Well needless to be said, New Zealand beat Pakistan yesterday by 110 runs which was their first victory in world cups since 1992 (the world cup since which I have been following). I still remember New Zealand losing two games to Pakistan in the 1992 world cup, one in the league stages and the other in the semi finals which saw their fans leave the stadium in tears. Since then, New Zealand have been losing to Pakistan in 5 occasions, two each in the 1992 and 1999 editions and 1 in 1996. Since then the two teams have never met in world cups at all.
For two world cups since 1999, Pakistan have never been able to cross the first round of the world cup and the teams had been grouped in such a way that Pakistan had no chance of meeting New Zealand in the league stages of the world cup. Of course, the teams have met in the T20 world cup in all three editions with Pakistan winning two and New Zealand one. Coming to the ICC champions trophy, which is also a world cup tournament, Pakistan and New Zealand have met thrice with New Zealand winning all three in 2000, 2006 and 2009.
Yesterday, Pakistan just paid the price for not being so alert on the field when they dropped the catch of none other than Ross Taylor who was instrumental in New Zealand's 92 runs off the last four overs that laid the platform for their victory. On the other hand, New Zealand's fielding was exactly the opposite of their Pakistani counterpart. There was a warning in that game against Sri Lanka when ones turned out to be twos, easy catches were dropped and run outs were missed. Finally, Pakistan had to settle with a 11 run win which should have been 50 runs or so.
A bowler who could take three consecutive 4+ wicket hauls and claim his best favorite shot to be "anywhere for six" could only take one gifted wicket of Guptill and score 17 runs at an astonishing strike rate of 188. It is just unfortunate for Pakistan to have such an inspirational captain who can hardly take responsibility when the situations demands a captain's knock similar to that of Steve Waugh. Afridi was one among the two six hitters from Pakistan but which was hardly of any use to his team. By winning the game against Pakistan, New Zealand made their presence felt after they had lost to Australia and were likely to lose yesterday as well.
Showing posts with label Shahid Afridi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shahid Afridi. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Has Pakistan chosen a decent squad?
Well, it is just less than a month before the big even is about to start and one should be hapy to hear that Pakistan is still yet to select a captain for its team. May be the PCB is still awaiting the comeback of Imran Khan, Inzamam or Wasim Akram, failing to realize that they have retired from all forms of cricket long back. There might have been cases here teams would have headed to a tournament without a full time coach like it happened in the inaugural edition of the world T20 tournament in 2007 where India headed with a stand in bowling coach-Venkatesh Prasad.
But, can there ever be a team without a captain or can there be a team which decides who should captain just moments before calling the toss? The PCB has made a debacle by dropping fellow players like Mohammed Yusuf and Salman Butt, both of whom could have borne the responsibility, captaincy has to be an issue whatsoever. Moreover, if the squad that the Pakistan team will be heading with to the world cup is taken, the issue gets even more bigger and may be even bigger than the one haunting its captaincy issue. Captaincy can be borne by either Afridi or Abdul Razzaq keeping in mind the experience of both.
It looks like Inzamam Ul Haq is worried regarding who will captain his side with so many of them being shown the doors in the 15 member squad. Afridi has though not done a fab job as a player, his statistics suggest that he has played more than 200 matches in limited overs cricket but, keeping in mind his carelessness in selecting shots, he has to be kept out of discussion. However, Abdul Razzaq can be a good choice keeping in mind both his experience and sense of responsibility when it comes to both batting as well as bowling. Other names that strike are Kamran Akmal and Younus Khan.
With Younis Khan opting out, another choice would be Misbah Ul Haq who has shown to me rather responsible and with no other member of the 15 member squad seeming to do the job, Misbah can well be an option. But, if the squad itself is considered, it looks like Pakistan is bound to do an Australia for the wrong reasons. If Pakistan fail to go past the 1st stage of the tournament, they will be failing to do so for the 3rd time in a row like Australia winning the world cup since 1999. There was no reason to include Shoaib Akthar when Yousuf was denied entry.
But, can there ever be a team without a captain or can there be a team which decides who should captain just moments before calling the toss? The PCB has made a debacle by dropping fellow players like Mohammed Yusuf and Salman Butt, both of whom could have borne the responsibility, captaincy has to be an issue whatsoever. Moreover, if the squad that the Pakistan team will be heading with to the world cup is taken, the issue gets even more bigger and may be even bigger than the one haunting its captaincy issue. Captaincy can be borne by either Afridi or Abdul Razzaq keeping in mind the experience of both.
