West Indies have disappointed their fans yet again! When West Indies batted first, their fans expected their top order to fire and lead them to a challenging total.
But it proved to be otherwise.
The Collapse: W.Indies started disastrously losing Chanderpaul to Bond in the 8th over. The West Indian top-order once again proved why they are the most brittle in the world. From a solid 66/1, they lost key wickets of Sarwan(19), Samuels(9), & Gayle(44) to get themselves at 81/4. Gayle did show glimpses of returning to form when he scored a brisk 44 off 56 balls, but he edged an Oram delivery onto his stumps. Yet again, the responsibility fell on the captain, Brian Charles Lara.
Poor Lara! No matter whether it was Australia or New Zealand, his side seems to depend heavily on him to score plenty of runs. Just the previous day, Lara had scored a great 77 against Australia to save his side's reputation as they were defeated by 103 runs. Now, he had to lead his side to a respective total. Lara did play some beautifull drives and latecuts during his brisk 37(49 balls). But the pressure got onto him as he edged a Styris delivery to Mccullum. The West Indians were now deep in trouble at 150/6.
At this stage, I expected the W.Indies to score atleast 210 or more. But thanks to yet another shambolic display by the lower order, West Indies crumbled and were all out for a meagre 177. New Zealand did bowl tightly, but the West Indian batsman never applied themselves and allowed the New Zealanders to dominate the proceedings right over.
Oram(3/23) and Vettori(3/39) played their parts very well as they took 6 crucial wickets between them for just 62 runs. Bond also chipped in with 3 wickets.
At this stage, the match was set for a Kiwi win unless the West Indian bowlers sprung some surprises, which they didn't.
NZ score an easy win: New Zealand began disastrously losing Fulton in the very second ball of the innings to Powell. Marshall got out in the 9th over . But Fleming scored a brisk 46( 6 fours and 1 six) before he was run-out by Lara.
Apart from the initial hiccups, the Kiwis were always in the chase. Styris scored a brilliant 80 not out and was well supported by Craig Mcmillan who made a sedate 33, as they led Kiwis to an easy 7 wicket win.
West Indies now need all their remaining matches if they desire to reach the Semis.
I really doubt whether they can make it as their opponents are strong teams like England, South Africa, Srilanka, etc.
New Zealand on the other side are looking great. Their batsman: Fleming, Mccullum, & Mcmillan etc are in prime form, they have a world-class bowling attack with the Dangerous Shane Bond, Vettori, and also great all rounders like Styris, Oram and their wicketkeeper Mccullum. If all of them perform as a unit against teams like South Africa and Australia, they might just lift the World Cup.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
A Thriller of a Game
Well! The Srilanka Vs South Africa match on March 28th, finally provided exactly what the fans required: A game that went down right to the wire.
Srilanka batted first and they lost early wickets: Upul Tharanga to Ntini and Jayasuriya to Langeveldt.
South Africa bowled tightly seldom allowing the batsman to score runs freely and taking wickets at regular intervals. Srilankans had to contend with just singles and twos. Every run seemed to be important as they needed to set a challenging total of at least 220 on the board. Langeveldt was the star of the show, he bowled a good line and length, bowled slower balls, and also fired in the odd one when needed.
South Africa's tight bowling and great fielding frustrated the Srilankans especially Chamara Silva (Their star of the show against India). Chamara hung in for 27 balls to score just 9 runs. He was runout by a superb effort from Gibbs. Gibbs dived full length to the stumps. With his body in the air, he broke the stumps with the ball still in this hands.
This was an exact replica of the 1992 SA vs PAK match, where Jonty Rhodes (Who else can do it?)ran out Inzamam by diving full length to the stumps and dislodging the stumps with the ball still in his hands. It reminded me of Superman!!!
It was a classic example of the greatness of the South African fielding. Jonty! You have done a great job as the fielding coach!!!!! Gibbs! Hats Off Dude!
Dilshan(58) and Arnold(50) batted sensibly, scoring singles, running the two's etc. But neither of them could put up a big score. After Dilshan got out with the score reading 195/6, South Africans cleaned up the tail courtesy Langeveldt. He first got rid of Arnold (caught behind), then he bowled some very slow good-length deliveries to Maharoof and Vaas, who mishit the balls and got caught in the deep. Pollock then inflicted a direct hit to run out Muralitharan. Srilankans thus collapsed and scored 209 instead of 230. It was a result of some sensible and accurate bowling from South Africa and also their fielding which remained Top-class.
The South African Chase: 210 was always going to be a tricky target on a slow West Indian pitch. South Africa began disastrously as Vaas removed De Villers for nought.But Smith and the ever-reliable Kallis prevented further damage and built a solid 93 run partnership. Smith was his usual aggressive self and scored a valuable 59(65 balls).
Gibbs came in after Smith's dismissal and he scored a patient 31.
The Beginning of the Great Collapse: South Africa were cruising till the 32nd over. When Murali came into bowl the 33rd over, the score read 160/2. Kallis and Gibbs were batting well and they had built on a sensible 65 run stand. Murali started the collapse when he caught Gibbs off his own bowling and got rid of Boucher the very next ball. Kemp was the next to go, he scored just 5 before getting stumped off a Jayasuriya delivery.
With the score reading a precarious 182/5, Pollock joined Kallis and built a nervous 24 run partnership till Malinga struck
Malinga strikes: It was the 45th Over. With the score reading 206/5 off 44.4 overs, many would have thought that South Africa could easily win this match. But Malinga thought otherwise. He bowled four great balls: The first one: A slow yorker that uprooted Pollock's leg stump, Second one: another slow yorker to Andrew Hall who dug the yorker out, but it took the outside edge and was caught. The Third one was a good length delivery on the off stump that got rid of Kallis and fetched him a Hat-Trick, the fourth one, a beauty of a yorker to send Ntini's stump flying. Malinga had now taken 4 wickets in 4 balls including a Hat-Trick. South Africa were 207/9 and Srilanka were smelling an unlikely victory.
However Peterson and Langeveldt guided South Africa to a thrilling victory and thus the Match ended in South Africa's favor.
Highlights: Herschelle Gibb's diving full length to the stumps to run-out Chamara Silva. It was a treat to watch.
Malinga's Hat-trick: The fifth in World Cup history, only Chetan Sharma(India), Brett Lee(Australia), Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan), Chaminda Vaas(SrilLanka), have achieved this feat. However Malinga's hat-trick also made him the first bowler to take 4 wickets in 4 balls and also end up in the losing side.
Kallis proved to be the Pillar around which the SouthAfrican batting relied. Inspite of the regular flow of wickets at the other end, he kept a cool head and scored 86(just 4 fours in it), until he became the Hat-Trick victim after nicking a Malinga special to Sangakkara.
Man-of-the-Match Charles Langeveldt 5 wicket haul that restricted SriLanka to 209.
Srilanka batted first and they lost early wickets: Upul Tharanga to Ntini and Jayasuriya to Langeveldt.
South Africa bowled tightly seldom allowing the batsman to score runs freely and taking wickets at regular intervals. Srilankans had to contend with just singles and twos. Every run seemed to be important as they needed to set a challenging total of at least 220 on the board. Langeveldt was the star of the show, he bowled a good line and length, bowled slower balls, and also fired in the odd one when needed.
South Africa's tight bowling and great fielding frustrated the Srilankans especially Chamara Silva (Their star of the show against India). Chamara hung in for 27 balls to score just 9 runs. He was runout by a superb effort from Gibbs. Gibbs dived full length to the stumps. With his body in the air, he broke the stumps with the ball still in this hands.
This was an exact replica of the 1992 SA vs PAK match, where Jonty Rhodes (Who else can do it?)ran out Inzamam by diving full length to the stumps and dislodging the stumps with the ball still in his hands. It reminded me of Superman!!!
It was a classic example of the greatness of the South African fielding. Jonty! You have done a great job as the fielding coach!!!!! Gibbs! Hats Off Dude!
Dilshan(58) and Arnold(50) batted sensibly, scoring singles, running the two's etc. But neither of them could put up a big score. After Dilshan got out with the score reading 195/6, South Africans cleaned up the tail courtesy Langeveldt. He first got rid of Arnold (caught behind), then he bowled some very slow good-length deliveries to Maharoof and Vaas, who mishit the balls and got caught in the deep. Pollock then inflicted a direct hit to run out Muralitharan. Srilankans thus collapsed and scored 209 instead of 230. It was a result of some sensible and accurate bowling from South Africa and also their fielding which remained Top-class.
The South African Chase: 210 was always going to be a tricky target on a slow West Indian pitch. South Africa began disastrously as Vaas removed De Villers for nought.But Smith and the ever-reliable Kallis prevented further damage and built a solid 93 run partnership. Smith was his usual aggressive self and scored a valuable 59(65 balls).
Gibbs came in after Smith's dismissal and he scored a patient 31.
