If you don’t have a clue what I am talking about, read this

The IPL jurisdiction committee sat and decided that Harbhajan should get a 11 match ban from IPL and 100% Match Fees fine. Mind you, this is just the punishment from the IPL committee. The BCCI is planning for more stick as it has appointed an independent (LOL) committee.

Some journalists feel that BCCI is trying to make an example out of him, trying to make him the RIO FERDINAND of cricket.

Sreesanth too has got a reprimand for being a crybaby. Mr Lalchand Rajput, the manager of MUMBAI INDIANS (Harbhajan’s Team) has got a 50% Match fees fine for aiding a culprit or whatever. Seems like the plot of a John Grisham Original.

Later

Post from: EveryJoe

Harbhajan Slaps Sreesanth : An Update

Not much happened in the Commonwealth Bank Series start-up match, but surprisingly, we’ve quite a few things to chirp about it.

Three Moments of the Match (in ascending order):

* Sachin’s dismissal: Hit wicket is a rare form of dismissal, and it was Sachin’s first, so that makes it quite special. The bowler didn’t knew he was out until a few seconds after the stumps were hit.

* Adam Gilchrist’s intuition: Gilly could have waited on to get the umpire’s benefit of doubt but chose to walk away instead. Sreesanth was never sure, and neither was anyone else on the fielding side, but Gilly was. Cool. We’ve got say Adam Gilchrist is one of the most intuitive cricketers out there. He’s walked away once before during the 2003 World Cup.

* Harbhajan Singh and the crowd exchange: Now, Bhajji, as we lovingly call him, is becoming a showman of sorts of Indian cricket. He pretended he couldn’t hear what the audience said, and it was quite well acted out.

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Manoj Tiwary: It’s a very awkward way to spell that surname. We hope, being the evolutionists we are, that spelling wasn’t screwed at the suggestion of an astrologer. Anyway, lots of people inquired of Dhoni’s intention behind giving him preference over Suresh Raina and Dinesh Kaarthik. Dhoni’s reply: “My inner voice prompted me to call him in.” You mean intuition, right? No problem at all. Manoj is a promising young cricketer who had a splendid run in the domestic circuit. We really appreciate Dhoni’s risk-taking ability.

Personally for me, Sreesanth’s two wickets were quite important. That’s good omen for the Indian bowling. Moreover, if he keeps clicking, he could validate his aggression on field. That’s not to say he’ll be allowed to mouth profanity or racial slur of any nature.

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So, does the title of this post make you hate us? Don’t shy away. Tell us what you really think!

Post from: EveryJoe

The Real Cricket Begins Now…

We had some fun here amidst the umpiring row. I had a hunch this would be rather controversial so kept mum on it, but now I feel there’s nothing wrong or particularly racist about it, as some had suggested.

That is a lookalike of, hold your breath, Shantakumaran Sreesanth. Now, how many had got it right?

Post from: EveryJoe

Cricket Lookalike Correct Answer

Murali’s 709th wicket

Yuvraj six straight sixes

A tribute to Bob Woolmer

Sreesanth-Roy head-to-head

Post from: EveryJoe

Reliving the Newsmakers

There were loads of good performances that we could applaud here, but when it comes to “making waves” these are the five events that I think qualify best.

The Return of Dada: After the World Cup debacle and the youngsters’ winning performance in T20, everyone was talking about culling the three Indian seniors. Ganguly was on the edge of everyone’s sword and we believed, even hoped, that he’d get the pink slip first. But that was just too much for the man who is worth 17000 runs in world cricket. “Don’t provoke the tiger,” he roared as runs after runs  poured into his basket during the India – Pak fixture. He is finishing the year with more than 1000 calendar runs– his best ever. For me, he’s one of the players to watch out in 2008.

