Premier League disease spreads to SL

Well one has to no doubt be fed up with the ongoing Indian Premier League in its fourth successive edition and bound to become more and more worthless and boring at the same time. Now, it would come in as another blow when a neighboring country tries to copy the same irrespective of whether it would become successful or not. As stated earlier, the 4^th edition of the IPL is nothing but total crap with lack of any cricketing technique. One can hardly see any high scores chased down or any sort of big hitting from the blades of say Brendon McCullum.

I hardly have the patience to go through the website to check out who holds the orange and the purple cap and on the other side who is the topper on the charts. But, through newspapers and sports magazines, I can say that the real action is missing out totally not partially. There is no Anil Kumble who could do wonders with the ball and people like Shane Warne and Muralitharan who have shown great expectations are highly below the mark with the ball deciding not to respect these elders in the game. Likewise, Glenn McGrath is missing from the action from the past 2 years.

And, coming to the batting, someone like Sanath Jayasuriya and Brian Lara have been shown the gates before they had decided to enter one when they were not picked up by any of the franchisees. With that apart, now one more goat is found following its parent when the SLC not only plans to do a replica of the same but also ends up kick starting one. Pakistan had one shown interest in holding such an event on its soil but may be didn't go ahead with the same citing security reasons hosting and venue reasons. Well, I'm afraid whether this would definitely work.

Though most of them would now be looking forward to Entertainment,travel & living blogs, the Indian premier League is of some interest but that can never be guaranteed regarding the Sri Lankan counterpart whatsoever. I wonder what teams would feature in the Sri Lankan Premier League with the entire nation as big as one state in India. Perhaps! Every gully will have a team of its own. Added to that, the Sri Lankan cricket board should also look out for the dates on the calender with the entire year busy. All cricket boards cannot be lucky as the BCCI are.

Could not have been better for Kochi

They took four long years to make it to the Indian Premier League and it should be as mindblowing as it can get when they beat the former runners-up and along with it the number one team in last year's edition of the same. Howver, I am aware that my words make little sense for it is only the Kochi Tuskers Kerala who as a team are making their first appearance in the IPL and not its players especially in the game of cricket. Players like Sreesanth, Jayawardane and McCullum along with Muralitharan know what it takes to be the best.

If Sachin Tendulkar is someone who can do miracles with the bat, Muralitharan is another similar chap who can do the same with the ball. Someone like Sreesanth can play well for his home team-Kochi rather than some Kings XI Punjab needless to be said. But, much to anyone's surprise the same man from the same town was found to lack his place in the playing eleven. However, that should not be the matter to think about when it was the time to rejoice after Kochi handed Mumbai a 8 wicket defeat yesterday at Mumbai. Defeating a lion's team on its own den is better relished than missing out on a local lion.

The Kochi Tuskers Kerala team has been the pick of this edition of the Indian Premier League not only for their on field performance but also for the team that they have chosen to head with. They have batsmen of the likes of Brendon McCullum who is a hard hitting player famous for his 158 off just 74 balls in the inaugural edition and the inaugural match of the IPL when he blasted the RCB bowlers all over the stadium to score the only 150+ individual score of the IPL which stands even today. Other mad names include Muralitharan, John Hastings and Brad Hodge.

The highlight of the day was the hundred by Sachin Tendulkar which was I guess the first in his T20 career if the IPL is considered as a tournament. Otherwise, Sachin Tendulkar has hardly any T20 games behind him. For a change, he was not awarded the man of the match despite scoring a hundred which brigs up another rarity in cricket. That hundred according to me should have been the innings bestowed compared to McCullum's 81. When Sachin Tendulkar could have been given the man of the series last year despite being on the losing side, one has to wonder what deceived him yesterday.

Vettori's dream for his team

If New Zealand can make it to the finals of a world cup for the first time in its 29 year old history, why should that not make the New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori happy atleast in his dreams. The reason why the world dream is mentioned here is because, like the Kiwis, even the Aussies would be touring India for a full fledged series before New Zealand make it there. Of course, that might not have anything to do with New Zealand trying to make hay is this sunshine. But, it is needed to be mentioned that preparations for the same need much more planning than this.

I can show you that Australia neither prior to the 2003 world cup at South Africa nor the 2007 world cup at West Indies had ever toured the same but at the end not only did Australia win the world cup but also did they do the same without losing even a single game en route. New Zealand had beaten Australia 3-0 in the three match one day series in the Chappel - Hadlee series just a month before the world cup in 2007. But, in the big stage, New Zealand failed miserably by losing the super eights game to Australia by a margin of 233 runs.

