Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

IPL Cricket Forum’s Probables

1.   MS Dhoni (Captain and Wicket Keeper)
2.   Virender Sehwag (Vice Captain)
3.   Yuvraj Singh
4.   Gautam Gambhir
5.   Suresh Raina
6.   Rohit Sharma
7.   Yusuf Pathan
8.   Zaheer Khan
9.   Harbhajan Singh
10.  Pragyan Ojha
11.  Ishant Sharma
12.  Munaf Patel
13.  Irfan Pathan
14.  Robin Uthappa/ Dinesh Karthik/ Ravindra Jadeja
15.  Praveen Kumar/ RP Singh

The first thirteen players select themselves. Irfan Pathan was the one with the sword hanging over him before the start of the IPL, but he has shown sufficient promise with the bat as well as the ball to be in the squad. The only thing left to be seen in the first thirteen is that how serious is the injury that Zaheer picked up yesterday in the match against Bangalore.

If Dhoni isn’t a hundred percent, Dinesh Karthik will get a nod for one of the remaining two spots. If the selectors are looking for another all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja may get a spot. But Jadeja’s spinning exploits won’t be of much use as conditions in England will aid swing and Viru, Yuvraj, Yusuf and Raina can all bowl spin. And Uthappa’s better technique may have an advantage keeping in mind the conditions. Still, if selectors really push for an all-rounder, Abhishek Nayar with his slow-medium may fit in the frame.

Munaf’s consistency and ability to pitch in yorkers at the death make him a certainty. Praveen has been more reliable than RP lately but RP’s performance on the last England tour might force the selectors to think twice. The one to be left out is going to be on back up for Zaheer.

Dr.Mohit Goyal
http://.goyalmohit.blogspot.com

He entered with style, made a comeback in style and left in style, leaving people asking for more. There are a bagful of achievements to his credit but what Sourav Chandidas Ganguly will be remembered most for is the revolutionary change in mindset he brought to Indian cricket and Indian cricketers.

Previously when Indian teams walked on to the turf outside the sub-continent, everyone thought that a draw would be a more than satisfactory result. It was Sourav who inspired his men into playing fearless cricket and it is his legacy that Mahendra Singh Dhoni carries forward.

Tears barely escaped surfacing as an emotional “Maharaja” crossed the rope one last time in the India jersey at Nagpur. It was a befitting gesture from Dhoni to let Sourav lead the side for the last few overs. As a fan of cricket in general and Indian team in particular it was nice to see the younger lot acknowledge the contribution and achievements of the seniors.

Some news channel reported that the team will be throwing a big party for Dada at the team hotel and that Dhoni had also exchanged his Captain’s suite at the team hotel with Ganguly’s. It is a small but sweet gesture but one that would seldom cross minds of most people in the world.

He deserves every bit of it. After all he is the man who has the biggest hand in the state of happy affairs that Indian cricket finds itself today in. We have always had the talent but players have lacked the tenacity and the aggressive attitude required to tumble tough opponents. Ganguly instilled this tenacity and the self belief that, “Yes we can”.

While his famous T-shirt furling act at the Lords’ balcony demonstrated the tit for tat aggression he stood for, his persistence to include Harbhajan in the 2001 test series against Australia accounted for the belief he had in himself and his men. He provided impetus with attacking shots at the head as India were about to rewrite history with their successful chase of England’s 325 at Lords in the Natwest final.

People may remember him as the “Leader par excellence” and the “God of the off side” but equal charisma lay in his effortless clearing of the fence especially the demolition with disdain of left arm bowlers.

He may have retired and might not be a part of the Indian dressing room but for us Dada is not a cricketer but a phenomenon which will run with the Indian team till they are ready to play aggressive and ready to take the bull by the horns and whenever they say, “Yes we can”.

Mohit Goyal
http://goyalmohit.blogspot.com

Former Australian star Adam Gilchrist has called for the inclusion of cricket’s Twenty20 format at the 2020 Olympics, saying it will help secure the global future of the game - reports AFP.
The wicketkeeper-batsman, who after retiring from international cricket  played in the Indian Premier League (IPL), said the International Cricket Council (ICC) must push for Twenty20 to become an Olympic sport.

“It doesn’t matter where the 2020 Olympic Games are held,” he wrote in a column for Indian daily the Deccan Chronicle on Monday.

“But many of us who’ve experienced international Twenty20 cricket and the IPL are convinced that cricket should bid to become an Olympic sport in time for the Games,” he wrote.

Gilchrist, 36, said re-introducing cricket as an Olympic sport would help the sport grow internationally and also boost the Olympic movement in the subcontinent.

“We have a responsibility to grow our game in new territories and amongst the women of the world.

“I believe the Olympic Games is the vehicle the sport should use to aggressively sell the message of our sport to all 202 competing Olympic nations.

“So that our sport is strong and robust in countries where it is currently played, and exciting and ground-breaking in countries who haven’t yet caught the ‘cricket-bug’,” he said.

