Royal win for Royals

Finally Rajasthan Royals has won the inaugural IPL T20 cricket series. There were the favorites. But most of the cricket pundits tagged them as an underdog at the start of the tournament. Well, I also had the similar belief. They were distinctly ahead of all the other teams and really deserve to be champion.

Rajasthan team was not full of star players, but they did play like star players. Most amazing thing was that they maintain their consistency throughout the tournament. Smith and young Asnodkar were just brilliant at top of the other whereas Pathan and Watson were in demolishing mood in the middle order. In the bowling department Warne, Tanvir and Munaf were doing brilliant job. Though they perform very well as a team, its most of the credit should go to the Warne. I don’t need to say anything about his greatness as a player. If you name 10 greatest players the cricket has ever seen, he will definitely be there. But in IPL he has shown how good he is as a captain.

Dhoni again has shown what a fine player and good captain he is. Chennai beat Punjab thrice in the tournament, which has arguably the best composition of all the teams. In final also he stretched the match to the final over or to say the final ball. Chennai did some serious mistakes in the field and that was very much apparent. Yousuf Pathan was dropped twice and in the last over Balaji bowled wide ball fetching two runs that turn deadly as the match went to the last bowl. Though Dhoni’s team emerges as second best in the final the difference between them and the Royals was not that big. Dhoni is cool customer. He do not show much emotions on the field, still he keeps his players motivated. I never have seen him getting dejected when his team is not performing well.
That keeps the moral of the team always high. He is turning out to be very fine find for captaining Indian team.

This IPL has given the chance to most of the local lads to show their talent. That was the perfect stage for them to show what they have in them. And some of them really grab this opportunity with both hands. Swapnil Asnodkar, Goni, Amit Mishra, Goswani are few of them. Some of these players like, Rohit Sharma, Yousuf Pathan and Suresh Raina took this opportunity to reestablish themselves in the Indian team. This could also be curtain for some of the veteran players. I need not name them. They should realize that they have done enough for the country over the years and it is time to move on. Nobody is comparing them with anybody. They have done it all and it is there in history which can’t be negated. So, it is time to make some sensible decisions.

India next venture is tour to Bangladesh and then Asia Cup. My best wishes are with them.

IPL fever !

When IPL was started, I made 3 predictions. First, Hyderabad is the strongest team of the IPL and they will run through all the other teams. And other is that the Rajasthan and Banglore are the weakest team, with Banglore having little edge over Rajasthan. Well atleast two of my prediction has gone awfully wrong. Team Hyderabad is competing with team Banglore for the last spot in the table tally. And Rajasthan is ravishing all other teams in the competition.
Well, I have reasons for my predictions. Just look at the line up of the Hyderabad team, Gilchrist, Symonds, Afridi all these players can be categorize as most devastating players of the game of cricket. On the other hand there are only 2 players to talk about in the Rajasthan line up, Warne and Smith. These players couldn’t be termed as serious players of the T20 game. Actually, there are some individual good performances from Hyderabad team. Gilchrist and Rohit Sharma features in the leading run scorer list and R P Singh is the leading wicket taker in the tournament. While in the case of Rajasthan only Warne features in the list of leading wicket taker, there is no one in leading run getter list. So, what makes team Rajasthan so successful and what went wrong for team Hyderabad? I am not still able to figure out.
Vijay Mallaya said that, his friends felt his team is more like test team. Guess what? I also got the same feeling. If BCCI is planning to have test series for IPL, my money would be on Banglore team. Seriously, there is no other serious T20 player (batsmen) in Banglore team, not surprisingly there performance is pathetic in the series.
Mumbai has made astonish come back. After loosing 4 games starting games, they won 6 games in a trot. Many are giving its credit to Sachin’s come back, I don’t know why? In none of the game in which Sachin appeared his contribution is significant. On the other hand it is Sanath Jaysuriya who is more instrumental in their wins. Well, in India we tends to get emotional with Sachin. No, doubt he is one of the finest player game has ever seen, but he is not a God. We should give credit to the deserving candidate.
Now, a days everyone is going against Shahrukh Khan, firstly Big B, then Amir Khan and now ICC. ICC has objection for Shahrukh’s presence in his own players dug outs. He owns Kolkota team. He is paying those players. And I don’t find any good reason for not allowing franchise owners to meet there players in their dug outs. I don’t know what is ICC point of contention there.
Rajasthan has confirmed its seat for semi-final and there are quit a few contenders for the other 3 berths. With Banglore and Hyderabad are virtually out of the competition, fight is between remaining 5 teams. I got the feeling that, Chennai, Punjab and Mumbai will make to the semis. Well, I am not going to put any money on them!

All about IPL

Whole nation is gripped by the ongoing cricket fever of IPL T20 series. It is something that India has never witnessed before. To be frank I never expect such a response to IPL matches, but the jam packed stadiums proved me wrong. The reason for my apprehension for the IPL series was the poor response to the Subhas Chandra’s ICL tournament. Well, IPL has all the money power behind it and it is always helpful to pull the show.

Let’s try to understand some aspects of IPL……

From where this IPL idea coined from?

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) launched the Indian Premier League (IPL) on September 14, 2007. Based on the lines of the English Premier League (EPL) and the National Basketball League (NBA), the IPL is said to be the brainchild of BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi. The idea was first floated in 1996 but was shot down as the board felt it would go against the zonal system of domestic cricket. The project moved into top gear when the Zee group launched a rival Indian Cricket League on similar lines in April 2007.
BCCI has formed an IPL council that comprises former BCCI president IS Bindra, vice-presidents Rajiv Shukla, Chirayu Amin, Lalit Modi and Arun Jaitley, and former cricketers Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri. While the BCCI officials are honorary members, Pataudi, Gavaskar and Shastri will be paid for their services. The IPL governing council will have a five-year term and will run, operate and manage the league independently of the BCCI.

What are the franchises and their teams ?

The franchisees will own the eight teams in the fray. They can run them in their own styles, bring their own sponsors and even name the team according to their choice. They will even be free to list their teams on the stock exchange.

