Yuvraj harbors Captaincy hope

Yuvraj hopes to Captain India someday.

I think he will be a Captain in the Dravid mold. A Captain, unsure of the flow of the game and one who gives up the ghost easily, in short a Captain who dithers.

I doubt whether he will have the guts to back players and sure to play favorites.

Would rather see Sehwag anointed the Captain.

Anyone think he is Captaincy material?

Tendulkar Refutes Retirement Reports.

Yet again, Tendulkar steps out of his ivory tower only to announce his reluctance to retire any time soon.

Wonder whether this man can ever take a hint.

It is high time people like Gavaskar or Shastri took him aside and asked him to quit gracefully.

What do you say?

Can a cricketer be ignorant of personal milestones?

It was Gavaskar who made feigning ignorance about personal milestone's fashionable. Now Ponting claims he was unaware of approaching 10,000 runs in Test cricket.

This blogger takes these claims with a pinch of salt. When we all know that a small child keeps tracks of his scores, it is hard to believe an International cricketer when he feigns ignorance.

Do you think any cricketer worth his salt is unaware of his milestones?

A Global network of IPL and its clones.

The very thought is exciting.

 

However, it could be the death knell for Test cricket.

15 - member squad on expected lines- Badrinath,Venugopala Rao misses out

The 15-member squad announced for the tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan next month is on the expected lines.

Though Pathan and Pragyan Ojha have merited a selection, it is inconceivable how players like Venugopala Rao and Badrinath are repeatedly ignored despite consistent performance.

Along with them poor Gony, who is revelation in the IPL,misses out maybe due to his allegiance with Chennai Super Kings.

Here is the squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni , Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha.

Can Gayle do the trick?

West Indies are hoping that Chris Gayle will help them pull one back against the Australians in the second cricket Test starting tomorrow. If Gayle is their only hope then they will be disappointed.

 

Gayle return may give a psychological boost, but what they need is a team that plays cohesively with the belief that everyone's performance matters.

 

 

 

 

135-year-old cricket club faces ban

Petty bureaucracy may cause the closure of a 135-year-old cricket club.

East Northamptonshire council has blocked 135-year-old Rushden Town Cricket Club to put up practice nets for 12 players, as they fear that the noise produced from playing might disturb the locals surrounding the club.

However, the 50 odd residents around the club have no objection to the club continuing in the same premises.

In essence, this concern for the welfare of the residents is the handiwork of a bureaucrat with his nose buried in the rulebook.

I wonder how we can bring him to his senses. Obviously, he has no sense of history and is tone deaf to the pleasure of hearing a bat thwack the cricket ball.

The only way to make him see light so to speak, would be to bobbit him.

Shaun Pollack becomes the latest member of the MCC’s World Cricket Committee

Shaun Pollock has become the newest member of the MCC's world cricket committee.

Here is a complete list of the World Cricket Committee Members:

Tony Lewis (Chairperson)

Mike Atherton

Mike Brearley

Geoffrey Boycott

Martin Crowe

Tony Dodemaide

Rahul Dravid

Andy Flower

Mike Gatting

Majid Khan

Anil Kumble

Shaun Pollock

Barry Richards

David Shepherd

Alec Stewart

Michael Tissera (uh! Who is he?)

Courtney Walsh

Steve Waugh.

As usual, the English make up the numbers followed by Indians. Surprisingly, the Australians have only a token representation.

In case you are wondering, what the committee was all about here is the clincher:

The aims of the committee are to debate all matters in the interests of cricket and cricketers, to consider at all times the balance of the contest between bat and ball and to assist MCC's custodianship of the Laws of the Game, to protect the spirit of cricket, to be sure that governing body decisions never put cash or country interests before the good of the game.

A good reason as any to meet and spend some time at Lord’s.

Warne is irreplacable

Here are some irrefutable facts:

Since the retirement of the champion leg-spinner at the end of the 2006/07 Ashes series, his successors - Stuart MacGill and the now-retired Brad Hogg - have taken just 17 wickets in six Tests, at the princely sum of nearly 56 runs each.

What do you think of the performances of Sachin, Ganguly and Dravid?

Undoubtedly, they were a let down.

 

Dravid is patently unsuited for the Twenty20 format. His performance was labored as well as uninspiring.

 

Though he had a run of good scores, where he seems to be approaching his old form, Ganguly was at best determined.

 

Sachin was lucky to be injured for the large part of the tournament; otherwise, his stature would have diminished. He has done nothing spectacular as on date.

 

Overall, one can rate their performance as mediocre, unworthy of their 'iconic' status and indicative of their diminishing cricketing skills.

