Australian media 'itchy' over Harbhajan scratching his armpits

 

It’s the ‘armpits’ again.

This publication is unable to decide whether Harbhajan was scratching his armpits or making monkey gestures. The crux of the issue is its very own reporters haven’t noticed anything. This irrelevant fact has however not stopped them from publishing the photograph. Hence this desperate plea:

Do you know more? Did you see the alleged monkey gesture? Message 0424 SMS SMH (+61 424 767 764) or email us with information or images.

In light of their desperate plea, this blogger with the help of his friend who works for UniLever, took great pains to come to the conclusion that it clearly a case of bad personal hygiene. My learned friend deduced, all the untamed passion had made Harbhajan hot ‘under the armpits’ and suggests that Bhajji baths regularly. My friend has also suggested that Harbhajan change his brand and start using ‘AXE’, which will make him popular among the Australian ladies and even change Symonds 'feelings' for Brett Lee and instead 'feel' him (Harbhajan).

As for the newspaper's singular contribution to promoting India-Australia relationship, this blogger humbly suggests it be used to wipe Hayden’s large arse and the remaining if any,to be used to wipe Ponting's snotty nose.

Legal disclaimer: Disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of the International Boxing Council and the ‘knock out’ decision is final.

Why can’t India produce another Kapil Dev?

As recounted by Sidhu:

So they say, ‘Mr Kapil Dev, why can’t India produce another Kapil Dev?’ And they repeated it six-seven times. Before someone asked again, he gets up and says, ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ and I tell him there are no ladies here. He asks me to keep shut and repeats again, ‘Ladies and gentleman, my mummy is 62 years old, my father is dead, that is why we cannot produce another Kapil Dev!’

Now we know!

On Bangladesh, dead pitches, South African’s and batting records.

Bangladesh had hoped that a dead, flat pitch will save them from a batting collapse. Unfortunately, it served to amplify their bowling inadequacies. Additionally, by playing on a dead pitch they have let themselves open to notoriety.

Smith (223) and McKenzie (169) look likely to break the record held by India's Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy since 1956 - set against New Zealand - when play resumes Saturday.

Personally, I would have reconciled if the record was broken by any other team bar the South African’s and for causing me immense anguish, Bangladesh should be relegated..

Hosting a Test match is still profitable.

I always assumed that hosting a Test match was a losing proportion. It was also my belief that a cricketing association would prefer to stage a one-day International or a Twenty20 as it would be more profitable than hosting a Test match.

However one look at these figures made me realise how wrong I am. 

Without a Test Match last year Warwickshire lost a record £893,000. With a Test Match this year they are predicting a profit of £500,000.

Unquestionably, hosting an ODI or a Twenty20 would garner more revenue, but hosting a Test match is still profitable.

Dare one imagine, if a Test match is so profitable in England,  how profitable it will be in India?

My mind boggles.

The ‘BCCI’ hand

For those of you who were too young to know, our country underwent a period where if any thing untoward happened, for example your dog died, it was blamed on the ‘foreign hand’. The ‘foreign hand’ invariably was the ‘CIA’.

So it is with ‘déjà vu’ I read:

Mystified players privately questioned why the process to find Hayden guilty and then slap him with a reprimand took nine hours - suggesting it was a politically based decision with pressure brought to bear from India.

Substitute ‘BCCI’ for the ‘CIA’ the same situation prevails today, atleast in Australia. It has become fashionable to suggest that the ‘BCCI’ is the cause of all illness.

Undoubtedly, it gives an Indian reader immense pleasure to read about the ‘BCCI’s’ growing affluence and its resultant influence.

However, as a thinking cricket fan, one is bound to ask, is there any truth to these Peter Lalorish statements?

200 yards ‘hit’

This may be old hat to some, I, however found it enjoyable.

The cricketer was proud of his progress as a batsman and invited his mother-in-law along to watch him play, hoping to impress her.

At the crease, he turned to the wicket-keeper and said 'I'm anxious to do well and really hit this ball. That's my wife's mother over there.'

'Don't be silly,' said the wicket-keeper. 'You'll never hit her at two hundred yards.

