The Twenty17 LineUp

2018 has dawned upon us and the cricketing action continues in full swing with New Zealand completing a demolition of the West Indies and Vidarbha winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time ever. Before the action hots up further, time to take a look back at the Cricketing XI of 2017 (compiled by yours truly).

1. Afghanistan & Ireland get Test Status

After resisting for years, ICC decided to expand the Test arena. And thus we have two new Full members on-board – Afghanistan and Ireland (although both are yet to play a Test). Well-deserved reward for the yeoman service done to the Associate cause. Ireland by consistently upsetting the big teams at the major events and Afghanistan by providing a sporting fairy-tale even the best of Hollywood writers will not be able to script! Now they just need to play a Test each!

2. Women’s World Cup

2017 was the year in which women’s cricket became just cricket! The massive success of the Women’s World Cup provided the ultimate fillip. It also helped that India performed well and finished runners-up in a closely contested Lord’s final. But surprisingly after all the goodwill generated, BCCI hasn’t really cashed in and the Indian team hasn’t played a single game after the World Cup Final!

3. Pakistan 

If there is a team which can be trusted to do the inexplicable, it has to be Pakistan. It was another roller-coaster year (no surprises there!). They won the Champions Trophy in England and managed to lose a Test series to Sri Lanka in their adopted home! But the highlight would be the return of International cricket to Pakistan with a T20 series against an International XI (which inexplicably was given international status) and a one off game against Sri Lanka. Which brings us to…

4. The Sri Lankan Captaincy Revolving Door

Angelo Matthews, Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera, Rangana Herath, Chamara Kapugedera, Lasith Malinga – Seven different men captained the Sri Lankan team across different formats this year. Also showed in the overall results where they were hammered by all and sundry, including a series loss to Zimbabwe, who themselves were coming off from losses to Scotland and Netherlands!

5. Performance of the Year 

Will pick two this year. Marcus Stoinis’s incredible assault against New Zealand, which nearly won Australia the game. And Harmanpreet Kaur’s blistering 171* against Australia in the World Cup semi-finals, probably the defining innings for the women’s game in India.

6. Play is stopped due to…

Cricket fans are used to rain and bad light or even bees and dogs stopping play. But 2017 saw even more bizarre stoppages. A county game was stopped due to an arrow landing near the pitch, a Ranji game due to a car driving onto the pitch and finally a Test Match interrupted due to high pollution levels!

7. Pay Dispute

Australians joined the world perennially occupied by the West Indies with a bitter long drawn-out dispute which went on for most of the year. However, unlike the West Indies, the Aussies were able to resolve theirs and get back to business of playing the game!

8. The Return of the Unwanted

The India-Sri Lanka matches were back with not one but two full back-to-back tours. Not helping matters was the poor form of the Sri Lankans. Result: A TourSweep with India beating Sri Lanka 9-0 across formats in Sri Lanka, who improved a bit on the return tour winning one ODI and drawing two Tests!

9. Comeback Sledge of the Year

Pakistan discovered a exciting new talent in Fakhar Zaman, who got a match winning century in the Champions Trophy Final. The newbie also showed an innovative way to tackle sledging, leaving Liam Plunkett speechless by calmly saying “No English”. Ironic considering he is one of the more proficient English speakers in the Pakistan team!

10. Play of the Year

Mitchell Starc’s ball to James Vince. Almost a leg-break at 140KMPH. Just beautiful to watch!

11. Colourful Start of the Year

Sunil Ambris had a pretty interesting start to his Test career – becoming the first batsman ever to be hit wicket off the very first ball he faced, then in the second innings smacking a six to score his first runs, hit wicket again in the first innings of the next Test and rounding it off by being retired hurt in the second innings. Quite an action-packed start for the new West Indies keeper. 

And the 12th Man

Geoff Boycott being pranked by Johnathan Agnew on air. Boycott’s reaction on being told by Agnew that one of his centuries does not count as first-class anymore is just priceless.

That was cricketing year 2017. Lets see what 2018 has in store for us!

Wishing all readers a very happy New year 2018!

Pakistan Cricket's New Dawn (?)

3rd March, 2009 

Sri Lankan team is attacked by armed gunmen in Lahore on the way to the Gaddafi Stadium. 7 players and an umpire are injured while 8 Pakistani civilians and policemen are killed. An attack which effectively put an end to international cricket in Pakistan.

12th September, 2017 

More than eight years after the attack, Pakistan hosts a World XI team sent by ICC in the same Gaddafi stadium. Marking the end of the international exile of Pakistan as an international cricketing venue. They did host Zimbabwe earlier and the PSL final. But this was the first big step in the return of international cricket. And could be used as a stepping stone for future engagements.

Just some random thoughts after the first game.

• Eight and a half years! That’s a pretty long period. This blog did not even exist at that time!
• What a feeling it must be for the Pakistani players – many of whom would be appearing for the first time in front of their countrymen in their own country. Also first international appearance for Imran Tahir in the country of his birth.
• How did these games get international status? There are quite a few amongst the World XI ranks who would not even feature in their respective country lineups!
• This was the first live sporting action, I watched on Discovery Sport! Mostly they are showing horse races.
• Pakistan’s uniform looked more blue that green. Reminded me of the Kiwi colours during the late 90s.
• There is a thing about World XIs. This rag-tag bunch always seems to lose.
• Also kudos to the World XI players for braving it out. If things go well (fingers crossed) they would be hailed as pioneers in the days to come.

Overall a great initiative by the ICC and Pakistan Cricket. Hopefully this will herald better days for cricket and life in Pakistan.

The Hyped Up One-Sided Rivalry

11-Nil: That's the current scoreline in the most hyped up, yet surprisingly most one-sided rivalry on the biggest stages of world cricket. Since 1992, India & Pakistan have played each other 11 times in World Cups (ODI & T20), and each and every time India has come out trumps. The venues change, the conditions change, the protagonists change, yet the final result has always been the same.

