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......

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. 

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..

boring draw

Draw.............. Dreaded word in test matches..

Dead Pitch, slow poison to test matches.. Why bother supporting the idea of a Test championship when you're doing your best to kill off the oldest form of the game?

DRAW is a special feature of the tests.. A team must lose all wickets to give an outright win to the opposition.. 99-9 chasing 400 for win is also a draw..

Some of the most remembered test matches have been great drawn games.. The most recent being the nail biting finish at Cardiff in Ashes.. Panesar and Anderson had batted out almost an hour to ensure a draw in the 1st test match against Aussies which was considered equal to a win with the crowd roaring when the umpires called off play at the end of the stipulated time..

As far as I can remember, in Australia India has drawn a game in Gabba 2003, Sydney 2004, Sydney 2008.. I think those are the only 3 drawn games, or SAF may have drawn a game sometime.. Such is the result oriented pitches they have been producing over the past 5-6 years..

In England and New Zealand, the draws are mostly decided by wet conditions and rains..

Astonishingly, England since Jan 01,2004 has played in 42 tests and in the same time the busiest country India has featured in 27 home tests only.. 11 of the 42 tests have been a draw in England..  7 of those have been due to time wasted by bad light or rain or wet out field.. 2 instances of close calls, when India had lost 9 wickets and MS Dhoni helped India save the Lord's test match, the famous Ashes match where Lee and McGrath saw off the final few overs..

Ironically, majority of the draws have been in the tour opener at Lord's, London - 6 ..

West Indies also have 12 draws in their home..

one due to Lara's mammoth 400*..

double centuries from chanderpaul and Hinds and rain stoppage ended a match in draw..

Gayle storm of 317, 3 more from WI; 4 centuries from SA and they still had time to play 30 overs in 2nd innings.. Ironically, for SA all 11 players bowled in the match..

last wicket was not dislodged on 2 occasions.. rain on 3 occasions.

Largely, West Indies has been a batting paradise.. Scores of 580s, 600s, 750s have been the culprits in draws.. 5 of the draws has been against England..

12 draws in INDIA too, adding the draw in Ahmedabad test against Lanka 2 days back..

7 of those have been on dead pitches.. Centuries galore.. No holding back..
2 no play possible on 2-3days due to rains in Chennai.. Dead wickets assisted by bad light in the remaining 3 cases..
These 12 draws have been among the worst games ever played, mindless batting exhibitions on surfaces where the bowlers were neutered the moment the new ball lost its shine.
The pitch looked good enough to last another week- was a common comment..  Ganguly in his article has written that another test match could be played on the Motera wicket ,Ahmedabad after Murali could do no damage on the 5th day too..

There's nothing wrong with a surface being batsman-friendly initially, as long as it deteriorates over the course of a game.. There's nothing wrong in a pitch being spinner friendly either, but the match referees take it the other way that the pitch is a minefield.. What if all wickets were taken by the faster bowlers, is the pitch to bouncy ?? Why not call off then!!

This is a series where the No. 1 ranking is at stake. You'd think that results mattered. India are content with being world leaders: at signing TV deals and producing sub-standard pitches..

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

When GOD plays

The bowlers bowl where they want to and Sachin hits them to boundary where and when he pleases to.. A cricketer who got the status of a family member in every cricket loving home in India with his cricket, humility & honesty. Words will never describe the legend Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Nov 5th, 2009 shall remain in our minds forever.. But what about Nov 5, 1989 ???
That was the first time Sachin got selected into the Indian team that toured Pakistan...

What a long wait it was though to witness this 100 from his bat !! For many it was a reminiscent of Sharjah 1997-98 Coca Cola cup against the Aussies..

He was 27 then, and India had 2 targets in the match - 1 for victory and 1 to ensure that India are through to the finals.. 285 for a win and 254 for reaching finals, it was revised to 276 and 237 after a dust storm.. Considering the then playing conditions, 280 was on par with the current 330s.. At 4-138 the hopes sunk, but this man thought otherwise.. He plundered the Aussie attack and scored a mammoth 143 at more than run a ball to secure India's place in the finals.. He walked after edging a delivery down the leg side..

