BLACK FRIDAY

Saurashtra 484 (Kotak 168*, Jadeja 87, Mangela 5-105) drew with Mumbai 463 (Muzumdar 187, Rahane 149, Jobanputra 5-116)

What to make of this?

So, India will have to pay taxes for revenues earned in Australia. Fair enough. There are laws and these are in place for a specific purpose.

What boggles the mind are the numbers - Australian $ 1.5 million for 4 tests and a maximum of 11 ODIs.

Is this the reason why Australian cricketers are signing on to the IPL like it is going out of fashion?

After all, who wants to die poor after "services rendered for the country" :)

PS: Indian Express has put the number as USD 1.5 million.. Even more reason for the Aussies to line up for the IPL :)

Who knew

That this Ranji Trophy season would be the most open and probably the most exciting of the Ranji Trophy's thus far?

Think about it - after 5 rounds of competition, except for Baroda, there is no clear front runner in the fray. And even that could change depending on how the games versus Andhra and Orissa go.

UP beat Bengal by an innings. Who would have expected the finalists from the last two Ranji Trophies to languish at the bottom of a pile that contains teams like Hyderabad, Andhra, Orissa and Punjab?

And what of Pool A? 6 rounds into the tournament and no one knows for sure who will qualify for the semi finals.

Delhi, a surprise Pool leader at this stage, is playing Karnataka at Bangalore, a game impacted by the weather. And there is more of the same in store for them when the take on Tamil Nadu at Chennai during Christmas week.

Saurashtra is poised to beat Maharashtra at Nagothane, requiring only 28 more runs to win ( with 10 wickets in hand). While Mumbai has enforced the follow on against Himachal Pradesh, who currently lead by 33 runs with 5 wickets in hand.

And then, Saurashtra play Mumbai at Mumbai in a virtual shootout for a semi final spot. While Maharashtra play Karnataka at Ratnagiri.

So, if Delhi draw both their games and Mumbai beats Saurashtra and Maharashtra wins against Karnataka, it will still not be enough to determine the two semi finalists because that will be dependent on the points spread.

Mumbai conceded the first innings lead to Delhi and Maharashtra, Delhi beat Maharashtra, Saurashtra beat Maharashtra, Delhi gained the first innings lead against Saurashtra and, if both the Delhi games ( versus Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) are washed out, Delhi may not even be in the contention!

And in case of a tie, the head to head will come into play.

This, after 7 rounds of play in a domestic competition that all and sundry consider to be a waste - of effort, resources and no real arbiter of talent.

Between Mumbai's phenomenal turnaround last year and the topsy turvy season this year, there is no better advertisement for the Ranji Trophy.. Now, if only some one could cash in!!

400/5, We cant lose!

blogs here.

Win or go home

Group A

Team Mat Won Lost Tied Draw Aban Pts
Delhi 5 2 0 0 3 0 17
Maharashtra 5 2 1 0 2 0 15
Mumbai 5 2 0 0 3 0 15
Saurashtra 5 2 0 0 3 0 15
Tamil Nadu 5 1 1 0 3 0 12
Karnataka 5 1 1 0 3 0 9
HP 5 0 3 0 2 0 4
Rajasthan 5 0 4 0 1 0 3

Mumbai has two games left, against HP and Saurashtra. Maharashtra plays Saurashtra and Karnataka while Delhi plays Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Mumbai has to win both its games and then hope Tamil Nadu and Karnataka step up to the plate.

There is everything to play for = will the Champions step up?

JU JU BI

Chennai Superstars 155 for 8 (Harvey 36, Law 34) beat Chandigarh Lions 143 for 8 (TP Singh 35, Hall 30*, Shabbir 4-23) by 12 runs

40 minutes

is the time India batted this morning before declaring. And in that time, they lost 2 wickets for the addition of 43 runs.

And for what?

Every day,around 30 minutes of play has been lost because of fading light. Factor in the 40 minutes that India batted today plus the 10 minutes for the change between innings and we are talking of around 80 minutes of play lost on the last day.

India led by 301 at the end of Day 4. This translated to a run rate of 3.34 per over ( over 90 overs) if India declared overnight. Which, in conjunction with Pakistan's foray in the first innings, was still on the higher side for a run chase on a fifth day wicket.

Also, India controlled the pace and the tempo of the game..We could speed up the game by hustling between overs or slow it down by taking our own sweet time between overs and during them. Pakistan is the team that was that had to do the chasing ( or the saving). Either ways, we held all the aces.

But we chose to bat on. And lost two wickets. And did not exactly set the Hooghly on fire.

The 40 minutes we chose to bat on could be all the difference between an India win and a draw.

Meanwhile, Down Under

Indian summer had better last a while

Australia cant hate India enough

The ICL Ads

The Good

The Chennai Superstars

The Mumbai Champs

The Bad

The Hyderabad Heroes

The Chandigarh Lions

The Downright Ugly

The Kolkata Tigers

The Delhi Jets

Oooh Aaah

Indi-yeah is where I will be, come December. And that means that blogging will be behind food (lots of food), travel, beer and cricket ( watching more than playing) in the list of priorities.

I can be contacted at Homers.email@gmail.com so, if any of you feel strongly about my (misplaced) priorities, do let me know.

Have a Safe and Wonderful Holiday season!

Gee whiz!

Why doesnt this happen with Steve Bucknor and India?

And how about this for rocket science.

Wolf Blass, anyone?

Another day,another Academy!

Kirsten has been offered a two-year contract and his basic salary could be in the region of $300,000 annually. Homer may yet coach the team for the World Cup !!

And finally, what the hell ..

Meanwhile, Durham seamer Graham Onions is set to play for Mumbai in India's other key domestic tournament, the ongoing Ranji Trophy, after an approach was made to England.

Whats wrong with the Proteas?

"I am very grateful to the club for allowing me to go to India to find out more about the job of coaching the Indian Team. I have had a chance to reflect on the offer made by the BCCI and their urgency to fill the vacant position.

