Cricket: Indians win first test

India won the match by innings and 115 runs. Ashwin took 12 wickets in the match. NZ were all out for 159 and 164. Pujara scored a mammoth 159, considering, he was number three a position guarded by Dravid for so long, along with guarding the top and middle order. Pujara, should look to build on, not only for this series, but also for rest of the season and collect as many runs before Indian team flies abroad. Dhoni seems to be getting his team. He should have got more runs. His pe3rformances will be crucial for team doing well at home.

India batter first, which wasn't much of rocket science. Sehwag and Gambhir started well. Gambhir and Sehwag should have pushed on and got more runs. A bad form and tough opposition are never far away, they did well but more is expected considering the fact the opposition will get tougher and chances of runs lesser as the long seasons prevails Its vital to get into habit of making runs rather than try playing an indifferent rash shot. Infact, Gambhir, Sehwag, Kohli holed out to shots uncalled for. Kiwis dropping catches didn't help matters. Sehwag, Pujara both being let off. Pujara and Kohli added a delightful partnership Many reckon there will be more to come from these two. Kohli made a good 50 and got out when he had a century for the taking. Raina got out caught behind of a glove. Dhoni started cautiously and just when he was about to cut loose, he holed out to mid on. Ashwin with some quick fire runs and Pujara ultimately getting out, Indian posted a very good competitive score of 430 plus.

Kiwis started strong. McCullum looked good, but was caught at cover not keeping an ambitious drive on the ground. McCullum is poor selection on the top. He is more likely to get more runs when Kiwis are 150 for 5 (or less). McCullum is hard to dislodge and Van Wyk although looks good as a keeper doesn't help the balance of the side. Kiwis should change their batting order to Guptill, Franklin, Williamson, McCullum, Taylor, Flynn drop Van Wyk get another batsman, get Southee playing. A bit more responsive and responsible fielding and they should do better. Ross Taylors performance with the bat is crucial. I mean leaving an off spinner of length or line is inviting problem. He should know. Kiwis showed bit of a fight in the second innings following on but then we all now wickets tend to fall in a heap in Test cricket. From 105 for 2 to 164 all out. Kiwis were caught in the spin, literally. The second innings' story is pretty much a repeat of the first. Indians caught well though, some stick some don't but Indians really converted half chances which reflected in the margin of victory.

I don't know if Bhajji is watching it, but Ashwins flight and line looked good. Bhajji is out of the reckoning for tests. I don't know if he would be the first choice bowler in T20. Ashwin and Pujara co-scripted a comprehensive win. But I think I would love to see Ojha and Ashwin inviting the batsman a little more. It's when the batsman obliges to drive can he offer chances of getting out caught with fielders round the bat or getting bowled etc. It is something that Indian teams think tank should take note.

I guess Indians have ticked most of the boxes which had to be ticked at the start of the season. The second test is in Bengalluru, starts this Friday The weather may impinge again.

Cricket: Preview NZ vs India

New Zealand tour of India starts tomorrow. India are tough cookies to crack at home, it's the land of tigers for sure. It is the green pastures abroad that irks Indian cricket fans. NZ were beaten by Gayle and West Indies in West Indies now have sailed to India shores from Caribbean. Virender Sehwag part of welcoming entourage. Indian are in top five of the test table, six to eight points separate the teams on the top. NZ in the bottom of the table. Indian team on paper boast of some big names on prevailing conditions. NZ struggling to cover all bases. Vettori; NZ best selector, coach, physio, captain, bowler, batsman, strategist is missing out on injury having sat out a game in West Indies, perhaps struggling with an injury since days of IPL. Vettori's injury has just loaded the odds that bit more against NZ. However, this series has more than what meets the eye. This series is not for cricket fans who are anticipating India taking the series winning every match by an inning just after tea on the third day. I reckon it might just get close. The ICC ranking and team strength on paper is academic. The action on the pitch is what is of primary essence.

NZ – discipline of sticking to the basics.

