Chasing huge totals

In the last two months, we have seen three chases of over 300! First NZ chased down 317 against Bangladesh followed by two immensely popular chases India 387 against England and South Africa 414 against England.

So why are large totals being chased down offlate compared to 1990s? Here is my take on the reasons

• Steve Waugh Effect: In late 1990s Steve Waugh introduced a aggression in test cricket hitherto unseen. Aussies were regularly scoring at 3.5 to 4 run an over. Teams are learning to emulate the same. Scoring faster means more time in last innings to chase totals down.

• Twenty 20 Effect: Has accelerated the Steve Waugh effect

• Aggressive opening batsmen: All the chases of 300 plus have happened over 4 to 5 sessions. Batsmen like Sehwag and Smith are very aggressive making use of fourth day sessions to good effect. This means their teams go into fifth day thinking of victory instead of hopping around defensively with a negative mindset of drawing. The positive approach makes a big difference
  

• Quality of bowling: Quality of bowling has come off sharply. Surely Dravid, Tendulkar, Kallis would love to face Lee, Siddle, Swann compared to Warne, McGrath, Ambrose

• Batsman friendly conditions: Over the years conditions have become deeply batsman friendly be it covered pitches that don’t crack up, 2 bouncers per over only rule.....

I won’t be surprised if 418 chased by West Indies against Australia, in the not too distant past, is overhauled shortly.

Sachin buries Paki Ghost of 1999

At the outset hats off to English Cricket board and their team to come out to India in full strength. It was a terrific test match at Chennai and best possible advertisement for the game.
The genius of Sehwag was the key factor and ofcourse the determination of Sachin helped.
Re Sachin, I was his huge fan ever since I watched him blast Abdul Qadir for 5 conscutive sixes in a List A match in his debut tour of Pakistan in 1989. Felt he was the numero uno of his generation until his fatal attempt to hit Saqlain out of the Chepauk into the Marina beach. Still remember the shot vividly (yup with a lump still in my throat) being skied to midoff where Wasim Akram took a simple catch. India required 16 to win and his dismissal at doorstep of victory led to a typical India story in 1990s -- snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I lost faith in Sachin then -- felt completely let down and ever since saw him fall short in crucial moments - numerous ODI finals or second innings chases. Even our momentous overseas test victories in this century have been orchastrated by the classy Rahul Dravid. Things changed finally in CB Series in Australia when he scored a century in Syndey in the finals early this year. And ofcourse his century in the first test against England is possibly his response (finally) to Lara's 153* against Australia at Kingston in 1999. Hats off to Sachin and the monkey is finally of his bat and he has buried the Paki ghost of 1999.
Sehwag is the most destructive cricketer around and along with Gambhir form the most formidable opening pair in world cricket at the moment. The momentum at the top gives the team a huge uplift and with exception of Rahul Dravid entire team contribued to the victory. Over to Mohali now and I hope to see Laxman bat at 3. England would find this defeat very shattering and may not recover to perform in second test which India should win.

Mumbai attack

My heartfelt condolences to all families who lost their near and dear ones in the Mumbai terrorist attack. I pray to God to give you strength in this dark hour.

Sore Losers !

I was browsing thro some cricket press and two quotes caught my attention... “Often we find ourselves waiting with hands on hips for someone to face up or someone on the sight board to move away or some of those little frustrations happening with third world countries” Mathew Hayden after Australia was outclassed by India in the test series
Source: http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/nov/13hayden-calls-india-third-world-country.htm

“Given how much experience English cricketers have at the limited-overs version of the game, it's astonishing how limited and naive they continue to be against even half-decent sides. Monday's game encapsulated England's one-day woes.” A useless journalist in English press
Source: http://timesonline.typepad.com/the_doosra/2008/11/yuvraj-steals-t.html

The Aussies and Poms are sore losers. Mathew Hayen would not hestitate to give a lap dance to Modi to enjoy IPL luxuries. Hayden has made a name for himself with his inappropriate comments and latest gaffe would not make him a popular man in the Chennai superstars team for whom he will represent in the Champions League in December. Graceless losers, no doubt.

