Zak , yorked his way into the international arena in the ICC mini World Cup in Kenya. Let me not overdo my blog here to talk about the life history and stats of the player.But just wanted to highlight the point the fact that Zak has really comes of age.
The left arm fast bowler is now spearheading the opening attack for India as well nurturing the young guns to perform well at the highest level of cricket. What makes me write about zak? Why does this whole fuzz of electronic waste that iam doing mean?
In the recently concluded test series against the Aussies i found some striking features of his bowling. It just shook me the way he bowled , it was just amazing to watch. I still remember during the second test where he bowled 6 different deliveries. I mean it and i was surprised the way his variations seems to be very vital for the batsmen to read. I couldn't have imagined myself bowling 6 different deliveries. The confidence with which he executed the half a dozen ball shows the caliber in him. He hasn't shown any laxity on the field and urges other bowlers to perform well.
Yes he can be rightly named the "next sultan of swing". Zak has proved to be the best bet for India and i believe he has improved a lot in recent times. The way he handled the bowlers and the way he bowled the penultimate over shows that he can be a true match winner. Just watch the video here to rekindle your thoughts about the bowler.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Who the hell in this world is Duckworth Lewis?
The D/L method was created by two English statisticians its not a single name, Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, originating from an undergraduate final-year project at the University of the West of England. This method is a mathematical way to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket or Twenty-20 cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance
The D/L method has been criticized very badly that the price is on the wicket and not on the overs. You will be lucky guy if your team haven't lost a wicket batting second even though NRR (Net Run Rate) is poor. To me the game is flawed, we have seen some many where teams have lost half a dozen wickets with a heavy NRR still to chase winning the game.
Personally i wouldn't accept it for a sport where you need show your skill rather the technology or few people taking the game away from you. This is neither fair nor acceptable as part of the game. Here is one of the examples in sport where machines and technology dictate terms to humans. Still remember the days when i was wondering how could a team suddenly be in a situation to score 22 runs of 1 ball. SA then were assured of Victory against England but for the fact that 12 minutes of rain , damn for the rain gods and D/L cost the match for them. How could any team score 22 runs of 1 ball because of rain?
But that's how the rules are and that how the game is played and flawed with D/L. There has been several revisions of D/L method in the recent years to minimize the impact but the teams who have been on the receiving end because of D/L can only crib about the rules.
I can never take a big heart that India has won against England in the Kanpur ODI. Never ever will i consider this as a ODI victory, but that's how it is. The game was evenly poised and a couple of wickets would have done the trick for visiting team eagerly looking out for an outright win.
Matches where D/L has played spoilsport :-)
1. The match that strikes me when i talk about D/L was SA Vs ENG during 1992 Benson & Hedges WC in Australia where SA had to score 22 runs of 1 ball after shot showere of 12 minutes.
2. There was one similar situation during the 2003 WC in South Africa, i guess the match was played between SA and Kenya if my memory is right. Here it was altogether a different situation where in the SA team were just 1 run short of reaching the target computed by D/L method.
3. Another one that played against India .India batted first, and were all out in the 49th over for 328. Pakistan, batting second, were 7 wickets down for 311 when bad light stopped play after the 47th over. Considering the overall scoring rate throughout the match, this is a target most teams would be favored to achieve. And indeed, application of the D/L method resulted in a target score of 304 at the end of the 47th over, with the officially listed result as "Pakistan won by 7 runs (D/L Method)".
So am leaving all my readers with a sour taste that machines and technology can at times dominate humans and sport. The time is not far away where the we humans will become slaves to machines.
The D/L method has been criticized very badly that the price is on the wicket and not on the overs. You will be lucky guy if your team haven't lost a wicket batting second even though NRR (Net Run Rate) is poor. To me the game is flawed, we have seen some many where teams have lost half a dozen wickets with a heavy NRR still to chase winning the game.
