Malcolm Speed,ICC cricket CEO,Good Riddance

Malcolm Speed speaks to Guyana media
Originally uploaded by caribbeancricket

Malcolm Speed , good riddance

Andrew Miller,writes in Cricinfo magazine that the ousting of Malcolm Speed as ICC CEO is an admission of the factionalism in the ICC

I am glad to see Malcolm Speed go as ICC CEO

Malcolm Speed has often be seen to be partisan and has made almost as many gaffes as Ray Mali.

Malcolm Speed may have had issues with the BCCI, but that didnt mean that he could make nasty , gloating comments about India and the inability for a country with a population of 1 billion to win the cricket World cup..

I may not be a great fan of the BCCI, but Malcolm Speed, as ICC CEO, was far worse- Malcolm Speed 's nasty comments don't exactly inspire any confidence about his leadership skills and people from the subcontinent are bound to view Malcolm Speed , as more of a representative of England & Australia cricket boards

A CEO needs to be at least seen to be bi-partisan, but Malcolm Speed 's nasty comments about India did let the cat out of the bag about his biased views

Goodbye and good riddance to Malcolm Speed, his seven years as ICC CEO, have resulted in the ICC organization being reduced to a toothless organization, viewed with suspicion by every cricket playing country of the cricket world

Sachin Tendulkar is 35 today-What the world thinks of Sachin Tendulkar

sachin tendulkar
Originally uploaded by pigmediacraft

Sachin Tendulkar - what people are saying about Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar turns 35 today and a good way to appreciate what Sachin has achieved for Indian cricket is to read what other cricketers,mostly his opponents have said about him

"Sachin Tendulkar was destined to be a great" -Barry Richards.

"Sachin Tendulkar is 99.5 percent perfect. I'd pay to see him" - Viv Richards.

"Don't bowl Sachin Tendulkarbad balls, he hits the good ones for fours - Michael Kasprowicz.

"It's scary, where the hell do we bowl to Sachin" -Allan Border

.

"There is no shame being beaten by such a great player as Sachin Tendulkar. We didn't lose to
Team India. We Lost to Sachin Tendulkar" -Steve Waugh.

"If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard" - Dennis Lillee.

"I'd like to see Sachin go out and bat one day with a stump. I tell you he'd do okay" -Greg Chappell.

"Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and I am privileged he played in my time" - Wasim Akram.

"The pressure on me is nothing as compared to Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin,
like God, must never fail. The crowd always expects him (Sachin Tendulkar) to succeed and it
is too much pressure on him" -Mark Waugh

"Everybody gets 15 minutes of fame. But if there's one person I've admired over a 15-year of period, it's definitely Sachin." - Brian Lara

"I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player" -Shane Warne.

"I saw Sachin Tendulkar playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two... his compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel" -Sir Donald Bradman.

"In an over I can bowl six different balls. But then Sachin looks at me with a sort of gentle arrogance down the pitch as if to say 'Can you bowl m another one?'" - Adam Hollioke

Sachin Tendulkar is cricket's God? Barry Richards.

You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good ball and Sachin Tendulkar walks across and hits it for two behind midwicket. His bat looks so heavy but he just waves it arounad like it's a toothpick? -Brett Lee

You have to decide for yourself whether you're bowling well or not. Sachin Tendulkar's going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway? -Micheal Kasprowicz

Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow ? nothing is a problem? -Geoffrey Boycott.

Sachin Tendulkar's life seems to be a stillness in a frantic world... [When he goes out to bat], it is beyond chaos - it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man. The people see him as a God... ? Mathew Hayden, on Sachin Tendulkar.

I (Embarrassed laugh) am a normal person who plays cricket. I am nothing more than that? Sachin Tendulkar, on being told of above quote.

