The recent performance of Indian cricket team show they are forgetting what they knew the best.  They are falling like anything against spin attack. its easy to understand a team of youngsters losing final match of asia cup.But what happened today???? Indian lost against spin!!!! when the greats of sachin tendulkar, rahul dravid, sourav ganguly, laxman etc fail against spin (yeah laxman managed something in first innings) then we have to give it a think...  i doubt if the Indian team is still practicing to play against pace attack.   dont know what happened to harbajan's and kumble's  spin. when the srilankans batted the pitch looked like a great batting pitch and most of us thought the match will be a draw. but when the srilankans bowled the pitch suddenly seemed to be supporting spin attack...  is it any black magic on the pitch?

Come On Guys dont give up we need you people to conquer lanka again...!! and show to world Indians are still the best against spin attack

i hope the indians will bounce back as they did against in australia in last australian tour.. but this habbit of losing first match is not good always....!!!

It would have been unfair to expect Gambhir to tackle Murali and fair to expect Jayawardene to bring on the spinners in the 10th over (a ploy that has previous worked for him). Sehwag was his usual reckless self. Tendulkar wasn't sure whether to play or leave Murali's doosra, Ganguly couldn't control the sweep, and the shot that Karthik offered to Murali was disastrous and may just seal his fate out of the Test side. While that would certainly be unfair to him, something better would have been expected from him, especially towards the end of the day's play.

So where from now? Laxman is left to bat with the tail for the umpteenth time in his Test career. I would think India would be lucky to make 180 before they are all out. Looking at the stats and the stature of the batting line up, it would only be expected of them to draw the game. It was a similar side that, after following on, beat Australia, but differences remain. The self-belief seems lacking, at least to us. The Ganguly-spirit is also missing. Additionally, the seniors - the core of the bating line up - seem to be under pressure and want to prove something. Trying too hard has got them to this stage now. With these parameters in mind, a draw seems bleak, but I wouldn't write 'em off yet.

While India returns to its time-tested and experienced lot, I will resume my slightly biased blogging with the occasional pretense of objectivity ;) Why you may ask? In the recently concluded Kitply and Asia Cup ODI series, I was indifferent, almost anti-Indian, as the team didn't feel Indian-enough for some reason. But this Indian team is our age-old one and a loved one featuring the Big Three, Fab Four, Fab Five, whatever you want to call it. There is also the added evil joy in the absense of Dhoni (sorry SP and other Dhoni fans).

There's plenty to excitement in store: umpiring referral, Tendulkar's record beckoning, Mendis against the famed Indian batsmen, Murali vs. Dravid, Ganguly vs. Vaas (Dada has creamed him the past), Indian spinners and Dinesh Karthik.

So time to cheer. Indiyaah! Indiyaah!

Kaushalya (Ram's mother) and Laxman are upset about Prince Ram having to go to live like an ascetic in a jungle instead of being crowned as a king. Laxman suggests using force and giving Ram his right to the kingdom. Ram replies it is not the fault of my mother Kakeyi or my father Dashrath (he is simply keeping his promise given to Kakeyi) and we should not use force with family members. Family members are our loved ones and they should be loved and respected. Ram happily accepts Kakeyi's wish and as always treats her like his mother Kaushalaya.

There is so much we can learn from the life of Ram. Applying what we learn at least one thing a day and then extending it for a week, for a month, and then for the rest of our life is suggested in their discourses and advice given by our loving gurus and teachers - Swami Ji Maharaj, Shree Prem JI Maharaj, and Pujya Dr. Vishwa Mitter Ji Maharaj.

How lucky and blessed are we for having such a heritage, culture, and most of all having loving Sant and Mahatmas (Saints and Great souls) in our lives who have blessed us with Ram Naam.

Everyone knows BCCI's stand on ICL contracted players but today they have taken it to a completely different level. The current diktat issued by the BCCI is absolutely ridiculous. BCCI has barred the Indian players from signing with any English counties who have ICL players in them. This is absolute nonsense. BCCI is a cricket governing body of India but they behave as if they are governing world cricket.

BCCI has no rights to say what the ECB should be doing with their domestic tournament. Piyush chawla who is currently not a part of the Indian test squad to Srilanka was supposed to join Hampshire in the current season. Now BCCI has denied Piyush the opportunity as Hampshire has ICL linked players in their team. There are only three counties which dont have any ICL links and they are Middlesex, Somerset and Essex. This means that Laxman who was supposed to join Northamptonshire after the test series would not be able to do so either.

