Friday, November 30, 2007

India Dominate Day of 2nd Test


Posted by NAzhar at Friday, November 30, 2007 Pitched (11)
On a batsman's Paradise in Kolkata the Indian batsman dominated the Pakistani bowlers after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Jaffer dominated proceedings with an unbeaten 192 as he played an exquisite and elegant innings with shots all around the ground.



Tanvir did provide Pakistan an early breakthrough as Karthik was dismissed cheaply yet again as he edged one to Younis. Jaffer and Dravid then took control as they built up the innings. Dravid scored another sold half century before he was unlucky to be given out caught behind off Kaneria.



Out came Tendulkar and the Indian innings was in high gear from that moment. Tendulkar and Jaffer just went bilistic as they severely punished a mediocre Pakistani bowling performance. The fielding was lethargic and quite lackluster.



Jaffer was timing the ball immaculately and his placement was exceptional as he played some breathtaking drives and flicks reminiscent of Azharhuddin and Dravid. Sachin was in full swing with his blasting cover drives and majestic flicks. Tendulkar was provided with a lifeline as Kamran Akmal dropped a regulation keeper catch; it is really time for Pakistan to play a true keeper, Safraz really needs to be playing.



Kaneria did get Tendulkar with a beauitful googlie; not sure why he was not bowling more of those. The Prince of Kolkata walked in and stayed with Jaffer till close of play with India putting up a mammoth score of 352/3. Jaffer was unbeaten on an awesome 192 with 32 brilliant boundaries. A tough day for Pakistan's makeshift captain Younis Khan.

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Thursday, November 29, 2007

Pakistan's Future - For Soulberry...


Posted by Q at Thursday, November 29, 2007 Pitched (9)
Soulberry asked me about a few young cricketers who are currently prominent in the domestic scene in Pakistan. This post is for you berry.

Anwar Ali
Anwar Ali was a member of the Pakistan U-19 team that won the world cup in 2006. He is a fast bowler and was the one who destroyed India's batting line up in the final of the U-19 WC picking up 5 wickets with his banana inswingers. Click here to view footage of those wickets. He has been playing for Karachi and PIA in the Pakistan domestic season for the last 2 years and many consider him to be the future of Pakistan's bowling attack. He's only 21 and should be playing for Pakistan in the next 2 years.

Imad Wasim, Ali Asad, and Adil Raza
All these 3 are members of the current Pakistan U-19 team that is playing a series against the touring Bangladesh team. Imad Wasim is the captain of the side and is expected to lead them in the U-19 world cup in February as well. He is a left arm spinner and a lower order hard hitting batsman. He's played a few first class games for Islamabad and has done very well with the ball.

Ali Asad is the wicketkeeper of the U-19 team and made his first class debut for Karachi this season. He is playing for Karachi as a specialist batsman and has already scored a 100 and a 50 in the current season while opening the batting. He was also a member of the U-19 team that won the 2006 world cup.

Adil Raza is ony 15 years old and is a pace bowler. During the U-19 camp this summer, Wasim Akram mentioned that he was the most promising bowler out of the lot that he saw. Adil is yet to play a first class game but he played for the U-19 side against Australia last month and Bangladesh recently. He took 5 wickets in one of the ODIs against Australia U-19, a series that Pakistan won 5-0.

It is still too early to say if they have the potential to play for Pakistan in the longer term.

Najaf Shah and Kashif Raza
Najaf Shah is a left arm fast bowler who opens the attack for PIA along with Anwar Ali. Najaf made his ODI debut this year in May against Sri Lanka in the series played in Abu Dhabi and went wicketless in his 10 overs. He's been on the domestic circuit for over 5 years now and is considered as one of the best pacers around - he has about 250 wickets in 50 odd games. He's only 22 and is always nudging the selectors with his domestic performances.

Kashif Raza is a right arm fast bowler and has played 1 ODI for Pakistan way back in 2001 against Sri Lanka in Sharjah and took 1 wicket. Since then Kashif has been a star performer for his first class side WAPDA where he's picked up close to 300 wickets in 80 odd first class games.

I never understand these one match wonders - why don't the selectors persist with them? Both Najaf and Kashif picked up 5 wicket hauls in their last first class game this week.

Zulqarnain Haider
He is a wicketkeeper and was in the Pakistan squad as reserve keeper on the tour of South Africa earlier this year and on the tour to England last summer. Despite Akmal's poor performance he was not given a chance in any of the matches apart from the 20-20 game against South Africa. He has been around the domestic scene for 4 years and many have called for him to replace Akmal in the side. For the current tour of India, however the PCB went ahead with U-19 world cup winning captain Sarfraz Ahmed as the reserve keeper who made his debut in the 5th ODI.

If Akmal is dropped from the side you can expect Pakistan to give both Zulqarnain and Sarfraz ample chances at the international level.

Hasnain Abbas
Hasnain is an opener and has been around the domestic scene for almost 6 years, but he hasn't done anything of note yet for the selectors to notice him. He hasn't played that much and is still a fringe player in first class cricket.

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What Will You Be Watching?


Posted by Q at Thursday, November 29, 2007 Pitched (10)
December and January is usually packed with international cricket with all test playing countries involved in tours against each other. Apart from Australia and Bangladesh, this time round is no different with 4 different matches set to begin between Friday and Saturday.

The 2nd test between India and Pakistan gets underway tomorrow. The 2nd ODI between the Proteas and the Kiwis, who dished out a last ball nailbiter on Sunday, is also tomorrow. A rather low key ODI series between the Windies and Zimbabwe begins tomorrow. And Saturday is the 1st day of the 1st test between Sri Lanka and England.

Amidst all this international cricket hoopla, tomorrow will mark the launch of another cricket series. The Indian Cricket League 20-20 Championship!

The ICL, termed as "unofficial" and "rebel" by the ICC and the various cricket boards, is all set to roll out a glittering opening ceremony tomorrow. They have managed to rope in Bollywood bigwigs Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor to perform at the ceremony. Yana Gupta and the Band of Boys are expected to be there as well along with winners of the ZEE TV talent show 'Saregamapa'. The ceremony will be followed by the first match of the tournament.

The entire ICL 20-20 championship will be played at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula in Chandigarh. The home team, Chandigarh Lions will kick start the tournament playing against the Delhi Jets. Chris Cairns and Marvan Atapattu will walk out for the toss and internationals Imran Farhat, Dinesh Mongia, Darryl Tuffey, Hamish Marshall, Reetinder Sodhi, JP Yadav, Taufiq Umar, and Paul Nixon will be seen in action along with a host of talented Indian first class cricketers.

Add to this a commentary team comprising of Tony Greig, Dean Jones, Jeff Thomson, Mike Whitney, Pat Symcox, and Kapil Dev and you can expect a good product to be delivered by ZEE Sports tomorrow.

Those who are worried about who would watch this when an India-Pakistan series is going on should not be too worried as ZEE has planned it immaculately. The Lions vs Jets game will start an hour and half after the 1st day of the test ends. The cricket fan can expect to have a jam packed day tomorrow.

The ICL to me is a refreshing change. I have always enjoyed games involving international cricketers from different countries playing in the same team. Be it a World XI or an Asian XI its always intriguing to watch an Australian and an Indian or a Pakistani and a South African trying to take the attack apart. The ICL offers exactly this.

Will you be watching it?

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Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Record Breaking Test...


Posted by Q at Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Pitched (13)
The recently concluded 1st test between Pakistan and India was a classic. Many would remember it for it being one of the most exciting tests between the 2 neighbors, however there are several other reasons, which make this test memorable. Several records were broken and created during this match. I'll go on to the relatively smaller ones before talking about the most significant one.

Anil Kumble won his 10th man of the match award in tests equalling Sachin Tendulkar's 10 awards, which is an Indian record. The list is headed by Jacques Kallis with 19, followed by Murali (18), Wasim Akram and Shane Warne - 17 each. Click here for the full list.

When India won the match, Sachin returned to the pavilion unbeaten on 56. In my previous blog I had mentioned that if Sachin leads the team to victory it would be one of the rare occasions where he would have returned not out in a chase. Sachin has 24 not outs in his test career, but only 12 of them are in matches that India has won. Out of the 12, 7 of those have come when India has chased a total successfully. However, 56* is Sachin's highest 'not out' score and his first score above 50 in matches that India have won while chasing a total. His other not outs have come when India have chased totals of less than 150 with the highest being 44* vs NZ when India were chasing a target of 82.

Anil Kumble got the man of the match award in his 1st test as captain. I couldn't find stats of which other captains have managed this feat, but I doubt there are many. Waqar Younis comes to mind when he captained Pakistan for the first time against Zimbabwe in 1993 and took 13 wickets, but I don't recall others.

Now to the big one. During his unbeaten 56, Sachin went past Allan Border's 11,174 runs to become the 2nd highest run scorer in tests. Now only 746 runs separate him and the retired Brian Lara at the top.

Sachin got there in 37 fewer innings than Border, however Lara has managed the 746 more in 4 more innings than Sachin. Barring injury, next year should see Sachin celebrating on being the highest test run scorer ever.
I reckon Ricky Ponting will break all batting records before calling it a day.

