tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74164545954801557552023-11-15T23:40:04.930-08:00MIRZA'SMIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-38357887972686011382013-11-04T03:53:00.001-08:002014-02-27T08:17:45.975-08:00Who wants to be a bowler in cricket?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h3>
Bowling in cricket seems to be the toughest job in the universe after the recently concluded series between India and Australia.</h3>
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<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />3274 runs,107 sixes and 345 fours in total for the series looks like the stats for a calendar year by some team collectively,these staggering stats have opened the debate against these rules in the cricketing fraternity. Cricket is moving towards batsmen and if this goes on no body would like to be a bowler,adding to the misery are new Icc rules The bowling Power Play will have to be completed before the 40th over and more than four fielders will not be allowed outside the 30-yard circle at any stage of the innings. All the ODI's played post-ICC new rules have witnessed low-scoring matches with one extra fielder have to be inside the 30-yard circle throughout the match. What has changed since the 90's ? It's not like the Chinnaswamy has magically gotten smaller all of a sudden. India has always produced flat decks for ODIs. So what has really brought about this change in batting results? The answer is multi-faceted: The IPL and the freedom of strokeplay that it demands. James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh are all IPL veterans. Batsmen are much much stronger these days e.g: M.S. Dhoni is easily as powerful as Sir Vivian Richards was in his pomp. Bowlers have not yet evolved to counter the above two points. People talk about Marshall,McGrath, Ambrose, Akram,Waqar and Lillee but even those gentlemen would've struggled against this new breed of champion batsmen. We have complaints with the new format but are we not been following SA Vs PAK? Australia also got the same field placements, they also went through the same format. If Australia did not win, we have an issue with that? They lost it fair and square. Once the batsmen is set there is nothing you can do, but wait till he makes a mistake. No one complains when teams play in Australia, where the grounds are bigger. No one complains to ICC that the ground is big. Every team plays, so what's different here. Indians played on the same ground so did Australia, they also got the same ground. If they could not make use of the conditions is that India's fault, ICC's fault or BCCI's fault? What's wrong with the dead/flat pitches? Other teams too play in AUS where they do not prepare dead/flat pitches, they prepare green top pitches where AUS excel. Shouldn't they prepare dead/flat pitches? Does India complain at that time and don't they lose those matches.</h3>
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MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-87552131245489493622012-11-30T17:36:00.000-08:002013-11-08T23:47:36.092-08:00Sachin Tendulkar "The hottest talk of the town for nothing"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After India's defeat at Mumbai, the discussion is less about reasons for the
loss and more about why Tendulkar is being so rigid in retirement and not in a mood to call it a day.
<br />
.This line of thought also implies
that England won because Tendulkar failed, and as long as he is playing
India would continue to lose.
Presuming for a moment that Tendulkar is not in the team, will it
change anything? Will India become a transformed side and give England
the licking we wanted our team to inflict on them? Will it compensate
for the way we are structuring our cricket, where the riches of IPL and
the havoc it plays with the genuine skills of the game is resulting in
our losing even our home advantage.<br />
Post the 2011 World Cup win, the signs that our Test team would
plummet to a new low were to be seen everywhere. Have we done anything
to correct this self-created imbalance, because of which it might be
impossible to have an archetypal Test cricketer anymore?<br />
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Agreed the last time Sachin Tendulkar scored a century in Tests was way back against South Africa in January 2011.
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Little Master, as he is known popularly, has been battling form with the
bat and his highest score of the year 2012 is 80 that he made against
Australia in Sydney. Such has been the struggle that his batting average
in the last 10 innings has been a dismal 15.3. During this period he
has scored just 153 runs. The calls for his retirement have gained
momentum after his failures in the home matches as well.
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A sporting environment where a
Cheteshwar Pujara will be an aberration and not a norm, has been thrust
upon us, but we are unwilling to look into the mirror and see what even
a blind man won't be able to ignore.<br />
Imagine being led in Test cricket by a man who lacks even the basics
of what a quintessential Test player should be. A one-day champion can
be a pauper in the longer version of the game and MS Dhoni is a classic
example of that. But no, we are not interested in confronting these
serious issues that have led to where we stand today. <br />
For us, it is all about one man. Even if that man happens to be
Sachin Tendulkar, the most idolised figure in the nation's sporting
history. <br />
We create heroes in a second and villains out of the same people the
moment they fail. If that failure coincides with India's defeat, then
not even God can save that man from being lynched.<br />
In our pathological desire for seeking an object that should never
fail, we invest our idols with powers even Gods would envy. For the past
two decades, Tendulkar was that figure, who mocked at mortality, broke
all cricketing barriers and filled that void in our life which makes us
feel inadequate and limited. When we looked in the mirror, what stared
back at us was not our own face but Tendulkar's, rock solid, immortal,
one of us, but above all failures. A God-like figure, who strode the
sporting world like no one had ever done.<br />
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Debate has got fire after the retirement of Ponting and crictics believe that he should hang his boots as well.Let him play in peace the man who has done so much for the game and the nation should be given the leverage to retire at his own terms. </div>
MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-81445221357055750922011-11-26T03:21:00.000-08:002014-01-11T18:54:04.663-08:00INDIA'S LONG TIME WORRY, PACE.........<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In Mumbai, at Wankhade Stadium, Indian pacers struggle to bowl and bowled the West Indians, who have been one struggling side in the recent past. <br />
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We cannot be like our neighbours who produce 1 new<b> fast bowler</b> every month. Few days back <b>Zaheer Khan </b>rightly quoted in an interview that our bodies are not designed to bowl fast.<br />
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Here is a player who came down to Mumbai from Shrirampur town near Nasik in Maharashtra. There was no cricket coaching that he received in his formative years. But the tall and well-built <b>Zaheer Khan</b> seemed a natural fast bowler when he played in Mumbai. He was lucky that his coach Sudhir (former Mumbai captain) didn’t tinker with his technique and approach.<br />
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In the ongoing series against West Indies as well, India is trying to nurture the upcoming bowlers like Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron. There are many questions that are haunting Indian ardent cricket lovers; are we moving in the right direction? Are we taking too many chances?<br />
