Anil Kumble Announces Retirement from Cricket

Breaking News:

Anil Kumble has announced he is retiring from International Cricket at the end of the current Delhi Test between India and Australia.

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Read previous post on "Anil Kumble to announce retirement"

First Left Hand Double Century against Australia

Did you know that Gautam Gambhir just became the first left-hand opening batsman in history to score a double century against Australia?

(Australia played its first test a hundred and thirty four years before, and the Delhi Test is their 699th)

info source: Ian Chappell, informing ex-Australia captain and left-hand batsman Allan Border, on Neo Cricket.

Laxman vs Australia

Just 13 hundreds and a little over 6000 runs at an average below 45 are not the statistics that can assure VVS Laxman a place amongst the all time greats of the game. That do not even place him against India's best. Tendulkar has twice the number of runs and thrice the number of centuries. Ganguly, surely an inferior test batsman has more runs to show than the stylish Hyderabadi. Gavaskar, Dravid, Vengsarkar, Azharuddin and Vishwanath would all be ahead of Laxman in any list of India's all time test greats. But what make him special are his sublime touch and his record against the World Champions.

Earlier today, he completed his 6th ton against Australia. That's about half of his total number of centuries. Against an overall career average of 45, his average against Australia is over 50, and by the time the current India-Australia series comes to a close, he should have finished with a career batting average of about 55 against Australia. Of his 6000 runs, one-third of them have been aggregated against the Aussies. What makes his record against the world's leading test team even more special is the fact that he has been more successful against them in their own backyard. Laxman has 4 hundreds and over 1000 runs against Australia in Australia.

While almost every other leading batter in the world has used the matches against the minnows to prop up their batting averages, Laxman's career average against Zimbabwe is below his career average and against Bangladesh about 20. He seems to relish the challenge of playing against the world's best, and it's fitting that he will be playing his 100th test against his favourite opposition. The Nagpur test will be a very, very special one indeed!

Howzzat Munaf??

Arjuna Ranatunga was not among the fittest of players to have graced a cricket field, actually he was pot-bellied. So was Inzy, even Boon and Warne. But I never had a problem with their rotundness - they were good at their craft, put in their best efforts always, and were deeply passionate about the game. Isn't that all that a cricket fan expects of his heroes? But can we say the same about Mr Munaf Patel?

As long back as January 2007, this blog had advocated for his non-inclusion in the team in spite of the fact that on the merit of his bowling skills alone, he was a shoo-in into the India team. Munaf is leaner, thinner and younger than the Ranatunga, Inzy and Boon I am talking about. Yet it is a shame the way he fields. It's understandable that everyone can't be a Jonty, but one does expect the player to put in his 100 percent, isn't it. Did you see the match yesterday? ( India vs Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI, 24th August, Colombo) This guy's absolute lack of passion drove me crazy. Munaf was bowling the 46th over of the innings; in the 2nd ball of the over he ran the non-striker Ajantha Mendis out (!), but didn't bother to make a real appeal. Granted, I have the advantage of the TV replay which he didn't and he may not have realized that Mendis was actually out, but he would have atleast realized that it was a close case. Isn't that when players all over the world appeal?? But not our man - just a faint howzatt and he was already trotting back to mark his run-up!!

In the very next over, he gave away an extra run where there should have been none. Both the mistakes didn't ultimately prove to be costly. In fact, Munaf himself dismissed the dangerous looking Jayawardene in the very over that we just discussed above. No one is doubting the quality of his bowling skills, but this man has no passion at all. Ian Chappell once commented, "How can you be playing for your country, and not get excited sometimes." I am not as big a fan of sledging as Ian though I do agree with the bit about getting excited. Surely a cricket team doesn't need a bowler who can't be excited about making an appeal. Howzzat?

...and IPL begins.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) begins today evening only - less than six hours remain before Dravid's (and Mallya's, or should i have put it the other way round) Royal Challengers, egged on by the 'first ladies of football' take on King Khan's Kokata Knight Riders ( no prizes now for guessing which team Ekta Kapoor supports ) in the inaugural match of the inaugural Indian Premier League.

