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The Ind vs SA decider aside. Anyone followed the final day of Eng vs Pak test? Though not a fan of England, the lower order did an impressive job playing out the last 1.5 sessions and almost sneaking a draw.

Virender Sehwag meanwhile, after retirement has also been welcomed to Tendulkar-Wane's 'CRICKET ALL STARS' T20 tournament to take place in the USA this November. It will involve three T20 matches among some of the greatest names in the history of cricket. And the list of players, to any cricket fan, is looking completely mouth-watering:
INDIA:
1. Tendulkar
2. Ganguly
3. Agarkar (Yes, that's Ajit Agarkar; in an all stars game!! Perhaps to make the opposition total more challenging :D)
4. Sehwag
5. Laxman (in a T20 game? But can still play an anchor well)

AUSTRALIA:
6. Ponting
7. Warne
8. Hayden
9. Symonds
10. McGrath

SOUTH AFRICA:
11. Kallis
12. Donald
13. Rhodes
14. Pollock
15. Klusener

NEW ZEALAND:
16. Vettori

ENGLAND:
17. Vaughan
18. Swann

SRI LANKA:
18. Sangakkara
19. Jayawardena
20. Muralitharan

WEST INDIES:
21. Lara
22. Walsh
23. Ambrose
24. Hooper

PAKISTAN:
25. Akram
26. Akhtar
27. Moin Khan (Maybe for his keeping, Gilly would've been far better)
28. Mushtaq

29.Sameer Dighe (He is a star?! Played six tests, and that too I knew after googling his name! reserve keeper maybe, or keeping for fielding drills :uncontrol)

The 3 matches will be held in the USA on 7th, 10th & 14th of November. The broadcast in India well be handled by Star network. Here is their website for more info, updates and stats. I only hope the matches stay competitive, and the players justify their huge reputations.

We all know what happened with ICC Super Test Series which turned out to be a damp squib with a Test planned for 6 days ended in 4 days with total overs played were equal to 3 days full quota.

Though I can ignore all the commercial interests that are being offered alongwith the package, but would seriously complain if the quality and exciting matches are not upto the mark. Else comparisons with WWF are also likely to be drawn IMHO. :uncontrol

One thing we have to allow is the lack of electric fielding and running which is the norm in T20 and IPL and rightly so, but it shouldn't be too casual so as to take away the seriousness of the match.

I am super excited to see One player i.e. Lance Klusener.

He is one of my favourites apart from Gilchrist, Chris Cairns, Jonty Rhodes, etc. I wish all were present here.

So much so for Bombay Club that Agarkar is present, I am sure Manjrekar also would have declared his intention to play but would've been 'Vetoed' by Warne by the reason of 'only One Wild-card entry'.stupid:

We got the team selection almost right. BUT we are in early trouble.
78/3 with Dhawan, Pujara and Kohli back in the hut.

NOT what the doctor ordered :D

I think the Sri Lankans will be the brightest - Sanga & Mahela. I do not expect anyone else to even impress us. Maybe Nostalgia :thumbs up

But seriously - Sameer Dighe, Agarkar and Vaughan? Laxman in a T20? Moin Khan?

We are in big trouble. Pujara has this tendency to fall in the 30's It's high time he solved it. The pitch is a downer really. Does not make for exciting viewing.

What was Elgar thinking, that he could get a hat-trick by getting Sir out ? :D

We're in real trouble now, though the pitch is turning as far as I could fathom from Cricinfo's commentary.

As always, loud cries for rank turners backfires.
5 wickets down with part-time spinner, Elgar, taking 3 wickets.:Frustrati

As someone rightly stated on Twitter, Moeen Ali is back to haunt India, in his latest incarnation, Dean Elgar!:D

Such made to order pitches spell doom for India many times :Frustrati
I remember an old test when Pakistani spinners had the last laugh with a memorable win in a close match (test) at Bangalore!

We are witnessing T20 of a Test Match or can say Joke of a Test Match.

Highly skewed in favour of bowlers.

Trivia : Both teams batted for exactly 68 overs each in their I innings.

P.S. - Who knows the players may be keenly interested in Bihar Election Results.

This is not the pitch I would advocate, but I'm surprised that when Batsmen plunder runs, we call it entertaining (although criticising the pitch)
When bowlers take wickets by the heap(like in this case), we do not call it entertaining but only blame the pitch
The entire sport is highly skewed in favour of batsman isn't it?

IMO beauty of Test cricket is when the morning of First two days the Pitch assists Pacers. Second and third sessions of these days and being an even contest with third and most part of fourth day being slightly batsmen friendly. Second half of fourth day onwards the pitch favouring spinners.

This ensures all the aspects of cricket are displayed. Its really a downer if the pitch starts spinning from day one as much as it is if it were a dead track.

Exactly! I think people enjoy a batsmen getting runs than bowler picking up wickets. Also, regarding the pitch (forget for the time being it being doctored to suit home conditions) isn't the batsmen playing international cricket be ready to play in any sort of pitch. India played on green tracks in England while Australia will not provide us with turning tracks when we tour down under. Even the Ashes series this time was mostly over in 3-4 days!

The only player who looked little comfortable from either side was ABD! What a batsman. clap:

I agree partially with you. As a purist, I hate the game being too skewed in favor of batsmen. "Jo dikhta hai wo bikta hai"- bring the boundaries inside, make the bats more thicker, hit more sixes even if it is a top edge, count the number of sixes in tournament etc.
But then two mistakes don't make one right. This game was heavily skewed in favor of spinners- the fact that batsmen made them look unplayable is a pointer towards lack of skill also emanating from current form of cricket. When the nature of conditions become the overwhelming factor in deciding the result, you can be certain of the winner even before the match starts. What is the point of contest?

The essence of contest is what creates excitement. I am not getting that exciting feeling of my team winning a test match. An ideal test wicket should produce result, give equal chances to both batmen and bowlers alike to create a contest between skill and temperament. And honestly, the green top vs rank turners is a hallow argument. With the current pattern of test matches being played in the way that they are, we might see some batsman scoring 20k runs for statistics but what those stats don't tell is how those runs were made. Sorry for the rant but after seeing pathetic interview comments from our team management, I just could not stop myself.

Looks like the India-Pakistan series may finally take place. Although, in a much diluted form.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan...ry/943113.html