Each franchise would have to buy sixteen players at the minimum, out of which four should be from India and under the age of 22 and four other local players hailing from catchment areas earmarked by the IPL for each of the eight franchises. Five icon players of India -- Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag - are not part of the bid process as they have to play for their respective city franchises - Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Mohali and Delhi. Among the icon players, Tendulkar will be part of the Mumbai franchise owned by Ambani's REL, Dravid will play for the Bangalore franchise owned by Vijay Mallya's UB Group, Ganguly for Kolkata owned by Shah Rukh's Red Chillies Entertainment, Yuvraj for Mohali owned by Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, R Burman and Group and Sehwag will lead the Delhi team, owned by GMR Holdings. The other three franchise owners are Deccan Chronicle Group (Hyderabad), India Cements (Chennai), Delhi (GRM Group) and Emerging Media Group (Jaipur).The player fees of any icon player - being 115 per cent of the highest player fee in that franchise's squad - will count towards the upper limit. The cap placed on bids for a pool of international players by each franchise does not include the local (apart from the iconic player) and under 22 players whose minimum salary has been fixed as US 20,000 dollar. For the Ranji and other auction players the base price has been fixed as US 50,000 dollar per year. The contract with the player will be for a fixed term of three years. Each franchise can have a maximum of two centrally contracted Australian players in its squad or a maximum of two Australian players from each state association in its squad, as per the agreement arrived at between Cricket Australia and IPL.

Following are the teams and their franchise..

There are 8 teams in the inaugaral Indian Premier League Tournament

Mumbai Indians - Mukesh Ambani - Captained by Sachin Tendulkar
The Team:-
Sachin Tendulkar (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm off-break, medium pace bowler)
Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka, Left-hand batsman, Slow left-arm orthodox bowler)
Harbhajan Singh (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm off-break bowler)
Robin Uthappa (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler)
Shaun Pollock (South Africa, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast bowler)
Dilhara Fernando (Sri Lanka, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Loots Bosman (South Africa, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler)
Players signed in the interim between first and second auctions:
Pinal Shah, Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane and Yogesh Takawale
Players signed in the second auction Tuesday:
Ashwell Prince (South Africa, Left-hand batsman, Left-arm slow bowler)
Saurabh Tiwary (India, Left-hand batsman)
Manish Pandey (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm off break bowler)

Bangalore Royal Challegers -Vijay Malya - Captained by Rahul Dravid
The Team:-
Rahul Dravid (India, Right-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Jacques Kallis (South Africa, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Anil Kumble (India, Right-hand batsman, Leg-break googly bowler)
Cameron White (Australia, Right-hand batsman, Leg-break googly bowler)
Zaheer Khan (India, Right-hand batsman, Left-arm fast medium bowler)
Mark Boucher (South Africa, Right-hand batsman, Wicketkeeper)
Wasim Jaffer (India, Right-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Dale Steyn (South Africa, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast bowler)
Shivnaraine Chanderpaul (West Indies, Left-hand batsman)
Players signed in the interim between first and second auctions:
Sunil Joshi, Balachandra Akhil, R. Vinay Kumar, Bharat Chipli, J. Arun Kumar, K.P. Appanna, Devraj Patil
Players signed in the second auction:
Misbah ul Haq (Pakistan, Right-hand batsman, Leg-break bowler)
Abdur Razzak (Bangladesh, Left-hand batsman, Slow left-arm orthodox bowler) Virat Kohli (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler)
Shreevats Goswami (India, Left-hand Batsman, Wicketkeeper)
Ross Taylor (New Zealand, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm off break bowler)

Chennai Super Kings - India Cements - Captained by MS Dhoni
The Team:-
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India, Right-hand batsman, Wicketkeeper)
Jacob Oram (New Zealand, Left-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler)
Albie Morkel (South Africa, Left-hand batsman, Right-arm fast bowler)
Suresh Raina (India, Left-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka, Right-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Matthew Hayden (Australia, Left-hand batsman, Right-arm medium bowler)
Stephen Fleming (New Zealand, Left-hand batsman, Right-arm slow medium bowler)
Parthiv Patel (India, Wicketkeeper, Left-hand batsman)
Joginder Sharma (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Makhaya Ntini (South Africa, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast bowler)
Michael Hussey (Australia, Left-hand batsman)
Players signed in the interim between first and second auctions:
Shadab Jakati, Sudeep Tyagi, R. Ashwin, Srikkanth Anirudha and S. Badrinath
Players signed in the second auction :
Napoleon Einstein (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm off break bowler)
Abhinav Mukund (India, Left-hand batsman, Leg-break googly break bowler)
Viraj Kadbe (India, Right-hand batsman, Leg-break bowler)

Delhi Daredevils - GMR Group - Captained by Virendra Sehwag
The Team:
Virender Sehwag (India, Right-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Gautam Gambhir (India, Left-hand batsman)
Manoj Tiwari (Indian, Right-hand batsman, Leg-break bowler)
Mohammad Asif (Pakistan, Left-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Daniel Vettori (New Zealand, Left-hand batsman, slow left-arm orthodox bowler)
Dinesh Karthik (India, Right-hand batsman, Wicket-keeper)
Shoaib Malik (Pakistan; Right-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
AB de Villiers (South Africa, Right-hand batsman)
Tillekaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka, Right-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Farveez Maharoof (Sri Lanka, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Glenn McGrath (Australia, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Players signed in the interim between first and second auctions:
Yo Mahesh, Shikhar Dhawan, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia and Mayank Tehlan
Players signed in the second auction :
Pradeep Sangwan (India, Left-arm medium pace bowler, Right-hand batsman)
Brett Geeves (Australia, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium)

Deccan Chargers - Deccan Chronicle - Captained by VVS Laxman
The Team:
Virender Sehwag (India, Right-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Gautam Gambhir (India, Left-hand batsman)
Manoj Tiwari (Indian, Right-hand batsman, Leg-break bowler)
Mohammad Asif (Pakistan, Left-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Daniel Vettori (New Zealand, Left-hand batsman, slow left-arm orthodox bowler)
Dinesh Karthik (India, Right-hand batsman, Wicket-keeper)
Shoaib Malik (Pakistan; Right-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
AB de Villiers (South Africa, Right-hand batsman)
Tillekaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka, Right-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Farveez Maharoof (Sri Lanka, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Glenn McGrath (Australia, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Players signed in the interim between first and second auctions:
Yo Mahesh, Shikhar Dhawan, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia and Mayank Tehlan
Players signed in the second auction :
Pradeep Sangwan (India, Left-arm medium pace bowler, Right-hand batsman)
Brett Geeves (Australia, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium)

