Champions Tropy is ON!

Steyning India’s Jersey

So much for the “New No. 1 team in the world” tag. Team India shoudn’t annoint themselves No. 1 even if was the only test playing nation around just yet.

In the very 1st innings of the first test at Nagpur, Steyn brutally exposed a fact  most of us probably knew but feared to speak in anything louder than a hush – we Indians still find difficulty spotting things that travel faster than 140 km/h. Barring Sehwag’s innings, the rest of the players had no idea what was unfolding in front of their very eyes, simply because they couldn’t see it.

Steyn breathed and panted like a  dragon on mexican jalapenos  as he ripped apart the line up with 7 well deserved wickets in the 1st innings. Tendulkar was extremely well set-up with some unplayable deliveries just outside the off-stump, just as Badri was exposed with his tendency to play in the air on the on-side. Vijay and Saha tried to leave sharp incutting deliveries with the grace of a yogic master.

"Well Left" (courtesy: ELSIE yogakula)

Dhoni’s dismissal was as freakish as it was quizzical and hilarious. Zaheer was beaten with sheer pace alone, and as he left, one could almost hear him say “Gee,  I didn’t know people bowl this fast.”  Harbhajan stuck around for his customary 15 odd runs with a couple of boundary hits.

The outcome of this game is not in doubt anymore. As I watch Sehwag and Gambhir fall to Steyn in the 2nd Innings, it’s just a question of what new plans to make after the lunch session tomorrow.  It’s now a question of whether we’ll see the plastered face and fingers of Dravid and Laxman respectively  in the next game.

As for India, what exactly is wrong?  Honestly – quite a lot.

For starters, this is one of the first tests in a while without the dynamic duo of Dravid and Laxman. And it ain’t pretty folks. In fact, it’s butt-ugly.  With hopefuls such as Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina not impressing enough to warranty a test place, the onus quickly fell upon the likes of Murali Vijay , Badrinath, and Saha to cover. Getting an intro to big time cricket against a South African side with Steyn is not trial by fire – it’s trial by molten friggin lava.

Then comes the boring bowling.  With the exception of Zaheer Khan , the others simply fail to inspire. I’ve always maintained that Bhajji gets a free pass for the sake of a few test matches that he has shone in.  Amit Mishra does turn the ball a mile, but bowls at an average of 30 km/h, giving the batsmen enough time to have tea, read the paper, do a couple of sudokos (medium level), visit the crapster, and get back to play the ball. Ishant, is well, being Ishant, constantly doing his best Forrest Gump impression (Life’s laiike a box o chocolates….y’all never know what you’re gonna get).

Forrest Gump & Ishant : Same Pinch

Run Ishant Run (Courtesy: outlook)

Kudos to Amla and Kallis for brilliantly setting it up for SA.


First nail in Rafa’s coffin

With Liverpool majestically exiting the Champions League, Rafa and his band of injured and disappointed footballers will feel the pressure at home from the fans and the owners alike. There has been enough Rafa bashing in our blogs and I would not like to continue on that, as there is no point. Where is the saviour, Aquiliani? He played precisely 1 minute and 25 seconds replacing Gerrard.

The Liverpool Managing Director coming out bravely and suggested that Rafa’s job is safe. Winning the premier league from this stage would be a mammoth exercise for this team, unless they reinforce bigtime in the January window. But still that would need a top team like Chelsea or maybe Manchester United losing points. And for anymore losses in the premier league, the fans are going to get onto Rafa’s nerves. The door to Madrid is always open and it might be sooner than expected for him.

Liverpool can get dragged onto Europa League and that might spell further trouble to the League aspirations. Liverpool honestly doesn’t look like having a quality bench which can help them fight it out in 2 tournaments.  Amen.

So after the 5th round of matches for half the groups, Fiorentina follow Lyon from Group E and Arsenal qualified from Group H.

Balls of Steel Part Deux: Spain vs Argentina

Preview

This is the other big game. In fact, I have no idea why it even is.  On any other day, Spain vs Argentina might be one of the most mouth-watering clashes. 2 teams with similar identities, great players, and exciting styles playing against each other would often equal a footballer’s fantasy come true.

