Cricket: India trails in the series

Success has many fathers and Failure is loner orphan. If Indian teams have to win abroad they have to literally cross oceans of million miles. The time has come for the troika to make way, in the interest of the team abroad It is also time for people who call the hots in the interest of the team again to be a bit more prudent when it come to preparation. They already have a cash in shed but there are problems aplenty. If u happen to have a bullock cart with both the wheels broken and the bull busy grazing the smartest thing to do is to not take part in a race of amateurs and don't even look towards where professionals are competing. It is surely acceptable that Indian batsman struggle abroad and look totally spell bound. The next glittering stars are still in the quarry and we the fans are still in the quandary. The Indian bowling exudes very little confidence if any.

There was a time when sports (here cricket) was dearth of money while times have moved on cricket has dug up a gold mine while other sports languish even for spectators. The class of politicians sitting on either side of the parliament make sure that this goose continues to stay fit and well nourished and continues to lay golden goose. These very class of politicians have a termite effect on other sports. Its the defeat that often test the character often. The present generation of cricketers have least to worry about what would happen next as a decent state player worth his salt would do well is he plays couple of seasons of IPL. You know success to often comes with its own set of challenges, one of them begin able to keep their feet on the ground. I am not saying that our players are snobbish. I am suggesting that players dont have to worry about their lives beyond cricket all the more reason for them to work hard and do well for the club, state franchisee or country.

Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman have done well, really well. There deeds on the field and demeanour of it is praise-worthy and al it worth to emulate for all of us fans. But its time to move on to next set of players. Laxman who purposefully played all his career under the Damocles sword may come good with a century in next few matches (if he plays). Dravid getting bowled due to lack of bounce or misjudgment Tendulkar not really looking 100 percent. The performance of the bowlers should also come in scrutiny. There has been Zaheer, Yadav did take wickets, Ishant is off the radar and hasnt done much damage. Indian batsman struggle to bat on bounce pitches but Indian bowlers struggle with lengths as well. The basic of test matches is also not seemingly put into practice. The crease has to be occupied, percentage shots with favorable returns (here runs) have to be played. There has been only one Sehwag in all the history of the game who can score with the strike rate of 80.

Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar, couple of years of Zaheer, who would be the next star. How will they perform abroad The pitches at home need to be looked into. I mean at least on the first class level. Why cant we have dedicated venues for fast, seeming bouncy pitches. Mumbai has always been a bit faster and bouncier, Chennai is always rank turners. If there is an inclination of BCCI to do well, they dont have the dearth of resources. The question which begs to be asked is if there is any will to do it?

Adelaide test will be hopefully a different story. I wish the batsman occupy the crease for more than 4 sessions and avoid the blues. I think Dhoni has to give up captaincy in one form of the game. He should play test as a batsman. The selectors shoulw offer him captaincy of two formats and keeping in the other two formats. If he is keeping in test Sehwag aur gambhir should be given the captaincy. The domestic setup may need a fine tuning as well. Can the BCCI get some young Under 21 exposure to the country circuit etc it helps they say – hint Zaheer Khan.

The time is right to overhaul if not re-build Indian cricket..

Cricket: Preview India vs Aus

India tour to Australia has kicked off with a couple of practice matches. Its was so magnanimous of BCCI to let a batch of our players leave early and gift them two matches, guess thats what early Xmas gifts resemble. I don't know if the Board thing or our players, but we don't consider practice matches much on to do list of a tour. India's previous tours to South Africa, West Indies and England being the latest one, have seen us in pretty embarrassing situations, in South Africa we lost the match in the first session, the pitch turned docile after Indian innings and every SAf batsman helped himself with runs and form. West Indies we were 5 wickets down for peanuts the then Man in form with th Bat, Harbhajan and guess who Suresh Raina bailed us out, if it was any other set of players in the opposition we would have been decimated. England saw us winning nothing except a couple of mini sessions between lunch and the following drinks break. I hope fortunes have changed.

Fit? Fine.

India vs Aus is no more the marquee series per se. But for an Indian fan (here, me :P) and players in the team there should be enough spice to compel me (read us) to follow. Its fitness rather than form on this tour that will be the key to the series. It is the key to any series but for us this is the one. You can go out of form and inform in the middle of the game but if you are down on fitness. You can go into a series with an indifferent form and pull of some magical performances but it would be difficult to go into a series with your fitness in the wrong direction of slope. Then Aus is a big country to travel with injuries. Sehwag, you don't know, before you get up on Boxing day he may already playing 50 of 30 balls. Gambhir next to stay put. Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar have all done well against Australia at home and away when Aussies were at peak of the game in the last decade or so. Laxman is just primed for runs. Sachin is a ton away from ton of tons, wonder if anyone has noticed it. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will have to fight it out for now exclusive so bereft batting order. But Kohli may get a look in before Rohit Sharma. Dhonis batting may just be under a more stern observation. 

Zaheer is coming out of long injury lay off, Ishant seems to be jumping a skipping rope between Am-I-injured-or-Am-I-not. Umesh, Ashwin and Ojha are yet to play in Aus. Irfan Pathan is not selected for some reason. Praveen Kumar wont be there. He did well in West Indies and England and did enough to be considered a decent test bowler. If there is swing he will do it. Bhajji and Sreesanth have been sent home for a long family vacation. Ashwin should fancy a chance against Aussies who have traditionally felt the pinch from the off spinners from Laker, Jasu Patel, Bhajji, Murali, Swann have done well against Australia. I for one would have love to see, Ishant and Bhajji bowling in tandem to Ricky Ponting. Ishant beating the inside edge with Ponting on the back foot, Bhajji beats the outside edge with Ponting coming forward. But then we have to savour what we get. Zaheer Khan is the keep simply because he has played just three test match in Australia. He is has to last the whole tour and keep taking wickets. He is vital to the outcome of the series from Indian perspective

Down Under - getting out of the rot.

Aussies now find themselves thin on talent and aptitude. It is (obviously) hard to replace guess who have entered history of the game. I don't know for how long Haddin may play, there are a few injured players, not suggesting Indians don't have their share of worries. Aussies have worries of their own. Its only Bangladesh and West Indies who have lost more matches. Ponting seems to the punter who out of tricks, but then the harder you want to pray of Indians winning this tour, they more you got to hope that Ponting doesn't get into form. Hussey is another player who can keep ticking, best brains in Aussie line up Watson is not played so that is a dream bonus. Why wasn't Warner scripted couple of years back is the question? Phill Jacques is a joke. Hilfenhaus makes a come back. Siddle will look to sizzle again, rest of the Aussie bowling is something I don't know about. I must add though, I am looking forward to Lyon vs Dhoni.

There are some key duels you want to see, Sehwag vs the cover point or third-man fielder. Dravid & Tendulkar old (oldest) war horses vs greenhorn Aussie rookie bowlers. Gambhir vs bad luck and ill form. Zaheer vs fitness. Ricky Ponting vs Ashwin. Hussey vs Zaheer. Umesh Yadav needs to adapt quickly and be counted. I am just wondering is Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar should all swap places. It's an idea that has caught my fancy. I wonder if it would make sens to have Laxman at three, Dravid at four and Tendulkar at five. Dhoni vs Haddin. 

The contemplation.

I am contemplating either a daily blog or after at the end of each innings.for  this tour especially for the days test matches played. There is one thing that I pray for, is series to be free of any possible controversy. The most important question for me will they employ DRS?

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: South Africa eases past India

Indian cricketers are seasoned performers. They all have played enough seasons in the Sun to convince everyone of their ability to flatter and deceive alternatively. They invite the wrath of doomsayers and make soothsayer cry hysterically in joy, both look for gumption and smile of content of the performance and punctuated by a few tumbling.

They came, they blasted; they exploded.

Morne Morkel was picking up wickets during Indians tour to SAf at aroun11 per wicket was going for couple of boundaries every over. Sehwag played exceptionally well to set the tempo. Tendulkar did better than Sehwag. Mokle and Steyn the best opening bowling pair presently in the business were reduce to shambles for first 10 overs. Indians set the pace and set alight the fire-works, only to be consumed before the innings ended. Tendulkar kept the run rate up and scored and strokeful century with some power hitting, a signature of Tendulkar. He took as single and got his 99 hundred in international cricket. Indians however were left licking their wounds after that. It may prove to be a costly miss. It was amazing to see the mindset of the incoming batsmen. All of them thought they were Sehwag or Tendulkar. I hope no there entertained no thoughts of outdoing Tendulkar or Sehwag.

Gambhir is serious class and very good talent. If he wants to add explosive qualities to his batting, he should look at (Yusuf Pathan or as Harsha Bhogle calls him khade khade) Pathan. Gambhir kept moving around his crease to create angle a-la Nadal wasn’t to be. Steyn saw him moving towards leg side and bowled one a little wider and slower, Gambhir scooped a catch to mid off and the avalanche was triggered. Pathan tried hoicking one over extra-cover where big mouth Smith and took a good catch. Yuvraj played a huge six and then was caught 5 meters inside the boundaries off a Kallis full toss. Indian batsmen left no opportunity to fool themselves, even Nehra and Munaf went for ambitious shots. Dhoni, stranded in the middle perhaps the sign of things to come in the near future. I wonder if he would have promoted himself instead of Pathan.