"The fact of the matter is that India still need Sachin in a big way. All this talk of the youngsters taking over is very foolish. The reason why Tendulkar is so important for the team is because of his ability to inspire others and make them perform under pressure" - In the "Times of India" of the infamous "End"ulkar fame

"Sachin has everything a top batsman needs. Tendulkar is a classic example of a player being so good that his age is an irrelevance" Akram says in his autobiography titled "Wasim". He also stated a number of examples when he and his team were frustrated by Tendulkar's batting prowess.

David Boon "Technically Sachin Tendulkar stands out as the best because of his ability to increase the pace at will"

Ted Dexter: (who chaired the panel, the Coopers & Lybrand award as the International Test player of the year)
"This year Tendulkar has been the batsman nobody wanted to bowl at. He took Shane Warne apart in India, which illustrates his genius."

M. L. Jaisimha "The more I see of Sachin Tendulkar the more confused I'm getting to which is his best knock."

Cricket Historian Vasant Raiji "I have always felt C. K. Nayadu was the best. I now think Sachin has the honour of being the most outstanding batsman of all time."

Mike Selvey
"Tendulkar is the supreme right hander on the planet, a focussed technician who offers a counterpoint to Brian Lara's more eye catching destruction."

Jeff Thompson "Sachin is an attacker. He has much more power than Sunny. He wants to be the one to set the pace. He has to be on top. That's the buzz about him."

Asif Iqbal: (after India won at Sharjah)
"He has given a new dimension to batting. Such dominance can break the heart of the best of bowlers. I was never tired of watching this wonderful batsman."

Peter Roebuck "Sometime back I had written a piece that said that Sachin's the master and Lara a genius with his head high up somewhere. That's it."

Steve Waugh "You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon."

"It was one of the greatest innings I have ever seen. There is no shame being beaten by such a great player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don''.

"When it comes to judging the best among these fabulous band of batsmen, my vote goes to Tendulkar. He has an uncanny ability to come out on top under different circumstances and under different conditions, whether it is Test cricket or one day internationals. And more importantly, he has done this so young. "
Allan Border: (after India won the Coca-Cola cup in Sharjah)
"Hell, if he stayed, even at 11 an over he would have got it."

Greg Chappell , who successfully destroyed India's chances in the last World cup says "He is a perfectly balanced batsman and knows perfectly well when to attack and when to play defensive cricket. He has developed the ability to treat bowlers all over the world with contempt and can destroy any attack with utmost ease. "

Tony Greig "He is cool, has magnificent temperament, and is so mature you tend to forget his age. I can't think of any other example of a player who has so dominated the world before the age of 25."

Paul Strang "What we (Zimbabwe) need is 10 Tendulkars."

Australian Media "The most exciting batsman of his time because he finds the right balance between reason and passion, technique and power, nerves and placement and judgement that applies to all tastes."

Robin Uthappa: Australians are sore losers"

Robin Uthappa
Originally uploaded by zahidul islam

Robin Uthappa has called the Australians "sore losers"

In yet another interesting interview, Robin Uthappa has given interesting insights on the Australian cricketers and the Australian cricket media.

In a move that is assured to ruffle the Australian media 's "thin", he has called the Australians "sore losers"

Robin Uthappa says that Australian media coverage of the CB cricket series finals was so very weird

Robin Uthappa uses the Australian cricket media's coverage of the CB cricket series finals to make his point- The Australian cricketers were beaten squarely by the Indian cricket team but the Australian cricket media only covered the cricket series results sparsely in a couple of short notes

The Australian cricket media instead focused on Harbhajan Singh again and his alleged bad behavior

Robin Uthappa suggests that the Australian cricket media was only interested in raking up unnecessary controversies and was not even sporting enough to acknowledge the fair defeat of the Australian cricket team

Robin Uthappa suggests that he and his fellow young cricketers dont believe in taking the abuse of the Australian cricket players

Any international cricketer would acnowledged the tremendous abusive behavior of the Australian cricket team, dirty comments about the players' immediate family are always on the cards when the Australian cricketers are around

Robin Uthappa suggests that he and his younger colleagues are not prepared to take the nonsense talked by the Australian players without hitting back and letting the Australian cricketers get a taste of their own medicine

Mahendra Singh Dhoni even recently underscored this when he said that his cricket team "learnt" a lot about sledging without being punished from the Australian cricket team

What Robin Uthappa did not mention was that the Australian cricket media should probably be commended for supporting their own team so well, but did the Australian cricket media go too far this time?

