9
Anil Kumble

20 wickets with a wicket every 54 balls and 179 runs at 30 do not reflect the entire story. For this series will be remembered for the way Anil Kumble captained the Indian team. After the surprise resignation of Rahul Dravid as captain it seemed for a while that MS Dhoni would be unfairly given the burden of the test team captaincy as well till common sense prevailed and the selectors saw the fact that a true leader had been present in the team all these years. The way Kumble handled himself through the Sydney fiasco, his handling of the young pace bowlers and the decision to bring back Sehwag have all but proved that Indian cricket will have a lot of stability and intelligence at the top for the next twenty four months.

8.5
Sachin Tendulkar:

There are some sportsmen who transcend trivialities such as rivalry, competition and nationality to be loved by fans all over. The manner in which Australian fans treated the little champion is not only an indicator of Sachin’s talent but also of the way he has carried himself over the past two decades. Sachin had a fabulous series with two hundreds and a couple of fifties but the failure to see out the last day in Sydney must still rankle him. There is talk that he might do another tour in 2012 and if he can somehow find the right balance between one-day and test cricket, who can knock the master out of the team.

8
RP Singh

Indian fans owe a big thank you to the coach and staff of Leicestershire. For it was at a short stint in the county that RP Singh was able to hone his action. The results since then have been remarkable. And 13 wickets at a strike rate of 54 in three test matches have proved that he has what it takes to succeed at this level. Whether he can stay fit remains to be seen.

Ishant Sharma

The find of the series! If you haven’t watched the way he troubled Ponting already do it now! Sharma reminds me a lot of Mohammed Asif; tall, lanky and the ability to hit the deck repeatedly. Again, the management and selectors will need to ensure that he doesn’t go the way of men like L Balaji and Asish Nehra or go through the same phase that Pathan did. A real talent and one for the future.

7.5
VVS Laxman

Laxman continued his fairy tale romance with the Australian bowling and the Sydney Cricket Ground. A glorious hundred and a couple of fine fifties defined Laxman’s series. There should be no more questions regarding his slot in the test squad. He has been If only India could play Australia all the time

7
Irfan Pathan

A wonderful return for the poster boy of Indian secularism and diversity. And its so good to see the smiles back. Pathan deserved the man of the match award for his performance at Perth but then the decision of the team to open with him in the final test just showed the incredible pressure that is always placed on his shoulders. His ideal position is 7 or 8 and he should continue there.

Virender Sehwag:

Sehwag could just be the Find of the series II. After a disappointing year, where he was left out of both the test and one-day sides, Sehwag was a surprise inclusion for the Australian series despite poor performances in domestic cricket. The brilliant 151 at Adelaide should just be the foundation for his second stint in international cricket. And the incredible maturity he showed could just mean that the second stint is just as successful as the first one.

6
Rahul Dravid:

Barring a fighting 93 at Perth which proved crucial in the final analysis, Rahul Dravid had a rather forgettable series. The Wall came undone more due to a mental barrier rather than incisive bowling. The series against South Africa will be crucial in order to prove the doubters wrong.

5.5
Sourav Ganguly:

235 runs in 4 matches at an average of 30 does not reflect the kind of form that Ganguly has been in. 2007 was a brilliant year for Dada but the failure to convert starts into big scores ensured that he had a very mixed series. Again, his exclusion from the one-day side is baffling considering the form he has been in but now that the selectors have made a decision, they should continue to back new blood in the shorter formats. Dada’s position in the test side is secure and he should definitely be around for another 18 months.

4.5
Harbhajan Singh:

All the talk post the series will revolve around racism controversy in the Sydney Test. Harbhajan has (rightly) been acquitted of all charges in the light of a lack of evidence (something Mike Procter conveniently overlooked). Harbhajan also played a couple of fine innings under pressure, something that will give him and the team management a lot of confidence. However, his continued lack of success with the ball will mean that there will be opportunities for youngsters like Piyush Chawla. Harbhajan might still be the better spinner but a wicket every 91 , 93 in 2006 and 2007 is enough evidence that he might benefit from a stint in domestic cricket or at the MAC spin foundation in Chennai. However, considering the packed schedule, it might just be that he will have to sort out the deficiencies in full view of the cricketing world.

