Off Stump

Half-way into the group stages of the Champions Trophy and so far the heart is winning over the head hands-down. And while my predictions were nowhere near as detailed or accurate as that genius  Andy Zaltzman's , I still have a chance of getting the semi-final line-up right though an unpredictable West Indies and a predictable England might scupper that. So I'm not betting on it.

One thing I forgot to do when making my pre-tournament crystal ball gazing  for the Champions Trophy was to put down my "heart" calls (as opposed to the "head" ones which that post was about). So here goes (and this is a after one and a half games are up but it doesn't change my calls). Personally the semi-final lineup I'd like to see (as opposed to what I think will happen) is India vs. New Zealand and England vs. West Indies with India to defeat England in the final. Lets see who does better, head or heart :-)

One day cricket is in trouble. The advent of T20 and the popularity of the leagues that have spawned everywhere was supposed to endanger Test cricket but its had as much of an effect (if not a greater one) on its closer limited overs cousin. 2012 marked the first time since 1995 (when there were still 6 match Test series and 55 overs a side ODIs played in England) that there were fewer than 100 ODIs played in a full calendar year. And with the ICC deciding to do away with the Champions Trophy after this year's edition, the format is going to lose what was arguably its best and snappiest tournament. The frequent tinkering with the rules isn't helping the format much either and it'll be interesting to see what happens if the 2015 World Cup is not a popular event (especially given large parts of it will be held in Australia who might be recovering from a double Ashes loss). That sub-text around the format is one of two things that drive my interest in the tournament that ki...

So India's Champions Trophy squad has been announced and 13 of  my picks  were accurate. Its heartening to see Patil and the other selectors put their faith in a young squad and lets hope they can stick with it even if things go pear shaped initially. In terms of the squad itself, I wasn't too surprised by one of the ones I got wrong (Vinay Kumar over Shami Ahmed) and quite surprised by the other (Mishra over Rahane). Three spinners in June feels like a luxury especially given Dhoni's faith in and familiarity with Ashwin and Jadeja. Its also harsh on Rahane who was one of the few players (Praveen Kumar being the other) to emerge with any sort of credit from India's last trip to England. It will be interesting to see whether Mishra gets a game at all. On balance though, this is the best India have got at the moment and whether that's good enough to get into the last four of the short, sharp, almost sudden death tournament that the Champions Trophy is remains to be...