Touring Teams In Trouble

The world's top 2 teams have undertaken 2 very tough tours right now and both are in trouble thanks to injuries and personal problems. Just check out the casualties here.

England in India
Marcus Trescothick - Personal problems
Michael Vaughan
Simon Jones
Kevin Pietersen
Paul Collingwood

Australia in South Africa
Glenn McGrath - personal problems
Ricky Ponting
Andrew Symonds

A Great Warrior

Cometh the hour, cometh the Man.

With English players flying home quicker than the pace of Shoaib Akhtar's throws (er, deliveries) it was really upto their talisman Freddie Flintoff to stand up to be counted.

And stood up he has. Freddie will be leading England for the first time in a test at Nagpur. And as part of his duty he has decided to forgo the trip back home for the impending birth of his child sometime around the third test. A true warrior giving it his all for his nation.

Former captain Nasser Hussain, the one who lead the team so ably (some might say negatively, but he got the Indians all worked up) endorses the move and does not think it will be too much of a burden for Freddie:

"I've got no worries about the additional burden, because desperate times call for desperate measures, and England need someone who will lift them above the ordinary. Freddie definitely has the capability to do that, so I'm pleased he's been given this opportunity. He is absolutely crucial to England's success.

Here's wishing him all the best. (But not quite enough to win the test I hope)

Another Slap On The Face For The Selectors

... this time by Gautam Gambhir. What the wise men have done is keep the 2 men in form (Gambhir and Munaf) and those who have had England worried out and kept Jaffer (who was OK) and VRV (nothing great) in.

This is just outstanding wisdom.

Now I wonder if Jaffer fails miserably in Nagpur (which I hope he doesn't btw) will they bring back Gambhir ?? What a great advertisement for consistency !

At A Loss For Words

The selection of the team for the first test against England has frankly left me struggling for words. After More and Co. had done more or less a good consistent job till the Pak series (the pressure-induced Ganguly selections and droppings notwithstanding) today they have given the impression that they distinctly want to hog the limelight. Pity, because selectors job is done well when it is talked about very little.

First things first. And this is something that can never be answered satisfactorily. Why declare the team on the first day of the warm-up match ? If the performances in the game are to have no effect on the selection why not just declare it before the start of the game ? At least that would have saved a lot of disappointment for the likes of Munaf and Gambhir and an appearance of stupidity that has been associated with these selections. Or select the team on the last day, dammit.

While Wasim Jaffer rightly retains his place what wrong has Gautam Gambhir done ? As I see it, they were both selected for Pakistan, Gambhir was the incumbent, but neither played a game. So shouldn't the status quo be maintained ? What has happened is that the selectors have gone with one opener less. OK, that in itself is not a bad idea. We do not really need 3 openers all the time, but given that Sehwag has a dodgy shoulder, some back-up would have been appreciated, especially considering the special position that Jaffer and Gambhir find themselves in. And if there was to be only one open slot, I'm sorry it should have gone to Gambhir.

Now to what will probably be the most hotly debated selection - or rather the lack of - of Sourav Ganguly. As Dileep Premachandran mentions in an article here, this would have been taken to a little bit more kindly even by the Gangulians had Yuvraj actually been fit. But fact is he is not. The guys we have instead are Mohammad Kaif a sincere hard-working cricketer who has yet to prove himself at test level and Suresh Raina, a 19 year old rookie who has made all the headlines for his attractive strokeplay but who has still got a fairly average first class record. It is fine to go for youth, but I guess in a high-profile series like this it would have made more sense to stick with experience. Ganguly should definitely have been in the 15.

About the only selection that can be deemed flawless is that of the wicket-keeper Dhoni.

Coming to the fast bowling lineup, Pathan makes the cut clearly. Now do we really need 4 fast bowlers in a home test ? Couldn't one of those slots have been used for a backup opener ? OK, Zaheer Khan, although I hate him, was not too bad in the tests in Pak,also Agarkar, was just about coming into his own against the home series in Sri Lanka. I think dropping both of them and going in with 2 debutants and one bowler who has played just 2 tests is bordering a bit on the foolish IMO. In particular while Sreesanth's impressive performance earned him a place, VRV was definitely, I think a hasty selection. One of Zaheer and Agarkar could have been in his place, or as I mentioned earlier, Gambhir. And even granting selectors their impulsive wish to go with young fast bowlers shouldn't Munaf have been picked ahead of VRV ? Not only because of his spell today, but for the fact that he has been playing superbly all season while VRV on the other hand has been out a lot due to injury.

Finally the spinners, again the same concern as the fast bowlers. Are we having one spinner too many ? Are we really going to play 3 spinners ? IMO No. So what's the hurry in getting Chawla in ? He is only 17, he can wait. While it is necessary to try to groom him as Kumble's successor it can be done by simply inviting him to the dressing room than actually picking him. I mean I am a huge fan of the guy and believe he is a brilliant young talent but unfortunately the team needs at this hour do not fit with his skills.

In general, the emphasis has been on pushing the youth in, throwing out the experience without paying much attention to the team composition. One almost gets the feeling that if all the upcoming youngsters were fast bowlers, 11 of them might have been picked, same is the case, if all were openers. There seems to be a serious lack of balance.

Here is the team in the end:
Sehwag
Jaffer
Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
Kaif
Raina
Dhoni
Pathan
RP Singh
Sreesanth
VRV Singh
Kumble
Harbhajan
Chawla

Here's what my team would have looked like
Sehwag
Gambhir
Jaffer
Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
Ganguly
Kaif
Dhoni
Pathan
RP Singh
Sreesanth
Zaheer/Agarkar
Kumble
Harbhajan

So basically, Ganguly in place of Raina, Zaheer/Agarkar in place of VRV and Gambhir in place of Chawla.

I hope that despite this serious imbalance India does well. In fact I think they will. It is just that the ends won't quite justify the means here.

A Captain's Dream

For long I have been a huge fan of England's pace attack. From prior to the Ashes I believed that this was England's strength and would play a key role if they were to win, which they did.

Not only are Hoggy, Harmy, Freddie and Jones seriously talented bowlers who amongst them have a great variety of skills with "nearly all bases covered" as they like to put it, what takes the icing on the cake is the way they are prepared to work together as a team. Pakistan at one point of time had a clearly greater attack - Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib and Saqlain for one, but somehow they never fired as a team. Their differences and clashes were well-known.

Not so with this English attack. Consider this. Hoggy knows that he will be a wicket-taker only in conditions that will help swing, otherwise he is quite happy to do the donkey's work. Harmy knows that he will have to switch between spearhead and workhorse as and when needed. Jones despite serious pace and ability to swing the ball both ways is very happy to come in second change and Freddie is well, just Freddie. There is practically nothing he won't do (and deliver mostly) when the captain asks him something.

The couple of interviews from the English fast bowlers in the last few days drove my attention to this point once again. Here, Harmisson says that all that matters is the team winning, not how many wickets he gets. And I think he is being pretty honest. In fact I have noticed that he not a particularly over-ambitious cricketer individually, but he always gives his heart out for his team. Indeed, his home-sickness on tours and willingness to sacrifice his place in the side is ample indication that he is not particularly bothered about personal landmarks. But the way he struck the Aussies at the start of the Ashes shows that once he puts his mind to the job, he will make sure he makes a damn good effort of it. Here are a few sound bytes:

"As long as the team's doing well and even if I get only one wicket, I'm not bothered,"

"I said that last year in the Ashes, and I got five wickets in the first Test but it meant nothing because we got beat. Then I got 12 wickets in the next four Tests and we won the Ashes. I was chuffed to bits. As long as we win I'm not bothered what wickets I get. If I can go up to Vaughany and say, look I've given you everything I've got, then that suits me."

"I do what the situation demands and what Vaughany requires of me. If it means containing, then I will contain and if it means going at somebody then I'll try and bring up as much energy as I can."

And now, this one from Jones a few days ago:

He said he was happy coming in to bowl after the new ball had been shared by Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison. "To be fair Hoggy and Harmy have done a very good job in the last few years. I don't see any reason to change that. I just come on first or second change. It had worked well for us in the Ashes.

"It [not opening the bowling] doesn't bother me. I like bowling with the new ball, like bowling with the old ball too. I'll do what the skipper tells me."

Indeed, Vaughan is lucky to possess an attack like this.

Bangladesh BEAT Sri Lanka !!

Hip Hip Hooray !!

Need I say more ?

Injury Concerns Hit Team India

And hit them hard.

Good news: Harbhajan will be fit.

Bad News: Sehwag is still uncertain

Ugly News: Yuvraj has definitely been ruled out. At least from the first Test.

To try to put it in perspective imagine what the England team might feel if Trescothick and Pietersen would be ruled out, double the effect and then you will have some idea what a setback it is.

Update: Sehwag has passed the fitness test and will play. Yippie !!
The shoe is on the other foot now. All 3 of England's spinners and their strike bowler, Simon Jones are down with a stomach bug while Paul Collingwood has a back problem. Hmm. This series is taking serious twists and turns even before it has begun.

Sreesanth

Lot of people coming to this blog searching with the keyword Sreesanth in the last few days. 6 of them to be precise. More interesting the key phrases with which people search:

1. bowl cricket sreesanth
2. meaning of sreesanth
3. about sreesanth's personal life
4. review about sreesanth's cricket

Wow is this a sudden surge in curiosity about Sreesanth ? Or is it just one crazy teenage girl who's mad about him ? Either way here is some info about Sreesanth that is interesting:

He is India's latest fast bowling hope, having a lot of the skills that it takes for fast bowling - including swing, the bouncer, the yorker, use of the crease, a smooth run up and action but most importantly a fast bowler's attitude - body language and the tenacity to keep coming back ball after ball. He is the only Kerala bowler to take a hat-trick in Ranji Trophy cricket.

