SA Series - Two days to break the deadlock

We are good on 4th January
What a test match this has been !! Whatever happens over the next two days, this series will definitely go down as one of the most gripping tests played in recent times by the two best teams in the cricketing world. High-class fast bowling against top-class batsmen who were determined to grit it out. The match situation after the first two innings was also even-stevens - India had a token two-run lead over the Proteans.

If Jacques Kallis scored a masterpiece yesterday, Sachin Tendulkar followed up with his own spectacular century today. Sachin attacked the bowling when bad balls were given by the batsmen while toiling hard against the seam and swing of Steyn and Morkel. This knock will give him great delight for it helped the Indians reply strongly to the first innings score of South Africa and come back into the match.

Gautam Gambhir did his bit by partnering Sachin in a partnership that wore down the strike bowlers, making the Indians favorites to come on top. He fell to what Prem Panicker calls it as the 'third-bowler syndrome'. After facing the more dangerous bowlers, the opener fell to Paul Harris, who finally managed to turn the ball.

Dale Steyn, after being denied in the morning, came back to take the wickets of Pujara and Dhoni. VVS Laxman became a casualty like Kallis in the second test match - dismissed by a shot from the maestro. It was then, Harbhajan came out to join Sachin Tendulkar at the crease. The two have not made any big partnerships when they batted together on any day other than 4th of January - one century stand in 2008 and a fifty partnership today. Zaheer Khan threw his bat around to take the lead for India.

When South Africa came out to bat, the openers did well to make runs quite easily. Until Harbhajan was introduced to the attack. He quickly struck twice to reduce the South Africans to 52 by the close of play. An interesting day to look forward to, on the morrow.

The luck that I mentioned yesterday continued with the Indians again today - the example today was the failure of the bails to fall down despite the ball hitting Harbhajan's stumps. The pitch has started playing tricks, especially the wicket of Harris of the bowling of Harbhajan Singh was alarming for the South Africans. If the Indians can take early wickets in the morning, the pressure is squarely on the Proteans.

Related articles

• SA Series - Kallis makes the difference (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA Series - Decider starts tomorrow (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

2011 - Cricketing Wishes

After India finished the year 2010 successfully by winning the Durban test, my wishes for 2011 have increased. There are quite a few accomplishments I would like India to achieve in the New Year:

• First would be the Ongoing test series - India should win the final test match against the Proteans and win their first series there.
• India travel to West Indies, England and Australia. The last time they visited the same countries, they have won in WI and England while they lost in a controversial series in Oz. If they can repeat the performances in the first two tours while winning the one Down Under, that would be really great news
• India host West Indies also in the New Year. Considering the opponents position and (in)experience, it will be a surprise if there is a result less than 2-0 (for India)
• Sachin Tendulkar will score 15,000 runs very soon, considering the form he has been in the last one year. He will retire from ODIs after guiding the Indian team to victory in WC2011 to focus on test matches for the next few years
• Harbhajan Singh will reach the milestone of 400 wickets very soon - quite a landmark considering the fact that there are not many Indians who have taken so many
• Rahul Dravid makes a graceful exit by playing his last series in England and topping the runs scored
• VVS Laxman starts making contributions in First Innings of test matches so that he is not required to bat in the Second Innings
• Sehwag stops falling to spinners and left-arm pace bowlers after dominating the bowling completely
• India agrees to play test cricket with UDRS in place for all their test matches
• Sreesanth stops fighting with rival batsmen - he focuses his attention on his pace and bowls regularly at speeds of more than 145kmph
• Ishant Sharma stops bowling no-balls in matches
• Gary Kirsten agrees to continue coaching the Indian team for 3 more years
• Anil Kumble contests elections at the national level and wins!!!

Do you have any other hopes for the Indian team in the New Year? Let me know.

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• Jai Tendulkar and Veeru Dravid for India (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

SA Series - Seven wickets to equal the series

Seven !!! Yes, seven more wickets for India to win the test match and square the series at 1-1. For South Africa, it is a matter of 192 more runs. Right now, India is in the driver's seat to win the match while one can never say till the time Kallis and AB De Viliers are at the crease. The pitch will support Harbhajan and India will come back strongly with the services of Zaheer Khan, who was a bit gingerly on the field.