My sympathies are with the wicketkeeper – here is a man who tried and failed.

Gilchrist, Hayden - there is a world beyond your nose.

The first thing which entered my mind on reading Gilchrist statement supporting Hayden was the old saying “No man is an island”. For defending Hayden’s ‘obnoxious’ behaviour, this was what Gilchrist had to say:

"I've never cared to think what other teams think of Matthew Hayden," he said.

"He's one of the most well-respected people in our team and that's all that matters to me."

I ask both Gilchrist and Hayden, is it enough? Don’t you want your opponents respecting you?

If you say, yes that’s enough for us, I will ask one other question, Al Capone was the most respected man in the Mafia and do you respect him? An honest answer will be an exercise in self-awareness. It will help you both understand where exactly you stand.

Understand one thing, right or wrong, it is not how you see yourself, as one can delude yourself to be Jesus Christ, it is how the world sees you, as it is impossible to delude the world for long, that’s important.

One suggestion to both Gilchrist and Hayden, look beyond your nose, you will see a vast world out there. There is no humiliation in earning their respect.

High-profile coaches for IPL teams

Here is a list of the coaches appointed by the IPL Franchisees.

Keppler Wessels - Chennai

Martin Crowe - Bangalore

John Buchanan - Kolkatta

Tom Moody -Mohali

Greg Shippered - Delhi

Robin Singh - Hyderabad

Lalchand Rajput - Mumbai

Shane Warne - Jaipur

Robin Singh and Lalchand Rajput are the only Indians among them.

Keppler Wessels to coach Chennai Super Kings

Have to admit that I secretly hoped Keppler Wessels would land India’s coaching job, but it was not to be, it was his clone, Kirsten, who won the job.

To say that I am mildly satisfied to hear that the Chennai Super Kings is to have him as their coach would be an understatement. I, however, cannot offer any rational explanation for my satisfaction.

Maybe it is a sneaking admiration for a man who played for both Australia and South Africa or it could be awe for his work ethics, I don’t know. What I do know is that he would have been good for Indian cricket and now will be certainly good for IPL’s Chennai Super Kings.

Sledging to be Banned* - Terms and Conditions.

Akhil Tandulwadikar reports the latest on the 'ban sledging' motion moved by the BCCI. The report includes the terms and conditions and also the email id's of the officials in charge of drafting the 'sledging ban'.

You can read the terms and conditions at  Akhil Tandulwadikar

Who will 'spin' for Australia?

Australian spinner Brad Hogg has announced that he is retiring from international cricket.Though not as successful in Test cricket as he was in the ODI's, his retirement leaves a gaping hole in the Australian team.

As Stuart MacGill is in a state of perpetual rehabilitation, I imagine it has to be a new comer.Can anyone provide an answer to who will 'spin' for Australia?

The Allan Border Medal, Cricketers, Wives and Girlfriends.

On Allan Border Medal night, two couples who outshone others.

To the academically inclined,Lee took the best Test Player Award and Hayden the One Day Player of the Year award.

Australian’s impotent without sledging.

As this rather long-winded series draws to a close, one thing stands out, sans sledging Australian’s are nothing. Without talking ill about their opponent’s wives, sisters and daughters they are impotent. So much so it is doubtful whether they can put bat to ball without insulting or demeaning their opponents.

Case in point, look at Hayden, Symonds and Pointing, they were all at sea and hardly made any worthwhile contribution, but once they reverted to their old selves, started talking gutter language as witnessed at Sydney, they regained their form.

This raises a pertinent question; do we need these foul- mouths’s in the IPL?

How will their behaviour influence the impressionable young Under-19's?

Quality Spin is our biggest concern - Vengsarkar

Vengsarkar says that "the lack of promise among spinners at the domestic level among the biggest concerns for Indian cricket at the moment".

That and also the fact that we seem unable to unearth a quality opener.

Do you agree?

Choose mascots for the Delhi Dare Devils and Hyderabad.

Soulberry is under immense pressure to choose mascots for his two teams.

In fact he is calling for your suggestions "The house is open for suggestions for Delhi and Hyderabad....we need a mascot too!"he says.

