Dec 21, 2006
Been some time : but then Ganguly was out of the team. His grit and determination has helped him overcome any techincal short comings. However it was sad to see him not framing the stike in end of the first innings. Lukcy for India (and Gangs) that VRV managed the lusty blows in the end. His second innings termination was disappointing. Will be interesting to see what happens once Yuvi is fit. Will he have to wait again ?
Nov 28th
Dravid reaction to Calcutta has been :
Luckily I was not fielding on the boundary line like others who had to put up with the abuses. I told the others jokingly that we are in good company, in the company of the great Sunil Gavaskar who too had to face a similar reception in Kolkata along with the 1983 World Cup winning team. If that side could get booed, I think we're doing something right
He seems to have climbed down from his earlier stance of saying he has a lot of support in Calcutta.
Nov 26th (night time!!)
Some interesting comments from Harsha Bhogle and Gary Kirsten
The same committee that was bringing in fresh air has succumbed. They have displayed their weakness by calling Ganguly a “bowling all-rounder” or a “batting all-rounder” or both. They could have called him a reserve wicket keeper and wouldn’t have been much further off reality. The last time we heard something as funny was when Shane Warne said he took a diuretic because his mother asked him to.--- Harsh Bhogle
http://cricket.expressindia.com/fulliestory.php?content_id=82639
It was a very un-Indian kind of strip and I was very, very surprised. Indians do not play their cricket on such kind of wickets, they prefer the flatter types, where spinners come into business and even fast bowlers are conditioned to bowl in a certain style. But this one was right up South Africa's alley. Shaun Pollock must have been licking his lips and offering words of gratitude to the groundsman.
If indeed it was Kolkata's way of showing their anger at the omission of their most beloved son from the squad, it was strange and sad. A region or a country should not lose purpose or the bigger goal and must plan accordingly -- Gary Kirsten http://cricket.expressindia.com/fulleistory.php?source=cn&content_id=58972
Nov 26th
It's Chappel's finger which is in the news now. A reaction to the Bengali crowd behaviour.
Frankly the response of Calcutta to Ganguly's omission has been shocking. I have had great respect and admiration for the culture and contribution on Bengal, but for once they have clearly put Bengal above India : which is not acceptable at all.
If the Nagpur fiasco was part 1 in preparing a pitch for the Aussies, Calcutta has paid back in kind. Dravid had the character not to pick up an injury as Ganguly did in Nagpur. And the support he got from the Indian team when Shastri had the post match conversation with him shows the team is right behind him.
I dare Calcutta to prepare a Green Top when the Lankans come there in Dec is Saurav is in the playing XI. Though I am sure they will if Saurav is played as the 12th man.
Chennai should be an interesting outing, esp if Saurav is in the playing XI. If Saurav causes rifts in the team or breaks the team unity : it should be enough of a reason to see him forces into retirement.
Oct 10th, Monday
All out War on the Board ? First Yuvi makes some statments on the taboo subject. Instead of calling him for an inquiry like Bhajji was, he gets away. And to top it, PCA says onus on BCCI. An obvious bait. BCCI can't do much since they did not gag Ganguly in the first place. If they try and take action against Yuvi, we will be in for some fun.
Now the selection comittee has asked for guidelines to select the captain. Gangs has declared himself that he will be fit in 10 days. As per the BCCI rules, a player coming back from injury has to play at the domestic level first. Now what will BCCI do. Force Ganguly to test his 'hurt' elbow ? It gets murkier and more interesting.
Oct 4th, Tuesday
Is it a surpise that there are reports of injruies to Ganguly or should we start sympathising with him ? When ever there is something critical that is coming up (critical from his career's point of view), some body part comes to his rescue (say Nagpur when he saw a Green Wicket).
The ploy seems to be obvious. If he plays in Challenger and fails, there is a good chance that he does not make it to the team. So I think he would prefer taking his chances against Lanka on a feather bed track where he could get a 50 or something. I predict if he gets a 50 within the first few games he will sitout of the remaining (esp if India is 0-2 down or something : let Dravid do the honors of congratulating Lanka for winning the series)
Sept 28h, Wednesday
No hope at all......if Chappel's report was rubbish he should have been sacked.
And the biggest joke has been Mahindar coming out and saying from now on Team Selection will be on Performance . What was the criteria till now ? (Guess he needs to check that with Dalmiya !!!)
Sept 27th, Tuesday
Compromise ? What the heck ? Why should Chappel do that ? This country has no hope .
Silver lining for a Sachin fan like me...he may be back at the helm as the captain. Hopefully that would help his batting, and inspire India to greater hts (?)
Sept 26th, Monday
A day before the drama restarts in Mumbai. Read Greg's mail on www.crickinfo.com. Is a real good one. Just reading what Gangs did to Laxman, how can a skipper do that !!!
Sep 25th , Sunday
How can any sane person even think of supporting Ganguly. I could give some concession to the passionate Bengalis (I am confident they will come around some time , sooner than later I hope).
Sidhu for once sounds sane (after some time).
One thing is clear : all non performing 'ass'ests of the team want Greg out. Bhajji who is a pale shadow of his previous avtaar, comes out strongly in Gangs favour.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Stats can be an ass
Ganguly , the most successful captain ? It's a joke. I looked up the stats, out of the 21 wins he has a captain, an incredible 9 are against the mighty ZIm and Bdesh. Out of the remaining 12, 3 are against the rubbish WI and SA teams that toured India. WHich leaves about 9 decent wins.
For all the hype of winning a series abroad, it was Dravid who captained India in 2 of the 3 games in Pak, the only series which of note which Indian won abroad. Add to that the fact that the Tigers on home do not hold the home rubber against three of the good teams, New Zealand, Pak and the Aussies.
