ALL TIME WORLD XI

The Cricinfo jurors have completed their exercise of selecting the All-Time World XI squad. And it looks a good one too (as it was bound to)! Here's a look at it:

Now, 7 of my XI that I had chosen here have been selected in the First XI by the Cricinfo jury. 2 find a place in the Second XI... and 1 finds himself in the Third XI, which was not officially selected but was mentioned here.

The 1 player in my XI to miss out completely was Ken Barrington, which is a shame really. A man with a batting average of 58.67 with 20 tons during the 1950s and 60s missing out... well, one cannot help it when spoiled for riches!

I was surprised to see Wasim Akram in the First XI... not that I think he was not good enough! I was expecting Wasim Akram in the Second XI definitely though.

I was disappointed to see Virender Sehwag absent from the First XI as well as the Second XI. Ian Chappell mentions in his interview that his choice had been Sehwag for opening... and he has a very sound logic too. You select teams to win matches... and with Sehwag taking on bowlers right at the top with consistency unmatched in modern day cricket, you had a guy who can win matches on his own.

I have always believed that bowlers win you Test matches. The same can be said about very few batsmen. Virender Sehwag, in my opinion, is one of them.

Otherwise, the team looks awesome. In respect of the Readers' XI, it is obvious that the team has been voted for by readers who have not bothered to consider cricket played before 1970s. Only Sir Don Bradman from that team played exclusively before the 1970s, and Sir Garry Sobers played before and through the 1970s.

One last word... the biggest surprise, disappointment and shock was to see that Jacques Kallis is missing from the First XI, the Second XI as well as the Third XI. An all rounder of his capability... one I regard as equal to Garry Sobers amongst the best batting all rounders of all time... if he's missing from such a list, it's more than just a shame... it's a tragedy! If such an exercise of picking the All-Time XI were to be repeated in a few years' time (after Kallis' retirement), I wouldn't at all be surprised to see him even replacing Sobers in the First XI, because a guy as good as him with the bat and the ball, you just cannot ignore!

ALL TIME WORLD XI - FINAL TEAM WITH A CAPTAIN

Over four posts on this blog, I have analysed and selected my team for the Cricinfo’s All-Time World XI Test team. Here is a look at the entire team: 

1. Sir Jack Hobbs (England)
2. Virender Sehwag (India)
3. Sir Donald Bradman (Australia)
4. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
5. Ken Barrington (England)
6. Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
7. Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
8. Imran Khan (Pakistan)
9. Shane Warne (Australia)
10. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka)
11. Malcolm Marshall (West Indies)

Looks a formidable side, doesn’t it? However, when I was discussing this side with a friend, he told me that it is indeed a very strong side, but it really does not have a feel of being the ALL-TIME XI. And so I took another searching look at it.

And I thought that he had a point. The names in the side are big champions in their own right, but does this resemble what an ALL-TIME XI should be like? He told me that I should consider removing either Jacques Kallis or Muttiah Muralitharan, and consider putting in a fast bowler like Dennis Lilllee or Michael Holding or Fred Trueman or Allan Donald or even Curtly Ambrose or Waqar Younis or Wasim Akram.

He was of the opinion that of all the great, fiery and devastating fast bowlers that have ruled our game, it is quite meek that my ALL-TIME WORLD XI’s new ball attack be headed by just Malcolm Marshall and Imran Khan, with Jacques Kallis as the first change pacer. In my post about the bowlers, Elegantstroke had a similar comment about the new ball attack.

And so I made two changes. I replaced Jacques Kallis with Sir Garfield Sobers and then replaced Muttiah Muralitharan with Fred Trueman. Two contemporary greats replaced by two past greats. The rationale behind this is simple: Sir Garry Sobers is another batting all rounder like Jacques Kallis, but he is a spinning all rounder rather than a medium pace one. Having made this change, I could then omit Murali from the team (rather painfully… you see, 800 wickets is quite a loss) and bring in lightening speed and fire in the form of Fred Trueman. With a strike rate of a wicket in a little of every 8 overs, I have ensured that on an average day, my new ball attack will bring me 2 wickets by the end of their first spell.

So here’s the look at my new bowling unit: Malcolm Marshall, Fred Trueman, Imran Khan, Shane Warne and Sir Garfield Sobers. Does this sound better than the previous one… I think so!

