For too long now, the two protagonists at the centre of the Friday Night Farce have been careening towards a head-on collision - if not with each other, then with anyone standing in their way. For too long, the men in charge of them have either looked away or handled them with kid gloves. For too long, Indian cricket has protested, in almost every recent controversy - and there have been several - that it is more sinned against than sinner, that the real villain was always an Australian or South African or A N Other.
On Friday night it all came home to roost in scenes that were at the same time embarrassing, ludicrous, laughable, ominous - but not surprising. The Indian Premiere League's first spat was not between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds or Matthew Hayden, it was Indian against Indian. And, as Sreesanth blubbered in the manner of a child who has lost a playground spat, as Harbhajan walked around with a sheepish look on his face (and where have we seen that before), one thought kept going through the mind: that if and when this happened, Sreesanth was the prime candidate for being hit, and Harbhajan was the most likely offender.
Cricket, Indian cricket in particular, had it coming. What an irony the BCCI, which has so long indulged these two, may now have to ban one - it has already suspended Harbhajan pending the inquiry - and sanction the other. That sound you hear is of Australians chuckling at what has come to pass.
What happened on the field is not clear; as with the infamous sledging episode at Sydney, this incident was not shown on television. It appears that Sreesanth, who plays for the Kings XI Punjab, walked up to Harbhajan - captain of the opposing Mumbai Indians - after the match and commiserated on Mumbai's loss. "Hard luck", Sreesanth is believed to have said. At which point Harbhajan apparently hit Sreesanth below the eye. We have only Sreesanth's version; Harbhajan has been lying low, presumably realising that discretion is the better part.
To anyone who has followed Indian cricket in the past few months, the incident was inevitable. Sreesanth has gone from being a hugely talented bowler - one can still hear Allan Donald's appreciation of the ball's seam position in his hand - to a petulant, theatrical time-bomb who has allowed his baiting skills (and now his bawling skills) to dominate his bowling skills. He has rarely needed an excuse to turn round and stare at, or sledge, or brush past or bump into the batsman. It has happened when playing for India; it has gone unchecked. It has happened in the IPL, too. In fact it happened on Friday - minutes before we saw Sreesanth shed tears, we saw him sledge Mumbai's batsman, Musavir Khote, whom he had just dismissed. Many will see what followed as a case of crying wolf.
Sreesanth's one virtue, if it can be called that, is his ability to get away. That's a trick Harbhajan has not been able to manage in an often controversial career that has of late seen more headlines associated with his antics than with his wicket-taking abilities. It is no coincidence that he was at the centre of the two major incidents during India's tour of Australia earlier this year - the charge of racism in Sydney, from which he was let off on a technicality, and Hayden's reference to him as a "little obnoxious weed", a wrangle that continued long after he'd returned to India.
Last month, these two turned on each other during the India-South Africa Test series. It stemmed from a dropped catch by Sreesanth off Harbhajan's bowling during the Chennai Test; Harbhajan reacted with visible displeasure. Later, after making a diving save at point off Sreesanth's bowling, he was seen gesticulating at the bowler. From there to Mohali was but a short step.
Perhaps it isn't their fault; perhaps they've just been handled badly. Perhaps they needed a kick up their backsides instead of a deaf ear or, worse, a sympathetic arm around the shoulder and, in Harbhajan's case, the media's assurance that all of India was backing him in his fight against the racism charge. Both are part of a new India where aggression is celebrated, where on-field antics, often seen as entertainment, strike a chord with the Common Man. And where the finger of suspicion raised against an Indian player is prima facie an insult against the country.
Both are also part of an Indian team that has recently adopted aggressive tactics, not just as a counter but proactively. In an interview with Cricinfo last month Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the team's captain in the shorter versions of the game, indicated that the sledging and gamesmanship were calibrated, often using selected players for the task. "If you have a guy who is able to do it and who should do it, I make it a point that he does it."
Dhoni also warned against excesses but said there were inbuilt circuit-breakers - "Personally, I believe if you get punished a few times, you know what's happening and what your boundaries are." Therein lies the nub - there's been little official sanction of the on-field tantrums that have on occasion threatened to take the gloss off India's cricket successes.
Now there is opportunity. If the IPL is to establish itself as a bona fide cricket tournament and not merely a money-spinning carnival, it must act now, and act firmly. If Harbhajan indeed hit Sreesanth, he must pay; if Sreesanth provoked the act, he, too must be dealt with. But that is the easy part; the ICC's Code of Conduct will take care of this incident. What will be harder to tackle is the growing culture of aggression from where this incident emerged.
It is not natural to Indian cricketers, it is not something that can be bought off the peg and worn every match-day; the Australians have perfected it - have you ever witnessed two Australians enacting the Mohali scenes? - because it is nothing more than an extension of their daily lives. The Indian board must suo motu send out the message that this behaviour - provocation, reaction, hostility - will not be tolerated, that players must rein themselves in.
In a larger perspective, the issue may also compel the franchises to look a little closer at how they run their teams. Collecting the world's best players at auction and getting your biggest local star to captain them may not be the best way to win matches. Harbhajan is patently not captaincy material; Mumbai Indians, currently languishing one place off the bottom of the table, paid $850,000 dollars for his services, which are now in jeopardy just when they need him.
There may yet be some good coming out of this farce but that will depend on how seriously the Indian board takes the offence, takes itself and takes the IPL. The world will be watching.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Harbhajan suspended temporarily
Harbhajan Singh has been temporarily suspended from the Indian Premier League following his spat with Sreesanth at the end of the Mumbai-Punjab game in Mohali on Friday. His suspension, based on new video evidence, is pending an inquiry on Monday into the incident, which means he will not be able to play Mumbai's home match against the Deccan Chargers on Sunday.
"Based on prima facie video evidence, as seen and reviewed by the match adjudicator and referee Farokh Engineer from the tapes provided by Sony & TWI, a decision has been reached to suspend Harbhajan pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, April 28," Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner of IPL, said.
The fresh video evidence, Cricinfo has learnt, is based on additional footage of the incident from one of the host broadcaster's 21 cameras at the match. "This footage clearly shows the incident and could be the clinching evidence," a senior BCCI official told Cricinfo. It was this footage that prompted the IPL to swiftly announce Harbhajan's suspension after it was earlier decided that he could play on Sunday, the official said.
The IPL hearing, scheduled to start at 1pm local time, will be held at a hotel in New Delhi and the verdict is expected to be announced by Monday evening. "From King's XI Punjab, the complainant Neil Maxwell [the franchise CEO], Yuvraj Singh, the captain, and Sreesanth will be present, apart from any other witnesses they wish to present. From the Mumbai Indians, Lalchand Rajput, the coach, will be specifically present. Harbhajan and the team manager will also be present," an IPL official said.
Although both players sought to play down the incident on Saturday, the BCCI, which runs IPL, said that it had taken "serious note" of the incident and would initiate a separate probe into it. "My message to Indian players, who have got contractual obligations with the board, is that they have to honour each and every guideline about discipline which the board has communicated to them, and they have accepted and signed," Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, said.
"If somebody is going to violate them, the board will not sit as a silent spectator. The IPL committee, I hope, will take a separate decision," Pawar said.
Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said the board condemned Harbhajan's behaviour. "He is called upon to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him. And [Harbhajan] has been asked for a clarification by Monday evening [April 28]."
Modi clarified the ICC's conduct norms would be followed for the IPL probe, even though the Twenty20 tournament has been officially tagged as a domestic event. Under the level 4.1 of the ICC rules, physical assault of another player, umpire, referee, official or spectator will result in a ban of between five Tests or 10 one-day internationals up to a life ban for the player or official concerned.
"We are not going to sweep things under the carpet," Engineer said. He also confirmed an official complaint from the Mohali franchise, which owns Kings XI Punjab, had been referred to him by Modi.
"Kings XI Punjab confirms a formal complaint against Harbhajan Singh was submitted to the BCCI earlier today," a Punjab team official said. "The complaint is in relation to Friday's incident following the match against Mumbai Indians, where Harbhajan made an unprovoked attack on Sreesanth. The Kings XI Punjab team and management consider this behaviour unacceptable and against the spirit of the game."
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians are hopeful the issue will be resolved amicably. Bought at US$111.9 million, Mumbai are the most expensive of the eight IPL franchises but are yet to win a game. Harbhajan was asked to lead the side after Sachin Tendulkar, their icon player, failed to recover from a groin injury.
Reacting to the news that Harbhajan has been temporarily suspended, a top Mumbai team official said, "The incident involving Harbhajan and Sreesanth of the Kings XI Punjab was most unfortunate. The [IPL] governing council has set up an adjudication panel to inquire into the incident. The Mumbai Indians are confident that the decision taken by the panel will be in the best interests of cricket and the IPL."
Harbhajan and Sreesanth told reporters on Saturday they had "sorted out the issue" and were now like "brothers of one family".
"Based on prima facie video evidence, as seen and reviewed by the match adjudicator and referee Farokh Engineer from the tapes provided by Sony & TWI, a decision has been reached to suspend Harbhajan pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, April 28," Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner of IPL, said.
The fresh video evidence, Cricinfo has learnt, is based on additional footage of the incident from one of the host broadcaster's 21 cameras at the match. "This footage clearly shows the incident and could be the clinching evidence," a senior BCCI official told Cricinfo. It was this footage that prompted the IPL to swiftly announce Harbhajan's suspension after it was earlier decided that he could play on Sunday, the official said.
The IPL hearing, scheduled to start at 1pm local time, will be held at a hotel in New Delhi and the verdict is expected to be announced by Monday evening. "From King's XI Punjab, the complainant Neil Maxwell [the franchise CEO], Yuvraj Singh, the captain, and Sreesanth will be present, apart from any other witnesses they wish to present. From the Mumbai Indians, Lalchand Rajput, the coach, will be specifically present. Harbhajan and the team manager will also be present," an IPL official said.
Although both players sought to play down the incident on Saturday, the BCCI, which runs IPL, said that it had taken "serious note" of the incident and would initiate a separate probe into it. "My message to Indian players, who have got contractual obligations with the board, is that they have to honour each and every guideline about discipline which the board has communicated to them, and they have accepted and signed," Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, said.
"If somebody is going to violate them, the board will not sit as a silent spectator. The IPL committee, I hope, will take a separate decision," Pawar said.
Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said the board condemned Harbhajan's behaviour. "He is called upon to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him. And [Harbhajan] has been asked for a clarification by Monday evening [April 28]."
Modi clarified the ICC's conduct norms would be followed for the IPL probe, even though the Twenty20 tournament has been officially tagged as a domestic event. Under the level 4.1 of the ICC rules, physical assault of another player, umpire, referee, official or spectator will result in a ban of between five Tests or 10 one-day internationals up to a life ban for the player or official concerned.
"We are not going to sweep things under the carpet," Engineer said. He also confirmed an official complaint from the Mohali franchise, which owns Kings XI Punjab, had been referred to him by Modi.
"Kings XI Punjab confirms a formal complaint against Harbhajan Singh was submitted to the BCCI earlier today," a Punjab team official said. "The complaint is in relation to Friday's incident following the match against Mumbai Indians, where Harbhajan made an unprovoked attack on Sreesanth. The Kings XI Punjab team and management consider this behaviour unacceptable and against the spirit of the game."
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians are hopeful the issue will be resolved amicably. Bought at US$111.9 million, Mumbai are the most expensive of the eight IPL franchises but are yet to win a game. Harbhajan was asked to lead the side after Sachin Tendulkar, their icon player, failed to recover from a groin injury.
Reacting to the news that Harbhajan has been temporarily suspended, a top Mumbai team official said, "The incident involving Harbhajan and Sreesanth of the Kings XI Punjab was most unfortunate. The [IPL] governing council has set up an adjudication panel to inquire into the incident. The Mumbai Indians are confident that the decision taken by the panel will be in the best interests of cricket and the IPL."
Harbhajan and Sreesanth told reporters on Saturday they had "sorted out the issue" and were now like "brothers of one family".
Is Bhajji the bad boy of Indian cricket?
Harbhajan Singh loves to court controversy. The slugfest Down Under that involved Bhajji is too well known to recount. On Friday, Harbhajan Singh once again found himself embroiled in a controversy for allegedly slapping Kings XI Punjab pacer S Sreesanth after their IPL match. Is Harbhajan Singh going the Shoaib Akhtar way? Is Harbhajan the bad boy of Indian cricket? Write in with your views.
Comprehensive win
Matthew Hayden's commanding half century coupled with a disciplined bowling effort resulted in Chennai Super Kings' comprehensive nine-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League encounter on Saturday.
Electing to bat in the battle of two unbeaten sides, the Knight Riders were restricted to a modest 147 for nine in their allotted 20 overs with New Zealander Jacob Oram returning figures of three for 32 for the home side.
The Super Kings surpassed the target with three overs to spare. Hayden hit three fours and as many sixes in his 49-ball innings and was well supported by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who hit a quickfire 43 off 27 deliveries which was studded with six hits to the fence and two over it.
The duo shared an unbeaten 86-run stand for the second wicket after Parthiv Patel fell to Ajit Agarkar for 21 in the ninth over of the innings. (TOI Photo)
Electing to bat in the battle of two unbeaten sides, the Knight Riders were restricted to a modest 147 for nine in their allotted 20 overs with New Zealander Jacob Oram returning figures of three for 32 for the home side.
The Super Kings surpassed the target with three overs to spare. Hayden hit three fours and as many sixes in his 49-ball innings and was well supported by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who hit a quickfire 43 off 27 deliveries which was studded with six hits to the fence and two over it.
The duo shared an unbeaten 86-run stand for the second wicket after Parthiv Patel fell to Ajit Agarkar for 21 in the ninth over of the innings. (TOI Photo)
A splendid all-round display
A splendid all-round display enabled Rajasthan Royals cruise to a comfortable seven-wicket victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League tournament on Saturday.
For the second successive time, the Bangalore outfit failed to rise to the occasion in front of the home crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium making just 135 for eight in 20 overs after being invited to bat.
In reply, the team led by legendary Shane Warne chased it losing only three wickets with 17 balls to spare.
Man of the match Shane Watson, who dismissed both Dravid and Chanderpaul early, stole the show with a well compiled unbeaten 61 off only 41 balls with eight fours and two sixes.
Graeme Smith made a useful 49 before departing just before victory was achieved.(PTI Photo)
For the second successive time, the Bangalore outfit failed to rise to the occasion in front of the home crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium making just 135 for eight in 20 overs after being invited to bat.
In reply, the team led by legendary Shane Warne chased it losing only three wickets with 17 balls to spare.
Man of the match Shane Watson, who dismissed both Dravid and Chanderpaul early, stole the show with a well compiled unbeaten 61 off only 41 balls with eight fours and two sixes.
Graeme Smith made a useful 49 before departing just before victory was achieved.(PTI Photo)
Harbhajan can face 10 matches ban
In the dock for his behaviour, temperamental off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was on Saturday suspended pending his explanation for slapping his Indian team-mate S Sreesanth at the end of an IPL match at Mohali last night and appears headed for a severe punishment which can be a minimum of a ban for five Test matches or 10 One-Day Internationals.
Harbhajan was earlier slapped with a show-cause notice by the BCCI which gave him time till Monday to explain his conduct but bowing to media and public outrage, he was temporarily suspended till the disciplinary hearing before Farookh Engineer, who was the Match Referee in the tie between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians late last night.
The suspension means Harbhajan Singh, who is the stand-in captain for the Mumbai Indians, will not be able to play for the team against Deccan Chargers on Sunday in Mumbai.
Announcing the suspension, IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi said that based on prima facie video evidence as seen and reviewed by the match adjudicator and referee Farookh Engineer from the tapes provided by official channel partner, a decision has been reached to suspend with immediate effect Harbhajan Singh of the Mumbai Indians pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, April 28, 2008.
"The inquiry into the incident at Mohali in the game between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians will now take place at the Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi on April 28th 2008. A final verdict would be announced by the adjudicator Farookh Engineer post hearing at New Delhi", he said in a statement.
Speaking exclusively to TIMES NOW , Modi said, "I am very particular about maintaining the code of conduct guidelines that the players have signed, that is why Harbhajan has been temporarily suspended, pending inquiry."
As per the ICC Code of Conduct, slapping a fellow player constitutes a level 4 offence and could lead to a life ban or a minimum ban of five Tests to 10 ODIs.
Rajiv Shukla, the vice president of BCCI said that 'there is no room for indiscipline'. Speaking exclusively to TIMES NOW , Rajiv Shukla said, "This is the right step. The incident is unfortunate but that it has taken place, action has to be taken."
The immediate provocation for Harbhajan's action last night appears to be Sreesanth saying "hard luck" to the off spinner who was in a bad mood following the Mumbai team's third successive loss.
