India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup Final

INDIA VS PAKISTAN ICC WORLD T20 FINAL 2007

Background- This was the first time that a World Cup was being held in Cricket for a format other than ODIs. It was for the latest format- the T20s and it was held in South Africa. India had just finished an ODI series in England and they did not even have warm up matches for T20s. India was without the three greats- Sachin, Sourav and Rahul for the T20s but was led by the young, long-haired man – Dhoni.

There was a lot of excitement about the new format which took almost the same time as a movie. There was also interest about rules like Powerplay and field restrictions for T20, free-hit and bowl-out. In fact India and Pakistan had met before the finals in a game which ended with a spectacular bowl-out with India winning it.

Funny Cricket incident

First watch the video below.

Now I will write what must have been going through their minds:

Sachin facing: "It is on the pads I can flick it away. Oh, it came of the pad. Good it won't travel too far. Definite two in there" and tells it to Kumble.

Sachin: "Oh no, the fielder came in a bit too quickly to complete 2 runs now. But Kumble is coming back for the second. Oh what the heck. It was my call anyways, I need to honor it now. There is no point but let me go anyway."

Kumble: "Oh Sachin, what are you doing? You are the main batsman. You be safe, let me sacrifice my wicket." (Although there is no way to do that now to give up his wicket instead of Sachin's at the striker's end!!)

Sachin: "Anil what are you doing now?? Even a blind man had a better chance of shooting a target than me making it safe. I did and yet you somehow managed to get in trouble when you were perfectly safe by virtue of me honoring my call."

Anil: "Oh dear. I am cooked now"

Some insights into the game of Cricket

Having played and watched Cricket for quite a long time now, particularly after having just played recently, I thought it good to put down certain thoughts regarding playing the game.

Headlines

 These days I read a lot of news and many amusing things come in my mind. So I thought about it and started this blog post about some headlines around the world, finding some different meaning in them.

1. HEADLINE : Lawyer: Strauss-Kahn maid's remarks misportrayed 

All you Cricket lovers there,.....No...there's no mistake there....This headline isn't talking about Andrew Strauss and Zaheer Khan making some remarks to each other!

2. HEADLINE : Akram reveals Eric Clapton's desire to see Tendulkar hit 100 th century at Lord's

The century didn't happen at Lords but wouldn't it be nice if Eric can be there to 'Clap' on Sachin's 'Ton of Tons' in the second Test Match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham

....more will be added later

Which Cricketer are you?

OR

Take this most comprehensive, detailed and the best quiz (which includes the profiles of 40 top cricketers!) to find out which cricketer you are most like. http://www.quizazz.com/quiz.php/1004761/

IPL-4 Auctions 2011- Most Comprehensive article

IPL 2011 Auction held on 8 Jan 2011 (the first day) is over and it has given some interesting results. Here is a short summary and analysis.

Presenting the teams in alphabetical order and as per the possible lineup with the players at the end of day one in each squad. The amounts for each player might not be exact, taking the conversion from dollar to rupee and thus is a close approximation.

* Have also added the results of the auction on 9 Jan 2011, the second day. The players bought today 9 Jan are not in bold and those bought yesterday are in bold. Now only the domestic uncapped players remain which will make up the bulk of the teams.

* Updating about the uncapped players as well. They are in italics.


*  RETAINED PLAYERS SALARY-

*Also please note that according to IPL rules, for retaining one player, 1.8 million dollars or around 8.4 crores will be deducted from total team money allocated of 9 million $ or 41.4 crores, similarly for 2nd retained player, 1.3 million $ or 6 crore rupees, for 3rd retained player, 0.9 million $ or 4 crore Rs and for fourth retained player, 0.5 million $ or 2.33 crore Rs will be deducted. This however DOES NOT mean that it will be the actual salary of those players. It will be what is agreed upon by the owners and the players and this can be more or less than the deducted amount. Thus the auction might say Gambhir has the highest price but Sachin and Dhoni might still be the highest earning players!

Metamorphosis of Cricket (Sport, not insect!)

Cricket sport which originally started as a five day affair, has been changing with time over the years and in today's fast paced world with everything being fast and instant, Cricket too has a new face in the form of Twenty-twenty game, so much so that the previous formats seem no longer relevant.

It is a tough time for Cricket, for the people associated with the game over the years, for the audiences who have been watching and loving the game and its various aspects. It is a clash between the old and the new. For Cricket game as it started, some are advocates of "that's how it's meant to be". It is like the Bible or religion, the first word..the way it's meant to be. They cannot accept it to be changed or even to bring modifications to it. Some on the other hand believe that the time of the original Cricket formats is up and they should be scrapped and a few in the middle suggest bringing in some modifications and changes to make the game more up-to-date and in tune with today's time while avoiding both the extreme options.

Is Test Match the problem or is One day Internationals the problem? And the meaning of 'problem' here is........

Congrats! I bow down to "The God" Sachin Tendulkar

Today is the day when Sachin Tendulkar completes 20 years in International Cricket.

And since we all know that everything has already been said, written and documented very well about Sachin Tendulkar by almost everybody, it is futile for me to write something that has not been already said or written. So this will be a short but interesting post.

It is difficult to believe that it has been 20 long years since the small, curly haired boy was seen playing for India! Any one who saw this cherubic boy with a spark in his eyes could not help but be mermerized. Such a small innocent boy taking on the Pakistanis in their home land would be nerve wracking for anyone but who can forget the incident where he was hit on the nose? And then to stand up again and continue and score a half century as a 16 year old was what made the whole world take notice and really grasp the magnitude of what he really was. And then to take on the wily, experienced Abdul Qadir and to hoick him for 3 sixes announced the world that he was very special indeed; something that happens once in a century or even more. But one thing is sure, there can never be another Sachin Tendulkar. Ever! It is not for nothing that he is called "God" in Cricket..........

