Midoff

South Africa Rules ICC Rankings

2010-01-08T20:18:00.000+05:30

The latest Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings reveals the ascendency of South Africa cricketers.

For example, South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith returned to the top five in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, gaining seven places to fourth position following his 183 in the last Test match against England.

Jacques Kallis has achieved the sixth position following his 32nd Test century.

Dale Steyn is holding on to the second place in the bowling chart with only Australia’s Mitchell Johnson ahead of him.

Another Protean pacer, Morne Morkel has leapt up eight spots to a career-high position of 16th place.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounder, Kallis still heads the list with Daniel Vettori of New Zealand in second place.

Australia snuffs Pakistan.

2010-01-06T14:18:00.000+05:30

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The much-maligned Australian bowling attack blew away the Pakistan batsmen and led their team to a 37-run series defining win.

An excellent rear-guard action by Michael Hussey set up the win for Australia. His 123-run ninth-wicket partnership with Peter Siddle, turned the tide and the Australian bowlers were good enough to get the Pakistani batsmen out in the pressure cooker atmosphere.

Followers of Pakistan cricket know that they are a temperamental side and their capitulation today was in a way expected.

Clearly as today’s events reveal, Ponting’s reluctance to put Pakistan in on winning the toss helped the Pakistani’s dominate the first three days. Instead, Australia chose to bat first and promptly collapsed for only 127 runs on a fresh and frisky 1st day pitch.

Pakistani batsmen followed up their bowling performance by making 333 in their first foray to the batting crease. Their bowlers then once again had the Australians by the scruff of their neck before Hussey and a benign pitch bailed Australia out.

As recounted earlier, the Australian bowlers used the pressure cooker atmosphere, exploited the inherent inconsistencies in the Pakistan batting line-up and snuffed out their challenge.

With this series win, the Australian media may give Ponting and his men breathing space. Coming to Pakistan, their cricketers yet again succumbed to pressure and without learning how to handle it; even Younis Khan cannot save them.

Ponting’s twilight?

2010-01-06T11:59:00.000+05:30

Image by darwin.wins via Flickr

Since his 150 odd runs in the first Ashes Test at Cardiff, Ponting’s personal form has been at best modest. In addition to his indifferent form, the Australian cricket team has been floundering in a trough of inconsistency and routinely losing to teams that they would have whipped without much effort.

Starting with South Africa, teams that have never had a chance earlier come good in Australia. So much so even Australia’s series victory over West Indies created an impression that Australia was lucky to hold on to win the series.

Another factor that seems to have turned the tide against Ponting is the widespread condemnation that followed some really churlish and childish behaviour of his team. So dramatic was the change in the Australian public perception, one paper went to the extent of calling Ponting a “serial offender”.

All of this has increased the attention on Ponting and if one were to go by the Australian media, it appears that Ponting’s reign may well end sooner than expected.

In fact so intense has been the debate over Ponting that Shane Watson came to his captain's defence after play yesterday and declared, “We know exactly how Ricky Ponting plays. There's no doubt there's a big one coming really soon."

There is no denying the fact Ponting is still a great batsmen and a fielder, but he is certainly under pressure to turn around his team’s fortune because his captaincy record post Shane Warne has been patchy.

The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that despite all his vaunted powers as a cricketer, the Australian media has fused Ponting’s moderate form and the declining fortunes of the Australian cricket team together.

They have created a situation where if there is no dramatic turn around in Ponting and the Australian cricket team’s form, Ponting will have no other option than to leave.

Let us hope Cricket Australia is steadfast in their support of Ponting and look at finding the solution to the real problem in Australian cricket, i.e., lack of new talent.

(Just as this article was posted comes the news that Australia beat Pakistan by 36 runs thus scripting an amazing turn around. However, it remains to be seen whether the Australian media back off from Ponting.)

Sri Lanka fashion a comfortable win

2010-01-06T06:52:00.001+05:30

Image by Merry~Blues via Flickr

India vs. Sri Lanka Tri-Nation Series Bangladesh-2010

Relatively inexperienced Sri Lanka held their nerves and overhauled India’s’ 279/9 with nearly 12 balls to spare.

ODI matches in Bangladesh tend to favor the team that wins the toss and this match once again confirmed the truism.

India’s lackluster batting and inability to inflict damage to the Sri Lanka batting in the initial overs did India in their opening match of the Tri-Nation ODI Series.