Sydney Morning Herald media coverage of India Vs Australia cricketseries:One sided and sickening

Harbhajan Singh begins his exuberant celebrations after removing Ricky Ponting, Australia v India, 2nd Test, Sydney, 4th day, January 5, 2008
Originally uploaded by malvinder_4u

The Australian media coverage of the India Vs Australia one day international CommonWealth Bank cricket series (CB cricket series) is hopelessly one-sided and biased

The Australian media especially, the Sydney Morning Herald,has been incredibly disappointing.

Its one thing to support the Australian home team,but to run fake campaigns,denigrate the opposition players and cast a blind eye to the doings of the Australian cricket payers is simply not done, at least by a leading national newspaper

Sydney Morning Herald is abusing the power of the media

By its one-sided reporting,the Sydney Morning Herald has been abusing its power. In this one-sided article about the first final of the India Vs Australia CommonWealth Bank cricket series, the hopelessly biased article talks about Harbhajan Singh 's alleged behavior, but fails to mention the abusive and racist remarks by the Sydney cricket crowd

The Sydney spectators abused Harbhajan Singh by making racist comments about Harbhajan Singh 's Sikh religion and this was not even mentioned in the article

The abusive words used by Hayden, Ponting, Symonds and the rest of the Australian cricket team were ignored

In the cricket article, there is some mention about Pathan and Harbhajan walking down to Hayden and making some comments, but the dirty, abusive comments used by Hayden,Symonda and the rest of the Australian cricket team are not even mentioned

My biggest fear- Soon, the Indian, Pakistan,Sri Lanka,Bangladesh,South African and West Indian cricket media would follow the example of the Australian cricket media

There is no barrier to entry for nastiness in media- what if the rest of the world cricket media behaved in the same despicable manner as the Sydney Morning Herald?

The good old days of the cricket columnist is now being abused by these so-called cricket writers who are bringing decency in the cricket game to its knees

Steve Bucknor,man of the match in India Vs Australia Sydney cricket test.2007

Steve Bucknor already awarded the "man of the match" trophy for Sydney cricket test?

In a breaking news, it has been reported that Steve Bucknor has been already awarded the man of the match trophy for the Sydney cricket test (see insert photo of Steve Bucknor receiving the trophy).

Steve Bucknor has created another record in test cricket history to receive the man of the match trophy even before the test match has been completed.

In fact, Steve Bucknor apparently received the man of the match trophy on the very first day of the Sydney cricket test! It is highly unlikely that this Steve Bucknor record will ever be beaten- Bradman's record of three triple centuries could be beaten someday but definitely not Steve Bucknor's record

Steve Bucknor the first cricket test umpire to be awarded the man of the match trophy in Sydney cricket test,2007

Steve Bucknor has apparently created a world record in test cricket history by becoming the first umpire in test cricket to be awarded the man of the match trophy,hitherto confined to test cricket players.

