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Watch India vs West Indies Test Series Live Streaming on Internet

India is touring the Caribbean islands, for their Test match tour against the West Indies team. The India team is under-strength with Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir and Zaheer Khan missing the tour. This will set up an exciting contest with the West Indies team which is a pale shadow of their old legends.

If you are keen to catch matches online, then tune in to Youtube.com/tensports for a live streaming of the three test matches.

Test Series Schedule (West Indies v India 2011)

1st Test: West Indies v India at Kingston (June 20-24, 2011)
2nd Test: West Indies v India at Bridgetown (Jun 28 – July 2, 2011)
3rd Test: West Indies v India at Roseau (July 6 – 10, 2011)

It will also feature Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina as Test regulars, while it will be the first time MS Dhoni captains India after the famous World Cup victory.

So who do your think will win the series? Drop in your comments.

Mumbai Indians dent Royal Challengers Bangalore net runrate

I grew up in Mumbai and have stayed for most part of my life in Mumbai, so saying my favorite IPL team is Mumbai Indians is a given. But I like Royal Challengers Bangalore as as team which has a great balance. It has my favourite fast bowler Dale Steyn and also one of the world best all time great all-rounder going by the name Jacques Kallis. Not to forget greats like Kumble and Dravid are also part of RCB.

Today was surely not a auspicious day in Bengaluru (Bangalore) with a crude bomb going off minutes before the game in a generator room. The match was delayed by an hour but did take place.

Mumbai Indians posted a considerably large score of 191/4 and restricted RCB to 134/9 and winning the match by 57 runs.

RCB were favorites to get into Semi finals as they had a very high net-runrate. This loss to Mumbai Indians was disastrous and leaves them with a net Runrate of +0.219. It was at a comfortable +0.467.

The Semi Final battle has really warmed up and I think RCB might just still make it and we might have a Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore final. What do you think? Do drop in your comments.

IPL in Multiplex & on HD at home! Wow!

With a thumping response to it’s first two editions of the tournament, IPL’s 3rd edition is doing equally great or may be even better! TRP ratings for this years IPL remains on top as expected!

IPL has already created a scary buzz amongst the Motion Picture business. People are hard to find in theatres to watch new movie releases.

After finding a solution to watch IPL matches on desktop and laptop through Youtube, someone now tries to find a solution for the movie theatre owners.

IPL tied up with UFO movies to broadcast live matches in multiplexes! I am sure, watching IPL live matches on a huge screen with no commercial breaks does sound to be fun! But will this idea get sold as expected? I have my doubts, except for semifinals & the final match!

Another good news for the HD TV owners with SUN DTH installed is that they can watch IPL matches in HD format. SUN DTH is offering HD subscription through which they are broadcasting IPL matches in HD format in association with the official broadcaster Sony’s Set Max! These matches also are without the commercial breaks!

Discovery Channel is also available in HD (16×9, 1080p) on SUN DTH. This looks like a beginning of a new High Definition television viewing era in Indian television history. There are constant technical trials going on for High Definition broadcast in India. I will be posting details in another post on DW very soon!

But for now let’s enjoy IPL in much bigger, clearer & un-cut picture! 🙂

Rajasthan Royals should play (idea) “oongli” cricket!

After watching pathetic fielding (dropped catches, missed run-out chances and countless misfields) and poor running between the wicket, by Rajasthan Royals player, I strongly believe that Rajasthan Royals players have some serious issue with their bones and muscles.

If by any chance, they can move atleast their finger (“oongli”) smartly, they should play “oongli” cricket! 😀

What do you think???

Link: Idea Oongali Cricket

(Disclaimer: Do not think that I am fan of Rajasthan Royals. I am fan of kolkata knight riders and that too for only DADA aka Saurav Ganguly!)

Who will make it to IPL semi-finals?

IPL has reached the stage where the points table is taking shape and the men from the boys are being separated quite drastically. Mumbai Indians have left their last two year’s dismal performances far behind and have won all but one of their seven matches. Mumbai Indians do look a certainly to get into the semi-finals unless ofcourse they ended up losing every game from now on.

Bangalore Royal Challengers and Delhi Daredevils are the other three teams I feel will make it to the Semi-finals. Both teams have decent balance and even though they do not have as good a record as Mumbai Indians but Delhi Daredevils with 12 points and Bangalore Royal Challengers with 10 points are pretty much a certainty. DD and BRC might not make it if one of their teams does hit a roadblock and just about loses every game which is a little difficult to imagine.

That leaves the 4th place up for grabs. We can count Kings XI Punjab because they have had a disastrous IPL with only 4 points until now.