The Beginning of the Great Collapse: South Africa were cruising till the 32nd over. When Murali came into bowl the 33rd over, the score read 160/2. Kallis and Gibbs were batting well and they had built on a sensible 65 run stand. Murali started the collapse when he caught Gibbs off his own bowling and got rid of Boucher the very next ball. Kemp was the next to go, he scored just 5 before getting stumped off a Jayasuriya delivery.
With the score reading a precarious 182/5, Pollock joined Kallis and built a nervous 24 run partnership till Malinga struck
Malinga strikes: It was the 45th Over. With the score reading 206/5 off 44.4 overs, many would have thought that South Africa could easily win this match. But Malinga thought otherwise. He bowled four great balls: The first one: A slow yorker that uprooted Pollock's leg stump, Second one: another slow yorker to Andrew Hall who dug the yorker out, but it took the outside edge and was caught. The Third one was a good length delivery on the off stump that got rid of Kallis and fetched him a Hat-Trick, the fourth one, a beauty of a yorker to send Ntini's stump flying. Malinga had now taken 4 wickets in 4 balls including a Hat-Trick. South Africa were 207/9 and Srilanka were smelling an unlikely victory.
However Peterson and Langeveldt guided South Africa to a thrilling victory and thus the Match ended in South Africa's favor.
Highlights: Herschelle Gibb's diving full length to the stumps to run-out Chamara Silva. It was a treat to watch.
Malinga's Hat-trick: The fifth in World Cup history, only Chetan Sharma(India), Brett Lee(Australia), Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan), Chaminda Vaas(SrilLanka), have achieved this feat. However Malinga's hat-trick also made him the first bowler to take 4 wickets in 4 balls and also end up in the losing side.
Kallis proved to be the Pillar around which the SouthAfrican batting relied. Inspite of the regular flow of wickets at the other end, he kept a cool head and scored 86(just 4 fours in it), until he became the Hat-Trick victim after nicking a Malinga special to Sangakkara.
Man-of-the-Match Charles Langeveldt 5 wicket haul that restricted SriLanka to 209.
The Fireworks Begin
The World Cup enters its most crucial stage known as the Super 8s or Quarter Finals. The real tournament starts from here. The teams that are taking part at this stage are : West Indies, Ireland, Srilanka, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.
Each team would play the other five teams once and depending upon the number of games that each side have won and the points that they carry over from each group, four teams would go to the semi-finals.
As of now, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Srilanka are the real contenders for the cup. But considering the fact that we have dark horses like England, and West Indies, we may expect a few dramatic upsets and maybe a really unexpected winner. I don't consider Bangladesh and Ireland as the contenders solely for the reason that in spite of them being talented teams, they lack the firepower to enter the Semis. If they do reach the Semis, it would be a cricket lover's delight.
So, for now, Let's sit and enjoy watching some exciting cricket matches.
The Fireworks begin:
The first quarter final between West Indies and Australia has been interrupted by rain.
Lara won the toss and surprisingly put Australia into bat. Although the West Indian bowlers contained the Aussie openers initially, Hayden, yet again, cut loose and scored a splendid 158(4 sixes and 15 fours). This was his second consecutive World Cup hundred. Clarke(41),Ponting(35), and Watson(33 n.o) also played some lovely cameos as Australia set West Indies a daunting target of 323 runs.
Highlights: Hayden was the star of the show yet again, he scored his second consecutive WC century. Considering the fact that he took 16 balls to get off the mark, it was a great and sensible knock. Hayden now becomes only the third Australian after Mark Waugh, and Ricky Ponting to score Hundreds in consecutive matches in a WC.
Lara's plan of containing Australia by using his slow bowlers( Gayle and Samuels) backfired miserably as they both were plundered for 87 runs off their 13 overs. This resulted in Australia scoring a mammoth 322/6 in 50 overs.
It now remains to be seen how West Indies would chase the target. If Chanderpaul, Gayle, Lara, or Samuels fire, we might have a great contest on the hands when the match resumes on March 28th. Until then just wait and watch.
Each team would play the other five teams once and depending upon the number of games that each side have won and the points that they carry over from each group, four teams would go to the semi-finals.
As of now, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Srilanka are the real contenders for the cup. But considering the fact that we have dark horses like England, and West Indies, we may expect a few dramatic upsets and maybe a really unexpected winner. I don't consider Bangladesh and Ireland as the contenders solely for the reason that in spite of them being talented teams, they lack the firepower to enter the Semis. If they do reach the Semis, it would be a cricket lover's delight.
So, for now, Let's sit and enjoy watching some exciting cricket matches.
The Fireworks begin:
The first quarter final between West Indies and Australia has been interrupted by rain.
Lara won the toss and surprisingly put Australia into bat. Although the West Indian bowlers contained the Aussie openers initially, Hayden, yet again, cut loose and scored a splendid 158(4 sixes and 15 fours). This was his second consecutive World Cup hundred. Clarke(41),Ponting(35), and Watson(33 n.o) also played some lovely cameos as Australia set West Indies a daunting target of 323 runs.
Highlights: Hayden was the star of the show yet again, he scored his second consecutive WC century. Considering the fact that he took 16 balls to get off the mark, it was a great and sensible knock. Hayden now becomes only the third Australian after Mark Waugh, and Ricky Ponting to score Hundreds in consecutive matches in a WC.
Lara's plan of containing Australia by using his slow bowlers( Gayle and Samuels) backfired miserably as they both were plundered for 87 runs off their 13 overs. This resulted in Australia scoring a mammoth 322/6 in 50 overs.
It now remains to be seen how West Indies would chase the target. If Chanderpaul, Gayle, Lara, or Samuels fire, we might have a great contest on the hands when the match resumes on March 28th. Until then just wait and watch.
The Aussie Juggernaut Continues:
Well! After 5 consecutive defeats before the World Cup, the Aussies are back to what they do best: Winning Matches and Winning Them Convincingly!
By winning the match against South Africa by 83 runs, the Aussies have proved to the world that they are still Numero Uno.
The Match: Smith won the toss and put Australia into bat as he was not sure of what would be a match winning total at this Ground(Warner Park, St Kitts). It proved to be costly as the Aussies plundered South African bowlers (including Pollock) to score a mammoth 377/6 in 50 overs.
Hayden was the main plunderer as he broke yet another record(The fastest World Cup century) while scoring a 101 off just 68 balls. Ponting and Clark also joined the party and scored 91 and 92 each. The South Africans left the ground pondering what went wrong with their bowling.
The Chase:South Africa started their chase with supreme confidence, they knew that it would be easy to clear the small boundaries at these grounds. So, Smith and De Villers took the Australian attack to the cleaners. Until the 14th over, nearly each over had at least a boundary or a Six in them. Even the miserly Mcgrath failed to contain the duo. De Villers was in sparkling form, he cut, pulled mercilessly, and ran singles with ease putting the pressure right back on Australia.
The Turning Point:The score was reading 160 for no loss after 20 overs, it seemed that Australia were set to lose yet another match after scoring 330+. But it wasn't to be. De Villers played the ball on the legside and quickly ran the first one, he should have respected the Aussie fielding and should have stayed at the non-strikers end. But he didn't and Shane Watson produced a superb Direct Hit which not only broke the stumps, but also the South African momentum.
South Africa still had a chance since the required rate was under 7.5 per over, but Smith had to retire due to medical reasons and the momentum that they had gathered begun to shatter. Kallis came in and he took his time to score his 48 runs( 63 balls!!!!). The slow scoring of Kallis and the early wicket of Herschelle Gibbs( The man who scored 173 against them in their previous encounter) put the game back in Australia's control.
Kallis proved to be a major factor in South Africa's defeat. Being a good batsman, he should have at least scored at run-a-ball. He didn't rotate the strike thus allowing Hogg to settle down and end South Africa's resistance.
Highlights: Hayden's aggressive knock (101 of 68) balls proved to be the innings that paved way for a mammoth total. Without his knock, Aussies would have scored 20-30 runs lesser thus handing over a psychological advantage.
AB De Villers knock of 92: he along with Graeme Smith threatened to take the match away from Australia. He was unfortunately run-out for 92, thanks to a superb throw from the deep(courtesy Watson). It proved to bad as Smith retired immediately and SA lost momentum due to some very slow scoring by Kallis.
Brad Hogg(3/61) and Nathan Bracken(2/40) bowled tightly and restricted South African batsman from scoring freely. Their combined tally of 5 wickets 101 runs from 19 overs proved to be the deciding factor of the match
Aussies have to be wary of South Africa, because South Africa have the firepower to not only beat Australia but Annihilate them. New Zealand are not far behind and so are Srilanka. So the World Cup, so far, has no serious contenders. I am waiting for the Super 8s to end. Only then can we at least guess the contender. My money would be any day on South Africa, or New Zealand, but Srilanka are not far behind.
By winning the match against South Africa by 83 runs, the Aussies have proved to the world that they are still Numero Uno.
