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CRYket 2011: Weekly newsletter April 18th 2011

2011-04-18T18:41:00.000-07:00

CRYket 2011: Weekly newsletter April 18th 2011

Ranchi Stadium, 34th NATIONAL GAMES,

2010-08-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

Complicated encounters

2010-08-05T16:02:00.000-07:00

Complicated encounters

Something worth sharing or spreading the awareness.

CRYket 2010 - Closing Ceremony

2010-05-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

My Interview with AZ Central: July 2009

2010-01-25T17:58:00.001-08:00

HASIL

2010-01-03T00:26:00.001-08:00

Download: HASIL

Who will be the AZTwenty20 Champions?

2009-08-24T15:54:00.001-07:00

Which four teams would qualify for the AZTwenty20 Semi Finals?

2009-08-17T17:02:00.001-07:00

Talk about a favorite in T20?

2009-06-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

Probably T20 is still in its nascent stage at the international level and probably things will change further in the years to come, but a few basic things that have emerged out of T20 world would probably remain the same. And I hope so, because that is good for cricket. One of such things is the end of dominance of a few teams over others. Compare it to Test Teams and the One day teams, where we have definite favorites going into a series or tournament. Agreed, upsets are a part in those formats too, but not to the same extent as we have been seeing in T20. After all, Australians have ruled the world of Test and One day cricket for almost a decade now.

Look at these facts. In IPL-2, the last year’s bottom ranked teams, Deccan and Royal Challengers were the finalists. Only three days into the World Twenty20 and one of the Kings of cricket teams thus far is out of the tournament. An associate member of ICC, Ireland easily Pushed Bangladesh out of the second round and England the host team were galloped by the nascent Netherlands in the opening game. Another finalist for the last World Twenty20 is struggling to move to the second stage.

So who is your favorite for World Twenty20? Yes, now you have the luxury to keep Australia out and probably by tomorrow you would also be comfortable to keep a few good teams out. But the question is, coming into this tournament, how many of us believed that Australia would crack like this? How many of us believed that Netherlands would punish a Team that is considered to be the father of this format? How many of us thought that Pakistan would be so unsure about its place in the second stage? Do we still dare to have a favorite?

One of my favorite writer, Harsha Bhogle, recently mentioned in his article about the impact of the duration of a game by saying “If football was played over 20 minutes Manchester United and Barcelona may not have been in the final.”. This is the underlying difference between a T20 and other fatherly forms of cricket. When the game is reduced to shorter duration, the strategies must change and at the same time, it adds an element of surprise into it. It is easier to play at your top level for 3 hours, but not so easy when you have to stretch the same to over a day. At the same time, there is a little room for making mistakes when you are up in the short format, since there is a little room for recovery. In the longer format of the game, even if you make some mistakes, there is time for you to recover, your team and the captain can plan out counter attacking strategies. But such luxuries are not accepted by T20. Such basic things have allowed us to see surprises more often which in fact are not surprises, because there have been far too many. This probably is the core of T20. And probably this would be the reason for T20 to be a huge success.

Cavaliers clinch Arizona playoffs - By Anand Kumar

2009-05-28T01:04:00.001-07:00

Cavaliers clinch Arizona playoffs - Dreamcricket News

Shared via AddThis

Gilly the blaster and the IPL regional loyality

2009-05-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

As Gilly’s thunderstorm knocked off the only north Indian team that could make it to the semis this year (as opposed to three last year, Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan), the second edition of IPL has become even more interesting with mouth watering possibility of a final between two worst teams of the first edition of IPL, Deccan and Royal Challengers. Will that happen? Will resurgent Royals challenge the Super Kings tomorrow?

We will have to wait for another 24 hours to know about this, but for now, let us concentrate on the Special Gilly punch that stormed Deccan into the finals of IPL-2 and what Tishani Doshi mentioned as a north vs south divide in her cricinfo column even before the first semi final started, cautioning Daredevils with a “MIND IT DELHI”.

If you have followed the one day career of Gilchrist, today’s knockout punch would not come as a surprise to you. Be it the finals of the world cup 1999, 2003 or 2007, he has always attacked the opposition out of the game in no time and has produced his best when it mattered most in the so called big game. Today was no different. Most of us believed that Deccan was in for a good chance this time around and the first three consecutive wins only reinforced that belief, however when they wandered in the later part of the tournament winning only 3 of the last 10 league games, that belief was somewhat getting subdued. Gilchrist probably was aware of that and leading from the front, he rose to the occasion and batted Daredevils, the most consistent team of the IPL-2, out of the tournament as he carved 21 off the very first over including 5 consecutive boundaries, 17 off the third over from Sangwan and the massive 24 off the 6^th over from the daredevils captain Sehwag. All packed in within 30 minutes of play and it looks like a keypad operated computer simulation of cricket game. His brutal attack had such massive impact on Delhi, that failures of Gibbs and Symonds from Deccan in this game have gone completely unnoticed. What Twenty20 fun!! Hats off to Gilchrist for a Twenty20 masterpiece. The message must have reached strongly in the Challenger and Super Kings Camp.

Given the outcome of the first semi final of IPL-2, Tishani Doshi’s article on north and south divide as far as cricket is concerned, would not have come at a much better time. On a funnier note, my own north Indian roommates have been after me because I have been supporting the non north Indian teams (Chennai, Deccan etc) so far. Looking around within my own cricket club, it is easier to find people being loyal to the IPL team that is related to their native place. Some of them have started becoming crazy to the extent that they become arrogant at times. Suddenly it comes to my mind, what a great idea it was to have City based teams in the IPL given the Indian set up. Probably this was the only way for a quick loyalty build up around the teams. Hats off to Modi and Co on this idea.

I would still be wondering, why it is tough to support a team based on the quality of cricket it is playing? And hence, how conveniently people would be able to switch loyalty back to the national team immediately after the IPL is over for the second edition of T20 world cup?

Cricket once again seems to be winning over Glamour in IPL

2009-05-21T00:54:00.000-07:00

After Kolkata kicked defending champions Rajasthan out of the second IPL today and Chennai almost shut the door on Punjab’s possibility of making it to the semi finals (mathematically they still have a remote chance), I wanted to have a look at the current standing in the IPL-2 as of now and could observe an interesting pattern. If you look at the below colorful points table, there is a reason why the last 4 rows have been marked yellow.

Team	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
DelhiDaredevils	13	9	4	0	0	18	0.251	1812/237.5	1788/242.4
Chennai	14	8	5	0	1	17	0.951	2086/255.3	1855/257.1
DeccanChargers	13	7	6	0	0	14	0.265	1953/252.4	1927/258.1
Bangalore	13	7	6	0	0	14	-0.253	1824/256.0	1869/253.2
Kings XI Punjab	14	7	7	0	0	14	-0.483	1787/251.2	1887/248.3
Rajasthan Royals	14	6	7	0	1	13	-0.352	1688/253.1	1810/257.5
Mumbai Indians	13	5	7	0	1	11	0.401	1732/236.2	1636/236.1
Kolkata	14	3	10	0	1	7	-0.789	1757/248.5	1867/237.5

Together with Bangalore, these four teams, Kolkata, Punjab, Mumbai and Rajasthan Royals would probably make the glamorous group within the IPL. The common notable points about these teams:

The ownership was mostly individual.
The running was mostly glamorous

Seeing these teams at the bottom of the table, came to my mind, could this be a basic lesson for those owners? Did cricket at the end seem to emerge as winner over the glamour yet again for the second time in a row? Is this game more than the individual and glamour would hardly fetch success on the field (off the field, probably yes)? If yes, when would the likes of Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta understand this?

Rajasthan was a much unknown team last season but with success came the glamour in the form of Shilpa Shetty and Co. and the team couldn’t make it to semis. Story about Punjab (Preity), Kolkata (Shahrukh), Mumbai (Neeta Ambani) and Bangalore (Vijay Malaya) is well known to everyone.

Probably these things are not directly related to the positions of the team as much but they sure have played a part. Cricket is not an individual game and this fact puts cricket in a different league altogether among other sports. This is very much a team game and should best be left to those who play the game on the field in the real time. By making close and unnecessary presence in the dugouts and other places, the owners might just have made mistakes. Such things might have put extra pressure on the players to perform or the tempting glamour around might have just distracted them a bit from their focus. Who knows what exactly, but there was a correlation in the last IPL and there seems to be a definite correlation in this IPL as well.

This theory does lack to explain the Bangalore’s possible semi final spot, however on a funnier note, we can take that as an exception, given that Katrina Kaif only cheered her team from India this time, a mark able difference from the ways of other celebrities.

This feeling is also reinforced by the teams like Delhi, Chennai and Deccan making into top 4, where we didn’t see the owners’ presence onto the field area and these teams seemed to play like a proper cricket team. It still remains to be seen who finally will clinch the Mega Trophy, but the glamorous ones have been shown the door once again.

Disclaimer: This blog could seem to be illogical and furious to few, but it is intended to those who would find it logically funny.

Why KKR has been losing from close Quarters?

2009-05-16T15:18:00.000-07:00

Many must be wondering about the last two losses KKR saw from perfectly winning positions. Against RCB, they not only couldn’t defend a very defendable target of 173, but also lost from a position when RCB had to score 52 off the last 26 balls. Similarly, today against the Chargers, they couldn’t defend a target of 160 and they lost despite the fact that chargers needed 33 off the last three overs with two new batsmen at the crease. What about the last over when they needed to defend 20 runs?

A loss for KKR is no longer news even for the die hard KKR fan because they have been loosing anyways. However the manner in which they have lost the last two games must have baffled many a KRR fans. I mean, it is hard to lose from those comfortable winning positions even in a Twenty20 game when you almost have the game in your hand and the only thing that you needed was probably to keep calm and follow the basics. I mean, it requires something on the part of the bowlers to leak so many runs consistently with ease. I had heard about team’s finding different heroes to win the games, but finding “heroes” (Ishant, then Agarkar and now Mortaza) to lose the games has been a revelation.

More than the buzz around “Multiple captaincy theory “and “Talk of Racism”, it seems to be related to the after effect of all these. More than the on field cricketing decisions, in my opinion, it has to do more with the team’s mentality and state going into the game. They have only won a single game and that too thanks largely to the DL Rule and after that they have been losing game after game and as many as 10 games in a row. No matter how good a player you are, losing game after games does have its impact on you. It tires your mind more than it tires your body. You are constantly going into that negative zone where you believe that winning the game is tough. Remember, the old saying “make winning a constant habit”. The dressing room environment is not positive, it is mostly negative. The lack of wins would hardly infuse any positive thinking for the future and it might just be about going there and playing, well as we say, trying your best, without much plan for the game or the future. More so when you are already out of the semis hunt.

When you as a team are in this zone, it is going to be disastrous even during the better moments. The losses do not surprise you any longer as they have been a habit so far and the so called comfortable positions surprise you as they have been tough to come by and probably the team didn’t expect to be in such positions. When a team is surprised by the rare sight of win, it is not hard to feel the pressure and make mistakes. It is very normal to have shaky hands and feet when you needed to defend 20 off the last 6 balls and suddenly someone carves a few boundaries and rubs with a huge DLF maximum onto that. It happens.

KRR should keep this in mind and go into the last two games of their IPL stint thinking they have nothing to lose now. Sometimes, going into a game with this mindset does its own good because it relives the pressure of the outcome and gives you a chance to give your best. Why not try this ways of winning at least a game before we call it “Thanks IPL”, after all we have nothing more to lose anyways now?

Happy Birthday Sachin

2009-04-24T01:58:00.000-07:00

As you turn, 36, we wish you a very happy birthday, a great cricketing calender ahead and a great life. Not that it really matters to you as you being the little master we all worship, but nevertheless we all do.

You undoubtedly have millions of fans and deservedly so. Over the past 20 years, as you have been rigorously involved in highest level of cricket, your fans have watched you with utter passion, love, awe and surprise at times. You have personally seen ups and downs in your careers despite ruling the game for most part of your career. I have been one of your fans who has watched you as much as I could and have also watched and kept an eye on your fans. This has allowed me to personally classify your fans among three broad categories.

Category -1 : Mad about Sachin: No matter what you do, how you play, how you perform, it is all about you for them. You are the boss and hence you are always right. When you are criticized, it hurts them and they think, someone is tarnishing your image and questioning your commitment. They madly defend you, sometimes to the extent of talking by the collar of the other person. They you to win all matches, score a 100 everytime and take wickers whenever you bowl and when you don't, they feel defeated and low.

Category-2: Sad about Sachin: They are exact opposite of category-1 but nonetheless they are your fans in equal measure. Afterall they follow you and they do so with the same intensity as the Category-1 fans do, only that they belong to category-2. They at times, invest more time than the category-1 fans. This category of fans, try to look for mistakes you might make which you are entitled to as a cricket player as well as a human being. When you score the first 90 runs with a strike rate of 100 and then take 18 balls for the next 10 runs, they rant about it declaring you play for your personal records, even though 100 of 108 balls overall still is a good score. They analyze you more than the category-1 fans and in fact force the category-1 fans to spend more time analyzing you, and hence they deserve attention. They also expect you to win all matches, score a 100 every time and take wickers whenever you bowl and when you don't, they get a chance to open their mouth.