We must expect Kiwis to come up with a disciplined performance with bat, ball and field every time. They have been a very good fielding sides. A good fielding sides can convert half chances into wickets, a run out invariably changes course of a match, more so in a test match. The opening batsman is not much of a thought on Indian pitches, any decent batsman, who has patience to stick around will do good. I don't like the idea of McCullum in the top order as a good one. He earned his reputation on finishing tight matches. He is a waste on top of the order. I wish to see Guptill and Williamson occupying two of the three top order, followed by Taylor and McCullum, Southee and Chris Martin with opening spell with the ball, Franklin as a first change. If they play a spinner, Dhoni may send them a Diwali-Christmas invite. It is an early start of the season, here in India. There will be a bit more bounce off the pitch, so deliveries that stay below the knee may rise sharply towards the knee cap. It's not something Indian batsman may lose their yawn. But then thats the slight and only advantage Kiwi bowlers should expect. I don't know if it is fair to say that subcontinent pitches are graveyard for fast bowlers. They should look to employ different skill set. Bowl stump to stump take advantage of indifferent bounce. They have option of bending the deliveries back with reverse swing. Zaheer would be there for their reference. They have the option of using a split field, a slip, two in the gully and two catching cover, one catching a short mid wicket,a third man and rest patrolling the boundary.

Complacency galore on Indian ranks.

Indian will be competing with complacency and NZ. Its fresh start to long and competitive season. The Poms and Aussies will already be making notes. India find themselves devoid of two vital cogs, Dravid and Laxman. Dravid hung his boots. Laxman who was born under the Damocles sword, live under it, blossomed under it, perished by it. It is bizarre that all of us, thought Laxman was the one replaceable when team didn't get the right set of results. I feel, looking back every innings of his was an attempt to bargain lease for one more innings. More on him in the following part of the blog. I just hope the youngsters “Do it for Laxman”.

The struggle with complacency will be a tough fight. If NZ prove to be more than sum of the parts, we could have a good series. It is time for Sachin to change his batting order. I don't know if it is prudent to break the opening partnership. Sehwag and Gambhir to open. Raina, Pujara, Rahane, Kohli, Badrinath are in the fray for two slots. I don't know why Kaif and Ambati Raydu are not in the fray. I have high hopes from Ambati Raydu. I guess he likes to get on with things and not sit and pose of talent and ability. Hyderabadi for Hyderabadai, I was hoping Raydu would replace Laxman. I will forward to the series to see if some of my questions will be answered.

These few questions are -

Will India play seven batsmen four bowlers?

If Irfan include can we have three seamers,two spinners?

Does Tendulkar have to play two down?

Should Rahane open the innings?

When does that tipping point arrives when questions of Tendulkar's retirement turn from why to why not?

There are two spinners Ashwin and Ojha, is there another new spinner on a distant horizon?

How is this series paves the way for rest of the season, when Poms and Aussies tour later in season?

Guys, do it for Laxman.

Indian batting line up boasted of Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman. They all have had their critics and fans. Ganguly started with a bang and ended without a celebration. As his ODI performances grew his test prowess waned. Tendulkar was the acclaimed prodigy and did most things right to prove to be one. His success in scoring runs and being humble both at once is an enviable achievement. Sehwag is a maverick, his run scoring audacious ability is independent of pitch, bowling attack, match situation. Dravid a perfect test batsman, loads of temperament and skill and hunger for runs.

Laxman was in many ways had few these qualities of each of his team mates and still had something more, a signature uniqueness of his own. He had the audacity of Sehwag's strokes, the panache and grit of Dravid, exhilaration of Tendulkar, Ganguly's timing to script a performance. But in many ways he was unique. If you can flick a spinner, like Shane Warne you are good, if you can flick and score runs off Shane Warne when he is round the wicket, you are very good. If you can flick Shane Warne and score a boundary when he bowling at his peak and pitch is turning you are brilliant. If you can flick Shane Warne, bowling round the wicket on the fourth day out of the rough for consecutive boundaries on will you have to be Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman. He did it on will. He has his best scores against the Aussies. I think his five of his best seven scores have been against Aussies. It wasn't an Aussie attack with erratic seam bowlers and a left arm orthodox darting at leg stump. It was the time when it consisted of three excellent and one a very good one. 

