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Back to the ODI carnival

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

After some heart-stopping T20 matches and quality test matches, cricket is back to its foremost shorter-version to take the spectators by storm- The Champions Trophy 2009.Following the draggy World Cup at the Caribbean, the cricketing world would be keen to see how this event performs, as there are lot of expert opinion to cut back the no of ODI’s and retain test cricket.

Australia, the reigning winners will be keen to resurgent in the world of cricket after some abashing defeats in the form of World T20 and at the Ashes. They have lost the dominance since the retirement of their great players and the infusion of new blood hasn’t proved effective yet. Australia is pondering different options like splitting the captaincy to reduce the pressure on Ponting, who is the backbone of the Australian batting order. Brett Lee has missed the bulk of the season due to injury and would be keen to make an impact as the Aussie bowling struggled in his absence in the Ashes.

South Africa and India are the strong contenders who’d be bidding for the title. South Africa’s dismal performance in the crunch matches has been a conundrum that they would like to crack this time around. India on the other hand, is more confident and would like to keep aside the grim at the World T20 as an aberration. They have performed consistently since 2008 and would like to get the silverware that slipped from their hands several times.

Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England are also unavoidable due to their volatile nature and the unpredictable nature of cricket itself.  The tournament promises to be a belter, if it lives up to the hype.

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Posted in General, ICC | No Comments »

Anticlimax at The Oval

Friday, August 14th, 2009

There is perhaps a small similarity between Sir Don Bradman and India’s Independence. Don Bradman played his final innings on 14th August 1948, which was on the eve of the first anniversary of India’s independence. Though Australia had already won the series, the final test at The Oval wasn’t a dead rubber. It would be the last time that cricket’s one and only legend, Sir Donald Bradman would bat for Australia in his lifetime. The stage was set and Don was a whisker away from creating history – 7000 runs in test cricket at a sublime average of 100. He needed just 4 runs in his final innings.

England won the toss and chose to bat first on a smoggy day; however, they were bundled out for just 52 runs. Ray Lindwall ripped through the English batting and claimed 6 wickets. In reply, Australia got off to a great start. Bradman came to the crease when Eric Hollies dismissed Sid Barnes. All eyes were on the legend and the second ball faced by Bradman ended his innings.Hollies bowled a slow leg-break and Bradman couldn’t pick it up.

When he walked off after being dismissed, it was almost certain that it would be his last appearance. Australia finished off the first innings with a mammoth lead of 337 runs. England never looked confident to overhaul that total and ended up losing the match by an innings and 149 runs. Bradman did not get a chance to bat in the second innings and completed his career at 6996 runs at an average of 99.94 runs.

Bradman had a chance after that to make the average 100 runs, however he turned down the offer to bat again for Australia. That was perhaps the decision, which got him so much honor that he probably wouldn’t have got if he had got that 4 runs in the final test. In the centenary year of his birth people still love him and adore him for the qualities of being a great cricketer and a great man.

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Posted in Australia, General | No Comments »

A Decade After The Cliffhanger at The Edgbaston

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

It is hard to believe that cricket has traveled a lot from the 1999 World Cup. The pace has increased dynamically with the introduction of T20, however the sweet (or bitter) memories of the semi final between Australia and South African 1999 persist. Players have changed in both the sides, notwithstanding the presence of a few veterans. Australia has conquered the cricketing world in that yonks, which include 3 successive World Cup triumphs. The proteas, on the other hand have had ups and downs and reinforced their ‘Chokers’ tag on several occasions. The wound has not yet healed for the proteas.


Shaun Pollock sent back Mark Waugh in the first over of the match to give SA a brilliant start. Adam Gilchrist played in an unusual but effective way to take 68 runs on a deteriorating track. Finally, Jacques Kallis ended the patient knock from the Australian glovesman and South Africa gained the upper hand. Captain Steve Waugh and Michael Bevan forged a 90 runs partnership before a low-order hiccup reduced the Australian score to a below par 213 runs. Shaun Pollock claimed 5 wickets and Alan Donald finished with 4 wickets to give South Africa a definite chance to win the match.

Gibbs and Kirsten started off well and added 48 runs for the first wicket before Shane Warne came to dismiss both, and picked 3 wickets in just 8 balls! Match started to go in favor of Australia as a direct hit from Bevan found Daryl Cullinan short of his crease. Jonty Rhodes joined Kallis to rescue and consolidate the innings. After 40 overs, SA were in a comfortable position of 144/4, requiring further 70 runs from 60 balls. Paul Reiffel dismissed Rhodes in the 41st over to break that important partnership. Shaun Pollock made a quick fire 19 runs, which included a six and a boundary from Shane Warne’s over before he fell to Damien Fleming.