So my final team for the Cricinfo ALL-TIME WORLD XI in is:

1. Sir Jack Hobbs (England)
2. Virender Sehwag (India)
3. Sir Donald Bradman (Australia)
4. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
5. Ken Barrington (England)
6. Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies)
7. Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
8. Imran Khan (Pakistan)
9. Shane Warne (Australia)
10. Malcolm Marshall (West Indies)
11. Fred Trueman (Australia)

And now comes the question of captaincy… there are only three reasonable contenders for this job – Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garry Sobers and Imran Khan. Here are their records as captains:

• Sir Donald Bradman: M 24 W 15 D 6 L 3, and his batting average improved to 101.51 from a career average of 99.94
• Sir Garfield Sobers: M 39 W 9 D 20 L 10, and his batting as well as bowing averages were almost identical to his career averages
• Imran Khan: M 48 W 14 D 26 L 8, and his batting average improved to 52.34 from 37.69 and his bowling average improved to 20.26 from 22.81 

So it was a fight between Imran Khan and Sir Don Bradman. Though Imran’s feats are prima facie relatively more impressive, I would still go for Sir Don Bradman. I know Imran Khan had to lead a Pakistani side, which is always more difficult than Sir Don’s Australia… but the captaincy of ALL-TIME WORLD XI is not only a recognition of their abilities, but also an honour. And no one deserves this honour more than Sir Donald Bradman.

ALL TIME WORLD XI - THE MIDDLE ORDER

Oh well, this is one difficult task. Selecting the middle order of the World's All-Time Test XI. Before I start this exercise, I'll mention the team that I have already picked thus far in one previous blog.

Openers: Sir Jack Hobbs, Virender Sehwag.
Wicketkeeper: Adam Gilchrist.

Now, the middle order... there's the question of whether it should be a 3-man or a 4-man middle order... and there are some BIG names eligible. Here's a look at the Test numbers of the men selected by Cricinfo as eligible for selection into the World XI:

Seriously big names and seriously difficult decision. My first task was shortlisting some names who are good enough to make the cut for the All-Time World XI team in my opinion. Those names are highlighted yellow.

As great the others above are, I do not think that they are ones to make the cut for the All-Time World XI. It was a particularly difficult decision to leave out Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid, but I had no choice. This decision was based on the numbers listed above, their profile descriptions on Cricinfo and whatever other knowledge I possessed of their cricket.

Now, Kallis was causing a bit of a problem. He is too good a bowler to be considered as a specialist middle-order batsman. So, I have cut him out of this analysis and decided to include him in my All Rounders analysis. This then made the task slightly easier for me as I was able to decide upon the formation of my team, which will be: 2 Openers, 3 Middle Order Batsmen, 2 All Rounders, 1 Wicketkeeper and 3 Bowlers.

What remains in front of me is a list of 10 batsmen... the best you can find anywhere! And I have to select just 3 of them... a pity!

The easiest selection was the No. 3 spot... no one can hold that other than Sir Donald Bradman. I don't even have to discuss his case further. The numbers, the stories, the quotes... there's everything available to back this decision.

And for the 2 remaining spots, I choose Ken Barrington and Sachin Tendulkar. Again, it was very difficult to leave out Brian Lara, George Headley, Sir Viv Richards and Wally Hammond. But after frying my brains over it, I settled on the former two.

Sir Viv Richards lost a place in my team because for all his intimidating persona, his Test records fall short of the other mighty men included above. And to inspire fear in the bowlers, I have Sehwag opening the batting for this team. That ensured that Viv missed out.

Omitting George "The Black Bradman" Headley was even more difficult. In fact, I penned him in my team initially before scratching his name out. What counted against him was that all his runs have come against the English and Australian attacks in those two countries and his home archipelago of West Indies. He just played 1 Test at a different place - against Indian at Delhi where he made 2. So he was never really tested on slower pitches against good spin bowling. He did not even play South Africa ever. That led to his omission. Not his fault, but I really can't help it much.

Barrington and Tendulkar climbed the ladder above Lara and Hammond because they have played everywhere, scored everywhere and scored BIG everywhere... In Tendulkar, the team has a player who can bat in any gear, can adapt his game for any situation and play any bowler. Barrington got in as he could provide the ideal foil with his resolute style of batting. His natural game, according to his Cricinfo profile, was attacking... but he changed it to be a "stonewaller" and thus, he becomes a part of my team.

