Indian Selectors Do It Yet Again

Well even before India are yet to play their first match in the ICC Champions trophy 2009, a news that India's dashing opener Yuvraj Singh is ruled out not only for the ICC Champions Trophy but also for six weeks which rules him out of the Champions Trophy completely. Another reason for India to worry is that they have to face their arch rivals Pakistan in their very first game of the Champions Trophy on Sunday. So, there is a lot of task at hand for India and especially for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Anyway, that should not be the reason for worry when there are players like Dravid, Tendulkar and Dhoni out there.

However, the reason for team India to worry is the replacement who has turned out to be Virat Kolhi for reason best known to selectors. When there are so many players out there warming the banches, the inclusion of Virat Kolhi is real mystery. There was Robin Uttappa and Rohith Sharma who are declared well fit for the upcoming Champions League T20 and in addition the reason for the inclusion of Dinesh Karthik is still not clear whatsoever. With the winning combination itself not working for India in their warm up against New Zealand, a re-thinking would help to solve issues regarding selection.

This is not the first time that the Indian selectors have got into such a callous decision. In the world cup 2003 held at South Africa, V V S Laxman was replaced by Dinesh Mongia when the former had scored exceptionally well in the earlier tournaments against West Indies and New Zealand. There was absolutely no reason why Dinesh Mingia was included. So was the case with Mohd kaif whose lone impression was in guiding India to a 2 wicket victory against England in the finals of the NatWest series 2002. Then onwards, Kaif is remembered only for scoring 5 consecutive ducks in the series against Pakistan in 2006.

Then was the dropping of Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid which is quite evident to all of us. And people like Sarandeep Singh, Abhijith Kale and Amit Mishra have made it to team India despite their flash in the pan brilliance. Someone like Dinesh Mongia was included in all 11 world cup matches that India played in 2003 world cup to no avail. It was the presense of Sachin Tendulkar that overshadowed his dismal performance. May be that Virat Kolhi not be included in the playing eleven or atleast against crucial matches against Pakistan and Australia. However, Virat Kolhi is not that bad a player if his T20 stats are considered. But, is he the perefect replacement for Yuvi when there were so many in the ranks????Just think.

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?

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.

Kings XI Punjab Have An Easy Prey

A fourth victory on the trot for the kings XI Punjab meant winning five games in a row for them as they were supposed to take on the non countable team in Royal Challengers Bangalore who are not at all counted to be an opposition by anyone.Even the Deccan Chargers-who are next to them when it comes to losing I guess.And this is what exactly happened on May 5th when Kings XI Punjab trounced Royal Challengers Royally at the Chinnaswamy Stadium by 6 wickets.

The Royal Challengers needless to say,have already registered the lowest total of the IPL when they were all out for a score of 82 in the very first encounter against another minnow team in Kolkata Knight Riders.And after this humiliating defeat,the Royal Challengers never lost their way.They kept on following the steps paved in the first match.And the match against Kings XI Punjab.

Well it would be a foolish advice to expect the Royal Challengers Team stand up and show some teeth because they have already given it up.Not a guess!The only chance for the Royal Challengers would be the team who challenges them when it comes to losing badly.One hope would be off course Deccan Chargers.But still,it is hard to believe that the highest wicket taker in the tournament being Zaheer Khan who belongs to Royal Challengers.Isn't it?

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.

The Greatest batting Pitch On Earth??

Well the first test between India and South Africa at Chepauk was as all expected a mere draw.If there was one of the greatest innings of his life by Virender Sehwag-who scored his second triple hundred,there was one more best thing in that test.Guess what?Off course it is the pitch that helped batsmen from both sides to belt the bowlers in whatever way they can.And one thing that almost went unnoticed is the batting denacle by Indian batsmen if not for the likes of Virender Sehwag(off course) and Rahul Dravid.

As I've been noticing in the recent past in all those test matches involving India and played in India especially,most of them have been batsmen's paradise.Starting from the home tour against Pakistan late last year-where the second and third test matches proved to be heaven for the batsmen from both the sides.As most of them if not all have mistaken-saying that the opposition fought fire with fire,and with all fingers pointing towards the bowlers,it was a real sorrow that hardly anyone noticed the way the pitch behaved.

Here comes the reason as to why some typical Indian batsmen like Wassim Jaffer, Yuvraj Singh and so on prove their calibre on these tracks while they are found to succumb in Australian and English pitches.And bowlers like Anil Kumble,Makhaya Ntini & co..are found to be at the receiving end of the opposition batsmen.Well its time to change before all cricket say goodbye to watching test cricket.

Dhoni's Comment On Seniors:Just An Ego..

After the T20 world championship win at South Africa,followed by a maiden series win in Australia,it seems as though Dhoni has got wings that could let him even fly in the air.This was from the statement he made on the selection of junior players over the senior ones.

Was that the result what Dhoni wanted in the T20 match in Melbourne?Well,as I said,there was nothing to worry about in my earlier posts.Lets take the Commonwealth bank Series itself,which provoked Dhoni to make the statement.Some awesome performance that I can highlight is the bowling of Ishanth Sharma-to win the first encounter against the Aussies,Praveen Kumar-who won a match against each Sri Lanka as well as Australia,& finally M S Dhoni who played some decent knocks to help India through.

But,what about the rest?Robin Uttappa who had just two decent knocks,Yuvraj Singh-who had just one score of 50+,Piyush Chawla,Sreesanth and much more players who were hardly of any weight.

But,Sachin's knock that helped India win on both occasions.And for the information, how come the contributions of Sourav & Dravid being taken lightly just because the youngsters did a fair job?And is Dhoni ready to take the blame for the young team's debacle caused by his decisions?Well..if Dhoni's predictions come true,I would suggest him to be an astrologer rather than a cricketer!!What Dhoni??