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When I ask him if it’s safe to be out late,
he replies, 'it’s ok, I have my deep cover and long on with me'
Showing posts with label Sangakkara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sangakkara. Show all posts
What did Sanga & Mahela do
To declare when a batsman is just 24 shy of a test hundred that shows rare character. But then Mahela was dismissed just 26 shy off a test double. Had he batted on, Samara' would’ve had his hundred. Worse, Sanga was dismissed 81 shy of a triple hundred. Had he batted on, almost everybody in the Lankan lineup would’ve been assured of some milestone. Mendis’ maiden test fifty, he was that close to it. It was one of those days, Lanka was dreaming four fingers.
India plays Sri Lanka every second day.
The organizers did not foresee this India-Sri Lanka final, they expected this Micromax Cup to be like their silly product promise, nothing like anything.
Truth is, Micromax is like everything, and so is their Cup. So while the Micromax guys were hell-bent on a Bangladesh-India/B’desh-Pak/B’desh-Lanka final to push their silly promise down our throats, what happened was quite the opposite – we’re on to a final, that’s just like any other day in Indian or Lankan cricket, they’ll play each other.
Even Sachin can’t take it anymore. He’s stopped playing Lanka in his sleep. Bhajji, who knew what was coming, refused to play Lanka every second day, dropped out of the dress rehearsal. No doubt he’s ‘saving his best for the finals’ and is more than aware he can ‘perform every second game’
While Lanka who won the rehearsal with a bonus point, were distraught that their big margin of defeat ‘counted for little’. Even though Sanga said nothing, it was clear from his expression he wanted their bonus point to ‘count for something’. His close friend, Mahela agreed, “Kumar wanted our big win against India to mean something, but here in spite of topping the league table, we can have one bad day at the office and lose the coveted Micromax Cup”.
Sanga refused to comment and asked us to speak to his lawyer, when reminded that he was his lawyer, he said, “I wanted our big win against India to mean something, but here in spite of topping the league table, we can have one bad day at the office and lose the coveted Micromax Cup”.
Elsewhere Sehwag was sick of these India-Lanka games – “it’s a good time to get injured, I’d rather be fit for India-B’desh games…” he then broke into a song, “Minnow yaan na Minnow…”
Also read: Scared Lankans
The clarity of a selfish cricketer.
Mahela didn’t do much for the first half of the IPL. Then Sanga, his Punjab skip, made him open - a hundred was followed by many more impact innings. That form continues into the World T20, 100, 98, he’s scoring like Dilshan used to, only more.
Then you have Gambhir, DD skipper. He drops down so Warner can open with Sehwag. Their opening doesn’t click yet Gambhir continues with them; both Sehwag and his form worsens, from patchy to scratchy. At that point, I did think it both selfless and stupid of Gambhir to open with Warner. Reckon the Aussie coach prevailed.
Now Gambhir finds himself opening for India. Facing his DD spearhead, Nannes. What does he do – not much, it’s been a while he opened; anything other than his mouth.
As for Warner, all that time spent opening in India, facing spinners, sure helped him. What does he do - rams 6s of spinners like he grew up facing them.
I don’t know if Gambhir realises it, but he’s lost his clarity, simplicity, aloofness. He should stop trying to be somebody he isn’t – drop the talk, bat.
IPL Divorce.
You don’t have to keep watching your team go down like some oral sex fiend. You’ll be happier hitting on another team. There’s no way Kings XI Punjab can penetrate the semis from here – they could change their name, jerseys, team owners, sex but it’s over now.
You’d expect by the end of the first round, one, if not two teams are spent. KEP sure is. Why watch them – for a laugh yes, but here’s an opening: Let the first round count for something – let the bottom two teams be eliminated. Why? Because it’s easier than eliminating the top two teams – there is no such thing as slow bicycle race cricket yet. Oh right, there is England playing test cricket.
Imagine no more of that Lankan coterie, their gyaan, angrezi, and their 200 year old coach. No more of fat boy slim. No more of the lesser but more earnest Pathan.
From now on extend Earth hour to all Kings XI Punjab games – do not watch them, not till they take no further part in the tournament. If the team had any Punjabi pride, they’d just go back to the fields.