Kolkata Knight Riders - Shah Rukh Khan/Juhi Chawla - Captained by Saurav Ganguly
The Team:-
Sourav Ganguly (India, Left-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler)
Ishant Sharma (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast bowler)
Chris Gayle (West Indies, Left-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Brendon McCullum (New Zealand, Right-hand batsman, Wicketkeeper)
David Hussey (Australia, Right-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast bowler)
Ricky Ponting (Australia, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm off-break bowler)
Ajit Agarkar (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Murali Kartik (India, Left-hand batsman, Slow left-arm orthodox bowler)
Umar Gul (Pakistan, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Tatenda Taibu (Zimbwea, Right-hand batsman, Wicketkeeper)
Players signed in the second auction :
Salman Butt (Pakistan, Left-hand batsman, Right-arm off break bowler)
Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm off break bowler) Siddarth Kaul (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler)
Iqbal Abdulla (India, Left-hand batsman, Slow left-arm orthodox bowler)

Kings XI Punjab - Preity Zinta/Ness Wadia - Captained by Yuvraj Singh
The Team:-
Yuvraj Singh (India, Left-hand batsman, Slow left-arm orthodox bowler)
Irfan Pathan (India, Left-hand batsman, Left-arm fast medium bowler)
Brett Lee (Australia, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast bowler)
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, Left-hand batsman, Wicketkeeper)
Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler)
Piyush Chawla (India, Left-hand batsman, Leg-break googly bowler)
Ramesh Powar (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm off-break bowler)
Ramnaresh Sarwan (West Indies, Right-hand batsman)
Simon Katich (Australia, Left-hand batsman)
Players signed in the interim between first and second auctions:
V.R.V. Singh, Karan Goel and Uday Kaul
Players signed in the second auction :
James Hopes (Australia, Right-hand batsman, Right-hand medium pace bowler)
Luke Pomersbach (Australia, left-hand batsman, Right-arm off break bowler)
Tanmay Srivastava (India, Left-hand Batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler)
Ajitesh Argal (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler)
Kyle Mills (New Zealand, Right-hand fast medium bowler, Right-hand batsman)

Rajastan Royals - Emerging Media Group - Captained by Shane Warne
The Team:
Shane Warne (Australia, Right-hand batsman, Leg-spin bowler)
Md. Kaif (India, Right-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Graeme Smith (South Africa, Left-hand batsman, Off-break bowler)
Yusuf Pathan (India, Right-hand batsman)
Munaf Patel (Indian, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast bowler)
Younis Khan (Pakistan, Right-hand batsman)
Kamran Akmal (Pakistan, Right-hand batsman, Wicket-keeper)
Justin Langer (Australia, Left-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler)
Players signed in the interim between first and second auctions:
Pankaj Singh, Anup Revandkar and Dinesh Salunkhe
Players signed in the second auction :
Dimitri Mascarenhas (England, Right-han batsman, Right-arm fast medium bowler)
Morne Morkel (South Africa, Left-hand batsman, Right-arm fast bowler)
Shane Watson (Australia, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm fast bowler)
Sohail Tanveer (Pakistan, Left-arm pace bowler, Left-arm batsman)
Taruwar Kohli (India, Right-hand batsman, Right-arm medium pace bowler)
Ravindra Jadeja (India, Left-hand batsman, Slow left-arm orthodox bowler)

Money involved in IPL …

IPL is a new concept and Modi is pleased with the kind of revenue BCCI has managed to generate -- Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) from television broadcasting rights and another Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) from franchising the eight teams.
In a few days, the team owners will bid for players that they want in their teams. The estimated value of each player could range from Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million) to Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) depending on his experience and stature.

IPL revenue…

TV rights of $1.026 billion for 10 years from Sony-World Sports Group (WSG).

Team franchises: $726 million for 10 years.

Prize money: 16% of TV revenues, with winner taking purse of $4 million (about Rs 16 crores)

Franchisees: 8 who will get 64% of TV revenues to begin with, share becoming less as teams are added and tapering down over the 10 years of the contract.

Players: Up to 130 players, including 32 from a foreign pool of 84 IPL contracted cricketers, are likely to get sums ranging from $1 million to a minimum anticipated wage of $50,000 per season.

ODI comparison: In a typical ODI in India, BCCI gets close to $8.5 million from TV. Title, ground and apparel sponsors pay $1 million, ground sponsorship $1.7 million, bringing a total revenue of $11 million per match day.IPL figures will be far less per match day. BCCI is worth nearly Rs 10 billion from current total assets of Rs 9.6 billion of which investments are Rs 7.5 billion. Last fiscal profits were Rs 232 crores.National first class cricketer: Earns match fees of Rs 35,000 per day and shares prize money for domestic tournaments of Rs 4.2 crores.

International cricketer: Earns match fees of Rs 2.60 lakhs per ODI and Rs 3.5 lakhs per Test, besides an annual retainer ranging from Rs 60 lakhs to Rs 25 lakhs, depending on his rating in four categories.

IPL fees: Ranges from $400,000 to a projected minimum of $50,000 per player per season.

Who will get what

Television rights fee from Sony-WSG - 20 per cent of $ 918 m

Promotion fee from Sony-WSG - $ 100 m

Franchisee fee - $ 723.6 m

Central sponsorship money - BCCI will keep 40% of the total

Merchandising revenue - 12.5% of the totalTeam owners (individually) Broadcasting share - 10% of BCCI's TV rights

Central sponsorship - 7.5% of the total

Gate receipts - 100%Merchandising - 11 % of the total

Stadium hospitality - 100%Prize money - $ 3 m for the winning team
PlayersAuction money - Could swing from a few lakhs to croresSalaries - Minimum to be paid $ 20,000 a year

Endorsements - Individual deals

BroadcasterRevenue from advertising (Rs 225,000 lakh per 10 seconds) Subscription from cable TV viewers

IPL T20 fixtures……

April 18: Bangalore v Kolkata at Bangalore

April 19: Mohali v Chennai at Mohali and Delhi v Jaipur at Delhi

April 20: Mumbai v Bangalore at Mumbai; Kolkata v Hyderabad at Kolkata April 21: Jaipur v Mohali at Jaipur

April 22: Hyderabad v Delhi at Hyderabad

April 23: Chennai v Mumbai at Chennai

April 24: Hyderabad v Jaipur at Hyderabad

April 25: Mohali v Mumbai at Mohali

April 26: Bangalore v Jaipur at Bangalore; Chennai v Kolkata at Chennai

April 27: Mumbai v Hyderabad at Mumbai; Mohali v Delhi at Mohali

April 28: Bangalore v Chennai at Bangalore

April 29: Kolkata v Mumbai at Kolkata

April 30: Delhi v Bangalore at Delhi.

