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tHe auSSie pRIDe...thE iNDIan rePLY.
2008-01-11 22:46:00
It is hard to noT notice the fact that the auSSie pRIDe has been dented! The aussies were always known for playing it hard and playing it with the utmost clinial professionalism. The current aussie team is no less in that regard with the aussie teams of the past! The only additional factor which fuelled the current SYNDEY FIASCO is WIN AT ANY COST. This has really made things worse for the aussie pride!Let us rewind and go back in the past. It was in the 1930s when there were only 2 teams competing for the best, the auSSies and the engLISH! The other teams were still learning the naunces of cricket! The bodyline series of the 1930s can never be forgotten when the auSSies were at the receiving end from the english! Things never remained the same! It was during that time the auSSie mind set has changed and kept on changing to the better. The 1950s saw the greats like the Sir Don Bradman and Neil Harvey and the others who had instilled the never say die attitude in the auSSie blood and...
More About: Indian , Pride , Aussie

fAtE oF uMPirinG anD the ausSie cheAtinG.
2008-01-06 09:28:00
Its been a longtime that I have blogged on cricket. Now I feel it is the right time to get back to blogging. The Cricket arena is never the same. The once so-called GENTLEMANs game is no longer supposed to be...i would rather call it the mightY cheaters game. Yes, that is true. The team who has the might to sledge and cheat has a bigger say in the things. It also looks like such teams even bribe the umpires in biased decisions.For a longtime, I had such a respect in cricket that I donot have in games like the NBA,NFL and MLB in the USA since in these games the home team always has the advantage in the umpiring (referee) decisions. But atleast in these games,you have the option to challenge a decision but..alas in our biased game of cricket we donot have this!!!I agree the aussie team was good in the early 2000s...but now that after the retirement of the greats like Steve Waugh, Justin Langer, Mc Grath and Shane Warne, the ausSie team still wants to live that dream despite unhealthy...
More About: Cheating , Fate , Aussie

bAndaz columN -> thE ePic fiNaLe...
2007-09-24 22:51:00
iT is beeN close to 5 mOntHs thaT I havE stopPed blogGing on criCket...onE of the main reasonS being the mesSed uP forMat of the ODI WC whicH hapPened in the first quarter of this yeaR!!!iS iT surpRising to seE the sub-continenT teaMs iNDia and pAkiStan play the finals of the first ever twenTy20 world cup? nO...nOT really. It was due to the messed up ODI WC format that these 2 teams did not get into the second round. noW that we had the ePic final, it is very much clear how much a format plays into a big tournament!the wHole criCKeting worLd agrees thAt the better teams made it to the finaLs.i herebY comE out of my bloG sTrikE and stAy tuNeD for more.onCe aGain the betteR teaM woN...if it was the invincible ausSiEs who had the last laugh @ the 2007 ODI WC...it is iNDia in the 2007 tWenTy20 WC!uNtiL laTeR... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Finale , Column , Epic , Fina , Banda

bAndaz picKs -> reMatcH oF tHe niNetiEs...
2007-04-26 22:52:00
tiMe flies by faSt...it stiLL seEms very freSh in soMe of the minDs about the banNEd semi-fiNaL at the eDen garDens when a weEping Kambli had to be guided ouT of the ground with iNDia well in dumps @ 120/8 and the crowD tRoUnble not letTing any play posSiblE. iF that maTcH had a dramatic start with the laNkAns down by 2 wikKets for no score on the board and later a controLLed knock by Aravinda and Ranatunga piLe uP a healtHy 251 and the litTle masTeR in cRuise mode on 65 with iNDia on a healtHy sCore of 90/2 in 15 oveRs, what foLLOweD this was equaLLy dramatic with iNDia losing anoTHer 6 wikKEts for 30 runS!!! yes...tHis was the unForgetTablE iNDia - laNkA semiS at the edEn gaRdeNs in '96. wHat foLLowed this was one of the besT fiNaLs ever witnNesSed baRRing the '75 final when the caRRibeAns sneakEd home by a mere 17 runs oveR the ausSies, and in '87 when the ausSiEs ran homE with the tropHy beating the enGlisH by a mere 7 runs! thE '96 fiNal was difFerent in the senSe that no t...
More About: Match , Anda , Pick , The Nine , Banda

