IPL 4 - Who's In Who's Out

   Only few days into the cricket extravaganza, already a few cracks are seen. The crowd response has been mild at average. The opening ceremony was a big bore, Modi cam is now redundant, star power is lacking, players are bailing out due to injuries and as if bad news was not enough the worse has just been announced. Apparently, the Lankan cricket board is not comfortable with their cricketers playing in the Indian Premier League. Especially, after the recent loss in the World Cup finals coming from them their not so friendly neighbours. Clearly the board wants the players to shift loyalities to the national team. And so for the prosperity of Sri Lankan cricket the board has decided to call their players back for a practise camp ahead of their gruelling tour of England. Now, do you see the big picture? (Well, it was never going to be Jacqueline Fernandez and Ritesh Deshmukh, sorry guys!)

   Big blow to Mumbai Indians who had pinned their hopes on Lasith Malinga picking another 30-35 wickets, so that the rest of the pack could just watch the batsmen save their toes and lose their wickets. Deccan Chargers and Kochi Tuskers Kerala also face serious set backs since the two sides are captained by Sri Lankan players. CSK the Lanka loving IPL side will lose services of Randiv, Kulasekera, Tharanga due to the announcement. Pune Warriors India might not get any duty from the injured Angelo Mathews. MI, KTK will also lose Dilhara Fernando, Thissara Perera although Kochi Tuskers Kerala will be lucky to retain Muralitharan with them. Royal Challengers Bangalore will have to rethink their team mix when Dilshan along with Pradeep follow the board's orders. So far none of the players have shown objection and it is most likely to remain that way. Clearly, most sides will have to re-think their composition and gane plans but, they do have a respite till May 5.

   Good news is that the Aussies have completed national duties in the very long & tough (feel the sarcasm) tour of Bangladesh, which saw the Australians victorious under their new captain, Michael Clarke. So, the teams get some big names in their squads trying to boost their fortunes. Steven Smith however, wont join the Kochi Tuskers Kerala. He will undergo an ankle surgery.

Team	Players Out	Players In
MI	Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando	Nil
DC	Kumar Sangakkara	Cameron White
KTK	Mahela Jayawardene, Thissara Perera	John Hastings, Steve Smith
PWI	Angelo Mathews	Callum Ferguson
RCB	Tillakaratne Dilshan, Nuwan Pradeep	Nil
KKR	Nil	Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, James Pattinson, Shakib Al Hasan
RR	Nil	Shane Watson
CSK	Nuwan Kulasekera, Upul Tharanga, Suraj Randiv	Michael Hussey, Doug Bollinger
KxiP	Nil	Nil
DD	Nil	Nil

   Team owners of KKR will be mighty pleased with 4 quality players adding to the squad, having spent not too many days into the IPL. RR will be glad their maverick Shane Watson is in good form and ready for duty. MI will need to re think their bowling combination and hope for Andrew Symonds to get into the zone as soon as possible. Where as DC have not only lost their captain but also their wicket keeper, they need to do some serious fixing in their squad. The rest of the bunch have made up in some way or the other. Kings XI Punjab and  Delhi Daredevils have nothing to take from this news. Its almost as though they are immune to what is happening around them.

   In other news, WICB have dropped Chris Gayle, Shiv Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan  from the upcoming ODI series Vs Pakistan. Marlon Samuels makes yet another come back into the team. Good news is that Mumbai Indians will not lose the services of Kieron Pollard. Chennai Super Kings however, will have to wait for Dwayne Bravo to join their squad once the ODI's are over. He will miss the 2 match test series between West Indies and Pakistan.

ICC World Cup 2011 - Quarter Finals 2: India Vs Australia

   After a lame first quarter finals effort by the Windies we move on to Ahmedabad for the next encounter which involves co-host India taking on the defending champions and four time winner Australia. Its the battle of the #1 ranked ODI team against the #2 ODI team. Yes, its HUGE!!! No matter how badly you want to ignore it you cant. Once again it will be tough to shift focus from statistics, records, support, dreams, desires to the actual on-field act. Which one of these two will go one step ahead to the final 4? The build up has already grabbed the attention across the cricket crazy folks.