Steve Bucknor has so far turned out an amazing cricket performance and is definitely the person on the cricket field most influencing the outcome of the Sydney test,2007

Andrew Symonds rapped on his knuckles by the Aussie captain,Ponting, says it was Steve Bucknor's fault,mate

Apparently Symonds was playing slighly slow at some point in his innings in the Sydney cricket test and Ricky Ponting asked him to lose his wicket so that Brett Lee and
Johnson could score some fast runs, but try as he might, Steve Bucknor ensured that Andrew Symonds couldn't get out. An embarrased Andrew Symonds apparently told his captain that
with Steve Bucknor around, "It wasn't my fault,mate , I tried to lose my wicket"

Steve Bucknor and his incredible achievement has ensured that he is feared by every cricket opposition in the world, and not only batsmen but also aggressive bowlers quake when they hear that Steve Bucknor is part of the ICC Elite Umpiring Panel

Steve Bucknor
Originally uploaded by caribbeancricket

Please read the above post in jest - I respect all cricket umpires,including Steve Bucknor. and appreciate the great and tough job that they do on the cricket field. I just feel that having the cricket technology but not using it is stupid

Gary Kirsten as Indian cricket coach- insult for Indian cricket coaches

Gary Kirsten 's selection as Indian cricket coach is an insult to indigenous Indian cricket coaches

Gary Kirsten has been selected as the Indian cricket coach. This is nothing short of an open insult to all the coaches of Indian cricket

There is incredible coaching talent in India and it is a sad mockery of Indian cricket that people like Gary Kirsten are selected and great coaches like Sandeep Patil and Achrekar are in the wilderness

Gary Kirsten has no cricket coaching experience

Gary Kirsten has no cricket coaching experience and has been selected as the Indian cricket coach but renowned coaches like Sandeep Patil who successfully coached the Kenyan cricket team to the World cup cricket semifinals are repeatedly ignored

The BCCI obviously likes Gary Kirsten for his "lack of experience"!

Gary Kirsten has made a lot of derogatory remarks about India and its culture

Gary Kirsten 's remarks indicate that he will never integrate into the Indian cricket team or understand the Indian cricket culture. Gary Kirsten has subjected the Indian secondary towns to great criticism and this will obviously not go well with most of the Indian cricket team , who come from small Indian towns

I can bet that Gary Kirsten 's tenure will be short and will do as much damage to Indian cricket as Greg Chappell 's tenure as Indian cricket coach

Indian cricket's scourge,Greg Chappell-An expert blame game consultant

Chappell now blames the entire list of senior Indian cricketers

Chappell is a "blame-game" expert. This time, Greg Chappell is blaming Yuvraj,Sachin,Sourav and every other "senior" cricketer for opposing his "royal" word

Greg Chappell has a secure career as a blame game consultant

Greg Chappell will hopefully be thrown out of Indian cricket, if the BCCI is serious about "saving" Indian cricket.

Greg Chappell need not worry about his career, he can easily get a job in any industry as a "blame game" consultant. In his stint as coach of the Indian cricket team, he first blamed Saurav Ganguly,then abused the Calcutta crowds, and finally is now blaming the entire set of Indian senior cricketers such as Yuvraj,Sachin,Sourav and Sehwag

My humble recommendation for Indian cricket-Sack Greg Chappell immediately

Cricket World cup shocker: India and Pakistan out of World cup cricket?

India and Pakistan are on the brink of being out of the World cup cricket tournament

The Indian cricket team has made 191 all out against the unfancied Bangladesh cricket team in the Group match of the cricket World cup

The Indian cricket team struggled on the slow pitch at Trinidad against both the pacemen such as Mortaza and spinners such as Rafique. The Indian cricket team seemed tentative and approached the cricket ball with undue respect and now find themselves with a small total to defend on a reasonably good pitch

Pakistan cricket team struggles against Ireland on a seamy pitch

The Pakistan cricket team is definitely on the brink of the biggest cricket disaster in their history - The Pakistan cricket team is now struggling at 130/9 off 43 overs against lowly Ireland, who have bowled like champions

The Pakistan cricket team however still has a chance in this key World cup cricket match since the pitch is seamer friendly and Umar Gul and Rao Iftikar could wreck havoc with the Ireland cricket team

World cup cricket 2007- Will the favored Pakistan and Indian cricket teams crash out of the cricket World cup?