He did excel and thrilled audiences with some brilliant counter attacks against odds. Off course his 281 at Eden comes to the mind. He and Dravid batted out the whole of the fourth day and turned the flagging series on its head. There was another one with Dravid at Adelaide. Aussies had scored 550 odd at 5 an over, Ponting going berserk Dravid and Laxman came together and stitch a strokeful 300 plus runs partnership, it bought the Aussie house was bought down. There was a 165 he made once in Sydney, India lost. The best score of the team after his 165 was 25. he flicked and cut all day with a strokeful century. He could carve out a stroke through the eye of needle at backward point and straightish mid wicket. Then there were so many rescue acts, Mohali, Durban, Monera, St Johns. He did it all, with an endearing smile. A chapter of cricket when batsman with touch scored runs has ended.

It was with such grace and style,just like flavours of Dum Biryani of Old Hyderabad City. He was as classic as styles of Nizams. The Nizams commanded a 21 gun salute one of only five princely state in the days gone by. Laxman of all deserves one.

A salute to The Very Very Special Laxman.

Cricket: Solitary win for Team Indian

Mark Greatbatch a great bat in 92 world cup remarked before the start of the series that he would be happy if Kiwis draw two test matches, they did. The only worry would be a collapse in this test, the demons of thought came alive and Kiwi batsmen capitulated too soon. The Indian seam bowling looks ominous provided Zaheer is fit and fine. Sreesanth was ripping it and Ishant was making the deliveries jump.

The top order collapse and it was the question of when rather than what. The reason of Kiwi collapse was a bit puzzling especially after some decent performances earlier in the series, the type of pitches or the climate or the opposition nothing was mysterious, and the entire top order Kiwi bat except Ross Taylor had spent enough time and made some good runs. I was surprised when they capitulated early in the first innings on a score which proved to be meagre, in the hindsight. Kiwis were all out 193.


Sehwag the game changer.

Indian response was that of purpose and definite intent. Sehwag did what he does best, see ball hit ball, he can make runs at the pace he wishes. He is game changer in the sense that now people look at strike rates in Test matches. He is Bradman of strike rates in the history test matches e.g. in this series in averages 99.5 and scored at the rate on 89, which mean every time he went on to bat he scored a century in 112 balls that he face. He lobbed a return catch to Vettori. His rustic charm and nonchalance is what makes his batting more thrilling. Sehwag’s batting it may seem to be a perfect wish for Indian cricket fans, if you change anything in that it will vanish.


Rahul Dravid – still the best man at the wedding?

I honestly feel that Dravid has created his won space and around a deserving spot light that Sachin Tendulkar gets which dwarfs everyone else. He has done really well and will go down India top batsmen. There is very little in technique, class, temperament or fitness in which Dravid could be far behind. I dare say he looks the most fit and agile Indian batsmen. Dravid record as a run getter and as a player remains worth emulating. Those who wish he could be a little faster forget that at times, occupation of the crease is vital. If you bat around, Sehwag, Tendulkar and Laxman then the pace of scoring is their worry not yours. I think Sehwag, Tendulkar and Laxman would acknowledge that as well. I am not saying Dravid is a stymied stroke less wonder. I mean he has scripted one of the best Indian in Test matches wins both home and away more than once. He has done well. He played well in this series as well. I am looking forward to see him bat in South Africa. A lot of people would we surprise the way his bats there in South Africa.

A 10 or a 50 or a 100.

Tendulkar would have rejoiced a century on a bigger platform. That’s the only reason I would want to give for him not scoring his 50 century. I mean 50 centuries is huge. I would say Ponting would have crossed his mark is he had just scored 40 centuries in test. But then Ponting is now a distant second. I would bet on Jayewardene and Sehwag to come close to fifty century in the next series of batsmen. I hope Tendulkar keep his hunger alive because South Africa would be this huge tour where we have not done brilliantly and we had seen some embarrassing moments when we played them at home last. It was the same VCA stadium at Jamatha where Steyn had gunned us down and we were hopping all over like jack rabbits. Steyn u need to reload, our master cannon stand on heaps of runs and desire to do well in South Africa.

Bhajji the batsman, where is Bhajji the bowler.

Bhajji was in news for his batting prowess, he won the man of the series (without a doubt) for his performances ; he did well to rescue us couple of times, when danger pursued and showed lost of patience to get two centuries. I am worried about Bhajji the bowler in South Africa. I don’t think he will be playing in all the matches. I don’t think he would torn apart about South African batsmen, I am curious to see if he can make some quick-silver changes to his bowling. I believe he can; only time will tell.

