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.
Showing posts with label India vs Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India vs Australia. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Sub-continent ghosts and not hosts for Australia
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 4th 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 8th 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.
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 4th 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 8th 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.
Monday, March 21, 2011
A tough task for India
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.
I can correlate India's situation to The Simple Life of a Baghag.
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.
I can correlate India's situation to The Simple Life of a Baghag.
Monday, August 30, 2010
How long will this continue?
Things were not as simple for Pakistan like it would have been trading on sasono site for, sport is not gambling. But, the Pakistani team has made their cricket look like a gamble since the days when all major cricketing nations started boycotting their tour to the trouble torn country. That apart, coming to yesterday's 4th day of the test match between England and Pakistan, that was one last blow for Pakistan when they fell one run short in ending up their 2nd innings score twice of what they could manage to do in their 1st innings at London. No prizes for guessing.
On the 1st day's play, it was as though that Pakistan would continue to rock the series the way they did in the 3rd test which they eventually won. The 1st day's play saw England ending the truncated day with 39 runs for the loss of one wicket. This was not a problem with 9 more batsmen still to go at that time. But, it was later in the day that followed that misery stared for England. England lost 7 wickets for a score just above 100 on day 2 which spoke for itself. But, as the scorecard suggests, Stuart Broad and Jonathan Trott settled things for England.
In addition to praising the duo who bought England back into the game, it would not be wrong to blame Pakistan for allowing a number 9 batsman to settle down and settle his team as well at the same time. One cannot expect someone like Mohammed Asif and Saeed Ajmal to do the same for Pakistan. If Broad scores more than twice the total put up by Pakistan team, the caliber of Pakistan should be under scrutiny. One can recall the way India got back into the game against Australia at the Eden Gardens Kolkata in 2001 after allowed to follow on by Steve Waugh in a situation similar to the one under consideration.
But then, it was Laxman and Dravid, two notable batsmen from the Indian side and not some Venkatesh Prasad or Debashish Mohanty. There has been a nightwatchman who has scored a double century when Jason Gillespie did it against Bangladesh. But, the team against Stuart Broad did the feat was a team that has had a world cup triumph against its name. No matter that even Australia's collapse for 88 recently would have made people think likewise. But, Pakistan has been doing it since past one year or so. England required just four bowlers to get all ten Pakistani wickets unlike 6 bowlers from Pakistani side.
There was some Umar Akmal who scored 79 runs at a strike rate of 116 as though it was a LOI game. With this sort of approach, the results can get only worse.
On the 1st day's play, it was as though that Pakistan would continue to rock the series the way they did in the 3rd test which they eventually won. The 1st day's play saw England ending the truncated day with 39 runs for the loss of one wicket. This was not a problem with 9 more batsmen still to go at that time. But, it was later in the day that followed that misery stared for England. England lost 7 wickets for a score just above 100 on day 2 which spoke for itself. But, as the scorecard suggests, Stuart Broad and Jonathan Trott settled things for England.
In addition to praising the duo who bought England back into the game, it would not be wrong to blame Pakistan for allowing a number 9 batsman to settle down and settle his team as well at the same time. One cannot expect someone like Mohammed Asif and Saeed Ajmal to do the same for Pakistan. If Broad scores more than twice the total put up by Pakistan team, the caliber of Pakistan should be under scrutiny. One can recall the way India got back into the game against Australia at the Eden Gardens Kolkata in 2001 after allowed to follow on by Steve Waugh in a situation similar to the one under consideration.
But then, it was Laxman and Dravid, two notable batsmen from the Indian side and not some Venkatesh Prasad or Debashish Mohanty. There has been a nightwatchman who has scored a double century when Jason Gillespie did it against Bangladesh. But, the team against Stuart Broad did the feat was a team that has had a world cup triumph against its name. No matter that even Australia's collapse for 88 recently would have made people think likewise. But, Pakistan has been doing it since past one year or so. England required just four bowlers to get all ten Pakistani wickets unlike 6 bowlers from Pakistani side.
There was some Umar Akmal who scored 79 runs at a strike rate of 116 as though it was a LOI game. With this sort of approach, the results can get only worse.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
James Sutherland does have a point
Well if the chief executive of cricket Australia - James Sutherland is to be believed, Australia can one fine day have three different outfits, one each namely for tests, one day internationals and the T20s. So, if at all there is even a freak possibility, the ICC should be holding two different series' involving the same team which according to James Sutherland has to be Australia. Or else, another possibility can be tests, one dayers and T20 matches can be held parallel with once again Australia being the common team. Is this what James Sutherland means to say according to this?