"After careful consideration, I have decided to continue my work here at Kent. This has been a really difficult decision. I am honoured that India have shown such interest in my capabilities, but feel that this is the right decision for me and my family."

Graham Ford

The news is that you've been given one week to take your final decision. If that's true, what are the issues you need to take care of in the next seven days?
Yes, that's correct.

The most important thing is family. As we are aware, in international cricket you spend a lot of time away from home. I've got two young kids and it's a question of seeing them enough and still being able to do the job properly. That'll be the biggest issue and if we can get around that then certainly we can move forward in the discussions. I've had a chat with my wife and we have just got to take stock when I get back tomorrow, and have a few days of real thought to the process and look at it from all avenues

Gary Kirsten

Don't these guys talk to their spouses before taking that plane ride from South Africa to India or is family the new cop out now that Satan is no longer in circulation?

The anti-cricketing blog

http://tekcirc.wordpress.com/

Hilarious!

Tripura lose thriller despite Shetty special

Vidarbha 315 and 186 beat Tripura 201 and 287 (Shetty 130, Manoj Singh 62, Sandeep Singh 5-90) by 13 runs
Scorecard

Nishit Shetty almost masterminded an incredible run-chase, but the latter half of the Tripura innings came apart in the last 10 overs as they lost to Vidarbha by 13 runs with 10 balls to spare. Shetty scored a century at almost a run a ball to bring Tripura to within 60 runs of the required 301, with five wickets and more than 10 overs to spare.

At that point, a 75-run sixth-wicket stand between Shetty and Subal Chowdhury was ended with Chowdhury's run-out. After that, the batting collapsed, with Shetty being the last batsman to fall for a 137-ball 130. Sandeep Singh took five wickets for Vidarbha, including two at the death.

Earlier, Tripura had done well to take the last four wickets in 6.3 overs. Shetty ended with fine figures of 3 for 31.

That is the way to play the game.Unlike Delhi.

And did I mention that he is a Mumbaikar!

A tantalizing prospect

Stuart McGill may opt to skip the India tour. Uncle J Rod does not like Brad Hogg. Shaun Tait is back in action for South Australia.

Any takers for a four pronged pace attack at the MCG? Anyone?

It does't add up

Mumbai's players suddenly had a spring in their step and Abhishek Nayar soon increased the excitement by trapping Virat Kohli in front of middle stump. From 188 for 0, Delhi had slipped to 189 for 3; in a matter of minutes the balance had shifted towards Mumbai.

In the middle of all this Gambhir was treading the nervous nineties. Nayar had denied him a century in the first innings by getting him lbw when on 89. Gambhir was patient now, his primary responsibility was to bat for time given that Delhi had suddenly lost the momentum. He reached 99 with an on-drive off Nayar for his first boundary after lunch but couldn't manage a run for the next 22 balls, including three maiden overs from Ajit Agarkar who tested him with pace and movement. But Gambhir finally got the monkey off his back with a single off Powar to mid-off and repeatedly pointed towards the dressing room to show his relief.

Through the match Gambhir had had exchanges with a few Mumbai players but he showed his the other side of his temperament by staying at the wicket when all around him, on both teams, were losing their head.

The match had now become a contest in the mind. Mumbai's only intention was to defend at all costs and their bowlers, especially Ramesh Powar and Bhavesh Patel, had no qualms bowling a negative line. Gambhir and Mithun Manhas tried to force the issue initially, but settled down after a while.

Huh?

Batsmen	Runs	B	4s	6s	SR						Mat	Runs	Ave
	*G Gambhir (lhb)	137	278	13	1	49.28		striker				89	6992	53.78
	M Manhas (rhb)	16	78	2	0	20.51		non-striker				86	4908	42.31

3/189 in 68.5 overs. 3/252 in 96 overs. Which means 63 runs were scored in 27.1 overs at the incredible rate of 2.33 runs/over. Negative line - Where? Forcing the issue - When?

What game was Nagraj Gollapudi watching?

What a bunch of wimps

328 runs to win. 10 wickets in hand. 90 overs to go.

4 India caps. 1 U-19 cap. 2 old hands. A team confident enough in their batting ability to drop the centurion ( and one time captain) from their last match for this game.

And what do they do?

Score 193 runs in 76 overs of play on a wicket on which Mumbai's batsmen hammered 200 runs from 38 overs in the two-and-a-half hour morning session of the third day.

But then again, why am I surprised.

This is a team that could not close the game against Saurashtra. And one whose coach mouths platitudes like "When Shikhar hit Shoaib for a six, the entire team was jumping in joy."

This is how the points table looks like ( after 3 rounds)

Group A

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	Aban	Pts
Maharashtra	3	2	0	0	1	0	12
Delhi	3	1	0	0	2	0	11
Mumbai	3	1	0	0	2	0	9
Saurashtra	3	1	0	0	2	0	9
Karnataka	3	1	0	0	2	0	8
Tamil Nadu	3	0	1	0	2	0	4
Himachal Pradesh	3	0	2	0	1	0	1
Rajasthan	3	0	3	0	0	0	0

Delhi's remaining schedule looks like this

Himachal Pradesh v Delhi at Dharamsala - Dec 1-4, 2007
Maharashtra v Delhi - Dec 9-12, 2007
Karnataka v Delhi - Dec 17-20, 2007
Tamil Nadu v Delhi - Dec 25-28, 2007

Good luck avoiding relegation!

Beat Delhi!

