Brett Lee, a sidelined pacer

Five for forty seven, was the first five wicket haul of Brett Lee in his Test debut against India, since then this Pacer has went to became one of the most feared bowler in Cricket arena.

Making his debut under the likes of Glen Mcgrath, Damien Fleming, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne was unnoticeable but this pacer catched everybody’s attention by his pace, accuracy and aggression. He soon took his first ODI five wickets haul against India and since then onwards he has managed to take 365 ODI wickets in his career which is complied with great heights and injuries.

Today, Lee remains one of the oldest and senior Pacer in the International cricket circuit. All his compatriots and other contemporaries with whom he started his career have retired. Lee made his debut in a period which was equally dominated by Pacers and spinners. On One side the World witnessed Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Glenn Mcgrath,and Allan Donald , on the other side Spinners like Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble were making the batsman dance on their spin and in comes Brett lee in a dominated bowling world.

He soon graps the spotlight for being the fastest bowler in the World cricket and having a competition with Pakistani bowler Shoiab Akhter for that but he was never in the spot light as been a face of the Australian attack. At times it was Glenn Mcgrath or Shane Warne. Another reason for been the backup was the Dominance that Australia had created over cricket world. The start of 21^st century saw Australia becoming an undisputed team, a team which does not depends on a single player, a team who only likes to win. In that period been the junior member, Lee was just considered the second best.

Today, the cricket world has faced huge changes and bowlers too have come up with a different attitude,as a result bowlers don’t find it interesting to play Test cricket and prefer to play T20’s but Lee still remains the pacers along with Zaheer Khan who still has the old approach of 21^st century, where playing for the nation and Test was the first priority. Bowlers like Lasith Malinga,Kieron Pollard, Shaun Tait have refused to play test cricket for T20’s (with all respect to their reason) but Brett Lee still remains the bowlers who wants to play all format of the games even after going through career-ending injuries.It will not wrong to say that Brett Lee has been ignored to some extand by the world cricket but it is Lee’s talent and passion for the game that we see Lee still playing the game fair and square.

Why India can’t Dominate Badminton….??

Saina Nehwal loses..

Badminton is followed in India not since Prakash Padukone’s win in the All England Super Series; infact it’s followed before Prakash Nath heroics in the finals of All England Super Series. Overall it’s not wrong to say that Badminton is followed in India from seventy six years, but even after seven decades India has been over shadowed, first by the Indonesians and then by the Chinese.

It’s not like that Indians don’t take Badminton seriously, in the decade of 1950’s, after Cricket, Badminton was the most popular sport followed in Mumbai, Allahabad and other south cities and still the Indians are lacking behind to rule the badminton world.

Although India have produce greats in Badminton from time to time like Prakash Nath, Prakash Padukone,Pullela Gopichand and Saina Nehwal, but why does India find only few greats  even after playing since seventy long years. Whereas nation like China who became the part of world badminton in 1980’s now Dominates the entire Badminton world.

No doubt the facilities in India earlier were poor; as a result players like Dipankar Banerjee, Rajeev Bagaa were not able to give complete justice to their talent, but since the inception of 21^st century, things have changed, Indian shuttlers are now lucky enough to get better facilities, As Hyderabad is the center of Indian Badminton, Players do get an opportunity to practice in the world class Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy but even though Indians are lacking behind the others.

After Pullela Gopichand, no other Indian have won All England Super Series, the present Badminton star Saina Nehwal too have been thrashed out even before the quarter-finals in the ongoing tournament.

No doubt with the last few years the standard of Indian Badminton has raised considerably high, players from all categories are playing well but somewhere Indian are not able to conquer the Gold, which matters the most.What can the reason for this? The players are getting better facilities, experienced coach, good support from the Sport Ministry and what else a player want to prove himself in the world.Can it be the fitness level or the talent or the culture that differs from others which is a big huddle in the race of dominating the world of Badminton?

Mr. Abramovich, have some patience…

It was not the first time that Chelsea Owner Roman Abramovich sacked his football club manager on the basis of club’s dismal performance. In fact Mr. Abramovich sacked his eight club manager in a span of nine years and Andre Villas-Boas was sacked with in just 257 days.

From September 2000 onwards, Villas-Boas is the only manager to be sacked in just 257 days. Before him it was Guus Hiddnik who left the job in just three months, as he wanted to coach Russian national team. But the exit of Hiddnik was not as controversial as Villas-Boas. Hiddnik left the club on his own terms with a better win percentage of 73, whereas Villas-Boas has been fired due to his poor winning percentage of 47.5, lowest than any other Chelsea Manager since the year 2000.