There were so many similarities to the collapse in the match against England. The other match against the Dutch where the top order blew it up to set a tight match, dew, and Yuvraj saw India though. The end score was in paltry in comparison to projected score between 10 and 15 over. Steyn took five wickets and looked like a hungry bear in a this big bull market, clawed down over bought Indian batting line up and got wickets for his team and changed the course of this match. India would now be at the mercy of other teams as much as it to qualify for quarters. I think its time to go back to the drawing board and add to the mix the fifth bowler. The policy of playing with three & half bowlers won’t pay dividends. Bhajji should consider himself lucky to be in the playing eleven and Yuvraj seems to especially doing well notching up fifties against Netherlands. One among Yuvraj, Virat, and Gambhir has to make way for a specialist bowler that’s the need of the prevailing time.

I was wondering about couple of things one, Dhoni actually winning tosses and then Indians batting first. If we claim out batting to be stronger of the two aspects among batting and bowling, we must chase scores down. But with a tendency of collapsing and bowling getting the stick we see ropes burning pretty fast from both the ends. I hope Indian team isn’t reduced to an awesome looking calls without an engine of the four wheels neither being good enough for bullocks to cart it along.

It’s the partnerships, stupid…

One way of comparing Indian and SAf cricketing style is comparing an orchestra to drum flogging at Ganpati pandals. The Drum beating of Pandals is hysteria little to do with sense, just brawn greeted by loud cheer. SAf mean while represents a perfect classical playing orchestra every note in the right place, team working together to create harmony. There batting is always partnerships, there were a few 50s and few blows in the end, batsmen, all rounder and bowlers form the line up. There is one of the best sides in terms of fitness (fielding & running between the wickets). Even though Smith never fails to get past Zaheer, poor chap. Amla can change gears, De Villers can hit those huge sixes at will, Kallis is still mystery to a generation of Indian bowlers. SAfs crept past India. Their smart partnerships, good positive running did us in. A contrast to way we batted. We got the height but not the distance and SAfs got us in the middle of the field. It is more than worrisome time for Indian team, wicket taking bowler is fast becoming a part of the myth. Zaheer Khan looks good others look like tigers in sheep’s garb hungry and happy to graze grass.

Indians are still to beat SAf in the world cup. Will there be another chance where the two teams would meet again?

Indians have never defeated SAfs in world cup matches, so far.

Cricket: 1 March 2003

I was in my second year engineering, it was a holiday, the earliest hour of morning got my third sem result with it. I had flunked my third sem after crossing the tide of the first year engineering without a blemish. I was distraught. The result was I had flunked but I had pegged my hopes imagining the worst for myself, days later the mystery of the result unravelled when the elephant had gone through the needle but its tail stuck in the eye of the needle. It was the worst feeling of having left high and dry.

The summers were here and Maharashta’s winter capital always experienced temperatures that made sure there were no mosquitoes other crawlies alive apart from odd moth, jeans and bed sheet dried in minutes an hour without electricity felt close to eternity. Coke and sutta were the only intakes body accepted a touch willingly. When one entered the hostel room after 10 minutes walk in the lunch, the eyes took their time to adjust to the environs of indoor.

The day of the result made sure people wore clean clothes, jeans and kurta. The result day was also an incentive to made sure the lecturers were spared of lecturing mentally absent, cynical engineering students not many were happy except the chap in the canteen, who hoped university would announce at least one result every month. But since it was Mahashivratri and a holiday, hostel mates flowed across the campus like rivulets and headed towards Ram temple, I too joined, more in asking the dearest Lord, why me? I was blank and I knew the world had stopped spinning and only thing spinning around me was my brains.

The walk to the temple was long on a dusty road few shorts cuts and we landed on the footsteps of stairs up a hillock towards the temple. The sun blessed us with temperatures in vicinity of 40 deg Celsius and I was feeling the pinch more than ever. The worst bout of dehydration was just waiting to hit me with some crude intention. It did, the climb up the stone stair combined with the fact that I was not feeling anywhere near optimistic made me feel sick. A soft drink and few sweet toffees did make me feel a touch better but I was gasping for air and my stomach churning.

I thanked God for everything and started to look at the time, India vs. Pakistan was couple of hours away. It was the match to see in a boy’s hostel. I managed to reach back to my room, found myself having a quick lunch, around 230 in the afternoon hysteria started to get grips of a hostel lobby and we resembled a stand at Centurions rather than a hostel of an engineering college. Everyone gather near the television, which was kept in a wooden box like cupboard. The locked were opened without keys off course. The lock too knew a crucial match was on. A bit of tiffs and iffs for getting the best seat on the floor to see the match. The power cut off just pumped up the hysteria, the power was back on and there was this huge cheer.

Pakis batted first silken wrists kept Saeed Anwar chugging Pakis along and an imposing total in excess of 270 was posted. Anwar getting a magnificent century. The ordinary death overs made sure Pakis kept flexing there hitting muscles and Indian bowlers made too look not so good. The Doordarshan commentary was mute for most of the times as a cheeky comment, a slur or a swear kept everyone busy. A few people who were lazy after a big meal preferred a blurring crackling voice on radio and separate set of noises added to Dolby vocal systems that the hostel turned itself.
A break of 40 minutes and Indian response was to start.

The Indian response started, the Wasim Akram ran towards Tendulkar, unstoppable force was about to met an unmpvable rock. The first ball Tendulkar face was dispatched to cover boundary. It was to be a long leather chase for Pakis as Tendulkar took the leg stump guard with his stumps exposed to bowlers named Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib. At the end of over strike changed, Shoaib was on top of his mark, Sachin on top of his crease, all three stumps in the bowler’s eye. Shoaib ran in breathing fire, Tendulkar gaze unruffled a blink of an eye, a wide deliver and this ambitious upper cut saw the ball flying across third man across rows into the crowd. Tendulkar played like a man holding fort and knocking winds out of opposition’s sails. Sehwag flattered to deceive to get to Waqar. Ganguly deceived of Waqar yorker but this didn’t stop Tendulkar who was in another dimension Kaif played with Tendulkar to string a hundred runner partnership, by the time Kaif was other India were counting down runs, Tendulkar pace made sure required rate was never a bother. Shoaib bowled a host one at Tendulkar's body and Tendulkar was gone, he missed the Century but no one missed perhaps his best innings.

Dravid guided Yuvraj to another control partnership that made sure the target score was never too big or too far. I strongly believe Dravid's mentored Yuvrajs and Kaifs and other to chase down a score. We held the record for scoring down most number of chases. Tendulkar scored at more than run a ball and Yuvraj and Dravid bought it home.

At the end of the day, the disappointment of the day was Tendulkar not getting to a desired century and not my poor third sem results.

Cricket: Review India vs England

I think this would be one result that both the teams would accept, unwillingly. The two teams converged to the result courtesy some excellent play some poor effort by both the teams at different times. You know you have seen a magnificent knock when Tendulkar’s ton is worthily over shadowed. Andrew Strauss cut and swept his way to a brilliant 158, sad he could see it through.

Batting too good, bowling too bad.

You cannot win a marathon with legs tied. If be pack our batting order with batsmen then we should back to get to any score. Dhoti winning second toss is succession was his consecutive win of tosses, a rarity in recent past.
I wonder having packed sides with batting first, you would want to chase because you know the bowling is week. I mean we scored 338 and the match got tied courtesy a poor finish. We didn’t even completed our quota of over and last seven wickets went for 33 runs. The highest point of the game for Indians was when Tendulkar raised his bat to a fighting century after that it was pretty a spiral downwards till the point Zak trapped Strauss leg before.

Bowling attack consisted of three and a half bowlers.

Indians have traditionally had weak bowling attacks. We are now compelled to use filling bowlers to make ends meet. But going with four bowlers where each bowler can bowl maximum 10 overs is stretching optimism that bit (delta) too much. If a bowlers have an off day you are doomed and if you are defending a sub 250 score then prayers will get you more results then acts on the field. This is where Pakistan are so good, have always found to play 6 bowlers at times 7, and at least five of them having ability to bowl their 10. It is a huge advantage. South Africa too invariably have more than one all rounder. Aussies have been anomaly where they field four really specialist wicket taking bowlers, with very good fielding, the dearth of fifth bowler is hardly felt. Poms have various kinds of batting and bowling all rounder, Collingwood, Bresnan, Wright Broad. If these four play, we can expect at least 35 overs from them and ability to score 100 runs run at run a ball. Invaluable.

Flat, flatter; flattest.

Place the words pitch, bowling, skill, appropriately in the preceding sentence. I would place it a flat pitch, flatter bowling, flattest skill. I mean how many cover drives did we see Strauss playing against all the combined bowling. I don’t remember more than three. He was fed with deliveries, which he kept either cutting or sweeping, taking the slip of the equation. The fielding placement was done in a manner, which encouraged both stroke play and singles. Zaheer bowled perhaps the worst opening spell of the season. He was feeing batsmen on both sides of wicket, preferably short obliging what batsmen set their eyes for. It was incredulous. Bhajji is approaching 400 test wickets, no mean feta, off all people Bhajji should now that best chance for him to get wickets is extending an invitation for batsmen to drive him through the covers, it brings in the LBWs, bowled, edges, caught behinds. The most shots I remember seeing off Bhajji were cut and sweeps no invitation offered to play the drive, Chawla finding his way back had ideal opponents in Poms, any other side would have ensured Chawla hit out of the attack. I mean imagine same bowling attack and we bowling fist against teams like Pakistan or South Africa the top teams in this competition. There are reasons beyond this it is an observance that the muscle in the bowling won more matches then magnificence of batting. Sachin Tendulkar’s whole career bears eye wtiness to this fact. The cricket matches are won by restricting the opposition and taking wickets is the only way to do that.

