A good decision by SLC

Well the Sri Lanka Cricket is found to make two major decision regarding the selection for the upcoming Asia cup. One the Sri Lankan selection committee has dropped the veteran opener but exhausted as well at the same time and then also has excluded Ajantha Mendis who, two years ago played a massive part in Sri Lanka's thumping win over India to win as well as retain the Asia cup which was held in Karachi a couple of years back. Of course, even Sanath Jayasuriya's role and contribution was not too less in the last two editions of the Asia cup.

Sanath Jayasuriya scored two hundreds in the Asia cups, both in 2004 and 2008 as well. Coincidentally, Jayasuriya's hundreds in both the editions mentioned came against Bangladesh and India in the second stage of the tournament. Sanath Jayasuriya scored one of the fastest hundreds of that time when he scored a 54 ball century against Bangladesh as mentioned above. However, I personally don't recommend Sanath Jayasuriya's name to be included in this year's Asia cup for reasons best known. One, Jayasuriya who is now aged 40 is not only old but is also too exhausted to be part of the squad.

And secondly, Jayasuriya not only has been off from his blasting days of glory in recent times but was also dropped by the selectors and the captain. Sanath Jayasuriya was dropped for major part of the Indian Premier League earlier this year may be regarding his trouble over his age by Sachin Tendulkar who himself had forgotten that his age was also moving towards dawn by time. That apart, in the world T20 held at the Caribbean, none of the scores Jayasuriya put forwards could prove his myth as a hard hitting batsman that he was some 4 years back.

Finally, Jayasuriya was dropped for the triangular series recently involving India and Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe which Sri Lanka won at the cost of a depleted Indian team led by Suresh Raina. Sanath Jayasuriya now holds the record for two out of the top ten fastest hundreds in one day internationals but still deserves to relax with his wife and kids. He holds the world record for hitting the maximum number of sixes in ODI but is made to sit at a place where the ball lands when it is hit for a six. He holds the record for 2^nd highest run getter and 3^rd highest scorer and 2nd highest number of ODIs played. But......time is up.

Is Sharad Pawar so innocent?

Well if one goes by the latest news by cricinfo, Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule have denied being involved in a failed bid for a franchisee in March this year. Does this means that, had the deal been taken off smoothly and successfully, they would have taken the responsibility of having tried to make a foul game out of it? Or, just because the bid failed is that the father - daughter duo are coming out screaming in public that they have nothing to do with the IPL bid for the Pune team? But, reports suggest that they own 30% of the share from the team.

So, I think it is left for the people to believe which version they feel is right and which version they feel has some or a lot of weight in it. The figures reveal a whooping Rs 3.36 million in the form of shares from the Pune team which in addition to the father - daughter duo also has his wife involved in it. The details though are not so important here, one thing that is to be noticed here is the innocence of Sharad Pawar's daughter who comes out saying that her dad has no involvement in the failed bid.

It is really funny to notice here that people who are trying to seek innocence are being innocent unknowingly. Citing an example, though not a real one, a thief being charged for robbery (which is obvious) seeks innocence saying that he is involved only in murder and not in a theft of any sort, thinking that such comments might see him escape from punishment. And, if people with brains (even a little bit of them will do in this case) are said to comment, majority of the answers would be that the father - daughter duo tried to extract something but failed.

Meaning, Sharad Pawar and his daughter (and may be his wife as well) tried to make a lot from the bid but couldn't succeed in doing so just because the bid failed and not because the person mentioned here was true minded. So, this should also mean that a murderer should be let off since he didn't succeed in his plan of killing and instead was deceived when his plans didn't work out as expected by him. Finally, foolishness can be seen by Sharad Pawar's daughter when she tries to prove innocence regarding the reports that suggest 3.36 million worth shares but is proved to be innocent when her words can trap her in another way.

The moral of the story is "learn how to talk, rather diplomatically"

Why is Raina being made the captain?

Well it is not a breaking news about Dhoni's praise and confidence he has in the upcoming cricketer Suresh Raina which saw Dhoni allowing Raina to captain the Chennai Superkings side in the IPL a month back. But, one has to imagine whether Dhoni's selection of the captain in his replacement is justified in case Dhoni is responsible in making Raina captain the Indian side for the tri nation tournament involving Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka in Zimbabwe? Or did the selectors show faith in Raina upon Dhoni's choice as mentioned above? In either case, there are better people than Raina who could be given the reins.

One may not agree with me if I say that Suresh Raina still needs to find a platform for himself in the team as a player before he can think of stepping into the shoes of a captain. Not because of his failures in some parts of the team but for the only reason that there are better people and more experienced people than Raina who are eligible to lead the side. Of course, the list does not include Sachin Tendulkar who has shown to be exactly opposite as a captin compared to what he was and what he is as a player.

