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......

the year that was

2009 was an eventful year for many reasons.

ICC Champions trophy held after a long gap.
ICC T20 world cup second edition.
The "death" of ODI or the prediction of it.
Rise of India
Fall of Australia
Windies Fiasco
ASHES

The year started of with back to back SA-AUS series. SA won the edition in Australia and Australia won in SA.. 6 matches stood 3-3 at the end. Rather than saying Australia won in SA, it would not be incorrect if we say Mitchell Johnson won in SA.. He was the lone performer with ball and bat in the series and announced himself as the next all-rounder. Dale Steyn's performance with the bat will also be remembered for a long time..

There was a back to back ENG vs WI series too. Windies winning the home series and England in their home series. Windies showed no interest in the England tour that prompted the greats to withdraw them from the T20 world cup that was to follow their English summer.

Pakistan played back to back series against Lankans.. The home series in Pakistan saw the worst ever terrorist attack on the visiting Lankan team that injured many players. A torrid time to go through for those involved.. The return tour after the attacks, went Lanka's way..

New Zealand showcased an one-man show- Daniel Vettori.. He scored a test 100 in Sri Lankan soil and showed great determination. They came close to winning but never won a single match in the series.

A year of back to back series- Bangladesh and Zimbabwe competed fiercely in 5 ODI series.. The series saw Hamilton Mazakadza score heavily and create a record for highest aggregate in a 5 match series. Charles Coventry almost broke the record for the highest individual score in ODIs. 194* is rated higher than 194 out, so officially Coventry is the highest run scorer.

India won a series in Newzealand after ages.. 1-0 was the result and India completed the tour with some amazing play in the ODIs as well...

Windies lost to Bangladesh handing the latter their first ever test series win.. Windies lost a majority of their players to a ongoing contract crisis.. A 2nd string Windies side was captained by a hopeless player and they dint even look like posing a threat to Bangladesh who gleefully went away with a win..


ICC T20 was a bitter experience for India, who were bounced out.. Windies showed remarkable enthusiasm and courage and went all the way to semis.. They lost the semis- a total team effort... Lanka went to finals on the back of Dilshan's amazing knocks and good bowling.. Pakistan was immensely impressive, a dynamic leader in Younus Khan stepped up and Pak lifted the T20 world cup much deservedly..

ICC Champions trophy revived the concept of ODIs.. High TV ratings proved that if the quality of cricket is good then people do tune into ODI cricket.. Quite a lot of matches went to the wire.. The catch Younus Khan dropped made a big news and the dirty match fixing came into picture again.. Pakistan in the wrong side of things once again, unfortunately.. An exhibition of reverse swing from Rana Naved saw Aussie struggle to win and that made India exit from the Champions trophy too..

ASHES was the next big highlight this year, England won it.. Monty Panesar and James Anderson dug it out in Cardiff, the 1st match. ENG never looked back.. Johnson was not in good form and that hurt them a lot. Though, statistically Aussies were far better yet bizarre thing was they never capitulated on the big moments and Ponting had lost the Ashes twice on England soil..

40 odd tests and 250 ODIs and quite a few T20s made up this year..

Wait !! something is missing..

IPL and CL T20 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Modi never makes anything without creating sufficient noise. (sufficient??!!) General elections in India meant that IPL had to be rescheduled and revised but the govt did not seem to agree with Modi. And what does Modi do? Shift INDIAN premier league to SA.. "SA have embraced the concept of IPL and its a huge success", this was a signature statement that either prefixed or was a post fix to any answer that Modi gave to a question that did not even require him to say that. A dull IPL..

CL T20 opened avenues. Many fringe players get noticed but the response wasn't encouraging enough.. The people being unaware of the players and teams was a major reason. It meant that they couldn't associate themselves with a team apart from the IPL ones.. Trinidad and Tobago showed that cricket is still alive in Windies and it needs a professional management to improve standards..

sachin at 20

Today, Sachin finishes 20 years in the International circuit..


ST holds all records at stake from batting perspective.. Be it the highest run getter in tests, ODIs, maximum number of 100s in ODI and tests, highest individual score for India in ODIs etc.....................................

20-20.. Lets try listing 20 best memories of ST in these 20 years..

Sachin Tendulkar has been playing top-class cricket for 20 years and he's still producing blistering innings, still looking hungry, still demolishing attacks, still a prized wicket, still a proud competitor. He has not merely been around for two decades. From his first outing to his most recent effort, a stunning 175 in Hyderabad, he has been a great batsman. Longevity counts amongst his strengths. Twenty years! It's a heck of a long time, and it's gone in the blink of an eye.From an attacking batsman in the 90s to a class player in the 2000s, the transformation has been brilliant. The one batsman who knows his body, he changed his style of batting to suit the needs very quickly.. The 100s of late, barring the 175, has been classy.. At no point we would feel that he is scoring, yet so nonchalantly he notches up that elusive 3 figure mark..

1. FIRST SIGHT
            Sachin's 600+ stand with Vinod Kambli in the school level competition.. Playing for Sharadashram VidyaMandir, ST and Kambli each scored triple hundred.. It was apparently broken 15 years later..

