The Last Ball Six

Everyone who has played any form of cricket has had this dream. Playing for your country. Hitting a six off the very last ball to win the match. Heck, we have even made a movie of it. Bhuvan hitting the last ball over the boundary to save 3 years’ worth of tax for his village in the climactic scene of Lagaan. Cricket could never have had greater context, an increasingly elusive commodity in modern times. But I digress. 

18th March, 2018. India vs Bangladesh. Dinesh Karthik lofts the last ball over covers to win tournament for India. Bringing a sensational end for what had been a pretty insipid tournament. 

It was one of the moments to cherish. And a reminder to myself why I love this game so much. Don’t remember when I was last jumping up and down during or after a game. And I had only watched the last 3 overs of this game.

In an age of cricketing overdose and no “context” to keep the fans engaged, there came a T20 tri-series (!), in Sri Lanka (!!), with Bangladesh (!!!), where India rested their stars (!!!!) and still sailed through comfortably. At the start, the most interesting bit of the tournament was finding the channel telecasting the tournament– Discovery Sport & Rishtey Cineplex!!! 

But things got a bit spicy as the tournament progressed, mainly due to the antics of the Bangladeshi players during and after their last game with Sri Lanka. Their “naagin dance” celebrations managed to piss off the Sri Lankan fans to such an extent that they came out in vociferous support of India (!) in the Final. Indian teams over the years have had vocal support in all parts of the world, mainly from our expat population. (Benefits of having over 1.3 Billion of us!!!). But never ever have we had the local crowds supporting us in such a manner!

This could be the defining innings for Karthik in an era of abundant wicket-keeping talent. Having made his debut in 2004, has been in and around the Indian team for all this time. Many a times playing as a pure batsman and only on occasion getting to keep wickets in Dhoni’s absence. No one has ever doubted Karthik’s keeping talents. Good to see this unsung performer finally getting his share of the limelight. 

Never has India’s wicket-keeping coffers been so rich. Dhoni is still there, and then there is a bunch of veterans fighting for his retired Test spot – Saha, Karthik, Parthiv, Naman Ojha, and the IPL brat pack – Pant, Samson, Kishan – vying for the limited overs spot! And just to get the mix more interesting, we have batsmen, who are also employed as keepers – Uthappa, Rahul, Jadhav! What riches in the wicket-keeping talent pool!

After such a game, comes out the heartening back-story of Abhishek Nayar, who played 3 ODIs for India, helped Karthik rediscover his mojo. Nayar was also the one who brought Rohit Sharma’s career back on track in 2011. Time to take Abhishek Nayar’s mentorship role more seriously.

And finally a few thoughts for Vijay Shankar. Felt sorry for him, as he tried to put bat on ball, but was simply unable to. Seeing his struggles while Karthik blasted from the other end, was a reminder that cricket is a very much individual game masquerading as a team-sport. Vijay Shankar struggled, but in the end, India won, so it was all OK. Hopefully, he does get another chance to showcase his talent at the biggest stage.

After all these years, Dinesh Karthik has finally arrived. If nothing else this shot will certainly go down in Indian cricketing folk-lore like Kanitkar's boundary!

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!

Arbit Stats #57: Blockathon

Test Match #2209: Sri Lanka vs Australia

Probably one of the best Test matches in a while. If it had been an Ashes game, paeans would have been written about it. But it was a Test match in Sri Lanka (like another one in Galle almost a year back).

Unlike most matches, there was a third player involved, the rain Gods. They had their own way of making their presence felt at different points in the game. Australia were on top, Sri Lanka fought to keep the lead down. Then came the Kusal Mendis special, rains appeared on and off,  but Australia sank deeper and deeper. Then came the block with an eye on the rains. The block went on and on, the skies grew darker, but the rains stayed away. After 178 balls of stoic resistance, the wicket was prised out. And Sri lanka romped home to a famous win, only their second ever against Australia.

But what a resistance it was. Steve O'Keefe and Peter Nevill just blocked their way in a partnership of 178 balls with just one scoring shot making new records for the biggest runless period of play - over 23 overs without scoring a run. For a perspective that is longer  than an entire T20 innings!!!