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Sunday, November 25, 2007

India 171-3 chasing 203 - Day 4 at the Kotla


Posted by Q at Sunday, November 25, 2007 Pitched (10)
Pakistan scored 70 odd runs less than I expected and India scored 10 runs more and lost 1 wicket less than I had predicted last night. I didn't watch the match today but followed it ball-by-ball on cricinfo. I was disappointed to see Pakistan blow away the advantage they had by losing their last 5 wickets for 30 odd runs in the morning. And unlike yesterday, the wickets fell to the seamers.

India should easily be able knock of the 32 runs required in the morning. Many like me will be hoping for a miracle with Tuesday morning headlines reading "India lose last 7 for 27", but the way Sachin and Saurav batted today, it is highly unlikely.

A few points on some of the players.

Saurav Ganguly - Many critics and bloggers wanted him to be replaced by Yuvraj Singh for this test, but the man has given a man of the match performance, and the way he batted today has all but won the test for India. The Aussies will be looking forward to seeing him walk out at 5 for India in a months time, but they shouldn't forget that on India's last tour down under, it was he who was responsible for the drawn series.

Shoaib Akhtar - Whoever had doubts about his fitness (including me) will be gulping down their words after the way he bowled today. He bowled 6 over spells unlike the 1st innings, was fully charged, and looked like the only bowler who could run through the Indian innings. Haven't seen the ball he got Dravid with, but I've heard it was a beauty and I'll catch the highlights just to see this.

Sachin Tendulkar - He consumed 80 odd deliveries for his 32 runs. This was probably the kind of application that was required by the batsmen on this pitch. I'm expecting him to get out early in the morning, but if he doesn't it will be a rare occasion for Sachin to take India past the finish line.

Mohammad Yousuf - In the 1st innings he had a strike rate of 63 scoring 27. In the 2nd it was 85 for his 18. Combined, that is the fastest any batsman has scored in this match. What was the hurry? Either he is still in ODI mode or he was seeing the ball better than any other batsmen, apart from Ganguly today. He seems to have forgotten how he got all those runs last year, but 1 test doesn't take the class away - hopefully he will realise how much Pakistan needs him to fire, especially after no Inzi to follow.

Rahul Dravid - He got bowled for the 2nd time in the match in the 30s. Is the wall breaking? I have sensed that Dravid hasn't been himself during the match. I know he came into this match after a double hundred and a hundred in the domestic games, but something about him has been missing. He has played and missed quite a lot of deliveries, has been very quiet on the field, and hasn't been seen chatting to his batting partners. Resigning from captaincy and being dropped from the ODI squad is definitely hurting him.

About 40-50 minutes of play remains in the match and India look likely to go 1 up. But what brilliant advertisement for test cricket this match has been. It'll definitely go down as one of the classics!

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Saturday, November 24, 2007

India 161-4 chasing 276 - Day 4 at the Kotla


Posted by Q at Saturday, November 24, 2007 Pitched (7)
Which test match am I watching? The same one that you guys are. The way the events have unfolded during the first 3 days of this dramatic test, the above score line looks more than likely for tomorrow. Read on to see why.

Aamir Sohail said that all non-fans of test cricket need to watch this test match to change their mind. I agree cent percent! Another day off, and I managed to catch a full days of action, which did not diappoint even for a second. What a test match its turning out to be. Up and down and still anybody's game.

The India-Pakistan series has definitely lived up to its hype of being bigger than the Ashes. An Australian and an English cricket fan agree to this - 2 men from Australia and England have flown to India all the way from Tokyo to witness this test series. Why are they supporting India though? Surely Pakistan is the more exciting team. Not better, I said exciting.

A few observations from today:
  1. I still don't know what the commentators are smoking.
  2. The new Kaneria has got some coaching tips from Shane Warne. Shorter run up, hardly a googly, more of the straighter faster delivery, 4 wickets for less than 60 - thats not the Kaneria I know.
  3. Laxman can be atheletic in the field, and so can Ganguly - more time for Yuvi on the bench.
  4. Finally catches in the slips - both of spinners.
  5. More often than not Pakistan's openers fail and the middle order is left to do damage control. Rarely when the openers put up a good stand, the middle order collapses.
  6. Misbah still fancies Harbhajan Singh.
  7. Rameez Raja fancies Ranjan Madugalle.
  8. 9 wickets to fall in the day and only 1 to a pacer.
  9. Yousuf was the first Asian cricketer to be sponsored by Gray Nicolls. Kamran Akmal is the second. Why?
  10. Anil Kumble, after 117 test matches, decided its time to get some variety into his run up.
  11. Rameez Raja does not like Bruce Yardley.
  12. Bruce Yardley's mom is 88 years old and likes poker.
  13. Shoaib Akhtar loves his new soft toy.
  14. Day 1: 210 runs and 8 wickets. Day 2: 249 runs and 8 wickets. Day 3: 260 runs and 9 wickets. At this rate day 4 will end with India on 161-4 chasing 276 leaving an exciting day 5 of cricket.

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News, Rumours, and Pics of the Week - Volume 2


Posted by Q at Saturday, November 24, 2007 Pitched (2)
These were the pictures that were doing the rounds during Pakistan's tour of Australia in 2005.

Shoaib Akhtar drinking, clubbing, and partying added to his image of being the 'bad boy' of Pakistan cricket. On the current tour to India he has been heard making statements like "I want to shed my bad boy image", "I want to concentrate on my cricket and help Pakistan win this series", and so on.

The week before last we read reports and saw pictures of Shoaib visiting orphanages and schools around India. The media frenzy reported that as Shoaib's effort to "shed his bad boy image". This week, we have seen some pictures doing the rounds of the internet and emails.

These pics show Shoaib as a committed team man, enjoying the practices, and feeling at ease with himself. Is this change in Shoaib for real or just a PR strategy on behalf of the PCB and team management? Decide for yourself.

Australian coach Tim Nielsen has told Stuart McGill that he needs to get fitter for test cricket. The Aussie physio has also said that McGill is running out of time before the boxing day test against India. While cricinfo is reporting that McGill has said that he wants to put his best effort in to try and make it for the boxing day test, the UAE newspaper Khakeej Times is reporting that McGill is contemplating retirement from test cricket.

The man would have had over 500 test wickets today had he been born in any other test playing country besides Australia. He spent the best part of his life waiting for Warne to be injured or retire, and when he got his chance, he figured he might be too old. How sad is that?


Quote of the week:

"I haven't even talked to my wife about how her week's been yet." - Stuart MacGill being funny or stating the facts of life of an international cricketer when asked a question regarding his future?

Darren Lehmann announced his retirement from First Class cricket during last week. Several bloggers (read here and here) have done their tribute to him so I wouldn't go into that. Just wanted to mention him here as I regarded him as one of the smartest cricket brains on the circuit. Again sad he didn't get to play too much international cricket. Another case of a cricketer who would have challenged several batting records had he been born in any other country apart from Australia.

Just like the 20-20 world cup final and a few matches against Australia, Shahrukh Khan was part of the crowd during the 5th ODI between Pakistan and India. During the 5th ODI, Rameez Raja questioned SRK about his latest hit movie, Om Shanti Om, and naturally SRK talked about it a bit. What happened thereafter, can only happen in India - some BCCI officials complained that SRK was using the platform of international cricket to promote his movie. All Indian news channels covered the story the entire day. Surely the BCCI and the Indian media have bigger things to worry about. But then again, it doesn't get bigger than Shahrukh Khan, does it?

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Friday, November 23, 2007

Writer's Block


Posted by KC at Friday, November 23, 2007 Pitched (5)
My last write-up was about a very personal and memorable experience, one that I cherish. What to write next? The search for the topic of my follow-up post hasn't taken me anywhere. Problem being that I find it difficult to write about events that I don't feel passionate about.

There is a lot going on back in my country to be passionate about. The politics of the country are in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. We have a self-appointed ditator who continues to insult the intelligence of everybody. We have an indecisve (read opportunisitc) opposition leader who recently returned to the country from a self-imposed exile, and can't seem to decide one way or the other about the position that she wants to take. We have a hand-cuffed judiciary that is not only propagating it's bias, but also shamelessly disregarding the very code that it's supposed to protect. We have a resistence movement - primarily championed by lawyers, activists and students - fighting for the core social and political freedom that we as a nation must have. So there is a lot that I want to write about as far as politics and society are concerned.

I was told that I can't use this platform to discuss my politics.

With the current hot-topic taken out of the equation, I was left scratching my head again. Did I mention I am a film enthusiast? I recently spent 2 weeks of doing nothing but watching good old cinema at London Film Festival. Some of the movies that I watched were pretty amazing, some that I didn't really get, and some that I ddn't like. I saw Amitabh Bachchan in flesh and blood. I sat through the talks by Sean Penn, Wes Anderson and David Lynch. I marked out when Naomi Watts, Halle Berry, and Sienna Miller walked the red carpet. "No Country for Old Men" is one film that I'll remember for some time. The whole experience was very heart-warming. More recently, I was pleasantly caught up in the frenzy generated by Om Shanti Om and Saawariya. Shahrukh premiered his film in London, I couldn't go but did manage to watch the movie. It was a trip - no story to speak about, but thoroughly entertaining. So I could speak about my love for cinema. But that too was shot down.