New Zealand were partly responsible in throwing off Australia from their number 1 spot in world cricket when they did the above mentioned feat. Not only did New Zealand beat Australia but they also had two successful run chases of 337 and 347 respectively in the 2^nd and the 3^rd one day internationals. Perhaps, that was the only instance where two score above 330 were chased successfully by any team. Even today, these two scores stand in the 2^nd and the 3^rd place when it comes to the most successful run chases in one day internationals. At the same time, the 233 run loss was the 2^nd worst defeat in the 2007 world cup after Bermuda's 257 run loss to India.

Daniel Vettori's words no doubt is of much concern for, a practice at a venue which in six month's time would host the biggest events of cricket will surely add to one's fortune and a fortune for New Zealand would be that they might make it to the finals of the world cup for the first time and break the jinx. Luckily, they are bound to play Bangladesh in Bangladesh and India in India. And, one more thing that would be rejoiced would be that New Zealand would be playing a full fledged series against India and in India after 7 years, when New Zealand last toured India in late 2003 for a two test series.

Crap this allrounder!!!

Well exactly 9 months back a star fast bowler in Shane Bond retires from test cricket owing to the same reason as the current "under discussion" player Andrew Flintoff. Shane Bond had announced his retirement from test cricket owing to a back injury which he assumes makes it difficult to play the longest version of the game. Now, with Andrew Flintoff following suit, it looks as though records can hardly be bettered by the present batch of youngsters. This was all the more expected from Flintoff when he bid adieu from test cricket after the Ashes last year owing to a knee injury.

And, almost one year later from that announcement, Andrew Flintoff is now seen calling it a day from all formats of the game. This is indeed a huge blow to the cricketing world who rarely see all rounders like Andrew Flintoff make it to the international arena. Andrew Flintoff is an all rounder one of his kind with South Africa's Jacques Kallis being the only other to parallel him. However, when both their careers are compared, Kallis stands apart with more than 6 years of international cricket to his credit. The point here is not to compare anyone with Flintoff.

Instead, Flintoff needs to be cursed for not being able to give his fullest to the game which has given him fans outside England as well. Citing his achievements in international cricket would be just another boring set of words. But, I personally condemn his retirement at this age which now reads just above 32 years. Andrew Flintoff could have gone on to play for another world cup scheduled in another 6 months from now onwards. On one side of the cricketing world, there is some Sachin Tendulkar who started his international career more than a decade before Flintoff and is bound to continue even after Flintoff has retired.

Someone like Sanath Jayasuriya is all set to take the crease for the sixth time in world cup while Flintoff has just two of them to his credit. Flintoff was not even available for the third edition of the Indian Premier League earlier this year for the same reasons. Flintoff is the only bowler whi can bowl decent fast balls and also hit the ball hard with the willow. It is very rare for the cricketing world to find fast bowlers like Shane Bond and all rounders like Andrew Flintoff. But, with their limited service to the game, their entry is of hardly and cheers whatsoever.

Struggling batsman but not struggling captain

Well the present England captain Andrew Strauss along with Kevin Pietersen have not been up to the mark as far as their series against Pakistan was concerned. It would be a bad idea to go into the details of both the batsmen's batting charts in the past few months with England having played Bangladesh twice prior to the present ongoing series against Pakistan. It need not be cited specially that a series or a match against a team like Bangladesh would hardly evoke any sort of interest among senior batsmen of the likes mentioned above. So would be the case involving West Indies.

A bad performance against a team like Bangladesh need not be due to lack of form or fitness but, it could also be owing to the lack of interest in facing a weak opposition like Bangladesh. Still, if the past one year or so is concerned for England, they have had series wins against Australia in the Ashes last year which is more than anything else. England have beaten Australia last year in the Ashes and this year in the finals of the world T20 held in the West Indies. These two triumphs go unparalleled. This happened in the presence of Andrew Strauss not to mention.

And coming to the test matches involving Pakistan, the scorecard suggests that the venues for the three matches that have taken place have been bowler friendly ones which is evident from the fact that Pakistan were bowled out for a score less than 100 on two occasions and that too consecutive ones. And for Strauss not to perform should not be taken too far for someone to justify their decision like the England coach - Gooch is found defending the inclusion of Strauss and Pietersen. Pietersen on the other hand has also been found doing a fab job for his team may be not in the recent past.

Whatsoever, Andrew Strauss has been a decent captain with wins against all major cricketing nations since he took over as the captain early last year for the series against West Indies. It should matter for as far as Strauss does a fab job as a captain, his performance as a batsman should not come under scrutiny. There can be other players who can step into the shoes of Strauss as a batsman but not as a captain. So would be the case with Kevin Pietersen who has a hard hitting ability which was evident in the world T20 and the IPL the preceded the same.