Sydney, Bangalore, Manchester, Centurion, Durban, Johannesburg, Mohali, Colombo, Mirpur, Adelaide, Kolkata. It the World Cup. India and Pakistan come to play. India wins. As simple as that. 6-0 in ODIs and 5-0 including one win via bowl out in T20 World Cups.

Yet, when one compares the overall head-to-head record it reads, 72-51 in Pakistan's favor in ODIs while the T20 record is 6-1 in India's. Given this context, 11-0 is has now become too big a margin to be just a statistical anomaly?

India vs Pakistan provides the marquee clash of any cricket tournament. After all, the countries have a shared bitter history, the Partition still rankles many, while multiple wars have been fought. The cricketing rivalry is sometimes used as a metaphor for the larger issues (which it should not be). And hence the hype. Although from a purely cricketing perspective, Australia has already replaced Pakistan as our arch-rivals. Yet, when the sub-continental neighbors clash, it doesn't get any bigger . 

While the scoreline might not suggest this, the games have always lived up to the hyped up expectations and left lots of indelible memories for the fans on both sides. The Javed Miandad kangaroo jumps, the Prasad-Sohail face-off, the Sachin-Sehwag Centurion assault, Manchester played in the Kargil backdrop, the bowl-out, the Misbah scoop, Joginder Sharma's last over, the Virat Kohli gems, the mauka ad. Wonderful memories, if you are an India fan, nightmares for the Pakistanis. And yesterday's game at Eden Gardens was no different.

Here are the power-plays from the Kolkata game.

• Based on pure talent, Pakistan have always had the better bowling attack, India the better batting line-up. No better example than this picture from the pre-game ceremony at Kolkata.

That is over 2200 international wickets on the left and 65,000 international runs on the right side of the picture.

• It might only have been a group match, but the game needed its own opening ceremony. Only thing missing was the Wagah Border gate closing ceremony. Even if it came at the cost of cutting overs. 
• There is Virat Kohli and there are other batsmen. In limited overs cricket, there is simply no peer in completing the assigned job. Pitch conditions, bowlers, the struggles of his fellow batsmen simply do not matter to him.
• Dhoni's miscalculation. And I am not talking about his handling of the bowlers (Ashwin not completing his quota). He likes to complete a win with a six. He hit one seemingly thinking that the job was done, yet one run still had to be scored. Probably the pressures of the big game telling on Captain Cool as well.
• There was a prequel to the game with the ladies playing in Kotla. The match was evenly poised but the rain Gods did a South Africa on the Indians. Result - suddenly Pakistani women team getting more attention and respect in Pakistan.

In the end Cricket and India won :D

World Cup 2015 - Quarter-Final Predictions

The battle-lines are drawn. The Quarter-finalists identified. 7 games remaining, 7 teams to be knocked out. 1 winner. On the eve of the first of the 4 Quarter-finals, its Divination time – the time to predict the teams still left standing after four days of hopefully intense battle.

Quarter-Final 1 – South Africa vs Sri Lanka

The foremost question - Will South Africa choke again? AB de Villiers has said they won’t. History suggests otherwise.

It’s an intriguing clash between two teams with very evenly matched records against each other. Both are coming in with 4 wins each. South Africa have a suspect record while chasing and a tendency to not make through to the knock-outs. Sri Lanka on the other hand have regularly been reaching the last stages of ICC events. They also have been losing players through the tournament and have a question mark on their bowling.

The toss will be crucial. Both would want to bat first and avoid the scoreboard pressure while chasing.

Prediction – Sri Lanka to win toss, bat first, put up a fairly decent total. South Africa would begin the chase in earnest, then falter, and asphyxiate, resulting in a Sri Lankan victory.

Quarter-Final 2 – India vs Bangladesh

Both teams have had a much better than expected Group Stage. Powered by their bowlers (!!!), India sailed through to the top of the Group with 1 full game to spare. On the other hand, Bangladesh punched out England and gave a good scare to the Kiwis on their way to the knockouts. The MCG is expected to be filled with Indian supporters, some Bangladeshi supporters and a decent contingent of the Barmy Army. 

India are the favorites but will do well to remember the 2007 World Cup. Bangladesh don’t have anything to lose but a win would certainly be the greatest day in their sporting history. 

Prediction – India (what else to expect from an Indian blogger)

Quarter-Final 3 – Australia vs Pakistan

On one corner, the home team, who are an efficient mean machine out to destroy all opposition with both bat and ball and powered by a sense of not giving it up till the last ball has been bowled. They have had a smooth ride into the Quarters with only one bump in the road. Even in that loss to the Kiwis they showed the true Aussie grit. Where many teams would have given up after being knocked out for 150 odd, Australia fought back hard and the Kiwis barely managed to scrape home with one wicket to spare.

On the other corner, you have Pakistan, a team which is the very definition of mavericks. The Irish were knocked out by Pakistan, not because of their own loss to them, but due the hammering which Pakistan got from the West Indies. After years of using one Akmal or the other, Pakistan have finally learnt that it pays to have an actual wicket-keeper doing the job behind the stumps. A good bowling combined with some brittle batting make up for a totally unpredictable combination.

Prediction – Australia to win.

Quarter-Final 4 – New Zealand vs West Indies

The Kiwis go into the knock-outs with a cent percent record while West Indies have barely managed to make it on the basis of net run rates. The Kiwis have looked set to destroy the opposition batting and then chase down the small targets as fast as possible. Though sometimes the batting does implode but so far they have survived on this tactics. West Indies, on the other hand, seem to have no plan but just individuals doing the job either fantastically well or spectacularly badly with no middle ground. Gayle can get a double century all by himself or the bowlers can tie down the Indian top order but chances of both events happening together seem quite unlikely.

