India aim to end 27-year old title drought in World Cup

A rejuvenated India would aim to redeem their tarnished pride and end a 27-year-old jinx when they start their World Cup cricket campaign against Bangladesh at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka on Saturday (February 19).

This match will be the 23rd  one day international between the two teams and second  in World  Cup. India have a good record against  Bangladesh in one day international matches but they lost the only match played in  World Cup. They have won 20 and lost just two in 22 played between the two sides.

Bangladesh defeated India by five wickets when two teams met only time in the World Cup at Port of Spain on March 17,2007.

It might be tempting to call it one of the biggest upsets, but the manner in which Bangladesh pulled the rug from under India’s feet at Port-of-Spain, for their third win in World Cup games and 34th overall, came with a touch of the inevitable. Mashrafe Mortaza inspired a clockwork bowling effort, helped largely by a slew of sloppy strokes, before three teenagers displayed confidence, verve and composure beyond their years to turn a tricky chase into a stroll, winning by five wickets.

India also have a good record in the matches played against Bangladesh in Bangladesh. They have won 12, lost one in 13 one day international matches played against Bangladesh in Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s only victory against India at home came at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka on December 26, 2004. The home team have won the match by 15 runs.

It is hard to beat India in day/night encounters for Bangladesh. The Indians  have won 11 and lost just one in 12  matches played against Bangladesh under lights.

The men in blue have a perfect record against Bangladesh at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka. They have won all five matches against the home team at this venue. Overall India have won seven and lost three in 10 matches played at this ground.

 The Indian team recorded a six-wicket win over Bangladesh when two teams met last time in a limited overs international match at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on June 16, 2010

Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh were bowled out for 167 for 34.5 overs. India made 168 for four in 30.4 overs to win the match by six wickets with 116 balls remaining.

Just three tie matches in World Cup

A cricket match is tied when both teams finish with same number of runs. A very rare instance. There have been 23 tied matches in limited overs international matches out of over 3099 played since 1971 and only three in World Cup out of 303 matches.

In the Twenty-20 matches, ‘Super over’ or one-over eliminator being played for the tie-breaker after match ended in a tie.

In the 2011 World Cup, there will be no ‘Super over’ in the league matches. But ‘Super Over’ will be used if any knock out match ended in a tie.

Under the rules for the tie-breaker, each team will nominate three batsmen and one bowler. Each side bats one over, with the innings being declared closed if it loses two wickets. If the teams finish tied on runs scored in that one over, the side with the higher number of sixes in its full innings and in the one-over eliminator will be declared the winner. If the teams are still tied, the one with the higher number of fours in both innings will win.

The first and most famous tied match in the World Cup was played between Australia and South Africa at Edgbaston back on 17 June 1999. It was the semi-final match. When Allan Donald didn’t run and Lance Klusner was runout with just one more run to be made. A tied made sure Aussies progressed to final as they had beaten Proteas in league round. South Africa were all out for 213 runs in 49.4 overs after dismissing Australia for 213 runs in 49.2 overs.

South Africa and Sri Lanka played a tied match on 3 March 2003 at Kingsmead in Durban which was rain affected match and Proteas needed a victory to progress forward in that tournament. Mark Boucher didn’t take no run off last ball before the rain break and home team were thrown out of that tournament, miscalculating the duckworth lewis chart. Sri Lanka made 268 while South Africa failed to make the winning run, finishing at 229 for 6 wickets in 45 overs.

This day/night match was the first tied match which was decided by the Duckworth Lewis method.

Sri Lanka scored an imposing 268 for nine in 50 overs then restricted the Proteas to 229 for six in 45 overs before the soaked players were forced from the field by sheets of rain. According to the Duckworth Lewis method used to decide weather affected matches, the scores were tied when the umpires called on the covers with South Africa needing 40 runs from the last 30 balls of the innings.

The Ireland and Zimbabwe also played a tied match at Sabina Park, Kingston in Jamaica on March 15, 2007. Ireland made 221 for nine in 50 overs while Zimbabwe were 221 all out off the last ball of the match.

Stuart Matsikenyeri took five off the first three balls of the last over, bowled by Andrew White. Edward Rainsford chipped a single off the fourth, leaving Zimbabwe needing three from two. Stuart Matsikenyeri then top edged and an airborne Trent Johnston at short third man couldn’t quite cling on to the ball, and then his shy at the bowler’s end was thwarted by some unsubtle but effective blocking by Edward Rainsford who threw himself in the path of the throw.