The way the RCB's IPL campaign starts

Well despite the fact that yesterday the Royal Challengers lost their first match of the tournament to the Kolkata Knight Riders, this need not draw any sort of criticism be it from the fans, the owner or even the coach f the RCB- Ray Jennings. This has been the usual way the Royal Challengers kick start their IPL campaign by losing the very first encounter rather miserably be it against any opposition. This time as well, the result was no different when the RCB lost to the KKR who were positioned last on the points table in the previous edition held at South Africa.

It was to the same Kolkata Knight Riders that the Royal Challengers Bangalore lost miserably in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League a couple of years back. That was the match where Brendon McCullum scored the highest individual score of 158* aiding his team to a total of 223 on the board. And, the Royal Challengers had absolutely no answer to McCullum's blasting shots. They gave up the match the moment a total in excess of 200 was put up on the board. The RCBs lost all their 10 wickets for a score of 82 runs on the board, which were 76 runs short of what McCullum could manage.

The only reason for the Royal Challengers to feel happy was that they did not lose all their 10 wickets despite being unable to challenge the Kolkata Knight Riders' bowlers. The RCBs put up a run rate in excess of 6 an over which at one stage of the match seemed a tough task. The RCBs made the KKR batsmen to come close to the ultimate over to score the winning runs. This can bring up the statement that "had the RCBs put up an additional 20 runs on the board, they could have well won the match" no matter to what extent the statement holds good.

Whatever happens, Jacques Kallis can never let his team down and this time as well he has done the same when he carried his bat throughout the innings despite wickets falling from the other end. At the same time, one cannot dispute the fact that the Kolkata Knight Riders were playing in the Eden Gardens wherein they are guaranteed the home advantage. This time, fortunately for the Royal Challengers, Brendon McCullum was not present in the KKR squad to remind the RCBs of the nightmare he had inflicted on them a couple of years back. Anil Kumble once again came back to his test playing days when he bowled 4 overs by not taking a wicket but still not even going in for runs as well.

Just one man extra

Well as the game of the T20 cricket goes, just one solid batsman is more than enough for the opposition to start thinking what to do next. And, this time it was Yousuf Pathan who did the job for Mumbai Indians (the job of evoking panic among the Mumbai Indians). Everything was going on smoothly until Yousuf Pathan stepped in and tried to do a Virender Sehwag Shahid Afridi when he scored the fastest hundred in ODIs the Indian Premier League by consuming the same number of balls as that of Shahid Afridi in ODIs. Unfortunately, Pathan couldn't do what Afridi could do when he scored the world's fastest hundred.

It was a team effort from the Mumbai Indians' part wherein, as many as 6 batsmen who took to the crease scored double digit scores and all of them had their strike rates above hundred with only two of them ending upo scoring at a strike of less than 150. There were 7 bowlers from the Rajasthan Royals side who tried to stop the team work of Sachin Tendulkar's men which was finally valiant. A score of 200+ on the board could not be stopped from scoring despite the efforts of Shane Warne and Shaun Tait who were the only well set bowlers from the Rajasthan Royals' side.

Rajasthan Royals never ever deserved to win despite the top class batting of Yousuf Pathan for the sole reason that cricket is a team sport and not an individual's game like table tennis and badminton for just one player to outplay the other. If Yousuf Pathan's score of 100 is deducted, the score from the remaining 8 batsmen from the Rajasthan Royals' side including the extras comes up to be 108 runs from 13.5 overs. Yousuf Pathan's score of 100 was close to 50% of the team total excluding the extras which accounted for just 5 runs. It was a mistake from Shane Warne when he bought on Amit Uniyal when Shaun Tait could have done a better job with the bat.

Had there been one man in addition to Yousuf Pathan, Rajasthan Royals would have made the match as theirs. Though there was Paras Dogra who scored 41 runs that was bettered by only Yousuf Pathan, the players who followed Pathan's dismissal could not support him from the other end and under pressure, Dogra had to sacrifice his wicket by getting out in the same fashion as Yousuf Pathan. One thing that can be noticed from the scorecard is that the two batsmen who had taken the Mumbai bowlers' for a run could not be claimed by any bowler and had to make a mistake on their own which saw them get out. But, a team effort always pays which is once again evident from the Mumbai Indians.

A surprise on the first day itself

Well hardly anyone would have expected the team that finished last in the previous years' edition of the Indian Premier League to beat the team that won the championship the same year. Things started the same way as expected for the Kolkata Knight Riders when they lost 2 wickets even before the scoreboard had something to read. It was fascinating to see the first two wickets falling when the score was zero and the next two wickets falling when the score was 31. And, what happened following that is well aware from the scoreboard itself which is needless to be said I suppose.

The Kolkata Knight Riders did exceptionally well to see their team go past 150 runs when at one stage even a 100 on the board would have made the players of the Kolkata Knight Riders feel satisfied for the fact that atleast they can bowl 10 overs to the Deccan Chargers who had the likes of Gilchrist and Symonds in their ranks. The run rate when the fourth wicket fell was just above 6 an over which eventually happened to be over 8.0 an over. All thanks to the two men out there namely- Owais Shah and Angelo Mathews who put up an unbeaten 131 run partnership.

