Sunday, May 3, 2009
Breaking news (not)
Robin Uthappa can't bat for nuts. Just batted a maiden over from Malinga when the same bowler went for 17 runs in the previous over. Uthappa is Bangalore's John Buchanan.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Robin Uthappa was
(I feel like a jackass. This post was supposed to go up long back but I procrastinated. Had I posted on time the post would've shown my cricketing acumen and foresight :) )
IPL 2 continues to be miserable for the Royal Challengers. They hardly look like a team. They are just a bunch of people out there waiting for the match to get over. Too bad for Mr. Mallya. Yes, they did beat Rajasthan Royals pretty comprehensively and in matches post that have come close to favorable results but have successfully managed to stay away from the clutches of victory.
And the one big reason for that is that dude, Robin Uthappa. He seems to have totally forgotten how to bat, field and on top of it they got him to keep wickets. Ask for a sure short recipe for disaster. Am beginning to lose faith in all these foreign coaches who would make you believe their bizarre ideas are well thought out strategies. What can possibly explain keeping Boucher out for Uthappa. I mean on one hand you have a player who's proved himself umpteen times and on the other one who can't bat for nuts.
Uthappa on bench will augur well RCBers. The sooner the better.
P.s Finally Uthappa was made to sit out and RCB won the match. Hurrah!
IPL 2 continues to be miserable for the Royal Challengers. They hardly look like a team. They are just a bunch of people out there waiting for the match to get over. Too bad for Mr. Mallya. Yes, they did beat Rajasthan Royals pretty comprehensively and in matches post that have come close to favorable results but have successfully managed to stay away from the clutches of victory.
And the one big reason for that is that dude, Robin Uthappa. He seems to have totally forgotten how to bat, field and on top of it they got him to keep wickets. Ask for a sure short recipe for disaster. Am beginning to lose faith in all these foreign coaches who would make you believe their bizarre ideas are well thought out strategies. What can possibly explain keeping Boucher out for Uthappa. I mean on one hand you have a player who's proved himself umpteen times and on the other one who can't bat for nuts.
Uthappa on bench will augur well RCBers. The sooner the better.
P.s Finally Uthappa was made to sit out and RCB won the match. Hurrah!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
IPLed
This is season 2. And I am gradually taking to monster Modi's creation, the IPL. I am from Punjab and live in Bangalore but seeing some of my favorite cricketers across teams I can't quite decide on my loyalties yet. But if I have to take sides, I'd vouch for RCB because there's Dravid, DD for Sehwag, and MI for Sachin. Also, I support Dada, but not his team owned and run by friggin turds.
The matches have been pretty interesting thusfar with the race for semifinal berth hotting up. And some fine performances from those thought of as ill-fit for this format of the game. Dhoni's frequently delivered banality, 'it depends on how you play on that particulr day', stands true in this format too.
But this is IPL it's not all about the matches and it's certainly not deprived of some of the usual irritants. The biggest being that dumb Bedi lady. She is reason good enough for you to hurl anything heavy in to your TV. I mean seriously if there are cricket fans out there who want to watch some skin they'd rather use the 7.5 mins break to find something more worthwhile on a different channel.
Who can forget the old bore team of commentators, Bhogle and Shastri. My hair stand, just like in the Anchor ad, every time Bhogle doles out another one of his crappy platitudes. Heard him say the longest 'huge' today, for a moment i thought there was some production problem. Please spare us Mr. Bhogle.
Back to the cricket Mumbai Indians just wrecked the match for themselves. They were going pretty fine till the half way mark and then began the collapse. Shikar Dhawan's really a waste, Abhishek Nayar has to be promoted up the order.
For now.
P.s. Harsh Bhogle's been up to something... sample this (verbatim)... "big, big, big, it's coming in to me.... aaaaaaahh"
The matches have been pretty interesting thusfar with the race for semifinal berth hotting up. And some fine performances from those thought of as ill-fit for this format of the game. Dhoni's frequently delivered banality, 'it depends on how you play on that particulr day', stands true in this format too.
But this is IPL it's not all about the matches and it's certainly not deprived of some of the usual irritants. The biggest being that dumb Bedi lady. She is reason good enough for you to hurl anything heavy in to your TV. I mean seriously if there are cricket fans out there who want to watch some skin they'd rather use the 7.5 mins break to find something more worthwhile on a different channel.
Who can forget the old bore team of commentators, Bhogle and Shastri. My hair stand, just like in the Anchor ad, every time Bhogle doles out another one of his crappy platitudes. Heard him say the longest 'huge' today, for a moment i thought there was some production problem. Please spare us Mr. Bhogle.
Back to the cricket Mumbai Indians just wrecked the match for themselves. They were going pretty fine till the half way mark and then began the collapse. Shikar Dhawan's really a waste, Abhishek Nayar has to be promoted up the order.
For now.
P.s. Harsh Bhogle's been up to something... sample this (verbatim)... "big, big, big, it's coming in to me.... aaaaaaahh"
Friday, March 20, 2009
Sachin Tendulkar: You Beauty
The ball whistles past the gully fielder, who has dread and awe written all over his face. Scenes of a shocked Shane Warne at Sharjah come scurrying back. It was the best display of dominance by an Indian batsman against one of the best bowling attacks in the world.
Eleven years on, nothing much has changed except that a few more masterful strokes now embellish the little champion’s repertoire. One of the best shots being the intentional arc over the slip fielders.
Later this year, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar will complete 20 long years in international cricket with a hunger that outdoes itself frequently. A whole generation has grown-up keeping track of years through Sachin’s centuries and milestones. Like my class 10 physics tuition where the old but jolly Mr. S.P. Singh regularly fed us with scores during his classes. That was around the time Sachin scored a classy century and got Saqlain Mushtaq LBW towards the end to help India register its first victory against Pakistan in 5 years at Sharjah in 1996. Or, when I studied well enough (not) to ensure some big rotund scores in my graduation exams since the master was milking runs down under.
It’s been one heckuva journey, one that you wish never comes to an end. While the Sehwags and Yuvrajs of the world will continue to quench my thirst for the big shots, the elegance, the class, the post-shot nonchalance and the indescribable joy of ball hitting the Mumbaikar's bat will never quite be matched by anyone.
I can’t quite disagree with a spectator at the first test match between India and New Zealand who held up a banner that read ‘When Sachin retires, I will stop loving Cricket’
Eleven years on, nothing much has changed except that a few more masterful strokes now embellish the little champion’s repertoire. One of the best shots being the intentional arc over the slip fielders.
Later this year, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar will complete 20 long years in international cricket with a hunger that outdoes itself frequently. A whole generation has grown-up keeping track of years through Sachin’s centuries and milestones. Like my class 10 physics tuition where the old but jolly Mr. S.P. Singh regularly fed us with scores during his classes. That was around the time Sachin scored a classy century and got Saqlain Mushtaq LBW towards the end to help India register its first victory against Pakistan in 5 years at Sharjah in 1996. Or, when I studied well enough (not) to ensure some big rotund scores in my graduation exams since the master was milking runs down under.
It’s been one heckuva journey, one that you wish never comes to an end. While the Sehwags and Yuvrajs of the world will continue to quench my thirst for the big shots, the elegance, the class, the post-shot nonchalance and the indescribable joy of ball hitting the Mumbaikar's bat will never quite be matched by anyone.
I can’t quite disagree with a spectator at the first test match between India and New Zealand who held up a banner that read ‘When Sachin retires, I will stop loving Cricket’
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