Redefining the game of cricket with its new avatar & thats cricket avatar

Build your body

2012-01-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

With the game of cricket taking a toll on the sub-continent teams namely India and Sri Lanka, focus has to definitely shift towards some other part of the world and there can never be something interesting and different than primabol which can grab our attention. One need not be specially cited the way India and Sri Lanka are being thrashed in their ongoing tours to Australia and South Africa respectively. With this being the case for all of our disappointment, there is no other choice left but to find something as mentioned above that can be as thrilling as it can get.

May be the series' proved to be a boon to me for, I could find and explore and at the same time share with you people. Until then, even I was not aware of the word primabol which I later on learned to be a proharmone and what is more is that the site which has been referred to here is one of the top selling proharmones. If this is something far from your knowledge, I wish I refer you to the product with its main features being that it is a muscle and strength gainer and at the same time, does not retain water.

With more cricketing ties scheduled to come in the days ahead, I wish this is the time for all of us to go through such products because, after all all of us admire sports persons and there exists a will in all of us to be like them somewhere in the corner of our hearts. So, lets cherish that dream. Have a great day ahead.

A sort of equipment

2012-01-05T07:33:00.000-08:00

Well the title of this post might give you people suggestions that the post is related to cricket equipment which actually is not the case. Yes, yes please don't back out from the site before reading the post for this might be of a lot of use to you people. The site which I am writing about has got to do with paintball equipment which I guess is something new to you readers. The case was the same to me as well when I entered the site for the fist time and now things have changed a lot since then.

Honestly speaking, that was not something which I was looking for when I had the computer mouse crawling jobless. Fortunately, I accidentally clicked on the site which you people would be doing in minutes to come to find the site dedicated to paintball gear which I know still confuses you to a greater extent. But, I will not not take any long time in introducing you to paintball guns which can be obtained upon a click to the above website. Though that was not the particular thing which I was looking for, later on that was worth the time I spent.

In addition to paintball guns, I was able to find much other stuff like player clothing, safety guides etc which solved to a greater extent. All these being available at a much smaller price than expected made my stay in the website much more worthwhile which I might not have done despite getting the one thing what I wanted. It all happened so suddenly when I was looking for a cricket gear or a cricket equipment whatever you call it as. And, in the end I need not tell you specially how the experience has been throughout my visit to the site whatsoever.

In the end,please give this site a visit which can make your journey through the site worth the time you spend. Cheers!

Result comes as expected

2011-12-18T01:25:00.000-08:00

Very rarely does a team comes out successful after winning the toss and choosing to field first. In most of the matches, any captain who wins the toss is seen taking the crease unlike what the South African captain - Graeme Smith has been seen doing. Whatever, as the saying "all is well that ends well" goes, South Africa as expected won the game by an innings and 81 runs which is something to be relished for a long time by the Proteas. Had the South African captain chosen to bat first, may be South Africa would not have had an innings win.

Had South Africa batted first, may be Graeme Smith might not have taken the courage to impose a follow-on on the Sri Lankan team which would have sealed all hopes of South Africa having an innings win. This has been seen in most of the games where even courageous captains think a million times before imposing a follow-on no matter how much the difference between both the teams is. The best example that I can cite is in the Sydney test 2003-04 where the then Indian captain - Sourav Ganguly decided to bat for the second time despite piling up 705 runs in the first innings.

India had a margin of close to 250 runs in the match against Australia which eventually ended in a draw when all hopes of an Indian win was alive. Coming back to the game between Sri Lanka and South Africa, my calculation for Sri Lanka should have seen them piling up atleast 689 runs to see some hopes in the game which eventually didn't happen, needless to be said. Forget about any mammoth total by the Sri Lankan batsmen, they could not even score the total of 180 runs which they managed in their first innings. The Sri Lankans were bundled out for 150 runs.

This was 30 runs less than what they could manage in their first innings. Anyone who goes through the scorecard would know that their top order failed miserably with the first major knock coming from the blades of Thilan Samaraweera who scored 32 runs to top the batting among Sri Lankan batsmen. There were four batsmen who scored over 30 runs in the first innings while the 2^nd innings saw only one batsmen doing the same. The Sri Lankan debacle made hay for Vernon Philander who took ten wickets in his third test to see him get the man of the match.

South Africa towards an innings victory?

2011-12-17T01:10:00.000-08:00

This is at most of the times a common issue with the home team bundling up the opposition no matter by what margin they do it. And, this time South Africa were no different when they had Sri Lanka tumbling with a lag of 209 runs against the home team with one more wicket still to go. South Africa have in the recent past played some decent cricket with them outplaying India last year and then recently against Australia when they grabbed a 8 wicket win despite having been bowled out for 96 runs in the first innings. This was in Australia and not at home.

With the situation the South Africans are now in, it looks as though an innings win for them is high on the cards. There are three more days of play left in the game with Sri Lanka needing atleast 300 runs more than what the South Africans manage in the first innings in case they need to keep their hopes of saving the test alive. At present, with the South African scorecard reading 389 runs, assuming that they lose their last and final wicket with no more addition of runs, Sri Lanka as per calculation need atleast 689 runs to tame the hosts.

It is not an undisputed fact that a total of 689 is highly difficult though history has seen several such games where a team makes a surprise comeback after being shattered in the first innings. The best example for this would be the Kolkata test between India and Australia where Australia bundled out India for 171 only to see them lose the game after Steve Waugh imposed a follow-on. That match was famous for Laxman's 281 and Harbhajan Singh's Hat-trick. But, that test was played by India at home. Things cannot be assumed to be the same had the same been played away.

Similarly, I can recall Kamran Akmal and Asif Kamal spoiling India's party when they held the nerve in the Delhi test after India had taken a lead of 204 runs powered by Virender Sehwag's 173. The match that should have been won by India happened to end in a draw. Now, keeping in mind the batting line up of Sri Lanka, a miracle can be possible but with other factors also supporting the same. They have Mahela Jayawardane, Samaraweera, Sangakkara etc who can show some hopes with the bat. But, once again the problem lies in their bowling which can be self-destructing.

Day 1 or One day at Centurion?

2011-12-16T21:42:00.000-08:00

This has never happened to Sri Lanka in the past decade or so when they happen to be tamed on their home soil. I remember Sri Lanka winning the test series 1-0 in 2004-05 with the hosts having a high upper-hand in the first test that was drawn aided with Kumara Sangakkara's 232. Now, Sri Lanka have been bowled out for just less than 200 runs n the board against the Proteas when they ended their innings at 180. The match was one of its kind with the Proteas piling up exactly half of what the Sri Lankan batsmen could manage hours before.

There was no batsmen from Sri Lanka who could post even 40 runs individually let alone a half century. I had written on this blog before about the lack of experienced bowlers in the Sri Lankan squad though their batting line up happens to be pretty decent. But, after this, it looks as though someone like Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda De Silva have to come back as 25 year olds to save their team from humiliating defeats. Noted batsmen from Sri Lanka namely - Tilekeratne Dilshan and Kumara Sangakkara could not manage more than 6 runs and one run respectively.

Batsmen who rode over 30 runs include Angelo Mathews who top scored 38, Jayawardane (30), Samaraweera (36) and Paranavitana (32) that comes up to 136 runs out of 180. It was not some Dale Steyn, Morkel or Jacques Kallis who did the damage with the ball but was some Vernon Philander who scalped 5 wickets in his third test against a strong batting line-up as mentioned above. Of course, a lot of support was provided from the other end by the experienced Dale Steyn who also picked up 4 wickets which was equally instrumental in the Sri Lankan batting collapse.

The match was played at South Africa which can form as an excuse for the touring team in case they fail to keep up their fans' hopes. With South Africa also being an equally strong outfit, the blame cannot be completely on the Sri Lankan team. One can say that, "had South Africa toured the sub-continent nation, they might have also met with the same fate". That forms the "ifs and buts of the story." Whatever, in days to come (in the ongoing 1^st test), with their batsmen giving up hopes, nothing much can be expected from their inexperienced bowlers.

Advantage always lies in the home team

2011-12-15T01:53:00.000-08:00

Well if the history of cricketing nations is taken a close look at,it is the home team that has the upper hand especially in test matches. This is irrespective of which team is playing - be it the mighty Aussies (some 4-5 years down the lane) or the downtrodden West Indies. The home team always has its say. In the recent past or so, the list has included Bangladesh also when they had a drawn test against the West Indies recently though they had a loss earlier in the tournament. Now, the teams which clash against each other are Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Needless to be said, it would definitely be the Proteas who would have an upper hand in atleast test matches that are scheduled. The teams mentioned above are scheduled to play 3 tests and 5 one day internationals with a T20 game missing out due to reasons best known to the makers of the tournament. With this being the point regarding the hosts, all that would be left is to make that advantage count by South Africa. If their recent past (a year or so is considered), they have not fared badly though their performance is not outstanding either at home.

They drew the test series against India early this year when a mighty Dhoni led team India toured the African nation for a three match test series. That series should have been won by South Africa not only because they were the hosts but also due to the fact that India was not any extraordinary team like the Aussies of the early 2000s. Even the third test was dominated by the Indians which eventually ended in a draw. Following that, South Africa hosted Australia off-late which as everyone knows was drawn with both teams taking home a win. Since then, South Africa haven't hosted any other nation.

Though South Africa have never tasted success at home in test series', they are yet to lose one to any other nation. The fact is also that they have not hosted majority of the teams namely New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (which is due in days to come). And, in case they host also, the result can hardly be expected be any different. But,the discussion here is restricted to only Sri Lanka's tour of South Africa needless to be said. The discussion regarding their bowling is already over with only Dilhara Fernando being the experienced among the lot. But, their batsmen can say something. Let us see.

Bounce will always be the trick

2011-12-14T05:20:00.000-08:00

This is one advantage that the Aussies, South Africans and the West Indies have on their home soil when they have pitches that can offer uneven bounce. May be that is the reason why bowlers like Curtly Ambrose, Walsh, Ian Bishop, Glenn McGrath, Damien Fleming etc happen to be from that side of the cricketing world though there are the likes of Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Chaminda Vass etc who hail from the sub-continent. But, when it comes to bounce, it has to be no other team but the West Indies. Australia and South Africa follow behind.

This time, Sri Lanka are expected to take on South Africa on their home soil in days to come when batsmen like Jayawardane, Sangakkara and Samaraweera happen to face the wrath of Dale Steyn, Morkel and newly joined pacer Vernon Philander who had some splendid performances in the IPL earlier this year in India. On the other hand, Sri Lanka will be missing the services of Lasith Malinga, Chaminda Vass and Nuwan Kulashekara leaving only the somewhat in form pacer Dilhara Fernando to do his bit for Sri Lanka. I wonder whether such a weak outfit from Sri Lanka has even toured South Africa in the last decade?

Problem regarding the teams like South Africa, Australia and West Indies lies in them tackling spin bowling which made their life hell whenever they toured Sri Lanka with Muralitharan there in the team. But, spin has little or absolutely no effect in the pitches of South Africa for Sri Lanka to try their luck. In that case, the presence of Ajantha Mendis would be only to fill in the vacancy so that the team consists of eleven players. Of course, Ajantha Mendis also is not a perfect turner of the ball which forms a different story altogether. But, the fear for spin bowling can be capitalized by Mendis.

In case there happens to be a fear for spin bowling in the minds of the South African batsmen, then may be spinners from Sri Lanka can have a ball which can rarely happen with the South African team well aware that they are the hosts. And, moreover there is no Muralitharan to do miracles with the ball. But, if Dale Steyn happens to have his words come true, then the ball might just hit the highest point of the bat. And, Dale Steyn's words have a greater probability of coming true, given his form and fitness since the past two years or so.

Omissions and inclusions in Sri Lankan team

2011-11-23T20:57:00.000-08:00

Since the past one year or so, all that the Sri Lankan team has been found to do is to make a mess of their cricket on the field which reached its high in the finals of the world cup where they could not defend a total of 274 against India. Since then, if not for a 2-1 ODI series win against Australia at home, there is nothing much that the Sri Lankan team can rejoice. Since then, their record reads a 2-1 ODI and 1-0 test series loss to England, 1-0 test and 4-1 ODI series loss to Pakistan with a tournament against South Africa due next month.

In addition, they have a 1-0 test series loss to Australia at home. Whatsoever, with such series results in front, the first thing to take the blame would be the chairman of selectors which would in turn point their fingers undoubtedly towards the 15 member squad. The major decision taken by the selectors in this regard is to drop senior batsman Thilan Samaraweera who, though at present is out of form, has contributed a lot towards Sri Lankan cricket in most of the matches he has played. Moreover, Samaweera is a household name in Sri Lankan cricket, dropping whom needs a reconsideration.

Now, it is being heard that Ajantha Mendis is all set to make a comeback to the Sri Lankan team for the forthcoming series against South Africa. It is believed that Mendis had his name felt ahead of some Suraj Randiv whose name is still yet to reach the ears of cricket fans. It is agreed that Mendis is not in the form that he was some three years down the lane. But, I doubt whether the SLC has any better option but to include Ajantha Mendis? As a matter of fact, even the retired ace spinner Muralitharan was not at his very best in his last few days.

If one can take a look at the current Sri Lankan team that is due to host the Proteas, then it is learned that there are hardly any experienced fast bowlers in the squad with Dilhara Fernando being the lone exception. With Kumara Sangakkara in the team, person who would be keeping wickets behind the stumps would be a new-comer in Kushal Silva may be to prepare him for forthcoming tours that would include the T20 world cup next year. Whatever be the case, one thing that would be evident from the 15 member squad would be that their bowling would suffer like never before.

A last chance slips out from Aussies

2011-11-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

A target of 236 would always be a tough one for any team especially after they were bundled out for less than 100 runs on the board. And, if South Africa have been able to achieve that, then the Aussies are solely to blame with their bowlers not being able to restrict them. There was more than three days of play left meaning the Proteas had more than three days of play left for them to achieve victory over the visiting side. In other words, the proteas had to battle out for three more days on a pitch that saw successive teams getting bowled out for less than 100 runs.

Making matters still worse, Australia were bowled out for even less than 50 runs on the board. And, chasing 236 on that pitch which would have got deteriorated even more after repeated bounce could only be a dream come true for anyone who has been able to do so. Much to anybody's surprise, the pitch looked as though it assisted the batsmen when both the players who took to the crease were found returning with a hundred and remaining unbeaten towards the end. South Africa had won the contest by 8 wickets needless to be said. But, it is a mystery that the match lasted only three days.

I remember Pakistan bowling out the Aussies for a modest total of 127 in late 2009 and towards the end, it was Australia who comprehensively won the match after Mike Hussey laid a steady platform. This was not such a game with both teams having been bowled out for less than hundred runs as mentioned repeatedly. If the first innings of the Aussie batting and the second (last) innings of the South African batting is considered, batting can never be said to be tough. The match is one such confusing game with the pitch doing all sorts of tricks in the second day alone.

One record was bettered by the other with first South Africa bowling out Australia for 47 after they were bowled out for 96 on board. And then, if Shane Watson returned with figures of 5/17, Philander ended with 5-15. South Africa win the contest in all aspects of the game. However, the highlight of the game should be Michael Clarke's 151 which laid the foundation of a huge total of 284 on a pitch needless to be said. The match saw two 5 wicket takers and three century scorers. This will no doubt go down as one of the most confusing tests in history.

Bowler's day out at Cape Town

2011-11-11T05:13:00.000-08:00

It is a matter of the past that Australia are no more the untouchables that they were some 5 years down the lane. But, at the same time, Australia are not even the team that any ordinary team can beat with minimum effort. But, South Africa have repeatedly made that statement false first when they snatched a series victory over the Aussies in 2009 by a margin 2-1 at Australia. Since then there have been three teams who have haunted Australia more than anybody else namely India, England and South Africa. If not for these three teams, the Aussie record is not bad against other teams.

No other team has been able to trouble the Aussies to a greater extent. Of course, Australia is yet to face Pakistan on its home soil and may be that will happen when the Aussie team gets deteriorated to an even greater extent which might take a decade. May be by that time, test cricket would have been restored in Pakistan after security issues would have been cleared. However, in the second day of the Cape Town test between South Africa and Australia saw 23 wickets falling with South Africa facing the heat though it was Australia who made news for all wrong reasons.

The highest individual score from the Aussie side came from the blades of the number 11 batsmen - Nathan Lyon who scored 14 runs. The time for the bowlers were in such a way that the Australian batsmen didn't allow the South African bowlers to bowl even a single extra delivery and much to anybody's surprise, there were no byes and leg-byes as well. If the 96 runs scored by South Africa in their first innings started wagging all the tongues, the Aussies grabbed the headlines when they couldn't even manage even half of that total. This match saw Australia reeling at 21-9.

There can be no words that can describe the Aussie batting which for the first time in the decade saw them flatter for less than 50 runs on the board. South Africa now holds the distinction of bowling out the Aussies twice for a score of less than hundred in both ODIs as well as in tests. One has to crawl through the internet to see where this score lies starting from the bottom of the table. But still, at the end of the day, it is Australia who has an upper hand when they have a 284 total in the first innings.

A mistake made by Smith

2011-11-10T04:46:00.000-08:00

Well the South African captain - Greame Smith no doubt should have considered his decision a million times or else repent regarding the same a million times when he chose to field first in a test match and that too involving Australia against whom he has had a series loss in the ODIs. There are hardly any cases in a test match where a captain wins the toss and chooses to field first because, in most of the cases, the pitch gets deteriorated day by day making it tough for the batsmen. In such a case, anyone who faces the bowlers first will have the initial advantage.

It has been more than two years since South Africa faced Australia be it on their home soil or outside. In the last two times since the two teams have met each other, both of them have walked away with a series. Much to anybody's surprise, South Africa won the series 2-1 in Australia while Australia won the series by the same margin in South Africa in the return series. This time, the series is scheduled at South Africa and if anybody has to go by the history, then it should be Australia walking with the honors. However, that has a long way to go.

In the first day's play at Cape Town, the scorecard clearly suggests that the pitch was a tough one to bat on with the way the Australian batsmen scored losing 8 wickets in between. There was Michael Clarke who scored an unbeaten century and Shaun Marsh who supported by scoring a handy 44 runs. In the end, the Australian run-rate was 3.89 runs an over. Though one side of the story suggests that the pitch was tough for batsmen, there was Michael Clarke who scored runs at a quick pace by ending the day scoring 107* runs from 114 balls.

With rain taking away almost 40 overs of the day's play, a lot of excitement has been stripped off the match making people wait for 24 hours more to see their favorite teams play it out there. One has to congratulate the South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher for claiming his 500^th victim behind the stumps. This was not something achieved by either a batsman or a bowler. Very rarely do wicketkeepers and fieldsmen make news for the good reasons unlike batsmen and bowlers. With none of the wicketkeepers making it to even 400, Boucher's efforts and achievement should never go unnoticed.

Yuvraj Singh on test cricket

2011-11-02T06:19:00.000-07:00

Well this has been one of the most mysteries in international cricket that Yuvraj Singh has had to fight for a place in the test side of the Indian side despite being in the top form in the other two formats of the game. Someone like Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohith Sharma have been able to make it to the test team not only in games involving Bangladesh and that played at India but they have been called in during the Border - Gavaskar trophy in 2008 which was a tough challenge for Indians. The list also includes Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik.

It is agreed that both the above mentioned names have made it to the playing XI as wicketkeepers unlike others who have made it as batsmen. But, one has to doubt whether Yuvraj Singh is a much under-rated batsman compared to the likes of Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli? On the otherhand, someone like Mahendra Singh Dhoni was made the captain of the Indian test squad ahead of Laxman and Sehwag who were seniors compared to Dhoni. No doubt that Dhoni has been able to fulfill the commitments to the fullest extent may be even more than what Laxman and Sehwag would have achieved.