Maybe it was something to do with the time he spent on the field, supporting VVS Laxman with a partnership that is mostly a match-winning one. VVS was seldom uncomfortable on the pitch where he has the Top 2 scores of the match. Only when the last wicket was left, he tried his hand with an uncharacteristic shot that led to his downfall. Till then, it was all class and grace from the maestro, who averages 142+ in the Indian 2nd innings whenever he scores more than 50.

In such match-changing knocks, he averages 43+ with Zaheer Khan and 36+ with Ishant Sharma - proof that most of his innings have come when the chips are down and he is forced to play with the tailenders. He did the same today also with Zaheer and added 80 runs after the fall of Harbhajan Singh. This partnership brought the target to 303, a total that was more challenging than what was anticipated in the morning.

Zaheer, after scoring his fourteenth score of 25+ in test matches was not his usual self with the ball when South Africa started their innings. It also helped that Greame Smith came out with an aggressive mindset against him. Runs started flowing and Dhoni was forced to take Zaheer out of the attack. Sreesanth, however, made up for Zaheer's lack of form with a good spell of swing bowling, taking two wickets and bringing India back in the game. Harbhajan chipped in with Peterson's wicket and India gained further advantage. The run-rate that was more than five at one time, came down with the new batsmen at the crease.

Tomorrow, the wickets of De Viliers and Kallis are key to the match. If they can be dismissed early, India will be able to run through the remaining wickets quickly. With runs on the board, I would call the Indians as the favorites right now.

Related articles

• SA Series - India strike back to gain advantage (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• We expected India to bounce back - de Villiers (espncricinfo.com)

SA Series - India strike back to gain advantage

India, by their performance today, proved multiple theories in the ongoing test series. Their bowlers came up with a performance that showed why they were the No.1 team in the world. The show put up by the batters yesterday signified the devils in the pitch on the first day of the first test match. The innings of South Africans also gave an idea of how they would have succumbed if they had batted first in the same match.

The beginning of the day went against the plans of the Indians - if they had thought about adding few runs and take the score near 250, Steyn and Morkel dismissed the thoughts quickly - VVS Laxman's score of 38 was the highest of the innings (in fact, highest of the match after 2 days).

At this juncture, the script followed a pattern that was visible in the last test series between the two sides when Sreesanth sent the Proteas packing. This time, it was Zaheer Khan who lead the attack with his strikes. First with his bunny, Greame Smith, and then adding the wicket of Peterson Zaheer increased the hopes of India. Fantastic catching by the Indians helped the bowlers take quick break-throughs and reduce the score of the opposition. Luck aided them through the run-out of Kallis. Harbhajan came into his own and picked up wickets, thanks to the turn and bounce available on show - his eleventh performance of four wickets and above overseas (eight of them have helped India win - will the latest one also do the same?)

Sehwag started briskly and took the initiative to score quick runs on the board (42 runs in the first nine overs) - Steyn was removed from the attack as a result of this assault. But, four wickets in the space of 16 runs put the pressure back on India. Except for Murali Vijay's wicket, the others chased the ball to get out. The Indians came out with an aggressive intent and were on the lookout for runs - obvious strategy to add runs even while staying at the crease. It was left to VVS and Pujara to see out the rest of the evening (before bad light stopped once again) with 36 runs added to the score.

166 is the lead that India has at the end of the second day, making them the favorites after two days. Setting a total of 275 to 300 (or more) will help them equalize the series.

Related articles

• SA Series - Same story, different ground (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA Series - Second test starts tomorrow with advantage Proteans (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA Series - South Africa go 1-0 up (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

SA Series - Second test starts tomorrow with advantage Proteans

Bowlers should put their hands up

India take on the South Africans in Durban tomorrow trailing in the series after an innings defeat in the first test. The first day was good enough to test the Indian line-up and they failed. The Indian batting has faced many stringent tests over the years and this was another that they failed, especially in the first test match of the series.

