Boycott's Corner - Open Sesame..!!!

While talking at the end of 2nd day's play, Boycott had this to say about Dravid opening... "It might not be good for Dravid.. but it is good for Team India... and that's what finally counts.."

Boycott feels that Dravid is probably the best bet for India as an opener to stabilize the team composition. If India needs to play 5 bowlers they can't afford an extra specialist opener (read Gambhir/Jaffer) and the middle order is too crowded with Yuvi/Dada/Kaif. He feels that young athletic players like Yuvi and Kaif should both form an integral part of the Indian middle order and the opener's slot is too specialized to ask someone sub-standard (read Jaffer/Gambhir/Ganguly/Yuvi) to do it. Having a player there out of place would probably result in an early wicket which means Dravid more or less opens... If you have 4 great bowlers with variety, then you probably donot need 5 man bowling attack which India sadly needs especially on pitches like these. This means that the batting lineup needs to be prepared with a lot of thought and not with make-shift solutions. Couple of thoughts that floated were : Kaif to open or why not Sachin... probably as equipped as Dravid in the technique department. In the end, Manjrekar said the key word.. 'Can we send in Tendulkar and risk losing his wicket..' so, in the end.. all we want at opener's slot is a sacrifical wicket to take care of new ball.. so that we can protect the Tendulkars and Dravids) or am I reading this wrong..???

Ind vs Pakistan 2nd Test, Faislabad (2nd Day's Play)

Pak had closed the 1st day at 379/4 in 90 overs with Inzy and Afridi batting undefeated on 79 and 85 respectively. Earlier in the day, Yousuf and Younis had got together again to torment the Indians putting up a huge 142 run partnership for the 3 wicket. Younis Khan made a classic 83 and seemed in great touch till a brilliant overhead catch by Yuvi robbed him of yet another century against the hapless Indian attack. Yousuf followed him quickly back to the hut after compiling a quick 65. Things were a little quiet before Afridi decided to play normally and cut loose. The second day started with a surprise when Razzaq walked in to bat accompanying Afridi... apparently the skipper Inzy had been laid low with back spasms and decide to take a break. Not that it bothered Afridi who then went on to massacre the Indian attack on the way to his highest Test score of 156 (containing 6 sixes) before holing out to Yuvi in the deep. Kumble was the wicket taking bowler and he followed it up quickly with Akmal who did not bother the scorers at all. Inzy came back to the middle still nursing his back and it did not bother his style of playing much. He clobbered a huge six of Kumble on the way to his 25th ton before he got an unplayable delivery from Zaheer Khan from round the wicket. He could only nick it to the keeper and walk back shaking his head having compiled 119 runs. After some lusty hitting by Shoaib (47- his highest Test score) the Pak finally were all out for 588 setting a huge, yet another 1st innings total for the Indians. RP Singh and Zaheer Khan were the pick of the Indian bowlers getting 4 and 3 wickets respectively while Kumble also picked up 3 on a placid slow track.
India started off their innings in the only way that Sehwag knows to... 2 boundaries of the first couple of deliveries that Shoaib bowled. Dravid once again walked out to open the innings with Viru, played his customary anchor role at the other end. Viru was lucky to be dropped at first slip by sub Imran Farhat before tea and luckily for Pak it was not a costly miss as Viru gave catch practice to Imran Farhat again(who gleefully took the offering) chasing a ball outside the off-stump in the first over after tea bowled by Razzaq (39). Laxman and Dravid steadied the ship by playing out the remainder of the day without losing any more wickets. Dravid was unbeated on 46 while Laxman was at the other end on 28 when bad light was offered to them and taken. The pitch still seems good enough for batting but there seems to be some variable bounce creeping in, which is expected from this pitch which is a little more abrasive than the Lahore one. The first 2 sessions tomorrow hold the key towards the outcome of this match. Don't go anywhere.. the match is still not over...!!!!

VB Series - Sri Lanka down Aussies convincingly..!!

