And the world cup goes to....

A post after a long time...

Rest the ideas of ODI being a competition of the past and that which is to be forgotten in the near future...
The world cup 2011 in the heart of cricket has given us more than one reason to feel so. The ODI world cup which started with a belief that this well could be the tournament which decides the fate of One-Day cricket in general..

The format which has undergone many changes after the advent of T20 and the cash rich IPL, survived one of the biggest scares that it faced.. People, fans, commentators and "big wigs" of the cricket control , each having their own reason, felt that three forms of cricket cannot stand together; whereas Test cricket being the pinnacle of cricket and no questions of replacing or fine tuning that while T20 presenting a formidable cash flow meant that the tour calendars and FTP accommodated more and more of T20 and less of test matches.. ICC stepped in with regulations on number of T20 matches to be played in a bi-lateral series ensuring the delay of the inevitable - the death of ODI.

Empty stands greets the players. Low TRP for television channels broadcasting cricket.. ODI went through a litmus test of sorts and hasn't it come out victorious at the end of it all..
To summarize what has been, an eventful start in Bangladesh leading to a series of close matches , minnows showing why they indeed deserve a place in the tournament and to top it all India going all the way through ensured that many still tuned into the channel unlike 2007.

The English angle: 
  As the pioneers of cricket and as a country who invented cricket, it was on their shoulders to ensure that ODI stayed. And thats exactly what they did.. Provided a series of close, nail biting finishes which infused life into the "dying" form of cricket.. Not a single match of England was decided before the final death overs.. Every match provided so much enthusiasm and encouraged people to watch the game more and more. Surely, a master stroke from the English to help their brainchild from dying.

Irish and Dutch:

    Questioning the presence of associates and a never ending debate on their presence in ICC tournaments could (or well atleast should) have been put to rest seeing the way Dutch and Irish performed. Dutch, an one man show riding on ten Doescharter , though less confident than what they should have been put up a brave fight in tough situations. A little bit more of experience in handling pressure situations and definitely much more help from the ICC, could have seen them upset one of the test playing nation's hope of qualifying for the Super8. Irish on the other hand, were a bunch of highly confident players who always believed that they could beat the best.. Probably, fans and critics are a bit more biased in rating them after the Kevin O'Brien blitzkrieg. What stands out in their performance more than their victories/losses in the 6 matches that they played is the confidence in the captain's eyes right from the toss and the way they carry themselves on the field. A team that should be given more and more opportunities to perform at the big stages. (Also poaching to be stopped/restricted/whatever!!!)

The top teams:
    Performances of the top teams/ the teams at the top of the ICC rankings were though convincing not authoritative. Unlike the previous editions of the world cup where we had teams whom we would pick as favorites on any given day and in the particular tournament atleast we would guess with utmost surety that they are going to win, this world cup was different. Though people would have called Aus vs Pak as an easy Aus win or a tough Pak win, nobody would have even thought of Aussies having to face their first loss in world cup history since the super8 of 1999 world cup (Phew!! That itself quite proves my point on lob-sided matches in the past). Who would have predicted India vs England to be a tie!! or England lose to Irish  and the same England win against the mighty SouthAfrica..

The hype:
    Quarter Finals was the most talked of across the nation (India).. India vs Australia.... The build up to that was humongous, monstrous.. The media hype around the match and the fan frenzy almost as though it was the world cup finals thats being played.. Calls for 2003 revenge went around... (I never understood revenges dating back to almost a decade, insane...!!!) The victory to India at the end of was hailed and talked across the length and the breadth of the nation that people started believing that nothing could get bigger than this... (On a personal note, it was a great run chase showing the character of the teams involved and worthy of being a finals!) ....
 

What next!!
   The mother of all battles !!! Border lines weakened. Visa frenzy... Name a celebrity and he would be in Mohali kind of frenzy... Govt involved.. People who would not even know cricket came to the stadium (at the cost of few thousands of tickets not being sold to the fans, a sorry tale that was re-told in the finals too).. Govts wanted to use this as an opportunity to hold peace talks... Phew!!

