Arm Ball

Juggling of numbers.

I have no hopes. I have assumed India is out.

Less hurt. Less frustration. Less agony.

If Australia go through they are my favorites, if they dont then its India.

But the onus of the early exit would lie on 3 individuals and they would be RP, Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh.

Not many Indian fans support Pakistan except if you live in those pockets in India where…..but tomorrow would be an exception.

And there are signs that Younis wants to play India in final. Of course, thank you. But dont expect Manmohan Singh to ask his team to lose it to your team again.

30th Sep is never so complex.

Get over it ASAP….

To start with congratulations to Younis Khan for a memorable win.

And as of now the game we lost, the blame goes to the bowlers — RP Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma.

Sachin failed, Kohli failed and Yusuf Pathan now has reached the stage where somebodys gotta go to him and say “Dude thanks a ton. Your T20 skills are too good, unfortunately they dont work in ODIs. Out you go. “

Lad hasnt performed since ages and now he is hurting one place in the team. Not sure how good Nayar kid would be, but still that should be the end of Pathan for now.

Harbhajan Singh now has pathetic record of 10 wkts in 15 games. Horrendous.

In the touring party the other fast bowlers are Praveen Kumar. Who is no different than Ishant Sharma in non swinging pitches.

The fast bowling looks like a worry.

And for the critics of Dravid, here is why he is important to the side even now when the IPL stars have loomed large : hhe has patience and persistence. 76 in 102 balls were the difference why India lost by 54 runs and why not by 85 runs.

Still all is not yet lost for the team. Beat Aussies tomorrow which is a possible task if the team gets its combination right.

And why did Kohli come on 4 instead of 5 or 6 ? This are some of the problems which need an urgent fix. Throw the fast bowlers who are just on the reputation of IPL or tests. We need bowlers who could take wickets on any pitch. Something like Srinath and Zaheer do / did.

All is still not lost.

And yes this post would be a disappointment for flamed readers from the neibhourhood who….

And their best bowler in the warm up game is not going to play the most important game of the CT. Not because he is a lowly bowler on talent, but because his captain doesnt put that trust in him.

This is South Africa and there is place for just one spinner. And that spinenr is going to be Harbhajan Singh who is fresh from a 5-for.

RP Singh had a fabulous T20 world cup in 2007. How far he goes this time is not very sure as he is not seeming to be in good form. He was clobbered for 66 runs in 8 overs by Neil Broom.

Ishant Sharma has been on and off. Praveen Kumar well I am not sure if he would be playing. Ashish Nehra seems to be the best bet to rely on right now.

Zaheer Khan seems to be missed big time in this tournament. A country where he has been tremendously successful except the match on 3/23/03 against Australia, the biggest match of his career.

Possible bowling line up looks like : Nehra, Ishant, Harbhajan and RP.

Batting more or less looks settled. Tendulkar, Gambhir to open with Dravid at 3, Yuvraj at 4, MS at 5, Raina at 6. 7th spot seems to be in a bit of doubt. I would rather give the benefit of doubt to Yusuf Pathan in the first game and then may be try Nayar in the game against dummy Bangladesh…..

If the bowlers do their job half decent, the Indians would be good to live up to their reputation as the best ODI team in last 2 years. They have now won 6 trophies on trot. No other team can boast of the same record.

I predict a India – South Africa final .

Not to forget historically Indians have done too good in ODI tournaments in SA and also their greatest win in T20 came in 2007 in SA itself.

If acclimatising to the conditions go, then nobody better than Indians do it after of course the home team. They just played IPL – 2 here 5 months back

Everybody in the Indian team played the IPL and one of them reached the finals. Didnt they. Sachin, Yuvraj, Dravid, Harbhajan and Nehra would cherish the 2003 memories. Especially Nehra when he rocked England in Durban.

India plays Pakistan in Centurion on 26th Sep, the same ground where they royally thumped Pak in 2003 and sent Waqar, Wasim and Anwar out of the cricket career.

The magical 6s to Shoaib from Sachin and Sehwag. The 6s to Wasim Akram. Who can forget that. So who is this time ? Gul ? Or Aamer ?

Let the CT begin. !!

“The same could be said about Rahul Dravid. Dravid is a great representative of Indian cricket, a team man, humble, a well-spoken gentleman. But unfortunately he could not score a single run in the early rounds of the IPL, and in my opinion, is not suited to this form of the game. I am certain Dravid’s performances were also affected by the off-field drama created by his franchise owner Vijay Mallya.”

“Yuvraj Singh in a sense tries to be a modern-day Sourav Ganguly, but I don’t think he has the charisma or the dignity with which Ganguly carries himself,” he said.

Tendulkar has been lauded, and rightly so, as one of the very top batsmen in the history of cricket,” he wrote. “But is he an effective T20 player at this stage of his career?

