Showing posts with label Nishant Kumar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nishant Kumar. Show all posts

Friday, April 8, 2016

Rally Around the West Indies


World T20 Finals: Last Over, 19 needed - Ben Stokes bowling to Carlos Brathwaite
6, 6, 6, 6 

The Champion song rang across the Eden Gardens as West Indies cricket soared. The men became the first team to win the T20 World Cup twice. Just hours earlier the women had won their maiden title. And a few weeks back the Under-19 team had won a world cup of their own. It was time for celebrations. Even the most partial cricket follower was soaking in the happy feeling of the West Indies’ victories. 

Everything seemed perfect in the West Indies Cricket world. Until their skipper, Darren Sammy dropped in a harsh reality check. In an emotional victory speech, he described the struggles his team had faced, mostly from their own board. 

"We started this journey … people were wondering whether we would play this tournament. We had a lot of issues, we felt disrespected by our board .... We had a new manager in this tournament in Rawl Lewis, he had never managed any team before. He came here, we were at a camp in Dubai, but we had no uniforms, no printed … he left Dubai, went to Kolkata, that's where he started. The trouble he went to, to get us in this uniform ……Lastly I really want to thank the heads of CARICOM, throughout this tournament they have been supporting the team, we've got emails, we've got phone calls,… and I'm yet to hear from our own cricket board. That is very disappointing......For today, I'm going to celebrate with these 15 men and coaching staff. I don't know when I'm going to be playing with these guys again because we don't get selected for one-day cricket. We don't know when we're going to be playing T20. So this win, I want to thank you my team, I want to thank you coaching staff … everybody know West Indies are champion!" [Full Text]

India at the 2016 T20 World Cup


Ladies first

This was a golden opportunity squandered by the Indian team to hog some of the limelight at the biggest stage. A good performance at home would certainly have provided a big boost to women's game in India. But being eliminated in the group stages with just one win from 4 games didn't help the sport's cause. 

The team had a good run-up to the tournament. A maiden series win in Australia was followed up with a series victory at home against Sri Lanka. So a semi-final appearance was the bare minimum expectation. However, at the crunch time they came up just short. 

A big victory against Bangladesh was followed by 3 close losses against Pakistan, England and the West Indies. They might have been done in by the rain against Pakistan but they missed multiple run-out chances which might have kept the D/L score in their favor. A dropped chance at the most crucial moment (2 wickets left with 2 runs required) saw England scraping through while against West Indies, the team fell short by 3 runs. All three losses were narrow but the India team finished up second in all three. 

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Farewell Virender Sehwag


Image result for sehwagBy now, many things would have been written about the man who revolutionized the art of batting by keeping things simple. The ball was meant to be hit. And gaps in the field were not only along the ground but also over the fielders' heads. These were some of the Sehwag basics which made him the endearing success that he was.


And he liked to keep things honest. Whether calling Bangladesh an ordinary side or saying, everyone except Sreesanth had a good game (World Cup 2011), he would always call a spade a spade.

The greatest tribute to Sehwag, the batsman. Everyone used to say that a pitch should be judged only after Sehwag gets out. The true nature of the pitch would come up only after the next batsmen who came to the crease. And given that  it was the maestro duo of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar who came in next, makes this even more special. After all Sehwag would play his own way regardless of the surface and the bowling attack.  And his sheer presence in the line-up often prevented opposition captains from setting aggressive 4th innings targets for India.

My favorite Sehwag memory: Well, there are lots to choose from but my favorite one is his refusing to take a single while batting on 199 in order to protect the number eleven and extend the score further (Match score). What a refreshing change in a milestones obsessed sport.

After all as he said in farewell note"I also want to thank everyone for all the cricketing advice given to me over the years and apologise for not accepting most of it! I had a reason for not following it; I did it my way!"

Farewell Virender Sehwag! You certainly did it your way.


Nishant Kumar for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Nishant on Twitter @NishantSKumar

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Farewell Zaheer Khan

"The toughest call in a cricketing career is when one has to walk away from the game itself. You almost 'will' yourself and want to push that few, extra miles but then the body, after nearly two decades, decides not to respond."

These were the opening words of the farewell statement by Zaheer Khan, without doubt one of India's greatest fast bowlers and cetainly the best left-hand pacer the country has produced.