The result could well depend on which version of West Indies turns up to play.

Prediction – New Zealand to win. Or a Chris Gayle explodes (which hasn’t ever happened in any crucial game in any format for any team).

Now its time to see how good my "inner eye" is.

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - March 5th

After a break of 1 day, in which the cricketing world's focus was on BCCI's presidency battle, the World Cup resumed on Tuesday. 

• Seems like ICC had had enough of the brickbats. So they asked the big boys to go all Sparta on the Associates. Result - South Africa, Australia & Pakistan hammering the little fellows to pulp, with all of them recording huge wins.
• We now bid farewell to Scotland whose purely mathematical chances of qualifying have evaporated. They were never in with a chance but at least they had the best kit.
• These one team bat-a-thons are getting ridiculous to watch. The mind is numbed from seeing teams score at 15 an over for the last 10 overs. What are the bowlers supposed to do? And the big scoreboard pressure gets to the team chasing and the contest is all but over within a few overs into the chase. Not good for any game.
• Krishna Chandra Karate - the best name of the tournament.
• Shaiman Anwar of UAE leading the run-charts. Who would have thunk this?
• Sachin Tendulkar apparently wants a 25 team World Cup. Well that will be just a series of mismatches. My suggestion is have 16 teams in 4 groups (like in West Indies) followed by straight knock-outs (unlike the long unending Super 8 stage in West Indies). Or you can have 2 groups of 4 each in the 2nd round followed by semis & finals (like the T20 World Cup). Enough said.
• No some crucial games coming up. More than that hoping for a few genuine contests. Need not be a edge-of-the-seat cliffhanger all the time but is a contest too much to ask for?

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - 27th Feb

Its the World Cup. And there ought to be some madness. But even the madness has its own patterns.

• There seems to be a grand conspiracy by all parties to put egg on the ICC's face. The Associates are putting on a tough fight on the field. The Full time nations are hammering each other in one one-sided game after the other. Meanwhile ICC is still looking at taking the World out of the World Cup by restricting the entries to ten.
• Ireland nearly choked and then managed to sneak through against UAE in a close encounter. Afghanistan were down for the count but showed some amazing resilience to win an even closer encounter.
• After the India defeat, AB de Villiers wanted to go to his room and feel sad. Then he decided to take out his sadness on the West Indies. And what followed was countless records getting broken one after the other.
• Jason Holder - 1st 5 overs - 9 runs, next 5 overs - 95 runs. So he comes back and scores a 50 in a losing affair.
• The luck of the Irish - Ed Joyce and the dancing bail. (Video)
• In other news - Pakistan are behaving exactly like Pakistan - losing heavily, rumours of rift against the fielding coach and the chief selector has been sent back for being found in a casino.
• Australia haven't had a game in two weeks now. Almost forgotten that they are still playing.
• The Indian fans are already walking about like World Champions. Well the real World Cup begins only after the group stages.
• Prediction time - Pakistan-Ireland and England-Bangladesh to be the deciding games for this World Cup.
• Side Note - As if a World Cup game is not enough incentive, Australia and New Zealand will also be playing for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.

P.S. In case you want to feel like doing something about the World Cup size for the next tournament and haven't done it yet, feel free to sign this petition here. [Current Count - 13960]

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - Feb 21st

Another round of one-sided hammerings. These matches are still watchable for their sheer sadistic quality.

• Today's notes begin with an after-thought from yesterday's Kiwi-English game. The shambolic English performance could be summed up by New Zealan'd winning "shot" - an over the head wide running down to the boundary.
• And now for today's game of the upredictables. I had predicted a Pakistani win but given that these are the two most unpredictable teams around the result couldn't have been any more opposite. West Indies recorded their biggest ever victory against Pakistan.
• 1 for 4. Thats the score most of India woke up to. And we were celebrating out big victory against this team.
• Arbit Stat#41: 1 run - the lowest combined score made by the top four batsmen in an ODI innings
• West Indies have come back from losing against Ireland to hammering Pakistan throwing Group B wide open. The inconsistency of the teams in the mix just adds to the unpredictability although the long drawn format was designed to maintain status quo.
• Bangladesh must be really happy to get away with a point from a washed out game against the Aussies. This one point might well crucial in the end.
• Its still early days but funny to see England and Pakistan bang at the bottom of their respective groups after 2 games each.
• Tomorrow the big boys come to play. Will India finally manage to open their account against South Africa in the World Cups. Or will this mauka mauka game continue.

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - 15th Feb

Today was the big one. The clash of the neighboring continental giants and fierce rivals. After a spirited show, Zimbabwe came up short against their more fancied rivals. 

• Zimbabwe have already surpassed expectations. And are now looking a strong contender for a knock-out berth.
• South Africa stuttered initially but their depth in batting rescued them from a precarious situation into an unbeatable one.
• David Miller & Jean Paul Duminy are now the proud owners of the record for the highest 5th wicket partnership in ODI history. A record which went by almost unnoticed because all eyes were on the other game going on in Adelaide.

Which brings me to the real game of the day.

