PUTTING THIS TWENTY20 WIN IN PERSPECTIVE

India's win over Australia at the MCG in the second Twenty20 International was the first away win in an international match for India since 23rd June 2011, which was the 4th day of the First Test on the tour of West Indies. That is a gap of a whopping 225 days!

Since the turn of the millennium, this was just the 4th occasion when India has had to wait for more than 200 days for an away (including neutral matches) win. The earlier three occasions were:

• From 13th November 2000 (Test win over Bangladesh at Dhaka) to 10th June 2001 (Test win over Zimbabwe at Harare) - 209 days.
• From 16th April 2003 (ODI win over Bangladesh at Dhaka) to 16th December 2003 (Test win over Australia at Adelaide) - 244 days.
• From 27th December 2004 (ODI win over Bangladesh at Dhaka) to 30th July 2005 (ODI win over West Indies at Dambulla) - 216 days.

But while these numbers of over 200 days may look very large at first, none of those droughts were half as bad as the recently-ended one! In the 209-day gap of 2000-01, there was no away match played by India. That gap was a result of scheduling, not performances! In the 244-day gap of 2003, India played just 2 neutral ODIs against South Africa at Bangladesh (1 lost and 1 no result) and 1 Test against Australia (draw) at Brisbane. And in the 216-day gap of 2004-05, India played and lost just one ODI against Sri Lanka at Dambulla.

However, in this recently-ended drought of 225 days, India played 10 Tests (losing 8, drawing 2), 2 Twenty20 Internationals (lost both), and 5 ODIs (3 lost, 1 tied and 1 no result). That is a run of 17 win-less away internationals!

The most staggering fact is this - after the first ever away win against New Zealand at Dunedin Test of February 1968, India has never had a win-less streak of away international matches as big as this 17-match one! India played 43 away Test matches from June 1932 to January 1968 without a win, which remains India's longest win-less streak in away international matches, but since then, the largest one was the one that ended a few hours ago!

(P.S.: And since we are talking numbers, this is the 400th post on CRIC - SIS.)

THE WORLD CUP REMEMBERED

Just a few hours remain for 2011 to end in my part of the world, and as I looks back at it, the biggest and the most lasting memory remains that of the World Cup 2011 hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from 19th February to 2nd April.

I was planning to write a post on my sporting memories of 2011... but since so many of them were coming from this one particular event, I thought I should first compile my World Cup memories, and then proceed to the sporting memories of 2011. So here are my top 10 memories from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011:

1. Six And The Celebrations

The obvious first - the six that finished the World Cup! MS Dhoni's strike to win the World Cup finals and the celebrations that followed that hit shall remain memories to last a lifetime... and not just till the end of the year! Those images were magical and I can still recall them vividly - Yuvraj Singh was sobbing uncontrollably, Sachin Tendulkar was being carried around the ground on his teammates' shoulders, Virat Kohli's quote, and the celebrations once MS Dhoni received the trophy from ICC President Sharad Pawar! Cricket had never before been so emotional!

2. Ponting's Last Masterpiece

It was an eagerly anticipated match - the 2nd Quarterfinal between India and Australia at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad. And though it came for a losing cause, Ricky Ponting played an innings befitting his calibre! It was virtually a risk-free masterclass century that guided Australia to a competitive first innings score of 259. There were other moments in this match that still remain fresh in my memory - the winning hit by Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina's first major contribution in the World Cup, Zaheer Khan's knuckle ball to bowl Michael Hussey, et cetera. But it was that Ponting hundred, eventually his last innings as the captain of Australia, that stands out... for it could scarcely have been any better!

3. Purple-Headed Destroyer

Yes, that is what he did - he destroyed them! Kevin O'Brien came to the crease in Ireland's match against England when his team was 106 for 4 in the 23rd over, and then saw them slump to 111 for 5 in the 25th over. Chasing a target of 328 to win at Bangalore, Ireland had no chance. But no one told this to Kevin O'Brien! He needed just 50 balls to reach his 100... the fastest ever in World Cup history! From the time he came to bat till the time he reached his 100, Ireland scored more than 6 runs in all but 3 overs. And when he got out on a 63-ball 113 with 6 sixes and 13 fours, they were well on their way to cause what was the biggest upset of the event. The Irish veteran Trent Johnston came at the fall of O'Brien's wicket and was present at the end when the win was sealed... just as he'd been there to hit the winning runs against Pakistan four years ago to cause their other big upset in World Cups!

4. #MOAG - Mother Of All Games

When India beat West Indies in the last league match, everyone knew that there was a chance of an India-Pakistan semi-finals at Mohali. And when India beat Australia at Ahmedabad, it was confirmed... a good 6 days before the match! A scramble for tickets, an excited build-up, cricket diplomacy in action, and the day finally arrived! The quality of cricket was not the best, but the occasion and the crowd more than made up for it. Virender Sehwag's attack on Umar Gul, the chances to Sachin Tendulkar en route to 85, Wahab Roaz's ball to get Yuvraj Singh for a golden duck, Suresh Raina's finish, Umar Akmal's attack before getting bowled out to Harbhajan Singh, and then the finish when Misbah-ul-Haq skied a catch to Virat Kohli off Zaheer Khan - some of the moments that still linger from the Mother Of All Games.

5. Muralitharan's Last Match In Sri Lanka

He was carried on his teammates' shoulders around the ground after the semi-finals had been won by Sri Lanka against New Zealand. Arguably Sri Lanka's greatest cricketer ever, Muttiah Muralitharan played his part in the World Cup for Sri Lanka. His final over in international cricket in Sri Lanka was a treat to watch too. Starting from around the wicket, he switched to over the wicket for the last few balls... and on his very last delivery, trapped Scott Styris plumb in front with a massively-turning off-break to finish off his home career in style. What a cricketer!

6. Tied At 338

The match should have been held at Kolkata, but had to be shifted to Bangalore. After a scramble for tickets where a few fans got hurt, the match began and the crowd loved it. Sachin Tendulkar hit a sublime century, which included 5 sixes - 2 of those came off consecutive Graeme Swann deliveries as he started a new spell. It was a message to the English skipper Andrew Strauss that his best bowler means nothing to him! Strauss took that message to heart as he produced his own masterclass innings of 158 after Tim Bresnan had cleaned the Indian tail with a 5-for. It took a beauty from Zaheer Khan to remove Strauss and bring India back into the match with 2 other wickets. Apart from the last ball single that resulted in a tie, there was another moment to remember from this World Cup - Munaf Patel's blinder (no pun intended) to remove Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell's LBW that wasn't! The infamous 2.50 meter rule denied Yuvraj Singh the wicket of Ian Bell after the field umpire Billy Bowden decided not to overturn his original not out call.

7. Ross Taylor Massacre

He was reprieved - twice! Both times by Kamran Akmal off Shoaib Akhtar's bowling. He made them pay! Ross Taylor, who was not in the best of form, capitalised on those errors by Kamran Akmal (which earned him a lot of jokes on Twitter) and smashed a brilliant century against Pakistan that included some violent hitting at the end. His ferocious hitting resulted in 28 runs being leaked off Shoaib Akhtar's last over and 30 runs off Abdul Razzaq's. Helped by Jacob Oram at the other end, Taylor was ferocious as they compiled an 80-odd run partnership at the speed of light! When Kamran Akmal's turn came to bat, he edged one to Ross Taylor at slip... and the Kiwi was in no mood to return Akmal's favours earlier that day! He grabbed the ball in his hands and the Black Caps celebrated.

