NEW ODI RULES - A BRIEF REVIEW

The rise of several T20 tournaments coupled with several other factors has resulted in the declining popularity of the longer formats especially ODIs.Audiences for one day cricket slumped by 17 per cent during 2009-10.A  match between Australia and the West Indies in 2010   returned the lowest audience seen for a day-night game in 5 years, with an audience of just 625,000




In the past five years, audiences for the one-day games have been in a slow downward spiral, losing between 5 and 6 per cent each year from an average of 1.18 million in 2005,


There is a plenty of evidence which highlight the fact that ODIs have lost a good number of viewers/spectators


Probably these are some reasons which prompted the ICC to make a few changes in the ODI format. ICC's new ODI rules came into effect from October 1, 2011, . Here's a crisp segmentation of the set of new rules: what each rule actually means, ICC’s intention behind these rules , and how these rules are likely to affect ODI cricket


RULE 1. Two new white balls to be used for each innings , instead of one.


In Detail:  Two white cricket balls will be used from the start of each innings, bowled from either ends.


ICC’s objective behind this rule- It has been very frequently noticed that the white ball accumulates a plenty of wear and tear by the 35th over of the match and it becomes difficult for the batsmen to spot the ball..Hence the umpires go for a change of the ball in the 34th over.The ball which is handed to the bowler after the 34th over is not a new one and in the process of changing the ball we lose a few valuable minutes.To remove this mandatory ball change  drama in 34th the new rule was made.


Its Effect- Pace bowlers who love bowling with the new ball will relish this, since the ball will remain new till the 20-22nd over of the innings. The rule is not expected to help the spinners one bit.Spinners prefer bowling with a relatively old ball i.e. by the 17th -18th  . to bowl with a older ball they have to wait till the 35th over of the match.On another note the rule will help a lot in negating the dew factor , since both the balls will be exposed to the dew/grass ,alternatively and it will be relatively easier for the bowler to grip the ball even if there is a good amount of dew on the ground. In my opinion the rule has both  pros and cons ..On seaming and bouncy tracks  pacers will get huge advantage and batsmen will have a really torrid time.The new rule wont embolden spinners.Role of spinners in  the format will be reduced.The day is not far when fast bowlers will start becoming magisterial in the ODIs.


2. The batsman is out if he is found guilty of  'obstructing the field'.


In detail: -on appeal from the fielding team, if the umpire feels that a batsman, whilst running between the wickets, has significantly changed his direction without probable cause thereby obstructing a fielder's attempt to run him out, the batsman should be given out obstructing the field. It shall not be relevant whether a run-out would have been affected or not.


ICC’s objective behind this rule-Its an attempt to encourage honesty,fair play and sportsmanship .There have been a plenty of occasions when a batsman has diverged from  his path at the last instance, away from their natural running path, to eliminate the fielder’s direct line of vision to the stumps


Effect- Batsmen will come in the path of the ball while taking a run at their peril. Hence we might see a slight higher number of run outs.In my opinion whether a batsman shall be adjudged out for obstructing the field or not will have a lot to do with the way of thinking of the umpire.At times it might get difficult to interpret whether the batsman changed his course intentionally or not. What if a bowler/his partner comes in his way or a fielder charging towards the stumps makes him change course just before the crease? The day an umpire rules a high profile batsman out through this method, a controversy is on the cards.




3. Its mandatory to take the second and the third powerplays between the overs 16-40.


In Detail: The total number of powerplay overs still remains  as 20 per innings. The first ten overs still remain as the – M andatory powerplay.There shall be two other powerplays- bowling and batting powerplays, 5 overs each But both the powerplays have to be taken between the 16th and the 35th over. This restriction will not apply for reduced innings of scheduled duration of less than 40 overs.




 ICC’s objective behind this rule –Make the game more I teresting.They probably felt the overs from 16th to 40th had become  a tad monotonous.


