If Bangladesh view this series as an opportunity lost, then there is hope for progress. They stood up to India on a few occasions but lost the plot under pressure, and were let down by their own weakness

Sriram Veera 28-Jan-2010Tamim Iqbal kept threatening to waste starts, but in the end he thrilled one and all with a sparkling hundred in Chittagong•Associated PressTamim Iqbal
The change started with his maiden Test hundred in the West Indies. He had never faced so many deliveries before in Tests and he continued with the good work this series. All the big shots were there but what stood out was the clarity of thought and the desire to walk the talk. He kept threatening to waste starts, but in the end he thrilled all with a sparkling hundred in Chittagong.Imrul Kayes
He got a good delivery in the second innings of the first Test but fell to mental errors in the rest. An injudicious across-the-line whip, a casual flick down the leg side and a check-drive after being hit by a bouncer in the previous ball were his modes of dismissal. He has a tendency to fall over on the front foot and the upcoming tour of New Zealand will be a good test.Shariar Nafees
It was a forgettable comeback from the ICL. He looked nervy, he was edgy, and he didn’t inspire any confidence. Strangely, for an opener, Jamie Siddons said Nafees was picked in the first Test for his ability to play spin. At no stage did he look like he was mentally ready to play at No 3.Raqibul Hasanbr>They said he was out of form and out of touch – and they were proved right as he struggled through the series. He wasn’t sure of his off stump and he was done in twice, playing away from the body and falling to incoming deliveries. The misery was complete when he shouldered arms to a delivery that came in from round the stumps. The management has immense faith in him, though, and will hope that he turns things around in New Zealand.Mohammad Ashraful
The pressure to perform is growing every day but the old problems persist. His brain freezes are legendary by now and the moment that perfectly caught his struggles came in the first innings of the second Test when he had a ‘headless chicken’ charge at Pragyan Ojha.Mushfiqur Rahim
The Indians called him a schoolboy. He looks likes one and there is a sense of impishess to his constant chatter while keeping. His batting, though, was one of the high points of the series for the hosts. He pulled them out of a hole in the first innings of the first Test and hit a sparkling maiden ton in the second innings. He was also unbeaten during the second innings of the second Test, when everything was collapsing around him.Shakib Al Hasan
He bowled and led well in patches but his batting let him down in this series. Three bad shots – he chased wide deliveries twice and played that fatal sweep in the last innings – meant he couldn’t set a good example to the rest. He maintained admirable dignity when the press tried to bait him on the Sehwag issue and garnered more respect when he stood up to the BCB president, but a frank admission of why they lost the plot in the second innings made him a villain in the end.Shahadat Hossain’s pace didn’t pin down Rahul Dravid alone•Associated PressMahmudullahHis batting would have thrilled the fans. He seemed to know how to control his aggression and restrain the urge to play flashy shots. There was a sense of clarity in his batting which was missing in much of the top order and it probably won’t be long before he is pushed up the order. He shared a vital partnership with Rahim in the first Test, was involved in a brief, but thrilling, counterattack in the second innings of that Test. With a fine maiden hundred to boot, in the second Test, it was an unforgettable series for him.Shahadat Hossain
He is back. Like Ishant, there were several self-doubts before the series. He wasn’t comfortable with the tweaks in his action and talked about reverting to his old style but persisted with the new and tasted success right away in the first Test. He bowled his heart out in the second, constantly surprising the Indians with his bounce. He even chipped in with a thrilling counter-attacking innings in the last Test.Shafiul Islam
He bowled better that Shahadat in the first innings of the first Test but didn’t get much success. His captain, though, backed him up with public words of encouragement. He caused a couple of problems to Gambhir in the first Test by going round the stumps in the first innings and produced a stunning bouncer in the second Test to dismiss him. He wasn’t consistent though, but it’s still early days.Rubel Hossain
He has the pace and the ability to reverse swing. The high point was his inswinger to remove Sachin Tendulkar in the second innings of the first Test. He saw chances go down off his bowling in the second Test. Champaka Ramanayake, the bowling coach, said they have been working on his follow-through and fitness. Bangladesh will hope he does improve, and with Mashrafe Mortaza highly unlikely to play Tests again, they would need Rubel to step up.Junaid Siddique
He played just one Test but immediately seized the opportunity with a gritty half-century in the second innings of the second Test. He got out playing a lazy pull to a lifter in the first innings but fought it out in the second. He has knocked out Shahriar Nafees from the No. 3 slot but the Tests against New Zealand and England tour will offer real proof of his ability.

Going by past stats at Eden Gardens, VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh could be in for more runs and wickets in the second Test against South Africa

S Rajesh12-Feb-2010After losing comprehensively in Nagpur, India must win in Kolkata not only to level the series, but also to maintain their No.1 spot and take the US$175,000 that will go to the side that is the top-ranked team on April 1. India have come back from a first-Test defeat against South Africa before this, and they’ll be pleased that the venue for the second Test is one where they have an excellent recent track record: three wins – including one against South Africa – in the last five Tests, and two draws. Since 1990 they’ve won five and lost two, which is much better than their overall record at Eden Gardens – eight wins and as many losses in 35 Tests.The other aspect that stands out about Kolkata’s recent games is the number of decisive results – seven of the last nine, which is a healthy percentage of 77.78. Overall, the result percentage is only 45.71, which indicates that the pitches in the last couple of decades have been more favourable for results.South Africa have a mixed record in the two Tests they’ve played here – in 1996 they thrashed India by 329 runs, but more recently, in 2004, they lost by eight wickets.

