Team Archives - Page 2 of 6

Tendulkar the Great

sachin_tendulkar1

When Tendulkar walked out to bat in a Test match for the first time, Rajiv Gandhi was India’s Prime Minister, the Berlin wall stood and USSR still existed. The internet was nascent, mobiles phones were hardly used in US and never used in India. Most of us reading this article were probably less than 10 years old. The world has changed dramatically but Tendulkar remains the best in the world.

Tendulkar completed 20 years of international cricket on 15th November 2009. Out of the 21 men who played in his first test match he played in, all of them have retired over 5 years ago.

His technique, determination, brilliance, ability and talent all have been hailed over the years by everyone who has attempted to write about cricket. I do not want to write about it, it would be mere repeating of words. But hats off to a man who plays 20 years at the highest standard and has only let his bat do the talking.

I do not wonder at the ability to play for 20 years or the talent which scores the highest number of runs in Tests and ODIs. I wonder what goes on behind that cranium of Tendulkar. Does he feel the pressure at all? Does he feel tired of expectations and the criticisms? Does he think like we mortals do?

I reckon he is the perfect example of a person who feels comfortable with his own ability, does his best and puts on a invisible coat of something which makes him immune from all the pressure of expectations around him.

With a total of 12,773 runs in Test cricket and 17,178 runs in ODIs, Sachin Tendulkar has nothing to prove. He is already a legend and will remain so until Cricket is played. But he continues to play, as if he is not aware of his own achievements.

Some people have criticized Tendulkar at various times. Often the grouse being he doesn’t win India matches. Often people forget that Tendulkar has won India many matches but being a team sport he cannot win all matches. To all the critics of the great man and fans alike, I would like to remind that Tendulkar will someday retire and there will be a day when you wont ever get to see Tendulkar take his stance playing for India on live television or at your local city stadium. So sit back and enjoy the last few years of this great man’s career and appreciate anything that he has to offer because players like him don’t come along everyday and we are lucky to be around in the Tendulkar Era.

The Man who made kangroos jump higher

A chubby body and a childish face – That is the physical appearance of the Australia’s best captain – Ricky Ponting. Quote the word ‘physical’ in bold letters, because his mental appearance is far from this childish physical features. Inside that chubby face there is a mysterious, cunning and sharp mind which could bring home victory and supremacy in the match.That’s the reason why he still wears the Aussies captain’s cap !

He is the man who led the Aussie team which won the World cup in 2003 and 2007. A captain who led the team to victory, twice – itself shows us Ponting’s class ! Ponting, a good captain, with aggressive ideas, clinical batting and agile fielding proved him to be leader of the best cricketing team in the world. His Velcro-hands and bat has always created terror in the opponents minds. He is the one and only threat for the world’s best batsman – Sachin. As Ponting has records which are very near to Sachin’s records. He has scored more than 30 centuries and broke Gavaskar’s record last year, which Sachin too had broken. If Sachin retires now, it’s sure that at-least some of his records would be overwritten by Ponting.

He had been the captain of ICC ODI team for several times. Remember that ICC team is formed by selecting only the best players around the world. Choosing Ponting as the captain of the ODI team itself shows his value.

He will truly be remembered by every cricket lover for his enthusiastic captaincy and batting skills ……

Has ‘Team-India’ become ‘Indian-Team’ again?

What is the difference between ‘Team-India’ and ‘Indian Team’ ?

Both are the nick names of Indian cricket team.The Indian cricket team -when they were nicknamed as ‘Indian Team’- consisted of many great players like Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly, Srinath, Kumble etc. All of them were able to win matches themselves and the team was the strongest on paper, but the weakest in reality. It’s because during those days, India had a habit of winning all matches except the final or the Tie-breaker match. We can clearly see it in the 2003 world cup, the tri-series that came after that. Anyway, the concept of ‘Team’ didn’t had much value at that time.

Then comes the ‘Team India’ under MS Dhoni. We can understand the importance of ‘Team India’ from the name itself. This concept gives importance to the team. Under Dhoni, a clevert captain, India attained new heights during this period. India had a lot of gain which included the T20 world cup, #1 ranking in ICC ODI Rankings and many other foreign series. The team was full of youngsters and rather than a ONE MAN SHOW, they had a TEAM WORK SHOW. Instead of individual performance, they concentrated on the victory of team.

