The league of ordinary gentlemen
So as I write this, New Zealand is saying it will not host Pakistan later this year if the spot fixing charges haven’t been probed, and guilt or innocence established, in the interim.
And that’s not a bad thing: it is not in the interests of the game for this thing to drag on endlessly, with the usual posturing on all sides and no resolution in sight. Ian Chappell might, prima facie, seem to be advocating too hard a line here, but I agree with him on this one.
Fixing is not a Pakistan problem; it has the power to bring the game to its knees.
Cricket has already missed a golden opportunity to send a strong message to crooks, players and administrators. Pakistan should’ve been suspended from competition the moment the Lord’s Test was completed.
“Can’t do it,” you say, “it’ll ruin the game.”
Well, if fixing isn’t eradicated then there’ll be no game of any consequence to ruin.
Apropos, some four days into the Champions’ League, I am yet to catch a single game [The US Open has been feeding my need for a sports fix and last evening, I even found myself watching a replay of a Serie A game between Inter and Udinese while the CL was on, on another channel].
The likes of Harsha Bhogle and Peter Roebuck have waxed optimistic about the CL; for once, though, I am unable to share that sense of optimism. Harsha makes the point about CL/IPL confronting us with new choices, new loyalties, a whole new mindset. In my case, I suspect that is not the problem, though — the real problem lies with the format itself.
T20 is fun — but there is just so much of popcorn, no matter how well flavored, that you can ingest before you tire of it. And my problem with the T20 tournaments is just that: there’s too much of it, and I’m tired. We had the IPL. We had a T20 WC. Now we have the CL. In between, we have had absolutely no meaningful cricket at all [that nonsensical tour in Sri Lanka doesn't count; Pakistan versus England was compelling until NOTW came along and shattered our few remaining illusions].
It’s context that I miss; that and a sense of history, a back story that frames a cricket contest. Which is why I am waiting for the Aussies to land here later this month — the schedule may not be the most optimal, with a couple of Tests being shoe-horned into what was originally a 7-ODI affair, but what the hell: it is India versus Australia in Tests. Can’t wait for it to begin — and in the meantime, I’ll pass on this latest T20 tamasha.
How about you guys? How many of you are watching? And how involved are you in these games? I’d really like to know.
Same here, not seen a single game though am part of this fantasy cricket on cricinfo and I randomly selected players for the team, not even knowing CD stood for Central Districts and what GUY team was. Might just watch the CSK matches though
The CL is good for just one thing – I can watch Anil Kumble in action once again. Otherwise it is a complete bore.
When US Open is on, and there are matches like the Federer Semifinal, where is time for Cricket. It is not as if the Ashes are on, or India is playing a test in Australia or SA.
Have not watched a single ball being bowled this CL. In fact, I do not even know which teams are participating in the contest, who is playing in which team etc.
I caught some US Open and Sun TV Comedy time occupied the rest of the slot for me. I am unable to switch on to watch the mindless cricket drivel on air these days. I have hardly watched/followed any cricket for months now.
I’m not involved per se. But was quite interested in watching which of our youngsters handle the bouncy conditions and was particularly interested in Raina since we’ll be playing in SA later this year. Goes without saying that Raina promptly disappointed.
Am also interested in Kumble as this is the only tournament I can watch him in. IPL is too loud for my liking and I prefer skipping that.
People actually follow these matches ? The only reason I keep a tab on the scores (and that too largely only a few individual performances) is because I am playing Cricinfo’s Fantasy Cricket! Yes, call that ironical. Inasmuch as I am bitter about the damn fixing nonsense, I quite like placing my bets on the performance of a few players. But again, whatever I am doing isn’t really illegal or involving money. So, I guess that’s ok
(Though I am quite sure there must be betting syndicates operating on Fantasy Cricket as well.)
But I must admit that I was quite surprised already by the number of spectators though. Am not sure if even India would get such crowds for matches involving non-India teams. And that analogy to popcorn was bang on. I did watch a lot of IPL matches and even some of the matches in the T20WC. CL is just a ghastly overdose. Especially for people who get their sports fix from other sports.
Bring on the Aussies, the South Africa tour & Ashes already!
Prem: You watching Serie A when the might Barca was felled 2-0 by whats-their-name Hercules?
Prem i am in chennai and watch the chennai matches video on tv while listening to the commentary in tamil on hello fm. It was a lot of fun. I have been put off from watching mumbai matches due to the poor captaincy / overconfidence of our greatest batsman. Try to follow the performance of indian batsmen on south african wickets also.
For me, it’s all about watching the players who have excelled for years. Watching Dravid, Kallis and Kumble prove they can play T20 is delightful. Outside of that the CL is of little interest to me as well.
