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Australia (127 & 381) beat Pakistan (333 & 139) to take a winning 2-0 lead in the Cricket Test Series down Under…Miracle or Mediated!?

Would you believe it!?….On the verge of a historic Test Win Down Under,Pakistan actually lost to Australia !

Trailing 206 runs in the first Innings,only a Miracle could have saved Australia….Pakistan had to capitulate in their second innings just like Australia did in their First….and guess what !? The Miracle happens !? Pakistan did !

Look at the scores….Australia 127 and 381 and Pakistan is a virtual reversal of this… 333 and 139

Now ! Now !….Miracle or some Mediation !?

Such ‘Miracles’ are happening too frequently raising issues of Cricket’s Credibility….turns you off this Sport

and a last point….In such situations I simply abhor the sweet commentary and write ups in the media on how such a ‘Miracle’ happened !…really do !….are we suckers or what !…and mind you,I do believe in Miracles !…but only when God ‘fixes’ them !

 

 

 

Remembering My Parents on the recent deaths of Cricket Crazy,Rajsingh Dungarpur and ‘Dirty Dancing’ Star,Patrick Swayze

Rajsingh Dungarpur passed away a few days ago…Cricket and Rajbhai were synonymous…He played for Rajasthan State  decades ago and then assumed pivitol administrative roles in our Country’s Cricket Structure…The Cricket Club of India,Mumbai (CCI)  and Rajbhai were one soul….Yet,in the past year he was sen often in solitary bliss,gazing out soulfully at the Golf Greens while enjoying a peaceful Breakfast or Lunch at the Willingdon Club Verandah or Garden Cafe…Perhaps the Machinations against him at CCI saddened him…..Not long before Alzehimers took over,Rajbhai was seen passionately regaling,whoever cared to lend a ear, with Cricketing anecdotes…Rajbhai will be remembered for many Cricket lores,but most for his insistence,despite strong opposition within the selection committee,on including the very young boy ,Sachin Tendulkar in the Cricket Tour to Pakistan in 1989 and for offering the Captaincy to a very startled,Mohd Azharuddin,who jumped at the opportunity

Remembering my late father…His Innings with Rajbhai  began in his capacity as the Manager of the IndianOil Cricket team…..Rajbhai had also offered membership of CCI,which my dad had then not pursued…wonder why!…..Rajbhai,on an overseas cricket tour in the late 1960s or early 1970s to, I think West Indies, had graciously taken an autograph book from my dad promising to get the signatures of all the Players for cricket crazy me….

A few days ago,’Dirty Dancing’ star,Patrick Swayze,aged 57, too died after suffering from Pancreatic Cancer for over a year…..remembering my Mom…she too succumbed in August 2007 to this after being diagnosed with it less than two months before her demise…In 2007,the famous Opera Singer,Luciano Pavarotti, aged 72,too passed away after a brief battle with Pancreatic Cancer  

May all their Souls Rest in Peace

India just short balled out of the ICC T-20 Cricket World Cup

India and Dhoni just lost it ! Expect a Swift and Strong Media and Public Backlash in India 

I penned this blog title before the last ball was bowled!

We lost to England in a crunch Super 8 game by just 3 runs!… We needed 154 to win and 19 of the last over… We got just 15 !..4th ball was hit for a six by Pathan… fifth ball he hit to Long On and just a single was taken ! when Going  for Two would have put some pressure on the fielder ! and given strike back to Pathan… who knows ! he could have hit the last ball for a Six and tied the game !… what actually happened was that we needed an impossible 8 to win of the last ball and Dhoni managed a Four.We ended at 150/5 chasing England’s 153/7.

Dhoni needs to shoulder full responsibility as a ‘completely out of clue’ captain ! Get Anil Kumble back ! he commented on this lack of Intent in going for Two runs on the penultimate ball 

Dhoni, himself seems to have lost the art of hitting sixes on call or frequently !…. so vital to facilitate a win in the T-20 Format….. there was no real killer instinct to win !… they were playing matter of fact… no sense of intensity or even enjoyment…something is amiss in this Indian Team ! It seems divided !… Dhoni, you paraded your team last week to show unity and dispel Indian Fears of a split in the Team….This spirit was not evident on the field !

