Finally Indo-Pak Series is here

finally, both countries are here. Indo-Pak bilateral series is one of those things I have always enjoyed. Nothing could hinder it after all. No political issues, No governmental issues. Cricket has won after all.

The best thing about Indo-pak series is that Many temporary fans are born. People knowing nothing about cricket too are anxious about win or loss. They will forget every worries. Even excuses like : There is too much of cricket, Indian team is not doing well, There is no Sachin Tendulkar etc. are not gonna stop them from being the witness of this series. Thanks a lot to Christmas and Santa claus for making a way for happening of this series.

The captains of both teams may say that it is just one more series for both the teams. But,unfortunately the arrogant cricket lovers won't get satisfaction with anything less than a win. Although it remained a short tour, only two T20s, and three ODIs, still the average heart beat of both nations are surely gonna rise. Both teams kick off the T20 series from Bangalore on christmas eve.

Both teams had not played each other in bilateral ties after Mumbai attacks in 2008. There came a desert of no Indo-Pak games and only a few oases  like World cup encounters 2011 and 2012, asia cup 2012 etc. gave some hope of revival and finally it is happening.

For those, who don't wanna watch cricket, Just let the saga begin and I bet you won't be able to resist at all. So, Just Check your heart beat and get ready to watch some super exciting cricket.

Thanks

We will miss u "Sachin"

Sachin retires from One-day internationals. Does it make just another news for you like the other rubbish news these media is filled up with. For me, it isn't. It is as if I could stop the wheels of time and bring those 23 revolutions of earth around the sun back.

I know I did not see Sachin's debut as i was not even born at that time. But, I know how were One-dayers like. There used to be only red-leather balls and players used to wear white dresses before 90's. The only channel available in India used to be Doordarshan.
With the passage of time, the scene changed.  Coloured clothing and floodlit games become commonplace. Duckworth and Lewis,Powerplays, Supersubs and Super Overs etc. They all appeared and who has seen it better than the maestro?  He saw the changes and brought revolution in the game by his extraordinary technique.

My own emotional development as an adult seems to run parallel with Sachin Tendulkar’s career.As he was the cricketer who took me from my birth to the college life. Many of my friends liked Ganguly or Dravid. But I always admired him the most.Slow to anger,uncomplicated, aggressive and honest.

As a batsman, and teamman, Sachin was something I just instantly fell for.

His batting was elegant to watch. His shots were crisp and final. The ball was delivered, the ball was hit.That double hand slaps he would give at anything that had floated onto his surface. Or the double tap at the pitch he would do with his right hand. All will never be fading from my mind.

I was not old enough to get cricket when Sachin came around, and once I got just old enough, I knew this was a player for me. Sachin didn’t bat for records, milestones or cheers, he batted to win.

The great batsmen are often selfish creatures who would run out even their children if it meant they get to continue doing what they do best. That wasn’t Sachin. People often compare him to Don Bradman, but who knows Bradman only played tests and also almost against few teams and limited supply of stadiums,While Sachin played across the whole globe.

Sachin bats like a team player.Every time he entered the field he had had to control the game from there onwards.He made to move it forward, he had to make sure his team were in a better position than they were before, he had to win. The sight when Tendulkar is dismantling Fleming, Warne and Kasprowicz in Sharjah will remain until the sun stops shining.

Sachin is going from One day internationals on 23rd December 2012. I am 19 now. I wonder how will I ever tell my son/daughter in the future how I spent almost entire time of living with Sachin Tendulkar. I’d definitely tell him about his 143 in Sharjah against the best attack of the world, every detail of being at the world cup 2003, the 241 not out he produced at Sydney when Waugh had announced retirement.There were tears of happiness everywhere, including on my cheeks.  But mostly I’ll tell him that despite how I loved Sachin as a batsman, and never hated him on his failures, that he was the player I grew up with.

my favourite,the player that was always there. And when my son/daughter gets bored of me going on about this old cricketer he will never see, I’ll just play him a collection of his shots that I’ve found on the internet. I wish if i would give the immortal images of him playing those shots, stuck in my mind. My friends may like Kohli, Sehwag, Dravid, VVS, Ganguly etc. but sachin is mine. To me, his batting was everything.

Sachin is the India  I grew up in. But, it is now only a memory. We are indeed the lucky ones. Hail to him, my role model, SACHIN TENDULKAR.

