Sri Lanka Off The track?

Well it looks like the Sri Lankan cricket team is not too much satisfied with this current tour of Zimbabwe.And that is very much obvious, given that their not only recent, but also their overall track record in international cricket has not been on par even against minnows,far from being on par with the other test playing nations.I wish it was a punishment for the Sri Lankan players to go and play Zimbabwe there.In fact touring Zimbabwe would have been a nightmare for these players I suppose.As it is for us viewers to watch a match between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka also for television channels to telecast the same.Anyway, it is not Sri Lanka's problem as such.And how can one expect one to be?

The first thing that was evident from this tour was when it came in dropping its key players like Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vass who have had enough from the matches involving Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.But,it is really a wonder that the Sri Lankan Cricket chose to go with Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumara Sangakkara.Of course Mahela Jayawardane is needed for the sake of captaincy.I guess that the Sri Lankan Cricket as well as Muttiah Muralitharan's fans want to see their hero going past Pakistan's Wasim Akram to claim his 500th one day wicket as soon as possible.His wicket tally in one day internationals now stands at 490 scalps from 318 one day games.And probably, Sri Lankan Cricket does not want to risk the place of a keeper by going for some lesser known names.

In the first one day international,Sri Lanka batted for 33 overs to get a modest total of 127, at an average of 3.9 rpo compared to zimbabwe's 4.09 rpo, wherein even if one goes by a run-rate of 6.0 an over, the target should have been attained in just above 22 overs.And in the second one day, Sri lankans just smashed the Zimbabweans,first by getting them all out for 67 and chasing the same in a7 overs, losing just 1 wicket.Still not satisfactory?It was Mendis all the way, who is likely to become another Murali for Sri Lanka.And, in the third one day match, it looked like the Sri Lankans were all exhausted in this boring encounter,for they became all-out, for a score less than 200, to fecilitate the Zimbabwe team, so that they carry home atleast one victory.But,no..

If Sri Lanka get bowled out for less than 200,Zimbabwe get all out even before that.It is the reverse of a team scoring 300+ and the team batting second crosses even that.Once again, Sri Lankan dreams were shattered.Drawing some lessons from the third one day match, Sri Lanka now decided to lose by batting second, by losing wickets in quick succession.But,Zimbabwe batsman spoil even that.As many as eight wickets are lost by the Sri lankan team batting second.Plans change in the fifth one day as the Sri Lankan team settles for just 150 on board.But, Zimbabwe are real champions in losing the game.And this time they once again went on to prove the same, by getting themselves all-out for 133.Thus, Zimbabwe attain their goal, by losing to Sri lanka 5-0.Well..it was only after this series that I came to know that even losing is as difficult as winning.

An Inhuman Shameless BCCI

Well the last two days or so,I could hardly do anything worth, be it sleeping in peace,having my food or be it my hobby in blogging, though I managed to put up some posts on my site.Courtesy- the dreadful terror attacks in Mumbai that not only rocked the world but also made me think as to how could someone be so inhuman?I could just not take my eyes off the TV sets, which made me think each and every moment about the progress regarding the attempts by the security personnel trying to save the hostages from there.How inhuman?

At the same time,there was BCCI whose eyes were all focused on whether or how to continue the series involving India and England, when the entire human race was praying for the innocents and the rescue squad out there in Mumbai.Finally,I congratulate the BCCI for ending being successful in going on with the test series by negotiating with the remaining two one day matches.I wonder as to how come the BCCI failed to continue with the one day series as well?In addition to the current international tours, there was also the second edition of the Indian Cricket League going on in progress.But,I could never find any such decisions regarding the same.

I now ask you readers as to how many of you, after watching the dreadful terror attacks ever think about going and watching some entertainment programmes, be it a cricket match or a movie?Are we so much ill hearten that we tend to leave all these behind us and think about ourselves?Despite all the news channels showing the aftermath of the attacks, there was a holiday declared owing to the death of former prime minister V P Singh.I wish there had been a boycott of the current cricket tour as a mourning for those innocent victims in Mumbai and the cammandos who laid their lives to secure the lives of the hostages and for nabbing/killing the terrorists.Atleast can we do this much?

