Cricket

Brian Charles Lara

2007-04-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

This world-cup has seen many great say good-bye to Cricket. The latest to join retiring group is Brian Charles Lara. We all remember him for his monstorous knocks in Test and first class cricket.

Good luck Lara.

[Photo courtesy: Allan via Flickr]

Cramping motivation !!

2007-04-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

After an early exit in the worldcup, changes in Indian cricket was much expected. Chappell replaced by three other coaches, Ravi Shastri as main coach, Robin Singh as fielding coach and Venkatesh Prasad as bowling coach.

All these comes as a welcome change since the group has failed to perform as a team. The negative factor in this new wave of change is curbing of player endorsements. I guess nobody should have a say in other's income, if the players aren't performing obviously the player endorsements will take the hit. We all know how brand organizations came upon the players and pulled out of the Ads as soon as the team exited out of the world-cup. Any player performing beyond the expectation is bound to get more endorsements and more exposure. A restriction can only cramp the motivation.

Ravi Shastri to coach India

2007-04-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

Ravi Shastri takes over as coach while Greg takes a new role of consultant for National Cricket Academy. Rahul Dravid continues to be the captain

Anil Kumble bids adieu

2007-03-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

Anil Kumble, one of the greatest cricketer bids adieu to one day cricket. After the first match at Afro-Asian cup in 2005, Kumble was ignored by selectors due to poor fielding and thanks to his bowling, which lacked the same venom shown during his prime time. His consistent performance in tests helped him to stage a come back against South Africans in 2006, but couldn't maintain the same consistency in the LOI as it was evident in the fact that offspinner Harbhajan was a preferred choice when it came to spinner selection in the playing eleven.

Anil has done everything right by retiring from LOI. His strengths are still the test cricket. He has won more tests for India than any other bowler, relentless has been his middle name. Nonetheless his contribution to the one day cricket speaks of itself. If HeroCup 1993 final against WestIndies stands out as his best bowling performance, the game against Aussies at his home ground Bangalore witnessed one of the nail biting finish as he and Srinath took India home with their batting skills. He has more wickets in One dayers than any Indian cricketer. Had the Indian team put up a better display at the worldcup 2007, it would have been a fitting sendoff party to this Ace Leggie.

[Picture courtesy: Zahidul at Flickr]

Strong reply by South Africa

2007-03-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

As write this post, South Africans have hammered the Australian bowlers. The 100 for South Africa comes in 14th over. Ponting will certainly have the Johannesburg game in his mind as he ponders for ideas to contain proteas before they could pull off another thriller.

Skyscraper game ?

2007-03-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

In the game considered as rehearsal of worldcup 2007, Australia scored 377 for loss of 6 wickets against South Africa, thanks to the fastest hundred in the worldcup by Mathew Hayden. The Australian innings was filled with runs in the size of Manhattan Skyscrapers. It was Australian team which scored 434 last year and still lost to South Africa when the two teams met last time. This time after scoring the third highest score of worldcup, Australians are still not confirmed of its victory. Fans are in for another skyscraper game.

Srilanka beats India

2007-03-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

It was a disappointing end to India in its world cup campaign. Failing to make it to next round of the tournament, it was a disaster not only to the fans and the team, but also for the organizers. This has been the worst performance for India since 1979 in the worldcup.Unfortunately all the big three of India (Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly) have to end their worldcup on a disastrous note.

Crucial day for subcontinent teams

2007-03-21T03:35:00.000-07:00

Its a crucial day at the worldcup for all the teams from subcontinent- Bangladesh,India, Pakistan and Srilanka.

After loosing to Ireland, Pakistan need a win against Zimbabwe to salvage some pride. Pakistan team has taken heavy blows both on and off the field. Captain Inzamam has already announced his retirement from LOI, the team will certainly miss its coach Bob Woolmer and the loss against Ireland is bound to haunt them for a while.