It's Morgan speaking here

Not among a good day at all from India's prospective. A good T20 track and a flurry of runs made it worth watching. The batting was relatively even between the two teams. I think that the main difference was the fielding. England's was clearly superior and that was worth a difference of maybe 20 runs in the end.Yuvraj once again proved why he is the best shorter format player India have ever produced and was a worthy 'man of the series' not sure if 2 matches really merits being called a series. Poor captaincy decisions by both teams really caught my attention.

Michael Lumb blasted a quick-fire half-century which got England off to an ideal start before a splendid knock under pressure by skipper Eoin Morgan. Chawla really looks poor to me and I don't see any reason for him to be picked up. Also Awana only added to the MSD's worries. England will be pleased with their efforts as they sign off an extremely successful series with a well deserved victory.

In the end i would just send a message to the whole world that Please send a good quick bowler in India as more than 1 billion fans are suffering needlessly (not to mention i am included too).
cheers and merry christmas.

Puzzling Indian Approach in Nagpur

Finally we lost it. Our pride of being invincible at home was shattered by the English.I would like to congratulate England for this massive achievement, something they had not done in last 28 years. They fought hard, and now they are enjoying the fruits of their hard work.

The better team won. Everything looked perfect for India after the first test in Ahmedabad. It is easy to pinpoint mistakes. But , i personally think England played better cricket than us. I would rather praise England than to blame India.Some of the tactics of MSD were puzzling ones in this test especially the way India approached their innings on fourth morning. They should have accelerated in the overs they played. And then they declared 4 runs short which doesn't make sense to me.

I personally think many players in the indian squad either do not want to play test cricket or they do not enjoy playing it. Their fitness level is far from required for five days play. They look better for 4 overs. And regarding Sachin Tendulkar, i am upset too like millions of fans with the way he is getting out. But, i will still say he is good enough for continuing cricket. At least he did not throw his wicket away like most others did, rather he fell to some very good balls.

Now, coming ahead is T20 series against England. And i am looking forward to it.

Bye Bye Punter

Hi to all and this is the post completely dedicated to one of the best cricketers i ever had vision of, Ricky.

Sincerely speaking there was a time when i always wanted to see Ponting getting out regardless of the opposition. He was arrogant, bull-headed, and sledging Aussie who just terrorised the world. The worst the style of his getting out, the better i used to feel. I remember how he had destroyed my dream of watching India the world champs At wanderers in 2003 by his blazing 140 not out in the finals. That is one of the reasons why i felt so good to watch him lose his wicket each time.

I never heard Ponting saying that Oh i love India and its people. Maybe this is one of the reasons why all indians hate him. Instead Ponting just used to spit on his hands and always be ready to shake hands with you after the end of the match. His aggression in the field taught me much about cricket and its finer details.Ponting only idea about India was that this was a place Aussies have not conquered in few decades and he just loved winning and he used to come here with a firm purpose.His eyes were always looking for win and he did that in india in 2004 too conquering the series here. It feels sad that he won't be padding up anymore. I have grown up watching him bat and learnt a hell lot of things from him. Maybe i will miss him too.

I remember he was smart even in the eyes of my sister too who doesn't know a bit about cricket. Maybe it was something inside him which made him a true legend. It is really heart-breaking to lose him.

Mumbai Test: A frustating experience

I am home now. Thank god i am not gonna miss these crucial test matches due to some freaky endsems or other stupid things. Away from all hurdles, here in Patna.

But sadly, not the best of the times here as India lost the test to make the scores level to 1-1.India were handed a humiliating 10-wicket loss by the English, who were expected to struggle on the spinning  track that Dhoni had asked for before the game.Instead of the Indian spinners, it was England's Monty Panesar who made batsmen dance to his tune and walked away with 11 wickets. On the other hand, Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook proved their class with hundreds on a track that seemed horrible for the others.It was a victory which will have roused England's self-belief in Asia. Otherwise they had gone home empty handed when they last time visited india in 2009.

I will also remember this match for some crucial umpiring errors by Aleem Dar, still knowing that India would still have not done better. They must learn from their mistakes. As the series is not wide open, India must go to Kolkata on   a high spirit. England has been able to make impact after the first innings of Ahmedabad.

I am waiting eagerly for the Kolkata test. Let's see what combination does India trust for the eden gardens.
thanks

India vs England First Test: Ahmedabad

Since The end sems are going by, i could not watch this one completely. Still , it was a lot better than i had anticipated it after 3 days.India have comprehensively trumped England in the first Test at Ahmedabad to set the tone for the series. There were some batsmen in this test who looked like they could bat forever, take cook, pujara. Pujara was looking as if he wanted to bat till the earth finishes in 2012. And Alastair Cook, He almost did it.He spanned for about 505 minutes and His 176 was a monument to concentration, stamina, skill and determination.He left records trailing and the Indian bowlers at a loss.In partnership with wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who again showed his ability against spin, Cook gave England hope of saving the match.

