Diarrhea of Runs

First day of Rawalpindi test between hosts Pakistan and England became the first ever test where Umpires offered bad light to bowling team to save them from English batters.

On a day when England scored at 6.74 RPO, Joe Root with 23 of 31 balls was the miserable failure for England with a pathetic strike rate of 74.19.

Pakistan's most economical bowler conceded 5.64 RPO in 17 overs.

England had 4 centurions, with Zak Crawley scoring 4th fastest ton (86 balls) for England. That record lasted a session and a half as Harry Brook did better in 80 balls.

Ben Ducket's hundred was really pedestrian with a strike rate of just 97.27.

4 centuries and 504 runs in a day are new records for Bazballing.

If England were to bat full 90 overs for the day, they could have had a fifth centurion in Ben Stokes and a total in excess of 600.

England players were leaking till yesterday. But once the game began, only Pakistan bowlers were leaking.

England hit 73 fours and 3 sixers in 75 overs, making it at least one boundary every over and 310 runs through boundaries.

Pakistanis taught the English how to wash their arses during diarrhea. English players did a great job of it on ground. Dho Daala !

Finally, the Umpires saved Pakistan from English WMD.

Govind Raj Shenoy for DieHard Cricket Fans

Some History and Some World Cup Misery

15th January, 1894: It was Western Australia playing against Victoria in an Australian First Class match. There was a tree just inside the boundary. According to rules prevailing in those days, batsmen can run "any number of runs" before the ball crosses the boundary.

A ball hit by one of the batsmen got stuck between two tiny branches on that really huge tree. Since the ball was within the boundary, the batsmen started running. They kept running as the fielding team tried routine methods like throwing stones to retrieve the ball. The ball was not going to budge, like Rahul Gandhi refusing to take back his resignation.

Some tried climbing the tree with futility. It was like defeating Modi in an election, impossible. Finally they called the fire engine ladder to reclaim the ball. Over an hour had lapsed by this time and the batsmen had completed 286 runs. Batsmen too were on the verge of exhaustion, having run close to three and a three quarter miles between those 22 yards. That is the highest runs scored of a single ball in the history of Cricket.

Now, what has this tiny bit of history got to do with the ongoing World Cup ? Well, big brother Pakistan play little brother Bangladesh on "Friday" the 5th July, hoping to qualify for the CWC 2019 Semifinals. They have pretty simple equations before them.

For Pakistan to qualify, they must beat Bangladesh by...
311 runs after scoring 350 Runs
316 runs after scoring 400 Runs
321 runs after scoring 450 Runs

India Pakistan CWC 2019 Match: Lessons Learned !

Pakistan PM Imran Khan wrote a long and passionate message on Twitter to motivate Pakistan team. He exhorted them to try and give their best in the India-Pakistan match and fight till the last ball. He categorically asked Sarfaraz Ahmed to bat first if he won the toss.

Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss. He promptly chose to bowl. He was yawning widely while keeping and fell asleep while batting as the asking run rate crashed through the roof. Forget the last ball, Pakistan were out of the game after Amir finished his 4th over.

Even with Duckworth Lewis looming large, they were never in the hunt after the 20th over while batting and each over widened the gulf between DL target and Pakistan score. And then it was all over in the 35th over. There was no fight left.

A disinterested looking India went through the motions when play resumed for those farcical 5 overs with Pakistan needing over 25 runs every over. Even if Dhoni, Kohli, Rahul, Rohit and some Indian fan from the crowd had bowled those 5 overs, India still would have won handsomely. It was a total non-contest, quite like the crowd; India all the way.

So what are the lessons learned for Pakistan ?

1. Sarfraz Ahmed doesn't care for CWC history
2. Damn, Imran Khan's message was in English

The World of Cricket World Cups - Part 6 - 1996 Knockouts

The first of the quarter finals was played in Faisalabad between Sri Lanka and England. It was almost a one-sided affair with Sri Lanka dominating the proceedings. England managed to reach a score of 235/8 with no real contribution from any of the main batsman. In reply, the English were blown away in the storm of Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored 82 off 44 balls.

Such consistently explosive batting at the top of the order was unseen till that time. In those days when 50-60 runs in first 15 overs was considered a good score, Sri Lanka was scoring above 100 runs, which laid a solid platform for the middle order to come in and capitalise on. Sri Lanka won the match easily by 5 wickets with more than 9 overs to spare, thus ending the embarrassing run of English team in the tournament.