But these are not normal times.  Spain, underachievers for long, have started to brush away their choker’s tag with the Euro win, are transitioning into becoming a truly top-3 team to be feared.  They possess some of the best players in midfield in Xavi and Iniesta . It’s such an embarrassment of riches that a player of the calibre of Fabragas is not assured of a starting XI spot (although the scheme is such too). Up front, they have the option of playing El Nino (though not available for this game)  and the supremely talented and effective David Villa.  Their defense is probably slightly suspect, though they do have Puyol  at the centre, and world class DM’s.  If a team does manager to penetrate their porous defense, it then has the arduous task of meeting one Mr. Iker Casillas, who is Spain’s answer to the Great Wall of China. Casillas is equivalent to the hottest and toughest to pursue chick you’ll ever see. If you score on him, you can pat yourself on the back.

Argentina, on the other hand, is “managed” by Diego Armando Maradona. Need I say anything more? If you insist….

Look. I love Argentina. I dream of the day again that they play in their true style to World domination. I loved Maradona as a player and he was a pretty entertaining character too. I always imagined him to have a very successful football-afterlife as a reality television celebrity. His antics and drama are perfect for that. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the AFA and the disappointing president – Grondona , would anoint him as Manager for the Albiceleste.

Maradona has proceeded to promptly do to the NT what he does best. He smoked them.  He has run down what was a very promising team into the ground, and promises that it isn’t over yet. Alienating the irreplaceable Riquelme, suspicious selections and lack of them (choosing Lavezzi, not awarding Zarate a cap just for starters), pathetic use of his players, lack of a true play maker, embarrassing himself in the press, almost ensuring that Argentina does not qualify for the WC2010 (they scraped through as the 4th place team in very poor and dramatic fashion) amongst many others have been his signature moves so far.

I can go on for days about this agony. There are many such issues on the list, and it has frankly gone on to become a disease with the squad. Lack of roles, discipline, direction, philosophy and confidence  probably best summarize the current state of the team. Here are the basic formations and line-up:

Spain-Argentina: Basic Formations and Lineups

Over to the strategy – simple straight forward sections:

Spain’s Attack vs. Argentina in Defense:

1. Use Xavi and Iniesta to tear open the Argentine defense like a cheap cardboard box.

2. Exploit the aging and slow Argentine defenders, especially in the flanks. There is no Walter Samuel (another one of the shocking omissions so far). Heinze was good, has heart, but heart will get you only so far. He is past his prime. De Michelles is good too, but he is prone to over-committing.

3. Take Cambiasso out of the game. Mascherano is the captain of the squad and a tremendous DM, but it’s going to be Cambiasso who will provide the much needed support for Mascherano to run wild. It is imperative for Spain to scheme for Cambiasso, and make Mascherano run around a lot more.

4. Fabragas might get the start in the absence of Torres and might play a withdrawn role to Vila, and make a run towards the goal, or outside on the wings, causing trouble. David Silva will do the same on the Left wing.

5. This will cause Argentina to push back Di-Maria and M. Rodriguez to help out the underwhelming defense, Leaving large gaps for Argentina at midfield, rendering them unable to have much possession.

Spain on Attack vs Argentina's Defense

Argentina’s Attack vs Spain in Defense:

This one’s even simpler. Under Maradona, Argentina only has 1 philosophy , which can be best summarized with the diagram below:

Argentina's "Strategy" of Attack against Spain:

That’s right. Maradona expects Messi to collect the ball from defense, weave through the opposition (and sometimes his own players), create openings, and score own his own.

In All seriousness now- see that Grey circle? That’s the key for Argentina. Argentina lacks a true play maker in that circle to envision and create openings on the defense. They lack a Riquelme or Aimar, or even someone like Redondo (Don’t say Gago – he’s a disappointment so far).

