Cricket Legends And Gossip

The Milestone 100th Hundred Impasse Epitomises Sachin's Inability to Deliver the Killer Punch Under Pressure and Under Increased Focus

2012-02-21T02:52:00.000-08:00

So, it has been quite a number of months since Sachin has got his last hundred, and the elusive hundred has already turned into the most awaited Sachin hundred or for that matter one of the most awaited hundred of all time. This of course implies that there is increased expectation from the fans to get this phenomenal hundred and there is increased focus on Sachin. This may also imply that there is increased pressure on Sachin. Sachin has once again failed to live up to his own standards and knock off another hundred. Getting a hundred has never been such a big deal for Sachin as it is now. This much anticipated and awaited hundredth hundred impasse has epitomized Sachin's inability to stand up to the occasion when it matted most.

There have been quite a lot of instances and occasions when Sachin could not deliver according to his ability when it mattered. One such famous instance of Sachin failing was when he was approaching Brian Lara's World record test runs. Sachin required 131 more runs to go past Lara's world record number of test runs when India went on the tour of Sri Lanka which included a series of three test matches. I am not sure if there has been any test series of three test matches where Sachin could not score more than 131 runs. But on this tour of Sri Lanka in 2007, Sachin failed to score the required 131 runs in three test matches required to go past Brian Lara's world records aggregate of test runs.

Sachin has also failed in crucial games in major tournaments like World cup after performing brilliantly throughout the tournament. One such instance was the super eight game against Australia in 1999 World Cup when Sachin performed well in the league stage, but got out tamely to Glenn McGrath in the crucial super eight fixture against Australia. Similarly, he performed brilliantly throughout 2003 World Cup tournament, but once against got out tamely to a misjudged stroke off Glenn McGrath. Of course, Sachin has again failed in the 2012 world cup final, and would have been a failure in the semi-final against Pakistan in Mohali had Pakistan would have held onto the offered catches. In all these instances, he was in wonderful form throughout the league stage and only failed when it mattered the most.

Sachin also get struck in 90s many times when approaching a hundred during his innings. He often takes more balls when he is between 90 and 100. I have not seen any other great batsmen getting stuck in 100s. Saeed Anwar and Sehwag have often hit sixes to score a hundredth run. I have never seen a Gilchrist or a Brian Lara getting stuck in 90s, which is often the case with Sachin. For all his cricketing abilities in general and batting abilities in particular, Sachin lacks the killer instinct to deliver the killer punch, which is epitomized by the hundredth hundred impasse.

Axing Harbhajan From The One Day Team Is A Step In The Right Direction

2011-10-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

The selectors deserve a pat on their back for dropping Harbhajan Singh, at last from the Indian squad that is to play the first two ODIs against England. It would not be out of place to mention that the decision came rather late as Harbhajan has not been performing to appreciable levels for almost a half decade now. Strangely enough, Harbhajan had full backing of the captains in this period of below-par performance. Harbhajan performs only when the opposition is under pressure, like when the opposition is batting on the fourth and fifth days of the test match, gazing at often huge targets set by the strong batting line up or for that matter when other bowlers especially Zaheer Khan gets early wicket or make crucial breakthroughs and put the opposition under pressure. In the recent times, we have seen even Ricky Ponting playing Harbhahan with such ease in test matches. In fact, Ricky Ponting has had better off Harbhajan in the 2003 World Cup Final when he hit him for huge sixes.

I do not see anything menacing in Harbhajan's bowling. Bishen Bedi was accurate when he called that Sehwag was the best spinner in the Indian team. Even Yuvraj may perform better if he bowls as many overs as Harbhajan does in test matches. It is no wonder that Yuvraj was the best Indian spinner in the World cup and the best Indian bowler after Zaheer Khan in the World Cup 2011.

The new guy, whoever it may be, should be given a good stretch in the Indian team to prove his mettle and establish himself in the Indian team. I wonder why Murali Karthik does never get a look. I found him very competitive and skillful whenever I saw him playing. Indian selectors can also try the likes of Iqbal Abdullah. Ashwin has proved that he is better than Harbhajan at this time.

India Is Not Grooming Rohit Sharma Properly

2011-10-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Rohit Sharma is one player among the young generation of cricketers who can replace senior Indian batsman Tendulkar in the Indian team. Not only does Rohit Sharma possess an array of strokes in his repertoire, he can score runs at a rapid pace. He also looks the most stylish batsman that one has seen in the Indian team after Mohammad Azharuddin.

Rohit Sharma performed exceedingly well when he first emerged on the International scene. In fact, he played a crucial part when India emerged the champions in the first edition of IPL. As the time passed, the changes in the Indian team and changes in his batting positions affected his performance and now he is on the fringes of the Indian team. Rohit Sharma is yet another player who has not handled properly by the Indian team management, selectors, and particularly Dhoni. Dhoni has not handled a few players efficiently, including Irfan Pathan and Rohit Sharma.

Rohit Sharma could be equally efficient for all the three formats of the game. He should be played continuously irrespective of his performance and he would emerge a force to reckon. By playing Rohit Sharma continuously in all formats of the game, the Indian management can ease out Tendulkar as the senior batsman is heading for the retirement.