You can catch all IPL action live on SET MAX or if you are stuck in some godforsaken place where there is no live coverage of the league on TV, then i suggest you check this link out - This list created earlier should also serve as a good list of sites for Live Streaming Cricket of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Here's the itinerary of the first few matches to get you started.

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Day, Date,Time - Team 1 vs Team 2 - Venue

Friday, 18 April, 7 pm - Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Bangalore

Saturday, 19 April, 3 pm - Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings - Mohali

Saturday, 19 April, 8 pm - Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals - Delhi

Sunday, 20 April, 3 pm - Mumbai Indians vs Bangalore Royal Challengers - Mumbai

Sunday, 20 April, 8 pm - Kolkata Knight Riders vs Deccan Chargers - Kolkata

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In case you are still in doubt, I am rooting for Delhi Daredevils. In case they fare as per expectation, I will switch to King Khan's Kolkata. What are your plans?

I am no racist but Procter is a monkey

Last winter, when the cricket world was in the midst of another umpiring controversy, this blog had defended Mr. Darrell Hair - my stand was that in the process of indicting Hair, the ICC had violated one of the basic principles of modern democracies. The judiciary doesn't work like the legislature - on the principle of majority. A good judge dispassionately listens to witnesses, checks for evidences and motives only before pronouncing his sentence. Yesterday in Sydney, the ICC got it wrong yet again.

Handing out the Indian offie, Harbhajan Singh a 3 test ban for making a racist remark (he allegedly called Andrew Symonds a monkey), the ICC match referee Mike Procter said he was satisfied beyond doubt that the allegations made by the Australian cricketers was correct. And how exactly did he reach at this truth? The stump-mikes offered nothing, the umpires heard no such thing, out of the 4 Australian players who went along with Symonds for the hearing, 2 had heard nothing. Just that Ponting believed in the sincerity of his star all-rounder and decided to support him. Bhajji was supported by Tendulkar, Kumble and Dravid. They denied that their team-mate had made any such remark. So Procter, in the lack of any evidence went for the majority opinion! This team of people whose views was factored in included besides others the much maligned firm of Messers Bucknor and Benson!! Procter also added that he gave special importance to Michael Clarke's words. Now why would you that Mr. Neutral Refereee? Unless you have a thing for cute looking Aussie men or you are a racist yourself, Mr. Procter, I don't quite appreciate your modus operandi. And what was the Queen's Counsel, Nigel Peters doing all the while? He should surely have known a thing or two about the way legal systems work.

One practise day too many

So the BCCI has gone ahead and placed a request with Cricket Australia to reduce the duration of the practise game between the 2nd and the 3rd tests from 3 days to 2. And here we were wondering if India wasn't short of practise matches already. Just in case you are thinking that this wisdom may have been prompted by a concern for sufficient rest between the two test matches, Team India would have got a proper 3 days rest before the next game began at the WACA.

New Year Test: 2nd to 6th Jan, Sydney Cricket Ground

ACT Invitation XI vs India : 10th to 12th Jan, Manuka Oval in Canberra

3rd Test: 16th to 20th Jan, WACA Perth

...and Cricket Australia lost no time in accepting the Indian Board's request.

Pakistan goes to Assam, I come back, ULFA welcomes Pakistan

So here i am back from my annual trip back home to Dibrugarh in Assam, also the home of the dreaded United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). With the Pakistan cricket team slated to play the first ODI in Guwahati, Assam has once again been in the news for the wrong reasons: The PCB, much harassed by foreign cricket boards for security reasons on their own grounds got a suitable chance to raise their own security concerns this time round and there has been much talk on the venues for the two team's match preparations since the players would like to spend as little time as possible in the dangerous environment of Assam. And silly me, i had gone on a self-paid annual holiday to ULFA land !!