Batting order need a rejig.

Gambhir, Kohli or Pathan much be dropped to make way for another bowler, the problem is which bowler will replace them and bowl line and lengths with discipline and claim wickets or put pressure to ensure wickets at other end. Pathan did make a century in South Africa but for him to be effective he must come when there are 12 to 15 ovrs where he can get in. The finish role will have to be done by Dhoni coz Yuvraj is also off the boil, with the best form seem to have deserted him. But I hope this 50 is welcome return to form for Yuvraj following couple of ordinary seasons.

Tendulkar’s ton out shone.

Strauss superlative effort out shone a very good Tendulkar century. There is little doubt that if Sachin bats 40-45 overs he would get a century. His century was full of attacking stokes though the start was slow but early caution was packed off to the winds when Collingwood was walloped two sixes in an over and Swann saw two huge sixes sailing over to the leg side off consecutive delivers, Tendulkar was turning the tide and time for his team. There were useful contributions from Sehwag and Gambhir and Yuvraj. He was thoroughly out shone by Strauss who displayed a commanding presence and hunger to score big runs. He shepherd the innings for as long as he could and it had to be superb delivery from Zaheer to bring an end a superb innings.

Cricket: SAfs win first test.

South African cruised to a very comprehensive innings victory against under prepared India. This match will be remember more for Tendulkar 50the hundred rather than South African victory, another Tendulkar century in vain and when all seemed lost. I had thought a lot worst and was pretty convinced that India would loose by at least innings and 150 runs. Tendulkar has other plans, Indians lost crucial wicket at indifferent times ib the second innings, Sehwag, Laxman and Raina were out when least expected.

All was lost in a day. 136 all out

Indian came into the test match without a practice match, Zaheer lost the race to fitness, Sehwag got out for a duck. All bad omens one may say. The most telling of these omens was no practice match, long time back between 97 and 99 seasons India toured Zimbabwe for a test match, they didn’t have a practice match and we lost there as well. A lesson not learnt or learnt the hard way. This time we weren’t touring Zimbabwe we are touring a place where we haven’t done all that well, the combined average of our top four bats is 36. They are the main threats to our number one position. It would be a great boost for us as a cricket team if we play SAfs with more conviction. Wasn’t to be. The question if we had survived that dreaded first session hold little value. A practice match would have done a lot of good things. The preparation would have been better, Zaheer fitness would be no mystery, there would be match sense, playing a test match would have been a fine tune rather than a crude shock.

India selection was a bit bemusing, I thought Yadav who bowls in 140s would have made the cut, but then there would have been something more about Undakant that I don’t know. Raina now has 84 runs in his last 8 innings; if he deserves a place in the side he must be demoted. Dhoni, who has more conviction and common sense, should come ahead of Raina. Bhajji has done little with his bowling efforts and should be dropped. SAfs have, Petersen, DeVilliers, Amla and Kalis, all right handers and have a liking for Bhajji’s off spin and would continue to hoick him over mid wicket. Ojha, spinning it away from the bat becomes a more threatening option. Laxman would want to think about hitting across the line not before he is over 150 runs. Dravid seemed unlucky with bad bounce. But we can expect a better fight in the next match considering most batsman spend decent time at the crease.
It is something SAf batsmen capitalize on. I am also wondering how pitch changed its nature. The second question then is if the pitch really changed its nature at all. Did Indian batsman come with poor mindset, weather already had played a spoil sport.

Kallis - A big match player.

Kallis has scored big runs and taken big wickets, last genuine breed of now nearly extinct species of cricketers called all rounders,more than 250 wickets more runs than any other SAf hundred catches but still finds himself a bit of a loner. He out weighs much of SAf team by his performances, this time around, SAf were in hunt for this massive lead. Kallis looked good especially against a very ordinary Indian bowling. He wanted a big one, he did get a massive double hundred. I think if you match the team player for player, Tendulkar is matched by Kallis, his bowling on seeming bouncing pitches is an asset.
DeVillers just hammered it all over and ensure that Indians would bat for a longer time then would like, they had to bat out seven sessions, but since we lost the plot before the first evening itself, result was just a matter of time. When the SAfs declared there was only one result possible, pending Indian defeat.

The difference is in the bowling.

If you look beyond Steyn and Morkel there isn’t much that South Africa has to threaten a batting side. The problem is Steyn and Morkel are so damn good. I mean they would easily cream couple of wickets every time they bowl together. India I thought would come out with a very conservative way to just weather the storm and pick runs when Steyn and Morkel have been tired out. The casualness of Indians has invited this defeat. South Africa must meanwhile look for a bowler who can complement Morkel and Steyn, there can be no easy reprieve if Steyn or Morkel has a bad day.
But it is tough challenge for our batsman to negate Steyn and Morkel let alone tie both of them and score of other bowlers. They claimed 14 wickets in between them in the whole game, Ishant claimed two of the four wickets. Bhajji claimed the other two& two is the number of maiden overs he bowled in his marathon like 36 overs that leaked runs close five runs an over. Bhajji is a different kinda off spinner, who relishes on variable bounce and whizz of the wicket, unlike conventional off spinner, Randiv and Swann who invite the batmen forward with the loop and flight. Bhajji needs to look at Mendis and R Ashwin and other off spinner going around. Bhajji Pa invite them to drive, speed and bounce and spin will all come into play.

Sachin the man keeps them churning on and on

There have been many a child prodigies, some withered away, some never made it, some self consumed. Sachin Tendulkar I think is the only child prodigy after Mozart to fulfil (and exceed) the God gifted promises. The person who goes past him or even close to him will be the only one who would know what immense pressure, scrutiny, glamour and hype. Indian cricket has had a rich history but the rich treasure and coffers of BCCI have grown in Sachin’s Era. I am not sure if it is just coincidence. Actually, it is too true for being coincidence.

There have been many a great batsmen, there would be some more. All of them put together would have not lived in as much scrutiny, praise adulations and criticisms as Tendulkar, certainly not many bought as much smiles to millions. Personally for me he remains a super achiever on the field and supreme achiever off it. It is this intense and unrelenting electron microscope like life that he has lived makes it more special. It is not easy what he has done on the field, records are meant to be broken, Sachin records too may be broken someday. There are things that we do and then there is a way we do them. Sachin keeps us all glued to the game. Every time he has risen and every time his form has waned his humility increased, he got more dignified. He remains in the headlines for right reasons. I wonder if they would retire the No.10 jersey. He deserves a Bharat Ratna,if doesn’t who does?

Back to the game.

We were out played and out smarted.Raina deserves a demotion if not a drop from the eleven, Dhoni must come ahead of Raina no mater what the situation of the game, I think it would have been a bit different had Dhoni come up the order before Raina and the may have had a similar partnership with Tendulkar. It would have changed the complexion of the game. Bhajji needs to bag lick a dozen wickets every time,don’t think he is a stupendous form,Bhajji the batsmen will be of little consequence, Okjha, Yadav should be in, Zaheer would be definitely come in. I don’t think there would be so many changes. At this point in t ime 1-1 seems a long way away. But second innings batting by Indians give me lot of hope and is something positive to be taken at the end of this game.

Cricket: Aus down under in India

This post was first to be written as a review of the first test then it was post pone to review of the test series then it was pushed back to review of Aus truncated tour of India. It was the best half cooked series Indian cricket fans were ever been fed in a long time. It’s a matter of shame, but then we are like this only.

Ever since I came to know, this was a too few a test series of two matches, ODI washing out came as a relief except for today’s match, but then how BCCI works raises more questions and provides few answers in return, they are like this only.

If you look back at the fall of events before Aussies started their tour to India there was much ruckus about spot fixing, derivative, contracts, forwards and future of cricket. I wasn’t concerned about the future of cricket per se just bothered about how it will be perceived. But then there is always something weird and random in Pakistani cricket which throws up some beautiful patterns but that’s few and far in between for most of the time it is face saving and "sweep it under the carpet"n  type of intricate exercise; for sure they will always be like that only.

First test – Laxman is very very special.

Laxman and Lara two of the contemporaries that will find themselves an invite is a cricketing ten against Aussies were to be made. The first would be Tendulkar followed by the two other gentlemen we can debate the rest of the players. He is like that only.

The Aussies started on a strong but a slow note, taking time forever, trying to direct the match towards a draw, probably not taking into account Sehwag and there tendency to collapse seeing the Indian spinner making it turn, break and jump. They meandered with no real change of plans. The posted a strong 428 at less than 3 an over, forget Sehwag tends to score more than run a ball. Zaheer taking five. If he stays for an appreciable time he can mow the score in a day. Tendulkar and Dravid and Laxman would just hammer them harder. Indian batsman got starts didn’t pile up celebrative centuries and so on. India out paced Aussies with the scoring rate and spared a lead of 23 runs. Aussies were seemingly taking control before an inspired change in bowling ishant rocked the top order, got his man Ponting, spinners too jumped in the fray, Zaheer cleaned up the tail.