The statement can also be taken like, Australia at present have an enormous talent which can see them send 45 players simultaneously if at all such a rare situation is bound to happen and still end up being victorious. This can well to some extent in today's cricket be considered to be true as far as Australia are considered. And, this would have been true to a greater extent some three years down the lane when they not only ended up victorious in the finals of the world cup in 2007 but also won 11 games in the tournament though they didn't face the like of India and Pakistan.
There would have hardly been any damn person who would have bet his money against Australia, no matter which team they were facing. Back in 2003, one can recall the way Australia emerged victorious despite their team being deceived from the services of Shane Warne, Shane Watson and Jason Gillespie in the initial stages of the tournament. Jason Gillispie had to head back home after giving his team a good start against India where he picked up 3 wickets to be adjudged the man of the match. His replacement - Andy Bichel came in handy for Australia in the match they most needed.
This was in the match against England where Australia were not only chasing a target of 204 set by England but also a 12th match that would have seen Australia overtaking the West Indies' tally of 11 consecutive wins in ODIs. In that match, Bichel grabbed 7 wickets giving away 20 runs and in addition, stood along side Michael Beaven in a 83 run partnership which had seen Australia at 135/8 at one stage. Though there were India & Sri Lanka in 2003 and 2007 world cups respectively on the otherhand playing their threatening part, Australia was totally invincible. Had there been another Australian team, it would not be wrong to say that the finals would have been between two Australian teams and not Oz vs Ind or Aus vs SL.
The statement can also be taken like, Australia at present have an enormous talent which can see them send 45 players simultaneously if at all such a rare situation is bound to happen and still end up being victorious. This can well to some extent in today's cricket be considered to be true as far as Australia are considered. And, this would have been true to a greater extent some three years down the lane when they not only ended up victorious in the finals of the world cup in 2007 but also won 11 games in the tournament though they didn't face the like of India and Pakistan.
There would have hardly been any damn person who would have bet his money against Australia, no matter which team they were facing. Back in 2003, one can recall the way Australia emerged victorious despite their team being deceived from the services of Shane Warne, Shane Watson and Jason Gillespie in the initial stages of the tournament. Jason Gillispie had to head back home after giving his team a good start against India where he picked up 3 wickets to be adjudged the man of the match. His replacement - Andy Bichel came in handy for Australia in the match they most needed.
This was in the match against England where Australia were not only chasing a target of 204 set by England but also a 12th match that would have seen Australia overtaking the West Indies' tally of 11 consecutive wins in ODIs. In that match, Bichel grabbed 7 wickets giving away 20 runs and in addition, stood along side Michael Beaven in a 83 run partnership which had seen Australia at 135/8 at one stage. Though there were India & Sri Lanka in 2003 and 2007 world cups respectively on the otherhand playing their threatening part, Australia was totally invincible. Had there been another Australian team, it would not be wrong to say that the finals would have been between two Australian teams and not Oz vs Ind or Aus vs SL.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Punish the umpires instead
Well the news has its say that the decision review system is about to take a back seat for the reason that it involves a lot of cost that is considered as unnecessary by the ICC. It seems that the world's cricket governing body is not interested in giving the teams or the players a fair trial no matter what on earth happens. It is not the ICC who would be responsible in case a team crashes out of a major tournament when there is hardly any mistake on its side or there is least that it can do. Really?
If the ICC considers about cost cutting measures, one has to reason out why does the game has a provision in giving the umpires an option to refer a doubtful decision to the 3rd umpire? Why doesn't one of the teams suffer in case there can be a lot of money that can be saved. Of course, there is not going to be a loss of anyone's life or property in this case. The ICC should have learnt a lesson after the Sydney test episode between India and Australia where 8 decisions were wrong and funny that one of them included the decision by the third umpire as well.
However, all these are allowed to happen by giving a lame excuse that these are human errors regarding which nothing can be done. One can agree with the former part of the sentence which says "human errors" but not with the latter part that says "nothing can be done". In case something needs to be done, there are lots that can happen. In case a batsman is found to be not out, he can be called by the umpires back to the crease to continue to bat. This can happen when the same umpires rule out a six to be a four after consulting the third umpire over wireless.