However, the discussion here once again asks whether Yuvraj Singh needs multiple reconsideration for his place in the test squad? This is one of those rare cases where bowlers have an upper hand compared to batsmen when they have been able to make it to the test team in the initial stages of their career while batsmen fail to do it even after years of them making their debut in international cricket. Irfan Pathan debuted in one of the most important series namely the Border - Gavaskar trophy 2003/04 and should consider himself lucky enough to have the wicket of Steve Waugh.

So was the case with people like Ishanth Sharma, who was chosen for the same Border - Gavaskar trophy four years later in 2008. But,m Yuvraj Singh was made to warm the benches in the same tournament if not for a couple of games. Despite making his international debut in 2000, it took almost four years for Yuvraj Singh to play his first test match against New Zealand which was nonetheless a miserable one with him getting limited opportunity there and was once for all sacked for the Australian tour that year. But, that has not been the case regarding Sehwag.

Jesse Ryder is just confusing

2011-11-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well the latest from the world of cricket we learn is that the New Zealand captain Ross Taylor insists that the injury prone New Zealand (obviously) ~~batsman bowler~~ player has to restrict himself from bowling (no matter what sort of deliveries) owing to an injury in his calf muscle which has off-late been successful in having Ryder warm the benches during the first and the only test against Zimbabwe at Bulwayo which will be starting in a couple of moments from now onwards. This, we understand that happened during a warm up game against the same that he encountered the injury while bowling at nets.

Injuries can happen anywhere and at anytime and last but not the least to anyone and Jesse Ryder is no exception. But, the news is that Jesse Ryder happens to battle injuries more than battling the opposition out there in the middle since late last year and to be more precise in the series against India in India. Jesse Ryder missed the one day series against India last year owing to the same calf muscle injury. Ahead of that, there were problems for Ryder with his elbow and abductor muscle. Still that should not be a problem for New Zealand and once again, injuries do not follow any routine.

But, when Jesse Ryder happens to battle injuries and that too career threatening ones, one has to have a close look at his type of play which suggests that Jesse Ryder is a medium fast bowler and bowls occasionally and not a full time bowler say like Daniel Vettori and Shane Bond. On the otherhand, he is a batsmen who gets in at number six at which time either winning the match or else losing the same would have been a certainty. It is just amazing to see such a player battling injuries and that too more frequently. Just confusing!

The batsman until now has played only 37 one dayers and 16 test matches. And now, this has become a reason of concern for the Kiwi captain Ross Taylor who wants to keep Ryder away from bowling. One has to wonder what makes Taylor worry about the absence of the bowling of Ryder when there are other bowlers who can do the job for New Zealand and with Ryder being a part-time bowler, the job gets reduced a little bit. It should not be a worry if Ryder misses the test against Zimbabwe when there are better and challenging games coming ahead.

This is what over-confidence makes

2011-10-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

Well the one-off T20 match between India and England was just another instance of one team over estimating itself and in the process taking the opposition or granted. This time, it was not a hare-tortoise story that was the case with India but this was a result of the wrong selection of the playing XI which proved costly for India. The match definitely was a costly one for India where the loss was not restricted to one match alone but was as good as a series loss where India lost all the T20 games it played. Loss record for India is 100% in the T20 tournament against England this series.

Though only one T20 game was played, a loss in that means India lost 100% of its matches. Coming to the game, it was not a good decision to include someone like Robin Uttappa in the playing XI when one has to take a long route to trace back when exactly did Uttappa last play an international T20 match. That was not a bad decision as well when Uttappa has been a player on the to be included lists but, yesterday's scorecard says it all. All that Uttappa could score was a single before Kieswetter caught him behind the stumps.

There have been matches in this bilateral series where huge totals have been chased down but there have been no games where small totals have been defended successfully. And, with that fact in front of us, it should come in as no surprise that a total of 120 stood nowhere when it comes to chasing and England did exactly that. Though Suresh Raina was successful to a little extent, the batsman with the highest strike-rate happened to be Ashwin who scored 17 runs at a strike rate of 154.54 runs. The generosity of the Indian batsmen was evident when they gave away 2 overs maiden.

There was surprisingly nothing much to complain about the English batsmen when they had the match well in their chance. Thanks to the total of 120 set up by the Indian batsmen which didn't make any of the English batsmen to fear for. Though here were initial strikes of Hales and Kieswetter, the batsmen who came in later had little to do with most of the damage being done by the bowlers. One can go through the scorecard to see who the major wicket-takers were. If not for Jadeja, the rest of the players who returned with a wicket were part-time bowlers.

England had come to lose

2011-10-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

It is nothing but a well sought after loss to England when they couldn't even come close to the target of 272 despite at one stage of the game being in a comfortable position at 129-0. With such a start, most of the teams in the ICC's list would have played a spoilsport to a team that had plans to whitewash their opposition rather than support the same. Keeping that initial grip apart, England could manage only 47 runs from 15 overs at a run-rate of just over 3.00 runs an over. One has to doubt whether it was the same England who whitewashed India on their previous tour.

With such a dismal performance, it is difficult to say where the problem lies with England. Was it because of the fact that the powerplay got over which was responsible for their batting debacle or was it that the Indian bowlers got their rhythm only after the 21^st over or last but not the least, if not for their openers, no one had come prepared for the game? One can understand the problem the English batsmen have playing spin bowling under sub-continent conditions. But, if someone like Ashwin and Jadeja can tackle players with a decade old experience, there can be little said about such team.

There were the likes of Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara who could have done a bit to save some face for their team. Earlier as well, things didn't go on as smoothly for the Indian batsmen when Gautam Gambhir and Rahane had to be patient when facing the new ball. In the end, it was Dhoni's quickfire 75* runs that saw the Indian total cross the 250 run mark. In my opinion, Mahendra Singh Dhoni should have been the man of the match along with Ravindra Jadeja. But, Jadeja was also not a bad choice for the award.

First of all, it was a wrong decision to allow the hosts to bat on a pitch that was tough for the batsmen which was evident when hard hitting batsmen like Dhoni and Gambhir had to fight with patience initially until the could settle down. Due to that mistake from Alistair Cook, Dhoni and with that India got the advantage of slog overs towards the end of the innings which Dhoni efficiently used. But still, losing 9 wickets for 47 runs speaks it all for England to have got used to losing or donated the match to India. With a T20 game left, one has to see whether India can make it 6-0.

A totally clueless England

2011-10-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

Looking at yesterday's game between India and England, one has to pinch himself to see whether it was a dream that he was witnessing when India crushed England yet another time despite winning the series for the fourth consecutive time to return the favor back to the touring nation. That was not the Indian team with the likes of Sehwag and Yuvraj doing the trick with the bat but some Varun Aaron whose name was felt only yesterday when he grabbed 3 wickets returning with a spell that read 6.1-1-24-3. As an Indian cricket fan I wish there were more than 5 games.

Had the series been a 7 match one, India would have made history when they would have become the first ever team to have won all their matches in a 7 match one day series. Players like Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin make their names felt only once in a blue moon. But, against a team like England and especially yesterday, they had their ball do the talking. Though Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar proved comparatively costly with the ball, they had a wicket against their names and an over maiden. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were the most successful bowlers with 3 and 2 wickets respectively.

It was confusing whether the pitch aided the bowlers or the batsmen when India were on the top in both the departments while England were at the receiving end in both. Had the pitch aided the batsmen, England, with the likes of Pietersen, Cook and Bopara should have made it count. But, all England could manage was 220 on the board finishing their innings with 4 more overs still to go. And, had the pitch been a bowler's paradise, then still the Indian batsmen should not have seen the match end with 10 more overs still to go. Does England have an answer?

India had three quick wickets falling when Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane and Parthiv Patel fell early. Thanks to Greame Swann who grabbed three wickets out of the four that fell to see at least one English bowler returning successful. With that initial success, though a win was far from reach, the match should not have ended so early when there were ten more overs left. May be the English captain wanted to prove that England batsmen played more than the Indian batsmen could manage. To put an end to the sweet revenge, all India now require is a win in the fifth ODI and a win in the one-off T20 match.

Bet..Bet..& Bet

2011-10-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

Well what and how does it matter which sport you are watching when it is only betting which you are interested in? The only thing that should bother you at present is which online betting site you are into so that the bet which you aspire for is worth the time and excitement you put in. However, if one would ask me regarding betting sites, I can show you hundreds with the latest one being the one which has been linked above a couple of lines above. I Have kept myself away from betting sites and was forced to take to one for that was what I was looking for since months altogether.

You can go through the posts that have been written on this blog which hardly has got anything to do with sports betting since the past four months or so. The reason behind all these is nothing but the fact that I just couldn't get any such sports betting site like the one which I have linked above. However, now the curse seems to have come to an end with me finding the site which I am happy to share with you guys whatsoever. Still not enough to write about the same.

The site which I have mentioned above on this post has little got to do with cricket betting and instead has got something to do with horse racing which people would have rarely come across in today's world which is filled with golf and soccer to a big extent. I was happy that I could share with you readers something about horse racing tips which until then even I wasn't aware of. Though I personally have little craze about the sport, that might not be the case with you. Try it once and you'll write a post yourself about the sport.

No total is big for Dhoni's men

2011-10-21T23:46:00.000-07:00

It is now a matter of past that India have won the series after won the third ODI at Mohali yesterday when they were the favorites to not only win the series but also to whitewash the England team that is touring the sub-continent nation. Yesterday, needless to be said, India beat England after chasing a total in excess of 300 for yet another time. It is non countable the number of times India have successfully chased down a 300+ total in one dayers. The only difference between the third ODI and the previous two one dayers was that this time England put up a better performance with the bat.

For a change, Alistair Cook who did the damage to a little extent with the bat was found to crash when he fell with the scoreboard reading just 8 runs with his contribution being 3. However, the incoming batsmen did a fab job by bringing up a total of 298 which may was the maximum the English batsmen could manage at least in this series. But, needless to be said, that total was too less for the likes of Dhoni, Jadeja and co when they had the target with four balls to go and with 5 wickets still in hand.

It is obvious for someone like Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli to inflict a damage on the opposition bowlers. But,for a change, even some Ajinkya Rahane was able to do the same along with a decent support given by Parthiv Patel from the other end. Rahane scored 91 which was his maiden effort that won a match for India and was awarded the man of the match. Earlier in the day, it is not sure whether Dhoni was experimenting with his bowlers when he repeatedly tossed the ball to Umesh Yadav who went in for over 7.00 runs an over.

Luckily, for Dhoni and India, all those bowlers who did not bowl their full quota of 10 overs had a wicket against their name when Kohli, Vinay Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja returned with a wicket each. The England captain was never found taking any sort of risk when he didn't hand the ball to Ravi Bopara despite going for just 4.00 runs an over. Four bowlers from England completed their quota of 10 overs which proved costly for them. Everything apart, if someone like Rahane, Parthiv Patel etc start scoring quick runs, the caliber of the England has to come under scrutiny.

Sweet revenge 1 for India

2011-10-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

It is needless to be said about the way Indians will take on the English team on their return series to India where they are scheduled to play 5 one dayers and one T20 game. Luckily for England, there will be no test matches to worry about. Had this been something similar to the Ashes, they would have retained the title for a mere 2 months before surrendering the same to India. Yesterday, at Hyderabad India registered a first win against England by 126 runs which was more than any margin of victory for both teams in the last two series played against each other.

The English bowlers had absolutely no answers to the helicopter shot by Mahendra Singh Dhoni who top scored with 87 and was awarded the man of the match. There were contributions from other batsmen as well that included Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Gautam Gambhir to a greater extent. The only bowler from England who tasted success a little bit was Graeme Swann who had an over maiden and a wicket to his name. Of course, even Steven Finn and Jade Dernbach also returned with a wicket but were at the same time belted for more than 6.0 runs an over.

If the batsmen did their work by scoring runs and keeping the scoreboard ticking, even the bowlers were not short of performing their duty when no bowler bowled his complete quota of 10 overs and still saw all 10 wickets from England tumbling as though it was a day 5 of a test match. If not for Alistair Cook, no other batsmen had a worthy contribution with the bat though Jonathan Trott stayed there at the crease for a decent amount of time. 6 out of the eleven English batsmen who made it to the crease (obviously) returned back scoring single digit scores.

England's innings got over with close to 15 overs of their game still to go. Scorecard suggests that only Praveen Kumar had an over maiden under his name though other bowlers were no short in tackling their opposition. Umesh Yadav was the most expensive bowler who gave away runs at a rate of 6.40 runs an over which can be forgiven, given India's victory over the trouble torn team and with Umesh Yadav being in his early cricketing days. The first six in the English innings came from the blades of the number 10 batsman - Steven Finn who luckily remained unbeaten.

A last smile on English faces

2011-10-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

I have written in my last post regarding the way Western teams struggle on their tour to the sub-continent and England being one among them, their days of misery will soon start with the first ODI scheduled on 14^th of this month at the same venue where England have won two games on the trot against Hyderabad Associations XI with the second match having a huge margin of 253 runs. Needless to be said, there are no teasers for the team who have lost and I personally congratulate the Hyderabad Associations XI for sacrificing for a good cause by losing both the games.

There was absolutely no chance of the domestic team winning over an international team but, had England beaten Hyderabad Associations' XI without the services of Pietersen and co, one might have considered their guts before facing the real threat. There are hardly any chances of England grabbing even one game away from the Indians which will see the likes of Gambhir and Zaheer Khan making a comeback after they were ruled out of their previous tour to England. The match that happened yesterday would no doubt be cheered by the tourists who would be thinking of achieving a milestone here.

England have in the past done it against the West Indies when they won both series, one at home and the other away without losing a single test. But, India is no West Indies and no matter how bad the team has been, hardly any team from the West has been able to trouble India on their home soil. The only team that has been able to do so has been Pakistan and no one else. Of course, South Africa have tasted victory on Indian soil in the 90s when they were the favorites under the leadership of late Hansie Cronje.

Jonny Bairstow scored a quickfire 104 from just 53 balls which would have been a bowler's nightmare had it been in an international match. 7 bowlers from Hyderabad were looking helpless with most of the hits going out of the fence in one way or the other. With all that at stake, there was one bowler in Medhi Hassan who scalped 3 wickets out of the four that fell. In the end, England put up a better performance compared to their previous one and Hyderabad put up a more dismal performance by playing one over less than what they could manage in the previous game.

England yet to face the heat

2011-10-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

Beating any sub-continent team especially India on their home soil definitely needs a lot of talent and effort regarding which Steve Waugh would be the best man to tell you. And, keeping in mind England's whitewash over India just a couple of months back and their most recent 56 run victory over Hyderabad Cricket Association XI might just make them take the Indian players for granted which does not happen to be the case more often. Despite India being an ordinary team in the 90s, Aussies had it tough to even win a single test match in India. And, the caliber of England team need not be cited specially.

Yesterday at Hyderabad, England won the match by 56 runs as mentioned above. That was a state team with none of the players having making it to the Indian team whatsoever. Winning against such a outplayed team needs no effort of any sort which is needless to be said. There were no bowlers of the caliber of Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra to bowl the English batsmen and no Harbhajan Singh to confuse the same. At the same time, the likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar were found missing from the playing XI. This was a decent way of welcoming England who are guests here.

With all those advantages going England's way, they could not post a decent total when all they could score was just 219 on the board. This was included with 5 wickets falling even before the scoreboard reading 100 runs for England. Scoring for England started from the number 5 batsmen when Ravi Bopara top scored with 73. Added to that, the English batsmen were bowled out in the 48^th over which is another drawback for the guests. Looking at the scorecard, it is evident that none of the players' names have been heard before by Indian cricket fans who are followers of the game.

Let alone any international match, the names of those players who welcomed the England team didn't even make their presence felt in domestic tournaments also like the IPL. There was no point in highlighting the Hyderabad's closure of their innings in the 37^th over itself with Hyderabad winding their innings scoring just 163 runs to fall short by 56 runs. However, I don't find any point in Hyderabad winning the game with there being no man of the match award in the match. None of the teams would have gained anything by winning or losing the match. In the end, England should think twice before taking Indians for granted.

Is yours a payday loan?

2011-06-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

Well the title of the post has hardly got to do with my topic of cricket but, sometimes I tell you it really gets inevitable for me to blog about something new when the topic is as interesting as it is the case now. Rather than citing the way I found this payday loans online site, let me just get into the area of concern which could be the case regarding your day-to-day activities. Loans are required by all of us irrespective of our financial standards with reasons varying from the most essential to just for the sake of it.

It is not a tough job for anyone to get instant payday loans with so many out there. But, choosing the best from the lot definitely takes time. I don't say that the site which I'm referring here is the best but, I can assure you that you can't get payday loans no faxing anywhere else but here. Rather than going in for more options, I'd suggest you to go for the one that saves your time, stops you from thinking hard and finally the one which fulfills your needs regarding a payday loan. So, stop searching and get going.

From cricket to li'l bit of soccer

2011-06-03T06:57:00.000-07:00

Well if anybody is looking for a cricket related article here, I have to apologize for not keeping up to the same when my view has temporarily shifted from cricket to soccer and mind you it is just for the time being. With India planning its next adventure of the West Indies and Sri Lanka traveling to England with already a test match gone the England's way, my focus will definitely shift back to cricket no matter what. It was when I was looking for a sports betting sit (especially cricket) that I accidentally came across soccer sports betting site.

Though I didn't get the subject what I was looking for, I definitely got something worth my time despite dialing a wrong number. I could hardly think about something like the NHL sports betting when my focus has most of the times been on cricket and no other site. But, I still assure you guys out there that soccer is a far better game compared to cricket for the challenges what the game offers. Soccer is not partial like cricket which is most of the time favoring the batsmen with other departments hardly preferred. However, betting on a soccer game is tough unlike cricket.

With every moment of the soccer game making its viewers more and more curious, betting can get as tough as it can be. And, with something that is challenging being more interesting, the lack of it is nothing but boring. And in case you are looking for soccer betting, once again I bet there can be no other site other than the one I have linked above. In case you find one, please let me know and I'll have that blogged about. And, my suggestion however is not to waste time in finding any other soccer betting site better than this. Rest is upto you.

Will Harbhajan's dream be relished?

2011-06-02T06:19:00.000-07:00

Well it is or has always been an accepted theory that only batsmen make good captains while bowlers rarely get the chance to captain their side. This was the case some 7 years back when Sourav Ganguly was forced to opt out of the tournament against Pakistan and Rahul Dravid was made the captain of the then Indian side which saw wins in the first test followed by a defeat in the second. However, Ganguly returned back for the third test which saw India register another innings win against arch rivals-Pakistan. Then, there were two batsmen who captained the Indian side.

That tournament was famous for Virender Sehwag's (India's) maiden triple hundred when he smashed all the Pakistani bowlers-Saqlain especially all over the ground at Multan. That apart, coming to the point, news on the web is that the Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh is keen to captain the Indian side which is now on its all time high after their world cup win exactly two months back. But, his dream seems far from being relished when it has been only batsmen who are found to captain the side. However, the Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori becomes an exception. Or else, no other bowler seems to hold the tag.

The other side of the debate also has wicket keepers making good captains like Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Similarly there were quite a few players like Andy Flower and Moin Khan who captained their side as well as kept wickets. But, the lone sufferers have been the bowlers and of course fielders. But, with known fielders hardly available and no other name but Jonty Rhodes making it to the list, fielders can be kept out of the list. Of course, even Jonty Rhodes didn't captain the South African side. Another bowler who made it to the elite list was Shaun Pollock.

Or else, the names which captained their sides were Shahid Afridi, Andrew Struass, Dhoni, Chris Gayle etc who were all batsmen or rather all-rounders, Dhoni being a wicketkeeping allrounder. But, despite being successful bowlers, players like Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Javgal Srinath etc never got a chance to captain their side. There have been successful bowlers like Wasim Akram, Daniel Vettori, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev etc who have been successful captains. And someone like Sachin Tendulkar is the worst captain India has ever seen no matter how gr8 a batsman he is. With the trends showing no signs of reversing, the question left unanswered is whether Harbhajan's dream ever be relished

Rehabilitate yourself in case u belong to this club

2011-06-01T06:06:00.000-07:00

Well I have in the past as well on this blog written about various drug rehabilitation programs like the one listed in Santa Cruz drug rehab and I don't cite anything as the best of the lot for, any program you might find interesting is a good sign that may bring your lost glory back. I may have or may not have introduced the site dealing with any sorts of drug rehabilitation to you before and in case I have, there is nothing wrong in telling your friends once more, for this could help someone recover from an ill habit that acts as a slow poison in his personal as well as family life.