The Smallest victory in terms of runs in World Cup has been 1 run, achieved by Australia, twice and both times against India, at Chennai on 9 October 1987 and at Brisbane on 1 March 1992. There have been four one wicket victories and one last ball win also in World Cup matches.

Over 8 million dollars up for Grabs in 2011 World Cup

The winner of the 2011 World Cup will pick up $ 3,250,000 (3.25 million dollars- about Rs 15,0000,000) while the runners-up will be comforted by receiving a check for $ 1,500,000 (about Rs 75,000,000).

The winner of the league matches in this World Cup gets more money than the amount of the winner of the first World Cup picked.

The winner of the league match in the 10th World Cup will receive $ 30,000 (about Rs 150,000). West Indies was the recipient of $ 6000 when they won the World Cup in 1975.

The total prize money up for grabs in the World Cup 2011 has been almost doubled from $5 million dollars from the previous edition to over $8.1 million this time around. While the Champions of the tournament in 2007 took home $2.4 million and the runners-up, $1 million, the 2011 champions will be handed a check for $ 3 million, the new runners-up will get $1.5 million and each of the semi-finalists will get $750,000.

Indeed, The World Cup Cricket has come a long way since 1975 when the then Champions won a winners’ check of just £4000 (about $6,000). Even inflation-adjusted, that amount from back then would be worth just £22,280 or around $33,000 today, a far cry from the prize amounts on offer at present!

So how does the winners’ prize money of the World Cup Cricket compare with those of other major sporting events? Unfortunately, not very favorably. The FIFA World Cup Soccer 2010, Champions Spain, took away $30 million dollars. The club winning the Europe’s regional Champions League is awarded a whopping $170. In golf’s richest event – the FedEx Cup – a champion walks away with a $10 million payout. Horse-racing’s Dubai World Cup Night pays the winner $22 million. One of the few major sports which compares to World Cup Cricket in terms of prize-money budget is Grand Slam Tennis, which awards $1.5-2 million to its individual winner.

THE PRIZE MONEY AT THE WORLD CUP 2011:

Winning Team $ 3,250,000

Runner up $ 1,500,000

Semi-final Losers $ 500,000

Semi-final Losers $ 500,000

5th Place $ 250,000

6th Place $ 250,000

7th Place $ 250,000

8th Place $ 250,000

Winners of each 1st round match $ 30,000

Total $ 8,010,000

PRIZE MONEY IN THE PREVIOUS WORLD CUP:

Year Winner Prize Money In Dollars

1975 West Indies

£ 4000 $ 6000

1979 West Indies £ 10000 $ 15000

1983 India £ 20000 $ 30000

1987 Australia £ 30000 $ 45000

1992 Pakistan £ 33333 $ 50000

1996 Sri Lanka £ 30000 $ 45000

1999 Australia £ 200000 $ 300000

2003 Australia £ 134000 $ 2000000

2007 Australia £ 150000 $ 2240000

Neither two-match Test series nor two-game ODI series makes sense

Last Sunday, the ODI game between India and Australia was abandoned, spoiling the Sundays of many a cricket fans around the country. And there was one other thing that the abandoned game did – turn the ODI series to a two-match series.

That can hardly be defined as a series. It is, at best, an extended one-off game. But not a series.

It must be said that the ODI series between India and Australia was to be a seven-ODI series before the Indians captured the number one slot in the ICC Test rankings and the BCCI decided that they needed to play some more Tests. So, the seven game series was converted into two Test matches and three ODIs – ensuring that neither the ODIs, nor the Test matches would ever give a sense of satisfaction to the fans.

The rained off game at Kochi was hardly the BCCI’s fault given the unseasonal rains that many parts of the country are receiving but even without the abandonment, three matches can hardly look like they are par for the course. Much like the two Test matches gave a sense of incompleteness, one gets the feeling that these two ODIs can hardly work to anybody’s advantage. Not the least for the fans.

Picture this; half the Australian side has been changed for the ODIs – they came in during the second Test match with a hope that they will get a chance to make it to the squad. They would have got to Kochi – the venue of the first ODI – unpacked, practiced and realised that all of it was futile before moving on to the second ODI at Vizag. Conditions at Goa do not look too great either and the series could just be decided at Vishakhapatnam if the Goan rains do not subside.

One could have understood had the series been against the Kiwis or West Indies, two of the lesser attractive series in the world today but to have two Tests and three ODIs against Australia is akin to demeaning the same. Australia did not have the window to extend their time in India given that there was another series planned against the Sri Lankans. And this only meant that the BCCI should have been able to choose between the Tests and the ODIs.