Will they do it?
Delhi has a job on its hands
Kukreja falls one short of 200
Kukreja and Nayar set up exciting final day
Day 3: Mumbai 166 and 471/9 decl Delhi 251 and 59/0
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Mumbai fightback
Back on the feet
Remarkable rally by Mumbai
Kukreja hits 89 vs Delhi
Sahil Kukreja leads Mumbai's fightback
Day 2: Mumbai 166 and 154/2 Delhi 251
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Delhi teens leave Mumbai in tatters7
Pace Sting
Delhi takes charge
Delhi in driver’s seat
Day 1: Mumbai 166 Delhi 159/4
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Star-studded fare on offer in Delhi-Mumbai tie
Delhi bolstered by Ishant pace, Mumbai miss Jaffer
Batting gives Delhi the edge
Mumbai wary of Delhi
Reinforced Delhi take on favourites Mumbai

Ranji Trophy Finals

	Played	Won	Head to Head
Mumbai	41	37	4
Delhi	12	4	1

Mumbai's Captain speaks

"Bombay cricket ... isey ek baar chakh liya toh chakh liya (If you have tasted it once, you are addicted for life)"

Now for the real thing

India goes into the first test with injuries to Sreesanth and RP Singh. And so Munaf finds a place in the XIV. Thing is, Munaf does not inspire confidence in either his bowling coach or the audience, given his propensity to break down mid match.

Given that we cannot go into a game with just 3 bowlers ( what with the workload involved in Test cricket), why not go into the game with just the single pacer and three spinners?

If required, Sachin and Saurav can be called upon to take the shine off the new ball before the spinners come in. Heck, even Anil Kumble can open with the new ball if he so wishes.

And the spinners pick themselves. The Kotla is Kumble's happy hunting ground. And given Pakistan's troubles with Paul Harris' left arm spin in the recently concluded series, Murali Karthik picks himself. And given Harbhajan Singh's propensity to bowl containing lines in both the Twenty20 and fifty over games, he can be called on to be the stock bowler.

And we will also be playing our best XI. Think about it - a batting lineup that bats all the way to number XI and one in which every batsman puts a premium on his wicket. And a bowling lineup that , on current form, is the best we can field for this game.
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I take umbrage to this statement by Anil Kumble - "Moving forward, he'll have to probably wait a little bit more to become a regular member in the Test squad. It's unfortunate with the circumstances that we have for this game. That's the way it is."

Well, its not.

VVS Laxman has scores of 0,38, 18 and 26 in 4 completed innings in the Ranji Trophy for Hyderabad. Throw in a stiff back into the mix and that begs the question - how is VVS an automatic selection over Yuvraj, who is in the form of his life?

And the "class is permanent" argument does not wash, unless there is a suggestion that VVS has more class than Yuvraj and that, somehow, this translates into better Test performance, form be damned.

And I have not yet mentioned their fielding :)
--
And finally,this gem from Shoaib Malik

"I think India would be at a disadvantage, having a new captain who has to start afresh while I have been leading the side for quite a while. Though he [Kumble] is a great bowler I think we would start with an advantage."

If ever proof was required that Mr Malik's IQ is no greater than 2, there it is.

Second "slip"

99.4 Clark to Sangakkara, OUT, OMG! he is gone and he looks unhappy with the decision. It was banged in short, on the off stump line, Sangakkara misses to connect with his pull, the ball hit his left shoulder, then on to the helmet and it popped up for Ponting to 'catch' it at second slip. Rudi Koertzen has terminated a fabulous knock. Pity.

Now you know why batsmen dont take the fielder's word when a catch is taken Mr"Murali's just admitted he nicked that one but it would've been nice if he'd walked".

Go Figure!

After 75 years, the Indian cricket board has finally decided to dump the system of having national selectors working on an “honorary” basis - starting this year-end. From October 1, the present team of five selectors, led by former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar, will get Rs 50,000 per Test and Rs 25,000 per one-day international they attend. However, this is a temporary arrangement, till Vengsarkar’s team completes its tenure by September 2008 - one of the five selectors, Sanjay Jagdale, finishes his term this year. After that the BCCI hopes to have in place an annual retainership package for selectors who would no longer be elected, but appointed by an experts’ panel. Currently, the selectors get a blanket “fee” of Rs 5,000 per day - for every match, if it’s a one-day game - and an overall compensation of Rs 7,000 towards “incidental expenses” for every assignment, Test or one-day. For domestic matches, the “TA/DA” system will continue, for now.

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The BCCI and the media need better interaction

The BCCI's decision not to allow the Chairman of Selectors to interact with the media after a Selection Committee meeting was inevitable after what happened recently. When the Chairman is asked whether it was personal enmity that led to a certain omission, then the BCCI would naturally say "Enough is enough," and see that the Chairman or, for that matter, any selector, is not subjected to such an ordeal.

BCCI’s guidelines to the selectors

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has asked the five national selectors to strictly adhere to a seven-point guideline

Indian board seeks to squeeze the selectors

The shadow-boxing between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the national selectors has escalated with the Indian board issuing a seven-point diktat that seeks to curtail the jurisdiction of the selectors. While the move is widely seen to be aimed at reining in Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of the selectors, there are provisions, particularly the one banning selectors from accompanying the team on foreign tours, that have caused dismay among his colleagues.

BCCI, selectors on collision course

The Indian cricket board's attempt to gag the national selectors has reached a flashpoint. An immediate solution may not emerge soon enough, but the board and the five wise men are clearly on collision course.

Gag Sunny, Ravi too: selectors

The war of words over the BCCI gag order on selectors continues. Within days of the Indian Board putting a full stop to chairman Dilip Vengsarkar’s newspaper columns, comes a counter. It is learnt that the selectors have contended that the gag should be applied to all the former cricketers who are in the BCCI fold.

Mutiny?

In an unprecedented revolt against the cricket board’s policy to ban national selectors from writing columns, three selectors yesterday threatened to quit their posts if the BCCI persisted with the gag order

Gaekwad, More flay BCCI

Former BCCI selection committee chairman Kiran More and Aunshuman Gaekwad have come down heavily on the BCCI for issuing guidelines for selectors.

Selectors upset, but not quitting

The national selectors are upset with some of the decisions recently taken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), but none has threatened to resign as was the talk late on Monday.

Rajput ruled out for Australia tour

Even as the BCCI debates over who the next full-time head coach would be, atleast one candidate could soon be out of the reckoning. Interim cricket manager Lalchand Rajput has been handed a letter 're-appointing' him as the coach of the Indian U-19 team by the BCCI. Rajput's term will be effective from December 20 till the end of the U-19 World Cup in March, 2008.