Personally i wouldn't accept it for a sport where you need show your skill rather the technology or few people taking the game away from you. This is neither fair nor acceptable as part of the game. Here is one of the examples in sport where machines and technology dictate terms to humans. Still remember the days when i was wondering how could a team suddenly be in a situation to score 22 runs of 1 ball. SA then were assured of Victory against England but for the fact that 12 minutes of rain , damn for the rain gods and D/L cost the match for them. How could any team score 22 runs of 1 ball because of rain?
But that's how the rules are and that how the game is played and flawed with D/L. There has been several revisions of D/L method in the recent years to minimize the impact but the teams who have been on the receiving end because of D/L can only crib about the rules.
I can never take a big heart that India has won against England in the Kanpur ODI. Never ever will i consider this as a ODI victory, but that's how it is. The game was evenly poised and a couple of wickets would have done the trick for visiting team eagerly looking out for an outright win.
Matches where D/L has played spoilsport :-)
1. The match that strikes me when i talk about D/L was SA Vs ENG during 1992 Benson & Hedges WC in Australia where SA had to score 22 runs of 1 ball after shot showere of 12 minutes.
2. There was one similar situation during the 2003 WC in South Africa, i guess the match was played between SA and Kenya if my memory is right. Here it was altogether a different situation where in the SA team were just 1 run short of reaching the target computed by D/L method.
3. Another one that played against India .India batted first, and were all out in the 49th over for 328. Pakistan, batting second, were 7 wickets down for 311 when bad light stopped play after the 47th over. Considering the overall scoring rate throughout the match, this is a target most teams would be favored to achieve. And indeed, application of the D/L method resulted in a target score of 304 at the end of the 47th over, with the officially listed result as "Pakistan won by 7 runs (D/L Method)".
So am leaving all my readers with a sour taste that machines and technology can at times dominate humans and sport. The time is not far away where the we humans will become slaves to machines.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Yuvi - A nemesis to English Bowlers
Stuart Broad had his worst ever bowling figures in T20 World Cup in South Africa last year. I think he still remains in the privilege list of people who have conceeded half a dozen sixes in a over and the person was none other than Yuvi. Recently i read an article in The Hindu not sure who the author was it says "Yuvi has the grace of Lara, has the power of Gary Sobers". Not sure whether these statements are true but yes to an extent.
I think he has done a world of good to himself in scoring back to back centuries after coming back from a slump. I think he has redefined the way he needs to apply himself to situations rather than going for the kill. Now Yuvi looks a more matured player and with the scheme of things he seems to be right replacement for Ganguly.
English bowlers has been a nemesis to Yuvi's batting skill. The last 2 games that we have witnessed is one of the power packed performance and he was slaying the bowlers all round the park. I has got a new lease of life through the english bowlers and its time for all of us to see Yuvi in both form of the games. I think the english bowlers need to rethink when they have a go at Yuvi the next time. Its seriously high time that English bowlers bring the best under the leadership of Pietersen.
I think he has done a world of good to himself in scoring back to back centuries after coming back from a slump. I think he has redefined the way he needs to apply himself to situations rather than going for the kill. Now Yuvi looks a more matured player and with the scheme of things he seems to be right replacement for Ganguly.
English bowlers has been a nemesis to Yuvi's batting skill. The last 2 games that we have witnessed is one of the power packed performance and he was slaying the bowlers all round the park. I has got a new lease of life through the english bowlers and its time for all of us to see Yuvi in both form of the games. I think the english bowlers need to rethink when they have a go at Yuvi the next time. Its seriously high time that English bowlers bring the best under the leadership of Pietersen.
Friday, November 14, 2008
How often we see change in rules?
YARC - Yet another rule change. For all the cricket lovers there is YARC and to know more about that please read here.
Yes , the batting side can decide when they want to enforce the 2nd or the 3rd powerplay. This bring a new perceptive to the game and the captains has to been on his feet to make quick decision and chalk out different strategies and plans.
I think its now time for ICC to consolidate all the new rules and get the sport moving ahead. I believe it needs to support more smaller countries who are dreaming of big in cricket arena.