The Match: Smith won the toss and put Australia into bat as he was not sure of what would be a match winning total at this Ground(Warner Park, St Kitts). It proved to be costly as the Aussies plundered South African bowlers (including Pollock) to score a mammoth 377/6 in 50 overs.
Hayden was the main plunderer as he broke yet another record(The fastest World Cup century) while scoring a 101 off just 68 balls. Ponting and Clark also joined the party and scored 91 and 92 each. The South Africans left the ground pondering what went wrong with their bowling.
The Chase:South Africa started their chase with supreme confidence, they knew that it would be easy to clear the small boundaries at these grounds. So, Smith and De Villers took the Australian attack to the cleaners. Until the 14th over, nearly each over had at least a boundary or a Six in them. Even the miserly Mcgrath failed to contain the duo. De Villers was in sparkling form, he cut, pulled mercilessly, and ran singles with ease putting the pressure right back on Australia.
The Turning Point:The score was reading 160 for no loss after 20 overs, it seemed that Australia were set to lose yet another match after scoring 330+. But it wasn't to be. De Villers played the ball on the legside and quickly ran the first one, he should have respected the Aussie fielding and should have stayed at the non-strikers end. But he didn't and Shane Watson produced a superb Direct Hit which not only broke the stumps, but also the South African momentum.
South Africa still had a chance since the required rate was under 7.5 per over, but Smith had to retire due to medical reasons and the momentum that they had gathered begun to shatter. Kallis came in and he took his time to score his 48 runs( 63 balls!!!!). The slow scoring of Kallis and the early wicket of Herschelle Gibbs( The man who scored 173 against them in their previous encounter) put the game back in Australia's control.
Kallis proved to be a major factor in South Africa's defeat. Being a good batsman, he should have at least scored at run-a-ball. He didn't rotate the strike thus allowing Hogg to settle down and end South Africa's resistance.
Highlights: Hayden's aggressive knock (101 of 68) balls proved to be the innings that paved way for a mammoth total. Without his knock, Aussies would have scored 20-30 runs lesser thus handing over a psychological advantage.
AB De Villers knock of 92: he along with Graeme Smith threatened to take the match away from Australia. He was unfortunately run-out for 92, thanks to a superb throw from the deep(courtesy Watson). It proved to bad as Smith retired immediately and SA lost momentum due to some very slow scoring by Kallis.
Brad Hogg(3/61) and Nathan Bracken(2/40) bowled tightly and restricted South African batsman from scoring freely. Their combined tally of 5 wickets 101 runs from 19 overs proved to be the deciding factor of the match
Aussies have to be wary of South Africa, because South Africa have the firepower to not only beat Australia but Annihilate them. New Zealand are not far behind and so are Srilanka. So the World Cup, so far, has no serious contenders. I am waiting for the Super 8s to end. Only then can we at least guess the contender. My money would be any day on South Africa, or New Zealand, but Srilanka are not far behind.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
The Need of the Hour: Courageous and Sensible Decision Making
Well, it finally happened. Bangladesh beat Bermuda by 7 wickets and in the process qualified for the Super 8's or quarters and also knocked India out of the tournament.
It has been the biggest Nadir for Indian Cricket. I hope they learn their lessons at least now. You can't afford too many superstars in the cricket team. We have Sachin, Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid, Dhoni......... Well, if you are looking for a team that has more superstars , I am afraid that you can find them only in The Justice League(Superman, Batman, Green Lantern etc).
As they say "Too many Cooks Spoil the Broth". In case of the Indian team," Too many Superstars spoil the team".
We have over-hyped these mortals and we have in a way contributed to the sudden demise of quality in Indian cricket. We should have treated the cricketers as just good sportsmen. Maybe then they would have realised their situation and they would have performed well. But we didn't and look how the Indian Cricketers have fooled themselves now.
There is no doubt that Sachin, Sehwag, Ganguly, and Dravid are immensely talented cricketers who have put match winning performances in the past. But, as i say, they have performed in the past, only in the past. Sachin is not even a shadow of his prime, Dravid looks jaded, Ganguly and Sehwag have started scoring but, they have their own problems: Ganguly takes a lot of time to settle, meanwhile Sehwag tends to throw away his wicket.We don' need just Reputed players, we need performers (not AD Performers).
Well, it's time to say bye bye to Sachin, Dravid, and Ganguly. They hardly have 2 years of cricket left in them thus making them very doubtful probables for 2011. Sorry Dravid,Ganguly, and Sachin, you need to make way for the new generation. Thank you all for the great centuries and fifties that you have made. Thanks a lot for the wonderful innings that you had played and for the entertainment that you provided us. But as they say, all that is well ends well. It's time for you all to leave with grace. We all need a team which can perform well consistently well, not a team of superstars who over promise and fail to keep up.
It's time for us to take some courageous and sensible measures. We need to rotate our senior players.(Only 2 or 3 can play per game). We need to find a youngster who can motivate the team to great heights. It's time that we stop selecting captains on their reputation and experience. I hope BCCI is listening. We need a youthful and talented team. We need to breed youngsters and wait for them to produce results. We should not sack youngsters after 3 or 4 matches just because they fail. Remember we got a Sachin only after we persisted with him for 13ODIs(until which he didn't score a single ODI 50). So we must wait for the team to gain experience and then look for great results.
BCCI needs to concentrate more on Ranji and the other domestic tournaments. Pitches across the country should be relayed and they should be sporting ones, not batsman friendly: Some of them can be pacy and some of them can be spinner-friendly. If the management fears that this may encourage the touring opponents, then only Domestic cricket can be played on these Hard and Bouncy tracks. We can improve the batting quality of youngsters only when they bat on Genuine, and sporting pitches.
The BCCI should take adequate measures to help deserving domestic cricketers. You can improve Indian cricket only if you nourish its roots(i.e domestic cricket). If BCCI honestly does these, we will definitely see the beginning of a Truly Glorious Era of Indian Cricket.
Let us all welcome new changes. We must encourage other sports and stop hyping cricket. After all Cricket is just another game. Let us celebrate only true performers and encourage budding talent.
Let the new era of Indian Cricket begin.
It has been the biggest Nadir for Indian Cricket. I hope they learn their lessons at least now. You can't afford too many superstars in the cricket team. We have Sachin, Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid, Dhoni......... Well, if you are looking for a team that has more superstars , I am afraid that you can find them only in The Justice League(Superman, Batman, Green Lantern etc).
As they say "Too many Cooks Spoil the Broth". In case of the Indian team," Too many Superstars spoil the team".
We have over-hyped these mortals and we have in a way contributed to the sudden demise of quality in Indian cricket. We should have treated the cricketers as just good sportsmen. Maybe then they would have realised their situation and they would have performed well. But we didn't and look how the Indian Cricketers have fooled themselves now.
There is no doubt that Sachin, Sehwag, Ganguly, and Dravid are immensely talented cricketers who have put match winning performances in the past. But, as i say, they have performed in the past, only in the past. Sachin is not even a shadow of his prime, Dravid looks jaded, Ganguly and Sehwag have started scoring but, they have their own problems: Ganguly takes a lot of time to settle, meanwhile Sehwag tends to throw away his wicket.We don' need just Reputed players, we need performers (not AD Performers).
Well, it's time to say bye bye to Sachin, Dravid, and Ganguly. They hardly have 2 years of cricket left in them thus making them very doubtful probables for 2011. Sorry Dravid,Ganguly, and Sachin, you need to make way for the new generation. Thank you all for the great centuries and fifties that you have made. Thanks a lot for the wonderful innings that you had played and for the entertainment that you provided us. But as they say, all that is well ends well. It's time for you all to leave with grace. We all need a team which can perform well consistently well, not a team of superstars who over promise and fail to keep up.
It's time for us to take some courageous and sensible measures. We need to rotate our senior players.(Only 2 or 3 can play per game). We need to find a youngster who can motivate the team to great heights. It's time that we stop selecting captains on their reputation and experience. I hope BCCI is listening. We need a youthful and talented team. We need to breed youngsters and wait for them to produce results. We should not sack youngsters after 3 or 4 matches just because they fail. Remember we got a Sachin only after we persisted with him for 13ODIs(until which he didn't score a single ODI 50). So we must wait for the team to gain experience and then look for great results.
BCCI needs to concentrate more on Ranji and the other domestic tournaments. Pitches across the country should be relayed and they should be sporting ones, not batsman friendly: Some of them can be pacy and some of them can be spinner-friendly. If the management fears that this may encourage the touring opponents, then only Domestic cricket can be played on these Hard and Bouncy tracks. We can improve the batting quality of youngsters only when they bat on Genuine, and sporting pitches.
The BCCI should take adequate measures to help deserving domestic cricketers. You can improve Indian cricket only if you nourish its roots(i.e domestic cricket). If BCCI honestly does these, we will definitely see the beginning of a Truly Glorious Era of Indian Cricket.
