Why shouldnt sachin play T20 world cup????

The majestic cover drive, the impeccable straight drive, the master pulls, hooks the cheeky nudges past the slips and over the third man , the fascinating cover drive, the golden square drive all the shots of the book are going to be missed by the cricketing world at the home of cricket(England) as its greatest master has decided to abstain from the T20 world cup. This news has generated shock waves among the cricket lovers as their greatest gladiator is making himself absent for the tournament.
Perhaps, he is habituating his spectators to the cruel truth that he is going to end one day, and the day is near.His day of hanging the boots is near as he is already 36 and his body is battered and bruised while weathering the storms over the past 20 years.His critics have prophesied that "Sachin's inclusion in to the T20 team would imbalance the team."Sachin being a proud man has himself proclaimed that he wouldnt play the T20 world cup as he felt that he would be a burden to the team.
Remember, though, that the same ‘well-balanced’ team lost 0-2 to the Kiwis in the T20s, before bouncing back to comfortably win the ODI and Test series. Sure, you could argue that India was still acclimatizing to Kiwi conditions when the T20 matches were being played. But I couldn’t help feeling that the team could have done with a calm head and steadying influence in that first match, where batsman after batsman perished making vainglorious attempts to cross the ropes when a few nudges and pushes might have been better advised. India’s present T20 squad is, undoubtedly, a very good one. But let’s not be overconfident and act as if it doesn’t have any weaknesses at all. The loss in New Zealand should have taught us that, at least.
Maybe Sachin wants to pick and choose his matches in an effort to rest his body and prolong his career, especially given Indian cricket’s packed schedule. It makes sense, and one can understand if he wants to skip inconsequential matches. But surely a T20 World Cup is special enough to merit exceptional treatment? After all, Sachin does play in the IPL, doesn’t he? And while IPL’s big bucks certainly don’t hurt, I think he’s probably well past the stage where money alone would motivate him to do anything he really doesn’t want to.
Being a proud man sachin is unlikely to reverse his decision.That's a pity
Because when the moving ball starts asking questions in England, the strokeplayers struggle for answers, and the team needs someone to hold up one end while scoring at a decent clip, I don’t think there’s anyone who can do a better job than the little master.

srinis ipl 09 team...

After the performances of the various players in the league, i have chosen to put my dream team.

1.Mathew Hayden.
2.Adam Gilchrist(Wk).
3.Suresh Raina.
4.Rohit Sharma.
5.Yousuf Pathan.
6.Tilak ratne dilshan.
7.Irfan Pathan.
8.Rp singh.
9.Pragyan ohja.
10.Anil Kumble(c).
11.Malinga.

Warne creates yet another controversy...

Shane warne finds himself in yet an another controversy as he was caught on camera sipping beer during the match between rajasthan royals and royal challengers.Warne was offered a mug of beer from a spectator at the boundary rope in between overs, Warne sipped the beer and acknowledged the fan, this was caught on camera and led to another Warne controversy as IPL has strict rules regarding drinking of beer.
Warne speak on the controversy is that he was just acknowledging the fan whereas his critics are eager to bring him back to sea with this new issue.It is all in the hands of IPL disciplinary committee.Shane Warne is a true leader on one side of the coin but he has all these controversies hanging on the other side.

Kumble: "THE" Man...

It was great to see royal challengers winning their match against Mohali. The team played with passion,precision & self belief. Anil Kumble once again displayed his metal. Even though it was a tight match he held his nerve like a steel man.Iam eager to see, what great things is this iron man going to do in the IPL.Really he is The Man for the Moment. He shored banglore to the safe bank of victory(atleast for time being). The confidence this match would have given to the royal challengers may be the catalyst for further wins.Let us wait and see.

The G & S factor......