8. The Whirlwind Start

It was arguably the best bowling line-up of the World Cup they were facing. The best fast bowler of the present era was to start the proceedings. None of that mattered! Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar began in a hurry... sprinting away to a 100 in just the 12th over. Tendulkar pulled South Africa's best bowler Dale Steyn for a six behind square leg after Sehwag had typically started the innings with a first-ball boundary. Sehwag scored a 73, Tendulkar 111 and Gautam Gambhir too compiled a 69 before the middle and lower order just gave away, as 9 wickets fell for 29 runs. The fact that India did not even manage to bat the entire 50 overs, falling short by 8 balls, eventually proved to be decisive as South Africa managed to seal a win thanks to Robin Peterson's cameo at the end!

9. Pakistan End Australia's Streak

Pakistan was the last team that had beaten Australia in a World Cup match. That had happened way back in 1999. Since then Australia had been triple World Champions and were looking to continue that streak when they faced Pakistan in their Group A match at Colombo. Umar Gul bowled beautifully and Kamran Akmal managed 3 catches as Australia was bowled out for 176. Then a young Pakistani batsman Asad Shafiq played a mature hand aided by the veteran Younis Khan, followed by another youngster Umar Akmal providing the finishing touches. A big performance was needed to finish off Australia's big unbeaten run in the World Cup... and that is just what Pakistan delivered!

10. England Keep Us Entertained

First, they almost goofed up against the Netherlands. Then they did the inconceivable against India as the match ended in a tie. Then they actually goofed up against the Irish, followed by snatching a win from the jaws of defeat against South Africa. Not satisfied, they then snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Bangladesh before winning their most convincing win against West Indies - by 18 big runs! Lots of flashes of memory come to mind from England's World Cup campaign - Ryan ten Doeschate's magnificent hundred at Nagpur, some stuff already mentioned above from the India and Ireland matches at Bangalore, Robin Peterson's opening over and Stuart Broad's finish at Chennai, and of course the celebrations after Mahmudullah's and Shafiul Islam's rescue act at Chittagong... England single-handedly kept Group B alive!


There were lots of other moments to remember... Sehwag deciding to bat through the innings and almost doing so in his 175 at the World Cup opener, Chris Mpofu's rocket throw to run out Ricky Ponting that infuriated him to break a TV, Pakistan's tight win over Sri Lanka, Kemar Roach's and Lasith Malinga's hat-tricks against the Netherlands and Kenya respectively, West Indies skittle out Bangladesh for 58, an unknown Canadian teenager Hiral Patel's attack on the Australian pace trio as Canada scored 62 in their first 6 overs, Zimbabweans applauding and shaking hands with Steve Tikolo after the Kenyan legend was dismissed in his final match, and South Africa's choke against New Zealand amongst others.

THE OTHER TIER BATTLE BEGINS

It's not quite Test cricket... but it's the closest a lot of cricketers who deserve to play Test cricket will get to Test cricket!

The ICC Intercontinental Cup is about to begin in less than an hour from now (weather permitting) at Aberdeen, as hosts Scotland will try to overcome a stern challenge of the Netherlands. Scotland finished as the runners-up, losing to Afghanistan in the finals, in previous season (2009-10) of this tournament, which is the only place where the players from Associate and Affiliate nations of the ICC get to play First Class cricket as a part of their national team.The limited-overs leg of the tournament will also run alongside the First Class matches in the 2011-13 season. The first round fixtures are:

I would like to see more teams, in further rounds, do what Kenya and UAE have done - that is, schedule the Limited Overs leg before the four-day First Class match. It will be beneficial for the away team this way. But more than anything else, I am most interested in seeing how Afghanistan copes up with the pressure of expectations this time round.

Afghanistan had a dream run last time, winning 5 matches and drawing 1 to a Zimbabwe XI. They started with a draw against the Zimbabwe XI, and then had a close 1 wicket win over the Netherlands. It was more convincing after that as the three-time defending champions Ireland was beaten by 7 wickets, followed by a 6 wicket win over Canada. Former champions Scotland was then thrashed by 229 runs, and then Kenya too was thrashed by 167 runs. In the finals against the Scots, they prevailed again by 7 wickets, despite being 41 runs in the deficit after the end of the 1st innings in a low-scoring game.

They are on a 6-match winning streak at the moment, and it will be interesting to see if they manage to extend it against Canada early in August. Afghanistan came in playing their first Intercontinental Cup in the last season, and ended up winning it. They were, to an extent, a surprise package last time. But the teams will be better prepared to face them this season, and if any team had made the mistake of taking them lightly last time, it will not happen again!

I hope there is some good quality cricket played in this season of the Intercontinental Cup, and I will definitely be keeping an eye on all the matches and results. If anyone knows where I can get the streamings or the video highlights of these matches, please do let me know.

A PRAYER TO THE WEATHER GODS

With the Quarterfinals slated to begin in less than 12 hours from now, I took a glance back at the matches that we have seen in the league stage of the World Cup 2011. One thing that immediately struck me was that the Weather Gods have been kind on this edition of the World Cup.

So far in this World Cup, we have had just one match where the Duckworth Lewis System had to be used - Pakistan v. Zimbabwe at Pallekele. And there was just one match that had to be called off due to rain - Sri Lanka v. Australia at Colombo. This is quite good as compared to the last two editions of the World Cup.

In 2007, even though no match had to be called off, but there were 7 matches that were decided by the use of Duckworth Lewis System, including the infamous and farcical Finals between Australia and Sri Lanka.

In 2003, there were 5 matches decided with the use of Duckworth Lewis System (including that tie between hosts South Africa and Sri Lanka that resulted in the elimination of the former in the first round itself) and there were 2 matches that had to be called off due to rain. Amongst the D/L results, there was the First Semi-Final between Australia and Sri Lanka (yet again... rain seems to follow these two countries' matches in World Cups) at Port Elizabeth. There was a minor rain interruption in the Finals between Australia and India as well, though not enough to curtail the match or cancel it.

Now, there are 7 more matches left - all Knockouts. 3 of those MAY face bad weather. I know that these weather reports do end up being unreliable on a lot of occasions like this one, but still I cannot help having a look at them.

3rd Quarter Final - South Africa v. New Zealand at Dhaka on 25th March - Weather.
4th Quarter Final - Sri Lanka v. England at Colombo on 26th March - Weather.
1st Semi Final - Winner of 3rd QF v. Winner of 4th QF at Colombo on 29th March - Weather.

Not the best reading, but I am hoping that like they have done all through this tournament, the Weather Gods will be kind enough to let cricket take center stage. Considering how D/L Method haunted South Africa in 2003, and calculated Sri Lanka's elimination in 2003 and 2007, the fans of these two countries should mutter a silent prayer for an uninterrupted game. Rains have invariably shown themselves in the final stages of last two World Cups, but lets hope they stay away this time.

(Note - If you want to know what will happen in case rain intervenes and the match cannot be completed, read the procedure specified towards the end of this page.)

CRICKET - THE FUTURE

Over the last 4 weeks, the Group stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was contested across 13 cities in 3 South Asian countries. The top-8 Test teams have eventually managed to make it to the quarterfinals, a prediction made by a lot of people well in advance. While for 4 of these teams, the ride was easy and straightforward; for 4 others, it was an up-and-down adventure!

Two teams, by general consensus, have been the most exciting teams to watch in this World Cup… and to no one’s surprise really, they are both from Group B – England and Ireland! There were a total of 11 matches involving these 2 teams, and 10 of them were definitely worth a watch. The only one-sided match where either of these teams was involved was the Ireland v. South Africa match at Eden Gardens, where South Africa won comfortably by 131 runs.