BCCI's ongoing tussle with Subhash Chandra (Essel Group, Founder of ICL) is causing a major divide in world cricket. Already some good international players have been lost due to this ongoing battle. BCCI has already started their own league successfully and I dont think that ICL is causing any harm to them in terms of revenue. If BCCI open their eyes to the fact that ICL and IPL can coexist then it will be better for world cricket.

I dont understand why other cricketing nations should suffer due to this stand from BCCI. Already Newzealand has lost one of their premier strike bowler Shane Bond and Pakistan has lost players like Azhar Mahmood and Razzak. Playing in county cricket might have given young Piyush with a great opportunity early in his career. BCCI tried to stop the counties from signing up the players from ICL, when they did not adhere to their threats now they are stopping Indians from participating in county cricket.

ECB has nothing to lose if Piyush decides not to join Hampshire. Its sad to see that now Indian cricketers are also suffering due this ridiculous fight between BCCI and the ICL. BCCI have made the point with IPL and have made lots of money and I guess thats where this fight should end. The problem is BCCI has lots of ego and unfourtunately unless the ICC takes some stand on this issue the problem will never end. Being an Indian supporter I just feel ashamed of this behaviour from BCCI and I am sure that they are not earning too many fans accross the world with this latest stunt.

First, they call ICL a rogue league, then they ban them from ever representing India. After that, they ban counties with ICL players to play in the recently announced Champions League. Now they are barring Indian cricketers from signing contracts with English counties who have ICL players/staff. It is noteworthy here to point out that only Middlesex, Somerset and Essex have teams without any ICL players (source Cricinfo).

This will deny opportunities for Piyush Chawla, VVS Laxman and Ajit Agarkar, who are about to sign contracts with English counties.

How far can the BCCI take this? Here are some thoughts:

1. Retroactively ban Indian cricketers Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, Kumble and Zaheer for having associated themselves with counties that now have ICL players. (As an aside, this will be Dhoni's dream come true - a nice way to get rid of the seniors once and for all)

2. Get ICC to revoke international-status for cricket grounds belonging to counties with ICL staff. Further revoke such privileges from all grounds worldwide where an ICL player has set foot (again retroactively also). This will date back to ICL player's pre-ICL days.

3. Stop buying any gear from all brands sported by ICL players

4. Ban all Test playing and affiliate nations from using colors used by ICL-bearing English counties, ICL teams, and ICL players (including their off-time)

5. Ban any future talent from playing matches in any form of cricket world who have had any association with ICL players, again retroactively applied. This includes friends and neighbors of ICL players, people who visit or own grocery stores, movie theatres, shopping malls, or any other public place graced by any ICL member.

I think I could go on, but you get the idea.

While I'm not surprised that the ECB hasn't done anything about this yet, I would expect some kind of backlash, at least to save face. England should pull out of their tour of India in protest and suspend hosting any future tours of India until the issue is resolved.

This whole BCCI vs. ICL issue has been ridiculous. Kapil Dev's ICL after all was started with good intent: to groom young Indian talent by providing them opportunites to play against international quality opposition. The BCCI have successfully thwarted them. Fellow blogger Q has suggested that they are left no other option but to take their cricket elsewhere, like the UAE. Perhaps that is the only alternative they have now to survive.

Much has been said of the performances of the icons, specially the senior ones: Dravid, VVS Laxman, Ganguly and Tendulkar. I will not venture into that discussion just yet. Instead, I will ask this. What will an icon-less IPL be like? Considering some of the owners' heavy-handed manner and the way things are going for the icons, I would speculate that not all of these folks will feature in the next installment.

Let us assume, for arguments sake, that neither of the above mentioned icons make it to the second season in any form. What would be the reaction of the masses? Especially the partisan ones - Mumbai and Kolkata. The Mumbai folks (or at least most of them) throng the IPL to watch Tendulkar and Kolkata to see their Maharaj. What happens to the other folk who go to these matches to see a Ganguly or a Dravid bat? Will these foks not turn up? Going by the attendance in the Ranji Trophy, an icon-less IPL will be a only a few grades more interesting to the masses. Yes, there will be Gilchrist fans and the McGrath fans, and they will bring some people to the stands, but these folk are the more educated cricket watchers, not the average Indian guy on the street who goes to watch a cricket match.