Though Harbhajan, who had only recently escaped unscathed from a searing racial abuse row with Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, and his victim Sreesanth who cried bitterly on the field last night, tried to downplay the incident, the BCCI sought his explanation by Monday.
The IPL also asked the Match Referee and Adjudicator Engineer to hold an inquiry in Delhi on Monday when Singh would appear before him.
Both Harbhajan and Sreesanth tried to downplay the incident. The off-spinner said the issue has been "sorted out" and the pacer remarked that Harbhajan is like his "elder brother".
BCCI's Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty asserted that the BCCI "meant business" in this matter. "We want to tell our players that discipline is equally important and not only their cricketing talent," he said.
Shetty said the Board had issued a letter to Harbhajan asking for his explanation with Monday evening is the deadline.
He mentioned a decision on the off-spinner's participation in the IPL and further disciplinary actions for the alleged misconduct were two separate angles of the issue.
"This has never happened in Indian cricket when somebody physically assaulted another player. It is an extremely serious matter and we are dealing with it very seriously," he added.
Sreesanth's Turnaround
Sreesanth when, he first spoke to TIMES NOW , told us that Bhajji had the right to beat him up. But when Sreesanth spoke to a Malayalee Channel, what actually happened between him and Bhajji after the match at Mohali.
Revealing the facts, Sreesanth's language, his tone was very different and he said that it was more than a slap, it was a slugfest.
Sreesanth said, "I never expected this behaviour, I was very surprised."
"It was said to be a slap, but it was more than that, it was like a slugfest", he said adding that he has forgiven Harbhajan for what he did to him and that he wanted to continue playing for the country.
Harbhajan was earlier slapped with a show-cause notice by the BCCI which gave him time till Monday to explain his conduct but bowing to media and public outrage, he was temporarily suspended till the disciplinary hearing before Farookh Engineer, who was the Match Referee in the tie between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians late last night.
The suspension means Harbhajan Singh, who is the stand-in captain for the Mumbai Indians, will not be able to play for the team against Deccan Chargers on Sunday in Mumbai.
Announcing the suspension, IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi said that based on prima facie video evidence as seen and reviewed by the match adjudicator and referee Farookh Engineer from the tapes provided by official channel partner, a decision has been reached to suspend with immediate effect Harbhajan Singh of the Mumbai Indians pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, April 28, 2008.
"The inquiry into the incident at Mohali in the game between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians will now take place at the Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi on April 28th 2008. A final verdict would be announced by the adjudicator Farookh Engineer post hearing at New Delhi", he said in a statement.
Speaking exclusively to TIMES NOW , Modi said, "I am very particular about maintaining the code of conduct guidelines that the players have signed, that is why Harbhajan has been temporarily suspended, pending inquiry."
As per the ICC Code of Conduct, slapping a fellow player constitutes a level 4 offence and could lead to a life ban or a minimum ban of five Tests to 10 ODIs.
Rajiv Shukla, the vice president of BCCI said that 'there is no room for indiscipline'. Speaking exclusively to TIMES NOW , Rajiv Shukla said, "This is the right step. The incident is unfortunate but that it has taken place, action has to be taken."
The immediate provocation for Harbhajan's action last night appears to be Sreesanth saying "hard luck" to the off spinner who was in a bad mood following the Mumbai team's third successive loss.
Though Harbhajan, who had only recently escaped unscathed from a searing racial abuse row with Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, and his victim Sreesanth who cried bitterly on the field last night, tried to downplay the incident, the BCCI sought his explanation by Monday.
The IPL also asked the Match Referee and Adjudicator Engineer to hold an inquiry in Delhi on Monday when Singh would appear before him.
Both Harbhajan and Sreesanth tried to downplay the incident. The off-spinner said the issue has been "sorted out" and the pacer remarked that Harbhajan is like his "elder brother".
BCCI's Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty asserted that the BCCI "meant business" in this matter. "We want to tell our players that discipline is equally important and not only their cricketing talent," he said.
Shetty said the Board had issued a letter to Harbhajan asking for his explanation with Monday evening is the deadline.
He mentioned a decision on the off-spinner's participation in the IPL and further disciplinary actions for the alleged misconduct were two separate angles of the issue.
"This has never happened in Indian cricket when somebody physically assaulted another player. It is an extremely serious matter and we are dealing with it very seriously," he added.
Sreesanth's Turnaround
Sreesanth when, he first spoke to TIMES NOW , told us that Bhajji had the right to beat him up. But when Sreesanth spoke to a Malayalee Channel, what actually happened between him and Bhajji after the match at Mohali.
Revealing the facts, Sreesanth's language, his tone was very different and he said that it was more than a slap, it was a slugfest.
Sreesanth said, "I never expected this behaviour, I was very surprised."
"It was said to be a slap, but it was more than that, it was like a slugfest", he said adding that he has forgiven Harbhajan for what he did to him and that he wanted to continue playing for the country.
Hayden and Oram crush Kolkata
Chennai Super Kings went on top of the table after an efficient performance from the bowlers - reckoned to be the team's weak link - set up a convincing nine-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders. After Kolkata were restricted to 147, Matthew Hayden's superb unbeaten 70 ensured there were no hiccups in making it three wins out of three.
Jacob Oram and Muttiah Muralitharan were the stand-out bowlers for Chennai, but the Indian bowling contingent backed them up well. Oram nailed the explosive pair of Bendon McCullum and Ricky Ponting early to give the huge home crowd something to shout about. Muralitharan's restrictive spell - he finished with figures of none for 12 from four overs - then frustrated the visitors and ensured Oram's good work wasn't wasted.
Kolkata were reeling at 70 for 5 after ten overs, with all their marquee names dismissed, and in danger of getting bowled out without utilising their full quota of overs. Laxmi Ratan Shukla, though, ensured they avoided that embarrassment as his late-order hitting earned 39 runs off the last four overs.
The early impetus for Kolkata was provided by Brendon McCullum, who silenced the crowd with some brutal hitting. There were no half-measures as he raced to 24 off 12, reclaiming the orange cap for the tournament's leading scorer in the process, before holing out to Suresh Raina at extra cover off Oram. Ricky Ponting's dismal run continued, falling for a duck as he drove his first ball straight to Raina at cover.
Kolkata's other wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha took the baton from McCullum, making a streaky, quickfire 27 - a top-edge off Manpreet Gony flew over the wicketkeeper for four and a similar shot off the next ball went for six. His luck then ran out and he was bowled by a ball that jagged back in.
Despite losing wickets, Kolkata's run-rate still hovered around ten after six overs, and with David Hussey and Sourav Ganguly in, a big score was still on the cards. The next four overs, though, emphatically handed the advantage to Chennai, as only 11 runs were given away and both Hussey and Ganguly were removed.
Ganguly, who had been starved of the strike when McCullum and Saha were blazing away, was cramped for room by Muttiah Muralitharan's leg-stump line and struggled to get the ball away. He finally fell for a scratchy 12, in the 10th over, gifting a catch to S Badrinath at cover after failing to pick a slower one from Joginder Sharma.
For a team which has run up scores over 200 in both their games so far, this was a straightforward chase. Hayden and Parthiv Patel, while not at their fluent best, put on the biggest opening stand of the tournament as they motored to 66 in 8.2 overs, peppering the offside boundary. While this was nearly the same number of runs Kolkata had managed at a similar stage, by keeping their wickets in tact, Chennai made sure they were well in control of the game.
Ajit Agarkar then demonstrated his penchant for taking wickets again, getting Patel to top-edge a catch to Ishant Sharma at fine leg. Hayden had struggled early on with his timing but soon displayed his trademark power-hitting, going on to his second consecutive fifty. He and Dhoni, who promoted himself to No. 3, eschewed the risks and calmly chipped away at the target, never allowing the run-rate to get out of hand. Towards the end, with the result beyond doubt, they opened up to take Chennai home with 19 balls to spare.
Jacob Oram and Muttiah Muralitharan were the stand-out bowlers for Chennai, but the Indian bowling contingent backed them up well. Oram nailed the explosive pair of Bendon McCullum and Ricky Ponting early to give the huge home crowd something to shout about. Muralitharan's restrictive spell - he finished with figures of none for 12 from four overs - then frustrated the visitors and ensured Oram's good work wasn't wasted.
Kolkata were reeling at 70 for 5 after ten overs, with all their marquee names dismissed, and in danger of getting bowled out without utilising their full quota of overs. Laxmi Ratan Shukla, though, ensured they avoided that embarrassment as his late-order hitting earned 39 runs off the last four overs.
The early impetus for Kolkata was provided by Brendon McCullum, who silenced the crowd with some brutal hitting. There were no half-measures as he raced to 24 off 12, reclaiming the orange cap for the tournament's leading scorer in the process, before holing out to Suresh Raina at extra cover off Oram. Ricky Ponting's dismal run continued, falling for a duck as he drove his first ball straight to Raina at cover.
Kolkata's other wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha took the baton from McCullum, making a streaky, quickfire 27 - a top-edge off Manpreet Gony flew over the wicketkeeper for four and a similar shot off the next ball went for six. His luck then ran out and he was bowled by a ball that jagged back in.
Despite losing wickets, Kolkata's run-rate still hovered around ten after six overs, and with David Hussey and Sourav Ganguly in, a big score was still on the cards. The next four overs, though, emphatically handed the advantage to Chennai, as only 11 runs were given away and both Hussey and Ganguly were removed.
Ganguly, who had been starved of the strike when McCullum and Saha were blazing away, was cramped for room by Muttiah Muralitharan's leg-stump line and struggled to get the ball away. He finally fell for a scratchy 12, in the 10th over, gifting a catch to S Badrinath at cover after failing to pick a slower one from Joginder Sharma.
For a team which has run up scores over 200 in both their games so far, this was a straightforward chase. Hayden and Parthiv Patel, while not at their fluent best, put on the biggest opening stand of the tournament as they motored to 66 in 8.2 overs, peppering the offside boundary. While this was nearly the same number of runs Kolkata had managed at a similar stage, by keeping their wickets in tact, Chennai made sure they were well in control of the game.
Ajit Agarkar then demonstrated his penchant for taking wickets again, getting Patel to top-edge a catch to Ishant Sharma at fine leg. Hayden had struggled early on with his timing but soon displayed his trademark power-hitting, going on to his second consecutive fifty. He and Dhoni, who promoted himself to No. 3, eschewed the risks and calmly chipped away at the target, never allowing the run-rate to get out of hand. Towards the end, with the result beyond doubt, they opened up to take Chennai home with 19 balls to spare.
Harbhajan suspended temporarily
Harbhajan Singh has been temporarily suspended from the Indian Premier League following his spat with Sreesanth at the end of the Mumbai-Punjab game in Mohali on Friday.
His suspension is pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, which means he would not be able to play Mumbai's home match against Deccan Chargers on Sunday.
"Based on prima facie video evidence as seen and reviewed by the match adjudicator and referee Farokh Engineer from the tapes provided by Sony & TWI a decision has been reached to suspend Harbhajan Singh pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, April 28th 2008," a release from the Indian board said.
Engineer will conduct a hearing on April 28 inquiring into the Harbhajan-Sreesanth row in Delhi. Both Harbhajan and Sreesanth will be present and video evidence, if any, will be used during the hearing which will be conducted as per the ICC Code of Conduct.
Engineer was the match referee of the game between the Kings XI Punjab and the Mumbai Indians, after the completion of which Harbhajan allegedly slapped Sreesanth, reducing him to tears on the field. Although both players sought to play down the incident, the Punjab team lodged a formal complaint against Harbhajan Singh to the BCCI. The Indian board took a serious view of the incident and asked him submit his explanation before April 28.
"The inquiry date has been fixed for Monday in New Delhi. We are not going to sweep things under the carpet. The complaint has to be carefully examined before any decision is made," Engineer said. "Everything possible will be done to adjudicate it immediately.
"The complaint made by the management of the Punjab team has been referred to me by Lalit Modi, chief commissioner of the IPL, for immediate adjudication under the ICC Code of Conduct. I have already started the process and will be summoning all concerned and will also seek any video evidence recorded by the host broadcaster.
"Since the process has started I will request the media not to seek any further clarification or information. I will furnish my report to chief commissioner of IPL, keeping in view the ICC code of Conduct and interest of cricket."
IS Bindra, the Punjab Cricket Association president, said that they would provide logistical support to Engineer to conduct the inquiry.
The inquiry will take place at the Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi on April 28th. A final verdict would be announced by Engineer after the hearing.
His suspension is pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, which means he would not be able to play Mumbai's home match against Deccan Chargers on Sunday.
"Based on prima facie video evidence as seen and reviewed by the match adjudicator and referee Farokh Engineer from the tapes provided by Sony & TWI a decision has been reached to suspend Harbhajan Singh pending the inquiry into the incident on Monday, April 28th 2008," a release from the Indian board said.
Engineer will conduct a hearing on April 28 inquiring into the Harbhajan-Sreesanth row in Delhi. Both Harbhajan and Sreesanth will be present and video evidence, if any, will be used during the hearing which will be conducted as per the ICC Code of Conduct.
Engineer was the match referee of the game between the Kings XI Punjab and the Mumbai Indians, after the completion of which Harbhajan allegedly slapped Sreesanth, reducing him to tears on the field. Although both players sought to play down the incident, the Punjab team lodged a formal complaint against Harbhajan Singh to the BCCI. The Indian board took a serious view of the incident and asked him submit his explanation before April 28.
"The inquiry date has been fixed for Monday in New Delhi. We are not going to sweep things under the carpet. The complaint has to be carefully examined before any decision is made," Engineer said. "Everything possible will be done to adjudicate it immediately.
"The complaint made by the management of the Punjab team has been referred to me by Lalit Modi, chief commissioner of the IPL, for immediate adjudication under the ICC Code of Conduct. I have already started the process and will be summoning all concerned and will also seek any video evidence recorded by the host broadcaster.
"Since the process has started I will request the media not to seek any further clarification or information. I will furnish my report to chief commissioner of IPL, keeping in view the ICC code of Conduct and interest of cricket."
IS Bindra, the Punjab Cricket Association president, said that they would provide logistical support to Engineer to conduct the inquiry.
The inquiry will take place at the Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi on April 28th. A final verdict would be announced by Engineer after the hearing.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Warne gatecrashes Symonds' party
Shane Warne inspired Rajasthan Royals to a sensational come-from-behind win against Deccan Chargers by capping outstanding leadership and canny bowling with a 17-run charge in the last over.
The three-wicket victory - which was decided, for the second successive day, off the penultimate ball of the match - made Rajasthan the first team in the IPL to chase down a 200-plus score. They now lie fourth with four points from three games while Deccan, for whom Andrew Symonds scored a century and bowled the fateful final over, lost their third match in a row and remain at the bottom of the table.
In the penultimate over, it had seemed Rajasthan were out of the chase with RP Singh effecting two dismissals and conceding only six runs. Before that Shahid Afridi and Symonds had bowled in tandem to keep the scoring under check between overs 12 and 14, but Mohammad Kaif changed all that in the next where he hit three sixes off Symonds. Afridi dismissed Shane Watson, Kaif and Graeme Smith and conceded only 28 runs. But having exhausted his main bowlers, VVS Laxman was forced to turn to Symonds for the decisive last over.
That began with the odds stacked against Rajasthan. Pankaj Singh took three off the first two balls before giving the strike to Warne. He then hit a four over Symonds' head, leaving ten to get off the last three balls. Warne needed just two of them, off which he hit consecutive sixes to spark scenes of wild celebrations among his team-mates.
What set up the chase, though, was the 98-run partnership between Yusuf Pathan and Smith. The two were mindful of the run-rate they had to maintain right from the start and went past 100 in 8.3 overs, which made Rajasthan the fastest side to get to that figure in the tournament.
Yusuf belied his lithe frame to get the ball into the stands several times while recording the fastest fifty of the tournament. He didn't move his feet much but used all his strength as he reached out and swung his bat at everything. He fell in similar fashion, not moving his feet when he reached for a wide one off D Kalyankrishna and found Symonds at long-off. Smith was more conventional though equally attacking. He drove down the ground and cut behind third man for boundaries.
Test cricket had been unlucky not to witness Warne as captain. Before his last-over heroics, he used his bowlers effectively to dent Deccan's start. He brought on Yusuf in the third over - to replace Munaf Patel, who went for 12 in his opening effort - and was rewarded with the wickets of Adam Gilchrist and Afridi. Though Symonds more than made up for the poor start, Rajasthan's target could have been much higher had Gilchrist built on his three fours. Warne also made Yusuf bat at No. 3 for the second game in a row, after getting him to open in their first match.
Laxman's captaincy was very poor in comparison - his decision to open the innings with Gilchrist failed, as did his bowling change in the sixth over to bring on left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who went for 16 runs. But even Warne had no tricks against Symonds, who showed his two initial failures were blips with an innings that included powerful straight fours and sixes mostly by making room in the crease.