Let us all welcome new changes. We must encourage other sports and stop hyping cricket. After all Cricket is just another game. Let us celebrate only true performers and encourage budding talent.
Let the new era of Indian Cricket begin.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Indian Team: Will they ever learn
India are virtually out of the
World Cup, thanks to yet another dis-spirited batting
display. India won the toss and putSrilanka into bat. The Indian pacers especially Munaf did a very good job, they got Jayasuriya out early and they beat the bat several times without any luck. The match seemed to be interestingly poised in the 32nd over when Srilanka were 130+ for the loss of 4 wickets. But thanks to unimaginative captaincy courtesy Dravid, India allowed Srilanka to reach 254/6. Dravid made the fatal mistake of not using Yuvraj and Sehwag while bowling. As a result, Chamara Silva and Tillekaratne Dilshan build a solid and quickfire 83 run partnership, while Vaas provided the firepower to help Srilanka to 254.
India lost the game due to their negative approach while batting. What was Ganguly thinking when he played so sedately and all of a sudden threw away his wicket????
If Ganguly went for a poor shot, Yuvraj got run-out going for a non-existent run(thanks to the pressure created by Dravid). Dravid has to learn the art of taking sharp singles, he sometimes tends to irritate the non-striker by playing 4 or 5 dot balls at a stretch(Which ain't good). If Yuvraj's runout was disastrous, Dhoni got out LBW trying to play a incoming delivery from Murali. I have no idea what Dhoni was thinking at that point, he could have atleast played it on the legside or just defended. THe only positive was Sehwag. In spite of being out of form, he played some lovely shots especially the Six of Vaas. Sehwag
was going great guns(Good sign for the future). The rest of the Indian
batting collapsed as usual. The tail didn't even bother to wag and so
India thus got bundled out for 185 in the 43rd over.
Muralitharan and Vaas
once again proved why they were top-class bowlers, they bowled a tight
line and length, attacked the batsmen and bowled some unplayable balls.
The Indian batsman, yet again, helped them to build pressure by playing
negatively. When will Indian batman ever learn the art of rotating the
strike. It seems not even Foreign coaches can help India in this regard.
India
have yet again proved why they are just Tigers on their home ground and
cats away. It's time that we take some desperate measures, even if it
means kicking out non-performing world-class players. If we need to
become World Champions, we need Team Spirit and Killer Instinct. Indian
team needs these two qualities desperately and the only way they can
achieve this is to play as a team(not depending on just one or two
players).
Indian Fans: Please stop wasting your time analyzing
this defeat. Teach Team India a lesson, by not watching their matches
till they play good cricket.
For all Sachin, Dravid, and Ganguly fans: Please stop treating players as gods and treat them as normal human beings. Please understand that Sachin or any other player can't perform well every match. Hey! After all, they need to act in Ads like Pepsi, Reliance,Gillette, SUnfeast etc. Am i right? See yaar, they play cricket just as a hobby.
Well,to conclude it, there are some very valuable lessons to be learnt from
India's WC campaign. 1) The only way to win is to play positive and
aggressive cricket.
2) Never to be complacent against any Minnow in the future.
3) Play as a team, not as
a unit of 2 or 3 star players.
4) Most Important: Don't ever hire Foreign Coaches again. They can just improve your basic skills, the rest is left to the players. Go for an Indian coach who can
motivate the players. Remember, only an Indian coach can understand an
Indian players mentality, the pressure that they face and their needs
properly. Don't believe me, AskGanguly, Pathan and others.
5) Stop commercializing cricket. This is a game and not a business. (Hope BCCI and Indian players realize this.)
I am sure that Chappell is going to be chucked out for this defeat Well! we now have a very difficult task ahead of us. We need to groom good and talented players
for the future.Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly can serve India only till 2007 or perhaps 2008. They must understand the situation and pave the way for young and deserving players.
We need mentors like Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath and Krish Srikkanth
to coach the state teams and pick really talented players. If we can
take the right steps, maybe India can become a World-Class team by at least 2011.
World Cup, thanks to yet another dis-spirited batting
display. India won the toss and putSrilanka into bat. The Indian pacers especially Munaf did a very good job, they got Jayasuriya out early and they beat the bat several times without any luck. The match seemed to be interestingly poised in the 32nd over when Srilanka were 130+ for the loss of 4 wickets. But thanks to unimaginative captaincy courtesy Dravid, India allowed Srilanka to reach 254/6. Dravid made the fatal mistake of not using Yuvraj and Sehwag while bowling. As a result, Chamara Silva and Tillekaratne Dilshan build a solid and quickfire 83 run partnership, while Vaas provided the firepower to help Srilanka to 254.
India lost the game due to their negative approach while batting. What was Ganguly thinking when he played so sedately and all of a sudden threw away his wicket????
If Ganguly went for a poor shot, Yuvraj got run-out going for a non-existent run(thanks to the pressure created by Dravid). Dravid has to learn the art of taking sharp singles, he sometimes tends to irritate the non-striker by playing 4 or 5 dot balls at a stretch(Which ain't good). If Yuvraj's runout was disastrous, Dhoni got out LBW trying to play a incoming delivery from Murali. I have no idea what Dhoni was thinking at that point, he could have atleast played it on the legside or just defended. THe only positive was Sehwag. In spite of being out of form, he played some lovely shots especially the Six of Vaas. Sehwag
was going great guns(Good sign for the future). The rest of the Indian
batting collapsed as usual. The tail didn't even bother to wag and so
India thus got bundled out for 185 in the 43rd over.
Muralitharan and Vaas
once again proved why they were top-class bowlers, they bowled a tight
line and length, attacked the batsmen and bowled some unplayable balls.
The Indian batsman, yet again, helped them to build pressure by playing
negatively. When will Indian batman ever learn the art of rotating the
strike. It seems not even Foreign coaches can help India in this regard.
India
have yet again proved why they are just Tigers on their home ground and
cats away. It's time that we take some desperate measures, even if it
means kicking out non-performing world-class players. If we need to
become World Champions, we need Team Spirit and Killer Instinct. Indian
team needs these two qualities desperately and the only way they can
achieve this is to play as a team(not depending on just one or two
players).
Indian Fans: Please stop wasting your time analyzing
this defeat. Teach Team India a lesson, by not watching their matches
till they play good cricket.
For all Sachin, Dravid, and Ganguly fans: Please stop treating players as gods and treat them as normal human beings. Please understand that Sachin or any other player can't perform well every match. Hey! After all, they need to act in Ads like Pepsi, Reliance,Gillette, SUnfeast etc. Am i right? See yaar, they play cricket just as a hobby.
Well,to conclude it, there are some very valuable lessons to be learnt from
India's WC campaign. 1) The only way to win is to play positive and
aggressive cricket.
2) Never to be complacent against any Minnow in the future.
3) Play as a team, not as
a unit of 2 or 3 star players.
4) Most Important: Don't ever hire Foreign Coaches again. They can just improve your basic skills, the rest is left to the players. Go for an Indian coach who can
motivate the players. Remember, only an Indian coach can understand an
Indian players mentality, the pressure that they face and their needs
properly. Don't believe me, AskGanguly, Pathan and others.
5) Stop commercializing cricket. This is a game and not a business. (Hope BCCI and Indian players realize this.)
I am sure that Chappell is going to be chucked out for this defeat Well! we now have a very difficult task ahead of us. We need to groom good and talented players
for the future.Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly can serve India only till 2007 or perhaps 2008. They must understand the situation and pave the way for young and deserving players.
We need mentors like Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath and Krish Srikkanth
to coach the state teams and pick really talented players. If we can
take the right steps, maybe India can become a World-Class team by at least 2011.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The World Cup begins now:
So far, the Cricket World Cup has not provided much exciting cricket matches for the viewers to watch. No, No, I am not blaming the teams, I am blaming the organisers for arranging the games in such a way that we could only enjoy a few games such as Ireland vs Pakistan, West Indies vs Pakistan and of course! Yawn! India vs Bangladesh.
Pardon me for saying this, World Cup matches have never been so boring and one-sided than this. If you don't believe me, you could see the scores of the teams involved in the matches that have happened so far and you'll find that only 2 matches Ireland vs Pakistan and West Indies vs Pakistan have been competitive. Please don't ask me to include the India vs Bangladesh, it was humiliating to say the least.
The only bright thing(for statisticians) is that 20+ records have been broken re-written during this world cup. To give a few examples, Herschelle Gibbs (SA) hit 6 sixes off an Vaan Der Bunge(Holland) over. Boucher hit the fastest WC 50(off 21 balls) in the same match, only to see Brendon Mc Cullum(NZ wicketkeeper) breaking the barrier in 20 balls against Canada.
The minnows have played poor cricket(Purely due to lack of exposure) and they have lost by big margins(200+) to the Test playing nations. Hope ICC uses its brains to rack up a competitive schedule at least by 2011.