• It was supposed to be the biggest game of the World Cup, yet inspite of the few nervous moments, India walked away with their biggest ever World Cup victory against Pakistan. 
• 6-Nil. इस बार भी नहीं आया मौका।
• India still not managing to make full utilization of the end overs. This was something of a bugbear for India last time around as well.
• DRS controversy made another appearance. Again its not the system, its the people handling it and their awareness/ignorance of the rules regarding its usage which is creating all the trouble.
• Sohail Khan appealed for LBW on his very first delivery to Shikhar Dhawan. The umpire signalled not out and Sohail immediately called for DRS while Misbah rushed to recall the DRS review. Fortunately the umpire listened to Misbah as the replay showed the ball hitting Dhawan bang in the middle of his bat. 
• Yasir Shah can easily pass off as Lionel Messi.
• This Indian habit off slowing down when approaching a century (e.g. Kohli today) could land us in major trouble in the future. 
• Sir Jadeja's legend got enhanced further when he strolled for run and Pakistan had ample time to run him out, not once but twice and both times they missed.
• Misbah left last man standing. A scene oft-repeated in the past few years, specially against India.
• A for Akmal, B for Ball, C for Catch, D for Drop, An Akmal putting down a catch, another recurring theme for Pakistan
• And finally a joke to sum up Pakistan's misery

What does Feb 16 have in store for us?

• The crucial West Indies - Ireland encounter
• IPL Player Auctions

World Cup Preview - Group B

Today's post presents short preview of the Group B Teams. A group with the more likelihood of upsets and 6 teams in contention for the 4 knock-out berths.

India

India are the defending champions and have a marketing campaign running on the line "Won't Give It Back". They have also been in Australia for nearly 3 months now in the course of which they have won a grand total of 1 game, a warm-up against Afghanistan. Recent form shows an explosive but misfiring batting lineup combined with a pop-gun bowling attack and some not so good fielding. The schedule has the tougher games first and the easier (on paper) games later. Difficult to see them go far in the tournament.

World Cup Aim - Wont Give It Back. 

South Africa

A fantastic batting lineup backed up a deadly bowling attack. On paper and form, they should be the favorites to win the World Cup. But then this is South Africa we are talking about. They should have won the World Cup at least twice and made it to the finals at least 4 times. But in reality they have been finding new ways of losing out in the first opportunity. Form suggests a first World Cup victory. History suggests they will be knocked out in the quarters. 

World Cup Aim - Get rid off the Chokers tag

Pakistan

They are the very definition of unpredictability. Also they have been hit hard by the recent ICC crackdown on chucking. Yet they have managed to unearth replacements in no time. One thing which can be predicted about Pakistan with certainty is that the bowling talent pipeline never dries. How much they progress will depend more on which Pakistan turns up to play.

World Cup Aim - Beat India for once and get that monkey off the back.

West Indies

Just a shadow of the once great team. Also riddled by too many player-board disputes and team selection issues. Yet they can still pack a punch on their day. But they cannot take the quarter-final spot for granted. Both Ireland & Zimbabwe will be gunning for their head in the race to the knock-outs.

World Cup Aim - Don't abandon the campaign midway like that India tour.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe would have been a good cricketing nation if not for all the political troubles over the last decade and a half. They have been slowly rebuilding but are lacking the necessary resources. The warm-up performances have been heartening and given the West Indies's troubles they would certainly be in the running for a knock-out spot.

World Cup Target - Carry on rebuilding

Ireland

The Irish have been the success story of the last two World Cups. Yet they have been the victims of all the wrong-doings of the big boys of the cricketing world. They hardly get to play the big nations. And the Irish national team is becoming a sort of a recruitment center for England. However this time around they have a good chance of making it to the knock-outs. But will they be able to remains the questions.

World Cup Target - At least one if not more big boy scalp to their name (Pakistan/South Africa/India better watch out)

UAE

The UAE are back playing in the World Cup after a gap of 19 years. But not expecting much from them.

World Cup Target - Avoid getting hammered in every game and try to beat the Irish.

Key Games 

• India vs Pakistan
• Zimbabwe vs West Indies
• Zimbabwe vs Ireland
• Ireland vs West Indes

South Africa, India and Pakistan should make it to the Quarters. The 4th place will be tough fight between West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland. This is certainly the more intriguing group.

Now let the games begin.

The 1st World T20 Final

“In the Air...Sreesanth… Takes It…India WINS” – boomed Ravi Shastri as Misbah-ul-Haq’s attempted scoop shot was caught much short of its intended destination. And with that final act, India became the inaugural World Twenty20 champions.

For the Indian fan, it was a perfect finale to a near-perfect event. A world tournament final victory, coming over your historical arch-rivals was just the balm needed to heal the wounds from the ODI World Cup earlier in the year.

The tournament had been a grand spectacle. Music, player introductions, bowl-outs, fireworks and dancing cheerleaders were some of the innovations which were well received by the audience. For the marketing men, the final was a dream match-up like the perfect icing on the cake. The finalists— India and Pakistan – historical arch-rivals, both seeking redemption for their respective horrendous show in the ODI World Cup. They had played a thrilling tie earlier in the tournament which India won 3-nil in a bowl-out.

India suffered a setback before the start with Virender Sehwag missing the final through injury. In came debutant Yusuf Pathan as his replacement. Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first. Pathan began his international career in a spectacular fashion launching the very second ball he faced from Asif into the stands but he fell soon after. Gautam Gambhir played a steady hand while wickets fell regularly at the other end.  The most memorable moment of the innings arrived when Gambhir smashed a six straight into the scoreboard. “That’s one way to get the scoreboard moving” was the gem from the commentary box. India ended up with a seemingly below-par total of 157.

Pakistan should have chased this in a canter but the World Cup final has its own pressures. Tight bowling and fielding combined with some reckless shots had handed over the initiative to India. The Indian fans thought the match was in the bag but Misbah had other ideas. There was a flurry of big shots while wickets kept falling at the other end.

Pakistan needed 13 runs off the last over with Misbah on strike and only one wicket remaining. Here Dhoni made the crucial choice. He handed the ball to Joginder Sharma ahead of the much more experienced Harbhajan Singh. Dhoni’s sheer gut feeling seemed to be the only logical explanation for this choice as Joginder bowled a wide and then was hit for a straight six. Everyone’s nerves were all over the place and Misbah seemed to be the only calm one. And then the third ball of the over. Misbah tried the scoop shot, the ball seemed to have been hit perfectly rising in the air as we saw the crowds in the background. With bated breath, we saw the ball begin its descent. Was it going to cross the boundary or was it falling short? The ball came down and landed safely into the hands of the waiting short fine leg fielder. Misbah was down to his haunches and the Indian team was celebrating.