Now is the right time for all good men and women to unite and help our blogger friend in need. Head over to TCWJ and help him decide on a worthy mascot.

In the meanwhile, as a purely altruistic gesture we propose as mascots for Hyderabad.

 

 

 

 

 

Dhoni caught catching with illegal gloves

Under the laws of the game regarding wicketkeepers' gloves, it states in part: " ... that the top edge of the webbing (i) does not protrude beyond the straight line joining the top of the index finger to the top of the thumb and (ii) is taut when a hand wearing the glove has the thumb fully extended."

Apparently Ian Healy spotted it first and then Jeff Crowe the match referee noticed that "TV images of Dhoni's gloves showed an unnatural cupping, or kink, in the webbing -- similar to a baseball mitt. "

The gloves have been taken into custody for further interrogation.Presumably, the offending glove will now be subjected to Chinese third degree methods  and may even suffer the fate of Saddam Hussein.

As for Dhoni, he will plead not guilty  and claim that it was a clash of cultures. His defence will follow the line that the gloves were made in Australia and all he said to the manufacturer was Teri Ma Ki! which was misunderstood to mean that he wanted an extra webbing.

On conditions of anonymity, a very senior member of the Indian cricketing team said, that it was just racial vilification and also added that they, i.e., the Indian team will be filing a counter claim with the match referee that Gilchrist had called Dhoni a 'wanker' an  harmless word in Australia, but a word with different connotations in India. Apparently in India,the word 'wanker' is used to describe a wicket keeper who uses 'illegal' gloves.

A BCCI press release says that they fully support the Indian team and a chartered jet is on its way to Sydney to ferry the team back in case the ruling goes against Dhoni.Meanwhile the ICC has said that it will not yield to the financial muscle flexing of the BCCI and have appointed Mike Procter to adjudicate the hearing.

The Secretary of the BCCI,Niranjan Shah, is expected to conduct a press conference shortly.

Cricket simplified

Dhoni’s rustic background and his unconventional cricket are misleading for when it comes to cricketing acumen and thought progression he is sophisticated and unique.

Here is an excellent example:

“I simply believe that great players are those who take the longest time between two mistakes. I really don’t care about my technique and how I bat; for me, it’s about scoring runs and playing according to the situation,” he says.

Cricket simplified?

A mascot for the ‘Chennai Super Kings’

Now that the bidding for players is over and done with, it is important for the 'Chennai Super Kings' to have a mascot.

You know the one which reflects the team’s philosophy, a person who is effectively the face of the team, one whose very contours should strike the opponents dumb.

Based on this broad principle and after careful consideration we have short listed the following people as worthy. Mind you this is just for starters.

 

   Readers can either choose from among these people or if they strongly feel someone else is worthy they are welcome to pass on their suggestions.

Let the tipplers decide on IPL's Twenty20

Historian and cricket author Ramchandra Guha on the dominance of IPL's Twenty20 over Test cricket and 50-over game.

"Test cricket is scotch, one-dayers are Indian whisky and Twenty20 is local hooch,"

Exactly Mr. Guha, cricket is indeed a heady brew and having tasted both Test cricket and ODI's, we are sure of its legacy. However, as we are yet to witness even a ball being bowled,it is too early to decide on the IPL or on the Twenty20 format. Lets all first taste it and then decide which is what.

In short, let us leave it to the tipplers (cricket fans)?

What do you say?

IPL is a safe bet for the franchisees

The IPL team owners are assured of a steady stream of income for the next 10 years which offsets all the money they have thrown in buying the franchisees.The income accrues from the television broadcasting deal IPL has with SONY and also from the title sponsorship fees paid by the DLF.

The real risk has been taken by the TV company that has committed a little over a billion dollars for TV rights over the next decade. Over the same 10 years, the team owners will get their lion’s share of TV sponsorship fees (80 per cent for the first five years, 60 per cent for the next five) and the title sponsorship fee (60 per cent) which is to be paid by DLF. Each team owner therefore stands to get a guaranteed share of between $80 million and $100 million over 10 years — which makes the teams themselves virtually free for some of the less ambitious bidders (even the highest team bid, by Mukesh Ambani, was for $111.9 million). The team owners also get access to all on-ground and local revenues as well as the obvious branding opportunities, all of which taken together should be comfortably enough to pay the players’ fees (a total of between $3 million and $5 million per team). After 10 years, team ownership is there in perpetuity without any further charges. So what might have seemed like a flaky play by movie stars and cash-rich businessmen is in fact a pretty safe bet.