Put into bat, India should have made more than 279/9 on an nonthreatening pitch and average Sri Lanka bowling. Nevertheless, it has to be said that Sri Lanka held their nerves to restrict India even when Yuvraj and Dhoni put on 99 runs for the 4th wicket.

Once again, India failed to up the tempo in the final over’s despite Yuvraj's brilliant innings and missed putting up an imposing total.

Though the Indian bowlers were ineffective and struggled with the ground conditions, they did a relatively good job of controlling the match until Thissara Perera smashed 36 runs off 15 balls to seal the contest.

The Indian bowlers also helped Sri Lanka, by predominantly bowling yorkers. Unfortunately, they lacked control and Sri Lanka capitalised on it to fashion a comfortable win.

With this win, Sri Lanka appears comfortably placed to make it to the final. India needs to rethink on their over-dependence on Harbhajan Singh and yorkers.

The Bangladesh Tour- Tri-nation ODI series and Test series

2010-01-03T11:50:00.001+05:30

Image by ~FreeBirD®~ via Flickr

The Indian cricket team has reached Bangladesh for a month long tour that includes a tri-nation ODI series and a 2 Test series.

India’s tour of Bangladesh starts with an ODI series against their host and Sri Lanka. The ODI series scheduled between January 4 and January 13 involves India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka playing twice against each other.

Unfortunately, for Bangladesh, they are there to give a local flavor and it is likely that India will meet Sri Lanka in the finals on January 13 at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. However, given that both the teams have just concluded a high scoring ODI series in India, it remains to be seen whether India can beat Sri Lanka.

The Test series between India and Bangladesh follows the Tri-Nation ODI series.

India will play the 1st Test against Bangladesh on January 17-21 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong and the 2nd Test on January 24-28 at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Bangladesh cricket has reached a stage similar to Sri Lanka of the 90’s, (albeit with a dismal Test record); Bangladesh needs to protect their batsmen.

Therefore, they will prepare pitches that will blunt the Indian bowling attack, so that the batsmen will, with a bit of luck, run up a massive score.

The objective is to boost their batsmens confidence. This may backfire if India wins the toss and bats first and runs up a massive score.

In essence, this will be a series where the batsmen will hold the aces, run-fest will be the order of the day, and surely, it will further enthuse the doomsday crowd.

Whether Bangla cricket fans will turn up to watch the Indian batsmen toy with their bowling is debatable.

Has Australian cricket turned the corner?

2009-12-31T18:18:00.000+05:30

Peter Roebuck believes that “Australia's cricketers are picking up the pieces after losing to England, with Michael Hussey, Nathan Hauritz and Shane Watson showing the way and concludes “By the look of things these fellows have risen from the Ashes”.

Now one agrees with Roebuck that Australian cricket has made a fool of its doomsday prognosticators and made a smart around.

However, the question is have they regained the aura that made their opponents quake at the very thought of playing against them.

That is unlikely as teams like India and now West Indies have learnt that the Australian is unsure of an opponent who gives it back as good as it gets.

Cricket- Cook dedicates century to Gooch

2009-12-29T02:10:00.000+05:30

Alastair Cook whose 118 put England in the driver seat of the 2nd Test against South Africa at Kingsmead dedicated this century is for Graham Gooch.

According to Cook, his present success is entirely due to Gooch’s dedication and the knowledge he has imparted as a batting consultant to the England team.Graham Gooch has also worked on Cook's batting in Essex.

Cook reportedly told a news conference at the end of the days play that thanks to Graham Gooch, he has slightly different trigger movements, alignment and back lift and attributed his 10th century to these major changes.

The Petulance of Stuart Broad

2009-12-27T17:31:00.000+05:30

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Sunil Gavaskar throws light on why Stuart Broad has never been reported for his petulance.

The reason is simple. Stuart's father Chris is one of ICC's match referees and so the umpires are reluctant to make a complaint against the youngster. Remember the umpires and match referees are used to hanging out together in the evenings since they are in a foreign country and so forge a good relationship and obviously the umpires are not looking to spoil that by citing the young Broad for a violation of the code of conduct.

The ‘loosener’ disappears.

2009-12-26T08:24:00.001+05:30

Image by Gavatron via Flickr

There was a time when the first ball of a match or an innings was a ‘gentle loosener’.

