The Silliest Point of All.

2010-11-23T14:02:00.002+08:00

This is from Cricinfo:

Dravid batted for 573 minutes and faced 396 deliveries for his 191 before holing out off a tired shot. "At any stage in my career, batting for long hours has taken a lot out of me," he said. "But, I guess, I have to bat for a long time to score runs. It would be nice to be re-born as Veeru [Virender Sehwag] one day."

Lol. The Humble-Wall, as someone commented. What a player :)

India-NZ 3rd Test

2010-11-22T16:47:00.002+08:00

I wish I had the time to write about this properly in here, because my two favourite players in the current Indian team are performing beautifully and showing their critics what grit and guts they are truly made of, but EXAMS OH EXAMS T_T I guess I'll have to save it. Maybe if I take a break.

Go Jammy and Dhoni :) Make India proud.

Asia Cup Thrills

2010-06-20T01:02:00.003+08:00

I know Bhajji scored the winning runs, but what this match reinforced for me is my increasing liking for Suresh Raina. With that baby face you think, bah, what damage can he do? But when he hits those sixers, you realise he's quite the harmless-looking assassin. He's got a ton of character, he does. I know his captaincy hasn't been great as yet, but he's only 23. With experience, he'll grow. I say India should give him a chance to learn and I think he can be a fine captain.
(I think it's really cute how he couldn't let Bhajji go when they won. Heh.)

And it's heartening to see such exciting ODI matches when there is all this talk about reducing the 50 over game into something else. It's an age old game. Changes are good, but to an extent. Such radical changes? Not for me. I'm quite the cricket purist sometimes :/

Also, India-Pakistan is really cricket at it's best. :) Love the thrills, and those crazy feelings of patriotism that just swell up. Ahhh I miss this game, and I miss watching India be convincingly good. Come on TeamIndia, let's get back on track for the World Cup.

Of Early Exits and Puzzling Problems

2010-05-16T13:46:00.002+08:00

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/459511.html

Read that. I completely agree.

After India's unglamorous exit from a world event, I always avoid cricinfo for a few days, because I know that it will be full of finger pointing articles, complaints from former players and excuses to justify the lousy performance of the team. I go back there after a few days have passed so that I can read articles that have slightly more thought put in, and are written after the writer has calmed down from the maddening frenzy that such early exits cause.

Indeed the wrong team was picked, and I was saying that from the start. Praghyan Ojha should have been in the team, Nehra shouldn't have, Yuvraj and Gambhir shouldn't have either (look at their current form, they were picked purely based on past glories). Why the World T20 team was picked before the IPL was even halfway through baffles me still. In 30 matches anything can happen. A player can get injured, form can be hopelessly lost or marvelously gained, a new hero could emerge, a match-fixing scandal could put an old hero out of the picture forever, ANYTHING could happen. And yet, they picked the final WT20 team with about 30 IPL matches still left. If that's not befuddling, I don't know what it is.

And I hate how India won't give a player more than two chances if he's not thoroughly established himself. Nowadays at least. I know there's a lot of bench strength to test out and everything. But come on. In the olden days, players weren't dropped after 1 lousy match or two, doomed forever to be playing state cricket unless they perform amazingly well again in some tournament, after which they won't even be picked immediately, but only a series or two later, by which time their form would have deserted them again. The logic evades me.

But then again, how many people take me seriously when I say things like this. Cricket is after all, a men's game. What would I, a 20 year old GIRL, sitting in a country like Singapore (whose national team just got DEMOTED), know about this grand old game? Or so they think at least. Agreed, I'm no expert. But I am a passionate fan, and I love and scrutinize the technicalities of the game. And hell, if I was on one of those cricket shows, I'd probably do better (cricket knowledgewise) than Mandira Bedi or Archana or that Shonali woman.

But I digress. This was supposed to be about India's shortcomings. So yes. The Indian media. Goodness me, they swing wilder than someone with bipolar disorder. One day they'll raise the Indian team onto a pedestal and worship them with flowers and aarthis and gifts and gold and whatever else. The next day they'll tear them down, and stone their houses and ravage them down to the ground and treat them worse than dust under their feet. Can't they average it out a little? It's very overwhelming for a fan to deal with. And IPL IPL IPL it's high time India stopped blaming IPL for every loss. Grow up guys. You're international cricketers. If you can't deal with the amount of cricket being played, then SAY SO. But no, you guys want to play the IPL for the money, you want to play World T20 for the pride of playing for your nation, and then you whine that the events are too taxing blah blah. If you can't deal with it, BRING IT UP EARLY. Tell the board. Use your position as leverage! If you want to play all of that, then don't complain afterwards. Yeah and what's with the "IPL had too many parties and hence we could not play in West Indies"? What is the connection, geez.

Yes, I'm rambling. But hello, I'm as irritated as the next fan that this team seems to be completely paralysed against the short ball and that they can't stop boundaries or take catches. And as Harsha said, they were completely ineffective with the new ball. I can't deal with watching my team mess up like that. They need to pull their socks up, buckle down, and train their asses off if they want to succeed in these departments. And maybe India should seriously look into the problem of fast bowlers quickly losing their sting. What is it that they do wrong in training them up? Why is it that people like RP and Irfan have become dispensible when they were once hailed as the best prospects for India in the future? Why are we depending on bowlers who've been kicked out a few times and made comebacks in their 30s, when we know that that is a dangerous age fitness-wise? And WHY OH WHY can't they stop making flat, ineffective pitches in India? Like I said, baffling.

Well, Indian cricket will recover as always. But I just feel like I have said that one too many times.

2010-04-28T00:19:00.003+08:00

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/456146.html

Oh my, I swear I hadn't read this before I wrote my IPL ramble. But yay, Harsha thinks the same! :)

Just A Regular Fan's Rambles on the Off-field Ongoings of the IPL

2010-04-24T09:46:00.005+08:00

What the IPL is going through now, I have so much to say about it, I don't know how to start.

It's ridiculous, the whole thing. Income tax department, government bodies, cricket boards, companies, players etc etc the number of people involved in whatever keeps growing by the second. And in the midst of all of this controversy, the people who have been largely forgotten are the fans. Ironically, they make or break the sport. If there is a mass fallout from the sport due to all this, cricket will die. It's not like we have some worldwide following to begin with. When I first read the article, I was deeply upset and pretty darn angry. Does anyone realise how much time and emotions and passion people spend on this tournament? It's almost to the level of passion that people show when their country is playing. These are just franchises, and YET, that level of passion is there, why? Because we love this sport, dammit, we love every aspect of the game, we are keen to see the sport taken out to the world, we want to see it progress and we want to see our favourite sportsmen play and do well. We take pride in their successes, make it our own and live off their reflected glory. And when allegations like this crop up, what of us? What of the billions who sit eagerly in front of television sets and in stadiums to watch, cheer and ultimately make the league a success? Do we take them? Do we ignore them? Even if you do clear everything up, will any of it be the same considering we now at least suspect that some of the matches we watch may be fixed? The IPL isn't the death of cricket. All this politicking and the lack of transparency are.

What I find odd is, how and why did the cricket board, BCCI, not know about ANYTHING until now? They're acting all surprised and are trying to wash their hands off the whole thing but come on. Lalit Modi IS part of the BCCI. This isn't Modi Premier League, it's the INDIAN Premier League. Don't tell me that the BCCI had no part to play in this scandal (assuming it's true). I'm saying every single person involved in the administration of the League in one way or another was probably in the know of every dirty secret. What they didn't expect was for it to come out into the open. Now that it has, they're trying to push all the blame on one person, and it has been decided that Lalit Modi is the scapegoat who will be sacrificed to save the name of BCCI, Indian cricket and India itself.

What Mum says may be true too. They can't bear to see one person be so successful. Not just the board, but people too! It amuses me to see Modi drawing flak from so many fans (even without all this scandal). Why? Do any of them have a valid reason other than "he invented the IPL and I think it's the death of cricket, hence I hate Modi"? I'm not talking about now, after the scandal came up, now I also have reason to dislike him (if everything is true), I'm talking about before all that. I can understand some part of where these people come from, but I personally feel it's a very one dimensional view to take. I'm a huge lover of the game, and I'd watch every ball of a test match if I had the time to. And I have! I mean, why else would I travel to another continent and roast in the scorching summer sun for four days watching a test match? I love every version of this game and I want to see it out there, gaining popularity for what it is. IPL has done that. It has taken cricket out to people who never even knew the sport existed. It has brought together players and fans of all nationalities, erased boundaries and built new friendships. It's a great concept, albeit a radical one, for a game that is played primarily as nations and in which support for a team overlaps heavily with patriotism and nationalistic pride. The IPL has changed all of that.

And what of the interaction it allows between players of international calibre and the national level players? Brilliant concept there too, as it allows younger, inexperienced players to learn and to have the feel of playing to packed stadiums, rubbing shoulders with the all-time greats of the sport. To have their own little fan followings and to succeed in this sport for which most would have given up their education and other job opportunities. And all this is without even touching upon the financial factor (which I won't talk about since that's what's been called into question now).

This was Lalit Modi's brainchild, this is what he's done for the sport and if ever this controversy clears up and the dark could hanging over his head rains off (or better still, blows over), I'd say he could even go down in history as a hero. And no, Modi has not paid me to write this. I don't agree with all his decisions and changes and many things about the way he runs this tournament, but hey, it brings me my favourite sport packaged in a novel, innovative way (and heaven knows the archaic rules could do with some innovation). It adds excitement to 7 weeks of my life every year and gives me something to look forward to. It allows one of my favourite(st) players to still showcase his talent and lets me watch him. It is a brilliant advertisement for this sport which has lived in relative obscurity for the most part. So all that is great. But now there's a shadow over all of that. Must financially successful things always get embroiled in scandals? Couldn't the IPL have succeeded without dodgy multi-million dollar deals and excessive amounts of cash changing hands illegally? Now Modi has to clear his name or take the blame. Mostly take the blame because in all likelihood, the allegations are true. And the worst part is, there's probably more than just him involved, it's probably the whole board. But of course, that will never be proved. What I can foresee for now is that only Modi will be "punished" by the board, and the rest will go scott free. Hello, corruption.

All I ask for now is clean-ness in the tournament, clean management for the sake of the public, for the sake of the sport and for the sake of India. It's the least you could give us, the fans. I do hope the IPL and Indian cricket will rise above this. Or it would sadden me greatly.

Semis No. 2

2010-04-23T02:16:00.003+08:00

Oh I know I said I would sit back and watch a good match, but I don't think that was a very good match at all! Neither team did well batting. Deccan's bowling was good, but fielding was average. CSK's fielding and bowling was really good. Captaincy from both teams was good. But overall the match just didn't entertain :(

The happy news is that CSK is through (the JOYOUS news would have been if Deccan was through lol) and will take on Mighty Mumbai in the finals. Let's hope that game is a good one!

Deccan will play off with Bangalore for the Champions' Trophy place. Gilly isn't particularly happy with the play-off method, and he said so at the post-match ceremony. I wonder why... hmm. Loved Dhoni's speech and how he was so matter of fact. I particularly loved it when he said to Ravi Shastri, "It's easy to say everything worked when you're the winning side. If we were the losing side, everyone would have asked questions about us picking 3 spinners in the side. But since we won, it's easy to say it worked for us." Indeed, and I'm glad he realises that and good to see he still has his feet on the ground.

That's all for now, and looking forward to Sat and Sun! Kep Kep (Gilly style).

My Nomads Are In The Semis!

2010-04-19T02:02:00.003+08:00

I always say, Deccan Chargers play like a bunch of morons half the time. When the batting comes good, the bowling doesn't. When the bowling comes good, the batting doesn't. And when both come good, the fielding doesn't! But I also always say, hey, they're my morons, so it's ok :) Like Symmo said, they may not be the most skillled team around and they may not look pretty while playing, but they're effective. Mostly!

People laughed at me everytime I said I supported the Chargers. Since the first season, and I guess, understandably so. But hey, they've justified their loyal fans' support by winning last year and coming from behind to enter the semis this year! When Deccan had five matches left, and having to win all to enter the semis, most people had written them off. But there they are, having won all five on the trot and IN THE SEMIS.

I must say though, I feel really REALLY bad for Delhi. They're a very good team and on a slightly better day, they'd probably have qualified. In fact, they probably deserve to qualify more than Bangalore sometimes. But that's T20 for you and that's how the World Cup's gonna be too. I just hope that it turns in India's favour and not against India-- the way it did last year.

In any case, Deccan's in, Chennai's in, this is everything I wanted, so I'm not going to complain. As usual I loved Gilly's and Symmo's post-match speeches. And I loved the way the team was so TIGHT and the way they seemed really pleased and yet pretty grounded. Ah Deccan. :) Nomads of the season, no ground to call their home, and yet, fought back to finish second in the group stages. As the commentators said, what a great story.

CSK in the semis. Whew. Gonna be a tough match that. But hey, they both fought so hard to reach the semis, I really don't care who wins. I'll sit back and watch a good game of cricket. :)

Thrills and Chills

2010-04-18T21:58:00.002+08:00

Oh my goodness. WHAT.A.MATCH.

When Punjab score 192, I thought CSK were goners. And even though in my heart of hearts I wanted CSK to win, there was a part of me that wanted CSK to lose, just so Delhi and Deccan could take it slightly easier later. But I can't deny that as much as I want Deccan in the semis, my heart just SWELLED to watch CSK win. And especially DHONI winning it for them the way he did. I am a huge HUGE fan of MSD and watching him show his real character and buckle down and play like the champion he is... was just brilliant. If CSK had performed like this in previous matches they could have easily chucked RCB out of the semis.

And Raina and Badri were awesome too. Guh. What a match. I'm practically breathless with excitement, even though I just watched it on TV! I love this game. :)

Next match, my heart's in my throat. Goodbye :(

RCB vs DC: A Win To Turn a Few Heads Back

2010-04-09T01:09:00.004+08:00

TSK. Tell me how wicketkeepers can manage to get stumped? Shouldn't they know better?!

ETA:

If I have to listen one more time to how Sehwag is Pleasant Faced and Yet a Terror or how Dravid is a Man of Few Words yet Eloquent or how Kumble has Turned the Best Batsmen Inside Out, I will KILL someone. To top it all off, Royal Challenge "Rock and Music CDs" is just STUPID. If everyone knows it's alcohol, why call it MUSIC CDs???

Also, why are there ads after every six that is hit? Honestly, if you want to retain your viewers, you need to plan your ads at the right times.

ETA:

A Win. A WIN. Ahhhh I am so happy. Deccan oh Deccan, despite the miseries you cause me, your victories are sweeeeeet.

It was pretty shaky at the start I must say. What with the slow start, then losing Mohnish early and then Gilly and Rohit in a very short span. But then Suman, an unlikely party, started finding his footing. A few huge shots later, he seemed much more confident. Symmo too, played a beautiful innings-- 53 off 20odd balls. Brilliant, and just when we needed it. Suman went on to score 78, really stabilising the innings.

And you know what made me happiest?
Symmo's interview after the win. It was so humble, and he was full of praise for Suman. Symmo also said how he kept talking to him to keep him calm and make sure he didn't think that slogging was necessary when he missed one ball... because Suman was hitting good cricket shots and that was essential. I love seeing that kind of team spirit. I remember articles where Gilly talked about building a Deccan culture. Well, I guess this is it.

Unfortunately, Deccan cannot afford to lose any of their games from here on. A very very daunting task, if you ask me.

Have I mentioned how much I love Gilly's interviews? He always seems so... straightforward and calm and makes so much sense. Whether they win or lose, he's maintained himself with a lot of dignity and you can see that. Right from the first season when Deccan finished bottom of the table, one never felt that sort of hopeless desperation in him. In my book, I rate him on the same level as I rate Dhoni the captain.

DC vs RR

2010-04-05T23:57:00.004+08:00

This is my version of a sort of live update. Cos it's happening while the match is going on. Haha.

Well, Deccan has been all combinations of misery, pathetic-ness, careless, blah blah the list goes on. Especially in the last 5 overs of their bowling, they've given the match away each time by giving the batting team 60 odd runs.

But today, oh today they've been marvelous. So far at least. From the 16th to the 19th over, they've taken 5 wickets. FIVE WICKETS. And two by RP (including a run out)! And RP took two more in his first or second over. Plus his economy's pretty low. Ahh I am very very proud of him :) All he has to do is keep proving his worth like that and the Indian recall will come in no time.

ETA @00 46:

Ok really, WHO LEAVES THE BALL IN T20??
And also, Gilly needs to start playing up to potential.

Deccan Woes

2010-03-29T00:14:00.001+08:00

Oh my dear Deccan
This is some mess you're in
Chasing 173 is no fun
How will you ever win?

DC vs. DD

2010-03-21T22:46:00.002+08:00

Another win! 6 points and 2nd on the table (for now)! Hoorah.

Although I must say that Deccan is very lucky. Twice now, from a position where it looked like the opposition had the game in the bag, they've had the game gifted back to them.

Delhi really threw the game away I felt. They were in a pretty good position to win, even better than Punjab and yet they somehow managed a combination of unlikely runouts and soft dismissals to hand victory to Deccan. And I'm saying thing despite being a Deccan fan... because it's the truth!

Deccan NEEDS to pick up on their bowling. And the batsmen need to stop throwing away their wickets. Fielding is awesome, and even though they say catches win matches... fielding alone isn't going to win us anything. Fielding and luck, maybe :P

As for now, I shall go celebrate this victory and hope CSK wins tonight too!

DC vs KXIP

2010-03-20T02:02:00.002+08:00

Deccan registers another win! :D

I feel sorry for Sangakkara, watching him at the post-match ceremony... he is my favourite SL player after all. But I can't be happier with the Deccan win.

I must say though, after the brilliant start that we had with the ball, we did mess up royally by letting Irfan score so many runs (RP, what were you bowlinggggg-- but oh everytime he smiled, I forgave him. Yes yes, I know I'm an idiot of the first degree, don't tell me). But at least we snuck home in the end. We definitely need to work on that consistency issue though.

Can I just say, how much I love Gilly as captain? I love the way he's always so energetic and jumpy on the field. The way he's constantly marshalling his troops around the field. The way he keeps making bowling changes and never lets the batsmen settle. I like how he runs all the way to his bowlers and fielders to whisper encouragement in their ears or some strategy or something. How he's as excitable as any youngster new to the international scene. And the best part, I love the way he trusts his team. Like Dhoni. They both tend to show random bursts of inexplicable trust in some player you wouldn't ever expect and that player will pay off their trust by performing too! I adore that trait, that ability to extract performances from your team while earning their admiration and respect.

Deccan oh Deccan. Even when they lose, I can't seem to stop supporting them. Like in the first season. It was so easy to change loyalties back then. After all, everyone was seeing all the teams for the first time ever. Nobody knew what kind of dynamic or anything to expect. But I knew I would be rooting for Deccan from the start, and I was never tempted to change loyalties even though they lost almost every match in the first edition. I don't even know why I stuck by them at that point... I guess somewhere deep down, I just knew they'd be awesome one day :D Haha, nahh, I really don't know. Everyone laughed at me then. "Deccan Chargers??" they'd say. "Why them? They're rubbish!"