Effect- The rule will help the batting side more than the bowling. If the batting side doesn’t lose too many wickets in the batting powerplay , then the powerplay will help them to gain some serious momentum and they can go for the kill in the death overs.But the thing is teams should learn not to lose too many wickets in the powerplays…From another angle, If the batting side gets off to a flyer then the opposition captain can spread the field after the 11th over and check the flow of runs……But this rule is expected to spice up the game..If powerplays are well utillsed totals over 300,350 will become very common. Beause if teams manage to keep wickets by the 40th over, having batted out 20 powerplay overs, they can throw their bats at everything in the last 10 overs. However it might backfire if the team loses a good number of wickets in the powerplays…..I personally like this  bit of experimentation .Earlier powerplays means the middle overs will not be as dull as they used to be.

4. Batsman cant ask for a runner!

In Detail: The batsman shall not be permitted to have a runner even if he is injured etc.He has to run on his own till the time he is on the crease.


ICC’s objective behind this rule –: There have been instances when a batsman has asked for a runner even if he  was fully fit and fine. At times this ploy is used to save the energy of the batsman which enables them to play a longer innings.


Effects:Expect some drama in the next few months over this issue..If a batsman gets a severe strain/cramp when he is in the nineties he might have to return back to the pavillion. I can see a huge uproar if Sachin or any other great player misses out on a century cause of this. Teams will start giving fitness more priority. Half fit / partially fit players wont dare to play a match since they wont be allowed to have a runner. I like this rule.It will promote honesty.Cricket boards will realise the need to have a strong injury management system.


5. Bowler can run out a non striker for too much backing up.


In Detail: ” The bowler is permitted to attempt to run-out the non-striker, before releasing the ball and provided he has not completed his usual delivery swing,. “


ICC’s objective behind this rule –:To discourage non strikers from backing off too far.There have been occasions when non strikers back off too far even before the ball is delivered , at times the non strikers do it intentionally to disturb the concentration of the bowler which is totally unfair.


Effect: Non strikers will think twice before backing off far.Batsmen will take time to get used to this while they stand in the non strikers end - tail enders being the most vulnerable lot. There could be a short period when too many batsmen are getting run out through this method, which won't do good for the game temporarily. However if a main batsman gets run out in this process it may create controversies.


6. Extension of play by 15 minutes into Lunch or Tea intervals.(in test matches )


In Detail: The match officials on the field i.e. the umpires  have been empowered to decide and extend  the play by 15 minutes (a minimum of four overs) extra time at the scheduled lunch or tea interval of any day if requested by either captain if, in the umpires' opinion, it would bring about a definite result in that session.


ICC’s objective behind this rule: To save precious .time It has been noticed that inevitable results get delayed because ot lunch/tea breaks. In such cases the breaks are pretty pointless..


Effect:This rule will be pretty effective in saving time. For e.g if the match gets extended  by 4 overs before lunch and the  batting team gets all out in those overs , the crowd can return home earlier than they otherwise would have. But it is expected to create controversies …if a match is heading towards a nail biting finish with one team slightly ahead of the other , and it starts drizzling or becomes a bit too dark.In that case  one captain may want to continue and other may not want to. For such situations it will be a subjective call to be taken by the umpire.And its all ways important to avoid such subjective calls in a game. However  in my opinion it will be a pretty spectator friendly and player friendly rule if the umpire makes the right and fair call.


With the slack in the TRPs of ODI in the last few years ,ICC has done a fair job by making these new playing conditions.Still a lot needs to be done to make this game even more exciting and ensure that future of the game is safe.

PAYBACK

Team India will have revenge on their mind and heart  when the five-match ODI series against England begin with the opener at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad tomorrow.Just a few months after the horrible unforgettable  summer  which saw the former getting thrashed and the latter being crowned Number One Test side in the world , INDIA will be pretty desperate to prove that they are the world champions in 50-50 cricket.

Things are going to be pretty different this time around.Its too earlier predict , but things wont be that easy for England playing against India at home ,with their fanatical fans team india are a very different proposition.

India are the current World Champions at the 50-over format & have a very formidable home record with only the Australians in 2009 & 2007 defeating them in their last 13 home ODI series. But that said the team played most of the matches with a full-strength side. New Zealand were an easy opposition.The side didn’t have a batsman who looked comfortable against spin, plus with a couple of inexperienced youngsters in their side they were no match for team india .

