Pakistan stars miss deadline for Indian Premier League

Pakistan players under contract with Indian Premier League clubs must go through the auction process if they are to play in the 2010 season.

That is despite belatedly securing clearance from both governments.

Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal and Sohail Tanvir have secured visas, but IPL chief Lalit Modi says they missed the 7 December deadline.

As a result, three franchises have already replaced Pakistan players with alternatives from South Africa.

Bangalore Royal Challengers have secured South Africa's Roelof van der Merwe in place of Misbah, Charl Langeveldt has replaced Gul at Kolkata Knight Riders while Rajasthan Royals - who have both Akmal and Tanvir on their books - have brought in Johan Botha.

In the inaugural IPL season of 2008, 11 Pakistan players took part, but they were banned from the 2009 competition after the Mumbai terrorist attacks, although the competition was moved to South Africa.

Pakistan won the ICC World Twenty20 this year, and under normal circumstances their players would be in high demand, but relations between the neighbouring countries remains strained.

It remains to be seen whether star all-rounder Shahid Afridi, spinner Saeed Ajmal and new pace sensation Mohammad Aamer will be in the market for the IPL auction. None of them have signed contracts with franchises.

Graeme Swann & Stuart Broad set up England victory bid

England will need to take just four wickets on the final day in Durban to win the second Test and seal a first victory in the city since 1964.

A remarkable burst from Graeme Swann (3-22) and Stuart Broad (3-18), which saw four wickets fall for seven runs, reduced South Africa to 50-6.

The hosts were 76-6, still 156 behind, when bad light and rain ended play.

England had earlier declared on 575-9, 232 ahead, with Ian Bell making 141 from 227 balls and Matt Prior 60.

As South Africa then reached a fairly comfortable 27-0 from their first nine overs in their second innings on a wicket with a reputation for going flat, the draw looked the likeliest result by a long way.

But Swann removed Ashwell Prince with his second ball, thanks to a sharp catch from Bell at silly point, and clean bowled Hashim Amla on the stroke of tea.

Bell, whose place has been under intense scrutiny, reached his ninth Test century and first since July 2008 with a lofted on-drive for four off Paul Harris, but the run-up to lunch was otherwise a dull passage of play, with neither Bell nor Broad showing much adventure.

Thankfully, that all changed after lunch as Broad muscled Harris onto the grass banks for six in an over costing 15, before edging Duminy to slip.

Swann wasted no time playing himself in, pulling Makhaya Ntini for a huge six in making 22 from 14 balls, and Bell added two post-lunch boundaries before finally chasing a wide one from Dale Steyn. The declaration followed 10 balls later.

Wednesday, which should provide at least two full sessions of clear weather should they be needed, is likely to see Centurion man of the match Swann take centre stage once again.

It has been quite a 12 months for the Nottinghamshire man, who on Tuesday became the first English spinner to take 50 wickets in a calendar year.

Paul Collingwood, meanwhile, dislocated a finger in the warm-up on Tuesday and is unlikely to play any further part in the match. However an X-ray has confirmed there is no fracture and he may be available for the third Test in Cape Town from 3 January.

India v Sri Lanka 5th ODI – Match Abandoned because of Dangerous Pitch

What a shame on Indian cricket Board and DDCA, the final ODI between India and Sri Lanka is called off after 23.3 overs of play. The pitch behaved very differently right from the start. There are only two occasions where Sri Lankan batsmen were hit on their body parts. On a Kotla pitch where the bounce varied from shin to shoulder in as short a spell as three deliveries.

In the 24^th over, suddenly one ball of debutant Sudeep Tyagi took off and almost got passed over M.S.Dhoni head. And at that stage Sri Lankan players decided that enough is enough and they don’t want to take any risk with some important series coming up.

The pitch at Kotla was also criticized in Champions League 2020 where even scoring 120 runs in 20 overs looks impossible on this wicket, however curator has prepared a fresh pitch for the ODI but it behaved more differently than early stripes.

Full of action, the 23.3 overs featured a wicket first ball; a dropped catch first ball of the second over; blows on the elbow, shoulder, fingers; frenzied running; thick edges flying past third man; and wickets for Zaheer Khan, Tyagi and Harbhajan Singh. Dhoni, coming back from a two-match ban, was stupendous behind the stumps, getting his legs together for the shooters and reacting well to the lifters. Not one bye was conceded.

After winning the toss M.S.Dhoni put Sri Lanka into bat, Zaheer Khan give India a perfect start removing last match centurion Upal Tharanga for first ball duck. Then after few overs he removed dangerous Dilshan.

Match was looking well in the bag for the Indians with visitors on 83/5 in the 24^th over but with so much uneven bounce on the wickets, both team captains decided it is dangerous to take any chance on playing the game on such unfit pitch. But despite of such dangerous pitch all the wickets fell during Sri Lankan innings was of a very good ball or with the help of some superb fielding from Suresh Raina.

All the players went off the field around 11:40 AM, but it took 1 hour 10 of debate before they officially abandoned the game.

So a very sad end to such wonderful ODI series between India and Sri Lanka. Let’s hope that BCCI and DDCA will learn from this and will take some hard decision in improving the pitch as well as cricket facility around the India.

Match Summary (Match Abandoned)

Sri Lanka– 83/5 in 23.3 Overs

S.Jayasurya- 31 T.Dilshan– 20

Z.Khan – 8-1-31-2 S.Tyagi- 6.3-1-15-1

India wins the series by 3-1 and now they will travel to Bangladesh for a triangular series between Sri Lanka & Bangladesh. Also they will play two test matches against Bangladesh.

Andrew Strauss unworried by Alastair Cook's form

England captain Andrew Strauss is not worried about the form of fellow opener Alastair Cook in the run-up to Boxing Day's second Test against South Africa.

Cook, who celebrates his 25th birthday on Christmas Day, scored 15 and 12 in the drawn first Test at Centurion.

But Strauss said: "I am happy with the way he is playing and happy with some of the adjustments he has made.

"There are times when cricket is tough but I know Alastair has the character and temperament to come through it."

Strauss added: "I have been through it and just about every member of our batting unit has been through it at one stage or another."What it boils down to is how much you are willing to guts it out and I know that Alastair will do that. I'm not overly concerned by the way he is playing or anything like that.

