Something about

It’s been sometime since I wrote, well the reason was that I was busy having fun and cricket is slowly dying a sport. Let’s see what has happened in recent times:

 Ford snubs India; well I guess we deserve it as the BCCI is the most unprofessional organization run by a few individuals as their family business. It does not even have a website (And we call it the most powerful organization in cricket)
 Sachin is back in the Indian ODI team (Give me a break, when Brian Charles Lara is dispensable, I think this guy deserves to be dropped)
 England wins Wisden Trophy, well did not expect anything else but Harmy is still wayward, hope he finds his form.
 Mali is the new ICC President (Sonn passed away) and he claims that Zimbabwe still is a force to reckon with……I think Mylapore should apply for test status!
 I personally feel that Ireland should be given test status (Rumour has it Rankins could be called into the England A side). They any day better than Zimbabwe and now a 2 time Intercontinental Champions.
 Afro-Asian cup concluded in Chennai with Asians winning 3-0. Shaun Pollock played as a batsman with half the team filled with Zimbabwean and Kenyan players.
 Former Pakistan Coach is said to have died of natural causes. Jamaican Police is sure good at investigating.

No Future

Beating Bangladesh in sub-continent conditions is no big deal. No offence to the Bangla boys, they may a hard working one day outfit but when it comes to multi-day cricket, they are only slightly better than a club side. Now India wanted this tour to test out new players, well has that really happened? I don’t think so. For starters when you look at the test line up, our middle order has remained the same for the last decade of so. Yuvraj Singh was the only new player who managed to be in it for a very limited period. Others like Dravid, Ganguly and Tendulkar has become a permanent fixture there. Apart from Dravid, the other two are one a steep decline and more or less playing only to improve their personal records. I am sure Tendulkar and Ganguly cannot win matches against quality bowling. All they can do is nudging around the Bangla boys and make some scratchy runs. The dropping of Laxman is a sin. Why the hell should guys like Tendulkar and Ganguly keep getting opportunities to make runs against weaker sides and seal their spots while Laxman has to slug it out against the very best to keep his spot. This is dirty Indian politics at its best. Ganguly for long has been protected by the Bengal Circle and now the Mumbai circle is playing it ugly cards. The only good things about the tour is that the emergence of Karthik as an opener. But again we should not get too excited about his performance against this weak team. Let him score against England in England, then there is cause for making him the long term opener. As far as the bowlers are concerned, without Kumble the team looks lost and Zaheer is too patchy and inconsistent. The likes of VRV Singh, RP Singh and I Sharma do not instil fear among the batsmen and I guess we could end up having the worst bowling line up within the next few years. India has often been compared to the Brazil soccer team, which is sad. Yes both the sports are religion in their respected countries but when you look at the records it’s just plain ridiculous to compare them. Indian team is an over hyped money making machine and its population is filled with people of non-sporting culture.

A Few points

India has won its REVENGE tour of Bangladesh. The board promised a young side and well if Dinesh Mongia was part of this young side, then god save the team.

Australia is going to boycott its tour of Zimbabwe, well what about China, India, Burma; the list goes on....India? Many may be confused, but serious Quota system people!

Michael Vaughan is injured again, why the ECB can’t just ask this guy to retire and collect his pension