The Difference

However, the similarities between these two teams end here. The path ahead for England is very clear – win 3 straight matches and lift the World Cup, or lose in the interim and return home for some rest after a hectic few months of non-stop cricket! The path for Ireland is not quite so clear though. They have an ODI scheduled against Sri Lanka in a couple of months’ time, when the latter go on a tour of England, and they have a few fixture scheduled in ICC’s Associate tournament structure. But what next?

England host Sri Lanka followed by India in the coming months. Then they will visit India for their cricket tour in October. As for Ireland, I doubt if they will get to play this much cricket over the next 4 years, by the time the next World Cup comes calling in 2015.

So when the time comes for them to play in the Qualifying round for World Cup 2015 against the lowest-ranked teams amongst the Full Member countries, there is a good chance that they may be found wanting. Ireland did not get a lot of cricket to play over the 4 years separating their impressive performances in 2007 and 2011, yet they managed to put up a fine effort in the latter edition. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT IF THEY DO NOT PLAY MUCH CRICKET OVER THE NECT 4 YEARS, THEY WILL AGAIN MANAGE TO PUT UP A FINE SHOW AGAIN IN 2015! Far from it, in fact!

Ireland in World Cup 2011

Cricket Ireland did a tremendous job in these four years from 2007 and 2011. They must be applauded for that. But in their achievement, they have pointed out to the ICC a mistake made by it. With their performances, they have clearly made a statement to the ICC telling them that had they been allowed to or made to play more top-level competitive games in this intervening period, they might well have been able to close out the games against Bangladesh and West Indies, where they were in a winning position, but lost out partly due to inexperience. They could have easily won those 2 games and finished 3rd in the Group B – the Group of Death – have would now have been in Colombo awaiting their Quarterfinal clash against Sri Lanka, while England would have had to be in Dhaka ready for South Africa, and West Indies on the flight home!

I believe that most cricket followers would opine that Ireland performed better in this World Cup than Bangladesh. The latter may have had more points, but one look at the NRRs of both these teams will give you an idea of the level of competitiveness that they played with. Bangladesh lost 3 matches in the World Cup – in one, they allowed the opposition to score 370 runs (the highest score of the tournament thus far), and in the other two, they were bowled out for paltry scores of 58 and 78 (two of the three lowest scores in this tournament thus far). A lot more was expected from a Test nation playing in conditions that were ideal for their brand of cricket.

Ireland, a minnow and an Associate, won only 2 matches – in one, they stole a win from England when all hopes seemed just about extinguished, and in another, they comfortably chased down a target in excess of 300 (with more than 2 overs to spare) against another Associate, the Netherlands, showing them in no uncertain terms, that they are ‘the best amongst the rest’. In the four matches they lost, they put up a hard fight in three, and were in winning positions in two of those three before losing out as much to inexperience as to the opponents.

However, the biggest difference between Bangladesh and Ireland in this World Cup, in my opinion, was not in the performances, but in the mindset. I recall one incident that I would like to bring to everyone’s notice. During the pre-match cricket program for the Bangaldesh v. West Indies game, the broadcaster aired an interview of Bangladesh’s bowling coach Ian Pont who made a remark that did not go down well with me, and even one of the studio experts. When asked about their chances of winning that match against West Indies and getting into the race for Quarterfinals qualification, Pont said that the team management had indentified that match as one of the four that they would target a victory in – the other three being against Ireland (already won at that stage), England and the Netherlands. Compare this to the Irish coach Phil Simmons’ comments where he said that the team was there to win. The Irish captain William Porterfield too stated on numerous occasions that the team would go for a win in all games that they play, regardless of the opposition, and given the way he captained the side and placed his fields, he certainly stuck to his promise.

The Problem for ICC

Numerous people have said during this World Cup that the Associate nations need more exposure against the top sides so that they may improve. Most of them were those associated with the Associates – Jimmy Kamande, Steve Tikolo, William Porterfield, Phil Simmons, Peter Borren, Ryan ten Doeschate, Ashish Bagai and others, but there have been a lot of other people, amongst the average cricket followers too.

I know that it will be difficult for ICC to do so. It makes little commercial sense to have a series, howsoever small, between a team like India or South Africa or Australia or England and Ireland or the Netherlands or even Scotland or Afghanistan. Moreover, these matches may not be contests as well… they may just end up being massacres that will force the ICC to stop this practice. So I have tried to think of a solution or two for the ICC, and how it can go about maximising the growth of cricket in these centres.

Possible Solutions

One of the most commonly suggested steps, which I would wholly support, is to organise frequent tours of ‘A’ teams of the stronger countries to the Associate countries. More exposure to good quality cricket in home conditions followed by more exposure to good quality cricket in alien conditions when they themselves will tour these countries for ‘A’ team matches should definitely show improvement.

There are also people who are suggesting that when major nations go on Test tours, they should play their warm-up matches against the Associate nations in that region. While Sri Lanka will just be playing an ODI match each against Ireland and the Netherlands during their tour of England later this year, I would also like to see more First Class matches involving Associate teams and Test teams. This again poses a commercial problem because the Home Boards lose out on revenue if Associate nations play the practice matches, instead of a team registered under that Home Board. For example, the BCCI would lose out on revenue if England plays their practice matches on tour to India against Afghanistan, instead of the Board President’s XI team. It also deprives the young home cricketers of a chance to impress the selectors ahead of the main series. But in my opinion, these two problems are not grave enough that they should stall the potential progress of cricket as a sport.

Over the last few days, I have had another couple of ideas in my mind. One of them is to organise a few big-team tournaments in the smaller countries, e.g. ICC Knock Out Tournament of 2000, which was held at Nairobi, Kenya. I would love to see every alternate Champions Trophy and every alternate World Twenty20 Championships held at smaller cricketing countries. There are a number of benefits of this. One, this will definitely help in improvement of infrastructure at those places and allow better facilities to that country’s cricket team in future. Two, the best way to popularise a sport in a new territory, in my opinion, is to take the best practitioners of the sport to that territory, and allow them to showcase the sport in the best of lights over there.

The other idea that I have had is a two-tier Test Championship. The ICC has already shown interest in the concept of Test Championships to lend more meaning to the game of Test cricket. My solution would just involve adding another tier to that Test Championship to help the game grow. In the ICC Inter Continental Cup, where the Associate nations play First Class cricket, 7 teams took part in 2009-10, including a Zimbabwe XI that wanted to get a bit experience before their return to Test cricket this year. The winner of this tournament was Afghanistan, with Scotland, Zimbabwe and the three-time defending champions Ireland taking the next three spots. So, apart from Ireland, there are a few other Associates as well, who look very promising for the future of our sport, and can be included in the two-tier Test Championships.

Test Cricket

My last solution involves integration of ICC’s current plan of a Test Championship as well as the ICC Inter Continental Championships. There are 105 members recognised by the ICC – 10 Full Members, 35 Associate Members and 60 Affiliate Members. A further 24 non-members are under constant ICC scanner to be enrolled as Affiliate Members. If this plan of Two-tier Test Championships is planned, organised, and executed properly, in a few years’ time, we could have at least 35-40 of these member countries (including all of the Associates and a few Affiliates) play First Class cricket at various levels, with a real chance of breaking into the top-level by the process of promotion and relegation.

As it stands today, 15 Associate / Affiliate members have already had a chance to participate in the Inter Continental Cups over its various seasons, which even includes territories where you wouldn’t know cricket existed, like Cayman Islands!