Australia Report:
   Australia chasing yet another world cup victory and under the captaincy of Ricky Ponting this would be the third. The number that eluded even the great Clive Llyod and the indomitable Windies. Funny that, it was India that put an end to Lloyd's team in '83. Ozzies have worries of their own, they haven't been able to find a spinner who can do half the job Warney was capable of. But, then they did manage to win the world cup with Brad Hogg as their spin force. This cup being played in the cub-continent has emphasised the importance of spinners more than the earlier cups that Australia won quite easily. Already, they have faced the impact when the finally lost a world cup game to Pakistan. Afridi clearly used Rehman at the start with Gul and the fire & ice combo was just too much for the Ozzies. Add to that Afridi and Hafeez were capable enough to bowl 20 more tight overs to strangle them further. And the Lankans never tested them. Come the Indians in the quarters, the number of slower bowlers will only mount. Bowling has clearly been India's weakness, Ozzies can take a sigh of relief from that. They will need to be on top of them right from the start and let the home pressure do the rest. Ahmedabad has not been sweet to the Indians in the recent past and the team from down-under will hope that happens one more time in the Quarters. Ponting has shown a lot of faith  in Smith and Krejza but against the Indians he might still be tempted to go back to their default seam attack. Batting wise Ponting will want to send a strong message to all who believe he is in his farewell trip. Haddin Watson have done bulk of the scoring for them and the batting has never been pushed far enough, except against Pakistan where they came a cropper.

India Report:
   Sachin. Any report on India has to start with the mention of the not so little master. In fact, the saving face for Dhoni's boys has been that Sachin has looked in the pink of his form, cracking 2 centuries already against top sides. Unfortunately the results and the way the results have come for India has been a heart-break for their fans. Most believe that this time also the team will fall short of the goods. But, they will still cheer for every run scored, every wicket earned by the men in blue. The bowling will once again come under the scanner for the Indians playing against no push-overs, the #1 ODI team. Indians will be hoping the match does not stretch as far as 100 overs, and hopefully the end result is in their favor as well. Concerns in team selection does not seem to end at all. We are already in the knock-out phase of the tournament and India does not know who their starting xi will be. Even the bowling attack has changed in almost every game giving no certain picks before the crunch game. Once again selection issues will plague the team, whether Raina & Ashwin will retain their spots in the side. Batting in the death has really meant suicide for the team. Not so long ago they relished the final overs. So, it takes just one good match for fortunes to change. Dhoni will be hoping that day comes before their world cup journey ends. It will not be easy but, they  will have to take what ever comes their way and fight for glory. Pressure will mount at every pit stop during the match, this Aussie side is very much beatable. And that faith has to be restored in the team. There will be no excuses this time!

Watch Out For:  

• Sachin-Sehwag Vs Lee-Tait
• Ponting Vs Harbhajan
• Hussey Vs Zaheer

   Man to man both teams are well matched. Its very hard to pick a winner. Its sure to get exciting in the second quarter finals. If Sachin-Sehwag get going, the front-line attack will be reduced to some college team in no time. Whether the Indian bowlers continue to suffer the treatment they have been receiving of late? Will the fate of India's batting in the death change? Or whether aussies will finally end a world cup in the quarter finals itself? Needless to say I would kill if required to get passes for the game. So, if anyone needs a hand to do the messy work. Leave a note in the comments section.

India Vs Australia - POST MORTEM REPORT #1 Warm up match

  Funny thing about warm ups is that it doesn't boil enough. The players don't seem to care enough when the going is tough, the spectators who pay for their tickets are made to look like douche bags all along. Coming to this particular match, it was pre-decided the full squad will be given a chance and the brittle ones in both camps will have a day off. For a warm up match the settings were all wrong. Or so it seemed at first. The pitch at Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore looked like the ones we were witnessing not so long back in South Africa. Only this was not South Africa playing India at home.

   It seemed like a waste of practice game, Australia went in with Krejza in their spin armory on a track that offered a lot of bounce and his bowling was aided plenty. But most damage was done by the seamers early on. Lee, Johnson, Bollinger never made it easy for the Indians except for a certain Mr. Virender Sehwag. He seemed to batting on a typical Bengaluru wicket at the other end. Pre-match he had announced his desire to bat out 50 overs in a match to get the maximum benefit of his stroke making abilities. Almost half way into the innings it seemed Sehwag was serious. But, in the 23rd over Viru got out to Krejza after hitting a 6! No surprises. His 54(56) was the contrast in the Indian batting card. John Hastings, David Hussey picked up 2 wickets each and that should summarize how hopeless the Indians had performed. There were no demons in the pitch, neither was the bowling attack fiery. The mental block of the batsmen kept them on the back foot even when they were at the non-strikers end. Patient innings by Yusuf and contributions from no.10, 11 Ashwin & Nehra helped post a score of 214.

