There is no balance

            between the teams in the IPL 2011. Earlier, we had teams capable of beat each other. That was evenly poised. Most of the times, we were notable to predict the outcome of any game. Addition of 2 new teams diluted the quality, and players spreaded across the teams.
                In the current edition, MI and CSK are looking strongest, RR,RCB, and KKR are looking stronger. One time champion DC, two time semi finalist DD, and KXIP are looking weaker of the lot. Actually MI and CSK did a clever thing by retaining their best players, and now they are looking real competitors. On top of that(Particularly MI), they  bought heroes of previous editions like Symonds, Rohit, and T Suman. But they are going to miss their real weapon in the form of Malinga from the 1st week of May, since Srilankan board asked them come back for the stupid England tour.

                                The biggest mistake done by DC is, they haven't retained Rohit and Gilly, and they lost Suman to MI (Suman didn't find place in Hyderabad ranji team, thats why choosen MI). Gilly had been the motivating factor for DC in the last two editions. He knew his players very well, he knew their strength(remember, how they won 5 games in a row and qualified for the last four in the last edition).

                                  I guess (even though this is too early) MI,CSK,RCB,RR/KKR will reach semis.

at last God has got his gift

                This is one of the best moments of the Indian cricket.  And, now they should dominate the world like Australia did for several years. They are getting a new coach along with the world champion status. I guess, stephen fleming will be that guy most probably. He is almost like gary only. On top of that, is having great rapport with CSK's captain. I wish, he will be succeed in polishing few guys like sree santh, Yusuf etc. I dont think Piyush will get another chance.

Thanks to Misbah and Younis

         for their contribution in India's reaching to final. They dropped catches of great Sachin, and took so much time to settle down in the run chase and made sure that required run rate go up all the time. Younis batted for 44 minutes to make 13 from 32 balls, and Misbah never tried to hit the ball hard for most of the time, and that mounted so much pressure on other batsmen. By the time he started slogging, it was almost over for Pakistan.

                                   I am very eagerly waiting for the Saturday. I wish India will win the cup with the help of Sachin's century while chasing, and he roar like a lion after the winning stroke. This will be the perfect happy ending climax. Best of luck to India, and may Lord Ganesha bless us.

Win the toss and bat first

               I am not talking about our semi final match against Pakistan. I am talking about South Africa's nightmarish run in the major events. One thing is sure that they cannot perform better under pressure in big matches in  major tourneys. They will play like champions in the league stage, and will become clueless overnight when it comes to the knockout stage. I think they have a problem in chasing, and the below stats will prove that to an extent. 

Tournament           Year    Opponent    Lost By       

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

World Cup            1992    England     19 Runs
hero cup             1993    India        3 Runs      
titan cup            1996    India       35 Runs
world cup            1996    West Indies 19 Runs       
world cup            1999    Australia    Tie     
champions trophy     2002    India        10 Runs      
world cup            2011    Newzealand    49 Runs

Good team work

           50+ scores from Sachin, Gambhir, and Yuvraj, and 2 wickets each taken by Ashwin, Zaheer, and Yuvraj. This is called sharing the responsibility. Nobody has crossed 60, still they are able to chase down 260. That one irresponsible shot from mindless Dhoni could have cost us the cup, but fortunately Raina hasn't played like his idiot captain, and stayed till the end. And this is the right time to bring back sree santh and kick out lazy munaf.

All we need is a slow pitch

to make it into the last 4. Actually this should have been the finals. Unfortunately we are facing Australia in very much advance. Still i don't forget the 2003 humiliation. Now, this should be our turn. Win the toss (bit difficult for dhoni), bat first, and put 270+ score on board. Chasing this much score on a slow pitch is near to mission impossible. Handle Johnson and Lee with care, and try to make 90-100 runs from their 20 overs. Don't be scared of Tait. He bowls fast but leaks so many runs.

                                                                          Dhoni should think about sreesanth's inclusion in the final XI. Zaheer should not bowl more than 4 overs in his first spell, and should come back when the ball gets old. Zaheer, Aswin, and Sreesanth should be bowling the first 15 overs, and try to get rid of watson and haddin, and will get out-of-form ponting as a free gift (take 2 wickets and get 1 wicket free). Then Bhajji and Yuvi will take care of the middle order.

                                                                               

Dhoni - lacking of ideas?