2. FIRST TEST
           This day, that year.. Exactly 20yrs ago at Karachi ST making his debut had to face the likes of Akram, Waqar, Imran Khan in his first test match, getting hit on the head. Yet, that kid was ready to come onto the front foot.. He scored a 50 in his 2nd test match itself..

3.FIRST 100 IN OZ
           Everybody talks of this as his best 100.. Setting: Perth,'92 .. Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes, Mike Whitney and Paul Reiffel formed the attack on the bouncy Perth wicket.. Sachin scored 114..

4. LAST OVER- HERO CUP 1993
          I remember this, South Africa needed 6 runs of the last over and ST was handed the ball.. The game was in Calcutta, Eden Gardens.. ST tied them down to just 3 runs and India advanced to the finals.. Finals was against Windies where Kumble took 6-12 to ensure an Indian win..

5. FIRST TIME OPENING THE INNINGS
           Sachin in a recent interview spoke about this. Sidhu was injured and couldn't play.. ST was till then batting at 6. He asked the captain and coach to give him one chance to bat up the order and that he was confident of doing well. If he were to fail, he would never come back again.. He was confident of hitting over the in field in the initial field restriction overs.. Sachin scored 82 of 49 balls against New Zealand.. Opening slot was his ever since..

6. TITAN CUP BANGALORE and MUMBAI- 1996
           Sachin played amazingly for his 88 but got out at the wrong time, India needed 52 runs with 2 wickets in hand.. Srinath and Kumble, local lads set up the win.. The match went almost to midnight, ST won the man of the match award.. In Mumbai, Ind vs SA finals.. Sachin held aloft a round shield..

7. WORLD CUP -1996
           India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka hosted the 96 Wills cricket world cup.. India reached the semi finals purely on Sachin's brilliance.. With 523 runs at 87.16, is the highest scorer in the World Cup..

8. WARNE'S NIGHTMARE 
           Shane Warne had nightmares bowling to Sachin.. India vs Australia test series in 1998.. India won that series 2-1.. He employed slog sweeps and deposited Warne over mid wicket for six time and again..


9. SHARJAH 1997/98
           The one knock that no one will forget.. Two centuries back to back, 143 to ensure India is through to the finals of the Coca Cola cup.. 134 in the finals to ensure India wins it.. It was the first time a cricket tournament in Sharjah did not feature Pakistan. Both the 100s came against Australia and he single handedly won the matches for India.

10. HAILED AS/BY THE DON
            Don Bradman's 90th birthday, Sachin and Warne were invited.. Don said Sachin's batting reminded him of his own batting.. The visuals of Don and Sachin playing a straight drive were shown over and over again in all TV channels..

11. BACK STRAIN and a HEARTBREAK

            Indo-Pak series after a long time, India needed 271 to win in the Chennai test.. Sachin was battling a severe back ache but batted superbly to score 136.. The famous lap sweep came during this test match.. Chennai was witnessing yet another classic from ST.. But a heartbreak was waiting for him, India slumped to defeat.. He was awarded man of the match but did not come to receive it as he was crying in the dressing room..

12. 1999 WORLD CUP
            India were in England to play the 1999 world cup and as usual the hopes rested on Sachin's shoulders.. There was a sad news, his father passed away.. He flew back to India to do the last rites.. Surprisingly, Sachin came back to wear India colours and played for India.. That was amazing spirit.. He scored 140 against Kenya on his return..

13. 2001 SOUTH AFRICA SERIES
             It was the series where ST started playing a new shot.. Upper cut over the slips to negotiate the bouncers.. The series where the match referee was Mike Dennes.. ( Remember!) Sachin and others were called for ball tampering and faced one test ban.. The 3rd test match was an unofficial one, and the star played..

14.  STUMPED FOR THE FIRST TIME
             England and Ashley Giles adopted negative strategy bowling down the leg side to tie Sachin down.. It was their only way to get him out they thought, as they had no faith in themselves to get the master out by fair means..


15. 2003 WORLD CUP, 98 vs PAKISTAN
            2003 world cup began badly with a loss to Australia and scrapped to a win over Holland.. Indian fans were fuming, burnt effigies of the players, pelted stones at their homes in India, painted them black.. Sachin came out and addressed the media asking fans to maintain calm and giving a hope that India would do well.. Under Ganguly, India had a great time in the world cup.. Scores 673 runs at 61.18 in the World Cup, taking India to within a win of the world crown. His 98 against Pakistan in an exceptionally anticipated match is one of the best knocks by an Indian in a World Cup. Attacked the Pakistan bowlers from the 1st ball.. Hoisted Akhtar  for a six over 3rd man.. Australia are champions, but he is named Man of the Series.

16. ROBBED OF 200
            Dravid declared when Sachin was on 194. ST for the 1st time expressed his displeasure in the public.. India went on to win the series, 309 from Viru in Multan.. Ganguly axed. The series saw everything, also India's first series win in Pakistan soil..