Cricket was part of the Olympics just once, in 1900, but last year it was recognised as an Olympic sport — the first step towards full admission to the Games.

“With Twenty20 cricket here to stay, now is the time for the 10 full-member nations of the ICC to plan for the development of the sport over the next 100 years,” Gilchrist said.

Gilchrist said winning an Olympic medal would be the ultimate for any cricketer.

“Take it from someone who has won almost everything cricket has to offer — the Olympics is the absolute pinnacle in sport.

“Cricketers won’t care about the money. The chance to stand on top of the Olympic podium, to wear an Olympic gold medal and the pride of belting out your national anthem would be a life-changing money-can’t-buy experience,” he said.

The newest innovation on trial in international cricket is the “Umpire decision review system”. It would be foolish to make the final call so early but whatever has happened thus far has received big thumbs up from all cricketing corners. Anil Kumble became the first cricketer to officially hold his two hands in a “T” manner to ask for a review. It was on the fourth ball of the forty sixth over of the test match on day two when Malinda Warnapura was struck on the pad of a Harbhajan Singh delivery. The bowler and the fielders appealed but to no avail. Captain Kumble then in consultation with the bowler and wicket keeper Dinesh Karthik decided to ask for a review. The on field umpires after consultation with Rudi Koertzen - the third umpire, ruled it in the favor of the batsman.

After that in a Zaheer Khan over when Dilshan was given out caught behind, he decided to ask for a review and when the replays were found inconclusive, umpire Mark Benson reversed his decision. Anil Kumble exhausted his team’s quota when he made two more unsuccessful appeals, one against Dilshan on a Harbhajan ball and another against Vaas on a Zaheer Khan delivery. Sri Lankan captain too had one of his appeals exhausted soon when he asked for a review against Ganguly of an Ajantha Mendis delivery.

Of whatever we have seen, this seems to be a very practical solution to the obvious bad decisions. There have been matches that have been lost due to a couple of bad decisions and this system could definitely make the crucial difference in such situations. The three unsuccessful reviews limit seems to be a “not too much, not too less”. The limit also keeps a check on the number of times a team goes upstairs and prevents uncalled for time wastage. If the decision is reversed is a team’s favor, the review is not exhausted and the limit of three also gives teams to use the rule with fair liberty.

This system could go far in preventing situations such as one which transpired last winter at Sydney between India and Australia. The bowlers who had earlier felt hard done by the umpires will have the chance to appeal and the frustration levels will come down considerably. There is long time still before we have a final say over it but it seems to be a move along the right direction.

Mohit Goyal © IPL Cricket Forum
http://goyalmohit.blogspot.com

With the contest between the bat and the ball getting increasingly lop sided by the day in the favor of the former, its time that administrators look at all possible measures to give the latter some teeth. Pitches world over have got flatter by the day. The Western Australia Cricket Association Ground at Perth which has the reputation of having the fastest and most bouncier pitch in Australia has seen run feasts in the last decade or so. This ground saw 10 wickets or more in a match by a bowler eight times in the first 19 tests till February 1992 but hasn’t seen any in the 16 tests played after that.

One of the things that could help bowlers on dead and docile tracks is a pronounced seam on the cricket balls. The Duke balls used in England and the SG balls in India have a pronounced seam. Everywhere else Kookaburra balls have been used which initially swing more than the two mentioned earlier but absolutely die down after 20 or so overs. The seam on these balls is a lot flatter and its almost spherical shape makes it very difficult for the bowlers to grip it.

Even the seam on the Duke balls has changed with time. Earlier they used the thick Malaysian thread which gave the balls a more pronounced and also importantly a wider seam. The Irish threads used now are thinner and the seam hasn’t remained that wide. The MCC are trying to workout a solution to this problem by either trying to get in the Malaysian kind of thread or stitching an extra row of the thinner thread on both sides.

While the seam of a Duke or SG ball holds up for about 50 overs it only does for 20 overs on a Kookaburra. So if the batsmen can see off the first hour the bowlers have no chance till they get the new ball again. This means that they are unlikely to get the batting team out in 80 overs, which doesn’t make for healthy competition between bat and ball. A Kookaburra is a ball that’s been made for the faster bowlers but as the pitches get flatter the faster bowlers too need to extract movement off the seam and Kookaburra doesn’t aid that.

Fast bowlers haven’t ever found the sub-continent a happy destination but spinners too haven’t found it easy recently in Pakistan and Sri Lanka who have switched to the Kookaburra balls. India still uses the SG balls and England is still on Dukes. Instead of following the pack, the sub-continental countries must use the SG or Duke balls to give a fairer chance to the bowlers. Kookaburra may be used world over in One day and Twenty20 formats where spectators like to see big runs scored but certainly for tests there must be rethink on the issue otherwise draws will draw off spectator interest.

© IPL Cricket Forum