Thus, they are reduced to flank play and cutting in from the flanks, making them one-dimensional against good teams. Di-maria is a promising talent, Maxi is proven, but unfortunately, they cannot and should not be expected to divide and be the play maker.

With the lack of height and physicality of their centre forwards, the Ariel threat of flank play is removed.

Thus, it all boils down to Messi, who is now expected to run around and create the openings. He has the potential to do it, but Maradona expects a stupendous amount of work out of Messi, and it is not justified. Messi is successful in Barcelona because of the 2 players he is going to play against tonight. Maradona needs to find atleast 1 such player for Argentina.

MTJAG’s BALLS of STEEL Prediction:

Prepare for the blood-bath. it’s going to be a long , long night for Argentina

Spain 4- Argentina 1

Balls of Steel Part 1 : England vs Brazil

We at MTJAG have a strong passion for football- with freekicker originally pledging the sacrifice of his left nut to glory for Arsenal, and I, offering  his right one for Liverpool’s greatness.

But that’s the EPL. There are a few  International friendlies this weekend, we’d love us some football. We’ve got Brazil vs England, and Argentina vs Spain.  Without much further ado, we’re going to preview 2 of them. Part 1: Brazil vs England.

Location : Qatar

Likely XI

England

Green-Brown-Upson-Terry-Warnock-Barry-Milner-Lampard-S.Wright Philips-Rooney-Crouch

Brazil

Cesar- Maicon-Lusiao-Lucio-Aurelio-Melo-Gilberto-Diego-Kaka-Robinho-Fabiano

BRAZIL vs ENGLAND: Formation and Lineups

Overview

With choices like Rio Ferdinand, Johnson, and the irreplaceable Gerrad injured , this is going to be quite a big test for the Lions, and a chance to try out a couple of new faces.

Brown might be the automatic choice at left back for the lack of anyone else, and Warnock will probably start at the opposite end. Barry and Milner will provide Lampard the support at midfield. Peter Crouch , the android who cannot help but score in an English jersey may end up partnering Rooney up front. Capello has fared much better than his predecessors, getting England through to WC2010 without too much of a hassle, and the team seems to be scoring goals by the dozen (granted that many of them were against piss-poor opposition), and other than Michael Owen, the rest of England seem to be quite pleased with the Italian so far.

Brazil, in the meantime have a slight embarrassment of riches. They’ve already qualified for next year’s world cup in clinical fashion, topping the rigorous South American group (as have England too in their respective group), and even without the likes of Pato , Adriano,  and Ronaldinho (slowly getting back to some form), they look every bit a dangerous squad. Fabiano will get the start up front, with Manchester city’s Robinho. Kaka will patrol the midfield. The rest of the XI either select themselves or are part of Dunga’s list of lovechilds (G. Silva).  Dunga has been under fire by the Brazilian press, fans, and the general football lover for robbing the  “Joga Bonito” out of the game. But just like his playing days, he bows down to none,  and believes that the system in place guarantees success.  In the process , he astonishingly even came out with a reasoning that the critics are actually a product of a mass conspiracy which wants Brazil to not succeed by resorting to the beautiful game!

Matchup: Brazil on Attack vs English Defense

As effective as team Brazil is, don’t expect to see the flamboyant team of yesteryear. Under Dunga, the team now plays in a somewhat criticized but very effective style, as reflected by the results.

1.The tremendous Maicon has the tendency to stray forward and press and he will exploit the flanks .
2. Gilberto Silva will provide some support in the midfield, but the key here are Kaka and Diego.
3. With Aurelio having the tendency to move towards centre midfield, look for Kaka to attack Brown on left flank, or Terry at the centre, thus opening up Fabiano to be man-marked by Upson. In the form that Fabiano has been, Upson’s night is going to be quite difficult.
4. Robinho will be pressing along with Kaka at the centre to provide John Terry the double headache of worrying about him as well as the roving Kaka.
5. Diego hence will have the choice of running into open zones to create the openings required for Brazil to exploit the English defense.
6. This strategy will force England to pull back Wright Philips to provide extra cover down the left Flank, and Milner to tread back to manage Diego.

