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A cricketer by heart, like reading good stuff on cricket and like to contribute my views.
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The last week has not been pleasant for Australia. They lost Bengaluru Test by 75 runs after a fighting win at Pune, Steven Smith…
What a comeback from India to win the second Test by 75 runs and level the series 1-1. Australia started strong despite losing the…
What a start to the series. Nobody even in their wildest dreams would have predicted such a result, that has left all cricket lovers…
After a series of limited-overs tournaments, India has geared up for a series of Test matches, starting with the current West Indies tour. Under…
Since Ashish Nehra's surprising selection for the tour of Australia earlier this year, his line and length bowling has been accurate, picking up top-order…
Not too long ago, a visiting South African team won the Twenty20 series against India 2-0, and it started a debate whether India has…
An incredible turnaround at Galle! Sri Lanka came out of nowhere and won the Test by 63 runs, thanks to excellent counter-attacking innings by…
The 11th edition of Cricket World Cup is just seven days away and cricket fans across the globe will be eagerly waiting some action…
India may be back playing in their favourite format, but the match against England exposed a lot of issues India need to address immediately.…
The teams are now back in coloured clothes as the Cricket World Cup approaches. India enjoys playing in this format, and have been in…
With Australia at 4/221 before start of the third day in Brisbane, India appeared to have the upper hand. But Steve Smith looked strong…
When I started watching cricket as a kid, I came to know that whenever an umpire was asked a question for lbw, caught behind…
While India lost by a small margin in Adelaide in one of the most thrilling Test matches witnessed in recent times, there are a…
As Steven Smith has been named Australia's stand-in captain for the remaining Test series against India, with the selectors convinced that opting for young…
It has been blessing in disguise for Indian cricket fans. Since MS Dhoni was declared unfit for first Test versus Australia it was imminent…
Okay, so he had a tough debut. He didn't get any wickets in both the innings. All right, but that's Test cricket for you.…
India will begin a three-ODI, two-Test series in South Africa tomorrow. While India has performed well at home against West Indies and Australia in…
The West Indies v India series currently taking place in India is a made up series in order to give a memorable farewell in…
Indeed Amir is going to pose a serious threat to Cook and co. Even though it has been 5 years since he last played at Lord’s, he hasn’t shown any sign of rustiness or lack of swing, pace. He has been rightly called back into the test squad, because Cricket needs bowlers like him to balance out contest between bat and ball, which lately due to rules and regulations have fallen in favor of batsmen more.
I think many cricket lovers are waiting to see Amir back in action with his pace, swing and troubling English batsmen.
England fear the return of Mohammad Amir
Kumble’s appointment could not have come at more approriate time. He’s very well respected by players, officials, selectors and committee members and considering so many young players coming in, he’s the best person to mentor, coach and show them right direction on how to approach a game, how to handle pressure etc. I just would like to see him giving tips to captain, vice-captain about field placements rather than focusing on batting techniques. Also, Indian team will be playing 13 test matches at home against NZ, Eng, Aus and BL, so I think he will fare good in stipulated tenure.
Why Kumble can be good for Indian cricket
Good analysis of past world cup winners. I would say, not only Australia, South Africa too has a good chance to come through if they get their act right by performing well under pressure situations.
Also, South Africa have beaten India twice recently and in last warm up as well, so they will be high on confidence if they face India or other teams in SF or finals.
A history of records at the World T20
@Likkewaan : SA won only by 4 runs, Dhawan and Raina retired when they were playing well. Dhawan was 73 * off just 53 balls and Raina scored 41 from 26 balls. They retired so that other players could get a practice ahead of the main matches and that’s why Yuvraj and Dhoni came in the last over. If Dhawan and Raina would have continued, India would have won easily.
Also, I am not biased towards India. My point is India is the strongest team having most settled combination of middle order and bowlers, compared too other teams. Australia lost to WI despite Hazlewood’s hat-trick. What do you have to say about that ?
