All Articles under 'Cricket'
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A day of of Sunday, a must win game for India in probably the second biggest ODI tournament on the planet - and that too in our own country....
And if that's not all, It's India vs Australia. Can you tell me when was the last time Indian team beat Australia in an one day international? Well, that was almost three year ago - 18th January 2004 at Brisbane to be precise. Here's more.
I am sure consumption of electricity will be a little high on 29th of October, provided people have the right information. And that is why, I have found all the much needed information's for my ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sat, 28 October 2006
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You are expected to save your crackers. ICC champions trophy ain't over as yet. In fact, it has just started to hot up. Following are some points that you may care to know.
The Points table :
The next match in ICC Champions trophy schedule is South Africa vs Sri Lanka on 24th of October. Whereas India vs West Indies is on 26th and India vs Australia on 29th.
If we talk about the points table, only one team has gone out of contention for Champions trophy semi-final berth and that's England. India, West Indies and Pakistan needs to win at least one of their two matches, South Africa needs to win both of their ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 22 October 2006
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My first question is - where are you??
Are you spending at least 2 hours everyday in front of your Television??
Cause if your aren't, you can't call yourself a cricket fan. October 2006 is such great time for cricket fan's that you should ask your girl friend to wait, your office to keep the work pending and delay your sleep.............. for the only reason that not every day is like these days in October.
World Cup is in March 2007 but that's still 5 months away. What ICC and Indian cricket board has in display for you is best of Cricket World Cup - almost 100 days before it. If you are missing any of the ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 17 October 2006
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I should have named my article "Get ready for cricket" as it relates with what we "cricket lovers" will be treated with during the ICC Champions trophy 2006, but I have my reasons. And I'll tell you as we go through. So if you have 2 mins for some serious comments on the mode of Cricket telecast in our country, read on --
Set Max presents Extraa Innings :
And with a difference too. Every other cricket channel in India try to cash in to the fact that more people turn their TV on, as a match is about to start. Whereas most people turn it off when ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 05 October 2006
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Every other day - A new channel.
And they keep on shifting the cricket telecast rights which surely makes my life tough. If it does to you as well, read on. I'll tell you about another sports channel - called as Neo Sports, this time from Nimbus communications.
Launch date - 1st October, 2006 with the challenger's trophy between India Blue, India Red and India Green. But the problem occurred when there were no signs of Neosports when the actual match started at half past two on that Sunday. Here are the match reviews.
Indian domestic cricket has not flourished ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 03 October 2006
Added on Sun, 01 October 2006
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Following is a review on Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand team member who compile the squad of Group B in ICC Champions trophy 2006. This is the 2nd part of the series. Here's the first part (India, Australia and England squads).
Group B (Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand).
Pakistan.
Mohammad Yousuf (Captain),
Younis Khan,(Danger Man)
Abdul Razzaq (v.capt.),
Imran Farhat,
Mohammad Hafeez,(Unknown identity)
Shoaib Mallik,(Dark Horse)
Faisal Iqbal,
Shahid Afridi,
Kamran Akmal,
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan,
Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 01 October 2006
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At times it gets tougher to keep track of which team is having what players in a tournament as big as this one, which will continue for full 36 days.
So what I have done is made a list of Full squad of all the top 8 teams participating in 2006 ICC Champions trophy, written short punchlines about their features, given information on players whom you may not know and tagged five players from each team of 14 players as "The Danger Man", "The Dark Horse", "The Sleeping Giant", "The unknown identity" and "My pick" for the obvious reasons of what the tag means.
I hope it proves interesting to you, or at least updates you with ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 01 October 2006
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Tendulkar was there... so was Yuvraj and so was Raina.
Being a die hard cricket fan, it has always been interesting to me to know more about the upcoming cricketers - the ones who are unknown as yet but we all will be talking about them in days to come.
Following are some cricketers that you may be hearing about very soon. But as of now, they are only tagged as "The future Indian stars".
Ravindra Jadeja :-
If you have the ability to hit sixes which should earn at least 10, if you have the guile to bowl 7-8 ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sat, 30 September 2006
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Points table for a cricket tournament is a set of boxes which catches no attention before half the cricket is played. But after that, it becomes the only important thing.... till the things get straight.
What I mean is me writing this article on "Points table for ICC Champions trophy 2006 in India" today seems worth less as of now when the tournament hasn't started itself. And even on 25th of October - the mid day of 36 days Champions trophy in India, the following Points table may not attract so many cricket lovers.
But come 26th of October, I am sure you will be interested in the following... if not today itself. You can ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 27 September 2006
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Money is not everything... it is the only thing.
And that's the reason why with every single cricket tournament, nearly everything that a cricket lover needs to know - changes. New Match time tables, opposition, new venues and new timing for the start of matches to mention a few.
Being a crazy cricket lover turned a cricket blogger, I feel like I have got the answers for nearly everything related to my obsession and would love to help my fellow cricket lovers to find their answers.... the only problem is I don't know what's you question??
So what I have done here is I have compiled a set of information's related to the ICC Champions ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 26 September 2006
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Its been more than more than 15 years since I started to watch cricket and little less than 10 months since I started my cricket blog..... but there has been one thing which still remains static - the channel to watch the cricket matches live.
