Unwanted Cricket controversies of last Week

Last week we got to watch some exciting cricket & the fair share of unwanted controversies too.

Here is my list of Top three unwanted controversies. (Feel free to add your list via the comments section)

#1. Third world comment by Hayden

Before blaming the ground conditions & the third world attitude of spectators for his team’s slow over rate,  Hayden should have realised that, this third world country pays him much more than his board to play few days of 20-20 (In IPL).  His comments were so silly that it did not even deserve a retort from BCCI.

Related Articles:

 http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/E7275881337A0A446525750200422EFF?OpenDocument

http://cricket.expressindia.com/news/Dhoni-hits-back-at-Hayden-for—third-world—comments/386399/

#2. Should Dravid retire?

Do not forget that Dravid was No:1 batsman in the world for 2 years running.  Only someone who has reached that level before has the right to comment on this.  Others should SHUT UP!!

Related Article:

 http://www.naachgaana.com/2008/11/05/dravid-needs-long-long-rest-may-be-retirement/

#3. Lahore Badshahs refusing to accept the verdict of Umpire in ICL Finals!

Justin Kemp pulled off the catch of the year at the boundary to dismiss Mohd. Sami.  The dugout  of Lahore Badshahs, Asked Sami to stay inside the boundary line & Inzamam argued with the Umpire & demanded that a referral be made to the TV Umpire.  Lahore Badshahs have been brat boys throughout the tournament.  They argued with umpire whenever balls were changed, Sledged Abdul Razzaq of Hyderabad Heroes unnecessarily & just refused to respect the umpires.  When the teams refuse to accept umpire’s decision, I think that’s pretty much the end of Cricket.

Related Articles:

 http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/icl2008/content/story/378421.html

Would love to hear your comment on this.

Have a great week ahead!!!

The Grand Finale - ICL Finals

The best of three ICL Finals did live up to its expectations, both for the organizers & the spectators.

The first two games went till the last over & had sufficient twists & turns to keep the adrenaline flowing.  The 3rd match was pretty one sided but had plenty of fireworks to please the 60,000+ audience thrilled.  Ahmedabadis supported ICL to such an extent that every final had an attendance of more than 60,000 spectators.

Lahore Badshahs were deserving winners. They had too much firepower for the Hyderabad Heroes to handle.  Tony Greg even commented that Lahore Badshahs was like a full strength Pakistan team.  This team was also by far the best fielding outfit, Pakistan had ever produced (Thanks mainly to the efforts of John Campbell, ICL’s High performance director, seen in the photograph below with Kiran More)

Hyderabad Heroes will do well to realize that you can’t be world beaters with bits & pieces cricketers.  When Imran Farhat got going (24 runs in the first over), they had no one they could turn to.  They neither had a genuine paceman who could deliver a toe crushing yorker or a scorching bouncer nor did they have a wrist spinner on their side. This prevented them from preventing the onslaught of Lahore Badshahs in the final match.

However one’s heart went out to the heroes captain “Chris Harris”.  He marshaled his resourses excellently & always had a smile on his face.  One could also see him keeping the spirits of his team high even in difficult circumstances. This was a refreshing change from all the unwanted sledging other teams had resorted to during the later part of the tournament. However all his leadership skills could not match the combined class of:

• Rana Naveed (The best bowler on view in the tournament)
• Mohd.Sami (easily the fastest bowler of ICL)
• Imran Farhat (Most feared batsman of ICL)
• Imran Nazir (He set the record of fastest fifty in 20-20 history with Imran Farhat)
• Saqlain (Who bowled theesra, doosra & his regular offspinners with great class & accuracy)
• Inzaman ul haq & Mohd. Yusuf (classy & steady middle order batsmen)

One look at the above line-up is enough to bring shivers to any international team.  Unfortunately, the big guns of Heroes, Stuart Binny & Justin Kemp did not fire in the finals.

Thankfully the quality of cricket on display justified that the spectators come to stadium to watch good cricket & not the cheer leaders.

 Click on the link below to read Related Articles:

 http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/icl2008/content/story/378507.html

 http://inhome.rediff.com/cricket/2008/nov/11lahore-badshahs-romp-into-icl-finals.htm

The next “Great Wall of Cricket”- Cheteshwar Pujara

 You name it  & he can do it.

Bat Long – Yes he can ! He has scored 3 triple centuries in a month.

Score Quickly – Yes  Yes ! His Strike rate is above 170 in Twenty-Twenty cricket.

Big stage player – Certainly ( average of above 100 in Under 19 world cup)

Technically Sound – Of course !

Talent for the future – 100% ( He is just twenty)

The talent discussed here is Cheteshwar Pujara.  He felt that selectors were not impressed by his back to back triple centuries in C.K.Naydu trophy, so gave  them another reminder by scoring his third triple ton of the month. This time it was against Orissa. Cheteshewar backs up his concentration powers with style too. He can easy be ranked among the most stylish young batman around.