         You will feel the same if u have watched India's matches against England and South Africa. I am talking about handling the death overs. In both matches Indian batting collapsed suddenly, and moreover they were unable to bat complete 50 overs. When runs are not coming easily or the batsman is new to crease, then why dont they take singles instead of going for slog from the very first ball. If they had followed this in the today's match they would have made 30 more runs than the actual one. Its clearly visible that there is no plan-b in the place. After 40th over they just wanted to make more runs by slogging irrespective of the  situation.

                                                                           In today's match vs South Africa, 99% of cricket fans, followers(including myself), and pundits  might have thought that Dhoni will give the ball to Bhajji in the last over. Because Bhajji was bowling really well till then. (Still i remember, when the fellow commentator asked Ravi Sastry whom he is going to opt at that moment, immediately Sastry replied "Bhajji" ). But Dhoni surprised everybody by choosing Nehra. Only god knows how Nehra  is going to bowl a over.

Tourney is becoming exciting day by day...

                     Initially i thought this is going to be a boring event till the knock-out stage. Unlike 1996 where we predicted 80% of matches very accurately, this one is unpredictable. Nobody would have thought that India-England will end as a tie (just ignore warne), nobody would have predicted South Africa's defeat against England, Kevin O'Brien's breath taking and match winning 100, Bangladesh's collapse vs West Indies for 58 runs, or New zealand humiliating Pakistan. I hope we will get a chance to watch more of this kind.

                        Right now New Zealand are at 1st in group A, and South Africa are in 4th position in group B. Quite interesting!

Yuvraj is back...

                This is a great news to India and to his fans. Two 50+ scores and one 5-wicket haul enhanced chances of winning the cup. When he gets going nobody can stop India from winning. I still remember the winning streak of India between Oct'2005 and Mar'2006 where they won 85% of their matches, and Yuvraj won two back-to-back man of the series awards. I smell that it's going to happen again if he maintains the current form. I would like to see either Yuvraj-Dhoni or Yuvraj-Pathan combo to bat in the last 10-15 overs.

is 338 not enough to defend?

           Blunders from the both sides forced this match to end as a tie. Everybody criticizing India for their poor fielding and bowling skills. but, in the first place, it is English who allowed India to make 338, though being a better fielding side. no side deserved to win this match.

      India were never been in this match in the second half till the batting power-play. After taking 5 wickets in 6 overs, they allowed tail-enders to hit 3 sixes in the space of 6-7 balls. prior to those 3 sixes, India were about to win the match. Same thing applies to England also, they had the match in their pocket till the 43rd over. India were almost set to loose the match. Then, suddenly they collapsed. 

                 In this flawed match, we saw two special innings from sachin and strauss. Sachin's was a flawless one. becuase, strauss caught by dhoni off zaheer when he was on 13, but nobody appealed. They might not have heard the sound of nick because of that noicy crowd.

Note: Ian Bell was plumb out, but got life. thanks to flawed UDRS!

India - Good start

             India put 370+ on the score board, there is no surprise in that! Because sehwag played till the 48th over. That is the biggest surprise, and damn good news for the India. If sehwag maintains  the same intention through out the tournament, then cup is ours!! And, young virat played another excellent innings, and along with sehwag, has thrown bangla out of the match. As long as the delhi trio(viru,gauti, and virat) are in good form, we will not have much issues with batting. 

                                                       But the bowling still worries. Srisanth's 50+ runs in 5 overs is not acceptable even though its a batting friendly wicket. They allowed bangladesh to cross 280, and if it was not bangladesh, the match would have been very tougher. For bangladesh, they dont have to  worry too much, and their fielding skills have been improved a lot. they are no more one of the worst fielding sides. In the coming days we have so many boring matches are to be played, and you can predict the winners straightaway right now.

Sri lanka - can repeat 1996

                  Playing in the home conditions will be a big advantage for Sri Lanka, they are very threatening in their own yard. I think they can repeat the magic of 96. They are nicely balanced team, and this will be the last world cup for Murali. So they will try to put some extra effort for him.The biggest strength of Sri Lanka lies in their middle order which comprises Mahela and Sanga along with samaraveera. After that they have all rounders in the form of Mathews and perera. And, at the top, Dilshan (he might be off-color off late, but still dangerous) and taranga can make a good opening pair.

                                                                Even their bowling looks good with the likes of Murali, Lasith, Kulasekhara, Mathews, and mendis. Fernando is a wicket taking bowler at crucial times. So, this is the best chance for them to win their second cup.

England - at least this time?

             I think this is the better team from England in the last 20 years. can they make it now? They have already won 20-20 world cup. can they repeat that magic in India? England does not have a good record here in the last 25 years. when they visited last time in 2008, have been thrashed badly.