This brings me to another question – had the seven ODI series gone ahead as scheduled, why would that have been planned in the first place? Since 2007, this is the third time that the two teams would have played a seven-game ODI series in India. Does the ICC FTP not cap on the number of games that two sides can play over a period of time?

Of course, it is difficult to decide which of the two is better – a seven-match series or a two match one.

Australia in catch-22 situation with captaincy issue

A couple of losses to the Indian side and it can safely be said that the Australian captain Ricky Ponting, despite all his bravado of the past, would have had some confidence issues. Especially given that the defeats follow the one-sided loss at Headingley to Pakistan and are in a lead-up to the Ashes.

What has also been interesting to watch is that the cockiness associated with the Australian sides of the past is long gone. A much more smooth-talking Ponting emerged from the series, almost like an oxymoron. Just a vindication of the fact that defeat can go distance in bringing the most confident and brashest of men back to the ground.

But it must be said that captaincy is a stiff job and any skipper in the right frames of mind would feel the pinch given the manner in which Australia has performed in the last few seasons. If one were to dig out the statistics, Ponting has lost to India in two separate Test series, lost to the English team in Ashes, lost a Test to a disjointed Pakistan team and a Test series against South Africa ever since the greats retired.

One must add that Ponting also won against South Africa in South Africa and crushed West Indies, Pakistan and New Zealand at home and it is clearly evident that the side performs much better at home than away.

The building process seems to be taking much more time that the Aussies would have thought. After their facile victories over Pakistan and West Indies in the last season, one would have thought that the side is back. However, the wins in those series only spoke about the quality of opposition than their own performance.

In fact, it was in that series against West Indies that Ponting’s chink against the short ball was first exposed by Kemar Roach and ever since, Ponting has not remained the same guy. There is clear evidence that the time is coming near that when Ponting could either be thinking of putting that stroke into the closet or himself into one.

Unfortunately for the Aussies, they cannot afford to change captains before the Ashes. Nor can they do it before the start of the World Cup. The other issue that the side has is that Michael Clarke has failed to set the stadium on fire with his batting in recent times and to expect him to get into the role of a full-time captain in the Test matches will be expecting a lot from him.

Which is why, the Aussies have a huge conundrum in their face and could be looking at an interesting Ashes series.

Will Mumbai Indians consider appointing a new captain for next IPL?

At the best of times, the T20 format is as slippery as an eel. A team that makes the cardinal error of considering a game won before it is actually in their pocket invariably suffers at the end. It takes moments for matches to turn around, and on most occasions the side in the ascendancy earlier has found it difficult to return back.

Team India was one of those lucky sides in the final of the 2007 World T20 who looked like they were on their way to winning it, before they allowed Misbah-ul-Haq and the tail to make a comeback and take the cup away. Almost. Misbah himself committed some hara-kiri in the process and the Indians were fortunate to run away with the tournament.

Unfortunately for the Mumbai Indian side, two such games in the Champions League T20 has meant that they will be going back home early – despite possessing a side that could have done justice to their own talent by getting to the semi-finals of the tournament. Instead, the Mumbai Indians got themselves into a position from where it would have required a Houdini’s act for them to get out. They could not.

A look at the Highveld Lions line-up, and one would have thought that they were a cakewalk. Even taking into account the fact that an unknown quantity is usually difficult to beat, that gives the side only so much advantage. When the line-up boasts of the likes of Tendulkar, Pollard, Bravo, Zaheer, Malinga and Harbhajan, not to forget a Saurabh Tiwary and a couple of other stars from the IPL, you would think that the Mumbai Indians should have won the match. Instead, the Mumbai Indians were appalling on the field, gave away some easy runs and had some strategies in place which could have been best described as clueless.

Against South Australia, the Mumbai Indians were worse. A total of 180 should have never been achieved by the opposition had they shown a little more respect to their opposition. One almost got the sense that the Mumbai Indians had taken it for granted that the 180 was an unassailable target and that it was a Chinese XI batting at the other end. The fielding was lackadaisical, the captaincy was poor and the bowlers failed to rise to the occasion at different stages in the game.

As mentioned earlier, in T20 cricket, teams get only so many opportunities to get the better of the others; Mumbai were given umpteen of them. And yet, they failed to capitalise on them.

