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.