The second quarter-final on the same day was the most anticipated clash of the tournament, between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan in Bangalore. Pakistan were dealt a huge blow with the absence of captain Wasim Akram, nursing an injury. Batting first, India got to a good start with Sachin and Navjot Sidhu before Sachin got out for 31 runs. Sidhu continued in the company of Sanjay Manjrekar and Azharuddin and got for 93 runs, missing out on a well-deserved century. Pakistan had control of the match with India having scored 230 runs in 46 overs. This is when Ajay Jadeja came to party and played one the cameos which is vivid in the minds of Indian cricket lovers till today. He scored a brisk 45 off 25 balls, and belted Waqar Younis all over the ground, who gave away 18 and 22 runs respectively in his final 2 overs. India finished at a formidable score of 287/8, with the tail-enders Srinath and Kumble also scoring useful boundaries.

The World of Cricket World Cups - Part 5 - 1996 Group Stage

The 1996 Cricket World Cup was also known as ‘Wills World Cup’, after the brand of it’s official sponsor, ITC. The world cup was being hosted in the Indian subcontinent again after 1987 edition, and the craze and frenzy was unmatched. India and Pakistan had been performing well for the past few years, and they were one of the prime favourites to win the cup on home soil. Pakistan were the defending champions, with an excellent combination of youth and experience. India had found a superstar of their own in Sachin Tendulkar, who success had become paramount for India’s win in any match. It was believed that India’s chances to win a match take a major downward dip if he gets out early, which was proven by the fact that most of Indian households used to switch off their tv sets once Sachin got out. Sri Lanka on the other hand, were on a rise with some very good players rising in the ranks, but still, they weren’t considered to be a favourite to go the distance.

The format of this world cup was changed again, with teams divided in two groups. Three new Associate teams were included this time: Kenya, Netherlands and United Arab Emirates. Group A comprised of India and Sri Lanka, along with Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Kenya. Group B comprised of Pakistan, New Zealand, England, South Africa, Netherlands and United Arab Emirates. Top 4 teams from each group would qualify for the quarter finals. India hosted 17 matches at as many venues, Pakistan hosted 16 matches at 6 venues and Sri Lanka 4 matches at 3 venues.

Controversy: There were bomb blasts in Colombo in January 1996, as Sri Lanka was still struggling with militancy by Tamil Tigers. This worried the touring teams Australia and West Indies about their security, and they refused to go to Sri Lanka to play their matches, even after safety assurances by ICC. As a result, Sri Lanka was declared winner by walkover and awarded 2 points each for these matches, which meant that they virtually qualified for the quarter finals even before playing a match.

Group A

India started off their campaign on a good note against Kenya in Cuttack, chasing a target of 200 with 7 wickets and 8 overs to spare. Sachin Tendulkar played a fine knock of 127 not out. They continued their good show against West Indies in Gwalior, in a match which was dubbed as a

The World of Cricket World Cups - Part 4 - 1992

The 5th edition of the World Cup was hosted by Australia and New Zealand, officially known as ‘Benson & Hedges World Cup’. It was a ‘first’ in many respects:

• Coloured clothing and day-night matches in floodlights with white balls and black sight-screens.
• The format of the tournament was ‘round-robin’, which meant that each team would play the rest 8 teams once and the top four teams would proceed to semi-final stage.
• The World Cup was being held in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time
• There was also a logo commemorating the World Cup for the first time.

The teams were the same from previous edition, with the addition of South Africa, making it 9 teams in total. South Africa was included as a full member nation for the first time, after ending their ban of 22 years due to ‘apartheid’ – a system of institutionalised racial segmentation in South Africa which oppressed the Black, coloured and Asian South Africans.

India started off poorly, losing the opening  match against England, game against Sri Lanka getting

washed out and losing to Australia (incidentally again by the margin of 1 run, as in World Cup 1987). Indian team returned to winning ways in the high voltage match against arch-rivals Pakistan. This was the first time these 2 teams were meeting at a World Cup and the match had its moments of skill and emotions on the field. The most noteworthy effort was of a young Sachin Tendulkar, scoring 54 not out and then taking the crucial wicket of Aamer Sohail, who was playing well and looking set to take Pakistan across India’s total of 216. Sachin was adjudged ‘Man of the Match’ for the 5th time in his career. Little did anyone know at the time that he would go on to win the award for a record 62 times in ODIs! The match is also remembered for the Javed Miandad - Kiran More verbal spat, which resulted in Javed hilariously jumping up and down, visibly irritated by the constant enthusiastic appealing by Kiran More. This match started India’s domination and winning streak over Pakistan in the World Cups, which continues till date. It can only be guessed how India managed to upstage Pakistan in these pressure matches in World Cups, especially during 90’s, when the Pakistan team used to dominate the Indian team comprehensively.

