[hemanth.anand]

2 days, two test results where the underdogs won.
One chasing and one defending. Was a nice feeling following these 2 matches

Who knew that one day, an Indian cricket fan in me would not watch an Indian series but watch other teams' matches happening at the same time.
I'm sure I'm not the only one. Something that the Money minded administrators, staff and players at BCCI should ponder over (I won't be surprised if they don't)

[Eddy]

Last night it was a choice between watching the WI-Eng test and Game of Thrones final episode. So glad I chose to watch the match. Lovely feeling to see the Windies pull one off. But I do get the feeling that it will be back to business at Lords.

Followed the Bang - Aus match on cricinfo. I was reasonably sure that the Aussies would get away with it. They just don't give up and Bangladesh is still inexperienced when it comes to closing matched but a brilliant victory by BD and let's hope they can pull off a series win.

World test cricket just got a little more competitive gentlemen, and that it always good for the game.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by narayans80

NZ is way superior team and can't be compared to WI.

I did not intend to compare NZ and WI. I am only glad that with such a small player population, these teams have continually performed well over the years.
I would not be surprised if these are the favorite teams for a lot of neutral cricket fans

[hemanth.anand]

Kohli laps up one more century...29th Century in 193 matches
Now he is in third position After Sachin (49 in 463) and Ponting (30 in 375)
Ponting used to get a century every 12.5 matches
Sachin used to get one every 9.5 matches.
Kohli gets a 100 every 6.5 matches!! looking at other stats of his, He is a number lover's delight!

[NPV]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Kohli laps up one more century...29th Century in 193 matches

During the late 1990's, it seemed very unlikely that someone would go past 17 100's in ODI - that record was held by Desmond Haynes and today's he's at #17 in the list of top centurions in ODI cricket! - Link

[rohiT Nonu]

"NO CARE FOR LAW AND HUMANITY" bug has again poked the Right-handed middle order batsman Mr.Ambati Rayudu. He's been spotted having a road scuffle with a senior citizen for advising him against his rash driving on hyderabad roads.

Here's the link to video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RUSoVORH0

According to reports, it is said that Mr.Ambati Rayudu was on his morning visit to Rajiv Gandhi stadium in his car when a senior citizen asked him to drive little carefully. This piece of advise irked Mr.Ambati Rayudu and made him get down his car to slap the senior citizen. This road rage continued till the bystanders intervened to stop it.

Don't really know what might have really happened behind the scenes, but still having no concern towards humanity and having a feeling of above law is something not expected from a cricket celebrity.

Dear Moderators, kindly excuse me if I have posted this post in an inappropriate thread. Please shift this post to where it fits better if wrongly placed.

[avingodb]

Originally Posted by NPV

During the late 1990

true. Today's generation may not even appreciate ODI highlights from that era.
Then it felt like 250 could be defended. Now even 350 is not secure.

[AltoLXI]

What a boring one day series against Sri Lanka. A completely one sided affair.

Just watched the India batting yesterday at the fag end. Watching Kohli's body language after the win looked as if they had just played a test match for a draw. Only Shastri was sporting a wide grin

Hope Sri Lanka will bounce back from the dumps.

[sukhoi30]

Originally Posted by avingodb

true. Today's generation may not even appreciate ODI highlights from that era.
Then it felt like 250 could be defended. Now even 350 is not secure.

It is interesting to note how cricket evolved as a serious sport from being just a picnic game for the Britishers. ODI were just an extension of test cricket in those days. Batsmen still used to play conservatively. Only the first 5 were batsmen and rest were just supposed to give up their wickets as they practiced only bowling.

In my playing days, there used to be marked segregation between bowlers and batsmen. If one were a batsmen, he is not supposed to even practice bowling and if one were a bowler, he will never get a chance to even pad up during practice. Now that line is blurred. The likes of Hardik Pandya, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ashwin are all made to practice batting. The difference between the Sri Lankan team and the Indian team was just this. Even if 5 wickets are down, players down the order is not just difficult to get out, but they can make a lot of runs.

Add to that the fitness level of Indian players. Cricket as an athletic sport emerged only after the introduction of T20. Cricketers are now more conscious of their health and fitness. With more cricket being played round the year, it makes even more important for each player to maintain their fitness levels constantly.

Sri Lankan team is a young one and they should have learnt a lot of lessons from this series. One of the most important being fitness and stamina. I was surprised to see Malinga sporting a paunch. He is well known for his accurate yorkers and in this series I didn't see a single yorker from him. You need strong core muscles to bowl a fast yorker and paunch means he has not worked on his cores.

Though India has performed well against this opposition, the real test will be against Australia (who are having their own set of problems losing to the raising Bangladesh), England and South Africa.

[Eddy]

The second test match between BD and Australia is being fought hard. Cheering for Bangladesh and I hope they can pull off a series win.

[Eddy]

So much for a close match... Sigh....

Australia teaches BD a lesson in fightback.

[Arjun Reddy]

Originally Posted by Eddy

So much for a close match... Sigh....

Australia teaches BD a lesson in fightback.

Bangladesh are 55/5, still trailing by 17. Australia will win easily.

[condor]

Sad that a visiting team has been attacked, in India: Stone thrown at bus carrying aussie players:

https://www.msn.com/en-in/sports/cri...cid=spartanntp


Btw, my view of today's cricket in India just went down another level. Wondering about Shastri becoming the coach. He's looking so wasted here:

https://twitter.com/Mr_LoLwa/status/...282880/photo/1

[PPS]

Originally Posted by condor

Stone thrown at bus carrying aussie players:

Fail to understand why can't the cash rich BCCI provide team bus with bullet proof windows atleast, if not a bullet proof bus itself!

Wondering about Shastri becoming the coach. He's looking so wasted here:

Australia played better in favourable conditions. Once dew set in, our spinners became ineffective.

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by PPS

Fail to understand why can't the cash rich BCCI provide team bus with bullet proof windows atleast, if not a bullet proof bus itself!

Probably making too much about it, these things rarely happen, but we should err on the side of caution anyway.

Originally Posted by PPS

Australia played better in favourable conditions. Once dew set in, our spinners became ineffective.

It was no different then what happened at Ranchi. I don't mind us losing, but the way the batsmen were clueless against the new ball

And I wonder why do we keep carrying on with Jadhav, he is a good batsman but this not the kind we need. As a finisher I like the fellow but in the middle, he is hopeless. Give him too many overs to play and he does not seem to have a clue. His bowling won't get us wickets in England 19, his fielding is not going to win awards either. Meanwhile Manish Pandey is doing himself no favors.
You need to be lucky to be batting in the top 4 in ODIs/T20s (they will always score most of the runs) So failing so often, I don't see how India will keep playing him if he does not fire consistently.

The thing that bugs me the most is that our top 4 are essentially great when its a flat track and there is little or no pressure pressure, but when there is slightly better bowling or something in the pitch, they seem to give up quite easily. And, I include (so called - 'king') Kohli in it.