In another crucial game between Srilanka and Bangladesh, keen watcher of the game would be Indian team and Indian fans. A win for Bangladesh against Srilanka would book their tickets for the next round, which means the next game between India and Srilanka will be a do or die for both India and Srilanka. A win for Srilanka today and a loss against India on 23rd march would bring in net run rate into picture making the equation complex for both India and Srilanka. Such a scenario will provide a ready made target for Bangladesh when they play the last game of group B against Bermuda.

On one hand Pakistan is down and out, on the other hand 3 teams battle it out for 2 places in a bid to keeps their world cup hopes alive. Certainly an interesting day for the cricket fans at the world cup.

Win for India against Bermuda

2007-03-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

It was not only a win badly needed by India, but it was needed with a bigger margin, bigger to overtake Srilanka and a possible Bangladesh net run rate.It was scripted by non other than Indian batsmen. It was a team effort with everyone playing their part. One man who made a mark was Virendar Sehwag. Yes, Bermuda are minnows, their bowling attack is one of the weakest in International cricket. A performance against such an attack may go unnoticed in any other situation but this time Sehwag's performance came in for praise from everyone because he has been desperately seeking form and being a crunch game for India there was no better opportunity for Sehwag to come good and he did that in a style as he scored his eighth hundred and (114 of 87 balls). It was a hundred scored by Sehwag nearly after two years. If Sehwag gained in confidence as he built his innings, fans cannot forget the contribution made by Sachin, Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Anil Kumble.

The job is not yet completed for Indian team. They have just crossed their first hurdle, infact this wasn't a hurdle considering the fact that total experience of Bermuda team (total of 188 games by eleven players) is less than 10% of combined experience of India (total of 1975 games). The real test for Indian team would come against Srilanka when they take the islanders on 23rd March.

India scores 413 against Bermuda

2007-03-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

India setup a record massive score of 413 runs at the worldcup against Bermuda. Virendar Sehwag who was out of form for a while, came up with a century as Ganguly, Yuvraj and Sachin chipped-in with half centuries.

India not only has to win this game but win by a great margin in a bid to keep their hopes alive for next round. The job for India is half done as they get to the lunch break, its now upto the bowlers to dismiss Bermuda to a low score.

Bob Woolmer

2007-03-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

The sudden death of Bob Woolmer comes as a surprise and sad news not only to the pakistan team but for the entire sports community involved in West Indies worldcup.

One of the best coaches to have coached teams like South Africa, Woolmer was Pakistan team coach for the past 3 years.

Gibbs record breaking 6's in an over

2007-03-18T06:26:00.000-07:00

In case you missed out on Herschelle Gibbs record breaking six 6's in an over. Check this youtube video

What's next for Sehwag ?

2007-03-18T06:02:00.000-07:00

Virendar Sehwag, the man whose brutal batting created panic among the opposition is now soul searching for his lost form. His shoulders have dropped, confidence is low. Its a situation no human being wants to be in, its even worse being part of the losing Indian team.

Fans all over India have been writing against him, talking against him. Emotions do change with the outcome. Performance in worldcup can make or break your career. Being out of form for a while, Sehwag was backed by his captain, but Captain's backing looks to be not enough for the next game against Bermuda. Sehwag is mostly expected to sit out against Bermuda even though Bermuda might be a better opposition to regain form. It was with the same hope, Sehwag was sent to open the innings with Ganguly against Bangladesh, but he managed just 2 runs.

Sehwags needs to go back to his basics, fine tune his skills, his future in the worldcup looks bleak.

Can't ignore minnows

2007-03-18T05:49:00.000-07:00

March 17, 2007, minnows of world cricket have rewritten history. If Indian team was down, thanks to brilliant Bangladesh, every was taken by surprise at the outcome of another game where Ireland defeated Pakistan. Pakistan are not only down but are out of the world cup tournament.

The performance of Ireland and Bangladesh provided some refreshement for the fans and experts who had sidelined the minnows and their win comes at the right juncture of the worldcup. If pakistan gets ready to pack after its game against Zimbabwe, India keeps their fingers crossed for another week, hoping for the best to happen. Indian team will be under pressure to not only perform but also put up an extraordniray show.

