Line and Length

World Cricket review - second-half 2008 and early 2009!

2009-01-08T02:48:00.000-08:00

Well, a lot has happened in the last six months. I won't even claim to try and summarise every important event. I'll just hit what I consider are the highlights ( of the latter half of 2008) :) and hope I haven't missed anything too important :

a. India toured SL: And were soundly beaten in the Test series 2-1 and in the Asia Cup final, all coz the vaunted batting lineup had no clue how to play Ajantha Mendis, the new spinning star. Dravid's mediocre run continued.

b.SA toured England: Beat Eng in the Tests 2-1 and lost the ODI series 4-0. Graeme Smith bludgeoned his way to being SAF's highest scorer and KP's captaincy reign began when he took over from Vaughan for the last Test.

c. Aus toured India: For 4 Tests( who tours for 4 Tests??? Is the BCCI nuts? ) . They were beaten convincingly, 2-0, by a Kumble-and-Dhoni-led side who hit their peaks at the right moments. The Australian empire had begun to crumble. For Hayden, it might be seen as the beginning of the end after a disastrous series in the land where he resurrected his career in 2001. Dravid's regrettable lack of big scores continued - the end of an era? Kumble retired in the third Test and Ganguly retired at the end of the series - two of India's stalwarts from the 90s gone. With no viable match-winning spinner in sight ( Bhajji has too many off days), India's spin cupboard looked very bare after Jumbo's retirement.

d. SA toured Aus: And beat them 2-1 in Tests. A first victory for SA on Aussie soil. Hayden's horror run continued. And SA chased down a world-record 414 to win the second Test. They pulled off similar heroics to win the third Test from a near-losing position at the end of the second day - something Aussie teams did regualrly through the 90s and noughties. Truly, the baton seemed to have passed. Graeme Smith batting in the 4th Test, at no.11, with a broken arm, to try and salvage a draw, while Aus looked to be running out of options, signaled the change more than anything else.

e. Eng toured Ind: They were soundly beaten and trailed 5-0, after 5 matches, in the 7-match ODI series until the Mumbai terror attacks intervened. Eng departed hurriedly only to return, in a marvellous display of sporting spirit, diplomacy by KP and solidarity with India, to play the two-Test series in Chennai and Mohali. India chased down 387 to win the first Test ( the highest fourth innings run-chase in India) at Chennai thanks to a whirlwind 83 from Sehwag that put the target within reach and a composed unbeaten century from Tendy that helped erase his demons of never actually performing in the fourth innings / leading India to victory. Dravid recovered his form in the second Test (136) to effectively shut out any English chances of winning the Test, inspite of a fine KP century. India won the series 1-0.

f. In the Ranji Trophy, after hiccups against UP and TN, Karnataka defeated Baroda, Andra and Maharashtra to qualify second from their group, behind TN and in front of UP, for the quarters. They went down to Saurashtra in the quarters when Sau. chased down 325 on a turner on the last day(at Brabourne, which wasn't the home ground for Sau or Kar. What's wrong, BCCI??) thanks to fine innings from Kotak and a century from Pujara. In the semis, a marathon innings from UP batsman Shukla ( the fourth-longest in first-class history) helped UP gain the first-innings lead over TN and qualify for the finals against Mumbai, whose mammoth 637 proved too much for Saurashtra to overcome in the other semi-final. UP are in the finals for the 3rd time since 2004 and Mumbai are on course for their 32nd title, I think.

Flintoff's over to Kallis!

2008-07-31T13:02:00.000-07:00

The following is a live match report, lifted from Cricinfo, consisting of ball-by-ball commentary by its excellent team on the superb contest between Flintoff and Kallis ( or bat vs ball, SAF vs Eng, Tests vs trashy cricket - any number of similes) . This contest is one for the ages, rivalling tha tbetween Donald and Athers. Setting is Edgbaston, 3rd Test of a 4 Test series, SAF leading 1-0, Flintoff back after 18 months off, Eng collapsing to 231 in their first, SAF battling to gain a substantial lead on a rain-marred second day that saw the entire post-lunch session lost, Eng desperate to get their noses in front in this session...

