West Indies get what they've begged for

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 I was SRT, I'd have retired

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.

Will John Davidson retire or..?

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?

Sarwan should have been the obvious choice

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.

Pakistan misses hattrick

Well it is not a big task for any team or a player can make it to the headlines of a cricket site or a cricket magazine but, it is the reasons for which the player or the team that has made news which takes precedence. And, needless to be said, Pakistan has made it to the headlines for the wrong reasons yesterday when they lost all their ten wickets for yet another score of less than 100. The score was one run less than 75 to be exact. And, this is the third time in the series out of eight innings Pakistan has played that it has been bowled out for a score less than hundred.

Not even Bangladesh or Zimbabwe have been able to do this no matter against which team they have played. Of course, I remember the West indies losing all their ten wickets for 47 on one occasion and 94 on the other during their tour of England 2004 which is famous for Brian Lara's epic knock of unbeaten 400 at Antigua in the fourth test. Even England last year against the West Indies lost al their ten wickets for a score of 51 to hand the West Indies a rare victory. This bought in some change, not to the West Indies who are at most time at the receiving end but to the viewers who would have gone sick watching West Indies lose.

Now, Pakistan have gone even further when they were bowled out for a score less than 100 on the fourth occasion in the last two months or so. They were bowled out for a score of 80 in the 1^st test against England at Nottingham and 72 in the 2^nd test at Birmingham which Pakistan lost by 9 wickets. Now, as if that were not enough, Pakistan have yet against been bowled out for 74 yesterday at London. Only three players from Pakistan were able to cross the double digit and thanks to the extras which did not score than the Pakistani batsmen.

Otherwise, it would be fascinating to see the extras having a hand in the top scorer of the match. As I had written in yesterday's post about Stuart Broad's innings with the bat despite coming in at number, now it is to be highlighted that Broad's score of 169 was more than twice of what the entire Pakistani batsmen could score that includes the extras as well. Stuart Broad played 297 ball that constituted close to 50 overs which was close to 17 overs more than what the entire Pakistani innings lasted. This was not even achieved by Bangladesh when they toured England recently. Instead of watching Pakistan play, I'd recommend you to Download Free e-books,games,movies,music(videos),softwares,tv shows,wallpapers from The Rapidshare Links World.

Sehwag and New Zealand

Well yesterday, needless to be said, Virender Sehwag scored his latest hundred against New Zealand, a team against which Sehwag had not only scored his maiden ton of his international career in ODIs but also one of the top ten of the fastest hundred at that time. Sehwag's ton, at that time was second best only to Mohammed Azharuddin who had scored a 63 ball hundred against the same New Zealand way back in the early 90s. Virender Sehwag now has five out of his 12 hundreds against New Zealand in one dayers. This can once again prove Viru to be a perfect player for Kiwis.

Back in test match cricket, Virender Sehwag has three out of six double hundreds against Pakistan and that too three in a row in the three series' that were played between the countries between 2004-05 to 2006-07. Virender Sehwag was not a part of the squad of the Indian team that toured Pakistan in 2007 which would have otherwise seen him notch up yet another double century against Pakistan if at all history is to repeat itself. So, Sehwag can be considered as a rare Indian batsman who can silence the Pakistani players who were haunting the Indian side since the rivalry began.

Similar stories exist when V V S Laxman's test history against Australia is given a close look at with both his double hundreds pointing towards Australia. It doesn't matter that both the double hundreds of Laxman have come on home ground no matter that the Eden Gardens innings was an epic in Laxman's test cricket history. Otherwise also, Laxman has scores like 178, 167 and 148 against Australia in Australia. His performance against other teams has been less than satisfactory compared to the ones against Australia. So has been Laxman's hundreds in one dayers where he has four out of the six hundreds against Australia.

Similarly, Brian Lara has a special liking towards Australia and England when history suggests that he has two triple hundreds against England and two double hundreds against Australia though his team used to finish in the losing side. His performance against other teams is well above satisfactory which speaks for him. Lara has double hundreds against all teams except India and New Zealand. So, his liking towards one particular team can be restricted to only England considering the two triple hundreds he has scored against. Coming to Sehwag's issue, the tri series involving India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand always fascinates Sehwag.

How long will the satisfaction last for WI?

Well one has to pity the present day's West Indies team which finds relief after winning the second one day match against Zimbabwe. One has to think whether it was Australia whom the West Indies defeated or was it really Zimbabwe? The moment a team rejoices after winning a match against some team like Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, its caliber is well know to the cricketing world. And, moreover the West indies team finds relief not before it lost the first one day international and the only T20 game that was played prior to that to the same Zimbabwean team. Also, this victory was at home for the Windies.

The same West Indies team was found to have lost or rather being whitewashed by the Bangladesh team somewhere 7 months ago which was any team's first ever test match series defeat at the hands of Bangladesh team and West Indies being the home team then added to their woes. Now, if one sees the West Indies team rejoicing after their victory against Zimbabwe it can be considered that the West Indies team and the fans would have anticipated them to lose the game and the series as well to the Zimbabweans. And, their actions are justified with the absence of some key players like Dwayne Bravo.

This was a hard fought victory for the West Indies, which at one stage saw then reeling with 85 runs on the board at the end of the 26^th over at a run rate of just over 3.0 an over. And moreover, at that stage, the West Indies team had lost 4 quick and top wickets. It would not have been possible without the experienced Chris Gayle and Deonarine who held the nerves and didn't lose more than 2 wickets after their initial debacle which saw West Indies through that game against Zimbabwe. It is now only history that West Indies boasted a batsman in Brian Lara who scored 400* in test cricket.

And, when the West Indies can boast of their victory against Zimbabwe which was a hard fought one, questions do raise about the future of the West Indies in the ongoing series against the same. Can West Indies win atleast two of the remaining three one dayers against Zimbabwe to avoid another disappointment in case they don't succeed in doing so? The target that they chased down was a mere 208 runs and that could draw in a lot of applause which was not the case when they chased down 418 runs in test cricket against Australia some 6 odd years back.