Hud Hud Dabang Dabang

India came back strongly after an innings defeat at Centurion to thrash South Africa by 87 runs in the second test match at Durban to level the series 1-1. The two sides now travel to Capetown for the decider. However the manner in which the tour has progressed is very much Indian- the team starts pretty slowly but picks up momentum rather quickly. India has now won matches in the most alien conditions (Headingley 2007, Perth 2008 and of course Durban, 2010) and also under circumstances of extreme pressure (the more recent ones when they were trailing in the series- Kolklata 2010 and Colombo 2010). No doubt this is one of the most feared teams in the world and hence the title….. Hud Hud Dabang Dabang

Dhoni’s luck with toss did not turn one bit as he lost another crucial toss. Smith could not stop smiling all the while but little did he know that things will change so quickly and he will end up on the losing side within 4 days. Indian team started off in a pretty decent manner but you cannot keep the likes of Dale Steyn and Mornie Morkel at bay for long when the pitch has some assistance for the fast bowlers and the opening batsmen are not known to exactly flourish in such conditions. However in the context of such a low scoring game, I must say that the openers did a decent job as India lost their first wicket (Sehwag) at 43. However, Murali Vijay did not last long either after Sehwag left as India limped to 48/2 from 43 for no loss at one stage. That set the stage for the two veterans- Sachin and Dravid for the repair job. As an Indian (or even a neutral) supporter you cannot ask for batsmen of better calibre and reputation than these two. However it was not exactly a pitch where you can play your strokes freely and Sachin fell to one such temptation as he was caught in slips immediately after lunch (Mr Kalia accounting for his dismissal). That brought together another illustrious pair to the crease- Laxman and Dravid who has served Indian cricket so wonderfully and its tales deserved to be told to the forthcoming generations. The duo provided some degree of stability but Dravid fell a little later to his RCB teammate, Dale Steyn and the score read 117/4L. Laxman continued to bat in his usual manner as he even hit Steyn for a six but he still was not at his fluent best (the pitch was not the easiest to bat on) and did survive a couple of close LBW calls against Paul Harris. Laxman eventually fell to a stunner of a catch by Mr Kalia for a well made 38 but things never looked pleasant for the Indian batting card. Pujara joined Dhoni and it looked as if the two will take India till the end of the day but that was not to be. Pujara again fell to Mr Kalia. At stumps on Day 1, India were precariously placed at 183/6 with Bhajji and Dhoni at crease. The highlight of the day for me was the venomous bowling display by Dale Steyn as he pocketed 4 wickets. Every time he ran into bowl, my heart skipped a beat. Awesome display of fast bowling, I must say.

When play began on Day 2, the obvious question was if Dhoni and co will manage to take the score somewhere close to 250. They did not but neither did they surprise many. When you have the likes of Morkel and Steyn running in after an overnight rest, even the best of the lot can feel a chill down their spine. India finished at 205, definitely an improvement over 136 in their previous match but 205 by no means looked adequate at that point.

When SA started their first innings, they must have discussed the presence of Zaheer Khan and strategies to tackle him. However, Zaheer is a really experienced campaigner, a world class bowler and someone who can plan dismissals in his mind before affecting the same on the field (Just as Bipasha Basu planned murders in her mind in Jism, bad example :)). Zaheer got rid of his bunny Smith to a beautiful delivery and that was it. India got off to a start they needed, something they so badly missed in Centurion and the morale was up. Zaheer kept things quite tidy even though neither Sreesanth nor Ishant complemented him very well initially. Zaheer also got rid of Peiterson (pardon me for the spellings, there are a couple of Peitersens with different spellings) and SA dressing room must have started to feel the heat. India also earned another huge bonus when a straight drive from Amla brushed Ishant’s fingers and caught Kallis short at the nonstriker’s end .And then Sreesanth had Devilliers caught behind off a beauty just at the stroke of the lunch. That must have been the best lunch Indian team had in SA since arriving there.

When play began in second session, the immediate target must have been to get rid of Amla and Bhajji did get rid of (Y)Amla Pagla Deewana (he really goes crazy when he sees Indian bowling line up) courtesy of a straighter one as Amla looked to sweep. SA lost half their side for 96 and then it was just a matter of time. Zaheer got rid of Prince who had struggled against him until then while Bhajji had the better of Steyn (wonderful catch by Dravid in slips to become the first test match cricketer with 200 catches against his name) and Harris (another alert catch by Pujara at short leg) in the same over. Morkel and Boucher tried to delay the inevitable but Morkel eventually fell to Ishant (again a fantastic catch in the deep by Bhajji) and Mr Kalia got out chipping to midwicket as India bundled SA for 131.

Indian bowling clicked in unison though Bhajji with 4 wickets and Zaks with 3 were the standout performers. But importantly, the team caught everything that came their way and this handed them a vital lead of 74 runs. Now 74 is not meagre by any standards but in a test match where the first two innings finish in less than 5 sessions, this lead very well turned out to the difference between a victory and a thrashing.