I was watching the game with some hundred others in my college common room, which had never been so crowded before. There had been a hushed silence with everyone doing their best not to jinx the Indian team by any sort of movement. Sressanth caught the ball and the whole room erupted. An instant party followed.

All thoughts of assignments and submissions for the next day had gone for a toss. They would wait. After all we were now the World Champions.

P.S. - This article was written as part of the ongoing #BeACricketWriter Contest being conducted by Harsha Bhogle

Arbit Stats 35

Australia vs Pakistan Test Series, 2014

9 - Number of centuries scored by the Pakistani batsmen in a 2 Test series.
21 - Number of years that the previous 9 Pakistani Test centuries against Australia took.

Shows the level of complete dominance and break from history that this series has been for Pakistan. They are now on verge of a 3rd successive Test win against Australia after having lost the preceding 13 in a row against them.

Unrelated but comparable factoid.
6 - India's medal haul in 2012 London Games
7 - The number of previous Olympics (from 1984 - 2008) in which India got 6 medals combined.

The Line-up from Twenty13

Like most other things, the cricketing year 2013 is also coming to an end. So here is an year-end list. Just giving it some cricketing context by making an eleven to remember for (or not) from Twenty13.

1. The final one

Sachin Tendulkar c Darren Sammy b Narsingh Deonarine 74

Thats how a 200 test career ended on the scorebooks. There was a little more to come when he gave a touching farewell speech calling it his "life between 22 yards for 24 years" Millions of fans also promptly announced their retirement from watching the game. (How many kept this promise during the Johannesburg Test is a matter of conjecture). (Click here and here for Slipstream Cricket's coverage of the last match)

2. Fairy tale beginnings

Australia are in major trouble. 9 down facing up to a huge deficit in the opening game of the Ashes. A 19 year old, who wasn't even originally picked in the squad, comes into bat on debut. And then proceeds to score 98, the highest ever by a number 11. Its the stuff fairytales are made of. However Ashton Agar's career did not really take off. There is still plenty of time for it though.

3. The Power of the Moustache

Shikhar Dhawan had played for India before,but he only exploded on the scene, twirling his moustache, this year. Ravindra Jadeja transformed from the being the most abused one to to now being a  revered one. David Warner returns from Zimbabawe and starts scoring Test centuries. Mitchell Johnson from a Barmy Army punching bag becomes the sledgehammer  who destroys England. The only thing in common between all these characters is the Moustache. 

4. To Walk or Not to Walk - That is the Question

Stuart Broad edges Ashton Agar (he of the fairy-tale start from 2 above) into the waiting first slip. Umpire Dar does not raise his finger. Australia have used up all their reviews, Broad does not walk. The social media erupts declaring that this is as big an incident as Bodyline. The Spirit of Cricket (whatever that is) is called into question. Everyone jumps into the debate. Meanwhile the most common sense solution (empowering the TV umpire to initiate decision making) is not even breathed about. 

5. The Irony

We are living in an era where the health of the game is being questioned. Test cricket is supposed to be dying due the arrival of ODI cricket, which in turn is dying to the arrival of T20 cricket and the non-death of Test cricket. Then we had the Champions Trophy's last edition (as of now) this year. The tournament was keenly contested raising ratings. But being held in England rain also joined the party redcuing the final (of all games) to a 20 over contest. The Irony...

6. The Fixing Saga

Sreesanth, Chandila, Chavan arrested during IPL, Ashraful banned, 3 former Kiwi internationals facing Anti-corruption inquiries, Umpire Rauf getting dropped from the international panel, Team owners facing illegal betting charges, bookies attempting to buy franchisee in Sri Lankan Premier League (which failed to take-off). The fixing saga continues but the corrupt are being weeded out. Can it be completely eradicated? Well human greed has no limitations but "constant vigilance" is what is needed to keep the game as clean as possible.

7. Homework Gate

4 Australian cricketers are dropped from the squad ... for not completing a presentation on how to improve the team. No wonder they were absolute rubbish at that time. Not too much after the coach was the one who got dropped and slowly the team also rediscovered its mojo.

8. Karma bites back

England were all gung ho after winning the 3rd consecutive Ashes. They celebrations ended with some of the team members taking a leak on the Oval pitch displaying no sense of respect for the hallowed turf. Well karma came back  to bite them and since then England have been humiliated by the same opponents in the next 4 matches.

9. Pakistani Enigma

The Pakistan team performs like a sine curve. Hitting rock bottom and then immediately scaling new heights. The same set of players can lose a Test to Zimbabwe (who are struggling to arrange a match) and then a couple of weeks later beat up the top ranked South Africa. And to ensure that the sine curve is complete they lost to South Africa in the very next Test.

10. The Associates battle on

The likes of Ireland and Afghanistan continue to keep the Associate flag fluttering. Although they face severe resistance from the big 10. England keep stealing Irish players and using them (Morgan & Rankin) to beat them. A 16 nation qualifying tournament is held to find 6 Associates who get to play in the qualifying rounds for the next T20 World Cup. Yet the likes of Irealnd, Afghanistan, Nepal et al keep on playing. Guess they are the truly passionate cricketing countries.Hats off to the Associates.

11. Comeback of the Year

From who else but the ever-youth comeback kid, the one and only Shahid Afridi. After having retired for the 20th time in the past 20 years, he comes back to the national squad and destroys West Indies with bat and ball. 76 runs (coming in at 47/5) and following it up with a 7 wicket haul . If not the greatest all-round ODI performance, this surely has to be the greatest all-round comeback performance of all time. May he keep retiring and coming back.

