ICC WORLD T20 2012

   Cricket's colassal carnage curriculum also known as the "WORLD T20 thingy" just came to an end of epic proportions. Following the previous editions' trend, the team that didn't win a single game in the dead-rubber section of the tournament went on to clinch the title. Sri Lanka who played the perfect hosts graced the finals and did their thang!

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   Which brings us to select the best XI  from the tournament. It was cut-throat competition but, fair to say we did better than the ICC best XI.

Gayle - picked purely for his Gangnam skills. Just kidding! 222 runs @ S.R. of 150 the calypso king didn't only rely on bludgeoning the ball right from the start and had a systematic approach which was nice to see.

Watson - was Australia's goto man be it with the bat or ball. Nothing new to be said. Most runs with the bat, most wickets for a seamer, most man of the match awards.

Jayawardene* - Missed out in the opener's slot. Didn't matter much, was disciplined with the bat as well as leading his team to yet another finals.
Kohli - India's new Mr.dependable. When he clicks the team seldom loses and they did and so, they failed to make the cut for the semis, again!
Samuels - delivered when the team needed most be it in the finals with bat or the super 8s bowling the final over or the "super over".
McCullum†  - no competition behind the wickets this time. Baz was clean and his bat did most of the talking. His 123 vs Bangladesh will give bowlers few uneasy nights.
Morgan - picked mainly for his position in the batting order. It was tough to choose between Wright, Raina and Morgan. But, we'll stick with Morgan. Almost took the defending champions through to the semis. Almost!
Ajmal - not his threatening best but, delivered for the team in crunch situations. 3/17 vs Aus & 4/30 vs Nzl were close to his best performances. Perhaps, under utilized by Hafeez.
Narine - was very tough to choose between Mendis and Narine. But, Mendis took 6 wickets against Zimbabwe and 4 in the finals of which 2 were not out. Narine was economical and most batsmen were clueless to read him from the hand or off the pitch.
Starc - bowled better for anybody that is named Mitchell.
Rampaul - was tough pick again. Rampaul's figures might show him on the expensive side. But, he picked wickets at the start and was crucial in the way Windies went about their game plan. And also Malinga had a horror final was taken apart single handedly by Samuels.

   Some who must be mentioned for their near miss in the team. Badree for his exceptional bowling in the powerplays had a lot control and knew his limits. Wright, Raina, Malinga, Mendis as mentioned earlier Raza Hasan was very good, not to leave Ashwin, Hales showed some intent to play and err.. Balaji.

   Well, almost done since we have named the best should only be fair to name the Santa's naughty list as well.

Gambhir 
Levi
Kieswetter†
Kallis 
Taylor*
Thirimanne
Malik 
Gul
Swann
Vettori
Dernbach

Quick Update: Aus Pak T20 match

It was a nail-biting finish to what should have been an easy affair. Aussies elected to bat after winning the toss. They lost Twatto early, guess his muscles were still stiff. “Lloyd” Warner and Capt. Pup gave a solid start and they were 50/1 after 6 overs. Then wickets tumbled with White doing his massacre in style. DJ Hussey(40*) was the mainstay of the batting and steered them to a miserable score of 127. Pakistan bowling and fielding was top-notch and showed why they simply love this format of the game and why they are the T20 World Champions at the moment. Right from the wicket of Watson, the fielders were charged up. Wickets of White , Pup and Nannes can prove it. Bowling, after 6 overs was right on the money. Shoaib“I’m the Capt. Haha”Malik, Umer“I luv T20”Gul and Saeed“Side 2 Side”Ajmal tightened the screws.

Then came Pakistan batting. The openers were erratic and were out cheaply. It was nice to see Shaun"Sloon"Tait back in the side. His opening spell was just breathtaking. The line, length, pace everything was excellent. He was well supported by Dirty Dirk Nannes from the other end who was also pacy. Then came in Kamran"Butterfingers"Akmal and counter-attacked really well. Kamran stuck onto Johnson in his first over and then he came back nicely. It was a swashbuckling innings of 64 from just 34 deliveries. He almost led Pakistan to victory. He was dropped on 64 and unfortunately he was out the next ball. Wickets started tumbling from then on. The Australian bowling was just fantastic... Watson was useful too. The young lad, Steven Peter Devereux Smith was pretty impressive with his leggies. MOM was Sloon Tait for his 3/13 from 4 breathtaking overs.

Turning Point: Many may say that the turning point was the wicket of Kamran Akmal, but according to me, the 17th over bowled by Mitch Johnson, was the turning point. Rana Naved ate all the balls and got out the next over.

So, it’s been a " DEFINETELY FORGETTABLE TOUR " for the visitors. They must feel like eating cricket balls right now (If you know what I mean..) White washed !!

• 3-0 in Tests


• 5-0 in ODIs


• 1-0 in T20

W.W.W.S. - SAF's tour of India Begins

• The Proteas started the Indian tour on a bold note against the Board President’s xi crucial warm-up match. Captain Smith had his intentions clear giving all his bowlers and his batsmen good bowling practice ahead of the most awaited (read retarded) 2 match test series yet. His frontline pace attack made mince meat of the top order. The day was severe on high reputations, as Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Abhinav Mukund all failed miserably. Pandey disappointed as well but, since he outscored all named previously and he attacked the bowlers he is pardoned. Biff gave his spinners a dozen overs each and this allowed Abhishek Nayar and Shikhar Dhawan who came 6-down (can you believe that) to build a partnership. Nayar scored a ton exactly and Dhawan was dismissed at 70 and thus the BPxi bundled out for 318 on day 1 of the warm up game. Saffers looked happy, Biff satisfied.. nice lunch I suppose.



• The Duleep trophy final also started with very less attention as both teams looked depleted due to players unavailability. South Zone led by Dinesh-butter-fingers-Karthik won the toss and decided to bat first. West zone ran through the top order and then entered captain Dinesh-I-can-fukin-bat-Karthik. He took the responsibility once again and restored some respect at the end of day one. Karthik unbeaten on 161 with the help of Gautam and Sathish have taken the SZ’s score to 356/6 at stumps.



• Meanwhile, the bite-gate controversy only involved more cheers. Shahid BoOm bOom Afridi claimed he was only trying to smell the ball and feel it. You can do that Shahid but please, avoid doing that with your teeth next time. Since he is banned for 2 T20 internationals and they are playing just one against Australia and he is the captain of Pakistan in T20’s PCB have announced Shoaib Malik will lead the team for the game against the Aussies.



• Ottis Gibson will now take over as the new coach of the West Indies confirmed WICB. Only, he won’t take over immediately but, from the home series against Zimbabwe.

B.B.O.T.D. - SOMETHING BIFFY ABOUT IT!

It’s late already but, I have to post this before the day ends. Else, these ppl won’t get this chance for the next 365 days. No kiddin! I remember ignoring Saqlain Mushtaq and I still feel bad for having done such a merciless thing. So, Biff, Jadu, Malik, Rose, Fulton we shall honor you with the prestigious Bday Bum of the day. And all u had to do to earn this was play the damn game. Sheesh, was that hard enough?

So, u don’t scream like a mad bull


Or blame my family over this ..


Or act crazzzzzzeeee …


Or Gimme cheap(GAY) looks…



So, grab ur partner/partners and hit the dance floor.. and P.A.R.T.Y.


U have earned it!!! U are officially the Bday Bums of the day. Happy Birthday! :)