2012 - The Year Of Goodbyes

Ricky Ponting Announces Retirement - And, From This Moment On, There Will Be Only Nice Things Said About Ponting .Thats the only best thing about retirement !!

Herschelle Gibbs ‏

What a player,entertainer of note and an all time great ricky ponting! Always loved his approach to batting... legend

Sanjay Manjrekar ‏

Ricky Ponting came out of that very typical Australian mould of batsmen. He was the quintessential Aussie batsman in style & approach.

Ricky Ponting - a great driver & a great puller ! Thats one thing that really stood out for me. Enriched the game by his feats.

Michael Vaughan

The best batsman I had the privilege to play against ... Ricky Ponting... #Punter Australia cricket will not be the same without him...

Matthew Hayden ‏

Punter, congratulations on a fantastic career. Your departure will be a massive hole in the Australian Cricket team #RickyPonting #Legend

Ajinkya Rahane

A legend announced retirement . The cricket world will miss Ricky Ponting on the field.

Tom Moody ‏

Congratulations Punter on an astonishing career been a privilege to play alongside you & watch from afar, you are truly a great Australian.

Virat Kohli ‏

Ricky ponting what an absolute legend. I am glad I had the honour of playing against him. Take a bow legend respect

Kevin Pietersen ‏

Ricky Ponting RETIRES.... ONE OF THE GREATS! I always got excited playing AUS, so I could watch him bat up close. Well done Punter! Legend

Scott Styris ‏

The best batsman I played against has decided he has had enough. I'm sure there will be some happy bowlers around!

The year 2012 seems to be the year of goodbyes ,first Dravid, then Laxman and now Ponting ,all three carry numbers next to their names ,which eventually are not enough to define the class of these players.

As per expectations Ricky Ponting who has second highest ( 27,471) runs in all international cricket announced his retirement .A aggressive captain , a perfect number three batsman , a great fielder   under whose captaincy Australia touched new heights and dominated the world cricket .Ponting's retirement has signalled another movement in the slow descending of the curtains on an era of batting giants ,as now only Sachin Tendulkar and Jacques Kallies remain the last two of a VANISHING TRIBE of monumental runs and awe-inspiring career longevity !!!!

Sachin Tendulkar had  38 Matches, 55 innings, 2483 (ave 51.72), 8 100s in his belt before Ponting's debut on 8 Dec 1995 ,and since than the debate of who is the better among them is going on . If we consider stats as the parameter than Ponting is ranked after Sachin in maximum records but their are many records which are unique to him. Ricky Ponting is the only man to have participated in more than 100 Test Match victories for his side  , Ponting has hit the winning run in a Test nine times ,which is more than anyone else in Test history.'This is where it started, and will finish'- yes Perth it is , had started his career on that ground and will end it on the same ,seems like a perfect script for a motivational story !

Well , the reason for the retirements of these legends was that they were not getting runs under their belt, in fact ,to be very precise they were actually missing the ball and getting bowled consistently ,which is so unlikely their way .The cricket fans have always praised the growing number of runs of these players but have always criticized the increase of number in their ages for their failure !

The irony is that the man who is playing before the debut of all these players is still playing at the age of 39 and with every retirement , and with his every failure , the question is raised that when is Sachin Tendulkar retiring .The reason for such questions is the expectations and their past performances .They have created so many historic events that people want a long inning from them in every match . I don’t know how Sachin deal with such question ,but i am expecting he will not hang his boot in a bad patch !   

Australia Vs South Africa – Matches Of Unique Records

Johannesburg March 2006 , Australia post down the highest total (434) of one day internationals  and  the chokers of international cricket successfully chased down the target with one ball to spare and made a record total of 438 ,record made and broken on the same day.

Cape Town November 2011 , Australia were struggling at 21-9 that too in a Test match and hits its 109 years low total with 47 all out .

These are some fascinating yet contradicting records which we can expect when two best sides in the world plays with each other .And continuing the recent year trends we have another  match going on at Adelaide which had created many records on the day one of the Test match . Australia inched closed to their highest one day score of 494 after 102 years and finished with 482-5 on day one . Apart from that their were series of records on first day which happened for the first time in international cricket viz Australia became the first team with three individual 100 plus scores on the opening day of the Test match , Michael Clarke became the first player to score four Test double centuries in a calendar year ,Clarke also became the first number 5 batsman to score a double century on day one of a Test . It was also Michael Clarke 21st Test 100 in 140 innings (at 31years-234days) unlike the other heroic performance a few days back by another captain Alastair Cook who also made his 21st Test 100 in 148 innings (at 27years-229days)  and they both had made their debut in India ! Coincidence !Well we have another batsman to complete his 100 tests on 23rd November ,the marauding opener of Indian team Virender Sehwag , record every where !

Well such records are made whenever pitch behave different from its usual nature .But watching someone to bat with Clarke’s dominance is a rarity , dealing quality fast bowlers with utter disdain and at the same time also considered as the one of the best players of spin , has to be special .

Still four days left in the test match with  South Africa still to bat we can expect many more records in the coming days with match swinging in either way or one way as both teams are full of world class top ranked bowlers and batsmen. Oh so much of unpredictability and still we say Test cricket is not interesting !

If You Fail To Prepare, Be Prepared To Fail

The continuous failure of world champions India after 2011 world cup triumph whether its eight straight overseas defeat ,or their early exit from major tournaments like Asia cup , world T20 or the recent exit of top IPL teams like Chennai Super Kings , Mumbai Indians and the winners of this years IPL Kolkata Knight Riders from he Champions League T20 ,the one factor which is common for their such inconsistent performance is lack of match preparation.

Indians were having a task in hand before the ICC cricket world cup 2011 and after completion of the task normally teams get carried away in celebrations and often donot have a future strategy , thats why except Australia none of the country had not only repeated their performances in world cups but also dominated in the cricket .But Indians have not got time to get carried away in celebrations also , the only thing which is keeping them away to perform their best is the busy international schedule.

The modern day cricket demands players to switch between formats  and perform continuously . It is really appreciable the way players have  adapted themselves to this changing demand. But with so much back to back cricket going on ,the technical term “form “ of the players is being replaced by the “day” of the players. With the advent of most uncertain format ,the players performance also became uncertain. They don’t get  enough time to improvise and over come their mistakes  and hence the players who is currently not making any mistakes is said to be in good  touch on the other hand  the one who is not in his best of touch continues to perform  below par .The recent exit of India in the major tournaments is not because it is a bad team it’s the fact that they have many  players who are not having best of their days in the middle and actually have not got enough  time to work on that .No matter whether the team is a world champion or an average team if  you donot prepare well ,you just cannot expect a favorable result .

Maximum players of England and Australia keep themselves away from the IPL so as to prepare themselves for the upcoming series for their nation and the recent performance of these teams proves that they are actually doing it right .On the contrary India plays with almost same team through out the year in all the formats ,and all players compulsorily play in IPL . Proper planning need to be done urgently looking at the terrible failure of Indian team in recent times whether its opting for three different captains and keeping different teams for all the three formats or players keeping themselves  away from the IPLs .However the later doesn’t seem to be fit in the Indian context looking at the competition among players  for each position ,the only possibility is if board itself take decision for the betterment of Indian team .

