Wait is getting longer and longer for epic 100.

 

The ‘GOD OF CRICKET’ once again missed on his epic 100th international hundred and fell for 76 at Feroze Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi on 4th day of 1st test match between India and West Indies. Wait is getting longer and longer for the epic ton. Master batted beautifully for his 76 runs and increased the curiosity of spectators by playing an authoritative cricket, especially today morning. The way Sachin was batting it looked like he will reach his goal but to his and fans disappointment, he fell well short of his epic hundred while pulling short ball of leggie Devendra Bishoo. Decision looked 50-50 but umpire ruled it in favour of the bowler and great man walked away from the ground to pavillion after putting India in commanding position but without completing his 100th ton. This shows that even GOD can’t get everything when he wants. Now fans and GOD have to wait for Eden Gardens. I think this epic hundred is destined to come on this historic ground.

As far as Indian team is concerned, they regained their confidence of playing test match which was  vanished in the last series against England. Season at home , so far has been good for MS Dhoni and his men as they white-washed England in ODIs and now won the first test match against West Indies and will be hoping to win the next one at Eden Gardens. Although first 2 days belonged to West Indies in this test match which really disappointed the fans but Indian team clawed back very well on 3rd and 4th day and won the test convincingly in just 3 and half days.

Lot of positive things happened in this test match for India as they found new hero in R.Ashwin who single handedly crushed West Indies batting on 3rd day when all were hoping of another disaster in Indian cricket. This offie from Chennai bowled with lot of guile and variation to which West Indian batsmen had no clue and fell like nine pins in their second innings. Indeed it was spectacular performance by R.Ashwin on debut. Now this performance of Ashwin will certainly jeopardies the situation of Harbhajan Singh who is fighting hard to make comeback in Indian team.

Harbhajan have played one game so far in Ranji Trophy and remained wicketless even after bowling 28 overs in the entire match. After such a sterling performance of R.Ashwin certainly selectors will not favour Harbhajan. So now it is upto Harbhajan to do something extraordinary in domestic cricket if he wants the ticket to Australia. Two more test matches to go in the series against West Indies, if Ojha and Ashwin continue their good form in next two test matches then certainly Harbhajan will go out of the schemes of selectors, so either Harbhajan have to bowl brilliantly in Ranji Trophy or Ojha and Ashwin have to bowl poorly in remaining two test matches. in only either of the scenarios. lies the chance for Harbhajan Singh.

Pacers Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma bowled with their best of the ability but didn’t get much help from the slow-low wicket of the Kotla but nevertheless both Ishant and Yadav looked impressive while bowling and given lot of hopes to the Indian team. Finally India found real fast bowlers who can trouble any batting line-up in the world. Both of them bowled  with lot of pace and line-length were emaculate. Both claimed two wickets each in the match. I think if they will get little support from the wicket then they can do wonders. Talking about Indian batting, I think Sehwag made an impressive comeback to the side, scoring half century in each innings of the test. Gambhir was bit disappointed as he got out after getting a decent starts. Rahul Dravid lived upto his reputation and bailed India out of the trouble in first innings by scoring patient half-century. Laxman as always played crucial knock in the second innings and helped India in  winning the test match. For Yuvraj Singh this test match was quite disappointing as he failed to score big runs in both the innings after getting good starts. I think time has come now to try out Ajinkya Rahane in next test match instead of Yuvraj Singh, as Yuvraj got the plenty of chances in a test team but failed to cement his place.

Dhoni’s captaincy was remarkable but he disappointed his fans with the bat as he couldn’t continue with his good form of ODIs in this test match. Overall good test match for India and they will go with positive frame of mind and confidence in the next test match at Eden Gardens.

Team India geared up to face Windies.

After disastrous 2 months in England where Indian team lost its No.1 ranking in tests, Indian cricket is back on track with 5-0 whitewash of England team in the home ODI series recently.  Now West Indies is in India to play 3 Tests and 5 ODIs and Indian is beaming with confidence to beat West Indians. Injured players returned to the side with full fitness and that will boost the team composition further. Induction of few youngsters in the team reflects the thinking of Indian selectors which clearly suggest that Indian Cricket is looking toward future.

It was nightmarish 2 months in England for MS Dhoni and his team but this team forgot that disaster and pulled itself back and now eager to challenge any team in the world once again.  This series against West Indies will give us idea who will be going to take the flight to Australia which is very important series for Indian Cricket. Everybody, from cricket experts to media created hype of Australian tour and forgot the West Indies series, but one must not forget that performance of Team India in the series against West Indies will give the correct idea of how Team India will going to perform in Australia, so series against West Indies is most important. This series is going to be a make or break series for few youngsters like Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, R.Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. If these guys come good in this series then I am sure Indian team will do well in Australia as well.