"It's a cricketing blog!" - Q/Obiad frustrated.

Of course there is a test series going on between the neighbourly rivals - it can't get any bigger than India v. Pakistan! Australia just dominated another team. New Zealand appears to be spiralling down and trying very hard to catch up with West Indies in the race to the wrong end. England are in Sri Lanka. T20. ICL v. IPL. There is enough cricketing material to sink my teeth in, and come up with a readable article. Yet I can't feel strongly about anything related to the game.

"Blasphemous!" - Cricket-lovers screamed.

The writers on this blog are covering the on-going cricket matches much better than I can ever do. The debate is both healthy and intersting on various topics. Q will soon replace statsguru search on cricinfo. Obaid is thinking out of the box to take the game forward. Nazhar brings the balanced view. Jeff is supposed to generate controversy. A new blogger is supposed to start who is known for his passion. What am I doing here?

"Traitor!" - WP's bloggers united.

This got me thinking. What is it that I love about the sport?

Is it the nationalism that makes a fascinating watch? May be - sometimes I enjoy a county match better than another Aussie domination.
Is it our collective fascination with the under-dog? May be - Pakistan's 92 triumph is a prime example. So is Windies win written by Ian Bradshaw.
Is it the competitiveness of the game? May be - the Ashes in 2005.
Or a combination of all of the above? Probably - the T20 World Cup final combined nationalistic compettiveness for 2 underdogs, that culminated in one cracking game.

"Bullsh*t!" - Somebody mumbled in my head.
"Back to drawing board" - I reasoned.

My philosophy about football and cricket are poles apart. I support Arsenal. There are no superstars in the team. But they play the most beautiful football in the country. Yet, Aussies domination is becoming a never-ending yawn for me. They have the stars. They have the method. They play the best cricket. Yet, I do not enjoy them as a team. It's too monotonous for me.

Realisation dawned. I love the moments.

Wasim's unplayables in 92 final. Inzy's greatest "century that was not" in South Africa. Afridi's century off 37 balls. Lara's 400. Ponting's decimation of Indian attack in 2003 final. Warne's 700th. Dravid's class. Sachin's brilliance. Waqar's toe-crushers. Akhtar's spread-eagled celebrations. Yuvraj's 36 off the over. Yousuf's grand run with the bat last year. KP's arrogance. Steve Waugh's never-say-die attitude. Miandad's 6 of Chetan Sharma. I love them all, and more. Nationalism, competitiveness, glory to the under-dog - everything else is a bonus.

A Sachin or a Lara or a Warne can hook me to TV for 5 days irrespective of their nationality. I'd be delayed from work if Akhtar is on song even if against Zimbabwe. I'd wake up in the night in anticipation of Murali overtaking Warne's record. I'd look forward to Jayawardane & Sangakarra's class in England series. I'd look forward to Yousuf batting in Ind-Pak matches. I'd look forward to Dravid's redemption in the series. I'd look forward to Tendulkar giving a masterclass about how to enjoy batting. I'd look forward to Dhoni's exuberance. Heck, I'd even look forward to Sreesanth's ridiculous madness.

Yes - I cherish the moments. I love the game. Not for the team, but in anticipation of a spark of individual brilliance. Sometimes ...

"It's a team sport DAMMIT!"

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What Have the Commentators been Smoking? - Day 2 at the Kotla


Posted by Q at Friday, November 23, 2007 Pitched (4)
Friday is a day off in the Middle East so I woke up early in the morning to catch the LIVE action, hoping for a Misbah 100. That was not to happen, but I sure did enjoy the cricket throughout the day. I think India is slightly ahead at the end of day 2 but only slightly.

Here are some of the key things that I noticed during the day:
  1. Ul Haqs playing for Pakistan will always manage to find the strangest ways of getting out.
  2. Dravid wants his ODI spot back.
  3. Best way to Ganguly out: Bowl a wide one and let him smash it for 4 and then bowl one coming into him - he would either play it on to the stumps or to the slips.
  4. Mohd. Yousuf is a better fielder in test cricket than ODIs.
  5. No one has been out caught in the slips in 2 days of cricket.
  6. 20-20 cricket can be the stepping stone for new test players - examples: Misbah and Sohail Tanvir.
  7. Geoff Lawson has his heart with Pakistan.
  8. I still don't know what the commentators are smoking. Pakistan lost 5 wickets between lunch and tea yesterday, India lost 4 today and yet Rameez, Arun Lal, Bishop, Yardley & Co. keep saying that the 2nd session is the best time to bat.
  9. The post tea session is the best time for batting. Pakistan lost no wickets yesterday and India lost only 1 today.
  10. Malik has used Kaneria better than all other former captains he's bowled under.
  11. Yuvraj Singh will have to continue bringing the drinks during test matches. Laxman's career is far from over and Ganguly is India's 3rd pacer.
  12. Not only do umpires help Kumble get wickets at the Kotla (1999), they also help him stay at the crease (2007).

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Thursday, November 22, 2007

Eye Openers Amidst the Fog - Day 1 at the Kotla


Posted by Q at Thursday, November 22, 2007 Pitched (13)
I left for work after watching the toss and pitch review in the morning, and followed the entire day's cricket on cricinfo and dawn. But reading isn't the same as watching the game. After watching the highlights, these are some of the key points I noticed on day 1 of the Kotla test:
  1. Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel consistently swung the ball throughout the day.
  2. Munaf Patel was reverse swinging the ball after the 25th over.
  3. Salman Butt thought something was wrong with the pitch when he got cleaned up by a perfect inswinger from Zaheer Khan.
  4. Saurav Ganguly can celebrate like a football player.
  5. Rahul Dravid did not seem to be involved in the match like the other senior players. He remained resigned to his position for most of the day. Something is definitely wrong. Maybe he felt left out as Saurav and Sachin turned their arms over.
  6. Misbah ul Haq is Pakistan's "go to man". Since the 20-20 world cup he has more often than not come into bat with Pakistan in trouble. And more often than not he has delivered. There have been critics saying that he hasn't actually finished the job, but any lesser player wouldn't have even done half of what Misbah has managed in those various innings.
  7. The reverse sweep is a part of Misbah's repertoire of shots just like the cover drive and pull shot are in the repertoire of any other batsman.
  8. Misbah fancies Harbhajan Singh.
  9. Mohammad Sami is as good a batsman as he says he is.
  10. For the first 2 sessions Anil Kumble proved everyone wrong by turning out to be a very attacking captain. He was back to expectations during the last session.
  11. India went on to the field with 5 captains: the current test captain, the current ODI captain and 3 former captains. I think they equalled Pakistan's record of 5 captains in the same match.
  12. Faisal Iqbal will spend his career waiting for an Ul-Haq to get injured or retire.

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Intriguing Case of the U-19 Cricketers


Posted by Q at Thursday, November 22, 2007 Pitched (5)
In one of my blogging conversations with Soulberry, he mentioned that it would be a great story to write about cricketers who have started from a young age representing their countries in the different age groups, i.e. U-19, U-15, and others. Since that discussion I have been thinking about doing a piece on this story. This morning when I read about the launch of the under-19 World Cup to be played in Malaysia in February 2008, I thought this would be the perfect time to do so.
The first such tournament was played in 1988 and was won by Australia, who beat Pakistan in the final. Stuart Law was part of the Aussie team that beat a Pakistan side including future stars Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed, and other internationals like Basit Ali and Zahoor Elahi. For some reason, the U-19 World Cup then disappeared for the next 10 years before it was held again in 1998, and since then it has been held every 2 years.

The last edition was held in 2006 in Sri Lanka and was won by Pakistan in a thrilling final against India. Pakistan's captain from that tournament, Sarfraz Ahmed, made his international debut against India in the 5th ODI of the series that just ended. Rohit Sharma, India's star from the 20-20 world cup, and Piyush Chawla, part of India's U-19 side of 2006, have also made their international debuts. Pakistan in fact successfully defended the title in 2006 - they had won the U-19 World Cup in 2004, beating West Indies in the final. Fawad Alam, who played his 2nd ODI against India in the 5th match of the recent series, was part of the victorius U-19 team in 2004. Pakistan go into the U-19 World Cup in February looking for a hatrick of titles. Some achievement, don't you think?

The other 3 editions have seen England beating New Zealand to win the title in 1998, India beating Sri Lanka in 2000, and Australia beating South Africa to become U-19 champs in 2002.

It is interesting to note that there are a number of current international cricketers, who have represented their countries at the U-19 level. There maybe more than shown in the table below, which only lists international players to have played U-19 world cups. Two examples that spring to mind are Andrew Flintoff and Shahid Afridi, both of whom have played at the U-19 level but not in a world cup. I have also included players from the U-15 Lombard Challenge that was played in 1996 in England.

You will have to 'click' on the picture to see the table clearly in full size. Some intriguing points:

1. Australia and South Africa have blooded the least number of U-19 players. Why do you think this is?

2. Alan Mulally and Andrew Caddick, both of whom played international cricket for England, represented Australia and New Zealand respectively in the 1988 U-19 World Cup.

3. Pakistan's international team seems to be comprised of players who have represented them at the U-19 level. They have blooded the most number of U-19 cricketers, followed by India.