Similarly, in case the opposition captain calls back a batsman after learning that he was not out, the batsman can still come back and play like it happened in a match between Sri Lanka and Australia in 2004 after Symonds was given out which was not the case actually. And one other thing that can be done is to penalise the umpires in case they go wrong in deciding irrespective of whether it is a human error or not. When captains can be fined for slow over rate and bowlers for excessive appealing, why should the umpires go scot free for their decision can affect not only a player or a match but also a series?
If the ICC considers about cost cutting measures, one has to reason out why does the game has a provision in giving the umpires an option to refer a doubtful decision to the 3rd umpire? Why doesn't one of the teams suffer in case there can be a lot of money that can be saved. Of course, there is not going to be a loss of anyone's life or property in this case. The ICC should have learnt a lesson after the Sydney test episode between India and Australia where 8 decisions were wrong and funny that one of them included the decision by the third umpire as well.
However, all these are allowed to happen by giving a lame excuse that these are human errors regarding which nothing can be done. One can agree with the former part of the sentence which says "human errors" but not with the latter part that says "nothing can be done". In case something needs to be done, there are lots that can happen. In case a batsman is found to be not out, he can be called by the umpires back to the crease to continue to bat. This can happen when the same umpires rule out a six to be a four after consulting the third umpire over wireless.
Similarly, in case the opposition captain calls back a batsman after learning that he was not out, the batsman can still come back and play like it happened in a match between Sri Lanka and Australia in 2004 after Symonds was given out which was not the case actually. And one other thing that can be done is to penalise the umpires in case they go wrong in deciding irrespective of whether it is a human error or not. When captains can be fined for slow over rate and bowlers for excessive appealing, why should the umpires go scot free for their decision can affect not only a player or a match but also a series?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Had there been no IPL?
Well in the last two months or so, the only tournament that has been making news is the third edition of the Indian Premier League. Since march 12th this year, there have been only three tournaments out of which only one was seriously important. There was a series between England and Bangladesh and the Chappel - Hadlee trophy that involved Australia and New Zealand. There was also a 5 match one day series between West Indies and Zimbabwe which delayed the return of a few West Indian players like Chris Gayle to the practice session prior to the start if the tournament.
And the next major tournament sponsored by the International Cricket Council is the third edition of the world T20 in the Caribbean that is due on 30th of this month. This meant that there was hardly any major international cricket tournaments prior to the mega event that defines the winner and loser of the game of cricket in its shortest format - the T20 world cup. The case was different in the earlier case as well when the 2nd world T20 kicked off in England last year in June. That was just more than a month since the second edition of the Indian Premier League got winded up.
Likewise, there has hardly been any serious T20 cricket that takes place throughout the year as compared to the other two formats of the game namely the one day internationals and the tests. And one can imagine the fate of the teams when they get into the big stage with hardly any match practice behind them prior to that tournament. IPL was a platform for most of the international as well as local (Indian) players to showcase their talent in T20 cricket. This has also proved helpful with its schedule exactly before the world T20. This is the only major T20 tournament in world cricket.
Anyone who misses the IPL will have also lost the opportunity of having a match practice in addition to losing the big bucks that the IPL boasts. Most of the test series' are scheduled in such a way that it consists of 3 test matches, 5 one day matches and 1 T20 match. The maximum number of T20 matches that has been scheduled in any bilateral series is not more than two. There have been series' with as many as 7 one dayers but anly two T20 games like it happened in the bilateral series involving India and Australia in October 2009. So was the case in the bilateral series between Australia and Pakistan that involved just one T20 game.
And the next major tournament sponsored by the International Cricket Council is the third edition of the world T20 in the Caribbean that is due on 30th of this month. This meant that there was hardly any major international cricket tournaments prior to the mega event that defines the winner and loser of the game of cricket in its shortest format - the T20 world cup. The case was different in the earlier case as well when the 2nd world T20 kicked off in England last year in June. That was just more than a month since the second edition of the Indian Premier League got winded up.
Likewise, there has hardly been any serious T20 cricket that takes place throughout the year as compared to the other two formats of the game namely the one day internationals and the tests. And one can imagine the fate of the teams when they get into the big stage with hardly any match practice behind them prior to that tournament. IPL was a platform for most of the international as well as local (Indian) players to showcase their talent in T20 cricket. This has also proved helpful with its schedule exactly before the world T20. This is the only major T20 tournament in world cricket.