It looks like Inzamam Ul Haq is worried regarding who will captain his side with so many of them being shown the doors in the 15 member squad. Afridi has though not done a fab job as a player, his statistics suggest that he has played more than 200 matches in limited overs cricket but, keeping in mind his carelessness in selecting shots, he has to be kept out of discussion. However, Abdul Razzaq can be a good choice keeping in mind both his experience and sense of responsibility when it comes to both batting as well as bowling. Other names that strike are Kamran Akmal and Younus Khan.
With Younis Khan opting out, another choice would be Misbah Ul Haq who has shown to me rather responsible and with no other member of the 15 member squad seeming to do the job, Misbah can well be an option. But, if the squad itself is considered, it looks like Pakistan is bound to do an Australia for the wrong reasons. If Pakistan fail to go past the 1st stage of the tournament, they will be failing to do so for the 3rd time in a row like Australia winning the world cup since 1999. There was no reason to include Shoaib Akthar when Yousuf was denied entry.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Something similar between Lara & Sachin
It is not an undisputed fact that Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar are the finest of all batsmen of their era. The decade has seen batsmen like Inzamam Ul Haq who could pull his team out from the jaws of defeat in the semi finals of the 1992 world cup which Pakistan eventually won. Then there is Shahid Afridi, who claims that his favourite shot is "anywhere for six" and holds the record for the fastest hundred in ODIs and then there is Jayasuriya who holds the record for the maximum number of sixes in one day cricket. Otherwise also we have gr8 batsmen like Ponting, Gilchrist, Symonds etc who have been exceptional with the willow.
However, the world of cricket, if the last 15 years or so are considered, the only batsmen who have been enjoying a huge fan following are only two- Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. No one would dare to rate any other batsmen among these two greats and so would I. A Sachin fan can justify himself with most of the batting records in both formats of the game belonging to him. But, as far as Brian Lara is considered, if not for the unbeaten score of 400 against England, none of the records really belong to him in either formats of the game.
If Lara is given a little bit of concession, he held the world record for the highest number of runs in international test cricket until it was broke by none other than Sachin Tendulkar. Lara stands fifth when it comes to the number of 100s scored behind Sachin, Jayasuriya, Ponting & Ganguly. Lara's place when it comes to the highest run aggregate would be behind Dravid, Ganguly, Inzy, Jayasuriya and of course Sachin. But, there was one thing that struck my mind when Sachin scored an unbeaten 200 yesterday against South Africa.This was Sachin's 2nd score over 180 which is in par with two 350+ scores of Lara in tests.
It was somewhere in October 2003 that Australia's Mathew Hayden scored 380 runs against Zimbabwe to break the old record of 375 put up by Lara against England in 1994. Exactly six months later, Brian Lara notched up the first quadruple hundred in test cricket that broke Mathew Hayden's record and also was a new landmark in tests. Similarly, in ODIs, in August 2009, Charles Coventry scored an unbeaten 194 against Bangladesh which broke Saeed Anwar's record of the same score without the asterik symbol following it. And exactly after the same duration of 6 months, Sachin scores 200* which also put up a new landmark but in ODIs. Moreover, both Lara & Sachin use bats that are sponsored by MRF.
However, the world of cricket, if the last 15 years or so are considered, the only batsmen who have been enjoying a huge fan following are only two- Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. No one would dare to rate any other batsmen among these two greats and so would I. A Sachin fan can justify himself with most of the batting records in both formats of the game belonging to him. But, as far as Brian Lara is considered, if not for the unbeaten score of 400 against England, none of the records really belong to him in either formats of the game.
If Lara is given a little bit of concession, he held the world record for the highest number of runs in international test cricket until it was broke by none other than Sachin Tendulkar. Lara stands fifth when it comes to the number of 100s scored behind Sachin, Jayasuriya, Ponting & Ganguly. Lara's place when it comes to the highest run aggregate would be behind Dravid, Ganguly, Inzy, Jayasuriya and of course Sachin. But, there was one thing that struck my mind when Sachin scored an unbeaten 200 yesterday against South Africa.This was Sachin's 2nd score over 180 which is in par with two 350+ scores of Lara in tests.