No doubt winning and earning profit is the prime objective of any club but to achieve all the goals, it’s important to have faith and patience on the person who is leading the club. Sacking a manager on the basis on a year performance is like setting a bad example to others.

Manager like Sir Alex Ferguson too took four years to win his first trophy for Manchester United. Hence if any club wants to win trophies, it should bring and show confidence in the manager and also give him time, instead of pressurizing him from the moment of signing the contract.

It is acceptable that Chelsea’s this season performance is one of the worst since the year 2000 but it is not acceptable to sack managers like Carlo Ancelotii and Jose Mourinho on the basis of one bad season, before sacking the Mr.Abramovich should have also noticed their success with the club.

In this case, Mr Abramovich must learn something from Arsenal management who still has confidence and respect for Arsene Wenger even after not winning a premiership title since 2004. Arsene Wenger is still out there all because of his success.

It’s really suppressing to see Chelsea appointing number of managers in a period of nine years. In fact in the recent decade Chelsea has played its best football. After 1955, they won their championship title back 2005, reached Champions League final, won F.A cup, Carling Cup and even then Mr.Abramovich is not happy with the club managers.

Is Virat Kohli the next big thing in World cricket ?

Being appointed as the Vice Captain of the team for Asia Cup, added yet another line in Virat Kohli’s cricket resume. The Smashing knock of 133* against the Lankans cleared the selectors mind for post of Vice captain.

No doubt after this innings Kohil has cemented his place in the ODI’s much before the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina. Who had debuted earlier than Kohli. Even these young lads are part of the ODI Indian team but the when seniors like Yuvraj Singh, Virendra Sehwag will come back, it will be Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina who will have to sacrifice their post. The reason for Kohli’s safety in the starting eleven is his consistent performance as compared to other young Indian batsmen.

Since last one year Kohli has proved himself as the best promising lad as compared to Sharma and Raina. He stands one step ahead when it comes to making runs in the ODI’s. From Jan 2011 he has managed to score 1127 runs, where as Raina has made 904 and 690 runs by Sharma. This Cleary shows that Kohli has been the consistent batsman   in the team and he deserves to get a fixed berth in the starting eleven.

Apart from young contemporaries, Virat has also managed to put behind the greats like Brain Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting. In his Seventy-nine ODI innings Virat has scored 3223 runs with an average of 47.54 leaving behind Lara’s 41.11, Tendulkar’s 32.40 and Ponting’s 39.34 averages. The only other batsman who matches the stats with Kohli is Kevin Pietersen, who averages 47.87 in his seventy-nine innings.

Establishing himself in a short span in the cricket world has definitely made the experts to keep an eye on him. No doubt he has the potential to became one of the greats of the game but for that he has to be consistent  like Lara, score tons like Tendulkar and  lead the side like Ponting .  

Mankad Run-out legal but against the Spirit of the Game!!!

After Mahela Jayawardena’s criticism on the recent Ashwin-Thirimanne Mankad issue, Indian captain M.S.Dhoni has come out and defended the fielding captain saying instead of the fielding captain the umpires should take the call.

The recent Ashwin-Thirimanne Mankad run-out incident, led the cricket experts to criticize R.Ashwin for taking the bails off. Although later Virender Sehwag took his appeal back, but the occurrence of such incident has always questioned the sportsman’s spirit of the bowling team.

How can a team or player can be criticized for not playing the game with sportsman’s spirit if they have followed the rules. According to the ICC rules, if someone is taking a start then the bowler has a full right to make him run out. It’s strange to know that Mankad run-out is considered a shameful action in cricket instead of being legal.

On the other side, the batsman who leaves the non-striker’s end much before the ball is delivered is not blamed for his action. He is just giving a warning and that’s it. If trying to take wicket before the ball is bowled is wrong then making runs before the delivery is bowled is also wrong. Why only the bowling side have to come under the scanner. For such incidents even the non-striker is partly responsible for provoking the bowler by leaving his crease early.

There have been various incidents when Mankad run out were made, as it is named on Vinoo Mankad, as he was the first player to dismiss Bill Brown in this fashion. The recent Makand dismissal was done by Kapil Dev. He ran out Peter Kirsten. There have been occasions when a bowler has giving the benefit of doubt  to the non-striker batsman, the famous incident of Courtney Walsh and Saleem jaffer in the 1987 World cup. When Courtney Walsh gave another chance to Saleem Jaffar, as he found him leaving the crease early.