The Indian top order collapsed and going into the fourth day it was 55/4 with Indians catching straws but wicket was weary Laxman was nursing an injury.
An hour into the play Aussies seem to be in control but lacked ideas to polish of the tail. Ishant and Laxaman tailored a tense partnership, Ishant getting out and a thrilling one wicket Indian victory at Mohali befitting a thriller test match.

Second test, same story, same plot, same wine in the same bottle.

Aussies had a stop start stop beginning to there second test, Dhoni losing the toss Punter bet on playing first, match swayed either way for first four days. Ponting meanwhile found firm footing on loose Indian pitches, before among all bowlers Raina had Ponting LBW,but then North dug in and carried Aussies forward Paine make sure Indian bowlers continue to toil. Bhajji bowled with a lot of heart. But then Bhajji's clout as a bowler needs a makeover, at least his bowling does. Indians restrict Aussies to a thought 478, game on.

The Indian top order misfired again but Murali and Master stroked it delightfully, giving Aussies a fitting reply. Murali score a century, Tendulkar, the old wine scored a double. The Indian first innings wither away soon and an expectation of a big lead withered away. The last five wickets fell for 9 runs Aussies hopping and jumping after restricting India to below 500. The Aussies fail to take an initiative in their second and some tight bowling especially by Ojha who, tied one end up and Zaheer and Bhajji rocked the Aussie batting line up who seemed a bit too casual. Dhoni and boys looking to take the cake home.

The last day of the test match was again a riveting one Sehwag got out cheaply, Dravid for a change facing Home ground blues. Pujara was the cat among the Kangaroos and along with Murali Vijay and Tendulkar scripted a wonderful Indian series win.

Dhoni again out witted Ponting twice in a row in the same series. Ponting is still to win a test in India as a captain.

Oh dear ODIs.

The first one was abandoned.

The second one, while Indian bowls kick started it all Aussies Captain made a stoic and a poignant century and Craig White hammered the Indian bowling to all parts and together scored 85 in last five overs, 293 what seemed a tough total to get with a fragile Indian batting line up. Shikhar Dhawan joined a prestigious club Tendulkar, Dhoni and Raina are his fellow members who have scored a duck on debut. I will be happy if I were to be in that company. Yuvraj not losing his regal charm eased himself to a half century before being bored and playing across get bowlwed. Virat “Boisterous” Kohli swivelled and cramped and limped to get to a century before Raina did a minor Craig White, by scoring at will and Indian eased to what seem like a one side boring victory. An unassailable lead with one more boring (one sided) match to play.

The third ODI was abandoned due to rain.

This was the half cooked review of a half cooked series, credit to BCCI. We are like that only.

Cricket: India won, Sachin shone

 

India won the match, but for every once in a while in a team game someone comes along, who almost seemed like the one for whom prophecies are voiced and then one prophecy fulfilled leading him to another and a protégé metamorphised into a marvellous genius capturing amazement unlike previously imagined. It's a road not all willingly take, the some who do willingly take up the gauntlet,face a lonely climb up, hide there tears in pain and misery while lighting warm candles of affection and spreading the cheer and joy for others who follow. The Pantheon of Cricket won’t be complete without Sachin and yes, when the Pantheon is assembled Sachin’s statue would be humble and selfless and would continue to shine with an aura that no eye would afford to miss.

Sachin is a great genius and outstanding champion cricketer. His feats will make you wanting to know more about his ways,mannerisms etc. I think his humility, his respect for the game, his attitude towards the game and life that pleases and amazes me the most. I mean I don’t think I have seen/known many people who have achieved even close to the quantum of what Sachin has seemingly achieved so easily and be equally humble while he did what he did on teh cricketing field. His achievements and his humility add to his never wavering aura. There are many champions, who have come and gone, not many have achieved so much and at the same time lasted so long without being seduced by charms of fickle flame of fame. Sachin has lived more than half his life, more than two decades in public life, yet remained practically aloof, never was anywhere near controversy or did anything that would make u raise your eye brow. I think this makes his achievements more special. I don’t know if any book on cricket records would ever mention the pressure, the emotion and tears of joy when Tendulkar scored (centuries).

Even in this particular innings, he batted and scored half the runs of the team, yet not many who saw would realize that when he was nearing his double century, he was just pushing himself on will. He ran and sashayed down the pitch he pulled, swilled, ran for his partners apart from himself, a tremendous physical effort. In the end he came to field, and at the end of the game he said he would like to bat for another 50 overs and see how his body copes up. I don’t think his body matters anymore, he is walked away from the physical to the metaphysical will mind, body soul are in sync and things happen the way he want them to happen. I may be painting eloquence but then in last 12 months or so what Tendulkar has done over so many years cannot simply be done on the basis on healthy body alone.

Sachin’s in supreme form physically and seem to be winding the clock back dozen of years ago. While a few years ago people imagine his body not being able to bear the brunt of the rigours of the game, he restricted himself of the strokes that carried his signature but now in the present he has reinvented himself and looks more solid, capable of changing years and controlling the direction and flow of the game.

All things said and done, yesterday I would have loved to see him bowl and take couple of wickets just for fun. I guess 200 not out wasn’t enough. But then he over compensated and made up when he was stranded run out. He more than made up with a 200 not out, something that was never ever done in history of ODI cricket. Perhaps it may be done in times to come, but he would always remain the first to do it.

Yes a few more men played the innings, perhaps helped Tendulkar as booster rockets put satellites in space. Karthick if fast putting up weight of runs for a selection in the team with some splendid performances He batted well and just got well along with Tendulkar and kept the score to tick along. He was looking for more than a 79, yeah it wasn’t to be. His wicket saw entry of Yusuf Pathan, shrewed Dhoni’s hand in that is hard to miss in that decision. Pathan played himself in and was soon raced along to a good 30 odd runs; Tendulkar kept smashing it all over. Dhoni came to fore and just up the ante in double quick time; Tendulkar by now was looking ever more patient and focus to get to a coveted double century.

South Africans overawed with what they say just wilted under weight of expectation of scoring over 8 an over before even a ball was bowled. Devilliers put up his hand to score a good hundred but then he was a lone ranger. Tendulkar etched out a special innings. I hope the dust of adulation and admiration never settles. All I wish to say in the end that I wish I too was as humble as Tendulkar, the most worshipped cricketer the game of cricket has seen.

Cricket: India square series

India came back from behind to square series one each. I am still to be convinced of two test and four test and six Odis. I think Odis should be restricted to maximum of three, included more test. I mean would it have mattered to BCCI in terms of revenue if this were to be only a test series? But then seldom what BCCI does has anything to do with something called as rationale.

Storm in the tea cup

Greame Smith was the only joy for first couple of sessions. SAfs won the toss and elected to bat. It was a conscious decision to bat first in order to avoid facing the spinning ball on the last day. Alviro Petersen made a century on debut. He was doing pretty good and not only rose to the occasion, but did very well, obviously helped by what look a wayward Ishant especially in first innings. A big partnership between Amla and Alviro saw them cruising and made Indian bowlers look like someone without plan and imagination. There was a storm to come in the session following tea.
I guess when Indians went back they sensed a storm in the tea cup. The whole scenario changed when Bhajji wrecked the SAfs batting line up and sweet memories of 2001 the Eden test flickered in front of many a cricket fans. In the hindsight that very test marked in some subtle ways how India team went to become a very professional, albeit a touch inconsistent but good test team. The balance is in favour of batsman but bench strength seems good but untested.
The buzz of the match changed soon after tea and out of nowhere things start to happen as if sequence of events waited for a hint of the trigger. One wicket let to another and what seemed like a picture perfect scenario in the second session looked so ominous, Kallis, Devilliers, Duminy, Prince along with Petersen and Amla came and went what seemed innocuous deliveries and unthought-of shots. The shots were inexplicable needless to say unwarranted and before the dust settled and sunset, eight wickets had fallen and India came out of back jail. Zaheer, Ishant, Misra and forget me not Bhajji claimed wickets and shared to onus. The cake was baked and the dressing was about to be added.


Sustained batting effort

Indians sustained the pressure. SAfs assisted the Indian batting effort, but bowling little less the good and fielding as worst as any you would imagine from SAfs. It was by far the worst fielding display I have seen from SAfs in quiet some time. Sehwag kept on smashing them all over. There is a method to his madness. See ball hit ball. His style is so simplistic on the lines of being almost minimalistic, but one of the more profound batsmen of his time if not in the history. His numbers say it all. He is for sure the corner stone of batting and other rally around him. Yes, he does keep you n the edge of the seat and will always give the other side a chance, yes he may make you want to pull your hair but when he does hammer scores those score are big loud and brash.
Tendulkar on the while seems to be batting like a Zen master, its almost serene, through out his innings; you could see the glimpses of various phases of Tendulkar through out his illustrious career. You could almost sense him holding fort and then come out with a brilliant stroke that would just steal your breath away. But the bowl he got out to deserves praise for Harris. He deserved it. Tendulkar smacked fourth century in as many matches. His tally is know like 47 test centuries and opened a considerable gap of eight centuries in test versus Ponting.
Laxman and Dhoni then prolonged the agony of foes as they built up a considerable partnership, each getting to their hundred meanwhile Laxman was the stabilising factor and gave support, Dhoni kept nibbling away. Laxman and Dhoni scored not out centuries and closing the door on SAfs.