Galle 2015 - The Soon to be Unremembered Classic

Test Match #2176, Sri Lanka vs India, Galle

It had all the ingredients for a Test Match Classic – A match about which reams of newsprint should have been written and thousands of blogs published. One to been remembered for ages. Yet somehow it wasn’t.

Day 1&2: The home side began by winning the toss and getting knocked over for a paltry score on the very first day. The tourists take a huge lead of 192 runs built on the back of a huge third wicket stand which itself surpasses the home side’s tally. And then quickly remove both the home team’s openers for ducks by the close of the second day’s play. They are in the driver’s seat with not many thinking of the match going beyond the third day.

Day 3: The nightwatchman is dismissed off the very first ball. Little partnerships happen but the big wickets keep coming. At lunch with half the side back in pavilion, the home team trails by nearly hundred runs and an early finish to the day is on the cards. But their wicket-keeper has other ideas and produces one of those fearless, nothing-to-lose counter-attacks. The deficit is chipped away rapidly and then the lead starts building up. A small one at first, it soon enters the irritating category and then progresses into the “we have a match on our hands” zone. The home side eventually get dismissed after setting a 176 run target. The visitors lose one of their openers but watch out the rest of the day’s play. They are still very much in driver’s seat. 

Day 4: Its the Independence Day for the tourists. But the runs are very hard to come by as the batsmen are shackled up by the home spinners. The same spinners who had no effect in the first innings. The wickets have start tumbling. One after the other, the visiting batsmen are snared. And the home side manages to secure a big come-from-behind victory. Meanwhile the visitors are left stunned, trying to figure out how this dramatic turnaround came into being.

As if the dramatic action on the field wasn't enough, there were lots of other stories

• The series is the last for one of the home side legends. The home supporters are taking every opportunity to bid a grand farewell to their hero. 
• The tourists have a new captain who has been talking a lot about playing aggressively and getting the results after having spent quite some time getting hammered all around the globe.
• The tourists get a big first innings lead based on one big partnership featuring a man playing with a hairline fracture in his hand. Add the chance that he might not even have played this game if his regular opening partner had not been injured.
• The home side’s wrecker-in-chief in the second innings is an ageing, rotund spinner who himself is coming back from injury. He picks up seven in the second innings after none in the first. Quite a turnaround in fortunes.
• In between one of the visiting players sets a new world record for the most catches by a non-wicket-keeper in a Test match.
• And finally, it was one of the Big Three playing against a (relatively) tiny cricketing nation. The richest team in the world taking on a team whose players sometimes are not paid (One of their ex-captains on being fined by ICC said, first I need to be paid to be fined).

An exciting match, a dramatic turnaround, a potential David vs Goliath battle, a retiring legend, records getting broken, players battling through injury, umpiring errors – in short all the ingredients to be count as an all-time classic.

Except it was another India vs Sri Lanka match – already forgotten.

A lesson for the cricket administrators here - contests need a context. And rivalries are developed with time not frequency

Arbit Stats #45: Spinning Ducks

Test Match No. 2176 - India vs Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka 2nd Innings
FDM Karunaratne b R Ashwin 0
JK Silva b A Mishra 0

Thus becoming the first pair of openers to be both dismissed for zero by spinners in the same innings.

Combination of spin-friendly pitches, innovative captaincy, good bowling and scorecard pressure.

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 - 22nd Feb

The second mauka. have to say its been a pretty good promotional campaign by Star Sports.

