It was 1996 and India was touring England. This was the first time I got to see “The Wall” Dravid bat for India. The media coverage those days wasn’t so great for domestic cricket so knowing a player before debut was not that easy. The series did not start well for India as they lost the first test in Edgbaston and as with the case in the 90’s Sachin was the standout performer with a hundred. India decided to go with 2 debutants for the Lord’s test. The 90’s wasn’t a great decade for debutants for India until that point and considering the criticism vented on Ganguly at the start of the tour I wasn’t hoping too much from either Dravid or Ganguly on their debut. How wrong was I?
It was 1996 and India was touring England. This was the first time I got to see “The Wall” Dravid bat for India. The media coverage those days wasn’t so great for domestic cricket so knowing a player before debut was not that easy. The series did not start well for India as they lost the first test in Edgbaston and as with the case in the 90’s Sachin was the standout performer with a hundred. India decided to go with 2 debutants for the Lord’s test. The 90’s wasn’t a great decade for debutants for India until that point and considering the criticism vented on Ganguly at the start of the tour I wasn’t hoping too much from either Dravid or Ganguly on their debut. How wrong was I?
While there is a huge hue and cry right now about Sachin not making the Lord’s honors board, I have decided to recollect one of my favorite memories as a young cricket fan. This was in 1999 when Pakistan and India met in bilateral series after a hiatus of 12 years. There was a lot of hype around the series and the first test was held in my hometown, Chennai. As a young cricket fan I had two wishes, one to watch my idol Sachin Tendulkar score a hundred live and the other to watch team India win a test match.
The Chennai test was an incredible one, completely worth of all the hype surrounding its start. Pakistan team was filled with great bowlers and incredible batting line up and India prior to this series were unbeatable
The Indian selectors were forced to sort of send an A team to West Indies under Suresh Raina as most of the senior players decided to either rest or missed out due to injury. The biggest offenders were Sehwag and Ghambir as they were already aware of their injuries but still decided to participate in the IPL. Sachin and Yuvraj also requested the selectors to be omitted from the squad to the West Indies. The funniest part is that these same players decided to play through the IPL even though they were exhausted after an emotional World Cup triumph. An international series treated with such scant respect is something hard to imagine.
Even though the seniors miss out from the series, this for sure gives us an opportunity to
I call myself as a cricket fanatic. Give me any cricket game and I will watch it. It may be a International game or a domestic game or even a club level game, if it’s on TV then I will give it a go. It’s just the love for the game which drives me and not the level at which it is played. So IPL is something which I cannot let pass. Who wouldn’t want to see legends of the game all under the same roof? Even though I don’t agree with the elaborate and boring format of the tournament overall but watching young Indian players locking horns with International stars is something which makes IPL special.
Franchise based sport is new in India and it will take a little time to catch on. The American style will not work in
First of all let me congratulate both the teams for playing out a brilliant game of cricket. Amidst ridiculously long IPL, it was wonderful to see two teams slugging it out in the oldest format of the game. When Pakistan was leaving for their Caribbean tour, there was confusion between the West Indies superstars and the WICB. The young West Indies team was completely written off and Misbah was primed to create history. He was all set to become the first Pakistani captain to win a test series in West Indies.
But when I looked at the composition of both the teams ahead of the first test, there was little to choose between them. Both the teams lacked experience and Pakistan was seriously down on batting to be called as the
The Indian team for the ODI/T20 leg of the West Indies tour was announced last Friday. Even though the team was on the expected lines, as it has been a routine these days with our selection committee we do have one surprising selection. In the world cup it was Piyush Chawla and now it is Wriddhimaan Saha. While everyone was expecting a call up for Ambati Rayudu who also is a wicketkeeper, the selectors once again surprised one and all with their choice. There was no doubt that Parthiv was going to be the first keeper but his deputy was the one in question.