It was somewhere in October 2003 that Australia's Mathew Hayden scored 380 runs against Zimbabwe to break the old record of 375 put up by Lara against England in 1994. Exactly six months later, Brian Lara notched up the first quadruple hundred in test cricket that broke Mathew Hayden's record and also was a new landmark in tests. Similarly, in ODIs, in August 2009, Charles Coventry scored an unbeaten 194 against Bangladesh which broke Saeed Anwar's record of the same score without the asterik symbol following it. And exactly after the same duration of 6 months, Sachin scores 200* which also put up a new landmark but in ODIs. Moreover, both Lara & Sachin use bats that are sponsored by MRF.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A Reason For Pakistan To Smile
In the recently concluded one day series between Pakistan and Australia, if our memories are long, Australia won the series by a margin 3-2 Pakistan won the first one day match only to lose the second and third followed by a consolation win in the fifth one day when at one time in the match they gave a hint that the result would be 4-1 favoring Australia. Anyway, Pakistan finally ended up victorious after beating the Aussies by 7 wickets despite losing three quick wickets. And in the only T20 match that was a part of the series, Pakistan had almost everything theirs for, on one side they were champions of the game compared to Australia and on the other side, Australia were not playing T20 the way they play either ODI or test cricket.
As expected, Australia crumbled for a partly total of just 108 which is as good as a 3.0 per over run rate in an ODI match. It was fascinating to see Australia have just three players who could manage to score a double digit score. The top scorer in the Australian side was opener Shane Watson who scored 33 runs. This was good only in comparison with the rest of the batsmen and not as far as the game of T20 cricket is concerned. I wonder as to how come Australia could sink so low in T20 cricket that players like Andrew Symonds, Hopes and Hussey could not lead the Aussie batting despite having made names for big hitting in international arena.
On the other hand, Pakistan could win the match without the services of the big hitting Shahid Afridi and captain Younus Khan who opted out of the match and Misbah takes over the captaincy for yet another time. For a change, Shahid Afridi was found striking with the ball bowling his regular leg spin when he is known for his big hitting that can rather be called a slog instead. Shahid Afridi is always found hitting the ball blindly irrespective of the position at which he is batting and the position his team is in. Sometimes, the ball that gets hit covers the distance and during other times, just finds the fielder.
However, off late, Shahid Afridi is found to bowl his leg spin with a wide variety that often makes the batsmen think twice before selecting a shot. Perhaps! Shahid Afridi can now think about a role as a bowler in cricket for, his blind slogging of the ball often disappoints his team rather than be of some service to the same. Until now, Afridi's varying spin bowling was limited only to minnow like Kenya and Zimbabwe. Now, he has got even the decent opposition like Australia under control with his varying leg brakes. For the first time, I can see two bowlers belonging to the same team being given the man of the match award. Probably, this has happened for the first time I guess. I remember Gibbs (RSA) & Ponting (Aus) being awarded the man of the match in the historical match where RSA chased down 434 imposed by Australia.
As expected, Australia crumbled for a partly total of just 108 which is as good as a 3.0 per over run rate in an ODI match. It was fascinating to see Australia have just three players who could manage to score a double digit score. The top scorer in the Australian side was opener Shane Watson who scored 33 runs. This was good only in comparison with the rest of the batsmen and not as far as the game of T20 cricket is concerned. I wonder as to how come Australia could sink so low in T20 cricket that players like Andrew Symonds, Hopes and Hussey could not lead the Aussie batting despite having made names for big hitting in international arena.
On the other hand, Pakistan could win the match without the services of the big hitting Shahid Afridi and captain Younus Khan who opted out of the match and Misbah takes over the captaincy for yet another time. For a change, Shahid Afridi was found striking with the ball bowling his regular leg spin when he is known for his big hitting that can rather be called a slog instead. Shahid Afridi is always found hitting the ball blindly irrespective of the position at which he is batting and the position his team is in. Sometimes, the ball that gets hit covers the distance and during other times, just finds the fielder.
