Anil Kumble resigned !!

The superstar coach of Indian cricket team has resigned due to rift with the superstar captain Virat Kohli. And the way BCCI has poorly handled the whole episode. BCCI had invited for applications of Indian head coach the day Indian team reached England for the just concluded Champions Trophy! And the rift between two of them has become a public talk.

A captain shouldn't choose the coach of the team. Virat Kohli is a great cricketer, no doubt on that but he shouldn't think himself bigger than the game. How come he dare to inform BCCI that he is not happy the way Anil Kumble is coaching the team? Don't know who the other cricketers are who are also unhappy along with Virat. But Kumble has produced great result with his work ethics. And Indian team has been benefited by this. The team has again secured the No.1 rank in Test cricket late last year which they still possess. CAC had choosen the coach. Now CAC comprised of 3 legendary Indian cricketers- Saurav, Sachin & Laxman. And CAC wanted Kumble to continue. Who can sack Kumble from the post of the head coach after such great achievements in last 12 months?

Do the students know everything that the teacher doesn't have to teach any more? Then why do we talk about continuous learning? A student is good when he is willing to learn & during the time of teaching, the teacher could scold you but that is for the betterment of yours. Everyone has the same opinion on that. Abinav Bindra said that he never loved his coach but that person was his best coach.

But Virat Kohli will surely loose his cricket fan base with this attitude & he will be under tremendous pressure to perform. Though he has won this set, but all eyes will be on his performance. 

It's arch rivals India vs Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final at The Oval

What a Champions Trophy is this in this beautiful English Summer!! No one ever thought before the start of the tournament that three sub-continent team will be in the semis!! There is no Australia, no NewZealand & not even the host England! 

India was one of the favourites among maximum of the official commentators of this tournament. They are in sublime form. All the batters are getting runs when needed & the performance of the bowlers are also clinical when it was required against South Africa! In all the ICC tournaments, you will find a match between arch rivals India & Pakistan to generate higher revenue as the biggest chunk of audiences come form this two countries. And Pakistan made sure that Indian channels shouldn't stop airing "mauka mauka" advertisements & India had absolutely outplayed Pakistan in the league stage. Since then Pakistan has played unpredictable cricket by beating strong teams like South Africa, Srilanka in the group stages & England in the semifinals. They have showed character in crunching situations. The game against Srilanka was very crucial to qualify for the semis. Pakistan were 137/6 to chase 237. But captain of this Pakistan side is a cool customer. Sarfaraz played a brilliant innings along with tailender Md. Amir who also played sensibly to make sure that Pakistan qualifies for the semis.

Now all are eyeing for the big final on Sunday. And what else can the fans expect? Even ICC & television broadcasters will be very happy to have India & Pakistan in the finals. The Oval will be full house & the TV viewership will be at it's peak on that day.

To analyse both the teams, India is far more formidable side & many of their players were in the team when they won 2013 Champion's Trophy. So they are accustomed to the pressure of big games & they had delivered the best for Team India. Top three Indian batsmen are in brilliant form. Sikhar Dhawan has made it clear that he loves big stages. He played well in earlier big ICC events & this time also he is the highest run scorer for the team & the 2nd one on the list is Rohit Sharma!! India has lost only 1 wicket during power plays in the 4 matches that they played in this tournament so far. They are a bit slow at the start, at least stats say this but in the semis against Bangladesh, they scored more than 6 an over in first 10. Then obviously you have the captain Kohli who is also batting brilliantly. Yuvraj, Dhoni were among the runs during group stages when they got their chances. India has a deep batting line-up till number 9 who can score runs when needed. Indian bowlers have also bowled decently. Jasprit Bumrah is very accurate & economical during the death overs. Bhuvaneswar is also giving some crucial break-troughs. 

Pakistan has changed their game plan after that crushing defeat against India. They made some changes- brought Junaid Khan back, Fakhar Zaman in the top order has given them the fire power to attack the oppositions early on. He, along with Azhar Ali has worked well so far. Their middle order is a bit shaky at the moment but the experience of Shoib Malik & Prof. Hafeez can be helpful if they click on the given day. And captain Sarfaraz has showed great temperament. The big strength of this Pakistan side is their bowling during the middle overs. And Hassan Ali is the go to man for this. He is the highest wicket taker so far in the tournament. This Pakistan side has got wickets in crucial moments hassan Ali is the person who has got some reverse swing as well. Rumman Raees who made his debut against England in the semi final also bowled well. Basically it should be contest between Indian batsmen & Pakistan bowlers.

Now, whatever we can write here, there is no script written for the big final. And the best team on the given day who can play good blend of cricket & can stay calm & focused will win the game. At this stage, mental strength of the cricketers are very important. Hope to see a great contest.

