2012 Mumbai Test - India caught in their own web

MS Dhoni would have been happy with the wicket, his team composition as well as his luck with the toss. For other than this, there was nothing that worked in the match (other than Pujara and Ashwin with the bat in the first innings). Dhoni did not factor his own batsmen's incompetencies against quality spin bowling (how he wished he had the recently retired Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in his batting eleven!)

For most of the match, the commentators showed the pitch map as well as the pace of English bowlers in comparison with the Indians. Though this was true, the Indian bowlers were not consistent and disciplined in their attack. Every over there was one ball that would give runs to the batsman and rotate the strike. Dhoni's captaincy has deteriorated so much that he is now ball-following mostly. He is not trying to make things happen but instead moving the fielders to where the ball went the previous delivery.

In the second innings, none of the batsmen (other than Gambhir of course) played more than 20 deliveries! What else can you expect with such a performance. Gambhir also wanted to prove that he still deserved his place in the team rather than rotate strike and score some runs for his team. Though one can praise Kevin Pietersen and Alistair Cook for their batting, it was the failure of the Indian batsmen to come to terms with the pitch that did the main damage.

Sachin Tendulkar played more like a debutant rather than one with 192 matches to his credit. Virat Kohli's stroke selection was suspect while Yuvraj showed his weakness against quality spin. Sehwag did well until he met Monty. Harbhajan's selection was a surprise and seemed to be on course on Day 1 but it has to be remembered that he did not get wickets even in Ranji matches - how can he be expected to make miracles in test matches? He was the one who bowled faster usually but on this track if the English bowlers could make such a big impact, why couldnt he? Not every question can be answered with Pietersen and Cook's brilliance!

What will happen in the next two tests? Will Dhoni still ask for a turning track, considering that the opposition has Monty and Swanny in their eleven? Kolkata will have the answers for us!

Champions League starts

The T20 Champions League started on Saturday with crowds thronging the stadium even when it was held in South Africa. It reiterates the fact that club cricket has in fact won over the others in the T20 format. The ICC should encourage this more than the farcical T20 World Cup that it conducts every two years.

Four IPL teams are in the fray while two each from Australia and South Africa domestic T20 tournaments vie for top honours. Mumbai Indians, who won the previous version, will be eager to show their mettle once again while Chennai Super Kings, under MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming (coach) will be waiting to regain their lost pride.

While all this is happening in South Africa, the domestic cricket has started back in India - Duleep Trophy to be precise. Some of the stars whose team have not qualified are appearing in this tournament more to catch the eyes of the selectors in anticipation of the English and Australian team visits.

What can one expect from the Champions League? Lot of natural spills and artificial thrills on the ground while some players might be eager to make their presence felt. The players from the Caribbean will be looking to increase their bank balance (even though they won the T20 World Cup last week!) while the ones like Kevin Pietersen, Harbhajan Singh and Yusuf Pathan will be looking to restore old pride.

Nothing to write home about nor anything that you will miss if you blink your eye.

India-England Return ODI series - The Indian team is back

After losing against England on their disastrous tour, the Indian cricket team made a return to winning ways in a venue that has not been very kind to home teams. Hyderabad proved lucky for MS Dhoni, first with the toss and then with the bat & ball. The Indian team management must have been very happy with the performances by the young players though there is still a long way to go forward.

Raina and Dhoni along with cameos from Jadeja and Kohli ensured that the Indian total was challenging. The English team finally came to terms with reality - all the cricket writers who were hurriedly praising the team and management will now have to pause. The strength of the English team on sub-continental pitches has been a suspect for quite a while now - even with the recent 'hot' form behind them, the English faltered at every question the Indian players posed.

Spin will become a potent weapon for the Indians in the series, as the first match showed. The younger players in the England team had no clue for all the tricks of the spinners. The slowness of Cook and Trott was very much visible in the chase - something that will be on the mind of Andy Flower. It becomes imperative then that Kevin Pietersen should come to the party. Without his touch, the English will struggle to win on Indian pitches.

The bowlers, similarly, had no impact on the marauding batsmen. Yes, the first 35 overs were restrictive but the Indians changed gears in the last fifteen in such a way that the English were left trying to catch up. The Indian fielding, with young guns, showed major improvement compared to their recent trysts.