Atleast the Aussies have been a great cricket force; the Poms fool themselves into believing that they are a champion team! After all this is one team where anyone who can bat and bowl is the next Ian Botham! And Kevin Pieterson is best batsman in the world ;Matt Prior is the best wicket keeper in the world; The perenial laughing stocks but still fool themselves into believing that they are individually and as a team World Champions. Guys grow up and own up to your frailities and weaknesses.

Tribute to Anil and Sourav

Anil Kumble has been greatest match winner for India in tests. More so than Dravid, Laxman, Kapil or Tendulkar. Anil has been a champion cricketer who always gave his 100%. He is a superb role model who wore the India cap with pride. India will miss him. I shall never forget his bowling in Hero Cup final in 1993 when he took 6 for 12 against West Indies. Those were the days when cricket telecast from India was produced by TWI and it was great fun to hear Charles Coville wax eloquent about this great man. And ofcourse the Kotla 10fer against Pakistan remains etched in memory. But to my mind his greatest contributions (and oft not recognised) have been his roles in our overseas victories in England (2002, 2007), West Indies (2002, 2006), Pakistan (2004) and Australia (2003, 2007). Anil Kumble had taken 5 wickets or more in each of the test matches India had won in the above mentioned series. Just to prove that he is as much a match winner overseas as he is at home. Goodbye champ and best wishes for a bright future ahead.

I feel in love with Sourav Ganguly watching his silken cover drives during his debt at Lords in 1996. Indeed he was God on the offside ! He has been my favourite cricketer since. More than his contribution with the bat (which is not insignificant), Dada would be remembered for building team India from group of disjointed and disoriented individuals. He instilled steel into the Indian team and we had a dream run from 2001 (Aussie tour of India) - 2004 (India tour to Pak). Hats of to Ganguly. History still remembers Allan Border and Mark Taylor for laying the building blocks of the great Aussie teams under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. No less is the contribution of Sourav Ganguly. Future generations of Indian team will be eternally grateful for the Dada for building Team India. Best of Luck Dada!

Bowling is the worry, not fab four

Anil Kumble is his name; India's greatest bowler and by far our greatest match winner. Take any of India's victory in last 18 years home or away, you will see Kumble taking atleast 5 wickets in a match (this is w/o exception). Such has been his contribution.

Replacing Kumble is the biggest worry for Indian cricket more than the entire Fab Four put together. Harbhajan is not in his class by any strech of imagination and to my mind he should not even be in the team (notwithstanding his one-off good performance in Sri Lanka).

The spin bowling cubpoard is very bare. India does not have a single quality spinner to replace Kumble. Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ohja and Amit Mishra are some of our best spinners in domestic cricket. Dont see them playing too much international cricket though !

Over past 50 years India has always played to its strength at home. Always slow, dusty, crumbling wickets to serve likes of J Patel, Venkat, Bedi, Chandra, Shastri, Maninder, Kumble, Bhajji. Our bowling strenghts now will lie with our swing bowlers - likes of Ishant, Pathan, Zaheer, RP can move the bowl both ways in swining conditions. On their day, Zaheer and Ishant can bowl fast and generate good bounce. Given the sorry state of our spinning community, time is ripe to prepare fast, bouncing wickets to support our GenNext cricketers!

Phasing out the Fab Four

Indian selectors have done the right thing by showing the door to Sourav Ganguly. His form and fitness have been wanting fora  while. He has done yoeman service to his country but its time to move on.

Critics of the phasing out policy have questioned the depth in Indian team to replace the fab four. Clearly, it an issue but unless we start phasing out Indian cricket will end up having to fill in a huge hole in its batting order. A situation as disastraous as one Australia faced in mid 1980s when Lillee, Marsh and Chappell retired together.

In next tweleve months, India should show the way to Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar -- in order of the form (or lack of it) they show in coming series against Australia, England, Pakistan and New Zealand. VVS Laxman eternally on the brink of losing his place perhaps should continue for 2-3 years yet to shepherd the young guns of Indian cricket..

So who are the young guns who can replace the gaints? Yuvraj Singh, Badrinath, Kaif, Raina, Rohit Sharma come to mind.

Inspite of his recent fitness and form, Yuvraj to my mind is a very prodigious talent who needs to get his head right. On his day, Yuvraj is just unstoppable. He is a must in Indian test line up. Badrinath is another talent who has struggled to break into this formidable batting line up. Whatever little I have seen of him has given be enough faith in this chap. He is India's Michael Hussey - a possible late debutant but has talent to become one of top batsmen around.

