Stuart Broad

The dude must be cursed when it comes to T20! In the first T20 world cup, he was clobbered for 6 sixes in one over by Yuvraj singh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l4Hyv0Utrs - courtesy of Flintoff rubbing Yuvraj on the wrong side before that over - and now he misses 3 run outs and drops a catch, all in a crucial last over, against the Dutch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zODrolR8TVc. If he wasn't demoralized back then, it's really hard not to be now. 

On a related note, everytime I start thinking T20 is not here to stay, something exciting happens and proves me wrong. If at all anything is going to be affected by the constant rise of T20, it's the ODIs, definitely not the Tests. I remember when I was India in 2007, after watching India win, there was no interest in the ODI series (against Australia, I think) after that. It seemed like it took forever for every single match to finish. Now there are rumors that there is a rift between thala Dhoni and Sehwag. Yeah right, like there isn't enough drama in T20! 

On another related note, GO CHENNAI SUPER KINGS!!!! 

Norman Days

Of all the places in the world, I decided to come to Oklahoma to do my Masters. Let’s just leave it at that as this post is not about that. For a change, I am going to pour out some of the nice (Cricket) memories. When I was desperately searching for something to do, other than the courses I was enrolled in, suddenly there was talk about a tennis ball cricket tournament! There were three apartment/residential complexes with major Desi presence. I lived in an off-campus place called Essex Square, nicknamed the unofficial Indian Consulate by the International Student Office. There was an on-campus place called Kraettli and finally another off-campus place called Bishops Landing, where the people who usually don’t get an apartment at either of the first two places go.

It was decided that there would be three teams, each representing the respective apartment complexes. Somehow I managed to get into the team that was full of Telugu guys with my nice guy attitude, or so I would like to think. I can vaguely remember that they were one guy short and hastily added me as the last member, since I lived next door to the captain.

On a fine Saturday morning, we all set off on a mission, wearing full hand shirts and jeans with bright white sneakers! As we arrived at the ground, I realized that the ground was indeed a huge parking lot! My knees started aching just thinking about playing on that hard surface, especially since I hadn’t done anything that could be termed as physical activity in the past 6 months or so. Soon we found out that the Bishops Landing team is not going to show up. So, it was decided to have a best of three tournament between Essex and Kraettli. I don't remember much about any of my contributions in the first game, but we lost it. The next game was in the afternoon on the same day. I remember contributing towards an important wicket by taking a blinder of a catch, which turned the match in our favor. We did win that match. As expected, we did lose the final match the next day. One thing I understood was that the people from the Kraettli team were always trying to bully us, whether it was a run out decision or a wide ball. 

During the subsequent semesters I became a little known to the extent of captaining the Essex team. Though there were other teams in the mix with all the new arrivals fresh off the boat, it was always our arch rivals Kraettli, who were stomping us everytime we were in the finals. On one such instance, I was bowling the last over with Kraettli needing 12 runs in 3 balls to win, with the last pair in the middle. The last batsman actually limped to the striker's end. He was a small skinny guy. Obviously, I wasn't taking him seriously. I can bowl at a good pace and if I am not bowling wides, it would turn out to be a good ball. I decided that I should bowl slow balls in order to prevent wides. The batsman was standing there like a baseball batter, with the bat up in the air. I smirked as I was running in and bowled a slow but full length ball. The next second it disappeared over the long on boundary. It was a six. I was astonished at what just happened. There were still 2 balls left and I still had some confidence left that we could win this. Next ball I bowled a little faster and it ended up full again. One more baseball-like swing and one more six over long on. Everyone in my team just stood there for what seemed like an eternity while the batsman was carried away by his teammates! They couldn't believe that I single-handedly lost that game. Even today, my friends make sure that I don't forget that over. 

The next semester we came back with a vengeance (it was about time) and the matches were played in a proper cricket ground that OU had provided for the Sooner Cricket Club. By now I had become a kattaan and it gave me great sense of satisfaction that people would justt stay at the boundary line when I bat. Since we used to play almost everyday with the same people from Kraettli, they knew we had better players than their own. They brought in new players who used to play for the Sooner club - the ones that played league games with the actual cricket ball. I had Ajai, the best batsman I could have, Shiva, who could bowl great leg spin, Roux, who can hit boundaries at will, and Ravi, the other kaattan of the team, just to mention a few of my good players! At the beginning of the game, it was unanimously decided that the captain would not bowl ;), so I donned the role of the wicketkeeper. Even before Kraettli could start scoring, they were all out for some 60 odd runs in 13 overs. One of the highlights of the game was a diving catch I took off of a leg glance. Shiva did well with his deceiving leg spinners. I was literally praying to Sachin that Shiva shouldn't start bowling wides as I very well knew we might as well walk away, if that happened. Ajai and Ravi picked up most of the wickets with their wibbly wobbly medium pacers.