 

However, here are a set of old farts who still believe that the holy trinity of Indian cricket are not a spent force in international cricket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Modi's drug rap

For all those who wondered what inspired Modi to dream up IPL, here is a backgrounder. 

Documents available with HT show Modi had pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine, abduction and assault in the state of North Carolina in 1985. 

Putting one and two together it is child's play to infer what inspired him. 

 

ECB bows to Pietersen's threat- creates window for IPL.

From various media reports it is clear that the ECB has succumbed to the pressure from Pietersen.

 

They have scheduled the West Indies tour, in which England play four Tests, a Twenty20 international and five one-dayers in the 10 weeks prior to 4 April,  in a manner to allow Pietersen to play in the lucrative IPL tournament next year.

 

As no English cricketer other than Pietersen has a firm contract with the IPL, it appears that the ECB is more afraid of losing Pietersen than standing up and fighting to uphold the sanctity of cricket.

 

One wonders whether a player should wield enormous influence that mere threats from him forces an upholder of cricketing morals like ECB to backtrack.

 

Is this submission good for cricket?

 

Akram wants to replace Lawson

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has expressed his desire to coach the national team if the PCB offered him a job.

Akram has turned Lawson’s absence into an opportunity to declare his intent. For the record, Lawson will join the training camp of the team for a tri-nation tournament in Bangladesh from June 8.

It is interesting to speculate what made Akram express his desire to coach Pakistan now. Is the PCB unhappy with Lawson? On the other hand, did some disgruntled elements in the PCB prompt Akram.

Surely, when it comes to politicking, the PCB takes the lead.

Will the selectors consider these IPL players?

The IPL has provided more options for the national selection committee that meets on Friday (May 30) to select the team for the tri-series and Asia Cup in Bangladesh.

Some of those who caught the eye are

Venugopala Rao

Badrinath

Yusuf Pathan

Swapnil Asnodkar

Sangwan

Dhawan

Amit Mishra

Chawla

Ojha

Will they make the cut?

A break in blogging

Off to God's own country again. This time I am there until Tuesday.

Most probably I will be back blogging by Wednesday.

Until then Ciao.:)

Know cricket. Love cricket. Think cricket. Think Googly!

To be honest, I am not a great fan of online cricket games or for the current craze for fantasy cricket teams etc., In addition if the owner of the website, in this case Alan Drummond, describes his website ‘ThinkGoogly’ as “ a free cricket quiz with a difference” you can be sure that I would be running the other way.

However, Alan’s polite way of promoting his website (I received an email from him) piqued my interest and I clicked on the link albeit with skepticism.

Contrary to my expectations, ThinkGoogly had a clean feel with advertisements at bare minimum. Coming to the quiz it is a largely interactive (forgive me if it is the wrong word) mixture of facts, statistics, and cricket trivia.

Even though I completed the trial run, aptly called’ Nets’ I came away with the conviction that to win you need to exercise your brain cells as well as your fingers.

If you are looking to challenge yourself mentally and to compete with others, ThinkGoogly is the website for you.

IPL - How do you rate the coaches?

If we were to go by the media Shane Warne collects all the kudos. He has been credited with turning a largely un-fancied team, Rajasthan Royals into a winning machine.

Apart from him are there any contenders? If so, who do you rate as the best coach?

An Englishman fingers baseball exactly

Joseph O’Neill, a 44-year-old Irishman who grew up in the Netherlands, educated at Cambridge and lives in New York since 1998 has still clung to cricket. He plays for the Staten Island Cricket Club, one of America’s oldest cricket club.

Asked why he still plays cricket, he said because it is his “athletic mother tongue” and to learn baseball, would be like taking up a foreign language. Even if he became proficient, he wouldn’t get the jokes or the poetry.

Well-said Joseph, the novelist in you shines through.

BCCI shows class agrees to display 1983 World Cup

BCCI largely known for its pettiness when it comes to rivalry agrees to display the 1983 Prudential World Cup at a media conference to be held in the first week of June.

It is a welcome change from their earlier attitude of having nothing to with the 25 th Anniversary celebrations commemorating the 1983 World Cup Win.

IPL to have two more franchisees by 2010

BCCI contemplates inclusions of two more franchisees from the year 2010. Reportedly, Sahara and ADAG are bidding for Kanpur and Ahmedabad respectively.

The prospect of having two more franchisees means that the existing franchisees will scrabble to tie up the entire International and local cricketers before the prices goes up. On the player’s front, it may mean fatter and longer contracts with the English players finally landing juicy contracts.