I know there will be many objections to this selection... I just hope the Don at least is approved by all. Please do comment about my middle order selection and let me know about your opinions.

ALL TIME WORLD XI - OPENERS AND WICKETKEEPER

The entire exercise of selecting an All Time World XI is extremely difficult... so I have chosen the two simplest positions to fill in first - the Openers and the Wicketkeeper. Why are they simple? Because there will only be 2 openers in all the World XIs and there will only be 1 Keeper. So first the Openers...

Here is a look at the Test statistics of the 16 openers eligible for selection:

My choices are the legendary Sir Jack Hobbs (England) and the on-his-way-to-be-legendary Virender Sehwag (India).

I did give a lot of consideration to 3 other names - Sunil Gavaskar (India), Barry Richards (South Africa) and Gordon Greenidge (West Indies). But I wanted to pick one aggressor with one solid man at the top. Sehwag easily edged out Greenidge for the role of the aggressor in my squad, and Hobbs beat Gavaskar to the top. A man who averaged 57 in the 1910s and 1920s had to be given some serious considerations. Barry Richards lost out because I am choosing an All-Time TEST XI. Despite his mighty prowess with the bat, Richards does not get into my squad as he played just 4 Tests. It is not his fault... but life was never fair!

Now coming to the wicketkeeper's slot, I don't need to go into the statistics. My choice was simple - Adam Gilchrist (Australia). I know a lot of people would pick Alan Knott, but Gilchrist scores above him for me. His keeping could not be faulted and he was the ideal aggressor lower down the order after what certainly will be a mighty middle order.

When the middle order is a little brittle, teams need to have a solid batting technician in their keeper at No. 6 / 7. But when you have a very strong and solid middle order, you can afford an aggressive man with the gloves. Thus, Gilchrist gets my nod.

I will do the analysis for the middle order soon...

IPL's NEW FORMAT: EXPLAINED AND ANALYSED

Cricinfo's goof-up has made my previous post completely redundant. Here's the new IPL format:

Group A: Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, Team 4, Team 5
Group B: Team 6, Team 7, Team 8, Team 9, Team 10

Now, here's how it will work. Each team in Group A will play 2 matches each (home and away) against the four other teams in Group A. Similarly each team in Group B will play 2 matches each (home and away) against the four other teams in Group B. That makes it 8 matches for each team and 40 matches in all.

In addition, each team will play 2 matches (home and away) against any 1 team (chosen randomly) from the other Group. And finally, that team will also play 1 match each against the 4 remaining teams in the other Group (2 at home and 2 away). So, for example, if Team 1 plays 2 matches against Team 6 from Group B, then they will play 1 match each against Team 7 (say home), Team 8 (say away), Team 9 (say home) and Team 10 (say away). This means another 6 matches for each team... making it 30 matches in all.

Therefore, totally, there will be 70 matches in the league stage... 14 matches for each of the 10 teams (7 home and 7 away). And despite the teams being divided into 2 groups, there will be just 1 combined league table. Then there will be the playoffs. The format for playoffs is also different and slightly confusing.

Play Off Match 1: Rank 1 team on the table will play against Rank 2 team on the table. The winner of this match becomes the Finalist 1.

Play Off Match 2: Rank 3 team on the table will play against Rank 4 team on the table. The loser of this match will be the No. 4 team for the tournament. And the winner will be guaranteed a Champions League spot. But the winner does not enter the finals straight away. The winner will still need to play another match to qualify for the finals.

Play Off Match 3: The winner of Play Off Match 2 will take on the loser of Play Off Match 1. The winner of this match will enter the finals.

Finals: The winners of Play Off Match 1 and Play Off Match 3 will contest the finals of the Indian Premier League.

The format is unique... nothing like this has ever been seen before in the history of cricket (and maybe, other sports as well). But it is confusing. Keeping the essence of this format the same (i.e. 14 matches per team - 7 home and 7 away), I have a better format in mind. It would be much easier to understand as compared to the one explained above. Here it goes:

Each team should be required to play 2 matches (home and away) with every team in the other group and 1 match each with the remaining teams in their own group. This would mean that Team 1 would play 2 matches against Team 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. In addition, it would also play 1 match each against Team 2 (say home), Team 3 (say home), Team 4 (say away) and Team 5 (say away).