Imagine Brett Lee as a farmer. He will take to it like a Yuvi to saag meat. And Zinta, she can toss rotis when Yuvi returns from wherever. No one will ask him to stay indoors.
As for the IPL, it will have fewer games and more parties.
Toxic Prince 2
Act 1 -
All hail the prince. Icon-cricketer. Son of the soil. Captain of the franchise.
Act 2 -
Prince past prime. Prince underperforms. Team underperforms. Team sulks & sucks. Aussie coach unhappy. Owners unhappy. Aussie coach convinces owners to dump captain. Prince loses captaincy. Team wicketkeeper made captain.
Act 3 -
Prince past prime. Prince continues to underperform. Team continues to underperform. Team still sulks and sucks. Aussie coach still unhappy. Owners still unhappy. New captain's batting also sucks. Prince also sulks.
And we are not talking about Ganguly, Buchanan, SRK or McCullum! It is a uncanny almost surreal parallel. Delicious. Can wait for Act4 - episode 1025.
I watch IPL because it beats any other soap. Of course it is not for the cricket, silly!
By Anonymous
Sangakkara: Abandon this match
Not quite the Kotla but the Shere Bangla National stadium has been equally bad for Sangakkara. Both games Thiranga knocked over for nothing; 0-1, where do you go from there – the second wicket, Dilshan again. When it was 42/2, Sanga saw that Kotla score flash before his eyes.
60/3, 61/4 – similar scores again, heck, where am I? Is this the Kotla again? Sanga wanted to call his men off, but there was one minor glitch – he was batting. He had to get out to call them off; or could he take a toilet break and call his partner, it seemed absurd.
66/5 – where had he seen that score, the Kotla again. Has to be that son of a pitch again! Sanga after the Kotla experience had taken to vulgar substitutions, with grammar too.
Damn, and that 5th wicket, a run out again. Creepy, he said to himself. Then he walked up to the umpires, they didn’t seem familiar – where are Erasmus and Tarapore? And where is my good man, Alan Hurst. But the inept match referee was nowhere to be seen.
Sanga flashed that sly joker smile; aaah this is not the Kotla.
The match went on and on, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 went down. Sanga thought he was playing in Mirpur, how delusional can you be?
The Difference.
Sri Lanka are chasing Bangladesh's puny sub 250 score with ease. Jayawardene is playing as if the last month never happened. Tharanga likes to score on pitches in places where Bengali is spoken.
Bangladesh struggled and stuttered and sputtered to reach 249 on this pitch. A day ago, Mighty Mahmudullah swung his bat and spanked the highly ranked Indian consortium of bowlers and dart throwers and pie chuckers.
With India's bowling being the way it is and Shakib having learnt the lesson that he must not bat first here, our hopes lie perhaps too much on the toss.
Here is what I hope turns out to be the sequence of events:
We lose the toss and are made to bowl second in both our remaining matches. Dilshan will bat like an Anti Buddhist and earn his desired locker in the DD dressing room ahead of Ashish Nehra, Thushara will make Dhoni blush. Maybe we manage to win the next one, it would be a close match then because remember, we've lost the toss and are bowling second. Or we could lose both but go through to the finals, eliminating Bangladesh on the basis of NRR. The heroics of Mushfiqur will not be in vain though, Dileep Premachandran will write a glowing feel good article about Bangladesh's performance which will leave people questioning their understanding of cricket and its intricacies, their knowledge of its history, the socio-politico-cultural-psychological factors and their vocabulary.
But on the day of the final, the unplanned for happens and India win the toss. Sri Lanka will politely be asked to bat first. But as a proud and young unit building a core team for the 2011 in this very sub continent, Sri Lanka will refuse to lose the toss and lose to the toss.
Dilshan will shine and the Tharanga will fly high as Sri Lanka will post a mammoth freaking target of 415. That's nearly 10 times the average Raina score!
But we are not the third best team in ODIs for nothing. Each batsman will make a fist of it and proceed to show Sri Lanka exactly how to chase a score of say..415.