Ireland and Bangladesh may not go onto win the worldcup but certainly they have kept the worldcup alive in group matches.

Minnows make headlines at Worldcup

2007-03-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

Is it a mere con-incidence or lack of application from India and Pakistan against minnows Bangladesh (yes, they are still a minnow) and Ireland respectively.

After winning the toss, India were bowled out for 191 in 49.3 overs against Bangladesh. In the other game between Pakistan and Ireland, Pakistan were bowled out for 132 in 45.4 overs thanks to excellent Ireland's excellent bowling.

It was just a day ago, questions were raised against the inclusion of minnows to the World cup when South Africa hammered Netherlands and records tumbled with Herschelle Gibbs scoring 6 consecutive sixes in an over. Today, its reversal of fortunes and its time for the big guns to be on the receiving end. Both the games for India and pakistan are still half way through (as I write this post) and no matter what the results are at the end of the game, Bangladesh and Ireland have already made headlines for tommorrow's newspaper.

Prize money at calypso

2007-03-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the worldcup prize money.

Winner : $2,240,000
Runner : $1 million
Semi-final loser each gets : $450,000
Fifth place : $200,000
Sixth place : $150,000
Seventh place : 100,000
Eigth place : $50,000

Group match winners : $10,000
Group match loosers : $5000

The total prize is $5 million

Game is on!!

2007-03-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

The world cup is officially open. Everyone is itching for the first game between the host West Indies and Pakistan which kicks today at Jamaica. Teams have put in lots of hard work in the past one year in run-up to the world cup. Fans have been eagerly waiting to see their favorite teams inch further to lift the world cup. Broadcasters couldn't get a better opportunity to take the game to the viewers room. Advertisers are pouring in lot of money to cash-in on the opportunity. Who do you think will win the world-cup ? May the best team win and let the spirit of the game come alive.

Australia,India,South Africa and Pakistan are the four teams I pick to be in Semi-finals.From there it should be a great contest. What's your prediction ?

Warm-up sometimes can be cold too

2007-03-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

Warm-up games are provided the begining of the series to get the foreign team adjusted to the host nation's playing conditions. The playing conditions can be in form of weather, pitch, crowd atmosphere. As the visiting team tries to loosen up by playing the warm-up game, does it matter for the team to take the game serioulsy and try to win or just take the game as a loosener ?

Being a professional team, every game, the team plays, counts, because lot of media focus is given to the game in the modern world. Fans following the team would love to see their favorite team win every game. Cricket very much being a mind game does impact the cricketers when it involves emotion and passion. In that context, would you think the loss in the warmup game would dampen the confidence for teams like South Africa, England, Srilanka and WestIndies. What do u think ? Leave a comment and lets follow the team to see how they perform by April 28, 2007.

Every one wants Sun, Sand, Beach and Cricket

2007-03-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, the momentum is picking up. Everyone passionate about cricket wants to be part of Caribbean World Cup. Billions of people around the world supporting their favorite team and wishing to see the worldcup in their hands, there's no dearth of articles, blogs,news, reviews. Google tries to catch up the big event with a contest for bloggers. If you are one of the blogger like me, enter this Google contest. Lets compete with each other as our favorite teams compete for worldcup. Who knows we might be supporting the same team

India Wins the Morale booster Warmup

2007-03-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

India won its warm up game against West Indies in a convincing fashion. WestIndies were bowled out for 85 runs thanks to splendid performance from Indian bowlers. The target of 86 runs was not enough for the West Indies bowlers to defend. Victory for India came in 19th over at the expense of Virendar Sehwag wicket, which means India will be eager for their opening game.On the other hand West Indies would have wished for a better performance to keep its confidence up for the 2007 world cup opening game.