• After today's performance one wonders, is this the same Indian team which had gone winless for nearly three months in Australia?
• South Africa have been handed their biggest ever thrashing in World Cup games and suddenly not looking so invincible after all.
• India out-batted, out-bowled and even out-fielded South Africa. Something has suddenly changed and for the good.
• There was a deja vu feeling about today's game. Like last Sunday, India played a team in green, won the toss, batted first, lost Rohit Sharma early, Dhawan-Kohli got a big partnership, the No. 4 batsman scored a faster than run a ball 70 odd, India failed to capitalize at death and crawled to a 300 odd total and then eased on to a big victory. Only today's victory margin was mch bigger than last Sunday's.
• India's area of concern - the collapse at death and failure to caitalize on the first 40 overs.
• India's population has its benefits. We manage to reach out to every corner of the world and fill their stadiums.
• Afghanistan and Sri Lanka played the first really close game of the tournament. Sri Lanka did get a mighty scare while Afghanistan just ran out of steam in the end with both bat and ball. 
• Play of the day - Jayawardene's bat breaking in two.
• Tomorrow - The battle of Britain. England should win but...

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - 17th Feb

6 down.43 to go. This World Cup is going on its own leisurely pace, which gives the followers time to (a) over-analyse the events, (b) get on with their lives or (c) simply forget that the tournament is still going on. So before I forget, here is me recording my thoughts.

• The scheduling is weird. 1 day game each day, that too held in New Zealand. So most likely by the time you get up the games are already over. Why couldn't we have had two games each day. Would have easily dropped one week off the schedule. Also the Kiwis have played their second game while most others are yet to play their first.
• In cricketing news, Ireland beat West Indies. Ireland have been focused on breaking into the big league and want to play Test Cricket. Also they have been beaten 3 Test nations in the last two World Cups. While West Indies is focused on infighting between the players and the Board. So given the context, Ireland's win was certainly no upset.
• Mixed emotions for Simmons family. Lendl scored a heroic back to the wall century, but Uncle Phil who is coaching the Irish had the last laugh.
• There was a certain calmness about the Irish chase which was in total contrast to the Kiwi's chase against the Scots. It was an odd sort of game. New Zealand chased down the small Scottish total with 25 overs to spare, yet somehow losing 7 wickets also and giving their net run rate a healthy boost. They never looked in any danger of losing, though the final victory margin may suggest otherwise.
• Early thoughts on the World Cup so far. 300+ scores are becoming monotonous. And the bowlers are being slaughtered. This 4-fielder rule is killing the bowling sides, specially with boundaries pushed back.
• 6 games gone and not a single real close one so far. There have been intriguing ones and some nervous moments here and there, but no down-to-the-wire, all-three-results-are-possible kind of finish.
• Prediction Time - Afghanistan to upset Bangladesh with the help of their pace attack, while Zimbabwe to easily beat UAE.

And closing today's episode with this video featuring Sri Lanka and The Lion King :)

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - 14th Feb

After seemingly endless rounds of warm-up games (results of which were taken seriously by everyone except the teams concerned), during the course of which they even held the Opening Ceremony, the actual World Cup tournament has finally begun. And like the previous edition Slispstream Cricket is going to present the "Short Notes" featuring random notes on the games gone by and the occasional prediction. 

• The hosts have started their respective campaigns on similar emphatic notes. Bat first, score big and then knock-out the opponent.
• If England-Australia and Sri Lanka-New Zealand games are this one-sided, wonder what kind of massacre the games involving the minnows Associates will be.
• New Zealand have emphatically shown why they should be considered the tournament favourites - a solid top order combined with an explosive middle, and a made for conditions pace bowling attack with Vettori providing the spin variety. They are looking good to go all the way.
• Australia had small scares but their win was as emphatic as could be in an opener. Now only question remaining is how do they fit in Michael Clarke into the line-up? The potential names for the chop - Finch, Bailey & March all came in good, making them pretty much undroppable for the next game.
• Its a good idea to play the national anthems before the game, But it might not be such a good idea for the camera to pan in on the England's Irish captain Eoin Morgan during the rendition of "God Save the Queen".
• DRS issues came into the play sooner than expected. James Anderson being given run-out after referral on an LBW during which the ball had technically been dead. Again issue here was not DRS per se but the men using it. Cricket always teaches you new things. 
• Steve Finn gets tournament's first hat-trick and the first Michelle while Aaron Finch is the first centurion.