Category-3: neither-mad-nor-sad about Sachin: They are more mature and probably understand the thing practical way. They know that as an individual's roles and responsibility changes over time one grows up, you also have changed and your roles and responsibility have changed over the period of time. They know that you can't play like a 16 year old kid when you are 36 and you are not supposed to. They know that you have to play like a 36 year old sachin among the younger Raina's, Sharmas and others, guiding them and helping the team achieve a balance. They are happier when you score runs, but not sad when you do not. They accept you, the way you are.

All are your fans and I know you accept them all because deep within you, you know that there has to be a balance in everything. As much as adulation is required, at times a bit of criticism also helps in keeping the feet grounded. Most interesting thing is, very few individual have been just one all the time. For example, I used to fall in category-1, then I also fell into category-2 for a while but now I certainly fall into Category-3. Most of your fans have been like that.

On your 36th birthday, Category-1 fans are sad about your future as they know you have added one more year to your life and you won't be playing out in the middle for long. They can't see cricket beyond you. Category-2 have been ranting about it ever since you crossed 30 anyways, but you proved things wrong many a times. They will do it more no matter what you do, but you have never cared for them as you know it better. I am sure you are going to continue the same way. As usual category-3 is not thinking anything, they are just enjoying your new role, your new responsibility and want to enjoy your contribution to the game as long as you play. And you are the BOSS as all of us say, so you must decide when the time comes. You only have the right because none of us, asked you to play so well over a period of 20 years.

Here is wishing you again, most success, many ODI and test centuries and victories for your loved team, India that is, and also for Mumbai Indians. A very happy birthday :-).

Why Kolkata and Bangalore deserve to see the bottom?

2009-04-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

It is too early to predict who is going to win the IPL this season and a bit foolish too given that only 6 games have been played so far. However, I am not talking about “WILL”, but I am talking about “Should” giving the game of cricket its true value and spirit.

Many of us surely think that the table is going to change this season for good reasons. Change is necessary. However, Bangalore along with KKR MUST go to the bottom. This is my completely personal opinion. I have nothing personal against the players of either KKR or Bangalore but am simply thinking about the sanctity of the game we all love.

Why Bangalore?: Firstly because they do not have a strongest T20 team and secondly because their owner has done little to correct the problem even after last time's dismal performance. They were tagged as the greatest test T20 team ever and despite that nothing concrete has been done. Sure he lobbied for KP ahead of Flintoff, fired Dravid as the captain despite Dravid being one of the better scorers last season and fired the first CEO of challenger, Charu Sharma out of sheer frustration only showing the true cricketing acumen that he might posses if any. Lots of money, cheerleader babes and things remotely related to cricket will not fetch wins. They have somehow managed to win a game against a lackluster Rajashthan and then lost to Chennai and Hyderabadmiserably. Once KP goes back to England after 2 weeks, it is going to be even harder for them.

This is not a beer bajaar after all, this is entirely a different ball game and it has to be. It needs to be played differently. At the end, personal ego must be burnt by this great game of cricket and the fans must celebrate that.

And why KRR?: Almost for the same reasons. They have been the most talked about team for non-cricketing reasons. Multiple captaincy theory,sleeping-with-the-boys theory and what not have been all over the media before the IPL kicked off. A change of captaincy just before the IPL started was a non-sense move, it might have surprised McCullum more than Ganguly. They would get what they targeted, probably the attention, but win would be hard to come by. McCullum and Gayle after all can not fire every game. Gayle is already slated to go soon. It is also hard to figure out why Mendis has not been tried so far looking at the successes, Murali and Kumble have achieved. God was gracious a bit for KKR against Punjab but were completely overwhelmed by Deccan.

So much talk and so little cricketing considerations. It looks like, the coach has found a new field to experiment different theories and satisfy his personal ego while the owner doesn’t seem to differentiate between acting on big screen and playing on the field in real time. Do not deserve to win cricket games. Ego must be burnt again by this great game of cricket and the fans must celebrate that.

Many of you might disagree, but compare other teams with KKR and Bangalore based on only such matters and you might get a conclusive hint. As I keep my eyes fixed on exciting IPL, I would soon bring why two of my favorite teams, might make it to the final.

Changes from the last time makes IPL-2 more interesting

2009-04-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

As the IPL-2 starts today in few hours time, some of the changes that I have noticed this time around with regards to IPL the event, I thought are necessary to be listed down:

IPL-2 has shifted to South Africa, what might have been beyond the imagination of many of us a year ago. After all this was considered to be a BCCI dominated all India events, something the Indians were supposed to be proud of because it was completely Indian in nature. However, things change so fast in this global world as nothing is impossible.
IPL-2 is getting more coverage in the electronic media all over the world thanks to its success in the very first edition. Cricinfo has launched IPL-2 page just to cater to that, which in my opinion is a really cool and nice place for all IPL lovers to keep the hangover even after the games are over. Surely IPL cartoonists are in demand in this time of global recession.
Kolkata Knight Riders is far ahead when it comes to poor public’s attention thanks to Buchanan’s theory on Multiple Captaincy roles and the triggered debates. Gavaskar Vs Shahrukh, appointment of Brendom McCullum as captain and many related things in the media, have kept the public only talk and walk about KKR. Have Mr. Khan and company missed the plot in the process of too much glamorization of Cricket? Let us wait for some time on this.
Shane Warne has all the reasons to go into this second edition of IPL with a big smile. After all, do we remember that Rajasthan Royals were the cheapest team in the first edition and very few of us gave even a chance to them? But they did it in an amazing manner, thanks to a marvelous captaincy by Warne which in my opinion was more about recognizing the right mix of unknown talents in a short period of time. He deserved 10/10 in my scorebook. However what is going around this time? Someone has rightly said, success brings fame in no time, so fast that we might be prone to miss the obvious. Well, I hope Warne is smarter than many and he is aware of this. The G factor in terms of Shilpa Shetty, unprecedented media coverage and pressure of being the defending champions hopefully will not change things for Royals in negative ways.
Teams are now stricter and more professional. Rajasthan Royals discarded Kaif and six others as too many obviously are not needed. Change of captaincy at Hyderabad and Bangalore respectively also shows that the teams are looking for future and they are ready to take tough decisions. Since there must be an added cost to operate in South Africa as compared to India, we might be seeing many more cricketers returning back during the course of IPL, in the name of “not needed, unfit etc” while the fact would simply be money and cost cutting.

At last, I wish all the best to all the cricketers participating in this second version of IPL, more to the likes of future Yousuf Pathans, Gonys and Jadejas because IPL will churn out some talents again. And most importantly, to all the IPL lovers, enjoy all the games; love all the teams, and all the players as IPL has set its foot be become a global event.

Preview: Nawabs look to topple Cavaliers

2009-04-16T23:44:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer at the top:

This is experimentation. Take this article seriously at your own risk. The facts and figures might be true as they stand on their own, but may or may not be apt in the context. This is only a foolish attempt to copy the style of most famous website of the world, http://www.cricinfo.com

Nawabs look to topple Cavaliers

Match facts

Saturday, April 16, 2009
Start time 9.00 local (12.00 EST)

The Big Picture

Only one game to go and Kings to play Oceans on Sunday having a much higher run rate already, Cavaliers have no other ways than to win this game against Nawabs, if they have to claim the championship. Margin of error is too little for Cavaliers to relax and this is where Nawabs would look to capitalize. Having beaten Cavs once in the past, Nawabs should go into this game with a bolstered self confidence.

At times, Cavaliers have been such a good team that they have won games from nowhere. However, they have failed a few times when it mattered most and they felt the pressure. Last year, the game between Tavs and Cavs was of the same proportion for Cavs when they collapsed to 80 odd chasing 200 odd.

While Cavaliers have every reason to perform their best to reclaim the championship after 06-2007, Nawabs have all the motivation the help Kings claim the A division championship for the first time.

League form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)
Kings - WWWWW
Cavaliers - LWWWW

Watch out for ...

Gopi Boinepally & Chirag Vyas: In five games for Nawabs so far, Gopi has scored a massive 410 runs with an average even Bradman would be jealous of (136.67) and a strike rate which will keep Sehwags and Afridis wondering (211.00). And mind you, we are not talking about a Twenty20 affair.

Chirag has been a revelation with the ball for KINGs with an economy of just over 3. For Nawabs and Kings combined, his figures are 72-11-241-18 and his consistency in the last 5 games probably makes him the most dangerous for Cavaliers.

Ketan Panchal & Rehan Kazmi: Having missed on the last game against Kings, the Leagues best batsmen by runs would probably take this as a challenge and would pose a big threat before Kings. Rehan Kazmi would pose threat both ways, with bat and ball as he has been consistent with both over the season.

Team news

Nawabs would give their best to win this game and the championship for their clubs, however there would be no surprise in seeing players from Kings playing for them, given the occasion and the importance of this game.

Nawabs (likely) 1 Gopi Boinepally, 2 Vinod Swarna, 3 Venkat Jayaraman, 4 Mitul Patel, 5 Hanumanth Bollineni, 6 Krishna Perna (wk & capt), 7 Karan Wittke, 8 Maheshwar Sadashivam , 9 Chirag Vyas, 10 Arun Shankar, 11 Neelkanthan.

Going by a few happenings ever since Cavaliers lost to Kings in their last game, Cavaliers is going to be most prepared for this game with their best possible XI. They might just have made a mistake by not picking Makesh in their last game against Kings. They might take Chandrakant ahead of Mitesh.

Cavaliers: 1 Ketan Panchal, 2 Dhananjay Vidwans (wk), 3 Anup Menghal (Capt), 4 Naren Samak, 5 Chandrakant Barllinge, 6 Amar Dhamdhere, 7 Sunny Desai, 8 Rehan Kazmi, 9 Anil Sankar, 10 Makesh, 11 Sharat Kanka.

Pitch & conditions

The pitch has changed considerably thanks to the flooding a week ago. The outfield has become greener with thick grass cover and the pitch has got a bit of grass patches here and there. The team winning the toss will have a dilemma in deciding what to do even though Batting first might be very hard to resist.

Stats and trivia

Although, by season record, Cavaliers are ahead, they have slightly been falling for the last 3-4 games. 96/6 against Metros chasing 95, 164 all out against TAVs batting first, 239/8 against Oceans chasing 238 and 169 all out against Kings chasing 185. Slow decline?
Nawabs is the only team after Kings to beat Cavs this season.
JV played for Lagaan XI in Texas, Kings in Summers and in ISA tournament and every time his respective teams emerged as champions.

Quotes

"My bowlers would be targeting six dot balls every over."
KP indicates a simple plan for Nawabs.

"We are expecting the same team as we complained before the jokers of ACA for no rewards."
One of the Cavaliers shows frustration ahead of the game thinking what it might look like

Why would India Win?

2008-11-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

I had written this article just before the start of the Border Gavaskar Trophy and this was expected to be published in bcci.tv which didn't happen for some reason. As we head to close the series, find out how close I was on my predictions :)

Over the years the significance of an India Australia test series has risen dramatically for the sheer level of competition between the two teams and the huge attention it generates among the followers. In the age of Twenty20 and One Day internationals, a test match between India and Australia is followed with equal interest because of the intensity with which games are played. Every series has witnessed magical and historical turnarounds and those who perform have gone on to become bigger stars in their careers.

The upcoming four match test series between India and Australia (Border Gavaskar Trophy) is not going to be any different if the pre-series talks are anything to indicate. Sachin Tendulkar has already termed this series as bigger than the India-Pakistan series with Adam Gilchrist also claiming that the India-Australia contest has grown its iconic status over time. Players would be looking forward to perform in this series as much as the viewers are thinking about managing their own office routines so that they can witness another great contest. Everyone will have the same question in one’s mind: Who would win the Test series this time?

There is no doubt that Australia is the number 1 ranked test team in the world right now and it would take some planned and strategic effort on the part of India to beat them, however my own statistical analysis coupled with a close look on the composition of two teams gives India advantage over Australia.

Statistically, India has been a good test side in the last couple of years. Starting 2007, they have won against Bangladesh in Bangladesh (1-0 off 2), England in England (1-0 off 3), Pakistan in India (1-0 off 3) drawn against South Africa in India (1-1 off 3) and only lost to Srilanka in Srilanka recently (1-2 off 3) thanks largely to Mendis and Murali magic. In addition to this, India have lost a test series last time only in 2004-05 against Australia and before that only in 1999-00 against South Africa. This indicates that India have been a formidable side at home during the last decade and since the core of the team has not changed much in the last few years they have a better chance of regrouping themselves as a team and perform.