May 1: Hyderabad v Mohali at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Kolkata at Jaipur

May 2: Chennai v Delhi at Chennai.

May 3: Hyderabad at Bangalore at Hyderabad; Mohali v Kolkata at Mohali

May 4: Mumbai v Delhi at Mumbai; Jaipur v Chennai at Jaipur

May 5: Bangalore v Mohali at Bangalore

May 6: Chennai v Hyderabad at Chennai

May 7: Mumbai v Jaipur at Mumbai

May 8: Delhi v Chennai at Delhi; Kolkata v Bangalore at Kolkata

May 9: Jaipur v Hyderabad at Jaipur

May 10: Bangalore v Mumbai at Bangalore; Chennai v Mohali at Chennai

May 11: Hyderabad v Kolkata at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Delhi at Jaipur

May 12: Mohali v Bangalore at Mohali

May 13: Kolkata v Delhi at Kolkata

May 14: Mumbai v Chennai at Mumbai; Mohali v Jaipur at Mohali

May 15: Delhi v Hyderabad at Delhi

May 16: Mumbai v Kolkata at Mumbai

May 17: Delhi v Mohali at Delhi; Jaipur v Bangalore at Jaipur

May 18: Hyderabad v Mumbai at Hyderabad; Kolkata v Chenna at Kolkata

May 19: Bangalore v Delhi at Bangalore

May 20: Kolkata v Jaipur at Kolkata

May 21: Mumbai v Mohali at Mumbai; Chennai v Bangalore at Chennai

May 22: Delhi v Kolkata at Delhi

May 23: Mohali v Hyderabad at Mohali.

May 24: Delhi v Mumbai at Delhi; Chennai v Jaipur at Chennai

May 25: Bangalore v Hyderabad at Bangalore; Kolkata v Mohali at Kolkata

May 26: Jaipur v Mumbai at Jaipur

May 27: Hyderabad v Chennai at Hyderabad

May 28 and 29: Rest days

May 30: First semi-final at Mumbai

May 31: Second semi-final at Mumbai

June 1: Final at Mumbai

India – South Africa Test Series

IPL 20Twenty series has been started in a big way. With almost all the big players of the world playing, it has been able to attract the attention of the whole world. But, I will discuss this whole IPL T20 series in my next posting. Here I want to discuss, just recently concluded test series between India and South Africa.

This whole series was like typical bollywood movie. It has got thrill, action, emotions, all the ups and down, and in the end happy ending (for Indians, of course ).

In the first test, Chepauk Chenai, provide a mouth watering track for the batsmen. The only way, the team could loose that match is by playing really bad. Well, South African team don’t have such habits. They send very strong signals to the Indian team that they mean business by posting a huge score of 540 in their first innings. India gave stern reply by scoring 627 in their first innings. Thanks to Virender Sehwag for his blistering 319. With comfortably poised on 468/1 at the end of day 3, they were bundled out for 627, just adding 159 runs and losing 9 wickets in the process. The only team that could win this test match at this juncture was India and South Africa was very much aware of that. They have to play it for draw, and they didn’t do any mistake. On that flat pitch it was not difficult also. They ended their second inning at the test match with 331/5.
If you try to take in depth review of this test match, you may get the feeling that it was South African team who has got psychological victory. Though India posted a mammoth score of 627 in their 1st innings, Sehwag has contributed more than 50% in that. But, in the case of South Africa that was not the case, their we centurion as well double centurion. So it was more like team effort than the individual efforts. Also in the bowling department, what I feel is that South Africa has performed better than India. Indian bowlers didn’t make any impact whatsoever. But, after overcoming the hindrance named Virender Sehwag, South African bowlers were all over Indian batsmen, winding them up very quickly. Thus, it was SA not India who excels in all the department of the game not India.

In second test, Motera Ahmedabad, it was all over for India in the first day itself, when they bundled out for just a paltry 76 runs. Though the pitch was more favorable to Africans than Indians, score of 76 runs in an innings can’t be justifiable. There was no devil in the pitch, and it was very much proved by fine batting performance of the Africans. India has to face one of the worst defeat of the recent times.

Third test, India had to win that. India used their most trusted formula, which work many times for them. Typical Indian turning pitch was waiting for SA at Green Park Kanpur. Just, after having first view of the pitch, Smith’s face become pale yellow. Even in the absence of Kumble, Indian bowlers proved lethal. In both the innings Africans were dancing on Harbhajan’s and Sehwag’s deliveries. Indians were also not that comfortable in their batting department but thanks to Dada’s (Ganguly) knock and Indian wagging tail, India could get valuable lead of 60 runs. In second innings Dravid and Ganguly made sure that their shouldn’t be more drama in that match. India leveled the series 1-1.

Great Adam Gilchrist

With the retirement of Adam Gilchrist, not only Australia but also the whole cricketing world has lost one of the greatest entertainers of the game. Arguably, he would be the best wicket keeper batsman world has ever seen. Well, he is one of my favorites, and really going to miss him. Here I got something about this great player and want to share with you. So, just check it out.

