Category: Cricket

Its sad that Sachin will miss the exciting Super series that is just round the corner. On the one hand I am glad that he is taking his time to return. On the other hand I have a suspicion that this injury is mighty serious and the master batsman Sachin that we all know off might be a thing of the past (like some of his critics claim).

Whatever be the case, I hope Sachin bids his goodbye when the time comes on his own terms. It will be awful to see Sachin quit all of a sudden without a flourish or be dragged out of the team like Kapil (Ganguly?) and so many others in Indian cricket.

Irfan Pathan grabbed 7 wickets immediately after a fine all rounder show in the first test against Zimbabwe. I can’t remember the last time (since Kapil Dev?) that an Indian player scored over fifty runs and took so many wickets in two successive tests. I just hope he can maintain his good form. He is clearly the best of the current lot of bowlers.

I was surprised to read about Youhana converting to Islam. Everytime he scores a century, Youhana diligently looked upto the heavens and gestured with the Christian cross sign. So I got the feeling that he was a devout Christian. His permanent presence in the Pak team in the company of Danish Kaneria gave the Pak team semblance of diversity and secularism. Now that is no longer the case. Wonder what is going through Danish Kaneria these days as the odd man out.

Over the years, I have noticed that the Pak team has had an increasing tendency to indulge in a public display of religious fervor — the joint prayers on the field, the captains reference to Allah prior to answering interview questions etc. I don’t see the need to mix religion and sports, especially when games are emotionally charged affairs and spectators on both sides can get out of hand fairly quickly.

I am not against any religion, nor am I against the Pak team, but I think it will help everyone and the game in general if sportstars keep their religious displays off the field. There is enough communal trouble in the world as is, let visible individuals (who automatically become role models) like sportstars downplay religion rather than promote it.

Its very unfortunate that Ganguly chose to go public about his internal squabbles. Personally, I have a lot of respect for Ganguly and what he has done for India cricket. Unfortunately, it appears as though he is going through the same crisis faced by most India sportsman (politicians included) about when to call it quits. Of all the Indian cricketers, I think Sunil Gavaskar is the only one who went out on his own terms. Pretty much every India top star has been dragged out at the end of his career: Kapil Dev, Vishwanath, Vengsarkar, Bedi, etc.

In the case of Ganguly, I think the intense pressure just got to him. He probably knows that his days in the team and as captain are numbered for many reasons possibly even beyond his performance. So he proably thought that with a century behind him he could build up some support!

The commission scheduled to meet later this month includes Gavaskar, Shastri, Venkataraghavan, Chappell and R. S Mahendra (the Board President). While Mahendra has past scores to settle, Chappell has his reputation at stake and will do whatever it takes to build Team India. The others are tough task masters and will feel the onus of setting the direction for the Indian team for the years to come. In short, it a pseudo selection committee where the stakes are high. Its good to know that Chappell is trying to clean house and I hope he succeeds. I still think Ganguly is a good captain, but it appears as though the standards set by Chappell are a little too much for him. If this is true he must go.

England truly deserved to win after fighting performances from pretty much all there players throughout this series. The Aussies never really looked like an unbeatable side this series. They have struggled through out. Now that England has finally won the Ashes, it will be interesting to see how the Aussies cope with defeat at the hands of the English (wait to see the British press rub it in and claim global dominance!)

In any case, I am very very curious to see how Cricket Australia copes with this defeat. My guesses… John Buchanan’s term is over. Someone at the top has to go and Buchanan is a safe bet. It will be interesting to see how many of the current team will survive for the next tour. I suspect Martyn, Katich, Gillespie and Kasparovich will be dumped for the next tour. I won’t be surprised if they take a bold step and name a new captain for ODIs with a look ahead to the world cup. Cricket Australia has its task cut out…

Its a pity that the weather intervened. I think this match is over for the Aussies. There will be pockets of excitement (weather permitting) but this test will most likely end in a draw or an English vitory. The pressure and frustration of the repeated weather breaks (plus some excellent attacking bowling by England) seems to have crushed the Aussie hopes of a large total. It will be interesting to see how the Aussie deal with this decline of their cricketing fortunes after this test.