Angelo Mathews was found to be a failure in the bilateral series between Sri Lanka and India which was played a couple of months back. But, this time he was the man who ensured a turnaround to his team which not only won the game but also Mathews was awarded the man of the match. It is nonetheless another case of underestimating the opposition from the Deccan Chargers who had anticipated a win against the Kolkata Knight Riders even before the match had begun. And, finally they had to pay the price for the same. A close look at the KKR squad doesn't reveal any strong batting names.

The only batsmen who can be thought of to have a huge fan following them were Sourav Ganguly and Brad Hodge, both of whom departed at early stages of their innings. Following them were Pujara who did what was expected off him when he went back runless. On the other hand, the Deccan Chargers had the likes of Gilchrist, Rohith Sharma, Symonds and Gibbs, all of whom were thought to be big hitters. Likewise, only Gilchrist & Symonds would have been enough for any opposition which didn't happen in the 1st match. So was the case with the KKR's bowling which had no decent names if not for Ishanth and Langeveldt and that too compared to the other bowlers of KKR.

And, the Deccan Chargers had Symonds, Vass and Ojha who have played international matches before but could not bail their team out yesterday. THis is the magic of T20 cricket and more so in the IPL.

Why not something different in IPL III?

Well the third edition of the Indian Premier League is about to start and in the next month by this time, it would have already been four days past since the tournament would have begun. However, as usual this time also all eyes are set on the IPL and the excitement is never bound to decline atleast in a couple of years from now onwards. But, what would be the fun without any new aspect in the tournament that cricket fans would be looking to from the start of every year. New year atleast in India since 2008 is not celebrated on 1st of January like in most of the nations but is celebrated on the day the first match of the IPL kicks in.

All this considering that IPL happens every year. On the first day of every new year, the count down for the IPL of that particular year begins. Since 2008-the year the first edition of the IPL was launched, the nature of the tournament is the same even in its 3rd edition as well. It is the same eight teams from India that competite for the championship title and also some mind blowing cash awards. Like in the 1st edition, all the teams play each other twice and that is followed by 2 semi finals and a final that is obvious with every series.

If the mega tournament conducted by the ICC viz the ICC world cup, the T20 championship and the ICC Champions trophy is considered, there as been a regular revision in the format of the tournament after every edition. Until 1983, it was the Prudential world cup played only at England and then in 1987 the Asian continent was given a chance to host. Then, color dresses were introduced since the 1992 world and then came the introduction of non test playing nations and the concept of quarter finals in the Wills world cup 1996. The 1999 & 2003 world cups had super sixes so that no team crashes out due to lack of fortune in the only team it faces.

In 2003 WC, there was a slight change from the 1999 edition, wherein points from victories against non qualifying teams would be carried over to the next stage i.e the super sixes. In the 2007 world cup, there were four groups with 4 teams each and 2 from each would qualify to the super eights so that no team crashes out due to lack of fortune. So has been the cases with the ICC Champions trophy which started as a knock out tournament and a 2nd chance is being given in today's versions. But, this has not been the case with the IPL. Some changes that I would suggest are that there be three finals so that a team gets optimum chance to win the title. There be not more than 2 games played per day so that one get to see all the games. And finallyintroduction of a couple of more teams would be just ideal.

Bangladesh a busy outfit

Well Bangladesh may not have been successful in drawing crowds to the stadium. Nor they might have been able to make betters have their say atleast as of now. Last but not the least, Bangladesh are one such team to have made life easy for teams who reserve all their experimentation to the matches against Bangladesh. One has to really pity the Bangladesh for this. None of the Bangladeshi players have been chosen for the third edition of the Indian Premier League atleast as far as my knowledge goes. I've heard somewhere that Bangladeshi players were in for an IPL bid and have not been able to keep a focus on that.

However, Bangladesh are one such team to have had a busy schedule in the early parts of 2010 whatsoever. It has not even been a week since the second test between India and Bangladesh got over with India as usual beating the hosts 2-0 in the two match test series. Now, they are scheduled to play their first and only T20 match on their tour to New Zealand. This would be followed by their 3 one day internationals starting on February 5^th at Napier. Following that would be the only test match against the same at Hamilton on 15^th of this month.

This would be for the month of February. After their tour of New Zealand, they'd be facing England for two test match series that would be followed by 3 one day matches and of course a T20 game to wind up their tour. However, if the ICC tour's table is given a close look at, Bangladesh will be the only team to have completed three of their full fledged tours in the first three months of the year. Of course, there has been Australia who would have played games against Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand. But, none of them can be considered as full fledged tours.