However, the addition of two more franchisees may cause headaches for the other Twenty20 leagues, namely EPL, PPL and the yet to named Australian Twenty20 tournament. It means they have to schedule their tournament around IPL more judiciously.

World Cup anniversary party – BCCI left out

The 25th anniversary celebrations of India's 1983 World Cup-winning campaign will not involve the Board of Control for Cricket in India in any capacity.

A simple solution, isn’t it.

Being Gony

As a Chennai Super Kings fan, I am ashamed to admit that I know next to nothing about Gony.

However, Robin has taken the initiative and points us all to an excellent article the Agony and the Ecstasy of being Gony.

Warne may consider playing again for Australia

In an interview to ‘Herald Sun’ Warne lays out some conditions for making a comeback. (Mind you he said it with his tongue firmly in his cheek.)

"If you could just turn up and play Test cricket that would be cool. I would definitely consider that. At this stage, it is a fairytale."

Their bowling performances in the IPL, have shown both Warne and McGrath skills to be intact. However, one suspects their fitness will be found wanting in the longer version of the game.

Do you think Warne can just turn up and play Test cricket?

IPL unviels winners trophy

Here is a picture of the DLF IPL Twenty20 Trophy.

Sadly, only the replica will be given to the winners.

It looks tacky, isn't it? I remember my team receiving a similar trophy for winning a local tennis ball tournament.

Team owners can sit in the dug out.

IPL has issued new guidelines permitting team owners to cheer their team from the dug out. Surely, the cricketers and the support staff weren't consulted. They will find this unwelcome.

Seriously, an owner sitting with the team during a tense encounter will be a hindrance.It will lead to micro management.Disagreements between the coach and the owner will be commonplace and will take place in full public view. A day may come when you will find a owner slapping a player or even the coach.

On a lighter note, just imagine Dravid's plight.

Is it a bright idea to have illuminated sight-screens?

In a quest to make cricket immune from bad light, the England and Wales Cricket Board are to consider using illuminated sightscreens, or 'brightscreens', for all major matches.

The idea, is to illuminate the backdrop behind the bowler's arm, a reversal of the white ball/black screen idea, which is now standard in one-day cricket.

What do you think of this bright idea? Will it not be better to play under floodlights instead?

Stanford’s money divides English dressing room

The English are always good at looking at the future, but even for them this is extreme to say the least.

Lawrence Booth writes in The Guardian “Tensions have emerged in the England dressing room over how best to divide the potential winnings from November's Twenty20 game in Antigua against the Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford's All-Star XI”.

Wish these people start living in the present instead of squabbling over future earnings.

Help Dravid make Royal Challengers a great team.

Dravid post loss to Rajasthan Royals asks, “what else we could have done”?

Obviously, a man bereft of ideas.

Do you have any suggestions?

SRK still gung-ho on IPL signs on Ajanta Mendis.

Vijay Mallya and Shah Rukh Khan are studies in contrast. If Mallya exhibits all the withdrawal symptoms, SRK is still behaving like a groupie. The signing up of Sri Lanka's new spin sensation Ajantha Mendis to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders this season is sufficient proof he is still high on IPL

Will Ajantha Mendis help the Kolkata Knight Riders into the semifinals?

IPL’s Player contract unfairly loaded against the franchisees

It is a wonder how businessperson like Mallya and business houses like GMR, India Cements and the Deccan Group accepted such a contract.

Here is some facts courtesy the Economic Times.

1) Each player has been hired for a initial period of three years.

2) Their total fees is the money for which they were bought at the auction.

3) If a team ‘releases’ a player , it will have to honour the contract and pay the player for term contracted.

4) If a team has bid for a player and he is not available for that season, the franchisee will only have to pay a 10% retainer for having the player on squad and player gets paid on a per match basis.

5) The window for trading players will open from February 2009, when franchisees can buy and sell players.

6) If a player gets injured during the tournament, and the injury requires treatment, it is for the team owner to provide cover.

7) The players are obliged to perform to the best of their ability and if they are in breach, then termination is possible.

On first look, the contract seems just. It however, makes it impossible for the franchisees to shed non-performers without incurring financial loss. It is more so in the case of icons.

Assuming that players like Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman have no bidders when the transfer window opens in 2009 the franchisees are saddled with these 'icon's.It means that these non-performing assets will cost the franchisees hugely in terms of money. Fortunately for the franchisees there is no financial cap next year, otherwise they would be stuck with these players and unable to bid for others players.

