^ about 3-4 years ago IIRC. The original pure indian aka amit didn't really like him...used to call him illeep

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_______________________

India's Test record against Australia over last 12 years:

Played 26, Won 10, Lost 10, Drawn 6

I had quite a bit of beef with dileep initially - he the one who like everything australian - I remember bheembhai had beef with him

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And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln

I never could understand how a huge country like India could be colonized by a few Englishmen.

Now I know -- it was largely because of the traitorous attitude of so-called Indians like Sambit Bal, Dileep, Siddharta, et al.

I agree we should call the thread something else...

I simply suggested Daily DUMP...as in taking a DUMP..i.e. taking a C.RAP or S.H.*.TTING...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

lol good one Birbal

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_______________________

India's Test record against Australia over last 12 years:

Played 26, Won 10, Lost 10, Drawn 6

I actually like the title...

Vaidyanathan sounds like the TOTAL IDIOT he is when he said...

"... Don't anger Anderson, Tremlett or Sidebottom in this Test. Don't become history; create it."

Haahahahahahaaaa.

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:08:10:16:21:04 by Birbal.

Here is another post on yesterday's coverage by D. Premachandran and A. Miller.

Chandra I suggest you carry your blog link in your signature

Chandra I suggest you carry your blog link in your signature.

Good idea. Thanks.

Today's letter to cricinfo

To: Sambit Bal, Dileep P, Siddharth V, Anand V, Rahul B etc..


So when do we expect an honest write-up from one of you desis titled....

" Dramatic Reversal as India flushes clean of Chappell's Poison"

Since Chappell's SACKING....India has won 4 overseas series on a trot...and even if you discount the BD test and ODIs......the ODI against SA and tests against Eng are historically credible....directly attributed to the lack of snake Chappell and his Pappu Frazer.

That you half a dozen+ guys can be collectively BLIND to NOT notice is is not possible....

So what's stopping you.....Ohhh...I understand...your master Williamson and Jr.master Miller's have imposed a condtions of employment in your contracts....

"Thou shall not even obliquely point a finger at leaker or email and supplier of gossip Chappell".

OK..I understand...live your pathetic "dishonest" existence.

a_D

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No one can make you feel inferior without your consent-Eleanor Roosevelt

It is funny how when India have a BRILLIANT day at the office the chumps at cricinfo suddenly seem to forget to post their verdict...or to come up with some interview from the Indian perspective...etc...

Just a Bulletin and a brief question and answer session with Shaz... that's it...

GET OUT of your FUNK Sid and Co. inquiring minds want to know if India "angered" Sidebottom, Tremlett and Anderson...sufficiently...(Sm127)

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_____

ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Check out what this SOB Anand Vasu of Cr@pinfo has to say after India piles up a mountain of runs in the first innings, coming after a 1-0 lead:

Quote:

Vasu
India rarely go into the middle of the final Test of a series away - barring Bangladesh and Zimbabwe - leading 1-0 and in the driver's seat.
But that's exactly where they find themselves, and this could provide its own challenges. The fact that every Indian batsman scored double-figures, and more so that numbers seven and eight plundered 200 runs between them shows how good this pitch still is for batting. So, if India expect English wickets to fall in a heap, they might just get a bit frustrated.

Brown slaves of white masters

In his report on the days play he writes:

Quote:

"A Sreesanth delivery slipping so far down leg that it would likely have missed another set of stumps rapped Collingwood on the pad and up went the finger."

Another PIECE of journalistic S.H.I.+ from "Vasmaru" Vasu..



Hawkeye showed that it would have hit the outside of leg stump... so it was marginal but OUT...so don't know what the FACK his FACKER is talking about..

As usual trying to paint a positive picture for his Western masters... I suppose..

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007:08:11:18:51:03 by Birbal.

Compare this to what he wrote about the Ganguly HOWLER...

"Paul Collingwood, filling in a few overs before the second new ball was taken, got one to come in a touch to Ganguly, on 37, who crashed the ball onto his pad off a thick inside-edge. The appeal was a good one, and Howell raised his finger even as Ganguly smiled in bemusement, concealing his disappointment as best as possible, and trudged off."

Pray tell OH Vas-maru...why was this a good appeal?

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

From Cr@pinfo's own text commentary

Quote:

the replay shows it was just clipping leg - and Collingwood clearly wasn't happy...the end of a fighting innings, but another England batsman goes after doing the hard work

So let's get this straight: the guy is going to lie to us about the facts, so he can whinge on behalf of his masters?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:08:11:20:10:44 by Anil.

I don't get it: Anand Vasu seems to be infuriated that India is doing well, and is doing everything to undermine that performance.

What makes such people tick?

Quote:

I don't get it: Anand Vasu seems to be infuriated that India is doing well, and is doing everything to undermine that performance.

I am no psychologist but it must be a profound sense of self-hatred. It is not uncommon amongst Indians particularly who have only seen the good side of the west and not the ugly side.

Further, I also think we don't get the proper education in India - in fact we are taught pretty much the same@#$%&that was being taught to us before Independence - just look at the humanities. Further many of the Indian writers are also of the same mindset. Can you name one book written by an Indian that is popular in the west that has a positive view of Indian culture, history, sense of values, Hindu religion, science, arts, mathematics, technology, etc. May be there are one or two - compare that to the weight of material that distorts, obfuscates, lies about, demonizes India and all the things I listed above. It's a wonder anyone comes out with any positive view at all.

There is a lot to be said here but this is not the place for sure.

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Off break, doosra, yorker, googly, straight drive, sweep, square cut, late cut ... I love them all.

Can you name one book written by an Indian that is popular in the west that has a positive view of Indian culture, history, sense of values, Hindu religion, science, arts, mathematics, technology, etc.

==>>Yes Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long journey, Family matters and tails from Firozshah Bagh.....are not loaded with self ridicule of Indian customs and traditions....instead with a degree of self esteem portray indian culture, values and idiosyncracies just as any other culture would be.

And that's why Mistry is one of my favorite writers.....but unfortunately he has wtritten for a long time now

Chandra, keep in mind the ICF readership is probably a lot higher than a blog could attract.

Keep us updated of any new blogs in this thread, or better yet get any worthy sequels published here as well.

The headline after the series win: "Draw hands India series win" as if England forfeited the series!

Incredible.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:08:13:18:07:34 by ananthd.

Apparently even with so many Indians on the staff and even an office in Bangalore they cant seem to get the exchange rate right...

This could just be a TYPO...but it seems more like a HOWLER...

Quote:

Rs. 750 million (US $7 million) in damages for defamation.

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Sri lankan rupees maybe?

^ Maybe.

Cric.info is in DharamSankat in the Murali issue.

Naturally and for worng reasons it would want to splash any negative publicity on sub continent stars like Murali...however in the same breadth as ripping Murali...bedi has condemned ICC...and since ICC are implicit masters of cricinfo....they can't be sen as siding with Bedi either

Another gem from Sid...

"Leaving aside the vicious bouncer, neither Solanki nor Wright had any trouble against India's seam attack. Wright soon took Zaheer apart, in an almost vengeful way,"

Yeah right Siddo... why are you desperately trying to show that Indian bowlers are not scary...when you wrote earlier that Indians should watch out and not "Anger" Anderson, Sidebottom and Tremlett...

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_____

ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

New post on my blog on Siddhartha entitled: Sid and Id.

A good example of how Sid's Id gets carried away to insidious proportions.

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Off break, doosra, yorker, googly, straight drive, sweep, square cut, late cut ... I love them all.

^ excellent article Chandra. You have hit the nail on the head as far as the attitude(s) of Cricinfo's Indian writers.

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_______________________

India's Test record against Australia over last 12 years:

Played 26, Won 10, Lost 10, Drawn 6

Sid once again WETS HIS KNICKERS...and goes all gushy over England...

Despite the fact that India blew away England with pace bowling...he is predicting that England have the edge in pace bowling the ODIs...

This is despite the fact that Sidebottom is OUT with a side strain and Flintoff is returning after a long injury related break...

The Smell of SKC is over powering...



Bowling options could swing it England's way

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan at The Rose Bowl

August 20, 2007



Andrew Flintoff's return will bolster England's bowling attack © Getty Images


What does a team do when they start a tour fretting about their fast-bowling options and win a Test series largely because of them? Fret about them all over again. India have gone through half their English tour celebrating their swing bowlers but, ironically, need to start worrying about them again.

England, as one would expect from a home side, have followed the more logical route. They started the Tests with a fresh attack, saw their rookies grow in confidence over the games and are now in a position to explore options. Despite Ryan Sidebottom's absence for the first game, England still have four promising options to choose from. India, on the other hand, have effectively two and a half.

James Anderson, Chris Tremlett and Stuart Broad have promised much at various points over the last month. Dimitri Mascarenhas, the local lad, a medium-pacer who wobbles it around, provides an additional option. Andrew Flintoff's return bolsters the attack even further. Besides there's Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara, capable of nipping it around, and Ian Bell, who can be a useful dobbler.

In comparison, India seem emaciated. Zaheer Khan and RP Singh have steamed in for 2159 legal deliveries on this tour so far, leaving them quite spent. Munaf Patel has done little to suggest he's back to full fitness, looking completely out of place in last two matches. Ajit Agarkar is the fresh one but such is his unpredictability that nobody knows which Agarkar is going to land up. Sourav Ganguly can be trusted to chip in but his creaky back needs to hold. When Rahul Dravid, at the start of a seven-match series, says, "We don't have many options", you know he really, desperately doesn't.

"Munaf's coming back from injury, he'll probably take a little more time," said Dravid virtually ruling him out of the opening clash. "It wasn't easy bowling against the wind on a flat pitch at Northampton. His first spell was against the wind and it wasn't easy. But he came and did really well in the second spell. He's probably been our most economical one-day bowler over the last year. Him being back to form and fitness will be important for us in the long run. We'll have to give him a bit more time to get there.

"Ajit has a lot more experience. He's been playing only one-day cricket for a year-and-a-half now. RP [Singh] hasn't played a lot of cricket before the last three months. He's keen to establish himself in the one-day game. There's obviously pressure on the quick bowlers but we don't have that many options as well."

The Test series was decided by swing and, with three games under lights, the trend might just continue. Day-night games in this country tend to favour faster bowlers, especially in the extended twilight period at the start of the second innings. The floodlights don't have the same intensity as grounds in India and batsmen have traditionally struggled to spot the ball at the start of the run-chase.