bAndaz picKs for the seMiS of '07
2007-04-24 19:26:00
iT has beEn a rolliking month and a halF and we are reaching the enD of the so-calleD worLD cUP! The cUP started with gReaT expectations but did not liVe up to them. iN many waYs this eDition of the cUP is a biG faiLurE!anyWay the teaMs in the seMiS are very much wortH of their seMis berth!. The 4 best teams at the moment in the order of their form are the ausSiEs, the kiWis, the laNkAns, the pRotEas.thE fiRst sEmIs betweEn the laNkAns and the kiWis should be a closely fought game. aT the enD the laNkAns would just sneaK thru'!laNkAns -> 51%kiWis -> 49%waTcH out for the laNkAn captain Jayawardene and Murali.waTcH out for the kiWi captain Fleming and Bond.x-FacTor -> Malinga and Styris.thE seconD seMis betweEn the rampanT ausSiEs and the chokErs pRoteAs is interesting for many reasons. There are a few eGos hurT, a feW things to be proVen, sweEt reVenGe, priDe @ stAke! The tosS coulD be a vital thing here! Both the teams have very good batTing line-ups. The teaM that baTs first shou...
More About: Anda , Semi , Pick , Banda

tHe leGeND caLLeD - sACHiN tENDULkAR
2007-04-06 22:05:00
It was a hazy winTer afternoon on the 16tH day of noVEMber in 1989 at Karachi...the little master has first entered the cricket field in the internaTional teST aRenA. India are 4 down for 41 in a test match, though the little master survied only for 15 runs, it was enoUgh to show the crikKEt world that a leGenD was born! The entry of the little master into the ODI arena was dramatic. A foggy day on the 16tH of decEMber in 1989 at Peshawar, the 50 over game was reduced to a 20 over a side and the paKisTanis made a handsome 157. The Indian chase started modestly and with 3 wickets down for 88, the little master entered the field and played a blinder of 53 runs in just 18 balls! eVeR since then tHe naMe is enOUgh to creaTe teRRor in any boWleR on the crikKEt field! It was moRe than 17 yeaRs that the little master has dominated the crikKEt world and is still going sTronG. It was a testimony to the littlE masTer's sheer dominance on the gamE that the DON of crikKET, Sir Donald Bradman h...
More About: Tend , Call , Sachin , Calle , Tendulkar

tHe so cAllEd sUpEr8 tEeeamS...bAndaz sUpEr8 picKs anD The anAlysIS!
2007-03-27 18:38:00
aT thE tiMe of tHis wriTing, 8 oF the 24 matCheS in the sUpEr8 are alreAdY played. So let us anAlyse the sUpEr 8 teAms at this stage! ofCourse the '07 woRlD cUP already lost it'z charm with 2 of the sub-continent giAnTs facing an early exit...thanks to the iCC for it'z iNNovative foRmAt!The invinciBle ausSiEs and the ever impRovinG kiWis are playinG their besT crikKEt at the moMent! It was only 4 weeks back that many crikKEting greats commented that the ausSiEs are a spent force and how they are loosing their hold on the ever changing one day cricket! But oh boY...now it looks like a longtime back...the ausSiEs have proved yeT again that they are the best in the businEss when it comes to the biG ocCasSion. Hayden and Mc Grath are having their best time with Hussey and Symonds waiting to prove a point or two. There is always the Ponting factor which works at the cruncH time! I hope the sub-continent teAms iNDia and paKisTan take a leaf out of the ausSIE booklet! I rate the ausSies...
More About: Band , Analysis , Super , Anda , Call

tHe woRld cUp foRmaT!!!
2007-03-26 03:06:00
thE gRoup round is over and here are the resUlts to get inTo the sUpEr8!!! It is sad to see the crikKEting gianTs iNDia and paKisTan to be knocked oUt. b4 discusSing the teaMs in sUpEr8, let us talk about a few facts about the woRld cUp tournaments of the past and the present.It was only since the '99 ediTion that the tournament was desiGneD into having 2 rounds beFore playing the semiS. There are a lot of merRits atTached to this nEw forMat if implemented properly! In the '99 there were a toTal of 12 teams participating in the tournament divided into 2 groups of 6 each! The top 3 from each group went on to play in the sUpEr6. unFortunately better teams liKe enGland and sRilanKa gave way for zimbaBwe to progResS into the sUpEr6! tHe forMat was thus comMented to leaVe out the biG teams but there was not much to blaMe since each teAm had played 5 group games beFore progresSing into the next round.If the '99 ediTion had left out 2 of the biG teams out of the sUpEr6, the '03 ediTi...
More About: World Cup , World , The World , Form , Format