17. CENTURIES TO REMEMBER
             A patient 241 in Sydney 2004, minimal off side shots, leading to a draw in the test match and the series..No. 35 against Sri Lanka in Delhi took him past Gavaskar.. His first century in more than two years and 19 Tests, against opposition other than Bangladesh, SCG 2008.. Coveted 100s in the finals..
CB series final, India reached finals thanks to brilliant captaincy from MSD. Ponting wrongly talked of not needing a 3rd final and Sachin obliged.. 114 in Sydney in a 240 run chase, a 91 in the 2nd final ensured India win without having to play the 3rd finals as per Ponting's desire.

18: TWIN RECORDS
            Drives Shane Warne down the ground to score a significant single signaling an entry in the 10000 club.. Celebrates it by scoring 139.. From there on every 1000 run mark, he is the first. Latest one being first one to score 17000 runs..
            Steers Peter Siddle down to third man to become the highest run getter in tests going past Lara.. Hails this as his best record as it took him 19 years to get there.. Scored 12000 in tests..

19. 100 IN CHASING
            Mumbai carnage 26/11.. England's tour was cut short and India couldn't complete a 7-0 whitewash.. It was great of England to come back to play the tests.. Chennai again.. Chennai crowd are blessed indeed.. Yet another class act from Sachin. This time it wasn't a smashing innings.. India's 387 run chase was set up by Viru's brilliance overnight and on the 5th day after quick wickets Sachin and Yuvraj's partnership saw India through.. A paddle sweep that took India to victory and Sachin to his 100..

20. 175 vs AUSTRALIA, HYDERABAD
             May be he has a record in this too.. Maximum heartbreaks after an amazing knock.. Chasing 350 runs to win isn't easy by any standards.. Sachin had not scored big for sometime and a 100 was beckoning.. He chose this stage.. Scored half of the target himself.. Scintillating performance, words will do no good to describe this knock.. Salute the master..

world cup 2011 fixtures

Group A -                Group B -

Australia,                    India,

Pakistan,                    South Africa,

New Zealand,            England,

Sri Lanka,                  West Indies,

Zimbabwe,                 Bangladesh,

Canada,                     Ireland,

Kenya.                       Netherlands.

FIXTURES - 

INDIA

Feb 19     1st match -   India v Bangladesh    Mirpur

Feb 27     11th match - India v England          Kolkata  

Mar 6      21st match - India v Ireland            Bangalore 

Mar 9      25th match - India v Netherlands   Delhi 

Mar 12    29th match - India v South Africa   Nagpur

Mar 20    42nd match -India v West Indies    Chennai

SRI LANKA

Feb 20      3rd match -   Sri Lanka v Canada (Hambantota)

Feb 26      10th match - Pakistan v Sri Lanka (Colombo)

Mar 1       14th match - Kenya v Sri Lanka (Colombo) 

Mar 5       20th match - Australia v Sri Lanka (Colombo)

Mar 10     26th match - Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe (Pallekele)

Mar 18     37th match - New Zealand v Sri Lanka Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

NEW ZEALAND

Feb 20   2nd match -   Kenya v New Zealand          ,Chennai 

Feb 25   8th match -    Australia v New Zealand      ,Nagpur

Mar 4    18th match -  New Zealand v Zimbabwe    ,Ahmedabad 

Mar 8    24th match -  New Zealand v Pakistan (Pallekele) 

Mar 13  30th match -  Canada v New Zealand ,Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Mar 18  37th match -  New Zealand v Sri Lanka ,Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

AUSTRALIA

Feb 21   4th match -   Australia v Zimbabwe           Ahmedabad   

Feb 25   8th match -   Australia v New Zealand      Nagpur

Mar 5   20th match -  Australia v Sri Lanka           Colombo
Mar 13  31st match - Australia v Kenya                 Bangalore 

Mar 16  35th match - Australia v Canada               Bangalore 

Mar 19 39th match -  Australia v Pakistan             Colombo

ENGLAND

Feb 22    5th match -   England v Netherlands    Nagpur 

Feb 27    11th match - India v England                Kolkata 

Mar 2     15th match - England v Ireland            Bangalore 

Mar 6     22nd match -England v South Africa   Chennai

Mar 11   28th match - Bangladesh v England    Chittagong  

Mar 17   36th match - England v West Indies   Chennai 

PAKISTAN

Feb 23    6th match -   Kenya v Pakistan                (Hambantota)
Feb 26   10th match -  Pakistan v Sri Lanka         (Colombo)
Mar 3    17th match -  Canada v Pakistan             (Colombo)
Mar 8    24th match -  New Zealand v Pakistan    (Pallekele)
Mar 14  32nd match - Pakistan v Zimbabwe       (Pallekele)
Mar 19  39th match -  Australia v Pakistan         (Colombo)