Well! We have finally entered the real World Cup, now we have a pseudo Quarter Final between India and Srilanka today, India must win this match to enter the Quarters. Srilanka are on a high note having already qualified for the quarters, and they will be in no mood to give up their winning form.
Mark my words!! Srilanka are very strong contenders for this World Cup. Srilanka have the perfect balance in Batting, Bowling, and Fielding. Their batting looks ominous with Sanath (Smasher) Jayasuriya in top form, Tharanga providing the support and Jayawardane, Atapattu, + Sangakkara to provide the consolidation and firepower.
Their bowling looks sharp and penetrative with the ever-reliable Vaas(Of course!) and The Slinger Lasith Malinga. The spin department (Murali and Bandara) would be chuckling with glee finding the West Indian pitches very similar to their home conditions. Thus Srilanka in my point have a strong mental advantage and also a reputation for beating World Class teams on their day.
India on the other hand are not even worth analyzing, I am not sure that they'll reach the semis(if they reach the quarters). I may be very pessimistic, but looking at their body language, i don't see any hopes of India lifting the cup or even dreaming for it.
The bottom line is the World cup begins now. My contenders are Srilanka, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. I am sure that no other team except these four would go on to lift the world cup unless and until some drastic changes happen. I expect West Indies and India to prove me wrong!!
I pray to god that India prove me wrong (I hope that they will, because if they don't, the consequences would be disastrous, and believe me, when i say Disastrous, it is just an understatement).
Meanwhile, we also have the Australia vs South Africa game on March 24th, although the result is inconsequential as both teams have qualified for the quarters, the winner would certainly get the mental advantage. I am surely going to watch both games keenly. I am expecting to closely fought matches from now onwards. Hope I am not disappointed.
The real World Cup begins now!
Pardon me for saying this, World Cup matches have never been so boring and one-sided than this. If you don't believe me, you could see the scores of the teams involved in the matches that have happened so far and you'll find that only 2 matches Ireland vs Pakistan and West Indies vs Pakistan have been competitive. Please don't ask me to include the India vs Bangladesh, it was humiliating to say the least.
The only bright thing(for statisticians) is that 20+ records have been broken re-written during this world cup. To give a few examples, Herschelle Gibbs (SA) hit 6 sixes off an Vaan Der Bunge(Holland) over. Boucher hit the fastest WC 50(off 21 balls) in the same match, only to see Brendon Mc Cullum(NZ wicketkeeper) breaking the barrier in 20 balls against Canada.
The minnows have played poor cricket(Purely due to lack of exposure) and they have lost by big margins(200+) to the Test playing nations. Hope ICC uses its brains to rack up a competitive schedule at least by 2011.
Well! We have finally entered the real World Cup, now we have a pseudo Quarter Final between India and Srilanka today, India must win this match to enter the Quarters. Srilanka are on a high note having already qualified for the quarters, and they will be in no mood to give up their winning form.
Mark my words!! Srilanka are very strong contenders for this World Cup. Srilanka have the perfect balance in Batting, Bowling, and Fielding. Their batting looks ominous with Sanath (Smasher) Jayasuriya in top form, Tharanga providing the support and Jayawardane, Atapattu, + Sangakkara to provide the consolidation and firepower.
Their bowling looks sharp and penetrative with the ever-reliable Vaas(Of course!) and The Slinger Lasith Malinga. The spin department (Murali and Bandara) would be chuckling with glee finding the West Indian pitches very similar to their home conditions. Thus Srilanka in my point have a strong mental advantage and also a reputation for beating World Class teams on their day.
India on the other hand are not even worth analyzing, I am not sure that they'll reach the semis(if they reach the quarters). I may be very pessimistic, but looking at their body language, i don't see any hopes of India lifting the cup or even dreaming for it.
The bottom line is the World cup begins now. My contenders are Srilanka, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. I am sure that no other team except these four would go on to lift the world cup unless and until some drastic changes happen. I expect West Indies and India to prove me wrong!!
I pray to god that India prove me wrong (I hope that they will, because if they don't, the consequences would be disastrous, and believe me, when i say Disastrous, it is just an understatement).
Meanwhile, we also have the Australia vs South Africa game on March 24th, although the result is inconsequential as both teams have qualified for the quarters, the winner would certainly get the mental advantage. I am surely going to watch both games keenly. I am expecting to closely fought matches from now onwards. Hope I am not disappointed.
The real World Cup begins now!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Records tumble in World Cup 2007:
World Cup 2007 has just begun and many records have already started tumbling thanks to smaller grounds, inexperienced bowling attacks and aggressive batting.
India now hold yet another ODI record, when Sachin hit the first ball of the 50th over for six, India crossed 400 thus becoming the first team to do so, in a World Cup. (the previous best score was Srilanka, who scored 398/5 against Kenya in 1996 WC).
Dravid hit the last ball of the innings for a six thus taking India's Sixer Tally to 18. This equals South Africa's tally (18 Sixes and 30 Fours) against Holland (Obviously it was scored in this World Cup just a week ago).
Surprisingly India scored 30 Boundaries and 18 Sixes, compared to South Africa who hit the same number of 4s and 6s in 40 overs against Holland in WC 2007.
There were five ducks in the Bermuda innings, equaling the record for most ducks in a World Cup innings. The three other instances were; England v West Indies at Lord's in 1975, Canada v Sri Lanka at Paarl in 2003 and Sri Lanka v India at Johannesburg
Herschelle Gibbs became the first player in International Cricket to hit six consecutive 6s off one Van-Der-Bunge over. He hit 7 sixes in total and scored 72 off 41 balls.
In the same match against Holland, Boucher smashed 75 off just 31 balls. He reached his 50 in 21 balls to break the record for fastest 50 in WC history. The previous record was held by Brian Lara (WI) who hit 50 off 23 balls against Canada in 2003.
The Minnow Bashing Continues: Bermuda were yet again thrashed by a huge marigin:257 runs. This is the highest marigin of victory achieved by any team beating the previous best of 256 runs achieved by Australia against Namibia in 2003 WC.
Srilanka had also beaten Bermuda by 243 runs in their previous match.
Incidentally, this world cup has so far seen minnows like Bermuda, Scotland and Holland have all been defeated by a margin of more than 200 runs.
Australia had beaten Scotland and Holland by 200+ runs in their first two matches of World Cup 2007.
Australia also became the first team in World Cup history to score 300+ totals in 3 consecutive WC matches. They scored 359/2 against India in 2003 WC final, 300+ against Scotland and 358/5 against Holland.
Ricky Ponting broke Saurav Ganguly's World Cup record of 25 Sixes.
Saurav, however, equalled the record when he hit 3 sixes against Bermuda to take his tally to 25(Saurav has played 10 WC matches lesser than Ponting).
Dwayne Leverock's spell of 10-0-96-1 was the second most expensive 10-over spell in World Cups. The two most expensive figures are Martin Snedden's 12-0-105-2 against England in 1979 and Ashantha de Mel's 10-0-97-1 against West Indies in 1987
Southafrica went a step further when they broke many World records (including the maximum number of sixes in a match(18), Six consecutive sixes off an over(By Herschelle Gibbs off Van Der Bunge, fastest fifty in World Cup history etc(50 off 21 balls by Mark Boucher).
India now hold yet another ODI record, when Sachin hit the first ball of the 50th over for six, India crossed 400 thus becoming the first team to do so, in a World Cup. (the previous best score was Srilanka, who scored 398/5 against Kenya in 1996 WC).
Dravid hit the last ball of the innings for a six thus taking India's Sixer Tally to 18. This equals South Africa's tally (18 Sixes and 30 Fours) against Holland (Obviously it was scored in this World Cup just a week ago).
Surprisingly India scored 30 Boundaries and 18 Sixes, compared to South Africa who hit the same number of 4s and 6s in 40 overs against Holland in WC 2007.
There were five ducks in the Bermuda innings, equaling the record for most ducks in a World Cup innings. The three other instances were; England v West Indies at Lord's in 1975, Canada v Sri Lanka at Paarl in 2003 and Sri Lanka v India at Johannesburg
Herschelle Gibbs became the first player in International Cricket to hit six consecutive 6s off one Van-Der-Bunge over. He hit 7 sixes in total and scored 72 off 41 balls.
In the same match against Holland, Boucher smashed 75 off just 31 balls. He reached his 50 in 21 balls to break the record for fastest 50 in WC history. The previous record was held by Brian Lara (WI) who hit 50 off 23 balls against Canada in 2003.
The Minnow Bashing Continues: Bermuda were yet again thrashed by a huge marigin:257 runs. This is the highest marigin of victory achieved by any team beating the previous best of 256 runs achieved by Australia against Namibia in 2003 WC.
Srilanka had also beaten Bermuda by 243 runs in their previous match.
Incidentally, this world cup has so far seen minnows like Bermuda, Scotland and Holland have all been defeated by a margin of more than 200 runs.
Australia had beaten Scotland and Holland by 200+ runs in their first two matches of World Cup 2007.