I opened the batting with Ajai. We didn't show any urgency as we took our own time, scoring in singles. By the time we crossed 10 overs, Ajai was gone and Roux was in and he started hitting sixes. Soon, I joined in and finished off the match with a boundary. It was a great win, for which I had to wait for almost 3 years. We even took pictures after to savor the moment and to rub it in on Kraetli's players' sad faces. They had talked a lot before the game, like we should have LBWs, as they claimed that most of the Essex players use cross-bat shots. Well, we showed them what those shots could do! 

Adios Sourav!

No matter what you say about his technique against the short ball, he will always be one of my favorite cricketers. For some reason, I have always liked the cricketers most panned by the critics for technical and non-technical reasons. Examples from the past would include Ravi Shastri (yeah, laugh it up) and Azharuddin. I am going to try to write atleast a few words about Ganguly, without mentioning that clichéd saying about his off-side technique supposedly said by Rahul Dravid.
When you look at Ganguly he doesn’t look even a little bit aggressive. In fact he has this look on his face like a kid who just lost his parents in a carnival. He saves his aggression for when he bats. How many batsmen can step out to a fast bowler and dispatch the ball to the boundary like he does, without any apparent effort? Do I need to say about the way he handles the spinners? Don't even try telling me that he has his fifties and hundreds ONLY against the minnows. Well, what were the other big guns doing in the same match? Someone has to get a big score even against the weaker teams! I cannot think of a much better pair than Ganguly and Tendulkar to have opened the batting for any country and demolished the bowling attack like there was no tomorrow. The statistics prove that. It's was obvious that he slowed down a lot in the past 3 or 4 years, but he definitely had his fighting spirit intact. It showed in his comeback after being dropped from the team.
I had the chance of watching the last day of the test match between India and Australia. It was really heartening to see Dhoni handing over the captaincy to Ganguly after the 9th australian wicket fell. That man deserves it! Not everyone gets to leave on a high note, but Ganguly chose the right moment and the right series. Good-bye Ganguly, we sure will miss your well timed drives piercing a packed off-side. And for one last time, "On the off-side, first there is God, then there is Ganguly". Sorry guys, couldn't resist it!

Cheerleaders and 20/20

My buddy Shiva and I had a very insightful conversation about why cheerleaders look so out of place in cricket, despite the best efforts of Mr.Mallya and the Washington Redskins cheerleaders to make it look as sexy as possible. Here's what I think. American football is the manliest sport you can ever see in this world, with super-sized muscles and testosterone oozing out of every 10 yards on the field. When you watch something so manly, you tend to look for something that complements it, like for example, cheerleaders. They perfectly complete the circle by providing the necessary refreshments in between the grunts, helmet clashes and the pats on the back. Now, if you take Cricket or Soccer, it's not as testosterone-based as football, barring the headbutt by that French soccer player in the worldcup final. The manliest diplay I have ever seen in cricket is Venkatesh Prasad showing the dressing room to Aamir Sohail in the quarter finals of World Cup 1996. So, when you put a bunch of cheerleaders in the gentlemen's game of cricket, no matter where they are from, it only makes it look like a cheap stunt to get some attention.

Never thought I'd live to see this day.

Z Khan b Ganguly 3 (8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 37.

13.1 Ganguly to Khan, OUT, cleaned up, Zaheer missing the line completely for off stump to be pegged back and Ganguly runs off in celebration and Ponting runs towards him and the two embrace ... now thats a sight, eh?

Now, imagine Steve Waugh instead of Ponting. That would have been a sight! The inaugral game of the much hyped and the highly anticipated IPL turned into a joke for the Banglaore Royal Challengers against the Kolkatta Knight Riders. They were royally screwed even before they started chasing, just by one man, Brandon McCullum. I can totally imagine Rahul Dravid walking up to him at the end of his innings and ask, "Thambi, nee saayangalam enna tiffin saapitte?". Cricinfo reports that the Chinnaswamy stadium was at it's full capacity. One should appreciate Vijay Mallya's business tactics in bringing the Washington Redskins cheerleaders for his team, but the same cannot be said about the captain's tactics. Who in their right minds would make Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer open the batting in a 20/20 game, especially when they are chasing 222. Heck, I wouldn't want them to open even in ODIs. But then, who else could have opened? No one in the Bangalore team can exactly terrorize the oppostion bowlers. And, is that the same Sunil Joshi who used to play for the Indian team? Shouldn't he retired by now? I wouldn't be surprised if I see Sujith Somasundar in the next game. It's hard to describe McCallum's innings. Is it a display of pure power hitting or a mere collection of a bowler's nightmares in the form of a batsman. Whatever it was, I am sure Shahrukh Khan is a happy man. Now, I can't wait to see Mr.Dhoni, Mr.Muralidharan and a certain Mr.Hayden in action.

Take that, Aussies!