Sri Lanka Is Winning ICC World T20 2012

In a hall ,located on the first floor of the Sinhalese Sports Club Stadium in the heart of Colombo , a cup gleams alone under the light .It is the biggest affirmation of Sri Lanka’s cricketing prowess and it is not just another cup it is the world cup that they won in 1996 .Since than Sri Lanka has never looked back and its hence the second best dossier reads : Runner-up in the 2007 and 2011 World Cups , Losing finalist in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20  are some silver ware which defines their so-near-and yet-so- far tale .As now once again Sri Lanka has entered into the world T20 final the script doesn’t get any better for them to add another glittering trophy and emerge as a Champion from just being the eternal bridesmaid in ICC tournaments.

With the other favorites have already taken their flights back to home with India beating all the defending champions England ,former champions Pakistan and the current ranked no. 1 in ICC T20 South Africa but lost the one which mattered against Australia -who has past inept rivals before getting hypnotised by the Pakistani spinners and than lost to West Indies the way you have never seen them before have actually justified their ranking in the ICC T20 and their exit from the tournament .With Pakistan as usual seemed to suffer from the  self destructive itch against Sri Lanka and the world no. 1 actually standing  last in the group and the members of Group 2( group of death ) are all dead now.

Before the tournament West Indies has been hyped as one of the strong contenders of winning this world T20 edition , probably that’s what have acted as catalyst behind their strong performance against Australia ,lets not talk about how they made it to the Semi’s .Now they are going to face Sri Lanka and beating them at their home is considered even more difficult than beating India or Australia in their home turf.

The stage is all set to have a new champion this time and we have two highly motivated teams as a finalist in the world T20 ,who will not let any stone unturned to prove themselves and regain some dominance in the world cricket .For me , Sri Lanka is surly going to make it this time with having both home advantage and electrifying home support in their  favor and of course by playing the good cricket and taking all precautionary measures to deal with Gayle Storm as there is already a warning from him..!!  

Sometimes Winning Is Not Enough

Victories of all shades ranging from the diffident to the emphatic  ,interspersed by a shattering loss against Australia and than a tricky exit from the tournament ,that’s what defines the India’s journey in the ICC world Twenty 20 . And as usual in the process of doing postmortem of India’s defeat like a true Indian cricket team fan we came to some very logical conclusions like - Australia conspired to lose to put India and South Africa out , South Africa has spoiled the Indian party ,they should have lost it under 121(because we so hate it when other countries don't play according to India's needs).

In a format which equalizes both sides sometimes only winning is not enough . If we talk about this world T20 in particular where the four teams of semi finals are not decided until the last match is been played we should learn a important fact that the difference between almost winning and actually winning a match is that the former doesn’t count . So if we now accept the reality and analyze what actually went wrong than we will find India itself is responsible for their such unfortunate exit .Starting from the India Vs England match where both team have already qualified for the super eights and considering the fact that spin has always been a problem for Poms we should not have played with three spinners against Australia .Playing five bowlers is so unlikely Dhoni’s way ,that huge loss against Australia have actually made the India’s task tougher ,considering the group in which India is playing . How can you expect a team to win a match against team like Australia without playing with their regular opener , if Sehwag was injured or what ever may be the reason for not including him in the side than India should have a back up opener .Blaming  rain of just five minutes is not the way to justify your lose when you actually have not putted enough runs on the board .

Many are satisfied with the Indian performance because India have won the match which actually mattered i.e. the one against arch rival Pakistan . Winning in that match with eighteen balls left instead of the required nineteen to have a better run rate than Pakistan have only complicated the equation. The next match became must win for every team, and the situation was very much in Pakistan favor .History says that Pakistan plays exceptionally well when they are in a do or die situation ,than how can you expect them to flunk when the situation is so much in their strength zone .At least I was pretty assured that Pakistan was going to win that match .

With that Pakistan win ,South Africa had nothing to lose but India have many things to achieve .The things started getting wrong from the Toss itself , as Indian have to bat first they have to put a big total on the board and that extra pressure have left India short of fifteen to twenty runs and eventually India could only post a modest target of 153 which Dhoni is so good at defending .But India had to win it by 32 and since we had digged the  hole ourselves, we need to find a way to claw out of it .India started off brilliantly but since the result was not in our favor Dhoni’s decision to save his best bowlers and delaying Ashwin’s spell cost India the semi final berth .

India has been in such situation many times under Dhoni’s captaincy and nothing less than win is expected from our  team ,but as only two teams from a group can advance to the semi finals we have accept the truth  and to take positives from it and must admit that Indian bowlers, contrary to the expectations, did exceptionally well , but it’s the batting which let the team down.

The Stats Says It All

Sky Is The Limit

ICC World Champions

ICC T20 Champions

India (2011 and 2012) became the second team after Australia (1987 and 1988) to hold  both the senior and world cups at the same time !!! Now we want the T20 WC also the next month..!! Not a tall ask ! At all..!!

On Sunday August 26 ,2012 India (200,2008,2012) U19 team became the only team after Australia(1988,2002,2010) to win the world cups three times and that to in style by beating Australia in Australia and hence letting the Aussies to have a first lose in finals ever of U19 WC history. The two most deserving side made it to the final but unfortunately we can have only one winner .

2011 World cup -India Won by chasing in which Mahendra Singh Dhoni played a Captain’s Knock , 2012 U19 World Cup -we won by chasing where their captain Unmukt Chand played a  very responsible inning , 2010 U19 World cup Virat Kohli played the same watch winning knock and made his way to the Indian team ,so the doors are now open for you Unmukt Chand !! The young man has showed enough maturity to handle the pressure and in building his inning ,with the prefect combination of singles and calculative risks. As I say it often that holding their nerves and finishing things off is the one area where India has improved tremendously ,thats why a situation where ideally any one will take single we do it by hitting four or a six !!...you can thank to T20 cricket for that .  

2007 inaugural T20 WC , Two World Cups(1983 ,2011) , Three U19 World Cups (2000,2008,2012) champions first showed the world that Australian are beatable and now have truly dislodged them from the top position and looks all set to dominate the world .Well the pathway was of course not easy and how can we forget the man behind this change ,the one and only India's greatest captain ever Sourav Ganguly ,whose good work was further carried over by Mahendra Singh Dhoni ,captain really play big role !

India’s have far better record at home than Australia or England , it takes a lot for any team to beat India on its own turf ,it’s the other countries who have not improved their play according to the Sub- Continent conditions .India’s performance overseas has also improved over the past years , the Test No. Ranking , and Winning World Cup Overseas says it all . With such performance India’s future seems to be in safe hands.

Start Of A New Era In Indian Cricket

So  Pujara is 'Dravid', Kohli is 'Laxman' and Raina is 'Ganguly'. But what joy that Tendulkar is still 'Tendulkar' !! The maestro is  the only statesmen left from those  fab four and is getting younger with each passing year so we actually donot need any youngster to take his position !!!!

