The recent decision by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board chief and the Former Sri Lanka Captain Arjuna Ranatunga to allow the former players of the country to play in the Indian Cricket League has given a first official stamp from a ICC full member to its players to play in the un-official ICL, thus breaking the monopoly of the BCCI, ICC, PCB and CA which were pressuring up players who would participate in the un-official ICL.
It is a pity that a league who were the first to launch a tournament have been looked at as untouchables for this long. I think Cricket will benefit if there is opening of the stance from the Cricket's official bodies to recognise the league and it will be in the interests of all. Definitely, the credibility of the official boards is at stake, but then the Official bodies were behind the ICL in launching a Tournament and that's where it has given some people with ideas to take the lead.
Mushtaq Ahmed the former Pakistan Test Cricketer and the ICL player for the Lahore Badshahs team sheds some more light on the ICL standards, he says Cricket played at ICL is of a highly competitive nature and he regards it higher than the IPL. Mushtaq Ahmed is one of the finest leg spinners in the world to have played the game along with Shane Warne and helped win Pakistan many matches. And he is regarded very high in Cricketing circles for his immense talent.
And is of the view that BCCI should open up its narrow stance and include ICL in the Champions Trophy edition this year and allow more such tournaments in the future. This would be another block-buster of sorts if the existing rivalry between the clubs is given a utilised in a practical manner.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Sourav Ganguly was always in the scheme of things
The newly formed selection committee headed by Kris Srikkanth has selected Ganguly in the 15 man squad for the series, media reports say two Tests, but hopefully he is in for this Test series and I think, selectors feel seniors might make a call about their future plans rather than they calling the shots, it was a decision coming and he deserves his spot in the squad considering his experience within the Indian team. The unlucky ones missed out are Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma and Mohammad Kaif, I think they will have to wait for some more time as the Indian batting line up is still hot in the middle.
India definitely need the experienced players in the middle to capitalize on any opportunity that come along with some new set of Australian players in the team who are a bit inexperienced at this level, but should feel comfortable with the playing conditions. Test Matches in my view will be close fought ones as Australia is a formidable team and all of the players know their Cricket well despite some fresh faces.
Bryce Mcgain is already off the seen due to a shoulder injury and its a bad luck for the spinner and Shane Watson is down with a fever, but Ricky Ponting's men are enjoying the valuable match practice they have been having, a quick warm up at RCA and now the tour game in Hyderabad should instill good confidence in the team.
Meanwhile Indian camp too had some valuable match preparations in Bangalore under the eyes of the Coach Gary Kirsten. It is important to note the observation the Australian coach Tim Nielsen made, Australia definitely is going to pick the players who will adapt to the conditions quickly he said and that's a good way to follow up in announcing the team.
Bangalore is the home ground of the Indian Skipper Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid, they might be looking forward to take advantage and give India a good start after a not so good outing in Sri Lanka in the recently concluded Test series.
S Badrinath and Amit Mishra are two call ups in the Indian team. The latter having a good stint playing along with Shane Warne and has given him immense confidence. It will be interesting to see if India plays three spinners in any of the Tests. I think it will all depend on the outcomes of the first Test at Bangalore, where India would like to go with a full experienced side in search for a quick lead against the inexperienced Australian team and put them under pressure, a draw will give Australia a tremendous boost to their campaign. The first test starts on October 9.
News Source Cricinfo.com
India definitely need the experienced players in the middle to capitalize on any opportunity that come along with some new set of Australian players in the team who are a bit inexperienced at this level, but should feel comfortable with the playing conditions. Test Matches in my view will be close fought ones as Australia is a formidable team and all of the players know their Cricket well despite some fresh faces.
Bryce Mcgain is already off the seen due to a shoulder injury and its a bad luck for the spinner and Shane Watson is down with a fever, but Ricky Ponting's men are enjoying the valuable match practice they have been having, a quick warm up at RCA and now the tour game in Hyderabad should instill good confidence in the team.
Meanwhile Indian camp too had some valuable match preparations in Bangalore under the eyes of the Coach Gary Kirsten. It is important to note the observation the Australian coach Tim Nielsen made, Australia definitely is going to pick the players who will adapt to the conditions quickly he said and that's a good way to follow up in announcing the team.
Bangalore is the home ground of the Indian Skipper Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid, they might be looking forward to take advantage and give India a good start after a not so good outing in Sri Lanka in the recently concluded Test series.
