Screw the bowlers

What is it that ICC has against the bowlers?

You can only bowl one bouncer in an over.

You are only allowed two fielders outside the circle during power play.

You don't get an LBW if the ball pitches outside the line of stumps.

The benefit of doubt is always given to the batsmen.

Batsmen get a free hit when the bowlers over-step.

As if the already existing rules were not enough, ICC comes up with new ones.

The batting team will decide when to introduce either the second or the third
Powerplay during their innings, starting with the one-day series between New
Zealand and Bangladesh in October. The change from the earlier scenario, in
which the fielding side decided when Powerplays would be taken, is part of the
ICC's new playing conditions which takes effect from October 1.

After this the bowlers have nothing left.

They can't defend themselves when the batsmen are thrashing them. Its like you are getting beaten all over with your hands tied up. Its like the ol' school bully eating up your tiffin and you watch him helplessly.

The bowlers will definitely be tearing their hair apart after this.

If ICC continues like this, it won't be long before bowlers will be an extinct species. They may even introduce bowling machines for T20.

BTW ... just to cover up, ICC has made some good change.

The committee also aimed to curb players from taking comfort breaks during a
match by stating that substitute fielders will be only permitted in cases of
injury, illness or other wholly acceptable reasons, which should be limited to
extreme circumstances.

Watch out India!!! You might just have to field the full 50 overs.

DC faces the axe

The first axe of IPL finally falls.

How apt it is that the victim is the eight ranked team in the last IPL.

VVS will no more be the captain of Deccan Chargers. He never was anyways.

Gilli will be taking up the reigns during next years IPL. Rather he continues what he did during IPL 08.

Robin Singh will not be the DC coach any more.

Darren Lehman takes his place.

But then will it help?

Gilli captained DC for most part of IPL 08.. But they kept on losing.

They still have the head-strong Afridi ... who gets distracted by the cheerleaders.

VVS is still not a T20 player.

Rohit Sharma has not been in any kind of form recently.

And where are the bowlers?

I don't see DC doing any better even in the next version of IPL.

Next in line surely is Royal Challengers.

The week that was

It has been a long time.

It feels like ages since i have blogged.

Was busy travelling whole week and was difficult to even access the net.

Hence was away from most of the cricketing news as well.

But now that i am back, i see that a lot has happened as expected.

BCCI has changed. In a lot of ways too.

The whole administration has changed.

Shashank Manohar is the new boss.

Kris Srikanth is the new chief of selectors.

Also they have launched a new website.

On the field, ROI thrashed Delhi in the irani trophy.

But it was disappointing that the batsmen were still not at their best. With the 1st test against Australia only 10 days away, this sure is a cause of worry.

Sadly another blast rocked Delhi yesterday. My condolences to all who have been affected.

Delhi is one of the venues where Australia will play a test. It is to be seen whether there will be any change in the venue or not?

Also a lot of things have happened in the blogosphere. Have got a lot of catching up to do.

So bye everyone for the time being as i go through all that has been written in my absence.

Do you know them?

'Coz I don't.

I swear I don't know the team who is coming to tour India next week.

As far as I knew it was supposed to be Australia?

But which Australian team is this?

They are not the ones who are doing the mind games.

They are not projected as the favorites.

There is no Symo.

They have only 4 players who have played a test in India before. And this does not include their best bowler.

Their captain averages 12 in this country.

And their best player in India is scared of Bhaji.

Is it really the Australian team which is world #1?

Is it the same Australian team which toured India in 2004 and humiliated us?

Is it the same Australian team who is kicking ass the world over all through the decade?

Or because of security reasons they are sending some other team?

I would like to know. Who are they?

Mendis Mystery

Few players, both current and former, try to decode Mendis.

Decode Mendis

Sachin Tendulkar out of Irani Trophy.

I should not write about it.

This is the most dangerous topic to write about.

Many have tried it before and suffered. You can ask SP.

But still i refuse to learn from them and would go ahead.

Its Sachin Tendulkar.

He has done it again.

And he has again been replaced by Badri.

This is becoming too monotonous. Too routine for my liking.

Before a test series, Tendulkar skips an inconsequential match due to injury.

He had declared himself fit for Irani Trophy. But at the last hour has opted out of it because of injury.

His injuries have become too frequent. Its there in every series.

Since CB series he hasn't featured in any ODI's. And that was 7 months back.