England's captain Paul Collingwood put in another bizarre dimension. Either he was hungover, after Durham's first major one-day series triumph, or had investigated the fluid dynamics accompanying the movements of a white Kookaburra cricket ball, but he left his audience slightly bemused.

"Hopefully the ball won't swing as much. During the Tests what they did do well was swing the ball both ways. The white ball swings generally in one direction. Obviously they're skilful bowlers and have played a lot of one-day cricket together. But hopefully it doesn't swing both ways."

Why the white ball won't swing both ways, we'll need to wait and find out. Collingwood either has some inside dope about recent developments in ball technology or was talking utter tosh. Either way he at least has more options.

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Compare the "Sid Vacuous" Article with this from the BBC...

Even the English media is much more balanced than the Foamy Mouthed rantings of S.V...




England aim to revive their one-day fortunes in the first of a seven-match series against India starting at Hampshire's Rose Bowl on Tuesday.

The opening two matches are day/night contests as England seek to improve a mediocre one-day record of only 14 wins in 35 matches since June 2006.

"We've got a great opportunity of playing a lot of one-day cricket to develop our skills and approach.

"We want to get better and know we have to," captain Paul Collingwood said.

Following a disappointing World Cup campaign in which their only victory over a major cricketing nation came in a dead rubber against West Indies, Michael Vaughan stood down as one-day skipper.

But Collingwood's first series at the helm ended in a 2-1 defeat against West Indies.

England will be without injured paceman Ryan Sidebottom but welcome back talismanic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff after his third ankle operation.

"He's two players in one, a world-class performer and it's great he's back," Collingwood said.

The skipper confirmed that Matt Prior would open the batting for England.


Donald keeps a watchful eye on Flintoff in the Rose Bowl nets

"At the moment he will stay in the number six position. If we don't have a great start we might have a look at it, nothing's nailed down yet, but at the moment he'll be in the middle order for us.

"Matt has come in for a bit of criticism but we believe he is the best wicket-keeper/batsman to go out there and do the job."

India, who won the preceeding Test series 1-0, have also won only 14 out of 30 matches in that period, although they trounced England 6-1 in the last series between the sides in 2005-6.

They plan to make a key change of their own, with all-rounder Yuvraj Singh coming into the squad having been left out for the Test matches.

The 25-year-old explosive left-hander and left-arm slow bowler has fired seven one-day centuries since his debut in 2000, smashing 66 sixes, and has also taken 48 wickets.

His top score of 139 came against world champions Australia at Sydney in 2004 and he has a useful record against England, with a century and three fifties at an average of 47 from 16 matches, plus 12 wickets.

"He's got the power, he's got the skill and he's matching that power and skill with temperament, mental strength and brains," skipper Rahul Dravid enthused.

"That's a deadly combination. He is up there among the best one-day players in the world, without a doubt."

Dravid insisted he did not see his team as clear favourites.

"England have some good quality players and have done pretty well at home when they've had a full side," he commented.

"It's going to be an adjustment for us in these conditions and I don't see us favourites, I see a closely fought series.

"Everyone sees the challenge, to excel and adapt to different conditions and not just do well on the sub-continent."

Reflecting on the 1-0 Test series win Dravid said: "The boys should feel proud but it's important for us to keep getting better at one-day cricket."

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:08:20:19:58:29 by Birbal.

Re: Daily Dump from Cricinfo
Posted by: chandra (IP Logged)
Date: 20 August, 2007 09:13


New post on my blog on Siddhartha entitled: Sid and Id.

A good example of how Sid's Id gets carried away to insidious proportions.



==>>Good read. I suggest you post the articles also under this thread....will increase the readership and help your cause to expose C.I further

Quote:

Birbal
Sid once again WETS HIS KNICKERS...and goes all gushy over England...
Despite the fact that India blew away England with pace bowling...he is predicting that England have the edge in pace bowling the ODIs...

lol really how sad are these Cr@pinfo guys. I can only feel sorry for them.

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_______________________

India's Test record against Australia over last 12 years:

Played 26, Won 10, Lost 10, Drawn 6

> Even the English media is much more balanced than the
> Foamy Mouthed rantings of S.V...

Too true.. when English media such as BBC sound more balanced than desi's at Crockinfo, you know what chutiyas these desis are.

I wonder how their English bosses motivate them to be so anti-India. I would think any self-respecting human being would refuse to denigrate their own to such a degree. Perhaps their raises are directly proportional to how anti-India they sound?

Anil these people are full of bs - they don't need any motivation from anybody - guys like sid and dleep - they just refuse to see anything wrong with english or aus - lose their objectivity

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And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln

They now have a HUGE opportunity to GLOAT... and they will use it fully...

Can't wait for Friday to bring back some balance...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

By "popular demand" I include the blog post mentioned earlier.

Happy reading it is not but hope it is informative.
------------------------------------------------------------

Sid and the Id

Superego, ego and id were the names that Freud gave to the three driving forces that motivate human behavior, psychologically speaking. I am no expert on psychology or Freud, so I explain these three concepts in my own words. Super ego consists of all the rules and norms that society and authority figures impose on one's psyche. Ego is the selfish and self-interested part of one's psyche and Id is the playful and childlike part of one's nature. By now you may be wondering what this has to do with Cricinfo or cricket. I believe, this Freudian structure of psychology can be used to explain much of what goes on in the reporters minds writing for Cricinfo.

For them, Cricinfo the company they work for, establishment teams (particularly England and Australia) and ICC form their superego. The ego is perhaps the easiest to explain - their interest in the sport (watching it, writing about it, meeting the sports' stars) while getting paid to do it must be the motivation. Well this raises the question - what could their Id be, since they don't actually participate in the sports they write about and after all this is a job for them (so they cannot seem to have too much fun at it)? The answer is: bashing the Asian bloc cricket teams in general and the Indian team in particular.

In this respect, they have no compunction in pulling all the stops even if it means hitting below the belt (excuse the mixed metaphor). Let's take the latest article by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (goes by the name Sid amongst the cricinfo circles and for brevity I will do the same henceforth). Sid writes this article right after India registered an emphatic victory over Scotland in a one off ODI. To be sure, Scotland is not a major league team but this is hardly newsworthy and all followers of cricket know this. Further, it is also a well known fact that India will be playing an ODI with the England Lions (the secondary English team) and 7 ODIs with the main English team.

Sid starts off by stating that India will not be playing its senior players against the England Lions (in effect resting them). Then he goes on and on about how the England Lions are fielding a strong team. Mind you the England Lions consists of players who have not been selected for the main England side. On the face of it, one would conclude that the match with England A cannot test India's mettle since India is not fielding its strongest side. But that does not deter our Sid's Id from playing the game even further. He goes on to say that India will have to use its resources carefully (given the massive workload that lay ahead) leaving aside so many facts that it makes ones head spin. (Incidentally, such advice can be had from any one of the billion people who support India - such is the obviousness of it.) For example, would it not be true that England would have to conserve its resources as well since it will be playing 7 ODIs against India? Would England not have to apportion its bowling talent appropriately so that it could be used most efficiently against a much touted Indian batting lineup? Does England (which lost the recent test series) not have the issue of which wicket keeper to use (given its keeper Prior failed miserably in the tests)?

In fact, one could make the argument that England had more to worry about than India. The only advantage that Sid mentions is the fact that the cold weather may benefit the English players and certainly there is some truth to that - but that would hardly qualify as a huge advantage given that the Indian players have been in England for months now and should be acclimatized to English weather by now (if one can actually do such a thing).

Mr. Sid, then switching roles from his Id to his Superego, now offers advise to the Indian players. India needs to spruce up its fielding skills apparently. India also needs to try out different bowlers in the practice games, else they may not know whom to turn to when the need arises. Further, apparently India is very rigid about using its part-time options thus opting to play five bowlers. And on an on it goes.... Sid the master strategist and captain par excellence knows it all. The wisdom of Cricinfo, ICC, England and Australia have all bestowed upon Sid the crystal ball to see through what India needs to do and what it needs to avoid. Of course, Sid in his superego mode has no advice for the English side.

Lest we forget, Sid, as far as I know has never played cricket at any competitive level. His knowledge of the game is superfluous at best. To appoint himself the judge of Indian cricket is bombastic at best. But there is an insidious motive at work here. There can be only one reason to write such a condescending article just before the start of the series - to cast doubt amongst the Indian team members and demoralize the Indian fan base. Before you dismiss the allegation as baseless let me remind you that such an article is one in a series - a concerted attack no less. I have written at some length about the bias of cricinfo writers on this blog and the article in question by Sid is just another example of the same muckraking that goes for journalism these days.

It is hard (almost foolhardy) to predict who is going to win the ODI series. To paraphrase Dravid (my favorite Indian player and Indian captain), "the one who plays good cricket on a given day will win." This begs the question, does India have what it takes to play good cricket. The answer is a resounding yes. Similarly, does England have what it takes to play good cricket and the answer to that is yes as well. In the final analysis, India have many advantages (I will not focus on disadvantages since the rest of the "journalist" seem to do it):

- they will be playing with a test win against England thus riding the confidence wave as it were
- they have tremendous talent that has delivered consistently for years (particularly in this decade with a few notable exceptions)
- they do not have a coach in the form of Chappell who singlehandedly destroyed the team
- from all accounts, they seem to have great team morale and great team spirit
- four of their premier batsmen will probably be touring England for the last time as representatives of their country and all four seem to be hungry, fit and eager to perform
- they have many match winners in the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Ajit Agarkar, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.
- they have excellent young talent in the likes of Robin Uttappa, Gautam Gambhir, Piyush Chawla and Dinesh Karthik
- they seem to have excellent strategic and tactical thinking behind them in the senior players (Dravid, Ganguly, Tendulkar)

With all this behind them and a billion people rooting for them, success will most assuredly be there for their taking. I hope they do take it. I hope they do play well on the seven given days.

GO INDIA.

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Off break, doosra, yorker, googly, straight drive, sweep, square cut, late cut ... I love them all.

Today Sid was in FULL FORM..

He called for throwing eggs at not just critics of England's ODI team...but also at the Indian players...

Wonder if this half-pint would have the nerve to write something similar if England had a poor day at the office...

I can bet his SKC loving a$$ he wouldn't...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

just posted the feedback....

To; Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
cc: Sambit Bal, Williamson etc.

Hmm...oh my god......you are willing to throw truck-loads of eggs at YOUR team for one bad day in office in a masala ODI..following the hangover of a historic test match win.

Presumably you are a black/ brown desi...and I undertsnad YOUR team is India ?????

--Hmm...and where were your truckload of rotten eggs to throw at the English dressing room when the pathetically collapsed to a much higher value, premium test match and test series defeat.....