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<b>Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Tinu Yohannan, VRV Singh, L Balaji</b> and many more to add in the ODI format of Indian bowling. India, like any other country has produced a battery of pacers – but surely they end up as medium fast bowlers on the field, but none seemed adept enough to carry forward a big responsibility. Every bowler India tried in this meanwhile has shown initial zest & promise but mysteriously fizzled out.<br />
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The West Indian pace quartet of the 70s & 80s, Walsh-Ambrose in the 90s; Thomson-Lillee & McGrath, Lee & Gillespie for Australia; Allan Donald-Shaun Pollock for South Africa; Wasim-Waqar and later Shoaib Akhtar for Pakistan have all been potent new ball handlers & partnerships. Oppositions have feared and been wary off and they have been instrumental in their team’s successes during their career.<br />
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India’s fiercest new ball combo, even though they lacked express pace had been of Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar. The duo operated together in the late eighties and early nineties. Kapil’s retirement put extra pressure on young Javagal Srinath; arguably India’s finest produce in the fast bowling department. He was quick, could swing both ways and was intimidating too. Prabhakar’s form dipped and the nip faded. He was an effective bowler once and turned out to be Miandad’s nemeses; later concentrated in a role as an opening batsman which has done all the damage, if we get into a bowler’s perspective.<br />
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The mysterious shell which Indian pacers take shelter into, once established has to be unearthed and a solution needed. It has become a perennial problem for Indian pacers that existed even two decades back in the 80s when exciting fast bowlers like <b>Chetan Sharma, Vivek Razdan, Atul Wassan, Salil Ankola, Subroto Banerjee</b> followed by the likes of <b>Dodda Ganesh, Paras Mhambrey, Abey Kuruvilla, Debashis Mohanty, Harvinder Singh ,</b> David Johnson amongst others in the 90s showed promise but faded away soon in the haze of Delhi’s December.</div>
MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-13436682059076641802011-11-16T03:43:00.000-08:002011-11-16T03:43:17.918-08:00OH GOD! “I wll not call him GOD again please GOD please.”The Kotla test is a passe now, Sachin Tendulkar missed his 100th ton in International Cricket, still stuck to 99th Hundred what is the battle which is consuming the GOD of Cricket<br />
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These lines must be on the lips of every cricket fan in India where cricket is next to religion and Sachin Tendulkar is homogenous GOD of many Indians. But now fans are thinking the other way, the God seems upset with the Indian fans because of the fans calling him God? The truth, only God must be knowing!<br />
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Anxiously thinking somewhere in the corners of their heart that 99, they don’t want one more Bradman. Almost every time a momentous milestone looms before him, Sachin also perceives the Devil and the Deep Sea; he just can’t seem to decide which is the lesser of the evil and ends up being consumed by one or the other, or both.<br />
The first Test at the historic Kotla once again showcased this one aberration in his exceptional run over the years.<br />
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West Indies had sparred their way to 304, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul frustrating India’s bowlers with his hideous approach to batting. On a low and slow track, it seemed like a winning opening hand.<br />
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India began strongly with Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag showing their familiarity with the home track; but a fortuitous touch saw the former being run out at the non-striker’s end. Tendulkar, though, didn’t last long even as ticket prices shot up outside the stadium in the hope of his perfect century.<br />
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By the time West Indies were bundled out, the Test had reached an interesting corner: they had made only 180 to give India just 276 to overhaul; it wasn’t a huge target but the chase was always going to be tricky. More importantly, everybody sniffed another chance for Tendulkar.<br />
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s!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTXR_GlsVmgmYFgg397TtOby_xKPkAEfl0uILTptQarptIoPOIOlO4mNk-bH5vgLiyV4zSvFaW1uWX9TDGKciN9O9uwiv7XcYXNecJFkT49EQucYk_0BJ_imz1gCKyU1Yl07rwpJz3us/s1600/sac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="288" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTXR_GlsVmgmYFgg397TtOby_xKPkAEfl0uILTptQarptIoPOIOlO4mNk-bH5vgLiyV4zSvFaW1uWX9TDGKciN9O9uwiv7XcYXNecJFkT49EQucYk_0BJ_imz1gCKyU1Yl07rwpJz3us/s400/sac.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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He walked in at 95 for two; by then, the danger had passed and the wicket too mysteriously looked friendlier. Yet, Tendulkar only saw the Devil (in the track): as he took his stance, you could sense his anxiety. India could have still lost from here; but he could also make a dash for it.<br />
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With the two thoughts weighing on him, he was visibly tentative. The body language itself was cautious and the eyes revealed the turmoil within; the footwork was not bold or precise and the bat came down slowly, in a defensive prod. It was a crucial phase; you could feel the bomb ticking there.<br />
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By close of play, he had crossed the 15,000-milestone and was just 67 runs from the milestone. He must have curled up in the bed peacefully, even if he is known to be a light sleeper during big matches; after all, Rahul Dravid was at the other end. It was reassuring on two counts: one, he could be relied upon to ward off any late onslaught from West Indies bowlers; two, he wouldn’t make a scramble for the remaining runs.<br />
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India, however, suffered a jolt early on the fourth morning; Dravid fell to a swinging delivery after adding only one; worse, VVS Laxman arrived and the scorecard started moving at an alarming pace. Surprisingly he denied a single on offer.<br />
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Sometimes, just like in life, such misses prove to be portentous: three deliveries later, he tries to pull Bishoo and fails to connect. The umpire hesitates but has no other choice. Tendulkar walks back on 76, leaving the stands and the expectant country in a daze; he had already done his bit for the team though. There will, of course, be another chance soon for Tendulkar; surely, he will figure out a way to tame the Devil and the Deep Sea.<br />
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A long time has passed since Sachin Tendulkar slammed his 99th ton against South Africa at the successful World Cup campaign earlier this year. A lot has happened in international cricket since then.<br />
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Karbo larbo, sachin jeetbo re is what whole Kolkata must be murmuring before the start of the second test at Eden gardens!MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-2565112670169320992011-11-11T07:11:00.000-08:002012-01-27T09:57:21.924-08:00Is This The End of The Road for Turbonator??Harbhajan Singh, THE TURBONATOR as called by his fellow teammates, was almost irreplaceable till few months back, since 2000 this was the first time when team India was on the field for a test match without “JUMBO “ and the “TURBONATOR”.<br />