We all were very concerned about the replacement of Dravid , Laxman and Ganguly ,here is the first set of probable replacement for them . Actually we should not call them as replacement because it will be a stupidity if any one even try to attempt to do that because they were experts in their work and their each heroic has a statutory warning that –“These stunts are performed by an expert, Dont try them yourself “..!! The youngsters should try to play to their potential and try to give their best in the roles assigned to them .

With the bowling department already going through same phase ,with only  Zaheer Khan left as an experienced campaigner ,these two match test series with New Zealand is the real test of all the youngsters because it just doesn’t get better to prove your potential  against a considerably inexperienced team that too at the home soil . The presence of Tendulkar and Zaheer is certainly a moral booster for youngsters as they just can not get any o ne better to guide them and work with their weak points . The real test of these youngsters will be against England and Australia later this season which will surly give them confidence to perform well in the overseas series . Well, we have no options left and its good t hat youngsters have enough time to get some test experience that too on home grounds by playing against both weaker and  stronger teams .

    

Very Very Special Laxman

If test cricket is real cricket than he is a classy willow wielder of this format , if  cricket is the game of building partnerships than he is a master at it , if you consider Australia a dominant force in world cricket than he is the one who dominate them !!!!! A perfect middle order batsman with seemingly soft exterior and steel in his  bones. At troubled times this graceful right-hander absorbed pressure in the middle order who have the potential to bat even with the number eleven batsman and altered the scripts of the matches, he is Very Very Special Laxman who did so with timing and elegance, finding the gaps with a surgeon's precision with his  stylish wristy flicks.

When things are not going in teams favor and batsman are having a pavilion bound procession his best comes out. VVS Laxman has the special ability to perform under pressure, in fact his best comes under such situation thats why he is known as “God of fourth innings”.

 He has played many match winning innings for India and turned the result of match on his own . Laxman's 16 year long career is full of many match winning innings among which the one magical match winning of 281   against Australia when India was playing a follow on ranks  6^th      among the Wisden’s 100 best test inning, which is still a best test match innings by an Indian. In fact he had magnificent 1,236 runs in 15 tests against Australia which includes the  gem of the innings of -200 not out (Delhi) , 178 (Sydney),167(Sydney) , 73 not out (Mohali) .

VVS Laxman along with Rahul Dravid were considered the pillar of Indian batting line up in test cricket and together they have saved many test matches for India .With Rahul Dravid already hanged his boot , the decision of Laxman to call it a day is really a great set back for Team India . Test cricket would never be same without these two great legends .They were the ones whom every bowler feared of, they use to play with team first attitude and their retirements are also for the betterment of the team.

It is being rightly said that "Great men are remembered for what they did when they were alive, not for how they died ".Thank you for all the memories VVS , you were a wizard among muggles .Cricket World will mourn, Aussie cricket will celebrate !!!! 

Color Represent The Format

The more colors you wear  the lower the grade of cricket from tests to one dayers to T20 . With the launch of new jersey for T20 ,the difference between the format is even more clear. As Mahendra Singh Dhoni mentioned that people recognize the format with the color of the jersey and with the new jersey of India for T20 it will be easier for the people to recognize the format even more easily now .

The formats are actually recognized by the color of the jersey by a common person .The colors are according to the nature of the play , that’s why the IPL is most colorful !!!! Earlier all  teams use to wear a same color jersey and their only identity was cricket .With the advent of new formats the teams started to get recognized by the color of their jersey .In fact jersey is being used to depict their national identity ,with all the impressions of the color , the logo of their board , the national flag and of course their name . IPL tops the list as the color is being used to represent their respective franchisees.

Commercialization or entertainment , what ever may be the reason but the fact is that the crickets pure format i.e. test cricket is still played in white jersey .It takes a lot for any team to get away from those colors and attain a test standard and even more from a player to show his skills and qualify to wear a white jersey and play test cricket where your play will speak for you and give you a recognition. 

India Is A Land Of Spinners

No doubt  the Indian  turf is considered as batting paradise , so what should the bowlers do on such wickets ,just wait for the 50 overs to get finished ! Of course not . It is also true that apart from batsmen friendly the Indian soil have produced greatest spinners of game .In fact the lists of  both batsmen and spinners  highest run scorer and wicket taker are crowded with sub continent  batsmen and spinners , but the modern day cricketers seems to be strong believers of the fact that cricket is a game of batsmen .

Gone were the days when the Indian team use to have a specialist spinner over which the teams strategy revolved .With the advent of T-20 and busy cricket schedule the cricketers likes to live in crowded numbers ,and spinners especially donot actually put enough effort to adapt themselves with the changing batting technique. It is because of this negligence the spin department looks tamed these days .If we talk about the spin department in Indian team it was believed that Harbhajan Singh will fill the space created by Anil Kumble but rather than adapting his spin skills to the changing batting style he started to focus on not to give runs to the batsmen than focusing on taking wickets.

Spinners are still considered the wicket taking option in all three formats of the game ,if not the regular ones the part timers have been asked to do the job for the team .Its high time that players start taking it seriously and take it as a field of specialization .India had produced many great spinners whose experience should actually be used to enhance the skills of his present spinners, after all it’s the bowlers who wins a match for a team by taking all 20 wickets .No body actually wants to watch only 6’s,every one wants to see a good contest between bat and ball ,and for that cricket has to rise itself in all department ,than how could the spin department loose its pace .

The performance of the Yuvraj Singh in world cup is the recent example of how the spin skills of a player can be enhanced with the help of our retired masters of spin. If the game is changing with the batting style, the spin department is the next such area which can bring the next change in the game.

Jacques Kallis – The Unspoken Hero

If you want to get a rough sense of Jacques Kallis's quite astonishing Test achievements, imagine Ricky Ponting, with not just all his runs but also Jason Gillespie's wickets, that’s Jacques Kallis for you.

Kallis, with 12,367 runs and 274 wickets, is undoubtedly the best all rounder from so many years and is a wonder of the modern age. Kallis has already done enough to be considered among the greatest batsmen of all time. When batting, the gravity of technique holds Kallis's creative spirits in place. He's an attractive, classically correct player, who for long batted in denial because of the demands of the team . The age actually seems no barrier to his performance that’s why even  at the age of 36 he is continuously performing for his team in all three departments and all three formats of the game. Ask for one day , test or IPL is has proven himself in all formats and is always considered vital element of the team.  

Its his second inning of career which is more sparkling than the first one as between 2004 and 2012, he has passed 1000 runs in a calendar year four times and made 30 hundreds including the double hundred (between 1995 and 2003, he had crossed 1000 runs a year only once and scored 13 hundreds) and the recent 43th test century against England says it all about his form .

