Excuses be damned, the better side won

India did not lose the T20 World  Cup semi-final last night. West Indies won.

It’s time commentators and fans gave up listing reasons like the quality of the pitch and the number of no-balled chances Lendl Simmons enjoyed.

Yes, Simmons was fortunate and he made the most of it. Just like Virat Kohli did on being let off by a couple of poor throws by the fielding side.

Yuvraj Singh’s value was felt in his absence.

This West Indian side consists of T20 specialists who ply their trade around the world. They are professionals and can match the best in this format.

Simmons overcame jet-lag to single-handedly lead his side home.

What more can you ask or say? The better team on the day triumphed.

Excuses be damned.

Stats and Graphs: Kohli versus Ponting, Tendulkar and Lara

Tests
Player\Statistics	Runs	Average	Best	100s	50s	Conversion Rate
Virat Kohli	2994	44.02	169	11	12	.48
Ricky Ponting	2481	44.3	197	7	12	.37
Sachin Tendulkar	2911	54.92	179	10	14	.42
Brian Lara	3751	55.16	375	8	20	.29
ODIs
Player\Statistics	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	100s	50s	Conversion Rate
Virat Kohli	7212	51.51	89.97	7	12	.37
Ricky Ponting	6143	42.37	77.56	13	33	.28
Sachin Tendulkar	5828	38.85	82.58	12	36	.25
Brian Lara	6433	42.32	79.12	13	41	.24

Source:http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/zFN5uZLt2L57BBh01TH2AI/Kohli-and-crickets-modern-greats.html

Will this be Mahi’s last World T20?

India take on Australia in a virtual quarter-final this evening at Mohali.

The other three semi-final places have already been booked.
West Indies, New Zealand and England are through to the business end of the World T20.

India are favourites having thrashed the Kangaroos 3-0 Down Under but not before losing the ODI series 1-4.

No team has won the World T20 more than once.

Every edition has been unpredictable.

India, Pakistan, England, West Indies and Sri Lanka have all been crowned victors in this topsy-turvy format.
With no time for recovery from any mistakes, the team which turns up wins.
A stellar performance with the bat or ball is more than enough to decide a game.
If past trends hold, we ought to have a new champion.
Should Australia win tonight and the trend continue, it could be either New Zealand or Australia lifting the trophy, with the prospect of a mouth-watering repeat of last year’s ODI World Cup final.
Indian fans will be disappointed though.

This is probably MS Dhoni’s last T20 World Cup.
Dhoni does not see himself participating in the 2019 ODI World Cup.
Don’t be surprised if Mahi pulls out yet another rabbit from his hat and calls it a day—win or lose.

Gautam Gambhir: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xuJ_XMUxug

Gautam Gambhir is quite tone-deaf when it comes to Bachchan.

What he said:

“I am nothing more than a mere mortal when it comes to judging Bachchan, even if he was cooking an omelette.”

Former India cricketer and opener Gautam Gambhir professes his unreserved admiration for the great Hindi film thespian Amitabh Bachchan. The baritone-voiced actor sang the Indian national anthem prior to the Indo-Pak World T20 encounter last evening at Eden Gardens in Kolkatta.

Gambhir added:

“Here he was, at my beloved Eden Gardens, his deep voice in its full youth, loaded with grace and admiration for the national anthem. Only soldiers can sing better that Bachchan did on Saturday.”

What he really meant:

“I’m a huge fan of Hindi film cinema and Amitabh Bachchan in particular. In my eyes, he can do no wrong. He could even boil water and I’d watch with open-mouthed admiration.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I wonder how Shah Rukh Khan would have sung the anthem instead. Perhaps, a duet with Kajol would have baked an Eden cake.”

Eoin Morgan: Little bit of naivete

“Having a little bit of naivete with a huge amount of talent isn’t a bad thing.”
—Eoin Morgan.

Mohammad Amir is the lone hit-man for Pakistan

Team India may have won their Asia Cup T20 encounter—not quite in a canter—but for a while, Indian fans could have believed that there was to be a reprisal of those Sharjah days when their arch-rivals Pakistan beat them more often than not.

It was not to be.

Mohammad Amir had a point to prove and he did leaving India tottering at 8-3.

But he lacked support.

The knocking over of the top order brought back memories of India touring South Africa when Dale Steyn and his cohorts gave Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan a torrid time in the opening overs.

It just goes to show that even the best batsmen struggle against top-class pace bowling.

And it also reminded us why Pakistan were so quick to reinstall Amir as their main hit man.

Virat Kohli showed why he’s the most reliable bat in the side.

Yuvraj Singh struggled abjectly but stuck around till the end to see India through.

The next game in the T20 World Cup is eagerly anticipated.