MS Dhoni:

With the retirement of Adam Gilchrist, MS Dhoni’s position as the best wicket keeping batsman in the world is a lot more secure (South Africa’s Mark Boucher is nearing the end of his career as well). Donning the gloves, scoring fast hundreds and captaining the team is going to take a lot out of Dhoni and it will be up to the next coach and the board to ensure that one of India’s best talents doesn’t go to waste. Dhoni had a good series with the gloves but struggled to score runs and he will be looking to put that right in the shorter format.

3
Yuvraj Singh

A very disappointing first two tests when you consider the fact that Dravid was promoted to the openers slot in order to accommodate Yuvraj. The test hundred in Bangalore seems a long time back now and questions have been asked whether he has the game to step up to test cricket. Personally, I think he does but its going to be a year before he can break into the main eleven. How he performs in the one day series is going to be very interesting to watch.

Wasim Jaffer:

A very disappointing series for Wasim Jaffer and a return of 49 runs from six innings do not reflect his ability. Coming off a great 2007, more was expected from the Mumbai opener. But greater players have found Australia a tough frontier to conquer. Jaffer will do well to learn from Rahul Dravid who had a horrendous first tour of Australia in 1999 and yet came back to conquer the continent in 2003.

Cricket, India Vs Australia | 1 Comment »

In a one-sided final of the 2008 Australian Open, Maria Sharapova won her third grand slam by beating the new world no.2 Ana Ivanovic from Serbia 7-5, 6-3. Masha, as she is fondly called by her fans went through the entire tournament without dropping a set. Sharapova’s victory seemed inevitable after the form she showed in beating world no. 1 Justine Henin (Sharapova won 6-4, 6-0) in the quarterfinals.

Through the final [tag]Sharapova[/tag] was the aggressor controlling most of the rallies. Her court coverage, though not the best in the game, has improved tremendously and coupled with her never-say-die attitude ensured that she had no serious problems in any of her matches at Melbourne. From the beginning of the final it looked clear that Masha wanted to erase the memory of last year’s final (she was ruthlessly drubbed by Serena Williams 6-1, 6-2).

Ivanovic was leading 5-4 30-30 on Sharapova’s serve in the first set, but the Serb was unable to win the set as the Russian fifth seed held her serve confidently. From then on, Ana was left playing catch-up for the rest of the match. Through the final, it seemed as if Sharapova was against an Australian player considering the support Ivanovic received from the fans. Like Kim Clijsters before her, Ivanovic has been adopted by the fans at Melbourne and Ivanvoic’s column through the tournament i an Australian newspaper certainly helped.

Maria Sharapova now has to win the French Open to complete a career slam and if she is playing at this level she has a good chance to better her last year’s semi-final appearance at Roland Garros. This is the second time that Ivanovic has ended up bridesmaid but she has the game to win on any of the four surfaces and could just end up going all the way in one of the three remaining slams.

Australian Open, Tennis | No Comments »

The 26th African Cup of Nations kicks off in Ghana today. Football is one of the few unifying factors in the continent of Africa and the cup of nations is the time when Africans forget their worries, come to watch the matches in a colorful atmosphere and focus on the beautiful game. The atmosphere at these games is usually brilliant with the sounds of drums filling the air.  And, as always, EPL managers are moaning about losing their African players.

It is amazing to how football creates tremendous impact on the lives of the people. It was football players who helped bring a truce between warring factions in the Ivory Coast. These people consider their players as ‘God’ because they have given them hope and motivation to succeed in life and it gives a clear sense of perspective at a time when the word ‘God’ is used to deify undeserving people indiscriminately.