India started their second essay quite confidently as Sehwag looked in sublime touch and boundaries came pretty easily. But SA bowlers are no jokers as Mr Kalia had Sehwag caught behind when he chased a rather wide one. From 42 for no loss, India were 56/4 in no time as the wickets of Sehwag, Murali Vijay (he is a very loyal partner, does not feel like staying at wicket after Sehwag is gone :)), Dravid (chased another wide one and caught behind, very unlike Rahul Dravid) and Sachin Tendulkar (tried to be a bit too positive and was snapped in slips) and the teams were even stevens again. India finished the day at 92/4 with Laxman and Pujara holding fort but they were far from a position of safety. 18 wickets had fallen in one day and it was pretty evident that the match won’t last 5 days.

India lost Pujara very early on Day 3 as he got another unplayable delivery from Morkel. Dhoni came in and tried to play some shots (made a useful 21 too) but did not last too long. Neither did Harbhajan but Zaheer managed to stay somehow. He was involved in a 70 run stand with Laxman and that was easily the defining moment in the match. At one point it looked as if Laxman may not even get to his half century, but the company of Zaheer allowed him to move into eighties before Zaheer got out. By then, India had posted a healthy 280 odd lead against SA and it was always going to be tough. Things disintegrated pretty quickly after Zaheer’s dismissal as Ishant fell to Kallis. Laxman missed a well deserved century as he was the last man out for an individual score of 96. India set a target of 303 for SA and it would have taken a superhuman effort from SA to win the match, seal the series and snatch the #1 ranking from India.

Smith started very positively as he hit Zaheer for 5 fours in his first three overs. The intent obviously was there as there were plenty of things at stake (pride being one of them, but as I mentioned the series and the claim to be #1 Test team in the world). However, Smith was also involved in a duel with Sreesanth later on as the two exchanged words and some aggressive gestures were being made. Sreesanth eventually won the battle as he had Smith caught off a short ball which Smith tried to pull but only managed a top edge. What was heartening to see was the fact that there were no over-the-top celebrations by Sreesanth or send-offs. I believe Sreesanth must have said to himself that let us seal the match first, my antics can wait :). Bhajji had Petersen caught by Pujara as wickets started to tumble fast. However the big fish again came from Sreesanth as he had Amla out to a nothing shot, just poking at a wide delivery and being caught behind in the process. AB de Villiers and Kallis got together at crease and had a few nervous moments as the day ended albeit prematurely due to fading light. SA were placed at 111/3 and the equations was pretty straight- India needed 7 wickets while SA needed 192 runs at the close of play with 2 more days to go.

Day 4 promised to be a day full of action, twists and thrills but frankly speaking it never lived up to the expectations. India started pretty solidly and there were no loose balls on offer. After a few quiet overs, Sreesanth had Kallis caught in gully to an absolutely unplayable delivery with the score reading 123/4. de Villiers was the next to go as he was adjudged LBW to Bhajji (the decision was somewhat controversial) and Boucher’s short stay at the crease ended quite prematurely as he was LBW to Zaheer (another dodgy one). With SA 6 down for 143, the match was all but over for them. Steyn got out to Zaheer thereafter even though Prince (first with Harris and then with Morkel) tried to put up a stiff resistance. A brilliant piece of fielding from Pujara saw Mr Kalia run-out as Prince was left stranded at the other end. India won by 87 runs and as I mentioned earlier that on pitches where runs are so hard to come by, 87 runs is a huge margin and qualifies as a thrashing.

The return of Zaheer Khan bolstered the Indian bowling line-up tremendously and made them an attack capable of picking up 20 wickets quite quickly (even though Smith almost laughed at this fact before the match began). Zaheer also showed why he has such an important role to play in the scheme of things if the current team has to win more consistently especially abroad. It was also great to see Bhajji pick up wickets in the first innings and Sreesanth in the second. Ishant needs to do a bit more (control his no-balls first of all) to justify his selection but the overall bowling performance was very satisfactory. However, the batting was not up to the mark especially in the second innings and Dhoni did acknowledge that. More meaningful and substantial contributions especially from Dravid and Sachin will be required if India harbours plans of winning the next test match and the series, something they have never done before. From a South African perspective, they would have realised their mistakes and will come back harder for sure. It will be the perfect start to the year as the two teams will fight it out for the battle of supremacy and the #1 ranking in what has now become a one-off test. Before I finish, I would also like to mention the guy who has made all this possible- Dada. It was only under Sourav Ganguly that India started to win overseas. It was also only under Sourav Ganguly that Indian bowlers learned to be aggressive and realised the importance of getting under the skin of the opposition (Sreesanth and Zaheer did that wonderfully well in this match). Good luck to the Indian cricket team members for 2011 as they battle it out for the Test series, the subsequent ODIs and then the mega event- the World Cup. May the Gods be with them.

Scorecard available at: http://tinyurl.com/36g9jzg (courtesy Cricinfo)

India take lead

India won the first test against Australia in a match that saw fortunes swinging wildly from one extreme to other. That I am writing this blog and am obviously so happy is only because of this guy who is often called Very Very Special Laxman.

People keep saying that this match is special because it was a great exhibition of cricket for a format which is battling competition from its younger siblings- T20 and ODIs but I would say it was special because it made people realise that you cannot expect to play and win against Australia without this man.