Bob Woolmer Murder: This issue, unfortunately, is still unresolved and most likely we’ll never know the truth. First it was a murder, then a suicide, then a natural death– they’ve tried every thing. Pakistan team has always been strife with conflicts and this incident added another blot on the Eustachian. In fact, this event drew lots of unwanted international attention to the sport.

Murali 709 wickets: This is one man who spurred the most heated debates everywhere. As he inched near the figure of 708 wickets, the debates were revived, but he transcended the record nonetheless. You can hate him, call him whatever you please, but he’s got himself up on the cricket records as the highest wicket taker, a record that won’t be broken anytime soon, not unless someone with hypermobile joints turns up.

Yuvraj sixes: The T20 World Cup was a news maker in itself, but what caught everyone’s attention the most were Yuvraj’s six straight sixes off a Stuart Broad over. This one event was probably the most watched video footage on YouTube and other video sites. It sums up all the T20 cricket is about: excitement, nerve, verve, and curve (uh, the cheerleaders, guys!)

Sreesanth – The Angry Young Man: This man alone took on the number one side in cricket, verbally. Call him a freak, a jerk, but he did what no one has ever dared doing, and that’s not it. He injected adrenaline into the whole team– and just see the results. They might have lost to Australia, but their tongues won’t stop wagging.

Did I miss anything substantial? What was the biggest news maker in your opinion?

Post from: EveryJoe

Cricket News Makers 2007

India called in the reserve bench on ocassion of the last trivial ODI, and as was expected, they took it easy. A friendly Indo-Pak match. Here’s to world peace.

In retrospect, although India-Pakistan fixtures mean good business for all — advertisers, BCCI, players, Bollywood (how they flocked in to garner free publicity for their movies?), this one lacked spice; everyone complained of Pak’s seemingly lack of zest.

From India’s side, we’ve got few questions:

* What are we going to do about Sehwag?

Barring a few flashes in the pan at England, Sehwag hasn’t has much to offer all this while. He’s been India’s trump card for a long time, so the team went over lengths to give him cover. He failed to live up to their expectations, nevertheless. Considering how rare is his type of class and talent, what are we going to do about him now? Move him up to the opening slot again? Everyone’s not a Dravid, and some players work best at certain spots. Or “rest” him, to use BCCI’s terminology. He’s a player you don’t want to lose easily.

* What’s Robin Singh being paid for?

Rameez Raja, remarked candidly (and for the first time in his life, rightly), “India and Pakistan are two of the world’s worst fielding sides,” India’s fielding wasn’t awful, to be honest, and they certainly dropped fewer catches than Pakistan, but the gliding, sliding characteristic of white men (call me racist, will ya?) was missing. Their throws could be smoother, and their direct hits on the stumps didn’t produce as many run-outs. Robing Singh is on board as their fielding coach. Either his North American accent is unintelligible, or well, let’s just say, he isn’t doing the job as well, which is queer, since the man does have international coaching experience.

* Ganguly: Gone with the wind?

If India had lost the series, Ganguly’s form would have spurred debates like dal sprouts. No one’s complaining since it’s a series win. But just because it’s a series win, Ganguly’s form doesn’t become above reproach. He was “rested” for the last couple of matches, I assume. This is the right time to cull him. The kind of morbid look he has on his face these days doesn’t do anyone any good. A respectable man would “quit”.

*Should we let Sreesanth have his way?

No discussion is complete at SixandOut without the angry young man of Indian cricket. He and RP are Indian bowling’s future. Despite his antics, you can’t downplay his prodigious talent. Though his frantic reactions at out calls still freak me out, I think we can accommodate him. People like Freddie Flintoff, Shane Warne, and Sreesanth do their best when you let them have their way.

New kids on the block

This was definitely a great opportunity to test the waters with the newbies. Pravin Kumar, although couldn’t snap any wickets, impressed with this economy and composed bowling in the death overs.

Robin Sharma’s half century might have gone unnoticed, but we can see there’s good raw material. We need to exploit him.

Fawad Alam kid looked great. Something tells me he’s not just another probot.