India and South Africa in Tests at the Eden Gardens

TestsWonLostDrawnIndia, overall358819South Africa2110India, since 19909522The Indian batting, which struggled to negotiate Dale Steyn and Co in Nagpur, will be bolstered by the return of VVS Laxman. That would be good news at any venue, but even more so in Kolkata, where Laxman has excelled: in eight Tests he has scored 898 runs, which is the highest by any batsman at the venue. Apart from that career-defining 281, Laxman has also scored two more centuries here, both unbeaten ones – 154 against West Indies in 2002 and 112 against Pakistan in the last Test that was played here, in 2007. (Click here for a full list of Laxman’s innings in Kolkata.) His three centuries is next only to Mohammad Azharuddin’s five, which is the highest at Eden Gardens.Sachin Tendulkar’s stats here are mixed – plenty of half-centuries but only one hundred in 16 innings. In his last six completed innings he has scored at least 20 every time, but only once has he gone on to a century, with his last three innings reading 52, 52, and 82. Dinesh Karthik hasn’t done badly in his three Tests here, scoring a vital 93 in the second innings against Pakistan in 2005. Virender Sehwag hasn’t scored a hundred in six innings at Eden Gardens, while Gautam Gambhir hasn’t passed 50 in four.

Indian batsmen in Tests in Kolkata

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sMS Dhoni18787.000/ 1VVS Laxman889881.633/ 3Sachin Tendulkar963745.501/ 5Virender Sehwag323939.830/ 2Dinesh Karthik319639.200/ 1Gautam Gambhir26315.750/ 0Among the South African batsmen, Jacques Kallis had an excellent game in 2004, scoring 124 and 55,while Graeme Smith managed a half-century in the second innings.Harbhajan Singh had a poor first Test, but Kolkata should evoke fond memories: in six Tests he has taken 38 wickets, including a Man-of-the-Match performance the last time he played here against South Africa. Considering his last MoM display in Tests came more than four years ago, he is due another such performance. Harbhajan is also only three wickets away from becoming the highest wicket-taker at this venue – Anil Kumble currently leads with 40. Zaheer Khan, though, has had a forgettable time here, taking only six wickets in three Tests, each at a cost of more than 50.

Indian bowlers in Tests in Kolkata

BowlerTestsWicketsAverageStrike rate5WI/ 10WMHarbhajan Singh63823.1054.15/ 1Zaheer Khan3651.00102.00/ 0The composition of the bowling attack is a cause for worry for the Indians, but past stats here indicate pace and spin have done equally well. In Tests since 1990, both average slightly more than 37, and have taken almost the same number of wickets. Javagal Srinath, Kumble and Harbhajan are the only ones with ten-wicket hauls during this period.

Pace and spin at Eden Gardens since 1990

WicketsAverageStike rate5WI/ 10WMPace14037.2672.64/ 1Spin13437.1377.27/ 2Win the toss and bat has been the mantra here, and with good reason. In the nine Tests since 1990s, the fourth-innings average runs per wicket is significantly lower than the other three innings, with teams folding cheaply: India were bundled out for 137 against South Africa and 232 against Pakistan, while Australia and Pakistan too were dismissed for less than 230.

Innings-wise average runs per wicket in Kolkata since 1990

1st innings2nd innings3rd innings4th innings39.3838.5443.5325.47

Just how much can conceivably be riding on an Under-19 tournament – even if it is the biggest in the world? More than you think perhaps

Sidharth Monga14-Jan-2010With a stump in his hand Virat Kohli, clean-shaven then, gesticulated unsubtly and swore at the South Africans, who had just lost. That famous sight from the Under-19 World Cup final in 2008 didn’t endear Kohli to observers, who thought him ungracious in victory, and that such a reaction was pretty rich from someone who was yet to achieve much in cricket.In a recent interview on , a stubbled Kohli relived the moment: “The whole South African team was sitting there, and I purposely showed it to them,” he said. “Because during the break they were playing football and were relaxed as if they had come for a picnic. [India had been bowled out for 159]. The wicketkeeper said that they had sent India packing. That was one thing that really disturbed us in the mind, and everyone was massively aggressive.” Moral of the story: grace or no grace, the U-19 World Cup is no picnic.Not even after you have bowled the opposition out for 159 in the final. Not in a country such as India, where U-19 years ago overtook first-class competitions as a source of international players. Not in this day and age, when a 20-ball 50 in the semi-final of the tournament could be worth a big-money contract in the IPL.Kohli won’t be in New Zealand over the next fortnight, nor will Bradley Barnes, the keeper who thought India had been sent packing. Instead it will be a fresh bunch of kids – barely out of school.
Sons of legends, sons of nobodies, sons of Afghanistan, sons of the Caribbean will all find something for themselves, and will all be by themselves.Last year Umar Akmal, in his first series in international cricket, in Sri Lanka, tried to steal an overthrow off a ricochet off his body. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, almost more experienced in cricket than Akmal was in life, pounced on the boy to teach him a lesson in cricket gamesmanship. To the rescue came Akmal’s batting partner, Shahid Afridi. There won’t be any babies in the 16 teams in New Zealand. There will be no pre-assigned bullies, no pre-assigned rescuers. All will be babies, all will be men.It won’t be an end in itself, just the start of a journey, an education. They will, for instance, learn what doping is, and which pills given by momma can end their careers. They’ll learn the art of mindlessly saying politically correct things in press conferences, an integral part of a modern sportsman’s life. Many of them will be travelling out of their countries for the first time. Most still live with their parents. A few will come back and soon find themselves with enough money to buy their houses for their parents, without yet having gone to college.