On a personal front, Sreesanth is a pretty good dancer. He was the winner of the South Zone Boogie Woogie competition in 1995. He is also a budding poet who is planning to get a book published sometime soon. He writes poems on Cricket and Kerala. He is also studying for a Master's in Sports Pschycology (or something) in Delhi, I believe. And yes, his favorite God is Ganapathy whose temple he visits often when he is back home in Kerala

Another "Pace" Revolution ??

Well, pace by Indian standards anyway. We had one in 2000-2001 when Zaheer and Nehra came on and Agarkar was around. Srinath was still occasionally around it seemed that he had kickstarted the tradition of pace in Indian bowling. Well, we know what happened. Zaheer was very good for about 2 years, Nehra in patches and that was it.

Then came Irfan, who relied much more on swing than on pace and Balaji who had some serious skill-set but he has since been sidelined bu injuries. Today nearly five and a half years after Zaheer made his first appearance we are seeing the emergence of another crop of talented pace bowlers, Sreesanth and RP Singh being in the forefront of this march. Sreesanth obviously seems the most appealing one. His body language, physique all reek of a classical fast bowler.

Well there are also the likes of Munaf Patel and VRV Singh waiting to be given the go and of course there have been a couple of impressive performances in the recent U19 World Cup.

What will happen ? Will Sreesanth do a Srinath ? Or will most of these bowlers go the Zaheer/Nehra way ?? One interesting idea is to see if indeed these fast bowlers are peaking only for short periods - couple of years - then we might as well utilize them to the fullest then. And then hope for a new crop every 3 years or so. Rather than investing on broken bones Ashish Nehra and lazy fatso Zaheer Khan somehow rediscovering their old touch.

Mohammad Kaif - Keep going, We are with you !

The World must seem a really cruel place for Mohammad Kaif. In September 2005 he would have believed that he had finally arrived as a top Indian batsman on the scene. Greg Chappell believed in him, he preferred his hard working methods over the mercurial but otherworldly talent of Yuvraj. He looked upon him as the number 3 that would take India to the World Cup. He was already talked of in terms of the future captain and was appointed to lead India Seniors in the Challenger series in the abscence of Dravid and Sehwag. He did a fine job and earned many plaudits.

And then horribly, out of the blue, it went all wrong. In a low-scoring final which his side clearly dominated he injured himself trying to effect one of his customary sliding stops. Clearly, had he let that ball go it would not have mattered an iota to the final result of the game. But it is just so un-Kaif to give anything less than a hundred percent on the field. Will it matter however in the long run ?? One hopes not. For in a very sad way, Kaif's career hasn't quite been the same since his comeback from injury.

Faithfully, Chappell and Dravid put Kaif back in the squad for the last 2 games against Sri Lanka as soon as he had recovered from injury. This despite Venugopal Rao having done pretty well and shown lots of promise. That faith was justified. It was reward for superlativer performances in the preceding tri-series in Zimbabwe. Besides, it was also necessary. It was important that it be let known to young, athletic, talented players in the country by example that if you perform and if you get injured trying your best you will be rewarded with a place back when fit, that you will not be punished for commitment. This was also necessary as a strong disincentive against playing with injuries for fear of losing your place in the squad.

So Kaif did pretty well in his first comeback game, scoring a patient 39 not out while he failed in the next one. However both these innings were hardly noticed the series having been already decided by then. Against SA, Kaif back to his new found #3 spot failed against Pollock in Hyderabad, a close but correct lbw decision on 0, didn't bat in Bangalore and in Kolkata in typical Kaif style faced with a back to the walls situation put up one of his many face-saving partnerships wit Yuvraj. Then in Mumbai he played a useful not out hand to help Dravid seal the much important victory. It was thought then that all would be well with the World again, for Kaif, it seemed he had seamlessly refit into his hard-earned position in the Indian side. So much so that he was selected over Ganguly in the Ahmedabad Test against Sri Lanka.

There was a slight hitch though. While Kaif did fairly decently against SA, Yuvraj Singh was playing a game from almost another planet. So breathtaking was Yuvraj's batting, so unbelievable the strokeplay and so indisputable the consistency that Yuvraj got a shot in the test squad again despite his failures in Zimbabwe (and rightly so I might add for although this is a sympathy piece on Kaif, India always comes first and Yuvraj is nothing short of God's gift to India). But Kaif got his chance in Ahmedabad and he messed it up.

But all was not lost yet. While Kaif still struggled to make his place in the Test squad, and some people rather cruelly argue that he is "not Test class" (I mean OK he is not the most naturally gifted players aroung but hullo !! He is fairly compact, has some strokes, a decent technique and superb temperament) his place in the ODI squad seemed secure.

Pakistan would be a tour Kaif would want to forget as quickly as possible. He had just come in after being dropped from the test team (again) leading UP to a famous Ranji title, scoring 92 and a 100 in the final game and in general having a very fruitful domestic season. In the first game, he came in after 45 overs when Tendulkar and Dravid got out in quick succession and watched as the tail commited harakiri in a heap, scoring 8 off 12 balls and being the last man out caught on the boundary - a very good catch going for a big hit. Failure anyone ? Well that's what the Kaif-bashers take it as.

He then had a brief not out innings in Rawalpindi before disaster struck in Lahore where he was out lbw for 0 with 100 runs needed at over 6 an over when he came in. BANG. That was the last straw for the Kaif bashers. Not for them the fact that any batsman can be susceptible when he first comes in. By the time Kaif went out to bat at Multan with the opportunity there for an easy not out innings he was pretty nervous. He flailed at one wide desperate to get going and was out caught in the slips. The series for Kaif reads 8, 5*, 0, 0. That's all the statisticians see. That's all the Kaif bashers see. Not for them the history I previously mentioned.

Not for them that even in this series Kaif had been an absolutely invaluable asset on the field. The run out of Afridi in the first game, the crucial skier of the same player in the second game when he threatened to take it away, another good catch here and there and in general brilliant ground fielding - that means zilch, doesn't it ??

Now cast your mind back to the commited fielding effort in the Challenger trophy mentioned earlier. Would you have preferred he not shown that sort of commitment - for the sake of his future, his career ?? Fact is I dont know what can be a right answer to that question. Fact remains given the same situation Kaif will do exactly the same all over again. We need to decide how we value that sort of commitment.

Well, Kaifu, tell you what ? I believe in you. And so do Dravid and Chappell, luckily. You are an integral part of this ODI side. An Indian side taking the field without Kaif is quite preposterous and unthinkable. You will get over this, we will be with you.

Sultans of Multan ... and Karachi beckons ... AGAIN

This series win for India is very significant. Most importantly because it had come on the back of an unexpected if not upsetting defeat in the test series. The vultures, the Gangulians and other species were once again looking to jump upon the opportunity to call for the head of the captain and the coach. In the scenario only an emphatic series win would have silenced these.

Twice now, in the last few months, I have found a victory significant more to defeat the enemy within than the opposition on the field. The first time it happened at Mumbai in December when Captain Courageous stood up to lead his team to a series-levelling victory after the vicous attack at the Eden and certain sections of the fans had left a very bad taste in the mouth. Today again it was the same enemy hidden in perhaps a slighly different and less-intense guise. Indeed it is a continuing legacy of Zimbabwe 2005 that is inadvertently bringing out the best in Team India, the team of Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell again and again.

Well, now coming to the match itself, this was by far the most convincing performance of the series. To bundle out a team for 161 and then get there with over 15 overs left is nothing short of comprehensive. India should be heartily congratulated for their splendid clinical effort. I do think the odd easy win like this is necessary just to give the players some breathing space, some time to relax. After all a match like Lahore does take a lot out of you physically and mentally, and even though Rawalpindi was relatively easier it was nowhere close to this dominating performance.

The bowlers deserve full credit. Pathan has been splendid throughout the series. So has Sreesanth. It is just that this time he got his due rewards. RP Singh once again got better results than his bowling deserved I think. He bowled some good balls but also bowled a lot of rubbish stuff in between. Maybe he is the kind of golden arm bowler than can just take a lot of wickets without necessarily bowling too well. If so he will last for another couple of years. That will still be good for India in the short term.

And in the batting my predicted Tendulkar failure came albeit a couple of matches too late. Indeed, the recent scores of Tendulkar make very interesting reading. Since his return from injury his scores have been
93, 67*, 2, 10, 19, 39, 2, 2, 2, 30, 100, 42, 95, 0

As can be seen in 14 innings 4 of them are over 67 (3 over 93 and even that 67 is a not out), 7 of them are below 19 and only 3 of them are in the more or less average range. A clear indication that he has trouble starting out, but once he gets set he is likely to make it count.

Anyway, just a diversion there. Coming back to the innings, the Dravid Yuvi partnership did most of the work yet again. Some of Yuvraj's strokeplay was as usual sparkling but the most pleasant surprise of the day came from Raina. Displaying a quality of strokeplay that reminded one of a positive mix of Sourav Ganguly (of yore) and Yuvraj Singh (of now) he took the team home to raise hopes of finding a long term middle order stroke maker with a mature head and an ability to finish off innings.

So we have won the series and now have some leeway to experiment a few things in Karachi. One thing I would definitely want to do is to bat first. See how good we are at defending (Rather, we know we are bad at defending, see if we can do something about it.) Then, we need to consider resting key players. Pathan and Tendulkar are the ones that come to mind immediately. But this might well be SRTs last ODI on Pak soil and he might want a last hurrah. So we could consider supersubbing him with Powar.