Kallis is a rarity among all-rounders , a top-class, top-order batsman, who, when his mind and body are into it, can hit the 90 mph mark, a speed only the fastest of bowlers breach and is a  splendid, beautifully balanced catcher, primarily in the slips but this man has never received much publicity for his cricket. He is the kind of player which every captain wants to have in his team. If you jot down the names of all the so called all rounders in international cricket than probably he is only one who fits in all parameters. Over 20,000 runs in both formats and more than 500 wickets and 300 plus catches he defines versatility .He has achieved everything which many cricketers dream of achieving .

With time he may have achieved new hair head but he is still a reassuringly old-school . I hope a time will come when he will be considered as an idle standard of what should be called as an all rounder ,that would be a perfect tribute to this great player.

India Vs Pakistan Series Is Back After 5 Years

No matter how many matches India win or loose but when it comes to an India Vs Pakistan match win is the only acceptable result .The matches between these two arch rivals are always high voltage both on field and on stands with stadiums going jam packed .Indian cricketing history is full of many memorable matches between these two countries.For a while we thought India Vs Australia could make up for it but India Vs Pakistan 2011 World Cup semi final reminded us that India Vs Pakistan will always be special.

Apart from  game these tours are considered as a pathway in betterment of the relation  between these two countries .I still remember in 2004 when India toured Pakistan after 14 years under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly which I  had followed ball by ball ,has actually proven to be the strong step in improving the relation between the two countries .But it is vey important to understand that cricket is merely a sport and that eventually all solution will have to be political .Sports is a great vehicle for reconciliation ,but it is also true that terror and sport cant go hand in hand .

The last bilateral series between these two countries was played in November 2007 and after the 2008 terror attack India has cancelled all its sport assignments with Pakistan. The point which should be noted is that Cricket has always been successful in fulfilling the purpose of bringing the persons of these countries together but the problem actually lies within the country . I am sure even after resuming the cricketing relation after 5 years sport will definitely win .

Of course Pakistan touring India to play 3 ODIs in December  is a stunning and positive development for cricket and  I hope this time it proves to be positive in all ways .This is a statement of intent more than it is a cricket tour ,but in any case  cricket fans should be ready to enjoy some real electrifying actions on the field .

The Stolen Time

The role of a coach is not only to train players but also to teach them how to behave in a team and it is his duty to take care of the f act that the dressing room controversies should not be made public either by him or by any other players. But what if coach himself is the reason of all the controversies .Their was a time in Indian cricket when coach was responsible for the controversies and a world cup 2003 runners up who were considered biggest threat to Australia were degraded to such level that it  got eliminated in the next edition of world cup. So what actually went wrong .

India’s most successful captain Sourav Ganguly  has taken a stronger move by opting for an Australian coach just for the betterment of his team Greg Chappell was the chosen one but similar forces repel each other and that repulsion started within few days after he joined .For the first time coach became more important than players and most importantly it was because of controversies the team was in headlines rather than play .Seniors were  clearly the target of him which include the likes of  Sachin Tendulkar , Rahul Dravid , VVS Laxman , Harbhajan Singh , Zaheer Khan , Virender Sehwag and of course Sourav Ganguly or in other way we can say the key players of 2003 world cupsquad .The downfall of this players started from there  only and it was after  his resignation that these players have made a comeback with a bang .  

The period itself have many unanswered questions but one fact that Greg Chappell should accept that team was actually against him and he should stop giving his analysis even after so many years that it was players who were wrong .

"Sadly the success of the team was not universally enjoyed within the team. Some individuals felt threatened by the new world order and appeared to work against Rahul , had he been given the same wholehearted support in the role that he had given others, I think the recent history of Indian cricket may have been very different and he could have gone on to become the most successful Indian captain ever" Chappell has written in his book 'Rahul Dravid - Timeless Steel' –is the latest controversy which he has ignited .Well ,all I can say is it was  Dravid’s bad luck that he was captaining India during that time and  second to Sourav Ganguly’s reaction to this that “ Chappell ‘s remarks do not bother any one “.However he might be right because the reason for Dravid’s resignation from captaincy is still a mystery but its better if such things are answered by the concerned person . The controversies which he creates are the unsupported ones and its better for him to learn from the other successful coaches like John Wright and Gery Kristen who commands respect in India.

Greg Chappell  just cant appreciate Indian’s with clear words even in his articles which are published in ‘The Hindu’ and his piece in the Timeless Steel is one in the series.    

Cricketers Love Rain For Life

“Cricketers love rain for life” well the phrase is meant for the rain interruptions which proves beneficial for one , but the cricket fans didn’t like both on and off the field.  

Cricket is among the least talked sport these days in India , the  sports pages  are going without a word on cricket  !! The primary reason is their home team is not playing ,but it hardly matters for a true cricket fan because all they look for is cricket .But it seems that   even God do not want the little cricket to go smoothly by showering rains just on the match days. Be it test match or one day , no matter in which part of country you are playing rain interruption is something which you can predict in any match in this most unpredictable game of cricket .

It’s a good sign for other sports in India , as the sports lovers are taking interest in other sports which are going on at this time ,obviously people will become more aware of other sports when they will watch and read about them . Tennis , Football , London Olympics are the buzz words in India now a days and this has given every one a chance to follow them closely .Looking at all the drama in cricket ,What I personally found is ,  cricket is always  played with country first attitude by the players .They play with full spirit and are always eager to give their best for India ,the other thing is cricket is a team sports so that might be the reason but still its my  gentle reminder to all sports persons that ,remember your first dream was  always to represent your country .

I am not the right person to talk much about all such issues but would always like to watch the players playing with right spirit .

Conditions Matters A Lot In Cricket

I cant find a reason why Indian bowlers could not perform on the bowler friendly pitches of England and why the England batsmen could not perform on t he batsmen friendly pitches of India.

Well the question sounds  interesting  but its answer lies in one word “Conditions “.

In cricket a batsman or a bowler is considered great on the measure of how well he can adapt himself to the conditions. Yes ,its all about conditions in cricket and that’s what makes it interesting. You might have seen many great batsman struggle on overseas series and many bowlers could not find their rhythm ,the conditions actually plays a major role in their failure . Dew , turn ,bounce , cracks , grass ,dryness ,moisture are the factures according to which a player craft his skills so as to perform well on that particular surface and that’s the reason why team plays some practice matches at their overseas tour so as to get themselves  acquainted with the conditions .

You might often wonder why cricketers use to practice when the only thing they have to do is just play their best cricket . That’s very true that they have to play their best but what could be the best play on that particular pitch  is what they prepare for . That’s why everything small thing matter when it comes to condition ,whether it is winning the toss and electing to bat or bowl or getting the advantage of the surface to swing and bounce the ball or to adjust your bat speed and shot selection.

No other sport get that much affected by conditions as do the cricket .The way how bowlers take advantage of the situation and how batsman respond to it a treat to watch .  

ICC Cricket World Cup Completes 37 Years

On 7 th June 1975 the first ever ICC Cricket World Cup got underway and from their on it became the most important tournament in International cricket . Getting selected in national team and winning the world cup are the ultimate dreams  of every cricketer.