Quick facts

• The format Sixteen teams play round-robin in groups of four each. Two teams from each group make it to quarterfinals. After that it’s all knockout.

• Internationals on view Five players involved have already played senior ODIs: Ruvindu Gunasekara for Canada, James Atkinson and Irfan Ahmed for Hong Kong, Paul Stirling for Ireland, and Ahmed Shehzad for Pakistan. A total of 50 players have prior first-class experience. Pakistan have the most such players, eight.

• Formbook There isn’t really a formbook, but India and Pakistan have sort of monopolised the tournament lately, having won four of the last five titles. Both will be aiming to become the first three-time winners. Australia are the other team to have won it twice; England have won once.

• The youngest and the oldest Pakistan’s Babar Azam – at 15 years and 91 days – is the youngest player in the fray, and Naseer Jamali of USA – at 20 years and 126 days – is the oldest. (Associate nations get a year’s grace on the age norm.)

• Dark horse Keep an eye out for Bangladesh. They have a settled, experienced team (seven players with first-class experience), and have thrashed Australia and New Zealand in the warm-ups.

Almost everything in cricket manages historical resonance. More than 22 years ago, months before the first Youth World Cup was played, Abdul Qadir was trying to pull off an improbable chase against Australia in the 1987 senior World Cup semi-final. Craig McDermott was there to make sure no such heist was successful, leaving Qadir stranded on 20 off 16 balls and running through the rest. There’s every chance Alister McDermott and Usman Qadir, their sons, might come face to face here in a knockout match.There is every chance the two boys may not know of the space in history their fathers shared, but Manan Sharma has grown up with history. His father, Ajay Sharma, is not remembered as the Ranji Trophy giant he was, but as someone who was banned for life for match-fixing. Manan said that when he was growing up, his father used to watch him play from a far corner of the ground and leave quietly. In a fortnight he could give his father better memories to remember the game by. Not a picnic.This World Cup will belong as much to the Sharmas, the Qadirs, the McDermotts, the Bracewells, the Marshes, the Buchanans, as it will to Noor-ul-Haq and his Afghan team-mates. At 17, he has already fled war, been a refugee in Pakistan, and somewhere along the way picked up cricket. Afghanistan’s mere qualification for a big world event is a matter of fascination. The tournament will belong as much to West Indies and Zimbabwe, two teams whose success could give hope to those who feel heartbroken at the downfall of their senior teams.In two weeks’ time, after having gone through a maze of the fixtures, having witnessed play-offs for ninth place, 12th place, 15th place, we will see new champions crowned at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, a quaint university ground about a 50-minute bus ride from Christchurch. Don’t go by the stunning green all around, the picket fence, the grass bank, the college kids. It’ll be no picnic.

The of the commercial capital have been the cradle of the game in the country

31-Oct-2010Mumbai is the heart and soul of Indian cricket. The game took root with a vengeance in India’s financial capital in the late 1800s and the city has gone on to produce more Test cricketers than any other city or state in the country.And what cricketers they have been too. Among them are Vijay Merchant, whose first-class average of 71 is second only to Bradman’s immortal 99.94; Sunil Gavaskar, whose feats against the West Indies fast bowling battery in the 1970s and 1980 are unparalleled; and Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the best batsman of the modern age.The hallmark of Mumbai cricket is the . A visitor to any one of these open, often oval-shaped, grounds that dot the city will find multiple cricket matches being played at the same time, with one match’s fine leg being another’s third slip. It is on such grounds, Shivaji Park, that the likes of Gavaskar and Tendulkar first learnt their trade.Apart from the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai is also home to two other grounds that have hosted Test cricket. The Bombay Gymkhana welcomed England in 1933-34, and the Cricket Club of India’s Brabourne Stadium was once meant to be India’s answer to Lord’s. The new DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai has hosted two IPL finals.The venue
The Wankhede Stadium was born out of a dispute between the Cricket Club of India and the Bombay Cricket Association, which wound up building the new ground less than a mile away from the CCI’s Brabourne Stadium in 1974.The stadium has been completely refurbished to make it more comfortable for spectators. Bucket seats have replaced benches, the roof has been raised, entrances and exits have been added, and nicer toilets built. The result is a capacity of 39,000 instead of 45,000, but the payoff is supposedly a much better cricket-viewing experience.The seaside location of the ground has meant a fair amount of help for swing bowlers early in the day. The pitch typically provides help to spinners over the last couple of days of first-class games, but can also be full of runs, making it one of the more competitive surfaces in the country.Ground page | Fixtures | Map | PicturesGreat matches
India v England, World Cup, 1987
The end of a dream. Graham Gooch swept India aside to crush the subcontinent’s hopes of an India-Pakistan final. It was also Sunil Gavaskar’s last match in an India shirt. He was out for 4.India v Australia, 2007
In the last ODI played at the Wankhede before the renovations began for the 2011 World Cup, Murali Kartik ran through the Australians, taking 6 for 27, the best figures by a left-arm spinner in limited-overs cricket. He then added an unbeaten 21 with the bat as India squeaked home by two wickets.India v Australia, World Cup, 1996
Mark Waugh and Sachin Tendulkar lit up the first floodlit international in Mumbai with some scintillating batting, with Waugh becoming the first man to score consecutive World Cup centuries.Major players
Vijay Merchant | Sachin Tendulkar | Sunil Gavaskar | Polly Umrigar | Farokh Engineer | Vinoo Mankad | Ajit Wadekar | Subhash GupteTop performers in ODIs
Most runs Sachin Tendulkar, 455 runs at 41.36 | Top score Sanath Jayasuriya, 151* v India
Most wickets Venkatesh Prasad, 15 wickets at 14.86 | Best bowling Murali Kartik, 6 for 27 v AustraliaHome team
When it comes to India’s top domestic first-class tournament, the Ranji Trophy, Mumbai has been more dominant than Tiger Woods. They have won the event a record 41 times, including 15 in a row from 1958-59 to 1972-73. To put their dominance into perspective, the next best is Karnataka with eight titles.The city’s IPL team, Mumbai Indians, have had considerable success of their own. Having reached the final in 2010, they won the title in 2013 and 2015.