12. The 12th Man (a purely cricketing concept)

For the 12th man presenting some off-field action. Here is a video of Brett Lee trying to kill bowling an over at Piers Morgan. 

Well that was the line-up from the year as we bid farewell to the legend Jacques Kallis who retires in the ongoing Durban Test. Wishing for good cricket in the next year.

Wishing all readers a very happy and prosperous new year ahead.

Ten from 2012

'Tis that time of the year when you think about the time gone by. And then you compile the lists. Here is Slipstream Cricket's list of 10 cricketing memories from the year 2012.

1. The year of Retirements

Dravid, Laxman, Strauss, Ponting, Boucher, Simon Taufel retired from all formats of the game through 2012r. And the year  ended with Mr. Cricket Mike Hussey announcing his international retirement at end  of the current Australian season. Then there was the  retirement of Sachin Tendulkar from ODIs (only) which led to millions of Indian fans saying that they will retire from watching the ODI game.

2. The year of Michael Clarke

He is the new batting machine. Starts the year with a triple against India. Followed it with a double against Indians, added 2 more doubles against South Africa in a losing cause and then ended the year with a meagre 106 against Sri Lanka. Purple patches don't get purpler.

3, The Gangnam Style

There was a universally loved West Indies victory in the T20 world cup. They won it in style and celebrated in Gangnam style. There was a certain pride in playing for the West Indies shown by their maverick T20 mercenaries showing glimpses of a revival in West Indies cricket. Hopefully it is not another false dawn.

4. The Hundredth Hundred

The entire country and multiple statisticians waited for the hundreth hundred to come for over a year. It did not come in World Cup 2011 or in England or at home in India or in Australia. People kept waiting and waiting. And finally when it did come it came in a defeat to Bangladesh in Asia Cup

5. The Virat Kohli run chase formula

Give any target, provide some extra parameters (have to win in x overs or get a bonus point, lose early wickets). Then comes to bat Virat Kohli. And Job is done.

6. Misfiring strategy of the year

India had to avenge last year's blanking in England. Given England's poor display against Piyush Chawla & Harbhajan Singh in the T20 world cup, spin was the weapon of vengeance. And the weapon needed to be carefully hidden. So no spinners picked against the English in the practice games. Only  the Indian think-tank forgot that they had Swann, Monty & Mustaq Ahmed to practice during the nets. End result - first series loss to England in 28 years.

7. Cricketing jargon of the year

Reintegration - Kevin Pietersen behaves like a bad boy off the field. So he is dropped. But England need  him as they get knocked out early in the T20 World Cup and lose the Test top dog status to South Africa. So they pick him again after talks. And they call the process - Reintegration. Result - England win their  first Test series in India in 28 years. 

8. The Curse of the Golden Mace

After India England arent able to hold on the mace for long. 'The curse strike them as they keep losing till finally handing over the mace to South Africa. South Africa barely survive the Clarke juggernaut and have retained the mace. Not sure for how long South Africa they can hold on to it though.

9. Surprise of the Year

There was no new controversy emerging from Pakistan. None that I can recall any at the moment. And that in itself I would call as a major achievement.

10. Newton's Law of Gravity award.

To the Indian team. From the highs of 2011 World Cup victory to 4-0 demolitions in England & Australia & a series loss in India, failure to reach finals of CB series & Asia Cup and early elimination in the T20 World Cup. Yet the arrogance in BCCI remains.

P.S. RIP Tony Grieg. Slipstream Cricket had differences of opinion with you but your voice would be sorely missed. 

200 Not Out

Rahul Dravid reached the milestone of 13,000 Test runs.

Sachin Tendulkar is more than half way in the attempt for the 100th international 100.

Darren Bravo is looking more and more like the man he is often compared to, Brian Lara.

Meanwhile, almost unnoticed, Slipstream Cricket (formerly called The Crickiblog) has reached its own special milestone of 200 posts (this being the 200th one). The 100th post milestone had been reached on the  blog's 1st birthday. Since then the strike rate has improved considerably and the 2nd 100 took less than 11 months.

How do I explain this improved strike rate? The cricket world cup happened for one (India won :D), which kept the months of February and March quite busy. My posting ability improved (:P). Or maybe I had nothing better to do and becoming a bigger cricket tragic than I already was. (But my other blog seems to have hit a writer's block and frequency of posts has deteriorated quite rapidly).

In the past one year, the blog has undergone a little bit of design changes. The Arbit Statistics have got a fully dedicated section for themselves, though they keep updating pretty fast. Also the blog has made acquaintance with fellow blogs on the matters of the gentleman's game. (Point to be noted -  the blog and not the blogger). It feels good to be mentioned around here and there.

As for the content, have decided that this is not a newspaper or a review site. And I do NOT have to cover all the goings on in the cricket world (but still follow up a lot). A lot can be left unwritten. But whenever there are some thoughts assembled they ought to be jotted down and posted. So these posts are becoming the random musings of a die-hard fanatic.

Nowadays, also being occasionally published at DHCF (Die Hard Cricket Fans). The posts get published as the editor wishes.

Finally, time for a dedications.

• To The Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice, for being the catalyst for the blog's genesis and its name.
• To BCCI, for making our team play non-stop, so that the lack of posts can never be blamed on the lack of cricketing events taking place. Laziness will take the blame here.
• To Pakistan cricket, its board and its players, for providing most of the off-field drama.
• To South Africa, for continuing their proud choking traditions.
• To Australia, for not being the dominant force that they were, so that sadist fans across the non-Australian world can gloat.
• To England for being the most entertaining team in the cricket world (so damned good in Tests and absolutely lousy in the ODIs).
• To Jharkhand for winning its first ever domestic trophy. Your deeds will be followed. (Aside - Can't think of any other blogger writing about Jharkhand cricket).
• To Rahul Dravid. Just for being Rahul Dravid.