Indians paint a mammoth score.

Indian kept piling the agony thanks to a magnificent innings by Dravid, Dhoni tonked it and extended the lead, while Gambhir seem to get into form, Sehwag did his bit, and so did Tendulkar. Indians made 566 a lead of over 350 with six sessions more in the game, perhaps there was only one realistic end, an Indian win. So it seems Indians won it 1-0. New Zealand did very well though and will be a great experience for those guys. I mean they lost 4-0 to Bangladesh in an ODI series there, those who thought they would suffer a familiar fate here in India would have been disheartened, this was a different format, Test matches don’t necessarily tread that way, and neither does the game of cricket. The best thing what it does is to make a mockery of what people, think, imagine or believe before looking at both faces of the coin.

Cricket: Day light saves test

Two days, two drop catches, two reasons, two wickets, mades sure India weren’t two nil up in the series. The weather, unfanciful declaration can be deemed as possible reasons for the draw and Indians notching just the series 1-0 which could have been so easily 2-0. The fact remains that Kiwis, just faced 94 overs or so when they could have made to play more than 105 overs. 10 more overs, you could have betted for Indian bowling to take last two Kiwi wickets.

Yes the weather does did us in, but the most annoying reason was DST. I mean if clocks were shifted an hour back, why wasn’t the match timings shifted an hour back. How insane was that. I mean India in tropic light fades really quickly. I confess that I haven’t been too Kiwi land but I assume that light is good enough to start play at 10 A.M. local time. The play should have started early, considering light will fade in the evening. The second reason was Kiwis played 20 overs or so less on the fourth day. These were the two reason which caved in India’s march. Rain just placed the juggernaut on the wrong side of slippery slope.

It was a good victory though. Kiwis like many cricketing countries all of a sudden experiencing formation of a new core of players. Aussies have certainly go through this phenomenon, English tend to go through this as well. SAfs experienced it following the exit in 2003 world cup. Sri Lanka too is looking through to get a settled side as well. But they have some exciting prospect especially for the shorter version of the game namely ODI and T20 with talks of Mr. Bond likely to make a come back in a near distant future, thing will start to get really good. Kiwis have a good batting line up, Taylor, Ponting a class batsmen, perhaps a little more stupid. I am not equating him to Ponting, I just have a feeling that he seems to play like Ponting, off course Ponting is in his own league when it comes to piling runs on a green top. Jesse Ryder, is power personified. Guptill looks good and impressed. A settled opening partnership would do good for Kiwis. The there are the all rounders, McCullum, I am sure he is one of the finest finisher playing the game today along with Albie Morkel, Yuraj, Dhoni, Flintoff, Hussey. I think he should be down the order in ODIs as well. Vetorri is arguably the best slow bowler in limited overs cricket, both ODI and T20. The fact that he has had much success against the Indians especially in T20 just underlines the presumption of mine.

The wall is still rock solid but isn’t expanding much.

Dravid, played damn well. I consider Dravid scoring runs, is the single most important criterion of India wining matches abroad. The first test which we won was perhaps the only one, in which he didn’t contribute by the way of century. He has won us matches all over. But perhaps to mentally adjust his game to the emergence of Viru and Gambhir as stable openers in all form of the game, especially in Test. I mean all Dravid had done until couple of seasons back was to follow openers, virtually to the crease. Now consistently coming out to bat with a solid opening partnership would certainly be a case to rejoice, but I wonder if that hasn’t affected his game. His quality of stroke play has no question mark. He is one of the few with more than10K runs in both form of the game. No mean achievement that.
I would love to see him back in first slip and get back to making delightful centuries. He has contributed not by the way of runs alone. He has to his name most number of catches as well. He is in his twilight, and would perhaps want to leave the game on top of his game.
Gambhir and Zaheer two reasons of this series win.

