Skip to main content

Some random thoughts

Lots been happening that merits longer posts but given that I haven't gotten around to those some tweet style thoughts for now -

1) Kevin Pietersen is a bigger idiot than I had reckoned. And while the ECB haven't shown great sagacity in how they're handling the issue, if I were an England player, I would find it hard to welcome him back to the fold anytime soon.

2) I am probably the one soul on earth who never found VVS Laxman to be as attractive to watch as Tendulkar and Dravid but between 2001-2010 his steeliness in adversity was second to none in the Indian team. India will be hit harder than they realize. Also, the side note to his retirement has to be how the incredible Tendulkar story rolls on. Its mind boggling to think that the little man made his debut before the other big five players (Kumble, Srinath, Dravid, Ganguly, and Laxman) and he's the last man standing.

3) South Africa are deserving of the number 1 tag if only by dint of their brilliant all-conditions away record. But given the fate of the last two teams to hold that spot they will be wary. Very wary. Also, Gary Kirsten is some coach.

4) The upcoming Ind-NZ is a battle between two teams who've been desperately poor at Test cricket recently so it'll be a case of whose confidence holds up. If he gets to play both games, I'm tipping Ojha as man of the series.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Et tu?

As a single sport website, I think Cricinfo has brought about a revolution and the fact that they were bought by ESPN is testament to how highly valued they've become. Their editing and approach to articles/opinion has been refreshing to say the least and even though they seem to have had a lot of editorial staff movement they've usually maintained very high standards. Off late though, both in their headline styles as well as in actual content, there seems to be an occasional slippage of standards and an inching towards the modern media sensationalism which is a bit of a pity. This piece  by Siddharth Monga is a classic example. Granted that the last two press conferences by Dhoni and Sehwag  indicated clearly that the captain and his deputy did not agree on this aspect of selection but "discord", "dissent", "public sniping" feels rather presumptuous and heavy handed. Yes, it is a team sport but there is no reason why everyone on the team needs ...
1 comment
Read more

England in the 90s revisited and oh, for backup bowlers!

So its come to this finally. As the cliche goes, the wheel comes full circle. Australian selection policies these days resemble that of England from the 1990s :-) Took a quick look at the last two years and over 37 Test matches since 1 Jan 2008, Australia have used 36 different players. That's an average of roughly one additional/new player every 1.48 matches! Talk about instability. When compared to India (a new player every 1.94 matches), South Africa (2.14), England (2.24) it shows how things have changed in the last two years with regards to the power balance in Test cricket. What the overall stat also does not show directly is that most of these new players have been bowlers. With the exception of replacing Hayden and Symonds the batting line-up has been quite stable but the bowling has been the exact opposite. Indian spinners like Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Ashwin, and Murali Kartik must be ruing the fact that they don't have an Australian passport! The latter in parti...
2 comments
Read more

World T20 preview: surprises in store again?

In its short history of seven years (and four editions), the World T20 has thrown up many surprises. Four different winners (each of them unfancied at the start of the tournament), with even England winning silverware. Australia have made just one final and have yet to win (but then it took them till the fifth edition to win the Champions Trophy too). Possibly the most surprising fact about the World T20 is that we're into the fifth edition but India are yet to host one. Given that their victory in the inaugural tournament led to the IPL and the face of the modern game changing, I would have expected a 1987 like scenario with the BCCI doing its utmost to host the championships but that has not been the case. Maybe the IPL brand needs protection in their opinion? The latest version in Bangladesh will throw up plenty more to add to the list of the surprises I'm sure. Its been a pleasant change already to have a proper qualifying tournament between the lower ranked teams  as opp...
Post a Comment
Read more