A Test Match that will be remembered

India's Tour of Australia- Sydney Test Match

*The opinion expressed here is personal and should not be taken offensively by anyone as it is not with the intention to raise any controversy of any kind.

In just my previous post,after the First Test Match, having praised the Aussies quite profusely, a huge controversy has arisen after the second Test Match between India and Australia, where the attitude of the Australian players has been questioned. Well that’s how things usually turn out to be.

The hearing after the controversial incident

A lot of things have happened in the past few days in Cricket, with so many opinions from ex-players and many decisions being taken and everyone having their own version and interpretation and analysis of what has happened and why it has happened and what not. Even if I just cover all that has taken place, it would be a huge post by my standards too. But I am not going to do that. You must have already read all that in the newspapers and in the TV news channels who are always coming up with their opinion polls and everything. Cricket has definitely been in the limelight and not for the right reasons, with even Australia’s Tennis player - Hewitt saying he feels like the Indian cricketers, as in being done in by the poor umpiring!..........

Cricket- The illogical Game

As you might know, I actually have a very diversified blog with posts covering almost every conceivable topic, ranging from Cricket, Art- drawings, poems, Martial Arts, Spirituality, reviews of books, games and movies, Politics, cooking, interesting websites, Computer games, my musings and experiences etc etc. It is infact a fun exercise because anyone who knows about my blogging like my friends, family or relatives, I tell them that I have a new post and see if they can guess on what topic it is and it is so difficult for them to think about because I am so unpredictable that I can write on any topic and it might be a totally different topic and might have no connection with the previous post. And as someone who had analyzed my blog said, this might be my strength or weakness or both!

But one of my pet topics is definitely Cricket and so far, under the topic of Cricket I have written about particular matches, or about a tour, or the various formats of the game or about a Cricketer. But this time I decided- Why not write about the game itself?

So here it is - a post on the game of Cricket.

(below is a small description of a funny event of Cricket that would take place if The Gods, enlightened Masters, Scientists etc took part in it)
............

IPL

IPL-



The IPL was certainly one of the most talked about things. No one knew how it would turn out to be, whether it would succeed, what impact it would have on world Cricket etc. For the first time Cricketers were auctioned and so, many expressed their opinions on this issue with Adam Gilchrist even saying that he felt like cattle. Certainly from the player’s point of view, it is not fair to be putting a price on the cricketers this way. It makes them look like just commodities in the hands of the buyers and I think this was visible in the game too..............

Hail the Master!- Sachin Tendulkar

India vs Australia Test Series 2008

The second test match between India and Australia is over and India has taken a comprehensive 1-0 lead in the 4 match series.

Lots of things have happened even before the series started and I will start by discussing that.
Australia landed in India with a team that many thought was the weakest Australian team. Australia always take playing in India as a challenge and this was the first time that this team was in a major series, in India, without their stalwarts. The retirement of McGrath, Warne and Gilchrist will definitely weaken any team no matter how good the reserves are. It also did not help that a few of their players were injured, and with MacGill and Hogg gone, the spin department is virtually zero specially when touring a country like India. Also a major setback was an incident, which also in a way highlights the way the Australian cricket and its board functions - not considering Andrew Symonds- one man who could have influenced the series! That was a major decision no matter which way you look at it.

Sachin Tendulkar also stated before the series that India-Australia rivalry is now bigger than even India-Pakistan rivalry. This is absolutely true and I can’t see anyone disagreeing with this statement. In fact I would say that India Australia rivalry is the biggest right now in world Cricket perhaps even greater than the Ashes!
Honestly with the focus now shifting to Twenty over games and people questioning this original, longer version of the game, if people are going to watch a test match, it will be this- India vs Australia.......

De-Mystifying Australia

De-Mystifying Australia

Having just witnessed the recently concluded First Test Match between India and Australia, which Australia won quite convincingly, Australia have clearly stamped their authority and have shown that they are keen to win every match in this series. They are clearly on a roll having won 15 in a row now. They would need no reminding that the last time they were on such a winning spree, 16 matches in a row, it was, they were halted in their tracks by India. The Australians at present have that aura of invincibility as they have had for quite some time now.
Having closely followed this Australian team just out of sheer interest and curiosity as to how they manage to play so well and win so many games, here I am attempting to demystify this great team......

Twenty 20- Where is its place in Cricket?

T-20 – The future of Cricket?

If we take a look at the history of Cricket, it all started with the test matches….a grueling 5 day contest between 2 sides trying to get one up on each other….It was a hard fought battle which produced tough, battle- scarred warriors. Survival on the Cricket- Battle Field was definitely not easy….It required stamina, courage, temperament, mental toughness and definitely skills. It gave time for the bowlers to weave their web, set up the batsman and try and get him out. It would be engrossing for those who understood the game at that level, those who would like to see such relentless battle and at the same time it was boring for others, who loved the game but found it a bit too dull.
It was an endless battle and those who endured, took the blows, were ready to grind it out and had the mental toughness, finally emerged victorious…Maybe just a moral victory because getting a result in those days was akin to winning a prize off the scratch card! But nevertheless, it would be satisfying for the players...........

Online Cricket Game lovers

Stick Cricket

I already have quite a few posts on games, specially online games and even in that my all time favourite is Cricket. Cricket is the one thing that I am always involved with some how- either watching any kind of Cricket Match on Television or playing it myself or online.

For online Cricket games, there are quite a few good ones depending on what kind of game you are looking for. A few are-........