Sangakkara will issue a heartfelt apology in Sinhalese, even the confused Dhaka crowd will clap for a speech well made, Dhoni will let out a solitary, secret, internal sigh of relief and the bowlers will let out a collective sigh of relief.
In the end, the difference between the two teams will be Sri Lanka's lucky streak with the toss. The difference will be their inexperience bowling second on this goddamn pitch.
by Crownish
blogs at FCKING BLOG (Fantasy Cricket Kings Blog)
Bangladesh struggled and stuttered and sputtered to reach 249 on this pitch. A day ago, Mighty Mahmudullah swung his bat and spanked the highly ranked Indian consortium of bowlers and dart throwers and pie chuckers.
With India's bowling being the way it is and Shakib having learnt the lesson that he must not bat first here, our hopes lie perhaps too much on the toss.
Here is what I hope turns out to be the sequence of events:
We lose the toss and are made to bowl second in both our remaining matches. Dilshan will bat like an Anti Buddhist and earn his desired locker in the DD dressing room ahead of Ashish Nehra, Thushara will make Dhoni blush. Maybe we manage to win the next one, it would be a close match then because remember, we've lost the toss and are bowling second. Or we could lose both but go through to the finals, eliminating Bangladesh on the basis of NRR. The heroics of Mushfiqur will not be in vain though, Dileep Premachandran will write a glowing feel good article about Bangladesh's performance which will leave people questioning their understanding of cricket and its intricacies, their knowledge of its history, the socio-politico-cultural-psychological factors and their vocabulary.
But on the day of the final, the unplanned for happens and India win the toss. Sri Lanka will politely be asked to bat first. But as a proud and young unit building a core team for the 2011 in this very sub continent, Sri Lanka will refuse to lose the toss and lose to the toss.
Dilshan will shine and the Tharanga will fly high as Sri Lanka will post a mammoth freaking target of 415. That's nearly 10 times the average Raina score!
But we are not the third best team in ODIs for nothing. Each batsman will make a fist of it and proceed to show Sri Lanka exactly how to chase a score of say..415.
Sangakkara will issue a heartfelt apology in Sinhalese, even the confused Dhaka crowd will clap for a speech well made, Dhoni will let out a solitary, secret, internal sigh of relief and the bowlers will let out a collective sigh of relief.
In the end, the difference between the two teams will be Sri Lanka's lucky streak with the toss. The difference will be their inexperience bowling second on this goddamn pitch.
by Crownish
blogs at FCKING BLOG (Fantasy Cricket Kings Blog)
"Abandon Sydney Test"
Watson finished 94 short of his second hundred. Ponting finished way before he got started. Katich finished even before the test started. Australia finished 127. It was much worse at tea, 66/7 which is when the murmurs started – the SCG is no better than the Kotla, abandon the test, someone’s ego will get hurt. Sangakkara was heard mumbling in his sleep.
Still asleep, he started waving, calling the Aussies back – they walked back for tea, somehow Sangakkara saw that and dozed off again.
Awake to the situation, Ponting looked sullen; then he asked if there was a match referee in attendance – what’s his name, is he the same idiot who officiated in Delhi? Appears it was someone by the name of Madugalle – Ponting was perplexed, isn’t Madugalle that place in Lanka, think I’ve played there.
When the 8th Aussie wicket fell, Sanga jumped out of bed – what, they’re still playing, he blurted. He started waving them back again, and nodding his disapproval - “Kandamby come back! NOW!”
Ponting felt his captain’s itch (that’s how test captain’s communicate) – he felt Sanga’s pain, “They really should abandon…”
Clarke nodded like only he can, and Hussey nodded like only he can, and Haddin didn’t nod, like only he can…yes, yes, they really should abandon…
Ponting continued…they really should abandon...the Kotla match.
Not for the first time, Ponting's team was disappointed by him.
YOU SON OF A PITCH!!
It was scary watching, so you can imagine what it was like in the middle, very scary. Seems to me this was a reactive pitch – in reaction to the criticism some of the Kotla wickets got in the Champions League. That the Daredevils lost the only game I attended must have sealed the deal.