Rahane, Aaron and Yadav had a wonderful tour of Australia earlier this year with ‘India A’ team and they have the experience of playing in Australia which will going to benefit Indian team to an extent. But before that series, all important series against West Indies beginning tomorrow at Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi. It is important series for few stalwarts as well. Likes of Sehwag, Yuvraj and Sachin are going to make a comeback to the Indian team and they have to play out of their skins to get into the top form. This series although remembered for the long time if Sachin Tendulkar gets his epic 100th century in International cricket. Already there is talk about Sachin’s hundred and that’s the way this series is promoted by the media. But I think it is ridiculous to hype the series on one personal landmark. Such kind of hype will create pressure on Sachin Tendulkar, so according to me it is advisable to ignore this fact and look at it as normal series and leave great Tendulkar alone to achieve it.

This series is also in news because of the exclusion of Chris Gayle from the West Indian team. West Indies board once again ignored the giant  which certainly robbed little bit of competitiveness from the series. Without Gayle, West Indian team looks a club side but one must not forget that cricket is a funny game and anything can happen in this game. Who knows West indies get one more Gayle from this series. Although recent series against Bangladesh has given enough idea to the West Indian team about the conditions prevails in subcontinent and they will come well prepared so even without Gayle they will compete hard, no matter how their team is termed in media. There bowling have little upperhand compared to india because Indian team will go in with 3 debutant bowlers in this series.

Series against West Indies will going to be interesting and Indian team will look to dominate the series and try to regain its lost reputation in this Test Series. On the other hand it is going to be a rebuilding series for the West Indian team. Also I am certain that Indian team will not going to miss Harbhajan Singh after watching his performance in Ranji match against Uttar Pradesh, where he remained wicketless for 2 days.

Watching cricket from pavilion is punishment in Indian sub-continent....

Can see iron wires behind cheer girls

ICC Cricket World Cup, the greatest festival of cricket is around the corner and this time it will be celebrated in sub-continent as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are going to host it jointly. If we talk about cricket then cricket is religion in the Indian sub-continent. It is life-line for the people of Indian sub-continent. people love and worship this game beyond anything. It is the biggest passion in Indian sub-continent. No other thing unites people better than cricket in Indian sub-continent. 70% of the cricket economy is funded  from Indian sub-continent.  In short Indian sub-continent is super-power of World Cricket but question arise here is that cricket lovers and passionate fans like us treated well at the cricket venues?  Do we get the facilities which we deserve? I must say that people like us who drives the cricket, who watch cricket on TVs and on the grounds and help the respective cricket boards and ICC to make huge amount of money are often treated shabbily and poorly by the authorities and security men. When we go to the ground to watch the match we feel like we are prisoners and watching the match from the jail such is the view of the ground from the pavilion as there is big iron  barrier between ground and the pavilion and if we move just one step towards the boundary wall then security men shout at us like that we are criminals and going to commit some crime.

Streaker hurting Andrew Symonds in Australia

If we see  in countries like Australia, South Africa, England, West Indies, New Zealand, Zimbabwe,etc.  spectators enjoy cricket without any barriers and experience watching cricket in these countries is far more pleasure then watching cricket in sub-continent. Spectators can easily chat with and take autographs from the players on the ground and there is constant interaction goes on between crowds and the players. Facilities at all the grounds in above mentioned countries are top-class and spectators are treated as a spectators and not like prisoners. In Indian sub-continent spectators are not allowed to take along their cameras, mobile phones, water bottles or food items in the pavilion sighting security reasons and each spectator is scrutinise like terrorist. In the mane of security cricket administrators force spectators to buy food and water from the contracted vendors who sell them at high price compare to the market price so spectators is cheated inside the ground as well and have to buy sub-standard food at high price. 

Streaker interrupting test match in England

Now I believe few people can give excuses that  the people of sub-continent don't have manners and also not civilised enough to get the freedom of watching cricket without any barriers but I must say spectators are  same everywhere and poor incidents happens on every ground in the world. Few people can also argue that if spectators in sub-continent get the freedom then they will run on the ground and interrupt the game and also harm the player and incident of such nature also happened in the past but to counter that argument I must draw attention towards the streaker and hooting problems in Australia, South Africa, England and New Zealand. Many times games have been interrupted in the past and players were also hurt by few streakers and mischievous spectators but authorities of these countries always controlled the situation and never tried to make the experience horrible for spectators by building iron barriers between cricket field and pavilion. So few mischievous spectators exist everywhere in the world but this does not mean that we should punish all the spectators but this happens in Indian sub-continent.



Security personnel watching match



Now we talk about security personnel. In countries like Australia, South Africa, England, West Indies, New Zealand, Zimbabwe,etc. security personnel always watch the crowd and keep sharp eye on spectators while security men in Asia just watch cricket rather than watching spectators and unfortunately no action is taken against them if any incident happens on the ground instead spectators pay the price of bad incident.