ICC Champions trophy will be the 7th cricket tournament that I will be covering though my blog and I again feel like starting the coverage with information of channels to live telecast this knock out tournament being played in India in October. I've written about the telecast channels for all the last 6 times, and even though I am not sure how much it helps my readers, I am banking on it will ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sat, 23 September 2006
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DLF Cup in Malaysia has shown such twists that no body expected - Indian team should have beaten West Indies in the first match after scoring 309, but failed. Australia should have beaten India after reducing us to 35 for 5, but failed to Weather god..... and then, Australia were favourite to win against West Indies which the didn't..
Now DLF cup has one last Friday League match remaining - India vs Australia and whoever wins the match, will play West Indies in the finals on Sunday. And that's why, 5 following points come to my mind which I would like to discuss with you --
Logic ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 21 September 2006
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Who do you think knows better about "YOU" - You or your opponent??
I am convinced that when it comes to a battle where two fight for the same thing, at the same stage, it's the opposition who always notice you lot closely than you do to yourself. They know your strengths, they know your weaknesses and try to negotiate it with a new game plan.... but are always fearing with what you have that they don't..!!
Being an Indian, I feel I have watches our arch rivals - The Pakistani cricket team, so very closely that I find myself in a situation to tell 7 points about this mysterious team. The team that can beat anyone ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 07 September 2006
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Critics argue - "What is the point of playing such a tournament with just 6 more months to go for the World Cup??"
May be they are correct, but the fact remains that we cricket fans love watching such a tournament, no matter when they are played. And when ICC can smell a huge amount of money by making such a tournament possible, I don't think critics can can change too many things..
So, I thought of spending few good hours of my life to present you some of the historical aspects of all the ICC champions trophies which are played so far. Got 8 or 9 mins??
The first ever ICC Champions ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Mon, 04 September 2006
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"What if I tell you that we have watched 45,000 mins of ads during last 22,124 mins of cricket that Team India has played."
It might sound strange, specially when minutes for cricket match is almost half of ads shown to us but this is how TOI (Indiatimes) found when they did a survey on how much money multinationals are putting in to catch the attention of Indian Cricket viewers.... which they know is in plenty.
And this the reason why Channels for "live telecast of cricket matches" or I should say the telecast rights keep on shifting from one broadcaster to another. ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sat, 02 September 2006
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They called it a Gentleman's game and played it for 5 long days - called it Test cricket.
Then the Gentlemen got busy and they were forced to introduce "One day cricket".
Now there has been plenty of examples to show that Gentlemen are now even busier, and thus they want another format of cricket to attract them....... In comes Twenty20 cricket.
This is an article where we will look at exactly what to expect from this latest for of cricket, which is said to be full of fours and sixes... and strict time intervals.
First some much needed information's :
What is twenty20 cricket and Read complete article |
Added on Fri, 01 September 2006
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You ask an Indian cricket lover about what gives him more pleasure - a win against Pakistan or Australia??
And the answer may invariably come as Pakistan because of our inborn rivalry against them but honestly, in today's cricket World, any country who beats Australia feels like the World Champions. And isn't this the rule in Boxing where you beat the World Champion and you get the crown of being the World champion yourself..!!
As I write this, India, West Indies and Australia are about to play in a triangular series in Malaysia where each team will play two ODI's against each team and then top two playing the finals but somehow this series feels like a ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Mon, 21 August 2006
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They snatched his captainship without giving him a notice. Even when his last International innings had produced a century. Then they removed him from the cricket team that he thought he owned...
But a long time ago, Sourav Ganguly realised that it was "Indian cricket team", not "Sourav Ganguly's cricket team". And since then, this passionate man has been trying his best to get another chance to prove his worth.. this time just as a player.
He was given a chance on the tour of Pakistan, played the first test match at Lahore but didn't get a chance to bat on a dead pitch. Ganguly was dropped for the second test when Indian think tank wanted to play ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 16 August 2006
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Indian cricket board - BCCI made Rs. 33 crore's last season, which was simply the double of what they had earned the season before. And they are determined to triple it in this new season.
Australia have never won a tournament called "Champions trophy" before, where every top cricket playing nation participates. Thus, they wanted their player to have some International practice before that tournament starts again in October in India..
And West Indies, poor West Indies, have shortage of money. And what's more - they are preparing for World Cup in March 2007. They surely need as much money as they can gather..
RESULT - INDIA ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 16 August 2006
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Australia and England first started what is called as International cricket. So, the first ever International test match was played from 15th March 1877 at Melbourne. Then after nearly 11 years later, South African joined in when they played their first ever Test Match against England at Port Elizabeth from 12th March 1988...
Then, after 51 years of International test matches, West Indies joined by playing their first ever test match against England at Lords from 23rd of June - 1928. Next was New Zealand in 1930 (first ever test against England), THEN it was India who joined International cricket by playing one off test match against England at Lords from 25th of June, 1932...... India lost their ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 13 August 2006
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First, Indian team management had promised to play some International one dayers against West Indies, Australia or Pakistan in US, but none of America's cricket grounds reached ICC's minimum criteria and that plan failed. So bad for all those cricket lovers living in there.