The 5th match in the series was a day-nighter played at the SCG, Sydney. SL won the toss and elected to bat and their top order justified the decision by getting 309 in the total 50 overs. Jayasuriya showed the world and his own Board that he has not lost the touch yet, carving out a brutally brilliant 114 which contained 10 boundaries and 4 sixes. Sangakkara and Jayawardhene contributed to the total by scoring 78 and 56 respecively to set a daunting target for the Aussies. In reply the Aussies could only manage 258 before getting all out. Michael Clarke top scored with 68 while Haddin and Hopes made 43 and 41 respectively to lend some respect to their chase but they never threatened SL at any point. Vaas and Perera did the damage at the top taking the top 3 out cheaply while Bandara picked up 4 wickets in the middle. This leaves Aussie at the top of the points table with 10 points from their 4 matches while SL are close behind at 9 points from only 3 matches. SA lag behind with only 4 points from their 3 matches. The next match between SA & SL at Adelaide will be an interesting one with SL jumping out in front of Australia if they beat SA. Watch out for fireworks...

S*** happens.. Blame Chappell...!!!!

Things are bordering on absolute stupidity and ridicule nowadays with everyone having a say on the 'dead' pitch at Lahore and the missed world record. Latest to join the bandwagon is former stumper and captain of Pakistan, Moin Khan who says that Chappell is to blame for the missed world record for opening partnership. He believes that Chappell should have sent a message the previous evening asking the batsmen to play on in extended bad light just to get the record. And here I thought, personal records and play were being pushed out of the equation and the team comes first.. Looks like Mr. Moin Khan believes differently. This is downright idiocy...for one, you have the captain already in the middle and he knows best about safety of the playing conditions and definitely the world record... therefore you would assume he would make a valid decision.. and I believe Mr. Chappell made it very clear.. all decisions belong to Dravid alone.. he is just a support staff.. First it was the inexplicable video of an animated Ganguly on the eve of the match.. and now this.. both being attributed to Chappell... me thinks.. the Pak are just depserate to create confusion and dissent in the Indian ranks.. else how could you explain Moin Khan linking this event to Ganguly'spresence in team causing Chappell discomfort.. All I can say is.... grow up .. kids...!!!!

Records tumble on the 4th Day of the Lahore Test match
Play started as usual, late on the 4th day with Virender Sehwag requiring 4 more runs to complete yet another ton on foreign soil. He took precisely 4 balls to race to that coveted number and in the process obliterating a 22 year old record for fastest Test ton by an Indian which.. surpise.. surprise.. was held by Sunil Gavaskar.. (here's mud in your eye.. for those doubted Sunny Tonny was a master blaster..) Sunny did it in 94 balls and Sehwag matched the feat with one ball to spare (93 balls) and he continued on with his blitzkrieg. He quickly brought up his double ton with Dravid still on 90 at that time, to record the second fastest double century ever in Tests (182 balls), falling short of the awesome pyrotechnics that Nathan Astle (151 balls) had unfolded before England in Christchurch. Dravid then went on to notch up his 21st ton, his first as a skipper and was rock solid as ever through the entire essay. They ended the day with a whopping 403 without the loss of any wickets, tantalisingly close to the world record opening partnership, coincidentally held by another Indian pair. Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy hold the current record at 413 runs for the opening partnership set in Madras during the 55-56 series against New Zealand standing still after 50+ years. This is probably the best time to break that record as these opportunities do not come too often with most countries now playing aggresive Test cricket and to break this record, you need a match that has to peter out in a draw and both teams are happy to keep it that way. The first 15 minutes of tomorrow's playing time could very well see history re-written.. so don't forget to tune in... few words at the end for the Pakistan bowlers who must be feeling exactly what the Indans felt during the first 2 days. Guess the series now starts even (credits even between both teams) at Faislabad with probably a green-top waiting to greet the visitors. Now would it not be great to take up Saurav on his offer (I am refering to the video.. animated conversation.. where he explained that he desperately wanted to open the innings when Dravid decided to do it himself...) and send him in to open in the next Test match.. I shall leave you all salivating at the thought... well, if you are not salivating.. I am sure the Pakistan bowlers definitely are... ) Ciao...