I also had a rubbish answer. "Because RP is in it, and so are Gilly and Rohit and Gibbs." But it was more than all that. I had, somehow, formed a connection with a team I had very little reason to feel affinity for. See, I never felt that with Bangalore, even though Dravid is there and so are a number of other players I like.

And then came the second season, when Deccan won.

I had the last laugh then :D
Here's to more success this season.

DC vs. CSK

2010-03-15T00:07:00.001+08:00

RIDICULOUS. How can the 3rd umpire give that out?!?! Benefit of the doubt HAD to go to the batsman!! ANGRY.

RWARRR

2010-03-05T11:16:00.001+08:00

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/450782.html

My favourite line is the last one.

Brilliant.

2010-02-27T10:06:00.002+08:00

Cricket vs. Love

Read that. It's perfect.

Indeed, Team India will never leave us. India will bear with us patiently as we hurl insults at them or take out our bad moods on them. And they'll quietly show us that they're worth our backing in the next match. The inconsistency drives us crazy. And yet it keeps us coming back to them. It keeps us guessing, keeps life interesting. If they were faultless and perfect, we'd get bored, that's how fickle we are. But the team is unquestioningly loyal.

Ever so often I have turned to cricket for comfort. Heartbreaks? Failed an exam? Stressed out with events and commitments? Don't eat comfort food. Watch cricket instead. Which is what I do. The best part is, it keeps your mind occupied for a minimum of three hours, an average of eight hours... but in some cases, up to -get this- FIVE DAYS. It's the perfect distraction. What's even better, it allows you to multitask because the intensity doesn't occupy you cognitively (unless it's T20 cricket).

Ever lived your life out according to tournament fixtures? I know I have. During major cricketing events, I plan my life according to the match schedule.

Heartbreaks have been quelled by watching Jammy and RP play. Think about it this way. Jammy will always be mine. And yours. And yours and yours and yours too. No matter how long or how many times over he may marry or how many kids he might have. OR however old he might get. Sharing is never a problem. :)

There's just so many positives to following a sport with passion, and especially so when the sport is cricket.

Gah. I love this game.

Ramble about the quirks of cricket.

2009-12-24T17:27:00.003+08:00

I just had to post this. I think it's very relevant and applicable to me.

I was taking in my usual dose of Psych related blog articles from my bookmarked PsyBlog, when I came across an entry about basking in reflected glory.

"Here in England we have a strange tradition called 'test cricket'. It's a ridiculous game that goes on for five days, stops for tea and bad light, has impenetrable rules, weird names for fielding positions like 'silly-mid-on' and 'short-backward-leg' and which frequently ends, after the aforementioned five days, with neither side victorious.

Every two years England and Australia compete for 'The Ashes' (a tiny urn which usually stays in England no matter who wins) in a series of five grudge-matches dating back to 1882. Those who follow cricket, and I count myself amongst these, take this biennial pantomime-in-white very seriously. Sometimes so seriously I can't bear to watch it. This year England won and I, as a proud Englishman, celebrated the vanquishing of the old enemy.

As usual I suddenly find myself telling others how 'we' won the cricket, and I'm not just telling other fans, but trying to weave it into conversations with people who have no interest in it whatsoever. This is odd because, as I know all too well, even most English people think cricket is dull and anachronistic."

Well, what can I say,except that I relate 100% with the writer. I am one of those who take their cricket very seriously. Yes cricket can be stubborn and old-fashioned and slow and time consuming and test cricket even more so, but maybe that's precisely why I adore the game so much. Why else would I travel to a different continent with my family to watch a 5-day game?

Maybe it's because I love the fact that this crazy game actually halts for TEA. That fielding positions are called nonsensical names like "silly point" and "square leg" and deliveries can be called "googlies" and "chinaman". That it can move populations of 1 billion and stir up patriotism to a fever pitch. That there is no roughing it out here, and that it's referred to as the gentleman's game. That it can last for five days and have no winner and yet leave spectators satisfied. That despite it's draggy nature, it can keep you at the edge of your seat until the last ball. That cheerleaders are considered a novelty and that there are debates about whether they should be part of the game or not. That technology is looked upon with suspicion and inspires debates amongst fans and officials alike. That commentators have so much time that they can celebrate each others' birthdays in the commentary box. That there are crazy rules, some of which are difficult to even get one's mind around.

There's all this and so much more to this game which I love, and I'm sure other cricket lovers will agree with me. And as much as I complain about some of the more archaic aspects of the game, I have to say it reflects so much history and tradition. And makes me adore it all the more.

And with that I shall go back to my match. :)

4th ODI

2009-12-24T17:09:00.004+08:00

Watching the fourth ODI from home, and for once I'm actually watching from the first ball of the match.

If India can clinch this one, they'll have wrapped up the series, which would be good for us,because then they can rest their key players for the next match. I do hope Sehwag can captain us to a win. I can't tell you how much I miss Dhoni the captain. He's got this easy charm, this laidback feel and yet amazing focus and energy on the field. I still maintain that Dhoni is one of the best Indian captains that I've seen, and I've seen quite a few.

ETA: DADA's commentating as a special guest! :D Have missed him muchly. Quite awesome to hear him again, I used to be a huge Dada fan. :)

ETA II: WE WONNNN WOOHOOO. Virat Kohli with a brilliant maiden century and Gautam Gambhir with a magnificient 150*... they made a 224 run partnership which clinched it for us. It was wonderful to watch. Honestly I thought we'd lost it when we lost Sachin and Sehwag with only 23 on the board. But these two really stood up and took charge. And to think Kohli only played because Yuvi was injured! Also, Gambhir requested to share the MoM award with Kohli, which was a very nice gesture and it really showed the kind of bonding this team has. They play for one another and revel in one another's victories. I love it. Put a huge smile on my face :)

Rock on India.

The Boys Clinch A High-scoring Thriller

2009-12-15T19:55:00.005+08:00

India WONNNNNNNN

I'm so happy! It was such a thriller of a match, and if I felt that way simply following the score on cricinfo, I can't imagine how awesome it would have been to actually watch the match. PITY. But still. 414 runs by India and it still came down to the last BALL of SL's chase to determine the winner. But I'm so happy our boys held their nerve to clinch it! What a match it must have been! Man.

On the other hand, what kind of chappati flat pitches are they making?? 414 by one team and 411 by the other? Bowlers' economies at 8+? What is the game coming to? My favourite games are when sides defend totals under 300, and it comes down to the last over, last ball. That is a real competition between bat and ball. 400+ runs is just bat all the way.

But then again, nowadays, 200+ is not enough even in T20s -___-
It's a shame I tell you.

But for now, I'm a happy bunny with this victory. And what with India topping the test table... the world is good. :)

ETA: And just as I finish posting, Cricinfo says the same thing!

"India are thrilled, Sri Lanka are gutted. Forget that there was no contest between the bat and the ball but for the last 10 overs, these two teams fought hard. One hundred and four boundaries hit, 825 runs scored, and only three runs separate them. Spare a thought for Dilshan, Sanga and Tharanga, who - under the pressure of a huge chase - played such magnificent knocks. Celebrate the innings from Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dhoni, the spin bowling from Harbhajan, and the death bowling from Zaheer and Nehra. But also remember that this was a substandard international pitch and a small ground."

ETA again: "Sehwag: "Not at all. I was actually supporting Sri Lanka. My superstition is that whenever I support India, they lose. So I was supporting Sri Lanka." Sparing a thought for Dilshan and Sangakkara, I say Hail Sehwag and okay bye."

LOOOOL.

Commentary

2009-12-15T17:11:00.001+08:00

Jadeja to Dilshan, SIX, Ho ho ho, bye bye ball, Dilshan charges down, makes room too, takes this from outside leg and absolutely launches it out of the ground, straight down the ground.

I love the cricinfo commentators.

Wag Woes

2009-11-19T15:51:00.004+08:00

Generally my cricket watching ends up being something like this--
I'm sitting at the dining table doing my work, and the TV is running softly in the background. Whenever the commentators or crowds raise their voices, I look up to see what happened.

Well, I've never looked up so many times in such a short period before. Someone, if you know, please tell me what Sehwag is trying to do with his batting. Dropped off a no-ball, dropped again in the following over and then almost dropped again in the over after that.

Seriously?

Champions Trophy India-Pak

2009-09-27T00:07:00.003+08:00

Whoa India. Seriously.

Letting Pakistan score 302 was NOT a good idea. Our bowling's our weak link for sure, but is the pitch acting up? Gotta wait for India to bat to see. But if you ask me, I think we're goners :S

Losing to Pak will deeply dent our chances of getting to the next round of the tournament. Sighhh India. Why must you always keep us at the edge of our seats?

Ashes.

2009-08-24T20:20:00.000+08:00

England takes the ASHES :D

Well I really can't say I followed closely, because I've been over my head busy, but congratulations to them!

No offence to my Aussie-loving friends, but I've always enjoyed watching Australia face defeat. Somehow. :P

India-Windies 2nd ODI

2009-06-29T01:46:00.003+08:00

I am currently a happy bunny watching RP Singh hang on to his wicket like a champion. He's hung on for 23 overs, accompanying Dhoni. 70+ run partnership. A face-saving patch of play really. India were some 80 odd runs for 8 wickets. And now they're 163 for 8. Tell me which RP fan wouldn't be happy.
:)

AND RP HITS A SIXXXXXXXX :D :D :D

My champion's come to party.

DC vs DD Showdown Round II

2009-05-14T00:02:00.002+08:00

DECCAN OH DECCAN
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE
HOW WILL YOU EVER CHASE
173 RUNS?

A win, and how.

2009-05-07T01:55:00.005+08:00

And along with the woe of a Rameez Raja return comes a welcome piece of happy news- a Chargers win (finally!).

Considering our form in the last three games, I thought there was no way we'd be able to take on Mumbai (what with those two legendary- so much so, they're nearly ancient- players at the top of the Mumbai batting line up, all credit to them). But the Chargers have, happily, proved me wrong and I have no shame in admitting that!
RP was wonderful, taking the wickets of aforementioned legends in two consecutive balls (the one that castled The Little Master himself was an absolute peach, really) in his first over- giving us the first peek at a possible victory. But then came JP Duminy who at one point, looked all cushiony comfy and along with Dwayne Bravo (tell me again, why he isn't in England playing for the Windies?), set to steer the Mumbai Indians home.

Luckily for us, there were contributions from everybody- Ryan Harris with two outstanding catches in the field, good close in fielding from Gibbs saving singles and building pressure, two surprise wickets from Suman- but the masterstroke was Gilchrist handing the ball to Rohit Sharma (and not VENU, as he's done in a few crucial matches, and at crucial moments nonetheless, although I must admit that Venu was good with the bat today).

Just a while earlier, Rohit, trying for a gravity-defying catch, fell flat on his face-literally- and hit his nose hard on the ground. He looked like he might have to go off the field, but that is one tough dude. He shook his head a few times, looked a little zoned out for an over or so, but was fine after that. He came on to bowl and my oh my, what an evening he had. Four wickets at a crucial time with a hattrick, no less! Amazing fella. I was laughing away- ROHIT SHARMA with a hattrick? He was barely even recognized as an international level part-timer! Brilliant stuff.

And the way Gilly was shouting and clapping behind the stumps! Enthusiastic as any of those young wicketkeepers in the IPL- and he's 37! I love it when the senior players show so much spirit and love for the game. It's great to watch. Just look at Jayasuriya or Murali or Hayden for more examples! Or even Kumble! The way he dives around in the field, anyone could be forgiven for thinking he's not a day older than 25.

Great team effort and RP's back with the purple cap! Now if only there was some way to prevent that Abdulla dude from getting more than 1 wicket tomorrow and trying to claim back the cap.

Commentary Woes.

2009-05-07T00:49:00.003+08:00

All this while in the IPL, certain commentators have had me scrambling for the mute button on the remote control. But none have gotten to me quite as much as a bouncily enthusiastic Rameez Raja did in his first five minutes of screen time. He seemed to be trying to make up for missing the first half of the tournament (oh thank heavens we were spared for 2.5 weeks), provoking in me a strong urge to stuff my fingers in my ears and hum loudly until he was done talking. The mute button just didn't seem dramatic enough.

Poor Show

2009-05-02T21:57:00.003+08:00

DECCAN CHARGERS WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!!!!!!!

Seriously that was the most amazingly crappy match I have EVER watched. They completely utterly GAVE. IT. AWAY. Why do I end up supporting teams who are so amazingly inconsistent! Deccan COME ON. You were four off four, and now you've lost two.

You have to pick up, come together as a team and decide on a few things. One- whether Venugopal Rao deserves his place in the team. Secondly, how you can bolster the top order. Besides Gibbs and Gilchrist, who are our big hitters? Maybe Rohit Sharma should come in one down? In which case, how can we beef up the middle order? Dwayne Smith is a little inconsistent, sometimes he goes big guns and sometimes he doesn't. Lastly, how can we bowl max yorkers in the death overs. THAT really is what helped Rajasthan. They bowled 5/6 yorkers every over in the last two-three overs. We couldn't get them away at all. That's what needs to be done. You can't be bowling short balls every ball in the death. Everyone's going to slog you. You have to bowl a few yorkers.

We play Chennai next, and we need to win against them again. They'll be coming back with a sort of vengeance. And it won't be fun to watch, I can assure you. Please Deccan, don't raise my hopes and then dash them against the wall. I'd back you no matter what, but not all fans are going to be so patient.

RCB finds a winning streak.

2009-05-02T02:15:00.002+08:00

Just witnessed an absolute ripper of a match.

Kings XI Punjab, DEFEATED by Royal Challengers Bangalore, would you believe it? Have to have seen it to believe it, really. But it was brilliant, purely for the fact that Punjab was in the driver's seat right until the 18th over. Then Kumble bowled an amazing 19th over, giving just 4 runs and taking a wicket, when 17 runs were needed to win. And then along came Praveen Kumar, who claimed two wickets in the final over and restricted the runs to clinch the match for Bangalore.
The best part really, was that Yuvraj... took a hattrick and scored a half century, but managed to SOMEHOW, end up on the losing side. He got the man of the match award, deservedly. But it was still pretty amazing. Virat Kohli fielded, in the commentators' words, "like a demon". He took a ton of catches, seemed to be everywhere on the field. Brilliant stuff.

I love close matches between teams that I'm not really supporting lol. Because it's not that nerve wrecking. When it's Deccan or Chennai, I'd prefer that the team I'm backing convincingly trash the opposition. :P Either way, two good matches today. :) Mumbai and Bangalore winning. Deccan Rajasthan tomorrow and I'm going to be chewing my nails off for that one I bet.

In some trouble again

2009-04-30T19:11:00.002+08:00

Deccan, you can't play that way. Don't do this to me favvies...

[edit @ 21 44]

Deccan's first loss. Heartbreaking. But the important thing is for them to stick together through this and come back to win the rest of their matches, and definitely their next match against Delhi. Because they are honestly a better team than the Daredevils. They just played badly today. Let's see how this goes.

[/edit]

DC vs MI

2009-04-25T21:14:00.002+08:00

Don't do this to me Deccan...

[edit @ 00 47]

As the Chennai vs Kolkata match is in high danger of being washed out, I shall rejoice first about the wonderful Deccan victory earlier. :)

Well I couldn't be happier at this point of time, because we've played 3 and won 3. RP has been bowling wonderfully, getting a couple of wickets every time and continues to hold the purple cap (if they don't give him a national team recall after this, I really don't know what to say). Pragyan Ojha is the find of the tournie so far, he's been spinning the ball like a dream. Gilly is still in brilliant nick, despite having been out of the international scene for a year. Gibbs is scoring well, Rohit is good and our fielding has picked up tremendously from last year's (despite a couple of forgettable instances from Harmeet Singh in today's match). Not to forgot Fidel Edwards (or Castro, as Gilly calls him) who's been brilliant at the death.

As for today's match, I thought it was gone the moment we scored 168. It was just too little to win the match, on a good batting pitch! And the way the Mumbai Indians started, getting 84 runs in the first 10 overs, I thought we were goners. And then Pragyan Ojha turned up and claimed three wickets and he was rightfully given the man of the match award for it :D Because that turned the game in our favour. I really do hope they continue like this. It's a dream start for them, but you can argue that they haven't really played the strongest teams yet. Like Chennai and Delhi and Punjab and Rajasthan. Winning the next four matches will be the challenge. And if we can win even three out of the next four, I think we can safely consider ourselves pretty much the best damn team around.

I want the Deccan fan jersey! It's awesome, with a huge, charging bull in front.

CSK vs DD

2009-04-23T22:18:00.000+08:00

Disappointing match! Chennai shouldn't have lost that one...
But AB De Villiers was amazing- 105 off 54 balls. Truly remarkable.

Oh well, these things happen I suppose.
Deccan's still going good, so I'm not too upset :D

Favourites.

2009-04-23T02:05:00.003+08:00

What a brilliant match tonight between the DC and the RCB. 184 runs scored by the DC which was amazing to watch, because like I've always said, they've got amazing potential but didn't live up to it in the last season. And then RCB came out and managed to pull together 160 in the 20 overs. They lost early wickets and slowed down, which really made the difference, because had they managed to hit out in the first 6 overs, as the DC did, they would have won the match. It was a belter of a pitch, really. To top it all off, Jammy got the Orange Cap (highest run getter in the tournie thus far) and RP got the Purple Cap (highest wicket taker in the tournie so far). My two favourite players of all time and the caps are in my two favourite colours! This is all going rather well so far I must say ;)

And Jammy, he is in the finest form I've seen for a long time. And that too, in T20?? I'm not complaining, it's always a pleasure to watch him hit the ball out of the park, because he'll always do it with a proper cricketing shot. None of those ugly slogs for him. But as I watched him, how I wished he was playing for the Deccan Chargers or the SuperKings instead of Royal Challengers! Dravid is the only reason I have even the vaguest attachment to the Bangalore side, and if he were to play for my top two teams instead, I wouldn't turn to give Bangalore another glance. Which is a rather frivolous thing to say, I realise, but isn't that what makes this whole tournament fun- taking sides and rooting for a particular team or player?

The funny thing about the IPL is it creates a lot of cognitive dissonance (let me revise some social psychology while I'm at this whole blogging thing). You know you're rooting for this team (that's totally awesome in your mind) and you have all your reasons down pat to root for them. And then along comes an opposition which just happens to contain one of your favourite cricket players of all time. All of a sudden you find yourself feeling SORRY for the opposition team when a wicket falls because they show your favourite player's face on camera and he's looking like the sky just caved in on him. And then you wonder, hang on... why am I feeling sorry for the opposition?! I mean it's not even like your favourite was the one who got out. And then you have to go and create all these theories for yourself to feel that you are cognitively consistent :P

It just messes with your head, you know?

But I guess it's all in good fun, so I'm just going to go with the flow. Can't wait for the exams to get over so that I can watch the matches without feeling guilty all the time.

Oh oh, I forgot to add. Harsha Bhogle was commentating at the Durban matches. Wonderful to hear him again :)))

Hope the rain stays away folks!

A string of matches

2009-04-21T15:44:00.002+08:00

Wow, the IPL has far too many matches and they're all far too short to analyse them during the match. :P Which explains why I have not been updating.

Anyway, from the first day then:

Match 1: CSK vs MI
MI won by 19 runs.

Match 2: RR vs RCB
RCB won by 74 runs.

Match 3: DD vs KXIP
DD won by 10 wickets.