Adam Gilchrist

Profile
Full name Adam Craig Gilchrist

Born November 14, 1971, Bellingen, New South Wales

Current age 35 years

Major teams Australia, ICC World XI, New South Wales, Western Australia

Nickname Gilly

Playing role Wicketkeeper batsman

Batting style Left-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Test Debut Australia v Pakistan at Brisbane, 1st Test, 1999/00

ODI Debut Australia v South Africa at Faridabad, Titan Cup, 1996/97

First-class Debut New South Wales v Tasmania at Sydney, 1992/93

Adam Gilchrist entered the international cricketing scene as a wicket keeper/batsman with the Australian One Day International side against South Africa on 25th October 1996 in Faridabad. He was bowled by Alan Donald for 18, then effected his first dismissal by catching Hansie Cronje off Paul Reiffel for a duck. South Africa won the match by 2 wickets. In 1998, Steve Waugh elevated Adam to the pivotal position of opening batsman. In his second game, Adam scored 100 against South Africa and since then, has played a significant part in redefining the role of an opening batsman in One Day Internationals.

Adam was crucial in the team's winning performance in the 1999 and 2003 World Cups. Adam has taken a world record of over 400 dismissals in one day internationals and scored over 8600 runs at a phenomenal strike rate of almost 97 runs per 100 balls faced.

On 5th-9th November 1999, Adam replaced Ian Healy as wicketkeeper in the Australian test side in Brisbane against Pakistan. He was immediately into stride, taking his first dismissal by catching Mohammad Wasim off Damien Fleming for 18. Adam then scored 81 before being bowled by Shoaib Akhtar. Since that time, Adam has taken almost 370 dismissals in test matches and scored almost 5300 runs at an incredible strike of over 82 runs per 100 balls faced. Adam reached the 100 and 200 dismissal milestones faster than any other wicket keeper in test history and he is one of only two players to had averaged greater than 60 going through 3000 test runs.

Adam is the only wicketkeeper in Australia to have captained the Australian Test and One Day teams and is acknowledged for his leadership and outstanding contribution to the Australian team in both forms of the game.

Many critics believe that Adam is the greatest wicketkeeper/batsman to have played the game. But more than his statistics, it is the manner and spirit in which Adam plays the game that makes him one of the world's most exciting and popular cricketers. He already holds the record for the most sixes hit in Test cricket (97) and plays Test cricket in much the same way as he plays One-Day Internationals.

In 2004 Adam was selected in Richie Benaud's All Time Greatest Team. He joined Sir Donald Bradman, Dennis Lillee and Shane Warne who were also chosen in this illustrious team. Adam said that he was humbled to be chosen in the team in front of so many other outstanding players and by a person who himself is acknowledged as one of the finest to have played the game.

Gilly's Stats

The only Australian wicketkeeper to have captained his country in both Test and One-Day International cricket.

The fastest Test wicketkeeper to 100 test dismissals ( v England, Headingley 2001).

The fastest Test wicketkeeper to 200 test dismissals ( v Zimbabwe, Sydney 2003).

At the date of his retirement, held world record for the most dismissals in Test cricket - 416 dismissals. (Since surpassed by Mark Boucher of South Africa).

At the date of his retirement, was world record holder for the most number of wicketkeeping dismissals in One-Day International cricket(472).

World record-holder for the most dismissals in an innings in One-Day International cricket.

Fastest strike rate in the history of One-Day International cricket for a batsman scoring over 5,000 runs.

16 One-Day International centuries scored at an average of 96 balls faced.

Highest score in any World Cup Cricket Final - 149 on 28th April 2007 in West Indies.

Fastest century in World Cup Cricket Finals matches.

"Best of the Best": In 2007, voted by 39% of the 168 players to have represented Australia in One-Day Internationals as the greatest ODI player to have ever represented Australia. No other player polled more than 19%.

Fastest strike rate in the history of Test cricket for a batsman scoring over 5,000 runs.

17 Test centuries scored at an average of 108 balls faced.

Second fastest Test century ever recorded (57 balls - second to Viv Richards; 56 balls) but fastest by an Australian in Test cricket. Also scored several other quick centuries (e.g. 84 balls - v India, Mumbai 2001 and v Zimbabwe 2003).

One of only three batsman in the history of Test cricket to average over 60 through 3000 test runs.

First batsman in Test cricket history to hit 100 sixes.

World record holder for a wicketkeeper for playing consecutive Tests without ever being dropped for form or injury - 96 after the fourth Test against India in Adelaide, January 2008.

Courtesy : www.adamgilchrist.com

Fastest 100 in ODI

Have you seen Shahid Afrid's fastest 100 in ODI, if not then check this out........

Best of Sharne Warne

With due respect to other greats, In my book Shane Warne is a best spin bowler cricketing world has ever seen. I guess, many of you people will agree with my views. If you don't then just take a look at this video. This video shows the best 8 deliveries what Warne consider to be his best in test cricket.

India On TOP!

I don’t know after how many years India has defeated Australia in two consecutive one day international. In recent time the only team that has given some tough fight to mighty Australian is India. And after beating Australians in two consecutive finals to clinch the series, India has proved that they are not invincible. Now I got the feeling that this series might be the lowest point in Australian cricket in last four years. After the retirement of their two regular one day players (Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg) situation only going to get worse.
Well, for India all things are going very fine. Indians played really good cricket in Australia. Test series was close contest and they manage to win the one day series. India has also won under 19 world cup. So, in last month it was all India.

In last series of Australia we got Irfan Pathan and this time we got Ishaat Sharma and Praveen Kumar. Rohit Sharma has also done reasonably well. Manoj Tiwary has not done enough to impress the selectors but I think he should be given some more chances to prove himself. But, I am really disappointed to see that Dinesh Karthik and Suresh Raina was denied of enough opportunities to prove themselves, especially when Yuvraj was not performing at all.
Now, India is on their peak and ready to take on South Africa on their home turf. Indian shouldn’t be complacent of their victory over Australia. South Africa was always a great competitor. They won’t be easy nut to crack.

Into The Finals……

India has reached the finals of the on going ODI series in Australia. So far, india has played some good cricket. Or, I should say they are playing good cricket in ‘pockets’. I am saying this because, we are struggling to keep things going in every match. Only in last match we could able to achieve comfortable win, thanks to fantastic performance by our two young fast bowlers. We should have won atleast one more match, first match that we lost to Australia.

What I feel is that we are missing Dravid in the middle order. He used to give stability to the innings and carry the inning on his shoulder. In both the matches that we lost to Australia, problem was the same, we lost too many wickets too early. We are trying to many permutations combinations in the batting line up, but couldn’t solve the problem. Solution is simple, we want someone like Dravid in the ranks.

