INDIA. OMG. THERE goes India's hopes. Yuvi out.
Shucks. They really gave us so much hope when Jammy and Dada were batting like the absolute masters that they are. Now, we have Zaks, Munaf and RP left. It's a goner.
WHY must they play so badly! I mean honestly, Dinesh and Sachin were absolutely DISMAL. That's really all I can say. Dismal. Zaks just hit a 4. Go Zaks. Show people like Sachin how to save India's dignity.
Even if RP and Zaheer somehow manage not to get themselves out, we need 60+ runs from 30+ balls. It's just not possible. Now we just HAVE to win the next match. AND DRAVID, PLEASE BAT FIRST. I think your team has lost the ability to chase down totals. Don't depend on the batting line up. Depend on your bowlers instead. I know they can be disappointing at times (like today) but they are more likely to win you a match anyway.
The positives from today's match?
I saw Jammy bat so beautifully for the first time in YEARS. The boundaries were flowing from his bat and he looked at complete ease hitting them. There's only one way I can describe it, and that would be that he was creating poetry with his bat. It was that fluent, eloquent, natural. Two matches, two half-centuries. He looks to be in splendid form, and I hope he continues that form.
55 from 25 balls. It's gone. RP is managing to hang on though. YIKES. Only just though. He's playing risky. But I suppose they have nothing to lose (only the match, but they've already lost that anyway). Disappointing, disgraceful batting by top order batsmen like Sachin and Dinesh and even Dhoni. Hats off to Dravid, Ganguly and Yuvraj. They were the only ones who really did anything. Dravid captained pretty well, but RAWR we had a couple of decisions against us AND ZAHEER HITS A FOUR. WHOOOO. Ok sorry, I digress. And our bowlers (pace) were disappointing. RP was good towards the end. But that was not enough. He also gave away FIFTEEN runs in the last over.
ZAKS BOWLED. DEAD.
This is almost farcical. MUNAF AND RP. Why bother I ask. Just go home boys. Better you guys get rested and train tomorrow for the next match.
Ah they are so cute, they continue to bat. It's a bit of a laugh to watch RP lofting the ball.
OK BOWLED. There it goes. !#@O$STUPIDENGLAND@*(!^$)($IDIDNOTSAYANYTHING#^$%&*^#*
Ah well, it's not like I didn't see this humiliating defeat coming since the time Dravid got out. India needs miracles for the next match. Think about it, England won the first by 104 runs, India only won the 2nd by 9 runs and England's won this by 42 runs. Who's the dominant team? I don't think I need to give the answer. India SERIOUSLY needs miracles now. Blue whales, how deep in the hat are you hiding this time? How deep will India have to reach into the hat to pull you out this time? Or have we exhausted our supply of miraculous blue whales?
WHY am I asking all these metaphorical questions?
THURSDAY. Thursday. Sigh.
WARNING SORE LOSERNESS COMING UP:
Go away Collingwood. I know you won, I know you guys were good, FINE stop rubbing it in. I sincerely hope STUPID Anderson and Broad twist their ankles for the next game. GRRRRR. AND URGH MIKE ATHERTON THE @$*^!#$)!# he was asking questions that made it seem like India can't play cricket at all. Harsha Bhogle agrees! Yay.
OK I'm back to normal. I love England when they're not playing against India. BUT WHEN THEY START WINNING AGAINST OUR TEAM... *claws pop out and horns and pointy tail emerge*.
*deep breath*
I'm fine.
Gosh ok I'm NOT fine. Harsha Bhogle and co. just interviewed Jammy and he sounded THOROUGHLY PUT OUT. I've never heard him sound so upset. And he's blaming himself! For not going on to get a 100. I mean, sure, yes, he should have done that, but to say that you're taking the defeat hard on yourself? And he was going on about how he is very disappointed etc. Lighten up Jammy, all is not lost :(
TEAMINDIA PLEASE PLAY WELL AT LEAST FOR YOUR CAPTAIN IF NOT FOR ANYTHING/ANYONE ELSE.
Ok this is probably my most incoherently emotional entry here. I promise I will try to be a bit more sensible next time.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Jumbo Jets Past 100.
And the marvelous Anil 'Jumbo' Kumble has done it again. No, not with the ball, but with the bat.
110 NOT OUT. Wowee.
He truly played a wonderfully crafted innings, driving, pulling, cutting and heaving one mighty sixer. A batsman's innings. True, there were no boundaries on the leg side. But hell, that small detail was more than overshadowed by some of the beautifully hit boundaries which seemed to flow out of his bat. And the way he jumped and cheered at his half century and then century! You would have thought he was 26, not 36. And the dressing room, my goodness, it went WILD. EVERYONE was up on their feet, jumping up and down, cheering, clapping, grinning from ear to ear, the delight written so starkly on their faces. It was wonderful to watch, so very heartening to see the entire team celebrating a senior player's triumph. :) And Kumble, he deserved that sort of celebration. He's perpetually been a fighter for the team, and will truly be a HUGE loss when he retires. I don't know who will be able to fill his all-too-big-shoes.