And now for tomorrow's games. Two sets of neighboring countries taking on each other. South Africa to win against Zimbabwe while as for the other one, watch this pre-game and lets say no more

World Cup Preview - Group A

The World Cup is almost there on us. And like the teams, the fans are also slowly but surely warming up to the event. Now, while we wait for the real event to start, Slipstream Cricket presents short previews of each of the participating teams. 

Covered in today's post are the teams in Group A.

Australia
Australia are the hosts, have the best knowledge of the local conditions, a good attack, an in-form batting line-up. But they also have to resolve their captaincy conundrum. Their is a good chance the captaincy might be passing between an unfit Clarke, the less in-form Bailey and the heir apparent Steve Smith. The Aussie selectors may have over-gambled on this matter. Also there will be shadow of the tragic events earlier in the season.
Prediction - Should make the quarters easily and their going all the way won't be too much of a surprise.

New Zealand
They are the co-hosts, have the best local knowledge, a super pace attack for the conditions with good spin support and a batting line-up in the form of their life, and they are the masters in sledging (refer last World Cup Quarter-finals against South Africa).
Prediction - Should make the Quarters easily. My pick for lifting the Cup.

England
The entertainers of the last World Cup. Good bowling attack but the batting seems to lack the extra explosive fire-power which all the other teams seem to be have.
Prediction - Quarter-finals, but not beyond.

Sri Lanka
They have been consistency personified in the last few ICC events though they have had a rough time in the recent series in New Zealand. They have an added incentive of winning it for their retiring legends Sangakkara & Jayawardene. A fully fit Malinga holds the key for Sri Lanka to go far.
Prediction - Quarter-finals

Bangladesh
Not played well at all in the big tournaments. The team is mercurial and may cause an odd upset but they are equally prone to being beaten by the Associates. The Bangladesh-England match is likely to decide the last knock-out spot from this group.
Prediction - Group Stage

Afghanistan
The World Cup debutantes Afghanistan have been the feel-good story of the sporting world. Their rise in the global game is the stuff fairy-tales are made of. Their decent pace attack is countered by their inconsistent batting. They are the banana skin match for the big teams in the group.
Prediction - Group Stage

Scotland
Scotland shouldn't provide much trouble to any of the other teams. Their aim would be to put it past fellow Associate Afghanistan and not embarrass themselves against the big boys.
Prediction - Group Stage

Key Games

• Bangladesh vs England
• Australia vs New Zealand
• Afghanistan vs Scotland

Next time - Preview of Group B teams.

Podcast: Thoughts on Cricket - T20, India

After having reviewed India's Olympic performance through a podcast, presenting the second podcast done by the trio of Karthik, Ajay & Yours truly.

Though the discussions went on for long, the podcast has been restricted to less than 20 minutes play duration. 

Among other things we analyse and find why picking Chris Gayle for your T20 team is not a good idea.

A podcast reviewing the World T20, the currently underway CL T20, talking about the IPL and looking forward to India's upcoming series.

01:15 - Thoughts on the World T20 

06:00 - Quick thoughts on Anil Kumble becoming the ICC Cricket Committee Chairman 

07:50 - Champions League T20 Thoughts - Lack of champions, proposed future formats 

10:50 - Proposed changes to CL T20 

12:50 - The IPL, teams being terminated and feasibility 

15:00 - A few thoughts on domestic cricket 

16:45 - India's upcoming calendar and the case of the missing SL series 

18:30 - Closing comments

If you like what you hear, follow us @ajay_prasad @kcgadiyar and @nishantskumar

T20 World Cup - 2012 Review

Apparently a T20 Champions League is currently underway in South Africa. Quite a misnomer given that some of the Champion teams had to play in the qualifying while a 4th place finish gets a direct entry for some one else. BCCI be a little less greedy. Get 4 IPL teams but restrict direct entry to only two.

Also this is a perfect example of cricket overdose, coming as it does close on the heels of the T20 World Cup. I have hardly been following the Champions league. And am sure there are many other ardent fans who are also suffering from this excess.

Now for the main agenda for this post. Here are some thoughts on the T20 World Cup with a little focus on the Indian performance.

