Test cricket is revived. We have not had a classic test match but a hardly fought test match between two tough competitors. A true champion can be determined by the span he remains in that exclusive zone. Legends need five days to happen. Patience and Perseverance are harder to acquire than power and skill. That is why they call this game played over five days as Test cricket.
The match is special for me as I was in the chinnasamy stadium watching the fourth day’s play in close quarters and I tell you what, it was a privilege to see the game which had the greatest players of our time from sachin to pointing, from Kumble to Brett Lee. The match was played with a higher level of intensity which was what professional sport was all about. The contests unveiled and the match proved to be the best prologue to the series ahead.
From the Aussies perspective:
They came into the game with nothing to lose, with a shaky middle order that did not contain Gilchrist and Symonds in a long time and with a bowling attack that had bowled 000 balls in tests in India. They had shown the world how tough they are when it really mattered. Pointing responded to his critics and did what Sourav did 4 years ago in that first test at Brisbane when India was the underdogs. Mr.Cricket showed the reason behind his name. The only worrying thing for them would be the form of Hayden and lack of a quality spinner to exploit the fifth day surface.
From the Indian Perspective
To be honest, it is a disappointment not to go for the kill against a depleted Australian side right from the first day. Probably for the first time, Kumble’s tactics were questioned and his lack of aggression and pro activeness were clearly visible. May be his lack of form with the ball is reflecting on his captaincy Harbhajan was still not at his best. All the members of the fab four had a decent match and spent time in the middle which was a good sign.
So it is going to be one hell of a contest in Mohali with the wicket supporting the faster bowlers we can expect a thrilling battle of bat and ball on the cards and what else can a true cricket fan expect…
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
The Prince departs as 'The Emperor'...
It is such a remarkable day in the History of Indian Cricket as India's sucessful captain bids Goodbye to his career.Whatever may be the circumstances that are behind his decision,it is not wise to analyse those things but rather sit back and celebrate a glorious career and savour the memories that he is going to leave,
He has been such a great character as I would say he is the one responsible for where India ncricket is now.He persisted with Yuvraj Singh,Kaif,Harbhajan Singh,Zaheer Khan and backed them whatever happened.And the youngsters just proved they are worth their place.Who else would be more happy if Yuvraj,the man he groomed ,can fit into his place of No:5 once he retires...Some Little known facts that I have read about him over the last decade and here is why rate along with the callber of Sachin,Sunny,Kapil,Vengsarkar.
Harbhajan Singh was about to quit his career in cricket and go to Dubai to earn his living as a truck driver when he was questioned for his legality of his bowling.It was Sourav who backed him and persistede with him in those tough phase of his life and made him to bowl again.
Yuvraj who was consistantly backed by Sourav irrespective of his scores that made Yuvraj once say"I will die for my captain".
He was the one who asked Shewag to open,who then had never opened even in a first class match..What a masterstroke that changed the face of Indian Cricket....
Now the big one...Some years ago when he was the captain,he was watching a ranji trophy match and suddenly somrthing striked him in the match.He called a media friend and said "See the batsman playing in DD sports now,He is going to be the future of Indian Cricket".Guess who it is ..He is none othen than the new wonder kid M.S.Dhoni....
He trusted his instincts and and my previous post on him justifies his greatness...
So..It is a great feeling to bid you goodbye,may God be with you for the rest of your life and bring sucess and happiness
as you had in you cricketing career.I dream to see you with Harsha in the espnstar commentary box.....
He has been such a great character as I would say he is the one responsible for where India ncricket is now.He persisted with Yuvraj Singh,Kaif,Harbhajan Singh,Zaheer Khan and backed them whatever happened.And the youngsters just proved they are worth their place.Who else would be more happy if Yuvraj,the man he groomed ,can fit into his place of No:5 once he retires...Some Little known facts that I have read about him over the last decade and here is why rate along with the callber of Sachin,Sunny,Kapil,Vengsarkar.
Harbhajan Singh was about to quit his career in cricket and go to Dubai to earn his living as a truck driver when he was questioned for his legality of his bowling.It was Sourav who backed him and persistede with him in those tough phase of his life and made him to bowl again.
Yuvraj who was consistantly backed by Sourav irrespective of his scores that made Yuvraj once say"I will die for my captain".
He was the one who asked Shewag to open,who then had never opened even in a first class match..What a masterstroke that changed the face of Indian Cricket....
Now the big one...Some years ago when he was the captain,he was watching a ranji trophy match and suddenly somrthing striked him in the match.He called a media friend and said "See the batsman playing in DD sports now,He is going to be the future of Indian Cricket".Guess who it is ..He is none othen than the new wonder kid M.S.Dhoni....
He trusted his instincts and and my previous post on him justifies his greatness...
So..It is a great feeling to bid you goodbye,may God be with you for the rest of your life and bring sucess and happiness
as you had in you cricketing career.I dream to see you with Harsha in the espnstar commentary box.....