There are batsmen like Rohith Sharma whose caliber in the Indian team as a batsman is similar to what Raina enjoys. The only difference between the both being that Raina bats left handed while Rohith Sharma bats right handed. Both of them have had equal number of ups and downs in their cricket career. Or else, there are players like Dinesh Karthik who can replace Dhoni as a keeper but would not be a fair choice as a captain instead of Dhoni. And one more fascinating thing about the squad is that the vice captain of India will be Virat Kohli.

There is no doubt that these players have the potential in them both as batsmen and as captain to take the team forward. I thought of mentioning Yuvraj Singh but found that his name misses from the squad set to tour Zimbabwe. My sincere apologies for that. Other choices as captain would be Amit Mishra and Yousuf Pathan both of whom are equally talented and experienced like Suresh Raina. No doubt that not much would be expected from Suresh Raina when his team would return from Zimbabwe. There is no doubt that India will make it to the finals and in case they lose, it would be another loss in a final and nothing more.

Why Brett Lee cites the IPL and not the NZ tour?

Well one has to feel happy that the Australian speedster Brett Lee has promised to be fit for the upcoming third edition of the Indian Premier League. I take your pardon- Brett Lee hopes to be completely fit for the upcoming IPL. This has to be a good news for cricket fans in India who would be looking forward to see him in action in the cash rich and entertainment rich tournament. More happier people would be the Kings XI Punjab who have already taken a blow when Yuvraj Singh was sacked as the captain and replaced by Kumara Sangakkara.

Anyways, that might not be an issue as far as the fans of Kings XI Punjab players or fans are considered and likewise, even Sangakkara has not been a bad captain for Sri Lanka. And the happiest man to be fit for the IPL would be Brett Lee himself, failing which he would also compromise with the payment he is bound to receive in case he opts out of the tournament. Needless to be said, Brett Lee was last found playing international cricket for Australia way back in October in the 7 match one day series against India last year in the 1^st ODI at Vadodara.

There itself, Brett Lee had given a hint that he would not be fit for the next one dayer and since then has never been for for any international matches. Moreover, Brett Lee has made news for the wrong reasons when he retired from test cricket recently. However, when it comes to big tournaments like the world T20 and the cash rich IPL, any lazy bugger has to get up and come out shouting that he is fit irrespective of whether he is fit or not and Brett Lee is no exception. So has been the case with players like Sreesanth, Muralitharan to name a few who have given a fitness certificate about themselves when it mattered in the IPL and were nowhere in the scene when it came to playing international matches for their country.

Whatever, one thing that is to be noticed is that there is an ongoing one day series between Australia and New Zealand and will go on as scheduled until the 31^st of this month, which would be more than 2 weeks after the IPl would have kicked in. But Brett Lee has neither been figured in the squad that played the 2 T20 games and also for the one day series that follows. And nothing needs to be cited specially regarding the 2 match test series that follows. Brett Lee was least bothered about the aforementioned tournaments and now comes shouting that he can play in the IPL. I wish Symonds should learn from Brett Lee how to handle such a situation.

Fixture threatens T20 WC as well

There is worry everywhere regarding the third edition of the Indian Premier League, first with none of the team franchisees opting for players from Pakistan despite the fact that they are the current world T20 champions. This not only deprived the Pakistani players a chance to showcase their talent on the big stage but also deprived the cricket fans at large in India who would have loved to see atleast Shahid Afridi belting the bowlers from the opposition team. Then, following this turn around, the PCB chief Ijaz Butt decides not to send PAK players for the Champions League 2010.

This despite the ICC not zeroing in on holding the tournament in India. Anyway, that was a different issue though a major one as far as the tournament is concerned. And then, the recent development in this regard being that players from India will find it hard to cope up with the schedule of the IPL which is due on March 12^th which is just more than a week from now onwards. The news has its say that due to the heavy schedule of the tournament, players from India who will be playing on the first few days of the tournament will have to compromise with their practice sessions.

The Deodhar trophy will be is scheduled between 6^th to 9^th of this month, which is just 3 days from the start of the first match of the IPL. Luckily, the first day of the tournament consists of only one match that is between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Deccan Chargers. Thanks to the inauguration ceremony that will take place prior to the start of the game which rules out the possibility of another game like the days that follow. Moreover, it is the Kolkata Knight Riders who will have to face the heat for two reasons. One, because of the down to earth performance in the previous two editions of the same and two, for playing the game on the 1st day itself.

