Friday, May 6, 2011

Glance at Latest in the Cricketing World

It’s been 34 days since India were crowned the world champions. But I somehow don’t remember M.S.Dhoni lifting the trophy and on the contrary I can easily recollect Kapil Dev lifting the trophy in 1983 on that historic Lords ground. One reason for this I feel is too much off cricket. Even the cricketers along with the fans would agree that there was not enough time to enjoy the World Cup Triumph. The gap between the World Cup Final and 1st match of IPL was 5 days, which I feel was a little too less for the Victory to sink in completely.
IPL IV had a fairytale start, first few matches were very exciting and almost all the initial games went down to the wire. But as the time has gone by, the popularity and the TRP of IPL IV has fallen down considerably. May it would increase when IPL reaches the business end of the tournament. It’s very surprising people who voiced their opinion and were against about the length of the World Cup and believed number of meaningless matches are very high, but they have not said anything about the lengthy IPL. The main reason for the lack of interest in IPL is because it’s been a lengthy tournament and also the confusing format of IPL IV. It’s already been 47 matches and still we have another 23 matches in league stage and then 4 matches in qualifying stage that makes another 27 matches to go. One thing which has benefited IPL IV unlike previous editions in this IPL no one team has dominated the matches; it’s been the most open IPL out of the 3 previous editions. One of the reactions of a lengthy and little boring IPL is, many people have started to surf the internet to know when and where is India playing next. But I guess for Cricket Lovers there is never over dose of it.
One news which has taken the Cricket World by surprise. Duncan Fletcher’s appointment as Team India Coach. Much has already been about his appointment. So I don’t feel it requires any more discussion and we all should back the decision which is been taken now and hope for the best. You can vote in your opinion though through the poll in the sidebar.
Next in is England’s 3 way vote of confidence. ECB has appointed 3 different captains for 3 different versions of the game. Where the two time Ashes winning captain Andrew Strauss continues to captain the English Test team. Alastair Cook who’s not considered to be a One Day player by the selectors is given the job of captaining the One Day side and the 24 year old Stuart Broad will lead the England Lions in Twenty-20 matches. Two things which has taken me by surprise here is 1st being why was A. Cook dropped from One Day team in the first place and 2nd being since he is not part of one day team what has he done to be made captain of the side. Baffling to say the least. Twenty-20 Captain Broad is a good choice, this man has been hit for 6 Sixes in an over so he knows it can’t get worse that this on the field if things don’t go in his favour. He has come a long way since then and is certainly a player to look out for in future.
The problem between WICB and West Indian players continues, it’s a never ending war. I wish they can show such never dying spirit on the field. Pakistan has beaten WI 3-2 in 5 match One Day series. It was a completely lopsided series.
Australian tour of South Africa later in the year is been shortened because of the Champions League in India. There is plan to fit in 2 tests, 2 Twenty-20 matches and 3 ODI’s. So the cash rich league is taking its toll on the number of tests played across the world.
The biggest news of all and heart breaking news for me personally is retirement of Shane Warne from IPL after the end of IVth season. This news has certainly come as a shock to many cricket lovers as Warne was playing pretty well and was fit enough to play for some more time to come. But it’s his personal decision as the decision of retiring completely depends on the player as he is the best judge of his body and fitness levels. I hope Warne continues to be part of the RR in some way or the other as he has been guiding light for many of the Indian Local Players. Warne was the person who brought the art of leg spin back to the world cricket and he made it a fashion among many aspiring cricketers. If you recount his performance in his debut test against India at Sydney he was slaughtered by Ravi Shastri, where Warne’s figure read 1/150 off 45 overs, where Ravi made 206, but eventually Ravi was dismissed by Warne caught by Dean Jones. So if you think of his debut test and today if you consider what all he has achieved he certainly has come a long long way. A true champion and who has the ability to make a hero out of nothing. Long Live the Legend.
Ricky Singh for DieHard Cricket Fans

  

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