England’s tour to India was always going to be a big series. England, coming off a series loss in Pakistan, had it all to prove in India. A Test team has to show that it can compete in all conditions and circumstances – then, and only then can it be recognized as one of the better teams of an era. India, having just lost the series in Pakistan, needed to set things straight - mouth watering prospect for a cricket fan.

Then Ashley Giles, England’s number one spinner, gets injured. Marcus Trescothick withdraws for personal reasons, Michael Vaughan, England’s inspirational captain, gets injured and finally Simon Jones, vital in the scheme of things in the subcontinent, decides to join the injury brigade.

So England’s pace attack is left with Steve Harmison (who hasn’t been as effective off late) and Matthew Hoggard (who relies on movement and wasn’t going to be the most important player in the subcontinent anyway). James Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Shaun Udal, Monty Panesar and Ian Blackwell aren’t exactly expected to set the world on fire in India. How will England then get 20 Indian wickets? It is certainly an uphill task.

A win looks improbable then. How about a draw? The English openers are likely to be Andrew Strauss (in poor form) and Alastair Cook (making his Test debut and again, not expected to set the world on fire). Kevin Pietersen still has a lot to prove. Owais Shah or Paul Collingwood (whoever is selected) do not compare to the Indian batsmen. England would have to rely on Ian Bell and some heroics from Andrew Flintoff. The more you look at the English squad, the more you realize how weak it is.

England’s only hope would be that the young bowlers India has chosen do not fire. Two of R.P.Singh, Piyush Chawla, V.R.V.Singh and Sreesanth would be selected if India decided to go in with five bowlers. If those two do not do a satisfactory job, it will be tougher for India to take 20 wickets despite Kumble and Harbhajan being there.

The English supporters are dismayed and are expecting a 3-0 whitewash. The Indian supporters aren’t pleased either. All the pressure is on India and England has nothing at stake, as Nasser Hussain so aptly puts it:

I’m quite happy for England to have these injuries because it puts the pressure back on India. They should beat England come Wednesday, so England have absolutely nothing to lose. They just need to keep their control, and keep the pressure on the opposition for as long as they can.

Even if India win the series 3-0, little credit will come there way. After all, it was only a vastly understrength English side. If England manages even a draw, it will be a great achievement for them in the face of adversity. So, Team India have nothing to gain and find themselves in a thankless situation. The supporters from both camps are exasperated at the prospect of this nothing series.

I had spoken regarding the bright future ahead for Barcelona last year some time after they had won their first Spanish la liga under Rijkaard.

The official FCB site says:

Barça are as regular this season as they were in their 2004-05 championship winning season. They have the same number of points as they did after the same number of matches last season, and are also eight points clear of the second placed team.

Add to the fact that fact that Ronaldinho and Larsson are scoring more goals. Larsson, a Swedish and Celtic legend has to fight for his place. Messi is creating the early waves. Maradona has already called Messi his successor.

The players are happy at the club and no one is talking about leaving or making uneasy sounds. They are signing big long term contracts, a process which has continued from last year and are generally happy at the club. Marquez said this on his position with the club:

Things are going very well. The team has, once again, the dynamics to fight and win more trophies and I help that we will be celebrating at the end of the season with our fans. For me, it is also important to keep growing as a player. I feel very comfortable at Barcelona and my target is to stay here for many years to come.

Cable and thus the sports channels have returned to my life. I will catch as much of FCB as I can. I have watched Barcelona build despite the criticisms under Rijkaard. I feel attached and a natural supporter having seen them grow. This is just the beginning.

When a Danish newspaper published a cartoon of David Boon without a moustache, Tasmanians from around the world started rioting.

Courtesy - David Boon Facts

A few months ago, Jagmohan Dalmiya made the point on Sportcentre India that this form of cricket is not in the agenda of India for the near future. The Reason? As its 40 percent of a limited overs match (in terms of overs and time involved), it results in 40 percent of income.

Tim de Lisle points out in cricinfo why a Twenty20 World Cup is the logical step forward:

It is the first professional cricket format to fit into the lives of people who have a job or a school to go to. A typical game starts at 5.30pm and is over by 8pm. For the first time, you can see a whole match without a meal break. Ergo, it attracts people who wouldn’t normally have the time.

Perfect for nations where cricket is merely a sport. In the subcontinent, however, cricket is more than just sport. So matches will be played to packed houses, revenues will come in despite the period of the match. Interest will not recede. In simple economic terms, the demand is inelastic.

