Hang on; The Show goes on !

Cricket is a strange game where amusing things keep happening. So it is neigh say impossible to remain away from Cricket for long; even when India play Sri Lanka in a 21 match bilateral ODI series soon after the IPL. So much fun on the run and how could SPun Doctor miss all the pun ?

So here is my 11 for the week that was or almost.

1] Run Gauty Run: First of all Gautam’s running between wickets has become a Gambhir problem for India. Every time he sets out for a run, he seems to run out of ideas. He needs to contact Abhishek Bachchan immediately to get an idea. GG is just 2G he needs to upgrade to “What an !dea 3G”

2] Limited Sehwagging: Virendar Sehwag probably needs to be reminded of a Test match being played over 5 days and not 20 overs. He last played competitive Cricket for Delhi Daredevils and since then hasn’t seen the 21st over yet. He also has become the most stumped player of all times.

3] No Es-Cape Town: South Africa and Australia collectively lost 20 wickets for 143 runs at one stage during the first test in mildly testing conditions at Cape Town. Australian collapse looked more like West Indian. And short little Raina and other Indian batsmen are supposed to be weak against pace and short pitched bowling.

4] Taylor for the minnows: Zimbabwe on the other hand have shown tremendous guts in their come back to test Cricket. The last day of the Bulawayo test was a great day for Test Cricket in spite of the fact that the underdog lost. It was a Taylor made chase till Brendon lasted. All stitches fell off after his fall.

Taylor played Captain's knock !

5] Capital Punishment: India have been quite benevolent all these years allowing the likes of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru to live luxuriously at our expenditure and going on postponing the gallows. But for once, Team India escaped from Capital punishment at the national Capital thanks to meek capitulation by West Indies and some special bowling by Ravichandran Ashwin. Conceding 95 runs on first innings against stronger teams would have meant a fifth straight test defeat for Dhoni and Co.

6] Royal British Certificate of Merit: We the Indians somehow need the British to certify our products and prodigies even six decades after they left the shores. It was the Surrey Manager Chris Adams’ certificate that gave Ojha a new lifeline and he has done well to hang on. But has the hangman’s noose fallen elsewhere on a certain Turbanator’s career ? 

7] Complete Retirement Plans: Shahid Afridi has made a awesome welcome back to international Cricket at the tender yet ripe age of 25. When he decides to retire this time, he promises to retire completely ! And until he retires completely, we should not consider his retirement as full and final. We hope he will join Mohammed Yusuf in the retirement home once he does so finally. Or will he ? 

8] Down with the Count Down: Sachinists all over India, abroad and on the Mars should remember one thing. He has managed to score the hundredth run ninety nine times in the past two decades. He can as well do it the hundredth time sooner than  later. But to do so, he needs to score those ninety nine runs first. At least keep peace till he enters nineties. So can we please relax and let him relax too ? And for TENdulkar’s sake, can we begin the count down from Ten rather than Hundred ? 

9] Spots Fixed Butt there still is an appeal: While the Pakistani troika of Butt, Asif and Amer have been fixed to their spots in the UK prison by stringent laws, Pakistan have steamrolled a much stronger on paper Sri Lanka in their home series being played abroad. Pakistan Cricket never runs out of surprises, while the shamed trio is busy making a different kind of appeal ! 

10] Cricket Bravery award of the year:  Siddle and Lyon for saving Aussies from the ignominy of equaling the lowest ever score in a Test innings and also for more than doubling the score from where they came together. So shocked were the South Africans by the Australian batting display that even Morkel failed bowl a single no ball or a wide ball.

11] A Cricket Trivia question: How many times has a number 11 batsman top scored for his team in a Test innings ? Australia achieved the distinction at Cape Town. While the former greats lose sleep, the haloed Baggy Green ain’t green no more !

With a lot more Cricket coming up, SPun Doctor hopes to ‘come back’ with more pun on the run. That honestly doesn’t mean retirement and come back.

Govind Raj Shenoy aka SPun Doctor for DieHard Cricket Fans

Imran Tahir and the Best Test Debut Ever!

Cleaned Up! Tahir on test Debut

The test match going on at Newlands, Cape Town at the moment will be remembered for many things, but being Imran Tahir’s test debut for South Africa is unlikely to be one of them, unless South Africa lose 8 more wickets on day 3 and the former Hampshire spinner is required to score the winning runs.

Unlikely, but hell, crazier shit has happened today!

Australia resumed on day two with captain Michael Clarke a ton to the good and his side in a position to pass 250, the minimum Clarke had deemed as acceptable at stumps on day one.