England never had a record playing in the subcontinent.Their  last two tours have seen an aggregate score of 11-1 in favour of India with the 2008/09 series ending 5-0.Because of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai , two matches were  abandoned saving them from further humiliation.One who had watched that series will tell you that they were thoroughly outplayed in every department . Moreover, they haven’t won an ODI series in India for about 25 years. But  these days things are not the same.England are a stronger unit & made of sterner stuff with a good number of exciting young emerging talents thrown into the mix,thanks to the English selectors who possess a considerable amount of foresight. With convincing home series victories over Sri Lanka and India already secured under the captaincy of Alaistar cool Cook the future looks bright for this  side filled with young blood and excitement.  But this tour of India will be probably  their toughest assignment yet and we will learn a lot about just how far England have come by the end of it.  With their weakened bowling including lack of decent spin options excluding the outstanding Graeme Swann, I feel India have the edge in what should be an competitive & close series




Following the test and ODI series at home England look to concentrate on creating a specialist side for both formats of the games , respectively.,Clearly the NO 1 rank in ODIs in on their mind.On that note , this series should give us a good idea about whether England's masterplan for world domination in every form of cricket is on course, but this time around its unlikely to be one-way traffic.But record books will tell you that  England have struggled in India, winning only one of their last 13 One Day Internationals on indian pitches .And considering the fact that England wont be able to enjoy the services of a few of their top players, any little success enjoyed in this series will be considered as a  real statement of intent from Ali Cook’s men.





Yes…The Indian team is still struggling with injuries that seriously hampered their chances in England with the key players  Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel not fully recovered.But in my opinion  the young and inexperienced( using the term inexperienced might invite controversy since some of these guys have gained enough experience at international level) side, which will also be without Harbhajan Singh who was dropped, has enough arsenal to win in home conditions..In 2011 on  home turf team india-
played 14 ODIs
 won 12  1 tied
 this gives us enough cause to remember that they are World Champions in this format of the game
 

 INDIAN TEAM
You can expect the the team  to continue with Parthiv Patel and Ajinkya Rahane as openers after their impressive performances in England with the aggressive Gautam Gambhir, who is back for the first two ODIs at least, at no 3. and there is a chance he could be joined soon by a fit-again Virender Sehwag at the top of the order. Virat Kohli, who has been in fine form in the Champions League T20, will be at No 4 followed by Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni with Ravindra Jadeja as the bowling all-rounder.. He hit 107 in the last ODI in Cardiff & has continued his fine form in the Champions League playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore with scores of 70 & 84 not out in the semi final.SURESH RAINA-He scored an incredible 84 in the 4^th ODI vs England.He has great natural ability and hits the ball incredibly hard.



While the batting looks solid despite missing several key players, the bowling will worry the think-tank.




Apart from Praveen Kumar, the pace bowling lacks experience with Sreenath Arvind, Umesh Yadav, R VInay Kumar and Varun Aaron in the ranks.Alot is expected from Ashwin , a lot has been spoken about his variations and usefullness in the shorter format of the game.He definitely will try to prove a point or two and that he is a better bowler than Harbhajan. India could well prepare turning tracks which will make things difficult for the English batsmen and the side will be looking at Trott and Pietersen to deal with the spin threat
How the bowlers fare against the English batting could well decide the fate of the first two ODIs after which the selectors will meet to pick the squad for the following games.



The Indian bowlers' inability to take wickets in England saw them go down rather tamely despite posting some handy totals and the visitors will take a lot of confidence from those performances.




England have several quality batsmen in their side and the return of Kevin Pietersen, who was dropped for the home series against India, makes the middle order look solid.





Skipper Alastair Cook will continue his role as the sheet-anchor at the top of the order with Craig Kieswetter looking to attack.
Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell also had a lot of success against Indians in England and the hosts would do well to chalk out specific plans for them.
England too are short on experience on the bowling front and the Indian batsmen will be looking to make the most of it.






With spearhead James Anderson rested and Stuart Broad injured, Tim Bresnan will lead the attack with Steve Finn and Jade Dernbach making up the attack while Grame Swann will be the lone specialist spinner and Samit Patel likely to play as the spinning all-rounder. Swann is undoubtedly the best spinner in the world currently but the Indians are fantastic players of spin.So it will be interesting to see if he can be able to trouble Indian batsmen after a good show on pitches which were spinner-unfriendly. Jade Dernbach is another  man who needs to be watched out. He has made himself a vital part of the England attack in the last year with his excellent array of slower balls. These variations will be used in the power plays & end of the innings, increasing his chances of a number of cheap wickets whilst the batsmen are looking to take advantage of the fielding restrictions.









