It's In TeH GaMe !!!

Finally after a long time we have experienced a solid opening partnership by Gauti-Viru. In ODIs one might blame Sachin for blocking the next Ganguly-Sachin like opening partners. But hey, even he is doing his job well.



Never mind, back to the present game. After already witnessing two great tons, I do hope as an Indian supporter to see Dravid and Tendulkar cementing their positions on-field and score a ton tomorrow. But who knows, the pitch might just get better for the bowlers later. In fact if you see, even in the last game played at Kanpur where both Gambhir and Sehwag featured in an opening partnership was against South Africa in 2004 where they took the toll to 218 runs.
That game resulted in a draw. Let's hope it doesn't happen this time around. I won't say the pitch will continue to be a batting paradise for whole 5 days like the one in Ahmedabad. I just think the Sri Lankans weren't up to the mark, especially Mendis. It could have been much better for them...really better had Mahela not dropped Sehwag when he wasn't even off the mark. Sehwag really did punish all the bowlers after that cautious little period early during the morning session.

India look good enough to take the team total to at least 600 runs if they don't collapse. Tomorrow's first hour could be an important one especially for Dravid if he wants to capitalize his innings and score about 150 runs. The Indians have a strong line-up to come. But on a day even the line-up loaded with the likes of Laxman, Yuvraj and Dhoni can falter. And as I said before, if the pitch starts cracking up...expect Murali and Mendis to take revenge. In fact only these two, all the bowlers could come very handy.

Some Shocking Decisions

I turned my Television on at around 8:30 AM waiting for toss only to here the changes made in the lineups of both the teams.

First up was India - Sreesanth comes in for Ishant, Ojha for Mishra. The former one in my opinion was totally atrocious. How can Dhoni and Co. loose confidence in him. Did Dhoni forgot how he used to show confidence in players like Yuvraj(during his early reign as captain) who were once going through bad form? Ishant has to be considered a bit unlucky. If you see, he did well in the first two games against Australia during the ODI series. Yet when he got a little expensive figures to show in the 3rd ODI, he was dropped for the rest of the series. And yet again, Dhoni expected him to bring in some wickets for the team on a dead flat batting track.

Mishra's exclusion was no less than atrocious too. Again, Dhoni seems to have lost confidence in a young talented spinner bringing in another young turner. I anyways won't say much about it...after all it is Ojha's birthday today!

Then came the Sri Lankan captain. At once I thought Sangakkara might have made a good decision to bring back Mendis for injured Damika Prasad. But later, when he was taken apart by all the Indian batsmen, Sanga might himself be ruing this decision. Well...he has at least shown some faith in Mendis.

By the tomorrow is my 15th birthday. And so as a birthday gift, I do hope to see the Indians end this match as well as the whole series on a winning note.

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A drought is certainly over. This one was for cricket games which lasted for whole 2 years. First came Ashes Cricket 09.Then came my very own much anticipated game - Cricket Revolution. But why was I anxious for it more than AC09? Here is the answer why -

Pakistan's First Cricket Game launches:
Yeah! You heard it right. A first for Pakistan in 3D gaming industry! Developed by Mindstorm Studios owned by two Pakistani brothers - Babar and Faraz Ahmed, this game was first supposed to release on 18th September on the fantastic game distributing platform - Steam. After a lot of demand for the boxed version as well from the fans, the release date was postponed to 30th October. Just before the game released, a closed beta test was conducted for a week or so. And I was part of it. That was the real turning point for my love and anticipation for this game increased. This game didn't really create much hype compared to Ashes Cricket 09 from Codies. Yet for me...this game is by far the best played so far.

The Real Turner -

There has been some criticism about other cricket games where they lack realism in their gameplay. But this is not the case with CR. You can't really hit every ball out of the ground like in other games. This is where CR has overpowered all others quite convincingly.

Though it doesn’t have the so-called complete 360° batting control or any analog keys(or whatever EA featured in Cricket 07), but hey, you have a vast variety of shots( a lot more than any cricket game so far). Total 34 in number! Right from defensive strokes, single key shots to combo shots and slogs and lofts. My personal favorite is the slog hit over Mid-wicket region.

Bowling is much like EA Cricket 07, other than the variety again. You have fast bowlers, swing bowlers, medium-fast bowlers and of course spinners. Another major difference is something you might find difficult to cope up with. That is the bowling marker. But with a bit of Practice you can master it.

