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by Naked Cricket
Some tests have ‘Draw’ written all over them. If you look closely, instead of RBS, you’ll see ‘Draw’ written on the field, midway between the stumps and the side screen.
If you squint more, you’ll see all those Airtel hoardings are really ‘Draw’ hoardings.
You don’t need the beautiful mind of a code-breaker for this: just a hint of mint, a dash of squash…
Mohali had ‘Draw’ written all over it. That’s what kept me away. No victory dance, no Poms to prod.
Take the Mohali test (don’t shove it yet) – from a possible 450 overs (less 2 for each change of innings), what do we get – 343 (minus your twos please). The game was scrapped forty minutes before 5pm on the 5th, do that math too.
107 overs less (that is a day and 17 overs)
Begs the question, why wasn’t this test played higher up in the hills – would’ve been lucky to get a day and 17 overs. Must have got cold feet.
And isn’t this the second test in consecutive series being played at Mohali – and even though every parrot in the com box is enamoured by Mr. Bindra’s hospitality, go on this way, test cricket will need a hospital very soon.
An unlucky draw
Good for cricket
Chennai and Perth were. How good will Mohali be?
Can England come from behind, just like India and South Africa did the other day?That sure will make cricket’s day. And cut this Indian team to size – nowhere close to tiny oz, but you get the drift.
What Now?
By Q
I was soaking in the Karachi rains when I browsed Cricinfo on my mobile to check the score of the England-India test match.
The day had ended on 170 odd for 1 and I wondered what a big partnership Sehwag and Gambhir would have had.
I was pleasantly surprised when I clicked on the ‘full scorecard’ and saw that Sehwag had gone for a duck and Dravid was batting on 60 odd at the end of the day.
The next afternoon I woke up from my slumber after a heavy night and while still in bed browsed Cricinfo mobile again.
R Dravid c Panesar b Swann 136
I smiled to myself and wondered what the bloggers would be doing now.
Every single one of us including yours truly had called for his retirement. None of us thought he had that 1 innings left inside him.
Just last week I wondered when his silence will break.
The silence broke.
It broke when the run drought ended.
Dravid spoke and spoke about how "relieved" he was.
Surely! After all that speculation and finger pointing, Dravid must have slept well for the first time in many many months.
After I got back from Karachi, I went around the blogosphere to guage the reaction to Dravid's innings.
There wasn't much.
SP said there were 136 reasons to smile and while Trideep welcomed him back, Ottayan waved him goodbye. Elsewhere NC wondered where the script was.
Everyone else was quiet.
So what happens now?
That one innings that everyone was talking about has happened.
Does that mean Dravid can retire in peace?
Or does that mean he continues?
He just got bowled for a duck.
Such is life.
Was the 100 a one-off and his misery not over?
What now?
A wallflower
by Naked Cricket
When Collingwood scores a ton can Dravid be far behind?
Sehwag set it up beautifully for Dravid. He got out of the way real early, set off a mini crisis.
Good time to come in for India’s crisis collector. If he could, Dravid would prefer to come in at the fall of two early wickets. Recently though, more often than not, this second wicket has been his – and much as cricket has been revolutionized, a player can still not come in at the fall of his own wicket. That would be the second coming – is that what this Dravid ton is about?
In the last few days, Sachin and Dhoni backed their once illustrious teammate in the press. What took them so long?
No doubt Chairman of selectors wasn’t able to arrange for a script reading earlier. Otherwise there would’ve been a full-fledged chorus a long time back. Elsewhere in a Ranji plate game, Saurav Ganguly may be prompted to break his month long silence. And ask more questions.
Sky Report (from Mohali, Delhi and Chennai)
It rained men in Chennai. And it also rained boyz to men in Chennai. It just didn’t rain rain in Chennai. That’s because it rained rain talk – and that’s always a dampener on rain. Up North, from Mohali there’s no rain talk. Which is why it will rain rain in Mohali. Also you can’t see a star in the Delhi sky. They’re all in that Chandigarh hotel. Btw that’s just a stone’s throw from here, esp. if you’re an Olympic gold medallist discuss-thrower.