BRAZIL ON ATTACK - SAMBA style

MATCH-UP: England on Attack vs the Brazilian Defense

It’s possible that Crouch plays just a little behind Rooney, but England might actually benefit pulling back Rooney as shown in the picture below. The best way is to attack Brazil through the centre.

1. Gilberto Silva and Melo are hard tackling defensive midfielders, but speed is not their forte. England might be served best to attack that Brazilian belly.
2.  Rooney should play a more withdrawn role – almost giving England a 4-4-1-1 formation, and allowing Lampard, Wright Philips and Rooney to attack Silva and Melo.
3. This may force Brazil to aid the 2 by allowing Aurelio to cover, leaving Wes Brown to wander forward and provide some much needed flank play.
4. If Joe Cole was present and in top form, he could have troubled Maicon, but with Milner (or anyone else), the best option is to hope that Maicon gets caught out of position once too often to exploit the Left flank.  Milner might be better served cutting in again.
5. After the half, if Crouch gets too little service, it might make more sense to substitute him with Bent or someone else of similar capacity.

ENGLAND ON ATTACK - Fish n Chips

Key to a Brazlian Bash: Win the Midfield battle.

Without Gerrad, it should be a little easier. Brazil is more of a counter attacking team these days, but 1 additional playmaker would have helped carve open the English defense. Ronaldinho might have been perfect if in form, but he isn’t. Brazil should realize the relative inexperience of the back 4 (Save terry of course).  It would greatly help if they play like Brazil, and not Dunga’s XI.

Key to English Glory: Treat Brazil like a European Team.

Make no mistake about it, this is not your 82 or even your 2002 Brazilian team. This team is quite physical, and will make you pay if treated otherwise. Unlike older teams, they are comfortable even with relatively less ball position, as they hit on the counter.  England must attack them through the middle and not from the flanks like they might fancy against a South American team normally. They should exploit the lack of speed in the heart of the Brazilian defense.

MTJAG’s BALLS OF STEEL PREDICTION

England 2 : Brazil 1

Stat Turd insists on Analyzing Sachin and Ricky

*Statutory Warning : This shit’s pretty long. Read it if you’re obsessed like us, and jobless like us too. Secondly – all image resolutions are pretty bad. Refer to the tables.

The series may be over now, but the argument is not. Many people have been left with burnt pockets in their trousers, a sour taste in their mouth, and a big pain in the arse, in no small feat thanks to Ricky P and his band of merry men. However, the question that still remained in our minds like an evil stain in a poorly cleaned commode is this:

Does Sachin NOT cross the finish line for India when it matters?

Not wanting to be left out of the action, Stat Turd sprung into life. After freekicker’s last post about centuries, we decided to break down, analyze, ponder and compare Sachin’s contributions to team India’s games when he scores a big one. And who better to compare it with than The Punter himself, consistency par excellence, match-winner, captain of the all-conquering galactic kangaroos, Mr. Smooth lova…well you get the picture. I’m going to present more of insights, and a few quick pointers before we get into it:

1. We’re going to take a look at only the centuries. This, admittedly, is not the best way, but it sure does give us some insights which we will then cunningly extrapolate and make you believe what we want to.

2. Both are fantastic players, and MTJAG goes on to state here, that numbers are NOT everything.

Part 1 : Basics

If you’ve read this already, you’d know that: a. Sachin has 45 centuries to his credit

b. Ponting has 28

c. Sachin has 435 ODIs to his credit, ponting has 329.

d. India’s chances of victory when Sachin scores a century – 73%. Australia with Ponting doing the same: 85%

Ahh, Ponting seemingly has an edge here. But lets break this down a little bit more.

Part 2: Lightening Strikes First

I’m going to keep this portion simple for you. Conditions that we’ll look at:

1. Both players score centuries

2. Respective teams bat first

3. Respective teams win



Batting First - Scoring Centuries

Observations

1. Very very similar stats, with Tendulkar having the SLIGHTEST of edges, when it comes to Average and strike rate.

2. Ponting is likely to score more centuries in victories batting first.

Ahh but you say this doesn’t show MUCH it? The fun’s in the Chase. How do these dudes play in a chase? We present to you:

Part 3: Chasing Skirts and SCORING!