But recent results shows that India is going back to its old ‘INDIAN TEAM’ concept. They losses in T20 cup, ICC Champions Trophy etc.. shows it. With the recent loss to Australia, it clearly shows us that the glorious times of Dhoni and his friends are coming to an end. We can only pray to God to not to let it happen like that.

What is your Opinion about this ? Is ‘TEAM INDIA’ going back to the INDIAN TEAM ? Let me know through your comments here.

[Editor’s Note: This post is submitted by our guest blogger Rajeelkp, alias Reji. He is a teen blogger who blogs at labofweb. He loves web, blogging and social sites.

If you, too would like to write for CricTalks, please check this. Details about our revenue sharing programs are here.]

The African Boy in England

When Pieterson made his debut in Test cricket he played against South-Africa in South-Africa. Only a few years before that trip Pieterson was South-African boy trying to make it into the local first divisions teams as an off-spinner.

In South-Africa the crowds jeered him and even called him a traitor but the debutant before the game told the media that crowd heckling him would only want him to do better.

The 5-Match ODI series started and Kevin Pieterson scored a 108 of 96 balls in the second game which was a tie. The third game he scored 75 runs and the in the fourth game he set a England record for fastest hundred with 69 ball century. The crowds had not let up until then, even booing or turning their backs on Pieterson whenever he acknowledged the crowds for his centuries.

In the final game at England was 32/3 when Pieterson walked to the crease and started to play his usually aggressive style of cricket and ended up scoring 116 runs. The series had ended with Pieterson scoring 454 runs in five innings. The crowd from being downright hostile had become respectful and gave him a standing ovation at his final game of the series.

Pieterson is surely amongst the most exciting batsmen in the world. His 4647 Runs at an Average of 49.96 in Test cricket is surely testimony to his ability to be the best. His switch hits are still one amongst the most exciting yet risky shots invented this decade.

But the man has a heart of a lion, and most Indian fans won’t forget the how when England who were mulling not returning to India after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. Pieterson was the man who had lead the team back to India and kept the cricket tour alive.

India win Compaq Cup Tri-series.

The Compaq Cup must have really given India a nice look into what they should and should not do when they are in South-Africa. With Gambhir injured on the eve of the Tournament Dinesh Karthik opened the innings for India along with Sachin Tendulkar for the first two games.

Rahul Dravid making his way back into the ODI side was also a important development and his solidity at the top must have made the selectors smile. He was not fluent but in South Africa where India take part in the Champions Trophy which is going to be held on the fast and bouncy tracks of South Africa, Rahul Dravid’s solidity is a much needed asset.

The bowlers in the series came short except in the first match againt New Zealand where they bundled out the Kiwis for a mere 159. They came short allowing Sri Lanka a score of over 300 in the second game.

The final was again set up by India with a score of 319 led by Sachin Tendular scoring a imaginative 138. The game was set by a fifty by Yuvraj Singh and the bowlers even though found it hard to restrict the Sri Lankan batsmen managed to take regular wickets to allow India to win the final and the Compaq cup.

The workout must be nice and it has been a while since India had won a tri-series tournament. This must have helped the Indian team rest better until 22nd October when the Champions Trophy starts in South-Africa.

Image: tv.burrp.com

Another Brick in ‘the Wall’

Rahul Dravid has not been called the Wall for nothing. Considered to have near perfect technique he broke into the Test arena scoring 95 and 84 in his first two games against England. He scored them solidly while Ganguly reaped the accolades for his style and class in the same series.

Rahul Dravid took his own time to score his first century. It was in his 12th Test match at Johanesburg. India was touring South Africa and had been completely outplayed on the fast and bouncy tracks of South Africa. Rahul Dravid was showing India how to bat against a battery of pace bowlers South Africa had unleashed against India. His 148 was epic and after than someone in South Africa gave him the nickname ‘The Wall’.

The nickname stuck and Dravid lived up to the nickname with a characteristic style scoring 10823 runs at an unbelievable average of 52.32. He has scored 26 centuries the most by an Indian if you omit Tendulkar.

