February 28th, 2010
India Plays Pakistan in the Hockey World Cup tonight. The World Cup is being held in India which is some thing to be proud about. The famous stars like Virender Sehwag and Priyanka Chopra have done their bit with advertisements to promote the tournament which is a great thing.
Two qualms –
1. We have literally no chance of winning the title. See about decline and neglect of hockey in India here.
2. All the matches are being held in the Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi. I would have loved to go to a few matches if they were held in Kolkata. It should be held in more venues if the world cup and hockey is to have a chance to catch the imaginaiton of the nation.
I hope India does well and reaches the semis, which would be a great achievement.
Posted in Hockey, Indian Sports | No Comments »
February 24th, 2010
200*. Once Tendulkar’s career is finished, he will have 100 international centuries too, a feat never to be surpassed ever because ODI cricket will reduce and T20 doesn’t produce as many 100s. When you compare records of the 90s, Lara achieved more while Tendulkar was more consistent. For instance, Lara made the 375, the 400*, the inning v Australia. Tendulkar came close but no cigar like in Chennai. However, the career of Tendulkar will be so prolific once it is over, he will surpass contemporaries like Lara in achievement.
What about past greats?
Richards was not as consistent a test player with a test average of just above 50. Sobers played the solitary ODI. Hobbs did it in FC cricket but 20 years in international cricket, 30-40 ODIs a year, 8-10 tests, ranks higher in being testing despite the more grueling FC schedule in Hobbs’ time.
You will have to place second to Bradman.
He is the best batsman in the world right now IMO. Sehwag is best in tests but if you look at over all performance including ODIs, Sachin tops. Being the best in the business at 36 is incredible.
There are still targets ahead of Tendulkar’s career which he can aim for and which can make his career even more prolific. Winning a test series in South Africa, then Winning the World Cup, then winning a test series in Australia. It CAN all happen. We CAN dream, hey.
Go Sachin!
Posted in Cricket, Indian Cricket | No Comments »
February 18th, 2010
With the India-South Africa series ending in a draw, questions arise as to which is the best test team in the world. South Africa have the better bowling attack while India have the better batting line up. However, when we look at results, India are slightly ahead. For instance, South Africa was unable to win the recent home series against England despite dominating. I’ll put India ahead.
However, the decider will be the Indian tour to South Africa later this year. Both teams has great fighting qualities which were visible in the Kolkata test and this series. I can’t wait for that series to start.
Posted in Cricket, Indian Cricket, South African Cricket | No Comments »
February 15th, 2010
I went to the ground with India at 160/2. I thought Sehwag batted superbly despite the chances while Sahin was a bit shaky playing and missing v Morkel and Parnell a fair few times. Kallis bowled well in his brief spell. 5 runs an over meant that South Africa was forced to do negative bowling with Harris and Morkel (bowling outside off), an idea I didn’t quite approve of but it is what Smith had to do to safeguard letting the match get away from them.
The fight back by RSA justified the decision. Both these teams have an ability to come back into the game wen you think they are down and out and it has already happened twice in this test match. This is what makes them such good teams, the best in the world right now.
Sehwag is really the best batsman in the world right now. In the last two years, his average is 60 and he is scoring at S/R of 96. Last 12 months, he averages 71 with a S/R of 101! In ten games. Incredible. (Stats provided by friend Manan Shah).
The pitch is really good. Good bounce, turn, no real wear and tear and still will produce a result. So it will last and either team can one. I came out of the ground after Tendulkar reached his 100, so didn’t see the fall of wickets. Just when you think one team has the upper hand, the other team comes right back in. What a match, all set to be a thriller.
Watching Sehwag and Tendulkar bat was a pleasure. I saw Sachin bat for the last time in a test live and he scored a century. I can die in peace now.
Posted in Cricket, Indian Cricket, South African Cricket | 1 Comment »
February 14th, 2010
A Georgian men’s luger died Friday after crashing during a training run at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Nodar Kumaritashvili, a 21-year-old who was scheduled to compete in the men’s luge, apparently lost control of his luge, flew off the track and slammed into a metal pole near the base of the luge track in Whistler, British Columbia.
<link>
This track is not safe:
The track on which a Georgian luger died in a fatal crash Friday is as much as 20 kilometres an hour too fast, an international sport official says.
Very disappointing and angering that norms are not adhered to.
This is the 5th death in Olympics history so far.
RIP.
Posted in Winter Sports | No Comments »
February 12th, 2010
Hi every one!
Sportolysis is back online as you can see (All thanks to Sushubh)!. I have been blogging on Pratosphere where I will continue to blog about movies while I will keep my sports entries here.
On the upcoming India-South Africa test, India has to win the test to stake any claims on World No. 1 once the series is over. I have a feeling India will at least not lose the test because of the Eden home advantage. Just not losing is not good enough though. I will be going to Eden for the first day of the test on Sunday. Can’t wait. :)
Posted in Cricket, General Stuff, Indian Cricket, South African Cricket | No Comments »
December 19th, 2008
I support India not touring Pakistan but it has got nothing to do with political reasons. I am tired of the Indian players playing non- stop cricket from like forever. This break will hopefully draw me back to the game a bit.
Posted in Cricket | No Comments »
October 13th, 2008
Zaheer Khan thinks that Australia was very defensive and I think that he is right. The Aussies were a bowler short but what really cost them was the defensive mindset. I agree with Zaheer. Despite being a bowler short, they were in the game. Yet, they decided to set defensive fields to Zaheer and Harbhajan and declared late (that’s what Ponting does).
Chappelli was right. He said in one of the studio shows that ‘there are two type of declarations – one which gives the opposition a sniff and is a real declaration while the other is the closure which gives the other team no chance to win. There are captains of both kinds with Taylor and Warne (had he captained Australia) being in the declaration class while Waugh and Ponting being in the closure class.’ Lovers of Steve Waugh will jump on that but I never rated him as a high calibre captain and agree with Chappelli (though Chappelli’s hatred towards S.Waugh is quite well known). The Steve Waugh bit is a digression from the point I want to make here —
In the end you need 10 wickets to win the game. As Australia were a bowler short, they needed more time and not less time to bowl India out. Katich playing defensively and Australia not going on the attack on the fourth day itself and not declaring earlier probably hurt them a lot and cost them the match or at least a better chance in the match.
Posted in Cricket | No Comments »
October 8th, 2008
Ganguly was one of the best captains India had. I wont call him the best but one of the best is a tag honourable enough. He was a limited test batsman in the sense that he was not a great like a Tendulkar but is one of the best one day players of all time.
He was treated poorly by the selectors in the end when he was dropped from the ODI squad despite having a successful run previous to his dropping. This is the best way to go keeping pride intact, against the best team in the world, given that his selection is not a guarantee in the squad.
Posted in Cricket | No Comments »