Arm Ball

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 now with victory of Emerging Indian players in the tourney down under with valiant contributions from Virat Kohli, Abhishek Nayar and Sudeep Tyagi, its just the upward path for the ODi team in the future. Not to mention that the patchy forms of few young men of the team wont deter the team’s chances to march ahead in the journey to recapture ODI world cup in Mumbai in 2011.

Super shot from Gilly he is on fire. May be Australia would recall him in Dubai against new minnows Pakistan. And again. 2 in this over. 3 in first. KP surely needs to think something more. Mark Nicholas and Ravi Shastri, 2 of the best 3 on fire as well. Laxman vs Kumble would be a great contest to watch. Six, but say it six Markie. Not DLF maximum. Gibbs takes over. Orgasmic start. Kallis on. 4 skippers in the BRC team. 2 Indians and 2 Saffers. Kallis and Uthappa think that they have got Gibbs, but umpire unmoved. 0/33 in 3.3. Poor keeping by Uthappa. Boy PK was sweeped for a 6 by Gibbs. Shows how paceful Kumar is. And he is gone. 1st wkt.

Pehelwan ko gussa aa gaya. Sala Bewda Pehelwan ko jhadu marta hai. Le tu out. LOL..Lacchu pehelwan in. Praveen Pehelwan to Lacchu pehelwan. Now the PP would know what batting means and artistery means. Gibbs looked not out. Laxman plays one down to Kumble at gully. How ironic. In Tests Laxman used to watch Kumble from 2/3rd slip standing in gully. And today he is playing one to his ex-captain. Kallis back in attack. DD 1/49 in 5 overs.

GIlly on fire. 1 six and 1 four. Vintage Gilly. Kumble in. Laxman faces. Almost foxed. Vintage Indians on the opposite side. Jesse boy in and gets Laxman out 1st ball. Laxman was never a hitter of the ball in air. And now bikini man ROhit Sharma would be in. Mostly would have got lotsa kisses and hugs from cheerleaders. So an extra motivaation to score runs and hit sixes, pass on flying kisses to the babes around…He is a mumbaikar playing for hyderabad. Saying anything against him is saying it against Mumbai. Anil bowling well. Uthappa propping him up. Almost had Gilly. Vintage Kumble. Get in the bikini man too.

KP has a golden arm….2 wkts now. Just that he shud bat good too.KP now has 2wickets and a catch. Bikini man was out. 52 runs made. Consideration for t20 world cup done. Dhoni and coach happpy. Cheerleaders happy. Dude got stuff worth 2-3 days to live with. 185 to win for Royal Challengers. I dont think they can do it.

Whoa whatta start for Bengaluru? 3rd in row a duck. ROTFL. Jesse Ryder must be feeling huge to go back home. He had lot of success against India in Test and ODI series, but IPl has been nightmare. 2 games and 2 ducks.

Kallis is next skipper for BRC. He is gone too. Hopelessness continues. KP is in. I doubt Dravid on his own would be able to do anything. But he is doing. Oye Pappe. Kise ghoor riya he ? Crease pe jo khada he wo sabka baap hai. Haha. Harmeet singh giving a stare to Dravid after being taken for runs. Now RD hits back in style to the men who kicked him off the captaincy. He has been the sole run getter for BRC this year and last year. The so called valuable pickings and most payed cricketers from foreign land have turned dud. Its all around Rahul Dravid. Pieterson falling for 11, Kallis the next skipper for 15 n the young gun Uthappa for 12. Dravid is making runs at strike rate of 195 runs per 100 balls. Its insane to term Rahul guilty of low fortunes for BRC team. Mallaya owns answers. He owes a public apology to Rahul. And all those bloggers and assholes who have termed Rahul as a test player. Do they forget that he possess record of fastest 50 by an Indian in ODIs. And amongst famed Indian batsmen in iPL he owns one of the highest strike rates. Less than Veeru but higher than MS, Sharma lalla and others. And with him gone, the hopes of a victory are gone.

Kohli rocks. As usual, he is next Dravid or # 3 for me.

Sharma shows some signs of promise which he showed in initial part of his career and was touted as next Tendulkar. Hope he shows consistency in few games to come n should crawl back to the TEst reserves replacing overhyped good for nothing Badrinath.

Credible show against the possible Test XI in Bangalore and this should give a huge boost to the India as the bowling attack of opposition team has been milked for 371 runs with 251 runs being added for last 2 wkts.

Great show guys. Crezjha for 123 runs and M Clarke for 45 runs with no wkts given speaks the depletion australia suffers in spin department. Plus McGain is injured. Not good omen for Aussies.

Suresh Raina out for 0.

Badri out for 1

Rohit Sharma out for 15.

This is the match scorelines for Test youth hopefuls vs Australia A where the home side were blown away by Shaun Tait first and then Luke Ronchi with a superb 100. The same team which lost to NZ by 129 runs yesterday, blew India A team which had as many as 8 players with international experience.

Badrinath has been spoken of in high esteem by many players and bloggers. He got a chance to prove himself in SL ODIs, failed. He spoke about how bad he was being treated by selectors and promptly was drafted in the team as Sachin’s replacement for ODIs. And now when he got a chance to prove a worthy contender for aussie test series with “seniors in decline”, the chap failed. Does that sound as class ? Or a talent ? Cmon dude, you got a chance to lead, you failed. You lead India A in Emerging player tourney down under, you failed. You still feel good enuf to be in the contention for a Test slot ? Performance. Where ‘s that with the bat ? We need runs under your belt sir, not vocal chord decibel strength.

Raina was very good in Asia Cup against BD and UAE, but failed to Tait — the bowler who is on a return from the break and doesnt figure in Test XV of Aussies. Uthappa is on a way out to exile for long term. Rohit Sharma, who is being viewed as next Sachin or next Richards (some ex-player said) failed once again.

If this players we expect to replace the likes of Tendulkar, Ganguly or Dravid, then I am sorry to say we are next West Indies in making. This players can be found in Page 3 parties, TV ads, commercials, shaking a leg or 2 in a dance show, but would hardly be found performing where they are actually meant to. And when they get blown by second string Australian team, think of what Lee, Clarke and Johnson would do to this guys. Do we want to loose the series 0-4 inside 3 days ?

Once more the debate is out there for everybody to participate in. There are scores from seniors who have one odd failure in Lanka and the youngsters who were blown away on a flat wicket on a subcontinent track. We got to decide do we need likes of Rainas, Sharmas or Badris ?

Or the likes of Virat Kohli who has been getting better and better in the game against Sui gas in Nisar trophy. 52 in the first innings when nobody else crossed double figures and 81* right now wiping out the lead Sui gas had before. If there is one contender for Test team, then here it is. Virat Kohli. Sheer genius.

Think about it.