India are favourites to win the World T20
Agree with what Ankush mentioned. Indian team is in great form in all departments. As far as Australia’s chances are concerned, although their batting looks strong with Warner, Watson, Smith and Maxwell, their bowling unit looks a bit inexperienced. Not sure how Hazlewood, Zampa, Tye or Hastings going to perform on Indian pitches when they have no prior experience of playing on those pitches and conditions.
We all know how good Indian batsmen like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh are when it comes to facing spinners and I could see Zampa or Tye posing no threats at all to Indian batsmen.
Watch out India, Australia is back
@Liam : The T20 series between India vs Australia was an international series, not a charity series, so obviously the word ‘whitewash’ is very relevant and applicable. A T20 series followed by One day internationals is a norm now, like we used to have one day series after a test series. Also, resting Australia’s best players for T20I series I considered to be a very bizarre idea, that showed that Australia selectors took that series lightly and paid the price for it. They duly selected their frontline players against SA series after learning a lesson against India.
Also, talking about Pakistan’s chances in the world cup, I don’t see them having a chance, because they don’t have good batsmen who can carry the team on their shoulders. They have a big time issue in openers and are heavily dependent on Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik. Shahid Afridi is way past his prime and considers himself a leg-spinning allrounder rather than a batsman.
Although, their bowling unit seems very strong, they won’t be able to pick all 10 wickets if their batsmen don’t put a challenging score, which I think will be a very tough task for them. Last thing against Pakistan’s chances is players rapport, co-ordination and whether their captain, coach and other players are on same page or not. How the players are going to inspire or encourage themselves when their own captain skips team meetings and net sessions ?
India are favourites to win the World T20
@BBA : I agree that there’s no certainty as what will happen in a T20 match. What I believe is current Indian team is in great form in all 3 departments and look very strong than other teams and there could be few upsets as well.
India are favourites to win the World T20
Indian attack was not at all ordinary. If you have watched India’s both games closely, Shami, Ashwin and Mohit Sharma bowled pretty well. Shami in particular has looked quite sharp and has hit the deck hard. Same goes for Yadav. Ashwin too varied his deliveries cleverly to which Pak and SA batsmen had no clue.
Nike the big winner as India thump South Africa at MCG
I am of the opinion that while recent record and form does give you an added advantage coming into the world cup, but playing at home crowd and tagged as favorites put lot of pressure on Australia and this is where they would need to keep their calm and perform. Also performing in the world cup and in needless tri-series is altogether different experience. I would say it’ll be a healthy competition between Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India.
Predictions are a mug's game, so here are mine for the World Cup
Even though Smith and Kohli play and lead aggressively, there’s massive difference between the captains. While Smith has good stock of attacking bowling options to choose from, Kohli doesn’t have much choice. If you have good bowlers, captain grows in confidence and can attack more. Other way round, can be back-firing.
What dead rubber? Smith and Kohli promise more aggression
Absolutely agree with you Daniel. Test cricket requires immense patience, good temperament and skills. T20 cannot be a yardstick to select players in test squad.
T20 performances does not a Test player make
Clarke should be the captain when he comes back fully fit and should lead in upcoming Ashes. While Smith is only 25, he can remain under-study of Clarke till he retires and then Smith can take-over permanently.
Clarke or no Clarke, Smith should remain Test captain
I would rather say that India vs Australia always brings out best from each team. Current lot of players be it Kohli, Dhawan, Warner, Smith are all young, competitive and want to stay ahead of the game. Their commitment not only is limited towards batting or bowling, but even while fielding, they keep coming at you. Kohli and Warner are best examples of fielders when they don’t shy away from giving a look or stare to outgoing batsman.
A bowler never like to get hit by a batsman, as they try to come hard on batsman every time. Similarly, batsmen like warner and Kohli don’t like to be tied down by good bowling and hence when they hit a four or six, gives a stare back to the bowler which also upsets the bowler. This causes some exchange of words and results in war of words.