Now that India has won, there are plenty of things to write about- India’s rightful claim to the #1 Test team spot, another failure for Ponting to win a series in India, India’s much improved bowling attack or Laxman’s continued brilliance against the Aussies. However keeping in consideration the paucity of time and also in an attempt to keep the length of this article reasonable, I will only write about the first and the last issues.

So guys, India have not lost any Test series under the leadership of MS Dhoni during a period spanning almost 2 years. They may not have won many but they have not lost any either. During this course of time, they beat NZ in NZ and SL in India. They drew with SA in India and came from behind to draw with SL in SL. While the performances do not look very impressive, they are not mediocre by any standards as well. If SA is considered to be a worthy challenger to Indian team, they would not have lost to India by an innings in Kolkata or for that matter to Aussies in their own den in 2009. Lankans have big mouths and they kept saying a couple of months back that SL is a far better team than India but let them first win a test in India and then I may think of reading their columns in Punjab Kesri (or do they don’t even get to write in Punjab Kesri ? J). England is a pretty solid team at the moment and it would be very interesting when India tour England in the summer of 2011. But otherwise, England have won Ashes and they beat Pakistan in their homeland. No huge or consistent overseas success again. Australia lost to India in 2008 and have not performed consistently against the supposedly stronger teams like SA or England (they even managed to lose the Ashes) so it is pointless to even think about them. Worst, they drew with Pakistan in EnglandJ.

So if a team is considered great simply because they do very well on their home turfs and they do moderately well when they tour other countries, then it is indeed a matter of pride for the ICC rankings that India have very gracefully ascended to the top spot.

And regardless of our hatred against the Aussies, I must really appreciate Ricky Ponting’s honest admission of the fact that they fought and tried hard but they lost to a very good #1 team.

Coming back to this fascinating match, India may have emerged as winners in the end but it was just sooooo close. Aussies started quite solidly on Day 1 and despite the loss of Simon Katich quite early in their first innings, Watson and Ponting did quite well to make sure that they get an early advantage. However, a flash of brilliance from Suresh Raina got rid of Ponting, and that gave a tiny opening to India. Now the plan was to dig a tunnel out of this tiny opening and India did manage to do that to an extent as Australia lost Hussey, Clarke and North by the end of Day 1 to finsh at 224/5, a rather precarious position. The standout performer of day for India was no doubt Zaheer Khan but a disciplined effort from Ojha is something that deserves appreciation as well. Ishant Sharma was easily the disappointment of the day while Bhajji was OK, at the most. For Australia, the star performer was Shane Watson who made the most of the dropped catch and went on to make a century.

Australia started Day 2 with caution but their plan was not to give wickets and try to maximize their first innings score. Watson got out on 126 but very useful contributions from Paine (who narrowly missed a century), Johnson (who looks to me as the new Irfan Pathan- started as a strike bowler and then turned into a batsman) and even Hilfenhaus saw them make 428 in their first essay. Zaheer managed a fiver and it is always good to see an Indian pacer taking a five-for on pitches which are supposed to be tailor made for spinners.

India started their first innings in a very aggressive manner and Sehwag never allowed any bowler to settle. While it made for fascinating viewing especially if you are an Indian supporter, it did not really look like test cricket, to be honest. Sehwag made the likes of Hilfenhaus and Bollinger look quite ordinary as he scored boundaries at will. It was only when Johnson got into attack and got rid of Gambhir (I somehow see his hunger for runs diminishing, though I wish I am wrong) and Sehwag that Australia made their way back into the game. India ended the day at 110/2 and it was pretty much even-stevens at that point.

Day 3 was quite an anti-climax actually. India batted really well to stitch partnerships and kept the score card moving but wickets kept falling just at the wrong time for India. Dravid fell at 77, Sachin went for 98 while Raina made 86. However none of them went on to complete their respective centuries and a lower order collapse saw India fold up for 403, conceding a narrow 23 run lead at the end of Day 3.

Australia started Day 4 on an aggressive note as the hero of first innings- Watson took the attack to bowlers and Australia looked like going for some quick runs in an effort to push for a result. However that is when Ishant made a genuine effort to make his presence felt in the match. India hit back through Ishant as he pocketed the vital wickets of Watson, Ponting and Clarke. After that it was pretty much a case of surviving a fourth day pitch and battling the pressure that Indian bowlers created. Australian batsmen succumbed to the same and were all-out for 192. Now this is what I would call a total team effort on the bowling front. Ishant started the slide, the spinners Bhajji and Ojha got rid of the middle order and Zaheer came back to clean up the tail. I don’t think any captain in the world could ask for something more.

India started chasing a pretty gettable target of 216 on fourth day itself. Since I did not see the match live, I do not exactly know how it happened but India lost 4 wickets by the end of play. How someone like Hilfenhaus who looked pretty ordinary in the first essay became so unplayable suddenly is still a mystery to me. Gambhir got out to a shocker of a decision while Dravid, Sehwag and Raina just did not last long. India finished Day 4 at 55/4 and it looked quite a stiff task from there on.