Many interesting stats depicts this short history of world cup and India has marked its presence right from the first edition .The 1975 world cup is also remembered for the 174 ball 36 (not out ) stand of Sunil Gavaskar apart from the fact that West Indies have won it predictably. Next was the year 1983  which was written permanently in the Indian history when the least favorite India done the biggest upset  of the tournament by beating the dominating West Indian in the world cup final and winning the ultimate glory which the generation next of Indian cricket kept on chasing for 28 years .

In 1989 when the maestro made his international debut the  speculations of winning the world cup for India became high . From its first world cup in 1992 to the 2012 world cup the impact of Sachin Tendulkar and India in world cup is open to the every one  . Sachin Tendulkar has always kept his best for this big event ,and that’s why he is the highest run scorer in the World cup . It seems that he perfectly depicts the story of any cricketer right  from dreaming of playing from the national team and accomplishing it at the age of 16 and then chasing the dream of winning the world cup for 22 years and finally winning it at the age of 38 in the year 2012. Well the pathway of winning the world cup itself carry a lot of records for India . From the 1996 world cup match winning innings from Sourav Ganguly to his superb captaincy taking the Indians to the world cup finals in the 2003 world cup in which  Sachin Tendulkar was in magical form , than the 2007 first round exit of Indians which every Indian wants to forget and of course the 2011 world cup which India have won as top favorite.

After the introduction of world cup many teams have dominated the world cricket from West Indies to Australia but India and other Asian countries have always given tough competition to them and produced many legends in the world cricket .A bitter truth associated with the world cup is that England from where cricket came in existence have never won the ICC world cup . South Africa which can be considered as a perfect team have got a chokers tag because of their loosing streak in world cup matches at crucial times  even after playing good cricket throughout the tournament.

The next world cup is in year 2015 which is to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand , it will be interesting to see whether India will be able to retain its title or we  will have new world champions but surly India is going to have an impact on that world cup too from a former champions point of view .

Cricket Has The Ability To Inspire

For me cricket is life and life is cricket !!!!! You have action, emotion, drama, success, joy, failure ,hard work, management every thing involved in cricket as we have in  life . In cricket each and every match teaches you a lot .

Cricket is a team game where individuals work together for a common goal. You can not see a best example of team work anywhere other than cricket where a bowler bowls to a batsman and all fielders are ready to back him for a wicket to his name, when a batsmen throw his wicket for the sake of other batsman and most importantly for his team, when a batsman come as runner for other batsman just for the sake of team .Probably that’s the idle team work which every one wants to look for where everyone contribute to their potential only for the sake of his team without any personal interest .

I live cricket because I learn a lot from it. How to be in a team, how to be disciplined, how to be focused towards your goal, how to do hard work, how to manage thing, how to think, how to take decisions, how to handle failure and almost everything, and that’s the reason I like all the cricketers for their some characteristics  and different teams for their strengths. For instance I like  Pakistan for its never say die attitude whatever the situation may be, Sri Lanka for as a perfect gentlemen’s team, Australia for their attitude and of course India for everything!!!

It is being said that “inspiration is sports primary purpose and sportsman are the  actual real life heroes who have to learn from his failure and keep on improving himself each day and  always try to be get better and better each day. Sachin Tendulkar even after completing over 22 years in international  cricket says he is still learning cricket!!!! That’s the spirit  which one should keep alive in his life  to enjoy it to the fullest. Cricketers teach us how one should take care of what they like and constantly do hard work to achieve that. They teach us that there is no short cut to success, and one should  learn from failures and not get run away by success  because both are not permanent. One should believe in its capability and try to improve himself .

Cricket teaches a lot to me and probably that’s the reason I enjoy watching it with the strong belief in this statement - “Form  is Temporary Class is forever”  !!

MS Dhoni -The Man With Strong Will Power

Destiny’ s child , a cool captain ,a  man who saves his best for big matches , a perfect match finisher or whatever you want to prefix with his name but there is something very special about this man which separate him from other cricketers of his generation . The way Chennai Super Kings have qualified for the playoffs in this IPL 5 has shown  new aspect of MS Dhoni and hence I could not stop myself to extend my views from my previous post "Captain Coooooooool "....!!!!!

Albert Einstein said there is a very strong power which is even more powerful than steam , electricity  or quantum energy and t hat power is “Human Will” and he was actually not stupid ,MS Dhoni seem to be  strong believer of this  .Fortune surely favors the brave and this man  with his strong will power can make it happen !!!!! If he takes a decision ,then he also have the courage to back his decision and prove it right any how ,that’s his will power which is the catalyst behind those hefty shows of helicopter shots which are his trademark .

MS Dhoni  has mastered the art of handling pressure .It is being said that - you can't make a great play unless you do it first in practice , probably that’s the reason the universe respond the way he thinks with his strong will power . Right from his debut he has accepted all the challenges and was always cool as cucumber on the field with his cricketing mind .His techniques may not fit in any book but his stats speaks aloud .Ask for batting , captaincy ,wicket keeping he is always their in the game .It is because of his strong will power only that India have cherished many proud moments in the world cricket ,may it winning the world cup where he promoted himself over in form Yuvraj Singh when  he himself was not performing upto the mark but came up with a match winning knock , T20 world cup where he has given the last over to the Joginder Sharma  or achieving top test ranking  in all ,at crucial time it was MS Dhoni who has helped team to actually achieve that , he sense the win and actually live it or make it happen with his skills ,he is at his best in pressure situation probably best in the world . It’s the strong will power which matter a lot in the pressure in the situation as "the only way to maximize potential for performance is to be calm in the mind"  , that’s why  the success rate of Indian team is high because the Indians are now giving fight to the opposition till the last ball which is the major improvement of Indian team under  his captaincy.

Whether its Team India or Chennai Super Kings  , he has been very successful and as universe respond the way you think so do his team members whom he lead   .Whether you are a admirer or critic of MS Dhoni one thing we should accept is the power of will ,power of believing in yourself ,power of proving yourself ,it surly can bring out miracles to any ones life.As primary purpose of sports is inspiration ,he is the  living example of the most powerful power .Go MS Dhoni India is proud to have you as a captain ,hopefully India is going to achieve many new heights with your powerful impact and strong will power .

Oh Yeah I Am Predicting It

Even before the IPL has started CSK and DD were my favorite teams but  the way CSK has made it to the playoffs gives perfect climax to the story. The IPL 5 has truly served the purpose of T-20 .We have seen many cliffhangers in the league stage which have made us to miss many heartbeats and even after so many ups and downs we are having no surprises and  the best teams have made it to the playoffs .

With the first successful chase of 43 runs in 2 overs , I am predicting it right  about who is going to win a particular match including the way CSK has qualified to the playoffs ,well it might be the  unpredictability factor which had made it more predictable . Deccan Chargers has been given the chokers tag in this IPL looking at their performance in which they are not able to finish the things their way and unfortunately the results do not show how well they have played . It’s the  Deccan  Chargers only who finally got charged up and short circuited  Rajasthan Royals and then doused the hopes of Royal Challengers Bangalore and given the perfect culmination to the league stage  and hence Chennai Super Kings like every year made their way to the playoffs in style .Finally the stats also confirmed that Deccan Chargers , Kings eleven Punjab ,Rajasthan Royals have emerged as the team of this IPL .The games have  been s close because all teams are of equal caliber and now we can expect even better contest between the top 4 teams who have won the battle of nerves in league stage .