Every player wants to perform to the best of his ability and make country proud and their style of batting, bowling and aggression brings out best.
Why does India v Australia bring out the worst in each team
Hi Alec,
Nice article. All questions you raised are spot on. Although Indian team have good batsmen and showed they can play on bouncy pitches, the main problem lies in bowling department. Having 2 genuine pace bowlers haven’t helped and they need to learn how to bowl at tail, which has caused problems to the team off-late. They just were unable to push the envelope by wrapping up tail quickly.
India have the talent, they just never bring it on tour
Hi Kersi, the current Indian team’s average age is 25 to 26, Dhoni being senior most player. All young players have aggressive style be it Dhawan, Kohli, Rahane, Aaron and Yadav. Kohli has always been expressive and never held himself back to give oppostion team’s batsmen or bowler a word or two. This approach although a bit new to Indian team, but he has been playing aggressive cricket since his U19 days and as he led in Adelaide test, it was no surprise that he expected other team members to be expressive. Kohli also mentioned in one of the conference that this is the type of approach and thinking he is trying to instil in the team, which I consider a very good and positive move. We will see lot of aggression like this in coming future and it is not only against Australia. While Kohli will learn from experience when to keep attacking or hold back, as situation demands while batting, his aggression and attacking skills are here to stay.
India are copying Australia, and it's costing them victory
It is a well known fact that Dhoni’s overseas test record as captain is nothing to speak of. As a captain, his team was whitewashed in Australia, England and again in current series as well(looks like it). As these results had led and claimed that he is not an astute, pro-active and attacking captain in tests, as he is in limited format. So, its a no-brainer that Smith has outplayed Dhoni as captain. Even Cook has done it and Clarke too.
Rookie captain Smith out-shone the veteran Dhoni
After end of third day’s play, it was same old story for Indian fans. Bowl aggressively to top order batsmen and by the time tail-enders get in, Indian bowlers look tired and exhausted and it showed yesterday as well. They allowed Johnson, Lyon and Starc to settle down, bowl at their strength which helped them to score freely. As every time, I failed to understand why Yadav, Sharma and Aron didn’t bowl single yorker at tail-enders, but kept bowling short and wide.
Indian bowlers need to learn how to wrap up tail in quick time and don’t let them throw their bat in the air. That’s the only way India will remain in the match overseas. They just simply can’t afford to let tail-enders score as heavy as top-order batsmen.
India's stumble has echoes of thrashing in England
One or two decisions here and there would be fine slurpy, but what if there are number of decisions that went against batting team ? Would that be fair ?
Should umpires review all decisions?
Good point Rev Kev. If there’s certain time limit to confirm the decision, it will definitely save match time.
Should umpires review all decisions?
Hi Targa, agreed, but he seems to have come a long way after he was dropped from national side and he is in good form now in T20 and ODIs. His desire is to be back in test squad and his willingness shows he is ready to face and tackle short balls.
Raina and Ashwin should play in Brisbane
Hi Jameswm, my point was not about his ability to play well as batsman, but he has a plus point wherein he can bat well lower down the order. His off-spin should always be first criteria to be selected in playing XI.
Raina and Ashwin should play in Brisbane
Hi 13th Man, Rohit Sharma is definitely a threat in ODIs but he has not yet fully set stage on fire in longest format, and he has to play cautiously at no. 6. So he may have to curb his instincts to play watchfully in tests.
Raina and Ashwin should play in Brisbane
I agree on most of your part Craig, but I highly doubt if Dhoni will step aside immediately for Brisbane test.
The stage is set for young captains to take over
Good piece Anindya. I certainly wasn’t aware that Banerjee coached Mitch Starc and Umesh Yadav. That was a good info. Also, like Banerjee, there are lot of deserving Indian players epsecially bowlers who fade away after a glimpse. Most recent I could recollect is Pankaj Singh.
A tale of two debuts: The Banerjee-Warne story