A Baseless Funda Altogether

Well it was nice to know that the rest of the one day international matches between India and England have been canceled,thanks to the deadly blasts that rocked Mumbai a couple of days ago,targeting especially UK citizens.But,another funny aspect that really made me think about was that the test series is still on.It is just unbelievable.When the remaining two one day international matches can be canceled,how come the test series can take off smoothly if the BCCI officials are to be believed?For,the test matches only follow the remaining two one day internationals.This post is least bothered about the cotinuation of the series,but, it is the drama that pisses me to this extent.

If the blasts are to be taken into account for deciding whether the series has to continue or not,the blasts are targeted at the five star hotels where the team officials are staying rather than on the cricket stadium.Canceling the remaining two one day matches would mean that the England cricket team will be having a day off at the hotel rooms where the real threat lies.Or, the other idea would be for the England to go back home and then arrive once again for the test matches that follow.And if at all the tour has to be scrutinized taking security into consideration,I wish the entire tour be canceled or postpone the remaining two matches as well along with the test games that follow.

And in the recent past or so, in India, tickets are purchased only after the train departs.One waits for a terror strike to happen and then do some stupid things like calling an emergency situations or canceling some major events that are supposed to take place.This circle repeats every now and then.This has been the case in India in recent times.First it was low intensity blasts,followed by a high intensity one.In the beginning it would be after a gap of nearly a month and now it hapens on consecutive days or at the worst after every fortnight.From blasts in markets that could be termed as a cowadly act,the situation has now become an open one where the terrorist is caught on cameras firing.Things are never bound to improve.And I don't think there are any fools who are in the view of "Oh! no not again".

And coming back to the India-England one day and test matches, I wonder whether one fears a terror attack on the cricket field?Is the security in India really gone to such a bad depth?With the recent times taken,it wouldn't be wrong to assume even such a situation.Once the assigned job has been completed successfully by the terrorists,I wonder whether they will come back and do the same,especially when the security people are on their toes?Canceling the tour means just foolishness and nothing else.The damage is already done.Tight security would have meant averting the tragedy and not taking drastic steps in future.And the option that I would suggest is "wait for another major tragedy to happen,so that the security that was until then relaxed could be then beefed up once again".Well..if the BCCI is going through this post,I wish they go and get the correct meaning of security before using the same repeatedly without knowing the meaning.

Are England Really Interested in One Day Cricket?

Well after the fifth one day international between England and India at Cuttack yesterday,which England lost yet again,one thing that is going on in my mind is that are team England really interested in playing quality cricket-be it test or one day international?For, in none of the one day matches in India,the England team have ever risen to the occasion and put up a tough fight.Since the England team have landed in India, all the one day matches that have been played so far in this series,none of them have been close encounters.Was this the team that boasts of being in the finals of a world cup on three occasions?Was this the nation that put forward the idea of the game of cricket in the 18th century in front of the world?

In the fifth one day international, I was really satisfied with the way Kevin Pietersen and co. batted in the first innings to put up a tough stand compared to the previous matches.But, it was evident that the England batsmen didn't do anything in particular even with the bat for the pitch behaved as the batsmen wanted it to.The bowlers showed absolutely no signs in restricting the home team.With a win out of question, the English bowlers were found giving too many short pitched deliveries which helped four out of six of the Indian batsman to notch up a half century and get only one batsman out for a score less than 50.I wonder as to why should a team look forward to playing against such nations who are hare only to have a tour rather than play cricket?Why does one need players of the caliber of Sachin and Yuvraj to tackle this England team.

I just cannot recall as when England last won a one day series outside England. England has been playing cricket for centuries altogether.Though there are teams like Bangladesh,West Indies and Zimbabwe who are far below par when compared to England, it is worth mentioning that these teams are not gifted with talented players of the caliber of Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen,Steve Harmison and much others. With the English football team making waves all over, whats wrong with their cricket?It just looks like England are not at all interested in playing one day cricket and T20,although their test team is a pretty decent.For the number of wickets England had in hand,the total should have well crossed 300.But,no.