--And where was your truck-load of BS... to fling at the critics of Indian team, and Ganguly and Zaheer...who had written them off and ridiculed them...(incliude your juvenile Dileep and senile Sambit) after their historic successes that rank much higher than a masala ODI loss ?

You did NEITHER...nor will you have the balls to do EITHER if India thrrashes Eng in the next 2 games.

Which implies you are a crap.load of BS.....driving an agenda to please gora master Williamson???

A good writer friend has coined an appropriate term for the symptomatic disease you exhibit....it's called SKC...expanded it stands for Safedi key Chamaar.

anu_D



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:08:22:05:40:09 by anu_D.

Excellent feedback there, Anu
Seriously, these Cricinfo idiots have no shame whatsoever.

I hope this thread opens the eyes of the bulk of Indian fans who actually keep Cricinfo alive.

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_______________________

India's Test record against Australia over last 12 years:

Played 26, Won 10, Lost 10, Drawn 6

On a side note, it looks like Cr@pinfo is on BCCI's side..

look at their reporting on the ICL issue... it suddenly looks like BCCI is the white knight for them...
for ex: From Ananad Vasu

Quote:

The timing of a slew of announcements may be incidental but the Board of Control for Cricket in India issued an emphatic, carrot-and-stick response to the Indian Cricket League.

Remember guys, the timining is only incidental... BCCI were always planning ot hike the player fees and sack the NCA chairman..

I am gonna relish the ICL victories even more now...

This goes way beyond self-loathing. We should launch a nation-wide campaign to boycott these barstards.

There's no doubt that Andrew Miller and his ilk are behind this bias of Indians against Indians. Perhaps there should be a torture of the type pioneered by Dubya's admininstration of these journos to expose exactly what Miller and company are doing to motivate them against Indians to this extent.

I'd like to see NCL put some effort into getting a decent competitor to Crockinfo together.

Gora Master Williamson?!! Ahahahahaha...

By the way, isn't 'Chamaar' a tanner of leather? I think you meant 'Chamkaar' Anu_D. You will have to write back to crickinfo with all the correct spellings

The latest is the cr@pinfo is speculating that ICL can't play in Mumbai cause they have signed 4 pak players...

come on, isn't that too much of a fanciful thought from Vasu..

The guy doesn't have any inside info on this from the sena...

The guy doesn't even know how many teams are going to be there in ICL if all 4 pak players will be one team or multi teams..

In ordianry times the guy would have been railing againt the sena, but now it loooks like he is pleased that Sena trouble may come for ICL...

My view is Sena will create no trouble for Pak players.. the issue is against Pak as a entity... if this was the case, no pak singer/actress would have touched down in mumbai.. but apparently they have..

but such logic defies Vasu in his eagerness to paint ICL as having unsurmounbtable isssues to deal with

read the cr@p here
Vasu diahorrea

Yes that seemed a bit far fetched...

The real reason ICL cannot play in Mumbai or West Zone is

Sharad Pawar, Lalit Modi, Niranjan Shah...etc... DUH!!!

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:08:23:05:51:14 by Birbal.

But if Essel Group has facilities in Mumbai, I can't see how Pawar or Modi can block them...

The facilities in Mumbai may not be up to snuff for international cricket...

Anyway looks like Eden Gardens will be one of the venues for ICL...

What a BLOW that would be to BCCI...the Mecca of Indian cricket...now hosting the ICL... couldn't get any bigger...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

That would be brilliant, specially with BCCI outlawing Eden Gardens for reasons best known to them.

However I wonder if CAB will host them after the WB side was pretty much decimated by ICL.

CAB has no say...it is the STATE that owns the Eden...not CAB...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Class A P.R.I.C.K Sid is having a orgy in his own pants...now..

Here is his latest ORGASMIC ranting...

"The facts are actually pretty simple. India lack strong arms, can't slide and can't hit the stumps. Often they grass catches. Regularly they concede overthrows and sometimes make a mockery of themselves trying to execute the basic act of stopping a cricket ball. Their running between the wickets is as ponderous as ever. With four matches to go, there's still plenty of fun to be had. In 1948 you packed the stadiums to watch the Invincibles, now you can take a look at the Unstoppables."

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Yes it's really sad. Sid definitely needs help. By the way, the Ganguly bashing continues in another stats-based article:
[content-usa.cricinfo.com]

Sid must have been promised a biscuit/bone from his white masters for that piece.

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India's Test record against Australia over last 12 years:

Played 26, Won 10, Lost 10, Drawn 6

its so sick to see these guys writing $h!iit abt indian team ... they are jus waiting for a chance and moment they sense it... boy they are merciless ... i dont see them writing like this against any other team ....

bcci shud file a defamation suit against them ... is that possible?

No that is not possible...

But what is possible is that they get no EXCLUSIVE reports at all... while the other Indian media do...

That is fully within the control of the Indian management...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Ironically Ganguly just gave a long sit down interview, while having coffee to Sid...

Interesting that...

Wonder if Ganguly thought the best way to shut up a brown noser like Sid is to let him brown nose you a bit?

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Sid Vicious seems to have been tamed by Dada...

Is this the SAME Sid?

Sachin and Sourav illuminate the haze

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan at Headingley

September 2, 2007



Sachin Tendulkar announced his return to Yorkshire, his English home, in style ... © Getty Images



From the typically hazy Headingley darkness emerged an incandescent flame that reignited the series. It was the sort of brilliance that inspires, one that arrived with an emphatic thud and set the agenda in no uncertain terms. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly have been in fine form throughout the summer but it was here, with the series slipping away, that they entered the zone.

This was not a day for half-measures but an assured shellacking and the duo dazzled in chilly, drizzly, gusty, gloomy conditions. One was back at his English home, the other was in his 300th one-day international and for the first time in the series they fired salvos from both ends. Rather than one leading the way and the other supporting, they chose this day to jointly explode.

There is something about Tendulkar and Ganguly in the Headingley haze. Five years ago, to this fortnight, they shrugged off the extreme gloom in the Test arena, thundering 96 in 11 overs to set up a mammoth total. There was a sense of déjà vu during their 14-over sequence today, in which they hammered 108 in similar greyness.

Here, on a true pitch, with their side inserted, both watched guardedly for five overs before Tendulkar leapt in the sixth. Four, dot, four, four, four. Surely he had waited for everyone to settle down in their seats before announcing: Yorkshire, it is nice to be back. Ganguly took the cue at the start of the next over, backing away and scooping over extra-cover. Next ball he backed away again, and scooped again, this time over mid-on. Soon he was flaying James Anderson over third man and patted him on the back-side. Once he lofted Jon Lewis so handsomely over midwicket that there was a risk of it carrying all the way to Geoffrey Boycott's house.

At Bristol, Tendulkar (99) appeared all set for mischief while Ganguly (39) stuttered through. At Edgbaston he perished early (8) while Ganguly grafted hard (72). At Manchester he was the calming influence (55) while Ganguly fell to a tame pull. Here they were in unison, taking turns to seize the initiative.

These are the days when the quality of bowling is irrelevant. The bad balls are put away but even the good ones are not good enough. Stuart Broad must have realised. Brought on as late as the tenth over, he darted one in the mid 80s, back of a length and just outside off. There was not much room to play with. Tendulkar's response? A quick bend of the knees, rattle-snake like bat-speed, a statuesque pose and a spanking noise. That was not just a four crashing the hoardings at backward point, it was serious denting of confidence. Six overs later Broad tried a slower ball, as if resorting to the last option, but received such a pummelling down the ground that he did not think of it after.



... while Sourav Ganguly celebrated his 300th ODI with a Man-of-the-Match display © Getty Images



Ganguly comes with his tailor-made methods, backing away, taking his right leg out of the way and connecting with awesome timing. It is these violent, manic innings that suit him best. Streaky one moment, controlled the next. That is the Ganguly we knew, the one who was quite an unstoppable batsman in his prime.

There were several edges from Ganguly, most joyous flashes outside off. Tendulkar, on the other hand, had just two: the first, on 33, was a tough chance that the wicketkeeper grassed, the second, when on 71, was an easier one that he pouched. Unlike at Bristol, where he was stunned by the umpire's decision, he did not smile; unlike at Manchester, where he was shocked at falling to a Kevin Pietersen long-hop, he did not frown. Instead there was a minor grimace followed by a purposeful walk back. For once there was not a moment's hesitation when he walked back but an acknowledgment of the cheers.

Ganguly's walk back was typically disgruntled but he returned to play his part with the ball. In conditions reminiscent of Toronto, where he often wrecked Pakistan with his wibbly-wobblies, he nibbled it around and grabbed two big wickets. Having hammered the opening bowlers, none of the batsmen could get on top of Ganguly and, with an outstanding Mahendra Singh Dhoni backing him up behind the stumps, the game turned in a span of 12 balls.

It would not have gone unnoticed that they both dropped a catch apiece in the slips but poignantly Ian Bell's wicket prompted Tendulkar to rush to provide the first bear-hug. It was a point when someone turned the clock to the mid-90s - here was a side in need of inspiration and two of India's finest one-day cricketers were waltzing in unison.

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Shall we say Ganguly has inspired Sid? ; -)

HAHAHAHAHA... nice one GoCool...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

We would like to think he read some of our rants here and elsewhere - but ah for such influence...

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Off break, doosra, yorker, googly, straight drive, sweep, square cut, late cut ... I love them all.

Anyone notice, ever since Sid has been increasingly writing more and more **** about India, he has been rewarded by Crockinfo which has responded by giving him more space than any other journo?

If this is the biscuit that keeps him happy, you have to feel sad for him.

Another cheap shot from Sid of cr@pinfo...saying that India was lucky to get Collingwood's wicket. Wonder why the a******s didn't say England was lucky when Pietersen was recalled during the Test series after the umpire saw the big screen replay.

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India's Test record against Australia over last 12 years:

Played 26, Won 10, Lost 10, Drawn 6



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007:09:06:08:39:47 by max.

Maybe because Zakky got him the same way almost immediately afterwards...Hahahahahaaaa..

But of course there was no mention of luck when Collingwood survived a PLUMB Lbw in a previous match...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Here is another piece of garbage from Sid - if one reads this paragraph, one gets the impression that Sourav started the verbal "exchange." When in fact it was clear to everyone that it was Broad who started it - even the English commentators said so.

In a nice twist of words, he cleverly slides the Pietersen misfield as a consequence of the resulting tension caused by the verbal exchange started by Ganguly.

Clever b.u.g.g.e.r isn't he.....