As expected, it went down to the wire! In the final over, 9 runs were needed and the man on strike was the hard-hitting Lance Klusener. He clobbered the first 2 balls of Damien Fleming to the fence and South Africa was just short of a whisker from reaching their maiden World Cup Finals. It all ended in the fourth ball. Steve Waugh had put all his fielders inside the 30-yard circle to pressurize Klusener. He pushed the ball down to the wicket and went for a run. Alan Donald, the non-striker was watching the ball and didn’t see Klusener running. He started off late and before he could complete the run, Adam Gilchirst clipped the bails off to end this cliffhanger.

Australia then went onto become the World Champions after demolishing Pakistan in the final at Lords. Lance Klusener was adjudged as the Man of the Tournament. After a year, in 2000, the South African captain Hansie Cronje was found guilty of match fixing and received a life ban. On June 1, 2002 an air crash in the Western Cape ended the life of South Africa’s greatest ever captain.

This match is considered as one of the best ever in the history of cricket. The reason perhaps is that the world hasn’t seen a match like that afterwards and is eagerly waiting for a similar one.

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In Pursuit Of the Numero Uno

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

When Ricky Ponting outdid Alan Border to become the highest run getter for Australia and the 3rd highest run-getter in the history of cricket, another debate triggered for the best contemporary batsman in the world. Currently it is between the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and the Australian Captain Ricky Ponting. Let’s go into the statistics of the two batting maestros to find the best among them.

Away matches

Overseas matches are the best to judge the mettle of a cricket player. The alien conditions in the away matches are the ultimate test and lets compare the overseas performances of Ponting and Tendulkar.. Sachin Tendulkar piled up 7165 runs in 146 innings out of the 90 overseas test matches with a hefty average of 54.28 and has scored 24 centuries out of the 42 centuries he scored in total. On the other hand, Ponting scored 4575 in 101 innings out of his 58 overseas tests at an average of 49.19, which includes 16 hundreds. As far as overseas test matches are concerned, Tendulkar holds the edge due to his stability in performance against all teams. Tendulkar has an average of more than 40 against all teams; however Ricky Ponting has been struggling terribly against India. He could manage only a century against India in 21 innings and could score only 438 runs at a measly average of 20.85.

2nd Innings chases in overseas

A key batsman’s performance is pivotal when his team chases a target in the backyard of the opposition. Tendulkar has had dismal performances in the 2nd innings chases in overseas matches. He could manage only a single century in the 34 test matches and scored only 542 runs at an average of 27.10. Ponting has been slightly more successful as he scored 3 centuries in the run chases for Australia with 673 runs at a brilliant average of 56.08.  Ponting’s success can be attributed to his ‘invincible’ team which had geniuses like McGrath and Warne and a strong batting order that helped ease the pressure on Ponting. Tendulkar has been quite unlucky with this, as he had to shoulder the complete responsibility of the Indian team before the arrival of Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly. Apparently, that pressure had taken the toll on him and his performances reflect that.

India Vs Australia

Ricky Ponting has scored 1787 runs in 23 matches against India, thanks to his wonderful performance in the home soil. He averages 70 at home, however in India, his average went down to 20.85, which clearly shows his powerlessness against quality spinners. Harbhajan Singh has been a real menace to Ricky Ponting as the off-spinner dismissed him 10 times in 12 test matches. Tendulkar has had real success in his 29 matches against Australia; he amassed 2748 runs with an average of 56.08 that includes 10 blistering centuries. During his first Australian tour, at the age of just 17, Tendulkar scored a captivating 114 runs at the WACA, which is considered as one of fastest and bounciest wickets in the world, against a quality fast bowling unit with the likes of Merv Hughes and Craig McDermott. This is considered as one of the best batting performances ever and it proclaimed the beginning of a true legend, who eventually got a place in the heart of every Indian.

Above all these statistical analyses, Sachin Tendulkar is couple of steps ahead of Ricky Ponting mainly due to his consistency over 20 years and the kind of discipline and passion he has shown. Ricky Ponting has never been idolized in Australia, mainly due to his wayward character. He has been into several controversies, which questioned the spirit and integrity of his game.

A true legend sets the benchmark and stands as an example for the younger generation. According to MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and several other youngsters, Tendulkar has shown them the way to cricket with his feats and his hunger to play cricket without any boredom. There is no doubt that Sachin Tendulkar is a model for the young and old alike.