Even as I type this, I see the counter argument coming. One being that Indian cricket is in a state of flux where the seniors will slowly make way for deserving youngsters; that we need to be practical and one day or the other get used to an Indian team sans Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid; that the fans of the new recruits will take the place of today's masses. True, all valid arguments. However the issue is that all this takes time. You need several match-winning performances to get a fan following. Good looks will help too :). Consider Rohit Sharma, who gave us some very valuable runs in that T20 world cup match against South Africa. On the other hand you have Ishant Sharma - the find of the Aussie tour, the kid who troubled titan-esque Aussie captain Ponting. I would think Ishant has a bigger fan following than Rohit Sharma. On the other hand, Gautham Gambhir, who has figured in more matches than the Sharmas may have a smaller fan base. All this is of course speculation. The point that I'm trying to make is that, for the icon-less IPL season to succeed, it must be timed right. If not, it will shake the very foundation of the IPL. Lack of crowds will affect TV ratings, ad money, sponsorship, etc, and pinch the owner's pocket.

The owners may consider the icons as dead weight, but they bring the crowds at least for now. And they might need the icons more than they think, for this is India; we are mostly a crazy lot and cricket is a religion here. The owners, at least for the time being, better not mess with the Gods.

I learnt that Lord Jeffery Archer was visiting Pune on a whirlwind tour (12 cities in 2 weeks) of India. I had made up my mind to make the best of the opportunity. More than me, it was my best friend Maggi who wanted to meet him in person (she is really impressed with his latest book). Besides,since I am aspiring to be a novelist myself and am currently writing short stories (so that I can publish them in future as collected works), I wanted to hear the Lord of Storytelling himself!

I have to admit this right away. I admire this old man who is in the prime of his youth. I admire him for his energy, enthusiasm, his discipline (writing schedules), his ability to bounce back, his ability to make the best out of the worst (prison diaries), his sense of humor and above all his ability to tell a story.

I will not write about what you already know about him and if you want to know more; you can check his site. I read his recent book 'Prisoner of Birth' and I was not impressed. It is a typical Bollywood blockbuster movie on the lines of Don (Amitabh wala, which I like better). But I am not a critic and I am not discussing his books which you already read and can judge for yourself.

I am writing about the man in person. I rushed to Landmark Pune on the 22nd of May (Thursday) along with my buddy, Maggi. We were aware that he was expected to reach Landmark by 6.30pm. So we were at the place by 5.30pm. The first floor already had people walking in and some of the chairs already taken.

The organizers announced that in order to get the book signed we had to buy and get it billed first. So now I am not a big fan of autographs. But, since my friend was more excited than I was, I bought "As the Crow flies" and got it billed. We still had time to kill so we kept our books on two chairs, we felt will give us a good view and left for coffee. I must say this, my experience tells me that the last thing that anyone will ever steal is a BOOK!

We had our cup of coffee and returned to find more people cramped in. By then one of India's greatest cartoonist Honorable R. K. Laxman was wheeled in (due to his age he moves around in a wheelchair). It was a double whammy and we loved it. After a thunderous standing ovation, people started rushing to the aisles to get a copy of one of his collected works of the Common Man. Now since I am not in to autographs, I was not very keen on buying another book for the sake of it. Maggi tried to get a snap of me along with him, but the organizers said that he did not like being photographed. So Maggi had to be content photographing me.

Finally, Lord Jeffery Archer walked in, wearing a white T-shirt and jeans (the jeans was blue!). He looked relaxed and I don't know if he looked tired or not because I was seeing him for the first time. The first thing he did after walking on to the podium was make a mess out of the crowd, since he wanted most of them seated rather than standing in the aisles and blocking the view of people in the back. His intentions were very noble but he forgot that this is India. The crowd started pushing around so that they can sit on the floor close to Archer.

It was hilarious to see people sitting on chairs rushing to sit on the floor because it was closer to the man. There were a lot of people standing along the aisle for lack of seats to place their ass on. So Lord Archer wanted them to sit down or move closer to the podium. There was a small area that was cordoned off for the VVIPs which Lord Archer made available for the standing pubic.

Once the organizers managed to bring some order to the crowd, Archer made it a point to first and foremost accept the honor of Mr. Laxman's presence. He was all praise for Mr. R. K Laxman's brother, another legend in his own right - R. K. Narayan

It seems Jeffery Archer has picked up Malgudi Days and can't get enough of it. It was really a moment of pride to hear such words of praise by an accomplished writer about a fellow countryman.

Then Jeffery started his routine of giving tips and talking about his work schedule. One thing that stood out during his speech was the sense of humor that spiced things up. He has the amazing ability to put the audience at ease. He is a master story-teller and his talk was filled with anecdotes. He kept starting off on any topic with "Let me tell you a secret" and then he will make the audience feel a part of some conspiracy. He is a very good public speaker.He talked about IPL, Indian Women, and a wide range of unrelated topics and kept us entertained.

After a non-personalized autograph which Maggi managed to get without standing in the mammoth queue, we decided to go back to our lives. Those few moments were really a break from the daily routine. A little bit of magical time with the Lord himself!