It’s a strange rule, where executing the rule leads to criticism and avoiding it gives appraisal. If these kind of run out is considered ugly and against the spirit of the game, then why the ICC still includes such rules in its book of law. If it’s considered legal (as it’s considered) then why the Umpires askes the fielding captain about the withdrawal of the appeal. Will the Umpire asks the fielding captain to withdraw his appeal in case when a batsman is bowled? As even this fashion of taking wicket is legal as per the ICC.

So instead of maintaining such confused and non-executive rule, the ICC should ban such mode of dismissal or else they should wait to face controversies, as whenever the incident occurs.

MSD please decide it fast!!!

 Gautam Gmabhir will sit out in the next ODI, despite of good knocks, No one above team says M.S.Dhoni. Would Dhoni have said the same words, If Sachin had performed well. Like this many questions arises all because of Indian Opening rotation policy. Despite of poor performance from the middle orders batsmen’s like Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma, the Captain believes in giving them another opportunity, while breaking the momentum of In-form batsman Gautam Gambhir.

Gautam gambhir has earlier batted at number three, so it should be easy for him to plan his innings and shits his gears as per the requirements. So excluding any one player from the middle order would notbe that tough for Dhoni.

  Rotation policy has not been a complete failure, but it has not given rich dividends too. Till now M.S.Dhoni is been clear while picking players for matches but whom will he select for the Opening slot if India reaches the finals. Would Sachin be rested in the finals, if the rotation policy is executed? Or will Sehwag or Gambhir will fight for a place?  

 In his entire 20 years of cricket career, Sachin has not been rested on the basis of his performance, especially in the finals. Similar situation  arises in the bowling department, where the new found bowling face Umesh Yadav has been rested due to rotation policy, in spite been the best bowler in this tour, leaving behind Zaheer Khan too..

All such situation will make captain M.S.Dhoni think and take big decisions, it will be wise enough to select the best winning  combination before the finals , even if players like Sachin and Zaheer  could not find a place init. In the end Team is above all and rules are made for all, no matter how great the players are!!!.

Is Sachin just a Run Machine?

Twenty one test innings without a century. That’s the latest stats of the master Sachin Tendulkar, which has raised question over his ability to play a big innings in crucial conditions.

His last century came in the third test when India toured South Africa in early 2011.Since then his form has gone through a roller -coaster ride and he has not been able to convert the starts into big ones.

From the English tour to the Down Under, only 778 runs have come through his blade with an average of 37.04. In this period he has just managed to score six half centuries with the highest of 94 at the Wankhade Stadium against the Windies . This poor run has again poured water to the controversial plants like Overseas, Batting Second and Fourth Innings Performance.

No doubt Tendulkar has registered some great knocks in the fourth innings of the away tours but when it comes to comparison with other greats of the game then his compatriot Rahul Dravid is surprisingly ahead of him. Dravid averages 45.90 with his 1010 runs from 31 innings , while Tendulkar ‘s average is only 28.92 from 31 innings, which clearly shows that most of his test runs have come in the first three innings.

Apart from his Overseas fourth innings performance, his Overall fourth innings performance is also not that impressive. He averages 38.12 with total of 1563 runs in 56 innings, in comparison, Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has surpassed him with a huge margin. Ponting holds an average of 56.40 with 39 innings as compared to Tendulkar’s 28.92. Ponting has also scored four centuries, out of these three centuries have come on the bowling friendly wickets, whereas Tendulkar has scored only 3 centuries,in which two have been scored on the home soil at Chennai, which has always been a Batsman friendly wicket.

Along with his two special knocks on the slower pitches of M.A Chidambaram, his most of the big test innings too have been scored on the flat tracks especially in the Indian Sub-continent. Let it be his career best of 248* at Dhaka or 217 and 214  runs against  the Kiwis and Australians respectively at the venues like Ahmadabad and Nagpur  which were bowlers nightmare.

It will be totally wrong to say that Sachin has never performed as per his talent in the fourth innings or at the overseas. His century at the WACA cricket ground  in 1992 or in South Africa at Cape Town in 1997  and other innings will always be remembered but one cannot ignore  his overall fourth innings overseas stats. At the end Fact is Fact, which raises question that weather Sachin is a match winner in test or Just a run machine??