ICC World Cup 2011 - Quarter Finals 1: Pakistan Vs West Indies

   Finally, the suspense ends the quarter finals are set to start and game 1 see's two time former world champions West Indies face off with the former world champions Pakistan. Easily a mouth watering clash considering the history between the two sides.With both teams possessing players who have the caliber to win matches on their own potential, it will be one contest even neutral fans will look forward to.

West Indies Report :
   Windies have been branded the "Minnow Slayers" this world cup. They thrashed them and stamped their authority, which luckily helped get through to semis over hosts Bangladesh. The only test playing team they managed to beat in the league stage. The reason I am saying this is, Pakistan can be worse than 'minnows' some days and if that happens tomorrow, Windies will have a feast. Jokes apart, Windies have been close to winning their last two matches . They bowled well to restrict their opponents to a low total. Their batting is solely dependent on their top order. None of them seem to stand up from the middle order excepting a few strokes of genius from Darren Lara Bravo. A lot more is expected from the likes of Sarwan, Pollard and their 'once upon a time anchor' Chanders (if he plays). The return of Gayle and Roach should give them a boost. Pakistan's batting has been their weak link too. They have struggled against quality bowling. You never know what to expect from their team. Infact , the players themselves aren't aware. Windies should somehow send the news that its the birthday of their top 5 batsmen. This is the 'CHEATCODE'  to activate the Jumping Monkey aka Kamran Akmal.  Windies have the potential to beat Pakistan. They just need get everything intact and play normally instead of screwing up things themselves. 

Pakistan Report :
   On paper easily Pakistan have the edge, the edge is so big that you could have Shoaib Akhtar mark his run up on it. Pakistani outfit would definitely believe this to be a walk in the park. Considering, there is no real opposition in this Windies outfit. Windies lost all their games to the teams that have qualified in the quarters from Group B. Afridi's boys have gone from strength to strength topping the list in Group A. Their bowling has looked solid. Except for one wild innings from Ross Taylor, every other time bowlers have delivered for Afridi and he has been the most boisterous, picking 17 wickets so far, leading the wickets tally in the tournament. Batting has really been a mixed bag, you never know what to get from the Stanis on a given day. Clearly, bowling is going to be their strength once again. Not much to fear from the opposition. Chris Gayle is more like a self-timed bomb, more often blowing up his own game(avg 32 vs Pak). Kieron Pollard another Gayle clone, only batting lower down the order. Middle order has time and again collapsed as seen in the games vs England and India respectively. Playing Benn, Bishoo/Miller will not be a pre-match concern for batsmen bred in these conditions. Umar Akmal has been playing the finishers role and will look to continue to deliver for his captain.

Watch out for:

• Gayle Vs Afridi
• Benn Vs Akmal(s)
• Pollard Vs Gul

   Playing in Dhaka, Windies will have fresh memories of thrashing the home team and then facing the wrath of the crowd. Pakistan will be the front-runners, playing in not so new conditions and with momentum behind them. But, if both the team look to play cricket for 100 overs we may witness yet another run-feast and the teams need to compromise with what they get. Everybody is looking forward to the first game of the quarter-finals and expect no less than a cracker of a contest.

ICC World Cup 2011 - SWOT Analysis : WEST INDIES

   The other "Indian" team in the world cup other than the Indians of course is the West Indies. Gosh!! that was as lame as I can get. They are two time world champions, hard to believe from the current state in which they are, it seems as a completely different dimensional world where the Windies were once indomitable. With game changers like Gayle, Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Pollard, Bravo(s) they still are a team no one is likely to take lightly. Darren Sammy once again leads this side, and hopefully the contract problems will not rise up again till the world cup is over. Selectors have gone for spinning options in Miller, Benn and provide some teeth to the attack with Roach, Rampaul, Rusell who will be joined  by captain Sammy, Pollard, Bravo and perhaps Gayle. There is balance to this team but notable names like Edwards, Taylor are missing who can make impact immediately. Carlton Baugh's selection is debatable. 

West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Sulieman Benn, Nikita Miller, Carlton Baugh (wk), Andre Rusell, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Adrian Barath.

Strenghts:

• "Gayle Force". No team would like to be the one on the receiving end.
• "Kieron Pollard". The man can tonk the ball some distance and we shall let his bat do the talking.
• "Batting". The batting finally looks to be coming around with all holes being plugged and Sarwan, Chanderpaul's experience will be mightly useful in sub-continent conditions a.k.a. batting pitches.