Just under 2 years ago Karachi saw a memorable day - a day that revived India Pakistan bilateral cricket in the grandest spirit possible that brought out not only the best cricket from either side but the best of human spirit and bonding and brotherhood on either side of the border. India was victorious that day. Today, we have come a long way with respect to our relations with Pak not just cricket-wise. Sure there have been hiccups, on and off the field. India's last visit to Karachi was particularly disastrous result. But let us hope that while we return to the city where it all started we definitely see some very good cricket played in great spirits. Of course it is difficult to live up to the phenomenon that occured in 2004 but at least an effort can be made. And from India's point of view, the result should be duplicated.

Cross posted on SachinTendulkarFans

HIP HIP HOORAY !!

A 3-1 series win over Pak in Pak !!

Congratulations TEAM INDIA !!

Well done to the Dravid-Chappell combo !!

More to follow ...

Match 3 Review and Match 4 Preview

Oh what a fantastic victory !! This has to rank up there with the 2 back to back wins at Lahore 2 years ago. Great ! Now we have beaten Pak in Lahore 3 times in a row.

The highlight of the day was of course Sachin Tendulkar's wonderful innings. As I mentioned in an earlier post this has got to be one of his best innings in recent times. Not just because it took India to victory but because of the quality of the strokeplay. This was just the kind of innings we had been missing from Sachin for a long time - chasing a big total under pressure. Today he clearly outshone Dravid in their partnership as well a fact jumped on by mediamen and bloggers with alarming haste.

Anyway, Sachin's innings alone would have been insufficient. It also took a masterpiece from Yuvraj and an unbelievable finishing act from Dhoni to seal it. Unfortunately I could not quite see the Dhoni - Yuvi partnership but it must have been absolute treat to watch.

So can we wrap it up at Multan ? I tend to think Pak will bounce back with a bang injuries notwithstanding. But I do believe we have a fine side which can take Pak on even at their best now. I would say a very difficult call to make. Head says Pak may have the edge in this one but of course the heart beats for India.

The First Blow Struck ??

Should we consider India's thumping win over England in the U19 World Cup (abject humiliation as Cricinfo likes to put it) as a sign of things to come in the upcoming England series ??

Of course not, I realise. It is a nice boost though. It is as if our boys have shown what they are capable of and that should have shaken the English just a bit while giving our men confidence.

Well done kids. Now onto the final.

A Poem on Tendulkar

Forwarded to me by a friend whose friend has composed it.

Tendulkar's Best

There has been an uproar and justifiably so in the media about Tendulkar's wonderful innings yesterday so I thought it apt to note down a few of Tendulkar's memorable innings in recent times - once that I really appreciated. In chronological (or anti-chronological) order:

95 v Pak Lahore 2006
93 v SL Nagpur 2005
141 v Pak Pindi 2004
102 v NZ Hyderabad 2003
98 v Pak Centurion 2003

Question

For all you bloggers out there how do you go about writing a review of a match ?? I find it a tricky task indeed, although it sounds quite simple, for a cricket expert. Funnily I find it easier to write a piece on statistical analysis or expound some idea or criticize/analyze something abstract say a player's form, a strategy, a team's run than a 7-hour long day of cricket.

The reason I believe is that most people already know what has happened. So essentially what I try to bring out is some points that are not entirely obvious. But these needs to be done in keeping with the flow of the game. Plus one needs to make sure one does not go overboard with one's ideas and drift away from the actual game.

I noticed this while writing the review yesterday. I had all my points sorted out, yet when I sat down to write often I felt I was drifting away and rambling on. Any ideas, co-experts ??

India v Pakistan Match 2 Review, Match 3 Preview

Such is the lopsided nature of the scheduling for this ODI series, that while the yawning gap between the first 2 matches made you wonder whether there were transportation problems in Pakistan, these back to back matches will give a lazy bum like me the ideal opportunity to combine the review of one and the preview of another.

Let me admit at the onset, that India's victory at Rawalpindi came as a huge relief to me as I'm sure it would have to the Indian team. I did mention that I expected India to rise to the occasion, nevetherless, the victory though not unexpected is extremely significant. For the obvious reasons - the difficulty of bouncing back from a 0-2 deficit, the fact that India had yet to win a game on this tour and the impatient and fickle nature of the common Indian fan. Not for them the fact that basically the first ODI was an extremely close affair and that Pakistan had beaten India less over a whole test series than in one innings.

So coming to the match, I think Shoaib Malik's run out was the turning point of the match. Sreesanth's throw from the deep was fantastic. More on the lad, later, but at that point of view Pak seemed to be cruising along destined for a 300 score. That in itself was thanks to a pretty average display by India in the field and with the ball. Indeed India's performance in the field was extremely spiky - long periods of listlessness interspersed by moments of brilliance. Pathan got India off to a great start by picking up Butt but Sreesanth oscillated between extremely encouraging and disappointing to leak a few runs. But overall he bowled with a lot of heart and skill and very little luck. But Pathan brought India right back with the wicket of Akmal and the suicide of Yousouf and the soft dismissal of Inzy put India decidedly on top.

It could have been so much better had Shoaib Malik not chosen to kick the ball and all concepts of sportsmanship and the spirit of the game away. Man, this is the team who talked about sporting behavior just 2 days ago and that **$#*#)q*^)^#$%& comes up with such a pitiably pathetic display !! If that was not cheating at its worst I dont know what is. This guy better stay away from me or I'm likely to do him grievous bodily harm and I don't care if I sound too crude or unsophisiticated here.

I wonder if after the Inzy incident in the last game the Indians chose to act with more restraint because I was pretty sure Yuvraj wanted to appeal, but Dravid asked him to let it go. Indeed fitting that Malik should miss out on his hundred and that his team should go on to lose. This was not the only controversial incident though - there were incidents of missile throwing at Ajit Agarkar in this game and Irfan Pathan in the last one. Maybe the hospitality of the Pakistanis was limited to just 1 series and is beginning to get run out here ??

So Malik got poetically run out for 95 but India were still looking at a mountain to climb where arrogance cost Afridi his wicket. Some sections of the Pakistani crowd were demanding that Afridi show no mercy to the Indians and in particular Pathan (I stress on particular) because let's face it being a Muslim and a Pathan at that these issues tend to be more sensitive. It was indeed great to see Pathan obtain revenge. That's this X-factor about this guy that I like. He was not quite at his best in this game (as indeed this entire tour) yet he manages to deliver the crucial punch more often than most. All 3 wickets today were EXTREMELY vital and though he bowled pretty average stuff in between, his Man of the Match was well-deserved.

But Pakistan's endless list of all-rounders meant that the Indians couldn't afford to relax even with Afridi back in the pavillion and the wicket of Razzaq was also very crucial. The direct hit from Raina was a beauty - though the throw in itself was relatively simple, it needed to be a direct one. The off side cordon really looks very strong these days with Yuvraj, Kaif and Raina and that is likely to be a great asset for India come the World Cup. I mean seriously this could be one of the best off-sided fields in the World. Oh what an irony that India should boast of a fielding talent among the best in the business !!

And these youngsters are not just brilliant fielders but extremely confident ambitious kids - the India shining generation kids who love to give back as they get it. As I said Yuvraj was eager to appeal for the Malik kicking incident and when that pain in India's back Younis finally got out jumping around the crease the way Kaif jumped up imitating him was a fantastic thing to see. Having said that India does need to find a way to tackle Younis Khan. I refuse to believe he is as good a player as his scores suggest and that he has no weakness. There must be one. We just have been unable to find it. Something for Dravid and Chappell to ponder.

Talking of Dravid and Chappell I thought some of the captaincy today was pretty disappointing, in particular the way he allowed Malik and Younis cheap singles early in their innings. Then the idea of putting a slip towards the end overs was also befuddling. I am all for attacking new batsmen but honestly no bowler ever looked likely to take an edge on this wicket. It seemed more like a bowled/lbw kind of wicket at least once the ball lost its shine. So this slip fielder was not only wasted it put extra pressure on the likes of Sreesanth to keep the ball way outside off thus negating his chances of attacking the stumps.

265 was a reasonable total but one which needed a good start. Sehwag and Tendulkar did just that. After a long time I was very happy with Sachin's innings. I liked this innings much better than that 100 and Im glad he proved my pessimistic predictions wrong. Perhaps I should keep making them more often. The best part of Tendulkar's innings was the quality of the strokeplay. The lofted off drive off Asif was a class act - a statement that the Master had finally come to terms with the challenge posed by the young tyro. Also the hook off Rana Naved was pure delight to watch.

Great as Sachin's innings was the knockout punch was delivered by Sehwag very early on, delivered perhaps so hard that he had to sacrifice his shoulder for that but with that 6 and the carnage that followed in the rest of Rana Naved's over he put Pakistan completely on the backfoot. Surprisingly they never tried to hit back and just hoped for the mistakes which never really came. In fact it was a surprise Pak chose to field first given the records of the 2 sides particularly India in recent times. Perhaps he was looking for the wicket to turn, perhaps he was counting on a better batting performance. But it was a move that backfired big time.

Sehwag's dismissal was a fluke, nothing more and by that time the platform had been well set. Extremely nice for Veeru to get a score though. After all, the vultures had been circling round him for no real reason - after all he had scored at 30+ at a strike rate of 85 for the entire home season which is pretty close to what Gilchrist does anyway.

Then Messrs. Reliable Dravid and Yuvraj batted with such calm and composure that victory was very much a formality right from the start of their partnership. This has been a career-making tour for Yuvi as far as the test spot goes and probably will establish him as the single most important ODI player in the lineup finally occupying the coveted #4 spot and deservedly so.