It is good to see that football is being used to reach out to people with regard to their education and health. Also, an increasing number of talented players who are beginning to perform well and earn enough money in top European clubs return to their home nations to help their people in terms of creating awareness about numerous issues.

This year’s championship takes place in Ghana, a team that performed admirably during the last World Cup in Germany. They are one of the favorites since it has stars such as Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari, and has the home advantage. And more often than not the hosts end up winning the tournament. (like Egypt last time around). Ivory Coast will be expected to provide stiff competition since they have the likes of Didier Drogba, the Toure brothers, Emmanuel Eboue, Arouna Kone, among others.

Angola would be a dark horse and its striker Manucho, who recently signed for ManUtd, will be watched closely. Cameroon looks to be on the wane but one can never rule out a team that has a player like Samuel Eto’o in its ranks. South Africa, which hosts the next World Cup in 2010, will hope to perform well and use this tournament as a platform to improve its football.

The excitement and the atmosphere are certain to be electric and I am hopeful that some great football, plenty of goals, and incredible passion among the nations will lead to a successful African Nations Cup. But, how soon do you reckon an African nation will win a World Cup?

Group A
Ghana, Namibia, Guinea, Morocco

Group B
Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Ivory Coast

Group C
Egypt, Sudan, Zambia, Cameroon

Group D
Tunisia, Angola, South Africa, Senegal 

Football | 2 Comments »

The fortress has finally been breached. As expected it was not one or two individuals who stormed the fortress but an entire team led by a very able general.

India beat Australia in Perth after playing some fantastic cricket over four days. This has to be without a doubt India’s most memorable victory overseas. For all the brouhaha about being such a dangerous venue for India, Perth has been kind to the Indian team- Kapil Dev got his 400th wicket here, Tendulkar took one giant step forward in his career when he hit 114 in 1992, Kumble took his 600th wicket on the second day and now we have beaten the Australians.

Consider the odds- full strength (barring Hayden) Australian line up, four dangerous fast bowlers, a fast pitch and coming off a very emotional two weeks after accusations and counter accusations have been bouncing off the two teams. And India had two players coming in after a full year away from the side, a very inexperienced bowling line up, and yet managed to win the game in four bloody days!

Team Performance

What is most heartening about the test win is that almost every player contributed: Jaffer and Sehwag gave us two good starts and Sehwag took those two crucial wickets on the fourth day. Dravid made that fine 93 in the first innings and reminded us why he is considered to be one of the best at the number 3 in the line up. Tendulkar made a crucial 71 in the first innings. Laxman made a top class 79 in the second innings and continued to be a big thorn in the Australian plans.

Ishanth Sharma has been bowling so well in all three test matches he has played that it seems to me that Sreesanth is going to find it tough to get his spot back. His first spell on the fourth day was absolutely top class and the way he tormented Ricky Ponting will be a talking point for years to come. RP Singh was fantastic in the first innings, swinging the ball both ways and pitched in with two crucial wickets in the second.

Irfan Pathan- it is so good to see the smile back on his face. Crucial wickets in both the innings and pitching in with an invaluable 40 in the second innings as a night watchman. The decision to keep him out of the final eleven in the first two matches seems utterly ridiculous now.

And Anil Kumble, at the age of 37, he hits his first 100, he takes his six hundreth wicket and leads India to such a victory. It couldn’t have happened to a more committed cricketer and the way he is going, it looks like he definitely has another two years of test cricket in him. Expect a post about him soon.

The Australian Performance:

The Australian team never really got out of second gear in this test match. Barring Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, and Michael Clarke to a certain extent, none of the other players established their authority in the course of the four days. Shaun Tait looked totally out of sorts and surely there must have been tremendous pressure on him considering all the expectations. One feels for Chris Rogers, Hayden will come straight back into the squad in Adelaide and he will probably continue there for another couple of years.

Ricky Ponting’s dream run over the past two years has ended and it looks like the law of averages has finally caught up with him. The 16 overs which Symonds and Clark bowled on the third day as Ponting tried to catch up with the over rate clearly made a big difference in the final result.