The Champions League T20 campaign may be over for them but the questions that will be required to be answered now are whether Mumbai Indians would want to look around for a new captain in the IPL to come. While Tendulkar did lead them to an IPL final, one must remember that he may not be around for too many years. It may make sense for the Mumbai side to think of succession planning as well, and get in a new captain for the next year – probably through the auctions. This is obviously based on the assumption that Tendulkar is retained by the Mumbai Indians, which one feels they would. His sheer presence with the bat, and as a brand would ensure that the team gets the followers needed.

Test Cricket Takes Precedence Ahead of World Cup

by Sreelata Yellamrazu

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 should be the predominant issue on the agenda for teams with little under six months to go. However, Test cricket has taken centre stage, with the emphasis clearly shifting to the pedestal format, notwithstanding the fact that the limited overs format will be the next big event on the cricket horizon and surprisingly unfazed by the treacherous allegations that have thrown a spoke in the wheel.

Who would have thought that in the midst of a World Twenty20 event and fifty over World Cup, Test cricket would grab all the headlines. Many factors have precipitated this, the most primary of these being the fact that the shift in the fault lines has happened in India with India taking the top spot, making the battle for the top a three way race, the proximity of the contest being its most enticing quality. The race to the top has seen some interesting dialogue between cricket boards and the result is a flexible cricket calendar, that has suddenly taken a fancy to Test cricket.

These would be one of those rare times in the age of Twenty20 overspill when Test cricket would come out glowing in the pink of health. What is even more astounding is the fact that this was not the original plan. Yet it has worked out well in a Test calendar whose perhaps best feature was supposed to be only the Ashes at the end of the year. Instead everything else has become a prelude and an event in itself, including the blustery battle as India try to hold onto the number one Test ranking.

India’s newfound interest in reviving Test cricket on their cricket calendar has made for some rather interesting battles. Vying to keep the top spot, the BCCI managed to arrange for a Test series against South Africa for the pre summer bonanza that perhaps stole some of the thunder away from the ICC World Twenty20. But the height of success was partially watered down in the aftermath of the controversial IPL 3 that had taken centre stage since.

It may have been selfish interests that have led to the BCCI opening its eyes rather late in the day but not late enough to show the relevance of the five day game and the scope for it to generate phenomenal amounts of interest when a big showdown is on the cards. With the sole aim to keep India at the top, the BCCI has arisen to the necessity to play more of the format, leading to Test series against Sri Lanka who were themselves starved for want of a contest and a request to Cricket Australia to arrange, in an ad hoc fashion, a Test series to a previously slated ODI series that is slated to clash with the Commonwealth Games. Despite the fact that Test cricket is considered to be the least followed of the formats amongst the lowest common denominator, it has even led the Commonwealth Games organizers to send a worried message over schedule clash to the BCCI, albeit in vain.

The battle between India and Sri Lanka failed to enthuse crowds in numbers apart from the first Test that became the Muttiah Muralitharan fest as he announced his retirement. The frequency of the contests between the two Teams have led to a feeling of monotony and the Test series unfortunately became one where controversy ruled better than did the cricket on the field. The series became the centre of attention for several wrong reasons including the need to create a viable Test championship that would require sporting pitches, unlike the one that put people off to sleep in the insane run fest that the series in the Emerald Isles was turning into. The series eventually saw India hold their own despite some obvious setbacks in personnel, but it did little for Test cricket overall except to point out what not to do with such a pristine format.

In the interlude, Pakistan was to become a barometer of sorts for England and Australia in the run up to the Ashes. The Marylebone Cricket Club graciously decided to play hosts in collusion with the England and Wales Cricket Board ( ECB ) as Pakistan played Australia in a two Tests in the Spirit of Cricket series. But it now seems eons since Pakistan faltered badly in the first Test only to stage a dramatic comeback in the second Test to become the toast of town after what seemed like an inspired change in captaincy, which has since been brought into serious doubt.

The four Test series that followed involved England exposing Pakistan’s lack of experience until Pakistan sprung a surprise of their own, and the reference is not to their winning the third Test having gone 0-2 in the series. The scandal that broke out as a result of the spot fixing allegations led to the final day, as it turned out, of the Test series turning into a somber affair that England were not in doubt of winning. It robbed England of the thrill of having won the series in emphatic fashion, left a bitter and chilling feeling for the public for having been tricked with their hard earned money for a love they hold above all else, and subsequently put to rest, any comparisons that could be drawn between Australia and England’s performance before their face off.