Dravid walks in (to open).. and into our hearts as well..!!!

Even before the first ball was bowled in Lahore, the media had gone crazy with a video recording hitting all channels showing Ganguly in animated discussion with Dravid and Chappell. God only knows what they were discussing (they later said.. it was about cricket.. ohhh.. what a surprise.. and here I thought they were talking about world economy being in a bad shape..) but all present and absent... started speculation on the opening slot.. Ganguly being forced to open and therefore his angry response to Dravid & Chappell... they even said that 'it looked like Ganguly is still running the show considering Dravid replied in mono-syllables and Chappell was mum'... Well, the mystery was solved when Dravid walked in to bat along with Sehwag to open the Indian innings. Let's not re-trash the merits of true openers and our woe of having 2 specialists sitting out this match (been there.. done that.. refer early posts)... I just wanted to say... it takes a lot of guts and heart to do what Dravid did.. NO.. it was not sacrifice.. cold calculating logic.. Tendulkar can't be moved... Laxman and Yuvi are failed expts. at the top of the order and definitely not comfortable there... which left himself, Ganguly or somebody like Dhoni/Pathan which was a strict no-no considering the Indians were staring at a 679 mammoth first innings score. All boiled down to him or Dada... and he decided he would lead from the front rather than force somebody else to open... Dravid has always mentioned that he would never expect anything from anyone that he can't expect from himself first... which is why I repeat... Respect comes hard-earned... and he deserves every bit of it.. I recently saw on the TV an ad.. which flashes a definition on the screen saying... 'Hero: A person we can admire with no apology..' and fittingly Dravid's picture does flash across the screen... Ganguly never made the decision to open the innings (at the expense of Laxman, Dravid and Yuvi) and that does not make him a lower person.. but this decision makes Dravid a much better person.. a good leader.. and somebody that everyone in the team would definitely look upto.. and definitely.. RESPECT...!!!!

VB Series - 2nd ODI - SA vs Aus
A thrilling match today at the Gabba saw the visitors SA romp home quite comfortably in the end, after providing quite a scare-show in the middle overs. Winning the toss, Ponting decided to bat first for only reasons known to him (probably the spectre of rain later, weighed on his mind) and were soon struggling at 71-6 with Pollock doing most of the inital damage(3-30). A brilliant rear-guard action by Hussey (who..else..!!!??) and Lee saw a record 123 run 7th wicket partnership which led the Aussies to a respectable 229 in 49.5 overs. Hussey top-scored with 73 and Lee made 57. SA began their chase with some caution and seemed to be doing well till they suddenly lost their 3 top wickets in a jiffy. Smith made 12, Gibbs 16 and Kallis found himself run-out for 0 by Symonds. Dippenar and Prince then went into their shells and played pretty slowly till the 32nd over when Prince was dismissed for 16 by a spectacular catch from Hussey which brought Boucher to the crease. Dippenar top-scored with 74 before getting himself stupidly run-out trying to up the ante. Due to some really slow playing... and no rotation of strikes.. SA found themselves staring down the barrel with a run-rate well over 6 in the last 10-13 overs. That's when Kemp and Boucher decided to join the party dismissing all fears of another SA meltdown in the face of pressure. Some timely hits and a crucial Lee over costing 17 runs made sure that SA coasted home inspite a brief shower towards the end when there was still 10 more balls to be bowled. Boucher remained not out on 63 with Kemp at the other end on 29 n.o. to notch up their first win in this series. MOM went to ShaunPollock for his incisive spell in the beginning which left the Aussies reeling and they never really recovered.

And the Mystery Deepens..?? To Open or not to Open..!!??