In the match against Mumbai Indians and Knight riders, Sachin and Sanath batted out of their skins to post a mammoth total. They went all cylinders firing. The two matched shot for shot. It looked as if there was a competition between sachin & sanath rather than Mumbai & Kolkata. Spectators were speechless. The great oak trees in the stadium where looking for cover from the sixers hit by both sachin & sanath. The duo kept the Cheer leaders busy as they worked overtime.The two once again showed that age doesnt matter when you have class on your side. The bowlers at one stage wear running away from the captain's sight in fear of being subjected to the wrath of the duo's sword(bat).
It was really good to see the other duo of GillChrist & Gibbs fire all cylinders against chennai.They just smothered the ball to all corners of the ground.The ball was fearing to go to the bat as it was ruthelessly being dispatched to boundaries.Such was the hitting.The duo posted a 50 run partnership in just about 3.2 overs. Such were the clouts.
It was really great for all of the spectators to see such batting in a single day from four of the most prolific hitters of the game .Now thats IPL.I think we should expect more from these batsmen, poor bowlers.
G- Gilly & Gibbs, S- Sachin & Sanath.

Irfan swings away the royals both with the bat and ball..

Cape town was spectated to a thriller on sunday as the match between rajasthan royals and kings XI punjab unfolded.The royals struck first blood, as punjab was found struglling at 48 for four.It looked as if Shane warne and his bowlers were the only persons running the show.In came Irfan Pathan with a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.He was greeted with Shane Warne's cobras.He kept his cool, like a snake charmer he soon took control over the cobras and made them dance.sangakara on the other hand was quickly repairing the ship that was trapped in the royals tornado.The two made a 75 run partnership that shored up the sinking ship.The final total was 140.
Even the pundits didnt give a chance to the kings,but all of them were found wrong when Irfan made early inroads.Smith was caught napping.Asnodkar, Yousuf, mascaraneus all came in like lightning and went like thunder.Jadeja(37) and warne(34) held the fort but all was in vain as the run rate crept up to a staggering 12 runs(avg) per over.It was looking like MI-4 without Tom Cruise,they were restricted to 112 from their stipulated 20 overs. Irfan (2-26) and Yusuf Abdulla (3-21) and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (2-22) were the flag bearers for kings eleven.
Sunday's loss meant the royals were brought back to work.Punjab now looks like a compulsion for the semis.Let us watch as there is much to do.

Dilshan keeps the "DIL(Spirit)" and "SHAN(pride)" of the dare devils alive...

Sunday saw a fixture between two evenly matched sides at port Elizabeth. It was a clash between the Delhi Dare Devils and Royal Challengers.Earlier,the royals won the toss and elected to bat.The royal challengers were loosing wickets at regular intervals and things became worse as the royals did not have their main batsmen(Dravid) in the team.It was as if Jack and Jill tumbling up the hill.The royals posted a score of 150 with some good batting from K.P(37), Taylor(31). Boucher's knock of 36(28) was like a life line.He was ably supported by virat kohli.They posted a 61 run patnership that fuelled the royals to a respectable 150.
Later in the day Delhi once again lost their Scintillating openers for a cheap score.Even ABD couldnt come to terms.But there was one man who was determined to give not even an inch.It was Dilshan the srilankan ratna(jewel) who stood on the pitch as if he had the tilak of victory.He paired up with Mithun Manhas(22) to post a match winning partnership. He definitely showed the dare devil that was in him to kp and company.He errupted as a valcano.The flow of his lava(runs) was such that he made 67 in just 47 balls.Kp was in the depression of one more victory where as sehwag was happy for the hatrick.One mans win is others loss.

The bull hooks up the toreros in the collosium ...