                                They have less or more chances to reach semis. But, definitely will make it to the knock-out stage. They have very good batting line-up that comprises strauss, trott, peterson, bell, and all rounders bopara, collingwood, and luke wright. wicket-keeper prior can make useful 20-30 runs just like mark boucher of SA. Unfortunately they are missing morgan.Otherwise this could have been very dangerous batting line up.

                In the bowling department, we can see anderson (english zaheer), broad, and other slow medium pacers like collingwood and wright. Currently world's best spinner swann can be their trump card. Let us see whether this bunch of guys are able to down the curtains to the 36 years old waiting.

The best sledging

England's James Ormond had just come out to bat and was greeted by Australia's Mark Waugh : Waugh from the slips: 'What are you doing out here? There's no way you're good enough to play for England.' Ormond: 'Maybe not, but at least I'm the best player in my family.

Sunil Gavaskar  of India and West Indies' Viv Richards: Gavaskar, normally an opener, had decided to bat at number four, but Malcolm Marshall dismissed Anshuman Gaekwad and Dilip Vengsarkar for ducks, setting the stage for Gavaskar to walk in at 0-2. Richards said: 'Man, it don't matter where you come in to bat, the score is still zero.

(Courtesy : yahoo)

South Africa - again sour grapes?

                       In 1992, the Rain God made them to leave the tournament, in 1996, it was Brain Lara's superb century. in 1999 they had a real good chance, both Gibbs and  Donald spoiled that in different situations. in 2003 pollock's wrong calculations, and in 2007 Australia were in a great form not given a chance. South Africa are really strong on paper, especially in India they have a good record. But they will choke (tired of using this word for SA) in crucial matches (remember Titan cup in 1996?).

                                                                                 This time also, i don't think they will make it. They have to wait for the next world cup. Their bowlers can be threatening in SA, but in India, i have some doubts on their capabilities. Except Steyn (morkel upto some extent), other bowler look very ordinary. They may click here and there but cannot win matches for the team with their bowling efforts. They made a mistake by not including Albie. And, they are no more a great fielding side.

                                                                       Batting worth mentioning. Smith (but having moderate success in India), Kallis, Amla, AB, and duminy - all can play according to the situation. Especially amla is having an excellent record in India, and he is in superb form right now. Like India, SA have to depend a lot on their batsmen to fulfill their dream.

Australia - Can they defend this time?

     The biggest difference between the australian teams of 2007 and current one is, they are missing mcgrath, gilly, and hayden this time. But still australia is one of the strongest contenders. Shane watson is in good form, Haddin is dependable keeper-batsman, big-hitting david hussey and cameron white can race the score board in the last 10-15 overs. Pace men Lee, Michel johnson, Bollinger, and Shaun tait - all are wicket taking bowlers. so, at least they will reach semi-finals. 
               But ponting is coming from an injury, and michel clark is inconsistent. this may be a concern for them. and moreover they are going to miss big hussey. This makes the batting line to look a bit average. On top of that they dont have a quality spinner. Clearly its visible that they are missing x-factor. Unlike the 2003 and 2007, they have to fight really hard to retain the cup.

Pakistan - dark horse

            In my previous post we discussed about the India’s chances of winning the cup, now will look at our neighbors. Personally i never supported Pakistan team (except the match between Aus vs. Pak in the Champions trophy 2009), but i never under estimated that team irrespective of their internal issues. I will bet on Pakistan that they will reach semis. They really have a nice bowling attack comprising akthar, gul, sohail tanveer (was the best bowler in ipl 2008), ajmal, cunning razzaq, and afridi. Even their batting line up looks impressive with younis (very good record in India), talented umran akmal and misbah, hard hitting kamran, and most dangerous afridi, razaak at no 7 & 8. These players can play under any conditions. Afridi and razzaq can destroy the opponent in last 10 overs. Their biggest problem is inexperienced openers. Moreover they are not disciplined (don’t forget the match fixing). If they can settle these issues, they can be the real threat to others.

India's chances in the world cup

                                             They will reach semi finals. this is what i believe strongly. if you look at the past, you should not expect more than this. they had a better chance in 1987, but could not win that. As i said in the earlier post, the other 5 teams (Aus,SA,SL,Pak,Eng) are tough to beat. after the league round, have to win 3 consecutive matches to lift the cup.they have to beat 3 equal opponents in a row, and there are chances that they may not be playing their quarter and semi-final matches in india. considering the past, this can be a difficult one for them. 

