Response to Graeme Smith ‘s questioning India’s # 1 status

Ok this reading compels me to write a post.

India are top team in the Tests in the world for more than a year now. And this has not come down to India just cos of the mathematical formulae that go beyond calculating the ICC rankings and all. The results home and away reflect the consistency India has had over past 3 years starting England 2007 or perhaps before than that.  India reached # 1 ranking last year and has hung to it for 1 year and counting now. Its not like South Africa who reached # 1 in both formats of the game and slipped no later than they reached.  

There have been verbal volleys from the coach and the captain of SA how India have to win to prove their # 1 ranking. What if India wins? What if SA lose yet again to take 20 wickets? They failed to take 20 wickets in consecutive tests against weaker Pakistan which had no Yusuf in their ranks. They have not won a Test series at home beyond last 2 series. They drew against England and lost to Australia just after they won in Australia.

Same Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel failed to shut out the Pakistani batsmen in Sheikhland, who had been bruised and hurt by England in England and in Australia before.

“We’ve been touching the No. 1 and 2 spot for the past two-and-a-half-years and we’ve played some good cricket around the world. We pride ourselves on big series like this one”. Smith says. But they have not clung on to that spot. They are not even 1, 2 or 3 in ODIs.

Their batters have been getting big runs every where but they have choked when it came to hitting the nail hard to win a series. They won in Nagpur in India but lost in Kolkata. So if they are tough nuts why did they lose out in India 2 times after winning first test every time. Why did they fail to dismiss Pakistan 2 times in 2 tests in last series they played?

Last year they drew against England but 2 times out of 3 in first 3 tests they were in winning positions but failed out to take last English wicket to win 3-1. So who is tough and who deserves a # 1?

India or South Africa?

India have consistently won test matches in absence of first choice bowlers most part of the times. They’ve found out somebody in the bwoling department who stands out and delivers.

In batting they have made 400 runs in 7 consecutive games and passed 300 in one of every 25 Tests they have played in since 2008. They have not lost a series in last 2 and half years.

South Africa have not won a Test series in their own backyard in 2 years, their own conditions pacy and bouncy aiding their fast bowlers, they still failed to take 20 wickets every Test they played. Their batsmen plundered runs, but their bowlers lacked the firepower to take 20 wickets consistently.

On the other hand India — having a so called “world class bowling attack” have taken 20 wickets in alien conditions and in supporting conditions. They won in SL, when SA were blanked 0-3. They won in NZ. India saved test matches, won test matches, chased targets in 4th innings, won convincingly, made huge scores in first or second innings of a test giving enough time to their depleted bowlers to take 20 wickets.

If Sehwag does not do it, then Dravid does, if not Dravid then Laxman. Sachin always performs.

And whats this hype about the dislike for short balls? Who fails against them? Sachin? Dravid? Laxman? Sehwag?  If its just 2 batsmen — Gambhir and Raina who are prone to short balls, then why label the entire team as succeptible to the short stuff. Try short stuff against Sehwag. Once or twice you might succeed, but be ready to face the music then. Remember 319? Remember this year’s Kolkata test?

Does South Africa invite that awe which Australia had? They’ve never won in SL, India. They last won in India 10 years back and since then they have lost 1 and drew 2. They were blanked 0-3 in dead pitches of SL 4 years back.

Australia consistently whitewashed them this decade home and away until 2008 when they won 2-1 but lost the home series 1-2. They won in England but drew in home. They failed to shut out Pakistan who are at their weakest in terms of batting in their history.

It’d be better if Smith has a look at the side he’s got and then do a pot shot to India. India has experienced customers who are too good to fall in this verbal childish trap of so called mind games. Focus on the play in the middle dude and not on the verbal volleys.

India vs SA preview

The battle of champion Test sides begin on thursday and there are clear favorites for this battle. Being an Indian fan, I would always gun for India. The reason being this is the best chance for India to win a series in SA for first time ever in the cricketing history. Last time India came close to do so, but Lord Harris strangled India and later Kallis bhia took the initiative and won the Captown test by 6 wkts for his side to win the series 2-1.

This time around there are lot of changed personnel in Indian side.