The tour of Pakistan to Australia started in December last year, which will get over on Friday after the only T20 game gets under way. Then, West Indies' tour to Australia started in December, where West Indies played three tests. And, there is India who'll be playing South Africa who'll be in India for 2 test matches followed by three one dayers, before the IPL starts. But, that is not the case with Bangladesh. When most of the teams would be playing for the cash rich IPL, we can see Bangladesh cooling their heels on their international commitments. Anyway, the move can be justified, for, hardly the presence of Bangladeshi players would make any difference to IPL.

Rajasthan Royals Do It One More Time

The Rajasthan Royals entered the second edition of the Indian Premier League as the defending champions and also had a decent run in the tournament if not for some ups and downs, one of them being the collapse of their batting line up for the lowest total of the tournament when they were bowled out for a partly score of just 58 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Entering the tournament as the defending champions, as the tournament progressed, they were not even the team to beat and likewise didn't even make it to the last four of the series. However, yesterday's win over Middlesex team in the British Asian cup at Lord's.

It was indeed a good show by Shane Warne and his team that included the likes of Sohail Tanvir who was not available for the second edition of the Indian Premier League held at South Africa earlier this year. In the T20 format 0f the game of cricket, it is evident from most of the matches that there can be one good or bad over that can change the fortunes of the match. And this match was no exception either. It was the 32 runs that Dimitri Mascarenhas scored towards the end of the Rajasthan Royals' innings at a strike rate of 200.0 that made a difference for the Royals.

It was as good as that the Rajasthan Royals who were equipped with star international players like Shane Warne, Sohail Tanvir, Justin Langer and others were facing the minnow team in Middlesex who were having just a bunch of eleven players, majority of whom have an experience of playing just domestic tournaments. With most of the English international players playing for the coming Ashes, hardly any international player could be seen in the Middlesex squad and some relief for the Middlesex team was in the form of Murali Karthik and Owasis Shah who atleast could be of some international standards.

However, if the scorecard is given a look, Murali Karthik had a decent run when he returned up with figures of 1/18 from his allotted 4 overs. But, with regards to Shah's performance, there was nothing different from other domestic cricketers who could do just that. This I guess should be a welcome victory for the Rajasthan Royals who had upset their fans by not even making it to the semi finals of the second edition of the Indian Premier League. One must consoder the Rajasthan Royals to be lucky enough for having a series eith just one match to go, winning which would see them emerge as champions irrespective of anything else.

A Crappy New Zealand Side

Well this has become the fate of most of the major cricket playing countries may be since the introduction of the T20 format of the game and more so after the introduction of the devils of the game namely the IPL and ICL. None of the teams are found to put up a good performance for, their national side, the money that it offers is equivalent to a tip that either ICL or IPL offers. If not for Australia, South Africa and India, no other team in the world is today found playing good test cricket. If not, there was no reason absolutely for New Zealand to take the visitors for a ride at Willington.

Not only this, but New Zealand weren't even able to make the second test theirs despite having a 200+ run lead, wherein New Zealand could have even imposed a follow-on. The test went on to yield a null result when all the eyes were on the New Zealand team. The lag that India sufferred in the first innings of that test hardly matterred the Indians who were then under Virender Sehwag. As an Indian cricket fan, I should welcome that. But, as an avid cricket enthusiast, no. It was India who emerged the winers in that game, for they escaped from the jaws of defeat without any pressure upon them whatsoever.

That is a forgotten issue now. However, in the on going third and final test at Willington, the result seems obvious on the second day's play itself, where the New Zealand team crumbled like a baked cookie. It is just funny to even think about a team of the caliber of New Zealand to have had such a disastrous tour and that too being the hosts. The only cheers that the New Zealand team can boast about is owing to the fact that they didn't lose the first test by an innings but only by 10 wickets. The margin of victory being reduced and in turn the woes of the New Zealand team.

And the third test that is ongoing is giving hints of a 2-0 victory for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men. Whether India deserve the victory or not, Vettori does deserve to be on the losing side. It looks likt the motivating factor that the New Zealand team had in the 2007 world cup has gone away with Stephen Fleming. If the scoreboard cites the 9 wickets that India lost on day 1, the fact of 345 run on the board was also equally true. But, still, if Vettori deserves a pat on his back for getting India all out for 379, what has Vettori got to say regarding his batsman's debacle, who could pile up just 197 runs on the board? Now, the lead being 233, the match is bound to end on day four itself, taking into account New Zealand's first innings score.

Was this the way test matches were used to being played until the introduction of IPL and ICL?

Why Is Dravid Being Made The Scapegoat?