Trent Copeland Could Be The Next McGrath For Australia

2011-09-11T05:59:00.000-07:00

Trent Copeland and his bowling action reminds one of one of the finest bowler of all-time Glenn McGrath. Trent Copeland is tall, lean and mean like Glenn McGrath. His bowling action is closely similar to that of Glenn McGrath. Trent Copeland could be next big thing in world cricket in fast bowling. Australia has dearly missed the services of Glenn McGrath since his retirement and Trent Copeland's entry into the Australian national squad could fill the vaccum created by McGrath's retirement.

Addition of Trent Copeland to the Australian team together with the addition of new batting talent could help Australia regain their powers and pride in world cricket even if not completely dominate the world cricket like they did for more than a decade-and-half. Marsh is a great batting talent. Khwaja looks a great prospect, at least in the longer version of the game. There is Phillip Hughes who promised a lot, but could not keep up to his extraordinary debut in South Africa. If these youngsters can keep up to the promise, the return of good days may not be too far away from Australian cricket.

Sachin's Performance Was Poor In The Depleted Indian Team Against England

2011-08-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

Sachin's performance in the first two tests of the current series between India and England shows it takes something different to perform being part of a weaker unit. It is something like performing under pressure. It also goes onto show how immensely Sachin benefited over the years the extent to which Sachin benefited being part of a strong batting line-up. His performance in the recent years also supports that fact. Sachin's performance in the recent year has been tremendous and we all know Indian batting line-up in the recent year is probably the best batting lin-up India has ever produced.

One could see the same phenomenon with the performance of Ricky Ponting in the last couple of years and his performance before these couple of years. Ponting's performance has dipped in the last couple of years after the retirement of the core of the Australian team, which was formed by some of the outstanding players of all time. Ricky Ponting was one of the leading batsmen in the world when he was part of the strong Australian unit, but his performance is affected adversely in the recent years with the decline of the Australian team.

This fact proves that a certain Brian Lara was phenomenal as he performed being part of a weaker team. Brian Lara was probably part of the weakest West Indian team of all time and one of the weakest team in the world. Yet, he was the leading batsmen for most part of his career and has some phenomenal feats to his credit. Neither Sachin, nor Ponting could have performed anywhere near to Brian Lara if they were part of the West Indian team that Brian Lara was part of or for that matter any weaker team.

India Should Play Four Fast Bowlers And Drop Harbhajan For The Third Test Against England

2011-08-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

India needs to make slight changes to their team, which can make a great difference to their fortunes in the third test against England. The first and foremost action they need to take is drop Harbhajan Singh and play four seamers. Hopefully, Zaheer Khan will be fit for the third test and when Zaheer Khan comes back, Harbhajan should be dropped instead of a seamer.

Harbhajan Singh has been ineffective and has no impact on the series so far. Instead a fourth seamer could create problems for the England batting line-up in seamer-friendly condition. The Indian team is having some great part-time spinners, capable of claiming crucial wickets whenever needed. Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, and Sehwag if he comes back for the third test can be handy as part-time spinners and may prove better than the regular Indian spinners.

With the likely return of the regular Indian openers and Zaheer Khan India will get back to their full strength and if they drop Harbhajan in favor of the Fourth spinner, India can present a strong challenge to the England team in the Fourth test.

Zaheer Khan And Sehwag Are The Main Reasons For India Being No. 1 Test Team

2011-07-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

The defeat of the Indian team at the hands of England in the First test of Four-match test series provides ample proof that Zaheer Khan and Sehwag makes the Indian team No.1 in test rankings. If one looks back at the test series that India has won in the recent times or for that matter drawn, one would find that it is either Zaheer Khan or Sehwag who have played a significant role most of the time with Laxman playing such roles besides Zaheer Khan and Sehwag. These three players in Zaheer Khan, Sehwag and to a bit lesser extent Laxman makes the difference to India for being the No. 1 test team in the World.

Zaheer Khan has often played a major role in getting the top-order wickets of the opposition. Even though he would not run through the batting orders very often, but he provides crucial breakthroughs most of the times that would put the opposition team under immense pressure and help the other Indian bowlers to run through the batting orders.

Similarly, Sehwag has been a key component in India retaining the top position in ICC ranking. His blitzkreig innings of 87 on the evening of the Fourth day of the test match against England at Chennai when India was challenged to chase down a mammoth score of around 400 in just session, which India eventually did. That victory would have never been possible had it not been for Sehwag's blitzkreig innings. Similarly his innings of more than 200 at Galle in the second test after India had the lost of the first test of the series and so on.

Harbhajan Does Not Deserve A Place In The Indian Team

2011-07-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

Certain players can continue playing in the Indian team even if they do not perform for prolonged periods of time. Harbhajan is certainly one of them. For the last four to five years, Harbhajan has been ineffective most of the times, but nobody challenges his position. Bowlers like Murali Karthik, Ashwin, Iqbal Abdullah, Pragyan Ojha and others are surely better than Harbhajan, at least in the last five years time duration.

Harbhajan's record abroad has been particularly pathetic in general and in the last five years in particular. It is a high time that the team management and the selectors look for alternative to Harbhajan Singh. I am not sure if the selectors, team management and Harbhajan himself has set himself certain target for record in test cricket irrespective of his form and contribution to the team.

Certain players seems to have great understanding with each other and support each other to the hilt. Harbhajan always seemed to have good rapport with the top players who matter in the team and the team management. Similarly, there is no questions raised on the retirement plans of Rahul Dravid despite his poor form in the past four to five years. There seems to be no need for discussing the possible replacement for Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.