S Badrinath and Amit Mishra are two call ups in the Indian team. The latter having a good stint playing along with Shane Warne and has given him immense confidence. It will be interesting to see if India plays three spinners in any of the Tests. I think it will all depend on the outcomes of the first Test at Bangalore, where India would like to go with a full experienced side in search for a quick lead against the inexperienced Australian team and put them under pressure, a draw will give Australia a tremendous boost to their campaign. The first test starts on October 9.
News Source Cricinfo.com
Monday, September 29, 2008
Welcome to Corporatisation of Cricket
VVS Laxman was replaced by Adam Gilchrist as the captain of the Deccan Chargers, one of the Franchise of the Indian Premier League T20( Twenty Overs a side ) Cricket to lead the side in the next edition played in India. Ironically the team ended at the bottom of the table despite boasting some big names in the game with a repertoire to slam-bang Cricket.
Herschelle Gibbs from South Africa, Andrew Symonds from Australia, Shahid Afridi from Pakistan and Adam Gilchrist from Australia again are one of the strongest hitters of the Cricket ball the game has ever seen. They altogether have astonishing style of play and bring loads of charisma into the game. VVS Laxman is a pure Test Cricketer where none of the above players come into the bracket except Adam Gilchrist. But still the style of Play Laxman boasts is hard to find these days, he is mainly a wristy player who could play the ball in a flash making it hard for the bowler to stick to a particular line and length. And the best of bowlers can struggle against on his day. The purest form of Cricket needs time for a batsman or a bowler to settle down at the wicket, where as contrastingly T20 just starts from the very first ball. You don't have time in this version and it is basically entertainer form of Cricket, where people like to see some big hittings.
But captaincy of VVS Laxman was the reason behind the dismal performance of the team cannot be judged so soon despite team mate Shahid Afridi's observations. But the Franchise seems to want to correct their selection of the slot for the captain, I think the DC management made a mistake here, it should have thought out carefully when selecting the team in the inaugural version itself, this is some short sightedness to the fore. What will DC do if the team fails to perform under Adam Gilchrist next year ? Adam doesn't posses some magic wand in his pocket. Where he could change the fortunes of the side in a flash. But definitely he is a good performer and reads the game well.
Same could be said of Royal Chanllengers from Bangalore, we know the style of play Rahul Dravid boasts off, it doesn't suit the 20 20 style of play, how much Rahul will be successful it will be interesting to see in the future. Will there be a change at the team in the Royal Challengers team also ? Vijay Mallya did twisted the side in the last version with his comments in the press.
Going by the trends till date it shows Corporate Cricket will see many such decisions in the future, as here money dictates the game, no reputation can withstand that onslaught. Welcome to corporatisation of Cricket.
Herschelle Gibbs from South Africa, Andrew Symonds from Australia, Shahid Afridi from Pakistan and Adam Gilchrist from Australia again are one of the strongest hitters of the Cricket ball the game has ever seen. They altogether have astonishing style of play and bring loads of charisma into the game. VVS Laxman is a pure Test Cricketer where none of the above players come into the bracket except Adam Gilchrist. But still the style of Play Laxman boasts is hard to find these days, he is mainly a wristy player who could play the ball in a flash making it hard for the bowler to stick to a particular line and length. And the best of bowlers can struggle against on his day. The purest form of Cricket needs time for a batsman or a bowler to settle down at the wicket, where as contrastingly T20 just starts from the very first ball. You don't have time in this version and it is basically entertainer form of Cricket, where people like to see some big hittings.
But captaincy of VVS Laxman was the reason behind the dismal performance of the team cannot be judged so soon despite team mate Shahid Afridi's observations. But the Franchise seems to want to correct their selection of the slot for the captain, I think the DC management made a mistake here, it should have thought out carefully when selecting the team in the inaugural version itself, this is some short sightedness to the fore. What will DC do if the team fails to perform under Adam Gilchrist next year ? Adam doesn't posses some magic wand in his pocket. Where he could change the fortunes of the side in a flash. But definitely he is a good performer and reads the game well.
Same could be said of Royal Chanllengers from Bangalore, we know the style of play Rahul Dravid boasts off, it doesn't suit the 20 20 style of play, how much Rahul will be successful it will be interesting to see in the future. Will there be a change at the team in the Royal Challengers team also ? Vijay Mallya did twisted the side in the last version with his comments in the press.