I was forced by a friend of mine who lost his beloved brother who had got addicted to drinking habit and being unable to get rid of the habit had to get rid of his own life. And since then, I have had many such sites ringing the bell and none of them are the best nor are anyone behind the other. They all stand equal place and are worthy having your hands into. All these site are believed to have been started with a commercial motive and unable to bear the brunt, have all decided to go in for a social cause leaving the commercial aspect behind.

Of course, this is not the site that would interest me or you but, there may be someone who is in need of only such a site which can help someone save a life from this slow and dreadful poison. Anything that crosses the limit needs a break and when you or anybody else is having a problem of over drinking, may be a visit to this site may prove worthy of a lot of time you have spent in getting it underneath. This need not be alcoholic alone instead other drug addicts can also try these. Help yourself and then you can help others who are dependent on you.

No more blind slogging

2011-05-31T05:45:00.000-07:00

Well a person who had made news for the right as well as the wrong reasons has decided to call it a day when yesterday the Pakistani slogger-Shahid Afridi quits international cricket. This would mean most of the major cricketing websites would focus on his three fastest hundreds that came against three sub-continent nations namely Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. But, speaking facts, Shahid Afridi's absence in the Pakistani batting line up should boost up their middle order for, Shahid Afridi is no way better than some Shoaib Akthar or any other tail end batsmen when it comes to batting.

With so many beautiful shots out there like the cover-drive, the on-drive and much more, Shahid Afridi ~~has~~ had only one shot-just blindly whip the bat and in case it makes contact with the ball you have six runs added to your credit. And, in case the ball nicks the edge of the bat, the slip fielder would be having one more catch to his credit and that is all. In that regard, Shahid Afridi is a batsman one of his kind. Even tail end batsmen would think a dozen times before going in for a shot unlike Shahid Afridi from Pakistan.

We can remember the Australian nightwatchman Jason Gillespie who got a double hundred against Bangladesh which is too much for his standard as a batsman. It was just the helplessness of the Pakistan Crickat Board (PCB) which hardly had any option but to crown Afridi as the Pakistani captain for the 2011 world cup. Afridi should consider himself to be lucky for, he was the captain of the Pakistan side which defeated Australia after their unbeaten 36 match streak and made it to the finals after Waqar Younis and Inzamam (who were better captains compared to Shahid Afridi) could not manage.

Irrespective of the situation his team was in, Shahid Afridi took no serious responsibility of his team and used to slog blindly. The three fastest hundreds out of his six centuries should be nothing but fluke. On the other hand, his bowling had a good amount of variation and used to deceive even the most awesome batsmen which saw him bag two five wicket hauls and an equal number of four wicket hauls in the recently concluded world cup. When most of his fans expected him to showcast his power with the bat, he kept them in suspense when his ball listened to him rather then his bat.

Its raining offers

2011-05-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well tonight the finals of the Indian Premier League got over and sadly, along with the tournament, the team which I support-the Royal Challengers Bangalore happened to be on the losing side which didn't evoke any interest in me to blog about either the tournament or the game. Instead, I just thought whether I could find something new on the web rather than thinking about the spilled milk. And as a result of this, I have come out with the post you are right now reading. Being unable to hide my anxiety and not ready to keep you guessing, better I introduce you to godaddy hosting.

This may not be the one you would be looking for in a cricket blog but, this is something that any of you if not all would love doing in case you are in deep relation with the internet. Just imagine how interesting it would it be in case you are having your own website at the cheapest of all the prices but not cheapest of quality? Well, in case you are keeping your mouth wide open after reading the subject, just relax. It is no surprise or dream that everyone including you can host your own website be it simple or hi-fi.

If you are anxious about hosting your own website I wish you better go in for the godaddy coupon wherein you can cash in the best of their services. Upon visiting the site you would once again be surprised to find the hell lot of offers lined up just for you. As an enthusiast, I just couldn't zero in on my needs with so many out there. But, if this is possible, may be you are quite lucky. So, the next time you think of owning a website, it would not be some wordpress dot com instead it would be your domain.

I will always put club before country:Gambhir

2011-05-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

Well with so much money and fame involved by being an Indian cricketer, anybody would like to become one. If one doe not get my idea clearly, then referring to Parthiv Patel, Sreesanth etc will prove worthy. One can easily guess why Sreesanth is famous for when his bowling has got nothing to do with the news what he makes for. It is not only these two but the entire lot of Indian cricketers who are bagging good money by featuring themselves in ads and playing in the IPL. No doubt that India won the ICC world cup this year by beating Sri Lanka.

But, more than just talent and support from their fans, it was the money that fascinated the Indian players to do something more for themselves keeping in mind the rewards they get in case they manage to do it big. Of course, that is obvious that everything needs an inspiration and with the Indian players enjoying such a kind of inspiration should not be underestimated for, they bought home something which no other team has been able to since the past 28 years. So has been the case some 4 years ago when the same team lifted the world T20 at South Africa.

It was only after he big money started after the team's victory in the world T20 that India started winning games when they won the Commonwealth Bank series in 2007/08 and a bilateral series against Pakistan. Now, Gautam Gambhir has preferred to lean towards his country rather than his club cricket despite his words speaking opposite from the actions what he has taken. A player who has pulled himself out of the tour to West Indies owing to a shoulder injury had no problems playing in the IPL. So was the case with Dhoni who wanted a break from cricket only after the IPL got over last year.

Last year as well after the IPL got over, most of the Indian players called themselves off from the triangular tour involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe which India failed to make it to the finals despite Zimbabwe being an easy target. India have to learn lessons from Australia who even after their world cup triumph in 2003 had their full fledged squad that toured the West Indies soon after. The list included all hit names like Glenn McGrath, Damien Martyn, Hayden etc who had every reason to take a break from cricket after playing for so long successfully. Even Sri Lanka fares better in this aspect.

When names have their say

2011-05-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

Well break from cricket means something other than the game when my favourite team-the Royal Challengers Bangalore lost yesterday's game by a whisker that was 2 balls long. That disappointment was overshadowed by the site wherein I got to know about shelf corporations and how helpful could it prove to me as well as to others that include you as well. Before one can start with, it is important to know what shelf corporations is all about and for that a click will take you to the site that shows how best you can use shelf corporations with credit which even I wasn't aware of until then.

However, if you are not aware of what it is, a visit to the site will give you all the necesary info on the topic. With so many company names available, the best one that suits your needs can be picked out from no other site but the one which promises shelf corporations for sale and this I bet can be found nowhere but in the one where the preceding click will lead you to. This was what I was looking for before I could get started with the blog you are reading in front of your computer.

Is Dhoni the new Ricky Ponting?

2011-05-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday, the Indian captain and to be more precise at present, the Chennai Superkings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is all set to take the stage in the finals of the Indian Premier League for the third time and second time in succession. Likewise, he is the only captain and his team is the only team (obviously) to have made it to the semi finals (qualifiers this time around) of an IPL. This was something that only Dhoni can boast of and nobody else. Dhoni has all reasons and his team all the odds to make it two in a row.

With just four editions of the Indian Premier League gone and with ten teams at present to compete, there are teams in the waiting as well to gain atleast one such title. Dhoni on one side should be lucky to have beaten the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the right time when just a couple of days ago the same RCB destroyed the Chennai Superkings by 8 wickets. The venue hardly matters when the country is foreign to all non Indian players and local to players from India who have played in almost every venue that hosted matches in the IPL.

It was just more than a month ago that India-under the captaincy of the same Dhoni won the world cup at Wankhade stadium that set so many records and just 8 months ago that lifted the champions league trophy where they met the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the semi-finals like yesterday. Notable feathers in Dhoni's cap would be the inaugural edition of the world T20 at South Africa, runners-up in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League, winners in the 2010 IPL and finalists of the current edition of the IPL (which would see them may be as runners-up or winners).

I can just correlate this feat of Dhoni's to the former Aussie captain-Ricky Ponting who has has many tournament wins against his name when he captained the Australian team since the retirement of Steve Waugh in 2002. Notable achievements of Ponting include the two major world cup titles in 2003 and 2007, two ICC champions trophies in 2006 and 2009, beating India (in India) 2-1 in the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2004, 5-0 whitewash of England in Ashes 2007 and finally winning 21 one dayers at a stretch and 16 consecutive test matches. This can rarely be paralleled but one can see a glimpse of the same in Dhoni.

Wear this and feel the difference

2011-05-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

Well in today's market, one is able to get access to all kinds of sports clothing with prices varying from the most expensive ones to throw away ones and so the quality of the clothing that he or she prefers to go with. But, one thing that is well recited is greater the quality, greater the price and so is its converse. Anyone who promises you cheap clothes will at the same time be compromising with the quality at the same time. But, a little bit of compromise with its quality is at times recommended when the sports clothing gets worn out soon.

And if you are still stubborn with both the price and its quality, then the only stop you've got to go for is JKL Sports. Come in and check out your sports cloting in terms of quality, price, durability, footwear, accessories and what not. But, have a considerable amount of time before you surf the site for, it has got lots of choices which leave you in a dilemma as to which one to go in for. That was my experience and yours might not be any different. If you think otherwise, let us have a bet? Have the guts to do so!

Sri Lanka dare not to overstep

2011-05-24T06:12:00.001-07:00

Well if one side of the incident where a Sri Lankan team bus gets targeted by terrorists on March 1^st 2009 makes us feel insecure, sometimes the same thing makes us laugh for the Sri Lankan team being so stupid to tour the trouble torn nation. No doubt that the match was heding towards a thrilling finish before the unexpected happened. This was one such situation where a match happened to be abandoned not due to rain or bad weather but due to terror attacks. The overall blame and responsibility totally lied on the Sri Lankan team for reasons mentioned above.

There was absolutely no reason not only for Sri Lanka but for anybody who is scheduled to play in Pakistan at that time when the country was fresh from major terror attacks and warnings regarding the same. That was the time when all major cricketing nations pulled themselves back from their tours of Pakistan that included the likes of Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, England and the West Indies. It was India who were about to tour Pakistan and after the Mumbai attacks took place, India became the 6^th country to join the elite list who didn't want to risk their lives.

It was more than one year from the date the attack on the Sri Lankan team bus took place that all the aforementioned nations canceled their tour to Pakistan that Pakistan had stopped hosting cricket on its soil. That is one such record that only Pakistan alone can boast of. Of course, India's reason not to tour Pakistan was rivalry between the countries rather than security concerns in Pakistan. It was in that tour that India was replaced by Sri Lanka and the ~~unexpected~~ expected took place at Lahore. Likewise, there has been egg throwing incidents in Australia when Muttiah Muralitharan happened to be a victim.

But, that could have been forgiven and so would have been the LTTE blast near the team hotel when a triangular series involving Sri Lanka, India and South Africa was scheduled to take place. And, two years after the incident has taken place, once again concerns are raised regarding the security situation in Pakistan by the same team that witnessed live horror then. If anybody can go through the latest news about Pakistan, the Sri Lankan team can look no further before deciding whether to or not to tour Pakistan. May be, if they do so, the players can never be given another chance to think.

A festival and not only a solution

2011-05-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

Well if a cricket blogger has not been able to post anything serious about the game and instead decides in posting something else, curiosity definitely arises among readers as to what on earth has prompted him to do so. And, in case that thing happens to be a blast, than readers pour in from nowhere. This post has got to do exactly this when I introduce you to the world of femtocell solutions which until now was something new and strange to me as well like it is to you.

I never know what a femtocell was all about until I came across this site and in addition happened to go through each and every site that has got to do with femtocells. But, all my efforts went in vain as I could hardly find anything better than the one I have linked above in this site. So, don't waste your time in finding a better site when you have got one in your hand.

Only the amount will tell

2011-05-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well I just can't figure out why anybody on earth has to justify himself when he has caused no harm to others in anyway and this happened recently when I read the news about New Zealand cricket denying any reports that suspects them to have forced the retired Sri Lankan off spinner Muttiah Muralitharaan to play for his country's domestic season where he would be turning up for Wellington. Once again it has to be stupid when Larsen says "Muralitharan loves touring New Zealand" . Why should that comment come in between his appointment and his love for the country?

When the Sri Lankan off spinner has called it a day from test cricket almost a year ago when he played against India and bid a farewell to the limited overs cricket once again against India in the finals at Mumbai, who has the right to ask the off spinner what he has decided to go about in his life after cricket? What better work does Muralitharan got to do after he has ended his international cricketing career? If at all he can do something now, it is play for some domestic teams and that to as long as his mind and body supports him.

At present, Muralitharan is now spending his time playing for Kochi Tuskers Kerala with his contribution to his team and his fans not so important at the moment. I really do not have the patience to go through any major cricket sites to check out for how much the Sri Lankan off spinner signed. But, I can just guess that the amount that Muralitharan would be receiving from KTK would be fairly large compared to what the authorities of New Zealand cricket would have paid him to play for Wellington. When the Kochi team owners can declare their payment one has to wonder why not the NZC?

It is the matter of the past that Muttiah Muralitharan is the leading wicket taker in the world in both forms of the game. But, Muralitharan was never the match winner that he was in the recently concluded world cup in the sub-continent. Having signed up Muralitharan is as god as signing up someone else and for that one need not hide their anxiety and give lame excuses over his recruitment. How would it matter for how much has Muralitharan been signed for by NZC? By the way, the exact amount that Murali was signed for is not revealed. Has he been paid a bomb that the NZC is fear of drawing in criticism? Well this is just for the sake of curiosity.

Is 3 minute more precious than a bad decision

2011-05-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

Well when I refer to some bad decision above in the title of the post, it need not be necessarily related to the onfield cricket umpire's decision but instead has got to do with credit repair services. The game of cricket is played by cricketers on the field but the game of life is being played by all of us with bad decision not delivered by umpires but ourselves when we choose the wrong path to find our destiny. Wrong decision by the on-field umpires only troubles a team or a player but a bad decision has no fingers to point to but to ourselves. Better have a mirror if you are into it.

If a credit service is something what we enjoy using, the wrong one will definitely enjoy seeing you suffer. But, that might not be the case if you are into the credit repair service that I have shown here. May be there are other credit service outside this but what makes you go for other sites when they have the same feature to offer compared to the site that I have shown? Let the credit service be a blessing in your business and not a curse. For that, just click above.

How does it matter who leads England

2011-05-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

Well the breaking news is that England have named two different captains for two limited overs format of the game with Stuart Broad having to lead the side for T20 games while Alistair Cook will henceforth take care of England's one day games. Though this news hardly sparks of any sort of debate, people keeping their fingers crossed are just countable. At least as a cricket blogger, I have no other option but to shed some words regarding the selection or appointment. The tag "No Police State Girls blog" just doesn't seem to go too well with me whatsoever at this moment.

The result of the latest development in England cricket was due to the fact that their then captain Andrew Strauss wants to focus completely on his test career while Paul Collingwood has nothing to say about his T20 career. And, Paul Collingwood has every reason to justify himself when he bought home the country's first glory since decades of cricket that included failures, just misses and chokes. Collingwood's feat was achieved after England had three workld cup finals without a win along with an ICC champion's trophy that too ending up as runners-up. If South Africans would be reading this, they'd just breathe free.

The chokers tag is not totally restricted to South Africa alone and England also have an equal share in it. Coming to the point, one has to rather concentrate on the entire team of England which are in doldrums at present with their latest such thing evident in the world cup. England failed to win matches against Bangladesh and Ireland despite posting a stiff target of 327 on the board against the latter and having the opposition reeling at 111/5 at one stage. Of course, England were able to rarely regain and defend the Ashes on the previous two occasions but that is regarding their test cricket.

Right now, it has to be the entire England team and not just the captain alone whom the ECB needs to focus on. If not for their T20 win last year, England have gone back to their old ways of leaving things half way when they had just one T20 tournament against Pakistan and test series' against the same though which England won convincingly, their body language didn't speak for them. They beat both Pakistan and Australia with destiny favoring them by not having matches against other teams like Sri Lanka and India against whom their real myth is evaluated.

After a long time

2011-05-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

I'm hardly finding time to know what is happening in the ongoing fourth edition of the Indian Premier League though my mind starves for the same. But, with my busy schedule demanding everything and anything from me, that is the maximum that I can do in that regard whatsoever. I just cannot recall when last I have watched an IPL match or any of my favorite television shows be it on the internet or otherwise. But, despite my schedule being so busy as mentioned earlier, there is something which attracts me towards itself and that is nothing but free keno which you will be reading about in the next couple of minutes.

I have earlier as well written about this whenever the on field cricketing action is stripped from its flavor or is as boring as it can get. But, this time the case is neither because, any edition of the Indian Premier League always maintains its caliber and flavor and so was the bilateral series between Australia and Bangladesh which saw one of the greatest cricketing action with Shane Watson belting the Bangladeshi bowlers all over the ground 15 times. Inspite all these, if free roulette has been able to maintain its caliber, no words can describe it.

At a time when I was looking for casino bonuses, the site came in much handy for me when most of them what I had sought for happened to be in that site. Though this may not be what you are looking for in a cricket blog, one click on the above link might just turn your dislikes into likes. And, I bet you will be looking for more such site in the days to come once you have seen what I have seen earlier and written about not. Wanna bet!

West Indies get what they've begged for

2011-05-05T02:49:00.000-07:00

Well it might have just come in as a surprise for all those curious fans of West Indies cricket out there when their favorite team inflicted a 10 wicket defeat on Pakistan yesterday at Guyana. But, to me who has been following the West Indies cricket from the past decade, this should come in as no surprise with the series already decided two one dayers back with Pakistan leaving absolutely no stone unturned in their approach against the West Indies. Of course, the West Indies earlier in the tournament beaten Pakistan in a game that was cut short at Bridgetown.

That was in the 4^th one day international by which time West Indies had already meekly surrendered to the Pakistan team no matter where they were playing them. West Indies had lost the series 3-0 to Pakistan after the touring country had taken an unassailable lead in the five match one day series. Added to that would be the fact that the game was truncated to 30 overs after Pakistan had scored 248 runs on the board. Though not enough in today's limited overs cricket, the total was far from enough when the opposition they were facing came into consideration.

One can see the West Indian cricketers rejoicing their thumping 10 wicket win over the sub-continent nation unaware of their losses in the previous three encounters prior to that and the one off game that proved to be lucky for the hosts. I can remember the West Indies beating Australia on three successive occasions in a 7 match series after losing to the Aussies 4-0 in the first four one dayers that preceded this. Then, the West Indians were responsible in stopping the 21 match winning streak of Australia that started from the VB series involving England and Sri Lanka and went on through the world cup 2003.

The very same thing happened in the test series when the West Indies miserably lost the first three tests and won the 4^th test which made news for the highest ever run chase in a test match that stands even today. All credit to Brian Lara who bought out the best from the worst from his team. If West Indies were even a little bit serious about their cricket, they should have had at least one win before handing out a series to the touring country. A consolation win is the last thing that any team ever dreams about. However, this was far better than a 5-0 whitewash.

If this is what you are looking for..

2011-04-23T06:27:00.000-07:00

Hmm..if cricket isn't that interesting then something else has to be with so many beautiful subjects out there. But, something which is interesting for me need not be interesting for all. Finally, looking for something that interests both myself as well as others and in particular you readers is quite a tough job. Still though not that sure to 100% extent, guess work suggests that everyone would like to know something about aged Shelf Corporations. If my guess work has it all, then something more interesting for all you guys that I'd like to point out would be the shelf Corporations for Sale.

