CricDigs Blogs

You can say that Dhoni is arguably the biggest “thing” happened to Indian Cricket after Sachin Tendulkar. Though they represent totally different styles (including hair) of personalities, they both have moved the Indian fans big time…

Dhoni came with a bang with his skyrocketing shots and huge sixes, and over the past year+ has established himself as a successful captain for India in all forms of Cricket (including T20, ODIs and a Test win against SA). He also got a million dollar contract for himself while leading the Chennai Super Kings in IPL.

Now during his journey has he changed as a player/person? He is still as confident as he used to, still enjoys while playing the game, still shows ability to take decisions and seem to handle to stress pretty well.

What has changed then? One thing that I noticed while watching his interview after India’s Test win against SA in Kanpur was the fact that he took credit for all the changes he made and went on to say that his “eight changes provided eight wickets”. So what is the big deal about this comment you will say. Well in previous similar situations (in CB series in Australia e.g.) he would answer this type of question by saying that it is the players who perform when put in a situation by a captain. So the credit goes to the players. Small change this might be, but many a times it is this type of small change in attitude that can bring on BIG changes in the future. Interesting to see how the Dhoni era progresses…..

This tri-series begun with a bang. Though India managed a mere 194 in 45 overs, with the constant rain interrupts and ofcourse the Indian bowler’s firesome spell that really got Australlia staggering with 3 wickets down. It could’ve been anyone’s game. Having said that, the match eventually got abandoned and Australlia will have to consider themselves unlucky to have not just lost 4 points but to have shared 2 points with India. These 2 points might turn out to be very crucial during the finishing stages of this series.

The second match against Srilanka looked to be a very promising one. The weather was exceptionally good during India’s first innings. Tendulkar and Sehwag played well, Srilankan’s did comeback really well to pigback 4 wickets in quick succession. Then it was time to sit back and enjoy the fantastic batting display by this young lad Gautham Gambhir and it was really nice to see the Captain coming to the fore 267 was a very competent total, but unfortunately weather godhad interrupted again and Srilankan’s never were given an opportunity to bat on The points were shared by both the teams. If the rain had stayed away, and Srilanka did chase on this target, i believe it would have been a nice contest. Anyways India should consider themselves unlucky to have lost on 4 points now . Srilankan’s havent had much of a batting practise in Australlia, and this is simply the only reason which gives India the edge once they had put on 267 on the board

Lets hope the rest of the matches are played, and we getta see a fair contest

Cricket happens to be one of the most exciting sport atleast in India. The passion for cricket in India is immaculate. This goes to show the credibilitiy fo the game. T20 form of cricket seems to be the latest mantra and it threatens to challenge the 50-50 form of game. The first time i remember following the T20 was during the recently concluded WorldCup which India won. Oflate a lots of T20 ICL matches are going on.

Well its all nice to see so many matches happening day in and day out. But having said that, dont you guys feel its a bit of too much dozage now ? Im slowly beginning to lose interest and i can easily sense that. Well this is bcos of the too much dozage of T20 cricket these days. And what makes it worse is, the Bollywood stars performing on the stage after each innings. To me, that looks as cheap as it gets. This is a sport and not a midnight party wherein people come to see glamorous queens shaking their hips all round. Well this should never be encouraged. I can foresee a future which is taking cricket nowhere. As a cricket fan,im now concerned of the future of the game. IPL is about to begin, and i have no doubts in my mind that the Bollywood intervention iz just gonna be more, and its really not gonna be the Cricket we wish to see. I am not sure if all you guys align with me on this regard, but to me this is not the way to go

Its time the ICC steps in and do their bit to have a check on all thats been going on and make sure Cricket lives. If this continues, sooner than later people out here would slowly and surely lose interest in the game. Lets also not forget, with so much money in the reckoning, the players would no longer be destined to always play for their country. Even a player is dropped from the squad, he ll feel happy cos’ better fun and better money awaits him in IPL n ICL respectively..What say guys ?

Traditionally it has been said that the Indian Cricket Team is a poor traveler. Is that true anymore? In the last 5 years alone, Indians have drawn (and almost won) a Test series in Australia (which no other team has done in recent past), pushed South Africa in their home to eventually lose the series 2-1, Won a Test and ODI Series in Pakistan, Won a Test Series in the Caribbeans, Won a Test Series in England. Isn’t that an impressive record?