Yuvraj Singh’s exploits vindicate Hazel Keech’s ‘naivete’

Hazel Keech stands vindicated.

The British-Mauritian model and actress was ruthlessly trolled by ‘knowledgeable’ cricket fans for questioning Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision to keep fiance Yuvraj Singh out of the firing line in the first two T20s.

The tweet was later deleted but the fusillade of retorts from rude fans kept pouring in.

Let Ms. Keech’s timeline tell the story:

Yuvi seemed well on the way to proving his detractors right in the third T20 barely getting bat to ball with just five runs to his name off nine deliveries.

That changed in the final over of the run chase; it was vintage Singh dispatching the first ball to the ropes and depositing the second in the stands.

It was all over bar the shouting. The required runs had reduced from a screaming 17 off 6 to a manageable 7 off 4. A desperate bye off the third ball and it was left to Raina to collect the winning runs with cool aplomb.

This is the latest on Keech’s timeline:

Trust her man to come good and silence her haters with his exploits.

Sunny Gavaskar: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Sunil Gavaskar lights up the Melbourne night with his remarks.

What he said:

“He (Virat Kohli) can even bat at midnight without light and still bat well.  …

Rohit kills you with tickle and Kohli can punch you to death. Either way you are going to die.”

The original Little Master switched on his eulogistic side when Team India clinched the T20 series against Australia at Melbourne on Friday evening.

He said:

“He is setting the bar higher for the future players. He is in fantastic form… form which the players dream about. he can even bat at midnight without light and still bat well. The Australians cant get him out. They will have to wait for him to commit a mistake.

I would not bowl to both of them. Rohit kills you with tickle and Kohli can punch you to death. Either way you are going to die.

I want to see India win the series 3-0. Kohli should continue to bat at number three. Never ever flirt with form, it’s so fickle, don’t flirt with it. Yuvraj can bat during the Asia Cup, World Twenty20. Let India make a clean sweep.

He (Dhoni) has got now Yuvraj, Ashish Nehra, Hardik Pandya in the side. He has plenty of bowling and batting options. It has eased off the pressure on him. Bhajji (Harbhajan Sigh) is sitting on the bench which means it is a very good selection. The balance is terrific. Pandya can bat at number seven and can bowl. Even if a bowler is hammered around, Dhoni can go to the other bowler.

The Aussies were under pressure and it was a good omen for the Indians for the World Twenty20.”

What he really meant:

“Kohli’s batting like a dream. If you’re a day-dreaming bowler, dreaming of bagging either or both , Rohit will tickle you out of any such fancy ideas while Kohli will match you, blow for blow. Either way, it’s death by panache.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Tickle me pink, I wonder if these two guys would love day-night Test cricket!”

India’s scores not par for the course says Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin’s revealing statement that his side underestimated par scores in the early part of the ODI series leading to their comeuppance against a marauding Australian batting line-up is right on the money.

The ace spinner said:

“In the past 300 or 260s have been winning scores when we came and played an ODI series here. I think we played in that mindset coming into the series, trying to post a score rather than trying to overachieving and falling short. I thought we did pretty well to post 310s and 320s, just that the par scores were 330s.”

It was only in the fourth and fifth ODIs that the Indians were a match for their opponents.

The lessons had been learned but it was too little, too late.

The ODI series was lost without a semblance of a whimper or a whisper.

Ashwin added:

“As you saw in the last game, even at Canberra and Sydney, I think we would have achieved 350s. Maybe that’s the reason. Obviously the wickets have gone flatter. So I think it was just a question of not calculating the par scores properly.”

Ashwin’s statements highlight the need to aim higher to get what you want.

If you aim for 300, you’re unlikely to get more than that. Less probably, but very rarely more.

The Indian team’s think-tank were definitely out of sync with the changing reality of Australian pitches outlandish batting skills in their young stars and the effect the ever changing ODI rules have had on team totals.

The irony is that this is the same kind of thinking that pervaded visiting teams’ thinking patterns when they assumed a score of 260-280 was good enough to clinch victory on sub-continental wickets a few seasons ago.

Indian batters proved them wrong easily overhauling these totals and posting 300+ totals when batting first.

It certainly has been an Indian summer Down Under this series.

‘Chatter-box’ Steve Smith finds Virat Kohli ‘too emotional’ to handle (Updated)

Does using an on-field microphone to interact and engage with the telecasters make you a chatterbox?

Virat Kohli certainly thought so when he gave Steven Smith a fiery send-off in the first T20 against Australia.

The Test skipper—relieved of captaincy duties—was back to being the animated fury on the ground he usually is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpbERRbobzs

The Delhi cricketer is all aggro as a player and mouths expletives at the drop of a hat.

Kohli saw red when his opposing Test counterpart lost his wicket cheaply while commentating live for Channel 9.