To the next century.

P.S. Hoping I haven't jinxed it (You-know-who's You-know-what )

P.P.S Hobbies can be addictive

The Spotfixing Verdict

August 21, 2010 - The day the cricketing world was shaken up with following edition of the "News of the World" paper. (My post here)

In the immediate aftermath of the Lords Test, the trio of Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir was dropped from the Pakistan team and later banned by the ICC. But this wasn't the worse to come for the trio as an year later a jury found them guilty and gave them prison terms of varying lengths.

The first thought on hearing of the outcome of the case was that just punishment had been meted out to the guilty party. The spot fixing scam had left a sense of betrayal. It was weird to imagine to what extent people were going to make money. For the players it must have been an easy option. Take money on the side, bowl a couple of no-balls (which aren't an oddity by themselves) at fixed points. During this they could still be giving their best for the country as well. I wondered there were people who actually bet on this kind of stuff. And the sums were large enough to be able to buy off the players. All this is still beyond belief.

The whole sequence of events is full of ironies

The whole saga was brought to light not by any anti-corruption agencies, ICC or government bodies but by a now-defunct newspaper which had to be closed down due its unethical ways of getting information.

Mohammed Amir actually bowled one of the better fast bowling spells in recent times. His no-ball was part of a spell in which he took the wickets of Cook, Pietersen, Collingwood, Morgan, Prior and Swann. Showing that except for the no ball he bowled his best for his country.

Salman Butt captained Pakistan to 2 test victories including the first one against Australia in around 15 years. It seemed Pakistan had found some stability when the scandal broke out. The irony of life that his son was born the day he was handed a prison sentence.

Mohammed Asif was the one who had talent, and has taken extra-ordinary measures to blow it away. Drugs scandal, physical fights with team mates and finally the spot-fixing case. Also it turns out that he was paid more than others to ensure that he doesn't change over to a rival spot-fixing gang.

The verdict has made a few things clear.

• If you are caught fixing you are not just banned from the game, you are jailed as well. At least in England. Hopefully this would set some deterrent.
• There are more names involved here which haven't yet come out. Comments regarding Asif certainly seem to suggest that.

Hopefully cricket is cleaner now, at least I would like to believe so, though the eveidence may suggest otherwise. But this is only the tip. Every allegation has to be thoroughly investigated. And the concerned should have immediate life bans set on them. Otherwise any odd incident would be looked at it in a different light.

World Cup - Semifinal Thoughts

Probably the Biggest match of my cricket-watching career. Nervous anticipation in the morning. Even office had given an unprecedented half day leave "to cheer the Indian team to victory" (as per the wordings of the mail). After all, team aise hi nahi jeeti hai, jeetani parti hai (My contribution - wore blue to work & FB display pic is now the Bleed Blue logo). And for the match it did live upto the expectations of a hyped up India-Pakistan game. Now that the entire thing is done and dusted, some thoughts about the game.

• First up, Shahid Afridi. "I am sorry to my nation". With that one line, he certainly did win the hearts of most people watching the post match presentations.
• The calm confidence of Suresh Raina when he said, "I am there" on being asked if India would miss the off-spin of Ashwin.
• Dhoni admitting that he misread the pitch. Yet Ashwin could hardly have done any better than his replacement Nehra (10 overs, 2/33).
• Do not judge the quality of the pitch as long as Sehwag is batting. Till Sehwag was there, pitch was called a batting paradise and immediately turned bowler friendly on his departure.
• Sachin Tendulkar's innings was ugly to say the least. Yet he got the runs.
• "You just dropped the world cup, son". The iconic Steve Waugh line for Gibbs could have been used for the entire Pakistani team as they gave SRT one chance after the other. Nice to see a fielding unit which is worse than ours.
• Shoaib Akhtar quietly faded into the background. Was Crazy, controversial and really FAST. Would be missed.
• Funniest moment of the day. The Akmal brothers holding on to their Shahid bhai when he had finally taken Tendulkar's catch.
• India vs Pakistan in World Cups: 5-0 India (make it 7-0 if we include T20 WCs)

Now its to the finals

Prediction - India to win (As for my blue shirt, I hope I get the shade correct)

The Semi-Final Preview

The World Cup is at a stage where it is now beyond Prediction Time. As for the quarter-finals predictions, 3 out of 4 successes for me with only the South Africa-New Zealand game going the other way (there I had put in the disclaimer about the South African choke). Now to semi-finals. Or rather THE SEMI-FINAL.

India vs Pakistan at Mohali. The game has already been hyped up beyond just a match. The Prime Ministers are attending (Aside, last time PM Manmohan Singh attended a big match, India lost 8-0 to Australia in the CWG Hockey finals, So I am worried, very worried). People are talking about a national holiday on Wednesday. The whole country is likely to come to a standstill. There is a general sense of nervousness  and anticipation in the air. No one is even thinking beyond this game. So while I try to calm my nerves for the big match, I present here a small compilation of India-Pakistan World Cup highlights as a preview for the match. (All India favoring as we have an AWESOME record in World Cups)

1. The Kiran More - Javed Miandad altercation in 1992

2. Ajay Jadeja's slog overs bash in 1996

3. The Prasad-Sohail encounter in 1996

4. Sachin blasting Shoaib & Waqar in 2003

5. Joginder Sharma bowling the last over to Misbah in the 2007 T20 WC final (Ok it was not an ODI but still a World  Cup only)

6. The bowl out in the weirdest ending ever (from the same T20 WC)

7. The Kanitkar moment in Bangldesh indepence cup (Ok, not a World Cup moment but a great victory moment for Indian fans). This was an example of an entire international career being defined by one memorable shot)

Given the history of the rivalry, God Only Knows what 2011 will provide. But something will linger on definitely.