So take a bow you master magician. And relish the cheers of a billion fans.
Otherwise, I simply LOVE Harsha Bhogle's commentary. He's so interesting to listen to, so full of life, and he makes so much sense. Unlike some of the commentators in some *ahem* other channels, who talk a load of old tosh half the time, Harsha Bhogle makes perfect sense almost all the time. When he commentates, he really injects his excitement into the commentary, such that it makes the listeners feel really caught up in the action, it makes the listeners excited too. Maybe it's because he used to be radio commentator, but his emotions really transmit when he commentates. It makes for far more entertaining commentary. Generally, the STARCricket commentators are just in a league of their own. Harsha Bhogle, Ravi Shastri, Gautam Bhimani (who is witty and informative and funny during the lunchtime and pre-match shows), they're all great. How I would LOVE to be part of the STARCricket team. *wistful*
They keep having this DreamJob ad, auditions to be part of the STARCricket presentation team AND I TRULY WANT TO GO BUT THEY ARE ALL HELD IN INDIA HELLO HOW IS THAT EVEN FAIR ARGH. And well, I've got ALevels this year and everything. What if no opportunity shows up afterwards?
Oh well. I guess I'll just have to continue waiting for this elusive opportunity to show up. Show up somewhere reachable that is, somewhere I can actually put my hand out and grab it. Or even run a little distance to it and grab it. Not in this obscure, unreachable manner.
Ok then, I shall return to my work and India's bowling. (COMEON KUMBLE GET STUPID PIETERSEN OUT. GRRR. IAN HOWELL IS AN IDIOT HE IS BEING COMPLETELY USELESS AND BIASED AGIANST INDIA.)
110 NOT OUT. Wowee.
He truly played a wonderfully crafted innings, driving, pulling, cutting and heaving one mighty sixer. A batsman's innings. True, there were no boundaries on the leg side. But hell, that small detail was more than overshadowed by some of the beautifully hit boundaries which seemed to flow out of his bat. And the way he jumped and cheered at his half century and then century! You would have thought he was 26, not 36. And the dressing room, my goodness, it went WILD. EVERYONE was up on their feet, jumping up and down, cheering, clapping, grinning from ear to ear, the delight written so starkly on their faces. It was wonderful to watch, so very heartening to see the entire team celebrating a senior player's triumph. :) And Kumble, he deserved that sort of celebration. He's perpetually been a fighter for the team, and will truly be a HUGE loss when he retires. I don't know who will be able to fill his all-too-big-shoes.
So take a bow you master magician. And relish the cheers of a billion fans.
Otherwise, I simply LOVE Harsha Bhogle's commentary. He's so interesting to listen to, so full of life, and he makes so much sense. Unlike some of the commentators in some *ahem* other channels, who talk a load of old tosh half the time, Harsha Bhogle makes perfect sense almost all the time. When he commentates, he really injects his excitement into the commentary, such that it makes the listeners feel really caught up in the action, it makes the listeners excited too. Maybe it's because he used to be radio commentator, but his emotions really transmit when he commentates. It makes for far more entertaining commentary. Generally, the STARCricket commentators are just in a league of their own. Harsha Bhogle, Ravi Shastri, Gautam Bhimani (who is witty and informative and funny during the lunchtime and pre-match shows), they're all great. How I would LOVE to be part of the STARCricket team. *wistful*
They keep having this DreamJob ad, auditions to be part of the STARCricket presentation team AND I TRULY WANT TO GO BUT THEY ARE ALL HELD IN INDIA HELLO HOW IS THAT EVEN FAIR ARGH. And well, I've got ALevels this year and everything. What if no opportunity shows up afterwards?
Oh well. I guess I'll just have to continue waiting for this elusive opportunity to show up. Show up somewhere reachable that is, somewhere I can actually put my hand out and grab it. Or even run a little distance to it and grab it. Not in this obscure, unreachable manner.
Ok then, I shall return to my work and India's bowling. (COMEON KUMBLE GET STUPID PIETERSEN OUT. GRRR. IAN HOWELL IS AN IDIOT HE IS BEING COMPLETELY USELESS AND BIASED AGIANST INDIA.)
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
The Return of the Neeti.
And what, you might think (not that ANYONE actually reads this), seems to have motivated the Neeti to come running back to her beloved cricket blog?
Some wonderful cricket in my system of course!
Ah WHAT a test match that was. India vs. England. Challenging conditions, beautiful weather, classic test match strategies employed, patience being key... none of that flashy, exhuberant batting that people *coughaussiescough* insist is the key to the survival of test cricket, no siree. Save it for the ODIs please. Or better still, the Twenty20s. I'm not saying they should play as slowly as the last generation of cricketers used to. But please don't insist on flatter-than-chappati pitches... it makes the bowling aspect of the game look like a farce.