Iqbal Abdullah Should Replace Harbhajan Singh In The Indian Team

2011-05-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

Who is the best spin bowler in the IPL. It is certainly not Harbhajan. Who was the best Indian bowler in the World Cup 2011. It was not Harbhajan. Of course, the part-time spinners like Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Hafeez did a much better job than Harbhajan Singh. Who is the best India spin bowler in the IPL. Of course, Iqbal Abdull who has a better economy rate and average than Harbhajan Singh and if not for that one game where Harbhajan has taken five, then he has not done much in the rest of the games so far. Who are the best Indian spin bowlers in all the IPL tournaments. Pragyan Ojha was the leading wicket-taker in the IPL 2010 and took three more wickets than Harbhajan Singh, both appearing for same number of games. In the 2009 edition, Anil Kumble and Pragyan Ojha were leading wicket takers among the Indian spinners. Certainly, it was not Harbhajan. Still, Harbhajan is a permanent member of the Indian team. Why?

In the last five years, if not more, I have not seen Harbhajan win a game on his own. He takes wickets only after the fast bowlers perform well and put the opposition in pressure or in a situation when the opposition is facing a daunting task in the Fourth innings often set by the formidable Indian batting line up. I have not seen Harbhajan turning a match on his own in the last five years, at least if not more, but he still continues to be part of the Indian team unchallenged by any other spin bowler. Why?

It is high time that Indian selectors give the other Indian spinners their due credit. Ashwin and Iqbal Abdullah are more impressive than Harbhajan Singh and should promptly be included in the Indian team. In fact, given a chance, both Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan can do better than Harbhajan Singh as a bowler in the test team if they bowl as many over as Harbhajan does in the test team. Additionally, they are regular batsmen. It would not be out of place if Yuvraj place instead of Harbhajan Singh in the Indian team. Yuvraj was much better bowler than Harbhajan in the World Cup and if Yuvraj bowls longer spells, he cannot do worse than Harbhajan Singh.

It is high time that the Indian selectors realize the facts and get the most deserving man for the spinners slot in the Indian team.

Yuvraj Singh:Greatest Indian One-Day And T20 Batsman

2011-04-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

Yuvraj Singh is the greatest Indian batsman of all-time in One Day and T20. Also, Yuvraj is the greatest match winner India has produced. In fact he is one of the five or eight greatest One-Day or T20 batsmen of all-time in the World. Yuvraj Singh in top gear is a lovely sight to watch, more amazing than an imperious Sehwag and a certain Sachin Tendulkar. If you take Yuvraj Singh's bowling and fielding into consideration, he is the greatest ever Indian cricketer in Shorter formats of the game, may be save the greatest Indian all-rounder of the all-time Kapil Dev.

When a batsman hit six sixes in an over bowled by a fast bowler, and a bowler of the class, it speak volumes about the ability of the batsman. In fact the most notable fact is that Yuvraj Singh is the only batsman to have hit six sixes in an over off a fast bowler. The other one in Hershelle Gibbs who have scored six sixes in International cricket has scored against spin bowler. The two other guys who have achieved this feat of scoring six sixes in an over, not in International cricket, but in domestic cricket are Gary Sobers and Ravi Shastri who have hit those six sixes against a spin bowlers. So Yuvraj Singh is the only cricketer who has scored six sixes off the fast bowler.

I have never seen Sachin Tendulkar do such amazing things like Yuvraj Singh when he batted in the middle order. It was during the initial years his career that Yuvraj Singh has forged a historic partnership with Mohammad Kaif secure one of the rare wins in finals of a tournament, and it was achieved after India had lost five wickets for hundred odd runs chasing a mammoth 325 set by England. I have never seen Sachin Tendulkar play such innings in his initial career when he batted in the middle order. Yuvraj Singh has secured many such wins when his team was in trouble forging partnerships with players like Kaif during his initial career and Dhoni in the last two to three years.

Yuvraj Singh is particularly destructive against fast bowlers. He can destroy spinners as well, but looks more susceptible against them.

Yuvraj Singh is also a selfless cricketer and to some extent a humble guy. Mohammad Azharuddin was a selfless cricketer and gave least importance to his records, a trait I find in Yuvraj Singh in the recent times. He never questioned selectors decision to drop him from the test team throughout his career. I think Yuvraj Singh is definitely better than Sourav Ganguly as batsman and would have added more value to the test team as a fielder and a handy part-time spinner. In fact at this time, I think Yuvraj Singh can be picked in the Indian team instead of Harbhajan Singh as a bowler because Yuvraj Singh has been a more successful bowler than Harbhajan Singh in One Day format and T20 format of the game and that could have been true had he bowled as much as Harbhajan did in test cricket, and can you ever neglect the batting and fielding of Yuvraj Singh.

Why Yuvraj Singh has not been part of Indian test team is the greatest dilemma I ever faced in Indian cricket after Mohammad Azharuddin being singled out in match fixing scandal. I distinctly remember him playing a great counter-attaching innings against Pakistan after an upcoming Umar Gul had ran through the Indian batting line up. Yuvraj Singh was one of the key player for India in that series and despite those amazing efforts he never cemented a place in the test team. If I was a selector I would have definitely gone with Yuvraj Singh instead of Sourav Ganguly.

