Lol!

Lalit Modi, dreaded and admired in cricket circles in equal measure, will receive an official reprimand in the two-day Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which begins here tomorrow.
Modi will be pulled up by the Board for allowing world champions Australia to practice and use the facilities at the Rajasthan Cricket Academy (RCA), a week in advance before the official commencement of the tour on September 29.

About time...

It goes with the territory. In fact,it's so predictable it should be listed in the itinerary.Some well known ex-player starts the talk, then one of the current team chips in with his view.

John Wright, Indian Summers

Which is precisely what happened. Except, this time, the well known ex-player is Chandu Borde and the member of the current team is Zaheer Khan.

And if you thought it could not get any more surreal, we have Mike Hussey talking up Australian domestic cricket and Ricky Ponting characterizing his team as "underdogs".

Underdogs?

So it was a welcome relief yesterday to watch a clip on television that showed Shane Watson playing cricket with kids affiliated to some charity, in Rajasthan.

A photo -op!!! FINALLY!!!

And today, Geoff Lawson talks up the Australian pace attack while talking down the Indian spin twins.

The Aussie tour to India is back on track. And about time too!

Sportsfreak nails it

Scraping the Barrel of Sensationalism (hat tip - The good Uncle J)

Red rag

“I made him the player he is now,” said Chappell. “The guy was very reckless … I told him if he hit the ball in the air that would be that. He batted very well when I was in charge… look what’s happened to him now.”

The reference was to Yuvi’s lack of form and his not being picked for the Irani Cup.

Now I dont know about you, but I would be extremely wary of winding up Yuvraj Singh, captain of the Board Presidents XI taking on the Australians at Hyderabad.

If you don't believe me, just ask Andrew Flintoff and Stuart Broad

Surely the man who "made him" should know this. Or maybe it is the "Chappell Way"!

Holy !@#$ !!!!

So I was over at Samir's, perusing the blog and the comments. The conversation was about Akash Chopra.

And how he could be slotted in the team line up.

Delhi boy he may be, but I still liked his temperament while batting. And his close in catching - I havent seen a forward short leg like Chopra for a long time now.

Anyways, I digress. The point of this post was that I chimed in with my batting line up.

Chopra
Gambhir
VVS
SRT
Sehwag
RD
MSD
Kumble
Harbhajan
Zaheer
Ishant

A spur of the moment thing it may be, but having spent nearly 30 minutes afterwards, dissecting the line up for weaknesses, I cannot find anything obvious.

The batting -

The openers - both Delhiites and have spent many a summer ( and winter) opening together. Plus they bring in the left handed right handed combination into play. And even with Chopra playing his natural game ( and not the lets stall till the cows come home), Gambhir will have enough latitude to go after the bowling.

The middle order - VVS to sustain momentum in case of a good start. VVS to generate momentum if the start is not so flash. SRT is coming of an injury, so he gets the buffer of an aggressive top 3. If he hits his straps, glory be.. If he doesnt, the momentum wont flag significantly with Sehwag next in line. SRT and VVS can also consolidate if need be. Sehwag at 5 with a license to attack.Dravid at 6 - if everything goes to plan, his scratchiness at the crease wont have a significant impact on the pace of the innings ( as he is buffeted between Sehwag and MSD). Also, Sehwag, MSD and RD are good between the wickets so if the Aussies choke the boundaries, the runs will still come.

The bowling - 2 spinners, 2 pacers - the four best bowlers at our disposal. And if required, Sehwag and Sachin to turn their arms over.Depth, variety and potency.

The fielding - And it is here that I am terribly excited with this line up. India may not be the flashiest fielding unit around, but they hold their catches ( Sri Lanka notwithstanding). And with Chopra in the side, the close in catching is strengthened considerably. Chopra under the helmet, RD at first slip, VVS at second, Sehwag at third ot at leg slip, Kumble at gully. Gambhir is the second option under the helmet, Sachin at covers or mid wicket.

Not too many strong arms in the deep, but the fields are not huge and so should not be a significant issue.


All in all, the idea is to hit the Aussies first, hit them hard and keep hitting them. With the first two test being back to back, the onus is on India to put the Aussies on the mat and keep them there.

And I am more than convinced this line up will deliver.

Pretty chuffed, I am :)

Mukul Kesavan

in rare form.

Brilliant!