Its very interesting to see how the Aussies are coping with stress/pressure. Just look at all the finger pointing that has started to happen. Ian Chappell, Rod Marsh, Dean Jones, Slater, Benaud, Hughes (to name a few) have all joined the clatter for changes. On the eve of a defining moment in their cricket history it is very very evident that their entire cricketing establishment is shaken and worried. Under these circumstances, it will be truly amazing if the Aussie team can pull off a victory. I suspect they will rise to the occasion (my prediction:-)

Day 1: What an exciting days play! Brilliant batting from Strauss. This guy is a top class player. Hats off to Warne. He is a true genius. Too bad none of the other Aussie bowlers could provide any comparable support from the other end. Lee and Tait were particularly bad, I thought with so many super fast juicy deliveries all over the place! I think the Aussies are going to pay the price for over-bowling Warne today. If the Aussies can wrap up the rest of the English wickets before a score of 350-375 then they have a good chance of fighting their way back into this test. If England cross the 400 mark, the Aussies will be under severe pressure. Hayden could be playing his last test!

Team Composition: It sounds like England has gone into this test with a defensive mindset by bringing in Collingwood for Simon Jones (a part time bowler for a strike bowler!). This could backfire on them as the test progresses. They are going to miss Jones’ wicket taking ability especially if the famed Aussie batting line up begins to strike form. As for the Aussies, they have stuck to the same team. Ponting seems to have decided to swim or sink with the same team rather than make changes at this stage.

All in all, the next few days are going to be exciting….

As expected by most Indian cricket fans, India lost the final to NZ in the Videocon Tri-series. When the batting clicks, the bowling fails, otherwise the fielding fails, else everything fails. The biggest positive from this tour is that JP Yadav definitely deserves to be in the team as the all-rounder/fifth bowler. Next, Dhoni can certainly help speed up things in the last 10-15 overs. He has proved that more than once and can be counted to deliver in the future.

Venu lost a good chance to prove himself and might find himself dumped for good. Kaif and Yuvraj have extended their survival lease by the odd good performance. Agarkar fans now have more ammunition to fight his cause. Dumpimg Dravid from the captaincy seems to have taken its toll. He probably thinks he has had enough scoring runs under Dada and can keep his place without super performances. Lastly, India is certainly missing Sachin and his all round skills.

All in all, the Indian team is going through a lousy phase. Despite so much talent, a cricket playing nation with so many resources continues to fail. Don’t know what exactly it is, but something has to change. If it doesn’t, the same story will continue through to the World Cup in 2007.

NZ rested Shane Bond for the match and that made all the difference. Struggling Indian batsman batted like champions. It was a smart move to rest the star bowler in my opinion. He’ll be fresh and hungry to have another go at the Indian batting.

NZ’s bowling without Bond and Vettori is pretty mediocre. On the other hand, when Bond does the job of putting serious pressure on the batsman from one end, the other bowlers start grabbing wickets from the other despite bein mediocre by themselves. In any case, this victory will give India some much needed confidence going into the finals. It is great that Dhoni played a useful innings to finish up the match for India. The final acceleration is something that India has been badly lacking. The fielding in particular was impressive especially the run outs.

If India win the finals, then all the complaints about Ganguly and co. will be promptly forgotten and Dada will be firmly in control once again.

Tomorrow could be the end of an era in world cricket. After over a decade of dominating world cricket the Aussie slide is now on the verge of being completed. A defeat at the hands of the English! After a long wait the English press I bet can’t wait for its day(s) in the sun!

Nothing has gone right for the Aussie on this tour of England. They have struggled right through and never looked like a champion side. Tomorrow is their last chance to turn the tables. Given the recent performances this seems highly unlikely. A VVS-Dravid show does not happen every day. 🙂