India continued its winning habit by defeating Zimbabwe in next game but crashed out of the contention of a semi final berth by losing its remaining matches to West Indies, New Zealand and South Africa. India finally finished at 7th spot, only above Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Pakistan, on the other hand, had exactly opposite journey. After 5 matches, they were almost out of the tournament with just one win and a match washed out against England (which they would have mostly lost being bowled out for a paltry  score of 74). West Indies had already defeated them by 10 wickets in their first match chasing 221. Pakistan had just lost 2 wickets in 50 overs and still just scored 220 and their bowlers didn’t take a single wicket. The situation was completely hopeless. That is when Imran Khan stepped up in his role of leading from the front and motivated his team. He came out for the toss wearing a t-shirt sporting a tiger and gave his now famous ‘cornered tigers’ speech. His motivation bore fruits and Pakistan won their last three matches, including defeating the undefeated New Zealand. Pakistan were helped when Australia defeated West Indies in the last match before knock-out stages, which made Pakistan finish at number four and make a place in semi-final.

The World of Cricket World Cups - Part 3 - 1987

India’s win in 1983 created a huge market for the game in the Indian subcontinent, resulting in the showpiece event coming to India and Pakistan, sponsored by Reliance. The teams and format were same, but the number of overs were reduced to 50 per innings from 60 overs, as the daylight in Indian subcontinent doesn’t last as long as it does in England. India was drawn in Group A with Australia, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. India lost its opening match to Australia by an agonising margin of 1 run but won all the remaining 5 matches after that to top the Group. India unearthed a new hero in Navjot Singh Sidhu, who became famous as ‘sixer Sidhu’  for hitting sixes at will. Pakistan were the toppers in Group B. This resulted in the following semi-final line up- India facing England in Mumbai and Pakistan facing Australia in Lahore. The stage was set for a mouth-watering Indo-Pak clash in a World Cup final in Kolkata.

The World of Cricket World Cups - Part 1

“It’s that time of the year again, when all of India will be glued to the TV sets for more than a month.” No, this is not a delayed post, I am not referring to IPL. Maybe I should correct myself – “So it’s that time of ‘once in 4 years’ again, when all of India and millions around the world will be glued to the TV sets for more than a month.” Yes, you guessed it right! It’s Cricket World Cup 2019!!! With less than 2 weeks remaining till the start of the tournament, the excitement should be reaching high levels. But the usual frenzy, the mania doesn’t seem to be the same as seen in earlier editions. Maybe the people are still recovering from the nail-biter of an IPL final few days ago.

However, it provides me an opportunity to express my love for the game and rewind and relive the rich history of the World Cup Cricket. Who would have guessed that the very first One Day International match played on 5th January 1971 to compensate for the three days of a test match being washed away, will become one of the most popular formats of the game? Even with the advent of 20-20 cricket in the last decade or so, the charm and the significance of the 50 over World Cup is paramount.

In the first part of this journey of reliving the World Cups, I will share some of the important and historical facts and events, some interesting anecdotes and trivia for the uninitiated from the World Cups of 1975 and 1979.

World Cup 1975
England

Officially known as ‘Prudential Cup ‘75’, this was the first of the showcase events of cricket. It had only 8 teams – the test playing nations England, Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand as well as 2 associate nations in Sri Lanka and East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania & Zambia). India was drawn in Group A with England, New Zealand and East Africa. The interesting fact was – each innings was 60 overs, which continued till 1987, when the 50 over format was introduced.

My World Cup Predictions

According to recent form, we can predict that the Final of 2019 World Cup will be played between Venomous England and Voracious India. ICC World Cup 2019 is the 12th edition of Cricket World Cup, hosted by England, from 30th May to 14th July 2019. The format of the tournament will be a single group of ten teams, with each team playing the other nine teams, and the top four teams reach the knockout stage.

Lets talk about the teams which are capable of making into the Semi Finals.

1. INDIA

ODI Team Ranking : 2

Best Batsmen with ODI rankings : Virat Kohli (#1), Rohit Sharma (#4), Shikhar Dhawan (#10).
Best Bowlers with ODI rankings : Bumrah (#1), Kuldeep Yadav (#7), Chahal (#8).

There is no doubt that India will enter the World Cup 2019 as one of the favourites. In the past, the strength of India used to be batting, but these days Indian bowlers are also efficacious, meticulous and incorrigible. In recent times, India has been in miraculous form. Recently India vanquished over South Africa in their backyard. As a Cricket fan you might be aware of what it takes to achieve this.  If you have stupendous and enigmatic players like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bumrah, Bhuvi, then how couldn't you have the strongest team? Indian players are capable of ravaging any team on their day.