Going by the trends till date it shows Corporate Cricket will see many such decisions in the future, as here money dictates the game, no reputation can withstand that onslaught. Welcome to corporatisation of Cricket.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Cricket News
Meanwhile Krishnamachari Srikkanth has been appointed as the new chariman of the national Cricket Selection committe succeeding Dilip Vengsarkar who finishes his stint as the national selector. The new selection panel comprising four other national selectors are Yashpal Sharma, Raja Venkat, Surendra Bhave, Narendra Hirwani and N Srinivasan.
Shashank Manohar has been selected as the new BCCI President( Board of Control for Cricket in India) succeeding Mr Sharad Pawar who is also the Union Minister in the Central Government of India and also the ICC ( International Cricket Council ) Vice President, the body responsible for the International affairs of Cricket in the world.
The new hierarchy in the BCCI also announced the national selection committee of selectors headed by Srikkanth will be on a national contract of 4 years which will be reviewed annually and the first such contract said to be paid by BCCI. The other notable transfer is Niranjan Shah who was the secretary and now has been appointed as IPL ( Indian Premier League ) the twenty overs a side cricket tournament played in India annually, the Cricket version of club football, a latest in the development of the game. More such tournaments are being scheduled to take place, with the latest Champions Trophy 20 20 version scheduled in December involving top Test Playing nations such as Australia, England, South Africa, Pakistan etc.,
All together Cricket has three versions which has International Recognition.
1. Test match Cricket ( Played over five days with two innings a side )
2. One Day Cricket ( 50 Overs a side, an Over comprises of six deliveries )
3. Twenty Twenty Cricket ( 3 hour, 20 overs a side format )
Shashank Manohar has been selected as the new BCCI President( Board of Control for Cricket in India) succeeding Mr Sharad Pawar who is also the Union Minister in the Central Government of India and also the ICC ( International Cricket Council ) Vice President, the body responsible for the International affairs of Cricket in the world.
The new hierarchy in the BCCI also announced the national selection committee of selectors headed by Srikkanth will be on a national contract of 4 years which will be reviewed annually and the first such contract said to be paid by BCCI. The other notable transfer is Niranjan Shah who was the secretary and now has been appointed as IPL ( Indian Premier League ) the twenty overs a side cricket tournament played in India annually, the Cricket version of club football, a latest in the development of the game. More such tournaments are being scheduled to take place, with the latest Champions Trophy 20 20 version scheduled in December involving top Test Playing nations such as Australia, England, South Africa, Pakistan etc.,
All together Cricket has three versions which has International Recognition.
1. Test match Cricket ( Played over five days with two innings a side )
2. One Day Cricket ( 50 Overs a side, an Over comprises of six deliveries )
3. Twenty Twenty Cricket ( 3 hour, 20 overs a side format )
Match Reports
Rest of India vs Delhi Irani trophy match
Rest of India scored an assuring victory over the Ranji champions Delhi, in the end it was a good result for the ROI team. Bowlers specially did well, notably Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel had good stints.
Gautam gambhir played a sensible knock of 91 in the second innings but could not help stop Delhi losing the game, his innings will be a bright point in the match with the other notable performers in the form of Chetanya Nanda in the Delhi side who took the only five for of the match.
Australia A vs India A at Chennai September 26 2008
In the other final match of the triangular series in Chennai,India, Australia A won easily by a margin of 156 runs, the pace combination of Shaun Tait, Brett Greeves and Mark Cameron snatched the match early sending back 4 batsmen with just 33 runs on board inside 7 overs. None of the India A batsman put up any resistance. Earlier Australia posted a strong total of 303 with Ronchi, Hussey, White and Voges scoring half century. Suresh Raina put Australia A into bat after winning the toss.
Rest of India scored an assuring victory over the Ranji champions Delhi, in the end it was a good result for the ROI team. Bowlers specially did well, notably Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel had good stints.
Gautam gambhir played a sensible knock of 91 in the second innings but could not help stop Delhi losing the game, his innings will be a bright point in the match with the other notable performers in the form of Chetanya Nanda in the Delhi side who took the only five for of the match.
Australia A vs India A at Chennai September 26 2008
In the other final match of the triangular series in Chennai,India, Australia A won easily by a margin of 156 runs, the pace combination of Shaun Tait, Brett Greeves and Mark Cameron snatched the match early sending back 4 batsmen with just 33 runs on board inside 7 overs. None of the India A batsman put up any resistance. Earlier Australia posted a strong total of 303 with Ronchi, Hussey, White and Voges scoring half century. Suresh Raina put Australia A into bat after winning the toss.
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