4. While all countries seem to have produced several international stars from the U-19 cricketers shown above, for Australia there has been only one - Micheal Clarke. Again, I wonder why? Where all the Australian U-19 cricketeres - still playing the Pura Cup?

5. A number of cricketers were identified as future captains while playing at the U-19 level: Micheal Atherton, Lee Germon, Micheal Clarke, Salman Butt, Ian Bell, Owais Shah, Mohammad Kaif, Reetinder Sodhi, Faisal Iqbal, Dinesh Ramdin, and Hashim Amla.

6. The most interesting case of an U-19 cricketer not making it, is that of Reetinder Singh Sodhi. He captained India to the title in the U-15 Lombard Challenge in 1996, and was also man of the match in the final against Pakistan, and the man of the tournament. Sodhi was vice-captain of India's U-19 team in the 1998 world cup. He was also vice-captain of the team in 2000, and man of the match in the final that India won by beating Sri Lanka. Sodhi was considered to be India's brightest youngest prospect in the late 90s - after helping India win the U-19 world cup in 2000, he mentioned that his aim was to play for India in the 2003 world cup. Sodhi made his ODI debut in 2000 and played 18 ODIs between 2000 and 2003 without much success. His Indian career seems finished and he will now be seen representing the Chandigarh Lions in the ICL.
While India and Pakistan have banked on a number of U-19 cricketers, Australia and South Africa haven't. The latter two are the leading international teams today. Does this tell you something? Should the U-19 cricketers be given more time to develop in India and Pakistan? Should they learn more about cricket structures and development of players from Australia and South Africa?
Let me know what you think.

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Pakistan vs India 1st Test Day 1


Posted by NAzhar at Thursday, November 22, 2007 Pitched (16)
It's a foggy morning - reminiscent of December fogs in Lahore. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. An interesting choice given the morning conditions on the first morning and the fact that they have only one specialist spinner.

The Indian bowlers have gotten off to a good start, especially Zaheer Khan who seems to be putting the ball on the right spot more often than not. Salman Butt was out early on a ball that nipped back and was too close to cut. Younis Khan got out to a bad shot pulling a short delivery down the throat of fine leg.

The Indian bowlers are appealing way too excessively and most of these appeals are quite ridiculous. The umpiring has been really good to date, Taufel definitely is one of the best umpires in the world. I have serious doubts about the hawkeye being used in the Pakistan India series. In the ODI series and on the first morning of the 1st test a lot of the hawkeyes view seem to be a user making the trajectory according to his whim - and for both teams! The hawkeye really needs to be an accurate one.

Pakistan 52/2 - need Yousuf to play a long innings and for Yousuf and Hameed to put on a big partnership.

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Wednesday, November 21, 2007

No sledging on the blog please!


Posted by obaid at Wednesday, November 21, 2007 Pitched (17)
I bet I caught everyone's attention with this post... Im just adding some excitement in a sensationalist way and trying to emulate q's tabloid style journalism. We had our first visitor from South Africa yesterday! You know who you are... welcome and no sledging with the visiting Aussie's :) If the Pakistanis and Indians can behave then so can you.

Uncle J Rod, I hope this doesnt stop you from visiting our blog.

But jokes aside, we've had almost 1500 visits and 3500 page views in the 3 weeks since we have launched. We have people from all the major cricketing countries visit, with the exception of Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies. People form Bangladesh will have to visit and convince me that they are a major cricket playing country... I guess the same applies for all non-visitors! You are a minor cricketing nation, until you visit our blog and prove otherwise.

Anyway, the point is... on behalf of all of us, thanks for visiting and sending traffic to us. Please keep visiting and leave comments to let us know how we are doing and whether we need to do anything differently.

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Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Sangakkara's Dismissal and The Need For a Review System in Cricket


Posted by obaid at Tuesday, November 20, 2007 Pitched (26)
Yesterday, Sangakkara played an innings of sheer brilliance... I wasnt able to watch it, (here is a frank description of the day's happenings by our friend Uncle J Rod) but any man who plays with the belief that his side can reach 500+ in the 4th innings of a test match and that he can lead them to it deserves accolades. Most teams would have started out trying to draw the game, because that is also an honorable outcome against the mighty Australians. To all Sri Lankan's, there is glory in defeat - you should hold your head high because of the way you lost the game.



An now on to the main talking point of the game - the fact that Sangakkara's brilliant innings was curtailed by a very poor decision. Umpires will make mistakes, so will players (who initiate horrendous appeals in the first place). I respect Koertzen for apologizing to Sangakkara after the game. But the fact is that such decisions can be reduced if not eliminated. My proposal is that each team should get 2 chances to ask for a review per session. I foresee the batting team initiating most of these requests, but I can also see the bowling team request for the review (for example if a player gets out on a no ball or an appeal is not referred to the third umpire). here is how it would work...

If the ref makes a decision which one team doesn't like:

  1. The coach of the team can ask for a review only until the next ball is bowled. A review can only be requested for the last ball bowled.
  2. If the team requesting the review is proven correct, then they maintain their review, otherwise they lose a review for that session
  3. Each team gets 2 reviews per session
  4. Reviews can not be requested for lbw decisions
  5. If there is insufficient data (for example bad camera angle, inconclusive frame sequence etc) then the ruling on the field stands.
  6. There should be standard camera angles and positions so the same evidence/footage is available on all test match venues

This review system works pretty well in NFL and has also been introduced in ATP Tennis games. Surprise, surprise, it works! Its not perfect, because technology has its limitations, but it does work.

As for Mr Ponting and his demand for system for fairness and that people on the field judge whether they caught the ball cleanly or not. I believe that's a load of crap. Lets use technology when it is available so there are no "what ifs" at the end of the day... so that Sangakkara's leave with their head high with the belief that they did everything they could without unnecessary intervention.

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Pak vs Ind 1st Test: Selection Dilemmas & Predictions


Posted by Q at Tuesday, November 20, 2007 Pitched (5)
The 1st test gets underway on Thursday in Delhi and both Pakistan and India would be fancying their chances of getting the upper hand early in the series. India, after their test series win in England and wins against Pakistan in the 20-20 world cup and the ODI series would start as favorites. But Pakistan, after winning the 5th ODI, have their tails up and look like a team that is gelling well together. The tense faces that were visible after the 4th ODI seemed very relaxed during the practice session earlier this evening.

Injuries to their front line pacers, RP Singh and Sreesanth have left India pondering over the composition of their attack. Will they play 3 spinners along with Zaheer Khan or will they go in with Zaheer and Munaf and 2 spinners? Munaf, drafted in to cover for the 2 injured pacers, is a risk as he is coming back from injury and also has a history of breaking down in between matches.
Another dilemma faced by India is how to fit Yuvraj Singh into the XI. I don't think Kumble, playing his 1st test as captain, will gamble on Yuvraj and will go in with the tried and tested Laxman and Ganguly at 5 and 6. Dhoni, who rates Yuvraj as India's best batsman these days, might be pushing for his inclusion though. Its a good problem to have for India.

Pakistan's batsmen will be itching to bat against India's attack, while Pakistan's pace attack will heave a huge sigh of relief if they don't see Yuvi in the starting line up on Thursday.

Pakistan, I hope, go in with three pacers and don't use the useless strategy of playing both Kaneria and Rehman as they did against South Africa. Shoaib Akhtar, Gul, Sami, and Kaneria seem like a potent attack on paper and have the potential to take 20 wickets in a match. Is it just me or does India's batting not look as threatening as it once was? No Sehwag at the top, a rusty Dravid, and two batsmen who don't do too well against Pakistan - Laxman and Ganguly. Sachin and Dhoni look like the only two who can trouble the Pakistanis.

Pakistan's selection dilemma is who to play at the position left vacant by Inzamam - Misbah or Faisal Iqbal? If it were up to me, I would have opened with Malik and Butt and played both Faisal and Misbah. Sadly, I'm not part of the think tank, thus a choice will have to be made since the talk of Hameed and Butt opening is already doing the rounds.
If I were to choose, I would go with Faisal as I believe it is time that he establishes himself in the test side, something that he has been waiting for since the last 5 years. He has the potential, the ability, and the desire to do so. All he needs is a long run in the test side to prove his mettle at the international level. I think its time that Faisal shows the world why he has been Pakistan's best batsman at the domestic level for the last few seasons.
Since the tour exchanges began in 2004, Pakistan and India have played 9 tests and the 3-3 scoreline leaves little to choose between the 2 teams. Barring a drawn series, the next 3 tests will take one team forward. India has always been a strong test side at home and lately they have won away from home as well, thus they are definitely favorites. Pakistan stand an outside chance and have the potential to upset, but they will have to fight hard to topple India.
I predict results in all 3 matches, a decider at Bangalore, 500+ runs for Sachin Tendulkar, 20 wickets for Shoaib Akhtar, a Yuvi 100 in the 3rd test where he would have replaced Laxman, 2 centuries for Faisal Iqbal, question marks over Dravid's lack of runs, a career ending series for Kamran Akmal, the retention of Anil Kumble as captain for the series against Australia, and praise for skipper Shoaib Malik.
The only reason I'm not predicting a winner is because I don't want it to seem that I am placing an emotional bet. I can't wait for the series to begin.
What are your predictions?

