No authoritative performances in the league stage

A month after taking a shot at the semi-final line up for the 2011 World Cup, it is now obvious that that either India or Australia will make it to the semi-final. That quarter-final will be played 1 day after the 8th anniversary of an inconsequential World Cup game, the last time these 2 teams met at the World Cup.

The oddest part about the first round was that none of the major teams actually stamped their authority on the league stage. Australia was expected to blow away opponents with their bowling, but the only teams to suffer the wrath of Australia's 'quick gun Murugan' attack were Zimbabwe & New Zealand. Sri Lanka, Kenya, Canada & Pakistan were largely untroubled. Pakistan outwitted Sri Lanka and Australia, nearly slipped up against Canada and got thrashed by New Zealand. New Zealand got thrashed by Australia and Sri Lanka, but thrashed Pakistan in-turn.

India and England tried their best to give Group B a lot of close games, and looked thoroughly unconvincing. While England did win against #3 ranked South Africa, India's wins came against teams ranked #8 and #9. South Africa were commanding overall, but had a brain fade against England. They've been celebrating the last over win against India as evidence that they've finally got rid of the 'chokers' tag. Sadly though, that win came in an inconsequential game. They will need to do this in a knock-out game to prove that their debutant players don't get the choker tag along with the national cap! West Indies and Bangladesh were generally incompetent but did show some promise.

Sri Lanka and Pakistan did enough to suggest that the best way to catch Australia unawares was on a slow turning wicket. I don't particularly care if Ricky Ponting thinks such wickets are essentially 'rolled mud'. Since this is an ICC event, and the ICC has control over everything that happens at the ground, I assume that the pitches are prepared by the ICC's team. If that's the case, Ponting can't complain about anything.

If the pitches are prepared by the hosting country's curator(s), then you have to question if that's fair. For a World Cup event, home advantage should be limited to playing in familiar surroundings, getting a lot of crowd support, being able to include replacement players at really short notice, etc.

I don't know if Ponting will be playing during the 2015 World Cup, but I'd be interested to see how he reacts if the Sri Lankan captain says they were playing on a trampoline after seeing balls whiz past their heads at Perth. He wouldn't like it, would he?

As for the semi-final lineup, it does seem from the Australia-New Zealand and New Zealand-Zimbabwe matches at Ahmedabad (venue for Australia v India) that the side batting first can be blown away. Mirpur (Pakistan v West Indies & New Zealand v South Africa) definitely assists spinners. Colombo (Premadasa) also shows that spin will rule. So, I wouldn't be surprised if the semi-final lineup was Australia v Pakistan and South Africa v Sri Lanka.

In other news, Shoaib Akhtar said bye bye to international cricket after a mercurial career that included 100 mph deliveries, drugs, ball tampering, fighting with a teammate, faking injury, etc.

Labels: 2011, 2011 world cup, akhtar, prediction, retire, shoaib akhtar, world cup

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:53 pm | Sledge/Read 16 sledge(s)
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Thoughts on the IPL - Part 2

I know of one Australian batsman who just hates playing in India. Very simple - he just can't seem to make runs when he's here. No, that batsman isn't called Ricky Ponting.

During Australia's tour of India in 2007 where they played 7 ODIs and a Twenty20 game, Brad Hodge scored 61 runs from 7 innings.

Now he's kicked off his IPL career with 1 & 1. Is he looking forward to the rest of the series, or what?!

At least the Kolkata Knight Riders will be smiling, since they can now get Shoaib Akhar to play for them, after a committee ruled that his ban was only effective from June 4 2008.

One team that's not going to smile for a while, least of all their captain, is the Bangalore Royal Challengers side. Even if Geoffrey Boycott's moom and her friends bowled to them, they'd contrive to lose. The running between the wickets today against the Punjab Kings XI was downright pathetic. The side has just three major problems - nothing serious. They just can't bat, bowl or field in a manner that Twenty20 requires them to. Here's hoping that Dravid's team turn it around, in just the same manner as England had in the 1987 Ashes in Australia, on the back of Martin Johnson's write-up in 'The Independent' while covering that tour.

Labels: akhtar, australia, ban, hodge, india, indian premier league, ipl 2008, shoaib, shoaib akhtar, statistic, twenty20

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:08 pm | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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Shoaib Akhtar banned for five years

In a dramatic decision, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced that Shoaib Akhtar had been banned for 5 years for violating the players' code of conduct, a document that I'm unable to locate on the PCB website.

As per the ICC code of conduct, a ban of 2-5 years is imposed on a player in the following situations:

• Betting on a game/series where the player/his team was a participant.
  
• Tried to sweet-talk someone else into betting.
  
• Gambled on a game/event.
  
• Tried to sweet-talk someone else into gambling.
  
• Received money/benefit/rewards for providing weather, team and pitch information.
  
• Received money/benefit/rewards and thus brought the game into disrepute.
  
• Provided money/benefit/rewards and thus brought the game into disrepute.
  