A recent press release from Hero Honda says that they have now signed in as a Co-sponsor, which in effect means more money for the IPL team owners.

Almost risks free business eh!

Vidarbha bookies betting on IPL

The advertising crowd, the media and even the blogger's are scratching their heads trying to decide on how or whether IPL will make money.

However, there is one set of people who are confident that they will reap a windfall with the IPL.

The Vidarbha bookies estimate that they will make atleast Rs.500 crore in the preliminary stages of the IPL tournament. They are quietly confident that the betting will increase as the tournament progresses's and expect the betting on the big matches to go upto 100 crores per match.

Now here is the shocker. They reiterate that these figures are just for the Vidarbha region and state that in metros like Delhi and Mumbai the betting will be "four to five times" more.

If the bookies themselves are confident, should we doubt the money making potential of the IPL?

IPL, ICL flaunt new recruits

Both the IPL and the ICL paraded two new recruits from New Zealand.

Adam Parore shrugs off six years of retirement to join ICL. He will be playing for their Chennai franchisee, the 'Chennai Superstars'.

The other New Zealander who crossed the Indian Ocean, Martin Crowe, joins the 'Bangalore Royal Challengers', the Bangalore based franchisee of IPL.

Crowe joins in the capacity of a coach. If reports are to believed he will be just a figurehead while Venkatesh Prasad, the current bowling coach of India, will be doing the bulk of the grunt work as Coach of the 'Bangalore Royal Challengers'.

How will you stop cricketers prioritising IPL over playing for their country?

Here is something to ponder:

Cricket has always been run on national lines, and appearing for one's country is the chief aspiration of almost every player. How far, though, does playing for, say, New Zealand or West Indies remain your absolute priority if the bulk of your income instead comes from a city franchise in India? What happens then to national teams, and, by extension, to test cricket as a whole?

Consider this in light of the fact that both Symonds and Hayden have expressed their unwillingness to tour Pakistan due to safety concerns. Intriguingly, the security team appointed by the CA is yet to visit Pakistan. So what made them state their unwillingness?

Keep in mind, if the Pakistan tour is deemed safe both Symonds and Hayden miss out on the first two weeks of the IPL, which in turn means that they lose out on their two weeks pay.

So how will you judge these players and or their announcements? Additionally, what if another player cries off from a tour citing personal reasons only to be found willing to play in the IPL two weeks later? Are the cricket boards equipped to deal with this truancy?

Sledging banned-Match Officials instructed to come down hard

International cricket officials have voted to banish sledging from the game and have instructed the match officials to take a hard stance against the offenders.

However, the thought which comes uppermost in the mind is how are the neutral umpires to know what is being said in languages other than English.

How are they going to understand another 'Teri Ma Ki' ?

Why were the IPL Mumbai franchisee cautious?

The Ambani's, owners of the Mumbai franchisee are arguably the one with the deepest pockets, reputedly unafraid to take risks and renowned for thinking big.

Surprisingly, they were circumspect in their bidding. They seemed reluctant to up the ante and were on a wait and watch mode yesterday.

One wonders whether Sachin's Icon status and the cap on the expenses made them cautious.

 

 

IPL: The Chennai Super Kings squad so far

If someone told me that the Chennai franchisee would end up being the big spender, I would have laughed at his face. Turns out he had the last laugh.

The India Cements group who are the owners of the Chennai franchisee has splurged on buying Dhoni making him the most expensive cricketer in the IPL.

It would be an understatement if I describe this as most uncharacteristic. I had assumed that they would not go after the stars but instead seemed to have plunked for some big names like Hayden and Muralitharan.

As expected they have bid and won Fleming. He is a good buy in the sense that he has a good cricketing brain and as an opening bat can still wield a mean willow. However, the logic of pairing two left handers, Fleming and Hayden is beyond me.

