Who Are You ???

Who are you to determine a certain Kevin O Brien wont play another world cup ? Who are you to determine dockrell's last piece of act in world cups would be grimsing in pain with a dislocated shoulder , offcourse unless he turns to play next world cup for england ? Who are you to say Ryan Ten Doescate wont score another world cup hundred ?

                                                          
Ireland doesnt make up numbers in world cups as some other associates do.They Simply Compete. They play just as any other team to win , offcourse any other team doesnt include teams who fix matches.They are large hearted.

India and Ireland fulfilled what was expected of them.The former's expectation of winning the world cup and latter's expectation of competing hard no matter who they were playing against.Yet , Ireland face a tough task of being asked to stay away from the next world cup.This is just a JOKE .How could this be a World Cup then ? Change its name to ICC's cup .

                                                                
Its very similar to a Goal Setting in IT industries.Your manager sets you goals and you achieve it. Yet you dont get a good rating for a simple reason that he expected you to acheive it and henceforth you only met expectation and didn exceed expectation. Confused ??? So are ICC . Its led by confused people who just shake their heads for boards who have power and greed.

What's the future of 105 associate nations ?? Cricket will never grow this way.

Take the Ghana's and Cameroon's out of the World Cups then Football will never be the same.Simply stating Associates would be included for Twenty 20 World cups isnt good enough.They deserve more than that not by sympathy but by sheer weight of performances they had put in.

If ICC are worried about TRP's of matches played between test and associate nations , then a prime example is to take all the matches Ireland had played in.This is pure betrayal by ICC not only to associate cricketing nations but to fans of cricket around the globe.

We might still see Ten Doescate playing for Shah Rauh Khan.We might still see Kevin O Brien playing one such knock for one of the cash rich IPL teams.We might still see the young dockrell's and Striling's represent England in the next world cup.

Graeme Smith had his engagement in Ireland . A Tweet from Irish Fast Bowler Trent Johnston to Graeme summed up the mood.

"Congrats on the good news.We r looking for an opener here in Dublin - Unfortunately we can't offer you any 50 over cricket"

Who are ICC to stop them from playing World Cups ??

Brand Ambassadors of 2011 World Cup Cricket

Ajmal Sheshad was ruled out of the rest of tournament just before the start . Many thought , he wouldnt be flying alone .

England had dig the hole for themselves . Overnight performances may still not help them make the cut to Quarters . That just would be biggest shame to the World Cup .

Ask Thomas Alva Edison how hard it is to invent something . England invented Cricket . They sure didn want 50 over format to give way to 20 over format eventhough their only success in Global events is in that very format .

Strauss has been the best captain thus far . They have fought through thick n thin . They never looked liked losing any of the games . They never looked like winning them either .

England and Ireland have been Brand Ambassadors of this World Cup .

Winning is something . But not giving up is something else .   They have fought till the death and put together some very interesting games . Now , who said Assoicates have no say in World Cups ?? Take that ICC .

In difference with England , Ireland are now out of this World Cup . But take nothing away from them . They have given every team a run for the money at various stages of the game . Given the exposure to international cricket they could only improve.

Comparing these two european countries is very fitting . Ireland's success in a way is England's success too (Ed Joyce , Eoin Morgan ) . After every successful world cup , Ireland lose players to England . One player who might play test cricket in future for england could be "George Dockrell" . 18 years , High class .Full Stop

As Swanny said in the post match interview "They might be the Pakistan of 1992" . They well might be . If they do acheive the ultimate glory we sure could expect some "Sprinkler Dance" at Mumbai too .

The Journey That Is

My Mom insisted i studied hard !! If i didn i was good enough for nothing !! My manager still thinks that way !! But there's always a don care attitude wen it comes to cricket !!

Rewind life a decade !! Mid March 2001 !! Amidst all the chaos of my upcoming 10th Public exams , there was an epic battle fought !! For one it was the "FINAL FRONTIER" !! For Other it was just about a series needed to lift the spirit of the whole nation that had not recovered from Match Fixing Scandals !!