Neat edit from the Indian Express

The Australians are manic about mindgames, and this Chappell induction is so obviously one, that you have to wonder. Either the best cricketers in the world are losing their touch for the subtle psychological ploy? Or, in an illustration of all the talk flying around about the India-Australia rivalry being cricket’s big attraction, they have actually been, dare one say it, scared into seeking every last input, as is their other obsessive competitiveness?

Because what is there that Chappell can tell a bunch of cricketers as clued into Indian conditions and players as the Australians, post-IPL? After all, the Indianisation of the Australian squad is evident from Shane Watson’s chances after his success with the Jaipur team. By extension, maybe Shane Warne, with his unexpected but fairytale adoption as Jaipur’s hero, may have been a better versed guide. The point is, the Australians were so effortless in playing to the cricket league’s city loyalties, they gained so much exposure to India’s bench strength this summer, what more would they need to know?

Really?

INDIAN cricket is in a state of flux just 15 days before the first Test with the national selectors and captain unsure whether they will retain their roles beyond the weekend.

Test skipper Anil Kumble, 38 next month, is under growing pressure from supporters of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 27, to step aside and allow the playboy wicketkeeper to lead the team in all three forms of the game.

Dhoni has impressed some officials with his deeds in the Twenty20 and the 50-overs game, but others are wary of over-burdening a man who had to sit out the entire mid- year Test series against Sri Lanka because of fatigue.

The leg-spinning Kumble is an astute, humble and skilful cricketer who will have a major role to play in the battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The same attributes can't always be said of the sometimes moody Dhoni, who is treated more like a Bollywood star than sportsman.

Dhoni can also be a batting hurricane but he failed to flatten Australia last summer, scoring just 141 runs at 17.62 while Kumble, the third-highest wicket-taker in Test history, responded with 20 scalps in an epic series.

Dhoni would be put under enormous pressure if he was made Test skipper and, perhaps wisely, has this week tried to downplay suggestions he take over immediately.

"I've never given too much thought to these things. There's no point," he said yesterday.

"I'm just happy to be playing the game, playing for the country and enjoying every moment.

"The way I look at it is, I never thought I would play for India but I did. I never dreamt of leading the country but I did. So I don't let such things creep into my mind, more so because it's none of my business.

"The important thing is to understand that we have a tough series coming up against the best side in the world, so we need to focus our energies on that."

While this debate rages on, India's five-man selection panel doesn't know if it will be retained by the Board of Cricket Control when a new system is announced in Mumbai this weekend.

Chairman Dilip Vengsarkar, a former Indian skipper, is set to be ousted under the new legislation introduced to professionalise the selection set-up.

Selectors will now be paid, earning $42,000 per year, but they must have retired at least a decade ago and they are now not allowed to have any other role with the BCCI or its affiliated bodies.

It's hoped this last measure will help to take the politics out of selection, which has tainted decisions through the years.

One man who has been mired in politics through most of his career has been Sourav Ganguly, the former skipper now fighting for survival.

Nice try Jon.. But you are no Peter Lalor.

Dear Pricky,

A catch shall be considered to have been fairly made if

(a) throughout the act of making the catch
(i) any fielder in contact with the ball is within the field of play. See 4 below.
(ii) the ball is at no time in contact with any object grounded beyond the boundary.

The act of making the catch shall start from the time when a fielder first handles the ball and shall end when a fielder obtains complete control both over the ball and over his own movement.

(b) the ball is hugged to the body of the catcher or accidentally lodges in his clothing or, in the case of the wicket-keeper, in his pads. However, it is not a fair catch if the ball lodges in a protective helmet worn by a fielder. See Law 23 (Dead ball).

(c) the ball does not touch the ground, even though the hand holding it does so in effecting the catch.

(d) a fielder catches the ball after it has been lawfully struck more than once by the striker, but only if the ball has not touched the ground since first being struck.

(e) a fielder catches the ball after it has touched an umpire, another fielder or the other batsman. However, it is not a fair catch if the ball has touched a protective helmet worn by a fielder, although the ball remains in play.

(f) a fielder catches the ball in the air after it has crossed the boundary provided that
(i) he has no part of his person touching, or grounded beyond, the boundary at any time when he is in contact with the ball.
(ii) the ball has not been grounded beyond the boundary.
See Law 19.3 (Scoring a boundary).

(g) the ball is caught off an obstruction within the boundary, provided it has not previously been decided to regard the obstruction as a boundary.