The Need to Dream

The reason why I think a Two-Tier Test Championship (and Multi-Tiered in future) is necessary for the game is to give the lesser Associates and Affiliates a chance to dream big about competing at the biggest stage called Test Cricket. Afghanistan was once in Division 5 of ICC’s World Cricket League. But they knew that they could still qualify for the World Cup 2011 if they won or ended up as Runners-up in all the subsequent league matches they play. And thus, they had a dream! This dream was possible only because they could see a way of fulfilling it. And they almost accomplished their dream, missing out by a very small margin during the World Cup Qualifiers, having zoomed up through the lower leagues.

How will cricket see sustained development in these places if youngsters do not dream of becoming cricketers? I come from India, a country that stands at about the 140th rank in FIFA’s team rankings. As a 10-year old, I only played cricket and dreamt of becoming a cricketer. Football never crossed my mind as a serious sporting career because of my country’s low profile in that sport. In my country, as things stand, an average footballer will never achieve anything big, and football as a career is feasible for only those who are extraordinarily talented and have a decent chance of making it to the European Leagues.

A lot of countries have a low profile in cricket too, which the ICC must better. When the profiles of these Associate countries in cricket increase, and they see a realistic chance of playing at the highest level of our sport, the youngsters there will be bold enough to think and dream of a career in cricket. There will be more number of cricket professionals, as there are in Ireland today.

The performance of Ireland in the World Cup 2011 has given ICC a chance to work on developing the sport further and taking it to new shores. It has made ICC see beyond its traditional big-powers and gauge the level of development amongst its smaller members. I dearly hope and pray that ICC does not let go of this chance, and for once, takes a step that would benefit our sport rather than just its coffers!

(Note: I have purposely not made any reference to development of cricket through ODIs and Twenty20s in this post. The reason is this - I believe that these two formats of the game, particularly the smallest one, are the best vehicles to spread the game in far corners of the earth.

Soulberry from The Cricket Watcher's Journal puts it well when he says "T20 is the best vehicle for it provides a pleasure factor with the least debate in a new recipient's mind. The process of acculturization employs what is available to create a context - the desire for fun outing that doesn't consume or encroach upon existing vitals and the clarity of simplicity which helps acceptability because there are no tedious debates they have to understake in their minds over Cricket. And all you need is a park and a TV camera cabled up to an OB van to get started with T20."

However, my dream extends beyond the growth of merely the shorter formats of the game in these lands. I, as already stated, would love to see Test cricket take wings and spread just as much. That is why the solutions offered in this post are all related to Test cricket and First Class cricket. The Twenty20 format is bound to grow without a lot of effort from the ICC. Test cricket's growth will require effort.

There is a good chance that ICC may rest on it laurels of having spread cricket wide just on the basis of popularising Twenty20 cricket everywhere. However, that is not what I want to see ICC stop at. Hence, this post makes no reference to Limited Overs Cricket of any form.)

STEVE TIKOLO

What is common between Marcus Trescothick, Subramanium Badrinath, Brad Hodge and Steve Tikolo? These are men who played less Test cricket in consideration of the respective talents that they had. One quit early, one suffered due to lack of chances, one just could not reproduce his domestic level of performances at the highest level, and one... that last one played for an Associate team!

Here's a look at the numbers generated by Steve Tikolo -

An ODI batting average of 29 does not do justice to him. A First Class batting average of almost 50 is a better indicator. The fact that he is the highest run-scorer in ODI cricket amongst players from Associate teams tells one story, the fact that the person second to him is a good 1003 runs behind him (just about 70% of his total) tells another story!

He's amongst the very few cricketers in the world who have played in 5 World Cups - a feat unachieved by 4 of the top-10 run-scorers in the history of ODI cricket and 7 of the top-10 wicket-takers. At one point in time, he was widely regarded as the best batsman outside of the Test-playing nations. Not without reason!

He was the captain when Kenya achieved their cricketing peak in 2003, when they reached the semi-finals of the World Cup 2003. He was present even in this World Cup in 2011, when Kenyan cricket is at its "lowest ebb".

He's been there and done that in respect of Kenyan cricket. He made his ODI debut together with Kenya's debut in a World Cup - back in 1996. He was a part of Kenya's first biggest triumph - the win over West Indies at Pune in that World Cup. He helped Kenya qualify for the next World Cup in 1999, and was their best player there. He led Kenya to a World Cup semi-finals in 2003. When the Kenyan cricket administration fell out with its stakeholders, he led a players' revolt to oust that old regime and took up the effort of rebuilding Kenyan cricket. It was fitting that the name synonymous with Kenyan cricket led them in his final appearance for them at an iconic ground, the Eden Gardens!

The farewell for Steve Tikolo did not go according to the script. But it was heartening to see his opponents (the Zimbabweans) giving him their respectful compliments when he made his final walk back to the pavilion as a Kenyan cricketer! Some players see their greatness celebrated, some others see their greatness hide in pages of history. Steve Tikolo was one of the latter breed of great cricketers, and this is just one of those pages of history!

To end this tribute to Steve Tikolo on a light note, here's what Andy Zaltzman tweeted in reply to me in respect of this Kenyan legend:

All the best for your future ventures, Steve Tikolo!

FINALLY, AN ICC DECISION WORTH APPRECIATION

For a good part of last two months, I have been getting more and more incensed by some of the decisions taken by ICC. The 10-team World Cup for 2015, defending Billy Bowden's decision of Bell non-LBW, then changing the UDRS rules again, reprimanding William Porterfield for public criticism and not acting against Graeme Swann for his share of public criticism after he had already been fined for swearing at the umpire!

But finally, ICC has taken a decision that I can support. They have decided to drop Ashoka de Silva as an umpire for some of the crucial matches coming up, and relocated him to the dead rubbers remaining. So whereas earlier he was scheduled to stand in England v. West Indies and sit as a third umpire in India v. West Indies matches, he will now stand in the Zimbabwe v. Kenya match and be the fourth official during Ireland v. Netherlands game. (Report)

Ashoka de Silva has given some shockers in this World Cup, and though some of them have been corrected by UDRS, that did not stop him from giving a howler even with the help of UDRS. I have already stated that I consider him the least elite of ICC's Elite Panel of Umpires and frankly, do not find him competent enough to be a part of it.

However, wrapped in this news was something unusual. In that news report, ICC has listed a certain Tyron Wijewardene as the third umpire for the Australia v. Pakistan match. I wonder how does he end up having this job without having officiated in a single match so far in this World Cup. We are coming to the end of league stages and an umpire who has not yet been a part of the World Cup will be officiating as a third umpire in a match between two heavyweights that would potentially decide the group toppers! WEIRD!

Oh well, I am again coming to terms with the fact that there is hardly going to be a single decision taken by the ICC that I will completely agree to! Maybe, I should run it one day... at least, that would help me avoid disagreements with myself!

PEARLS FROM RAVI SHASTRI'S COMMENTARY

Ravi Shastri is the last name I would put in a list of commentators I would love to listen to in every match. And after today's India v. Ireland match at Bangalore, he's gone completely off that list!

As if punishing the listeners with the most boring cliques was not enough, today Ravi Shastri went a step ahead and completely massacred up a piece of trivia information that he was giving on air. It's not the first time that he's given his listeners a wrong piece of trivia... it does happen quite often... but what made me swear at him today was that he completely killed a piece of trivia he was giving about a cricket match, in which he himself was involved, all the while when their stats man Mohandas Menon was right there to give him the correct piece of information!

When Yuvraj Singh reached 40* today, Ravi Shastri was on air giving out the information that Yuvraj has become just the 2nd player in a World Cup match to score 40 runs and take 5 wickets. For good measure, he added that Kapil Dev was the first one to have done it in 1983 against Australia at Trent Bridge (5 for 43 and 40 off 27 balls). Fine up until now!