In the finals, chasing 272 for a win, all hopes wrested on Sachin as he scored 134 off 131 balls to ensure a win.. The point is getting to 272 was considered a winning total, and to chase it down happened not so often those days..Warne had gone for 61-0 in his 10 overs..

Yesterday, we got to see Sachin at his attacking best after 1998 Sharjah cup.. Ironically, this was against the Aussies too.. A magnificent innings, a description of which by mere adjectives and superlatives do not do justice to the knock..

How great was the knock and how big was the heart break !!

He cannot cry now at the defeat, he is old enough.. But cry he did, when he scored a 100  against Pakistan in Chennai only in vain.. Chasing 271 for a win, Sachin who had got out for a duck in the 1st innings played with a sore back.. On reaching 254-6, Sachin went down to a floater from Saqlain and gave a catch to mid on.. India, you wouldn't believe, got out for 258..

" I think Joshi told me he[Sachin] went down the wicket and told him its gone too long now,let me finish this match.
So it was flotter from Saqlain,He came down the track and wanted to hit over the top of long on.
I came down the dressing room,I think its fair for me to say,he[Sachin] was weaping like a school boy,I kept on telling him why are you taking the whole blame yourself,by then we lost the match.You made impossible possible by playing this great inning.He[Sachin] said no sir,I have lost this match.
We were in the podium,I think very few time you gets man of the match on the loosing side,he got the man of the match on the loosing side.From the podium I signal to Anshuman Gaekwad the coach of the Indian team and asked him where is he[Sachin], because I knew he was Man of the match. Gaekwad said he not coming because he is crying.
I think thats what commitment is all about." -- Late, Mr. Raj Singh Dungarpur..

This would have been a bigger heartbreak for him, chasing 350 isn't easy.. India had posted 354 in Nagpur, and we all know how the Aussies crumbled under pressure and there was no significant partnerships handing India a 99 run victory which could have been worse had we taken the last wicket cheaply..

The 2nd story that unveiled itself was in Hyderabad, this time Aussies had scored 350.. Belter of a wicket, Sachin was edgy at the start.. His feet weren't moving.. He slowly got to 17000 runs.. 6(14) balls.. A four and a no-ball to follow.. A free hit that was sliced for 4 behind point.. From there on, it was as if saying I want to hit this through cover and I hit it.. Sublime innings..

Years since we saw him coming down the wicket to a spinner and hoisting him straight for a six.. He hit 3 like that..

A flick coming down the wicket to Voges that went for 4 through mid wicket.. An inside out shot through cover, a flick of McKay's slower ball, stand and deliver- cover drive that went whistling past the fielders, a short arm jab that split short third man and backward point of Hussey, a shot through where 2nd slip would have been came right of the middle of the bat...

Highlights of the innings


Do we remember that Ian Chappel had called for his retirement in 2008 as Sachin was according to him playing only for records ? He had in his article to cric-info had claimed that Sachin is NOT THE BEST ODI batsman, Ponting has easily overtaken him and that Ponting has played better in many pressure situations and the finals too which Sachin apparently did not do off late and that since he was well past his prime he must retire gracefully..

Before anybody else makes a decision on what will happen to Tendulkar the player himself has to have a good long look into the mirror and decide what he's trying to achieve in the game. At the moment he looks like a player trying to eke out a career; build on a glittering array of statistics. If he really is playing for that reason and not to help win as many matches as he can for India then he is wasting his time and should retire immediately. 

Read the complete article here:

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/287961.html

Now, shouldn't we ask him to look into a mirror and answer the question 'If he is writing such blogs to get more user comments and thus say he is popular and eke out a career in blogging as an expert analyst' . If so, he must retire immediately..

What do u say ??

 

inaugural test match - Pakistan

The inaugural test match posts will feature match reports of inaugural test matches of the test playing nations..

First up - Pakistan

year - 1952

Till the year 1947, India and Pakistan were a single big nation under the British rule.. On August 15th, 1947 the British rule came to an end and the nation was split into two - India and Pakistan..

Post Independence, India became a republic in the year 1950.. India were already playing cricket.. Now, Pakistan was a new nation and had to start playing cricket.. A few players who had earlier played for India shifted to Pakistan..

