Gautam Gambhir Elbowed………

Ban on Gautam Gambhir is ridiculous and with Watson escaping with 10% of match fees just indicates that match refrees are biased. Bloody ridiculous……..I think this event should spur up Indians and go all out on the Aussies.

Mohali Test Day 2

The test match at Kotla stands at interesting stage. If Australia continue their confident start tomorrow morning, we might see a draw unless some quick wkts from India doesnt peg them back. The pitch seems dry and is expected to turn from day 3 ownwards….So fingers crossed….

Special kudos to VVS and Gautam Gambhir for their wonderful 200’s and one spank for the media and the critics. Tendulkar, Ganguly and now Laxman have proved that they are not dead ducks and they hold their vintage value still. Dravid and Kumble got to prove it and Insha Allah they would do so soon…..

And is it a fact that MSD doesnt play well when he is not the captain ? Just a thought….He didnt play good in Bangalore and now today in Delhi test when he is playing under AK ? Is he selfish ?

VVS continues his love affair with Aussies and GG his terrific form in the series….Now he is well settled in 3 forms of the game and should now have a long fruitful career……An interesting test ahead 🙂

Who is next Media Bunny ?

Ganguly was forced to retire, Kumble is being relentlessly pressurised now…Who is next ? Laxman ? He has not been amongst runs this series. Dravid ? He has looked rock solid and agrressive, but runs on board dont show the form ? Who is in line ?

Diwali wishes!!

Wishing the readers of this blog a very happy and prosperous Diwali……

21 years back to the Diwali day on this Kotla ground india beat Australia in last league match of Reliance World Cup to enter the semis. Lets hope that tomorrow India beats the Aussies once again to take the series 2-0 and take one more step to a 3-0 whitewash of the Aussies……..

Inviting applications for coaching Pakistan

Here is inviting applications for applying as coach to Pakistan national cricket team. Yes national cricket team. They play Test cricket occasionally, internal politics moreso. Here are the necessary and minimum requirements for the job :

1. You should have minimal knowledge of Cricket game. No certification in coaching would be acceptable. Level 1 or Level n, nothing would suffice.
2. You should be ready to suffer the heartbreaks and barbs from the respected PCB officials who have high understanding of the game of cricket, no matter they havent lifted a cricket bat beyond bylanes of Karachi or Lahore.
3. You should be good in playing politics and thou shall not have your own opinions about the selection issues, fitness of players or touring assignments.
4. You would have to take care of your own accomodation, if you are not able to do that, living in refugee camps would be provided free of cost.
5. You wont have a say in selecting captain and you wont have any power in the board and team politics.
6. You shall stay away from team dressing room and you wont interfere in selection of players.
7. You should be ready to get sacked anytime and without any notice. You wont have power to go to court to challenge PCB.
8. You shall not be a whistle blower on match-fixing and dope scandals.
9. You shall not kick the butt of chairman Ijaz Butt.

Any one game ? I am ready to do this all with just one pre-requisite. I should be able to coach them offshore. No touring Pakistan. I am Indian national. Coaching them in India should be acceptable.

Honest opionions sought on Arm Ball

Do I write horrible or do I write cliched ? Am I biased ? Like most I do have opinions. So is that makes people visitt and not drop comments on my blog ? Or is it that people are driven by opinion of a blogger who feels that I attack him despite my assurances that I dont and he is having more popular blog than mine ? Is that the reason ? Or the quality is just not here ? Let me know guys ?

Is it that I hold strict opionions about few issues. I am not getting a clue out of it. Same issue when written by other bloggers gets lot of comments. I am not sucker for comments, i dont write for them. But when people drop, I do expect that they write something.

Honest opinions invited.

Lawson Butted…..

Geoff Lawson has been removed as Pakistan coach, just days after it was announced that he would see out the rest of his contract, ending in August 2009. The announcement came shortly after a meeting he had with PCB chief Ijaz Butt – responsible for recent the public flip-flops on the coach’s future – at which Lawson was told a decision would be conveyed to him by Saturday, following discussions within the board.

So Butsy shows off his rants to real actions . He matches his words with actions, no matter how much they sound bitter or unethical.But then who bothers ? And why was coach sacked ? Just for personal dislike ? Was he given time to show his calibre ? 1 year and 3 months, with 9 months out of them no Test cricket and serious cricket for the team. Change of administration, removal of officials and players sacking. Captain insecure and ridiculous no cricket. What would poor Lawson do ?

One coach died, the other one was removed. And with it perhaps ends the era of foreign coaches in Pakistan. They better get a home grown coach and who better than revamped Salim Malik…..

Protea excitement over Aussie loss

It’s just the kind of opportunity I can see them passing up if they’re not careful. If the team can retain its unity, if it can stay calm, ease off on the histrionics and if the players can remember that it’s not an individual’s game, then they might just do it.

In the long term, it brings the South African tour of Oz later in the year into sharp focus. South Africa’s recent one-day flailings might make it easy to forget what a formidable Test unit the team has become under Graeme Smith.

