Category: Cricket

Ganguly’s return to the side is a perfect example of politics in Indian cricket. Its obvious that Kiran More didn’t want him in the side. Neither did Dravid or Chappell. Sharad Pawar apparently spoke with Sachin and a few others including Ganguly himself and finally Ganguly was back in the side. Notice that the team already includes four players from the West Zone (Sachin, Agarkar, Jaffer, Parthiv). Go figure!

It will be a great test of the Chappel-Dravid partnership. Would they have the guts to do what the selection committe could not and not pick him for the playing 11? Probably not.

In any case, the pressure wll be on Ganguly. If he is picked for the 11, he’ll have to deliver or kiss goodbye to Test cricket.

It will be interesting to see if he is picked for the ODI side, if he performs well in the Test side! Last but not the least, it will interesting to see if India can win despite these controversies and bid Ganguly an amiable farewell. Considering the current form of the Pak team this might be too much to hope for!

Very interestingly poised Test match!

If both Ganguly and Yuvraj manage to score some runs, the team management will be forced to make some tough calls in order to bring back Viru. It will be sad to see Gambhir dumped since that’s the only other alternative. In any case, today’s game should settle this issue among other things!

Shoaib’s performance in this series against Pak was very impressive. I saw him bat with unbelievable determination. He was also bowling at his best. All the criticism had put a lot of pressure on him and he knew that it was do or die attempt for him. But nothing beats his recent comments, “praise for Inzy, talk of prayer! etc.”. I find this completely shallow, opportunistic and plain and simple “towing the party-line!” First we had Youhana embracing Islam. Then we have Shoaib Akthar (by far the most liberated individual in the Pak team with bikes, chicks, smoking, partying defining his off field image) praising Inzy, talking of team unity and joint prayers by the team! Inzy has transformed this team into a religious bunch (barring a few) and Shoaib has realized that its in his best interest not to fight the powers that be.

What next, Shoaib Akthar with a Saeed Anwar like beard?

Hats off to Pak. These guys are looking like a different team under Woolmer. If Inzy is around in this form for the next World Cup, I think these guys have an excellent chance to pull off a World Cup victory.

On a pitch where Pak scored more then 600 runs, England team could not survive for a day to save the Test. Surviving to bat through a day on a pitch that was a batting delight was a no brainer in the past. But these days its a different story. Batting is mostly about stroke play. 90 overs a day producing over 300 runs seems to be the norm for one day of Test cricket. The classic Sunil Gavaskar style of cricket is “out the window”. Its all about slam bang. How else can you explain the complete failure of the England (supposedly a team in supreme form) team to bat through a day?

England sorely lacked a Dravid equivalent. Someone who can “park his ass” in the middle and frustrate the opposition to the point of submission. Graham Thorpe would have been a great asset in this Test match.

Test cricket now produces results more often than ever before. But there is still room for cricketers in the classic Test cricket mould. Unfortunately, we are not going to see them as long as teams gravitate towards playing the same team for Tests and ODIs. Have you noticed that there is hardly any difference between Test and ODI teams for most countries?

Survival at the wicket without necessarily scoring a bunch of runs has become an art form of yester years, thanks to ODIs. Test cricket is more entertaining, no doubt. But….

SA thrashed India in the fourth ODI. The results were similar to the second ODI except that the performances of the two teams were reversed.

I can’t help but wonder if India was battling partly unexpected local demons. I think there was a conspiracy possibly lead by the CAB to nail the Indian team, not to mention the strong backing of all and sundry from Kolkata (local filmstars, politicians and the crowds at large).

First, there was a green pitch at the Eden Gardens. The kind that suits the SA and the kiss of death for the Indian team. Who in their right mind would recommend such a pitch?

Then, you have the scoreboard publicizing Ganguly performance in some third-rate Ranji match.
“In the meantime India were skittled to 188 and the giant screen showed a Ranji update of Sourav’s 159 in Bengal’s 378. The crowd erupted in a rapture to hail the all-round comeback of Sourav.” — what was the need for this? All round comeback in some Ranji trophy match after dismal failures for over two years at the international level. Gimme a break!

Last but not the least, the Kolkata crowd was supporting SA and booing the home team! The Kolkata crowds need to grow up! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Ganguly has been a dismal failure with the bat for over two years. Its impossible to argue that there is way too much talent knocking on the doors of Indian cricket to keep carrying “player baggage” simply based on past performance. Its one thing to support the local stars, but its quite another to not be objective and look at the facts and boo players who have earned their spots in the team.

Another one of those behind the scenes maneuvers orchestrated by the bigwigs in India’s cricketing establishment?

Check out Dravid’s interview. He appears to be extremely articulate (better than Ganguly in this respect too and I personally think Ganguly was good). The answer to the last question in particular was very impressive.

If he can continue to maintain his form, this can be a great opportunity for him to hang on to the hot seat through the World Cup.