So, this is not a catch

Neither is this

(starts at 2:36)

And definitely not this

Signed,

Greg Chappell, MBE.

Thank you Jaideep

Lee also says that India is the best place to begin playing Test cricket. It could also be the worst.

So let's forget nice, shall we, and play like we have in the past. Let's have captains claim catches taken on the bounce, by themselves and their cronies, and have big beefy batsmen challenge wiry thin fast bowlers to boxing matches. Let's also have a lot of screaming at the Aussies when they play.

After all, its all part of mental disintegration, and art made notorious by the Aussies themselves. It can't be employed or not as per their convenience.

Make no mistake, in the unlikely event that they are in a position of advantage, all this 'friendship' will go out through the window.

Its our turn.

LOL!!

THE Australian who most recently orchestrated the downfall of India's champion batsmen with mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss, has revealed the Australians have a similarly obscure but potentially potent weapon in their own touring party — off-spinner Jason Krejza.

Bayliss coached Krejza at NSW before he relocated to Tasmania to make a fresh start to his life and his cricket, and always believed he possessed the ability to trouble top-quality batsmen with his sharp turn and attacking mindset.

Krejza was a controversial selection for India because of his inflated first-class average of 45.46 and the decision to overlook the incumbent, left-arm wrist spinner Beau Casson, but Bayliss yesterday compared the 25-year-old known as "Krazy" with both Harbhajan Singh and Mendis, the man who shot to prominence by completely confusing the Indians in Sri Lanka recently.

Serious clutching at straws by the Aussies !!!

An interesting team...

The composition of the Boards Presidents XI to take on the Australians makes for interesting reading

Board President's squad Yuvraj Singh (capt), S Badrinath, Wasim Jaffer, Aakash Chopra, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Parthiv Patel (wk), Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha, Pankaj Singh, Manpreet Gony, Yogesh Takawale, Rakesh Dhurv.

3 right arm pace bowlers, 2 left arm orthodox spinners. And a captaincy selection that is totally left field.

Now, I am not a mind reader, but I believe the selectors are onto something here.

In normal circumstances, I would have been tempted to play Mohnish Parmar and Amit Mishra as the two spinners with Pragyan Ojha as the left arm orthodox option. Instead, the selectors have gone with Piyush Chawla and two left arm orthodox spinners.

And I wont be too surprised to see the two left arm spinners make the cut, given that the Australians are playing a leggie and an offie in their line up.Nothing like denying the opposition some valuable match practise before the first Test.

The batting more or less picks itself, depending on whether the BP XI want to go in with 4 or 5 bowlers.

4 bowlers and the line up reads

Wasim Jaffer
Akash Chopra
Virat Kohli
S. Badrinath
Yuvraj Singh
Rohit Sharma
Parthiv Patel
Pragyan Ojha
Piyush Chawla/Rakesh Dhruv
Manpreet Gony
Sreesanth

5 bowlers and Virat Kohli makes room for Irfan Pathan.

Either ways, the batting has a solid look to it with the top 6 all capable of playing the long innings ( and keeping the Australians on the field).

The captain's selection, like I said, is completely left field. And I think there is method to this madness.

Yuvraj may not necessarily make it in the BP XI on the basis of form alone - there are atleast 3 other batsmen who are ahead of him in the Test pecking order.

But the BP XI, in its present form, is lacking an enforcer - a guy who will not be afraid to hit the long ball, especially in the middle of the innings when the spinners are on.

And it is important to tonk the spinners ( think Navjot Sidhu against John Emburey in 1993 and Amit Pagnis against Shane Warne in 1998).

And the person best positioned to do that is Yuvraj Singh. If he pulls it off, he is doing his cause a huge favor. If he doesnt, nothing changes.

And the only way to shoe horn him into the side was as skipper - on merit and form, Kaif should have made the side instead.

But overall, I think the selectors have done Team India a hug favor by picking this side - blunt the Aussie attack first up, consolidate in the middle, get the Aussies working on their tans. And in the bowling, variety if that is the way to go, monotony if the thinking is otherwise..

A start...

John Wright, in Indian Summers

The Australians generated enormous publicity, nearly all of it positive.Indians love their own team, but when a major side arrives they know how to make the tourists feel special.There's very little of the media mind games and psychological warfare you get touring some other countries, notably Australia, wherethe welcome usually takes the form of a dismissive spray from a famous ex-player.The media greeted the Australians as if they were cricketing royalty who'd deigned to grace India with their regal presence.