• First ever tour to SA with no Kumble. He was part of tours in 1992, 1996 and 2006. He was injured in 2001.
• India for first time has a settled and the best opening pair in the current scnearion in the Test cricket.
• Sehwag is in imperious form in Tests and he seems to be all set to erase the painful memories of 2007 tour when he was dropped following a horrible Test tour. He had made 48 in the middle order and had seen BossaDK promoted to the top along side Wasim Jaffer.
• Sachin Tendulkar would be keen to make his 50th 100 in Tests and move further close to the magical 100 100s mark.
• VVS Laxman would look forward to conquer SA too, something which he has not done in previous 3  tours.
• Zaheer Khan would be the trump to win a test in SA. If he is not around, as cricinfo suggests he is having injury concerns, then India would have hard task to take 20 wickets to win the tests.
• There would be no Ganguly at 5 or 6 to conquer the demons and it would be either Raina or Pujara who would take the guard at 6.
• Most probably the start up attack would be Zaheer, Sreesanth, Ishant and Harbhajan.
• Sreesanth is back to the land where he had got himself reckoned into the mainstream Indian bowling after stellar performance in Jo’burg which India won.

On the other hand SA is also a very high quality side in their own home turf.

They have deep batting line up till 8 and the presence of Kallis allows them to play 5 bowlers. The form of Amla would be tested against the Indians, whom he has developed a special liking.

Dale Steyn, as usual would be the most dangerous threat and if Sehwag is able to contain the man, the remaining bowlers would not be so tough to handle given the fact that the 3rd seamer would be inexperienced in Tsotobe.

The start of the Test would be a good attention seeker from the Ashes hype which has just maddened the old cricket world as if the rest of the cricketing countries do not exist.

Possible teams:

India : 1. Sehwag 2. Gambhir 3. Dravid 4. Tendulkar 5. Laxman 6. Raina 7. Dhoni 8. Harbhajan 9. Zaheer 10. Sreesanth 11. Ishant

South Africa : 1. A Pieterson 2. Smith 3. Amla 4. Kallis 5. AB 6. Prince 7. Boucher 8. Morkel 9. Steyn 10. Harris 11. Tsotobe

India 2 SA 1.

Bangalore score a thumping win…

In the end the game between modern legspinner giant led teams proved to be more than an one sided affair. Kumble was ruthless in attacking his own countrymen whereas Warne could do nothing thanks to the depleted team he has got in his kitty.  Kallis, Pehelwan Kumar and Kumble himself cashed on poor Royals batsmen and ensured the Royals were all out for 92 with last 6 wkts just falling for 11 runs. Pravin Kumar took a hat trick, the first one of IPL-3.  Kallis continued his redemption in T20 and now he stands wearing the orange / purple cap whichever it is for highest run maker in the tourney. He is yet to get out in this tournament.

The best thing about Kumble’s captaincy was the barrage of short balls he had for the Royals batsmen including Yusuf Pathan and no wonder most of them fell for it.  The bowling changes were spot on and most of them worked. His plans worked more than what he could have expected them to. 

Royals are now likely to finish last in the table at the end of league games cos it seem that they don’t have the firepower anymore to match the magical and inspirational words from Warne. On the other hand Bangalore are gaining strength to strength, thanks to the astute captaincy of Kumble and awesome all-round display from Kallis.

At the end of almost first week, the Bangalore Challengers stand 2^nd in the table with Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians leading the way. Its an irony that the first 3 teams in the points table are the teams led by 3 of the Fab Five of Indian Test team and this teams contain 4 of those Fab 5 players.  No matter they are not playing in same team but seeing them all in action is what is the best thing about IPL.

Racism, Drugism

My first post from USA.

If you get caught in drugs dope scandal either :

1) Blame it on your mom pleading ignorance.

2) Blame it on the injury like Asif or now Steyn

3) Blame it to the disruptive element like Afridi….

Whatever it is, its always a touchy affair to draw a conclusion on players in contention on drugs ;P…Whats WADA doing now ? Quiet ? Whats with them they bark only on Indians ?

BTW did I say Indians suffer a huge deal of racism in DUBAI ?

Bangalore vs Deccan Live..

Gilchrist has won the toss and elected to bat. Tis Gilly and Gibbsie opening the batting. Laxman at 3. Its Praveen Kumar opening the bowling. Overhyped, overhyped. Steyn should be the one doing that. I hope PK doesnt open the batting too. Gilly on fire. 3 on 3. Rant on pehelwan from Meerut. I guess if it was a kushti akhada, Pehelwan Kumar would have dared Gilly to have a go at him..Boy he has a gun too.

