T20I matches - perfect practice for Indians

The Indian team cannot complain about the Board or its schedule now. In preparation for CWC T20 World  Cup, thhe Indians seem to be having the perfect practice so far.

First, they met current ODI  champions in their backyard.Result was an unprecedented whitewash!!

Next up were the defending champions in T20I format - Sri Lanka at home. After a blip on a ground that MSD rightly said was more English than Indian, the team was back to winning big. With an allround performance, India equalized the series comfortably.

Image Courtesy - Cricinfo

There is a good blend of young blood and veterans in the team now - Hardik Pandya and Manish Pandey are the unknown elements who might make the Cup their own.It is all looking good forMSD and his teaam noow. Go India, go!!

T20 World Cup - is India interested?

We all know that the IPL came into our lives after the Indians won the T20 World Cup. But, are we really interested about it? I dont think so. The players are looking forward to the IPL that comes after the World T20 is finished - hopefully, the ICC should take note of this and do adequate changes to the schedule.

What about the Indian team's chances? They did not choose the team that I wanted to be selected :( Never mind, does not happen most of the time. But, let us do the analysis of the team selected and see what can be achieved.

The team selected is

1. MS Dhoni (C), 
2. Shikhar Dhawan, 
3. Rohit Sharma, 
4. Virat Kohli, 
5. Suresh Raina, 
6. Yuvraj Singh, 
7. Ajinkya Rahane, 
8. Ravindra Jadeja, 
9. R Ashwin, 
10. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 
11. Mohammad Shami, 
12. Stuart Binny, 
13. Amit Mishra, 
14. Mohit Sharma,
15. Varun Aaron.

The first four select themselves and among numbers 5,6 and 7 two will be selected - Yuvraj and Raina will be given the preference because of their experience. Jadeja, Ashwin and Amit Mishra will play, thanks to their successes at Asia Cup together (and the fact that matches will be played on similar pitches). For the remaining two slots, Bhuvi has alone the experience of playing international T20 (only one among the pace bowlers). Whether Shami will be picked up again or Mohit Sharma be preferred (another CSK player) remains to be seen.

Binny, Aaron and Rahane might complete the trip without getting any match but this experience will help them in the future :)

Rajkot T20I - Yuvraj leads India to victory

Chasing a big score, India reached their target thanks to a typical knock from Yuvraj Singh with a good supporting cast (Vinay and Bhuvi Kumars with the ball as well as Dhawan, Raina for their starts). The 17th over was good where as you can see below, the line dips below the expected R-E.

2013 Champions League starts

After the qualifiers, the main tournament started on 21st September with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid squaring off.

Rahul Dravid's Rajasthan Royals continued their perfect record at Jaipur as they defeated Mumbai Indians with relative ease. The stars were relatively unknown players like Vikramjeet Malik, Sanju Samson and Stuart Binny. Others pitched in together to make it a comfortable victory at the end. Mitchell Johnson will feel aggrieved though!

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.

T20 World Cup - Has Club Cricket won over the crowd?

India won four of the five matches they played in the tournament !
India also took all the ten wickets of their opponent in four matches !!
Three of the top Five bowlers with the best average in the World Cup are Indians
After Chris Gayle and Shane Watson, the person with the highest number of fifties is Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli also stands sixth in the number of runs scored in the World Cup.

Definitely looks good on paper, right? Yes. But what was the outcome? Nothing different from the previous editions - an exit from the Super Eight stage itself.

Why does the Indian team always deliver such an ordinary performance at the T20 World Cup (after their initial win)? Just look at the same set of players who will appear in the forthcoming Champions League in South Africa and look at the body language! You will know the difference.

T20 as a national game has lost its interest within India especially, thanks to the numerous leagues around the world. Thanks to the ICC ruling, countries play 1-2 national T20's and hence there is no purpose in these games from the players perspective. Hence, you see countries like Australia use this forum as a platform to try out their newcomers (and in the case of George Bailey, a new captain)!

There is no wonder that the favourite for the World Cup and one of the finalists is West Indies. Why is not such a surprise? The team is not from one country - it is made of a combination of island countries (a replica of the type of teams you would see in IPL!) It will not shock anyone if they go on to win the title!

This is also possibly the reason why the crowds stay away from the World Cups while they will throng the stadiums in CLT20! The crowd is able to relate better to the IPL and Big Bash teams rather than their national teams in T20 especially. This is very much synonymous to the football leagues all over the world, especially in the European regions. You can talk to any football lover and he will tell you that he is an Arsenal fan rather than a fan of England. Of course, when the World Cup or the Euro Cup come, they are fanatic followers of their country.