Weakness:

• "Team" game. Whether they play as a united team or as individuals who impress is a bother for many.
• "Consistency". The only consistency this team has showed us recently, is the lack of positive results.

Opportunities:

• Darren Bravo, who has impressed cricket followers all over will be keen to cement his place at no.3, despite the return of Sarwan and the rock solid Chanderpaul.
• Benn n Miller will have a task up their sleeves to help the side win games and get the ball rolling or rather spinning.

Threats:

• The Windies have not played top-notch cricket for a while, and it shows with their current rating of 8 in the ICC ODI ratings. They don't need just one big knock from Gayle but, a consistent show to take them all the way and re-live their glorious past.

    They are placed in the Group B, along with hosts India, Bangladesh and top teams South Africa, England. The Windies are very much capable to make the cut to the Quarters, it remains to be seen whether they overcome their internal issues and play as the team that they're capable of.

DLF IPL - Wahs at War II

So the first of the knock-out games and a mouth watering one that promises to keep the water boiling till the very end. This is WAR! and we like to keep it that way between the bat and ball.

MI-Mumbai Indians were the favourites to win the IPL 3.0 even before it started and they haven't disappointed so far. Yes, a few hiccups here and there , but looks like its all sorted out. Questions were raised after the MI-CSK match when the wickets fell like 9 pins as soon as GOD(read SRT)retired. From then on,its been a collective effort from the batting side.Ambati-Did the Selectors notice my batting-Rayudu , Saurabh-a la MSD-Tiwary have been in good form right through the tournament. Keiron-10 ball wonder-Pollard has shown what he is capable of with the bat and ball. Duminy has found his long lost form. He is the new "Man with the golden arm", breaks important partnership. Proven and tested. Mclaren has been consistent with the ball. Coming to their bowling, its easily one of the best attacks. Zaks and Mclaren share the new ball and they hardly get hit.More importantly they uproot 1 or 2 wickets . Bhajji has been tremendous with the ball(even with the bat a couple of times). Lasith-Slinga-Malinga is easily their trump bowler with his pace, swing, variations. He is difficult to get through. I am sure he is a part of everybody's fantasy team :) Pollard is good for a 5th bowler. Satish, Duminy can be handy too. Their fielding has been fantabulous. They are a truly 3-d team. Jaya and Bravo have been the disappointments and are likely to sit out. Dhawan may open with SRT. The toss doesn't really for this team as they have an excellent bowling to defend the target and they have an explosive batting order which can chase down any target. Thier main strategy is remove KP and Uthappa ASAP, they are ones who change gears and up the ante. Jumbo has been in terrific form too, so its better they play away Jumbo without losing wickets. Its a knock out match for both the teams. MI would want all their 3 departments to fire and fire BIG TIME. If it does happen, there's no stopping the MI.

RCB- Dr. Mallya's merry men not in a very merry mood after the last few games giving them a scare of being knocked out before the knock-out stages. But Aal izz well in the RCB camp except they now face the table toppers Mumbai Indians enroute to the grand finale. RCB might be considered the under-dogs especially after the home ground conditions being stolen from them and gifted to their semi-finals opponents. Nevertheless, RCB being the under-dogs has to be a good sign(As that's what the IPL is all abt). Team strategy should ideally be - Win toss, elect to bowl first and get Sachin early. With Sachin in the hut, half the job is done. But, don't let the likes of Tiwary, Rayudu settle getting a couple of wickets exposes the chink in Mumbai's Armour i.e. their middle order. Restrict the Mumbai Indians and then beat them all over the park with a batting order to boast. C'mon Kallis, Dravid, KP, Rosco, Robin, Kohli.. hahaha. Mumbai may have a bowling attack on the sheets as well but, expect some buffet bowling and you shall be granted. Bowling needs to be extra-tight not sure if Pankaj Singh will get another game, expect PK to be back and Jumbo, Vinay, should support Kallis & Steyn very well. The pitch will not assist pace a lot but, when you can bowl @150+ you really don't need the pitch to help you. RCB should look to get ROFL Merwe in if you ask me. That will change a lot in the match. So, Kallis, KP, Merwe & Steyn can be the 4 maximum overseas players allowed. And if everything else goes by the plan RCB would have pulled an upset victory over the Mumbai Indians.

