Off Stump

What a difference five days makes. Less than a week back, Michael Clarke was the one  who appeared somewhat unsure , betraying the fact that he didn't know quite what to expect. After a four day manhandling (and there's no other word really), dished out in large part by two of Australia's most volatile players in Mitchell Johnson and David Warner, the uncertainties all belong to Alistair Cook. It also puts my  pre-series prediction  in some jeopardy though clearly the two teams won't care about that ;-) The key reason behind England's dismal start to the series is (as Jarrod Kimber  astutely points out ) a lack of big runs which has been coming for a while. Against a sub-standard West Indies side (and in English conditions to boot), they managed to  cross 400 just once (and made 398 once) , that too only driven by twin centuries from Andrew Strauss who retired  one series later , where Cook, Trott, and Bell were all significantly below par. A brief recove...

While I admire the honest, outspoken style that Ian Chappell has in his commentary and writing I don't find myself agreeing with his views very often. This latest piece on ESPNcricinfo is an exception though. In what is a faintly ridiculous set of back to back Ashes series (to accommodate an ODI World Cup of all things), the build-up to the second round has been laughable almost. Anyone who hasn't followed the game for a few years might be forgiven if they thought that the Australian domination from the 1990s and early 2000s has continued and that they will win in a canter again. For a team that's lost seven of their last nine matches (and it should have been eight really), that's quite a good turnaround on paper (and digitally). The reality though is that unless they show a drastic improvement (especially in terms of scoring runs) and England have a bit of a shocker, its going to be well nigh impossible for Australia to win back the urn. Despite putting Buffoon Bo...

One of the memories of watching Tendulkar over the years is how often he falls over when beaten and hit on the pads and I've always felt that this results in him getting more dodgy leg before decisions than he otherwise would. When you're a short player and you fall over the way he does, umpires can't be judged too harshly for thinking that the trajectory is lower than it actually is. So despite all the protests from the likes of Gavaskar and Shastri on air, I don't think India can complain too much about things given how unsurely they've played the spinners. Be interesting to see how Tendulkar (and the rest of the batters) approach things in the rest of the series and whether they get on the front foot a bit more. It will be good to watch no matter how many runs the master makes.

Given all of the fanfare around Tendulkar's farewell, you'd almost be excused if you didn't realise that there was an actual Test series (or lets just say Test couplet given two Tests is not a series) to be played in a few days. In some senses both teams (and their captains) will be a bit relieved as it allows them to go under the radar mostly and focus on getting ready while the spotlight is squarely on the man its been on for the last two decades and more. The visitors have insisted they will not be distracted and the young Indian squad (the average age without Tendulkar is less than 27) will know that solid performances here will give them a long run in the potentially tougher away series against South Africa, New Zealand, and England coming up over the next nine or ten months. So though the matches are rather rushed, there's plenty to look forward to even apart from the master bidding adieu. On paper, ie if you look at their respective ICC rankings , India shoul...

The BCCI has made many snafus and screw-ups in recent times but one superlative decision they have made in the last year is the appointment of Sandeep Patil (and his four co-selectors). I've  written before  about how they don't get enough credit for the moves they have made in making what is a transitional period for Indian cricket turn into a surprisingly successful one after the post World Cup horrors. And they continue to impress. Maybe its the fact that four of them are domestic stalwarts who never quite made it on the international stage (though Binny had a fair run) and Patil himself didn't fulfil his potential that makes them ideal men to draw out the young talents who will form India's next generation. Or maybe they've just been lucky with their picks. Either way, they've done some really solid work mixing tough decisions with bold ones and most importantly they haven't mixed up formats and let themselves be swayed by the media or former players. ...