Match 4: DC vs KKR
DC won by 8 wickets.

Match 5: CSK vs RCB
CSK won by 92 runs.

Overall? It's been a pretty good three days. Deccan Chargers played like the team they're supposed to be at long last and I couldn't have been happier. RP Singh took 4 wickets and was declared Man of the Match, could I ask for more? :)
The Super Kings finally opened their winning account with that defeat of the Royal Challengers, and it was a pretty emphatic defeat as well. But somehow, I felt happier with the DC's win. Well, it's telling me where my loyalties would lie in a DC vs CSK match I suppose.

It's still too early to judge which team is better than which or why a team loses, but all that will solidify as the season progresses and hopefully I'll be here, faithfully documenting it.
In the meantime, give this article about the infamous cheerleaders a read. I personally agree wholeheartedly with it, including the last sentence.

http://content.cricinfo.com/iplpage2/content/story/400742.html

Match 1: CSK vs. MI

2009-04-18T18:16:00.004+08:00

After all the anticipation, it's almost time. 14 more minutes to the start of IPL's second season.

Chennai has won the toss and will bowl. It's been drizzling, that's terrible news really. I hope the rain stays away for the rest of the day.

I will probably update during the plentiful breaks we will have (7.5 mins after 10 overs urgh).

[edit @ 20 31]

Oops, the match and everything was so exciting, I forgot to update at halfway through the innings.

Anyway, the IPL is really in full swing, complete with scantily clad cheerleaders and all.

The highlight of the first innings? The big black grim-like dog which ran onto the field at 6.1 overs and nothing anyone did would get it out. :P It was adorable, to say the least, wagging its tail and looking around and running in circles around the players who looked bemused for the first coupla minutes before getting irritated. Can't say I blame them really, because disrupting play for too long disrupts their rhythm. The spectators had the laugh of their lives though :) as did we television audiences at home. To watch fielding coaches, security officers and groundsmen diving around the ground in vain (even those in shirts and trousers LOL) while the dog evaded all means of capture was hilariously entertaining, even though it was a waste of playing time. Some of them even tried giving it sandwiches and what not, which it happily lapped up and then continued to run around the field. Smart dog! Manpreet Gony tried to tempt it with the cricket ball, but it didn't seem too enticed by that.
Really funny though, how everyone kept a respectful distance from the dog because everyone was afraid of getting bitten!

Other than that, the bowling was quite disciplined, very few extras! But Mumbai Indians were good, they got to 166. I wonder is Chennai will be able to match up. Tendulkar was brilliant, he carried his bat through, scoring 59. Here comes the second innings. Toodle oo!

[/edit]

[edit @ 22 55]

CHENNAI LOST :( purely due to lousy batting. Too many wickets. Nobody kept their head, not even Dhoni. It's ok it's just the first match!
Time for match 2 now!

[/edit]

The Commercialisation of Cricket

2009-04-17T01:30:00.003+08:00

Oh this is such total rubbish. Whatever good the IPL is doing for cricket is going to be reversed by unbelievably stupid things like this.
http://content.cricinfo.com/ipl2009/content/current/story/399750.html
and
http://content.cricinfo.com/ipl2009/content/current/story/399973.html

7.5 mins break after 10 overs of each innings for commercials?? COME ON. Give me a break. Are we trying to draw in audiences or chase away existing ones? I don't like how commercial this is becoming.

But who am I to talk. We'll see how it goes. Hohum. I'll try to update closely about the IPL. I will be at home watching after all :)

A short update after very long

2009-04-06T13:41:00.003+08:00

It was awesome to watch the India team making so much noise on the field just to unsettle the NZ batsmen. With every ball bowled, they were shouting, hooting and whatever else. And then they'd all laugh. It must have been so annoying to the NZ batsmen and fans, but to us Indian fans it was pretty endearing to watch the team enjoying their game and one another's company. :)

Terror strikes sport.

2009-03-03T18:35:00.002+08:00

Impossible. Shameful. Horrible.

The Sri Lankan cricketers who were playing in Pakistan have been attacked by terrorists. There's a big hooha everywhere about the end of Pakistan cricket. Well, that is certain- no team will play there now. Because none are safe anymore.

Wake up. It's just a SPORT. It's for the love and enjoyment of everyone. You don't KILL for sports. Cricket has always been a sport that builds bridges. It has been helping to mend ties between India and Pakistan for the last five years or so. And now, this.

Luckily none of the players were killed, they just had shrapnel injuries. But several policemen and civillians died. Well understandably the players are being airlifted out of Pakistan right now.

To say that this is the end of cricket in Pakistan is one thing... but this has come at a time when the country itself is in strife. The question is... could this mark the beginning of the end of Pakistan?

Terrible Starts.

2009-02-27T14:21:00.004+08:00

I'm watching the 2nd India-NZ T20 and SERIOUSLY, 36 for 2 India???

Hello, what in the world is wrong with these people. Can't face up to the conditions in NZ?
Really, it's so stupid. So very stupid. How did we become T20 champions hmm? And if we play like this, we'll lose that title this year.

They don't need to hit the ball that hard. I know they only have twenty overs, but come on, you still need to keep your head and not just throw the bat around. And don't try to hit the WIDE balls COME ON.

Doomed. Unless a miracle comes along.

[edit @ 15 55]

Ok India, this is utter rubbish. Irfan can't seem to bowl at all, and yet we can't stop picking him to play all the matches. Blah blah.

[/edit]

[edit @ 18 17 on 28/02/09]

Ok so I take that back, Irfan can bowl. Sometimes. BUT INDIA STILL LOST. Rubbish batting. All of them threw their wickets away. Such a shame.

[/edit]

Double Blow

2009-02-09T01:35:00.002+08:00

India lost the 5th ODI and NZ lost the 3rd.

So today was a day of losses for the teams I was supporting. Just one of those days I guess- but India still comprehensively won the series 4-1 so I can't really complain.

Today our batting collapsed in a rather impressive impersonation of the SL batting all through this series (save for today's match). Thank goodness SL didn't decide to play like this before today's match or we may not have won the series so convincingly (or maybe we wouldn't have won at all). In any case, this series is over. Now I'm hoping NZ will just win that one more match and take the series from Australia.

Rather tired, so I shan't write much more. But before I leave- new layout! I quite like the colour scheme and the simplicity yet quirkiness of it.

4th ODI

2009-02-05T18:50:00.002+08:00

More cricket, more fun. India going at a run a ball. Almost.

But I'll miss most of the match. Sigh.

Joyous day

2009-02-03T19:16:00.001+08:00

ASDKJFG 224-2, Yuvi and Sehwag 200 run partnership in 150 balls, Yuvi on a 107... and still another 20 overs to go I can't be happier :D :D :D

Also, Aus lost to NZ in that first match despite the umpiring decisions that went against NZ.
Ahhh, contentment.

Insanity

2009-02-01T13:54:00.001+08:00

Australia 55-5 against New Zealand ZOMG???!?! :O :O :O

2-0 now!

2009-02-01T01:24:00.002+08:00

VICTORY. At long last.

This game was highly interesting, because it seemed that not only were the umpires against us, but so were the STUMPS. Twice, TWICE, the bails didn't fall when the ball hit the stumps pretty hard. I don't know what was up with that, but it was amusing how Dhoni used all his milk shakti to whack the stumps when he run out the last batsman (no doubts there about whether the bails would fall or not) :P.

Well, we really should have gotten about 300 runs, because Yuvi and Sachin were given out wrongly. But still, I'm proud of the way TeamIndia managed to defend a total that I felt was about 20-30 runs short.

So we're on a roll, 7 matches unbeaten. Overconfidence will be the stumbling block, so India has to tread very carefully. And we have to make sure we don't peak too early, because the T20 World Cup is coming up in June and the ODI World Cup is in two years. Burnout is a huge concern- think about Dhoni. While a string of losses will definitely stretch a captain to his limits, the heady intoxication of victory can sometimes stretch a captain too- especially if there's one sudden loss or one sudden controversy. Plus, Dhoni will now be expected to play every match (considering how lucky he's proving for India) and if he takes a break, there'll be a big hullabaloo (e.g.: the time when he opted to sit out of the test series against SL). I know Dhoni is metaphorically the superman of Indian cricket, but even superman gets disillusioned every now and then.

I don't know how the BCCI is going to handle this, but they had better work out some way pronto, because the amount of cricket being played now is completely crazy.

Otherwise, I'm particularly pleased that India won, even though it was a close fight and a tense finish. But that's how matches should be right? What's the fun if every match is a walkover :P

Yay TeamIndia :))

Disaster pending

2009-01-31T17:57:00.004+08:00

83-3 DOOMED.

Sehwag, honestly, what can I say. He was playing like a dream come true and he gets himself run out in the most ridiculous fashion, going for the 3rd run, where there really wasn't one. It's just so stupid. How badly did he underestimate the Sri Lankans to think that they wouldn't be able to get the throw back in time?

And they were 83 runs in 12 overs come on! The third run was not even necessary, they have so many more overs to go! Stupid.

And Sachin was given out wrongly again! Totally utterly ridiculous. Now Yuvraj and Raina.

[edit @19 27 hrs]

The umpiring is RUBBISH. Gamini Silva gave Yuvraj out LBW when there was the BIGGEST nick on it. Seriously, how are they going to make up for it now? TWO wrong decisions, and for Sachin, the second time in the series. 183-5 now.
This is turning out to be a farce.

[/edit]

[edit2 @ 23 47 hrs]

Come on India, get more wickets... with just 3 wickets down, SL can still win this. And Jayawardane seems to have suddenly found his form. Talk about inopportune moments.

[/edit2]

India-SL continues

2009-01-31T16:38:00.005+08:00

Second match going to start.

Sehwag replaces Rohit Sharma [:( and :)] and Praveen Kumar replaces Munaf (hopefully this pays off).

Apparently India is on a mission to be No. 1 in the rankings. It's going to be a tough sort of mission... because frankly Australia might just be going through a bad patch. Plus, they're playing NZ next, which means that they have plenty of chance to win the series and reclaim the No. 1 position which SA now occupies. And India has to win every match for an extended period of time to even be in the reckoning for No. 1. Can they do it? Looking at the current form of the Indian team, it seems possible. But form is such a fleeting thing. A couple of bad matches and form evaporates- because so much of it is based on confidence. Two bad matches can test a team's mettle and their captain's abilities and kill their confidence. It's a fragile mission then, the one that India is adopting.

sheeshe ke khwaab leke
raaton mein chal raha hoon
takra na jaaoon kahin

I don't quote lyrics on my cricket blog usually, but this happens to be very apt.

Let's see how the 2nd match goes.

Finally.

2009-01-29T16:45:00.004+08:00

Comment on one Cricinfo article about Jayawardane's current form:

"I think people should just shut up and stand with Mahela when hes going through a bad time. After all, it is under him that Sri Lanka has been very successful. Sri Lanka hasn't lost any major series so far. And getting beaten by a team like India is nothing to be ashamed of. Remember they brought the high riding Ausies down to their knees."

:D :D :D This is precisely the kind of sentiment I've waited 10 years to see.

Please live up to it, India.

1-0 to India

2009-01-28T17:02:00.003+08:00

13-1 India uh oh...

And almost 19-2. Gauti got a major life, though I must say there was plenty of doubt (Arun Lal claims otherwise, but who listens to him? :P)

[edit at 8pm]

When Dhoni on drives in one powerful bottom-hand stroke... oh sweet adrenalin rush :)

There are few better feelings in the world than watching TeamIndia march to victory. Especially against good opposition. This is going to be an interesting series :)

India-SL Again!

2009-01-28T12:54:00.004+08:00

I am absolutely thrilled, because for once, I am watching India-SL live online in hall and I have time between lessons to comment a little bit on it :)

So what's happening now? Well Munaf's getting smashed by Jayasuriya (unsurprisingly- they really should have picked someone else like Irfan or maybe even RP WHY IS HE NOT IN THE SQUAD?) because Munaf is a tad inconsistent and his fielding leaves much to be desired. Of course, he may yet prove me wrong, and I will be happy to admit it if he does, because at the end of the day, what I desire most is India's victory.

It's odd how Yusof Pathan seems to have made it into the squad ahead of Irfan Pathan. Ok perhaps they wanted an extra spinner for this game, but they already have Ojha as the specialist spinner and Yuvraj bowls wonderful part-time spin. We'll see how that decision turns out, because after all, Yusof is also a good batsman (not to say that Irfan isn't).

Ok the live stream that I'm watching has really infuriating background music (now it's playing Himesh Reshammiya yikes) and I can't hear the commentary properly because of that. Sigh. I guess you can't ask for much when you're watching free streams online. Beggars can't be choosers :P

Zaks is brilliant as usual :) In his fourth over, and he's barely given away five runs. Let's see how this match goes (Rohit Sharma is playing! I like.)

Humour and Hoorahs

2008-12-15T18:26:00.004+08:00

India has 10 runs to win. Sachin Tendulkar is 2 runs from his 41st century. Yuvraj is on strike. Yuvraj hits the ball and gets 2 runs. The crowd boos. Yuvraj proceeds to defend and block the next three balls and the crowd cheers with all it's might. (They clearly want Sachin to score)

L Shivaramakrishnan: Have you EVER heard a dot ball being cheered more?
David Lloyd: Amazing. The crowd's right into this game. Next ball coming up... Another block, this one.
(Yuvraj promptly blocks it)
David Lloyd: Thought so.

:D

And there's our victory, with Sachin's hundred. Ahh the feeling is unbeatable. It's like the time we won the Perth test, I remember standing in the stands and screaming my lungs out, waving the flag and every poster I could grab, shouting, jumping, ecstatic. I love this team.

And Dhoni, seriously, he's got the Midas touch. Not a single lost test match. Not even a draw! I mean, what can you say to that!

Yuvraj played a wonderfully mature hand and Sachin was a master. Sehwag played the most amazingly blistering knock last night. I know I'm saying redundant and obvious things but I'm quite speechless.

In any case, this victory is for Mumbai. And fittingly, it was Sachin who finished it off. And I must say, as a cricket lover, that I'm really thankful to England for coming back and playing. It would have been so disappointing if they hadn't resumed the series.

So that's that. Next match looks like it will be quite a contest!

Rays of Hope

2008-12-15T16:35:00.004+08:00

You know, the most satisfying feeling is not so much when India comprehensively trashes the opposition. Everyone has their good days when confidence is abound and opposition is crushed underfoot. The most satisfying feeling is when India fights back from a position of weakness to win. Because that shows that they have the right spirit, they have the fight, they have the confidence to stay positive no matter what and face up to challenges. And those qualities are what eventually make or break a team, in my opinion. Any team can be bonded through good times. But the teams which are bonded through the bad times are the teams which really achieve. Look at Australia!

And while it is too soon to conclude that we have this first test wrapped up, I can confidently say that India were up against the wall, and they are now fighting back admirably. And while they might yet collapse, you must admit that 83 to win with 6 wickets in hand is a pretty strong position. It is at times like this that I feel so proud to be backing this team and its captain. If Dhoni wins this test, he would have won all the tests he's captained so far, and that is quite remarkable.

Tea break. Time will tell!

India-England 1st test

2008-12-12T14:56:00.005+08:00

So after all the hullabaloo about the Mumbai attacks, England have decided to come back and play in India after all. I think this is for the best, honestly. How long can they stay away? And anyway as Dad says, the safest time to be in India is right after an attack, because the security will be at its highest and nobody will dare try anything else. Not so soon after anyway. If you come after a few months or a couple of years, security will have started laxing again and there's a higher chance of an attack. The best way we can deal with these stupid, mindless acts of violence is to remember them, honour the heroes, mourn the dead and then move on with our lives. We were made to be resilient.

Anyhow, Matt Prior is on 47? Since when did he become so useful?

England is 307 for 9! That's really not bad (from India's POV considering they were 160+ for 1 or something).

We're barely halfway through the second day... can India finish off the England innings quickly and go on to win this?

EDIT at 16:44

LOL India 37/3 in 14 overs. DOOMED

The New Faces of Indian Cricket

2008-11-19T00:57:00.005+08:00

So throw sledgehammers at me because I never update when India is playing cricket better than they've ever played in their lives :P

Well TeamIndia went on to win the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2-0 and might I add that both the matches won came under Dhoni's leadership? :)

Kumble has retired and so has Ganguly, and I'm still not used to that fact, still can't accept that I will never watch these legends play again. It's like, they become immortal in your mind, and to erase them out of the Test side feels strange, like I'm doing something prohibited.

But needless to say, the reigns have now been handed permanently to Dhoni, the superman of Indian cricket. Now isn't that an apt analogy? :) 2-0 against Australia, no less! When he took over as captain, he seemed to make the same players look like different people entirely. Everyone was more energized, the team looked more bonded, everyone performed better. It was odd, but happily so.

And now the series against England. The first two matches were more of Yuvraj vs. England than anything else, but I'm not complaining, it helps to have a hero in every series. :)
Third match going on now and I'm loving it because I can finally WATCH rather than pathetically following commentary on Cricinfo (which is awesome, don't get me wrong... but there's nothing that can match up to the joys of actually watching a game of cricket).

So England is now 240 all out in 48.4 overs. Bhajji was brilliant and so was Yuvi. Ishant wasn't too good, with about 5 no balls and 2-3 wides. Zaks was good as usual and Munaf wasn't too bad :)
Plus we still have a battery of backup bowlers- RP and Sreesanth and Goni and Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra and more.

Our batting is looking formidable with Viru and Gambhir as a solid opening pair, then Yuvraj who is in sparkling form, and Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina and still Badri and many more.

But above and beyond all this, what impresses me about the current Indian side is how different a fielding unit they look. The close in fielding is nothing short of impressive, with the youngsters showing tons of energy and diving and stopping the ball on a regular basis. You don't see that sight anymore- the one where one good stop got the whole team congregating to congratulate the fielder... because it's become a common occurence. The fielders near him will just give a few fives, maybe a couple of pats on the back, and that's all.

Even two or three years ago, we had maybe two good fielders in the side and nine average fielders. Now we have 3 or 4 brilliant fielders, about 5 or 6 good fielders and maybe 1 or 2 average fielders. Which is so heartnening to see.

And then of course we have Dhoni. Need I say more? :)

Here's to new highs in Indian cricket.

Small things that bring cheer.

2008-10-29T15:13:00.002+08:00

Cricinfo commentary:

"Lee switches the angle. Runs in. Stops. Doesn't deliver. Why am I typing like that? I don't know."

WIN :)

Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1st Test

2008-10-12T13:08:00.002+08:00

It is honestly amazing how the FabFour of TeamIndia can fail so miserably on this unpredictable pitch while the tailenders can come in and score like they've been settled in there for three hours.

The pitch was acting completely crazy yesterday, everytime the ball hit a crack, it would either take off suddenly or not get up at all. It was unpredictable and sometimes impossible to play. The top order and the middle order, consisting of all our star batsmen got in and got out, almost like a rule. They would get 30 odd or 40 odd runs and look well settled and then suddenly get out. It was irritating and pretty disappointing I must admit. And then along came Bhajji and Zaks. And here I was thinking, "Ok there goes the match." I switched the TV off and went out for dinner. Later when I checked the score, I realised, Bhajji and Zaks made the highest partnership- 80 runs. And Bhajji scored a magnificient 54 and this morning, Zaks completed another brilliant half-century. And then here I am thinking, "Why are these people playing so easily? They're making it look like a different pitch entirely! It doesn't even begin to make sense."