Zaheer Khan will be back and that will boost the Indian bowling attack. Greame Smith will be dreading the return of the Indian spearhead as he has fallen many a time for the guile's of Zak. As Ananth mentioned in his column, the Indians must be also hoping for the mystery spinner (Harbhajan Singh) to make a contribution in this test match, taking a cue from Swann in the previous test that South Africa played against England.

The batting will undergo a change with mostly Cheteshwara Pujara taking the place of Suresh Raina and another late change of Murali Vijay coming into the playing Eleven thanks to Gambhir's injury. Gambhir had managed to get a big score in the second innings of the first test and his injury means that Vijay has to get adjusted to the pitch in this test match.

The pitch is again the cynosure of everyone after the first test while the talk is the bowling composition of the hosts. Will they drop the spinner? The selectors will not take such a drastic step as there could be a chance that the pitch will take turn - the coach has backed Harris to play and that seems logical as well, since Kallis is available as the fifth bowler.

The Indians can take a chance and bring in Pragyan Ojha for Suresh Raina, putting the onus on the batsmen to take responsibility of the scoring but this does not seem to be the line of thinking of the Indian Team Management now. How the Indian bowlers can fire out the opposition quickly and put up a score that is beyond the reach, will determine the fate of the test match and thus, the series. Tomorrow is Boxing Day and who gifts the presents to the other team is to be seen.  

Related articles

• SA Series - South Africa go 1-0 up (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA Series - Sachin's 50th delays the South African march (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA series - can the weather help the batsmen bail India out? (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA Series - wet and disappointing start for Indians (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

SA Series - Sachin's 50th delays the South African march

50 Centuries - No mean featSachin Tendulkar selected the right occasion to score his 50th century in test matches - 50 centuries, very difficult to believe that one has scored so many but that is not great, if the person involved is a certain Sachin Tendulkar. At 277 for six, Sachin felt that this was another test going the same way as most of other test matches (13 losses in the last 20 years) where India had faltered in the first innings (less than 200 runs) and thus lost the match.

But MS Dhoni gave him company for more than 40 overs to take India close to the first-innings deficit. Dhoni fell but not Sachin. He is still there, keeping the hopes of the entire nation, to take India's march on the final day also.


VVS Laxman had an off-day at office which meant that the pressure was more on Sachin. He obviously was not thinking about the century because there was still a lot of runs to be scored. Before him, Rahul Dravid had also fallen to the bowling of Morkel. The South African bowling was very focused and the pitch was helping the spinners a bit. The bounce sometimes was unpredictable but not overly impossible.

Bad light stopped play and there was reports that rain came down quickly. Will rain stop the Proteas march tomorrow just like it helped Cullinan in 1997. Someone else remarked that if the same match had taken place in the Asian sub-continent, tonight's rains will definitely help the Indians save the match - in fact, it would have not started on Day 1 itself.

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SA series - Weather will play a big role in the first test

Focus of SA Planning

Reports coming from Africa suggest that weather could play a big role in the first test match, especially on the first few days, before it brightens on the weekend. Grass is still present on the pitch though one does not know what will happen today.

Cricinfo have, in their mandatory Stats article before the start of a test match, outlined why South Africa is the favorites by many facts:

• Lost only to Australia (4 times) and England (once) in series played after 1991
• The Indian batting averages in SA are less than their overall career averages
• The South Africans (batsmen or bowlers) love the Centurion as their records on this ground show

But stats reveal more than they hide - that is what as an Indian supporter, I will be hoping for.

One interesting point was that Swann, Sakib and Harris have taken five-wickets hauls on this ground - I would like to believe this and hope that Harbhajan will find success. Just like Prince suggested the other day.

Morne Morkel joined the sound action and commented that he is looking forward to the duel with the Indian openers. Are strategies being built only on Sehwag? What about the others in the team - are they easy pushovers? South Africa must be thinking so while our batsmen might be smiling. Discussions about the wicket have been plenty this time - if the Proteas create a pitch that helps bowlers, they will definitely fear the Indian bowling attack (provided Zaheer plays). If not, it shows that they respect the Indian team, giving the latter psychological points. Whatever it is, India has to go in a positive frame of mind and start strong - with the toss and put South Africa to bat if they win the toss.