The way the ball jumped from a good length you’d think the groundsman had popped some Viagra in. Hard on the batsmen alright, but it’s funny when you see that none of the five dismissals were Viagra induced. There’s also an alternate theory which claims Kandamby’s bulk did the wicket in.
Let it be known, it was only after Kandamby had frolicked for nearly 30 minutes that the match was suspended. If I was Sanga, I would’ve declared the Lankan innings @83 for five.MSD seemed keen enough to play on this wicket, perhaps he should have come at one down.
Of course there are those people who will blame Sachin, and claim he knew about the wicket all along and that’s why he sat out – personally I think that’s irresponsible comment, and while Sachin is indeed the son of Indian cricket, he is no son of a pitch.
Follow Bored Cricket@twitter #sonofapitch
Confusing one form with the other
Arguably some players have a license to fail repeatedly; and even if they fail in one form, they can always sneak into another form. So Ishant is dropped from the test team but he makes the T20 side. Yusuf Pathan is dropped from the ODI side (frankly I’ve lost track of this player’s flop shows) and walks into the T20 team. Rohit Sharma too, out of the ODI side, but in the T20 side.
I know, if and when any of these players make it in any form they will be rushed back into whichever form they were ousted from.
No such luck for someone like Amit Mishra. He’s first dropped from the test team, and then he’s not picked for either the one-day or T20 team. It’s obvious, some guys have all the bad luck – their neck is always on the line.
At Bored we’ve tracked Yusuf Pathan’s repeated failures (the number of first ball ducks) to hell with lame reasons that defend his batting position to his thoughtless batting; today, yet again, he was out on a second ball duck.
I wrongly called it as a first ball duck on twitter
@nakedcricket: Can't wait for Yusuf Pathan to score a first ball duck #cricket
It's a little much to talk about a T20 game, esp a lost cause, so here is BoredCricket on twitter
MSD's innings show just serious he takes India's No.1 test ranking. #cricket #MSD
The emotionally imbalanced cricket fan will find fault in MSD's subdued innings. #cricket
After the last over heroics from gambhir, more cricketers are looking to get their sisters married #cricket
MSD on the phone with Dravid, "you were right, once you enjoy test cricket...." #cricket #MSD
Damn, this Dinesh Karthik is so damn keen he wants to field for the Lankans #cricket
After this dismissal, Mahela will continue batting in the dugout #Mahelaisanoptimist #cricket
Sangakarra is still trying to win Sri lanka's first test in India #cricket
Only a conservative guy like Arnold will say 180. C'mon think 250 #cricket
And the crowds sing, When the Sanath's go marching out. #cricket
Credit to Ishant, he just didn't drop the ball, he dropped himself too #cricket
Hop on Bored, follow BoredCricket on twitter
Hey, what are tweets doing in a blog post? But hey, what are IPL amateurs doing in the Indian team?
sangakkara is right actually...
in a press conference before the start of india's tour, sangakkara said that the players should focus on things within their control rather than complain about the pitches... weather or food...
i think he is right...
after the thrashing they are expected to get on this long tour, the best of weather... pitches... or even the best of food... will not taste good...
Luckily it's not Dilshan, it's only Sangakarra who got out
This is how I saw it: Vettori high fiving, so someone was out – hope it’s not Dilshan. Replay. Dilshan facing, so it is Dilshan. No wait, that’s not a catch, the ball ricochets off Vettori’s hand, hits the stumps, and knocks the bails off. Third umpire referral: Cool, it’s only Sanga, Dilshan is still there.
This gets me thinking deep thoughts: cricket, it's not about the better batsman anymore, it's about the more entertaining one. Who would you rather see not dismissed, Sachin or Sehwag? Haddin or Hussey? Afridi or MoYo? Flintoff or Collingwood? AB de Villiers or Kallis? Dilshan or Sanga?
And to hell with the match situation, format, or if they're playing against us. I'd go with the entertainer.
PS: Do they need Dilshan in the com box, have you heard those drones
KhufiaBaaz: Why Sangakkara didn't go for the test win.
"By the time we were into the last 20 overs, the test match was looking more and more like a T20 game...and seeing that we had just lost a T20 World Cup final, we didn't want a repeat of that."
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