When should India declare? (India vs Australia, 2nd Test)

India vs Australia, 2nd Test, Mohali
Scorecard at stumps on Day 3

India 1st Innings: 469 all out, Australia 1st Innings: 268 all out
India 2nd Innings: 100 without loss

With Stowage and Gambhir having already added 100 runs at just over 4 rpo and both still at the crease, India are already 301 runs ahead of Australia and well poised to go to Kotla with an important lead of 1-0. But the important decision tomorrow for captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni would be - when should India declare?

Arguments are flying thick and fast that India shouldn't get defensive and go for an aggressive declaration, Australia style. But is that required? I was following the post-match discussion on Neo-Cricket, where Arun Lal was trying to make a very pertinent point which unfortunately no one on the panel or in the audience was bothering to understand. Why Lal was against the idea of declaring at lunch was very logical - that would leave Australia with 150 overs and a little over 400 to get. If Australia bat out 150 overs, they would reach 400; in fact they would reach 400 in about 140 overs. That means '10 overs are wasted' - neither India needs them, nor Australia. What that means that India must bundle out Australia in under 140 overs. So wouldn't it be more sensible to bat for another 10 overs, get about 50 more runs and put the match completely out of Australia's reach? That may sound like a typical Indian defensive stance but it's not - it only allows Dhoni to give Mishra and Harbhajan that much more chance of taking a wicket by employing a more attacking field. Surely you do not want a situation where India has to go on the defensive by the end of day 4, were Australia to reach a score of 180 for the loss of 2 or 3 wickets.

Here's a table I have created which clearly illustrates that '5 overs after lunch' or 35 overs into tomorrow is when the ideal declaration time would be. Of course, Dhoni could employ someone to create a more dynamic 'excel sheet' to help him decide, factoring in a few more situations, mainly pertaining to the run-rate scenario.

Assuming India's Expected Run Rate on Day 4 is 4.5 rpo	No. of overs Left	Lead	Target for Australia	Assuming Australia chases at 3 rpo
				Overs reqd to achieve target
Start of Day	180	301	302	101
At Lunch	150	436	437	146
5 overs more	145	458.5	460	153

Ganguly overtakes Bradman

Sir Don Bradman: 6996 Test Runs, retired.
Saurav Ganguly: 7000+ Test Runs, Unbeaten in current match against Australia, going strong!

Umpire Appeals in next India Pakistan test series

The ICC has approved an extension of the Umpire Review System first used in the recently concluded India-Sri Lanka test series. Four future series including the forthcoming India-Pakistan test series have been earmarked for further testing of the review system. Although Indian captain Kumble didn't appreciate the experiment much, that can largely be attributed to the atrocious results that India got in the review system. A total of 48 appeals for a review of the on-field umpire's decisions were made in that series out of which 25% were upheld by the television umpire. Of these 12 successful decisions, 11 went in favour of Sri Lanka with India getting only the solitary decision in their favour. That obviously irked the Indians, but then technically the ICC and not IPL is still in charge of world cricket.

The next bilateral series where the review system will be employed is the Newzealand vs West Indies test series in December. The appeals system wherein each team is allowed 3 unsuccessful appeals per innings, from what we saw of it in its maiden appearance in Sri Lanka is a great move forward - bringing in technology to improve the percentage of correct decisions will help decrease the stress on the two umpires in the middle and reduce tension between players that often take root in doubtful decisions, a lot of which we saw in the Sydney Test between India and Australia.

A smart, thinking captain like Vettori should be able to use the review system to his team's advantage against the West Indies, much like Jayawardene did for his team against India. I personally hold Anil Kumble in the highest esteem and was quite surprised that he failed to get a review strategy in place. The review system should have actually fitted in very well with Kumble's stump-to-stump accurate bowling style, and he could have got a numer of decisions reversed in his favour. Indeed if the system had been in place in the Bangalaore test against Australia, Kumble would have definitely not gone wicketless. I guess he realizes that now, but then again the IPL is still technically not in charge of world cricket!

Vinod Kambli in Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina

So have you caught the off-field action on the new TV Channel Colours? I am talking about the new dance show "Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena" in which you can catch cricketers paired with glamorous TV actresses gyrating to Bollywood Numbers. These are the four Cricketer-Actress pairs currently in action:

1. India's 1st back to back test double centurion Vinod Kambli with Shama Sikander
2. Sreesanth with Surveen Chawla
3. Harbhajan Singh - Mona Singh (of Jassi fame)
4. Dinesh Karthik - Nigar Khan (of Lakme India Fashion week wardrobe malfunction fame)
5. Nikhil Chopra - Barkha Bisht
6. Irfan Pathan - Ashima Bhalla

Since the start of the show, the last pair of Irfan Pathan and Ashima Bhalla have withdrawn from the programme but there are rumours that they may make a re-entry.