Dhoni needs to answer himself first before he answers the nation

He boasts in the Aircell ads how while playing Cricket he connects on Facebook through his Mobile to connect with Friends and have fun….. I wish he had connected with me on Facebook… I could have conveyed to him to bring Yuvraj in early to Bat… we would have won the Game.  

He held back the in form Yuvraj Singh till late… Jadeja scored 20 + but took over 30  balls to do it !Rohit Sharma and Raina failed in two consecutive games. Yuvraj came in at 4 down after 10 overs and hit the first ball he faced for a Six! he scored a quickfire 17 in Nine Balls before a brilliant Foster stumping of Swann got him.

And if you see the margin of just 3 runs that seperated us,I must comment harshly on Harbhajan Singh needlessly gifting away 10 runs by bowling two unnecessary wides that went on to cross the fence with Yuvraj misfielding one of these.

And Ishant continued to bowl short… and surprisingly Zaheer gifted easy boundaries continuing to bowl a wrong legside line  read more

Just watch Sehwag Live now on Set Max or DD National …T-20 India v/s NZ…4 sixes..25 of 7 balls !

India has just begun their 45 day Cricket tour of New Zealand in blistering fashion with Sehwag on 25 of just 7 balls…watch him Live demolish the Kiwis in this T 20 match…he’s hit 4 sixes already…three of the first three balls he faced !…. Vettori elected to field after winning the toss

oooooooooooooo! Sehwag has just been bowled for 26 trying to hoist over midwicket…India is 32 fo2 and the fourth over has just started

Cricketer Yuvraj Singh…from being reviled to being revered !

We blame Cricket Players for Performance Inconsistency…But just reflect…We too are guilty of Inconsistency when assessing them

A Strong Case in point is our own Cricketer ‘Yuvi’ or Yuvraj Singh

We revered him when he hit those record Six Sixes of a Six Ball Stuart Broad Over in the T20 World Cup in South Africa…Our Board rewarded him with a Luxurious Premium Car…We all agreed that he was from ‘Another Planet’

We Reviled him when he failed to perform after the T-20 World Cup and dropped him from the Test Team…Cynics and Critics agreed that we need to send him to ‘Another Planet’

We brought him back into the ODI Team and he has won us the first two ODIs against England ,literally single handed…he remained unbeaten in Rajkot with an aggressive 138,his ninth ODI Hundred and won the ‘Man of the Match’ Award…In today’s second ODI,he came in at 29/3 and scored a back to back hundred,his Tenth Hundred in ODIs..His all round performance of scoring 118 and taking 4 wickets got him back to back ‘Man of the Match’ Awards

Yes,Yuvi,you’re surely from ‘Another Planet’…When you perform like this you’re simply ‘Out of this World Man !’…Teach me how to play that Block Shot Six that you did of Flintoff soaring way over his head into the Crowds !..Nah ! you can’t teach anybody such Shots !..They are Divine..and you are Blessed you can play them !

Keep Going ‘Yuvi’…you’re in great Orbit !    

India 444/5 at New Delhi’s Kotla Cricket Ground as Australians Capitulate

Gautam Gambhir just got bowled by Shane Watson for a superb 206 and Ganguly too did not bother the scorers too much … It’s the post lunch session and the only two Indian Wickets to have fallen today just did on the second day of the third Test Match in the four match Sunil Gavaskar-Allan Border Series… India leads the Series 1-0

Some great commentary from Mark Nicholas and Sunil Gavaskar…. Nicholas starkly states that the Australians are in a state of both mental disintegration and physical integration as a tired Brett Lee bowls a tired ball and let’s Laxman crack a four to third man… Gavaskar observes that it’s just a game of Cricket being played.. not Test Cricket… Indians are not being tested says he

Pointing has tried Eight Bowlers !, including himself… he should now go for the record and get all 11 to bowl… Hussey, Hayden and the Wicket Keeper need to turn the arm to create this record !

Yesterday Shane Watson  and Katisch went head to head with Gautam Ghambir and Watson and Gambhir are to face disciplinary hearings from the Match Referee, Chris Broad following charges laid by the Umpires, Billy Bowden and Alim Darr… Gavaskar continues to strongly affirm that it’s the players from the sub continent who continue to get the stick while the provokers from other countries get away… insinuating that in this case too only Gambhir will be penalised for deliberately elbowing Watson while on a run

Let’s wait and watch

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