I think India should include Yuvraj Singh in the test team and stick with him for a long time. He should also be tried as a bowler as much as a regular spinner and I believe he will be more successful. I have the instinct that given Indian selectors give Yuvraj another chance and stick with him for a long time, and also use him as a bowler regularly, he could be an asset to the test team as well. I had picked Yuvraj Singh as to be the man for India if India had to win the World Cup and that has come true.

Kolkatta Knight Riders Emerge A Force To Reckon With Sans Sourav Ganguly

2011-04-17T03:04:00.000-07:00

I always felt Sourav Ganguly was overrated as a batsman and as a captain. The Indian media tries to create heroes according to their own whims and fancies. Religion, creed, and region becomes the important factors in determining the value and fan following of a particular player. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason the number of players from Bengal that have represented India have been negligible and that made Sourav Ganguly a bigger hero than his caliber.

Sourav Ganguly was a very good player, but he was projected as a great player. I always rated Vinod Kambli higher than Sourav Ganguly. His career saw a boost after he was promoted to open the innings in One Day cricket. Otherwise he would have struggled to retain his place in the national team.

Similarly, I thought Sourav Ganguly was a good captain. He was never a great captain and not the least the best Indian captain of all time. Mohammad Azharuddin, Pataudi, and Mahender Singh Dhoni are the better captains than Sourav Ganguly for sure even if one is not sure of others.

Because Sourav Ganguly was part of a strong Indian team, his flaws were rarely noticed. If was a great captain, he would have got the Kolkatta Knight Riders to the semi-finals, at least in one of the three editions. Kolkatta Knight Riders is the only team that never made it to the Semi-Finals in any of the first three editions of the IPL.

Kolkatta Knight Riders looks a totally different team without Sourav Ganguly. The fans should be realistic and accept the truth. Let us hope Kolkatta Knight Riders wins this edition of the IPL and bring joy for their fans.

Goggles And Caps Costs Catches And Thus Matches.

2011-04-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

Catches wins matches is probably the most popular saying in cricket. In fact the dropped catches often cost as much as a World Cup trophy. The famous saying from Steve Waugh after Hershelle Gibbs dropped him at a crucial stage in the knockout game of the World Cup 'How does it feels to drop the World Cup' has become part of the cricket folklore.

The game between India and Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup semi-final saw as many as five catches of Sachin Tendulkar dropped by Pakistan fielders. During this time, one thing I noticed is that the players who dropped these five catches of Sachin Tendulkar in the Semi-Final of the World Cup 2011 were either wearing goggles or caps in most of the instances. Misbah spilled the first catch of Sachin Tendulkar and that was not hard to take. Misbah was wearing a glass. Yunis Khan and Umar Akmal were among the players who dropped Tendulkar at different stages of his innings. Umar Akmal is a brilliant fielder, but dropped Tendulkar and he was wearing a goggle when he dropped Tendulkar.

Since then I have observed that most of the time the players are dropping catches, they are either wearing a goggle or a cap or both of them. So I think players would do well to avoid Goggles and Glasses while they are on the field.

Indian Cricket Team Deserved To Win The World Cup 2011 Even Though They Were Helped By The Opposition Teams in Knockout Stage

2011-04-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

The presence of all-time great cricketers like Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan (For the kind of role he has played in India's success in the recent times and in the World Cup), Dhoni, Sehwag, and Sachin itself make India worthy of a World Cup win. The rest of the team composed of competitive and talented cricketers.

Very few teams in the history of the game had as many great cricketers as India had during the World Cup 2011. Yuvraj is definitely one of the all time great one day batsmen. Dhoni has orchestrated many Indian chases and has played the type of role for India that Javed Miandad played for Pakistan or Bevan played for Australia. Moreover, on his day, he could prove to be the fiercest hitter of the cricket ball.

Sehwag and Sachin definitely makes one of the greatest opening pair in One Day cricket. There have been just a couple of opening pairs as formidable or stronger than Sehwag and Sachin. You just require superficial knowledge of the game of cricket to tell which pairs I am talking about. Haynes and Gordon Greenidge is one and Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist is another. Saeed Anwar and Aamer Sohail are not too far behind. I think Majid Khan too formed a good pair with couple of players at the top of the order for Pakistan.

Zaheer Khan is probably the best bowler that India has produced. Certainly, I am not talking in terms of the sheer number of wickets that he has taken, but I am the kind of impact he has for whatever number of wickets he has taken in the games he has participated.

Now you are talking about five all time greats or for that matter few of them nearly all-time greats in one team in an era when the Australian team is on steady decline. No other team that participated in 2011 World Cup had as many number of all-time greats or for that matter match winner as India had, may be save South Africa, which certainly was the second best team in the tournament.

The very special facet of this Indian team is the history they made by winning at home. No other team in the history of the One Day Cricket World Cup has won a World Cup tournament while hosting it. Then the pressure was huge on the Indian team

You just cannot imagine what kind of pressure that this Indian team was under. Every News Channel was cheering for them from the time when there was a month to go for the start of the tournament.

There was additional pressure for winning it for Sachin Tendulkar because all the claims to his greatness would have taken a beating if he did not have a single World Cup to his name despite participating in most number of World Cup tournaments, a record he shares with Javed Miandad. In fact this Indian team would have won the World Cup even without Sachin Tendulkar.