Prem, I’m living in NZ but haven’t heard any such story of NZ planning to cancel the Pakistan trip. Could you provide a link??
I saw that as a runner on one of the TV channels, Avi. Not as a done deal, but that NZ is considering that stand.
Ah. I suppose I forget that here in NZ, things are a bit more laidback as NZC will probably take a few days to issue a press release and then the media will take another couple of days to pick up on it. Actually quite a nice contrast from the incessant hunt for non-stories on 24 hour news channels in India.
I have watched most of the matches till now. Found most of them pretty interesting. Mumbai was beaten by Tendulkar and his big head. But Lions Redbacks was a fascinating encounter of quite a high quality. At the same time Natwest trophy was going on ESPN and found the T20 more interesting.
Kumble was amazing last night and so was Murali a couple of days back. I prefer it to IPL as one is not bombarded by commercials every second and seriously dada may be the best commentator to come out of India.
Glad about that bit about Sourav. Seriously. I’ve found him a real good communicator; he was quite outspoken when he first took the mike, then seemed to get sucked into the say nothing style of the Shastris of this world. If he’s broken out of that and is back to calling it as he sees it, brilliant. Actually, think of a day when Sourav, Anil and Rahul are in the commentary box together.
And just for fun- any bet where will Tendulkar be when that happens? In the field or in the box?
I dont understand why people like Ganguly grab public land under the guise of social activities..Constructing a school in a posh area and saying it is for socialistic activities is nothing less than thuggery.
He can very well buy it and use it for any purpose he deems fit.
I have yet to catch a single game yet myself. The reason for not having tuned is partly the shame cricket has come under lately (with folks alluding to IPL too) and partly becos thr is just way too much happening on US Open, Barclays PL, and Formula one.
I have been watching the CL,only beacuse I am in India on a trip,once I return back,will not be able to view due to the late telecast.What was interesting was Raina’s inability to handle the short balls.Maybe we put too much emphasis on style rather than substance.CSK had a lucky escape though.Yes Watching Kumble bowl was a bonus.Will Zaheer come back to his prime form?
Prem, the only T20 games that I watch are the ones where Mumbai is playing. I don’t even care for the Indian team in that format. It’s been almost 5 months since the IPL final, and so I am tuned in to the tournament (though I only watch the Mumbai games). I suppose this is one way to maintain context.
Prem, I first like to say I am big fan of your writing as it helped me slowly come to appreciate indian cricket in the last couple of years. Even though this fixing episode is absolutely terrible, I still hold out hope that this issue will be finally settled once and for all.
Anyway, I’m also looking forward to watching the ind/oz series as well. I expect it to be compelling series but also just to see some of their youngsters go on from there to the ashes.
I have had very little time for cricket since other sports, of late, seem to offer more contests of high quality and abundant significance. This weekend, I first watched the Fedex-Djokovic epic.fascinating match, made even more significant by Djokovic finally beating Federer in a US open and announcing himself as a credible and worthwhile opponent for rafa and rf.Then on Sunday I first watched Dustin Johnson win the BMW championship with high quality golf, with clutch performances on hole 17 and 18 and thus putting to rest the horrors of the final round 82 at the US open and the “bunker” calamity at the PGA championship. As dessert, I saw the Texans shove it down the throat of the Colts and sowed the seeds for a potentially fascinating rivalry. More than anything, Texans and Mario Williams once again underscored the importance of drafting good players with a strategy in mind rather than picking the more flashy media hyped Reggie Bush.Shows why balance is important, something Raina should think about while playing the short ball and the selectors forget when picking teams.
Watched a couple of overs yesterday-Dravid and Kallis batting…that’s it. (that too cause was surfing channels, came across the match and lingered on till Dravid got out)
Yawwwnnnnn……..CLT20 is more for the players and commentators to make more moolah. Thats why you have the commentators waxing eloquent about the format and the tournamant-it obviously is their bread/butter/jam/ham.
It’s up to the broadcasters to pull the plug when they realise that TRPs are not happening.
I mean – who gives a heck about teams like Guyanana and Mambas and Strikers or something like that.
I can think of 3 reasons to watch. Firstly, it’s worth it just for Kumble – my guess is this may well be the last we see of him playing. He’s showing signs of his age and I don’t know if he’ll want to come back next year for the IPL, or if RCB would want him as a player with a long-term contract. Dravid didn’t look like he was enjoying it all that much either, come to think of it.
The other reason is to watch the fast bowlers – Ntini, Steyn, Tait etc. Any form of cricket is great to watch if there’s something in it for the bowlers.