Clarke took Australia to 285 all out and seemingly “in the match”.

Tahir bowled a handful of tidy enough overs but it was other debutant, Vernon Philander who took the plaudits taking three wickets whilst Dale Steyn’s ferocious fast bowling had the hyperbole-merchants going into overdrive with his figures of 4/55.

What came next was borderline farce. First South Africa capitulated for 96 all out before Australia went one “better”, in the lunacy stakes, by scoring a hundred-year worst of 47 all out, yes, ALL OUT, in their second innings.

18 wickets fell for just 68 runs in the afternoon session in what was a quite unbelievable day of test cricket.

And it was needed, even if you’re an Australia fan. After the negative headlines of the spot fixing trial and the poor attendances of last weeks India vs West Indies test match in Delhi, this scintillating battle has resonated all around the world, confirming what many of us have known for a long time – that at its best, nothing beats test cricket.

South Africa put on 81/1 in their second innings before stumps at the end of day two, needing 155 to win with 9 wickets still in hand and they’ll fancy their chances. It is quite unbelievable that, going into day 3, we are already talking about a 4th innings chase – it’s been a surreal, incredible game of test cricket.

But what of our man Tahir? Well, he might not have much more to do in this game, sadly for him. A dozen or so inoffensive overs, no wickets and two runs with the bat, but I think he might just remember his first game in test cricket rather fondly, if the Proteas seal the deal tomorrow.

Tom Huelin for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Tom on Twitter @tomhue1

New Stars in Making?

Diwali: Over. England: Gone. F1: Done: Metallica: Finished

What’s next??? For a cricket fan its West Indies next.

Bring on the white’s is what I would say. Before discussing what’s next, I would like to discuss what India got from the just concluded ODI Series against England.

After a disastrous England tour specially a forgettable test series in England, this ODI series was very important for India, it was a chance to try out young talent and check bench strength and it was also a chance to win back their lost morale and confidence and also win the fan’s confidence who have doubted the team. In India fans forget the wins and achievements of the team but never forget the loss and poor performances. Which I feel is very disheartening as I feel we should support the more even more if they are down and out. So coming back to the England ODI series, performance of the team have been nothing short of brilliant. India have outplayed England in all the departments of the game be it fielding, batting and bowling most heartening being the fielding as we are considered to be a little poor in that department.

After the poor England tour the selectors were brave enough to rest and drop a few of the seniors which proved that even the selectors are looking at the future and looking for better options. The most important outcome for me from this series was 2 young bowlers who have the ability to bowl at 145 KMPH consistently, they have been the 2 bright spots of this series and look like the future stars, What they have got to this Indian team is Pace which was never there, the two are Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav. At last all the prayers for a real quick bowler from Indian’s have been answered, inform of Yadav and Aaron. Fast bowlers in India are endangered species. Either there are not any quick bowlers in India, the reasons for not having enough fast bowlers in Indian domestic cricket would require another post which I will discuss some other time and 2^nd reason being the amount of cricket they play at international level make them military medium pace, Munaf Patel being the prime example of it, he burst onto the international circuit as a tear away fast bowler but he is only a medium pacer now. We have seen many a games been turned around with just genuine pace, West Indies did it in the 70s and 80s and did it consistently, even Pakistani team have been doing it since a long time, they have been the breeding house for real quick bowlers since a long time.  I wish Aaron and Yadav continue to bowl fast and not sacrifice pace. Another aspect about both of them which is very heartening is that they both are supremely fit and athletic, so it does not look like they would sacrifice their pace for line and length and would continue to remain fit for International circuit. It’s not that pace is very important but you do need a little bit of pace to ruffle the batsmen and specially the tailenders, they find it most difficult to face genuine pace.

In 4^th ODI at Mumbai it was so heartening to see when Aaron who was brought back in final over’s to rattle the tail and dismiss England tail for low score, haven’t ever seen a Indian fast bowler do this to oppositions, it’s always been India at the receiving India of such lethal bowling, one delivery that I still remember bowled by Aaron is the one when he  clean bowled Alistair Cook in 5^th ODI at Kolkata, the delivery isn’t anything special its pitched outside the off stump coming into the left hander with the angle, he was clearly beaten with pace, this is what genuine pace get to the table, even in 1^st ODI at Hyderabad Yadav was made to bowl in the death over’s to dismiss the tail and he did it very well by dismissing the tail quickly. This is the benefit of pace, which Indian cricket have never had. Sometimes there’s nothing of the pitch and the conditions isn’t favoring the swing at that time genuine pace comes in and helps the bowling team. This is where these 2 will benefit and serve India for the time to come.