Lanka again..........
India and SriLanka are so used to watching these two countries play, something that calls for earth day akin to earth hour from the cricket fans, who would rather switch of the television sets than to watch these two battle it out for the nth time (n -> infinity)... Got bored of it....
And so to cut short, we shall go to the last ball... MSD whacks the ball in his trademark style and Sanga watches that from behind with his head hung down...

And so the world cup goes to................ India......

IPL Auctions

Great IPL auctions today.. Was enthralling. Auction was telecast live on set max and was difficult to miss a single minute of the entire process.
The teams as they stand today :


Chennai Super Kings : MSD, Albie Morkel, Raina, Murali Vijay (all retained).  Mike Hussey,Saha, Dwayne Bravo, Bollinger, Ashwin, Badrinath.
--- Have tried to retain the same squad by buying Hussey, Bollinger, Badri and Ashwin. Ashwin and Badri came at a very high price compared to their base price. Bravo was a cheap buy. His availability would be question though. They tried hard to retain Murali but couldn't.
---------- Strong squad. Still need Indian players and a couple of more bowlers and all rounders.

Deccan Chargers: Kevin Pieterson , White, Sangakkara, Duminy, Dhawan, Steyn, Ishanth, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra.
--- Duminy, Ojha, Mishra are cheap buys. Ojha could play a big role. Steyn is their costliest and the best pick. Bowling is good. Sangakkara may be the dark horse. White could captain the side (he is Victorian Bushrangers captain too). Ishanth may be the weaker one here. Nice mix of players.

---------- Nice mix but not still balanced. No match winners barring Steyn.

Delhi Daredevils: Viru(retained), Irfan Pathan, Warner, Naman Ojha, Hopes, Morne Morkel, Aron Finch.
--- Viru with Warner opening the innings-most destructive. Ojha the best upcoming wicketkeeper . Irfan still doing rounds as a good all rounder. Aron Finch and Hopes are smart buys.

-----------Well balanced top order. Need to have bowlers though. having 3.5Million still in the kitty they may buy a few bowlers tomorrow.

Kings XI Punjab: Gilchrist, Shaun Marsh , Dinesh Karthik, Broad, Nayar, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla and Ryan Harris.
--- The balanced side doesn't quite tell you how their auction went about. Poor bidding cost them quite a few players. Nonetheless, the names make quite a reading and seem strong.

--------------- Balanced , yet something missing...

Kochi : Mahela Jayawardene, VVS Laxman, Brendon McCullum, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Parthiv Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Muralitharan, Steven Smith, Ramesh Powar, Brad Hodge.
--- Smart buys happened in the second half of the day. Dunno if VVS  Laxman still fits into the T20 mode. RP, Sreesanth are messy one day, master the next. McCullum is unpredictable. Second half picks in Muralitharan, Jadeja, Steven Smith and Brad Hodge made it a decent outing for them.

---------------- Big names - yes, match winners - yes, but not right mix.

KKR:  Kallis, Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan, Eoin Morgan, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Shakib Al Hasan, Manoj Tiwary.
--- Opened brilliantly with Gambhir, Kallis and Yusuf. Kallis, Morgan, Haddin and Lee could be their foreign players in the starting line up too. Made up for absence of all rounders in the first 3 seasons. A big big name is missing from the mix of things here, Yes. Ganguly. Kolkata = Ganguly, would be difficult to imagine a side without him for both his fans and in in Eden Gardens.

---------------- Opened brilliantly, but missed out on a lot of Indian players. With just over a million to spend would be interesting to see their strategy. Very strong. need to complete the jigsaw though.

Mumbai Indians: Sachin, Malinga, Pollard , Harbhajan (retained). Rohit Sharma, Davy Jacobs, Symonds, James Franklin.
--- Too costly a price for Rohit, more than Sachin now. Dunno what they are trying now. Held back because of a smaller purse after costly buys.

----------------- Indian players needed. need a right mix.

Pune Warriors: Yuvraj, Graeme Smith, Robin Uthappa, Tim Paine, Angelo Mathews, Ashish Nehra, Nathan McCullum, Callum Fergusson.
--- Best Players in the auction. Bought/Snatched Uthappa from RCB. Fanatic bidding for Uthappa, Yuvraj, Angelo. but at the end of the day, Pune emerge the strongest at the end of the first day bidding. Impressive bidding from Sahara team.

