250 for 4 ducks - Unique Cricket Record

Cricket has a way of coming up with new and interesting records all the time. In the first of the three match one day series against New Zealand being played today at Abu Dhabi, Pakistan lost its first two wickets even before the score card got ticking for them. Opener Salman Butt and skipper Younis Khan were both dismissed by Shane Bond, one wicket apiece in each one of his first two overs. Two more Pakistani batsmen fell for ducks, making it a total of 4 ducks for the innings. In spite of that, Pakistan went on to score 287 runs and in the process became the first team in the world to cross 250 runs in an ODI in spite of 4 ducks!!

Good Enough England win the Ashes

"When we are bad, we are very bad but when we are good, we are good enough".

England captain Andrew Strauss aptly summed up in the post-match interview at the Oval how England won the Ashes despite Australia scoring more centuries and taking more wickets in the series. Twice his team was good enough to win the match, once they were good enough to hold on to a draw and in the fourth test when they were bad, they were really bad!

Rahul Dravid makes an ODI comeback

When Rahul Dravid's name was announced in the list of probables a couple of months back for the Champions Trophy, it almost made it certain that he would make it to the final squad. Were the selectors not to be serious about considering him for the final India Team they wouldn't have bothered to take this risk - or as some critics may say, take this backward step. Now that Dravid has indeed been selected for both the ODI squads - the Champions Trophy as well as the Champions Trophy, I would like to congratulate the selectors for making a wise decision.

For many years now, India's selectors have made too much of a fuss over the age of a cricketer, and the selectors always seem to have been worried about getting the team right for the next World Cup rather than for the immediate requirement, as if all the cricket that is played in the four years between two World Cups doesn't matter, and they are all practise matches leading up to the championship. I can understand a few new guys being blooded six to seven months before the World Cup and that too if it appears that the team is facing a certain weakness in or more departments. But dropping players who should be sure selections to make way for risky newcomers doesn't make any sense. Over time, some players drop form, get injured or need rest for some or the other reason and new players automatically make it - organically. Those who show promise will continue to be fielded and some of them will eventually become regulars. The not so good will fade out. This is a natural process, and unless there is an emergency requirement, I don't see much reason or merit in forcing something. Rarely has this strategy paid dividends in this past. Let's hope that Dravid's inclusion will set a right precedent for the selectors of the future. That the selections to represent India will be on the basis of merit and merit alone. If someone is 40, and still good, great!

T20 World Cup starts with a big upset

When the inaugural match of the 2nd ICC T20 World Cup began today, bookies were giving odds of 1 to 20 on the Netherlands - meaning if you put 100$ on the dutch and they win, you stand to win 2000$!!! The odds further improved as the England openers piled up the runs and crossed the 80 mark without losing a single wicket at the end of 10 overs. Who would have ever thought of then that the match was about to see a historic upset? But such is the nature of Twenty20 cricket.

England scored a very healthy 162 runs off their allotted 20 overs and when the Netherlands began their chase they lost a couple of early wickets, and it looked like the match was headed in only one direction. But slowly and steadily the runs came, and it was not long before England began to get a little jittery. Rain and Duckworth-Lewis only added to the drama on the first day of the T20 World Cup at Lord's. In spite of the dutch heroics, if the Englishmen had held onto their nerves and avoided even 20% of the many silly errors they committed, they could have saved themselves the blushes. But that was not to be, and England now find themselves in an unexpected do-or-die situation in their next match against Pakistan.

Which teams will reach the IPL Semi Finals?

So which four teams will finally make it to the semi-finals of the IPL 2009? Delhi is the only very obvious name having already scored 18 points. With a 99.99% confidence one could also say that the Chennai Super Kings are in. Even if Chennai lose their last match to the King's XI Punjab, they will be at 15 points. Out of Bangalore, Deccan and Punjab only two teams can score 16 points. If Rajasthan defeat the Kolkata Knight Riders they will be tied with Chennai on 15 points but there is such a wide chasm in the Net Run Rate (NRR) of the two teams that it will require a super miracle for Rajasthan to overtake Chennai.