England 20/20 Side

This world cup saw one of the worst performances by an English team which managed to beat all the minnows and the West Indies cricket team. The team had one star in KP and the rest were there to just make up the numbers. They never had a settled opening pair and they had Vaughan (no serious cricket since Ashes 2005), Strauss (hopelessly out of form), Bell (A Sheet Anchor) and Joyce (never opened for his county Middlesex). None of them were aggressive and they had one the worst starts that teams can have. While all the other teams had stroke players, England has a bunch of grafters. Their best player comes in at 4 while their hardest hitter was wasted at 6. It’s not that England do not have big hitters, but Duncan Fletcher selected guys who are no good at playing one day cricket and the worse is that not one of them played in their usual role. With the 20/20 WC coming later this year, there are chances that England may get a similar drubbing in a game which was popularized by them. Ali Brown, a former English One day player with an international century not to forget 2 scores of 200+ in domestic one day matches smashed a 176 which helped Surrey boost a world record total of 496. England has players and its time instead of sticking to the bubble, England experiment with some new players. Mal Loye, a guy who sweeped Lee, one of the fastest bowlers in the world for a 6 could not find a spot in the WC squad. England has to change and with the 20/20 WC fast approaching, they should take some tough big hitters rather than take grafters. If Vaughan finds his spot on the team, I am sorry to say this but England deserves to be knocked out in the first round. My English team for the 20/20 WC - Marcus Trescothick, Mal Loye, Ali Brown, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (C), Andrew Flintoff, Ian Blackwell, Paul Nixon, Darren Gough, Jon Lewis, James Anderson. The Reserves – Ian Trott, Vikram Solanki, Michael Yardy and Stuart Broad.

WC Post

I am posting well after nearly a week after the finals, the reason is very simple. This world was one of the most boring world cups and the timing also did not suit all. Staying up so late to watch dull one sided cricket was not at all worth watching. It’s time the ICC does something about it. Well I suggest stop one day cricket once and for all and embrace 20-20. Looking at all the one day matches played, the greatest of games could be counted by hand while each season of EPL produces more brilliant matches than this. Congratulations to Australia for dominating the world cup like no other team before and they were not once troubled by anyone. The only positive thing about the world cup is the performance of Bangladesh and Ireland. Bangladesh reminds me of the Zimbabwe team of the 1990s where with a few world class players they could give trouble to any one side on their day. Ireland’s performance shows that talent exists in the non-test playing nations and its time ICC do something to encourage the sport there. Cricket will die in its current state if one country dominates the sport and the hand full of others wants to preserve the sport. This will be my world cup XI, well a majority of them are Australians after all they won the championship with no one to trouble them.

The XI – Hayden, Gilchrist, Ponting (C), Jayawardene, Pietersen, Lara, Styris, Hogg, Tait, McGrath, Malinga. Kallis will be the 12th man.

Honourable Mention – Jayasuriya, Smith, Clarke, Bracken, Bond and Rankin.

Yawn!

I guess the time has come for the ICC to rethink about the World Cup, First off all it is one of the most boring tournaments ever. Except for a handful of matches, the rest have been too predictable and one sided. I am sure the finals may also turn into a one side’s affair. Hope Aus pulls it off.

Same Old Story

The wait is finally over and another toothless selection by the selection brigade led by Bombay Mafia member Vengsarkar. Why any ex-cricketer in this country doesn’t have the balls to come out and say Sachin should be dropped. When Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh can be dropped why should Sachin and Ganguly only be rested? When was the last time this pair has won a game for India? When was the last time Sachin has won us a test match? People come out and say it’s a team sport, very true, but look at the number of times Brian Charles Lara has won games on his own for the West Indies. Stop the damm hero worship. Sachin is only mortal and when Steve Waugh can be dropped anyone can be dropped. It’s a sad day for cricket and Sachin should remember that one senior made the way for his place and now he should retire decently but what to do this guy is in for the money rather than the pride for playing for the country. You may make runs and runs but as a human you suck big time and you don’t deserve the special status. Go to Hell!

As for the team selected some interesting questions comes out. Why is Dinesh Karthik selected as an opener? Here is a guy who has never opened for his state but now he is all set to open for his country. An opener is a specialist job and the selectors should have picked Gautam Gambhir. Also based on the different yardstick for different players approach, Sachin makes it to the test team. Another case is Murali Karthik, he is good enough for Middlesex but he does not find a place in the national team. Instead Pawar makes it, no offence to Pawar but I guess his ex-Mumbai connections got him his place. Romesh Powar is a disgrace to cricketers all over the world. Talent alone does not count and his is no Darren Lehmann. He should shape up before he makes it to the side but the Mumbai Mafia worked in his favour. I don’t see much out of this. I just pray Bangladesh gives these guys a trashing of their lives.