Nothing like a satisfying chase and getting laid at the end of it all eh? Here’s where we’re going to make it a little more interesting.

Conditions:

1. Both players score centuries

2. Respective team Chases

3. Respective teams win

Additional data:

1. Team score

2. % contribution to team score

3. 2nd highest in team score

4. 3rd Highest in team score

Batting 2nd - Centuries - Winning

Observations:

1. Again, comparable numbers on Runs and SR, but with Sachin having the slightest of edges

2. Look at the contribution there , 2nd and 3rd highest scores- significant differences now.

Intermediate conclusion

Here’s where the team concept comes into play:

1. Sachin’s team almost always seems to be chasing a MUCH higher score than ponting’s – by 38 runs.

2. Sachin’s contribution to his team score is almost 10% higher than Pontings

3. The 2nd and 3rd Highest scores of their respective teams in run chases tell yet another story .

Ponting’s team members are better contributors. Basically, Sachin has a little more hard work than Ponting if India and Australia are dudes waiting to get laid. Ponting’s friends are a little more helpful too. But how about when they DON’T get laid? That’s all that matters doesn’t it? That will outline the difference between the MAN and the wannabe.

Part 4: Chasing skirts and ending up Using hand

This is where one’s left with nothing else at the end of it all, other than well.. you know.

Conditions:

1. Both players score centuries

2. Respective teams lose

3. It could be batting 1st or 2nd, but we’ve made a distinction

3. Parameters of team outputs also considered

Sachin and Ponting : Centuries for lost causes

Observations:

1. All 4 of Ponting’s lost cause centuries have come batting 1st.

2. When batting 1st, Ponting’s Average, SR seem to be better than Sachin’s.

3. When Chasing – we’re going to compare Sachin II with Sachin I since Ponting’s got no load, Sachin’s India seem to be chasing scores in excess of 300. Additionally his team’s 2nd biggest contribution falls even lower now .

Intermediate Conclusion:

1. Point 3 Above is very important. Compare the 2nd and 3rd biggest contributions India when batting 2nd to themselves when batting 1st or in victory. 47 is quite a significant drop from 62.

Part 5: Manner of Rejection

When you do get rejected by a chick, the nerd in you wants a feedback. Where did I go wrong? Did you not like the coconut oil ? Was I coming on too strong? Such is the case here too. A quick comparison between the 2 squads in defeat- how they lose when their stars score the biggies:

Manner of Defeat

Observations

1. All 4 of the Kangaroo defeats with Ponting scoring a century are actually somewhat close/respectable.

2. 8 out of 13 games where Sachin’s scored a century in a losing cause have been rendered meaningless – i.e India Lost pretty big or it didn’t matter (abandoned)

*note: 1 of Sachin’s century above came in the Desert Storm cup – against Australia where he got India through to the finals to face them again. I think we know what he did next.

Intermediate Conclusion

1. Here’s where the other aspect of the team – the bowling matters. Australia’s closer defeats than India implies that the Australian bowling actually made a match of it more often than not, while the Indian bowlers decided to suck.

Final Thoughts

We believe that the average reader of MTJAG has an IQ greater than the 2 of us put together to see the story behind the stats.  To state the obvious , there are points that prove that Sachin’s team mates perform at a lower level than  Ponting’s respective team-mates  (especially in defeats), which leaves Sachin to do a whole lot more.

But if you leave aside all the stats for a minute, there’s a human element to it all. There’s a tendency to believe that it’s the scores in the really big games that the player puts up which really matter.  Even better if it’s a chase isn’t it? Truly taking your team to victory in style. Well , consider these points:

1. Australia has been to 4 world cup finals with Sachin around, India 1.

2. It’s generally a little tougher to score Centuries while chasing than while you’re setting a target. Ponting has 8 centuries when chasing vs 16 when setting a target.  Sachin has scored 18 when batting first and 14 when India chased.   Seems like Sachin can handle that pressure of helping chase.