Australia and Pakistan lost the games that they had virtually won by their own mistakes. Sri Lanka too could not capitalize on the luck they had to march to the Final of the World Cup as they got easy opponents in Quarter-Final and Semi-Final and then in the Final they won the toss and had the opportunity to bat first in a high pressure game with greater amount of pressure being on India. If Sri Lanka could not win the World Cup despite all the luck, they actually did not deserve the World Cup.

I still think Pakistan was the worthy of a spot in the Final. In fact Pakistan played the best cricket throughout the tournament and a few miscalculated decisions cost them the World Cup. Had Pakistan realized under how much pressure Indian team was, they would have easily won against India.

Kudos to the Indian team members, especially Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Dhoni, and Gambhir who held their nerves at the crucial moments of the game. If we had a couple of more bowlers even of the caliber of Zaheer Khan, this Indian team would have ranked right up there with the all-time great teams.

Zaheer Khan In Particular And Indian Bowlers In General Won The World Cup 2011 For India

2011-04-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

Indian bowlers in general and Zaheer Khan in particular won the Cricket World Cup 2011 for India. It is the bowling unit under ever-improving Zaheer Khan that made the difference for India between winning the World Cup and just being one of the teams to get to the knockout stages.

The disciplined bowling from the Indian bowling unit restricted Australia in the Quarter-Final to a moderate total that India could chase down with some huff and puff. Zaheer Khan struck vital blows at the most crucial stage of the game against Australia. He turned the game in India's favor when he got Michael Hussey cheaply midway through the innings. Otherwise Australia would have gone onto get a big score that would have been difficult to chase down. After Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj was the best Indian bowler on view besides being the best Indian batsman in the tournament. Munaf Patel too played a crucial role by bowling good line and length. Most importantly, the Indian bowlers conceded least possible extras, which had a huge bearing on the result of the games.

Similarly, Indian batting unit had a difficult time against Pakistan. Sachin got as many as seven lives during the match against Pakistan including five dropped catches, and still the Indian batting line could manage a modest 260. Pakistan got to a sensational start and Kamran Akmal was threatening to take the game away from India. Zaheer Khan once again came to India's rescue and got India first breakthrough in the shape of Kamran Akmal. Still, Mohammad Hafeez was unperturbed by Kamran Akmal's dismissal and was marching towards the target when Munaf Patel induced Mohammad Hafeez to make a mistake. The Indian bowlers bowled an excellent line and length throughout the Pakistan innings and finally India triumphed over Pakistan.

Most importantly, Zaheer Khan gave India an excellent start in the Final when India was on the back-foot after losing the toss. India won the game during the first 15 overs of the Sri Lankan's innings. The bowling of Zaheer Khan was quite reverse of his performance during 2003 World Cup Final against Australia. Had Zaheer Khan been not as good in the first 15 overs, Sri Lanka could have got a bigger total and the Indian batting might not have chased down the target.

The Indian bowling unit hence deserve a greater share of credit for India's triumph in the World Cup 2011.

Younis Khan And Misbah-Ul-Haq Should Only Play Test Cricket And For Just Another Year

2011-04-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

Yunis Khan and Misbah should be picked for test cricket only and slowly they should ease out of the test cricket as well in an years time once the youngsters are ready to take charge at test level. Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, and Umar Akmal will make solid batting order. Umar Akmal should be given freedom to play his natural game irrespective of situation of the game.

Yunis Khan is just a good batsman of shorter format of the game. Misbah too does not have much to offer in shorter format of the game. Mohammad Yusus instead of Yunus Khan would have done a better job for India during the World Cup 2011.

Pakistan should seriously think of promoting Umar Akmal to open the innings in all formats of the game, especially in shorter formats of the game. Umar Akmal can open the innings in shorter formats of the game and play at #4 in test cricket as well. Umar Akmal could turn out to be the most lethal batsman in World Cricket today.

Sachin, Dravid, And Harbhajan Should Retire And Make Way For Youngsters

2011-04-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

If not for records, it is high time Sachin and Dravid quit International cricket and make way for young and upcoming Indian cricketers. It is understandable that Sachin and every Indian cricket and Sachin fan has his eye set on Sachin 100th International hundred and 50th One Day hundred, but that will not take Sachin too long a time to complete. Beyond that I do not see Sachin's presence in the Indian team making much difference.

This One Day team well be better without Tendulkar. Tendulkar's absence will not be felt at all in One Day format of the game. So it is high time that once he gets those two hundreds to complete his half century of centuries in One Day format of the game, he should not hesitate in saying goodbye to International cricket.

If Sachin decides to continue playing International cricket, it would be just because of his own records.

Rahul Dravid has struggled for the last three years and during that time his average has dropped from the best by any Indian batsman 58 to 52. I do not see Dravid doing anything exceptional for Team India that he has not done in the past and hence it is high time that Dravid goes before Tendulkar so the man coming in for Dravid settles himself in the position while Tendulkar is around. Tendulkar can then plan his own retirement.

We have seen Harbhajan struggle in the past three years. I think Ashwin is a better prospect than Harbhajan at this time.

Inefficient Format Of Cricket World Cup And The Price Paid By South Africa

2011-04-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

The format of cricket World Cup is inefficiently laid and a bit of a gamble. The league stage had little bearing on the outcome of the tournament. What is the significance of playing seven teams for four spots when three out of seven are incapable of making it to the next round. That also means out of the eight teams that had made it to the quarter-finals, whoever will win one quarter-final game will progress to the semi-final.