For me CSK and DD are the strong contenders of final berth looking at the CSKs  ability  of handling pressure and its team composite full of all rounder although the team has not performed to its potential and have certainly missed specialists but they are the strongest among all four .On the other hand DD have the most reliable and solid batting lineup and so far their bowlers have also complemented that so we can expect a close contest if CSK do not miss this golden opportunity given to it and play to its potential .The reason why KKR and MI could not win IPL 5 are obvious because KKR has to play with DD and MI to CSK and only one can win it !!! Apart from them MI is winning it ugly and are pretty much inconsistent with  their team composition (they probably have tried the maximum number of opening combinations in IPLs ) and also with their  performance ,although KKR played exceptionally well after a not so good start but they are very much dependent on their bowler Sunil Narine and openers ,which may cost them at this level when best play against best .

But one this is sure that this IPL season has been proven better from its previous edition and so we can expect a even better cricket in the play offs and may be hope for a surprise at the end !!!!      

What’s In A Number

A cricketers life revolve around numbers ,they are known by the number of runs they scored ,numbers of wickets they have taken ,number of catches ,the position at which they bat ,in fact these numbers are their identity and players do take care of them .

Players choose a number to get better numbers against their name ,superstition or what ever you call it but they do believe in this number game .Yes you guessed it right, I am talking about the sincere effort which the players put while choosing their jersey number from years and the first number which came in every ones mind first is no. 10 which has become synonymous with Sachin Tendulkar .Well theses numbers says a lot over years and now the numbers have reached to triple digits .We have seen in recent IPL Chris Gayle wearing number (333) to signify his highest test number , Muttiah Murliatharan with number (800) which denotes his number of test wickets .Sourav Ganguly seems to be strong believer in this thing as he has changed his number many times ( 99 and 24 the famous ones)and some times even wore different number jersey in same match, another cricketer who has a numerical quirk is Herschelle Gibbs who has had a dalliance with different numbers ,(00 most famous one) is now back with the number 74 which probably denote the year of his birth .M.S Dhoni wear number 7 jersey that signifies the date and month of his birth  .Many players change their numbers in the same tournament , recently Mumbai Indians skipper Harbhajan Singh changed his number to 93 from 3 just to fetch some luck . Amid all there is one man -Virender Sehwag who seems to be fed up of this numbers and chosen not to go with any ,well that may also be a superstition as this thing he has adopted in his comeback !!

Well when one performs to his strength the lesser luck they required but if such numbers helps players to perform to their strengths and achieve big figures to their names then the  spectators wont mind enjoying this number game too and mind you these numbers speaks a lot !!!         

Cricket Is A Gentleman’s Game

Gone were the days when a bowler takes 10 wickets in an inning ,collects his cap from the umpire and brings his nonchalant walk back to the pavilion and one of the victims shakes his hands ,the respect for each other cannot be missed .With the evolution of cricket and increasing competition this respect is now being replaced by aggressive instincts ,pumping fists and mouthing profanities have come to be accepted as part of the game !

Well yes you got to believe this the cricket is no more a gentleman’s game both in its format and on the ground and a strong steps need to be taken to prevent its identity .Its the youngsters who are mostly involved in it .How many times have you seen players like Sachin Tendulkar ,Rahul Dravid , Anil Kumble , V.V.S. Laxman ,Virender Sehwag and M.S. Dhoni using foul language in private conversations ,let alone on the field . Agreed that every one have his own way of celebrating but what if it become abusing .Some of the acts of “showmanship” are clearly rehearsed .The gestures seems like as if they them selves don’t believe that they have taken a wicket or made a century.

The Australians and South Africans are known for sledging but the way it is done now is more than that .If one talk about the time when West Indies was at top , if you irritate their  fast bowler the next ball would come at 160 ,that’s what every one want to see in cricket and this thing  command respect for any player ,the aggressive instinct are short lived  and always unacceptable.

The more color you wear the lower the grade of cricket , from  tests to one-dayers to T-20 .And T-20 has a big role to play in this mannerism of cricket .The players before the advent of T-20 still command respect ,its the generation next  who are involved in such acts .If you talk about the current edition of IPL5 such gestures are part of every match and it is surprising that  we are having a punishment for dissent at the umpire’s decision but nothing for using abusive language ,well probably that’s the reason they do so !

Cricket is a Gentleman’s game and every one loves to watch the quality contest between bat and ball not any animated gestures on the field .Its very important that senior players and official takes some steps to prevent the great culture of this game other wise cricket it would  be called as just another game  !!!

  

Ganguly -The Movie

Well the trailer says it all about the man who has achieved his stature fighting through all the odds ,who has served his country with full dedication and aggression ,who is responsible for what India is today in world cricket, a visionary who has proven his mettle, he is Sourav Ganguly India’s most successful captain. Ganguly –The movie is a great tribute to the real hero of  Indian cricket .

Sourav Ganguly is one of his kind- he defines leadership, he is known as God of offside, he is having over 10000 runs in ODIs, from his debut to his comeback he roared like tiger, he really is  ADA of our Indian team .The DADA is going to rock the theaters also as he has done in the cricket field.The answer to  the question in the trailer about his comeback -“Main gaya hi kab tha” bowled me out .Actually their was no comeback for him, importance if being Sourav Ganguly can be seen from the country wide protest and how desperately every Indian wants their captain to be back in side from the day when he is been dropped from the team. Every cricket lover was just waiting for his comeback .He made his comeback like DADA, he is a winner not a quitter, better you don’t ever put any challenge for him otherwise you will be victim of his DADGIRI. To add to his legendary even after he officially retired from international cricket, in his second inning also the same story got repeated .Also known as “Prince of Kolkata” he has led Kolkata Knight Riders  for three seasons of IPL and  then in fourth IPL none of the franchises showed interest in picking him up and that’s the biggest mistake done. However later picked by PWI in the next IPL the DADA was back with the similar magic which he has done on Indian team, well that spell is top secret I guess, but good leaders (magicians ) know it very well how to get best out the available resources .

“Ganguly -The movies” is going to be a blockbuster hit for sure no doubt about it, his career is a perfect  legendary which is going to be part of motivational speeches and management studies. And yes as a captain  you will always live in pages of Indian Cricket and in the hearts of many Indians  .

     

Intermission Time In IPL

Well its all about lights camera and action in IPL and this fifth season of IPL is turning out to be most unpredictable one . Its intermission time in IPL - with already lots of action and drama in the first half which is dominated by Delhi Daredevils (which are among my favorites this time) with its awe inspiring batting line up led by Sehwag - The captain who like an accomplished actor done his fight scenes .

It’s the right match winning combination doing the trick for Delhi Daredevils . The first half surly goes to Delhi daredevils and South African players who are playing a important match winning role for their respective teams.