Whed Day 5 began; all eyes were on Sachin to see if he could come up with something special and silence all the critics. He started quite well and even though India lost the nightwatchman Zaheer Khan, an injured Laxman and Sachin batted wonderfully well for a while. That was perhaps the only period in the day when India looked like taking control of the proceedings. However, Sachin departed a bit later as he tried a rather too ambitious shot. India also lost Dhoni (I do not remember when was the last time he played a really meaningful innings in a test match) and Bhajji (he needs to realise that if he stays on the crease for a while and makes some runs, he can get much more endorsements. It is only in his interests that he takes his batting a bit more seriously) and with the score reading 124/8, things did not look too great. However Ishant Sharma saw this opportunity to redeem himself and made a determined effort to stay at the crease. The duo had a wonderful partnership worth 81 runs and it was really heartening the way both of them got about their business. While Laxman looked showed tremendous faith in Ishant Sharma and did not hesitate to give him strike, Ishant was upto the task as well. He got beaten often (like any other tailender) but most importantly he put a price on his wicket. And little did anyone know at that point that Aussies will have to pay such a heavy price for the same. Laxman batted with supreme authority, pulling anything short with disdain but also driving through the cover region when the ball was full. He was well supported by Ishant who hung on only to frustrate the Aussie bowlers.

Ishant eventually got out to an umpiring blunder but the complexion of the game had changed by then. Ojha survived a very close LBW appeal (another umpiring blunder) but somehow managed to steer India to safety in the end. India won by 1 wicket to seal another famous win against the mighty Aussies. Like a lot of other victories which have come against Aussies in this decade, VVS Laxman continued to be the architect-in-chief for India and wrecker-in-chief for the Aussies. Ponting was candid enough to admit that his worst fears have come true as Laxman snatched victory from the jaws of the defeat for India. The Hyderabadi Nawab had done it again for India.

So guys while you celebrate the famous Indian victory do not forget to salute the efforts of VVS Laxman. While he may lag behind the likes of Sachin (in sheer number of runs), Sehwag (in terms of attractive strokeplay) or Dravid (in terms of resolute defence), he is an icon and a jewel in India’s crown. Long live Laxman.

Wishing you many more appearances and many more centuries for India.

Scorecard for the match available at: http://tinyurl.com/28oq2q9

Courtesy: Cricinfo

India pull one back to level series

The Indian team did very well to win the 3^rd Test against SL to emerge as joint winners of this 3 match series. My last blog post was about India’s famous win against Pak at Asia cup and India went on to win the final but I did not bother myself to write about another Indian victory against their (or probably BCCI’s) favourite opponent. Now that I am writing about this test match does obviously imply that this is a special win.

To begin with, things were never easy for India from the start of the series. Zaheer Khan was injured and Bhajji never looked like a threat in the two matches that he played. Munaf and Sreesanth were ruled out even before they could be considered for selection (I am sure they would have done what the likes of Anderson and Broad are doing to PakistanJ). So a team already bereft of a decent bowling attack had to do with a supposedly second string attack (Believe me, such terms only exist in theory. Indian bowling attack is always more or less the same). Whatever be the reasons, India played the entire series with Ishant and Mithun as their leading fast bowlers. It is interesting to note though that none of them broke down and bowled pretty decently in the entire series. Ojha’s bowling in the first two matches was listless but he did come back stupendously in the third one to make a mark. Mishra was decent too and probably did justice to his selection.

India expectedly lost the first match and I still do not know how long it will take the Indian team to realise the importance of the first match in a series. Indians take pride in calling them slow starters and I do not think losing first match ever causes any concern to the team at all. The only thing that fascinated me from the first match was Murali’s 800^th wicket. The guy has battled it all (biased Australian umpires, racist public) and it was great that he retired on a high after such a controversy marred career.

The second match was played on a “very sporting wicket” at SSC where Mr. Mahela Jayawardene broke some record. I just admire these Lankan batsmen who keep breaking records while in their own backyard but come nowhere close to repeating their heroics, the moment they step out of their country. India drew this match and it was definitely not a great exhibition of cricket all over.

The third match was by far the most interesting test match India had been involved in for some time (the one at Kolkata against SA was good too, but India won by an innings, so it was never an even contest).

Dhoni did not improve his record with toss one bit (Was it the same coin from Sholay where Dharam paaji always lost? J ) and it was not a great omen to begin with.

Lanka ended Day 1 at 293/4 and that was a pretty strong position. However unlike other occasions, where the bowlers could lose hope or get bogged down, the Indian bowlers just kept coming back every time there was a partnership. SL were all out for 425 and India had managed to keep them in check. Ojha bowled very well to bag 4 wickets while Ishant was cool too with 3.

