Ricky Ponting is his bunny and calls him 'dangerous', Hayden finds himself so helpless in the cricket field that he has challenged him in the boxing ring, the entire ozzie batting line up is troubled by his bowling . He has arrested attention by his attractive opening performance, is 19 yrs old with handful appearances at the international arena and has become the spearhead of the Indian bowling attack. He delivered the fastest ball ever bowled by an Indian bowler when he clocked 152.6 kph (94.8mph) at Adelaide versus Australia . Also, in the process, became first Indian to bowl over 150 kph. Long hairs and a lean but tall built, measuring 6'4" has earned him a nickname "LAMBU". He runs in hard, has an high arm action and swings the ball into the right-handers but can make the ball hold its line as well. Unlike other Indian bowlers he hits the deck hard and extracts deceptive bounce at great pace making life difficult for batsmen. No prizes for guessing it`s ISHANT SHARMA
For one who started serious cricket at 14, his rise was rapid and he made his Ranji Trophy debut at 18. He plays for Delhi in domestic cricket and has a good record at the domestic level he has also toured England as a member of the U-19 team in 2006 and Pakistan in 2007. At the age of 18 Ishant was selected in the Indian squad for the South Africa tour in 2006-07 but to his disappointment after receiving the call and organizing travel arrangements, it was decided not to send him on the tour, however Ishant continued his impressive show in the domestic circuit. In May-07 he was selected for the Bangladesh tour and played as a replacement for the fast bowler Munaf Patel, he did get a chance on the tour but he failed to perform, however he was retained for the tour of England. Later in the year injuries to the main bowlers Zaheer and Sreesanth in the home series against arch rivals Pakistan proved a boon for the young lad. He was included in the playing eleven and he grabbed the oppurtunity with both hands he took 5 wickets in a innings on a dead flat batting pitch and bowled his heart out, this effort won him a place in the Indian team touring down under.
He got a chance in the Sydney test, but was not amongst the wicket takers, he bowled well and should have got more wickets but it was not so, courtesy some very good umpiring by Steve Bucknor(he adjudged Symonds not out of a healthy edge to Ishant) . He again got a chance in Perth and since then Ishant has never looked back, he bowled superbly and made perfect use of the bowler friendly conditions, his spell in the second innings where he made Ponting look dismal n clueless is regarded as one of the best display of fast bowling by the cricketing greats, the additional over which he bowled to end his prolonged spell changed his life. He continued his good show in the ongoing tri-series and is a strong contender for the man of the tournament award.
The effort that Ishant puts in his game impresses me the most, he is still young and new to cricket but the maturity he has shown needs special words of praise. I have seen a remarkable difference in his fielding in such a short span of time, apart from fielding Ishant has also increased his pace by 10 ks and possess good fitness level which is a must for every budding cricketer. he was lapped up for an astounding winning bid of $950,000 by SRK for his franchise Kolkata in the player auction for the IPL. This was the highest amount paid for any bowler in IPL. tournament. I hope this money doesn`t get to his head and he keeps his feet planted firmly and goes on to be one of the great cricketing legends.
As of now all i can say is "Inu ke taare zameen pe nahi, aasman ki bulandiyon ko chuu rahe hain"
Monday, March 3, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
TENDULKAR Fails!!! India FAILS to chase
How often have u seen... INDIA CHASING--> INDIA LOST-->TENDULKAR FAILED !!!!!!
A major problem that the Indian cricket team is facing recently is that while chasing (even on good pitches) their most experienced batsmen who bats at such an influential position in the batting order is not performing
If you exclude the Coca-cola cup(Sharjah) `98, I cant think of any match where Tendulkar has been a major contributor in India`s successful run chases. If you look at the ongoing CB series Tendulkar has managed 128 runs in 7 innings with an batting avg of 18 and his performance in the matches where India have chased is "PATHETIC" to say the least. After a brilliant Test series, it's not so much his form in this one-day series that is the concern but his contribution, at that crucial opening position when India is set bigger targets to chase. If you look at it, it's a simple batting issue that the maestro along with the team management should professionally address
I believe that Tendulkar seems to let the team down the most while chasing big targets. If one looks at his performance in year `07 Tendulkar emerges out to be the most prolific run getter but he hardly contributed anything while batting second. But this did not become a talking point as he compensated by scoring heavily in the first innings of the match.