Yes , the batting side can decide when they want to enforce the 2nd or the 3rd powerplay. This bring a new perceptive to the game and the captains has to been on his feet to make quick decision and chalk out different strategies and plans.
I think its now time for ICC to consolidate all the new rules and get the sport moving ahead. I believe it needs to support more smaller countries who are dreaming of big in cricket arena.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Why can't Cricket have Football style yellow cards?
Random thoughts!!! If you like sports and if you feel our thought align then you can go ahead , if you are on the fence you can always peep in a think over my thought , others please break here.
Me & my friends had a heated discussion how the players fall all over the place in a football match where his opponent would have failed to touch the players. Ronaldo of Man Utd is one player i know of where i feel he falls to often without getting hurt. My friends would disagree me on that , but thats debatable, no hard feelings.
Yellow card are shown by referee where the player is official cautioned. He can continue to play until he receives one more booking. Then the famous red cards come out, The number of red cards is proportional to the number of mad people on the soccer field running for a ball. Can we forget the famous heat butt by Zanedine Zidane, that would remain my best memory that i can talk about in the football history. To me it Zizou : 1 and Matterazi : 0. Youtube presents those memorable Zizou heat butt moments.
I understand why people get angry, they are either provoked or are Robots which have been programmed to Run Fast , Hit Man !! Run Fast , Hit Man !! In a game of football we expect players to make fouls and be cautioned so all these fuzz about cards and send off make sense. I can similarly think crickets playing foul games and showing in disciplinary actions on the field. I have seen bowlers showing their bad side to provoke players. To me cricket needs to push this rule, i know its a Gentleman's game but players are provoked and showing violent conduct on the field.
Me & my friends had a heated discussion how the players fall all over the place in a football match where his opponent would have failed to touch the players. Ronaldo of Man Utd is one player i know of where i feel he falls to often without getting hurt. My friends would disagree me on that , but thats debatable, no hard feelings.
Yellow card are shown by referee where the player is official cautioned. He can continue to play until he receives one more booking. Then the famous red cards come out, The number of red cards is proportional to the number of mad people on the soccer field running for a ball. Can we forget the famous heat butt by Zanedine Zidane, that would remain my best memory that i can talk about in the football history. To me it Zizou : 1 and Matterazi : 0. Youtube presents those memorable Zizou heat butt moments.
I understand why people get angry, they are either provoked or are Robots which have been programmed to Run Fast , Hit Man !! Run Fast , Hit Man !! In a game of football we expect players to make fouls and be cautioned so all these fuzz about cards and send off make sense. I can similarly think crickets playing foul games and showing in disciplinary actions on the field. I have seen bowlers showing their bad side to provoke players. To me cricket needs to push this rule, i know its a Gentleman's game but players are provoked and showing violent conduct on the field.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Sayanora to Jumbo & Dada
Kumble (aka Jumbo) & Ganguly (aka Dada,Prince of Kolkata) are retiring from cricket but they will never leave our cricketing hearts. Yes this isnt the last we see of them. We might see them among the elite panel of Selectors or maybe among those to hold mike and comment about the way cricket was played and cricket will be played.
I still see a bright future in them through media or performing the duties in their own state. How have they succeeded in this cricketing world? How they have won millions of Indian hearts to go out there to watch their heroes play?
The answer to all the How questions is just simple and straight forward. They loved their cricket and played with spirit. Isn't that very simple. Yes people would argue with me that you need talent , you need luck , you need to have influence to enter the cricketing world. But these are top reasons that made them big. What made them big, and made the cricketing world look up to them was the reasons that i cited earlier.
But it has been a fitting farewell for both these stalwarts in Indian cricket. Anil Kumble last test series as captain has been won against OZ. Ganguly's last series win also takes him to a different genre of cricketers who is regarded the best Indian captain till date. His debut Century in Lord's, England and his Golden duck at Nagpur here in India against the OZ emulates the great legendary cricketer Sir Donald Bradman who got out in similar scores.
Yes it time for us to move on. Cricket is beyond cricketing heroes , new heroes are born , new commanders lead and cricket still goes on.