But then it struck me- this is TeamIndia we are talking about. Stranger things have happened with TeamIndia.

BCCI strikes again!

2008-09-30T17:09:00.002+08:00

Vengsarkar is not the national selector anymore?

When did that happen? :O

I need to stay more updated with cricket news.

But otherwise, hoorah to the fact that Vengsarkar is gone! Unfortunately, I can't say I prefer his replacement- Kris Srikanth. Seriously? The same person who said if he was a selector, Ganguly wouldn't even be number 14 in the squad (after which Ganguly proceeded to make the most miraculous comeback)? Well well. I wonder where Indian cricket is headed now.

Spoonful of Cricket After a Long Withdrawal

2008-09-26T14:01:00.003+08:00

I'm watching my first proper dosage of cricket since forever. Delhi vs. Rest of India. Which is quite awesome because all my favourite players are playing for ROI. Dravid, Dhoni and RP.

So what is my opinion on this? Well, it's interesting watching the Delhi people playing against ROI. Delhi has all of my brother's favourite players- Sehwag, Gambhir, Ishant Sharma etc. So it would be a little more interesting if he was at home watching with me.

Dravid is playing slower than I ever remember seeing him play. He scored 50 in 177 balls. SERIOUSLY Jammy, you gotta be faster than that. While everybody else is letting the much hyped T20 format influence their Test strategies, Dravid's slowing his game down. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Jammy fan, always have been and always will be. And even though Jammy is highest scorer in this match, I think he can afford to score faster... he missed out on several full tosses and things.

Ok MSD also missed out on a full toss just now. But at least he's hitting a little more than Dravid, he bludgeoned a couple of boundaries earlier.

Maybe it's the pitch. But even then, can that slow him down THAT much? I wonder.
Well whatever it is, I'm not complaining, because I'm getting my dose of cricket, which I have severely lacked. What would I do without this sport.

The woes of having no access to cricket.

2008-08-25T15:38:00.004+08:00

Well, dash it all really. My soul has been starved of my beloved sport.

Yesterday's 3rd ODI between India and Sri Lanka sounded REALLY exciting from the online commentary. How I wish I could have watched it. The woes of staying in hall :(

On the bright side, MUNAF PATEL actually bowled well. That's a refreshing change. Zaheer was awesome as usual. And Dhoni was so the man. He continues to shine, continues to prove his worth. So to all those who were criticizing him about taking a break during the test matches- in your faces. He deserved the break, and hopefully would have recharged enough to continue performing well. :)

The only downside so far- WHY WON'T THEY PICK RP! Hmph.

Dhoni Drops a Bombshell

2008-07-09T23:49:00.003+08:00

Wow, I'm posting after forever.

This post is to discuss and largely support a rather telling decision taken by one of my most favourite players in recent times. Yes, I am here to say that I strongly support Mahendra Singh Dhoni in his decision to sit out of the test series against Sri Lanka.

It is a bold decision, no doubt, especially at a time when other wicket keepers like Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel are just waiting to make a comeback to the Indian team. The likelihood of Dhoni's replacement shining during this test series is very large. And while I wish Dhoni would play, let's look at it practically. This man has been playing non-stop for nearly 18 months, which have encompassed 14 Tests, 56 ODIs, eight Twenty20 internationals, and the IPL, as Cricinfo reliably informs me. The mere fact that his fitness has managed to last this long is unbelievable. In order to avoid a burnout or some long-term damage, I see this decision as the most logical one.

In any case, Dhoni knows that he does not need to captain the side during the tests. He also knows that he is not indispensable, because there is the star-studded (and sadly, overhyped) batting that usually turns Dhoni into the sidekick anyway. Hence, tests are probably the only time he can afford to sit out. I'm not saying he sit out every test, but this series he can afford to sit out.

I don't understand why his decision should indicate that tests are losing their importance. Frankly I don't think it's about that at all! Dhoni is the most important member of our ODI and T20 sides and hence can't afford to sit those out. He does not play such a pivotal role in the tests and hence can afford to sit out. Imagine a player who's proficient in tests... like perhaps Dravid. I know he's not in the current ODI squad, but if he was and wanted to sit some matches out, he'd sit out the ODIs and not the tests. Because India needs him during tests.

Well, maybe I'm getting it all wrong. I mean, of course ODIs and T20s are more attractive to audiences. But I really do enjoy a good test match and I believe there are many out there who do too. I hope this is not an indication that players are valueing the shorter formats more and are shunning tests. I don't think Dhoni (as one of the most well-loved captains of India) would do that... and hopefully I'm not mistaken.

I also sincerely hope the BCCI looks at his decision as a step in the right direction and adopts a much needed rotation policy. We have great bench strength and they should make full use of it. The next world cup is three years away. We have some time on our hands. I hope they don't burn out our key players in these three years, because without a doubt, the amount of cricket being played now is crazy.

In the meantime, go for it Dhoni, I'm backing you every minute of the way :D

India-SA 1st Test

2008-03-26T14:21:00.003+08:00

And finally, I have returned to post.

Yes admittedly, I missed all the good times, the sweet victory down under and the celebrations.

But as always, the fun is when India is doing badly right? And that's exactly what they're doing on this first day of the first test against South Africa.

They have let one of the best opening pairs in the world right now get to a 109-run opening stand. Unless there is a miraculous post-lunch turnaround, South Africa will easily get a good 500+ runs.

And as I type this, India put down a catch. Clearly not their day, then.

Dhoni-ed!

2008-02-19T21:10:00.002+08:00

I have come out of considerable hibernation to wax lyrical about Dhoni once again.

I must say, at the risk of sounding obsessed and repetitive, that with each match, I become a bigger and bigger Dhoni fan. His captaincy just keeps improving, and his presentation speeches are refreshing and unrepetitive. He's changed his batting style for the team's common cause. And his wicketkeeping has grown in leaps and bounds. I think I can safely say that he's about the 3rd best wicketkeeper playing now, behind Adam Gilchrist (who's form has dipped considerably now, but he was brilliant before) and Mark Boucher, and perhaps equal to Kumar Sangakkara.

And the funniest thing is, he's a such an unfussy keeper, no one's really noticed how good he's become. Because he's always in the limelight as a batsman and a captain, no one's realised that he's fast growing to become one of the best keepers.

And what about those presentation ceremony speeches, eh? They're really something else.
Today he was asked about why he's changed his game around so much from before. Yes, he mentioned that the team needed him to play that way etc. But he also talked about how he was having fun batting in this way, because he found it more fun to tease the fielders with cheeky singles and twos and threes. It was fun to listen to.

And after that match against Aussie which India won, when asked why the fielding has suddenly improved so much, he didn't go off on a vein about youngsters and their energy (which is the boring, commonplace answer). He went in-depth to analyse how the grounds in India have improved and hence the players can actually learn to dive etc. without worrying that they will just injure themselves. Hence the new crop of cricketers are more willing to throw themselves around in the field. It was so interesting to listen to.

I'm loving this new look India, despite Jammy's absence. Now if RP Singh were to recover and be back in the side, India would truly look complete. And with Dhoni at the helm, for the moment at least, it feels like the only way we're going is forward in full speed.

And We Love Australia Because...

2008-01-29T19:36:00.000+08:00

What a marvelous article on cricinfo.
I completely relate to it. Here's an especially relevant paragraph:

A lot has changed. But there is one thing that is common even now to my first experiences of watching cricket in Australia: the unrivalled pleasure of getting up in the morning to watch the game. Could anything be better, quite so unsullied an enjoyment? If I am watching in India, matches in the Caribbean go on till early in the morning. A lot of the cricket played in England - and certainly the start of a day of Test cricket, especially the first session of a Test, the one that I find has unique appeal - is during working hours. With cricket in Australia, I am fine. I go to sleep in delicious anticipation, looking forward to waking up and watching. I start the day with the game, mind uncluttered, nothing having yet happened to ruin my day or mood.

I go to bed with the remote on my bedside table. Wake up and smell the coffee? No, wake up and watch the cricket. It's much more invigorating.

Beautiful. How I agree. :)

Do read the rest of the article here:
Click Me

Harsha Bhogle would be better off writing his own tribute, but since he can't, I'll make an attempt.

2008-01-26T23:15:00.000+08:00

I must say, at the risk of sounding repetitive and obsessed, that Harsha Bhogle is the most amazing thing that happened to cricket.
The next time someone asks me who's the one person I want to meet before I die, I know the answer. I suspect I've known it for a while, but never actually thought about it. Sure, I admired him as a commentator. I admired him as a writer; as a master of words.
But I have realised, that I also admire him as a person, a character, a human being. He is like an uncut diamond. I know many see uncut diamonds as synonymous to "potential yet to shine through", but I see uncut diamonds as synonymous to elemental, grounded, modest with absolute blinding brilliance inside. Just like Harsha Bhogle- who is frank, opinionated, unpretentious, humility personified, with brilliance which shines through when he speaks. Like an uncut diamond, he hides away this brilliance with his modesty. With a simple exterior.

I think everyone should listen to his interview on Indicast. If you are a cricket follower, it is something you cannot miss. And if you are a Harsha fan and haven't heard it yet, it's an absolute pity and it should be the first thing you do after reading this post. Actually no, don't even continue reading, just go listen to it first.

http://www.theindicast.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7900231&Itemid=64/

What a gem of a person. He said in his interview that a Tendulkar comes along once in a lifetime and that we should simply thank him for his presence, because he is so great.

I would like to say that a Harsha Bhogle also comes along once in a lifetime, and while I'd like to say more than just a thank you to him if I ever meet him, I might just be so awed that I wouldn't even be able to string two words together. I used to pride myself on being able to speak and write reasonably well (I don't think I wrote BADLY, at least), but when I read Harsha's writing or listen to his commentary, I feel utterly insignificantly small in comparison. But the best part is that I don't mind it at all.

It's like when you stand next to a Tendulkar and feel incredibly disabled at cricket in comparison, but don't mind it one bit, because he is just so great.

Harsha Bhogle is an all-time great. When he leaves the game behind, unlike the Tendulkars and the Gavaskars and the Waughs and the Warnes, he won't have eternally preserved statistics in his name for future generations to remember him by. But I for one, hope that his name will live on in the hearts of all who love the game of cricket, in its purest essence.

---------------------------------------------

As a parting shot-

“Rahul Dravid is charging for a third run, but V.V.S. Laxman, who is a part-time traffic constable in Hyderabad, puts his hand up and says no.”
-Harsha Bhogle comes up with a gem during the 2nd test in Sydney

Masterful performances.

2008-01-25T17:31:00.000+08:00

Today was a very mixed day once again- with India doing brilliantly to score 526 runs, and then Australia wresting the edge from India in the final hours of play, ending at 62-0.

But some individuals shone beyond the seesawing Test match.
Bhajji- brilliant batting to get to 63 and then he threw away his wicket. But he played a very handy innings, a batsman's innings, lower down the order. There's this ad which says "Bhajji jaise garam samose"- and I think it has described him to a T. His character (and the innings he played today) are precisely like samosas- perky, fiery, and a blend of many wonderful spices to form a well-loved whole.
Keep rocking Bhajji, that maiden test hundred is not far away.

Kumble- Captain Courageous.
Need I say more?
His innings of 87 and the 107-run partnership with Bhajji and then the 50-odd run partnership with Ishant Sharma were the highlights of today. He batted like a dream, leading from the front and by example. An amazing individual, who at 37 and the evening of his career, seems to be only growing as a cricketer. As Harsha Bhogle aptly put it- "not a short winter evening but a splendid, long summer evening".
Long live the lionheart of Indian cricket.

Tendulkar- the little master once again showed precisely why he has been nicknamed so.
And because I cannot POSSIBLY in any time in my life express myself even a fraction as well as Harsha Bhogle can, I'll quote his article.

Tendulkar’s century wasn’t the most breathtaking, the most strokeful or
crafted in the most dire situation.

Yet it was special because it was built like what a fine mason would the perfect structure. It was an innings that lovers of test match cricket would savour like, I am told, connoisseurs of single malt would their drink.

After a while, Tendulkar said, every ball went where he wanted it to. It is a feeling of power and control and visits only those with an exceptional presence. And in a striking co-incidence it brought to mind a clip from Bradman that I heard at the Annual Oration in Perth.

When asked about a specific innings Bradman paused and let loose a chuckle. “Every ball in that innings,” he said, and you could feel the delight in his voice as he said it,
“went precisely where I wanted it to.” Is that what turns on the masters? That
supreme, exalted height from which the world appears as they wish it to? Is that
how Borg felt at the baseline? Woods on the final nine? Jordan as he released
the basketball knowing it would find its target before the clock stopped?

Ah, such words. Such words. Honestly, if Harsha Bhogle was young and single and eligible, I would be in love with him- simply because he has such mastery over words.
So I'll add on to his paragraph up there-
Is that how Mr. Bhogle felt when he picked up the commentary mic, knowing his easy eloquence and charming chatter would find more than ample space in every listener's heart?

Masters of their trades- I salute you.

The little bit of bad news- RP Singh went off the field with a hamstring pull. I sincerely hope it's nothing serious. Cricket without RP and with an underperforming Jammy is not cricket as I have come to know and love it.

What will tomorrow bring?

Not Again.

2008-01-24T12:15:00.000+08:00

Sehwag was given out off a no-ball. Nobody's made too much of a hullabaloo about it, probably everyone's too afraid of breaching the "spirit of cricket" again. :P

But there's no doubt about it from the replays that it was a no-ball and Harsha Bhogle mentioned it too.
Ho hum.

[edit]

"One thing you learn when you're touring is... NEVER go for a haircut with Alan Wilkins. He took me to a red-haired little Indian girl and by the time I explained to her what I wanted she said 'Thank you, but it's done'. And I looked up and it was very, very done. Took six months to grow back!"
-classically Harsha on what happened in England when he let Alan Wilkins take him for a haircut

Reflections from the Workplace.

2008-01-10T20:46:00.000+08:00

These snippets of reflections have been drafted over the last few days at work:

1. There's something very disturbing and worrying about the whole 2nd Test match, but most so about the controversy involving Harbhajan. He has been hit with a three match ban, but the Indian management still says that there wasn't substantial evidence and have appealed against it. It is all very confusing. If there isn't substantial audio/video evidence, based on WHAT was Bhajji found guilty? Based on the word of Ponting and Symonds? If that is truly the case, then there is something very wrong going on here, isn't there?

Added now: Harsha Bhogle has the answer here.

2. I feel that it is unfair of fans to say that blaming the umpires for this loss is just finding excuses for India's pathetic performances.

Ok I admit we had batsmen who failed- Jaffer, Yuvraj, Dhoni mainly. Dravid, Ganguly, Tendulkar and Laxman scored in at least one innings. But we also had unexpected successes like that of Bhajji's batting. And Ishant and RP's batting.

And look at it rationally- Australia had batsmen who failed too! Phil Jaques, Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist to name the main 3. And Symonds, Hussey and Ponting would have failed too- had they not been given reprieves by the umpires.

So they had three successes which were mainly due to the umpires' mistakes. We had two extra failures (that of Dravid and Ganguly, one in form and one finding form, in the 2nd innings) mainly due to the umpires' mistakes. Hence the umpires are the significant reason Aus scored so many runs and the umpires are a substantial reason why India couldn't save the match on the last day. So how is it merely an excuse?

3. The big question is- was it childish and stupid of India to threaten to pull out of the series? That's what everyone is saying/asking. Well come on, Australia started it. Who went running to the umpires because they couldn't face up to a bit of sledging? I am not sour grapes, because an Aussie colleague of my Dad's said this:
"If Australia can't even face up top a bit of sledging, perhaps they should act like little girls and play cricket in skirts."

And as offended as I may be by that (because I'm a girl and all that), it is true and he says that many Australians share this view- that Australia's attitude was BAD. In fact, Kumble requested Ponting to settle the Harbhajan dispute on the field or to talk it out with Kumble, but Ponting refused and said that it's already gone to the umpires. So what does India do? Be childish back. Tit for tat?

I'm not saying that India did the RIGHT thing. But if they hadn't done this, then Australia would have continued getting away with everything. Mcgrath or someone called a Sri Lankan player a "black monkey" once. If that's not racist I don't know what it is. I don't think the player was charged. So I'm just saying that India did the best thing in context.
Feel free to argue my point. I enjoy a good cricket debate as much as anything.

Ok that's about all. Once I again, I refer you to the above link:
Click Me

It's a very good piece by Harsha Bhogle.
Now there's one person who's autograph I cannot leave Australia without.

The Dark Side of a Great Match.

2008-01-06T15:49:00.000+08:00

India's lost the second test match too. Just. With 7 balls left in the day.

I will give you one reason why they lost. The umpires. You can call me sour grapes all you want, but it's the truth.

Let me count for you how many decisions went against India-
1. Ponting's caught behind given not out.
2. Symonds caught behind given not out.
3. Symonds stumping given not out by the THIRD UMPIRE.
4. Symonds second stumping which was not even referred to the 3rd umpire.
5. Jaffer getting bowled off a no ball and being given out.
6. Hayden getting two PLUMB lbw appeals, but given not out on both.
7. Hussey getting caught behind, but given not out.
8. Dravid given out caught behind when the ball only went off his pad.
9. Ganguly given out caught when it was dubious whether Clarke collected it cleanly. And THEN the umpires asked RICKY PONTING whether it was caught cleanly or not and OBVIOUSLY Ponting says YES and the umpire took HIS word for it and gave Ganguly out.

Nine decisions against India and ALL influencial decisions. And how many against Australia? Just one- that of Ponting's lbw in the first innings when he actually got bat on it- but that was only AFTER he had been given not out wrongly first.

I don't know what to say.

There is an unending debate going on about the controversies and the use of technology and about whether the umpire should take the FIELDERS' word for whether any catch was clean or not etc. I think this test match should act as the catalyst for increased use of technology in the game. A lot of mishaps could have been avoided and India could have drawn the match on this crucial fifth day. The StarCricket commentators can go on and be polite and say that one cannot say for sure that the decisions directly affected the outcome- but I say, banging my fist on the table for emphasis, that there is no doubt at all that the wrong decisions given TODAY (if not the ones given throughout the match) directly and very substantially influenced the outcome of the match. India were in a good position to draw the match. But the bad decisions prevented that.

On top of all this, Ricky Ponting has lodged a complaint about Harbhajan's verbal fight with Symonds- and Harbhajan will attend the hearing for that tonight. If he is charged, then I don't know what the penalty will be. But the question here is not about the penalty. The question is- who started it? Symonds or Bhajji? What exactly was said? None of the umpires heard what was said. The video replays so far have not been conclusive. So essentially (unless some sudden video evidence turns up), there is only Ponting's word for what was said. And according to him, it was racial abuse- apparently Bhajji called Symonds "monkey". I don't know how true this is, but Bhajji, TeamIndia and the Indian media are denying the racial abuse accusation. I don't know what the truth is. I just hope that Ponting was wrong.