The Final Result:

The Perth test couldn’t have come at a better time for both the test series and world cricket. All the nonsense that has been come out of the Indian and Australian medias finally stopped as everybody started to take stock of the drama that was unfolding at the WACA. More importantly, this victory should give heart to the other teams that Australia can be beaten and beaten at home, but as Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark showed in that fantastic partnership, the Australians fight and fight hard till the last man.

On to Adelaide. Can the Indians do the unthinkable and make it in two in a row? Or will the Aussies revert to the status quo and kill the series at the Oval. It all remains to be seen.

Watch the video of Ponting struggle Ishant Sharma here

Cricket, India Vs Australia, Indian Cricket, Videos | 1 Comment »

Former world chess champion Bobby Fisher died on 17th January in Iceland at the age of 64. The United States’ first and only world champion, he is still regarded as the greatest natural chess player the world has ever witnessed.

At 14, he became the youngest ever U.S. open champion. He became the youngest international grandmaster at the age of 15. In 1972, he became the world chess champion after beating Russian Boris Spassky in a classic cold war showdown. An eccentric person, he refused to defend his title in 1975, when FIDE, the international chess federation did not accept his numerous conditions (64, supposedly) for the match, resulting in FIDE awarding the title to his challenger Anatoly Karpov.

In 1992, he competed against Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia despite the United Nations sanctions on that country, thus alienating the United States authorities who issued an arrest warrant for him. He never returned to the United States.

Fisher always insisted that he was still a world champion because he had lost a title match. He also charged that all matches sanctioned by FIDE involving Karpov and Kasparov were fixed. In the latter stages of his life, he became well-known for his anti-American and anti-semitic outbursts and after the September 11 attacks, in a live radio interview with a radio station in Philippines, he praised the strikes.

He was detained in Japan for a few months in 2005 for allegedly using a revoked U.S. passport but managed to gain Icelandic citizenship and remained in Iceland until his death. A moody and flaky genius, Bobby Fisher will forever be remembered as one of the greatest chess players ever to have played the game.

Chess | 1 Comment »

The first grand slam of the year has just started to get into the business end of the event. Here is a quick update of all the action so far:

Best match of the first two rounds: 

2006 runner up Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis beat 2005 champion Marat Safin in a fabulous five setter- 6-4 6-4 2-6 3-6 6-2 in a tough five setter that could have gone either way. Baghdatis now finds himself in a very promising third round match against Lleyton Hewitt.

Biggest Upset: 

We haven’t witnessed too many upsets so far but the biggest one definitely has to be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s defeat of Andy Murray. Murray has come off a very difficult 2007 and the new year hasn’t started on a very promising note.

Other upsets: 11th seed Tommy Robredo lost to American Mardy Fish and Australia’s Casey Dellacqua defeated Patty Schnyder in three tough sets. (8-6 in the third!)

Some good links:

Why Todd Woodbridge believes Roger Federer is the greatest of all time! (GOAT): Here

The Australian police use pepper spray on fans after racism allegations:  Here

What is an anti-grand slam? Really interesting read and a lot of research! Here

Australian Open, Tennis | No Comments »

As I watched Ronaldo get his first hat-trick for ManUtd against a manager-less Newcastle United, I couldn’t help wonder whether there was any other club which are better masters of their own self-destruction than Newcastle, who despite their claims of being a big club, continue to plunge deep into a quagmire of desperation. Sam Allardyce was the 7th manager to get the boot this season in the Premier League, and despite the fact that they played terrible football, it wasn’t fair to judge Big Sam after just 8 months.

The St. James’ Park stadium of Newcastle has the 3rd highest capacity in England (excluding Wembley) after ManUtd’s Old Trafford stadium and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. Newcastle have a large fan base and that the fans are very dedicated to their club in spite of poor results in recent times can be seen from the fact that home games are almost always full. But the fans have far too much expectations and they seem to forget the fact that they last won a major trophy almost 40 years ago.