Second time up hill

After tea on first SAfs seemed just very pedestrian, although this time they did get starts. I am leg side Smith always up for LBW didn’t have to face Zaheer's menace was claimed LBW by Mishra what looked a plumb decision. Kallis got ball of the series from an Indian bowler. Kallis must be proud to get on that delivery and Mishra would sing the swan song of this delivery even to his grandchildren. It pitched middle middle-off ripped across Kallis’s bat took the edge and Dhoni made on mistake. Badrinath added something to the scorecard and audiences memories when he kept the nerve to catch Petersen what ended up as a simple catch. Prince played an ordinary shot Devilliers foxed by a googly, Duminy beaten for pace, some moments of uneasiness for Indian audiences came when Harris and Parnell and Morkel stitched some useful partnerships Ishant bowled a line and length which bemused everyone except the batsmen he was wayward and looked distraught at missed catches. Fielding was quiet ordinary by Indians as well. There were so many missed catches. In the end before the close of play Bhajji claimed the honours and also the end wicket to help India square the series. It is so sad there were only two matches.

The focus on shifts to ODIs. I am hooting for Gibbs, Bootsman & Co while the Kohli and Raina need to redefine there role and a certain Yusuf Pathan needs to dish out some hearty performance. Tendulkar would want to hit a century in at least one of the ODIs.

Cricket: India vs. Bangladesh

Cricket is unpredictable. But this 2-0 victory should not come as a surprise. The Bangladesh performances on the cricket field lent a subtle hint that their first class setup needs some fine tuning if not an overhaul. It’s good to have more teams, but I think ICC should provide expertise to set up quality first class cricket. There has been marginal improvement. But then, India didn’t get their first test win easy. So well let’s see
B’desh stretch India

B’desh with half there side in the hut, before reaching three figures. It was a Sunday morning; it was good to see India on top. I had imagined a quick mop up and then our batsman making merry. Mahmudullah had different idea. It was like a cute romantic story. I dished it out to Indian bowlers, some going for a few some for a plenty. He farmed a lot of strike and most unlucky not to get to three figures against India. A 100 seems much more convincing then a 96 not out. Rest of the batting apart from a few minor contributions came and went.
Ishant Sharma rocked the B’desh batting claiming four, Zaheer got three, and Ojha claimed two. I wonder what’s keeping Bhajji down; I hope he gets back to wicket taking ways. I know SAfs are coming but don’t imagine them to be top quality spin playing unit although Smith, Kallis, De’Villiers are good. I would like to think of them bringing back Jacques Rudolph. That chap is good.

Dravid and Tendulkar show for batting lesson

Dravid and Tendulkar displayed a master class of batting. Dravid whole career seem to be almost unsung to the point of being unnoticed. Dravid has over 10 thousands runs in both form of the game. Indians batting woes has swung in step with Dravid batting form. Dravid a no mean stroke player himself provides enough certainty for the likes of Tendulkars, Sehwags, Gambhirs, and Laxmans to play their natural game. It should be surprise that he holds the record for most number of century partnerships in test. A little misjudgement caused the ball to thud into his jaw, as a result he having a hairline fracture in the jaw. I feel a few SAfs bowlers would have sigh of relief.
Tendulkar surely made it count. He scored two centuries in two tests. A good match practice for following series during SAfs tour to India. I think Sachin is now in good form and better fitness. At least for last couple of years. So far so good. He now has 90 internationals centuries so Tendulkar needs ten more tons to get to the ton of centuries. I think it would be one of the more profound sporting feats in the same bracket as Bolt, Phelps or Nadia Comaneci. I know Ponting just behind his back with 39 centuries in test. But Tendulkar may just outlast Ponting may be by few months. But if that’s the case Ponting may just end up with more number of centuries. But as off know, its Tendulkar. I hope he takes his good form to the next test series.
Dhoni almost got there to a century. At times his swagger can be so intimidating yet assuring. He got the taste of his own medicine he was stumped out for 89. Sehwag and Gambhir contributed to with fifties. Gambhir sadly fell for 68, al though he was closing on one more century with which he would have tied with Bradman for 6 centuries in 6 back to back tests. But then to his solaces, he in now ties with Viv Richards for fifty in 11 consecutives innings. Talk to being in form. He simply is doing superb and would want to do well against a good bowling SAfs side.

Tamim tames India bowling.

He was in trance almost. He cracked an awesome century and looked in no fuss. He grew in confidence with each run. He had Siddique almost bought back public to the stadium. He looked very commanding and authoritative and the rejoice was for all to see and applaud. Tamim Iqbal looked good in the earlier test as well, by the looks of it; he would continue to do well in the future. I believe the wicket too eased out and nothing was happening till the ball was deposited with sure hands of Zak.

Zak talks of being in the zone.

Zaheer Khan’s control saw B’desh batting collapsing. He has affinity for left handers in the top order. In the last series when India toured South Africa, Zaheer was all over Smith. I think if Zaheer has marked his men for next series, Smith would be there. Zak took 10 in the match and walked away with Man of the match and Man of the series. He was in tremendous control and swaying the ball to his wishes. Zak is looking really awesome.
Bhajji need a relooks. I was wondering about Bhajjis form, doesn’t oozes the same confidence. I know it is just matter of one good innings. I wish him luck. Go Bhajji.

Dhoni’s hat gets more couple of good feathers. If he wins against SAfs that would be really cool. At least for now with key batsman injured, Dravid, Yuvraj, Laxman and an unwanted, unwarranted crisis in South Africa, let’s just hope we have the best teams playing in right frame of mind and full fitness.

I am wondering is South Africans would do well in this years IPL … the questions begs to be asked. I believe only time will unravel the answers

Cricket: A forgettable win

I think India looked to haul out with relative ease but Sehwag’s magnanimous comments, left much for desired. There are ways of saying this, but his rather cavalier attitude and his comments left me in stark embarrassment. I just hope it’s out shear rustic ignorance more than anything else. India may have won but Test wins are to be enjoyed by the fans as much as by the players involved. This particular one win would better bury soon as India move on to Dhaka for the next match.
Sehwag’s average was 11 against Bangladesh before this test match.

Ordinary first innings for Indians

Tendulkar played reminiscent of old, almost seemed to turn back the clock more than 10 years. He has now looking to leave those forgetable last couple years when his bore the brunt and tennis elbow, etc restricted his game. But he seems to be recovered from those times and now scoring and stamping his authority. He found himself with innings in tatters and played some attacking authoritative cricket shorts, those you would typical label Tendulkar's brilliance. Indeed it was nothing short of brilliant. The famed Indian middle order buckled due to heavy lunch, questionable shots (Sehwag and Gambhir), incisive Bangla bowling (Dravid, castled) and some misfortune Laxman. Shakib and Shahdat deserved the wickets they got. The pitch only helped the Bangla cause, so it seemed.
Tendulkar provided with saving grace of 105 not out. Ponting is almost within touching distance in terms of number of Test centuries (only). It would be interesting to see if Tendulkar will last longer than Ponting. I hope he does out last Ponting.
India hot out for 240 plus.


Bangla innings run into predictable course.

I wonder if there is any 4 days game in Bangla first class system. Otherwise batsmen seem to dabbling into too many strokes and undermining their own potential. I mean they just should look to stay in. Don’t score runs, forget it but just stick on to the wickets and learn the tricks of trade.
Zaheer was looking very good so was Ishant. Mishra chipped in with a couple of wickets. Mahumdullah looked good but then Bangladesh innings folded relatively soon and gave India just a run lead.


India cement there second innings.

Although it looked like a procession, the night-watchman Misra looked good will he lasted notched a good 50, which would have given him a boost. Sehwag hit himself out with a nothing shot. Shakib enjoyed taking Sehwag’s wicket second time in the test. Rahul Dravid should be kicking himself at the reckless manner he got out. A few seemingly inexpensive embarrassing moments get swept under the carpet of victory but That mistake would have been very interesting against someone like SAfs, who are touring India next. One mistake Dravid would like to keep in mind and mind him not to repeat. Laxman tried to leave his mark with a laboured fifty. India almost batted out Bangladesh.


Gambhir is in some serious form.

He is perhaps the best batsman in every form of the game for India, provided Dhoni doesn’t want to throw his hat into the ring for this debate. India should try opening with Sehwag and Gambhir even in ODIs. Tendulkar to follow close. Gambhir has hit some 8 test centuries in last 10 Test spanning across 15 months. His last five test appearances have got him 5 centuries. It is amazing. He is a perfect foil for Sehwag and look to garner more strike if realizes Sehwag is too hot and may explode. Just imagine Sehwag still standing in the middle with a bat in his hand after 30 overs or 100 balls on his own. Gambhir mean while compiled a good century to fortify Indian position in the second innings. After that the result proves to be more than just a formality.


Welcome back Ishant 

Nothing to do with Taare Zameen Par out here. Lad means business. I think he is crucial especially in fourth innings. I mean I always have felt he impress me very much by his fourth inning's performances. I remember him denting the top order when India toured Lanka last. I won’t mind seeing him missing a few ODIs. His average i.e. runs conceded for every wicket is at 24 for India in a winning cause. His average in the fourth innings also hovering around 24. So if he bowls his best in the fourth innings of a match, he is likely to sway the match in favour of India. I have him in my sites, more on him later.