Kaif is an enigma. He seemingly lost his way but his superb batting for Uttar Pradesh got him back in national reckoning. His performance in IPL was horrible to say the least and he looked short of class but test cricket is a differnt ball game. If Kaif has worked on this two weaknesses ie. the short ball and the fast incutter, he should prove to be an able replacement.

Raina is another crickter who has seen the lows and has worked really hard to cement his place back in the Indian team. If he curbs his instinct to fish outside the offstump, should prove to be  a tough and aggressive customer.

R0hit Sharma is sheer class and talent but his temperament for the longer form of the game is in question. I somehow get the feeling that he is someone who raises his game on the bigger stage. His performances in Ranji Trophy are pathetic but he is someone whom selectors should persists with.

Apart from these five cricketers, I would keep an eye for Shikar Dhawan and Manoj Tewary. Batting depth indeed will be tested but its better start to grooming talen now

Indo Aussie test series

Its been a while since I have updated my “blog” but financial markets have been volatile and chaotic and having a markets job is most stressful! Gee – I make my job sound bigger than what it really is Coming back to cricket, Indian cricketers get a complete break up from competitive international action in month of September. Welcome break to rest the tiring creaking bones. Now focus shifts to India – Aus test series at home. In terms of selection of team for such a crucial series, I would suggest that we don’t make wholesome changes but nevertheless may a change or two would be required in the middle order. Sourav Ganguly (incidentally my fav cricketer) must face the axe. He has been far too tentative in his last few tests and against Australia any such weakness would be ruthlessly exposed. But real issue is who will replace Sourav? Contenders include Yuvraj, Kaif, Rohit Sharma and Badrinath. Yurav in current form should not even be playing ODI. Kaif has always been fallible to the short ball and Rohit Sharma has not scored enough first class runs to warrant a test place. I strongly feel Badrinath has to fill in the gap. He has played enough first class cricket and scored tons of runs to get a look in. Others in the middle may just get to keep their place though Dravid needs to start scoring again. He seems woefully short of confidence, so surprising for a batsman who was easily India’s best batsman from 2002- 2006. He may well be pushed down the order to get a more attacking VVS at No 3 in the order. My ideal team in order for first test would be: 1. Sehwag 2. Gambir 3. Laxman 4. Sachin 5. Dravid 6. Badrinath 7. Dhoni 8. Kumble 9. Harbhajan 10. Zaheer 11. Ishant
In other parts of cricketing world, the entire English media is raving about English cricket’s so called revival in ODI cricket. I can only smile – English media has the tendency to over estimate its cricket and cricketers. Jack Russel for all his was best wicket keeper in the planet; Graham Thorpe was best player of spin in world cricket; Darren Gough was the next Ian Botham.. the list is endless. Guys, this is just one series where they have played well and they have a long way to go. Too early to be jingoistic of their performance. No doubt it is amazing to lead SA 4-0 in the series but too early to speculate on possible revival. They have a long way to. Btw, even more interesting is to note that Matt Prior is the solution to their wicket keeping problem. I have studied wicket keeping very closely over the years and I can bet my last dollar his technique is so poor that he is unlikely to be England’s keeper a year from now.

In coming posts, I would be sharing my views on timelines to phase out the Fab Four and also look at replacements. Till then, cheers

IPL and glamour girls

The IPL is on and the glamour girls are everywhere. Somehow I don’t like mixing both. Don’t get me wrong – I am not gay :-) But given the ardent cricket fan that I am, I would rather watch cricketers battle it out without having scantily clad women showing themselves off – its pretty disgusting to say the least. It was awesome to watch Shane Warne outfox Chandigarh Lions (or tigers or some animal) and I am sure with cricketers of his class around cricket will sell itself.

Raw Deal for Badrinath

I can bet my top dollar that Badrinath, the solid Tamil Nadu middle order batsman would be plying his trade in ICL by end of this year. I am sure he must be really frustrated. He has been the eternal bridesmaid but never the bride. He has been knocking at the doors of Indian cricket team for a while now. He was shunted out of ODI reckoning stating that he was too slow; he was touted by Dilip Vengsarkar (Chief Selector) as one of the key claimants for a middle order slot. The news that Md. Kaif has replaced Sachin Tendulkar in the squad must be a shock to him.