In the year 1952, the team from across the border came to India to play their inaugural test series..

Date and Time

Match

Oct 16 - 18

1st Test - India v Pakistan Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Oct 23 - 26

2nd Test - India v Pakistan University Ground, Lucknow

Nov 13 -  16

3rd Test - India v Pakistan Brabourne Stadium, Bombay

Nov 28 -Dec 1

4th Test - India v Pakistan Madras Cricket Club Ground, Chepauk, Madras

Dec 12 -  15

5th Test - India v Pakistan Eden Gardens, Calcutta

A.H.Kardar and Amir Elahi had earlier played for India, the other 9 made their debut at the Kotla, Delhi.. AH.Kardar was Pakistan captain and Lala Amarnath was India's..

1st test : KOTLA, Delhi India won the toss and batted first.
Vijay Hazare scored 74.. India were, however, reduced to 5-110 and then 8-229 , but Hemu Adhikari and the no.11 Ghulam Ahmed in a record last-wicket stand of 109 put the score past 300 -- 372 all out.. Pakistan were bowled out twice after following on in their 2nd innings .. 150 and 152 were the scores, thanks largely to an impressive left arm spin by Vinoo Mankad- 13/131 was his match figures.

2nd test : Lucknow
Pakistan bounces back to win their first ever test match.. Vijay Hazare, Hemu Adhikari and Mankad missed out on the match..Fazal Mohammed's medium pace fetched him 12 wickets in the match and Pakistan won by an innings and 43 runs.. Nazar Mohammad batted 515minutes  for his 124..

3rd test : Brabourne, Bombay
Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first.. Batting first has always been tricky especially when it is an early start and the overnight dew is still there.. Pakistan lost the plot there, only a late resistance from Waqar Hassan enabled a 3 figure score for the team.. On the back of fine centuries from Poly Umrigar and Hazare, India posted a lead of 200.. Pakistan were shot out for 242 and India won by 10 wickets

4th test : Chepauk, Madras
AH. Kardar and yet another lower order performance enabled Pakistan to notch up 344.. India were trailing at 175-6 when rain interrupted the play.. No further play was possible in the entire match..

5th test : Eden Gardens, Calcutta
Phadkar's 5 wicket haul and Shodan's 100 coming at no.8 paved way for a 140 lead for India .. Waqar Hassan's 97 from 315 mins enabled a draw..


Great series for Pakistan.. In their inaugural series itself they won a match.. Never would they have known at that time that this bilateral series would be the most fiercely contested and most anticipated tournaments in the future.. The crowd following and the passion with which the 2 sides play against each other have been the same for more than 5 decades now..

another injury

Yet another player has left the Australian squad on illness or injury.. WHAT is happening to Aussies ? A side that boasts of extreme fitness and talent is now losing them all of a sudden..

Michael Clarke was the first casualty who withdrew from the Champions Trophy, which Aussies eventually won, with a lower back pain.. The work load was blamed..

Brad Haddin injured his finger in the ASHES series and missed a test, giving Graham Manou the back up keeper his maiden game.. Haddin went on to miss ODI series against England and then the Champions trophy with a broken finger..

Callum Fergusson, not a big name but has been vital in Australia winning many matches and has been very consistent at no.6 averaging 46.07 in 25 ODIs that he has played.. Ferguson tripped in the field and injured his right knee in the Champions Trophy finals.. It was later decided through tests that he needs a re-construction of right knee after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament.. (he suffered similar injury in the u-19 wc that he played)..

Soon after the champions trophy, the inaugural Champions League T20 took place where 2 Australian teams in Victoria and NSW took part.. Victoria reached semi-final while NSW went on to beat Trinidad in the finals.. Led by Katich, the side had Hughes and Warner at the top with Lee, Clark and Hauritz forming the core of bowling.. Victoria was captained by Cameron White and Siddle was the other member who also featured in the national side..

NSW members landed in the team hotel barely 24hrs before 1st ODI..

Brett Lee, who was instrumental in NSW winning the CL T20, suffered an elbow strain and was forced out of 2nd ODI but eventually was sent back home as they felt he could not have recovered in time. Lee has had ankle and side problems before the latest setback.. Lee was out of the ASHES too for injury woes..