Pakistani players not in IPL :)

I am really happy they won’t be playing here. I am not jealous of them being the world champions. Don’t get me wrong I think Pakistanis unique ability to find some gifted crickets and some how shooting themselves in the foot every time keeps me glued to Pakistani cricket. I don’t think the atmosphere is right for them playing to be in India, there could have been a serious backlash. I also don’t want India media to hype the issue. I am certainly happy that they are not here.
After 26/11 Pak Gov disallowed them to play in India citing security reasons following 26 November, when IPL shifted to SAf, Pakistani players made a bee line but were denied permission to play. I think they would be better playing some league cricket and earn their chewing gum allowance. In equal fervour don’t imagine hooting for Aussies players.

I am particularly happy for guys like Pollard and Eosin Morgan, Bond. I hope Morgan gives some solidity to Royal Challengers Bangalore. Pollard, Bravo, Nayar, Duminy in middle order for Mumbai Indians sounds interesting.

A wishful 2010 for all

I was busy with exmas, so didnt post a blog wittingly,not that my exams are over now, but few reastless nite and then back to the grind or a break depending upon the mood I am in.
It is way to late for wishing Happy New Year, but then, I hope this is a fulfilling year for everyone. At least on personal account I hope this year is fulfilling for me.

On a sad note, my heart goes out to people who suffered in the Haiti earthquake perhaps one of the worst natural disaster after the dreadful Tsunami.

Cricket: IPL T20.

T-20 Mania is On.

Cricket is different from T-20. Cricket is cricket; T-20 is T-20. It is something like studying two different subjects for examinations to be prepared from the same text book. I had done the previous a few years ago.
So it is 20 point blog, not quiet a “twitter”.

1. Mumbai Indians draw first blood, score in excess of 160.
2. I saw a reluctant Tendulkar, score a fifty and Jayasuriya started but faded.
3. Dropped chances almost even the match, but Chennai flattered to deceive.
4. Dumminy walk out of limelight, better luck next time.
5. Nayyar, challenege from him is to emulate and better Yuvraj, Dhoni, Yusuf Pathan.
6. Nayyar would be proud to smack 3 sixes in an over on Flintoff.
7. Tendulkar shepherd the flock, but team lost too many wickets.
8. IPL = Inadvertent Promotion League, give us a break from Ads Mr. Modi.
9. Cheerleaders, :P
10. Parthiv Patel come on kid, do something.
11. Lasith Slinger Malinga fastest underarm bowler?
12. Zaheer as cool as you like, he can bowl with blindfold and walking towards the bastmen with his back facing the bowler. 
13. Bravo … what panache of the man
14. Dhoni shows a sneak peek on how to construct a T20 innings.
15. Bhajji, almost got his man, and then got Freddie Flintstome Flintoff.
16. Hayden the big oak looked threatening.
17. The Big Oak, caught brilliantly by Zak off eternal young, old guard Jayasuriya.
18. Oram almost won them the watch by tryng to get more than maximum.
19. Lasith Malinga and Nayyar to take Mumbai Indians forward.
20. Team with a flexible potent and explosive middle order is the key.

That was for the first edit, second edit after the second Match.

Second Edit:

1. Always bet on the underdog.
2. The bookmakers would definetly give a thumbs up to T20.
3. Rahul Darvid is in a class of his one, so is Kumble.
4. Mascrenhas, screams two in two, RCB have their backs to the Wall.
5. Pitersen, remains half as good as pie.
6. Dravid smacked a six, Kumble take 5 for 5, RCB defend a meagre 130 odd.
7. Warne shall remain Sheikh of tweak, man has control over the ball.
8. Virat Kohli, seems, acts, behaves like a brat, he is oversmart for himself.
9. Praveen Kumar, perhaps got under Smiths skin, Smith edged Praveen to Dravid.
10. Jesse the big barrel rolled one on to Tyron’s stumps.
11. Dravid want to be Warne bunny, but he did catch him.
12. Munaf Patel looks like one from India’s most wanted.
13. For once Ms Shetty want beaming/flashing her teeth.
14. Those who said T20 if for young would have seen today’s match with lots of interest.
15. Warne, Kumble have retired Dravid is in Twilight but managed to set tone of thigns to come.
16. Yusuf Pathan should think with his brains and then use his brawns instead of experimenting on the opposite tread.
17. You cannot keep Jesse Ryder out of the game.
18. The number three five and six in batting order are crucial for T20.Was it Pietersen for Banglore and Warne for Rajasthan, Royal Rajasthan lost by a very big Margrin.
    
19. T20 teams got to have a Talisman cricketer to pull the rabbit out of the hat.
20. Will the huge deficit for Royals prove to be there undoing in the even of run rate?

Cricket: Ghosts laid to rest.

Disclaimer: A long cricket post.

India laid many ghosts to rest. One of them was crumbling in the last innings of a test. Tendulkar’s poor show in last innings, Dravid poor form, Yuvraj being the question mark. It need to cricketing expert to know that English bowling attacking becomes potent many a times, when the dawn white and have a red cherry in hand. Flintoff, I wonder if he can open the bowling, but opening the bowling isn’t an issue of English, Anderson or Broad and Harmison use swing and bounce in various combinations and a decent first class record only helps.

Strauss just managed to clutch on to straws.

I feel for Strauss, poor guy made century in each innings, and ended on the losing side. Paul Collingwood challenged himself and earned a century but in vain, so focuses and reliant were they on Flintoff boosting the score that seem to have lost the plot in Chennai’s blistering sun. Yes the held on to their wickets for too long. You can say this in hindsight but I believe if Pietersen would have declared that just before tea irrespective of the lead and Flintoff could have a short burst of 3-4 overs, Rahul Dravid not in best of form, who know if India would be reeling at tea with couple of wickets down, not a good position to be in compared to what happened when India raced to 134 for one with one day to play and over 250 to get on the last day. The boost with which India had felt it was just the matter of seeing off the first session on the last day. There were a still few ghosts lingering though.

Few people who mattered but were not noticed.

Bhajji and Dhoni’s partner ship in the first innings saved face for Indians. Or else things would have been really be gone. Dhoni meanwhile would have been very pleased coz he scored when things were really hot under the collar and dawn was really far away. Bhajji is scoring runs while not being able to pick wickets but then Dravid and close in catchers aren’t in best of catching form, but Bhajji looks out of rhythm. Hence we don’t see his deliveries jumping and turning. Zaheer Khan well, you facing a problem you go to Zaheer Khan and he gets you wickets. Dhoni would be really happy to exclude himself out of the spot light but we can say now that captain cool showed the way. As a have said that Dhoni has a heart and mind of a gambler, he always have something up his sleeve, he slowed the over rate and English did not bite the bait and continue to trudge along and after tea It is sad to see Dravid woefully out of form, I shall pray him in hope of he scoring again. So also Laxman, what’s with him getting out to spinners, I mean caught bat pad not something that Laxman would want to see. Ishant and Zaheer got it swinging, I wo der if other reserve bowlers can also reverse the old bowl in the maner Zaheer and Ishant can. I wonder if one of the two can be tested or what the point in changing the winning combination. i dont like to see too many changes.

Virender Sehwag the rocket booster fuel, lifts off India.

Man can do two things either you run away trying to save face or you jump up and down the seat laughing hilariously at this marvel. I hope India bats tomorrow and he scores a century; he started this year n song and hasn’t stopped. He is one of the top run getters in this year the other being Greame Smith who lead SAfs against Pom to a series victory, SAfs look to struggle with Johnson getting seven in an innings. Meanwhile back to Sehwag, he has scored a 150 a double and a triple ton all this in this year. He saved a match with a score of over 150 in Adelaide, a double ton where is batted right through and helped India come back by providing enough for Ishant and Zaheer to defend. His 300 was purely a highlights package. He had two double century partnerships in that innings, Dravid just rotated the strike and eased himself a century. He may confess about this innings if he were to write his autobiography.
This innings not only punched the winds out of English sails but also changed the course of Indian innings in this match. Sehwag came to the fore in a quick jiffy and hammered everyone to the boundary and India looked to score runs very quickly. I thought with Gambhir defending Flintoff all the while thereby denying Sehwag strike when he was in some flow hampered him scoring runs and taking a fresh guard. But his six against Monty that went sailing down the ground was a pick of lot. He was on 83 when he got out, all of just three strokes away from a century. If here were to be there on the fifth day I think the game would have been wrapped up before tea. But there were more twists in the tale to follow. He deservingly got the man of the match.

Sachin lays his painful memories to rest.

I have been critical, one cannot have enough of him can we. He struggled for last couple of years. He along with Zaheer, Sehwag, Bhajji, Yuvraj all have made “comeback” of sorts and have written a wonderful stories of sort. Tendulkar after having tough times with injuries has slowly build upon his innings. He goes back to the ground where he broke the record for most runs in Test Cricket. Perhaps one more century? Everyone will remember his epic century and a monumental loss. India set to win in access of 270 on the last day, Ganguly and Dravid getting woeful decisions but he carried on and fall short when India was on doorstep and just 17 runs away. Pakis won by 12 runs. It all started with Nayan Mongia dismissal that triggered the collapse. A ghost that kept lingering on his mind for nearly a decade. It was the start on up and down times, with Tendulkar grappled with form and fitness. It came to rest with another century effort this time leading on a winning note. India came from behind and Sehwag had already wrested the initiative for India. The fifth day was in balance. Tendulkar looked to lay each bring at a time and keep nibbling away each run as English blowers did have come success after Dravid went early, Laxman played a flash in the pan innings but took off pressure with flurry of boundaries. He kept himself in check and looked good for a century, cutting out on risk and making sure goal is in sight. I wonder if Tendulkar would have had his moments after Yuvraj cut lose with not too many to get. I think he had to get 17 out of 30 that India required. He ended the match with a lap sweep and India wrapping the match with 6 wicket in hand.