WEST INDIES

Feb 24   7th match -    South Africa v West Indies     Delhi  

Feb 28   12th match -  Netherlands v West Indies     Delhi

Mar 4    19th match -  Bangladesh v West Indies      Mirpur 

Mar 11  27th match -  Ireland v West Indies,            Chandigarh  

Mar 17  36th match -  England v West Indies            Chennai

Mar 20  42nd match - India v West Indies                 Chennai

SOUTH AFRICA 

Feb 24   7th match -    South Africa v West Indies ,     Delhi 

Mar 3    16th match -  Netherlands v South Africa      Chandigarh

Mar 6    22nd match - England v South Africa             Chennai

Mar 12  29th match -  India v South Africa  ,               Nagpur

Mar 15  34th match -  Ireland v South Africa,              Kolkata

Mar 19  40th match -  Bangladesh v South Africa,       Mirpur 

BANGLADESH

Feb 19   1st match -   Bangladesh v India                     Mirpur

Feb 25   9th match   - Bangladesh v Ireland                 Mirpur  

Mar 4    19th match - Bangladesh v West Indies         Mirpur  

Mar 11  28th match - Bangladesh v England               Chittagong  

Mar 14  33rd match - Bangladesh v Netherlands        Chittagong  

Mar 19  40th match - Bangladesh v South Africa,       Mirpur

Feb 28    13th match -  Canada v Zimbabwe,                 Nagpur  

Mar 7     23rd match - Canada v Kenya,                       Delhi

Mar 18   38th match -  Ireland v Netherlands,              Kolkata

Mar 20   41st match -  Kenya v Zimbabwe,                   Kolkata

Mar 23	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,    Mirpur
Mar 24	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC    (Colombo)
Mar 25	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,    Mirpur
Mar 26	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,   Ahmedabad

Tue Mar 29	Semi Final - TBC v TBC      (Colombo)
Wed Mar 30	Semi Final - TBC v TBC      Chandigarh

Apr 2

Final - TBC v TBC Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Pakistan in the news

Pakistan is in the news.. Now wait a minute, they aren't playing any international cricket then what takes them to the cricket headlines..

Wasim Bari is appointed as the new COO of PCB, barely a week after the former COO was unceremoniously ousted.. Bari was the PCB director of HR, formerly an interim selector in national selection committee headed by Abdul Qadir that was recently sacked by PCB chairman..

Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir and Aamer Sohail had resigned following problems with Butt, while the chairman sacked chief operating officer Saleem Altaf earlier this year.



The post of PCB chairman is an honorary post, no salary.. But he is entitled to get a lot of benefits-

• Rs. 100,000 as HRA per month, 4 servants, a security guard and cars
• Entitled to a land-line number and an international mobile phone connection with unlimited billing.
• The board pays for his electricity, gas and water bills, or Rs 40,000 monthly and also reimburses him for any medical expense on his own treatment or that of his spouse.
• Entitled to first-class international travel with his wife and business class domestically.
• Traveling allowance of USD 300 per day and USD 600 dollars for accommodation on international trips.

Aamir Sohail who quit as the director of National Cricket Academy recently after he differed with the chairman Ejaz Butt, has launched an attack on Butt stating that he is misfit to head PCB and that he was solely responsible for the WC2011 fiasco..

Sohail also accused the current Pakistan national team coach Intikhab Alam that he was fanning groupism and was responsible for the internal politics that has plagued the team.. He also called for the appointment of a younger man as coach of the national team which he felt had the potential to move ahead and become a top team..

Intikhab Alam on the other hand has said that there are a few former players in the PCB who do not want him to continue as the coach and are conspiring to oust him..

ICL has put Pak players dues on hold after learning that former test players were involved in match fixing and betting in the finals which saw Lahore Badshahs lose the 2nd finals against Hyderabad Heroes to ensure that the 3rd finals was played..

Qasim Umar has accused 2 senior players of match fixing and drug trafficking and has said that he would name those involved at a latter stage as the persons involved were highly influential and that he feared for his life if he were to name them.. He said while one was involved in match fixing the other had used drugs.. He also said that Viv Richards used to take drugs for relaxation and stamina enhancement..

Qasim Umar was banned for life by PCB in the 80s after accusing Imran Khan of smuggling drugs in the kit, which ended his career. He said that PCB destroyed his career to appease Imran..

The cricketing news from Pak is that they are going to play "home series" in NZ and are planning to schedule ODIs in Abu Dabi and Dubai..

Pakistan in New Zealand
November 18-20 - Warm-up match
November 24-28 - 1st Test at University Oval, Dunedin
December 3-7 - 2nd Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington
December 11-15 - 3rd Test at McLean Park, Napier

Crisis deepens - West Indies contracts row

Floyd Reifer led a weakened West Indies team to defeat in the first Test against Bangladesh, but he chose to see the brighter side of a dispiriting loss, lauding his players for fighting hard under adverse circumstances.

"For a team that was brought here right before the Test match, I thought we really fought well," he said. "We represent West Indies and we'll go to Grenada [the venue for the next Test] and fight hard."

"It was a rush, But we've been training and practicing hard, and it's good to be back here again playing Test cricket."

But the players' problems do not look like being addressed and the WI board is adamant that the current team would continue if the players do not return to the fold..  The West Indies board has announced that the squad for the Champions Trophy will be picked from among those currently playing Bangladesh and others who have made themselves available for selection. It also decided to interview prospective captains for future series. These decisions indicate there may be no speedy solution to the stalemate between the board and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) regarding player contracts. The move in effect is a warning to those players who did not make themselves eligible for selection for the Bangladesh Test that they will not be considered for future tournaments, and is widely seen as an attempt to put pressure on those who boycotted the game to reconsider their position.