Then, Indian team were supposed to play West Indies in a 5-ODI series at Toronto Canada but West Indies spoiled it all. They had problems with their cricketers and also Toronto cricket officials refused to host the series....
So, the problem still remained : From 29th of August (end of Sri Lanka triseries) to 7th of October ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sat, 12 August 2006
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I remember the day when Sachin and Sehwag hit sixes of Shoaib Akhtar in that 2003 World Cup match against Pakistan, and India easily chased down the target of over 270..... Me and my friends got so mad that we went to roam around our Pune city at 12 midnight.. only to find thousands others doing the same.. Enjoying that special win..!!
So what exactly is there in cricket that drives us insane... Answer is the REALITY OF THE SHOW. You can get sick of a movie or a TV serial, because you know within yourself that whatever they are showing is just acting, not real but when ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 06 August 2006
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Why exactly a World cup of any International sport/game is played..??
Some might say - to judge which country's team is best among all, at regular interval of time while others may argue that World Cups are played to present the best possible exhibition of that particular sport. And then, someone else will have some other logic but to me, the second reason is good enough..
World Cup's (of cricket in my case) allows me to watch the best teams from all over the World, fighting for a "single ultimate prize", which takes the level of the sport lot higher than it normally is. There will still be official and unofficial ratings, long after the tournament is ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 02 August 2006
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When you decide to become an active blogger, you somehow make a commitment to your readers that you not only will write interesting articles, but also will provide most important information's to them.... And in my case, being a cricket blogger, I have always felt that I must find all the strange information's related to cricket, specially Indian cricket and make my readers aware of them...
And the information that I have for you here is something you just can't miss. Its about twenty20 cricket matches being shown by Star Sports, the channel who has brought us so many great cricketing drama's. And in the month of August, they will be showing some of the best twenty20 matches ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 01 August 2006
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The rule is to return the ball back to the players on the playing field when a cricket match is going on, but during a baseball game, you can take the ball home once it gets to you in the spectators stands... cool, isn't it..!!
I feel this trend should be started in cricket matches as well because it hurts lot more when a cricket ball hits you than a baseball ball... But then, its very important for a cricket match that the ball should stay in its “gradually deteriorating” condition as the match goes on whereas in baseball - they never pitch the ball on the ground, so there is no case of changes ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 30 July 2006
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I am not sure Indian cricket team's selectors has ever selected a squad which was acceptable to whole country. When I was 13-14 years old, I read an article by Sunil Gawaskar where he had selected his World XI team...
He started the article apologising to those whom he had not included in that special imaginary team, and also added that he hated selecting cricket teams as he knew he won't be able to impress one and all.
On 20th July, Indian team for Triangular series in Sri Lanka was announced. It contained a cricketer who already have had plenty of opportunities at the international level and somehow wasted them. This is ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Mon, 24 July 2006
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Is it true that "Rawan of Ramayan" used to live in Lanka which now being knows as Sri Lanka...??
I don't know. But what I know is if you try to pronounce the full name of anything in Sri Lanka, you are falling into a big trouble. For example, the full name of Sri Lankan fast bowler - Chaminda Vass is
Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas.
Similarly, the full name of RPS cricket stadium in Colombo is Ranasinghe Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama, Colombo in Sri Lanka – named after the former President of Sri Lanka Ranasinghe Premadasa. And when it comes to playing cricket on this ground, Indian cricket players ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 23 July 2006
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October 2005. Indian team comes back from Zimbabwe and problems between Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and new coach Greg Chappell confuses our nation. And then it became clear that Greg Chappell didn't wanted Ganguly into Indian team, Kiran More joined him and suddenly Rahul Dravid started to perform brilliantly as new Indian captain and also as a batsman.
Result - A new look Indian team was formed which contained at least 8 different faces. More importantly, young faces. The point I am trying to make here is you watch " Miracle", a true story of a coach ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 20 July 2006
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After a not so small break of 44 days, Indian team will be reaching Sri Lanka for a tri series, which will also include South Africa. South African team will already be there for a two test match series - from 27th of July and 4th of August against Sri Lanka and as Indian team will be the last team to arrive to the island, its easy to say that they will be least habbituated to the conditions..
Having said that, Indian team plays best while playing in sub-continent and Sri Lankan pitches will be no alien for them. This is a very good chance for Mahendra Singh Dhoni who had "not so good" series in West Indies, ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 18 July 2006
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"We were out voted 10-1in the recent ICC meeting in London..!!"
This is what BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah had to say on why exactly twenty20 is coming to India, later than any other country all over the world. The story started in February 2006 when ICC first proposed twenty20 cricket matches to cricket boards of other countries which was first experimented in England. Cricket was born in UK and it spread all over the world with the passing time, but somehow, Youth of England were running away to soccer matches rather than visiting a International test match. The biggest reason was that cricket is a lengthy game, whereas soccer lasted only ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Mon, 17 July 2006
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" Not many of we Indians know or at least don't care about the fact that cricket is run by we people. If you remove Indian viewers from the game of cricket, it will turn into a game that not many people know world wide. "
BCCI knows this fact and that is why they are the richest sport controlling body in the whole world. Not even Real Madrid or Manchester United match what BCCI earns every year. And frankly, I am also trying to cash in with this fact..!!