Super shot from Gilly he is on fire. May be Australia would recall him in Dubai against new minnows Pakistan. And again. 2 in this over. 3 in first. KP surely needs to think something more. Mark Nicholas and Ravi Shastri, 2 of the best 3 on fire as well. Laxman vs Kumble would be a great contest to watch. Six, but say it six Markie. Not DLF maximum. Gibbs takes over. Orgasmic start. Kallis on. 4 skippers in the BRC team. 2 Indians and 2 Saffers. Kallis and Uthappa think that they have got Gibbs, but umpire unmoved. 0/33 in 3.3. Poor keeping by Uthappa. Boy PK was sweeped for a 6 by Gibbs. Shows how paceful Kumar is. And he is gone. 1st wkt.

Pehelwan ko gussa aa gaya. Sala Bewda Pehelwan ko jhadu marta hai. Le tu out. LOL..Lacchu pehelwan in. Praveen Pehelwan to Lacchu pehelwan. Now the PP would know what batting means and artistery means. Gibbs looked not out. Laxman plays one down to Kumble at gully. How ironic. In Tests Laxman used to watch Kumble from 2/3rd slip standing in gully. And today he is playing one to his ex-captain. Kallis back in attack. DD 1/49 in 5 overs.

GIlly on fire. 1 six and 1 four. Vintage Gilly. Kumble in. Laxman faces. Almost foxed. Vintage Indians on the opposite side. Jesse boy in and gets Laxman out 1st ball. Laxman was never a hitter of the ball in air. And now bikini man ROhit Sharma would be in. Mostly would have got lotsa kisses and hugs from cheerleaders. So an extra motivaation to score runs and hit sixes, pass on flying kisses to the babes around…He is a mumbaikar playing for hyderabad. Saying anything against him is saying it against Mumbai. Anil bowling well. Uthappa propping him up. Almost had Gilly. Vintage Kumble. Get in the bikini man too.

KP has a golden arm….2 wkts now. Just that he shud bat good too.KP now has 2wickets and a catch. Bikini man was out. 52 runs made. Consideration for t20 world cup done. Dhoni and coach happpy. Cheerleaders happy. Dude got stuff worth 2-3 days to live with. 185 to win for Royal Challengers. I dont think they can do it.

Whoa whatta start for Bengaluru? 3rd in row a duck. ROTFL. Jesse Ryder must be feeling huge to go back home. He had lot of success against India in Test and ODI series, but IPl has been nightmare. 2 games and 2 ducks.

Kallis is next skipper for BRC. He is gone too. Hopelessness continues. KP is in. I doubt Dravid on his own would be able to do anything. But he is doing. Oye Pappe. Kise ghoor riya he ? Crease pe jo khada he wo sabka baap hai. Haha. Harmeet singh giving a stare to Dravid after being taken for runs. Now RD hits back in style to the men who kicked him off the captaincy. He has been the sole run getter for BRC this year and last year. The so called valuable pickings and most payed cricketers from foreign land have turned dud. Its all around Rahul Dravid. Pieterson falling for 11, Kallis the next skipper for 15 n the young gun Uthappa for 12. Dravid is making runs at strike rate of 195 runs per 100 balls. Its insane to term Rahul guilty of low fortunes for BRC team. Mallaya owns answers. He owes a public apology to Rahul. And all those bloggers and assholes who have termed Rahul as a test player. Do they forget that he possess record of fastest 50 by an Indian in ODIs. And amongst famed Indian batsmen in iPL he owns one of the highest strike rates. Less than Veeru but higher than MS, Sharma lalla and others. And with him gone, the hopes of a victory are gone.

Praveen Kumar is run out after making no efforts to reach to the crease. And he did have to say a lot to Kohli. Pehelwan ko fir gussa aaya. Thank God utha ke patak nahi diya. Kohli coming of age here, he is keeping BRC alive. Future prospects look bright for Kohli. Way better than Rohit Sharma. No slogs, no slangs, pure cricketing shots. Jeeyo Kohli bhiya Jeeyo.