The Assam Cricket Association ( like every other cricket board in the world ) has a way of making mockery of itself time and again and this time they resorted to making a ridiculous request to the outlawed ULFA to "help in the smooth conduct of the game". The terrorist outfit didn't miss the opportunity and in a statement released by their chairman Arbind Rajkhowa has welcomed the Indian and Pakistan Cricket teams to Assam and has assured everyone that there would be no security concerns for the two teams. Ironcially the ULFA now appeals to "all sections of the society to ensure that the match passes off peacefully". Rajkhowa reassures everyone saying that there was no need for panic since the outfit respects all games and sports. That's a little believable as the self-styled Commander-in-chief of the ULFA, Paresh Baruah was the goalkeeper and captain of Dibrugarh's football team not too long back in history.

How i wish ULFA had the same respect for all human lives as it has for sports and games.

India vs Australia: 1st One-day : Bangalore

A seven match ODI series between India and Australia begins today (29th September 2007) at the Chinnaswami Stadium in Bangalore.

India Team for the Bangalore One-Day:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, R P Singh, Ramesh Powar, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Gautam Gambhir

Australia Team:
Adam Gilchrist (captain), Matthew Hayden, Brad Hogg, Brad Hodge, Haddin, Hopes, Andrew Symonds, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Michael Clark, Stuart Clark

(5 surnames in the Australia team start with the letter H. Is that a record?)

Starting with this India-Australia match, the new ICC rules for One-day Internationals come into effect:

- If a bowler bowls a front foot no-ball, the following delivery will be deemed a free hit and the batsman cannot be dismissed by the bowler from that delivery. He can only be run out. ( the T20 free hit rule has been imported into ODI cricket)
- Additional fielder during the 2nd and 3rd powerplays.

This i think is the really sensible one:
- Mandatory change of ball after the 35th over. Not a new ball, but a clean used one.

- Proportionate reduction in powerplay overs (of the 2 kinds) if the innings is shortened.

It will also be interesting to see if the T20 kind of cricket has any immediate effects on the original slam-bang cricket. Captains couldn't have ignored the fact that it is quite possible to score 170-200 runs in 20 overs. The traditional 'good average' of 6 at the end of the powerplay overs may be questioned sooner than later. I have a feeling 400s would be far more frequent than they have been in the past!!!

India vs Australia: Match Schedule and Timings

The Australian team has already arrived in India and barring for the lone Twenty20 match at the end of the tour, it will be Australia who will be playing as the World Champions in this primarily One-Day Tour. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who will be leading India for the first time in a One-day series will know that 50 overs is a different ball game compared to the fare that was dished out recently in South Africa. Plus he will now need to handle 3 ex-captains in the team. Let's hope that Dhoni will be able to leave as strong a mark on this game as he did in the other.

Here's the full schedule of Australia's tour comprising 7 one-day internationals and 1 Twenty20 encounter.

Match	Date	Time	Venue
India vs Australia 1st ODI	29 September	2:30 pm IST (d/n)	Bangalore
2nd One-Day	2 October	9:00 am	Kochi
3rd ODI	5 October	9:00 am	Hyderabad
4th ODI	9 October	9:00 am	Chandigarh
5th ODI	11 October	9:00 am	Vadodara
6th ODI	14 October	9:00 am	Nagpur
7th One-dayer	17 October	2:30 pm (d/n)	Mumbai
Only Twenty20 India vs Australia	20 October	7:00 pm(d/n)	Mumbai

* The ODI at Mumbai is live from the Wankhede Stadium and the T20 match will be held at the Brabourne Stadium.

Stories from the Cricket Blogosphere

The prayers of a blue billion and about half a green billion have been answered - an India vs Pakistan final is one of the ultimate fantasies of a cricket fan and it's been delivered, and how!! With Twenty20 having caught the imagination of the world, i thought of surfing the blogosphere and see what fellow cricket bloggers were writing. Here are some random gems

1.

"I will smash your face, you just wait" - The Yuvraj Singh-Flintoff controversy. And Yuvi's "Pay-Back Drama." Karthikeya digs into this story on his blog A Cricketing View - while this is not the best time to criticize Mr. Sixes, but i think Yuvraj had ready sound-bites for the media post his 666666. You must have already heard the "God, this is not justice" crap. I don't know why the press or the electronic media let go off of the 'tendonitis/tennis elbow' nonsense so easily even though Nasser Hussain and Harsh Bhogle had supplied the world with enough fodder for thought.

2.