The reason for adding Muralitharan seems emotional, however the saving grace could be the Chepauk pitch is conducive to turn and if I am not mistaken the home side, 'Chennai Super Kings' are bound to play a minimum of 4 games there.

Since they picked Raina during the second phase of the bidding, I suspect it to be an after thought. However, he is a worthy inclusion. The same can be said of Joginder Sharma.

Nitini,Morkel and Oram are safe bets and should prove their worth.

Now to the sore point, Parthiv Patel, what is he doing in a Twenty 20 squad and sickeningly what made them bid for him. Was there any trade- off?

This is how the 'Chennai Super Kings' squad looks after the bidding:

MS Dhoni

Muttiah Muralitharan

Jacob Oram

Albie Morkel

Suresh Raina

Matthew Hayden

Stephen Fleming

Parthiv Patel

Joginder Sharma

Makhaya Ntini

Nuwan Zoysa

 

IPL Bidding Frenzy -Phase 1

Players traded at the end of the phase 1

Shane Warne $450,000, Jaipur
MS Dhoni $1.5m, Chennai
Adam Gilchrist $700,000, Hyderabad
Shoaib Akhtar $425,000, Kolkata
Mahela Jayawardene $475,000, Mohali
Muthiah Muralitharan $600,000, Chennai
Anil Kumble $500,000, Bangalore
Harbhajan Singh $850,000, Mumbai
Sanath Jayasuriya $975,000, Mumbai
Kumar Sangakkara $700,000, Mohali

Glenn McGrath unsold
Mohammad Yousuf unsold

 

The surprising thing is that Chennai seemed to have cocked a snoop at the other franchisees by bidding and winning Dhoni and Muralitharan.

The shock is that McGrath has no takers. The ICL litigation threat seemed to have stopped the franchisees from bidding for Yousuf.

Seriously, I don’t understand the logic behind the bidding for both Kumble and Harbhajan. 

Another gut feeling is that Sanath Jayasuriya may turn out to be a pistol shooting blanks.

However, it is too early to make a call on the motivations or how the franchisees are building up their team.

An English IPL exodus unlikely

A lot has been made out of Alastair Cook's statement that an English IPL Exodus is unlikely. I believe there is some truth in it but not for the reasons mentioned.

Cook claims that English cricketers have great pride playing for England, they are excellently remunerated,have a packed international schedule and hence would not be tempted by the 'big money' on offer.

On face value the reasons have legitimacy. However the same can be said for all cricketers. They dream and take pride in playing for their country.Other than the New Zealander's the others are suitably remunerated. The same can be said about the packed schedule.

So why is an English exodus unlikely?

Mainly because there is no genuine exciting talent in England. Other than Flintoff, whose injuries and peccadillo's make him an unsafe bet, there is only Pieterson who has an international marque value.The rest are plodders and journeymen who will not excite the IPL franchisees. So an 'exodus' if you are to use the word in its proper sense, is unlikely.

BTW, I would recommend Chennai Super Kings to bid for Collingwood.

 

A Dummies Guide to IPL

Still wondering what is IPL?

Here is a Dummies Guide to IPL.

How will the IPL franchisees make money?

The astronomical sums bandied about leaves us wondering how these franchisees are ever going to recover leave alone make a profit.

At first glance the players seem the only one who will benefit, but at the same time it is foolhardy to suppose that the Ambani's and the Mallya's have jumped in without a thought of the ROI.

One possibility is that they will develop their franchisee into a global brand and then sell it off to others, something similar to speculation.

The other possibility could be that they may use their 'icons' as an extension of their brand and device their advertising around them.Here again the money involved is huge and logically they can buy 'icons' with wider appeal at lesser price.

As some one who is nowhere in their league it is incomprehensible but one thing is sure they will definitely extract their pound of flesh.

But how?

It is official -Chennai Super Kings it is

This blog declares itself as the (un)official blog of IPL's Chennai franchisee.

As a first step, we are happy to see our very own Cheeka as the brand ambassador.

Being mentally lazy, we are yet to put our mind on our team composition,however this blog surely wants Fleming in the team and roundly disagree having 'superstars' in the team.

