IPL Expendables XI: 2014 Edition

During the last edition of IPL, I had prepared a team of grizzled, battle-hardened veterans. And inspired by the movie franchisee had named it as the IPL Expendables XI. And having started it have decided to compile a similar list this year.

The list had to undergo a major revamp as lots of the Expendables cast have finally hung up their boots. Though some of them are have taken non-combat roles in different teams (like the Mickey Rourke character in the first Expendables movie). With fresh auctions held this year, only 3 of last year's XI have survived. Sachin, Ponting, Dravid, Gilchrist & Agarkar have all retired. Hogg & Badrinath have not been picked while Sourav Ganguly is now showing signs of permanent retirement. Only Tambe, Murali and Shukla have survived into this edition.

This year's list was tougher to make and so I had to make a few concessions defining a veteran (but then Jason Statham is a key cast member of the Expendables and he is still in his prime). Sticking to the IPLpolicy of maximum 4 foreign players in the Eleven made it just that bit more difficult. 

1. Michael Hussey - Mr. Cricket is the perfect person to open the batting for this veteran's lineup. This year has been picked by Mumbai Indians who do like having seniors playing and opening for them.
2. Virender Sehwag - The man who destroyed many a bowling attack but now is a pale shadow of his former self. Coming off a very poor Ranji season but got a century for MCC. Lets see if any of the fire is still left.
3. Jacques Kallis - Statistically the greatest all-rounder of all time. Recently retired from test cricket but is available for selection in the limited overs setup where South Africa do not pick him. Has been the goto man for his all round skills  for all Fantasy Leaguers.
4. Brad Hodge - After years of being ignored he has made a comeback into the Australian national T20 squad. Also has scored the most runs ever in the T20 format.
5. MS Dhoni (c & wk) - With Gilchrist having retired and Sangakkara not being picked, the choice of a veteran wicket keeper for the Expendables was very difficult. But given how much Dhoni has greyed over the years, he looks perfect for this team.
6. Laxmi Ratan Shukla - Retains his spot from last year. Still plays Ranji and still plays the occasional IPL game though hasn't played for India this millenium.
7. Muttiah Muralitharan - he retired from international cricket around the time IPL started. And in the seventh edition, he is still around. Though this might turn out to be one season to many for the highest wicket-taker in test cricket.
8. Murali Kartik - One of the mysteries of Indian team selection has been the way they have handled left-arm spinners. Last time he played for India picked up a 6-wicket haul against Australia but never got picked again. English counties though love him and he is the only Indian to have played for a non-IPL team in the Champions League.
9. Ashish Nehra - Last act in international cricket was getting a finger broken while attempting a diving catch in the World Cup semi-finals against Pakistan. Still hanging around the domestic circuit. Outscored Sehwag during the last Ranji season.
10. Laxmipathy Balaji - The smiling assassin. Destroyed and bowler over Pakistan but injuries ruined a potentially great Indian career. However IPL has helped him make a couple of comebacks into the national team.
11. Pravin Tambe - Made his first appearance in senior cricket in last year's IPL at the young age of 42. A decent IPL followed by a great Champions League and Tambe was made his first clss debut for Mumbai as well. A story of never giving up on the dreams.

There were a few other contenders (likes of Ryan ten Doeschate, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan etc.) but they may have to wait a season or two to make an appearance in the Expendables starcast. Not as populated with big names as last year but this team certainly won't be pushovers.

This is BLASPHEMY, MADNESS, NEWLANDS

A memorable scene from the movie 300 comes to mind (a score which is unthinkable here)

After the events in Newlands this is is what would have been the conversation

THIS IS BLASPHEMY, THIS IS MADNESS said the batsmen.

The bowlers would have said - THIS IS NEWLANDS.

An insane day of Test cricket in Cape Town. The scorecard resembles a 19th century test match. To sum up the events 23 wickets fell, all 4 innings took place on the same day, both teams were knocked out for less than a 100, Australia at 21/9 were in real danger of recording the lowest score ever in the history of Test matches, the last wicket added more than the 1st 9 combined, and in the 4th innings the batsmen settled down as if nothing had happened. What happened after lunch, did pitch transform into a snake-pit? And then quietened down after the Aussie innings. Also there were an extra-ordinary numbers of decisions overturned via DRS while Shane Watson recorded almost T20 type of bowling figures. And to round off a crazy day, Michael Hussey dropped  a simple catch of Hashim Amla of the last ball of the innings.

In this context, I can safely say Michael Clarke's 151 has to be one of the greatest innings of all times. Nathan Lyon & Peter Siddle's 26 runs partnership maybe just helped the pitch ease out a bit. Should Australia have declared then? Dont know but certainly an interesting day's play ahead.

P.S. Wonder if ICC's pitch committee has to say anything about this pitch. Recently Kotla & Galle have received lots of criticism. Wonder what will said about this one.

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust...

The Ashes are done and dusted. Australia have been thrashed beyond recognition. In fact the 3-1 margin actually is quite flattering towards the Aussies. The previous series in England had been a close fought one with Australia being the better performers inspite of being on the worng side of a 2-1 scoreline. Andrew Strauss had then commented that "When we bad we were awful, when we were good we managed to be just good enough". This time after 3 innings victory there is not much to review, except what exactly happened in Perth?

The SCG could have been the farewell venue for Ricky Ponting's Test career. Instead it was Paul Collingwood who got the perfect farewell from Test cricket. The totally dominant Aussies were reduced to a joke in the light of England's throughly professional performance. Underperforming players and some muddled selection policy made the Autralian cricket time of quite a few jokes. The cricketing world rejoiced to see them suffer. Here are a few highlights.

• What do you call an Australian cricketer who is world class? Retired.
• After winning the toss, Strauss to Ponting, "You lads can bat". Ponting, "No mate we can't. We really can't".
• What is the Australian version of LBW? Lost, Beaten, Walloped.
• Michael Clarke wanted to captain Australia very badly. He did just that.

On the cricketing front the highlights would be the surreal score of 1-517, Collingwood's catches, England's pace attack, Bell's 1st Ashes century, Trott's batting, Hussey's lonely battle. And above all Alastair Cook, for whom the picture is the most apt description.

And if we add the Sprinkler dance, an almost perfect Ashes for the England team.

P.S. Now I am waiting for the Indian tour of England later this year.

Australianism

Australianism means single minded determination to win - to win within the laws but, if necessary, to the last limits within them. It means where the "impossible" is within the realm of what the human body can do, there are Australians who believe that they can do it - and who have succeeded often enough to make us wonder if anything is impossible to them. It means they have never lost a match - particularly a Test match - until the last run is scored or their last wicket is down.

John Arlott, 1948 (Description of the Invincibles).

Michael Hussey's performance in the 2nd semi-final showed that 62 years down the line these words still ring true. In recent times it has been on display in the Sydney test against Pakistan (Hussey was the lead player there too) & the Hyderabad ODI against India (Sachin's 175 in a lost cause), where the Australians have won from seemingly lost situations.

Salute to the Australianism