I think its been a real raw deal for him. Without any geographical bias (I am from Tamil Nadu as well), I suspect he should been given a chance to be in the squad. He has been the most consistent scorer in Ranji Trophy for the past few years and it’s a pity he has been ignored again.

Kapil Dev should be calling him shortly and ICL will benefit.

India vs South Africa - Series Previw (India to win 2-0)

“India beware in the forthcoming three match Test series which starts in Chennai next week. Graeme Smith and his boys are going to thump Anil Kumble and his charges” - A very bullish Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa's chief executive. The mind games have begun but I suspect this statement is going to backfire terribly. Such statements would not only fire up an aggressive Indian team but also adds pressure on the South African team.

The South African team has the usual combination– loads of discipline, touch of German efficiency and lacking flair. In Dale Steyn they have a fast bowler who can cause trouble to the strong middle order . You can also expect them to employ Paul Harris as a defensive around the wicket into rough bowling and frustrate Indians into bad shots. Indian batting line up seems to have a mental block against left arm spinners and very rarely attack them. Rest of the attack including Nitini appears flat and short of form/ class. Batting line up appears to be long with Monre Morkel playing at number 8 but may lack the class to battle the guile of Kumble in alien territory. It is the fielding department that South Africa is streets ahead of India and this should help balance the overall strengths of the two sides.

The Indian team has a settled look to it and the positive has been consistency in selection. Am glad Wasim Jaffer has been given another chance. The one factor which one needs to keep in mind is the approach of Indian batting line up. In the past, Indians seem to play defensively while playing at home. We have seen numerous 100 ball thirties from likes of Sachin, Rahul, Laxman. I hope the batsman are positive and look to attack the South Africans. Here the roles of Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly are important. The bowling attack looks strong and you can expect Kumble to top the bowling averages. I am worried about the stark decline of Harbhajan Singh in test cricket. He has forgotten the art of taking wickets in bucketfuls and this is another opportunity for him to showcase his skills. RP Singh is a much improved bowler and should be backed up well by the Sreesanth. A question mark hangs over Irfan Pathan and I don’t think he will play in any of the tests in slow / low bouncing wickets.

Overall, Indian team appears to be stronger and my prediction is 2-0 win for India

Probable teams for first test
India:
Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, RP Singh, Sreesanth


South Africa:
Graeme Smith, Neil Mckenzie, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villers, Mark Boucher, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Paul Harris

Darell Hair is back!

Darell Hair is back and that spells bad news for sub continental teams. Understand Hair was undergoing “rehab” for six months. ICC needs to explain the exact nature of so called “rehab” he has undergone. Till date, I have not figured out why Billy Doctrove escaped scot free as he was the other culprit at the infamous Oval test. In any case Hair’s return clearly means the quality of umpiring is going to decline further. I never thought he was a good umpire and some of his decisions have been outright atrocious. In any case, the rest of the “elite” umpiring fraternity is no good. Some of them wont be good enough to umpire in National competitions – to name a few Bucknor, Rudi Koertzen, Billy Bowden… even Aleem Dar is slipping these days. Gone are the days of 1990s when we saw some top quality umpiring with likes of Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Dickie Bird and David Shepherd at peak of their powers.

To improve quality of decision making, ICC should expand the elite panel as existing ones are just too tired covering too many matches and most important embrace technology in toto. Till then we have no option but to bear with third rate umpiring.

Lauding continuity in selection

The Indian team for the test series with South Africa has been announced and Indian selectors have chosen an expected squad. What has impressed me most of the current selection committee under Dilip Vengsarkar has been their consistency. By choosing Wasim Jaffer and Yuvraj Singh they have ensured continuity in selection. A pity Ishant Sharma is injured but I guess its better he is rested for couple of tests as he had maximum workload among the bowlers. Preference of Murali Kartik over Piyush Chawla is also a good move. With Kumble in the twilight of his career, it would be a good opportunity for Murali Kartik (should he play) to establish himself as a successor to the legend.

Watch out for the preview of test series in a few days time.