Lest we forget, South Africa have recently prevailed in three of four of the toughest cricketing destinations on earth. They won in Pakistan. They would have won in India were it not for some cowardly pitch preparation and the choice of Kanpur as the venue for the final Test. They had to settle for a draw. And they won convincingly in England too.

All that remains is Australia, and on this showing Smith and his men, if they can find the form and the fitness, will fancy their chances.

Suddenly one almost starts to feel for the Aussies. When they’re done with South Africa, they’re off to England for an Ashes series, and England look like they’re really up for it.

When the empire sneezes, the dogs bark and the cats scowl. What more you can term the excerpts below from Alex Parker in SA daily over the Mohali loss of Australia. He seems to suggest that SA would be in a good chance to get better of Aussies later this year in home and away series. One Test loss doesn’t make Australia a bad team or a series win in England don’t make SA the world champs. And they should not forget the last 4 scorelines vs Aus for them read 0-3, 1-2 (2001-02) , 0-3, 0-3 (2005-06)..A single win in12 games for SA vs what was considered the unofficial world Test championships…..

I must really applaud the quick urge of the media pundits to write off champions after just one failure. We face that daily in India when our 5 greats are put on sword every day. It began in Australia. England are learning to get past the Ashes winning captain Michael Vaughan and now South Africans join the baton with writing off Australia and trying to suggest that the series draw in India was due to a cowardly pitch preparation…..They have failed to win last 2 series in India since 2000. They have lost 2, won 1 and drew 1 in India in 4 series they have played since 1992. But they have been 2 three test series and 2 two test series. Not good enough to earn a 4 test series as Aussies earn against India….

South Africa still don’t appeal as a quality Test side as they were sometime in late 90s with Donald and Pollock in pomp alongside huge McMillan and batting prowess of Kirsten, Cronje, Cullinan and Gibbs. They have Kallis, Smith as premier Test batsmen and Steyn as world class bowler, but yet they lack the appeal or the attraction that say an Indian or Australian or even an English side has. England has all the flair owed up to KP and Freddie along with the romantic appeal of Monty Panesar. India has the star batsmen, we all know of and Aussies have been tight snoozes to be beaten.

Pakistan and Windies don’t offer the same level of excitement as they did in 90s or 80s. Pakistan and West Indies were the kind of rivalry that India and Australia have today. West Indies could rarely win or lose a series to Pak, but the later could always give them a hard fight and draw the series. BD and Zim are minnows. New Zealend are depleted side. And SL are plain boring with dusty turners on flat wickets.

For sure Aussies would make a harder comeback, still I would fancy 2-1 win for India. A 5-1 or 5-0 Vs SA, a 2-0 sweep vs NZ and 3-1 vs England for Australia….

Butt bat tracks and Imran as PCB chief!!

And now Butt eats back his own words on Lawson……..

As the PCB chairman, I am duty-bound to fully back Lawson and to take care of all his liabilities,” Butt told Dawn. “What I said in the press conference was my personal opinion which I had also given to the then chairman Nasim Ashraf…..

I swear this old man is providing a super comedy strip every day. Sways like pendulmn in opinions. Is that what PCB needs ? Got to think seriously on this. Personal opinions aint meant to be said in public Sir. They got to be kept personal, as the word suggests….

Wouldn’t Imran Khan make a good PCB chief than Butt ? I mean IK has that disciplined attitude and the aura. And everybody in Pakistan except Miandad would listen to what IK would say. He has single handedly picked up many talented players for Pakistan in 70s and 80s from the bylanes and streets with no prior experience of 1^st class cricket and that hasn’t been any hurdle in shining on the international level. Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed, Shoaib Mohammed (opener), Manjoor Ilahi, Salim Jaffer (the man Walsh refused to run out in 87 world cup which finally ousted them from WC) and many more such players are testimony to this….And moreover his political career is going nowhere. He should be a good man to cleanup the PCB which has been in ruts since long time…But the 100 million dollar question is will he accept it and would somebody think about it ? In one word Imran Khan was inspirational. A father figure to the Pakistan players who in 80s and 90s had some aggression and were joy to watch. Today ‘s team has nobody of that quality and talent except for Younis, Yousuf and ……..(nobody)..

Sharjah used to be a waterloo for India in 80s and 90s. Today we can easily thump the Pakistan team as the aggression is missing from their ranks. The team lacks a Wasim Akram or Inzamam if not Imran…. Can India vs Pakistan rivalry regain its lost sheen ? That for some another day though……..

Meanwhile some hope of 1^st Test match for Pakistan this year with Windies proposing Abu Dhabi Tests!! Some light of hopes for Pakistan cricket and this is a good sign unless somebody from PCB goofs it up……

Button it butt-ology

Even Kamran Abassi concurs to my views on Butt….

Right below :

The chairmanship of the Pakistan Cricket Board holds a mesmeric attraction for glory seekers. Each time a new head is appointed, the great unwashed hope that a man with wisdom, ideas, integrity, and discretion is chosen. Invariably, we are disappointed.