This brings the question of viability into the open. In this scenario, a franchisee has no way of making a profit. Surely, a fresh contract has to be drawn.

Don’t you think the contract favours the players?

Mumbai Indians snare Pietersen

It appears both Pietersen and the Mumbai Indians have their wish.

Kevin Pietersen is poised to be given the green light to earn in excess of £2million from the most lucrative deal yet offered by the Indian Premier League. The England and Wales Cricket Board are resigned to allowing Pietersen to accept the three-year contract which has been offered to him by one of India's wealthiest families.

Pietersen is due to play in the next edition of IPL signaling the start of an exodus.

Mallya backtracks.

Mallya has learnt a lesson. Whatever your travails, you do not rant against your icon (God). Let your icon be leaden footed and uninspiring, let him be dour and unmarketable, the cardinal rule in Indian cricket is, you do not question him (icon/God).

Unlike the corporate world, Indian cricket is allergic to deadlines, plans and strategy. Excuses are in plenty and winning is an alien thought.

The mistake Mallya made was to expect results and a modicum of accountability. He also failed to realize when it comes to survival, all the senior player’s stick together.

Therefore, Mallya has to backtrack. This is just the beginning; Mallya, a past master in corporate warfare, will know how to put down a palace coup. Kumble and Dravid iconic days are over.

Praveen Kumar in a drunken brawl – Yet another IPL controversy

Indian pacer Praveen Kumar, who is currently playing for Royal Challengers, is accused of beating up a doctor in Meerut on Thursday night, according to reports by a private news channel.

According to reports, Praveen's action might lead to stringent measures from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The report is however silent on how IPL will punish him.

Two things that intrigued me :

1. What was he doing in Meerut? Isn’t he supposed to be traveling with Royal Challengers? Alternatively, did Mallya send him home to save costs, a la Kolkata Knightriders.?
2. Was he drunk on Royal Challenge or on Kingfisher?

Mr. Kumble we have heard this one before

What if it is IPL, the latest format in cricket, some things never change including the excuses for poor performance.

Read on:

"What's important though, is that at this time, you need all the support and backing you can get," Kumble wrote in his column for Hindustan Times. "You need the people around you, the people who matter, to understand what sport is all about, to realise that no one goes out there to lose”.

(Kumble statement comes in the wake of the scathing comments made by Vijay Mallya, on Dravid.)

'No one goes out their to lose' is an excuse cricket fans have been hearing for eons. Since defeat is permanent and victory is temporary, lets us do away with these hackneyed excuses and come up with some new ones.

For starters, I like the one said by Afridi (cheerleaders are a distraction), it by far the best and the most original excuse someone has come up with in IPL.

Do you have any favourite?

IPL - BCCI's hidden agenda

Abdul Ruff writing in Global Politician says:

India has now endeavored to use the available international cricket mastery drawn form countries to train the Indian cricketers both the current teams and the junior ones.

He adds,

“The expertise of these cricketers is being used by India to make a strong contingent of Indian cricketers with surplus, so that Indian team can withstand any pressure form countries like Australia , South Africa , West India , Sri Lanka and Pakistan , etc. With a “formidable” national team with extra members always ready, India would be able to win every match it plays any where and it needs not go appeasing the foreign governments or cricket mafia for crucial victories with necessary “suitable favors”.

He makes it sound as if it is a deliberate strategy by India to take over the (cricketing) world. Having always considered the BCCI to be a mindless entity, this sounds far-fetched.

However, one agrees if IPL prepares Indian cricketers to face any opposition and win, then it is a worthwhile exercise.

Do you think is it a cold-blooded strategy by the BCCI?

The MCC to sell T-Shirts

Dire needs calls for dire strategies.

The Marylebone Cricket Club, which owns Lord’s, has decided to capitalise on its instantly recognisable name and the vast international popularity of cricket. It is understood the Ashes urn, the property of the MCC, could also become a logo used on a range of merchandise.

Is the MCC selling its soul?

Bookies say Rajasthan Royals are the favourites

If you are the sort who follows the odds, then plump your money on Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals. The bookies consider them favourites to win the DLF IPL Trophy

At Rs 1.60 per rupee bet, Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals is the most favoured team of the bookies. Initially, they were least favoured with bookies betting on at Rs 13.

Out of the eight teams playing in the tournament, Team Jaipur is the current favourites at Rs 1.60, which means that for every rupee you bet on Warne and his men, you will win Rs 1.6 (plus your rupee back). Team Jaipur is followed by Team Mohali with Rs 1.90 while Team Chennai with Rs 2.25 on per rupee bet.

Betting Odds from the Economic Times

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