bAndaz picKs for mAr25th...
2007-03-24 02:09:00
banGladesH shud wiN over berMudA comfortably!banGladesH -> 85% winning chanceberMudA -> 15% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr24th...
2007-03-24 00:04:00
soUth aFricA shud wiN over ausTrAlia very narrowly!soUth aFricA -> 55% winning chanceausTrAlia -> 45% winning chanceenGlanD shud wiN over kEnYa comfortably!enGlanD -> 80% winning chancekEnYa -> 20% winning chance (surpRise element!)based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr23rd...
2007-03-23 05:59:00
iNDia shud wiN over sRilankA very narrowly!iNDia -> 55% winning chancesRilankA -> 45% winning chancewesTindiEs shud wiN over iRelanD comfortably!wesTindiEs -> 80% winning chanceiRelanD -> 20% winning chance (surpRise element!)based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr22nd...
2007-03-22 03:23:00
scOtlanD shud wiN over neTherlanDs in a close game!scOtlanD -> 52% winning chanceneTherlanDs -> 48% winning chancenewZealanD shud wiN over caNadA comfortably!newZelanD -> 90% winning chancecaNadA -> 10% winning chance (surpRise element!)based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr21st...
2007-03-21 03:47:00
paKisTan shud wiN over ziMbaBwe comfortably and nicely!paKisTAn -> 90% winning chanceziMbaBwe -> 10% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)sRilankA shud wiN over baNglAdesh comfortably!sRilankA -> 75% winning chancebaNglAdesh -> 25% winning chance (surpRise element!)based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr20th...
2007-03-20 08:43:00
soUth aFricA shud wiN over scOtlanD with a huge margin!soUth aFricA -> 92% winning chancescOtlanD -> 8% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)newzEalanD shud wiN over kEnyA narrowly! bUt there is a possibility that the match could go either way!newzEalanD -> 59% winning chancekEnyA -> 41% winning chance (surpRise element!)based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr19th...
2007-03-19 17:16:00
iNDia shud wiN over berMudA with a huge margin!iNDia -> 95% winning chanceberMudA -> 5% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)wesTindiEs shud wiN over zimbaBwE comfortably!wesTindiEs -> 85% winning chancezimbaBwE -> 15% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr18th...
2007-03-17 04:51:00
ausTraliA shud wiN over neTherlanDs with a huge margin!ausTraliA -> 97% winning chanceneTherlanDs -> 3% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)enGlanD shud wiN over canAda comfortably!enGlanD -> 92% winning chancecanAda -> 8% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr17th...
2007-03-17 04:42:00
iNDia shud wiN over banGladesH comfortably!iNDia -> 85% winning chancebanGladesH -> 15% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)paKisTan shud wiN over iRelanD with a huge margin!paKisTan -> 95% winning chanceiRelanD -> 5% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)based on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr16th...
2007-03-16 01:46:00
soUth aFricA shud wiN over neTherlanDs with a huge margin!soUth aFricA -> 99% winning chanceneTherlanDs -> 1% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)enGlanD should win a close game against newZealAndenGlanD -> 52% winning chancenewZealAnd -> 48% winning chancebased on the form of the teaMs since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr15th...
2007-03-15 16:48:00
sRilanKa shud wiN on berMuda with a huge margin!sRianKa -> 99% winning chanceberMuda -> 1% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)irElanD shud lOOse this game very narrowly over zimBabWe!iRelanD -> 49% winning chancezimBabWe -> 51% winning chancebased on the team form since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr 14th...
2007-03-14 02:07:00
thoUgh the result of the opening matcH looks one sided with the caRRibeans winning by over 50runs, it was not that way! The matcH did provide a lot of excitement until Shoib Malik was out! The presence of a certain Shahid Afridi who was baNNed for 2 matcHes would have given a diFFerent result!ausTraliA vs scotLanDeXpect the auSSies to wiN comfortably. watch ouT for Gilly, Ponting and Hussey in the baTTing and Tait and Mc Grath in the bowling. eXpect an all-round performance from Watson if he gets to play!watch out for the scoTs captain Craig Wright!auSSies -> 95% winning chancesocTs -> 5% winning chance (just for the surpRise element!)kenYa vs canAdathiS is going to be an inTeresting matcH with both the minnows trying to prove a point!kenYa should win a hard fought match.watcH ouT for Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo in the kenYan side and John Davison and Ashish Bagai in the canAdian side!kenYa -> 60% winning chancecanAda -> 40% winning chanceUntil toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd l...
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

bAndaz picKs for mAr13th...
2007-03-13 17:38:00
wesTindiEs shud wiN this game very narrowly over paKisTan!wesTindiEs -> 55% winning chancepaKisTan -> 45% winning chancebased on the team form since the last 3 months!Until toMmorRow... gOod morNing and goOd luCk!
More About: Band , Anda , Pick , Banda