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Monday, November 19, 2007

I am waiting ...


Posted by KC at Monday, November 19, 2007 Pitched (16)
I am bad with dates and names. I am bad with statistics pertaining to the game as well. I can't recall when this affair with the game began for me - but I do remember watching Miandad score a century on the opening day of the world cup 1987 against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad. I do remember collecting coke bottle caps during the tournament to win the free scoring sheet that Coke had offered to its consumers. I do remember feigning stomachache and pulling a sicky from my class to watch the semi-final with Australia, tallying every run and wicket on the most prized-scorecard till Steve Waugh hit Jaffar for 18 in the last over. With the last over of Aussie innings not in my scorecard, I started afresh in Pakistan innings. Don't remember much, except that Bruce Reid clean-bowled Miandad and my scorecard remained incomplete, and down the throat of a dust-bin. I remember watching the Sharjah-6 by Miandad. I remember Imran Khan inviting Indian film-stars to raise donations. I remember Zia's crash, and I remember Nazia Zoheb's young tarang, where Ali Azmat sang Dosti with Jupiters (awesome song by a crap band).

But I think the affair became an obsession at the start of 92 world cup. Waqar was sidelined, and Miandad not selected. There was wholesale criticism about Imran, and everybody at my dad's press (where I used to spend my evenings getting acquainted to computers) proclaimed doom for Imran Khan. There is history here as well. Both Imran and Miandad had their exclusive fanbase ... and this was reflected by where a person was physically based in Pakistan. If you are in Karachi/Hyderabad, Miandad was the superman, and Imran was perceived to be this conniving dictator, who had this sectarian-based agenda of sidelining players from Sindh, and had a personal vendetta against Miandad on top of it. I was (still am) an idealist - and was extremely miffed by this sheer bias of my dad's folks as I could never understand how hatred for one person (Imran) and love for another (Miandad) would lead somebody to actually dismiss the entire Pakistani campaign even before it began. In one of those arguments with a bunch of over-patronising elders, I proclaimed "Imran will bring the cup to Pakistan."

Nobody took me seriously but myself. I would wake up in the middle of the night, make myself sehri, and watch the match. Good thing I was in the middle of schools, and was usually at home. I remember Ramiz taking ages to get a century in the opening match, and then Lara completely dominating Pakistan attack. I went through heartache after heartache in the initial stages of the campaign. Yet, every evening at Iftar at the press, I would stand by my captain, and more than anything, reassure myself that Pakistan would win - often under extreme pressure from the patronizers. There was too much going against Pakistan. Ijaz was our 5th bowlder. Inzy wasn't clicking and floated in the batting order. I hated Iqbad Sikander. Yet Imran, Miandad and Akram were digging in deep - and there was this immovable faith in Imran Khan.

Then came the crunch games, we shared a point with England, and our qualification was on the road. I remember praying for Aussies victory against Windies, and actually offering 2-Nafils when the semi-final berth was confirmed. The blind-faith in Imran was paying off. I was boasting off in my dad's office. It was as if I was giving all those patronizing sonofbitches a finger-salute. The semi-final gave us a star in Inzy. Miandad, Imran and Was were the support act. Moin's pull for a straight six was a classic. Aaqib's slower one to get rid of Greatbatch. The moments have been etched in my memory. Then there was the final, Wasim was the beauty, Imran the anchor, Miandad the shrewd, Mushy provided the guile, and Ramiz the finishing. The world cup was ours.

Imran had brought the cup home. I lined up on the street to welcome our all-conquering heroes. I even campaigned for Shaukat Khanum Hospital fundraiser at school. That was the beginning of my passion for the sport. Imran retired, and we've been see-sawing on the cricketing map since then. Some good, some bad and some downright ugly moments form the sports history post 1992 triumph. I sat down to list the best-11 for ODIs after 1992, and here is what I came up with:
  1. Saeed Anwar

  2. Aamir Sohail

  3. Abdul Razak

  4. Inzamam-ul-Haq

  5. Mohd. Yousuf

  6. Shahid Afridi

  7. Moin Khan (WK)

  8. Wasim Akram (C)

  9. Waqar Younis

  10. Saqlain Mushtaq

  11. Shoaib Akhtar
It's been 15 years since that triumph, and only 3 players in the current setup find themselves in the best-11 post-92 triumph. This is an astoundingly worrying prospect as in these 15 years we have given ODI debuts to a total of 76 people. Asif and Younis are the only other players from the current team that can potentially challenge to displace somebody from this list - though highly unlikely as Asif is no Waqar and Younis is no Inzy. The future is yet unknown - the openers are a dilemma that doesn't seem to resolve despite Butt's resurgence (i still doubt his ability), Misbah is a finisher who never finishes, and Rao/Tanvir are average bowlers at best. And we are still missing Razzak's batting in late order.

I am waiting for the nextgen of Ws and Inzy to come through. And yes, I still believe in Imran Khan. I am waiting for my captain to lead us out of the rot, this time the task is even bigger - it's the country. Yet the faith has never been stronger - both in the captain, and in the ability of the country to produce the next best thing to hit the cricketing world.

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The Greatest Cricket Captain of the last 4 decades - Part 2.5


Posted by Q at Monday, November 19, 2007 Pitched (3)
I concluded Part 2 of this series with a list of three captains - Waugh, Lloyd, and Chappell. I had initially planned to conclude this series of blogs with a 'Part 3', in which I would have chosen the best captain out of the three I shortlisted. However, taking into consideration all the comments that I received, I decided to do a Part 2.5.

This part lists the top 10 captains in terms of least number of match lost, rather than the top 10 captains in terms of most wins. This takes us back to where we started from - Mikesiva's blog, where he pointed out that the best captains have to be judged on the basis of invincibility, i.e. those that lost the least number of matches / series rather than those who won the most. Thus back to ground zero.

The usual suspects make their presence felt here as well, however there are also a few new entrants on this list, namely Ray Illingworth, Imran Khan, Sunil Gavaskar, and Javed Miandad. These captains do not have such high win ratios, however they are among those who have lost the least number of matches.
From this list, I rule out Ponting, Brearley, and Vaughan for the same reasons presented in Part 1 and 2.

The next step that I followed in 'Part 2' was compare the best captains' performances. Below, I have reconstructed the same table, leaving out those that I left out in 'Part 2' there and adding those that have made an entry on the list above. I have re-added Viv Richards because his 4th position on the above list coupled with the 5th position in 'Part 1' makes him a strong contender for best ever captain.

I was as surprised as you may be to see Imran Khan top the table. Imran Khan averages slightly more than Steve Waugh, however the difference in Imran Khan's career average and his average as a captain is the largest amongst all captains. This highlights the fact that the allrounder led from the front not only with the ball, but also with the bat.

Ray Illingworth can easily be left out of the running based on the numbers above. Javed Miandad and Sunil Gavaskar had similar averages as player and as captain. While both these great batsmen lost very few matches as captain, Gavaskar did not win many either. Miandad has a healthy win ratio of over 41%, however Gavaskar's is below the 20% mark. Gavaskar doesn't have many intangibles either that can make me consider him to be one of the best.
As I move forward, the task of deciding on the best is getting tougher, rather than easier. Moreover, now I'm considering several other areas on which these captains should be judged such as the quality of the teams these men captained, their performance in wins, number of series won and lost, and performance in ODIs. For now, I leave it upon you to discuss these men and judge who is your best.

Expect more parts to this series before the final piece, in which I will decide on my best.

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Sunday, November 18, 2007

Shoaib Malik Bakes Some Humble Pie


Posted by Q at Sunday, November 18, 2007 Pitched (4)
Javed Miandad, Rashid Latif, Aqib Javed, and Mushtaq Mohammad are some of the many former players and cricket related personalities that criticized Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik after Pakistan lost the ODI series to India. They were quick to jump on him openly stating that he lacked the skill to be captain, didn't deserve to be in the team, isn't confident of himself, and does not have the backing of the team.

Today, with an 82 ball 89 coupled with 3 crucial wickets, Malik baked some delicious humble pie for all these men. Not only did he lead from the front with bat and ball, but he also ensured that Pakistan go into the test series with confidence after a thumping win against the Indians. In my preview earlier today, I said that Pakistan's bowling looked thin without the 6th bowler and India would probably easily chase any total - I'm glad that it was skipper Malik who proved me wrong.

Today Malik took the field without the vice-captain Younis Khan, the motivator Shahid Afridi, and senior player Mohammad Yousuf (who conveniently rested after his 74). Yet he proved that he has it in him to lead from the front. The commentators went on about how the Pakistanis were fielding fresher legs and looked a better fielding unit - have these guys forgotten that Younis and Afridi are probably the best fielders of the side?

Pakistan played like a unit today and were marshalled extremely well by Malik. As I mentioned in my preview; give the boy some time, he will learn. Malik hasn't even been in the job for a year and people are gunning for his neck - ever heard of something called patience? You can't expect the boy to deliver results in a matter of days. Pakistan needs to learn how to persist.

The test matches start in 5 days and I'll cover my thoughts on them in the next few days. For now I hope everyone enjoys the humble pie baked by Shoaib Malik.