So now it leaves Chennai Super Kings (8 points), Kolkata Knight Riders (8 points), Rajasthan Royals (8 points) and Deccan Chargers (6 points) as teams which can take the 4th place. I personally back CSK as they are already at 8 points and look strong with the resurgent form of Murali Vijay scoring and surprising many who thought he was only good for Test cricket.

So who do you think will make it to IPL semi finals? Do drop in your comments and let me know.

IPL comes out with a comic book version of IPL 2009 Final

The Indian Premier League has done something again that is quite unique. They ave produced a online comic book which covers the 2009 Final between Bangalore Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers. This is quite interesting and is one of the many unique features of this year’s IPL. Some of it has been getting active on social networks to reaching out with the world with You Tube.

You can view the comic page by page at IPL website. The illustrations are done wonderfully and does capture a lot of the drama and interest that goes on behind a final match. The illustrations are done by Campfire.

I liked the look of the comic and a lot of good detailing had gone into it when it came to the visuals but I felt the drama behind the match and the individuals who make it happen was not so prevalent.

Do look up the comic and go through it. Drop in your comments with your views.

Indian cricket team on a high as administrators reach new lows

cricket_highs_lows First let me start by wishing all our readers a Happy New Year! 2009 is the year when CricTalks was born and we plan to make it grow to become a significantly popular cricket blog. For that we need to write a lot of posts and updates along with implementing ideas. I promise this year you will see a marked increase in frequency in posts. More of that later in some other post. Now I want to review how was 2009 for Indian cricket.

This was a interesting year considering the Indian team reached heights that it had never reached before but unfortunately the game’s administrators also reached lows they had not reached before. Lets start with the lows first so that I can end this post on the highs. 😉

Lows…

The administrators have consistently goofed up on scheduling and bad planning. They have done it with such an alarming rate that it is more or less expected. Here are some lows that stand out.

Only two test matches were scheduled for 2010. That too against Bangladesh. They are now hastily discussing a Test series with South Africa for later in the year. This is happening only because India tops the ICC Test Rankings. If India does not play Test matches chances are that they won’t be able to maintain the ranking.
Lack of interests in Test cricket has been shown but turning out bland and placid pitches where teams are regularly scoring 600+ scores with numerous draws.
Another nail in the coffin was the ODI in Delhi which was canceled because of a unfit pitch. Later on interesting facts have come out that associations are spending more money on meetings and discussions rather than purchasing cricket kits. All said an done the administrators have all shifted blamed from one person to another and some have even blamed Sri Lanka as being reluctant. Strangely none of these men who run the sport has still taken responsibility for the fiasco.

Highs

Okay enough of the lows, lets talk about the highs in Indian cricket. Last year ended with India winning home test series against the Australians and England. This year they started with a visit to New Zealand.

India won a test series in New Zealand after 41 long years. India was playing as favourites but often they have not been very good travelers. India won the series 1-0.
Then came the IPL and the T20 world cup disaster. India toured West Indies after that and won the ODI series there. They followed it up by wining Compaq Cup. They did a few bumps with losses in Champions trophy and losing the ODI series against Australia.
India finally came into their own against Sri Lanka. They beat them 2-0 in the Test series. They also beat Sri Lanka in the ODI series 3-1. India has thus gained a Test ranking of #1 which is the highest ever it has gone.

Feel free to tell me what do you think about Indian cricket administration and the team through your super comments. 😉

Fascinating Test cricket battles in the week ahead

cricket_ball_test

The week that lies ahead will see some fascinating Test cricket action. It is quite a unique time as all Test playing nations except Bangladesh are involved in a test series. England is touring South Africa, West Indies are touring Austrialia, Pakistan are playing in New Zealand and closer home Sri Lanka will play the final Test of the three match series tomorrow against India.

India play Srilanka at the historic Brabourne…

India takes of Sri Lanka tomorrow at the Brabourne Stadium. It is a stadium that has been known to be the bastion of culture and legacy when it comes to cricket in India. The association which runs the stadium (CCI) had a falling out with the Mumbai Cricket Association back in the early 70s. This led MCA to construct a new stadium called the Wankhede. The two associations have gotten closer now a days and with the Wankhede stadium undergoing a major re-building exercise Brabourne gets its chance to host one more Test match after 36 long years. Last time Test cricket was played at the Brabourne, Sachin Tendulkar was not even born!

India will be keen to win this Test match as it will haul it upwards to being the No 1 ranked Test team in the ICC rankings. This will be quite an achievement for the Indian team who are not particularly hailed for their ability in Test cricket.