Here's what he said after that (I wrote it down on a scrap of paper immediately for the fear that I might misquote him later): "(that performance) set India up for the semi-finals at Old Trafford" and "sent Australia out of the competition".

Now here's the truth. As mightily impressive as that performance was from our captain Kapil Dev, it did nothing to "set India up for the semi-finals", because as it happens, India went on to lose that match by a huge margin of 162 runs. What did set India up for the semi-finals was India's win (courtesy Kapil Dev) over Zimbabwe later on, and more importantly, India's win against Australia in the reverse fixture at Chelmsford. Had India lost that match to the Aussies, the two teams would have been level on point, and the Australians would have had a better Net Run Rate giving them the semi-final berth.

Since we lost that match where Kapil's all-round performance was recorded, it was impossible for us to "send Australia out of the competition" then. We played 3 more Group matches after this loss before playing in the semi-finals. I don't quite understand how he could forget such a magnificent all-round performance wasted on a loss!

What baffled me even more was that Ravi Shastri was a part of that loss against Australia and was not a part of the win that came later against Australia. So it beats me how he could muddle it all up!

Here was I, sitting in my living room, raising my eyebrows immediately to his mighty assertions, when I was not even born in 1983! And the man who was a part of our squad back then was completely botching up the facts of our glorious 1983 campaign!

SAVE THE MINNOW CAMPAIGN

I have written an article in support of the participation of the Associate teams in the ICC Cricket World Cups, in light of the recent decision by the ICC to have a 10-team World Cup in 2015. That article has been published on the wonderful FreehitCricket website, and you can read my article here.

AUSTRALIA V. NEW ZEALAND - PREVIEW

Following the sad news of the earthquake that rocked Christchurch a couple of days back, the Black Caps will be keen to put one across their Trans - Tasman neighbours and three-time defending champions Australia. A win here may not heal the wounded back home in New Zealand, but it will certainly bring a smile back to their faces. Even if it is a momentary spark of joy for the people affected, for the Kiwi cricketers, I am sure it is worth fighting for!

If more incentive was needed, and these incentives would apply to Australian side too, then there is a Cricket World Cup going on... and a win here will help the team be in a very comfortable position in the race to qualify for the Quarter Finals. Add to it, the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy shall also be decided in this match, since these two teams are not scheduled to compete in another ODI match for the remaining year (unless of course they are to meet again in the Semi Finals or the Finals).

(For the record, this will be the first time that the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy will be contested on a neutral territory.)

The match tomorrow will be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium (Jamtha), Nagpur. The previous match here, contested between England and the Netherlands, was a close fought one and saw almost 600 runs being scored. The centurion and Man of the Match in that game, Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands, said that the pace of the wicket was a little slow, but batting was a lot easier once he got used to it. Early consolidation is the key on this wicket while batting.

Considering that New Zealand have already played a warm up match on this ground, it should be slightly easier for them to adjust to the conditions. Having said that, one would be foolish to write the Australians off. They come into the game having a 30-game unbeaten run in World Cup cricket and a comfortable win over the Zimbabweans. While New Zealand's win over Kenya was a lot more thumping, the downside is that it has left their batsmen short of batting practice coming into a match where they will face a pace - charged attack.

Nagpur has seen a bit of unseasonal wet weather of late. There are some chances of the match being rain-affected and played under a cloud cover. If this is so, the pace bowlers on both the sides might get a bit of help. Since it is a day game and will have an early morning 9:30 am start, the side bowling first can expect more help than the other side.

Though the teams might want to stick to their winning combinations, I wonder if Australia might consider using Doug Bollinger in their line up, if the conditions are indeed helpful for the seamers. Johnson and Tait were good against Zimbabwe, but it cannot be denied that both of them are all-or-nothing bowlers. Since both of them had a good outing against Zimbabwe, the law of averages would suggest that one (or even both) of them are due one of their erratic days any time now. Using Bollinger for one of them might not be a bad option. Ponting has also suggested that he will need to use Tait with care so that he lasts through the tournament.

Apart from this, Lee bowled with great control and skill in his practice games as well as against Zimbabwe, and Jason Krejza has shown aggression by flighting the ball and inviting front-foot drives from the batsmen.

For New Zealand, Bennett and Southee had a wonderful first game, while Oram also chipped in with 3 wickets (denying Southee a chance to go for a hat-trick). The interesting bit was that Nathan McCullum's off spin was employed with the new ball. It would be interesting to see if Vettori continues with this tactic. And talking of Vettori in ODIs, he is a master craftsman, and I am sure the Australian batsmen will look to see him off and attack the other bowlers in the game.

The Australian batting looks a lot more settled with Watson, Ponting and Clarke all having a good hit against Zimbabwe. While Guptill has been good for the Kiwis, the others are slightly untested and the likes of Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder might need to step up big time to see of the Aussies. The Batting Powerplay strategies shall be interesting to watch, since Australia is the team that once again looks stronger in the power-hitting department with the likes of Cameron White, David Hussey and Steve Smith. For all their skills, Franklin, Styris and Vettori at the corresponding batting positions of 5, 6 and 7 just do not inspire as much confidence.

Here are a few numbers that indicate that Australia are the favourites going into this match... but with the emotions that Christchurch will generate and an additional spice in the form of Chappell-Hadlee Trophy also involved, numbers will count for little when the 22 men take the field for their national anthems tomorrow.


It will be hard for Nagpur to provide another entertaining match after the England - Netherlands affair. However, the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy has a history of producing high-scoring encounters, with New Zealand having successfully chased down scores in excess of 330 thrice in the past. Since this one will be played on another batting beauty, I expect no less.

This post has been published as a part of CASTROL CRICKET MATCH PUNDIT HUNT brought to you by BLOGJUNTA If you like this post then FAVE it here and read other entries as well.

PONTING SHOULD BE CHARGED WITH A LEVEL 1 OFFENCE

Might once again get away without punishment

It is all over the news that Ricky Ponting reportedly smashed the glass of the LCD TV in the Australian team's dressing room after watching the replay of his run out dismissal during their first World Cup 2011 game against Zimbabwe on February 21, 2011 at Ahmedabad.

We all know that this is not the first time that Ponting has been involved in an act that is not worthy of a sportsman, let alone the captain of the three-time defending champions! His most recent tryst with ICC's Code of Conduct was when he was involved in a heated argument with Aleem Dar during the Ashes 2010-11 after the third umpire upheld the ground umpire's decision to rule Kevin Pietersen not out. He was fined 40% of his match fees back then... a punishment too light, in my opinion.

But the media reports suggest that Ponting might well get away with his glass-breaking act this time. Reports state that Ponting apologised for this incident and claimed that it was an accident and not an intentional act of smashing the glass on the TV set. The Australian media manager has also claimed that the glass has not been shattered, but just a corner of the screen has suffered a blackout due to unintentional impact with Ponting's box, which flew up to the screen as he threw it into his kit bag.

Whatever the case may be, the possibility that Ricky Ponting will get away with his apology is a depressing news to hear. I have never been a fan of Ricky Ponting's behaviour on the cricket field... and even though this act came in the dressing room, it was a direct result of what happened in the field.

I will be very surprised if eventually, Ponting escapes with no punishment for his act. Ayaz Menon tweeted that while ICC may be able to frame codes to regulate the players' conduct on the field, there isn't much that can be done for what happens in the change rooms. But he is wrong here.