He did not indulge in unconventional strokes - except a short ball that he pulled tennis-style late in the innings - and stuck mostly to back-foot drives and flicks. He reached his half-century off 29 balls and then took only 18 more to get to his hundred. His 111-run partnership with Rohit Sharma, who scored a half-century in the previous match, ruined the Rajasthan bowlers' early efforts. Now Deccan will have to rethink their bowling strategies after losing a game that was firmly in their grasp.
The three-wicket victory - which was decided, for the second successive day, off the penultimate ball of the match - made Rajasthan the first team in the IPL to chase down a 200-plus score. They now lie fourth with four points from three games while Deccan, for whom Andrew Symonds scored a century and bowled the fateful final over, lost their third match in a row and remain at the bottom of the table.
In the penultimate over, it had seemed Rajasthan were out of the chase with RP Singh effecting two dismissals and conceding only six runs. Before that Shahid Afridi and Symonds had bowled in tandem to keep the scoring under check between overs 12 and 14, but Mohammad Kaif changed all that in the next where he hit three sixes off Symonds. Afridi dismissed Shane Watson, Kaif and Graeme Smith and conceded only 28 runs. But having exhausted his main bowlers, VVS Laxman was forced to turn to Symonds for the decisive last over.
That began with the odds stacked against Rajasthan. Pankaj Singh took three off the first two balls before giving the strike to Warne. He then hit a four over Symonds' head, leaving ten to get off the last three balls. Warne needed just two of them, off which he hit consecutive sixes to spark scenes of wild celebrations among his team-mates.
What set up the chase, though, was the 98-run partnership between Yusuf Pathan and Smith. The two were mindful of the run-rate they had to maintain right from the start and went past 100 in 8.3 overs, which made Rajasthan the fastest side to get to that figure in the tournament.
Yusuf belied his lithe frame to get the ball into the stands several times while recording the fastest fifty of the tournament. He didn't move his feet much but used all his strength as he reached out and swung his bat at everything. He fell in similar fashion, not moving his feet when he reached for a wide one off D Kalyankrishna and found Symonds at long-off. Smith was more conventional though equally attacking. He drove down the ground and cut behind third man for boundaries.
Test cricket had been unlucky not to witness Warne as captain. Before his last-over heroics, he used his bowlers effectively to dent Deccan's start. He brought on Yusuf in the third over - to replace Munaf Patel, who went for 12 in his opening effort - and was rewarded with the wickets of Adam Gilchrist and Afridi. Though Symonds more than made up for the poor start, Rajasthan's target could have been much higher had Gilchrist built on his three fours. Warne also made Yusuf bat at No. 3 for the second game in a row, after getting him to open in their first match.
Laxman's captaincy was very poor in comparison - his decision to open the innings with Gilchrist failed, as did his bowling change in the sixth over to bring on left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who went for 16 runs. But even Warne had no tricks against Symonds, who showed his two initial failures were blips with an innings that included powerful straight fours and sixes mostly by making room in the crease.
He did not indulge in unconventional strokes - except a short ball that he pulled tennis-style late in the innings - and stuck mostly to back-foot drives and flicks. He reached his half-century off 29 balls and then took only 18 more to get to his hundred. His 111-run partnership with Rohit Sharma, who scored a half-century in the previous match, ruined the Rajasthan bowlers' early efforts. Now Deccan will have to rethink their bowling strategies after losing a game that was firmly in their grasp.
ICC moves annual conference to Dubai
The ICC annual conference will be held in Dubai this June, ending a 99-year association with Lord's.
Cricinfo has learned that the decision to abandon London as the host venue was taken by the majority of the ICC executive board at the opening of the IPL in Bangalore last week after claims by Peter Chingoka that attempts by him to obtain a visa to enter the UK had been blocked.
Although there was no formal meeting held in Bangalore, only two or three board heads were absent, and when Chingoka flagged that he had not been successful in obtaining a visa, it was agreed to switch the get together to the ICC headquarters. A formal announcement is expected in the next few days.
A spokesman for the MCC, who host all events at Lord's, told Cricinfo the club was aware of the decision.
The annual ICC conference has been held at Lord's since the first meeting in 1909. The decision to relocate this year casts a shadow over plans to centre the ICC's centenary celebrations on Lord's, and unless Chingoka is allowed into the country - and given the hardening of the line against anyone associated with Zanu-PF, that seems unlikely - then the loss of the conference could be the first in a chain of events moved from the UK.
The ICC's centenary celebrations next year are due to be centred on Lord's, and there is also scheduled to be a bilateral tour by Zimbabwe followed by the ICC World Twenty20.
Cricinfo has learned that the decision to abandon London as the host venue was taken by the majority of the ICC executive board at the opening of the IPL in Bangalore last week after claims by Peter Chingoka that attempts by him to obtain a visa to enter the UK had been blocked.
Although there was no formal meeting held in Bangalore, only two or three board heads were absent, and when Chingoka flagged that he had not been successful in obtaining a visa, it was agreed to switch the get together to the ICC headquarters. A formal announcement is expected in the next few days.
A spokesman for the MCC, who host all events at Lord's, told Cricinfo the club was aware of the decision.
The annual ICC conference has been held at Lord's since the first meeting in 1909. The decision to relocate this year casts a shadow over plans to centre the ICC's centenary celebrations on Lord's, and unless Chingoka is allowed into the country - and given the hardening of the line against anyone associated with Zanu-PF, that seems unlikely - then the loss of the conference could be the first in a chain of events moved from the UK.
The ICC's centenary celebrations next year are due to be centred on Lord's, and there is also scheduled to be a bilateral tour by Zimbabwe followed by the ICC World Twenty20.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Great Expectations
The Big Picture
The match-up between two power-packed batting line-ups has the makings of a potential classic. The Kolkata Knight Riders have started off their campaign by running roughshod over the Bangalore Royal Challengers, but will now have to contend with the Deccan Chargers, a crack outfit born from clever buys in the IPL auctions. Brendon McCullum's astonishing assault in Bangalore brought team-owner Shah Rukh Khan to his feet, and may serve as a rallying call to Kolkata's passionate supporters. With 100,000 plus spectators set to be at the ground, this is the showpiece event of the first week.
Watch out for ...
... some exhilarating batting, especially from trans-Tasman foes turned team-mates. McCullum peppered the stands with 13 sixes on his way to an unbeaten 158, the highest score in domestic Twenty20s, and will be looking to repeat his heroics. If he fails, Kolkata have Ricky Ponting and David Hussey, as destructive as any on their day.
Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds, the second-most expensive player in the tournament, are set to give Hyderabad the impetus at the top order. Scott Styris, an effortless player when he gets in the groove, is a strong presence in the Hyderabad line-up, and local flavour may be provided by the talented Rohit Sharma. Hyderabad have some allround options: Symonds and Styris can slow down the run-rate and Nuwan Zoysa is capable off big strokes to go with his left-arm medium-pace.
Team news
Hyderabad will be without the services of Herschelle Gibbs (representing the Cape Cobras in the Pro20 semi-final in South Africa) and Shahid Afridi, who is in Pakistan's squad for the Twenty20 match against Bangladesh. Ravi Teja, the right-hand batsman who had an impressive debut in the recently concluded Ranji season, is rated by assistant coach Kanwaljeet Singh as a "brilliant prospect." He is expected to open the batting with the explosive Gilchrist, and it will be interesting to see how he fares against Ishant Sharma. Opening the bowling with RP Singh will be either Chaminda Vaas or Zoysa. Pragyan Ojha is a specialist spinning option, while the third seamers slot could be a toss-up between Sanjay Bangar and D Kalyankrishna. Bangar may get a game if Hyderabad decide to add depth to their batting order. Hyderabad will decide on the final composition of their line-up once Vaas and Chamara Silva join the squad tonight after flying in from Sri Lanka.
Hyderabad (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist, 2 Ravi Teja, 3 VVS Laxman (capt), 4 Andrew Symonds, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 Venugopal Rao, 8 Nuwan Zoysa/Chaminda Vaas, 9 Sanjay Bangar/D Kalyankrishna, 10 RP Singh, 11 Pragyan Ojha.
Kolkata are likely to retain the same squad that played in Bangalore, with Chris Gayle staying back in the West Indies with a groin strain picked up during the third ODI against Sri Lanka. "He [Gayle] is out for a fortnight at least," a spokesman for the Knight Riders told the Telegraph. Also, Wriddhiman Saha showcased his capability behind the stumps, and Kolkata may want to continue to play McCullum purely as a batsman.
Kolkata (probable) 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 David Hussey, 5 Mohammad Hafeez, 6 Laxmi Rattan Shukla, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Ashok Dinda, 10 Murali Kartik, 11 Ishant Sharma.
Stats and trivia
# Symonds, at 187.05, has the best-ever strike-rate in domestic Twenty20s
# Rohit is the only Indian to have a domestic Twenty20 hundred under his belt
# Hussey is the fourth-highest run-getter in domestic Twenty20s, and that explains his $635,000 price tag
# To go along with his century yesterday, McCullum now holds the record for the most number of sixes in an innings
# RP Singh was the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the World Twenty20 last year
Quotes
"I have a personal rapport with all the players and keep interacting with them. It should be comparatively easier for me to handle any situation on the field."
Symonds reveals all is well within the Hyderabad camp.
"Being an actor, I have always thought every thing in larger-than-life perspective. Knight Riders' matches will also be no exception"
Shah Rukh adds to the build-up
The match-up between two power-packed batting line-ups has the makings of a potential classic. The Kolkata Knight Riders have started off their campaign by running roughshod over the Bangalore Royal Challengers, but will now have to contend with the Deccan Chargers, a crack outfit born from clever buys in the IPL auctions. Brendon McCullum's astonishing assault in Bangalore brought team-owner Shah Rukh Khan to his feet, and may serve as a rallying call to Kolkata's passionate supporters. With 100,000 plus spectators set to be at the ground, this is the showpiece event of the first week.
Watch out for ...
... some exhilarating batting, especially from trans-Tasman foes turned team-mates. McCullum peppered the stands with 13 sixes on his way to an unbeaten 158, the highest score in domestic Twenty20s, and will be looking to repeat his heroics. If he fails, Kolkata have Ricky Ponting and David Hussey, as destructive as any on their day.
Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds, the second-most expensive player in the tournament, are set to give Hyderabad the impetus at the top order. Scott Styris, an effortless player when he gets in the groove, is a strong presence in the Hyderabad line-up, and local flavour may be provided by the talented Rohit Sharma. Hyderabad have some allround options: Symonds and Styris can slow down the run-rate and Nuwan Zoysa is capable off big strokes to go with his left-arm medium-pace.
Team news
Hyderabad will be without the services of Herschelle Gibbs (representing the Cape Cobras in the Pro20 semi-final in South Africa) and Shahid Afridi, who is in Pakistan's squad for the Twenty20 match against Bangladesh. Ravi Teja, the right-hand batsman who had an impressive debut in the recently concluded Ranji season, is rated by assistant coach Kanwaljeet Singh as a "brilliant prospect." He is expected to open the batting with the explosive Gilchrist, and it will be interesting to see how he fares against Ishant Sharma. Opening the bowling with RP Singh will be either Chaminda Vaas or Zoysa. Pragyan Ojha is a specialist spinning option, while the third seamers slot could be a toss-up between Sanjay Bangar and D Kalyankrishna. Bangar may get a game if Hyderabad decide to add depth to their batting order. Hyderabad will decide on the final composition of their line-up once Vaas and Chamara Silva join the squad tonight after flying in from Sri Lanka.
Hyderabad (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist, 2 Ravi Teja, 3 VVS Laxman (capt), 4 Andrew Symonds, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 Venugopal Rao, 8 Nuwan Zoysa/Chaminda Vaas, 9 Sanjay Bangar/D Kalyankrishna, 10 RP Singh, 11 Pragyan Ojha.
Kolkata are likely to retain the same squad that played in Bangalore, with Chris Gayle staying back in the West Indies with a groin strain picked up during the third ODI against Sri Lanka. "He [Gayle] is out for a fortnight at least," a spokesman for the Knight Riders told the Telegraph. Also, Wriddhiman Saha showcased his capability behind the stumps, and Kolkata may want to continue to play McCullum purely as a batsman.
Kolkata (probable) 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 David Hussey, 5 Mohammad Hafeez, 6 Laxmi Rattan Shukla, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Ashok Dinda, 10 Murali Kartik, 11 Ishant Sharma.
Stats and trivia
# Symonds, at 187.05, has the best-ever strike-rate in domestic Twenty20s
# Rohit is the only Indian to have a domestic Twenty20 hundred under his belt
# Hussey is the fourth-highest run-getter in domestic Twenty20s, and that explains his $635,000 price tag
# To go along with his century yesterday, McCullum now holds the record for the most number of sixes in an innings
# RP Singh was the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the World Twenty20 last year
Quotes
"I have a personal rapport with all the players and keep interacting with them. It should be comparatively easier for me to handle any situation on the field."
Symonds reveals all is well within the Hyderabad camp.
"Being an actor, I have always thought every thing in larger-than-life perspective. Knight Riders' matches will also be no exception"
Shah Rukh adds to the build-up
Gambhir and Dhawan seal Delhi win
After two first-innings totals which had gone in excess of 200, the bowlers at last had their say at the Feroz Shah Kotla, as Delhi Daredevils thrashed Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets in a disappointingly one-sided game. Rajasthan didn't have a chance after their batsmen had floundered badly, putting up a dismal 129 on the board. Gautam Gambhir's unbeaten 58, and his 112-run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan - who helped himself to a half-century as well - finished off the run-chase in a mere 15.1 overs.
The only bit that went right for Rajasthan was the toss, which Shane Warne, their captain, won and had little hesitation in choosing to bat. When Taruwar Kohli survived five deliveries from Glenn McGrath in the corridor and spanked the sixth one over cover point for six, it seemed the run-fest had started all over again. As it turned out, Rajasthan had little to celebrate thereafter. In his next over, Kohli chanced his arm again against McGrath, but only found Mithun Manhas at midwicket. McGrath went on to bowl the first maiden over of the tournament, and from there Delhi never let the initiative slip.
Rajasthan did their cause no favours with two run-outs, which severely hampered their momentum. Shane Watson hinted at carrying on the good work that his fellow Australians had managed earlier in the day in Mohali, pulling McGrath and Brett Geeves for fours, but his resistance was ended swiftly following a misunderstanding with Mohammad Kaif. Yusuf Pathan had already fallen to the run-out route earlier, and when Kaif, who struggled to find the gaps and the runs, scooped one to Geeves at short fine leg, Rajasthan had slumped to 57 for 5.
In a team which had the immense figures of McGrath and Daniel Vettori in their bowling line-up, the hero of the day was Farveez Maharoof, who bowled with excellent control, changing his pace and offering the batsmen no width to score off. His dismissal of Darren Lehmann, who was trapped on the shuffle, was another blow to Rajasthan's hopes of getting a challenging total on the board.
Ravindra Jadeja, the left-hand batsman, offered some resistance, hitting Vettori for a six and a four off his first two balls, but Vettori had the last laugh, deceiving him with a quicker one which rattled the stumps. Warne and Dinesh Salunkhe ensured that Delhi needed to score at more than a run a ball, but on a flat pitch against a batting line-up which included Virender Sehwag and Gambhir at the top of the order, there was little chance of defending that score.
Their opening partnership lasted just ten balls, but it was enough to set the tone for the run-chase. Gambhir's slash and straight drive in the first over off Munaf Patel both found the boundary, while Sehwag had the home crowd on their feet and cheering wildly after just three balls, all of which sped to different parts of the ground: a lofted straight drive over Watson's head, a spanking pull through midwicket, and then the best shot of them all - a delectable late cut between the wicketkeeper and slip. That, unfortunately, was as good as it got, as Watson hit back, ripping a quick one which rattled the stumps off the pads.
Nothing could stop Gambhir, though, as he continued the Twenty20 form he had shown in the World Cup in South Africa. An audacious extra-cover drive for six and a late cut off Munaf quickly brought the asking rate below a run a ball, after which it was a cool canter.
Rajasthan's one hope was Warne, but Gambhir and Dhawan didn't allow him to settle in either, sweeping and pulling him for fours even as Warne's reactions suggested he was only a whisker away from a wicket. He pulled himself off the attack after just two overs, and the rest was a mere formality.
The only bit that went right for Rajasthan was the toss, which Shane Warne, their captain, won and had little hesitation in choosing to bat. When Taruwar Kohli survived five deliveries from Glenn McGrath in the corridor and spanked the sixth one over cover point for six, it seemed the run-fest had started all over again. As it turned out, Rajasthan had little to celebrate thereafter. In his next over, Kohli chanced his arm again against McGrath, but only found Mithun Manhas at midwicket. McGrath went on to bowl the first maiden over of the tournament, and from there Delhi never let the initiative slip.