The Newcastle manager job has always been a poisoned chalice. Just look at the list of great personalities who have been unsuccessful in the past decade – Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Ruud Gullit, Sir Bobby Robson, Graeme Souness. I wouldn’t blame Harry Redknapp for his decision to stick with Portsmouth. Who in his right mind will take up this job? And, it doesn’t help when foreigners takeover the club, splash money, and then expect returns immediately. Well, not every club can turn into a Chelsea. So, Newcastle will keep looking for their Messiah.

One just has to take a look at ManUtd and Arsenal, which have gained due to the stability provided by their respective boards. Sir Alex has been at ManUtd for 21 years while Wenger is entering his 12th year at Arsenal. The trigger-happy football chairmen of today would do well to remember that Sir Alex did not deliver his first trophy until the fifth year of his reign. And, we all know what ManUtd has achieved in the past decade and a half under the indomitable Scot.

Rafa Benitez seems to be the next on the list of managers likely to get the sack. This is the guy who won the Champions League for Liverpool in his first year. And, when the club owner accepts that he had talks with Jurgen Klinsmann about taking over Liverpool, it clearly undermines Rafa’s position at the club.

At present, it is difficult for managers to operate against a background of constant criticism and incessant speculation about their future. It is important for club chairmen and supporters to realize that the success of the football club on and off the pitch depends on a long-term strategy replete with the right foundations. As Sir Alex would say “Stability and consistency is the basis of success at any club.”

List of sacked managers in 2007-2008 season:

Jose Mourinho (Chelsea)
Chris Hutchings (Wigan)
Sammy Lee (Bolton)
Martin Jol (Tottenham)
Billy Davies (Derby)
Lawrie Sanchez (Fulham)
Sam Allardyce (Newcastle)

EPL, English Football | 3 Comments »

This year’s Australian Open, could just prove to be the perfect start for a special year for Roger Federer. 2008 is the year of the Beijing Olympic Games and Federer has the best possible chance to achieve a Golden Slam (4 slams plus the Olympic gold medal). Here in Melbourne, the defending champion is not taking things easy. His biggest concern right now is his physical condition; he is recovering from a stomach infection and has arrived at Melbourne without any match practice. He missed playing at the Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament.

On the other hand, the draw has been very favorable to Federer. His first real test is a potential fourth round clash against Tomas Berdych, the thirteenth seed. The world no.1 is likely to face last year’s runner-up Fernando Gonzalez or his friend American Davis-cupper James Blake in the quarters. Both Gonzalez and Blake have not been in great form in the tune-up events. Blake lost to Santoro in Sydney International and Gonzalez didn’t fare too well in the Kooyong Classic, losing to Marcos Baghdatis

Novak Djokovic, the current world no.3 is the second favorite for the title. Nole, as he is affectionately called by his fans started the year on a positive note winning 4 matches at the Hopman Cup, in spite of playing with a back problem. He is seeded to face Federer in the semi-finals, but his path is filled with very dangerous opponents and he could face 5th seed, David Ferrer or the hottest player in the 2007 fall- David Nalbandian in the quarters. Nalbandian on his part is fighting his own battle of recovering from his back injury. Djokovic could face Tursunov in round 3 and 2006 finalist Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis or local hope Lleyton Hewitt in round 4.

Nadal heads the bottom half of the draw and would hope to better his last year’s performance, where he reached the quarterfinals. The year has started well for Nadal as the Spanish world no.2 reached the final of the Chennai Open where he was felled by Russian Mikhail Youzhny. The new Plexicushion surface – supposed to be a lot quicker than the Rebound Ace surface previously used – is right now playing slow. It is expected to become faster once sufficient matches are played on it during the first week. If that happens Nadal could have his task cut short. However, he has been presented with a fairly easy draw and his first real challenge could be Andy Roddick, the sixth seed in the quarterfinals – assuming he gets past Carlos Moya or the talented young Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in round 4.