World Record 16 wins in a row !! Opposition team unable to pick 11 good players !! Steve waugh could have thought Final Frontier was conquered afterall !! Team India had other plans !! They had the Captain who till date is undoubtedly India's best !! Young guns looking forward to shape up their careers !! They had the grit , guts , willpower , hardwork !! But it wasnt enough !! Atleast for the first three days one thought so !!

For what India are today in terms of test cricket , one could safely bet this is where the journey did begin !!

Its Simple !! U just cant take out Mar 14th and 15th from Indian Cricket History !!

Zaheer Khan n Harbhajan Singh were no compulsory starters then which they are today !! Laxman had just one hundred then in a start stop career over 5 years !! Not surprisingly the one was against Australia !! Yet u could feel for the guy for not making a world cup squad !! U never know , we played the finals in 2003 against aussies !!

Laxman ever since then has saved his best performances for aussies !! He's been the last resort for Team India under crisis !! Its a great compliment to have when a captain comes to say "The Match is never lost if Laxman is still in" !!

what people fail to remember is when a partnership goes unbroken for a day , it means person at neither end got out !! We naturally tend to forget the person at other end , THE WALL !! So selfless he kept wickets for a considerable period of time to make a balance the team needed !!

Whole of 90's opponents had one formula !! Get Sachin Out early n Win the Game !! It changed !!

From then except one series against aussies ( 2004 , The Actual Final Frontier ) Team India went onto final test of every series with either a Series Win or Draw insight !! We Started to win Away !! Looked Unbeatable at home !!

India are now the No 1 ranked Team in test cricket !! We carry forward the brand image of cricket's oldest format !! N it all started a decade back !!

This win erased the 90's formula for opponents !!
This win made us realize who the best captain of the millennium was !!

Above all,

This win brought the lost fans back !!



Scorecard Here : http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63920.html

I would like to end the article with a famous Tamil Film Dialouge from Thevar Magan (Aana Vedhai – Nan potadhu. Idellam ena perumaya, kadamai) !! The Seed was sown a decade back n its yielding fruits now !!

World Cup changer

Those who have been following Cricket for over 12 years would not have forgotten Neil Johnson !! Remember ?? The guy who played 48 ODI's and 13 Test matches for Zimbabwe !! He could be forgotten for his 3 MOM awards in 1999 World cup !! He could be forgotten for his losing cause 132 not out at Lords against aussies in the world cup !! He should never be forgotten for his heriocs at Chelmsford in a League game against South Africa !!

If ever there was one performance that totally upset the calculations of a whole world cup , you could safely bet it was this one performance against South Africa on 29 May 1999 !!

The group was already wide open after India lost to ( Nah , Nah ,, Zimbabwe defeated India sans Sachin ) Zimbabwe !! May 29th had two group matches being played !! Hosts England taking on India and Undefeated South Africans taking on Zimbabwe !!

The stage was set such a way that England and India could lose the game and yet make it to the next round as it was just a formality for south africa to crush zimbabwe !! Afterall everyone thought the performance against india was once in a blue moon !!

Over 7 hours of cricket one man changed the equations around with calculators working overtime .Am not going to talk about the performance rather the after effects on other teams !!

Scorecard of SA vs ZIM here http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65218.html

Three teams were majorly affected by this result !!

England : Host Nation . Whole lot of expectation !! Comfortable victory against defending champions Srilanka in the World Cup opener !! Victories against Kenya and Zimbabwe and a solitary loss to South Africa !! They were comfortably placed at second position in the group into the final round !! The final game started with possibilities of england losing and yet making it to the next round !! Johnson playing elsewhere in the country had other plans though .Chasing a modest 233 rain interrupted the play at 73/3 off 20.3 overs in reply !! Think about a Indian Masala movie !! Cant get any better in sports !Enter rain , England didn really require the win !! very little did they know when they come out to bat the next day after rain the scenario had changed to a must win !! Ever heard of the word Panic !!! Yup !! England Panicked !! India went through

India : They had themselves to blame to have lost the game against Zimbabwe earlier !! Yet what the Zimbabwe victory against South Africa meant was crucial carry over points !! One can argue its a flawed points system !! That debate is for another day !! Since India had lost to SA , they couldn carry any points to Super Six which would not have been the case if Zimbabwe had lost !! England would hav scrampled through giving india 2 points . It would hav literally meant a quarter final match against New Zealand in super six !! U never know a big occasion some one would hav delivered !! Everyone who watched that game could see through the body language that the team really didn want to play a pointless game !!