Many would argue that the recent loss in Sri Lanka puts India slightly at a disadvantage. However make no mistake as India would be playing this time in home conditions where they are completely different and Australia doesn’t have either a Mendis or a Murali who could pose the same kind of threat to India. In fact the loss in Sri Lanka would in fact have allowed India to think about their game and they would come better prepared to tackle Australia. Test side is an experienced side and the loss should have increased their hunger for victory rather than demoralizing them.

If you look at the composition of the teams, Australia lands in India this time with a team that is completely different from the ones in the past. There is no Langer, no Gilchrist, no Mcgrath, no Shane Warne and no Jason Gillespie. It is a completely different side with as many as 5 players (Jason Kreza, Bryce Mcgain, Doug Bollinger, Phil Jaques and Peter Slide) with little experience behind them. India is a fort of spin and Australia is coming up with two inexperienced spinners Bryce McGain, legbreak googly bowler (Only 19 first class games), and Jason Creza, off break bowler (only 23 first class games). It remains to be seen how effective they would be and with the team lacking on this front, it is also going to be interesting to see whether the fast bowlers mainly comprising of Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson would be effective enough to get the Indian team all out twice in a test match.

On the contrary, India will have two world class spinners with them, Harbhajan Singh and Skipper Kumble who are even more dangerous when it comes to bowling in their home country. India’s fast bowlers mainly in the form of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma have not done badly recently.

Batting wise, Australia has been a formidable size mainly because of its openers. When India toured Australia in the beginning of the year, the fragility of the openers putting up a decent start was exposed severely and it also had its impact on the middle order. A lot of responsibility would thus lay on the able shoulder of Ricky Ponting the skipper, who still has to play a good series in India as his last outings have not been as great as he would like them to be. This puts him under pressure as he would have a good chance to prove that there are no bunnies in cricket. With India’s nemesis Andrew Symonds not getting the India flight this time around, the middle order does not look to its glorious past on the paper and even though Hussey, Clark and Katich are all experienced and competitive players, they would certainly need to play at their best skill level to match up to Australia’s past. India at the same time would draw confidence from Missing Symonds, Gilchrist and other key players who have been proven match winners in the past.

India’s batting on the other hand looks settled with Virendra Sehwag and Gambhir in great forms recently. Even though Dravid has not been in the best of forms, but he would like to change things this time around and with Sachin and Laxman coming in the middle order, India’s batting order definitely looks more settled especially at home conditions.

If India starts the series well and puts Australia under pressure, they would have a big advantage. India’s good records at home, Australia’s little inexperienced and new side missing key players coupled with India’s far settled team composition thus give India a better chance to compete at home if they can play to their potential. If I had to predict the series outcome, I would give it India’s favour with 2-1 or even 2-0 with India winning the games in Mohali and Delhi. India will only have to save the Bangalore test where they have not done good for many years. Since Bangalore test if the first test, India must do reasonably well over there and a draw if not a win would be ideal to set the platform for the series.

Steyn rubs salt on Mallaya, apologizes later

2008-06-26T23:45:00.000-07:00

As if the embarrassing 7/8 was not enough for the Bangalore Royal challengers, Dale Steyn the South African fast bowler and a front line bowler for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the IPL, remarked that "the IPL was only four overs a game and it was like a paid holiday; you only had to work hard if you felt like it, which is probably why we finished second-last."

This perhaps tells the story about the loyalty of the players to their respective franchise as such and why the players are playing in the IPL. It proves further money to be a big factor and perhaps it would be a while before IPL can see the team loyalty among the players. At the time when we have been talking about whether IPL would be able to induce the loyalty for the local teams among the viewers and whether the viewers would be able to switch loyalties within months to support their national heroes once again who might have played opposite their local team in the IPL, this revelation by Dale Steyn has been an eye opener.

Later on, however, Steyn apologized for his comments saying "I was trying to be funny and just ended up being stupid - I was an idiot." and he reiterated his commitment to the Bangalore team by saying "I have written to the franchise to express my unreserved regret and apologies and tried to explain the circumstances of my comments. Sometimes, when you lose, you try to make a joke of it to lessen the disappointment. It was a stupid thing to say and a painful lesson for me to learn. I desperately regret my naivety and look forward to the opportunity of helping the franchise reach the semi-finals next year".

If you are ready to believe what Dale Steyn said later, I believe you are a big fool. The change of statement might have come after he realized how severely he might have damaged his future holiday plans in India, or it might have also come from the pressure created by already dejected and wounded lion in the form of beerwalah. Well, you never know..

Buying a cricket bat online

2008-06-25T01:16:00.000-07:00

Buying a bat online can be risky and at times you might not get what you want. We always want to feel the bat before we buy it as we used to do as a kid. But unfortunately, here in Arizona, we do not have many choices to go to the shop, see everything and buy a bat. We only have a shop run by Paul ward in Mesa. You can visit his website to get more details about that. If you find something fitting your choice and budget, Great. Go and buy it locally.

However, you would always like to do research to get better and cheaper things. Choice wise, you would only be limited to Gray Nicolls at Paul’s Shop. Basic thing is we need to do a bit of research, probably spend half an hour to 1 hour on a few websites. For example, let us say I like the below mentioned BAT.

Reebok Bat at Amazon

I would go and search the same bat on different cricket equipment website. Some of them are:

www.cricmart.com (KCC member gets up to 15% discount and free shipping)
www.desiSport.com
http://www.bigbluecricket.com/ (Currently 10% discount and free shipping)
http://shop.dreamcricket.com/dreamcricket/pavilion/pavhome.asp

Search for the same bat on the above websites, read its specifications, see the pictures and you would get a good idea about blade, curve and weight. Some of them specifically mention the weight etc. 2lbs 10 Oz is the weight of my bat and its medium weight. I am sure most bats that we have in the team are in that range. You can get a fare idea about the bat specification from this article. If you are still not sure you can contact the website owner and shoot your questions.

So spend sometime and order it as soon as you want to play. You would need 1-2 week to prepare it.

Summary: If you spend an hour or so, minimal risk is involved :)

Cricket Bat Maintenance:

Sometime back, I had collected a few articles on this and posted them to 123kings.com. Please click here to visit the page. You can also Google and get many related articles.

Incessant Rain ends Knight Riders’ Hopes

2008-05-23T01:58:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately Kolkata Knight Riders’ worst nightmare came out true as they have been kicked out of IPL not by one of the IPL teams but by the Incessant Delhi rain even without a single ball being bowled.

Interesting Equations:

IPL in its last phase is getting interesting as the cricketing equations are changing to some extent at the end of everyday. Since Kolkata Knight Riders are out now, this confirms a semi final spot for Punjab Kings XI. With this, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings XI are confirmed semi finalists.

This washout means Delhi must win their last game of IPL against the Mumbai Indians at the same Ground. Rain permitting, if Delhi beats Mumbai, they would have 15 points, 3 more than Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians in that case will have to win their last two games against the Rajasthan Royals and Bangalore Royal challengers to get 16 points and beat Delhi for the semi final spot. In case the rain doesn’t show any mercy and the weather forecast is definitely not with Delhi, Delhi would only have 14 points and Mumbai would only need to win one of their remaining games to qualify for semi-finals.

Chennai on the other hand must be cursing themselves for losing the game against the Bangalore Royal Challengers. Had they won, they could have qualified for semi finals by now. They also need to win at least one of their remaining two games against Rajasthan Royals and Deccan chargers respectively. In the worst case scenario, if they lose both, and Delhi also lose to Mumbai, they will tie at 14 points with Delhi and NRR will decide their fate. As for now, Delhi has a much better run rate (+0.350) than Chennai has (-0.209). So Chennai Super Kings would definitely not like to leave it to the NRR. However if Chennai loses both the remaining games and Delhi beat’s Mumbai and Mumbai in turn beats both Rajasthan Royals and Bangalore, Chennai would be kicked out.

Remaining games now don't deter the semi final chances for Punjab and Rajasthan, but they would certainly love to go into the semi finals with the momentum in their side. Cricket at times is all about momentum.

Stay Away Shahrukh, this is Cricket after all

2008-05-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

IPL is not purely cricket in its traditional sense. Recent developments have proved it adequately. As we have masala movies in Bollywood, it seems to be masala cricket . IPL has business tycoons owning the teams, red skin cheerleaders, and Bollywood as its integral part. Every part has already injected some spice into IPL so far. For example: Cheerleaders are making news about racial allegations, Vijay Mallaya made headlines by revealing how he was not given importance during the selection of his own team and Shahrukh khan made headlines by declaring his team as the best one to be followed and worshipped by every cricket fan. He further did everything to remain in the news and before the camera. Of course he is the master of all this, after all he is a big Bollywood star. Camera by default follows him and he knows what it takes to grab the attention everywhere he goes.

IPL at its core is all about business and everyone involved is naturally concerned about money, fame or advertisement. The movie “Jannat” has already got its due profit from the IPL if the reports are to be believed. Did we see Imran Hashmi roaming all over the places talking about the film? Having said that, trust me, if business Corporates and Bollywood have to walk along with Cricket, this is all but natural and should be accepted. No objection till this point.

However it would be most disappointing for many cricketers and cricket lovers when someone would try to bend the rules and encroach into the privacy of cricket and its rules savoured for many years. What would be even more disappointing is, if such rules are bent for a specific case or a specific personality. This is neither good for the game nor for the audience. This doesn’t leave a good message for which people are so passionate about cricket or any sport in general.

In this light, I believe Shahrukh Khan’s over involvement with his team was adequately incorrect. Agreed that he is the owner of the team, but that doesn’t mean he should be allowed to do anything he sees fit. I find many reasons to mention why Shahrukh khan should not been allowed into the private dressing rooms or the dugouts which are exclusively meant for the players, manager and the coach of the team (As per the ICC rules):

By definition: The dug outs and the dressing room are exclusively meant for the players, manager and the coach of the team. He is none of them.
Businessmen Vs Sportsmen: SRK is after all the owner of the team and has invested 80 million dollars to buy Kolkata Knight Riders. That is a big money. Anyone who invests such a big money is a businessman. A businessman would do anything it takes to see his returns multiplying. Did we not learn a big lesson out of match fixing controversies already that you get millions of bucks to lose a game? If a businessman is making millions by losing the game, I wonder why he would not do it. SRK might claim to be a sportsman himself, he might go on record saying he own the kids of his team and they are like his own kids, but at the end of the day we all know, IPL is all about business more than anything else. Why take a chance and out the game’s honors on jeopardy? ICC’s Anti Corruption unit has its existence for some valuable reasons after all. If ICC is allowing all such people in those private areas, it is basically opening a chance for messages from the bookies to be passed right on time.
When would we start respecting the laws? We talk about India getting developed and all that, but tell me one developed country where you find such laws by the book are bent to favor someone just because he is a movie super star? Will we ever learn the basics that everyone is equal before the laws?
For the sake of ICC’s existence: ICC is the supreme body of Cricket and every sport has its equivalent. It is of paramount importance that ICC has its place and say. If today the rules are bent for SRK, tomorrow it would demand a similar change from another personality. By allowing all this, where would ICC land up?

From a person who claim’s to be a sportsman, such things are not expected and it is indeed a demoralizing things for all youngsters to see and follow. At the same time, it could equally be possible that he was not briefed about the actual rules by the officials and he was doing all this for the lack of information. In that case, I would blame it to Lalit Modi and Co. who could also be seen in the dugouts and in the players’ private areas. He himself should refrain from doing this. Did we ever see any cricket board’s officials visiting the dressing rooms before in a test match or one day match?

What was more disappointing was Shahrukh’s statement that he would do anything to see his players and no one can stop him. WOW. He needs to be reminded that he is not acting in one of the Bollywood flicks and he has the freedom to tweak the dialogues, this is live sports called Cricket and rules of the game are completely different here. No tweaks are allowed. Owning a team, doesn’t give him rights to do anything he sees fit. And if you observe the happenings clearly, now probably that he realizes this mistake, he issued a statement saying “He would not meet his players in the dugouts etc until he has reviewed the ICC rules”. For me it simply sounds like a emotional dialogue from Veer Zara. Or is the reason more practical now since the beloved Kolkata Knight Riders is virtually out of the IPL?

BCCI’s action has also been very disappointing. They seem to be inching towards supremacy in cricket but this phenomenon should get its due respect. It should not make them arrogant. Anything to dishonor the rules and spirit of the game would certainly fire them in the long run. I would also expect ICC to be more strict when handling such matters if they really plan to exist in the future otherwise they would be galloped by BCCI soon. Issuing a statement today and changing it the other day, doesn’t convince anyone in the public, it just proves that you have no power whatsoever.

PS:- The views expressed are completely personal and are not inteded to hurt sentiments and the loyalty of the fans of anyone or anything.