I am in a community where young boys of my age have to have a career of their own. We have no other choice but to ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Mon, 17 July 2006
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Wasn't I satisfied with the existing two formats of cricket, i.e test match cricket and one day Internationals....??
I guess my is yes. I didn't really feel the need of another form of cricket match. I was quite happy watching my team play ODI series, tournaments and then few test series in an year but then, I was born in 1982 which means that One day cricket came lot before I was born. It was natural for me to get adjusted with this format of cricket. I am sure whoever heard first about them, must have hated it but as the time passed on, cricket fans got adjusted and found interest in them as well... and surely ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Mon, 17 July 2006
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There is still 6113 hrs to go (254 days and 3 quarters of a day to be more understandable) before the 2007 Cricket World Cup starts in Caribbean, but somehow I am tempted to chose our Indian team for that tournament right now..
I am not Indian selector - Kiran More, nor is the time yet to make such a guess, but being a cricket lover, its a very interesting topic to discuss with my fellow lovers of the same game and I know there are people who would like to interrupt me have their say for that special team..
So here we go -
There has been plenty of ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 12 July 2006
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Lets get this straight – It was Indian team who went to South Africa for the first time in 1992, after Proteas came out of the ban which kept them out of International cricket for 20 years, it was Indian team who played 4 test matches instead of 3 against West Indies recently when West Indies cricket board was short of money to prepare for the coming Cricket World Cup.
Now again Indian cricket board has given the green signal to a five one day international series against West Indies in Toronto, Canada in September. Again for the same reason – West Indies needs money and for that they need to play more cricket. ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Mon, 10 July 2006
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I remember walking out on my colonie's ground to play little cricket matches at the earliest hours of every morning, and we all local cricketers wanted to play two 10 or 12 over matches rather than a single 20 or so over match..!! Seems like the same days are coming to International cricket now as on 10th of July, 2006, an International XI, called as World XI played a charity match against the Pakistan side. This was supposed to be a twenty20 cricket match, but due to rain and other commitments of some very high class people, it was made into a "Ten10 cricket match".
I mean 10 ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 11 July 2006
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When you already have World Cup, what is the need of a tournament like Knock out tournament (now called as Champions trophy). That too just 5 months before the World Cup in West Indies..?? This is what critics had said when ICC announced the itinerary for the coming Champions trophy, to be held in India in October. There were also news that Australia and England will be keeping their star cricketers from this tournament to provide then enough rest before the Ashes series in November 2006. I can understand the critics as they have to have something to say about, otherwise there is no identity for them. And as far as English and ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 05 July 2006
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Power plays are now being utilized by cricket captains rather than just doing away with them.. lets find out how..??
It takes just one ball to get the batsman out, but there's always a chance for a bowler to come back on the next ball, or the ball after that. Probably that's why, since the day this rule was made in cricket, everything else has been dominated from a batsman's perspective. Be it the LBW appeal where batsman has the benefit of doubt or the rule that a bowler can't bowl more than one bouncer in ODIs and two in test matches... Even if the batsman is batting way out of his ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 05 July 2006
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I bet.... Sunny (nick name of Sunil Gawaskar) will make more runs alone than what West Indies openers - Gorden Greenidge and Desmond Haynes will make together..!! The day was 11th of March, the year was 1983 and the better was an English man. His relations with India is not yet known but above is the bet that he openly announced at the Queen's Park Oval cricket ground in Trinidad when that 2nd test match between India and West Indies started. This was the third time Sunil Gawaskar was playing in West Indies, and his debut tour of West Indies in 1971 had won him many a fans... That English man was most probably one of ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 15 June 2006
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Almost every time, we have the talent somewhere inside us but we ourselves don't know. And many a times, we are forced in some kind of situations where we just have to explore that part of us and we find that we are quite natural to it... isn't it?? Virendra Sehwag is a prime example of that. He first came into Indian team when he was 21 years, 6 months and 10 days old, with just two years of domestic cricket and made his entry as a spinner who used to copy Indian batting master Sachin Tendulkar while batting. Sehwag made 1 run in his first ODI innings against Pakistan at Mohali, and ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 13 June 2006
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Cricket is a game where outside factors effect a lot. It can be a 22 yard pitch which changes from country to country, it can be the weather that no body can control... but there is another factor that effects cricket - the big total of opposition...
Its amazing to see how batsmen plays bad shots when opposition team has made a huge total, even if the pitch is playing in the same manner as it was during their batting. I remember Mumbai crowd booing their most loved child - Sachin Tendulkar and also their latest love - Mahendra Singh Dhoni when they played lose shots and got out when India needed them to be there on ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 13 June 2006
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Would you believe that the sales of TVS Apache bike and Pepsi has gone up considerably since India have started their tour of West Indies..??
Well, its a fact and the only reason for it is that those two commercials zooms into our television sets as soon as an over completes or a wicket goes down or some kind of break happens during India vs West Indies matches these days. Tensports is a sports channel, owned by Taj Tv international and they have worked very smartly to make their mark in in our country India. |
Added on Sun, 11 June 2006
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OK.... lets start today's article with this piece of information - out of 1805 International test matches played in the history of test match cricket till date, only 165 times the team batting first has scored more that 550 runs in the first innings and 108 times they have won the match. 54 out of those matches were drawn, 2 were lost and one was tied..!!