With the world filled with ATMs which does not require you to visit a bank and wait hours in ques to draw cash and high speed Internet to do what you are doing right now, wouldn't it be a smart thing to find what takes just 30 seconds which all requires you to fill in a form that you mandatory need to do irrespective of the site you are into and irrespective of the task you want to accomplish. With that being said, my usefulness with this was in finding the shelf Corporations with Credit which I quite often do and with little or no delay of time and yes at a competitive price needless to be said.

Will Pakistan experiment or play serious?

2011-04-23T01:57:00.000-07:00

It has been less than a month since Pakistan inflicted a crushing defeat on the West Indies when the touring team lost all 10 wickets for a mere score of 113 on the board and on the other hand failing to strike even a single time. Of course, even England lost the match to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets despite England putting up a total in excess of 200 in the quarter finals. May be, had the West Indies scored above 200, a Pakistani wicket would have made it to the score card. That was just another loss for West Indies and nothing more.

With that apart, news and schedule has it that Pakistan is set to tour West Indies or are already in the country that is facing a lot of trouble in cricket. No prices for guessing the result of the series for even a kid can claim that West Indies are set to lose the series or worst come, may end the tournament without even a single win in both test as well as one day cricket. Couple of days back, news had its say that Gayle may be unavailable for the series, with the current West Indian squad speaking otherwise.

One can see the names of Chanderapaul and Sarwan along with Gayle. In addition to the presence of Chris Gayle and co, one can expect the return of Marlon Samuels for people who are familiar with the name and a chance for people who don't to get to know who this average cricketer is. Since Samuels is not some Mohammed Asif or Shane Warne, his return would hardly bother anyone-not even the WICB. But, the million dollar question is whether Pakistan will go ahead with a full fledged team to face the enemy or will they experiment with their players?

Had I been the Pakistani selector, I would have rested some or most of the key players from the tour though the series is away from home. Teams like Zimbabwe and West Indies (but rarely Bangladesh) can prove to be of some use to viewers only when key players and inform players take a break. Than, one can see a balanced match wherein both teams fight it out on the field. I remember Dhoni resting Schin Tendulkar in one of the games to see how things work with the absence of a star player. That was the reason for Australia to dominate the world cricket for so many years.

Lack of desire from the WICB evident

2011-04-22T03:40:00.000-07:00

It is still alive in cricket fans' minds the way the West Indies team surrendered to Bangladesh on their home soil some two years ago, when West Indies made headlines despite the Ashes going on in full bloom on the other side of the cricketing world. West Indies lost three one dayers and two tests to get into the record books for the wrong reasons. If anyone of you would cite the absence of key players to be the reason for their debacle, then I think they have to go through the recently concluded world cup where West Indies had wins only against Bangladesh, Ireland and Holland.

In a way, those wins for the West Indies proved to be of much joy for, despite not deserving to be there, they made it to the quarter-finals of the world cup and they missed losing out to Ireland and Bangladesh to be fortunate unlike England. The immediate decision from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) was to drop players like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderapaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan. I doubt whether the West Indies cricket board was inspired by the BCCI whop dropped senior players like Dravid, Ganguly and Anil Kumble from the squad citing reasons that youngsters be given a chance.

This happened to work well for the BCCI for, the Indian team since their drop happened to win two major titles namely the ICC world T20 2007 and the recently concluded ICC world cup. But, if the WICB also follows suit and does what the BCCI did, one can expect the West Indies to be lined along with class 2 teams like Ireland, Kenya, Canada and co. It would be hard to make anyone believe that the highest individual score in test cricket is a West Indian cricketer. It would be hard to convince anyone that West Indies have won two world cups and were the strongest team in those days.

What has happened for Gayle is something that he might have thought to be and liked as well at the same time when he can enjoy the shortest version of the game and earn ten times the amount what he'd earn had he been the part of the squad that would be hosting Pakistan. If Gayle's words are to be believed, he seems not to have got a call from the WICB among the group of players selected for the training camp in Barbados. I wonder what made the WICB give a NOC to Gayle only to condemn him for not preferring his nation above self.

Was it because Gayle was injury hit and his chances of performing against Pakistan was freak that the WICB gave him a NoC? Now that Gayle has received a call from RCB, the WICB have got more furious and come out to condemn Gayle? Stop this nonsense and look out for some No Police State Girls blog.

New Zealand still in WC trauma

2011-04-21T03:10:00.000-07:00

Well regular visits to a cricket website reveals the depth to which the Kiwi players have had to undergo for ending their world cup dreams in the semi finals itself for the 5^th time. Four of their defeats have been to sub-continent nations, two each to Pakistan and Sri Lanka. One can take a wild guess that even the Aussies might have forgot what would have happened a week ago before Shane Watson blasted the Bangladeshi bowlers out of Bangladesh (if given a chance). This was the first time the Aussies have lost the world cup since the new shape of the world cup was introduced in 1999.

I wish it is high time for the Kiwis to realize that only one team can win the world cup and should be contended with not only being one of the 4 teams that made it to the semi-finals but also to be the only nation from the sub-continent to have done so this time. Of course, there was no 4th team from the sub-continent which could make it to the semi-finals of a world cup and there had to ne a non sub-continent nation to fill that vacancy. Still, that could have been some Australia, South Africa or England who could have made it there.

But, the Kiwis should be fortunate to have been there. Once again, New Zealand were the only nation who never faced a sub-continent nation in the quarter-finals of the world cup. And, had they played either of the three teams from the sub-continent, New Zealand's fate would have been decided then itself, thus paving way for any of the teams mentioned above. However, even after two weeks if this is found to worry the Kiwi coach-John Wright more than anybody else, it has to be justified because John Wright had coached India in the 2003 world cup which India ~~lost~~ surrendered.

I don't know whether any coach has been able to do it earlier but, if that is false, then John Wright will be the only coach to have seen two of the teams that he has coached to have made it to the finals of a world cup. However, if John Wright's statement needs a reconsideration, then it is worth mentioning that if New Zealand lost only against Sri Lanka (twice) and Australia then their wins have been only against Pakistan and South Africa. That balances the equation 3-2 favoring the Kiwis. This deleted show desktop icon is my site of the day for you guys.

this could help you or others through you

2011-04-21T02:54:00.000-07:00

One must be indeed fortunate enough to find best drug rehab treatment centers that can satisfy our needs in all aspects. And, one found, there is no need to have a 2^nd look at, because that would be the ultimate thing that all of us strives for. If anyone says that luck or fortune strikes once in a blue-moon, you are right absolutely. But, what if one finds the best and he further shares it with others so that he doesn't have to wait for luck to strike his doorstep? Well, that is exactly what has happened to you guys in case you are looking out for drug rehab sites.

Though I was not exactly looking out for what you have seen upon clicking the above link, once I googled on the net, I was just fascinated as you are or would be in the next couple of moments when I didn't realize the importance of drug rehabilitation programs. As such, I am not a drug or alcohol addict. But, with lot many out there, I had no choice but to pen down something for those people who are partly innocent for, they don't know what they are doing and on the other hand are scapegoats of the evil. It is my request for all those people to look into drug rehab Illinois.

You can as such visit the drug rehab Salt Lake City in case you are really looking out for a drug rehab program and, if not you can use this info to help someone who is in need of it thus helping him come back to senses and enjoy his life to the fullest extent by not being a victim of any social evil. This is the least you can do as a human being to the society. Well, I'm just going out to do what I've asked you guys to do.

Pakistan's dream bigger than the world cup

2011-04-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

Well it was just 6 days after the 10^th edition of the ICC world cup got over that the multi million dollar IPL kicked in and no doubt, this time as well the excitement happens to be the same despite the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya and Anil Kumble missing out. Likewise, such a grand event can happen only in a cricket crazy land like India and may be a little bit in Pakistan that too if it is equivalent to an Indo-Pak match. Or else, the flavor seems to be missing in most part of the globe with people hardly finding any time outside their busy schedule to watch a game that lasts for 6 hours.

One can imagine if all people in the world go jobless and cricket crazy at the same time, what would happen to these cricketers. It was evident in the recently concluded ICC cricket world cup the way teams like Australia, South Africa and New Zealand lost their way inbetween. There was Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting etc from Australia with the South African squad involving Jacques Kallis, A B deVilliars to name a few. But their world cup dreams never lasted more than the quarter finals. The aforementioned teams were better ones compared to New Zealand, who went a step ahead to make it to the semi-finals.

The sole reason for such a debacle can be nothing but the lack of motivation that the teams from the sub-continent were found to be enjoying. Sri Lanka didn't rely on Muttiah Muralitharan and they dropped Chaminda Vass and Jayasuriya from the world cup squad despite their statistics speaking strongly for them. But, the main news other than these is that Pakistan wants to launch a cricket league of its own may be naming it as the PPL. The name itself rivals the IPL with India being replaced by Pakistan. Is this in return for what the team franchisee have done regarding Pakistani players?

Is this owing to the reason that India are the arch rivals of Pakistan and don't want to be anyway behind them at least in cricket? As said earlier, Pakistan is also a strong cricket crazy nation like India and hosting a similar league there would not be a bad idea. Will the current players from the Sri Lankan team feature themselves in the tournament who have experienced the worst on their last tour to the country? Will players from Australia, New Zealand, England, West Indies and South Africa undo the precaution what they did when they were to tour Pakistan earlier? But, one thing can be a good idea- hold the tournament somewhere else outside Pakistan.

Btw shall we move on with farmers' markets?

Whats Dhoni upto?

2011-04-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

Well after the world cup victory, which happens to be the ultimate dream of any cricket captain, all news flash upon this hero who has made this dream come true for his team and for the whole country. I'd just for fun ask him what sort of underwear does this lad prefer which makes him hold his nerves tight despite pressure building every moment though fortune favors him with people like Sachin Tendulkar on one hand and Yuvraj Singh on the other. Added to that would be the presence of Zaheer Khan whose contribution with the ball is as good as Yuvraj's with the bat.

I think Dhoni must have been on a hunt just like me to find what chantelle exactly is still not getting what he wants. Likewise, even I wonder what this stuff is all about. Could this be some stuff related to the world of cricket of outside it for, this is a cricket blog and I'm confused what it really means. However, that would be found out very soon. Likewise, a world cup dream is as good as a wacoal bras dream for any women. Glad that Dhoni did it. Not all can. Captain cool..but this is really hot.

Had a cricketer known this

2011-04-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

Well with anti doping measures being made strict ever, even the intake of legal steroid would most of the times pop up issues like it was evident just after the 2003 world cup was inaugurated when the legendary Australian leg spinner-Shane Warne was forced to return back from the squad with little or absolutely no fault of his. Warne was victimized for taking a so called banned steroid which the cricketer doesn't to go well with. Prior to that as well, English cricketers have been penalized for their drug habits for which they have a totally different story to tell than what has been heard by all of us.

But, I totally don't agree with that for one, the cricketer should be aware of what he is taking and the way it affects his performance on the field. Anyways, now I guess cricketers should not be doing such a mistake either knowingly or unknowingly for here comes the one and the only site where you can buy steroids online and that too which are permitted may be by the ICC unless there is an overdose. I had a cricketer friend who was looking for one such steroid and wasn't successful in finding one.

It was then that I searched for the same online and I was glad for being of some use to a friend and at the same time for finding something interesting for myself as well. Perhaps! Had Shane Warne from Australia or Mohammed Asif from Pakistan been aware of such steroids, may be we could have seen Warne taking 800 wickets which would have made his play for a year more and we fans might have seen a never-again leg spinner turning it like no one else. Of course, these steroids for sale banner keeps ticking my mind every time I think of cricketers.

Kapil's achievement unparalleled

2011-04-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

Well it is all cheers for the Indian captain M S Dhoni who once again bought back the world cup which kept on changing hands with Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka before India could have its turn. Now, India, along with Australia is the only team to have won world cups with both black & white as well as color dress. That should not make news for, a black and white dress will never be reintroduced in international one day cricket, let alone in world cups. Winning a world cup is no doubt a dream for a life of a cricketer and Dhoni has done just that.

But, this should not overshadow the achievement of Kapil Dev's men in white some 28 years down the lane. In fact, that was an achievement that is even more prominent but hardly spoken about compared to Dhoni's. The Indian team came out victorious in the 1983 world cup with all odds not only favoring West Indies but at the same time closing all hopes for team India. That was the West Indian side with the likes of Vivian Richards, a match for whom is not even found in Sachin Tendulkar. Beating that team is worth more compared to what Dhoni's team have done now.

Back then, India were not even favorites to make it to the semi finals of the 1983 world cup, let alone winning a major title. India, in that world cup beat teams like England and Australia in addition to West Indies which were also competitive opponents. On the other hand, the West Indies were not only fresh from their previous two world cup victories but were undefeated like the Aussies in the last two editions of the same. Sangakkara's Sri Lanka comes nowhere when compared to Clive Lloyd's West Indies. Though no home team has won a world cup earlier, playing in foreign pitches has to be tough compared to home conditions.

No one world have dropped Sunil Gavaskar or Mohinder Amarnath four time like Sachin Tendulkar was dropped in the semi-finals of this world cup. Had India beaten Australia in the 2003 WC finals, that could have been considered to be in par with Kapil's achievement. Of course, a world cup win is a dream come true for any captain as said earlier.Lot would have predicted India to win the world cup this time unlike in 1983. Finally, cricket then was not a millionaire maker or celeb donor. Only guts and glory counted in those days unlike now. Hope this isn't mistaken with any IT Tech Talk.

If I was SRT, I'd have retired

2011-04-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

Well the latest abuzz in the cricket world is that Sachin Tendulkar will continue to play international cricket despite winning the world cup. This would definitely bring cheers on all Tendulkar fans who can still see the master blaster doing what he has been since the past 22 years in international cricket. What is more is that Tendulkar will play in both tests as well as one day internationals and God knows how long. It is an undisputed fact that Tendulkar is not the one who runs behind easy money. Moreover, it is not we who decides when Sachin Tendulkar should retire.

But, one thing as fans of the great legend, it would be nice to see Sachin Tendulkar ending his career on a high like Glenn McGrath did so after winning the Ashes 5-0 and the 2007 world cup 11-0. So was the case with Shane Warne when his last 5 test matches saw him become the 1st bowler to grab 700 wickets in test cricket. But, the Indian speedstar-Javagal Srinath didn't have that sort of retirement when his last one day international saw him get belted by Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn in the finals of the 2003 world cup.

Srinath was belted for 87 runs in that match at Centurion. Javagal Srinath didn't take a wicket in his finals test match against West Indies as well. Similarly, Sachin Tendulkar's West Indian counterpart-Brian Lara had a disappointing end to his international career when his team lost five major games in the super eight stage of the 2007 world cup at home. Lara was a part of the West Indian team that didn't feature in the super sixes of the 1999 and 2003 world cups. I pray God that no legend gets such a bad farewell like Lara which made him hang his boots permanently not even considering the IPL.

Sir Vivian Richards-who was a part of the West Indies team which was a world beating side played his last in 1991 and didn't wait to see his team crash out of the 1992 world cup which didn't even make it to the semi-finals despite the presence of Lara, Ambrose, Walsh, Bishop and Richie Richardson. In case Tendulkar retires after say India lose in the ICC champions trophy, that would be a sad farewell for a deserving cricketer. And in case Tendulkar retires after scoring his 100^th ton, the world will see him only as a person who did everything to get into the record books.

A final worth watching

2011-04-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Well as an Indian, I should be glad to see my ~~team~~ country lift the ICC cricket world cup for the 2^nd time. At last, India have won another world cup and that too after the color dress was introduced in one day cricket. Pakistan and Sri Lanka had previously won their world cups in 1992 and 1996 wearing color dress and India was deprived of such prestige which happened to be true yesterday after their 6 wicket win over Sri Lanka at Mumbai. As a result, India became the 1^st nation to win a world cup on home soil.

But, my post here is regarding the finals of world cups which have been one sided since the past three editions when Aussies were totally unbeatable. The case was partly similar in 1996 as well when the third Sri Lankan wicket of Ashanka Gurusinha fell when they were closing in on the target of 241 set by Australia. Australia was totally outplayed. This time, both the teams should consistency and finally since there can be just one winner, Sri Lanka had to be satisfied with the runners-up tag. A total of 274 was a decent one to both chase or defend unlike in previous 3 WC finals.

I can still recall the way Shane Warne demolished the Pakistani batting line up consisting of Saeed Anwar and co in the finals of the 1999 world cup where Pakistan were dismissed for 132-the lowest total in the finals of a world cup. Even Scotland and Bangladesh were able to score 181 and 178 respectively in their matches against Australia. The entire match lasted for just 59 overs meaning just about half an hour after one innings would have got over. Had this been known before hand, may be the finals might have been held soon after the 2^nd semi-finals would have got over.

Then comes the 2003 finals where after Australia had piled up a mammoth 359 losing just 2 wickets not before inflicting a 100+ run partnership, the only question that was awaited was "by how many runs would Australia win?" and "how long would the Indian innings last?". So was the case in 2007 . Sri Lanka should be lucky that the match didn't last 50 overs which would have otherwise seen a target in excess of 359 that was imposed against India in 2003. Still, the fastest hundred in the world cup final happened to be broken and so was the highest individual score in the world cup final.Don't forget to check out the Army Blog.

India-Sri Lanka in world cups..A review

2011-04-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

With India set to play Sri Lanka in the final of the world cup, a look at the history between the two teams especially in world cup tournaments would be worth I suppose. If things are seen in the world cup tournaments that include the ICC champions trophy and the T20 world cups, Sri Lanka have been at the delivering end with India losing the plot on almost all occasions. The latest one being in the world T20 held at West Indies where Sri Lanka beat India to move to the semi-finals in West Indies. Of course, India had lost all games in that tournament.

A win against Sri Lanka for India would have been just a consolation after their loss to Australia and West Indies. Before that, India failed to get past the round robin stage of the last world cup after they lost to Sri Lanka and of course Bangladesh before that. Prior to the 2007 world cup, India had won a bilateral series against Sri Lanka at home 2-1 but could not repeat the same a month later. India have beaten Sri Lanka in world cups 2003 and 1999. This time it was India's turn to enjoy with them being responsible for Sri Lanka to go without a win against a major opposition in 1999.

In the 2003 world cup, it was after their win against Sri Lanka that India reached the semi-finals. But, India managed to win all three games in the super sixes which would not have made any difference. However, India's win over Sri Lanka in 1999 and 2003 didn't prove anything worth for India and Sri Lanka managed to reach the semis in 2003 despite being thrashed by India as mentioned. But, India's loss to Sri Lanka in 1996 and 2007 kept India totally out of the tournament. India's world cup campaign in 2007 lasted barely 2 weeks after they first lost to Bangladesh before losing to Sri Lanka.

India's win over Sri Lanka have just aided India's advancement to the next round or has been just another win. But, whenever India has lost to Sri Lanka, the match has made headlines. Previously India-Sri Lanka match in 1979 made headlines for India losing to a Sri Lankan team which was until then not been granted test status. India and Sri Lanka were set to play the finals of the ICC champions trophy 2002 which was abandoned with just one innings possible when rain interrupted the game twice. Since then, India has never played Sri Lanka in an ICC champions trophy. But, things need not be the same this time for both teams.

Well its time to check out some forex trading stuff before the finals.

For the first time..

2011-04-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

History has been made in the ready-to-end 10^th edition of the ICC cricket world cup held in the sub-continent with one last game between India and Sri Lanka to go before the world would see a winner or the world champions to be more precise. This world cup should have many reasons to cheer not only for the Indian fans who would still be celebrating their team's win over Pakistan a couple of days back but also for the entire cricket followers who can see the first final held between two sub-continent teams. Sri Lanka on the other hand will be rejoicing being the only sub-continent to have made three consecutive world cup semi-finals.

Sri Lanka made it to the semi-finals of a world cup on four times with three being in the last three editions since 2003 when they lost to Australia. This has happened for the 1st time that semi-final match between the same two teams have been held successively. Sri Lanka faced New Zealand in the semi-finals of the 2007 world cup as well and won at the same time. Previously, Pakistan and New Zealand have played each other in two semi-finals in 1992 and 1999 but the successive factor goes missing here. So is the case with Australia playing South Africa in the semi-finals of 1999 and 2007 world cups.