IPL Observes Chocker's Day

2008-05-22T00:36:00.000-07:00

IPL saw a day which can aptly be termed as "Chokers Day". First, Mumbai Indians collapsed from a winning position, thereby denting their semi-final chances to some extent, and in the second game, the Chennai Super Kings collapsed from a similar position chasing a modest total against a team that had lost 5 of its previous games.

The loss of Chennai Super Kings would surprise many pundits given the modest total they had to chase, but more surprisingly it is going to surprise even the Bangalore Royal challengers. They hardly did anything extra ordinary, but it was CSK that created a panic situation out of nowhere. Kumble was the main bowler with 3/14 and was ably supported by Styne towards the end. This game has further exposed the frailty of Chennai's batting line up and it is a definite cause of concern for them as their bowling attack is not one of the best when we are talking about the semi finalists. As their captain put things aptly at the end, rash shot selections and perhaps the over confidence was the key to a shameful loss, which seem to have dented their chances for semi final a bit. After all this was a game, they should have won easily.

Mumbai Indians, on the other hand were equally big chokers. After the brilliance of Shaun Marsh and LA Pomersbach saw Punjab put a big total of 189 runs, Tendulkar and Jaysurya provided a perfect start to Mumbai Indians adding 36 runs in the first three overs. DR Smith later joined Tendulkar and continued from where Jaysurya had left and it looked as if the Mumbai were all set for their 7th record consecutive win in IPL. But a tight spell from Chawla changed the things as Mumbai indian's completely panicked and collapsed once Tendulkar was run out in the 17th over. As many as 6 run outs in the Mumbai Indian innings confirms the panic in the Mumbai camp, not to foget the last one of Yeligati outdone by a brilliant Yuvraj.

Chennai would like to remember this loss when they meet another joker in Hyderabad next time. Playing an underdog at times is really tricky because the underdogs have nothing to lose and hence they are under no pressure.

Mumbai Indians on the other hand, still have three games and the confidence of 6 straight wins prior to this game. This should make them positive for the next three games.

Semi Final Gate slightly opened : With two top teams, Chennai and Mumbai, losing their games today, it has slightly opened the semi final gate for Delhi Daredevils. Delhi's only way for a semi final spot remains the same- win both the games, however they would be helped a bit from the panic created in the camps of Chennai and Mumbai after today's loss. As it was seen today, both Mumbai and Chennai failed under pressure and panicked at the time they should have maintained their calm. Delhi Daredevils, would hope CSK and Mumbai Indians continue in the same vein for the games to come.

Analysis : IPL Semi Finals Spots Nearly Fixed

2008-05-21T00:21:00.000-07:00

With today's match, (May 20th, 44th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals) where Rajasthan Royal's thrashed the Kolkata Knight Riders by 6 wickets, the Semi Final spots in the DLF IPL seems to be nearly fixed. At least we are in a position to know which teams are not going to make it. Below chart shows the current standings and it follows my own analysis:

Jaipur: They certainly have emerged as the Royals. Topping the chart with 9 out of 11 wins so far, they have sealed the semi final spot without any doubt now. Even if they lose their remaining three games (worst case scenario), they are going to comfortably make it to semis.

Mohali: They are number 2 right now and the good news for them is they still have 4 matches to go namely against Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. They would certainly like to win against the Deccan Chargers as it might be their easiest game of all. They would also like to win against the KKR, since that would eliminate all possibilities of KKR advancing into semis. Only with these two wins, they should command the number 2 or 3 position.

Chennai Supper Kings: They have three games left against Bangalore, Rajasthan and Hyderabad. They need to win at least one of them. Given the performance of Bangalore and Hyderabad in the tournament so far, I believe it is going to be easy for them. 2 wins would make them comfortable at number 2 or 3.

Mumbai Indians: This team has been the biggest surprise so far given the way they started in the tournament. It seems ouster of Harbhajan Singh has motivated them to the same extent as the return of Sachin Tendulkar who is yet to play a valuable knock in this shorter version. With 4 games remaining for them, namely against Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan and Bangalore, they have time in their stride. Having said that, they at least need to win 2 of their remaining four games to be comfortable. They are now tied with Delhi, so they must beat Delhi as well.

Delhi Daredevils: It is a pity that after such a dream start the daredevils are languishing behind the top 4 teams. It is another pity that daredevils are the team who posses the best opening partners in the tournament and one of the openers (Gambhir) is also the most run accumulator in the tournament so far. Their opening bowler Mcgrath has been consistent and miser. In spite of all these facts, they are the joker right now. With two more games remaining to their name, they have the chance to make some upset in the last few matches before IPL heads for knockouts. All in all, they must win both the games against Mumbai Indians as well as KKR. They are going to see the toughest games, because both KKR and Mumbai Indians would try to beat them and seal their own chances for semis. Watch out for these two games.

Kolkata Knight Riders, Deccan Chargers, Bangalore Royal Challengers: In my opinion these teams are out of the first edition of DLF IPL.

Obviously teams qualifying for Semis would not like to be at number 4 and face number 1 (Rajasthan in most probability) in the semi's itself. So every team would compete hard to leave the number 4 spot and give themselves a much better chance to advance into the finals.

Tie Ups: There are high chances that 2-3 teams would stand at the same number of points after this league round. This induces masala in IPL in the remaining games when the teams would not only want to win the games but win them comprehensively. Watch out for big hits and hence big failures.

PS:- This analysis is completely based on my opinion and it might not match everyone's. Not that I care, but I do apologize to the loyal fans of KKR, Deccan Chargers and Bangalore to mention that they are out of the IPL. (I assume, IPL has been able to infuse some loyalty among the local fans)

No Salary cap in IPL is no good

2008-05-21T00:19:00.000-07:00

Offer of a 4 mn contract to Peterson is already doing its round and at the same time we are hearing that there might not be any Salary Cap for the players in IPL from Next season onwards. For the first season, a franchise could spend only 5 mn dollar at the max on its players. Dhoni turned out to be the costliest T20 dude followed by the biggie Andrew Symonds.

Obviously, cricket in its T20 form in general and IPL in particular is all about economics and making money. No one can deny that and no one can question that. It is only going to get bigger with players getting salaries to the tune of millions of dollars for a few months. Why this is an area of concern?

It has already been a success with the Salary cap in place. First edition of IPL has already seen a fierce competition. After all what is the need to change it?
Without no salary cap, a team like Bangalore, if the frustration of its owner is anything to go by, would try to buy many big players at any money. A few other franchisee would also do the same and it would then turn out to be who has got the Money power and it would no longer be about the cricket players. A franchise spending more money would become a stronger team. Won't this make things boring? Don't we still want T20 to be a cricket game? Or we as spectator just want to see this as a dollar game?
So much money in quick time is no good for cricketers either. It would challenge the national loyalty of the players because why would someone not want to earn 10 times the money what he would earn playing for his country? Also in a double quick time?
Because of point three, many international teams might lose many players. Ricky ponting has time and again raised this concern. New Zealand has already lost so many to ICL. Now many players might stop playing for their countries and would prefer just to play in the IPL. After all IPL would last only for about 2 months. They can chill out with their families and friends in the remaining months of the year. With no designated window carved out for IPL from the international calender, this seems to be a close possibility. The international teams would be affected and obviously ICC's vision is not aligned to this development. What about spreading it to different countries?

I am afaird of the following consequences in the years to come:

Cricket might be run only by such franchises and ICC would become a defunct organization or would exist just for the sake of it.
All other forms of cricket, Test, ODIs etc would be scrapped and we would only see T20s.
No international matches to be played and it would only be domestic tournament, cricket's NBA? A team from Bangalore or Delhi might be declared the world champions of cricket soon.
And many more things, we never dreamt of.

Good luck purists.

IPL to donate Rs 60 mn for Jaipur blast victims

2008-05-21T00:14:00.000-07:00

As per the recent report, the eight franchisee owners and sponsors of the Indian Premier League (IPL) have decided to donate Rs 60 million for the victims of the serial bombings that rocked the city on Tuesday. The eight franchises have donated Rs 5 million each, while the five sponsors namely DLF Ltd, Vodafone, Citibank, Kingfisher and Hero Honda have contributed Rs 4 million each. As per the IPL chairman, a cheque would be handed over to the Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje during Saturday's game between Rajasthan team and the Bangalore team.

As we have been discussing about the unfortunate incident that took place in the pink city and the apprehension of the players and what the BCCI should do, this comes as a truly noble guesture on the part of IPL. BCCI seems to have faciliated this without paying anything from its own pocket, but it doesn't matter. The help to the victims is what matters and not how the help is being provided.

As a mark of respect to the victims of the terror attacks, both the teams will wear black armbands during the game on Saturday. This action seems really like a milestone to me. If IPL has to reach to the indian household and into the indian hearts, such efforts are only going to prove as catalysts.

Good show IPL. Atleast we have one thing to mention that we know IPL has definitely benefited.

Finally Bowlers seem to get a hold of Twenty20 in IPL

2008-05-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

When most of us first heard about Twenty20 in general and IPL in particular, we all heard and thought that it is purely a batsmen's game. For many cricket fans, It was all about hitting those massive SIXes and flurry of boundaries. It was perhaps all about making the bowler repent for his chosen career path in Cricket world. Cricket purist often criticized this form of the game citing the logic that it is a harakiri for the bowlers as they doesn't stand any chance in this format. Well, in the IPL opening ceremony game and for the next few games that followed, all such notions were well supported with big 100s in a Twenty20 game by Mccullum, Symonds, Hussey and Gilchrist. Umpteen number of countless sixes which has been rare even in the 50-50 format was easy to see af if a video game was being eye witnessed. Mouth watering for many and more success and dollors for IPL and Bollywood.

But it seems, slowly slowly the pattern has been changing and it has stabilised to some extent now. There could be many reasons for example exodus of the international stars, most importantly the australians, the amount of cricket being played and its tiring effect on the players etc. All these reasons have been suitably explained it one of the earlier posts of Mrigank.

However, After a bit of analysis, I do feel that bowlers are now finally getting a strong hold on the subject matter of T20. Initially they must have followed more or less the same approach as they do in regular ODIs if not test matches. Obviously that was not to work as this format gives more freedom to play your shots as you have 11 batsmen to play in only 20 overs. But the bowlers seem to understand a few basic things for their T20 bowling armoury:

Bowl lot many slower bowls and mix it well with your faster ones. It is learnt that Shane Warne had this plan for Sehwag and had asked his team members to bowl only slower bowls to him and frastrate him as the bowl would not come to the bat easily. Hard hitters always love it when the bowl comes to the bat really good.
Avoid full pitched bowls. As the boundaries have shrinked, chances are what would possibly be a catch near the ropes would be a comfortable SIX in this format. So bowl flat but short of a length. This is what Balaji did against Punjab Kings XI.

When the tournament started off, a dot ball was a Mallika Sherawat (rarity), forget about a Katrina Kaif (maiden over). But as the tournament has progressed, we have seen bowlers coming with many dot balls in overs and in fact we do see 1 or 2 maiden overs every match. In fact there has been instances of maiden wickets. See below.

Bowlers Bowling a Maiden

Mdns	Bowler	For	Mts	Overs bowled
2	IK Pathan	Moh	9	35.2
2	GD McGrath	Del	10	40
1	M Ntini	Chn	3	11
1	ST Jayasuriya	Mum	8	13
1	SM Pollock	Mum	8	28
1	SK Warne	Jai	9	29
1	I Sharma	Kol	9	30.4
1	P Kumar	Ban	9	32.4
1	RP Singh	Hyd	10	36.5
1	M Gony	Chn	10	37

Bowlers Bowling a Wicket-maiden

Bowler	For	Vs	Venue	Match	Batsman dismissed	Over #
Glenn McGrath	Del	Jai	Delhi	3rd	Taruwar Kohli	3rd
Ishant Sharma	Kol	Hyd	Kolkata	4th	Y Venugopal Rao	4th
Shane Warne	Jai	Ban	Bangalore	12th	Mark Boucher	12th
RP Singh	Hyd	Mum	Mumbai DY	14th	L Ronchi	3rd
Sanath Jayasuriya	Mum	Kol	Kolkata	16th	Mohammad Hafeez	14th
Praveen Kumar	Ban	Moh	Bangalore	25th	Yuvraj Singh	11t

Do not forget the two hattricks. Balaji and amit Mishra both have taken hattricks already. Had anyone ever thought something like this happening in T20?

owler	For	Vs	Venue	Match
L Balaji (5-24)	Chn	Moh	Chennai	31st
(victims-IK Pathan, PP Chawla & VRV Singh (all caught)
A Mishra (5-17)	Del	Hyd	Delhi	37th
(victims-DB Ravi Teja (Ct), PP Ojha (Ct) & RP Singh (St)

More importantly, I could count as many as 7 instances where the bowlers have won the game because of a terrific spell/over.

