Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
Harbajhan Singh
Amit Mishra

Zaheer Khan
Ishant Sharma
RP Singh / Sreesanth
Amit Mishra

The first one for home tests and the 2nd one for tests in Australia, England, South Africa and elsehwere, will win India a lot of test matches going forward.

It reminds of the times Pakistan used to have Wasim, Waqar, Aquib, and Mushtaq.

Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils.

The only 2 teams with comic book inspired names.

The only 2 teams with 8 points from 8 matches.

The only 2 teams that haven't played each other yet.

Only 0.045 separates them (Net Run Rate).

2 of the 3 teams fighting for the 4th Semi-Final berth.

All that will change today.

After 25 days and 34 matches of the Indian Premier League, the Knight Riders and the Daredevils come face to face TODAY!

How apt is it that they meet when there is little separating the two and the winner will go ahead in the race for the semi finals.

Perfect setting for a potentially cracking match.

Whats more, its at the Eden Gardens where you can expect over a 100,000 capacity crowd.

Its Saurav Ganguly's home crowd and he's up against a man who has always supported him - Virender Sehwag. Both have played for India, both have opened together, today they will be captaining 2 opposing teams.

If the Daredevil's ambassador Akshay Kumar turns up, it will be 2 of Bollywood's biggest superstars up against each other: Shahrukh Khan vs Akshay Kumar.

Ishant Sharma is from Delhi. He plays under Sehwag for Delhi. Today he turns out for Kolkata and will bowl at his Delhi team mate and openers - Sehwag and Gambhir. Some match up this is.

David Hussey has been in prime form and with every game he is showing the world why this man sang so many praises about him. Watch out for another cracking innings.

Shoaib Akhtar is expected to make his IPL debut today and if that happens and the Daredevils play Mohammad Asif, its going to be Pakistan's new ball attack on opposing ends. The organizers will do well by keeping bats away from Shoaib's sight.

If Ganguly continues his form of the past few days, the Daredevils will find it difficult to stop the Riders. But the Riders have only beaten RCB and DC, twice each. Those 2 are the bottom 2 teams on the table.

Delhi have lost their last 2. But they are one of the strongest sides in the IPL.

Whose going to take the lead in the points table?

If Shoaib Akhtar plays, I say go KKR!!!

A potential cracker tonight. 230pm GMT!

Yesterday's Indian Premier League matches showed a different side of 20-20 cricket than what was on display during the first 2 days.

There were no 200+ scores, there were no smacking 50 ball centuries, and both the games were close encounters with the result determined only in the last 2 overs.

The first match between the Knight Riders and the Deccan Chargers was played out in front of a packed Eden Gardens stadium that was as loud as a WWF crowd in Madison Square Garden cheering Hulk Hogan in the 80s and early 90s.

But the crowd did not get what they came for. Sure the home side won thanks to a magnificent innings by David Hussey, but the curators got it completely wrong with the pitch. On a day when a belter should have been the order of the day to entertain a vociferous crowd of about 90,000, the curators threw in a shocker.

Even though it was the lowest scoring game of the IPL thus far, it provided with the potential scene of the tournament. It was the SCENE STEALER in my books.

The Chargers' Andrew Symonds was at the crease and Ishant Sharma had the ball in his hand. At the start of his run up before he started his run to bowl, Ricky Ponting approached him. Ponting uttered a few words to Sharma before moving back to his position, and in ran Sharma to deliver to Symonds.

Here I would like to quite Archana Puran Singh from Zee TV - "Wah Kia Scene Hai!!".

Translated that means, wow what a scene, and indeed it was.

What do you reckon Ponting said to Sharma?

Did he say - "Just do to him what you did to me in Australia mate".

Or did Ponting reveal some unknown secret about Symonds' batting weakness?

Intriguing to say the least. This is what the IPL is all about!

The future of cricket will roll in front of our eyes.

10 years from today, this date will be talked about as the start of the Cricket Revolution. This date will be talked about as the one that started off the planning to kill ODI cricket. This date will be discussed in history books. It will be the day that changes cricket as we know it forever.

Its the opening match of the IPL.

Its the Kolkata Knight Riders taking on the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Its Shahrukh Khan taking on Vijay Mallya.

Its Saurav Ganguly taking on Rahul Dravid.

Its Ponting playing for Ganguly.

Its Kallis playing for Dravid.

Its Boucher keeping to Ashley Noffke and Cameron White.

Its Gayle and McCullum possibly opening the innings. Could be David Hussey as well.

Its Ponting and Ishant Sharma playing for the same side.

Its Chanderpaul in his blazing form in the middle facing Gayle.

Its Ashley Noffke bowling to Ponting.

Its Ishant Sharma bowling to Dravid and Wasim Jaffer.

Its Kolkata taking on Bangalore!

How can anyone not be excited to watch this? I damn sure am. I can't wait.