The bolt from the blue came shortly after 9 am IST this morning when Sanjay Manjrekar casually mentioned that there might be a 'more than strong' possiblity that Ganguly and Yuvi have both been chosen in the X1 and Ganguly would be partnering Sehwag at the top of the class. Once more, the BCCI has pulled strings in the background and the 'wool' over the entire public's eyes... my first thought was ' What the and the rest is too sticky to be written here. Events like these, really frustrate and drive a stake of desperation into the staunchesh of Indian cricket fans. Firstly, we take 3 specialist openers (if you include Viru as one..:-)) for a tour just across the border... take a back-up keeper (Parthiv Patel) who suddenly seemed to feature in the grand plans of the selectors (ignoring Kaarthick who was doing a decent job.. and if you really wanted to blood Dhoni, Kaarthick should have been the natural backup) and a new '16th team member' as an middle order all-rounder for sheer experience in pressure-cooker situations. Jaffer and Gambhir (supposedly fighting to save his spot due to some bad form) both cracked 50s in the tour game and overall, Jaffer seemed more composed and reassuring during his stay at the crease between the two. Which is why, this decision to drop both Jaffer & Gambhir out of the playing x1 in favor of Ganguly opening seems right out of the loony bin.. which might not be too far-fetched to believe considering the recent events happening in the echelons of BCCI management (Can't wait to listen to what Mr.Dungarpur says next.. man's got a natural talent for humor). Ganguly has absolutely no experience (and probably no clue) about opening in the Test scenario... while many might argue Ganguly not-so-long-back was a world-class opener in ODIs the point still has to be conceded that the great man himself had an aversion to open in the longer version of the game, which led to a long list of players (from Laxman, Dravid, Parthiv, Yuvi...etc.) being offered as the sacrificial goat there. So why suddenly now... the answer probably is that.. he has no CHOICE...!!! Is this the exit that was talked about in the compromise solution between BCCI & Dada... we would never know.. coz for all that Mr. Pawar has talked about prior to his election victory.. things are still NOT TRANSPARENT...!!! What pains me is that.. with everybody trying hard to save their sorry 'derrieres'... trying to be politically correct and safe.. Indian cricket is what will suffer.. has anybody thought about the stupidity of going with a makeshift opener (yet again) in a crucial series.. in the first game... when you have 3 specialist openers to choose from... all for what.. to retain both Yuvi & Dada.. as a simple but passionate fan of Indian cricket... i just have this to say.. I care two hoots about whose ego is hurt or whose is placated.. I want the best team to hit the ground.. and I want US to win.. that's the bottomline... looks like neither the BCCI nor the selectors have ever heard of this concept.. one thing is for sure.. at the end of this match.. I am pretty sure... radical changes will take place.. as is expected with usual knee-jerk reaction of the Board and its all-knowing selectors... Kudos to everybody.. have a great series...

India-Pak Derby: Gates are open.. and the horses are off.. to a great start..!!!
First a quick update... At the end of the first day's play at the Gaddafi stadium, Lahore, Pakistan were comfortably placed at 326/2 having lost their openers, Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt. First to go was Butt, undone by a quick throw from Yuvi to the non-striker's end resulting in a direct strike finding Butt lazily out of his crease for just 6. Malik scored a fluent 59 on a lifeless flat pitch before playing a cocky drive and paid the price for having not reached the pitch of the ball. He departed caught Bhajji bowled Pathan for the only bowling success of what was going to be a search-for-the-leather day. Younis Khan then went on to compile a masterful 147 n.o. by stumps having flayed the Indian bowlers to all parts of the park. He was ably assisted by another Indian nemesis, Md. Yousuf who finished the day on 95 n.o. Younis Khan once again proved to be the proverbial thorn in the Indian side by leading from the front. He seems to have developed an insatiable appetite and love for the Indian bowling attack. Prior to this match, he had a 'Bradmanesque' average of 106 against India and he further enhanced the same in today's chanceless knock, thereby setting the tone for this match and the series. With Inzy to come and the Afridi cyclone yet to wreak its havoc... I wish Dravid & Co. pleasant dreams... it's gonna be one long Test match...

Where is Hemang Badani..!!??