Another issue on debate- about taking the fielder's word on a low catch. I think Sunil Gavaskar and all are right when they say that if you want to take a fielder's word on a catch (assuming that he is honest), that same player should also walk when he is batting and known he's out. I mean, it's one game, be it batting or bowling or fielding. And if he wants to be believed when he's talking about taking the catch, then he should be honest when he's batting too. It is a huge inconsistency if the player, knowing fully well that he's caught, stands his ground and doesn't walk, but expects to be believed when he says, YES I caught it cleanly. I mean, evidently he will have biases towards the side he's playing for!

How can the umpire ask the fielder? I mean, fine, go on and ask him, but you cannot base your decisions on what the fielder tells you! There is another umpire on the field- he can be consulted. And if both umpires are unsure, the TV umpire can be used. When the provisions have been made for the right decisions to be taken, why must there still be this huge denial to use these provisions and make such blatant errors? These errors may have been acceptable before, when technology was not developed enough. But now that it is developed enough and the mistakes can be broadcasted world over through replays over and over again, they are not excusable any more. I know cricket likes its old-fashioned-ness (which other game takes a break for TEA?), but I think this let-me-live-in-the-dark-ages-because-I-am-a-technophobe mentality is getting in the way of the game's progress. I think it is repelling fans from the game and as long as it continues, cricket cannot progress to become a popular world sport. Think about it- you sit down and watch this thrilling, exciting, high quality match for five days and in the end, a side loses simply because of the sheer incompetence of the match officials. How much of a farce it becomes then!

I think India and Australia played cricket of equal (and great) quality in this match. Yes, I agree Aus clearly deserved the Melbourne victory. They outplayed India there. But in Sydney, India fought tooth and nail and were sometimes even on top of Aus. A draw would have been a fitting result and a good tribute to the good fighting cricket played by both sides here. India did not deserve to lose this one. And anyone who watched the match would agree with me- whether you are an Indian supporter or not.

One thing that almost made me cry was the interview with Kumble afterwards. Harsha praised him for his lionheartedness towards the end (he really truly fought very very hard and very bravely for his country) but all Kumble said was (in this sad sad tone) "Thanks Harsha, but it wasn't good enough at the end. We didn't get the right result." And Sunil Gavaskar just praised Kumble's fighting spirit and his dignified behaviour throughout the match. And when he told Kumble not to get disheartened and to believe in themselves and fight on, it was very very heartening. Even Kumble looked like he could start tearing at any moment then. I've never seen the Indian commentators and the Indian media back their team to such an extent- they truly have stood up for the team and encouraged them and all. It shows that India did not play bad cricket. They have every right to feel, in Harsha's words, "done in".

India, you rocked this test match. I don't feel a sense of loss as I usually do after India has lost a match. I just feel very annoyed and a deep sense of injustice.

I'm going to be sitting in the ground at the next test match from the 2nd day onwards. It is going to be an enthralling experience, but I sincerely hope that it doesn't turn out like this one- marred by all the controversies. And I truly hope India wins it. If they even draw it, the series is dead. And the 4th test will be a dead rubber. There's a lot hanging on the next match. I'd just like to say, I'm proud of the way our team has been so dignified and kept up their reputation despite being given horrendously wrong decisions against them. They have conducted themselves very well, except for that Bhajji-Symonds clash, and even that is not very conclusive. We'll see what turns up at tonight's hearing.

In the meantime, after all the darkness, here's a funny quote from Harsha Bhogle:

"This is the best reality show you will ever see. There's no scripting. There's no one mouthing the lines from behind the scenes. Everything you see here is real."
- on all the drama and controversy during the 2nd test, day 5.

Cheerios!

Harsha's Hahas.

2008-01-05T22:13:00.000+08:00

The second test is well underway- tomorrow is the 5th day and yes I am guilty of not updating.

So here I am with some entertaining quotes, courtesy of Harsha Bhogle:

"He is very one-dimensional. He's got the length... but not the width."
- on Ishant Sharma's skinny-ness

"Kumble is sitting there in his sleeveless vest and he's with the Australian Prime Minister! How cool is that- sitting beside the Prime Minister in a sleeveless vest? 'Do you like my biceps Mr. Prime Minister?' Hahaha."
- when the Australian PM was sitting in the Indian dressing room talking to Anil Kumble

Two minutes after the 2nd comment, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, joined Harsha Bhogle and Sunil Gavaskar in the commentary box for a good ten minutes or so. And he was actually commentating along with them!
Now how many times do you get to see a Prime Minister commentating? :)

Great stuff.
I need to remember to write down all the funny stuff I hear from the StarCricket commentators. They are absolutely priceless sometimes. In a good way!

The Simplicity of the Defeat.

2007-12-29T20:15:00.000+08:00

I have no time to analyse this now- but India lost.

Wait actually, there isn't anything to analyse. I've already said it all before. The underrated bowling line up did well. The overrated batting line up failed so miserably, it doesn't even deserve mention. They didn't get to even 200 in either innings. And therein lies the crux of the matter.

About Dravid opening- as much as I admire Rahul Dravid, he is evidently not in form, and should probably be playing down the order. I would absolutely LOVE to see him get his confidence back and make some good runs. He needs to relax. And he will be fine.
About the Sehwag-or-Yuvraj dilemma, maybe, JUST maybe, in the next match, Sehwag should play. After all, even if he scores 30 runs and gets out, it would be more than what Yuvi scored in this match. Yuvi is a great player, but I think we should try Sehwag since Yuvi failed in the first match. I am not a fan of Sehwag (pretty obvious, from my very critical entry of him), but since he's in the squad, what's the harm in trying him out? It's not like our batsmen did well in this match anyway. My point is- I suppose we don't have much to lose by trying him out.

At this rate, the Perth test wouldn't even be worth watching. Maybe I should just make plans on how I could get to meet the players instead! :P :P :P

India-Aus Test 1 Day 2 Final Session

2007-12-27T12:50:00.000+08:00

As I predicted yesterday, I am here to promptly write about India's miserable collapse. Jaffer and Dravid started badly- Jaffer got out for 4 from 27 balls and Dravid got 5 from 66 balls. Laxman got 26, but when he tried to avoid a bouncer he stuck his golve up and the ball went off glove to Ricky Ponting at slip. Tendulkar played extremely well for his 62, but promptly chopped onto his own stumps when India needed him to stay on. Yuvraj was wrongly given out- he never nicked the ball. And Dhoni went and got himself lbwed on 0. Such is the state of our batting. Funny- it was our bowlers who were underrated, but they did fine. And our overrated batting line up has crumbled. Like I said, when you least expect them to perform, they outdo themselves and when you most expect them to perform, they let you down.

Ganguly and Kumble in the middle. One is our newest captain- courageous, competitive, quietly confident, but probably now worried, the other a former captain out of favour and the team till about 10 months ago but now going through a purple patch, having fought his way back into the team. I see a worried Indian dressing room. What will happen now? Let us, as Indian supporters, keep up the tradition of believing in the impossible and improbable. As we always do.

50th Post (!) and India-Aus Test 1 Day 1

2007-12-26T19:15:00.000+08:00

My 50th post! That plus the fact that India ruled Boxing Day on the field against Australia is definitely cause for celebration.

I and probably every other India fan thought the match was a goner when Australia were 135 for 0 at lunch. I mean, seriously, how many good Indian fightbacks have we been fotunate enough to see over the last few years against Australia? Barring that wonderful Adelaide test in 2003/2004 of course. It was a tough one and as Cricinfo had rightly pointed out yesterday, India needed to pull bunnies and many other things (or the proverbial blue whale that I like to talk about) out of that hat if they wanted to challenge Australia. That too while bowling- because it was our bowling attack that was supposed to be inexperienced and weak.

But Lo And Behold, by the end of the day, Australia had been reduced to a 300+ for 9. When everybody least expects India to deliver, they will stand up and decide to be heroes. If you want proof- just look at the T20 World Cup. At the start of the series, who in the world would have predicted that India would even get to the semi finals, let alone win the cup? And that too by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan? If anyone had said that, he'd probably have been labelled loony and everyone would have moved on with their lives. Even Indian fans didn't have much hope. But then suddenly- India were lifting the T20 cup! When did THAT happen? :O

Today, Anil Kumble was magnificient. Absolutely brilliant. He varied his deliveries amazingly and got a five for in the first day. Captain Courageous, Captain Respected, Captain Competitive, Captain Thoughtful- he was all of it. Zaks got 3, RP 1 and Bhajji none but all of them bowled their hearts out- especially after lunch.

I know that India are perfectly likely to have a major collapse tomorrow when they bat- because the Aussie pace attack is incredibly good. But nobody expected them to do well so soon- so tonight merits a celebration. As for tomorrow, we'll deal with that when it comes.

And to get a good idea of what was expected of India- go read this article.
Click Me

I'll just quote some funny/ pleasing bits:

So jet-lagged were a few Indian players on arrival that some spent the first few days in Melbourne sleeping. It helped that the warm-up match against Victoria was rained off, allowing them a longer rest. And if they were still struggling, there was always Boxing Day, a bank holiday. India normally spend the first day of an away series sleeping and by lunch today they were sleepwalking. What followed was pleasantly shocking and not Indian cricket as we've come to know it.

By lunch, they were indeed sleepwalking. It was such an unremarkable session that I didn't even realise when they went for lunch- maybe I was asleep on the sofa because India was being about as useful as I am being right now. :P

In the tenth over of the day, RP Singh, just crunched past point for four, was asking for another slip. But he seemed the only one awake at the time; Phil Jaques promptly edged the next one through the vacant fourth-slip region.

No prizes for guessing why that bit makes me happy and sad at the same time.

India returned from lunch revived - fittingly, given that their countrymen were waking up back home.

Well said.

Till next time then- hopefully I will not be writing about India's miserable collapse.

The Weather Gods Persist In Their Anti-Neeti Schemes

2007-12-21T10:53:00.000+08:00

I. DESPISE. RAIN. DURING. CRICKET. MATCHES.

Yes, that is all.

The Indian Squad for Aus.

2007-12-12T23:49:00.001+08:00

The squad for the Australian tour has been chosen at long last. I can't say I'm overly pleased with one selection.

Virender Sehwag. He hasn't been performing, be it at the international stage or the domestic stage. So exactly what did he do to deserve a recall to the squad against the world no. 1, Australia? After reading an article on Cricinfo, one reason has dawned on me.

Statistics.

Yes, that's the only thing I can think of. He was extremely good, and he dominated the Australian bowlers during India's last tour there- in 2003/2004. And APPARENTLY, the Australians still are afraid of him.

The few problems with that?

1. 2003/2004 was 4 years ago. An entire world cup cycle has taken place since then and honestly, what has Sehwag done in the last four years to prove himself worthy of the Indian cap? Almost nothing. He lost his form a couple of years ago and ever since then, he's been given opportunity after opportunity to prove his mettle and he's failed, over and over again, to show that he can be reliable in the time of need. And YET the selectors continue to give him opportunities. Rahul Dravid on the other hand, was dropped because he had one bad series. It never fails to amaze me, the way the Indian selectors work.

2. The Australians are STILL afraid of him? I think THAT is the most laughable claim I've ever heard. Australia, afraid? Do they fear ANYONE? Even if they did, once, since then they would have kept close tabs on the player and would, undoubtedly, by now know what his recent form has been and where exactly his weaknesses lie and how exactly to exploit them. Of course, the claim came from a former Australian player, he could be trying to throw the Indians off the right trail so Aus would win- but that's a bit far-fetched don't you think? And anyway, the Indian selectors have more brains than that- they wouldn't let random claims like that sway their selection (I sincerely hope I'm not overestimating them).

3. Statistics- load of tosh. As Navjote Sidhu once famously said (of course the original quote was from Aaron Levenstein, but Sindhu saying it with his hearty flourish is the most prominent memory in my mind), "Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital."
If the selectors have truly picked Sehwag because he ONCE played well against the Aussies... well, have they lived in 2007 recently? Because as far as I have seen, he hasn't performed very much for over a year now. How can they pick him on the basis of performances well before his form spiralled lower than low?
In that case, why not pick Javagal Srinath to bowl? Or Sunil Gavaskar to bat?

Fine fine, I know they are retired and and probably not fit enough to play, while Sehwag is still playing... but come on, surely we have other batting options? Gautam Gambhir is injured, fine. But what about Robin Uthappa? Rohit Sharma? They've performed better than Sehwag has, at least in ODIs in the RECENT past. Their fielding is also much better than Sehwag's and we could do with some good fielders against the Aussies. Because the Aussies don't run in the field, they fly.

About Pankaj Singh's selection- I can't say because I can't remember having watched him play. Otherwise, I suppose I'm fine with the team.

Of course, Sehwag may yet prove me wrong. :) And I'll only be too happy if he can clinch a victory for us there. And I'll take back everything I said about him. We'll wait and see, what is in store for us.

(On a sidenote- RP Singh is in YAY! I hope he gets to play!)

Otherwise, India drew the last test match, but only very closely! They almost won it, and would have if bad light hadn't stopped play. :) So the series is ours again. And Ganguly, as he deserved, got MoM and MoS. :D Good going Dada!

A True Fighter.

2007-12-10T21:27:00.000+08:00

There have been many firsts in this test match (the 3rd one between India and Pakistan), but there was no doubt that Sourav Ganguly's first double hundred has been the most scintillating, the most memorable and the sweetest of the lot.

A very long time ago, I had written a post on this blog about Ganguly's ousting and his comeback.

The most surprising thing about all this is Ganguly's innings. ANY cricket lover in the world could probably tell you about the entire controversy with Greg Chappell and Ganguly and how he was ousted from the team etc etc because the Indian Media, being the India media, covered it to the last detail. Well, as much as the whole issue was rather damaging for Indian cricket, the truth was that Ganguly was not performing and in that sense, the ousting was justified. Now I was a huge fan of Ganguly, but I can say that he let me down, just like he let down all his other fans. So naturally, when I heard that he was back in the Test side, I was skeptical. Ok let me be more honest. I was BRUTALLY critical. It wasn't a very fair move on my part, but there you go. I had become faithless when it came to Ganguly.

And then, in the test against the Rest of South Africa team, he pulls off a miraculous innings along with Irfan! And in this first test, I find out that he's the one who's saved the Indian team's dignity. Well well. What can I say? Honestly. Because you simply can never tell with India.

Keep going Dada. If this is really your comeback, I'm not one to complain. :)

I wrote that when he made his come back and scored a half century. And today, I stand corrected yet again. I'm not just not complaining, I'm apologising for having been bewafaa (faithless) and I'm saluting him.
For truly he has shown, without any doubt, that he is one of the strongest-willed cricketers the world has seen. An article on cricinfo mentioned about how the reason for his wildly successful comeback shows in his eyes. It is true, even I have noticed it.

Anyone who has watched Ganguly as the captain of India and as a player before he lost his form would easily be able to tell that the Ganguly of then and the Ganguly of now are very different and yet very much the same. Then, he was ferocious, aggressive, expressive, almost arrogant in his stance, in the way he held himself. He was a man who was sure of himself, sometimes almost too much so. And yet, I was a big fan of his, because these characteristics of his, when he was on the field, translated into very entertaining cricket. And clearly, he has been one of India's most successful captains.

But his gradual loss of form did not amuse me in the least and I was a much much bigger fan of Dravid, so Ganguly's loss, when translated to Dravid's gain, made me only too happy. I did not rue Ganguly's axing from the team. After all, he wasn't performing, was he? I even scoffed at the ad he did, where he said "Hi, mera naam Sourav Ganguly hai. Bhoole to nahin?"

But it hasn't been that long since, and today I will hang my head rather shamefully and say that Ganguly has proved me, and all his critics and fans-turned-critics wrong over and over again since his comeback. Today if you look carefully, you will be able to see a much much more serene, calm individual. Just listen to his interviews. He barely raises his voice, even when he's saying something happy. And he goes through the entire interview with a smile that exudes serenity and a quiet confidence. Yes, the old Ganguly is still there, inside him- that confident, self-assured Ganguly. But he is no more overconfident, no more arrogant, no more overly self-assured. Yes, of course he's improved his footwork and his stroke making, but most importantly, he's improved his mentality. He knows his place and his role down to a T and he accepts it with pride. He can hasten or slow his scoring rate according to the situation and he can keep the calmest of heads when India is in turmoil. Gone are the days when he comes in and plays his shots even when he's struggling. Now, if the pitch is proving difficult to play on, he stays, battles through the tough times, reads the pitch and then massacres the bowling.

Another clear indication of the change: Watch Ganguly's reaction when Yuvraj got his hundred in this test match. It was clearly a significant hundred for Yuvraj because it was his first test match in more than a year and Yuvi celebrated it with gusto. But if you'd only started watching his celebration from the time he hugged Ganguly, you could be forgiven for having thought for two seconds that it was Ganguly's hundred. Because Ganguly grabbed hold of Yuvraj, hugged him tight and for quite a while and was shouting in glee with a big smile on his face. It was so heartening to watch him celebrate his team mate's success with such sincere joy and it made me really feel the change in him since his comeback.

And during this double century of his, he was calm, collected, aggressive all at one go. And then he bowled well today too, getting Salman Butt's wicket when none of the regular bowlers could do it. He was economical and when he finally got the wicket, he celebrated it with child-like enthusiasm. It is a wonderful sight- seeing him comeback not just as a much better batsman and person, but also a better bowler and fielder.

He is a clear contender for Man of the Series now. If and when he gets it, I think I'll stand up and clap. Because he deserves it. Hats off to you Dada, for everything you've accomplished, and I hope for you and for India that you have much cricket left in you yet. Because I'm definitely not ready to see the back of you yet. :)

India-Pak 2nd Test Day 1

2007-11-30T19:53:00.000+08:00

The 2nd test finally started today (the break felt incredibly long).
And what a performance by India. Wow. Truly. They batted superbly, dominating the bowling and putting an already ailing Pakistan under tremendous pressure. So much so that one couldn't help but feel sorry for Pakistan, despite being an Indian supporter.

The highlight of the day was clearly Wasim Jaffer. 192 not out on the first day. What more could any supporter ask for? He flicked, drove, cut, pulled, and just generally made the Paki bowling attack look like amateurs. He did everything right. It was wonderful to watch. We were all hoping he would reach his double century today, but bad light forced them to end the day. Hence, we'll have to wait for tomorrow. Hopefully he doesn't get out first thing tomorrow morning, because you know, Indian batsmen have a tendency to do that.

Wasim Jaffer's wife was in the stands. She must have been overjoyed with the way he performed. Was he inspired by her presence perhaps?

In other news, Dravid was playing wonderfully and had just reached his half century when Billy Doctrove decided that he had had enough of Dravid and gave him caught behind, when all the replays and the Snicko indicated as clear as day that the ball did not hit the bat and the bat did not hit anything else. So there was no sound heard and there was no nick but Dravid was out anyway. A pretty poor decision and an absolute disappointment for us Dravid fans. It is a sad sad thing, because we've been waiting quite a while to see him play. And ever since this test series started, he's been getting awesome starts, but has gotten out to brilliant bowling. And today, when he finally converted a start to a half-century, the umpire didn't like it (or so it seemed). Oh woe.