And finally, it’s also one of the few opportunities that we get to see domestic players from SA and Australia, who are always impressive in their commitment and their execution of skills. It’s good to see players really playing for their teams, willing to look ugly if it means they win, unlike a lot of the players in the IPL teams who would prefer to look stylish and get another endorsement contract rather than tough it out for rhe team.
I am watching the CL mainly for to see how other countries are faring in this format. South African and Australian teams have been very interesting to watch. These players have been playing together for quite some years and they are eager to show their talents. I am also watching to see how our own younger players are coming up.
These are early days; just a few matches being played so far. I believe that SA and Aus teams will bring in the context and passion on the table. I am watching Warriors vs Bushrangers match and Jacobs have shown some amazing shots and catches so far. Just watched him pick up the catch of Finch .. the 2nd one and equally fantastic as the 1st catch.
I always have enjoyed watching Robin Uthappa and he did not disappoint me with the small cameo – he over shadowed the great Kallis for a few balls Robin was around.
Mumbai match was disappointment to Indian fans I am sure (me included), but look at the fight shown by the Underdogs! They were not afraid of names and went ahead and played their game.
Not just watching cricket, I even skip any post you do on cricket. Its that boring.
Prefer tennis and soccer.
Not much interest, follow scores in cricinfo, but I want Sachin to do well(as always!).
Callum Ferguson seems a good prospect.. I feel he is going to determine Aussie chances in next years world cup
CLT20 really heating up after the first 2 matches. Can’t believe that not many are following it.Bowler friendly pitches, good competitive teams, Great commentary line up…Quality of cricket is overall good. What you guys do in India that is more interesting? ..Hunting wild boars?
If you missed the Chennai game and not still watched the replay you missed something Man…Jr.Srikanth played a gem of an innings. Balaji bowled like old bala..Aswin matched Murali ball to ball with doosra’s ,in dippers or whatever Murali bowled. Why MSD not played him in SL series? scared of Bhajji?.
I don’t know what “India” is doing, mate — but I’m personally finding a lot of quality sport elsewhere than in cricket, just now. The US Open, for instance. Football, to cite another. And in between, finding a lot of time to read — as it turns out, there is a stack of sports books I’m getting to either read or re-read; right now it is John McPhee’s classic Levels of the Game.
Prem you mentioned about quality sport elsewhere-Sushil Kumar winning the gold medal was worth a mention IMHO.
India should promote wrestling,shooting and a few select sports where we can be in the medal haul on a regular basis at the world level.
India seem to be not managing the sports persons well,as they are caught regularly for “innocent use of nasal decongestants”.The administrators should be taken to task.
On tennis-Indian players are carving a niche in doubles at the highest levels on a consistent basis,which could be a good strategy in itself
I think I have finally lost it for the game. I was still passionate enough in 1999. Not anymore. Mostly courtesy spot fixing stuff. Sachin’s bad captaincy seemed like spot fixed to me. Why bowl Duminy n Pollard when u have 5 regular bowlers ?????? Maybe the tests will help. Not long ago I sat up all night watching every ball of that VVS masterclass and Aamir bamboozle the english in their own backyard. I am sure there are more fans like me gradually being pushed to the ropes with every emerging scandal. But there ain’t no hope of any cleansing, may be some room freshner to repel the odor, but the garbage will remain I suspect.
Well for me this is a chance to see Dravid and Kumble play. Hence only looking forward to RCB matches.
Same here:-)
Could you write on what you are reading, please? It is just so much more interesting.
http://blogs.cricinfo.com/itfigures/archives/2010/09/form_is_temporary.php
Lovely graphs.
Thanks for the link…very interesting and informative blog
Prem, what do you think of Cricinfo’s India all-time XI?? I personally would have had Laxman and Ganguly in for Hazare and Mankad, Kirmani for Dhoni, and Bedi for Prasanna. But not a bad lineup. And could you ask your friend R Mohan why he didn’t pick Dravid??
BTW, I think it was Arun Lal(one of the 10 judges) who did not pick Dravid and not Mohan
I have been watching most of the CL games, particularly ones where Indian teams are playing. For Bangalore matches I am heavily involved.
btw, Joy Bhattacharya takes you guys in the media to task (and rightly so) for your shameful coverage of that Fake IPL Player story last year. If I recall correctly, you were bragging on your twitter stream about how you had such and such a player on a “short list” of possible guys who could be FIP. And you even broke that nonsensical article by Gullu Ezekil on your blog. Time to admit you were all wrong, perhaps?