If we go by that statistic, this 1806th test match between India and West Indies at St. Lucia, which happens to be the second test match in the 4 match series between the two countries, India have won half the battle. Read on and I'll explain how.. |
Added on Mon, 12 June 2006
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Day 1.
Consider this – only four batsmen in the history of test match cricket has scored a century before the Lunch Interval on the first day of the test match(three of them were before the second World War, only one after that was Majid Khan of Pakistan) and the fastest century by an Indian in test matches has been off 74 balls by Mohammed Azharuddin....!!
Well, none of these records were broken by Virendra Sehwag on the first day of the St. Lucia test – the second test match between India and West Indies (the list of fastest centuries makers) but I am sure none of the above was more ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 11 June 2006
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Everybody knows what happened on the last few minutes of Day 4 of the first test at Antigua(here's more if you don't) and many might have thought it will be Brain Lara who will be fined because of showing wrong behaviour - to the umpires and also to Dhoni and Mohammad Kaif. But match officials thought otherwise and fined Virendra Sehwag for "excessive appealing"...??
Anyways, 20% of match fees doesn't really bother a highly successful Indian cricketer like Virendra Sehwag and I am sure he will be disappointed but can manage... Now the destination for Indian team is St. Lucia where they will play ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 08 June 2006
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To tell you frankly, Caribbean is not a place to read about and get fascinated. Its a place to see by yourself, spend some time with just your spouse and feel why its called the heaven on earth. Having said that, cricket is something that is running in the blood of West Indians and St. Lucia is no different. So if you are a cricket fan, along with a little bit of money to spend, St. Lucia is the place for you..!!
St. Lucia is situated at the eastern part of Caribbean sea with a boundary on Atlantic Ocean and it was first located by Europeans and then first colonized by French people. After that, British people held the ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 08 June 2006
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This was the ground where Brain Lara scored his 375 runs, way back in 1993 and he came back in 2003 to regain his highest individual score in test cricket by any batsman, when Mathew Hayden got past his previous record. Not only Lara scored the first every quadruple century at this ground, he did it again against the same opposition - England. Antigua cricket ground had also seen the fastest century in test match cricket - off 56 balls by Vivian Richards and this is, or rather was the ground where highest fourth innings successful chase in test cricket was achieved - 418 by West Indies against Australia in 2002.
The reason I am using "past tense" for ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 07 June 2006
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Indian cricket team, when they were leaving for West Indies, were repeatedly tipped as our best chance in two of three decades of winning a test series in Caribbean. They started in bright note by winning the first ODI at Trinidad but failed to continue the momentum. And eventually, lost the ODI series in quite a convincing manner...
Now its onto test cricket, and honestly, Indian team failed to make any mark in first two days of this first test at Antigua. They were bowled out for just 241 and then, gave away a lead of 130 runs to the West Indians ( See the West Indian score card), bowled ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Mon, 05 June 2006
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Indian test team for the tour of West Indies.
1. Rahul Dravid (Captain),
2. Virendra Sehwag (vice-captain),
3. Yuvraj Singh,
4. VVS Laxman,
5. Mohammad Kaif,
6. Suresh Raina,
7. Wasim Jaffer,
8. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Wicket Keeper),
9. Dinesh Karthik (stand-by wicket keeper),
10. Irfan Pathan,
11. Harbhajan Singh,
12. Anil Kumble,
13. Shanthakumaran Sreesanth,
14. Munaf Patel,
15. VRV Singh,
16. Ramesh Powar.
Honestly, I have been making the list of Indian cricket team for at least 10 years now. It was in 1996 World Cup that I came close to the game of cricket, closer ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 01 June 2006
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Before I tell you about what can we expect from the 2nd ODI between India and West Indies, let me remind you that the highlights of this 2nd ODI will be at 0830hrs to 1030hrs in the morning of 21st May and again at 2030hrs to 2230hrs the same day - the day after the match...on Tensports in India that is. This pattern will be continued for whole of the west Indies series and as there is very dim chance of you being able to watch these matches live, I hope this highlights timing on Tensports will be a real help. N-Joy..!!
The second ODI preview.
Australians target the the opposition captain whenever ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Fri, 19 May 2006
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The match Preview.
Do you remember when was the last time when India played West Indies in an one day international??
I hope you do. It was in August 2005 in that Indian Oil Cup in Srilanka. It was a tri series and India had beaten West Indies in the first encounter, while the second one went lot closer - still Team India winning it by 7 runs. Here's that scorecard to refresh you memory. India had made 262 while batting first and were winning the match comfortably before Runako Morton and wicket keeper Denesh Ramdim made our heart beat faster...
Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 18 May 2006
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The match preview. Indian team is on the tour of West Indies and they will be playing a practice match against Jamaica cricket association on 16th of May. This will be a first class one day match that Indian team has got to get a taste of West Indies pitches, before the first one day international against West Indies team at Jamaica again.. but - The two grounds are different. This practice match for Indian team will be played at Chedwin Park, which is the home ground of the Catherine Cricket club, located 30 km from the city while the first and second Espn shows the matches. When they play in India - Doordarshan shows the matches while when a neutral venue like Abu Dhabi comes in - Zeesports becomes the most wanted channel. From a cricket fan's perspective (who are supposed to be the ones who make cricket so much wanted), it creates lots of confusion. And many times means no cricket, as "that" channel doesn't comes in ones' ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sat, 29 April 2006
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Christopher Columbus - a well known European explorer and trader, promised to name the next land he finds as "Holy Trinity" and it was a miracle that he ended up finding Trinidad and Tobago, which was in the middle of three peaks of Trinity Hills.
So that was the beginning of Trinidad and Tobago's island on World's map but before I tell you about the cricket at this land, I want to add a information that most of us didn't know. We see West Indies cricket players having Indian names like Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Dinanath Ramnaraine, Ganga and like wise and wonder what's the logic behind that. ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sat, 29 April 2006
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Do you know that every cricket ground in any country is based on a club of people - called as club members....I hope you do. They are the people who manage all the happenings at that particular cricket ground and are responsible for every arrangement. So the story with Sabina Park in Jamaica, Kingston is that no club member (all male) is allowed to take a ladies name in the club.............else he buys drinks for every other club member.
What actually happened is that once a club member mentioned a woman's name and started to describe his affair with her. Unfortunately.. her husband was right behind him and without giving it a second thought, he broke various ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 25 April 2006
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Indian team for the ODI series in West Indies, which starts on 18th of May was announced yesterday and lets be assured that - at least 50 to 60% of these players will be representing in the World Cup as well. According to me, seven of this Indian squad for the 2006 tour of West Indies will be unchanged when India goes to west Indies again in March 2007.
1) Rahul Dravid :- He was given the captaincy when Greg Chappell openly raised questions about Sourav Ganguly's place in Team India. Rahul Dravid has been the single cricketer in Indian team who ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 23 April 2006
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The match preview
UAE cricket grounds has been known for batsmen friendly wickets, but 1st ODI of this India vs Pakistan DLF CUP proved to be a total opposite case. The pitch was slow and even the out field was not up to the mark - not in terms of greenery but the ball didn't carried fastly enough to the boundary and batsmen struggled to get full value for their good shots.
You will be surprised to know that this 2nd India vs Pakistan match at Abu Dhabi ground will be played on the same pitch that was used for the first match yesterday. Generally, cricket grounds at neutral venues prepare two of three pitches and match ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 19 April 2006
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If you are crazy enough about cricket or wealthy enough, you can't miss this chance. Cricket World Cup is the biggest festival in cricketing world and if, in any how, you have a situation to be there in West Indies in March 2007, read the following..
To buy tickets for the cricket World Cup in West Indies, you have to fill an application seeking tickets for the which perticular matches and few other options. And to fill the application, you have two methods Apply at the centre of ICC Cricket World Cup tickets, like at Shop 16, Pelican Craft Centre on Princess Alice highway in Bridgetown, which comes under Barbados. ... .. Read complete article
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Added on Tue, 11 April 2006
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You must have done nearly all the things "perfectly right" all through your life if you make your debut for Indian cricket team at the age of 20 years and 151 days... but that's not the case with Robin Uthappa - the young opener that India unleashed on 12th of April 2006 against struggling England side. Robin wears the Indian colours mainly because of just one knock that he played against India A on 12th October 2005 at Mohali where he smashed 116 runs off just 93 balls. In fact - opening the innings for India B side, Uthappa jumped from 61 to 100 in just 14 balls and made the opositions victory target ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 09 April 2006
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Some worth knowing facts - One day before the match : -
Last time India played at Kochi (against Pakistan on 2nd April 2005), they managed to win the toss and also the match. This always has been the case here at Nehru stadium in Kochi. In just 4 one day matches played at this ground so far, three totals have been over 300 and once has been chased down. In that last one dayer against Pakistan - Sachin Tendulkar took his second five wicket haul and would you believe, his first five wicket haul was also at this ground against Australia, back in April 1998 when ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 05 April 2006
Added on Wed, 18 January 2006
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It will be tough for you to imagine the test series that we are about to play with England in february, as India vs Pakistan test series is going on but I am sure you still be interested in knowing that they have named their squad and will be reaching here in India on 26th of this month.
Moreover, since that India vs England series will be played in India, we will be able to see those matches for sure, unlike the current Doordarshan and Tensports tussle for television rights..
So here's the England squad for Indian tour.
.. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 18 January 2006
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Isn't this purely bad luck that Doordarshan didn't managed to get the pictures of India vs Pakistan series from Taj Tv, the owners of channel Tensports. Who care what Prasar Bharti did in 2004 and didn't do in 2006, we are not getting to watch the test matches and there is every possibility that ODI series will be no different.
But there's more to the story than just bad luck. Remember the last time our Team India played in Srilanka, the tri-series with West Indies being the third team. That time Tensports had the television rights as ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 18 January 2006
Added on Tue, 17 January 2006
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As Dravid and Sehwag continue to frustrate Pakistan(current score), lets have a look at some other informations that must be paid some attention -
1) Didn't I tell you that South Africans are in some good form but aren't just managing to play good cricket for 5 continues days to win a test againts Australia. Yesterday they won the 2nd one-dayer in the VB series, beating Dominating Australia nearly for whole of the match. Know more.