To paraphrase Dhoni, we prefer the Munaf's to the Sreesanth's.

Your thoughts?

Tendulkar - Would he have made a difference?

Sandeep Patil in his regular column says:

To me, Mahendra Singh Dhoni made a big mistake by asking Rohit Sharma to come as a runner. If he had put a little thought, the best man would have been Sachin Tendulkar. Imagine a situation where one can use Tendulkar's experience on the field even after he has got out. I would have sent Tendulkar because his presence and guidance would have made the difference. By asking for Rohit, I am afraid Dhoni did not consider the state of the mind that the youngster must have been.

I doubt whether Sachin's wisdom would have made a difference. The Indian batsmen just didn't have the stomach to stay and fight and choose the easier way of hitting their way out of trouble.

However, I am sure of one thing, if it was not for Rohit Sharma, Dhoni would have been run-out by a mile.

Your thoughts on Sachin as a runner?

IPL leaves Team India unfit.

A speculative reports suggests that Team India's physical trainer Greg King and physio John Gloster may soon join the IPL bandwagon.

The reasons are obvious, high wages and less working hours.However,one fails to understand how BCCI is permitting its own staff to resign and join IPL.

Shouldn't there be a cool- down period similar to the 2 year break from international cricket for the cricketers?

IPL- Bidding War on Symonds

His petulance and the Harbhajan episode should have made Symonds an 'untouchable' purely for marketing reasons and an 'undesirable' for the IPL franchisee's.

However, pure cricketing skills seems to have won over racism, chauvinism and jingoism.

From media reports it is clear that every other IPL franchisee want him.

Saurav Ganguly, Captain of the Kolkatta team, want him and is reportedly ready to involve himself directly in the bidding process.

The Delhi franchisee is also very keen on Symonds and needless to add the Bangalore franchisee is ready for a bidding war.

Curiously the Mumbai franchisee and the Chennai franchisee haven't envisioned interest.

Probably the Chennai franchisee may have deemed him costly and unviable, but why is the Mumbai franchisee shying away from him?

 

 

Yuvraj is a misfit in the middle overs

Dhoni stoutly believes that despite his insipid form Yuvraj is a key player because "A lot has been said about good starts and how the finish should be provided in the final overs but for me, the key is how you bat in the middle overs and set up the game between 20th and 39th over."

However, how does Yuvraj fit into Dhoni's view of the middle overs?

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Going by his current form and his mental make up Yuvraj is a misfit. In the middle overs you need a batsmen who can rotate the strike by running quick singles and finding the gaps which will yield two and three's in these vast Australian grounds.

With his dodgy knee Yuvraj will certainly struggle to keep up with a hard charging partner over a long period of time. Similarly, Yuvraj has never shown the patience nor the willingness to stick to the basics if the team is in a preservation mode. Yuvraj is more inclined to hit crowd pleasing and image enhancing shots rather than pace his game according to the team's needs.

Besides, Yuvraj's technique has been found wanting against spinners and it is standard practice to use spinners during the middle overs to a spread out field. Unfailingly Yuvraj has floundered against them.

Dhoni's reading of the ODI game is excellent but citing Yuvraj as a  necessity is wrong.

Isn't it time to bench Yuvraj?

A break in blogging

I am rushing to Kerala to attend a funeral.Hope to be back on Sunday.

Blogging will be virtually Nil during this period.

Kindly excuse me for being abrupt.

Mysterious departures from the English woman’s team.

If it was England cricket coach Mark Dobson who quit rather suddenly last Friday, today it was the long-time wicketkeeper Jane Smit who quit on the eve of its Ashes defense .

England team manager Clare Connors, who flew in late last week from London and left last night, strongly denied that Mark Dobson's and Jane Smit's departures were related. "They are not connected," Connors said. "Mark Dobson had to return for personal reasons and that won't be discussed. With Jane Smit, she has 16 years of cricket behind her, and retired from yesterday … They have no connection. To my knowledge, they are not romantically involved."

If there was no connection, romantic or otherwise, then why did Mark Dobson and Jane Smit leave? The English seem to have a penchant for quitting for personal reasons with no explanations made to the public.