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There was little doubt after Anil Kumble’s retirement in 2008 as to who will blow the trumpet of India’s spin prowess, with Harbhajan Singh’s wickets’ reserve resembling a healthy green belt. But little did India know three years later, it will play a Test with an untested spin battery while Harbhajan will be searching his long lost form in Ranji Trophy.<br />
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For almost a decade – from 1998 to 2008 – the Jumbo-Bhajji duo tied batsmen into knots that became part of a study. If one withered for a while, the other made sure the loop didn’t disappear totally.<br />
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Though his wickets tally since Kumble’s retirement leaves much to be desired, India’s success rate at home doesn’t suggest the same. Of the 13 home Tests in which Harbhajan played after Kumble quit, India won eight, lost one and drew four.<br />
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However, these figures suggest the pivotal role Harbhajan has played in home series, it would be wrong to conclude that selectors have erred by dropping him. Against a harmless West Indies team, even Ashwin, Sharma and Pragyan Ojha will be a handful. At the same time, it allows Harbhajan to iron out his flaws against better batsmen of spin in the domestic circuit. So it will be to India’s good that Harbhajan earns his return back to the Test folds rather than mincing spin-wary Caribbean batsmen.<br />
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Harbhajan, till recently a regular player in the national cricket team, appears destined to remain in the cold with debutant R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha doing exceedingly well in the opening cricket Test against the West Indies. Man-of-the-Match Ashwin took nine wickets in the game and Ojha claimed seven wickets to bowl India to an excellent five-wicket win at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi.<br />
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Harbhajan, with over 400 Test wickets, was left out of the team for the first Test due to indifferent performances in recent months. The team for the second Test starting in Kolkata on November 14 is yet to be announced but the veteran offie is unlikely to figure in it.<br />
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Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a known supporter of Harbhajan, indicated as much in the post-match press conference in Delhi. “Let’s see. Ojha did well and Ashwin won man of the match in his debut match,” Dhoni said on the chances of Harbhajan coming back into the team.<br />
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Harbhajan is playing Ranji for Punjab, can he web some magic with his off-spin and “DOOSRA” to make a strong statement to the selectors is remaining to be seen.MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-66948829128741967772011-11-10T16:01:00.000-08:002012-01-27T10:14:39.616-08:00THE PERFECT SEHRA..When Ravichandran Ashwin got inkling about being handed a Test cap, one of the first phone calls he made was to his coach Sunil Subramaniam. The Chennai-based logistics manager in turn dialed the vice-president of his company and took a week off from work, climbing aboard the first-available flight to Delhi. Ashwin, on his part, had asked his teammate and Delhi boy Virat Kohli to ensure that Subramaniam got one of the best seats at the Kotla. It would also ensure a short class with the coach at the end of the day — if things didn’t go according to plan in the middle.<br />
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Things actually went beautifully. Ashwin bettered his 3/81 in the first innings with a 6/47 in the second. His tally of 9 for 128, which also included a double-wicket maiden in the West Indies second innings, was the best by an Indian bowler on debut after Narendra Hirwani’s 16 for 136 against the same opponents in Chennai.<br />
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Former leg spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan said while doing commentary that he was part of the junior selection committee when Ashwin’s dream of becoming a batsman was cut short. The Chennai ‘School of Cricket’ has a tradition of giving budding cricketers a reality check — Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were keen fast bowlers before they were turned away by the MRF Pace Foundation. But young Ashwin’s career was revived by Subramaniam during a TNCA academy trial six years ago.<br />
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He could not have asked for a better debut as R Ashwin became only the third cricketer ever to get a Man of the Match in his first Test and as he prepares to get married in a few days, the off-spinner wondered if the nine-wicket haul against the West Indies is a wedding gift.<br />
Ashwin scalped nine wickets, including a 6/47 in the second innings, in the opening Test, which India won by five wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium. Set to enter wedlock on November 13, Ashwin said he did not expect a debut so good.<br />
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It’s a pleasing effort. I expected to get a few wickets but not so many. I don’t know if its gift for me and my wife before the marriage but it is a very happy feeling to go into my wedding with such a performance,” Ashwin said at the post-match presentation ceremonyMIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-547995729657506812011-11-04T04:43:00.000-07:002013-11-08T09:03:24.393-08:00Fixed at the "SPOT"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The romantic in us would believe there is no spot fixing. But human greed knows no boundaries, is how Harsha Bhogle summed up the spot-fixing episode in which former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and seam bowler Mohammad Asif were found guilty.<br />
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and often raised its head, only for us to turn our faces. But the way spot-fixing has come to light and the way it has been dealt, it speaks a lot about the authorities that we don’t really want a scripted game.<br />
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The jury in the spot-fixing trial has found Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif guilty, by a unanimous verdict, on the charge of ‘conspiracy to cheat’ and on the count of ‘conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments’. Salman and Asif will be sentenced in the coming week.<br />
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On a historic day for cricket, the world also learnt that Mohammad Amir, the teenage Pakistani fast bowler, had pleaded guilty to the same two charges before the trial began; he will now be given a “Newton Hearing” to decide the quantum of punishment, during which there will be no jury officially present, although they have been given permission to sit in and watch if they wish.<br />
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There were no mixed reactions in the cricket fraternity. Experts like Rameez raja and Aamir Sohail termed it as a “LESSON’” for the coming cricketers.<br />
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Mean while there is no relief for teenager as well, Pakistan fast-bowler Mohammad Amir was involved in a conspiracy to fix elements of the Oval Test match as well as the notorious Lord’s Test, the spot-fixing officials said.<br />