Saha probably is a very good keeper but I haven’t seen him do anything special at the domestic level or in the IPL to warrant a place ahead of Dinesh Kartik or Ambati
With the IPL nearing the play offs, the Indian selectors will convene in Chennai tomorrow to select the Indian team to tour West Indies next month. It is going to be an interesting selection as it seems like almost an A team would visit the Caribbean at least for the ODI-T20 leg of the tour. The IPL has thrown up some interesting names for the selection and it will all depend on how many seniors want to actually play in the ODI’s. The West Indies team is currently struggling but as seen in the series against Pakistan they cannot be written off completely. The Indian team will also not be as lucky as Pakistan since once the IPL is done, Gayle, Bravo, Taylor and Pollard will be back to bolster the WI line up. So I am
On 2nd April 2011, MS Dhoni did which no other captain after Kapil in 1983 was able to achieve. He won the World Cup for India. A wait of 28 years finally ended and the nation rejoiced. The memory of Dhoni smashing Kulasekara over the long on fence will be forever etched in the minds of the Indian cricket fans. Such is the power of this victory and Dhoni becomes a legend in the Indian cricketing history. The ice cool captain of India stood up to be counted when it absolutely mattered and with the help of Ghambir sealed the most memorable victory for the team India.
When I watched my first game in 1991, I had no clue about the Indian cricket. After watching just few games, I was glued on to the sport forever. I began by
Finally the fans have gotten what they wished for, an India-Pakistan game. Just two days to go for the mother of all games and the hype surrounding the same is unbelievable. An India-Pakistan encounter is a very rare occurrence these days, so every game carries huge expectations among the fans of both the countries. The politicians, the movie stars, the business tycoons all will be in attendance at Mohali on 30th of March for this mouthwatering contest.
The teams though would not want to fall into this hype. They would want to keep this game simple and concentrate on their performance on the field. They would want to stay away from all the commotion which surrounds this semi-final game. I pity New Zealand and Srilanka as
After a comfortable win against West Indies in Chennai, India now travel to Motera to face their biggest challenge yet. India takes on Australia in the second quarterfinals to be played in Ahmadabad this Thursday. It’s a mouth watering contest considering the recent rivalry between the two teams. The biggest worry for India would be their recent record against the Aussies in the ODI’s. India has lost 9 out of the last 15 games the two teams have played in India. The Australians also haven’t lost to India in a world cup game since their narrow 1 run victory in 1992 world cup.
So if India manages to win this game they will be breaking a plethora of records. The pressure for sure will be on the men in blue. The Indian
Yet another inept performance by the Indian team hands them their first defeat in the World Cup 2011. The bowling and fielding problems were already well documented in the media and with this performance; the batting also joined the problem list. The middle order problem started even before this game but wasn’t taken that seriously as we were chasing miniscule totals but it hurt us big time against the saffers. The top order delivered again led by brilliant Sachin Tendulkar. The little master yet again delivered when mattered with the help of Sehwag first and then Ghambir got India to a commanding position.
Once the top three were back in the hut, the rest fell like a pack of cards. Dhoni was furious after the game,
India and South Africa clash in one of the most important games in group B. The tournament is nearing towards the business end of the group stages and the teams would be mindful that their position in the table is equally important. India with two decent wins against the Irish and the Dutch are currently perched prettily at the top of the rankings and would want to remain there with another win. South Africa on the other hand would want to get their campaign back on track after their disappointing loss against England.
South Africa will be hurt by the injury to Imran Tahir who has been brilliant so far in this world cup. I don’t think SA would want to risk playing him with injury as they would want him to be fit for the
India had a rather comfortable win over the giant killers Ireland yesterday. Yuvraj’s great all-round performance was the highlight of yesterday’s game for the Indians. Dhoni won the toss and elected the bowl first and Zaheer struck right away. Zaheer bowled a brilliant line and had the Irish 2 down in quick time and it seemed like Dhoni’s decision to bowl first was vindicated. But when NJ O’Brien joined Porterfield in the middle the balance started to shift. The pair played sensibly to launch a brilliant counterattack. At this point India’s weakness in the bowling department raised its ugly head again.
Pathan, Bajji and Chawla were rather ineffective against the Irish pair as they looked geared up for a big
Dhoni and Kirsten will have serious headache when sitting down to decide on India’s bowling combination for the next game against Ireland. After watching the Irish win against England, the Indians would have known that this is anything but an easy game. The Indians tried 3 pace/1 spin option in the first game and then tried 2 pace/2 spin in the second but both combination met with limited success. The failure of the Indian bowling attack to defend an imposing 338 runs against England at home will be a bitter pill to swallow.
The problem for the Indian team right now is that except for Bajji and Zaheer there is no sure starter in the bowling department. Munaf Patel has been steady without being threatening and Chawla was