Jeffery Archer has blogged about his experiences on the India tour and I admire this man all the more. He finds time to blog even as he is losing out on sleep. And here I am sleeping and losing out on blogging!

While Royal Challengers' Dravid is being lambasted from several sides, support has come from a like minded team India colleague and Deccan Chargers' captain VVS Laxman, and this coming from someone in relatively similar position. Laxman has come be known for good gestures, this must be added to the top half of his list. In the match against Kings XI Punjab, Dravs seemed more stressed that ever seen before. When asked about Mallya's salvo, he refused to comment citing reasons for want of a proper forum. I'm wondering what Dravid will do now - quit IPL or wait to be traded? Judging by the anti-auction mindedness of him, I guessing he will probably resign; might be just a matter of time. While that would seem fitting to many, I think he might do a little better in someone else's team, batting at 5 or 7, playing the role of the innings finisher - a role he successfully played for India in some ODIs during his reign as India captain.

Ganguly seems to be on cloud nine after Shoaib's dream IPL debut. Way to make a statement, Shoaib! And it was nice to see the latter on Ganguly side, rather than on the opposing. I had my doubts about Akthar - he is like a wild pendulum - might swing either way. Perhaps with the fitness problems that Akthar has had of later, T20 might be the game for him - all it takes is four overs of concentration.

VVS Laxman has firmly backed Rahul Dravid, his India team-mate and Indian Premier League rival, whose Bangalore Royal Challengers is at the centre of a simmering controversy after Vijay Mallya, the industrialist who owns the team, publicly questioned its composition and performance.

"For sure, Rahul is a good captain," Laxman, who led the Deccan Chargers till a wrist injury ruled him out of the rest of this IPL season, told Cricinfo. "Even if you see the games Rahul's team have lost, some of them were very close. If they had won those, no questions would have been raised about his captaincy. I am sure he will bounce back because I know he is a very tough character. He has been in this situation before in the Indian team, and I have no doubt that he will overcome this one, too.

"Everyone has been trying their best and people have to realise that no cricketer ever plays to lose. So encouragement from the owners is very important when you are not doing well," he said.

But Laxman said that the IPL's team owners had every right to ask questions, given their investments. "The owners can ask why things are not happening. But here, I can only speak for my team and say our owners have been very supportive. They have understood that we have lost some games. It was very important for us that even during the tough periods, they came, spoke to us and encouraged us."

Laxman said that he was aware that part of the focus in the IPL's inaugural season was on how experienced players would fare in the shortest format. "People may have had some doubts. But I have enjoyed my batting, and am happy to have scored some good runs at a brisk pace," he said, before adding, "Sourav (Ganguly) is doing well for himself in the IPL, too, because he is another tough competitor."

Laxman's team, however, has had a poor run in the tournament - Deccan are just ahead of Bangalore with two wins from nine matches and five games still to go. "I can tell you that we have some great cricketers and the bonding has been amazing. But for me, one possible factor that led to this situation was that we had only one player performing in every match. We would ideally have wanted two or three guys to click and perform on the same day."

Laxman started his IPL campaign with a duck on a shocker of a pitch in Kolkata, but his batting started to click from the fourth game after he decided to move up from No.3 to open the innings with Adam Gilchrist, who is now leading the team. He got into the groove with a 26-ball 37 against the Mumbai Indians, and followed it up with a 34-ball 48 against Kings XI Punjab, and a 44-ball 52 against Bangalore.

On his own batting approach in Twenty20s, Laxman said: "What was probably new for me was to get set for batting even before I actually walked out. And what was important was to ensure that you have a very healthy strike rate because there are only 20 overs to get the maximum runs for your team."

© Cricinfo

Except for Dhoni all ICON players have failed miserably especially the Fab 4. Dravid cant hit the ball if it was the size of a watermelon, Ganguly.. well we all know that the only reason hes on the team is because SRK wants to use him for publicity. Plus there would be riots in Kolkatta. Laxman.. well he scored in one match but for most part he looks lost. Tendulkar.... well hes hurt...

The Franchisees have been calling BCCI if they can use these Icon players for something else.. they need the publicity.... several ideas were thrown around... finally the suggestion that these people be made non-playing captains made sense. The only other intersting part is a question whether all of them can be used to help the cheerleading squad. The way Dravid is waving his bat around it looks like hes waving pom poms anyway.

Heres a great review on the season so far by Greatbong.