There is another Andrew!
By Q
If you think that scoring 123 and 108 in the same test and ending on the losing side was cruel, think about this:
The batsman scores 142 in the 1st innings and is the last man out. His team manages only double his score and follows on.
The batsman again top scores with 199 - he doesn't get out, he is left stranded as his team is bowled out.
And his team loses by an innings!
Strauss, fate might have been cruel to you but there is another Andrew out there who faced harsher fate!
Friends of the fifth day
It doesn’t matter if it’s black or white or England. A test match has been carried forward to the fifth day. With still all four results possible: England, India, draw, rain. Go to the Karaoke bar in downtown Tokyo and sing that song, 'It’s the fifth day'. You may not heal the world, but heaven knows it’ll be one sexy balm on the battered body of cricket.
The midnight hour
It’s the witching hour. Dogs begin to bark, bats start to fly as does sleep. Barely nine hours before Gambhir takes strike. Is Dravid’s mind still on strike? Will he sleep, who cares? Does Dravid speak to anyone in the dressing room other than the masseur? Can he massage his ego? Does he still have one? A good time to make a call, speak to an old friend, call Jumbo, call Sri. You’re still in the team, Jammy. Even if you don’t belong, you owe yourself. Whatever that means.
optimising resources...
there was hardly any surprise this time when dravid came again at no.3...
you need some one to protect batsmen...near close of play...after the dream start provided by viru...
...and he is the perfect guy to come in as nightwatchman...
this is what we call optimising resources at disposal...
though england will be hoping that dravid won't take his new task seriously...
This is India Dammit!
By Q
I think England blew it.
Sure it hasn't been done before. Sure no one has chased over 300 in the 4th innings in India to win a test match. Sure no one has scored over 200 in the 4th innings in Chennai to win a test.
But this is India.
This is MS Dhoni's India.
This is the India in which Sehwag & Gambhir open.
They can do anything.
Ask Gary and he will tell you as well.
You set them 387 in 120 odd overs and you expect to win?
Really?
Sure you do but this is India dammit!
Its the India that goes at 9 runs an over at the beginning of an innings.
For 7 overs!
Even after 9 overs it goes at over 7 and a half!
Its a test match remember?
Its the 4th innings of a test match!
You should be looking to save the test.
Bat like a wall for 120 odd overs.
But the wall is cracking.
You need to play the new game.
The Sehwag game and smash yourself to victory.
And Sehwag will. India will.
Any doubts?
the good, the Athers and the ugly
Things start to look bad for India when:
Atherton is in the box
Atherton blames Indian prawns
Atherton can’t tell the Arabian Sea from the Bay of Bengal
Atherton is still in the box
Atherton adds 125 to 75 and declares that the English lead is 200
Things start to look bad for Atherton when:
You mention McGrath and 19 in the same breath
You mention a test average of 37.69
Return of At the end of the day
KP’s back. His bowling changes were MSDesque. His field placements for MSD were KPesque. To look MSD in the eye was the idea -short cover, short mid off, not short of ideas, KP. England warmed the cricket engine before tea, and then unleashed it on the Marina.
A Frank Diary (2nd Day)
It was always going to be the case: prise Sehwag and Gambhir early, and it won’t be a T20 test innings. Stil refreshing to see the other batsmen get a chance. Ideal for Dravid too – humidity at 110%, time to sweat helmet fulls and water the ground. Also, two down for thirty. But Dravid the fighter had to make it tougher, he became the third man. Down but not out of the game yet. Blame the rules of test cricket, once selected you play both innings. Is this a strong case for that supersub rule?