Batsmen tend to be valued more. It is some thing of a downside of this game. Although Zaheer bowled his heart out. The bowler will win you test matches and Test series. Bhajji was always to be tough to handle for Kiwis, but interesting to note hear, that it was guile and spin rather then turn and bounce for Bhajji that got him the wickets. On other hand Zak tend to bowl well within himself, and seems to have this amazing control of letting the ball do the talk. Ishant meanwhile was found napping, I expected him to steam roll Kiwis in the fourth inning with is pace and bounce, but Ishant continued to remain under bowled and didn’t respond in kind in terms of wickets.

All and all, the greedy Indian cricket fan wanted Indian team to win 2-0 but we will have to settle now for 1-0. Next on the menu is IPL, T20 world cup. I have no idea about Champions trophy or India’s next Test assignment.

Also I am looking forward to dance of elephants, the general elections I meant. The people who are fed up of people switching sides must wait till mid way, when the real politics will come to fore.

Cricket: Victory on the doors.

Will we or will we not? Will India make it 2-0 or is there another twist in the tail. I mean imagine India asking to Kiwis to make 600 or so and the start the last session of the last day with some 140-150 runs more with five wickets in hand. There is no logic behind this; just something came to my mind. I was wondering if this is to happen, would you blame the Indians for the scenario or else, would you praise the Kiwis for the fight they put up. I think the later would be more just. The point is weird things have happened, we were facing the barrel in the last test but somehow, Gambhir played a serious innings and put to rest some serious concerns. More on that in coming following posts.

Seriously, it is Gambhir.

What has Gambhir learnt from Sehwag? Getting to century with a boundary only different thing being, Sehwag smacks a six, Gambhir creams it for a boundary. I think roles have just changed in this series, Sehwag would strings big meaty hundreds and Gambhir would just provide the start. Gambhir now looks very consistent, with more than 300 runs in each of the last four series, he has been consistent. However, you won’t bet against Sehwag in coming back in form with a dynamite performance. I wonder if he would have broken Mohd Yusuf’s record of most runs in a calendar year. I rate third and fourth innings highly centuries highly. He has done both in last two test matches. Meanwhile Sehwag and Gambhir play for the same company, state, zone, franchise, country in all form of the game. This has insured that test opening especially away from home, isn’t a lucky draw, done after the toss. These two guys are doing a good job. I know Kiwi bowling isn’t the most threatening, I think wickets in South Africa and England should pose more threat to them and test him thoroughly. But since Sehwag goes out to bat with him, he can breathe easy while Sehwag breathes fire the opposition bowlers for cover to extra cover.

Writing is pretty much on the Wall.

Dravid, the lone factor who would design the winning fortunes of Test away from home. He has done well in the series, although hasn’t score centuries. Why I consider him the lone factor, coz he shields Tendulkar which enable Tendulkar to play his stroke without worrying about wickets tumbling like pack of cards. Although why Dravid gets stuck is something I haven’t ever understood. His batting fortunes have dictated how India would fair, so not finding a meaningful contribution by Dravid in away matches is a little improbable. I personally can remember such incidence. He was by the way snapped by McCullum striding down leg side, before he actually played the stroke. I wonder if it is ok, to more around before the batsmen have played the stroke. Poor him though, he isn’t struggling with form but with bad luck. I firmly believe that he should be in slips, a great milestone awaits his, that of most number of catches in test match. Mark Waugh would be ready to try voodoo on Dravid and ensuring that he doesn’t get what he richly deserves. I would love to see, the openers edging one to Dravid if and when India declare and Kiwis come to bat.

India high on MSD.

If someone doesn’t understand why leadership is required or what it can do, one must look at Indian team with Dhoni and without Dhoni. Some may say he is lucky some say he is shrewd. I think of him as the Gambler. He comes across as someone with a big heart and his ability to plan and execute something unique. He made Ponting look stupid in Nagpur test. India struggle without him being at the helm of affairs. I love his pan-faced comments. I love see him hit these huge success.

Review of the series at the end of the series. Am I not happy blogging cricket ?… :D

Cricket: Squandered Chances

Cricket in any form is a game of glorious uncertainties. I will review four matches. There are couple of test matches and couple of them are IPl matches. These are namely :-

• Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals.
• New Zealand vs England.
• Australia vs West Indies.
• Kings Punjab vs Kolkata Night Riders.

Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals.