Cricinfo's commentary: Flintoff v Kallis

68.1 Flintoff to Kallis, no run, a fired-up bouncer to which Kallis snaps his neck out of the way. It's fast, it's straight, and Kallis avoids facial surgery by an inch That was quick, mark my words

68.2 Flintoff to Kallis, no run, 85.7mph and left alone outside off

68.3 Flintoff to Kallis, no run, a swing and a miss outside off! This is terrific Test match cricket here, a wonderful sight to see Flintoff roar up to the crease against one of the very best of modern-day batsmen

68.4 Flintoff to Kallis, OUT, he's BOWLED HIM! What a ball from Flintoff and what an over, fired in at off stump and Kallis is beaten for pace and outswing, his off stump knocked back several metres And Flintoff celebrates, arching back and roaring his angry delight - it's been a terrific, enthralling couple of overs. The key to Kallis's dismissal was Flintoff's never-say-die attitude. He felt cheated and wanted revenge.

68.5 Flintoff to de Villiers, no run, another fast yorker spearing into de Villiers' middle stump. That, too, was quick - upwards of 86mph Flintoff is as pumped up as you can imagine. Puce in the face

68.6 Flintoff to de Villiers, no run, 88.7mph and it's left alone by de Villiers. Edgbaston stands for Flintoff who's produced two memorable overs, the type of inspirational cricket England have missed from him for 18 months

Best Freekick in the English Premier League..

2008-01-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

.. according to Alex Ferguson

And this, according to most people is the best freekick ever.

Gilly , Take a Bow

2008-01-29T17:47:00.000-08:00

Adam Gilchrist's retirement from Test cricket and his impending retirement from ODI's is a big loss for world cricket. A true great, he redefined the wicketkeeper's role with his breathtaking batting. A lot has been written about his greatness and his legend will live on forever in cricketing discussions. So I will refrain from writing more about his exploits.

I will just jot down a few of my top Gilchrist memories:

+ Gilchrist once stood up to the stumps during the fast bowling spells of McGrath and Kasprowicz in a ODI vs New Zealand and effected a stumping of Craig McMillan off a McGrath delivery timed at 136 kph.

+ His commentary during a T20 match was extremely funny. Such an entertainer !!

Gilchrist is sometimes called Churchie by his mates. The nickname came upon him courtesy an English fan during his first tour of England who after taking autographs from all the stalwarts in the Aussie team asked for his by addressing him as Adam Gilchurch.

A video where he gets out after a swashbuckling knock and is addressed as Gilchurch by the commentators.

+ Gilchrist walked during a crucial World Cup semifinal game vs Sri Lanka. Not being standard practice, it shook the moral ethic of the game and divided opinions of the cricketing public.

+ He batted with a squash ball in his glove to score one of the greatest centuries in ODI's. His 149 in the World Cup 2007 final was a pure joy to watch and showcased his breathtaking talent to the fullest.

The entire community of cricket tragics will miss you forever. For the non-stop pleasure, Gilly, Take a Bow.

A step forward....or too many steps ahead??

2007-04-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

The BCCI's "reforms" of Indian cricket are, while welcome in some respects, certainly surprising and, I feel, too much of a knee-jerk reaction to happenings at WC 2007. I agree with pruning the Elite group to 10 teams. I also agree with the formation of a pool of cricketers to feed and stock the national team. But limiting players' endorsements? Removing the coach's position and putting in a manager instead? Please. Granted players might spend too much time on ads and endorsements. Granted our last coach spent more time leaking sensitive emails than actually setting a foundation for the future ( he did good work with the present batch, I'll grant that). [ And anyway, who're the former captains to decide that the players shouldn't get as much money? They didnt make as much money in their time, for sure, but denying men who followed them, just out of jealousy??? For it can only be that, else why should the Board have any say on the endorsements a player can make or not?]
One bad World Cup does not a disaster make. For sure, we lost to Bangaldesh and SL when we should've won at least against one of them. But there's the rub. Isn't that the glory of cricket, and especially ODI cricket? True, not on a regular basis but...isn't the history of the game littered with such unexpected and devastating triumphs by the underdog? Isn't that what makes the game worth watching? [ Did Australia have such a complete overhaul after their disastrous 1992 WC? Even if they did, I distinctly don't remember such panic or hysteria in Australia then]Thats why I feel the knee-jerk reaction shown by the board, not the fans, mind you, does not make sense. Rather, it stinks of panic and lack of a planned, calm approach.
Its too much, too soon and maybe even in some cases, too late. Where will we get the 30 player pool from? I doubt our pool of international-level talent stretches to 20, let alone 30.How are we going to manage to have it in place and feeding the national team by the next WC?I doubt very much if it'll even be functionally viable by the 2015 WC.
Of course, that said, our players haven't helped their cases any either. With Tendulkar breaking his usual silence with some ill-timed and ill-advised comments to the media coupled with Bhajji and others sniping at Dravid and clamouring for Sourav throughout, I never felt the team that went to the Windies was a united one. If anything, we could only win when the other team collapsed or froze at our reputations or the pitch was overwhelmingly in our favour. [ Remember Bermuda?] Tendy and others must be reprimanded ( which has been done now, thank God) and made to toe the team line. Whatever the frissures in the team, one's not doing anyone a favour by airing it in public. The press is a powerful tool , for sure - for change and knowledge, not for washing dirty linen in public.
That leads me to my final point - the media hysteria. Sure, sponsors are pumping tons of money into the game. Sure, it captures the imaginations of nearly the whole country. But please, astrological predictions ??? Mandira Bedi clones on commentary teams? [ And I mean Mandira Bedi circa 2003 - she's vastly improved now and actually makes sage comments, fed though they may be]Half of the reason the BCCI and fans reacted so crazily was the way the media hyped up our ( admittedly mediocre) team's chances before the WC and fed them to the lions just as gleefully after their shock exit. This just has to stop, or at least lessen in degree, if any semblance of sanity is ever to be brought back to Indian cricket and its administration.
India,circa 2008, will look like a Dad's army. But what a Dad's army!!! They deserve a better sendoff into the sunset than an officious Board, a demagoguing media and jealousy all round at their endorsements. sheesh.....will we ever learn to value those who serve our country?