"I think he is playing nicely and it's just one Test match. I think it is always wrong to judge people on the basis of two innings because you can get a couple of good balls and unfortunately that is the way the game is."

England have to decide the make-up of their team for the match in Durban.

They only played four specialist bowlers in the opening draw at Centurion, with specialist extra batsman Ian Bell contributing just seven runs in his two innings.

"We're very mindful of picking the right side for the conditions here," said Strauss.

"Sometimes you're looking into the crystal ball a little bit, because you're not entirely sure how the wicket is going to play and what conditions will be later on in the match."

4th ODI: India beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets, seal series

Virat Kohli maiden ODI century (107 runs of 114 balls) and Gautam Gambhir seventh ODI century (150* runs of 137 balls) helped India to comprehensively chase down 316 runs with ease and seal the series here at Eden Garden. India were reduced to 23/2 in chase of 316 runs in the fourth over but youngster Virat Kohli grabbed the opportunity with both hands along with Gautam Gambhir and scripted a historic win by 7 wickets.

It was one of the most comprehensive successful run chase by the Indians in their ODI history with such an ease. The duo put on record 224 runs of just 214 balls for the third wicket to inject a fresh life into the chase after reduced to 23/2. In the end India reach the target with 11 balls to spare. With this win now India will go into Delhi with Karbon Mobile Cup already in their bag.

Mind you India chased down this mammoth total without two of their star players (M.S.Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh). When both Gambhir and Kohli joined together India was in deep trouble with two of their most experienced players already back in the pavilion and two already not in the team.

Right from the start Kohli was looking for boundaries and that helped Gambhir at other end to calm down. Both batsmen played cleverly and whenever they got the lose ball they have converted it into boundary ball and on good deliveries they have kept rotating the strikes which kept required run rate in check.

Both batsmen reached their centuries in consecutive deliveries. However in trying to finish of the game Virat Kohli holed out to long-on, but Gambhir made sure there were no further mishaps, scoring 47 off the 70 remaining runs. Dinesh Karthik played his part with unbeaten 19 runs of 22 balls.

Earlier Sri Lankan captain won the toss and elected to bat first. Riding on the well made century from the opener Upul Tharanga (118 runs of 128 balls) Sri Lanka posted a mammoth total of 315/6 on the board. Kumar Sangakara (60 runs of 72 balls) was another player who have done bulk of the scoring for his team. Other players also chipped in with cameos that helped Sri LankaEden Garden, Kolkata. in the end to post a highest total at

Gautam Gambhir was declared Player of the Match for his superb unbeaten 150 runs of just 137 balls however he showed an excellent gesture by handing over his Man of the Match award to Virat Kohli for his maiden ton.

Mohammad Yousuf retained captain for Australia

Pakistan have left out Younis Khan from a 16-man squad for the three-Test series against Australia, beginning in late December. Younis had not informed the selection committee or board of his availability for the series, having relinquished the captaincy and his place in the side after an ODI series loss to New Zealand last month.

Mohammad Yousuf, captain in Younis' place, will continue to lead the team in Australia. Yousuf's brief captaincy experience, incidentally, includes two Tests as leader on the 2004-05 tour to Australia; Pakistan lost both Tests though they were markedly improved from the side that lost the first Test at Perth by 491 runs under Inzamam-ul-Haq. Yousuf also scored a fine hundred in the Melbourne Test as captain.

"Younis wanted to rest but he didn't play in the domestic cricket since the one-day series against New Zealand," chief selector Iqbal Qasim told reporters. "He didn't give his availability to us and therefore we did not select him." Younis stepped away from the game after claiming he had "lost command" of the side, following months of strained relationships with a number of senior players.

Younis was Pakistan's leading run-getter on their last tour to Australia, the start of a period in which he established himself as one of Pakistan's most reliable batsman at one-down. Alongside Yousuf and Inzamam, he formed a formidable middle order, but Inzamam's retirement and Yousuf's time away with the ICL has weakened the batting considerably; a perpetually unreliable opening pair has added to the kind of woes seen in the current series with New Zealand, where only the Akmal brothers have had any consistent success.

Yousuf will also lead the ODI side in Australia, with Shahid Afridi as his deputy.

Squad:
Mohammad Yousuf (capt), Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal (wk), Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Abdur Rauf, Umar Akmal.

Pakistan vs Australia 2009 / 2010 - Fixtures and Schedules

Pakistan tours Australia at the end of December 2009 for 3 tests, 5 ODIs and 1 T20 match. The tour starts from December 26 2010 and will end on February 5 2010. The first test between them is the boxing day test match. The tour starts immediately after Australia's test series against West Indies.

Here are the complete fixtures and schedules of Aus Vs Pak 2010:

Date	Match Details	Time (GMT)	Time (IST)	Venue	Ground	City
Dec 26 Sat – Dec 30 Wed	Australia v Pakistan, 1st Test	00:01	05:31	26/12/2009 00:01	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne
Jan 03 Sun – Jan 07 Thu	Australia v Pakistan, 2nd Test	00:01	05:31	03/01/2010 00:01	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney
Jan 14 Thu – Jan 18 Mon	Australia v Pakistan, 3rd Test	00:01	05:31	14/01/2010 00:01	Bellerive Oval	Hobart
Jan 22 – Fri	Australia v Pakistan, 1st ODI	03:15	08:45	22/01/2010 03:15	Brisbane Cricket Ground	Brisbane
Jan 24 – Sun	Australia v Pakistan, 2nd ODI	03:15	08:45	24/01/2010 03:15	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney
Jan 26 – Tue	Australia v Pakistan, 3rd ODI	03:15	08:45	26/01/2010 03:15	Adelaide	Adelaide
Jan 29 – Fri	Australia v Pakistan, 4th ODI	04:30	10:00	29/01/2010 04:30	W.A.C.A.	Perth
Jan 31 – Sun	Australia v Pakistan, 5th ODI	04:30	10:00	31/01/2010 04:30	W.A.C.A.	Perth
Feb 05 – Fri	Australia v Pakistan, Only T20I	08:35	14:05	05/02/2010 08:35	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne

Bouncers on menu for Ponting and Hughes

It won't matter whether Ricky Ponting or Phillip Hughes play against Pakistan on Boxing Day, they can both expect a barrage of short balls. Australia are waiting on Ponting's fitness after he was hit on the left elbow ducking a Kemar Roach bouncer in Perth and Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, said they unearthed a glaring weakness in the Australian's game.