India v South Africa by the Left Arm ChinaMan

Thus spake the Atheist: So frustrated by their ineptitude, that the Saffer wicket keeper, Mark Boucher, began to slap the faces of surrounding players with his glove, followed by some sound punching and then he tripped them up with a cricket bat which has recently grown from his mid-rift.

Go there, if not for the text, for the image accompanying this post.

3.

"Its l like watching an Angelina Jolie sex scene" - Uncle Rod similizes Yuvi's power hitting

4.

Homer's Eeerie parallels between the autumns of 2000 and 2007

5.

This ain't a pure cricket blog, but she writes the cutest posts on cricket: Dravid Resigns at Pri's World

"I title my post Dravid Resigns and yet every other word in my post ends with a kar, you know like Gavaskar, Vengsarkar etc. "

6.

Visit Brian Carpenter's Different Shades of Green for the best/most elegant header image amongst all the cricket blogs in the world. Like everyone else in England, he too seems to be mch troubled with Mr. Yuvraj Singh and is trying to find succour in county cricket!!

7.

"Brett Lee bowled with speed and aggression, knowing a good performance here could help him push another million Bollywood singles. "- JC's report on the India-Australia semi-final at his Cricket Blog. A tad staid by JC's standards, but the comments make-up for the lack of spice.

8.

Catch Bhajji's Bhangra (India vs Australia) at Six and Out . And if you are there, you may as well read this brief piece titled Yuvraj's Jab in Freddies Jaw

9.

I love cricket, but if it could be combined with a bit of art and a bit of action, it would be perfect. Check out Cricket=Action=Art for some stunning cricket artwork. Here's an example.

Plenty of visual delights on this blog, including an image of the victory huddle that India formed yesterday afternoon at the Kingsmead, Durban.

World Twenty20: It's a India vs Pakistan final

It was the expected thing in the 1987 Reliance World Cup, but didn't happen as England and Australia spoiled the fun at the penultimate juncture. Twenty years later in the Twenty20 Cup, with both India and Pakistan fielding young teams and new captains at the helm, no one expected the sub-continent arch-rivals to reach this far. But then cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties, ain't it?

In the first semi-final of the inaugural World Twenty20 championship, New Zealand took on Pakistan at Capetown. Daniel Vettori won the toss and asked Pakistan to make first use of the wicket which promised some movement and early help for the faster bowlers. Shane Bond got into the act in the first over itself scalping opener Imran Nazir ever before the young man had opened his account. But from there on it was Pakistan all the way as they thrased the Kiwi attack all round the park. Even Vettori, who has had a most economical series so far was not spared. The hapless NewZealand captain was taken for 24 runs in his final over as Shahid Afridi just missed breaking Yuvraj Singh's record of T20's fastest fifty. Afridi was finally dismissed for 49 off just 10 balls. (for the video of Afridi's 8 consecutive sixes, click here :)) .

Chasing a mammoth target of 222, NZ got off to a blistering start reaching 75 in just 5.0 overs. It was the brilliant change of attack from the Pakistan captain that changed the tide of the game completely - in the 6th over, Malik brought on himself even though the fielding restrictions were still on and in the 7th over, a double change happened as spin was introduced from the other end as well, in the form of Afridi. Malik and Afridi bowled in tandem right from the 6th to the 13th over - and what a spell it was! Many many years from now, cricket fans would still remember this afternoon in Capetown when two Pakistani spinners mesmerized the Kiwis into abject surrender.

Not a single wicket fell in the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th overs but the Kiwis were in deep tangle as the scorecard read 80/0. Just five runs were scored off the last five overs and the asking rate had climbed to a steep 14.20. Under intense pressure to get going, one after the other NZ batsmen threw away their wickets and by the time the two spinners had finished their quota of overs, the match was for all purposes over. The scorecard read 92/7 at the end of over no.13 . Pakistan finally won the match by 92 runs to reach the final.