From the players perspective also, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard have clearly stated their interest where their intentions to participate lie in. It is an open fact that players like to have the financial cushion in their short careers and this can be possible (especially for players from cash-strapped cricketing boards) in IPL or Big Bash alone!

Hence, the cricketing circus has reached its maturity level (though not to the scale of football obviously because of the limited reach) in T20 cricket. Now, the next step for ICC is to take it around the world for the non-Commonwealth countries to follow it more closely. Maybe they need an Ecclestone to take them to the higher level!

India-Sri Lanka T20I - India win easily

The Indian team continued their domination over Sri Lanka by winning the one-off T20 international convincingly despite scoring their lowest against Sri Lanka in this format. The R-B chart shows that the Lankan team were in the hunt at the beginning (thanks to some violent hits by their openers) but because of the early fall of wickets, they were on the fast track to fall behind the expected run-rate. This again put pressure on the middle and lower order resulting in more wickets for the Indians.

The main protagonists from the ODI series from the Indian side were again on display - Virat Kohli who started off as though he had a plane to catch.

Irfan Pathan was in a hurry too - polishing off the first three wickets in his initial spell.

Kohli had good support from his supporting cast consisting of Rahane, Raina and Dhoni while Pathan was helped by Dinda and Kohli (this time with the ball!).

The fielding was good and the team was looking as though there was nothing wrong with it (as it usually appears when the team is winning). The absence of Zaheer and Sehwag meant that there were far more fitter and faster players on the ground but catches were dropped - an area of concern. Is the departure of the two veterans a possible sign that they will not appear for the shorter format any more? This might be good for the Indians in many ways.

The Indians will come back to the same environment next month for the T20 World Cup and hence this show will have made them happy. 

Coming soon - IPL4 auction in Bangalore

The IPL players' auction will be held in Bangalore on January 8 and 9. There will be multiple price bands in the auction - interesting choices are available in these bands. One wonders how the franchises will take their decisions.

Band	Batsmen	Bowlers	All-rounders	Wicket-keepers
400,000 USD	Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Shaun Marsh, Mahela Jayawardene, Ross Taylor, Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers	Anil Kumble, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Graeme Swann, Michael Yardy, Brett Lee, Daniel Vettori	Luke Wright, Chris Gayle	Adam Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum, Tillakaratne Dilshan
300,000 USD		Muttiah Muralitharan, Zaheer Khan, Shaun Tait,	Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, Andrew Symonds, Angelo Mathews	Kumar Sangakkara
200,000 USD	Gautam Gambhir, Michael Hussey, Eoin Morgan, Robin Uthappa	Doug Bollinger, Dirk Nannes	Sourav Ganguly, Sanath Jayasuriya
100,000 USD	Tamim Iqbal	R Ashwin, Morne Morkel, Ben Hilfenhaus

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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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T20 World Cup - Australia crush West Indies

Australia served a warning to their semi-final opponents with a clinical win over the Windies.

T20 World Cup - India crash out

Image via Wikipedia

So, it had to happen. The Indian team, after its clean slate in the Group stage (just like the previous edition), went blank in the Super Eights. Not a game won, even against the so-called minnows (West Indies) in international cricket. How did the Indians win the inaugural version of T20 World Cup then? Million-dollar question. Probably the low expectations helped the Indians then, as the regulars at that time (SRT, Dravid, Ganguly) were rested. Maybe, it is time to do a similar exercise now.

A player like Joginder Sharma (who is nowhere on the horizon) who is nowhere on the horizon bowled the last over of the tournament without nerves and had the presence of mind to capture the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq. Compare this with the last over bowled by an experienced bowler like Ashish Nehra to the Lankans. The burden of expectations are surely playing on the minds of the cricketers. Add to it, the loss of form of players like Yuvraj and Gambhir; the absence of stars like Sehwag and Sachin; the inabilities of Jadeja and Pathan - you have the complete picture.

Of course, the immediate pointers from everyone involved will be the IPL and its related schedule, late nights, travel, etc. Even though, it is partially true, that alone was probably not the critical reason of failure. Everyone will conveniently forget the technique challenge that all the batsmen (with the exception of MS Dhoni) faced throughout the Super 8s. The fact that the next T20 World Cup is in Sri Lanka and ODI World Cup is also in the sub-continent means that this issue will not haunt the Indian think-tank for the next 1-2 years.