Level 1 Point 1.2 offence in the ICC Code of Conduct is defined as "Abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings."

Isn't the television in the dressing room a part of the ground equipments? Matthew Hayden had been charged with this offence and fined accordingly when he had broken a piece of glass in his team's dressing room after his dismissal during the 5th Ashes Test at Sydney in January 2003. Why isn't Ponting being charged with a similar offence?

At the risk of sounding like a frustrated Asian ranting out against the Aussies, I have to pose a question for the readers to ponder - had Sreesanth broken the glass of the LCD TV in the dressing room after his bad spell of bowling against Bangladesh and then apologised, would he have been let off?

THE IMPORTANCE OF AUS V ZIM GAME

The 10th Cricket World Cup has kicked off... We have had India beating Bangladesh in a one-sided affair and then New Zealand gobble up Kenya in an even more one-sided affair. I'm sure that the currently ongoing Sri Lanka v Canada game will also end up being just as one-sided, despite the fact that Canadians have bowled pretty tidily in the first 9 overs.

Tomorrow, Australia play Zimbabwe at Motera, Ahmedabad. At first sight, it looks to be another one-sided unimportant game on the itinerary... and it might well be just that! But if you are a passionate Indian cricket fan wanting to see India win this World Cup, support Zimbabwe with all your might! This is the most important game for India's World Cup chances!

Let me explain. Zimbabwe beat Australia in their opening match of the 1983 World Cup... it was June 9, 1983. Just 16 days later, India had won that World Cup. Fast forward now... 24 years later, Zimbabwe beat Australia again in the inaugural World Twenty20 Championships in 2007 (September 12th) by 5 wickets to kick off their campaigns. Again, just 12 days later, India had won that World Championship!

Now in 2011, both teams will again be kicking off their campaigns against each other on February 21st. If Zimbabwe can beat Australia tomorrow, we don't have to worry at all about India's chances. Come April 2, Team India will be smiling at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

However, if Australia get the better of Zimbabwe, then Indian team will have to defy history to win this World Cup. History states that India has never won a World Cup in any form of the game where Australia have not been beaten by Zimbabwe. Can we do it this time?

IT'S REVENGE TIME, FOLKS!

It's time to wipe those smiles off!

Virender Sehwag has already called it. The rest of the Indian team must be quietly admitting it. The opening match for India in their World Cup 2011 campaign against Bangladesh is no ordinary match... it is a 'revenge' match.

There was a time when such 'revenge' matches existed during the World Cup itself. During the 1983 and 1987 World Cups, each team played the others in their group twice. So if you were upset the first time round, you could seek revenge in the next match. In fact, in 1983, on the very first day of the World Cup campaign (June 9, 1983), West Indies and Australia were upset by India and Zimbabwe respectively.

But a week later, West Indies had their revenge on India on June 15... and Australia had their revenge on Zimbabwe on June 16. Eventually, this West Indian victory was lost in time because India managed to stun the defending champions in the finals at Lord's on June 25, 1983. It was a revenge for the revenge match!

Now at Mirpur, almost 28 years after that stunning victory, India seek to begin another World Cup campaign on a victorious note... against the hosts Bangladesh. While Bangladesh may be quietly confident of pulling off another win over their more-fancied neighbours to make in 2 out of 2 in World Cups, the Indians will be in no mood to let it happen.

A lot of members of the current Indian line up were also a part of that bitter defeat in their opening game of the previous World Cup... a defeat that threw their World Cup campaign completely off track! The other members, who were not a part of that team, must have certainly seen that match or followed it in some way or the other. All of them must have definitely felt the pain of that loss... either as players or as supporters!

The pain of a supporter is something I felt to a great degree. I was watching that match in a hostel... with a crowd of what must have been another 50 people. And what had started as a raucous day came to a very meek and silent end! I can still remember the people holding on to shreds of hope despite India being bundled out for a below-200 score. I can still remember the prayers that started getting louder and more desperate as Tamim Iqbal got Bangladesh off to a flying start. I can still remember those profanities that were being shouted at both the batsmen and the bowlers after every hit that reached the fence in the second innings.

Oh man, it was a heartbreak! There was anger in the eyes of whoever you met for a week after that loss and the loss later to Sri Lanka. Over time, in these intervening four years, that anger has subsided. Indian team won the Test Series in England, World Twenty20 Championship, the CB Series in Australia... then followed an unbeaten run in Test series' played at home and other wins as well like the Asia Cup and the Compaq Cup. There was also the rise to the World No. 1 in Tests and now, coming to the World Cup as genuine title contenders, the memories of that defeat against Bangladesh have subsided to a great extent.

But the feeling of hurt and humiliation that rose as a result of that loss always remained hidden at the back of everyone's heads. Now that the time has come to begin another World Cup campaign with a match against Bangladesh, the Indian team is expected to do nothing short of annihilate their neighbours. The expectations are huge and the pressure is enormous... but not without reason. The performances of the Indian team during these last 4 years have given the people a reason to expect... and a victory over Bangladesh in the opening encounter will be the beginning!

Sehwag termed Bangladesh as an "ordinary Test side" a little over a year ago... and now, he has termed this match as a "revenge match". I now hope that he does all he can as a part of his effort in this revenge (for more reasons than one - you see, he is also the captain of my Cricinfo Fantasy League team)! Come on now boys, ATTACK!

THOUGHTS ON DAY 3 OF WARM UP MATCHES

Zim 244 - 8 in 50 overs, Ire 245 - 6 in 49.3 overs - Ire win by 4 wickets

Ireland had put up a tremendous fight while chasing New Zealand's 300+ score in their first warm up match. This time, they went one better... they chased down Zimbabwe's score with 3 balls to spare.

Ireland got on top early (Zim was 12 - 3 in 8th over)... but Zimbabwe fought back first with Taibu's 45 and then with Chigumbura's 103* in just 81 balls. Irish skipper Trent Johnston bowled a superb first spell of 5-2-9-2. While batting, Ireland had partnership stands of 40s for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th wicket. But the 5th wicket stand of 99 between Andre Botha (79) and Kevin O'Brien (62*) was the decisive stand for the match. As they say, a set batsman should see the team through till the end in a run chase... and Kevin O'Brien did that by guiding Ireland to a win with 3 balls to spare. They have issued a warning bell for their Group B opponents!

Ken 263 - 5 in 50 overs, Neth 264 - 8 in 49.1 overs - Neth win by 2 wickets

Kenya batted quite well... with their young 20-year old opener Seren Waters making an unbeaten 126. Rakep Patel scored a 59-ball 64 at the end in a 129-run stand with Waters to see Kenya to a formidable total. But they did not know that the ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year Ryan ten Doeschate had something special in store.

ten Doeschate had done his bit with the ball (10-0-47-2)... but decided to do more. He came in at 87 for to in the 16th over, when the Dutch were starting to lose their early momentum (they had raced to 67 for 0 in 10 overs). Soon with Steve Tikolo running amok, Netherlands slumped to 130 for 7 in 30 overs. Tikolo's gentle off-spin had almost sealed the game then. But the Dutch still had Ryan ten Doeschate at the crease.

In a display that would have pleased even the King-Rescuer VVS Laxman, ten Doeschate upped his scoring rate and though he lost his steady partner Buurman for 29 after an 82 run stand, he remained till the end with an unbeaten 92-ball 98 (3 fours, 4 sixes) to see his team through. The No. 10 Mudassar Bukhari played a small cameo of 20* (15 balls, 2 fours, 1 six) that proved crucial in the end, because when he came in, his side still needed 53 runs of 34 balls. But the man of the moment was definitely Ryan ten Doeschate. Fantasy Team players... are you reading this?