Gardens, golf courses, lakes – there’s plenty of nature to savour in Kandy

Kumar Sangakkara15-Nov-2010The Temple of the Tooth

No visit to Kandy is complete without visiting the Dalada Maligawa, also known as the Temple of the Tooth, which dates back to the 16th century. The sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha is enshrined here. The best time to visit is when a pooja (religious service) is being held, at dawn, mid-day, or in the evening. In August each year the town dazzles with the sights and sounds of the Kandy Perera, a spectacular street procession where the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha is paraded on an elephant through the streets.Golfing

While I am not a regular golfer, I do love playing at the spectacular Victoria Golf & Country Club. If you like golf, you have to go. The undulating 18-hole course is beautiful with its views over the reservoir and the surrounding hills. You might want to take a fair number of balls along, though as there is plenty of rough for amateurs like me. The course is also well-positioned for those wanting to watch the cricket at Pallekelle, the new stadium on the outskirts of the city. You can stay in chalets or hire a villa on the estate.The Kandy lake

Kandy is built around a lake and it is fun and relaxing to wander around it in the shade of the enormous trees. Best to do this early in the morning or late in the afternoon.Good also to visit the Kandy National Museum, situated behind the Temple of the Tooth. Gives you an interesting glimpse into the heyday of the Kandyan kingdom in the 17th and 18th centuries.The Royal Botanical Gardens
Another must-do excursion in Kandy is a visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens. Built as a Queen’s pleasure garden in the 14th century, they also housed a Kandyan prince’s residence in the 18th century. The garden is famous for its rare orchids, and it is maintained beautifully. Great place to wander around, even for those that don’t have green fingers.If you do like nature then you might also like to visit Udawattakelle Sanctuary to the north of Kandy Lake, a mini rainforest that has some good walking paths.Eating

If you are looking for some good food, seek out authentic Kandyan restaurants for , a popular sour fish curry. If you want something posh, consider Theva or Kandy House, both small boutique hotels. The big hotels like Chaaya Citadel, Earl’s Regency and Mahaweli Reach all have big buffet spreads for those with a big appetite. There is a nice, small vegetarian South Indian restaurant called Rams and also a Chinese restaurant specialising in Sri Lankan-style Chinese called Flower Song (expect lots of chilli). For a quick snack, the Bake House and Delight Bakers offer pastries and short eats on the main high street.

The World Cup’s 10th edition has greater significance even it begins: it is the one that will decide what course the 50-over game will take over the next few years

Sharda Ugra17-Feb-2011Once every four years, cricket meets to do some ironing – over creases and conflicts, differences and discords – and tries to set out its most perfectly coordinated wardrobe for its disparate, argumentative global audience. For a sport where a day’s play can last 24 hours – the toss held in Napier and the last ball bowled in Kingston – the World Cup actually shrinks planet cricket and tries to flatten it out. Once every four years, the Cup brings the sport’s styles, philosophies, ambitions and dreams onto a smaller, relatively even field which becomes the centre of its universe.Over the next six weeks, that field is South Asia: the game’s biggest, noisiest, yet wealthiest neighbourhood. It is the most unpredictable of places but remains cricket’s most vibrant and diverse. Since the last World Cup held here fifteen years ago, India has joined the game’s elite and grown into a financial behemoth, Sri Lanka has made two World Cup finals and Bangladesh is inching towards the steps India took in the short game in the 1980s and Sri Lanka a decade later. The past, really, is another country.It was the 50-over game that gave two of the host nations their street-cred and the chance to strut alongside the game’s traditional western powers. Today as the very existence of the 50-over format is being questioned by pundits and ignored by spectators in some parts of the world, the World Cup returns to its most loyal constituency.Unlike 1983 or 1996, the Cup’s 10th edition has greater significance even it begins: it is the one that will decide what course the 50-over game will take over the next few years. It will be the first World Cup to be played after the juggernaut called Twenty20 began to move and everything that happens in the 2011 event will have consequences impacting the game’s immediate future. The ICC now calls this World Cup, “The Cup that Counts”, and not because it is being played in the vicinity of Mr Moneybags. That tagline is a reminder of the World Cup’s very primacy and is directed at both the game’s audience and its advertisers, who are as distracted by the dazzle of Twenty20 as the players.The ICC’s 49-match, 43-day, 13-venue event is intended to be the brightest advertisement of the ODI format ,which from the 1980s, has kept cricket solvent and expanding.What 2011 is being primed to do is to erase from memory the gloom and goof-ups of 2007, and through a long, endlessly drawn-out schedule, stoke merriment, interest and just the right kind of upsets. In South Asia, the World Cup has its best chance because here, unlike anywhere else in the world, cricket is behemoth. This is where an ODI featuring any of the three home teams will fill stadiums and switch TVs on in millions of homes. Cricket is the source of the hosts’ national confidence and in 2011, nowhere more than in Bangladesh. Dhaka traffic was brought to a standstill to let the Canadian team bus through from airport to hotel as if it were carrying heads of state. Colombo’s civic authorities have banned people around Premadasa Stadium from untidy habits like hanging out their clothes to dry or ‘engaging in street games like hop scotch or cricket matches’. In India, the giant billboards showing cricketers snarling wearing body paint or selling real-estate, cover all commercial air space and Bollywood reports that the number of films set to be released in during the period has dropped from its average of three a week to merely one solitary braveheart.