Probable teams:
India: Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Gautam Gambir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, R VInay Kumar, Umesh Yadav
England: Alastair Cook, Craig Kieswetter, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Steve Finn, Jade Dernbach.


WHAT CAPTAINS SAY-

COOK-

I don’t see any relation between what happened in England and what’s going
to happen out here. India are historically very strong at home, and we have
an extremely tough challenge on our hands. It’s a great opportunity for an
England side to play the world champions in their back yard.

DHONI-

We may have not been up to the mark in England, but the fact is that before
that tour, we won the game’s biggest prize, the World Cup. Our performances
over the past three seasons speak for themselves. I am convinced that it is
only a matter of time before we turn the tide.

WHAT ELSE YOU WILL SEE

New ODI rules. Dhoni said the five ODI’s “may not see reverse-swing”
due to the use of a new ball from each end. Counterpart Cook said “you
will see spin a lot earlier” during games. Rules stipulate that bowling
and batting powerplays must be completed between the 16th and 40th overs of
the innings.

You will notice three stars above the BCCI logo on India’s ODI shirts. They
denote euphoric wins in the 1983 and 2011 World Cups as well as the 2007
World T20.

TAKING the batting ,fieldind,and bowling line ups of both teams into account I feel it might be 3-2 England J

contenderssssss

Various websites,journals,analysts parts of the media claim that the two Manchester clubs are the two to beat in the Premier League this season but i also feel Chelsea are also a force that are being under-estimated. Man United, Man City and Chelsea look to be the potential top 3 come the end of the season, if these early signs are anything to go by.There are other clubs too but these are the three teams who have a real chance of emerging out as winners .




Like any team the three clubs have their own  have positives and negatives.


Man United:


Positives- Man United started the season in tremendous form but their recent form is not satisfactory at all.However if theres any team that deserves to win its united. the strikers have been in prime form and some of their attacking play has left some commentators speechless. Wayne Rooney has been in sensational form this season and has been one of the biggest, if not the biggest attacking force in world football. However, when Rooney gets out of this purple patch of form, can United mantain this goalscoring frenzy and the fluidity of their football? Rooney is the main man in United’s 4-4-1-1 formation, playing just behind Hernandez or previously Welbeck. Rooney has controlled the tempo of Man United’s play and has kept the ball moving at a great pace. He has created and he has scored, so you can’t ask for much more.Luis Nani seems to of finally found his game and looks to be the skillful, pacey winger that Man United have lacked since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. Nani looks a real threat every time he is in a forward motion. I think Phil Jones could potentially be one of the best centre backs in world football in future if he keeps improving and working hard at his game, so could have been the best buy of the summer.


Negatives- Man United’s young defence has been raved
about through this early season run of games, but when they got their hardest test yet vs the likes of Mata and Torres, they all came up short, bar Phil Jones. Jonny Evans was run ragged by the sensational movement of Fernando Torres and Smalling was lost whether to track Mata, or let him drift inside. Chelsea’s brilliant attacking game against United may have encouraged other teams to go at the inexperienced United’s defence in future, which could potentially cause problems. Although i think this could be a big weakness if exploited, Man United clearly are in great form and look the team to beat.


Man United lack; A creative player if Rooney drops out of form or gets injured. Maybe a Sneijder type player?…


Man City:


Positives- Man City look to be playing a more attacking style this season, which is different to the way Mancini looked to line up last season. Nasri is a top player who is very versatile and could add alot to the team. Aguero looks to have settled right into the sky blue kit of Man City. Aguero is a top talent but the lucrative wages he was already on at Athletico Madrid, meant that Chelsea and Liverpool were not an option. These two teams did not want to pay him next to silly wages, due to the introduction of the Financial Fairplay rules. Silva looks like one of the best players in the world at this time, and every chance Aguero seems to get is somehow created by the magical creativity of David Silva.