Dhoni is playing good cricket. But , this Dhoni is not the same person what we use to see some one year ago. Present Dhoni has lost his sharpness. We cant expect 36 runs from 66 balls from Dhoni, when team is chasing 317 runs to win. I don’t know why he is hesitating to bat up the order? I don’t know why he is changing his batting style? He shouldn’t forget that why he was picked in the team.

Australia are playing as a world champions, but I feel that they are not in best of touch. And India has got very good chance to beat them on their home turf. It will be a fight between young Indian side and experienced Australian side.

If India could win this series, then all the talks of seniors coming back in the ODI teams will stop once and for ever !!!

India-Australia test series........

Australia, India and Sri Lanka are into the one day series. And it was nothing but a boring start to the series with two abandoned contests in a row. But just concluded test series between Australia and India was one of the most exciting I have seen. It was full of drama, emotion, action and whatever you could find in typical bollywood movie. Lets discuss some of the issues there…..

Unwarranted Racial slur on Harbhajan……

Well this test series would be remembered more for the events happening off the field than on the field. Australians are infamous for bullying their opponents on the field. But this time they have tested the taste of their own medicine. This time also the issue was started by the Australians only, Bhajji just responded to them. Symonds accused Bhajji calling him ‘Monkey’ and Bhajji was saying that he called ‘Maaki’ not ‘Monkey’. It seems that Mr. Symonds was happy to be called ‘Maaki’ rather than ‘Monkey’. Well, decision came into Bhajji’s way and in my view its quite fare. Decision was given by the qualified judge and should respect that. But Australian is not happy with that decision they are accusing BCCI of using their money power to turn decision in their way. Decision was given by independent authority thus it suggest that Australians want to say that BCCI bribed judge, isn’t it??? Symond said that “People are questioning my integrity and this burns my heart.” Well people can question person’s integrity who was out atleast three times in a single inning and still continued to play (Sydney test).

Gilchrist said adieu to the cricket…..

In my book Gilchrist was the all time finest wicket keeper batsman in the world. And I know many carries the similar view. It is no doubt will be great loss to the Australian team. Well, Haddin is ready there to grab the Gilchrist position which he was holding for more than decade. But, I guess other team won’t complaint much. Now, within a year or so many quality players of the Australian team has retired (Langer, McGrath, Warne) and some of them are on the verge of their retirement. So, it’s a big question in front of them weather they can hold their position of “World Champion”.

Series Win for Australia but……..

Well, Australia has won the series, but win could go in the books as one of the controversial series between India and Australia ,thanks to all the controversies surrounding the Sydney test. ‘Satisfactory element’ is missing there. Well, I don’t think Australian bothers about it. For them winning was more important.

Positives for India……

Sorrow of losing the series will always be there for Indians, but there are some positive also which could be cherished. Last series of Australia gave India one fantastic bowler in ‘Irfan Phatan’ and this time we got ‘Ishaant Sharma’. This 19 years old, lanky fast bowler has shown enough promise, and could be long term prospect for India. Another big positive was ‘Virender Sehwag’, after losing his place in the Indian side he has returned with bang. His knock in the last match of test series will give him permanent seat in the Indian team. Dhoni was little off colour. But its only matter of time for him to come to his own groove.

Again the big talk after series involved Saurav Ganguly. Now there is no point in dragging this issue, selectors has made it clear that they don’t want Ganguly in the team. Ganguly should also understand this thing and should retire from one day.
Now India is doing well in the ongoing one day series. It is really interesting to see how Dhoni’s young brigade face the wrath of relative more experienced Australian and Sri lankan team.

No more gentleman's game!

Hi…….Just concluded clash between India and Australia at SCGwas the record breaking 17 straight consecutive win for Australia, breaking the record of Steve Waugh of consecutive 16 wins. But, I real doubt that it would be remembered for the same reason. Because it was the test which has witnessed number of umpiring blunders and the most unsporting behavior of the host team in recent times. Just take a look of some of those………

Symond was out for atleast three times but he was not given out even once. He made a not out century (162). Give three lives to Kumble even he can score a century. But , why to blame Symonds, because it was Ponting who was leading them from the front. He want to win this match so much that, he downgraded himself and his team to play some cheap cricket. Even Gavaskar can’t resist himself. Let’s see what he has said about Ponting ……….

It was not the first time happening with Australia. Remember underarm delivery. They are the most talented team, but I am sorry to say they are the most unsporting and arrongant as well.

Are we competitive enough?

Sooooooo………after a long time this is my new posting, I was kind of busy these days.
Well …… India has done well to beat Pakistan in ODI as well as Test series. I have written my views for the one day series. For test series I like to make some points……….
First, is that our new test captain has done an excellent job…….really he has. At the mature age of 38 he was enthusiastic, motivated and energetic. The most important thing was that he has the belief that he gonaa win.
Again Ganguly has shown to the world that he still has fire in his belly. May be technically his batting is not as sound as Sachin or Dravid. But, he is passionate for his game and that is what matters. Others Batters has done reasonably well. Bowling was also not especially. We need to find out some who fits in the Kumble’s shoes.
Now, coming to the first test of Australian. What to say all things has been said by our captain himself . Our batting was nothing but PATHETIC. Indians were over defensive. Actually the situation was like that, result was bound to come. But our famed Indian batting line up didn’t realize that. The way they were playing, I got the feeling that they want to save the match. How can one save the match by playing DEFENSIVELY for two days. One has to play their natural game. Where was the commitment they showed in famed Eden Garden win, where India won the match instead of subjected to follow on in the first innings. I was not expecting Miracles, what I was expecting was little bit fight. But our famed batting line up surrendered meekly.
Last time when India visited Australia they managed to draw the series. Because that time our batting was superb. But this time the way things are going, its seems to be complete white wash. Now, I think only Miracle can save INDIA.

Series win for INDIA but....