CSK Vs BRC

Chennai are batting against Royal Challengers. Parthiv Patel and Hayden are the openers. For a change Anil is the leading wicket taker and Rahul is leading run scorer. Formats dont matter, greatness always excels. I think MS will need to come up the order may be at 3 or 4. # 5 is too down the order for him to get the freedom to play hiss shots. Steyn will need to get the wickets. And seeing Hayden he would be reminded of Aussies, so he would get that motivation. He has troubled Aussies entire summer.

With Albie Morkel back in the team, Amy would be very happy to see him :).

And Laxman Shivramkrishnan is back in the commentary box to torture all of us. Why in the world we need to listen him and Arun Lal. Praveen Kumar is a let down. He doesnt relish non swinging conditions. I am sure Rahul Dravid would hate Port Elizabeth. In 2007 New year test India had a first innings lead and they squandered the chance to win the series by treating Paul Harris as Shane Warne, slowed down the proceedings and ultimately lost the test and the series.

Kallis is being leaking runs. 3 in over so far. 20 runs off the over.

CSK cruising along. 104 in 10th over. Hayden on fire. Australia are missing him. Tactical time out to follow something which has been criticised by Sachin Tendulkar too. Ranjit Fernando is back too.

So the tactical break worked for bowling team once again. 2 quick wickets. Hayden and Patel gone. Thanks to dumbass Raina, well set hayden was run out. Run flow seems to have stopped for time being. KP bowlin gdecently. Damn Steyn drops Raina…Dhoni gone and that gives chance for showdown of KP vs Freddie. Raina is useless. CSK is not getting to that stage as it was planning to be at start. 180 is the expected score…

Expectedly BRC are chasing 180 and who opened ? Praveen Kumar. That is INSANE. He has opened. Whose idea was that ? He made a total ass of himself. Kallis is the new man and he is off the mark with a 4. Super batting by Kallis…And Fernando is sucking. Somebody make him quiet.

Lack of good bowling and 2nd innings failure costing Aussies dear!!

Diagnosing the Australia South Africa 2 tests give a picture that SA have dominated the poor Aussies in both the tests. However the closer look doesn’t reveal the same impression. First Test @ Perth, Aussies had a lead of close to 100. Target of 414 is usually a winning target or at the max a safe one. Australian batting collapsed in 2^nd innings, however Brad Haddin continued his form to score 90 to take lead past 400. Reason for loss : 2^nd innings failure and lack of depth in the bowling.

In MCG, the Aussies had SA on matt at the end of day 2 with score being 7/198. Steyn, Harris and Morkel aren’t very good tail enders to bat well. Yet Duminy took along this guys to score 459 runs in the end and gain a slender margin of 66 runs. Not big lead I presume. But again the Aussies collapsed in 2^nd innings. 181 is a decent score to chase. Australians had that attack in the past to defend the target. But again the lack of bowling depth did them in.

Two reasons come to the picture :

· Very ordinary 2^nd innings batting

· Very ordinary bowling attack

Australians haven’t been able to take 20 wickets this entire season barring Kiwis. And that has gone back to hurt them. They have lost 4 of those 6 Tests badly. 320 runs, 174 runs in India, 6 wkts and 9 wkts in Australia to South Africa aint miniscule defeats. More to do with the quality of pacers, injuries and the quality of spinners. Cameron White, Krejza and Hauritz have been the spinners who combined fall short of Warne . Clark(e) and Lee along with Symonds are injured. Johnson is fiercely one dimensional, much different than when he broke on the international scenario in 2006. Siddle, Boulinger are rookies. Bracken doesn’t find a favor in Tests. Gillespie is gone.

Add the form of the Aussie batters to the woes. Hayden is long been persisted with and unless he doesn’t score a big 100 in SCG, he should be gone next. Hussey has had a torrid year. Ponting managed 200 in MCG, but he is not in the runs as he always has been in 2000s. Clark has been slow and sluggish. Katich doesn’t instill fear in opposition like Langer did. Jacques should come back from the injury break. Not so long ago in West Indies, Aussies were spoilt for choice between Katich and Jacques for the opener’s slot.

South Africans have won all for one man – Dale Steyn in bowling and Graeme Smith in batting. Besides that, Kallis, Amla – the terrorist (Dean Jones quote), AB and McKenzie haven’t actually fired. Duminy is a revelation, but soon he would be fixed.

I would still bet Aussies to come back hard , win the Sydney test with fair and spirited game of cricket and then thump SAfs in their own backyard in Feb – Mar 09.