Vaseline and Batsman Recalls

Two off-field incidents made news in the second test between India and England - one obviously was the decision by MS Dhoni to recall Ian Bell after he was run out by the Indian team in the second innings. This led to a huge discussion all around the world whether it was right or not. The Indian ex-players also joined the noise-bytes made over the decision - Anil Kumble and GR Viswanath being two ex-captains from the state of Karnataka who praised Dhoni's decision. Nobody spoke about Viswanath's decision to recall Bob Taylor in the Golden Jubilee test between India and England - a pity that such a decision was not given the right advertisement.

The other incident was about the tweet given by ex-English captain Michael Vaughan. Vaughan suggested that VVS Laxman might have used Vaseline to cheat the HotSpot machine. Obviously, this led to players like Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar to voice strong opinions on Vaughan - in fact, Sunny Bhai even went to the extent of asking VVS to consult his lawyers!! Vaseline too had an earlier connection between India and England test matches - ask John Lever about it. Tony Greig gives a good spin over the incident but this only goes to prove that the English media has very short memory about incidents that do not show their team in a poor situation.

One common thread between these two incidents and the second test match was that England won the matches concerned!

Related articles

• 'Stupid' and 'naive' Bell benefits from India's spirit of the game (guardian.co.uk)
• Vaseline cannot affect Hot Spot - BBG Sports (espncricinfo.com)

SA Series - AB leads the way with his comments

AB De Villiers is regarded as many to be the danger-man for India to watch out for - not the only man in a team containing many stars. So, it was logical that the man in reckoning started his comments on the visiting Indian team:

There's been this feeling and stats show it, that their batters score bigger and they generally perform better at home -- which is normal. This will be a big test for them. There's always been the label that they struggle in South Africa

He goes all the way to even question the legitimacy of the Indian No.1 status in case they lose the series

If they don't have success here, there'll definitely be a question mark about their No. 1 ranking

 Speaking of the No.1 ranking, ex-captain of the English team, Michael Vaughan, thinks that the current English team can go all the way to the top and dethrone the Indians. Wishful thanking, Mike - the English have beaten the Aussies twice at home - what has happened after? Nothing much to show or tell outside. 

Back to South Africa - the hosts' coach says that they have plans for Sehwag - havent we heard this before? It is time someone told the coach that SA is one of the two countries against whom Viru has scored a triple. After his debut ton, Viru has not been in the greatest nick in South Africa but knowing him, he will be keen to get the record straight.

Sehwag's idol, Sachin Tendulkar, continues to be regarded by ex-cricketers as one of a kind. Viv Richards being the latest addition in the long list of players who rate him to be the best in the world. The TIME magazine has ranked his double hundred in ODI as one of the top 10 sporting moments in the world - the Master Blaster has the USA taking notice now.

Related articles

• SA series - Dravid and Rice to the fore (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA series - sound-bites have started already (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA series - right moves made by the Indian team (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Smith, Amla in South Africa Test squad (thehimalayantimes.com)

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!!!

Related articles

• Ashes 2010: Greg Chappell in favour of spinner for Gabba (panasianbiz.com)
• Swann will have Aussies reeling: Botham (news.theage.com.au)
• The Ashes 2010: Ricky Ponting will quit Australia captaincy if he loses, says Michael Vaughan (telegraph.co.uk)