http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/sports/bowled-by-a-full-toss
This is what I had written at the time:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.sport.cricket/msg/a1f1cee413c649e3?dmode=source
That says more about the gullibility of the press and the ingenuity of
the blogger than his veracity. If, as is likely, nothing comes of this
for next month or so and it is not established that the blogger is a
player or anyone to do with the IPL, then I want everyone to remember
these names and brand them as gullible idiots for rest of their life:
1. Gullu “I don’t know a blog comment from a blog post” Ezekiel and
Indian Express
2. Sharda “any reason to diss IPL/BCCI will do” Ugra and India Today
3. Dileep “see above” Premachandran and The Guardian
4. Lawrence Booth
5. Prem Panicker (and by association Rediff) – this guy is the worst
of the lot. He not only gave publicity to that execrable Gullu Ezekiel
piece, but bragged that he had Ranadeb Bose on a “short list of 5-6
suspects”. And then Bose vehemently denied the allegation and someone
suggested it was Murali Karthik. Panicker again goes on his twitter -
“had him on a short list of 5-6 suspects after about six posts”!
6. Sambit Bal and Cricinfo – for reporting the story and also giving
space to two of the above mentioned idiots.
7. Times of India – but then, they don’t have any credit left to be
discredited.
On the other hand, as far as I am aware, Deccan Herald is one of the
few mainstream publications that didn’t touch the topic. Kudos to
them.
I second him. Prem, you dont HAVE TO, but it is in good sportsman spirit if you can say a few things on what KKR CEO had asked.
The only thing that I enjoy watching on the CLT20 is the wide gap in quality between say the Aussie club sides and the Indian ones.
According to Cricinfo, Notts have succesfully negotiated with Lancashire to forfeit an innings in their final (ongoing) county match so that they (Notts) can have a good shot at the title. What should this be called? Shouldn’t it simply be disallowed? Isn’t it just the sort of thing fixers are looking for?
You cant call that “match-fixing” in the known sense of the word. But surely it is very bad thing, but has been in practice in almost all the sports wherever league matches are involved. Actually soccer has a very bad tradition in this.
I watched a few highlights at http://cricketonlinetv.com/ but the tournament hasnt caught my attention.
But it is a delight to watch conditions better balanced for bowling. Plus, I wanted to see the comeback/rehabilitation of L. Balaji. Emotionally support the Mumbai Indians but they have been really sloppy so far.
I was watching the Pakistan Australia and Pakistan England test with great interest until NOTW came along and pissed on my parade. But still love Test Cricket and Cricket in general and will continue to watch.
One moment in the tournament. Mumbai Indians vs South Australia. Shot played by Kieron Pollard facing Shaun Tait. Short Ball. Comes in at about 9:25. Enjoy.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xetlqy_mumbsar2_webcam
Actually, that one shot made my entire tournament, so to say. You dont get to watch that kind of a moment of excellence too often. It might be T20, yet, it was a great cricketing moment.
Another moment, England vs Pakistan. Comes in at 8:17. Seen it before but it never gets old – http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xev0gm_engpk33_webcam
Looks like Prem has gone into hibernation again
So disappointing to log onto this blog and notice that there are no updates.
Bet his posts will pick up once the Australia India test matches start
Any comment on Pujara’s selection?? Is it just to groom him for the #3 spot,experience the dressing room climate, ease him into the team or is he really going to play?
Rohit sharma is one lucky guy.. keeps getting second chances, whereas guys like Badri/Sharat hardly got more than 2 calls to the national team
Hi Prem,
Missing your posts. Any special thoughts on the CWG’s tamasha? I know enough is said in all those 24 hour news channels. But your point of view is always special. Awaiting your post
Cheers
PG
Prem may not have gone into hibernation ,may be rehabilitation -:)
Or may be he is testing the waters to see if the blog can survive w/o him by becoming user generated blog.
Who are the players you want to see retained by each IPL team?
If we take MI-then if it’s Sachin,Zaheer,Pollard-Bhajji or Malinga?Or do they retain Bravo?
If it is CSK-MSD,Raina,Murali,Haydos?
RCB-Kumble,Utthappa,Taylor,Steyn?or Kallis and Dravid?
DD-Gambhir,Dilshan,Sehwag?
KKR-will they be allowed to hire the pakis?or will they retain only Saurav,Brendon?
DC-Gilly,Rohit,Symonds?
Others?
I expect all teams other than RR and KKR to retain atleast 1 player
oops I meant RR & K XI P. The names are getting difficult to remember now
after Hussey’s “man-of-the-match performance” today, I definitely dont expect hayden to be retained by Chennai.