• Was approached to bet/gamble/provide information but didn't disclose the event to designated staff.
  
• Is aware of another player doing so but didn't report to the designated staff.

Was Shoaib's offense more severe than the above? Now, he cannot play for Pakistan or in Pakistan. Does this mean he will stick to the IPL? His fee is $425,000. Given the number of times he gets injured, he is unlikely to earn that full amount.

Perhaps the ICL is a better prospect, especially for a guaranteed income. In addition, the IPL is played in a very limited period of time (April-May). If Akhtar wants to play cricket for a longer duration, the ICL is a better place to display his wares.

Labels: akhtar, ban, indian cricket league, indian premier league, ipl 2008, pakistan, shoaib, shoaib akhtar, twenty20

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:07 pm | Sledge/Read 2 sledge(s)
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High farce in Pakistan

Yesterday, an 'Anti-Doping Appeals Committee' constitued (sic) by the Pakistan Cricket Board, ruled that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif were not guilty of committing doping offences (timeline) since the administration never did anything to warn them against taking supplements.

Almost exactly a month ago, Shoaib and Asif had been banned for two years and one year respectively by the Pakistan Cricket Board's Anti-Doping Commission. On October 16th, Shoaib and Asif were sent home from the ICC Champions Trophy in India by the PCB after failing a PCB-organized pre-tournament doping test.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has not yet reacted to the judgement and are currently awaiting the ostrich's reaction to the decision. (Update: The ostrich has reacted.)

I find this decision highly farcical. Sportspersons who're caught in doping scandals almost always resort to the 'No-one told me about this' stand. Given that the PCB, and the ICC, are signatories to the WADA code, a generic application of the 'exceptional circumstances' clause could invite a further appeal from WADA.

This decision by the PCB's commission comes only a few days after Dick Pound, chairman of WADA, blasted Cricket Australia's 1-year ban on Shane Warne after he tested positive for using a diuretic before the 2003 World Cup, in his book with the shortest title ever, 'Inside Dope: How Drugs Are the Biggest Threat to Sports, Why You Should Care, and What Can Be Done About Them'.

The second farce that happened in Pakistan cricket was the news that Inzamam will return to international cricket tomorrow after the first ODI against West Indies was washed out without even the toss having taken place.

The ICC decided, quite stupidly in my opinion, in 2004 that a game was deemed to have started as long a the toss had taken place. So, in the light of there not having been a toss at Rawalpindi, that game doesn't count as a recorded one-day international.

Hence Inzamam should actually be sitting out for one more game to ensure that he completes his ban period of four one-day internationals.

Labels: akhtar, asif, drugs, mohammad, ostrich, pakistan, shoaib, shoaib akhtar

Thus spake Jagadish @ 5:17 pm | Sledge/Read 5 sledge(s)
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Mills & Bond, Shoaib & Asif

New Zealand screwed up in semi-final against Australia. They had Australia at 4/2 in the 3rd over. The support cast (Franklin, Oram & to some extent Vettori) didn't continue the job. Once Australia got past 200, I saw no chance of New Zealand winning. The top order then got ripped out by McGrath. Oram and Vettori did a superb job, but Oram getting out to Symonds, of all bowlers, when New Zealand would have reckoned that getting 100-odd in 15 overs was possible, meant the game was up.

What's it about New Zealand and having players whose names go in sync? Like I pointed out nearly an era ago while doing live ball-by-ball commentary for the India v New Zealand test at Mohali in 1999 (yes, the 83 all out one!), they had Horne and Bell - the acoustic openers. Now we have Mills & Bond, not too far away from a publisher of romantic novels.

Two other players whose names will now be in sync forever are Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. The two have now been banned for two years and one year respectively by the PCB's Anti-Doping Commission.

Labels: akhtar, asif, drugs, mohammad, pakistan, shoaib, shoaib akhtar

Thus spake Jagadish @ 10:47 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Pakistan significantly enhances chances of victory

Pakistan are now officially on track to win the ICC Champions Trophy for the first time. The team thrives under situations where there're controversies and infighting.

A little more than a week after Younis Khan re-accepted the captaincy, the Pakistan Cricket Board revealed that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have tested positive for drugs in an internal test.

Are they out to prove Tim May right? Given they've hardly played any international cricket in the last couple of months, over-work can surely not be the excuse?!

What is it about high profile ICC tournaments and drug intake revelations? Shane Warne before the 2003 World Cup, and now these two!

Given Pakistan's coach Bob Woolmer fervently argued for Law 42.3 to be scrapped after his team was accused of altering the condition of the ball, it may perhaps come as no surprise if he now argues that drug testing in sport needs to be scrapped as well.

Labels: 2006 champions trophy, akhtar, asif, champions trophy, drugs, mohammad, pakistan, shoaib, shoaib akhtar

Thus spake Jagadish @ 4:05 pm | Sledge/Read 5 sledge(s)
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