----------------- Well Balanced. Go for the kill with still 2million left. 

Rajasthan Royals: Warne, Watson(retained). Ross Taylor, Dravid, Botha, Collingwood
--- Reduced auction purse. Ross Taylor is a good buy, but Dravid the surprise pick. Botha and Collinwood good allrounders. Never expected Botha to go for such a great price.

----------------- Far from calling themselves a team. Foundation is ok. Lets see what happens.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (retained), Dilshan , Zaheer, AB DeVilliers, Vettori, Saurabh Tiwary, Dirk Nannes, Pujara.
--- Comfortable, decisive. Knew what they wanted and bid appropriately. Should also be thanking the stars for getting Dilshan, Vettori and Nannes at that rate. Kumble played a great role in picking the team one would presume. Kohli the captain ???

----------------- Very strong on paper. Match winners all the way. Well balanced. Strong.

Lets see what is in store tomorro !!!

Can HE Replace HIM?

Happy new year Usman Khawaja !! 

A special wish as he would make his debut in the new year test as a replacement for Ricky. 

News flowing around that Ponting has already played his last, will he make a place for himself in the side ? 
Can he replace HIM? Australia's first Asian born Muslim cricketer set to "replace" one of the modern day legends ?? Big shoes to fill in.......

Passing on tricks??

First Asian born cricketer in reckoning for Australia National team. Has represented Australia U-19 National team. Has received rave reviews for his performances. And this season he has mixed patience and calm with aggression and has been among the runs for NSW. Recent being a fine century against South Australia in the Ryobi One-Day Cup.

Since Australian batsmen are struggling with their poor form if he plays well in the fifth Ashes test match, there is no doubt that he is going to be a permanent member of the Australian squad. Let’s wish all the very best for the youngster.

And for Ponting, "read the previous post"

His Trade Mark Pull/Hook, Cover-drive , cut shots, seems a long time since we saw them. Aussies have already lost a quite a lot of classy players in the recent past in Gilchrist, Hayden in the batting, Warne, McGrath in bowling, Ponting the last survivor !! :P

All the best Punter!!!!!!!

Would Ponting re-start his career?  OR

Would the qualified pilot Khawaja's international career take off ?

-- Posted By Kiran

The Comeback - Possible ?

Flashback to the infamous Ganguly-Chappell saga ( 2005-06 ). Form dips, controversy, media and other pressures, "drop dada" campaigns etc......

Dada in a pensive mood

He was dropped from the side but he proved the critics who believed that cricket in him is over. What a comeback it was.
Read "Tribute to Dada" to know more about it...

As they say history repeats itself, now in a similar situation is another cricket great Ricky Ponting. A silent beginning, rise from lower middle order to No.3 in batting. From being a tiny man, he amassed runs and stood tall for Aussies. Hailed as one of the modern greats, second only to Sachin in records. He has an impressive record as captain, most of which now being attributed to the presence of legends in the team. Ponting now a mere mortal.

Crying ?? -- Almost.

Dismal form. Cannot play the rising ball. Age catching up. Team in disarray. Calls for Ponting to quit.
Some are even predicting that he has already played his last, I do not want to imagine so. Cricket is so cruel that it more often than not doesn't let its greats script their departure from the game. The next assignment for Aussies is in next August against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and since the domestic season will come to an end before the world cup gets over, its difficult for him to improve/adjust his batting and become the man of whom he is a mere shadow now...

This brings us to the question - Is he ready for a comeback ? Are we ready to witness another comeback aka Dada ?
Ganguly showed trmendous application and concentration and improved his batting so well and played much better than he ever had in the past. If Ponting were to do anything like that or even a little lesser than that he could quit on a high or to put it - script his exit.

Or as Ian Chappel puts it - Ponting past his use-by-date...

Image of the year

Jacques Kallis tries to evade a bouncer from Sreesanth

A batsman from a country other than the one whose players cannot handle bouncers hopping to tackle a bouncer bowled by a bowler from a country which doesn't have a history of producing genuine fast bowlers.
Whatever be the result of the series, this image shall reside in the memories of all cricket fans across the globe. Hats off to the photographer who took the shot at the right time.