2) Soon all the matches our team plays at home will be available to nealy every Indian as Goverment is pressing to all the channels that whoever takes the rights, must share the feeds with Doordarshan. And now ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Mon, 16 January 2006
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No doubt Pakistan made a amazing score, and must have thought that they won half of the test. But then, India who already have two opening batsmen in their squad(Gautam Gambhir and Wasim Jaffer), went with news that Saurav Ganguly will open. And then when the actual moment came, The captain Rahul Dravid joined hands with Vice-captain Virendra Sehwag and are now sitting on the verge of breaking a record that not many expected - HIGHEST OPENING PARTNERSHIP. The record book has P Roy and MH Mankand's partnership of 413 as the highest till date, made for India against New Zealand at chenni in 1955/56. And right now Rahul and Sehwag currently at 403(The Scorecard so far), ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Mon, 16 January 2006
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A very famous newspaper that I read every morning published a Sunday special about Rahul Dravid titled - "Captain Courageous"
The man might have become the captain very recently and is yet to register great wins but has always proved his courage. I remember him bowling his off-spinners in Titan Cup, a tri-series that also included South Africa and Australia in 1996/97, when he was called a slow scorer. Not ideal for ODIs. And then when he established himself, Sourav Ganguly asked him to keep the wickets just before the 2003 World Cup. He did that as well and quite well too. We also saw ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 17 January 2006
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Everyone said that the weather in Lahore is not appropriate for cricket and it has now come true. Frankly, I don't like weather having a say in cricket. No doubt Pakistan had made a huge total of 679 for 7 declared, I am sure our team would have earned a Draw, if not a win. If their batsmen can make run on that lahore pitch, I am sure our batsmen can do better and have the capability to make 680. And then if the match is drawn, I'll be satisfied.
Anyways, I have no contact with god and I can't fight the weather. So lets just hope the match restarts soon and we see another Sehwag special, who ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 15 January 2006
Added on Sat, 14 January 2006
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Doordarshan is not going to show us the test matches in pakistan, starting in round about 18 hours from right now, as I write this. They lost the case in Supreme court and who ever now wants to catch cricket, has to have Tensports at home. Although cable operators are nothing new to our country, having Tensports is not all that easy as it sounds...
When last time our team played in Pakistan, the telecast rights were with Tensports again. But when Doordarshan showed us all the matches(even the test matches), no cable operator went to Taj TV and brought Tensports as it wasn't required. Moreover, since that time, no significant match came live on that channel. Result ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 12 January 2006
Added on Thu, 12 January 2006
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Although it will be wrong to read too much between the lines and hope that Pakistani Captain Injaman-ul-haq will be out of the first test with the mild cough that he has developed, but if somehow this happenes... we will generate a clear edge over them. He, without a doubt, is there main batting pillar and with no pillar, how will they build a score...
I am sure he will be playing the test with every single chance and seems very focused as he thought of cancelling the holiday for his team members on occasion of Eid-ul-Azha's, but later allowed them ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 11 January 2006
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Pakistani think tank will be spending no less time in working out stratergies for Dhoni, the Indian wicketkeeper batsman than our batting legend Sachin Tendulkar!! And the reason is simple - he announced his arrival against Pakistan only, at Vizag, when he made 148 alone and surely can do it again. So lets have one more look at this man, who is currently dominating the Internet world as well!
Here is a interview with him where he dedicates his POWER to the football training he got, running from one goal post to another, but later switched to Cricket. As a cricket fan, I thank god for making choose cricket. We really needed someone like him. Someone with ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 11 January 2006
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I was in my tenth standard when I saw eleven names written by a girl, in her rough copy.... To tell you frankly, I wasn't that much interested in watching cricket till that day, although I always considered myself a good all-rounder!!
But that day, I really liked that girl's idea of selecting MY ELEVEN for Indian team and the opposition. And I have been doing if for last 9 years, just one day before every match. Probably this gives me the feeling of being lot closer to my TEAM INDIA then I really am.
So......Lets do it for tomorrow's match and lets see what comes out -
... .. Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 12 January 2006
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Our captain Rahul dravid has said that cricket is run by the Indian fans and at times, they can very demanding. But all demands has been failed as the decision for telecast has come. Laud and clear. No match on Doordarshan, as they have rejected to show the advertisements aired by Tensports. Which means Doordarshan(or Prasar Bharti) just wanted the live cricket, and also wanted to make money... where they were when the bidding for telecast rights were on. They sleep all day, and then they want the best deal for them!!
Moreover, All India Radio(AIR) will also not be airing the running commentary of the cricket matches, which is a very disheartening news for our people ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 10 January 2006
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Some ten years ago, or may be even before that, I got to know a news that Shane Warne and Mark Waugh were asked my Salim Mallik to take money and perform bad.
To tell you the truth, I didn't really understand that news but still read it as it was in sports column and included Mark Waugh - one time favourite batsmen of mine. Then came the new millennium and the word "Match-fixing" haunted the world of cricket again. And now somehow I feel I understand little more of this new concept..
So how exactly Match-fixing is done??