P.S. In case the match ends in a tie, it will an OOPSE moment for all (Explained in detail here)

World Cup Quarter-final Predictions

Its Prediction Time

The quarter-final line-up has been finally settled. The matches in the league did not exactly fit into any pattern. But they did show that the unpredictable can happen in a matter of overs. New Zealand's 92 run blast in 4 overs against Pakistan, India's 29/9 collapse against South Africa or West Indies fading away against England. All showed that games can turn around in a matter of few balls. There are enough players who can take the game away from any opposition at any time. Someone like Zaheer Khan can turn it in just one magical ball (Andrew Strauss & Devon Smith will certainly vouch for this). All this just shows that predicting the winners on a given day isn't an easy task. So here are my predictions for the 4 Quarter-Finals.

QF1 - Pakistan vs West Indies

Predicting a Pakistan game is like predicting the unpredictable. On the plus side, they have a well rounded bowling attack with all kinds of bowlers available to them and a deep batting lineup with Razzaq coming in at No. 8. On the minus, they have Kamran Akmal behind the stumps (enough said). Add general pathetic fielding and a top order which does not provide any confidence. Against them are the West Indies, who have collapsed from eminently winnable positions against England & India. Roach and Gayle can change the game on their own though.

Prediction - Pakistan should win. (or Kamran Akmal drops a catch of Gayle who the unleashes mayhem,  then any result can happen)

QF2 - India vs Australia

Australia are the enemy No. 1 in the eyes of the Indian cricket fan. They have a real FAST bowling attack and Shane Watson. Apart from that they have Ponting's tantrums and a hopeless spin attack. India on the other hand have a much vaunted batting lineup, which tends to collapse after the 40th over, and Zaheer Khan.  India have done every thing they could to make sure that they are not considered as favorites by anyone. But they are still the bookies favored ones to win the Cup. 

Prediction - India to win. (I am an Indian, what else would I say?)

QF3 - New Zealand vs South Africa

Seemingly the easiest of the lot to predict. South Africa to stroll to a win. They have better batsman, better fast bowlers, and surprisingly even better spinners than New Zealand. But this is a knock out stage and they have a tendency to, umm... choke (:P) (On the other hand they might have taken care of that choke against England). And if something like 92 runs in 4 overs happens, then who knows.

Prediction - South Africa

QF4 - Sri Lanka vs England

Sri Lanka playing in Sri Lanka. They should win.  But they are up against England who have proved to be the real jokers of the tournament. Had 6 close games when quite a few others barely had 1. The teams they lost to did not qualify for the knock-out while having an unbeaten record against those which did. And they have provided 6 entertaining games on the trot. 

Prediction - Sri Lanka (though want England to win for the sheer entertainment they have provided)

Disclaimer: I am no octopus, just a mere mortal human being. So I could be wrong :)

World Cup Thoughts - March 19th

The penultimate day of the league stage action.

• Goodbye Bangladesh. To be honest you were a disappointment. You surprised everyone by winning against England (but that can be easily attributed to England being England). But the 2 crucial matches in which victory could have secured a quarter final berth, the batsmen simply froze. 58 against West Indies and 78 against South Africa were a collapse too many. Home support ultimately counted for nothing.
• South Africa beats Bangladesh and India, England, West Indies qualify for the quarter-finals. Pretty good example of the Butterfly effect.
• Finally it ends. Australia lose a world cup match after some 4139 days. Thats a long time. Last defeat also coming against Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup.
• Ponting and the Aussies are becoming grumpier by every passing game. Haddin involved in some unsavory incidents today.
• So its going to be a New Zealand-South Africa quarter-final. This is certainly going to break the sequence going on since 1992. Both South Africa and New Zealand have reached the semi-finals in the same world cup and lost there, or not qualified for the semis.
• Tomorrow's games lined up. Farewells to Zimbabwe and Kenya, and a QF slot finalising game for India and West Indies.

And wishing all readers a very Happy & Colourful Holi :)

World Cup Thoughts - March 8th

Wasn't really sure of posting a blog today. But there was one hell of an innings by Luteru Ross Poutua Lote Taylor which forced me to.

• Apparently Kenya & Canada played a World Cup match yesterday. Who won? And it was a waste of electricity playing the game under lights.
• New Zealand - Pakistan was interesting for a total of 13 overs. The last 6 from the Kiwi innings and the first 7 of Pakistan's. A picture of the Kiwi Manhattan tells all the story. (Picture from Cricinfo)

• How does Kamran Akmal get to keep wickets for a Test playing country? Today was even lower than his normally pathetic levels of keeping. The Pakistanis must be really wishing that ICC had prevented him from being selected in the squad.
• Ross Taylor was given a birthday gift by Kamran Akmal on 0. A catch let go for 4, and then another one dropped two balls later. Taylor went on to hammer the bowlers in the end. 
• I don't think I have seen a faster team 100 than those scored at the end of the New Zealand innings.
• Conspiracy theorists might like to believe this match to be fixed. But to me this was just a case of Pakistan being Pakistan, at their inconsistent best. And all of a sudden, they are not looking the favorites anymore.
• New Zealand, I had almost written off. But the way that they demolished Zimbabwe and now beaten Pakistan, it must have done them a world of good. Vettori's injury would be a concern though.
• Kenya have become the first team to be officially out of running for the cup. Now the World Cup 2011 is a 13 horse race.
• In other news, its become more and more difficult keeping track of the injured list. Broad & Pietersen are also out of the World Cup for now (some of the injured have come back, so can't say that they will not return)

India takes on the Dutch tomorrow. Should be an easy win for us. But funny things have been happening here.