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Dhoni

Bowlers,Harbhanjan Singh and Praveen Kumar should open the Batting !

Australia just won the Vadodra ODI by just 4 runs and lead 1-0 in the seven match series….They piled up 292 and the Indians replied with 288/8…It would have been an improbable win had the Indians pulled it off and scored the 9 runs required of the final over

All seemed lost at 201/7 ….but none had reckoned with the spunk shown by Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar…they nearly got us to victory with a record eight wicket stand…we required 42 to win in the last three overs…we got 33 of them in two,but faltered in the last Siddle over

Methinks Harbhajan and Praveen should open the Indian Batting…most of the others in the team showed no spunk…their body language and mindset were simply not energised to go out there and win on the field…Seems it was just another 9 to 5 working day for them !

Seems there continues,despites denials to the contrary,huge ego trips between our cricket stars…it’s affecting team spirit and team play on the field 

Sehwag opened with a flourish,promised a lot,but left a lot to be desired….Gambhir played sensibly…… Ravindra Jadeja seems paralysed on the International scene…Tendulkar was playing and missing a few outside the off stump and fell to a trap,stretching out for one and playing it on the up to short cover/silly midoff where Pointing snapped him up….Raina after a swashbuckling six,also fell into a Johnson trap…he lobbed a caught and bowled to a slower deceptive ball….Virat Kohli played well….Dhoni,attempting to clear the field, holed out to mid on in the Batting Power Play…he seems to have lost the Power Hitting ability with which he had arrived on the International scene 

Just Imagine…we lost Four Wickets and scored just 22 runs in the Five Over Batting Powerplay !

….all of this and our poor fielding and running between wickets  cost us the match 

Unacceptable that our Cricketers play with inconsistent passion in a country where Cricket ignites Great Passion and Powers and Unites the Nation….seems to me too much Money in the game is affecting playing attitudes…..obscene Ad spends on Stars, BCCI administrators and IPL only aggravating this scenario…Putting Self before Country…Many Players are simply taking their place for granted and nepotism and favouritism is not uncommon in Selections at State and even National level…..and this feeling is not a kneejerk one just because we lost the ODI today ! read more

Coach,Kirsten has the Guts to come out and pinpoint the IPL for India’s early ouster in the ICC T-20 Cricket World Cup

I’ve said it before and I say it again…There is obscene money in Indian Cricket and the IPL is simply a creation and extension of this…what with those crazy auctions and High Winning Bids for a Team  !…you’re putting a tag on a cricketer like a commodity !…and the price tag level discrepancies between players,especially from the same Country,is causing resentment among them !

There is something as “Too much of a Good Thing” and IPL is just that…It’s tempting Cricketers to play more for Obscene Money,their Franchise and BCCI and not for India !…It’s devaluing the sacred Indian Cap !

I may be harsh ,but I’m calling it like how I see it !…and I believe Millions of other Indians too see it !…Mind you,I hold absolutely no grudge against players earning well…ofcourse you entertain during the IPL…but let it not be at the cost of the Indian Cap !

Easier said than done though ! Think about it ! if you were a Cricketer and were offered a Rs One Crore Annual Contract in IPL…that’s a little over US $ 200000…you’d be a fool to reject it ! unless ofcourse you think your’e worth more !…..A Rs 20 lakh Annual Contract from BCCI to an Indian Player may then not look that lucrative !

Money appears to be a better motivator than Patriotism !….. When a Player shores up his Bank Balance with IPL Millions there is visibly  a distinct slackening in attitude,intensity,motivation and competitive spirit to earn a place in the Indian Team….A place in the Indian Team, ofcourse, would be the Icing!…but the IPL Cake is big enough !

So who’s bidding so high in the IPL ! ? Should we then blame Shah Rukh Khan,Preity Zinta,Ness Wadia,Lalit Modi,Shilpa Shetty,Neeta Ambani and Dr Vijay Mallya for India’s poor show at the ongoing ICC T-20 Cricket World Cup !?