At home on the other hand, India only managed to draw a Test series against a lowly English team, drew a Test series against Pakistan and lost the ODI one. Also, one of the stats that was mentioned after India’s win yesterday after chasing 203 runs was that this was only the second time India has successfully chase a total in excess of 200 at home. I was personally very surprised.

If we look at India’s performance at World Cups, the only time they have either reached the final or won it was when they were playing away from home. Even the T20 WC was won while playing away. The best WC performance in the sub-continent has been a semi-final loss to Sri Lanka.

So, I would venture to say that the Indian team in fact is a very good traveler as well as very good host (for the visiting team).

What do you all think?

Yeah it indeed was a mind boggling achievement for the Indian cricket team. They played better cricket, and deserved to beat the Aussies. The Australlian side is definitely staring down the barrels and are definitely missing McGrath & Warne. Now with Gilchrist out of the team, the prospects looks very bleak. But we all know what the Australlians are capable of, and they will come up with something special as they always do.

Lets not forget, the Australlians are not losing this series for the first time. Last year they lost to England 2-0. Which clearly goes to show the Australlians are no more the invincible champions they used to be. So India beating Australlia is fine, but i guess what’s been done after the victory is a lil too much than what it should ideally be.

I heard Harbhajan saying it was HIM vs The Entire Australlian Team. Well if one sits down and works out what harbhajan managed to do for the whole series, one would realise he’s been at his disappointing worst. He never was a problem to the Australlian batsman. The only exception was the first finals. If i remember right, he just managed 8 wickes out of the 10 matches he’s played. And in the test matches not one 5 wicket haul against his name. I doubt if he’s just trying to act too smart. No wonder why Hayden called him an obnoxious weed !!

Lets not forget its just a tri series that India has won, and it isnt the world cup. Let us also not forget the England team which can hardly win matches won last year. This goes to show, Australlians have slumped in form and thats the main reason why they lost. Its better for the Indian team to stop making a big scene of this, and carry on the good work and focus more on the matches to come

This series has turned down tables big time for India. Indian cricket team has for long carried on with player’s reputation. At one stage there looked noway an youngster could imagine anything more than supplying drinks on the field. Its fantastic to see the way the Indian Cricketing Board has turned now. Don’t really know what happened to them, whatever be it, things have begun to happen for India. Persisting with youngsters is always a risk, the board was brave enough to take the risk, and its paid off really big time. This Indian team is blend with an energetic lot, who would do anything to make their team to win.

Dropping Ganguly and Dravid really seemed ridiculously insane at the start of the ODI series. But now one realises, what such risky decisions can turn out to be. India has managed to win a series down under after almost two decades. The simple reason is the attacking cricket by the Indian players and definitely the Australlian slump in form

The finds for India this series will clearly have to be Ishanth Sharma for his ability to threaten batsmen’s with fiery spells, Dhoni as a captain, Gautam Ghambir to steady the ship, Elegant Rohit Sharma, In form Pathan. Yuvaraj did show glimpses of form in the latter part of the series, but was noway near his best. Praveen Kumar to me was really impressive. Its gonna be a real big challenge to him to keep up his form. Its obvious that the other teams by now shud’ve worked him out, and the challenge upfront is to keep doing what he did in Australlia.

This Indian team to me looks really good now. Can challenge any team i believe. The flops of this series for India are Sehwag, Yuvaraj, SreeShanth, Harbhajan Singh(only exception was the first finals). It will be great if Harbhajan Singh shuts his mouth and deeds, and make the ball do the talking. Currently for him the ball is not talking, and he’s bowling at his worst. Its time he shuts his mouth, and do something credible with the ball

There’s lots been said about Sachin, that he’s not the player he used to be. And he did no good to his reputation by failing miserably in all matches till the final. The match against Srilanka was all that set it up for Sachin. He carried on his form to the finals. Chasing 240 in a finals is always difficult. Chasing against the in form Aussie bowling attack makes it more difficult. But the way the master went about in the chase was a treat to watch. Every now and then i did think he might throw it away as he most often than not does. Cos’ there were just two match winning one day knocks that people remember of Sachin. The knocks in Sharjah and that was way back. But it was tremendous to see the way he played with composure and led his team to victory in the first finals. I could sense the happiness in the great man’s mind. He should’ve been mighty pleased on playing such a crucial knock. Well this to me was one of his best ever hundred’s.