The people who head the BCCI have changed. But the stance remains the same in this regard. Sharad Pawar has said:

The working committee of the board unanimously decided not to participate in that for a lot of reasons. The BCCI decided that it was not in the interest of the game.

Limited overs cricket is the duck which lays the golden eggs. No one wants to tamper with it. Virtually every one has at least heard of cricket in the subcontinent and who ever can be drawn to it has been sucked in. A pro-Twenty20 attitude can, however, lead to audiences in the subcontinent finally realizing that the limited overs game is mundane and repetitive. Add to it the attraction a new product, in this case, ‘the Twenty20 game’ will have and lead to a lot of attention, there is a real chance of a portion of the audience shifting allegiance.

There is genuine fear among the brasses which rule cricket in the subcontinent. Twenty20 cricket was marketed and shown with international standard broadcasting last year in Pakistan. Like in England, it drew record domestic crowds. Matches were played to packed houses. This year, Pakistan has continued with the successful experiment domestically. However, PCB Chairman Shahryar Khan has opposed Twenty20 for international cricket. Even The Bangladesh Cricket Board is expected to take the same stance. As India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are likely to bid jointly for the 2011 World Cup, their official view on this matter is unlikely to be different.

Different markets have different interests. We have to understand and then ask the real question though – Is the interest of cricket being affected in all this? Is the game of cricket really so weak that a new version will hamper future sources of income? Test cricket has survived nearly 130 years. If limited overs cricket is good enough in itself, it will hold its own. If it is not, it would have served its purpose. Open economies should prevail and Twenty20 should be allowed free existence and chance to capture whatever market it can. Sadly, the power games will not recede any time in the future and cricket will continue to suffer.

Bryant was scheduled to begin training with personal coaches Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Karl Malone this week, but, in the true spirit of his new role as Olympic team captain, head coach, and lone member, he has opted to prepare for the tournament on his own time without anyone’s assistance. Starting at the end of the 2005-2006 NBA season, Bryant will practice tip-offs, work on fundamental self-inbound passes, learn how to play defense, and draw up several play formations, each of which he will be responsible for calling during the games. Although the general response among fans has been complete indifference, many players around the league have objected to the decision, saying that it is unfair to others who have worked just as hard as Bryant.

Allen Iverson had this to say:

Kobe Bryant shouldn’t be the only one allowed to represent our country at the Summer Games. I should be the only one allowed to represent our country at the Summer Games.

Stern reiterated on how 81 points would be enough to defeat most foreign teams.

Gotta love The Onion.

There was a time when I used to reflect on the composition of the Indian test team. There used to some basis for team selection then. The test squad chosen to face England is the latest in a series of many whimsical selections.

Picture some recent inconsistencies in selection -

Famously choosing Ganguly to play as an all rounder in the team.
Dropping/choosing him regardless of match performances.
The treatment of Yuvraj, Kaif. (In and out of the XI, team)
Choosing Parthiv Patel above Dinesh Karthik as reserve wicket keeper for tour of Pakistan. This despite Karthik not doing much wrong.

And we haven’t even gone to the bowlers yet.. The first two tests in Pakistan were on flat tracks. No bowler should be judged based on that. The third test at Karachi was a failure for Zaheer Khan. Ajit Agarkar wasn’t even included in the first XI for that test. Without given a proper run, the two players were dumped.

I am finally immune to the selection of the test team it seems, at least for the time being. The last straw was the exclusion of Gautam Gambhir. Gautam Gambhir hasn’t had an impressive test career so far if we exclude stats versus Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Despite this the selectors decided to back him for the tour of Pakistan. He didn’t get the opportunity to play even 1 test in Pakistan. So why should he have been unceremoniously dumped? Why should a player loose his test place because of failures in limited overs cricket in between two test series?

Also, why announce teams on Day 1 of tour games. Gambhir is batting at 33. Imagine how devastated he must be feeling at this juncture. This is a repeat of what happened recently. Ganguly was batting in the deciding third test versus Pakistan. The one day team was announced while the test was proceding and Ganguly was left out. Why not wait for a day so that the match at hand is over until absolutely unavoidable.

The issue is not about a specific player being included or excluded. It is the larger issue of inconstencies in selection which are being displayed.

Want to bring in young players? I am all for it. But chopping and changing with no method, no meaning is not the way to go about things. It is still highly unlikely that India will loose to England but it wouldn’t take away from the poor methods applied to achieve end results.

Barcelona won the first leg 2-1 after dominating possession and could have scored more than they did. The header from Eto’o sealed it. So that should have been the end of it with all the focus on March 7.

Well this is Barcelona versus Chelsea. The clash which has developed into the biggest game in club football. Of course there was more.