The first major contract issue is that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has signed an US$20 million deal with Digicel, a major Caribbean-based telecommunications company. However, a number of players already have personal endorsement deals with a rival company, Cable & Wireless. The board wants the players to sign contracts which will prevent them from promoting any company in competition with Digicel - that might compromise their existing individual contracts with Cable & Wireless.The main income for West Indies players comes from bonuses and third-party endorsements rather than salaries paid by the cash-strapped board. So by looking to restrict the additional income available, the players argue that their income will be seriously reduced. The WICB contract would also mean that the players forfeited a considerable portion of their image rights..-- Nov 2005.. 

The contract issue was unresolved and the tour of Australia for a tri-nation VB series went ahead.. In April 2005, WI named a replacement squad for the tour of  SRL with Shivnaraine Chanderpaul as captain.. The show then continued with agreements from both the sides to field a full strength team with clause 5 that covered players' individual sponsorship deal still left for talks/compromise/arbitration...

2007 WC was sponsored by Cable and Wireless and not Digicel.. After the WC, WICB had planned a tour of England for which the players' demanded extra pay as it was according to them not a part of the FTP.. Their point was proved and the WICB had to face defeat yet again.. Truce was called and Ramnaraine became a director in the WICB only to break away from it in a year or so after serious problems in the domestic arena where the players went on strike..

Among the more critical and outstanding issues were retainer contracts and first-class fees, scheduling of regional and international tournaments, injury payments, the long overdue updated anti-doping policy and the provident fund for cricketers. The national side threatened to boycott the final ODI against England in St Lucia but in the end in went ahead as scheduled. The board agreed to look into pay hikes for first-class players.

In July09 two days before the start of the first Test against Bangladesh, the WIPA announced the squad would boycott the match since the players had gone five series without contracts. WIPA claimed the board had not responded to its submission of retainer contracts and had instead penalised players for not signing those within the deadline. The board vice-president Dave Cameron said the contracts had not been signed because of WIPA's "unreasonable behaviour". WICB named a second-string squad which included nine uncapped players. 

Who is to blame?

Both sides have been less than straightforward in their dealings with each other and traded charges with the other leading to several years of disinformation and mistrust. WIPA has alleged the WICB of reportedly failing to honour a number of assurances given, acting slowly, and allegedly trying to create divisions among the team. The players have been far too prone to withdraw their labour and go on strike, and also to make Digicel, as chief sponsor, the enemy and not the board.

What about the board's announcement at the weekend that it was prepared to pick squads from the youngsters who were available for the Bangladesh Test?

"If the board wants to go ahead with picking who it wants, then that's fine with me. I feel inevitably if you select these 19-year-olds, then sooner or later they're going to be exposed to proper sports management outside the Caribbean, and at some point when they're in a position to understand what's happening, then we're going to come back here again. So, in five or seven years' time you're going back down the same road and you'll have the same issues. We just want to get these issues done once and for all so we can move on.  -- JIMMY ADAMS

 and somewhere along the line we need to stop the game for a while and get this structure sorted out.

This is the call from most former players that WI should pull out of International tours and get the things sorted out before going ahead with cricket.. Playing a 2nd stream  of players will only weaken the side and it ridicules the position that WI find themselves in.. A strong team of the past, a team that was respected and still we speak of the greats that have graced the game of cricket and now it finds itself languishing at the bottom of the ranking charts for quite a while now ;  so sending a 2nd stream or an "A" side as your full side will still dampen their causes in cricketing arena..

Pity that the once mighty WI are in such a situation.. :-(

Latest cricket news

No Indians ICC World twenty20 XI

Former World twenty20 Champions India faced another decline in world cricket when ICC announced the best twenty20 XI with no player from India. The ICC on Monday named its eleven and not surprisingly, after losing three consecutive matches in the Super Eights, no Indian player made the cut.

In the best XI picked by ICC, four players from Pakistan, three from South Africa, two players from each West Indies and Sri Lanka is included in the squad. Younis Khan was named captain for the team announced by ICC.

However, there was one Indian face figuring in the Women's XI announced by ICC and it was that of bowler

ICC World XI: 

Chris Gayle (West Indies), 

Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka), 

Jacques Kallis (South Africa), 

AB de Villiers (South Africa), 

Younis Khan (Pakistan, Captain), 

Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), 

Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), 

Kamran Akmal (Pakistan, Wicketkeeper), 

Wayne Parnell (South Africa), 

Umar Gul (Pakistan), 

Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka). 

12th man: Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)

Younis Khan quitting Twenty20 Cricket on a high

After leading his team to World cup glory, Pakistan Captain Younis Khan quits twenty20 cricket. Younis Khan used Cricket’s grand stage to announce his retirement from twenty20 Cricket. He said he is not getting younger anymore at 34 he wants to focus only on ODI and Test cricket. Younis dedicated Pakistan's World Twenty20 triumph to his former coach Bob Woolmer, who died during the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Now after his retirement from the shortest version of the game Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal is the front runner for leading Pakistan in twenty20 cricket.