See, I did not even require a new paragraph to explain the entire format. Its much easier to understand than the one decided upon by the IPL Organising Committee. If only I were paid those salaries... sigh!

Moving on, I quite liked the new Play Offs format. It is a little weird to read at first, but it makes a lot of sense. Teams that finish Rank 1 and Rank 2 on the table are the ones that have performed consistently throughout the tournament. So, it is slightly sad if they have one bad day on the day of the semi-finals and do not get a chance to compete for the big prize. In the new format, they will get another chance... if they were to lose their Play Off Match 1, they will get another chance to try and win the Play Off Match 3 and still qualify for the finals.

And fittingly, Teams that finish Rank 3 and 4 will have to win three consecutive matches to win the IPL (instead of two consecutive matches as it stands in our traditional semi-final and final format). I will reiterate that I like this Play Off format... it makes a lot of sense to me! The deserving get an extra chance... and the undeserving have to pass an extra test to show that they deserve!

Reports suggest that this new Play Off Format was suggested by Adam Gilchrist as an extra incentive for teams to finish Top 2 on the table. In our current format, once the teams have qualified for the semis, they take it slightly easy and rest a few important guys. In IPL 3, Mumbai Indians played almost a complete new-look squad in their last IPL league match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. They were so depleted that they had to be captained by Dwayne Bravo... the man who himself was not a regular feature of the playing XI.

All in all, I must admit that 74 matches is certainly better than 94... but still quite a lot. It would have been even better had the tournament been even smaller... but alas, that is not to be! Lets hope that the new format, the new auction that will reshuffle squads, and the new teams keep us interested in this marathon tournament for long enough to reach the finals.

DRAVID CONQUERS ADELAIDE

With a perfect square-cut, an epic is sealed

Adelaide, 16 December 2003

When Rahul Dravid walked out to bat less than half an hour into the final morning at the Adelaide Oval, he knew that India were on the threshold of something special. Ajit Agarkar's unexpected six-wicket haul the previous afternoon had set up a target of 230 runs, and by the time Dravid emerged to rapturous applause from the Indian support, Aakash Chopra and Virender Sehwag had already whittled off 48.

Dravid had scripted an epic 233 in the first innings, adding 303 with VVS Laxman, but he needed a kiss from Dame Fortune to get going on the final day. Brad Williams had injured his left shoulder, but he toiled heroically, and when Dravid had made just 9, a perfectly pitched delivery on off stump flew off the edge. Adam Gilchrist grassed the chance, and though Williams continued to trouble him with reverse-swing, Dravid wasn't to be denied. He added 70 with Sachin Tendulkar, and as nails were being bitten to the quick, Laxman came out and caressed a lovely 32-run cameo. Simon Katich's left-arm spin induced a couple more flutters, but fittingly the last act was to feature the two men who had done so much to ease the path to victory.

As Agarkar watched from the non-striker's end, Dravid cut a Stuart MacGill delivery through point. There was a yell of delight and a clenched fist, and Steve Waugh made it a point to pick the ball out of the gutter and hand it over to a man who embodied the warrior spirit that he himself personified.

- Dileep Premachandran

Link to the Original Article - Ranked at No. 41 by Cricinfo.

CAPTAINCY CONTRASTS

When Paul Collingwood announced that England would field after winning the toss, many minds (atleast in India) went back to that crucial day in March 2003 when Sourav Ganguly had made a similar decision against the same opponents at the Wanderers, Johannesburg. It was arguably the worst decision that Ganguly took in his stint as a captain.

My mind went back to another big final on the same ground at Johannesburg not so long back ago. In the finals of Indian Premier League 2009 held in South Africa, Anil Kumble took the same decision as Paul Collingwood (and Ganguly before him) against another Australian captain. And well, the result was not good for him either.

But the two Aussie captains then were strong players... they led from the front. Unlike the younger Michael Clarke, who, simply put, lacks the ability to play good Twenty20 cricket. So despite his leadership abilities, he will always be a liability to any batting lineup. Ponting scored a World Cup winning century after lossing the toss and batting first. Adam Gilchrist may have gone for a duck... but he had played an IPL semi-final winning knock just one match ago... when his whirlwind knock toppled the table-toppers and the favourites Delhi Daredevils. Clarke scored a laboured innings, ran out David Warner, and his eventual 27-ball 27 turned out to be his highest of the tournament. See the difference?