Border -Gavaskar Trophy Comprehensive Preview - Part -II
The middle Order
Sachin,Sourav,Laxman,Dhoni -It is very suprising and ridiculous that the media has been consistently criticizing Laxman because he has bee n our sucessful test batsman in the last year.He averages 52 in his last 12 test matches.With Sourav announcing his retirement we can expect him to go as a hero fighting.And now it comes to our master,how many times I have to say this ,he was the difference between the two sides when they met last time.Hope he shows his champion stuffs once again.Much attension will be on Dhoni as he has not produced any significant innings with the bat in test matches for the past one year.How can we expect him to take the test team forward.His performance is crucial for India's future in test cricket....
Clarke,Hussey,Watson,Haddin -Clarke has proved that he can take the Australian side forward in the years to come and his refusal to play in the IPL send strong signals and shows the passion he shows to play in his national colours.He is a great player of spin and the visitors depend on him to deleiver.Mr.Cricket has always been at his best and his commitment levels are unbeleivable.Now the interesting part ..Can Haddin and Watson do or excell the roles of Gilchrist and Symonds respectively.I beleive the latter is going to be the deciding factor of the test series.If he can play well and provide that crucial 60+ runs needed in the middle order and bowl his heart out as he always does,he is going to win the match for Australia.Well for Haddin,only time can answer the question
The Pace Attack
Zaheer khan is the spearhead of the host and his craft in bringing the ball in against the right handers is crucial.Then the man who made a mockery of Ricky pointing seven months ago,if he can do it this time again,the series is in the host's pocket.
Brett Lee is in the tranistion phase of superb and great.It is fitting that his evolution from an Akthar to Mcgrath has come good and is influending their side's sucess.Clarke has his lethal inswingers that can break into the defence of Dravid and Sachin.He comes in and bowls that '2 inches outside off stump' balls time and time and again.Johnson has been the trump cars for the Aussies breaking into the side at a young age and showing a lot of temperamant
The Spin attack
It is a pity that the mighty Aussies cannot produce a replacement for Warne and it describes the class of the champion bowler.It will be entralling to see how Harbhajan bowls to pointing and Hayden.Kumble as humble and hardworking as ever will like to add to his tally of wickets and would like to surpass warne when he retires.Cameroon white has to lead the spin attack for the visitors and never underestimate him,alas he is another australian.
Wars within the battle
Brett Lee Vs Sachin
Pointing Vs Harbhajan
Poinitng Vs Ishant
S.Clarke Vs Dravid
Sachin,Sourav,Laxman,Dhoni -It is very suprising and ridiculous that the media has been consistently criticizing Laxman because he has bee n our sucessful test batsman in the last year.He averages 52 in his last 12 test matches.With Sourav announcing his retirement we can expect him to go as a hero fighting.And now it comes to our master,how many times I have to say this ,he was the difference between the two sides when they met last time.Hope he shows his champion stuffs once again.Much attension will be on Dhoni as he has not produced any significant innings with the bat in test matches for the past one year.How can we expect him to take the test team forward.His performance is crucial for India's future in test cricket....
Clarke,Hussey,Watson,Haddin -Clarke has proved that he can take the Australian side forward in the years to come and his refusal to play in the IPL send strong signals and shows the passion he shows to play in his national colours.He is a great player of spin and the visitors depend on him to deleiver.Mr.Cricket has always been at his best and his commitment levels are unbeleivable.Now the interesting part ..Can Haddin and Watson do or excell the roles of Gilchrist and Symonds respectively.I beleive the latter is going to be the deciding factor of the test series.If he can play well and provide that crucial 60+ runs needed in the middle order and bowl his heart out as he always does,he is going to win the match for Australia.Well for Haddin,only time can answer the question
The Pace Attack
Zaheer khan is the spearhead of the host and his craft in bringing the ball in against the right handers is crucial.Then the man who made a mockery of Ricky pointing seven months ago,if he can do it this time again,the series is in the host's pocket.
Brett Lee is in the tranistion phase of superb and great.It is fitting that his evolution from an Akthar to Mcgrath has come good and is influending their side's sucess.Clarke has his lethal inswingers that can break into the defence of Dravid and Sachin.He comes in and bowls that '2 inches outside off stump' balls time and time and again.Johnson has been the trump cars for the Aussies breaking into the side at a young age and showing a lot of temperamant
The Spin attack
It is a pity that the mighty Aussies cannot produce a replacement for Warne and it describes the class of the champion bowler.It will be entralling to see how Harbhajan bowls to pointing and Hayden.Kumble as humble and hardworking as ever will like to add to his tally of wickets and would like to surpass warne when he retires.Cameroon white has to lead the spin attack for the visitors and never underestimate him,alas he is another australian.