Sohail Tanvir [ 6/14 against Chennai]
Amit Mishra [ 5/17 against Hyderabad including a superb hattrick]
L Balaji [ 5/24 against Delhi]
Shoaib Akhtar [ 4/11 against Chennai, Daredevils might lose a semi spot because of this terrific spell]
GD Mcgrath [4/29 against Bangalore]
SM Pollock [3/12 against Kolkata, Kokata slumped to their lowest total of IPL]
Ashish Nehra [3/13 against Rajasthan]

There are many other small instances where the bowlers have contributed significantly. You can analyse the data in cricinfo in detail.

As someone has aptly said - "Throw a true sportsman to a challenge and he would raise his game". No matter what the format would be, everyone would have a day of his own to prove his calibre. It might need sometime and some motivation. This change also augurs well for the cricket pandits who were against T20 because it was a bowler's grave. Now they also have a reason to rethink and probably embrace this format.

I feel more happy as it seems to give chance to every participant to turn a game around just like we have been seeing those magical spells, magical innings and stunning catches in the regular forms of the games. And I hope it balances out more and it doesn't turn the NBA way?

Jaipur Bomb Blasts and IPL

2008-05-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

As expected the Jaipur Bomb blasts on 13th May, have not only rocked the pink city but has also rocked the Rajasthan Royals as the foreign players have expressed a concern on continuing in the IPL especially after BCCI declined to move the games from Jaipur.

As for as the concern of foreign players goes, it is completely justified. After all, any sports require a peaceful environment to showcase its talent. A player can not concentrate in the game when there is always a possibility of a bomb explosion near the stadium or the hotel or anywhere they are. At the end of the day, all of them have families like we do. Although it is said that the terrorist have nothing to do with the cricket and the cricketers in particular, I will not buy the words of those people who are involved in such a inhuman act. And so why would the foreign cricketers buy the same? In fact many of the domestic players too would have the same concern. Shane warne has been reported to have said to an Australian daily - "I would not have come to play in IPL had it happened before I flew from Australia". No wonder, recently because of similar concerns, Australia canceled the whole Australian trip. Question is: how do we see IPL without those foreign players, especially without the Australians?

This incident at the same time has put BCCI on its toes. Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, declined any such reports about Australian's not continuing the game but It is yet to be seen, how BCCI has prepared itself for any of such unexpected events. This probably has given them a chance for future if they have never thought about this. I sincerely hope they have not been completely lost in the million dollors. They can devise and come up with a strategy to tackle such a situation. It is going to be an inconvenience for the viewers, but it should not bother anyone a bit, where the lives of so many people are at risk.

I guess BCCI can follow a simple Strategy in the future. In addition to these 8 stadiums, it can think of another 1-2 reserved stadiums. These reserved stadiums should not be declared public to anyone. In case, something like this happens and there is a high concern, the games should be immediately moved to that location. It would not take much effort because BCCI would have already planned about most of the things. Of course beefed up security system is a part of any process by default. The organizers would incur some loss because of this sudden move, but I believe it is worth taking. It is only going to increase IPL's reputation in its initial years. Remember, most of the foreign players have been the super stars so far. Without them, IPL will only be slightly better than the existing domestic tournaments. What about the Rajasthan Royals? Would they remain the same Royals if Warne and watson depart midway? BCCI should make every effort to make sure they are convinced about their security.

This article has already been published in www.cricweed.com

The Royal Blame Game Continues

2008-05-14T06:42:00.000-07:00

As per a recent article from timesofindia.com, the blame game of Royal challengers refuses to attain some maturity. The report says that the IPL team owner and the beerwalah, Vijay Mallaya wanted Dhoni, Uthappa and McCullum in his team rather than Mark Boucher, Anil Kumble, Sunil Joshi or even Rahul Dravid. This is a serious Masala news for every reader and no wonder this news has been first reported in times of India.

I am outlining a few revealation from the report that is eye catching. My thoughts on these would follow.

While Mallya was really keen to get Dhoni and wanted to bid for him, Dravid insisted that "there is no need for such an expensive player". The same went for McCullum, whom Dravid is believed to have turned down and instead settled for Mark Boucher.
Sunil Joshi, whose cricketing career is almost over, was taken in the team just because he is supposed to be a close friend of Rahul Dravid. This was a surprising decision to many of the Royal Challengers Officers.
Kumble had to be selected in the T20 team being the nice guy Dravid himself is.
RC officers also blamed Charu sharma for taking things easily at the start. He is learnt to have suggested that "the boys need to bond, let's go to Ranthambore for four days".
Seeing the performance in the IPL debut, Royal challengers are not ruling the possibility of changing its players in the next IPL season if the rules allow to do so.

I have serious reservations about the point number 1. I do not think Mallaya might be having such a good cricketing knowledge that he wanted Dhoni, Uthhapa and McCullum. This revelation is only a continuation of what I already posted 2 days ago. This is only a blame game at best. Now that things have not worked, impose it on the obvious scapegoats.

Point number 2 and 3 are acceptable. By no cricketing logic, Sunil Joshi and Anil Kumble deserve a place in the Twenty20 Team. A close look at the other IPL teams would show that none of those teams have picked similar players. Dravid has failed in this regard completely. The question is, why would he do so? One reason could be friendship as mentioned in the article, but I believe Dravid (and Co.) might have taken this IPL stuff too lightly. Probably as a time pass fun game.

As for point 4, probably 4 days for outdoor activity was a bit too much given the tight schedule IPL has, but the idea was not a bad one altogether. Lack of experience of Charu Sharma at this level and unexpected money that he probably was supposed to receive probably worked against him.

Only future would tell what actually Royal challengers would do about point 5 or if they at all be allowed to do something they have started thinking right now given the fact that there is a slimmest of chances for every team from now on to make into the semis.

Seeing all this "halla bol" by the Royals, It aptly proves the fact that IPL is in its nascent stage. This is only its first year. Probably these experiences would come handy for all teams in the subsequent season as the Organization IPL and all its franchises would mature.

But my conclusion remains the same, and more so if they are not allowed to change players at their own desire, they are not doing anything good by making all such things open for public even when there are so many games to go in the current IPL. Vijay Mallaya and Co need to understand that only 4 out of 8 teams would qualify for Semis and others would have to sit out. There is no end of the road for those teams who would be out. In sports, you win some and you lose some and more importantly everyone can't be a winner. Do we have a term called "Gracious Loser". I believe it is a more respectable tag than simply "loser".

Corporate Culture and IPL Twenty20

2008-05-14T06:40:00.000-07:00

Kolkata Knight Riders join, Royal Challenger Bangalore in enforcing the fact that Cricket is indeed no more cricket in its traditional sense in IPL. While Bangalore owner has reasons to fire its CEO and flay its captain for the lethargic performance so far in the IPL, It seems Kolkata Knight riders have something else in their mind as they asked 5 of their fringe players to vacate the hotel rooms today.

The reaction of Vijay Mallaya enforces the fact that the rules of the game are bound to change, as not only huge sum of money is involved but also the brand name of the corporate involved is at the stake. The decision of KKR to ask those five players, Ranadeb Bose, Rohan Banerjee, Sourasish Lahiri, Cheteswar Pujara and Yashpal Singh, to leave the hotel too can be taken in many ways.

The KKR Coach, Buchanan, says that with IPL almost in its closing phase, he pretty much has the team in his mind and these players might not get a chance in this season. And that is why there is no reason why they should be with the team. The owner Shahrukh Khan backed Buchanan saying that the decision is practical and cricketing in nature. He adds that carrying those 23 players for every practice session and managing it is a tough task. That is why they want to concentrate their energy on a smaller set of players. 18 instead of 23?

Both these reasoning sound logical to me, but have we ever seen such logics being applied in cricket? That is where I observe the change in the culture. Obviously this will be very discouraging for the players who have been asked to go for now. Can this be a move towards cost cutting? Imagine their lodging and related bills for so many days in a 5 star hotel? If it is all about cost cutting, is this a small hint of how much success IPL is providing to its owners, given the fact that the cost involved with these 5 players would be a very tiny amount compared to the millions of dollors already spent by each franchisee? In another words, does this sound like baniyagiri?

If the players are being tracked at such a minute level, the rules of the game are set to change. It is definitely going to keep all the players on their toes. We might see improved performance because of this OR the players might fail to absorb such extreme pressure too. It seems the corporates owning the IPL teams have their goal set in mind. Make enough money out of this tamasha and do whatever it takes for that. I would take such early developments in IPL cautiously or shall I say Fifty50?

Can Sachin be the same force in IPL?

2008-05-14T06:35:00.000-07:00

So finally he is back. After missing the Test series against South Africa barring the first game and then the first 7 IPL games for his Mumbai Indian team, he is all set to return for the game against Chennai Super Kings. Needless to say, this news would bolster the confidence of Mumbai Indians further more. After losing the first four games pathetically, they have done quite well under Shaun Pollock and are on a winning streak. Sachin's presence would also let the Harbhajan episode recede away slowly.

There could be so many positives about his arrival for Mumbai Indians and there is no second though on that. However, I have some questions coming from different corners. Some of them are mine and some of them belong to my friends. As he would make the debut in the IPL, I would keep my eyes open on the below questions, but what is the take of cricweed readers on these?

Match fitness: He has not played a single game for the last 8 weeks. Do you think he would be able to make an impact immediately? I mean would he be able to live upto the name of Sachin Tendulkar?
T20 Factor? : We have seen and observed that many good players have not been able to really align themselves in this format. There are so many examples: Ricky Ponting, Ganguly (Except that one innings), Dravid (ofcourse he is trying his best), Laxman and many others. Do you think this will be easier for Sachin, given he has only played 5 T20 games so far. We all know he is one of the best batsman of this era and if someone could change himself to suit to any format, Sachin should head the list. I really hope this statement is true.
He lands among the poors again: My personal dream at times has been what would have happened, had Sachin played in a very consistent and successful team. How he could have adjusted his game. Probably we would have seen his natural best or something that we never could see. I hoped IPL would probably allow him to show this to all of us, but allas, he once again belongs to Mumbai INDIANS, an average team so far, pretty much like our own indian team.
Captaincy: Shane warne has proved many things by now from his inspirational captaincy. I believe Sachin has something to prove in this regard (nothing would matter if he doesn't). This should atleast be very very inspirational for mumbai indian youngsters.

The above are my personal views. Readers are free to express their thoughts by commentining on the article. And FYI, I am also one of the biggest fans of THE SACHIN.

Beerwala blames Dravid and Charu Sharma for Lack of Royal Challenge

2008-05-12T20:57:00.001-07:00

The internal dispute of the bangalore team is finally out in the open for public masala and I am enjoying it. Vijay Mallaya is shouting that "He virtually had no say in the player's selection for his own Team".

"When Rahul Dravid was not present in the second auction, I wanted to acquire some players but Charu Sharma was very tentative about them. I mean I bought Misbah-ul Haq because I was determined to do it. There were other players I was discouraged about,".

This statement makes reader believe that Rahul Dravid and Charu Sharma had together hired Vijay Mallaya for Bangalore team and it is not the other way around. I mean how can Vijay Mallaya now complain about not having his say on his own team? Cut the crap.

I do not see it more than a result of extreme frustration, loss of self belief and fear of losing that macho attitude. ATTITUDE? You remember that line after the IPL auction? "Give me any team and I would make it glamrous". With KK? bole to Katrina Kaif?

Well Mallaya saab, you did try your best to make your team one of the most glamorous of all IPL teams. The red skin cheerleaders, gorgeous Katrina kaif and many such things surely would add to the G factor. I would clap for you for your innovations in your area of expertise. You have probably given a new face to Twenty20 in India and many people are enjoying it more than the cricket. But thats about it. What about T20 factor? Have you been so busy in the G factor that you completely ignored this T-20 factor? You didn't even know if the persons you hired were good enough untill the results are showing that. You have proved that you were not good enough for cricketing matters. You can vent your frustration by firing the CEO, and all other staffs, but the at the end of the day Royal challengers have not produced even a bit of a challenge in the IPL so far and you have to now live with this fact. A complete lack of Royal challenge.

Cricket is sports. Glamour can pull you crowd and fetch you money, but that can not win you matches. You simply forgot this basics. Now that you made the statement that "At the end of the day, people need to understand that the IPL has a corporate side to it, and a very definitive corporate side. It is not at all cricket in the traditional sense,", it is pretty clear that you are taking it as a corporate loss and I am afraid to sense that you might even take it as a personal loss, Bangalore's loss. Afterall you might not like to lose. Would you?. Now to run away from the face of defeat, you are trying to blame every TOM, harry and dick so that at least, your face is not defamed. You are blaming everyone but yourself for the outcome. You need to understand that in sports, you can't change things by hiring and firing. You need to have the morale and the enthusiasm of your team players at all time high and positive. You can not achieve all this with this blame game ever. After all it is a runtime team game and there is no retake in this. It needs extreme level of planning and execution of all those plans in a timely manner.