And now I'll come to another point that few have highlighted. Clarke's captaincy. I have read a lot of bloggers, media reports and articles that have found his captaincy impressive. In this tournament as well, many have lauded him for his rotation of bowlers and field settings. It was bound to happen considering that Australia was unbeaten till the finals. But for me, Clarke's captaincy was rubbish.

Firstly, in my books, a captain's position in the team should be without doubt. Pup's case is a whole lot different. He himself doubts his place in Australia's Twenty20 squad going by what he had to say to the press after the loss.

Secondly, a captain should be able to come up with a strong Plan B when his Plan A is not working. All through the tournament, Australia's game plan has been to unleash its fearsome bowling attack on batting lineups... and watch them disintegrate. When for the first time in the tournament, a team found a solution to this strategy as Pakistan did in the semi-finals, he looked clueless and allowed Pakistan to score a massive 190+ score. Had it not been for the brilliance of the freak Mr. Cricket Michael Hussey, Clarke would have boarded an earlier flight back home (there is no volcanic ash on the way)!

Thirdly, any player should be able to learn from his mistakes... more so a captain. I had the same complaint of some of the Indian players in this World Twenty20... I have the same complaint of Clarke. He had chance to formulate a string Plan B after scraping through against Pakistan. But he did not. Was it overconfidence? We may never know. But England exploited his lack of Plan B to attack his backup bowlers like Watson and finished the match as undisputed champs. Doesn't look so good when he is under fire, does he, Watson! It's very good to bank on the pressure created by your extremely good fast bowlers and take wickets. But it takes greater ability and a bigger heart to create the pressure yourself and take wickets.

Paul Collingwood, on the other hand, did a far better job. He entrusted with Luke Wright with the 16th over... when Australia had started gaining momentum with the help of their future captain, Cameron White. Wright, who had not bowled a single ball in the entire tournament, bowled a tight 5-run over that also included the wicket of White. Many would pin it down to luck. But what Collingwood did next was not luck... it was I believe the best move he made! Many captains would have been tempted to give Luke Wright another go in the 18th over and maybe, even the 20th over.

We will never know if that would have been a good move or not. But very often, we have seen the backup bowlers smashed at the death on being given that one additional over. Collingwood avoided that fate. The 18th and 20th over went for 21 runs in total, with a wicket of David Hussey... but we never know what Wright would have conceded. It's always better to trust the performers who have brought you to that stage, rather than do something different and mess it up.

Sachin Tendulkar promoted Harbhajan Singh up the batting order in the finals of IPL 3... in a move that backfired horribly. Questions were raised about why you'd want a Harbhajan batting before Pollard. Collingwood ensured that such questions would not need to be answered.

Little less than a week ago, I had predicted an Australian win over Sri Lanka at Kensington Oval in the finals. My prediction went horribly wrong. But I am still happy... because the better team won! Australian supporters may say that they were better than England through the tournament... and that England were almost knocked out of the tournament by Ireland. But had they gotten two full matches at Guyana, you never know what would have unfolded. In my opinion, England was better than Australia through the tournament because better teams may lose sometimes... but never with 3 overs to spare!

SRT, JUMBO, GILLY OR MSD?

The quarterfinal between Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers was also a decider for the 2nd-place finish in the points table. So, it's kind of ironic that the loser does not get to be 3rd or even 4th - the loser was directly knocked out of the tournament.

Delhi Daredevils have been knocked out... one of the favourites before the tournament began are out! Out of my 4 predicted semi-finalists, 3 have managed to get through... but I am still sad about my failed prediction because it shouldn't have failed. DD had the match in their hands... and somehow, they managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Deccan Chargers have qualified... and their form looks ominous for the other semi-finalists, especially CSK, who will play them in the 2nd semi-final on the 22nd. DC beat CSK in both their meetings this year... and pretty convincingly so. But they lost both the matches that they have played this year at Dr. D.Y. Patil Sports Academy Stadium... their 'home' ground. Which streak will continue?

Out of the four semi-finalists, three have played in IPL finals before. Definitely, at least one of the finalists will be carrying the experience from their past. But it will all count for nothing on 25th April. Looking forward to see who will lift the trophy - SRT, Jumbo, Gilly or MSD...