As ott points out, may be he is looking to play only in tests?

If that is the case, why doesn't make it official?

Though I am scared to receive all the flak from fellow bloggers, but i would still ask.

Shoudn't SRT retire from ODI's?

Arjuna shows courage

In my earlier post I was wondering what has happened to Arjuna Ranatunga?

Once the best captain of Sri Lanka ... why is he making an ass of himself in front of the whole world?

I still haven't got any answer.

But now Arjuna has again done what he is best at - 'leading from the front'.

There aren't many in the cricketing world who go against BCCI.

Arjuna has done that.

In doing so he has set a precedent for all the boards to follow.

The ICL players are a talented lot. BCCI or any other board has no business banning these players from playing in any other tournaments.

But unfortunately this decision of Arjuna will definitely create a rift between SLC and BCCI.

Well ... a lot of off-the field-activities and politics have been taking centre stage in the world of cricket.

Eagerly waiting for Oct 09 for the action to begin.

Why are you surprised?

There will be a new team in this years Indian Cricket League (ICL).

This team will be called 'Dhaka Warriors'.

As the name suggests it consists of players from Bangladesh.

Players both retired or currently playing for Bangladesh.

But ICC & BCB ... why are you surprised?

All this while they were thrashed by any god damn team in world cricket.

They have gone from bad to worse since their inception in test cricket.

Even a club level Australian side disgraced them 3-0.

So BCB & ICC ... why are you surprised?

They have defeated Pakistan, India & South Africa in the World Cup.

They have even defeated a full strength Australian side.

But they still remain those eternal minnows.

Still BCB & ICC ... you seem to be surprised?

You gave them the test status.

But forgot to develop the game so that they could play test cricket.

You kept on changing the captains, sacking the players.

But forgot to make a pool of players to replace them.

The team kept on losing.

Players forgot how to play.

And you removed them like dirt.

Now when they want to play,

they want to do what they do best,

tell me BCB & ICC ... why the fuck are you still surprised?

Finally the truth.

Virender Sehwag is known for his straight hitting.

He is also known for his straight forward comments.

All the Indian players are saying how immaterial Andrew Symond's absence will be for the test series.

But you cannot make Sehwag make all those artificial comments.

So finally, the truth is out.

"We are happy he is not coming because he can change the course of a match any
time. He bats at No. 5 and can bowl too, so it will be to our advantage. He is a
very good player and you need such players to lift the competition. It is a loss
for cricket, but we're happy."

Thank you Sehwag. We love your straight forward hits & your straight forward comments.

Will the Oz come to India?

Delhi was rocked by serial blasts yesterday. After Ahmedabad & Bangalore it was the turn of the country's capital to get the blow. This is an act of cowardice and the Indian government should try all possible means to catch hold of the culprits and punish them severely.

Coming back to cricket, Australia are supposed to come to India for their 4 test tour. Due to these blasts, Cricket Australia has shown concern about the security in India. CA is set to commission a security team for an urgent report about the security arrangements in India.

Cricket Australia will commission an urgent report from its long-term security
adviser outlining the safety situation in India following a series of bomb
blasts in New Delhi on Saturday that killed more than 20 people. The city is the
venue for Australia's third Test, starting on October 29, and the terrorist
attacks raise more safety issues after they decided not to tour Pakistan this
month for the Champions Trophy, a stance which led to the postponement of the
tournament.

Australia were one of the eight teams that backed out of the Champions Trophy which resulted in the postponing of the CT. Now just 10 days before the Aussies are set to come to India, there are security concerns in India as well.

But are these two cases same?

From outside, it should be. In both the cases its the terrorist attacks which has caused the boards to think about the security.

So will Australia reschedule their tour to India?

Will this tour be shifted to a neutral venue?

The chances are less. If CA is sane enough then the chances are less. After all an India-Australia series is the most sought after series in cricket right now. It involves a huge amount of money for both the boards. The money involved is much more than the Champions Trophy. Hence cancelling this tour is out of the question.

Rescheduling is also not a solution. It is well known that the ICC's calender is completely packed. They are having a tough time finding a slot for CT. When will they arrange this series?

Another solution which both the boards might come up with is to play this series in a neutral venue like Canada or Sharjah. But for this both the boards have to agree. I don't see BCCI agreeing to this possibility easily. Why would BCCI want to share its own pie?