“In the position he plays – as an opener or No. 3 – the T20 game requires not only the finesse and skills he has, but also the power and domination, an ability to take the bowlers on while being creative. You have to be inventive and fearless. And I don’t see those qualities as part of Sachin’s makeup at this stage of his career. Sachin Tendulkar is still a great player but not in this arena of T20

Toss comes in. And we are chasing. Yes. Way to go. Ojha and Irfan go out. Jadeja and RP come in. Good choices. India makes sensible choices. Spin + pace. England get in Ryan Sidebottom in and Adil Rashid, the spinner goes out..

Lord’s is already blue with Indians and English supporters. Time for Anthems. Its proud to stand to Indian national anthem. Great to see likes of DK, Irfan, Zaheer, Yusuf sing along with the likes of Bhajji, MS, Gambhir and Yuvraj.

There. Diff between Indians and English supporters. Every Englishman sung national anthem despite camera focussed on them. And Indians. They jumped and waved when focus shifted to them even when Jan gan man was played.

Asoka Desilva is the one umpire along with Aussie Steve Davis. We all know how much DeSilva loves India. First ball. Swing off the off stump. Bopsie on strike. 2nd ball, played back.

Hussain says 160 is winning total. Not quite. Wide ball and good take by MS. First runs on the board for England. Good run. First runs off the bat. Virender Sehwag is a crucial man in Indian line up. He is the next batting great. He has to feature in every crucial game.

Not to forget Zaheer is playing against his favorite opposition England. 1st over gone. England 3/0.

RP next. 2 dot balls. Great ball. Wright shuffled too much. Leg slip for Wright. Sachin there. Sachinnnnnnnnnnnnnn. Chance for out. Catch out. India draw first blood. Yousuf gets it. Short ball. Wright goes for it. and India get the first wicket

KP comes in. Get in Yuvraj. Pie-chucker. Remember KP is injured. Bonding seems great between the team much in contrary to what ass media reports.

2 gone England 4 for 1. Typical English start. Bad ball, first boundary. 8 for 1 in 2.1 Bopara bats like Sachin ? :O. Hussein all right ? Zaheer pitching in leg side. Bad ball again. KP off the block with a boundary. Strike rate of 400. Mis fiekding. Poor stuff. Yuvraj there. Supposedly best. Hussein warns about the backlash if either of the team goes out today.

15 for 1 in 3. Rp comes in for 4th over. Short ball. One more. 17 for 1 in 3.2
Bad ball again. 4 more. 21 for 1 in 4 overs. Appeal of the last ball. Not given. Ishant comes in the attack and rightly so. We need a Indian commentator in the box. Bishop and Hussein too anti-Indian.

Bad start to Ishant. Four. Too much of misfielding happening here. India needs a wicket here. Gambhir dis time. Six to end the over. 34 for 1 in 5.

Last over of Power plays. Bumble in the commentary box. Four. Great stuff from KP. England running away. No imagination from Indian bowlers. Dhoni tsands up to the stumps. Good fielding from Raina. End of restrictions. 40 for 1 in six.

Will we see Yuvraj come in? Apt time for him to come on right now. Stop KP before he opens out. He comes. But goes for a 4. Bopara. KXIP team mates. 6 off 3 balls. KP avoiding Yuvraj. Pie chucker. There he comes. 7 off 5. Four. 11 off the over.

51 for 1 in 7. Bhajji on to match on. Match on to Videocon. 4 off 4 balls. Flighted delivery. Good fielding by Mr Useless. 56 for 1 in 8. Good start. India needs to get a wkt here. Ishant has been a let down. Yusuf Pathan, Raina and Useless should get few overs. IPL experience.

3 off 2 balls. KP now. He s got better of Yuvraj. 4 off 1. 5 off 2. 4 off 3 balls this over. 5 off 4. Mr Useless does it again. Misfield. 9 off 5. Another misfield. 10 off the over.

65 in 9.

Harbhajan for 2nd over. 10th of the innings. 2 off 3 balls. Great stuff from Bhajji. he is a surd from Punjab. Smart street. 3 off 4. Was it a chance ? 3 off 5. Wickets man wickets. Wrong one. 71 for 1 in 10.

Jadeja comes in. Sachinnnnnnnnnnnnn. Last time they showed Sachin a wkt fell. What about this time ? 2 off 2 balls. Left arm spinner from RR. Shane Warne find. 3 off 3. England have got their runs off leg side mostly. Thats it. Bowled him. Bopara trying to make the room, a faster one. Bopara bowled. 2 for 74. Shilpa Shetty’s Dimmy comes in. 75 for 2 in 11.

Ishant Sharma back. 1 oof 2 balls. KP on strike. Bad throw. 2 off 3. 3 off 4. Jadeja everywhere. 5 off 5. Good running. 7 off the over. Next one to go out would be Ishant Sharma. 20 off his 2. So now 40 of 84 runs have come in 4 overs. Take that away and score then reads 44 in 8.