But most importantly, hope to see that "mauka mauka" ad continues.😄

Please watch the predictions of Saurav Ganguly & Harbhajan Singh for the big final below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53zIkHPEeFM

India vs England - 4th Test Match

England had started well in first 2 days - winning the toss, scoring 400 runs in the first innings but the selection of the team has surprised many of us. They have selected 4 seam bowlers & only 2 spinners in the wicket where in 2012, spinners took 19 wickets! Was it a gut feeling of the captain or the management?  

This speaks volumes about the character of this Indian side. They know their strengths well & have executed their plans accordingly with grit & determination. Scoreboard pressure always play an important role in such wickets more. There was a bit of extra bounce & Indian batters had to adjust it quickly. And they did this with ease. England has felt that they are short of an extra spinner since when Vijay & Pujara had started playing after tea in the second day. 

India didn't start their third day well as Pujara got out in the very second ball of the day. Then Kohli came in. And he played a gem of an innings. Kohli means business. And it seems he has spread the virus of aggression, grit, determination & winning mentality among his team members. After Vijay's spectacular innings, suddenly India lost 4 more quick wickets. And they were 40 runs behind when Jayant came into bat. That was the time when England missed the opportunity. Both Virat & Jayant played flamboyantly except couple of miss chances. And on 4th day, with 51 runs lead, India thought of getting whatever they can which will eventually help them to score less in the 4th innings. But as England had only 2 spinners, both Rashid & Moeen were tired of their long spells & they had started bowling loose balls more often which had helped Virat & Jayant to score runs in a faster pace. As a result, India got a lead of huge 231!! Virat scored his double ton- 3rd as a captain. Jayant scored his maiden test hundred. He wouldn't had been expected anything better than scoring this at Wankhede. It was a Sunday & there was a huge crowd to cheer them.  

It was important for England to show positive intent to approach their innings now. But the debutant Keaton Jennings who scored his maiden 100 in the first day has got out in the very 2nd ball of the innings. Bhuvi took the only wicket among the fast bowlers of India in both the innings. Many of us thought that Cook & Root will show the determination to put a price on their wickets. They started well but Virat brought his favorite horses soon. Both Ashwin & Jadeja had started putting pressure from both the ends. And before tea, England lost their 3 important wickets with 49 runs on board. 

During tea, many commentators had started saying that this test is going to finish within 4 days. But Root & Bairstow has played some aggressive shots & they didn't have the option either. They were not well prepared to defense those good balls. It was very clear that if India can get rid of 1 or 2 wickets, rest all will fall soon. And that happened. England were 180/4 & they finished their 2nd innings at 195!! Ashwin took all those last 6 wickets & got 12 in the match.

The difference was in the approach. After scoring 400 in the 1st innings & loosing the game by an iinigs & 36 runs is very rare. And that says that there is something wrong which England is doing at the moment. Yes, they didn't have the world class spinners like Ashwin & Jadeja but as a cricket lover, we would have been happy to see the English cricketers have put a price to their wickets. 

In 2012, England spinners took 19 wickets & this time it is Indian spinners!! So 19 is an important number at Wankhede. And we have to speak about the crowd. BCCI has scheduled the games wisely. The holidays have allowed the passionate spectators to come to the ground to watch their favorite players play. It was a great visual treat & good for test cricket.

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Another brilliant left handed opener - Keaton Jennings

He was a South African in the year 2011, played for South African U-19. His father Ray Jennings is a former South African cricketer & current head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB) in  IPL. But once he has moved to England in April'2012, he became an English citizen after staying four years in England. And in four years time, with his some brilliant performances, he got his England cap, didn't miss the opportunity to show his caliber after Hasseb Hammed got injured. 

Keaton Jennings, 24, got this opportunity when English Lions are playing in the UAE & Keaton was the captaining the side. He joined the group on Monday & on Thursday, on his debut test match, he scored a brilliant hundred!! It will remind you the story of Alastair Cook, who joined the England side just 48 hours before the start of the first test match in Rajkot in 2006 & scored a hundred! Keaton was the 11th partner of Cook since Andrew Strauss retired 4 years ago. 

And this is an amazing start for Keaton. England is 0-2 down in the series & struggling. People are questioning the way they are approaching & constructing the innings. They are very defensive in their approach since the second test at Vizag. 

 Mumbai is a lucky ground for England. They won in 2006 & 2012. So this time also at Mumbai, they have shown a positive grit & intent. It was very evident the way Cook has approached his innings. And his partner, Keaton Jennings has played beautifully, his defense was very tight, was never in a hurry, never took any risk & was rotating the strike well. 