The IPL has promised a glamorous opening ceremony with performances from Shahrukh Khan, Priety Zinta, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy, and the 12 cheerleaders from the Washington Redskins known as the "First Ladies of American Football".

There are talks going on with authorities to have the toss under spotlights with all other lights inside the stadium switched off. That'll be a first.

Imagine complete darkness. 2 spotlights pointing at the boundary line. Out walk Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Too much? I think it just adds to the excitement.

The IPL Roller Coaster is set to begin tomorrow and the world will be curious to see how it rolls out. Its bound to succeed I think.

Stay tuned to read about the record breaking number of global television viewers tuned in at 1:30PM GMT on Friday 18th April, 2008!

About a month and a half back Uncle J of Cricket with Balls started a petition to get David Hussey into the Australian cricket team.

The arguements were all strong since Hussey Jr. was blasting away in the domestic matches, while the Aussie's international batsmen were struggling against an overgrown Adam's apple (referring to Uncle J's reference to Ishant Sharma).

That petition attracted some 130 signatures on Uncle J's blog. The petition was also added onto a facebook group and then it was said to be doing the rounds of the streets of Australia.

I don't have the total count of how many people actually signed the petition but Cricket Australia selectors probably got hold of it and realised that they had to bow down to the demands of the Aussie public.

This morning when CA announced the squad for Australia's tour to the Windies in May, David Hussey was part of the 14 man ODI line up.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Uncle J on all his efforts to get David Hussey into Office! Your work has paid off Uncle J. I know you are mighty pissed at Bryce McGain being ignored but savour this moment of glory - David Hussey is in the team because of you.

In another expected announcement, Micheal Clarke took over as the Vice Captain of the team following Adam Gilchrist's retirement and Brad Haddin replaced him as the #1 wicket keeper.

The Aussies have been going through a transformation of sorts since the heavy load of retirements during last and this season. And this is another step within the tranformation phase.

Will they hold on to their status as the #1 team in the world? Only time will tell.

Uncle J - now I suggest a petition for the inclusion of your very own Bryce McGain.

No its not about batsmen who have been out of the first ball they have faced in both innings of a test match.

Nazhar recently did a post on Alan Davidson describing Wasim Akram as the best swing bowler - in the comments section Straight Point mentioned that Wasim & Waqar have more than a 1,000 wickets collectively. Thats when the idea for this post crossed my mind.


Walsh & Ambrose sure played a lot together. Had Wasim and Waqar played as many games, they would have picked up over a 100 more wickets than the 2 West Indians. The 2 Ws averaged more collective wickets per match than the Windies stars and also had a slightly better collective average.

There was no point looking at England or New Zealand. For the kiwis, the highest wicket taker, Richard Hadlee was before the era I am looking at and their next best fast bowler is Chris Cairns with 230 odd wickets. While for England, their leading pace bowlers of this era - Hoggard and Caddick have less than 500 collective wickets. I didn' bother checking their wickets in matches played together.

For India, 6 out of the top 10 wicket takers are spinners. The 4 pacers are from different eras. However, it will be interesting to see where the pairs out of Zaheer, Ishant, RP, Pathan, and Sreesanth are 10 years down the line.

Sri Lanka is absolutely intriguing. Apart from Murali and Vaas, there is no other bowler who has reached even a 100 test wickets. Jayasuriya has 98 and is 3rd on the list behind a 700+ and a 300+ wicket taker.

If we look at Murali & Vaas as a pair then they go beyond Walsh & Ambrose. In 87 matches that they have played together they have taken a total of 825 wickets at an average of 23.75 with 52 5WI and 18 10WM! That also gives them 9.5 wickets per match.

But there is a pair that betters them as well.


Glenn McGrath & Shane Warne. In 104 matches that these 2 played together, they picked up 1,001 wickets at 23.17 apiece. Thats a remarkable 9.6 wickets per match. Plus they took 51 5WI and 9 10WM.

They are definitely the King Pair for me. No one even comes close to their tally of over a 1,000 wickets.

However, if we're looking at fast bowlers only, I will go for Wasim & Waqar rather than Ambrose & Walsh. Had Waqar not missed a few years due to injury and strained relations with Wasim or had Wasim played more tests near the end of his career, the 2 Ws could have eached even greater heights. Yet, they remain the best exponents of swing ever.

Who is your king pair? Have I missed anyone out? Where do you think Murali and Vaas will finish? How about Ishant & RP Singh, how many will they get? Will anyone go beyond the 1000?

The IPL got their 6th Millionnaire in Saurav Ganguly who joins Dhoni, Symonds, Sachin, Dravid, and Yuvraj in the elite club. Ganguly achieved the status owing to Kolkata's aggressive bid for India's latest bowling senation Ishant Sharma.