Individual Records and Achievments

• Sachin Tendulkar, with his 403rd ODI, equalled Sanath Jayasuriya’s record most ODI caps. Plus,with his 393rd innings, he also transcended Jayasuriya’s record of 392 innings.
• Zaheer Khan, who’s another one on the brink of culling, claimed his 200th wicket in his 144th ODI, his 200th victim being Shoaib Malik. He is now the fifth Indian bowler to have bagged 200 wickets or more in ODIs, joining Anil Kumble (337), Javagal Srinath (315), Ajit Agarkar (288) and Kapil Dev (253).
• With Shahid Afridi’s dismissal, Sourav Ganguly completed his 100 wickets and completed the triple of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODIs. He is only the third all-rounder in ODI history to have completed the triple, joining India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya.

Looking ahead

Test series comes next. I am curious if, and how, they are going to accommodate Singh, and whether Sreesanth and RP make it (chances are slim, but you never know). With Kaneria being roped in, it’s going to be interesting. Asif isn’t coming. And that’s bad.

All eyes, undoubtedly, will be on Dravid and Kumble, the two best friends.

India are definitely the clear favorites. 1-0. Whadya think, cricks?

Now the secret stuff

Gee, not so much of a secret, but it’s a really cool link I found today. This is what the Indian and Paki cricks were doing after the Green Park ODI. I’ve never seen Sachin so animated. And Ganguly is having his last laugh, for sure.

Post from: EveryJoe

Why care about the Indian Oil Cup? (and some secret stuff…)

I don’t care who the hell is batting against me. The only thing that matters is to run at him, bowl as fast as I can and to try and get him out.

I don’t care whether it is (Andrew) Symonds, (Matthew) Hayden or (Adam) Gilchirst or anybody else, I do not respect them on the field. I only respect my teammates.

I have always played cricket aggressively. This is my style.

All that’s pretty usual stuff. But the real shocker is that the guy has a degree in sports psychology!

Studying psychology has had its toll on him. Sorry for him.

Source

Post from: EveryJoe

I give a damn – Sreesanth

I don’t think anything was over the top, so I think it’s going to add a bit of spice to the summer.

and

Everyone’s going to be looking for Sreesanth to do his stuff and it shows with a bit of passion. I think it’s going to be good for the summer.

I thought ditto at first. It *is* fun. And verbal skirmishes are OK, but just have a look at how he flared up on getting Symonds out, and how he looked Clarke in the eye, and the *really* wild appeal:

Whew. And did you notice Bucknor’s mediating? Singh was lucky there.

I heard Sreesanth was leafing through selp-helf books; that relieved me a bit and I thought maybe the reading would drive some sense into him. But, na da. Neurobiologically speaking, he’s formed deep synapses for aggression. The more he gets into it, the stronger the connections are getting.

Are the Ozzies putting him on? I don’t think so. Sreesanth seems to be one to engender the sparks all the time. And you don’t expect to be hurled expletives back at you when running into guys like Roy and Hayden? And all this pseudo-sledging is going to boomerang, no doubt. Ponting isn’t Bucknor, after all.

Especially, what he did at the last match was extremely disappointing. You are a 12th man and dishing dirt out at the opponents– what does that show about your attitude and motives?

Harbhajan caught on too. You know, everyone wants to try their hands at a new trend. I heard about his dropping bombshells on the field, but I hadn’t imagined the guy was capable of such gutsy stuff. Pseudo-gutsy, IMVHO. Raising bats at others and all.

All those who had been churning out blog posts corroborating an Indian team solely comprising of youngsters, do you now see the exploits of the dahling (pun intended) ducklings. That, when the seniors are around.

His behavior, in my opinion, has crossed the boundary of acceptability. He’s gone overboard; he either doesn’t know how to exert control over his impulses or he’s just not trying to. Or maybe there’s something else, but we know private blah-blah rarely meddles with a guy’s game. Oh, wait. But this isn’t about the game, is it? Yeah right, private blah-blah.