South Africa : Simple !! They could hav avoided Australia in the Semis !! The real semis that took place is history though !!

I was 13 then , and i quite enjoyed South Africa getting defeated that day !! That was good for cricket !! Good for the world cup !! But when i look back , i wish South Africa could have won the game just bcos it could hav given my Team a better chance to reach the semis !!

But then i have no regrets on seeing that performance on Television !! That really meant what a single performance could do to the whole world cup !!

Sad that Zimbabwe Cricket never reached those highs ever after neither did Johnson !! But he will ever be remembered for his performance on that day !!

Yes , We are No 1

Everyone called it as the Final frontier !! Top cricketers from SA performing in Ad's stating they were Waiting !! Yes !! They were waiting , for they didn't like the fact that India were No 1 !! Especially as it was grapped from their hands for some good reason !!

Now , am not going to debate here if truly India deserves the ranking !! Thats for some other day !!

But as for the series started it was No 1 Vs No 2 !!

No one ( With some commonsense ) would hav had their bet  on a x - 0 scoreline against india with x being a natural number, for it was 2010 Team India !!

Mind games as usual started before the first bowl could be bowled

"We will Bounce Sewhag"

"Poor Track record in SA"

"Green Top Wickets"

Blah Blah Blah

Then came the Day !! 16th Dec First Test Centurion !! No , It quite didnt !!

We had to actually wait for over 4 hours for the Toss due to rain and Wet Outfield !! Dhoni had won only 1 of his last 13 tosses !! Make it 14 !!

Blow : Zaheer Out of the First Test , Now that's some blow !! In Comes a debutant Unadkat , Where is Mithun ?? Selectors need to answer !!

Put into bat , overcast conditions Steyn and Morkel, World's best fast bowling pair (Only other combination to match them currently having clouds looming over their carrers) ripped through what was a strong batting line up in paper for 136 !!

Am not going to insist on the fact that Team India didnt have Practise match , whereas somewhere else England had 3 warm up matches before their ASHES campaign started !! Its for the authorites to decide what's important and what's not !!

Adding insult to injury , sun was beating down heavily for the rest of the days making batting much easier !! Not taking away any credit from SA , they put themselves into such position of authority !!

The next two days certainly belonged to SA , more so particulary to Kallis !! Double hundred which eluded him for 142 test matches !! There was releif visible to see when he finally achieved !! Life is so simple !! Grow some hair , get a double hundred !! Unfourtanetly , it has taken 15 years to figure that out !!

Amla helped himself to another hundred , his 5th of the year !! Do i have to mention his fourth innings in a row , all against india !! Now , there's no guesses who's his favoruite country !!

De Villers smacked the already tiring attack to SA's fastest test hundred in mere 75 balls . 620 - 4 !! Job Well Done !!

Though , India showed some resolute fight in the second innings , coming out the hole being 484 runs behind is something even beyond for the No 1 Team !! But they didn go without a fight !! A loss by an innings and 25 runs !!

Test match to be remembered by an indian fan for only one reason , Yes , There came the Century !! 50th in Tests !!

Now !! Did i forget it ?? It should be remembered for two reasons !! As usual we forget to mention the effort of a tireless individual !! Dravid Completed 12000 test runs only the third to do so !!

Verdict : Another First Test Loss Away !! Another Hundred From Sachin !! Just not another , 50th !! Why does India lose when he scores a Hundred ?? Simple !! He's mile ahead so that when no one else performs , he still does !!


In came the verbal attacks against Team India and then christmas !!

Boxing Day Test match started at Durban with questions over the relaiblity of ICC's rankings !! Make it 15 , You know what !!

Raina was dropped and rightly so !! He was replaced by Pujara who had good technique compared to raina !!