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Verbal jousts added to the intensity and misfields at crucial junctures ensured that nobody left the stadium with nails intact. Sourav Ganguly, who unleashed a barrage of lofted drives, then followed it up with some verbals to Broad; the exchange became so heated that umpire Aleem Dar was forced to intervene on more than one occasion. The tension was evident when Kevin Pietersen muffed the simplest of collections at long leg and England conceded an overthrow off a direct hit towards the climactic stages.

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Off break, doosra, yorker, googly, straight drive, sweep, square cut, late cut ... I love them all.

Today's feedabck to cricinfo


To,
Editorial Staff:

Tendulkar himself has to come out and deny the rumor that cricinfo aka Gossip.info started

What about a courteous apology for rumor-mongering???

a_D

Their answer is that Tendulkar hasn't denied it is Rajeev Shukla who has denied...

So there...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Cr@pinfo adds series win IN Pakistan to Dravid's resume...Wah!

What I remember is infamous collapse in Karachi...

Quote:

Under his captaincy India won eight Tests, including series wins in Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh and England.

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

I don;t even want to go into the details. Here is the article:[content-usa.cricinfo.com]

Quote:

During the England tour he spoke about the lack of proportion among Indian fans. His every move is dissected threadbare and, for the first time in his career, he is being roasted for an aspect of his game other than his batting. His frustrations were apparent during the England tour: he lambasted a television reporter for running a speculative story and, at Old Trafford, left the post-match press conference in a huff after being constantly being interrupted.

Oh Beechara Rahul Baba...

Ganguly was ROASTED much WORSE by Indian Media...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Dravid = cr@ppy captain. Glad he quit. @#$%& puked on Sree when he was going all out on a bully like Nel.

Coward Dravid - typical southie darpok.

We need a North Indian roughneck like Yuvraj or Dhoni to lead.

If S India & N India were reversed in its people, Pakisstan would have had the upper half of India for lunch.

Now The roughneck N Indian kick Pakiss butt everyday on the front.

lol, Sreesanth who verbally r@ped Hayden yesterday is a southie mayte

It's not about South or North, the difference in this Indian team is it is made up of my India, the new, young India

I was talking once with a Swedish friend of mine and the subject of racism came up. I said, sure there is racism in India too. Dark Brown and Light Brown

binkybarnes,

i am a southie and will match your north indian rough neckerry any day - name the place and time.

people like you are the reason India was what it was until now.

this is the new india - there is no place for your kind of narrow mindedness - new india doesn't see southie, northie, marathi, gujarathi or bengali or any other ie except indee.

did you know that the technology revolution that has put India on the map started in south india. did you know the leaders who liberalized the Indian was a southie PM with another Southie (Chidambaram) and Punjabi (MM Singh).

Anyway, enuf said from me. I will stop now.

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Off break, doosra, yorker, googly, straight drive, sweep, square cut, late cut ... I love them all.

Dravid typifies the old world order of the mild-mannered South Indian. Sreesanth's welcome attitude on the other hand reflects the new generation of south indian spirit. And it matches the most aggressive ones from other parts of India

Once in a while cricinfo writers get something right...so lets recognize them in the Daily Dump...

Andrew Miller called this one correctly... so kudos to him...

Time for a revolution

Why 50-over cricket must go

Andrew Miller

June 10, 2004



Adam Hollioake lifts the inaugural Twenty20 Cup. Could it be the start of a one-day revolution? © Getty Images




The analogy is hardly a new one. If Test matches are five-course meals, then one-day cricket is the equivalent of a Big Mac, fries and an extra-large Coke: fast, filling, addictive ... and grotesquely fattening. For years, cricket's waistline has been ballooning out of control. All of a sudden, however, there might be an opportunity to bring a balanced diet back into fashion.


During next summer's Ashes series, the England & Wales Cricket Board is thinking about staging the world's first Twenty20 international. For the moment, it is intended as a one-off - although that was said of the very first one-day game as well, again between England and Australia, back in 1970-71. A more likely scenario, given the successful debuts of Twenty20 cricket in both England and South Africa, is an explosion of interest in the concept, and the proliferation of such matches all around the world - even the USA has been enticed by the format.


At any other period over the last 20 years, such a prospect would have been deeply unnerving for cricket's traditional fans. One-day cricket has long been an excuse to overfill one's plate, and given a choice between a buffet and a bistro, the bistro has been steadily losing out. But times they are a-changing. Just as McDonald's have been persuaded to cut the size of their portions, so too, it seems, it is one-day matches, and not Tests, that are going to have to adapt or die(t).


That has been made abundantly clear by the proposed itinerary for Australia's forthcoming tour of India - the blue riband event of the current era. Incredibly, the plan is for four Tests and no one-day games whatsoever, which represents a sea-change of interest from the Indian administrators and public - in 2003, the team played just five Tests but 28 one-day games. But it is a welcome change, for Test cricket has been soaring in recent years, not least in India, whose last two series against Australia will rank among the greatest of all time.


On the other hand, the one-day game is deep in the doldrums, as last year's disgracefully bloated World Cup demonstrated. That tournament was driven to the brink of insanity by commercialism, lasted roughly three weeks too long, and featured such a ghastly mismatch of abilities - even among the Test-playing nations - that all but a smattering of games were hopeless no-contests.


In short, it is time to bin the 50-over international. It has served its purpose, by driving Test cricket towards the new, exhilarating pace that fans around the world are currently enjoying, but it has outstayed its welcome. The format's apogee came in 1999, when we were treated to the single greatest game of one-day cricket that can ever be played over 50 overs - Australia's epic semi-final against South Africa. Ever since then its formula has been exposed, and interest in it has been freefalling.


At a stroke, Twenty20 internationals would purge one-day cricket of most of its ills: those tedious mid-innings bouts of nurdling; the inequalities of batting under lights, and the sheer gulf in class that is apparent at every World Cup (with only 20 overs to play with, Namibia's Jan-Berrie Burger and Canada's John Davison might have had more than just cameos to remember from the last tournament).


And instead of 100 energy-sapping overs in a day (and eight plane flights every week during those interminable VB Series), entire triangular tournaments could be done and dusted in the blink of an eye. With two matches of 40 overs at weekends, the average fan would get value for money and an extra hour in the pub. And if that meant one team having to play twice, they could make up for what they lost in freshness by gaining an insight into the pitch conditions.



Jonty Rhodes - the man who reinvented the art of fielding © Getty Images



Of course, there is a danger that Test cricket would be undermined, both by the popularity of the format and by its differing priorities. But nothing of the sort happened last summer, despite the blaze of cynicism with which the Twenty20 Cup was launched. Instead of the anticipated diet of witless slogging, we were treated to audacious, attacking batsmanship; ingenious improvisation; cunning variation from the bowlers, and feverish fielding.


By appealing to the relative strengths of each discipline, Test and one-day cricket can each grow in strength, and feed off each other's successes. For example, it was one-day cricket's obsession with runs (and Jonty Rhodes's ability to prevent them) that led directly to the acceptance of fielding as a discipline to rank alongside batting and bowling. The lost art of wicketkeeping could benefit in precisely the same way. With less chance of being called upon to play a matchwinning innings, a man like Chris Read would earn full appreciation for his ability to stand up to the medium-pacers, and cut down on those byes.


Twenty20 cricket is clearly loaded in favour of the batsman. And yet the truest feats of batsmanship cannot be achieved without a world-class bowler bearing down from the other end, which is why Test cricket will always be a class apart. There remains something ineffable about the highest peaks of the game - Brian Lara's 400 not out, Jim Laker's 19 wickets in a match, even the dogged beauty of an Atherton rearguard. It is only in the five-day game that such Olympian feats of endurance can be achieved.


Conversely, there has been just one century scored in the Twenty20 Cup (and none at all in South Africa's PRO20 Series), and with just four overs to play with, no bowler has managed more than five wickets. For those newcomers who are curious to see more of their heroes, they will be obliged to take the step up, and move to the rhythm and rituals of Test cricket as well.


It may be thrilling but it is also unfilling, and that is precisely how a snack should be. It is time to call time at the buffet bar, and instead embrace the fat-free, 20-over alternative.


Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.

© Cricinfo

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Kutte ka Balbachha on India's triumph in the World Cup:

Quote:

Kutta Sambit Bal
"The only regret, if at all, that a cracking match was decided by a mistake, and not a burst of brilliance," wrote editor Sambit Bal, referring to Pakistani batsman Misbah-ul-Haq who got out trying to loft the ball over the keeper's head with only five runs left to win.

I wonder if the SOB would have said the same, had the situation been identical and Aus the winner in India's place?

Yeah Bal is Incorrigible in his love of putting down Team India and its members at every opportunity...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

If Aus was the winner in the same situation, he would have said that winning is the only thing that matters and the Aussies never really gave them a chance, even though they got close thanks to some chancy shots.

A "mistake" decided the tournament? You ****ing dirty barstard!

Sambit bal doesn't know that it's either you do it or you don't. Guys like these should be sent to jail - highly unpatriotic - these are the guys who prefer hell even when they are afforded place in heaven. I am wondering whether he said the same thing when aus won the world cup in 1999? Remember the match against SA when gibbs dropped lolipop from steve waugh? who then went on to hit century.

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And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. Abraham Lincoln

Of course not...any mistakes that help Aussies are INDUCED by their SUPERB cricketing skills and ability to pressure the opposition...they cannot be considered mistakes... how dare you suggest such a thing.....

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

> Remember the match against SA when gibbs dropped lolipop
> from steve waugh? who then went on to hit century.

Very good analogy Gabbar. These Crockinfo jerks were idolizing and drooling over the winner Waugh's statement "you just dropped the world cup, kid"

See how the Choots spin the Hair problem...

"Hair, who in spite of his experience has attracted hostility from Asian countries for more than a decade over what they have considered to be his strict application of the Laws of Cricket,"

Strict application? more like BIASED application...DUH!!!

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

And this is how Mitchell Johnson's 149.7 kmph ball is described...

"Mitchell Johnson accounted for Gautam Gambhir with movement and bounce and bowled at searing pace, touching 149.7kphs on one occasion."


And this is how Ashish Nehra's similar pacein the 2003 WC was described...


Nehra, who bowled his ten overs straight through, ended with dream figures of 6 for 23, the best analysis by an Indian in World Cup history, and - until Glenn McGrath routed the Namibians a few days later - the best by anyone in a World Cup match outside the seamers' paradise of Headingley.

