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The cynics will say he tried, what with that four through covers. The optimists will say, it was the Lankan misfield. Anyway, 3 runs to win, 4 runs for Gambhir’s 150; good for him he had the strike – and he stuck, 4, 150 for Gambhir. You can’t blame Karthik for everything. One stumping and a 19 not out, he even lifted Gambhir, half mast, but he’s only a little man.
Showing posts with label India vs Srilanka Series 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India vs Srilanka Series 2009. Show all posts
The curious case of Yusuf Pathan
Despite his best efforts cooking up zeros, Yusuf remains in the Indian team. Getting all the colours right on a rubik's cube would be easier than trying to solve this puzzle of understanding why. It looked such till we got hold of a transcript of the selection committee meeting to finalize the teams for the home series against Srilanka.
Krish Srikanth: Now let us discuss allrounders…
Voice1: Sanjay Bangar, he has been doing well in Ranji recently
Voice2: Then what about Rajat Bhatia, he is younger compared to Bangar…
Voice3: And Bangar has had his chances, now we should encourage youngsters
Voice1: So what about Pathan ?
Voice2: Which one ?
Voice3: No… No what have they done of any note off late… Except appearing on TV and dancing with Fara Khan ?
Krish Srikanth: Yes… I agree. Why Pathan ?
Voice1: Cheeka you mean Y Pathan ?
Krish Srikanth: Yes, why Pathan ?
Voices (in chorus): So Cheeka you mean take him ?
Krish Srikanth: Yes take him off
Voices (in chorus): Ok we take him… Y Pathan, Y Pathan
Krish Srikanth: Now let us discuss allrounders…
Voice1: Sanjay Bangar, he has been doing well in Ranji recently
Voice2: Then what about Rajat Bhatia, he is younger compared to Bangar…
Voice3: And Bangar has had his chances, now we should encourage youngsters
Voice1: So what about Pathan ?
Voice2: Which one ?
Voice3: No… No what have they done of any note off late… Except appearing on TV and dancing with Fara Khan ?
Krish Srikanth: Yes… I agree. Why Pathan ?
Voice1: Cheeka you mean Y Pathan ?
Krish Srikanth: Yes, why Pathan ?
Voices (in chorus): So Cheeka you mean take him ?
Krish Srikanth: Yes take him off
Voices (in chorus): Ok we take him… Y Pathan, Y Pathan
200% of Windies' runs scored behind the wicket
Wides, byes, wides that went for byes, edges, leg byes, foot byes, good byes, but mostly bad byes.
India played two keepers. Neither was keeping wickets.
i fear for srilanka...
not coz mahela jayawardene has resigned from captaincy...
but for the reason what i saw in yesterday's match that india won...
...and the name of my fear is tillakaratne mudiyanselage dilshan...
he was all over the place yesterday...
yelling at bowlers...shouting at fielders...
one moment he looked to be in heaven...
and another looked as if he will have a heart attack...
one shot from batsman and you could see how his shoulders dropped...
all in all a nervous wreck...
he was a text book example of how a captain should not behave on field...
so please srilanka, if you want to appoint any captain...
arrange another T20 match with us...to see how he fares...
we are anyway free still...before we play next T20 match with nz...
and we can do atleast this much for you...for being such a good neighbors...
yes dhoni?
ps: even bcci seems to like this idea...
U & I
if U (yusuf) can do it so can I (irfan)
seems to be the mantra of pathan brothers!
india were in a spot of bother...but then came the brothers, spot on...
they put on 59 in just 25 balls!!
...and india won with 4 balls to spare!
well done U & I !!!
miracles do happen...
..and so malinga is back to doing what he does best...bowling his hurt out...
"The president introduced me to Dr Eliyantha White. He works with supernatural powers and herbs," Malinga said. "I don't know what he does and how he does it but it works. I am very grateful to him and the president." The treatment lasted five days and the pain disappeared. Malinga was fit to start his training.good for malinga...and sri lankan cricket...
but why am getting this feeling that a certain sree santh has just called his agents to book an appointment with dr. eliyantha white...?
my only request to dr. 'super natural' white...instead of knee can something be done to his brain with your 'powers'...? thank you...
now that will be a miracle...
When All 11 were Needed
By Q
India went into the match today with only 3 specialist bowlers - Sharma, Balaji, and Irfan Pathan, if you can count Irfan Pathan as that.
With 20 overs to be bowled by part timers, 300 was always on the cards for Sri Lanka.