Wars within the battle
Brett Lee Vs Sachin
Pointing Vs Harbhajan
Poinitng Vs Ishant
S.Clarke Vs Dravid
Border -Gavaskar Trophy Comprehensive Preview - Part -I
Border -Gavaskar Trophy Comprehensive Preview - Part -I As the start of the first test comes nearer,the intensity and the excitement to see the contest is ramping up.Let us get a complete picture of the competition and the rivalry that every cricket fan is thrilled to witness.As the start of play is just two more days ahead,let us put together a head to head comparison of the two teams and see what we can expect... The Opening Pair Shewag,Gambhir Vs Hayden,Jaques Never before in an India-Australia series has been these reliable opening partnerships in both the teams.How can anyone forget the runs scored by the sweep shots of Hayden 7 years ago broadcasting his arrival to the big scene.It continuously makes us wonder how one Australian player coming straight away into the team can fill in the shoes of a Veteran.Gilchrist did it for Healy,Hussey did it for Martin or S.Waugh for that matter,Clarke for M.Waugh(including his bowling contribution) and now Jacques is doing it for Langer.That is the strength and character of the Australian team.The Australiam team's batting success depends hugely on the contribution of Hayden same as the host depends on the performance of Shewag.Gambhir has evolved into such a wonderful ODI and T20 player and it is a huge challenge for him to prove his worth in the test matches.The opening partnerships in both the teams are going to be a vital factor in the course of the series. The Crucial No:3 - The Wall Vs The Punter Test Matches are won and lost by your No:3.It is such a crucial position that after Dravid became our No:3 we started wining matches outside India.Pointing has also played a huge role in Australia's dominance in the past decade.It is a huge coincidence that both of them is having their ability questioned at this moment.Pointing being doubted his ability to face spin in subcontinent wickets and Dravid being doubted for a chink in his armour of Defence.But the fact remains that the series is highy dependent on the way that these two men are going to reply to their critics. |
Monday, October 6, 2008
Can we taste the Kangaroo curry this time atleast...
Here we go...The clash what they call the 'Fight of their lives',the clash that have seen many enthralling episodes in its earlier versions.Here is why I call this the 'series to watch ..'
Apart from the one-off ashes series in 2005,no other team other than india has been consistent in competing against the Aussies in the last decade.Taking the Sydney match away from the last series,it was virtually drawn.And the last time tthey were here,that final day's rain at Chennai ruined our chances of squaring the series.So,in terms of competition and results ,it is very difficult to pick the better of the two teams.
The breath taking duels that this clash has witnessed like the warne-sachin,bhajji-pointing and dont forget the Ishant-Pointing spell in Perth,the best I have ever seen,no wonder the world is waiting to see another such duel .The Indian bowlers made a mockery of Pointing in their last series andit will be interesting to see how he combat spin this time.If India goes for the kill to get Pointing out cheaply and suceeds in it ,the trophy is on our bag at no time.
Time has come to check the new Australian era whether Clarke can become the next Steve waugh or Pointing,Haddin the next gilly.Threy are going to miss Warne and Mcgrath dearly,but dont underestimate the likes of Stuart Clark and Johnson because these are the guys who once rattled the Indian middle order some time back.Dont underestimate this Australian team,as they play hard and winning is every thing for them.
Can the fab five deliver again?Well this is the million dollar question at present.I honestly beleive they can and thinking the contribution they have done to Indian cricket in the last fifteen years it is fitting that they add this Aussie series victory under their belt before they retire and hence can say they made their team the best in the world.
P.S: As I am in bangalore now,I am going to witness the match live at the Chinnasamy stadium.Thrilled to see my heros live ,hope they deliver this time...Somewhere inside my heart it strikes hardly that i am not going to see Gilly collecting the balls anymore...
Apart from the one-off ashes series in 2005,no other team other than india has been consistent in competing against the Aussies in the last decade.Taking the Sydney match away from the last series,it was virtually drawn.And the last time tthey were here,that final day's rain at Chennai ruined our chances of squaring the series.So,in terms of competition and results ,it is very difficult to pick the better of the two teams.
The breath taking duels that this clash has witnessed like the warne-sachin,bhajji-pointing and dont forget the Ishant-Pointing spell in Perth,the best I have ever seen,no wonder the world is waiting to see another such duel .The Indian bowlers made a mockery of Pointing in their last series andit will be interesting to see how he combat spin this time.If India goes for the kill to get Pointing out cheaply and suceeds in it ,the trophy is on our bag at no time.
Time has come to check the new Australian era whether Clarke can become the next Steve waugh or Pointing,Haddin the next gilly.Threy are going to miss Warne and Mcgrath dearly,but dont underestimate the likes of Stuart Clark and Johnson because these are the guys who once rattled the Indian middle order some time back.Dont underestimate this Australian team,as they play hard and winning is every thing for them.
Can the fab five deliver again?Well this is the million dollar question at present.I honestly beleive they can and thinking the contribution they have done to Indian cricket in the last fifteen years it is fitting that they add this Aussie series victory under their belt before they retire and hence can say they made their team the best in the world.
P.S: As I am in bangalore now,I am going to witness the match live at the Chinnasamy stadium.Thrilled to see my heros live ,hope they deliver this time...Somewhere inside my heart it strikes hardly that i am not going to see Gilly collecting the balls anymore...
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