A ball bowled so that the bowlers find their bearings. Typically, the bowler runs up bowls a ball at half the pace he normally bowls and the ball pitched wide off the off-stump.

What do the batsmen do? They let the ball pass them, left leg thrust forward, the bat held high either straight or freezed in the act of countering the ball. Yeah, the openers did one more thing, batting greats like Sunil Gavaskar, watched the ball go into the wicket- keeper’s gloves and from there to the slips and complete the relay back to the bowler.

The commentators took this act as a cue to wax eloquently on how the opening batsman was getting his eye in. As the ‘loosener’ was de riguer, the bowler escaped censure.

This changed with the advent of the maverick batsmen Krishnamachari Srikkanth. He put a stop to all these ‘loosener’ business by hitting it either for a four or for a six. His logic, the ball was a legitimate ball and why should he lose the opportunity to score.

Now if a bowler bowls a ‘loosener’, commentators like Ian Chappell start wondering why he did not limber up before the match and batsmen are chastised for letting it go.

How times have changed!

Young Guns to the fore

2009-12-25T07:41:00.000+05:30

If Sri Lanka harbored any illusions that they had the match (India v Sri Lanka, 4th ODI, Kolkata) on dismissing Sehwag and Tendulkar cheaply, Kohli and Gambhir smashed it to smithereens.

They made the chase (316) appear effortless with both scoring centuries almost simultaneously.

Though Gambhir has been in the form of his life ever since his comeback, this innings will surely make his opponents look at him as an impediment to their success and henceforth factor him into their plans.

Virat Kohli impressed everyone with the way he smashed Ajantha Mendis’s carom ball to the fence when India toured Sri Lanka. Though he had nothing much to do later as he was included into the team as a filler, he had kept his promise on display by stroking some good 50’s.

With this display, they have assured the Indian cricket fans that Indian cricket, as far as batting goes is in safe hands.

Gayle Explains

2009-12-24T19:13:00.001+05:30

Gayle explains why Shane Watson went over the top and ends up calling the Australian cricket team a pack of ‘whingers’:

“What happened was that I was at the non-striker’s end and he was just looking at me. I asked him ‘What’s your problem, man?’ and then I said, ‘When you come on [to bowl] I’m going to take a swing at you,” Gayle said.
“And then he got me out and came down screaming in my face. It wasn’t called for, to be honest with you. But he’s that sort of person. Whenever he gets hit for four he always gives batters talk, but when you give it back to them they can’t actually take it,” he added.

2009: Cricket loses its last vestige of innocence.

2009-12-24T11:37:00.000+05:30

The terrorist attack on the bus carrying the Sri Lanka cricket team shattered the illusion that cricket is in a universe of its own.

How Richards writes on crickets loss of innocence:

Cricket had little innocence left to lose on March 3, 2009. Images of rural arcadia conceal the reality of long histories of corruption, commercialism and violence.
Yet that morning in Lahore, when terrorists attacked the bus carrying the Sri Lankan team to the Gaddafi Stadium for the third day of a test against Pakistan, still shattered an illusion — the belief that cricket’s popularity in South Asia protected it from terrorism.

The Most Relaxing Classical Music in the Universe

4th ODI Impressions, Kolkata, India v Sri Lanka 2009.

2009-12-24T06:17:00.000+05:30

With India leading 2-1, Sri Lanka has to do the running. The absence of Dhoni and Yuvraj has given Sri Lanka an opening and it now depends on the Sri Lanka bowlers to pressure the Indian batting juggernaut.

Unfortunately, they have been unpenetrative through out the series. Ajantha Mendis mystery is missing; the medium pacers are cannon fodder and the only redeeming feature has been the ability of their batsmen to make a game of it.

This match could well be a repeat of Cuttack.

Shane Bond takes the easy way out

2009-12-23T13:30:00.000+05:30

Image by *TreMichLan* via Flickr

Shane Bond retires from Test cricket, will continue playing One Day and Twenty20 Internationals.

Bond, who suffered an abdominal muscle strain on his return to the New Zealand test side after a two-year absence, says medical assessment shows the injury needs more time than expected to heal and his body simply can't handle the workload of test cricket.

James Bond Ultimate Collector's Set

Though he makes all the right noise about the decision to retire, such a decision was expected. The fact that ICL is in a state of disarray and his return to International cricket has made him eligible for the financially lucrative IPL, retiring from Test cricket will ensure his longevity as Twenty20 specialist.