Gayle said other teams should study the way Roach operated to Ponting in dismissing him three times in the series and forcing him to retire hurt. "Our plan to bowl short at him worked really well and I think they are tactics that other Test teams can use with a lot of success against him," Gayle wrote in his Daily Telegraph column.

"Ricky is a person who will always hook and pull - those are some of his favourite shots - but they can also be his major weakness. If you have a bowler with a bit of pace I think you can give him some real trouble."

Gayle said Roach tried to hustle Ponting by bowling at his body and getting him to hook or pull. "Ricky definitely looked very uncomfortable," he said. "The plans that we came up with weren't from watching any videos of Ricky, they were just my gut instinct."

Hughes is on standby for Ponting and had his own problems with the short ball during the tour of England, which included some rough treatment from Steve Harmison in a warm-up game and Andrew Flintoff in two Tests. He has re-found form after being cut from the national squad and is hoping to get a chance to show he is ready for a long-term run in the side.

''Being dropped is a part of the sport, and I'm a big believer in that,'' Hughes said in the Sydney Morning Herald. ''That's life. What has happened has happened.

''To be in a squad now for a Boxing Day Test, it's the one as a kid you always love to watch and always want to be involved in. It's such a big thing. I've been feeling good in myself but to get the numbers on the board in this game [he scored 122 and 7 against Victoria] � I'll go to Melbourne and be ready if a chance does come up."

Cricket stadium runs out of beer

The opening day of the first Castle Lager Test match between South Africa and England was characterised by an embarrassing shortage of the sponsor's popular beverage

We all know the saying lampooning someone’s inability to organise frenzied mass consumption in a brewery.

Well, on the opening day of the first Castle Lager Test between South Africa and England the suppliers of the sponsor’s product here were not only understaffed, which made for election day queues, but some of their outlets first ran out of the amber ale and later out of cups to serve it in.

The mercury reached the early 30s on the Day of Reconciliation but spectators are going to be hard pressed to reach out, and as the spirit of the day demands, embrace Test cricket.

No wonder Cricket South Africa (CSA) recently enlisted some outside help to try and determine why crowds at international matches are dwindling.

A myriad of reasons were said to negatively impact on attendances and on Wednesday it was again clear why some may feel the couch and relative close proximity of their fridge is a better option.

While there may be very legitimate reasons for not allowing spectators to bring alcohol into the ground it then certainly is incumbent on the hosts to provide adequately staffed and stocked refreshment outlets.

If the heat was felt in the queues, the players, especially England, also had reason to be a little hot under the collar.

They expressed reservations about the use of the umpire review system and by the time stumps were drawn that may have graduated to the realm of suspicion.

The system, in use for the first time on these shores, is supposed to limit the number of incorrect umpiring decisions but without the full range of techno laden tools at the third umpire’s disposal, the system, as witnessed on Wednesday, is rather fraught.

Due to recessionary constraints the hotspot and snickometer were conspicuous by their absence and England will feel that it seriously undermined their use of the system on the opening day.

England were convinced that they had AB de Villiers caught behind off Graeme Swann but in the absence of the hotspot, an infra-red imaging system, or ‘Snicko’, the graphically illustrated sound wave, the available evidence proved inconclusive.

Without the benefit of the tools designed to determine whether or not a batsman has hit the ball, England had no luck with the review system but their misfortune of course directly benefited the South African cause.

Ashwell Prince was the first to benefit from a successful referral after he was adjudged to be lbw off Graeme Onions with his score on 19. After umpire Steve Davis had raised his finger Prince quickly consulted with Hashim Amla at the non-striker’s end.

The path the ball was predicted to travel however suggested that it was likely to miss the offstump and Prince remained.

England’s frustrations were compounded by delays caused by the sight screens which at times, failed in its core purpose.

When the bowler runs in from the opposite end the sight screens at Centurion moonlight as advertising boards but changing on cue at the end of each over has become a bit of a lottery, which mind you, in the reliability stakes on the opening day places it on par with the service at the bars and the referral system.

England coach Andy Flower believes the new Umpire Decision Referral System (URDS) features "illogical anomalies"

TV replays showed Kevin Pietersen was bowled off a no-ball by Morne Morkel in the first innings of the drawn first Test against South Africa in Centurion.

But the decision could not be reviewed under the current process.

"We have technology to call no-balls for every ball," Flower told BBC Radio 5 Live. "We see the evidence on TV but the batsman is back in the pavilion."

He added: "There are some illogical anomalies. If we are going to use it, then we should use it properly.

"I would prefer the umpire to make the decision and people get on with it.

"It seems we have gone way past that and can never go backwards. We've had experience with the system in the West Indies and it was pretty shambolic.

"It was nice and simple but the new system just seems to be leading to more and more complications."

The UDRS is an updated version of the TV referral system which was trialled during England's Test tour of the West Indies in January and February.The International Cricket Council (ICC) approved the UDRS for Test matches in June following trials at domestic and international levels."I don't like the system because it promotes this sort of disagreement with the umpires," added Flower. "But in that case I do have a little sympathy with Stuart because there is this grey area of how much time teams can take to ask for the review and, in that instance, it did seem to take forever."Equally, I have spoken to match referee Roshan Mahanama and Stuart. None of us want to see someone questioning the final decision by an umpire and Stuart has assured us that will not happen again."

England scrape draw in first Test with South Africa

The tourists resumed on 11-1 needing a distant 364 but two wickets fell in the first 13 overs before Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott calmly shared 145.

But Pietersen (81) inexplicably called for a run and Trott stood his ground.

Trott made 69 before debutant Friedel de Wet struck three times as five fell for 13 but Graham Onions kept out the final over as England closed on 228-9.

Having slumped to 27-3, the fourth-wicket partnership left all results still possible at the tea interval, with 195 needed from the remaining 35 overs.