The Semi-Final spot is decided just on a single game. Imagine a situation wherein a team has won a fewer games during the league stage, and just sneaked into the top four and quarter. There is another team, which has won all the games in the league stage and topped the group. If the team that just managed to sneak into the top four produces their best cricket and with a bit of luck beats the other best team from the other group, it makes to the Semi-Final at the cost of one of the best team in the tournament.

Something similar has happened in the game between South Africa and New Zeeland. South Africa played great cricket during the league stage and emerged one the best teams. The problem for South Africa facing a team like New Zeeland is that South Africa has all the pressure and New Zealand has nothing to lose.

In other words, if the format was different and each team has to play another team in the league stage, and the top four teams had to make it to the Semi-Final stage, then a team like New Zeeland would not have made it to the Final Four. We would have got the best four for the Semi-Final. The results could have been different altogether.

Look from another angle. Imagine had Sri Lanka won the Final. They had been beaten by Pakistan in the league stage and their game against Australia was washed out. They had to play England in the quarters, which is an easier game for Sir Lanka in their home conditions. Then they had to play New Zealand in the Semi-Finals. Another easy game. Sri Lanka had to just beat a few minnows in the league stage, England in quarters and New Zealand in the Semis to reach the Final. With a bit of luck and application, they would have won the Final.

Pakistan and South Africa were by far the better teams than Sri Lanka in the tournament if not on the paper. A more efficient format might have seen one of Pakistan or South Africa in the Final. Even though India emerged the winner with some good performances and a great deal of luck, a more competitive format could have produced at least partially different Semi-Finalist and Finalists in the World Cup.

A competitive and efficient format should have each team participating in Cricket World Cup playing with every other team participating in the tournament. The best four teams or the top four teams after each team has played every other team in the tournament should play the Semi-Finals. That will entail the best four teams in terms of quality as well performance would make it to the Final four and the two of them would go to the Final.

Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, And Luck Wins India Cricket World Cup 2011

2011-04-03T02:31:00.000-07:00

Zaheer Khan should have been the man of the series or player of the tournament for playing the main protagonist in India's triumph in Cricket World Cup 2011. At least, both of them, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh should have been awarded the man of the series.

I had picked Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan to be the two players from India to stand out if India had to win the World Cup. Both my picks performed brilliantly, but Zaheer played a more crucial role than Yuvraj Singh. The other players performed in patches on different occasions. Following would be the list of players in the order of their contribution and importance of contribution towards winning Cricket World Cup 2011 for India.

1. Zaheer Khan
2. Yuvraj Singh
3. Gautam Gambhir
4. Mahender Singh Dhoni
5. Virat Kohli
6. Munaf Patel
7. Virender Sehwag
8. Sachin Tendulkar
9. Suresh Raina
10. Harbhajan Singh
11. R. Ashwin
12. Aashish Nehra
13. Yusuf Pathan
14. Piyush Chawala
15. Sreesanth

What was most befitting was the fact that two of the greatest Indian One Day batsmen of all time Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh were at the crease when the winning runs were scored.

Cricket World Cup 2011 And Mediocre Cricket Experts

2011-04-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

The cricket enthusiast these days savor many programs on cricket apart from full days of cricket. A day of cricket is often accompanied by post-match and pre-match shows wherein cricket experts throws light on various aspect of the match and the game. It was no different during cricket World Cup 2011. The official broadcasters of the Cricket World Cup organized the program with Harsha Bhogle and various cricket experts before and after the match, and between the innings. Media channels too had their expert analysis programs. These experts were often found wrong in their predictions and they often changed at various stages during a single day. Let us have a look at some of those instances.

Let us start with the most enthusiastic expert Navjot Singh Sidhu. Many times Sidhu went wrong with his prediction and pre-match analysis. Before India Vs England game, Sidhu predicted India to be winner. He said it is 80% India and 20% England. Most of the other cricket experts too predicted India to win easily. England almost chased down a mammoth target before they ended up with a draw. During innings break between India Vs Pakistan Semi-Final, Sidhu opinionated the match to be in favor of Pakistan so did Ian.

Let us now have a look what the other most opinionated cricket expert Ian Chappell has to offer. When asked about the possible topper of Group 'A,' Chappel said he would like to wait till Sri Lanka Vs Australia game to predict the possible topper for the Group 'A' implying that Sri Lanka or Australia will top the group. Instead it was Pakistan, which came on top of group and on their way defeated both Australia and Sri Lanka.

On slightly different note, let us talk about Imran Khan. There were reports that Imran Khan called Shahid Afridi and lended him with valuable expert advice. He has supposedly emphasized on the need for Yunis and Misbah to bat high in the order. Imran Khan, despite all his cricketing brilliance was wrong here. It was because of Yunis Khan and Misbah in the middle order together that Pakistan lost the match against India. Yunis Khan and Misbah are excellent batsmen, but they cannot rotate strike and score rapidly. In short format of the game, they cannot be together at the crease, especially when they are chasing big score. Misbah is an asset late in the order in short format of the game. He can play a waiting game as well as hit the ball to cleaners at will. Imran Khan did not seem to pick that simple fact. He could have instead advised Shahid Afridi to follow Yunis Khan and bat at #5 with Misbah at #7 following Umar at #6, it could have made a huge difference.