One more interesting aspect of the England squad is that in the current cricket squad that is under tour, three of the English players namely Ravi Bopara,Samit Patel,Owais Shah are of the sub continental origin.Are England short of players in their country for they hire players from the sub continent?

I never Expected This From Zimbabwe

At present, there are four international cricket tournaments in progress.But,as all of us are aware of, there are hardly any tournaments that are of much thrill and excitement that cricket used to be in the recent past or so. One tournament that was being looked upon by cricket fans in India is the tour of England.But, even that tour is a one sided affair, for England had already given it up even before playing.England never showed any sorts of teeth in restricting the Indians.Now, as expected England have lost the series already after the fourth one day at Bangalore. And the second tournament that is under progress is the tour of New Zealand to Australia. The one day record of New Zealand of New Zealand may say whatever, but, as far as their test statistics goes, I'm really sorry.Even a commanding position in the first innings could not be made use of to any greater extent.Anyway thats another issue altogether.

The third series that took place recently was the one day games between Pakistan and West Indies, which also as expected Pakistan won the series 3-0.With only two out of a lot of 11 West Indian team playing,the result could have not been any better.Some blistering knocks from Chris Gayle earning him the man of the series was a welcome relief for the West Indians.And the other tournament being Bangladesh's tour of South Africa,about which I need not mention anything.But, despite all these boring encounters, there was atleast one match that could raise eye brows.This was the third one day match between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.With the first two games being a mis match, the third game gave it all to the fans.And finally, I was a bit relieved, as atleast once in a bluemoon I could watch a low scoring thriller.Sad that Zimbabwe lost the match at the end of the day, despite an awesome performance by the opening batsman Mazakadza.

With each and every cricket match being a boring affair these days, I pray god that atleast in the oming season there be some interesting encounters, which could make up one's day. Else, watching the hame of cricket would be a punishment rather than entertainment.Bye.

Some Grace For Australia

Well..as most of us are aware of,and most of the cricketing greats world over have put it,the Australians are no more the team what they were a couple of years ago.This was evident from the recent tour of India where they lost the series 2-0.Well..that was a series away from home.However, this time things were different as they face a different team in New Zealand,and that too at their own backyard.This yielded some benefits to the declined Australian team.Another fact is that, New Zealand have never been able to play good test cricket what-so-ever.The last time New Zealand were found beating a decent opposition was that against England earlier this year, only to lose the series 2-1 later.

Now, I hope one can imagine the Australian dominance by beating a team of the caliber of New Zealand.Anyway, had I been an Australian, I would have just welcomed this victory,despite struggling in the first innings of the same.This is no doubt an era of Australian decline.It was nice to see Australia winning the first test, at the same time,the victory was not convincing though.With New Zealand bouncing back in the series is out of question, all that one can look out is for Australia to get back and start counting the number of days they would be in the top 1 position.For, there are teams like India, Sri Lanka and England waiting for the spot.

For now,the present Australian test team is steadily declining and decelerating, which would one fine day come to a halt.Some 2 decades ago, when the West Indians were having the same go,which ultimately ended in early 90s,after which it has been South Africa for some time and then followed by Australia.Now, it is interesting to look out for who would be the next toppers.So all that is left for us to do is to wait and watch as to which team would be found doing that.

Singh Is King!

Well the Hindi movie starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif named "Singh is King" proved itself on Thursday when in the ODI series against England so far has been dominated by Singhs alone.As all of us are aware of,the first two one day matches was dominated by the great sixer hero-Yuvaraj Singh who not only turned the match towards the Indian side with the bat,but also with the ball.Much was expected from this southpaw by the masses over there in Kanpur,who were excited to see him put up another 100+ score, which would have been his third in succession, which eventually didn't turn out.But, still, all was not lost by the fans over there,as there was another Singh ready to make a mark.And that is Harbhajan Singh for you.