Stick Cricket

2007-03-02T08:52:00.001-08:00

Geared up for the world cup ? Keeping your fingers crossed about your favorite team's fortune ? How many of us would like to be in the shoes of Ricky ponting, why not Rahul Dravid ? Mahela Jayawardene and Stephen Fleming too are not far behind, in popularity. Place yourself in their shoes and start playing an online version of the game. Stick Cricket offers a simple flash based game, easy to use and fun to play. Playing game in Stick cricket is simple, unlike the World cup which begins on 13th March.

Time for the "process" to show its results.

2007-03-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

Right from the moment Greg Chappel took over as the Indian team coach, the word "process" has been the primary concern for team and its been emphasized time again in press meets and interviews not only by the Coach, but also by the team captain Rahul Dravid.

As India emabarks on its world cup tour, Cricket followers around the country are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping for the best. For the best to happen, the top order in the solid Indian batting line-up should come out best. LOIs are more in favour of batsmen, particularly the top three batsmen who gets a chance to bat most of time. The top three batsmen should be well equipped to plan their innings since the overs are limited to 50. This brings to the question how good are our top order batsmen and if one/two of the top order can't live up to the expectation, can the process which Coach Greg Chappel has built team on, can it rescue the team ?

India has three openers, infact four openers considering Sachin Tendulkar was opening the innings in LOI until recent past, apart from Sachin, the other three, Saurav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa and Virendar Sehwag are always expected to fire. Sehwag was confirmed opener until he made headlines not only for his attitude, but also for his poor form. Uthappa grabbed opportunity with both hands, confirmed his opener slot to partner Ganguly. Uthappa's rise has pushed the team management to consider Sehwag in the middle order inspite of his poor form. This creates many possibilities showing the value of much emphasized process. If Uthappa fails in couple of matches as an opener then Sehwag for sure is bound to be back partnering Ganguly. Given the fact that India's first two games are against minnows Bangladesh (Mar, 17) and Bermuda (Mar, 19) it gives an option for the team management to try its openers. If Uthappa can come good in the first two matches then sure his confidence will be high for the rest of series. With Confidence and form in his kitty, Uthappa can give sleepless nights to the well equipped opposition teams. Ganguly on the other hand can mix his aggression and defence as he is more experienced to pace the innings. If Robin cannot come good in the first two games, he will make way for Sehwag, who has been more sucessfull as opener. Whoever comes to the opener slot, Sachin and Dravid can come-in next. If India is chasing and need more runs Sachin can play his more aggressive game. If the pitch behaves badly and needs someone to anchor in the middle there's no better option than the Wall at No.3. If the need of the hour is pinch hitting Irfan Pathan or Dhoni can come-in and blast away the opposition attack. This whole tactical approach to the game is made possible, because of the foundation laid by the team in terms of process. Its only matter of time before the team can reap some results.

Sehwag desperately need to regain his form

2007-02-14T04:33:00.000-08:00

After being picked for the worldcup much to the surprise of many game experts, Sehwag needed a chance at the top of the order to underline his importance to the team. He failed to come out of his poor form as he was out scoring just 12 runs in the 3rd LOI against Srilanka at Goa. Sehwag has team backing, all need is to concentrate on his batting to come good and ensure the faith imposed by his captain.He may be an innings away to regain the form but all he has is just one more innings before the worldcup kicks off. Sehwag desperately need to regain his form.

Indian team for the worldcup

2007-02-12T05:46:00.000-08:00

I had a go at the team selection in my previous post and I was close to the team annouced by selectors today except for Munaf patel in place of Romesh Powar.

Here's the team annouced by the selectors today.

Rahul Dravid (Captain)
Saurav Ganguly
Virendar sehwag
Robin Uthappa
Sachin Tendulkar
Yuvraj Singh
Dinesh Karthik
M S Dhoni
Harbhajan Singh
Anil Kumble
S Sreesanth
Ajit Agarkar
Zaheer Khan
Munaf Patel
Irfan Pathan

If I was Indian team selector

2007-02-10T00:18:00.000-08:00

My 15 member team for the world cup.