- One of the method is to take 3 ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 10 January 2006
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I am quite sure that tour matches are played only to give the visiting team a chance to acclimatize, otherwise what is the point of playing a three day matches, when such elite players are on display. And if this is the only reason, our team will be breathing quite nicely as they batted strongly and bowled OK!!
One thing I noticed in these matches that not more than 70-75 overs were bowled in a day, something that we can expect for whole of the test series, although runs were scored quite freely by both the sides. In the end, Team India finished at 72 for no loss in 13 overs in their second innings, after Pakistan A declared ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Mon, 09 January 2006
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Do you know that the first ever test match between India and Pakistan was played at Delhi - 16 to 19th of October, in 1952. And if you didn't notice, it was a four day test, although India required just three days to crush Pakistan by an innings and 70 runs.
India won that 5-match series 2-1 and then, the following 10 tests were draws.. how boring cricket they used to play in those days!!
The first ever series win for Pakistan against us came after 26 years, in 1978-79 series. They won that 3 test series 2-0. And since then, they have won 3 test series against us, so far, equal to us, in a total ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Tue, 10 January 2006
Added on Sun, 08 January 2006
Added on Sun, 08 January 2006
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Doordarshan is probably the luckiest channel in the whole world! Even when 99 factors go in against of this channel, one factor is enough to make them the biggest in our country.. Availablity. You can watch this channel if you have TV. Nothing else needs to be done.
And as our country is catching the software and mobile fever, our politicians seems to find time to do some good work as well... one of such thing is related to telecast rights. They are putting pressure on Tensports(the channel with rights to show the coming India vs Pakistan series) to share the pictures with Doordarshan, just like it happened in 2004 - Doordarshan showing the exact same pictures ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sun, 08 January 2006
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Just a few days back, I wrote that to win in cricket, you need to play well and be luckier than your opposition. And without a doubt, Sough Africa is the most unlucky team in the world of cricket. Consider the following..
They were asked to make 22 runs off one ball in 1992 World Cup against England, when they were coasting along in their chase and a passing shower came down. When the match restarted, this is what Duck-worth Lewis has given to them, 22 runs and one ball. To a surprise, South Africans were playing there first ever World Cup, as they were suspended from cricket for 20 years and had made it to the Semi-finals. ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Sat, 07 January 2006
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I better not try and find words to explain how great the Australian test standard is... they won the third test, and the series against south Africa.
BUT........Even a loss can be a little bit of gain, and I have seen South African play much better cricket on particular days.. and the up coming VB series of Onedayes, also featuring Srilanka will give them a better chance to make some real upsets as they will have to play better for 100 overs.. not 450!!
.. Read complete article |
Added on Fri, 06 January 2006
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We love cricket.. and they know it. And this is the only reason why every other day someone new makes it to the news without any progress to the matter.
So much of fight is going on to win the television rights..and now Zee Sprots has agreed to share pictures with Doordarshan, the premier channel of our county. TenSports and Espn-Star has gone to the court again.. I am not sure when it will be decided, if ever will be. But make no mistake, its only for the matches that are played in India. What about the matches our teams plays abroad. what about that??
... .. Read complete article |
Added on Fri, 06 January 2006
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My mom hates cricket. She gets irritated even when she has to hear the sound of the television whole day, when I am watching cricket. She surely doesn't understand much of it.. but she recognises Sahin.. and asks.. is he playing all year long?? Another thing she wonders about is how these young boys keep running around the field whole day, in that heat..
Well, to play any sport, most of them at least, you got to have a strong body. And some brain. Whenever I saw our Indian cricketers like Dravid, Laxman, Kaif... I thought they looked like Chocolaty heros of our Hindi Films, while players ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Thu, 05 January 2006
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The best thing about any sport is the competition. Two or more identities try out the same thing and the better of them, and few times the luckier, comes out to be the winner.
Cricket is a game involving only two identities, no more, no less. But in this sport, or game rather, luck plays a major role. Probably the most as compared to any other popular one. Just a toss of coin diverts quite a few factors in one identities favour but still provides ample of opportunities to the other competitor to undo those factors!!
To be good a good cricket identity, one needs to have 11 individuals with no individuality. Working together is a major factor, ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 04 January 2006
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I may not have as bigger mouth as many of former cricketers do.. who can make baseless comments and reach quite a few people. One of the example being Rashid Latif, saying - "India's batting experiments can backfire" or Wasim Akram saying - "There are chinks in Indian batting". I know they have played cricket at the highest level, but these kind of comments are nothing but baseless. But then, these baseless words makes the game even more interesting.
Anyways, I wanted to concentrate on the baseless comment I made yesterday about Ganguly being our trump card in Pakistan series. And he has given me even more confidence by taking 2 more wickets today. ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 04 January 2006
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I don't know when they used to play six day test matches, or had eight balls in an over. But we have plenty of records to prove that.. then
During a test match between England and Australia, when first four days were washed out, they decided to play a ONE DAY MATCH. And very soon since then, it has become the dominant format of the game of cricket. Then they employed 15-over field restrictions and now recently brought "Power Plays". I am sure when all these changes were employed for the first time, not many liked it. Certainly not everyone. But the love for the game attracted them back.. what if its ugly.. what it its ... .. Read complete article |
Added on Wed, 04 January 2006 |
