Match-fixing is not done yet

The match-fixing episodes seem to be tumbling out from everywhere, resembling the malignant cancer cells that one finds in patients. After the Pakistan trio got sentenced, there are bits and pieces of news coming from around the world regarding fixing.

Lord Condon has mentioned of widespread fixing in 1980s and 1990s by all teams, not just the subcontinent teams - he in fact, suspects all international teams of this (mis)action.

Vinod Kambli suspects the 1996 World Cup semi-final was fixed. Though Azharuddin made a big mistake by inserting the opposition in, he has done this earlier as well (remember the Gooch test in England - 333 and 123 from the bat of one man was the end-result).

Similarly, Lalit Modi mentioned recently that he was threatened to fix IPL matches. Unless he complained to anyone, this claim cannot be given the legitimacy as others.

Question to you - Peter Roebuck died a few days after Australia were dismissed for 47 against South Africa in a test match. Did he know anything?

India-Windies tests - India muscle their way

After the first test display when the Indians were given a rude shock, the Indians ensured that they pulled up their socks and put up a display that underlined their strength at home. The batsmen came to the party which meant that the Windies had a large total staring at them.

Sehwag and Gambhir threw away their chances to make a big score while Sachin continued to play under pressure. It is better for the Indian team that the maestro gets his next century before the Oz series starts. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman continued their love story with the Eden Gardens and each other! Yuvraj Singh missed out on yet another opportunity to cement his place in the playing eleven - no wonder the selectors dropped him for the final test match. Somehow, he gives an impression that he is not interested to be playing test cricket - hope that is not true.

MS Dhoni picked up a century in the process, cashing in on the chances he got from the opposition. The captain overcame a lean patch in tests to score a confidence-boosting hundred. His captaincy was on the spot during the first innings while it became more defensive in the 2nd. Agreed that the pitch was placid and the bowlers were inexperienced, but MSD could have been more aggressive with his field placements.

The bowling of Umesh Yadav was fresh, compared to the others who have played for the country in recent times. The picture of stumps shattered by an Indian fast bowler was a sight to behold. Two opening bowlers who were operating at more than 140 kmph was a rarity, the pitch notwithstanding. If Ishant had performed to his potential, the match would have been completed much earlier.

Pragyan Ojha and Ashwin bowled well in tandem once again. They seem to be ensuring that Harbhajan's chances on the plane to Oz are depleted further. They capitalized on the chances that came their way in the first innings while being patient in the second sojourn. They will face better batsmen in their career but this experience of bowling a lot of overs will give them a good experience.

Considering the status of the series, it would be better to play Varun Aaron in place of Ishant. If one agrees to take some drastic steps and taking into mind the conditions of the wicket that one gets in Mumbai, it is not a bad idea to play three spinners in Mumbai. Virat Kohli can open the bowling with Umesh, a role that Ganguly used to do not so long back. Will Fletcher and MSD take this step?

India-Windies tests - India wake-up after Windies shock

The Indian team recovered from a rude wake-up call given by a young West Indies team in the first innings of the Kotla match. After giving away a 95 run lead, the Indian team then dismissed their opponents quickly to notch up an easy-looking win. The match was made interesting by the rusty nature of the Indian batsmen in their first innings. If not, the match would have been more one-sided than it was.

The spin department shows promise with two young spinners grabbing a bunch of wickets - will they continue to perform is a question on everyone's minds. If they continue this performance for the next 2 matches, Harbhajan Singh might be wondering about his ticket to Australia. It obviously did not help that Bhajji could not get any wickets in the Ranji match he played! Pragyan Ojha's county stint has helped him become a better bowler and one can only wonder what the impact would have been if he had played an entire season.

Ashwin's debut was much awaited and he has performed in the way everyone thought he would - one good aspect of his bowling was the sparing use of his carrom ball. Unlike Ajantha Mendis who has gone out of contention because of the batsmen's ability to read his variations better, the tall off-spinner will do well in the future because of his perseverence and accuracy. Umesh Yadav, on the other hand, could not perform so well as his fellow debutant partly because of the surface and also because of his nerves. His performance in the second innings improved but against stronger opposition, one wonders how he will perform. Ishant Sharma needs another couple of test matches to come to his best form which will work out for the tests Down Under.

Most of the batsmen made starts but could not get going in the first innings. Gambhir and Sehwag started their innings as though they were still playing a IPL match - it looked good while it lasted but obviously the focus should be on a longer stint than the one they have. Sehwag has promised 2 centuries in the series - two fifties in this test match is just the teaser that has increased our expectations. Laxman and Tendulkar carried the team near the target in the second innings by their steady progress while Rahul Dravid waged a lone battle in the first innings when everyone else failed around him. Yuvraj Singh failed in both his innings but the think-tank will give him enough chances in this series to test his form further. One wonders why MSD fails in this format when his form in the ODIs has been outstanding - would be a good idea to play his ODI game in test matches also. His captaincy has been on the spot, a perfect example was the decision to have his spinners open the bowling in the 2nd innings - not wasting time with the pace bowlers and the new ball.

Overall, the scoreline looks 3-0 at the end of the test series - only a drop in the Indian performance will result in any other result. They have been woken up by the Windies in this test match, which means that the subsequent tests will see them back to their best.