The IPL story so far would suggest to anyone that Rahul and Charu sharma were definitely not the right persons to select the T20 team. They probably lacked the imagination and the experience for this format of the game. But having said that, It is hard to believe that they almost forced Vijay Mallaya to go with their selected team. They didn't pay any hid to Mallaya's cricket experties?. Probably Mallaya saab was more busy in planning for those red skin cheerleaders, Katrina Kaif and in changing the face of Indian cricket.

This is also a perfect example of what association of corporate giants into cricket can do to the game.When businessmen buy teams and spend exorbitant sums to become owners of cricket celebrities, the rules of the game are bound to change. The focus of "corporate culture" is only on winning and on returns. The end product of their entire endeavour is profits and the Indian Premier League has given them an opportunity to build their brand image. They will do anything for that. Afterall, this corporate attitude has to win at any cost with the morale banner running high.

I do feel sorry for Rahul Dravid that a person who would virtually have no knowledge of Cricket (in comparison to Dravid for sure), is now blaming everything to Game's one of the most respected cricketers. This will only exert more pressure on the cricketers and the cricket in general. I won't wonder if we can see some match fixing stuff re-surfacing again in years to come. And ofcourse cricket being the team game wherein the team's spirit plays a big role, I would not be surprised to see complete lack of Royal Challenge from Bangalore.

This article has also been published in www.cricweed.com

Sorry Punjab you may be Kings but we are super kings

2008-05-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

As Chennai Super Kings beats Punjab Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai by 18 runs, thanks to the first hattrick of the IPL by the forgotten pace battery L Balaji and blistering knock by Chennai's adoped captain and Jharkhand's Hero MS Dhoni well supplemented by chennai's own son Badrinath's well compiled half century, we have a chance to go back and think if the IPL is finally able to infuse the loyalities in the cricket fans for their local teams?

Looking at the enthusiasm of the fans and the kind of placards they put on display, I believe it is slowly slowly catching up. We have also seen Dravid not being acknowleded and cheered for his boundaries in Bombay already. In today's match too, when Yuvraj singh was cleaned, the roar of the crowd was so intense as if they were celebrating dismissal of Ricky Ponting in an India Australia match. I do not know how the international stars might be coping with this sudden change of loyalties by their own fans but this is definitely good for the future of IPL and it seems IPL is on good track.

This observation is eye catching because for a team that has its coach, captain and as many as half of the team members from not the same soil, receiving this amount of fan loyality is something extraordinary. In my opinion this may be attributed the maturity and the love for the game of the Chennai cricket fans. A good cricket, a good bowling spell, murderous big sixes contribute more towards team loyalities than just the "Sun of the soil" factor.

Observing the halla bol going on in one of the most developed states of India on the related subject lines of "Son of the soil" by Raj Thakrey Vs the UP and Bihar, It is so pleasing to feel that cricket is such a good leveler of Nationality among indians. In this respect, I believe the world of cricket which ofcourse comprises all sort of its fans is much more mature, well behaved, loyal and responsible.

This article has also been published on www.cricweed.com

Rural T20 OR GP T20 OR just a mere election compaign?

2008-05-08T23:17:00.000-07:00

As we are discussing heavily about IPL T20 and other formats of cricket, I read an article about another tournament going on in the election constituency of Rahul Gandhi (AMETHI). Purely on numbers, this could be the largest cricket extravaganza ever on earth. But is this really cricket?

Numbers suggest:

number of teams playing the IPL is eight but in the rural Twenty20, the total number of teams is 1857.
The IPL has only 128 players but the rural Twenty20 has attracted more than 27,000 players.
The IPL has a schedule of 59 games in two months while Rahul Gandhi's Twenty20 tournament has 150 matches played every day.

Cricketnext.com reports:

Majority of the boys who are playing cricket hardly get to see television as Rahul Gandhi's constituency Amethi gets only five to six hours of electricity every day.

In my opinion this is not more than just a rigorous election campaign. In the title of the blog, GP T20 meant Gandhi Pariwar T20 .

It is not that I favor congress a bit, but I am impressed with the medium they have chosen for their own self interest. Cricket is the strongest medium that can be most easily spread out. They have also launched it at a time when IPL fever is catching whole nation, so they have also got the timing correct.

Are we going to see the following tournaments in the coming days?

JMM T20 in Jharkhand Villages

BJP GUJJU T20 in Gujrat Villages

CPI T20 in Bengal Villages

BSP T20 in UP Villages

and many more like that?

This article has also been published in www.cricweed.com

India’s Game, U.S. Spice

2008-05-08T23:07:00.000-07:00

IPL Twenty20 finds an editorial space in the Newyork times and the buzz of cricket is doing its round in America too through the cricket newest and fast awatar of Twenty20.

Tunku Varadarajan, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and a fellow at Stanford’s Hoover institution writes about IPL and india's outsourcing of cheerleaders. He terms this phenomenon as the reverse offshoring sarcastically through the following lines:

Yet how paradoxical it is, and how delightful, that Bangalore, a city that has leapt to global prominence on the back of work outsourced by America, is now itself outsourcing from America — outsourcing glamour, no less.

He also suspects about how the moral teachers would find an opportunity in this and would oppose all such things. Although, I do not want to indulge myself on the appropriateness of cheerleaders for a Twenty20 game in India, I do agree with what Professor Tunku has to say about the cultural changes observed in india in its recent past:

With the Redskins cheerleaders on Indian soil, one can safely declare that the British cultural influence in India has been entirely replaced by an American one, cricket notwithstanding. India’s relationship with the United States — economic, strategic, diasporic and cultural — is now its primary external alliance, with a complex nuclear deal at one end of the spectrum and 12 cheerleaders and two choreographers at the other.

Click HERE to access the complete editorial।

This has also been published in www.cricweed.com

An open letter to Sanjay Manjrekar

2007-11-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Sanjay:

I have been a great fan of yours and it has to do with both your batting techniques and your commentary skills. I always thought you would go on to become what Dravid is today for Indian cricket, but for many reasons you could not achieve that. None the less, I still consider that you had a great underused potential of Indian cricket.

I follow cricket very closely and even play it religiously here in Arizona, USA. I also feel I know certain things about the game however small it may be in comparison to your knowledge about the game. So I always believed, you were also one of the finest cricketing brains in the world as far as commentary goes. But off late, I have seen a big deviation from your own self. For some reason, it seems you have agreed to change yourself and say something which is hard to imagine. Yes I am referring to your being over critical about Sachin Tendulkar off late. Initially when you started it, accusing him of playing slowly, for his own milestones and also asking for them to be dropped in favor of young blood, I had definitely supported your thoughts but slowly I realized a change in you. That change surprised me. You have criticized him over limits for no reasons and when he has played well, you have not bothered to mention about it in any of your articles off late. It seems you want a speed ticket to stardom by criticizing the best of the cricketer in the country and seems you have learnt it from media. Do something sensational if not good to earn name, fame and money. Is it what you are doing now a day in the name of trash commentary? Apply some common sense sir, and analyze his contributions to Indian cricket in the last 1-2 years only and you would see he is still one of the best India has to offer. Why should the age be a criterion for selection as long as he is producing the results? Didn’t we experiment too much with Raina and saw what happened with that?

I will tell you very clearly, you are now in a position where people hate you for what you are and have forgotten what you were or what you have contributed to Indian cricket. Fair criticism when someone is not playing is fair enough and it has to be done but criticizing every move and every X Y and Z thing about a certain man who has done so much to Indian cricket is really a crime. How could you accuse him off feigning injuries? How could you blame him that he plays for himself and targets his own milestones? How could you blame him that he fails under pressure? Did you forget he has 50+ MOMs award in the ODIs? Now please do not tell me those are not for winning the matches and those are actually for milestones otherwise you would question those people who decide the person who significantly contribute in winning the game and declare him MOM.

I truly believe the age factor does slow up your reactions and thinking processes as you cite examples off against him, but I can see this happening to you. This doesn’t apply to greats literally the way you mean. Earn your bread but do not kill someone, that’s a crime.

Once your fan…

Anand

Captain: Kingfishers Cricket Club, Arizona , USA

(http://www.123kings.com)

Enough of excuses Mr. Chappel, what do you want?

2007-11-22T15:20:00.000-08:00

As if the recent Symonds episode was not enough, another episode on racial blame has surfaced again through someone called Mr. Greg Chappel. I am sure we all remember him as India’s coach who talked about his plans and processes for 2 years and how he is going to build a unit who will do reasonably well in the mission world cup 2007. Although it will be immature to blame him alone for India’s infamous early exit from the world cup 2007, yet being the coach of a team, he must get a pie of the blame. Just imagine if India had won the T20 world cup under his regime, what would have happened? He would have been the first person to come forward and claim a big pie out of the success story as to how the processes and the plans that he set up for 2 years had become fruitful now. He has been like this always. I was one of the admirers of him in India when he talked about youth, processes and plans, but if those buzzwords are going to fetch you nothing then they are good for nothing. What shocked me more was his walking away from the scene and not taking even 1% of the responsibility of the disastrous outcome. You are entitled to receive all the acclaims when you produce results by work or by chance, in the same manner you should also be ready to accept the blame of the failure if it has come your way for whatsoever reasons.

If we rewind back to Chappel days as Indian team coach and analyze his statements, we would be able to see his true personality as a sportsperson. First he blames Ganguly to be playing tricks to save his own captaincy and then Ganguly gets dropped in a shocking manner, later on when he makes a comeback and scores runs, Chappel is quick to comment that the break has helped Ganguly in a big way and that is why he is scoring runs now a days and that’s what he had suggested him a year back. If he really thought, the break would help him, why did he himself not ask the selectors to include him again after the break of say few months? Remember, recently he also opined that he never wanted Ganguly back.

India lost in the world cup and at a time when as a coach he should have taken the responsibility of the failure, he decided to walk away from the scene and also didn’t mind making comments about the team’s failure openly in the media. He wanted to justify the fact that he was not responsible for any of these as he didn’t get the team he wanted and had players whom he didn’t want. Obviously he was hinting at those “OLD” players. He talked about new buzzwords like fresh legs and young impressionable mind and by doing so he tried his best to wash the minds of everyone in an attempt to divert everyone’s attention from him to other reasons of failure. To me it seems, he read the Indian media pretty well, and knew that whatever media speaks, becomes the mantra of Indian crowd and they believe it in immensely and to be true, although sad it is, this is a fact. He is such a shrewd personality that he wanted a clean chit from all his wrong doings, so that his career as a coach remains unblemished even in the future. He did point out a few areas of concern for the Indian team, but tell me, as a coach was that the right time for him to expose those hidden facts to the media? It clearly indicates, he never gelled well with the team and he only wanted to walk away unblemished. After all we can only expect this from someone who has a past record of cruel play and tactics in a game that is called gentlemen’s game (Remember that underarm episode?).

As a coach your main job was not to teach the internals of batting techniques to the players like Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly. Your job was to build the team as a working unit wherein every player will have his goal clear in his mind on a match by match basis. Formulate those plans and strategies depending upon the opposition and most importantly, encourage and motivate those 15 players when the chips are down for some reasons. But what did you do for two years that most of the players seem to boycott you? What processes you followed that those had discouraging effects on the players of the caliber of Sachin, Saurav and Yuvraj Singh? What made Sachin went public? He hasn’t been so for the last 17 years, so what is that you did that made him change to this extent? And another player supported him too. Did your processes somehow worked negatively for the team? Did they broke the team into camps and demoralized players? Did you unknowingly killed their enthusiasm and always pressurized them by constantly questioning their effort? What sort of coach you were? Enough said. A manager can’t get his works done by questioning his workers on almost everything they are doing. This is a self defeating move. Isn’t this a very basic lesson? And isn’t something that a coach of any sport should know it by heart?

He walks off the scene and goes into oblivion as if he would never come back but soon makes a return as the coach of Rajasthan Cricket Academy (RCA) and is all over media again. He justifies his coming back to India by saying; India is the place to work for cricket as it offers extreme challenges. Incidentally, team India wins T20 world cup under the regime of newly appointed captain MS Dhoni and in an interview Chappel is quick enough to take a part of the success under his belt by saying how the youth has done it and why this was a part of his vision but no one was ready to listen to him. He also praises MS Dhoni as one of the best person he has ever met not just in the cricketing field but otherwise also. In my opinion that was an attempt by him to accept those who gave results and to blame those who didn’t. How shrewd can it get?

And now the final episode comes when Mr. Greg Chappel remembers his old days and declares that he was the victim of racial attack earlier this year in Orissa and BCCI didn’t take appropriate steps on that and sidelined the issue. This issue had disturbed him and he was hurt by all this. Why all this drama now? To me it seems again as if, he is still looking for reasons to hide his failures as a coach. He somehow wants to show how tough it was to lead the Indian team here amongst all these drama. So in a way, somewhere he has the message to convey that he was not responsible for what happened and perhaps other people (read BCCI, old players, media etc) was responsible. He is once again brain washing the mind of junta and not to forget this is what he truly believes in. The incident occurred close to a One-Day game against West Indies in January this year. A worker of a regional political outfit got past the police cordon at the Biju Patnaik Airport and hit Chappell on the back. And in this light, the incident was nothing but a shameful attempt by the regional political outfit to make waves of news about its launch in the Orissa region. Nothing more could be read out of this even if you read between the lines.

