It's In TeH GaMe !!!

My first post after a long time!

It couldn't have gone any worse for the Indian team. They really seem to be out of colors ever since the IPL. Oh well...in a way ever since I wrote my last post. They seem to be lacking the self-confidence and form that they carried with them coming into the year 2009.

The 3rd day was totally dominated by the Lankans thanks to some over-defensive tactics by MSD. This is one kind of a situation where Aussie captain, Ricky Ponting found himself when his team came to India for a four match test series last year. All strange tactics, flat fielding and bowling resulted in zero-pressure on the Lankan batsmen. But you can't really steal the credit from their batsmen as well. They seemed to have batted India out of this game totally. The current lead is around 165 runs. Expect the lead to increase to at least 250 runs, and then the SL bowlers would have enough time to test the so-called experience batting order of Indians.

What really annoyed me was the fact that the singles kept coming on quite easily. I wouldn't have set such a field even in shorter formats of the game. MSD seems to be lacking his out-of-the-box thinking. Or if you would like...his stars are not shining, therefore his gambles not paying off well. But why blame him alone? Some non-sensical and lousy bowling also resulted in Jayawardene duo getting away. Mishra just kept bowling from around the wicket, outside the leg to both the batsmen expecting the ball to turn miles(which of course even Warnie would have been able to do). Bhajji still seamed to be confused and a bit insecure. And part time bowling of Yuvi was at its worse. Either he bowled short, or bowled non-turning half volleys with 5-6 fielders outside the 30 yard circle. Ishant and Zaheer too looked decent enough.

Indian Batting in the 1st Innings -

The first half or so of the game sent shockwaves throughout the dressing room. Right after the 6th ODI against Australia played earlier this November, this was another top-order collapse. I remember Viru once said how fatherhood has made him more responsible even in his game. It seemed true for quite a while. Sehwag injured...he came back and with him came back the showdows of his gameplay during his early days when he used to get out trying to hit every ball out of the park. As one senior batsman, one does not expect this out of him. And the collapse continued to follow...Sigh. But again, the SL have stolen the credit for utilizing the early conditions well, especially Welegedara. Yuvraj,Dhoni and Dravid played extremely well to help India reach a total which looked completely out of India's reach.

What Can really Happen Now?

For India, it's near to nothing. They failed to attack Lankans the way a top team is expected to do. As an Indian supporter, I do hope to see India coming back well and at least saving their skin by drawing the game.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka have got an excellent chance to register their first win on Indian soil. Tomorrow's day is going to be very interesting and important one!



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If India is really worried it is probably due to the weather rather than New Zealand. Because of this poor weather the Indians doesn't seem to getting used to the conditions in New Zealand which is completely different than that in India. Obviously, the Kiwis are comparatively inexperienced than the T20 world champions. Though again they do have the home advantage. And to make it higher is the low weather conditions which aren't letting India to practice to get used to the conditions.

Also, India had previously lost to New Zealand in the T20 world cup. Revenge must be on the back of the minds of Dhoni and Co.

Vettori had earlier said that hard hitting guys like Dhoni, the Pathan Bros, Yuvraj, Sehwag can hit the ball easily out of the small grounds in NZ. And one of my friend said: "If Yusuf, Dhoni and Yuvraj can hit the ball out of the grounds in Australia and India,then, even players who aren't known for their big hitting like Gambhir, Rohit Sharma can clear the boundary rope quite easily." And if you look at the big hitters in the Kiwi side, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum are one of the most famous names. But batsmen like Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina have proved that T20 is not just about clearing the park. Instead strike rotating and quick running between the wickets is also very important. And when it comes to quick running and strike rotating, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are probably the best partners doing it regularly followed by their captain M.S. Dhoni.

In my opinion, the key players from both the sides would be -

India - Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh(big hitters to entertain the crowd), Pathan Bros(gosh...people would be expecting too much from them after their heroics in the T20 game against Sri Lanka), The bowling duo of Zaheer and Ishant( to see whether they prove good in conditions which are probably favorable to them)

New Zealand - Vettori(one of the best spinner and now the leader of the Kiwis), Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum(big hitters and match-winners), Jacob Oram(one of the finest all-rounder who has the skills to clear the grounds and pitch the bowl in the right areas)

The first T20 game is going to be played tomorrow in Christchurch.

For the full schedule click here.

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They are at it again. Somebody said right about the present situation of cricket in India :

"Morons are on the run and are ruining the game"

BCCI has again proved why they are the stupidest board of the game. The Indian team ODI jersey is simply getting darker and darker!


One might wonder if the Men in Blue would turn Men in Black. Who knows ? Maybe, by the time I pass out my school, the Indian jersey could turn just around the color of the Black Caps(New Zealand). The New ODI Jersey

Maybe you are rich BCCI, but remember that recession might hit you as well!

Alright, now to be honest I am seriously worried about the growing hype around the team. Why ? Because whenever the hype grows up, the Indian team goes down. And to add to the woes is this new Indian cricket team look. Whoever the designer of this new look is, in my opinion he/she can be criticized as well as praise about. Criticized because of this dull, fugly look and praised because as Dhoni said,"Hopefully, this one won't get too dirty and this would save the laundry charges as well"!

Maybe I am being superstitious, but I am seriously afraid that NZ tour might be a disaster as World Cup 07 was when before it started, the Indian team jersey got another new look.

Yuvi's a good model indeed !

Throughout this presentation, Yuvraj was at his hilarious best, and this pose of him explains it all. Harsha Bhogle, who was the host of this event kept the audience in good humour with his Q & A sessions with MSD, Yuvi, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Dinesh Kartik and Rohit Sharma. Yuvi chose to add 'ask Dhoni' to a few of his replies. For instance when asked if he was happy with his batting position at No.4, he said: "Very happy, but you have to ask Dhoni. He decides the batting line-up."

In any case, even as I am ending this post, the fear of a disasterous tour of NZ is still looming large on my mind.

Anyway, I wish India the very best for their tour. Go India !!

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Here's the latest news of the IPL trade window. Zaheer Khan and Robin Uthappa have swapped their IPL teams which means both of them would be playing for their domestic teams. While Zaheer played for Bangalore Royal Challengers last season, Uthappa played for Mumbai Indians. So this swap means Zaheer will be playing for Mumbai Indians and Uthappa for Royal Challengers.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians had swapped their bowler Ashish Nehra for Delhi Daredevils's Shikhar Dhawan.

I still wonder what made Royal Challengers swap their in-form bowler Zaheer ? It only seems that they are going into a deeper mess.

Meanwhile, Ashish Nehra could be a gain for the Daredevils as Mohammad Asif has left IPL. And they had already signed up the Australian opener David Warner earlier. So the balance is still there.

There's more to come with England players being auctioned later during February !

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