The King Bows Out!

It’s a sad day for world cricket as Brian Charles Lara retires from International Cricket. He is the greatest player ever to have not to have won a world cup. Sachin may be a great player but Lara was much better and even at 37 his powers have not waned. He has always played in a team which never had one other great player while Sachin was in this position for only a few years. Lara could be the greatest cricketer ever produced in the last 50 years. He could have still played test cricket for another 3 years but decided to bow out when he was still on top. Lara thanks for all the great moment provided on the field. West Indies team will forever be indebted to him for his services to cricket. Not only was he a great cricketer he was also a great human being. All hail the King of Caribbean cricket.

5 of his best –
277 Vs Australia at Sydney
400 Vs England at St.Johns
153 Vs Australia at Barbados
375 Vs England at St.Johns
501 Vs Durham at Edgbaston

The Fall of the Empire

I have finally decided to give up on England till the current management of Fletcher and Vaughan is still on the helm. Its time English cricket needs a revamp and they need to overhaul it in a big way. How can a country whose domestic cricketers play more one day matches than any other nation play so miserably? The answer lies right at the top of the order. England has never had a great opening combination and without Trescothick they are clueless. Vaughan after more than 80 odd games in about 7 odd years is yet to make a century while the Irish openers Bray and Porterfield have 2 each. Ian Bell is a class act but he is a player who is at best a grafter and can keep one end up rather then come out and destroy a bowling line up. England needs Trescothick more than ever before and he needs a solid partner. The only person I can think of is Alastair Cook. He has the technique and in the 2 games he got, he was impressive. If England thinks that KP is their best batsmen then he should bat at no. 3. The great Richards and even Lara batted only at one down when they were at their peak. England needs someone like Thorpe at no. 4 and I guess either Strauss or Joyce should take up that position. All teams need 5 and 6 to play either play reconstruction role or a stop gap hitting role. Australia was lucky to have Steve Waugh and Bevan there for a very long time. England can have Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara. I am sorry to say this but Flintoff should play only at no. 7 as he just lost it in him and he should play there till he gets back into form. As far the keeper, Nixon is old and its time England stop persisting with Jones, Read or even Foster. Its time they either give Prior an extended run or blood in Steve Davies or even Riki Wessels. Monty Panesar should continue to be their number one spinner with Dalrymple and Blackwell as the backup. As far as the seamers go Anderson should continue to be the spearhead with the likes of Plunkett and Mahmood as the support bowlers. England can also try some fresh cricketers like Will Jefferson and Nick Crompton at the top and the likes of Jonathan Trott in the middle. They have some young talented bowlers like Broad, Footitt and Tom Smith. The future looks good provided they pick the right squad and have a proper order. As far as today’s match goes, only a miracle can save them.

Irish cages the Tigers!

The Irish team is having a time of their life as the team managed to beat another test team Bangladesh by a convincing margin. The Irish are on a rise and it is up to the ICC to support them and make sure they play enough crickets. With sufficient exposure I am sure they can even beat teams like England and West Indies on a regular basis. For the so called people who were against the minnows in this world cup, well for starters I don’t see a point of having 8 teams playing an event and then calling it the world cup. Cricket is fast becoming a minority sport and the only way out is to get more countries involved which is happening now. If the ICC has a proper plan, by 2020, ICC should have as many as 16 countries wit permanent ODI status.

Empire crawls around!

I feel that the time has come for England to dump Duncan Fletcher and Michael Vaughan. After the dismissal performance in the 2003 World Cup, Fletcher promised to make some great changes but sadly even after 4 long years; England is still struggling and is highly dependent on the performances of other teams rather than its own performance. After the CB series which they won without the best ODI batsmen in the world currently Kevin Pietersen, I though they would do very well, but in this world cup, they have struggled even to beat minnows. Flintoff should either be opening or should be at no. 7. He is hopelessly out of form as a batsman. I still do know how Vaughan is right at the top. He may be a great test player but his one day record is so woeful that he may struggle to make it to the Bangladesh line-up. The constant chopping of Strauss has not done him any good and Joyce is better off in the middle order and he should take up the role that Thorpe and Fairbrother used to play. Bopara is still raw and frankly he does not deserve to be in the side and the dropping of Loye is a big blunder. England is too depended of Bell and KP. It’s time the other guys in the team take up some responsibilities and start playing. May be the time has come to test out Broad and see if he really has something as all great players cherish the big stage and if he is a great one in the making, then this should be the place.