Under his captaincy this is for the second time Pakistan able to win major ICC Events after 1992 50-over World Cup.

Md. Ashraful sacked from captaincy Job

Bangladesh Captain has been sacked from the captaincy job after poor show with bat in the recently concluded twenty20 World Cup. His team was also beaten by Ireland at Group stage that didn’t allow Bangladesh to make it to the Super Eights of ICC World Twenty20.

His deputy Mashrafe Mortaza, a fast bowler, is likely to take the Captaincy job.

Md. Yusuf and Abdul Razzaq back in Test Squad for Sri Lanka tour

Pakistanis selector on Monday announced the 15 member squad for the tour of Sri Lanka. Stylish right hand batsman Md.Yusuf and Abdul Razzaq recalled in the team. 

Yousuf, who has played 79 Tests, was delighted to be back. Pakistan cricket team will leave on Saturday to play three test match series followed by five ODI’s and a Twenty20 International.

Shahid Afridi was also not included in the test squad since he wanted some rest before going into ODI series.

Pakistan 15 Member Squad: Younis Khan (Captain), Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal (WK), Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamir, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rauf, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam.

No place for Vaughan and Harmision in England Training Ashes Squad

Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, and Steve Harmison have both been left out of England's pre-Ashes camp ahead of the much-anticipated series against Australia which begins later this month. However England selectors included three spinners Adil Rashid, Panesar and Swann in the squad.

M.Vaughan was expected to make return to international arena but now he may have to wait little longer after selector’s ignorance from Ashes squad.

England selector will pick the final squad on July 6 two days before the first test match.

England Test squad for pre-Ashes camp: Andrew Strauss (Captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann.

Indian debacle- a better analysis

The most comprehensive analysis of India's strategies in the T20 WC matches.. Even the senior sports editors won’t give this analysis.. This is a captain's perspective and surely not a journo's or a mindless fan's..

India was touted as the team to look out for.. Having played the IPL and the batsmen like Raina, Rohit in form, Yusuf Pathan was in devastating form and his brother Irfan had found his swing and was batting brilliantly ( I had in my weekly updates of IPL named Pathan of the week), RP was the leading wicket taker of IPL2, Ojha and Bhajji had been the best slow bowlers along with Jakati and MURALI KARTIK..

There's another side to this Raina had become a slogger, Rohit had lost his timing and grace that he had shown in CB series final batting alongside Sachin and become a slogger who had to bat routinely at 5 or 6 for the chargers.. We cherished his big hitting ability, the boy who was collecting BMW stickers had become the man collecting BMWs.. CSK who were playing with Murali Vijay as opener had resorted to Parthiv in the latter stages primarily because MSD had complained of stress in lower back..

Take note: MSD complains of low back pain..

RP the main wicket taker for the chargers went at 7 RPO, Bhajji and Anil kumble went for 5.8 RPO.. And Murali Kartik's efforts went un-noticed largely because he was part of a team that lost consistently.. Dint pick up wickets but went at 5.9 RPO.. He was the 3rd best bowler in terms of economy rate.. The next best was Ravi Jadeja who went at 6.47... He caught the attention of the national selectors with his strong all-round showing in the 2008-09 Ranji Trophy - 42 wickets and 739 run.. In T20s,

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	4s	6s

Twenty20

35

29

5

540

42

22.50

114.40

40

14

Take note: he can hit sixes.. !! 

Zak, Viru were injured during IPL and did not take part in many games.. Viru returned for 2 matches only to see his sides lose.. So, the injuries weren't out of the blue.. Gautam Gambhir was in poor form right throughout the tournament.. The selectors could have included Nehra, that was only the bone of contention..

The WC begins..

Warm up match-1, India loses to NZ.. 

Take note: RP gave 37 runs in 3 overs..  

RP Singh 1-0-10-0  RP Singh 2-0-21-0   RP Singh 3-0-37-1 (thats consistently getting hit).

I.Pathan 0 for 31 in 3..  Saving grace Bhajji 1 for 22 in 4.. Ishanth best 4 for 25..

Rohit played brilliantly for 36.. 

Warm up match-2, India thrashes Pakistan..

Take note: RP yet again 0 for 33 in 3.. Ishanth 1 for 11 in 3..

Rohit's spectacular knock and Gambhir knocking pretty well seals an Indian victory..

"Both against New Zealand and Pakistan, R P Singh proved particularly expensive towards the end as India bled some late boundaries in both the matches." - Headlines Today....

The match against Bangladesh..

Any cricket fan would have by now made up his mind that RP wont fit into playing11, if a cricket fan can decide that WHY NOT THE CAPTAIN.... RP SINGH CANNOT FIGURE IN PLAYING 11..

This answers Headlines Today, a news channel's stupid question of why RP was not played in all matches.. Dig your face into dirt u sports analysts.. Ishant takes 2 for 34 and Ojha 4 for 21.. Rohit performs well yet again..