Rajasthan did their cause no favours with two run-outs, which severely hampered their momentum. Shane Watson hinted at carrying on the good work that his fellow Australians had managed earlier in the day in Mohali, pulling McGrath and Brett Geeves for fours, but his resistance was ended swiftly following a misunderstanding with Mohammad Kaif. Yusuf Pathan had already fallen to the run-out route earlier, and when Kaif, who struggled to find the gaps and the runs, scooped one to Geeves at short fine leg, Rajasthan had slumped to 57 for 5.
In a team which had the immense figures of McGrath and Daniel Vettori in their bowling line-up, the hero of the day was Farveez Maharoof, who bowled with excellent control, changing his pace and offering the batsmen no width to score off. His dismissal of Darren Lehmann, who was trapped on the shuffle, was another blow to Rajasthan's hopes of getting a challenging total on the board.
Ravindra Jadeja, the left-hand batsman, offered some resistance, hitting Vettori for a six and a four off his first two balls, but Vettori had the last laugh, deceiving him with a quicker one which rattled the stumps. Warne and Dinesh Salunkhe ensured that Delhi needed to score at more than a run a ball, but on a flat pitch against a batting line-up which included Virender Sehwag and Gambhir at the top of the order, there was little chance of defending that score.
Their opening partnership lasted just ten balls, but it was enough to set the tone for the run-chase. Gambhir's slash and straight drive in the first over off Munaf Patel both found the boundary, while Sehwag had the home crowd on their feet and cheering wildly after just three balls, all of which sped to different parts of the ground: a lofted straight drive over Watson's head, a spanking pull through midwicket, and then the best shot of them all - a delectable late cut between the wicketkeeper and slip. That, unfortunately, was as good as it got, as Watson hit back, ripping a quick one which rattled the stumps off the pads.
Nothing could stop Gambhir, though, as he continued the Twenty20 form he had shown in the World Cup in South Africa. An audacious extra-cover drive for six and a late cut off Munaf quickly brought the asking rate below a run a ball, after which it was a cool canter.
Rajasthan's one hope was Warne, but Gambhir and Dhawan didn't allow him to settle in either, sweeping and pulling him for fours even as Warne's reactions suggested he was only a whisker away from a wicket. He pulled himself off the attack after just two overs, and the rest was a mere formality.
KFC Cup at the IPL
Greg meets his wards
Just over a year ago Greg Chappell was coaching the Indian side, discussing team strategies with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. Here he was present at the toss, chatting with the duo about the game on hand. It was also fitting that he was on air when Suresh Raina, someone he rated highly, played some audacious strokes.
KFC Cup at the IPL
It was an Aussie battle at Mohali as Punjab's Brett Lee and James Hopes bowled at Chennai's Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey. The batsmen prevailed in this contest and it was particularly interesting to see Hayden taking on his Queensland team-mate Hopes at every given opportunity. Western Australia's Hussey, though, had the last laugh: smacking a 50-ball hundred and proving to be the difference between the two sides. His brother David, who went for a higher price, achieved about one-tenth that in the Bangalore match.
Bowled ... no celebrations
It's rare when the sound of ball hitting timber is met with a muted reaction. But Lee could only heave a sigh of relief as he crashed through Hayden's defences in what was a free-hit. Hayden got back to taking guard and Lee quickly turned around and made his way back to the mark.
Preity on her toes
Shah Rukh Khan danced his way through the opening match yesterday and it was the turn of another Bollywood star, Preity Zinta, today. She was animated through the game and was seen texting a message on her mobile phone during the tense final stages. She was on her feet after one of Yuvraj's sixes and even urged the crowd to pump up the volume.
Murali wins the Lankan battle
He had joked before the game that he would love to get Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene off the first ball they face. Muttiah Muralitharan didn't manage that but turned in a fine performance, one that included undoing Sangakkara at a vital moment. He lured him down the ground and saw him hole one straight down the throat of long-on.
Dhoni backs the unknowns
Continuing with his practice of thrusting responsibility on the unheralded players, Dhoni urged Manpreet Gony, P Amarnath and Joginder Sharma to shoulder most of the bowling burden. Gony, in just his first Twenty20 match, revelled under the pressure and Amarnath picked up the big wicket of James Hopes just when the match appeared to be slipping away. Any guesses on who bowled the final over? The same Joginder, whose last Twenty20 match saw him clinch a World Cup for India.
Just over a year ago Greg Chappell was coaching the Indian side, discussing team strategies with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. Here he was present at the toss, chatting with the duo about the game on hand. It was also fitting that he was on air when Suresh Raina, someone he rated highly, played some audacious strokes.
KFC Cup at the IPL
It was an Aussie battle at Mohali as Punjab's Brett Lee and James Hopes bowled at Chennai's Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey. The batsmen prevailed in this contest and it was particularly interesting to see Hayden taking on his Queensland team-mate Hopes at every given opportunity. Western Australia's Hussey, though, had the last laugh: smacking a 50-ball hundred and proving to be the difference between the two sides. His brother David, who went for a higher price, achieved about one-tenth that in the Bangalore match.
Bowled ... no celebrations
It's rare when the sound of ball hitting timber is met with a muted reaction. But Lee could only heave a sigh of relief as he crashed through Hayden's defences in what was a free-hit. Hayden got back to taking guard and Lee quickly turned around and made his way back to the mark.
Preity on her toes
Shah Rukh Khan danced his way through the opening match yesterday and it was the turn of another Bollywood star, Preity Zinta, today. She was animated through the game and was seen texting a message on her mobile phone during the tense final stages. She was on her feet after one of Yuvraj's sixes and even urged the crowd to pump up the volume.
Murali wins the Lankan battle
He had joked before the game that he would love to get Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene off the first ball they face. Muttiah Muralitharan didn't manage that but turned in a fine performance, one that included undoing Sangakkara at a vital moment. He lured him down the ground and saw him hole one straight down the throat of long-on.
Dhoni backs the unknowns
Continuing with his practice of thrusting responsibility on the unheralded players, Dhoni urged Manpreet Gony, P Amarnath and Joginder Sharma to shoulder most of the bowling burden. Gony, in just his first Twenty20 match, revelled under the pressure and Amarnath picked up the big wicket of James Hopes just when the match appeared to be slipping away. Any guesses on who bowled the final over? The same Joginder, whose last Twenty20 match saw him clinch a World Cup for India.
Magnificent Hussey inspires Chennai win
A pair of Australians, in what was more KFC Twenty20 action than IPL, treated a buzzing Mohali crowd to a run-filled Saturday clash as the bandwagon moved north. Unfortunately for Kings XI Punjab, James Hopes' 32-ball 71 couldn't overhaul a massive total of 240, while the Chennai Super Kings had their Western Australia specialist Michael Hussey to thank for a massive total. His scintillating unbeaten 116, another superb exhibition for this juiced-up format, left Punjab a mountain to climb and with Yuvraj Singh dethroned early they could muster only 207 for 4.
"We'll just have to put runs on the board and pressure on Yuvraj," was Mahendra Singh Dhoni's reason for batting first on what looked a dry pitch and 20 overs later his team had reason to feel confident. Walking in at No. 3 after Brett Lee's pace and bounce accounted for Parthiv Patel, Hussey looked on as Matthew Hayden's cameo came to end. Then Dhoni, the most expensive player in the IPL, flopped for 1, though replays suggested an inside-edge on to pad. But Hussey, preferred to Stephen Fleming today, was immediately dancing down to hit Lee through extra cover and past midwicket.
His cool head and ability to put away the average deliveries kept runs ticking over on a speedy outfield and his handling of the slow bowlers was superb. Piyush Chawla wasn't allowed to settle, his first ball sailing over mid-on for six, and Suresh Raina took a cue with a pull over the boundary and a lovely straight-driven four. The Hussey-Raina stand, a blend of soft-handed pushes and some crowd-pleasing pulls, yielded 66 in five overs. Raina's 32 from 13 balls was a powerful effort before he fell attempting a fourth six.
Hussey, however, wasn't flustered by the loss of wickets. Hopes was hit for a straight six, Wilkin Mota's military medium was clubbed over mid-on, and Hussey celebrated a drop by Sreesanth with ten in two balls. Irfan Pathan took his second wicket by yorking Jacob Oram - a dismissal which was celebrated with a raucous din - but Hussey motored on with effortless biffs down the ground. His seventh six, again lofted straight, took him into the 90s and two balls later the landmark was duly reached with a single off Lee. It took just 50 balls. Hussey celebrated with two more sixes and, with some help from a gung-ho S Badrinath, Chennai took 25 off the final over.
Hopes took to Punjab's daunting target with steely-eyed gusto, adding 56 in 5.5 overs with Karan Goel. He was quick to latch on to anything fractionally short, the pick being flat sixes over backward point and deep square leg off Manpreet Gony. Hopes raised a 24-ball half-century, the fastest of the tournament, to keep Punjab near the asking rate. Dropped by P Amarnath off his own bowling, Hopes hammered Joginder Sharma for powerful boundaries and with Kumar Sangakarra sensibly farming the strike, he even slogged Muttiah Muralitharan for six. But Amarnath had his revenge when long-off held an easy catch and with that, ultimately, went Punjab's hopes.
The run-rate was more than 13 when Yuvraj joined Sangakkara, and two scorching sixes were followed by a tame hit down long-on's throat. Sangakkara swung the bat around during a feisty 54, meshing paddles and pulls with aplomb, but fell to Murali in the 18th over as the chase was snubbed.
The tournament opener in Bangalore began and ended with Brendon McCullum's blitzkrieg, but Hussey proved there was plenty of oomph to go around with a spectacular hundred. His brother David, who famously ribbed him for fetching a higher price, made just 12 in the first match and you can imagine his sibling sending him a text message after this stunning effort. The IPL is certainly abuzz.
"We'll just have to put runs on the board and pressure on Yuvraj," was Mahendra Singh Dhoni's reason for batting first on what looked a dry pitch and 20 overs later his team had reason to feel confident. Walking in at No. 3 after Brett Lee's pace and bounce accounted for Parthiv Patel, Hussey looked on as Matthew Hayden's cameo came to end. Then Dhoni, the most expensive player in the IPL, flopped for 1, though replays suggested an inside-edge on to pad. But Hussey, preferred to Stephen Fleming today, was immediately dancing down to hit Lee through extra cover and past midwicket.
His cool head and ability to put away the average deliveries kept runs ticking over on a speedy outfield and his handling of the slow bowlers was superb. Piyush Chawla wasn't allowed to settle, his first ball sailing over mid-on for six, and Suresh Raina took a cue with a pull over the boundary and a lovely straight-driven four. The Hussey-Raina stand, a blend of soft-handed pushes and some crowd-pleasing pulls, yielded 66 in five overs. Raina's 32 from 13 balls was a powerful effort before he fell attempting a fourth six.
Hussey, however, wasn't flustered by the loss of wickets. Hopes was hit for a straight six, Wilkin Mota's military medium was clubbed over mid-on, and Hussey celebrated a drop by Sreesanth with ten in two balls. Irfan Pathan took his second wicket by yorking Jacob Oram - a dismissal which was celebrated with a raucous din - but Hussey motored on with effortless biffs down the ground. His seventh six, again lofted straight, took him into the 90s and two balls later the landmark was duly reached with a single off Lee. It took just 50 balls. Hussey celebrated with two more sixes and, with some help from a gung-ho S Badrinath, Chennai took 25 off the final over.
Hopes took to Punjab's daunting target with steely-eyed gusto, adding 56 in 5.5 overs with Karan Goel. He was quick to latch on to anything fractionally short, the pick being flat sixes over backward point and deep square leg off Manpreet Gony. Hopes raised a 24-ball half-century, the fastest of the tournament, to keep Punjab near the asking rate. Dropped by P Amarnath off his own bowling, Hopes hammered Joginder Sharma for powerful boundaries and with Kumar Sangakarra sensibly farming the strike, he even slogged Muttiah Muralitharan for six. But Amarnath had his revenge when long-off held an easy catch and with that, ultimately, went Punjab's hopes.
The run-rate was more than 13 when Yuvraj joined Sangakkara, and two scorching sixes were followed by a tame hit down long-on's throat. Sangakkara swung the bat around during a feisty 54, meshing paddles and pulls with aplomb, but fell to Murali in the 18th over as the chase was snubbed.
The tournament opener in Bangalore began and ended with Brendon McCullum's blitzkrieg, but Hussey proved there was plenty of oomph to go around with a spectacular hundred. His brother David, who famously ribbed him for fetching a higher price, made just 12 in the first match and you can imagine his sibling sending him a text message after this stunning effort. The IPL is certainly abuzz.
Friday, April 18, 2008
'Judge a player by his Test performance'
With big names and huge money involved in it, the IPL starting here on Friday cannot be a "light competition", former India captain Sourav Ganguly said, dismissing suggestions that the much-hyped event would be a non-serious affair.
Ganguly, leading the Kolkata Knight Riders team which takes on Bangalore Royal Challengers in the inaugural game at M Chinnaswamy stadium, said it's going to be a serious competition, given "so many big names, so much money involved in it", and there being a "question of reputation (at stake for many players)".
"It cannot be a light competition", he said after the practice session.
Despite his T20 plunge, Ganguly held Test cricket in highest esteem and said a player should be judged by his performance in five-day cricket.
"That's how (performance in Test cricket) a player should be judged", Ganguly said.
Even in the case of fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who has burst into the international scene, Ganguly said he would judge the bowler from his performance in Test cricket over a decade.
Ganguly, leading the Kolkata Knight Riders team which takes on Bangalore Royal Challengers in the inaugural game at M Chinnaswamy stadium, said it's going to be a serious competition, given "so many big names, so much money involved in it", and there being a "question of reputation (at stake for many players)".
"It cannot be a light competition", he said after the practice session.
Despite his T20 plunge, Ganguly held Test cricket in highest esteem and said a player should be judged by his performance in five-day cricket.
"That's how (performance in Test cricket) a player should be judged", Ganguly said.
Even in the case of fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who has burst into the international scene, Ganguly said he would judge the bowler from his performance in Test cricket over a decade.
World news agencies not to cover IPL
World's top news agencies have said they will not cover cricket's inaugural Indian Premier League, which starts on Friday, due to curbs on the distribution of photographs.
IPL officials have prohibited news agencies from supplying photographs to cricket-specific websites for the eight-team, Twenty20 tournament.
The London-based News Media Coalition (NMC), which defends media rights for global news and photograph agencies such as AFP, Associated Press, Getty Images and Reuters, called the restrictions "discriminatory."
"It is discriminatory for the accreditation terms to prohibit international news agencies from being able to serve a specific group of users, such as cricket websites," the NMC said in a statement.
"The interests of the Indian Premier League are protected by the fact that its accreditation terms limit news content generated by the news agencies to be used for editorial purposes only.
"The News Media Coalition calls upon the Indian Premier League to remove remaining obstacles in the way of full editorial coverage of the tournament," the release said.
The Editors Guild of India also called for the "unacceptable conditions" to be withdrawn.
In an advisory note to clients, AFP said it "will not, until further notice, offer any text, photo or graphics coverage of the inaugural Indian Premier League cricket, beginning on Friday, due to restrictions imposed on international news agencies on the distribution of photographs."
The Press Trust of India decided to cover the event "under protest" after the IPL lifted a host of stringent conditions for accreditation but refused to ban on cricket websites.
The tournament marks the first time that international cricketers will put aside national allegiances to play for privately-owned and city-based teams, who selected their players via a multi-million-dollar auction last month. International cricketers have been offered huge pay packets to take part in the 44-day, 59-match extravaganza across cricket-mad India.
IPL officials have prohibited news agencies from supplying photographs to cricket-specific websites for the eight-team, Twenty20 tournament.
The London-based News Media Coalition (NMC), which defends media rights for global news and photograph agencies such as AFP, Associated Press, Getty Images and Reuters, called the restrictions "discriminatory."
"It is discriminatory for the accreditation terms to prohibit international news agencies from being able to serve a specific group of users, such as cricket websites," the NMC said in a statement.
"The interests of the Indian Premier League are protected by the fact that its accreditation terms limit news content generated by the news agencies to be used for editorial purposes only.
"The News Media Coalition calls upon the Indian Premier League to remove remaining obstacles in the way of full editorial coverage of the tournament," the release said.
The Editors Guild of India also called for the "unacceptable conditions" to be withdrawn.
In an advisory note to clients, AFP said it "will not, until further notice, offer any text, photo or graphics coverage of the inaugural Indian Premier League cricket, beginning on Friday, due to restrictions imposed on international news agencies on the distribution of photographs."
The Press Trust of India decided to cover the event "under protest" after the IPL lifted a host of stringent conditions for accreditation but refused to ban on cricket websites.