Sourav Ganguly, his captain, was emphatic in his verdict: "He's had a swollen ankle for two days and it was sheer determination that made him play. He bowled a fantastic line. It's one of the best performances in a one-day international that I have seen since I started playing for India."

His length was exemplary - just one delivery was dropped short, and only five in all were overpitched. The rest were on or back of a good length, and each of them was too good for England's tentative batsmen.

And Nehra's celebration: throwing up on the side of the pitch and barfing a banana for comfort. Some Indian bowler may do better in a World Cup but you can be rest assured that nobody will better the celebration.

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Quote:

And Nehra's celebration: throwing up on the side of the pitch and barfing a banana for comfort. Some Indian bowler may do better in a World Cup but you can be rest assured that nobody will better the celebration.

Any guesses who wrote that?

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Sreesanth went past 145 kph quite a few times in the first ODI, and also got wickets...but I bet the Cricinfo b******s didn't even mention that.

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India's Test record against Australia over last 12 years:

Played 26, Won 10, Lost 10, Drawn 6

Of course not.... that would be most unlike cr@pinfo...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Cricinfo fail to give SRT and SCG any credit for Indian win... what's new there?

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

The more I read the sydney morning herald and compare it with cricinfo, the more I realize that Australian media appreciate not only their cricketers but also India's. Something that the weasels in cricinfo - vasu, premachandran and bal - will never do to their own country's team. I have lost count of the number of times this trio's unhealthy journalism slyly targets certain players they don't want in the team. Recent example is an article on the big three by Bal - [content-usa.cricinfo.com]

Please see the picture that accompanies the article. It shows Dravid and Tendulkar with a caption that says "Perhaps playing just two of the Big Three in each one-day match is the way forward." It does not take a genius to figure out who Mr Bal wants out in his compromise. But why be sly about it and try to be clever hiding behind veiled words like a coward? Be half the man he former India captain was or even a microcosm of a cricketer like Ganguly and say it straight in big bold letters "Ganguly should not be played any more and here are the reasons" Most of the readers would probably not agree, but will at least respect the fact that it is an educated opinion that merits such frankness if it were presented that way. By the way, even Zaheer Khan is not spared.

Thus having made Shakuni proud, Bal then turns into a chappell the younger and sums up his thoughts for the day:

Indian cricket will need to take decisions, and that process must not be clouded by what they do or don't achieve in the series against Australia and the one against Pakistan. Those decisions must be based on sound principles, an eye on the future, and the balance in team composition. Whether this is to be achieved through a policy of rotation or by a gradual phasing-out is a decision the selectors must ponder. And all of this must be accomplished without intrigue, without bowing to popular sentiments, and with transparency and a clear vision. Players, particularly those who have served Indian cricket with distinction, must be taken into confidence and told where they stand"

Yada yada yada...India must do this, India must do that..yada yadayada... Oh puhleaze!

I would like to suggest that the Title of this sticky be modified to "Unhealthy Dump in Cricinfo"

Daily dump from cricinfo is too mild and does little to portray cricinfo as the snake it really is.

"The worry, however, is that in the last two major Test series - against England and South Africa - he made just one half-century, and it's speculated that this was what caused Dravid to give up the captaincy to concentrate on batting."

I had to post again after being repeatedly slapped in the face by this gem of a piece by Anand Vasu. Now I am waiting for Premachandran's bile to hit me so my happiness can be complete.

The above paragraph is from [content-usa.cricinfo.com] titled "Better Days haunt Dravid"

Now, vasu the sly fox that he is, will never have the guts to say that the other reasons why Dravid quit as captain was the pressure exerted by Sharad Pawar to include bombay lads Agarkar and Ramesh Powar in almost every game in the ODI series with England. And why talk about the feelers from Vengsarkar among other various reasons why Dravid couldn't handle it any more?

No, it's ONLY because of his batting faliures that Dravid quit. Allright. So we idiots are all expected to believe that.

The entire article is as depressing as watching a funeral or Dravid's 12 runs in the last test.

More of this weasel's sly nature is revealed in these paragraphs:

For India, though, it's important that Dravid does well in one role. He tended to favour batting in the lower order towards the end of his captaincy, allowing the juniors to bat around him. Now that he's not captain, he doesn't quite have that luxury, and has to play where required. In a recent press conference Mahendra Singh Dhoni suggested that the best place for Dravid to bat was at No. 3. Was he worried about Dravid's form? No comments, came the retort. But the broad smile betrayed no worry.

But Dravid would be worried, for he is a natural worrier. He won't need any reminding that he only averages only 25.44 in 41 ODIs against the world champions; he knows his numbers. He won't be calmed by all the explanations in the world. He needs runs, and India need his runs."


Haha...bravo! Like none of us knew nothing of the obvious.

I was never a fan of Dravid's captaincy and was glad when he stepped down. However to read this pile of bile that's utterly missing any constructive / positive words is a mockery of one of India's finest batsmen in full public view where the Australian Media would have done just the opposite. Cricinfo, have some shame!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007:10:14:02:50:40 by GoCool.

> Something that the weasels in cricinfo - vasu,
> premachandran and bal - will never do to their own
> country's team.

You've left out Sid - the man who writes so much **** about India, Cr@pinfo has promoted him to a regular writer.

Sometimes you wonder what causes these poor souls to self-loathe as much as they do. I think the reason is two-fold: one, they try to put themselves in the shoes of one-eyes supporters of the opposition as much as possible, ending up looking ridiculously biased against India but assuming that their Indian names should excuse them from suspicion of bias; and 2) they are visibly appreciated by their English bosses when they do so.

Yes, I can't believe I left out Sid.

Anil, Gaurang and Max, do consider renaming this thread. What we are seeing on the supposed "home of cricket" are definitely Unhealthy reports from Cricinfo. The quality of reporting will get worse as India plays Pakistan and Australia. All it will take is one loss from the team or one bad day in the office for Sachin, Saurav, Rahul, Zaheer, Virendar, Sreesanth, Harbhajan, Yuvraj...

Renaming the thread to reflect the increasing crudeness of their reports is a good idea Gokul, but as it's started off an archived article by Chandra (click on the thread title), that can't be done!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:10:14:05:40:50 by Anil.

GoCool, thanks for your efforts at keeping this thread going. The longer we keep this up, more Indian fans are gonna see the anti-India and pro-Aus/Eng bias of Cricinfo. And they should stop visiting that website.

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India's Test record against Australia over last 12 years:

Played 26, Won 10, Lost 10, Drawn 6

For most international matches one can try cricbuzz.com for live scorecards instead of cricinfo...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/extracover/content/current/story/315304.html

"The BCCI should do him a favour and take away his keys; in other words, suspend him for a meaningful period."

"they should also severely reprimand the person or persons who dreamed up the flawed tactic of India taking the Australians on at their own game."

So the Aussies think they're the only ones allowed to do what they do? They really think they can keep giving it and expect no one to give it back.

What a PATHETIC Article...

Ian Chappell can go FACK himself...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

I used to have respect for the older Chappell. Now, I think he is a stooge as well. What a disgusting article. I wonder what has he said about McGrath or Andre Nel or even Andrew Symonds.

I saw an interview of him and David Lloyd (on cr@pinfo) and Lloyd was all praise for Sreesanth but Chappell did not say anything about Sreesanth then.

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Off break, doosra, yorker, googly, straight drive, sweep, square cut, late cut ... I love them all.

Chappell needs to get a new glass house

hahaha nice one GoCool...

The old one being shattered with all the rocks...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

After India gets a consolation win in the final game, Sambit Bal's report on it points out all the areas in which the Indians didn't play perfectly well in it, and suggests it was only Kartik's fortunate 6 wickets that resulted in an unfair win for India.

He goes on to wax eloquent about the Aussies superiority, how the Indians played criminally poorly, and how the great Aussie bowlers made the ball 'talk'.

Pray how did the Indians win this game, Mr. Bal? Isn't the result good enough for you?

If this guy was an Aussie, he would be an embarassingly one-eyed one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:10:18:22:43:32 by Anil.

Self-Loather par excellance...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

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Cricinfo barely seems to be covering the Sri Lanka warm-up match against Aus chairman's XI. Not too surprisingly as it's the Lankans who are thrashing the Aussie team. As we have seen often in the past, if it was the other way around, Cricinfo would have made this warm-up match a headline story, with a title like, "Lankans getting smashed in Aus", etc.

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India's Test record against Australia over last 12 years:

Played 26, Won 10, Lost 10, Drawn 6

I just hope Lankans keep up the aggressive attitude right through the tour...

Aussies are very vulnerable without McWarne...

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Cr@pinfo's Vasu writing about exclusion of Sachin and Sourav



Mixed signals

Anand Vasu

April 20, 2007



Amid the mixed signals, though, is a clear message to Ganguly: Perform to the team's needs or face the consequences © AFP




After much excitement and an extended build-up, the selection committee indicated, rather gently, that there was a way for an Indian team to not contain Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Though it's unclear just how much can be read from omissions and inclusions for what is essentially a three-week tour to Bangladesh, the decisions taken today send out mixed signals and seem to deviate from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's directive to pick a "young team" under Rahul Dravid.


Amid the mixed signals, though, is a clear message to Ganguly: His one-day career is all but over, though he may have some Tests left in his bag. It has emerged that the selectors, and senior members of the board, are far from impressed with Ganguly's recent ODI performances. His 129-ball 66 against Bangladesh, 114-ball 89 against Bermuda, and 23-ball 7 against Sri Lanka conveyed the impression that he was more concerned with making runs for himself than the team.

However, to have dropped Ganguly without also leaving out other cricketers who failed to perform would have left the selectors with some uncomfortable questions to answer. To that end they gave themselves some room to manoeuvre, "resting" Tendulkar and "dropping" Harbhajan Singh.

Of all three high-profile omissions, it seems that Ganguly is the one whose future is at risk. Is this the end of the road for him? Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, said emphatically that Tendulkar and Ganguly would be considered in the future but a young batsman taking the chances afforded to him could well make it difficult for Ganguly to return. After all, with no domestic cricket left to prove his form in, Ganguly will be under intense pressure to score in the Tests against Bangladesh. A couple of failures there and he might well be out in the cold.

It's definitely not the same with Tendulkar; though he had a pretty miserable time in the World Cup, it is clear he has been rested only because it would have been impossible otherwise for the board to omit Ganguly. The difference between the cases of Ganguly and Tendulkar in the longer term is that the concern over Tendulkar's form is purely cricketing. In the case of Ganguly, however, members of the board and the selection committee are convinced - and they are privy to information that the public at large is not - that he was not always batting with the team's best interests at heart.