soUth aFricA...cHokeRs tO tHe cOre.
2007-03-09 05:47:00
soUth aFricA...play their best cricket always, the only difference being they cHoke at the big occasion. It was on march 12th 1889 that the soUth aFricAns played their first test againsT the then touring enGlisH side becoming only the 3rd test playing nation. It was until 1970 that soUth aFricA played international crikKEt during which time they were the third best after the enGlisH and the auSSies! In 1970, the ICC voted to suspend soUth aFricA from international cricket indefinitely because of its government's policy of apartheid, a policy which led them to play only against the white nations (England, Australia, New Zealand), and field only white players. The ban of the soUth aFricAns saw the caRRibeans rise and the rest is history about how the caRRibean kinGs dominated the cricketing world!Ever since the soUth aFricAns were welcomed back to international cricket in 1991, they became a driving force on the crikKEt field played anywhere in the world! It has to be noted that t...
More About: Africa , South Africa , Core , South , Choke

enGlanD...tHe genTlemen oF crikKEt.
2007-03-08 07:44:00
enGlanD...it is the place where evrything started! This beautiful game of crikKEt was first played by the kings in 1212AD!. Yes this is true. It took a few centuries to evolve and finally the first official game was played as a timeless test match between the briTisH and the auSSies on march15th 1877. This was a timeleSS test match which lasted for 4 days and the auSSies had the last laugh!A game of cricket should be watched in the enGlisH summers in enGlanD. That is when you get the real taste of the genTlemen's game.The enGlisH dominated this game for much of the last century most of which was in the longer format...the tesT crikKEt. It was the auSSies first and the caRRibeans later that showed the world how to beat the once unbeatable enGlisH. The enGlisH had a very strong presence in the first 5 editions of the world cUP! Ever since they lost the finals against the paKisTan sultAns @ melbourne under the captaincy of Ian Botham, they were never the same! The enGlisH have a uniqu...
More About: England , Men , Land , Gentle , The G

iNDia...tHe tiGers oF thE easT.
2007-03-06 23:04:00
iNDia...the heroes of the '83 cUP! This is what comes to mind when you first talk about tHe iNDian team's world cUP chances. Ever since that elusive victory @ LORDS, the mecca of crikKEt grounds happened, crikKEt has evolved in a biG way in iNDia. It would not be wrong to say that cricket is a religion in iNDia! You take a casual stroll on any of the internal roads in any part of the country and you would definitely get a sighting of crikKEt being played!It was after '83 that the iNDian crikKEt team started believing in themselves that they can beat the best in the shOrter verSion of the gaMe as well! kuDOs to the team of '83 led by the legenDary Paaji Kapil and ably supported by Jimmy Amarnath, Yashpal Sharma, Sandeep Patil, Madanlal, Krish Srikanth and others! It has become customary to compare any iNDian team, wheTHer goOd or bAd to the herOes of '83. I would not discoUnt the victory of '83 which was hard fought and a well deserving win but comparisons should not be done ...
More About: India , Tigers , East , Tiger

sri lanKa...the marauD eRs of crikKEt.
2007-03-06 00:32:00
sri lanKa...rewind back to the paaaAAAst...how can one forget the huGe impaCt made by this team in the '96 cUP. Until then they were mere passengers in the world of crikKEt! It was the agressive captaincy of Ranatunga and his able deputy Aravinda De silva ably supported by the trio of Jayasuriya, Kaluwitharna and Murli which made this happen. Ever since then, the sri lanKans were never the same! They went on to become one of the cricketing power houses! If it was Martin Crowe who adopted the strategy of utilizing the first 15 overs by promoting Greatbatch in the '92 edition, it was Ranatunga who has fine tuned the strategy of how to clinically destroy the opposition in the first 15 overs by employing the marauD ers Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharna to the task, who has done the job to perfection!Ever since the marauD eRs have claimed the trophy in '96, the team has improved to the better.The sri lanKans in the '99 cUP have witnessed a shock elimination from the suPer 6 but they have d...
More About: Sri Lanka , Lanka , Mara