It has been a rather long review and left me with very little time to actually go ahead with the promised preview of the match starting in less than 80 minutes. Ill just say here that Lahore is likely to be another belter so I expect a 290-ish score. I back India to win, to carry the momentum, mostly batting second again. Sehwag will not play and this might sound surprising but I dont think it will be too much of a bother because the beauty of this new look Indian team is that everyone is willing to contribute to make up for someone else on a particular day. That has been evident not just in these 2 games but the entire home season. I hope Gambhir comes up with a good knock which he is capable of.

Also looking forward to seeing Sreesanth progress even more.

U19 World Cup Results

Well Australia might have suffered at the hands of Sri Lanka in their own backyard but they can take solace from the fact that their colts have returned the favor to their counterparts by thrashing SL in the quarterfinals of the U19 WC.

The other results include England getting past Bangladesh, Pakistan past Zimbabwe and yes of course India defeating the West Indies. Piyush Chawla has as expected been great in the series but on the whole the entire Indian team has lived up to its favorites tag.

So the semifinal lineup now reads:
India v England
Pakistan v Australia

Dejavu anyone ??

BRILLIANT !!

They have done it !!

Australia have lost a home final for the first time since 1998.

Magnificent performance by the Lankans especially Tillekaratne Dilshan in the field.

GO Lankans GO.

The job is only half done.

India v Pakistan Match 2 Preview

This is a must-win game for India. Quite frankly, I do not see this team being able to bounce back from a 0-2 deficit. It has been done by Pak as late as last year but even then it was a 6 match series. In a 5 match series I believe it has been done only once before although coincidentally against Pakistan in Pakistan by South Africa a couple of seasons ago.

Anyway, I do think India, if given the option would prefer to bowl first. This I say without even knowing too much of the wicket simply because that has been the favored way for India this season. Ever since Rahul Dravid took over, India have never lost a game chasing and have hardly won a game defending - a record very similar to Michael Vaughan at the start of his career as captain.

Coincidence or not Irfan Pathan has always bowled MUCH better when India has been fielding first than when defending a target. And that has often paved the way for India to set up a victory. Also I have this feeling that Rawalpindi will likely not be a 325 pitch like Peshawar. That would play to India's advantage especially if they field first.

I predict that Tendulkar will fail in at least 2 of the next 3 games and this will very likely be one of them. In fact it is highly probable that he will get a single digit score here. If not here then one of the next 2 games. Nothing against him, this is just a prediction based on close observation of his career.

Finally, I think India will manage to pull off this game. It is likely to be a reasonably modest scoring game.

Aussies 3-1 Favorites But Scared

The Aussies are worrried, make no mistake. Yesterday it was Hussey expressing wariness about playing Sri Lanka in Adelaide and Sydney, and now it is the turn of Ricky Ponting.

Although the article boldly states that he will go for an all-out attack against Sri Lanka, there are certain indications that make you feel that the Aussies are just a wee bit worried like.

It's important we start the game off well, they're a very good front-running side and when they get started they can be hard to peg back with bat and ball so we've got to start really well.

Also he states the obvious when he says:
"Looking at the way they've played their cricket, the toss is going to be pretty important because they'll want to bat first."

You cannot quite imagine this Sri Lankan team winning a match chasing a total. In particular you cannot imagine them winning in any way other than the tried and tested and oft repeated formula of big-total-slow-wickets-choking-bowlers. But at the same time give them these conditions and they are very likely to make them count as they did in Sydney earlier against Australia and against South Africa a couple of times.

For years, I have been hoping to see a team beat Australia in the VB Series finals. The last time it happened was in 1993 against the West Indies. Twice since then, 1996-97 (Pak vs WI) and 2001-02 (SA v NZ) they have been knocked out before the final, but never have they LOST IN A FINAL. Pakistan came close last year, India flattered to deceive the year before. Can the youngest of the subcontinental brothers go one step ahead and beard the lion in its own den ??

Cricinfo edits out English translation of obscenity, leaves the original intact

We have been accustomed to sportsmen using abusive language in their native tongues to escape scrutiny at major sporting events but now it seems former cricketers will get away with it being published at Cricinfo, the World's leading cricket portal.

Check out this article.
Towards the bottom it mentions Javed Miandad's comments on what Asif is likely to do England.
In short here it is:

What they say No. 2 - Javed Miandad, on Asif's prospects at Headingley later this year
- ("He will blow the a*****es of the English")

Maut Wohi Jo Duniya Dekhe Ghut Ghut Kar Yun Marna Kya ??

Funny that this rather innocuous article about Graham Thorpe and his plans with New South Wales should remind me of this rather forceful yet beautiful line from the evergreen Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya of the legendary Mughal-e-Azam.

But then there it is. I tend to exaggerate. OK, coming to the point. I have always been a huge fan of Graham Thorpe. Trust me I am not a huge fan of too many English batsmen, well not of the 90s era anyway. But I always admired Thorpe as much for his compact skilful batting as his determination and ability to come up with a big show when the chips were down.

So I was extremely disappointed when he was omitted from the England squad for the Ashes. And I was even more disappointed when he retired in a huff because honestly after the Lords debacle I believed he stood a chance of making a comeback. I would have loved to see him there at Trent Bridge guiding England's historic chase of 130, there at the Oval on the last day in partnership with Pietersen. It seems tragic that such a great servant of England, a veteran of many a famous battles should have to bow out just before the moment of triumph which he would have been awaiting probably more than anyone else. The hurt there would have surely been immense. What I wanted was for him to go out in a blaze of glory.

But now as this article suggests he is limping out - first announcing his retirement from international cricket, then from first class cricket in England, then playing the role of a coach in NSW possibly playing a couple of games if he gets an opportunity ... and what's worse he seems to be enjoying this ... come on Thorpey ... we know you deserved better.

Several Steps Forward, One Step Back

The BP XI squad to face England has several promising inclusions and one glaring omission. The negative being the abscence of Piyush Chawla, the most exciting teenage prospect since well, The Master himself. For a fleeting moment I almost gave the selectors full marks when I thought that Chawla's abscence had more to do with his playing in the Under 19 World Cup, sadly that is not the case. That tournament is ending a good 4 days before the start of this match, and unless the selectors deem that Piyush will be in need of some rest, it has to be assumed that the selectors dont consider him ready for the big stage yet.

Now to the several positives: The pace attack looks really exciting - Munaf and VRV will fight it out for the tearaway bowler's slot, with Sreesanth also finding a place, along with the Bengali military medium pacer, SS Paul. Gambhir, Jaffer, Raina, Rao, Jadhav are the batsmen in contention and no one will grudge them their well-deserved spots. The one I am not sure about is the selection of Badrinath over his team-mate Badani (who has always for some reason gotten a raw deal) and perhaps Abhishek Jhunjhunwala.

Pragyan Ojha is the wild-card, of whom I hate to admit, I know zilch. If anyone does, please fill me up.

If anything looks weak, then it is the spin department. As mentioned earlier Chawla's abscence is at best baffling, at worst diabolical. What has Mishra done all this season ?? Is Ramesh Powar really an attacking option ?? Is this the best we have got ?? What about Lahiri from Bengal ??

As usual questions arise, but on the whole a fairly good job by More and Co.

Justice Done

Ramesh Powar has been included in the squad as cover for Harbhajan Singh. Cover for Harbhajan he may be, but honestly he should have easily made it over the consistent failure that is the legend of Murali Karthik. Please let us not see Karthik again come Friday night.

Did Long Drinks Break Cost India ?

According to this report in Cricinfo the third drinks break was "unusually" long resulting in a 2-over delay by India (20% fine for Dravid and 10% for the rest of the team) but more importantly did it deny India a shot at trying to win the match ?

Brilliant Lanka Set Up Date With Aussies

Often in the recent past, I have commended a good Sri Lankan performance. This is mainly because they get my sympathy because they are usually lambasted around pretty unfairly in the Indian cricket fan circles. Plus, maasochists love to take the opportunity of disrespecting India's strong 6-1 home series win over Sri Lanka under the able leadership of Dravid and Chappell, by claiming that it was, well, over Sri Lanka.

Well, this will hopefully show them. It is no mean feat to make it to the final of the tri series edging out a team as strong as South Africa, even more so when you have lost 3-1 in NZ and 6-1 in India just before. They have earned the right to challenge the Aussies and my best wishes are with them. Hope they can pull off their best performance. Hope Murali can dig deep to find that last bit of inspiration so that when he plays possibly his last match on Aussie grounds he would have silenced those foolish spectators (nay rowdies) with a match-winning performance. Hope the old fox Jayasuriya can conjure up a magical 100 for one last time. Hope that that immensely likeable bloke Marwan Atapattu can leave the Aussie shores victorious.

Thoughts added later:
On a related note, this guy Bandara seems to have something about him. Maybe SL have finally discovered a spinner worthy of partnering Murali.

We Will Miss You Gilo !!

Ashley Giles will not be touring India.

We will miss his good old self, his "I am no Shane Warne" - esque epoch-making discoveries, his columns full of courageous self-defence in the face of media attack, last but not least his negative bowling.

Something for Dravid to Ponder

India's 2 heaviest defeats (in terms of runs) in its Test cricket history have come under Rahul Dravid's captaincy.

1) By 342 runs

2) By 341 runs

The Darkest Cloud ...

... yeah all that stuff. Well, what do you know ?? It might indeed be true.

In the despair and gloom of India's shabby surrender to Pakistan, Yuvraj's grand century stands out like a beacon, like a diamond amidst the coals, like a Brian Lara amidst the rest of the West Indies.