With a lot of cricketers from the national side having been 'asked' to play in the Ranji trophy matches before they leave for the Pak tour, there has been unprecedented media report-outs on the domestic matches front. One such interesting daily report-out has been that of the ongoing match between Bengal and Tamil Nadu featuring ex-skipper Ganguly in lead role. While everything has been amply covered from Ganguly bowling prowess, to his fighting instincts during his batting stint and the warnings received for both his bowling and batting antics... why has nobody talked about another performer called Hemang Badani who is playing for TN in the same match. A gutsy cricketer, great fielder and no mug in the bowling department too has shone admirably for TN striking a fluent 67 in the first innings and a superb 157 n.o. in the second. Badani has always been a good striker of the ball... left-handed... graceful and has always displayed fighting spirit in large doses in critical matches. He missed quite a few tours for India during the last year or so due to injuries occuring at all the wrong times. But that does not take away the fact that he is good quality bat and a great asset to the team. While I would not go out on a limb to say that he has to be sleected in the team,I am pretty surprised that his name never ever pops up when the selectors start bandying future prospects and names around before any major tours. Without taking away the efforts of Ganguly in this match, I woul still say Badani was the star there and unfortunately, our media obssessed with our ex-captain and his everyday antics (including his daily limmerick conversations with his daughter in native tongue) have glossed over yet another good player being at the right place at the wrong time... will Badani ever do anything right to catch the eyes of selectors.. that's one question for the selectors... and knowing Kiran More's favorite reply, you can expect 'The door is never closed for any cricketer... if he performs, he will always have a chance of coming back...' well, the door is not closed.. but neither is it open... probably Badani needs to fix a meeting with the BCCI president Mr. Pawar ... that should atleast give him visibility.. if not anything else...!!!

Updates from the Cricketing World
First up on the tour, is Sydney Down Under playing host to the 3rd and final test between Australia and South Africa. SA won the toss and captain Smith had no hesitation in batting first on a more-than-usual grass covered pitch. Inspite of losing 3 quick wickets, Kallis and Prince ended the day unbeaten, after grinding out fifties with the score reading 230/3 justifying their captain decision to bat. Both these batsmen went on to score their centuries (Prince 119, Kallis 111) at a leisurely pace on the second day as SA finally declared, shortly after tea at 451/9 helped by a fine 46 from all-rounder Shaun Pollock. Australia in response were struggling at 54/3 at the end of 2nd day's play having lost both their openers to Langeveldt. Brad Hodge (6) was removed in the last over of the day as he fended at short ball around the leg stump from pace bowler Nel feeding J Rudolph at short leg for an easy catch. Ponting remained unbeaten on 13 at the other end. The match is interesting poised with SA holding the advantage card right now. It is critical that SA win this test to level the series at 1-1 after the 2nd test loss to Australia.
New Zealand won a tight 2nd ODI by 5 wickets at the Jade Stadium in Christchurch. NZ won the toss and elected to field first, restricting Srilanka to 255/7 in their quota of 50 overs. U Taranga scored his 2nd ODI hundred (103) ably supported by his skipper Atapattu who made a solid 52 before running himself out. NZ reached their target with 2 overs to spare riding on the back of a brilliant 90* by their super-sub Nathan Astle. Lou Vincent also scored a quick 46 to provide the support at the other end as NZ whipped up 256/5 in 48 overs. MOM was Nathan Astle.
Moving quickly across to the last leg of Ranji matches being played across the country. Karnataka vs Delhi started today with Karnataka opting to bat first and were at 150/5 at tea. R Uthappa with a patient 31 and Rowland unbeaten on 48 were the stars that shined while the Delhi skipper Sehwag sparkled with the ball grabbing 2 quick wickets (6-1-2-22). In another match, Tamil Nadu vs Bengal all eyes were trained hard on ex-skipper Ganguly as he took to the field for some practise before the Pak series due to a directive from BCCI. TN were all out for 218 on the first day with Hemang Badani compiling a top score of 67. Ganguly in his new avataar of an all-rounder picked up 3 wickets for 62 runs before umpire Hariharan stopped Ganguly from further bowling for repeatedly running (after 2 warnings) onto the danger area on the wicket.