Selectors fume at BCCI gag order

Confirming the guidelines, board secretary Niranjan Shah told HT: “It is only to have a system... And make sure they follow domestic cricket also properly.” He said if the selectors did not heed the advice, it would be reported to the board president. He did not specify what action would be taken.

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Two pieces of prose

Take a bow, Sfx and Osman!

ooh boo hoo

Kanishkaa Balachandran

Perhaps it's hard to expect too much out of a young side, with a few pushed into the big league earlier than expected. Raman spoke of the happy dressing-room atmosphere and a few younger players, in turn, spoke about his positive influence. As Raman put it, with a young side, the only way, is up.

If Ms Balachandran could take her blinkers off, she will have noticed that the Mumbai side is not that far older or experienced than the Tamil Nadu side.

And last season, when all and sundry were beating Mumbai ( a far less experienced and as young a side as Tamil Nadu's) nobody shed a tear for us. Au contraire.

If a team combines to total 420 runs in 153.2 overs in two innings spread over 3 days, and this at home, maybe they are not good enough to be playing at this level.

super stuff, this

Abhishek Nayar pounds a 85 ball century as Mumbai take the first innings lead against Tamil Nadu.

W.V Raman on L.Balaji's comeback. The sooner the better. The sight of Balaji in Pakistan making the ball talk was a sight to behold.

And finally, MoYo faces an arbitration hearing a day before the first test. The timing could not be more opportune for Team India.

The BCCI owes the ICL bigtime!

Sepia Tinted memories

It goes with the territory. In fact, it's so predictable it should be listed on the itinerary.Some well known ex-player starts the talk, then one of the current team chips in with his view. Depending on your view, its either psychological warfare (or to give it its portentous name, mental disintegration), cheap points-scoring, or the same old bullshit.

John Wright, Indian Summers

So the Aussies have started the talking the talk.. First it was Andrew Symonds and his not so intelligent comments on India celebrating its wins and such like, and now it is Mr Greg Chappell. The order is different but the import is the same.

Either that or Mr Chappell is in revisionist mode.How else does one explain this comment

"We tried to change it to move away from an old based team, to get some youth and some young legs and some strong arms into the team as well as some good batting and bowling.

"But unfortunately it's been resisted, actively resisted from within the team and without so we're going to finish up with an old team going to the World Cup.

"On paper it looks good but I'm not sure it's going to get the results the people of India want,"

and how does it marry in with the team India actually selected for the World Cup

Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Ajit Agarkar
MS Dhoni
Sourav Ganguly
Harbhajan Singh
Dinesh Karthik
Zaheer Khan
Munaf Patel
Irfan Pathan
Virender Sehwag
Sreesanth
Robin Uthappa
Yuvraj Singh

and the circumstances in which the team was chosen ( a free fall from the time of the West Indies tour, a majority of the team in pre season form, Irfan Pathan injured and without any match play, Yuvraj injured and Suresh Raina in no form to speak of).

And all of that is fine...

Because when you have sepia tinted glasses on, the past looks so much rosier..

Why not?

Cricketers do it all the time - without degrees in mass communications or public speaking, they front up as commentators and columnists.

An MBA graduate with no prior experience in commentating or cricket has gone on to become one of the best in the business.

Politicians become BCCI presidents, Industrialists go onto to head state associations.

So, why not this MBA graduate as coach of the India team?

"Further, he has written that he did not think it was essential to play cricket to coach a team. He said that it required a different kind of skill to manage the team,"

I like him already!

Keeping woes..

Okay, so we did not quite eviscerate them the way we should have ( what business did India have not defending a total of 320 odd against Pakistan at Mohali ? It is on such games that the momentum of an entire series is changed) but, having won at Kanpur, India has a leg up on Pakistan.

And there is more good news

Kamran Akmal's continuing descent behind the stumps has forced the Pakistan team management to call for another wicketkeeper to boost their squad for the remainder of the current tour against India. Though not officially confirmed yet, Sarfraz Ahmed, the promising young wicketkeeper, will be the man going to India.

Now, I do not expect the new keeper to make it for the next ODI at Gwalior.

Which gives India the window of opportunity to let Kamran Akmal know exactly where he stands in the Pakistan pecking order.

And also an opportunity to have a go at the new keeper whenever he dons the gloves ( hopefully the last ODI at Jaipur).

And India should go as hard as possible at both Akmal and whoever the new keeper is during the ODIs themselves.

Because that sets up the Tests. And with a keeper with shaky confidence going into the Tests, Pakistan are already on the back foot.

Now, can India step up to the plate and deliver?

Positives

from the just concluded Mumbai - Karnataka Ranji game

1. Mumbai 3 pts Karnataka 1
2. Anil Kumble is DEFINITELY not India captain material irrespective of what Sanjay Manjrekar says.
3. Rahul Dravid worked himself into some semblance of form.Here's hoping that he can pile on the runs against Himachal. There will be nothing better going into the first test against Pakistan than the knowledge that Rahul Dravid is stroking the ball as well as he ever did.

And finally, what a man!

Anil Kumble's captaincy

and why he wont be getting my vote for India captain.

First reason

	R Vinay Kumar	15	5	37	0	2.46
	NSC Aiyappa	13	2	43	2	3.30	(6nb)
	B Akhil	12	1	45	0	3.75
	A Kumble	22	2	85	1	3.86	(2nb)
	SB Joshi	20	1	67	3	3.35
	C Raghu	3	0	20	0	6.66

Despite being not the best bowler on view, Anil Kumble bowled more overs than others on the second day.
Add to this the fact that he brought himself on as early as the 13th over and the warnings signs are already there that he is going to over bowl himself in the game.

Reason 2

Fall of wickets1-118 (Jaffer, 33.5 ov), 2-121 (Rahane, 34.5 ov), 3-125 (Kukreja, 35.2 ov), 4-173 (Muzumdar, 52.6 ov), 5-217 (Nayar, 59.3 ov), 6-231 (Powar, 61.4 ov), 7-274 (Naik, 79.4 ov)

When defending 195, how does a team allow the opposition to get onto a 100 plus run opening partnership?