Senior players like Dravid and Ganguly were shown the door from the ODI team as the selectors and the captain felt that they could not contribute efficiently but my question is what contribution is Mr. Tendulkar doing ??? Why is Tendulkar`s performance not questioned?? To me Tendulkar is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about.
A major problem that the Indian cricket team is facing recently is that while chasing (even on good pitches) their most experienced batsmen who bats at such an influential position in the batting order is not performing
If you exclude the Coca-cola cup(Sharjah) `98, I cant think of any match where Tendulkar has been a major contributor in India`s successful run chases. If you look at the ongoing CB series Tendulkar has managed 128 runs in 7 innings with an batting avg of 18 and his performance in the matches where India have chased is "PATHETIC" to say the least. After a brilliant Test series, it's not so much his form in this one-day series that is the concern but his contribution, at that crucial opening position when India is set bigger targets to chase. If you look at it, it's a simple batting issue that the maestro along with the team management should professionally address
I believe that Tendulkar seems to let the team down the most while chasing big targets. If one looks at his performance in year `07 Tendulkar emerges out to be the most prolific run getter but he hardly contributed anything while batting second. But this did not become a talking point as he compensated by scoring heavily in the first innings of the match.
Senior players like Dravid and Ganguly were shown the door from the ODI team as the selectors and the captain felt that they could not contribute efficiently but my question is what contribution is Mr. Tendulkar doing ??? Why is Tendulkar`s performance not questioned?? To me Tendulkar is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The ones who get away, and those who don't
I've seen several quotes in the Australian media about how the likes of Harbhajan, Ganguly, etc. have been so frequent visitors to the match referees' rooms, unlike Australian players, which proved that Australia plays the game 'hard and fair'.....but is the ozzie media correct?
Stastics reveal that-There have been a total of 291 hearings by match referees: 29 of those resulted in a ban (one or more internationals), 22 resulted in a not guilty verdict, 63 finished up with a reprimand (including instances where the penalty was a suspended sentence) and 177 ended with financial penalties imposed on the player/official.
2001 was the busiest year (35 players pulled up), with 2004 and 2005 seeing 33 players pulled up. 2002 seems to have been an abnormally quiet year (6 visits). Perhaps the players used up their quotas in 2001!
Inzamam leads the players list (12 times, with 3 bans). At #2 is another perennial favourite, Sourav Ganguly (10 times, with 4 bans). Since Inzamam is now retired, Ganguly is very well placed to get to #1. Glenn McGrath, Graeme Smith and Shoaib Akhtar have 6 visits to their names. Special mentions for Sreesanth, who made his test debut in 2006 but notched up 3 visits to the ref in the span of 1.5 years and Graeme Smith, who debuted in 2002 and has already been hauled up 6 times, including 2 bans!
Pakistan leads with 56 visits to the ref's room, India is 2nd with 49, Australia is 3rd with 37, just ahead of South Africa's 36. I believe it is sufficient to consider the data in the context of these teams alone, primarily since the percentages could get skewed with teams who don't see the refs too often. Special mentions for West Indies and Sri Lanka who only got called to the refs' rooms 20 and 19 times. Over a data set of 15 years, that is a very good indicator that these two teams are fairly ... fair!