Appearing in court alongside former team-mates Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif for the first time since he pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy relating to the Lord’s Test, Amir was told by Cooke that he did not accept the basis of his plea. Amir’s guilty plea only refers to the Lord’s Test, where he bowled two huge no-balls exactly as conspirator Mazhar Majeed predicted in covertly recorded conversations with undercover journalists from the News of the World.<br />
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But at the start of a sentencing hearing scheduled for two days Mr. Justice Cooke said that he could not accept that plea having heard evidences during the trial of Butt and Asif that Amir was involved in discussions about fixing the Oval Test.<br />
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Specifically the court heard evidence of text messages and calls between Amir and Majeed and suspected fixers in Pakistan referencing the Oval Test. In one message sent to bookie following his arrest, Amir wrote to Mazhar to delete his calls which he made to his cell because ICC has taken his cellphone.<br />
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The judge also said he was troubled by Amir’s claim that he had become involved only because he had come under pressure that could have negatively impacted on his career. Amir does not say who pressurized him, but the judge made it clear he believes he was referring to Butt and Asif, a fact that could negatively impact on Butt in particular. He told the officials that he was under pressure.<br />
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The judge’s concern over the plea arises from inconsistency between the charges leveled at all three players, which cover a conspiracy in the period of both the Oval and Lord’s Test, and the plea agreed with the Crown Prosecution Service, which is restricted to Lord’s.<br />
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Swann on Salman Butt:<br />
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The way Salman Butt carried himself rubbed me up the wrong way. Aloof and arrogant are the best descriptions of him. What made my dismissal of him in the Lord’s Test all the more satisfying was that he pompously refused to leave the field despite being bowled. We knew the TV replays would confirm his fate and I really enjoyed standing in our huddle taking the Mickey out of him.</div>
MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-41728310540474393432011-04-13T12:31:00.000-07:002011-04-13T12:34:16.892-07:00A" FAIRY TALE "JOURNEY FROM KHARAGPUR TO MUMBAI...............<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigo4wHcTbblAkGCfR1D-bxI255iBAxZiLzkGcMU7Jb2csvLG09RprEM1EK3lIWCF8NRwuB6CQkIaTKbG_TSfw7bhQT4EBTYHU5aJr6rF8NJ2WlxE6YbYIycdxa70eINM4qa5QA2hZBV7Q/s1600/199446_1957979669727_1249811785_32346368_4126676_n+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigo4wHcTbblAkGCfR1D-bxI255iBAxZiLzkGcMU7Jb2csvLG09RprEM1EK3lIWCF8NRwuB6CQkIaTKbG_TSfw7bhQT4EBTYHU5aJr6rF8NJ2WlxE6YbYIycdxa70eINM4qa5QA2hZBV7Q/s400/199446_1957979669727_1249811785_32346368_4126676_n+%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The Man with a "MIDAS TOUCH" as people say has done what indians were waiting for since 28 years.<br />
He has that peculiar benignant smile of an endearing country-bumpkin. And an imperturbable countenance of someone who personifies congenital honesty. Many sarcastically sniggered when he said that he is grabbed often by exuberant fans in “ red light areas” in Chennai at a post-match conference during last year’s IPL tournament ; what he meant was the traffic signal. That innate yokel-like earthy luminosity is trademark Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s cricket captain. Sachin Tendulkar’s best ever leader. Corporate India’s latest CEO-inspiration. The former long-haired piece of beefy incongruity who once worked as a neophyte ticket-collector at the Kharagpur station in South Eastern Railways is the country’s current lodestar and with incontrovertible reason. <br />
The unalloyed concentration was palpable in those still eyes of the Indian skipper as he almost contumaciously lifted the hapless Sri Lankan bowler Kulasekara , trying valiantly to go through a perfunctory exercise of providing the match its finishing moments. It turned out to be the bowler’s last great act of redemption. The fairly muddied white ball soared sky-high like a mini-UFO into a balmy summer night in Mumbai , as several hundred million eyeballs traced its loop-like trajectory as it descended into buoyant crowds at the MCA Pavilion, Wankhede Stadium on April 2nd 2011. 28 years of excruciating waiting, interspersed with several agonizing interludes was at last over. India, carrying the gargantuan onus of tournament-favorites from the crystal-ball gazers , cricket pundits and the brazenly nationalistic sort alike , had actually delivered. We are the world, sang the joyous multitudes. Kapil Dev’s daring Devils had a worthy successor, the Captain’s Champs, all! <br />
As the country erupted into expected unfettered euphoria , the Jharkhand boy , in a rare exhibition of footloose emotion, let his tear ducts flow. Yuvraj Singh , his dependable deputy feeling resurrected himself from a bottomless precipice was lachrymose as well. Harbhajan Singh, a soft heart behind that recalcitrant façade broke down too. Next to me, an elderly man stood choked, paralyzed with a stroke of happiness. Soon Sachin Tendulkar joined them, running excitedly like a young kid on being told that he has just got his new bicycle. The Men in Blue were like a bunch of adventurous trekkers who having pursued a treacherous trail on high altitude were now returning home after scaling dizzying heights.<br />
Not long before, Dhoni had been severely castigated for an almost bizarre batting collapse at Nagpur in a league match against South Africa and the devastating aftermath of a shock loss. 9 wickets for 29 runs was literally falling like nine pins, that had even the bookies flabbergasted. . Dhoni’s response to that was both laconic and acerbic: play for your country and not for the gallery . His choice of the toothy Ashish Nehra as the last-over bowler was considered tactless. No one asked: is there any foolproof strategy in sports? About stock-markets? About tomorrow? About life? Did anyone have a prescience of the Japanese tsunami despite sophisticated forecasting technology? Couldn’t Harbhajan Singh have been clobbered mercilessly for four sixes despite his intriguing doosra? <br />
Dhoni has been remarkably candid; he is aware of the fickle, almost tempestuous engagement that people have with India’s cricketing success. And failures. His sardonic demonstration of that came in the T 20 World Cup in England when he paraded the entire Indian team in front of a stunned media to showcase the Indian team’ s unity allegedly splintered down the middle. It was perhaps the most calculated statement laced with caustic wit. His team clearly stood by him and his unconventional methods. .<br />
Until Dhoni’s remarkable calisthenics with triumphs happened, Jharkhand was more famous for tribal exploitation, a maligned Chief Minister accused of murder charges and horse-trading, and another who ran a mafia empire across the African continent with looted funds from the state exchequer. He has also blossomed Indian cricket amidst the hugely publicized sleazy scams involving the highest officials in India’s cricket administration. MSD possesses sangfroid that would embarrass inveterate practitioners of meditation. <br />
At a young age, he has handled an Indian team which represents India’s distinctive diversity, it’s multi-cultural hue and religious ethnicity, perhaps explaining cricket’s mesmerizing hold in the public imagination. The famous Pathan brothers hail from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat. Once the <br />
