Can you imagine someone asking you for your whereabouts for the next 3 months and also for an hour on each of those 90 days during which you would be available?

No matter who wins tomorrow at Lord's, cricket has already won.

"Fatigue was definitely a factor, as were many other things"

Gary Kirsten, the India coach, has come out and blamed India's hectic international schedule and the IPL for India's early exit from the ICC World Twenty20.

As I type, I am listening to a Star News report on how India has been on the road for so long, and how the players have played so much cricket that it was bound to lead to fatigue and losses.

Anyhow, the less said about these TV channels the better, they hardly ever make sense.

Regarding Gary Kirsten's claim; I did some digging and this is what I found.

Australia has by far played more international games than any other country, but I don't hear them complaining about fatigue.

India has played plenty of matches in a year, but not that many more than Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa, and England.

Plus, two of those teams are unbeaten thus far in the World T20.

Sure India's World T20 squad had more players in the IPL starting XIs, but that was supposed to be an advantage for the 20-20 world cup, was it not?

In fact, even South Africa has 11 players who played in almost all the games for their IPL teams; likewise for Sri Lanka with 7.

So what is Gary Kirsten on about? Just trying to save his behind is he?

There were many reasons for India's loss; fatigue was not one of them.

The mercurial Pakistan takes on the resurgent Sri Lanka tomorrow in the Group F clash of the World T20 Super 8s.

During the week leading up to the ICC World Twenty20, besides doing all the team previews and warm-up reviews, I was also busy enrolling myself into fantasy cricket competitions across the web.

Now I am a part of so many of these World T20 fantasy cricket competitions that my mind is all cluttered.

It all started with Scorpicity, who set up a BCC! league on cricketinc's fantasy competition.

That game is so complicated that it required more than one email from Scorpi to make me comprehend the rules and stuff.

Then my reader showed that the Island Cricket boys had set up a fantasy league on Cricinfo, so I hopped on, built a team, and entered that league.

My reader also showed that The Cricket Blog lot from the UK had set up a league for a SuperBru predictions game.

I couldn't be left out could I, so I joined them too.

Then I got an email from Sportsfreak who weighed in to all those demands from me for another tipping competition and finally set one up.

Now this I am excited about because I almost won it the last time, only for some Chinaman to take the lead at the end to deny me my orange cap!

And I don't have to change players and predictions with every match, because the tipping competition is all about making your picks and sticking to them.

Here are all the picks of all the participants of that tipping competition.

I didn't stop there. No way.

I went ahead and built my Fantasy Cricket teams on Cricket Web and Sports Pundit as well!

Having your eggs in multiple baskets surely doesn't work for me because it looks like I won't be winning any of these competitions with this cluttered mind of mine.

Odds are that I may lose track of a few of them before the 20-20 world cup is over.

Thank heavens its only 2 weeks!

You all know that we're covering the game LIVE tonight.

Any idea of what kind of spirits the fans are in?

Just hop on over the BCC!, popularly known as Bored Cricket Crazy Indians, who have aplty altered their name - go check out their banner to believe me.

While you're there, make sure you read all the lead up to the match.

There's an interesting poem from a guest, Sunny Narang.

There'e my post calling all of you to come together.

There's a picture from Anil Bisht showing what fans will be doing waiting for the game.

There are a few verses from Achettup as well!

Check them out.

Plus, SP has put up a beautiful touching picture - if only the powers that mattered thought the same way.

One would have you believe that today is the final of the ICC World Twenty20!

Join us LIVE - right here!

Both the IPL finalists won the toss in their respective semi finals and elected to field.

Both of them restricted their opponents to chaseable targets and then went about their business with ease.

The targets were chased down without a problem.

On one hand there was the awesome belligerence of Adam Gilchrist and the finishing touches of Andrew Symonds, while on the other there was the youthful exuberence of a Manish Pandey (for some reason I feel like Harsha Bhogle as I say that) and the calm of a Rahul Dravid.

What happens tonight?

Will both the Deccan Chargers and the Royal Challengers come out with the same strategy of looking to chase?

The Rajasthan Royals did that last year. They chased and won the IPL.

With 2 resurgent teams, experienced captains leading from the front, both hungry for the title, along with a similar strategy, it all points towards a gruelling contest.

Lets hope that is what we get.

I'll be going LIVE with my comments along with the rest of the crew at BCC! - Naked, SP, Som, Achettup, John, Ankit & Ankit, Ottayan, and many others.

Do join us!

The IPL is moving out of the India.

The INDIAN Premier League will be played in either South Africa, England, or the UAE.

What is wrong about that?

I am a firm believer that the IPL was successful the moment it was thought of. It was bound to change the face of the cricket world.

Its first season pretty much proved that.

But taking the league out of India could prove disastrous.