The players of both the teams viz the Deccan Chargers and the Kolkata Knight Riders will have to choose between relishing the take off of the tournament after the fireworks & dance parties and playing their first match. Added to these issues is the fact that the ICC world T20 is due to start from 30^th of April that is just 5 days after the IPL gets over. Though only two teams make it to the finals, the rest of the players would be exhausted from playing for almost a month and a half. And it is the players from New Zealand & Sri Lanka who will have to take the beating for, they would be the ones who'd be taking the field on the 1^st day itself.

Is ICL A Lost Episode?

With sponsors of each and every team ready to pour in millions of dollars by bidding each Tom-Dick & Harry, irrespective of his caliber in the sport called T20 cricket, even in the third edition of the Indian Premier League that is due to start on the first of March and thank god it is in India this year, the success of the same can well be guessed. However, at the same time, the so called rebel league by the BCCI and also the ones that laid the foundation for a league of its kind in India-the Indian Cricket League, is found nowhere making news whatsoever.

The last time the ICL was in the news was, on November 26th 2008, when the ICL sponsored ICL World series was in progress and had to end abruptly after the great 26/11 took over the news headlines. The last match until then and also till date was the one between ICL Pakistani vs ICL World, the result of which not being of great importance. From then onwards, ICL has only been history. Neither has any ICL sponsor came out with any new ideas nor were they slammed for not taking the leagur forward by the board members. All people who had voted and fought for the ICL are now found running for covers.

One reason for such a decline would no doubt be the BCCI who at first named the ICL as a rebel league, following which players featuring in the league were banned from international contracts by the BCCI. After the BCCI, every international cricket boards started following suit and started banning players from their international contracts as well. All these despite the ICL sponsors ready to release the players for their official duties. Following that was lack of the quality of cricket played in the ICL. There was hardly any sort of big hitting (that forms the funda of T20 cricket) or skill display from the players.

All that could be seen was the batsmen waving his bats which sometimes saw the ball cover the ropes. Second to that was the quantity, where there was just one season being played in a year. And during the remaining parts of the years, the player would have had to cool his heels at home, which is difficult at times for players who are love to sweat it out on the grounds. Stupidity lied at its peak when a so called world series in ICL consists of just 4 teams namely Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and the Rest of the world. With all these, players start pulling off from ICL to join the their respective teams and also feature in IPL.

Now, the only next thing to happen is that sponsors who had bid on a team in the ICL also follow the players and come out to invest for a team in so that they don't waste funds anymore on worthless things like the ICL. But, what if the BCCI bans sponsors from the rebel league in investing in the IPL???

Finally Whom Does Afridi & co want to blame?

Well no one on earth would have tolerated the insult what the Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi and co had to bear on the first day of the auction for the 3rd edition of the Indian Premier League. It is not an unknown fact that none of the Pakistani players were bought and more the less not even bid for on the first day of the auction. And no one would have also supported such a treatment to anyone let alone Pakistani players. But, the other side of the coin is also to be given a closer look at I suppose.

After the Pakistan team made it to the finals of the second T20 world cup, which was their second such feat and a much better one when they won the championship, I remember reading in one of the leading newspapers-The times of India that the Pakistani players should never settle for something less by giving a nod for a throwaway price by the IPL sponsors. But, none of them including the then Pakistani captain Mohammed Yusuf would have thought that Pakistani players will not even have to feaure on the sponsors' hit lists for the auction. May be that the ICL returnees would be kicking themselves after they decided to leave the rebel league hoping of a better prospect in IPL.

Pakistani players namely Naved Ul Hassan Rana, Abdul Razzaq and others ditched ICL to get back to their international team and so to the IPL but, the result is quite in front of us. Things worked out well for New Zealand's Shane Bond but not for Pakistani players. If the BCCI or the IPL considers the ICL as a rebel league, the Pakistani players should have anticipated that the same BCCI considers Pakistan as a rebel country. So, in a way, it has to be Pakistani players who could not anticipate even such things and feature themselves for the auction and then come out cursing.

Likewise, every T20 team would like to have someone like Afridi in their team. But, what is the guarantee that Pakistani players will turn up for their respective franchisees? Moreover, taking into consideration the impression that the Pakistani players have in the minds of the Indian people, is it worth the risk to-be-taken by the sponsors which might see them lose viewers' interest in their teams and products? A little bit of bitter relationship between the two countries might end up in all the Pak players called back from the IPL half way through. Who is going to take the blame for that? And last but not the least, IPL has had a good run in 2009 when there were no Pakistani players featuring and things might not get worse this time as well.