For the 1^st time in history of a world cup, there are two consecutive knock out games between two sub-continent nations when India played Pakistan a couple of days back and are scheduled to play Sri Lanka tomorrow. By tomorrow, there will be a first team from the sub-continent to have lifted the world cup twice with both India and Sri Lanka having their share in 1983 and 1996 respectively.Sri Lanka previously have faced England in two world cup quarter-finals and Australia in two world cup finals. For the 1st time, all three teams from the sub-continent have made it to the semi-finals of a world cup.

For the first time two hosts of a world cup are found playing in the finals of the tournament. Had Pakistan been one of the hosts, the number would have become three hosts to have made it to the semi-finals of a world cup. If India wins tomorrow, they will be the 1^st hosts to have won the world cup which would not be the case if Sri Lanka wins. Likewise, India are the second team after England to have made it to the finals of a world cup with England having their share in 1979 where they lost to West Indies. bullet proof is not what I need at the moment.

Did India win or Pakistan lose?

2011-03-31T06:02:00.000-07:00

This was one threat that Pakistan would have been facing with the semi-finals being held at an Indian venue. Pakistan, though would have been physically fit to face their arch-rivals, are not so mentally. The Pakistan players might have well prepared themselves for their assault of Indian players on the field but not with the crowd off the same. Afridi and co can only send the ball rolling across the ropes or above the heads but not bottles and paper rockets. Stopping the Indian batsmen consisting of Sachin and co would be much easier than to stop water bottles from striking the deep fielders.

Verbal abuses from say Sreesanth can be stopped by the match officials but not from spectators who'd be waiting for a Pakistani batsman to step out of the dressing room. I wish Andrew Symonds would be the right person to tell you what happened in the finals ODI against India in the seven match one day series in 2007 when viewers got him out for a duck. Sri Lankan team led by Arjuna Ranatunga in 1996 semi-finals would be the right person to convince Afridi as to what to do in India and what not to do. All these if Pakistan is on the verge of victory.

This was the 2^nd time a world cup semi-final was held in Mohali after Australia played West Indies in 1996. With that being a secondary issue, coming to the point, though India won their 5^th world cup match against Pakistan, explanation regarding dropping of 6 catches is still not satisfactory. No foolish fielder on earth would ever drop Sachin Tendulkar four times and that too in a world cup semi-final match. Pakistani players did everything to see their team lose without giving anybody a chance to point their fingers towards their performance on the field. Afridi's cleverness deserves a lot of applause.

Big partnerships between Hafeez & Shafiq, and Misbah & Umar Akmal stay live and get broken when the situation demanded. A total of 261 can be chased down by India against Australia in quarter-finals but not by Pakistan in semi-finals. There would be a 5 wicket-taker from Pakistan and all Indian bowlers end up with no more than two wickets. That was a rare match where spinner stuns a sub-continent nation with 4 wickets and 1 over maiden. But at the end, the situation is better than what would have happened had India toured Pakistan for any match let alone the semi-finals of a world tournament.

The match might have bought both health and wealth for Afridi with them traveling back safely to Pakistan.

Bankrupt Ponting files insolvency

2011-03-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

It was after Australia's whitewash in the 2^nd T20 world cup where Australia failed to go past the 1^st round of the tournament after losses to Sri Lanka and West Indies that the then Aussie captain-Ricky Ponting stepped down from captaincy. Now, the world had to wait for India to tame the Australian team that has been stripped of all its match winners for Ponting to give up his captaincy from all forms of the game. This might not go down well with most of them who are hardcore fans of the Aussie captain for his achievements in international cricket.

Ponting though is the 2^nd captain to have lifted the ICC world cup twice after Clive Lloyd can hardly be considered in par with Steve Waugh who was not as successful as Ponting. It was Steve Waugh who from nowhere bought his team to victory in the finals of the 1999 world cup when odds suggested that Australia wouldn't even make it to the semis with them needing wins against all three teams in the super sixes. Had Ponting been there, that would have never happened. Likewise, even Mark Taylor was a clever captain who saw his team to the finals in the previous edition but convinced himself with the runners-up tag.

Ponting under his captaincy has more than 41 test wins along with two ICC world cups and an equal number of ICC champions trophies. Till date, Australia is the only team to have won two ICC champions trophies and Ponting is lucky to have captained the side then. It would not be a tough task for anyone to lead a side with the strongest bowling line up in the world aided with depth to an equal amount in batting. Hard hitting batsmen like Gilchrist, Hayden, Martyn, Symonds, Hussey as a bunch is still unparalleled. Similarly, a bowler like McGrath can be born once in a lifetime.

Since the bowling duo of McGrath and Warne, Ponting's team has never been able to retain or regain the Ashes. Australia came close to losing a test match against Sri Lanka which was the 2^nd test for Australia after the retirement of McGrath-Warne. But, with likes of Gilchrist and co, their winning streak was extended by three more matches when they finally lost to India in the 3^rd test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2007-08 at Perth. Since then Ponting's highlights as captain are: a test series loss to RSA at home which was their 1st such loss in 16 years. Then comes the two Ashes' losses and two loss to India on their tour.

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Is Mohali (India) the right venue to host semis?

2011-03-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

Well as an Indian and an avid cricket fan, I am also eagerly looking forward to the fifth India-Pakistan match in world cups (barring T20 world cups and ICC champions trophies). This will be the second time Pakistan will have to tour India to play a match against the hosts after the famous 1996 world cup quarter finals played at Bangalore which was Javed Miandad's last show on the international stage. Needless to be said, India won that battle by 39 runs despite a threatening start from the Pakistani openers namely Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail who saw Pakistan reach 113/1 after 13 overs.

Anyway, that is history and then things were not that serious as is the case now. Things were not anticipated then in the match at Bangalore, with India winning the match unlike what happened in the semi-finals against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens. Now, Pakistan is once again cursed to tour the venue which he last prefers to. So would be the case for India, for whom the ghosts of the 1996 semi-finals might haunt again in case they give a sign a being defeated. This has happened earlier in a tri nation tournament with Pakistan having a high upper hand and people start hurling bottles on Pakistan players.

Luckily for captains of both teams, there was no India-Pakistan match until 1992 which averted something similar in 1987. In 1996, though there was nothing unexpected in the quarter-finals at Bangalore, what happened in the semi-finals was nothing compared to what would have happened had India won that semi-finals against Sri Lanka. The finals of the 1996 world cup was held at Lahore which might have made the then India captain Mohammed Azharuddin think many times before winning the semis. Anything might have happened had India toured Pakistan for the finals in case India managed to do so. Though this was not the reason for the defeat, it cannot be completely ruled out.

Since then, Pakistan has never been a venue for any world cup tournaments be it the world cup, the T20 world cup or the ICC champions trophy. Pakistan has been canceled to host an ICC champions trophy in 2008, which was canceled completely with the ICC not deciding on the venue to host the tournament that year. And then, this time Pakistan was denied to host any matches of the ongoing world cup which would have made Indians smile to a greater extent compared to other countries. Afridi may just think upon going back to Pakistan rather than be the target for bottles and paper rockets gifted by angry fans for having his team trounce India.

One can just see paint colors in Afridi's face with dilemma whether to go in for the kill or save his life from people's anger.

Bangladesh goes missing

2011-03-28T04:02:00.001-07:00

With the second round of the 10^th edition of the world cup being over, it is just fascinating to see that all three teams from the sub-continent have qualified to the semi-finals of the tournament. This has happened for the first time and teams had come close to doing so in the 1987 world cup where Pakistan and India had qualified for the semi-finals with Sri Lanka being just as good as today's Bangladesh and Bangladesh being absent from world cups. Perhaps! Had Bangladesh been a little decent, may be New Zealand would have missed out from entering the semi-finals.

If one can take pains to go to the recent past, Bangladesh have ~~beaten~~ whitewashed the Kiwis 4-0 on their recent tour to the sub-continent nation. They managed wins against Ireland and England when all odds were against them all these in addition to a win that was guaranteed against Holland. Bangladesh had equal number of wins as had West Indies with three wins each. It would not have been a mismatch had they won against the Caribbean country, with both teams standing an equal chance to come out victorious. May be that was the reason for the fans' anger which resulted in them pelting stones on the team bus.

With the match against West Indies being played on home soil, Bangladesh should have made that one count but which was however not the case whatsoever. Moreover, Bangladesh rather than winning the contest against the West Indies, made it look half dead with the home team losing all ten wickets for 58 runs on the board. Bangladesh managed to pile up 283 runs in the opening encounter against India when they were chasing 371 to win and didn't end up losing all ten wickets. This proves the Bangladeshis caliber not to panic under pressure. Neither was their performance any bad against the remaining teams barring RSA.

The debacle against South Africa can well be understood but not the one against West Indies. Now, the remaining three teams from the sub-continent qualifying to the quarter-finals, it would have been a delight to see Bangladesh as well in the contest. Of course, Bangladesh would not have made it to the semis with either Pakistan or Bangladesh having to quit after the quarter-finals. Previously, in the 1996 world cup, all three teams from the sub-continent had qualified to the quarter-finals and two among them went to the semi-finals. Bangladesh were yet to make their international appearance and even if they did, their dreams would not have been beyond the league stages.

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200+ partnerships & Sri Lanka

2011-03-27T01:48:00.001-07:00

After the West Indies, the next best thing that could happen in the ongoing world cup would be the elimination of England who can only play a spoilsport with lack of talent and hard work. And this was very much evident when England became the 2^nd team after the mighty losers-West Indies to be the team to hand over a 10 wicket win to a sub-continent nation. But, if England has lost to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets with over 200 on board, questions will definitely be raised regarding their caliber in international cricket. England is not that bad a team to lose so badly in the crucial stages of a tournament.

I think I have just got to Enjoy what's fun and funny with the English language keeping in mind the way the English campaign is going on. An effortless win for Sri Lanka yesterday seemed as though the Sri Lankans were playing some Netherlands and not England and the game was not a quarter-final but just another game in the league stage or some stupid friendly match. Though England have not been favorites to win the cup or make it to the semi-finals, such a bad thrashing was not at all expected by anyone. Sri Lanka never needed Muralitharan to do the damage.

An ordinary Herath and Mendis were enough to restrict the Englishmen from posting a demanding total. In fact, Muralitharan didn't even bowl his full quota of 10 overs and instead settled with 9 overs despite being the most successful bowler with two wickets to his credit. Let alone taking a wicket, there was not even dropped catches to say that England missed a chance. In the 1^st match between Pakistan and West Indies, West Indies posted just 112 on the board and a 10 wicket win for Pakistan was almost expected. But things would not have been the case had they got a decent 200+ on board.

After the 4^th quarter-finals between the teams mentioned above, one has to notice the Sri Lankans having two 200+ partnerships, with the 1^st one coming against Zimbabwe and the second yesterday. They just fell short of breaking their record for the highest 1^st wicket partnership when they lost their first wicket for 282. Yesterday, had this been known beforehand, may be the Sri Lankans would have conceded another 40 runs which would have seen them into the record books. As a matter of fact, Sri Lanka hold the record for the highest 1^st wicket record against England in ODIs when they made 286.

No choker, only inefficient tag

2011-03-26T05:38:00.000-07:00

I don't think the chokers tag is well suited for South Africa since the 2003 world cup when they were hardly the team that anybody would have wanted to beat. I can still remember the then South African captain-Shaun Pollock being given an over short in their 1^st game against West Indies which was solely South Africa's fault for maintaining a slow over rate bowling first. And then there was the match against New Zealand where though South Africa managed a satisfactory 307 provided by Herschelle Gibbs, Stephen Fleming's men also had equal zest in them to fight it out on the field.

New Zealand were given a revised target of 229 runs from 39 overs which was still over run a ball. All odds supported New Zealand despite South Africa having scored a 300+ total for, the Kiwis lost just one wicket en route to their successful run chase. The last was the game against Sri Lanka where a wrong signal from the stands ended the match in a draw and with it the South African dream not only in the world cup but also to reach the super sixes. Sri Lanka did their part of the game best by not relying on their wins against West Indies and New Zealand alone.

Atapattu did a fab job scoring 124* from 118 balls showing equal fight rather than just being a team that would cash out from the bad luck that the Proteas are believed to be cursed with. So was the case in 2007 when South Africans were far from being the favorites. With a miserable loss to Australia twice that included a complete surrender to Glenn McGrath in the semi-finals and New Zealand along with a clueless loss to Bangladesh, it was lack of the presence of India and Pakistan that saw South Africa in the semi-finals. I just cannot tell you My view on anything and everything under the sun.

The South Africans were favorites to win the cup only in the 1996 and 1999 editions where they had beaten all opponents in the league stages until they lost the plot in the knock out games against West Indies and Australia. This time, the South Africans have to consider themselves lucky to have ended up as the top team beating India and West Indies. A loss against England chasing 173 cannot be justified and neither can the loss yesterday against the Kiwis with the likes of Smith, deVilliars and Kallis. South Africa are gifted with the most promising squad even better than Sri Lanka and India. But, lack of commitment needs a heavy payment.

Sub-continent ghosts and not hosts for Australia

2011-03-25T05:11:00.000-07:00

Well the sub-continent teams namely India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have always been a nightmare for the Western countries namely Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, England and South Africa. The main reason for this is the fact that the spinners from the sub-continent are far more gifted compared to players from the rest mentioned above. This has been the reason for Steve Waugh's dream to be shattered every time he and his team led Australia would tour India to play a test series. The only conquest Steve Waugh wasn't successful in doing was a test series win over India in India.

However, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have not been that troublesome to Australia and Steve Waugh has had wins against them on their home soil. And, this time in the world cup, it was the three sub-continent teams which played havoc in Ponting's third appearance as captain. Ponting managed what no Australian captain had managed to since 1987 when India last won a game against Australia by 56 runs under the captaincy of Azharuddin. Since 1992, Australia have managed 5 wins against India and no losses at all. But now, for the 1st time since the color dress was introduced in world cup, Australia have lost to India.

All knew that Australia was not at their best of cricket but no one would have predicted that they would end their dream of lifting 4^th world cup in a row in the quarter-finals itself. At least a semi-final berth for Australia would have stopped all haters' tongues from wagging and the ACB's head to think like never before. The last time Australia ever lost a match was against Pakistan in 1999 when Pakistan were lucky to have survived a 10 run win over Steve Waugh's men. Perhaps! Had this world cup not been held in the sub-continent, may be Australia would not have fared this bad.

But, Australia and Ponting mainly is not the one who decides who hosts the tournament. Just when Australia would have been celebrating the 8^th anniversary of their emphatic win over India in 2003 world cup final, Ponting had to think of what would he face the next day with him having to face the same team but with a depleted side. Talking about Australia's relationship with the sub-continent, Sri Lanka was the team to have stopped Australia's winning streak after the match was abandoned. Let me remind you guys the difference between won and unbeaten. Pakistan stopped their unbeaten streak by a 4 wicket win and finally India broke their world cup dreams after their 5 wicket win yesterday.

For all those crazy cricket fans in India who left their business, women, career, jobs, family, travel to watch India battle it out, it was worth the sacrifice.

Bangladesh would have been a better opposition

2011-03-24T02:43:00.000-07:00

Bringing all my frustrations in, I totally reject the West Indies team that not only fared so badly but also made the competition so boring. If not the Pakistani players, there would be no 2^nd player who would be happy with the way the West Indies team played in the 1^st quarter finals of the world cup yesterday. Had I been the person in charge, I would have stripped the West Indies team of its test status. Not even the Bangladesh team made me go mad with their bad performance. This I fear is the worst defeat for any team in the world cup knock out stage.

It has to be some bloody miracle that bought the West Indies team into the 2^nd round of the competition with Bangladesh standing an equal chance of making it there. If one can go through the points table, it would be evident that both Bangladesh and West Indies had three wins against them. West Indies had wins against Bangladesh, Holland and Ireland while Bangladesh had a win against Ireland in addition to wins against Netherlands and Ireland. But, it was the net run rate that all made the difference for both the teams. At least Bangladesh had a win against England.

But, the West Indies didn't manage even one victory against a major opposition. They could have won their games against India and England after the former lost all their ten wickets and the latter piling up only 243 on the board. Any team that can better this record can be only a non test playing nation like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ireland etc in case by chance they manage to do so. With such a daring start against England if the West Indians could not win, a thorough scrutiny of their test status is necessary I suppose. Despite India losing 7 wickets for 41 runs, a target of 270 proved too much for the West Indies.

I can't just recall when last West Indies put up a decent performance in world cups. In 2007, the only match worth mentioning for West Indies was against Pakistan which was the 1st match of the tournament. That was followed by losses against Australia, Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand and South Africa. In 2003, they won against South Africa by 3 runs with the South African innings reduced to 49 overs owing to slow over rate. That was followed by losses to Sri Lanka and New Zealand but was somewhat bearable compared to their present post-Lara era. Had Bangladesh qualified, there would have been 4 sub-continent teams in the quarter-finals.

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Bad grouping of teams evident from the quarter final line up

2011-03-23T02:16:00.000-07:00

Well keeping in mind the quarter finals of the world cup, this just seems to be a mismatch with Pakistan not only having an upper hand against the Caribbean but also the West Indies might never ever be able to regroup once the quarter finals against Pakistan be over in the next 8 hours to come. Also the other side would be Sri Lanka who are scheduled to face England on Saturday. No doubt that both these teams would enter with minimum or no effort into the semi-finals of the world cup. But, is this right on the part of the ICC is a million dollar question.

There is no particular team like the Aussies in the past two world cups to have a birthright on the world cup. And neither have Bangladesh and Zimbabwe been underdogs as they have been expected. But, if things are given a close look at, it looks that group A is gifted with weaker teams compared to group B. Group A has two teams from the sub-continent namely Sri Lanka and Pakistan who always have an upper hand being the hosts and enjoying home like conditions. I all blame it on Australia to have deceived the ICC who came out with such grouping of teams.

In group B, only India is a team worth having anyone's bet into. Though South Africa have emerged on the top of the table, it was India who gifted them with a victory by losing 9 wickets for 28 runs with all odds predicting a 350+ total at the end of the Indian innings. Added to that, there were mismatches in England's games against Ireland and Bangladesh which reduced England's chances that in turn favored South Africa to end as the top team. Had England won against Ireland and Bangladesh, they would have been on the top and not the Proteas.

Teams like Zimbabwe, Kenya, Canada and Holland never made their presence felt. However, Ireland and Bangladesh did. Both Ireland and Bangladesh were far superior compared to Kenya, Canada and Zimbabwe in group A. One has to take a deeper look to Explore reality. West Indies on the other hand proved a 2^nd chance for teams like England and India. In group A, All four teams played to their potential with minnows aside. Pakistan beat Australia which in turn beat New Zealand. If I was in place of Lorgat, I'd have put Australia in group B and South Africa in group B and Bangladesh in group A while Zimbabwe would have been in group B.

Time to turn this one down

2011-03-22T00:46:00.000-07:00

Well I have highlighted this in the past as well regarding the introduction of the quarter finals into the world cup which brings luck to some teams and an obvious bad luck to others. Earlier world cups since 1999 had something known as the super sixes and super eights which gave every team another chance to set right their earlier mistake while every team played every other team once before entering the knock out stage of the tournament. This time, all eight test playing nations barring Bangladesh have qualified to the quarter finals. But, there will be just 4 games before the semis would start.

taking on England. Prediction would always go in for Pakistan over West Indies and Pakistan will be taking on the West Indies tomorrow at Mirpur with India scheduled to play Australia day after. That would be followed by the Kiwis taking on the Proteas and Sri LankaSri Lanka over England. Anything might happen in the remaining two games. But that is not we are here for now. There should have been a super eight stage instead of a quarter final which would reduce chances of the cup going into the wrong hands. Consequently, the tournament would end up as a failure though one emerges victorious.