Yuvraj keeps Tests.

I doubted Yuvraj, I still do, but that’s restricted to 5 day format of the game. He is vital clog in ODI and T20. He is phenomenal in these two formats of game. When it comes to test he has more weakness than he would confess, one of the most unlikely is facing the short delivery and playing spin. But he has Dhoni’s confidence. He had one day to prove that he is worth to Test side as well. He had one day to prove it, metaphorically Yuvraj is phenomenal in ODI, and Kirsten also suggested Yuvraj to play it like a One Day. He did and creamed the English attack with Tendulkar holding one end Yuvraj seem to have blossomed. The next match is on his home ground and perhaps Yuvraj would score more, but the real test is away from the country i.e. overseas. So as off now Yuvraj did well and co-scripted a famous win.

Dravid shalt make comeback

Dravid was out of form, some say it was good he got out early or else he would have batted India to a draw. A lame argument considering he is perhaps one of the chief architects of India’s major wins including one in Eden Gardens, West Indies, Australia, England, Pakistan you name it he won it. It is not that we want to sing only of his past laurels. The point I wish to make writing anyone off who has more than 10000 runs in two formats of the game isn’t the wisest thing to do.

Cricket: Prime Crises and a drawn Test.

Second edit …

Blog Action Day caught my eye.Please check out the site and do something if you can.



You what, people like to follow different trends … I follow them too. I see everything around and try to connect all the dos and see what kind of pictures emerge. For once just imagine what Happens when markets rocket skywards, i.e. the BSE gained more than 7% today, it was an 800 point rally, there is more to come tomorrow. Indians and Aussies battled for a draw. A reminiscent of the last test series between India and Australia in Australia, the match at Adelaide earlier this in January which also ended in a tame draw. No team looked to force the issue to victory. Here were subtle hints to these facts when Aussies could get even near 300 on the first day and then India not only avoided the follow on but looked to marginalize the Aussies lead. I wonder if couple of Indian tail enders make couple of fifties then the match may end up in a draw. The following is purely a cricketing post.

Prime Crises.

We all know by know exactly what is sub prime crises? But India cricket is undergoing Prime Crises. Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman Ganguly and Kumble not firing at all or not firing enough. The wizardry is no where to be seen. There was a time when Tendulkar would score others would bet and late in the third day or by fourth day lunch the writing was pretty much on the wall, and the language was Hindi. Well it is not to be perhaps. While the sub primes are doing well, Sehwag, Bhajji and Zaheer along with Ishant Sharma, who looks to do what Srinath, did for Kumble. He perhaps does a job few notches better. He not only ties one end up but also takes wicket. Alas Kumble isn’t in his Prime (obvious reference to the Prime Crises). Gambhir remains a cause of worry though; he bats but doesn’t score enough. He may be hard found all of a sudden when his good form deserts him. There are a few more openers in the fray namely Akash Chopra and Wassim Jaffer who by the way has a penchant for scoring big runs big time.

Mean while Dravid has shown some performances, is a tad better that way so is Laxman. Ganguly meanwhile is way past his best. It remains distant, like a myth really. Don’t come back to me saying he just hit a 239 against Pakistan. The ball scooted to ankle height when Sami was bowling, Yuvraj hit one too, put couldn’t even put bat to ball against second grade Aussie spinners in Australia and has been dropped ever since from the test side. I think Ganguly should have struck the deal long time back hung up his test boots and concentrated on ODI. There are two things, first he has been a fabulous ODI player and won more matches with his batting. He was perhaps the best finishers of the ODI game.

Laxman will come into his own for at least one more time, while Tendulkar will limp to break Lara’s record only to be taken over by Ponting in times to come. Dravid is slowly headed into the sunset until and unless he hits three centuries on a trot. He may bow out in this series but I hope to see him bow out in the very next away series. I want to see is magic on away tours for one last time. I don’t know what’s with Tendulkar it gets a bit embarrassing as he busy give more interviews explain his injuries, recovery exercises and probable date of resuming again. He played well though, he is a bit sombre about his fourth innings, but salvaged at least this one.

Kumble, well carrying on age on his shoulder proving to be a hot and heavy burden to carry. He is still to take a Pfeiffer this year; his last Pfeiffer was against Australia when he rocked them in the first test when India toured Australia late last year. I don’t know perhaps it is the advent of new fast bowling talents or Zaheer coming into his own or purely due to the burden of captaincy.
Dhoni is missing from this prime crisis. I think he has couple of season or yeas more before he truly blossoms as Test batsmen, but I think he should rethink his batting strategy in Tests. He is a better keeper to other keepers available on the scene purely in ‘keeping skills, proficiency and performance.

Cricket: Almost ten years back.

I try to relate to things I sense with things that have happened before.My friends often talk about it whenever the debate of Tendulkar the match winner or run getter crops up. I stand for the later,(a run getter) people refer to this inning when He was all over the Aussies and scored centuries on will. I am talking about the days when he score centuries in back to back ODIs , you can read it or see it on You tube.

The times have changed and both men Tendulkar and Warne who fought the duel went on to claim more feats and turned themselves to acknowledged phenomenons to greats of the game. Mumbai Indians are looking for some Tendulkar magic if they are to make to hte Semis of the IPL. This match gives me a sense of deja vu ocz of the scenario and backdrop of both these matchse, the one which is history and one which would be under way soon.

As for Aaryan (my Nephew) will be cheering for eitherof the team. Aaryan if suffering for cough and a touch of fever. He is much livelier today then he was on saturday night.More of him too later.

About: Weekends and Mismatches

The weekend came and went like a fast rajdhani train while I thought I stood on an unamed, unmaned station. The regular of catching with people over the phone and unwinding on saturdays nights and making plans for coming up festivities. I plan to shop by the way. Then i also made sure that CAT is mocking at me, then there was orkut too, some study and some test and some analysis. The ghost called D.I. still mock at me like there are I don't know what? Maths and English make e feel good and cozy.

Mentally Affected Teacher Harrassing Students?

While chatting with someone I suggest the Maths section of CAT is worth falling in love with a milion times in a single life time. I am not a geek but I think I love the subject Maths and I was all ways at ease with Geometry, Co-ordinate Geometry and Trignometry and Arithmetic. Algebra was big of a niggle but then I did not mind much. I think Geometry was one of the first thing that caught my attention after arithmetic and it is always fun.
The shortest distance between two points is indeed a straight line. :) I have one friend of mine whom I have know sinces ages know, I use to say with him that I have always been good with numbers, but numbers haven't been always good at me. It was a lame attempt to extract humor oversomething. I guess life is about giving up ego and following a discipline that will see oneself at a level which one aspires for. It is a long and tedious journey only laced with diffculties of giving up things which we should want to hold onto forever. Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.
There is a great merit and working your ass off for something which one hopes for and belief in. There is no room for anything negative because things happen the wayyou want them to happen. There are examples for these cases before everyone who reads these lines, one may site an Olmypic athelete winning a gold medal even though she suffered poilio, or there may be the case of Lance Armstrong who had the balls to win Tour-De-France thrice after fighting Cancer. There will be millions of those examples which most be able to site why not add out own. The great lives are all about doing extra-ordinary events in an ordinary lives. Mother Teresa for one. Do i neeed to say more?
Then there was unlimited help - yourself cold coffee which I love to have. I managed to rip some Hindi old songs, Winamp 5.3 looks good. I manged to add couple of more school day pals of mine on Orkut. It has been such a rage and such a fun. I few things common to all bloggers would be, a blog ;P, An Orkut Profile, a separate buddy list on YM/GTalk/MSN truck load of forwards from fellow bloggers in the Inbox. I think I missed having pasteires but then enjoyed some mouth watering chaat, courtesy a family visit. :D

Mismatches.

I heard this some where ... "You know whast common to Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and England?"
none of these teams have ever won a major ICC tournament like a world cup or a champions trophy. It is a sad story, this Champions Trophy. Windies were all out for 80 runs. They are defending Champions. The match was so tard. I think Windies selectors should find some grit and steel into their team. This teams look weary even to complete the formalities. There are two mavericks Lara and Gayle and then there is Chanderpaul and Sarwan how u wont back up much. The Windies are depended on Lara and Gayle more than India has ever been on Tendulkar. It is such a shame, I hope Windies cricket survives this patch. It has such a vibrant past but they need to walk out of it of else we all will see documentaries not to far from today titled "Cricket was calypso once."

India vs England.