In terms of match referee verdicts where there was no penalty (financial or ban), Australia is a clear-cut winner. On nearly 30% of the occasions (29.7% - 11 out of 37), there was either a reprimand or a 'not guilty' verdict. The percentage of times Pakistan, South Africa and India were not penalized was fairly similar (25%, 22.2% and 26.5% respectively). Among those 4 teams, Australia's cricketers were banned the fewest times (5.4% - 2 out of 37, one of them being Darren Lehmann) while Pakistan copped it hardest (23.2% - 13 out of 56). Interestingly enough, South Africa copped it worse (13.9% bans - 5 out of 36) than India (10.2% bans - 5 out of 49).
To me, this is an indication that Australia does get away with it more often than others. Plus, there're probably umpteen other instances where the match referee, umpires or the ICC didn't even get to laying down charges. I'm not saying that this isn't likely for other teams, but based on the number of times Australia have not been penalized that is the inference I draw.
Glenn McGrath was found guilty of spitting at an opponent in 1999, and paid up 30% of his match fee. On another occasion, Damien Fleming pushed a Sri Lankan batsman after dismissing him. He paid up 50%. Then there was Slater and Dravid episode
despite the third umpire ruling not-out. In 2004, Langer was ruled not guilty despite dislodging a bail himself and then appealing for a hit-wicket in a match against Sri Lanka.
I believe it is high time the cricketing world called the bluff on Australia playing 'hard and fair' and hence not being taken to task by match referees. If India's financial clout has resulted in the board resorting to brinkmanship on a number of occasions, Australia's cricketing clout has potentially resulted in match referees looking the other way when Australia's players flout the rules, or letting them off with a 'Naughty boy. Don't do it again, ok?' warning.
Stastics reveal that-There have been a total of 291 hearings by match referees: 29 of those resulted in a ban (one or more internationals), 22 resulted in a not guilty verdict, 63 finished up with a reprimand (including instances where the penalty was a suspended sentence) and 177 ended with financial penalties imposed on the player/official.
2001 was the busiest year (35 players pulled up), with 2004 and 2005 seeing 33 players pulled up. 2002 seems to have been an abnormally quiet year (6 visits). Perhaps the players used up their quotas in 2001!
Inzamam leads the players list (12 times, with 3 bans). At #2 is another perennial favourite, Sourav Ganguly (10 times, with 4 bans). Since Inzamam is now retired, Ganguly is very well placed to get to #1. Glenn McGrath, Graeme Smith and Shoaib Akhtar have 6 visits to their names. Special mentions for Sreesanth, who made his test debut in 2006 but notched up 3 visits to the ref in the span of 1.5 years and Graeme Smith, who debuted in 2002 and has already been hauled up 6 times, including 2 bans!
Pakistan leads with 56 visits to the ref's room, India is 2nd with 49, Australia is 3rd with 37, just ahead of South Africa's 36. I believe it is sufficient to consider the data in the context of these teams alone, primarily since the percentages could get skewed with teams who don't see the refs too often. Special mentions for West Indies and Sri Lanka who only got called to the refs' rooms 20 and 19 times. Over a data set of 15 years, that is a very good indicator that these two teams are fairly ... fair!
In terms of match referee verdicts where there was no penalty (financial or ban), Australia is a clear-cut winner. On nearly 30% of the occasions (29.7% - 11 out of 37), there was either a reprimand or a 'not guilty' verdict. The percentage of times Pakistan, South Africa and India were not penalized was fairly similar (25%, 22.2% and 26.5% respectively). Among those 4 teams, Australia's cricketers were banned the fewest times (5.4% - 2 out of 37, one of them being Darren Lehmann) while Pakistan copped it hardest (23.2% - 13 out of 56). Interestingly enough, South Africa copped it worse (13.9% bans - 5 out of 36) than India (10.2% bans - 5 out of 49).
To me, this is an indication that Australia does get away with it more often than others. Plus, there're probably umpteen other instances where the match referee, umpires or the ICC didn't even get to laying down charges. I'm not saying that this isn't likely for other teams, but based on the number of times Australia have not been penalized that is the inference I draw.