Now as the tournament has entered in its second par it would now be interesting to see Australians impact in the culmination part with Michael Clarke the mastermind of Australia's 2-0 test series win against WI playing under Sourav Ganguly the pied piper of Indian Team whose international career featured a fierce ,competitive clashes with Australians .The IPL magic is really on with many stars getting in form and many have proving them selves .Their is a interesting going on between Virender Sehwag And Ajinkya Rahane , batsman ff contrasting styles  battling for orange cap in this IPL.....!!!The matches will surly going to be more exciting  as from here on every win and loss is going to create an impact. The teams have changed their gears and its still an open tournament for every one .I strongly believe that there is going to be a twist and expecting an anticlimax of this IPL....!!!!!!!!!

Sachin Tendulkar Turns Another Year Younger

"One of the rarest character combinations is the coexistence of confidence and humility. Often people who are confident are not humble and people with humility are not confident. Confidence blended with humility is most appreciated by everybody and Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar  have this rare combination...!!!                                      

Legend In Making

                                                                                         

24 April 1973 born was a person in India to be called as the God of the most followed religion in this country . He is a maestro born with a purpose , a purpose to bind people of a beautiful  country -together they stand for him  and for  over 22 years  this man is serving his country with determination and sheer class he is non other than Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar the living legend of Indian cricket who is getting younger with each passing year .

Well his most famous photo is the one in which he holds a bat with a beautiful child like smile on his face - that gesture says it all what cricket matters to this man .He loves challenges ,he defines cricket for many in India and is an idle for them and he always set a high standard for every one who wants to become Sachin Tendulkar .You ask a question he is their to give you answer. His 22 years long international career is a legendary in itself and is the one which probably every cricketer would only spent their career in chasing those landmarks-he has got the highest runs in ODIs and Test ,highest centuries in ODIs and Tests and also completed the centuries of centuries, played highest number of matches- well the figures seems magical and set an standard for every player .He commands respect in every part of world .From his first international hundred to 100^th one he has proven himself then and now -the confident humble gesture remains the same with the hunger of doing more and more .

In fact his journey itself started with a challenge ,at the age of 16 he got the challenge to face the best bowling attack of that time but he accepted it and made a solid impact in international cricket , from their on he never looked back and he remains a  player on which a team depends on ,the Sachin factor always remain in the strategies of oppositions .He carries a different attitude, an attitude to just play and keep on improving  ,which probably is the main reason of his longevity .

The maestro is turning 39 tomorrow ,well age seems no barrier to him presently his only competition is he himself ,he is getting better with each match and making a new record with his every run  but he still ask for more and so did we maestro . Many legends have come and gone since his debut many thing has changed but this great person is their classic as ever with no effect of time on him .Being a great fan of the maestro I wish him a very happy birthday and hope that this curly haired classic willow wielder  completes the centuries of centuries in life also and play for many more years and make the nation  proud .Last but not the least this year according to hindu calendar even my birthday is on 24th April......lucky me..!!!!!!

Sourav Ganguly Defines Leadership…!!!

Sourav Ganguly –the India’s most successful captain, a perfect leader who has done all the hard work in the hard times and made India’s present count in the international cricket. He is confident, he defines aggression and was the first one who dared to talk to the likes of Steve Waugh (as English was a bit of problem that time among Indian cricketers) and challenged them in the cricket field ,that’s why he is the DADA of India. He is the pied piper of Indian team.

After the match fixing issue in 2000 team India was in a reforming phase and in need of a very good captain  and  eventually they got the one who turn out to be India’s best captain ever. The Bengal Tiger accepted the challenge and put all his effort on each and every selection. He believed in youngsters and has picked the right talent for team with every one having a defined role. The effort which he has put in team formation can be justified by the use of Rahul Dravid, he has used his wicket keeping abilities and created an extra position in the team. Fielding was considered the weak area of Indians he has bought in specialist fielders like Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif. It was under DADA’s captaincy only India achieved highest success and started winning the overseas series also. Australia was considered unbeatable that time but he dared and shown the world how to win against them, Indian cricket really has achieved great heights in his captaincy. It was under Sourav Ganguly captaincy only India reached the finals of world cup after 20 years. With a group of all young player  and a confident leader the team India has won millions of heart. The techniques  which DADA set  became standard and are still used by another India’s successful captain MS Dhoni whose potential is also noticed by Sourav Ganguly and made his debut in his captaincy only .

Presently captaining Pune Warriors India-after their unsuccessful IPL 4 the team looks re-invigorated under his captaincy- the good leaders have that effect and Sourav Ganguly have the special ability to recognize the quality of player and bring the best out them. With no so big names in their side PWI have performed really well in the initial matches and are among the favorite teams in IPL 5 .

Sourav Ganguly has all the qualities a great leader should have, with his confidence and aggression he is always there to back his team mates. He has over 10000 runs to his name in ODIs and commonly known as God of off side, he and Sachin Tendulkar still makes the India’s most successful opening pair, he once hold the record of highest sixes with his superb power hitting and I still consider him to be the who best executes a six. Age seems no barrier in his strength and even today he is leading his team with same determination which he had for team India. We just cannot have another DADA in Indian cricket, his contribution to Indian cricket is priceless .

Unpredictable IPL 5

How many times have you seen a team chasing down 43 runs in 12 balls , making 21 runs in 6 balls and making 23 runs in the final overs that too in a single tournament….!! But this IPL has given such excitement just in its initial stage .All teams are giving their best in the field and every match have a culmination at the end.

IPL 5 seems to be a open tournament at the initial stage where all the teams have started their campaign well compared to  the previous two IPLs where the champions were almost known to every one .Its unpredictability at its best this time both in the match results and the about the  winner .If we look at the stats all teams equation goes head t o head and every team have potential to win the IPL .In every tournament we can predict a team who can win including 50 over world cups but this IPL is going exceptionally well and in fact that’s what T-20 is all about it has the history of giving the last unpredictable results .

The defending champions Chennai Super Kings  might not have got  best of the starts in the tournament but it’s a long tournament and they have the potential to bounce back although  getting a good start is also necessary as it is also very difficult to bounce back also and get the right rhythm .Mumbai Indian the all time favorite of many to win seems to take a semi final berth  with their top weapons Lasith Malinga and Sachin Tendulkar but still winning the title seems  difficult time time also because of their inconsistent performance ,it is a good team no doubt but win matches on individual performance not by team effort ,for me it’s a team of 11 individuals !!!Pune Warriors India is also among the favorites this time with the DADA impact and so far it is performing well against a truly good leader ,it would be an achievement if they book their berth in semi finals  . Royal Challenger Bangalore have the marauder Gayle with them ,their batting seems to be perfect but its their lack of fifth bowler which is causing trouble to them ,they are having a constant trouble since last season to deal with the death overs in the bowling department and in T-20 only these overs decide the result of the match ,so may cost them badly .Delhi Daredevils have every thing in their team ,a perfect balanced side with superb batting lineup and a descent bowling and they all the performing ,if they can keep that going they are surly going the title this time .Rajasthan Royals  is also doing reasonably well this in this tournament with his assured batting performance hopefully they will be among the four semi finalist .Apart from that Kolkata Knight Riders , Kings XI Punjab , Deccan Charger have the potential but are very inconsistent with their performance ,so it seems difficult that any of them can go to the next stage of the game .