Bangladesh cricket team may beat India in World cup cricket Group Match

Indian cricket team may lose to Bangladesh cricket team in World cup cricket tournament

The Indian cricket team has a chance of losing the first Group match of the World cup cricket series in the West Indies. The Indian cricket team faces the Bangladesh cricket team who are no minnows to World cricket and appear to be in great form

Bangladesh cricket team could beat the Indian cricket team in the slow pitches of the Caribbean

The Indian cricket batsmen could struggle against the Bangladesh cricket team spinners such as Rafique who can exploit the slow pitches of the Caribbean and make the Indian cricket batsmen struggle

The Indian cricket team could face upto three spinners in the match against the Bangladesh cricket team at Trinidad

The Indian cricket team could be out of the World cup cricket tournament

The Indian cricket team should be careful not to lose against the Bangladesh cricket team. The Indian cricket team is obviously a better team than the Bangladesh cricket team but in a one-off match at the cricket World cup, surprises could occur.

The Indian cricket team should play their natural game and should win against the Bangladesh cricket team in the Group match of the cricket World cup

The Indian cricket team should not get bogged down against the Bangladesh cricket team or unnecessarily try to slog early. The Indian cricket team should realise that at most West Indian cricket pitches, 250 runs is the ideal cricket score that is quite hard to chase

An Indian cricket team with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid should not lose in the first match of the World cup cricket tournament

The Indian cricket team have traditionally been slow starters in past World cup cricket tournaments , and should not let the expectations of the Indian supporters make them play an unnatural game.The Indian cricket team has experienced players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, and these great players should stand up and not let past mistakes happen

Was Shane Warne the greatest legspinner ever?

Was Shane Warne the great legspinner to have played cricket

Shane Warne was undoubtedly a great legspinner but was he the greatest? Certainly, a lot of young Australians do think that Shane Warne was the best legspinner ever,but older Australian cricket fans do think that Richie Benaud may have been a better legspinner

Some think Shane Warne was not as good as Chandrasekhar of the India cricket team

Chandra or Chandrasekhar evoked as much respect as Shane Warne among the opposing batsmen. To compare Shane Warne and Chandra is obviously unfair,given that the two bowlers were so different.Shane Warne was a traditionally legspinner who liked to give the ball a lot of air while Chandra was almost a fast bowler and tended to skid the ball through.Viv Richards among other great cricketers respected the leg spin bowling of Chandra to a great extent

Was Shane Warne better than Abdul Qadir of the Pakistan cricket team

Abdul Qadir was undoubtedly responsible for the revival of traditional leg spin bowling in the subcontinent and his google was incredible,but it is debatable whether he was as good as Shane Warne

Shane Warne was definitely the greatest legspinner in his time

In summary,Shane Warne was of course the greatest legspinner among his contemporaries,and cricket statistics do not lie, but there were other great legspinners prior to Shane Warne's time who were really great too!

Ganguly and Inzamam prove cricket experience cannot be purchased from a shelf

Sourav Ganguly and Inzamam,experienced cricketers, have proved that experience cannot be bought off the shelf

• Saurav Ganguly helped the Indian cricket team beat South Africa in the first India Vs South Africa cricket test


• Inzamam Ul Haq has enabled the Pakistan cricket team to beat South Africa in the second cricket test.


• Jayasurya has almost come back from the dead to make the Sri Lankan cricket team potential favorites for the cricket World cup in the West Indies

Do you think the new cricket players around the world lack talent?

Of course not, but cricket experience at the highest level enables you to play the kind of match winning knock that Sourav Ganguly,Jayasurya and Inzy have been displaying against all odds at the most crucial time

Sachin Tendulkar,are you listening? We are awaiting that magic knock by Sachin against top-class opposition-I am sure that magic knock by Sachin is not far away

VVS Laxman being victimized by Indian cricket selectors?

Is VVS Laxman being victimized by the Indian cricket selectors?

