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No performance anxiety, Sachin?
TEST CRICKET AT THE SCG (Photo credit: RubyGoes)
Dear Sachin,
What the heck are you doing, man, playing in silly Tests against New Zealand when your skills are so badly needed in the Rajya Sabha? Who watches a Test match against New Zealand these days when far more interesting and exciting matches are being played every day in Parliament?
Did you see that fantastic bouncer Arun Jaitley sent down to Chidambaram the other day? The man has been bowling brilliantly, he’s even better than Ashwin. The crowd has been completely bowled over by his balls.
It was also a treat to watch Manmohan Singh play a captain’s knock. Singh’s only claim to fame has so far been to occupy the crease, so his shots took everybody by surprise. I guess he had no option as the Opposition was playing bodyline against him. The poor guy had ultimately to retire hurt to Iran. Singh’s forte actually lies in bowling, where his Invisible Hand can deliver a mean googly.
You must come and watch the ladies play, they’re a sight for sore eyes.
Continue reading on HindustanTimes.com…
Related articles
- India versus New Zealand test series – will Sachin be next? (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
- Sachin has right to pick and choose series: Sehwag (thehindu.com)
- Sachin: Nobody will be able to replace Dravid at No. 3 (thehindu.com)
- If Sachin’s record is not broken, human race will fall behind: Kapil (thehindu.com)
Shane Warne: Love the game!
Shane Warne. At the WACA gound on 15/10/2006 Photo taken by me – user:Moondyne (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“I just play because I love playing and I try and take as many wickets as I can. ”
—Shane Warne
McCullum keeps India at bay with classy double: Second Test drawn
Image via Wikipedia
The second Test match at Hyderabad ended as a damp squib as well.
There were many who considered the tourists easy meat coming into the Test series. The New Zealand batsmen obviously had other thoughts.
Except for the first innings here when they collapsed after a healthy start, they have made the Indian bowlers labour hard for their wickets. They have not let the home side buy their wickets cheap.
Laxman and Bhajji hold the fort: First Test against Kiwis peters to a draw
The first Test match between the Black Caps and India petered out to a tame draw.The great escape was engineered by two intrepid saviours,VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh.
The New Zealanders would surely have hoped to end the Indian innings early this morning but much as Vettori and Martin tried, the experienced duo of Laxman and Harbhajan would not let anything get past them.
The Black Caps, however, let a couple of half-chances go a-begging.
Once the first session was seen through without further loss of wickets, it was a matter for conjecture if Dhoni’s men would choose to continue batting or declare early to try and force a win.The Indian think-tank decided against an early declaration; discretion is the better part of valour.
Laxman and Harbhajan rode into the 90’s in contrasting styles; Laxman —calm and self-assured— radiating confidence and Harbhajan treating his time in the middle as a lark in the park ,with mighty swipes at the spinners.
Both batters looked good for tons but Laxman was undone by a terrible decision by umpire Davis given out leg before off an inside edge. Zaheer followed him back to the pavilion — out off the next ball — and the Kiwi captain was on a hat-trick that was not to be.
Indian cricket: Tendulkar seeks the next level, Gambhir bats for Kirsten
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It’s true that geniuses and champions are never satisfied with what they have achieved.
They are always thinking of the next level, the next summit, the next goal.
They dare not rest on their laurels.
There’s always the next mountain to climb, the next peak to scale.
And so it is with Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
14,000 Test runs in test cricket, over 30,000 international runs and 49 Test centuries to his credit.
Yet, the gentleman talks about yearning to reach the next level.
"I’m really focusing now on how I can get to the next level as a batsman. How can I get even more competitive? How can I get even more consistent? How can I get better?"
What else does Tendukar have to say in his interview to The Guardian?
On dreaming, Tendulkar has this to say:
"Life would be flat without dreams. I think it’s really important to dream — and then to chase those dreams.”
2010 has been Tendulkar’s best year in recent times, reminding us of the young Sachin, unburdened by the cares of the team and varied niggling injuries.
Tendulkar is also back at the top of the ICC rankings, the first time since 2002.
It is said that all’s well with the world when Tendulkar is in full flow and so it is for cricket fans.
The full interview will be published this Saturday.
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Australian cricket: The Big Bash à la IPL raises more than a few questions
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The Big Bash League
If the BCCI is not quite open to having private equity from foreign investors in the IPL,that is not quite the case with the Australian version (The Big Bash League) of the IPL scheduled to begin in the 2011-12 Australian summer season.
New South Wales and Victoria have allegedly already sold shares in their state associations to two giant Indian corporations.
Brisbane-based Adani Group and Jay Mehta, co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, have been named as Indian corporates with possible interest in the Big Bash league.
Gautam Adani recently bid unsuccessfully for an IPL team.
In breaking news, Cricket Australia (CA) has approved minority private ownership paving the way for Indian investors.
The Australian Cricketer’s Association had backed the entry of private overseas investment saying that it will not only bring in much need investment into the sport but also raise the profile of the sport Down Under.
Each Big Bash franchise is valued initially at $20 million each which is expected to rise to $80 million over the next few seasons.
The Australian cricket calendar is being punctured to accommodate the new entity; tests will be foregone for the period of the tournament to ensure the availability of top Australian cricketers for the duration of the tournament.
More thoughts on the Mohali cracker!
To put it succinctly: India won a match they should have lost. Australia lost a game they should have won.
Neither team deserved to lose and it was a great advertisement for Test cricket. That’s what Test cricket is all about. It’s not over until it’s truly over!
The difference was that man VVS Laxman, who reserves his best for the kangaroos.
The Aussies kept digging into their marsupial pockets for ways to counter the Hyderabadi’s merry march to victory but there were just no tricks up their sleeves.
Ricky Ponting, unlike his predecessor, Steve Waugh, seems to ,more often than not, let the game drift and that was to be the case once more when the Aussies, by rights, should have gone in for the kayo.
No discredit to the fighting qualities exhibited by Laxman, Sharma and Ojha but Ponting needs a new thinking cap and soon!
In the end, it was yet another famous victory for the No. 1 Test team and Dhoni must thank his stars that he can call upon players of the calibre of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman to do yeoman service without throwing any starry tantrums.