One and Two and Three and Four, Deccan Chargers Give us more… As the voice of Sunny Khandelwal (I think it was him… not too sure though) rocked the Visakha Cricket Stadium (now called the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium thanks to the rulers of our nation), standing on the third floor of the Shivlal Yadav Pavilion, wearing a pink colored access card, I was wondering how much more to expect from this “Technically the Best Team in the IPL”? The loss at Kolkata was fresh in my mind. Though the newspaper run by the franchisee of Deccan Chargers screamed and shouted that it was the pitch and the lights and the umpires that did us in at Kolkata, I was sure that the KnightRiders batted on the same strip. A loss after all was a loss and had to be faced.

As the Deccan Chargers (I will call them DC now… The franchisee will be really happy with that), practiced in front of about 10,000 people in the stadium (the capacity is about 39000 and growing everyday… They are on an expansion spree), an hour before the game started everyone in the stadium including the guest singer Neeraj Sridhar of the Bombay Vikings, were confident that they will reduce the Delhi side to dust within three hours and everyone in Hyderabad will go home happy. And when Adam Gilchrist struck one that landed in the stands on the midwicket boundary off the modern McGrath, Mohammed Asif, people thought they were on the brink of realizing their dream of seeing a DC win. What followed was a continuation of the Kolkata failure. Gilly played on one from Asif soon after that marvelous shot and the one drop skipper Laxman had his timber thrown to winds by one that came back (!), from Asif. I was recollecting my childhood when we used to measure the distance the stump traveled after being hit. Laxman’s would have certainly gone about 8 stump lengths.

It then continued the same way with people like Symmo and Shahid out. Rohit Sharma took Farveez Maharoof for a ride of his life and the poor fellow never knew where to bowl to the Indian T20 specialist. 26 runs in one over meant DC would cross the 100 mark which looked out of sight at the 10 over juncture. They did though and did well to end up at 142. But that was not a great score even after getting rid of the dangerous Gautam “Gauti” Gambhir for next to nothing. The butcher from Nazafgarh, Virendra Sehwag and a very steady Shikhar Dhawan ensured no damage was done thereafter and saw their side home with more that 33% of the overs remaining. The notable innings came from Sehwag (naturally) who scored a near hundred and gave Symonds a good run for his money. 646464 is not a fancy phone number in rural India, but the runs scored of the six balls that he bowled. The crowd had already begun their journey back home even before people who came in late could settle down.

A loss for the home team and with 2 losses in as many matches they were just above the Punjab team of Ness Wadia (yes, I forgot her because she anyhow does not have any role to play) at number 7. That was not where the guyz wanted to be when they started. A day’s off and Shane Keith Warne was in town leading a very cheap and inexperienced Rajasthan Royals team. With one win and a loss they were in a far better position than the DC. I was in no mood to be at the stadium and therefore choose to buy myself the best seat to watch cricket for Free, at home, in front of the TV.

When the news of Venugopal Rao being dropped and DC batting first was broken, I wasn’t too excited to see young Kalyan Krishna, who I had seen bowling really well in the Deodhar Trophy about a month ago, in the team. I thought he was very inexperienced to rub shoulders with the bigwigs of world cricket. But them I am not the skipper of DC, VVS is, so his decision was more important. I got kind of a shock when Laxman himself walked in along with Adam Gilchrist. Why was Boom Boom Afridi in the team??? To play second fiddle to people like Symonds and Sharma? I couldn’t digest that as well.

Anyways, Laxman hit some pretty blows before he saw a Pathan (Not Irfan… His bro, Yousuf was this) from Baroda being given the ball by Shane Warne. Everyone in the stadium would have thought Warne’s gone mad. But it had its effects immediately. Pathan removed Gilchrist and Afridi in one over. Symmo was in again and his side was in trouble. Then Laxman had to fall… he did. Though Symmo and Rohit gave stability and runs to the DC innings, I was getting bored and wanted to sleep. Well I didn’t for the love of cricket though. And it was paid off well. Symonds came up with the fastest century in IPL and it was awesome to see him clear the fence with ease. 214 to win and DC were looking good to register their first points in the tourney.

But then the Blue Brigade of Marwaris (none of them is a marwari I guess) had other ideas. And again it was Pathan. While smith did some serious damage to the DC bowling as the opener, and also emerged the highest scorer of the innings, it was yousuf whose magic was there to be seen. And when both of them got out, it was Shane Warne, who did the real damage. No it was not with the ball this time around. With 17 off the last over needed and Afridi, Vaas and RP having finished their respective spells, Laxman chose Symonds over Ohja and Kalyan. A wise decision on paper. But Warne had other ideas. When he got strike from Pankaj Singh (remember the lanky fast bowler on Aussie Tour… Not Ishant Sharma man…) He smashed Symonds for a Four, Six and Six to finish DC. And yeah with three losses out of as many matches, it is now going to be a tough, or should I say a Very Tough road for DC. And for poor old Symmo, who is the second highest paid player in the IPL, figures of 6.5-0-101-0 in the tourney is not something he will feel good about when he goes back down under to join his team on the tour of Windies.