Not this time.

It was a tired-looking bunch that filed in to the hotel, after a flight path that had taken them from Sydney to Jaipur via Dubai and Mumbai.

--

The Ricky Ponting-led Australian cricket team arrived here on Monday afternoon at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport for the eagerly awaited Test series against host India and then proceeded straightaway to Jaipur.

The squad, which advanced its arrival by a week following the cancellation of the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, is to commence the official part of the tour on September 29 once it reaches Hyderabad, according to the Cricket Board.

The squad did not come out of the international terminal on arrival via Dubai and went to the domestic terminal to board the flight to Jaipur.

--

Of all the visits by the Australians in recent memory ( including for the ODIs and the Champions Trophy), this has been by far the most low key entrance.

Its a start.

Now to maintain more of the same.

Food for thought
The tour game
This is not how the script goes

A fitting riposte

Maybe Harbhajan should just say "We don't particularly care about Hayden. We're targetting Mitchell Johnson's batting since he averages 56 against us."

The anatomy of a dispute

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) would not vote blindly with the India-dominated Asian Bloc in the future as the country's cricketing relations with world cricket's powerhouse India reached its lowest ebb in recent times, SLC sources told "Daily Mirror".

This stance was conspicuous at last Sunday's teleconference among all ICC Board Directors to take a decision on the troubled the Champions Trophy when India had insisted successfully that the tournament should not be moved out of Pakistan.

Pakistan cricket authorities have also accused Sri Lanka of conniving with some of the other countries to move the tournament out of Pakistan into Sri Lanka.

Pakistan's fears were justified at the teleconference when Australia and New Zealand were adamant to move the tournament to Sri Lanka.

However India had firmly said that they will stand by Pakistan in the hour of crisis and had insisted that the hosting rights of the tournament belongs to Pakistan and had refused indirectly to re-locate it to any other country despite the agitation by some other countries including the West Indies.

Hierarchy of the Indian cricket board would be in Colombo for the last three ODI's between India and Sri Lanka but will not have any official discussions with SLC, sources added.

The Indo-Lanka cricket relationships gradually turned sour since present SLC interim chief Arjuna Ranatunga assumed office early this year.

Ranatunga criticized the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), comparing Twenty20 Cricket to Maggi instant noodles, initially angering the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which organizes the IPL.

When India lost the first match of the recent three-match test series against Sri Lanka, Ranatunga criticized the Indian batsmen, saying they were in too much of a hurry due to the effects of Twenty20 cricket.

An angry Indian cricket chief Sharad Pawar had reportedly called Ranatunga after the comment and had shown his displeasure.

Ranatunga had also made a comment that BCCI had promised to remunerate other cricket boards for releasing their players for the IPL, but SLC had not received a cent yet. IPL chief Lalit Modi immediately denied the report while the BCCI reacted strongly canceling a 2011 World Cup organizing committee meeting that was to be held on August 8 in Colombo.

Earlier Sri Lanka's interests clashed with BCCI when Ranatunga tried to organize an ad-hoc series against Pakistan to step in when Australia cancelled their tour to Pakistan.

It was to clash with the IPL dates, but the tour was later cancelled when Sri Lanka players protested against the tour.

Ranatunga then unilaterally arranged another ad-hoc tour to England without consulting the players or his own interim committee. The tour is to clash with the next IPL tournament and it has not gone down well with the BCCI, as well as with Sri Lanka players who are not on friendly terms with the former Sri Lanka captain over the issue.

The planned series is now on hold after the cricketers complained to the President Mahinda Rajapakse on the matter when they met the him after winning the recent Asia Cup.

Sources said that sports minister Gamini Lokuge would call a special meeting on August 30 to discuss the issue of the series.

Sri Lanka's cancelled ODI series against India in 2006 had been rescheduled to 2009 earlier but the series has been postponed further due to the IPL. BCCI had promised SLC to arrange it on a later date, but it hangs on the balance due to the issue of the England series.

Analysts said that a tour to England would not yield about US $ two million, but said that a home series against India would earn more than US $ 15 million. SLC which was running on a bank overdraft of over Rs. 400 million earlier this year, just managed to come out of their financial quagmire only thanks to the present series against India.

Meanwhile BCCI has also been angered by SLC choosing two cricketers involved with the rival ICL tournament to give away awards during the present series against India.