Let's talk Cricket

                                                                  Picture Credits: www.ibtimes.co.in I've been a huge Sachin Tendulkar fan for years and still am, so much so that I've argued with my friends, family, fought with them and I can't listen to anything against Sachin Tendulkar. In the end, he's the God. In fact, he's the reason why I started watching cricket in the first place. As a batsman and as a person, he has been inspiring generations after generations. On the other hand, there's a boy from Australia who comes up to the international arena and believed by many as the next Shane Warne and a few years later is being regarded as the next Sir Donald Bradman. He's Steve Smith, who with his unorthodox style of batting has taken the world of cricket by storm. The Ashes 2019 belonged to him and it's not th...

                                                                         Picture credits: Wikipedia Test cricket is the original form of cricket. It's exactly what the name suggests, A Test. It's a test of patience, concentration, fitness - both mental and physical and a lot of other things. Sounds interesting right? Well, not so. One Test match goes on for 5 days, and that's where it suffers because people seem this sort of cricket "boring". There are many reasons behind it. One is T20 cricket. The shortest form of International cricket. A 3-4 hour match has a lot of crowd compared to the traditional Test cricket. The demand for Test cricket is lowering year on year and this isn't a good sign for cricket. The reason is there are still a lot of cricket purists who enjoy watching Test cricket. To t...

                                                                    Picture credits: www.scroll.in Hi Virat, I heard your name for the first time when you lead the team to win the U19 Cricket World Cup for India. You made your way into the senior Indian side and your career thus far has been amazing. You are deemed as the best batsman of modern era and often being compared to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Don Bradman. Everything is great and you love and respect from people all around the world. I admire you as a batsman. You're breaking each and every record as if that's just a school boy stuff for you. I've seen you improve to be a fit player from your days of U19 cricket and that change and commitment is what rewards you today. As much as I admire you and follow you in your professional career, I do not li...

                                                                       Picure credits: www.bbc.com The last week or so has been tough as an avid follower of the sport. First, Dale Steyn announced his retirement from Test cricket, and not so long after Hashim Amla announced his retirement from all forms of the game. These two have impacted and served South Africa cricket for a lot of years and their contribution has been immense to the standing of South Africa in international cricket today Hashim Amla, born in Surat, India - the "Mighty Hash" as they call him went on to become a legend in the sport playing cricket for South Africa. They say numbers don't lie and it is true in Hashim Amla's case. He's the second highest run scorer for South Africa in Tests, behind Jacques Kallis, with 9282 runs in ...

Picture credits:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielgreef/431806671/ Arguably the biggest event in the world of cricket, The Ashes 2019 is less than a week away. It's an on going debate whether the Ashes is bigger than the World Cup itself, and why not? it's older than the World Cup by close to a 100 years. Ashes is a rivalry, a rivalry which reveals every sportsman as an individual outside of sport and the players put their lives to win it. It's about pride for the players, for the nation and more so for the game to evolve. Many players from both countries have put winning the Ashes as a more superior goal than to win the World Cup. That in itself says a lot about the tournament which demands both mental and physical fitness. I wonder what cricket would be without the Ashes. Could it be of the level what we are witnessing today? England and Australia are cricket rivals and amongst the best in the firsts who started playing cricket. The pride to be superior, domina...

Picture Credits: U.S. Wall Street Journal Before the start of the English tour, Team India had many questions to answer. It felt like India will answer all those questions and authorize their dominance in England. However, after the recently concluded ODI series, India instead of answering the questions have got more problems to solve. This English series, especially the ODI’s was going to be very crucial because this is the last time India were playing in England before the World Cup. After a comprehensive win in the 1 st ODI, it felt like Team India is the best team at the moment and nothing can stop them. Kuldeep Yadav ran through the English batting line up. However, it’s often said that a team is no.1 for a reason. England, the no.1 team in ODI’s currently came back stronger and easily won the next 2 matches. Joe Root with two classy centuries didn’t allow India to find even a chance to get back in either of the matches. After being castled out by Kuldeep in the firs...

I enjoy watching cricket. I have followed and loved the sport since I was a kid. But, these days, watching Cricket bores me.! It’s not the same. The game has evolved and it’s good for the game and the revenue makers. However, the game is getting more and more batsman friendly day by day. I fear there will be a time, where a team will score 600 in an ODI and 350 in a T20. There will be a time where scoring 450 will be normal. These scores sound exciting and we praise the batsmen. Even I don’t want to take anything from the batsmen, but the question here is, is cricket just a batsman’s game? Is it moving towards being just a batsman vs. batsman game? There have been long talks in the past whether cricket is a batsman’s game, that past is now a reality, especially the Limited Overs Cricket. As far as I know, cricket is supposed to be a batsman vs. bowler, one ball at a time, how you face it? It’s about the skills of the batsman to survive a good ball and punish the bad ba...