The tournament marks the first time that international cricketers will put aside national allegiances to play for privately-owned and city-based teams, who selected their players via a multi-million-dollar auction last month. International cricketers have been offered huge pay packets to take part in the 44-day, 59-match extravaganza across cricket-mad India.
Sporting crowd, and flowing liquor
Anticipatory buzz: The Anil Kumble circle outside the ground was the beehive of most of the buzz. It became tough to navigate through the area at noon and by 5pm, Queens Road was partly blocked. It was obvious the numbers would match any one-dayer though it was also evident that there wasn't going to be too much of a partisan element to the cheering.
Twelve years ago few Bangaloreans would have even imagined a day which could rival the excitement that surrounded the India-Pakistan World Cup clash but the response here was threatening to approach it. Not many had their faces painted, fewer carried the tri-colour. Signs showing fours and sixes, though, were generously distributed.
Entry time: It's usually not too much of a hassle entering the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The queues are well set out and very few security men rough you up. Mobile phones aren't a problem and the frisking is usually nothing more than a quick run-through. What all this means is that the smart ones can sneak their cigarettes in.
What the fans got: Vijay Mallya might have been gutted with the show his side put up but the alcohol sales would have brought a big smile. It was difficult to get water but the beer flowed at a McCullum-esque rate. Priced reasonably, they were set out in stalls behind the stands, though it required many to walk some distance before they could get back to their seats. The best part was the clear signboards at every corner. A hot day ensured plenty of sales and also had the spectators heading to the loos - facilities that were occasionally inadequate but largely useable. A scuffle broke out in one of the stands and more of those could see the alcohol sales being more closely monitored.
Atmosphere: Bangaloreans used to the slew of rock concerts would have hoped for a better sound system but the intensity levels matched the big nights at Palace Grounds, where the bands play. Bollywood numbers blared out frequently but the crowd really got going with a few Kannada songs that played later in the day (interestingly coinciding with the home team's dismal show). The quality of fireworks - dazzling the audience for more than five minutes - matched the ones that light up the Sydney skyline on New Year's day and the lighting sat well with the grand scale of the event.
Crowd support: European football teams talk of the distinct edge they get in home games (with the crowd acting as the extra player) but it will take a while for these teams to develop such a following. Only once, when Sunil Joshi came on to bowl, did the crowd actually egg him along fervently on a night when the home side weren't really distinguishable from the visitors.
McCullum's sixes were applauded (much more than they would have been if New Zealand were playing India) and Sourav Ganguly received big cheers after his wickets. So cosmopolitan is Bangalore's crowd that visiting teams are bound to find pockets of support every time and nothing symbolised it more than a group of fans who took their shirts off and swirled it above their heads the moment Ganguly was on strike.
No dull moment: Unlike in a Test match, though, the spectators had plenty of chance to get involved. Every good move by the Bangalore side was followed by the Redskin girls twirling their hips (and pom-poms). It took a while for them to realise when to cheer (the spontaneity came only towards the end) and it was hilarious to see them jiving to Kannada numbers. The crowd, though, swung with them all night. The girls cheering the Kolkata side had much more work on the night (McCullum ensured that with 13 sixes and 10 fours) and some even got the fans to synchronise with their movements.
Score? What score? Somebody needs to ferret out the digital scoreboard that's usually installed at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The manual scoreboard was hardly visible and the giant screen stopped working mid-way through the second innings. This was hardly a match when the scores needed to be closely monitored but come a nail-biter and the crowd may just be a bit confused.
Twelve years ago few Bangaloreans would have even imagined a day which could rival the excitement that surrounded the India-Pakistan World Cup clash but the response here was threatening to approach it. Not many had their faces painted, fewer carried the tri-colour. Signs showing fours and sixes, though, were generously distributed.
Entry time: It's usually not too much of a hassle entering the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The queues are well set out and very few security men rough you up. Mobile phones aren't a problem and the frisking is usually nothing more than a quick run-through. What all this means is that the smart ones can sneak their cigarettes in.
What the fans got: Vijay Mallya might have been gutted with the show his side put up but the alcohol sales would have brought a big smile. It was difficult to get water but the beer flowed at a McCullum-esque rate. Priced reasonably, they were set out in stalls behind the stands, though it required many to walk some distance before they could get back to their seats. The best part was the clear signboards at every corner. A hot day ensured plenty of sales and also had the spectators heading to the loos - facilities that were occasionally inadequate but largely useable. A scuffle broke out in one of the stands and more of those could see the alcohol sales being more closely monitored.
Atmosphere: Bangaloreans used to the slew of rock concerts would have hoped for a better sound system but the intensity levels matched the big nights at Palace Grounds, where the bands play. Bollywood numbers blared out frequently but the crowd really got going with a few Kannada songs that played later in the day (interestingly coinciding with the home team's dismal show). The quality of fireworks - dazzling the audience for more than five minutes - matched the ones that light up the Sydney skyline on New Year's day and the lighting sat well with the grand scale of the event.
Crowd support: European football teams talk of the distinct edge they get in home games (with the crowd acting as the extra player) but it will take a while for these teams to develop such a following. Only once, when Sunil Joshi came on to bowl, did the crowd actually egg him along fervently on a night when the home side weren't really distinguishable from the visitors.
McCullum's sixes were applauded (much more than they would have been if New Zealand were playing India) and Sourav Ganguly received big cheers after his wickets. So cosmopolitan is Bangalore's crowd that visiting teams are bound to find pockets of support every time and nothing symbolised it more than a group of fans who took their shirts off and swirled it above their heads the moment Ganguly was on strike.
No dull moment: Unlike in a Test match, though, the spectators had plenty of chance to get involved. Every good move by the Bangalore side was followed by the Redskin girls twirling their hips (and pom-poms). It took a while for them to realise when to cheer (the spontaneity came only towards the end) and it was hilarious to see them jiving to Kannada numbers. The crowd, though, swung with them all night. The girls cheering the Kolkata side had much more work on the night (McCullum ensured that with 13 sixes and 10 fours) and some even got the fans to synchronise with their movements.
Score? What score? Somebody needs to ferret out the digital scoreboard that's usually installed at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The manual scoreboard was hardly visible and the giant screen stopped working mid-way through the second innings. This was hardly a match when the scores needed to be closely monitored but come a nail-biter and the crowd may just be a bit confused.
High on entertainment
If you needed any proof that few of the spectators saw the Indian Premier League as anything more than glitzy entertainment, it arrived after the seventh over of the Royal Challengers' comically inept innings. While Sourav Ganguly warmed up for a bowl, with the scoreboard showing a dismal 33 for 4, the boom box started playing a popular Kannada tune. The crowd roared with approval. Could you think of one serious sport where a home crowd of 55,000 would be cheering with their team being cut to pieces as though with a sushi knife? Neither could we.
So forget all the hot air about the pinnacle of sport and focus instead on the real selling point of the league - entertainment. The cheerleaders borrowed from the Washington Redskins had made their entrance earlier in the evening to bawdy acclaim and though they were a girl short, 11 instead of the customary 12, the fetching yellow costumes and the red pompoms were in evidence right to the bitter Bangalore end.
The opening ceremony snapped and crackled, and the organisers of the World Cup in three years time will have quite a task to even come close to matching it. The acrobats, four on either side of the stadium, were sensational, even if the Scottish music that accompanied them clambering up towards the roof did seem a little incongruous.
The laser show and a fireworks display that rivalled anything you might expect on Chinese New Year had the crowds baying for more, and the only discordant note was struck when Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, was booed before he began his speech. Otherwise, the band kept their feet tapping and their placards waving as the decibel level inside the stadium approached that inside one of European football's great amphitheatres on a big night.
Brendon McCullum's batting afterwards more than matched the previous pyrotechnics. You always knew that the ball would travel in this format of the game, but this was by no means the sort of pitch where you could just plonk the front foot forward and drive insouciantly. As Rahul Dravid was to say later, his astonishing hitting was the difference between the two sides. There were a couple of edges and miscues in an innings that wasn't quite as flawless as the cheerleaders, but how can you argue with 13 sixes and ten fours, with one hit going out of the ground?
For those that came to cheer the local contingent, this was a day to forget. B Akhil, Sunil Joshi and Dravid made five runs between them, and Joshi's three overs went for 26. In the field, Joshi looked very much like a man who'll turn 37 in June, while Akhil too had a couple of bloopers to forget.
The contrast with one of Kolkata's local boys couldn't have been more stark. Ashok Dinda cleaned up Virat Kohli, India's Under-19 captain, and then had Wasim Jaffer caught at slip during an excellent spell. It helped of course to have a mountain of runs behind him, but it was the sort of performance that's needed if the stated aim of giving young domestic cricketers a fillip is to be achieved.
As a spectacle, Bangalore has laid down the marker for the rest of the league. A full Eden Gardens could conceivably match it, and hopefully the matches that follow will be more a contest, and less a one-man show. But what a show it was. The US$700,000 that Shah Rukh Khan and friends forked out is already looking like a steal.
So forget all the hot air about the pinnacle of sport and focus instead on the real selling point of the league - entertainment. The cheerleaders borrowed from the Washington Redskins had made their entrance earlier in the evening to bawdy acclaim and though they were a girl short, 11 instead of the customary 12, the fetching yellow costumes and the red pompoms were in evidence right to the bitter Bangalore end.
The opening ceremony snapped and crackled, and the organisers of the World Cup in three years time will have quite a task to even come close to matching it. The acrobats, four on either side of the stadium, were sensational, even if the Scottish music that accompanied them clambering up towards the roof did seem a little incongruous.
The laser show and a fireworks display that rivalled anything you might expect on Chinese New Year had the crowds baying for more, and the only discordant note was struck when Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, was booed before he began his speech. Otherwise, the band kept their feet tapping and their placards waving as the decibel level inside the stadium approached that inside one of European football's great amphitheatres on a big night.
Brendon McCullum's batting afterwards more than matched the previous pyrotechnics. You always knew that the ball would travel in this format of the game, but this was by no means the sort of pitch where you could just plonk the front foot forward and drive insouciantly. As Rahul Dravid was to say later, his astonishing hitting was the difference between the two sides. There were a couple of edges and miscues in an innings that wasn't quite as flawless as the cheerleaders, but how can you argue with 13 sixes and ten fours, with one hit going out of the ground?
For those that came to cheer the local contingent, this was a day to forget. B Akhil, Sunil Joshi and Dravid made five runs between them, and Joshi's three overs went for 26. In the field, Joshi looked very much like a man who'll turn 37 in June, while Akhil too had a couple of bloopers to forget.
The contrast with one of Kolkata's local boys couldn't have been more stark. Ashok Dinda cleaned up Virat Kohli, India's Under-19 captain, and then had Wasim Jaffer caught at slip during an excellent spell. It helped of course to have a mountain of runs behind him, but it was the sort of performance that's needed if the stated aim of giving young domestic cricketers a fillip is to be achieved.
As a spectacle, Bangalore has laid down the marker for the rest of the league. A full Eden Gardens could conceivably match it, and hopefully the matches that follow will be more a contest, and less a one-man show. But what a show it was. The US$700,000 that Shah Rukh Khan and friends forked out is already looking like a steal.
McCullum's record 158 leads rout
The opening ceremony was a spectacular affair, but what followed was even more breathtaking, as Brendon McCullum destroyed the home team in the inaugural match of the IPL. In what was a brutal one-man assault on the Bangalore Royal Challengers, McCullum blasted an unbeaten 158 from a mere 73 deliveries, the highest score in a Twenty20 match, to propel Kolkata Knight Riders to an imposing 222 for 3. The punch-drunk Bangalore team was in no condition to fight back after that battering, and collapsed limply to 82 to lose by an embarrassing margin of 140 runs, the fourth-largest defeat in this sort of match.
Chris Gayle was expected to be the aggressive opener for Kolkata, but McCullum's stunning knock ensured Gayle's absence wasn't felt at all. In an innings which was reminiscent of Gayle's blistering knock in the World Twenty20 opener - he had scored 117 from 57 - McCullum gave the Bangalore bowlers no chance. Pace and spin were both treated with equal contempt, and the crowd was treated to an innings of rare explosiveness.
The start, though, was deceptive. Six balls into his innings, McCullum didn't have a single run as Praveen Kumar bowled an excellent first over. Four deliveries later, McCullum had blazed to 18, flicking and pulling Zaheer Khan for four, and then miscuing a flick which, quite incredibly, soared over third man for the first six.
Zaheer was quickly pulled out of the attack, but his replacement, Ashley Noffke, fared even worse. His first ball was so wayward that neither McCullum nor Mark Boucher, the wicketkeeper, had a chance of getting to it. When the ball landed within McCullum's reach, the result was even more devastating: a pulled six over square leg and another over extra cover. Twenty-three in the over, and Noffke out of the attack as well.
McCullum allowed himself a breather after that, going 17 deliveries without a boundary, before the floodgates opened again. Sunil Joshi was slog-swept twice - with the bottom hand coming off the bat once - for sixes, before he turned his attention to Cameron White and Jacques Kallis. Line, length, and pace mattered not a jot, as balls disappeared over the ground with ridiculous frequency. When Zaheer returned for another spell, McCullum manufactured the stroke of the evening, going down on one knee and scooping the ball over fine leg for six.
Praveen, who bowled superbly in his first three overs, had escaped the McCullum onslaught for most of the evening, but he too suffered in the last over of the innings, as the first two balls vanished over midwicket, before McCullum put the final seal on his innings, depositing the last ball on the innings over long-on. That brought his sixes' tally to 13, the most in a Twenty20 innings.
Shahrukh Khan, the owner of the franchise, had danced through the McCullum innings, and he had even more reason to celebrate as his bowlers then got into the act with equal gusto. Rahul Dravid, under immense pressure facing an asking-rate of more than 11, lasted three balls, losing his middle stump while attempting a heave. The loss of the captain started the slide, and it went downhill quickly thereafter.
Kallis mounted the briefest of challenges, lofting Ajit Agarkar over extra cover for a huge six, but fell next ball, pulling tamely to mid-on. The pitch offered some pace and bounce, and Ishant Sharma, especially, exploited it, getting the ball to zip at a fair pace. Agarkar also prised out White, who had held the record for the highest Twenty20 score till a few minutes before. Bangalore's only chance was if he produced a similar stunner, but by the time he nicked one off Agarkar the contest was already over. The end came soon after, when Joshi fell to a miscued pull with 29 deliveries still left in the innings.
The match may have been over long before the last ball was bowled, but McCullum's stunner has given the IPL, and Kolkata, a dream start. With Ganguly's team playing their next match at the Eden Gardens, this result should ensure that Sunday's clash against the Deccan Chargers draws a full house, and more. The IPL extravaganza has well and truly begun.
Chris Gayle was expected to be the aggressive opener for Kolkata, but McCullum's stunning knock ensured Gayle's absence wasn't felt at all. In an innings which was reminiscent of Gayle's blistering knock in the World Twenty20 opener - he had scored 117 from 57 - McCullum gave the Bangalore bowlers no chance. Pace and spin were both treated with equal contempt, and the crowd was treated to an innings of rare explosiveness.
The start, though, was deceptive. Six balls into his innings, McCullum didn't have a single run as Praveen Kumar bowled an excellent first over. Four deliveries later, McCullum had blazed to 18, flicking and pulling Zaheer Khan for four, and then miscuing a flick which, quite incredibly, soared over third man for the first six.
Zaheer was quickly pulled out of the attack, but his replacement, Ashley Noffke, fared even worse. His first ball was so wayward that neither McCullum nor Mark Boucher, the wicketkeeper, had a chance of getting to it. When the ball landed within McCullum's reach, the result was even more devastating: a pulled six over square leg and another over extra cover. Twenty-three in the over, and Noffke out of the attack as well.
McCullum allowed himself a breather after that, going 17 deliveries without a boundary, before the floodgates opened again. Sunil Joshi was slog-swept twice - with the bottom hand coming off the bat once - for sixes, before he turned his attention to Cameron White and Jacques Kallis. Line, length, and pace mattered not a jot, as balls disappeared over the ground with ridiculous frequency. When Zaheer returned for another spell, McCullum manufactured the stroke of the evening, going down on one knee and scooping the ball over fine leg for six.
Praveen, who bowled superbly in his first three overs, had escaped the McCullum onslaught for most of the evening, but he too suffered in the last over of the innings, as the first two balls vanished over midwicket, before McCullum put the final seal on his innings, depositing the last ball on the innings over long-on. That brought his sixes' tally to 13, the most in a Twenty20 innings.
Shahrukh Khan, the owner of the franchise, had danced through the McCullum innings, and he had even more reason to celebrate as his bowlers then got into the act with equal gusto. Rahul Dravid, under immense pressure facing an asking-rate of more than 11, lasted three balls, losing his middle stump while attempting a heave. The loss of the captain started the slide, and it went downhill quickly thereafter.