MSD and Gary Kirsten have faced this setback after the highs of the Test team performances. They are experienced enough to plan on the next steps required. The Board is planning on a two-test series (yet again) against the Aussies in India - that might be the next international cricket that the full-strength team will play. If the Indians can get some serious practice against the short-balls, it will do a whole world of good. The players can still try for short stints at the English county circuit - whether the Board will approve it is another concern.

Very interesting to read today that the BCCI will do a review on the performance of the T20 squad. There was similar one done after the previous version - what were the action-items at the end of the review is anyone's guess. Similarly, the fact that the 'Seniors' have been rested for the forthcoming tri-series clearly shows the priorities of the BCCI. None of these players (barring Ravindra Jadeja who tried to play with Don Modi) were rested in any of the IPL matches but come international engagements, there is a break imposed on the players. Maybe the BCCI did not get their usual 'cut' from the organisers of this tournament.

Where does India go from here? The team has not played to its potential in the last 3 ICC tournaments (2 T20 World Cups and ICC Champions Trophy) and the next tournament sees a second-string team under a stand-by captain against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. The major worry will be the next set of batsmen who will replace the Fab Four in test matches. Their technique needs to be tested in various conditions and the best way to do it is to test them on the 'A' tours. While it is a good sign to see the re-initiation of the 'A' tour concept, the squad selected is mostly a third-string team. It would have been good if the team selected for the tri-series had gone on the England tour but BCCI does not care for the long-term growth for the Indian team anyway, does it.

The focus now is on how to catch hold of the golden egg-laying IPL, out of the hold of Lalit Modi. Everything else can wait.

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T20 World Cup - England eliminate New Zealand

New Zealand bowed out after their match against England, allowing Pakistan to sneak through.

T20 World Cup - South Africa choke themselves again

South Africa played true to their reputation against Pakistan to get eliminated from the competition.

T20 World Cup - Australia thump the Lankans

Australia recovered from the early fall of wickets to thump the Lankans.

T20 World Cup - India find the Windies too hot to handle

Image via Wikipedia

MS Dhoni has proved so far to be an astute captain. He has always given his team members fair chances to prove themselves. But, very quickly into the game against the Windies, he must have been wondering if the choice to continue with Jadeja was worth it. Another chance was let down by the left-arm spinner who seems to be selected more for his bowling rather than all-round skills (proof was that Harbhajan was sent in earlier while batting). If Jadeja had shown better skills while bowling, it would have brought back the confidence to himself and his captain - but, it was not to be.

The other question on everyone's mind was the reasoning of MSD to go with the spin-oriented attack. If that was the intention, why not go with a specialist like Piyush Chawla? Does it mean that the think-tank has no trust on the backup pace bowler, Vinay Kumar? If so, why is he there in the squad at all?

Of course, many more questions come to one's mind - why is Zaheer Khan's intensity more while playing for Mumbai Indians than for his country? The leading bowler was giving away runs as though he was a newcomer, not like the seasoned bowler he is. Why was Rohit Sharma not given a bowl, especially when he had performed decently in the recent IPL.

West Indies played with more hunger and that sealed the game for the Indians. The batsmen again did not know how to deal with the bouncing ball. This was known at the last edition of the T20 World Cup but nothing has happened so far that has tried to find a remedy to the problem. Given the lesser capabilities of the Windies bowlers, the match became close but not good enough to win.

Of course, the BCCI must be blamed for the Indian batsmen's showing as well. By making them play on pitches without life, the batsmen are in no position to practice the horizontal shots. Without time between the engagements, there is no way they can practice these shots. Yusuf Pathan is struggling with the short ball and I dont think he has any time to work on this, in the near future.

The Aussies have thrown a lifeline to the Indian team by scoring a thumping win over the Sri Lankans. But, in my frank assessment, the Indians do not deserve to qualify for the next round by its showing in the Super 8s. The next match is in St. Lucia - favorable ground for the Indians but they need to win by a large margin to go through (provided Australia defeat the Windies - which looks very definitely on the cards).

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T20 World Cup - SAF continue to struggle against England

England won their warm-up match against South Africa before the World Cup started. They repeated their act again yesterday to prove it was no fluke.

T20 World Cup - NZ hold their nerves against Pak

New Zealand kept their nerves against Pakistan and won a last-ball match, thanks to good bowling by Ian Butler.

T20 World Cup - Sri Lanka teach Windies a lesson

Mahela Jayawardene led Sri Lanka to a score that the Windies had no chance of getting close.

T20 World Cup - South Africa start strongly in Super8

South Africa ease past New Zealand in their first Super Eight match.

T20 World Cup - England get past Pakistan

England chased down a mediocre total posted by Pakistan comfortably.