James hopes also suffered a hamstring injury in the 1st ODI and was ruled out of the next 2 ODIs and eventually out of the entire series..Hopes bowled just two overs in the first ODI in Vadodara before leaving the field after pulling his right hamstring.


The next to go was Tim Paine, wicket keeper who injured his finger while keeping wickets in the Nagpur ODI.. He injured his finger while attempting to take a bouncer of  Siddle..

The latest addition to that is Peter Siddle.. Siddle will return home after suffering stiffness in his left side during Monday's win in Mohali..

So, the replacements Manou, Henriques and Clint McKay are already here and now the selectors are scouting for another replacement..

Already, the pace attack is without Lee.. Now, the next best player Siddle too is going to miss.. Johnson hasn't been in good form either..

Where's Stuart Clark ? Military medium , McGrath like with line and length... Very much needed in the middle overs with Johnson leaking hell a lot of runs he may just be the right replacement..

Dirk Nannes, who played for Netherlands is available to play for Australia.. He is one pace bowler who can be a definite replacement for Lee.. He bowls at 150+ kph..

Brad Hodge, technically may not be so sound but is certainly a good replacement.. I would seen him as the 1st replacement to Clarke.. Donno why he is not favored..

Dont the Aussies boast of a great training facility and highly strong players who play injury free for a long long time !! This just shows that whatever be the facility provided, over kill or continuous cricket will take a toll on players..

The only solution would be if each of the high profile teams have enough bench strength who can come to the International arena and perform from the word go.. A pool of 20-25 players are needed and the final squad of 14-15 must be picked from the pool on a rotation basis so that no player plays too much cricket and also to ensure that the others are match fit and ready to go.. That just takes care of stress related injuries..

hong kong sixes

HONG KONG cricket sixes is a six-a-side cricket , fun-filled version of the glorious old game – a feast of world class players, thrilling matches, huge hits and small boundaries.
   
It offers two days of fast and furious action in a festival atmosphere – 8 international teams, 45-minute clashes, global TV coverage and thousands of dollars in prize money up for grabs.
 
First played in 1992, the tournament is fully sanctioned by the International Cricket Council and backed by the boards of the test-playing nations.
 
Stars who have taken part include Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Steve and Mark Waugh, Viv Richards, Andrew Flintoff, Adam Gilchrist and Wasim Akram. (I have not seen Sachin play though)
 
venue: Kowloon Cricket Club, situated in the heart of Hong Kong with the teeming city’s skyscrapers providing a breathtaking backdrop.
 
England, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, India and South Africa – all have triumphed at the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes.
 
And it is all for a worthy cause – profits from the tournament are ploughed directly back into cricket development in Hong Kong through the Hong Kong Cricket Association.

The rules :
Each team has 6 players, 1 wicket keeper and 5 bowlers..
Each bowler bowls one over - 5 over match
Plate finals and finals are 8 ball overs..
Single man standing is there. i.e. If the team loses 5 wickets, the last man plays alone and there's a dUmmy runner at the non-striker's end..
Batsmen retire after scoring 31 runs and can come back if all other wickets fall.
Extras cost 2 runs.
Spectators who catch the ball are awarded 500HK dollars.

Year	Winner	Runners Up
2008	England	Australia
2007	Sri Lanka	All Stars
2006	South Africa	Pakistan
2005	India	West Indies
2004	England	Sri Lanka
2003	England	Pakistan
2002	Pakistan	England
2001	Pakistan	South Africa
1997	Pakistan	England
1996	West Indies	India
1995	South Africa	England
1994	England	Australia
1993	England	Sri Lanka
1992	Pakistan	India

India have never taken it seriously with the players being those who have retired from international cricket and sometimes from domestic cricket too..

David Johnson, Vivek Razdan playing in 2008 representing India is the heights of negligence.. Robin Singh has represented India for long in this format..

This year they named a decent squad but only to lose in the 1st round itself.. Almost an all karnataka side with Manish Pandey, Kumble, Arunkumar, Stuart Binny.. Reetinder Sodhi has been a permanent fixture in the side.. 