Kallis mounted the briefest of challenges, lofting Ajit Agarkar over extra cover for a huge six, but fell next ball, pulling tamely to mid-on. The pitch offered some pace and bounce, and Ishant Sharma, especially, exploited it, getting the ball to zip at a fair pace. Agarkar also prised out White, who had held the record for the highest Twenty20 score till a few minutes before. Bangalore's only chance was if he produced a similar stunner, but by the time he nicked one off Agarkar the contest was already over. The end came soon after, when Joshi fell to a miscued pull with 29 deliveries still left in the innings.
The match may have been over long before the last ball was bowled, but McCullum's stunner has given the IPL, and Kolkata, a dream start. With Ganguly's team playing their next match at the Eden Gardens, this result should ensure that Sunday's clash against the Deccan Chargers draws a full house, and more. The IPL extravaganza has well and truly begun.
T20 not as easy as it looks: Inzamam
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq has admitted that the Twenty20 format of cricket was not as easy as it appeared to the spectators while it had also taken its toll on the fitness of the squad which played in the Indian Cricket League.
"We have learnt that Twenty20 cricket is not as easy as it appears to many people. It is a very tough form of the sport. And I think playing consistent matches in the ICL eventually took its toll on our players," Inzamam, who captained the 'Lahore Badshah' team in the ICL, said on returning home.
"We faced many fitness issues with our players and had to juggle around the combination and that affected our performances," the burly batsman added.
The 'Lahore Badshah' players, who lost to 'Hyderabad Heroes' in the final and also were defeated against the World XI, returned home to a quiet reception with no fans at the airport to greet the players.
"The next tournament is around December and before going there we will be having a proper training and conditioning camp so that we are well prepare for the rigors of Twenty20 cricket," Inzamam said.
"We have learnt that Twenty20 cricket is not as easy as it appears to many people. It is a very tough form of the sport. And I think playing consistent matches in the ICL eventually took its toll on our players," Inzamam, who captained the 'Lahore Badshah' team in the ICL, said on returning home.
"We faced many fitness issues with our players and had to juggle around the combination and that affected our performances," the burly batsman added.
The 'Lahore Badshah' players, who lost to 'Hyderabad Heroes' in the final and also were defeated against the World XI, returned home to a quiet reception with no fans at the airport to greet the players.
"The next tournament is around December and before going there we will be having a proper training and conditioning camp so that we are well prepare for the rigors of Twenty20 cricket," Inzamam said.
Nobody knows what to expect from IPL
The Kolkata Knight Riders are here for the opening game of the much-awaited IPL, but like most of the teams, we still have not got all the guys here. We will be without Chris Gayle, Umar Gul and Salman Butt on Friday, but the situation is the same for the Bangalore Royal Challengers who will be without the in-form Dale Steyn and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
The rest of the Knight Riders, however, have had adequate preparation for this game. David Hussey, Brendon McCullum, Tatenda Taibu and I arrived last Friday, and over the last week we have been training pretty hard, the sapping heat and humidity notwithstanding. Sourav Ganguly was able to join the team only Monday. We chatted for 10 minutes on Tuesday, but I was unable to attend the team meeting on Wednesday because I went to Mumbai to receive the ICC Trophy on behalf of the Australian team.
Having just landed in Bangalore, we will have a late evening top-up training session ahead of Friday’s game. I met a couple of the Bangalore boys, and Cameron White said that he might not get a game, so we will have to see what team the Royal Challengers play on Friday.
One of the positives about IPL is being to play with young players. I was very impressed with Ashok Dinda who bowled at pretty good pace at Tuesday's practice game. This is very good news for us because we were looking a little thin in the pace bowling department, what with the non-availability of Shoaib Akhtar and the absence of Gul. It seems likely that Dinda will open the bowling alongside Ishant Sharma. Among the other Bengal players, Laxmi Ratan Shukla was in good form with both the bat and ball during the practice game and looks like a pretty handy player for this format.
Looking ahead at the tournament, the excitement has again gained momentum after a few quiet weeks post the auction. There is a feeling that we are all entering an unknown territory, and nobody knows what to expect from this league. Having played international cricket for so long, it is interesting to see something new happen and to be part of it.
I just got my Knight Riders kit in Bangalore, and it looks pretty flamboyant. The whole atmosphere in Bangalore is one of anticipation with a grand show being planned ahead of our game. I am not sure how much of the show we Knight Riders will be able to enjoy since it's a few hours before our game.
The rest of the Knight Riders, however, have had adequate preparation for this game. David Hussey, Brendon McCullum, Tatenda Taibu and I arrived last Friday, and over the last week we have been training pretty hard, the sapping heat and humidity notwithstanding. Sourav Ganguly was able to join the team only Monday. We chatted for 10 minutes on Tuesday, but I was unable to attend the team meeting on Wednesday because I went to Mumbai to receive the ICC Trophy on behalf of the Australian team.
Having just landed in Bangalore, we will have a late evening top-up training session ahead of Friday’s game. I met a couple of the Bangalore boys, and Cameron White said that he might not get a game, so we will have to see what team the Royal Challengers play on Friday.
One of the positives about IPL is being to play with young players. I was very impressed with Ashok Dinda who bowled at pretty good pace at Tuesday's practice game. This is very good news for us because we were looking a little thin in the pace bowling department, what with the non-availability of Shoaib Akhtar and the absence of Gul. It seems likely that Dinda will open the bowling alongside Ishant Sharma. Among the other Bengal players, Laxmi Ratan Shukla was in good form with both the bat and ball during the practice game and looks like a pretty handy player for this format.
Looking ahead at the tournament, the excitement has again gained momentum after a few quiet weeks post the auction. There is a feeling that we are all entering an unknown territory, and nobody knows what to expect from this league. Having played international cricket for so long, it is interesting to see something new happen and to be part of it.
I just got my Knight Riders kit in Bangalore, and it looks pretty flamboyant. The whole atmosphere in Bangalore is one of anticipation with a grand show being planned ahead of our game. I am not sure how much of the show we Knight Riders will be able to enjoy since it's a few hours before our game.
Will Chennai cheer if Murali dismisses Sachin?
Finally it's time for the cricket to do the talking and all the off-field activities to recede into the background. Starting with the auction, the IPL has been in the news, but now it will be spoken about for the cricket, because eventually that's what it's all about.
Personally, I am very happy to be part of the birth of a new concept, and it will be interesting to see how the crowds take to it. Indians are used to supporting Indians and it will be a tricky situation for them to get used to their city loyalties.
I cannot imagine the Chepauk Stadium erupting in joy if Sachin Tendulkar is dismissed by Muralitharan.
As a cricketer, it will be interesting to watch the crowds and their reactions to this new format.
When I look across at all teams, it's clear that the first few matches are going to be very important, because some of the international stars will be leaving by May.
For instance we will be losing both Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey in May, and most of the other teams with New Zealanders and Australians will be facing a similar situation. In such a situation, sides that get off the starting blocks with a couple of wins will have an edge even after some of their key players leave.
Among all these entries and exits of foreign stars, the performance of the domestic players, the under-19 boys and the Indians internationals in the fray is going to be a deciding factor. The team that has a large number of these guys in good form will prosper because they are going to be there from start to finish
Personally, I am very happy to be part of the birth of a new concept, and it will be interesting to see how the crowds take to it. Indians are used to supporting Indians and it will be a tricky situation for them to get used to their city loyalties.
I cannot imagine the Chepauk Stadium erupting in joy if Sachin Tendulkar is dismissed by Muralitharan.
As a cricketer, it will be interesting to watch the crowds and their reactions to this new format.
When I look across at all teams, it's clear that the first few matches are going to be very important, because some of the international stars will be leaving by May.
For instance we will be losing both Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey in May, and most of the other teams with New Zealanders and Australians will be facing a similar situation. In such a situation, sides that get off the starting blocks with a couple of wins will have an edge even after some of their key players leave.
Among all these entries and exits of foreign stars, the performance of the domestic players, the under-19 boys and the Indians internationals in the fray is going to be a deciding factor. The team that has a large number of these guys in good form will prosper because they are going to be there from start to finish
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Hope to get Sachin out in IPL: Warne
He was the last rockstar in the world of cricket, the wizard of spin. And now he is in India. Australian bowling great Shane Warne is here for the launch of the Jaipur IPL team. CNN-IBN's Sports Editor Gaurav Kalra spoke to the spin legend on IPL, and his great rivalry with Sachin Tendulkar.
Gaurav Kalra: Let me begin by asking you, can you still rip a leg break as far as you used to a year or so ago?
Shane Warne: I hope so! I have been bowling a bit in the nets, I've been doing a lot of work with Cricket Australia with the young spinners and the captains around each day. So I have been bowling a bit in the nets, and they are coming out okay.
Gaurav Kalra: And they are spinning across the rough like they used to and torment batsmen across the world.
Shane Warne: It's more of an encouragement. It's not so much of sledging, but just bowling. It's been really exciting doing that. I'm really excited about the IPL, where I'm playing for Emerging Media (Jaipur franchise, Rajasthan Royals). We are quite an exciting side actually. So, I'm looking forward to it.
Gaurav Kalra: Shane Warne versus Sachin Tendulkar, one of the great battles of the modern game. You must be thirsting to take on the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
Shane Warne: Sachin Tendulkar to me, I wrote an article in The Times about my top 50 players, and I just about pencilled him in first, him and Brian Lara, as there is a lot of talk about who is the best. But to me, just the way Sachin conducts himself, the way he goes about things, the way he accepts the umpires' decisions, and unfortunately he has had a few shockers, and just the way he plays.
I think every single time we played against Sachin, him and I always had a great contest, and I think he knew when he was facing me, that he had to bat well, otherwise I get him out. And I knew if I didn't bowl well, I get smacked. And most of the times he smacked me.
But getting to know him over a long period of time, I consider him a friend too, and I like to think we are good friends. It doesn't mean I don't look forward to bowling against him still, I have always looked forward to playing against the best. If they are too good for you on a particular day, so well played. Hopefully I can get him out occassionaly though.
Gaurav Kalra: Let me begin by asking you, can you still rip a leg break as far as you used to a year or so ago?
Shane Warne: I hope so! I have been bowling a bit in the nets, I've been doing a lot of work with Cricket Australia with the young spinners and the captains around each day. So I have been bowling a bit in the nets, and they are coming out okay.
Gaurav Kalra: And they are spinning across the rough like they used to and torment batsmen across the world.
Shane Warne: It's more of an encouragement. It's not so much of sledging, but just bowling. It's been really exciting doing that. I'm really excited about the IPL, where I'm playing for Emerging Media (Jaipur franchise, Rajasthan Royals). We are quite an exciting side actually. So, I'm looking forward to it.
Gaurav Kalra: Shane Warne versus Sachin Tendulkar, one of the great battles of the modern game. You must be thirsting to take on the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
Shane Warne: Sachin Tendulkar to me, I wrote an article in The Times about my top 50 players, and I just about pencilled him in first, him and Brian Lara, as there is a lot of talk about who is the best. But to me, just the way Sachin conducts himself, the way he goes about things, the way he accepts the umpires' decisions, and unfortunately he has had a few shockers, and just the way he plays.
I think every single time we played against Sachin, him and I always had a great contest, and I think he knew when he was facing me, that he had to bat well, otherwise I get him out. And I knew if I didn't bowl well, I get smacked. And most of the times he smacked me.
But getting to know him over a long period of time, I consider him a friend too, and I like to think we are good friends. It doesn't mean I don't look forward to bowling against him still, I have always looked forward to playing against the best. If they are too good for you on a particular day, so well played. Hopefully I can get him out occassionaly though.
IPL resolves dispute with TV news channels
The Indian Premier League (IPL) has settled its dispute with the News Broadcasters' Association (NBA), the umbrella body for TV news channels, on issues related to the coverage of the high-profile event after a meeting here.
"All the pending disputes were resolved and the meeting was a success," sources close to IPL said here on Thursday.
The TV channels were unhappy with the charges demanded for showing clips of the IPL matches that, they felt, were too high and had threatened to boycott the multi-million dollar Twenty20 tournament starting in Bangalore tomorrow.
Last night, representatives of the NBA discussed the contentious issues with IPL Chairman Lalit Modi and representatives of Sony Television, which holds the broadcasting rights for the event that ends on June 1.
The television channels were protesting against the exclusive rights given to Sony Network and the NBA had written a letter to Modi which resulted in the late night parleys among the parties involved.
A few days ago, the IPL had resolved a dispute arising over stringent media accreditation guidelines with the Indian Newspaper Society.
"All the pending disputes were resolved and the meeting was a success," sources close to IPL said here on Thursday.
The TV channels were unhappy with the charges demanded for showing clips of the IPL matches that, they felt, were too high and had threatened to boycott the multi-million dollar Twenty20 tournament starting in Bangalore tomorrow.
Last night, representatives of the NBA discussed the contentious issues with IPL Chairman Lalit Modi and representatives of Sony Television, which holds the broadcasting rights for the event that ends on June 1.
The television channels were protesting against the exclusive rights given to Sony Network and the NBA had written a letter to Modi which resulted in the late night parleys among the parties involved.
A few days ago, the IPL had resolved a dispute arising over stringent media accreditation guidelines with the Indian Newspaper Society.
Achrekar Sir: Champion maker at dusk
A sea of fielders, wisps of dust showing up and countless number of cricket pitches cutting across the ground — the evenings at Mumbai's Shivaji Park haven't changed one bit. Captains fail to track their players but ask them about Ramakant Achrekar's cricket academy and they will guide you through the patchwork.
Age and declining faculties haven't held him back from his more-than-40-years of engagement with Shivaji Park. Sporting his tweed cap and supporting himself on a wooden chair, he stutters in Marathi while gesturing at one of the players, "Cup your hands close to the chest to take a high catch." He is eager to demonstrate more but stops at that. The thoughts, the words are not as coherent after he suffered a fatal paralytic attack in 1995.
Achrekar, honoured with the Dronacharya Award in 1990, still needs to draw sustenance from the red soil and watch his boys go through the paces. Every day. Just like in his heydays when he never allowed his pupils to miss a single net session, towing them on his scooter to the ground.
Cricket lore is full of wonderful stories about how he would take Sachin Tendulkar to another game if he failed in one match, making him represent more than 10 teams, and how he never bothered to alter the little master's exaggerated bottom-hand grip.
As coach, he strove as much for the careers of Lalachand Rajput, Suresh Shastri, Ramnath Parkar, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Padam Shastri and Chandrakant Pandit as he did for Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli.
Some of his boys may not have scaled Tendulkar's heights but the anecdotes they have to share are nothing short of chilling.
"He watched me at a tennis-ball game at Chembur and instructed one of his boys to ask me to join his nets," recounts Chandrakant Pandit.
Achrekar was keen that Pandit switch from Robert Money High School to Shardashram Vidyamandir (where he was the coach) so that his cricket could flourish under his watch. Pandit's father however wouldn't relent.
"I remember the day he dropped in at my place," Pandit recalls. "It was past mid-night. Achrekar Sir was determined to convince my father who just wouldn't budge."
"So you want Chandrakant to have a good career and support the family," Achrekar quivered. "Let's strike a deal then. I take your son in exchange of a monthly salary of Rs 1000, what he would earn elsewhere." This was in 1976.
Age and declining faculties haven't held him back from his more-than-40-years of engagement with Shivaji Park. Sporting his tweed cap and supporting himself on a wooden chair, he stutters in Marathi while gesturing at one of the players, "Cup your hands close to the chest to take a high catch." He is eager to demonstrate more but stops at that. The thoughts, the words are not as coherent after he suffered a fatal paralytic attack in 1995.
Achrekar, honoured with the Dronacharya Award in 1990, still needs to draw sustenance from the red soil and watch his boys go through the paces. Every day. Just like in his heydays when he never allowed his pupils to miss a single net session, towing them on his scooter to the ground.
Cricket lore is full of wonderful stories about how he would take Sachin Tendulkar to another game if he failed in one match, making him represent more than 10 teams, and how he never bothered to alter the little master's exaggerated bottom-hand grip.
As coach, he strove as much for the careers of Lalachand Rajput, Suresh Shastri, Ramnath Parkar, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Padam Shastri and Chandrakant Pandit as he did for Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli.
Some of his boys may not have scaled Tendulkar's heights but the anecdotes they have to share are nothing short of chilling.
"He watched me at a tennis-ball game at Chembur and instructed one of his boys to ask me to join his nets," recounts Chandrakant Pandit.
Achrekar was keen that Pandit switch from Robert Money High School to Shardashram Vidyamandir (where he was the coach) so that his cricket could flourish under his watch. Pandit's father however wouldn't relent.
"I remember the day he dropped in at my place," Pandit recalls. "It was past mid-night. Achrekar Sir was determined to convince my father who just wouldn't budge."
"So you want Chandrakant to have a good career and support the family," Achrekar quivered. "Let's strike a deal then. I take your son in exchange of a monthly salary of Rs 1000, what he would earn elsewhere." This was in 1976.