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Posted in Cricket, General | 9 Comments »

Fall From The Summit

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

When we put the performance of Ricky Ponting as a captain in perspective, statistically, he is slightly below Steve Waugh. However, it hardly reveals the current form slump of the Australian Team. Andrew Strauss, the captain of England has asserted that the Australians no longer have the aura, which their predecessors possessed.

Australia has played 50 test matches till date since January 2005, out of which they have won 31 test matches, which is not a bad conversion, either. However, after the retirement of Glenn McGrath in 2007, Australia has played 25 test matches and they could manage to win only 12 tests with a bleak success rate of 48 %. In this period they even suffered a demoralizing defeat from the hands of India by a whopping margin of 320 runs and suffered innings defeat twice in a duration of 8 months.

Although Australia is going through a patchy period, their captain Ricky Ponting is still considered as one of their best captains ever with 2 World Cup triumphs under his belt. As far as captaincy is concerned, Ricky Ponting has helmed Australia to victory in 38 out of 59 Test matches. His preceding captain and one of the best captains ever, Steve Waugh has led Australia in 57 Tests and managed 41 wins out of that, which is slightly above Ponting’s feat when we go statistically.

Does this analysis hold any logic? To be very frank, it doesn’t.  After Steve Waugh took over the captaincy from Mark Taylor, the Australians evolved as a very formidable team under his leadership. He infused ruthlessness and professionalism in to the team and made the difference. Ricky Ponting was lucky in his early stages as the captain because he had players like Hayden, Gilchrist, McGrath and Warne who were in their peak form and could change a match by their individual efforts. This is perhaps the problem faced by the current Australian team. They don’t have any match winners apart from the seniors and lacks a consistent strike bowler.

Matches have become even more competent as the teams have realized the fact that Australia are brought to earth and are more vulnerable than before. We can perhaps relate this to the great West Indies in the early 90’s but it will be too early to make a call on this. If we go by the lines of Andrew Strauss, Australia no longer holds the ‘favorites’ tag and will face stiff challenges in the 2009 Champions Trophy and in the 2011 World Cup, where Australia defend their title

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Posted in Australia, Cricket, General | No Comments »

Cracking The WADA Code

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

The Signing of WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) code has triggered another confrontation between the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI). The tension has now stepped up after the Federation of International Cricketers (FICA) warned the ICC for giving any leeway for the Indian players.

The International Olympic Committee too has initiated WADA as a part of its continuous endeavor to wipe out doping from the world of sports. The signing of this code which started off with the athletes from the Olympic events later spread across events outside Olympics.

The main constraint in this code is revealing the whereabouts of the players to WADA, which is unacceptable for the Indian players. Due to their tight match schedule and security issues it will be tough for them to reveal their details in advance. Though several other celebrity players have signed this code including Roger Federer and Usain Bolt, the level of security threats against the Indian players are quite higher.

FICA’s intervention in this clash is not really related to any player’s concern but to voice against the Indian players, who are not part of them. ICC has begun talks with BCCI to sort out this issue, however WADA has made it very clear that there will not be any leeway for the Indian players as several other players have signed this without any hesitation.

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Posted in Cricket, General, ICC | 2 Comments »

Edgbaston Awaits Another Humdinger

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

‘Never ever give up’ is the motto of the Aussies when they enter the cricket field. This is perhaps the legacy carried forward from Steve Waugh, one of the greatest Australian captains in the history of the game. The Australian team has displayed this character on several occasions and they have managed to pull off many stunners. Ricky Ponting, though not as charismatic as Waugh, infused the same theory into every game they played. Australia’s 2 runs defeat in their 2005 Ashes encounter is a wound the team still carries after long 4 years.

The second test of the 2005 Ashes series was a cliffhanger and England held their nerve to beat Australia by mere 2 runs, which eventually cost Australia the Ashes. England started the final day as favorites to win the match. Australia needed 107 runs to win with just a couple of wickets in hand. As the day progressed, we saw a determined Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz fighting hard with all their limited batting skills in pursuit of an highly unlikely victory. The last pair added a valuable 59 runs before Kasprowicz was given out for a ball he didn’t nick.

The grieving memory of that blip is still haunting the Australians and if they manage to defeat England this time around, they can make a come back to the series and can heal the wounds of the defeat in 2005.