Boria Majumadar is a journalist cricket expert who seems to have his opinion. Boria counted on Indian batsmen and said that Dhoni had Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Gambhir and so on fall back upon and Pakistan has only Yunis Khan to fall back. I think he forgot or chose to forget Umar Akmal who is the most talented batsman in the World today and Misbah who played some match winning and match saving innings in the recent past. None of these Indian batsmen actually performed except Sehwag. Sachin scored as long as Pakistan allowed him to. It was India's bowling that won the match. Otherwise Sachin would have been the most embarrassed person on earth after playing that chancy innings had bowlers not won the day for India.

Sourav Ganguly is another highly-rated, mediocre cricket expert. Many times he went wrong in his predictions. On the eve of India Vs Pakistan cricket match he kept on emphasizing that Pakistan will need at least 280 runs on the board to beat India. What all India could manage is a chancy 260. In other words, India scored as much as Pakistan allowed them to.

Sachin Tendulkar Could Not Score A Hundred After Four Drops And Getting Reprieve Off Two Close Calls

2011-03-31T02:23:00.000-07:00

An innings of substance, not style reads the heading of an article on cricinfo referring to Sachin's innings against Pakistan in Semi-Final at Mohali. How long and how far someone would go to defend Sachin Tendulkar. Indian media always try to hide shortcomings of Sachin Tendulkar and hype the talent and achievements of Sachin Tendulkar. His inability to stand pressure is well known. There is no other cricketer in the history of the game that was as well supported and protected as Sachin Tendulkar, but still he fails when the occasion demands the best out of him. For what reasons is he called the 'God Of Cricket' when he cannot be at his best at the biggest of the occasions. After this nervous innings of Sachin Tendulkar against Pakistan in Semi-Final, I do not think anyone right in his head would call him 'God Of Cricket.'

If there is something that got India going against Pakistan, it was Sehwag's innings. Had Sehwag not scored at that pace, Sachin would not have survived. In fact, he was dropped four times and got two close reprieves. Had Sachin got out, someone would have taken charge of the innings, but with Sachin's presence at the crease and the way he was playing under pressure, it put a lot of pressure on the other youngsters around him.

If there is anything that won India the game, it was their bowling. Bowlers bowled perfect line and length. Indian bowlers showed great discipline and conceded negligible extras. That is where India won the game. But the jury decided to give the Man Of The Match to Sachin Tendulkar for crawling to 86 after getting record number of reprieves in one innings.

Luck Is In India's Favor

2011-03-30T22:14:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Team India for making it to the Cricket World Cup 2011, but luck has played a huge part in team India's progress to the Final of Cricket World Cup 2011. The Indian team was under immense pressure, but they were let off the hook by the opposition. Sachin never looked comfortable batting against Pakistan. Had Umar Gul not bowled on the pads of Sehwag and Sachin, Indian innings would not have taken off. Sachin again proved that he is the most susceptible batsman under pressure. India won the quarter-final on the back of yet another bad performance from Shaun Tait. Shaun Tait did not deserve to be in team. I still do not understand why he was selected in the Australian team. You could say Australia lost the quarter final against India because of Shaun Tait and greater blame lies with the selectors who picked him for the Australian team and the team management who included him in the Playing XI.

India was under more pressure than Pakistan going into the Semi-Finals. If Umar Gul had not bowled on legs and Sehwag had not got going, I wondered what Sachin could have done. Pakistan could not capitalize on the situation. The media hype took a toll on Umar Gul. He was afraid of committing mistakes as expectations were lurking around him, and eventually he did what he was apprehensive about during his innings. Wahab Riaz brought them back into the game with wickets of Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni, and Zaheer Khan. The match was in Pakistan's pocket and it was their own choice to lose or win the game from there onwards.

Yunis Khan was the main culprit. I guess, Mohammad Yusuf, instead of Yunis Khan would have done the trick. Pakistan board has done injustice to a player of the caliber of Mohammad Yusuf. When you do injustice to your own people, you cannot expect justice from the Almighty. Yunis Khan thinks himself to be a greater batsman than what he is and tries to go overboard. Yunis Khan's irresponsible shot together with a few loopholes in strategy cost Pakistan the game and eventually India won.

Shahid Afridi And Misbah Should Exchange Places In Pakistan Batting Line Up

2011-03-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

Afridi and Misbah can exchange their current batting places to make more efficient use of the batting resources. Asad Shafiq and Yunis are perfect choices for #3 and #4. The strike rate could take a beating if Misbah follows Yunis and the batting becomes monotonous. If Shahid Afridi bats at #5 he can give impetus to the innings from other end. So far Pakistan is playing all the steady batsmen like Shafiq, Yunis, and Misbah in a sequence followed by all the aggressors like Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, and Abdul Razzak one after other.

Pakistan can strike a good balance by playing Shahid Afridid at #5 and Misbah at #7. Having all the aggressors and big hitters down the order will not be productive either.

Experts are claiming that the Pakistan does not have a strong batting line up, but I think against the bowling attack that is left in the rest of World Cup 2011, Pakistan has the best batting line up.

If Shoib Akhtar has to be given a chance he must be strictly told not to bowl on legs, short balls and full tosses.

India Should Play Three Fast Bowlers And Drop Harbhajan Against Pakistan

2011-03-26T22:44:00.000-07:00

India dropped non-performing member Yusuf Pathan against Australia and found it beneficial. India must drop the other non-performing member of the Indian team. Harbhajan has done nothing of significance in this World Cup and in fact that has been true for the last four to five years. Harbhajan Singh must be replaced with a third seamer. Sreesanth must play instead of Harbhajan.

