Silly M(a)id-on

..is the one person who got me addicted to Cricket in the first place. He was mentioned briefly in my very first post. And now you can read some more about him through this wonderful post by Samir Bhaiya.

And while we are on the subject of family, may I also point you towards a post that describes my mom's evolution as a cricket fan. She is the Type 1 fan, just to clarify :)

Obviously mindful of the fact that I was disappointed to see NZL fold up for a paltry 155, Team India has obliged and lost 4 wickets for 84.

Aww...thanks you guys! (no really, I'm not being sarcastic)

With all these discomforting talks going on about ODIs being past their prime, I have been asking myself what exactly is it about ODIs that I don't want them to die out. Am I just refusing to give up something I have enjoyed so much for as long as I have been following cricket? Or do ODIs still have something to give to the game?

Shane Warne thinks we don't need them anymore. Harsha Bhogle has a point when he says "If you remove the ODI from the mix, the gulf between T20 and Tests, from a batting point of view, becomes way too vast, and over time you end up with a situation where players are good enough to play either the one or the other."

Peter Roebuck thinks There Is Life In The ODI Yet. While Dileep Premachandran calls for an overhaul.

There has been a lot of talk about ODIs needing "a context". Lots of ideas are being thrown about. No more bilateral series, no phony 4-match triangular series, playing ODIs as a build up to Test matches on tours, splitting each innings into 2 etc. Leela made a point about ODIs series being an interesting watch these days only if there is some off-field drama associated with it, and I find myself agreeing with it. But then there wasn't always some kind of drama associated with ODIs when I used to stay up late and see all those matches, was there? (or was I really fokat those days?)

I mean, all of India's matches were seen simply because India was playing. All of Australia's matches were seen because they were the numero uno team and I wanted to see if any of their opponents were giving them a run for their money. Pakistan's matches were followed cheer the other team because earlier Pakistan losing used to be equal to India winning somehow. All of South Africa's matches were seen because when they were not busy choking, they used to play good cricket. And for Shaun Pollock.

And now when I find myself trying to write a preview for the Compaq Cup, I don't know what to say. I mean yeah, I'm happy that India is finally back in action. And I am super excited to see how Dravid will fare and all. But it's not how it is supposed to be. This series (and the Eng-Aus one) seems so pointless that I am tempted to label it as another Fake ODI Series. As someone commented on someone's blog (and I paraphrase here because I don't remember where I read this)

It takes just 4 matches to decide a tri-series, but it takes 7 one-dayers to conclude that England suck at pyjama cricket.

Indeed.

Sibling rivalry takes a nasty turn. Another BCC! exclusive!

The Wall Resurrected....
A Dream Comeback....
Rebuilding The Wall ....

No...I haven't not written a post on the greatest news of the month yet b'coz I was busy thinking up titles...

For those interested, I have been waging a lonely battle against crashing servers, helpdesks that have been sneaked off offshore without anyone having a clue and other such things for the last 3 weeks. And then recuperating. (And well, I haven’t really been MIA either. You can find some great works ala Megha here and here.)

IMHO RD should not have been dropped from the ODI team in the first place, but that is perhaps a discussion for another day. I can see a role for Dravid in the team. He can provide the stability that is required when the team loses early wickets. Or he can hold one end while the others have a license to hit away as and when needed. Dhoni can then revert back to his earlier batting days, come in at 6/7 and hit away with abandon. And it’s not as if Dravid cannot hit a few boundaries himself :). Plus you get a good slip fielder, a part time wicketkeeper and all the wealth of his experience on the field. Not a bad bargain, is it?

Those worried about how Rohit Sharma's and possibly Suresh Raina’s career would be ruined by this decision, and how this move is not keeping in mind the WC....well, the WC is barely 2 years away. I believe that both Sachin and Rahul can play in the WC. I assume they will hang up their boots after that. SR and RS are in their early 20s right now. So age is definitely on their side. Abhi nahi to 2 saal ke baad team me aa jayenge yaar...tab tak T20 khelo na...kisne mana kiya :)

When Sehwag comes back, the batting order could look like this -

Sehwag

Tendulkar

Gambhir

Dravid

Yuvi

Dhoni

Yusuf/Irfan (yeah..i still live in hope!!)

4 bowlers

See? It’s not that bad, is it?

And for those of you suggesting that the selectors have given Dravid an opportunity to retire with grace, and he will do so after the Champions Trophy, well...don't say that! That's not gonna happen..

No...that's not gonna happen...right?

Raja sent a set of questions to WADA and has received a reply from their Communication Director.

A BCC! exclusive!

So the other day I was talking cricket with NC and he asked me if I have ever played cricket myself. I recalled the following stuff -

1. Improvised cricket - the gear, a ping pong "bat" and ball. The location, my aunt's living room. The rules, only legitimate delivery is a full toss. Once you score 75, you retire. If you hit the wall below the tube light, it's a 4. If you hit above it, it's a 6. And if you hit the tubelight...you run away as fast as you can!!

I never reached the retiring score in that one.

2. Book Cricket - That does not need much explanation, does it?

3. Leg Cricket - Don't know if anyone else has ever played this one. My PT instructor used to say it was his invention. So basically, it was played with a volleyball. The bowler rolled it to the batter, ten pin bowling style. And the batter(kicker?) kicked it away for runs.

The acceptable modes of dismissal were bowled, run out and caught (yeah, no lbw's here :D). If a fielder caught the ball on one bounce with one hand, that was out too.

I did rock this one!

4. Cricket on top of Rala Mandal hill - OK. This one was a lot of fun. A bunch of us college friends hiked up the Rala Mandal Hill near Indore. Playing area was very limited (think of a badminton court). Due to lack of space, the rules were
- if you managed to put bat on ball you scored a run..unless of course, you were caught.
- You were out caught if the fielder caught the ball after one bounce.
- You could get bowled out.
- Nothing like a run out 'coz you are not actually scoring by running. You just switched strike at the end of the over.
- It was important not the slash hard at the ball, coz if a fielder could not stop it, it would defo go down the hill and that would be the end of the game! And then you would have to treat everyone to Ghamandi's Lassi (a popular place in Indore) :)

"Ok...this is fine" , I hear you say. "We've all done that or something similar...but have you ever played real cricket? The 11-players a side, being played on a field, with the normal rules applying?"

Ladies and gentlemen, I have...and here is the story of The Day I Played Cricket

For a second I thought my eyes were playing tricks...but it is true...

I need some time to digest this....

India win 2-1 as rain plays spoilsport.

Yay!!!

kthanxbye..

Did India win because they had 339 runs on the board or did they almost lose because they thought they had 339 runs on board?

I feel sorry for WI, they got 2 bad decisions that just might have cost them the game. Chasing 25 runs from 18 balls seems a whole lot easier if you have 4 wickets in hand as opposed to 2. More so if there is a certain Mr Bravo at the other end.

Anyway, I noticed Dhoni's emotionless face as the last WI wicket fell. What could that possibly mean?

Was he really pissed at his team?
Was he just plain relieved that India won?
Was he just too tired to care about cricket anymore?
Was he trying to show the media that he is still Captain Cool?
Was he...

Wait a sec...Am I turning into an Indian media journalist?
Yeah...I think I need to stop now...