So two spots gone - Delhi and Chennai. What about the remaining two? I have created a case by case table. Click here to see the table. There are 12 possible scenarios as of now. Amongst these 12 scenarios, Punjab and Bangalore each feature 6 times. So both these teams have a 50% probability of reaching the IPL 2009 semi finals. Deccan Chargers feature 8 times, thanks to an advantage they have because of their net run rate. That means the Hyderabad team have a 67% probability of making it to the semi-finals. And no, don't count Shane Warne out as yet - Rajasthan feature 4 times which means they have a one in three chance of reaching the IPL semi-finals.

Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals Match Preview

IPL Season 2 Match No.40 : Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals
Day, Date and Venue: Monday, 11th May, De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley
Team Positions so far:
Deccan Chargers: Played 9, Won 5, Lost 4, Points 10, Net Run Rate: +0.125, Position: 4th
Rajasthan Royals: Played 10, Won 5, Lost 4, No Result 1, Points 11, Net Run Rate: -0.114, Position: 3rd

The Rajasthan Royals are the biggest surprise package of the Indian Premier League. They were dismissed as too weak a team at the start of IPL 2008 and they ended up as champions. After a couple of early losses in the IPL 2009 season, the expert were back to their old whinings: A team is only as good as its captain et cetera, et cetera. Not when Shane Warne is the captain - and to understand this simple fact you don't need to be an expert. You just need to read up a little bit of history, recent past or older, whichever you prefer. Whoever was worried about the Mongols before Chengiz Khan arrived on the scene? Who was afraid of the full-strength Deccan Chargers before another man took charge of a weakened Deccan Chargers?

A captain who was the weakest link in his team's batting line-up stood up with resolve one fine morning in Brisbane, and changed for ever the way India played cricket in Australia. History is replete with several examples where men of strength and character have not just stood up themselves, but raised the morale and stock of an entire lot, in trying and the most difficult of circumstances. The IPL is nothing really, by way of comparison. Yet, the basic principles remain the same. Warnie is just smart enough to understand that, and doing his job well.

Cricket is quite unlike many a other sport in many ways. For one, it is a physical sport yet the mental aspect is as important as the physical. The scope for decisions is wide, and every decision you take can be crucial. If you win the toss, do you bat first or second? Should you play an extra spinner? Does this batsman warrant an extra slip? 3rd slip or 4th? And these are only very few examples. Even in a Twenty20 game, a captain would have to take no less than a 100 decisions! And in close games, which is more the rule than the exception in IPL, even the smallest decisions count. If Brendon Mc Cullum had employed a slip in the match today against Delhi, a 4th wicket would have fallen in the 12th over. Who knows how things would have turned out from there on? Delhi never lost a 4th wicket and went on to win the match comfortably.

Shane Warne is not god, may be he too may not have used a slip if he were in the place of the beleagured Kiwi. But what he assures you of is that he will take more decisions correct than most other guys around. He can think, and that is not such a commonly found characteristic amongst sportspersmen. And that's what makes him a very good captain. Most of these guys who are telling you on your television screens that a captain is only as good as his team are former sportsmen, and I have already pointed out a characteristic they lack.

Shane Warne is what makes tomorrow's contest against the Deccan Chargers interesting. Else, on paper you can safely see the chasm between the two teams and decide the result beforehand. But ask the bookies, and they will tell you what the odds are. Unlike the experts on TV, the bookies don't get a fixed check at the end of the tournament. That's why the betting odds on Will Hill are always a better indicator of the future than predictions of former cricketers.

Current Odds on William Hill:

Deccan Chargers: 10/11, Rajasthan Royals: 10/11, Now go have a look at the teams!

Rahul Dravid equals Maximum Catches Record of Mark Waugh

The first wicket has fallen in the India vs New Zealand Test Series. Test debutant fell early - the bowler was Zaheer Khan, and when Rahul Dravid took a beauty of a catch in the slips, his tally of catches in test cricket swelled to 108. He has now equalled the world record for the maximum number of catchs in test matches and is now tied with Australia's Mark Waugh.