Glenn McGrath was found guilty of spitting at an opponent in 1999, and paid up 30% of his match fee. On another occasion, Damien Fleming pushed a Sri Lankan batsman after dismissing him. He paid up 50%. Then there was Slater and Dravid episode
despite the third umpire ruling not-out. In 2004, Langer was ruled not guilty despite dislodging a bail himself and then appealing for a hit-wicket in a match against Sri Lanka.I believe it is high time the cricketing world called the bluff on Australia playing 'hard and fair' and hence not being taken to task by match referees. If India's financial clout has resulted in the board resorting to brinkmanship on a number of occasions, Australia's cricketing clout has potentially resulted in match referees looking the other way when Australia's players flout the rules, or letting them off with a 'Naughty boy. Don't do it again, ok?' warning.
Crisis time for cricket?
It doesn't seem like a great time to be a cricket administrator, I'd say this is a pretty testing time for cricket and I really hope the powers-that-be recognize it and fix the real problems.
New Zealand cricket could really do with some help. Shane Bond's NZ Cricket contract was terminated since he wanted to play in the Indian Cricket League. Scott Styris retired from test cricket to focus on playing limited overs cricket. He'd only played 8 tests in the last 3 years, compared to 49 ODIs and 13 Twenty20 games in that same period. I just don't understand exactly how playing 3 tests a year stressed him out. Most other players play between 8 and 12 tests a year on an average! Stephen Fleming may retire from test cricket less than a year after retiring from ODIs after the 2007 World Cup. A whole bunch of Pakistani cricketers, including Mohammad Sami and Naved-ul-Hasan Rana, have joined the ICL.
The Indian Cricket League isn't the only reason why players are retiring. The Indian Premier League (website) is also likely to result in several cricketers in the twilight of their careers retiring to earn a lot of money for a few weeks of effort. Adam Gilchrist is possibly only the first of a long list. Australia's star players are at loggerheads with their cricket board over potential sponsor clashes in the Indian Premier League. Simon Taufel is indicating that he may not renew his umpiring contract with the ICC. Given the umpiring cock-ups we've seen recently and the number of umpires available/eligible, this is a huge problem for the ICC. I'm fairly sure quite a few English county sides are worried as well, since the star overseas players they have signed up, at huge costs, would miss a few weeks of their county commitments to play in the IPL. There was a suggestion by an administrator (possibly from the IPL committee) that the ICC's Future Tours Programme (FTP) could be changed to accomodate IPL tournaments.
New Zealand cricket could really do with some help. Shane Bond's NZ Cricket contract was terminated
since he wanted to play in the Indian Cricket League. Scott Styris retired from test cricket to focus on playing limited overs cricket. He'd only played 8 tests in the last 3 years, compared to 49 ODIs and 13 Twenty20 games in that same period. I just don't understand exactly how playing 3 tests a year stressed him out. Most other players play between 8 and 12 tests a year on an average! Stephen Fleming may retire from test cricket less than a year after retiring from ODIs after the 2007 World Cup. A whole bunch of Pakistani cricketers, including Mohammad Sami and Naved-ul-Hasan Rana, have joined the ICL.The Indian Cricket League isn't the only reason why players are retiring. The Indian Premier League (website
) is also likely to result in several cricketers in the twilight of their careers retiring to earn a lot of money for a few weeks of effort. Adam Gilchrist is possibly only the first of a long list. Australia's star players are at loggerheads with their cricket board over potential sponsor clashes in the Indian Premier League. Simon Taufel is indicating that he may not renew his umpiring contract with the ICC. Given the umpiring cock-ups we've seen recently and the number of umpires available/eligible, this is a huge problem for the ICC. I'm fairly sure quite a few English county sides are worried as well, since the star overseas players they have signed up, at huge costs, would miss a few weeks of their county commitments to play in the IPL. There was a suggestion by an administrator (possibly from the IPL committee) that the ICC's Future Tours Programme (FTP) could be changed to accomodate IPL tournaments.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