  The score of 215 was never going to challenge Australia in a 50 overs game. The only hope was to pick 10 wickets and do that convincingly. MSD dint have Zaheer's services to help him do that. Nehra, Munaf, Sreesanth led the pace attack on the same track where Lee and co. picked up 7. Watto and Paine went about their duty from the word go. The Indian attack had no sting, no discipline what so ever. Nehra bowled 2 overs and was then replaced by Munaf, who then bowled 2 and was later taken off. Sree at the other end picked up Watson who was going all bazookas after the Indians. Sree then, played his wild card i.e. he got into the  'Are you smarter than a 5th grader?' mode. Needless to say MSD had to rely on his spin attack for the rest of the game. The Aussies dint mind, they just steam-rolled their way to 100/1.

   This is when the Bengaluru track kind of transformed from Perth to Patna as if the aliens wanted to see a fair game. Fuze Chawla was turning the ball in every way possible, like he was playing with his XBOX game pad. From 118/1 the mighty Aussies had a windfall. When Chawla had White and Hussey in consecutive deliveries it was game on!!! Ponting was set at one end and the finish line was visible. Then capt. Dhoni brought on Bhajji, shortly then the well set Ponting was well settled in the dressing room. Punter Vs Bhajji lasted 14 balls in which 4 runs were scored and a wicket. Bhajji had his man! So, Valentine's day came early for the two love birds err.. Ricky n Bhajji. Now, the tail were facing Bhajji who had his tail up. In the 38th over the final wicket fell and Aussies were short by 38 runs.

   Australia have lots to ponder upon with their spin tackling abilities, as there will be lot more coming their way. India on the other hand escaped from the knife's edge, but their inconsistent batting form and glass like seam attack will be giving a few sleepless nights to the coach and captain to choose their world cup eleven.

Oz  lose their Fuze!
© Getty Images

ICC World Cup 2011 - SWOT Analysis : AUSTRALIA

Can he get his hat-trick?

   The period between 1998-2007, this team just could not do anything wrong. You could term that to be the 'GOLDEN ERA', undisputed champions of the world not just once but three consecutive world cup wins! add to that the '87 win courtesy Allan Border and his team. Well, times have changed, so have the men. The golden bunch have retired and made way to the young brigade who, have been struggling to continue the legacy. They aren't the feared opponents anymore like they were previously. They got beaten by Sri Lanka at home, burnt to Ashes by the Poms at home(Also!!). They have somehow clinched the 7 match ODI series and have avoided more humiliation. This series win might give them a moral boost as they leave to the sub-continent in a few days.
   "Cometh the hour, cometh the man" in this case men, umm.. Aussies if you don't call them men. They become a totally different side during the WC tournament. Take this for example: they have been undefeated for the last 29 WC games now and its just unbelievable!! Their squad is a mixed bag really, they have taken a back-up wicket keeper unlike most teams. But, Tim Paine sitting out for Brad Haddin is a shame really. Shaun Marsh, where is he? He's in the form of his life, still a genuine opening batsman cannot make it to a world cup, is a question the selectors haven't answered. Lee + Tait = handful, expect anyone to break down or fly home. And who the hell is John Hastings, anyways???

The 15 member squad looks like this: Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Cameron White, Tim Paine (wk), Steven Smith, John Hastings, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger. 

STRENGTHS: 

• Shane Watson has been the pillar of strength for the team for quite some time now. His aggressive, yet cautious batting at the top combined with his wicket taking abilities with the ball has made him of the best all rounders in the world at present. As a result, the Australian team has looked more like Shane Watson + 10 other men on the field.
• Ponting's comeback from injury should steady the wobbly middle order. If Mike Huss gets fit and makes it to the XI, it will be a totally different team then. 
• #1 team in the world, they might have lost the top-spot in tests but, they are very much rule the roost in the ODI's. Add to  that the World Cup stage, they know how to run about their business.

WEAKNESS:

• Where is the spinner in the side ?? Hauritz? Smith? Hell NO! When other teams are stacking their squads with at least a couple of front-line spinners, Cricket Australia does a reversal. The seamers such as the revived Mitch hell Johnson, Doug ginger Bollinger, Shane can do it all Watson, Brett come back from the dead Lee, Shaun has still got it Tait have done the job so far for them. Come the world cup, the team will need them even more.
• Its been quite some time since the middle order contributed something useful. Clarke seems to be lost in a different world forever now. White and David Hussey haven't stepped up when needed and impressed either.