As the coach he believes that the players would follow him. That would certainly happen the best way when he is coaching young guns because as he says, a young mind is impressionable and can be molded as per someone’s wishes. So what does this mean? It should not be hard to conclude that his wishes that everyone follows his orders and commands in the Indian camp were not met with appropriately because Indian team consists of big stars who are treated like heroes in their own backyard. You can’t command them the way you want to command a kid. In this light, I realize he failed to understand Indian culture and Indian people and more importantly those players who were his real weapons of success. So, no surprise that the results were a forgone conclusion. For God’s sake Mr. Chappel, learn from your mistakes and stop beating around the bush as it is not going to fetch you anything.

BCCI: Board of Comedians and Cartoons in India

2007-11-09T00:04:00.000-08:00

One of my friends recently cracked a joke revealing what BCCI actually meant: Board of Comedians and Cartoons in India. You may laugh at this revelation but if you have followed the Indian cricket administration even for the last 5-6 months, you would agree on the aptness of the full form of this acronym. Let us try to evaluate this. Do they really control cricket in India? Are they really administrators to qualify for a Board? An honest answer to these two questions will always be NO.

After every loss of Indian team, every one blames those XI players. They are criticized for their every move on the field and everything they have done seems to fetch a defeat. In this regard you would always hear a famous quote on India’s greatest batsman ever, Sachin Tendulkar, that whenever he plays, India loses. How wise is that? Scoring runs would result in a defeat. With every loss, thousands of cricket experts are born and they want to make a point or two. Why the captain did X and why the bowler didn’t bowl Y and how he dropped the catch? There would be plenty of reasons for the loss and people would be on look out for those XI players. It is good that for some reasons they are treated as heroes and are not easily available on Indian streets. But is this the problem? India’s shameful exit from the 2007 world cup was really embarrassing for Indian cricket fans and more for those who are fanatic fans, but who are to be blamed? The cricketers, yes to some extent they are because they could not execute the plans they had in their mind and they could not deliver under pressure. But let us look a little further, who sent them in the world cup? You got it.

Why are we blaming cricketers who go there and try their best to win the game. If they are not capable, it is not their mistake. Their bosses who selected them made the mistake. If some employees turn out to be incompetent in a company, the questions are asked to their bosses as to why they were recruited in the first place? This is a very basic set up in a professional administration. Do we have this basic set up in BCCI? Are the administrators accountable for the losses of Team India? Are they under the same kind of pressure as the players are? Since the selection committee, selects the team, it should be criticized and hammered for the team losses. They should be made accountable for the performance of the team and the way cricketers are dropped or fired, they should also feel the heat. And believe me, everything will automatically fall in place, next time; their selection is always going to be better.

For every loss, there is a knee jerk reaction from the selectors, drop a few players and bring in a few new ones. Sehwaag was doing okay in the tests and badly in the ODIs, but he is dropped first from the tests and then from the ODIs. Recently, Sehwaag, the opener, is brought back having done nothing in the domestic level after being dropped for 5 months in place of Rahul Dravid who is actually a middle order batsman. Are we trying to equate Mango with Banana? Bring a middle order batsman in place of a middle order batsman and bring a spinner in place of a spinner. It is so simple to understand.

Now a day, the selection panel sees the performance of a player in a game or two and gives him a chance for the next 2 games. Team is selected on a match-by-match basis. Imagine about the confidence of the player and just think what kind of plan they would have in mind for the opposition? No wonder some of them play so selfishly, after all everyone wants to have a good career in the chosen area. Inexplicable is the case when youngsters like RP Sharma or S Badrinath are chosen in the team for 2-3 games and they never get a chance to play, and they are subsequently dropped. If you had no place for them, you should have never selected and if you selected them, you should give them a fair amount of chances even to be qualified to be dropped. Do the selectors do not understand this simple thing? Do they understand what would be the morale of those young players when they are dumped like this? In my opinion, this is just a way for the selectors to appease the mass and the media. They select them for some games when those young guns become talk of the media for some reasons and as soon as it pacifies, they are dropped for the same reasons. The chief selector is more in the news and before the cameras than an aspiring model. Perhaps they want to cover up for the missed limelight during their era.

BCCI does nothing but makes money. Those 15 cricketers are nothing but its money making machines. Schedule tours mindlessly, no plan to give sufficient time in between those tours so that they could prepare themselves mentally for it, all these shows how inept BCCI is as an organization. Cricket is not the number one Agenda of BCCI, this is just the process to achieve what they have number 1 in their Agenda and that is to make money. Add to this the credentials of those who are heading the BCCI. The head of the sport body is an agriculture minister at a time when farmers are reportedly committing suicides on a regular basis. And all he does is to concentrate on seeing a few of those matches, to reprimand the selectors to concentrate on their jobs and to treat seniors well. Why do we expect such an inapt organization to be productive enough to produce good results?

In spite of all these things, if team India wins its 50% of the matches, I think the team is really doing well. The fact is, Indian team wins now and then because of individual brilliance as we really posses’ big talents in our team. We should be thankful to them who give us a reason to smile every now and then, in spite of them working under in-competitive bosses. It is tough to be productive when your boss doesn’t want to work towards your main goal and it is almost impossible when he is inept, unaware and irresponsible. BCCI administration possesses all these qualities.

The results from the individuals are as good as the administration that controls them. If the expected results ate not coming our ways, the administration should also get a pie of the blame in the same way it gets most of the pie of the revenue that it generates out of the cricket matches played by those players. But they hardly control cricket in India and they hardly are any administrators to be qualified to be a part of a board. Their comic and mindless reactions and not actions simply qualify them to be a part of Board of Cartoons and Comedians in India.

SR Tendulkar - ODIs - Career summary

2007-10-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Click on the link below to view the complete details. Wait for more details on this.
SR Tendulkar - ODIs - Career summary

Tendulkar's ODI 100s that went in vain

2007-07-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

Tendulkar's ODI 100s that went in vain

When many people say how many of Sachin's hundreds have come for a winning cause, I decided to check the Cricinfo stats and here are the results.

Out of the 41 hundreds, 11 hundreds have gone in vain.

I will try to analyse each of them.

1. 137 off 137 balls Vs SriLanka at Delhi in 1996 World Cup.
India scored 271/3 in 50 overs. The only other 50 score was from Azhar. SL made 272 in 48.4 overs. Manoj Prabhakar had 4-0-47-0. He also opened in the innings with Sachin and scored 7 of 36 balls.

2. 100 of 111 Balls Vs Pak in Singapore- Apr 96.
India 226 all out in 47.1 overs, When Sachin was out score was 186/4. Pak had a reduced target of 187 from 33 overs.

3. 110 of 138 Balls vs Sri Lanka In Colombo - Aug 96.
Again India 226 for 5 in 50 overs, Only other 50 score from Azhar (58 of 99 balls).Sachin has also bowled 6-0-29-1, the second most economical bowler and the only wicket taker (SL were 230/1 in 44.2) of the match next to Srinath. 7 bowlers were used by Azhar.

4. 143 of 131 Balls Vs Aus at Sharjah, Apr 1998.
This was chasing under lights. The qualifying match before the final. The whole world knows about this match. Still one interesting point, when Sachin was out India were 242 at 5 at 43 overs. Target was 276 in 46. Still India finished at 250/5 scoring just 8 of the next 3 overs. Great performance by Laxman and Kanithkar indeed.

5. 101 of 140 Balls against SL at Sharjah in Oct 2000.
Indian score was 224/8 in 50 overs. (No other 50 score). SL got 225/5 in 43.5, Sachin also bowled 5-0-22-0, better economy rate than everyone except Srinath.

6. 146 of 153 Balls against Zimbabwe at Jodhpur - December 2000
India made 283 / 8 in 50 overs. Sachin was the last man to be dismissed, score was 235/8 at 46.3 overs when he was out. Agarkar and Zaheer Khan propelled India to 283 in the last 3.3 overs. When Sachin has scored 146 of 235 in 46.3 overs, you can guess what the other 8 great batsmen were doing against the World class Zimbabwe attack. Second Highest scorer was Zaheer Khan with 32.
Zim got 284/9 in 49.5 overs. Agarkar bowled the last over. Sachin also got 6-0-35-1

7. 101 of 129 Balls Vs SA at Johannesburg - Oct 2001
India got 279/5 in 50, Ganguly made 127 of 126 balls. When Ganguly got out, the score was 193-1 in 35.2 overs. Sachin was the last man to get out at 263. SA got 280 in 48.4 overs. Sachin bowled 9-0-51-0, second best in economy rate next only to Agarkar (10-0-45-1)

8. 141 of 135 balls Vs Pak at Rawalpindi, March 2004.
India were chasing 329 and were 317 all out in 48.4 overs, 8 balls to spare. No other batsman made even a 50 (when chasing 300 ) and when Sachin was out, India were 245-4 in 38.4 overs. They needed 85 from 68 balls with 6 wickets in hand.

9. 123 of 130 Balls vs Pak at Ahmedabad, April 2005.
India made 315/6 in 48 overs (48 over match), again no other 50 score. Second highest was Dhoni 47 of 64 balls, (third highest was extras - 39). Pak made 319 in 48 overs. The three quicks (Balaji, Nehra and Khan went for 188 runs from 26 overs between them taking only 2 wickets). Sachin bowled 6-0-36-1. No Harbhajan and no Kumble.

10. 100 of 113 Balls Vs Pak at Peshawar, Feb-2006.
India were 328 all out in 49.4 overs. Pathan and Dhoni got 60 each. When Sachin was out when India were 305-5 in 45 overs. Managed only 23 in the last 5 overs.

Pak scored 311/7 in 47 overs and won by D/L method. Could have been anybody's game. Sachin did not bowl.

11. 141* of 148 balls vs WI at Malaysia.
India made 309 /5 in 50 overs. Sachin was not out. Pathan was the only other 50 scorer. WI made 141/2 in 20 overs and won by D/L method. Again could have been anybody's game.

In the other 31 instances India has won 30 times and once there was no result.

It is a fact that for the entire 90's India played International cricket with 1 player and 10 jokers

DLF Cup: Quick Learning from it

2006-09-28T01:50:00.000-07:00

For every Indian cricket fan, the India show at the DLF cup in KL was a big disappointment. India could not reach into the finals despite the third team being WI, a less rated team. Despite reaching into the finals of the tournament thanks to a few cameos from the likes of Lara, Gayle and Chanderpaul, it would not be an understatement that WI was vulnerable throughout the series. India were unlucky too in the sense they had to lose a game even after scoring 300 plus runs thanks to the mysterious DL rule. When India finally ended its run for the final, somehow people blamed it to the match lost to WI because of the DL rule. It might seem true but no body knows if India would still have reached finals and WI would not have raised their game.

For me, DLF cup was a good learning lesson for team India before the start of actual season comprising of Champions Trophy, a tour to SA and then the mega event, world cup 2007. It exposed some of the major weaknesses in the team and also proved how a dose of over experimentation could prove to be extremely fatal. Last year’s success of team India was mostly attributed to the “surprise factor” in the batting order in the name of experimentation and flexible line up. But it seems, Dravid and Chappel have decided to take it far more than this and as the overdose of anything backfires, the result was the same here. Good that it did in a triangular series like DLF cup wherein the losses did not mean pelting of someone’s home back India.

Now Dravid, Chappel and Co. have got to think on their plan. They have proved that they do lots of thinking behind everything and they can turnaround everything by having a proper plan. They can still do it and they are well on course of a good stint at the world cup. Loss was important in a way so that the law of averages doesn’t catch India at the wrong time and It perhaps would also have given room for Dravid to get matured about his decisions, plans and processes which have been the buzzword in every training camp for quite sometime. The talk of Dravid being a failure as captain and “Remove Chappel and Bring back Ganguly” were a forgone conclusion at the end of such defeats because this is how Indian cricket fan behaves. Not to be read too much into it.

I am sure the team management would look at rectifying the learning’s sooner than later. For me, the DLF cup has exposed some serious problems, which needs to be rectified. First, Dravid has been the backbone of the team in both version of the game in the middle order for years now. It is hard to fathom the fact they he was tried to open the innings. It was a BIG mistake and prone to fail and it did. A batsman like Dravid has to provide the cushion to faltering innings after early loss of a few wickets. If Dravid himself gets out at the start, it would be too much to expect the role of a protector from the inexperienced and most of the time out of form lot of Yuvraj, Kaif and Raina. That way it was a grave mistake. I am happy that this experimentation was done this time.