Anyway, I think Pakistan's selectors are even more confused than India's. Honestly, Shoaib Akhtar was sick. Fullstop. There was nothing to suggest he was even well enough to be sitting up, let alone playing cricket, and that too a test match. I am absolutely CLUELESS as to why he was selected to play this match. I'm sure Yasir Arafat would have done far better as a replacement. At least he would have been able to bowl in full fitness. Shoaib was almost collapsing on the field and every ball he bowled seemed to take a herculean effort. I felt incredibly sorry for him, and I honestly think he should have been taken off the field, force fed medicine and asked to rest. But he persisted! I have no idea how he managed it or whether he managed it at all. It was a terrible sight. And Sami had a fever until yesterday, but he too is playing today.

I'm sure that there isn't SUCH a huge lack of bowlers in pakistan. There must be SOMEONE who can replace them. It's so curious. The whole thing is just so utterly curious. As much as I support India, I would enjoy a good contest more than a pushover. Like the first test match. That was a good contest. But this one... well it could prove me wrong yet, but today has just been India all the way. And while I want India to win this, one would like to see the opposition put up a semblence of a fight at least.

Well Ganguly and Jaffer seem well set. Tomorrow is another day (that's what Pakistan will be thinking too) and anything can happen.
So we'll wait and see.

[edit @ 20 59 hrs]

"Four in one go
The only fully fit fast bowler in the Pakistan attack was Tanvir, but curiously he was the most expensive as well, for the best part. Unsure of exactly what line to bowl, based on the field he was given, Tanvir was smacked for fours off the first, second, third and fifth deliveries of the 23rd over. A back-foot punch through cover, a drive back down the ground, a forcing shot through point and a flick through midwicket and aside from the pull Jaffer had shown pretty much his whole repertoire in one over.

Billy strikes
On a pitch that was a nightmare for bowlers - normally the strip at the Eden Gardens at least provides some juice early on - and once a batsman got in it was hard to work out how a bowler would dislodge him. Jaffer and Rahul Dravid bedded down with such ease that it seemed a run-out would be the most likely to break the partnership. That was till Billy Doctrove intervened. On exactly 50, and looking good for a whole lot more, Dravid drove inside out at a ball that was tossed up, bat struck ground, ball turned well past bat and lodged between Kamran Akmal's arm and body, and the loud shout was upheld. Once again Dravid's innings had been curtailed when he looked untroubled at the crease.

Can't catch a ...
It's no wonder Kamran Akmal is fully fit despite all the flu and chest infections and sore throats going round the Pakistan team. At the moment, he's just living out that cruel descriptor, where he can't catch even a cold. Statisticians have given up counting his dropped catches, and on a pitch that was so unresponsive that it forced Tanvir to turn to left-arm spin, Akmal dropped a clanger. Mohammad Sami bent his back and managed to get one to hurry onto Tendulkar, who half-heartedly attempted an upper cut. The ball just lobbed up towards Akmal, who put his right hand out and palmed the ball past the slip fielder.

Two Kanerias
With the ball in hand, even arms flailing and legs pumping in several different directions, Kaneria appears to be in control of what he is doing. And he certainly was when he landed a perfectly pitched googly that fooled Tendulkar into playing an expansive drive and turned in to bowl the batsman through the gate. But there's another Kaneria, the one who fields, who looks like he's going to injure himself at any moment. And he did, in the dying moments of the day, chasing after a straight drive from Sourav Ganguly, half-sliding, half-diving and generally getting stuck in the ground. He limped off the field, and fortunately for Pakistan this hadn't happened earlier in the day, though Kaneria consistently threatened to do just this with one of the most unacrobatic dives you're likely to see on a cricket field."

That's quoted from Cricinfo and just about sums up the day really.

[/edit]

1st Test 2nd Day

2007-11-23T17:42:00.000+08:00

I apologise for the lack of updates about the India Pakistan ODI series. But the exams are over and I will update.

1st India-Pak test match. Well it's been a right roller coaster so far. Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat, and we all thought India were goners. But then they had Pakistan at 142 for 8! Which was a magnificient feat, but Misbah and Sami put up a strong resistance and took Pakistan to a decent score. Finally Misbah got himself run out in the silliest fashion and then India bowled Pakistan out for 231. Naturally everyone thought India would cleansweep the match. But India's top order was taken apart by Shoaib Akhtar and Sohail Tanvir and we wobbled with 5 wickets down and just 88 on the board. At that stage we looked doomed. But Laxman and Dhoni have put up a brilliant partnership to take us to 186 for 5. Up and down and up and down and up...

...here comes Sohail Tanvir. Will be survive this spell? Oh it's Dhoni's 50! Great stuff there. He's justifying his ODI and T20 captaincy and possibly even a Test captaincy sometime soon.

Otherwise I would like to say that it was wonderful watching Dravid playing again. Yes, he only scored 39, but he scored it well. Watching him hit boundaries was just so wonderful. It was a treat for any Dravid fan. Unfortunately he did not go on to get a 50.

But more on that at the end of the match I guess. In the meantime, Dhoni has gotten himself out for 57, Laxman's gone on to get a 50 and Kumble looks to be batting well.

About Kumble's captaincy- I think he's quite wonderful as a bowler and even batsmen and he thoroughly deserves the captaincy because he's a thinking cricketer. He was good when India bowled- he attacked and defended, he bowled himself as an attacking option, he wasn't afraid to take on the responsibility... I like his attitude.

While Dhoni is quite openly no-fear, Kumble is quietly no-fear. He doesn't look like he can be intimidated. He bowled well, got 4 wickets. And now he's batting well. So it's stumps now, and we'll see what happens tomorrow.

The Reason Behind the Wall's Axing?

2007-10-29T14:21:00.000+08:00

What is this I now read about Vengsarkar and Dravid not being able to build a bond?
So is this the truth behind why he stepped down from his captaincy? Is this the truth behind why he was dropped? Or is this all pure media hype, simply being blown up by the Indian media- as it often does?

Will Vengsarkar leave him out of the Test squad as well? I will spontaneously combust if that happens, I swear.

Fall of the Wall?

2007-10-27T20:23:00.000+08:00

I can't believe this. I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT BELIEVE THIS.
Two shocks in a day are too much. First it was Dhoni's hair. And now, they're dropping DRAVID from the 1st two ODIs against Pakistan? (Geez, that sentence doesn't even SOUND acceptable- drop and Dravid in the same sentence? Since when?)

Does anybody even REALISE the implication of that? RAHUL DRAVID, Mr Reliable himself, The Great Wall of India (who's evolved into much more than just a wall), DROPPED? Just because he had ONE bad series?
And his replacement?

Virender Sehwag.

No I'm not joking. Virender Sehwag, who was dropped unglamorously from the team for his inconsistency and his lousy form. Virender Sehwag whom they gave chance after chance for almost 3 series, despite his low scores. Virender Sehwag, who is now (sadly) the captain of the India Blues and happened to have a couple of good knocks.
I ask, so what? He was given chances for eons, despite the fact that he wasn't performing. And after all the talk from the selectors about how Dravid was just "rested" for the last ODI against Australia, and how he is a great player who he will pick up his form in the next series, they drop him? How's he supposed to "pick up his form" if he's not even playing, hmmm?

Well, I don't know what to say anymore. All I can say now is that I want Dravid back in the side for the last 3 ODIs, and I hope he comes back and justifies his place in the side. I know he's going to retire soon, but I'm not going to sit quietly if they drop him unglamorously for having ONE bad series. Jammy deserves a grand exit if and when he decides to retire. And I sincerely hope he's not going to get anything less.

Why must we consistently have selectors who make the WEIRDEST and most depressing selection decisions in the world?

P.S.: I promise I'll try not to be so emotionally motivated next time. Just give me leeway when it comes to Rahul Dravid- he's been my idol for 8.5 years and I can't bear to see him on the receiving end of injustice.

Anhoni Ho Gayi Honi, Aur Main Ban Gaya... Kaun?

2007-10-27T10:43:00.000+08:00

I am extremely disappointed with Dhoni.
No it's not because he captained badly. No, he didn't keep wickets dismally either. And nope, he did not get consecutive ducks.
...

He cut his hair.
HE CUT HIS HAIR. No it's not a trim. It's a crewcut ala John Abraham. I'm not sure the ground beneath me is firm enough anymore because this has shaken my foundations. Come on, Dhoni= LongFlowingTresses + Classic EarToEarGrin. How can he mess up that equation?

And is the media overhyping the influence of a certain Miss Padukone in this issue or could it possibly be... fact? Interesting, this.
But it doesn't do anything to alleviate my disappointment. Please grow your hair back Dhoni. I miss it already (and he hasn't even played a match with his short hair yet).

Here is a *cringe* picture.

P.S.: If you don't get the title, it means "The impossible became possible, and I became... who?". It is in reference to a 7UP ad that Dhoni does, where he says "Anhoni ho gayi honi, aur main ban gaya Dhoni". Which means, "The impossible became possible, and I became Dhoni".

No Flash In The Pan.

2007-10-21T21:30:00.000+08:00

A marvelous win once again, agaist Australia, this time in the Twenty20 format! But then again, we ARE the world champions...
Although with India that could effectively mean nothing, this time that wasn't the case. They truly showed Australia WHY they are the Twenty20 Champions, and they did so in style. The batsmen looked utterly at ease in this format of the game and they way Dhoni finished the game- with a big six- truly said everything.
Hats off to you India, for the way you played yesterday. :)

The funniest, cutest and silliest part, of course, came at the post-match presentation. Gambhir won the MoM award for his brilliant half-century and he won a car. The minute Gambhir was announced as MoM, he got COMPLETELY drenched in Coca Cola by the team. He went up to collect his award and give his interview looking like he climbed out of a pool filled with coke. It was hilarious. And the minute the ceremony ended, everyone forced him into the new car (cola dripping and all) and the rest of the team climbed on top of the car, a few on the bonnet, a few on the roof and the rest leaning against it, and posed for a photo. Hilarious. The commentators were distressing about how they were going to dent the car, but not a single Indian player looked bothered in the least, Gambhir included.
Off the field, they are like five year olds. Truly. For all the maturity that some of them display during the match, off the field, they are the total opposite. I think they leave their maturity on the pitch. But I love precisely for this utterly adorable trait.

For example, Robin Uthappa played brilliant, attacking cricket yesterday, but then he got out and soon after, the camera focussed on him sitting at the dugout in his sleeveless tee and training pants and chappals. The minute he saw the camera, he waved and winked (which in itself was adorable to the max) and at that point, Irfan, who was sitting in front of him, fell back on him on purpose and Uthappa hugged him and they both started laughing. It was so cute. After a while, the camera focussed on Uthappa again and this time he waved and mouthed "Hi Mama. I love you!" and blew a kiss. Such a sweet mummy's boy. :D
See what I mean by five year olds?

In other news, gossip (and some very interesting guests at yesterday's match) seem to hint that our dearest captain has been clean bowled- no not by one of Brett Lee's yorkers, but by a lovely young maiden.
To be more specific, Deepika Padukone. Yes, that pretty new actress in Om Shanti Om. She invited him to the OSO premier and he invited her to yesterday's match. And she supposedly cancelled another engagement to "watch Dhoni in action". Now now now, isn't that sweet? :) Deepika and Dhoni. Has a pretty nice ring to it!

To quote an article I read, "Bat, ball and Bollywood" indeed. Well, time will tell how true it is!

The Consolatory Win and the Dhoni.

2007-10-18T15:32:00.000+08:00

It is time for me to once again inadequately analyse India's superb victory over Australia in yesterday's match.
Once again, we lost the series. But no matter, we won the final match and since it was against Australia, it was a HUGE morale boost.

Now the highlight of yesterday's match was another unsung hero (you'll find that TeamIndia generally has either unsung heroes or overhyped heroes. There's rarely an inbetween... but I'm not complaining). Murali Karthik. He had made a small name for himself with sudden shows of brilliance and then a long retreat into oblivion. In fact, this time round, he had already joined the commentary team of Neo Sports, when halfway through the series, he was called to join the playing 11. He went on to play 3 matches, in all of which he played very well, but yesterday's performance was the showstopper, without a doubt. 6 wickets for 27 runs in 10 over. A couple of maiden overs, one 2 wicket maiden and one 3 wicket maiden. He was on a hat-trick twice. The best performance by a left arm spinner in the history of ODI cricket, and the best performance by any Indian bowler against Australia.

And to top it all off, he batted like a hero at the end, supporting Zaheer Khan, playing and missing many times, but never losing courage and in the end, seeing India through to a memorable victory. Could we Indian supporters ask for more?

I think all our batsmen need to stand up and applaud our bowlers and humbly accept that they were one-upped by the bowlers yesterday. Let's face it, our bowlers bowled Australia out for a paltry 193 and then went on to bat bravely at the end to see India home. This game was won by our bowlers' gutsiness, Dhoni's captaincy and Uthappa's knock of 47. So everyone else really needs to graciously step away and let these heroes take the attention for this game. The way they were celebrating, honestly anyone could have been forgiven for assuming they won the series. But that is the joy that comes from giving it back to the World Champions in the 50 over format.

I loved watching the interview with Zaks and Karthik at the end of the game. The way the two of them were laughing and poking fun at each other was heartnening to watch. Their attitude towards the victory was also nice to see, the enthusiasm was clearly there, though neither is a youngster.

But beyond all the celebratory scenes, what I loved MOST was Dhoni's reaction. He was evidently pleased (which captain wouldn't be, what with the way the bowlers stood up to the task at hand?), but the calmness with which he accepted the victory, the grace with which he immediately went out to shake the Australian players' hands was very nice to watch. I suppose you could say that was because they lost the series here. But go back and look at his reactions after they won the T20 World Cup. He NEVER got carried away. The minute they won, he gathered his team into a huddle and apparently, uttered a surprising but rather admirable one-liner advice: "Sab kuch normal rakhne ka." Meaning, keep everything normal. He knew how they would be elevated to holy status by their fans, but he also knew how fickle these fans were and how they wouldn't hesitate to stab them in the back if they were to lose in the next series. And he had had first hand taste of this when fans stoned his under construction house in Ranchi when he scored a duck in the WC match against SL earlier this year.

It was very heartening to know that we have at the helm of the Indian team ship, a captain whose feet are firmly planted in the ground, whose heart lies with the team first and whose head thinks sensibly and rationally. His honesty is refreshing, his diplomacy always has a twist to it, his dry wit is chuckle-worthy and his confidence, enthusiasm and spirit has obviously seeped through to the rest of the team. Even when they are losing, his attitude never seems defeated, his comments at the post match presentation and press conferences are to the point and he doesn't avoid the blame or try to shift the blame to any one player. His positive, smiling attitude and his agressive, biker dude image, oxymoronic as they may be, truly emphasize the little twist of character that he has brought to TeamIndia. All in all, I find him a thoroughly likeable captain.

I hope he stays that way, and I hope his popularity continues to build. :)

A World Cup in Indian Possession.

2007-09-28T23:19:00.000+08:00

[This is going to be no analysis and it's definitely not sufficient, but I have Alevels, and this will have to do. Already, it's been sitting in my drafts for ages. Thought I better post it.]

There is so much to say about India's last four matches in the T20 tournament, but I simply have no time. All I can say is that TeamIndia played much more like Australia, as they convincingly trounced England, South Africa and Australia to reach the finals, where they won a nailbitingly, heartstoppingly close match against an evidently greatly improved Pakistan team. A World Cup, at last, after twenty-four long, long years.

So much analysis, so many opinions, so many emotions, but one thing stands- this was no fluke victory, neither was it an insignificant one. It was a BIG BIG victory, a huge achievement for Indian cricket, and I don't just mean on the international stage. It was a huge victory for the national stage too, because it was the championing of the one thing the BCCI seems to be so overly apprehensive about- youth- over what the BCCI (sometimes mistakenly) turns to- experience. Furthermore, the limelight was clearly stolen by cricketers from small towns, towns with big dreams which are being realised for the first time. Joginder Sharma, who bowled the epic final overs against Australia as well as against Pakistan in the finals, is the son of a paan waala (one who sells paan, which is the equivalent of an after-meal mint, made of betelnut leaves and several funny tasting fillings). He lived in a shanty slum area in his youth, and today he plays for TeamIndia and has been granted over 1 crore by the BCCI and his state for playing his part in the victory. Dhoni was the son of a pump operator in the small town of Ranchi. Today he is captaining the victorious Indian team.

This is truly the championing of those who dare to dream big, regardless of what background they come from, and the championing of those wonderful scouts who spotted the talent hiding behind these dreams and gave the dreamers an international platform to live their dreams.
Chhote match, bade sapne. :)

[edit 131007]
And even though TeamIndia is currently getting trashed by Australia in the ODI series at home, we still love them. And Dhoni is, I think, my favourite India captain to date. Even though Jammy as a captain was a dream come true for me and he is still numero UNO in my heart.
But for all practical reasons, Dhoni is probably more suited to captain the young side that India will have once Jammy, Dada and Sachin retire.

Even The Best Fall Down Sometimes.

2007-09-15T20:31:00.000+08:00

The ongoing Twenty20 (T20) World Cup has been nothing short of exciting and thoroughly entertaining. From the very first match, with Chris Gayle's superb record setting century and massive sixes, to Bangladesh's defeat of the Windies to send them packing, to Australia's humiliating defeat at the hand of the Zimbabweans, to yesterday's thrilling India-Pakistan match, it has been a feast for the senses and has produced several vivid memories- the kind that every cricket lover would store away in a safe, temperate place, away from any damaging conditions so that they would be able to view it as vividly as they do now even many years later.

I will start with the Aussies' completely shocking defeat. I have to be brief, so I shall say that Zimbabwe deserved to savour every bit of that delicious victory. They were accurate and destructive with their bowling, superbly energetic with their fielding and efficient with their batting. Australia on the other hand, were wayward, sloppy and very careless. They bowled bad lines and lengths, dropped catches and threw away their wickets. Truly, on that one day, the usually shoddy and out-of-sorts Zimbabwe looked like a top-notch side and one felt that perhaps, some sort of odd miracle had descended, causing the two sides to switch souls.
Of course, Zimbabwe's triumph was short lived, as they lost to England the next day (although not badly, they retained their dignity very well). And naturally, as we all expected, Australia's poor run was short lived as well, as they went on to trounce England, securing their berth in the Super 8s and kicking Zimbabwe out of the tournament. But even though the final outcome was none the different from what anybody had expected at the start of this tournament, that slight stumble of the Kings of Cricket was celebrated by all except the Aussies and is definitely one for the history books.

Moving on, yesterday's India-Pakistan match. Now that, is truly what a match-worth-the-money-you-pay-and-the-time-you-spend is like. India, put in to bat by Pakistan, were left hanging on to the game by their fingernails at 36 for 4 after a destructive show of seam bowling by Asif, who used the conditions brilliantly. Dhoni and Uthappa put on a handy partnership of 40 odd runs to stabilise the ship then, and they did so with ease, now that Asif was out of the way. However, the Pakistani bowlers were relentless and were rewarded for their efforts with consistent wickets. India managed to scratch their way through and finished with 141 for 9. Naturally, the game felt like it was headed in Pakistan's favour then, and that point was only reinforced when Pakistant got off to a pretty good start. They didn't look like they would win quickly enough to kick India out of the next round, but they certainly looked like they would win easily at one stage. Then suddenly, the first wicket arrived, and after that, almost every Pakistani batsman merely threw his wicket away. When India managed to get Shahid Afridi out (after having dropped him once), Pakistan needed 39 off 14 balls to win. It looked an impossible task.