Rahul Dravid (Captain)
Saurav Ganguly
Virendar sehwag
Robin Uthappa
Sachin Tendulkar (Vice Captain)
Yuvraj Singh
Dinesh Karthik
M S Dhoni
Harbhajan Singh
Anil Kumble
S Sreesanth
Ajit Agarkar
Zaheer Khan
Ramesh powar
Irfan Pathan

Whats your team like ? Do you think I will be a sucessful selector ?

England's win in 1st final, a confidence booster

2007-02-09T03:26:00.000-08:00

I was talking about the confidence booster series between India and Srilanka. England won first of the three match finals against Australia not only giving Aussies run for their money but also boosting their confidence in run-up to the world cup.

It was England's performance in the decider against New Zealand to clinch a place in the tri-series final, setup the tone and in the first final played at Melbourne today, Paul Collingwood put up a brilliant performance, held the England innings together, took England home.

England, which had torrid time, losing ashes 5-0 for Aussies, continued its unimpressive form in the tri-series as they were beaten comprehensively by Aussies through out the series. This win not only would boost the much needed confidence, but also their chances to clinch the Commonwealth bank series and end the Australian tour on a happy note.

Rehearsal for March 23rd world cup match

2007-02-07T19:26:00.000-08:00

The 4 match one day series between India and Srilanka in run-up towards the world-cup is crucial for both the teams. In the past few days, India has been hit by Chappell-Sehwag controversy, Dravid has hit on Desai, team manager in the recent South African safari. Srilanka is without its main bowlers, Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan. Both the teams need to perform and get the much required morale boosting confidence just before the world cup leaving behined the individual stories that has hit the team.

Given the fact that they are in the same group at the world cup (Group-B), and there are no more than two well established teams in a group, it should be easy for both India and Srilanka to make it to the super eight league in the world cup. But, both the teams would be aiming to finish as the group leader. In that context, the 4 match one day series will be a rehearsal, a consistent performance in this series would put the winning team in a better frame of mind for the March 23rd worldcup clash.

Back into the team

2007-02-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

For a while I was away from the proceedings, missed out on India-West Indies series. All this happened as I was moving back to India. Now that Iam back in India, watching the game closely, I promise myself to perform consistently with my posts on this blog pitch.

BCCI's bad planning.

2007-01-12T17:27:00.000-08:00

The Indian team selection committe is back with the shuffling game. The reason, young players are back in soul searching, so the selection has no choice other than the experienced players.

The young team which raised hopes a year back has completely lost its vigour. Consistency is lacking among the players. It all started with the Srilanka series when the Indian team outplayed the islanders in all departments. But, the same Indian team were exposed of their weakness when the South Africans almost won the series that followed the Srilankan series.

The drawn South African series should have been clear indicator to the selection committe, to have a balance of experienced and young team in run-up to the world cup, instead selection committe erred with the young team and so did the young Indian team. Adding to the problem was the new selection committe, 6 months before the World Cup. BCCI clearly lacks direction and planning. The board should ensure the committe is well prepared and planned in run up to an event like world cup. The committe should be active atleast 2 years before the worldcup and end the tenure only after completing the world cup. This way the committe has ample time to prepare,plan and groom players and the young players can build up on the instilled confidence.

Sreesanth dance

2007-01-06T20:16:00.001-08:00


In case you missed out (as I did) on Sreesanth dance, here's a chance to watch him again in action

2nd day India v/s South Africa

2007-01-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

On a track which assisted batsman than bowlers, Indian team scored a mammoth 414 runs, mammoth because its been the highest score by both the team so far in the series. South Africans reply was not bad either, when they finished the day-2 with 144/1. Graeme Smith would be a happy man and why not ? He has been searching for runs for a while and been Zaheer Khan's bunny for most part of this series. He remained unbeaten on 76, thanks to the batsman friendly pitch. The bland pitch was well exposed by Indian batsman when almost all the batsman added runs to their belt.

Both the teams head to the third day with an even advantage, any team which can raise the bar for a session or two can easily gain an upper hand at the end of third day.