Well, India won the series, that to after 24 years on the Indian soil against Pakistan………
Sounds strange, right? India could done it this time because, this team of Pakistan seems to be little be weak. But they managed to win two matches of the series. Actually both the teams were quite competitive.
From the Pakistan side there middle order paid for them, Shoiab was also excellent through out the series so is Umar Gul. At the top Salman Butt gave the good opening in most of the matches, which help Pakistan to post hugh scores. Pakistan captain done well to win the last match, in that match he scores some good runs too. He is new to this job, with time he will definitely mature. Last match win sure gonna help Pakistan in test matches. There key players Yousuf and Younis are in good form, bowlers to are bowling well. They are really ready for the test series.
As far the India is concern…India should have the last match of the ODI series. That match was more important from psychological point of view. As Pakistan has won that match momentum is with them for the test matches. India do have some positives from the one day series. Sachin is in ominous form so is Yuvraj. Dhoni has also played some good knocks. But there is quite a few changes in the Indian test sides. India is also playing under new captain. Also India has got three spinners in the test squad, that is something unusual.
So, it gonna be really interesting encounter. What I can say is that India has the edge over Pakistan but you never know ……………

IND-PAk: 2nd ODI

Hi……………
I guess I need to rethink on my prediction , what I made, on my previous post. In last ODI ,that was one of the fantastic chase I have ever seen. Most striking feature of that chase was the pace of the innings. It seems to be very plan innings of Pakistan. They started very cautiosly, kept wicket in hand, and in the end overs went for a kill. That was old classic chase. All credit goes to the Pakistani batsmen, especially Younis Kahn. ………I was hearing on the commentary, that Younis is no good in chasing big total (he is able to score at the brisk pace). But I guess he proved everybody wrong……..
Actually India also faced similar situation in the Nagpur one day against Australia, in the recently concluded series. Ganguly was doing all well, but the problem was he couldn’t pace his inning properly and at the end run rate was to high for our lower level batsmen.So, there is somtheing to learn from Younis innings.
Well India responsible for its own loss. India was poised to score somewhere around 350-360. That would have been literally impossible target to chase. But the comeback spells from Umar Gul and Shoib broke the back of Indian middle order. 321 is also good enough total to defend on any kind of wicket. If the team is losing after posing such a big total then there is something serious to think about.
Wicket was turning when harbhajan was bowling. If Murali Karthik could have played the game, then he could had major impact on the game. He bowled very well in the Guwahati game. Left arm spinner is always difficult to handle than right arm spinner. So , dropping Murali doesn’t make any sense. Well I think that ploy was adopted to give chance to Sehwag, who once again failed. India should understand that winning matches should be given the top priority. Chances can be given to players when the series is sealed.
Now a days shuffling of batting order has become very regular. No one knows who is coming next. Why Dhoni is kept changing his position in batting order??? He should realise that he is more effective up the order than lower down the order. It is difficult even for Dhoni, to start hitting from the word go. He does take some time to settle down and after that he is very much capable of playing long innings. So why he is still playing down the order. He is capable of hitting centuries, then why he going there to make 30-40 runs? I don’t have any clue.
Now , coming to test captaincy.It really hurts to see some one like Kumble, who is one of the finest and senior most player in the team has to wait so long to become captain. We were trying to convince Sachin who has miserable record as a test captain, and we are giving captainship to Kumble when we are out of choice…….pathetic. In my view Kumble has won more test matches than any other player in India. He should have given this honour long before. Making him captain when he is about to retire doesn’t make any sense.
Well coming back to IND-PAK series. I guess India must have learnt some lessons from the last match. I guess they will be well prepared this time. India should remember what happen last time when Pakistan visited India, India won first 2 matches, then Pakistan went to win 4 matches ………..winning the series.

Ind-Pak 1st ODI

Hi…… so India Pakistan series started with a thriller. Well it was not actually thriller but an easy win for India . Thanks to some brilliant bowling by Harbhajan and Murali Karthik in the first innings and brilliant batting by the batters in the second innings.

Dhoni……..he is a real hero. He lead from the front. He went up the order and finished the job by himself. ……I always advocate for Dhoni playing up the order. He can play control as well as attacking innings. He can be devasting on the flat Indian pitches. He has great scores to his credit at no. 3 position. Then there is no reason, why he shouldn’t play up the order.

Yuvraj is now developing as most important batsman in the line-up. I guess he is the most feared batsman in the Indian line –up. Gambhir is cementing position in the team. He was unfortunate in the past as he didn’t get the opportunities as Sehwag got. No problem with opening pair……….they are best in the world.

Many people must be thinking that Dravid has got unfair deal. But I think leaving Dravid out of one day squad is right decision taken by the selectors. Dravid is no doubt is a great player, he has played 10 long years. Now many young talents is coming up. Its time to move on for senior players and give more opportunities to younger player. …………Ian Healy, former Australian wicket keeper was a great player, but if would have not moved on, then we would have not seen Gilchrist. Dravid was always a better test player than the one day player. Now he should concentrate more on test than one day. He can always come back when replacement players is doing well.

Well coming back to India-Pakistan series, I guess Indian are favorite to win the series. With absence of Inzamam in the middle order, Pakistan batting line up seems to be too weak. And with the absence of Asif bowling is ordinary. Shoaib has to carry the entire bowling department on his shoulder. With India winning first match, I think India will win the series by 4-1.

Time to take tough decisions

Hi ,
India once again proved that they are the world champions of T20 cricket. It was really smooth riding for Indians. Bowlers done their job perfectly well, specially spinners. Irfan also has improved a lot after making his comeback in the team. Batting also clicked, apart from Sehwag all enjoyed their batting. The way Gambhir and Uthappa batted, they had made strong statement for their permanent seat in the team.
I thought Indian team management can lesson or two from T20 victory. Though its another version of game and some what different from ODI, we can carry on some positives from that match.
We are doing consistently well with our young guns. They bring positive energy to the team. Though our senior players are doing well, its time that they should concentrate more on Test cricket and leave ODI and T20 for our young guns. I am not saying that they should be totally phase out. But young new players should get adequate opportunity, specially when they are doing well.
Pakistan is due to come and then Indians will be visiting Australia, so some tough competition is ahead. India need to do some tough decisions.