What 2011 is being primed to do is to erase from memory the gloom and goof-ups of 2007, and through a long, endlessly drawn-out schedule, stoke merriment, interest and just the right kind of upsets

This could be the time and place where the much-abused one-day international format, instead of undergoing its last gasp, finds its second wind. It will need to do so because already there is talk about trimming the size of the field in 2015 down to ten, which Graeme Swann described as, “taking the world out of the World Cup.” In Australia, they are trying to turn a 100-over contest into “quarters” at the domestic level. Twenty20 leagues are being set up in all corners of the cricket world and the first international cricketers have turned down national contracts to join a new guild of travelling freelancers.In the first stirrings of skirmish between country and club, cricket will need its world and this World Cup to stand to its full height. It must prove that cricket needs to treasure both its Test match cathedrals as well as its rock concert arenas. Three formats of the game can only co-exist if conflicting national loyalties find common ground. After the 2011 World Cup, the ICC will set in motion a four-year ODI league structure based on its current rankings to dissolve the ODI’s general meaningless spin around random TV-centric, fizzy-drink and mobile-phone Cups and give the format ‘context’. It is why this Cup actually counts.Already there is grumbling about its duration – compared to 2007, there are two fewer teams in the competition and yet only two less group games. For over a month, matches will pop up around three countries and 13 venues before suddenly moving to a knockout that will last all of 10 breathless days. There is however far less little objection voiced about the format that leans heavily towards the game’s heavyweights. The admission of the same by tournament director Ratnakar Shetty was met with a gulp of acceptance as is the general vagueness around the venues, sequence and order of the quarter-finals.The 2011 World Cup’s attempt to “control the controllables” and thus prevent India v Pakistan turning into Ireland v Bangladesh is so all-encompassing, that it gives rise to an uncontrollable temptation to summon the Norse gods of mischief.If the event has plenty of close contests that reflect the impact of the Twenty20 format on the 50-over game, the World Cup will help sustain faith in one-dayers. There are expected to be higher totals, more sixes and the full range of 21st century improvisational shot-making. Twenty20 cricket has given batsmen, what Harbhajan Singh calls a greater “liberty and confidence” to take risks. The ripple effect of this laissez faire batting mindset in a World Cup semi-final will be far removed from what happens in a domestic micro-mini bash, so the Cup’s most successful hitter could well be its clearest thinker.During the Cup, the more accomplished of the free-strikers, like Chris Gayle could find another mega-gear; there are predictions of the first World Cup innings of 200-plus and the rejigged role of the conventional ‘pinch-hitter’. From being the slogger in the first 15, he must now be the man who can give his team’s innings its ‘kick’ in the home straight of the last five or ten overs. Bring on the tactical gymnastics that are Powerplay calculations and the technological mire that is the UDRS. The 2011 World Cup promises to be peppered with both idiocy and incident.At the moment though, most World Cup discussions centre around the event’s Indian epicentre and the team’s standing as the tournament’s heavily-publicised, frequently-tailed and loudly-proclaimed favourites. That supremacy is determined by India’s growing ability to create a foothold in the most slippery of games, the general public buoyancy around the team’s success and ICC rankings, and the sheer dominant force and decibel levels of its home crowds.At the moment most World Cup discussions centre around the event’s Indian epicentre and the team’s standing as the tournament’s heavily-publicised favourites•AFPYet, never mind what the bookies say, there are others behind them with as good a chance and fewer expectations or, as MS Dhoni calls it, ‘responsibilities’ in the course of the six weeks of cricket. Since the last Champions Trophy, of all the leading teams in the event, India (who have played 43 ODIs, more than any other nation in this period) have 24 wins and 18 losses, are fourth in terms of win-loss ratio. Australia have had the best win-loss ratio with 26 wins and 11 losses, followed by South Africa’s18 wins and eight losses and Sri Lanka’s 18 wins and nine losses. This does not take into account the Pakistan team who can write the most dramatic stories in the game, five-time semi-finalists New Zealand, and West Indies, who want, as their manager Richie Richardson says, “to prove to the world that we can play cricket”. (Fifteen years ago, it would have been thought that Richardson was being ironic.) All of these teams have had a grim 18 months – Pakistan lost its right to stage 14 games at home following Lahore – while in Bangladesh, there is a general sense of optimism that the moment to take their great leap forward has arrived.The balance of whether this will be a batsman’s World Cup or a display of global spinning skills is now up in the air with many theories and possibilities following the warm-up games. Australia will put their weight behind their quickest bowlers, Sri Lanka pack their side with part-time spinners to back Muttiah Muralitharan, and even South Africa have come armed with slow bowling options and a pace attack that is not half bad. India are looking to pack in the part-timers as its quick bowling strength now rests on one fragile strike bowler and a fellow who can be both trouble-shooter and trouble-maker.It is how all this will hold together in the last ten days of the World Cup, during the knockouts that is being chewed over. Shyam Balasubramanian, US-based technocrat-fan, recently wrote in with an argument that in these definitive games needing “higher-risk strategies”, teams must have two “go-to bowlers” during the restriction overs and “three manic-hitters” who can produce 120 in 80 balls three matches in a row. According to him, the only two countries that have them – Australia and Pakistan. Enough to start off squabbling and howling 24 hours before a ball has been bowled.Imran Khan, speaking the other night on Indian television had a theory of his own: no matter what was happening within teams, every World Cup set its rhythm in motion (which has little to do with theme songs or opening ceremonies). “A World Cup gathers its own momentum”, Khan said, and teams had to go with it. Those who adapted as often as they needed to were the most successful.The 2011 World Cup may have been engineered for certainty, but finds itself in an environment full of variables. Be warned, the gods of mischief must be chuckling.