Nothing wrong with tailor- made pitches: Kirsten
Indian coach Gary Kirsten, who represented India in place of skipper Anil Kumble in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) cricket ranking awards ceremony, stressed that there was nothing wrong in home teams playing to their advantage by preparing wickets to suit their bowlers during a Test series.
“I don’t think there is anything wrong in home sides preparing wickets to suit their bowlers and take full advantage of their rivals’ weakness to spin or fast bowling. Even in the past we have seen it happen and it should not be made into a big issue now,” Kirsten told reporters after receiving the prize money of $75,000 for India finishing second on the International Cricket Council (ICC) ranking list, here on Wednesday.
“If the Indians wants to take advantage of their opponents by preparing spinner-friendly wicket, like they did in Kanpur, there is nothing wrong in it. Likewise if the Aussies or the South Africans think they can do the same to other teams while playing at home, it should not be made into a big issue,” the new coach added.
When asked about the International Cricket Council (ICC) expressing unhappiness over the under-prepared Kanpur wicket, where India beat South Africa within three days to square the series, Kirsten said, he was not aware of any such thing.
“I don’t know about the ICC’s feelings but I am happy that India won as I am the coach of their team and everybody here expects me to contribute to their victory,” he said.
Speaking about Twenty20’s effect on other forms of cricket, Kirsten said, Test cricket would be the ultimate test for a player and was the real challenge but the ODIs and Twenty20 games can add more innovative stuff to the longer version of the game.
“If you ask any youngster, who plays cricket, he would simply say he wants to play Test cricket for his country. So Test cricket will retain its charm despite other forms of cricket making its entry. A hardcore fan would love to watch the ups and downs of a five day match,” he said.
“Of course, from the entertainment point of view ODIs and Twenty20 might be preferred to Test cricket but in the long run all three types of cricket would be complimenting each other in some form or the other,” he added.
“I don’t think there is anything wrong in home sides preparing wickets to suit their bowlers and take full advantage of their rivals’ weakness to spin or fast bowling. Even in the past we have seen it happen and it should not be made into a big issue now,” Kirsten told reporters after receiving the prize money of $75,000 for India finishing second on the International Cricket Council (ICC) ranking list, here on Wednesday.
“If the Indians wants to take advantage of their opponents by preparing spinner-friendly wicket, like they did in Kanpur, there is nothing wrong in it. Likewise if the Aussies or the South Africans think they can do the same to other teams while playing at home, it should not be made into a big issue,” the new coach added.
When asked about the International Cricket Council (ICC) expressing unhappiness over the under-prepared Kanpur wicket, where India beat South Africa within three days to square the series, Kirsten said, he was not aware of any such thing.
“I don’t know about the ICC’s feelings but I am happy that India won as I am the coach of their team and everybody here expects me to contribute to their victory,” he said.
Speaking about Twenty20’s effect on other forms of cricket, Kirsten said, Test cricket would be the ultimate test for a player and was the real challenge but the ODIs and Twenty20 games can add more innovative stuff to the longer version of the game.
“If you ask any youngster, who plays cricket, he would simply say he wants to play Test cricket for his country. So Test cricket will retain its charm despite other forms of cricket making its entry. A hardcore fan would love to watch the ups and downs of a five day match,” he said.
“Of course, from the entertainment point of view ODIs and Twenty20 might be preferred to Test cricket but in the long run all three types of cricket would be complimenting each other in some form or the other,” he added.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Sachin Tendulkar the greatest cricketer of all time
The 16-year old boy from Mumbai has grown to become a sporting legend. His stats speak volumes, but it is the way he has carried the hopes of a nation while humbly taking apart the best bowling attacks in the world that defines his greatness.
This is a story of a 16-year-old boy with stars in his eyes, fire in his belly and huge talent to boot. And now there is a man who has completed 16,000 runs in ODIs and who still has stars in his eyes, fire in his belly and huge talent to boot. This is a story of transformation of a boy into a legend who for 18 years has brought a smile to the faces of a billion of his countrymen time and again. This is the story of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. This is a dedication to the master. Tendulkar began his international cricketing journey at 16. And what a baptism by fire it was. Not everyone can claim to face the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Abdul Qadir in their own backyard and come out with accolades and a smile. He then played one of the finest innings by an Indian in England to help save a Test. And then came the thunder Down Under. Tendulkar tamed the Aussie attack on a pacy Perth wicket to announce his arrival as one of the best that there ever will be. He scored a magnificent hundred on the world’s fastest wicket when most of his illustrious and experienced team-mates were run over by the Australians. Even before he came of age, he had become the premier batsman in India. He took up yet another challenge when he was asked to open the innings in ODIs. And the rest is history. Over 400 ODIs and 140 Tests later he has reached a level that only the true sporting greats like Michael Jordan, Bjorn Borg or Tiger Woods ever reached. He has scored over 27,000 runs in international cricket and has 80 centurues. But it is not the stats that are so important - Tendulkar’s greatness goes much beyond the figures. Viv Richards was a great batsman, but he had Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes and Clive Lloyd for back-up. Ricky Ponting has had the consistency of Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey and the Waughs. Jacques Kallis has Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith.But Tendulkar played most of the '90s as the premier batsman in the side and in foreign conditions and carried the burden of the expectations of millions of his countrymen. It is only in the last few years that he has got the support from other batsmen. In this regard, only Brian Lara can compare. And Tendulkar never let the rigours of cricket wipe the smile off his face. To date he remains a humble person. The stars of the game rate him as one of the best, the commentators too. And the greatest player in the history of the game, the late Sir Don Bradman, acknowledged Tendulkar as the best batsman he had seen and the one who came closest to his own technique and style of play. Enough said.Tendulkar has been a great ambassador of the game playing in the true spirit, always giving his all on the field, making friends with the opposition off it, staying away from controversy and taking bad decisions in the right way. Importantly, he still retains a childlike enthusiasm for cricket exemplified when he goes out to bat. You can see he enjoys playing the game.The little master has taken the art of batting to a supreme level. There will be those who will come and set new records. But I don’t think any other cricketer can come close to the genius of Tendulkar. He may or may not be knighted or awarded the Bharat Ratna, but for me and millions of his fans worldwide he will always remain the simple, humble boy from the by-lanes of Mumbai who played hard and fair for his country a game that he loved and lived for. I am sure even Tendulkar would be have been happy with just that. That he became one of the greatest ever in the process is a bonus.
This is a story of a 16-year-old boy with stars in his eyes, fire in his belly and huge talent to boot. And now there is a man who has completed 16,000 runs in ODIs and who still has stars in his eyes, fire in his belly and huge talent to boot. This is a story of transformation of a boy into a legend who for 18 years has brought a smile to the faces of a billion of his countrymen time and again. This is the story of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. This is a dedication to the master. Tendulkar began his international cricketing journey at 16. And what a baptism by fire it was. Not everyone can claim to face the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Abdul Qadir in their own backyard and come out with accolades and a smile. He then played one of the finest innings by an Indian in England to help save a Test. And then came the thunder Down Under. Tendulkar tamed the Aussie attack on a pacy Perth wicket to announce his arrival as one of the best that there ever will be. He scored a magnificent hundred on the world’s fastest wicket when most of his illustrious and experienced team-mates were run over by the Australians. Even before he came of age, he had become the premier batsman in India. He took up yet another challenge when he was asked to open the innings in ODIs. And the rest is history. Over 400 ODIs and 140 Tests later he has reached a level that only the true sporting greats like Michael Jordan, Bjorn Borg or Tiger Woods ever reached. He has scored over 27,000 runs in international cricket and has 80 centurues. But it is not the stats that are so important - Tendulkar’s greatness goes much beyond the figures. Viv Richards was a great batsman, but he had Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes and Clive Lloyd for back-up. Ricky Ponting has had the consistency of Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey and the Waughs. Jacques Kallis has Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith.But Tendulkar played most of the '90s as the premier batsman in the side and in foreign conditions and carried the burden of the expectations of millions of his countrymen. It is only in the last few years that he has got the support from other batsmen. In this regard, only Brian Lara can compare. And Tendulkar never let the rigours of cricket wipe the smile off his face. To date he remains a humble person. The stars of the game rate him as one of the best, the commentators too. And the greatest player in the history of the game, the late Sir Don Bradman, acknowledged Tendulkar as the best batsman he had seen and the one who came closest to his own technique and style of play. Enough said.Tendulkar has been a great ambassador of the game playing in the true spirit, always giving his all on the field, making friends with the opposition off it, staying away from controversy and taking bad decisions in the right way. Importantly, he still retains a childlike enthusiasm for cricket exemplified when he goes out to bat. You can see he enjoys playing the game.The little master has taken the art of batting to a supreme level. There will be those who will come and set new records. But I don’t think any other cricketer can come close to the genius of Tendulkar. He may or may not be knighted or awarded the Bharat Ratna, but for me and millions of his fans worldwide he will always remain the simple, humble boy from the by-lanes of Mumbai who played hard and fair for his country a game that he loved and lived for. I am sure even Tendulkar would be have been happy with just that. That he became one of the greatest ever in the process is a bonus.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Akshay Kumar turns Daredevil for Delhi
That cricket will get a grand share of Bollywood was apparent when superstar Shah Rukh Khan bought the Kolkata franchise of the Indian Premier League.
But other franchises had made their intentions evident by not falling behind, as Bollywood heartthrob Akshay Kumar has been signed on by the Delhi Daredevils as its brand ambassador.
The announcement was made at a ceremony in the Capital on Monday, which also featured the likes of captain and 'Icon player' Virender Sehwag, local lad Gautam Gambhir, Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik as well as Mohammad Asif; one of the premier fast bowlers in the world.
But the centre of attention of course was Akshay, who played down all talk of a rivalry with the other big IPL face from Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan.
"Although I work in films, I am an ardent follower of sports, especially cricket. I am from Delhi, so you should be proud and keep movies and songs aside. Let's get together for the game," the star famous for his action stunts, said.
Sehwag, too, was confident that his team will put in a strong show in the tournament, and entertain while they are at it.
"My personal target will be to perform consistently in the Twenty20 games and I hope to do well for my team. I have to lead from the front," Sehwag, who hammered 319 in the recently concluded first Test against South Africa in Chennai, said.
"Bollywood has its own space, and so does cricket. But Twenty20 is a package made to entertain. Bollywood is the greatest entertainer for the Indian public. So marrying Bollywood with cricket promises more entertainment.
"The public wants full worth of his money spent for the game, and if a fan gets to watch his favourite movie star along with some great cricket, nothing like it," the flamboyant batsman added.
But other franchises had made their intentions evident by not falling behind, as Bollywood heartthrob Akshay Kumar has been signed on by the Delhi Daredevils as its brand ambassador.
The announcement was made at a ceremony in the Capital on Monday, which also featured the likes of captain and 'Icon player' Virender Sehwag, local lad Gautam Gambhir, Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik as well as Mohammad Asif; one of the premier fast bowlers in the world.
But the centre of attention of course was Akshay, who played down all talk of a rivalry with the other big IPL face from Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan.
"Although I work in films, I am an ardent follower of sports, especially cricket. I am from Delhi, so you should be proud and keep movies and songs aside. Let's get together for the game," the star famous for his action stunts, said.
Sehwag, too, was confident that his team will put in a strong show in the tournament, and entertain while they are at it.
"My personal target will be to perform consistently in the Twenty20 games and I hope to do well for my team. I have to lead from the front," Sehwag, who hammered 319 in the recently concluded first Test against South Africa in Chennai, said.
"Bollywood has its own space, and so does cricket. But Twenty20 is a package made to entertain. Bollywood is the greatest entertainer for the Indian public. So marrying Bollywood with cricket promises more entertainment.
"The public wants full worth of his money spent for the game, and if a fan gets to watch his favourite movie star along with some great cricket, nothing like it," the flamboyant batsman added.
Friday, March 28, 2008
sehwag triple century..
A breathtaking triple-century from Virender Sehwag, by far the fastest in terms of balls faced (278), was the centrepiece as India utterly dominated proceedings on the third day at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Sehwag scored 257 runs in the day, finishing it on 309, the same score he made at Multan back in 2004. The fusillade of strokes produced 108 runs between lunch and tea, and he shared in two double-hundred stands, another record.
After Wasim Jaffer had contributed 73 to an opening stand of 213, Rahul Dravid turned the strike over cleverly as the bowling was ground into the Chennai dust. By stumps, the partnership was worth 255, and Sehwag's heroics had opened up the possibility of a result on the final day. Though South Africa finished five overs short of the 90 that they were supposed to bowl in the day, India still managed a staggering 386 runs.
The five frontline bowlers toiled away with no reward on an unforgiving pitch and by stumps a couple of them were looking a little shell-shocked and dispirited. Sehwag took just 78 balls for his second hundred, and 84 for the third, and by then any illusion of a contest between bat and ball had long since been shattered.
South Africa couldn't be faulted for commitment, and their fielding was always tidy, but there was simply nothing in the pitch or atmosphere to inspire a breakthrough. Makhaya Ntini was given a proper pasting and the raw pace of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel was similarly ineffectual against a batsman at the top of his game. Paul Harris wheeled away for several long spells but though there was the odd lull, Sehwag cover-drove, paddl- swept and reverse-swept with impunity when the chance presented itself.
Dravid started very slowly, but he too grew in confidence as the day wore on, playing some lovely strokes on the leg side as the bowlers started to err in line. His 50 took him 151 balls, but such was Sehwag's mastery over proceedings that the partnership run-rate was nearly five an over.
A huge straight six off Harris took Sehwag to 297, and a tuck off the pads off Ntini soon after got him to 300. The crowd, nearly 30,000, went berserk and everyone in the dressing room was on their feet. With the over-rate so sluggish and Sehwag so intimidating, Smith didn't even take the second new ball, opting to fill in overs with the likes of Ashwell Prince.
Harris had the only success of the day, snaring Jaffer after switching to round the wicket. Jaffer's had been the perfect anchor role, and when he flirted at one outside off stump that actually turned a little, Jacques Kallis took a fine catch low at slip. His departure didn't faze Sehwag in the slightest though. Morkel was taken for 13 in an over, and Harris too suffered a similar fate as he cruised into the 190s.
A massive six over long leg off Ntini took him to 199 and a ball later, a twirl of the wrists sent the ball speeding through midwicket. At the other end, Dravid needed to do no more than pinch the odd single, and Sehwag went in for a cup of tea after having flayed Ntini for a six and two fours in the final over of the session. It was his tentth successive hundred in excess of 150, an unprecedented feat, and it must have made the selectors who dropped him from the Test side cringe more than a little.
India had started the day as though they meant business, with Jaffer pulling Ntini for four, and Smith was soon forced into an early change. Steyn bowled at lively pace, but the pick of the bowlers was Morkel, who sent a couple of deliveries thudding through at express pace and beat the outside edge more than once. But apart from a Jaffer edge that fell well short of Mark Boucher, there weren't even half-chances to encourage the bowlers. Jaffer eventually got to his 50 from 107 balls, more than content to paddle in Sehwag's wake.
Harris came on after an hour and his tactics against Sehwag were simple - just drop the ball on a length well outside leg stump. Sehwag was content to ignore most of them, though on occasion he did make room to drive forcefully through the off side. There was also a powerful reverse-sweep that sped behind point for four.
The century was raised in typically thrilling fashion. Having slammed Kallis over midwicket to get to 99, he then lofted him straight back over his head to get to three figures. It had taken him just 116 balls, and it reduced South Africa to seeking damage control rather than wickets. Once again, Sehwag's greatest strength, his ability to put away both the bad and not-so-bad balls, was in ample evidence.
A couple of balls from Harris did seem to unleash puffs of dust from the pitch, a development that would have been watched with keen interest by Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. That though was in the future, with India seemingly intent on batting well into the fourth day. As long as Sehwag was out there, the possibilities were limitless.
The Last Samurai
One moment typified Virender Sehwag's buccaneering masterclass on the third day in Chennai. He had led a stunning fightback, just brought up his 100th run for the
Some batsmen take into account the nature of the pitch, time of day, phase of innings, and quality of the bowler. Sehwag prefers to have only one parameter in mind: type of delivery. This was batting reduced to its simplest form. As the Last Samurai postulates: "the highest level of martial and spiritual skill is only attainable through No Mind".
Batsmen normally talk of cashing in on featherbeds, making sure they thrive when the going is good. Sehwag doesn't seem to really care. He has often talked about not looking at a pitch before a game and rarely alters his approach according to the surface. He has taken a different approach according to match situations - his match-saving hundred in the previous Test in Adelaide showed as much - but conditions don't seem to matter. When he's as balanced at the crease as this, there's little to stop him.