Top cricketers

List of top cricketers in my point of view... Numbers do NOT indicate ranks.. I am not going back to the old era, staying with the 90s and 2000s

GREATEST CRICKETERS:( nos. do not indicate ranking but when you ask yourself the question, the order in which you remember the names are the below. That is how I made this list )

01) Sachin Tendulkar
02) Brian Lara
03) Shane Warne
04) Muttiah Muralitharan
05) Wasim Akram
06) Glenn McGrath
07) Ricky Ponting
08) Jacques Kallis
09) Curtly Ambrose
10) Waqar Younis
11) Adam Gilchrist
12) Courtney Walsh
13) Steve Waugh
14) Inzamam-ul-Haq
15) Rahul Dravid
16) Sourav Ganguly
17) Mohammad Yousuf
18) Allan Donald
19) Andy Flower
20) Shaun Pollock
21) Matthew Hayden
22) Aravinda de Silva
23) Anil Kumble
24) Sanath Jayasuriya
25) Michael Bevan
26)Arjuna Ranatunga
27)Hansie Cronje
28)Saqlain Mushtaq
29)Mark Taylor
30)Gary Kirsten
31)Kevin Pieterson

Few other impact players who miss out on making it to the greatest list

01) Chaminda Vaas
02) Chris Cairns
03) Alec Stewart
04) Mohammed Azharuddin
05) Saeed Anwar
06) Stephen Fleming
07) Nathan Astle
08) Jonty Rhodes
09) Imran Khan
10) Marvan Atapattu
11) Mark Waugh
12)Nick Knight
13)Navjot Sidhu
14)Nasser Hussain
15)Michael Vaughan


GREATEST CRICKETERS (individually):

• Greatest Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar
• Greatest ODI Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar
• Greatest Test Batsman: Brian Lara
• Greatest Bowler: Muttiah Muralitharan
• Greatest ODI Bowler: Wasim Akram
• Greatest Test Bowler: Ambrose and/or Kumble
• Greatest Fielder: Jonty Rhodes
• Greatest All-Rounder: Jacques Kallis
• Greatest ODI Captain: MSD and/or Ganguly
• Greatest Test Captain: Steve Waugh and/or Mark Taylor
• Greatest ODI Batting Pair: Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly
• Greatest Test Batting Pair:Dravid-Laxman, Steve Waugh with tail enders, one single innings of Ranatunga with tail enders
• Greatest ODI Bowling Pair: Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis
• Greatest Test Bowling Pair: Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh/Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne 

Individuals who have played well for their team:

• Australia: Shane Warne
• Bangladesh: Mohammed Rafique  
• England: KP, Nasser Hussain
• India: Sachin Tendulkar
• New Zealand: Chris Cairns
• Pakistan: Wasim Akram
• South Africa: Jacques Kallis
• Sri Lanka: Muttiah Muralidaran  
• West Indies: Brian Lara
• Zimbabwe: Andy Flower
  

This is my view, if you have any other name in mind please do leave a comment..

Champions league CLT20 stage round recap

What happened thus far, a look back..

• Great inauguration, amazing choreography by Shaolin Monks and others.
• Boring speech which was booed by the audience; started clapping before he could finish. (Mr.Modi)

• MATCH1 - JP's great innings of 99, deserved a century.. An innings punctuated by traditional drives and pulls, no slogging.. A 105m hit for SIX that landed above the big screen.. RCB went down to this brilliant knock..

• AUSSIE might - Victoria and NSW impress with big wins that could put them in the next stage.. Thumping win against Delhi and Eagles respectively.. Showed their class and the strong domestic set up at display..
  

• IPL teams go down - 3 losses in as many matches.. RCB lost to JP's knock, Delhi to pitch and Deccan to Alfonso Thomas. A last ball thriller, from being 99 for 7 to chase down 153 speaks of Deccan's bowling strength...
  

• Empty stands await matches involving non-IPL teams.. Provokes Gavaskar to question the future of CL T20 in the absence of IPL teams in the 2nd round.. 
  

• Cape Cobras and NSW through.. Cobras went past Otago to become the 1st team to enter league stage.. NSW showed their might over Sussex Sharks a day later to qualify to the next round.. 2 champions are through.. 
  