Here is my list:-
Chennai :- dhoni, raina, vijay, murali-rtd
Bengaluru :- pietersen, taylor, uthappa, white, kumble-rtd
Mumbai :- sachin, pollard, harbhajan, bravo, malinga, zaheer
Hyderabad :- symonds, rohit sharma, fidel edwards, laxman, Ojha
Delhi :- sehwag, gambhir, warner, vettori, nannes
Kolkata :- ganguly-rtd, hussey, angelo, gayle, mccullum (only god save them if they retain Ishant)
Hmm-given that only 4 can be retained
RCB-they should not retain Pieterson and white-though white has done well except for RCB,in fact they can retain Dravid as he has a good fan following which is important for the club and maybe steyn
Hyderabad-Gilchrist v/s laxman,will they bring back afridi?
I guess that depends on whether players like Dravid/Kumble want to continue as players for 2-3 more years….
Dravid might continue to play for another few years post retirement as have Kumble,Warne and Gilly even Saurav.Kumble will retire if he does not get retined
Its time to watch the IPL auction game again, also the player retention adds a bit of a twist this time.
As I expected only the two finalists of last edition (Chennai and Mumbai) seem set to retain the full quota of 4 players. KKR wisely are not retaining Ganguly, Ishant and Mortaza.
Prem, Can you pl. start a thread for the Aus-India test match, so we can share observations even if you are tied up .. Cheers, Hari
wtf? not even for the tests? its a friday!
Prem,
Don’t know why you have stopped blogging…but if you need something to write I think you should better watch Ishant Sharma bowl. OMG… Why this guy is even playing? In recent memory don’t remember anyone made bowling look so difficult.
Ha ! My friend.. are you watching the 2nd innings?
My Point was IS should be in CWG representing India in the long jump. with all those stretched long no balls ☺
LOL ! Good one ..
BTW, hope Laxman pulls this rabbit out.. Awake at 1am to watch this.. Iam freaking crazy
Not by taking a single of the 1st or 2nd ball and watching from the non-striker’s end. With this tactic, it has to be either Ishant or Ojha to pull the rabbit out.
Yes – Gavaskar keeps saying “he trusts Ishant”.. but you have to be skeptical of this approach
Partnership of 86 balls (as I write). Ishant has faced 65 of those. Now, if India were to pull this off, he is my hero. But, I know Laxman will get all the accolades. Yes, he is playing with a bad back and is trying to be there at the end. But, I don’t agree with his tactic of allowing 80% of strike to the No.10. At least now, with just 26 needed, he should take most of the strike. Or, am I missing something here and Ishant is shielding Lax?
India just got robbed – terrible umpiring throughout this match.. this was one of many terrible calls
JII, Whether you like it or not, the most effective lower order test batsman in my era is Steve Waugh and his approach is very very similar to the way laxman played today. Might be you don’t like it but the results prove that this method is effective.
The result doesn’t justify the tactics. There is a reason why Laxman bats at 5 and Ishant at 10. If you want to see how to bat with the tail, see Hussey’s Innings against SA with McGrath (I think it was McGrath) as company.
JII, there is another angle to it. India needed close to 90 runs when Ishant came to crease. It would have been practically impossible for Laxman to assume that he can hoard the strike and win the game alone. You cant get 90 runs that way, in the last day of a test in a pitch with some variable bounce. He needed the other guy to click and he trusted ishant to click. I dont think there was any other way to do it.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!! VVS rocks – Ishant probably MoM .. what a game.. could have gone both ways
Looks like another spot fixing. Bollinger had gone off at the right time!!!
the heading was titled League of Ordinary gentlemen,but we witnessed a VVS performance from laxman & ishant .Prem was in SFO and I guess when he was there quite a few senior yahoo folks quit,maybe a HQ role for him!!!!
Prem Bhai, eagerly awaiting your post on the Mohali win. Don’t disappoint us.
What a wonderful match…and what a wonderful finish. The ghosts and the agony of Sydney have been laid to rest. Thank you VVS, IShant!!!
Yes – I was actually fearing that Ponting will again bowl Clark, that miserable, cheating SOB who took 3 wickets in Sydney
If you notice, we’ve played 6 tests after the Sydney test. and the score is 4-0 since then. Hope Ponting never wins in India, lost the ashes and gets the dubious distinction of losing Ashes home and away. He deserves all the dubious distinctions coming his way. His game had stooped to such levels. Cant forget Kumble’s face saying “There was only one team playing to the spirit of the game”, Cant forget the arrogant Ponting telling that his team mate took Ganguly’s catch clear. Liar…. Liar… Liar….
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What a smashing victory in the 2nd test. Glad to see the Indian team doesn’t fold meekly in the 4th innings anymore. A big big improvement!! Definitely something to celebrate, other than snubbing Aussie noses into the ground of course!