West Indies winning was liked all around. They certainly brought joy to all the cricket followers  through the "Gangnam style" cricket. But will this mark a turnaround in their fortunes. I don't think so,  given that most of the current West Indies lot is more interested in performing in one T20 league or the other across the world. Will the likes of Pollard, Gayle, Bravo, Sunil Naraine show the same commitment when matches of West Indies clash with the Big Bash or IPL etc?

Sri Lanka again lost in a major final (4th in last 5 years). But they have certainly been the most consistent of all teams in the limited overs format.

There was a strategic decision by Mahela Jayawardene to handover the captaincy to Kumara Sangakkara to avoid getting a ban. A move which raised a few eyebrows about the slow over-rate rule. Tony Grieg, the Cheerleader-in-chief of Sri Lanka went all gungho hailing this "tactical" move by the Sri Lankan team management. I don't have any issue as all this was not illegal. But what about the "Spirit of Cricket" nonsense which Mr. Grieg had harped on about earlier this year at the MCC lecture. In my opinion, Mr. Greig if this is not hypocrisy, then I wonder what is?

Shane Watson was a deserving Man of the Series. One player who certainly owes a lot to the IPL

A pattern has been observed in the tournament winners. They generally have very bad starts to the tournament. In fact, 3 of them have gone on to win the tournament without even a single win in the first phase. Here are the opening round performances of the 4 winners

• 2007 - India - 1 No result, 1 Tie (win in bowl-out)
• 2009 - Pakistan - 1 loss, 1 win 
• 2010 - England - 1 Loss, 1 No Result 
• 2012 - West Indies - 1 Loss, 1 No Result

ICC needs to review the necessity of a Super Over in League stages. Use it in the knock-outs, but why is required at all in a League game? A tie is after all a perfectly acceptable result in any league format across sports.

England, I am worried about you. If you could make Piyush Chawla look like Shane Warne, then a 4-nil thrashing is in the offing in India. Have to admit that the better players of spin (Pietersen, Cook, Trott, Bell)weren't in the squad. Which begs the question, why weren't they there?

Now for India. The team doesn't give the feeling of a team at all. A few thoughts on the Indian performance.

• Batting has become Virat Kohli + support. Only if, just in case, Kohli might have an off day (an increasingly rare occurence), the batting collapses completely. 
• There were some very strange team selections. The presence of Piyush Chawla, absence of Umesh Yadav/Praveen Kumar. Manoj Tiwary being forever benched. Rohit Sharma getting game after game. Irfan Pathan opening when there are 6 other specialist batsmen waiting in the dug-out. Quite logic defying.
• One highlight was the return to fitness, though not complete form of Yuvraj Singh. His return from cancer is certainly more than just cricket.
• Dhoni is looking weary. Its said captains have a shelf life. He seems to be at the end of his. All this non-stop cricket is certainly taking a toll. But no replacement seems to be ready to take over the mantle from him.
• Yet insite of all this, India did win 4 out of the 5 games they played. So there is hope.
• And yes, we continue our DOMINANCE over Pakistan in the World Cups (:D)

So these were my thoughts on the Gangnam style World Cup.

P.S. More than the Champions League, what I have been following is the ongoing Duleep Trophy. To be covered in the next post.

India-Sri Lanka - July-Aug 2012 edition

So while the whole world, including yours truly was busy watching the Olympics, the Indian cricket team came out of  hibernation by playing against their familiar opponents, Sri Lanka. Here are a few thoughts on the series went by.

