Oh, England!
What an entertaining past few months we’ve seen in England! I’d love to have been a fly on the wall, a fly capable of listening to and understanding the doublespeak and management gobbledygook (more…)
The Bendy Arm Brigade
I was reading about Sunil Narine's in/out story about his trouble with the arm that bends more than it should and I remembered this post that I wrote for Dipesh - at CricketWise, just as the #CWC15 The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 was starting. http://cricketwise.blogspot.in/2015/02/the-menace-of-bendy-arm-brigade.html That arm in that picture is quite…
RIP Richie Benaud
It's no secret that Richie Benaud was my first cricket idol. In fact, probably the last idol I ever had of any kind. For as I grew older, I stopped having idols altogether. Richie, thus, remains my first and only idol. I took up legspin becauseof the tales of his exploits, read in…
I told you so!
Now that #CWC15 is done and dusted and Australia have regained the trophy they lost briefly and the normal order of things has been restored, the experts have started talking about the changes they’d like to see. In posts dating back a few months, I had (more…)
#CWC15 – QF 2: IND vs BAN
A memorable match for Bangladesh, for many reasons, such as their first knockout game at the World Cup (ever) and the robbery under the lights that put their lights out. The second reason will be big news in Bangladesh for a while yet. (If you drive down to Buffalo, NY, you'll still see…
#CWC15 QF 1: SAF vs SL
This is the World Cup that started with a bang, with plenty of excitement, some strong showings, and surprises. It then tapered off into a sludge of matches of little or no import. About the only thing left was to see whether Ireland could pip the West Indies and Pakistan to a quarter final spot. Which they deserved more than the West Indies, really.
Then it was was time for QF 1. This the real deal, the place where run rates don’t really matter, methods, plans and data matters only if you can win. For the losers, there is a (more…)
#CWC15 – Cliches
This is a World Cup that I have watched after a long time. Watched, as opposed to, followed via ESPNCricinfo.com typed out commentary. I miss my old commentators.
On radio, I grew up with Anand Setalvad, Dicky Rutnagur and the like. Setalvad’s voice changed as he built up the excitement. “Bedi bowls, from between (more…)
#CWC15 – Week 2
What a week! We saw teams trying hard to lose, it seems but failing to do so, we saw a humdinger of a match between the hosts.
First let’s the world cup record out of the way. Yes , Chris Gayle got 215. Yes, he got it against Zimbabwe in the death overs. Yes, Zimbabwe have shown they don’t know what to do once they get to that point. Maybe they get tired, who knows. I don’t think it’s quite as wonderful news for the West Indies as is being made out to be. They say that Gayle should take his time to settle in. They say (more…)
#CWC15 – Ind v SA
Any dry throats and thumping hearbeats at the start of the game became dryer and thumpier as Rohit left early. With that, the game was afoot, as Holmes used to say, or so we are told by Conan Doyle. This was the other marquee matchup in Pool B, ranking in importance second only to the Ind v Pak affair. ( for Indians and Pakistanis anyway..)
Indian Batting: (more…)
NEVER TRUST A CRICKETER
< A little comic relief before the India vs South Africa match at #WC2015. This was sent to me by a lovely lady who shall remain nameless. Exceptions may be made in the case of those willing to send me a US$10 and a SASE.>
Come all ye fair young maidens and harken unto me,
Never trust a cricketer, whoever he may be. (more…)