Australian viewers were not amused with the manner of Smith’s dismissal blaming the broadcasters for disturbing his concentration.

They took in hordes to Twitter to deplore the broadcaster’s unwelcome intrusion.

What’s really going on?

Do fans really need insights from batters about what’s happening on the field?

This kind of circus is part and parcel of the Big Bash League and the Indian Premier League.

The purported purpose is to make the the viewers and the expert commentators feel part of the action.

It would be better if mic’ing up players was restricted to fielders and umpires. Bowlers and batters need to be able to focus and concentrate on how they’re to be delivering or playing the next ball. Fielding is a much more instinctive chore consisting of reacting to on-field events as they occur. Similarly, umpiring.

Batters and bowlers, however, need to plan and pace their innings and overs.

But what was the actual reason for Kohli’s acrid mouthing off and signing?

Could it be that the Indian was not pleased that Smith was shielded from the banter fielders engage in when rival batters are at the crease?

Kohli has mentioned that he sees nothing wrong with sledging the opposition.

His young Indian side is not known to hold back unlike previous Indian sides.

He said:

“The opposition has every right to sledge as long as it doesn’t not cross the line and you have every right to reply as long as it is doesn’t cross the line. There have been lot of smart comments of late and mine turned out to be a perfectly timed one.

I did not intend to do that. I just said what came to mind. It was actually not far from the truth. That banter is enjoyable but at the same time, you need to focus on the game.”

Sledgers wouldn’t enjoy their choicest jibes drowned out by commentary from the press box.  Why would they? Additionally , they would have to be careful around the boffin with the microphone lest their tomfoolery be caught by the sensitive microphones.

Not much fun for the fielders. The boot would be on the other foot with them forced to be silent around a jabbering Steve Smith.

Can you see the irony in the situation?

And assuming that what the fielders said did carry to Steve Smith, how would he be able to focus with three or more sets of sounds in his eardrums?

Fielders’ banter, experts’ questions, noise from the crowd and finally the sound of his own voice.

That sounds like a lot to take in—even for a man who has scored a mountain of runs in every format over the past two years.

Kohli was the man who had a hand (and mouth) in Smith’s dismissal. Steven Smith was out for 21 off 14 balls caught by Kohli bowled Ravindra Jadeja.

Smith immediately shut up giving no further feedback to the Wide World of Sports commentary team.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni had earlier criticised Spider Cam and intrusion from TV gimmicks.

Spider Cam obstructed Virat Kohli’s first scoring shot in the final ODI preventing a sure boundary. The ball was declared dead.

The operators of this novelty are known to thrust the lens right under the face of departing batsmen hoping to capture their visible disappointment for television viewers. Aussie players are accustomed to such paparazzi-like behaviour from cameramen but Indian players are disturbed and irate.

Dhoni said:

“I am quite a traditional guy. I have always felt that… anything that disturbs the game of cricket I don’t like it. It all started right from the T20 where people would be like, ‘Why don’t you wear a mic?’, ‘Why don’t you wear a camera?’

I have always felt there is a need for balance. At the end of the day it is a spectator sport, people watching on television, but at the same time four runs can matter, especially when it is a close game. Those four runs can be crucial. Everyone gets penalised, why not have the same system for the spidercam? Say, ‘Okay if you get hit, 2000 dollars per hit.’ Let’s make it interesting.

People [broadcasters] are striving for more. When you have got out and walking off, the cameraman goes right under your face. The same way the spidercam is right next to you. You have seen players, they are like, ‘What is happening?’ It makes a lot of noise. At the end of the day it is also about the spectators. If spectators are not there, cricket won’t be played. It is a mix and match; 2000 dollars per hit is a good option.”

Steve Smith called the Spider Cam “his best fielder.”

Smith was unrepentant about his mode of dismissal in the first T20 denying that his on-field commenting had anything to do with his early exit.

He said:

“It [the commentary] was on at the time, but for me it was just a bad shot.

I tried to chip one over the top for two rather than trying to hit him for four or six.

It was my fault and I got to do better next time.”

Of Kohli’s send-off, he added:

“He gets pretty emotional out there, doesn’t he?

I don’t think you need to do that kind of thing when someone gets out.

It’s fine to have a little bit of banter when you’re out in the field, but when someone’s out I don’t really think that’s on.”

https://twitter.com/_hafees/status/691970480123678721

Virat Kohli finally disclosed the reason for his heated reaction at Steve Smith’s dismissal.

It had nothing to do with Smith’s on-field commentating but his verbal targeting of young Indian pacers after hitting a boundary.

Kohli felt it added  to the pressure on them and was simply not on. He felt that he had to step in and make his displeasure known.

Hence, the expressive ‘farewell‘.