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praveen kumar
England Lord it over Team India in first Test
Mahendra Singh Dhoni had this to say about the first Test loss at Lords: “What could go wrong, went wrong.”
The Indian skipper attributed the defeat to three factors: Zaheer Khan’s injury, the lack (consequently) of a third seamer (the Jharkhand native rolled his arm over) and misfortunes (Gautam Gambhir’s elbow blow and Sachin Tendulkar’s viral flu) that forced the reshuffling of the batting order in the final innings.
Cricket:Mamparas,”hee for chasey” and natural replacements
Cricket lovers have Graeme Smith to thank for enriching their vocabulary last weekend.
The South African Test skipper was “Mampara Of the Week”—selected by the nation’s leading daily, The Sunday Times. It is a moniker reserved for politicians and businessmen but ‘Biff’ trumped all contenders last week with his “wishy-washy apology” to the South African public for his side’s early exit at this year’s ODI World Cup in India.
Mamapara roughly translates to “idiot”. I must admit—“You b****y Mampara” has a nice ring to it.
Sachin Tendulkar—in the sunset of his career—is an inspiration to older cricketers. Simon Katich is the latest to pay obeisance. The West Australian cricketer—in his press conference—slammed Greg Chappell ,rightly questioning his credentials as a selector as he pointed out his inability to predict the master bat’s recent heights.
“Elder cricketers of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but bad selectors.”
Rushing to Katich’s defence was minister of defence for the realm, Stephen Smith. Australian politicians love their cricket and their cricketers.
“If he’s not in the top 25 Australian cricketers – and I can’t find one better opener than him on that list, let alone two – then I’ll go hee for chasey.” said the minister. An Aussie phrase learned here—take note,English language lovers.
The West Indians have been shafted once more. Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth have opted out of the India-WI Test series citing injuries. Indian fans don’t seem to care. The boys in blue have ratcheted up wins—rising to the occasion. Who’s to say that Praveen Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun won’t?
The trio of Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli seem natural replacements for RahulDravid,Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.
There’s oft a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip, though.
Remember the dynamic duo of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif?
Kaif languishes in the minor leagues of domestic cricket whereas Yuvraj "blundered" from strength to strength.
ODI success does not instinctively translate to Test level. Yuvraj Singh will testify.
Quote of the day:
Anything not worth doing is worth not doing well. Think about it. – Elias Schwartz
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A point of similarity between Gabriela Pasqualotto and Mahendra Singh Dhoni:
Until today, the two were content playing the game “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t”.
Pasquallotto, of course, was referring to whether she’d make her story public to the tabloids.
She will—if she’s paid and if she’s allowed to write it herself. Fair enough.
Indian cricket: World Cup selection conundrums and death knells
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The Indian team’s preparations for the World Cup recovered from a minor hiccup when Shantakumaran Sreesanth replaced the injured Praveen Kumar in the side.
The UP bowler has not yet recovered from an elbow injury sustained on the South Africa tour.
Though there were some calls for Ishant Sharma instead, the Kerala cricketer is the man in form. Sharma is a far cry from the bowler he was on his debut Down Under in 2008. He has been bowled into the ground; a case of poor handling by captain and coach. In his case, the rotation policy is a joke.
The Indian cricket team: Pace bowling riches?
Dhoni’s troubles
On Saturday, the 14th of August, 2010 , Dhoni walked out of a practice session when Dinesh Karthik was struck on the thumb by a nastily bouncing ball. The excuse given was that the practice facilities were inadequate; the pitch was underprepared and dangerous to use.
On Sunday, the 15th of August, Dhoni sought to underline his independence from the BCCI requesting that the Indian bowlers be rotated more often to allow them more rest and time to recover from their many niggles.
So what gives? Is the pressure of arguably the hottest seat in the country getting too much for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to handle?
The weight of a billion expectations is overwhelming. Is Dhoni finding the captain’s kitchen too warm for comfort?
Or is Dhoni trying to cut manic expectations of his young, troubled side?
Is he beseeching the Indian cricket fan to be more understanding, more kind, more real?
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Make Time For Sports. 