New year snippet

2007-01-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

Before anything, Happy new year to everyone.

1. Justin Langer joined McGrath and Shane Warne in signing off the Test cricket at Sydney test in the ongoing Ashes.
2. The ignominy of whitewash looms over the England team in Ashes.
3. The Capetown pitch has been a belter for Indians and South Africans so far, A more lively pitch would have kept the series decider more entertaining.

Ntini, King of Kingsmead

2006-12-30T10:57:00.000-08:00

It was just a matter of time and opportunity before South Africans proved Indians win in the Wanderers was a fluke. Makhaya Ntini ripped through the Indian top order batsmen crumbled to 179 runs.

It required atleast one of the top order batsman to anchor in the middle and get support from the other batsman, but the entire top order batsman could withstand just 29 overs. It wasn't a Herculian task for the top order as shown by the lower order, the task just meant some application and character by the batsman to manage the draw, instead South Africans exploited the Indian bastman weakness.

The lack of consistency in the team has been the weak link in the India's performance. Rahul Dravid and his men have lot to fix as they head to Capetown.

Is 5-games Ashes required ?

2006-12-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

England succumbed to yet another defeat in the Ashes and are set for a white wash. England being routed within three days raises a question over its ability to compete against team like Australia.

When England played Ashes in 2005, the series was a suspense drama, twists in every session kept the Cricket fans glued to the game.The whole nation was captivated by England's incredible achivement which explains why the current series created so much hype among media and fans. The current Ashes has failed to live to the expectation of cricket fans, England team has been below par and certianly a no-contest to Aussies. In the generation where Test Cricket is loosing to one day and twenty-20 games, a marathon series of 5 games without any contest is certainly adding to the cause. Time to think for the two cricket boards and make Ashes interesting for the Cricket fans.

Day-1 of Boxing Day test

2006-12-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

Indian bowlers continued their bowling discipline at Kingsmead, Durban. On the other end of the world Shane Warne once again displayed his skills underlining his value.

Shane Warne picked his 37th five-for at MCG in the 4th test of the ongoing Ashes, in the process he reached yet another milestone of 700 test wickets. He seemed unstoppable as he simply ripped through the England batting order. It came as no surprise when England were bowled out for 159 on the first day of the boxing day test, little did the England team do on the first day of the test which has clear signs of Australia team winning the game. Much was expected from Flintoff and his boys, but they seem to have no answer for the Australians.

If England were struggling to make a mark in Ashes, Indians continued their splendid form in the South African test series to finish the first day on a higher note. It was once again the fast bowlers who did the early damage to give India the advantage. Graeme Smith doesn't seem to have any answer to the Zaheer Khan, as the pace attack consumed top three batsman for just 28 runs. It was left to Gibbs and Prince to salvage some pride before Mark Boucher joined them. Prince is still in the middle with 98 after the bad light stopped game but, not before Kumble's Googly did some damage to South African lower order.

Irfan Pathan sent back

2006-12-25T15:05:00.000-08:00

Indian team management has decided to send Irfan pathan back to India to fine tune himself in the run up to the world cup. Irfan pathan was not even included in the 12 member team for the first test inspite of his splendid batting performance in the warm up game against Rest of South Africans, in run upto the test series. Its not his batting but his bowling that has been of concern for the Indian team.

Looking at the stats, starting from series against England, his bowling performance hasn't been bad except for the South African series where he managed to get one wicket giving away 136 runs in 21 over he bowled. But Pathan was expected to put a better performance given the fact that he was bowling in pace friendly South African pitches. Even though he scored a century in the tour warmup game, he was picked for the role of bowler in which his performance has been below par, because of which he was dropped from the first test. Pathan now has Ranji matches to get to the groove before he can show his all-round abilities against West Indies and Srilanka before the worldcup.

Curtain raiser: India-SA, 2nd test.