The selectors have taken some risks with the make-up of their 15-man World Cup squad

Peter English18-Jan-2011This is almost Australia’s best available World Cup squad but it doesn’t look good enough to claim a fourth successive trophy. In the glory years the team had players right through the order who would frighten opponents. In the current state they need someone – anyone – to deliver a scare, which is why the selectors have gambled on the fitness of Brett Lee and Shaun TaitOver the past year the two fast bowlers have spent more time lining up for x-rays than representing their country. Lee has just appeared in three internationals in a week, which is now a huge load for his 34-year-old body.He is in excellent health and his bowling is slippery rather than rapid, but even at peak fitness the selectors were worried about his tendency to break down. While it’s wonderful to see Lee’s on-field energy again, especially after another gruelling rehabilitation, all his comebacks since 2009 have been short-lived.Like Lee, Tait, who is seven years younger, is a part-time bowler who doesn’t let his body bother with first-class fixtures. He has a wretched injury history and the physical demands and mental anguish forced him out of the game after his last Test in 2008. Tait is now a master of the short burst, a man growing rich on Twenty20s, but one who has turned out in only three ODIs since February 2009.Four years ago he was the equal second-leading wicket-taker at the 2007 World Cup with 23 victims, but don’t expect him to play every game this time. His elbow gave way after the Champions League Twenty20 in September and sometimes when he bowls it appears his arm is being held together by strapping tape.If Ryan Harris, Clint McKay, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood had been fit, both fast men would have been struggling to make the squad. Now Lee and Tait will be the side’s lead weapons, ordered to operate at full power whatever the cost to their patched-up frames. An injury on the eve of the IPL would be costly in so many ways.Australia’s attack will also have the misfiring Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger, who is struggling for fitness, and the allrounders John Hastings and Shane Watson. Peter Siddle is the unlucky one, although he has been used in small bursts of 50-over games during the past two years. He was the side’s most consistent Test fast bowler, but has been relegated by Hastings’ superior batting and the pace of Tait and Lee.There are four other players in Australia’s squad who qualify towards the top end of the frightening scale, but only Shane Watson and Cameron White are fit. And they are not as intimidating as their predecessors Hayden, Gilchrist, Symonds and Co. Ricky Ponting is nursing a broken finger and Michael Hussey tore his hamstring so badly in Sunday’s win over England that he needed surgery. Neither will play in the rest of the current series and while there is no rush for them to be back, Hussey’s prognosis is extremely worrying.Australia have a sombre start to the tournament, facing Zimbabwe on February 21 and New Zealand on February 25 before a break of a week ahead of the Sri Lanka clash. There are seven teams in the group, including Kenya and Canada, with four going through to the quarter-finals from March 23. That will give Australia’s bit-part players, like David Hussey, Steven Smith and Tim Paine, a chance to feel their way into their maiden World Cup.Nathan Hauritz is rightly back as the No.1 spinner – there is no spot for Xavier Doherty – following his increasingly unbelievable snubs during the Ashes. However, the muddled thinking of the selection chairman Andrew Hilditch remains. Earlier in the month Hilditch said the selectors had done “a very good job” during the Ashes defeat.Today he said Hauritz’s “one-day record in India is excellent”, a comment to be filed in his expanding pile of outrageous statements. While he was right to say Hauritz will play “an important part” in the side’s push for another trophy, Hilditch has not taken note of the offpsinner’s most prominent results in the country.Hauritz has four wickets at 70.75 in seven ODIs in India. He has never played a T20 international there, and his performances in the two Tests in Mohali and Bangalore in October convinced the selectors he wasn’t right to face England.Instead Hilditch could have pointed to Hauritz’s economy rate, which is a very handy 4.56, or said something about his tight control, or that he now brings improved batting skills to his essential bowling role. To call Hauritz’s India record “excellent” shows how little knowledge the chairman has of his subjects.Naturally, Hilditch also thinks the squad is good enough to win the tournament. Sadly, it’s 2011, not 1999, 2003 or 2007.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the IPL game between Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers in Mumbai