The numbers first - 610 wickets in 92 Tests, 200 ODIs, 17 T20Is in a career spanning 14 years. These are numbers to be proud of. And to this add being a member of a World Cup winning XI. But sheer numbers cannot define his contribution. He was the leader of India's pace attack and its de facto bowling captain over a large part of his career. And he left quite a few memories to cherish for the Indian fan. Here are my favorite ones.
  1. The yorker to knock out Steve Waugh's stumps in the ICC Knockout event in Kenya in 2000. What a wonderful sight it was to see a yorker delivered by an Indian fast bowler.
  2. 4 consecutive sixes off Henry Olonga to end the innings against Zimbabwe. Yet India contrived to lose that game.
  3. The jellybean incident against England which riled him up so much that he proceeded to destroy the English batting and take India to a rare away series victory.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Ashes Promo - "We Didn't Start the Fire"

The Ashes maybe nearly a month away. And both England and Australia have to complete other tours before they take on each other in the latest edition of one of the oldest rivalries in international sport. While we wait, Sky Sports has come up with this promo. 


They have reworded Billy Joel’s lyrics of “We didn’t start the fire” and giving voice are the likely series commentators Holding, Atherton, Hussain, Warne, Lloyd. The whole montage is brimming with Ashes history. 

Here are the lyrics 

Donald Bradman, Peter May, At The Oval, Final Day,
Little Urn, Bob's perm, W G Grace
Walter Hammond, Mitchell Johnson, At The Gabba, Big Decision
Chris Broad, Ponsford, Riiiiiiiiiichie Benaud
Larwood's Bodyline, Athers slips on 99
Laker, Jones' dive, Gower flying in the sky
Baggy Greens, swing/seam, Warnie's ball in '93
Ricky Ponting, Pratty gets him, Freddie makes the bails fly!
We didn't start the fire... 
10, 11 whitewash, Nasser and that toss
Tubby Taylor, Sher-minator, Brigadier-block
Swansongs, follow-ons, Headingley '81
Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Harmy's shocking first ball
Brett Lee, on his knees, Aussies got a winning team
Davy Warner, third man, Andy Flower's England
John Snow, final Test, Manchester, yes, Chef!
Thommo, Lillee, fierce pace, Bumble smacked in that place...
We didn't start the fire... 

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

World Cup 2015 - Quarter-Final Predictions

The battle-lines are drawn. The Quarter-finalists identified. 7 games remaining, 7 teams to be knocked out. 1 winner. On the eve of the first of the 4 Quarter-finals, its Divination time – the time to predict the teams still left standing after four days of hopefully intense battle.


Quarter-Final 1 – South Africa vs Sri Lanka

The foremost question - Will South Africa choke again? AB de Villiers has said they won’t. History suggests otherwise.

It’s an intriguing clash between two teams with very evenly matched records against each other. Both are coming in with 4 wins each. South Africa have a suspect record while chasing and a tendency to not make through to the knock-outs. Sri Lanka on the other hand have regularly been reaching the last stages of ICC events. They also have been losing players through the tournament and have a question mark on their bowling.

The toss will be crucial. Both would want to bat first and avoid the scoreboard pressure while chasing.

Prediction – Sri Lanka to win toss, bat first, put up a fairly decent total. South Africa would begin the chase in earnest, then falter, and asphyxiate, resulting in a Sri Lankan victory.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - 17th Feb

6 down.43 to go. This World Cup is going on its own leisurely pace, which gives the followers time to (a) over-analyse the events, (b) get on with their lives or (c) simply forget that the tournament is still going on. So before I forget, here is me recording my thoughts.
  • The scheduling is weird. 1 day game each day, that too held in New Zealand. So most likely by the time you get up the games are already over. Why couldn't we have had two games each day. Would have easily dropped one week off the schedule. Also the Kiwis have played their second game while most others are yet to play their first.
  • In cricketing news, Ireland beat West Indies. Ireland have been focused on breaking into the big league and want to play Test Cricket. Also they have been beaten 3 Test nations in the last two World Cups. While West Indies is focused on infighting between the players and the Board. So given the context, Ireland's win was certainly no upset.
  • Mixed emotions for Simmons family. Lendl scored a heroic back to the wall century, but Uncle Phil who is coaching the Irish had the last laugh.
  • There was a certain calmness about the Irish chase which was in total contrast to the Kiwi's chase against the Scots. It was an odd sort of game. New Zealand chased down the small Scottish total with 25 overs to spare, yet somehow losing 7 wickets also and giving their net run rate a healthy boost. They never looked in any danger of losing, though the final victory margin may suggest otherwise.
  • Early thoughts on the World Cup so far. 300+ scores are becoming monotonous. And the bowlers are being slaughtered. This 4-fielder rule is killing the bowling sides, specially with boundaries pushed back.
  • 6 games gone and not a single real close one so far. There have been intriguing ones and some nervous moments here and there, but no down-to-the-wire, all-three-results-are-possible kind of finish.
  • Prediction Time - Afghanistan to upset Bangladesh with the help of their pace attack, while Zimbabwe to easily beat UAE.
And closing today's episode with this video featuring Sri Lanka and The Lion King :)