Pakistan will not be facing India, South Africa and England and the situation is the same for the remaining 7 teams as well. Despite four teams emerging victorious and moving on to the semi-finals, questions would definitely be raised regarding that particular team's performance against those teams which they have not played. West Indies and England are the least preferred teams and it would be a cakewalk for both Pakistan and Sri Lanka who would be facing them in the quarter finals in the next four days to come. The same Pakistan would have flunk had they faced South Africa-may be.

It would be tough for Sri Lanka to have an upper-hand against India and their chances would be made slim had there been a super eights stage. Had there been a super six stage, both England and West Indies would not have crossed the initial stage of the world cup. Australia's chances might be high against West Indies, South Africa and England. In case they lose to India day after, fingers would definitely point towards the format. Australia have faced a similar fate in the world T20 at England in 2009 when they were teamed up with Sri Lanka and West Indies with the other groups consisting of two strong teams and one weak opposition.

So it is time to save the lost at any cost.

A tough task for India

2011-03-21T00:20:00.000-07:00

Well on one hand if as an Indian I rejoice my team's victory over the West Indies, on the other hand, troubles begin or have set to begin for team India for, their victory over the West Indies in yesterday's game means that India finish at number three after South Africa and England, with the West Indies finishing at number four. As a result, India will now have to face Australia who are positioned at number 3 after Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the group A points table. This is a difficult task for India who have thrashed by the Aussies 5 times since 1992 world cup.

Of course, the Aussies were unbeatable in 2003 when India lost to them twice. And, as for all bright faces to cheer for, India has been beating Pakistan since 1992 world cup. No matter whether Pakistanis are crowned the world champions (in 1992 world cup) or have been declared the runners-up (in the 1999 world cup), their record against India in world cups is nothing but a zero. Moreover, India can play Pakistan better compared to Australia despite Australia being just another team unlike when they were two world cups earlier. Had India lost yesterday's game they would have been paired with Pakistan.

Pakistan has been placed in the number one position in group A after their wins over Australia and Sri Lanka. If this could be a concern for any team about to face Pakistan, it would be worth mentioning their 11 run win over Sri Lanka that involved an uncountable number of misfield and drop catches. Easy catches have been dropped at crucial stages against Sri Lanka. And coming to the match against Australia, Pakistan lost 6 wickets en route to their successful run chase of 177. There was no need to lose so many wickets in chasing such a small total.

India's chances in the quarter finals would be 50-50 with Australia being a decent squad compared to Pakistan keeping the past results apart. If anyone would cite Australia's lack of match winners like in the past two world cups, one has to keep a check on the Indian batsmen who lost 9 wickets for 29 runs against South Africa and tied with England. Both big games were assisted by Sachin Tendulkar who scored 100s in both the games. A win against West Indies is as good as a win against Bangladesh, Holland and Ireland. Accepting facts, past need not repeat itself in India-Pakistan matches also.

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What is so gr8 in it?

2011-03-20T23:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Pakistan beat Australia by 4 wickets to stop their 35 match winning streak that included one tied match against South Africa in the semi finals of the 1999 world cup and one match abandoned with the match against Sri Lanka being called off due to rains. May be this world have come before for Australia, had that game taken off. But, despite all these facts, I personally don't regard this as a major victory for Pakistan or any team to have managed it. Not because that I'm an Indian and turning down Pakistan's achievements is my birth right that I am into such statements.

But, beating a team that was once an unbeatable team is not a major achievement. Only a handful of players from the Australian side are found playing cricket though not at their career best of form and fitness. Only Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Brett Lee are found making it to the squad since 2003 when the Aussies were unbeatable. And for the matter, Ponting is at his best only in smashing LCD sets rather than the ball which has was known to be. There is no Gilchrist, Hayden, Martyn, Symonds and Mike Hussey to take the batting charge with McGrath, Nathan Bracken and Brad Hogg to bowl.

Added to that, the current Aussie team lacks a match winner like Michael Beaven who could take his team out from the clutches of defeat despite his team reeling at 135/8 against England in 2003 and Andy Bichael who was a replacement for Jason Gillispie and proved much more than what Gillispie would have been. Australia never finished with a run rate less than 6.0 an over in the 2007 world cup batting 1^st and got all its opponents all out with Bangladesh being an exception in the 2007 world cup. Coming close to such a team was also a tough task let alone winning.

It would be no tough task to fight a 90 year old man when thinking about the same when the person at his young age would have made him pay the price. In the current cricketing world, Australia is as good as any other team and winning against them would be just another win against a normal opposition. New Zealand could have done this for, they were the 1^st decent team to have faced the Aussies in 2011 WC. Since the 2007 triumph, the Aussies have made news only for bad reasons though they won the ICC champions trophy in 2009 and were the runners-up in world T20 2010.

It would be nice to think about ways to make money online, online business guide than cheering a pseudo-record by Pakistan I'd suggest.

Ireland makes history

2011-03-19T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well not many of them would have noticed with me as well despite my experiences with the cricketing world since my blog took off last year. Yesterday, Ireland beat Netherlands after chasing down a mammoth total of 306 set by Netherlands which was a rather tough task for Ireland to accomplish considering its standards in international cricket. A win against Holland is a celebration indeed for Ireland and if their win against England is considered, this goes dull in front of what they have achieved. But, nevertheless, the win over Holland was enough to see the Irish in the record books.

No need to worry for, the Irish have made it to the record books for the right reasons when yesterday they not only recorded the 2^nd 300+ successful run chase but are also the only team in the history of a world cup to have done so. Teams like England and Sri Lanka have managed it once against West Indies and Zimbabwe respectively. In fact, no team has ever managed to get past 300 runs batting 2^nd let alone winning. But, Ireland have done it in a single edition first by chasing down 326 against England earlier in the tournament and yesterday against Holland when they overtook 306.

Sri Lanka as a matter of fact were the first team to have successfully chased own a 300+ total when they overtook 312 runs set by Zimbabwe in the 1992 world cup. This record stood for as long as 19 years with 5 world cups played in between. Then, England surpassed 301 runs set by West Indies in the super eights stage of the 2007 world cup which was England's only win worth mentioning in that world cup. But, that also meant that England became the 2^nd team to have successfully chased down 300+ total. Now, Ireland have made news for two glorious records.

One for being the team to have recorded the highest successful run chase in world cups when they surpassed the 326 run target set by England at Bangalore and the other record for being the only team to have successfully chased down a 300+ target twice. Likewise only 3 teams have managed to go past 300 batting second in world cups. As time moves, there might be more teams entering into this record. But, still Ireland will be the team to have accomplished the feat for the 1st time. And for the record to be achieved by a non-test playing team is a greater reward.

God saved this world cup

2011-03-18T05:50:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday England as expected defeated the West Indies by 18 runs which not only kept England's hopes alive in the world cup but also avoided another mismatch awaiting with Bangladesh having a chance to go through to the quarter finals of the tournament in case England had lost the match to the West Indies. That in turn would have seen four teams from the sub-continent make it to the 2^nd round of a world cup which has so far not happened in any of the world tournaments. And, with Bangladesh making it to the quarters would have spoiled all spirits of the mega event.

This is the 1^st time since the 1996 world cup that all eight test playing teams have advanced to the second stage of the world cup. One can take a look at the 1999 edition where Zimbabwe made it to the super sixes at the cost of England (to the super sixes), India (to the semi-finals). As a result, Pakistan had a walkover to the semi-finals after they had lost to India and the Proteas in the super sixes. The result was no different four years later when Kenya and Zimbabwe emerged to the super sixes with four teams namely Pakistan, West Indies, England and South Africa losing the plot midway.

In 2007, in the first week of the tournament, India and Pakistan-arch rivals made an early exit which saw a dumb Ireland and Bangladesh making it to the super eights. India and Pakistan were much better teams compared to England and the West Indies which made the mega event a failure. Viewers had to watch helplessly the Ireland-Bangladesh when overpriced tickets were bought anticipating an India-Pakistan match. However, things have returned to normalcy this time with a lot of compromises mentioned in my earlier posts. I instead went in for Personal, Golf, Travel, Golf, Foods rather than seeing a tasteless match out there.

There was threat everywhere in the initial stages of the tournament wherein Ireland and Bangladesh both beat England making England's chances slim in making it to the quarter-finals of the world cup. But, just have a look at what Andrew Struass is all upto when he miraculously beat the Proteas in a low scoring thriller and tied with India when all odds were against them. The presence of West Indies made life easier for the Englishmen for, had it been some New Zealand or Sri Lanka instead of West Indies, may be we would have seen Bangladesh playing the 1^st quarter-finals.

The 1996 Indian fortune

2011-03-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

Well the last time the world cup was held in the sub continent was in 1996 needless to be said and the cup should have been something special for India which included the highest wicket taker and the highest run getter in the tournament when Anil Kumble took 15 wickets and Sachin Tendulkar scored 523 runs. Another interesting fact is that they not only beat arch rivals Pakistan but also expelled them from the world cup after a thumping 39 run triumph against the sub-continent nation. Finally the semi-finals at Eden Gardens against Sri Lanka is worth mentioning which turned out to be a match which yielded no result.

Another interesting fact would be that India never toured any other country despite Pakistan and Sri Lanka being the co-hosts. India started off with their first match against Kenya at Cuttack followed by their match against West Indies at Gwalior. Then, the third match against Australia was played at Mumbai with the fourth against Sri Lanka played at Firozshah Kotla stadium Delhi. Last but not the least the match against Zimbabwe was played at Kanpur. The remaining two matches namely the quarter-finals against Pakistan and semi-finals against Sri Lanka was played at Kolkata (then Calcutta). That was the end of the tournament for India.

Nothing can be done regarding the pool matches which were scheduled in India whenever India was playing. Perhaps! Had the India-Sri Lanka league stage match been held somewhere in Colombo, may be Sri Lanka would have walked away with another win without having had to take to the crease like it happened in the matches between West Indies and Australia against Sri Lanka. Even the league stage matches might have been held either in Pakistan or Sri Lanka and God knows what made the ICC go in for only Indian pitches when Sri Lanka and Pakistan were made to cross the border. For a change, I thinking about nurse's thoughts.

Pakistan played India in Bangalore and Sri Lanka in Delhi and Kolkata. Even the league stage matches for Pakistan were played in Pakistan until the quarter-finals. But, take a look at destiny. India could have qualified in the 4^th place which would have seen it play a team in Karachi which eventually witnessed the biggest upset of the world cup-the West Indies-South Africa match. Likewise, had India emerged on the top, they would have played England in Faisalabad. However, with both semi-finals being held in India, there was no chance for India to move out of the country. Had India qualified to the finals, then, they would have had to tour Pakistan for the match was held in Lahore.

Will this gaming guide be helpful for the world cup?

2011-03-17T06:36:00.000-07:00

As it always goes, bore matches and my attention gets diverted away from cricket but not until I find a trustworthy site, a trustworthy topic and unique and exciting content to share with you readers who have made my blog stand where it is today. This time my gift for you would be Online Casinos which I've done in the past as well but with a different set of words. But this time rather than citing it as unique, a better name would be US Online Casino. That is because casino online sites have always been there but a more precise word would make it even more unique.

Will John Davidson retire or..?

2011-03-16T06:29:00.001-07:00

Well the latest abuzz in the cricket world is that the Canadian all rounder John Davison is set to retire after the world cup which is scheduled on 16^th March that is tomorrow after Canada's match against Australia at Bangalore. What a way to retire for this lad who was born as an Australian and is set to have his last game played against the very same team where he was born. I just can remember the Zimbabwean batsman Neil Johnson who scored an unbeaten 132 against Australia in the super sixes of the 1999 world cup who carried his bat throughout the innings.

Similarly, John Davison's fastest hundred in the 2003 game against the West Indies in the league stages of the tournament couldn't stop his team from losing rather badly despite John Davison making news for all the good reasons and being awarded the man of the match for his 100 that came off just 67 balls. This is more than a luxury for someone from a non-test playing nation though Mathew Hayden bettered the record by 1 ball in the very next edition in 2007 when he scored a 66 ball hundred en route to posting the highest team total in that world cup tournament against a test playing nation.

And today, the record is quite safe in the hands of the Irish batsman O'Brien bettering Hayden's record by 16 balls when he scored a hundred off just 50 balls at a strike rate of 200. Added to that, Ireland ended up on the winning side in that particular match. This proved safe heavens for John Davidson for, now he can boast of a world record for the fastest world cup hundred from a losing side. This is something rare that I've happened to see in My Day to Day Lfe. John also happened to be awarded the man of the match in a game against the Kiwis.

That world cup would be a memorable one for John Davison for Canada tasted a victory against Bangladesh in that world cup compared to this one where they are yet to have one. Canada have lost all their matches and are bound to lose their 6^th tomorrow when they are set to play Australia. That particular match against West Indies saw two records. One being the fastest world cup hundred by John Davison and the fastest world cup fifty by Brian Lara. Today, both records are history. Aged 40, if not now, when else will John Davison retire or will he likely be another Jayasuriya?

Inbetween cricket world cup

2011-03-16T04:15:00.000-07:00

Well when all you readers are or seem to be excited with high expectations from a cricket blogger to pen about cricket and the world cup in particular, wouldn't you guys out there be more surprised in case something more special and exciting compared to the ongoing world cup pops out? Of course, it would be. And what a fool am I to ask such a question instead of introducing you people to wakeboard bindings which is the main reason for me to deviate away from the mega event. But in addition, highlighting wakeboard binding buyers guide would be worth mentioning which would otherwise be just a boredom.

If anyone of you would ask me as to how I came across such a site with all eyes glued to the television sets to get a glimpse of their favorite cricketing action, here we go. With recent meetings involving Kenya and Zimbabwe before India could take on the West Indies, my interest automatically deviated towards something exciting as mentioned earlier and here is the result of that deviation which has made me introduce you guys to ronix wakeboards which was new to me as well initially but not anymore. Anything that is interesting needs to be shared and I'm damn sure you'd also be doing the same.

Long gaps in world cups

2011-03-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

I just happened to come across a JMF Bloogger before I could point out long gaps in cricket world cups wherein a team has not won a single match against a particular opposition or has been a long time since a team has had an upset in a world cup. A couple of Saturdays before, Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 11 runs, which was Pakistan's 8th victory over the island nation in the history of a world cup keeping the world T20 apart. Sri Lanka was awarded the test status in 1983, partially considering their win over India in a prudential cup.

Matches between Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been played in 1975, 1983, 1987,1992 and 2011 offlate with Pakistan meeting Sri Lanka twice in 1987 and 1983. Viewers had to wait for 5 world cup to see a Pakistan-Sri Lanka match which was last played in 1992. Similar results include India's victory over Pakistan in all four meetings since 1992 till 2003. And then, India's last win over Australia was in 1987 when the Mohammed Azharuddin led team beat Australia by 56 runs at Delhi. Since then, India have lost 5 matches to Australia with two in the 2003 edition and one each in the others.

The best part being that in their 1^st encounter, Australia reduced India to their lowest world cup total of 125 and in the other Australia notched their highest world cup total against India or India conceded the most number of runs in a world cup when Australia ended their innings at 359/2 at Centurion. In 2007, neither did India face Pakistan nor did they play Australia. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts recently, New Zealand needed 28 years to find a win against Pakistan in a world cup match. The Kiwis had last won a match against Pakistan in 1975.

Of course, matches between a test playing nation and a non test playing nation cannot prove any different results unless the strong team underestimates the weaker opposition. New Zealand last won a game against Sri Lanka in 1992 when the Martin Crowe led New Zealand chased down the Sri Lankans' total of 207 with 6 wickets to spare. New Zealand since then have lost to Sri Lanka in 2003 and twice in 2007 with Jayawardane's captain's knock being the famous one in the semi finals of the 2007 world cup. Prior to 1992, Sri Lanka's games are as good as those involving today's Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.

Why is the ICC disgusting at times?

2011-03-14T04:28:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday there were two matches of the world cup being held, one of them being between Australia and Kenya and the other one involving Canada and New Zealand. As expected Australia and New Zealand notched up their wins against the minnows. This is no something to complain about. But, one thing that is not worth tolerating is that these matches are held on weekends rather than conducting on weekdays where there are little takers for the match. Unable to tolerate this boredom, I had to go through brain blogs, areman, areman's brain blogs to satisfy myself rather than go through the same.

If one can take a look at the entire schedule of the world cup, it is interesting to see that there have been 4 Sundays and an equal number of Saturdays starting from 19^th February. The matches held are as follows: 19^th Feb saw the only match between India and Bangladesh while on 20^th there were two games, both of which were involving minnows Kenya and Canada. Though 26^th February saw a tough fight between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, on 27^th Feb things once again took a backseat with there being only one match between India and England played at Bangalore.

Coming further in this regard, next on the list is the matches between England and South Africa on one side with India battling Ireland on the other. One of them were worth watching while the other was not really. Owing to bad luck and rains, the match between Sri Lanka and Australia had to be called off which left another Saturday with viewers cursing. That was the first match to be washed away by rains and one has to no doubt curse the rain Gods for choosing an odd day and an odd match to play a spoilsport in Sri Lanka.

Traveling still further on the schedule, there was Australia playing Kenya and New Zealand playing Canada. Even if the next couple of weekends are considered, the matches scheduled hardly evoke any sort of interest. Luckily, Pakistan plays Australia and India plays West Indies the coming Saturday and Sunday respectively. With the Pakistan-Australia match scheduled in Colombo, one has to pray God that rain doesn't do another Sri Lanka-Australia there. Following that, only one out of four quarter finals are scheduled on weekends and the final. As a matter of suggestion, England-WI and Pakistan-NZ could have been held on weekends with India-Ireland and Australia-Kenya held on weekdays.

Can anyone tell this to the ICC?

India to get chokers tag?

2011-03-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

Well in the beginning of the tournament, India were ranked as favorites to at least be on top at the end of the league stage matches putting them ahead of South Africa, England and West Indies. But, with two out of the three matches slipping away from their hands, the only game left over is against the West Indies. It should not be a surprise if India win against the West Indies but all is hidden in the way they win and chances of losing are also on a high. India have most of the times been on the receiving end in big games and tournaments.

India should have won against England after there were big scores from the blades of Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir. At one stage, it was as though England would get away with a win when equation read England needing 67 runs from 60 balls which were gettable with 8 wickets in hand. Finally, India should be relieved to have got away with a tie than to lose after faring so good with the bat if not the ball. India's wins against Netherlands, Ireland and Bangladesh can hardly be relished considering their loss against South Africa and England against which they were expected to win.

If one could take pains to go through the match Bangladesh, it was a one man show from Virender Sehwag though towards the end even Virat Kohli got a hundred. It would be tough to say whether Sehwag would have reached the magical figures had he not been gifted with a runner. Moreover, Bangladesh managed to score 283 which was not acceptable considering the caliber of both India and Bangladesh. Neither was the score satisfactory nor were the Indian bowlers able to take all ten wickets from the Bangladeshi side. I just happened to go through emanon, road to the unknown after seeing India's plight.

One can go through India's performance in the recently concluded world tournaments namely the world T20 2009 and 2010 and the ICC champions trophy 2009. India were successful initially in both world cups. In 2009 India as expected won the group stage matches against Bangladesh and Ireland and flunk in games against South Africa, England and West Indies in the super eights. So was the case in 2010 where India won games against South Africa only to lose in the super eights to Sri Lanka, West Indies and Australia. In the champions trophy 2009, India had a win only against a depleted West Indies with loss to Pakistan before the match against Australia was abandoned.

The only word that comes to my mind with all these facts is "CHOKERS".

England play a spoilsport

2011-03-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

Any random blog can now tel you where the English team now stands in the ongoing ICC world cup after losing to first Ireland and then yesterday to Bangladesh. I just had a bet that the West Indies might just flatter against Bangladesh for they were facing Bangladesh on their home soil and then the team is an outdated one after Brian Lara retired 4 years earlier. No one needs to feel sorry for England not being able to make it to the quarter finals in case they fail to do so. One can realize the fate of the team in earlier matches as well.