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• SA Series - Coaches take centre-stage (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA series - sound-bites have started already (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• SA series - Dravid and Rice to the fore (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

SA Series - Coaches take centre-stage

The coaches of the top two test teams took centre-stage with their views and opinions of the forthcoming series, setting up the context for a good slug-fest for the series.

While Corrie van Zyl remarked that "Record books don't lie" pointing the unimpressive performance of the Indians in SA, Gary Kirsten spoke about the strides made by the Indian team in the near future - "If you look at our performances and results over the past two years you can understand why we are the number one team"

Corrie is assuring the team that IPL or CLT20 experiences will not help the Indian team - he tries to play his mind-games by saying that the pitches will help his bowlers. This does not come as a surprise, considering the fact that the Proteas will have three pace bowlers (+ Kallis) to target the Indians. He must be relieved that his major batsmen, Amla and Smith, have been cleared to play in the series.

Remember this scene enacted in the last Indian series in South Africa?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNW0WTWlKSA


Sreesanth is in the team once again and raring to go or in his words, ready to fly. Will he walk the talk is to be seen? If he does, it will be a big boost to the Indian team on this tour.

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• SA Series - AB leads the way with his comments (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• 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)
• van Zyl to step down as SA coach after World Cup (cricinfo.com)
• Sachin and Kirsten in demand (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

Ashes series - Interesting stats

Interesting statistics shared on various Australian sites

18.50 - Michael Clarke's average in the 12 matches since he moved up to number four [courtesy Courier Mail] He made up for it today but fell off the last ball of the day to bring the English bowlers back in contention.
17 - Number of Tests since Australian selectors dropped a batsman [courtesy The Australian] When are they going to drop Marcus North, who clearly does not fit the bill? Worse still, who will they bring in to replace North? Cameron White? David Hussey? Brad Hodge?
4 - Number of batsmen on the four-man selection panel [courtesy The Australian] No wonder the bowlers dont know whether they are coming into the team or going out.
22 - Number of years since Australia has gone four Tests without a victory [courtesy The Australian] Gone are the days when the Aussie team dominated world attacks. They had forgotten how things were in the pre-Border era.
8.29 - Marcus North's average when called upon to bat before Australia have made 150 [courtesy SMH] Do we need to say anything here?
54.79 - North's average when going in with 150+ on the board [courtesy SMH]
1 - Number of players to make a 'diamond duck' in an Ashes Test before yesterday [Rodney Hogg run out by Dennis Lillee, 1981 - courtesy SMH] Diamond and Golden ducks on the first day of the test match - what a setback for the Aussies!!
2 - Matches with four century partnerships in a test innings

Related articles

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Ashes series - Tame end to Brisbane test match

The First Test of the Ashes ended in a tame draw but not before a clear message was sent to the host team about its inability to take twenty wickets. They were helped by the bowling of Siddle on the first day of the test but in the second innings on the last two days of a test match that had a bit of rough, they drew a blank (The only wicket being taken by a part-time bowler). Australia would have given their everything to have a bowler who has half the ability of a Shane Warne or Glenn Mcgrath in their playing eleven but the truth is that they dont make such bowlers any more. Agreed that the wicket was not helping the bowlers in a big way - there was no innovation by the captain also in these circumstances. Ponting realized that he could not get wickets like the old ages and went back to the traditional approach followed by hundreds of captains in the game.