India was knocked out from the ongoing ICC T-20 Cricket World Cup and it was refreshing to see our Coach,Gary Kirsten,come out in the media and actually confessing,that it was in his view,the IPL that caused problems for India in the World Cup and led to their below par performance….This is the gist of what Kirsten said or implied :

  • The Indian Players showed fatigue and tiredness after a month long IPL tourney in South Africa
  • Many players carried their niggles from the IPL to the World Cup

Zaheer Khan injured his shoulder in the IPl and yet played for India in the World Cup…He will now probably miss the series with West Indies beginning on June 26…Sehwag  was injured in the IPL,but yet was part of the Indian Team at the World Cup…He just could not play in any match…and had to then reveal how  serious the injury was…he was replaced by Dinesh Kartick …so you had both,our bowling and batting spearheads incapacitated for the World Cup   read more

Indian Run Feast in the third ODI v/s Sri Lanka…363-5 in 50 Overs

Dhoni’s luck with the toss continued as he called tails and tails it was…. chose to Bat…Sachin was once again unfortunate to be ruled LBW..ball was missing leg stump…Gambhir was run out at the Non Strikers end by the bowler’s deflection…India 24/2

Then walked in Yuvraj Singh….Sehwag and he created history with a 221 runs partnership in just 167 balls with both scoring centuries

Yuvraj reached the three figure mark first and scored 117 of 95 balls…Sehwag scored 116 of just 90 balls

It has taken Ten long years for someone to score an ODI century against the Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka

Yusuf Pathan scored a quickfire 59 in just 38 balls with four 4s and three 6s in an unbroken partnership of 85 runs in just 69 balls with Dhoni, who remained unbeated with 35

Top Spinners,Mendis and Murali .were both ineffective,though Murali claimed Yuvraj’s wicket to reach 502 wickets and equal Wasim Akrams’s ODI Record

India ended it’s Innings scoring a record 363-5 in 50 Overs

Sri Lanka begin the run chase shortly and expect Jayasuriya to fire from Ball One as the asking rate is Seven Runs an Over !

What awesome Batting by the Indians !…If India wins they take an unassailable 3-0 Winning Lead in this Series   

Was Pointing Playing for India !?…we should consider him for India’s highest Sporting Award !

Australia had held the Border-Gavaskar Test Trophy for Test Series played between India and Australia

India won back this Trophy by beating them 2-0 in the Series that just concluded

Just a strong reflection on the strange playing tactics and strategies of the Australian Captain,Pointing that has provoked me to even classify this blog under the category of ‘Insider Trading ‘!….Of course this should not take away any of the Indian team’s Glory in beating the Champions

Was Pointing,the Australian Captain playing for India ?….the way he threw his wicket in the earlier tests demands some investigation screamed my Son

More Demanding an investigation was this situation where Australia were in a position to square the series and retain the Trophy…They had India reeling at 166 for 6 in their second innings at Tea on the fourth day of the fourth and last test match in Nagpur,ahead by just 250 runs…What did Pointing do after Tea ?…Instead of going for the kill he rested his fast bowlers,who were relegated to the role of retrieving the ball back from the Boundary rather than hurling it at the batsmen…..He introduced part time spinners to allow Dhoni and Harbhajan to settle down into a long partnership…all under the excuse that he had to make up the slow over rate !…You can’t do this at the cost of losing both the Match and the Series and the Trophy !

Was it a conscience trade off for his unsporting behaviour that won Australia the Sydney Test in the last series between the two countries?….Did Pointing adopt this strange tactic deliberately as many are accusing him of doing to secure his future !?…Methinks his mind was plagued with a lot of Indigestion and he was just not thinking and playing Cricket…unpardonable and unacceptable from a seasoned Captain like him

Australian Legends,Ian Chappell and Alan Border,both past Test Captains were simply furious and let loose harsh and strong words on Pointing…The CEO of the Australian Board is going to seek an explanation from Pointing

It’s Funny that the Australian Coach,Tim Neilsen defends Pointing by questioning his Critics if it was right to break the rules to win !…he meant making up for the slow overrate……Funny and pretty Rich coming from an Australian !….because Pointing and the Australian team,with not so little help from both Umpires,both B’s…no !no ! I’m not cursing them…their names were Benson and Bucknor !, did not pause to think twice while breaking all rules to win the Sydney Test,and which prompted even their Prime Minister to chide them to play the game in it’s true spirit read more

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