Alpha dogs and blinking theory!?

Oh my god! I thought these guys were sportsmen. But for Mr Hayden, it clearly is more than that. Here is his answer to “Away from the field, how were the Indians?” question (full intvw here):
They were reasonably pleasant. At the end of the day, two alpha dogs are never going to sit in a [...]

Ishant and Craig, 2008 and 1986

I don’t know why, but the the win today (Ind vs Aus), reminded me of a very similar ODI that was played in Brisbane, Australia about 22 years ago. India managed only 161, Australia surpassed that thanks to a nice 6th wicket partnership between Steve Waugh and one Mr Greg Mathews. Back then in early [...]

Cricket – Protest the Gandhian way

How about this. Indian team goes ahead and plays the Perth test, but protests in this Gandhian style. It will work a lot better if Kumble wins the toss and bats first.
First delivery, straight and full from Lee, Jaffer lets it go and hit the off stump. Ditto, does Laxman. 2 for none, in [...]

Sorry I wont

So much for the ‘anything for the country’ and ‘I play for the team’ talk. First it was Mr Wall, and now it is Mr Ten, they seem to care more for their personal records than anything else.
What makes you think that they wont be saying things like ‘I wont open’ (in tests), and ‘I [...]

ICL vs IPL, domestic vs international

I may not have written lately on the topic – the untapped market for organized domestic cricket, and a dream – but I have been watching them both, ICL and IPL. Thanks to the monopolistic protection from BCCI and ICC, IPL is going great guns. Aussie cricket stars signed up, Russel Crowe interested in owning [...]

Mallya and ICL – why not?

So Mr Vijay Mallya picked BCCI over ICL. I am a bit surprised, why? Perhaps because he hopes to be the president of BCCI someday.
When I dreamed of Mumbai Marathas and Bangalore Bombers last year, I had Mr Mallya sitting in a VIP box enjoying the game. What I didn’t write then was this. I [...]

BCCI and ICL, how about a real fight?

Trust me I am not trying to script a Bambaiyaa movie plot here. But how about BCCI and ICL decide to fight their battle the right way, as in on a cricket ground?
My dream (here, back in Sep 06) is about to come true. We will have plenty of Mumbai Locals vs Bangalore Drivers (pardon [...]

Comedy of errors

That second Ind-Eng test was a memorable one, definitely for me. India won a test match abroad, okay, that is one. And they did this despite the fact that their best batsman didn’t play. Yuvraj Singh – the most talented bat in the lot right now (save perhaps for Dravid) and future anchor of the [...]

I want to play

“Radium”, he said. Sitting inside Chaibasa-Tatanagar passenger, I was curious to know the name of this kid who was lugging a big cricket kit.
“We live in Delhi. He is my son, a very good cricketer”, his dad started the conversation.
Delhi! And they carried a cricket kit all the way to this mining town in Jharkhand. [...]

ICL updates: BCCI’s nod of disapproval

So BCCI’s has picked its direction as far as Mr Chandra’s ICL is concerned. It has asked its players and officials to stay away. No ‘approval’ for ICL either – ha, like they invented the game! A new league may need some of BCCI’s players, but certainly not any of their ‘officials’ :). Puns apart, [...]