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A Video That Speaks of a Thousand Possibilities


Posted by obaid at Sunday, November 18, 2007 Pitched (10)
I was just randomly sampling some cricket videos and I searched for some "doosras", especially by Saqlain since he was the first legitimate bowler of the delivery. I realized that I missed seeing him bowl. Harbhajan, Murali and other top spinners bowl this delivery quite commonly now, but its fair to say that Saqlain invented it and Moin Khan coined the phrase "doosra".

Here is an interesting video I'd like to share from that amazing 2nd Test match between Pakistan and Australia in 1999.



Some interesting points:

1 - Saqlain clearly at his best. I think during this time period (1999), Saqlain was up there with Warne and Murali as one of the best spinners and may even have been the best finger spinner.

2 - First dismissal of Gilchrist shows the difference a great keeper makes. Akmal is no where as nifty as Moin Khan.

3 - 2nd dismissal, you can hear Wasim utter an expletive after the dismissal. Atleast the team has a positive and vibrant vibe about it. When you saw the team like that, you could see they had self belief, something the current team lacks.

3 - Third dismissal... showcases the wonderful variety possessed by Saqlain. Flighted delivery for the first dismissal, doosra for the second one and finally a faster one that spun for the third one.

4 - Australians had quite a few problems with Saqlains doosra during this time period. The novelty has worn out since then and they have studied the delivery very carefully and I don't think they have the same problems with it anymore.

5 - The match itself: I rate this match as a turning point and as a starting point of Australia's ascendancy. If I'm not wrong, this video is from the Australia's first innings of the second Test match in 1999. After Saqlian's brilliant spell Australia only managed a 24 run lead, Pakistan set Australia a target of 396. With Australia at 126-5 chasing this target Langer and Gilchrist combined to chase this record target. Langer's position at that time in the side was not secure and Pakistan had lost the first game. If Pakistan had won this match it would have opened up lots of possibilities. They didn't and I feel this was a turning point from where Australia have never looked back (other than that Ashes defeat).

6 - There is some talk of Saqlain playing for England. His wife is English and he will also get English nationality. Do you think he can or will do something like this?

What do you think?

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5th ODI: India seem relaxed, Pakistan tense..


Posted by Q at Sunday, November 18, 2007 Pitched (3)
With the series secured by India, it isn't surprising that they seem very relaxed ahead of the final ODI today. Reports are mentioning that India would be resting key players including Ganguly, Harbhajan, Zaheer, and RP Singh to give their bench a game. This is how ODI cricket should be played I believe - it is the only way to groom youngsters and make them feel to be a part of the team.

A 'weakened' side could give Pakistan the edge going into this match, but the players seem to look tense. The pressure is showing on skipper Malik who has been receiving ample criticism from former players and media persons. I think the criticism is uncalled for but expected from Pakistan. He's done well and made some mistakes too, but he's still very young on the job. Give the boy time and let him learn. This criticism will just put him under more pressure, and unless a captain is sure of himself, the team can hardly do well.

That is exactly why India has done better than Pakistan - Dhoni has been immensely cool on the field, confident while batting, and has led from the front. He looks like a natural leader, while Malik is showing signs of carrying a burden. He needs to be more relaxed and ignore the criticism. He needs to open again today and score big to regain his confidence.

Pakistan would want to win today to take some confidence into the test matches. A weakened India also provides that chance. But the Indian benchers would want to create an impression and India is going in with a lot of confidence with nothing to lose so it will still be tough for Pakistan.

Match gets underway in half an hour. Lets get the discussions rolling right here.

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KALLIS Da Man


Posted by NAzhar at Sunday, November 18, 2007 Pitched (1)
JH Kallis - the best all rounder in the game today, well ahead of anybody else - is in super form these days in cricket. After scoring quite a few centuries in South Africa's tour of Pakistan, Kallis has continued his prime form in the home series against New Zealand.

Kallis did not score in the first innings of the first test match, but in the second innings he scored 186 off just 262 in a swash-buckling innings, a very unlike Kallis innings. This should silence those critics who say he scores too slowly. The truth is that Kallis, more often than not, gets the job done with both the bat and the ball and is no doubt the best all-rounder in the game today. Kallis hit 25 4's and 3 6's scoring his century with an amazing strike rate of about 71.

In the second test match Kallis has continued his awesome form and has scored yet another century leading the home side to a score of 272/3 in reply to New Zealand's modest total of 188 in the first innings. Again Kallis scored his runs at a rapid pace seeming to play more against his critics than the New Zealand bowling attack. Kallis scored 131 off 177 deliveries at a rate of 74 runs per 100 balls. Amazing stuff from an amazing cricketer. Amla has provided the solid support in both of Kallis's centuries in the series. In this innings he is still there at 89 as him and Kallis resurrected the South African innings after they had been reduced to 31/2.

There was a time when the cricketing world was overflowing with all-rounders of the likes of Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee, Ian Botham, Steve Waugh, Kapil Dev, etc..in today's cricketing world there are a lot of bits and pieces players but few players who can merit a place in the team for any one skill it is refreshing to have the likes of Kallis. One hopes his recent form will silence his critics as the South Africa team's balance and strength owes a lot to having a certain Kallis in their team.

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The Little Genius


Posted by NAzhar at Sunday, November 18, 2007 Pitched (8)
There are fewer pleasures in cricket than watching the little master Sachin Tendulkar playing in full form. The cricketing world was lucky to get a taste of that in the 4th ODI between India and Pakistan on Thursday.
Tendulkar was in full swing and when he is in that mood and carrying his innings there is nothing that can stop him; nothing other than self imposed pressure of scoring a century. Tendulkar's 97 in the 4th ODI of the series gave his fans, and there are a lot of those around the world, many glimpses of the old Sachin. It was a treat to watch, even for people like me who were cheering for the other team.
Then again it is hard not to appreciate such true class. Tendulkar did not take a single risk and was not going out of his way to be aggressive, yet he took the opposition out of the game pretty quickly with some amazing fast paced batting. The best part of Tendulkar's genius is that he does with such ease and effortless grace playing wonderful cricketing shots.
On Thursday we saw Sachin display all the array of his shots - the trademark flick to square leg on deliveries that seemed to be pretty decent, the flairing cover drives on seemingly flawless deliveries, the smashing square drives that went to the face within the blink of an eye and then my personal favorite the majestic on-drive that I had to rewind a few times. He is the only batsman who can get a boundary of a forward defensive shot, who can while appearing to be in a defensive frame of my mind actually be taking the attack to the opposition.
Tendulkar's innings was nothing short of awesome. It was a shame he could not get to his century and really these days it seems that the nervous 90s is the only thing stopping him. Maybe in the test series Pakistan can get the scoreboard dude to display Tendulkar to be in the high 90s and get him that way :-)

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Saturday, November 17, 2007

New Poll, Who Should be India's #6 in Tests


Posted by obaid at Saturday, November 17, 2007 Pitched (2)
Its time for a new poll! The India vs Pakistan Test Series is approaching fast and India have an important decision to make on who their #6 should be. This is ofcourse assuming that Ganguly bats at #5. Please vote and let us know


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News, Rumours, and Pics of the Week...


Posted by Q at Saturday, November 17, 2007 Pitched (8)
Shoaib Akhtar has been visiting orphanages, schools, and other places on the current India tour in a bid to shed his 'bad boy' image. In one of the recent school visits, he proposed to a 12th grade Indian school girl, who accepted! Now how does Sania Mirza, who claims she has been 'bowled over' by Shoaib Akhtar feel about this? And is proposing to a school girl shedding Shoaib's 'bad boy' image?

And why did he visit a girls' school again? I wonder which girl from the pic was the one proposed.
Former Australian coach, John Buchanan has suggested that international cricket be converted from matches between countries to matches between franchises to reduce the gap between Australia and the rest. Whats even more surprising is that ICC Chairman, Ray Mali, has said that the ICC will look into this. Are these men gone crazy? This can work for club level 20-20, something like the ICL and IPL, but to do this at international level is a joke. Which teams will people support? Imagine a Bill Gates' team including Ponting, Sachin, and Kallis against a Warren Buffet owned team including Hayden, Yuvraj, and Smith. Who will you support? Surely the public wants to see their country battle it out against other countries. So what if the Aussies are dominating? - TheWindies did the same in the 70s and 80s.
The Pakistani and Indian cricketers visited the Gwalior fort on the eve of the 4th ODI. I posted a picture in the preview of the match here on wellpitched, but there were some other interesting pics that the cricketers posed for.
Shoaib Akhtar looks like he's posing to impress Sanjay Gupta to get a role in his next movie considering Sanju baba is in jail. Maybe thats why Shoaib Akhtar is keen on visiting Sanjay Dutt in jail. RP Singh on the other hand is probably thinking that someone should remake 'Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke' and cast him in Aamir Khan's role. His pose reminds me of the song Aamir sang from the some fort for Juhil Chawla.

Adam Gilchrist became the first person to hit a 100 sixes in test cricket this morning when he smashed Muralitharan for 2 consecutive ones. Some achievement. Gilly also won the award for the best ever Australian ODI cricketer. I'm a major Gilly fan, but isn't this award too high an honour for him? How did he manage to get more votes that the likes of Dean Jones, Mark Waugh, Micheal Bevan, and Ricky Ponting?
Quote of the week.
"I've only been in the match referee's room once and that was for wearing the wrong-coloured undergarment. It's ridiculous." - Stuart Broad.