Anyone who misses the IPL will have also lost the opportunity of having a match practice in addition to losing the big bucks that the IPL boasts. Most of the test series' are scheduled in such a way that it consists of 3 test matches, 5 one day matches and 1 T20 match. The maximum number of T20 matches that has been scheduled in any bilateral series is not more than two. There have been series' with as many as 7 one dayers but anly two T20 games like it happened in the bilateral series involving India and Australia in October 2009. So was the case in the bilateral series between Australia and Pakistan that involved just one T20 game.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
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 1st 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 31st 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.
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 1st 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 31st 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.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Chennai 2004 or Kolkata 2001?
This was the stadium where play was called off temperately in the 4th one dayer between India and Sri Lanka after bad light threatened to deny India another win against Sri Lanka which finally didn't happen. That was regarding the flood lights. But, this time it is regarding the day light that threatened India to compromise with a draw when victory for team India was well on the cards. With just 157 minutes of play possible, not much was expected but South Africans would be dancing the whole night with already a win in their hands. Smith will have rejoiced a lot more with his wicket not being claimed by Zaheer this time.
For a change, it was Amit Mishra who got Smith leg before with the South African captain scoring 20 runs when a 200 was expected out of him. May be that Zaheer was sick of getting Smith every time he bowled. South African batsmen could manage to score 131 runs despite losing 3 wickets and that too at regular intervals. This was far too less compared to 357 runs that they were to score in case they needed to avoid an innings defeat. But, the score was too much in the 157 minutes that was played on the day. But, the main spoilsport was of course the bad light.
With India facing summer, there should have been scorching heat and no signs of rain whatsoever. But, the height of misfortune for India demanded a dim sunlight with which the players could just manage to miss the scorching heat on the ground. This has left with South Africa to just battle it out with 7 wickets in hand and India to claim the remaining 7 wickets in case they were to assure the world of their number one test status. Still, the upper hand lies with India, given the pitch in the fifth day of a test match. But, the weather can still come in the way of Indian victory and that'll be what Smith and co. would be looking forward to.
This reminds me of the Chennai test between India and Australia, where India had lost their first test in Bangalore and had a firm grip in the 2nd test at Chennai to make the 4 match series of the Border-Gavaskar trophy 1-1 with 2 more matches to go. India did well with Anil Kumble returning with figures of 13-141 at the end of the 4th day's play and India needed 219 runs to win out of which 10 runs were already scored. But, misery stuck India when the entire 5th day was washed off by rain without a single delivery being bowled. This was the match that paved the way for Australian victory on Indian soil after 34 years. Australia later won the next test and India the 5th to make the series 1-2.
For a change, it was Amit Mishra who got Smith leg before with the South African captain scoring 20 runs when a 200 was expected out of him. May be that Zaheer was sick of getting Smith every time he bowled. South African batsmen could manage to score 131 runs despite losing 3 wickets and that too at regular intervals. This was far too less compared to 357 runs that they were to score in case they needed to avoid an innings defeat. But, the score was too much in the 157 minutes that was played on the day. But, the main spoilsport was of course the bad light.
With India facing summer, there should have been scorching heat and no signs of rain whatsoever. But, the height of misfortune for India demanded a dim sunlight with which the players could just manage to miss the scorching heat on the ground. This has left with South Africa to just battle it out with 7 wickets in hand and India to claim the remaining 7 wickets in case they were to assure the world of their number one test status. Still, the upper hand lies with India, given the pitch in the fifth day of a test match. But, the weather can still come in the way of Indian victory and that'll be what Smith and co. would be looking forward to.
This reminds me of the Chennai test between India and Australia, where India had lost their first test in Bangalore and had a firm grip in the 2nd test at Chennai to make the 4 match series of the Border-Gavaskar trophy 1-1 with 2 more matches to go. India did well with Anil Kumble returning with figures of 13-141 at the end of the 4th day's play and India needed 219 runs to win out of which 10 runs were already scored. But, misery stuck India when the entire 5th day was washed off by rain without a single delivery being bowled. This was the match that paved the way for Australian victory on Indian soil after 34 years. Australia later won the next test and India the 5th to make the series 1-2.
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