It will be considered too early to talk about them, but I feel the next series that they play would be the acid test for them, as they will be judged according to their follow up performance until then everyone would believe and they would fear that they would sacrifice their pace for line and length. I just wish Indian cricket nurtures this natural talent and looks after them, as I feel fast bowlers require special care and attention, which Indian cricket should provide them. But honestly Indian cricket isn’t used to taking care of fast bowlers as they have not had any real quick bowlers, it’s very important for Indian officials to find right people and correct balance to take care about them, fast bowlers require right people to help and advice. Just wish these 2 serve Indian cricket for a long time to come and bring a lot of smiles on fans of Indian cricket.

Other players who have also contributed to this fantastic performance are: R Ashwin, Virat Kohli, R.Jadeja and A.Rahane.

Just wish that these players continue the good work done by their seniors over the years.

Indian Cricket looks safe in the hands of these Youngsters.

Ricky Singh for DieHard Cricket Fans

The Spotfixing Verdict

August 21, 2010 – The day the cricketing world was shaken up with following edition of the “News of the World” paper.

In the immediate aftermath of the Lords Test, the trio of Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir was dropped from the Pakistan team and later banned by the ICC. But this wasn’t the worse to come for the trio as an year later a jury found them guilty and gave them prison terms of varying lengths.

The first thought on hearing of the outcome of the case was that just punishment had been meted out to the guilty party. The spot fixing scam had left a sense of betrayal. It was weird to imagine to what extent people were going to make money. For the players it must have been an easy option. Take money on the side, bowl a couple of no-balls (which aren’t an oddity by themselves) at fixed points. During this they could still be giving their best for the country as well. I wondered there were people who actually bet on this kind of stuff. And the sums were large enough to be able to buy off the players. All this is still beyond belief.

The whole sequence of events is full of ironies

The whole saga was brought to light not by any anti-corruption agencies, ICC or government bodies but by a now-defunct newspaper which had to be closed down due its unethical ways of getting information.

Mohammed Amir actually bowled one of the better fast bowling spells in recent times. His no-ball was part of a spell in which he took the wickets of Cook, Pietersen, Collingwood, Morgan, Prior and Swann. Showing that except for the no ball he bowled his best for his country.

Salman Butt captained Pakistan to 2 test victories including the first one against Australia in around 15 years. It seemed Pakistan had found some stability when the scandal broke out. The irony of life that his son was born the day he was handed a prison sentence.

Mohammed Asif was the one who had talent, and has taken extra-ordinary measures to blow it away. Drugs scandal, physical fights with team mates and finally the spot-fixing case. Also it turns out that he was paid more than others to ensure that he doesn’t change over to a rival spot-fixing gang.

The verdict has made a few things clear.

• If you are caught fixing you are not just banned from the game, you are jailed as well. At least in England. Hopefully this would set some deterrent.
• There are more names involved here which haven’t yet come out. Comments regarding Asif certainly seem to suggest that.

Hopefully cricket is cleaner now, at least I would like to believe so, though the eveidence may suggest otherwise. But this is only the tip. Every allegation has to be thoroughly investigated. And the concerned should have immediate life bans set on them. Otherwise any odd incident would be looked at it in a different light.

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

Thank You Zimbabwe, For Helping Save Test Cricket

Everybody likes an underdog. The David vs Goliath battle inherits a unique charm about it, and with all the long years of turmoil and suffering that Zimbabwean cricket has been going through, it seems the corner has been finally turned. New heroes are emerging, and none more so than Brendan Taylor, who at still only 25 years of age has a long and prosperous haul ahead of him. Sample this for a Bradman-esque series:

• Two T20s – 50* & 1 (the only failure)
• Three ODIs – 128*, 107* & 75
• Only Test Match – 50 & 117

Yes it was against New Zealand, a truly toothless bowling unit. However he is fast becoming a talisman for Zimbabwe, the next generation Heath Streak, and good luck to him as well.
However the key point of this post is not a tribute to Taylor, it is a tribute to the Zimbabwean attitude on the fifth day. On day five the target was 366 runs, sitting at 61/2 overnight. The conservative or dare I say sensible approach would have been to enter Dravid mode and bat out the day seeking an honorable draw. We saw some insipid behavior from the (at the time) world champions India in the West Indies this year, when they refused to pursue asimple run chase in the name of ‘safety’. That match flopped and died.
But on this day, there was none of that fluff, the heart of Test cricket was re-invigorated, injected with an air of enthusiasm and unabashed optimism. Zimbabwe went for it, and in fact wrestled the upper hand at one stage. New Zealand were nervous as Taylor went about carving the attack, letting everyone know that they will not lie down, and that the only possible results were a famous victory or a heroic loss. With the able help of Tatenda Taibu, they were within 100 runs of touching distance.