Indeed, so breathtaking is Yuvi's batting and in particular yesterday's innings that I am tempted to say the strokeplay was almost Laraesque in nature. The hooked six off Razzaq was a shot to be remembered for a long long time. In all my cricket watching career I have never seen any Indian batsman other than Tendulkar hit a six like that. (Incidentally that is one shot Lara does not quite play so well)

But that was just one of the many handsome shots on display. The garland of drives from square point to mid wicket off both front and back foot punched crisply was a beauty in itself. Particularly encouraging was the way he handled Kaneria.

Yes, he does have some problems with his balance, in particular tends to put too much weight on his front foot at times and is a bit shaken up sometimes by Akhtar's pace but hey who doesnt have his weaknesses ??

I do think this is not an insignificant little relief act in a tragedy of Titanic proportions. On the contrary it is a harbinger to what I think is going to be a long career at #4 for one of India's most naturally gifted stroke-makers since the incumbent #4 himself. And that in turn will go a long way in shaping Team India's fortunes over the next 10 years.

Really Like This Guy

I really admire Kamran Akmal's batting. Often he has come in at very critical situations and virtually taken the game away from the opposition. The frustration at Mohali last year had only just begun to sink in, while he has come up with another gem here in Karachi.

For all the mountains of meaningless runs, piled on by the likes of Younis and Yousouf, it is this innings that is likely to be the most crucial of the series.

I think Dhoni has some way to go before becoming coming to Akmal's level

The Moment Of Truth

... has arrived for Sourav Ganguly. He has got exactly the kind of opportunity he would have been hoping for. To prove he can still make a difference to this Indian side, to make the kind of contributions no one else can. A hundred, if he had got one in the run-glut at Lahore would have probably meant nothing, but a hundred here can virtually ensure a decent first innings lead for India, and that all that has happened in the past 5 months is history. It will probably also signal his reuniting with his best friend Rahul Dravid ala estranged brothers coming together in Hindi movies. For the stakes simply cannot get bigger than this.

On the other hand, a failure here will almost certainly signal the end of his career.

Will Ganguly be up to it ??

Will, as Siddharth Vaidyanathan on Cricinfo asks, there be a romantic twist to this fascinating tale ??

1 Minute Of Pure Joy

Sitting at home pretty depressed and what happens is in a cricket forum I visit often a guy called sahir provides this link.

Oh for a cricket buff that just takes your mind off from all the mundane issues of this drab life, you suddenly realize all you are thirsting for is another retake of another grand Azharuddin innings.

If you are in India and are unable to view click here.

It's Happened Again !!

Shoaib Akhtar's ankle injury has mysteriously resurfaced and he is likely to miss the last test. WOW. Am I surprised or what ??

Come to think of it, completing one test series in the last 3 years should be quite satisfactory for his Highness, ain't it ?? Why bother completing another one.

This can only be good news for Pakistan and bad for India. After all, any team would love to play a bowler who has talked all the talk and refused to walk the walk for over 3 years against them now. Now India have to face the daunting prospect of a fired up Umar Gul instead.

Meanwhile, reportedly the coach Bob Woolmer is at sea as to why Shoaib did not bowl more than he did in the match. Maybe he conveniently injured Shoaib before the Karachi test ?? After all, they are best mates aren't they ?? Together they will do whatever they can for the betterment of the Pakistani team ?? It's all fair in love and war ain't it ??

Good On You Lankans

Sri Lanka beat Australia at the SCG. Remember them doing the same back in 2003 too. For a team that had lost 9 out of 10 matches not long ago, winning 3 off their last 4, 2 of which were against Australia and South Africa is brilliant.

Wonderful 100 by the 36-year old Marauder from Matara. The old fox still has it in him.

Note: Phil Jacques was dropped despite a wonderful debut the other day. No effigy burning or protests reported.

Faisalabad Facts

Some pieces of history relevant to India:

- Venue of the debut of the great Kapil Dev

- Venue at which Sachin Tendulkar scored his first international fifty

Cross posted on SachinTendulkarFans

India Squad Composition

OK. Lets get down to business. Firstly the players about whom there is no question.
Sehwag
Dravid
VVS
Tendulkar
Dhoni
Irfan
Kumble

Which leaves us with 2 middle order spots and 2 bowling slots to mull over. This assuming we will go in with 4 bowlers again. If not, as some reports indicate, we have just the one middle order slot and this is the more interesting scenario.

In the first case, Ganguly and Yuvraj will obviously take the 2 slots. I dont see a surprise being sprung in the form of Jaffer/Gambhir being brought back, not after that grand opening partnership between the skipper and his deputy. Then we have Agarkar, Zaheer, RP Singh, Harbhajan fighting it out over 2 slots. As Faisalabad has traditionally not been a great hunting ground for spinners, we might just see Harbhajan miss out. Then if reports are any indication, Agarkar will retain his spot with a shootout between Zaheer and RPS for the last slot. Here too, earlier reports suggested that RPS might make it. He was, after all in the team ahead of Zaheer for the SL series and needs to be given a chance. Zaheer on the other hand has all that experience behind him. Of course to add to the confusion is the fact that if the surface were to be disregarded and the notion of "Play your best bowlers" is to be followed Harbhajan comfortably scores over both Zaheer and RPS.

My take in this scenario: Agarkar and RP Singh will play.

Now coming to the second and more interesting scenario. The line of thinking is that on a flat batting track
a) We will need more firepower in the bowling.
b) With our batsmen in such good form (particularly VS and RD) we could do without a genuine #6.

Both points are debatable, actually. If 4 bowlers cant do it, can 5 ?? Can we expect Veeru to fire with such ferocity again ?? Nevetherless the issue of playing an extra batsman/bowler is a problem faced by cricketing teams since time immemorial and no definitve solution has yet been obtained. Suffice to say that in the abscence of a genuine all-rounder, on a majority of the occasions teams go with 6 batters. But there have been several memorable successful 5 batsmen campaigns as well. Well bottomline is in that scenario you need your Numbers 6 and 7 to contribute healthily with the bat and here I do believe Irfan and Dhoni have given us sufficient confidence to believe they can do it.

So assuming we go in with the 5-1-5 combination, I for one would definitely like to see Yuvraj ahead of Ganguly. And this is what I think will happen. Whether or not there are external pressures, I believe everyone now agrees (RD and GC most importantly) that we have GOT TO play Yuvraj. So that leaves Sourav Ganguly out, effigy burning, protests and parliamentary discussions notwithstanding. Then obviously Harbhajan plays. And once again it is a straight shoot out between Zaheer and RPS for the last spot.

Pretty neat and mathematical what ??

OK, so what have we got here:
Case 1: 6-14 Case 2: 5-1-5
Sehwag Sehwag
Dravid Dravid
Laxman Laxman
Tendulkar Tendulkar
Yuvraj Yuvraj
Ganguly Dhoni
Dhoni Irfan
Irfan Agarkar
Agarkar Kumble
Kumble Harbhajan
RP Singh RP Singh

Lots of analytical work which could very well flop. Who knows ? Let's see.

Update: From Cricinfo, here's why pace bowlers hold an edge over spinners at Faisalabad -

Since 1995, spin has yielded 86 wickets at 38.07 and a strike rate of 81.26 while the fast bowlers have done far better: 150 wickets at an average of 26.13 and strike rate of 51.33.

Cross-posted on SachinTendulkarFans

India v Pak Second Test Preview

OK. Trying to filter out the information from the noise that forms all the pre match reports before the second test at Faisalabad. Here goes.

Firstly, it looks likely that Mohammad Asif might be included in the squad. Is he likely to be a threat ?? I would think not. For someone like Virender Sehwag, who has in the past treated Shoaib Akhtar like a club bowler, these Shoaib wannabes should be easy meat. What I do wonder is whether Rana Naved will play or not. For me, he was going to be the danger man for India, more so than Shoaib. I read conflicting reports about his selection, all I can say is that if indeed he is dropped it would be great for India.

Now coming to the surface. This is likely to be a batting track again but possibly more sporting than Lahore. In that most likely a draw will be a foregone conclusion slightly later in the day than it was at Lahore. No, seriously I think it will be a hard, keen battle. Not too much in it for the bowlers, but the batsmen wont find it so easy to score. So the team that applies the pressure well, produces the odd moment of brilliance has a fair chance to come out on top. Win the toss and bat first.

Zainub gives the preview from a Pakistani perspective here.

Wanted to post in more details about India's team composition but it looks like it deserves a post of its own, so.

Hmm ... Some guy this

Just having a look at the cricinfo profile of Brett Dorey, the new Aussie fast bowler.

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/player/5112.html

In particular, note the following:

He represented Western Australia at Under-17 and Under-19 level in 1995 and 1997 before heading to Europe on a travelling adventure, where he worked as a bodyguard to the children of a wealthy Russian businessman

It's Not So Easy In ODIs !!

Debut centuries are pretty frequent in Tests these days. Not so in ODIs. Just look at that stats and they tell an astonishing tale.

In 1781 tests, 45 batsmen have scored debut hundreds at the rate of one almost every 40 tests.

In 2316 ODIs, the corresponding figure is only 4 - at an astounding rate of one every 579 ODIs !!

Why this imbalance ?? Any guesses ??

Well I guess in ODIs with the over restriction only the openers or Number 3 or 4 realistically have a chance of scoring a hundred unless the team has lost lots of early wickets and for a debutant to score a hundred keeping up with the rate all the time while the team has lost wickets could well be a severely daunting proposition.

Good Stuff

Finally !! A win for Sri Lanka !! Must do their confidence a lot of good ahead of a as-tough-as-it-can-get VB series.

I feel bad for them, they are going through a real lean time and I know well how it feels to be in the middle of that only too well.

Well Done South Africa

Not just for drawing the last test but also talking the talk after walking the walk. As Peter English acknowledges in this article on Cricinfo, Smith has proved that his rhetoric about the Australian middle order being weak was in fact correct. At least, it has so proved on 2 of 3 occasions now.

