CricDigs Blogs

It’s Sydney Cricket ground again, same venue where there was this big Drama that took place the last time India played Australia. In the end the Australians (with tremendous help from Steve Buckner and some unsportsmanlike behavior from the Aussie Captain) managed to beat India.

Now Pakistan have them in situation from where the Pakistanis can surely dictate the terms and delivery a series leveling blow. The question is whether they will keep the control they have or lose the plot??

We will find out today…The first session belonged to the Aussies but with a very potent bowling attack from Pakistan one would never know…

If they beat Sri Lanka in the Third Test that has started in Mumbai then India will become the #1 Test side in the World. It has never achieved that position before. It would be terrific if they accomplish that after securing their 100th Test win in the last Test at Kanpur…

Will Team India do this? and Is it truly the #1 Test side in the World? As there is no set rotation or tournament schedule that manages Test Cricket, it is hard to objectively comment on whether any side is the #1 or not, but one thing is for sure, over the past few years Team India has shown ability to win “on the road” and has demonstrated that a few times. It has won Series in England, West Indies, New Zealand and has fought very hard against Australia in Australia. It has also consistently won at Home. It probably has the best batting line-up and has a good variety in bowling attack..

So I really wish that India wins this test and claims the top spot!!

It’s been a roller-coaster kind of a Test Match so far. On the opening day/session it looked like India would get bundled out for a small total, but ended the day very strongly, only be bowled out relatively cheaply during the first hour on Day 2. Sri Lankans have posted an enormous total so far and would surely add a lot more to it, from where they almost can not lose this test.

Now the question is would India be able to save this test match? They surely have the batting line up that can play for days but it has also collapsed unceremoniously a few times. As seen many times in the past, Indian team somehow starts almost every test series badly and then tries to come back.

Would that trend repeat itself in Ahmadabad between today and tomorrow?

Why do we have to go through this pain again and again?? Why can’t Sachin either win all the matches from soup to nuts or somehow give strength to fans like me to handle the disappointment??

We could see it coming…When Sachin kept on batting trying to reach that huge target, you could almost be sure that it is going to end the same way it has ended so many times. Sachin would get out just before the victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat and then it would be all over..It would only be the details that would change..It could be run-outs, bad shots, great fielding, panic and so on…

This is exactly why many of Sachin’s innings get written off as playing-for-himself and not achieving the ultimate target of victory. What is most amazing is that despite all these disappointments, he continues to march on and keep making thousands of runs for himself and his country..

Now the million dollar question…Would Sachin end his astronomical career without having the most coveted trophy in Cricket, The World Cup? Looking at history, it scares me even to think about what will happen in 2011…

Yep, Indian selectors should get rid of all the Kohlis and Karthiks of the world and bring back good old Dravid. He was brought back for the Sri Lankan Series and Champions Trophy and despite playing reasonably well was dropped for the home series…Not fair, I say…

Dravid is probably not a classic ODI player but may be he is the type of batsman you want to come in between (Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir) and Yuvraj. He also brings in all the experience and is definitely an asset while chasing smallish targets, when he can control the game nicely. He may not be as explosive or aggressive as players like Kohli but he would be much more predictable and consistent…

What do you all think?

They have done it some may times in the past for India and when they are on-song, no target seem unachievable. After India were 50-odd for 3 while chasing a smallish target of 229, Dhoni and Yuvraj came together again and had a big 143 run partnership that all but finished the match for India…

They both have totally different styles, one is a sheer talent and the other sheer determination and cleverness. The one thing common between the two is they can take any bowling attack apart and can change any match in a course of couple of overs.

This was an important match in the series after a 1-1 situation and this very powerful pair made sure India wins it comfortably..

This morning while driving to work, I was lazily scanning through the FM channels and finally got back to the one I end up listening to most of the time even though I don’t like that particular program. It consists of the RJ putting a question/recent news item/fact and asking the listeners to send their opinion on it. Usually the question is about some stupid Bollywood gossip or some irritating piece of sensational new item … hence my aversion to the program. But today’s question was … “India will not be playing any Test Cricket this year… Is this the end of Test Cricket?”