Learn from the Irish

The problem with Indians as such is that we just cannot take a stand. I remember after the loss to Bangladesh and the subsequent exit from the World Cup, every other Indian including some former so called legends of the game complained that the problem was that of too many endorsements means that the players are highly distracted. Now the same group are complaining that the recent landmark decision of the BCCI is hurting a player’s right to living. Yes the constitution has this provision but I don’t think that a guy’s earning reducing from 30 crores to 10 crores is going to make a big different. It does for him but hell playing for a country is a great honour and given a chance I would do it free of cost. For all those who may not be convinced about this very particular statement, well I rowed for the Tamil Nadu state and rowing as a sport is not funded much. We guys during most cases spend money from our pockets. Why do we do it? It’s because we are passionate about what we do and we don’t care about the money. This one incident has proved that these people prefer making money rather than giving it all out for the country. The Irish team is made up of mostly amateurs except for 2 or 3 who have contracts with county teams. These guys here are not for the money, they are here for the game and they are proud in representing their nation. For those who are not well aware of the historical fact, the Irish team is made up of two nations (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). With all the history between them, they still play as one single unit with no bickering. It’s time that these so-called super powers of cricket learn the true sense of sportsmanship from the Irish team.

Tigers Crush Sprinkboks

Bangladesh proved that they really deserve a place in the Super 8s after a crushing win over the number one side in the world. South Africa never looked they were in the hunt and I guess this has opened the Super 8s with nearly 7 teams still having a realistic chance of reaching the semi-finals. Australians remain the clear favorites with possibly New Zealand and England as 2 teams capable of beating them. The Lankans have become the dark horse but their batting is yet to fire. As far as South Africa goes, well I hate any side which was selected by a quota system rather than merit. So they deserve this loss. It’s a pity that a lot of talented white cricketers are not in this squad and Kemp is no Lance Klusener. Even now Zulu in his mid 30s should have been in the squad. But nothing can be done now. Today the old rivals will meet, Michael Vaughan’s ODI career could be ended if England losses today.

What?

It’s time we just stop all the nonsense which is going on and the time has come to seriously look at Indian cricket. It’s an open battle royal between everyone involved in the game and the media is having a field day. Being patriotic is one thing but being ignorant and blindly supporting the a few stars is another. It’s time to get away from the regional bias and think for the future of the game.

The key players:

BCCI – Richest cricket board in the world and its only aim is to make more money so that the politicians running it can get more out of it.
Selection committee – the only selection committee in world cricket to be selected on regional quota rather than merit
Senior Players – could be mistaken for models as the number of advertisement theses guy come in are at times more than movie starts. Each make around 10 to 20 crore per year on each advertisement
Chappell – one of legends of Australian cricket, a professional coach, though at times all his methods may not be right but its time he comes out and talk in the open
The blue billion – they love cricket so much because it is the only game/sport we are anyway close to being near the top. FYI V Anand is the current World #1 in Chess.

Key Questions:

When was the last time India has won a major series/tournament overseas (non Asia and Zimbabwe)?
How much is the BCCI actually worth?
Do the Coach and Captain have any real say in running of the team?
Last time Sachin won a game for us?
Last time senior guys made runs when it mattered most?
How can the entire bunch of guys lose form at the same time?
Why the hell are the guys so bothered about money?

To be continued…………………

Down But Out?