Federer a la Laver or should it be Borg , Laver et al a la Federer?

2006-09-08T00:58:00.000-07:00

Federer just seems to be getting more unbeatable with every succeeding tournament. The US Open series and the ongoing US Open are the only times, in recent memory, other than Nadal clashes, of course, that he has looked anything less than indomitable - dropping a set here and there and, God forbid!, losing before the finals. :D

Thankfully , he seems to have pulled his act together, somewhat, for the big event and is presently on cruise control through the US Open - except for a minor hiccup against a very strong , and improved, James Blake in the quarterfinals.

A strong Roddick awaits him in the finals , mostly - setting up a humdinger to end the year's Grand Slams. If Federer wins, he might possibly be the first player ever to win 3 US Opens and 3 Wimbledons back-to-back. Lets hope he isn't denied and holds his nerve agianst Roddick.

Funny turns of phrase and descriptions!

2006-07-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

In the Lord's Test yesterday, Strauss was involved in a mixup with Ian Bell and eventually had him run out....by Inzamam, universally acknowledged as one of the slowest fielders on the planet.

One particularly noteworthy reaction follows:
You could say that Bell was unlucky to be run out by a direct hit from Inzamam, which is cricket's equivalent to being killed by a falling meteor while out walking the dog on Dartmoor. If International Cricket Council regulations permitted, the Pakistani captain would employ a butler to do his fielding for him.
Martin Johnson in the Telegraph

More:
In the first innings, it was Paul Collingwood who almost paid the price for a madcap dash to get Alastair Cook to his hundred, and yesterday Ian Bell was offered up in the kind of sacrifice associated with the Druids during a full moon over Stonehenge.

Some more:
Bell was clearly startled to be called for a single when Strauss hit the ball to short midwicket but, being the diffident sort of chap he is, he declined to exercise his right to remain where he was, and was run out by Inzamam-ul-Haq's direct hit.

Johnson in fine form here:
The most frantic moments of the match have come with England batsmen on 99, at which point the urge to get your name on the pavilion honours board persuades a normally rational individual that he can cover 22 yards in the kind of speed which requires reverse-thrust parachutes to bring you to a halt before embedding yourself in the sight-screen.

He's really laying into the players here :D :
In scoring a double century Yousuf got to kiss the Lord's turf twice, though on the second occasion he curiously planted a smacker on the pitch next door - becoming the first man to make hallow the 22 yards allocated for a game between Middlesex and Durham.

This guy's good. Must read his articles more regularly in future. ROTFL stuff.

Flintoff is a God...or is he?

2006-05-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

With characteristic English pragmatism, Tim de Lisle dissects Flnitoff's captaincy during the Lanka test at Lord's. The evidence does look damning and allied to the poor fielding and ignoring of Monty's bowling , it does paint a rather poor picture of Flintoff's captaincy abilities. As analysed in the article, Vaughan may be the only good captain England can rely on at present.Read more here

Nice guys finish last....or not?

