Sehwag's 219

Thursday, December 08, 2011 cricket, highlights, india, indian innings., odi series, rishabh bablani, sehwag 219, virender sehwag, west indies

I don't have a lot to say about the innings, because I was denied the full experience by time zonal/ examinatory/ interest-related restrictions. Relegated to watching highlights, what I got out of it (apart from the entertainment, of course) was:
(a) He was just playing straight initially, as he usually does when he goes after the bowling. His innings was made so much easier as the West Indians bowled short, wide and leg side (hey, that sorta rhymed) filth.
(b) He didn't seem to have any fitness problems during the innings, which is great for a 33-year-old batsman.  lot of younger batsmen cramp up at the mere prospect of a long innings.
(c) The other batsmen combined scored at 8 an over.
(d) There are probably going to lots of "flat track bully" critics. Not a lot of 200's despite all these flat tracks, people.

And with those inconsequential mutterings out of the way, here are the highlights of the carnage that was Sehwag's innings.

What India gained from the West Indian tour

Thursday, July 14, 2011 cricket, india, ishant sharma, murali vijay, odi series, parthiv patel, praveen kumar, rahul dravid, review, rishabh bablani, rohit sharma, subramaniam badrinath, suresh raina, test cricket, west indies No Comments

The tour didn't get ignored as much as I'd thought, actually - quite unlike Raina's first captaincy stint in the tri-series with Zimbabwe and Bangladesh year. There was plenty of interest in the progress of India's next cricketing generation. Here's a list of things that have been added to our knowledge over the course of the T20I, ODIs and Tests.

• I have no idea what Shikhar Dhawan is doing in the team with Rahane and his runs lying around.
• Parthiv Patel has looked like a classy opener for months without scoring big runs. It's like he's a lefty Rohit Sharma or something.
• Badrinath only looks like he may be an effective Test player when he's playing T20's.
• Ashwin can't take wickets when no one is attacking him. He can't use the new ball for India, because we already have good new-ball bowlers.
• Rohit Sharma may have turned the corner. Where a banana skin may still be lurking. That expression never makes sense to me. Does 'turning a corner' mean revolving where you stand while you're in a corner?
• Raina shouldn't be captain - it neutralizes his midwicket-hacks. And he has registered himself for a huge English test by scoring those Test runs.
• Manoj Tiwary deserves another chance.
• Yusuf Pathan does not.
• Rahul Dravid still has some juice in him. Which is good, or else he'd be dehydrated from all the sweat. I think he's only programmed to bat in tough conditions at this point.
• Abhinav Mukund is going to have a real tough time in that first Test against England.
• Virat Kohli. Not ready. Tests. Future of India. Time on his hands. Attitude. 
• Hey, Murali Vijay won CSK the IPL4 trophy.
• Praveen Kumar can be very useful in the right conditions. And he's still a tidy bowler when it's not swinging. He will be competing with Munaf and Sreesanth for the third seamer's position though... and going by Dhoni's track record, I have a suspicious suspicion about who might win that spot.
• It's great to see that Ishant is not cutting down on pace. For now.
• Sehwag, Gambhir and a great Indian spinner are conspicuous by absence.

There are pluses. There are minuses. And some division signs. Pretty worthwhile trip in the end.
Coming soon, to a blog near you (this one): England vs India preview.

India vs West Indies: Preview of my preview

Monday, June 06, 2011 cricket, harbhajan singh, india, odi series, preview, rishabh bablani, suresh raina, west indies No Comments

With the token T20I out of the way and the first ODI about to begin in a couple of hours, I will probably* do an extensive preview of what to expect from the one-day series that is being taken so seriously because it is very challenging and of so much importance. Actually, the challenging bit is actually sort of true, with only 5 or 6 first-choice players in the Indian squad. And the skipper and deputy are Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh: a combination of commonsense, ridiculousness, street-smarts, lassi, experience and insanity (there's no pattern linking either guy to a trait).

Anyway; in my forthcoming preview, I'll probably mention how good a chance this is for Badrinath and Rohit Sharma to fight for that one middle-order spot, so expect plenty from those two. Then I might add a bit about Parthiv deservedly  getting the back-up opener/keeper spot, and how picking Dhawan was pointless because he is clearly not ready for this level. There'll even be a gratuitous paragraph about how Amit Mishra has earned his spot over a slightly unlucky Pragyan Ojha. The preview can't be complete without a few lines on Ishant Sharma's return, with a couple of wordy lines on our hopes that he will replicate some of that IPL venom for India.

Of course, it would be rude not to say something about Manoj Tiwary and Vinay Kumar, so I might just throw in something about how they might not get (m)any games but would like to perform all the same to cement their substitute status.

I'm certain that I'll say what my ideal XI would be - and it's likely that there will be a gag about how it should just be 7 Tendulkars and 4 Zaheer Khans.

And then, I think I'll end with another joke, possibly a knock-knock joke. Something like 'knock knock, who's there, bhajji, bhajji who?' but with an awesome punchline. It'll be a really good preview.

* Probably = not

Preview within a preview

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