Italy Cricket Team Picture Credits: www.sportskeeda.com I have grown watching cricket since my childhood. It’s a sport my family follows with passion. Hearing stories of how cricket began and how Indian cricket developed, cricket is and will always be my favourite sport. However, it is sad that there are not many nations playing the sport. Agreed that it is the 2 nd most watched sports in the World, thanks to the Indian population, and let’s just accept the fact that Cricket isn’t that a big sport compared to Football or even Tennis. Cricket became popular amongst the CommonWealth of Nations, once ruled under the British Empire. However, even after being born in England, a European nation, why didn’t the sport spread across other nations in Europe like Italy, France, and Germany etc.? What is the reason behind it? Let’s find out Back in the early 19 th century, cricket was played in Italy and Germany. However, post the World Wars, and the political feud, the sport fai...

Picture Credits: www.sportsmaza.com Over the last few days, browsing over social media, I saw a lot of posts regarding IPL vs. PSL, the prize money, the spectators, etc. etc. It wasn’t a good sight to see people fight in the comment section regarding their club cricket and suddenly wave off to India vs. Pakistan political battle. And, it wasn’t like those funny banters we have in common, it was brutal and abusive. The argument just grew hatred amongst Indians and Pakistanis. The rage was clearly evident from citizens of both countries. So, for this purpose I thought of settling the deal once it for all with IPL and PSL. IPL, the Indian Premier League started in the year 2008, and is 10 years older. It has everything- talent, money, crowd, sponsorships, glamour etc. It is the closest, not similar but the closest to any football (soccer) league. The objective of IPL was clear enough, and that was to make money. That’s what it did, that’s what it is doing, and that’s what...

Picture Credits: The Indian Express That day of the year is here. It’s the opening ceremony of the IPL, and the opening match of the 2 month season. It all starts here, and what better to start with 2 teams which have a rivalry of their own. Mumbai Indians (MI), the best team in IPL history, and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the best team in IPL at some point. 10 years have gone by into the rivalry, or you might want to say 8 years, as CSK didn’t play in the last 2 seasons of the IPL. Let’s relive the rivalry and talk more about today’s game. It is not like those football classic matches or el classico or derby matches, it is a rivalry more because of the fans of each clubs. The fans have made this rivalry and it is a treat to watch and one of the most loved matches of the IPL. CSK, one of the successful teams in IPL, started off brilliantly being the finalist in 2008 and winning their first title in 2010 beating MI in the finals. 2010 was a dream year for the Mumbai Indians an...

Picture Credits: The National With just 1 day to go for the biggest league in cricketing world, the IPL, cricket fans from all round the world will be glued to the Television sets and witness the fierce competition which IPL gives. This year’s IPL is different from other seasons, thanks to the retention policy and the IPL auctions. It is very much IPL v2.0. There are a lot of changes and let us talk about it here. Starting off, the young brigade of the Indian team, the U-19 champions Prithwi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi and Manjot Kalra got very good deals and it would be wonderful to see all of them showcase their talent in this year’s IPL. Also, it is a very good opportunity for them to make a name for themselves at the biggest stage. It is fascinating how IPL, every year gives these kind of golden opportunities to youngsters. Karun Nair, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer are all good domestic players but I would consider IPL as a major boost...

Picture Credits: www.espncricinfo.com IPL 11 is just days away. A brand new season, new players, new signings and better and bigger entertainment than previous seasons is on its way. It is IPL V2.0, looking at the players shuffled in the teams and with a new form of auction held. Here is my list of top 5 players to watch out for in IPL 2018. 5. Heinrich Klassen Team- Rajasthan Royals Role- Batsman/Wicket-keeper This player came in as a replacement for Quinton De Kock against India in the ODI’s and the T20I’s. The promise he showed with the bat and the gloves was something above expectations. With Steve Smith out of the Rajasthan Royals squad, they had to announce a replacement, and looking Klassen’s recent form against India, Rajasthan Royals picked him as Smith’s replacement. The variety of strokes he plays and the power he generates is one to look for. He is surely a player to watch out for if he gets a place in the 4 playing foreign players. Picture Credit...

Picture credits: www.espncricinfo.com 2 nd April 2011, 48.2- MS Dhoni sent the ball out of the boundary line, as whole of India erupted in joy, happiness and goose bumps. Yes, I’m talking about the World Cup final. India finally were crowned champions after 28 long years. Let’s talk about India’s journey towards the World Cup triumph. As a kid, watching the sport since late 1990’s and the early 2000’s, I used to hear a lot of adults talking about how great Kapil Dev was, how India did the unimaginable by winning the 1983 World Cup. My dad used to tell me stories about Kapil Dev’s 175 against Zimbabwe and his amazing catch in the World Cup final to dismiss Sir Viv Richards. I too wanted to experience India winning the World Cup once in life. I was too young to understand the 1999 World Cup, or let’s just say I didn’t know much about cricket back then. Picture credits: www.scoopwhoop.com Then came the 2003 World Cup. I remember India’s dismal performance against...