The English body language looked very negative. Their actions on the pitch confirmed my notion, and result of the match affirmed. Is England really looking forward to winning The Ashes again. If it is then they must make sure that they give a tough fight. There has been everything negative about them. Did u look at home Harmisson bowl? He looked like a clown in the middle of a big circus rather then a Hero of Ashes. Flintoff doesn't want to bowl and he is unable to bat. The best of batsmen follow the tail-enders like players. I seem to get a vibe that the English are here to just fill the numbers. One can look at the Aussies they are here in full strength and a good show here will surely take them a long way to win back The Ashes.

Did England bat first or India bowled first.

After looking at the score card it looked like Indian bowled first and there was only one team on the ground has Dravid's post match comments delight also is in tune with this fact.
I have never seen the Indian bowling so sharp all the whiff about of the boil Pathan is now on the back burner with Dravid coming out in full support of Sehwag and Pathan who seem to be chasing some form with either bat or ball or both.
The English batting line up looked like an International Dialling code and they came and went people reject from an interview. Pietersen always looks good but often fails to deliver. Collingwood is a Kaif like case. I wonder if England have thought about saving him for the eleventh wicket?
There was no fight and I think I thought there would be some fightback. There was only one fight in the form of bucketing England for a very ordinary score on a decent batting pitch.

India may wanted to do things in style but then India is one team which can make one sided match exciting and they put in their best efforts to make this exciting but citing limitations of the runs to be scored they came home by four wickets. Sachin looked in some class and he is perhaps licking his lips to meet Aussies soon. It was so good to see him in FIrst Slip and take the Pietersen catch. He drives were more about fierce power, precision placement and a breath taking finish. A picture perfect touchwood.

I sit and pray for some exciting matches which I would love to watch.

Cricket: Spinning fortunes.

Do fortunes favour the braves? Or do the braves make their own fortunes? I think everyone if determined enough can make their own fortune. The question is debatable and should be answered in the light of the day. India did make some fortune and pulled victory from the jaws of defeat.
I have all ways maintained this at least for last couple of years, “India is that team that makes a one sided match exciting”. I mean it both ways. I have seen them screwing up some matches which seemed that as though they were in the kitty. But not always. There are some matches like these and some played over the last couple of series, which makes me, see something, which never resembles “Never Say Die”

Just about the Aussies.

They won an away series. “Shane Warne, he does it best when he takes wickets in all.” I managed to tweak the lines if “Notting Hill” starring a Julia Roberts. He just sniffs at opportunity and makes it count big. He took 6 for 86 leading Aussies to a 112 runs victory. I feel sorry for South Africans but they are not doing the right things. Jacques Rudolph will do a better job as the twelfth man then someone at five down. There is so much confusion in their ranks that the whole display is disheartening.
Ricky Ponting will pose a threat or may be surpass Tendulkar’s record of centuries. He is so marvellous to watch on a seeming green track. He fights fire with fire and last couple of calendars can be name after him. He has the advantage of captaining the most successful pair of bowlers Warne and McGrath in the game’s history along with the most prolific all rounder the game has seen, Adam Gilchrist, how I believe will come good in the third test. There are many other superlatives like that of Hayden and Langer and many other. I hope Ricky Ponting does well and breaks Tendulkar’s record of most centuries in a test. Tendulkar’s record of most centuries will be unfathomed for long.

Toss crucial.

England did the right thing by winning the toss and putting India into bat. They might have seen India’s recent performances. No matter who wins the toss, they will put the opposition into bat. Darvid again tried to hold fort. With little success.

Woeful decisions.

Indian team management have taken some woeful decisions. There are two key players in one-day team namely Yuvraj and Kaif. They both are specialist fielders in their own domain. They also happen to be good one-day batsmen with Yuvraj having a penchant for finishes and Kaif having fondness to provide solidity along with suppleness. There have been some wrong decisions, which may be responsible for their ordinary performances. I would have expected them to show good this time round. But alas, they could not. Kaif was kicked out for making ninety and then Yuvraj had a horrid time of it while in the field. He was today out bowled on an indecisive drive and Kaif in search of runs was left gasping as a traveller on seeing a mirage in the dessert. Kaif woes can be traced to he being not promoted to bat in the fourth tie against Pakistan and then he being dropped after making a 91.
It is the case of one being undermined (Kaif), and one being over weighed (Yuvraj); neither is helping the Indian cause.

Tail hai na…

Yes, the Indian lower order batting seems to be doing well this season. I think after fielding, this is seems to be a major plus of our team. The young bowlers are not mere pushover and today contributed to more than 60% of the runs the team made. Gautam Gambhir often tends to get wild with his stroke play. Sehwag looks as timid as a cat on a rainy day. He needs to score runs. The handling of Yuvraj and Kaif needs to relook. Dravid making runs is surety in cricket these days. Fielding was breath taking.

Pathan strikes the edge.

If Dravid making runs is surety then Pathan taking a wicket early in his spell has become a norm this season. He dismissed Strauss for nothing and the script for England was to be followed. He then dismissed Owais Shah who comes prefers talking rather than make his bat do the talking. I hope he realises soon that he is being paid for scoring runs. He has an amusing way of batting home. He hit a glorious drive to the boundary and the bowling might have looked like a walk in park for him. He would not have enjoyed the walk in the park after being dismissed by Pathan with a trademark leg before.

They, Flintoff and Pietersen.

Flintoff and Pietersen have such huge persona. Pietersen is the blue-eyed boy of English cricket who hogged deserving limelight in the past year. Flintoff ride has not been the same. The previous year has been good for him as well. The have a liking for hitting big sixes. They both are vulnerable against spin. They will have an innings in this series, which will make you realize that One-Day is such as batsman game. They both looked in hurry and in control until they got out. They both go out to Singhs. They both displayed what not to do against the spinners.They got out when the score was 117. They both are responsible for this defeat.

Great English collapse.

The English batting collapse is the most common phenomenon in cricket these days. They have a tendency to collapse be it at home or away against fast or spin. I had wanted to seem them collapsing in Test. They did it just once when 5 wickets went down for 17 runs. They did it again today. They lost last seven wickets for 47 runs. A very forgettable display of batting.

Twister Harbhajan.

A twister tends to spin around itself. This twister is a bit different. He comes capped with a proud turban. He loves the English batting, he back himself to bowl them out anywhere. He rocked and the English batting was shell shocked as he took 5 English wickets. The fact that he batted brilliantly to score 37 runs helped him bowling well.He is one more case of being written off.

Alls well that ends well.

I know the series has just started. It was a good win because the bowlers did the bulk of the job. They managed to get scores with bat and then bought English to knees. I consider this match as a good beginning as our batsmen tend to get all the limelight no matter how well the bowlers bowl. If the bowlers defend a small target then the effort has to be applauded.

Markers for Indian victory.

There are two markers for Indian victory in a match. They are fielding, I mean ground fielding and control over extras wides and no balls if these two look impressive then India invariably wins the match. This was the case today. They say the catching was amazing and they just spare 3 runs in extras.

Cricket: Moin haunts the spirit.

The batsman Inzi stops the ball hurled his way with he being out of crease. He violated a law of cricket, the fielders appealed; the umpires consulted and gave him out. Where is the question of hurting the spirit of the game? They did not push Inzi put of the ground nor did they bashed the two umpires and made sure they upheld the appeal. There was a violation of a rule and Inzi paid the price for it by getting dismissed, simple. After all, everything had been done in accordance with the rules, regulations and laws already laid down. I see nothing that violates the spirit of the game. Would he have raised the same question if a Tendulkar, a Dravid, or any Indian batsmen were to be given out in that way? The one and the obvious answer is, No. I thought this is India vs. Pakistan. Not a quarter asked neither a quarter is given.
Moin Khan said that the Indian’s appeal against Inzi’s run out was against the spirit of the game of cricket. Then my mind tried to trace back a few synonyms for the word spirit. I also consulted a dictionary. I found the words that could replace the word spirit, courage, guts, moral fibre, chi, soul, ghosts, phantom and lastly alcohol. Did he intend to talk about the spirit linked to spiritualism or was it more intent to ghost, ghouls and phantoms or towards alcohol or something similar. I thought he would be last person talking about the “spirit” of the game in the spiritual sense. Mr Moin Khan, those who live in a glasshouse should make sure that they change their clothes behind curtains. I am still eager to know what he thought of Shoaib Malik kicking the ball away, on intent in order to avoid a run out that was to me against the spirit of the game. I think he is still mum on this issue. I am sure that he wasn’t watching cricket when Akhtar was hurling beamers and abuses on Indian batsmen after being pulled hooked and driven all over the cricket park. There are lot many issues and I am sure there are many skeletons and spirits (here, ghosts) locked in memories of Moin Khan when he played against India. I remember just one thing of when it comes to Moin Khan. It was the way Tendulkar bowled him between his legs in the last test he played. I wish I could find a clip of that it is an amazing piece of cricket dismissal.
Moin Khan you are still not on that pedestal where people talk about ethics, principles, spirit (here moral fibre) so cool it and watch the game.
I am sure Moin Khan was under the influence of some sort of spirit (here alcohol or ghosts whichever applicable) when he questioned Dravid’s intent over his dismissal. I love the way Dravid bats. He is amazingly consistent. He has been the scriptwriter for saving and winning many a Test matches. He is no longer in a shadow of Tendulkar. I love the way he keeps his head high and makes sure his integrity never stumbles. I am not saying that Dravid has been free of controversies. I do remember he declaring Tendulkar at 198* but I would stick to him on that.