Mumbai Indians registered their first loss in the hands of the Deccan Chargers at the kingsmead.Winning the toss gilly had only one thing in his mind bat bat n bat.He with gibbs did exactly what his mind said.The south paw exploded as he scored a quick 35.Gibbs on the other hand was in no mood to dodge. He went in all attack mode and the duo made a thundorous effort of scoring 63 in just 7 overs.Gilchrist departed at this point,thanks to a timely bowling effort from bravo. Gibbs continued the tsunami of runs.He quickly reached his halfton. At 58 he was ran out, thanx to some obnoxious calling from Rao.Dwayne Smith was a suprise package as he supported gibbs by making a quick 35. All the other batsmen were beating the bushes and therefore it meant that the bulls were restricted to a score of 168. Mallinga was found breaking the legs(sorry stumps) of his counterparts with his accurate torpedo like yorker deliveries.He was a catapult that never missed the target. He took 3 out of the 11 bulls.Bravo put an inspired bowling performance of 3wickets.
Later the mumbai Indians felt their first punch as sanath was caught napping by RP.Sachin was seen in his youthfull bliss, He with the african wonder Duminy took the attack right back to the bulls dugout. They kept on scoring runs at a brisk pace, for a moment every one thought that the mumbai Indians had controlled the bull.It was the Strategic break that spoiled the weekend bash of the mumbaikars.Sachin(36) was dismissed by ohja when the team score was 86. J.P continued the good work.Soon he was also dismissed at 47.The chargers were at there full charge.They took wickets synchronously, When bravo(20) was dismissed it was all over for the mumbai indians.They fell short of the target.The whole of the deccan chargers team errupted like a valcano as they register a hatrick in the points table.
Gilly was inspirational.He made timely use of his bowlers.He suprised the mumbai indians by introducing rao & sharma to the bowling in the final overs.Edwards and RP were the pick of the bowlers at the chargers end. Personally Am a bit dissapointed that mumbai lost but am happy that the best team in the collosium won.

Malya bites the silver bullet yet again, as Bopara steers punjab to their maiden victory.

Thursday night saw two moons at the sahara stadium, one glittered brighter than the other.Yes what you have guessed is right. The second moon was Preethi zintha, as her face dazzled with the happiness of a victory under her belt.The kings 11 punjab registered there maiden victory over the royal challengers.A mature innings from the stylish england opener Ravi Bopara meant that it was all over for the royal challengers.
Earlier,jessey ryder and jacques Kallis tried to host a big score for the challengers but all was in vain when jessey was dissmissed at a personal IPL best of 32. Kallis continued the onslaught by scoring a 62.The challengers kept loosing wickets at regular intervals. Taylor(35) with his timely innings in the latter overs guided his team to a respectable 168.
Batting next the punjab openers batted freely and registered a 50 partnership.It was neck to neck until Bopara decided to change his gears.Two huge overs brought down the runrate from 10 to 7, such was the hitting.Sangakara(26) played second fidel, he was dismissed by the old fox Anil kumble.Then came Yuvraj singh, He matched bopara shot to shot, no sooner they brought punjab to the verge of victory.Tragedy struck as Bopara was dismissed by Kallis, but the damage was already done. Yuvraj finished the last rites when he tonked both jessey and kallis to sixers.His quick fire of 30(17) meant that punjab eleven registered their first victory after a disappointing rain affected match.
K.P foltered yet again.It was good to see ryder and kallis come to terms with their batting.Let us see how these two potentially good teams would perform in the tournament .

Happy birthday sachin..

India's greatest son celebrates his 36th birthday. Let us all wish him a very very happy birthday.As a change i would like you sachin maniacs to write some happy moments which sachin gave you all these days.Bye have fun.

The IPL Restaraunt

The IPL multicuisine restaurant served a new dish to its customers in the form of a majestic match between The Rajasthan Royals & Kolkata Knight riders.This included all the flavors a T20 match could ever serve.The match was tie and the winner was decided by the "Super Over".
The spectators were introduced to a new flavor of the IPL, which made it more tastier.
Earlier, batting first the royals scored a respectable 150 from their alloted 20 overs with yousuf pathan being the star of their innings.Later the knight riders were in the hunt as gayle made a qiuck 41.WIckets fell at regular intervals but for one manthe prince of kolkata held his nerve and took his team to a certain win until tragedy struck in the penultimate ball of the innings.Ganguly with a quick fire of 46 was in total control of the situation. An inspired balling change from shane warne showed the back of the prince when he was dismissed by kamran khan in the penultimate ball of the innings.The knight riders required 2runs from 1 ball which they couldnt and the situation lead to a super over as the match was tied.
Gayle scored 15 runs from the super over bowled by young kamran khan on the other hand yousuf pathan clobbered 16 runs from the mendis super over.This meant that the royal challengers were greeted to their maiden victory.All through the match the spectators were glued to their seats and this was arguably the best match this IPL version has provided so far.Looking forward for some more interesting matches ahead, i take leave. Bye c u in my next post.