Negatives- Man City may find it hard to contest for the Premier league, along with other competitions, due to them having no top leader in their squad. Vincent Kompany looks to wear his heart on his sleeve but doesnt look like someone who is a born captain and leader, whereas someone like John Terry, is. Kompany could be a great captain for City but with the egos of Balotelli and Tevez in the squad, can he back up Mancini when times get tough? That is yet to be answered as Man City are on a good run of form. Also, when you look closely at the City squad, you soon realise that there isn’t many players who have won stuff in the past and who know how to win, whereas Man United and Chelsea do.


Man City lack; experienced winners and a born leader.


Chelsea:


Positives- Chelsea look like a team who want to play quick tempo football and create chances, which ‘AVB’ has quickly installed quite successfully. Torres now has Mata, Meireles and Sturridge who can create many chances for him in the team, which could make him a goalscoring threat to any side. I see it as though Torres’ Chelsea career properly started against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, due to it being his first start with Mata, Meireles and Sturridge playing with him and since then he has looked sharp aswell as scoring one goal and bagging two assists. Juan Mata looks like a technically gifted player who could be one of the best signings of the summer, who can create and score goals for fun at times. Mata plays in a similar style to how David Silva plays for City, so i think those two players are extremely vital for their teams success.


Negatives- Chelsea’s new attacking style of play means playing a high defensive line, which takes some getting used to. Chelsea have looked sloppy defensively at times from set pieces too, but mainly the high defensive-line is a worry for them. The Chelsea defence will learn how to play the high defensive-line well in the coming weeks, as they continue to play as Villas-Boas wants them too; with attacking flair. The attacking mentality of ‘AVB’ may mean the players get carried away with scoring, which could mean Chelsea get stretched and become open, allowing the opposition to have goalscoring chances.


Chelsea lack; knowledge of the high defensive-line. Also, security when defending set-pieces at times.


The Premier league contenders look as strong as ever this season and the title-race could be one of the best in recent years. I pick these three teams to be the ones up there come the end of the season

NUMBERS

Some numbers

1 –  India scored 300 only once in their eight innings

2 – Number of times which India bowled England out.

3 – India‘s margin of defeat in the third Test (an innings and 242 runs) was their third-worst ever.

4 – England posted the four highest innings totals in the series, passing 450 on each occasion.

4- England declared four times

80 – England claimed all 80 Indian wickets during the series, versus just 47 for India.

158 – Lowest innings total, by India in the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge.

710 – Highest innings score (for 7 declared), by England in the 3rd Test at Edgbaston. It was their third-highest Test total ever, and their highest against India.

Batting

5 – England batsmen posted the five highest individual scores of the series – one by Alastair Cook, and two each by Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell. All three recorded double centuries.

6- Despite batting two times fewer (six innings versus eight), England had seven of the top ten run-scorers in the series.

294 – Cook had the highest individual score of the series, 294 at Edgbaston. As a team, India exceeded this total just once.

461 - Rahul Dravid was India’s top batsman with 461 runs, at an average of 76.83.

533 - Pietersen was the leading run-scorer in the series, with 533 runs at an average of 106.60.

Dravid was India’s leading run scorer

1-  Only century by an indian was scored by Dravid

2 – Virender Sehwag recorded a king pair at Edgbaston – out first ball in both innings.

3 – Dravid was India’s only century-maker, registering tons in the first, third and fourth Tests.

3 – Dravid also became only the third Indian batsman to carry his bat in a Test innings (after Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar), scoring an unbeaten 146 in India’s first innings at The Oval. He had to come straight back out again as England enforced the follow-on.

3 – Number of England batsmen who scored at least 300 runs in the series (Pietersen, Bell, Cook) versus just one for India (Dravid).

3 - Eoin Morgan was dismissed for a third-ball duck in England’s first innings of both the first and second Tests. He made up for it by scoring a century in the first innings of the third Test, however.

7 – England batsmen recorded seven centuries to India’s three.

8 – Number of batsmen who averaged 40 or more in the series. With the exception of Dravid, all were English.

12 - There were 12 century partnerships during the series, 10 of them by English batsmen.

34.12 – Batting average of Sachin Tendulkar, well below his career average of 56.25. He fell nine runs short of what would have been his 100th international century at The Oval.