So, the team stays the same for the next match, shouldn't it ?

vs Ireland

Zak takes a 4-for, hailed.. Zak is back.. Rohit performs well yet again.. Ojha and Bhajji again perform well..

vs West Indies

There are still no non-performers in the side.. Lord's, London.. The pitch doesn't take spin, Ojha is hammered.. MSD's fear comes true. Bowling at the death.. Found out technically.. India again play the bouncers poorly... That leads us to the question, has Rohit not played a single bouncer in Australia ? Hasn't he received fast bouncers in CB series in Australia or in IPL2, SA ?

The reason: As mentioned above, the technically sound player has transformed into a slogger.. An arrogant state when you think you can smash sixes of good balls too,( constantly hailed by all commentators and Gavaskar too that Rohit's best ability is to hit boundaries of good balls too)..

vs England

The do or die match..  The match under big scanner.. Takes a deeper analysis..  Lord's again.. So, playing Ojha again may not be that sensible.. Short boundaries square of the wicket poses threat to getting hit.. RP comes in.. Irfan has been less than impressive, dint swing.. Dint take wickets up front and was little too slow to experiment under a must win situation.. So makes way for Jadeja who can bat and bowl.. We have seen him in IPL and the stats shown above showes he CAN hit big sixes.. RP bowled well 3 overs for 13 runs.. Zak got hit for runs.. Bhajji and Jadeja were instrumental in getting the match to tilt in India's favor.. 2 for 26 in 4 overs from jadeja was exceptional.. Bhajji is undisputably the beat T20 bowler in India.. so 8 overs are out.. RP has done with 3, Yuvi 2 (to irritate KP basically)..  14th over was bowled by Ishanth, take a look at the commentary.

I Sharma 2-0-20-0

13.1	I Sharma to Mascarenhas, no run, chopped to point - good stop
13.2	I Sharma to Mascarenhas, no run, defended out to the off side and he roars "no"
13.3	I Sharma to Mascarenhas, 1 run, pulled, and pulled powerfully, but straight to the fielder
13.4	I Sharma to Shah, 1 run, a bouncer - good thinking by Sharma - and it's nudged off his chest
13.5	I Sharma to Mascarenhas, no run, pushed out to the off side
13.6	I Sharma to Mascarenhas, 2 runs, an ugly shovel. Tried to drive through cover but his bottom hand came off the bat and the ball worked its devilish way through the leg side
England 96/3   I Sharma 3-0-24-0

Ishanth has troubled the batsmen and gave just 4 runs away.. Jadeja gives away 4 runs in the 15th over.. If anybody has played cricket and is sensible enough will not think of RP now ahead of Ishanth.. So giving 16th over to him is absolutely justified.. Realistically, who had RP in mind to bowl 16th over ahead of Ishanth, leave alone RP not bowling 4 overs.. It was Ishanth's 4th coincidentally.. Now, how on earth is MSD supposed to give RP the over when Ishanth has bowled his previous over so well.. His confidence was on a high and had the batsmen in trouble, psychological advantage too.. It was only his young age that got the worse out of him sprayed the ball and Mascarenhas got the better of him..

3 overs for 18 and 2 wickets too, got the yorkers in and it was difficult for the batsmen to get away.. Give him the 4th over or not ?? Anybody who has captained at any level would give him the 4th.. Zak coming back ahead of RP has to go with Zak's yorkers at the death and thats what he has bowled for a long time.. This actually was the 50-50 call, not RP vs Ishanth.. Zak's experience vs RP's brilliance.. Rp was not so good at the death on many a match in IPL, though he did perform well on the other occasions..

Come batting, India once again bounced out.. Irresponsible batting from RS and Raina.. The ball was seaming around and the English were pumped up.., Yuvi always a circumspect against 3 S- swing, seam, spin.. It was risky to lose Yuvi at that time (if at all he gets out to the bowlers then).. MSD was a good option but true to his character he sent Jadeja in.. Dont forget, that when a player bowls well and then comes to bat and performs well we always say the player has carried the confidence from the bowling into batting and vice versa (bat first and bowl next).. Which means sending Jadeja is not a  bad option.. Dint we hail MSD when he gave Joginder Sharma the last over and very famously said - "its your moment to glory, perform well and you are the hero but if you dont I will be blamed, give your 100% ".. Its the same thing here, Jadeja carried confidence through to batting.. The mistake was the kid did not get going initially and succumbed to pressure, he should have remembered Warnie then and how well he had performed to reach to this level.. Bad luck.. Yuvi was padded up ever since and the poor kid did not hit and neither got out.. Ill timing of events i must say..  MSD and Yusuf were left too much to do though they scored 63 of the last 6.. India lost and were sent packing out of the WC..

The news channels then made MSD the villain, the foolish followers who know nothing beyond cricket being a game played with bat and ball start burning effigies.. This makes our ever popular media talk to all former captains who finally were happy to see MSD fail as it would make him more human and not a guy who turns whatever he touches to gold.. How can these people ever accept someone performing better than them!! And that too a player with no grace or technique, just an ordinary guy with immense confidence in himself and faith in his team, a player with the right positive attitude, a player who doesn't mind calling a spade a spade, a player who thinks intuitively and not by the rule books or go by what the laptop says, a player who could get the best out of all youngsters, a player who along with Yuvi and Dravid scripted many a successful run chases ( 17 consecutively), a player hailed by all senior Indian players in Sachin, Sourav, Kumble; the aussies, south africans and many more for having a cool head on the shoulders and being aggressive on the field with tactics...