In 2005 Dravid took over as India’s captain and often his success has been overlooked because of the 2007 World Cup debacle. He did not resign but went to England. Captained India to a series victory in England after 20 odd years and then on his returned he resigned from his captaincy.

Rahul Dravid still plays and has a year if not two left in him. It looks like he will still stand tall amongst other with his characteristic style. In the scenery that is Cricket, Rahul Dravid will stand tall and proud like a mountain often taken for granted but impossible to miss.

A Prince called Ganguly

He started his career way back in 1992 in Australia. It was a complete disaster and he went back into the oblivion of domestic Indian cricket. Then in 1996 when Vinod Kambli was dropped for a series in England and the selectors replaced one mercurial lefthander with another from Bengal was taken.

Considered to have weak footwork, not much of a power game and a questionable attitude Saurav Ganguly entered the Test arena with a lot of detractors and a lot of questions. He answered them all with a century on debut and then another in his second Test match. Over the years he rose to become one of the most stylish left-handers in Test cricket and the most profilic run getter in ODIs after Sachin Tendulkar.

After the match-fixing scandal hit world cricket Saurav Ganguly was made captain of the India team. In this role he came into his own. At times brash, agressive and sometimes almost as if he did not care he led a team where young players were brought in and the team was being rebuilt. He led from the front and often rubbed the opposition the wrong way.

One of the most famous encounters Ganguly had was when he made Steve Waugh wait at the centre of the pitch before the toss. This angered Waugh who was on a winning streak that stretched for 16 Tests and one more win would give Australia a series win in India which was dubbed the ‘final frontier’ by Waugh. The constantly unapologetic Ganguly fought back the Australian strategy of ‘seldging’ with an Indian brand of ‘sledging’. Ganguly did not personally have a great series as a batsman but as Captain he was the only second Captain in history to win a test match even after being told to follow-on. India won the series 2-1 and Ganguly won the respect of his opponents as a tough competitor.

Ganguly lead the team and is the most sucessful captain for India in the number of Test wins. Bouncers troubled his doubtful technique but he hung in with simple guts and got glory. The iconic image of him taking of his shirt and waving it aloft from the dressing room at Lord’s when India won the Natwest Series still brings a smile to any cricket enthusiast. He ended his career amassing 7212 runs at an Avg of 42.17 with 16 centuries in test matches and 11363 runs at an Avg of 41.02 with 22 centuries. The records are impressive but more than his records no one forget his style and class because of which he was aptly nicknamed as “God of the Off-Side” by his team mate Rahul Dravid.

Link: cricinfo

Indian Squad for the WI Tour

The Indian squad for the Caribbean tour has been announced. Fatigue and injuries playing a big role in the selection is very evident, while, individual performances in IPL also get due recognition.

In or Out?

Let us have a look who gets in and who gets out comparing it with the WT20 squad:

In	Out	Stays out
M Vijay	Zaheer Khan	Sachin Tendulkar
S Badrinath	Suresh Raina	Virender Sehwag
Abhishek Nayar	Irfan Pathan	Munaf Patel
Ashish Nehra

If we compare it with the ODI squad that toured New Zealand earlier this year, then Ashish Nehra, Abhishek Nayar, RP Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, S Badrinath and M Vijay get the place into the side.

Selected or Dropped?

Let us try to see why few of the players were selected or dropped?

Selected

M Vijay: His performance in Ranji trophy gets him in to the squad. Moreover, he is an opener, so he could release Rohit from the extra responsibility and allow him to strengthen the middle over.
S Badrinath: He had a good Ranji season and gets a well deserved selection.
Abhishek Nayar: All round performance during Ranji and IPL this season helps him get into the 16-member squad.
Ravindra Jadeja: Selectors continue with their faith, after WT20, on this young boy with a promising future.
Ashish Nehra: Comes back to the side after 4 years. His performance in IPL and past international experience gets him the ticket.
RP Singh: The highest wicket taker in the IPL makes a comeback riding on his success during the league.