Even after Pietersen's needless dismissal, Trott's resolute fifty, to add to his century on his debut in the final Ashes Test last summer, looked to have guided England to a comfortable draw. Such was the dominance of England's South African-born pair that Smith called on Jacques Kallis to send down three experimental overs despite not being fully fit following a rib injury.

There were few alarms until Pietersen pushed a single without even looking at his startled partner and arrived at the non-striker's end whilst Trott was still bellowing a refusal of the run.

Bowler De Wet simply gathered the ball and took off the bails in mid-stride and suddenly it looked a different game.The final over was given to Makhaya Ntini, in his 100th Test, but Onions defended resolutely, keeping out one that crept low and would have defeated many a top order player, and England escaped to ensure the series heads to Durban for the Boxing Day Test with the series still 0-0.

India Vs Sri Lanka 3rd ODI: India wins at Cuttack

India have won the third one-day international match against Sri Lanka by seven wickets powered by a brilliant 96 runs by Sachin Tendulkar and a cameo of 36 runs by Dinesh Karthik, who supported Tendulkar well to finish off the match.

This win at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack has also given India 2-1 lead in the five match series and this would certainly put pressure on the visiting team.

Chasing 239 runs in fifty overs, India started well with Virender Sehwag belting the ball to the fence for his 44 runs before he was caught by Tilakratne Dilshan on the bowling of Chanaka Welegedera.

Gautam Ghambir was next to go, caught and bowled by Suraj Randiv but this proved to be a minor setback as Indians were chasing a small total and Sachin Tendulkar had no intention of letting the match go from Indian grip.

Sehwag was ballistic in his inning as he hit both Kulasekara and Lasith Malinga for three fours in an inning. Tendulkar was also in his elements as he played brilliant shots in all parts of the ground.

Yuvraj Singh also got out in his twenties and was caught by Kumara Sangakkara on the bowling of Welegedera at 23. However, this proved only a blip as both Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik took the Indians safely to home.

Australia VS West Indies 3rd Test Resuit - Australia won by 35 runs

Australia beat West Indies, by 35 runs, 3rd test match, on Sunday, 20th December, 2009 at Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth, (West Indies) got Man of the Match, and Series, CH Gayle 1st iining - 102 runs in 2nd inning 21 runs.

Match Summary:

Australia 1st innings - 520/7 130.4 overs, (SM Katich 99, BJ Haddin 88, SR Watson 89)

West Indies 1st innings - 312/all out; 81, overs, (CH Gayle 102, TM Dowlin 55, DE Bollinger 5-70)

Australia 2nd innings - 150/all out; 51.3 overs, (SR Watson 30, DJ Bravo 4-42, SJ Benn 3-29)

West Indies 2nd innings (target: 359 runs) - 323/all out; 94.3 overs, (N Deonarine 82, Bollinger and Johnson 3 Wicket)

Toss - Australia, who chose to bat

Man of the Match - CH Gayle (West Indies)

Man of the Match Series - CH Gayle (West Indies)

Result - Australia won by 35 runs

Series - Australia won the 3-match series 2-0

Sachin To Participate In Olympic Torch Relay

Sachin Tendulkar, on Monday April 7, 2008 consented to be a part of the Olympic torch relay slated for April 17 in New Delhi. The master blaster said that he was looking forward to run with the Olympic torch. He however refused to comment on the ongoing controversy surrounding the protests. Beijing Olympic Games are scheduled for August 8-24 and would witness more than 200 countries of the world and Head of the States participating in the games. The recent mobilization of Chinese army in Tibet has called for protests from different sections of the world.

Suresh Kalmadi, President Indian Olympic Association confirmed Sachin’s participation in the Indian leg of the Olympic torch relay. Indian football team captain, Bhaichung Bhutia however had refused to be a part of the Olympic torch relay in wake of the recent developments in Tibet at China’s behest. Further, sporting giants of India who would be a part of the Olympic relay team include, Pullela Gopichand, Milkha Singh and Anju Bobby George among others.

Kalmadi further stated that India will make sure that no untoward incident takes place during the Olympic torch relay in New Delhi. Several protestors disrupted the relay during it’s London leg by shouting slogans like ‘shame on China’. A similar protest is apprehended in India, which is home to several Tibetans living in exile here. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has already announced the shortening of the Olympic torch relay route from 9 km to 3km in wake of security concerns.

Angelo Mathews to miss rest of one day internationals

Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews who did it with the bat during the second ODI will miss rest of the Karbon Mobile ODI Series. The medium-pacer strained his right quadricep during his match-winning 37 not out in Friday's second ODI.

Thissara Peera is called for to take the place of Angelo Mathews.

Sri Lanka ODI Squad (Updated): Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedara, Tilina Kandamby, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis, M.Pushpakumara, Suraj Randiv, T.Peera.

Indian team is announced for the next two ODI’s

Indian selectors have announced the 15 man squad for the next two one day internationals against Sri Lanka to be played on 21^st and 24^th of December 2009 at Barabati Stadium, CuttackEden Garden, Kolkata. and

There are only two changes in the squad which was announced for the first two ODI’s. Ishant Sharma is called back in place of S.Sreesanth and wicket keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik is called for banned Indian captain M.S.Dhoni.

The captaincy job is handed over to Virendra Sehwag while Gautam Gambhir will be his deputy.

Selectors have kept Yuvraj Singh in the 15 member squad who has not played a single match because of a finger injury and flu, which is an indication that the elegant left hander was expected to be fit for the remaining three matches of the five-match series.

India Squad for 3rd and 4th ODIs: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag (Captain), Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hrbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Sudeep Tyagi, Virat Kohli.

Indian Captain M.S.Dhoni banned for ODI at Cuttack and Kolkata

ndia Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been banned by match referee Jeff Crowe because of slow over rate by Indian team. They were bowled their last eight overs of the inning in more than one hour. India were three overs short, which comes under the "serious over-rate offense" category.

Falling short by two overs in ODI or in a five day test match is considered as minor offence but falling short by three overs is considered as major offense and only because of this M.S.Dhoni ban will be immediately take effect. That means he will have to sit out of Cuttack and Kolkata ODI’s against Sri Lanka. The rest of the Indian players were fined 40% of their match fee for the offense.

If India repeats a serious over-rate offence in any form of the game within the next 12 months, Dhoni could earn himself a ban of two to eight ODIs or one to four Tests.