• The India-Sri Lanka series reminds you of your boyhood days. Every evening you went out into the ground with the same bunch of kids and played cricket. And returned the next day to play some more. Thanks to the mandarins at BCCI & Cricket Sri Lanka for making us relive those old days.
• This was "supposed" to be a Test series. Then why was it converted into an ODI series with one meaningless T20 thrown in? Just maybe, Tony Grieg was right (:P)
• If the idea is to prepare for the T20 world cup coming up in Sri Lanka, then why play just 1 T20 and not more instead of the ODIs.
• Did we learn anything new from this series? From an India perspective - nothing. Except that Rohit Sharma has some very very powerful backing in the squad. Performances & recent form certainly don't justify his continued place in the squad.
• The others were usual - Virat Kohli continues his astounding run, Gautam Gambhir continues to give the occasional good century, Suresh Raina is a very good batsman on subcontinental pitches, Manoj Tiwary still does not get a chance and performs on occasion. And the bowling lineup continues to be dodgy.
• Irfan Pathan - the mystery continues. He has become a bits and pieces player rather than a specialist bowler. The bowling towards the end of the series was good. But the questions still remain. He is a more than capable 5th bowler, but a place amongst the 4 lead bowlers remains a question mark.
• India for some odd reason doesn't know how to handle left-arm spinners. Pragyan Ojha's entries and exits continue to confound.
• Lasith Malinga over 10 overs is much easier to handle than over 4 overs.
• And the last query - Is Sehwag interested in playing any more? Maybe he was bored of another Sri Lanka series, but how long do we go with his maverick nature.
• Just hate it when product placements are done during commentary. Where is the "spirit of cricket" business here?

So thats it. One more meaningless series over and we learn nothing new.

P.S. Looking forward to the Test series against the Kiwis. After all someone has to come up to replace Rahul Dravid. Who will raise his hand to do that?

Sangakkara's Colin Cowdrey Lecture Speech

Here is the link to the speech made by Kumara Sangakkara at the MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture at Lords on July 4, 2011. One of the best speeches made by any sportsperson in recent times. Extremely articulate, talks about cricket and its impact on the Sri Lankan society. Also raises some very important questions about the current state of Sri Lankan administration.

Definetely a MUST Listen.

http://s3mcc.sportslinemedia.co.uk/2011-cowdrey-lecture/20110704_kumar_sangakkara_lecture-32kb.mp3

England - The Most Entertaining Cricket Team Ever?

England are the most entertaining cricket on this planet. How they have become so is a total mystery. They may not be the best but are certainly the most entertaining. And that too across all three formats of the game (They also have 3 different captains in place).

England are the current T20 World Champions, a format in which they have lost to Netherlands also.

Their performances in the ODI World cup earlier this year, defied any sort of cricketing logic. A team which beat South Africa & West Indies and tied with India, while losing to Bangladesh & Ireland and getting pushed to the limit against the Dutch. The only consistency they showed was how they made every single game exciting and worth watching to the neutral followers.

And in Tests, the English have mastered the art of dramatic endings. In a 12 month period they produced 4 cliff hanger draws with the last pair on the crease fighting desperately for survival till the last over. (Against West Indies they were at the receiving end of it). Winter Ashes they beat the Aussies thrice by an innings while losing 1 match by an innings themselves. And today against Sri Lanka at Cardiff, they again showed up the maverick nature of cricket.

When the last day's play began after a rain delayed start, England were 91 runs ahead with some 57 overs of play left. A boring draw was the most likely conclusion. Ian Bell, the Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice (as he has been named) duly completed another Slipstream Century. And in a surprising decision Strauss immediately declared. First thought was why bother coming out to bat to add 5 runs to the lead while losing 4 overs. Bell was allowed to reach his personal landmark. And then Tremlett, Swann and Broad knocked out Sri Lanka in under 25 overs and helped seal an innings victory. (Some terrible, if you a Lankan fan, Stats here).

Certainly a maverick victory to say the least. Showed that the old adage still holds - In cricket it is not over till the last ball has been bowled and certainly not when England are one of the teams involved.

P.S. Now waiting for the "blame the IPL" for this defeat game to begin. 

P.P.S. Eagerly awaiting for the India-England Test series.

In other news, Shahid Afridi has retired from all international cricket. (Pakistan - the non-stop controversy continues)

IPL Thoughts - April 21, 2011

First up, the larger effects of the IPLon the cricketing world. West Indies cricket is suffering, Pollard, Gayle & Dwayne Bravo have more or less decided that IPL is far more important than playing for West Indies. And with the West Indies season always in a partial clash with the IPL, the situation is likely to go worse. In a sad sort of way, it a good that there are not many West Indians who actually are saleable to the IPL franchisees. So most of the team will still be playing for West Indies rather than IPL.