Harbhajan Singh's magic worked out well against England in the third one day international here at Kanpur,which India won by 16 runs batting second.Imagine how?Very rarely,England put up a decent show and thank god that Yuvraj Singh showed some mercy and saved the English faces.But,Harbhajan Singh didn't spare them what-so-ever.A 3 wicket haul,which in the process bought up his personal landmark of 200 ODI wickets.The two singhs who bowled came up with 4 wickets between them,as Yuvraj Singh took one.Not to forget the support given by another Singh in Mahendra Singh Dhoni be it behind the stumps,or with the bat or be it as a captain who could hold the entire team together.

Even the third Singh in the team,Mahendra Singh Dhoni was not less when it came to displaying his powerss,for he had as many as three stumpings and one catch and finally played a crucial role in chasing a modest English total of 240 by scoring unbeaten 29 not forgetting the partnership he had with Yuvraj Singh and Yousuf Pathan.Well thats the power of Singhs I believe.So once again all of us together "SINGH IS KING"

Drop Yuvraj Singh For the Series Against England

With India beating Australia 2-0 in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar trophy, several questions were being raised about India's would be dominance in the all three formats game of cricket.But,as I've stated in most of my earlier posts regarding Border-Gavaskar trophy,it was partly due to the depletement of the Australian test team that landed in India,and partly for some superb performances from the likes of Ishanth Sharma and Zaheer Khan-who bowled splendidly in the series,and some blistering fireworks from the blades of V V S Laxman, M S Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir-who made most out of the flat tracks that suited the Indian style of batting.No marks to the spinners what-so-ever.

Now,team India is found to overwhelm England-the starters of cricket in the 18th century.Now,with the recent past of England cricket team's performance taken into consideration,they had defeated South Africa 4-0 in the one day series that were held in September after being defeated 2-1 against the same in the test series.And before that, there was New Zealand's tour of England,in which England won the test series and lost the one day series.But,these defeats were not that embarrassing as they are in the current tour of India.For,atleast team England were found giving a tight reply to the visitors.No matter..the England were hosting these teams,which is not the case here.With England being hosts,when the results are so horrible,one can imagine the fate when England is hosted and that too in a sub continent nation?

Irreective of the match result,what matters is the way the teams out there play the game of cricket with full spirit and never-say-die attitude.But,England was never found doing it.In the first ODI,England captain won the toss and chose to put India into bat,thinking that the pitch would be a batting heaven (which it was) and chasing any total would not be difficult.The decision was right although, but,things were not made use of by the England batsmen.When India made a score of 387,a score of atleast 300+ would have made the viewers take to guessing.But,a score of just 229 in just 37 overs is something that a non-test playing nation would be found doing.And in the 2nd ODI,despite having India reeling at 29/3 in 7.3 overs,England not only allowing India put up a big total,but lost wickets in quick succession to someone like Yuvraj Singh-who is not a bowler by anymeans.I wouldn't even give him the tag of part-time-bowler.

Whether England wins or loses the series is a different issue altogether,but,if there is to be some enthusiasm for viewers to go and watch the match in the stadium,I wish there should be atleast some restriction from the opposite team,which would make the match interesting.With the Australian team that toured India not being able to take none other than a man of the match award in the last test,I feel the die hard fans in India would be thinking twice before going out to watch a cricket match if this continues.Just imagine the fate of the sponsorers who have invested millions of dollars in IPL & ICL (keeping in mind the craze for cricket in the country),if the fans-who give their life for cricket, get bored of cricket and give up watching.

It never looks as though the England team will atleast now wake up to put up a though fight against an in-form Indian team.A solution to this would be to reduce the strength of the current Indian team to be in par with the opposition it is facing,so that the matches would be a bit more interesting with lesser one sided games.Else,be prepared for empty stands.

Pakistan Plays a Series At Home Away From Home

At last,there is some relief as one more series kicks off in style for Pakistan.No matter where and the schedule.But,its only the series what matters.And,its not good for Pakistan cricket to expect too much taking into consideration the scenario in Pakistan.I think that Pakistan has to consider itself too lucky for being the only team that have played a home series away from home.First according to my memory being against Australia in 2002 played at Sharjah and now against the West Indies at Abu Dhabi that is under progress.No other team has so far got this privilege I suppose.