OPPORTUNITIES:

• Its a make or break chance for Hauritz. He's another top-casualty in the injury list at the moment. If he doesn't make his captain happy this time, he better start looking for retirement plans PRONTO!
• Its a huge stage for SPD Smith to perform. He has been sneaking away by scoring 20s and picking up a couple of wickets in the middle overs. This is the time for him to make it big and become a permanent member of the squad for at least a year or two.
• Off Cricket, its a known fact Tait has had some mysterious psychological problem. Its the perfect place(India) for him to meet an Exorcist and kill the ghosts of his inconsistent past.

THREATS:

• Injured Mike Huss is a big blow to the brewing problems for the Aussie mid-order. The current problem is that, their batting only 1 or 2 guys firing in a match. Sooner the problem is resolved, better for them.
• They aren't the same juggernaut now, a few screws loose here & there. The team is highly dependent on the seamers for a while now, and its high time they raised their game as they have to fight it out against the top teams. Back the Aussies to do exactly that, as there is no better stage for the Aussies than the "world cup".

   Never take the yellow fellows lightly. Come the mother of all competitions, they pull up their socks and play the game at their best, as it should be played. In all world cup competitions they have won 51 out of their 69 games. Ricky's side might be a mixed-bag of sorts but, it has potential to be world champs. So, will Ricky get his 3rd world cup title as captain? Something, even Clive Lloyd and the mighty Windies failed to achieve. Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy...

Celebrating Cricket - Continued

The celebration continues, we see few CLASSICS!

The Awesome twosome! Warner man-handled.

Unforgettable moment this for KP, after English finally solved the puzzle to glory.(Get the foreign recruits to do the job)

Who can leave out Lee in celebrations.. his famous fist punches and other variations such as:

This one thanks to Achettup. (not really a celebration though, it demands its space here)

And this coming courtesy Purna, describes the feeling Sreesanth is going through personally. You can't really blame him.

But, why run when you can FLY!


Wah are not done with that, Wah will be back with more "Celebrating Cricket". Keep tuning in, till then say "Wah! Cricket".

World T20 champs, Unbeaten side of the summer & Chockers

Announcing a list of 30 probables may not be fair on most teams. Where India, Pakistan, Australia, England will be sad only 30 probables are allowed. West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Bangladesh will have to run a nation-wide talent hunt to choose 30 cricketers.

Pakistan have shown exactly why the format is tailor made for them. Runners-up in the first edition and champions in the second. They have talent in heaps as the match gets over in 40 at the most 42 overs!
This meaning they dont get bored to death fielding and start biting balls or get run-over by human trucks or want to have a dope in between overs. This is how their 30 list looks like : Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Hafeez, Salman Butt, Shahzaib Hassan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Naveed Yasin, Hasan Raza, Kamran Younis, Misbah-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Hammad Azam, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan, Abdul Rehman, Kamran Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Zulqarnain Haider.
No Shoaib Akhtar! No Tanvir. Too many new names, I cant comment anything. Strong team nevertheless.

The once mighty Aussies now running a 3-legged race with Ind and Saf for the top spot have had a phenomenal year. Barring the Ashes and the world T20 they won everything infact every game! Unbeaten until the last T20 against the Kiwis they seem to have now finally settled into a T20 combination.
The Pace attack looks the quickest set in a long time and hitters are no less. Aggression seems to be the key once again in the Aussie camp and dont be surprised if they manage to conquer the world T20 in their 3rd attempt.
Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, Travis Birt, Doug Bollinger, Nathan Bracken, Daniel Christian, Ben Cutting, Xavier Doherty, Brad Haddin (wk), Ryan Harris, John Hastings, Nathan Hauritz, Moises Henriques, Brad Hodge, James Hopes, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Andrew McDonald, Shaun Marsh, Clint McKay, Dirk Nannes, Tim Paine (wk), Steven Smith, Shaun Tait, Adam Voges, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
Graham Manou lost out its sad, Hodge is still considered is a big news in itself. Looks like a very strong and high profile list of contenders. Must be very difficult to get down to the final squad.

The Chockers oops.. Saffers have long proven to be the ultimate no.2 team in the world. They work hard, play well, win and when it comes to earning rewards they choke. That's what they do for a living basically.
Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Abdulla, Hashim Amla, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Colin Ingram, Justin Kemp, Rory Kleinveldt, Charl Langeveldt, Ethy Mbhalati, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe, Johannes van der Wath, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Morne van Wyk.