When a captain begins his second innings with a 330-run deficit after following-on, batting for so long is as much a mental discipline as a physical one.Pietersen’s contribution was of six balls that showed all his problems against left-arm spin. He miscalculated a sweep so badly he was bowled behind his legs.And a personal bad news is that Gautam Gambhir fled back to Delhi due to his grandmother's death.

It was a team-effort with two players in particular standing out. The caravan now moves to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and India must maintain the same level of intensity in the second Test. They shouldn’t allow England to come back if they are to avenge their defeat of the summer of 2011.

Waiting eagerly for next test and also end sems to pass over.
Thanks

Indian Bench Strength

I have still not been able to understand the reasoning behind giving Rohit Sharma this many number of chances ahead of Manoj Tiwary.Forget Day and Night Test cricket, if ever there’s Bench Cricket, Manoj Tiwary will be its captain. The selectors say: Rohit Sharma has talent, Suresh Raina trains to finish the game and Yuvraj Singh is back so poor Manoj Tiwary has got no chance at all.For now, Rohit is a T20 special, who blocks that slot regardless of runs.His lack of scores are a mystery not only for me but for him as well.This would not have happened at all had the selectors had him let go out of the team after such dismal show against Srilanka (Mind it he had scored 13 runs in 5 innings in that series.) Instead, Rohit returned like a sequel of movie.

Then there is Suresh Raina. Everywhere we go, Raina keeps telling that he trains to finish the game. That must be IPL games, and the occasional T20 and one day game for India.He still has not been able to impress me at all.

And Yuvraj Singh, personally i like him a lot. He is like a force, you can't control it.He is the only one who can bat, bowl, or field all. He also got the wickets of KP and Ian Bell in the practice game. He is after all India's third spinner for the test.

But, The strategy of Indian selectors is still like some computational problem:
Whether P=NP or not?

Thanks

Is Indian Team really hungry for winning?

India were decimated in England last summer. The 4-0 whitewash doesn't even begin to describe the complete and utter domination of the English side. The story doesn't end here. They lost against Australia too to make it 0-8.

But what about the team now, do they believe that they can win every single match against the English at home?They had certainly better be aiming for that.While they might be realistic about the nature of the pitches and the outcomes, still the 4-0 result is less likely now looking at the forms of each individual in Indian team. As i feel the team has weakened by the spots of Mighty Rahul Dravid, and very very special Laxman. England will be quite happy to play for a draw in the series. If England are to win even one of the matches, that will be victory enough for them. The big question then is, just how badly do India really want to thrash England.

India's rise to the top wasn't the result of dominating the world cricket scene,Rather, India played consistently good, cricket over a period of time while other sides declined to do so. India were destined to become the first side to win the world cup at home. Isn't that a great achievement?

But, now where we are today? Rank 5 in tests, 3 in ODI and 5th in T20s. Very dismal indeed for a nation where cricket is treated like a religion.  I am just hoping that they will overshadow this poor phase and bounce back really very hard.

Thanks.

Why cricket is better than GirlFriends?

I do not know whether it is the result of my parents, teachers, friends or someone else, but whatever be the case,or some reason or another I have been an obsessed cricket nerd and i am quite proud about that.In the school whenever i got even a little time between recess or anything, i chose that for cricket rather than other activities. Numerous exams of mine have been ruthlessly spoilt due to this, but No matter what life has thrown at me, my desire to watch Test matches, one-dayers and now Twenty20, has never diminished and will never diminish.It all started in 2000 and will continue till last breath. When India reached final in world cup 2003, then lost it who can forget that moment? Still , i was too damn proud of this national cricket team. In fact, these are the only things that make me happy from inside. Now i got why i could never have any girl friend as if ever i had one, i would have treated her only after cricket which would have led to what you say "breakup".
Ok so this post still has not really deciphered what exactly it is that thrills me about cricket, so I’ll throw in some keys points on what gets me going.

A team winning or losing off the one remaining ball. A six being smashed for the win. That sound of the stumps being cracked.An elegant sweep shot. That shared moment of laughter between batsman and bowler when there is a near miss. Sachin Tendulkar, Dale Steyn. Mitchell Johnson. and numerous names waiting.
If you love cricket I’m sure you nodded in agreement at a few of the above.
I just want you all to say:"There should be more of Cricket in the World!"

Thank you