When Keaton started first, he was a bit late to the fast bowlers & Umesh almost had got his wicket. Had Karun Nair caught him on zero, we had to wait for some more time to watch this beautiful batsman. His intention was clear. He was waiting for the odd loose balls to punish. He never allowed a bowler to dominate him. The way he played against the spinners, was a treat to watch. He always played the ground shots, quite a few of them were sweeps. There was odd bounces in the Wankhede wicket, later Bairstow got out to sweep off Ashwin, couldn't play it down because of the bounce. But Keaton was brilliant, very elegant. He has gelled with the team well & was calm in his approach. With the help of his brilliant hundred, England has got the upper hand in this test match at the end of day-1, in Mumbai, their favorite ground.

I am now waiting for the Song which Barmy Army will compose & sing for him when he comes out to bat in the second innings.

Another fast bowler is moving ahead

The election season is ahead in the most populated state in the country. And this is now a fashion to poach a cricketer to join politics. We have seen Sreeshant some days back at Kerala, Sidhu pajji has recently announced a new political party, although he is veteran as he is in the political arena for quite some times.

This time another promising swing bowler from Meerut who has has started very promisingly & bowled brilliantly - Praveen Kumar has swung it big this time as he has joined Samajwadi Party(a regional political party in Uttar Pradesh) today.

But this time, the news about Praveen's new assignment is quite a bit shocking. He has bowled well in the recently concluded IPL where he was one of the very important member of Gujrat Lions. And he has bowled well in the domestic tournaments too. But all went in vain. He never got a call back from Indian selector's after that shoulder injury of 2011. Sreeshant had replaced him in the World Cup of 2011 which India won.

Praveen Kumar will be remembered for his swing bowling & his death bowling was very critical too. During the good days, he was Dhoni's go-to-man & in some games, we had seen him bowling long spells. His heroics of 2008 VB series in Australia was very impressive too. Still he is India's one of the best economical bowlers. A bowler of his stature should have played more. He has played only 6 Test matches, 68 ODIs & 10 T20s for India. His example also shows that still Indian selectors want to hear 'yes sir' from players. Only statistics doesn't speak for getting selected in Indian team.

Indian selectors Should have opened their eyes more widely as Praveen Kumar was & is very vividly visible because of his incredible performances in domestic tournaments.

Apathy of Indian pace bowlers

There is always a concern about the pace attack of 'Men in blue' & this gets more exposed when India plays in the pace friendly decks of England, Australia, South Africa & New-Zealand. It is not like that India never produced quality fast bowlers. They come into the team with fierce actions & great statistics. But soon after some matches, their average pace came down & many a times, they faded away.

India has produced Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Varun Aroon, Umesh Yadav, VRV Singh, Md. Shami. Many of them were, are match winners. Hope you remember that spell of Ishant against Ricky Ponting in an Australian wicket in 2008. He had speed, he had aggression. But soon after he was injured & his speed came down. Although he is still one of the spearhead of Indian attack now. Same story goes with Munaf who took seven wickets in his debut test against England. But now? Remember Irfan Pathan? Many were speaking that India has got a Wasim Akram in him. Wasim was also very positive about him, started his career with a bang, took a test hattrick. Then slowly he has disappeared. How many fast bowlers India has changed in last 2-3 years time? 

The neighboring country Pakistan is producing one after another fast bowlers & they have a tradition of that. Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoib Akhtar & these days Md. Amir, Juniad Khan - all are classy fast bowlers. Is this more about the environment where a person born? May be, yes. In Pakistan, they play more with tennis balls where you can't do much with the technique. Only the pace can help to beat the batsman. 

Kapil Dev was the highest test wicket takers for a long time.But whenever there is a discussion among the parents, they want to make their children Sachin, Saurav, Virat & very few will speak about Kapil Dev or Glenn McGrath or a Brett Lee or Wasim Akram. In India, children can imagine about becoming a great batsman. This is a phobia. And the obvious reason is the glamour around a batsman is more than of a bowler in India. Batsman is like a national obsession in our country. Every child gets inspiration to become a batsman. Because he/she is visualizing the glamour quotient of a batsman in our country. I have heard people of speaking about facility. But I don't think if we really provide high class facility also, great bowlers will born. This is more about the mindset, the environment. 

And another very important factor is the wicket. Indian wickets are more batting friendly. And the fans want that too. They want to see more 4s & 6s. This is entertainment. How many of us really want to see a game where a bowler is continuously bowling great swings & troubling the batsmen? 

Need of the hour is a long term plan. BCCI is the richest cricket body in the World. They have to identify the raw talent at a very early age. They have to bring these kids under one roof, have to prepare them, inspire them to become a great pacer. Domestic tournament wickets should be a bit more bowler friendly. Hard bouncy tracks should be prepared. Then definitely things will change & India will also see great pacers who will be bowling fast, swing the ball in both ways & in no time bowlers also will help us to win matches more frequently.