Maybe not as disastrous as cancelling the 2nd edition, but still is it worth going ahead with a re-scheduled, hastily planned IPL in a foreign country?

I am not too sure.

The charm of IPL's 1st season was that it induced support from Indian regions. The home and away games resulted in fans aligning themselves with their regional teams and turning up at the grounds in large numbers.

In fact, all the matches were sold out. The grounds were full.

Holding the IPL in South Africa will do no harm to television revenues, but how many people in Johannesburg will go to the Wanderers to watch Mumbai vs Delhi?

Again, I am not too sure.

The teams field only 4 international players, and besides Bangalore and Chennai, none have more than one frontline South African.

The franchises are predominantly Indian domestic teams along with a few international stars.

Will they find support among the South African and English public?

I have my doubts.

I really could not believe this when I read it:

The Indian board faces an embarrassing situation after letting Sachin Tendulkar appear for a Masters Twenty20 match in Wellington on Friday where he will play alongside Hamish Marshall, the former New Zealand batsman who featured in the unauthorised ICL last year.

...

Niranjan Shah, the Indian team's manager in New Zealand, said the BCCI would take up the issue with Justin Vaughan, the NZC chief executive. "No Indian player will play for a team that has an ICL player," Shah said. About Marshall, Shah said that it "would not be a problem" if the batsman is no longer an ICL player. [LINK]

For goodness sakes! This is an exhibition match with no official recognition! Are the ICL players classified as untouchables now? Grow up BCCI, seriously grow up. Start thinking slightly beyond the DLF maximums and Citi moments of success,* and realize that players are humans, not just contracts. The fact that this is even an issue is just reflective of the sad state of affairs in cricket, and indicative of the corporate shill that BCCI has become.

I know the BCCI is all-powerful at this point, but turning that power into arrogance is going to cost them dearly in the long run.


* Isn't it slightly ironic that Citi, a company that is so involved in the financial disaster, should sponsor "moments of success!" ;)

A couple of weeks back, it was reported that preparations for the 2011 World Cup are 10 months behind schedule.

Now, that in itself is a bit unsettling, especially since this needs to be coordinated between four countries. But it gets more interesting.

Let's add into the mix the fact that only Asian teams have been willing to play in Pakistan, and this trend is unlikely to change (or sadly, get even worse). If Pakistan's involvement as a 2011 host is questioned, expect Pakistan not to send a team to participate, and cause havoc with the organizing.

And then throw in the whole ICL situation. With Miandad and Ranatunga showing some flexibility with regards to ICL players, I can only imagine that the BCCI will be none too thrilled. Beware a BCCI scorned! And isn't Miandad banned from going to India anyway?

Finally, how about the fact that the last two World Cups have been pretty lackluster. You've had a few good matches for sure, but they have generally failed to live up to their billing by miles.

So what does that mean for 2011? Does anyone even care about the ODI World Cup anymore? I certainly have lost respect for it since they pointlessly continue to include so many teams. And then the format for 2011 is horrific - as I have previously ranted about on another blog.

Honestly, if the World Cup was to be canceled, or shifted to Australia (which really should have been the original bid), or moved to India alone (I'm not a fan of joint bids at in any sport), I think it would make little difference to me. The tournament has lost its original glory. Like with any cricket, I will get involved when it comes around. But till then I will probably be mostly indifferent.

I'm looking more forward to the Twenty20 World Cup, not because I am abandoning ODI cricket for T20I, but mainly because they are so much more sensible about the format. Not sure why the ICC can't use its lessons from T20I into ODI, but nothing about the ICC shocks me anymore.

2011 is a long way away, but the path to there seems to be pretty rocky. Let's hope they smooth out.

Homer reports that the BCCI has asked the ICC to remove Clive Lloyd from his post as the Chairman of the ICC Cricket's Committee.

This request has been made after Lloyd made a statement saying that the ICL and the IPL can coexist and that there was need for communication between the two leagues amongs other things.

This is not the first time that the BCCI has requested for the removal of an official due to the ongoing war between the two 20-20 leagues.

They did the same when they threatened to sever all ties with Sri Lanka Cricket if Arjuna Ranatunga was not removed as the Chairman of SLC.

The BCCI conveyed that threat because Ranatunga had been in an IPL-bashing mode for quite some time.

He first called the IPL names such as "instant noodles". Then he lifted the bans imposed on Sri Lanka's ICL players. He tried to get the Sri Lankan cricketers to play a test series in England instead of the IPL. And then finall he blamed the IPL for SLC's financial losses.

Ranattunga's claims may not be all that accurate but is the BCCI right in requesting for these removals?

Isn't that trying to wield that baton of their power a bit too much?

I then wonder how the BCCI will react to Javed Miandad's recent statement.

The recently appointed Director General of the PCB spoke of the need to allow Pakistan's ICL players to play international cricket.