In the other semi-final at Durban, Australia who chose to bat first were dismissed for all of 43 runs. Ajit Agarkar who once again managed to find a place in the India XI wreaked havoc on the Aussies as he dismissed Gilchrist, Hayden, Symonds, Hussey, Hodge, Clarke and Watson. He finished with figures of 3.5-0-21-7 . India rattled off the required 44 runs without the loss of any wickets. Speaking at the post-match conference, Adam Gilchrist said, "It was the most humiliating day of my life." (Gilchrist was out hit-wicket as a squash ball fell onto his stumps :) )

India outfield South Africa to reach Twenty20 Semis

In the past, India has out-batted South Africa to win a cricket match. Sometimes they have outbowled them too. But tonight was different - besides beating the Proteas in the batting and bowling departments, India were the better side in the field too. When Dinesh Karthik plucked the flying ball from mid-air(reaction time: 0.76 seconds) to send captain Graeme Smith back, his first ball duck earlier in the evening was immediately forgiven. New-kid-on-the-block Rohit Sharma topped up his match winning fifty with a most athletic pick n throw to run out the in-form Justin Kemp. Besides these two super efforts, the Indians were good in the outfield and barring a couple of minor errors, their fielding effort today was blemishless.

While Dhoni used his bowling resources in the smartest manner, I am not too sure about this bat first policy. The new India captain is in the grips of a chase-phobia - he admitted as much at the toss; the decision to set a target worked out well for him today, but the decision should not be a function of this fear. But for that, I have been most impressed with India's new ODI captain.

India vs South Africa: What should be India's Team?

An interesting conversation took place between the two commentators (Hindi) on Star Cricket today during the Sri Lanka-Australia world T20 encounter earlier today.

कमेंटेटर १: आज रात के दू ओर दिए मैच में भारत को एक्ष्पेरिएन्सेद् खिलाड़ियों को प्रेफेरेंस देनी चाहिऐ । जोगिन्दर सिंह अभी युवा खिलाडी हैं और पिछले मैच में उनको बहुत ज़्यादा मार पडी थी। धोनी को आज अगरकर को फिर से टीम में शामिल करना चाहिऐ।

कमेंटेटर २(भूतपूर्व भारतीय क्रिकेटर): अगर शिर्फ एक्ष्पेरिएन्स् ही सेलेक्शन का मापदंड है तो मुझे क्यों नहीं खिला लेते? मैं १९८३ की विश्वा कप विजेता टीम में भी था !!

Translated:

Commentator 1: Ajit Agarkar should be brought back into the team for the evening's do-or-die encounter against South Africa in place of rookie Joginder Singh. Singh is new to international cricket whereas Agarkar has the experience that may be required in the crucial match tonight.

Commentator 2 (former India cricketer): If performance has stopped being a criteria and experience is all that matters, why don't you play me in the evening's match? Afterall, I too am very experienced, and unlike Agarkar, I have been a member of a World Cup winning squad !!!

While i have myself been quite supportive of Mr. Agarkar in the past, i think it's now high time to drop him permanently - he has been given enough chances at the international level now, and his great batting in domestic matches should not be allowed to become a reason for his re-selection. As for his bowling - I don't think any other Indian bowler has killed as many one-dayers with '1 bad over' as Agarkar has. Yes, he was a key bowler on the memorable trip to Australia and has put in splending performances every now and then. But his inconsistency with the ball and consistency(sic) with the bat can no longer be hidden under the garb of experience. India needs to move on.

My team for today's World Twenty20 match against South Africa:

1. Gautam Gambhir

2. Virender Sewhag

3. Robin Uthappa

4. Yuvraj Singh

5. Mahendra Singh Dhoni

6. Rohit Sharma ( He has played 9 Twenty20 matches, and has a century to his credit. Sharma has taken 8 wickets at an economy rate of sub 7)

7. Irfan Pathan

8. Yusuf Pathan ( He has played 4 Twenty20 matches till date. Batting Strike Rate is 195+ and has picked up 9 wickets at an economy rate of 7.7, the only thing going against him may be his style of bowling - Yusuf is a leg-spinner)

9. Harbhajan Singh

10. Sreesanth

11. R P Singh

Twenty20 Points Table: Who will make it to the semis?