Shahrukh Khan bid aggressively for Ishant Sharma closing his bid at a whopping $950,000! Thats the highest than any Indian fast bowler has got thus far. Irfan Pathan is a 2nd close who bagged a $925,000 deal from Priety Zinta's Mohali. Ponting would not have to worry about facing Ishant now as both of them will turn out for the Kolkata team. Ishant sharing the new ball with Shoaib Akhtar - the could be hell for the opposition batsmen and a treat. RP Singh was the other most valuable Indian pacer who was bagged by Hyderabad for $875,000.

The auction has proved the most beneficial for Indian players as almost all of them have gotten deals in excess of half a million dollars. Gambhir was picked up by his home team Delhi for $725,000 while Mumbai picked up Uthappa for $800,000. Delhi also won the bid for Manoj Tiwari for a high $675,000 while Rohit Sharma ($750,000), Suresha Raina ($650,000), and Mohammad Kaif ($675,000) all got valuable deals from Hyderabad, Chennai, and Jaipur respectively.

In my view the biggest surprise of the day was David Hussey being picked up for $657,000 by Kolkata. Uncle J has been running a petition for David Hussey's inclusion in the Aussie ODI side and his case has been made stronger due to the struggling Aussie batsmen in the CB series and his most recent 113 of 64 balls, the 2nd fastest century in Australian domestic cricket. Hussey junior's bid was more surprising because his elder brother Micheal Hussey, who is a permanent member of the Aussie side, did not attract any bids.

In the most recent round of bidding the franchisees concentrated on tanking up their bowling force with Jaipur picking up Munaf Patel ($275,000), Mumbai bagging the Lankan pair of Lasith Malinga ($350,000) and Dilhara Fernando ($150,000), Bangalore hitting the jackpot with Dale Steyn ($325,000) and Nathan Bracken ($325,000), Hyderabad bidding succesfully for RP Singh and the Sri Lankan pair of Chaminda Vaas ($200,000) and Nuwan Zoysa ($110,000), Mohali settling for the spinning combo of Ramesh Power ($170,000) and Piyush Chawla ($400,000), and Kolkata smartly bagging Ishant Sharma, Murali Karthik ($425,000), and Umar Gul ($150,000).

Stay tuned for the final update.

The series is over with a bit of an anti climatic end - there was no result in the final match of the series, dousing all hopes of India leveling the series. Sure India and Sehwag fought well to hold on for a draw and for the Aussies drawing a game is probably probably as bad as losing it. The Indians can hold some comfort in that. They can also be proud of fighting well and keeping the series alive right till the end. In the end the Australians did win the series and were deserving winners. Here are some of my takeaways:

Maybe its just me, but the series win doesnt feel as satisfying as it could have been. The specter of Sydney still looms over the series win, especially with the Harbhajan hearing commencing shortly. The inclusion of new stump mike recordings/transcripts adds another bizarre dimension - every time you wonder if the ICC can screw up some more, they prove you wrong!

Is it just me of is Gilchrist's retirement a shock to all of us? He has definitely given Pakistanis and Indians many many nightmares but Im still sad to see him go so unexpectedly. For me that historic turnaround in Hobart where Australia chased down a record 369 with Gilchrist hitting a century was a defining moment. The Pakistani attack had Waqar, Wasim, Shoaib, Saqlain and 369 on the board- how much better can it get? The Indians have their own share of Gilly nightmares, specially the world cup ones. Sure, I respect and understand Gilchrist's rationale for bowing out while on top - that is what true champions do. But his announcement seems very hasty - his family didnt even know until the 4th Test was in progress... I just wonder if the events of the Sydney test had anything to do with his decision. I dont want to speculate, but a reflective, honest chap like Gilchrist may no longer want to play as hard with the "win at all costs" mentality of Ponting. Im curious to see what he says in the days to come. Hats off to one of the best ever - I salute you for giving us some great memories and for bowing out on your own terms.

The final thing that caught my attention is that playing Australia definitely brings out the best in India - whether it is at home or away. Lifting your game and challenging the best is an admirable quality to have. I read on cricinfo that the tally reads 6-5 in Australia's favor if you look at recent matches- cricket is definitely the benefactor in this contest. I hope that the next generation of Indian and Australian cricketers keep this context alive, but within the spirit of the game. For every Laxman there must be hundreds of youngster's taking up cricket. But for every Sydney there must be a few who ask - is it worth it?

Finally, Ponting's observation that India is going to lose many of its most experienced cricketer's is an interesting one. He backs up Australia to emerge from such losses because of the quality of the domestic Australian cricket scene - you can argue that they have already done ok after losing Warne, McGrath, Langer, Martyn. But what about India? For so long the focus has been on producing quality fast bowlers like neighboring Pakistan - have they neglected the batting department? You can see very good fast bowlers like Ishant Sharma emerge out of the system. But if you look at the batting, judging from the opening woes, the signs look ominous. Who will fill in for Ganguly, Laxman, Tendulkar, Dravid? At the same time if you look into the Indian domestic scene I am fearful that the wham-bam IPLs and ICLs with all their money will take talent away from the longer version of the game. Its not a final judgement - just a fear.

-Obaid