IPL 3.0 The Ree(a)l Indians

One of the most expensive teams in IPL and so far they haven't done much justice to that . In the first edition, they almost rose from the ashes, after being down and out for the first few matches , they almost reached the semis.In the second, they were thoroughly outplayed, though they did have their share of chances, the other team got the better of it . They finished 7th. Sachin 'God' Tendulkar's captaincy jinx I guess.

This time they have bought some really valuable players and are looking favorites to clinch the title. They have bought the Hot Shot player at the moment, i.e Keiron Pollard who can be handy with bat as well as ball. They also have the ICL star , Rajagopalan Satish, who can hit the ball many a mile . So their team looks pretty even with a perfect mixture of stroke makers, hitters, all rounders and attacking bowlers. If the unit can gel well, they can steamroll over the other teams. Fans just have to pray that Sachin's captaincy jinx doesn't screw it up again.

SQUAD: Sachin Tendulkar (c), Shikhar Dhawan ,Jean-Paul Duminy, Saurabh Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, Chandan Madan, Luke Ronchi, Pinal Shah, Yogesh Takawale, Sanath Jayasuriya, Dwayne Bravo, Abhishek Nayar, Stuart Binny, Ryan McLaren, Graham Napier, Jude Singh,Syed Sahabuddin, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Rahil Sheikh,Dhawal Kulkarni, Rohan Raje, Chetanya Nanda.

Strenghts : A perfect mixture of experienced and young players. A perfect combo of stroke makers, powerhitters, all rounders and bowlers.

Weakness: I don't know if the team coordination is good . If it can overcome that , it should make their owners proud.

Watch out for : The man of the season , Keiron Pollard who can send the ball screeeeeeeaming to the boundaries and can bowl 4 overs . R. Sathish ain't less either. He can come handy with his part - timers and is an excellent fielder. Dwayne Bravo. Period!

Wah's XI:

1)Sachin Tendulkar©

2)Sanath Jayasuriya

3)Rahane/Shikar Dhawan

4)Dwayne Bravo

5)Keiron Pollard/JP Dumminy ( considering the present form form of JP, I think Pollard would make it )

6) R. Sathish/ Binny/ Nayar

7)Chandan Madan*

8) Bhajji

9)Zaks

10) Dhawal Kulkarni

11) Lasith Malinga

Wah's Say : The team looks in perfect shape. Jayasurya should be tried a few games, then decided to be played only on merit. Its a weak side in terms of fitness, Malinga, Zaks, Bravo etc are injury prone. If not for the fitness, they are a champion side this time .No wonder if they clinch the title too. :)

2009 - gone bys & good byes 4th QTR

In the ongoing series of the Quarterly review of 2009, we have finally reached the last of the four quarters. Nevertheless, the cricket has not. In the final quarter the quality and quantity of cricket was taken to a new level.

First, the tests. Sri Lanka visited India for a battle of the spin stars. So, that was Murali+Medis+Herath Vs Bhajji+Mishra+Ojha. Disappointing to say the least, Lankans went down 2-0. Murali was simply attacked, Mendis was even dropped, Herath was a bit of “if - but” throughout. Sehwag continued destructing attacks as a routine thing. Gambhir notched up 4 test centuries in a row, after 2 in kiwi-land. Sachin, Dravid, Laxman got runs and more runs. Sri Lanka were overpowered and a list of injuries to players dint help either. As a result, for the very first time since India began playing test cricket.. they became the #1 test side in the world courtesy some crap rating system (read ICC). West Indies toured Australia, with the players and WICB finally putting down their swords. But, that dint change the course of the test series. Aussies easily winning 2-0. Australia then beat Pakistan 3-0 in tests, winning from losing situations thanks to the generous Pakistanis. The far more interesting test series were played between Pakistan-New Zealand and South Africa-England.

Pakistan toured New Zealand in November, a side which saw a new captain in MoYo and few ICL stars returning to the side along with the i_wanna_be_ShoaibAkhtar Md. Asif. Kiwis too were playing with the return of ICL stars like Tuffey and Bond. The test series was closely fought closer than it seems 1-1 the final result. Players who impressed were Umar Akmal, Md. Asif, Aamer, Bond, Tuffey, Vettori. Not so surprisingly Bond got injured after m.o.m performance winning the first test. This left Kiwis losing the final test and helped Pakistan drawing level in the series. The England-South Africa series up the stakes even higher. England managing to draw the 1st test with just the last wicket remaining, denying Saffers a victory. Upbeat Proteas then lost the 2nd test to the Poms after a batting slump. Proteas fought back hard in the 3rd test, once again England managing a draw, denied victory by one wicket. This confirmed England were now the most annoying side in test cricket. Remember the Ashes – Cardiff test? Saffers somehow did manage to pick 20 english wickets and thus won the 4th and final test leveling the test series 1-1.