What has really enhanced this game is the AI. Again, you can’t bowl them out cheaply. They are much intelligent than AI’s of other games. They will bowl you out with perfection. The margin for error is low but not zero. In a 10-10 over game you can score around 60-70 runs if you hit the ball in vacant areas. But timing and your positioning is everything. Unlike other games, where if the ball marker is a bit away from the batsman and still he manages to play his shots on the leg side, this is never going to happen here. If you’ll try this you are about to snick the ball to either the slips or the short-thirdman (AI always places a fielder in either of the places). As far as the timing is concerned, it is really important to be perfect here…if timed early, the ball will fly in the fielder’s hand and if timed late, a lofted or slog hit just rolls down the ground.

The only disappointment comes with the missing of Autoplay and replays.

Online Play –

Certainly it is another important aspect of the game. It can be a bit disappointing at times since P2P(peer to peer) online gaming means that gaming conditions are perfect only if you play somewhere in your country or somewhere around that. Anything above a ping of 300ms could result in bad lag. But it doesn’t really matter sometimes even if it goes above as long as you run your brain well. Sometimes the online matches are real fun. You have the option of playing either friendly or ranked ones. Ranked matches do affect your account ranking in the Leaderboard. In fact not only yours, but your country’s rank as well. Again, the point where it has edged out AC09 is the online quitters. You quit a game yourself, and your opponent is declared the winner. So there’s no place for losers.

But the problem is that you can’t beat cheaters…no matter if quitting games results in being counted as loss. They use dirty tricks to win games. They will ball you at a negative line well outside the off-stump. Sometimes they place the fielders at the boundaries straight down the ground, at the mid-wicket and the cover region. And they will flood you with over-pitched deliveries just to hit it straight to their throats. But if you are intelligent enough, you can easily beat them. Let them place their fielders anywhere…it’s you who have to place your shots.

Sound effects and Music –

The music track is pretty good. Even quite a lot of sound effects such as the sound of the bat while hitting the ball, the background sound such as police siren and such are realistic. The only disappointment there is the ball hitting the advertising boards just ahead of the ropes. They sound more like drums than regular wooden boards.

Oh and did I tell you that there is no commentary in the game at present?! For some it is sad, but I am pretty happy with it. The reason for my happiness is that I anyways mute the commentary after a few matches in other games.

Graphics –

They need a bit of improvement. Not a bit…in fact much. For instance the ball looks well above the fielder’s head yet he catches it at chest level. It gets funny at times as well as annoying when that freakish catch becomes the turning point of the game.

Formats and Tournaments in CR –

Currently only 10,20 and 50 over formats are available. Sad to see no test match mode. Test cricket is dying quite possibly. But the developers have said that they will most likely add it in the future.

In CR there are three types of tournaments – Exhibition mode, Fast-paced knock-out better known as Revolution Cup and a league known as Revolution League.

Other Features –

In online play, you will be able to create your own clubs soon. Another feature that will be available soon are the Awards and Achievements.

Meanwhile, in case you don’t want to play with a test-playing nation, there is a massive list of other countries you can choose for offline modes.

Conclusion -

A casual gamer might not be comfortable with Cricket Revolution. In my opinion this game is meant for real hardcore cricket gamers.

Total Score –

Gameplay – 8.5/10

Sound and Music – 7/10

Online Mode – 8/10

Graphics – 5/10

Customization – 9/10

Overall – 8/10

Visit the game website - www.cricketrevolution.com

See the review here as well - http://www.bukisa.com/articles/195136_cricket-revolution-the-perfect-cricket-game

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So the Border-Gavaskar series is hopefully going to experience a competitive game between India and Australia. This time it is at my home ground Delhi. And hopefully I would be going to see the match for a day or two since the festive season is going on here in India. I may even do a bit of Sports Betting as this always seems to make a game even more exciting. So what really matters now is the visibility on Day 1 that is tomorrow 29th October. Why I m saying so is because today is diwali, a festival on which the whole India burns crackers (which will naturally create pollution).

Anyways I m quite excited now and I wish all the readers of Crick-O a very happy Diwali.

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This time I bring you some basic tutorials of Cricket. The first one is basics of Wicket of Wicket Keeping -



Batting




Catching



Fielding



Bowling



Scoring Runs



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You've got to feel sorry for Andrew Symonds. He has a lot of talent in him and we all know that he can easily write new records in Australian Cricket history, but....only if he puts his past behind and plays like a dynamic player(just like he usually does, without messing up anything including his career). Now that there are talks in the air of him missing the upcoming Australia's Tour to India, you just can't say anything.

Yes, I m talking about the recent controversy that took place with this guy. The Symonds Gone Fishing Story !!!It shows that what happened to Symonds can happen to anyone. As long as you are getting money in your purse, you know that this money is for the services you providing to your nation. Hope Symonds too can clear his mind, and with a positive brain make a come back to cricket just to play and enjoy the game.





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