Misbah ul Haq apparently did not think so. He creamed a six and a four off Bhajji's final over and then Yasir Arafat joined the party by smashing two fours off the first two balls of Agarkar's next over. They managed 17 runs in the penultimate over, needing a mere 12 from the last to win. The first four balls of the last over produced 11 runs. Pakistan levelled the score and all the Pakis started their celebration. After all, they had two balls and 1 run to get, they couldn't possibly lose... or could they?
The second last ball, Sreesanth pitched it short, Misbah ul Haq swung and missed. A dot ball. Now it was one run and one ball. Dhoni consulted half the Indian team and brought the field in. Everyone was inside the circle. Sreesanth bowled, Misbah couldn't really get it away, he hit it to extra cover and they desperately started running the single they needed to win. Yuvraj was at extra cover and Yuvraj is undisputedly one of India's best fielders. He ran in, picked up the ball and threw it to Sreesanth, who whipped off the bails at the non-striker's end, finding Misbah several inches short of his ground. They had TIED THE MATCH. The Indians were celebrating, the Pakis were downright disappointed, there was a lot of commotion and one wondered whether the two sides even remembered that a tied match would lead to a bowl-out, where a result will be forced out.

The umpires, match officials, referees, players, everybody was on the field, trying to sort out the bowl-out. Evidently, none of these people had ever been involved in one! Nobody actually knew what was going on, or at least, that's the way it looked from a spectator's point of view. The officials were instructing the umpires in a flustered manner, the Indians were all on the field with Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh, all of them having a go at bowling at the stumps, enjoying themselves immensely. THe Pakistanis looked tense and worried and were hovering around waiting to be given some instructions. It was a funny sight indeed. Finally, everything got sorted out, there was a rather redundant toss (which Dhoni didn't seem to be taking seriously at all, he was laughing and joking and looked desperate to run away and join his team, who were having a lot of fun amidst the confusion), which Shoaib Malik won and asked India to start first. Sehwag had a go first and he hit. The Indians had started a small celebration. Yasir Arafat bowled next, he ran a shortened run up and bowled at half his speed and he missed- by a long way. The Indians were loving it, the Pakis were tense.

Next up was Bhajji for India and Gul for Pak. Bhajji hit and Gul missed! The Indian were ecstatic, the Pakis looked livid.

Paki needed to win the next three. Uthappa for India... he hit! And Shahid Afridi missed! The Indian players rushed towards one another and jumped all over each other, hugging, laughing, cheering. The Pakis looked disappointed, and rightly so, because they played brilliantly throughout the day and it seemed a little unfair that the match had to have a result, and that too one that went against them. But the bowl-out, I would say, was extremely exciting and while I do not think it should be used in the traditional ODI or Test format, it certainly seems fitting for the T20 format, which is fast paced and quirky and has a carnival atmosphere.

Lastly, and most importantly, I would like to talk about Dravid's resignation as Indian captain. There has been so much talk about it, so much discussion, depression, annoyance, happiness, satisfaction... well the list goes on. A lot of people are feeling very differently about it. While initially the news left me shell-shocked and feeling for my grounding, I have to say that the more I think about it, the more I think that perhaps Dravid made the right decision after all.

From an Indian fan's perspective, and also from an AVID Dravid fan's perspective, naturally, I am upset that I will not be seeing him leading the side any longer. Because, while he wasn't India's best captain, he certainly was one of the most dignified, diplomatic, uncontroversial captains, with a wonderful temperament and amazing pressure absorbing tendencies. He was calm and controlled. Everything he said and did had a certain measured quality to it. While this might not have always worked when he needed to be aggressive with his captaincy, this was his greatest strength when it came to facing reporters and staying cool under pressure. Admittedly, the stress of captaincy had been getting to him lately, and that is understandable. Because captaining the Indian cricket team is probably one of the most pressuring jobs in the world. He is constantly under the obsessively watchful and unforgiving eyes of one billion fickle minded fans who will elevate their heroes to a godly status when they win, but treat them worse than untouchables when they lose. You'd think that to hold the position where you have to be responsible for the victories and defeats would drive anyone crazy.

Luckily, Dravid is still very much sane, and frankly, if the pressure of captaincy has really got to him that bad (and it seems it has), then his decision is perfectly justified. We cannot and should not speculate about whether or not he's reached his breaking point simply because he would obviously know better than any of us whether he's reached his breaking point or not. Also, if he waits until he crosses that point, then he will resign as a fallen hero, or be denounced by the Indian fans, as we saw with Ganguly. As Ian Chappell very nicely put it in his article on Cricinfo, better to have people asking "Why did you?" rather than "Why don't you?". And Dravid has certainly resigned with his dignity very much intact, what with a recent Test series win and a close fight in the ODI series.

It is not fair to say that he is being selfish. Yes, perhaps this decision was taken more due to personal merits, but of what kind? He is not going to be idolised for this. He is not going to be celebrated on a pedestal or receive monetary benefits or anything material. He's just going to get relief for frayed nerves, and more time to do what he does best for the team- bat like the class batsman that he is. Surely, one can't say that wanting relief is selfish? He's human after all. If he thinks that he can't live up to expectations of the job, is it better for him to stay in purely because the BCCI has not considered a new captain yet and fall short of the high quality demanded from the Indian captain? I don't think that's a fair ask. Plus, Dravid has perpetually been a team man, and I'm sure that if he thought India would be adversely affected by his stepping down, he would not have done so. I think (and hope... but I trust Dravid) that he would have considered this very very carefully. He has never been one to make impulsive decisions. So he must have thought about all of this before making the decision. I just hope the fans won't give Dravid a hard time. I was glad to see user comments on Cricinfo in favour of his decision, saying that it was a dignified move and the right one.

Furthermore, he would still be around as a player, and if India picks a youngster as the next captain, then Dravid, Ganguly and Tendulkar, who have all captained the side before will be around to guide the new captain and groom him well before they end their wonderful careers. This is something India doesn't bother doing and leaves the new captain in a lurch. Look at the successful teams like SL and Australia. The captains step down in time to groom the next one before he leaves. And that's the way to go, in my opinion.

And speaking of picking new captains, I personally feel that India should not fall back on Ganguly or Tendulkar as the next captain. Yes, it will be a risk to throw a youngster in the deep end and watch him try to work his way out. But I think it's time that India took this risk. Appointing Tendulkar or Ganguly as captain now will clearly show panic, and the lack of long term planning. Yes, I know Australia is touring India and we need a strong side led by a strong captain. But think long term. You appoint Tendulkar or Ganguly now. They captain for maybe a year or a year and half, and then they retire. Let's say Dravid too retires in a couple of years. Imagine India's situation then. They will be a year away from the next World Cup, which incidentally is being held in the subcontinent, with a complete freshman in the captaincy post. The new captain will have no time to get a feel of leading the side, no time to settle well into the role, and no previous captains to guide him lest he be unsure. We might face an early exit again in the next World Cup and as hosts, that will be the ultimate humiliation. The new captain will also come under great fire and possibly be forced to resign. Indian cricket will be in turmoil once again. This is clearly not what any Indian wants.

But imagine a new captain now. A youngster, with bolder ideas, with the unending energy of youth can bring a certain freshness to the side, a certain energy in the field and the natural aggressiveness of youthful energy. Dravid, with his calming influence will still be there to watch over the new captain and just calm him down if he goes overboard with the aggression. Ganguly will be there to tell him to be more aggressive if the new captain gets too drawn into his shell. The youngster will be able to learn by experience, which is a better teacher than any textbook or any amount of theoretical lectures. You never know until you're actually out there doing it. And if we lose this series to Australia, so what? It's just a series. It will be a steep learning curve for the new captain, who, in all likelihood, will pick up much faster and be more willing to adapt to change as a youngster. This will be a long-term investment, which hopefully will pay off during the World Cup (which is the ultimate goal) as the captain would have had plenty of time to settle into his groove and the other players too would have gotten used to working with him.

If you have to split the captaincy for Test and ODI for now, then so be it. But don't fall back on the older players. It is the long term that should be the BCCI's focus now. The present is but a stepping stone to the future. I know that we have very few candidates to pick from, but I hope they try someone out anyway. Dhoni or Yuvraj or even Dinesh Karthik. The board has to be brave for a while now. I hope they consider carefully and take the right decision.

As for Dravid, I hope he brightens up his glum fans by scoring well in the next series. We would enjoy nothing more than several good innings by you Jammy, because we know your calibre and we have trusted you and stood by you throughout your highs and lows and we want to see the same, free, high class batsman we saw before you took on the captaincy. And we know you can. :)

So here's to the legacy Dravid leaves behind, and to the new captain, whoever he may be. Let's hope for the best.

A series leveller, a thriller, an absolute ripper.

2007-09-06T01:36:00.000+08:00

WHAT.A.MATCH.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was absolutely the most nail-biting finish ever, and definitely the most nail-biting VICTORY TeamIndia has ever had.

India started the match like stars, like victors, like professionals, making England look like they were playing schoolboy cricket. Zaks bowled brilliantly, leading the bowling attack from the front. Piyush Chawla too bowled with a calm head and a lot of maturity, cleaning up Ian Bell. :) Agarkar of course, came in to reverse all the good work that Zaheer did, and Yuvraj did the same to Chawla's bowling at the end. These two were wayward, bowling extras, gifting boundaries, allowing sixes to be hit. Yuvraj gifted Mascarenhas FIVE sixes off the last FIVE balls of the innings. It was miserable. And England, who at one stage looked like they wouldn't hit 250, managed 316. All credit to their batsmen, Agarkar, Yuvi and of course, Peter Hartley, the new umpire who smartly gave Owais Shah not out (even before he had got to FIFTY) when he had so cleanly nicked it to the keeper. Naturally, Shah capitalised and went on to be unbeaten on 107. All in all, a dejected Indian team left the field, and dejected Indian supporters left their hopes locked in a safe and settled in front of their TVs expecting the worst.

Lunchtime came and went, filled with criticisms and mixed opinions. I didn't bother watching. It would only depress me, I knew that. Hence, I tore myself away from Harsha Bhogle's (always-fun-to-listen-to) commentary, to preserve my sanity and keep my frustration in check.

The second innings started and Sachin and Dada got off to a flyer. They were blazing boundaries with ease. I returned to my TV set with that TeamIndia-worshipping-creature in my heart poking its nose out just that slight bit to sniff hopefully at the air. (I borrow and paraphrase from JKR. Thanks JKR.) They continued in this crazy, boundary hitting vein for ages and ages. Both got wonderful half centuries. 150-0 was the score. Indian fans were ecstatic. England was looking beaten, downtrodden. AND THEN. Suddenly. Broad takes Ganguly's wicket. The partnership had been broken. But we still had our (over)hyped and (unnecessarily) famous batting line up! Out came Gambhir. And Tendulkar started cramping.

The momentum was broken by Sachin's inability to run. Finally, he called for a runner, but before the runner could enter the field, he got out- caught. The creature in my heart dived back into its cavern. Yuvraj and Gambhir. Both were struggling to get the boundaries. But they were running well between wickets, so there was SOME tiny ray of hope somewhere. On and on they continued, nudging the singles, running well, hitting the ocassional boundary. AND THEN YUVI GETS OUT. Vidhu and I are messaging furiously at this point, pouring our frustrations and pain into each sms.

Jammy comes in, both of us hold our breaths. Can our hero accomplish what India needs? He bats, nudges a few singles and GETS CAUGHT OUT. Both of us are in great pain, the last glimmer of hope dies away. We trudge mundanely through the darkness with our useless, pathetic (or so we thought) team, the patriot in us somehow still managing to support them, despite their GREAT failings. Dhoni and Gambhir now. Both are apprehensive, neither willing to take the risk. Then they start getting into some sort of shaky rhythm, when Gambhir, like an IDIOT, decides to spoon one to Panesar at the boundary down the ground. Disappointment hits, the smses start getting hopeless. We know now, it is a completely uphill task and we're also almost sure that the two natural slog batsmen at the crease (Dhoni and Uthappa) are not cut out for this chasing-down-totals task. Dhoni is a slogger, who needs his sixers to keep him happy, and Uthappa is normally an opening batsman. They needed to play sensibly and neither of these batsmen had the temperament for that.
...
Or did they?

A partnership started building. Vidhu said she believes in the impossible. I told her that when you support TeamIndia, you need to consistently believe in the impossible and the extraordinary. Did we dare to hope? Could these two take the game for India? Rachu starts messaging me as well. I'm alternating furiously between match and handphone screen.

After 60 solid runs in the partnership and much struggle, Dhoni gets out bowled. The score is 294 for 6. Vidhu, Rachu and I are ready to commit many murders. Including those SMUG INDIANS PLAYING FOR ENGLAND/SUPPORTING ENGLAND ARGH JUST LOOK AT THEIR ANNOYING FACES.

Agarkar in... AND HE GETS RUN OUT! Agarkar out, but Uthappa still facing. Score now 307. Zaheer in. Few runs. Final over, Uthappa facing. Vidhu and I have stomach aches from the excitement. Rachu is still rambling about the Indian blood traitors. India needs 10 to win. TWO runs off the first ball! Yes, just 8 more now!
THEN. THEN Zaks gets caught backing up too far. Run out at the non-striker's end! ARGHHHH. But not all hope is lost! Uthappa STILL FACING. Powar comes out, at the non-striker's end.

Broad bowls the next ball, and Uthappa executes in one smooth motion a wonderful, cheeky step-out-of-the-crease-and-spoon-the-ball-over-fine-leg move. The ball hits the boundary rope and the Indian cheers are deafening. Just ONE BOUNDARY away now. I'm too afraid to look at anything except the TV screen. I'm almost chewing my fingers now, having finished with my finger nails. Broad starts running in for the next delivery. Time seems to drag out forever. He lands, he releases the ball, the ball archs through the air, Uthappa makes contact and time seems to still for that instant.

Suddenly, the ball is flying off the bat... the fielder DIVES... AND MISSES! THE BALL RACES TO THE BOUNDARY. The commentators are shouting that India has clinched the thriller, Uthappa is riding the air, I jump off the couch, almost as high as Uthappa, screaming, Mum awakes in alarm and yells at me to shut up or I-might-wake-the-neighbours (but I know she's frantically reaching for the remote in her room to switch her TV on and watch the replays of the winning runs), Broad covers his mouth, Collingwood closes his eyes and turns towards the heavens, Powar and Uthappa are hugging, Yuvi sprints onto the field along with all the other TeamIndia youngsters, Yuvi is now jumping on Uthappa, the two cant seem to let go, they are jumping like conjoined bunnies, Dravid is wildly hugging (read as: suffocating the hell out of) every Indian player he can reach before composing himself enough to shake hands with the dejected English team, and even then, he cant suppress a small grin of pure joy. Vidhu and Rachu are smsing me simultaneously, Vidhu saying that she was crying, Rachu saying that her Dad was yelling Chak De India, and I'm replying madly, laughing, crying, jumping, saying that this was the most awesome match EVER, tons of commotion, replays being REPLAYED over and over, everything a happy, ecstatic blur.
A historic ground, where India had found heroes who clinched thrillers for them before, and an absolute gem of a match to complement it. And of course, a new hero to top it all off.

It felt like we'd won the World Cup. :P
Now all we need to do is keep our heads for the next match, and win it and show England that we are not to be trifled with.
From 3-1 down, India have won the last two matches WONDERFULLY to level the series. 6 ODIs down, 3 to each side, the final promises to be a solid competition.

Knowing India, they'll probably get overconfident and let England trample all over them in the next match, but never mind. We're used to expecting the worst from our team aren't we? :P

In the meantime, this victory is one for the history books.
"Drinks all around!"- Capt. Jack Sparrow

P.S.: (This is gonna sound like Vidhu but...) I think I used all four tenses. Sorry, I'm too happy to care right now.

Hello, I am Ms. Sore Loser.

2007-08-28T00:42:00.001+08:00

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.

Jumbo Jets Past 100.

2007-08-11T20:41:00.001+08:00

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.)

The Return of the Neeti.

2007-08-01T15:39:00.001+08:00

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.

"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!

An update...?

2007-06-12T22:53:00.001+08:00

The primary reason why this blog has been starved of entries is that my soul has been starved of cricket.

School (read as: Theatre Studies and Drama) has been gnawing away at my free (and otherwise) time, leaving no time for petty (NOT) pastimes like watching cricket.

Oh WHY must life be so cruel, I wail in anguish. :P

Ok cutting the crap, I'm sorry, this blog will remain rather dead until an extraordinary amount of free time shows up. Which I don't foresee in the near future. Well, I don't consider the end of November near future. Sadly.

I go now, to endure further torture to my cricket-deprived soul.

Bad Bad Bad Me.

2007-04-03T21:01:00.000+08:00

I admit I haven't had the time or the health to update this on a consistent basis. But the super8s have produced to shockers or upsets yet. So it's not that much of a big deal.

The only excitement has been Lasith Malinga's 4 wickets off 4 consecutive balls to ALMOST win the match against SA for SL and Windies' dismal performance to register 3 losses and almost certainly no semi-final berth. Sad stuff.

Ok the headaches are getting to me. SA-Ireland today. Chance for an upset? Nahh, doubt it.

A Poor Show.

2007-03-25T14:44:00.000+08:00

It was a truly pathetic loss to SriLanka on Friday. Let's not use euphemisms. It was terrible. They bowled reasonably well and 254 was a gettable score. A very gettable score. But they collapsed early and didn't keep wickets in hand. The batting line up, which looks awesome on paper, just didn't perform when they had to. That's the long and the short of it. No point blaming the captain or the coach or individual players. It's the whole team which is at fault. The team as a unit, not individuals.

Yeah sure, I’m disappointed, just like any other fan of any other sporting team. But I guess the important thing to keep in mind here is that cricket is a game, like any other. There has to be a winner and a loser. India played badly, they lost. Like Dravid said, they deserved to lose. They would have gotten trashed if they had played like that in the Super8s anyway. There’s no point in throwing stones at their houses like those mad Indian “fans” do. I hope they don’t harm the players or the management in any way, that’s all. I’m more worried than angry or upset.

Let’s take this as a blessing. This will prompt them to rethink their system and their strategies. Maybe there’ll be a new coach. Maybe there’ll be new players. Maybe Indian cricket will take a turn for the better from this trashing. You never know. Staying positive is the key :)

Indian cricket will live through this; it’s been in this situation before. We know how they are, their form seesaws wildly and unpredictably. So we Indian fans should be resilient and stick by the team. Shame on you if you don’t, that’s not being a true Indian fan.

Let's leave them alone for a while, give them their time to reflect upon what went wrong, and what they should have done. Let the Indian cricket board have time to make some selection changes and some adjustments to the system. And let’s hope they come back into action in the next tournament as more mature, thinking cricketers.

For now, I'm keenly following the reports on Bob Woolmer's death. It's a sad, sad event and a great loss to the cricketing world. And the fact that it was murder is just plain vile. How could anyone be so heartless? Nothing justifies taking someone's life. So I'm keenly following the case, hoping daily that they would have nabbed the murderer(s).

I think Woolmer's death is a very timely lesson for all Indian fans. There are bigger things happening out there. A cricket match result is not as important as life. It's not the end of the world if they get kicked out of the World Cup. Let's hope the rioters in India realise that.

