cricket fans

Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar serving two masters?

“No man can serve two masters.Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”

That’s what the Good Book states.

An article in Outlook India highlighted the inherent conflict of interest in the job profiles of Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri when they (supposedly) provide unbiased, expert comments on games involving India while at the same time they are contracted directly to the Board for Cricket Control in India (BCCI).

Fanning the Spirit of Cricket: Mahi lights the way

If the Spirit of Cricket were a kite, then we all know who should be holding the strings, sending it soaring into the stratosphere.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni made Indians (and connoisseurs of the game) proud with his decision to rescind the contentious appeal made against Ian Bell at the break of tea on the third day of the third Test at Trent Bridge on Sunday, the 31st of July, 2011.

The contrast between the two sides was not more readily apparent than last evening.

One side has gone to town with allegations about ‘bat-fixing’ with Vaseline to fox ‘Hot-Spot’, the other exhibited that the spirit of the game was more important than winning at all costs.

Chris Gayle, Indian cricket team and Anirudha Srikkanth

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle, Chris Gayle, Chris Gayle.

It’s all about the West Indian opening bat.

Will he ever play for the Windies again?

The solution to this riddle may lie with Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The heads of government opted to resurrect the prime ministerial sub-committee on cricket to resolve the dispute.

For uninterested outsiders, it becomes harder and harder to sympathise with the Jamaican player. Not because the decision taken by the West Indian Cricket Board is fair, but because it seems he’s crying himself hoarse despite being richer to the tune of $265,000 plus his RCB fee of $400,000. Being a free agent has its perks when you’re Chris Gayle.

Dr. Ernest Hilaire and Dinanath Ramnarine are the other high-profile faces of the warring sides in this drama. The man in the centre of the storm is Ottis Gibson, the West Indian coach.

Gibson is a former player from Barbados who played a couple of Tests snaring three big wickets in Alec Stewart, Darren Gough and Jacques Kallis. Gayle appears to have more than a few issues with the current coach, a common thread repeated by Shivnarine Chanderpaul among others. A resolution to the crisis can only happen if Gibson is shown the door. Every predicament has a scapegoat.

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Surprises in Indian Test team for WI tour in notable absentees, not selections

The Indian Test team for the West Indies tour has been announced.

In a surprise move, Indian selectors rested Sachin Tendulkar. The master batsman  will not feature on the entire West Indies tour. West Indian cricket fans are denied an opportunity to catch one last glimpse of Tendulkar before he bids farewell to the game.

The controversial shoulder injury to Gautam Gambhir and the sudden illness of Yuvraj Singh mean that this is one of the weakest batting sides to tour abroad in recent times.

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Shane Warne’s comeuppance: Who the blazes is Sanjay Dixit?

Who the blazes is Sanjay Dixit?

Very few cricket fans could have bothered to discover who Shane Warne’s bete-noire was.

Twittering masses have focused on heaping invective on the Rajasthan administrator for his role in making the legendary leg-spinner eat humble pie.

A hefty fine of $50,000 was slapped on the ace cricketer for losing his cool and terming the IAS officer“egotistic” and “a liar”.

Recap and implications of ICC’s Cricket Committee recommendations

Cricket Ireland will welcome the recommendations made by the ICC’s cricket committee on Wednesday, the 11th of May, 2011.

Associate teams will be allowed to participate in the 2015 World Cup through a qualifying process. The next World Cup will not default to Test-playing nations. Teams will have to earn the right to be in the elite group of participating nations.

Cricket fans will start to believe again that “yes, the administrators are playing cricket.”

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Could Murali Kartik have made a difference to India’s World Cup campaign?

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For Indian cricket fans who prefer to catch World Cup updates on the telly rather than on the internet, there exists one show that differentiates itself from the rest.

It is CNN-IBN’s Kings Of Cricket—featuring Sir Vivian Richards, Imran Khan, Allan Border, Chris Cairns, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Abbas, Murali Kartik, Kirti Azad and Harsha Bhogle.

The term ‘Kings Of Cricket’ is apt when applied to Richards,the original Khan,Allan Border and maybe even Anil Kumble. The former three are legends of the game and  have played in and/or captained World Cup winning sides.

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ICC World Cup 2011: Ticketing fiascos and lathi-charges

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Cricket fans across India are left aghast and appalled by the CWC ticketing fiasco that culminated in a lathi-charge on eager fans at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on the 24th of February, 2011

Over 30,000 fans queued up to snap up 7000 tickets for the India-England tie scheduled for Sunday, the 27th of February.

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ICC World Cup 2011: Mumbai fire brigade pulls up Wankhede

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Mumbai cricket fans were in for a shock on the eve of the opening encounter between India and Bangladesh at Mirpur in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The Mumbai Fire Department pulled up the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for flouting fire safety norms at the Wankhede.

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Anil Kumble bids farewell to IPL, continues as chief mentor to RCB

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Anil Kumble will not be on sale in IPL 4.

The former India captain and leg-spinner has withdrawn his name from the list of players for the Jan 8-9 auction.

The move, by itself, is not a surprise;its timing and suddenness has aroused speculation.

Jumbo is a busy man. He has a lot on his plate. He was recently elected President of Karnataka State Cricket Board. He is also a  businessman and a keen wildlife photographer.

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