Dhoni used the part timers, all 6 of them, for 26 overs. 35 if you count Pathan Junior's. The Lankans got 320.
Over in another continent, across oceans, the West Indies needed only 2 bowlers to bowl cricket's newest millionaires out for 51.
5 years ago, on the same ground, the English needed just 1 bowler to bowl the Windies out for even lesser.
So maybe Dhoni thought that 3 would be enough.
He forgot though that this was the subcontinent, and not the Caribbean where 1 or 2 bowlers have done the job.
But then even that is not always the case in that part of the world.
There are times when teams have used as many as 11 bowlers in trying to bowl the opposition out.
Yes 11!
Even the wicket keeper took his gear off to turn his arm over for an over and a bit, and even managed a wicket.
The captain, a mere part timer, bowled as many as 43 overs, almost a quarter of the overs the team bowled.
Another part timer, who kept wicket when the original keeper bowled, turned his arm over for 21 overs.
Thats a lot of arms turning over.
When your strikers are Pollock and Ntini with Kallis and Boje for back up and a raw Zondeki, why you need another 6 including the bloody keeper is because someone scores a triple.
And it wasn't Lara.
And the best team in world required all 11.
Well they weren't the best team back then, but they were 2nd and still they needed Prince and AB to bowl. Even Gibbs and Boucher were required.
They toiled for 235 overs!
Atleast Dhoni needed his 9 for only 50.
Ruthless!
By Q
Last year when everyone was claiming that India was the number 1 team in the world, there was some Sri Lankan somewhere who was wondering why since Sri Lanka had not only beaten India in a test series but also in the Asia Cup final.
I think someone conveyed that to Dhoni & Co.
Dhoni decided to act.
How could anyone even think of suggesting that his side was not the best.
Action it was.
And the result...
4-0
And mind you, the 4th one came without the leading ODI run scorer and without their premier strike bowler in the team.
No Pictures Please
By Q
Midnight.
Celebrations.
Hindi film remixes.
Pool.
Drinks.
Dance.
Chat.
Shake a leg.
Sway.
More pool.
Cheat.
Laugh.
Party more.
The Indian cricket team.
No Pictures Please.
DROPPED!
By Q
9-0-64-1
10-0-44-2
10-0-47-0
3-0-10-1
6.5-0-29-3
7-0-41-0
That after 21 matches and figures of 158-13-562-55
And what happens after 6 below par matches?
You get dropped!
Men of the match
Once upon a time Sachin shared the MoM with Yuvraj or was it the other way round.
Today, Yuvraj shared his MoM with Sehwag.
When Sachin and Yuvraj shared their MoM, they did so in the flesh, even though it wasn’t a meaty trophy. They clung on to each other, the trophy, and the basic idea of sharing.
This time, Yuvraj shared it, but somewhat metaphorically.
He spoke in his endearing Texan Jaat twang, something about sharing it with Sehwag.
Sehwag looked like a midsize cap. His face, somewhat downcast, was obscured by cap.
Yuvraj as MoM, is a curious choice if you go purely by the scorecard.
Even though scorecards aren’t pure, like say, vestal virgins.
Yuvraj 117(95), Sehwag 116 (90). Top that Sehwag bowled 7-0-30-1, Yuvraj bowled 3.4-0-14-1
But then the scorecard didn’t give out the MoM award. Arun Lal did. Not that he called it alone, was it in cahoots with PwC?
Deal is, honesty blaze Yuvraj said, ‘i got to my 100 before Sehwag’.
Yuvraj was the playmaker, rainmaker, coffeemaker. He came in at 2 down for 24. Sehwag was already there. He came in at 0-0. Bane of an opener. You can never come in at 2 for 24, 3 for 30, or 5 for 65. Unless you get injured, retire, return. It’s complicated.
Anyway, Yuvraj was the Man of the Match. And Sehwag was one of the men who played in the match. But how.
Magnetic Stumps - A Sri Lankan Cricketing Innovation
by Achettup
Apparently yesterday's match between Sri Lanka and India was a humdinger. Cricinfo's headline is "India Survive Kandamby Thriller". Maybe two out of form blokes stitching a 100 run partnership off 161 balls off the likes of Raina, Ojha, Sehwag and Pathan makes rivetting viewing for some, but when there isn't much of an act to follow all they've done is taken the game away from their team. Kandamby and Jayawardne probably played out 16 overs in dot balls between them. Just about the only time the game looked close to being a contest was when Sri Lanka got a few runs in the powerplay, but honestly against the likes of Zaheer and Ishant, who apparently doesn't think, think, think, think clearly as he and unfortunately Dhoni chose to remind us in the presentation ceremony, wickets tumbling was a formality.