Jose Mourinho, the loudmouth that he is, likes to speak. Mourinho said this on Messi:

How do you say cheating in Catalan? Can Messi be suspended for acting? Barcelona is a cultural city with many great theatres and this boy has learned very well. He’s learned play-acting.

Of course he forgot, as Jonathan Stevenson from the BBC points out:

It is only 17 days since English football widely condemned Blues winger Arjen Robben for theatrically diving to get Liverpool keeper Jose Reina sent off in a key Premiership encounter. There is little doubt that Robben’s acting was greater than Messi’s, yet Mourinho accused Reds boss Rafael Benitez of sour grapes for bringing up the incident in his post-match analysis.

Step back in time at this juncture. Chelsea was down after the first leg similarly. In a few minutes of inspirational football in which they caught Barcelona napping. Chelsea capitalised and took the tie away from Barcelona. Did Barcelona fans cry over the fact that Barcelona dominated possession for much of the two matches last year and still lost?

Step back further now. Mourinho attacked the referee Anders Frisk of talking to Barca coach Frank Rijkaard at half-time in Chelsea’s 2-1 first-leg defeat at the Nou Camp last year. This followed Frisk announcing his decision to retire from the game because he had received death threats, and Mourinho was fined and banned for two games for his comments. So in that light the comments which directly implicate the referee Terge Hauge of wrong doing were unwarranted.

Even if Messi did play act to an extent (if he did - we can never be sure either way) isn’t it a part of football. Players from most teams do it despite the rules hoping not to be caught. I do not see why such a big deal has to be made out of it.

Even if it was a gross error from the referee, aren’t errors part of the game? Isn’t it all about facing adveristy and triumphing or at least trying to triumph in the face of it? I can understand Mourinho making as much of an issue out of this as he can. There is still one match to go. So the more he tries to show the loss was undeserving, the more he can avoid his players from going into a shell or thinking negatively. He did it last year and his players came out triumphant.

What I do not understand is why fans, who act neutral need to do it. Chelsea and English Premier League fans who wanted Chelsea to win have been speaking loudly over the red card since it happened. The attitude will not deny Barcelona any thing. But a better attitude and applauding Barcelona for playing well could have probably meant these fans themselves getting more respect.

The much anticipated encounter between Barca and Chelsea has meant the usual war of words between the managers. No use going into that.

Barca decided to take the sensible approach of practising on the poor pitch yesterday as they are to play the match there itself. Chelsea were bemused Barca wanted to practise on that pitch despite compaining about the obvious poor pitch and offering Barca their own facilities. Well was it that difficult for Chelsea to understand Barca wanted to adjust as much as possible to the difficult conditions?

Chelsea went out of their way to complain to FA when Barca wanted to practise 15 minutes extra and denied Barca practising more than an hour. I do see the concerned Chelsea over the obvious Barca threat in all this.

Barca plays a free flowing game and uses one touch passes. This means the smoother the pitch, the better it is for the club. As Puyol said:

The state of the pitch will affect us more. We like to move the ball quickly and play at a high tempo. We’re not used to playing in these conditions. If we concentrate hard and not give the ball away in midfield where Chelsea are strong we should be able to cope. There are no excuses. We are experienced enough to play on all kinds of surfaces.

Chelsea made sure the pitch was further watered on Tuesday. So the conditions will very tough for Barcelona despite Rijkaard taking the diplomatic route in his response:

Chelsea will be affected by the pitch just a much as ourselves. They have quality players with good technique and skill and they would prefer a better pitch. We are not complaining.

As a Barca fan I will be rooting for the Catalanians. But it will be very tough in the first leg.

Caption?

Justin Langer took on World Flyweight Champion Vic Darchinyan in a two round exhibition bout. Langer is a a black belt in martial art Zen Du Kai and said:

Inside the boxing ring, it’s the same as when you’re playing Test cricket: nowhere to hide. You’ve got to face a lot of your own fears. If you punch someone properly, it’s like hitting the ball in the middle of the cricket bat – it’s a really nice feeling.

Darchinyan was impressed by Langer but declined an invitation to face Brett Lee in the nets. Hmm.

Langer missed a few tests versus South Africa due to a heart problem. He wanted to play despite the problem and was forced by doctors to take a rest. When you see Langer play, you notice one thing more than any thing else. He is not afraid to take on the bowlers. This despite his short structure. From a grafter he has developed into a batsman who will attack deliveries whenever he gets a chance to do the same. There is definitely lots of attitute and courage in Langer, some thing which makes him such a good test player.