Cricket | Voice from the rooftop

No Ball Controversy

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Suraj Randiv bowling a no ball resulted in Virender Sehwag not getting a century and remaining not out on 99. Controversy followed. Suraj Randiv apologised to Virender Sehwag. Sri Lanka Cricket Board fined Suraj Randiv and suspended him for one match and fined Tilakaratne Dilshan for telling Suraj Randiv to bowl a no ball. Captain Kumara Sangakkara was warned to see that such incidents do not happen.

Many people talk of sportsman spirit but Virender Sehwag had kicked the ball beyond the boundary to deprive Hashim Amla the strike. Teams play to win matches. Bowlers donâ€™t make it easy for the batsman unless the match is fixed.

People presume Virender Sehwag would have hit a century because he hit the ball beyond boundary and it would have been a six if the match had not been over due to no ball. That is probability and not certainty. Virender Sehwag could have been out bowled, or caught and bowled, or LBW, or hit wicket or stumped. In a Test he had been out stumped.

BCCI, cricketers and rest

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

With cricket being played throughout the year players getting injured is more frequent. Some cricketers want matches to be reduced so that they can have rest. BCCI has signed contracts and it will lose money if it cancels matches.

Very few players represent India in Tests, ODIs and T20. BCCI is ready to give rest to players who want. When Anil Kumble was Test captain and Sri Lanka series was played Mahendra Singh Dhoni had rest.

The tri-series involving India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka ends on 28/8/2010. Champions League in South Africa is from 10/9/2010 to 26/9/2010. India versus Australia series is from 1/10/2010 to 24/10/2010. India versus New Zealand series is from 4/11/2010 to 10/12/2010. India versus South Africa series is from 16/12/2010 to 23/1/2011. ODI World Cup begins on 19/2/2011.

India can have many teams. The players who play in Champions League can be rested for Australia series. When India plays home series it can have three teams: One for Tests, one for ODIs and one for T20. Players in one team will not be in other two teams. India is ranked no. 1 in Tests so the best players will be in Test team. For ODIs and T20 we can even have multiple teams with local teams representing India. If an ODI is in Nagpur, Vidarbha team can become India Team. If a T20 is in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh team can become India Team. Test players will not be part of local teams. Let us not worry about performance because India recently i.e., on 10/8/2010, lost to New Zealand by 200 runs and had at one time lost to Sri Lanka by 245 runs. For local players it is once in a life time opportunity and they will do their best and we may unearth talent. With matches being played all over the country players from different parts will get their turn. BCCI does not have to spend money on travel of players.

Pakistan Cricket Board and cricketers

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

On 10/3/2010 PCB imposed bans and fines on seven cricketers: Mohammed Yusuf, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Rana Naved, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal. This followed Pakistanâ€™s disastrous tour of Australia. During the tour Pakistanâ€™s performance was poor and it appeared some players did their level best to lose the matches.
Was there match-fixing? ICC anti-corruption unit was present during the tour but that doesnâ€™t mean much.
Did the players lose the matches because they did not like each other? Was there groupism? Whatever be the reasons the players had to be disciplined and PCB acted.

India Loses Nagpur Test

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

India lost Nagpur Test by an Innings and 6 runs on 9/2/2010, fourth day of the Test. Indiaâ€™s Test ranking is No. 1 and South Africaâ€™s No. 2.
As per original tour programme South Africa was to play seven ODIs. India defeated Sri Lanka in Tests at the end of 2009 and attained No. 1 ranking in Tests. India wanted a change in the series to retain its No. 1 status and the series was changed to two Tests and five ODIs.

IPL and Pakistan

Posted on January 22, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Lalit Modi, IPL Commissioner, said teams did not select any Pakistan player and only one player from Australia was selected. Team owners said they were not convinced of the availability of Pakistani players for the entire season or they had some other players in mind and such things. It was clear it was decided beforehand not to bid for Pakistani players. Pakistani players had faced visa problems in December 2009. That was the foretaste of things to come. If Pakistani players were not to be selected they should not have been included in the list.

Donald George Bradman is the greatest batsman

Posted on October 22, 2008 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Batsmen are for scoring runs. They have to be judged by the runs they score. Donald George Bradman is the greatest batsman.

Oval Test

Posted on August 18, 2007 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

India did not enforce follow on at Oval in spite of having 319 runs lead. India batted and declared at 180/6 setting a target of 500 for England to win. The excuse by Dravid was that bowlers needed rest which was contradicted by Zaheer Khan. Chandu Borde said a team can score 500 runs in…

Fall of Australia

Posted on February 19, 2007 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Australia lost five out of his last six ODIs, four of them against succession. It lost two against England in the final and two against New Zealand and lost both the series. As a consequence it slipped in rank from 1 to 2. S. Africa is no. 1.