Is StarSports the new Cricinfo?

For long, all of us have been used to logging into Cricinfo for information regarding cricket - scorecards, statistics and articles. I remember the days long ago when I used to check Cricinfo's text version through a UNIX shell to get information about an ongoing cricket match from an obscure office in Singapore! The system administrator used to walk around the floor like a headmaster scouting for mistakes from schoolboys. I would login to the UNIX system and have couple of windows open - one would be my work related stuff while the other would be a screen with scores from Cricinfo. Based on the location of the admin, I would hide the screen behind my work so that no one can notice anything. Thanks to Alt-Tab combination, it was easy to move from one screen to the other. Gone are the days now, when not only are internet speeds faster but companies are more liberal to the sites that one checks. Thank goodness!

I was surprised now to check the new version of Starsports.com recently. There were quite a few features that highlighted the difference between this one and the other - few of them being:

• My most favourite one - video scorecard of matches that have been completed. Not just overall highlights that exist in YouTube but ones that show the fall of wickets and boundaries. This is what helps a cricket fan like me get quick insight about the progress of a match
• Significant performance - This again shows the significance of few bowling spells like Mohit Sharma's recent one for Chennai SuperKings.
• Statistics - A different view of stats that justify the selection of players in the match eleven - notice Vinay Kumar's performance and reason for his dropping
• Opinions - This is like Cricinfo's section where articles from eminent personalities like Harsha Bhogle exist.

Though the focus of Starsports is restricted only to specific matches, it has made great strides to match the success of Cricinfo. Way to go, Star!

This post is a part of Cricket just got better! Activity by starsports.com in association with BlogAdda.com.

World Cup 2011 - Yusuf and India's trick

Harsha Bhogle observed (nothing unusual) the pinch-hitter theory adopted by Mitchell Johnson in the recent ODI between the Ashes rivals - as mentioned, it was being used by many teams years ago but of late, the occurrence has reduced. Harsha gives a good example of how the PowerPlay will be utilized:

The thinking is quite simple: throw in one of your lesser-valued batsmen, and therefore a lesser wicket, to take on the fourth, fifth and sixth bowlers of the opposition. If the attack comes off, you force the better bowlers to return and weaken the bowling in the third Powerplay. If it doesn't come off, you've lost only a bit. It is the good old pinch-hitter theory, but in the middle overs. Would it be possible, I wonder, to see a Harbhajan walk in during the 30th over?

This brought me to another similar thought. Yusuf Pathan, as we all know, has shown the world what impact he can have in the slog overs. But, he has a weakness against the short ball - though he has managed to negate it in his own style of taking it on the body. If the Indian team, after having a good start from Sehwag and Sachin, pick up the batting PowerPlay sometime in the overs 30-40 (when typically the likes of Dhoni and Raina will be at the crease), it will force the opposing captain to bring his faster (and better) bowlers to operate then.

What this means is that their quota will be reduced by the time the junior Pathan strides to the crease. It will give him lesser number of overs to face from the best bowlers in the opposition (thereby not having a problem with the short ball). If you remember the ODI in South Africa where Pathan and later Harbhajan took India past the winning post, this was exactly what happened. Ashish Nehra had the relatively simple task of facing Johan Botha in the final over while Steyn and Morkel had finished their quotas!!

Will the Indian Management use this technique in the World Cup?        

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Jai Tendulkar and Veeru Dravid for India

Harsha Bhogle's article today talks about how India have ignored Rahul Dravid's landmark of reaching 12,000 runs. This is true to a large extent because of Sachin Tendulkar's 50th century and the media hype surrounding the accomplishment.

Rahul Dravid epitomizes how a player (or a human being) can withstand Peer Pressure in his career as an Indian middle-order batsmen. His entry to test cricket with nineties on seaming English conditions was overshadowed by his team-mate and ex-captain's exploits (Sourav Ganguly made a splash in the same series scoring centuries). If his career had not overlapped with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, through his exploits, he would have caught more eye-balls in the press.

But, he has not felt this pressure at any time in his career nor as he mentioned anything about it. This typifies his character. If Sachin Tendulkar is revered all over for his humility despite his world-breaking records, Rahul Dravid is not too far behind. The soft-spoken batsmen is always there for his team-mates, both national and state. He is not too worried about captaincy issues, playing below Ganguly, Dhoni, Kumble for India while for his state, he is happy to play under the long-term captain selected for the season.

If Indian cricket in the era of Sachin Tendulkar was to be made as a movie, Rahul Dravid will do the job of Veeru to Sachin Tendulkar's Jai to counter the Gabbar Singhs of the World (Look at their partneship figures in test matches). We all hope and pray 'Yeh Dosti Yeh Donon Nahin Chodenge'  forever.

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India's Top 30 players for the 2011 World Cup

Image via WikipediaHarsha Bhogle has written about the No.7 slot for the Indian team - very valid point about the absence of a proper allrounder (preferably a pace-bowling one) at No.7.
To get an idea of the strategy that might be on the mind of the team management, one has to look at the players who have represented the country at the ODI level in the last year or two - more specifically the list of players who have represented from 1st January 2009 till this year's Independence Day (full list is available here).

Very interesting stats in fact can be seen from this list - one can come up with the long-list of 30 players who will be selected for the World Cup - who are they?

1. Openers - Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir, Dinesh Karthick (reserve wicket-keeper), M Vijay
2. Middle-order - Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Ravinder Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma,
3. Pace bowlers - Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Sreesanth, Mithun, RP Singh, A Dinda, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Vinay Kumar, Abhishek Nayar, Jayadev Unadkat
4. Spinners - Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, R Ashwin, Piyush Chawla
5. Captain and Wicket-keeper - MS Dhoni

It looks like there is not much one can do from now onwards till the World Cup for any new player to be added to the team now.

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IPL - what to look forward to

Image via Wikipedia

Harsha Bhogle has come out with his thoughts on what he is looking forward to, in IPL3. There were quite a few innovations in IPL2, if you remember.

While he talks about most of the innovations (slower/faster ball, scoops/paddles, wicket-keepers, captains), one point that he has probably missed out is the time-outs and how it will impact the concentration of the batting team.The teams are allowed to choose when to have the time-out (just like the NBA matches). This will become as critical as the PowerPlay in ODI matches. Teams will struggle to find the right time to take the time-out.

Another point to notice is the presence of dew in night-matches - how is Lalit Modi going to ensure that it does not play such a major impact?

The presence of Windies players will be an added attraction in this season of IPL - the performances of players like Pollard, Roach, Tonge will determine how the remaining players of the Caribbean will be awarded contracts in future versions of IPL.

The other innovation that I would like to see in IPL3 is the use of a Super-Sub - remember this not too long time ago?

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