As I see it, the Australia tour will continue as it is. That is what all we fans also hope for. After all its the Indo-Australia series. The best in the last decade.

Unexpected Supporter

Andrew Symonds is not included in the Australian squad for the Indian tour.

Earlier he was sent back home after he failed to attend a team meeting because he had gone fishing.

He has a bad record in following team discipline.

Its been said that Symmo has still not forgotten the racism row he had with Harbhajan Singh during the Sydney test.

There are reports saying that all is not well between Symmo and other Australian team members. There are rumours of a rift going on between Symmo & Clarke (pup).

Also Symmo has been told to consult a psychiatrist to get over his unstable state of mind.

At such a time when you are down, when you are going through a bad time in your life, when you don't have a good and healthy state of mind, all you need is a good friend. You need someone to be there with you and support you at all time.

And guess who is this friend for Symonds?

Its none other than our very own Bhajji !!!

Threat of the Australian spinners

"We are not worried about whoever comes. I'm sure our batsmen will be okay."

This is what Harbhajan Singh says about the threat the Australian slow bowlers may pose to the Indian batsmen.

It might be true. Rather it should be true.

After all, the Indian batsmen are the best players of spin in the world.

They have mastered all the spinners of the world.

They are so good that even the spin legend Shane Warne was a sitting duck in front of them.

So how can one Bryce McGain - who is well past his prime - pose a serious threat to the Indian batsmen.

But wasn't the same thing said about Ajantha Mendis?

Wasn't it said before the test series in Sri Lanka that Mendis won't be a threat at all?

What actually happened is all history.

I know that McGain is not Mendis.

But how many people knew Mendis before the last series?

Moreover, aren't the Indians known to make the careers of new bowlers?

The absence of a well-known spinner is surely a good sign for Indians.

But it may not be as easy as it looks.

We definitely have a good series on our hands.

Champions Trophy or Bi-lateral tournament?

Both work & health kept me out of blogging for a few days.

Quite a lot of things happened during this time.

'Dada' got dropped from RoI squad. And again went the blogosphere on its senior vs junior debate. Looks like the curtain is down on dada's career.

The ICC awards were held in Dubai - some deserving, some not and some unnecessary.

And then BCCI decided not to participate in the 2009 Champion's Trophy because of prior commitments.

Australia is coming to India for a series of ODI's. This is a very important tour for BCCI. After all an Indo-Australia tour always brings in lot of cash.

This decision of BCCI again puts a question mark over the importance of Champion's Trophy. If a board gives more importance to a bi-lateral tournament over a Champions Trophy, then surely a Champions Trophy loses its credibility.

Its getting difficult to find a place for CT in the already packed schedule. And with more countries backing out due to some reason or the other, its better to scrap it off.

Its actually worthwile having Australia play India for 7 matches than watching a CT where more matches will be a boring one-sided affair.

And with more tournaments like IPL, Champions League, etc getting more mileage, an unwanted and unnecessary tournament like CT should be scrapped off.

But then... what happens to Pakistan?

"Girls only run after cricketers"

That is what Pankaj Advani - Worlds Billiards Champion - says.

Looks like someone is really jealous of the cricketers...

Here is the full interview.

sacking is not the solution for Bangladesh.

Australia wiped out the Bangladeshis 3-0.

As if the results were surprising, Bangladeshi coach has warned his captain Mohammad Ashraful to perform or he may face the axe.

Wonder what would have happened if Siddons was the Indian coach and he was under BCCI? Lets talk about that later.

Will sacking the captain solve the problem or make the situation any better?

The problem is not the performance. They not only lack performance but the will also.

They have been playing ODI's and tests for a long time now. Its high time they started winning matches on a regular basis. However, it seems they are quite content being the eternal minnows who can only produce a few upsets along the way.

Sacking a few players won't solve this porblem. Even a new captain won't be able to solve this problem.

What they need to do is to develop a good & competitive domestic season. This way they will develop a good pool of players. Then they will have a good bench strength which will in turn motivate the current international players to perform better.

But what is more important is for the players themselves to think that they can win. The coach and the captain definitely have a role to play in this regard. The players should continue to be motivated.

And while all this is happening, they should stop playing tests and try to improve.

Meanwhile ICC should develop a good administration in Bangladesh so that someday they may become a good test playing nation.