However, off late, Shahid Afridi is found to bowl his leg spin with a wide variety that often makes the batsmen think twice before selecting a shot. Perhaps! Shahid Afridi can now think about a role as a bowler in cricket for, his blind slogging of the ball often disappoints his team rather than be of some service to the same. Until now, Afridi's varying spin bowling was limited only to minnow like Kenya and Zimbabwe. Now, he has got even the decent opposition like Australia under control with his varying leg brakes. For the first time, I can see two bowlers belonging to the same team being given the man of the match award. Probably, this has happened for the first time I guess. I remember Gibbs (RSA) & Ponting (Aus) being awarded the man of the match in the historical match where RSA chased down 434 imposed by Australia.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Is Pakistan So Good?
Well it was nice to finally see the Pakistani players wear their boots and hang on with their cricket gears when they faced Australia recently. And much to the excitement, not only did Pakistan enter the ground, but also they took the opposition to task and guess who the opposition was!!!Yes the mighty Aussies of the past. Of course not in the present arena. There were three Australian players whose performance was exceptional when compared to the rest. That was when Brad Haddin, James Hopes and Shane Watson scored 40+ scores. But, not enough support from the other players just added to the Aussie misery, who have just come back from a disastrous tour of South Africa losing the one day series 3-2.
A series of losses in this series against Pakistan could land the Aussies back to where they belong to. That is the number 3 position in the ICC one day rankings. And this doesn't seem to be too far taking their dismal performance against Pakistan into consideration. And how come Australia couldn't just contain the Pakistani players who are since the past one year or so playing international cricket once in a bluemoon? Of course, if the Australian team is given a close look, it doesn't actually seem so. But, the scoreboard the other day gave a different opinion. Reason?
The victory in the fifth and the final one day match against South Africa would have surely given them a great relief when they found themselves at no 2 in the ICC one day rankings. That was the feat that they could manage after losing the series to the Proteas and pulling off a consolation win. But, if things go this way for the Aussies, a Bangladesh- Australia match would be just fine, filled with guesses and thrills. For, Bangladesh are found improving themselves with respect to the game and on the other hand, Aussies are found diminishing in their standards.
2007. But they were never expected to be this bad that not only did they lose the game against Pakistan, but also lost all their 10 wickets for a score less than 175. And the bowler who took the Australian batsmen to task was a part time bowler in May be it is true that Australia are not the team they were two years ago during the world cupShahid Afridi, who is only known for slogging the ball blindly-sometimes over the ropes and many a times to the hands of the fieldsman. And if such a bowler can bag 6 Aussie wickets, one can imagine the plight of the Aussie bowlers.
A series of losses in this series against Pakistan could land the Aussies back to where they belong to. That is the number 3 position in the ICC one day rankings. And this doesn't seem to be too far taking their dismal performance against Pakistan into consideration. And how come Australia couldn't just contain the Pakistani players who are since the past one year or so playing international cricket once in a bluemoon? Of course, if the Australian team is given a close look, it doesn't actually seem so. But, the scoreboard the other day gave a different opinion. Reason?
The victory in the fifth and the final one day match against South Africa would have surely given them a great relief when they found themselves at no 2 in the ICC one day rankings. That was the feat that they could manage after losing the series to the Proteas and pulling off a consolation win. But, if things go this way for the Aussies, a Bangladesh- Australia match would be just fine, filled with guesses and thrills. For, Bangladesh are found improving themselves with respect to the game and on the other hand, Aussies are found diminishing in their standards.
2007. But they were never expected to be this bad that not only did they lose the game against Pakistan, but also lost all their 10 wickets for a score less than 175. And the bowler who took the Australian batsmen to task was a part time bowler in May be it is true that Australia are not the team they were two years ago during the world cupShahid Afridi, who is only known for slogging the ball blindly-sometimes over the ropes and many a times to the hands of the fieldsman. And if such a bowler can bag 6 Aussie wickets, one can imagine the plight of the Aussie bowlers.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Slowly Turning The Other Way?
Well as soon as the talk is about the T20 game,the first thing that comes to people's mind is about not batting but about belting the ball ruthlessly.But,in the ongoing Indian Premier League,in addition to merciless belting of the cricket ball,there are at time when teams end up putting a low total,and in case of Royal Challengers Bangalore,it is something a common gesture I can say.But,the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and the Delhi Dare Devils found the Kolkata Knight Riders not only end up scoring a low total but also defend it successfully.Coutesy:Shoaib Akthar's 4/11 off 3 overs.