ODI’s first saw the Aussies thrash England after losing the Ashes test series.
Australia beat England 6-1 in a 7 match ODI series. The tri-nation series held in Sri Lanka featured India, New Zealand and the hosts. India won the tri-series all geared up for the prestigious Champions Trophy in South Africa. Australia won this major event in the cricketing calendar without pulling a muscle. Shane Watson was impressive, taking his role in the team to a new high. Pakistan for once was very impressive, only losing to the Kiwis in the semi-finals, raised questions about the match being fixed. England surprisingly made it to the semis of an ICC tournament, losing to their friends, defending champs and eventual champs = Australia.
Australia then played another 7 match ODI series this time in India. Beating India at home 4-2. Pakistan lost the ODI series in NZl, but won their area of expertise the T20’s. England beat SAf at home 2-1, becoming only the 2nd nation to beat SAf at home in ODI’s. Sri Lanka – India continued playing cricket as though nothing else was left to do. India won 3-1, with the final ODI at Kotla, New Delhi being abandoned. Ind, Bangladesh and no prize for guessing Sri Lanka played a tri-series, this time Sri Lanka winning the finals.



The Champions League T20, held in India saw some of the top domestic teams fighting it out T20 style. Which means the top 3 teams from the IPL, 2 teams from Aus, SAF, Eng and 1 each from W.I. , S.L., NZl. 12 champion teams and only one possible champion of the champions. The tournament did raise a few questions as the current world T20 champs dint have any representative side i.e. Pakistan were booted out. Nevertheless, the tournament took off to a flier, the current IPL champs i.e. Deccan Chargers were blown out in the very first round. This left Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils in the next round but, in the same group. But, it dint stop there, none of the Indian teams qualified for the semis. Trinidad & Tobago team the surprise package. In fact, they beat the Cape Cobras and met New South Wales who beat Victoria Bushrangers in the finals of the Champions League. New South Wales emerged as the winners of the first champions league T20. Being crowned champion of the champions. Kieron Pollard left an impact with a batting strike rate of 197!


So, in a year action packed with cricket it wasn’t easy summing things up. Major tournaments like the Ashes, ICC Champions Trophy, T20 World cup, Champions league T20 and of course the IPL all featuring in a single calendar year. Hope, you’ve enjoyed reading as much as enjoyed watching the cricket and wishing 2010 takes the competition to the next level. Until then say “Wah”.

SOLD OUT!!!

The last time we spoke of the IPL auctions, we got them spot on! There were a few questions on Brad Haddin but, we told you it would be a definite “NO”! Besides the Pakistani’s a.k.a. World champs in T20 we got almost everything right. The lack of interest in the Pakistani players was mutual among all the franchisee owners. Almost as though they had agreed upon before hand or Lalit pie face Modi had including it in the rules sheet. So, minus the Pakistani’s from the list the franchises had only 1 maximum 2 slots to fill in their respective teams. Some had the slots but had run out of “money”!

Kings xi Punjab acquired Adrian Barath for 75,000$ outside of the auctions. This meant they were starting with a balance of 650,000$. First player to go under the hammer was Shahid boom boom Afridi also the captain of the world champions. He failed to get any response. All wondered it must be the high base price of 250,000$. Next was Kieron Pollard, and suddenly every franchise wanted him on their side, like Ramesses had found Moses. It wasn’t surprising as 4 teams locked their maximum bids of 750,000$ for Pollard. This meant the tie-breaker was on now. Any team with the highest bid now will get the services of Pollard and the difference amount was reaped by the IPL (read B.C.C.I.) Mumbai Indians out bid everyone and thus Pollard now joins the Indians. News is that M.I. side bid a whooping 2.75 million $ tats nearly twice the amount KP & Freddie were bought for last season, breaking all records. One by one, every Pakistani player who came onto question was shown the middle finger in a polite way. Shane Bond, drew the next big interest again resulting in a tie-breaker and finally joining the Kolkata Knight Riders. Again the sum is said to be 1.3 million $.