2006-05-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

Just a quick link today - to a well-written article by Strauss on the value and frequent under-estimation of Hoggard. Read it here.

Low scoring matches are fun,too :)

2006-03-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

And so, with more than 872 runs scored in THE match, cricket entered a new era of tonking and pitiless wearing-down of bowlers ... or did it?

The first ODI between England and India seemed decided at the halfway stage - given India's strength in recent times has been their batting and also given that they didn't really have a strike bowler ( Pathan bowling at Kumble-esque speeds :D ), the batting collapse that saw India struggle to reach 203 seemed to have put the match beyond their reach.

Until, that is, the Turbanator decided to come to the party - and how. Of course, due credit must be given to Irfan Pathan - a fiery first over saw him taking 2 wickets and breaking the back of the English top order right off . KP and Flintoff , after a brief tonking from Prior, got together and steadied the ship. England were cruising at 117/3 off 19.4 overs - just 87 runs required off more than 30 overs. The match was all but lost.

The Indians , thankfully, had different ideas - Yuvraj, turning his arm over after a long while,
provided the initial breakthrough - the breach in the wall, as it were, that led to the flood. KP opted for a slog sweep to the sqaure leg boundary to a low full toss from Yuvraj, trying to match Flintoff's aggression in Sreesanth's previous over(22 runs off it).Gambhir, positioned on the boundary, took a good catch just in front of the ropes and KP was out, through an unnecessary shot, for a belligerent 46 - breaking a 60-run partnership that had threatened to take the match away from India.

Harbhajan, under pressure for a lackluster performance in the Tests and under fire for possibly having been "figured out" by batsmen, came up iwth a performance justifying not only his selection but also the reason he has been a shoo-in in any Indian ODI team of the past 8 or so years. Reading the situation brilliantly , and with able run-constricting support from Yuvraj, he began to strike - Flintoff was his first victim in this spell , trapped in front for an attacking 41 off 37. On paper, that didn't seem like the body blow it turned out to be - with England so close to the target and with 5 wickets in hand, only the most optimistic of punters would've given India even one chance in hell of winning.

Hell must've frozen over - because Harbhajan broke through the rest of the recognised batsmen i.e. Collingwood, Jones and Blackwell ( who, btw, had bowled very well for figures of 10-0-24-1) to send England craching to 141-8 after 30 overs. Overs 20 -30 had yielded just 24 runs at the cost of 4 vital wickets. With Yuvraj and Pathan mopping up the tail ( and averting India's usual inability to clean up the tail and allow dangerous 9th wicket partnerships), India strolled to an emphatic victory when the last England wicket fell at 164.

From the depths of misery at the failure of their supposed main strength i.e batting, India had pulled off a remarkable victory over a strong English side - continuing the remarkable resurgence in ODI form ( from just above the hapless Windies to their 15th victory in 17 matches)that has characterised Chappell's tenure at the helm. Lets hope that this form continues throught the series - and , dare one hope, spills over into the Test arena? Fingers crossed...and kudos to Dravid and his men!

Ranji results!

2006-03-02T19:47:00.000-08:00

Been a long while and need to get some updates out of the way. :)

First off, Bengal made full use of a sporting declaration by Railways and chased 303 in 55 overs to pip K'taka and claim the second semifinal spot from Elite Group A. So, the final semis lineup was Mumbai vs. UP, Bengal vs.Baroda.

In the first semiifinal, Bengal were initially in a spot of bother but India discards L.S.Shukla and D.Dasgupta hit huge tons( 141 and 171,respectively) to take Bengal to 617 from 196-5, gaining the vital first-innings lead over Baroda's sub-par 241. The match was decided by then and Baroda could only save the match from that point. With all hopes of victory and/or a spot in the final gone, they batted out their second innings finishing on 252/8, still in arrears of Bengal's total. A disappointment for Baroda, who had looked at least asa impressive as Bengal in the league matches of Elite group 2.

In the other semifinal, Mumbai collapsed in their first innings for 199 and , even though they kept pegging away at UP, were unable to break their backbone(Kaif 64 ,Raina 72 and Shamshad 40) - UP finally reaching 250 for a vital first-innings lead. Mumbai's only hope at that point was to post a huge score in the second innings and dismiss UP cheaply - always a tough ask, but not impossible at all. They piled up 264 but gave themselves only 2 sessions to dismiss UP. Barring a miracle, that was impossible - and thats what it turned out to be, UP playing safely to actually win [216/5 - target:214]. Mumbai , after a disappointing performance, had fallen at the semis and UP progressed to their 3rd Ranji final.

