Sasi: 02/01/2015 - 03/01/2015

Monday, February 16, 2015

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Cricket World Cup 2015 - Commentators

The experience of watching Cricket in TV depends on the commentators. First I have to admit that I hate listening to Ravi Shastri and to certain extend Sunil Gavaskar. Luckily the current commentary team have Rahul Dravid , Ganguly and Harsha Bogle who are all better than those two seniors. A breath of fresh air. Following are the people I like to do commentary for the matches I watch.

Mark Taylor:

He is more neutral than other Aussie commentators. His more analytic and not too talkative. He cracks joke even when things are tense on the pitch. I like his style.

David Lloyd:

One of the funniest commentators, I like his accent and very easy listening. And he his very open in his views.

Mark Nicholas:

He easily mingled with the great Channel 9 commentary team and carved name for himself. He is very simple and not analytic but gets over excited sometime.

Rahul Dravid:

Soft spoken, very analytic. He reads the game better than many.

Nasser Hussian:

One difference between Dravid and Hussian is that sometimes Hussian gets over excited and scream. But very analytic and neutral too.

Ian Chappel:

A great reader of game. Talks sensibly.Most of the time neutral in his views on teams.

Mike Haysman:

Just for his voice. One has to listen to him when Steyn is bowling.

Michael Holding:

One only Michael. As smooth as his bowling action. Very neutral. Just listen to his smooth accent. Listen to him when fast bowlers bowl.

Geoff Boycott:

Just listen to this great Yorkshire man.!

Others :

Ian Bishop and Mike Atherton.

It will be great if Bill Lawry and Richie Benaud do some commentating during this world cup. But I will always miss the voice of Tony Greig.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Cricket World Cup 2015 - Preview 2

When I started writing about this world cup I did not previewed teams in any order, I just wrote. Other than Windies, normally I will not support any team. I want good game of cricket without any controversies. Any team that plays well needs to be appreciated.

Home favourite :
For me the current Australian team is not as strong as previous world cup teams but they are playing in their home which gives them ample energy. Whether Clarke plays or not, Aussies still have good batting line up in Warner, Smith, Maxwell etc.. Almost all of their batsmen are in good form and whole Australia believes that they will deliver. In bowling , I think Starc will play an important role along with speedy Johnson. In the recently concluded tri-series Starc produced some of the best bowling in ODI recently by an Australian bowler. I believe that they can reach semi-finals.

England:
One team that bored me when they played ODI in the past was England. They never had a good ODI team but the current team looks bit better than the last world cup squad. ECB did a good job in replacing Cook with Morgan. Morgan suites better than old fashioned Cook. Their batting depends heavily on Morgan,Root and Moen Ali. These three scores runs in a brisk pace but one man I think who needs to anchor the English batting line up should be Ian Bell. If Bell scores the rest will score. The superstar of this team is undoubtedly James Anderson. He is a wonderful bowler and he knew Aussie conditions better .Bowling looks good with Broad supporting Anderson.

Pakistan:
Along with West Indies, Pakistan is one of most unpredictable team. The first match against India is very crucial for both teams specially for Pakistan. Same like Windies they don't have consistency in any departments, in fact that makes Pakistan an outside contender for the cup. They can upset any team on their day. So its unwise to bet against Pakistan.

Srilanka:
The ever green Sangakkara and Jayawardne makes this team a team to watch. Their fielding is their strength. The presence of Angelo Mathews in the middle order is a gift .One of the best middle order ODI batsman in recent years. Their concern is their bowling. I always love they way Lankans play their game. They always give their best. I think they will reach semis.

Minnows:
As usual there will be one or two upset victory by these teams but I do not think that any of these teams will reach semis. But they have some wonderful players in Tamim Iqbal, Zakib and Kevin O'Brien.

Players to watch:

Group A	Group B
Australia	India
Bangladesh	Pakistan
England	South Africa
New Zealand	West Indies
Srilanka	Zimbabwe
Afganistan	Ireland
Scotland	UAE

Of course I will watch all the matches but matches mentioned below are must watch:

Date	Teams
Feb 14	New Zealand Vs Srilanka
Feb 15	India Vs Pakistan
Feb 20	New Zealand Vs England
Feb 21	West Indies Vs Pakistan
Feb 22	India Vs South Africa
Feb 27	West Indies Vs South Africa
Feb 28	New Zealand Vs Australia
March 01	Srilanka Vs England
March 06	India Vs West Indies
March 07	South Africa Vs Pakistan
March 08	Australia Vs Srilanka

All West Indies matches are MUST ...!!

Monday, February 9, 2015

Cricket World Cup 2015 - Preview 1

Its the time for Cricket world cup 2015 . And everywhere people talks about it. is it? thats what all the media says. I seriously doubt it, last week I was in Chandigarh , talked to many people most of them showed no excitement at all. Even a youngster who is working in Australia did not showed any interest. I asked him ," Why are not excited about the world cup?" his answer was " India will not win this time. I can not imagine India reaching semi-finals".

Whenever there is an ICC event my friends and relatives ask me this question " which team you will support other than West Indies?" . That question is very important for me because it prevents lots of unnecessary arguments. All my friends and families knew that I'm a big Windies fan. So I start with West Indies.

Any chance for West Indies?

Like me there are hundreds and thousands of Windies supporters who never loose hope on the team. Whether they have good players are not , we will support them. The current team is definitely not the best in recent years but they have some very talented players. The batting depends on Bravo, Samuels and Sammy , and to certain extends Chris Gayle. On the paper these four looks great but very rarely click together. Lets hope they will come good at this world cup. Roach and Taylor needs to deliver in bowling department. When Windies play well they light up everyone, lets hope for the best.I will be very happy if Windies reach semi final. As Im writing this ,Windies is playing against England in a warm up match and they were bowled out for 122. So for others, support Windies at your own risk. But I still support them.

Team Fabulous :

My choice of 'worthy' winners will be South Africa. I think they have the best players in all departments.In batting they have two outstanding batsmen of recent years , Amla and AB de Villiers. Both can play all the shots in the book at a brisk rate. In Steyn,Morkel and Philander ,SA have probably the best bowling line up one can hope for. No need to say anything about their fielding, they are probably the best. Luck is the only thing missing . I hope that will change in this world cup. The current SA team have the players with strong will power in all departments.

Team India:

I do not have much expectation on this team lead by MS Dhoni. India do not have the players who are experienced in these conditions. And some of these grounds have longer boundaries. The bowling needs to improve a lot. So far there is not even a single bowler whom we can pick out as the best. All are below average. Fielding is not consistent. Only department I hope that India will shine is batting. India is blessed with some wonderful ODI players MS Dhoni, Kohli, Rahane and Raina these are players who can change the game on their own. Very tough to reach semi-finals.

Black Caps:
The current New Zealand team is definitely not an underdog. This time they are real contender for the cup. The team is lead by arguably one of the best Kiwi batsman in recent years, Brendon McCullum. This man can win matches single handedly. Kiwis playing all their matches in home which will make their bowlers more effective. The bowlers too had wonderful seasons before this world cup, hope they will continue it. McCullum, Williamson and Ross Taylor have to do the bulk of scoring. I'm very happy about the inclusion of Daniel Vettori- such a wonderful player. For all their current performance this team should reach semi-finals quite easily.

Players to watch in these teams:

Remaining teams in next post.