I guess Prem is not going to post anymore. He seems to like Twitter more than blogging. It would have been appropriate if he had dropped a line here indicating whether he plans to continue blogging or if it is the end indeed. But, he does not even have that basic courtsey to do that forcing us to come back here everyday to check if something new is out here. Probably, he wants to keep the number of page hits high.
Anyway, it’s time we find some other writer like Prem who hasn’t achieved the kind of success and fan following that Prem has. Prem has probably joined the elite club that is not accessible to ‘aam aadmi’ and he feels comfortable with the fact that he doesn’t need anymore interaction with people like us to raise his stock value.
If you guys know if any other good writers/bloggers, please do post their links here so that I can get my does from there.
Prem is infected with BCCI-tis. It is a virus that spreads fast. The symptoms are prolonged silence, deaf ear, treating the customers/fans/followers with disdain, refusing to give even a decent explanation which will be considered a basic courtesy.
What is saddening is that for a guy who accuses BCCI of all the above regularly and calls for openness and transparancy, he himself has decided to emulate BCCI as far as this blog is concerned.
Time to move on for us readers……………
Read an interesting piece on sports journalism http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?267565
The comments are interesting as well
Its strange how you guys seem to all want to hang the author here! For a moment have you asked – perhaps he has other priorities that he is lagging behind on? Or smthg urgent has come up in his life that he needs to attend to?:) Am not standing up from the rooftops and screaming my happiness that he is not blogging frequently- but hey guys lets cut him some slack pls? As a human to another, we need to be able to do that:)
That is the reason why I waited for so long to comment. But, I don’t think that is the case. He is tweeting frequently as you can see from the sidebar. One line from him either on this blog or as a tweet would have been enough for me. He knows that he is a good writer. He has time to give an interview, but no time for people like us who made him & his blog a tremendous success by visiting here often. What use is engaging in strategies, policies, etc (per his intreview) in a closed room when one cuts off the interaction with the ultimatum target (readers like us). That just is an indication that he had enough/ample time during the last one or two years with Rediff to build his reputation/blog, got it to rank high (he certainly has the ability to do so), got picked by Yahoo on favorable terms, is satisfied with his position there, no need for further interaction with us.
Regardless, thank you for memories Prem. All the best. Its time to find someone else who is not as famous as Prem, is passionate about writing, and writes thought-provoking articles.
Dude, Prem has been writing for rediff a LOT longer than “one or two years”. This blog didn’t make Prem, Prem made this blog. We should be glad he took time from his busy schedule to maintain this blog. I’ve always felt it is his passion that got him to write this blog. So it is surprising that the recent Ind v Aus series didn’t inspire him to write something here. But you should not read too deep into it. OTOH, one might think that you are daring Prem to come back and write here, but trust me, that tactic won’t work with Prem
You sound like an irate husband:)
Look I don’t know Prem from Adam- other than following him on Twittter and reading his blogs. We acknowledge he writes good stuff- so lets cut him some slack…maybe he has a writers block?:) or perhaps just wants some time out for himself?:)
Sk, I think you have a point though this is Prem’s personal blog and as such he has the prerogative to post or not to post any comments.
I have been following his blog since a long time and noticed that he takes some breaks occasionally but he will come back with a bang. Usually in the past I noticed that while the blog is on a break he will be writing a whole lot of new interesting stuff and post it all once he resumes regular blogging. I think he is now preparing some themes for his columns that will appear on Yahoo soon. I also think we might see him more on Yahoo and Twitter than on this blog in the future.
Ditto – give the guy a break – remember “Expectations lead to disappointment” .. I will enjoy when he finds time to write.. I do follow a few other writers like Harsha, Sanjay Manjrekar’s comments on cricinfo, Dileep, etc.
If yahoo had hired PP because of this blog then they did a huge mistake and would have fired him by now since PP is not blogging any more..Don’t agree with SK’s point here. People blog for various reasons and also stop blogging for certain reason. In PP’s case it seems his priorities have changed. We miss him here because there were few social issues were raised in his blog in the past and it got due attention. Even the IPL hype was discussed here first. Now we are seeing one bigger hype…Indian stock market. Every other country except India has realized the danger of fast money and taking measures to stop the inflow of free capital money. The money that comes in fast will also leave fast and whenever that happens some of the clueless retail investors will get hurt badly and will lose shirt.Wake up People!
Two T20 internationals in Abu Dhabi. Pak scores 119 and 120 in the matches. SA wins both by 6 wickets with almost same no. of balls to spare. Who could have bet on this
Where are you Prem?
office is a dull place with nothing to read on Some Signals.
Hope everything is fine at your end.