The final(29 Jan - 2 Feb)promised to be an interesting match up - with both Bengal and UP seeming to peak at the right time and trumping the form book in the semis. And it was ,too - although not exactly a humdinger:). UP batted first at Lucknow and, riding on fine 90s from Kaif and Raina(again) , made 387. Bengal were in trouble initially, with the young leggie Piyush Chawla bowling excellently to have them in trouble at 252-6 . They recovered, thanks to a fighting innings from L.R.Shukla(66) who shepherded the tial to bring Bengal agonisingly close. When the 9th wicket fell at 363, Bengal were desperate to make up the deficit. Shukla hit a six over longon and reverse swept Chawla past third man to bring Bengal within striking distance. Chawla kept his cool , tossed one up on leg and saw Shukla's slog-sweep spiral up into the air and into the hands of a diving sqaure-leg fielder. UP had claimed a first -innings lead of 14, and with Kaif scoring a century in UP's second innings to lead them to 342 , ensured the Ranji trophy would be theirs, for the first time and at the third time of asking. [Bengal second innings:109/5. Target:357]

Although the whole team played well, the credit for the successul campaign must go to Kaif, for his batting and caaptaincy, Raina, again for his batting, and to Chawla, the young leggie who impressed one and all with his bowling nous. A deserved victory - with UP romping to the trophy despite having only one recognised , well-known batsman/player in Kaif.

In the plate final , Rajasthan lost to Saurashtra after impressing all season. But, since both teams now gained promotion, the victory or loss would be only for bragging rights.

All in all, a very interesting season - with the form book thrown out the window multiple times. Traditional powerhouses like Delhi, Mumbai,Hyderabad and K'taka fell early and/or hard to challengers from the new power centres of Indian cricket - small- town India . This can only bode well for Indian cricket - having opened up the vast reserves of small-town India to the Indian cricket team. Here's hoping to see,in the near future, an Indian cricket team as representatve and dominant as the Windies teams of the '80s.

The Ranji one day tourney's coverage coming up soon...

Indian Test team selection

2006-02-24T01:41:00.000-08:00

The selectors announced the team for the first Test and there were a few pleasant suprises.

+ Ganguly dropped - I had expected that after Yuvraj's injury they would stick with the the experience of the former captain than bring in the new kids on the block i.e Raina and Kaif. It shows that the Indian team is looking for long term prospects and selection is performance based.
Now people would argue that Ganguly deserves a proper farewell as he has done a lot for Indian cricket in general. Even though I was vociferous supporter of the SG till the Pakistan series last year, I think most of his problems are due to his own reluctance to acknowledge his decline as a batsmen. Many a player were sacrificed for him to keep his middle-order slot and now the time has come for him to go.

+ Gambhir's expulsion - I reckon that he will be a solid bat for India in the next few years. But there is no denying Wasim Jaffer his place in the line-up after strong domestic performances last few seasons. Also, since the Tests are being held in India it will not to be too difficult to recall him into the squad if needed.

+ Raina's inclusion - From the various reports circulating on the web, it looks like Raina has been marked as a batsman for the future by the coach. Would be interesting to see whether he pips Kaif for the final middle-order slot.

+ VRV and Chawla - Both are exciting propsects. VRV for his raw pace would be a bonus to the Indian side who are in the search of a pace spearhead. I still can't figure out how Piyush Chawla bowls that googly(almost the same action as his stock delivery) - it is simply amazing and he showed a lot of control for a legspinner in the Challenger's and the U-19 WC. And he can bat too.

+Sreesanth - Deserved a spot in the team with his impressive performance across the border. He has a nice action and run-up, swings the ball late and can touch 140kmph regularly - surely one to watch out for.

+ Zaheer and Agarkar dropped - I think this was after their no-show in the final ODI in Karachi where they could not get breakthroughs with the new ball. Ajit off late has become more of a stock bowler than the strike bowler he was when he burst on to the scene. Zaheer needs to bowl much better to go up the pecking order amongst the seamers.

All in all, a positive outlook to an important Test series where the selectors traditionally stuck with a defensive mindset of selecting the same players.

Ranji twists and VB series turn(around)s!