Group E current standings:

Team	Matches Played	Won	Lost	Points	Net Run Rate
South Africa	2	2	0	0	0.766
New Zealand	3	2	1	0	0.050
India	2	1	1	0	0.200

Remaining Match:India Vs South Africa

Yesterday's 18 runs victory over England, powered by Yuvi's 6-6-6-6-6-6 has made India's task much simpler now. To ensure a spot in the Twenty20 World Cup semi-final, Dhoni and his men need not bother about the net run rate now - a simple win over South Africa will do.

Let's look at the various possible scenarios in this group.

1. If South Africa wins, India will be knocked out. NZ & SA go through to the semis.
2. If India wins, India go through to the semi, for sure. But New Zealand and South Africa's fortunes will be a function of the margin of India's victory.

- If South Africa lose by about 30 runs, they will be out.
- If India chases, they will need to win with about 3 overs to spare to give New Zealand a spot in the semis.

(approx calculations: please allow a small margin for error, i am no mathematician :) )

For now, it's time to start gazing at the TV screen as i hope Sri Lanka will knock Australia out of the Twenty20 World Cup.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is India's new ODI Captain

The news channels are abuzz with news of Twenty20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's selection as the new India cricket captain - for the time being, for one-dayers only. Apparently, Sachin Tendulkar declined the captaincy offer which was first made to him. On the recent England tour Sachin had remarked on the increasing time his body was taking to recover from the ravages of a one-day match and it's therefore hardly any surprise that the maestro didn't take up the challenge thrown to him in the late evening of his career.

While this news is not official - the BCCI is yet to make a formal announcement, it is most unlikely to be a rumour. Dhoni's elevation to ODI captaincy was widely expected, while Sachin may take up the role for the challenging test series against Australia and Pakistan. For Dhoni, who had described his ascension to the T2o skipper's postion as a fairy-tale come true, this one will surely be a dream come true. ( assuming Dream > Fairy-Tale !!! )

However, the lack of discussion or buzz around Saurav Ganguly's name is mysterious, considering that unlike Sachin, he was a big success as captain of India. What's more - Sachin has already been given 2 chances in the past and a 3rd run as captain would have very few precedents across the world, if there are any.

India defeat Pakistan 3 - 0 !!!!!!

A wonderful game of cricket ended in a bit of a farce, though I didn't mind the extended fun one bit. In a see-saw battle between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, the plank finally came to a rest parallel with the cricket field as Misbah-ul-haq failed to get the final single that would have sealed the match for his team. But that was only after Misbah-ul-haq got Pakistan back into the game from a hopeless situation with some brilliant power hitting in the 48th and 49th overs.

The match would have ended with both teams tied at 141, but for the introduction of the new 'Bowl-Out' system to determine who gets the 2 points for the match. While the bowl-out did look a kind of a joke, Mahendra Singh Dhoni needs to be complimented for getting the choice of bowlers right. Two of the three bowlers who hit the stumps were not regular bowlers, in fact they hadn't bowled a single ball in the match earlier. No wonder both Sehwag and Uthappa were thrilled with their efforts.

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India vs Pakistan, Durban, September 14th 2007

Scores: India - 141/9 and Pakistan 141/7

Ashes and War

Two pairs of arch rivals will fight T20 battles tomorrow in the much drenched cricket-fields of Capetown and Durban. Tommorow's afternoon fight promises to be one exciting one with the most fiercesome of the four warriors back against the walls having suffered a gory loss to an unfancied outsider in the 1st Battle-of-Capetown. Will the giant be able to brush apart its bruises and scars and finish victorious in the do-or-die clash tomorrow? In yesterday's encounter Ponting's soldiers started off with the intetion of blitzkrieging the men from Zimbabwe. The strategy backfired with heavy early casualties, a position of weakness from which the Australians never could recover. What will be their game plan for the morrow? Afterall the English castle is only stronger than the Zimbabwean one, and unfocussed heavy shelling may not be a prudent idea. However a planned artillery attack to weaken the enemy before the final hand-combat might just do the trick.

Translated: Gilchrist and Hayden will need to avoid the tempation to go firing on all cylinders all the time. Give Freddie the respect if he bowls like the way he did today againt Zimb. It is possible to reach a 190-200 score even if one bowler ends up with figures of 4-1-29-2. T20 is slam-bang but not as slam-bang as Ponting thought/thinks it was/is!!