senior versus juniors rift had threatened to rupture dressing room camaraderie. Today, the young Turks happily coexist with master veterans. Dhoni has effortlessly destroyed internecine politics.<br />
From his several attributes the most singular management lesson that emerges is that Dhoni has no fear of failure. Perhaps unwittingly, he is a follower of FDR’s classic aphorism; the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. <br />
Warren Buffett , amongst the world’s most sagacious, visionary capitalists with incisive life experiences recently said that the world’s best talent comes from the IIT’s of India. There is one in Kharagpur. Perhaps it is time for them to invite the city’s erstwhile ticket-collector on the platform to explain the magic behind that helicopter shot.MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-43455230008721285682010-12-26T06:20:00.000-08:002010-12-26T06:23:03.818-08:00IS SACHIN THE GREATEST BATSMEN EVER??Sachin Tendulkar scoring a historic 50th Test ton has re-ignited the debate on who is the greatest batsman of all time -- he or Don Bradman. A poll commissioned by an Australian newspaper saw the Indian icon in front though voting is yet to be over.<br />
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Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar led the tributes, saying Tendulkar has established himself as the greatest batsman ever.<br />
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"There is just no question about that. He is the greatest batsman the game has ever seen," declared Gavaskar.<br />
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"See his record! Who else has got 90-plus centuries, 17000-plus runs in ODIs and 13000-plus runs in Test cricket? He is comfortably the greatest batsman ever," added Gavaskar.<br />
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Spin legend Shane Warne , who enjoyed many a duel with Tendulkar, followed the innings and kept posting on his Twitter page, egging the Indian to achieve the milestone.<br />
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His (Tendulkar's) legend grows ever larger. And having become the first man to score 50 Test centuries, Tendulkar has reignited debate about who is the greatest batsman ever. Is it India's 37-year-old Little Master, or Australia's late, great Sir Donald Bradman? Or is it even fair or realistic to compare these two men from very different eras?," cricket writer Daniel Lewis asked.<br />
Its a never ending debate .......... to be continued............MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-84432738780503180522010-09-09T01:47:00.000-07:002010-09-09T13:47:11.491-07:00SALMAN SPOTTED..... BUTT<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SJ83ICedsc7b6qmEahGupzuXMPxy9gY_JEsNL9GuoKJ7ewGIM5ohctUJjfC_6R8dmEpKXqbr4FLxPQz99rz-nvfHBQMmtvhLFr2R8ZYMmONPdrlHutvYPp07_6Oq36YzkRTaV7V_WFc/s1600/NOTW-2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 234px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SJ83ICedsc7b6qmEahGupzuXMPxy9gY_JEsNL9GuoKJ7ewGIM5ohctUJjfC_6R8dmEpKXqbr4FLxPQz99rz-nvfHBQMmtvhLFr2R8ZYMmONPdrlHutvYPp07_6Oq36YzkRTaV7V_WFc/s400/NOTW-2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515017926861533154" /></a><br />Controverises and the pakistan cricket team are hand in gloves .This time around some innovative way of match fixing in this new high technology era of modern cricket.<br />"BOWL A NO BALL AND YOU WILL BE PAID"as simple as that.<br />Gentle men's game has been defamed again .its authenticity has been questioned again.<br /><br /> The Pakistan team was locked in a pulsating contest against Australia and then England. True, the wins were rare—just two in six Test matches—yet the nation found refuge from its unbearably harsh reality in the exploits of its fast bowlers. It was a sight to behold: 18-year-old Mohammed Aamer and Mohammed Asif tearing into their formidable opponents with some extraordinary pace and swing. It seemed Pakistan had rediscovered its fast bowling prowess of yore. Was this the beginning of a cricketing renaissance? The team became a beacon of hope for a nation drowning in abject sorrow, a poultice to the deep wounds of the present, a promise of what Pakistan still might be.<br /><br />Political extremism was, anyway, strangulating cricket. Teams don’t tour Pakistan anymore because of security concerns. Some think Butt and the two As—Asif and Aamer—have done greater disservice to Pakistan than the terrorists who attacked the Lankan cricket team last year. Former spinner and ex-chief selector Iqbal Qasim sighs, “Pakistan cricket has seen every possible mishap, but this allegation of spot-fixing is one of the biggest. Let’s see how our cricket comes out of this one.” Adds former captain Imran Khan, “There is a need to send out a message to youngsters—crime does not pay. If, God forbid, the allegation turns out to be true, then it will be the biggest setback for Pakistan cricket and, probably, end the careers of the two best bowlers in the world.”<br /><br />Perhaps it’s an exaggeration to implicate PCB officials but there’s no denying that they have in the past condoned guilty players or allowed them to get away with quite laughable punishment. Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum, who headed a judicial inquiry into match-fixing 10 years ago, says, “Some of the players who I recommended should not be given any responsibility in team affairs are still associated with the team.” He is, of course, referring to the current coach Waqar Younis, whom the Qayyum committee had fined then, and fielding coach Ijaz Ahmed, who still has several cases of fraud pending against him.<br /><br />The big question why time and again pakistani cricketers , are they not getting rightly paid or they are the soft targets? it is a million dollar question.<br />The “humble background” argument has also been invoked to explain the match-fixing phenomenon in Pakistan. It’s said that most Pakistani players, unlike in the past, now hail from impoverished backgrounds, which renders them susceptible to the lure of the lucre. Add to this the uncertainties of Pakistan cricket—there are no longer frequent matches, the competition is stiff, the selectors are known to play favourites. The players also earn far less in comparison to those from other countries and barely bag endorsements, perhaps a reflection of Pakistan’s economy. At times, extraneous circumstances, like India’s decision to disallow them from the IPL last year, also shatter expectations, leaving the players’ financial plans going haywire. For instance, it is said that Salman Butt had started to build a spiffy house on the expected earnings from the IPL, but had to borrow money to complete it. Could this then have prompted Salman to take the bookie’s bait?<br /><br />Former captain Rameez Raja alluded to this vitiated atmosphere while analysing Aamer’s career. “Aamer comes from a humble background,” Ramiz said. “He is 18, with an impressionable mind, and if he has been keeping bad company, it’s possible he could have been drawn (into wrongdoing). But if that’s the case, then the guys who got him in should be put behind bars because they’ve spoilt a grand career. They’ve infiltrated and spoilt a young mind...it’s a shocking state of affairs.”MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-55394022143359535422010-08-06T07:39:00.000-07:002010-08-06T17:50:34.683-07:00AISHA.... BY ANIL KAPOOR<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KhU8d1tNfcsF2_xXPnY71daQfJDtw66SMNsAKOdgPu5aMAvlqEgENDR4q_Fih993Y7bDUsBLm4SVhByM8AfGMITwKx20LoG8oLvaq7UYcA_IChS5rswMJQ33nkR4FK_-kXqzUbuqENU/s1600/aisha.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502384877113937986" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 290px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KhU8d1tNfcsF2_xXPnY71daQfJDtw66SMNsAKOdgPu5aMAvlqEgENDR4q_Fih993Y7bDUsBLm4SVhByM8AfGMITwKx20LoG8oLvaq7UYcA_IChS5rswMJQ33nkR4FK_-kXqzUbuqENU/s320/aisha.