                                         in the batting friendly conditions, our batting department looks good (we have some flat track heroes in our team), but they are still scared of the fastest bowlers. And they have some issues in the bowling  department. even an average pinch-hitter can hit them at 12 runs per over in the last 10 overs. out of 50, only 20-30 overs are in safe hands. the remaining depends on their luck. this is going to be a big worry. they don't even defend 270+ scores.
                                                        I forgot Yousuf! he is the X-Factor, he can make it for India.

Indian Squad - World Cup'11

                                       Just 3 more weeks to go! battle begins between 6 strong teams for the mega event (we cannot expect more from the others). I believe any team from this 6 can win the cup. i don't predict any team as a favorite. The bigger question is, will this battle be exciting as much as we are expecting. because 96 world cup was a big yawn except few moments.
                                                              In the 3rd week of Jan, list of 15 soldiers has been announced. we will just go through this list, and will discuss their capabilities. We have 1 keeper-batsman (dhoni), 3 specialist spinners (harbhajan,ashwin,piyush), 4 medium pacers (zaheer,nehra,munaf,praveen), 6 specialist batsman (sachin,sehwag,gambhir,raina,virat,yuvraj), and 1 all-rounder in yousuf in the squad.
                                                                                              i really dont understand why there is no reserve wicket keeper, if some thing happens to dhoni just before a crucial match, who is going to keep wickets in his absense? do we need a 3rd spinner when we can see so many part timers in the line up. Instead of picking a 3rd spinner they would have picked up 5th medium pacer or a reserve wicket keeper.
                                                                       in the fast bowling department, we dont have much options. definitely there will be 3 pacers in final eleven. if any two bowlers are injured or out-of-form, then what happens. this is a blunder of selection.

Flash News : Sreesanth is replacing yet to recover praveen (bad news to dhoni)

Dhoni - King of flat tracks

                                                   Yes! indeed dhoni is a flat track bully. anybody can debate with me over this headline. most of the times (may be 7 times out of 10) he will struggle to bat on a live pitch. that's been proved again here in centurion sports park. He is a failure as a batsman in this series. He never looked comfortable on field while batting. if he had made at least 30-40 runs in the last match, we would have won the series also.His contribution in the entire series is pathetic as well (75 runs in 5 innings).

                                                                         Again he may score so many runs on indian dead tracks where even a deadly fast bowler cannot do any thing with ball, but,  may get a chance to score a century with bat in his hand. once again i am telling you guys what i believe to the core is DHONI MEANT FOR FLAT TRACKS. he is good only at post match press conferences.

                                                                        

One side pathetic show - other side Virat

          Once again they gifted wickets with mindless shots. The list includes dhoni, raina, yuvraj singh etc. This is really missed opportunity. they shouldn't have allowed proteas more than 180. one more wicket at that stage (SA 120/5) would have made the difference, and india would have made the history. this has been a problem since a long time. getting rid of the top order and struggling to remove the tail-enders.

                                                                                  I really would like to say few things about Virat Kohli, This young guys is improving with every passing day. Its no surprise RCB retained only this young talented ahead of established stars. He is a complete package. Nice technique, good temperament, energetic running between wickets, and moreover  is a brilliant fielder. I hope Rohit will learn few things here and there from him.  

Yousuf Pathan - Brutal force with calm mind

            wow! what a match it was! a perfect nail biting one. India once again proved that they are the come back kings. Off late they won several  matches by coming from behind, and don't forget the recent Bangalore match where we have seen big Yousuf hammered the kiwis brutally. Once again he did similar kind of stuff, but in alien conditions against a giant.

  

                                  In the process, he showed a great patience, and taken several blows on to his body. He waited for the balls to be dropped in his comfort zone and hit them with brutal force. He has shown us how somebody can cover up his weaknesses by staying calm, and unleash  power in his time. It's very simple, respect the toughest bowlers and hammer the ordinary.

                                                Thank god! There was no Ravindra Jadeja at no.7, I  really don't know what would have happened to the match if he were there.

India's world cup squad - analysis

Hi folks!

      get ready for the biggest cricket feast. The mega cricketing event is going to start in one month in the Indian sub continent followed by mouth watering IPL.  The biggest question raises in our mind again is, can our heroes grab the cup this time after 27+ years. I do agree, its not so easy to stand up to the expectations of 1.2 billion people.

        Yesterday, Srikanth & Co announced a team of 15 members with few surprises in it. In the coming posts, we will discuss whether this team is able to carry the hopes of our nation or not. Keep visiting this space for more analysis!