New Zealand host Pakistan…

Not sure if New Zealand will have their confidence high after last weeks win over Pakistan. The Pakistan team came very close to an unlikely win over the Kiwis. But I still feel Pakistan have some inherent technically challenged opening batsmen along with some sparkling yet not reliable batting lineup. They have a great bowling line up too but I still feel it would not be able to match up to New Zealand’s usual dose of resoluteness and professionalism. The Test match between New Zealand and Pakistan begins on 3rd December 2009. If you are in India you should be able to catch the action on Ten Sports in early morning around 430 am.

Australia host West Indies in Adelaide…

In the first Test Match Australia declared their innings at 480/8 and bowled out West Indies twice in less than 2 days. The match was over on the 3rd day itself and was one sided more of less from the first day’s first session. This sort of a defeat does not speak very highly of West Indies’ chances in the second Test at Adelaide. This match starts on Friday morning at 5.30 in the morning. Indian viewers should be able to catch the game on Star Cricket.

India destroys Sri Lanka in Kanpur Test

Last time a Test match was played at Green Park in Kanpur, India won the test against South Africa but because the match was over in 3 days the Kanpur pitch came up for a lot of flak. This match which was being played against Sri Lanka got over in 4 days but no one can really complained about a bad pitch. Not after India amassed a massive 642 runs with their top 6 batsmen scoring 3 centuries and 2 fifties amongst them. The surprise was not really the Indian batting coming good but the changes made to the bowling. These changes did go along way to get India its 100th test victory.

Changes that work for India…

India dropped Amit Mishra and Ishant Sharma and included controversy’s favourite child S. Sreesanth along with Pragyan Ojha. Ojha picked up 4 wickets in the whole match which was decent and S.Sreesanth ripped across the Sri Lankan batting line up in the first innings to pick up a five wicket haul. It was a welcome sight to see an Indian fast bowler take five wickets in India condition which is a rarity.

Sri Lanka had one too many spinners…

Kanpur might have had a spinning wicket but Srilanka lost the plot with picking 3 spinners and only one seamer. Two spinners are more than enough. You only pick three spinners at the cost of a seamer if the pitch has been recently ploughed by a tractor. India won the toss and with no real seam attack to trouble the openers it was not a surprise that India amassed 642.

Brabourne awaits Test Match cricket…

brabourne_1 The Brabourne Stadium will be hosting the final Test match in the series and Srilanka will be looking to win in India a test match for the first time ever and level the series. The Brabourne will be hosting a Test match after 36 years. The last match played there was India v England and it ended in a draw.

So who do you think will take win in Brabourne? Let me know through your comments.

Image Credits: Cricinfo

Who is killing Test cricket? T20 or the curators

With the rise of IPL and T20 cricket in general a lot of voices have showed concern that Test cricket might die out because the entertainment of T20 simply cannot be replicated by Test cricket. Some people are taking the middle path that Test cricket, ODIs and T20 all have their place. A lot of people watching cricket are younger people and hence they choose T20 over Test cricket.

test_vs_odis1

Is T20 really hurting Test Cricket?

Some might argue T20 cricket is making Test matches look boring and might even finish of the game. But I do not think Test cricket is losing it’s charm in India because of T20. I think it is because of the pitches Test matches are being played on.

Over the last 2 years India hosted 13 Test matches. 7 were drawn, 5 won by India and 1 lost. This includes 4 test series out of which India has won two and tied one. The 4th series is still continuing against Sri Lanka and guess what the first match is was drawn.

Now compare Test matches being played in Australia in the last two years. There were 9 Test matches held, 5 won by Australia while they lost 3. One match ended in a draw.

The stark comparison is there for everyone to see. When you play on sporting pitches of Australia there is a result 8 out of 9 times, where as in India there is a result 6 out of 13 times. Take for instance the Test match that just got over against Sri Lanka. 1598 runs were scored and only 21 wickets fell over 5 days. The worlds highest wicket-taker was bowling on a fifth day pitch leave alone taking wickets, he could hardly even trouble the batsmen. T20 is not the villain here, the pitch curator is the villain for making such feather beds.

Importance of Test Cricket

If you kill Test Cricket, you kill cricket. This will happen because the art of bowling is really polished and unrestricted only in Test matches. If a bowler picked up 2 wickets in 4 overs for 40 runs in a Test match, the bowler has bowled well. The scenario in T20 becomes different as 40 runs are too many. The focus is on runs rather than wickets for a bowler.

Test cricket is pure cricket. The batsman have to score runs, the bowlers have to take wickets. The simplicity of this concept brings about the skills in a cricketer out in its purest form. What do you think? Let me know with your comments.