While the Symonds story ends here, the DC story doesn’t. They will have to play out of their skins to overcome the obstacles the three losses have created in their path to a triumph in the IPL. And for someone who compares things, I will certainly put together some interesting stats to see their record against my favorite team, the HYDERABAD Heroes. At last all I can say is one and two and three and four… Deccan Chargers don’t loose anymore.

Its 3 down for the Deccan Chargers already. Not sure if they will be able to even reach the semi finals. The Chargers are likely to lose out on a few good players towards the end of the season as they go back to serve their respective countries.

Still cant believe, what makes Laxman think that he is fit for T20 kind of matches. I have huge respect for him, but honestly, i rather see him bat down the order like Dhoni does for the Chennai Super Kings. My ideal batting line up would be

Gilly
Afridi
Symonds
Rohit
Gibbs
Bangar
Laxman
RP Singh
and the rest

Since every bowler is gonna get a pasting, the Deccan Chargers rather have more part time spinners like Afridi, Symonds, Gibbs who can push through the 20 overs fast. And when they bat, give hell to the opposition bowlers. Hope some miracle happens now and the DC win the rest of the matches.

+++

Above is perhaps the best moments so far in the IPL tournament so far.

Well this is not the serious one about how the IPL works like this one.I am just writing a simple Layman's opinion on what makes a Twenty Twenty cricket team apart from High Profile players and the Girls.

Perhaps the most overrated team in the IPL competition is the Deccan Chargers.The reason was successfully fishing all the Beasts of the Cricket World like Gilly(Gentler of all the beasts only in body language),Symonds(Australian Monkey God),Afridi and Gibbs during the Bid.

But what the Deccan Chronicle Group made mistake was that T20 is not won only with the Beasts.In an team game we need a the right mix of Youth and Talent which should be a 80-20 combination.In Deccan chargers we have a little more of the experienced players.The problem with experienced players is that they do not allow their sphere of Influence to be bothered by another player , hence Ego problems.

The Deccan Charger's problems are simply huge , they lack a steady Captain. Laxman has always been shaky throughout his career and IPL needs cool captains , whose veins are flowing with blood as cool as ice. I have to remind that Ganguly may be a suitable captain as he is no more a Hot Blooded captain as he used to be.Look at Ganguly's face in every cricket parties , how sad he looks; all blame on BCCI who ruined Ganguly's passion for the game.He is on a Job of being a captain of a fanatic cricket loving state.

Coming back to the Deccan Chargers, my prediction about the course the IPL going to take is that Deccan Chargers are going to be the first to go out of the competition after charging up every team that's lagging behind.

They have already charged up the Devils day before yesterday and Rajasthanis today in the 9th match of IPL.The other teams who desperately need to be charged up are Mumbai Indians and the Punjab Kings.

Definitely, the Rajasthanis started as Underdog , but now they too are the list of the probables who can win the IPL.I cannot bet for Rajasthans because they have got more to prove against the Kolkatha, Mumbai,Bangalore and the Chennaites.Even if they lose but able to make the games close enough, they can be the potential IPL winners once they reach the next stage of the tournament.After all, this extremely young team is lead by one of the greatest motivators of all times(as said by Steve waugh in his book - Out of my comfort zone).

I wonder somehow the name "Deccan Chargers" is very much suited to the Team of Beasts...How ??? See the below pictures which best exemplify the Deccan Charger's role in IPL.

If a team's spirits are low and the players are demotivated , atleast play a friendly match with the Deccan chargers to get your batteries up.

Till Now the "Deccan Chargers" have charged up the following teams

And today it was the Rajasthan Royals , probably the least rated team which have now all the batteries up after playing with the Deccan Chargers

Have any questions for Adam or Laxman? Leave them in the comments section below.

Many things went wrong for India at Motera:

1. Being given a green top

2. Kumble choosing to bat first on a green top

3. Picking five bowlers with Pathan being the fifth

4. Poor fielding

5. Shocking shot selection from some of the batsmen

Credit to the South African bowlers to have taken full advantage of the green top. Sometimes you get caught in a middle of an excellent spell of bowling; that was the case with the dismissals of Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly, the last being perhaps at lightning speed.

What will happen now is the question on most people's mind. Are we thrashing the seniors again? Fellow blogger Soulberry fears that this might bring out the likes of the Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma. I shudder at that thought. That would also perhaps shut the case of Mohd. Kaif.