Oh but this match was absolutely lovely. With Zaheer's superb seam bowling and Vaughan's century in drilling conditions, it was skill that stood up and dominated the match. And of course, after India NARROWLY drew the previous test match, with the rain gods saving them from certain defeat at the 11th hour, the beautiful weather at this match led me (and everyone else) to the conclusion that the weather gods have taken up residence in India. :D
Of course, it was not without its glitches. The Jelly Bean Incident was childish and ridiculous to the point of almost humour. For those who are uninformed, England's slip cordon allegedly threw jelly beans onto the pitch after every ball was bowled when Zaheer was batting- retribution no doubt, for his marvelous bowling. Vaughan of course, insisted that some jelly beans must have fallen out or left on the pitch as a "prank", but that they definitely did not throw them at Zaheer. Well, whatever it was, it failed miserably in distracting Zaheer. Instead, it riled him up and improved his bowling further. Hoorah to you Zaks. :)
And then there was Sreesanth. I really don't want to say much, I don't know what I feel about his unnecessary aggression. I think this quote from cricinfo will sum it up nicely.
That's that. Another extremely funny incident involved the commentators. They were discussing how Dravid (JAMMY <3) doesn't like his nickname of "The Wall" as he feels his shot range encompasses being more than just a wall. So they were trying to come up with new nicks for him. Harsha suggested why not just use Jammy, as his team calls him that and jam is apt because it goes with everything, akin to Dravid's versatility. BUT THEN, some other English commentator said, "Jam Rahul... JAM ROLL! Why not jam roll?"
I think that was the point where I fell off the sofa laughing.
Geez. StarCricket commentators are hilarious and crazy in the most wonderful way. Someday I hope to be part of their team.
SOMEDAY. :)
And that concludes my long overdue update. Till next time!
Some wonderful cricket in my system of course!
Ah WHAT a test match that was. India vs. England. Challenging conditions, beautiful weather, classic test match strategies employed, patience being key... none of that flashy, exhuberant batting that people *coughaussiescough* insist is the key to the survival of test cricket, no siree. Save it for the ODIs please. Or better still, the Twenty20s. I'm not saying they should play as slowly as the last generation of cricketers used to. But please don't insist on flatter-than-chappati pitches... it makes the bowling aspect of the game look like a farce.
Oh but this match was absolutely lovely. With Zaheer's superb seam bowling and Vaughan's century in drilling conditions, it was skill that stood up and dominated the match. And of course, after India NARROWLY drew the previous test match, with the rain gods saving them from certain defeat at the 11th hour, the beautiful weather at this match led me (and everyone else) to the conclusion that the weather gods have taken up residence in India. :D
Of course, it was not without its glitches. The Jelly Bean Incident was childish and ridiculous to the point of almost humour. For those who are uninformed, England's slip cordon allegedly threw jelly beans onto the pitch after every ball was bowled when Zaheer was batting- retribution no doubt, for his marvelous bowling. Vaughan of course, insisted that some jelly beans must have fallen out or left on the pitch as a "prank", but that they definitely did not throw them at Zaheer. Well, whatever it was, it failed miserably in distracting Zaheer. Instead, it riled him up and improved his bowling further. Hoorah to you Zaks. :)
And then there was Sreesanth. I really don't want to say much, I don't know what I feel about his unnecessary aggression. I think this quote from cricinfo will sum it up nicely.
"And yet, if England's childishness (or "mental disintegration" as Vaughan would dearly love to be able to call it) was seen to backfire on one of India's players, then it arguably scored a direct hit on another. Sreesanth, the breakdancing bundle of energy from Kerala, had a shocking Test match. Teased for his apparent resemblance to Harry Potter while batting, he bowled like one of Voldemort's stooges - ineffective, erratic and at times downright ugly. He sent Pietersen, the object of India's ire, crashing to the turf with a whistling beamer, and then aimed a vicious bouncer at Collingwood after overstepping by almost a metre."
That's that. Another extremely funny incident involved the commentators. They were discussing how Dravid (JAMMY <3) doesn't like his nickname of "The Wall" as he feels his shot range encompasses being more than just a wall. So they were trying to come up with new nicks for him. Harsha suggested why not just use Jammy, as his team calls him that and jam is apt because it goes with everything, akin to Dravid's versatility. BUT THEN, some other English commentator said, "Jam Rahul... JAM ROLL! Why not jam roll?"
I think that was the point where I fell off the sofa laughing.
Geez. StarCricket commentators are hilarious and crazy in the most wonderful way. Someday I hope to be part of their team.
SOMEDAY. :)
And that concludes my long overdue update. Till next time!
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