Harbhajan has been particularly ineffective against Pakistan. Pakistan batsmen are adept at playing spin. Harbhajan Singh is unlikely to cause any trouble for Pakistan batsmen. It would be ridiculous to persist with Harbhajan and play him further in the World Cup. Bishen Singh Bedi or Maninder Singh at this time would be more effective than Harbhahajan Singh has been for a long time.

Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Munaf/Nehra should be playing against Pakistan. Ashwin will play as the specialist spinner and India has multiple part-time spinners who are as much capable as specialist spinners.

Sachin Tendulkar Is The Special Person That Yuvraj Said He Is Playing For In World Cup 2011

2011-03-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

Speculations are rife after Yuvraj Singh said that he wants to win this World Cup or something like that for a 'Special Person.' The Special Person is Sachin Tendulkar. The whole nation wants the World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar. By stating he wants to win the World Cup for a special person, Yuvraj Singh is reflecting the mood of majority of the Indian cricket fans. Once again cricket experts are not spot on. Everyone is making their guess, but none of them has mentioned Sachin Tendulkar.

Sachin Tendulkar despite all the records could not win a World Cup for the team. A fact realized by everyone including Yuvraj Singh. Everyone of them also realize that this is going to be the last World Cup, including Yuvraj Singh and the other teammates. Yuvraj realizes the greater importance in winning this World Cup because Sachin Tendulkar will not be there around for the next World Cup. Yuvraj Singh will be still around in the next World Cup and win it if he does not do it this time, but Sachin will not be there in the next World Cup. Yuvraj Singh, other teammates, and whole lot of Indian cricket fans wants this World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar who does not have a single trophy despite having featured in most number of World Cups along with Miandad.

Senseless Shaun Tait Wins Quarterfinal For India By Doing A Shoib Akhtar

2011-03-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

Kudos to Yuvraj Singh for holding his strong nerves and kudos to Zaheer Khan for another brilliant and timely performance with the ball and keeping India in the match. Yuvraj Singh once again proved that he is greatest Indian one day batsman of all time and one of the greatest match winner of all time. Kudos to the Indian team for edging Australia out of the World Cup 2011.

Shaun Tait's performance won the quarterfinal for India more than the brilliant individual performances by Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Gambhir, and Ashwin. A billion of cricket crazy Indian fans must be grateful to Shaun Tait for bowling the way he bowled. Australia has the game in their pocket after winning the toss and then doing the needful in posting 260 runs on the board. An ever aggressive Sehwag was subdued and the frowns were developing on Sehwag's forehead faster than his strike rate. India was under so much pressure that Gambhir created two opportunities for running himself out, and did succeed in the second attempt. Cool-like-cucumber Dhoni lost his nerves and returned back to pavilion in no time. All these demonstrated that Indian team had lost half the battle midway through the match. The one way for India to win this match was for Australia to lose it.

The only thing Australia were required to do was to contain the runs. Bret Lee was reasonably good, but Shaun Tait was not. Shaun Tait did not have the sense of occasion. He did not know what was required of him. Speed was not the primary requirement. The requirement was to stop the runs. Shane Watson instead of Shaun Tait would have done the job, and Smith should have played instead of Shaun Tait.

When you have someone like Sehwag frowing and apprehensive, the only way for Australia to lose the game was to self destruct. Shaun Tait did that precisely. It was reminder of India Vs Pakistan quarterfinal of 2003 World Cup. Shoib Akhtar bowled short, wide, and fast in that game feeding Sachin and Sehwag with ample opportunities to hit the ball for sixes and fours and providing momentum to the Indian innings. Shoib Akhtar though produces some brilliant performances when he avoids those short balls and full tosses, but I have rarely seen Shaun Tait performing well.

What was funny was the fact that Shaun Tait was showing his anger on the Indian batsmen. First, he is feeding them with the short stuff and getting hit for boundaries, then he is abusing them with that F word for hitting him for boundaries. Had he bowled a proper line and length, he would not have required to show his frustration on the Indian batsmen.

But more than Shaun Tait, I feel pity on the Australian management who plays him in the Australian team. If those Shaun Tait overs had been bowled by Shane Watson and other part-time spinners, Australia would have won the game. This game also demonstrated Ricky Ponting as a great batsman and ordinary captain.

The bottom-line is that Australia did not deserve to win this World Cup. They already have four, which is one more than what should be a justifiable tally for them. They had a bit of luck in 1987 when Pakistan and West Indies were better teams and England was a bit unlucky, and luck played a bigger role in their title triumph in 1999. A fifth World Cup for Australia would have reflected poorly on the overall strength of other teams and and balance between different teams.

Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan were brilliant. I had picked Yuvraj Singh as the player to watch out for India before the World Cup. I predicted Yuvraj will be the man for India if India goes all the way. I also picked Zaheer Khan and Sehwag to determine the Indian fortunes at the World Cup. I also predicted that Yusuf Pathan would fail. I am very happy that my picks have performed brilliantly and I did better than the cricket experts here.

The defeat for Australia also meant that cricket-crazy fans all over the World in general and subcontinent in particular will be treated to an India Vs Pakistan Semi-Final. At the same time, I am slightly disappointed that India and Pakistan are not playing in the Final. I hope and wish, whichever team wins the game between India Vs Pakistan Semi-Final goes on to win the World Cup.