austRaliA...tHe warrioRs oF thE miLLeniUM.
2007-03-05 08:35:00
austRaliA....a name which brings to mind the sheer passion with which they play cricket! In my view austRaliA is for crikKEt like what braZil is for soCCer...the standard to be compared...in the moDeRn aGe! For over a decade, austRaliA have been the un-conquered leadeRs in both forms of the game. It is in '87 that austRaliA has won the first world cUP under one of their greatest leaders Allan Border! Though they have not done well in the next edition in '92 held in their own backyard, they have been consistent ever since reaching 3 consecutive finals in '96, '99 and 2003 and winning on 2 of these occassions!It is not wise to write OFF the auSSies owing to their recent 5 game loosing streak! You have to discount the fact that 5 of their top players are missing either with injury or break. It is the same auSSies who have an an unconquered record of 18 consecutive wins since the '99 cUP (7 consecutive wins in '99 an 11 consecutive wins in 2003). The core nucleus of the winning a...
More About: The War , Australia , War , Warriors , Stra

wesT inDies...the undisputeD kinGs oF the 70s.
2007-03-04 03:03:00
wesT inDies...the name was enough to create terror on any cricket field in the 70s. How can one forget the feaRsome fOur...Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Malcom Marshall. The wesT inDian batting boasted of all-time greats like Clive Llyod, Alvis Kalicharan, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes and the flamboyant Sir Vivian Richards in the same era. This was enough to see them thru' the first two editions of the world cUPs(1975 and 1979) with the highest honors. Make no mistake about it, the austRaliAn and the enGlisH teams were equally good in that era but the caRRibean kinGs had the last laugh!It took an underdog team like India to de-throne the caRRibean kinGs from their world cUP winning streak in '83. Ever since then, the wesT inDian kinGs were never the same! It was only in '96 that the wesT inDians managed to reach the semiS. It is been over 2 decades that the caRRibean kinGs are de-throned from the highest honor of cricket...the coveted world cUP!The tale of th...
More About: West , Indie , King , Kings , Dispute

nEw zeaLanD..kiWis..the most underRaTed bunch
2007-03-02 21:09:00
kiWis are the most underRaTed bunch of crikKeteRs. nEw zeaLanD was the first team who started utilizing the 15 over fielding restrictions (imposed since the '92 world cUP) intelligently. The dynamic captaincy of Martin Crowe in the '92 cUP saw him promoting Mark Greatbatch to open the innings for nEw zeaLanD who tore the bowling apart (time and again) and has shown the world how to utilize the first 15 overs...and the rest as you all know is hiStorY. It was during the same time that the great nEw zeaLanD leader showed the world how to utlize spin bowling in the first 15 overs effectively by opening with Deepak Patel. ofcourse the game has progressed much more in the last 15 years but it was heartening to see how nEw zeaLanD made an impact at that world cUP. The last 15 years has seen a rejuvenated nEw zeaLanD cricket team with a good crop of multi dimensional players.If it was Sir Richard Hadlee who put nEw zeaLanD on the cricket map of the world with his bowling exploits in t...
More About: New Zealand , Kiwis , Land , Most , Underrated

PaKisTan...tHe suLtaNs oF reVerSe sWing
2007-03-01 21:36:00
paKisTan is one of the 8 teAms to waTch ouT for in this edition of the world cUP. Though this team would be sadly missing out on the services of the rawalpindi express Shoaib, the immaculate Asif and the dashing allrounder Abdul Razzaq, they are still a formidable teaM with a lot of talent. Infact this is the first time in a world cUP competition that paKisTan has a relatively in-experienced and weaker bowling attack!Pakistan is a team which has excellent bench strength of good bowling attacks in the past. Nevertheless they can still boast of a good breed of young fast bowlers. It looks like the batting is finally coming to terms with the trio of Yusuf, Younis Khan and Inzamam lending solidity to the middle order followed by the mercurial keeper Kamran Akmal, the pocket dynamo Shahid Afridi and most probably the long forgotten dashing allrounder Azhar Mahmood!There have always been problems with the paKisTan teams (in terms of integrity) of the past and present except for the time...
More About: Sultan , Ever , Wing , Swing

thE impaCT oF thE veterRanS
2007-02-28 21:35:00
aT the time of this writing most of the tEams are reachinG the caRRibeaN for the caRniVal of cRikKEt due in 2 weeks!moSt of the teams at this woRld cUP have a few players who would be playinG their lasT woRld cUP. Let us talk about the veteRanS and their impaCT in this tournament.The teams from the sub-continent (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) have a few players who would want to leave their mark in most probably their last world cup appearance. The famous FOUR from India -> Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Kumble in all probability might be playing their last world cUP. It might be argued that Tendulkar and Dravid might make it to the next world cUP but it is 4yeaRs away and any discussions about that may not be valid at this juncture! Watch out for some sizzling performances from these wounded Tigers from India! Sri Lanka as well have players like Jayasuriya, Muralitharan, Vaas and Attapattu who would want to make it a point in their last world cUP appearance. Jayasur...
More About: Terra , The V