Now imagine that - wrong coloured undergarment! What exactly are the rules for that? Which colours are allowed and which not? Moreover, how did the match referee know what colour broad was wearing? Very strange if you ask me.


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Google for Cricket?


Posted by Q at Saturday, November 17, 2007 Pitched (9)
I received this in a forwarded email by a friend. I have no idea what it implies. The email mentioned nothing and just included this picture as an attachment. What do you think it is? Just a random logo or a customized search for cricket news and stats by Google? It will be quite something if its the latter. Some competition for Cricingo statsguru and HowSTAT.

Google may need to change the red ball to pink though, if the pink trials are successful.

Speaking of pink balls, another freind of mine, who is looking forward to pink balls being introduced, drew some graffiti on facebook for me. Although it will be the white that will be replaced, if at all, she thinks the red will go away as well.

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Thursday, November 15, 2007

Inzamam's Heroes & Lara's Champs


Posted by Q at Thursday, November 15, 2007 Pitched (9)
Many doubted that the rebel ICL will ever go through due to the bans on players from their boards, the launch of the IPL, and various other operational issues. However, against all odds, Kapil Dev (chairman of the ICL executive board) announced the composition of the 6 teams taking part in the 20-20 competition in ICL's 1st year.

Click here to see the complete composition of the Hyderabad Heroes, Kolkata Tigers, Mumbai Champs, Delhi Jets, Chennai Superstars, and Chandigarh Lions. The coaches of these teams are prominent former international cricketers. I would've thought Moin Khan and Micheal Bevan, two of the coaches, would have been good to play as well. Wonder why they're coaching.

The captains haven't been announced yet but Inzamam and Lara are expected to lead their teams - the Heroes and Champs respectively. The Pakistani fans should look forward to watching the Hyderabad Heroes in action as it not only includes Inzi, but also Abdul Razzak and Azhar Mahmood. Moreover, Moin Khan is coach of the team. Ambati Rayudu, the 22 year old touted to be India's latest batting prodigy, would love the prospect of batting along side Inzamam Ul Haq.

The Aussies should be looking forward to supporting the Chennai team, coached by Bevan, which includes Stuart Law and Ian Harvey. I still remember the 1996 world cup semi final between Australia and the Windies where the Aussies were 4 down for 40 odd before Law and Bevan scripted a remarkable recovery. What a partnership that was.

Lara will play alongside Nathan Astle for Mumbai, while the Chandigarh team looks like a strong outfit with internationals Cairns, Farhat, Marshall, Hall, Sodhi, D. Mongia, and Tuffey in the ranks.

The ICL looks set to get underway as soon as the issue of grounds get settled. Rumours flying around are that grounds in Sharjah, a private club in Karachi, and a few around India will be used. the prospects would have even been brighter had the IPL not been launched but then nothing flourishes without a little bit of competition. And rebels are always welcome.

Let the ICL roll...

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Sri Lanka 2nd Test Selection


Posted by NAzhar at Thursday, November 15, 2007 Pitched (14)
Sri Lanka will be happy to be getting back some of their stars for the 2nd test match versus Australia. Sangakkara is slated to make a comeback if he is fit and he will definitely bolster the visiting side's batting which struggled in the first test match against Australia.

On the bowling side Sri Lanka is hoping to have the fiery Malinga back in the line up. The rumors are that Vaas will be dropped if Malinga makes it back to the line up. I would think they should drop Fernando and keep Vaas. Vaas is an extremely experienced campaigner and especially on an Australia tour that counts for a lot.

Ponting and the Aussies will be looking to win their 14th win in a row. This should be a closer match, but until somebody can prove otherwise, the Aussies are just in a class of their own. And 20/20 does not count as it is not main stream (at least not yet).

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Pakistan vs India: 2-2 today?


Posted by Q at Thursday, November 15, 2007 Pitched (43)
This pic (source: Hindustan times) on the right can easily be mistaken to be a poster of the next Sanjay Gupta Action Thriller, but it is the Pakistani and Indian cricketers at the Gwalior Fort - Gwalior being the venue of the 4th ODI set to be played today.

Reports are mentioning that the pitch for today will be a high scoring one and the curator has even said that the toss wont matter as the pitch will play the same for the full 100 overs of the match. Thus we can expect a high scoring humdinger!


Pakistan have flown in former U-19 world cup winning captain and wicket keeper, Sarfraz Ahmed to cover for the injured Kamran Akmal, however reports suggest that Akmal might be fit, or if not, Younis Khan or Yasir Hameed will keep wicket. I don't agree with this at all. Sarfraz Ahmed deserves a debut, especially after Akmal's woeful form with gloves and bat. Sarfraz is coming on the back of strong performances in the domestic scene in Pakistan. Plus unless Pakistan plan to stick with a makeshift like Younis or Hameed ala Dravid, they shouldn't do it for this important match.
I also think Shoaib Malik needs to put his hand up and open the innings - I said this long before Rameez Raja did recently. Malik has done it before successfully and can do it again and solve the opening problem once and for all. All his ODI hundreds have come while opening or batting at #3. Plus he has a test hundred while opening as well. Batting at 5 or 6 is too low for a captain and a batsman as talented as Malik.
Shoaib Akhtar has come out and said that he is still not at his best and that he was underprepared for this ODI series. And that too after figures of 2-52, 3-42, and 1-40 in the last 3 games. I wonder what he'll do when he feels he's at his best.
India look a far more settled side than Pakistan do with no opening problems, solid middle order with Yuvi and Dhoni in great form, and a potent bowling attack with Pathan back to his old best. No doubt they are favorites to win the series, but I would rather prefer them winning the 5th game than today.
I sure hope Pakistan manage to level the series today and take it into a deciding 5th match, as that is what a series of such proportions deserves - a fitting decider!
Let the discussions begin people, right here on this blog.

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Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Tales from the World of Cricket Blogging


Posted by Q at Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Pitched (26)
Some very interesting reads that I have come across from around the blogging world of cricket:

Uncle J Rod's piece on Cricket's most prominent back sides. A hilarious take on the largest assets to take the field.

Soulberry's take on the pink balls MCC is looking to introduce. Interesting facts on a Windies team once being asked to wear pink attire, and how men could object to bowling with a pink one.

Ottayan's view on the boards charging agencies for taking pictures. I love the way Ottayan relates pics to a blog. Also check his take on the pink balls.

Mikesiva's assessment of the greatest captain, which inspired me to start the series on the greatets captain of the last 40 years.

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Batsman's Game


Posted by NAzhar at Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Pitched (7)
In recent years there have been changes to the game of cricket. Change is generally considered a good thing as the powers to be review and make ammendments based on the general widely public opinion. In sports in general, and in cricket in particular, this has been the case over the last some years as modifications (improvments?) to the game have been made.

I am all in favor of modifying the game and changing the rules, though I feel there should be more current coach input in making the rule changes as opposed to retired players who did not have much experience in ODIs. Coaches are close to the game and can make intelligent suggestions on improving the game. In American sports, generally coaches/managers/owners, etc have a say in rule changes to their respective sport.

The test game is pretty pure (still my favorite form of the game) and that is why most of the changes have been made to the ODI format of the sport. What is appalling to me is that all the changes, or almost all of them, favor the batsmen. Has the standard of batting fallen that these batsman need so much help?

A recent rule change has been the mandatory change of ball in the 34/35th over. The intention behind the rule change is to have consistency so that the ball is changed every time rather than leaving it up to the discretion of the umpires. While I think consistency is a good idea generally in the sport as it leaves less room for human error in judgement; in this case I think it is favoring the batsman too much and totally getting rid of the bowlers advantage of reverse swing. The umpires need to use their judgement and definitely change the bowl when there are visibility issues - maybe the idea of using pink balls as per Q's blog is not that bad of an idea after all! But if there are visibility issues then why change the ball? Give the bowlers the ability to use reverse swing as long as the batsman can see the ball they should be good enough to play any bowler who is reversing it!

The power play rule - what a ridiculous rule! I again like the intention of getting captains and teams to have a strategy of using the power play. But again it favors the batting side. Every team, with the exception of Fleming NZ's captain, uses the power plays in the first 20 overs reducing the rule to basically having the field restrictions for the 1st 20 overs. I would like to see the overs for power play reduced to 10 in total and have captains use them in spells of 5 with the rule that you cannot use consective 10 overs.

I am a batsman myself, but would hate to see myself given so much advantage in anything in life - you gotta earn it! :-)

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Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Pink Balls!


Posted by Q at Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Pitched (36)
The MCC are going to test pink balls instead of the white ones in school, university, and 2nd XI county matches to see if its feasible for them to be used in county cricket and later on in ODI cricket.

The idea behind this is that the pink ball will be easier to pick for the batsman out of the bowler's hand than the white ball. In addition, the colour coating on the pink ball will not wear off as it does on the white one.
Isn't the game already so much in favour of the batsmen? With the pink ball easier to pick out of the hand, it will make the batsmens' life even easier thus tilting, the already tilted balance, more the batsmens' way. Is it necessary?