Irfan Pathan say’s he is ready

2009-12-23T08:50:00.001+05:30

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Irfan Pathan believes that he has learnt from his failures and has it in him to succeed again in International cricket.

The Baroda all-rounder, who last played for India in June during the World T20 Championship in England, claims being slotted as a first-change bowler stunted his International career.

"I'm not complaining that I should be given the new ball, but yes, if you are bowling first change, you are not going to get that much swing. Your wicket tally is going to reduce”.

Which is strange as bowlers like him, for example Nehra, Zaheer and his cricketing idol Wasim Akram are all exponents of reverse swing with the scuffed cricket ball.

Apart from this quaint defense, Irfan has done everything to impress, he topped the batting and bowling charts for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy, the Indian selectors. However, will the selectors heed his cry?

The Jonathan Trott rituals

2009-12-22T11:49:00.000+05:30

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

JONATHAN TROTT has infuriated the Proteas by his rather slow method of preparing himself between deliveries.

Trott’s rather exaggerated mental preparations include a pensive walk towards square leg and multiple acts of scratching out his guard before composing himself to face the next ball.

Both his exaggerated preparations and his dour batting in the 1st Test at the Centurion have irked the Proteas.

An understandably irritated Graeme Smith complained, "It's been a constant thing throughout the tour. I'm all for a batsman taking his time to be ready - I'm not the quickest myself setting up at the crease. But when a bowler has to keep stopping for a batter - and he's been warned in a one-day game and warned again during the Test - it is frustrating."

The petulance of the South African captain has had no effect on Jonathan Trott. He in fact vowed (surely with a smirk on his face) to continue his ‘method batting’.

Have the West Indies Exposed a Chink in Ponting's armour?

2009-12-22T06:00:00.001+05:30

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The West Indian skipper believes he has given the world a strategy for ruining the twilight years of Ponting' s career with a blood-and-thunder bumper war.

"One thing we have exposed in this series is Ricky Ponting's problems against the short ball," Gayle told the Herald Sun .
"Our plan to bowl short at him worked really well and they are tactics that other Test teams can use with a lot of success against him.

3rd ODI Impressions, Cuttack, India vs. Sri Lanka

2009-12-21T17:57:00.001+05:30

Sri Lanka bat first

In the first 15 overs, the Indian’s did not know where to look. Then in the next 15 over’s it was the turn of Sri Lanka, so much so by the 35 th over they were battling to play the full compliment of 50 over’s.

This turn around in Sri Lanka’s batting fortunes was engineered by Nehra and largely by Jadeja.

Jadeja simply owned the middle over’s by some deft mixture of sliders and top spinners brought the rampaging Sri Lanka batting to its knees.

Definitely, he is a much better investment than the gum chewing elder Pathan.

In short, the Indian bowling attack that was clueless in the initial overs pulled things back to bowl out the Lankan’s in 44.2 over’s.

India chases 239

Updated at 6.00 AM

A facile victory for India.

India needing 240 for a win chased it down without any alarums. Sehwag blasted his way and gave a reasonable start. The other batsmen chipped in with Tendulkar batting through for 96 runs.

Sri Lanka was at the recipient end of some hasty umpiring decisions, however, were it to be upheld, it is doubtful whether it would have changed the result.

Ranji Trophy brings no cheer.

2009-12-21T10:44:00.000+05:30

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Ranji Trophy Matches are played in the same mundane way says G. Viswanath.

Look at the just concluded Ranji Trophy Super League matches. Out of the 49 Ranji Trophy Super League matches played, 30 of them were drawn. This demonstrates that despite high sounding statements about the pitches the pitches are loaded against the bowlers. The batsmen of course made merry.

Clearly the contest between bat and ball was absent in many instances with the batsmen amassing runs, a fact that’s evident in aggregates of 1000 plus in 20 matches and 900 plus in 13 matches.

It’s another stark aspect that has brought the clear divide between the BCCI’s Pitch and Grounds Committee. The home associations have vested interests whereupon they cannot go against the whims of their players. They cannot look beyond the prize and hence most matches suffered from a real contest on account of lifeless pitches.

Will Dickie Bird’s reputation stand?

2009-12-20T11:57:00.000+05:30

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

It is doubtful whether Dickie Bird’s or for the matter other umpiring legends pristine reputation will stand DRS scrutiny.