3. In the 4 world cup finals Australia played in, they won 3 (1999, 2003, 2007). In the 4 world cup finals (1996, 99, 2003, 2007), they only chased once , in 1999, where the chase wasn’t much. In the 3 other situations, they batted 1st. Ponting duly got 1 big century against India in that game.

4. Sachin hasn’t had opportunities to get into that many finals. They got close in 1996, when the famous Eden gardens episode took place in the semis. They got close again in 2003, when India embarrassed themselves in the finals. But make no mistake about it.  There have been quite some skewed performances in the past. The reason why India even made it to those stages, despite sub-par performances from more than half the team: SACHIN TENDULKAR.

Sachin’s 45 debatable knocks

The most famous cricket saying in India is – If cricket is a religion, then Sachin is GOD

And Sachin indeed has produced some wonderful innings in which India has won handsomely or nail-bittingly or has lost in agonishing fashions. Nothing divides the nation like the way people debate on whether Sachin has led the team to victory or not in the 435 matches that he has played till now. So when India came close to toppling Australia’s 350, heavily depending on Sachin’s 175, people debated the next day in office, in coffee shops, in meeting rooms and wherever…if he yet again gave away his wicket when he could have taken the team to victory???

Vickerman has covered the topic pretty well and I can’t agree more with him. I would just like to point out a few facts before we build myths about Sachin’s contribution to the team. Couple of my colleagues and friends in office came with the now very fashionable statements -  “yet again Sachin scores a century in a losing match”, “most of Sachin’s centuries have been in vain” etc etc. So I thought I need to demystify these generalisations…so cricinfo.com, here I come…

This is Sachin’s ODI batting record. He has scored 45 centuries for India.

no. of matches India won when he has scored a century – 33

no of matches India has lost when he has scored a century – 12

victory % of India when Sachin has scored a century – 73%

In a long career(or longest career in ODI), making 45 centuries(the next best is Ricky Ponting with 28),taking India to victory in 73% of the matches when he has scored a century is a pretty good record if you can recollect that he has opened in almost all the matches in which he has scored a century.

And now just for comparison, lets compare how Ponting has fared in his ODI career. At the outset itself it is an unfair comparison because you are comparing someone who has played 435 ODIs to someone who has played 329 matches. And Ponting played in teams which featured such good finishers like Bevan, Hussey, Steve Waugh and Gilchrist to name a few. But for the record he has scored 28 centuries and 24 of them have come in victories which puts his success at 85%, which is not all that great. Let him score 45 and then we will compare

It happened again at Hyderabad

The human mindset is a strange thing.

Once he got out, defeat was inevitable. Every single person around me  knew it, but yet were were hoping against all odds.  For any other team, these would have been great odds. But no, not for India, not under such circumstances. We’ve been there before.

Remember that unforgettable Chennai test against Pakistan in 1999? With a target of 271 to chase, the tremendous bowling attack of Wasim, Waqar and Saqlain reduced India to 81/5, with Sachin still at the crease. Along with Mongia, Sachin took upon the ardous task of rebuilding a city, run by run.

With each lift of his bat, and run taken under the sweltering and scorching Chennai heat, the man drained out and cramped just a bit more. But the abilities of a genius is a pretty unscientific thing. It enables him or her to do what ordinary mortals cannot do, or cannot push for.  As every single sinew in his body gave away, the mind and heart of Sachin grew that much stronger. He was not just fighting against the prodigous bowling attack. He was fighting the elements. He was waging a battle against a pitch that was so venomous that you’d rather spend a night out with a poisonous rattle snake. But most of all, he was fighting a mindset of millions. A mindset that made them believe that he, Sachin Tendulkar, was good enough to make a match of things, but not win it all by himself.

Sachin took India from that precarious position to the very doorstep of victory – scoring 136 memorable, awe-inspiring runs. But just as that door was about to open, the human in him finally made an appearance. All that it needed was just 2 cool heads to score 17 simple runs and win it for India. None were found.