And when you have the opposition down at 4/173 and then 6/231 with only the tail to follow, what on God's green earth are the opposition doing still batting at the end of the day's play?

The one thing that particularly upset me about Rahul Dravid's captaincy was his innate ability to let the game drift.

The inability to force the issue and to hold on to the initiative is a particular failing of Indian captains and from what has been on display so far, Anil Kumble is neither better nor worse than his predecessors.

Great bowler he is, but captain he is not.

And finally, can someone this explain to me

Vijay Bharadwaj, Karnataka's coach, wore a rueful expression at the end of the day but refused to criticise the bowlers, saying that the pitch had eased up considerably. "It has gone flatter. I won't blame my bowlers."

How does a wicket go from a first day rank turner with all signs of not lasting the distance to becoming a "flatter" wicket the very next day?

Sudhir Naik believes that the Karnataka bowlers did not give the ball enough revolutions to purchase turn and that is the difference between the two teams. And that makes more cricketing sense than "It has gone flatter. I won't blame my bowlers."

I mean, seriously, is this the best explanation Vijay Bharadwaj has for his team squandering away the advantage?

T minus 1

MUMBAI, November 2: Rahul Dravid gets a great chance to rediscover his golden touch with the bat when he turns out for Karnataka in their opening Elite Division Group A Ranji Trophy cricket tie against holders Mumbai starting here from Saturday.
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It's time for spin at the Wankhede

The Preview by Sriram Veera at the Wankhede Stadium

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Two coaches, different routes, same destination

Sriram Veera at the Wankhede Stadium

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Rahul Dravid gets a chance to rediscover his golden touch with the bat when he turns out for Karnataka in their opening Elite Division group A Ranji Trophy tie against holders Mumbai starting here Saturday.

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Mumbai’s campaign began on the wrong foot in 2006-07, Bengal gaining the initiative and first innings lead at the Eden Gardens in the season opener, then bounced back to take the title. The Ranji Trophy champion faces another test of character, confronted by Karnataka a season later at the Wankhede stadium.
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Defending champions Mumbai are starting the season on a better note than they did last year. They now have a regular coach and captain at helm, a couple of senior internationals in their ranks and four home games on the trot. But still, their opponents - Karnataka - may just have the edge in the Ranji season opener tomorrow, with two super stars of Indian cricket, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid, in their ranks
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Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar recounts his dream season last year and talks about his plans for the coming one
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Play & learn
For the young Mumbai side that’ll be the mantra as they face Dravid, Kumble

What is he happy about?

His team just got blown away by the Pakistanis but that has not stopped Vijay Dahiya from "being happy with his side's start to the season".

Well, good for you Mr Dahiya, but do you realize that you and your team have handed the depleted Pakistanis the initiative on a gold platter? Instead of setting the tone for the rest of the series, you and your "boys" have managed to do the exact opposite.

And if you keep up this attitude going for the rest of the Ranji season, the Plate League beckons.

Let battle commence

Mumbai

Mumbai will look to avoid Railways' and UP's fate © Cricinfo Ltd

Railways, the 2004-05 champions, are currently languishing in the Plate League; UP, their successors, just about avoided relegation last season. Mumbai, defending champions this year, would look to undo the dubious trend prevalent over the last two years: of champions losing their form completely. Mumbai have already played two matches this season, beating Karachi Urban in the Mohammad Nissar Trophy, but losing outright to Rest of India in the Irani Trophy. On display were flashes of exciting new talent but also some phases of ordinary play.

They are one of the few teams who haven't lost any significant players to ICL. To add to the already existing pool, they have, among others, Ajinkya Rahane, the aggressive opener who scored century on debut and also played the Challengers and Iqbal Abdula, the 17-year-old left-arm spinner who can add up as a handy lower-order batsman. Ajit Agarkar and Ramesh Powar may play more of a role this season, given they both find themselves out of the Indian team currently.

A glaring omission is left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni, who was the leading wicket-taker for Mumbai last season, with 24 wickets at 20.79. There were rumours that he might join ICL, but that did not eventually happen.

They go into the Ranji Trophy a solid team, playing four out of their seven games at home - including the last one, against Saurashtra

Karnataka

Anil Kumble, who will lead Karnataka in the first two matches, should make a big difference © Getty Images

One of the strongest contenders for this season's title, Karnataka have been boosted by the return of Anil Kumble, who will lead the team, and Rahul Dravid. Apart from the duo who will be available for two games, they will bank on the experience of Sunil Joshi and Yere Goud - who joined Karnataka last season after 11 years with Railways. Although they have lost Robin Uthappa to the Indian team, they have a formidable batting line-up in C Raghu, B Akhil, Thilak Naidu and Barrington Rowland, the men who took Karnataka to the final four in the last season.

Joshi, as always, will lead the bowling attack, but he can turn to a capable few to share the burden. There is KP Appanna, the talented left-arm spinner making rapid strides, and R Vinay Kumar, the medium-pace bowler who took 27 wickets last season. They will be bolstered by the presence of NC Aiyappa, the medium-pacer who has recovered from an injury that restricted him to just two games in the previous season. In addition they have Akhil, who blossomed into a fine medium-pace bowler last season and Raghu, who picked 10 wickets with his offspin.

Karnataka have a new coach in Vijay Bharadwaj after Venkatesh Prasad became the national bowling coach and his successor Rajesh Kamat was pouched by the ICL. Bharadwaj headed a 13-day camp - where batting and fielding sessions combined with drills and exercise formed the daily routine - at the Infosys campus in Mysore as part of the build-up to the upcoming season.

Champions versus Contenders... New Kids On The Block versus Old Dogs.... Us versus Them.

The scene is set for the last game at the Wankhede before it closes down for renovation.Stock up on the beer/coffee/chips/salsa or whatever else you might fancy - The big daddies of Indian cricket are about to play ball!