Apart from VVS Laxman, we have seen comebacks from most of India's veteran stalwarts such as Anil Kumble and Saurav Ganguly in India's one day international cricket team.

Why isnt Laxman being allowed to make a comeback to the Indian cricket team?

Laxman has been India's great cricket warrior- even apart from the famous 281 not out against Australia, he has played some incredible test and one day cricket innings.

• Laxman has partnered Sachin and Dravid in four 250+ partnerships against Australia


• Laxman hit three one day international cricket series against Australia and Zimbabwe in one week.


• In India's recent tour of South Africa, Laxman hit critical knocks,often batting with the Indian cricket team's tail, to help the Indian cricket team to a respectable draw.
  

Laxman not selected for bad fielding? How stupid

Laxman has officially not been selected because of his bad fielding.Laxman is one of the Indian cricket team's best close fielders-doesnt the Indian cricket team at least need one good close-in fielder in Laxman at least in the initial stages of the game?

VVS Laxman
Originally uploaded by caribbeancricket.

"Saurav Ganguly should be dropped from the Indian cricket team"

"Saurav Ganguly should be dropped from the Indian cricket team"

Didnt the so-called Guru Greg Chappell say this about Saurav Ganguly just ten months back? This was when Saurav Ganguly had made two knocks of 40+ on a seaming Karachi track

"Saurav Ganguly cannot play fast bowling and is technically poor"

Mr. so-called Guru,Greg Chappell made this allegation about Saurav Ganguly. Hasn't Saurav Ganguly has proved his point that class is permanent by making an incredible comeback against South Africa on seaming pitches and now against the West Indies

Saurav Ganguly saved Greg Chappell's job in South Africa

Saurav Ganguly managed to save the so-called guru, Mr. Greg Chappell's job by helping the Indian cricket team play a respectable series against South Africa. Isn't it ironic that Saurav Ganguly should save Greg Chappell's job?

Rahul Dravid should let Saurav Ganguly motivate the Indian cricket team

Saurav Ganguly should be allowed to mentor and motivate the Indian cricket team.Rahul Dravid needs to use Saurav Ganguly's great leadership skills to motivate the newcomers to the Indian cricket team

Saurav Ganguly has proved that so-called gurus and quacks should be sacked

Saurav Ganguly's return has made it very clear that people like Greg Chappell should not be allowed to coach the Indian cricket team. One wonders how many careers Greg Chappell has destroyed by his needless experimentation and cricket quack doctor solutions

Pakistan Vs South Africa- Pakistan's prospects

The Pakistan Vs South Africa cricket series Prospects and predictions

The Pakistan Vs South Africa cricket series is underway and a lot of so-called cricket experts are expressing their opinion on the prospects of this interesting cricket series

Watch this space for Gamecricket.com's assessment of the Pakistan Vs South Africa cricket series and our predictions for the upcoming series

GameCricket.com's fans are aware that our predictions are almost always right- since they are based on one-on-one confrontations and statistics.We also correctly predicted that India would do better in the test cricket series compared to the one dayers and that the Indian cricket team would lose the last cricket test against South Africa due to a bad cricket team selection

Jayasurya's comeback- Can Sachin Tendulkar revive the magic?

Sanath Jaysurya has made an incredible comeback to international cricket

Sanath Jayasurya was almost forced to retire at the start of the recent Sri Lanka Vs England cricket series. But Jayasurya has comeback in dramatic fashion by bludgeoning the cricket bowlers around the world and winning man of the match awards all over the place.

No one doubted Sanath Jayasurya's talent-but the whisper was out in international cricket circles that Jayasurya was past his prime. But Jayasurya's recent performances against England and now New Zealand have once again confirmed that Jayasurya is one of the most destructive opening batsmen in world cricket

Can Sachin Tendulkar too revive the old magic

In his heyday,Sachin Tendulkar could demolish a cricket opposition in a matter of a few overs,but the cumulative expectations of his cricket fans have had a detrimental effect on his cricket game and once finds Sachin to be playing way below his ability

In his prime,Sachin Tendulkar used to treat spin bowlers like Harris with such contempt,but his now venerable niceness seems to be dominating his personality

Sachin Tendulkar needs to wake up and realise that he is one of the most destructive batsmen that world cricket has ever seen,barring perhaps Vivian Richards

Wake up Sachin and show the bowlers of world cricket that you are not always nice!

