I thought about this question after a brief discussion on Uncle J's blog on this particular post . Did, a commenter on the post said "I think the IPL should be renamed the Antipodean Premier League anyways cause it would be twice as $%^ without the backbone provided by the Aussies and Kiwis." And he went on to mention that the Aussies had won 14 MoM awards in 34 games, 4 of the top 10 batsmen were Aussies, as were 2 of the top 10 bowlers. It won't be a surprise if the IPL teams are reliant on Aussies as they are the best cricket players in the world. But are the teams actually reliant on them?  read more »

TheBangalore franchise has named its team as the Royal Challengers and Rahul “The Wall” Dravid is the captain.  read more »

Day Three, Fourth Test at Adelaide, India vs Australia 2007-08

Australia leads the series 2-1

Let me clarify at the beginning that I am following this match through text commentary and do not know how well the Indians are bowling.

Cricinfo tells me right now, at 302 for 3, that the Australian run-rate is 2.84 and the last ten overs have been scored off at 2.40.. Through the day, the scoring rate has consistently dipped beginning witth a bit above 4 and through the threes. It even went down to 2.20 at one stage.

I believe India is a strike bowler short in the form of an injured RP Singh. So we have a returnee and a rookie stemming the flow, and they cannot be bowling all that well if they have only three wickets to show for the toil. Or is it just that Australia is playing for a draw and preferring to sit on it's 2-1 lead?  read more »

The home jinx for Deccan Chargers continued, as Bangalore Royal Challengers powered to a five-wicket win to register their fourth win of the IPL and assure themselves of seventh place. Set a modest target of 166, Bangalore started slowly, but cameos from Misbah-ul-Haq, Rahul Dravid, Cameron White and B Akhil ensured they got home with [...]

IPL 2008: Previewing Delhi Daredevils (3D) vs Bangalore Royal Challengers (BRC)

It is a must win situation for both teams. BRCs would have been shattered after their sudden turn to defeat after a valiant chase against CSKs the other evening. Ditto for 3D, who were rather flat in their last match. Both teams would come in fully charged to record important wins and stay in the hunt.

For 3D, it is time Gambo played a hand and Viru assumed some consistency. I know that's perhaps asking for too much, but one of the two need to play out the 20 overs. The innings will have to be built up around one of these two players. 3Ds batting is entirely native, except for Mahroof and Malik, and Malik will have to shore up the middle order if needed. Mahroof will have to find those 20 runs of 8 balls if called upon to do so.  read more »

The in-form man of Indian cricket Sourav Ganguly leads his Kolkata team out against Dravid's Bangalore in the opener of the IPL but who should your money be on?

So the jamboree is upon us. Six weeks of giddy hitting, pumping music and throbbing hype. Any ad breaks will be entirely superfluous as the entire event is one long commercial opportunity, a parade of India's political and sporting wealth and power. Rather like a trip on a new and dangerous roller coaster, many who saw the brochures and thought it would be exciting are now having second thoughts. As we get closer to the thing itself, the sheer scale of the enterprise and the long, long shadow it is starting to cast over cricket is becoming clearer. It could all end in disaster. Then again, it could change cricket forever.  read more »

It's been 4 completed test matches since that heartbreak at Sydney. Many believe India deserved to draw the game that evening. I for one believe Australia, that day, were more hungry, were fortunate with a few key decisions that went their way and the Indian bowling in the 3rd innings was unimaginative. If I have to fault Australia for anything at Sydney, it was their insensitive captain, who refused to be gracious, both on the field in pursuit of victory and off the field in celebrating and talking about the win. India came out of that match feeling cheated and since have developed a resolve and a stanglehold on the Aussies that the Aussies have been unable to overcome.

After Sydney its been Perth, Adeliade, Bangalore and Mohali. India have not lost to Australia in 4 straight Test Matches. This in itself is a rare feat during the decade and more of Aussie dominance. Add to that the fact that not only have we not lost, but actually scored 2, as yet unanswered wins against Australia and you have got to question if this is an Australian team in the decline. Well it was paralled twice before; by India itself when they won at Calcutta, Madras, drew at Brisbane and won again at Adelaide between 2001 and 2003; and then there was England who won 2 ashes tests in 4 in 2005 without losing.  read more »

The Mumbai Indians bowed out of the IPL, but in style with a 9-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore. They finished at the 5th position, just ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders. Royal Challengers Bangalore finished 7th. The Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field first. Due to early shower, the match was reduced to 18 overs.

The Royal Challengers never looked in shape and could manage only 122/9 in 18 overs. Cameroon White scored 26, while Goswami made 20. For Mumbai Indians, Fernando took 4 wickets, while D Smith took 3 wickets.

Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar made the task much easier for Mumbai Indians, as they reached the target in 16 overs. Jayasuriya scored 54, while Sachin remained unbeaten on 40. Fernando was declared "Man of the Match". Mumbai Indians had to blame themselves for not making it to semis (although they deserved it). They lost three close matches that were well within their control.

On the eve of the final test match in the India vs Pakistan series, there is a lot to play for. India is up 1-0 in the two match series, they have not won a test match in Bangalore since 1995 and Pakistan have never lost a test series in India since 1979/1980.

Looking back at 1979/80, things are back full circle. In that series, the first test was played at Bangalore and in the current one, the last test is being played at Bangalore. A look back at the scoreboards of those 6 test mat  read more »