This report from Headlines today was little too ridiculous to ignore :

"T20 WC: Team India's big lie nailed Suman Ray

It is not just Virender Sehwag who lied about his fitness, but the Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni himself was not fit enough.

Headlines Today has exclusive access to the official fitness report of Team India given to the BCCI before the tournament began.

And the report says that not just Zaheer and Sehwag but even Dhoni, Yuvi and RP Singh were carrying injuries into the tournament."

Are these anything new ? We knew of Viru's injury.. We know Yuvi is carrying a knww injury and has been playing with a strap around it for ages.. We have not seen him field at point or backward point for a long time now.. Have we forgotten the 100 he got against ENG in the 1st ODI in India after suffering from back spasms and playing with a runner and a belt around his hips ? MSD has been complaining of lower back pain for a looooooooong time now, he even requested for the inclusion of a 2nd wicketkeepr for the WC only to be unheard of.. Aren't we unaware of Zak's fitness? It now actually becomes a better spirited performance from India dispite all these injuries.. Dont the media dare call them CHEATS or question their intent.. Its ridiculous..

There are a number of fans who blindly follow the game and do not know a thing or two of captaincy and call MSD's successes as "LUCK" , celebrate his downfall and seem to put on a show of not being disappointed at India's loss (owing to MSD alone).. Learn cricket, have leadership qualities, think on your own and then you will understand what captaincy is.. Once you know that, you will know how good MSD is.. Until then CUT the crap and stop advicing MSD on what he should have done, and that too after a defeat...This holds good even if you are from a tier 2 city and not played cricket enough to comment  or even if you are a former captain or player..

Semis 2

Pakistan defeated the South Africa by 7-runs in the 1st semi-final played in Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Thursday.. This is the second time in the two T20 World Cup played till now, Pakistan have been to the finals. Last time Pakistan were in the finals at South Africa on 2007 where they were defeated by India by a small margin.

Talking about the Pakistan recent form it seems to have lots of ups and downs. But Pakistan looks always a strong side and they are the favorite in the 20 over format games. During the initial phases to the T20 series in England Pakistan seemed to be struggling. Losing both the warm-up matches Pakistan had a poor start in the tournament where they lost against the host England in their first group stage match. But they comeback well and fight for the super 8 position.

Same thing on Super eight stage, Pakistan were trembling badly in the initial match and pressure on winning the rest of two matches. Thanks a lot to their great performance against the New Zealand and Ireland which made their way in the semis of ICC World Twenty20 2009. Then, Pakistan faced the unbeaten team in the tournament i.e., South Africa in the final. Pressure built match for the teams.

Thanks to the all-round performance of Shahid Afridi Pakistan now play the finals on Sunday at Lord's. Shahid Afridi's  quick fire knock of 53 and 2-16 which was key in the Pakistan success in semi-finals. The inform bowlers' like Gul and Ajmal were fully on support to the team. SA the evergreen chokers of semifinals in big ICC events.. from 1992 till now, the team has had no luck in the semis..



Now, the 2nd semi final today.. Yet another unbeaten team in the tournament Sri Lanka face the resurgent West Indies. Sri Lanka and West Indies came from the same group C in 1st round of League stage. Both the teams defeated Australia in the group mathes and proved themselves very strong contender for the trophy of T20 World Cup 2009. In the group stage match Sri Lanka defeated West Indies easily. But the match was not so important for both the teams as they were already in the super eight stage.

After a tour in which West Indies did not record a single victory in any form of the game until their Twenty20 preparations got underway at the beginning of the month, they are now just two wins away from a turnaround.. Gayle's brilliant knock of 88 against Aussies set the trend for WI., they almost chased down 192 against lanka without Gayle, gave the knock out punch to India and then won a thriller against England in a rain curtailed match.. The team has been carrying on with the momentum that Gayle gave.. Lendl Simmons has been excellent, Bravo too.. Sarwan and Chanderpaul showed us why they are still a part of the team., technically sound knocks that enabled windies to enter semis.. The bowling has been decent with Taylor at the top.. If there is anything that could worry them is the absence of Edwards..

Sri lanka have players who have performed in all occasions.. Sanath and Dilshan have given them great starts.. Sangakkara was instrumental in guiding lankans past the might of Aussies (heheh),, Jayawardene has come back to form in the last 2 games.. Mubarak and Mathews are there for hitting the ball over cow corner in the final overs if needed.. Murali and Mendis have been the nemesis of all teams.. All those who have said "Mendis is not a threat" have got out to him in the first over itself.. Slinger Malinga at the death overs is difficult to get away.. Isuru Udana with his top ball being the quicker one delivers 4 slow balls per over.. The team looks to repeat their 1996 glory and no umpire would stop them from doing so this time..

One team with unbeaten record was beaten by a resurgent team in the 1st of the 2 semi finals !! The second semi final is no different, unbeaten Lanka vs resurgent Windies..