• Amidst all questions and speculations, Delhi put up 170 on board, on a pitch where 120 is a par score thanks to Viru and Karthik.. Qualify for the league stage by gaining an unassailable Net Run Rate..
  

• RCB follow suit.. 2 IPL teams get through.. 
  

• The lesser teams bow out, Otago from Newzealand and Wayamba from SriLanka bid good bye to CLT20 earning USD200,000 each..
  

• Trinidad and Tobago surprise the world with back to back wins.. Deccan had to listen to their team music/ theme music - 'GO chargers GO chargers'.. The IPL champions GO out of the tournament.. 
  

• A super 'SUPER' over, 9/1 from Eagles and 0/2 from Sussex.. Cj De Villiers picks up 2 in 2..  Reason given from sussex- we are new to super over and have never played in it before.. ( do we give them practice matches for this too? Ridiculous)..

But what has left an impact,

 JP Duminy's brilliant 99 will be talked for sometime to come.. Unforgettable innings.. No slogging.. This gives the message that players need not change their stroke play but only change their mindsets in T20..

Laxman's knock of 40 odd has left not only Harsha Bhogle dumbfounded but also many of the cricket fans.. Laxman stepping down the wicket or playing a cross bat shot/slog was definitely not a treat to watch but leads us to say please save them from T20 gimmicks.. We would rather watch him score 20 in a test match than to see him slog his way to 50s in T20..

Where's the hype ? Where are the sponsors ? We never heard a ***** Maximum, or ******* 4s... 6s were plain sixes and 4s were plain fours.. Refreshing.. (Yes, Modi is still the man behind the tournament, no changes there)

Empty stadiums for matches not involving IPL teams.. That is a  worrying sign for the future of CL.. We can just brush away the thought saying this is the first year and people would take time to understand and identify with the teams involved..

STAR.. An anthem 'yeh cup kahin nahi jayega' (this cup will not go anywhere) and India bounced out of T20 World cup.. 'All the best India' campaign and India crash out of Champions trophy.. 'Diwali hogi cup wali' campaign, Rangoli (colours) to depict trophy from RCB, sweets stacked one above other for Delhi and a rocket firecracker turning into a cup for Deccan.. The most unrealistic campaign that of DC has ended.. As RCB and DD don't carry points they need to win all their matches to get into semis.. So, will STAR make it 3 out of 3..

Focusing on League stage, A1, A2, B1, B2 form League A and C1,C2,D1,D2 form League B..

                        LEAGUE A                           LEAGUE B
                     Trinidad and Tobago                     RCB
                      Somerset CCC                            Cape Cobras
                      NSW blues                                  Delhi Daredevils
                      Diamond Eagles                           Victoria Bushrangers

match fixing

Why did each of the IPL teams lose their 1st match ??
What do the empty stands indicate ??
Do the less famous sides have to lose out ??
Who is watching them play ??

Ray Jennings had made a comment that IPL teams will find it tough in the tournament.. True..

The other domestic sides that compete in the tournament are well established sides who play cricket right throughout the year.. Take Victoria Bushrangers or NSW blues for example.. Pura cup which is Sheffield Shield cup now is a tough 4 day competition that 6 teams compete in.. Then there is an ODI tournament that they take part in.. KFC big bash is just an addition to that.. So, these teams play the 4day competition, the one-day and T20..

IPL teams on the other hand meet a week or two before the tournament begins and stay together for 1.5 months in playing a minimum of 14 matches and maximum of 16 matches in the tournament.. So it is seriously difficult for them to compete against the other domestic teams.. But what makes the tournament alive is that it is a T20 competition and reputation counts for little..

So, we can argue that the IPL teams took a little bit of time to group and come together as a unit  than blame the quality of cricket or the lack of it..

The tournament matches of non-IPL teams were played against empty stands.. The question that was asked immediately was, what if the IPL teams do not go into the league stage ? Will there be viewership on tv sets India, forget the stadiums ?

If the IPL teams were to be left behind, there wouldn't have been any advertisers for the tournament.. With poor viewership, it would have been a tough ask for the organizers to call the CL T20 to be a success..