November 3rd cant come soon enough.

PS:-

Mumbai: Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) organised a ‘Gatorade Gurus’ seminar, an interactive session for the benefit of players, coaches and trainers at the C.K. Nayudu Hall, Cricket Club of India here on Wednesday.

Ramji Srinivasan spoke about fitness, Nisha Verma about hydration science and Praveen Amre about personal coaching. The Mumbai Ranji Trophy probables attended the seminar.
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It has been eight long summers since Karnataka last carried the prefix of 'Ranji Trophy champions.' Not since their extraordinary triumph at the Chinnaswamy stadium in 1999 against Madhya Pradesh has a Karnataka captain held aloft the symbol of domestic first-class supremacy in the country.
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Just two days before their opening Ranji Trophy game but well advance for the long hectic season ahead, Mumbai players got a few words wisdom from cricket’s fitness guru Ramji Srinivasan at the Wankhede Stadium. At a special interactive session; the players had their queries about niggles, gym schedule, on-field training and ways to dealing with chronic aliments answered.

One

year has rolled by since this blog came into existence.

And plenty of Thank You's are in order ( although words do not necessarily do justice to how I feel at the moment)

A Big Thank You to each and every one of you who took the time from your busy lives to spend on this blog.

A Big Thank You to each and every one of you who posted comments and, in doing so, allowed me to grow as an individual and a cricket watcher.

A Big Thank You to all of you who blog rolled me. Not only did you increase the traffic to the site, you made me privy to thoughts and ideas that I would otherwise not have been privy to.

A Big Thank You to all of the other bloggers out there. Your perspectives and insights are the difference between seeing a game and watching it.

And finally, A Big Thank You to all the friends I have made along the way. You matter more than you will ever know.

Meanwhile, Down Under

6 scorecards from the 6 venues hosting Test Cricket this southern summer

The Gabba

158, 544 and 457 in the 3 innings played for the loss of 10, 6 and 5 wickets.
This, on the fastest ground in Australia at the beginning of the season

Hobart

482,363,171* in 2 and a bit innings played for the loss of 10, 6 and 4 wickets
Ben Hilfenhaus 42-6-150-2 and 8-2-29-1
S. Tait 27-2-117-1
J. Gillespie 22-5-74-2

The MCG

277,114, 289 and 164 runs scored for the loss of 10,10,6 and 10 wickets
CL White 5-0-13-0 and 10-0-41-2
Brad Hogg 12.4-2-21-3 and 18.4-4-62-5

Interesting that the most successful bowler at the MCG in the lung opener is a left arm Chinaman.

The SCG

467,601, 398 and 34* runs for the loss of 10, 8, 7 and 0 wickets
Brett Lee 27-4-113-0 and 23-8-75-0
N Bracken 19-7-42-1 and 21-8-69-1
S Clark 27-7-79-3 and 24-7-71-4
M Johnson 32-4-134-0 and 4-0-21-0
S McGill 36-1-183-3 and 19-1-97-1

Adelaide

438, 249, 158 and 77 runs for the loss of 10,10, 4 and 10 wickets
J Gillespie 32-6-97-1 and 8-3-21-1
Dan Cullen 37-3-125-2 and 10-0-43-1
Cullen Bailey 16-2-66-1 and 10-0-37-0
CL White 11-2-34-1

Perth

267, 99, 300 and 193 runs for 10,10,3 and 10 wickets

I expect this trend to continue - runs will be scored by the billion while bowlers will toil. Factor in the drought and summer and I would even venture to say that spin will become a factor as the summer progresses. And with no McGrath and Warne and bowlers not able to blast sides out, it is going to be a long summer.

Lots of runs, bowlers not getting due reward,spin and long playing days means attritional cricket. Something India has been doing as well or better than most.

India play at the MCG, the SCG, Adelaide and Perth ( in that order).

Cant wait for the tour to begin!

Hit them early

and hit them hard.

Pakistan begins its tour to India on the back of a morale shattering loss at Lahore, earning them the tag of chokers.

And rightly so.

They lost an ODI series they should have won, they lost an ODI that was in the bag and the less said about their performance against India in the Twenty20's, the better.

And IMHO, this is the right opportunity for India to hit them hard and early.

The team selected for the first two ODI's is

Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik

And interestingly, every single batsman/ all-rounder selected in the team is capable of tonking the long ball.And there is no sheet anchor.

And that, I believe, should be the strategy - play Twenty20 cricket over 50 overs.

Pakistan's strength is in its bowling; the batting had looked thin, barring Younis Khan and Md. Yousuf.

If India takes on Pakistan's bowling head on and does play the long ball ( right through the batting order), we will have set the tone for the rest of the series.

And if this means Md.Asif getting 5/100, so be it.

Because I believe that any bowler will be more miffed going for 100 runs in 10 overs than chuffed about getting a fifer.

And like any good sub continental captain, the pressure of expectation and the pressure of having his strong suit turn into his weak link will have an effect on Shoib Malik.

And if we put Shoib Malik on the back foot right from the outset, that will be significant over the course of the entire tour.

In fact, I would hope Delhi sets the agenda in the tour opener ( like Mumbai did in the 1998 series against Australia).

Should be fun!

PS:- On October 14, 2007, this is what I wrote about Rahul Dravid. And between then and now, nothing has happened to change my opinion ( inspite of the firestorm in the media and the blogosphere).

And vindication comes from the man himself

"I have two games, one against Mumbai [starting on November 3], and another against Himachal," he said. "It will be good to spend some time in the middle."

I'll be watching

Anil Kumble to lead 15-member Karnataka Ranji squad

VVS Laxman to lead 15-member Hyderabad Ranji squad

My two tips for India captaincy will be leading their squads in the Ranji Trophy this year.. And they both will have tough games first up - Karnataka plays Mumbai while Hyderabad tangles with Bengal.

Both games should contain useful pointers on which of the two make the grade ( and I hope SRT is not made skipper please please please!).