Cricket Sri Lanka, the Lankan players and the BCCI are involved in another tangle. The board wants the team to prepare for England and leave the IPL early, which the players certainly won't like. The issue here seems more to with politics than anyhting else. Otherwise why would everyone associated with a World Cup runner-up team resign immediately after the tournament. On last count, the captain, vice-captain, coach and the selectors have all resigned. And it will all end with the BCCI named as the bad boy and accused of destroying world cricket.

Now some thoughts on the matches

• The trend in the IPL seems to be that the team with the higher points going into a game is likelier to lose. Hence the closed points table. Everyone almost bunched together. A rained off game here and there just adds to the fun.
• The fan loyalties would have been under severe test when Rahul Dravid would have played against RCB in Bangalore. That would have been interesting to watch but the rains played spoilsport.
• Some of the matches are needlessly close. Others just swing around one way or the other. Predictions are becoming more and more difficult here.
• Ravindra Jadeja is the comeback hero for all to see. Probably the most abused cricketer in the country today, he has come back strongly in the IPL after being banned the last season. Taking wickets, scoring runs, hitting big sixes, he is doing it all.
• Manoj Tiwary is another Indian to have impressed so far. One of the unluckiest cricketers, got injured before his likely international debut against Bangladesh in 2007 (place went to Rohit Sharma), he might not make a come back to national contention but is certainly playing well.
• Similar is the case on Venugopal Rao, played a few ODIs for India then slipped out. Now making big runs.
• Ishant Sharma bowling at 150+ was a good sight. Hopefully the company of Dale Steyn might bring his speed back on track.
• With quite a few players likely to be rested for the West Indies ODIs, performances in the IPL could quite likely bring immediate rewards to some. The IPL could act like an extended selection tournament for the Indian team.

P.S. The ICC has finally decided to review its decision on the 2015 World  Cup. A good first step. Lets see what happens next. My views 10 team world cup with evryone playing everyone else is not a bad idea, but there should be a qualification process and everyone has a chance to play there.

We Are the Champions of the World

With the Cup that Counts

We did it. We won the World Cup. And as Queen would have said - "We are the champions my friend! We shall be fighting until the end. We are the champions. We are the champions of the World!"

I don't even know how to begin this post. I guess just sticking to my usual to the random thoughts as they come up to mind.

• Before the match I had 3 wishes - India to win, SRT to get the 100th & Murali to sign off with a wicket off his last international ball. Only the first one happened (And thats all was required)
• Most members of the Indian team said they wanted to win the cup for Sachin. And they did it. I guess Virat Kohli summed it up best when he said, "Sachin has carried the nation for 21 years, so he deserves to be carried around".
• Dhoni led from the front. Saved his best for the last. And sealed the victory with a straight six. The leader everyone wants, and not just for a sporting team.
• Last time the India played the World Cup at home it ended in Vinod Kambli's tears. This time around it also ended in tears but of a different note. The one of happiness.
• Zaheer Khan's second world cup final ended the way the first one had begun. But this one started brilliantly though.
• Mahela Jayawardene became the first man to be part of the losing side after scoring a century in the final. Still this was one of the great innings of the tournament (though later got eclipsed by the efforts of Gambhir & Dhoni). The innings also provided a nice little family scene with his wife imploring him to bat on after he had reached his half-century.
• Aleem Dar finished with a spotless world cup. Not a single decision reversed. Needless to say why he is the best umpire in the world.
• Simon Taufel finally was able to stand in a World Cup final, because Australia failed to qualify. This must be one weird feeling. Taufel must be the only Australian cricket personality who gets benefited when Australia doesn't perform well.
• Jeff Crowe continued his incompetent ways as a Match referee. Presided over the farcial finish in the 2007 final and then had the toss fiasco at the start of today's final.
• Have to say the run chase was nearly four hours of sheer nervousness which ended in total joy.
• Thanks to Gary Kirsten, for giving us this team. It was a sight to watch the support staff walking arm in arm behind the Indian team and then Kohli & Raina carrying Kirsten around the stadium.
• Farewell to Muttiah Muralitharan, a true legend. 
• Gautam Gambhir top scored in T20 World Cup final and now in the big final also.
• Piyush Chawla & Sreesanth are now in a select group of players to have won the 50 over & the T20 world cup. The full list (all Indians so far) - Dhoni, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Harbhajan, Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan, Sreesanth & Chawla 
• Commentary Moment of the Match - Gavaskar & Nasser Hussain discussing the number of bats carried by cricketers. Gavaskar mentioned Sourav Ganguly carrying 10-12 bats. To which Nasser Hussain replied that Ganguly did not carry them himself, somebody else did it for him.
• And in the end, Lets not forget Praveen Kumar, who missed out due to an injury
• The comment of the day - "Anhoni ko honi kar de, honi ko anhoni, ek jagah jab jama ho teeno, Rajni, Ghazini aur Dhoni":D. (Rajnikanth was there, India couldn't have lost)
• Just wondering - What about Poonam Pandey's promise. Her letter to BCCI is certainly interesting.

