Late Cut

Five tests and Indians proved to be duds, even after winning a famous test at Lords after a long time; and that too more for the way in which they won rather than the result itself! Perhaps for the first time England were bounced out by Indians! They have been spun out many times but bounced out?? I never though I would live to see that..Strange thing though was that some bouncers were actually quite friendly!! Only a few were in the West Indian category of eighties. But Poms reciprocated the chivalry of Indian bowlers by being even better hosts, and hit them straight down the throats of very visibly placed deep midwicket, square leg fielders. Honestly it was as much an English loss as it was an Indian win. This is not to detract from one of the finest and worthy centuries in the history of Indian cricket; a superlative century in the first innings by Ajinkya Rehane on a spicy wicket and against a skilfully mean set of seam bowlers. Or a singularly unidirectional but lion-hearted...

Indian cricket team is once again living up to its tag of being unpredictable. The difference is till now in the tournament, it has shown the kind of consistently dominating performance that can only be termed as oxymoronic for Jekyl and Hyde nature that Indian fans are so used to. It is indeed a pleasant surprise. I thought they would be tested by the Sri Lankans, but probably the toss going in favour of Indian captain and then the support he got from his new ball bowlers in forst 15 overs, really put a nooze around the Lankan throats. Dhoni is too smart a captain to let that loose; to me the brilliance of his captainship was a decision to take the pads off and bowl a few overs when his main pace bowlers were coming close to exhausting their quota and clearly, one of the best batsman of spin bowling ever, Mahela Jayavardane was waiting for spinners to come on. Dhoni got the nod from Aleem Dar with a hooping in-swinger, only to be denied by the DRS. But that and Dhoni's spell infac...

Is DRS a Decision Review System or Dead Revived System? Looked like it was laid to rest after India's tour to the Old Blighty, when ICC declared it no longer mandatory . However, no sooner did the Indian team arrive down under, the issue has been raised thanks mainly to the Eagle Eye technology owner or supporter, Channel Nine, who seem to be convinced that their word on everything in world cricket has to be final. Sky TV commentary team in England did the same and gleefully, trumpeted poetic justice, every time a decision went against Indians...till VVS Laxman was reprieved by the so-called infallible "Hot spot" technology (use of Infrared camera to detect contact between bat and ball). Michael Vaughn's infamous tweet about Laxman's cheating by applying Vaseline on the edges of the bat to "hide" the hot spot, proved at least one thing, irrevocably; EVERY ONE is still suspicious about the capability of ANY technology to be 100% correct. Something that...

  Welcome to the real curtain raiser to the world Cup. What has gone before this, minnows bashing or champions breaking TVs, its all an entré to the main course. If Ponting or Dhoni was asked before the start of this World Cup, which captain they would love to avoid most till finals, they would have mentioned each other. The fact that they face up to each other today to decide who misses out on a berth in the semi finals, is an indication of how much under-par they have performed. Australia, though got drubbed by the Poms in test series, showed their opponents their rightful place in ODI series winning handsomely, and maintained their supremacy in the ODI ranking. India, who on the other hand came into this competition from a difficult tour to South Africa where in spite of their main players not participating, did quite well in the ODI series and certainly surprised their fans and opponents equally. While Aussies were coming from a high, Indians were coming home. And with their...

Another symphony from Motzart of Cricket, Lax, the Axeman. And what a contrasting day of cricket it was yesterday. Even if you may not have watched it, I am sure you can imagine Laxman and Dhoni sharing a long pertnership (I think this is their first century partnership). Laxman's silken touch sending the cricket ball to the fence without apparent power intersperced with Dhoni's violent treatment, was like listening to a Ghazal and a Bhangra at the same time. I love melody and rythem both equally and it was fantastic to watch. So where is this test and India's tenuous hold on the top ranking in the ICC test championship headed? I reckon, Indians will be able to force a decision in their favour even though the wicket looks nice to bat on. I believe you need to give lots of rotation to the ball on this wicket to create an impact; Bhajji and Mishra should be able to do so and with a lead of 347, put Proteas under pressure and share the series. At worst, Indians will be chasin...