That brings up the case of Harbhajan Singh. Although he has been the one-day spinner of choice for some time now, he has not played the role of the champion offspinner that was expected of him.

In recent times his performances have fallen away and the fact that he is somewhat reluctant to bowl his doosra as often as before - it is possible some officials have had a quiet word with him about the trouble it could get him into in terms of his action - has made him a far less potent force. The advantage Harbhajan has, however, is a lack of serious competition from spinners on the domestic circuit, and that that, at 26, he has age on his side.


After playing 55 ODIs spread over seven years Dinesh Mongia has not been able to cement a place in the team © AFP



On the issue of youth, though, the message is not as clear. The one-day team has two fresh youngsters in Piyush Chawla (18) and Manoj Tiwary (21), but there is also place for Dinesh Mongia. After playing 55 ODIs spread over seven years Mongia has not been able to cement a place in the team. He's had one defining innings, an unbeaten 159, and that came against a fairly weak Zimbabwe team at home in 2002. Since then he has been in and out of the side, and for him to be picked - the logic being that left-handed batsmen would be a bonus against Bangladesh's three left-arm spinners - is not really a step forward.

The case of Rajesh Pawar, who has no doubt had a good season, is similar. Though still relatively young at 27, he has played 10 seasons of domestic cricket, and for the selectors to plump for someone who has bloomed so late suggests that they might have closed the door on Murali Kartik. In all fairness to Kartik, he's been out of the Indian team through injury and, since the Zimbabwe tour in 2005, has played with serious pain in his left shoulder.

Kartik (30) did make a strong comeback to domestic cricket, walking into the final of the C & G Trophy for Lancashire and picking up a couple of wickets as his side won. However, he was not among the 30 World Cup probables. If the current exercise was aimed at going for youth then the selectors could have opted for Pragyan Ojha, the young Hyderabad left-arm spinner, or even punted all the way and picked Karnataka's KP Appanna.

The selection committee had many tricky choices to make, mostly at the policy level - youth or experience? Long-term planning or short-term gains? They haven't quite nailed that down, but they have made it clear that they are not going to be dictated to by the players. Had Dravid gotten his way, Ajit Agarkar might well have found his way into the one-day team, Ajit Agarkar into the Test side - along with, perhaps, Virender Sehwag.

Anand Vasu is associate editor of Cricinfo

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

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Compare that BITTERLY VICIOUS cricinfo article with the SYCOPHANTIC one on Dravid being rested...

Part of a method or plain madness?

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

October 27, 2007


Anyone for beaver-like innings building? © Getty Images


Two years ago, on another October evening, a day after another Challenger Trophy, the national selectors decided to "rest" another former Indian captain. Sourav Ganguly, then out with a mild injury, was left out of the Indian squad for the first two matches of the home series against Sri Lanka and needed to wait another year and a half before his next one-dayer.

Now it's Dravid who faces the brunt. "Rest" is a commonly used euphemism in Indian selection circles and what it means is anyone's guess. Dilip Vengsarkar, the current chairman of selectors, has said Dravid "will be back soon" but also added "fitness and fielding have become very important in the one-day game, so he will have to show it playing for his state". Logic suggests that Dravid has been dropped for his fielding. If true, there will be a few in the squad dashing to the nearest gym. Incidentally Dravid's replacement, Virender Sehwag, is no Asafa Powell and has done little to deserve a recall.

"Rest" tells you nothing about the selectors' motives. Have they decided to give Dravid a break so he can regain his form? If so, will his performance in a four-day Ranji Trophy match tell them anything? Do they have a plan to phase out the senior players? If so, will Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar be rested too? Have the selectors even kept Dravid in the loop? Has serious thought been given to the balance of the side? If so, why are there five openers in there?

Or have they simply realised that Dravid is the most expendable option? If that's the case, it's a decision based on the present and not on the future - on the evidence of only one poor series against the best one-day side in the world (all talk of his lean phase in England can be quashed by pointing to his two good half-centuries, one of which was a match-winning unbeaten 92 in Bristol).

An average of 8.88 in ten games is a cause for concern but numbers can only tell you so much. India, it seems, are too caught up in the Twenty20 dizziness, forgetting that a technically sound middle-order batsman is an integral part of a one-day team. As Australia so conveniently exposed, flashy thirties can only take you so far. It is beaver-like innings-building that wins games. It just needs a Mohammad Asif or Mitchell Johnson to rip through the top order for the fragile underbelly to be put in a spot.

More importantly, who replaces Dravid? Who can enter at 20 for 3 and see off the new ball? Who can walk in at 160 for 4 and launch a 300-plus total? Who, especially while playing in the large arenas in Australia, can find the gaps with such ease? Rohit Sharma may develop into such a batsman in the next few years, but the top-heavy nature of the side means he will struggle to even make it to the playing XI in the upcoming series.

India's selection history is littered with instances of great players being abandoned, and Vengsarkar and his band might just have carried on the tradition. Players of such quality require a certain leeway and need to be judged on the body of their contribution rather than a series or two. Just a month and a half ago Dravid was being urged to revoke his captaincy resignation. Now he's dispensable. Is there a method in place or are we to assume it is plain madness?

Whatever the reasons, one can't help thinking that the selectors have chosen an easy escape route. Leaving Dravid out isn't a decision you assume would provoke public outrage - one doubts if any effigies have ever been burned in his support - and even if it did, a victory or two would douse the fires. Somewhere along the line, when his side are inserted on a juicy pitch, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will look around the dressing room for someone who can curb his flashy style and do the dirty job of scrapping hard. Finding no one to fill the breach, he might look back on today's selection meeting and ponder about what might have been.

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

See how cricinfo ATTACKS Ganguly SAVAGELY minimizing his contributions...but SOFT PEDALS the PATHETIC 8.8 run average... over the last 10 innings from Dravid...

Nobody can fail to see the LACK of balance here...

The website is BIASED for one player and against another...

SHAMEFUL, YELLOW journalism...by the denizens of the self proclaimed "Home of Cricket on the Internet"

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Birbal, that comparison is amazing.

These sonofabitches writing for Cr@pinfo are so political and so unbelievably biased. There is no limit to how low they will stoop.

I hate these a-holes.

And here we go again...

This is how cricinfo describes Dravids 40 off 90 odd deliveries....

Those in the press box peered out eagerly, looking for clues to his state of mind. If they did find anything, it could have been only positive. Dravid looked to get forward at every opportunity, covering for the movement and offered the full face of the bat in defence. The purists would have purred in satisfaction. The left elbow was high, the head over the ball and his feet glided into the right positions. There was no nervous poking outside the off stump, no falling over on the front foot as Dravid looked to play in the 'V'.

He was beaten just twice with the new ball and once when Agarkar returned for the second spell. Amol Muzumdar, Mumbai's captain, then threw the ball to Ramesh Powar in the 17th over. The pitch was expected to turn big and all eyes were on Dravid to see how he would tackle the threat.

He started off with a gorgeous off drive and followed it up with a feisty cut as Powar dragged back the length. Dravid used his feet well to reach the pitch and smother the turn. Then came the first sign of danger. Powar turned one big with bounce and Dravid had to pull out of an intended cut shot. Now we had a contest. Dravid continued to use the crease well, going either forward or back, according to the demands of the length. He took care to play with the turn and a hundred loomed large before Powar struck with his guile.

The ball drifted in the air towards middle and off stump, on a length, sucking Dravid forward before it dipped rapidly, gripped the surface, turned sharply to take the edge even as Dravid tried desperately to roll his wrists over the ball. But he couldn't keep it down and the ball went low to the backward short leg fielder.

As the fielders erupted in joy, Dravid swivelled around and walked off quickly towards the hutch. Half-way to the ropes, he made a motion as if to suggest, in hindsight, he should have withdrawn the bat from the line. Although he scored an assured 40, Dravid would know the real test on this track was against spin and though it would be cruel to say he failed, one can safely assume he would not be satisfied with the end result.

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

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Funny. These are the same fools who slammed Ganguly when he was working his way back in domestic cricket if he ever scored under 50. In fact even when he scored hundreds, the Cr@pinfo guys would play it down because it came in domestic Indian cricket, which according to them is so far below the standards of int'l cricket.

These dirtbags can't stoop low enough with their spin.

compare to this..

Is this the end of the road for Ganguly?

Sambit Bal

October 28, 2005



The dropping of Sourav Ganguly has huge implications for Indian cricket © Getty Images



It would be cruel and sad if this turns out be the end of the road for Sourav Ganguly for he has been a colossus who deserves a befitting exit. Let's say it straight. He had passed a fitness test, he was available, but for the second time in his remarkable career he has been dropped. He made a stirring comeback the first time. This time, it could be the beginning of the end. The implications of this decision by the national selectors, which must rank among the boldest and the most radical in Indian cricket history, are huge.

It can be argued that Ganguly can still command a place in India's one-day XI on batting merit. As he showed with that gutsy hundred in the Duleep Trophy match last week, he is still a few notches higher than many young batting talents available in the country. But by ignoring his claim, the national selectors have shown that they are prepared to invest in a long-term vision. Call it subscribing to the Chappellway or collective progressive thinking, the last meetings of the selection committee have sent a clear message: players will not be picked on reputation, or even ability, alone; attitude and commitment to the team cause are big factors.

It's tough not to feel for Ganguly, who has the right to feel short-changed and aggrieved, but it must be said that the interests of Indian cricket have not been jeopardised by his exclusion. Viewed dispassionately, it can even be described as a right step forward. For far too long, Indian cricket has remained obsessed with, and shackled by, the cult of the individual. Ganguly helped build a team that can be counted among the most competitive in India's cricket history, but a cycle has been completed and India need to build again. They need fresh talent, fresh legs and hunger. Some of the older players have to make way for the young.

Ganguly, his supporters will argue, has proven both his fitness and form with his Duleep Trophy hundred. But Ganguly's place in the team must be viewed in a wider context: he remains among the slowest movers in the field and between the wickets; his casualness towards personal fitness has never been a secret; with India finding Mahendra Singh Dhoni, they no longer need to play seven batsmen; JP Yadav has shown promise as an allrounder; and there is Mohammad Kaif waiting in the wings.