In the end, a big thanks to the Indian Team, for winning the World Cup for us, the ordinary Indian fans.
And now for the victory pictures (all from cricinfo)

The Victory Moment - Dhoni blazes it away, as Yuvraj celebrates

Thank You - Gary Kirsten

Thank You - Sachin

World Cup Final - One day to go & Arbit Statistics - 6

Its less than 24 hours to go for the final of the 2011 ICC World Cup. It shouldn't get any bigger than this, but given India's last two games, the final seems a bit anti-climatic. In fact there is a worrying lack of nervousness in me regarding the outcome of this game. Here are the thoughts for the match.

• India vs Sri Lanka. The very idea of this fixture is irritating. How many times do these teams have to play each other.
• Sri Lanka has called up Chaminda Vaas (I thought he had retired by now) as injury cover for Angelo Matthews. All the paperwork must be in place for an emergency replacement and proceed efficiently as well. Shouldn't there have been a deadline for such changes?
• For India Ashish Nehra has a broken finger while attempting a catch diving forward. This is what happens when you do things which you are not used to doing.
• If required India should replace Nehra with Joginder Sharma. After all Sir Jogi has been Dhoni's lucky charm (though mostly in the T20 format). And he is a proven winners' medal winner.

Wish for the Match

• SRT scores his 100th international 100 as India wins the game, while Muralitharan signs off with a wicket off his last ball in international cricket (his only wicket though). [Or is this a bit too fairytalish finish? In that case I'll just settle for an Indian victory only]

Arbit Stat for the match

• If India win (and they will win), they would have beaten all the past 4 World Champions in a row in the sequnece in which they became World Champions (West Indies, Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) [Stat courtesy - RameshSrivats on twitter]

India to WIN, Bleeding Blue (the Indian shade, not the Sri Lankan one)

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 - Feb 20th

The ICC has decided to reduce the number of particpating countries to 10 in the next World Cup. A decision which has been universally slammed. Today Kenya & Canada did everything to justify ICC's stand.

Kenya crashed to 69 all out which the Kiwis chased in 8 overs and the match got over before lunch. In the 2nd game Canada got thrashed by 210 runs. Two heavily one-sided games on a Sunday.

Thoughts for the Day

• Tournament Scheduling - Why couldn't we have 2 big teams playing on a Sunday rather than such lopsided encounters.
• I hardly watched the games today. Not much off the Kenya-New Zealand game (there wasn't much on show either). And the Sri Lanka - Canada i saw 2 balls off the Canadian innings. Rizwan Cheema faced off against Murali and hammered one big six. So at least I did get to see somethingcome true.

Now hoping Australia - Zimbabwe is not as lopsided as the other games. And I expect Australia to run over Zimbabwe though hoping for Zimbabwe to show some fight.