Aside Siddle's bowling display, Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin stood out in this test match with a rearguard display without which this test would have surely gone the English way. The Oz team management must be worried about the manner Clarke gets pinged on the helmet regularly these days. North will get a century in one of the subsequent test matches but that will not be enough. Shane Watson and Simon Katich are the ones who have been consistent in the days where the performance (and subsequently the ICC rankings) of the team has gone down - they were a bit inconsistent in this test match however. Overall, the Aussie batting does not give a comfort feel to their supporters and there is always an impression that the innings closure is just one dismissal away to start. The bowlers need to put up a better display in the next test matches if the Australian team harbors any hope of regaining the Ashes. Mitchell Johnson is on a downward spiral and a rest will probably give him a new dose of inspiration. Doherty tried his best but that was nowhere near the performance that could get even a couple of wickets, forget running through the innings. The fielding was also below-par, indicating that there were more issues for the think-tank to look at. With a strong opposition attack, the curators might be thinking of providing a pitch that suits a run-feast - this might be again a ploy that will backfire on the Aussies.

England made up for their first innings display very quickly with their bowling display. The H2 (Hussey-Haddin) partnership revived the hopes of the home team but the English closed the innings once they got through the partnership. Then came the memorable partnerships with the bat - Strauss must be cursing himself for having got out. If he had not succumbed to the wide ball of the occasional bowler, the scorecard could have very well read 517 for no loss. Alistair Cook and Trott made sure that the English domination went on for another 2 sessions on the last day. That was the extent of the domination caused by the English batsmen in the second innings. This batting display must have given the ex-English players (commentators like Nasser Hussain, David Gower, Ian Botham) a sense of revenge for the treatment they received from a certain Steve Waugh in the late 80s and early 90s. The bowlers did a fair job in the match but need to continue the same display if the team wants to have a favorable result in the next test. Swann was assaulted by Hussey in the first innings but very soon, the bowler managed to settle down his nerves. Even though he did not get the success he is usuallly associated with, he will be a bigger threat to the Aussies as the series progresses.

The series is 0-0 after one test match. My previous prediction still stands - the English are 55-45 ahead of their rivals.

Related articles

• Aussies consider bowling changes (news.bbc.co.uk)
• The Ashes 2010: England head to Adelaide with psychological ascendancy | Vic Marks (guardian.co.uk)
• James Lawton: Psychological victory is England's as Strauss and Cook tear into Johnson (independent.co.uk)

NZ series - India make gains in the third test

India was missing Zaheer Khan, MS Dhoni had lost yet another toss, New Zealand had performed well in the first 2 test matches of the series. All signs of a good day's play for them after they started the match.

Just like Rohit Sharma of the Indian team suffered a fall before the start of a test match against South Africa, McCullum had a fall but the Black Caps were not confident about dropping him from the match (especially after he had scored a double century in the previous test).

Sreesanth stepped up to lead the attack with some good swing bowling that he is renowned for. Good balls accounted for the opening batsmen - one wonders why this bowler does not have more days like this. If he can gain consistency like Zaheer, India will be a potent force to play against. Ishant also helped in getting wickets, reducing the Kiwis to a low score.

How many times does the Indian team allow Ryder to score big? He did once again even though he couldnt run much. It was a sorry sight to see both the batsmen at the crease struggle to run even a single, when there were runs on offer. Their footwork were also hampered and India made the most of it.

Of course, Dhoni has, of late, been making strange moves on the field when there are tailenders at the crease. For some reason, he moves the field outside for the batsmen so that they can take easy singles so that the bowlers can concentrate on the tailenders. This doesnt work many times and here also, it helped the Black Caps come back in the match with a partnership between McCullum and Ryder.

Overall, a good day for the Indians where they have won both the sessions played today. Tomorrow, they will have to finish the batting and the batsmen have to come to party. This match is not over but a good start for India has been given - they have to end well.

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Season of the underdogs in test cricket

Image by geoffandsherry via Flickr
Test cricket is always interesting - this is the statement on everyone's lips these days. The underdogs seem to have a good time going for them recently across the world.


It all started when NewZealand visited India after being beaten 0-4 by Bangladesh in an ODI series. No one gave them a chance (myself included) but after two test matches, the scoreline shows 0-0. What must India be thinking now?

Staying in the sub-continent, one is witnessing Srilanka's painful experience in the post-Muralitharan era. As if Gayle's triple century was not enough, the Lankans have capitalised in their first innings against West Indies and looks like they might follow-on.