Spectator cheering his team from behind the bars

I must say  cricket administrators in Indian sub-continent have made the experience of watching cricket horrible for the spectators. Many cricket venues in India don't even have proper sitting and sanitation facilities also. When cricket matches organised on these venues then plastic chairs are taken on rent and in few grounds spectators have to sit on concrete staircase and that too without any roof on the head which makes experience of watching cricket even more horrible. I must say people in other parts of the world are lucky that they watch cricket without any barrier but in Indian sub-continent watching cricket is big punishment. I hope situation improves in the future and watching cricket from the pavilion will be pleasure rather than a punishment  for the spectators of the sub-continent.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Teams Groups and Squads

Groups and Teams:

Group A		Group B
	Australia		India
	Pakistan		South Africa
	New Zealand		England
	Sri lanka		West Indies
	Zimbabwe		Bangladesh
	Canada		Ireland
	Kenya		Netherlands

Squads:
Group A

Ricky Ponting(Captain), Michael Clarke(Vice-Captain), Shane Watson, Steve Smith, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Cameroon White, Brad Haddin(WK), Tim Paine(WK), Nathan Hauritz, Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, John Hastings. Tim Nielsen(Coach)

B.Haddin(WK),  B.Lee, T.Nielsen(Coach), C.White, D.Bollinger, D.Hussey.J.Hastings, M.Clarke(VC), Mitchell Johnson, M.Hussey, N.Hauritz, R.Ponting(C), S.Smith, S.Tait, S.Watson, T.Paine(WK)

 Misbah Ul Haq(Captain), Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal(WK), Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Abdul Razzaq,  Abdur Rehman, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Ahmed Shehzad. Waqar Younis(Coach)

A.Razzaq,  A.Rehman, A.Shehjad, A.Shafiq, K.Akmal(WK), M.Haq(C), M.Hafeez, S.Ajmal, S.Afridi, S.Akhtar, S.Tanvir, U.Akmal, U.Gul, W.Younis(Coach), W.Riaz, Y.Khan

Daniel Vettori(Captain), Hamish Bennett, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Brendon McCullum(WK), Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson, Luke Woodcock, Kyle Mills. John Wright(Coach)

B.McCullum(WK), D.Vettori(C), H.Bennett, J.Oram, J.Franklin, J.How, J.Ryder, J.Wright(Coach), K.Williamson, K.Mills, L.Woodcock, M.Guptill, N.McCullum, R.Taylor, S.Styris, T.Southee.

Kumar Sangakkara(Captain/WK), Upul Tharanga, Chamara Silva, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Mahela Jayawardene(Vice-Captain), Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara, Chamara Kapugedara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Thisara Perera, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis, Tillakratane Dilshan. Trevor Bayliss(Coach)

A.Mendis, A.Mathews, C.Kapugedara, C.Silva, D.Fernando, K.Sangakkara(C/WK), L.Malinga, M.Jayawardene(VC), M.Muralitharan, N.Kulasekara, R.Herath, T.Perera, T.Samaraweera, T.Dilshan, T.Bayliss(Coach), U.Tharanga

Elton Chigumbara(Captain), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Greame Cremer, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Ed Rainsford, Tatenda Taibu(WK), Craig Ervine, Sean Ervine, Greg Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Brendon Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams. Alan Butcher(Coach)

A.Butcher(Coach), B.Taylor, C.Coventry, C.Mpofu, C.Ervine, E.Rainsford, E.Chigumbara(C), G.Cremer, G.Lamb, P.Utseya, R.Price, R.Chakabva, S.Ervine, S.Williams, S.Masakadza, T.Taibu(WK)

Ashish Bagai(Captain/WK), Rizwan Cheema(Vice-Captain), Jimmy Hansra, Khurram Chohan, Harvir Baidwan, Balaji Rao, Nitish Kumar, John Davison, Henry Osinde, Parth Desai, Hiral Patel, Tyson Gordon, Zubin Surkari, Ruvindu Gunasekara, Karl Whatham, Hamza Tariq. Pubudu Dassanayake(Coach)

A.Bagai(C/WK), B.Rao, H.Tariq, H.Baidwan, H.Osinde, H.Patel, J.Hansra, J.Davison, K.Whatham, K.Chohan, N.Kumar, P.Desai, P.Dassanayake(Coach), R.Cheema(VC), R.Gunasekara, T.Gordon, Z.Surkari

Jimmy Kamande(Captain), Thomas Odoyo, Tanmay Mishra, Peter Ongondo, James Ngoche, Elijah Otieno, Shem Ngoche, Maurice Ouma(WK), Rakep Patel, Steve Tikolo, Seren Waters, Alex Obanda, Collins Obuya, David Obuya(WK), Nehemiah Odhiambo. Eldin Baptiste(Coach)