IPL - Player bid values

Here are the reserve prices for the players:

 

$400,000: Dhoni, Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Ganguly, Dravid.

$300,000: McGrath, Mohammed, Yousuf, Ponting.

$275,000: Lee, Gilchrist.

$250,000: Gayle, Jayasuriya, Mahela, Jayawardene, Murali, Warne, Sangakkara, Kumble, Harbhajan Singh.

$225,000: Sarwan, Afridi, Younis Khan, Mohammed Asif, Shoaib Akhtar, Symonds, Clarke, Hayden, Vettori, Smith, G Gibbs, Gillespie.

$200,000: Malinga, Bracken, Styris, Pollock, Morkel, Kallis, Katich, Agharkar, Ghambir, Khartik M, Zaheer Khan, Sehwag, Sreesanth, Khartik D, RP Singh, Uthappa, Nel.

$175,000: Chanderpaul, Vaas, McCullum, Langer, Devilliers, Ntini, Boucher, Pathan.

$150,000: Mahroof, Fernando, Fleming, Oram, Prince, Laxman, Chawla, Jaffer, Powar.

$125,000: Kaif, Raina.

$100,000: Zoysa, Shoaib Malik, M.Johnson, Haddin, C.White, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma.

No reserve price: P. Jayawardene, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal, Justin Kemp, Mortaza Ashraful.

My thoughts follows below

The highest reserve prices are obviously for the Indian players and noticeably  though his reserve price is low, Ishant's is bound to draw a higher price.

It is disappointing to see Laxman bracketed alongside Chawla,Powar and Jaffer and if Fleming's retirement rumours are true, he is bound to pull in a bid equal to Gayle and Jayasuriya.

Your thoughts?

Presenting the New and Magnanimous Clark- a loser and a sometime crystal - ball gazer.

Do you remember a guy called Stuart Clark? That's right, he is the same guy who aspired to be a McGrath and went about making 'predictions'.

Just to jog your memory he went as far as predicting a 4-0 whitewash: the end result ,he ended up with nothing much to speak off in terms of wickets and the Australian team ended up with self- doubts.

My blabbering continues after this advertisement

Now having learnt his lessons he has switched tracks. Instead of predictions he is into magnanimity.

"They can think whatever they want I suppose," he said.

"They've made bold statements for a little while now and we have a bit of a laugh about it. They're allowed to think whatever they like, that's their choice.

Thanks for being large hearted and generous and for permitting us to think whatever we want.

You say we have been making some bold statements for a while,true, we have atleast backed it up by action, what about you and your team, it is high time you and your team played like a champion.

Just so that you know we Indians are as magnanimous as you are, here is a piece of advice you undoubtedly don't want to hear, stop thinking about IPL and start playing cricket.

Conserving Ishant

Undoubtedly with a bit more refinement and experience Ishant Sharma, popularly known as ‘Lambu’, is going to be our spearhead. It would not be an exaggeration to call him ‘precious’, a word which means both ‘valuable’ and ‘frail’.

Now that he is both valuable and frail it is important to ensure that he does not suffer a breakdown or a grievous injury and has his career cut short. So how can we save him from falling prey to crippling injuries and ensure that he is fresh and willing?

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For starters,this tri-series, let him sit out the matches against Sri Lanka. As for the immediate future he should be protected from heartless tracks like Kotla and play, atleast during the initial years, on surfaces like Mohali in India.

For the sake of Indian cricket, would it be too daring to suggest that he should play in the Tests and avoid the 20/20’s and the ODI’s like the plague?

How would you go about conserving Ishant?

Some profound statements from Jayawardene

Jaywardene on everything:

"If you don't perform on that given day, you can be beaten,"

"We just need to come back strong after the last outing that we had.

"Our batting is a bit of a concern.

"You can have those kinds of days. That happened to the Aussies yesterday. They batted seven guys and they couldn't get 160.

"There are no excuses for the way we batted. The application out there that day wasn't good.

"For us we just need to forget about what happened the other day and concentrate on how we are going to go about things.

Here is his best:

"For us we need to think positive. We think we can win the next four or five games in a row and get ourselves into that final."