India began their reply in a profound manner and you always expect that when you have a player of the calibre of Sehwag in your team. Vijay got out and Dravid did not last long too as India were reduced to 92/2 with close to 20 overs to be bowled on Day 2, leaving Indian in a rather troublesome position. However Sachin continued to bat fluently with Sehwag and as a result the pressure never got to either of them. India ended the day at a strong 180/2 with Sehwag nearing century and Sachin giving him great support too. The next thing you would expect from these two is to keep carrying the momentum the next day. But that was not to be. Sachin departed in the first over of Day 3 and Sehwag soon after he was done with his century. With Laxman and Raina together, things could not have gone more interesting. While Laxman is always batting lower down the order and has to build small and potentially useful partnerships with tailenders, Raina is just a novice to test cricket. However the two got about rebuilding the innings in a very mature and responsible manner and shared a 105 run partnership for the 5^th wicket. Laxman and Raina fell in quick session later and the ugliest batsman in test cricket (Mr Dhoni J) did not last long but with very useful contributions from Mithun and Mishra, India manged to get a slender lead of 11 runs.

Now this 11 run lead thing is immaterial but it was important that India manage to cross the SL total because if you concede even a slender lead and you are going to bat in the 4^th innings in SL, only God can help you. The story of the whole innings was about keep coming back and hitting hard at the opposition. When Dravid departed, Sachin and Sehwag consolidated. When this duo departed, Laxman and Raina did the same. And at the end, it was Mishra and Mithun. The run rate remained good throughout thanks to Sehwag, but no batsman who made a substantial contribution ever got bogged down by the Lankan bowlers and this approach had to have a major impact on the final outcome of the match.

When SL began their second innings essay, it was interesting to see how much had the pitch deteriorated by then and how much would it assist spin. Sehwag got the vital wickets of Dilshan (who flattered to deceive in the entire series) and Parivarthana (this guy is something, 2 centuries at Perth, I mean Lanka J) and it was definitely advantage India at the end of Day 4.

Indian spinners then spun a web around the Lankan batsmen in the first session of Day 4. A lot of dismissals could be attributed to ridiculous shot selection though. However, Samaraveera led a lankan fightback in company of Mendis and it must have pissed off a lot of Indian supporters (it pissed me off, for sure). It also exposed the mediocre bowling attack that India always have and their inability to get rid of tailenders at crucial junctures. When the lankan team did somehow get out for 267, the target of 257 looked pretty stiff.

When India was about to begin their chase, the first thought that crossed my mind was Sehwag and the law of averages. What if it catches up with Sehwag at the most important point in this series? And unfortunately, it did catch up. Dravid did not last long either (he had a horrible series, I just discovered that he has an awful average in SL) and Vijay looked more of someone who has to do the formalities of being an opener. I never saw any resolve to do well. So India finished Day 4 at 53/3 and not many people would have bet their money on India.

The final day of the test match probably made for fascinating viewing if you were an Indian supporter. The loss of Ishant did not mean much but Sachin and Laxman batted almost flawlessly. Sachin benefitted from a dropped chance but overall it was very much textbook cricket and as has been the case, they did not bog down. Bad deliveries were hit for boundaries with regularity. Well, if you have such wonderful batsmen at the crease, you expect even the good deliveries to be hit.

India went into lunch needing a little over 100 with 5 wickets and two set batsmen at crease and the pendulum had changed its direction by then. Sachin departed soon after play resumed in the second session while Laxman was fighting his back spasms but carried on with a runner. Raina started in a rather amateur manner but settled down to calm nerves in the dressing room. Both Laxman and Raina went about the business rather briskly and India won by 5 wickets in the end. Laxman finished with an unbeaten hundred and that was his first in 4^th innings of a match. Raina did fabulously well throughout the entire series to literally snatch the No. 6 spot from Yuvraj and make it his own.

Jaya Uncle was very upset in the studio later and he said that the match was in Lankan grab all the time, just they let it go. His team surely missed the services of a slow bowler like him J. Mr Sangakkara later said that Lanka was still the better team by a distance and we all know how he exaggerates things (refer to my last blog on India-SL test series which India won comfortably). Mr Mahela (ha ha…what does that mean “Mr” and “Mahela” put together J) also said that India team does not look like #1. Alright Sir, we do have our share of problems especially in our bowling department but once in a while we do win at Perth, at Kingsmead, at Wellington. How many matches have you won outside SL, forget subcontinent. When was the last time you won in India?

So the team continues to hold its #1 spot and while people may argue that there are close competitors in SA, England and Australia, it would still rate England as a potent threat. They have done really well over the past 6 months and it would be a pleasure to see India play England. But to the best of my knowledge, it is not going to happen in the near future.

The Indian team does not look like finding solutions to their problems, just that they are somehow managing to keep afloat with the available resources. The bowling, as always, needs to improve and we need to find batsmen too. I never let go any opportunity to poke fun at Jaya Uncle but the fact is Laxman, Dravid and Sachin are not getting any young either. And India may get into the phase which Australia is going through presently. The road ahead does not look very smooth but that is never the case. The BCCI selection committee needs to look at these things and I am sure they won’t. They are still busy reading Modi’s 15000 page reply :). Ok, I will better talk to the CID team comprising ACP Pradhuman, Daya and Abhijeet to find good replacements J. Arz hai

5 rupaye ka ek samosa, 10 rupaye ke do…
.
.
Abhijeet kuch to gadbad hai, Daya darwaza tod do….

Wah wah wah !!!