Australia also became the first team in World Cup history to score 300+ totals in 3 consecutive WC matches. They scored 359/2 against India in 2003 WC final, 300+ against Scotland and 358/5 against Holland.
Ricky Ponting broke Saurav Ganguly's World Cup record of 25 Sixes.
Saurav, however, equalled the record when he hit 3 sixes against Bermuda to take his tally to 25(Saurav has played 10 WC matches lesser than Ponting).
Dwayne Leverock's spell of 10-0-96-1 was the second most expensive 10-over spell in World Cups. The two most expensive figures are Martin Snedden's 12-0-105-2 against England in 1979 and Ashantha de Mel's 10-0-97-1 against West Indies in 1987
Southafrica went a step further when they broke many World records (including the maximum number of sixes in a match(18), Six consecutive sixes off an over(By Herschelle Gibbs off Van Der Bunge, fastest fifty in World Cup history etc(50 off 21 balls by Mark Boucher).
India cross their first hurdle:
India have crossed their first hurdle by beating Bermuda by 257 runs It was a much improved performance by the Indian Team. They did most of the things right after losing the toss and being put into bat. The batsmen, especially Virendar Sehwag, capitalized on the inexperienced bowling attack. Sehwag laid the foundation for the big total, he played a sensible and aggressive innings after a long time(59 innings). Although his 114 off 87 balls is not one of the best centuries scored, it came at a rather usefull time. If Sehwag provided the start, it was Ganguly who consolidated, he scored a composed 89 off 114 balls. Thus, the platform was laid for the big hitters to come and blast off the Bermuda bowlers.
The Indians did the right thing by sending Dhoni up the order(although this should not be repeated against teams like Srilanka, as it may trigger a lower order collapse). Dhoni scored a usefull 29 off 26 balls, but it was Yuvraj Singh and Tendulkar, who proved the real firepower.
The Scorecard read 275/ 4 at the 40 over stage, we were expecting a total of 350-370. But thanks to Yuvraj, who scored 83 off just 46 balls with 7 Sixes and 3 fours. Sachin proved to be the perfect foil for Yuvraj, but even he scored 57 off 29 balls with 4 sixes, the last six of his brought up the first 400 total in World Cup history. The Bermuda bowlers showed their inexperience by bowling too short and they were way-too-predictable.
The last 10 overs proved to be very costly for Bermuda: 130 runs were scored and about 10 sixes were hit off it.
Bermuda put up a below average performance to be bundled out for just 156. Only David Hemp provided some resistance with a solid 76. The Indian bowling attack needs to be more accurate, they should have restricted Bermuda below 150.
Dravid should drop the third seamer and add an extra spinner. It might prove costly as Seamers have a very less chance of getting wickets in these conditions. Dravid needs to rethink his strategy. We cannot afford tactical blunders when we have to win all matches by convincing margins.
The only positive that i could see was that Sehwag had managed to score a century. He needs to concentrate more on his technique and score lots of runs against greater and more powerfull bowling attacks. Hope he continues in the same vein of form.
India now face a daunting challenge of beating Srilanka by a huge marigin.(Remember Srilanka would be batting in conditions very similar to theirs. They also have a perfect bowling attack:Vaas and Lasith Malinga provide the pace, while Jayasuriya, Malinga Bandara, and Muralitharan are hard to score off in any pitch).
West Indies reach the quarters:
West Indies restricted Zimbabwe to 202 and reached the total comfortably with 6 wickets remaining and 13 balls to spare. Zimbabwe desperately need players who can play matchwinning innnings. The whole match seemed one sided with the winner already decided even before the match begun. ICC needs to take the appropriate steps immediately to improve Zimbabwe's condition.
West Indies need to improve their batting and they also need to avoid batting collapses if they desire need to win the cup. Their batting looks just above average and it is persistenly inconsistent similar to India.
The Indians did the right thing by sending Dhoni up the order(although this should not be repeated against teams like Srilanka, as it may trigger a lower order collapse). Dhoni scored a usefull 29 off 26 balls, but it was Yuvraj Singh and Tendulkar, who proved the real firepower.
The Scorecard read 275/ 4 at the 40 over stage, we were expecting a total of 350-370. But thanks to Yuvraj, who scored 83 off just 46 balls with 7 Sixes and 3 fours. Sachin proved to be the perfect foil for Yuvraj, but even he scored 57 off 29 balls with 4 sixes, the last six of his brought up the first 400 total in World Cup history. The Bermuda bowlers showed their inexperience by bowling too short and they were way-too-predictable.
The last 10 overs proved to be very costly for Bermuda: 130 runs were scored and about 10 sixes were hit off it.
Bermuda put up a below average performance to be bundled out for just 156. Only David Hemp provided some resistance with a solid 76. The Indian bowling attack needs to be more accurate, they should have restricted Bermuda below 150.
Dravid should drop the third seamer and add an extra spinner. It might prove costly as Seamers have a very less chance of getting wickets in these conditions. Dravid needs to rethink his strategy. We cannot afford tactical blunders when we have to win all matches by convincing margins.
The only positive that i could see was that Sehwag had managed to score a century. He needs to concentrate more on his technique and score lots of runs against greater and more powerfull bowling attacks. Hope he continues in the same vein of form.
India now face a daunting challenge of beating Srilanka by a huge marigin.(Remember Srilanka would be batting in conditions very similar to theirs. They also have a perfect bowling attack:Vaas and Lasith Malinga provide the pace, while Jayasuriya, Malinga Bandara, and Muralitharan are hard to score off in any pitch).
West Indies reach the quarters:
West Indies restricted Zimbabwe to 202 and reached the total comfortably with 6 wickets remaining and 13 balls to spare. Zimbabwe desperately need players who can play matchwinning innnings. The whole match seemed one sided with the winner already decided even before the match begun. ICC needs to take the appropriate steps immediately to improve Zimbabwe's condition.
West Indies need to improve their batting and they also need to avoid batting collapses if they desire need to win the cup. Their batting looks just above average and it is persistenly inconsistent similar to India.
Day of Minnows:
Day of Minnows:
April 17th, 2007: It was truly a Red Letter Day
for the minnows:Bangladesh and Ireland.
While Bangladesh triggered an Indian batting
collapse and chased the target to win by 5
wickets; Ireland shocked the world by bundling
the Pakistanis for a mere 133 and then
reached the total with 3 wickets to spare.
IND vs BAN: India won the toss and surprisingly
chose to bat, which proved to be a blunder.
Sehwag once again proved to be India's biggest
liability. Yet again, he got out cheaply showing
that he had learnt nothing from his past
failures. As for the rest of the Indian batting,
it was at best, Shambolic. Only Ganguly and
Yuvraj batted well to give India some
respectability. But thanks to a great batting
collapse(5 wickets for 2 runs), India landed up
with 191. Take away the 32 run partnership for
the last wicket and you'll find India would have
scored even lesser. Indians have to play positive
cricket if they need to lift this cup. Although Mortaza, Rafique, and Salem
bowled tightly, Indians helped Bangladesh to pile
pressure on them by playing sedate cricket.
If India can't play Bangladeshi spinners well,
then what could they achieve against Sri Lanka."
"Dravid! Please tell your players to stop modelling and start performing! Tell them that apart from dancing on TV ads, they also have the duty to fulfill their foremost duty:Playing GOOD and POSITIVE Cricket"
If India batted pathetically, Bangladesh did the opposite, they stroked the
ball nicely and went for their shots. Dravid
helped their cause by over-bowling his pacers
instead of relying on his spinners.
I could not help but appreciate the Bangladeshi younsters(paticularly Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim) who belted the Indian attack all over the park.
IF a bunch of talented Teenagers can slog Indian bowlers over the park on a difficult pitch, why can't greats like Sachin and Dravid play positive even against amateur bowlers??? I guess the answer is ATTITUDE.
It was sad to see Dravid setting defensive fields instead of attacking fields, and just hoping for the Bangladeshi's to make
mistakes. Why didn't he use his spinners regularly??
I feel that the match had been lost
there. In the end, Bangladesh romped home with 5
wickets and 8 balls to spare.
Thanks to their Shambolic performance, India have landed themselves in a situation
where they have to beat Bermuda and Srilanka by
huge marigins, or else, it's Bye Bye India.
Ireland vs Pak:
This was the surprise package of the tournament,
Ireland beat Pakistan by 3 Wickets.
Well, Pakistan were hampered by the absence of
Afridi due to disciplinary action, Akthar and
Asif due to injury(actually doping charges).
However, they batted very badly to score a paltry 133.
Ireland on the other hand bowled tightly and
harldy allowed the Pakistani batsmen to settle
down. Akmal was the only exception and he scored
a valiant 27.