Till Kanpur do us wait!

It is highly unlikely that after conceding 418 runs lead (and counting) that India can save this match. I am sure a lot of Indians are praying for some kind of miracle. Well, we definitely need some divine intervention to save India from an innings defeat. There are still 3 full days left in the match and I can't see India playing out a draw.

Watching the South African score, it is pretty clear that there were no demons on the pitch. If there were any demons, it must have been on the minds of the Indian players - how else can you explain losing all your wickets in under 20 overs in a test match?

South Africa are sitting pretty at the moment. Their top order has had plenty of batting practice and have scored runs by the truck loads. In their 3 innings so far they have aggregated close to 1300 runs - and we haven't been able to take 30 wickets in 3 innings so far. Except for Prince, every batsmen in their team has scored runs. Of their bowlers, Dale Steyn has been outstanding taking 9 wickets in the two innings he has bowled.

India on the other hand are a far cry from the team that beat Australia in Perth. The bowling has looked ordinary and the fielding - well, the less said the better. But the most worrying thing is the batting, which is supposed to be its strength. Agreed India scored over 600 runs in the 1st test - but more than half of that came from the bat of Sehwag. You take his score out, and India would have been in big trouble in Chennai too.

There have been some notable failures and we can't afford any of them in the second innings. Ganguly has to lift his game. He hasn't scored too many runs since the Sydney test. Dhoni has done well in the shorter form of the game, but is averaging just 17 runs in his last 10 Test innings. He has to lift his game too.

Laxman has been amongst the runs, but he needs to learn how to control the strike when playing with the tail. Sadly, It is probably too late in his career to learn to do that. In Tendulkar's absence, he was rightfully moved to No.4, but lasted just 7 balls. Hopefully, he can do a lot better in the second innings. 

We need Sehwag and Jaffer to get a good opening partnership and Dravid to hold the middle order together. I am not under any false pretence that India will save this game - all I want them to do is to put up a good fight and play for some pride.

-Mahesh-

It was a hot, energy-sapping day that saw a continuation of some ill-directed bowling, bad fielding, ill-tempered admonishment between some of the Indian players, some careful batting, a solid (if not spectacular) batting display by Hashim Amla, a solid (if not spectacular) bowling display by Harbhajan Singh and a confident response from Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag. All of this on a pitch that looked less interesting and more dead than it was on day-1 -- if that was at all possible!

Virender Sehwag admitted that the Indian fielding was somewhat shoddy. There were times when Kumble remonstrated openly with Laxman; Harbhajan with R. P. Singh; Harbhajan with Sree Santh; Dravid with Sreesanth... It seemed that it was open season on venting frustrations against anyone -- and the younger players seemed to cop it more than the seniors!

The India bowlers toiled all day. They had to be extremely patient. It did not help that the umpires seemed to work against them too. I felt sorry for Sree Santh when what looked like a plumb LBW against Mark Boucher wasn't given by New Zealand umpire Tony Hill. "What was he thinking? Had the heat fried his brains?" were questions that popped to my mind! Replays showed the thinnest of inside edges! Similar questions with some choice expletives popped out when Asad Rauf did not spot a glove-deflection off Paul Harris to Rahul Dravid at slips off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh. The fact that Rauf did not spot the deflection or the accompanying dead give-away (batsman's head snapping backwards to see if the catch was completed) would have left the already enervated players even more deflated and exhausted.

The South Africans batted extremely well though and battled the hot conditions as well as steady bowling from Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Hashim Amla, in particular, looked solid as a rock. Sree Santh bowled a good morning spell but fell away after that. R. P. Singh continued to bowl like a millionaire.

In reply, thanks to Sehwag's 61-ball 50 and Jaffer's patient 21 off 65 balls, India reached 82-0. There is still a huge total to overhaul though and it may be that India need to bat on and on and on for getting even close to manufacturing a result in this game. Either that or the Indian batsmen have to throw their wickets away in a stunning array of rash strokes. I can't really see the bowlers doing too much on this pitch!

I give the first two sessions of the day to South Africa and the last one to India and so the SBS at the end of day-2 reads: India, 1 : South Africa, 4.

-- Mohan

The last test series between the two countries was a very close one that India eventually lost 1-2, but this time India have the home advantage and SA have to reckon with a team high on confidence. India also have a good mix of experience and youth to pull it off.

So, should we start speculating what the Indian team make up would be?

Openers

I think Sehwag should be an automatic choice and we shouldn't let his ODI form affect his test chances. Jaffer and Karthik both failed in Australia, but I would imagine that Jaffer being a regular opener would get the nod ahead of Karthik. Chopra and Gambhir would probably also be in the selectors radar, while Dravid and Pathan have an outside chance of being considered as an opener.