Consolation win

Hi ………At last India was able to achieve a consolation victory. The last time India successfully chased a target against Australia was way back in 1998, in Sharjah. Since then, India have attempted the task, 18 times, and failed on 15 occasions, with three matches, including the first game of this series in Bangalore, having no result. So it was really a great victory in that sense.
In Nagpur, India was to close to the victory. But India lost its way in the middle of the innings. After losing the wicket of Sachin and Saurav, (and then Pathan), downfall starts. With required runrate more than 7 runs per over Yuvraj and Dravid was not able to rotate the strike. In the process they lost their wickets and when Dhoni and Uthappa came the target was really out of reach…………….So, where the things went wrong. Though Ganguly was brilliant with bat, his strike rate suggest that India was chasing somewhere 275 not 318. India was 3-203 in 36 overs, requiring 115 more runs to win in 14 overs with 7 wickets in hand. Why, didn’t India start onslaught from that very moment, why they let pressure to build on them selves?
We had their time in each match. All through this series, India have had Australia in some trouble early on. In the first game Australia went from 90 for 4 to 307. In the second they turned 66 for 3 into 306 and, in the third, 135 for 3 became 290. In the sixth game, Australia went from 129 for 4 to 317.
Mumbai match was just a consolation win. Hats off to Murali Kathik and Zaheer Khan, both were brilliant with bat and ball. Apart from that their was really nothing to mention in Indian credit. Well 4-2 lost looks much better than 5-1 lost.
Now India has to do some serious thinking regarding……. role of the seniors in the team (specially Dravid), batting order and fielding. Or else its really gonna be tough…….

4th ODI IND- AUS : Dhoni's Dhamaka.......

It was a thriller of a match. At last India manage to pull out a victory over mighty Aussies, after three long years in ODI's. India also broke Aussies 14 match winning streak. For India all things went right from the beginning. Our finest opening pair, Sachin and Saurav gave us once again a solid start. Though, Sachin was not in his owns in the starting overs, he good thing he had done he didn't give up his wicket. From the other end runs were coming freely from the Saurav's bat. We had good partnership and that was the key to India's big total. Though Aussie were consistently bowling body line, India had a merry in their final overs. Yuvraj, Dhoni and Uthappa done their job perfectly.

Though Hayden was on the roll from the start, maintaining close to six runs per over was always difficult. In the process they lose some wickets creating pressure on themselves. But, again Symonds played a belligerent innings. At one time when Hayden and Symonds was on the crease, Indian chance was seems to be diminishing rapidly. Then Murali got the rid of Hayden, flighting the boll, tempting Hayden to go over the top. That was a brave bowling by Murali. But, real highlight was R P Singh's where he got rid of Symonds and then run out Hogg on the next ball.

Once again India gave too many runs in the initial overs, it is something that India need to think about. Their is no value addition by Dravid playing that low in the order. So, India need to think about his position in the team. Sometimes hard decision need to be taken for the benefit of the team.

Well, for me Dhoni was again the star of the match, effecting two brillant stumpings and scoring rapid fire fifty in the final overs of the Indian innings. For, Dhoni lets all sing..........Mahi ve.....

Are we competing?

Hi, Now the Three ODI's of the series are over. And the way India lose last two matches, India winning the series seems to be distinct possibility. Forget the series; India should save themselves from the clean sweep. Its not gonna be easy. Australia are playing there best cricket, as they always do. And there reserves are as strong as there playing eleven. So, the big question is what can India do?

Well I like to put some suggestion for this..........

Dhoni or Pathan should play up the order

India is not scoring enough runs in the power plays. When the team is chasing score nearing 300. They need to take the advantage of field restrictions. We have players to that, Dhoni has done this number of times and his success rate is very high up the order so he is the best candidate for this job. All his big scores has came, when he was playing up the order. While playing down the order he is curbing his natural instinct. He is doing not any justice to himself nor to his team.
Another man who has done this job effectively is Irfan Pathan. If India lose him early that wont be a big lose but his runs at top of the order will be bonus to the Indian team. If some one says that his batting will gonna spoil his bowling, then I will say that it’s a bullshit. There is no logic at all, how one’s batting can spoil one’s bowling. People who are all advocating this please reply me back

Dravid should bat in the middle order

Dravid is the best person who can navigate the innings in the middle order. He has done it before and there is no question of why can’t he do it again. There will support from players like Yuvraj at the lower order, who can play really big shots if required. Dravid role should be to carry the Indian innings through the middle overs. Off late India is losing its way in the middle overs and losing way before the completion of the match. So Dravid need to do what, Izamam was doing for Pakistan or what Clarke is doing for Australia.

R P Singh should play

I don’t know why RP Singh is not playing. My personnel feeling is that, R P Singh is would be the good option in place of Sreesanth. R P has good control on his line and length than Sreesanth. He also don’t get carried away like Sreesanth. Aggression is good for fast bowler, but Sreesanth is showing to much. RP was one of the best bowlers in T20 WC. So his tail is up, he should play.

Harbhajan should look to take wicket

I got the feeling in the last two matches that Harbhajan is concentrating more on stopping runs than taking wickets. Best way to reduce the scoring rate is by taking wickets. Harbhajan is India’s strike bowler and he should bowl like a strike bowler.

Now, India will be playing there fourth ODI tomorrow, no doubt moral of the Indian team will be down. They may try to do all sought of things, they need to be relax in first place. Captain Dhoni has got good thinking head on his shoulder. This is really a trying conditions for him. I have faith on my captain, so do the whole India .

Fantastic videos of T20 WC

hi.........everybody,
Check these fantastic videos of the Indian Journey of T20 WC.....just follow the link ( copy paste on your browser )

1) Yuvraj 6 sixes in one over india vs england 20/20 world cup. world record for maximum 6's in an over (20/20 international)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cTaFrgqzadU


2)Brief highlights of Yuvraj spanking the hopeless Aussies for a quickfire 70 runs off 30 balls in the Twenty20 semi final for India.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tcBMVj09f-8

3) 10 key moments from T20 World Cup
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YRXw2pw-nts

4) Chris Gayle smashes a world record 1st and fastest century T20 20-20 World Cup for West Indies v South Africa on 11/9/07 He scores Chris Gayle smashes a world record 1st and fastest century T20 20-20 World Cup for West Indies v South Africa on 11/9/07.He scores 117 off only 57 balls!
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=century+gayle+T20

5)An action packed T20 world cup match between India and Pakistan ended in a Tie and staged second bowl out in game's history.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=E9XIjYM1ujo

6) Last over of IND-PAK final of T20 WC
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dm0rzkSeFZM