In the three Tests since his Test comeback it's pretty clear that he's worked on his on-side game. His struggles at the Test level coincided with the time when he tried to back away and swat most balls to the off side but he's obviously worked on the clip to leg - the shot where he gets up on his toes and turns it towards square leg. He's brought back the hoick and has now started to again loft powerfully over cover. It's helped that he's got fitter, shedding some fat around the waist-line.
It's also interesting that the two occasions when he's consulted a mental conditioner have been followed up with brutal innings. The blistering 180 on the first day in Gros Islet came on the back of a chat with Rudi Webster, the renowned sports psychologist, and this knock was preceded by a lengthy interaction with Paddy Upton. Sehwag has often said that his one-day failures are mainly because of too many parameters coming into play - number of overs, run-rate, Powerplays and the like - and it's the Test arena that he enjoys the most.
His last ten hundreds have all been 150-plus knocks, a trot unlike any other batsman in Test history. He joined Brian Lara and Don Bradman as the only two batsmen to cross 300 twice. He may not be mentioned in the same league as those two legends - not as yet - but like them he remains a man apart.
Some batsmen take into account the nature of the pitch, time of day, phase of innings, and quality of the bowler. Sehwag prefers to have only one parameter in mind: type of delivery. This was batting reduced to its simplest form. As the Last Samurai postulates: "the highest level of martial and spiritual skill is only attainable through No Mind".
Batsmen normally talk of cashing in on featherbeds, making sure they thrive when the going is good. Sehwag doesn't seem to really care. He has often talked about not looking at a pitch before a game and rarely alters his approach according to the surface. He has taken a different approach according to match situations - his match-saving hundred in the previous Test in Adelaide showed as much - but conditions don't seem to matter. When he's as balanced at the crease as this, there's little to stop him.
In the three Tests since his Test comeback it's pretty clear that he's worked on his on-side game. His struggles at the Test level coincided with the time when he tried to back away and swat most balls to the off side but he's obviously worked on the clip to leg - the shot where he gets up on his toes and turns it towards square leg. He's brought back the hoick and has now started to again loft powerfully over cover. It's helped that he's got fitter, shedding some fat around the waist-line.
It's also interesting that the two occasions when he's consulted a mental conditioner have been followed up with brutal innings. The blistering 180 on the first day in Gros Islet came on the back of a chat with Rudi Webster, the renowned sports psychologist, and this knock was preceded by a lengthy interaction with Paddy Upton. Sehwag has often said that his one-day failures are mainly because of too many parameters coming into play - number of overs, run-rate, Powerplays and the like - and it's the Test arena that he enjoys the most.
His last ten hundreds have all been 150-plus knocks, a trot unlike any other batsman in Test history. He joined Brian Lara and Don Bradman as the only two batsmen to cross 300 twice. He may not be mentioned in the same league as those two legends - not as yet - but like them he remains a man apart.
'ICC must get best players play in IPL'
Leg-spin great Shane Warne on Friday said the International Cricket Council should ensure that the world's top players who got signed up with the Indian Premier League play in the "revolutionary" Twenty20 venture.
Talking to newspersons after the official launch of the Jaipur franchisee team Rajasthan Royals, Warne rubbished the notion that IPL would have negative influence in international cricket.
"It is a new and revolutionary concept and if ICC uses a little common sense it can co-exist with international cricket," he said.
"ICC should accommodate IPL in the international calendar and ensure that best players of the cricketing world play in it. It would make the IPL more colourful and competitive," Warne, who would be the captain-cum-coach of the team said.
The Australian, who has 708 Test wickets in his kitty, felt IPL would do a lot of good to the young cricketers instead of having negative effect on them.
"They are getting the money and also chance to play along with great players of the world."
Warne would not also agree that spinners have little role to play in the shortest version of cricket.
"Though Twenty20 is called batsman's game, bowlers can turn it around. Yes, spinners will be hit but often we saw good performance by them too. They have evolved and I feel they certainly have a big role in this format of cricket too," said Warne.
Is Rajasthan Royals the weakest team in the fray in the eight-team League? Warne would not agree, saying, "Yes, we don't have Sachin (Tendulkar), but still we have Younis Khan, Graeme Smith apart from few youngsters in our ranks. I feel we have an exciting team, we have a balanced team."
"It is a question of extracting the best from the team members. It is the responsibility of the players to perform to their potential."
When asked whether his role of captain-cum-coach will work, Warne replied that it had worked for Hampshire where he was shouldering both the responsibilities till deciding to quit first class cricket Thursday.
"I feel it is good as instead of two or three voices you have only one voice in the team. It had worked pretty good. I had combined the two roles in Hampshire and the team reached two finals in four years which was not bad."
Warne does not think that sledging would be an issue during the Twenty20 tournament starting on April 18 and added that he would welcome any role for former India coach Greg Chappell in his IPL team.
Talking to newspersons after the official launch of the Jaipur franchisee team Rajasthan Royals, Warne rubbished the notion that IPL would have negative influence in international cricket.
"It is a new and revolutionary concept and if ICC uses a little common sense it can co-exist with international cricket," he said.
"ICC should accommodate IPL in the international calendar and ensure that best players of the cricketing world play in it. It would make the IPL more colourful and competitive," Warne, who would be the captain-cum-coach of the team said.
The Australian, who has 708 Test wickets in his kitty, felt IPL would do a lot of good to the young cricketers instead of having negative effect on them.
"They are getting the money and also chance to play along with great players of the world."
Warne would not also agree that spinners have little role to play in the shortest version of cricket.
"Though Twenty20 is called batsman's game, bowlers can turn it around. Yes, spinners will be hit but often we saw good performance by them too. They have evolved and I feel they certainly have a big role in this format of cricket too," said Warne.
Is Rajasthan Royals the weakest team in the fray in the eight-team League? Warne would not agree, saying, "Yes, we don't have Sachin (Tendulkar), but still we have Younis Khan, Graeme Smith apart from few youngsters in our ranks. I feel we have an exciting team, we have a balanced team."
"It is a question of extracting the best from the team members. It is the responsibility of the players to perform to their potential."
When asked whether his role of captain-cum-coach will work, Warne replied that it had worked for Hampshire where he was shouldering both the responsibilities till deciding to quit first class cricket Thursday.
"I feel it is good as instead of two or three voices you have only one voice in the team. It had worked pretty good. I had combined the two roles in Hampshire and the team reached two finals in four years which was not bad."
Warne does not think that sledging would be an issue during the Twenty20 tournament starting on April 18 and added that he would welcome any role for former India coach Greg Chappell in his IPL team.
Friday, March 7, 2008
cricket controversies
Two events last week have left cricket lovers all over the world disappointed.
South Africa pulling out of the Unitech Cup
A player who fears for his life can’t really play cricket! But the South Africans may have over-estimated the danger: there are over 1000 athletes competing in the SAF games being held in the island. This event has been surrounded with controversy: rumors rife about the differences among the members of the squad, the improper security review by the ICC appointed agency etc. In these circumstances you really cannot fault a team for pulling out. Although, I don’t think the South Africans would have pulled out if they were touring England when 7/7 happened.
The farce at the Oval
Pakistan accused of ball tampering, they refuse to come out after tea, umpires award the match to England and when Pakis are ready to play, the umpires led refused to budge. And surprise one of the umpires was: Darrell-”Murali Chucks”-Hair, a man who loves his controversy. Pakistan’s protest did not keep the best interest of the game at heart. You must be out of your mind to expect that you can hold up the game and come back on the field and play as you choose. Also, I think a complete inquiry is in order and umpires must be held accountable under these circumstances. There is no love lost between the Pakis and Darrell Hair and to be honest I would only be too happy to see the back of that man!
It has to be said that as of this moment there is no video evidence of Pakistanis actually tampering the ball but according to various journalists, the ball did seem pretty disfigured on one side. That said, what was the ICC doing when the whole controversy broke out? Somebody should have taken charge.I don’t think any other sport is so dominated by the sports boards of the members.
This is absolutely unprecedented; in over 130 years of Test Cricket this is the first time that a team has actually gone so far as to forfeit a match. The next week promises to be rather fascinating as the inept ICC tries to bring the whole situation under control. Watch this space for updates!
-Prof
South Africa pulling out of the Unitech Cup
A player who fears for his life can’t really play cricket! But the South Africans may have over-estimated the danger: there are over 1000 athletes competing in the SAF games being held in the island. This event has been surrounded with controversy: rumors rife about the differences among the members of the squad, the improper security review by the ICC appointed agency etc. In these circumstances you really cannot fault a team for pulling out. Although, I don’t think the South Africans would have pulled out if they were touring England when 7/7 happened.
The farce at the Oval
Pakistan accused of ball tampering, they refuse to come out after tea, umpires award the match to England and when Pakis are ready to play, the umpires led refused to budge. And surprise one of the umpires was: Darrell-”Murali Chucks”-Hair, a man who loves his controversy. Pakistan’s protest did not keep the best interest of the game at heart. You must be out of your mind to expect that you can hold up the game and come back on the field and play as you choose. Also, I think a complete inquiry is in order and umpires must be held accountable under these circumstances. There is no love lost between the Pakis and Darrell Hair and to be honest I would only be too happy to see the back of that man!
It has to be said that as of this moment there is no video evidence of Pakistanis actually tampering the ball but according to various journalists, the ball did seem pretty disfigured on one side. That said, what was the ICC doing when the whole controversy broke out? Somebody should have taken charge.I don’t think any other sport is so dominated by the sports boards of the members.
This is absolutely unprecedented; in over 130 years of Test Cricket this is the first time that a team has actually gone so far as to forfeit a match. The next week promises to be rather fascinating as the inept ICC tries to bring the whole situation under control. Watch this space for updates!
-Prof
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni or MS Dhoni (born July 7, 1981 in Ranchi, Jharkhand) is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian Twenty20 and ODI team. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20.
Dhoni is an aggressive right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper. Dhoni is one of the wicket-keepers who have come through the ranks of junior and India A cricket teams to represent the national team - Parthiv Patel, Ajay Ratra and Dinesh Karthik being the others. Dhoni, referred to as 'Mahi' by his friends, debuted in the Bihar cricket team during the 1998/99 cricket season and was selected to represent India-A for a tour to Kenya in 2004. Along with Gautam Gambhir, Dhoni made multiple centuries against the Pakistan-A team in a tri-nation series and was selected in the Indian national team later in that year.
Dhoni scored 148 against Pakistan in his fifth ODI match in 2005 - then the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper. Later in the year, he broke his own record as well as set the current world record for the highest score in the second innings in ODI matches as he scored 183* against Sri Lanka. Dhoni's success in the limited overs format secured him a place in the test team and coincidentally he made his maiden test century in his fifth Test match, when he scored 148 against Pakistan. Consistent performances in ODI cricket through the end of the 2005/06 season saw Dhoni ranked as the No. 1 batsman in the ICC ODI ratings briefly.
Dhoni's form dipped through 2006 as India lost matches at the ICC Champions trophy, DLF Cup, away bilateral series against West Indies and South Africa. A return to form in the home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka in early 2007 proved to be an inaccurate indicator of Dhoni's form as India crashed out of the first round in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Dhoni was out for duck in both India's losses. After the World Cup, Dhoni won the Man of the series award in the bilateral ODI tournament against Bangladesh. For the tour of England, Dhoni was named the ODI team vice-captain.
A powerful hitter of the ball, Dhoni has shown the maturity to restrain his aggressive nature and play a responsible innings when the situation requires. Apart from traditional shots, Dhoni has two very unorthodox but effective cricket strokes. Since his entry into the Indian cricket team, Dhoni's aggressive batting style, success on the field, personality, and long hair have made him one of the most marketable cricketers in IndiaIPL takes Bollywood to the cricket field..
Cricket in India has yet again attracted top dollar, this time for the Indian Premier League (IPL). In the process, BCCI has ensured that Mukesh Ambani will lock horns with Vijay Mallya while Shah Rukh Khan will face off against Preity Zinta as their teams take to the field.
The Reliance Industries chairman has acquired the Mumbai franchise in IPL for $111.9 million over a 10-year period while the flamboyant chairman of UB Group has won the Bengaluru franchise for $111.6 million. Both Mr Ambani and Mr Mallya had bid more than twice the floor price of $50 million per franchise set by the board. SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment won the Kolkata franchise for $75 million.
The biggest surprise was the Chandigarh franchise, which went to Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia, together with Apeejay Surrendra’s Karan Paul and Dabur scion Mohit Burman for $75 million.
IPL is yet another show of strength for cricket. Originally conceived as a riposte to Subhash Chandra’s rebel Indian Cricket League, IPL is set to become the biggest money-spinner in cricket today. The league has been modelled on other professional sports leagues like the English Premier League (EPL) and National Basketball Association (NBA).
But in the years to come, it will emulate EPL and NBA when it comes to trading players and club buyouts. Some of the biggest names in international cricket today, such as Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara and Sachin Tendulkar, have all signed up to play in IPL, and so have Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. The top 80 players in the ICC rankings will be playing in IPL, according to BCCI officials.
IPL is also further proof that, in spite of a few blips, cricket still rules the roost for marketers, who want visibility for their brands. Just over two years ago, BCCI had raised a total of $945 million in media, kit and team sponsorship over four years from Nimbus, Nike and Sahara, respectively. This amount has already been eclipsed by the revenues that IPL will generate for BCCI over 10 years (but much lesser cricket time). In all, the board has raked in nearly $724 million from the franchise bids alone, and adding income from media, IPL has fetched it nearly $1.75 billion (approx. Rs 7,000 crore). This amount can only go up once the bids for title and shirt sponsorships come in.
The Reliance Industries chairman has acquired the Mumbai franchise in IPL for $111.9 million over a 10-year period while the flamboyant chairman of UB Group has won the Bengaluru franchise for $111.6 million. Both Mr Ambani and Mr Mallya had bid more than twice the floor price of $50 million per franchise set by the board. SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment won the Kolkata franchise for $75 million.
The biggest surprise was the Chandigarh franchise, which went to Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia, together with Apeejay Surrendra’s Karan Paul and Dabur scion Mohit Burman for $75 million.
IPL is yet another show of strength for cricket. Originally conceived as a riposte to Subhash Chandra’s rebel Indian Cricket League, IPL is set to become the biggest money-spinner in cricket today. The league has been modelled on other professional sports leagues like the English Premier League (EPL) and National Basketball Association (NBA).
But in the years to come, it will emulate EPL and NBA when it comes to trading players and club buyouts. Some of the biggest names in international cricket today, such as Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara and Sachin Tendulkar, have all signed up to play in IPL, and so have Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. The top 80 players in the ICC rankings will be playing in IPL, according to BCCI officials.
IPL is also further proof that, in spite of a few blips, cricket still rules the roost for marketers, who want visibility for their brands. Just over two years ago, BCCI had raised a total of $945 million in media, kit and team sponsorship over four years from Nimbus, Nike and Sahara, respectively. This amount has already been eclipsed by the revenues that IPL will generate for BCCI over 10 years (but much lesser cricket time). In all, the board has raked in nearly $724 million from the franchise bids alone, and adding income from media, IPL has fetched it nearly $1.75 billion (approx. Rs 7,000 crore). This amount can only go up once the bids for title and shirt sponsorships come in.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
don bradman-the god of cricket
Sir Donald George Bradman, AC (27 August 1908—25 February 2001), often called The Don, was an Australian cricketer, generally acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Later in his career he was an administrator and writer on the game. Bradman is one of Australia's most popular sporting heroes, and one of the most respected past players in other cricketing nations. His career Test batting average of 99.94 is by many measures the greatest statistical performance in any major sport.
The story of the young Don practising alone with a cricket stump and a golf ball is part of Australian folklore. Bradman’s meteoric rise from bush cricket to the Australian Test team took just over two years. Before his 22nd birthday, he set myriad records for high scoring (many of which stand even today) and became Australia's sporting idol at the height of the Great Depression. A controversial set of tactics, known as Bodyline, were devised by the England team to curb his batting brilliance.
During a twenty-year career, Bradman consistently scored at a level that made him "worth three batsmen to Australia". Committed to attacking, entertaining cricket, Bradman drew spectators in record numbers. He found the constant adulation an anathema, however, and it affected how he dealt with others. The focus of attention on his individual performances strained relationships with some team-mates, administrators and journalists, who thought him aloof and wary. After World War II, he made a dramatic comeback and in his final season captained an Australian team known as "The Invincibles". RC Robertson-Glasgow wrote of the English reaction to Bradman's retirement that, "... a miracle has been removed from among us. So must ancient Italy have felt when she heard of the death of Hannibal."
A complex, highly-driven man, not given to close personal relationships, Bradman maintained his pre-eminence by acting as an administrator, selector and writer for three decades following his retirement. His opinion was highly sought, but, in his declining years, he became very reclusive. However, his status as a national icon was still recognised, with previous Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, calling him the "greatest living Australian". His image has appeared on postage stamps and coins, and he became the first living Australian to have a museum dedicated to his life.
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