59.76 – England’s average runs per wicket during the series, more than double India’s average of 25.55.

70 - Pietersen scored more boundaries than any other batsman in the series (68 fours, two sixes).

350 - The third wicket stand of 350 between Bell and Pietersen at The Oval was the highest partnership of the series.

Bowling

>Stuart Broad was the top wicket-taker and also claimed a hat-trick

2 – Bowlers captured six wickets in a single innings on two occasions, both Englishmen: Broad and Swann.

5 – Number of times a bowler took at least five wickets in an innings. Four of these were by an English bowler (Broad, Bresnan, Jimmy Anderson, Graeme Swann).

6 – Number of bowlers who took 10 or more wickets in the series. Four were English, including the top two wicket-takers, Broad and Tim Bresnan (16).

25 – Number of wickets taken by Stuart Broad, the most on either side, and ten more than the leading Indian Praveen Kumar. (Broad also added 182 runs with the bat.)

Kumar averaged better than a wicket every five overs

1 – Hat-tricks in the series, by Broad at Trent Bridge. It was the first time a bowler has ever taken a hat-trick in a Test against India.

3 – Three of England’s bowlers (Bresnan, Broad, Anderson) averaged fewer than 30 runs per wicket. Only one Indian (Kumar) did.

29.5 – Kumar took a wicket every 29.5 balls, the best strike rate among regular bowlers in the series. Bresnan and Broad were not far behind, with impressive strike rates of a wicket every 34.3 and 36.3 balls respectively.

58.18 – Other than Kumar, among India’s specialist bowlers Ishant Sharma had the second-best bowling average – his 11 wickets cost a whopping 58.18 runs apiece.

143.5 – Harbhajan Singh, for so long India’s primary spin threat, took just two wickets in his two matches at an average of 143.5.

Prior took 16 catches and added a hundred with the bat

1 – England are now the number one country in Test cricket.

5 – England’s ranking 12 months ago.

5 – Cook and Andrew Strauss led among other fielders with five catches each.

6 – This was India’s sixth series defeat by four or more matches, and their first since their tour of Australia in 1991/92.

7 – England’s 4-0 victory marks only the seventh time in their history they have won a series by four matches or more.

11 – India have now lost 11 out of 16 Tests at Lord’s.

17 – England wicketkeeper Matt Prior claimed 17 dismissals in the series (16 catches, one stumping). His counterpart M S Dhoni took 13 catches.

IT HURTS

An inspired India on 2nd April 2011 regained the coveted world cup after a gap of 28 years to script a glorious new chapter in cricketing history.

The clamourous , jam packed stadium at Wankhede erupted in wild celebration as Dhoni hit the winning runs.

It was only 4 months ago  1)we had won the world cup

                                              2  )we were the number one side in test cricket. 

                                              3) The Board of Control for Cricket in India was (still is) the strongest and the   richest board in the world                                                                                                

                                              4) Our batsmen were the best, bowling better than most and even the captain was considered the coolest and smartest. In short everything was shining and success and glory was everywhere you looked. Be it ODIs, test cricket or even the T20 in which we had 

August 13,2011.our third successive heavy defeat saw us surrender both the four-Test series 0-3 and the No.1 crown: a forced, inescapable surrender, for England tyrannized  India and imposed its will all the time.

YOUNGSTERS AND THE IPL CIRCUS

In the first place one has to admit that  there is an utter lack  of adroitness and quality. IMO every player in this team has given his best performances in the past on the subcontinental dustbowls and yes I am counting the youngsters as well. But the  technique of the best of the of the young crop like  is woefully short on skills to handle real good bowling in unfriendly environments. 

These days we find a lot of T20 stalwarts in the test team like Yuvraj & Raina  (both have weak first class records) .Also folks like Pujara, Kohli,Rahane & Rohit Sharma who  have  better technique and  first class records havent quite received the honours they deserve.

  

 It is very exasperating to see Raina not being able to sort out problems in handling short pitch stuff in spite of being around for 5 years.Same is the case with Yuvraj. 

 The problem is  lots of promising young indian cricketers have been handed a big pot of gold and silver in the form of the IPL, so their development as test cricketers is be hindered.To make matters worse they organise the champions league T20, a rather needless tournament. 