Pujara should consider himself unlucky, as many of his under 19 colleagues( V.Kohli & Piyush Chawla),  have gone on to bigger stage. But such obvious talent cannot hide for long. Dravid & Venkatesh prasad speak highly of his talent & application. Cheteshwar was recently rewarded with a place in India Green line-up for challenger trophy. It was a pity that he was pushed so low down the batting order that his team could not make use of his good form. In the first match he scored 18 N.O & scored a 60+ in his second match. It was obvious that  the India green captain, Kaif  pushed himself up the order rather than promoting Pujara.

As a cricket lover, I am confident that Cheteshwar has much much more to offer because:

• He has so far been coached only by his father. He will pick up finer nuances of the game when coached by better Trainers.
• Modern day cricket will force him to bowl too & the surprise of surprises- “ He started his career as a leg spin bowler”. By the looks of it he has not forgotten the art.

Eagerly looking forward to Cheteshwars stint with Knight Riders.

GO Pujara GO !!!

Related Articles:

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/current/player/32540.html

 http://us.rediff.com/cricket/2007/feb/05mission-pujara.htm

 http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/11/stories/2008111161911800.htm

Is India the New Mecca of Cricket ?

• 70 % of the cricket money is with BCCI
• 2 of the biggest cricketing extravaganzas (IPL & ICL) are in India.  (which means that many international cricketers earn a living by playing in India)
• MRF pace foundation at Chennai trains the best bowling talent around the world.
• The public craze for cricket in India is unparallel to anything seen elsewhere.

• One only needs to look at the attendance of Ranji Trophy matches to know the love for cricket in India.  Not only are spectators negligible, the amenities for players are far from ideal.
• Whereas the domestic cricket in England still draws a decent number of cricket lovers.
• 3 weeks of 20-20 cricket does not make the nation a Cricketing Superpower.  In England, the duration of domestic cricket & the levels of professionalism are much higher.
• (Rana Naveed who was a good bowler and an average fielder during his stint with Pakistan, returned as an all rounder & an excellent fielder after his experience in county cricket.  Even Zaheer found his rhythm once he spent a few days playing cricket in England.
• A country without a single umpire in the Elite panel certainly cannot claim to be the supreme power of cricket

The Verdict: -  The birthplace of Cricket, “England” is still the Mecca of cricket.

Recognize ICL

•  International cricket will become more competitive, thus increasing the crowds for these fixtures.  Teams like Bangladesh, New Zealand and Pakistan will certainly be much stronger by the return of banned players from ICL & they will give a much tougher fight to stronger teams. 
• BCCI will get to use the services of cricketing greats like Kapil, Wadekar, Madan lal etc., who are currently with ICL.
• Cricketing bodies can test their youngsters at ICL before giving them an opportunity in the National Team.
• World cricket body owes it to ICL- after all IPL concept was a shamelessly copied version of ICL.

Hooray to ICL !!! 

Thank you Greg Chappell

India has just comprehensively beaten Australia at home “2-0″.  At this juncture, I cannot but help thanking the individual who has been instrumental in this victory.  From the bottom of my heart, I Thank Mr.GREG CHAPPELL for making this happen.

I sincerely feel that Greg has high moral values & harboured a guilt feeling for not delivering the goods when he was at the helm of Team India.  The atrocious amount of money he earned during this tenure was also pinching his conscience.  Rajasthan cricket board gave a new lease to his coaching career (His dismal record as a coach would not have gotten him a job anywhere else).  All these developments made Greg overburdened with obligations towards India.

He got his chance to repay during this Australian tour of India & hatched a conspiracy theory.

• First, he convinced Ponting that he knew about Indian conditions & got himself appointed as asst. coach for the tour.
• Greg then trained Australians at 6 different types of pitches.  (This made sure that kangaroos were really confused & not ready for any pitch that they encountered during the first two tests)
• He tinkled with the brains of Hayden & Clark and made them loose all the confidence they had in their batting abilities.  (Greg had been equally successful in doing the same to Shewag)
• Chappell then went on to persuade Ponting that aggressiveness & imaginative captaincy does not bear fruit in India.  (He had done the same to Dravid)
• The best trick he had up his sleeve was that he stayed long enough with Ponting to ensure that his habit of needless pattering rubbed on to Ricky Ponting.  The proof of this was for all to see.  Australians were always behind the over rate - thanks to Ponting’s long chats with his bowlers. This helped India to come out of a tight corner on the 4th day of the 4th Test.

The result of all this is in front of us - “Indians have beaten the world champions black & blue”.

Dear Mr.Greg - ”No hard Feeling Please“