There was a question asked in the IPL-2 not only by the cricket fans but also by the ICC as to whether the matches are stage managed, to say that 'we had to wait till the last day to decide the semifinalists' and stuffs that would speak of the success and quality of the tournament and how the teams are so evenly matched..

Do we have to ask that question here too that deliberate efforts are made to push IPL teams through?

Ah, common..
The Deccan match went to the wires, a thrilling last ball finish..
The Bangalore match was punctuated by one classy knock from Duminy, whose individual brilliance enabled SA to win against AUS in Australia..
The Delhi match can be attributed to the slow low nature of the pitch..
Thats it, we have the answers.. No FIXING !!!

If a drop catch by Younis Khan in the CT2009 semi finals can be debated for fixing, a catch where the reaction time wouldn't be more than half a second, then these matches can surely be..

Fixing or no fixing, the tournament isn't a success yet.. The general public need to know the teams, the players, how they qualified and develop loyalties.. May be by the second edition, which may or may not be held in India, the viewers would have learnt about the teams and the tournament would have a larger reach..

trp goes down in champions league clt20

Ratings point is a measure of viewership of a particular television program.
 
One single television ratings point (Rtg or TVR) represents 1% of viewers in the surveyed area in a given minute.

As an example, say, there are an estimated 100 million television households in the surveyed country. Thus, a single national household ratings point represents 1%, or 1 million households.. When used for the broadcast of a program, the average rating across the duration of the show is typically given. Ratings points are often used for specific demographics rather than just households. For example a ratings point among the key 18-49 year olds demographic is equivalent to 1% of all 18-49 year olds in the country.

In India, television ratings are collected by two main organizations - TAM India and Audience Measurement Analytics Limited (aMap). aMap entered the market in 2005, with more coverage and latest technology from Telecontrol-Switzerland. aMap polls the meters (6000 households) using GSM network and provides ratings overnight. TAM India collects data manually (physical visits) and releases data weekly. aMap also has a stand-alone digital panel (aMapDigital) to measure TV viewing in DTH homes.

The TRP ratings show that T20 is starting to get boring and unknown teams playing only adds to the woes.. The empty stands are also an indication that CL T20 hasn't yet caught the viewers.. If this is the situation in a cricket crazy country, the situation will only be grim when CL goes around the world..

A comparison of important matches in ICC T20 WC 2009, IPL ,CT 2009 and CL T20 is done below..


For IPL 2009, the reach had increased.. More viewers but they stayed for a lesser time on the channel.. The ratings were 4.3 for RCB vs KKR in 2008 and was 3.6 in 2009 for CSK vs MI...
The 2nd semi final CSK vs RCB had a rating of 6.5 against 5.5 rating for semi-2 in IPL-1..
But 8.8 rating of IPL-1 was far too higher than 8.3 of IPL-2 ..

Having said that, and IPL being too loud being the reason for its reach and talks that IPL and T20 are going to take the world by storm spelling an end to test matches and the ODIs were proved wrong in the ICC world cup, may we say that the timings of the match were a dent to the viewership..


In ICC WC 2009, IND-WI match had highest rating points of 5.4 followed by Ind-Eng game 4.8 ..
The finals had a rating of 3.7 in star cricket and DD had a rating of 3.8 ....

Still we find that an Ind-Pak match garners the same rating as that of T20 finals.. So, a great game of cricket is still appreciated irrespective of whether its a T20 or ODI..  Over 30 million viewed Ind-Pak match.. The knock out stages did not do that well because of the absence of Indian team..

The Champions League has fared even worse with an average of 0.74 so far, according to TV monitoring agency, aMap.. Empty stands also adds to the woes.. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore was full even for the Ind-Aus test match while in the other 3 matches we got to see empty stands.. But now, the same stadium in Bangalore was empty for Trinidad match..

This takes us to the next question.. Will the matches be fixed to let the IPL teams into the league stage ?

the castrol index

The Castrol Index looks at a batsman or bowler’s performance in his core skill area.For a Batsman, its the batting that counts and bowling adds on and vice-versa for the bowlers.. For the all rounders though, the indices are added..