England (yes, we will call them underdogs in a series against the once-mighty Aussies Down Under) has been making all the right noises in their warm-up matches - dominating their opposition and scaring the selectors to choose a 17-member team for the test series.

In the Gulf, Pakistan managed to draw their first test match against No.2 South Africa. Pakistan, the team that can lose to Zimbabwe one day and then beat Australia the next, has shown signs of comeback. One wonders how long it will be this time.


Will there be a return to the normal order next week? One wonders if the rule of the underdogs will be for a long time. What do you think? 

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• Second India-New Zealand cricket Test ends in draw (topinews.com)
• Gayle makes 300 as Windies dominate (guardian.co.uk)
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NZ series - McCullum force draws the match in Hyderabad

Image via WikipediaBrendon McCullum scored a double-century to help his team draw the second test match in the series against India. With this result, the Black Caps have gained two draws against the No.1 test team in the World. Thus, they have achieved what their coach Greatbatch had remarked before the tour. Whatever happens in the final test is a bonus for them. But, having got to this level, they must be surely fancying their chances in the last test to leave the shores at 0-0 in the test series.

Can they go one step further and win the series? Not impossible but extremely difficult. India has to cooperate in their campaign to win in Nagpur by playing badly. The series is set at an interesting stage now after 2 test matches. India will hope that they get a favorable surface (didnt they get it this match?) in the next match.

Will there be any changes from the Indian side? Zaheer Khan has been ruled out because of his strain. Ishant Sharma will make his comeback into the playing eleven. Harbhajan cannot be dropped because of his exploits with the bat - even he will agree that his bowling form has been patchy to say the least. The batsmen will continue to get another chance at the attack next test - how the NZ bowlers recoup after the two tests remains to be seen.


Still, the Indians will be the favorites to win the final match - how it pans out, will be seen.

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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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• Ashes 2010: Greg Chappell in favour of spinner for Gabba (panasianbiz.com)
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Sachin and Kirsten in demand

The Oz tour is done and dusted - the teams have gone back to their bases but still talk about Sachin Tendulkar has not gone down.

Whether it is the Oz press talking about the width of his bat or Hussey being inspired by him playing so well at this age, Sachin cannot stop getting news bytes. He cannot stop getting awards either - Lebara People's choice award recently was another feather in his cap.


Similarly, Gary Kirsten is another person in high demand. It looks like his country now wants him back, after noticing his exploits with the Indian team. Will the Indian team let go? It would depend on Kirsten himself. I would add Stephen Fleming as the replacement probable for the Indian team coach role after his exploits with Dhoni's CSK team in IPL and CLT20.

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• India beat Australia easily in Bengaluru (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Bat autographed by Sachin up for grabs (topinews.com)
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ICC's new move on international cricket - what could have been?

The ICC has completely redrawn the landscape of international cricket few days back - a test championship among many things.

The Future Tours Programme (FTP) will now comprise a Test league running over four years with the top four teams at the end of each period qualifying for a play-off event. The first play-off is scheduled for 2013, the same year England are due to host the Ashes, and Lord's is the favoured venue for the final.

Four years seems to be a long period for the test league - let us consider a scenario of the current Indian test team - they are No.1 and might continue for the next 2 years but in the last 2 years of the league, due to the retirements of the legends, the performance of the team might deteriorate drastically. But, because of their initial performances, they will still qualify for the play-off event. A league cycle of 2 years would be of the right time to give a proper perspective to the League. To do this, I would suggest having a 2-tier system that contains 5 teams each. The top-5 will be part of the 1st tier and play between each other, home and away. Each test series should be a minimum of 3 tests (Ashes usually will have 5 and India-Australia typically has 4) with the UDRS system a mandatory use in the tests. Each team will play the other 4 teams in 2 series in the 2 year cycle - a total of 8 series with a probability of 24 to 30 test matches. This can be easily achieved in 2 years considering that a test series (of 3 matches) can be conducted in 4-5 weeks. This will also reduce the probability of multiple series between same countries repeatedly (like India and Sri Lanka recently).