If you thought these were easy picks for anyone to predict, we also managed to get Damien Martyn spot on. Martyn joins the Warne led Aussie Royals oops Rajasthan Royals team for a steal away price of 100,000$. Adam Vogues, the only other Australian picked up today, once again by the Rajasthan Royals side for 50,000$. Eoin Morgan was chosen by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for 220,000$ but, it was the cockroach, Kemar Roach who went for 720,000$ picked up by the defending champions, Deccan Chargers. The other fast bowler who gained interest was Wayne Parnell had stiff bidding finally ended up at the Daredevils camp for 610,000$ further strengthening the Delhi side.

The Chennai Super Kings outfit, who were outbid in every attempt ended up choosing Justin Kemp for 100,000$ and continued their love-affair for Sri Lankan cricketers picking Thissara Perera for 50,000$. Again, predicted by us. When there are players like Pomersbach and Noffke available at cheaper rates we can only say CSK only wasted their money this time around. Whether they are going to use the money from Freddie’s withdrawal and buy players outside the auctions is still unknown.

Kings xi Punjab also picked up Yusuf Abdulla after some sweet success in the previous edition of the IPL. Coming at 50,000$ I would say it’s a rather smart pick. Douggie Bollinger was left out with no buyers. 3 u-19 players joined the RCB, DC and MI sides. But, the final shocker came when Md. Kaif was re-called for bidding. From 100,000$ his value went upto 250,000$ joining his bum-chum pal Yuvraj at KxiP. Truly, a citi moment of success I should say. :-)

Which leaves us with just the cricket to play, the trophy to be won. Daredevils look mighty strong with the addition of Parnell into their attack, Mum Indians look well balanced as always, Rajasthan Royals have their Aussie flavor, Deccan Chargers look to hurt a few, break a few, KxiP were smart during the auctions, KKR the lesser spoken the better, RCB were fairly quiet and CSK were plain yellow, to say the least. Looking forward to an exciting IPL, “Wah!”

English Stripped & More on the IPL

Just about a week left to go, all set for the 3rd players’ auction for the 3rd season of the Indian Premier League. The IPL committee has finalised a list of 51 players set to be available during the auction. Firstly, the English players have failed to get the NOC or the No Objection Certificate from the ECB due to which we will not see the likes of Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad etc etc in action. The final list has some interesting names (not just “names”) like Doug Bollinger, Damien Martyn, Wayne Parnell, Kieron Pollard, Lou Vincent, Shane Bond & bunch of Pakistanis - Aamer, Afridi, Umar Akmal, Razzaq, Nazir, Rana Naved Ul Hasan. Of course the list does have quite a few hopefuls from all over the globe and a few lesser known cricketers like Rizwan Cheema from Canada.

Steve’s Pick:

Doug Bollinger – Hot! Should be picked.
Brad Haddin – NOT! Are you surprised we mentioned him?
Kieron Pollard – Definite Hot!!!
Sulieman Benn – Not! Enuf spinners in Ind.( Benn should be happy that we put him under spinner's category)
Shane Bond – Hot! Expecting bid wars here.
Jason Krejza – Not. See Benn.
Wayne Parnell – Hot! Smart choice.(Hottest)
Daren Ganga – Not. New teams will arrive in 2011. No need for captains now!
Rana Naved Ul Hasan – good wit bat & ball.. Hot!
Nuwan Zoysa – how does he make it to this list everytime!! NOT!!!!
Umar Akmal – Exciting cricketer so.. Hot!
Nathan McCullum – Not.
Imran Nazir – Hot.
Darren Bravo – Not.
Shahid BoOm BOom Afridi – HOT!!
Grant Elliot – HOTTTTT.. just kidding, Not. :-)
Damien Martyn – Hot, Hopefully.
Wavell Hinds – Does he still exist in the cricket arena?Not.

Some Serious Maybe’s
Lou Vincent – Lots of experience.. comes in the Dam Martyn category. Shud come cheap as well.
Justin Kemp – can hit big.
Yusuf Abdulla – based on prev IPL performance.
Upul Tharanga – Recent form!
Shakib Al Hassan – Shud be! But, won’t be.
Rizwan Cheema – Who?
Thisara Perera – Chennai Super Kings have a habit.. So, it cud be him this time.
Ramnaresh Sarwan – Well, he’s good enough.
Kemar Roach – if u r planning to hurt ur opposition.
Adam Vogues & Ashley Noffke – Cos they’r Australian!
Chanaka Welegedara – an outside chance.

That’s that. No one else needs a mention here.. Let us know where u disagree with us. IPL, its time for WAR!