A much needed series win for the Aussies on Monday brought respite to both the team and their fans. After winning the Natwest one day series 2-1, the Australian team jumped to 2nd position in the ICC ODI Rankings. This ODI series was the “battle for Pride” for Australian Skipper Michael Clarke and his team, after the painful Ashes defeat. Mitchell Johnson, 31 years left handed pacer has made remarkable impact with his bowling in this series.
Johnson, who missed ashes selection earlier in this year, played a key role in Australia’s victory in this series. He took 2 wickets in his 10 Overs for 21 runs in the final ODI game, which included his 200th ODI wicket. With his remarkable efforts, Mitchell became 5th Australian bowler to reach 200 ODI wickets after Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Craig McDermott and Brett Lee.
Returning to "DHCF Blog" after
the longest hiatus of almost half an year. It wasn't as if I was too
occupied or had lost interest. It was just that I was lazy to compile a
blog-post and was satisfied with short comments on the Social Media.
Here I am just compiling some of them together; my take on the
Annihilation of Aussies !
Chennai:
India's Opening pair reminds me so much of "Sholay". We have a Viru and a Vi-Jay and then there is a Coin Toss Dhoni NEVER wins !
Exasperated with the Aussie tail bothering our bowlers, Bhajji has declared, "India should ban wickets 8 / 9 / 10 or take them at the beginning of the innings !"
The Chennai pitch where India scored 572 and their last 3 wickets added 200 in less than 50 overs is a bonafide dodgy subcontinental minefield of a track not suitable for Test Cricket !
Question: What did Nathan tell Sachin Tendulkar that upset his rhythm before his fall ? Answer: Saaraa shehar humen Lyon ke naam se jaanta hai !
Virat is now definitely ready to carry the burden of nation. Well deserved century !
Jadeja getting so much turn and 3 wickets on day-1 of a test means just one thing. This test might end before lunch on day-4, if not earlier !
Hyderabad:
The theme at Hyderabad was: Kai Po CHE !
Clarke survived a very close LBW of Jadeja. So Jaddu boy decided to take the law into his own hands and bowled him now !
Clarke gambled by declaring with 1 wicket still left. But Dhoni is a Master of the Gamble: He sent 2 Night Watchmen to Open !
Shane Watson's wife gives birth to their first child. Likely to be named Powerpoint Presentation-1 !
Michael Clarke will get out in all possible ways to Jadeja before the end of this series !
Ravindra jadeja should be immediately appointed Honorary Manager of all Government offices. He knows how handle Clarkes !
Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay have beaten Australia by an innings at Hyderabad !
Of the 4 suspended Australian players, only one is a Man [Usman]. Rest all are Sons [Watson, Pattinson, Johnson] !
If coach were to ask Bhajji to make a presentation, he'd've given him a glittering 'gift wrapped' "Presentation !"
Haddin going to India: He is expected to Wade through troubled waters !
Mohali:
India's Population Control Board must hire M S Dhoni's services. He can eliminate many with his ways at the crease during tight chases !
Mickey Arthur has ordered Phil Hughes to buy a Pup or Dog that can eat his homework before the second innings !
Rajeev Shukla was quoted as, "Shikar Dhawan is the best thing to have happened to Indian Cricket since Rahul Gandhi !"
Inspired from the famous Bachchan dialoguie from "Sharaabi": "Mooche Ho to ho Shikhar Dhawan jaisi, Nahin to naa ho !"
The Hundred Man and the Twirling Mustache
End of the road for the Viru-Gauty ? Too early to write them off but Dhawan, Vijay success means a happy Dhoni sans the Delhi-Bully gang !
Delhi:
Dhoni has won everything in this series except toss !
Jadeja will get two wickets lesser in Delhi test thanks to Clarke !
Jadeja can't give up on Australian Captains. Clarke nahin toh Watson sahi !
Jadeja completes an over in the time that Ishant takes to push back his hair into place !
Will Ojha spend 1 year on 99 ala Tendulkar ?
We soon might have ads like "This ball of the over sponsored by...blah blah" on NEO Prime TV !
I wonder why they didn't send Ajinkya Rahane to open. He has enough experience opening; the drinks bottles !
Indian middle order is like our bureaucracy. They sit in AC and order around. We people know they won't but we still expect them to deliver the goods !
Australia missed Clarke the bowler than the batsman. Jadeja too missed him, but the batsman !
Australia Captain Clarke has ''Declared'' they can take pride over the fact that India couldn't bowl them out 8 times in the series !
No more performance related worries for Mrs. Che Pujara !
Che Pujara's wife is totally satisfied and extremely happy with his performance !
The time for colorful razzmatazz, dancing cheerleaders, local celeb spotting and pithy commentary is here – and yes, you get to watch some high octane cricket too.
The fifth edition of IPL is bound to be more tightly contested than the previous edition, for the simple reason being that the Indian cricketers couldn’t have had a more contrasting build-up to this year’s IPL. Last year, they entered the tournament fatigued and emotionally spent after the World Cup win while this year, they will be itching to prove themselves after a couple of disappointing months on the international stage. The favorites are the usual suspects: Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. CSK will be looking for an unprecedented 3rd straight title, while the other three are still searching for their maiden triumphs. The other teams have a lesser shot, but can take hope from the campaigns of Rajasthan Royals in IPL1 and Deccan Chargers in IPL2, which showed that if you grab the opportune moments, glory is not impossible.
This year, there are quite a few international players who will be making their IPL debuts, and most of them are match-winners in their own right. While the likes of Pollard, Gayle, Kohli, Raina, Sehwag etc are proven IPL performers, it will be interesting to see if these players can make a name for themselves in the biggest domestic T20 tournament in the world. I present to you, the Newbie XI to watch in IPL 2012:
Richard Levi
Country: South Africa
IPL team: Mumbai Indians
Role: Opening batsman
T20 stats: HS – 117, Avg – 30.87, SR – 149.69
As if the Mumbai Indians were not bursting at the seams with batting talent, they have added a new explosive batsman to the team. Levi is one of the most dangerous players in the South African domestic T20s and within 2 games of his international T20 debut, he made the world sit up and notice with a blistering 117 against the Kiwis when the Saffers were chasing 174. A player who is built and strikes like Pollard, is just one more headache for the opposition bowlers. Will he be the new star in IPL 2012?
Tamim Iqbal
Country: Bangladesh
IPL team: Pune Warriors
Role: Opening batsman
T20 stats: HS – 91, Avg – 19.57, SR – 107.15
Its really surprising that a man known for his audacious hitting and rapid fire starts has a modest record in T20s. All that could change, given his recent form and new found consistency. With the likes of Ganguly and Graeme Smith to mentor him, Iqbal would be learning from the best, and will be aiming to make his captain and his countrymen very proud.