And that's really all I'm going to say about that match. All credit to SL for doing well. They deserved the win.

Do or Die situations... literally?

2007-03-22T19:14:00.000+08:00

To Divi, my faithful comment-er: I'm glad SOMEONE reads this hahaha. And I have been a bad girl, not updating. Sorry, was all tangled up in exams.

Anyhow, it has been an extremely eventful week of cricket once again.

TeamIndia managed to do the impossible and lose to Bangladesh. Truly amazing, they are. It was a humiliating defeat and a disappointing one after having forgone an entire night of sleep to watch it. We kept believing that they would somehow pull back, somehow, they would clinch the game at the last moment. BUT NO! They just gave up!! It was incredibly frustrating, sitting there and shouting at the tv, but not being able to do ONE thing to influence the outcome of the match. UGH. But all credit to Bangladesh, they bowled, batted and fielded extremely well to show India that they are not a team to be taken lightly. India meanwhile, put on the poorest show allround. Bangladesh deserved to win, let's face it. It was a crappy performance from India and it put them in a desperate situation, where they had to win the next two matches, by good margins to get ahead on the net run rate.

Luckily, they managed to score 413 (highest ever World Cup score) against Bermuda and win by 257 runs, the biggest margin in a World Cup match. It was an AMAZING batting performance by our team and it showed HOW MUCH potential we actually have, and seem to tuck away in a corner whenever its needed. RAH. Sometimes you really want to kill our team. Sehwag scored a brilliant 114, Dada got 89, Yuvi a marvelous, quick fire 83, and Sachin a 57 from 29 balls. Great great batting performances. :) So that was a slight bit of redemption. But they still have to win against SL if they plan to even be in the running for the Super8s. Trust India to make things so tense. SIGH.

Ok enough about India, on to another event that still has the cricket world stunned, shocked and extremely saddened. Yes, Bob Woolmer's death. It was extremely sad as it is, when I got the news the morning of my econs exam. It took me a thorough read of every article about it on Cricinfo to BELIEVE it. Then it took me a few days to digest it. And I'm still very depressed by it all. Inzi retired from captaincy and ODIs after yesterday's Pakistan Zimbabwe match. He announced his retirement right after Woolmer's passing. It was all a huge shock and I'm still recovering.
AND JUST WHEN I DIDN'T NEED IT... I opened today's Sports page in the newspaper and the headlines read "Was it murder in the Caribbean?". It was an article saying that Bob Woolmer may have been murdered by bookies who wanted to silence him about some match-rigging. It sent me into a huge state of denial and shock. All over again. I truly hope it wasn't murder or anything. I think it would stop the tournament if it was. ><

All in all, it has been quite a CRAZY WC so far. It's been quite twisty-turny, so who knows what awaits the cricketing world in the upcoming matches?

Of bunglers and broken records.

2007-03-17T13:52:00.000+08:00

And that's what the first 7 matches of the Cricket World Cup 2007 have been about.
While matches like Aussie vs Scots, Lanka vs Bermuda and even Kenya vs Canada have been pretty boring, because everybody just KNEW which team will win, matches like Windies vs Pak, Ireland vs Zimbabwe and Eng vs NZ have been close matches.

Pak threw away what could have been easily won by collapsing like dominoes. England too, started badly but then consolidated with Collingwood and Pietersen to get to about 130 for 3. Then they did their trademark collapse and were 134 for 6. It was pretty apalling to watch, and we took that as the cue to switch the TV off and hit the sack. They were subsequently all out for 209. NZ naturally, had no difficulty in getting to a simple target like 210. It's amazing, how my two top favourite teams are so susceptible to insane collapses like this. I sincerely hope India doesn't do that today, especially not with everyone coming over to my house to watch. I want it to be a good match (which India wins, DUH).

The IRELAND-ZIM match, however, was one hell of a thriller. It came all the way down to the last over, with Zim needing 9 runs to win, with 1 wicket in hand. Wow, it was a nailbiting finish, right down to the last ball. Zim scored 8 runs in the first 5 balls, and tied the scores. AND THEN. AND THEN IRELAND gets the final wicket in the last ball!! OMG it was tie. I was watching the highlights AFTER knowing the results of the match, and I still chewed my nails down to stubs. It was incredibly exciting. The Irish erupted in celebrations when they managed to tie the match, dancing and doing a lap of honour around the ground.

But honestly, the Irish dropped 5 or 6 catches and missed at least 2 run outs. They were terrible in their fielding. AND YET Zim couldn't win!! How badly did they play man? But Ireland really did bowl well, even though they didn't back it up with their fielding. I tell you, if they had caught even two of those missed catches, they would have cleansweeped the match from Zimbabwe. Now THAT would have been seriously interesting. So much for minnows.

As for the SA-Netherlands match, OMG. It was a run feast from SA. Bats were flung around, boundaries ablaze in every direction, burning record books. 18 sixes in the innings, 354 runs from just 40 overs, and 6 sixes in an over by Herschelle Gibbs, the first time EVER in a ODI. Truly truly amazing batting. As the cricinfo article says, "Don't call one-sided matches boring". I mean, how often do you get to see such CARNAGE on the cricket pitch? The SA-ans practically devoured the Netherlands bowlers. Amazing.

So that is how it's been progressing. Today is India vs Bangladesh. Bangladesh can't be underestimated, they are good. So how will this one turn out? Only time will tell. :)

Opening Match.

2007-03-14T21:02:00.000+08:00

First match of the 51 matches over. Finito.
It was a match between two extremely unpredictable teams, two of the most unpredictable of the current test playing nations- Windies and Pakistan. Windies were trashed by India in the practice match and didn’t have the psychological edge that Pakistan did (having won both of their practice matches, especially the final one against SA), and it seemed that this would lead to their downfall in the first match. Because truly, they had the slowest of starts. Even at the 24th over or so, their run rate was barely above 3, they were feeling for the ball, playing and missing ever so often. Pakistan’s bowling was getting the better of them, as wickets started falling.

But suddenly, they consolidated, with Marlon Samuels making a wonderful 63 off 70 balls and Smith abandoning orthodox batting to smash 32 off 15 balls. It was a treat for the eyes, but I wasn’t too pleased with Pakistan’s suddenly dismal bowling (because we had predicted that Paki would win in our G12 prediction thing… yes vested interests, evidently). WestIndies ended off with 241 for 9, with Collymore smashing a spectacular six off the last ball of the innings.

I didn’t watch Paki’s run chase, but from what I heard/ read, they lost a wicket in the 3rd ball. Pathetic. They had the psychological edge, they had the skill, and YET they got all out for 187. All I can say is, they didn’t apply themselves, and they probably gave in to a bout of nerves.
I mean, yeah sure, it can be nerve wrecking playing the opening match, but hey, aren’t they supposed to just concentrate on the game? I mean, Windies had just got hit badly by India and they came back to bag a wonderful win.

Here’s a nice summary of yesterday’s match:
Fine Legs and Dying Swans

On to today’s matches, it’s Aussie- Scotland and Kenya-Canada. No need to say anything about who’s gonna win the first one. But Kenya-Canada will probably be interesting. Aussie is smashing away as usual, from what I can see in the live scorecard on cricinfo, because I am currently away from the TV, where my parents are switching between matches on the two World Cup channels.

And oh wow, from what I can see, Scotland’s opening fast bowler is 37 years old! *waggles eyebrows* He’s good! (:

On Extraaa Innings (hereby referred to as EI), they were discussing whether the “minnows” deserve to be playing in the World Cup or not. I don’t feel it’s fair to call them the minnows. Ok, FINE, they are weaker teams, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get a chance to play in the WC. I mean, it’s only by playing these big tournaments with all the high-flying teams will they get exposure. They’ll only improve their game and they’ll be able to work towards being a test playing nation in future. And you know, all these people talk about promoting cricket to the world and encouraging the interest for the game in more countries… accepting these less prominent teams into the World Cup is a great way to do so, don’t you think? It’s like, even though I don’t like football, if Singapore were to play in the World Cup, I would definitely watch with interest, because my country is playing. Similarly, more people in places like Canada, Holland, Scotland and Ireland would watch cricket, because their country is playing the World Cup. It’s a great way to spread the love for the game, and I don’t see why they consider it a waste of time letting weaker nations play in the WC. If they want the Cricket World Cup to be a big scale event, even ½ the scale of the Football World Cup many years down the road, they have to start SOMEWHERE don’t they?

My pet peeve for the day.
I think I should return to alternating between matches and studying at the same time.

(I am secretly wishing Aussie will lose today, even though there’s absolutely NO chance of that. Sighh)

No turning back.

2007-03-13T18:54:00.000+08:00

THIS IS IT.
ANOTHER THREE HOURS to the opening match.
HALF AN HOUR to the pre-match discussions/ highlights of the opening ceremony (Extraaa Innings).

Once it starts, there's no going back. It's gonna be a blur of excitement for 47 days and then it will all be over, for another four years. On my part, I promise that I will try to blog as detailed analyses as I can, time permitting.

Even MUM has been seriously excited about the match since morning. She's even planned which sofa she's gonna sit on. And now she's out buying snacks to eat while watching the match. Now THAT is called World Cup fever. And I think we've all caught it bad. :D

bounce

2007-03-12T21:57:00.000+08:00

JUST.ONE.MORE.DAY. :D

Operation Abandon-Sanity gets underway from this point.

Tri-coloured nails, here I come.

World Cup anticipation

2007-03-10T22:49:00.000+08:00

OK, loooooong time since I posted. Sorry, it's been crazy, the last 3 weeks or so. ><

BUT in other news, THE WORLD CUP IS ALMOST UNDERWAY (!!!!!!!!).
Practice matches were in full swing, they ended yesterday, with India winning both their prac matches against Netherlands and West Indies. They TRASHED Windies yesterday, got them all out for 85 (!!) and then proceeded to score 86 for 1. :) Australia won both their matches (wow, finally), their second one being against England. Bangladesh defeated New Zealand, much to the shock of the cricketing world. Pakistan trashed South Africa yesterday, and SA also got bowled out for 192 by IRELAND (even though they proceeded to win that match). Well, yes, it has been interesting, and these are just the practice matches. WC opening ceremony tomorrow and then opening match on Tuesday between Pak and Windies.

G12 (our wonderful get togther group) is having our World Cup predictions thing (where we predict who will win every match, and accumulate points) again, and it's incredibly exciting, because my family is the reigning champion predictor from the last World Cup :D

So here's to a BRILLIANT World Cup, and may the best team (well, ok, the best team besides Aussie) win!

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

2007-02-18T14:08:00.000+08:00

Hold your breath, cricketing world.
New Zealand has just won the 2nd Chappell-Hadlee ODI, sealing the series and handing Australia their second consecutive series defeat in the lead-up to the World Cup.

Australia scored 336 for 4 off their 50 overs. And NZ WON, with 337 for 5 off 48.4 overs. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. Mind-blowing victory.

And with that defeat, Australia has effectively given up their long-time No.1 place in the world rankings to South Africa. A momentuous day in cricketing history indeed.

I am still in far too much shock/awe to analyse this. Maybe next time. After I've chewed on this a bit and digested it.

The Series is Ours! Again!

2007-02-18T00:59:00.000+08:00

YES YES YES YES :D :D :D :D

Yes, India has once again snatched victory from under the opposition's noses in the final match of the series. The Lankan series concluded today, with the previous match being on wednesday. And yup, India won both! :)

Wednesday's match I missed almost fully, being in school. But once again, they dragged it to the VERY VERY end with Dravid and Dhoni's brilliant partnership of 130+ clinching India the precious victory.

Today's match however, was nothing short of brilliant. Yes, our bowling did lose its way in the middle because after having SL for 56 or so for 4, they let them score 259. All credit to Chamara Silva who played a fine knock of 107 not out. But then, our batsmen... oh.my.goodness.
Ganguly gave everyone a scare by retiring hurt halfway into the first over. But after that, Sehwag and Robin Uthappa practically tore the SL bowling attack into little tiny shreds. They blasted fours and sixes off every bowler, leaving the Lankans looking extremely lacklustre and incompetent. They also looked disgruntled and resigned. It was terrible bowling on their part and perfect timing + placement on our batsmen's part combined to take us to 100 off just 14 overs. Uthappa got his 50 but got out soon afterwards. Dinesh Karthik walked our and got out for 1 run. Disappointment. Nervousness.

Then Ganguly walked out, looking a little shaky, but fit enough to play. The entire stadium erupted in cheers to see Mr. Recently-Reliable out in the middle once again. I too cheered silently, hoping that he won't get himself injured seriously. He did not disappoint. A slight nick of his to the keeper went unnoticed by the Lankans as well as the umpire, and Ganguly capitalised on the mistake. He smacked 3 gorgeous sixes, creamed several fours and constantly ran between the wickets. His efforts led to him picking up another wonderful half-century. :)

In the midst of all this, Sehwag got himself run out in the most ridiculous fashion. He hit to ball down to third man, and ran a run. BUT BEFORE HE REACHED THE DAMN CREASE, he decided to just stop running and turn around and ball watch. Sangakkara picked up the return throw and slowly threw it back to the bowler. Note that nobody had actually realised that Sehwag could be run out. BUT BY SOME CRAZY BAD LUCK, the ball hit Sehwag's stumps, running him out, and Sehwag was caught-in-the-act being extremely lazy and careless and irresponsible about his game. Think about it. He was playing a tremendous knock, with the boundaries just flowing out of his bat. He was seeing and timing the ball to perfection, his feet were moving, he was getting into a good position to play the ball... all in all, he was in great form in the game. AND THEN, he decides to commit suicide. GEEZ, should he really be in the WC squad? I do wonder sometimes. Sigh.

Anyway, once Sehwag got out, Yuvi came in. Admittedly, he has not been in the greatest of nicks... BUT he got off the mark with a wonderful 6. That gave me hope. And in line with his emphatic start, he continued punching fours and sixes to all sides of the ground, leaving the bowlers rather stranded. Even though Dilshan did a good job pulling the run rate back, none of the other bowlers could back him up. Bandara went for almost 10 runs an over, Maharoof went for 10, many others went for over 6. Yuvraj spared almost no one in his trampling march to victory. And with Ganguly at the other end, running hard and hitting boundaries in tandem, they could do no wrong. Yuvi went on to make 95 in emphatic fashion, hitting 22 runs off the last over and securing a RESOUNDING win for India.

Suddenly, the Indian dressing room was erupting in joy, the Lankans were just plain disappointed, the crowd was going crazy and throwing water bags and bottles onto the ground, the security was rushing out with ropes to gather the players in the middle and lead them back to the dressing rooms... it was all drama.

Soon they returned for the presentation, for which we were eagerly waiting. Arun Lal went through his usual routine of intro-ing the presentation party, which was exceptionally big. Then he went on to talk to Mahela Jayawardane... pretty much the usual. Then came the Man of the Match award. They gave it to Chamara Silva for his brilliant 100. I think he deserved that. He looked pretty shocked to be receiving the award to tell the truth. Haha. But it was nice.

THEN... THEN came the Man of the Series award. Which went to... GANGULY!! :D:D
YES DADA! The team drowned him in champagne as per tradition, which was nice to see because you could tell that he really belonged. He had made the most amazing of comebacks to the Indian side along with Zaheer Khan. But what made his comeback more remarkable was the fact that almost the entire nation had him under its boot, crushing him. The media was pelting him with criticism, the public was varying between all out praise for his past achievements and complete trashing for his lack of recent performances. But he fought through all the rubbish and came back, in a HUGE way.
I admit (rather ashamedly) that I too, had given up hope on Dada, of whom I was once a BIG fan. But to see him come back like this has revived my interest and I now understand why I fell in love with the way he played during the '99 WC. At his prime, he is simply unstoppable. :) Go Dada, you really rock.
Big thumbs up to him and Zaks for having come back SO DANG WELL. <33

Then of course, Jammy came up to speak and collect the trophy :D He then called the whole team up for pictures. They all hugged and shoved each other around and shouted a lot, proving that they're still SUCH KIDS, which is why we love them. Then they finally got tame enough to allow the photographer to click. Hahahaha. I LOVE our team!

In other news, I heard that Aussie got TRASHED in a ten-wicket defeat by NZ in some random ODI. I also heard that it wasn't exactly the FULL Aussie topguns team, but there were still several top players involved. What is happening?! Have the Aussies been sabotaged? Very very strange indeed.

So there it is. Going into the WC, India has two brill series victories under its belt, something not even Australia can claim to have. Will they capitalise on this psychological advantage? Only time will tell.

Here's to an absolutely amazing WC. May the best team win. :)

Bittersweet outcomes.

2007-02-11T19:40:00.000+08:00

WHAT THE BLOODY NONSENSE INDIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?!?!?!?!?

I AM SURE YOU HAVE SRILANKA IN A SITUATION WHERE THEY SCORE ONLY 257 AND THEN YOU BAT UNTIL 129 FOR 2 IN 25 OVERS AND THEN PROCEED TO FALL 5 RUNS SHORT OF THE TOTAL BECAUSE YOU JUST COULDN'T MAKE ENOUGH RUNS OMG OMG OMG.

Some I really truly want to KILL our team. They had SL in SUCH a fix with some brilliant bowling. And then Dada and Sachin came out and batted so brilliantly together, coasting along at 7 runs an over and then SUDDENLY, goodness-knows-WHAT happened, India needed 24 runs off 30 balls and then they go on to lose like UTTER idiots. ONLY INDIA, mind you, ONLY INDIA can land themselves in UNBELIEVABLY good situations and then go on to lose the match. TOTAL TOTAL RUBBISH. I want to throw darts at Jammy's poster right now. And at Zaks and Yuvi too, for being injured and missing this match.

I also want to shoot the commentators right now, for talking non-stop when they really should just hang their heads in shame at India's pathetic performance.

But a small bright side is that Sangakkara played extremely well for his 110, and he spoke super nicely at the presentation ceremony :D (Yes, I am quite a fan of Sangakkara), so yeah, I guess that gave me some small amount of joy. (Although why these good innings of his have to come against TeamIndia, I don't know)

In the meantime, all Englishmen should hold their heads up high because England has almost won a BRILLIANT match against Australia and the CB series trophy as well. It is raining and they are just waiting for the announcement to come through. OH CORRECTION!! ENGLAND HAS JUST WON IT BY THE DUCKWORTH LEWIS METHOD! OMG OMG OMG ENGLAND HAS WON THE CB SERIES!!!! Complete underdogs when they started the series after a total whitewash in the Ashes series, England came from behind to claim four consecutive victories (THREE against Aussie) in the matches where it mattered most, to win the series HANDS DOWN and leave Australia gaping in shock. They have given the world no.1 a RUDE jolt back to reality, and maybe... JUST MAYBE, I take back my comment on how Australia is only losing due to pure complacency.

England have decidedly shown their skill as a unit, and don't look like the ruin that they were a month or so ago. This is definitely a huge wake-up call for the, I quote my dad, "Geriatric brigade" that is Australia.

As for me, even though India has played miserably, I am a happy girl, because Australia needed something like this which would get their heads out of the clouds and their feet back on the ground, and it is a bonus that England, my second fav team, was the one to do them the favour. :D
As the Barmy Army rejoices the English victory, I rejoice the Aussies' downfall.

"Drinks all around!"- Captain Jack Sparrow
How apt :)