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
---
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.
--
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.

---

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!