At the moment, India's batting order picks itself. Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid (with the option of promoting Irfan Pathan/Dhoni/Yadav if the need arose), Yuvraj Singh, Kaif when he returns, Dhoni, and Yadav. Ganguly can only be accommodated at the expense of Yadav, but apart from affecting the balance of the team, it will also affect the batting order because it will force Kaif a slot behind. Since Kaif has been ruled out for another week, the selectors could have brought in Ganguly at the expense of either Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina or Gautam Gambhir, neither of whom have got to bat so far, but that would have been a short-sighted approach because Kaif's return is inevitable. There is little point in picking Ganguly in the sqaud if he can't make it to the playing XI, or XII.
By playing inspired cricket in the last two matches, the Indian team have made a strong case for continuing with what's clicking right. Tendulkar has made a magical return, Dravid has led positively and with imagination, the fielding has been sharp and the team has looked galvanized. True, it might only take a couple of defeats for the picture to look completely different, but for the moment, it's clear this is the way forward. If India continue to win, it's difficult to see Ganguly returning to the one-day side in the near future. And the longer he stays away from the national side the harder it will be for him to find his way back.

It's difficult to imagine what Ganguly will do now. Ever since returning from Zimbabwe, he has kept his own counsel and steeled himself to regain his honour. As he showed in the Duleep Trophy match last week, he is willing to fight for his place. He is a strong-willed and passionate man and these qualities reflect in his game. But how long will he allow himself to linger in the sidelines? If India manage to beat both Sri Lanka and South Africa, will the selectors still pick him as captain in the Tests, a form in which his record has been even more indifferent than in one-day cricket?

Indian cricket is churning at the moment. The next couple of weeks could be seminal.

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Just a reminder folks , this site (cr@pinfo) is rubbish except for it's score updates .

Most of it's hits are for that rather than it's editorial comment.

Quote:

Most of it's hits are for that rather than it's editorial comment.

Good point diamond...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Even though India knocked the stuffing out of Pakistan... The CI headlines read... Misbah and Sami Frustrate India...

Typical Cr@pinfo...

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BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:11:22:18:53:22 by Birbal.

Did anyone note Sambit Bal's apology to Ganguly? It was obvious that it was forced. Apparently Bal's employers - Wisden and ESPN have taken him to task on a backfired 'anti-sourav' strategy. Note that it is not Vasu, Vaidyanathan or that other geek(Bhattacharya?) who apologized but their boss - Bal with whom the buck stops.

Rahul Bhattacharya is not a geek...He is one of the best young Indian cricket writers. Period.

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

- yeah the slime ball slide it in...by suggesting every one apologiese to Ganguly
BUt really, many like me, believed in the guy (ganguly ) and boy has he delivered.

Sambit Ball needs to apologies for his abuse of ganguly....which had at times become intensely personal......and not hide behind others.

Now the other guy is Premachandran. The unholy trinity of Crookedinfo - Vasu, Vaidyanathan and Premachandran.

Add the Ganguly article to the list of SLIMEBALL journalism by cr@pinfo..

The HACHET JOBS are always done ANONYMOUSLY...the FACKING two bit yellow journalists...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

I suggest people open two windows... one with cricbuzz's commentary and one with cricinfo's...and observe the BIAS agaisnt India first hand...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

Now Vasu's Turn to GROVEL...

'I always believed I had it in me to play'

Interview by Anand Vasu

December 24, 2007

Listen to full interview


There's a steaming mug of tea in his hand when he opens the door of his suite to let me in. "Shall I make you a cup?" he offers. "Or perhaps you'd prefer Coke or Pepsi?" I turn them all down, firmly but politely, for I'm nervous and can't think of anything but the questions I have for Sourav Ganguly, in this much-postponed interview that's finally arrived. I've rehearsed my questions but immediately make a nervous mistake: "So, 100 Tests must be special for you. You've seen Sachin, Rahul and Sourav reach the milestone ..."

I'm nervous because I sit before a Ganguly who I, like many others, had sat in judgment of not long ago, and pronounced his career finished. Now Ganguly Mark II is on the verge of playing his 100th Test, and has been India's best batsman in the year gone by. But he puts me at ease, at once disarmingly warm and polite, asking about my career and family. Once I begin to ask questions, and he to answer, it all becomes simple once more. Because he's not expecting an apology. He has been the same person, through different phases of batting; in some ways he's been through it all. And yet, he wants to see more.



More where those came from: Ganguly acknowledges the cheers for his 239 against Pakistan at Bangalore © AFP



Does 100 Tests mean a lot to you? You've seen Sachin, Rahul and Anil reach this milestone already.
Yeah, it does. It's a huge milestone for any cricketer, and not many in Indian cricket have achieved it. Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev, and among the current lot Anil [Kumble], Sachin [Tendulkar] and Rahul [Dravid]. So it will be good to join that club.

Among the names you have mentioned in the current crop, you've had a rougher ride than the others. So in some way do you look at it as a journey against the odds? Someone from Bengal playing 100 Tests ...
We as a state have not produced many big players. But I hope in the future we start doing that, because places like Bombay and Karnataka and Delhi have produced Test players one after the other. In a state where cricket is so well-loved, it's important that we keep producing players who turn up and play for India.

Let's just divide your career into a few phases. First there's 1992 to 1996, when you played one game and then were dropped, then 1996 when you made your Test debut and went on till 2000, then captaincy from 2000 to 2005, and finally 2005 to now. Talk us through the many ages of Ganguly.
In 1992 I was pretty young. I went to Australia, hardly got to play any cricket, just played one one-day international and then got left out. I played domestic cricket for four years. I was young then and it didn't matter a lot to me then, being left out. Then I came back in 1996 and obviously had a good start to my Test career and then played on. In 2000 I became captain and stayed till 2005, and this was a very successful time in Indian cricket, so it was a satisfying tenure for me. I was left out again in 2005. [I'm] happy to be back and performing as I have been since I made my comeback.

Do you think captaincy came to you a bit early?
Yes. I was just five seasons old in international cricket. Sachin didn't want to lead the side after that Australia series [1999-2000] and I was the vice-captain then. I was a certainty in both forms of the game, so from that point of view I was the choice. But in terms of the number of years I had played for India, it was a bit early.

You took over at a tough time, at the end of match-fixing. You pledged on TV that your team was clean and would continue to be clean. Was that a tough time to take charge?
Yes it was. It surprised me at that stage because I was not even aware that these things could actually happen. For those reasons we got a crop of young players. Yuvraj [Singh], Zaheer [Khan] came into the scene in 2000. There were only four seniors in the side in me, Sachin, Rahul and Anil. To build a team helped us. Players like [Virender] Sehwag, Harbhajan [Singh], Ashish Nehra did the job in one-day cricket. And the benefits are being reaped now. These guys have since become match-winners.

You've spoken a bit about youngsters coming through in that period. But the batting also did well; the results were strong. Against Australia, the best team in the world, India won at home and drew away. Was that a golden age for Indian cricket?
Yes, of course. And we beat Pakistan in Pakistan after 50 years and we went to the World Cup final. We played two mini-World Cup finals in that time. People like Sachin, Rahul, [VVS] Laxman and Sehwag were batting at their best. That probably helped the team.




"In 1992 I was a young boy, 18 or 19, and it didn't matter to me. I was happy playing for Bengal and just playing first-class cricket. At that age you don't worry about anything. When I lost my place in the side in 2005, it was different "









Your leadership played a big role in this. Especially what you did with the younger players. What did you do differently?
I just set them free. As a captain I had certain ideas - which I see pretty much in Kumble now. I was a firm believer that every cricketer needs to get a fair chance. I had decided that I was going to take the pressure off the players and let them play freely. Which really helped them do justice to their talent. At the same time I had Rahul, Sachin, Anil and Laxman, who themselves were playing outstanding cricket.

What you brought to the team and what you are are different things. You're a polite, mild-mannered person but your team was rough and ready for a scrap.
I realised that we played well when we were aggressive. When we took the foot off the accelerator, we were a completely different team. We needed to get the team charged up and we got results against Australia in 2001. They came here ... Steve Waugh had won everywhere but here [in India]. He was putting pressure on the team and we were a young side and they knew they were the top team. The only way we could have done well against them was by being aggressive.

One of the things that was always spoken of in Indian cricket was regionalism. But your reign as captain saw an end to that, to a large extent.
To be honest, when I played cricket even before I was captain, I didn't notice much. Maybe I was too young to do that. When I became captain my entire responsibility was to pick the best possible 15 for India. I wanted to do that and I had no pressures from anywhere to pick someone or drop someone. I made it pretty clear that if I'm captain, the best team has to play.

Another important thing that happened at the time was the appointment of India's first foreign coach. You had your differences with John Wright, but in hindsight, and especially in the light of what followed, it was a very healthy working relationship, wasn't it?
We worked very well. We had mutual respect for each other. There will be differences in opinion. He'll have an opinion on something and I'll try and give my side of the story. At the end of the day, I always feel it's the captain that counts. Because I have to take decisions in the middle.

John was a fantastic person. He was responsible in changing the outlook of Indian cricket. He made the boys realise that winning overseas is important, and that it was not just about winning at home. He was responsible in getting Harbhajan to bowl the way he did against Australia in 2001.

Towards the end of your tenure you seemed to be weighed down by it all, especially when your own batting form dipped. Would you agree with that assessment?
When you don't perform well as captain, in any country, and particularly in the subcontinent, you will have pressures. Probably it's a coincidence that in the last phase of my captaincy I didn't perform well with the bat. But during my entire tenure I tried to keep captaincy and batting separate. When I went out to bat I never thought I was captain. Even when I did not score with the bat, I knew I had to take decisions on the field that would make the team win. In the later stages it was just a coincidence that I lost the captaincy when my batting form was not good.



With John Wright at Trent Bridge in 2002: 'We worked very well. We had mutual respect for each other' © Getty Images



Wright has since admitted that he probably stayed on longer than he should have. Do you think maybe there was a similar situation with you and the captaincy?
No, I don't think so. John wanted to go after the Pakistan series [in 2003-04]. But that had a lot more to do with family reasons than cricket. He had two young children, and to be honest, he had been away from New Zealand for four or five years. We used to go on tour and then return home, but he used to return to India, which was away from home. From that point of view it was harder for him because we would invariably go home, he wouldn't.

You were out of the side from 1992 to 1996. Then again, you were out in 2005. How would you compare the two phases?
They're two completely different things. In 1992 I was a young boy, 18 or 19, and it didn't matter to me. I was happy playing for Bengal and just playing first-class cricket. At that age you don't worry about anything. When I lost my place in the side in 2005, it was different. I was 32, I'd lost my captaincy - for whatever reasons; there was a lot of controversy going around. That was not a very happy way to lose my place in the side. Those two situations were completely different.