Vision

VB Chandrashekhar alluded to it. Sanjay Manjrekar speaks about it. So do Siddhartha Vaidyanathan and Sambit Bal, albeit in the context of the Rahul Dravid non selection.

And the leitmotif of these columns ( and most of the posts and comments in the blogosphere) is that there is an ad hoc manner in which the current selection committee operates while Kiran More's team had a much clearer "vision" for Indian cricket.

But, do the results tally?

Here is the list of players who made their ODI debuts between 24 September 2004 through 24 September 2006

MS Dhoni 23 December 2004
Joginder Sharma 23 December 2004
SK Raina 30 July 2005
Y Venugopal Rao 30 July 2005
RP Singh 4 September 2005
S Sreesanth 25 October 2005
MM Patel 3 April 2006
VRV Singh 12 April 2006
RV Uthappa 15 April 2006

Number of debutants - 9
Number of matches - 54
Total number of players selected - 30
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Here is the list of players who made their Test debuts between 24 September 2004 through 24 September 2006

Gautam Gambhir 3,4,5 November 2004
Dinesh Karthik 3,4,5 November 2004
MS Dhoni 2,3,4,5,6 December 2005
RP Singh (India) 21,22,23,24,25 January 2006
Sreesanth Mar 1-5, 2006
Piyush Chawla Mar 9-13, 2006
Munaf Patel Mohali, Mar 9-13, 2006
VRV Singh Jun 2-6, 2006

Number of debutants - 8
Number of matches - 26
Total number of players tried - 31
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Here is the list of players who made their ODI debuts between 25 September 2006 through 29 October 2007

Rohit Sharma Jun 23, 2007
Piyush Chawla May 12, 2007

Number of debutants - 2
Number of matches - 39
Total number of players tried - 27
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Here is the list of players who made their Test debuts between 25 September 2006 through 29 October 2007

Ramesh Powar May 18-22, 2007
Ishant Sharma May 25-27, 2007

Number of debutants - 2
Number of matches - 8
Total number of players tried - 20
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The more things change....

82 (79) > 5/45

That is the logic for the Man of the Match in India these days. How else does one explain S.Badrinath getting the MoM ahead of Praveen Kumar?

Kumar gets a 4fer yesterday, a fifer today. And has nothing to show for it.

Just shoot me.

Baby Steps

The Indian cricket board has moved within one step of professionalising the national selection panel with the finance committee of the Board of Control for Cricket of India clearing a proposal to pay the national selectors, so far honorary, a match fee beginning from Pakistan's tour of India next month.

Under the proposal, which is expected to be ratified by the BCCI's working committee, each of the five selectors will receive a match fee of Rs 50,000 (US$ 1262) per Test in addition to a daily of Rs 15,000, taking their total earning from a Test to Rs 125,000 (US$ 3156). For one-day matches, the fee will be Rs 65,000 (US$ 1641). Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, told Cricinfo that the new system is likely to be implemented as early as next month.

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After 75 years, the Indian cricket board has finally decided to dump the system of having national selectors working on an “honorary” basis - starting this year-end. From October 1, the present team of five selectors, led by former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar, will get Rs 50,000 per Test and Rs 25,000 per one-day international they attend.

However, this is a temporary arrangement, till Vengsarkar’s team completes its tenure by September 2008 - one of the five selectors, Sanjay Jagdale, finishes his term this year. After that the BCCI hopes to have in place an annual retainership package for selectors who would no longer be elected, but appointed by an experts’ panel.

Here is a comment

I posted on the Cricinfo website in response to Dileep Premachandran's article.

Brad William, Nathan Hauritz, Martin Love, Simon Katich, Scott Muller, Matthew Nicholson, Colin Miller, Adam Dale, Gavin Robertson, Shaun Young, Simon Cook.

Any of these names ring a bell?

Comparing Hayden with Devang Gandhi proves what exactly?

Iqbal Siddiqui and Samir Dighe made their debuts well after they were past 25. Nilesh Kulkarni made a come back after a 4 year hiatus against Australia in 2001.

Sachin Tendulkar made his international debut at 16. Which Australian can boast of being blooded at that young an age?

India waited 9 tests before Rahul Dravid scored a Test century.

I understand where you are coming from Mr Premachandran, but the argument has to be more nuanced than the one presented in your article.

Excuse me,

But if Anand Vasu and Nagraj Gollapudi think the Mumbai crowd are out of line for chanting "Aussies suck", they are welcome to join me in watching the Yankees play the Red Sox, preferably at Fenway.

Or is this just another example of bashing Mumbai because it is the fashionable thing to do these days?

And talking of Mumbai, Andrew Symonds has the last word

I'M not too sure who's more frustrated and disappointed about the controversy of the past week, me or the locals here in Mumbai.

Given the incessant calls to my hotel room, it's clear a large contingent of Indian cricket fans have been affected by the recent furore surrounding me and the crowds in India.

For the past three days, the phone in my hotel room hasn't stopped ringing.

I've had doctors, bankers and local businessmen all on the line desperate to apologise.

SHAME

(picture courtesy foxsports.com.au)

Symonds racially abused again

The Rahul Dravid conundrum

Rahul Dravid has not been amongst the runs. And today's effort ( 7 in 13 balls ) definitely did not help his cause. And he is India's most valuable player in the longer format of the game.

So here are my two cents.

Between the end of the Australia series and the start of the Ranji season, there is a gap of 16 days ( not including the Twenty20 thrashfest).

The Ranji Trophy begins November 3. The first two games that Karnataka play are

Sat 3 - Tue 6 Group A - Mumbai v Karnataka

Thu 15 - Sun 18 Group A - Karnataka v Himachal Pradesh

The first Test against Pakistan begins on November 22.

Dravid should skip the Pakistan ODI series and instead, make himself available for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy.

The break from the game coupled with time spent in the middle in the longer form of the game should do his batting a world of good.

And God knows we will need him to come good in India's next couple of campaigns and more!

India lose

and I, for one, am glad we did.

