This week’s predictions – English Premier League 2011-12

Posted: September 17, 2011 by Balaji Ramamurthy in Barclays Premier League, Football
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          Balaji Ramamurthy

          Editor – Football, The CouchExpert

          September 17, 2011

 

Firstly here are last week’s actual results:

Saturday

1. Arsenal vs Swansea: 1-0

2. Everton vs Aston Villa: 2-2

3. Man City vs Wigan: 3-0

4. Stoke vs Liverpool: 1-0

5. Sunderland vs Chelsea: 1-2

6. Wolves vs Tottenham: 0-2

7. Bolton vs Man United: 0-5

Sunday

1. Norwich vs West Brom: 0-1

2. Fulham vs Blackburn: 1-1

Monday

1. QPR vs Newcastle: 0-0

Prediction results:

Me – 9 points (1 exact score + 6 correct results)

Harshit Khanna – 7 points (7 correct results)

Varun Atri – 11 points (2 exact scores + 5 correct results)

Mayank Gupta – 6 points (1 exact score +  3 correct results)

Standings as of now:

1. Me – 28 points

2. Harshit Khanna – 26 points

3. Varun Atri – 24 points

4. Mayank Gupta – 23 points

5. thecognitivenomad – 13 points

Onto this week’s predictions,

Saturday

1. Blackburn vs Arsenal: 1-2

2. Aston Villa vs Newcastle: 1-1

3. Bolton vs Norwich: 1-0

4. Everton vs Wigan: 2-1

5. Swansea vs West Brom: 1-1

6. Wolves vs QPR: 1-1

Sunday

1. Tottenham vs Liverpool: 2-1

2. Fulham vs Man City: 0-3

3. Sunderland vs Stoke: 1-1

4. Man United vs Chelsea: 2-1

Keep your predos coming in via comments!

Dravid announces retirement from England captaincy and umpiring

Posted: September 16, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Fiction
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 Goutham Chakravarthi

 16 September 2011


It is the last day of a miserable tour for India. Yet, all eyes will be on the Indian captain when India hit the field. He is known to send off greats in his signature inimitable style. He carried Kumble on his shoulders (Ravi Shastri bets he heard Hussain utter “donkey” under his breath) after his last Test and let Sourav Ganguly lead the team the last few minutes of the next Test which would be Ganguly’s last. He has set his bar high. What will he do for Dravid’s last?

Dravid thanked his England teammates before announcing retirement from England captaincy.

“Perhaps, I’ll let him keep wickets,” said the captain. Pried further, he said “Dravid is the ultimate team man. Since this will be the last ODI before the new one-day rules kick in, we have unanimously decided that every batsman will use Dravid as a runner. He will run for both the striker as well as the non-striker. He will even be his own runner. We want the world to celebrate the ultimate team man.”

Alastair Cook, not to be left behind, chipped in “Rahul has been a massive hit in our dressing room this summer. We have not been able to get him out and he has walked off when he was not out and has been given out when he was not out and he has still walked off. No complains at all. Such a gem! We have decided to honour him by declaring him as the captian of the England ODI side for the last ODI.”

The new England T20 skipper, Graeme Swann, having become the first international captain to release official press statements on twitter, tweeted “Dravid’s defence is impenetrable. I urge that he be made our Defence Minister #queenareyoulistening”

Dhoni, seemingly feeling that he is losing his Midas touch on retirement policies as well, made a quick attempt to pull things back. He said, “Rahul Dravid will also be the umpire and will umpire from both the ends and will also be the TV umpire and the fourth umpire. Umpires need to know when the batsman has nicked it and when he hasn’t. Rahul will demonstrate how to use the technology the right way. He will even open the bowling for us. You will see Rahul bowling and umpiring to his own deliveries and keeping to his own bowling. Yes, he will also be fielding in the slips.”

ESPNStar and Sky also announced that Dravid will be miked up, separately, and will speak to both the channels, simultaneously, on two different mikes on two separate topics. In a joint statement, the channels said, “Though it is one man answering the questions, it is two separate channels, moguls both, with its own esteemed commentators commentating on the game, and, therefore, will need its experts the privilege to pick on Dravid’s brains. Should a situation occur that both channels be reaching out to Dravid at the same time, we will leave it to Ravi Shastri from the ESPNStar box and Nasser Hussain from the Sky box to thrash it out and decide who should get the first go.”

The Indian government on the other hand dedicated the hike in petrol prices from midnigh tlast night to Rahul Dravid. A press release said “Rahul’s been the most invaluable player for this team for many a year. Like the dwindling fuel reserves everywhere, Rahul is a rare fossil that is extinguishing by the day. To mark respect for such invaluable fossil, to show its value in increased light, we have decided to hike the price of petrol. Petrol is invaluable and Dravid is its personification.”