REPEAT OF LAST YEAR'S FINAL

Yesterday's match: Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils
My Prediction: Delhi Daredevils
Actual Winner: Kolkata Knight Riders

Today's Match: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Deccan Chargers
My Prediction: Deccan Chargers

I hope atleast today my prediction will hold correct. And hopefully, it will be Andrew Symonds who clicks today. He is my trump player in the Cricinfo Fantasy game today.

By the way, if you haven't noticed, this is the first time RCB and DC will take on each other after last year's IPL finals. They haven't met in this IPL yet (this is the only battle that is yet to be played out).

DC have lost 5 in a row, and even RCB have lost a bit of momentum due to their tinkering with the squad. It will be interesting to see which four foreigners feature in both the squads today. I am also hoping for inclusion of Manish Pandey for the simple reason that he deserves the opportunities.

It is an irony that the last time these two teams met, both were in red hot form... and now, they are desperately seeking some momentum. If DC lose today, they will virtually be out of the tournament - and will continue the tradition of defending champs unable to reach the semis.

In the last year's finals, Anil Kumble brought himself on to bowl the first over and got Gilchrist out for a second-ball duck. I am waiting to see this battle again!

KING-SIZE CRISIS

The third edition of IPL is remarkably similar to the first two. By the midway stage, the most likely wooden spooners have been discovered. And guess what, there are controversies in these squads.

2008 - Deccan Chargers, arguably the strongest side on paper, was in shambles at the midway stage in the inaugural IPL. Their performances on the field were just not coming good... and to top it all, there were problems with VVS Laxman's captaincy. Eventually, Adam Gilchrist took over the captaincy as Laxman sat out due to an injury.

2009 - Kolkata Knight Riders was the team in the news everytime... for all the wrong reasons. John Buchanan and his multiple-captain-theory, handing over the captaincy to Brendon McCullum (who isn't even a regular international captain), Fake IPL Player blogging controversy, a coaching squad almost as large as the actual playing staff, and then losing a One Over Eliminator... oh well, one could write an entire book on KKR's African odyssey.

2010 - And this year, with another captain versus star local player controversy, the bottom-placed team is Kings XI Punjab. 1 win in 8 games - that too by way of a One Over Eliminator - is a sorry state of affair. The news floating about rifts within the team, Yuvraj's mother coming out to defend her son, Sangakkara banned for slow over rates... and the dimples have vanished from Preity's face!

KXIP just seem to be lacking the confidence to finish off a game. Just when they hold a slight edge, somehow someone contrives just enough to lose the plot. A 25-run over, a wide down the legside running to the fence, a dropped catch kicked away for a four, a fumble in the deep... the team just seems to be lacking the ability to deliver the killer punch. It seems amazing now that they managed to win that Super Over! May be, Chennai Super Kings did manage to lose it!

Its very clear now - all that KXIP can play for now is to avoid the wooden spoon. Even that seems extremely unlikely in the given scenario!

SUB - STANDARD

Going into the first match of the Indian Premier League 2010, there were talks about the two teams not being full-strength. So it wasn't quite surprising that the quality of cricket on display at Navi Mumbai yesterday was sub-standard.

KKR was useless in the first halves of both innings, but had the last laugh as DC threw it all away in the respective second halves.

TEAM PERFORMANCE REVIEWS:

DC: The team looked almost sleepy on the field. I think they took the first match as defending champs against the wooden spoon holders too lightly. Gilly would want his boys to tighten their belt soon.

KKR: Soon to face a selection dillema... Gayle, Bond and McCullum will soon join the squad. Owais Shah, Angelo Matthews and Charl Langveldt gave evidence yesterday that they should not be dropped. Will reputations count over performance and form? We will soon know...

MATCHES TODAY:

MI v RR: Wow! Sachin Tendulkar v Shane Warne... A rivalry renewed (even though it is from a past era)! If the match gets over before the last over, then my money is on MI to win it. If the match goes to the last over, then my money is on MI to lose it.

KXIP v DD: Two new captains leading their squads... DD are the overwhelming favourites going by their current form. I will not be able to watch this match because I'll be travelling, but I'd be interested to see Sanga's plans to counter TM Dilshan.

Lets hope that today's matches will match the quality of the names that will be taking the field. Close matches are not good enough, we want good cricket too.