2006-01-26T11:30:00.000-08:00

An eventful fortnight this has been - the Ranji semis did not go at ALL according to form and the VB series keeps throwing sliders at every pundit who dares predict an outcome.

First off, the Ranji semis - Bengal qualified for the semis at the expense of K'taka after they made full use of a sporting declaration by Railways in their laast league encounter and scored 303 in 54 or so overs. Railways gambled for a win and lost - but in the bragin, Bengal gained a semi spot and K'taka paid for their lacklustre performance aginst Gujarat. Bengal then had to face a strong Baroda side in the semis , a side that had totally dominated their group like Mumbai in the other half, and who looked good to go on to hte finals AND lift the trophy. At least, thats what the pre-match predictions would have been - they didn't reckon with Bengal's batting machine clicking into top gear in the semis, with India discards LR .Shukla and D.Dasgupta both scoring big hundreds to take Bengal to an unbeatable 619 in the first innings . Barodaa could only fight to avoid an innings defeat after that and ended up drawing the match but conceded the crucial first-innings lead, sending Bengal into the semis.

In the other semi, Mumbai , entering the semis after a last-match thumping in the league stage from Maharashtra, never looked like the side that had sewn up a semi spot half way through the league stage. Their batting collapsed twice against Mah. and in the first innings against UP in the semis virtually blocking out their chances of qualifying for the finals. A sad end for a team that had promised much early on.

So, for Ranji 2005-06, its Bengal vs. UP - a united Bengal team versus a UP team reliant on Kaif and Raina's batting. Lets see how that turns out.

Now for the VB series. Its been a long while since the annual triagulars in Oz have been this keenly contested. We're halfway through the series and its still not clear who are going to be the finalists. Australia looked to be in command early on with successive victories over SAF and SL until SL decided to rewrite the script with their own run of victories over SAF and Aus. SAF, shellshocked by SL, took a little while to recover but bounced back with their own victories over SL and Aus. Aus are now leading the table with SL close behind. With the last two results, thugh, SAF are right back in contention - the VB series may go any way now and thats so much better for cricket, if not for the hairlines of Aussie,SL or SAf fans!:)

Ranji tourney at an exciting stage!

2006-01-11T01:44:00.000-08:00

The battle for semifinal spots is really heating up in the Ranji Trophy. After a long while, it finally looks like the BCCI's dedcision to split the tourney into two levels is actually bearing fruit. I say this in the context of the number of close matches and the spirited resistance beng put up by unfancied teams against stiff opposition - features that were rare in Ranji preliminary round matches until recently. Here's the status quo:
In the Elite groups, Baroda and Mumbai have already qualified for the semis. But its in the struggle for the second semifinal spots from each group that the really interesting contests are taking place. In group 'A', Karnataka , at present, lie second behind Mumbai at 12 points [ after two victories against Delhi and Maharashtra]. Although the next closest teams, TN and Bengal, are at 9 points, Karnataka daare not rest easy. If either win their matches, they'll leap frog K'taka and waltz into the semis.
At the time of 'going to press',as it were, K'taka had conceded a first-innings lead to Gujarat [ so no extra points there for K'taka] , Railways continued to defy Bengal with their slow batting and TN [oh nooooooo!] had amassed 450+ against Delhi and appeared all set for a thumping win. If Delhi can somehow manage to thwart TN, then K'taka are through. Although , going by past form, Delhi will, I'm guessing, succumb to TN. aaargh...and there goes the semifinal spot.

In group B, Punjab are in a position similar to K'taka's with UP and Hyd. looking good to overtake or at least draw level with them. [ Although Hyd. have conceded a first-innings lead to Baroda, the match is still open] If so, UP look set to draw level with Punjab. I wonder waht the BCCI's rules are , in such situations. Do they go with the result of the encounter between the tied teams, then take into account the number of victories,etc.? Need to find out....

This is the good part of the new two-tier championship - weaker teams like Tripura and Goa will now no longer be thrashed absent-mindedly by Bengal, K'taka,et al but instead can compete with teams at their own level and win. This worked,too - in that Tripura registered their first-ever win , in 21 years of competition, against Himachal Pradesh., whom they would never have played in the old zonal system.

All said and done, in spite of the lack of crowds and overall lack of interest, such fierce competition can only bear good tidings for Indian cricket's future.

Good Start

2006-01-07T02:51:00.000-08:00

It's tea time at the India v/s Pak A match and looks like the top 3 batsman have got a good workout.