Siddhartha Talya14-May-2011Welcome, Michael Lumb
He had opened the innings for Rajasthan Royals in the previous season but Lumb, before this game, had yet to make an appearance for his new team. When he did, he took strike against the wrong bowler. Just his second ball this IPL season, Lumb made room while simultaneously stepping out to Lasith Malinga. It turned out to be a full delivery that he failed to make contact with, and out went the stumps. What a return.Dhawal or Malinga?
You couldn’t make out who was who. That’s pushing it a little, but Dhawal Kulkarni would be proud of the yorker he bowled to dislodge Daniel Christian. It was fired in the blockhole on middle and Christian was done in for pace more than the length, failing to get his bat down in time and you know what happened next.Rumble at the Wankhede
Had this game been a Hindi movie, you’d think the country’s seemingly paranoid film censor board would have edited out its most pivotal scene. The verbal exchange between Amit Mishra and Munaf Patel in the final over of the Deccan Chargers innings marked a decisive turn in a game that Mumbai Indians had controlled until then. Mishra went for the pull, got a top edge that landed just short of the fine-leg boundary, something was said by someone and Munaf lost control.It took the umpire to separate the two, and there was more two balls later when Mishra slashed one past third man. This time, there was a collision and another flare-up. More unpublishables. The result: Mishra won the battle. A full toss followed, it was duly dispatched. Last ball, Munaf pitched on a length and out it went over midwicket. Mumbai never recovered completely from there on.The Duminy cameo
This time, with the ball. Kumar Sangakkara revealed later that the ploy to bring Duminy on in the first over was to test out Aiden Blizzard. The signs of it working were there the first ball Blizzard faced Duminy. He came round the wicket, landed it on middle and got it to shoot away just as Blizzard closed the face. Not only did it beat the batsman, but also keeper and slip. The first ball of Duminy’s next over, the bowler had his reward. Blizzard decided to counterattack, slog-sweeping at a length delivery that spun away to knock back off.Rajan’s day out
Anand Rajan was a surprise choice in the XI, and in his first IPL appearance he didn’t disappoint. In just his second over, he got T Suman with a slower ball and then the big one, Sachin Tendulkar trapped lbw trying to improvise.His biggest test, though, came in the final over. He was bestowed with the responsibility to restrain Kieron Pollard. A six first ball, and the nerves kick in. A wide down the leg side, the nerves show. A four over square leg, it’s crisis time prompting a mid-pitch conference. But there’s relief, finally, when Pollard miscues one to third man to decide the game. In the end, figures of 3 for 27 don’t make for bad reading at all.

Amol Rajan’s history of spin bowling is often refreshingly procedural

Sahil Dutta23-Jul-2011There is something seductive about spin bowling. To be able to inspire fear without the threat of physical pain seems an enticingly deviant science. Nobody has managed it more thrillingly than Shane Warne, and in the summer of 1993 when he landed that ball, Warne ushered in a golden age of spin that made countless young cricketers take up the craft.One of them was Amol Rajan. By his own account his cricketing career ended in failure, but Rajan has since cultivated his obsession into this enthusiastic and exhaustive history of spin bowlers and their craft.He now writes a weekly column – inevitably called Rajan’s Wrong ‘Un – for the UK’s . Though he’s not a full-time cricket journalist, Rajan’s book features interviews from many of the game’s leading lights as he develops his subject. What makes the book a success, though, is its meticulous unearthing of volumes of writing on spin bowling through the years. It allows him to chronicle what he describes as the evolution of the form. Starting with the underarm merchants from the time of the game’s origins, and going on to “fast spinners” like Sydney Barnes at the turn of the century, the brief mystery of Jack Iverson after the war, India’s phalanx of spinners in the 1970s, the barren years of the 1980s, and ending with Warne and Murali from the ’90s.Having clearly dedicated too many hours of his adolescent life trying to master the ability to deliver revs on a ball, Rajan’s focus is more on the mechanics than mentality of spinners. He recognises that mindset is important, and in attempting to unite the exponents, keenly emphasises their general quirkiness. Yet his fanaticism is more apparent when he describes the technical aspects of spinning the ball. Like many who took up spin seriously after Warne’s 1993 summer, Rajan is a fan of Peter Philpott’s spin bible, . Throughout the book you can hear Philpott’s echo as Rajan lovingly describes a multitude of different grips, releases, front-leg positions and plenty else besides.It is refreshing to read such geeky biomechanical insight. Vast swathes of analysis, particularly on TV, focus on bowling strategy rather than mechanics, and spin is an area – especially with Richie Benaud absent from most screens these days – rarely interrogated.In his chronology Rajan gets to do what popular historians love most: debunk a series of fondly held myths. Think the flipper was Clarrie Grimmett’s invention? Think again. Walter Mead and WG Grace had the early versions. Saqlain Mushtaq invented the doosra? Of course not. Jack Potter was bowling it in the 1960s. What’s more, we learn that Graeme Swann, often perceived as a “classical” purveyor of his craft, actually “has become a world-class offspinner by using a completely unconventional grip”.It’s not all wrist positions and third-finger leverage, though. The book is packed with enough anecdotes about his spin-bowling protagonists to keep the scope wide and the pages flipping. William Clarke, one of the 19th century’s great players, and underarm pioneer of wrist-spin, is brought to life with a tale of how his combustive temper led him to stub a cigar out on a train carriage porter’s hand. Closer to people’s memory, there is the retelling of the meeting between Abdul Qadir and Warne, where the two sat on the floor spinning an orange to each other until the early hours, discussing the finest nuances of their trade.In the sweep from the game’s origins to the present day we also learn about the types of bowling that have disappeared. Every era will throw up factors that help some disciplines thrive while marginalising others. The sticky wickets of uncovered pitches helped the all-round bowling ability of Barnes. Operating at around 70mph, he relied on a bat’s-width of turn, drift and seam to become cricket’s greatest bowler. Pitches today would make life difficult for his kind but Hawk-Eye has helped overturn the tendency to not give batsmen out lbw on the front foot, and allowed finger-spinners like Swann to flourish.What frustrates through the book is that Rajan’s overwhelming fondness for spinners too often seems indiscriminating. I lost count of just how many were “great”, “masterful” or “almost peerless”. Also, there is no mention of some of spin’s colourful subjects. Puss Achong, the man whose bowling the term “chinaman” was coined for, is missed out, along with Chuck Fleetwood-Smith, and there is barely a mention of England’s rogue left-armer Phil Tufnell.Yet this doesn’t detract from the overarching argument of the book: that while mystery may dazzle fleetingly, it is mastery that endures. You can have a doosra, slider and carrom ball, but it’s the stock delivery that is most precious. It’s an argument that sounds obvious now, but demand for “mystery” just a few years ago led England, for example, to many a duff selection. In a summer where Harbhajan Singh and Swann go head-to-head, Rajan’s insightful story of spin is welcome accompaniment.Twirlymen
Amol Rajan
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For the first time in six years, Australia sent the opposition in. It is encouraging that Michael Clarke is prepared to trust his attack