Mumbai have had many close matches but could no pull them off on many ocassion. Mumba's loss is Delhi's gain as they are virtually through to the semi-final. We (Mumbai India fans) would be praying that Chennai loses their match and hope that Royal Challenger are taken to the cleaners by us. It would be a very intersting scenario if Chennai are to lose.But it will be an uphill task for them to lose against tournaments biggest losers, Deccan Chargers. The game of cricket remains one of great uncertainties.
If I were to pick a "scape-goat" it wold be Uthappa. The crowning glory of being a "scape-goat" is deserved and Robin Utappa is truly worthy of it. He has only showed what he cant do. In one of the match, Knight Riders was it? He came in with not many runs to get and Jayasuriya on strike.Uthappa stuck couple of boundaries got over the board and played a naive looking stroke only to get caught on mid-on. He gets start often and often thats the only contribution o n the field. But to be fair to Robin he is an opener and not given that slot. Tendulkar and Jayasuriya in the squad nobody would even dare to dream of opening.
But Mumbai have been luckier than Royal Challenger.Takwale mean while hit 25 of last over to ensure that their is a sense of respectability in the score. It proved to handful for the Royals who score 32 of the last two overs. Shane Warne the man in charge. Warne, Watson, Smith, Tanvir, Pathan and Kaif form a very rigid core. The other memebers give more than what it is required and Rajasthan Royals looks to be ahead of other and favourites to win the IPL.

New Zealand vs England.

Everyone nows how poorly England play their first test match of a series especially first innings. But it was great to see that England actually won the first of three matches against New Zealand. Ross Taylor creamed a score of 150 and England collapse to 200 something giving them a very big deficit. But they pull backed. New Zealand were caught in a Full Monty show, as Monty took 6 blackk kap wickets.
There was however a big task to score nearly three hundred, Andrew Strauss coming with a century and mopping it up for England.
So England coming from behind to win this one.

Australia vs West Indies.

West Indies seem to be in a hangover. The hangover has lasted for more than one and a half decades. They still lok themselves in the mirror and imagine what they use to be. The reality is that they are perhaps on the bottom of the list of test playing nations.
They however came close to claim a win over the Aussies. They reduced Aussies 17 for 5 but that Symonds stuck a good 79 which ensure West Indies were chasing a score of more than 250. A good score in the fourth innings to hunt down. West Indies were 96 for 6. The fate was sealed after feeling sorry for WI, I went to sleep and Aussies completed the formalities of winning one more game coming back from the back door.

Kolkatta Knight Riders vs Kings Punjab.

Sharukh vs Preity. ham vs Jaadu ki Jhappi, Yuvraj vs Maharaj. Punjab set Kolkatta a highest score to chase in the ever low scoring Eden Gardens. They looked down and out until a wicket fell. Umar Gul came to the crease hit three sixes in double quick time. Ganguly cut lose and kept on pelting sixes one after the other. Kolkatta came close to victory when Pathan came to bowl to Ganguly. Ganguly creamed first one for six and thats was the game for me. Kolkatta came back to win over Punjab and this was when they were down and out.

Moral of the story.

Cricket is a sport of glorious comebacks.

Cricket: Aussie black capped

Cricket is such a leveler, A month back no one could imagine Aussies could loose, it is a land slide moment. This defeat highlights lots of issues including excessive cricket, and ill timing of series, take nothing away from NZ, they look very likely contenders for WC 2007.

Atleast they do on paper.

Matthew Hayden, big man big scores.

He is a stereotype in the nature of the way he has scored runs, debut then a long wait then a sterling tour of India in a historic series for him and Harbhajan series rest they say is history. How time chose mortals to leap into bracket of Legends ... anyways ... Matthew Hayden seems like a tree trunk of a largest tree u could imagine. He is brute ower. I remember he hitting Srinath for a six straight over his head in the last world cup. He could and has perhaps done that to best of the bowlers. He is brute power, there is no point in looking where the ball is going coz u are likely to imagine the distance when the flight of ball ends.
He hit 10 off those against Kiwis in the last match. He hammered them all over and still Aussies lost the match { :)} Shane Watson blast a quick fire 68 on top of the order. Hussey meanwhile does everything better than Bevan he is a better runner and a better finisher than Bevan plus he is a very safe fielder. I am not sure if he bowls regularly But he is very very good and very very unfortunate as well.
Hayden score 181 not out and he may have beaten Kiwis to all part off the ground but the worst or the best was yet to come.