While Pakistan cricket have some clearing up to do, England have been left self-doubting their own efforts in light of the possibility that not of their victories have come solely through their genuine hard work. But Test cricket is not in immediate danger of being brushed off. The foundations have been shaken. But there is still plenty to hold the house down. After what must seem like intermittent Twenty20 tournaments, there is a greater sense of expectancy, uncannily for the Test series to follow. That has perhaps also to do with the notion that while Twenty20 sets in the lure for the mega bucks, Test cricket is where it is at.

And teams will be eager to take a crack for the top post in the most privileged of formats if only to establish their own credibility in the game of pride and privilege where money flows in the natural scheme of things. The stakes will be even higher after what transpired with Pakistan as cricket will look to redeem itself. One way to do that would be to have two high profile teams locked in a battle of prestige. Australia will of course take on India before they head home for the Ashes. And that will hopefully dilute the attention that has been partially drawn away from the glorious game staging a revival in the middle of perhaps one of its most critical years yet. The redemption now rests firmly in the traditional conquests for power. Test cricket is owed that at the very least.

Spot Fixing Scandal Rocks Cricket Hard on Evidence

by Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

         Three seemingly innocuous no-balls. That is all it took to knock cricket off its chair. The spot fixing scandal in England has touched a raw nerve, particularly with the ghost of Cronje-gate not put to rest properly. But it has gone a step further by producing damaging evidence that either only a mastermind with vested interests could conjure up or an ingenuous devil looking to rob the game in broad daylight.

        It almost always takes a show off to reveal some of the most devious crimes in history. The case could not be very different as bookmarker-masquerading-as-player agent, Mazhar Majeed, revealed step-by-step details of how the Pakistan cricketers were hoodwinking the cricket loving public at large. The only reason he was talking was the hefty wad of notes being laid out on the table and the lure of more, showing how he had only to press a few delicate but decisive buttons. What he did not know was that while the world looked on stunned by what was being shown, his counting days could well be behind him.

        The “could” word has deliberately been used because as in the past, there is the initial shock, followed by denial which precedes cover up. While Scotland Yard tries to unearth the links of evidence behind the hunches and clues they have followed up on ever since Pakistan landed in England, there seems also to be a strange scenario where the International Cricket Council does not want to overtly intervene, the England and Wales Cricket  Board are looking to move on and haplessly so with millions still at stake from the ODI series, and the Pakistan Cricket Board and indeed, the Pakistan government, are hoping against hope that somehow it is proved that the evidence that has been running relentlessly on television networks around the world has been doctored to indict Pakistan.

            What makes this particular match fixing scandal, coming as it does ten years after the first one that rocked the cricket world, so devastating is in the fact that it comes from the team that was expected to repose the faith accorded by a foreign nation and board and particularly at a time when their nation has been brought to its knees by a combination of controversies that have dogged their political administration, the instability within the country that has starved the nation of cricket on its own territory, and ravaged by the fury of nature by way of floods, believed to be the worst ever in Pakistan’s history. Cricket then was expected to be the vehicle by which to draw attention to the plight in Pakistan and raise awareness as well as much needed funds. Those noble ideas were reiterated by the Pakistan cricketers before the chaos blew up in their face.

         There are a lot of issues involved presently, including not only passing a judgment on the tainted cricketers but also, understanding the motivations behind something of this nature recurring. There has to be sensitivity involved because this is a promising, highly talented, young Pakistan team that was expected to build up hope and vibrancy. If matters are indeed proved to be graver than expected and that the malaise has permeated through the dressing room, harsh punishments would have to be complemented by a re-education for the flag bearers for the future of the game. There is also a need to be absolutely apolitical because playing up his whole “not in our DNA” angle can have some rather undesirable consequences. On many levels, this spot fixing is only touching the tip of the iceberg including the degree of deviousness, the nature of people involved, and how deep rooted it is to be promulgated and entrenched in the manner it has been. It has also exposed the ICC and the ICC’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit in a poor light, which, if the inadvertent purpose of this misadventure is served, they will either clean up their act or replaced eventually by a governing body with more self assured powers, though the latter is farfetched imagination.

          While Pakistan’s administrators are said to be towing the line of innocent until proven guilty, it seems highly unlikely that the perpetrators of arguably the worst crime in cricket’s history would have an escape route this time should it be proved beyond the infinitesimal degree of doubt. Initial shock, rage and disappointment have given way to expressing appallingly once more the sedate manner in which sensitive matters are being handled. With millions riding on this tour, the England and Wales Cricket board is putting aside the sense of betrayal about the MCC hosting the Spirit of Cricket Test series between Australia and Pakistan in England and turning a hard ear on the England cricketers, who despite completing the mandatory procedure on the fourth day of the fourth Test at Lord’s to win the series, still find themselves  in a suspended state of belief.