That was all fine, but Miandad went on to call the BCCI a bully and that all boards needed to think for themselves and not tow the line of the BCCI.

Surely Lalit Modi & Co. will not take that lying down.

I foresee a request to removed Miandad from the PCB.

The BCCI could also threaten to cancel the upcoming tour.

How long will this go on for?

Seriously the BCCI should just look to find a solution to this whole mess. Let the ICL exist. After all, competition is only healthy.

Now will the BCCI request me to stop blogging?

I'll tell you how!

I hardly covered the series here on Well Pitched as I was giving my two-bits over at the BCC!, where you will find opinions from the other Bored Members as well.

At the same time, there were a number of other blogs giving their views and facts on the series and I just resorted to commenting on them.

The Australians JRod and Nestaquin did daily updates including previews and reviews of each day of each test.

I reckon that if any of you have not watched this series, just hop on to Cricket with Balls and 99.94 and you'll feel like you didn't miss a single delivery.

On the Indian front, besides the BCC!, the usual suspects continued with their expert voices throughout the series.

Homer, Ottayan, Soulberry, Straight Points, Som, Victoria, Scorpicity, Trideep, John, Naked Cricket, Samir, Poshin, and Srinivasarao were the ones that I mostly followed.

There were tributes for Ganguly, tributes for Kumble, praise for Dhoni, criticism for Dravid, elation over India's victories, pot shots at Ponting, discussion over Australia's fall and India's rise, debates over slow over rates, Australia's spin options, India's future and a whole lot more.

The series promised to be an entertainer, and it was just that, although the Aussie fans may differ with that opinion.

For some of them it was a first to see their team be dominated in this manner. For others, it was a reminder of the 80s.

Nevertheless, whether the guard has changed or not, whether Australia's dominance is over or not, Whether Dhoni is India's best captain ever or not, the fact that India vs Australia provides the most intense battle on the cricket field was definitely proven over the last month.

For me, it was all the more entertaining as I witnessed my rise to the top of the "Cricket with Balls Cricket League" over at Cricinfo, which was managed by JRod throughout the series.

I was hovering somewhere around number 7 or 8 after the 3rd test, but managed to end the series at the first position.

Gambhir's ban and Kumble's retirement forced me to substitute before the 4th test.

Since I wanted both Dhoni and Sehwag in the team, I was forced to include Krejza as it didn't leave me enough money for Lee or bhajji.

At the end of it, it all worked out perfectly for me as every player contributed during the 4th test.

Sachin hit a 100, Sehwag, Ganguly, and Dhoni hit half centuries, Krejza picked up an astonishing 8 wickets, Katich hit a 100, Hussey hit 90, Mishra picked up 2 wickets, Sehwag hit 90 odd, Dhoni another half century, and Krejza picked up 4 more wickets.

I didn't think Krejza would give me any points, and he ended up giving me more than anyone else!

And I was on top of the world!

Mishra's 3 wickets today just helped consolidate my position.

I feel like I've won the trophy!

It make me proud to get ahead of experts such as Nestaquin, Aashrey, Vijendra, Moses, JRod, Miriam, and others.

It has been a pleasure fellow fantasy players.

Thank you JRod, thank you all.

If Ijaz Butt's comments are to be believed, talks of a possible merger between the Indian Premier League and the Indian Cricket League were held during the recently held ICC moot in Dubai.

During that meeting the BCCI was asked to meet the ICL officials to possible come up with a solution regarding the league and its players considered to be rebels.

Ijaz Butt, at his 1st press conference since taking over as PCB Chairman, claimed that a merger was suggested.

Butt has definitely come out with something that was discussed behind closed doors and this would definitely not please the BCCI or the ICC.

At a time when Pakistan cricket requires all the support it can get, Butt cannot afford to get on the wrong side of anyone, let alone the BCCI.

Lalit Modi & Co. are sure to come out with a reaction soon.

And I can almost see the grins on the faces of Subhash Chandra and Kapil Dev.

What I don't understand though is that how can the smartest cricket brains in the world (they should be that if they're heading the national cricket boards) even think about a possible merger between the IPL and the ICL.

A league with 17 teams including multiple teams from the same region hardly sounds feasible.

So why would these so called cricket brains even think of such an idea?

In my view, the simplest solution is to allow the ICL players to play for their regional teams in domestic competitions and also allow them to be considered for international duty.

No one has to do anything more. And I doubt the ICL is looking for anything more. Maybe they want the BCCI's help in gaining access to more grounds and facilities for holding matches and practices, but surely they are not looking for the two leagues to be merged.

So why is the ICC even discussing such a solution?

The best solution, one that I would like to see, is that the bans on the players be lifted and the ICL winners be granted entry into the 20-20 Champions League.

That for me is the ideal scenario. Not an IPCL!