A one-day cricket league - mirroring the existing team rankings - will also be part of the FTP, starting in April 2011 and running over four years to culminate in the crowning of the first ODI league champion in April 2014. The league will run separately from the World Cup, the ICC's flagship event, which has been reduced to 10 teams for the 2015 tournament. 

Why will it run separately from the World Cup? Why is this league required is not known? Already there is a growing criticism around the world about the validity of ODI matches - is this one way that ICC wanted to give more importance to ODIs? Can the ICC not take more power in their hands and ban all tri-series tournaments like the ones played by India and Sri Lanka (who else). Why these tournaments are conducted is also not known (of course the monetary reasons are visible clearly).

The World Twenty20 event will be expanded to 16 teams from the 2012 tournament, due to be staged in Sri Lanka. The success of smaller nations like Netherlands and Afghanistan in Twenty20 cricket prompted the expansion of the tournament, which will continue to have the women's event played alongside it

This is probably a good decision to promote cricket in many countries but care needs to be taken to ensure that there is not a surfeit of these T20 matches. Of course, one has to plan a window of the domestic tournaments like IPL and Champion League matches.


Overall, some good decisions but a lot confusing ones.What is your take on the announcement from ICC?

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Mohali Test - VVS, Ishant take India home

It was a sunday - January 6, 2008 at Sydney - India having scored more than 500 in their first innings lost to Australia with six minutes to go for close of play (the match would become famous more for the Harbhajan-Symonds incident). The last man at the crease spent few minutes at the crease, refusing to move, even though he was clearly caught at first slip - it was not that he was unsure of the catch. It was more of dejection that Ishant Sharma had let down his captain in getting a draw result (which we know in Australia, is as good as a win).

Fast forward to October 5, 2010 at Mohali - the same player combined with a proven legend against the same opponents to take the team past the victory line. His batting has improved in recent times and he showed enough spunk in the first innings as a night-watchman. He hadlet down the team in the first innings as a bowler but came back well to take 3 wickets in the 2nd innings that turned the Oz onslaught upside down. He still had a role to play with the bat - and a match to win.


What about the legend himself? VVS Laxman is one of only eight batsmen in Test history to score more than 2500 second-innings runs at a 50-plus average. In his last 7 second-innings, he has scored 2 hundreds and 5 fifties - what more can any team ask? What Sachin Tendulkar couldn't do, VVS has been doing well and consistently. What more, he has been playing like a dream against the Aussies - one was surprised at his early dismissal in the first innings - the pain must have hurt him real bad then.

Despite the first session being equal, the Indians equalized the number of sessions won in the final session. With both teams having won the same number of sessions, the scorecard had to be very close. The umpiring was not top-class but the teams will not complain - both had decisions go their ways. It is time the ICC starts introducing UDRS in all test matches. The test series moves to Bangalore for the 2nd (and final) test - the inclement rains will probably result in the match being drawn. Again, can the ICC not mandate a minimum three-test series for all countries? Anyway, we dont have any reasons to complain today, do we? Well played India.

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Will Randiv be another Kulkarni?

As the second test match was progressing towards a dull draw, one news-item barely made headlines yesterday - Nilesh Kulkarni retired from first-class cricket after playing for Mumbai the last 13 years.

He played in 3 test matches for India, bowled in 2 of them and took 2 wickets in his career after turning his arm over for 738 balls. That is real disturbing for him, especially considering the fact that he took his first wicket off the first ball of international cricket (He is the only Indian bowler to achieve this feat). In fact, he is part of a very elite list of 12 bowlers in the history of cricket.

Now, let us look at these two figures:

1. 70-12-195-1
2. 64-14-212-2

 The first one is that of Nilesh bowling to Jayasuriya and Mahanama (mainly) at  R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo in 1997. After his first wicket in the debut test, he did not take any other wicket in the match while watching the Sri Lankan team score almost 1000 (952 to be exact).

The second one is that of Suraj Randiv in his debut test, bowling against the Indian team scoring 669-9 (as of 4th day). He took the wickets of Sehwag and Dravid on the 3rd day of the match but later, has not been lucky as Mendis or even Dilshan.