Find below a video of Vinod Kambli looking very funny in some Chinese make-up dancing with his partner Shama Sikander on Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina's 4th October episode.

Tail saves Australia from follow-on in practise game

When the umpire lifted the finger for the fifth time in the day, it seemed all over for Australia. The Yuvraj Singh led Board President's XI was just a wicket away from shaming a full-strength Australian team into following on. Alas! That was not to be.

Hussey finally found support - at the fag end of the tail. Batsman no.XI, Stuart Clark gave Hussey ample company, toiling for over a hundred balls for a dogged 44. Hussey himself faced 302 balls for his score of 126. The duo added 96 runs for the last wicket ensuring safe passage for Australia, and but for a mircale session or two, the match looks headed for a draw.

What was worth noting were the contrasting rates at which the two teams piled up their runs. While the Indians scored at an Australian pace of 4.18, the tourists struggled with a run rate of just over 2. It is these run-rates which may become crucial tomorrow.

In their second essay, the Board's XI have already notched up 110 for the loss of Badrinath and Chopra. The two men at the crease, Jaffer and Yuvraj are both capable of scoring quickly - they are already 251 runs ahead and if they can add a quick 70 or 80 in the morning session and declare a couple of overs before lunch, things can get really interesting at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal.

Live Streaming Cricket: India vs Australia: PC, Mobile

The Australian team is already in India, and already facing some uncomfortable time in their practice game against the Indian Board President's XI. As I write this at the end of Day 2, Australia are over 250 runs behind with 4 top wickets including Hayden and Ponting already back in the pavilion. I was catching the cricket action live on TV - Neo Sports. Besides India, NeoSports may be reachable upto the Middle-East (UAE, Dubai, Sharjah) .Hope you too are in a place where you can watch the India - Australia series live on TV. In many a countries you can watch the four India-Australia tests live on Sky Sports. For cricket fans in the US, the channel to watch out for is Zee Sports America. In Malaysia and Singapore, the cable TV operators Star Hub arrange for you to watch Neo Sports. However if you are not fortunate enough to be able to watch it live on TV, read on - about how you can watch live streaming cricket through the internet on your PC or may be even live cricket on your mobile.

Firs the bad news - Willow.tv is amongst the better options to watch live streaming cricket on the internet but they don't seem to be covering the India-Australia 2008 series.

Action8Cricket is another website you can check out for live stuff.

One new website I ran into - Imvite - provides you with an option of watching hundreds of Indian channels live on your computer. I saw ESPN-Star amongst the options but you may check out for other cricket channels. On Tariksworld Dot Com, you can download a Sopcast player and a TVU Player. There is a clear mention of the India-Australia series Live Streaming Facility.

You may also check out Indiapad, Desikotha or Daruchini for more info on live streaming cricket for the india vs australia 2008 series.

A lot of these places aren't legal and look pretty dicey. I don't know why the ICC or the BCCI don't make an official arrangement for live webcast of cricket on the internet - there was something during the IPL T20 but since then, I don't know.

A couple of times I have been stuck in places where it was not possible to watch live cricket matches on TV and so i know how it can feel. I haven't provided a direct link to any of these sites as I can myself not be too sure about any one of them but this should be handy references for you to start searching for more. You may have to do lot of searching on the internet - click on lots of different ads and search more before you find the right place. Good Luck!

India vs Australia Series - Match Schedule 2008

Match Category	Date Schedule	Timings	Team 1	Team 2	Stadium	City
Practise Match	September 27 - 28	9:30 am - 4:00 pm	Australia	Rajasthan Cricket Association's Centre of Excellence	Sawai ManSingh Stadium	Jaipur
Practise Match	October 2 - 5	9:30 am - 4:00 pm	Australia	BCCI Board President's XI	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium	Uppal, Hyderabad
1st Test Match	October 9 - 13	9:30 am - 4:00 pm	Australia	India	M Chinnaswamy Stadium	Bangalore
2nd Test Match	October 17 - 21	9:30 am - 4:00 pm	Australia	India	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium	Mohali, Chandigarh
3rd Test Match	October 29 - Nov 2	9:30 am - 4:00 pm	Australia	India	Feroze Shah Kotla	Delhi
4th Test Match	November 6 - 10	9:30 am - 4:00 pm	Australia	India	Vidharbha Cricket Association Ground	Cuttack