And in the recent match between the Chennai Super Kings versus Rajasthan Royals, the match witnessed not only a hat-trick but also a second 5-wicket haul.The first one being Sohail Tanvir's 6/14.I doubt weather he has taken better figures than this one even in tests?And more recently,that is in yesterday's match,there was one more hat-trick by Amith Mishra who was also making a comeback after a very long time. Not sure as to when he last played his international game in any format.
Well another coincidence has arisen which even I came to know while writing this particular post.That is all the aforementioned bowling efforts have been by bowlers who have made a comeback after a long time.
It was nice to see some big hitter like Shahid Afridi play his natural game of slogging the ball randomly.Though not lasting too long,there was some satisfaction compared to his previous knocks.And the innings played by Goutam Gambhir is outstanding not to mention.Congrats Goutam on reaching the 400 run aggregate mark.Lets hope that he gets atleast one man of the match award.No doubt that he still stands one of the best (may be the only one) to be awarded the man of the series award.I've already awarded him it!!!
And in the recent match between the Chennai Super Kings versus Rajasthan Royals, the match witnessed not only a hat-trick but also a second 5-wicket haul.The first one being Sohail Tanvir's 6/14.I doubt weather he has taken better figures than this one even in tests?And more recently,that is in yesterday's match,there was one more hat-trick by Amith Mishra who was also making a comeback after a very long time. Not sure as to when he last played his international game in any format.
Well another coincidence has arisen which even I came to know while writing this particular post.That is all the aforementioned bowling efforts have been by bowlers who have made a comeback after a long time.
It was nice to see some big hitter like Shahid Afridi play his natural game of slogging the ball randomly.Though not lasting too long,there was some satisfaction compared to his previous knocks.And the innings played by Goutam Gambhir is outstanding not to mention.Congrats Goutam on reaching the 400 run aggregate mark.Lets hope that he gets atleast one man of the match award.No doubt that he still stands one of the best (may be the only one) to be awarded the man of the series award.I've already awarded him it!!!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Finall The Mumbai Drought Ends
Last night was a relief for most of the Mumbai fans out there not for on, but for many reasons.The first being the return of the local hero in Sachin Tendulkar,whose introduction would be foolish thing to do.And then,there was one batsmen from Mumbai Indians' side who finally came out with a classical knock when the fans witnessed the second fastest hundred in the tournament from the blades of Sanath Jayasuriya.
11 sixes by Sanath Jayasuriya on a ground where he was found blasting an unbeaten 151 to carry his team (the then world champions) to the finals of the Pepsi Independence Cup and eventually win the series.This is the second time that I know that Sanath Jayasuriya hit 11 sixes after the first instance against Pakistan in the Singer Cup 1996-where he blasted 134 off just 65 deliveries.And if this chance was let off by Jayasuriya,it would mean the end of hopes for the Mumbai Indians as well. Thank god he didn't let that happen.
His knock against the Chennai Super Kings reminds me of the knock played by Adam Gilchrist when he was found smashing the Mumbai Indians repeatedly over the mid on side.And Sanath Jayasuriya's knock was something similar to that.Don't know as to what might happen in future regarding either Sanath Jayasuriya or Mumbai Indians,after even the same Adam Gilchrist had nothing to prove after his fastest hundred.As far as this math went out,it was a treat to watch as i-a huge fan of Jayasuriya could see him blast the bowlers,though there was a superb bowling performance when he took 3/19 and also 2 catches to empower his team to victory against Kolkata Knight Riders.
The last time I saw Sanath Jayasuriya play a splendid innings was in the T20 game against New Zealand-where he scored 61 runs off just 42 deliveries.Well if this is the way people like Sanath Jayasuriya,Shahid Afridi,Adam Gilchrist...so on and so forth (who are known for their big hitting) goes,it would be a real success for a tournament where players are paid astronomical sums.
11 sixes by Sanath Jayasuriya on a ground where he was found blasting an unbeaten 151 to carry his team (the then world champions) to the finals of the Pepsi Independence Cup and eventually win the series.This is the second time that I know that Sanath Jayasuriya hit 11 sixes after the first instance against Pakistan in the Singer Cup 1996-where he blasted 134 off just 65 deliveries.And if this chance was let off by Jayasuriya,it would mean the end of hopes for the Mumbai Indians as well. Thank god he didn't let that happen.