Dropped

Sachin Tendulkar: Opted to rest due to the finger injury that he got during the IPL.
Virender Sehwag: Continues his medical leave because of the shoulder injury.
Suresh Raina: He needs time to get over with the hairline fracture in his thumb.
Irfan Pathan: He was not selected for the final two matches in the WT20 and could not find a place for himself in the squad. He was part of the successful team that went to New Zealand.
Munaf Patel: He was part of the team to New Zealand, but did not have a good show during the tour. Though he had a good show during the IPL, while bowling for RR, but still could not impress the selectors.
Zaheer Khan: Rested because of the shoulder injury he earlier had.

The 16 Member Squad

MS Dhoni (Captain)
Yuvraj Singh (Vice Captain)
Gautam Gambhir
Rohit Sharma
Yusuf Pathan
Ravindra Jadeja
Harbhajan Singh
Pragyan Ojha
RP Singh
Praveen Kumar
Ishant Sharma
Dinesh Karthik
S Badrinath
Abhishek Nayar
Ashish Nehra
M Vijay

What went wrong with the Indian Team at the ICC World Twenty20 Super8?

After the early exit of Indian team from the tournament, commentators, media and critics got busy with finding out the “exact” cause of the poor performance of the team. Rightly so, when there are no more matches to be played by the Indian team, that is the only thing they can talk about.

If there was an award for a team for best coverage around the world (whether or not winning matches) India would have won it by now already.

I tried to restrain myself at pointing out the problem areas but could not stop myself to collate the popular theories taking rounds. Here is a small collection of few of the reasons that are being talked about. Not sure about the ranking of these but there surely seems like more than one reason for India’s poor performance with each contributing to varying magnitude.

Lack of innovation

Dhoni, who is known for his smart thinking on the ground, missed the edge somewhere.

Absence of the right aggression

The fearless boys playing with sheer aggression, who won the 2007 title, were missing.

Complacency

It was very visible during the middle overs when they were batting at ease and were so confident that they would be able to hit around in the last five overs.

Fatigue

Too much cricket since October, 2008! This has been pointed as the number one reason for India’s poor performance. And, there is still not enough breathing time as the team leaves for West Indies straight from England.

Media trouble

For the first time, Dhoni faced stiffness from the media over Sehwag’s issue. Drift between the Captain and Vice Captain was making news all around. There was a definite loss of crucial time for the management, which they could have utilized in strategizing for the matches to come.

Dhoni ran out of big shots

No question about his work behind the stumps but his batting was a bit let down. For last one year Dhoni has been playing an anchor’s role in the Indian batting line up and has intentionally changes hi style to suit the requirement. When it was must required for him to hit big shots, he could not really get them going. We could not witness the explosiveness that he was known for.

Short-pitched bowling

West Indian and English fast bowlers devastated the Indian top order with short pitch bowling. Everyone started pointing out the shortcoming of the Indian batsmen. But, then what happened in the match against South Africa? It were the spinners who forced the Indian batting at the back foot. Clearly, the Indian batsmen looked jaded through out and just could not hit the balls out of the stadium.

Sending Jadeja up the order

When, the Indian batsmen were struggling against the English pace attack, inexperienced Jadeja was sent in, while in-form Yuvraj and Dhoni stayed in the dug-out. I still could not understand what was the message given to him when walked-in? Was he given the license to just hit around and let it be a gamble or was he told to stick around to consolidate the inning? What ever it was, both ways it was not a good decision. At least, does not look like a good one, after India lost the match to England by 3 runs while Jadeja scored only 22 off 30 balls. Shall we call it a match-losing effort or a match-losing decision?

Fielding mishaps

Indians were not consistent in the field. Though there were instances of exceptional fielding performances but were limited to only few individuals. Poor show by others brought the overall performance to just “average”. Boundaries were scored by opponents sending the ball between the legs of the fielders. Can a team afford to do that when the margin of errors and victories is so thin in T20 matches? Somehow the field placement too was a bit shabby, not so agile fielders in the team kept on finding the ball coming towards them more than the better fielders.