We saw it happen yesterday. At a time where brashness supposedly trumps elegance, aggression of words seem to be preferred over an unfinching spirit, Tendulkar decided to turn back the clock for yet another moment of bittersweet nostalgia.

A flurry of wickets yet again left India devastated , and 350 looked like a himalayan task. Once more, Sachin set about trying to do the impossible. He collected and created 175 precious runs, half the runs which India would need. He stood there yet again admist the ruins, rising like the phoenix from the ashes, falling just before the final barrier. This, after 20 strenous years of top class cricket, and 630720000 seconds (and counting) of continuous and constant scrutiny, expectations, victories and disappointments.

During the post-game interview, a lesser being who might have had 20 years of spotlight would have have experience perhaps a little bit of anger, maybe a lot of fear, or even a dose of desperation. But Sachin is what Sachin does. Highlighted the importance of team and not one, crediting Raina for a good partnership, and slightly lamenting the lack of partnerships at the end. Nothing more, nothing less.

And yet the millions of mindsets might question it all, expecting him to score the final 17 or 20 runs, but not expect the remaining players to collectively even get those.  Some of us might choose to question why he did not help India cross that final hurdle, but yet not ask why some of the other players chose not even to run the race.   We’d ponder over what Sachin did not do for us, but yet not give a fleeting thought to what others have.

The human mindset is indeed a strange thing.

Ponting Looks to Punk India:

Who's your daddy now? (courtesy:freebeez.com)

It’s SO friggin ON now.

Series tied at 2-2 .  India brandishing the kangaroos in 2 games and laying the proverbial turd in the other games. What can be said about an Aussie team which has 43232 front line bowlers on crutches, wheelchairs, medication, and therapy, AND YET manages to win games against a seemingly stronger opponent (on paper atleast) away ?  Pretty Cool.

So, while the stage is set for the big game in Hyderabad, Ponting comes out and plays the sympathy card:

“If you consider everything that’s happened to us over the last couple of weeks, it would be an amazing effort if this group of players were good enough to get over the line,” Ponting said in the Age. “I think we showed the other night that if we play even somewhere near our best we’re a really good chance of winning the series.

Yes sir, that is indeed pretty amazing.

MSD, on the other hand, should be a little upset that the series is tied at this point.  While having the 2 awesome fearsome mirror images at the top order fire simultaneously would ease a lot of pressure on him, it hasn’t happened in the series yet. More worrying was the lack of Gambhir, who pretty much was on the Aussies like an evil diaper rash at the No.3 Position.  Dhoni did try to shuffle it a bit and send Kohli up front, but that move backfired in a pretty big way. Gambhir probably being back for this game would help.

A good thought would be to send Harbhajan singh opening the batting. Bhajji of late seems to have perfected the art of bitchslapping the Aussies with the bat, while being underwhelming with the ball. His bowling has been a big concern for quite a while now. Frankly, after 10+ years of international cricket and being tagged the “premier” wicket tacker in your team, it should NOT be taking 4+ games in a 7 game series to get into your groove.

Big Cajones of STEEL Predictions by MTJAG:

1. Score set by the team batting first would be 270-280.

2. Gambhir and Hussey will fail to contribute a  30+ score this time. Law of averages catches up with them.

3. Sehwag starts out like the devil again, but fizzes away, after a 25.

4. Sachin gets 70+ in this game

5. Shaun Marsh will play well for the ‘Roos, and get a 50+

6. Raina and Jadeja play very useful roles both with the bat and ball this time.

7.  Hauritz grabs 3 wickets

8.  India gets the lead here . 3-2.

9. MoM :  Sachin.

Premier League weekend matches post-view

It all started with the North London derby at the emirates, where a Robbie Keane dialogue-inspired Spurs took on a ever improving Arsenal side in a lunch time kick-off. It started off a bit sober with none of the teams putting any pressure on the opponents and a few chances going to either side. I was in a sports bar in Mumbai, with four Spurs fans (all from UK), wearing my Arsenal tshirt,pegging the team along with an older British man, who was a Man Utd supporter. There was an India-Australia match happening at the same time and so you don’t have to guess why the crowd had turned up. So the football match was shown in one of the LCD TVs in a corner of the bar with all of us around it. The first goal should not have come as a surprise as I did expect Van Persie to be quicker than Ledley King. Maybe Gomes should have done better. And the second one was a surprise all together…I can’t believe that in modern football, such a goal is still possible. A wrong pass and then Fabregas went past 2 or 3 Spurs players who all seemed to be switched off before driving it past Gomes. That was a stunning finish and I believe that Fabregas will breach the 15 goal mark this season. He has 5 as of now,second to Van Persie’s 7. The third goal was always coming and I am glad we kept pressing for more and I wish Eduardo would have scooped the ball above Gomes instead of curling it around him. A 4-0 or 5-0 would have been even better against our bitter North London rivals.

Liverpool thought they were done with the worst last weekend when they beat United,but surprise surprise Fulham put up a fighting display to inflict Liverpool with their 5th defeat this season. Surely, Rafa should not be talking about winning the premier league now.  He better concentrate on saving the CL qualification to the next round with Lyon this week. He has a lot of injury problems to face with both Torres and Gerrard still suspect to make it to the squad. Voronin, Ngog etc are not exactly premier league quality and where is Aquilani??? Rafa has the toughest job among the Premier League managers and I think he could come under the firing line soon. But I do have to say that the Torres goal was a superb finish, he got one chance and he converted it brilliantly.

Manchester United beat Blackburn 2-0,which now looks like a comfortable victory, which it was not with the 30 million Berbatov missing a lot of chances and the Rovers crowd going “What a waste of money”!!! They have been slowly but steadily winning their matches and their squad strength is showing despite losing Ronaldo and Tevez.

Chelsea seems to be pumping in goals for fun. They now have 28 goals from 11 matches, that is next only to Arsenal’s 32 from 10!!! But with Joe Cole in the midst of things, the team is looking better and they seem to be piling up points before the big challenge that will come their way in December-January.

Manchester City are drawing too many matches and I think this is not good for a team which wants to challenge Liverpool for the 4th place in the league. With Tottenham and Aston Villa all lined up to challenge the top four, this season is surely going to be a gripping one.

Sehwag and Taylor are flesh eaters:

Meat never tasted so effing good.

There can be no to ways about it.

Sehwag is a friggin bear-man. Nothing else needs to be said about him. He feasts on opening bowlers for breakfast, spinners for lunch, and part-timers for dinner. He once had a one-night stand which lasted 2 weeks.

In the ongoing CL, he decided announce his return to form treating the Wayamba side like an evil red-headed stepchild.  His 66 off 42 deliveries strangely contained only 1 six, which comes as a bit of a surprise, as we’ll shortly see. What was even more worriesome for opposition in future is that he’s equally agressive along the ground. Some of his strokes, especially the wristy on-side ones are turning out to be things of beauty.

Oh, and about that one 6, sample this from a recent cricinfo interview:

Once Gary Kirsten asked me, “What would you do if there is a long-off, long-on and deep midwicket?” I asked, “Gary sir, do fielders matter to me?“

Enough said.  Let’s clear the damn ropes next time. Bowlers, say your prayers.

On the other hand, the way Ross Taylor goes about abusing and molesting the opposition bowlers is reaching near censorship levels. Just to prove last game wasn’t a fluke, he did it again today. In the last over of the innings, Taylor decided to go apeshit on Otago. If there’s such a thing called painfully beautiful, this must have been it. Taylor proceeded to decleat Butler first. After 3 deliveries , Butler decided that he had enough of this, and came off with an injury (injured pride perhaps). Poor McSkimming wasn’t spared either, with Taylor pulling off 3 incredible hits, especially one which he almost swept for six just a few inches of the ground.  Dude’s blessed with extreme quickness of hand and field awareness.

When these 2 predators are on, it can really get ugly, in a good way.