Cricket Blog

Two giants of the game are about to clash in what has got to be one of the most awaited series of the year. Yes the Australia vs India rivalry is no doubt the biggest in Test cricket at the moment. But the upcoming series between India and England is going to be big. India will be playing under a new captain, a most-promising captain and many will have you believe as the best captain India is going to have. England, under Kevin Pietersen, look exceptionally strong and aggressive.

The irony here is that, half a decade ago, England were the financial power house of the game, and India as a new born country were struggling to feed their people. 50 years fast forward. The Indian economy has been consistently growing at atleast 7.5% a year, and this despite the global crunch at the moment. England are on the verge of recession. India now accounts for over 70% of ICC revenues. They have launched the biggest tournament in the history of cricket in the IPL. A format that was invented by the English to keep cricket audiences from moving away to Soccer or other faster paced sports.

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Well the ODIs are finished and now we move onto the real test of cricketers, aptly titled the Test Series. India vs Pakistan. Cannot get any better than this. Looking at the statistics of last 10 years, India and Pakistan have faced off 12 times, 4 wins to India, 5 to Pakistan and 3 draws. In other words, its pretty much even stevens at this stage.

Going further into these stats, off the 6 matches played in India, 2 have been won by the hosts and 3 by the visitors. At current ICC standings, India are ranked the fourth team in the world behind Australia, England and South Africa. Pakistan, who suffered a comprehensive thrashing by the visiting South African side, are ranked 6th below Sri Lanka. The stakes are pretty high for India and under a new captain things could turn out to be really ugly if India end up losing.

Pakistan were pretty comprehensively beaten by India in the recently concluded 5 match ODI series and the Indians would be keen to take this winning momentum into the test series as well. With a long tour of Australia ahead of them, a win against arch-rivals Pakistan could just be the tonic that the country would need if they have any hopes of defeating the mighty Aussies.

Pakistan, on the other hand, would want to end the year on a high by beating India in India. For these two countries, there is nothing that can be bigger than this series, regardless of how friendly the relations may be between the two sides. An India-Pakistan contest will always be war no matter what. Post your comments on what you think should happen in the test series, or what you want to see happen.

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This is the mother of all rivalries. Even Geoff Lawson, coach of Pakistan, has acknowledged that an Indo-Pak contest is far more intense and gripping than the Ashes. As if we did not already know that. The rivalry got a healthy boost after the Twenty20 World Cup final. A match that showcased what an India vs Pakistan encounter can truly be, no matter what the “format”.

Pakistan have already begun their tour on a winning note after defeating Delhi in their tour match. Its amazing how similar these two teams always are in their strengths and weaknesses. This time around the similarity is in the key middle-order batsmen that both sides are missing - Inzy and Dravid. Both these players have been pillars in the middle order and have helped their respective teams get out of trouble on numerous occasions. The difference here is that Inzy has retired and Dravid has only been dropped for the first 2 ODIs. He will be back depending on the performance of the team in the first two matches.

In the pace department, once again both sides are similar in terms of experience. Shoaib Akhtar will lead the pace attack for Pakistan and Zaheer will do the same for India. The inexperience in the pace department is going to be the key differentiating factor between the two sides. India have a top-heavy batting order, and if the Pakistani pace bowlers are unable to pick up early wickets then expect the scores to be 300+ if India bat first. For Pakistan, the top order is very shaky and Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Misbah ul Haq will have to perform extremely well for their side to have any chance in winning the tournament.

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Here we are. The most exciting summer of cricket in a long while is almost over, with one last flourish still left. India and England are going to fight out at Lord’s for the final one-dayer in this long and grueling tour. Just a week ago, India were staring at defeat with the series slipping out. They were 1-3 down and had to win all their matches. So far they have done exactly that with one final hurdle left.

This will, for a few Indians, be the last time they ever play in England. The Big 3 - Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid - have done their country proud over the years. They have helped in laying the foundation for the next generation, they have provided role models for aspiring cricketers. They have gained respect in the eyes of the entire cricket fraternity. This will be their final hurrah in England and nothing better than to win the match and the series will do.

The momentum is surely with India at the moment, however, in the past we have seen how India have failed to carry on the momentum. But this time it ought to be different. These three have had a wonderful summer so far. Sachin and Saurav have smashed the bowling to all parts. Dravid has been having a much better time as a skipper, seeing his team perform to its potential. No coach, no problemo. I have to give credit to the way the Indian team has got the job done without a head coach. A lot of people ask if they need a coach. The answer is simple, a big fat Yes. Sure the team is on the verge of winning an ODI series. Sure they have won the test series. But this can’t keep up for too long. It is too much to ask the captain to strategize everything all by himself. The Indians have handled themselves admirably both on and off the field.

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The second ODI is slated to start in less than 24 hours at the scenic ground in Bristol. There was nothing scenic about India’s thrashing in the first ODI though. After being brought back to their knees India must be going through a not-too-distant feeling of losing a match when everyone expected them to win. Why is it that they cannot keep up the momentum for too long. The amount of benefits that these so-called demi-gods receive just does not justify the performances that they put-up.

Anyway, getting back to the point, India need to win this one otherwise this series is all but gone for them. If they can’t get some sort of momentum, this will turn out to be a major embarrassment coming after a successful test series win. England on the other hand, have done nothing wrong in the first match. In fact, the performance could not have been any perfect than it was.

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