I never thought and never expected Pakistan to play a single test or an one day international, once the Australian Tour to Pakistan was canceled earlier this year and later the ICC Champions Trophy too.Now,its good that the West Indies have understood their plight and decided to give them some relief.Finally Pakistan got its due for the year 2008 with the West Indies making to Pakistan at Abu Dhabi.

Otherwise also,the year 2008 has gone without cricket for Pakistan,with its earlier two tours being against Bangladesh in April and the other being against Zimbabwe in January.Both of them being minnow teams.The matches against these teams gave Pakistan a consecutive 11 one day wins.Now,with two wins against another minnow team in West Indies,the toll has gone up to 13.Considering that Pakistan win the third one day international too against the West Indies,the feat will be extended to 14.The next major even in Pakistan's cricket would be the tour of India in early 2009.But,some hints that even this tour is under threat,citing the same security concerns are on.

Now,even if this tour gets canceled and the same being replaced by some minnow be it Kenya (who replaced South Africa in 2003 Sharjah Cup) or Ireland-two of the most leading one day inspires,there is no doubt that Pakistan could make something out of it by overtaking Australia's unbeaten 21 consecutive winning streak in 2003 (from their win against England in the VB Series 2003 until their one day series against West Indies after the world cup).I wonder how bad the Aussies would feel if this happens which would add fuel to the fire that India ignited by defeating them 2-0in the recent B-G Trophy.Sorry Australia.

India A No 1 Test Team! Really?

Well after the 2-0 series win over Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar trophy its all talks from most of the Indian cricket stalwarts about team India becoming the number 21 team in the ICC test rankings.But,to what extent is this statement really valid? Starting from Kris Shrikanth and up to Amarnath,all have hinted that India would go on from here onwards to become the number 1 test team in the world.Well how foolish a statement would that be? Some thinking by Gavaskar taking reality into consideration and dismissing such claims.No doubt that India has in it the potential to demolish any of the present bowling attacks and bowlers who can become nightmares to most of the batsman.

As Sunil Gavaskar was found saying, India still needs to improve its performance overseas.Like they lost the test series 2-1 to Sri Lanka in August.Even the victories in the recent past were not convincing either.A 1-0 win against Pakistan,a 1-1 against the Proteas, before a 2-1 series loss to Sri Lanka unlike the Australian team that whitewashed alomost each and every team that it came across one-sidedly.The three test series which India won against England last year 1-0 was owing to rains, which played a spoilsport,by drawing the first test at Lord's with England needing just one wicket to win when India were reeling at 282/9 chasing a target of 380,with four hours of day's play still to go.In the past one year or so, India has had as many as three captains for test matches,which is not desired for a team contending for a top spot in the test rankings.

My question is can India whitewash any team be it at home or outside,excluding Bangladesh?Does India have a perfect replacement for top players like V V S Laxman, Sachin and others in case of injury and still be able to outperform the opposition? Does India have the consistency to play such tough cricket similar to the way the world cricket powers like the West Indies of the 70s and the recent Oz team did?Does India have the guts ond courage to stand up against any odds like the way Steve Waugh and Clive lloyd did during their rule?

Well Australia could do all these for all the days they dominated world test cricket.A defeat to Australia was as good as a minnow team like Bangladesh winning a test match against a noted opposition.Their Ashes loss in 2005 raised millions of eye- brows all over the world in frustration.From then onwards,the Australian team maintained their winning streak until the Perth test which they eventually lost by 72 runs.They had were unbeaten 22 consecutive tests which included 16 straight victories.Are you Indian cricket buffs listening?

India has always relied on only a couple of players for a test victory,with the rest of them just filling the vacancies..Needless to say that India cannot even think of such things what-so-ever.A victory in the current series may end up in a crushing defeat in the next tour under schedule.

Only time will tell as to whether India can be in par with top teams like the Windies of the 70s or the Australian team until Ashes 2007.Until then, we have no other choice but to wait and watch team India's performances in test cricket.

Indian Ghost Continues To Haunt The Aussies

Atlast, the inevitable happens.Australia lose the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2-0,thanks to an under par Australian team that toured India this time and some luck whenever Mahendra Singh Dhoni takes on the Indian cap.After a long time,India have won a series 2-0 compared to 1-0 series victories against teams viz Pakistan (late last year) and England (in mid 2007).A delight being that Australia won the Nagpur test in 2004 to regain the Border Gavaskar trophy,a win on Indian soil after 34 years,only to lose the same at the same venue,4 years later.The man who lost the Ashes after 19 years in 2005,now can boast of having done the same in the Border-Gavaskar trophy as well.

I bet that there is some ghost that haunts the Australian cricket team everytime whenever they play India.For,even a batsman like Virender Sehwag comes up with a 5 wicket haul and bowlers like Irfan Pathan,Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan of late have proved something with the bat as well.Rarely does things like this happens.With someone like V V S Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar always being there when it comes to the big stage,this time for a change,instead of Rahul Dravid,there is Gautam Gambhir who unexpectedly became the top scorer of the series,including a double hundred at his home ground at Firoz Shah Kotla in Delhi.A series that would have been 2-1 favoring India ended at 2-0.

Despite a 70 run lead in the first innings at Bangalore,the Aussies made a mess of their own game by allowing Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh,after batting for nearly three days to post a so called respectable total.It looks like the Aussies are now feeling the pinch of losing star cricketers like McGrath,Damien Martyn,Langer and others at a stretch.I never expected someone like Mike Hussey to be a part of a test team,who can belt the ball like a T20 game.And KUDOS to Matt for atlast putting up a big score of 77 after a lot of over aggresive knocks.I feel it was primarily because of Matt that the ussies have had to face such a humiliation and second comes Ricky Ponting,followed by Brett Lee.

All that the Aussies could take from this series was a man of the match that was awarded to Kreza in the Nagpur encounter,despite losing the match and with it the series.A little planning would have seen the Aussies settle for a level.With 382 runs needed to win and a win being a compulsion,the Aussies just went after each and every ball.Someone like a Shahid Afridi would be seen doing.None of the Australian players, be it bowling or in the batting department have taken this series as a challenge,like it was taken by India four years back.Some fightback by the Australian team would have made the series an interesting one with both the teams not willing to give up.This was last seen only in the Border-Gavaskar series 2003 when India toured Australia.

India Win The Border-Gavaskar Series

All cheers for team India for taking a 1-0 lead in the second test atMohali.But, winning the series 3-0 or even 2-0 would be a good result I believe.Looks like that is not bound to happen as long as there are curators of the likes of Radhey Shyam Sharma,who prepares the pitches taking into consideration only the Indian aspect of the game.With India being 1-0 up in the series,it looks like the pitch curators will adapt all sorts of unfair means to see that the opponents do not come back in the series.Is this the sportsmanship that is expected from the Indian sides?When Indian cricket fans can condemn the Sydney test episode,isn't there anything that is to be said regarding these kind of tests which happen in India only when India takes an initial lead in the series?

This is not the first time that team India has undergone through such tests at home after taking a lead in the initial stages.In the recent past,this type of gimmicks.In the recent past,every series has such kind of a pitch which assists the batsmen owing to which the match ends in a pale draw.In the India-Pakistan series late last year,which India won 1-0 too,the second and third games were high scoring,which eventually ended in a draw.Such type of pitches suit the likes of Gautam Gambhir and Wassim Jaffer,who can only prove their myths on a belter like those.If such is the case,why go in for a three match series and why not a one match series?

The cunning face never ends there.Take for example the series against South Africa earlier this year.India had gone one down in the second test,after drawing the first. And for their fortune,all the pitch for third test just did was to turn the ball even for the likes of Virender Sehwag.This aided a team like India who are a good spinning side.(In the sense spinning the ball and not the match).Harbhajan Singh made full use of such a turning track to level the series 1-1.The last time any opponent has bounced back after being down in the series is in 2006 during England's tour of India ,where England levelled the series 1-1,thrshing India by a whooping 300 runs.