The picture is right in front of us, after the first inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. Royal Challengers Bangalore finished last but one, only ahead of Deccan Chargers. This would obviously hurt, irritate and even make the sponsorer go mad, after investing the second highest amount in the tournament/league. For, Vijay Mallya invested a huge 442 crores for Royal Challengers team, that was just one crore less than that invested for the Mumbai Indians which was 443 crores. Well, that is not the discussion of the hour. All that Vijay Mallya could do was to sack the team manager Charu Sharma. Not a bad move, though not a good one.

And the recent news was that Rahul Dravid would no more be leading the side. In other words, Rahul Dravid's credibility in taking his team forward is being questioned by the owner. And more over, its been a buzz that Rahul Dravid has even been put up for sale. No idea regarding how true the story is. However, this is not good news and not fair on the part of Vijay Mallya. For, it was only because of Dravid that Royal Challengers ended a place above the Deccan Chargers. Else, the team would have been placed at the last position. No doubt that Dravid's style of play is more suited for the test cricket and not for T20 game which is the one concerned.

But, if Dravid can adapt himself to this format of the game, which is not considered his cup of tea, it really deserves much applause for it. I think it is still in the memories of Vijay Mallya the way Rahul Dravid snatched victory against the runners up of the tournament- Chennai Superkings, when all would have thought otherwise. And the way he belted an unbeaten 75 off just 35 balls against the champions- Rajasthan Royals is something noteworthy. All these with the above mentioned fact that he is a test player basically. Still if Vijay Mallya thinks of axing Dravid and even tries to get rid of him by auctioning him, I feelt that Mallya's cricketing knowledge has to be reconsidered.

If Dravid has to be axed, if Vijay Mallya is to be believed, so should be Wassim Jaffer and Sunil Joshi. And god knows as to what made Vijay Mallya think of having Zaheer Khan sacked inspite of him being among the leading wicket takers in that edition? And how successsful was Robin Uttappa in the Mumbai Indians' side? Why doesn't Vijay Mallya curse himself for bidding money on players like Sunil Joshi, Virat Kohli and Wassim Jaffer who don't even have the ability to stand for a long time like in test matches, forget about a T20 bash? If this is the way someone like Vijay Mallya thinks, I wish even the IPL chaiman Lalit Modi should consider sacking Mallya as a sponsorer who does not know to pick the right players for the game. But, money makes many things.

2008: A Year That Bought A Revival In Cricket

You may say whatever but, the year 2008 was a year that bought some great as well as some most of the never-again like issues. Starting with the most popular one in the decline of the world dominating Australian team, with the retirement of Adam Gilchrist in particular, which followed by their second Commonwealth Banks series loss. If on one side there was team Australia who were fading from their days of excellence, there came India who, started emerging as one of the toughest competent who was on the hit list of the opposition. These being true both for on field performance and off the field issues as well. Indians have learnt to give back the verbal abuse what they received and at times even initiate the same.

If there was any team that hit the list for the most verbal exchanges on the field, it was none other than India. The list includes Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Zaheer khan and not to forget our hero Sreesanth, to name a few. This being something that even the great stalwarts of Indian cricket like Sachin and Dravid were never found to learn despite their experience. Looks like not everyone would like to back answer with their bat and ball. I leave it to you guys to judge whether its worth the praise or not. Proceeding further, some changes include the introduction of big bucks in Indian cricket, that made even a Tom-Dick & Hary to become a crorepathi, with no room for comparing a player's performance with the money what he takes home.

And then on the list is the cancellations that took a toll this year, first as all of us are aware of, Australia and New Zealand cancel their tour to Pakistan where security never allowed them to breathe free. And this followed by the cancellation of the ICC Champions Trophy, which made most of us to miss this mega event. This being supported by South Africa as well, in addition to England and Australia. Probably, this was the first instance where the Australian and English brains in cricket worked towards same thinking. And then, India once again showed that they are no way less compared to Pakistan in getting the cricket tours canceled. This is of course needless to be said.

A year where Australia has lost more than it won is the year 2008. A year where a decent team in Pakistan goes without playing even a single test or an ODI (at home). Some consolation being the 3 one dayers against Windies at Abu Dhabi. While, the West Indies and New Zealand are least bothered about playing cricket, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have something to convey. But, it looks like there are no one to listen. Forget It! And, as per the ICC rules, the non test playing nations are supposed to come to light and make it to the sports page only when there is a mega event. Thanks to Pakistan who never let that happen. When the BCCI was busy cracking its head as to where will MSD play? Chennai Superstars or the test against England? Well, the Mumbai terror attacks had a solution to it.

Next comes the year of retirements, which was a continuation since its initiation in 2007. First being Shaun Pollock, for reasons best know to him. And someone like Scott Styris and Shane Bond, whose pockets wanted more and that took over their love & passion for cricket. India have a reason to smile, for the people who retired served their team with full heart and Ganguly's fans need not burn the effigies of the selectors anymore. And someone like Marvan Attapattu, whose dismal performance equals his contribution, nothing in particular can be said. So, guys, lets hope that the worst of 2008 never repeats and the best progresses to even more best in the year 2009. Wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year 2009.