A.Obanda, C.Obuya, D.Obuya(WK), E.Baptiste(Coach), E.Otieno, J.Ngoche,  J.Kamande(C), M.Ouma(WK), N.Odhiambo, P.Ongondo, R.Patel, S.Water, S.Ngoche, S.Tikolo, T.Mishra, T.Odoyo

Group B

Mahendra Singh Dhoni(Captain/WK), Virender Sehwag(Vice-Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel. Gary Kirsten(Coach)

A.Nehra, G.Gambhir, G.Kirsten(Coach), H.Singh, M.Dhoni(C/WK),M.Patel, P.Chawla, P.Kumar, R.Ashwin. S.Raina, S.Tendulkar, V.Kohli, V.Sehwag, Y.Pathan, Y.,Singh, Z.Khan

Greame Smith(Captain), Hashim Amla, Jacque Kallis, AB DeVilliers(WK), Morne Van Wyk(WK), Jean-Paul Duminy, Collin Ingram, Faf DuPlessis, Johan Botha, Robin Peterson, Imran Tahir, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell. Corrie Van Zyl(Coach)

A.DeVilliers(WK), C.Ingram, C.Van Zyl(Coach), D.Steyn,F.DuPlessis, G.Smith(C), H.Amla, I.Tahir, J.Botha, J.Kallis, J.Duminy, L.Tsotsobe, M.VanWyk(WK), M.Morkel, R.Peterson, W.Parnell

Andrew Strauss(Captain), Matt Prior(WK), Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright, Greame Swann, Jonathon Trott, James Anderson, Tim Bresnan, James Tredwell, Stuart Broad, Ajmal Shahjad, Michael Yardy. Andy Flower(Coach)

A.Shahzad, A.Strauss(C), A.Flower(Coach), E.Morgan, G.Swann, I.Bell, J.Anderson,  J.Tredwell, J.Trott,  K.Pietersen, L.Wright, M.Prior(WK), M.Yardy, P.Collingwood, S.Broad, T.Bresnan

Darren Sammy(Captain), Carlton Baugh(WK), Adrian Barath, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo,  Keiron Pollard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ravi Rampaul, Nikita Miller, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Sulieman Benn, Devon Smith. Ottis Gibson(Coach)

A.Barath, A.Russell, C.Baugh(WK), C.Gayle, D.Sammy(C), D.Smith, DJ.Bravo, DM. Bravo, K.Pollard, K.Roach, N.Miller, O.Gibson(Coach), R.Rampaul, R.Sarwan, S.Benn, S.Chanderpaul

Shakib Al Hasan(Captain), Tamim Iqbal(Vice-Captain), Mushfiqur Rahim(WK), Abdur Razzak, Naeem Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Imrul Kayes, Raqibul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Junaid Siddique, Mahmuddulah, Mohammad Ashraful, Shafiul Islam, Shahriar Nafees, Suhrawadi Shuvo. Jamie Siddons(Coach)

A.Razzak, I.Kayes, J.Siddique, J.Siddons(Coach), M.Ashraful, M.Rahim(WK), Mahmudullah, N.Hossain, N.Islam, R.Hasan, R.Hossain, S.Hasan(C), S.Islam, S.Nafees, S.Shuvo, T.Iqbal

William Porterfield(Captain), Niall O'Brien(WK), Gary Wilson(WK), Kevin O'Brien John Mooney, Ed Joyce, Nigel Jones, Andrew White, Albert Van Der Merwe, Trent Johnston, George Dockrell, Paul Stirling, Alex Cusack, Boyd Rankin, Andre Botha. Phil Simmons(Coach)

A.Botha, A.Cusack, A.Van Der Merwe, A.White, B.Rankin, Ed Joyce, G.Dockrell, G.Wilson(WK), J.Mooney,  K.O'Brien, N.Jones, N.O'Brien, P.Simmons(Coach), P.Stirling, T.Johnston, W.Porterfield(C)

Peter Borren(Captain), Wesley Barresi(WK), Atse Buurman(WK), Bradley Kruger, Adeel Raja, Bernard Loots, Pieter Seelar, Mudassar Bukhari, Eric Szwarczynski, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Tom Cooper, Berend Westdijk, Tom De Grooth, Bas Zuiderent, Alexel Kervezee. Peter Drinnen(Coach)

A.Buurman(WK), A.Kervezee, A.Raja, B.Kruger, B.Loots, B.Westdijk, B.Zuiderent, E.Szwarcynski, M.Bukhari, P.Borren(C), P.Drinnen(Coach), P.Seelar, R.Doeschate, T.Cooper, T.DeGrooth, W.Barresi(WK)

All the above teams will feature in ICC Cricket World Cup2011. Details Includes Players , Captains and Coaches