Nishant Kumar for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Nishant on Twitter @NishantSKumar

Monday, February 16, 2015

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - 15th Feb

Today was the big one. The clash of the neighboring continental giants and fierce rivals. After a spirited show, Zimbabwe came up short against their more fancied rivals. 
  • Zimbabwe have already surpassed expectations. And are now looking a strong contender for a knock-out berth.
  • South Africa stuttered initially but their depth in batting rescued them from a precarious situation into an unbeatable one.
  • David Miller & Jean Paul Duminy are now the proud owners of the record for the highest 5th wicket partnership in ODI history. A record which went by almost unnoticed because all eyes were on the other game going on in Adelaide.
Which brings me to the real game of the day.
  • It was supposed to be the biggest game of the World Cup, yet inspite of the few nervous moments, India walked away with their biggest ever World Cup victory against Pakistan. 
  • 6-Nil. इस बार भी नहीं आया मौका।
  • India still not managing to make full utilization of the end overs. This was something of a bugbear for India last time around as well.
  • DRS controversy made another appearance. Again its not the system, its the people handling it and their awareness/ignorance of the rules regarding its usage which is creating all the trouble.
  • Sohail Khan appealed for LBW on his very first delivery to Shikhar Dhawan. The umpire signalled not out and Sohail immediately called for DRS while Misbah rushed to recall the DRS review. Fortunately the umpire listened to Misbah as the replay showed the ball hitting Dhawan bang in the middle of his bat. 
  • Yasir Shah can easily pass off as Lionel Messi.
  • This Indian habit off slowing down when approaching a century (e.g. Kohli today) could land us in major trouble in the future. 
  • Sir Jadeja's legend got enhanced further when he strolled for run and Pakistan had ample time to run him out, not once but twice and both times they missed.
  • Misbah left last man standing. A scene oft-repeated in the past few years, specially against India.
  • A for Akmal, B for Ball, C for Catch, D for Drop, An Akmal putting down a catch, another recurring theme for Pakistan
  • And finally a joke to sum up Pakistan's misery

Friday, February 13, 2015

World Cup Preview - Group B

Today's post presents short preview of the Group B Teams. A group with the more likelihood of upsets and 6 teams in contention for the 4 knock-out berths.





Image result for group b cwc 2015India
India are the defending champions and have a marketing campaign running on the line "Won't Give It Back". They have also been in Australia for nearly 3 months now in the course of which they have won a grand total of 1 game, a warm-up against Afghanistan. Recent form shows an explosive but misfiring batting lineup combined with a pop-gun bowling attack and some not so good fielding. The schedule has the tougher games first and the easier (on paper) games later. Difficult to see them go far in the tournament.
World Cup Aim - Wont Give It Back. 

South Africa
A fantastic batting lineup backed up a deadly bowling attack. On paper and form, they should be the favorites to win the World Cup. But then this is South Africa we are talking about. They should have won the World Cup at least twice and made it to the finals at least 4 times. But in reality they have been finding new ways of losing out in the first opportunity. Form suggests a first World Cup victory. History suggests they will be knocked out in the quarters. 
World Cup Aim - Get rid off the Chokers tag

World Cup Preview - Group A

The World Cup is almost there on us. And like the teams, the fans are also slowly but surely warming up to the event. Now, while we wait for the real event to start, Slipstream Cricket presents short previews of each of the participating teams. 

Image result for group A cwc 2015
Covered in today's post are the teams in Group A.