Middle Order

Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman are probably automatic choices. Ganguly would probably get the nod too. If Dravid opens the innings, then there is an opening for Yuvraj Singh or Rohit Sharma in the middle order. Gambhir could also be considered. A lot of our readers have expressed an opinion that Badrinath should be considered. I would be very surprised if the selectors made such a bold move (although it wouldn't be a bad one!) Dhoni will of course don the gloves and come in to bat at No.7

Bowlers

Kumble is an automatic selection and if you are playing in India, Harbhajan Singh is another automatic selection for the second spinner spot. Zaheer Khan is still injured and the other two bowling spots would probably end up going to Ishant Sharma and RP Singh. If the track does take a lot of spin, then including a 3rd spinner (Piyush Chawla) may not be a bad idea, with Pathan opening the batting and also sharing the new ball with Ishant Sharma.

So, here is the final team -

• Sehwag
• Jaffer/Pathan
• Dravid
• Tendulkar
• Ganguly/Yuvraj Singh
• Laxman
• Dhoni
• Kumble
• Harbhajan Singh
• RP Singh/Chawla
• Ishant Sharma

That makes up the 14. Not much different from the team that toured Australia, but why should it be?

(I know, I know! - I will probably get a lot of flak for including Yuvraj Singh in the test team :) )

-Mahesh-

The letter from Laxman, reproduced below indicates the myriad feelings experienced by aghast onlookers.

Nobody deserves to undergo the trauma of watching another human die for no good reason, certainly not the motormen!!

Regards,

ananth

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This is one stupid thing people do, cross the tracks when FOB's are
present. It happens every day at Necklace Road in the morning when the
Falknuma hyderabad local arrives and people crazily go and stand near
the platform edge and to cross over to the other side, the line has
many movements at that time and the crossing point is on a blind curve
where trains come in at 50 kmph plus. When will people realize how
dangerous it is to do this, do we need a few run overs for people to
get some sense. I have seen it happen at Hitech city as well. Please
educate people when you travel in MMTS Trains about this danger of
line crossing. Sad part is even ladies do it quite often even the
educated lot.

Lakshman
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Too much experimentation and dabbling in youth without any plan or strategy, while may seem to be okay in one day cricket, is going to fail miserably when it comes to Test cricket. For example, the force fitting of Yuvraj Singh into the side at the expense of not playing Virender Sehwag and fiddling with Rahul Dravid's role was a major faux paus. Not only did Yuvraj Singh struggle because of a lack of clarity on his role, it did affect the thought process of a champion like Rahul Dravid who still came out of the series successfully purely due to his skills.

Some food for thought for the future....

1. Focus heavily on identifying an appropriate opening partner for Sehwag. Wasim Jaffer is too inconsistent a player. India should consider reinvesting in someone like Akash Chopra or S. S. Das. Playing Gautam Gambhir at this point is too risky, we cannot afford to have two flashy players opening for India.

2. I think it is only fair to get a sense of how the Big 4 will be phased out. In my opinion, the four have played roles that have been unique enough to look for a like-for-like match for the future. For example, Dravid's role should be matched by someone who plays that sheet anchor role at No. 3. Someone like S. Badrinath or C. Pujara or even Mohammed Kaif should be considered. Yuvraj Singh could be perceived as a replacement for Ganguly. Rohit Sharma seems to the have technique and flair that reminds one of both Dravid and Laxman. I certainly see him as a very good prospect. I think it may worth a shot to actually focus attention on some of these guys within the context of the specific roles that they are expected to play.

That leaves us with searching for a Tendulkar play-alike. There, we pray!!!

3. Our pace bowling attack has molded itself well for the future. We have an amazing combination of players in the side and in the reserve that only needs to be nurtured and motivated enough to perform for sometime to come. I do not think we have had a better present and future for Indian cricket as far as pace bowling goes. In fact, India would rely heavily on this bowling attack to see us through the transition with respect to the batting line up.

4. The spin department is a major worry. Piyush Chawla does not seem to possess enough yet to replace Anil Kumble. The Aussie series seemed to indicate that Sehwag is the best off spinner in the country now. Harbhajan Singh, while he has shown amazing improvement as far as batting goes, is a mystery when it comes to his bowling. No one in the domestics seems to be running through sides like it used to be the case a few years back. Sunil Joshi was the highest wicket taker amongst spinners in the Ranji Super League and that says something. R. Ashwin (off spin), P. P. Ojha (left arm spin) are prospects that may go the distance.

Looking forward to interesting years ahead...

- Srikanth