ABD makes batting ABCD as Delhi Daredevils thrash chennai superkings

It was a game between team Gulliver and team Lilliput at the Kingsmead on thursday where the giants were slayed by the Lilliputs.Yes do not be suprised by my words, i mean to say that team chennai which has towering stars like Hayden,Morkel,Flintoff,Dhoni,Morkel & Gony both in physique and in talent was defeated by a team which has lilliputs in them(only in physique).

Delhi was in doldrums as there much hyped opening duo were sent back to the dugout very early in the innings. Dilshan and Ab Devilliers(ABD) took the attack to the chennai superkings.
With the help of ABD's century (the first one of the tournament) Delhi mounted a formidable total of 190.Dilshan made a half ton and played his part in the huge score.
After the Dare devils it was the superstars turn to light the fireworks. Hayden & Raina blugeoned the inexperienced daredevil bowling attack until sangwan(28/3 in 4) and vettori (29/2 in 4) put the breaks on their scoring.Till then it was a cake walk for the superstars.After them no one promised to chase down the score.Morkel's effort was a beat about the bush as the chennaikars fell short of the target by 10 runs.
Delhi Dare Devils climb the top of the points table(incompany with the chargers) by slaying the gaints.Lets see how they go around in the tournament as much is to be played.Kudos to Ab devilliers.Haydo gets the orange cap.

knight riders nightmare comes to an end.

Finally king khan has got something to cheer about his team. After all the controversies the knight riders are in the focus for all good reasons. Guess what are the reasons they have some points in their kitty.
Last night in the game against team Mohali the knight riders displayed an inspired performance. First the bowlers restricted preethi's men to a small total. The bowlers hit the right lengths and the fielders didnot leave an inch. Then came the star performer, I call him "the pirate of carrabiean" yes he is Mr.Gayle with his calypso crusade took the attack to the punjab bowlers.He tonked the bowl to everyluke and corner of the ground. He was ably supported by the skipper Mc'cullum.Both of them rained sixers and fours at their will and took the game away from punjab, then came the rain and the match was stopped. Mr Duckworth & Mr Lewis declared Knight Riders as the winners and this news brought a smile on the face of kr's grand owner.
Knight riders:-
Total: 79 for 1 in 9.2 overs Run Rate: 8.46 Extras : 15 (b - 0, w - 4, nb - 0, lb - 0, Penalty - 0)
Chris Gayle- 44(26) balls.
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 11 runs (Duckworth/Lewis method)

strategic break-" marketing or cricketing??"

The IPL-2 has slowly scooted into the minds of its audience(television or live) with the enthralling matches so far, but there comes to my mind one aspect of the game that is deviating the magic and charisma of IPL from its normal viewer.Guess what it is? Yes you are right. Its the seven and half strategic break which takes the momentum away not only from the players but also the spectators.
The reason for this break as said by the officials is "The strategic break is a chance for the captain,team coach and support staff to reasses their playing strategy."But i feel that it is not serving this purpose as the players, coaches have openly criticized the break.The break time is very horrifying for the batsman as he needs to start his concentration again.Even a batsman who has directed the white cherry to every luke and corner of the ground should start again. The Chennai Super Kings coach Mr.Stephen Fleming was caught quoting "Well we find the first two minutes helpful but for the next five minutes we are still finding ways to kill the time." Most of the players are finding this break a mere waste as it takes aways the dynamic nature of the game.
Now i would like to discuss why did i call the break as marketing in the title of this post.Every 30sec of the strategic break is going to generate a whooping 10crore rs, i.e an approximate of 150 crore rupees per break and a total of 300crore rs per match for the broadcaster.Suprised by the figures now will you callthe break a playing strategy break or a marketing strategy break?? decide for yourself.Mr.Lalit Modi is the recession marketing guru.