And we think he is a Great Captain.....
For all the hype of winning a series abroad, it was Dravid who captained India in 2 of the 3 games in Pak, the only series which of note which Indian won abroad. Add to that the fact that the Tigers on home do not hold the home rubber against three of the good teams, New Zealand, Pak and the Aussies.
And we think he is a Great Captain.....
The Great Indian Cricket Drama
As yet another Great Indian Cricket Drama unfolds. Heaps of useless print paper / time / blogs get created : I can already hear the critics of Cricket : Iqbal's father for one saying we told u so, it's a waste of time, and yet again they may have a point.
It never ceases to amaze me, the may the people who run cricket in India always manage to take people for a ride. The Indian cricket board is the richest in the world, but the facilites in the stadium's seem to be the worst. Instead of being greeted at the stadium with smiling helpers / adminstrators / people, (I pay for the ticket's I buy and upto Rs 2000 for an ODI once), U are greeted with Lathi Weilding policemen, who seem to be hell bent on confiscating everything u posses. Then u have the share of cricketing match betting scandals (I won't be surprised if there are bets taken if a match has been fixed or not).
And now this. Greg vs Gangs , Coach vs Capatin, Aussie way vs the Indian Way, or whatever you want to call it. And what I find surprising is that there are people who find reason to support the Indian captain.
I don't think India did needed a Greg to tell us that Ganguly was physically unfit. Anyone who had seen him on the field during the last 12 months, could see that. The constanst scowl on his face, replaced for sometime by the stupid smile after scoring an odds defying 100, during which he complianed slyly about his coach showed some but obvious signs of a bit of an unstability in his thinking.
We needed Greg to call a Spade a Spade. Someone with the guts and balls to write a frank open later to the board (and a nitwit on the board side to create a laughing stock of Ganguly by leaking the same). One would have hoped a Gavaskar to the same, but then Sunny has to live with Indian cricket, and he is as frank as he can be on TV.
Gangs was fun while he lasted and was younger. There was a funny side when he kept Waugh waiting at the tosses, maybe a strategy . But one expected him to mature into a fine leader , and not one who kept the coach of his side waiting at the airport for three hrs while he was busy celebrating the birthday of his wife. This reeks of unprofessionalism, of arrogance, of stupidity.
The Indian team under Gangs had it's peaks, there was time when there was a certain arrogance based on performance, the arrogance and gesturing is now based on the belief of being the 'Untouchables' (borrowed from Sunny), we can do what we want. It's the comfort zone and some people need to be shaken out of it. Sooner than never.
Greg is no doubt on a mission, to try and win the WC for India, to make Team India a real challenge to the Aussies or England. That is all he has to gain. Any obstacles to his plan / target need to go.
As a country I think India is looking for people like Greg, who are willing to take on the administrators head on. I guess the people who leaked the mail, were taken aback by the support Greg got. They would have hoped the Indian public (the same people who get shabby treatment at the stadiums, but still turn up match after match) would rally around the Prince. I think they got a rude shock.
I have a sneaky feeling Greg may have to leave, if he does he would leave with his head held high and hopefully a tell all tale of what actually transpired in his 3-4 months with the Indian team. Indian cricket will be poorer.
It never ceases to amaze me, the may the people who run cricket in India always manage to take people for a ride. The Indian cricket board is the richest in the world, but the facilites in the stadium's seem to be the worst. Instead of being greeted at the stadium with smiling helpers / adminstrators / people, (I pay for the ticket's I buy and upto Rs 2000 for an ODI once), U are greeted with Lathi Weilding policemen, who seem to be hell bent on confiscating everything u posses. Then u have the share of cricketing match betting scandals (I won't be surprised if there are bets taken if a match has been fixed or not).
And now this. Greg vs Gangs , Coach vs Capatin, Aussie way vs the Indian Way, or whatever you want to call it. And what I find surprising is that there are people who find reason to support the Indian captain.
I don't think India did needed a Greg to tell us that Ganguly was physically unfit. Anyone who had seen him on the field during the last 12 months, could see that. The constanst scowl on his face, replaced for sometime by the stupid smile after scoring an odds defying 100, during which he complianed slyly about his coach showed some but obvious signs of a bit of an unstability in his thinking.
We needed Greg to call a Spade a Spade. Someone with the guts and balls to write a frank open later to the board (and a nitwit on the board side to create a laughing stock of Ganguly by leaking the same). One would have hoped a Gavaskar to the same, but then Sunny has to live with Indian cricket, and he is as frank as he can be on TV.
Gangs was fun while he lasted and was younger. There was a funny side when he kept Waugh waiting at the tosses, maybe a strategy . But one expected him to mature into a fine leader , and not one who kept the coach of his side waiting at the airport for three hrs while he was busy celebrating the birthday of his wife. This reeks of unprofessionalism, of arrogance, of stupidity.
The Indian team under Gangs had it's peaks, there was time when there was a certain arrogance based on performance, the arrogance and gesturing is now based on the belief of being the 'Untouchables' (borrowed from Sunny), we can do what we want. It's the comfort zone and some people need to be shaken out of it. Sooner than never.
Greg is no doubt on a mission, to try and win the WC for India, to make Team India a real challenge to the Aussies or England. That is all he has to gain. Any obstacles to his plan / target need to go.
As a country I think India is looking for people like Greg, who are willing to take on the administrators head on. I guess the people who leaked the mail, were taken aback by the support Greg got. They would have hoped the Indian public (the same people who get shabby treatment at the stadiums, but still turn up match after match) would rally around the Prince. I think they got a rude shock.
I have a sneaky feeling Greg may have to leave, if he does he would leave with his head held high and hopefully a tell all tale of what actually transpired in his 3-4 months with the Indian team. Indian cricket will be poorer.
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