Australia

Australia are the hosts, have the best knowledge of the local conditions, a good attack, an in-form batting line-up. But they also have to resolve their captaincy conundrum. Their is a good chance the captaincy might be passing between an unfit Clarke, the less in-form Bailey and the heir apparent Steve Smith. The Aussie selectors may have over-gambled on this matter. Also there will be shadow of the tragic events earlier in the season.
Prediction - Should make the quarters easily and their going all the way won't be too much of a surprise.

New Zealand
They are the co-hosts, have the best local knowledge, a super pace attack for the conditions with good spin support and a batting line-up in the form of their life, and they are the masters in sledging (refer last World Cup Quarter-finals against South Africa).
Prediction - Should make the Quarters easily. My pick for lifting the Cup.

Friday, February 6, 2015

My Greatest World Cup XI

The World Cup fever is now finally getting on. While we wait for the real thing to start on February the 14th, its time to reminisce about the World Cups gone by. And here is me indulging in some typical fanboy hobby of picking a Fantasy XI. Following is my selection of the Greatest XI from the ICC Cricket World Cups. 



The selections have been made on the following criterion.
  • World Cup performances - multiple World Cups count more.

Monday, January 5, 2015

India's Probable World Cup Squad


2015 has arrived. And with it is coming the World Cup Down Under. There are a few weeks to go but the selection deadline is now imminent. January 7th is the deadline for the submission of the final teams. There may still be some changes on account of injuries and other issues though. India's selectors have already picked a 30 man probable squad and this is going to be pruned down to the final 15 on January 6th. While waiting for the date to arrive, Slipstream Cricket has decided to make its own selections from the probables squad.


This was the squad picked by the selection panel.
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Twenty14 Line-up

Presenting the cricketing line-up to remember the year Twenty14 A.D. by :

1. Phil Hughes, 63 Not Out
The cricketing world was united in grief at the shock demise of Phil Hughes after being hit by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield game. 63 not out and 408 acquired new importance in cricket. 


2. The West Indies Mess
The West Indies have been in a mess for years. But somehow they managed to reach even lower depths. Contracts disputes between the players, board and the players' association led to an unprecedented pull-out from the middle of a tour to India. Given all the financial troubles they are in, angering the cash-rich and supremely powerful BCCI seems to be a step of truly messed up minds. Wonder what new level they will reach next year.

3. Old is Gold
Younis Khan & Misbah-ul-Haq, combined age of 80 years, led the Pakistanis to a 2-nil whitewash of the Australians, their first series victory in over twenty years. Younis reeling off one century after another while Misbah became the first ever 40 year old to score twin hundreds in a Test.

4. The Beard Rules
Hashim Amla, Moeen Ali, Anton Devcich - need we say any more. Not surprising as the father of modern cricket, Dr. W G Grace had a magnificent beard of his own.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Mindboggling numbers from the Australia vs Pakistan Test Series, 2014

Australia vs Pakistan Test Series, 2014

9 - Number of centuries scored by the Pakistani batsmen in a 2 Test series.
21 - Number of years that the previous 9 Pakistani Test centuries against Australia took.

Shows the level of complete dominance and break from history that this series has been for Pakistan. They have now won 3rd successive Tests against Australia after having lost the preceding 13 in a row against them.

Unrelated but comparable factoid.
6 - India's medal haul in 2012 London Games
7 - The number of previous Olympics (from 1984 - 2008) in which India got 6 medals combined.

Nishant Kumar for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Nishant on Twitter @NishantSKumar

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Forgotten XI... Or Maybe Not


The following is an eleven comprising of Indian cricketers whose names are likely to be remembered only by either their own families or the most diehard of cricket followers. Like any "fantasy XI" I have picked the ones which I recall from my cricket watching career. There can be quite a few alternative XIs.



  1. Iqbal Siddique - In his debut Test for India, opened the bowling and batting. Also hit the the winning runs. And never played for India again. 
  2. Sujith Somasundar - Opened for India in 2 ODIs with a lineup comprising of Tendulkar, Dravid, Azhar, Ganguly and Ajay Jadeja following up. His failures lead to India experimenting with Ganguly as Tendulkar's opening partner and the rest as they is history.
  3. Gagan Khoda - Scored 89 in his 2nd ODI earning him the Man of the Match award. And never played for India again. Just plain bad luck. 
  4. Amay Khurasiya - In contrast to Khoda, An attacking 50 on his ODI debut earned Khurasiya place in the 1999 World Cup squad. The innings warded off competition from the likes of VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag. A few games later he was dropped for good.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

The West Indies - The End is Nigh



Its been just over a week since last week's dramatic and abrupt end of the West Indies tour to India. In the mean time thousands of articles have probably appeared on the web talking about the decline in everything related to West Indies cricket. Here is one more on the same.