First things first. Aren't you really glad they put an end to the tri-series? I mean, it's really tiring to even watch that many matches before the final. Now, coming to the main event, KUDOS to the boys. For once we can call them boys, including Sachin (his voice, DUH!) without the exclamation mark. I really didn't think Dhoni could pull this off with a bunch of youngsters. Being a fan of Ganguly, I was a little upset that he was chucked out of the team to pave way for some relatively unknown players. I was secretly hoping that India would lose so we can see the GOD of offside back in action. Well, I guess all good things need to come to an end. I am sure Ganguly was sitting with a towel on his head as India entered the finals.
There was clearly a difference, compared to the Indian teams of the past. The fielding was better, the running between the wickets was better, and when was the last time we saw an Indian team with bowling as it's main strength. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens when Zaheer Khan comes back to the bowling lineup. Overall, they proved that they belong at this level and that it was no fluke. Dhoni was Mr.Cool as the captain. He did the right things at the right time. He also led from the front and showed them all how to bat when things are not going your way. That's not the typical Dhoni I have seen before this series. Of course, thank goodness Sachin was back in form when the team needed it the most. Can you imagine, he'd have close to 60 centuries just in ODI's if he had converted all his 90s into 100s? WOW, I mean, WOW! Those so-called critics, including Sanjay Manjrekar should just shut up and look for a different profession, if being a critic is indeed a profession.
And what's with Hayden calling Harbhajan an obnoxious weed on the radio? He also said, "I don't see them winning any matches!" HELLO!!! You should know when to shut up. Also, someone needs to tell Symonds that he is not special like he thinks he is. Have you ever seen him walk back quietly after getting out? He has to stare at the bowler or say something to him and then cries to the match referee that he is hurt by the bowler's comments. Here's something Symonds needs to memorize: What goes around comes around (and bites you back in your ass)!You know what? None of it matters now, because they are the ones with a huge L on their foreheads.
Finally, GOODBYE Gilly, we will definitely miss you! You even managed to make us laugh in your last match.

WC 2007

I have been wanting to write about the very first edition of the Carribean World Cup, but there was always something or the other stopping me. First I wanted to write about that left arm spinner from Bermuda, Dwayne Leverock, but c2c knowingly or unknowingly stole the post right out of my laptop, hours before I started to write. I am not going to read his blog until I finish this one, so I don't lose the little enthusiasm I have left to write this one. Then, there was that little incident of Bangladesh upsetting India, well I woudn't call that an upset after seeing Bangladesh playing far better than India and Pakistan. There has been a constant nagging from my regular readers (2 to be precise) to put something on the blog and here we go.

When India was knocked out of the first round, I was desperately searching for another team to root for, to keep my cricket interets alive. Then came 'BANGladesh with a BANG' (get it? I can write lyrics for hip-hop), beating South Africa in the Super Eights aka SODHA eights, sparking some interest in an otherwise boring world cup. There is always a pleasure in rooting for the underdog, especially when your favorite team is not playing. You always want to see the minnows bashing the giants. When I say giants, Australia is not included as they belong to a completely different category, which experts are still trying to find a name for. I just hope Bangladesh keeps that fire in them burning all the time and not lose it like India. Then came Srilanka, winning all their important matches, without much fuss. When a team has a bowler, who can take 4 wicktes in 4 balls, you can always expect that team to make it atleast to the semi-finals. So, I started rooting for Srilanka as there was a realistic chance of them beating Australia.

On Saturday I woke up at 7AM (I can hear the collective gasp from the two people who are reading this) to watch the finals, only to be disappointed by the rain. Finally, when the match started, it was trimmed to 38 overs a side. That was the first blow. Whenever the overs are reduced, the team playing first only tries to score as much runs as possible. It wouldn't have made any difference in the way Adam Gilchrist played anyway. Heck, it wouldn't have made any difference to the Aussies even if it was a 10 overs a side match. That's the way they have been playing throughout the world cup. They can't even be termed as bullies, which would also be an understatement. They treat South Africa the same way they treat Bangladesh or Ireland. They don't just win, they totally demolish the opposite team, demoralizing them and making them think twice about playing cricket ever again. Once Gilchrist got going, I always knew, Srilanka was not going to win, barring a miracle innings from Jayasurya, reminiscent to the way he used to play in the nineties. And then, there was that stupid rain again along with light issues, leaving the players to grope each other in darkness. Finally, the best team won! Austalians are playing the game with so much power and dedication that it makes it boring to watch. I vote for Australia to play directly in the semi-final game of the next world cup, no matter how they perform during the time in between.

If ICC is looking for a way to reduce the number of matches in the next world cup, here is an idea: USE THE FREAKING RANKINGS to give first round byes to the first four teams or do something like that and please don't make the second round a round robin league. It took forever to get over. Is it really that complicated to find a way with only 12 teams?