KP
Any one knows if there are any posts on Yahoo or elsewhere by Prem Panicker? The guy has has even stopped tweeting … his last tweet was 2 weeks ago when he wrote that he was was about to get smashed …
Some “smash” eh?
Prem Panicker’s recent posts on Yahoo:
http://in.yfittopostblog.com/2010/10/11/the-ipl-fiasco-battle-royale-in-the-offing/
http://in.yfittopostblog.com/2010/10/11/bcci-to-franchise-shut-up-or-else/
Given Prem has mostly disappeared, I would like to inform cricket lovers about a good blog site I ran into.. high quality writing focused on cricket:
http://senantixtwentytwoyards.blogspot.com/
Particularly love the article on Lakshman:
http://senantixtwentytwoyards.blogspot.com/2010/10/pull-of-laxman.html
If there are other such writers, pl. share.. keeping it to top notch writers..
Sad to see quality writing taking a back seat – I guess we have entered the twitter era – which has generally terrible signal to noise ratio, and feels like verbal diarrhea most of the time
Cheers,
Hari
how do we know the dude is fine again?
Hari thanks for the link; an excellent blog…I also like cricketingview.blogspot.com; an excellent original voice…tough to find quality cricket writing these days; newspaper cricket coverage is abysmally bad; even online quality seems to be deteriorating;
Another good site is http://www.cricketwithballs.com/. Originally named Sehwagology, very interesting and eclectic set of articles.
Great … Thank you to both of you.. cheers.. keep ‘em coming.. something to whet my appetite during Prem’s “hibernation”
Congratulations on one million hits for your blog! Hope everything is alright with you.
Hooray! Hooray! Our own master blaster, Prem, is back on Twitter!! I am sure he will soon be back on this blog too
Exchanged a few tweets with him yday. He says he is back Monday next. On his absence from this blog he said “was busy with bloody work”:) So we can now look fwd to some serious in depth stuff again!
Twitter is crap – I will be interested if he writes real articles..
Comparing apples to oranges?:)
No I am not .. only pointing out that him being on twitter has nothing to do with “serious in depth stuff”
At least he posts interesting links thru’ twitter and to his credit Prem manages to convey his thoughts quite well despite the limits on Twitter. But agreed it is not the same as posting in-depth stuff
isn’t twitter described as a micro blogging site? we’re comparing a blog to a (micro) blog
Hahaha you guys!:) Admit it- Twitter is equally fun!:)
…. NOT…
For those who maybe interested:):) Twitter is serious biz – The Guardian’s top editor on the 15 great virtues of Twitter: http://bit.ly/bjJ6Ur
another series without a single post. nice.
yes – good to put this blog in the “Archive” category.. (gentle way of saying “put a fork in it”)
ouch, just remembered, there is the world-cup coming up before the next edition of LoOG(IPL-4) in action. It is a big deal actually, cos it is on sub-continent, giving the likes of Raina/Kohli a very good chance to excel and also the last oppurtinity for the modern day Bradman to seal the massive hole in his CV.
So it is probably time to look at how the squad for that tournament is settling out. I actually feel the barring form and fitness the starting XI is more or less settled now and it is the rest 4 players who make-up the squad that are looking very unsettled.
Starting XI
1-3:- Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir
4-5:- Kohli, Dhoni
6-7:- Raina, Yuvraaj
8-9:- Harbhajan, PraveenKumar
10-11:- Zaheer, Nehra
Kohli, Yuvraaj & Raina will have to manage 10 decent overs between them.
Back-up spinners:
Currently Ashwin seems to be the top-pick. Hope he can continue his form and seal the spot that is for his taking.
The next slot seems to be a fight between Raveendra Jadeja and Pragyan Ohja. Although I am not sure what Piyush Chawla, Amit Mishra and Murali Karthik have to do to convince the selectors. Personally, I would go with Murali Karthick. he is very under-rated both as a batsman and bowler I feel. But I think Jadeja with his capacity to complete 10 economical overs and strong arm from the deep would be the team management’s preferred choice. I am still not convinced he is the real deal as a batsman though, as long as keeps getting run-out foolishly. Slower batsmen like Yousuf, Inzamam, Laxman, Ganguly, Ranatunga are meant to be run-out. not fast young men like him.
Back-up opening batsmen:
This is fairly easy. nobody, going by the fact Murali Vijay is yet to establish himself at the international level in limited overs matches. I would have Robin Uthappa in as dangerous floater, cum back-up wicket keeper though. We need to identify match winners and back them up.
Back-up all-rounder, bits-and-pieces player, pinch hitter
Yuvi on one leg is better than all other options on any day of the year. Do I need to say more? Praveen Kumar and Bajji remain our best bet. I reckon the all-round performance of this trio can make or break our world-cup campaign this time.