After the stunning performance during the Commonwealth Bank series, I actually believed that England has finally got it right in ODIs but after their show in the WC I doubt it. Their top 3 is even worse than Ireland (4 centuries in their top 3 compared to 1 to England). Their centurion Ed Joyce is highly inconsistent and Vaughan can be a good test batmen but I am sure that he would not make even any state side on Australian domestic competition for limited over cricket. Ian Bell is a good cricketer but he never can produce a dominating innings that would dictate terms and instill fear among the opposition players. I still don’t know why Kevin Pietersen is not playing at number 3. I am sure he would do a brilliant job and it would give him more time to settle down. I also don’t see the point of Jamie Dalrymple not playing. He is much better than Ravi Bopara. Ideally now England can’t do anything about the squad. But I feel that Cook should have been in it and so does Mal Loye. This should be England’s playing XI - Michael Vaughan(C), Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ed Joyce, Jamie Dalrymple, Paul Nixon, Liam Plunkett, Monty Panesar, James Anderson.

Marcus Trescothick should be back as soon as he recovers from his illness as they desperately need him now more than any time before.

Made in South Africa

Not only do we have South Africans playing for South Africa (Dah….Obviously), we also have these chaps representing a lot of other teams.

England - Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss
Netherlands - Ryan ten Doeschate, Eric Szwarczynski and Billy Stelling
Scotland - Dewald Nel
Ireland - Andre Botha

Time for a Change

It’s time that the Indian team moved and makes some drastic changes. The so called great generation has bid its time and this is the right time to faze them out. Changing captaincy at this stage would not help as a captain should first retain his spot in both version of the games and then only should be appointed the skipper. The only Indian who currently fulfills that is the current guy Rahul Dravid. His is the best guy for the job right now. We do have guys like Yuvraj (needs to find a permanent place in the test squad); Laxman (too old) and Sehwag (no form) but Dravid should be the man at least for the next year or so. These decisions could be one the toughest but when Australia can drop guys like Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh and Michael Bevan, I am sure we can exe Sachin and Ganguly and send them on their retirement cruise. If we do not does it know, we are bound to be doomed for the next world cup and the state of our cricket team could just become like our hockey team.

This should be the squad that India should be building here onwards and apart from the senior guys a lot of other guys has to be dropped till the prove themselves in the first class stage.

The selected XI –
Gambhir (aggressive and solid)
Uthappa (raw talent)
Dravid (the Wall)
Yuvraj Singh (can dig it in)
Kaif (needs one last chance)
Dhoni (Wicketkeeper and late order hitter)
Karthik (only man I see could handle the finisher job)
Powar (till we find another spinner)
VRV Singh (fastest Indian, develop him like Tait)
Zaheer (the spearhead)
Munaf Patel (needs to improve fitness)

What could actually happen in reality is that Chappell will be shown the door and Dravid axed from captaincy and Tendulkar taking over.

Paper Tigers send Home!

It was one o the worst days in the history of Indian cricket when the Men in Blue were knocked out of the world cup. The million dollar players playing for the billion dollar team went down to an inspired Sri Lankan team without even putting a fight. The captain Rahul Dravid waged a lonely battle while others crumbled around him. Sachin and Ganguly with over 25000 ODI runs between them once again failed to play when it matters the most. It was a spineless performance from the team. Cricket was the only sport where we are close on being the best but after the 1983 world cup, we have been on a slow downhill. Its pity that we a nation of more than a billion has to rely on Bermuda, a nation with only 90000 people to get to the next round of the world cup. Even the captain of the team has said it openly that we do not deserve a place in the super 8s. The time has come for the board to make some harsh decisions. Blaming it on the captain and coach alone is bad. Heads should start rolling. Chappell promised a lot but 2 years is a long time and too much experimentation is also not good. I guess he will be axed soon. When David Beckham can be dropped from the English football team, I guess even Sachin can be dropped. It’s time we stop treating these guys as gods and drop all non-performers. No matter how much they have done for the country in the past, we should look at the present scenario and also take the future into consideration. As for replacing Dravid, well I don’t see any one in the current lineup capable of doing it. A captain should first be worthy of a spot on the team for his cricketing skills not for his leading skills, so Dravid is our best option and he should stay.