Ireland realised that this was their chance to
create history. They batted sensibly despite
losing regular wickets thanks to Neil 'O' Brien,
who scored a very valuable half century. Rain
interrupted play and the target was revised to
127. Howver it proved to be a mini hiccup as
Ireland despite losing 3 Wickets to Sami and
Ifthikar Rao Anjum, romped home due to Kevin 'O'
Brien. The match was finished in a fitting way
when their skipper Trent Johnson smashed Azhar
Mehmoud over long-on for six. Thus Pakistan were
knocked out of the world cup even before the
quarters.
Hence, the day truly belonged to the
minnows.
April 17th, 2007: It was truly a Red Letter Day
for the minnows:Bangladesh and Ireland.
While Bangladesh triggered an Indian batting
collapse and chased the target to win by 5
wickets; Ireland shocked the world by bundling
the Pakistanis for a mere 133 and then
reached the total with 3 wickets to spare.
IND vs BAN: India won the toss and surprisingly
chose to bat, which proved to be a blunder.
Sehwag once again proved to be India's biggest
liability. Yet again, he got out cheaply showing
that he had learnt nothing from his past
failures. As for the rest of the Indian batting,
it was at best, Shambolic. Only Ganguly and
Yuvraj batted well to give India some
respectability. But thanks to a great batting
collapse(5 wickets for 2 runs), India landed up
with 191. Take away the 32 run partnership for
the last wicket and you'll find India would have
scored even lesser. Indians have to play positive
cricket if they need to lift this cup. Although Mortaza, Rafique, and Salem
bowled tightly, Indians helped Bangladesh to pile
pressure on them by playing sedate cricket.
If India can't play Bangladeshi spinners well,
then what could they achieve against Sri Lanka."
"Dravid! Please tell your players to stop modelling and start performing! Tell them that apart from dancing on TV ads, they also have the duty to fulfill their foremost duty:Playing GOOD and POSITIVE Cricket"
If India batted pathetically, Bangladesh did the opposite, they stroked the
ball nicely and went for their shots. Dravid
helped their cause by over-bowling his pacers
instead of relying on his spinners.
I could not help but appreciate the Bangladeshi younsters(paticularly Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim) who belted the Indian attack all over the park.
IF a bunch of talented Teenagers can slog Indian bowlers over the park on a difficult pitch, why can't greats like Sachin and Dravid play positive even against amateur bowlers??? I guess the answer is ATTITUDE.
It was sad to see Dravid setting defensive fields instead of attacking fields, and just hoping for the Bangladeshi's to make
mistakes. Why didn't he use his spinners regularly??
I feel that the match had been lost
there. In the end, Bangladesh romped home with 5
wickets and 8 balls to spare.
Thanks to their Shambolic performance, India have landed themselves in a situation
where they have to beat Bermuda and Srilanka by
huge marigins, or else, it's Bye Bye India.
Ireland vs Pak:
This was the surprise package of the tournament,
Ireland beat Pakistan by 3 Wickets.
Well, Pakistan were hampered by the absence of
Afridi due to disciplinary action, Akthar and
Asif due to injury(actually doping charges).
However, they batted very badly to score a paltry 133.
Ireland on the other hand bowled tightly and
harldy allowed the Pakistani batsmen to settle
down. Akmal was the only exception and he scored
a valiant 27.
Ireland realised that this was their chance to
create history. They batted sensibly despite
losing regular wickets thanks to Neil 'O' Brien,
who scored a very valuable half century. Rain
interrupted play and the target was revised to
127. Howver it proved to be a mini hiccup as
Ireland despite losing 3 Wickets to Sami and
Ifthikar Rao Anjum, romped home due to Kevin 'O'
Brien. The match was finished in a fitting way
when their skipper Trent Johnson smashed Azhar
Mehmoud over long-on for six. Thus Pakistan were
knocked out of the world cup even before the
quarters.
Hence, the day truly belonged to the
minnows.
Minnow Bashing:
Minnow Bashing: About 6 non-playing test nations
are taking part in this World cup.
Even before this world cup began, the inclusion of
minnows has sparked off criticism from the likes
of Michael Holding(the great West Indian bowler)
and Ricky Ponting(the flamboyant Australian
captain). Although the minnows claim that their
participation is justified, their records speak
otherwise.
With the exception of Canada, Ireland and Kenya,
the other minnows have not played good cricket.
The best example would be Holland, first they got
thrashed by South Africa who piled a massive
354/4 in 40 overs. Thanks to Herschelle Gibbs(who
hit a record 6 consecutive sixes off an over from
Holland bowler Van Der Bunge) and Mark Boucher
who scored 75 off 31 balls(The fastest fifty in
WC history). Australia were not far behind, they
have thrashed the minnows Holland and Scotland by
margins of over 200 runs.
So, the next time ICC decides on including
minnows, they must first make sure that the
minnows have played enough cricket in order to
trigger upsets over test playing nations.
Otherwise records will continue to tumble and the
matches will be nothing but one sided humdingers.
The World Cup is not a place for sub-standard
cricket. Although the minnows need to face top
sides in order to improve the quality of their
cricket, the world cup is not the right place to
do so.
However, the minnows should not be totally
ignored in World cup tournaments solely for the
reason because one of them is bound to trigger
upsets. After all we need many Davids to slaughter the Goliath, don't we?
Cricket lovers love upsets and the best upsets can be provided only by minnows. SO let them not be ignored totally?
Each World Cup has seen its share of interesting upsets provided by minnows.
It goes way back to 1979, where Srilanka beat
India by 47 runs, thanks to Duleep Mendis who
scored a valuable 60 not out.
In 1983, Zimbabwe triggered the mother of all
upsets when they beat Australia by 13 runs,
thanks to an inspired all-round performance by
their captain Duncan Fletcher(present England
Coach). They might have beaten India also, but
Kapil Dev played one of the greatest knocks of
all time and saved India(he scored 175 not out in
a game where no other Indian batsman had crossed
30, he came in when the score read 17/5 and he
helped India to achieve a match winning total of
266).
In 1992, Zimbabwe beat England defending a very
low score(i think it is 134). Eddo Brandes
provided the fire power as England collapsed and
list by 20+ runs).
In 1996, Srilanka turned the cricket world
Topsy-turvy when they lifted the World Cup
defeating nations like India, England, and
Australia in the process. Kenya also upset
West indies when they bundled WI for 93(Kenya had
just scored 166). The man of the match was
Maurice ODumbe.
In 1999 Bangladesh Upset Pakistan in their last
league game.(i don't remember the scores).
In 2003, Canada beat Bangladesh.
The biggest upset of this world cup so far has
been Bangladesh defeating India and Ireland
defeating Pakistan. Who knows there may be more
And so the list goes on....
are taking part in this World cup.
Even before this world cup began, the inclusion of
minnows has sparked off criticism from the likes
of Michael Holding(the great West Indian bowler)
and Ricky Ponting(the flamboyant Australian
captain). Although the minnows claim that their
participation is justified, their records speak
otherwise.
With the exception of Canada, Ireland and Kenya,
the other minnows have not played good cricket.
The best example would be Holland, first they got
thrashed by South Africa who piled a massive
354/4 in 40 overs. Thanks to Herschelle Gibbs(who
hit a record 6 consecutive sixes off an over from
Holland bowler Van Der Bunge) and Mark Boucher
who scored 75 off 31 balls(The fastest fifty in
WC history). Australia were not far behind, they
have thrashed the minnows Holland and Scotland by
margins of over 200 runs.
So, the next time ICC decides on including
minnows, they must first make sure that the
minnows have played enough cricket in order to
trigger upsets over test playing nations.
Otherwise records will continue to tumble and the
matches will be nothing but one sided humdingers.
The World Cup is not a place for sub-standard
cricket. Although the minnows need to face top
sides in order to improve the quality of their
cricket, the world cup is not the right place to
do so.
However, the minnows should not be totally
ignored in World cup tournaments solely for the
reason because one of them is bound to trigger
upsets. After all we need many Davids to slaughter the Goliath, don't we?
Cricket lovers love upsets and the best upsets can be provided only by minnows. SO let them not be ignored totally?
Each World Cup has seen its share of interesting upsets provided by minnows.
It goes way back to 1979, where Srilanka beat
India by 47 runs, thanks to Duleep Mendis who
scored a valuable 60 not out.
In 1983, Zimbabwe triggered the mother of all
upsets when they beat Australia by 13 runs,
thanks to an inspired all-round performance by
their captain Duncan Fletcher(present England
Coach). They might have beaten India also, but
Kapil Dev played one of the greatest knocks of
all time and saved India(he scored 175 not out in
a game where no other Indian batsman had crossed
30, he came in when the score read 17/5 and he
helped India to achieve a match winning total of
266).
In 1992, Zimbabwe beat England defending a very
low score(i think it is 134). Eddo Brandes
provided the fire power as England collapsed and
list by 20+ runs).
In 1996, Srilanka turned the cricket world
Topsy-turvy when they lifted the World Cup
defeating nations like India, England, and
Australia in the process. Kenya also upset
West indies when they bundled WI for 93(Kenya had
just scored 166). The man of the match was
Maurice ODumbe.
