Cricketer of the year
Filed under Sports
Harsha lists the top performers in cricket for 2005, the summary is as below:
ANDREW FLINTOFF
709 runs, 68 wickets, an unmatched sporting spiritSHANE WARNE
40 wickets in the Ashes series, when his life was falling apart around himRICKY PONTING
1443 runs, 6 centuries. Currently the world’s best batsmanBRIAN LARA
1110 runs at 65.29, five centuries. 36 years youngMUTTIAH MURALITHARAN
Destroys and rebuilds. On the field: 52 wickets in 8 matches. Off it: 220 houses built for tsunami-affectedTATENDA TAIBU
607 runs in losing causes but his best shot has always been in speaking his mind
And the/your winner is?
Who said it?
Filed under Sports
Sehwag’s mind is uncluttered while he bats. I have heard this from Nassir Hussain, Ravi Shastri, Wasim Akram and now, Harsha Bhogle. I think I first heard it from Akram. Who thought of it first? Any idea?
680/0 declared
Filed under Sports
Indian bowlers looked helpless when Pakistan scored 650+ runs at 4.5 run per over. Especially when Afridi and Akmal were toying with the bowling during their partnership of 170 runs off 21 overs! And they said it demoralized the Indian players. Well, did it?
I didnt see any trace of it as India piled up 400+ runs at 5.5 runs per over without losing a *single* wicket! Sehwag is closing in on his record score and I hope my prediction when the Indian innings started (of him scoring 270) is proved wrong and he goes on to bat the whole of the last day. That is sufficient for him to break all the existing batting records. And the intermittent rains are giving him sufficient rest. It is all working in our favor. So Veeru, go for it.
IMO, this make shift opening partnership has already defined the series. Oh, just so we won’t forget, the highest ever opening score is just 10 runs away. I am seeing 680/0 declared on the wall.
PS: Guess who is taking the most bathroom breaks in Lahore? Ganguly. He is probably crying his heart out for refusing to open the innings.
Predictions
Filed under Sports
TOI reported on the front page couple of days ago some predictions by astrologers about whether Sachin Tendulkar would score his 35th century on the last day of the Chennai test.
It read something like - “If it doesnt rain, then at 1:27PM Sachin would score his hundred and he will score heavily between 9:30 and 11:27AM.”
It is another fact that Sachin scored a laborious 22 off 126 balls before getting out. And yet another that he didnt score a single run in the mentioned time frame. But cant these people who are so detailed in their predictions also predict if it would rain? Or was that their alibi?
Why Sourav must go
Filed under Sports
I am with Chappel on this. First of all, the captain chose to disclose the information (that he was asked to step down as captain) AFTER he made his 100, not when he was asked. And it was right in the middle of a test! How unprofessional. We are talking about a captain who promoted himself to #3 in batting because “he was too tired of waiting to bat in the middle order”
And Ganguly says that all that matters is that he won the tests 2-0 and got our first overseas win in 20 years. He won? He scored a hundred? Come on, even Karthik would have led India to a victory in Zimbabwe. His disclosure to the media itself made him unfit for the job, not counting the other reasons Chappel mentioned in his email to the board.
The test team: Gambhir, Sehwag, Dravid (c), Tendulkar, Kaif, Laxman, Karthik (w), Harbhajan, Irfan, Zaheer, Balaji.
The ODI team: Tendulkar, Sehwag (c), Sourav, Dravid, Kaif, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Irfan, Zaheer, Balaji.