What were the umpires doing at Perth?

During the first over after lunch on day two of the Perth test in the Frank Worrell Trophy featuring Australia v West Indies, Suleiman Benn, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson got into a fracas. The sequence of events, which you can see in the video on YouTube, was approximately this:

• Haddin plays a ball towards mid wicket and sees the possibility of a quick single
  
• Benn, bowling from around the wicket, runs across to his right to cut off the single
  
• Johnson put his head down and ran, reviving memories of Forrest Gump
  
• Benn tries to get to the ball, and ends up looking like he was dragging Johnson back with his hand
  
• When the ball is 'dead', Haddin points his bat at Benn possibly asking him to stop coming in the way
  
• Benn is now really mad and keeps chattering & abusing away
  
• Gayle is standing still, first listening to Haddin's point of view and then to Benn
  
• Umpire Billy Bowden then steps in and asks Gayle & Benn to get on with it
  
• Benn, still very angry, asks Haddin some questions, throwing in a couple of obscenities rhyming with 'chuck'
  
• Benn then bowls an absolute ripper of a delivery that Johnson has no clue about. The batsmen cross over for a bye
  
• Benn is still unhappy and chattering away. He even appears to ask Johnson something, while Johnson practices his straight drive at the non-striker's end
  
• Benn bowls to Haddin, who drives the ball straight back. Benn threatens to throw the ball back (unsure if he was threatening to hit Haddin or the stumps) and Haddin provides a view of his stumps, requesting him to take a shot
  
• That was the last ball of the over. Haddin walks down the pitch grinning and saying something to Benn
  
• Benn tries to point out something to Haddin with his hand and accidentally brushes against Johnson
  
• Johnson pushes Benn away
  
• Bowden finally realizes things could be going from bad to worse and steps in

Purely going by what was seen on TV, there were multiple people at fault here:

• Benn - He had no business tugging at Johnson's shirt and trying to drag him back
  
• Haddin - He had no business pointing his bat and interfering with something that Benn & Johnson should have (and could have) sorted out between themselves
  
• Johnson - He can't be blamed too much because it is unlikely he would have realized that Benn brushing him was accidental. But given the heated situation at that time, pushing Benn away was a bad choice
  
• Bowden & Gould - The umpires are the biggest culprits here. The moment it seemed like Benn & Haddin were in a war of words, they should have stepped in and called a halt to the verbal warfare. They didn't, couldn't, or chose not to. Then, when Johnson pushed Benn away, Bowden was almost apologetically pleading with the players to move on. All this while, Gould, the square-leg umpire, was conspicuously absent, probably day-dreaming about the sumptuous lunch he had just finished

A couple of aspects of today's incident are interesting, and give me a huge sense of deja vu.

Symonds v/s Harbhajan at Sydney in early 2008: Harbhajan patted Lee on the back and Symonds, standing quite far away from the scene of action, stepped in quite unwarrantedly to save his mate's arse from Harbhajan.

Today, Benn ran into Johnson and Haddin batted on Johnson's behalf.

A couple of years ago, during the 2nd final of the triangular ODI series in Australia, Michael Clarke, the bowler, nearly pulled down Sachin Tendulkar's pants in order to prevent Tendulkar, at the non-striker's end, from taking a single.

There was no sign of any apology from Clarke, because he was only doing it hoping that Tendulkar's greatness would have 'rubbed off' on him. Tendulkar also seems to have rather enjoyed the fondling. Gautam Gambhir, who played the shot, did nothing. Of course, it is quite likely that this unwarranted & deliberate physical contact, and the absence of any action around it, 'inspired' him to try a similar stunt a year later.

Today, Haddin couldn't keep quiet, and had to intervene. An issue that could have been sorted out in a few seconds dragged on and on. It's quite likely that there will be follow-ups over the next 3 days of the test.

Benn has now been charged with a Level 2 offence while Haddin & Johnson have been charged with Level 1 offences under the ICC's code of conduct for players.

Clause 2.2.4 refers to "Inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between Players in the course of play during an International Match".

If Benn's physical contact (the act of tugging at Johnson, for I am unaware of any other deliberate/inappropriate physical contact) was wrong, Johnson is also guilty of pushing Benn away.

Haddin would be guilty under 2.1.4 (Using language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting) or 2.1.8 (conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game or brings the game into disrepute). I don't think he should be charged with a Level 2 offence because he only brandished his bat (admittedly, that did sort of make the whole incident a lot worse than it could have been) and almost definitely needled Benn.

Am I surprised that Haddin & Johnson are likely to get away with a lesser charge laid against them? Of course, not! We know by now who gets away with it.

Benn should actually feel proud that the Australians seem to be targetting him now. That usually happens to combustible folks who're doing well against the Aussies.

On a related note, Malcolm Conn's ghost-writer has once again forgotten to use the magic phrase "India have been the worst-behaved team in cricket over the last decade" in his latest piece.

Australia tour of New Zealand 2009/10 /

1st T20I: New Zealand v Australia at Wellington - Feb 26, 2010

Match scheduled to begin at 19:00 local time (06:00 GMT)

2nd T20I: New Zealand v Australia at Christchurch - Feb 28, 2010

Match scheduled to begin at 18:00 local time (05:00 GMT)

1st ODI: New Zealand v Australia at Napier - Mar 3, 2010

Match scheduled to begin at 14:00 local time (01:00 GMT)

2nd ODI: New Zealand v Australia at Auckland - Mar 6, 2010

Match scheduled to begin at 12:00 local time (23:00 GMT)

3rd ODI: New Zealand v Australia at Hamilton - Mar 9, 2010

Match scheduled to begin at 14:00 local time (01:00 GMT)

4th ODI: New Zealand v Australia at Auckland - Mar 11, 2010

Match scheduled to begin at 14:00 local time (01:00 GMT)

5th ODI: New Zealand v Australia at Wellington - Mar 13, 2010

Match scheduled to begin at 14:00 local time (01:00 GMT)

1st Test: New Zealand v Australia at Wellington - Mar 19-23, 2010

Match scheduled to begin at 11:00 local time (22:00 GMT)

2nd Test: New Zealand v Australia at Hamilton - Mar 27-31, 2010

Match scheduled to begin at 11:00 local time (22:00 GMT)

Sachin deserves that knighthood even more now

Someone has written about that knighthood that could possibly come Sachin Tendulkar's way. Now, after this sterling, still unbeaten, performance from Sachin at Adelaide, I guess the officials concerned need to rush with the honouring formalities!