Brydon Coverdale at the Bellerive Oval09-Dec-2011At 10 o’clock on an overcast Hobart morning, Michael Clarke stood in the middle of the Bellerive Oval and tossed the coin. It landed on a pitch described by the former fast bowler Geoff Lawson as the greenest Test surface he had ever seen. Australia’s fast men were in the change rooms shouting “bowl, bowl!” Whether he looked up at the sky or down at the ground, or listened to the yells from his colleagues, Clarke could see it was a bowl-first scenario.For the first time in 70 Tests, Australia sent the opposition in. By making that decision, Clarke showed faith in his young bowlers and flexibility in his thinking. Both are encouraging signs for Australia’s new captain. Clarke’s predecessor, Ricky Ponting, became allergic to sending in his opponents after the Birmingham Ashes Test of 2005, when he did so with an attack missing Glenn McGrath, and watched England set up victory by scoring 407.”We’ll bat,” Ponting said at the SCG last January. Pakistan skittled Australia for 127. “We’ll bat,” he said again at Headingley a few months later, under cloudy skies in a terribly difficult batting environment. Australia collapsed for 88 and lost the Test. At least until he gets burned by his own Edgbaston-like experience, Clarke seems willing to be adaptable in his approach.Not that batting first in these Hobart conditions would be the conservative option. It would have been a serious gamble, especially with such an inexperienced top order. Rarely in recent years have good teams lost after choosing to field first. Since Australia’s Birmingham mistake, South Africa have sent their opponents in ten times for only two losses, while Sri Lanka and England have been defeated only once in the nine times they have done it.But for the plan to work, the attack must be able to bowl to a plan. For Australia on the first day in Hobart, the strategy was simple: bowl full and fast, swing the ball and encourage the drive. The conditions would help, and the way New Zealand had batted in Brisbane, there was every chance the batsmen would contribute to their own demises.James Pattinson and Peter Siddle delivered precisely what Clarke wanted in the first session. Nominally the leader of the attack, Siddle has been outshone by his younger colleagues over the past few Tests. Usually a hit-the-wicket bowler who works from back of a length, Siddle adapted his game to the circumstances.In his first over, he produced a beautiful outswinger that was full enough to encourage Martin Guptill to play and the ball was edged behind. He varied his movement – Ross Taylor was lbw to a delivery that jagged back in – and it was not until after lunch that he fell into old habits, bowling too short. Not surprisingly, it was around that time that New Zealand steadied, briefly.”He’s bowling as fast as he ever has bowled and he’s swinging the ball now,” Pattinson, a state and club team-mate of Siddle, said. “I think that’s a lot to do with Craig McDermott working with us in the off-season. He’s been great for us. Sidds has always been able to swing the ball but not consistently. Now he’s doing it almost every ball and at good pace, 150-plus.”Pattinson was even better. His outswinger to remove Brendon McCullum was almost the perfect delivery. He angled the ball in and pitched it around off stump, enticing it to move away from the batsman as it passed him. McCullum duly edged behind. Whereas Ben Hilfenhaus consistently swung the ball too wide and too early during the Ashes, Pattinson has shown the ability to curl it later and from a straighter line. It is a dangerous mix. He deserved his second five-wicket haul in two Tests.Mitchell Starc was unable to make the most of the favourable conditions. Like another Mitchell who bowls left-arm pace, Starc was erratic. His two wickets came with a bad ball down leg side that was tickled behind and a shorter, wider delivery that was chopped on. He is the most vulnerable member of the attack if Ryan Harris recovers from injury for Boxing Day.New Zealand cannot be absolved of blame. The delivery that removed Guptill was good, but his shot was poor – he turned the bat and was trying to clip to leg in the second over of the day from a ball just outside off stump. Williamson could so easily have glanced Starc fine for four, but he gave Brad Haddin a catch. Reece Young played on when he tried to leave a ball.But fewer men caused their own downfall than at the Gabba. They were simply beaten by the attack and the conditions. And for that, Australia can thank Clarke for backing his bowlers.