It all looks easy on paper. But looking at Sri Lankan team, it can be definitely said that it is possible.

Michael Clarke, New Aussie Spin Sensation

The Australia tour of India is now only a month away.

And Michael Clarke might end up being the spin spear-head for the Aussies on this tour.

Yes, I am not kiddin'.

Michael Clarke is already taking help from Shane Warne for his bowling.

Shane Warne .. who could never master the Indian batsmen.

And whatever happened to Beau Casson and Bryce McGain?

The last I heard was both suffered niggling injuries while playing against India A. Never knew they were so serious. Or are the Aussies worried about their inexperience?

Clarke has a good bowling record against India.

But him spear-heading the Aussie spinning attack is just not Australia.

Well, guess its good news for India. After the M & M debacle in Sri Lanka, they will be more than happy to face Clarke.

Arjuna Ranatunga, you Ass.

Of course he is.

BCCI supported Sri Lankan cricket when they almost went bankrupt.

In reply, Ranatunga went against BCCI over the Zimbabwe debate.

Now he is adamant about continuing Sri Lankan tour of England which clashes with the 2nd IPL season.

Even if his own players want the tour to be cancelled.

Even if the sports minister is looking for a compromise.

Even if the President has asked the board to look for an alternate plan.

Who do you think you are Arjuna?

You will make your players tour a country they don't want to go to.

You will defy the sports minister & the Prez and will be adamant about your own decision.

I respected you as a cricketer, a captain.

But what an ass you have become.

Why, Gary?

Gary Kirsten, didn't you know,
Never to put your hands in fire.

Didn't your daddy teach you,
Never to wake up a sleeping lion.

Or perhaps you forgot,
that you are a part of Indian cricket.

Or rather the "BCCI World".

A world where you got no rights.

No right to Freedom,
No right to Speech.

Here there is only one rule.

BCCI is the BOSS,

BCCI is the LORD.

And you don't piss the LORD off,
And get away with it.

One Mr. Chappell tried it.

I am sure he still regrets it.

Don't tread on his path, Gary

Else you too will meet the same fate.

What a loss can do ...

Sri Lanka are shocked by their defeat to India at home. They don't know how to digest that.

What else can explain the recent comments from the Sri Lankan players.

Few days back it was the captain Mahela Jayawardene who said that India gave in to the pressure created by Sri Lankan bowlers.

Now its turn of their latest sensation Ajantha Mendis.

He said the only reason why he failed to replicate his stupendous Test form
in ODIs was the lesser number of overs he bowled in the shorter version of
the game.
"There wasn't really much of a difference between the two sides. It was more or less the same for me. My problem in one-dayers was that there were only 10 overs to bowl and it is very difficult to take wickets in that limited time," he said.

What exactly do you mean Ajantha?

All the bowlers have only 10 overs to bowl in the ODI. All the bowlers have to take wickets in the same number of overs. No one gets more than that. Hence saying that that was the problem in ODI's is plain ridiculous.

It is outright insane.

Well... to save some disgrace he had this to add.

Virender Sehwag was the toughest to bowl to without doubt.

Good to see that Mendis hasn't lost it all.

ICC Rankings - A joke !!!

This is further to my previous post about England's ICC Ranking.

After writing that post and going through the comments made by fellow bloggers, I thought of going through the recent past record of England in ODI's to check how much they deserve to be #2 in ODI's.

Well... here is what I found. Here I am seeing the result of the ODI series played by England (both home & away) in 2008.

England in New Zealand - 2007/08. England lost 3-1.
New Zealand in England - 2008. England lost 3-1.
South Africa in England - 2008. England won 5-0 or 4-1.

To summarise, one loss away, one loss at home and one win at home.

Then I decided to compare this with Indian teams performance in 2008. For your info, Indian ODI team is 5th in ICC Rankings.

Commonwealth Bank series. India won the finals against Oz, 2-0.
Kitply Cup. India was the runners up.
India again were the runners up.
India in Sri Lanka. India won 3-2.

To summarise, two wins away and two time runners up in away series.

India has defeated Australia in Australia, Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.

Still ... India lies at 5th and England are 3rd(soon to become 2nd).

WHAT THE #*^%!$@ CRAP ???

Is England really the second best ODI side?

England is already the #3 ODI side in the world.

If they win the 5th match, they will repalce SA as the #2 ODI side.

Are they really second best in the world?