Good luck to the Men in blue for the upcoming tri-series.

Payback time

I just witnessed one of the memorable Indian victories against their arch rivals and as a patriotic, fanatic Indian cricket fan my chest was swelled with pride to XXL size J. Truth be told, I was really pissed off reading reports about the rubbish that players from across the border have been uttering. It all started last September in the CT when Afridi started saying that India is not a threat, and then Aamer, the guy who did a Chetan Sharma today said that I would love to get the scalp of Sachin. Alright, they did beat India and Aamer did get Sachin out, but enough is always enough. Last week the chairman or director or whatever of PCB, Mr Butt (funny surname for sure J ) said that what is the status of Indian team today. I am sure PCB has not much business with ICC right now, but atleast this guy must know the ICC ODI and Test rankings. And only a couple of days back, Sohail Tanvir, who has a special liking for Hindus said that Indians will struggle against Akhtar. Gautam Gambhir aptly described the victory as payback time.

Pakistan innings: They started pretty well and even though it was a slow start it was nevertheless a safe one. It is good to see vintage cricket being played when all we get to see is mindless hitting in T20s, thank to IPL, the T20 WC and more such tournaments. It took a special effort from the combo of Bhajji and Sehwag to get the first breakthrough and that made way for the Hyderabadi Damaad J to come to the crease. While he has a wonderful record against the Indians, and it did look as if he is going to repeat his heroics, Zaheer got rid of him with an absolute beauty. Then RJ for a change used his brain and athleticism to get rid of the dangerous Salman Butt (another one who loves Indian bowling) and the other new comer was fabulously caught by none other than Kohli sa’ab. At this stageIndia seemed to have made their way back into the game and that was indeed the case. Afridi and Akmal tried to rebuild and Afridi did look to continue from he left against Lanka but his timing soon deserted and he started to struggle in the later part of his innings. Pakistanis also delayed taking their power play and that definitely was not a good move. Wickets kept falling and India did very well to restrict them to 267. I must say that I have not seen such a determined bowling effort from India for quite some time especially when the opposition gets a decent start and the chips are down and that too against a quality opposition. And Pakistan, no matter who all are playing in their team, is always a quality opposition against India.

So India was supposed to chase 267 which is not an easy total by any means. The pressure of batting second against Pakistan and that too in not the best of batting conditions, as an Indian fan, you have all the reasons to worry.

Indian innings: India started very slowly and Sehwag did not get going at all. He is back to international cricket after some gap and may need some time to get back into top gear. But Gambhir is a very senior player in the team and his presence at the crease will always calm the nerves in the dressing room. India lost Sehwag and later Kohli, the score reading 82/2 in 17.4 overs. The scorecard definitely looked bad to me but as elders say, don’t lose hope. Dhoni came to join Gauti and let us give him due where it is due. Dhoni is a very good batsman, not definitely a great one but he is a lion-hearted fellow for sure. He could have sent someone else at that point of time but he realised that the team needs a partnership and what better a person than himself to go out and rebuild. Gauti and Dhoni mixed caution with aggression and kept scoreboard ticking. Both of them were occasionally beaten especially by Ajmal (who bowled very well) but they still kept going. Gauti also benefitted from a dropped chance and Pakistani fielding was indeed pathetic, they never collected the ball cleanly and gave away a lot of singles which could have been avoided. Kamran Akmal was a pure joy to watch, he was getting excited whenever he would take a turning ball cleanly and would appeal like anything. This surely did provoke Gauti at some stage and probably paved the way for his downfall, a little later. Rohit Sharma came and basically tried his luck, he was once dropped by Akmal, the goalkeeper but he did not last long. Dhoni also got out in one of the most unfortunate manners and the blood pressure of an Indian cricket fan must have escalated. The new pair on the crease now- RJ and Raina initially struggled and RJ eventually got out in the 45^th over bringing Bhajji to the crease and that was a blessing, for sure. At that point of time, Indian innings was in their batting power play and that was a big plus. Raina decided to hit Ajmal and 13 came off his last over, and that looked like bringing Indian chase back on track somewhat. Bhajji too joined in the fun and hit Akhtar for a six in the 46^th over and 9 came off that one as India needed 27 off the last 3 overs. Afridi brought Aamer into the attack and he bowled a decent length but a poor line as he gave 2 wides before Raina hit what was the most impressive shot for me in the entire match. A very full ball, not easy to get under, was placed perfectly between long-on and mid-wicket to take 9 off that over as well. 16 needed off 12, came Akhtar and he was again pulled by Raina for a huge six. Even though Akhar still managed to come back and only conceded 9 from that over, India needed only 7 off the last one and by then pendulum had definitely swung back in India’s favour. Raina did get out in the last over and it did appear pretty tense but Bhajji hit the short of his lifetime for a six as India had needed 3 off 2.

That sparked off celebrations and Bhajji gave a huge roar and he definitely had something to indicate to Akhar, who is not a saint either. India won in style and I am sure people back home would have used this opportunity to use their leftover crackers from last year Diwali. Gauti deservedly won the MoM award and Dhoni praised the team’s fighting abilities and we all agree to that. Afridi said that it was a great team of cricket but he obviously had a bad start to his tenure as captain as Pak crashed out of the Asia cup with two straight defeats from subcontinent teams.