Zimbabwean influence on English cricket
by Naked Cricket
KP won the toss but didn’t find his lost mojo. England did what they often do: score runs upfront and then lose so many plots they burst the real estate bubble again - 4 for 65 off 33 overs. That’s empathy for you: they rather play like Zim than play them. Divide your screen into two: play the Zim horror chases vs. Lanka on the right, and you’d be left with England chasing its tail.
But before that they swept. If you didn’t know it, now you do - Andy Flower is their assistant coach. In spirit and in sweep. The reason they hired Flower was his 50+ test average. Poms, even the best of them respect a 40+ average, with 50+ they go flat out on the floor and levitate.
You have to grant Flower this much. He maybe Zim but he got that 50+ avg without playing Zim.
England watched hundreds of Flower videos, but in doing so, (largely because of poor video edits) they also inculcated into their batting, the attributes of lesser Zim batsmen.
KP, for one, took a shine to Henry Olonga’s batting. Convenient as Olonga now lives in England.
Sky Report
from Chennai
Enter the Sky Team of Beefy, Bumble, Gower, Hussein, Willis, Holding resembling Reservoir Dogs.
Bumble: Wudyaubelieveit it’s the Sky Report HoHo!
Chorus:
Put your key in the sky
Twist it round
Wait for a rumble
A thundering sound
Holding: Immaculate bowling!
Chorus:
This is no pitch report
This is no bitch report
This is your sky report
Sky Report! Sky Report!
Bumble: Wudyabelieveit…HoHo!
Chorus:
Put your key in the sky
Twist it round
Look out for dew
And a bird that flew
Over the cuckoo’s nest
Over the Chennai test
Bumble: Wudyabelieveit they’re doing the Macarena HoHo!
Chorus:
This is no pitch report
This is no bitch report
This is your friendly sky report
Sky Report! Sky Report!
Hussein: What have you got, skip?
The pleasure of a very good series
by Naked Cricket
A win is great, but how many careers did you crash?
If you can knock the captain off, even better. While 2-0 vs. Oz was great, it wasn’t really Ashoka the great.
The team remained intact, as did the captain. If you can call Ricky’s fragile state that.
Top that they unearthed Krejza. It’s another thing no scorekeeper knows how to spell his name.
Earlier, M people beat India. And somewhat belatedly Dada got the golden handshake. That conquest for Lanka was no less than the Kalinga killing fields. No wonder they’re Buddhists.
Deal is, Aussie didn’t give India the pleasure of a very good series – they could have knocked Hayden but in a weird way, that’s akin to knocking Dravid. You just don’t go and nuke your best player. Even if he’s, excuse the expression, a puke player.
England’s here. And frankly, nothing India does can give them the pleasure of a very good series. If you can call two tests a series.
As for England they can still have that perverse pleasure. But do they want it bad enough?
Ponting stays behind in India
The 'Bored of Anglo Indian 7X24X7 ODI series' Poll is over. While 20% and some missed tests and somebody to hate, Ponting was missed by most (26%). Wrist in Peace, Punter.
Saj, the Scarlet Pimple-nel
We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those pommies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven?—Is he in hell?
That demmed, elusive Pimple-nel
Events could conspire to bring mr. non-event, Saj Mahmood, along with other baggage on the English tour to India. In today’s uncertain world you can count on Saj warming the English benches with his pimples and going at 6 rpo when he bowls. Saj however, at his elusive best, was not available to bowl or comment.
At the end of the day ton
KP scored a century. Good for him. Good for the English, they tend to miss centuries more than Chetan Chauhan. Ever heard Nasser Hussein go on about the importance of tons - ever seen his manic gesture at that Natwest after he got one. There was Tresco, he used to get them. Then there’s KP, he started by getting them. The English don’t get it – it’s not about centuries. Otherwise Jumbo would have scored more. At the end of the day, KP, ODI centuries are clichés. Almost like your day ending spree. They can win you games, but can also lose you the plot. Terrible being too internalised, more so in cricket. And imagine watching the same batsman for nearly fifty overs. Murder for someone with your attention span, right Kevin?