He has really proved his class by the manner in which he totally dominated the bowlers. Man, you've got to respect him for the way he has carried on and on doing his stuff inspite of all that has happened around him. So much pressure, so many expectations. Anyone else will have definitey crumbled.

Anyway, that's just about one innings in one day of one test match. Still a long way to go in the game. I guess we'll get upto about 400 in the first innings. Then it's upto the bowlers to rework the
magic that hapened at Perth.

The Symonds Story

You've got to feel sorry for Andrew Symonds. For all the talent he has, the imposing Australian is one player who can and will rewrite record books with ease and grand flourish, if only he can put everything behind and continue playing the game and entertaining the audience. There are talks already of how he will be missed in the upcoming Australia's tour of India and I can't help but agree.

The Symonds fishing story reminds me of what happened with a co-worker of mine who wanted a week's leave from work in order to be able to attend his brother's wedding (a wedding is a long-drawn affair in India). He was denied the permission by his manager and ended up loosing his cool, yelled at his superior and took the drastic step of walking away from his job. Anyway, when he later saw the stupidity of what he had done, he waked right in again, apologized and was forgiven. He got his week's leave too!

Goes to show what happened to Symonds can happen to anyone, doesn't it? The employer holds the money purse and as long as that's true, it is also true that you are required to bow down to the demands of the job. Hope Symonds too can clear all his cobwebs away and come back to cricket just to play and enjoy the game.

The 100 percent cricketer

Another great bows out and it is time for another grand farewell and more fond memories. I don't think anyone will ever forget Anil Kumble bowling with indomitable spirit and passion with a fractured jaw or his extremely transparent determination and sheer pride in the Kotla test that ended today.

Well, here's a real neat article written by who else but Rahul Dravid who has probably played the most games alongside Kumble both in first-class and international games combined. And I suppose this little paragraph embedded in an article that clearly reflects the admiration that Dravid has for the man, says it all:

His attitude makes him a dream to captain. When I led against New Zealand in 2003 at Mohali and we lost the toss and had to bowl first on a flat wicket, not once did Anil complain. Occasionally a bowler, faced with an unresponsive wicket, might give up mentally, but not Anil; never did he say, "Rahul, give me a break." He just bowled on and on. He does not know what giving up means.
You can say that again, Dravid.

2009 Ashes, 5th Test, Day 1: The most important Test in the history of mankind

The 4th Test was hailed as the 2009 Ashes decider. Of course it wasn't - it never was going to be barring an English victory. But now, we come to the 5th Test which most definitely is the decider. An Ashes grand final, if you will. But more than that, it's the most important Test in Ricky Ponting's career. At the toss this morning, Andrew Strauss agreed it was also the biggest game of his career (although "probably, definitely" is somewhat damning with faint praise). That is, until the next high pressure game that comes along and everyone begins ratcheting up the hyperbole once again.

What this Test should be is an excellent opportunity for a drinking game. I would suggest rules such as take a sip everytime the commentators use the words Flintoff and talisman/X-factor in the same sentence. A swig everytime the Aussies sledge Trott. A sip whenever the 2005 Ashes are invoked, or empty the glass if it's followed up with the Aussie quest for redemption.

It's tempting from an Aussie point of view to write off the English side after their dismal 5th Test. But this series has seesawed from game to game so there's no telling what might happen. Flintoff will bolster the batting and bowling line-up. Harmison is a wild card - who knows whether he'll fire or not. And its impossible to predict how Trott will handle the step up to Test cricket. All the questions and the series will be resolved in 5 days...

Are 50-over ODIs in danger actually?

Asking if the 50-over game is in danger sounds timely considering the following:

* I, and I suspect several others, yawned after realizing that two 50-over ODI tournaments will be in progress simultaneously (the 7 ODIs between Australia & England and the 4-match tri-series involving New Zealand, India & Sri Lanka.
* Sachin Tendulkar has a proposal to save the format from becoming irrelevant.
* The ECB announced that domestic games would be 40-overs a side from the 2010 season.

The ICC keeps bleating about how it is proud that there are 3 viable formats of the game, and that all three can co-exist. That's actually rubbish. If the scheduling of tours & tournaments doesn't change significantly, one form of the game (and I'm willing to bet that it won't be T20) will gradually disappear until there's nothing left of it, except for silly-looking administrators (to paraphrase Lewis Carroll).

Let's assume that there will be 3 formats of the game, and that a typical series would have 2 tests (sadly), 5 ODIs and 2 T20 games. Factor in ICC rules (can't locate it) that mandate at least 3 days gap between tests, 2 warm-up games (1 before the tests and 1 before the ODIs), at most 1 back-to-back ODI, 2 days gap between the other ODIs, 1 day gap between the T20 games and at least 1-2 days gap between each leg (Test, ODI & T20) legs of the tour. We're talking of something like a 40-day tour, with 21 playing days. Nearly half the tour's duration would be devoted to the 5-day game (either the actual playing days or the warm-ups or the time between first-class games). It definitely does seem like the softest target. Remove the tests from the tour, and you can easily squeeze in at least 5 more ODIs.

Now, on an average, each team plays around 3 test series during a year. Let's assume that all these series are 2-test, 5-ODI & 2-T20 affairs (which is a very simplistic & minimal assumption). So we're talking of a total touring time of 120 days, out of which just over half are playing days. If only it was so simple.

There are ICC tournaments to contend with, each lasting 30-40 days at least, on an annual basis. Then there are some series that don't fit in to the minimalistic 2-5-2 model. They may have 3 tests, 5 ODIs and 2 T20 games. Others like Australia's tour of England have 5 tests, 7 ODIs and 2 T20 games. That tour started on June 24 (excluding the T20 World Cup) and will end on Sep 20 - nearly 3 months, with nearly 50 playing days! Then there are some other meaningless tri-nation tournaments. Then there're the new leagues - IPL and Champions League.

So, players could be "on-the-road" for something like 220-250 days a year, playing on around 120-140 of those days.