The selection of the squad is interesting - Ganguly, Sehwag, Kumble and Parthiv left out. I think the onus is to give match practice to those players who did not play much in the recent Ranji matches.

Jaffer and Gambhir both made healthy scores. It will be a tough one to chose between the two. I think Gambhir will pip Jaffer as he has not done too bad at the opening slot except the SL Test series. In either case, such a healthy competition bodes well for the team.

It will be interesting to see how Bhajji and the fast bowlers perform. Given that Kumble and Pathan are a certainty, it will be interesting to see who grabs the 2 bowling slots amongst Agarkar, Khan, RP and Bhajji.

Finally, my top 6 for the first test will be :
Sehwag
Gambhir/Jaffer (toughie!!)
Dravid
Tendulkar
VVS
Yuvraj (Ganguly on the bench, no brainer)

I was glad that the selectors decided to take Ganguly on tour instead of Mohammad Kaif who I personally think has a long was to go before staking a good claim in the classy Indian batting order. More on that later.....

Kallis and the art of slow batting

2006-01-06T23:42:00.000-08:00

Recently read this article by Peter English on cricinfo on the effect of Kallis's second innings on the match.

Kallis has on more than one occasion sacrificed his team for personal glory. Apart from this Test match other occasions that come to immediate memory is the 4'th ODI between India and SA and the Champions League semifinal again v/s India where Gibbs almost took them to victory single-handedly. Not only was Kallis oblivious to the team cause, his painstaking run accumulation reduced the chances of his victory drastically.

The fact that he has been the highest run accumulator in the last few years and the best batsman in the SA lineup has prevented any reprimand from the authorities concerned.

The argument that he cannot up the run-rate when required as he is a technically correct batsman holds no ground as he has the fastest Test fifty to boot against a hapless Zimbabwe attack in a farce of a Test match. Rahul Dravid, who is no less a technician than he is, has shown wonderful improvement in his strike-rate for the betterment of the team cause.

His not-so-good average against the Aussies probably prevented him from taking undue risks and history will judge him by the averages (reason why I sometimes hate statistics so much). It all boils to being a team player or not. Gibbs's daring display and Smith's wonderful declaration brought the crowd and interest back to the Test. Sad that a brilliant batsman who could have turned the tide decided to stay away.

As Peter English aply said in his article, "Kallis has managed to be a great batsman without being a thoughtful one".

Henry to stay a Gunner !!

2006-01-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

I hope this news is true though a part of me wanted me to see him ply his trade along with the likes of Ronaldinho, Eto, Deco and Messi at Barcelona.

I still believe Arsene Wenger will bring back the club back to the top in the Premiership next year, and who knows what might happen in the Champions League this year with the players not having to fight for the Premiership title. More funding for players will be available once they move to their new stadium next year.

Henry staying put at Arsenal must have calmed the nerves of a lot of Gunners. Go Thiery !!

Jumbo on a roll - Delhi style!

2005-12-14T00:18:00.000-08:00

And so, Delhi proved lucky...yet again. India beat SL quite easily today to take a 1-0 lead in the series with one to go(and Murali limping). This should be an easy series victory - unless we mess up in the third test.The match was unique in quite a few respects:
a. Sachin finally breaking Gavaskar's record with a crucial 35th Test century: In India's first innings, Sachin's century was crucial in ensuring that India had a reasonable total up on the board. In hindsight, this proved even more vital considering how very like 9 pins India's batting collapsed on the second day , from 253/4 to 290/10.
b.Pathan clicking as a Test opener: This proved very fortuitous for India as it provided us with more options for batting even in Tests. We might possibly play an extra bowler or batsman in future series - a possibly series-turning decision against the Pakis and England. Lets hope that this wasn't just beginner's luck for Pathan as an opener.
c.WPUJC claiming his 300th: Particularly fitting that he should claim it against us, considering that he was our chief tormentor , along wth Murali,in SL's heyday.
d.Kumble's 10-wkt match haul: Claiming 10 crucial wickets for 157 in the match, Kumble had another good outing at his favourite hunting ground[48 wickets in 5 Tests, including the 10-for against Pak in '99], leading India to yet another resounding home Test victory.
Ganguly performed fairly well, too, providing good support with two slow, though valuable, forties in the middle order. All in all , a good team performance and a deserving victory. Here's hoping that we win the next Test and carry this sort of form forward to the Eng and Pak series.