JS on Cricket

Time to defend World Champion status

JS — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 10:14:28 +0000

On a tour mired by injuries and a 4-0 wrap on the knuckles in as many Tests, the ‘negative’ remark on Gautam Gambhir’s MRI report was the first ‘positive’ in some time for Team India. Perhaps that’s an indicator that the ODI Champions will not meet the fate they met as No. 1 in Tests.

Read the complete piece at Cricketnext

IPL more important for Sehwag?

JS — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:01:49 +0000

A World Cup win can bring satisfaction of a lifetime and champion players rummage around for a recliner to relax while the medal sits on the chest perpetually. But winds of change have refashioned perceptions, where the IPL money rules the roost and other issues move to the back-burner.

Can’t defend 338? You can’t win the WC!

JS — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 06:15:41 +0000

Cricket is not a one-way traffic zone and the Indian team – which probably thinks batting alone can win them the World Cup – was taught a lesson on Sunday by England who exposed the co-hosts’ Achilles heel called fielding and the single-man bowling army called Zaheer Khan.

Continued…

Year 2011 and India’s ‘slowest’ World Cup squad

JS — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:13:59 +0000

It is the year of cricket World Cup and January 17 was the date Indian think-tank decided to sit down and prune the preliminary squad of 30 to final 15.

The excitement moved nicely to the point when Kris Srikkanth’s voice came from somewhere behind the media mikes that covered his face. The team was a good one but on analyzing after every name sank in, it appeared to be India’s ‘slowest’ till date. Let me define how!

Continued…

2011: year of a subcontinental ODI champion?

JS — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:35:28 +0000

If there is one thing that binds India together, it has to be the game of cricket that has created demigods out of players. The concept of national integration will remain buried as printed letters in school books if cricket were to be taken out of the equation. That’s the kind of space cricket enjoys in the Indian heartland.

The game is set for a grand opening in the new year with the signature ICC event – World Cup – lined up to welcome it; in fact, the month-and-a-half-long spectacle sits on top of the 2011 calendar, with the kickoff scheduled for February 19 and the final on April 2.

Sorry for the void!

JS — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:23:39 +0000

Hi all!

I was busy finding my feet in sports journalism since my last post and now that I feel a certain amount of grip, nothing can stop me from unleashing myself to do what I love the most, i.e., writing on the blog that helped me get a body for the sportsman’s spirit within me – my new job with CRICKETNEXT.

Is Pakistan trying to draw a red herring?

JS — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 10:24:48 +0000

With nothing happening for them on the field, the mired Pakistan players and officials chose to connive off it to rattle an on-song England outfit and level the One Day International (ODI) series at Lord’s on Monday.

Chennai Super Kings: Gamechangers

JS — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:06:21 +0000

The Champions from India carry an ammunition store with them in terms of batting; at least Mathew Hayden does, in the form of his mongoose. But even if he fails to set the mongoose loose, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have the likes of Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina and skipper MS Dhoni to follow, who can deposit leather into the orbit.

More on my official post at cricketnext.com

CSK will lead Indian Challenge in CLT20

JS — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:02:24 +0000

The illustrious detail about the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2010 Champions – the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) – is that they are the most consistent team of the league that dawned with a silver spoon in its mouth in 2008. That was the year when India Cements became its franchisee paying a whopping 91 million pounds for 10 years. And since then, the team’s performance graph has managed to stay well away from the axis of disappointment.

Irfan still the best No. 7 for India

JS — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:57:52 +0000

The showpiece ODI event – ICC World Cup – doesn’t have much territory left to reach its inaugural day and what we see is Munaf Patel getting an SOS from Dambulla to join the Indian team in wake of Ishant Sharma’s injury and Zaheer Khan’s absence. If that is the bench-strength of India 188 days from the World Cup, then Irfan Pathan is surely a pedigree apart and needs to be checked-in soon to join the Indian huddle.

Dambulla not an ideal ODI venue

JS — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:39:50 +0000

After a Test series that proved to be a harvesting season for records, India and Sri Lanka have finally settled their duffel bags in the picturesque Dambulla, where the teams have nailed in tents to stay for the duration of the ODI tournament, with New Zealand completing its triangular nature.

The culture-rich Sri Lankan city first welcomed cricket to its shores in the year 2000, after the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium – Sri Lanka’s newest – was completed in just 167 days. But since its inception, the venue has been at the heart of controversies, ranging from the lease agreement of the stadium’s site to an undue advantage to the side winning the toss.

More on my official post at cricketnext.com

Dravid needs to take a cue from VVS

JS — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:58:57 +0000

The best that Australia’s 2001 Test tour to India reminds us of is the unthinkable that Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman accomplished in the Kolkata Test, which the Aussies lost after enforcing a follow-on. But while Laxman helped India win the final Test at Colombo nine years later with a masterly century on Saturday, Dravid has been left to introspect what he needs to do in order to keep his place in the Test XI.

More on my official post at cricketnext.com

Indian resilience beats Lankan charge

JS — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:52:08 +0000

The little master and very, very special Laxman didn’t disappoint Indian fans on day five as the pair dusted Lankan hopes of winning the series with a 2-0 margin at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo on Saturday.

The onus to find a way out of Suraj Randiv’s craftily knitted web rested squarely on Sachin Tendulkar and those to follow night-watchman Ishant Sharma’s foreseeable early dismissal on the final day.

More on my official post at cricketnext.com

ICC’s lingering UDRS quandary

JS — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:46:58 +0000

It wasn’t long ago when the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) – despite enjoying support from most quarters – was given the brush-off by the likes of Dickie Bird and Joel Garner. Invigorating the debate, Sachin Tendulkar has also thrown his weight around, opposing its implementation, and the issue has hogged the limelight once again.

More on my official post at cricketnext.com

Raina, Yuvraj jostle for Test spot

JS — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 05:37:14 +0000

Competition is always healthy but when it’s for cementing a place in a national sports team – that too cricket, and to top it all, in India – the situation exerts frenzied pulls on every cricket aficionado. And the matter assumes elephantine proportions when the contenders are Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina – two of the most eligible heir-apparents to the Indian middle order.

More on my official post at cricketnext.com