Are the Indian problems solved then? Not exactly. The top-order is still searching for form while the seasoned duo (Raina and MSD) keep performing consistently. This series will give the Indians a good opportunity to try out their second-string players in conditions where they will feel at home. If only a couple of players grab their chances and come good, the selectors will be having less sleepless nights.

On current evidence, the Indians look like winning the series at the earliest opportunity - will the English come back in the next match? Very unlikely!

Eng-Ind - 2nd test preview

While the English press is already celebrating the win in the Lords test by saying that the team is a step away from being No.1, the Indian media is talking about the typical attitude shown by Indian teams in coming back from such situations. While both are partially true, the players must be quietly planning their own battles for the next test match with the hope that there will be enough support for their style of cricket.

Now, what should be the Indian approach in the next match to equalize the series? A number of small steps:

1. The famed batting lineup should come to the party. Rahul Dravid will most likely open the batting and he has to take this in the right spirit (and not just do it for the sake of the team).
2. Sachin Tendulkar has to forget the fact that he is one-century short of a landmark milestone. He cannot get bogged down by statistics and even though he will create history eventually, he has to free up his mind.
3. VVS Laxman has to blame himself for both his dismissals at Lords. If not, he has shown that he can correct his record in England. Will it start from this test? MSD will hope so.
4. Yuvraj Singh will be the player to take over from Gambhir and must ensure that his pie-chucking skills get Kevin Pietersen out quickly.
5. The Indian team should kindle Sreesanth in such a way that he performs with the ball and not lip-service.
6. Hope Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar have been kept in cotton-wool for the last 3 days. 
7. Harbhajan Singh should start flighting and turning the ball now. It has been high time he has led the attack and he should realize that his bag of wickets is not justifying his performance on the ground.

Yes, a long list of tasks but not impossible for the Indian team.

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World Cup 2011 - India meets first tough opposition

After the thumping of Bangladesh in Mirpur, India face their first tough opposition in this edition of the World Cup. Castrol Cricket rates them very closely - 171-169 but there are many other factors that will impact the match otherwise. England has always performed badly on the subcontinent, more on the Indian soil. Their fast bowlers seem to miss their edge while the slower bowlers cannot make an impact on the tailenders, forget the front-line batsmen.

The match has been shifted to Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore from the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.After the controversy of the tickets, there is a doubt whether the match itself will be free from the threat of rains. It has been raining (though irregularly) in the Garden city for the last 2-3 days. The last ODI on this ground saw Yusuf Pathan take India home with a majestic century - this ODI has been the only one played in the last two years on this ground. The warm-up matches of this tournament were played earlier this month - India and South Africa defeated Australia in the two matches with no small help from the spinners.

It will be no surprise that India will strengthen their bowling for various reasons - the help provided to the spinners in the warm-up matches being one while the perceived weakness of the English batsmen against quality spinners will be the other reason. This can boomerang on the Indians since the English have the world's best spinner in international cricket today - Greame Swann. Of course, there are other bowlers in the English team who must be raring to avoid the mistakes they made against the Netherlands at Nagpur. Broad and Anderson gave away runs by the dozen then while Bresnan and Swann were comparatively miserly. The batsmen all made starts and that must be good omen for the Andys.

India, on the other hand, have less concerns after the first match against Bangladesh. Sreesanth will be the one who will step out of the playing eleven to make way for a spinner. The batting looks strong with Sehwag and Kohli ready to repeat their success again. Sachin must be wondering whether he gets enough chances for himself to score the three hundreds to reach a century of centuries.

There are various mini-battles in this match that is exciting to anticipate:

• Yuvraj Singh and Stuart Broad. The six 6s during the T20 World Cup still remains in everyone's memory and these two will try to outsmart the other when they meet on the ground.
• Yuvraj Singh and Kevin Pietersen. The pie-chucker controversy aside, Yuvraj will fancy his chances against KP who has been vulnerable to left-arm spin recently.
• Sehwag and the opening bowlers. The English bowlers must be raring to go at the Indian opener with short-pitched balls while Viru must be waiting for his chance to stay long and score high.
• Harbhajan and Trott. Trott has not faced the Indian spinners earlier and his preference to rotate the strike will mean that the spinners can tie him up at the crease. 
• Dhoni and Strauss. Two of the best captains in the cricketing world, now that Ponting has gone down a notch. Each one has a cool presence on the field while always thinking how to outdo the opposition.        

The Indian team has the advantage over the English both in terms of rankings and the home support. If the weather does not interfere, the Indians will notch up their second win of the tournament.