Back-up Keeper
Like I said before Uthappa seems to be the best man for this job. Although Dinesh Karthik has the experience factor going for him. Naman Ojha is totally inexperienced and I reckon the only reason Saha is in current squad is to let him grow into the role as a back-up for the test matches.
Back-up pace bowlers:
Munaf Patel – although his tendency to crack under pressure remains a concern(like the 2 beamers he bowled in the same match). Hope Sreeshanth and Ishant are spared from playing limited overs matches. Sree’s classical action is just not suited to bowling yorkers and slower balls while Ishant’s excellent line & length for test matches becomes the perfect length ball in the slog overs.
So here is my XV based on form and fitness so far:-
Openers:- Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir
wk:- Dhoni, Uthappa
middle order:- Raina, Yuvraaj, Kohli
spin:- Harbhajan, Ashwin, Murali Karthik
pace:- Zaheer, Nehra, PraveenKumar, Munaf
The only changes I expect from above by the selectors would be Jadeja instead of Murali Karthik and Yousuf instead of Uthappa. But it would be an unwise decision not have a back-up keeper for a long tournament.
The only one I don’t like is Yuvraj – due to his lack of discipline, he looks like a 40 yr old, and am afraid past his prime.. My XI would be:
1. Tend
2. Sehw
3. Gambhir
4. Raina
5. Kohli
6. Dhoni
7. Yousuf Pathan (given series is in subcontinent)
8. Harbhajan
9. Praveen (can also bat)
10. Zaheer
11. Ashwin
Cud replace Yousuf with Uthtappa or Vijay is he doesn’t click
Line-up further reinforced in the game today – Pathan is the real monster when on.
Also feel more comfortable with lving Nehra out – he was expensive again in the death overs
The top 7 look ok,My concern would be the 8-11.
Bhajji is no longer the bowler we need
Zaheer while good,is not guaranteed to last 3 -4 matches in a row
I guess the bowling department is weak,the batsmen will do well.However they may just forget to turn up in a crucial SF tie and we may get knocked out unless the bowlers help us.And anyways no one cares for bowlers in Indian conditions
Yes .. there was a time when Ishant was supposed to be the answer, but he look worse with every new series. Sreesanth and Nehra are mostly unreliable/streaky. Lesser said the better of the other pace bowlers
Also none of the spinners (Ojha/Chawla) have lived up to promise.. Ashwin looks like the next hope, but is untested.. suppose it may be wise to bring back Kumble for one last hurrah..
I was never a fan of Harbhajan, but his strike rate and bowling avg are next only to Kumble among all Indian bowlers.. so I think he deserves a place, esp. given he is starting to bat a bit now
I just want Sachin to retire with a worldcup.. otherwise his resume/legacy will always be unfinished relative to other all time greats, e.g., Imran, Kapil, Richards, Mcgrath who all delivered championships. Now there’s really no excuse – a series in subcontinent, a weakened Australian side, an inconsistent South Africa, problem-plagued Pakistan.. only Sri Lanka and England remain to beat up on.. THIS IS HIS TIME TO FULFILL .. how sweet wud it be if he hung it up after winning it all..
I fantasize.. yes it can happen now!
They may want to rest Zaheer through the matches against the minnows like zimbawe and other silly matches they play and save him for the elimination games .. you are right.. he is amazing, but fragile
no posts on the Ashes either?!
Barkhagate and twitter & Outlook are getting a lot of journos out hit wicket
This is an excellent analysis on Harbhajan by Venkat Ananth in yahoo cricket blog.
http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/blog/venkatananth/19/19venkatananth
Basically he says that, in test matches, we should consider Harbhajan as a batting all-rounder(to be more precise a batsman who can bowl) and include an extra bowler in the XI.
It is a kind of sharp cricket analysis, which could have been posted by Prem during his rediff days. We are definitely missing it now. But anyways I am just linking it above, so that we can generate a debate on the effectiveness of Harbhajan in test matches, under the comments below in this blog.
Yup, time to put this to bed.
Hari, Vikram
Thanks for sharing the senantix link. http://senantixtwentytwoyards.blogspot.com/
There is a new article on Sourav Ganguly on the blogsite which is probably one of the most balanced studies of the former Indian captain.
http://senantixtwentytwoyards.blogspot.com/2011/01/big-brother-batting.html
A new post by Senantix.
This is a scholarly analysis of the fab five. And when I say scholarly, I mean painfully scientific. Great read.
http://senantixtwentytwoyards.blogspot.com/2011/02/statistician-compares-fab-five.html