The Twenty17 LineUp

2018 has dawned upon us and the cricketing action continues in full swing with New Zealand completing a demolition of the West Indies and Vidarbha winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time ever. Before the action hots up further, time to take a look back at the Cricketing XI of 2017 (compiled by yours truly).

1. Afghanistan & Ireland get Test Status

After resisting for years, ICC decided to expand the Test arena. And thus we have two new Full members on-board – Afghanistan and Ireland (although both are yet to play a Test). Well-deserved reward for the yeoman service done to the Associate cause. Ireland by consistently upsetting the big teams at the major events and Afghanistan by providing a sporting fairy-tale even the best of Hollywood writers will not be able to script! Now they just need to play a Test each!

2. Women’s World Cup

2017 was the year in which women’s cricket became just cricket! The massive success of the Women’s World Cup provided the ultimate fillip. It also helped that India performed well and finished runners-up in a closely contested Lord’s final. But surprisingly after all the goodwill generated, BCCI hasn’t really cashed in and the Indian team hasn’t played a single game after the World Cup Final!

3. Pakistan 

If there is a team which can be trusted to do the inexplicable, it has to be Pakistan. It was another roller-coaster year (no surprises there!). They won the Champions Trophy in England and managed to lose a Test series to Sri Lanka in their adopted home! But the highlight would be the return of International cricket to Pakistan with a T20 series against an International XI (which inexplicably was given international status) and a one off game against Sri Lanka. Which brings us to…

4. The Sri Lankan Captaincy Revolving Door

Angelo Matthews, Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera, Rangana Herath, Chamara Kapugedera, Lasith Malinga – Seven different men captained the Sri Lankan team across different formats this year. Also showed in the overall results where they were hammered by all and sundry, including a series loss to Zimbabwe, who themselves were coming off from losses to Scotland and Netherlands!

5. Performance of the Year 

Will pick two this year. Marcus Stoinis’s incredible assault against New Zealand, which nearly won Australia the game. And Harmanpreet Kaur’s blistering 171* against Australia in the World Cup semi-finals, probably the defining innings for the women’s game in India.

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.

9 Interesting Facts About Pakistan Cricket

A few deduced facts about #Pakistan #Cricket...

Total population of Pakistan is 183 million.

Male population of Pakistan is about 93 million.

There are about 92.9999 million fast bowlers or ex- fast bowlers or future fast bowlers in Pakistan.

Of the 92.9999 million fast bowlers, almost 57 million are left arm fast bowlers.

There are about 10 or 11 batsmen in Pakistan. Half of them play in or for England or South Africa.

There are about a dozen spinners in Pakistan. Almost all are alleged to have suspect action. Those with clean action play for South Africa or England.

There are approximately one and three quarters of wicketkeepers in Pakistan and all belong to same family. The 'One' ran away to England. The 'half one' has dropped more catches than he has ever held on to. The 'quarter one' is confused if he's a batsman - wicketkeeper or wicketkeeper batsman.

Yet, Pakistan is a fantastic team because they're not English and they don't speak English.

Govind Raj Shenoy for DieHard Cricket Fans

World Cup 2015 - India Have Arrived

India's lead up into the World Cup was atrocious.

The defending champions couldn't win a single game in Australia with key batsmen misfiring, their bowling & fielding were both the absolute pits, and captain Dhoni looked as bored as ever. An easy team to write off as title favorites given this form, particularly when up against the trio of Australia-New Zealand-South Africa who seemed to have all facets of the game under control.

But in the wise words of Bill Lawry "... all of a sudden it's all happening!"

Thrashing Pakistan was no surprise...

If there is one match India will always get up for, it's the opportunity to add to the 5-0 World Cup tally of beating Pakistan every time. At times it has been regarded as more important than winning the cup itself!

The surprising element was just how calmly they went about it.  There was no Sehwag whacking Gul half volleys, Tendulkar carving Shoaib Akhtar for dinner, or Prasad destroying Sohail's stumps. This time it was all patience and precision, patiently building a foundation until the 35th over and smoothly accelerating towards the psychological 300 benchmark.

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

My Love Affair With Cricket

It all began with a trip to Goa, India, in early December 2007. I didn't realize beforehand I was going to a cricket-mad country smack in the middle of a Test series against Pakistan. It turned out to be a vacation that changed my life. Literally.

I became curious about cricket when I saw that the Indian newspapers were full of reports of the Kolkata Test – and found that I didn't understand anything of what had happened during the previous day’s play despite being fluent in English. Despite, in fact, being a translator. Returning home to Finland, I decided to learn enough cricket-speak to understand what was going on. Then I meant forget all about it.