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />AISHA....<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />A dream project by Anil Kapoor is ready to take off at the box office.well i saw the movie today and here comes my views and opinion which says it is an average film which will not be a commercial hit. "It is a nicely prepared chinese dish but without the sauces"<br /><br />Based on Jane Austen’s novel Emma , the problem with the cinematic adaptation, unlike the book, is that within the first twenty minutes of the film you can predict the last twenty minutes. Which means once the characters are introduced and established, you can easily figure out which girl is gonna fall for which boy by the end, irrespective of all the cross-connections that the narrative attempts to mislead you.<br /><br />Aisha (Sonam Kapoor) is a sassy Delhi dame who believes she is the best matchmaker in town. With friend Pinky , she plans to hook up her new bucolic buddy Shefali with common friend Randhir . When things don’t work out, she tries to set Shefali up with another friend Dhruv , until Shefali falls for Arjun Burman (Abhay Deol). So far so good but like in all average love stories Arjun happens to be Aisha’s childhood friend! And abruptly Aisha’s heart starts beating for Arjun.<br /><br />With her feminine perspective, the lady director adds a youthful zing to the female bonding, packaging the film with the requisite glitz and glamour. Also what’s amusing is the interesting characterization of Aisha modeled on Austen’s Emma Woodhouse. Aisha deviously dominates her friends, decides for them and (as her friend Arjun mentions) turns them into her Xerox copies. The silliness of her ideas and actions amuse and irritate.<br /><br />Pre-interval the film wanders aimlessly amidst polo matches and river-rafting camps and continues casually post-interval to reach a conventional ending. One can’t overlook the loose ends in the story for its lighthearted storytelling. While the first half is shallow on story, the second half is short on originality. What adds to the clichés is Aisha’s perplexity to profess love out of fear of rejection followed by a public declaration of her feelings in the climax scene that is too common in the bollywood movies. The romantic chemistry between Sonam Kapoor and Abhay Deol seems nonexistent. You acknowledge them as good friends as the film starts but never realize when cupid has struck in the climax. The jealousy pangs that arouse adoration in Aisha’s mind are conspicuously absent. As a result, you don’t relate to her turmoil.<br /><br />The pace drops drastically in the second half and even the beautiful editing doesn’t save the narrative from dragging. Shefali’s sudden realization towards the climax that she was taken for a ride all-through by Aisha seems a bit too rushed. The supposed romance between Shefali and Arjun is never elucidated. The film concludes with a peppy Punjabi track ( Gall Mithi Mithi Bol ) amidst wedding celebrations very similar to that of mira nair's monsoon wedding.It is Just that the end fails to have the same gratifying effect like the Mira Nair film. On the upside, the film is blessed with a brilliant musical score by Amit Trivedi (of Dev.D fame). Also Trivedi’s treatment to the background score is refreshingly different and aptly complements the flavour of the film.<br /><br />Dialogues are funny at some points but they failed to create the long lasting magic in the audience mind. Director Rajashree Ojha succeeds in extracting decent performances from the entire cast. Sonam Kapoor fits the title role to T. Aisha is the most defined role she has essayed so far and Sonam adds spark and soul to it. Even when she irritates with her antics, she is in sync with her character. Abhay Deol as the corporate guy adds poise to, both, his character and performance, bringing sanity whenever Aisha goes insane. Ira Dubey as Aisha’s best pal is impressive.In short the film is confused about the target audience neither it is fit for the classes nor the masses. Lisa Haydon is plain pinup material. Arunoday Singh tries hard to play the Casanova. ‘A beautiful body but a shallow soul’ is what qualifies for, both, Aisha – the character as well as Aisha – the film.MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-56916099123816456822010-08-05T01:10:00.000-07:002010-08-06T12:52:16.887-07:00GOD WAS NOT ABLE TO PLAY CRICKET SO.....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZRe9bJ-J835GO4k7v61AVy2aqow8ycYgCzvKgOw48_Ojpxpu1L9ByHu0chARG363bma2-_f8fEKDqwFzoJh3GJGXnyZExI_evCvaOgBEo96Su9oYZAb-1Y9WuA-uxGiexe_oBTWC1jg/s1600/ssssssssssss.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502385963815727986" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 116px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 116px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZRe9bJ-J835GO4k7v61AVy2aqow8ycYgCzvKgOw48_Ojpxpu1L9ByHu0chARG363bma2-_f8fEKDqwFzoJh3GJGXnyZExI_evCvaOgBEo96Su9oYZAb-1Y9WuA-uxGiexe_oBTWC1jg/s400/ssssssssssss.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNKK-v5qZTCgfZfwRGAx5UurL0vg2CcGPvYkvR1OQbp8WZHAUKLWhUP4QAIi_icW_39SEF0bwcaQr5M1skI4Dcks8UV4JmJqPblPCNTzRcSQHxQsAyKcK_f9cVRKMAue3g1rEp8ji4mc/s1600/srt.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502386211132480210" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 292px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNKK-v5qZTCgfZfwRGAx5UurL0vg2CcGPvYkvR1OQbp8WZHAUKLWhUP4QAIi_icW_39SEF0bwcaQr5M1skI4Dcks8UV4JmJqPblPCNTzRcSQHxQsAyKcK_f9cVRKMAue3g1rEp8ji4mc/s400/srt.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div> </div><div>God must be regretting that he could not come to this earth to play cricket.. so he thought of a </div><div>plan to send sachin tendulkar to represent him .these lines might look a bit hyperbole to the critics of sachin who say that his faliure on crutial occasions has also been godly.but the fact of the matter is that he has silenced his critics time and again.<br />He is getting better with the age,the answer to his crictics is that a lot is expected from him and he started playing cricket when there was no support for him from the other end in terms of batsmen the rainas and the dhonis came much later.the indian team was totally dependent on him im the 90,s.<br />He is now the one man show in terms of records in odi,s and tests .He just goes on and on setting records that will probably last forever. It could be dangerous to make such predictions what with the proliferation of international cricket matches, but there is no such risk in sticking one' s neck out where Sachin Tendulkar is concerned. At an age when cricketers at least contemplate retirement - if they have not already <a href="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/partabramchand/partabramchand-233197664-1280899205.jpg?ymGyojDDNrUocazj" ywaonclickoverride="true"></a>called it a day - he is playing some of his finest knocks.<br /><br />His hunger for success remains undiminished, his appetite for runs and centuries insatiable and he displays the keenness of a teenager just starting out on his career. <a href="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/partabramchand/partabramchand-233197664-1280899205.jpg?ymGyojDDNrUocazj" ywaonclickoverride="true"></a>Seeing him on the field these days, it is difficult to believe that come November, it will be 21 years since he made his Test debut as a curly-haired 16-year-old against Pakistan at Karachi. Tendulkar' s latest record is for once not associated with runs and centuries but with durability. The current Test against Sri Lanka at Colombo is his 169th surpassing Steve Waugh' s mark by one.