Should Kartik be in the Test team instead of Ojha/Mishra or, dare I say, Bhajji?

- Howardgate

- Yoyo MoYo indicating a return from “retirement” (they should come up with a whole new word for this state of “hibernation” Yoyo goes into every few months..)

- Issues galore for Pak on and off the field (losing a test match, captain resigning, general amusement via news items like this…link via Achettup on twitter)

- Chris Broad ignoring Aussie misdemeanors and reprimanding Asian players

- the whole Modi-IPL-BCCI saga

Do I hear you ask “So, what’s new?” Yeah, my point exactly…

What’s happening over the next 30 days?

Aus vs Pak – not worthy of any discussion

Bangladesh in England – yawn

Ind vs SL – unless the rain/run-fests turn into a semblance of a contest magically(or India is in a winning position due to some bizarre reason), count me out please!

Ind vs SL vs NZ – groan

Eng vs Pak – whatever!

Time to catch up on some reading…any WWII-related recos will be gratefully received

Mendis gets wickets in this game. He gets selected for Tests 2 and 3. The Indian batsmen launch a savage attack on him and the 2008 series is avenged for, the way it was supposed to be.

The winner at the end of the tournament can choose from any of these exciting prizes.

Get going people! Get a bunch of your friends to play in the game with you and have a little friendly contest amongst yourselves.

Are they batsmen, are they bowlers, are they in the team to just make up the numbers, does the captain not like the other players warming the benches? Why were Jadeja and Pathan playing against WI after repeated failures?

Were these mistakes repeated just so that the stubborn captain could try and prove that his tactics and team selections were actually a work of genius, and just did not work in the match against Australia for some reason? Is this one of the reasons why we are almost out of the tournament??

Why…why…why would the batsmen in a team, who are supposed to be “the strength of the team” no less, not even try and apply themselves when chasing a decent score? Twice in a row?

Screw you Men In Blue. Pfft. I’ll follow the girls instead. You would do well to take some inspiration from them yourselves. Two S/F appearances in two T20 WCs. (Dear reader, did you see what the girls did to SL today, yet?

Btw, the senior members of the One day team have rebelled big time against BCCI. They can’t stand playing SL anymore, so they’ve pulled out of the Triangular tournament in Zimbabwe altogether. I know. I know. The BCCI is trying to avoid this scandal by saying stuff like “We are resting the seniors” etc. But trust me. That’s all boo-hockey. Revolt is in the air.

Yuvi got a couple of wickets.

Rohit Sharma is (and probably will remain) the highest scorer for India.

Yes…it’s one of those matches…

Opener Karim Sadiq, the Indian Express revealed a few days ago, is called Kabul ka Sehwag (the Sehwag of Kabul) while wicketkeeper Mohammed Shazhad, like MS Dhoni wears the No. 7 shirt. Their left-handed fast bowler is nick named Zak after our own Broody One.

Cricket is not a favourite sport but the cricketers are Afghanistan’s new heroes. They have become the words Afghans want read about their country in the outside world. Not ‘Taliban’, ‘warlords’, ‘drone attacks’, suicide bombers, opium fields, NATO forces, CIA. But victory, qualification, performance, joy, batsmen, bowlers, man of the match, fours, sixes.

The fact that I did not write a cocky post before the match, and that I was feverishly checking the score while watching Iron Man 2 to make sure all was going ok, should tell you that I was a little…well…concerned. Afghanistan has the drive and hunger to make its mark at the big stage, and India has a tendency to start slow. Let’s just say I’m happy to note that India won comfortably and am looking foward to following Afghanistan’s progress in the future.

I wanted to write a detailed post on India’s chances, players’ forms etc but I haven’t had the time for that yet. So, instead, I will leave you with this appraisal by SP, this not-so-hopeful-of-India’s-chances post by Achettup (kinda how I feel as well) and Homer’s wise words on Twitter on why India should at least get to the semis -

small grounds.. spin… and the draw

Till later people. The match is getting interesting!

I mean I have to get back to my studies…

(Previous mini rant on the mind-numbing regularity with which these two have been playing each other here.)

Straight Points paid homage at BCC!, 3 Idiots style.

Paddlesweep didn’t like it when people said “No one deserved it more than Sachin”

There are loads of people claiming that if anyone deserved it, it was Sachin. I disagree. Not because he did not deserve it, just because saying such a thing oozes empathy towards the person in question. Sachin Tendulkar needs, nor wants any empathy, sympathy or any other relevant pathy.

GreatBong -

The old Sachin radiated heat. The new Sachin gives light.

But he still remains the sun.

Ayaz Memon @ Cricinfo Magazine -

If Tendulkar were to retire tomorrow, a long queue of the game’s greatest batsmen would await him near the dressing room: Hammond, Hobbs, Hutton, the three Ws, Richards, Gavaskar, Dravid, Sehwag, Ponting, Lara, Chappell, Miandad, et al. And at the head of this queue would be Bradman, first to shake his hand and say, “Gosh, you little bonzer, I would have loved to play an innings like that!”

Meanwhile, somewhere in London, I raised my glass in Sachin’s honour. And not knowing what else to add when so many have done such a wonderful job… in true BCC! style, I simply said “Thank You Sachin“.

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