Dravid's selection blunder may lead to India's loss

Rahul Dravid has made the selection blunder of his life in the deciding third test of the India Vs South Africa test series.

Not selecting Harbhajan Singh and selecting an injured Munaf Patel was the most stupid decision Rahul Dravid could have ever made. Dravid has missed Harbhajan even in South Africa's first innings, the limitations of having only one spinner on a truly turning track have been felt. Every time the dust came up when a spinner pitched a ball close to the rough,Rahul Dravid must be regretting his decision to drop Harbhajan Singh from the Indian cricket team

Rahul Dravid must be finding Munaf Patel an embarrassment to the Indian cricket team

Rahul Dravid has known that Munaf Patel cannot field and bat even in normal circumstances,but today,Rahul Dravid and the entire Indian cricket loving public probably figured out that Munaf Patel is too injured to even bowl in this crucial third and deciding test of the India Vs South Africa cricket series

Dravid must be cursing his decision to select Munaf Patel instead of Harbhajan since Munaf has been struggling to bowl even at 120 kmph with a new ball. It has been a ridiculous decision for Dravid and his Australian coach with weird ideas and India may live to regret the decision. On a cricket pitch tailor made for the Indian cricket team, India may still pull off an unexpected victory,but victory would have been really easy if Dravid had selected Harbhajan Singh

Shane Warne to Mike Gatting Video-Tribute to Warne

Shane Warne to Mike Gatting Video- The greatest ball in test cricket?

A tribute to Shane Warne who is retiring from Test cricket after the Sydney test against the England cricket team in the last Ashes test.

Shane Warne bowled this ball to Gatting - which has amazed all fans of test cricket over the years. Mike Gatting was really one of the better players of spin bowling in the world- Gatting had tamed the Indian leg spinner L.Sivaramakrishnan to hand England a series win against India.

This ball from Shane Warne had Gatting dumbfounded -Was it possible to bowl such a perfect ball in test cricket?

Durban weather disappoints India-Indian batting fails as well

India lost the Durban test to South Africa due to inept batting and a failure from the Durban weather- The Indian batsmen however did not believe in letting the Durban weather play a part in the result of the India Vs South Africa second test and quickly ensured that the Indian batting folded up before the weather became any worse.

Once the Indian cricket team is determined to lose,no bad weather can hold them up!

Jokes apart, Ntini bowled with a lot of fire in the India Vs South Africa second cricket test under overcast conditions and the second cricket test result was determined in the first over of the fifth day when Sachin Tendulkar fell to Ntini for a duck. It quite amazes people that great batsmen like Sachin and Sehwag fall cheaply while bowlers like Zaheer and Kumble play for almost an hour.

The reason for the failures of top order batsmen in world cricket is the research done on the weaknesses of the batsmen. Sachin Tendulkar has a weakness for the inswinger from outside the off to the middle stump and every bowler of the world from Mohammed Asif to Brett Lee to Ntini will continue to exploit that weakness. Unless Sachin Tendulkar can solve that problem, his batting woes are bound to continue.

Durban Test weather forecast-Only the rain can save the Indian cricket team

Durban weather can save Indian cricket team against South Africa

In the Durban test against South Africa,India are precariously poised at 38/2 chasing 350+. Only the weather in Durban can save the Indian cricket team from a defeat against South Africa.

The Durban weather forecast

Dravid's Indian cricket team and millions of Indian cricket fans must hope that this weather forecast is accurate for once- the actual weather invariably has a habit of surprising everyone!