For a batsman it’s his Batting Momentum, the combination of runs scored and the rate at which those runs are scored..

For a bowler it’s his Bowling Efficiency, the combination of wickets taken and the economy rate. 

The Castrol Index also factors in each player’s non core skills, such as the Bowling Efficiency for a batsman or the Batting Momentum for a bowler. This is crucial, because in the shorter formats of the game every ball matters.

The Castrol Index also factors in each player’s fielding performance, such as runs saved or conceded, which further adds to the bonus or penalty earned. It’s by looking at all three aspects of the game for every player and not just the runs scored or wickets taken, that the Castrol Index is able to tell you the true impact of every player’s contribution in the shorter versions of the game. 

With a match centre, that previews and reviews every match with the help of the Castrol Index.. It is claimed that this index predicts the outcomes and deduces the player performances in a much more comprehensive way than what a simple statistic of runs scored and wickets taken would do..

The expert fan view would run throughout the Champions League T20 where fans can post questions or answer the ones posted by their peers.. The best post and answer of each day would be picked up by Harsha Bhogle, the famous commentator of the ESPNSTAR group.. And what more there are cash rewards for doing the same..

visit http://www.castrolcricket.com/ for details..

IPL teams in CL T20

Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB had a dismal inaugural season in IPL being termed as a test side and the entire team make up was shuffled for the 2nd edition.. Few T20 specialists were selected from the auction but the campaign still did not seem to be on track with KP as captain.. Once KP left, it was decided that Anil would lead the side and he led the side from the front.. RCB, under him, entered the knock out stages.. Upsetting CSK's chances in the semis, they faced Deccan in the finals who like RCB had a dismal outing in IPL-1.. In a final, that could have gone either way, Deccan prevailed.. RCB are looking for revenge., (that was Kumble's statement).

Placed in Group C, they face Cape Cobras on the first day and Otago Volts later..





TEAM : Anil Kumble (capt), Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Dale Steyn, Manish Pandey, Praveen Kumar, Bhuvanesh Kumar, Roelof van der Merwe, Mark Boucher, Vinay Kumar, Virat Kohli, Akhil Balachandra, Rajesh Bishoni.

Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils are like their former captain Sehwag.. Unpredictable.. Twice have they come to the semifinals after being confident in the league only to lose the semis badly.. With Sehwag stepping down from captaincy and 3 of the international stars missing it will be upto the local Delhi lads to put up an impressive show.. I don't think they can even field 4 foreign players.. Glenn McGrath's exploits are sought after..



In group D, they find themselves in the same group as Wayamba and Victoria.. Both are tough opponents.. 

TEAM : Gautam Gambhir(capt),  Virender Sehwag, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dirk Nannes, Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary , Ashish Nehra, Amit Mishra, Owais Shah, Pradeep Sangwan, Aavishkar Salvi, Rajat Bhatia, Mithun Manhas. 

Deccan Chargers

Deccan too like the RCB had a dismal IPL-1 but unlike RCB they stuck with the same team with Gilchrist as a full time captain and the winning coach Darren Lehmann (was with Rajasthan ROYALS during IPL-1).. Rohit Sharma played well for them and the purple cap (leading wicket taker) holder RP Singh, Gilchrist came good at right times to ensure a place in the semifinals.. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, a true Aussie style demolition from Gichrist ensured a place in the finals where a drop catch and quick wickets from the RCB side and some excellent cricket from the team led them to lift the DLF IPL-2.. 

Deccan with the firepower of Gilchrist, freelancer Symonds and the likes of Styris and Fidel Edwards should be menacing.. Placed in Group A with Trinidad and Somerset.. Not a tough group.. Will RP and Rohit come back to form again for this tournament is a question.. (would be remarkable if they do so, they would earn the reputation of being in form for the Chargers always and be poor for the nation).. Will VVS sit and watch the entire tournament from the dug out yet again?

TEAM : Adam Gilchrist (capt), VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Fidel Edwards, Scott Styris, Chaminda Vaas, RP Singh, Ryan Harris, Pragyan Ojha, Y Venugopal Rao, T Suman, Azhar Bilakhia, Harmeet Singh, SM Shoaib.