70 for 4, Y know what ...

It is never over till it is truly over. NZ was 70 for 4 I had given up hopes till McCullum and McMillan started thrashing the Kangaroos with some power smacking pile drivers and changing momentum in their favour. MacMillan a suprise selection when SL toured NZ and then has merry of chances given to him. He bats a bit too low but then Fleming is the best Captains one is likely to find, so the theory is justified as the result is. he smacked 50 of 30 balls in the second match and now he went better a 67 ball 100, boy it would have been fun watching it. McCullum meanwhile is all about strong really strong forearms. McCullum along with Razzaq, Symonds, Pietersen, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Hussey are the best finishers and surely in my list of must watch players for me in this world cup. There would be more but these are the super exclusive I will be looking out for. By the way there is a very limited to chose between them.

Hit em all over.

McMillan would have been very very pleased and brings himself into very inform players to be reckoned for the world cup McMillan just spoofed Aussies bowlers sinking them to an embarrassing 3-0 thrashing. Aussies were dumb founded. The problem is using just 4 bowlers. It has been a key problem, with no Warne and McGrath retiring after the world cup, the Aussie bowling department looks out of option. Injury is another key, but one must realize that some Aussie player gets njured before a major tournament. Warne was injured last time around, he recovered in tiime only to have founf guily of illegal medication. I dont know what it is but some of the Aussie player has to go down in news as injured, if someone would could tell me why?
Anyways the whole cricket world is excited as world cup is open for more competition, the Aussie may still win though but atleast it would not be a spill over.

Cricket: Hosts win series.

I think my snap needs an update.

I wont read much into last two series which India won. They may have between a decent and a ordinary team but there is not much home to right about. There is an obvious delight that Ganguly has made a "come back" then again he has to repeat it again in World Cup perhaps all over again. I am not considering India as the most likely team that will win the world cup. The Men in Blue winning the world cup looks anything but optimistic. The team to foray are New Zealand (NZ) South Africa( SA) Pakistan (Pak), U don't need to put in Australia coz they have all the keys and key players to world cup. This is what makes them a good defender. Lets hope they do.

Yesterdays match.

It was the decider, the last ODI for India before they go for calypso World Cup. The media made it the match .... that wasn't quiet there. India won the toss, and elected to chase. It is a for gone strategy now that if India wins the toss they will invariable chase. The hype about India match is not quiet there as it was a year back, owing to some ordinary performances. One could easily exchange ordinary by shocking, the point is they did not win not only that they lost no opportunity to resign at every encounter. It was truly awful.

Sri Lankan first innings.

The amazing inconsistent bowling of Agarkar is nothing short of phenomenon. I don't think it is a smart idea to get him to start the innings first up. He is a great first change bowler and they must bring him on only after the first dozen of overs or so. He started with Jayasuriya licking his lips and wanting to just do what he does best, whack the leather of the Indian bowling, he almost succeeded till he played a rash shot and Utthappa control his emotions and held on to a smart catch. Then a couple of more wickets. Jayawardene the Lankan captain is so hell bent on innovations that he is busy innovating ways to get out. He comes in too late down he should be two down and let things revolve around Attapattu.

Chamara Silva found himself in a weird position he along with Tillekratne Dilshan helped SL back on the track and build moment towrads a very good total under the circumstances. They were obviously helped by the lack of some lack lustre. Harbhajan needs to grind in a bit and has to be taken more seriously. Dravid could throw him a challenge by brining him early may be first change. Lankan may have profusely thanked Harbhajan and Agarkar to help build momentum to set a good target.

Indians could not reigning in the momentum even after taking wickets and they have to find ways to control the scoring rate other wise they will find themselves on looking down the barrel just before the cannon is about to fire.Chamara Silva gutted it out and dealt in boundaries only nearing a maiden ODI century he thanked almighty and may have prayed to get to play Indian attack more and more. Indians were set the target of just under 260. The Lankans managed a very very good rate even after the top order was gutted manly due to over ambition rather than brilliant bowling.

Indians begin the Chase.