Fourth seed Nokolay Davydenko is seeded to face Nadal in the semis and the Russian did not have an ideal start for the year (only won a match at the Kooyong Classic) and lost in the semis of the Qatar Open to the eventual tournament winner Andy Murray, the 9^th seed here.

Predictions:

Semi-final 1: Roger Federer Vs Novak Djokovic

Semi-final 2: Andy Roddick Vs Nikolay Davydenko

Final: Federer Vs Roddick

Winner: Federer

Best Outside Chance: Andy Murray

Womens Singles:

Justine Henin arrives at the 2008 Australian Open with the best possible tune-up – she defeated world no.2 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the Sydney International – thus establishing herself as the firm favorite for the first slam of the year. Her draw also appears to be easy till the quarterfinal stage, where she is expected to clash with Russian Maria Sharapova, provided the Russian gets past American Lindsay Davenport in round 2. Davenport has been in fine form since her return to tennis last year end, winning three titles- one of them this year at Auckland

Henin is seeded to face defending Champion Serena Williams in the semi-finals. Serena too is coming off a good preparation at the Hopman Cup, where she helped U.S. win the title. Serena would be looking for some serious revenge over the Belgian world no.1, to whom she has lost in the quarterfinals at the last three Grand Slams.

Venus Williams is in the bottom half of the draw and would be looking for her first Australian Open crown. She appeared in the finals once losing to sister Serena Williams in 2003. Venus is likely to face Indian Star Sania Mirza in the third round and in-form Serb Ana Ivanovic in the quarters.

Second-seed Svetlana Kuznetsova had a good 2007, where in spite of winning just one title she has managed to attain the world no.2 ranking. The highlight of her year was her appearance in the finals of the U.S. Open. She is seeded to face compatriot Anna Chakvetadze (6 seed) or 9th seed Daniela Hantuchova in the quarterfinals.

Predictions:

Semi-finals 1: Justin Henin Vs Serena Williams
Semi-finals 2: Venus Williams Vs Svetlana Kuznetsova
Final : Henin Vs Venus

Winner: Henin

Best Outside Chance: Lindsay Davenport

Australian Open | 5 Comments »

The BCCI is repeatedly being criticized by the western press for its appeal against Harbhajan but I strongly believe it isn’t doing enough. The BCCI is an extremely strong organization but it will ultimately acquiesce to the ICC. That’s how it works and the Indian team will have no option but to continue this tour and continue playing in such disgraceful conditions. The BCCI will make noises and try and force the ICC to revoke the Harbhajan suspension but I am not convinced any of it will happen.

Indian cricket getting screwed:

The manner in which the match referee has suspended the Harbhajan Singh without taking into account the fact that he was provoked into making such a statement is frankly absurd. Besides, there is still NO EVIDENCE that Harbhajan made that statement. And why not take the sledge in context of the way the Australians were winding Harbhajan up? If it did happen that is.

Men of honour and true servants of the country like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar will continue to maintain silence and play out the rest of the tour. We as fans will forget all of this and move on to the new games and continue to pump cash into the game. And yet, I get the uneasy we are getting screwed by the ICC. Why does Ricky Ponting, a man who has no credibility whatsoever get such a say in things and somebody like Tendulkar doesn’t?

I won’t be shocked if Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee and Adam Gilchrist put on false PR facades over the next 2 months and start to charm us Indians. The money these cricketers stand to make from Indian sponsorship and especially the Indian Premier League is too important for them to worry about national pride. That is going to absolutely make me sick.

The defeat at Sydney:

Yes, the defeat hurts and its adding to the pain leading to increased outrage. Anil Kumble’s decision to sign an off-field pact with Ricky Ponting is frankly laughable, this is like signing something with your spouse that says ,”When either of us cheats on the other we will warn the other party accordingly .” Are you kidding me ? And with Ricky Ponting?!