When Dravid finally addressed the press conference, speculation was rife amid the British scribes if Dravid would want continue after retiring from the Indian team as the captain of the England cricket team and were contemplating what his first policy would be as the Defence Minister if he would be sworn in as one by the queen.

Dravid straight batted all questions with this statement: “I’m deeply moved by the gesture of my teammates, opponents and my government and Britain’s. However, I must say that I will be retiring from my captaincy position of England with immediate effect and would like to thank my-would-have-been-teammates-but-never-will-be-teammates in the England dressing room. I’m sure it would have been an honour playing with you boys. I also withdraw from opting to umpire and keep wickets and bat at both ends while running for all people. I will however substitute for anyone in the crowd who needs a break and watch the game from the stands.”

Chants of “Rahul Dravid for Prime Minister,” were heard in the media boxes as Rahul Dravid quietly walked off after he had made his press statement. It brought about a fight between the Indian and the British media contingent as both had uttered the chants at the same time. Television channels across both nations are running debates if Rahul Dravid would make a better Prime Minister of India or of Britain.

Rahul Dravid is expected to make a press statement on this matter after the practice session today.

5th ODI Preview: Dravid’s final act in the ODI drama

Posted: September 16, 2011 by thecognitivenomad in Cricket, India in England 2011
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Chandrasekhar Jayaramakrishnan

16 September 2011

Had it not been for image, power and charisma, Indian cricket’s state of affairs would be contracting even more than it has over this English summer. By not turning up for the ICC awards ceremony in London, deliberate or not, the force of the critics’ arguments have carried on in to the abyss.

The indications, thus far, are that Team India is unwilling to acknowledge mistakes on its part. The focus on their absence might have temporarily found some of the underperformers’ relief from being a part of obscure passages in tabloids, but the road away from London towards Wales will finally put an end to what has been nothing short of a disastrous series for India.

The Indians will certainly be hoping that crossing the English border would hopefully see a turn in their fortunes as batting stalwart Rahul Dravid, under strange circumstances, gets ready to wear the Indian blue outfit for the last time in his limited-overs career. That Graeme Swann had to openly admit that seeing Dravid for the last time would make the bowlers around the world heave a sigh of relief is a testament to his wonderful, illustrious career.

Rahul Dravid will bow out of the ODI arena at Sophia Gardens on Friday

Dravid has been the most perfect iteration of the textbook approach candidate. At various instances, during an era ruled by the hard hitters and shorter formats, a serene eye would squint as it witnessed Dravid attempt an odd slog, so unnatural of him, in the middle: open-chested, sweat-laded shirt, high elbowed, and ramrod straight – he could have so easily been the strict disciplinarian amidst pampered souls, lost in a world ruled by chaos.

The next-gen fan seems to have a primal need for watching the ball travel high and afar; cricket has become the modern day equivalent of The Epic of Gilgamesh. It is common wisdom among great cricketers that there are preconditions for attaining success at the very highest level – they key factor being mastering the basics. It is a trait that even fetched two of England’s top three batsmen, batting-order wise, highest honours during the ICC Awards ceremony in London a few days ago. The icing on the cake for both Cook and Trott would be to send the visitors back home without a win all summer.

History-making is rarely free, and the Englishmen are on a roll with the momentum backing them as they approach Cardiff. Broad’s injury would definitely deprive them of their star performer this summer, but the manner in which the replacements have slotted in and performed would give Andy Flower little headache.

India’s addiction to picking youngsters on tours outside the subcontinent and not giving them a run is very much like American addiction to Oil. Why Varun Aaron hasn’t been given a look in yet is a question that beats most of us. If they thought he was ready before he boarded the flight to London, one can’t seem to concretize on a reason why he wouldn’t be ready now. Even if Cardiff were to script a remitting horror story so reflective of this summer, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to witness what this youngster has in store.

Plenty of words have been written, both supportive and critical of the visiting team on and off the field. A victory in Cardiff wouldn’t alter the writing on the wall to an extent that the scars will heal effortlessly. But certainly, a win over the current World Number One would offer some credibility to a unit that has appeared as dry as dates with a loyal fan base slowly swallowing the bitter seed that they never would have imagined to have germinated after a memorable world cup win earlier this year.

As the curtains are about to close on a series that has been haplessly one-sided, a war hero from the victimized camp will slowly, and humbly, walk away from the arena in which he has amassed over 10000 runs at an average close to 40. As he bows out, so will an integral part of the art of classical batsmanship, from the shorter format of the game!

Zimbabwe can take positives out of the Pakistan series

Posted: September 15, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Cricket, Series
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Srikrishnan Chandrasekharan

Aizaz Cheema had an impressive series for Pakistan with the ball

Pakistan completed a clean sweep in the ODIs against Zimbabwe. It was a very good performance from the Pakistan team with some new faces in their bowling line up. Aizaz Cheema made an impressive debut for Pakistan in the series and led the wickets tally. It was a significant performance by the 32 year old making his debut taking wickets with a good strike rate, average and economy. The experienced Younis Khan won player of the series award. The Pakistan openers did a tremendous job in giving a good starts when the team needed.