Youngsters are not able learn how to build an innings or bowl sustained long spells. They will not be able to play genuine pace because they will never face any such bowlers. A couple of overs from Lee and Steyn in the IPL don't count! They few times they will play in the longer version of the game will be on dead pitches. How will this scenario develop promising young cricketers? The problem, therefore, is far greater than a few players retiring. Where are the quality players going to come from? As long as the BCCI is guided by circus revenue, we are doomed to produce mediocre players. 

Think about it…….

 If they had not organised the IPL after the world cup

1. a well deserved  8  weeks of rest for players after celebrating WC win 2.the break would have helped them to rejuvenate their body and mind and spend quality time with family. 3. Viru would have completely recovered by the WI series and Gauti would not have injured himself. 4. And if the BCCI had any insight it would have moved the WI series a week or two earlier and so the players would have landed in England earlier and would have played a couple of warm-up games and acclimatised better. Now then, do you think India would have lost?

The players seem to be following this rule “try Play as many IPL matchesas possible. Get all the commercials, make crores of money. Aaaaaand if and ONLY if you are fit enough then play few ODIs and tests for the country.”

Also  many players play all the 3 formats throughout the year 

and it causes mental and physical weariness.This results in dropped catches, lethargic body language ,drooping shoulders and hands in the pocket.

 Its high time the board should contemplate ,have a close look at the schedules,trim the duration  of IPL ,find out methods of making money from domestic leagues.

Tough times for the board ahead.Scapegoating wont work.Some tough calls need to be made.Get more youngsters in the test tea,Pujara,Rohit,Rahane,Kohli.Go for the rotation policy as far as managing the older  folks in the side is concerned.

Indian bowling has raised serious concerns.One cannot  see another leader emerging from the shadows of Zaheer Khan. Ishant has been a bit impressive in his last 6-8 tests but he is still young and learning. Sreesanth though probably one of our better fast bowler and hugely talented but needs someone to handhold him in every innings. Bhajji who used to be a very fine bowler has become pretty useless these days.He is not a world-class bowler anymore. He neither has the guile of a classic off-spinner like Prasanna nor variety like Murali.

Selectors need to find a few genuine quicks .Make sure that they only play test cricket.Varun Aaron took 10 wickets in the Emerging Players Tournament.Needs to de handled with care.

ENGLAND DESERVE TO BE THE NUMBER 1 TEST TEAM

Lets be honest,there is no denying that England now deserve their position at the top of the ICC Test Championship.The team havs talented players in form, good leadership ,good  coaches, a harmonious team dynamic and luck. 

Since May 2009, they have played 9 Test series without defeat...

 Beat West Indies 2-0 (home)

 Beat Australia 2-1 (home) 

 Draw 1-1 with South Africa (away) 

 Beat Bangladesh 2-0 (away) 

 Beat Bangladesh 2-0 (home) 

 Beat Pakistan 3-1 (home) 

 Beat Australia 3-1 (away) 

 Beat Sri Lanka 1-0 (home) 

 Lead India 3-0 (home) 

 The ashes victory last Winter was truly majestic . England is not a side which can“ tear their opponents apart” but there is no doubt they are a very strong unit.

Alex Tudor who played 10 Tests between 1998 and 2002 says  “ It started off with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) putting Duncan Fletcher in charge in 1999. He was a massive advocate for central contracts and it’s been a huge plus as the team director has full autonomy over the team, who to play and who to rest.Selection is so different even to when I played. Good batsmen like Mark Ramprakash, Graeme Hick and John Crawley didn’t have the luxury players do today. After a couple of bad games, they’d be dropped, and a couple of games later they’d be back in. They didn’t know if they were coming or going.Now, once you are in the team, you stay in. It’s hard to get into the side but it’s harder to get out. The guys have the belief that once they are given a chance they will have time to show why they were picked in the first place.”

Tudor  “Cricket’s cool again, it’s fun again. The guys are playing with flair and the kids want to copy that. There’s a really exciting buzz about some of the coaching courses I’ve been involved in this summer – it’s absolutely fantastic and long may it continue.”

RANDOM PICS