Wide ball. Dimmy faces his own team mate. 3 off the 3 balls including one wide and a dot ball. First six of the game. 10 off 5. Thats out. Big wicket. Huge wicket. Wooo hooo. 92 for 3 in 13.

sharma for 3rd over. Colly next. 1st run off the over on the 3rd ball. 39 more to go. Nah. Its Owais Shah who is in. 2 off 4 balls. Good bowling. 4 off the over. 3/96 in 14.

Jadeja for the 15th over. My blog named by Ian Chappell. Arm Ball. 33 more. Good bowling. 1 off4. 2 off 5. 100 for England in 15 overs. 8 off last 2.

RP has 1, Zaks has 2, Bhajji has 2. Jadeja has 1. Ishant iin for his last. 3 off 2.
4 off 3. Ishant is a poor bowler in this format. he proves it again. 8 off 4. Zaks walks off to him. 32 off 3.5 overs. assholle. 36 off 4 overs. Take them off and the score would be 77 in 12.

Jadeja for his last over. MS slow in whipping off the bells. Wide. Four. 7 off 3. off 4. 8 off 5. Good end. And a brilliant spell. 26 off 4 with 2 wkts.

Bhajji on. 17 balls to go. Gone. End of Shah. Collingwood comes in. Jadeja everywhere. Bhajji too good for Colly. 5 wides. Bad stuff.

Bad stuff continues. 135 for 4 in 18.1. 6 off 2 balls. Wide ball. Ridiculous.Switch hit and gone lbw. James Foster next man. 140 for 5. Direct hit would have taken Foster. 142 for 5. 1 more to go and 5/143.

Bhajji to bowl last. Why not RP ? Good over this. Bhajji gets Foster. And now bowled. 3 off the hatrrick ball. 4 wides. Yuvraj Singh misfields. Mind games. 7 for 153. 20 extra runs off fumbles.

India needs 154 to win and stay alive.

Tinkering with the batting order was another factor that led to the doom. Their best 2 players have to be coming at 1 and 2. Its obvious that the 2 openers they had were the best in the history of the game. Had they persisted with them the story wud have been different. Besides Bravo was on and off.

Zaheer and Bhajji’s indifferent form didnt help either. And that bothers me. India’s chances in T20 defence lies on this 2 bowlers. Over emphasis on youth of Mumbai led them to dooms. Rahane, Takwale, Nayar and others failed miserably to perform and then there were many players like Kyle Mills left out without a single game.

Not to mention that the team choked when it came to the crunch games. Barking and scoffing at opposition teams / umps didnt help too (bloggers).

MUmbai Indians became 2nd team to be knocked out of the tourney. A team which had 2 of India’s main bowlers for T20 defence and they failed to deliver. I wont read much into the performance but then they would need to pull up their socks in World T20.

My take on semifinalists:

1) Delhi
2) Chennai
3) Deccan
4) Rajasthan

Ishant Sharma would be a unsure starter in the XI. The fast bowling would be in the hands of Zaheer, RP and Irfan the alrounder. Batting order would be : Veeru, Gambhir, Raina, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Sharma, Y Pathan, I Pathan, Harbhajan, Zaheer, RP.

Looks a world beating team already. Gee.

Meanwhile Fidel Edwards is rocking England after his super show in IPL for DC. England tottering at 4/182 at Tea, day 1. Bhajji is on. To Gilly. Back to Lord’s Test, KP got his golden duck, may be first in his career. Prior, the jelly bean king and Bopara, the latest Preity’s huggie baby are resisting Edwards show. Lage raho. Preity would send in more pappiya and jhappiya from SA for Bopara.

By the way back to IPL, Suman hits Bhajji for a six. Faster ball. One more. 30/1 in 5th over. I dont care how Mumbai local lads perform or even Surya or Bravo or Nayar perform. One more six. Round the wicket and off goes Suman. Kid is having fun at the expense of a bowler who has got 330 Test wkts and 8 IPL wkts, and hit one idiot a tight slap. Bravo is in. Well this game is at Centurion. The same venue where Tendulkar murdered Pakistan in the WC’03 game that shut Pakistan out of the world cup forever. That six to Younis, that six to Shoaib Akhtar, boy orgasmic pleasure. Can Ten hit few more tonight ?

Back to the game, Bravo almost got SUman. and now he gets him. Huge wicket. 2/37 in 6. Fashion guy Rohit Sharma comes in. He is a Mumbai man. A suburb man. Borivali(W) resident. He is touted to be next Tendulkar. hahahaha. Bravo has got good start. Sach is shuffling his bowlers well.

DC 2/37 in 6. Bhajji back to Gilly. Interesting to see how Sharma plays Bhajji. I would fancy Bhajji get Sharma. Shiba is saying Gibbs and Suman have not taken out their pads. Cos they are disappointed on score so far. But Dhakkan Shiva, how come Gibbs and Suman would increase the scorecard? They are dismissed. So they wont be coming out to bat again. No batsman on crease is injured, so no runners. Huge six by Gilly and then a lbw appeal. Doosra. Not illegal one. 2/46 in 7.