It was a tough series for Zimbabwe playing against Pakistan that had a good mix of experienced and young blood. Zimbabwe team played good cricket throughout the series. The first match of series had a nail biting finish; the second match was a complete domination by Pakistan openers. In the 3rd match there was plenty of expectation that Taylor would continue his good form with the bat to save their side from the whitewash. Unfortunately he got out early and wickets fell down at regular intervals to eventually push Zimbabwe short by 28 runs.

Team and management of Zimbabwe Cricket should focus on the positives out of the tour. They were able to score 220-plus in all the matches and given a good fight. The team needs to invest more time towards areas of improvement and rebuilding the team for the upcoming T20 against Pakistan followed by New Zealand and West Indies series in the month of October.

On the other hand, Pakistan needs to strengthen their team for their upcoming series against Sri Lanka. The series will be held in Dubai due to security constraints at Pakistan. It promises to be a good contest with Pakistan showing good promise.

 

Give India another chance to prove themselves

Posted: September 14, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Cricket, India in England 2011, Opinion
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Srikrishnan Chandrasekharan

There have been plenty of comments against team India’s performance in the ongoing tour of England. Fans, press reporters, journalists, former players across the cricket world have spoken about the Indian players’ lack of preparation and their involvement towards Test cricket is below par. Some of them commented Indian team can go back home if they are not willing put up a fight against their team.

Across the globe many feel that India’s interest in T20 has spoiled their chances in Tests against England. Some of them blame the players, the BCCI, the IPL and ICC. Are these the real reasons for India’s loss against England?

The answer is a very simple NO! Let’s look closer as to what has happened since the year 2011 for team India. As like other teams, India participated in ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and played 9 matches starting from 19th Feb to 2nd Apr. Generally there is a 2 day intervals period between ODI matches these days which is mandated by ICC. The world cup lasted for 43 days and India had match on 9 days out of that. Instead of 2 days per match, on an average there were 4-5 days between matches.

It is unfair to blame all our shortcomings in England on IPL alone.

Next is the IPL 2011 wherein many players who were part of World Cup team also participated in the IPL. The tournament lasted from 8th April to 28th May (close to 51 days). Players from Indian team have played 16 days out of 51 days. Since IPL matches are half of the ODI time frame, the tournament still give sufficient time frame for the players to have rest. There is really no great deal of tough schedule to the players other than the peak summer that takes it toll. Many would argue that the post-match parties take out more than the games themselves. It is a player discipline issue here. Most owners want them to show their faces to the fans who buy into these parties. No one is expected to party late into the night.

When compare the Cricket with Tennis, the cricket players get more time to relax than the others. This clearly depicts the team had a reasonable schedule to relax and get ready for the next tournament. One cannot blame the players, the IPL tournament, the BCCI and ICC on the scheduling front.

Let’s move on to the T20 format which has been reported by several senior players stating spoiling the cricket environment on longer formats. Certain things need to look from a different perspective as T20 format has transformed the cricket fever in the individuals across countries. It has given plenty of opportunity to the players to explore their talent and in the young age to play unbelievable cricket of smashing great bowlers out of park and take their team to glory. There have been plenty of talented individuals who are now known to the world through this and they have also got opportunity to play for their country not just stop at the level of some T20 tournaments.

These T20 formats should happen frequently in a year so that the emerging players will get opportunity to make their mark at national level. Some of the senior players from other countries have declared that their focus is towards longer version of cricket and not on T20.

Also there have been comments from senior players stating players shouldn’t look for money and choose T20, but need to focus towards serving their country in longer versions. The comment is valid, but a country like India wherein you have 1.2 billion people wherein only 14 to 17 members will be chosen to play in the national team. The players who spend their life starting at the age of 12 to 25 or 30 should rely on cricket to survive their life as they may not have any other choice of making an entry into other fields for livelihood post their cricketing days.

In every field, victory and defeat is but natural. It is not possible to always end up victorious or otherwise. Sport isn’t supposed meant to be that way. Nadal isn’t a bad player because he’s been cleaned up by Djokovic on all occasions this year. When a good team ends up losing matches in a tour, those are real tough times for the players to learn and move forward. The current series lost against England in Tests is one such incident and this team will really come back stronger and show the world how powerful they are. You will see the same critics waxing eloquence of the same players when they get back to winning ways.

Let’s not judge team / players who are on top of the world based on a single tour of failure. India has managed to put a good fight in the test matches wherein nothing went their way. Yes, England was the biggest Test challenge of the year. In a way, it is really good to see the team fail after the World cup. It would really have been hard for players and fans of India to have digested failure in the world cup.

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