It got my attention. Surely, it can’t be true! The Test Series win in New Zealand was still fresh in my mind. But now that I think of it… it sure was quite some time back. Reaching office, I checked to confirm that the last time we played a test match was in March this year. After that there was the T20 World Cup and the ODI series in West Indies. Of course, if you are an Indian, the IPL that happened in April-May would have attracted your attention as well. So if the claims of the RJ are true, India will not be playing another Test Series until at least March 2010. I further checked the ICC Future Tours program and it showed that India are scheduled to play a Test series against SL at home in Nov-Dec 2009 and another one against SA in Feb-Mar 2010. This gave me some relief, but, can the Futures Program be trusted?

Even if the RJ’s claims were not entirely correct, the fact did come as a surprise to me. So has Test Cricket finally started dying? If a cricket crazy country like India, which produces the most amount of money in World Cricket, does not play even one test match for almost a year, then it definitely is a cause for concern. Agreed that the recently completed Ashes Test series generated a lot of interest, but if you look at the other test series that were being played around the same time (SL Vs. Pak, Zim Vs. Ban, SL Vs. NZ), none of them generated any significant interest. And even the Ashes were hyped so much only because for a change, England were the favourites and finally won the series against the mighty Aussies.

Whether the Aussie reign has come to an end is a topic of discussion for another day. A bigger and more scary question is the future of test cricket. As an ardent fan of the format, I am really concerned about the beginning of the end. My fear increases even more when I meet today’s youngsters (a couple of my younger cousins actually) who were hooked on to the T20 World Cup but could not remember anything nor care less about India’s spectacular win in the Perth Test or even the series win against NZ.

One of the respondents to the radio show summarized my fear aptly - “Who has the time these days to watch one game for 5 days? As for me, I wouldn’t spend even one full day for one game”. The lad did not sound more than 20!

To rub salt into the wound, that respondent won the prize for the best response for the question!

Watch Sri Lanka vs New Zealand Live Streaming Score, 2nd Test, Colombo (SSC). New Zealand are slated to play two test matches and two Twenty20 Internationals against Sri Lanka.

http://www.clbuzz.com/sri-lanka-vs-new-zealand-2nd-test-live-cricket-score-2009/

Here is a player who has it all….So it seems…Where Most Players long to get a shot at playing for the World Cup, He has won a couple as a Captain. He has been the # 1 Batsman in the both forms of the game for a number of years and have been threatening to post the most centuries and an extremely healthy average in Tests….His Team had held on the the #1 spot in ODIs and Tests for a number of years….And it looked as if no team can dislodge them…And Suddenly….

Instead of finishing his career on all of these High Notes, He is hoping that He can continue to play Tests Cricket for 4 more years so he can do what he has been unable to do in his last 2 campaigns (in 2005 & 2009,) that is to win the Ashes in England..His team is at #4 in Tests and #3 ODIs…He is way down in the Players ranking as well…

It is looking all dark and gloomy for this once all successful, all powerful Aussie Captain…

Where does he go from here? We will find out soon. Stay tuned.

If it wasn’t upto a heroic batting effort by Graeme Swann and an in-your-face kind of a half-century from Stuart Broad, England would have packed-up on the morning of the 3rd day itself. However, as it turned out, England added more than 150+ runs in the first session, scoring at a run-rate of nearly 6 runs per over, until the lunch break broke their momentum. Swann is still playing, while Broad got out after playing some swashbucling shots. What is heartening to see is English lower order trying to ensure that Australia don’t walk away with the victory and all the positives from this match. One thing is certain, England will lose this test match but if the players are crushed by Australia from a mental perspective then there is no chance of them competing strongly in the last and the decisive, Fifth Test Match. The one thing England can still do is bat and frustrate Australia a bit longer. This way the lower-order batsmen would have gained some confidence of batting and you never know, this may prove to be handy as both teams head for the final game.