The tournament has now got the  pace and its going to be interesting to watch how the teams progress from their on .We are surly going to many more memorable wins and powerful performances in the coming matches , no matter who is going to win this IPL but billions hearts will be won for sure with such cricket.

Simply Rahul Dravid

The Final Walk

Cricket lies in his mind, he is a living example of grit ,a perfectionist who has never craved for recognition, the most pragmatic, courageous, disciplined and tenacious batsman in modern cricket ,he is RAHUL DRAVID the great wall of Indian team-who can keep wickets, take stunning catches at slip and gracefully accede to all batting flexibilities, he personifies calmness and often makes the menacing bowling look timid with his serene approach, his mannerism and conduct symbolizes cricketing culture.

A perfect team man and a true gentleman of this gentlemen’s game, who is always there for his team, his fitness level and record  shows what cricket matters to him. A perfect student of cricket whom every team wants to be in their side. To start with he has the record of playing maximum number of test in a row and around which lies many records and unforgettable innings which  can not be compared to any thing. It is through his commitment only he has made over 20000 runs, we can best say 20000 runs for his team India and not a single run for himself .Solid defense, perfect cricketing strokes and a very humble guy both on and off the field are the few adjectives for him.

If you stop watching replays, i can get back to batting !!

He was their in the Indian team when India have achieved great heights and produced many legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman together they are called as Fabulous Four of Indian team probably the” Favourite four” of every one. His contribution to the Indian team is priceless and his position is almost irreplaceable, their cannot be any Rauhl Dravid in future he is a definition in himself and an idle for many young cricketer, he actually defines what cricket is. He has proven himself in all formats Test, ODI and IPLs  and all department of games batting, fielding ,wicket keeping ,captaincy-perfectionist in every thing. You just cant have a second Rahul Dravid and team India still needs him ,he just command respect and I consider my self lucky to have watched him playing cricket both from on screen and on stands.

Although the great man has taken his call, that too also for the betterment of team because he donot want to block a place of any youngster, his contribution is just priceless- a grand salute to this great man you will be missed.

Yuvraj Singh – A Great Fighter

Yuvraj Singh -well he is now became legend and Indian cricketing history cannot be completed without this great fighter ,their will be a special chapter with his name with what he has achieved in his career.

He is a true fighter every time he is pointed out with his weakness he has made that his strength .In his early days fielding was his weak area and he like to avoid it but he accepted the challenge and practice so well that he is became India’s best fielder, always their in the field like a live wire ,he and Mohammad Kaif has given a new direction to Indian fielding .Life has asked question him many times and each time he has answered it with courage .He was not in the Indian team before the world cup ,but the fighter was actually preparing for the  big battle, he got selected for the team and came back so strongly with his all round performance that he became the man of the tournament in the India World cup Triumph.

But the list of challenges  has not yet been finished, this time he had the challenge from life .He got a very rare germ cell “cancer” -the name itself is a cause of death for many but this young man accepted it and fought so well that he has beaten that too .He is the gifted one ,their must be some power which drives him and his life story can be sited in many inspiration speeches .He never stops- both on and off field  he is been dropped both in cricket and in life but he fought so well that they have to get him back .But one thing is sure he will get now easier tasks which will be far below his potential what he has already achieved…!!!!   

Virat Kohli – New Batting Sensation

He is young ,he is dynamic  he is stylish and got the perfect start as every new young cricketer get in this Indian team –yes he is Virat Kohli the modern day Victor Trumper of  India team .A brilliant batsman ,a live wire in the field who can ball a bit also – the rising star of India .

At  the age of 23 he is now the India’s vice captain ,although its early days in his career and he is going through the  “purple patch “ which comes in every players life .Well cricket is every thing for this young man  ,he has delayed his father funeral for cricket only ,he captained under 19 Indian team and made it to win the world cup .He has made his way to the Indian dressing room with his hard work and commitment only .He has proven himself at all batting flexibilities and in all formats whether its Test ,ODIs or T-20 he has accepted all challenges  .He loves challenges ,a very aggressive player but very matured with his approach .His current form says a lot about his ability with already hitting centuries  more than Gautam Gambhir in ODIs in just over 3 years of his international cricket .

Its his quality of play and the way he approach his innings and at last control his aggression and show calmness in his batting is what makes him very special .His stats seems very attractive being a part of world cup winning squad for both under 19 and senior team for which even Sachin have to wait for 22 years , vice captain of team India , already hitting 11 century fastest by any and surpassed Gautam Gambhir’s centuries in  ODIs ,but there is a lot of hard work involved behind it ,he has proven himself when there is a very tough competition in the Indian team regarding the batting position .Well he already had many such facts with him which are enough to write a legendry and he has potential to break and make many more records but for now ,he is just enjoying his game and getting better day by day, hopefully he  keep his good form going and come out as a legend. 

The Middle Order Wobble

India’s strength is batting no doubt about that .Indian batting legends were once best described as “FAB Four” which  Sachin Tendulkar ,Rahul Dravid ,Sourav Ganguly , VVS Laxman- well its difficult to replace any one of them , as they are a definitions in themselves ,they  are defined by many facts and are part of many historic moments of cricket which no one can take away from them .

I am not going to take the credit away from anyone and also not going to compare any batsman , they all are playing for their country and are selected because of their talent but if we look at the current Indian batting talent which are emerging, we have some very good options for opening slot but their continues to be a wobble in middle order specially at number 6.With so much stiff competition among player as opener these youngsters has not yet been able to prove themselves at no.6 chances .The image gets clear in the real longer version of game .Enough chances are given to Kohli, Raina and Yuvraj Singh but non of them are able to perform at this position constantly and the fab three of our team has covered this position with there performance so far ,but now as the great wall of India has retired it would be more interesting to see who is going to take his position well Virat Kohli seems to be a idle choice but at no.6 there is still a question mark .Raina and Rohit Sharma seems to be strong contender for this position but they still have to prove themselves  at this format and even Dhoni have to prove himself in this format .

These players are performing well in the shorter version of the game and excelling to all batting positions but are constantly failing in the Test cricket  ,well probably that’s the point which  experts want to make by  not favoring the T-20 and IPLs a they consider it as the major cause of lack of quality and temperament in young cricketers .Well this India team has proven itself in all format but it is also true that they are not playing like champions ,every time they play with an uncertainty not sure of what their strengths are .The excess of cricket might be the problem ,but no option they have to deal with that .

Talking about the experience and senior players well India exactly know the importance of that ,that’s why they played with their best batting and experienced bowling combination in the the world cup .It’s a team in making for sure and it will take time but how much and can we get some reliable ,consistent player ..??probably not..with the tough competition for the positions it has now became very  difficult to have  any player in “Fab” category now.