Let us only hope that this dreadful pitch does not cause Randiv to lose his test spot - Murali's retirement means that obviously he will play more tests rather than just the one more played by Nilesh.

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SSC Test - Sri Lanka gain early advantage

Another 3-0 sweep of the Session Dashboard for the Sri Lankans on the first day of the second test match at SSC, Colombo today.

The team on both sides saw a lot of changes: Welegedara was out - Sehwag must have been happy (considering that Sehwag got out to him in both innings). Malinga & Muralitharan were known absentees. Gambhir was ruled out. Very surprisingly, Herath was kept out. All the four frontline bowlers who got 20 wkts in the first test for SriLanka are absent while India retained the same 4 bowlers.

The Lankan batsmen, especially Dilshan, looked like they were on a TVS bike and zoomed away at high speed. The Indians have been facing problems with their bowling Exide engine throughout the series and today was no different. After lunch, everyone thought that the Dabur Chyawanprash they had, might have energized the Indians but BPCL Speed was missing in the bowling as well as the Cello Pin Point accuracy.


Another interval came and went by - the Boost break making no difference to the scorecard. The Lankans seemed to be on a Maha Choco run-making spree, thanks to the placid pitch. Centuries were scored once again by the same batsmen as the first test match, their team proclaiming Pepsi Dil Maange More. Sonata Time was running out and the Indians did not have the Milk Shakti to stop the batsmen.

The Indians, at the end of the day, would do well to take a Royal Stag drink and rest for the day. They will also find out that the Dainik Bhaskar papers will not be kind to them on their performance. Videocon televisions will show the lack of proactive moves from the Indian management. 


Tomorrow, the new ball will still have Kiwi polish and the Indians can still make good use of it by remembering (via Memory Vita) how they did come back on the 3rd day of Galle test. If not, all their Big Bazaar clothes will need extra wash on the morrow. Will the Reebok shoes of the Indians show an extra spring in their step tomorrow?

Stats show that SriLanka haven't lost at home after winning the toss in last 10 years - evidence today showed that they will not lose this record so easily. The Indian batsmen will do well to take a leaf out of the Lankans and Concreto cement their feet on the crease when they get their chance. MS Dhoni will do well to make an Aircel or Maxx Mobilink call to Azharuddin and find how he can win a series in SriLanka. All the Orient PSPO fans of the Indian team are waiting.

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Galle Test - Sri Lanka go up 1-0

Image via Wikipedia

The Indians managed to delay the inevitable till the tea-break. Unlike Sehwag's expectations of rain, there was no further delay in the Sri Lankan victory. 800 wickets landmark was breached by Muralitharan, triggering celebrations in the crowd.

The following stats tell a story on its own:

• 10 of the 20 Indian wickets were due to Muralitharan and run-outs(2) He will not be present in the playing eleven next test match. Who will take these for Sri Lanka the next match? Malinga, who took 7, will however be still present. Will the burden be too much for him?
• 52 overs were played out by Mithun, Ishant, Ojha along with VVS Laxman in the 2nd innings. The other 7 accomplished batsmen - 64
• Malinga and Herath scored 115 during their partnership - 100 less and the follow-on would have been averted by the Indian team. Even with the partnership, if they had scored 44 runs more in the first innings, the Indians could have played out the match for a draw.
• Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha bowled 32.1 and 31 overs respectively. How many wickets did they get? 0
• Herath bowled 45 overs in the match - 1 wicket to show for his efforts. Think what will happen in the next test match without Murali.
• Sehwag scored a century while VVS, Tendulkar and Yuvraj scored fifties. Sangakkara, Paranavitana scored centuries for Lanka while Herath and Malinga scored surprising fifties.
• Gambhir played 5 balls in the match for his 2 runs.No other contribution on the field. In fact, he dropped a half-chance. Match to forget for him.
• MS Dhoni lost his 2nd match as captain. Importantly, first match after his marriage was a loss. His record in test series show him improving as a batsman after the first match. Let us hope this stat is true.

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