Isn't it still obvious that if the ICC continues to harp on retaining 3 formats, something is going to give?

Yet, will it necessarily result in T20 driving the 50-over game out of existence? I suspect not, primarily for commercial reasons.

Assuming that other factors are identical across both the formats (i.e. teams play out the entire allotment of overs, and lose the same number of wickets), TV viewers watching a 50-over game would see 60% more ads than when they were watching a T20 game (figure it out - 49 over-breaks v/s 19 over-breaks per innings).

Even though you can squeeze in 2 T20 games within the duration of 1 50-over ODI, the number of ad-breaks between overs is reduced by 22% (49 v/s 2x19). We haven't even got to the possibility that more wickets are likely to fall across 50 overs compared to 20 overs, thereby increasing the number of ad breaks!

Even the ECB's (and Cricket South Africa's) moves to 40-over cricket will fail for the same reason - 20% less ad-breaks. The BCCI is unlikely to support the ECB & CSA on this. Cricket Australia moved away from the tri-series format only this year. So they're unlikely to take a plunge without having evaluated the benefits of staging 2 bilateral ODI series compared to the ODI triangular format. There's probably not too much of a point in discussing what other countries will do.

In any case, the ICC had already announced the venues for the next 3 World Cups over three years ago. This doesn't imply that a change in realities won't make them change the format of those tournaments. After all, the 2010 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy (hosted by West Indies) was converted into the T20 World Cup. Such a move would need the BCCI's backing (and by implication a few other boards that kow-tow to them), and that seems very unlikely at this point in time.

Twenty years of Tendulkar

When I think of Sachin Tendulkar having played international cricket for 2 decades, I feel really old. It's been that long? Why, just the other day he was caning that Pakistani leggie wizard all over the park! A few days ago, he almost scored a test hundred, aged 16. After that, he was outscoring the rest of the batsmen on his first tour of Australia, aged 18.

In fact, very early on, I used to feel a bit stupid. Here was a chap just about 2 years older than me, playing test cricket when I didn't even get a chance to bowl in an intra-school cricket tournament although I'd been picked as a bowler!

It is pertinent to point out though that when I knew he'd flunked his class 10 exams and the rumour doing the rounds was that it was because of Shilpa Shirodkar, I was quite pleased with the way my life was progressing.

I had first come across Brian Lara in a newspaper match report where he thrashed the Indian bowling attack (if a "pace" lineup of Sanjeev Sharma & Robin Singh can constitute an 'attack') in a tour game. In hindsight, it would have been so eerie had Tendulkar made it to that tour. We'd now be talking about two greats making their debut at the same time!

When he went past Lara and became the top run-getter in tests, I wrote about how I was in awe of his skills.

Take a look at the list of youngest test players, specifically the ones aged 17 or below. Aside from Sachin Tendulkar, Garry Sobers and Hanif Mohammed, no-one else really qualifies as an all-time great. Even tech start-ups probably have a higher success rate!

The main aspect of his career that has really stunned me is how he has managed to stay so level-headed over such a long period of time, without doing anything stupid (let's ignore the Ferrari fiasco for e.g.) or controversial. Contrast this to how rarely a day goes by without the likes of Yuvraj, Harbhajan or Sreesanth being in the news.

If I had to pick one knock from all his knocks that I've seen, I'd pick the century he made at Melbourne in 2000. It seemed as though he was batting on a totally different pitch and against a bowling attack that was markedly inferior to the one that had blown away the rest of the batsmen. The only other times I've seen an Indian batsman do that were Rahul Dravid at Jamaica in 2006 and Virender Sehwag at Galle in 2008.

So, is it time for Tendulkar to become a little more selective about the tests he plays in? At this point in time, assuming that Yuvraj is now almost a test certainty, Badrinath, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma are in the queue for a test middle-order batting slot, with someone like Cheteshwar Pujara being a 'dark horse'. How do the selectors find out if any of them (or even Yuvraj beginning to bat at #4) are good enough to even have a 5 year career, especially when the volume of tests that India plays is likely to reduce.

Does Tendulkar have anything left to prove now? In fact, has he actually had anything left to prove now for at least the last couple of years? Would we grudge him if he throttled back on his commitments, so that he's fit & firing to help achieve what he seems to indicate would be a great way to sign off - India winning the 2011 World Cup?

Could we make the same argument to have Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman also skip a few tests every now and then? Perhaps yes, but they don't play ODIs. So playing test cricket won't really stretch them physically or mentally. But that's not the case with Tendulkar, who plays tests and ODIs.

Umer Akmal A Real Star

NewZealand: In the First Test match against Pakistan NZ put a reasonable total on the board. By repeating the triditions Pakistan batting lineup fell in trouble in the early session of the first inning. At one time Pakistan lose its five wickets just on 85. But the two Akmal brothers played their role to save the test. After the ton of younger brother Kamran lost its mind on tried to go after the NZ Skipper but he lost his wicket. Young Akmal hit the ball all around the ground and scored a respected debut ton. The brothers saved the best for Bond, though. After Kamran hit him for three boundaries in two overs, Umar gave him the real treatment in the next. Three short deliveries, three pulls, left of mid-on, right of mid-on, and through midwicket, and the partnership had crossed 100. Umar had reached 72 off 91 then, and Kamran 47 off 81.

Aussies Set For A New Record

Well the Australian cricket team may at present not be the number 1 team that it was until recently when the Proteas took over. And after their 2-1 series loss to England in the recently concluded Ashes added fuel to fire when they were stripped off their number 1 status in test cricket also to South Africa. Needless to be said, this has taken a toll on the Australian players and Ricky Ponting especially when he was not only forced to take a short gap after his team's dismal performance but also quit the much hyped T20 cricket. All because of bad luck in addition to bad cricket.

Anyways, coming to the sixth one day international cricket match between England and Australia at Nottingham, as expected, England were thrashed by a whooping 111 runs, the margin coinciding with the top scorer and the man of the match Tim Paine who also scored 111 runs that included 14 hits to the fence and 1 huge one over Long Off. No doubt that there was a life when he was dropped when on 30 by Matt Prior behind the stumps. Anyway, that is almost expected off England whatsoever. They rank the first to make a mess of the game. One has to appreciate the 163 runs partnership between Mike Hussey and the man of the match Tim Paine.