<br />well remember Colin Cowdrey being the first cricketer to play 100 Tests way back in 1968 against Australia at Birmingham. That was quite a feat 42 years ago, but since then, of course, with the proliferation of Test cricket we have had a number of players who have crossed the 100-mark and even while we await the first person to cross the 200-mark - it could well be Tendulkar - let us salute the little big man for having lasted so long and so gloriously.<br />Having made a close study of some of the greatest batsmen in the game, I find that a number of them faltered in the evening of their careers. Age is one factor that every sportsman comes up against sooner or later and this is the time when the reflexes become slow, the adrenalin may not flow like the younger days and the old enthusiasm for the game may be lacking. But these age old maxims cannot be applied to Tendulkar who like good wine is getting better with age.<br /><br />As he said in an interview some time ago "I am enjoying the game. My effort will be to try and keep playing the game and help win matches but the enjoyment factor is extremely important." It certainly is. When a cricketer allows staleness to creep into his play it tells on his performance. Every outing is laboured, every stroke an effort. In Tendulkar's case one can see that on the field of play he still retains a boyish enthusiasm.<br />Ageless is perhaps the best way to describe Tendulkar' s art and craft. The way in which he takes off for a quick single, is willing to come back for a second and is still able to hold his own in the field despite being surrounded by much younger teammates belies his age.<br />YASIR BEG<br />BANGALORE</div></div>MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-62037537964078840592010-08-03T23:53:00.000-07:002010-08-06T13:07:44.565-07:00DISCHARGED PACE BATTERY..(CRICKET)<div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Vbf87m5rvk/TFxq9gt7PxI/AAAAAAAAAC4/vRikaFSYOnw/s1600/ishant.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502390449727029010" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 242px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Vbf87m5rvk/TFxq9gt7PxI/AAAAAAAAAC4/vRikaFSYOnw/s320/ishant.bmp" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Vbf87m5rvk/TFxrII7d6VI/AAAAAAAAADA/sfHhvUiSgOU/s1600/amit.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502390632319936850" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 197px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Vbf87m5rvk/TFxrII7d6VI/AAAAAAAAADA/sfHhvUiSgOU/s320/amit.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1YdCQxcqPhTJ2ap1UlAXHJGVajjWeQHJPxEOwgZTwalzdcgBcH1z9vLabNYwgmlYB_nDLpkum5dOSxaAzofW9_jdiuTY1GR7wzFGkRLMq0EoeiTdnK7gctHQ8niun_g52uQOmOk8GEGw/s1600/mithin.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502390289762763202" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 181px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1YdCQxcqPhTJ2ap1UlAXHJGVajjWeQHJPxEOwgZTwalzdcgBcH1z9vLabNYwgmlYB_nDLpkum5dOSxaAzofW9_jdiuTY1GR7wzFGkRLMq0EoeiTdnK7gctHQ8niun_g52uQOmOk8GEGw/s320/mithin.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /> </div><div>India's bowling performances in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka have made for depressing viewing - and it gets worse when you give a look to thre agressiveness quotient to be shown by a side that parades itself as the number one Test side in the world.<br /><br /><a href="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/venkatananth/venkatananth-894452637-1280805263.jpg?ymP2RjDDLUVpyiZy"></a>Injuries to Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth aside, the current lot of bowlers look anything but a world-class attack; bereft of skill, lacking in confidence, abdicating on intent, the bowling 'attack' has consistently looked incapable of taking 20 wickets. It is easy enough to blame the conditions, and it is not my argument that the conditions have been uniformly helpful - but that said, the attack led by Ishant Sharma has mentally surrendered mentally surrendered not to the conditions, but to their own self-doubts, their own lack of confidence in their abilities as pace bowlers.<br />On the spin side, Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha look like human bowling machines - their bowling is mechanical, their intent is non-existent, and their performances are a sad commentary on India's cricketing system and an indictment of the BCCI's handling of the game.<br /><br /><a href="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/venkatananth/venkatananth-414937287-1280805431.jpg?ym34RjDDepNkt__n"></a>To be fair, I don't blame Ishant and his colleagues alone for their plight. They are products of a system that is not merely commerce- or power-centric, but one that is seemingly anti-cricket, a sytem whose belief in a well-rehearsed yet genuinely flawed template extends to an unholy obsession with producing batsmen coupled with a continuing apathy towards other equally important departments of the game.<br /><br /><a href="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/venkatananth/venkatananth-414937287-1280805431.jpg?ym34RjDDepNkt__n"></a><a href="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/venkatananth/venkatananth-414937287-1280805431.jpg?ym34RjDDepNkt__n"></a>The easy way out would be to resort to cliches of the "Fast bowling was never our strength" excuse to explain lack of quality. But that is a cliché whose use-by date has long gone. In the likes of Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth, to cite just four examples, India has in recent times produced bowlers capable of being quick and incisive; the problem is that none of them has been able to last through a season, to maintain the edge. And that is as much the fault of the system as of the bowlers themselves - and the BCCI, in my opinion, bears much of the blame. Clearly, the Board knows what the problem is; it isn't quite as ignorant as we make it out to be - the problem is, it simply doesn't care. Let's explore that argument a little further.<br />Take the board's absurd diktats, dictated largely by politics and almost invariably contrary to the larger interests of the game. The board, thus, prevents Indian bowlers from plying their trade, during the off-season, in county cricket, which is often considered the best off-season training ground by leading cricketers.<br /><br /><a href="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/venkatananth/venkatananth-136818375-1280805581.jpg?ymN7RjDD..EyUJLg"></a><a href="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/venkatananth/venkatananth-136818375-1280805581.jpg?ymN7RjDD..EyUJLg"></a>Consider the case of Zaheer Khan, written off by most pundits as a bowler with neither the heart nor the discipline for the grind. He went to Worcestershire for the 2006 season, bowled 70-80 overs week in and week out, picking plenty of wickets at New Road, and returned fitter, fresher and better than he had ever been before, his time on the circuit developing his skills to the point where ever since, he has been the undisputed leader of the Indian attack and arguably among the best left arm seamers in the world. This is what the likes of an Ishant Sharma, or an Irfan Pathan, should have been doing - not shooting ads in Shimla and Kochi.<br /><br />To make matters right, though we have sporadic tours, we don't really have an A-team culture, which is so necessary as a developmental platform for young talent. Well planned A tours allow developing talent the opportunity to play tough opposition on different kinds of surfaces and thus prepare for the international level; absent such a planned system, players are pitchforked into the world stage before they are ready, they get found out, lose their confidence, and get dumped before they know what hit them.