Looks like we'll have to skip that early shower. © AFP

New Zealand had to squeeze every ounce of bowling ability they had to stop them. The result was a loss by a nerve racking 34 runs on paper, and a series lost 1:0. But the true result was much more than that. It was a sign that some teams are willing to play for the win and give us spectators what we deserve. It was a revival of the cricket format that faces intense scrutiny for being the dullest form of all.
It was proof that the number ten cricketing nation is finally making a comeback.
Contributed by : Varun Prasad
Varun’s blog : The Cricket Musings

India pave the way for a Test revival barring the odd Srikkanth Howler

India finally witnessed some cricketing success after Dhoni and his men pummeled England to a 5-0 defeat in the One Day International Series. The series was played in India and the result really reflected how each team was the “King” only in his own kingdom. India’s 5-0 rout was touted as a payback to the 7-0 whitewash that the three lions dished out to Dhoni’s men in England. Every sensible cricket follower knew though, that the win in India certainly did not nullify the woeful result in England for the men in blue.

The one factor that outweighed England’s victories over India was the fact that the English absolutely thwarted India in the longest and most challenging format of the game – Test cricket. India will surely be aware of the fact that they produced an absolute shocker in England and they will be desperate to make amends when West Indies tours India. What’s more is that the men in blue will look to use the Test series against West Indies as a litmus test for the upcoming tour of Australia. The squad chosen by Kris Srikkanth for the series against West Indies certainly re-instantiates that fact, however, as has become the norm Srikkanth has slipped in the odd howler.

No prizes for guessing who the howler is. With a phenomenal record of 18 wickets at an average of 44.66 this experienced campaigner has played a total of 10 whole first class matches. Wow! Now isn’t that some experience. Really for a player to walk into a Test side of a nation that hails itself as the 3rd best in the world after playing just 10 first class matches is absolutely bizarre and sets a precedent that is downright shameful. To make matters more complicated the bowler has also been chosen at the back of a rather lackluster bowling performance that wielded figures of 0/65 and 2/49 in the Irani Cup match against Rajasthan. Sharma is not known to be a big turner of the ball nor has he produced magical results in the 10 first class matches that he has played, so why then does he deserve a place in the squad? The more one tries to reason his selection, the dizzier the head gets. Certainly Kris Srikkanth does not make it into the famed “Knowledgeable Chennai Crowd” with this selection.

Despite the odd shocker there are a few positives that can be drawn out from the squad selected. Ajinkya Rahane is one such positive who has been rewarded for his consistency at the top of the order in ODIs and has been given a spot in the Test squad. What this has also done is that it has sent out a strong message to Abhinav Mukund who has been dropped to make way for Rahane and that message quite clearly says- perform or else!

The message has not just gone out to young Mukund though, as Harbhajan Singh too has been dropped after a poor showing in England and really owing to a poor showing in recent times that was highlighted by his inability to pick up wickets. Even Suresh Raina has been sidelined from Test cricket and has been replaced by the in-form and more technically equipped Virat Kohli. The biggest positive surely is the return of key players, all of them fit mind you, like Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh.

One thing that stands out from the selection is that the men in charge have certainly kept the Australian tour in mind. Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron have been drafted in to the Test squad set to play West Indies. This move clearly signifies that the selectors are interested in their pace, a factor that could prove crucial in Australia and a factor that India generally has been devoid of. Praveen Kumar has been given the much needed rest he deserves while Pragyan Ojha has finally been rewarded for some good performances in the English County and the domestic circuit with a place in the side. R.Ashwin and Ishant Sharma too have been included.

It will be interesting to see how many chances Yadav and Aaron are given. India will be playing on tracks that offer spin and quite naturally will be tempted to go in with two spinners and Ishant allowing only one of the young speedsters to get a look in. Rahane too will get limited opportunities as the pair of Sehwag and Gambhir will surely open. Apart from the one howler the selection does look to be one that has been based on performance and the team looks balanced. This side should be good enough to overpower the men from the Caribbean and it will also be interesting to see how the inexperienced Indian bowling attack fares.

Squad for 1st Test: M S Dhoni (capt & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Virat Kohli, Varun Aaron, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Sharma

Shashreek Roy for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Shashreek on Twitter @shashreek