Indian Cricket team for South Africa test series

The Indian team for the test series with South Africa is being chosen today. The core of the team selects itself but injuries and form concerns would lead to a few changes. One of the contentious issues would be the opening slot. Wasim Jaffer had a horrendous tour of Australia but I guess is allowed one bad tour. He has been one of our most consistent batsman in past 18 months and deserves to retain his place.
My team would be as follows:
1. Wasim Jaffer
2. Virender Sehwag
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tenduklar
5. Sourav Ganguly
6. VVS Laxman
7. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
8. Harbhajan Singh
9. Anil Kumble
10. RP Singh
11. Ishant Sharma

Rest of the squad:
1. Murali Karthik
2. Irfan Pathan
3. Gautam Gambhir

My gut though suspects that Gautam Gambhir may play ahead of Wasim Jaffer and Piyush Chawla may get nod ahead of Murali Karthik.

Best All-Rounder in World Cricket

Who is the best all-rounder in Test Cricket?
Let’s take definition of an all-rounder. The traditional all-rounder is one who can be selected in a team purely as a batsman or a bowler. Adam Gilchrist’s lasting contribution has ensured that we expand the definition of all-rounder to one who can get selected purely as a wicket keeper or as a batsman.

Going by this expanded definition, lets list out the candidates
India: Irfan Pathan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Not sure Irfan Pathan will find a place in the team as either bowler or batsman especially in unhelpful sub continental wickets. Dhoni certainly can enter the team purely as a batsman. So India’s candidate is Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Australia: With retirement of Adam Gilchrist, no candidate around
New Zealand: They have two superb candidates – Brendon McCullum and Jacob Oram
England: With Flintoff injured, can’t see any viable candidate
South Africa: Jacques Kallis does not bowl anymore or atleast not enough. Shaun Pollock has retired. Only Mark Boucher fits the bill
Pakistan: Shoaib Malik comes to mind but he is an iffy bowler at best. Kamran Akmal cannot keep wickets :-)
Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakarra, fab batsman wicket keeper. One of my favourite cricketers
West Indies: Bravo is masquerading as all-rounder. To my mind, he is only brilliant fielder --period

Rankings
If you consolidate the list of candidates, we have Dhoni, McCullum, Boucher, Sangakarra and Oram – four wicket keepers and one traditional all-rounder. This points two interesting developments:
-- There is clear lack of quality all-rounders in world cricket – the amount of cricket being played is possibly not allowing cricketers to develop both their batting and bowling skills – 1980s was possibly best period of all-rounders with Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee competing for the best all-rounder tag.
-- The legacy left behind by legendary Adam Gilchrist is evident. He is a true champ

I would rate the five candidates in following order:
1. Kumar Sangakarra
2. Brendon McCullum
3. Jacob Oram
4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
5. Mark Boucher

Where is Andre Nel?

I was a bit surprised to look up the South African team touring India and not see name of Andre Nel. Andre Nel has been a thorn in India’s flesh in the past and somehow seems to do his best against India. In this context, it is indeed surprising to see him being omitted. As is the norm for visiting teams, two spinners have been picked – both are luxuries defensive left armers who I expect will over the wickets at leg stump.

Development of Dale Steyn is great news for South Africa and with his pace can trouble the best even on benign wickets. The bowling otherwise looks thin and South Africa may struggle to bowl out India twice.

Watch out for preview of the series coming up around 25 March 2008

Great Cricketing Rivalry

Which is cricket’s great rivalry at the moment? Is it Australia v/s England or India v/s Pakistan? This debate has been settled – its neither – to my mind the best cricketing rivalry at the moment is India vs Australia. For sheer intensity of the game, passion exhibited on the field, quality of cricket displayed on field and most important evenly matched competitiveness, there is no other rivalry to match these two great cricketing nations.

India has arrived and is here to stay. They are challenging Australians and even winning. Should they maintain their consistency, it bodes well for the rivalry.

England for their focus on Ashes has more often than not been trampled by Aussie aggression. Indo-Pak matches have become so common and at times so one sided that even the passion and intensity levels have come down.

So watch out for the great rivalry being played out – India v/s Australia.

About a monkey and farewells to Dada and Rahul

India’s win over Australia in the CB series was just amazing. It brings back memories of Sunny Gavaskar’s team winning the World Series Cup in 1985. What was great to see was MS Dhoni’s picking the team he wanted and the team backing him up. Praveen Kumar was Dhoni’s man friday and Sachin Tendulkar for once made useful contributions in big matches.