When the sun sets tomorrow in Durban, the stars will rise - to shine, and fight. A new general is in charge of the Hindoostan army and unlike the previous incumbent he is no Wall. To the contrary, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a 'Wall-Demolisher'. He dislikes minor skirmishes prefering instead to wage mounted battles or launching missiles. In an earlier avatar as an ordinary soldier, he had once brought the same enemy to its knees in a battle on the eastern coast of India. In that magnificient battle, Dhoni single-handedly shot down 148 men of the Pakistan navy - most remarkable were those four sensational shots when he drowned naval ships carrying 6 men with a single fire. 15 other times he shot down ships carrying 4 men apiece. But that clash is now history and tomorrow is a new day. The Pakistani army is also under a new dynamic and multi-talented leader - Shoaib Malik. For General Malik the primary task will be to marshall his own unruly troops. He knows that he has a bunch of great individual fighters, but can they stop the in-fighting to focus their energies on wiping out the opposition?

Will Dhoni's men be able to put it across Pakistan then? I suspect the key may lie in INS Sehwag, that old warship which has seen much battle but rusty now for lack of use. INS Pathan faces a similar predicament. If these two old war-horses can kick off that rust and manage to shimmer, the Blue stars can definitely outshine the Green ones tomorrow night.

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Twenty20 World Cup: 14 September 2007

Afternoon, 1200 GMT : Australia vs England, Capetown

Evening, 1600 GMT : India vs Pakistan, Durban

Twenty20 Twist to Rain Rule

It's raining on the Kingsmead, Durban and the start of the India-Scotland match has been delayed. India would not want to miss out on the points and more importantly the batting and bowling practise that the match would provide. Tonight ICC may actually come to the rescue of the Indian team.

The Playing Conditions of the T20 World Cup have seen an important (and sensible) change to rules regarding the resumption of the game if the match gets disrupted by rain.

Law 3.9 - Suspension of play for adverse conditions of ground, weather or light
Laws 3.8 and 3.9 shall apply subject to the following:

3.5.1 If conditions during a rain stoppage improve and the rain is reduced to drizzle, the umpires must consider if they would have suspended play in the first place under similar conditions. If both on-field umpires agree that the current drizzle would not have caused a stoppage, then play shall resume immediately. In these circumstances the provisions of Laws 3.9 (b) (i) and 3.9 (c) (i) shall not apply.

The previous rule was that 'once play was stopped due to rain, resumption could only happen when the rain came to a complete stop'. That stringency has now been relaxed, thankfully as India may realize later tonight.

India's Overseas Test Cricket Victories - Part 1

It's sad enough - the scope of this post, the fact that it's possible to discuss every single of India's overseas test wins in a series of a few posts. Did you know that in the 75 years since India played their first cricket test, we have won just 28 tests out of home! And yes, that includes our wins against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Did you know that the current test, the 2nd India-England match being played at Trent Bridge is India's 200th test-match overseas? Fortunately enough, it looks like this 2nd centenary will end on a happy note.

India's overseas Test Cricket Record (until the beginning of the Trent Bridge Test)

Played: 199, Won: 28, Lost: 84, Drawn: 87

Yet, and probably that's why, each one of this wins was special. Here's the 1st part on this series on Indian Cricket's glorious moments abroad.

1. The 1st away win took a decade and a half to come. It was in the 1st test of the1967/68 tour to New Zealand that India recorded its maiden test victory. Nawab of Pataudi Jr., widely believed to be India's best ever captain had been captain for almost 7 years then, when the historic moment came at Carisbrook, Dunedin.

Batting first, New Zealand piled up 350 only to be overtaken by India, though by just 9 runs. It was India's bowling and fielding in the 2nd innings that proved decisive. Prasanna scalped 6 wickets and there were 2 run-outs including that of NZ captain Barry Sinclair, who may not have then realized that his test career was fast drawing to a close. Prasanna's stars on the other hand, were on the ascendancy - he was to return to this country eight years later to record his best bowling figures of 8 for 76. That match, as you will see later, was to be the maiden test victory for yet another Indian captain.