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The Sporting Aussie


Posted by obaid at Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Pitched (10)
Australians play sport as though their lives depended on it
-DH Lawrence


The constitution of the United States of America protects the right of its citizens to pursue “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. I tried to find something similar in the Australian Constitution to the tune of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Sporting Excellence”. I was unsuccessful and extremely disappointed. I had to make do with the assumption that the quest for sporting excellence must be an innate quality, ingrained in the deepest folds of the Aussie national psyche.

England gave us cricket, warm beer, cricketing whites and the relaxing (read boring) Sunday afternoon village game. The subcontinent gave us the teeming cricketing masses (not true for Pakistani test audiences), raw talent, gali cricket, unpredictability and a previously unseen commercialization of the game. The West Indies gave us reggae style flamboyant cricket - lazy elegance and sheer pace in an unprecedented package. And the Australians – they gave us Bradman, pajama cricket and invincibility as an art form. You can also add sledging on the field and heckling opposing fans. But that’s not all; they also gave us sporting excellence. I’d like to make the case that these are mere symptoms of something larger, something more glorious and not the disease itself.

As a Pakistani, I have been brought up to believe that there is no rivalry greater than India vs Pakistan. There is no form of cricket truer that gali cricket. The gali (when not jammed with traffic) is the breeding ground of world beaters because we all possess natural talent like no other nation or race. An egotistical part of me still believes that all of this is true (!) but another more rational part of me wonders whether the water is special Down Under. What is it about Australians that makes them so passionate about excelling in sport?

So what is it about Australians that makes them so good? If they cant be good then they still want to be the best. I am not just talking about cricket alone. Look at Hewitt or Rafter in tennis – they also do not want to settle for anything less than the best. Like them, Im sure the Australian cricket fan probably feels like he/she whitewashed the English fans in the department of jibes, limericks etc. I have never been to Australia but all the Australians I have encountered exude this calm and quiet confidence that they are the best (in the context of cricket). This is in direct contrast to the in-your-face style brash confidence exhibited by the subcontinental cricketing supporter. The latter knows deep inside that their side is prone to bouts of unpredictability and mediocrity. The confidence is falsely placed and masks the uneasy feeling of impending implosion. The same can not be said for the Aussie – his or her confidence is well placed. It is not arrogance; simply a calm belief that their sporting heroes will play the game as if “their lives depended on it”. But the important thing is that when the Aussie sporting hero falters, his life is not put in danger – instead he is given the space to plot his revenge. And when the Australian team is outplayed the opposing team is respected for being better on the day. This is the way the game should be played.

Finally, the Aussie is the most sporting fan I have known. While a few fans may have spoilt the image by “no-balling” Murali, the Australian fan is one of the most educated in the world. I remember the commentators in Australia openly expressing respect and admiration for Saqlain’s wizardry, Waqar’s pace and Wasim’s talent. The fans too turn out in their thousands to watch the best in the world in action. In the subcontinent, moments of brilliance from the opposing side are often met with pin drop silence. In Australia, such moments never go un-appreciated.

… that is the Sporting Aussie.

If you are a sporting Aussie or have come across some, please share your experiences in the comments section

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Monday, November 12, 2007

The Romanticism of Radio Commentary


Posted by obaid at Monday, November 12, 2007 Pitched (10)
These days we have 24/7 live coverage of cricket games all over the world, from first class games to international ones, from women’s games to men’s ones. The emergence and proliferation of TVs and TV channels has made it easy for us to watch the games live. For those who can’t do that, there is vivid and detailed commentary as well as analysis available on CricInfo.com. Credit must be given where it is due – CricInfo has served millions of cricket fans all over the world and the world is a better place with it.

However, I remember the 80s and the 90s when the only available mediums for following cricket were print, TV and radio. The game was not as commercial then so it was not feasible to broadcast games live. Living in Pakistan and even India at that time, there were no sports only channels. For the only local channels, Pakistan Television (PTV) in Pakistan and Doordarshan in India, it was far more lucrative to broadcast soap operas compared to cricket games.

If you were a cricket fan in the sub continent and were really lucky, the state run channel would carry a short highlights clip after the nightly ‘news’. If President Zia and his many chief ministers, governors and generals had had a busy day in the field chairing various boring meetings, cutting inaugural ribbons etc, the cricket highlights would be the last thing shown on TV. If the country was going through bad times, highlights of a lost match wouldn’t necessarily be shown. The backup option was always to quickly glance at the scorecard in the morning paper before scrambling to school.

But true joy came from listening to live cricket commentary on the radio. For me, there is no cricketing memory better than Chishty Mujahid or Omer Kureishi passing verdict on Pakistan Radio, that the old ball in the hands of Waqar or Wasim had started to swing. Hallelujah! The beginning of the end had started! That’s when you closed your eyes and pictured a rampant Waqar steaming in to bowl. The batsmen’s fear, the tension in the air and a warm tingling sensation in the base of your gut that Pakistan’s ascendancy was imminent; all made the air thick with excitement and anticipation. To their credit, the commentators only added to the drama, sucking the listeners in and using a scarcity of words to keep the listeners engaged (its funny how TV commentators these days feel the need to keep talking, even if its crap). The gathering roar of anticipation by the crowd as Waqar or Wasim ran up to the crease was typically accompanied by the following words

“Waqar goes back to his run-up…
[the buzz in the crowd grows]
He starts his run-up
[buzz grows to hum]
Crowe to face him…
Comes in to bowl
[hum reaches crescendo.. ooooOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHH!]
[dull thud of the ball hitting the pads]
[loud appeal!]
AND HES GONE!
[high fives all around, jubilant jumps etc]”

Im sure all readers don’t have memories as magical as mine, especially if their team was at the receiving end of the W magic. However, my point is that for me the radio and following cricket went hand in hand. If Pakistan were in deficit, I felt it was my responsibility to turn the radio on and guide Miandad or Salim Malik through till the deficit was wiped out or follow on averted. Visits to family at the other end of town or tuition center rounds were planned such that your could hear commentary for the first twenty overs of the test match. If you got to hear commentary when the ball started to swing, then that was a bonus.

I still remember very clearly, one of Pakistan’s greatest overseas triumphs when Waqar and Wasim combined to bowl out New Zealand for 93 when they needed 127 at Hamilton in 1993. I remember being glued to the Radio, hoping that the ball would swing and that Pakistan would give New Zealand a tough time in their run chase.

What are your fondest memories of associated with following cricket? Has the radio figured prominently? Please share your thoughts by posting a comment

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Sunday, November 11, 2007

The Greatest Cricket Captain of the last 4 decades - Part 2


Posted by Q at Sunday, November 11, 2007 Pitched (11)
In part 1 of the same post I had mentioned a criteria covering 3 factors to decide on the best cricket captain of the last 40 years. Part 1 ranked the captains according to win ratio, and here I move on to the 2nd factor - performance of the ranked cricketers as captains.

Before I go on to comparing the performances of the top 10 captains, I want to take some of them off the list due to a number of reasons, with Hansie Cronje being the first. Undoubtedly he was a good captain but with the match fixing scandal lingering over his head, I believe it is a huge blemish on the man's career and doubts will always remain whether or not South Africa were paid to be "chokers" under him.

I will also remove the man who tops the list - Ricky Ponting. He is arguably the best batsman in the world and will definitely go on to break all batting records in tests, but I don't rank him as one of the best captains because he inherited the team from Steve Waugh. His test as a captain begins now after Warne and McGrath have moved on and it will be interesting to see how he fares as captain hereon and especially after the likes of Hayden and Gilchrist hang up their boots. Plus another factor against Ponting is the same reason I went against Alan Border, i.e. the Cricket Australia structure.

I also leave out Micheal Vaughan as he has been in and out of the team lately due to injury and he hasn't been captain long enough to be judged along side the greats in my list. Shaun Pollock also misses out as he is the only bowler in a list dominated by batsmen and to judge a bowler's performance against that of batsmen is a difficult task.

This leaves us with 6 captains to decide from and here are their performances in tests in which they captained.

It is interesting to note here that Viv Richards, who was rated as one of the best captains by the blog from where I got the idea of doing such an analysis, was a much better batsman when he wasn't captaining the side. His batting average as captain fell by more than 5 runs per innings as compared to his career average. Sir Richards averaged 53.64 in the 71 test matches he played while he wasn't captain, 8 runs higher than his average as captain. Moreover, in those 71 matches he managed 18 centuries, while in the next 50 as captain, he managed only 6. Finally, his case is similar to that of Pontings - he continued from where Lloyd left.

Brearley can easily be discarded from the list as his performance as captain or otherwise isn't much to speak of. I would also leave Mark Taylor out based on the numbers above.

This leaves us with Steve Waugh, Clive Lloyd, and Ian Chappell, the last of whom improves on his career batting performance the most when playing as a captain. Steve Waugh and Clive Lloyd have very similar records as captains, although Lloyd's improvement from his career average is much more than Waugh's. At this time, I still think Waugh has his nose slightly in front as he ranked #2 in part 1 and #1 here.

Watch this space for the final part where I analyze the 3rd criterion and reach a decision on who has been the best cricket captain in the last 40 years.


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