FINALLY, ITS CRICKET IN IPL

So after all the controversies, worries, tantrums and myriad other issues that occupied the media bytes, Indian Premier League 2010 is set to commence this evening.

The non-bidding of Pakistani cricketers at the auction in January, the security issues, the threats of foreign players pulling out, the boycott by the News Broadcaters' Association, threats of Deccan Chargers pulling out, warnings by political parties to Australian players - all of this is now the past. As the defending champions Deccan Chargers meet the last year's wooden spoon holders Kolkata Knight Riders at their 'home' match in Navi Mumbai, all attention will centre on the cricket aspect of this multi-million dollar tournament.

There will obviously be glamour, glitz, razzmatazz and traces of Bollywood, but finally, after a year, IPL will have news relating to cricket! The captains: Sourav Ganguly, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Kumar Sangakkara, Gautam Gambhir and Mahendra Singh Dhoni will all be keen to hold the glittering trophy in their hands on April 25 at the same D.Y. Patil Stadium where the action kickstarts today.

Out of these 8 captains, the first 5 might be playing their last IPL along with the likes of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. That is the biggest reason compelling me to follow this IPL, because the heroes of my childhood days do not have much left in the tank for the shortest version of the game.

Though the teams will not be at their full strength due to the absence of players on international duty, it will still be a worthwhile contest. And once these players are back, it will be a mouthwatering contest. After two years, all the franchisees (except Deccan Chargers) will be looking forward to genuine 'home' support across 12 venues.

Let the festivities begin...

THE 'WALKER' WALKS AWAY

Two years ago, on this very day - 4th March, Adam Gilchrist, arguably the best wicketkeeper to have graced the sport, played the last international innings of his career in front of a packed Gabba against India.

The Aussie fans wanted Gilchrist to play another match at the Adelaide Oval - for a couple of reasons. One, to ensure that the best of three final goes into the 3rd match after India had sealed the 1st one. Two, to watch Gilchrist play one more time - a delight very rarely matched.

Though it was not a fitting end (Gilly played on for 2 and Australia went on to lose the match and the series), it was a still a glorious career. "To the team and all the support staff, it's been a magic ride," he said. "It's not a fairytale ending tonight, but it's been a fairytale career. To be involved with you guys is something I'll hold dear in my heart for the rest of my life."

And having watched you bat like just you can so many times is something we hold dear, Gilly! Out of the many qualities that he was renowned for, the one that stood out was his walk-when-you-know-its-out attitude. He was called unAustralian for it, but the world loved him just as much, if not more.

His last appearance in a World Cup match was the finals of 2007 World Cup in the Carribbean, where his awesome 149 all but sealed the tournament in Australia's favour. Though Gilly is till seen playing enthusiastically in the IPL, watching him bat in an international match (especially Tests) was a different experience altogether.

We wish you all the very best in whatever you do ahead, Gilly!

INDIA V SOUTH AFRICA NAGPUR TEST PREVIEW

South Africa started their campaign in India with a practice match today against the Board President's XI Team at the home city of the Board's President (yes, that's Nagpur). This match is being played in the old VCA Stadium in Nagpur, the stadium that hosted the match when Australia conquered the final frontier under Gilchrist's leadership on a green top (Sourav Ganguly infamously pulled out of the match just before the toss).

The first Test is to be played at the new VCA Stadium (Jamtha). And if the last few matches on this venue are any indication, this pitch will be a batting beauty, though a little on the slower side. Despite this shortcoming, India comprehensively beat Australia in the only Test match held on this ground. I do not think South Africa will be easy to counter.

Morne Morkel (the biggest threat in my opinion) and Wayne Parnell (3 wickets each) have gotten their chance to get accustomed to the conditions in Nagpur. They have showed that they can be big threats. Dale Steyn does not need to show it, he has proved it in the past (remember Ahmedabad?) that he is dangerous. India's middle order will have one debutant and another playing just his fourth Test. The only concern for South Africa will be their batting, which has not been very inspiring in the England series. I do not count their spin department as a concern for the simple reason that they have never depended on it.

The batters will have their chance to get a bit of match practice in on Wednesday against Board President's XI's attack. Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy would like to have a few runs in their kitty and a boost to their confidence. And by the way, Dhoni is yet to lose a Test as a captain. An intriguing battle is on cards.