Aus 217 all out in 47.1 overs, SA 218 - 3 in 44.2 overs - SA win by 7 wickets

Don't be fooled by that 218 for 3 from South Africa. Two of those three (Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla) retired themselves after a 100+ opening stand so that the other batters could have some batting practice. The third wicket, that of Faf du Plessis, was a run out!

Australia got off to a miserable start. Their best form batsman, Shane Watson, was out for a 4th ball duck... lbw to Dale Steyn. Brad Haddin (who did not play the 1st warm up against India) got run out for a duck in the 4th over... Australia was 6 for 2. A 122-run stand between captain Ricky Ponting (55) and vice captain Michael Clarke (79) followed. That would prove to be the only substantial contribution from the Aussie bats for the day... and if I may dare to call it so, their saving grace!

Dale Steyn was the top bowler with 3 wickets for South Africa. In what was a surprise to me, Robin Peterson also managed 3 wickets though he was a tad expensive at over 5.50 an over. Australia really need to brush up their spin-tackling skills!

Smith (65) and Amla (60) put on 131 runs and then retired in that order within 3 overs of each other. Faf Du Plessis was sent at No. 3 to get a bit of practice, but was run out for 12 with South Africa on 157! JP Duminy used this time in the middle to stroke a 47* on his favourite Indian ground at Bangalore. South Africa eased home to a very comfortable win at the end.

WARNING NOTE: Do not count Australia out. They entered the 2007 World Cup in a 5-match losing streak. They won every game in that tournament.

WI 281 all out in 50 overs, SL 282 - 6 in 47.3 overs - SL win by 4 wickets

West Indies put up a very decent batting performance to post a competitive 281. But they would know that the score should have been a lot bigger. Chris Gayle provided a fiery start with a 38-ball 58, and Darren Bravo's 54 was a perfect foil. However, they was no one to play a big knock and no substantial contributions from the middle order and the lower middle order, where the highest score was 39 by Sarwan. Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath (3 wickets each) were impressive for Sri Lanka with the ball.

Sri Lanka's chase was built on the back of three main contributors... their three of the four most important batsmen! A ballistic 50-ball 62 from Dilshan followed by calculating knocks of 71 and 55 respectively from Sangakkara and Samaraweera. Despite a minor flutter at the end, where they lost 3 wickets for 28 runs, they reached the target comfortably. Sulieman Benn, with his 3 wickets, was the only West Indian bowler to have numbers worth noticing.

Pak 285 - 9 in 50 overs, Ban 196 all out in 41.4 overs - Pak win by 89 runs

Even though Pakistan put up a very formidable total, it was built on the back of just one big partnership - 152 runs for the 4th wicket between opener Ahmed Shehzad (103) and Misbah-ul-Haq (100). The rest of the batting did not fire as Rubel Hossain and the irrepressible captain Shakib Al Hasan picked 3 wickets each.

When the star Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal fell for a golden duck on the first ball of the innings, their chase was all but over. Imrul Kayes and Junaid Siddique got 39 and 38 respectively, but no one could do more than that. Kayes plays a perfect foil for Tamim when Tamim clicks... but Bangladesh really need to find a solution for Kayes' slow batting when Tamim does not fire. It can have an effect of completely stalling the progress of their innings. For Pakistan, the evergreen Abdul Razzaq picked 3 wickets (including Tamim), while Mohammed Hafeez and Abdur Rehman chipped in with 2 each.

THOUGHTS ON DAY 1 OF WARM UP MATCHES

So the countdown to the start of Cricket World Cup 2011 is on its last stretch... less than a week to go now. The warm up matches have begun, and on the first day, we had 5 of them. Here are a few random thoughts on those matches:

WI 253 - 8 in 50 overs, Ken 192 all out in 45.3 overs - WI win by 61 runs

Ramnaresh Sarwan scored a 125-ball 123 to guide West Indies to a 250+ score, aided by Dwayne Bravo's 56-ball 54 towards the end of their innings. While West Indies will be delighted with Sarwan and Bravo, they need to be wary of the fact that their top order misfired once again. 65 for 4 in the 20th over against Kenya is not a good score... and it was surprising to see that they did not send Kieron Pollard for a hit. He could have done with some practice ahead of the main tournament. But the biggest surprise was that Chris Gayle did not figure in the 12-man team that took part in the warm-up game.

As for Kenya, the veterans Thomas Odoyo and Steve Tikolo were good with the ball. While batting, Collins Obuya made a composed half-century and had he gotten a little more support after his 70-run second wicket stand with Seren Waters, Kenya could have made a serious push towards the target. Though Roach and Russell combined well with the ball, they could not get breakthroughs with the new ball. Kenya has shown promise on the land where they first rose to prominence way back in 1996!

SL 351 - 5 in 50 overs, Neth 195 all out in 47.3 overs - SL win by 156 runs

It was a typical Sri Lankan performance against a minnow, especially on the home ground. The Dutch were soundly thrashed, first by the Sri Lankan batting unit where everyone got starts and then by the bowling performances of Fernando, Perera and Herath. Sri Lanka, however, should be concerned by the fact that none of their batsmen could score a big hundred in batting friendly home conditions, with a run-a-ball 78 from TM Dilshan being their highest score.

Though Tom De Grooth and Bas Zuiderent showed a bit of a fight, Netherlands were never expected to, nor did they, get anywhere close to the target. The only thing that they did well was playing Ajantha Mendis, who had figures of 1 for 40 in 8 overs, that 1 wicket being the 9th to fall... not the figures you'd normally associate with a mystery bowler against a minnow on his home conditions.

Can 112 all out in 37.3 overs, Ban 113 - 1 in 19.2 overs - Ban win by 9 wickets

Bangladesh put in a thoroughly efficient performance to dismantle Canada completely... so efficient it was that they may now be regretting the fact that their batters did not really get a good hit in match conditions before the World Cup. Though Razzaq went wicketless, the other spinners led by skipper Shakib Al Hasan grabbed 6 wickets in a good bowling performance. Except for the skipper Ashish Bagai, no Canadian could muster a solid performance.

While chasing, Tamim Iqbal got the hosts to a flyer... and the match was over within a few blinks. 7 fours and 3 sixes in a 50-ball 69 meant that other than the openers, no one else got any decent batting practice. This was a new Bangladesh side... way different from the one that lost to Canada by 60 runs in the group stages of 2003 World Cup! They have come a long way!

NZ 311 - 6 in 50 overs, Ire 279 all out in 48.2 overs - NZ win by 32 runs

New Zealand must have had a comfortable win in the end, but all credit must go to Ireland for the fight that they put in into their chase. The Kiwis relied on a 134-ball 130 from Martin Guptill and then cameos from Ryder, Taylor, Franklin and Styris to set up a good total... the perfect example of how a batting unit should function! If the Kiwis can manage it against tougher oppositions, they could be well on their way to another good World Cup performance.

While they didn't find much cheer while bowling, the Irish chase was well built. A brilliant and fast opening stand, followed by more good top-order partnerships kept them in the hunt for quite a while. Unfortunately for them, their middle order and lower middle order could not keep up with the challende and they folded in the 49th over. While Porterfield, Stirling, Joyce, Niall O'Brien and Johnston did well with the bat, the bowling performer of the day was the wily Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori... 4 for 42 in 10 overs, and good support from Kyle Mills. The Kiwis should be overall happy with this performance, especially given the run of performances they have had of late!