If one can take pains to go through the 2007 world cup, England's major win was only against the West Indies where they chased down 302 in the super eights. England failed in the games against Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa. A win against Bangladesh and Ireland cannot be given such a preference which I suppose you will agree to. Of course, even West Indies' major triumph was against Pakistan in the league stages which was followed by a series of losses against Sri Lanka, Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa. Now, England has a game only against West Indies to prove their myth.

I just cannot believe that England has secured a win against South Africa and a tie against India after seeing their performances against Ireland and Bangladesh. If Ireland comes in for all praises for coming back from being 111/5 at one stage to chasing down successfully 326, other finger points to the reckless bowling of the English bowlers who couldn't make the match theirs. If one could go through the match against Holland, England narrowly missed a defeat first after allowing them to pile up close to 300 runs and then failing initially during the chase. Did South Africa and India fare badly or did England play better cricket?

This has never been the case in the past where a team fares well against strong oppositions and goes for selfdestruction in the games against weaker teams. It would not come as a surprise if England fail to reach the quarter finals in case they lose to the West Indies because, West Indies is a weaker opposition like say Bangladesh and Ireland. A match against will always be considered a tie and not a win for England. Bangladesh now has three wins against England, Netherlands and Ireland which makes them eligible to qualify for the quarter finals. England on the other hand have only two wins and at a lesser run rate.

Border's slicing through the cake in 1987

2011-03-11T06:40:00.000-08:00

Well if Sri Lanka in 1999 was something special for all the wrong reasons, you can think how Australia was a different team when they were led by Allan Border who bought his team the first world cup in 1987. If anyone can go through the entire world cup consisting 9 major countries, not only was the finals against England a close encounter but the entire tournament for Australia was a close call if the matches against major teams were considered. Australia eventually won the world cup beating England in the finals by 7 runs. Border might just have said Just listen, 'coz I'm being me....

That was the maiden appearance of Steve Waugh who 12 years later adapted another fair but unfair means in the 1999 world cup to end up victorious. Coming back to the 1987 world cup, the major teams participating were India, West Indies, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England and New Zealand. Zimbabwe can be considered to be on par with today's Netherlands or Canada. SriLanka on the other hand can partially be kept out of discussion. This brings down the number of teams to 6 with South Africa yet to make an appearance in international cricket especially the world cup.

All teams played every other team twice before the semifinals and in one of the games against India, Australia won the match by 1 run and lost the other by 56 runs with century in the former game by Geoff Marsh. Then was the match against Zimbabwe, which was taken for granted and Australia won a by a decent margin of 96 runs as expected. Their next major encounter was against New Zealand who at that time just a growing kid. Australia managed a 3 run victory against the Kiwis in the truncated match which lasted for 30 overs. However, the game was a high scoring one with Aussies piling up 199 runs at over 6.0 an over.

In another game against the Kiwis, the Aussies managed a 17 run victory which was once again by a small margin. This was followed by a 70 run win against Zimbabwe at Cuttack. Then came the semifinals against Pakistan which the Aussies won by another small margin of 18 runs to meet England in the finals. And what happened in the finals is a known secret with Australia sealing a 7 run win. Thanks to a valiant reverse sweep by Mike Gating which turned the table towards Australia similar to Gibbs' dropping the catch of Steve Waugh in the super six game of the 1999 edition.

Sri Lanka in 1999

2011-03-10T05:24:00.000-08:00

Well that was the world cup where the defending champions Sri Lanka had evoked a lot of interest and expectations among the fans and among the board as well after they had not only won the championship in 1996 but also had done so without losing a single match en route to the final triumph. Sri Lanka was the second nation to do so after the mighty West Indies led by Clive Lloyd in the 1975 and 1979 editions. Sri Lanka was led by Arjuna Ranatunga who was the captain in 1996 world cup as well needless to be said.

In the 1999 world cup all that the Sri Lankans were able to extract from the more or less world cup winning squad was a win against Zimbabwe and Kenya, the least that any test playing nation can be expected to do. Worst come, in the match against Kenya at Southhampton, though Sri Lanka managed a win in that inconsequential match after losing to England, South Africa and England, the man of the match was awarded to Maurice Odumbe of Kenya for scoring 82 runs from 95 balls. In the game against Zimbabwe, Sri lanka lost 6 wickets en route to their successful chase of 198.

Luckily, the man of the match was awarded to a Sri Lankan batsman Marvan Atapattu for reasons not so important here. Going back, in the 1^st game the Sri Lankans faced against England, Sri Lankans were the favorites not only against England but also against any opposition but for RSA. Sri Lankans were bowled out for 204 and the English batsmen chased down the target in 46.5 overs losing just 2 wickets en route. In the next game against South Africa, though not rated as favorites, Sri Lanka would have had it share of betters after RSA was bowled out for 199 with Klusner remaining unbeaten on 52.

But, forget about winning, the Sri Lankans should have thanked their Gods for not having them all out for a score less than 100. A margin of 89 runs chasing 199 on board is just unforgivable. Then comes the game against India where once again, Sri Lanka were termed as favorites but once again thumbs down. Sri Lanka started off on a positive note after scalping the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Sadagoppan Ramesh not before handing themselves to the hands of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. The two contributed together 328 runs with extras apart. Sri Lankans slogan might have been "Welcome to My World"

Sri Lanka were left with no choice but to end up on a winning note in their inconsequential match against Kenya with a lot of compromise.

New Zealand break the jinx

2011-03-09T04:44:00.000-08:00

Despite the world cup going on so smoothly, god knows what on earth made me to go for Bare & Barren. But, that didn't take much time before I could switch back to blogging about cricket which is now going through its all time high with the 10th edition of the world cup keeping all eyes glued to the television sets. Yesterday, there was a rare match between Pakistan and New Zealand which needless to be said New Zealand won convincingly by 110 runs. This would not have been the case had the match been played somewhere in Pakistan rather than at Pallekele.

I just can't last remember when New Zealand had defeated Pakistan in a cricket world cup. I have been watching the event since 1992 and since then, the teams have met on five occasions, all of which have been pocketed by Pakistan. The jackpot struck twice in 1992 and 1999 world cup when Pakistan had two wins against New Zealand, the former being responsible in seeing Pakistan lift their maiden world cup and the latter their second entry into the finals of a world cup. In 1999, it can be said that Pakistan had their maiden runners-up tag which is not too bad.

If anyone comes to the decision that Pakistan are lucky in case they encounter New Zealand in the knock stages of the world cup, I'd like to add an exception citing Pakistan's loss to the Kiwis in the champions trophy 2009 when the Kiwis ran the Pakistanis out of the contest as well as the trophy when they beat them at Johannesburg by 5 wickets. If not for that, all is well for the Pakistanis for they beat them in two world cup semifinals and in the world T20 2007 at South Africa. But, this time things have been different compared to the last 5 world cups.

It was way back in the 1983 world cup that New Zealand had last beaten Pakistan at Birmingham by 52 runs. Pakistan didn't face the Kiwis in 1975, 1979 and 1987 world cups. And, the last they played each other was in 1999 and since then it has been three world cups since they have met each other. Things may be or may not have been different had they played in those world cups as well. But, the victory would have been a delight for the Kiwis which saw them beat Pakistan after 28 years or 7 world cups including this edition.

Casinos inbetween cricket

2011-03-09T04:35:00.000-08:00

Well despite the 10^th edition of the cricket world cup going on in style, my attention gets diverted to casinos especially when I find something unique and interesting needless to be said. And, whenever I find something like that the first thing I do is to write a post for all you readers out there. If you are also looking out for what I have found, then there can be no other place but for www.onlinecasinotopic.com where casino speaks for it. If cricket players battle it on the field, we battle it on casinos to enjoy the same thrill for a change.

When a demand for online casino blooms, lots and lots come in and it is left for us to judge which one is worth a trial and I no doubt go for the one which I have linked above with not second thoughts. When I mention the word unique, I was talking about the provision for beginners who can learn about online casinos and also play at the same time. I cannot find anything better at the moment. If you guys can challenge me saying that "you can beat this casino site", please go ahead and inform me. But, please waste no time. This site is just it and better have to be born.

A real nightmare for viewers

2011-03-08T04:08:00.000-08:00

I had earlier written a couple of posts regarding the ICC scheduling the world cup 2011 with the initial days consisting of matches involving just the weaker teams in an attempt to curb a legal match fixing. However, unlike what was expected, things didn't turn out to be just a bore with the results being as expected that the so called stronger teams would thrash the weaker teams. This has been the matter of the past with some batsman scoring 36 runs over a minnow and lots of the batsmen having their highest scores against these teams when they are found to flatter against a stronger lot.

That however didn't turn out to be the case this time with England losing to Ireland and an Irish batsman scoring the fastest hundred in the history of the world cup and a non test playing team, once again Ireland not only chasing a 300+ total successfully but also became the team to have chased down 326 runs on board beating the older record of 313 by Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe way back in the 1992 world cup. This stands on the top of all huge run chases in world cups. If these were delights to watch, nightmares would be to see India thrash Bermuda by 257 runs after scoring 413.

That was the highest team total in a world cup surpassing 398 that Sri Lanka scored against Kenya in1996 at Kandy. But, the same team lost both their games in the group stage to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Highest individual score in the 2007 world cup was by a Pakistani batsman against Zimbabwe when he scored 160, which was two runs more than what Mathew Hayden managed against West Indies. But, where was Pakistan in games against West Indies. That apart, another nightmare is to watch games between two minnows which evokes no interest like it happens in matches between Kenya, Canada, Netherlands, Ireland and Bangladesh.

A win or a loss for either teams would make no difference to the teams playing unless the team has been victorious against any other string opposition which makes them stand a chance to make it to the next round. That has also been evident with teams like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Ireland making it to the super sixes and super eights of a world cup respectively. But, viewers will definitely complain for lack of tough competition and lack of any cricket action. Yesterday there was a match between Kenya and Canada for its unimportant result. Worst is the case when such games are held on weekends.

Exchange gold for cash

2011-03-08T01:55:00.000-08:00

With the gold rate increasing day by day, there are more gold loan companies coming up at a much faster rate promising cash in return for gold. With so many choices, one lands in a dilemma as to which one to go for. My tips regarding the same would be for that which offers 40-50% more than others, one which provides a faster service, one that makes payment within 24 hours etc. And, for that you can go nowhere but to the only cash for gold site which I have included.

Holding the spirits high

2011-02-24T07:34:00.000-08:00

Well I had stated in one of my recent posts regarding the world cup being unofficially declared with the initial games being played between weaker teams and strong ones that does not evoke much interest among viewers. But, at the same time, one has to appreciate the ICC for coming out with such a plan that would keep the spirits of the game high with hardly any room for a fowl play like it has happened in the past. One can imagine Pakistan losing the last game to Bangladesh in the 1999 world cup after they had won matches against New Zealand, Australia and West Indies.

That loss to Pakistan hardly made any difference to the world cup with no team carrying any points forward to the super six stages. But, one match that really mattered was the one between South Africa and Zimbabwe which South Africa intentionally lost in an attempt to eliminate England which was much deserving than Zimbabwe. It is agreed that there is no scientific reason for my statement but, one can imagine the reason with India losing to Zimbabwe in the mast minute by 4 runs. That was also the reason why India failed to reach the semis of the 1999 world cup.

So was the case in the 2003 world cup with Sri Lanka losing to Kenya for reasons assumed that Kenya had gained 4 points from a walkover game against the Kiwis after the latter turned down to tour the country and Kenya had wins against Bangladesh and Canada. This deprived West Indies and South Africa from reaching the super sixes and New Zealand from reaching the semis. A match gifted from Zimbabwe to Kenya saw Kenya reach the semis as well which was unfair. This led to the ICC come out with a different in 2007 with teams divided into 4 groups, with 4 teams in each group.

As a result, any such tricks by teams would mean the end of the team doing it. But, that was a failure with India and Pakistan crashing out from the tournament after they lost to Bangladesh and Ireland respectively owing to overconfidence. But, the current format gives teams a 2^nd chance so that the top four would reach the quarter finals. Once again, any team that tries to act smart will have to pay the price by being the victim itself before making life miserable for any other team. An optimum chance here lies in the fact that even if a team wins against weak oppositions, a place is guaranteed in the quarter finals.

So, with the first 10 days reserved for weaker teams, the best idea for fans who'd have come here to see the world cup would be to visit Tourist Places in India.

Holland a nightmare for England?

2011-02-23T05:13:00.000-08:00

The Netherlands have always known to be a nightmare for England since the two teams first met in the league stages of the world cup in 1996 held in the sub continent. That was the match where England won the match by just 49 runs as against the expectation of more than a 100 run margin. In that particular match, England scored just 279 runs which was way behind keeping in mind the opposition they were facing and what was expected out of them. Though the total of 279 was a decent in those days, as mentioned above the opposition also matters a lot.

Netherlands winded up with 230 on the board losing just 6 wickets en route to the same when demands asked England to get all ten wickets from the Netherlands' side. At the end, as the saying goes "all is well that ends well", England got away with Graeme Hick being awarded the man of the match award unlike what happened yesterday against the same opposition when the man of the match was awarded to RN ten Doeschate for his contribution with both the bat as well as with the ball. That match saw two batsmen from Holland score half centuries.

Their next meeting was in the 2003 world cup which England did win but once again it was the margin that mattered and England once again lacked that when they lost 4 wickets en route to their successful run chase of 144. That can be considered a decent run but something that can never be forgiven would be their next meeting in the world T20 2009 played in England where England enjoyed being the hosts. England became the first test playing nation to have lost to a non test playing nation in a T20 world cup. Of course, if Bangladesh is considered as a test playing nation, they have lost to Ireland.

That was the 1^st match of the tournament and what a start it was for the big event! Now, coming to yesterday's match, England had almost lost its way before they realized what to do and undid what India failed four years back in the game against Bangladesh. It would have been another disappointment had Holland won that match for, that would make England's chances of entering the quarter finals considering they lose to India and South Africa. One has to indeed appreciate the efforts of RN ten Doeschate who shone with the bat first scoring a hundred and topping the bowling charts by scalping 2 wickets.

Let us meet tomorrow and yes, if you want to Copy Ipod Music wait for the world cup to get over so that you don't do what England has seen doing yesterday.

A bad format

2011-02-22T03:12:00.000-08:00

I should have written this post long before the world cup began and my sincere apologies for not having done that earlier. I was just going through the fixtures of the world cup when something else struck my mind. Of course, it was nothing related to Balitang Kalye but was all related to the world cup itself and more precisely speaking the time table of the same. It is no doubt that the world cup has started well on time with the season being perfect for the mega event with chances of rain being comparatively less. But the same is not true regarding its fixtures.

As it has been the case since the 1996 edition (barring the 2007 edition), this time as well the teams have been divided into two groups with 7 countries in each group. Needless to be said, four from each group will advance to the quarter finals of the tournament. And that is where the problem starts which shows that the format is a lot unfair like it happened in the 1996 world cup. Unlike in the last three editions of the world cup, this time there are three knock out stages unlike it being two in the last three editions.

One can imagine the world cup held in the sub continent with the quarter finals in place. All teams from one group namely India, Sri Lanka, Australia and the West Indies qualified to the semi finals with none from group B advancing. Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and England had to end their world cup dreams there itself. Despite winning all five matches in the league stages, South Africa were forced to return home after losing to the West Indies who were outplayed by Kenya a couple of weeks earlier. So was the case with Pakistan who had lost only one game to South Africa before India shattered their dreams.

Finally the world cup was won by a team who didn't lose a single match en route to the finals. But, at the same time, Sri Lanka didn't play matches against the West Indies, Australia (in the league stage), Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand. Doubts definitely would arise whether Sri Lanka would have emerged victorious had they played the aforementioned teams. The only major victories for Sri Lanka in that trophy was twice against India- one in the league stages and the other in the semis and the quarter finals against England and the finals against Australia. This also reduces the number of matches with most of the major encounters missing out.

When practice brings in over confidence

2011-02-21T07:42:00.000-08:00

It was as though that I was reading a A Journal of My Life when I got a wake-up call with already three of the matches at the ICC cricket world cup being over with lots of batsmen having their innings of their lives and bowlers having their ball of their lives all against stupid teams who are only on a tour of the sub-continent minus Pakistan rather than to play some decent game of cricket. India beat Bangladesh in the very 1^st encounter of the tournament and New Zealand and Sri Lanka doing the same for Kenya and Canada respectively.

Though the viewers and fans will have to wait for atleast ten days or even 15 days for the real action to start, it is no doubt that players have already started on their high note for the good as well as the wrong reasons. The very first match saw India beating Bangladesh by 87 runs which was a decent margin had it been against some strong opponent say like Pakistan. There were two centurions there with Virender Sehwag mastering over his maiden ODI 150 and Virat Kohli his hundred, both in the same match. Much to anyone's amazement, there were 3 players from Delhi, with 2 batting and Gambhir running for Sehwag.

Though all the Indian cricket fans enjoyed Sehwag striking with confidence, something which he couldn't since 2003, his 175 is not a replica of what Kapil Dev did way back in 1983 in that match against Zimbabwe. However, Sri Lanka's 210 run win against Canada once again reminded the way they shattered them two world cups ago when Canada were reduced to 36 runs for the loss of all their ten wickets which was the lowest team total at that time and which stands 2^nd today with Zimbabwe falling short by 1 run once again against Sri Lanka. So would be New Zealand's 10 wicket win over Kenya.

But, as it has been evident from the past, one can recall Zimbabwe beating Australia and Sri Lanka beating India when the former teams mentioned were not granted test status and color dress were yet to make their presence felt. Similarly, India and Pakistan were ousted from the 2007 world cup after being over confident in their games against Bangladesh and Ireland. India and Pakistan were expected to beat Sri Lanka and West Indies respectively, both of which didn't happen. The only reason for these is the over confidence they attained after their more than convincing wins against minnows. However, the format doesn't give way to undeserving teams to cross the border to the quarter finals.

World cup yet to start unofficially

2011-02-20T07:01:00.000-08:00

I was just having a A Tic In The Mind's Eye when I was forced to turn my attention towards nothing other than cricket which is now going through its all time high with the game's most favored event in progress. However, though the 10^th edition of the ICC cricket world cup is officially declared open with a match already gone by, unofficially the world cup is yet to begin with the tournament's first serious game set to be played on 26^th of this month which is still a week to go from here onwards. For Indian fans, the day is extended by yet another day when they play England on 27^th.

That Saturday would be the day when two strong sub continent rivals namely Sri Lanka and Pakistan will fight it out in Colombo. Before that, there is a match between Australia and New Zealand though which supports a tough competition, betters will always have their say on no other team but Australia. It was in 1999 that New Zealand last beat Australia in a world cup match and since then let alone New Zealand, no other team has even managed to save their ten wickets or restrict Australia to a score of less than 300 (if the 2007 world cup is considered).

And, leaving that match, other matches include India taking on Bangladesh which is past with India winning the match by 87 runs at Dhaka. And then there is the match between Kenya and New Zealand, something which should have been their 2^nd meeting had the 2003 debacle not taken place. And then other matches include Sri Lanka versus Canada and Pakistan vs Kenya. On the same lines, Australia will be taking on Zimbabwe and England the Netherlands. Another uninteresting encounter will be South Africa versus West Indies which would be a cakewalk for South Africa with the West Indies being best to Bangladesh or the other way round.

The winners of all the aforementioned matches would obviously be India, Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand (if not for their match against Australia) and Sri Lanka. The West Indies will have to wait until the end of this month when it would be 9 days since the world cup would have begun officially to have a taste of their first win in this world cup. As mentioned earlier, West Indies have a greater chance to lose their first game scheduled against the Proteas. The 1st match for the West Indies where they are bound to win is against Netherlands scheduled on 28^th February. Perhaps! they will be the last to taste their first victory in this world cup.