In 1999 Bangladesh Upset Pakistan in their last
league game.(i don't remember the scores).
In 2003, Canada beat Bangladesh.
The biggest upset of this world cup so far has
been Bangladesh defeating India and Ireland
defeating Pakistan. Who knows there may be more
And so the list goes on....
Friday, March 16, 2007
Cricket:The Final Winner
Hi friends, i have written this blog purely from my perspective. I am no cricket expert nor am i a great cricket player. But i am an ardent fan of the game and i love its unpredictability. My following posts would be based on cricket solely viewed from my perspective.
Well, World Cup 2007 has already started and Australia has already kicked off its campaign on a very high note. They truly do have a chance of retaining the world cup.
If you ask me who the favorites would be, i would say "None".
Yes, i agree that Australia have strong team, and teams like NewZealand, England and SouthAfrica are in peak form, but as we all have seen. No worldcup, except the 1975 and 1979 editions, have been won by teams labelled as favorites.
Each world cup has its own share of Surprises, India surprised the world by winning the 1983 WC with its team of allrounders. The 1987 WC had its own share of surprises when WestIndies failed to reach the finals for the first time since the inauguration of the worldcup edition. The 1987 Final between England and Australia was labelled as one of the most thrilling matches. In the end, the team which held its nerve won.
The 1987 Wc was a revelation purely because of many new additions like the usage of coloured clothing, whiteballs etc. Australia made it their own due to their concept of Quick running between wickets.
The 1992 WC was an even exciting one. South Africa surprised the world when they fielded a brilliant allround unit that boasted of the best ever fielder, Jonty Rhodes.
Who can forget the run out of Inzamam, where Rhodes made a full-stretched dive towards the stumps and dislodged the bails. That was one great revelation.
It was unfortunate as SouthAfrica(also called as Proteas) were knocked out of the WC when the Rain rule required them to win 22 runs of 1 ball against England.
Pakistan were supposedly the worst team of the tournament until their Captain Imran Khan led Pakistan to its first ever World Cup truimph, courtesy Inzamam, Wasim, Javed and of course, the rained out match against England(where PAk wre all-out for 74 and yet they got a precious MATCH point which qualified them for the Quarter finals). England were unlucky again for the third time.
Although Pak and England made it to the finals, it was Newzealand, led by Martin Crowe, who revolutionised cricket by introducing the concept of Pinch hitting courtesy Mark Greatbatch and Martin Crowe. The 1987 match is best remembered for being the first WC to bring a sea of changes in the way One Day Internationals were being played.
If 1987 was dramatic, WC 1996 was excellent.
The 1996 WC saw the rise of Srilanka as one of the superpowers. Led by the plumpy Arjuna Ranatunga, the team upstaged the great teams like Australia, NewZealand, India and Pak to lift the cup for the first time.
Thanks to the pinch hitting of Sanatha Jayasuriya(The mindless Marauder) and Aravinda De Silva(One of the most stylish batsmen ever), Srilanka upset Australia in the final and romped home to lift the ultimate trophy.
The 1996 WC had many great moments like the AUS vs NZ match: NewZealand made a daunting target of 286 thanks to Harris(130) and Lee Germon(89), but Australia made a mockery of it when Mark Waugh (130) and Steve Waugh (59*) took Australia to a great victory.
The 1996 IND vs PAk match still stands out from the rest due to Ajay Jadeja, Aamir Sohail, Prasad and Waqar Younis. If you ask Why, please refer to Cricinfo.
The 1999 WC was one of the most boring WC, where Australia upstaged SouthAfrica in the SemiFinal and thrashed Pakistan in teh final to win the WC for the 2nd time.
The highlights of 1999 Wc was the SA vs AUS matches (one in the quarter and the other in Semis where the match was tied)
The 2003 WC saw India rising like a phoenix only to be burnt down by Australia in the final. The final was one of the worst one sided ones ever as India lost the match in the very first over when Gilchrist plundered Zaheer Khan for 15 runs.
Well, 2007 has just started. I just pray that this Tournament sees a much deserving and of course a new champion. I sincerely feel that Australia don't deserve to win this one. I also feel that Srilanka, India, and even Pakistan have an edge over the other teams due to their spinners who may play a crucial role(if the pitches suit them as expected). My final contenders would be SouthAfrica, NewZealand, India, Srilanka and of course Australia.
I would be very surprised if Pakistan come out of the dark to win this one. I just hope it doesn't. India do have a great chance to repeat 1983 ; only if they play as a team. I feel that they must stop depending on individual players to win matches.
Who knows, if Dravid, Saurav,Kumble, Pathan, and Sachin perform well consistenly, India might lift the Cup on April 28th.
The bottomline is,"Only a team that plays as a unit can lift this ultimate trophy".
Let the game be the true winner.
Well, World Cup 2007 has already started and Australia has already kicked off its campaign on a very high note. They truly do have a chance of retaining the world cup.
If you ask me who the favorites would be, i would say "None".
Yes, i agree that Australia have strong team, and teams like NewZealand, England and SouthAfrica are in peak form, but as we all have seen. No worldcup, except the 1975 and 1979 editions, have been won by teams labelled as favorites.
Each world cup has its own share of Surprises, India surprised the world by winning the 1983 WC with its team of allrounders. The 1987 WC had its own share of surprises when WestIndies failed to reach the finals for the first time since the inauguration of the worldcup edition. The 1987 Final between England and Australia was labelled as one of the most thrilling matches. In the end, the team which held its nerve won.
The 1987 Wc was a revelation purely because of many new additions like the usage of coloured clothing, whiteballs etc. Australia made it their own due to their concept of Quick running between wickets.
The 1992 WC was an even exciting one. South Africa surprised the world when they fielded a brilliant allround unit that boasted of the best ever fielder, Jonty Rhodes.
Who can forget the run out of Inzamam, where Rhodes made a full-stretched dive towards the stumps and dislodged the bails. That was one great revelation.
It was unfortunate as SouthAfrica(also called as Proteas) were knocked out of the WC when the Rain rule required them to win 22 runs of 1 ball against England.
Pakistan were supposedly the worst team of the tournament until their Captain Imran Khan led Pakistan to its first ever World Cup truimph, courtesy Inzamam, Wasim, Javed and of course, the rained out match against England(where PAk wre all-out for 74 and yet they got a precious MATCH point which qualified them for the Quarter finals). England were unlucky again for the third time.
Although Pak and England made it to the finals, it was Newzealand, led by Martin Crowe, who revolutionised cricket by introducing the concept of Pinch hitting courtesy Mark Greatbatch and Martin Crowe. The 1987 match is best remembered for being the first WC to bring a sea of changes in the way One Day Internationals were being played.
If 1987 was dramatic, WC 1996 was excellent.
The 1996 WC saw the rise of Srilanka as one of the superpowers. Led by the plumpy Arjuna Ranatunga, the team upstaged the great teams like Australia, NewZealand, India and Pak to lift the cup for the first time.
Thanks to the pinch hitting of Sanatha Jayasuriya(The mindless Marauder) and Aravinda De Silva(One of the most stylish batsmen ever), Srilanka upset Australia in the final and romped home to lift the ultimate trophy.
The 1996 WC had many great moments like the AUS vs NZ match: NewZealand made a daunting target of 286 thanks to Harris(130) and Lee Germon(89), but Australia made a mockery of it when Mark Waugh (130) and Steve Waugh (59*) took Australia to a great victory.
The 1996 IND vs PAk match still stands out from the rest due to Ajay Jadeja, Aamir Sohail, Prasad and Waqar Younis. If you ask Why, please refer to Cricinfo.
The 1999 WC was one of the most boring WC, where Australia upstaged SouthAfrica in the SemiFinal and thrashed Pakistan in teh final to win the WC for the 2nd time.
The highlights of 1999 Wc was the SA vs AUS matches (one in the quarter and the other in Semis where the match was tied)
The 2003 WC saw India rising like a phoenix only to be burnt down by Australia in the final. The final was one of the worst one sided ones ever as India lost the match in the very first over when Gilchrist plundered Zaheer Khan for 15 runs.
Well, 2007 has just started. I just pray that this Tournament sees a much deserving and of course a new champion. I sincerely feel that Australia don't deserve to win this one. I also feel that Srilanka, India, and even Pakistan have an edge over the other teams due to their spinners who may play a crucial role(if the pitches suit them as expected). My final contenders would be SouthAfrica, NewZealand, India, Srilanka and of course Australia.
I would be very surprised if Pakistan come out of the dark to win this one. I just hope it doesn't. India do have a great chance to repeat 1983 ; only if they play as a team. I feel that they must stop depending on individual players to win matches.
Who knows, if Dravid, Saurav,Kumble, Pathan, and Sachin perform well consistenly, India might lift the Cup on April 28th.
The bottomline is,"Only a team that plays as a unit can lift this ultimate trophy".
Let the game be the true winner.
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