2006-12-24T16:42:00.000-08:00

After a dismal performance in the one day series, India prooved everyone wrong, when they put up a brilliant team effort to win the first test against South Africa. But, the first test is already part of the history, its not easy for them to repeat the performance when they go into the boxing day test. Trying to beat South Africans in their own den is not an easy task for India, given the fact that India took nearly 14 years to win a test in South Africa. But Indians can derive inspiration from Australians white wash on its proteas safari at the start of this year.

Kingsmead, Durban is no Wanderers, some of the current Indian players will still remember the fact of how they succumbed to a 328 run defeat after being shot out for a match total of 166 runs in 1996-1997 series. If thats not enough, India was shot out for 91 in the 2nd LOI of the ongoing series. The Kingsmead has been fast bowlers' paradise, even though India has a solid batting records on the paper, little has been converted into a combined team effort when it mattered most. The first test had glimpses of Saurav Ganguly and V.V.S Laxman at their best, but the other batsman failed to make a mark. Solid opening partnership is badly required for the India, This is will be a real test for Wasim Jaffer and Virendar Sehwag. If they can deliver at Durban, they will for sure enjoy the benefits in the India media, for a while. Having won a test without an sizeable contribution from Rahul Dravid, India would rely heavily on Dravid in the field. Known for his contribution in India's recent overseas test wins, Dravid, once again will be key man. The bowling attack seem to vibrant after the first test win. Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan should relish the conditions and proove their consistency.

South African on the other hand have their task cut out. A win here can keep the series alive and its the easiest opportunity for the proteas to win here. Shaun pollock and company will be ready to show the vulnerability of Indian batsman against the real pace attack. Even though the South African bowlers did a good job in the first test, it was the bad performance from its batsman which caused them the match. Kallis, Gibbs and Smith have everything proove against an inexperienced Indian pace attack. If the batsman can live up to their strengths, Rahul Dravid is bound to have sleepless nights on and off the field during the game.

History and records are against India, India has been poor overseas performer, If India has to proove its crictics wrong, that its first test in win the ongoing series is not fluke, then this is the opportunity. A win here will certainly bring back their lost confidence in run up to the world cup.

Warne, the magician

2006-12-24T09:14:00.000-08:00

For all Cricket fans, this ball remains etched for ever in their minds. Gatting may not prefer to see this, but he will be happy for the fact that he is part of the history. A ball which made Shane Warne a legend in the Cricket history.

Not many would have believed in his ability when he first started his cricket journey against India in 1992. It was not a memorable moment for him when he went for 150 runs in 45 overs claiming the wicket of Ravi Shastri for 206. A lot has been changed since then, he has transformed himself from Mens' generation to legends category reviving the art of spin. Batsman have had sleepless nights trying to figure out the path of the ball running out of his wrist, millions of spectators have been privileged to watch him play,commentators have pondered over words to describe him bowl, writers have re-visited their dictonaries to find a perfect simile,youngsters have seen him as their role model, such is the impact of this man, its not only the Aussie but the entire sporting world will miss his game.

Shane Warne is not only known for his cherry tweaking abilities, but also for his not so desirable behaviour off the field. In 1998, he, along with Mark Waugh admitted to have taken money from book makers to provide information. In 2003, before the world cup he was sent home after he tested positive for drugs. Even though Warne fought against the charges, little he could do against serving a year ban from the sport. Even his private life has made headlines in news. But, none of these has stopped him to become the world record holder for most number of test wickets.

His retirement from the Test cricket after the Sydney test in the ongoing Ashes series will leave a big void, not only among the Australian fans, but also in the whole sporting community.

Start!! Gentleman

2006-12-17T16:23:00.000-08:00

Cricket has been one of my passion for many years. Having followed cricket for more than a decade its time for me to bring a different perspective on the Gentleman's Game. The timing couldn't have been better, India is inching close towards its elusive first victory in South Africa, Srilanka is ready to grab its second victory on NewZealand soil, nothing can be icing on the cake than Aussies regaining their Ashes.

All within this week to begin, so stay tuned.