Against England, a series which would have been ideal to blood some of the players warming the bench, we focussed too much on winning the series.

And since winning the series meant fronting up our best team, which translates to playing those guys with most caps under thier belt, we missed out on an opportunity.

And we would have done the same in the current series against Australia if we had won the game at Nagpur. And in the process, reduced Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthick and Subramanian Badrinath to ferrying drinks and warming the bench.

The last ODI at Mumbai is the first such opportunity available to us to play the bench warmers. And with the general approval of the paying public.

It will be interesting to see the choices the selectors and the team think tank make.

The Challengers

India Red	India Green	India Blue
Mohammad Kaif (captain) (UPCA)	Parthiv Patel (captain) (Gujarat)	Virender Sehwag (captain) (DDCA)
Karan Goel (Punjab)	Cheteshwar Pujara (Saurashtra)	Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai)
Gautam Gambhir (DDCA)	Rohit Sharma (Mumbai)	Dinesh Karthik (TNCA)
S Badrinath (TNCA)	Murali Kartik (Railway)	Suresh Raina (UPCA)
Virat Kohli (DDCA)	Manoj Tiwary (Bengal)	Neeraj Patel (Gujarat)
Ravneet Ricky (Punjab)	Yusuf Pathan (Baroda)	Arjun Yadav (Hyderabad)
Praveen Kumar (UPCA)	Abhishek Nair (Mumbai)	Joginder Sharma (Haryana)
Mahesh Rawat (w/k) (Haryana)	Niranjan Behra (Orissa)	Ramesh Powar (Mumbai)
Pragyan Ojha (Hyderabad)	Iqbal Abdullah (Mumbai)	Amit Mishra (Haryana)
Sidharth Trivedi (Gujarat)	Pankaj Singh (Rajasthan)	Yo Mahesh (TNCA)
Ishant Sharma (DDCA)	Munaf Patel [Images] (Maharashtra)	Randeb Bose (Bengal)
Penal Shah (Baroda)	Gagandeep Singh (Punjab)	Swapnil Asnodkar (Goa [Images])
Srikant Munde (Maharashtra)	Anirudh Srikant (TNCA)	Rakesh V Dhruv (Saurashtra)
Paresh Patel (Orissa)	Satyajeet Parab (Maharshtra)	Saurav Bandekar (Goa)
Coach: Lalchand Rajput	Coach: Venkatesh Prasad	Coach: Praveen Amre

Match Schedule:
Oct 25: India Red v/s India Blue
Oct 26: India Green v/s India Red
Oct 27: India Green v/s India Blue
Oct 28: Final

All in all ,not a bad selection at all.

The selectors have done well to play those India players who have not had much match practice during the current Australia tour while resting those who have been playing non-stop ( through the Twenty 20s and the 7 ODI set).

The selection also gives the India players pause between the end of the Australia series ( Oct 17) through the beginning of the Pakistan series ( Nov 6).

All in all, a job well done.

Credibility

I read this first on the Fox Sports site

IF Andrew Symonds wasn't such a gentle fellow, India's Shanthakumaran Sreesanth's nose would probably be plastered all over his leering face.

The Hindu and occasionally Christian bowler can thank all his gods that the secular Queenslander is a man of peace and tranquility.

which pretty much says everything that had to be said about the credibility of the article.

Then the Sydney Morning Herald picked on the story

Sources within the Australian team say the Indian squad member made several aggressive gestures towards the visiting batsmen during their unsuccessful run chase, most of which were ignored.

But Sreesanth's attempt to goad Symonds after his late-innings dismissal - apparently by clapping in the Australian's face, followed by a few choice words - sparked a heated confrontation, with Clark moving in to separate the warring factions. Sreesanth denied clapping in Symonds's face or goading him. He admitted he said, "Hard luck, you're going to lose" to Symonds.

Sources within the Australian team talking to an Australian journalist about their pet peeve - taken with a ladleful of salt

None of the Indian media outlets have reported on this "incident" thus far. Cricinfo had George Binoy on the ground and Anand Vasu and Sriram Veera doing the ball by ball commentary. Nothing about this "incident" has been mentioned in the ball by ball commentary or the post match reports.

Imagine my surprise then, as unnamed "Cricinfo staff" deem it a story worthy of the main page of their web site...

S Sreesanth, India's fast bowler, has denied clapping in the face of Andrew Symonds after he was dismissed in the fourth one-day match on Monday. Sreesanth, a 12th man in Chandigarh, reportedly had to be calmed down by Stuart Clark, who was also running the drinks, when Symonds was approached between the field and the entry to the dressing room.

Sreesanth has had an eventful series after targeting the Australians with his strange behaviour and he apparently continued to argue with Symonds and his team-mates after the eight-run loss. Despite not playing, Sreesanth went to Symonds as he walked off with 75 and observers said he clapped in the batsman's face.

Strange behavior indeed!!

The Irani Trophy 2007 log

4th October 2007

Manoj Tiwary and Suresh Raina set to make their return from injury

Munaf Patel, Ranadeb Bose, Ishant Sharma and Yomahesh make up RoI’s pace attack

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5th October 2007

Mumbai seek to rule Rest of India

Strong Rest of India start favourites

Wait and watch, says Raina

Mumbai’s boy band
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6th October 2007

Kukreja and Nayar lead Mumbai

The situation needed such an innings - Nayar

Tall and insipid
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7th October 2007

Parthiv hundred leads ROI fightback

A mature Parthiv finds his groove
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8th October 2007

Inspired Munaf leaves Mumbai wilting

Munaf leaves Mumbai reeling

Mumbai go into freefall

Tiwary hits century, Rest in command
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9th October 2007

Munaf and Parthiv star in Rest of India's win

Kudos are in order for the Rest of India for their thumping win. To Munaf, for a vindication of his abilities. To Manoj Tiwary , a welcome return to form. To Parthiv, for his grit and determination. And to Md. Kaif, the best captain in the land.

For Mumbai, introspection and then back to the grind. The Ranji Trophy is round the corner. And it matters!