As some have said before, sledging is second nature to Ozzies, and that’s how they play their game. It’s neither good, nor bad. It’s just how they do it. And they don’t do it because they have anything personally against their opponents; this is their way of getting an edge over them. Their sledging is more psychological than abusive. I am not sure, but it involves, apart from other things, using “negative suggestions” like “You are going to get out now” against batters on field. And of course, we know about the psychological wars they wade against the other competing team via the media. So if that’s something you can train yourself in, good. Else, shut up, and just play the game.

Cricket certainly doesn’t need maniacs. India can find many of Sreesanth’s talent.

Some of you might disagree with what has been said. You have the right to do so. But if you think Sreesanth’s a hero, you’ve got to have a strong argument for that. Do chime in. I am all ears.

Oh, and take the poll.

Post from: EveryJoe

Sreesanth: The Way Out?

Hero Turned Loser # 1 Andrew Symonds aka Roy:

The guy with the brown (or is it golden, or golden+brown, you better judge) streaks is one of the most active players on the field despite his size. He’s ran out more batsmen than I have seen any other player do. And I share Shakespeare’s philosophy:

Let me have men about me that are fat;
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o’ nights:
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.

I like plump folks; most of them have good humor in them.

But what’s with saying T20 is crap “since you can lose to the lesser sides” and slamming India’s post-victory celebrations as “over the top”. I didn’t rant about that, because I guess it’s okay to exercise your freedom of speech, but I don’t like players locking horns with each other on the field.

Hero Turned Loser # 2 Shanthakumaran Sreesanth

When I saw him dancing in SA, I was like, “Here is an Indian cricketer who isn’t shy, who isn’t scared of expressing himself.” And he took that last catch in the T20 final. He became a hero. And although he won’t make it to my hunk list, it was cool about him that he was a dance champ and was comtemplating a career in Bollywood.

But there he was bickering with none other than Roy. A little bit of weirdness is acceptable, but when one goes overboard, titles like neurotic, maniac start springing to mind. I think I am going to settle in for “maverick” for the while. That’s not that insulting. So if he thinks that if he’s playing well, he has the liberty to do just about anything and that the world is his cricket ground…I would better warn him.

Actually, I will tell ya what, he’s one of those x-generation Indians (me, Aishwarya Rai, Sania Mirza included) who flaunt American accent and are desperate to tell the world what stuff Indians are made of. But chill, Sree, chill. You need to channel all your adrenaline to more constructive pursuits.

Oh, and you know what his first name literally means? Man of Peace!

Hero Turned Loser # 3 Harbhajan Singh

At the risk of sounding judgmental, I am going to say he’s been overrated. He’s talented, yes, but his lack of consistency has always put me off. Big time. But I had still liked him for this stints at bhangra.

I have heard he uses obnoxious abuses on the field. Now this isn’t news, I know. You put a bunch of guys on a field and what else do you expect (this was an ongoing problem over the sports fields at school)? Sledging comes naturally to them. BUT. This is ODI cricket! Can we expect some etiquette, Sir?

Full stop. Rant over. Your turn.

Post from: EveryJoe

Heroes (read: losers) of the Week

Watch the video, and decide for yourself:

What do you think? I still believe, as I concluded at the time, that it genuinely slipped out. Unless Sree is a phenomenal actor, his apology seems real. KP is stunned, rightly, but it’s also clear that Vaughan wasn’t so sure it was an accident.

Compare the reactions of the commentators, though: Nasser Hussein (above), versus Mark Nicholas and Geoffrey Boycott (below), both of whom laugh and describe it as funny:

It just goes to show how convoluted and out of whack the whole situation got. Jelly beans on the pitch was supposed to be funny and got taken very seriously whereas people bowling beamers is funny. I’m not convinced.

Post from: EveryJoe

85mph at your head = funny?