A File photo of Kumble and Ganguly together
I still see a bright future in them through media or performing the duties in their own state. How have they succeeded in this cricketing world? How they have won millions of Indian hearts to go out there to watch their heroes play?
The answer to all the How questions is just simple and straight forward. They loved their cricket and played with spirit. Isn't that very simple. Yes people would argue with me that you need talent , you need luck , you need to have influence to enter the cricketing world. But these are top reasons that made them big. What made them big, and made the cricketing world look up to them was the reasons that i cited earlier.
But it has been a fitting farewell for both these stalwarts in Indian cricket. Anil Kumble last test series as captain has been won against OZ. Ganguly's last series win also takes him to a different genre of cricketers who is regarded the best Indian captain till date. His debut Century in Lord's, England and his Golden duck at Nagpur here in India against the OZ emulates the great legendary cricketer Sir Donald Bradman who got out in similar scores.
Yes it time for us to move on. Cricket is beyond cricketing heroes , new heroes are born , new commanders lead and cricket still goes on.
A File photo of Kumble and Ganguly together
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Thou shall stop watching Cricket from here on :-(
Please go through the article here. This article to me is rated among the best, a well written one. This one especially to me make whole lot of sense and i could connect to each and every line from this article.
It was as if I was gasping my last breath when I read the last few sentences. I guess the readers here will also experience something similar to this.
The moment of truth is yet to come, we don't have much time on our hands. But I hereby declare that "Thou shall stop watching Cricket" when the moment comes.
It was as if I was gasping my last breath when I read the last few sentences. I guess the readers here will also experience something similar to this.
The moment of truth is yet to come, we don't have much time on our hands. But I hereby declare that "Thou shall stop watching Cricket" when the moment comes.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Nice composition - The Traveller
Back to back posts, i guess my friends would be wondering whether i am jobless. I think that's a cliched topic altogether , i guess people would agree with me on this.
Will post on similar lines sometime later but going back to the original topic. I recently came across this sweet little ,lovely composition by Prasanth( my junior in College) seems to have cleaned my ear drums.
I am leaving all my fellow bloggers here to make sure that your ear drums dance to the tunes of this music here - The Traveller
Happy listening.
Will post on similar lines sometime later but going back to the original topic. I recently came across this sweet little ,lovely composition by Prasanth( my junior in College) seems to have cleaned my ear drums.
I am leaving all my fellow bloggers here to make sure that your ear drums dance to the tunes of this music here - The Traveller
Happy listening.
Reds finds a tiny period through Spurs
This blog is not about telling or criticizing the way Reds played against the Spurs. Ask anyone of the Liverpool fans here, the first comments are Oh Damn it!!! and you know what everyone i talked said we are still on the top and Red Devils are behind us. I know how crazy the Man U fans would feel about it. But the truth of matter is we are ahead of them on the points table.
But yes i know we didn't play to our strengths against Spurs. We could have increased our lead to 2 in the first half but unfortunately to the wood work and keeper's rescue. What this shows is Reds are at times vulnerable to teams like Spurs , Everton playing away. At this point of time Rafa needs to sit with his group and rethink the whole strategy of winning convincingly on away games. But nothing has stopped to think about Reds winning the silver ware this time around rewriting history after 18 years.
I think the whole fan base including me are hoping for the best out of Liverpool in EPL and Champions League. Still reciting the Liverpool Anthem "We'll Never Walk Alone"..
But yes i know we didn't play to our strengths against Spurs. We could have increased our lead to 2 in the first half but unfortunately to the wood work and keeper's rescue. What this shows is Reds are at times vulnerable to teams like Spurs , Everton playing away. At this point of time Rafa needs to sit with his group and rethink the whole strategy of winning convincingly on away games. But nothing has stopped to think about Reds winning the silver ware this time around rewriting history after 18 years.
I think the whole fan base including me are hoping for the best out of Liverpool in EPL and Champions League. Still reciting the Liverpool Anthem "We'll Never Walk Alone"..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