Also very impressed by Andre Nel, whom I considered until not long ago, a little more than a bully and a rogue. Here however, for the first time he has put in a performance worth talking about. I still do not approve of his ways, but good job nevetherless.

So the two perceived bullies getting it right ...

From Down Under - Cliches and Non-cliches

Sound bytes from Down Under, in this case from none other than Shane Warne.

First a pretty cliched "Lacks Imagination". No prizes for guessing who it is aimed at. Of course it is the South African captain. When he was in Australia for the Super Series, Ian Chappell had made the same accusation verbatim.

Warne also goes on to add that Smith is only following in the tradition of South African captains, in so lacking. Surprise surprise, I remember Chappeli also aiming the same incrimination, definitely against Hansie Cronje and possibly also against Pollock, though I'm not so sure he did about the latter.

Warney does provide us with something original though - and it is "The New Daryll" - remember good old Daryll Cullinan, a very competent batsmen against spinners NOT NAMED WARNE ?? Oh yes, he who scored centuries in India and Sri Lanka. Well, Warne thinks that of this side, either Justin Kemp or Ashwell Prince is likely to be the new Daryll. Here is Gaurav's take on it

Boring ODI Cricket !

Says who ? Me ? Well yeah, sometimes and definitely in comparison to Test Cricket. Also more often than not, several meaningless tri-series and quadrangulars can get on the nerves. But here Peter May in his column on Cricket365.com talks about how he sometimes suddenly gets the feeling that he HATES ODI cricket.

But waking up on Saturday morning to hear the results from xxx and xxx, it occurred to me: I think I hate one-day cricket
...
Not only did England actually post a decent score and then defend it against superior
opposition, but New Zealand broke the record for the highest ever successful
chase and again gave hope to the rest of us that Australia are not quite the
force they were.

As things stand "phenomenal" events occured in ODI cricket last month. NZ chased down 331 to beat Australia, the highest total ever-chased but did it really register ?? Didn't it just get lost as one of those things ?? Contrast this to the occasion when we first took over the same record early in 1998 by beating Pakistan in the dark at Dacca ... boy I can still remember that Hrishikesh Kanitkar boundary.

He goes on:

Still, how many sixes can you see Afridi hit before wondering what’s on the news or how the Big Brother inmates are taking indignity to a new low? We are,
after all, the cricket community; we not Americans.

George W. Bush and co might be happy seeing ball after ball pummelled out of a stadium, open-mouthedly following the trajectory of another big hit. This is to reduce Afridi and Pietersen to the status of Mark McGuire, physical freak shows and hitting machines.

It always seemed to me that cricket was about rather more than that: it was about subtlety, patience, intelligence and grace. All four are handicaps rather than
strengths in ODI batting these days while bowlers may as well be replaced by
machines since their job is simply to provide boundary-fodder.

Exactly my sentiments. Not for nothing do I always maintain that people like VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble are just not good enough for this game rather than the other way round.

For some odd reason only the ICC chiefs and Sunil Gavaskar know, they seem to think that in ODI cricket all that people want to see are boundaries and sixes. As a result of this flawed thinking, they have done everything possible to make the bowlers look like third class citizens. They have created new regulations for the so-called betterment of the game which continue to favor the batters. And then they wonder why the game is getting even more boring. And then I suppose they will think of even more rules to favor the batters - consider this: The close catch-in fielders in the first ten overs were meant to allow the batsmen gaps to hit out anyway. Now if they think that these close catching fielders are in fact helping the bowlers pick up early wickets, they might just consider doing away with them. Of course, the sky is the limit when it comes to making the game more favorable for the batsmen.

Peter concludes with admirable precision as to what exactly needs to be done to arrest this trend - but will the big bosses at the ICC pay heed ?

There should be plenty fewer games and some power and respect given back to the bowlers before ODI cricket fatigue becomes all encompassing.
If not, ODI cricket is surely done-diddly-un for.

Autobiographies !

Interesting names for certain autobiographies. (or other books they might consider writing)

Sourav Ganguly - Rub Of(f) The "Green" ! , Who Moved My Crown ?, The Prince And The Pauper
Greg Chappell - The Enemy Within, How To Win Matches Rather Than Friends
Shoaib Akhtar - I'm The Best
Steve Waugh - Waiting for The Maharaja
Sachin Tendulkar - Main Aur Meri Centuries, Out Of My Shell
Ashish Nehra - I Have A Day-dream ...
Harbhajan - Kabhi Ganguly Kabhi Chappell
Harbhajan - @The Lord Of The Rings - The Return Of The Singh (on his grand comeback at the Eden Gardens)
Zaheer Khan - Main Kal Bhi Kuchch Khaas Na Tha, Main Aaj Bhi Gareeb Hoon

Ehsan Mani's Personal Diary

Today Graeme Smith has demanded an apology from the Perth crowd. I must look into this matter seriously. I mean it is fine, him getting riled up and expressing concern over racism and all that, but are players allowed to make demands of crowds ?? Doesn't that violate the Consumer-Is-God Act somewhere in the constitution ?? I must call up Michael and ask him to look up. Will probably have to give Graeme another rap. Poor fellow.

Daily Roundup

Graeme Smith demands an apology from the crowd. His anguish is understandable but isn't he taking it a bit too far ?? Can anyone beat the crowd ?? Wouldn't it be sensible to just move on ?? After all, he has had a reputation in the past of being a bit of a cry-baby.

James Anderson is back. Good to see. Always liked his bowling. I generally have a soft spot for pace bowlers who are in general not blessed with a strong physique but have great skills of swing and seam movement. Especially if they are underachievers. Agarkar, Sami, Anderson - the list reads such.

Shabbir Ahmed considers quitting the game. What can one say ? On the one hand one feels sorry for the individual. On the other, it is only right that someone who has been deemed to chuck be not allowed to bowl as per the regulations. Honestly, it is a pretty ugly sight watching someone chuck blatantly.

Cricket365.com in its infinite wisdom says that the India v Sri Lanka match is being played at the Pindi stadium. They might just correct their mistake after I link to it now. Anyway, that match is over, we won and we are now #2. Yippeee !! Congratulations Team India, not only this team but also the combination of John Wright and Sourav Ganguly for taking the team from the depths of 2000 to where they are right now. Now comes the harder part - maintaining that spot.

Meanwhile a lot of churning in the ICC ODI rankings for the English and Pakistani players after their ODI series. England are now in that very frustrating #7 spot bottom-most of a very competitive middle of the table, where we were not too long ago. Well, let's see how they feel about it.

Gilchrist joins Benaud in requesting Shane Warne to go on till the next tour of England. Me too. Would love to see Warne get one back at the English in their own backyard. Plus, such artists as him are precious jewels and need to be treasured for as long as possible.

Jacques Rudolph - Take A Bow

Quite a fabulous backs-to-the wall effort by the young South African. To be quite honest, I never expected him to play an innings of such a quality in such touh circumstances ever. I remember blogging some months back about him being a liability at #3 because he had too few strokes and couldn't up the momentum.

Well, to be frank I still have those reservations. I think his game is suited to play the kind of long innings where the sole purpose is survival rather than attack. How he will do in situations that demand setting up a challenging total or wresting the initiative needs to be seen.

However, for now, I sit back and applaud what even the experts call one of the best test innings in recent times.

Appreciating the Other's Role

In an interview with Arun Lal this morning Greg Chappell stressed that part of the aim of the strategic shuffling (termed experimentation) by the media was to help every player understand the role of other players in the team.

Hence Pathan and Dhoni promoted up the order to understand how the likes of Sehwag and SRT would be feeling handling the new ball and vice-versa.

But today we saw this taken to a very much more interesting and novel level - when Harbhajan opened the bowling with the new ball both times (also Kumble once) and Ajit Agarkar came on to bowl only when the ball got pretty old.

Amazing !

The Future Is Bright - The Future Is Yuvraj !!

The title line which was kind of making waves early in the twenty-first century when Yuvraj made that stunning debut at Nairobi can now, I guess be safely transformed to reflect the present. Yuvraj Singh has finally arrived in full flow and World Cricket is better for it. For Yuvraj brings to the game an incredible amount of value, just by his breathtaking strokeplay.

I would unhesitatingly state that Yuvraj is the most gifted striker India has ever produced since Sachin Tendulkar (with the possible exception of VVS Laxman, that too only for certain strokes). Here Dileep Premachandran pays tribute to Yuvraj's fantastic innings today and also pats the selectors on the back for keeping the faith in this mercurial yet phenomenal player.

But while Agarkar's innings spoke of the great depth of India's batting, he had to cede the day's honours to a man who came to the crease with everything to prove. His first-innings failure - few had bothered to note just how good a delivery Murali had produced to snaffle him - had reopened the debates about Yuvraj Singh belonging at this level and, shamefully, there were quite a few people willing him to fail here just so that their warped designs for Indian cricket could be carried on.

"In the event, the management and selectors that reposed faith in one of India's brightest young talents are fully entitled to pat themselves on the back, and show contempt for those who doubt the efficacy of a long-term vision that is already delivering spectacular results. Where his 77 at Delhi had been a dour effort tailored to the needs of that particular hour, Yuvraj's 75 today showcased everything that is special about his batting.

The drives crunched through the covers were glorious, but it was the manner in which he swept a doosra from Murali to the midwicket fence that was most telling. Against the sharp-turning ball, he is still far from the finished product, but the fusillade of magnificent shots that flowed from his bat this afternoon were ample proof of why he should be in the team. At his best, his outrageous talent makes him a matchwinner, and you just don't keep men like that out of a side. If Yuvraj carries on in this vein and does what Michael Hussey has done to revitalise the Australian batting, Indian cricket will be well served."