Zim 152 all out in 41.5 overs, SA 153 - 2 in 23.3 overs - SA win by 8 wickets

Though Zimbabwe was dismissed for 153 only, it was as unlike a South African bowling performance as you are ever likely to see. I say this because 6 of the wickets were picked by spinners, though Morne Morkel was extremely brilliant and threatening in his 6 overs, 3 for 16. Imran Tahir got a game and got 3 wickets... which makes it interesting to see whether he'll make the cut for the first XI above Johan Botha and Robin Peterson.

Taylor's 40 was the only bright spot for Zimbabwe during the whole day... where they were later carted around by Amla, Smith and Kallis. That Kallis hit 3 sixes during his unbeaten 39-ball 49 should tell you something about his injury status! However, like Bangladesh, even South African batsmen (except these 3) missed a golden chance to get some batting practice under their belt!

MURALI'S TOP 10

Muttiah Muralitharan has recently revealed a list of the ten batsmen whom he found most difficult to bowl to. It's surprising to see 2 Englishmen figure in such a list! And yes, this confirms (once again) that Navjot Singh Sidhu was one of the finest players of spin bowling there has ever been... even Shane Warne acknowledges the craft of Sidhu against the slower men!

So, here's the list (with their average and no. of dismissals against Murali in Test cricket):

1. Brian Lara (West Indies)
2. Mohammad Azharuddin (India)
3. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
4. Navjot Singh Sidhu (India)
5. Saleem Malik (Pakistan)
6. Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
7. Andy Flower (Zimbabwe)
8. Graham Thorpe (England)
9. John Crawley (England)
10. Hansie Cronje (South Africa)

I was surprised to see Hansie Cronje in the list, and not his more illustrious teammate against spin bowling... Jacques Kallis! I have a feeling that had Murali's career been a little longer, he might have then even considered putting Hashim Amla somewhere on that list!

ALL TIME WORLD XI - BOWLERS

Just the last three places remain in my All-Time World XI... and I might add, the MOST important ones. The men who will largely be responsible for getting the 20 wickets that win a Test match. The BOWLERS.

As for the other spots, here are the Test statistics of the nominees:

I have classified all the bowlers in the list as either: 1. Slow Left Arm, 2. Leg Spinners, 3. Off Spinners, and 4. Pace (irrespective of whether they were express pace or medium pace, swing bowlers or seam bowlers etc).

I have already chosen Imran Khan and Jacques Kallis as my all rounders... and thus, I want 2 spinners and 1 pacer amongst the lot above. And amongst the spinner, I want at least 1 leg spinner. I wouldn't mind picking 2 leg-spinners, but I have a strict objection to playing 2 off-spinners.

So, here goes... The two spinners of this team are... Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. It may sound an easy choice... but it was not. Both these bowlers have had certain criticisms. Both do not have a great record against India. But then I thought, amongst spinners, who does? That should not take anything away from their greatness.

Then there was the matter of Murali's record against the Aussies... the dominant team of the era he played in. There are also doubters who will use his statistics against the minnows like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to show how much impact they had on his overall figures. But then, this selection is not pure statistics. Murali, in his prime, had this stamina to bowl on and on for hours at a stretch. And more often than not, he threatened. He turned the ball on every wicket. And he had great control over his turn. Such a bowler certainly deserves his place in the team!

Amongst the faster bowlers, it was not too difficult despite the presence of some of the greatest bowlers there. I chose Malcolm Marshall... he was fast, pacy, fiery and regarded by many as one of the All-Time Best. One statistic that I pay a lot of attention to for Test bowlers is their Strike Rate... and with Marshall's 46.7, and also his brilliant average of 20.94, my decision is firmly made.

So here is my complete bowling unit: Malcolm Marshall, Imran Khan, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Jacques Kallis.

I will do one last post on this XI, where I will decide the captain and talk about the entire team as a unit.

A CIRCUS CALLED POLITICS

Cricket. Politics. Cricket politics. Everyone knows that ex Australian Prime Minister John Howard's nomination to be the ICC Vice - President was rejected by majority of the member nations. There are voices everywhere doing everything... justifying, crying foul, crying, rejoicing, and some even making crap noise.

Amidst all this, I have to say that I read a wonderful piece on achettup on his blog - Short Of A Length. It's a must read for those who have followed this issue regularly and it's a must read for those who haven't.

And then, I read the response of Peter Chingoka, the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket. He gives an interesting quip to the Australian newspaper Age: The move to nominate Howard was akin to "asking me to come and edit the Melbourne Age without any experience in the journalism industry".

I really have nothing to say much to or about John Howard. But yes, even in my opinion, Sir John Anderson from New Zealand would have been a better nomination. For now, I am just content in waiting and watching how this circus pans out.

INDIA - PAKISTAN... FINALLY!

India completed an easy victory over Bangladesh in the Asia Cup 2010 at Dambulla. The 6-wicket win would have, to a certain extent, restored the fans' faith in the side... which had plummeted to an unprecedented low after the Zimbabwe tri - series.


The regular India XI (minus Sachin Tendulkar) looked good... sure and composed. The break should have done them... though their thorough test will come in the next match... against arch - rivals Pakistan.


Pakistan were impressive in their 16-run loss to Sri Lanka in the opener. Afridi's century (though I did not see it) sounded a captain's knock... albeit in a losing cause. India will need the big men to fire in the big match against Pakistan. Sehwag is currently India's best batsman in this format (I don't care what ICC Rankings say about MS Dhoni!) and he will need to fire along with Zaheer Khan, who is India's bowling spearhead. Dhoni will not be able to depend on Sehwag again for his golden arm figures of 4 - 6 in 2.5 overs.


Though I am not overly interested in the ongoing Asia Cup, I will be interested in watching India take on Pakistan... simply because I don't know when will I next see this rivalry unfold again! There will be spice in the contest... there always is, especially when the relationship between the two nations is not at its best.


Here's hoping that the match lives up to my high expectations!

BUILDING UP TO IND V PAK

India finally managed to beat Zimbabwe on this tour. And it's Twenty20. Looks like Zimbabwe is more comfortable playing the longer game rather than 20-over cricket. The only match they lost during the round robin stage in the tri-series against Sri Lanka was also reduced to 20-odd overs due to rain. Weird, I used to think that shorter the format, greater is the chance for the underdogs... the weaker team.


And then I thought... maybe, Team India is the weaker team. Zimbabwe has been far more impressive than India over the past couple of weeks. Their departments have played as proper units... the army of spinners choking the opposition and the batsmen remaining cool during the crunch moments. Neither of the two has been the case with India.


As India ends the Zimbabwe tour today with the second and final Twenty20 and then regroup with the seniors to fly to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup, they will need to deeply think about really how good is the team. The team was World No. 2 on ICC Rankings before the tournament... I do not know if there is a fall after the two defeats to Zimbabwe... but are we really playing as a No. 2 / 3 team?


A clearer picture will emerge when an almost full-strength squad plays at the Asia Cup. Matches against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh might test the Indians... but the match against Pakistan has the ability of separating boys from men. India play Pakistan on 19th June... it's been quite some time since their last meeting at the Champions Trophy in South Africa last year. In that match, Shoaib Malik hit a match-winning hundred to take Pakistan to victory. Who will be the man this time?

The build up is not quite the same... but it should be a cracker nonetheless!

The build up to this match has hardly been what it was like for the meeting on 1st March 2003 during the World Cup at South Africa. But that should not mean the match will be anything less than a cracker! Luckily, the FIFA World Cup fixtures that day include just one team that I am interested in... the Netherlands, which will feature against Japan in the first match on that day. After that, I can use that Saturday to pay complete attention to an Indian cricket fan's delight... an India v Pakistan match!