concern in SAf would Boucher and Morkel be called for? SAf may pay heavily by dropping Boucher and Morkel. The future will unravel this mystery in the next near future.

SAfs did a U-turn and escort Poms to the victory post.

SAfs seems to be cruising with Amla and Smith providing them a solid paternship, in a low scoring match one wicket can trigger couple of wickets more. Kallis is still searching for runs in the tournament and on the other end De Villiers has already scored back to back centuries in first three games,. SAfs seem to have been caught in a slumber when the slip 4 wickets in a span of three runs, and Poms were right back, Wan Vyk and Steyn Gun did provide a partnership but then Poms saw an opportunity to pull the rug under SAf feet. At some point in time during the match, Poms beating SAfs would have had the same odds as Irish beating Poms.

The Indian side is in desperate search of either Bhajji hitting form soon or some other form of bowling inspiration, chances are thin is bowling reaming hapless and fielding remains a window decoration.

Cricket: Preview India vs. England

Roll up your sleeves, dig in the flag masts, get the vuvuzelas out and get your throats primed for harrowing echoes. India hosts England in a crucial world cup tie at Bengaluru. Hello World Cup. Let the rain be away while the game is being played. England will look to pull the rug from India's feet while India would look to stamp their authority over England. A match on a Sunday makes for delightful viewing, but then all matches barring one that India play are on a weekend so thank you to the organizers.

Sreesanth induces helplessness.

Sreesanth is too earnest a “tryer”. He was touché unlucky though against Bangladesh. He averages 16 per wicket for his ten wickets against England. Dhoni does back his team but then will he get in two spinners for English, who are known for their weakness against swing, seam and spin. He may not make it to the playing eleven. It’s a hope more than a guess. India one would accept with a tacit nod isn’t fool proof. But Dhoni seems to have it control at most times, so that’s cool. Sreesanth is trying to hard but he may come off on his own in some match and lead the charge. I am sure that won’t be happening anytime soon in the near future.

Man for Man contest.

I am looking forward to Chawla vs. Pietersen, Broad vs. Yuvraj. I hope Luke Wright and Tim Bresnan play, they along with Collingwood would offer a lot, we talking for say 25 overs of bowling and batting at a decent rate. Pietersen would look to make some impact in the game. I hope Trott doesn’t go under the radar, he remains virtually un-noticed and doesn’t seem to be an impact player but if you look at the game history and traditions number three and four are one of the crucial batting slots, best stoke players in the history have occupied that slot. So Trott remains the key. Ian bell is always threatening to come but the threat is as potent as white clouds sending down a spell of incessant rainfall. Zaheer will try to get a left handed opening batsman, the opposition’s captain Andrew Strauss. I am not sure Dhoni vs. Prior would fit this billing.

England bowling looks balanced with Broad, Anderson looking to use pace and swing. Swann looking to turn. If Indians corner Swann early they will pull a huge advantage towards themselves. There is a case for sending Pathan early just to have him a look in, wonder if Dhoni would switch roles with Pathan. Yuvraj is way of the boil and needs to make it count on the field and with the bat. The bat has been silent, for some while now but a fluent hitting Yuvraj can find centre stage among the four hitters, Dhoni, Pathan, Raina and himself.

The two teams would be looking to touch 300 runs. I for one think only one ball should last 50 overs that will even out an advantage which the batting team seem to have. I mean seeing bowlers smacked for 10 an over is no joy, especially if are own bowlers seem to have mastered the art of leaking runs at the death. Indians death bowling is an area of major concern; it may cost us a crucial match. Nehra had bowled an awesome spell in 2003 and shot out England after Sachin had hooked, line and sinker Caddick out of the park for a huge six. England have pressure of sorts, don’t know how well they have prepared but its been a while since they have done well in ODIS, they come as defending champions of a tough T20 format but then the ODIs are a different format and things cannot be super imposed. England way want to go beyond the semis and wining this match in India would set them into a right tone and rhythm and loads of confidence.

Bengalluru gets two-two matches.

I think the mad rush for tickets is justified, lathi charge, one cannot say. Bengalluru got lucky with two cricket matches. I mean if Eden has already hosted a match it could host one of either Netherlands or England match there. It is a shame that there is no India match there. This is what happens when political big wigs slug it out in a centre of a sports field. It is one of the uglier episodes of Indian cricket which is being swept under the carpet. You know who are the big wigs and for once I wont take names, but people slugging it out have to do with top jobs in BCCI and ICC and this is a delta more than a mere coincidences. The world delta was learnt which struggling with calculus in maths while it meant slightly more/less one understood that slightly less/more is a big deal. But then there is no love affair/romance then with maths and at times cricket. Both are alluring, both excite and reflect life both are insatiable and you want more even if you had enough.

On the other most front.

The national games went without trace, The Athletes who have done us proud in CWG and Asian games were missed, I didn’t even get a whiff off it and I am kicking myself for it. But then when cricket is on, people in offices delay board meetings,road are deserted and people ump up and down in front of the Telly as the match has its twists and turns.

May the best team win. May we all say a good match befitting a big game.