The Unforgettable Brian Lara

Even after a year and a three fourth being passed since the West Indian legend Brian Lara retired from all forms of international cricket, it is just not possible to forget the batting of Brian Charles Lara, which was a combination of delightful flamboyance and solidity. The man who had cited that he would continue playing test cricket, which Lara calls it to be a version where the real challenge of the game lies. And on that particular day in the match against England in the super eight of the ICC world cup 2007, Lara says it is all over. including test cricket. How disappointing?

Still, not all hopes were lost by Lara's fans over the world, for once Lara hinted that he would be entertaining his fans in the ICl, by signing up for the Essel's group. His statement then was "t gives me great pleasure to join the Indian Cricket League. You can't keep me too far from cricket and hence I return to the game in this exciting new avatar that the Essel Group has launched". This I hope would have bought back the lost smiles on the faces of the fans of this great batsman, who can surprise the opposition by stroking the ball into places where you would not expect him to do so.

But, even this didn't last much longer, for Lara was forced out of the tournament owing to a fractured arm that he is believed to have sustained while playing in Trinidad & Tobago. The last time one could see Brian Lara in action was against Hyderabad Heroes where he scored just 16 (15b,2x4). Since then its always been a wait game for his fans, who are expecting him to be available sooner or later. But, this has never happened so far. And is it never bound to happen?So, it is as though the man who can tame the bowlers of the world with typical nonchalance is now a matter of the past.

Someone like Inzy, Jayasurya, Shane Warne, Sourav Ganguly, Glenn McGrath, Shane Bond and much others who have called it a day from international cricket are now found entertaining their fans by participating in leagues like the IPL and ICL. This is an undisputed fact that these leagues are to a greater extent colourful due to the presence of these stalwarts. Missing players like Wasim Akram, Brian Lara, Steve Waugh etc really hurts. But, nothing can be done regarding the same what so ever. All that can be done is to just rewind the button and watch these players' highlightes during their playing days. Last but not the least, even now if Lara makes a return to the ICL, it would make the cricketing fans jump with joy.

After pakistan, Its Sri Lanka

Well, in one of my earlier posts, I had written about the fortune that Pakistan cricketers faced, when they are on a roll to overcome the record for most consecutive victories in one day internationals, that is currently held by Australia, for winning 21 consecutive one day matches, between V B Series 2002 to their West Indies tour in 2003, just after the world cup the same year. Currently, Pakistan have 14 consecutive one day victories, with five each against minnows namely Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and three against West Indies. The fourteenth one being against India in the Asia cup 2008.

Now, even another team in Sri Lanka are having the same luck, after whitewashing Zimbabwe recently, now, they are heading towards facing another minnow Bangladesh, which can assure Sri Lanka a seven straight win, with a match against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe due in the month of January 2009. But, it seems like the Sri Lankan cricket is shying away from achieving this, by scheduling a tour to Pakistan in January 2009, in case India fail to do so. I hope that the Sri Lankan Cricket is not aware of this for the moment. Else, Sri Lankan Cricket may re-consider their decision of touring Pakistan.

This is very much evident, bacause, Sri Lankan Cricket, earlier refused to have a bi-lateral series against England, owing to a $40 million deal with the IPL. Money gaining precedence over nation. And even this move would not be surprising either. Touring Pakistan may narrow its chances of achieving a consecutive one day win track record. For, the chances of a Sri Lankan win over Pakistan is unlikely as far as history and the current form of the Sri Lankan cricketers goes. Even Pakistan would find itself being deceived from having been given a chance to surpass the Aussie record for the most consecutive one day victories.

With the Sri Lanka- Pakistan series resulting always beng in a toss, a Pakistan win is as unlikely as a Sri Lankan win. But, this is not the case regarding Bangladesh or Zimbabwe. So, I would suggest both the PCB and SLC to re-consider their decision to hold a bi-lateral series.

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.

Where Have The other Teams Gone?

Hmm..at times,its too much cricket and during other periods,it absolutely no cricket at all.Reason?Well..right now,there are only two test series' in progress,namely,the Australian tour of India and the other being the New Zealand's tour of Bangladesh. The latter tour is almost over,with the second test's play in doubt after the first three days of play were taken care of by rain.Even the Border Gavaskar trophy is nearing its climax, with the third test match in progress and the fourth to be concluded somewhere next week or so.And upon searching through some cricket websites,no clue upon the current or the forth coming cricket series are available.