It’s a wonder that he didn’t choke on this gibberish.

Young quick’s set up an Indian Victory.

India’s fiery twins Sharma and Sreesanth took 7 wickets and demolished the Australian’s in 43.1 overs.

Though 159 runs was gettable the familiar Indian middle order jitters, saw a composed Rohit and an unflappable Dhoni cut out the frills, run the singles hard and ensure the five-wicket win.

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However, the Indians put in a patchy performance during the tense encounter. The part time bowlers gave some breathing space to the Australian batsmen and the middle order collapse let in a ray of hope for their bowlers.

By beating Australia, India leads the points table.

Race Quota blow up in South Africa

Should the tour of Bangladesh used to meet the transformation demands of seven players of color?

This question seems to have set off a virtual war between the coach and the selectors on one side and the CSA President on the other.

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The CSA President believes the tour of Bangladesh should be used to the transformation demands of seven players of colour. Obviously the coach and the selectors deem it other wise. They are keen to use it as a preparation for the Indian series.

Both the coach Arthur and the CSA President have been roundly condemned for squabbling and name calling in public. However, with Cricket South Africa (CSA), the national body, going so far to say that the matter would be handled "internally" hopes of truce or a compromise being worked out atleast to save face have surfaced.

Unfortunately, if reports are to be believed, Coach Arthur has been axed from the selection panel thus effectively taking him out of the equation and reiterating the stand taken by the CSA President.

Now the question is how long will Arthur stay on as a coach?

India feeling the absence of Dravid, Ganguly?

Australian speedster Brett Lee reckons that the young Indian cricket team was struggling to find its feet in the absence of experienced batsmen like Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.

I doubt whether the youngsters were over awed by the occasion. This young lot is competitive and they care two hoots to who they are playing against.They are confident enough to take on the opposition on equal terms.

More than finding their feet, it is the bounce which is doing them in.If you notice the newcomers all got out to balls which took off from the shoulder of their bat.

In a way, the rained out matches helped them get good match practice.

Lets hope with match practice under their belt, they will start firing from tomorrow.

How much is a sports psychologist paid?

How much ever it is, if you are to go by the following facts, it is too much.

The New Zealand team's sports psychologist Gary Hermansson visited you on the boundary immediately after that over. Did he want to talk over something deep and meaningful about your childhood? How did he couch his words?

He just said "well bowled".

You pay a huge retainer to a sports psychologist and all he can come up with is an earth shattering insight, "well bowled"?

I am sure Boyc's mum can come up with something better.

Taufel in Utopia

Here is an excerpt from Cricketnext.com:

 

Does the thought of the stature of players or teams ever cross an umpires' mind?

 

Taufel: No, I try to treat all players and teams the same – as equals. The bowler is a bowler and a batsman is there with two pads on down the other end. Every decision in cricket is an important one regardless of what level you are umpiring and every player deserves your best effort on the day – from number 1 to number 11.

 

I doubt it. It is humanly impossible to negate it. The umpires should either be made of Teflon or they must be cocooned or otherwise they must be imbibing some mythical potion.

  

Is it me or do you notice a bit of 'delusion of grandeur'?

 

 

 

 

South African Cricket in a Race Row

"A race row over the number of black players in the South African cricket team is threatening to split the sport in that country."

 

The lofty ideal of integrating communities is the compulsion behind the quota system in South Africa. However does it not harm the very social fabric if one is preferred over the other on this basis?

 

Morever, I assume that they are following the same quota system in the domestic championship. That should give an opportunity to integrate the players and judge their talent. Unfortunately, the players are found wanting, so why force them on a national side?

 

I prefer selections made on the basis of merit rather than one to satisfy a quota system.

 

How do you view it?

 

 

Slip and slip catching

Ponting on the recent slip catching woes:

 

"We've had guys moving all over the place in the cordon. Andrew Symonds coming in, Michael Clarke moving around first and second, me the other night being probably a specialist second-slipper finding myself at first slip and I put one down there."

 

I don't understand the fine distinction. I don't think there is much of a difference standing in the first slip and the second slip or for the matter any slip. How you position yourself for the catch is what matters.

 

Can slip catchers throw some light?