But think for a moment of the effect on the umpires in all this, the fellows whose decision-making it is designed to enhance, but will also serve to expose. There was a time when umpires would be classified as "outers" or "not-outers" and while there was something strangely acceptable in the latter, to be called an "outer" was a pejorative term, implying too much of a readiness to get the game moving along. Consider the reputation of Dickie Bird, perhaps the most famous umpire of them all. With the exception of one gloriously aberrant match between West Indies and Pakistan, in which Dickie and Steve Bucknor were complicit in giving a world record 17 lbws, Dickie made a career out of avoiding controversy. Dickie was safe all right, but might have his reputation pricked by today's scrutiny.

What sets Dilshan apart?

2009-12-20T06:27:00.000+05:30

Image by .craig via Flickr

In his new avatar as an opener, Tillakaratne Dilshan is in prolific form. Though he has shown glimpses of his talent earlier, as an opener he is a revelation.

So what accounts for his prolific form? Nandita Sridhar believes it his new found conviction:

Unorthodox, aggressive batsmen rely on conviction. What sets apart batsmen like Dilshan, Virender Sehwag and M.S. Dhoni from the less consistent non-conformists is conviction.

It’s all very well when the runs are coming, when the maverick is still a subject of curiosity for bowlers, and when the batsman himself is in love with his many eccentricities; but the challenge is when the runs dry up. Without the conviction to stick to their technique and to go through with their shots in the way that suits them best, they risk getting exposed.

Why night Tests remain a day dream

2009-12-20T05:57:00.000+05:30

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Stephen Brenkley accepts playing Test match under lights and with a pink ball will change cricket, but:

Tests under lights using pink balls would be played within two years. Maybe, maybe not. While it is the biggest single initiative aimed at securing the future of Test cricket, it would also change the shape of the game forever. At present, it is the floodlights – as well as the pink balls – that may not be fit for purpose, with many lights around the world being of insufficient standard.

Dhoni banned for 2 ODI’s

2009-12-19T11:51:00.000+05:30

Geriatric Jeff Crowe misses bedtime and bans Dhoni for 'intentional' delay.

2nd ODI Impressions, Nagpur, India vs. Sri Lanka

2009-12-18T18:30:00.001+05:30

Electing to bat, thanks to the generosity of Sri Lankan's, India made 301. Sri Lanka was so ragged in the field that they frittered away a much-improved show put up by their bowlers.

Sangakkara was the main culprit and Dhoni the beneficiary. In fact, he dropped two catches and missed a stumping of Dhoni who made full use of his luck and scored his 6th ODI century and his 2nd consecutive one at Nagpur.

The pitch after an initial spell of true bounce has now become slow. Sri Lanka bowlers especially Angelo used the nature of the pitch by bowling short pitched bouncers that required the batsmen to give it their all to score boundaries.

Indian bowlers too can use the same tactic and may well succeed if their fielders back them.

Though India did score 301, it may prove too little if Dilshan and the dormant Jayasuriya erupt.

Dhoni’s exhaustion at the end of the innings is a worry for India, for if he is unfit to continue, they will have to do with a makeshift keeper and miss his cool levelheaded thinking.

Update 5.15 AM

India lost the match in the first 10 overs. If I am not mistaken, Sri Lanka scored 80 runs and that proved too big a hemorrhage to stem in the end.

Other than that, the Indian bowlers did a great job to make a match off it.

Lalit Modi remains IPL Chairman

2009-12-18T10:36:00.000+05:30

Lalit Modi survived the IPL governing council meeting on Thursday, with his hold over IPL intact.

In fact, “BCCI president Shashank Manohar reiterated that Modi would stay as IPL chairman till 2012 and termed reports of a rift between Srinivasan and Modi as false”.

In other developments, the IPL governing council announced that if interested existing franchisees can hold onto their players when the Twenty20 tournament enters its 4th year in 2011.

This clarification came on the heels of media reports that franchisees were disgruntled over IPL’s earlier announcement that 2 more franchisees were being added and consequently all the players will be up for auction.

The other decisions taken by the IPL governing council were:

The base bid price for the two new teams would be $225,000.
$750,000 has been fixed as cap for franchises when they bid for players for 2010 season during the January 19 auction.

The IPL governing council also announced that the third edition of the Indian Premier League would begin on March 12 in Hyderabad. The semi-finals will be held at Bangalore and the finals at the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on April 25.

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