Blow : Gambhir's Injured !! Especially after he made a resolute 80 in the second innings . Zaheer's back !! Thats a blow to SA especially Smith (Zaheer's Bunny)

Green wicket with lots of help for bowlers , Steyn rips the batting line up over !! Only this part of the story followed the First Test !! 38 was the highest score from Laxman !!

Through a combined performance from all the bowlers led by Zaheer Under 40 overs ripped apart SA for 131 !!

One man who always putforth everything he had for the team's cause needs a mention here !! Yes , Dravid !! Afterall he had taken 200 catches in Test matches when he caught Steyn off harbhajan ( 50th of Bhajii) which was worth a 200th !!

Vital Second innings for both the teams began with SA pulling back advantage from india by taking wickets reducing india to 148 -7 !! Rewind back 4 years !! JoBurg win , the same pair added the same number of runs for the same wicket in the second innings !! It all meant one thing !! History repeats itself !! So it Did !!

Laxman played a masterclass 96 , unlucky to miss out on a hundred !! Someone needs to remind him they are in trouble even if not !! All his first innings knocks goes wasted just because he thinks the team is safe !!

India right through the South African second innings were in control with the ball , helped by couple of poor umpiring decisions , won the game comfortably by 87 runs !!

The snorter to Kallis by Shreshanth will remain the best image of the match !!

Verdict : Finally Amla didnt score a hundred against india !! Dependance on Laxman keeps on increasing everytime he plays a special knock !! Pujara showed glimpses of his class eventhough it quite didnt reflect in his scores !! India proves why they are No 1 ranked team !!


SA quite couldn accept the loss , instead started to play the blame game about Umpires and UDRS !! UDRS Errrr !! Its quite not 100 % !! Recent reprieve being Ian Bell !! So , i would go with India not using Technology !!


With the UDRS issue came the new year !! A New Test at Newlands Capetown !! Series evenly poised at 1-1 !!

For a change Dhoni won the toss and put SA in !! It was assumed that he had started practising tosses in the dressing room with everyone expect Gambhir !! Gambhir got back in the team after he missed the 2nd test to injury !!


At the end of Day 1 , at 232 -4, SA certainly took the honours !! Kallis showed his class on his way to 161 of 362 only in the process to get hit in the ribs and injure himself to take no part in the field for rest of the match !!

If it was Kallis for SA , whoelse for India !! The Little man stood up with some support from gambhir which is worth a mention here to put on 176 run partnership to take india to respective total only to see the second new ball rip apart the middle order !!

Harbhajan and Zaheer batted the way they know to take a slender 2 run lead !! But the first three days clearly went to two top cricketing personalities of their respective teams !!

At 52 -2 starting the 4th day , SA were reduced quickly to 64 -4 , then to 130 -6 only to guts it out through an injured kallis and ever reliable Boucher !! India lost a ploy here by going into defensive and handing it out to this pair !! When boucher fell for 55 , they had already reached safety at 233 -7 !! Suddenly when SA could have pushed for quick runs and declaration , they played safe by batting till getting bowled out at 341 setting an improbable 340 run target on the final day !!

It only left India to have a Sewhag Blitz to take them to victory , but it was asking too much from him as he throughly played poorly against quality bowling !!

Just like Quality Bala films have an anti Climax , it was only fitting for this series to end in such a dull fashion !! But it had already lived upto the expectation !! It was a fair result for both the teams !!

Verdict : Two players of high class proved why they are called so !!

No one Wins !! No one Loses !! India hold onto their rankings !!

An evenly fought series , Steyn topping the wickets table and kallis the batting table !! Yes , They were waiting !! But , So were we !!

Biggest Positives :

Gambhir's Batting
Pujara's Technique

Biggest Worries :

Raina's Technique
Dravid's Form
Sewhag's failures
Ishant's Bowling

We now have the next series against England in England during June !!

But shortly all attention turn towards World Cup !! Lets wish success for our team to bring the glory that we had never felt ( Don mention we felt it by winning T20 World Cup )!!

Now if someone asks if truly India deserves the ranking , hold ur heads high and say YES !!