What kept you going when you were left out the second time around? What sort of work did you do?
I worked on my game and I got a lot of time for myself. When I was away from the hustle and bustle of international cricket, the hotels, airports, day-in and day-out, that's a different grind. The fatigue ... I was completely out of the system, but I always believed I had it in me to play. There were a lot of tough tours coming and I knew that if people don't do well, my turn will come. It was just a belief and hope and things could have gone the other way as well. But that's what destiny is all about.

From the outside it appears that you're a lot calmer at the crease now. Your composure is intact. Is this a change since you made your comeback?
It depends, Anand. When you play well, a lot of things look good. When you're not playing well, you try things and it doesn't work. That's why this is sport. Obviously I have more time to myself now and captaincy does take a load in India. As a captain you have to handle the team, your own game, media, selection, getting tours working - so it is not easy. Now I have more time for myself, to work on my game. I can think about what I need to do to help the team which keeps me mentally fresh.

So you would agree that batting is a lot about keeping your mind free and sorting the mental aspects?
Yeah, of course. Anything is about keeping your mind free. The more you start thinking about other things, it doesn't help.




"To be honest, I've not seen anything special, except for Yuvraj and Sehwag in the batting, and Harbhajan, Sreesanth and RP. Zaheer is a seasoned campaigner, so I'm not including him in this bracket. We need some more quality players coming through, especially in terms of batting"









Which of your innings since your comeback has given you the most satisfaction? And you have a few to choose from.
To be very honest the first knock in Johannesburg was very crucial. It was my comeback and it was a difficult wicket and we won a Test match in South Africa for the first time. My knock in Nottingham, when me and Sachin had a crucial stand, that was satisfying - also in a match India won. A hundred at Eden Gardens, my first hundred at home, that was satisfying. Also my first double-hundred, [after] we were 61 for 4 ... it's been good.

You're not known for your fitness, but still you've had a long career. What's the secret of your longevity?
I have done my fitness work. I'm not as fit as a Mohammad Kaif or as some of these younger guys are. When we started our cricket, the idea of fitness was completely different. It has changed over the years. People like me and Rahul have worked on our fitness. We may not be the quickest on the field. But we do our cardio and weights, which actually helps when you bat.

Your technique is not as compact as Sachin's or Rahul's. Have you had to work that much harder?
No, it's not as compact. My technique was never as compact as those two, but I have other gifts. My timing. I could hit the good balls for four and maybe other people may not have had this ability. I had to adjust my game accordingly.

I've realised what my strengths are and what my strengths are not, and played accordingly. By God's grace I had this natural ability of being a very good player on the off side. That helped in international cricket, because that's the channel where bowlers like to bowl and try to get you out. Every player is going to be different, but every player should find a way to get runs. I've just found my way.

You've spoken about some of the difficulties in leading India. What's the most difficult part?
The most difficult part of leading India is time management. And you have to be thick-skinned. You cannot worry about what's going on around you. You have to lead with your best intentions. You have to wake up in the morning or go to sleep in the night thinking, "Today I've done what is the best for the good of Indian cricket." There will be opinions. Thousands of people are watching, people are making livelihoods out of this game, so there will be criticism. If you start going through all of them, then you'll have a very tough time. You have to learn how to switch yourself off from all this and do what is good for the game.



'You have to learn how to switch yourself off from all this and do what is good for the game' © Cricinfo Ltd



Rahul Dravid has said that the reactions of the fans and the media sometimes lacks proportion. Would you agree?
I've had my ways of dealing with this. And I've told Jam this once before as well. You should not be worried about how the media and public react. They can react however they want. It's how you as captain react to what they say that's important. You have to learn to keep yourself out of all this.

To digress for a second: I have criticised you repeatedly over the years, in my writing and on television. I'm seen to be anti-Ganguly. Why are you sitting down with me and speaking to me?
No, no, no. I have never thought like that. I have never worried about criticism. If I don't play well, I don't expect you to write that I've played well. What only matters is that it should not get personal. Anand, I'm a pretty free person. I don't have hiccups like this and I don't carry baggage. Even with my team-mates, when I was captain, I would get angry with them on the field at times, but off the field I'd go out of my way to back them. I've got no issues with criticism. Sometimes it helps.

What is preventing India, with its large talent pool and vast resources, from becoming a dominant force in world cricket?
I think we have become more dominant over time. Playing at home we've always been very good. But our performance overseas in the last five-seven years has changed. I was reading recently, probably on your website, that India has won more matches overseas than any team other than Australia, in recent times. That's a pretty good sign. But we need some quality players. We've had a crop of players - Tendulkar, Dravid, myself, Laxman, Anil, in the 34-35 years bracket - who have been outstanding for Indian cricket. We need some consistent talent coming through. To be honest, I've not seen anything special, except for Yuvraj and Sehwag in the batting, and Harbhajan, Sreesanth and RP. Zaheer is a seasoned campaigner, so I'm not including him in this bracket. We need some more quality players coming through, especially in terms of batting.

If you could change something about Indian cricket what would it be?
Try and take the pressure off the players as much as possible. Let them play as freely as they can.

Anand Vasu is an associate editor at Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

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[content-usa.cricinfo.com]

To digress for a second: I have criticised you repeatedly over the years, in my writing and on television. I'm seen to be anti-Ganguly. Why are you sitting down with me and speaking to me?
No, no, no. I have never thought like that. I have never worried about criticism. If I don't play well, I don't expect you to write that I've played well. What only matters is that it should not get personal. Anand, I'm a pretty free person. I don't have hiccups like this and I don't carry baggage. Even with my team-mates, when I was captain, I would get angry with them on the field at times, but off the field I'd go out of my way to back them. I've got no issues with criticism. Sometimes it helps.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007:12:24:20:03:37 by Atul.

Hahahahaaaa... the flunky has gone on bended knee before the Maharaj...and he doesn't even acknowledge that he was affected by what he wrote...TYPICAL of the man...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

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eggactky..

don't get personal... don't carry out your speculations as facts and construct an article based on his/her own imaginary world...

cricinfo has started its campaign of whispers and innuendo about Bhajji...

Now claiming that Bhajji Taunted Symonds in Mumbai...and that Sydney tape shows that Ponting telling Bhajji this is his SECOND offense...etc...

Nice little tale they are concocting...

Birbal that is what i thought, damage control exercise is started by Cricinfo

No not damage control..more like whisper campaign to find Bhajji GUILTY...

Meanwhile...

Cricbuzz says...

Quote:

93.6 Lee to Dhoni, no run, good length delivery outside the off stump, left alone to the keeper

Cricinfo says...

Quote:

93.6 Lee to Dhoni, no run, done him like a kipper, or a dressed lamb, anyway the ball nipped back in from outside off, on a good length, and though he shaped to leave it, it nearly brushed the outside edge

Jenny getting all hot and excited there by Lee...eh?

Rauf, gets another one wrong? Dhoni was on the front foot and it probably struck him high...

And he's definitely slow death Rauf....

Takes an eternity to give a verdict...

The best Aussies bowlers are:

M Clarke and
A Symonds

Everytime they are on they are threatening. Surprise that they afre not used more often.

Australia are behind in this match but it is not beyond them. Nothing is. They have not racked up this winning streak with the help of umpires. They will fight like hell to maintain it. Expect another cracking day tomorrow. Perhaps the decisive one.

Sambit Bal is the editor of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

[content-aus.cricinfo.com]

yeah right..

forgot SCG, Sangakarra... all just 3 tests back..

shocking... even a "fully" before with would have given it some balance...

"Inspired India end Australia's streak"

what the hell kind of title is that. To me, that sounds as if India drew a match in spinner friendly conditions pitch.

We WON at the WACA!!!!!!!!!

Should've been:

"Amazing India beat Australia in their own backyard!!!"

They are not known as Cr@pinfo for nothing...

The most pathetic bunch of Desi wannabe Aussies and Poms around...

Check out the caption under the pic of Dhoni and Sehwag...

Apparently Indian batsmen are "killing time" at the nets...

Will they ever dare write such stuff about their beloved Aussies?

Time To Kill



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2008:01:23:03:25:35 by Birbal.

Cr@pinfo:

Quote:

38.4 Clark to Ganguly, FOUR, there's just a little bit of room outside off stump and Ganguly plays the square drive past point for his first boundary

Cricbuzz:

Quote:

38.4 Clark to Ganguly, FOUR!!, touch short of good length delivery on the off, angling away from the left hander, Ganguly goes on the backfoot and gets on top of the bounce, punches it to deep backward point for four, nothing wrong with the delivery but the shot on that occasion was simply extraordinary!

At the end of Day 1 in Adelaide, with India getting 526 and tailenders Kumble and here is Cr@pinfo's laughable headline,

"Plucky India grind down Australia"

Can you imagine how violent the headlines would have been if Australia's #8 and #9 had a century partnership against India to pile up 500+?

"Australian tail smash India"

"Frustrated Indian attack fail to run through tail"

etc etc etc.

"Plucky India" - isn't that chariable of them

Check out their NEW HOWLER...

"Insufficient Proof Against Harbhajan"

implying that the Bhajji did it, but escaped because there is not enough proof...

What SICK MADER CHODDS these guys are...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....

now al headlines are realated to Aussies reaction not one from Lele or Vengasarkar , as a balanced media you should have reaction from both side, yeah we know already it is crapinfo.

About as FAIR and BALANCED as FOX NEWS in the USA...

Quote:

Birbal
Check out their NEW HOWLER...
"Insufficient Proof Against Harbhajan"...

Errm the case was dismissed because there was insufficient proof against Harbhajan...what headline would you have come up with lol

And btw isnt the chief editor of cricinfo an Indian if im not mistaken ?

Bhajji exonerated on Racism charges

Cr@pinfo's latest headline
"India crash to embarrassing loss"

What is this @^$&!!! Gives the impression that India lost the game on their own rather than Australia playing brilliantly and completely outgunning them inspite of their best efforts.

Can you imagine how violent the headlines would have been if India had bowled Australia out for 74??

"Indian spinners destroy Australia"

They arent known as cr@pinfo for nothing.

Yeah the headline today was uncharacteristicly charitable to the Indians..

The Aussies CRUSH India would have been fine by me...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

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wow. from the Ind-SL game preview article:

Quote:

One factor tilting the balance in Sri Lanka's favour is its experienced stars, compared to the mostly youthful Indian team. In the end, though, consistency will determine which team makes it to the finals

Excuse me? So, has Australia already qualified for the finals??

Hehehehehe... nice catch there...

apparently only one of India or Sri lanka can make to the finals...

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ICL Ko Support Karo Yaro...

BCCI Ko Joote Chappal Maro....