So,the scenario right here is that only two teams out of nine are holding their cricket kits and the rest of them have hung them up for a certain period of time.October is over,and in November,we have Sri Lankan tour of Zimbabwe,which is packed with only 5 ODIs and England's tour of India in late November and to be concluded in early December.The other series off late is New Zealand's tour to Australia-where they will face each other in two tests and five ODIs.The next time when one can see a match involving South Africa,Sri lanka and the West Indies is somewhere in January nest year.And regarding Pakistan,its a gone case.

The busiest team at the moment would be Australia,who will be hosting New Zealand next month,followed South Africa,and the hosting the same in February next year. And Sri Lanka would be playing a full fledged cricket tournment would be in April next year,when they tour England.Even that tour stands in a balance,with the SLC permitting its players to feature in the IPL second edition,by signing a contract worth $40 million with the BCCI,with money gaining precedence over country contracts. Pakistan's next international series would be involving India in February 2009,with more than a year gone without playing a test match.I wish atleast this series takes off without any problems whatsoever.Sri Lanka would be playing a test series after a long gap of 8 months,South Africa after 4 months and the great West Indies will be paying New Zealand in December,5 months after concluding a test tour against Australia.

With keeping in mind the ICC tables and the ongoing cancellations of cricket tours,be it either for security concerns or the greed for money owing to which some cricket boards prefer to cancel their internatioal tours,the future tours are always in a toss.

Just Rakhi Sawanth Will Not Help Make ICL Colorful

Well after almost two months without any good cricketing action,the action packed days are back with a bang.All to be deceived.Some boring umpiring in the first test between India and Australia.And the ICL is more of a flop rather than an awesome cricketing action.All eyes were on the second season of the indian Cricket League. But,it looks like the sponsorers do not need any benefit from these matches.Its just a charity game I suppose.I never thought that these matches would be so colorless.In this regard,the Indian Premier League scores very much above this league.The introduction of sky cameras and the niners would have added to the excitement.But, so far that is not to be.So when can it be expected?

Well..whether that will take place in the near future or not,that is not the issue that is haunting now.But, the ICL committee should take the commentary team seriously.It looks like the commentary team is not being payed properly by the Zee sports. Otherwise,I've never seen such a bad commentary whatsoever.And that too Hindi commentary for a commercial series?How mean!Though the ICL was introduced before the IPL,I feel it has to learn a lot from the IPL.A look at the IPL format,action involved and the commentary by the Star Cricket team would give the ICL franchisees a better idea regarding how to run a business involving cricket.

The commentary at times makes us laugh when the commentary like "batsman ne balle ko apne haath mein pakad kar ball ka intezar kar raha hain" and then "Ab is waqt,bowler gend ko apne haath mein rakh kar btsman ki taraf daud raha hain" .No doubt,the crowd that attends the match is pretty denent in number.But,if this is the trend that the ICL committee members continue doing,the present day crowd would not be the same.Else,one would see it diminishing day by day.The tournament started with a bang with Rakhi Sawanth and Kareena Kapoor (in the previous edition) shaking their leg at the inauguration.But,how long will this continue.Of course the cheer leaders are a delight to watch.More than the game of cricket,these things grab in more attraction.

Just introducing a hike in pay to Rs 14 Cr will not grab in good players or crowd. Needless to say,the committee members of the Indian Cricket League do not enjoy a freedomwhen it comes to the ground,players-who are not allowed to play for their national team once they join ICL,which is not the case with the IPL,the members need to put in a lot of hard work to see to that the tournament results in a decent crowd puller.Shifting of the telecast from Zee sports to something like say Ten Soprts or ESPN/Star Sports would help solve matters.Thank you.

Trains Are Always Late In India....

Well with all of us cricket fans and bloggers in particular having a bad day infact a bad minth to be precise,finally there is some cheer for all of us cricket bloggers as the first test between India and Australia of the Border-Gavaskar trophy has already started and day 1 has left us with a lot of issues to move our hands on the keyboard.The recent test match in the Irany trophy was all but boring.However,its not justice for there was a month and a half without any test,one day or a T20 game.So bad?A little bit of concern and thinking would have brought smiles on the faces of cricket fans that even the ICC Champions Trophy wouldn't have.

Another episode of the IPL would not have been a bad idea with all of the world's players on a halt.Had this been the case,the series would have been even more thrilling compared to the first edition,wherein,players like Symonds,Hayden, McCullum etc were forced to opt out owing to their national commitments.This time had it been,there would have not been any such problems as most of them were just putting on some weight. But,thanks to Lalith Modi and BCCI for lack of thinking.

This reminds me of the trains in India,which are late on most occasions.But,this train was so late that the journey had to be absolutely cancelled.Though the ICC Champions Trophy was cancelled on 24th August 2008,there was all possibilities to conduct another mega event.But...?Alas!Almost a month and a half was just wasted for nothing which would have been made a lot spectacular.Is the BCCI listning?