Tendulkar started the obvious fire by saying India vs Australia series much bigger than playing against arch rivals Pakistan.

Is that statement true ? I feel so it is just Pakistan does not have that fire in it any more as a team as it used to be is the conclusion I drew from Sachin's claim. Of course Australia with its bad boys behavior feeding the fuel to the fire in recent years under the leadership of Ponting (that's another long post in coming days)

Pakistan's lost glory
Even though betting and huge crowds are witnessed in any match against Pakistan, recently (from 2001) Pakistan has lost its flare to fight back. The yester year players - Imran Khan, Miandad, Wasim Akram, Abdul Quadir made sure they fought until their last breath (Figuratively). The less recent team of Saed Anwar, Amir Sohail, Inzamam, Izaz Ahmad kept the momentum going on and made sure they gave their best when playing against India.

A match between India and Pak used to be a war like atmosphere with sweet, rude and un gentlemanly behaviors on and off the ground.

1986 Sharjah: Miandad hit Chetan Sharma off six from last over



1989 Tendulkar vs Quadir

Tendulkar himself will not forget lifting the Quadir for sixers. Pakistanis unwelcoming crowd kindled then 16 years old Sachin with placards saying “Doodh Pitha Bhachcha ..ghar jaake dhoodh pee”, (kid, go home and drink milk), Sachin took then young leg spinner Mustaq Ahmed for a ride sending two sixes in one over. The frustaded guru of Mustaq Abdul Qadir challenged Sachin saying ” Bachchon ko kyon mar rahe ho? Hamein bhi maar dikhao` (`Why are you hitting kids? Try and hit me.`). Quadir. I hope Qyadir did not sleep that night with his over stats 6, 0, 4, 6, 6, 6. That was back in 1989.

1992 Miandad vs Kiran More



March 1996 world cup incident when Prasad taught a lesson to Sohail.



That was the last incident of 1996 I can recall other than Twenty20 close final. Compared to 90s matches with Pakistan it is matches with Aussies in 2000s that gets more interesting. Why Tendulkar ? Haha he has to complete is record of 77 runs to surpass Lara.

Labels: Australi in India, Cricket, Miandad, Pakistan, sachin tendulkar

Man Singh the manager of the 1983 Prudential World Cup team in his book "Cricket Biryani" writes about history of Hyderabad cricket

The Man Singh's Hyderabad XI team is: Abbas Ali Baig, VVS Laxman, ML Jaisimha (captain), MAK Pataudi, Mohammad Azharuddin, EB Aibara, Syed Abid Ali, P. Krishnamurthy (wicket-keeper), Mumtaz Hussain, NP Singh, Ghulam Ahmed, 12th man: Gul Mohammad.

Find more details here

Labels: Abbas Ali Baig, Cricket, Ghulam Ahmed, India, Mohammad Azharuddin, sachin tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman

Probably this final is one of the most sensible chases that Indian fans have seen in recent past. Sachin low on confidence or poor form does not take strike of first ball and Uthappa gets the chance. Lee did trouble Sachin initially. Aussies bowling have lost some edge after the departure of Warne and McGrath. With Hogg and Gilchrist departing after this series Aussies might be in big trouble. The total of 240 is a paltry total and India needs to keep their wickets intact.

Sachin scored all around the ground to keep Aussies fielding busy. The coordination of Sharma and Tendlya is a winning partnership. Sachin seen appreciating Sharma for his so perfect text book shots and for Rohit of age 21, this must be a great compliment from master blaster. In this series it is first time that India crossed or touched 50 for first wicket. 6+4 = 10dulkar is waiting for long time to give India this blasting innings and what a occasion to finish his first hundred in Australia that too at Sydney Cricket Ground ...err...Sachin Cricket Ground.

It is good to see India team maturing into a good bowling side with Praveen Kumar and Ishant leading the way.

Labels: CBSeries, Cricket, Cricket Match Review, finals, sachin tendulkar

Probably whole India is happy for this knock. He too got emotional waving at crowd after he finished his ton considering his recent 90's jinx.

Sachin's interview video :



Sachin's brilliant 38th century brilliancy video :



Here are some of crowd banners and cheering form cricinfo :

"Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting," it read. "They will go unnoticed because even the Lord is watching."

"Nobody talks when Sachin strikes".

SCG. "Sachin Cricket Ground," actually "Sydney Cricket Ground"

Source : cricinfo

Labels: Cricket, India in Australia, sachin tendulkar

If India need to have any chances to get close to victories for the upcoming Australia vs India series, India needs at least two or three brave knocks off the bat.

Here are few noteworthy twenty20, ODI and test knocks from the past India vs Australia series:

Twenty20 semifinals - Yuvi's brilliant knock

Twenty20 memorable knock by Yuvraj Singh 70 runs off 30 balls in India v Australia Twenty20 T20 semifinals and we know the rest of the story, India beat Pakistan in finals and are crowned Twenty20 champions.

What a day (another day) for Yuvraj Singh , he smashed all of Aussies bowlers over the ground and made them helpless spectators of the game.

Yuvraj -- > 1) Faced 7 balls off B Lee made 12 runs with 1 six. 2) Faced 9 balls off Clark made 27 runs with 2 sixers and 2 fours. 3) Faced 8 balls off A. Symonds made 18 runs with 2 sixers and 2 fours.

See the brilliancy in motion :

Coca-Cola cup finals 1998 - Sachin's cricket show mastery

Who can forget this knock ? 134 runs off 131 ball with three sixers and twelve fours.