His knock against the Chennai Super Kings reminds me of the knock played by Adam Gilchrist when he was found smashing the Mumbai Indians repeatedly over the mid on side.And Sanath Jayasuriya's knock was something similar to that.Don't know as to what might happen in future regarding either Sanath Jayasuriya or Mumbai Indians,after even the same Adam Gilchrist had nothing to prove after his fastest hundred.As far as this math went out,it was a treat to watch as i-a huge fan of Jayasuriya could see him blast the bowlers,though there was a superb bowling performance when he took 3/19 and also 2 catches to empower his team to victory against Kolkata Knight Riders.
The last time I saw Sanath Jayasuriya play a splendid innings was in the T20 game against New Zealand-where he scored 61 runs off just 42 deliveries.Well if this is the way people like Sanath Jayasuriya,Shahid Afridi,Adam Gilchrist...so on and so forth (who are known for their big hitting) goes,it would be a real success for a tournament where players are paid astronomical sums.
Same Faces Again And Again
Well the match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals as usual,not to mention..well I guess the result has already been guessed.Thats true..Well lets forget that.There's lots and lots that we can talk about the match.So lets not get our moods rotten by talking about Royal Challengers and their plight in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League.
It is once again Shaun Marsh who was the match winner in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore too as he was in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders. Some things-some good and the rest of them bad can and will never change. With the same people emerging as the match winners in each and every game they face.Some examples being Yousuf Pathan,Shane Watson,Brendon McCullum,Goutam Gambhir ...While there are some like Virender Sehwag,Sanath Jayasuriya,Adam Gilchrist etc who are good only on their particular days...while the third category which includes the likes of Rahul Dravid,Shahid Afridi,V V S Laxman..who are never found to fire what so ever.
It is once again Shaun Marsh who was the match winner in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore too as he was in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders. Some things-some good and the rest of them bad can and will never change. With the same people emerging as the match winners in each and every game they face.Some examples being Yousuf Pathan,Shane Watson,Brendon McCullum,Goutam Gambhir ...While there are some like Virender Sehwag,Sanath Jayasuriya,Adam Gilchrist etc who are good only on their particular days...while the third category which includes the likes of Rahul Dravid,Shahid Afridi,V V S Laxman..who are never found to fire what so ever.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Same two Teams,Same Result,Same Man
Well the last time when the Deccan Chargers met the Royal Challengers,they were outplayed by the latter despite the then fastest hundred from the blades of Andrew Symonds.The match was outplayed by another man from Rajasthan Royals who notched up the fastest fifty of the tournament.And the same story repeated once again when the same two teams met each other at Jaipur.This time there was no Andrew Symonds,but off course there was Yousuf Pathan who was once again found to trouble the Deccan Chargers' bowlers with his power shots.Off course the main culprit being the hopeless batting display by the Deccan Chargers-which also included Adam Gilchrist's 49 ball 61 for that he could not result in the momentum going.If it was at the top of the batting order that saw some stroke play from the blades of Adam Gilchrist,the next such show came towards the end when Venugopal Rao blasted a 11-ball 23.The team whose score was 74/1 at the end of 10 overs,were found to pile up just 66 runs in the next slot losing 7 wickets.
And this was in no way found to trouble the Rajasthan Royals.And how would it ever do-when a target of over 200 didn't fount to in the first encounter,how come a target that was some 60 runs short compared to the first?That too without the power of Andrew Symonds?With Smith and Pathan almost getting the job done,the next who came in (Kaif and Watson) had nothing much to do but to give a perfect finish to their team.
God knows as to when will there be a BOOM BOOM AFRIDI?
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
After A Series Of Wins,It Is A Series Of Losses For The Chennai Super Kings
Well when the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League started,the teams like Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings started it all with a huge bang by registering three consecutive wins and the Chennai Super Kings extending it to four.And much frustration as the Chennai Super Kings were found to do the good work they were found doing in the match against weakly rated Deccan Chargers.This would off course put the audience in a guess as to what would happen to the finals or as to who would emerge the winners of the IPL and walk away with a whooping Rs 12 crore?