NZ: 350 & 208, India: 359 & 200/5. Ground: Carisbrook, Dunedin. 15-20 Feb 1968

2. Unlike the first win which took 15 years, the second one came quicker - in 15 days. The series was level at 1-1, New Zealand having won the second test. Prasanna came to the party again, taking 9 wickets in the match. He was ably supported by Bapu Nadkarni (of the maiden overs record fame) who dismissed 6 NZ batsmen in the 2nd innings. Ajit Wadekar scored a match winning 143 and India went up 2-1.

NZ: 186 & 199, India: 327 & 59/2. Ground: Basin Reserve, Wellington, 29 Feb - 4 Mar

3. This was to be Rusi Surti's match, whose all-round skills helped India record its first back-to-back test wins outside of home and more importantly it sealed the series in India's favour - India's first test series win overseas. Surti scored a total of 127 runs in the match, with a 99 in the second innings - a score he could never improve upon in his short test career. The all-rounder also took 4 wickets and alongwith Prasanna, Bedi and Nadkarni dismissed NZ for sub-150 scores twice.

India: 252 & 261/5, NZ: 101 & 140. Ground: Eden Park, Auckland. 7-12 Mar 1968

On this tour of Australia & NZ, Rusi Surti scored more runs than anyone else - a total of 967 runs and he also took 42 wickets. Unfortunately for India, Surti didn't play for long for India, prefering instead to provide his services to Queensland.

4. Sunil Manohar Gavaskar made his test debut on 6th March 1971 at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and didn't take long to stamp his class. His pair of fifties in his debut match, a century by Dileep Sardesai and the wizardry of Prasanna, Venkatraghavan and Bedi helped India chalk up a rather easy win - India's first test victory in the West Indies, and 4th overseas.

West Indies: 214 & 261, India: 261 & 125/3. Ground: Queen's Park Oval, Trinidad. 6th Mar - 10th March 1971

5. India's 5th overseas success can also be described as India's first come-from-behind win outside home. Having conceded a 74 run lead, India bounced back led by Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, arguably India's biggest match winner overseas. (42 wickets in 5 tests) The English batters were bamboozled into submission by Chandra who returned with 2nd innings figures of 6-38. England were bowled out for a meagre 101, giving India a chase of 174. Gavaskar got out for a duck, but skipper Ajit Wadekar saw to it that India reach home safely. His unbeaten 45 was supported by Sardesai's 40 and useful innings from Vishy and Engineer.

24 years and 9 days since achieving its freedom from England, India had turned the tables on its masters in the imperialist's favourite sport. It took a long time coming, but it had - and the speed of the rise of India's fortunes and England's decline in the game would only gain momentum in the next couple of decades. The shakcles had been truly broken and what better venue to do it than London.

England: 355 & 101, India: 281 & 174/6. Ground: Kennington Oval, London. 19-24 August 1971

6. Eight years after leading India's efforts at their first overseas win, Prasanna returned to the land of his former exploits. Sunil Gavaskar was now the captain of India, and in the 1st test of this 1976 series debuted 2 men who were to play long and important innings for Indian cricket: Dilip Vengsarkar and Syed Kirmani. Both had rather forgettable debuts; wicket-keeper Kirmani not being a part of even a single dismissal (Only 9 more times would that happen in a career spanning 10 years). It was however the 3rd debutant who made a stronger impact on the immediate proceedings. Surinder Amarnath, coming in first down and Gavaskar compiled a match winning 204 run partnership. Both scored fine centuries and India took a lead of 148 runs.

Prasanna rocked the Kiwi boat in the 2nd innings, taking 8 for 76, his career best. Eight years back, Prasanna's wiles had turned the match decisively in India's favour. Eight years later, the master's wizardry sealed the match for India again. For captain Gavaskar, this success must have been the sweetest - it was his maiden win as captain of India.

Newzealand: 266 & 215, India: 414 & 71/2. Ground: Eden Park, Auckland. 24-28 January 1976

For Part 2 of India's Overseas Test Cricket Victories, click here.