The team made us proud by fighting through incredibly poor decisions in the first innings. we fought really hard to take the first innings lead. And we could have very well saved the test match if not for unbelievable decisions on the final day. Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly could have well saved the match. And who the hell made Ricky Ponting the umpire? Men like RP Singh and Ishanth Sharma fought so hard after years of toiling playing in front of 20 people and a dog and yet their efforts ended up in a defeat and not an honourable draw.

Cricket, India Vs Australia, Indian Cricket | No Comments »

You made me proud with your performance in the SCG test. As fans, while we would like to see victories, what we really want is to that you guys tried your best, applied yourselves and gave us good cricket.Australia is hard enough to beat (especially at home) playing eleven men against eleven. But when the men in black and white play for them, victory is almost impossible. Almost all umpiring errors went in their favour but the team still fought manfully and that’s all I ask for.

Dravid, Laxman, Sachin & Ganguly: You have given us such joy over the last few years. We have been quick to praise good batting and even quicker to criticize and bay for your blood at each failure. Each one of you has been written off as being over the hill and you have taken the criticism in your stride and responded beautifully with the bat. Though I would love to have seen atleast one of you save this match, I think to blame you would be unfair given the fashion in which you were dismissed (all except Sachin, that is). Sachin, I love the way you have been batting in this series. The SCG dismissal to an indecisive shot was disappointing. I hope that won’t stop you from playing like you did in Perth, 1991.

Yuvraj, Jaffer: I don’t know what has happened to the form you displayed just last month. I know Australia is a hard place to play cricket but you are picturing demons where none exist. It is disappointing that you haven’t even managed to stay at the crease for some period of time. The absolute lack of willingness to fight it out in the middle irks me. I am not suggesting you be dropped right away but I think the tether is short. There are fighters like Karthik on the bench and you would need to do something with the next opportunity, if you get one. My simple advice: watch how Dravid has played and look at Dhoni’s second innings performance.

Dhoni: It was good to see some fight from you in the second innings of the match. But the shouldering the arms dismissal left much to be desired. Hope to see some better sense and blistering batting in the matches to come.

Harbhajan: I have always been critical of playing you in the team outside the subcontinent because I believe your bowling has lacked consistency. You have rarely shown us glimpses of the 2001 Harbhajan. But I liked the way you bowled for parts of this match: the flight and the bounce, mixing the top spinners well with the offies and not over using the doosra. Your batting style is quite comical really and I am always nervy when you are at the crease. The half-century in the first innings was no different but the determination to hang in (in both innings) was refreshing. I hope you can consistently show us some of the magic we have seen you produce.

R.P. Singh, Ishant: You guys should pat yourselves in the back and make these bowling spots your own. The first day effort from you guys was brilliant, especially you Mr. Singh. But you guys would do well to study the careers of pacers in recent times: Irfan Pathan, L. Balaji, Ashish Nehra (to name a few) and ensure you don’t repeat what these guys did. You have a captain that will back you. It is now upto you to put your heads down and work towards a long India career. Focus on your bowling and fitness instead of the bells and whistles that come with a spot in the Indian team.

Anil Kumble: You have shouldered the burden of bowling India to victory for over 15 years now. In return, we have criticized your bowling, dropped you from the squad, ridiculed your overseas record and tried to take the sheen off your home performances. You have continued wheeling away and picking up wickets in the bagful. In this match, you again displayed the grit, determination and talent that helped you recover from each of those setbacks. In addition to the bowling and batting, I admired the way you made no excuses at the end of the match, refusing to be drawn into controversy on the umpiring. Anil, take a bow. I can’t think of a more dignified person to lead this Indian team.

Guys, I’m realistic enough to realize that we will probably not be even tying this series. I just hope for two more performances like the one I saw in this match and if we still lose, we know you guys tried your best. The Aussies know that without the umpires, this game could have gone any which way. They will try to stamp their superiority coming hard at you in the next game at Perth. Show them that you pack a few punches too.

Best,

Prof

What did you think of the match? Did umpiring decisions cost us or were Australia simply the better team?

Cricket, India Vs Australia, Indian Cricket | 3 Comments »