Third Test 2003 Melbourne - viru's resistance knock

Viru if he is in form we know he can be so destructive that he alone can stop the mighty Aussies, this is what happened in the 3rd test match when all the batsman failed he singlehandedly saved the day for India.

Sehwag made 195 runs off 233 balls with 25 fours and 5 sixers



To sum up at least three batting knocks are required from Team India to have hope for the upcoming series.

Labels: Australia vs India, batsman, Cricket, Cricket Nostalgia, INDIA vs Australia, sachin tendulkar, Sehwag, yuvrajsingh

How is team India doing after their early exit ? Except for the family quality time they may not be daring to go into crowded places to avoid unruly fans.Is fans better or bibi's worse? Lets peek into team India's personal lives -

1. Rahul Dravid and Vijeta Pendharkar
• Wall might be getting new paint daily from both Vijeta and their boy after 2007 WC
2. Sachin Tendulkar and Anjali
   
• Anjali is 4 years older, Tendlya proposed to Anjali may be Tendlya is now using 4 year card to beg Anjali that he will play WC2011 and get more records
  
3. Sourav Ganguly and Dona
   
• So much bollywood drama when he got married to Dona, and bollywood continued when Saurav photographed at a temple with a film star Nagma almost ended their married life, After 2007 WC lets wait and see if 'Padayappa' fame Ramya Krishna make a villian move
  
4. Virender Sehwag and Aarti Ahlawat
• Nawab of Najafgarh, Sultan of Multan gets aarti for his superb knocks in WC 2007 from Aarti , Ya my mulatn is better than rest for first time.
5. Ajit Agarkar and Fatima Ghadially
• Bowling failure will cost him empty food bowls and dishes at home
  
6. Anil Kumble and Chetna
• Adarshi marries a divorcee, Chetna - Chetna asks Kumble to Divorce OneDayInternationals
7. Zaheer Khan and Isha Sharvani
• Zaheer Khan and Isha Sharvani - Did Isha knew Zaheer's love affair with that fan - May be this is the right time to show Isha the black mail video (see video below)
8. Yuvraj Singh and Kim Sharma
   
• Yuva gets run out cheaply and hope not Kim sends him back as Dravid did at Sri Lanka match when Yuva Raj was out
  

Labels: Cricket, sachin tendulkar, world cup 2007, world cup cricket

Sachin-Chappell faisco made Sachin come out open and talk to media which resulted in notices from BCCI.
In a rare public outburst,

Tendulkar, expressed his anguish, saying ''Paani sar se ooncha ho gaya hai (Things have gone a bit too far to keep quiet). I've given my heart and my soul for 17 years. No coach had mentioned even in passing that my attitude was not correct.'' The news spread like wild fire and did not too long to reach the shores of the Caribbean.

Tendulkar's reasons -

• Tendulkar took head bath (Paani sar se ooncha ho gaya hai ) on match days with Bangladesh and Srilanka.Short Tendlya drowned himself in water with head bath which made him bloat and with puffed stomach he cannot be at crease for longer time on two crucial games.17 years and this is first time it happened to him.Sorry blaster not every one knows the reasons as you often don't speak to media.

Sidhu's reasons-

• Tendulkar should have taken this (Chappel's) in dressing room.Oh Sidhu Tendlya was in a hurry and was not able to wash his head and cure the bloat as Sehwag, Uthappa had similar diarrhea problems that made them run back to pavillion in Bangla match.

Jadeja's reasons-

• There has never been a doubt on his integrity, his credibility. He never gets into trouble with head bath or diarrhea.There won't be a single day when Sachin Tendulkar's hair has changed.
• I am actually happy to see Tendulkar come out with that head bath and speak as well.
  

Kumble took the same road but different in that he went with mild attacks against Chappell.Kumble says Chappel style created insecurity among the players.Cahppel is saying players are Mafia and Kumble says players are insecured.Oh..This is the root cause of India's early exit from world cup.Damn, one billion people finding reasons of India failure will now know the reason.Mafia did not get proper supari.

"He said there has been a lot of speculation and the focus on the Indian cricket team per se has increased now with more television channels than two years ago when John Wright was the coach."

One more reason too many television channels.BAN CHANNELS BCCI.

To sum up - Kumble says India lost out from world cup because -

1. Chappel style created insecurity among the players
2. Focus on the Indian cricket team per se has increased now with more television channels than two years ago
3. Ian Chappell knows nothing about Indian cricket
4. We tend to give too much importance to players from outside. Like when we say that we don't have a (Shane) Warne, (Muttiah) Muralitharan or (Wasim) Akram in the team, we forget that these guys are not the ones who will win us matches. We need to support our players for that.We do not have world class players.
   
5. Rubbished suggestions that Tendulkar's age had made him more of a liability for the team in term of fitness.SO Tendulkar's age is the reason.
   

Thanks Kumble Zeeeeeee for a wide that opened my eyes , Now I can sleep with peace of mind knowing the Kumble,Tendulkar,Sidhu,Jadeja reasons of why India cannot make it to super eights.

Labels: Anil Kumble, Chappell, Cricket, sachin tendulkar, super eights, world cup 2007

Arun Vaidyanathan, of New Jersey spoofing Sachin Tendulkar

He has a personal horror story - well, not 'horror', perhaps, but close. Shortly before this World Cup began, he brought his parents over from India to live with him in New Jersey, so they could watch the cricket in comfort.

India's early exit torpedoed that plan. From the resulting disappointment was born this spoof on Sachin Tendulkar which, in his words, "originated because of the frustration and disappointment of the whole Indian cricket team's early exit."

Labels: Cricket, sachin tendulkar, spoof