Not about Sachin's innings

I was lucky to have got the chance to watch the first 200 in ODI and the first 400 in test cricket.

The ODI 200 happened earlier today and after a long time I watched an innings completely or atleast from the 18th over. Better writers and experts than me will be filling up paperspace and serverspace with infinitely better written articles on Sachin and his innings over the next couple of months. So I shall just keep it short and simple - It was brilliant!

Moving on... thanks to some really superstitious Sachin fans I was forced to watch even the commercials during the telecast and I was really shocked by some of the ads that were shown. I was trying to justify the thinking that must have gone into some of the ads.

1) There must have been some brilliant market research that must have thrown up this stunning insight that the purchase decision makers for cement have faith in swimsuit clad women coming out of the beach ala Ursula Andress in Dr. No. Can not see any other reason for the JK Super Cement ad unless JK Super Cement is holding up something that we do not know.

2) I tried, I really did... I promise you... I tried earnestly.... but I just can not understand why a mobile phone company wants to advertise that you will get killed when you use their mobile and cross the road... which in a nut shell is exactly what Micromaxx communicates in their ad which shows the not so unique feature of being able to connect to Facebook and then far more uniquely getting killed!

3) Why does IPL need to have such poor ads I dont understand. no wait let me rephrase that... Why does IPL need to have ads I dont understand. How many Indians watching the ODI series against South Africa will not know about the IPL and the availability of tickets? What I think they should concentrate on is to make the tickets more affordable. The cheapest tickets for a RCB match in Blore is somewhere around 900 Rs. if I am not mistaken.

I heard from some of those really superstitious Sachin fans that there are more such terrible ads being aired on TV... they even mentioned a Dr. Fixit ad with some bad pun on breaking news... hope to see it soon to then include that in the post as well.

Why not Jumbo? and Indian cricket's future

Rahul Dravid has resigned as the Captain of the Indian cricket team.

The search is on for a new captain (and not to forget a new coach)

The media is teeming with possibilities. Well not really. They have come down to 2 candidates - M.S. Dhoni and S.R. Tendulkar. I must confess that I have never been a big fan of Sachin. Of course, like any cricket admirer, I have enjoyed watching him in full flow. But unlike the majority of the Indian population, for whom Sachin is a living god, my support and admiration was always spent on Brian Charles Lara.

But, its not out of the lack of admiration I say this - Sachin should NOT be made captain., but out of common sense. The man has had two shots at it and failed miserably. Those who clamour for him say that the next few tours are going to be tough ones and that it is necessary for someone with experince to lead the team.

Well, there is one man who comes to mind. He is almost as experienced as Sachin. He is undoubtedly India's greatest match winner ever. Anil Kumble! By far one of the most committed player to the national cause. no one can doubt his work ethic and team spirit. No one doubts his aggressiveness on the field either. Make him captain, give him a decent coach and make the vice-captain someone who will lead the ODI and let these guys along with Sachin, Dada, Robin and Venky take the team through the transition phase.

True, Anil has retired from ODIs. So what? I say. Let him be made the test captain, and make some youngster the ODI captain. Guess MS is the first choice that comes to mind, although I dont think he should be made, I honestly cant see who else can be. The problem with Dhoni is that, he is more of a batsman than a keeper. If he was a better keeper, then one would not have been too worried if his batting suffered under captaincy. But Dhoni's batting is very important to our ODI success and I hope I am wrong when I say this, but in the last couple of tours, MS does seem like he has curtailed his stroke play. Barring that one burst he had at Oval during the third test, I cant remember a typical MS innings for quite some time now. Ironically, its his griity ans somber match saving innings at Lords in the first test that comes to mind when one thinks of his last few memorable innings. MS no doubt is a thinking cricketer who does have a great attitude towards the game.

The sad part of all the commotion that Dravid's resignation has caused is that all the important matters have been pushed aside for the time being. Like India's pathetic fielding. Pathetic is an under statement. Ok, one cantexpect a fielding coach to create miracles, but its not over optimism, if you think that a fielding coach should ensure atleast the basics are not found wanting. Catching a straight forward catch and stopping a ball that is coming straight at you should not be so hard now. Good thing for India is that the malaise of poor fielding seems to have spread to all the international teams for some reason. Even the Aussies had a poor time on the field against Zimbabwe.

I would like to conclude this post by stressing on the importance of Yuvraj Singh for the future. Especially in ODIs. He is definitely the player to watch. In future ODIs, when one takes a look at the ODIs that India triumph in, I will stick my neck out and say that in a majority of the wins Yuvraj would have had a prominent role to play. He is not a leader of men, just let him be!!!

The debility of Colonialism

The wicket keeper is out, there's still seven balls to go. Havin come at the fall of the sixth wicket, the keeper has done a great job of batting and battling till the end, only that its not yet the end. Still seven balls to go and sixteen runs to get.

The Janjua Rajput born on the 21st of December, 1981, is the first of the tail. He has done his bit with the ball today. Four wickets in a ODI is good going. He even got the marauding opener out bowled. But the deed is not yet done. He has to show his skills with the willow. But first he walks up to the non striker 's end.

Cos its the turn of the Sikh, he is only the second Sikh to represent his country, to bat. They had crossed over when the keeper was caught. The Sikh and the keeper have got their team close to the finish line. All is left to do is to cross it. The innings has been a coming of age experiece for the Sikh. Sure to be praised by the over zealous press.

The last ball of the 49th over is struck for four. The Sikh looks like he is going to get the deed done. But first, the Pakistani Janjua Rajput has to give the strike to him. The Sikh is the recognised bat, the Janjua Rajput is not bad, but he knows his duty is to give strike to the the batsman and then quietly watch the proceedings from the non-strikers end.

First ball of final over nudged by the Pakistani to off, quick single and the Indian is on strike.

Second ball of final over, 11 runs needed... sexy paddle sweep lifted over the short fine leg from outside off stump to the boundary for four.. just what the team need.. 7 runs from four balls... next ball driven through covers for two... the Sikh gets his fifty... 5 runs from 3 balls... single taken off next ball.. the bowler is back on strike.. the Rajput needs to get the Sikh back on strike.. and he does... single taken of the fifth ball..

The final ball to be bowled.. 3 runs needed... can the Sikh do it.. will this be a legendary victory.. it is.. but not for England as Ravinder Singh "Ravi" Bopara gets bowled off the last ball. Fernando bowls a straight ball, Bopara swings and hits air, the ball hits wood.. stumps are disarranged...

Ravi Bopara and Sajid Iqbal Mahmood nearly did it for England... but now they walk back dejected and their Zimbabwean coach looks on...