Since then,Indian pitch curators have taken to this idea to save India from the jaws of defeat.Is this the reason as to why team India gets punished on tours abroad despite a series win at home against the same opposition?The last time India have won a series abroad is against the West Indies 1-0,after the then West Indies team led by Brian Lara,shattered Rahul Dravid's team India from taking home a 3-0 series victory. Remember the tour of India to South Africa in late 2006,which South Africa won 2-1 after being 1-1.Time will tell even if teams like Australia and England follow the same, when England won the Ashes in 2005,after being 1-1 with the third match drawn.And Australia after being 2-1 up against India in early this year,drew the fourth test.

At the end,such issues cannot be dealt with,with each one finding an unfair means to tackle the opposition.After all,even the ICC is governed by humans.Ha ha ha..

A Deserving Farwell,But Not A Deserving Treatment

Well a shocking decision by Anil Kumble to call it a day from the longest version of the game is a lot discussed thing since yesterday.But,without a word or two about this great gentleman would be an insult not only for Anil Kumble but for me also for being a cricket blogger and not writing anything about this great chap who has served cricket with all heart and soul for the past 18 years.In addition to whatever that has been discussed about Anil Kumble since he announced his retirement from test cricket,there is something that I share with Jumbo apart from being from the same state where he made his mark as a cricketer.But,that is a top secret.

I bet that there cannot be any other member in the team who had to undergo so much humiliation undeservingly.Not even Sourav Ganguly for that matter.I wonder as to why people didn't stand up against Anil Kumble when he had to go through the odds he never deserved?When Ganguly came in for all sympathy from his team mates and his fans back at Kolkata, in what way was Kumble's issue different from that of Dada? Despite all these odds,Jumbo has crossed all of them to become the highest wicket taker in all forms of the game.No doubt,he got the farewell what he deserved.But, atleast if one could have a glimpse of what Kumble would have underwent through all these years.

I wonder what made Sourav Ganguly to go in for Dinesh Mongia and Mohd Kaif with Kumble being made to warm the benches in the 2003 world cup?This despite his 4 wicket haul against Holland and the run out of Inzamam in the famous Indo-Pak encounter.If Ganguly feels humiliated for being dropped for the Irani Trophy, so would be Kumble for the same since Ganguly took charge as captain.Even in the 2007 World Cup, Kumble played just one ODI against Bermuda and given a ticket in the matches against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.If this is the case, why the hell do the selectors go in for Kumble to be included in the 15 member squad?

Since his re-entry into the national squad in Adelaide test after being ignored by Ganguly in the Brisbane test (which delayed his 400th test wicket), Anil Kumble has missed only two occasions owing to injury.The one against South Africa and the other in the recent Mohali test.Isn't this lovely when copmpared to someone like Zaheer Khan, Ishanth Sharma and our hero Sreesanth, who are most of the time in garages getting some of their parts repaired? One can never forget the way he bought up a victory against Australia in Bangalore in Titan cup 1996,after a series of controversial decisions involving Mohd. Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja along with his Karnataka team mate Javagal Srinath.

Both Srinath and Kumble share something,for both of them announced their retirements all of a sudden and shockingly.Of course not much was expected from their aging bodies and minds.But, I guess there was some fuel still left in their tank. Srinath announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 11Th November 2003 and Anil Kumble on 2ND November 2008.The difference being close to 5 years.And one fascinating achievement about Anil Kumble that could be compared with nothing is his 10 wicket haul against Pakistan at Delhi.This I call is the most undisputed record for even the 400* scored by Lara could be achieved with sheer determination and hard work,while Kumble's perfect ten could have been averted by some unfair means by the opposition batsman getting run-out or throwing his wicket to any other bowler,like it happened to Murali against England and Zimbabwe.

Whether someone can replace Anil Kumble or not being out of question,but,the post insists that a person of the caliber of Anil Kumble gets his reward for the hard work and dedication that he has shown in the game of cricket for almost two decades.Last but not the least,Cricketahead salutes this great hearted bowler with all cheers throughout his off-field life.