<br /><br />The same is the case for spinners - who, like the tiger, is rapidly becoming an endangered species. Again, they're victims of the domestic system that forces bowlers into defensive lines - anathema to the art of spin bowling. T20 immersion merely compounds the problem. A spinner in the T20 format goes in thinking 'containment'; such a mindset forces you to bowl flatter, quicker through the air, wicket to wicket without any attempt to turn the ball or to flight. Do that often enough, and it becomes part of the bowler's mindset; he is good only to contain runs with spread out fields.<br /><br />'Spin bowling' has been systematically reduced to an automaton: a few steps and a mechanical delivery stride, with no intention of giving the ball a tweak, or exploiting the surfaces at play. A left-arm over angle might well work in a T20 game, but in Test matches, it denies you an opportunity of picking a wicket, a prerequisite for a spinner.<br /><br /><a href="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/venkatananth/venkatananth-289460753-1280805867.jpg?ymr_RjDDc7F2FrNQ"></a><a href="http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/venkatananth/venkatananth-289460753-1280805867.jpg?ymr_RjDDc7F2FrNQ"></a>Sadly, Harbhajan fits into neither category today, unless of course you're playing at Kanpur or Mumbai. He hasn't bowled a match-winning spell outside India for a while now, and at times looks completely hapless and unimaginative, totally out of ideas for someone who's supposed to be a "lead spinner". And of course, Indian cricket isn't willing to look beyond him for solutions, given his consistency when it comes to non-performance per-se. India must try out different options from the limited ones they have, be it a Ravichandran Ashwin or even a Piyush Chawla, to figure out if they're good enough to make the cut.<br /><br />Shane Warne was spot-on when he said that a modern day Test-match spinner must be a good Day 1 and a Day 5 bowler. Day 1, because you might have a role to play in keeping one end up, and Day 5, is when as a spinner you're expected to provide the thrust, and to chip in with the wickets.<br />Finally, it's time to end this obsession with the World no. 1 ranking. The very short-term nature of the fixation blinds us all, metaphorically like a politician so eagerly wanting to stick his butt to the chair and start thinking five years from now. What cricket and particularly the bowling side of it needs, is to come out of the "We are like this only" mentality and to make a start at working towards a long-term vision for our cricket.Team india lacks that agressiveness that is required by ateam that has to stay on the top.It is well and truely said "its easy to succeed but difficult to survive"<br />Yasir beg<br />bangalore.</div></div>MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-60528043776930185592010-07-17T06:27:00.000-07:002010-11-05T13:57:31.455-07:00THE" FAREWEL " TO THE BOWLING BRADMAN..<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Vbf87m5rvk/TNRvoDEdrHI/AAAAAAAAAE8/YO5MO2yrR3M/s1600/mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="231" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Vbf87m5rvk/TNRvoDEdrHI/AAAAAAAAAE8/YO5MO2yrR3M/s400/mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.jpg"</img></a></div><br />
<br />
One last time and cricketing legend and bowling "bradman " will be a point of discussion for the cricketing fraternity and will be a matter of the history books of cricket.<br />
For one last time in Test cricket, that most controversial bowling arm of our times will release the ball. For one last time, many of us will enjoy the experience of watching the greatest offspinner the world has seen. For one last time, some of us will call him a chucker. For one last time, every one of us will laugh as we see him slog joyously to the on side. For one last time, the slow motion replays will linger on his conspiratorial smile, on that whirring right arm, on those eyes that almost pop out at release, on that final shudder of the body after he pivots and comes to rest, and on his eager face that follows the trajectory of the ball. In the years to come, it will be something to say that we have seen Muttiah Muralitharan bowl.<br />
Murlidharan,s retirement will be and to a cricketing era which was started by the legend himself . he came into the international canvas when the spinners were struggling to make a mark.it was the time when the cricket lovers had witnessed the complete dominance of the marshall,s garnars and the roberts . he came into the scene and revolutionized the spin bowling .<br />
murlitharan,s smile and sense of humour will be missed by all. flawless cricketing career and consistency has been the main stay of his career.made his test debut in year 1992 and has been the pillar for the srilankan cricket team . he has taken 792 wickets in tests and 515 in odi,s.<br />
800 wickets can he ?? will be a great farewell to a legend i ..and if does not, it does not matter as he has not left any thing to prove ..</div><div>Yasir Beg </div><div>Bangalore....</div>MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7416454595480155755.post-68242235741794493932010-07-11T06:27:00.000-07:002010-08-06T13:33:23.183-07:00PREVIEW FOOT BALL WORLD CUP FINALE....<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DbU1s_Xgm7p_YTd3UT_FSYgKpittnpKmIqVlIKj22fi0d_uFHYoBt49-G48kBqLRQa1qP4rW3kvTpkrChri_d_i7oxDY6-GMD0KExOY4uiZrQr6oT0jPNrtaBsOwZG6XEEmplAI_ilI/s1600/FIFA_World_Cup_trophy.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502395647145595762" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 185px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DbU1s_Xgm7p_YTd3UT_FSYgKpittnpKmIqVlIKj22fi0d_uFHYoBt49-G48kBqLRQa1qP4rW3kvTpkrChri_d_i7oxDY6-GMD0KExOY4uiZrQr6oT0jPNrtaBsOwZG6XEEmplAI_ilI/s320/FIFA_World_Cup_trophy.png" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYe1Gv3ess1esGzv_uxPhHoOmZNSp3MALfiRKnKDvV7q0kesfgx3Hy-l__W_468zaZJYhKpeedBaqSE99hJNTtu1fgWcaBFCBbSIC5A2avGBMoawb4b-Gs__Z7OK4gWzQKLFH5mNMxww0/s1600/ball.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502396695270034034" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYe1Gv3ess1esGzv_uxPhHoOmZNSp3MALfiRKnKDvV7q0kesfgx3Hy-l__W_468zaZJYhKpeedBaqSE99hJNTtu1fgWcaBFCBbSIC5A2avGBMoawb4b-Gs__Z7OK4gWzQKLFH5mNMxww0/s200/ball.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /> </div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><br /><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;">As a glance at the head-to-head record between the two nations shows, tipping a winner is no easy task. Both sides have won four of their nine meetings, with the other game ending in a draw. The Oranje have been here before, reaching the Finals at Germany 1974, with Johan Cruyff, and Argentina 1978, without him, and losing to the hosts on both occasions. For Spain, however, this is new territory, although their confidence at rising to the occasion will be high after ending a 44-year trophy drought at UEFA EURO 2008.<br />The Netherlands’ record at South Africa 2010 could hardly be more impressive: six wins in six games with 12 goals scored and five conceded. For their part Vicente del Bosque’s men have strung together five wins in a row after kicking off with a surprise defeat. But while the Spaniards have found goals hard to come by, scoring just seven in total, they have been far more miserly in defence, letting in just two so far. The winners will also end an old hoodoo, with no European side having ever won the biggest prize in world football outside the old continent.<br />The big question "has octopus bringing the teams under pressure because of the predictions he is pushing in?<br />well we will know the answer in a short while from now.<br />Yasir Beg<br />Bangalore.</span></div></div>MIRZA YASIR BEGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14098564834340777158noreply@blogger.com2