Second, Pathan’s regular cameo at number 3 has come at the cost of his swingers. Did we ever want that? Never. As a bowler, he never looked in rhythm and it felt like he is losing his pace, whatever it was, with every ball. He looked really low at confidence level. It’s a welcome fact that Pathan can BAT whenever needed, but what is the need of promoting him to number 3? Don’t we need such cameos as shown by Pathan at number 3 at say number 6 or 7? According to me, Pathan would be more successful lower down the order. And as far as realizing his dream of being another Kapil Dev for India is concerned, he can do that by improving on his bowling and batting well at number 6 or 7. After all, Kapil seldom batted at number 3? One’s primary focus should always be at one’s main skill set. Let us hope we learn this simple fact sooner.

Third, Dhoni, the hard hitter, dashing wicketkeeper batsman, the youth icon, the so called Number 1 batsman, for a small time in the history has slipped a few places in the ICC ranking again. Does this mean, he is out of form? Does this mean his batting was failure? For me the answer to these questions would be NO. Just go deep into this and ask yourself, what kind of chances this guy is getting now days? He either comes at a crunch situation where India is already 6-7 down or he comes at a time when he has got to play 6-7 overs and throw his bat on any bowl that he faces. What kind of batting practice he is getting out of this? What kind of match temperament he is getting into? Have we taken him for granted that he will hit those BIG sixes at his will? Well, this guy has already proved his likings for big innings. Did we forget that the big match winning knocks played by him came when he played at number 3 (148 and 183*)? How can the team miss this? He has proved that he can play big given a chance to settle down early. He can be lethal to the bowlers at the start of the innings and can really demoralize them. Then why are we unnecessarily demoralizing him? Are we killing his gigantic confidence on which he rides most of the time?

It’s high time that they stop experimenting with the batting order too much in the name of implementing processes etc. It sucks. Dravid is NOT SUITED at all as a one-day opener. Let Pathan concentrate on his bowling and get back his rhythm.
And it’s high time that talent of Dhoni not be wasted any more. He must be given a lot more chances.

Also I felt the middle order was really out of experience. Kaif looks vulnerable and I always find him trying to save his place somehow. How long will he be given chances on the name of being a fielding genius? He needs to bat too. Raina looks talented and aggressive, but when would he start converting those little cameos into big ones? I guess one of Raina or Kaif should now give way to someone like Laxman who will really solidify the fragile and inexperienced middle order.

I am sure analysis of Dravid and Chappel would be far solid and accurate than mine and I really trust them.

Calling Dean Joans a Racist

2006-08-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

Recently during the second test match between South Africa and Sri Lanka which was being played in Sri Lanka, one of the most vibrant and energetic cricket commentators of recent time was found making derogatory remarks against a South African player, Hashim Amla. Hashim Amla is a Muslim of Indian origin whose parents migrated from Gujarat to get settled in South Africa. Well, knowing about Hashim Amla and his heroics and rise in the local South African cricket might be of enormous interest but that is not what I am interested in. So I would leave that out here.

During a brief live action on the television, which was supposed to be a commercial break, Joans was found terming Amla as a terrorist because of Amla’s strict and purely Muslim appearance as he maintains a big and long beard for religious reasons. This was supposedly an ad break and supposedly no direct feed was to be provided to any sports channel covering the game but unfortunately for Joans, Cricket South Africa and SuperSport, that takes a feed of the broadcast to South African audiences, were not enjoying the ad break, and the whole incident was broadcasted live on those channels thereby making the remarks very much public.

What happened after that could be anybody's guess. Dubai based Ten Sports immediately sacked Joans from his services and he had to lose his job. The networks of South Africa’s above channels were jammed because of numerous calls from so many media persons and very angry Muslim people. A strong reaction was displayed against this remark terming it to be highly communal in nature by the media, by the fellow commentators and the public.

Ideally speaking, the remark made was not desired and is not acceptable for a commentator who has to do his prime job honestly, which is primarily about commentating on the happenings inside the cricket ground and entertaining people with his superb style of expressing the live actions to all the audiences. After the incident, Ten-sports had no other options but to sake Joans, given that it mainly caters to the large Muslim community prevalent in Asia. A strong reaction by everyone else is also understandable because it was not an incident to make fun of when it leaked out openly. Nobody would accept something like this from anyone. Whenever a person crosses his limits, it is bound to give birth to different kind of reactions from different sections of people albeit in a different form and manner. But there comes a few questions in my mind, which needs some answer.

Some particular group of people termed Joan as being "Racist". Now, how far is that true? Once he realized the happenings, he was very modest in gracefully accepting his mistake before the public and in fact he couldn't have done it in a better way. He also apologized to Amla immediately after the day’s session was over. Later on he along with his fellow commentators confirmed that it was supposed to be an off air joke for the sake of fun. They could hardly realize that it was being aired. Well being apologetic after committing a crime does in no way entitle you for being relieved of the crime. But was this a criminal act?

Sometimes, just for the sake of fun we people pull some XYZ,s legs by calling something which might be derogatory in some sense, but we don't mean it by our heart. For example: we often make fun of those heavyweight Americans who would easily weigh beyond 300 lbs. We term them sick and useless in some senses. But that is just for fun. Does that make us a Racist? Is this in anyway an example of racism? No it is not. It’s only a natural human tendency to seek fun in anything that comes on its way. I wonder if these kinds of remarks qualify someone to be racist, then how many of us would be excluded from the never-ending list of all those racists? Some people also bluntly said that this comment is not a surprise for Joans being an Australian and it is very much in their blood to be racist. Now I do not think this is a very human opinion about the Australian community as a whole if not a racist one?

This matter would now be taken to the ICC, which would finally give a final verdict on Joans career. This might even lead for us not being able to hear Joans again on the TV? Well, this would be really harsh for him if it happens. He has already lost his well-settled job. To add to this, ICC could fine him as it does whenever a player is found playing with the code of conduct. ICC could even ban him for 3-6 months endorsing any other channel as a commentator. All these would be acceptable and a hard lesson for anyone in the future so that the incident is taken seriously enough to be repeated. I hope ICC takes the final decision on Joans and his career considering all these facts and is not influenced by how a particular section of the media or a particular community has reacted to it. Because in doing so, ICC would only be trying to sound like being a racist. The final decision has to be sensible enough by going deep into the possible causes and concerns. As they say, the circumstances under which the crime was committed and the form of the crime must play an important role here. A judgment cannot be taken just on the basis of people's emotions.

Personally speaking, I have enjoyed Dean John's commentary ever since he started his career as a Cricket commentator, very much. His style has been pretty much unbiased towards any particular country or player and he always believes in speaking for the performance and the one who deserves it on the field. These are the attributes on which a Cricket commentator must score high and I think John scores really high on these. His energetic comments whenever a Dhoni or a Kemp hits the ball over the fences would make anyone jump off his seat. Remember his typical enthusiastic way of expressing the moment a ball would be dispatched over the ropes- "goin, goin, goin..gone?". It would really be interesting to see if these core qualities of a commentator would be valued much above a remark that was meant for some kind of fun and will not come on the way of his career. "One mistake and he is gone" will be really too harsh for him. Let us think it some other way. Can Dean Joans or for that matter anyone from any profession is so stupid to make a racism comment on AIR even if he is one? No body would dare it given the well-predicted outcomes of it. Who doesn’t know about the Jehad, the Jehadi’s and the fatwas? Who would like to play with the fire knowing the only outcome is going to be to get burnt?

Why it is not called Racism when Brian Lara plays a role above the on field umpires and actually dictates the decision and NO action is taken. It was also live on TV? Why does ICC modify the rule then? It has also been a common trend to observe a player from subcontinent being fined or suspended for disciplinary actions more often than their non-subcontinent counterparts for the similar sort of on field mistakes under similar conditions. By now we have a long list of such occurrences, which testifies a familiar pattern. Does this show no Racism? Why don't the media provides the same coverage for these issues under the name of racism with the same vengeance? Why don't the people from the subcontinent show the similar strong reaction in these cases? Is it because the issue is not related to a minority given that cricket is most popular in the subcontinent region? Is this the reason this issue doesn’t occupy the same place in the media and doesn’t extract the same attention? So finally what is it? A Minority issue and a few bucks?

Another fan of Sachin Tendulkar becomes desperate?

2006-07-26T01:15:00.000-07:00

Sachin Tendulkar has been out of any forms of competitive cricket for the last 5 months. Any die-hard Indian cricket fan would easily recollect that this kind of absence has been rare for the master ever since he started as a 16 year old kid belting a veteran spinner like Abdul Quadir for 4 successive sixes in an over. In these 5 months he missed one-day series against England and recently the tour of West Indies. India failed to impress on a feeble West Indian attack losing the one-day series 1-4. They quickly came back and won the test series convincingly by 1-0 leaving West Indies a little happy thanks to the inclement and unpredictable weather conditions prevalent in the Caribbean.

Off late Sachin Tendulkar has been in news more for his loss of forms and injuries than for his classy straight drives and those hundreds, which used to come quite regularly sometime back. Whatever be the case, it’s a proven fact now that whether he will play in the top form or loss of form or not play at all thanks to injuries cumulating over the past 17 years of rough and tough cricket, its hard to detach Indian cricket from him. He has ruled the Indian cricket and its followers until recently just like a king. For some people it’s hard to imagine cricket without him. Some are afraid of an ageing Sachin. Some of them desperately want him to play the games even if he is not 100% fit because it is desperately believed that even a half fit Tendulkar is capable of giving nightmares to the bowlers all round the world. Some find extreme level of happiness when he bats on the 22 yard pitch and drives the ball for even a single to the mid-on. For some people cricket means Sachin Tendulkar. He is out means match is over. As Sir Viv Richards once said-“I would pay to watch him bat.” People follow this sentence religiously.

Obviously for such people the last 5 months of Sachin’s absence has been a tough time. Every time India would lose a game or be in a tough situation, the discussion would start on the need of Sachin. Those people who criticized him for his lack of forms just a couple of months back become highly bright about the idea of him being back in the squad and play a role of protector every time India needed some protection.

I perceive the recent tirade of Sanjay Manjrekar against Sachin Tendulkar on the above terms. Just after the conclusion of world cup 2003, when the batsman of the series was being decided, a question was asked to Manjrekar about his choice for the same. This is what he had to say-“Well, this is a wrong question to ask for someone like me who has followed Sachin Tendulkar every moment for the last 20 years. My opinion may be biased. My choice would always be Sachin”. Well, I haven’t seen someone so blindly expressing his support for his hero before a public forum like the one I mentioned. Given this, I would like to see his vocal attacks on Sachin Tendulkar as nothing but another desperate attempt by another fan of Sachin to give an exit to his desperation for not being able to see Sachin in live action for not less than 5 months! Being a Sachin fan, anyone would like to watch his hero play for India and win matches for us. If you take 5 months out of someone’s two to three years of international cricket life, this would kill him. In this case, the ones who are being killed are the desperate Sachin fans because as he is ageing, they would see less of him and get more and more desperate. His absence due to injuries only adds to the desperation.

To be fair to Manjrekar, he expressed his opinion, which in a democracy, has to be appreciated. But what was highly surprising was the angry reaction of Tendulkar when Manjrekar questioned his commitment to the game. I would see it like this, Manjrekar has an opinion and Tendulkar disagrees. Well, Tendulkar has right to disagree as anyone of us has. But the way Sachin reacted doesn’t sound good for a man like him. I would have expected him to ignore this as he has done in the past for all the bogus comments and comparisons involving him and always let his cricket bat talk. Tendulkar has acted here in a way very unlike him, our beloved and hero, Sachin. This might be painful for the Sachin’s followers.

The other aspect about this is, now that Sachin is well set to return and play as we all want, what was the need of this? Was it intended to provoke him to play much better as it has been seen in the past that even though Sachin has always been reluctant to be vocal, he has been very vocal with his bat every time a comment like this has been passed. Just remember a couple of cases, Henry Olongo, Andrew Caddick and Australia tour of Indian in 2003-2004 to name a few. Wouldn’t it have been prudent of someone like Sanjay Manjrekar who reportedly has been a good and close friend of Sachin ever since they started playing cricket for Mumbai way back in late 80s, to voice his opinions and comments personally to Sachin rather than opening the mouth publicly?
Has this become a trend in Indian cricket and BCCI politics to make public statements and make a mountain out of nothing? It all started with Chappel’s leaked email followed by Saurav-Chappel affair and recently Saurav-Dalmiya spice. What’s going on? On a lighter note and not to offend Manjrekar, has Manjrekar taken a crash course on “How to get instant publicity”? :)

Which four teams would qualify for the AZTwenty20 Semi Finals?
	Intraedge Kings
	Metro Stars
	Cavaliers
	Taverners
	Metro Suns
	Tucson Cricket Club
	Phoenix Cricket Club
	Arizona Vipers


Who will be the AZTwenty20 Champions?
Cavaliers Intraedge Kings