Sehwag opened with Ganguly and Ganguly retired just before the over was completed. Robin Uthhappa take guard and started essay one more slam bamb and whack to all parts of Vizag the hook against over styled and much hyped Malinga over long leg for six was a tremendous hit. He set the pitch on fire by smashing fours all over the ground and racing to a 33 fall fifty. I think he needs to prune in on his shot making. The thing which would have made Virender give an acknowledging smile. If I were Sehwag I would have looked at Utthappa very closely and see what he does with his feet.

Let me explain. All sports are about balance, the indoor one as well as out door once. Balancing is crucial to Mechanical Engineering too. anyways we may not dwell much into ME. The point being good work while batting helps in balance depending upon the shot which is chosen to play. A good balance means the head and so the eyes are static position and power or timing or both could be control when playing.
If Jayawardene is hell bent on innovation then Sehwag seems to go a step further and may be file a patent to get the copyrights for his dismissal. He would have cried as there was a century in the taking. It would have boosted his confidence but at least for now he is on boost of over confidence and a cavalier attitude. Man U are not indispensable.

Then there was a little spurt of wickets but the cartwheeling of wickets stopped when Prince of Kolkatta and Prince of Indian batting came together for chasing the target. The two left handers just turned the table on its head and blasted every bowler out of the attck with the very flambouyant Bhandara being creamed all over the place. Tendulkar would have taken couple of notes down out here. uvraj is simply brilliant in domestic conditions, even though he may be a little suspect of his spin playing abilitie, but there was no serious challenge offered. The only offer was to hit boundaries as they went of barging ahaed like a storm and India vistory seemed "well with in range". Yuvraj not wanting to drag the match to long hit four fours and asix all in one over to script home a good series win for Indian something they may have taken lot of heart from but it still does not convince me if they can script a WC 2007 win.

-x-

Aussie let things slip just at wrong time.

Well well well as I sit an write the second edit I gladly read on rediff that Aussies are no more the Number ones. I mean I don't want to shrug it off and be mean. The Aussies have been truly great and One has to give up parochial feeling and just watch them play. Each of the defeat they have had is actually a tribute to how they play. If some team has to beat them, the Aussies make sure it is a superlative performance of the team of the player or both. If one wishes to chalk out a few names in the last 5 years of so then names like Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Harbhajan, Dravid (at times :) ) then Lara, Flintoff, Pietersen, Bond and MacMillan come to mind.

There is no doubt that these players are one in a generation player and they do cherish beating Aussies. These are a few more players but as of now not on my mind. The Aussie have been great models on consistency and they play hard ball. The things have not ben so rosy in ODI arena this year and things may change and Aussies may not go into WC 2007 as favourites and actually pull of the Cup. They can always do that but now teams are making note of few points and hope fate will be in their favour.The key players are missing but one may have imagined Aussies defending 337. They could not and atleast for now Kiwis must savour the moment coz David has slain Goliath as off now.

Review of Chappel-Hadlee series.

I love cricketing traditions. The naming of series after former players like Border and Gavaskar trophy and things like those are a very rich tribute to the former greats. The Aussies went to NZ with an ordinary performance in the tri series and Fleming and co may have already had their P-D-C-A sheet ready.

A Bond or the Bond? anwyasy Bond blew them away in the first ODI as Aussies were skittled out for 148 (One hundred and forty eight only) it may have been a fluke but then NZ romped home with a steam rolled ten wicket victory. It was first time in history of Aussie cricket that they lost by 10 wickets.it was first time in 22 years that Kiwis manged a first wicket partnership of over 100. Lou Vincent amazing.
The second match saw the Aussie romping 337 runs of the kiwis and plundered Kiwi bowling in the death. Hussey who has been so very good did all the damage and the worst was to follow. The Aussies set 337 to win.
The chase begin in bizzare fashion as early wickets feel before a partnership was strung together to make a base to launch an assault.

The Aussies were assault by a burly on and off MacMillan who just struck thunder bolts and Fulton managed to be calm and composed and did well to rotate the strike. Then McCullum who is perhaps the best finishers of the game hooked McGrath into the stands and bought NZ a famous Series win.

The Aussies will go favourites in the wold cup but the aura of invincibility will be missing.