Good News

Somnath Chatterjee, the Honorable Speaker of the Lok Sabha has more pressing matters to look into so that hopefully he will forget about his rather ridiculous idea of discussing Sourav Ganguly in the Parliament.
From DNA, I quote:

Stung by the exposé, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is likely to ask the five-member house committee set up to probe the question scandal to inquire into the MPLADS scandal also. The committee has to submit its final report on the first sting by Wednesday.

Chatterjee said, “If the allegations are found to be true, consequences will follow.”

He will discuss the scandal and remedial action on Tuesday morning with the floor
leaders of various parties. Already, Samajwadi general secretary Amar Singh
has asked his party’s MP Yadav to quit

That should keep him busy for a while :-)

Lessons From Chennai For Delhi

First, Sehwag's approach was correct. The team would do well to emulate it. The media should stop trying to be too wise and condemn it. It is only with this kind of positive approach have we ever done well and are we ever likely to make good strides. Of course I do ot advocate that all other players play Sehwagesque innings, but definitely, the attitude of looking for every scoring opportunity needs to be imbibed. Especially when the initiative is there to be taken. Of course now that he has been ruled out, it is a major concern. I think this Test is likely to reveal the true character of Gautam Gambhir. I definitely don't mean to say if he fails here, he will prove himself short of character. But a big innings here will be signifcant in the long-term from his career perspective. I would vote for Sourav to open the innings with him. I don't want to disturb the rest of the line-up. Since any runs coming from Sourav will be considered a bonus, there is no harm in sending him atop. The only problem is he will get that many more opportunities to run others out.

Sachin Tendulkar should stop bothering about #35. If it is to come, it will come. He should realize that he is putting too much pressure on himself to get there resultantly harming both himself and the team.

Vaas and Murali in particular need to be attacked early. If they are allowed to settle, it could be the death-knell for India.

Hopefully, Pathan and Agarkar come good. Kumble can always be relied upon.

Jayawardene is a class act and must be treated as such. Just because he flopped big time in the Mickey Mouse version of the game, does not mean he will do so here. I think he should be attacked with spin early in his innings. He is vulnerable to spin then and then only. Particularly, the leg-spinner could cause some problems

Sehwag Scare

Veeru Sehwag is down with fever, admitted to hospital and is uncertain for the second test. This is BAD BAD news. All the best to Veeru for a speedy recovery and a great performance at his home ground.

Btw, there has been more than one occasions in the recent past that he has been down with fever or something like that. Hope all is OK.

Blatantly Racist !!

Wasim Akram here being blatantly racist saying he is against the ICC, specifically BECAUSE it is run by all "goras" (whites).

On A Roll

Yashpal Sharma is on a roll. After being dismissed from the national selection commitee and making "sensational" allegations against Greg Chappell, he has resigned not only as selector of the Delhi Ranji Team but also as a first-class umpire.

According to him he has "lost faith in people" - wow, talk about painting everyone with the same brush !!

Villain Today, Victim Tomorrow

There is nothing better that the media likes. It likes to launch a vicious attack on a person who is vulnerable (irrespective of whether or not he is guilty), destroy his reputation, dignity, muck him with all the filth possible and once he gives in, it likes to recast him as an unfortunate victim. It tries to portray him as the sacrificial lamb and just a small spoke in the big wheel of this World. It tries to show how the whole system is conspiring against him.

It happened with Sourav Ganguly. When he was in the team not scoring runs, the media were after his head. Once he was dropped, the wheel turned a full cycle. He is now the man who is being made the victim of a witch-hunt, being deliberately plotted against and kept out of the side for purely political reasons. Suddenly Greg Chappell who was being portrayed as the saviour of Indian cricket is now being talked about as being a tyrannic dictator trying to take over the reigns of Indian cricket. It matters not a jot that ever since Ganguly has been out Greg Chappell has done a fantastic job of taking this team to great success.

And now, it has happened to Natwar Singh. After causing him to nearly tear his hair apart due to continuous hounding, now this article in DNA tries to project the not-so-negative side of the man. Agreed, this is just a start. Soon we will start seeing articles about how Natwar was just an unfortunate pawn in the hands of Sonia and Manmohan.

(Cross posted on My Not So Soft Outlook)

So Near Yet So Far

The valiant efforts of Lou Vincent, Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram and Brendon McCullum have done down the drain as NZ have lost an absolute nail-biter against the Aussies by 2 runs. One particularly feels for McCullum who had got the side in a winning position where they needed just 4 off 4 balls with 2 wickets in hand. That coming after he had boldly proclaimed that he would take the fight to Lee, his old enemy who has attacked him with beamers several times in the past. In fact, he did the same today, bowled a beamer which was summarily dismissed for FOUR. But Lee went for 84 runs off his 10 overs which should be some consolation after his demonic figures of 3 for 5 off 6 overs the other day.

Btw, the Aussie innings featured a scarcely believable 156 off 120-odd balls by Andrew Symonds. The Clarke Symonds partnership that came together at 101/4 put on 22o in super-quick time - to put things in perspective Aus actually doubled the score they had at the 35-over mark !! (not the 30 over mark as you are usually supposed to) Maybe such an innings did not deserve to be on the losing side. But NZ did not deserve to either. Were they in the end ? Maybe, cricket was the winner after all. But indeed, a tie would have been an appropriate result.

As an aside, who the hell is this new guy Michael Lewis of Australia ? He was the supersub and did splendidly well, picking up 3 wickets and giving just 3 runs in the crucial last over when 6 were needed. What type of bowler is he ? Does he *look* like he has it in him ? Where is he from ? How old is he ?

Lessons to be carried from Chennai to Delni

First, Sehwag's approach was correct. The team would do well to emulate it. The media should stop trying to be too wise and condemn it. It is only with this kind of positive approach have we ever done well and are we ever likely to make good strides. Of course I do ot advocate that all other players play Sehwagesque innings, but definitely, the attitude of looking for every scoring opportunity needs to be imbibed. Especially when the initiative is there to be taken. Of course now that he has been ruled out, it is a major concern. I think this Test is likely to reveal the true character of Gautam Gambhir. I definitely don't mean to say if he fails here, he will prove himself short of character. But a big innings here will be signifcant in the long-term from his career perspective. I would vote for Sourav to open the innings with him. I don't want to disturb the rest of the line-up. Since any runs coming from Sourav will be considered a bonus, there is no harm in sending him atop. The only problem is he will get that many more opportunities to run others out.

Sachin Tendulkar should stop bothering about #35. If it is to come, it will come. He should realize that he is putting too much pressure on himself to get there resultantly harming both himself and the team.

Vaas and Murali in particular need to be attacked early. If they are allowed to settle, it could be the death-knell for India.

Hopefully, Pathan and Agarkar come good. Kumble can always be relied upon.

Jayawardene is a class act and must be treated as such. Just because he flopped big time in the Mickey Mouse version of the game, does not mean he will do so here. I think he should be attacked with spin early in his innings. He is vulnerable to spin then and then only. Particularly, the leg-spinner could cause some problems

India v Sri Lanka Test 1 Day 5 Stumps

Oh my ! What a beautiful innings that from Mahela Jayawardene. Pity, he always chooses to unleash his blinding genius only on us !! He truly showed the way to the more celebrated players like Dravid and Tendulkar on how one is supposed to bat on these wickets. Of course, reports indicate that the wicket did ease out considerably, but I do not want to use that as an excuse. Brilliant Brilliant knock in difficult conditions.

Anil Kumble - The Only Solace:
On a desperately disappointing day, Anil Kumble's bowling was the only solace for India. 3-41 is a very good performance by any standards. It is great that he has gotten back into rhythm so quickly. I really pin my hopes on him to destroy Sri Lanka on his beloved Kotla turf. The bowling of the other bowlers is a bit of a worry.

A Match To Forget - Or Is It ?
For all intents and purposes, India would be looking to quickly to put this match behind them. However, they would be better advised not to do so. For there was a lot to learn from this match. Most importantly, that the Sri Lankans could not be under any circumstances underestimated. More detailed analysis on the match to follow.

They Say Sehwag Lacks Courage !!!

STAR News that infinitely wise news channel yesterday put up an infinitely enlightening program called "Chappell ke Char Shikaar" (Chappell's Four Victims) or something of that sort. Now I usually don't watch such crap even if I have time for it, but yesterday while channel-surfing I just happened to come across it.

Explaining in detail how Viru is on the "hit-list" of Chappell, the channel went on to comment upon his innings yesterday. They said that it was a "poor' innings in which he threw his wicket away (that much is true, granted) and then after taking another couple of potshots talked about how "Veeru has never learnt what courage and grit is all about".

Need I say anything else other than call all this a load of tosh ? Such are Sehwag's achievements that they need no mention even to counter this ridiculous allegations by the fools who make such programs.

Needless to mention, STAR News is an absolute no-no for me from here on, not even by accident while channel-surfing.

India v Sri Lanka Test 1 Day 5 Tea

It is indeed worrying that on a pitch where we struggled so badly, the Sri Lankans are having a gala time. Particularly Sangakarra and more dangerously Mahela Jayawardene. BEWARE OF HIM for the rest of the series. It is indeed lucky that Kumble pulled one back just before the break.

India v Sri Lanka Test 1 Day 5 Lunch

Wow !! Quite a stunning day so far. Sri Lanka absolutely and totally in command.

The Pitch:
Slow, low. Very difficult to score IF THE BOWLERS ARE BOWLING WELL.But then why did we give such a red-carpet welcome to the Sri Lankans by giving them exactly the kind of wicket they thrive on ? Well, maybe the rains in Chennai were to be blamed. In fact, Srinath says that the last time the pitch was exposed was November 10. Naturally there would be some damage due to the covers being on for so long.