There was something thrilling out there though, especially for all you tech savvy cricket fans who've been demanding the sport embrace innovation. It wasn't Kulasekara managing to hit 130ks which I thought was quite special considering his average speed seemed to be 105kph. It had a little to do with another bowler who manages to hits the 130ks on a regular basis. In fact he manages to hit the stumps at 140ks too... but the batsman isn't out! How can that be you say?
In the late '90s there was this crazy rumour doing the rounds that had something to do with Sanath Jayasuriya, a cricket bat and a spring... as in a coiled a spring... as in embedded in his cricket bat... Sanath Jayasuriya's cricket bat. I mean how else could you explain the ball rocketting off his bat? I've seen some Peter Pan movie where Captain Hook shoots the ball before some dork swings his baseball bat... so maybe it wasn't a coil. But there can be no doubt about this latest innovation. Might I present evidence Exhibit One:
Zaheer bowls to Mahroof who makes room to smash the ball on the offside, swings, misses and the ball smashes the leg stump... but wait... its 4 byes. The ball deflects well enough to have evaded a diving Dhoni and perhaps even a diving leg slip if one had been placed there. The bails... they're still there. WTF! India, quite rightly dismiss this as a freak incident, since this is the first time its happened in the match.
Exhibit Two: 49.1, Kandamby chips the ball down to long-off, sets off on a mad dash for two, Dhoni collects the ball and flicks with a good deal of force onto the stumps and appeals for a run out. The umpire refuses to oblige and motions towards the stumps. Dhoni looks back and is shocked to see the bails are still on them. WTF, did Kandamby quickly pick them up and put them back on? Oh wait... now I get it... super glue... shakes stumps and lo and behold, the bails fall off. Dhoni is in shock. His theory has been destroyed in one swift blow.
Never fear Dhoni, I've solved this one for you. It has to do with Kumar Dharmasena, a button, bails with metal implants, and stumps with coils in them. Might I also recommend that you wear shoes with rubber soles the next time you're standing upto the stumps in Sri Lanka. Kumar Dharmasena, scourge of Indian cricket, is at the heart of the matter on this day when he makes his debut as third umpire. When ever the ball is live or in play, presses down this button which passes electricity through the coils in the stumps. This induces a magnetic force which is strong enough to keep the bails attached to the stumps, irrespective of any external force that acts on them save a singularity like a black hole that temporarily pops up and destroys all the laws of physics and then pops back out again. Its a quite brilliant innovation that has helped the home side twice now. Oh yeah, and when there's suspicion all KD has to do is take his finger off the button and look bemused at Dhoni's puzzled expression.
There is a simple way to get round this MS... All you have to do is switch the bails upside down or in some reverse order... that way they'll never stick to the stumps! Hah! Now what Sri Lanka?
Lanka-India ODI not played Live
It’s just like 13 years back. Sanath opens, scores runs, tons of runs, scores a ton. And Sachin opens too. Where is Sehwag? Where is the Sehwag-Gambhir opening combine? Nothing like a good glass of whine with another ODI on.
Why is it not a 7 match ODI series? Why couldn’t they eat into the Pak-Lanka test series – like have the first 1½ test series. Means the 2nd test be the first 2 ½ day test. Match over an hour before tea on the second day. And with it another captain. C’mon, it took three days of cricket to knock Malik off. Heard of Jamal Malik, he’s the kid in Hound Dog Millionaire. Does he play cricket? A little.
And Rohit Sharma’s playing too. That is not Live either. Deadweight? OK, so he may score a biggie, but where’s the joy? Badrinath would’ve made a biggie-wiggie by now, and Pujara a triple X. It's all about chances. And geography.
one more dig at current selection...
by straight point
sorry...i couldn't resist myself...so i have to...
i know its for ODIs only but still...the problem with the selection for india's tour of srilanka is that it doesn't give right message to anyone...
whether to the players who are selected like praveen kumar...who can think that he can get away without performing at domestic level...if at all this is the criteria...
or to the players who are not selected like mishra...who will think that licking captain's ass...or to be in his 'in' group is far more qualification to get the nod than performance...
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