But one thing led to another. As I read cricket reports online, I blessed Wikipedia daily. It has taught me pretty much everything I know about the Laws of Cricket. But it took more than a year of intermittent study, as understanding one term just presented me with more new words. Or, often enough, old words that proved to have entirely new meanings. There are the classics, like duck and beehive, but I was stumped (yes, stumped) by words like crease (clearly not a reference to ironing gone wrong) and beat (as in beating the batsman). And so many cricketing expressions leave big chunks of the action unsaid. Leg before, of course. But also It was going to hit the middle of middle and off. Imagine for a moment that English is your second language (or third, as it is for me) and you are faced with middle of middle and off. Trust me, you start looking for the word you missed on your first reading.

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

Tete-a-Tete with the Stani Army

First of all we would like to thank the members of Stani Army for taking time out of their schedule and talking to us.

Stani Army with Chacha cricket out in Sri Lanka at the 2012 T20 World Cup

  

It is impossible to miss them if you watch any Pakistan match. They turn the match atmosphere into that of a carnival and ensure that there are no dull moments in the matches for the fans present at the ground and the ones viewing on TV. 

DieHard Cricket Fans spoke to them about their inception, activities, planning and much more.  

Quick Preview : Champions Trophy

A mini-World Cup deserves a mini-preview.

Kamran Akmal, immortalized in his trademark pose by Madame Tussaud  in 1780.

Pakistan

Best XI: Farhat, Jamshed, Hafeez, Shafiq, Misbah (c), Malik, Akmal (wk), Riaz, Khan, Ajmal, Ali.
Form: WTWLW
Key Players: Jamshed, Misbah, Ajmal.
Akmal: Kamran
Prediction: They just tied with Ireland and then barely escaped with a 2 wicket win. Sooo... champions, I guess?

Australia

Best XI: Watson, Warner, Bailey, Clarke (c), Voges, Wade (wk), Marsh, Faulkner, Starc, Doherty, McKay.
Form: WWWWW
Key Players: Watson, Clarke, Starc.
Punchable: Watson
Prediction: Semis. Good enough to get past the Kiwis and Lankans in their group and maybe even beat England to group leader.

England

Best XI: Cook (c), Bell, Trott, Root, Morgan, Buttler (wk), Bresnan, Broad, Swann, Anderson, Finn.
Form: LWWLW
Key Players: Cook, Morgan, Swann, Anderson.
Slappable: Broad
Prediction: Semis. See Australian prediction for more.

Ten from 2012

'Tis that time of the year when you think about the time gone by. And then you compile the lists. Here is Slipstream Cricket's list of 10 cricketing memories from the year 2012.

1. The year of Retirements

Dravid, Laxman, Strauss, Ponting, Boucher, Simon Taufel retired from all formats of the game through 2012. And the year  ended with Mr. Cricket Mike Hussey announcing his international retirement at end  of the current Australian season. Then there was the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar from ODIs (only) which led to millions of Indian fans saying that they will retire from watching the ODI game.

2. The year of Michael Clarke

He is the new batting machine. Starts the year with a triple against India. Followed it with a double against Indians, added 2 more doubles against South Africa in a losing cause and then ended the year with a meagre 106 against Sri Lanka. Purple patches don't get purpler.

3, The Gangnam Style

There was a universally loved West Indies victory in the T20 world cup. They won it in style and celebrated in Gangnam style. There was a certain pride in playing for the West Indies shown by their maverick T20 mercenaries showing glimpses of a revival in West Indies cricket. Hopefully it is not another false dawn.

Random Cricket Headlines !

This is Radio Doctoring the Balls 99.99. Cricket Headlines brought to you by Dr. Balls.

Shahid Afridi didn't announce retirement from any form of Cricket today.

Sachin Tendulkar's legs were not trembling when he registered his first vote in the Rajya Sabha because Shoaib Aqtar was not present in the house at that time. Shahid Afridi has confirmed this report.

 Kevin Peitersen has appointed Shahid Afridi as his 'Retirement Coach' and Mohammed Yousuf will act as a Consultant on retirement plans.

On grounds of anonymity, a BCCI insider has confided to Dr. Balls that Gautam Gambhir lost his Vice-Captaincy not on disciplinary grounds. Since GG is actually 2G, the BCCI patronized by Sharad Pawar didn't want to be seen promoting anything even remotely related to 2G.

What do the juniors in Team India call Sehwag behind him ? Virus [Viru S] !

Former Australia Captain Ricky Ponting's Biography has been titled, "Rickypedia". The contents have been kept top secret. But Dr. Balls promises to bring out a preview even before it is written and plans to call it, "Rickyleaks".