When online gambling gets so easy

2011-02-07T01:20:00.000-08:00

Well I need not tell you guys how exciting I get when I find something new on the internet and that too when it has got to do with online casinos, poker and sports betting. And, this time as well things are no different either when I just now booked a casino slot to fulfill my thirst for the game no matter what happens. But, this time the casino site which I have found has got to a bit more than what I was expecting when the site offers an option whether you are interested in playing free or for money. This is quite unique.

Clarke's one sided statement

2011-02-03T23:40:00.000-08:00

I was a bit fascinated when I came to know that Google announced the Knol but, the very next moment I had to turn my attention back to writing this post for, that was the time my mood was well set for the game. However, my post has got to do with the Australian captain Michael Clarke who cites his team's successful run chase of 334 against England as a preparation for the upcoming world cup. This no doubt has to be true, given Australia's chances in the big stage considering their days even after the 2007 world cup after which they lost close to 10 players from all departments of the game.

Australia not only made it to the finals of the world T20 tournament in West Indies last year but also did it in style by not losing a single match until the one that counted. The semi finals between Australia and Pakistan will go down as one of the most memorable one for Australia where they successfully chased down a mammoth total of 192 despite at one stage of the match reeling at 105/5 at the end of the 16^th over. They won the ICC Champions trophy in 2009 after beating teams like Pakistan, England and New Zealand which once again saw them go undefeated in a world tournament.

However, coming to Michael Clarke's words, regarding his team's big chase, it must be noted that Australia had lost 5 matches consecutively before they headed to that year's world cup in the Caribbean. They were whitewashed by the Kiwis with the 1^st match seeing Australia lose all ten wickets for a score less than 200 and in the remaining two encounters, New Zealand successfully chased down 337 and 347 in the 2^nd and 3^rd ODIs respectively. Almost a year before that, South Africa had successfully chased down 435 against Australia. But, both South Africa and New Zealand came nowhere in matches against Australia on the big stage.

Now, Australia have recorded their most successful chase beating their previous best of 327 against South Africa in 2002. But this stands nowhere in today's cricket, with the current chase of 334 standing in the 4^th position and with 9 cases of 320+ totals being chased down successfully. This no matter will boost Australia's confidence before they go to the world cup but, even India has similar stories to its credit when they snatched a victory from nowhere in the 2^nd and 3^rd one dayers in their recently concluded bilateral series. Australia's feat was achieved on their home soil while India's was away from it.

Law Firm Marketing

2011-02-03T07:30:00.001-08:00

Even I don't know why I'm referring to some lawyer stuff in a cricket blog and that too when there is the mega event to come in just a couple of weeks from now onwards. But, whenever I find something new and interesting on the internet, it has been my habit to share it with my readers which at times provides to be useful with most of the things that I share are acceptable with all my readers. And, this time too, a trial in the same regard has been made and hope it gets successful. Law firm marketing has far been my interest but made me curious when I hit the return key on my desktop.

It was when I was looking for a suitable domain for a website that I happened to see an ad which titled lawyer marketing which evoked my curiosity towards the link and as it went on and on, I made it a point to share this with you readers. This might not be the case with many of them. All might not find an attorney marketing site when they look for names for their websites unlike me. Rather than promising you or convincing you regarding the sites, I'd rather ask you to look other sites before coming here and then after coming here you yourself will decide that this is the best. And, what is point when a name is not good as its product?

Sarwan should have been the obvious choice

2011-01-31T08:49:00.000-08:00

Well with the current West Indies team facing an acute crisis for talent in terms of both players in form and without it, maintaining the current players who are at least with good class if not in form is quintessential for the West Indies team. The current West Indies team has fellow players like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderapaul and Dwayne Bravo who can save some face for their team with decent if not extraordinary batting performances. If not for Brian Lara - who retired after the world cup in 2007, none of the players in the current West Indian team have been given the axe.

Now, with the inclusion of Ramnaresh Sarwan, another partial boost to their batting line up can be thought of provided Sarwan is well inform and is included in the playing XI. If not for Nikita Miller and Carlton Baugh, some of the remaining West Indian players seem to be the same with others seeming not so promising like Andre Rusell, Ravi Rampaul and Kemar Roach. None of these players' names have been ever heard in international cricket news be it for the good reasons or for the bad. West Indies has big hitting batsmen like Gayle, Sarwan, Chanderapaul and Kieron Pollard off late.

With the schedule of the world cup being so liberal, it would come as no surprise that West Indies will surely make it to the quarter finals even if they manage wins against Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands considering their losses against India, South Africa and England. Coming to Sarwan's case, Sarwan should be the obvious choice rather than tossing a coin before deciding his inclusion or omission from the squad. If Ramnaresh Sarwan's name has to be dropped, then the West Indies team will have to fly to the subcontinent with only 14 players who can officially represent their team.

The 15^th member will only be filling the vacancy left over by Sarwan.One can sense the lack of real life thoughts with the West Indies cricket board naming Darren Sammy as the captain of the world cup touring squad but, I guess should be a positive move which on one hand gives Chris Gayle an opportunity to concentrate on his batting. WICB is believed to have learned their lessons when Brian Lara was made the captain which in turn affected his batting to a little extent though not as much as Sachin Tendulkar. However, in case by chance West Indies manage to make a mark in the quarter finals like they did in 1996, that would be relished for their fans for a long period.

Looking beyond the best

2011-01-31T08:34:00.000-08:00

Well my routine check on the search engine for the best online casino has so far not found to deceive me in any manner and instead has only made me more and more desirous to find more of them. But, why should anyone look further when he or she has found the best of things that he has been looking for so long? Well, the reason is that there is always something beyond the best and so is the case with online casinos. If you are a casino freak, you would know it better than me and if you are not, just click above and do come back to the site again.

Stewart has a point

2011-01-25T09:44:00.000-08:00

Well though the world of cricket hasn't heard much from the former England wicketkeeper - Alec Stewart, whenever Stewart has made it a point to shell out his voice, it seems to count. Stewart, we hear considers the injuries to few of the English players who are currently under the tour of Australia for a 7 match one day series are a boon in disguise for, there is the mega event coming up in the next month for which England has a keen role to play. Players like Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann for the 7 match ODI series.

As a matter of fact, this has been the case regarding most of the key players, some of whom are rested for the fear of their non availability for the world cup and others battling injuries, be it minor or major. Players with minor injuries are rested for the fear of the minor injury turning into a major one and regarding the major injury, nothing needs to be said in particular. And, despite the presence of the aforementioned players in the England squad, England is likely to lose the 7 match ODI series against Australia and nothing needs to be worried.

But, if the players are not fit for the world cup, may be England might have 50-50 chances against teams like Bangladesh and West Indies, who can come up with surprises at times. England should well be aware of their loss to Netherlands in the 2^nd world T20 in 2009 and their should-have-been defeat against Ireland earlier this year. With the presence of the current injured players, England may atleast reach the quarter finals of the world cup if not anything else. England is grouped with teams like India and South Africa, who seem to seal the 1^st and the 2^nd position in the charts table at the end of the first stage's play.

One can remember the 1996 world cup where England had losses against all three major teams namely Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa with which it was grouped and had won matches against Holland and UAE, where victory for England was granted and guaranteed. By default, England finished in the 4^th position and had to enter the quarter finals of that world cup. This time, things look slightly better, with England hoping to win against West Indies in addition to winning against Bangladesh and Ireland provided players are in form and fit at the same time. So was the case in the 2007 WC where England joined hands with Ireland, Bangladesh and South Africa who had wins against only minnows.

By the way do you know what chloedreamland touge is? Well, I'd be checking about it in a moment

The list never ends

2011-01-25T08:39:00.000-08:00

These days I have made it a point to share all my new and unique experiences related to online casino sites with you readers and I have been flooded with enough of them for, I have yet again and likely again found another awesome online gambling site and the reason why I am sharing these with you is needless if you have read my previous such posts. However, with me finding newer and newer such sites, it has become a rather routine work for me to share these with you and I just share the most decent one among the lot and this is just one such site.

Loans at your convinience

2011-01-24T07:28:00.000-08:00

If business is what you like doing and what you have been doing, I bet you would have thought about business loans at some point of time for, any business be it small, medium or big starts with investment and for people starting from step zero there can be no other option but to go for a business loan. But, is the source of your loan reliable? please ask yourself for, this is the area where most businessmen get derailed. I hope so if it is the one that I have mentioned above. And if it is not, then I caution you against the risk you've taken.

No matter what sort of business you are doing, and the site has every sort of loan in store for you starting from small business loans to those which you might require as you reach higher and higher heights in the world of business. The other thing to be kept in mind is the speed at which the loan gets sanctioned which once again needs a reliable source which can be none other than the site which you see upon a click on any of the above links. If you can get a loan with an interest rate of less than 6% please let me know. For, I paid 10% interest for the loan. But then, I was not as lucky as you.

No losers and winners in the match

2011-01-24T05:41:00.000-08:00

At the end of the 5^th one dayer between India and South Africa yesterday, the scoreboard read South Africa win the match by 34 runs of course by the Duckworth - Lewis method and hence the series 3-2. But, the real question is did South Africa emerge victorious or did India lose the game? It was fascinating to see the South African batsmen put up a steady partnership of 97 runs for the 2^nd wicket between Hashim Amla and Morne van Wyk which was followed by a 101 run partnership between Hashim Amla and jean Paul Duminy for the 4^th wicket. South Africa were just 3 down for 231 runs on board at the end of the 42^nd over.

However, despite all these, at the end of their innings, South Africa were 9 down with just 250 on the board meaning just another 19 runs were scored from just above 3 overs losing 6 wickets at a stretch. This in turn shows the lack of discipline of the South African batsmen in the death overs and that too when they were batting on their home pitch. If not for Hashim Amla, Jean Paul Duminy and van Wyk, no other batsman's score was worth any praise. The trio amassed a total of 218 runs with extras contributing 11 runs out of the 250 runs they could manage.

Rain, temporary abandonment of the game in addition to the introduction of the Duckworth - Lewis method should not be the reason for their debacle for even in the previous games as well, South Africa's performance with the bat was not anything different from what it was yesterday. The Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni bought in 8 of his eleven men to bowl at the Proteas and the scoreboard suggests that runs have been scored from the overs bowled by Suresh Raina, Rohith Sharma, Munaf Patel and Yuvraj Singh, with Munaf Patel being the only noted bowler among the lot.

Though Munaf gave away an expensive 6.42 runs an over, he was successful in scalping 3 wickets which included the price wicket of J P Duminy. And coming to India's point, there was no need for Yousuf Pathan to go for that shot when the required run rate was well below 6 an over and no more batsmen to make up for the loss. India did well to recover from 119/8 at the end of the 23^rd over to 234 all out in the 40^th over. A 68 ball 100 in such a situation is much praise worthy compared to the slow and steady 116 by Hashim Amla.

It was fascinating to see Zaheer's 24 run and a 100 run 9^th wicket partnership with Yousuf Pathan when even noted batsmen like Raina, Rohith Sharma and Yuvraj failed. At the end, winners had a lot of flaws in them while losers took home the real spirit. And, just before the world cup players need to Work At Home.

My time didn't go waste

2011-01-19T04:06:00.000-08:00

With me writing all about cricket, your guess would be appreciated if you think that I'd be looking for websites on cricketing equipments. But, if you think that I have found out one, you people are fooled. My search in looking for world class cricketing equipment went in vain as I could hardly find anything related to my favorite game. But, though I ran out of luck in trying to find out a decent cricketing equipment, my time didn't go waste as I got rewarded well for my efforts when I found a world class soccer equipment more than anything else which was exactly what my friend was looking for.

If you readers are looking for scoreboards, which I think is almost same no matter what game you are playing, think no further. Meanwhile, outside cricket, there are sports like baseball, cycling, football, gymnasium and what not, the equipments of all of which are available here. Though there was a disappointment in not finding what I wanted to, the satisfaction came in a tripled effect when I found everything which I could have never found despite repeated searching on all major sports equipment sites. I'm sure that your experience wil be much more exciting.

After failing to chase, RSA fail to defent as well

2011-01-19T03:34:00.000-08:00

Well if the second one dayer between India and South Africa at Johannesburg comes in for much criticism from most around the world, the Proteas have yet again made news for the wrong reasons when they failed to win a winning battle which came in defending a rather decent score of 220 on the board with the pitch assisting the bowlers to a greater extent. Some stupid part time bowlers like Yuvraj Singh could control the South African batsmen let alone strike bowlers like Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. Some Munaf Patel who rarely makes it to the 15 member squad makes his day.

This time, India were playing the hosts without another star player - Sachin Tendulkar in addition to the absence of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. The total what the Proteas left before the second innings started was a combined effort of half centuries from the blades of Jean Paul Duminy and Faf Du Plessis, the latter who was making his debut appearance in a one day international. Of course, even South Africa was without their key player in Jacques Kallis, but being the hosts and winning the toss, they should have had no reason to defend their defeat once again.

Batting was looking terribly tough taking the way the South African batsmen were struggling after winning the toss and opting to bat first. However, a 5^th wicket partnership of 110 runs between the aforementioned players made all of us feel that the South African players are back in the game which was only half truth. The remaining half being that their bowling was exactly opposite to what their batsmen could manage. The scoreboard which read 200/4 at one point of time in the 45^th over eventually ended by freezing at 220 with the hosts losing all their ten wickets, meaning just 20 runs were added before 6 more wickets fell.

Just a couple of days back, South Africa failed to chase down a mere target of 191 after falling 1 run short. And, what happened in the 3^rd one dayer has well been depicted. Shortly, the Proteas will be heading to the same venue to against which it is seen reeling even without any sort of pressure. However, the South Africans can tend to relax a little bit, for they are not grouped with India in pool A. But, what if South Africa happens to face India in the quarter final which is a knock out affair? They'll be reminded of the 1996 WC.

I wish the South African players Travel the World before they head on to the sub continent to play the game's most respected tournament - the world cup.

Just before the world cup

2011-01-16T05:16:00.000-08:00

Well their is just more than a month to go before the big event kicks in and before that, something exciting would always be welcome and it should not matter if it is the online casinos for, this is one such thing that I keep on coming across every now and then but a better one each time I write a review about the latest online casino I would have found. For the best online casinos, I would no doubt suggest those with a variety in terms of packages, one that is available in various languages and above all, one which is seen upon clicking the above link.

Crap the South Africans!

2011-01-16T04:36:00.000-08:00

One can imagine the fate of a team which can hardly chase a mere target of less than two hundred runs or defend a total in excess of 300 on its home soil. Though the latter has not been the case yet with the South Africans but, the former did happen yesterday. One need not be told specially that India managed only 190 runs on the board and South Africa required just under four runs an over to end up on the winning side. And, when this task seemed tough for the hosts, their caliber in international cricket definitely needs a rethinking.

Were South Africans really the team that chased down a total of 434 against the then strongest team - Australia, who went on to win their third world cup in a row and four overall? In the initial stages of their unsuccessful run chase, South Africa showed good signs of making it a 2-0 lead which though didn't happen were not even on the cards. South Africa did maintain the required run rate of above 4 runs an over but, failed to play the complete 50 overs which would have otherwise seen them taking a 2-0 lead in the bilateral series.

Being an Indian, I would love to see my country win any match against any opposition. But, as a cricket fan, a decent and tough cricket fight is something that takes precedence. South Africa couldn't even manage what the Indians could when they lost all their ten wickets playing just above 43 overs compared to the 47 overs that India played. This once again reminds all of us the semi final match against Australia in the 1999 world cup where South Africans could not manage to chase 214 runs despite emerging as favorites throughout the tournament even higher than Australia.

This time, the situation was even more worse that, they could not even manage a tie as in the match against Australia. This time, the Proteas were playing on their home soil unlike then when they were playing in England. If the bowlers had an upperhand in the match throughout, were the bowlers as tight that they could not even let the hosts chase down a total less than two hundred? And, the bowlers involved were not Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne but some stupid Munaf Patel who is found wearing the blue uniform once in a calender year. Of course, Australia were once bowled out for 98 recently against England on their home soil and this isn't a great issue.

Pokers that can poke you

2011-01-15T21:43:00.001-08:00

With still 35 more days to go before the 10th edition of the cricket world cup get kicked off in style, it is obviously a lot of time before I can do something worth the wait. And, that something has to be of some use to all fellow readers incase the time that they take in reading and the time I take in posting the same on my blog should once again be worth the space on my blog. This can be none other than online poker for which I can hardly wait and can hardly resist sharing with you fellow readers. This is irrespective of whether you are familiar with the online poker or not.

Regular visitors of my blog would have by now realized that online poker comes second on my list of favorites after the one and the only cricket for which I can lend my entire life watching and following. And, new comers to my blog would have by now realized the same after reading the previous sentence. And, coming to the point, everytime I write about poker sites, I mention the online poker strategy which evokes interest in people who are new as well as experienced to the word "Poker".

Each and everytime I write about poker, it is understood that I would have definitely found something new in to world of poker and casinos and this time as well the situation is hardly anything different whatsoever. Every player is expected to know the rules of whichever sport he/she is playing and so is the case with poker. For this, I recommend you to go through the poker rules which will surely make you go thrilled. So, with time and space running, I'm running out of words as well and, the best thing for you now to do is to go through any of the above links to find yourself in an exciting environment of pokers.

Why doesn't Dhoni include bowlers as well?

2011-01-15T20:48:00.000-08:00

Well if one has the patience to go through the latest article in one of the major cricket website, Dhoni seeks more from his batsmen after their humiliating loss in the first one dayer against and in South Africa a couple of days back. However, if Dhoni is indeed serious about the words what he says, it was not only the batsmen who were involved in the mishap but the bowlers as well who allowed the hosts to pile up 289 runs on the board. But, Dhoni's words don't seem to concern the bowlers in any way. Well, there's no one disputing.

If Dhoni's personal contribution in the match is concerned, he could manage a handy 25 runs from 35 balls which included a once again handy 33 run partnership in the mere total of 154 which was 135 runs less than the total piled up by the hosts - South Africa. Though this was far from sufficient, Dhoni's part is well appreciated in moving the tempo forward when batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Murali Vijay and Rohith Sharma failed to do their bit. But, still, my personal opinion was that Dhoni's words were uncalled for and a suggestion would ask him to visit the site - Good Health & You

Well, Dhoni should not take this match too seriously for, it is evident that Dhoni's men were facing the South Africans on their own soil unlike their previous home tours against Australia and New Zealand. This was the first one dayer and a defeat doesn't seem to be the end of all with a major even scheduled in 5 weeks from now onwards. Luckily, Dhoni's men will be facing most of their opponents on their home soil which would add to the advantage with most of the players being in form. A loss in the 1^st match may turn out to be victory in the remaining four.

India have managed to draw the last test when a loss was thought to be in hand. They won the only T20 game scheduled in Durban all in South Africa. Dhoni needs to realize that India were playing South Africa without the likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and with out of form players like Yuvraj Singh. With so much advantages and chances that India have had and are likely to have, Dhoni should not bother much about the loss which are one out of 20. For every 20 wins, India loses one match and if that lone match draws a lot of criticism, such ideas have to be totally ignored.

For all your processing needs

2010-12-21T08:17:00.001-08:00

As all you readers by now would have already guessed, whenever there is little or no interesting cricketing action going on, my attention diverts to something new. And, this time as well, with the third Ashes test scheduled after Christmas and a week more to go before the second test between India and South Africa is bound to start and last but not the least, the series between Sri Lanka and West Indies being put off owing to rains, something worthy would obviously mean in visiting the site for Credit Card Processing Leads. It was not only the lack of cricket matches that led me to explore the site for Merchant Processing Leads but, my needs also dictated the same.

Not all things are shared by people with their friends and if this is being shared among you readers, I need not tell you how interesting this can be and helpful also at the same time. This can be the case even if it is Sales Leads that you are looking for. You got to be lucky to be reading this post for, you people need not suffer like me in an attempt to find the most fascinating and exclusive real time leads no matter what.