The series win effectively brings down the curtains on the illustrious careers of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.

Biggest gains of the ODI series
Dhoni’s captaincy – Displayed calm assuredness – displayed hitherto boldness unseen in Indian captains – brave decision to open bowling with Praveen Kumar and play Piyush Chawla in the finals. Backed his instincts and came out good. Playing under Kumble in the test series would have been an learning experience even as he grows in his job each day in the one day form of the game.

Gautam Gambhir has come off age. He has proved detractors like me wrong that he could not play genuine fast bowlers.

Rohit Sharma: A class act with great temperament. India would do well do groom him for test cricket.

Ishant Sharma: Continued his progress from test series. India should manage his work load well as he looks like the strike bowler that we would require.

Sachin Tendulkar: Finally playing critical innings while chasing esp in important matches. All of us have been waiting for this for a very long time. The monkey is off his back. Last time Sachin Tendulkar played import innings in finals was at Sharjah in 1998.

Jury is still out on Praveen Kumar. His contributions have been invaluable but it remains to be seen how useful he would be in unhelpful conditions in sub continent. But is worthy investment for the future

Disappointments of the series:
I am big fan of Yuvraj Singh and it was disappointing performance from him. Ditto Virender Sehwag.

In summary, a brilliant win for young, hungry team. One gets the feeling that this is just the beginning.

England to win away series 2-0 against New Zeland

England will take on New Zealand in a test series in the Southern Hemisphere and it’s a battle between teams which have seen more lows than highs since 2005. Both teams are in my view middle of ranking tables which makes it for an interesting match up.

English team has a quite a few quality individual cricketers but just don’t seem to play as a team. They have a good middle order with Ian Bell, Kevin Petersen, Paul Collingwood and a decent but developing opener in Alistair Cook. I think the weak links are Michael Vaughan (past his sell by date) and Andrew Strauss (tried, tested and failed). I don’t understand why English team is reluctant to give opportunities to Owais Shah.

I also suspect they have their batting order wrong. Ian Bell is at his most effective at No.6, not so much at No.3. All his centuries have been at No. 6 in the order. In any case, given the current squad, my preferred batting order would be
1. Michael Vaughan
2. Alistair Cook
3. Kevin Petersen
4. Paul Collingwood
5. Owais Shah
6. Ian Bell
7. Tim Ambrose (no wonder Chris Read is in ICL)
8. Stuart Broad
9. Ryan Sidebottom
10. Matthew Hoggard
11. Monty Panesar

I will never play Steve Harminson. Its better for a captain to have a predictable player. Though you could argue that Harminson is equally predictable – always likely to spray the ball J I think he is one of the most over rated bowlers in the world. English have a history of over rating their cricketers. They always used to claim that Jack Russell was the best wicketkeeper in the planet in his hey days. Ever heard of Ian Healy or Nayan Mongia lads!

New Zealand team on the other hand has been rocked by the ‘defections’ to ‘rebel’ Indian Cricket League (ICL). They have a very weak batting and bowling line up. Save and except Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum and to an extent Daniel Vettori, the team is short of class.

Anything less than a 2-0 series win for England will be nothing short of a disaster for the English team.

Test Match cricket any day, any time

I am a traditionalist. I would rather watch Rahul Dravid battle the guile of English bowlers in overcast conditions or watch Nayan Mongia keep wickets to Anil Kumble in the dusty Indian wickets or watch Anil Kumble gritting his teeth and grinding down his opponents than watch the razzmatazz of IPL 20 – 20 cricket. 20-20 is not for a passionate and ardent cricket lover like me.
As the adage goes, change is constant and IPL tamasha is here to stay. The money is good and no cricketer is complaining of excessive cricket. The Indian cricket board is happy and that’s what counts in the cricketing world.

I certainly would watch the IPL and enjoy the game but certainly would not lose my sleep over it. I would rather lose my sleep watching teams battle New Zealand at Christchurch.
I always enjoyed watching this game ever since age of 5. I remember waking up at 4:30am with my dad to watch Ravi Shastri win the Champion of Champions in Australia and car along with it. It’s been a passion since