The post match analysis: On bowling front, Indian fast bowlers did pretty well and Zaheer looked like a bowler possessed. I wish these guys have the courage, the heart and the discipline to bowl like this more often and not once in a blue moon. Bhajji also did a decent job and RJ was good too but he is not in my scheme of things for the World Cup. Indian batting was also pretty good. Sehwag is the kind of player who can get back to form anytime while Gambhir is already back to where he belongs. Kohli needs to do better and assure us that he can make runs against oppositions other than SL. Rohit Sharma is an utter waste and so is RJ. Both these guys need to be shown the door immediately and it will not be hard to find replacements, I am sure. RJ has done a decent job as a bowler but his batting is pathetic and I wish we can draft a complete bowler in his place (Ashwin/Chawla/Mishra or someone else) rather than playing someone who gives the false impression of being an allrounder but pees in his pants when he sees the likes of Akhtar coming to bowl to him. Rohit Sharma has done very well against mediocre oppositions (like his 2 centuries in Zimbabwe) but we surely need players who are more responsible, more mature and would like to grab their chances. I would rather wish that Yuvraj gets back to shape and form and regains his place.

The road ahead: India needs to win this Asia cup, win the test series against SL and then the trination series which involves India, SL and NZ. I know the thought of India playing SL puts everyone to sleep but that is decided by BCCI. I am sure the likes of Sehwag and Sachin (the married lot in the current Indian team) are seeing Lankan players more often than their respective wives J. But India needs to win these three series to put their preparations for the mega event in 2011 back on track.

Good luck guys.

Scorecard available at @http://tinyurl.com/357dbol

IPL ver. 3.0

The IPL 3.0 ended yesterday and with it ended the reign of Lalit Modi. While the previous two versions of IPL were all about cricket, this one was about anything but cricket. Lalit Modi crashed out of the IPL as spectacularly as Kings Punjab XI and it appears that he left a lot of things to ponder about.

A quick progress report about the teams which did not made to the semis first: KXIP which is obviously my home time, disappointed and Yuvi looked completely out of sorts, DD batted so carelessly in all the matches in the later part of the tournament that Gambhir had to acknowledge that they did not deserve to be in semis, RR were very much an on and off team which never looked like getting into semis and KKR…well they stayed out of controversies this season, for a change, but their form remained more or less the same which they have displayed over the past two seasons.

Now the teams which made to the semis: RCB had a very good combination and always looked like a very potent group to challenge anyone and they did live to their reputation, DC had a horrible start to the tournament but won 5 games on the trot to get into semis and this is one of the teams where the Indian players performed particularly well, CSK also had a horrible start to the tournament but you cannot simply write off a team which is being lead by MS Dhoni and lastly MI- a team which finally got its act together after the disappointing shows in the first two seasons.

The final between CSK and MI promised to be an interesting match but actually it was not. Chennai posted a healthy total of 168 and the way Mumbai started it was always going to be difficult. It is a bit unfortunate that MI had to lose in the final because people invariably start questioning Sachin’s big match skills and his captaincy. However both the things were pretty decent if not great, I would say.The fielding lapses proved to be too costly to MI and this is what Sachin also felt at the end of the day. Nevertheless, a very good performance from both the teams to be able to reach to the finals.

Find of the tournament (Indians only, I don’t care if Pollard was hitting the ball a long way or Hayden might have just played his last IPL match): Among fast bowlers, Ashish Nehra was one J ..just kidding. Ojha won the purple cap but I don’t remember much of his wickets. But all the three fringe Indian spinners performed well- Mishra, Chawla and Ojha so definitely something to be happy about. Bhajji let the ball do his talking this time and there were no slapgates. Zaheer bowled a near perfect line and length all the time and Praveen Kumar was OK too. Vinay Kumar is a bit too young and it would be great if he turns out to be a decent bowler. However, the fast bowling department was largely a disappointment- Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth and Run Producer (RP) Singh had forgettable tournaments and let us not even talk about Nehra. Pathan did well with the bat but his bowling was below par and a comeback seems unlikely in the near future for this one time budding sultan-of-swing.

Well among batting the cards don’t look too promising either and this is definitely a cause of concern. At the top Gambhir flattered to deceive and Yuvraj Singh is still recovering from his injuries. Considering the time he has taken to recover I was just wondering if he got operated by Dr. Christiaan Barnard to get a heart transplantJ. But we do have the stars of CSK- Dhoni and Raina who look to be in pretty good form. Raina is a batsman whom I love to watch but his weakness against short ball can well finish his career. I wish Gary babu helps him with that. Rohit Sharma also did well with DC but we cannot bank on him, can we? He flourished in last year’s IPL too but then was a flop show in the subsequent World Cup. It would have been good to see Sachin with the team too but the old man has his own reasons not to come along. So let’s respect his decisions and try to nurture more Sachins for T20 at least. Murli Vijay is a welcome addition to the team though Uthappa must have cursed his luck to miss out. Jadeja could prove to be a useful player (though he is short of match practise as he was serving a ban for IPL this time-idiot) for this version of the game and Dinu Karthik is a decent member of the team too.