In my opinion, the time has come for the West Indies as a cricketing team to close down.

This abandonment could be the straw that broke the camel's back. The player-board standoff has been running for years which not surprisingly has coincided with the general decline in West Indies cricket. From being the top ranked country and a widely admired opponent, they have now been sitting close to the bottom in terms of rankings. Threats of strikes, withdrawals, dubious droppings, stand-offs between individual players and the board do not augur well for the making of a team. But walking out in the middle of a tour against the most powerful cricket board is taking matters too far. The abandonment will have far-reaching repercussions. BCCI has already suspended future bilateral tours and other national boards and sponsors are extremely wary. There are even doubts on their participation in the coming World Cup.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

RIP Norman Gordon


Norman Gordon (South Africa) (1911-2014)

Cricket's first and till date only ever centurion against time bids farewell.

Well played Sir.

The longest lived Test cricketer - a record which will stand for some time.


Nishant Kumar for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Nishant on Twitter @NishantSKumar


Wednesday, August 20, 2014

India in England, 2014 - Numbers Don't Lie


Chart above shows the Test-by-Test batting average comparison for Pataudi Trophy. And while it is often said that numbers hide more than they reveal, the above chart tells the entire series story.

Monday, August 18, 2014

India in England, 2014 : Can't Bat, Can't Bowl, Can't Catch, Can't Run



After the 2nd Test in Lord's, England was the team in disarray. Cook's captaincy was in question, Prior had taken a possibly career-ending break, the attitude and form of many senior players was in question, the batting had been found out by India's seam bowling, there was no proper spinning option. All signs pointed to a prolonged summer of agony for the English. While the Indian  fans exulted. This was going to be the balm of the pain caused by the summer and winter of 2011. 

And then...

Friday, June 6, 2014

Mankading & "Spirit of Cricket"

Mankading - the act of a bowler running out the non-striker batsman before bowling the ball has always been a source of needless controversy. 

In fact for some weird reason it has become a test of the "sportsman spirit" of a bowler who does not do the "Mankad". Cortney Walsh has received a medal for not running out Salim Yousuf. But if the bowler does Mankad, like Sachitra Senanayake did to Jos Buttler, all hell breaks lose. The bowler and the fielding captain are accused of having destroyed "the spirit of cricket" - the greatest crime imaginable in the gentlemans's game.

Well here are my two bits on Mankading.
It is within the laws of the game. In fact there is a specific law for the situation, hence no ambiguity is possible. Law 42(15) states - "The bowler is permitted, before entering his delivery stride, to attempt to run out the non-striker. Whether the attempt is succesful or not, the ball shall not count as one of the over. If the bowler fails to run out the non-striker, the umpire shall call and signal Dead ball as soon as possible". 

So if there exists a specific law which states what are the consequences of a bowler breaking the stumps with the non-striker outside his crease, then why the hue and cry? The "spirit of cricket" has already been murdered many a time (Fixing, Corruption, Walking/Not walking etc.) by different sets of players, officials and administrators. Guess that is why it exists in "spirit" form.

Here the batsman was wandering outside the crease and with run-out decisions sometimes become a matter of TV frames, then it does become an advantage for the non-striker to back up as far ahead as possible. In this case, Buttler had been warned twice by Senanayake in his previous over. (Which is where the matter of cricket's spirit should rest, which seemingly is not the case). And when Buttler was found wandering out again he was run-out. A result very rightly deserved. 

So the right decision was taken on action justified and well within the laws and more importantly the previous over Senanayake having shown the proper "spirit" also, guess Buttler should have nothing to complain about. Don't see any justifications for the hue and cry it has raised.  Nor do I see why the batsman is being portrayed as a victim, when its his own actions which are to be blamed for his fate.

To me its clear, Senanayake and the rest were well within their rights to run-out Buttler. And no harm was caused to the so called "spirit of the game".

Closing Notes - a couple of interesting exhibits on Mankading
Exhibit A - The original report on Mankading