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Posted in Ashes 2009, Australia, England, General | No Comments »

The Halt Looks Apparent For The ‘Rawalpindi Express’

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

It was one of the finest pieces of fast bowling, when Shoaib Akthar ran through several batting line-ups in the 1999 World Cup. His extensive run-up and stiff action were not the attributes of a generic fast bowler. Right from the start, he has topped the headlines of several newspapers in Pakistan, either for his on-field performances or off-field controversies.

His blistering speed has been his main weapon against his opponents. He has used it effectively against several batsmen. However, his pursuit for breaking the 100-miles speed barrier ruined his chances of cementing his place and lead to several injuries. He was banned for two years after testing positive for using Nandralone, however, was reprieved upon his appeal. After the doping saga, he couldn’t be a part of the national squad on a permanent basis, due to various reasons.

Shoaib Akthar’s exclusion from the probable list for the Champions Trophy is a clear indication that the selectors are looking forward to a group of youngsters, who would form the core of the Pakistan team in the 2011 World Cup. Though his career is virtually over, there is a remote chance of a recall, if he improves his fitness and performs at his best in the county matches.

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Commercialization of the Gentleman’s Game

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

Since the first cricket test played in 1877, cricket has evolved drastically and diversified into three main formats and other local formats. Test cricket remains as the heart and soul of cricket, while one day cricket and now T20 are tagged as the popular versions of the game. Cricket has been generating billions of money from the sub-continent, especially from India, where people keep cricket close to their heart and celebrate every cricket match as a national festival. Advertisers pour in to be a part of every cricket carnival where cricketers are considered as demigods. Corporates are behind them for making them brand ambassadors of products, because of their superstar value and it is no wonder that cricketers are amongst the highest paid sports professionals now.

IPL has helped several international and domestic players to secure their lives through its lucrative pay packages and helped them to get priceless experience through its generic flavor. The IPL has contributed a lot to team India’s current success, with players like Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Abhishek Nayar and several others being the beneficiaries. It has also amplified the flow of money into cricket. The prize money, sponsorship, players’ salaries and all other attributes have outdone the prevailing trend and IPL became the benchmark in the world of cricket.

Notwithstanding its attractiveness, arguably, IPL has resulted in the premature retirement of several great players like Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and the latest update to the list is Andrew Flintoff. Can the players alone be blamed for this especially when West Indies players boycotted their series against Bangladesh due to contract issues? We can argue that the players should give preference to their country first than any other commitments. However, the fact is that, at the end of the day money matters!

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Posted in Cricket, General, ICC, IPL | No Comments »

Salvaging The Vintage Edition

Friday, July 24th, 2009

There has been lot of discussion across the globe pertaining to the saving of test cricket from becoming obsolete. Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the lawmakers of cricket, have been brainstorming on this issue for a while and come up with several solutions including ‘Day-Night’ matches.

The lack of interest for test matches has been being prevailing since 2004, after the introduction of T20 matches. The huge success of the Indian Premier League has fastened the demise of Test cricket. Andrew Flintoff’s retirement from test cricket has brought the spotlight again on IPL that provides a lucrative income stream for the players. It is rather apparent that the opulence provided by the IPL is resulting in the premature exit of several great players. Let’s see some solutions by which we can keep the test matches alive.

Starting the matches on Wednesday

This will increase the revenue of the match, since the last couple of days will fall on Saturday and Sunday. People will be quite happy to spend their weekends to support their home team.

The 20-20 Intervals

Currently there are 3 sessions, which are Lunch, Tea and Post-Tea. The mandatory overs bowled per day can be reduced from 90 overs to 80 overs. This would help to create 4 sessions of 20 overs each, which will avoid the ‘bad light’ issue, which happens very often these days. This will also help the players to charge up as they would be getting sufficient breaks. By reducing 10 overs everyday, the pace of the game will also improve.

Mandatory sporting wickets

An ICC committee should review each turf before the matches to ensure that they are made without any bias to the home team. It will make the match more competitive as the ‘home advantage’ factor is eliminated.

Test World Cup

The concept of a World Cup for test matches is quite a complicated topic, however there are few ways by which this concept can be applied properly. In the preliminary stage, the 8 test teams will face each other in a home and away match. There will be 40 match days in this round (8 matches * 5 days) followed by 20(4*5) in the semi finals and 5 days in the final. Altogether there will be 65 match days and this can be stretched to the whole season like the football leagues are conducted.

Above all, the cricketing fraternity that includes players, boards, officials and most importantly, the spectators should love and favour this version of the game. If the test matches are overlooked, the coming generation would find it hard to understand the feats by the great legends like Don Bradman and Garfield Sobers.

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Posted in Cricket, General, ICC | 7 Comments »

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