Off course that would by no means go into the hands of the Royal Challengers Bangalore.And not even Deccan Chargers.And with the Chennai Super Kings making a mess of their game after the famous New Zealander-Jacob Oram and the Aussies Matthew Hayden and Mike Hussey had to return back home to fulfill their national commitments.Even two lives given to Parthiv Patel was not made use of fully by this child when he threw away a running catch to R P Singh in the sixth ball after he had two lives -one in the first ball and the next in the fourth.
And for a change,this time there were some fireworks from Shahid Afridi who was for most part of the tournament found to score only in the dressing room and only on paper.But,a strike rate of 333 means that this would be the beginning of another Afridi era and a treat for the fans out there in the upcoming matches.A lower order batsman in Albie Morkel was the first one to slog the ball over the ropes.As against Adam Gilchrist who saw to it that the scoreboard kept on jumping with hefty blows all over the ground.
It would be nice for the fans if V V S Laxman is out of the tournament if the Deccan Chargers have got to prove something.
Off course that would by no means go into the hands of the Royal Challengers Bangalore.And not even Deccan Chargers.And with the Chennai Super Kings making a mess of their game after the famous New Zealander-Jacob Oram and the Aussies Matthew Hayden and Mike Hussey had to return back home to fulfill their national commitments.Even two lives given to Parthiv Patel was not made use of fully by this child when he threw away a running catch to R P Singh in the sixth ball after he had two lives -one in the first ball and the next in the fourth.
And for a change,this time there were some fireworks from Shahid Afridi who was for most part of the tournament found to score only in the dressing room and only on paper.But,a strike rate of 333 means that this would be the beginning of another Afridi era and a treat for the fans out there in the upcoming matches.A lower order batsman in Albie Morkel was the first one to slog the ball over the ropes.As against Adam Gilchrist who saw to it that the scoreboard kept on jumping with hefty blows all over the ground.
It would be nice for the fans if V V S Laxman is out of the tournament if the Deccan Chargers have got to prove something.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Bottom To Top & From Top To Bottom
Well when the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League started,the Kolkata Knight Riders started it all with a bang by beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore by a whooping 140 runs-which is till the highest margin of victory for any team against any opposition.But,the victory streak was limited it looks.Because,after winning the forst two matches,the Kolkata Knight Riders had nothing at their end but defeat.Likewise on the other hand,the Kings XI Punjab has had a steady progress as they were found to win the rest of the games with much ease compared to the way they lost their opening encounter against Rajasthan Royals-which is famous for the Sreesanth-Harbhajan incident.
And if there was Yousuf Pathan for the Royal Challengers making news for all the good reasons,his younger brother Irfan is not too far behind as even this man was found to put up an all round performance by capturing two crucial wickets and scoring 24 runs (lets not take into account the strike rate).And much to my surprise,it was unimaginable to see Piyush Chawla belt the ball like an Indian Shahid Afridi.The tail end batsman scored a 7 ball 21 at a strike rate of 300 which included 3 hits to the fence and one huge six.
And the match was such a close encounter that it kept the audience always guessing out there for every ball that was bowled.The Kolkata Kinght Riders captain was once again a great flop as he could only manage to come out of a duck and get struck at 5.Atleast some blistering knock of 71 saw some face saving work for the Kolkata Knight Riders.And after a series of losses,it looks like the Kolkata knight riders are going the Royal Challengers and the Deccan Chargers way.
And if there was Yousuf Pathan for the Royal Challengers making news for all the good reasons,his younger brother Irfan is not too far behind as even this man was found to put up an all round performance by capturing two crucial wickets and scoring 24 runs (lets not take into account the strike rate).And much to my surprise,it was unimaginable to see Piyush Chawla belt the ball like an Indian Shahid Afridi.The tail end batsman scored a 7 ball 21 at a strike rate of 300 which included 3 hits to the fence and one huge six.