The Bowlers:
Yes, indeed the DID BOWL VERY VERY WELL. To put things into perspective at one stage this morning, Vaas had bowled 12 consecutive maiden overs. He also had the first 3 wickets to fall and came back later to pick Kumble. Murali picked up the "big" wicket of Sachin who scored a grand 22 in 21 overs.

The Batsmen:
Helpful as the pitch was to the bowlers and well as they bowled, the batsmen cannot be absolved of all blame. Just as it is up tp the bowlers to take advantage of the wicket, it was up to the batters to destroy the bowlers rhythm. This, they failed in magnificently. And once again, I would like to put a large chunk of the blame on Sachin Tendulkar for this. Dravid wasn't too good either, but then at least his variance from his normal strike rate was not as high as that of Sachin. Well, I would like to know in the context of what happened - how important Sehwag's innings yesterday was. All those "expert" fools who condemned him for his innings yesterday, hope you are eating humble bread now. Sehwag's approach was the right one on this wicket. It almost always is on any wicket.

Ganguly:
Ganguly did nothing great with the bat.He did however for the second time in as many attempts succeed in running out VVS Laxman. I shall leave it at that.

The Inference:
It is a dead game, anyway. So we probably need not be unduly worried about this. In fact, I would say it is a wake-up call delivered exactly when needed, just when we were about to underestimate the Lankans. Now we know we can't. Vaas and Murali will be a threat throughout the series. It was shown that even Sachin Tendulkar was dominated by them.

India v Sri Lanka Test 1 Day 4 Preview

Much better day in Chennai, although the wet outfield means it will take a lot of time to dry. So as things stand now, we are likely to start the game at 3 pm IST and play for 38 overs. Fat lot of good, that is going to do to any team, IMO. But at least we can start talking about final elevens, what to do on winning the toss etc.

There is a theory going around that with this Test being little more than of academic interest we might see a bit of experimentation in the lineup, especially with the fringe players like RP Singh, Kaif and Yuvraj being given a go. Of course, looking at what GC has done it is not beyond the realms of possibility. I do not agree with this policy, because I believe a Test match is a Test match is a Test match and should not be trifled with. However I can understand such a policy without agreeing to it.

Toss:
So what should the captain do on winning the toss ? There have been innumerable theories doing the rounds, most notably on Fourth Umpire on DD where Srikkanth and Mohinder have strongly argued their own cases on what should be done and all the permutations and combinations have been thrashed out.

What should India do ?:
I dunno really. It is evident that we are not gonna get a result here. But if there is a 1 in a million chance it will lie in India bowling out SL for a low total and batting just once. So that suggests maybe we should bowl. But as I said earlier that is, indeed a long shot. Batting first of course, would take out the risk factor of fielders fielding on what is bound to be not the best possible outfield. There is also this theory of whom you want to give a run. If it's your batsmen that need the time, bat and similarly with the bowlers. I don't think that is going to make too much of a difference here. True some of the batsmen are out of touch, but then they are all experienced. Pathan and Bhajji are in fine form, but we want to test Agarkar at this level as well as give Kumble a chance to get back into his groove after a break, so it is tuf to make a choice based on that.

What is Sri Lanka likely to do ?:
I think they will bat. Their batsmen are in far greater need of a good outing in the middle than us. If they do, we should try our best to dent their confidence by picking a few quick wickets.

Conclusion:
It might just be a good toss to lose !!!

India v Sri Lanka Test 1 Day 3

Another washout. And really, chances of any play look bleak now. Yesterdy the sun shone in the day but it poured again at night and the umpires had the easiest job in the World all day to call off play first thing in the morning. Who knows what is to happen tomorrow ? It hasn't rained *much* today but it has been cloudy. Not good for the puddles on the outfield to dry. And who's to say it won't rain again ?

Pakistan's Brilliance

I mentioned in an earlier post how it was Pakistan's brilliance at crucial moments in the series that has resulted it going in their favour 2-0. Just to expand further on that. We knew that Pakistan could always produce moments of brilliance. Especially their amazing knack of causing a collapse out of nowhere the moment one wicket fell. That was exactly what they did both in Multan and in Lahore.

But the difference this time was that brilliance was complemented by methodical, meticulous hard work. For large amounts of time in the games, for days, in fact for all but the decisive sessions, Pakistan fought. There were times when they fought a losing battle, most notably in Multan, times when they fought from the front (like in Lahore) times when they fought on par. But importantly, they fought on. England never surrendered until Pak finally produced that moment of brilliance when they were simply outclassed.

Which is why, I strongly disagree with those slamming the English performance. Because I honestly think they didn't play too badly, in fact, played good solid cricket and matched Pakistan for long periods of time. It was only at those aforementioned decisive turns that they were left with no answers.

It is no problem competing with teams who produce such moments without backing it up with all the hard work. Hence, Pakistan never really seemed invincible like Australia. But now that they have got an ideal mix of the two, they could turn out to be extremely tough opponents. Of course, it remains to be seen how long this will last.

I haven't really thought too much as yet about India's tour there, but I remain fairly confident. ;-)

From The Sri Lankan Camp

Arjuna Ranatunga, that grumpy old man is still ranting in his Cricinfo columns. We know how displeased he was at the venues Sri Lanka got for the ODIs. (God knows why) Who can forget the way he preached to us about how we should treat our heroes and give more attention to Sourav Ganguly ? Oh poor deprived Sourav ! Anyway, now he seems to suggest that breaking up Sri Lanka's tour had more to do with the Indian Board trying to maximize its revenues and manipulate its election results to its own advantage (pray what does he really mean to say ? What does he know about Indian politics and how does he think they had anything to with Sri Lanka's itinerary that was decided months before ? and why should that be a problem anyway ?)

He goes on to warn India not to take the Lankans lightly. One point that he makes which is for a change a good one, is that Murali will be bowling long spells and hence we will not afford to just see him off. In the ODI series, we did just that. And several of our batsmen including Dravid were just a little bit troubled by him.

Finally, if we thought the Indians had gone raging mad about Ganguly what with the West Bengal CM making veiled threats to the selectors, now the President of Sri Lanka is thinking about ordering an inquiry into the axing of Sanath Jayasuriya !!! OMG !!!

India v Sri Lanka Test 1 Day 2

Another day washed out completely. Another wait for Sourav. It was to be expected, however with the weakening of Baaz, the cyclone and much less rain in the last 12 hours or so, I feel optimistic that we will get some play in this Test. And though it is not going to be enough to get a result, I think it is crucial to get the series started. So we cannot afford to relax.

Dumbstruck

I have been dumbstruck by Pakistan's fantastic performance to win the series 2-0 against England. Quite honestly, before the series started such a result was beyond my capacity of imagination. I expected a very close series, yes. I expected say a 1-1 draw, I had predicted that I would give England the edge to take the series. But I never expected Pakistan to take it by 2 matches. 1-0 I could have understood, thanks to an inspiring performance. But 2-0 is just comprehensive.

Mind you, I still maintain that England did not play badly. For long periods, consistently, they played GOOD cricket. Both the first and last Test was won by Pakistan really in one session. Not meaning to sound too critical, I know Pak *dominated* this test virtually throughout, but quite honestly it looked like a draw until lunch today. Osman Samiuddin on Cricinfo sums it up perfectly when he says the difference between the two sides was that Pakistan could produce moments of brilliance when most needed.

So, after 2 years Pakistan win a test series. First time under Woolmer and Inzy. And I am happy for them. Also happy that Shoaib Akhtar whom I was extremely harsh upon prior to the series came good. That too happened after two years. Coincidence ? Anyway, will probably write more about that later.

I think it is going to be a huge challenge when we tour Pak next year, and I keenly look forward to it. Note: I remain confident of our team !!

India v Sri Lanka Day 1

So, officially play has been washed out for the day. It looked initially that we might get a little bit in, but around 10.30 IST the Baaz showered its blessings upon the Chidambaram and that, as they say was that. If it rains in this manner much longer, it is extremely likely that tomorrow will be washed out even if it clears by then.

We will have to keep waiting then for the suspense over Ganguly's inclusion in the squad to be over. From what has transpired in the last two days, it is likely that Sourav will in fact take the field. Yuvraj will have to wait.

Also, the wet weather will imply that the captain who wins the toss is likely to opt to bowl first, not just out of respect to conditions, but also because the stop-start nature of the game is likely to make batting difficult. Hence, we will opt for a third seamer and that implies Ganguly will play.

India Cricket "Expert" Opinions Nugget 1

Prejudice: Yuvraj will flop miserably in Test cricket, particularly against spin.

Chennai Weather

Keeping a tab on it. The cyclone brewing in the Bay of Bengal is threatening to strike overnight. (Btw check out the exact difference between a cyclone, a hurricane and a tornado. Ah I'm sure many of you knew it, but it was always bothering me, so)

Anyway forecasts are conflicting, as expected. Some say, the storm might strike at night, do a bit of damage on Day 1 and leave us in peace for the rest of the days. Others say it is "stationary" in the Bay of Bengal and will probably make a move once the match starts.

I have the feeling that we will get *some* play. CNN forecasts thunderstorms for the first 4 days at least and weather.com forecasts a 60% chance of rain on each of these with a 40% one on the last day.

Meanwhile here is a link for the latest live weather in Chennai. Looks fine in the webcam picture. But as in other places there is a contradiction here, too. The icon in the top right says "Rain" while the actual measured rainfall over the last many hours reads 0.0.

Btw, this cyclone seems a pretty deadly one. Today, even in Pune the weather has been cloudy and threatening to rain since morning.