Team selection

Few selection related decisions than are under the scanner of the critics:

Playing an extra bowler in the batsmen oriented format of the game.
Giving priority to pick up extra spinner (Ojah or Jadeja) while Dinesh Karthik could not get a chance. Yusuf Pathan, Raina and Rohit Sharma could have bowled more along with Yuvraj Singh to fill in the gap.
Ishant Sharma was in the team all through while Praveen Kumar was not given any chance.
RP Singh, the in-form bowler and the highest wicket taker in the IPL, should have been included in all the matches. And at least must have been given to bowl full quota of his overs against England.

Missing Sehwag

Whether Sehwag hits a 50 or not, even if he is at crease for three overs, all the strategies and tactics of the opposition goes for a toss. Though on papers the Indian line-up looked so bright, no one could actually replace Sehwag. He is the one who actually scares the bowlers even before the match begins. Only Yuvraj Singh could add some sensation to the Indian batting, while others could not do much to actually trouble the bowlers.

Let us have a quick look at what everyone is saying…

Gary Kirsten (Coach, Indian team)

He blames players fatigue levels and minor injuries that they carried from IPL to WT20 for the poor performance.

“Fatigue was definitely a factor, as were many other things… I don’t want to use that as an excuse but it was a factor. We weren’t an energetic team…”

Kirsten had pointed out mental fatigue to be a big challenge even before the start of the tournament.

MS Dhoni (Captain, Indian Team)

MS Dhoni accepts the fact that the team’s performance was not up to 100% of their potential and missed to at par with the international standards.

“There never was a time when the majority of the guys performed in one match, it was usually two bowlers in one game or three in another, with an off-day for a couple of them, or one man scored and the rest didn’t so we never performed as a unit.”

Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar has backed the Indian Skipper- MS Dhoni and has refused to blame him for his team’s exit from the world cup.

“Dhoni will bear the brunt of the attack… but is there anybody better to lead India than him? “Dhoni is a young captain and is still learning the trade.”

Sandip Patil

He does not subscribe to the theory of blaming IPL for India’s poor performance and questions the experimentation with the batting order in the crunch matches.

“Tell me how come players of England, South Africa and West Indies (who participated in IPL) are praising it (IPL) to prepare themselves for the World T20?… How did he (Kirsten) allowed Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan to sit padded up while sending someone else (Ravindra Jadeja) up the order?”

LalChand Rajput

He gives credit to the others who, according to him, had better strategies that worked against India.

ICC World Twenty20: India reaches the Semifinals!

Now, that is one heading I really wanted to write a post with… but Indian team’s performance in the Super8 let me down.

Nevertheless, the Indian team in Women’s T20 WC has given me this chance… 🙂

If you were busy following the men’s tournament and did not get a chance to check out what was happening in Women’s T20, here is an update.

Indian Women’s Team defeated Pakistan and Sri Lanka in their group matches to reach to the Semifinal stage. The other three teams that qualify for the Semi finals are England, New Zealand and Australia.

A Quick Re-cap

Indian Women’s Team was placed in Group B along with England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Match 1

England Women vs India Women at Taunton – Jun 11, 2009
England Women won by 10 wickets (with 26 balls remaining)
India Women 112/8 (20/20 ov); England Women 113/0 (15.4/20 ov)

Match 2

India Women vs Pakistan Women at Taunton – Jun 13, 2009
India Women won by 5 wickets (with 14 balls remaining)
Pakistan Women 75 (19.5/20 ov); India Women 78/5 (17.4/20 ov)

Match 3

India Women v Sri Lanka Women at Taunton – Jun 15, 2009
India Women won by 5 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)
Sri Lanka Women 94/6 (18/18 ov); India Women 95/5 (16.5/18 ov)

Indian Women’s Team ended up second in their group after England (who won all the matches they played). India women now plays against New Zealand women, the unbeaten from group A, in the first Semi Final match on the 18^th.

Fixtures

Day	Time	Match	Venue	Forecast
Thu Jun 18	5:30 PM IST	1st Semi-Final India Women vs New Zealand Women	Trent Bridge	Cloudy
Fri Jun 19	5:30 PM IST	2nd Semi-Final England Women vs Australia Women	Oval	Mostly Sunny

The matches will be played on the same venue for Men’s Semifinal before their matches and will be telecasted live on TV.