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There is a world outside England, Ted

I have enjoyed the writing of Ted Corbett, senior English writer, in the cricketing field for quite a while now. His humor is very evident in the articles he writes for Sportstar, almost every week when the English cricket team is playing. Maybe he took his humor a bit too much in his recent article

Kevin Pietersen is now the most intimidating cricketer in the world. There is no one else, since Brian Lara laid down his bat for the last time, who can destroy an attack, reduce the morale of a team to zero and boost his side's run rate so much that the bowlers have all the time they need to complete victory

Ted, agreed that England won the second test match against Australia very convincingly and KP played a major role in the victory. But, to hail him as the most intimidating cricketer in the world? Please. And why Brian Lara? Because he scored those record-breaking triple centuries against your team? You might have apologised to Sachin Tendulkar & Ricky Ponting (and Kumar Sangakkara) in your article but havent you heard of the exploits of a Virender Sehwag, if not Sachin or Ricky?

There is no one else, since Brian Lara laid down his bat for the last time, who can destroy an attack, reduce the morale of a team to zero and boost his side's run rate so much that the bowlers have all the time they need to complete victory.

If this statement was given as a Quiz question to any contestant, the first name that appears to everyone will be the Nawab of Najafgarh, not the English recruit from South Africa.

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Ashes series - Australia prune their squad

The Australian selectors dropped four players from their original squad of 17 with one surprise. Nathan Hauritz, the spinner they have preferred for quite some time now, has been dropped in favor of Xavier Doherty. The left-arm spinner has come out of nowhere in recent times into the squad and will fight with Steven Smith for the spinner's slot.

Are the Aussie selectors hoping to target Kevin Pietersen with the left-arm spinner? KP fell to a left-armer in the warm-up match - continuing his failures against left-arm spinners all around the world. If this was the reason for the Oz selectors, then I feel it is probably a short-sighted selection. Hauritz has gained by his experience and would have probably done a better job - though one must admit that in the spin department, England has the better bowler.

No other surprises in the squad though one wonders what option the Oz will go if Simon Katich is injured for the test match. Shane Watson is a converted opener and an injury to Katich against the formidable English opening pack will mean disaster. Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger will fight out for two slots to partner Mitchell Johnson with the new ball.

After their strong performances in the warm-up matches, the English team must be very confident of the series that starts this week. The Australian team must feel the pressure but they still have the game to turnaround. This series will truly be a memorable one to follow.

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Ashes series - starting soon

Image via WikipediaThe Ashes is definitely the most-anticipated series across the world - the amount of articles written about it are numerous. Being an Indian, I feel that the India-Australia or the India-Pakistan series are even more liked but that is probably restricted to the Indian sub-continent. 



Interviews are happening with almost every English player active in the cricketing circles. There are a number of people who believe that England has a chance to retain their urn while some more think that the Aussies will be able to repeat the performance of the last Ashes in Australia (which they won 5-0). The TV crews are all over the place in Australia while the English at home are following the action very closely.

The English team has started the warm-up matches in right earnest - the Indians must take a leaf out of their English counterparts - by starting the tour almost three weeks earlier and getting used to the ball, bounce, pitches in Australia. One can only laud the ECB for their planning. Will Andy Flower succeed where his predecessors failed?

The teams are evenly matched at this time - probably, the spin bowling department is one where Swann scores higher than Hauritz. The spectators must be hoping for the lead batsmen (Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting) to return to form.

England has not done so well to call themselves the favorite for the series but try telling that to their supporters. The Aussies have slipped from the heights of their achievements but on their soil, they are still a mighty force to reckon with. They lost the test series against South Africa but this series should see them straining every sinew to bring back the urn. 

I feel that the series will be closely fought but still rate the Aussies as favorite to win the Ashes back. 

The great performance that I feel has happened even before the series has started has been (yes, on for the last 14 months) by a person who has been cycling for more than 25000 kms from Lords to Brisbane - really superb feat by this great person - HATS OFF!!!

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T20 World Cup - England win convincingly

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The creators of the T20 version, England, finally won an ICC title thanks to their bowlers in the first innings and the batsmen in the chase.

Australia did not change their batting order and hence, their in-form batsmen did not have enough time to play more balls. What this meant was that their score was mediocre at the end of 20 overs. Good bowling, fielding and captaincy from England was key in restricting the Oz batsmen.