After the match, England looked almost exhausted and got used to such defeats especially against Australia. Since the beginning of the series, starting from the Ashes, England have always been at the receiving end if not for the self destruction made by the Aussie players when they could have well ended up victorious in the very first Ashes test, when a 7th wicket partnership in England's second innings proved too costly for Ponting's men in white. And what all followed suite is well in front of our eyes. What have England got to lose when Australia have no determination to win when the odds favored them?

Well, that is all past, and the future of the Ashes' bitter memory have only made the Aussies strong that is quite evident in the seven match one day international series. With 6 of them already in the Australians' pockets, the seventh one will be a lot more important for Australians especially, since they have lost the Common Wealth Bank series a couple of years back to the same England and in addition to that, in case Australia managed to win this one, they would be the first team in the history of the game of cricket to have won all seven one dayers in a bilateral series. And that is not all for Australia. They will share the number 1 position with South Africa in case they do that. So, who is going to miss that!!!

Dhoni Could Have Done A Lot Many Things

This has of late been the mantra of the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni whenever team India's performance is far below par. Often Dhoni is seen making statements that includes a lot of ifs and buts that can make and break many things in life. This I decided to make a point after I just now heard Dhoni's statement that "We could have bowled tighter" on cricinfo. The first time I heard Dhoni using such worthless words was after India's miserable loss at the hands of Sri Lanka in the finals of the Asia cup 2008 held at Pakistan. A little bit of planning always helps and is Dhoni an exception?

His words never were different after his team's losses in the second world T20 held at England where Dhoni's men had wins only against minnows Bangladesh and Ireland that were followed by a series of losses against England, West Indies and South Africa. There, Dhoni was in for much praise for accepting his mistake whose result was a complete whitewash for his team. This was followed by Dhoni repeating the same statement (may be with a different set of words) in the ICC Champions Trophy where his team could draw only a consolation win from the game against the West Indies.

And perhaps one has to say thanks for not saying that "had we batted against Australia, we would have won". Of course, there is no rule that a team that had not won until then should not win against a team that ended the tournament without losing a single match. Words of Dhoni were no different when his team lost the one day series against Australia 4-2 of late. Had the players put in a little bit of hard work, India would have surely had the series well within their hands. No doubt that India came close to winning matches against against Australia on two occassions. But, isn't it that margin that makes a winner and a loser of the game?

We have in the past seen many captains slamming their respective cricket boards, captains and coaches, batsmen, bowlers and fieldsmen in addition to the weather, the pitch and of course the umpires. One has to really appreciate anyone who accepts his mistake whenever something goes wrong. But, it its nothing but a joke for anyone to repeat the same words again and again when there is hardly any improvement in his team's performance. A sorry this time should be a better performance in the next and not just another sorry. It is not an unknown fact that better things give rise to better performance and Dhoni need not keep on reminding it again and again I suppose.

New Zealand beat Pakistan

Pakistan might have lost out on an opportunity to host a test match but has not yet lost out on winning a test series. This despite the fact that Pakistan lost the first test to New Zealand yesterday at Dunedin by 32 runs. Thanks to some one man show by Shane Bond in terms of the bowling department of New Zealand who took 8 wickets to earn the man of the match. However, the batting department didn't lag far behind when the lower middle order batsman in Daniel Vettori bought up all his experience to miss another century by 1 run and in addition some contributions from Guptill and Taylor as well.

Despite all these positives from the New Zealand batsmen and Shane Bond and with the fact that New Zealand won the first test, I'd still say that it was a fluke that New Zealand won the match and not by talent. A close look at the New Zealand players irrespective of which department they belonged to, their body language was never found to speak for them whatsoever. Except for Shane Bond, none of the New Zealand players ever showed any sort of enthusiasm in game for reasons best known to them personally. There was hardly any passion for the game from the New Zealand side.

On the other side, the Pakistani players were in the game until they lost their last wicket. The last three wicket partnership for Pakistan in the second innings lasted for as long as 17 overs and nothing would have been possible without the presence of Shane Bond. Where were the players from New Zealand when they had to face the Pakistani bowlers who just dumbfounded most of the New Zealand batsmen when they lost all their wickets for a partly score of just 153? It was not a big deal to have posted a just above 400 runs in the first innings after being put to bat by Pakistan.

It was not a bad move when the Pakistani captain chose to field first after winning the toss for, not only did bowlers from Pakistan have the guts to put pressure on the New Zealand batsmen but also that the New Zealand batting line up was thought to never rise up which unfortunately didn't happen. Once again Shane Bond's presence played a crucial role here when he took 5 Pakistani wickets restricting them for 332. That was not a bad total whatsoever by Pakistan. It was some luck that saw New Zealand score 429 runs which eventually saw them end up victorious.

One has to just wait and see how far can New Zealand can go from here onwards. Can the Kiwis win atleast one of the remaining 2 matches to win the series?

Sreesanth turns the screw

Well, this is the second time in a few years that I've gotten up in the morning to find out that Sreesanth has bowled India to a match-winning position. The Kanpur pitch suddenly doesn't look like a road, does it? 13 wickets on the third day, after 2 on the first and 9 on the second. And wonder of wonders, we actually have an enforced follow-on on our hands.

Those early wickets by Sreesanth in the morning made the rest of the day into a classic struggle against a big scoreboard in which the batsmen eventually came out distinctly second-best. Sri Lanka's second innings, and the Jayawardene runout, showed that the pressure has built up to very uncomfortable, and indeed unbearable, levels.

Cliches about prodigal sons aside, this return by Sreesanth is very impressive. He hadn't earned his selection but he sure has earned a spot in the eleven by this performance.

"Fearless, courageous at times"

That is how Martin Crowe describes Umar Akmal. He is also better looking than his brother. And, I think, he will prove to be a better batsman as well. But, Martin, if he is "fearless", why is he only "courageous at times"? Why the constant fearlessness but the merely sporadic displays of courage?

The century of wins

India have now won 100 tests. Check out this Statsguru report showing the 100. Play with it a bit; there are some interesting numbers in there. Some are revelatory, some are humbling. One interesting stat for now: India have won 57 tests since SRT made his debut in 1989.