And the match was such a close encounter that it kept the audience always guessing out there for every ball that was bowled.The Kolkata Kinght Riders captain was once again a great flop as he could only manage to come out of a duck and get struck at 5.Atleast some blistering knock of 71 saw some face saving work for the Kolkata Knight Riders.And after a series of losses,it looks like the Kolkata knight riders are going the Royal Challengers and the Deccan Chargers way.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Replace a Match Winner By Another Match Winner
Set a thief to catch a thief.And this is what the Kings XI Punjab were found doing in the encounter against Deccan Chargers who on the last night gave the kings a tough fight.People like Shahid Afridi,Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs-who are known for their hard hitting abilities were found to do the scoring part only in the imaginary world.While lesser known names (when it come to big hitting) like V V S Laxman and Rohith Sharma were found to dominate with the bat.And the coincidence being that the match winner in the last game-Simon Katich was replaced by another match winner-Shepherd Marsh(son of Geoff Marsh).And one of the rare feats that is witnessed in the Indian Premier League,both the teams put up a tough fight.But,as the rules of the game goes,there could be only one winner and that turned out to be the Kings XI Punjab.Someone like Yuvraj Singh and Shahid Afridi were once again found to disappoint.But,the man who made the day out there was Rohith Sharma who scored an unbeaten 76 off just 42 balls-just like he did in the inaugural T20 world cup against South Africa in South Africa.This happened when all the batsmen from the other end collapsed but for VVS Laxman.
And it was also a delight to watch Mahela Jayawardane who scored 45 runs off 23 balls which involved most of them scoops.After all,it was a rare fight that was witnessed in the IPL after the second game.And also more smiles for Priety Zinta who saw her team climb up the stairs after three initial losses.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Rajasthan Royals:Deserving Winners
If one could take a look into the Thursday's match between Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers,one comment that I could see was that "it was really disappointing to see the Deccan Chargers end as losers despite the fastest century by Andrew Symonds",also not to mention the maximum number of sixes hit by the same Andrew Symonds.Now,I wonder as to weather it was only Andrew Symonds who was supposed to do all the hitting work,while the rest of the Deccan Chargers' men just feeling charged rather than proving themselves to the name-Chargers?
With Andrew Symonds scoring at a rate of about 12 per over,the rest of the Chargers's team score was believe it or not just above 8 per over compared to the overall run rate of 10+.After Symonds' score of 117,the second best score of the Royals' team being 36 off 30 balls by Rohith Sharma.And with only 5 out of 7 batsmen playing,what better result does the Deccan Chargers' team deserve?
On the other hand,taking into account the performance of the Rajasthan Royals',first of all I would go in for all praise for Shane Warne,who is lesser known as batsmen,but could still see his team through by blasting 19 runs off the last over.This is what a responsible captain is supposed to do.And not only that..the team saw atleast 5 batsmen contributing to their side.The man who proved a point being off course Yousuf Pathan.Some positives that I could also witness is that for Shahid Afridi-who known for his batting poweress,but was found to dominate with the ball.
And one more thing that needs to be highlighted is that the match witnessed both the fastest hundred (by Andrew Symonds) and the fastest fifty by Yousuf Pathan(in 24 balls).
Thursday, April 24, 2008
35...And Counting...
It is not an unknown fact to not only cricket fans,but also to non cricket crazy people that April 24th is the day when a revolution was thought to begin in Indian cricket batting.Still it would be one's pleasure to cite that today is the 35th birth day of master batsman Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.The man who is still playing cricket since his debut in 1989.Exactly ten years down the lane,is the most special day not only for Sachin Tendulkar,but also his fans,who were treated by his mind blowing batting to score 134 at Sharjah,is still fresh in people's minds.
Well..the recently launched T20 format of cricket is too late for Sachin Tendulkar to make a mark even in this format.Some unknown fact about include his aggregate of 435 runs-in the triangular series involving New Zealand & Australia in Sharjah,which is the best by an Indian batsman in a triangular series(may be the best in the world-not so sure).And if this man makes up his mind for the up coming world cup in the sub continent in 2011,he would become the second player after Javed Miandad to have played six world cups.Also the only Indian to have played five world cups.
With most of the batting records under his name,it would be better to cite those which are yet to be performed by this chap.Breaking Saeed Anwar's record of 194 to become the highest individual run getter in ODIs,Lara's 400*(wish that never gets broken-for the sake that even Lara enjoys the same distinction as that of Sachin),Don Bradman's record of scoring two triple hundreds and 12 double hundreds,maximum number of sixes in ODIs(currently held by Sanath Jayasuriya at 249),fastest hundred in ODIs-to break Shahid Afridi's record in 37 balls.
The day this chap retires,all leading bowlers of the world would heave a sigh of relief.
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