On the field, England were guided by their T20 specialist Craig Keiswetter in the chase and finished by their best batsmen in all cricket, Kevin Pietersen.

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T20 World Cup Finalists England, Australia at IPL

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As per Cricinfo, the teams for the T20 World Cup final will be from

Australia squad -

MJ Clarke*, DT Christian, BJ Haddin†, RJ Harris, NM Hauritz, DJ Hussey, MEK Hussey, MG Johnson, DP Nannes, TD Paine†, SPD Smith, SW Tait, DA Warner, SR Watson, CL White

England squad -  PD Collingwood*, JM Anderson, RS Bopara, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, C Kieswetter†, MJ Lumb, EJG Morgan, KP Pietersen, A Shahzad, RJ Sidebottom, GP Swann, JC Tredwell, LJ Wright, MH Yardy

Which of these players participated in the IPL?

From the Australian team, it was Harris, Hussey brothers, Nannes, Tait, Warner, Watson and White whereas Collingwood, Bopara, Lumb, Morgan, KP participated in the IPL3.

All these players did not participate in all the matches - the Oz team was playing in NewZealand before they embarked for the 2nd half of the tournament.

The Aussies did fairly well in the tournament, especially Nannes. In fact, Bollinger played better than the bowlers who are participating in the World Cup. Michael Hussey played in few games for CSK but did not play in latter matches of the tournament. David Warner played well in short stints for Delhi while Watson excelled in his few matches for Rajasthan Royals.

The English were busy playing in Bangladesh before their players came over to India. Lumb, in fact, came into prominence after playing for RR. Collingwood did well for Delhi Daredevils while Morgan couldn't get going for RCB before KP made his appearance. Bopara could do little to justify his presence for Kings XI Punjab.

Did they feel the tiredness from IPL? No, as Mr. Gavaskar says so. But, not all the 14-15 players of the squad did play and neither did the ones who played, did in all the matches. It is not fair to compare the two. Of course, the local Indian players would have been a greater draw at the after-match parties rather than the foreigners, don't you agree? The Board and Gavaskar/Shastri will not say anything against the IPL for obvious reasons but no one can deny the fact that IPL was a factor for the failure of the Indian team.

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T20 World Cup - Ashes rivals clash in finals

Australia and England reach the finals in contrasting fashions to ensure a T20 World Cup final that does not have any Asian team for the first time since inception.

Sri Lanka opted to bat first and were caught out on a pitch that favored the English pacers. When the Lankans came on the field, there was no adequate help for their spinners.

Pakistan started well in their innings to launch a huge total on the board. Consistent strikes by the Oz bowlers ensured that the score was not very high but gettable. The Oz team clinched a win in the last over thanks to solid hitting by Michael Hussey. Mr. Cricket ensured that his nerves were with him even though the run-rate was more than 15 in the last 3 overs and 18 in the last over.

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IPL3 - semi-finalists identified

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The first phase of IPL3 came to a logical conclusion if not a complete stop on Sunday, with four semi-finalists finalized. Let us have a quick look at them:

• Mumbai Indians - The favorites going by their form so far. The batting is a bit wobbly dependent on the legend (SRT) who might want to win this one since he is the captain and more necessarily, no one expected him to fire so well this season. The bowling looks good with Zaheer, Harbhajan and Malinga. If the Caribbean duo of Bravo and Pollard as well as the ex-ICL duo of Rayudu and Sathish excel, no one can stop the Ambani's team.
• Royal Challengers - No one knows what happened in the league stages - why the momentum was lost after such a fantastic start. Kallis, Uthappa, Pietersen, Kohli, Taylor form the batting strength which has got a good bowling attack to support (Kumble, Steyn, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar). They need to get their act (and head) together before the semis as they will lose their home-advantage as well.
• Chennai Super Kings - Definitely, one of the favorites, for their explosive power - the match against Kings XI Punjab showed what MSD could do, on form. Hayden, Vijay, Kemp, Raina, Morkel, Badri other than MSD is great batting. If the bowling could do better than just Bollinger alone, they will give Mumbai a good fight.
• Deccan Chargers - five matches in a row!!! They are on fire. Symonds, Rohit Sharma and T Suman (my vote for the best Indian youngster in the league matches) have been doing a great job while Vaas, Ojha, RP Singh take care of the bowling.

 The final might be between Mumbai and CSK which will be a definite treat. Let us wait and watch. Who is your favorite?

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