Sachin topscored in the second Finals. Missed century by a whisker, and yet was gud enuf to post a big total for his team. Chasing 250+ is always gonna be tough, and the Australlians would never give it up without a fight. But it was tremendous to see the way the boys fought hard, and pulled the match for India. The credit goes to the team, and more importantly to Sachin who came to the core when it mattered the most. The two innings he played in both the finals will forever remain in the memories of his fans. Sachin really well played, and we wish you good luck to carry on as long as you could and continue to serve the Indian cricket team

Words are not enough to describe this man, but people like me still keep writing In addition to all the other accolades, Sachin also must be the player who has been written off most number of times by his critics (who are those people ) and has proven them wrong every single time.

Despite playing for all these many years (decades?) he still comes out to bat and field with the same level of enthuse as any new comer and keep amazing all the cricketing fan around the world. It was really awesome listening to all the Channel 9 commentators describing his elegance and class and seeing all the standing ovations Sachin got when he walked out to bat (even before scoring a single run). So much admiration and support. It is quite unbelievable and beyond.

Despite all these changes made to the Indian ODI team with those young players and energy, no one can even think of replacing him. It is not because he has some sort of pull or uses his clout, but because he fits in that scheme as well. As he had said after the WC loss and at times when there was a lot of talk about getting all the young players, that he would like the selection to be objective and based on form and performance only. If you follow that logic then he is still India’s best batsman by a long margin. VVS could be considered a close rival in that regards for Tests, but VVS generally performs that good only against Australia in Australia (go figure that).

So though I can keep writing pages and pages about why I worship Sachin ( I really do), I will stop for now with a quick note that Sachin just completed 16000 runs in ODIs with an average of 44+ and strike rate of 85+, with 41 Centuries and double the number of 50s. These numbers are totally unreal for any player to put together……

If Cricket Is My Religion Then Sachin Is My Ultimate God!!

I really feel that something about Yuvraj has changed ever since he has hit those 6 sixes in an over in the T20 WC. It almost seems to be that the T20 success followed by the success against Pakistan (at home) has gone to his head. I could be wrong here but my thoughts are genuine.

There is not doubt that Yuvraj is extremely talented and powerful cricketer, but I am not sure if I would call him an intelligent one. As the time goes by the bowlers would figure out how to bowl to him and get him out cheaply. e.g. exploiting his HUGE back-lift and at times uncontrollable aggression. If on-song he can be an absolute match winner and can change the course of any match single handedly, but figuratively speaking he has been more off-chord recently than on-song. This argument of mine might sound odd following his aggressive knock against SL that helped India win the match. But quite honestly, I think India won the match mostly because of Dhoni than anyone else. If Sangakara was not adjudged Man Of The Match (which he thoroughly deserved) Dhoni would have been my choice.

Now coming back to Yuvraj, I read somewhere that when asked about his position in the team, he replied by saying that his position in the team was never in question. Now if that statement came from the captain then it could be considered as “showing confidence/faith” in a player, but coming from the player himself seems a bit over-confident (but then I am a little old-fashioned) and pompous. I have no doubt that if India had lost the match and Yuvraj would have been out without playing according to the situation (like he did against Australia) he might not have gone to the press making such statements.

One other peculiar thing I have noticed about UV in the recent ODI series is his fielding position. From what I remember, Yuvraj has always fielded at Point (unless there is no one at Point), but these days I see him fielding either at Mid-Off, Mid-On or in the deep. Why? Is he carrying an injury or losing his confidence in fielding in such a crucial position?

I can totally understand and expect that there is not much respect for Greg Chappell within Indian Cricket fans, but the way he summarized Yuvraj makes a lot of sense to me. Greg C had categorized Yuvraj as someone who had too much talent for his own good. Interesting way to put it.

Yuvraj in the icon player for Mohali’s IPL franchise and would make a ton of money and fame in the recent future, but I am not sure what his long term future would be holding for him.

Am I totally off on this one?

The main question is whether Yuvraj would play and whether India will stick with their 4 main bolwers theme. If you are a gambler of sorts or a firm believer in Law Of Averages then you will play Yuvraj, hoping that he will come out of his slump in this very important match. Sehwag is not exactly performing well in ODIs and I would like to see a change there. Send Pathan to open with Sachin and add another bowler. Most likely that will not happen though.

Hmm…

Sehwag (Pathan), Sachin, Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Uthappa, Pathan (Pankaj Singh), Bhajji, SreeSanth, Ishant Sharma.

So 8 players are certain to play

Sachin, Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Dhoni, Ishant, Sreesanth, Bhajji, Pathan.

The three uncertain ones are Sehwag, Uthappa & Yuvraj.

Would Raina get a look in?

A lot of questions remain regarding the composition of this team. What do you all think?