Promising batsmen from IPL 3.0 as per me- Naman Ojha, T Suman and Saurabh Tiwary.

May I also take this opportunity to announce a few awards. The jury comprised of myself and Sheru, my Uncle with whom I had some virtual discussions:

Best commentator-Sunny (this is a big one and he is OUT, I still miss Maninder Singh though)

Best captain- Sangakkara, I guess

Best bowler- RP Singh (no guesses this time)

Best fielder- Sourav Ganguly, for sure

Best hair transplant- who else but Harsha Bhogle

Best batsman- this one is being shared by Gilly and Haydos

Most stylish player- Yuvraj Singh

On a serious time, I don't see any favourites this time too for this World Cup (which happens every now and then and still called a World Cup J). It won’t be surprising if India gets knocked out like last year and as a cricket fan I do not expect too much either. The team members must be fatigued after the IPL (paapi pet ka sawaal hai ..aur kuch nahin J ) but no harm in praying for your country.

Good luck to the men in blue

India stays atop at #1

India pulled off a spectacular win to maintain their #1 ICC Test team rankings. The match is by far one of the best test performances by India and will remain etched in my memory forever. I will rate this one very close to Kolkata 2001 because on both the occasions, coming into the match, India was trailing in the series and things never looked hunky dory. However, in this match the momentum shifted to India on the first day in contrast to Kolkata 2001 when nobody thought India could win until India won. But I would say that this one was a complete team effort and hence better than Kolkata 2001 on that front. While Bhajji, Dravid and VVS Laxman were the heroes of that epic, almost everyone contributed to this winning cause.

S.Africa thrashed India in Nagpur and everyone (including me) started to doubt if we are indeed the #1 team in Test cricket. Agreed that we did miss our key test match players in Dravid and Laxman but then are we dependent on them to win or save matches all the time? The answer, I am afraid, is yes. What difference can VVS make to the team was evident in the results of the two matches. You do not realise the importance of something until it is missing and that is exactly the case of VVS Laxman. He plays only Test matches which are as infrequent as me going to India (:() and hence he is not someone with whom any cricket fan would associate much importance. But he showed us that he is not the King of Eden for nothing.

Bhajji was off-color for quiet sometime now and just when critics were baying for his blood he put a really inspiring and match-winning effort. It was really good to see him take wickets and as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, if ever I have fallen in love with the art of spin bowling, it is because of Bhajji. Amit Mishra also bowled with a lot of purpose and guile and three wickets in second innings which include Kallis, Smith and De Villiers is not a joke by any means (I still wish Murali Karthik was playing, though). Ishant Sharma also did reasonably well given the kind of form he is in and it was good to see Dhoni praising him in post match conference. I mean these are the principles of effective team building. Everyone was praising Ishant when we was making Ponting hop in the crease but nobody would do that when the chips are down. This is what Dada was master at and this is the reason why Bhajji and Yuvi and Sehwag attribute their success to him. India definitely missed the services of Zaheer Khan in the second innings and the match may have finished earlier if he was there but it was not to be.
The batting clicked big time in this match. Before the match started, I was expecting centuries from Gambhir, Sehwag and Sachin for India to make a statement. Even though Gambhir failed, Laxman and Dhoni had a wonderful stand between them before Sachin and Sehwag (Guru/Chela) hit centuries, to take India to their highest total against SA. Well, the difference between Nagpur and Kolkata is again evident. In Nagpur during the first innings, Sehwag was batting with Badrinath when they had a decent stand. However in this essay, Sehwag was batting with Sachin. Definitely that helped both of them to prosper together and pushed India to a huge score. Another thing on display was the quality of Indian bench strength. The likes of Badri and Murali are not in the same league as any of the current players and this is a matter of concern. Some four weeks back, Harsha Bhogle wrote that the future of Indian batting looks promising but I doubt if that is the case. This was a good experience for both, Murali and Badrinath and they should look to learn from their mistakes if they want to don the mantle of Indian batting in the future.

If the fragility of Indian batting in the absence of Rahul Dravid and Vangipurrapu Venkata Sai Laxman (:)) was exposed in the Nagpur test, it was the complete failure of SA’s middle order which could be singled out as their reason for this defeat. As I can see, SA would be making more changes to their test squad than India at some stage (the likes of Prince and Duminy would find it hard to come back, I guess). If it was not for Dabur Amla’s centuries in each of the innings that he played, I wonder how would have things looked for SA.

Lastly something about India’s 12th man, the crowd@Eden Gardens. The atmosphere at Eden Gardens is simply unique and the way crowd erupted when Bhajji took two wickets of two consecutive deliveries on Day1 was an ample exhibition of the crowd’s presence and their say in the proceedings. It is always great to play matches at such venues and I wish India play more often at Eden and win even more often.

Finally, I would conclude that the way India came back when everything looked lost; only champions can do that. So uncork the bubbly and celebrate, India is the #1 Test Team as per ICC rankings.

[Score card @http://tinyurl.com/ycmbbs4]