Cricket Blog

Well, its time to give out my opinion on the squad that has been chosen for the ODI series involving India, Sri Lanka and Australia. A lot is being said about the exclusion of some “Big” names from the squad and that the players selected are not right for this series. The selectors have flat-out cleared their criteria - Fielding. In a country where people are completely crazy about their stars, this is not a good enough reason. In my opinion, hats off to the selectors for finally putting a greater emphasis on the fielding capabilities of ODI players.

For years we have seen our team to be the worst in fielding, on paper and on Live TV. The bungling old players have had over a decade of playing experience, yet there has been absolutely no improvement in their fielding. Yes they are good in catching, and catches win matches. But catches don’t come every other ball. Every single run counts in ODI cricket, and every time the ball is placed to Ganguly and Dravid, the batsmen always take an extra run.

Well what about running between the wickets. It would be an understatement to say that both Ganguly and Dravid are the worst runners in the Indian squad. Saurav Ganguly has played 311 matches. He has been part of 145 losses. He has been runout 13 times averaging 34.92 every time. Almost once every 11 matches that India have lost. Almost always after getting a good start. Overall he has been runout 23 times. Dravid, on the other hand, has played 333 ODI matches. He has been involved in 160 defeats and got himself runout 20 times. That is once in every 8 defeats. He averages 30.65 and just like Ganguly gets himself runout after getting a good start.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark:

After the win in the Twenty20 World Cup, a lot of credit and accolades have gone to the players and the support staff. Fair enough. But shouldn’t the real credit go to the BCCI and it’s selectors for actually choosing this bunch of youngsters and making a brave decision of sending Dhoni as the captain in a major tournament.

The decision would have been made even more difficult after Sachin, Saurav and Dravid refused to be considered for this edition of the World Cup. Not only did the selectors have to find out replacements, but to also ensure that the youngsters would be committed to one goal only - to perform way above expectations.

The very fact that nobody had any expectations is what stunned me in the first place. Here is Team India, looking to play in a major world tournament, and nobody was giving them a chance. Thank god almighty, that the team proved everyone wrong, even a red-faced Ravi Shastri at the semi-final presentation ceremony.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark:

What a match! Nerve-wracking right till the last over. Frustrating and joyful at the same time if you are an Indian fan. I, for one, did not believe that India would go an and win after being down 5 wickets and still requiring 83 runs from 58 balls. But the youth brigade held on to their nerves and in a cool, icy, tone won the match for India which they never should have won after conceding 30 runs off the last over with five consecutive sixes. Yes, you heard me correct, if you did not watch England’s innings you have missed out on something spectacular. Dimitry Mascerenhas smashed Yuvraj Singh for 5 straight sixes in the 50th over of the English innings. More on that later.

Paul Collingwood won the toss for the second time in a row and this time he decided to bat first on a flat surface that was going to help the spinners in the second innings. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Dravid and his men. Zaheer Khan was charged up and got one to move just enough for the ball to get the outside edge of Alastair Cook. England were 0-1. India could sense that if they snag a couple more wickets early on, they could put England on the backfoot.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark: