The first salvo..

It is fair to say that the English media does not do idolatry quite so often. Pietersen's charisma can be a little too arty, and it caused a stir when he practised a reverse sweep in the nets and sent a ball careering towards the Indians, who were practising 40 yards away. A retaliatory ball flew back into England's half and the tour had its first flashpoint. Peter Moores, England's coach, suggested to his opposite number, Gary Kirsten, that a truce should be called. Pietersen's cry of innocence brought a chuckle. "I was batting at the time," he said. Well, yes, quite.

The Guardian
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And tempers briefly flared yesterday morning when the two squads met for the first time as they trained simultaneously at the ground. Flintoff's minor confrontation arose because India's batsmen hit numerous balls from their practice area into the region where Kevin Pietersen's side were working. Each shot was followed by the courtesy call of "heads" or "watch out", but this did not prevent England's players from having to take evasive action.

The ground's logistics meant that it was inevitable the occasional ball would travel from one area to another, especially in the build-up to a limited over match when players practise big hits over the leg side, and a couple of Pietersen "switch hits" sent the Indians scurrying. It would be wrong to say the Indian batsmen were doing it intentionally, but sporting teams have been known deliberately to invade the space designated to the opposition before the start of a match in an attempt to antagonise them.

After an hour of ducking for cover every three or four minutes England had finally had enough and Flintoff, in full batting kit and with his bat waving, marched over towards the Indian team to complain. It was here he met Prasad, pointing angrily with his bat.

The Independent

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If that was a puerile prank that backfired (India went on to win the series 2-1) there was no sugar coating to Thursday’s set-to, which saw tempers rise after cricket balls were struck into each others net areas.

England, probably because they were ideally situated at cow corner for India’s right-handers, came under the greatest bombardment and were the first to react when Andrew Flintoff marched over to upbraid India’s bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad.

Flintoff had been waiting to bat when another mighty slog from India’s nets scattered those waiting to bowl to Kevin Pietersen and Owais Shah.

It probably wasn’t deliberate on India's part, but some fairly robust language was obviously used by Flintoff, for England’s players stopped to watch as Big Freddie strode over to Prasad gesticulating with his bat as to how close the ball had come to hitting someone.

The Telegraph

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England and India, with a history of spats in their recent meetings, did not even wait for the one-day series to start before falling out again. The touring side were roused this time when India batsmen struck balls into England's practice area during final preparation for the game in Rajkot this morning.

Andrew Flintoff, in his pads, strode more than 50metres to complain to Venkatesh Prasad, the India bowling coach, after one shot narrowly missed Andy Flower, the England batting coach, who was concentrating on his team's nets. As he confronted Prasad, the all-rounder brandished his bat in the direction of the stroke to reinforce the point.

Minutes later, Peter Moores, the England head coach, followed a similar path to warn Gary Kirsten, his opposite number, that somebody could be seriously hurt if the India batsmen continued to swing at full power in the same area. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain, was among those who had hit expansively.

The Times

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4 newspapers. 4 reports of the same incident. Each more dramatic than the other.

If this continues to be the trend, we are in for an enjoyable 5 weeks of newspaper reportage :).

PS:- I particularly enjoyed India bombarding the Poms with cricket balls imagery..

Welcome to India!

Has the empire crumbled?

Plenty of debate on Australia's fortunes following the 2-0 loss against India in India. Plenty of people saying that it is too early to write off the Australians, that India is the toughest place in the cricketing world to tour and that, but for foibles by the selectors and a couple of ill advised captaincy calls, it would have been a whole different story.

All of those arguments hold merit. And while I may not necessarily further the debate, here are my two cents.

The current Australian team ( to India) reads

Ricky Ponting - 33 years
Doug Bollinger - 27 years
Stuart Clark - 33 years
Michael Clarke - 27 years
Brad Haddin - 30 years
Matthew Hayden - 37 years
Michael Hussey - 33 years
Phil Jacques - 29 years
Mitchell Johnson - 27 years
Simon Katich - 33 years
Jason Krejza - 25 years
Brett Lee - 32 years
Shaun Marsh - 25 years
Peter Siddle - 23 years
Shane Watson - 27 years
Cameron White - 25 years
Bryce McGain - 36 years

Adding Shaun Tait, Andrew Symonds, Beau Casson and Ashley Noffke to the mix, we have
Shaun Tait - 25 years
Andrew Symonds - 33 years
Beau Casson - 25 years
Ashley Noffke - 31 years

8 of the 21 players listed above are 32 or older. 7 of the 8 players above the age of 32 are automatic picks for the Test team.

And what this points to is that within the next 3 years, there is going to be another churn in the Australian ranks with player retirements.

Australia are already struggling with life after McGrath, Gilchrist and Warne. And no suitable replacements have been found for Martyn,Langer or Gillespie either.

Nor have the replacements been given a long enough rope to hang themselves ( Beau Casson is a case in point).

And there is really no thought given ( in all the discussions on Australia's supremacy) on the replacements for people like Ponting, Lee, Symonds and Hayden. Nor is there any discussion on what type of cricket the Australains should play in this new environment.

The one characteristic of all the transitions from Border all the way through to Ponting was that the core remained stable - people tapped as replacements for the tried and tested senior pros were playing long enough alongside them to imbibe the team ethic and team philosophy and the team ethos.. And this ensured a seamless handover when the old pros retired

The situation now is different. There is no replacement identified for Ponting. Watson may replace Symonds, but as long as Symonds plays, it will be difficult to justify two all rounders ( unless Australia want to do away with the specialist spinner).

Jacques for Hayden, Rogers for Katich?

Tait for Clark but that means there is really no one to exert control at the other end. And if Symonds and Watson play, there is really no spinner to perform that role. ( which also means that Australia will continue to grapple with over rates, but thats a whole different discussion).

And who comes in for Lee?

Hussey Sr may be replaced by Hussey Jr, but Hussey Jr is not exactly a spring chicken himself.

So, if the 32+ guys get replaced with 30 year olds, we are talking of another churn after another 2-3 years..

And what this means is that the team ethic developed and nurtured by the various teams from Allan Border down to Steve Waugh will be lost..

And that being the case, we are talking of another reconstitution of the team from ground up, with its own ethos.

It is nobody's argument that there is no talent in the Australian domestic scene. The question is, do the selectors have a vision on how they want to bring together this talent?

And does the Australian think tank have clarity in how they want to mould this talent together and how they want to approach their cricket?

Australia is not that far ahead from the rest of the pack now. And the pack is closing in.. And with the next wave of retirements, they may be with the rest of the pack or may fall behind too..

The million dollar question is, will they fall behind the rest of the pack? And if so, by how much?

The Captain speaks

It’s difficult to not feel exhilarated after a comprehensive victory over an Aussie team that hasn't lost a series in the last three years. And it's difficult not to feel proud of an Indian team that pretty much achieved all that we had set out to accomplish over long discussions during the Irani Trophy and the pre-series camp in Bangalore. We had told ourselves, 'This is where we want to be after Nagpur' and that is exactly where we are.

That was our short-term goal, to beat the Australians, the longer one lies ahead - to try and be the No.1 Test team in the world by April.

And even while we faltered against Lanka, I think we can.

At the moment though, we're all savouring the sweet thrill of a win that we wanted badly. After the events of the last series in Australia, where, if circumstances had been different, we should have won the series if not leveled it, this feels so very good. That hurt, this finished the healing process.

Still, given the conditions and our form going into this game, I never thought we'd lose this game, a fair reflection of the way we've played this series.

Dhoni has led extremely well and stood out when it mattered with the bat. I must mention here that those who criticised the tactics he used on Day Three should know that he did what was required to change the momentum. To execute an 8-1 field is not easy. We've done it a couple of times, in England, and to a certain extent in Sydney, when we used a 7-2 and 8-1 to Hayden for a while against Ishant.

India's tactics ensured Australia had gone nowhere by lunch. Then, that run-out of Hussey made a huge difference, along with the other two top order run-outs in the game, also reflecting the Australians' nerves and vulnerability.

For us, it was a major bonus. That and the fact that Australia didn't turn the screws the only time we were under pressure, during the post tea session on Day Four. To not bowl your best bowlers in that situation is strange.

Captaincy isn't about running to the bowler every two balls to tell him what to do, or about strategies devised on the field. It's about getting on with the game, trusting the men who've come through for you in the past, encouraging players to make mistakes and learn and keeping their faith whether you're on top or under pressure.

Our bowlers were standout. Bhajji and Amit had some brilliant spells, Zaheer has been aggressive right through, and Ishant has shown so much character. It's brilliant for a youngster like Ishant to be Man of the Series and will definitely give India confidence for the future.

Even as some of us bid goodbye, it was an emotional time for Sourav here as for me in Delhi, the future itself looks good. What is most important from this series is that for many of these youngsters, there is no baggage of the past. A couple have played Australia for the first time and beaten them. Others have held their own in the Australia Test series and won the one-dayers there, so there is no Aussie bogeyman in their heads. And that's vital, that they do not think this team is invincible. That attitude might make all the difference in the years ahead.

Who wants to be a millionaire?

is the title of the post. But this is not the post I wanted to write when I started.

I wanted to write about the depth and variety that the English bowling attack possesses, their hunger after the Stanford debacle,India being emotionally spent after the departure of two of their stalwarts coupled with the draining experience that is playing Australia,the over confidence that comes in with a 2-0 defeat, the one month lag between the end of the Australia series and the first test.

In short, the be wary of England and lets not get too carried away post.

Then I saw this.

98.. Ninety Eight! N I N E T Y E I G H T!!

The England first XI for the 7 ODI set mustered ninety bloody eight runs against an attack that could charitably be called Mumbai's third XI!

And so, the be wary of England and lets not get too carried away post has been consigned to the dustbin.

Instead, I sense the best opportunity India has for a repeat of 1993. The English, already bitter over the shenanigans in Antigua, are now where we want them to be.

In the two warm up games, they have not been able to run through scratch outfits. And in the two warm up games, their batting has been scratchy ( despite Flintoff getting a hundred in the first of the warm ups).

And if India can take advantage of this, if we can beat England handily (7-0 will be ideal, 6-1 will work as well), we will be doing ourselves a huge favor leading into the first test.

With the Ranji Championships going on, the non ODI Test players can actually use the less stressful environs that is domestic cricket to maintain or work up form leading into the Tests.

And with 7 ODIs, India can actually rotate its bowling stocks to keep the first and second lines of attacks ready for the 2 Test series.

We have the opportunity, are we willing?

Are we ready to be millionaires?

PS:- "Who wants to be a millionaire?" - a nice sign to wave in the stadium to remind the English of what they lost in Antigua.. Sure to warm Kevin Pieterson's heart :)

A shoutout

to Scorpi - a quite brilliant post!

The last cut....

The Australia team was fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during its 172-run defeat against India in the fourth and final Test played on Monday.

Skipper Ricky Ponting was fined 20 per cent of his match fee while his players will each pay 10 per cent as fine.

Chris Broad of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees imposed the fines after Ricky Ponting's side was ruled to be two overs short of its target when time allowances were taken into consideration.

Captaincy stats!

Played Won Lost Drew
Ricky Ponting ( in India) 5 0 3 2
M S Dhoni 3 3 0 0

My captain!

11.02 am: The margin of 320 runs is India's biggest victory in Test cricket (not counting innings victories). The Australians line up to congratulate the Indians as they troop off the ground. Dhoni's got a stump as a souvenir, but, seeing that Ganguly doesn't have one, he gives it to him.
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50.2 Harbhajan Singh to Johnson, OUT, And the doosra does the trick. Game over. India have won the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Fabulous win. Johnson didn't pick it up, shouldered arms and the ball turned in to hit him on the pad. Hawk eye suggests it would have missed the off stump. The Indian players converge to celebrate in a huddle of joy. Dhoni had asked Ganguly to lead the team for the last few overs. In the last Test, he had lifted Kumble on his shoulder as they went around the stadium. Meanwhile, in the here and now, Dravid puts his hand over Ganguly's shoulder.
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Additionally, MSD gave a stump to Murali Vijay after completing the Nagpur win.
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Dhoni moves away from the interview and gives the trophy to Kumble and the entire team celebrate and pose with the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
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Brilliant!

WE WIN!!!

And, as anticipated, it was not even close!

Day 4 - Lunch

Is the Prick not setting a 8-1 field as a mark of protest or because he has no confidence in his bowlers?