        The International Cricket Council, who should ideally override the paralyzed Pakistan Cricket Board and at least force suspension on those accused before a proper investigation at the highest level can pass a verdict, are surprisingly making spectacular statements that would have been appreciated if they were followed up by some sort of action. Instead there seems to be cloak and dagger business going on at a time when perhaps it was time cricket came clean, once and for all. Rest assured, we have not seen the end of it yet.

Despite Asia Cup win, cobwebs not cleared from Indian side

The good news is that India won the Asia Cup. And after a substantial gap at that. And, by defeating Sri Lanka in the final in their own country, which made it doubly sweet. But, to me, it looks like the triumph has only managed to gloss over the inadequacies that the side still possesses, less than nine months before the first ball in the World Cup gets bowled.

The selectors had made the right call in showing Yuvraj Singh the door for the tournament given his woes in the game in recent times. But, without him in the middle-order, and with MS Dhoni’s penchant to promote himself up the order on most occasions, the middle and the lower-middle order stood exposed on multiple occasions. It was then, that one felt the absence of a fit Yuvraj Singh; someone who could take the bowling on after getting set and allow that cushion of the extra 20-30 runs for the side.

The problem for India has been that the likes of Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja failed to do with the bat, what an Andrew Symonds or a Michael Bevan could for Australia. Pathan’s strong hitting is restricted to T20 cricket only despite giving enough indications that he had the prowess to capitalise on his strengths. Jadeja, on the other hand, has been a disappointment in every sense of the word, with the bat. And that is where the Indians have missed out on the runs as well almost making me believe that the side erred during the Asia Cup by not taking the batting Powerplay within the first 30-35 overs when the likes of Dhoni, Raina and Rohit Sharma batted.

The other big worry was the pace bowling. Barring the final, the Indian medium pace bowlers were way off-target. There was no menace about them, and one got the feeling that they could be easily collared. Ashish Nehra’s fitness and Praveen Kumar’s pace were quite questionable, and had it not been for the swing that the two were able to obtain under the lights in the final, things could have been quite different.

This is a surprise. Not so long ago, the Indian pace battery was slowly building steam towards being one of the better one in the world, and only months on, the deterioration has been for all to see. The selectors have pumped in Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth for the Tests against Sri Lanka, but their form and fitness over the past one year has been anything but consistent.

So, unless the Indian side can be propped up by the return to the squad of the likes of RP Singh and the younger guns like Sudeep Tyagi, Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun, the side could do a lot of praying before the start of the World Cup!

more reports on www.cricketusamag.com

Of two-Test series and rationale behind India-Sri Lanka games

It was nice to hear that the Australian cricket board had acceded to the BCCI ‘request’ to play a couple of Test matches instead of the long, winding and dare I say, meaningless, seven game ODI series in October.

The sudden fad with playing having Test matches instead of the supposedly more lucrative ODIs seems to have been brought about by the Indian cricket board thanks to the number one ranking that the Indians had achieved some months back. My only worry is whether a couple of series losses for India and the subsequent tumble from the perch will change the Board’s attitude.

While I can think of at least one other occasion when India’s performance in a least-liked event of the Board had given birth to a billion dollar baby in the form of the IPL, I do not know whether the BCCI has the wherewithal to push for the Test championship to make the five day format a little more attractive for the viewers.

For now though, I am puzzled by the concept of two Test match series. Also known as unfinished business. South Africa won the first Test match, India won the second and the setting should have been apt for a grand finale, third game. Instead, both teams go home with shared spoils. And the fans reminisce about what could have been an even more exciting series had it been for a third Test game.

In fact, if commerce were not to play a part, I would go up to the extent of having at least four Test matches for an India-Australia or even an India-South Africa home series, and at least three for most of the other nations. Then again, it is a big, big if, is the commerce, and judging by the deteriorating interest amongst the fans in this format of the game in the wake of the hit-and-miss version.

Speaking of Test matches itself, India will be involved in a three-game Test series against Sri Lanka in July. Again. This will be the third Test series involving the two sides in three years, apart from the numerous other ODI series that have already been played. I would have loved to be a fly on the walls of the meeting between the BCCI and SLCA officials when they chalked out a schedule like this. There has to be some form of a rationale that would have been a part of those discussions and it would have been an enlightening experience to know what.

more reports on www.cricketusamag.com

Next Page »