Sorry Sri Lanka, West Indies are going to win this

October 6, 2012

gayle_oct_6

He was wearing his cricket spikes and walking on tiles as he made his way to the press conference. He lost his balance but quickly corrected it and then grinned sheepishly. It was his only slip of the day and unfortunately for Australia, before that he had managed to guide West Indies into the final on the back of a powerful display that left the men from Down Under feeling helpless.


The confidence displayed by the West Indies has been astonishing.


Usually, they come into major tournaments these days as a talented, mercurial outfit that finds a way to lose when you least expect it. And when they collapse, it’s like a pack of cards.


But this time round, the arrival of Chris Gayle has given them a man they can trust in; a man who the opposition fears; a man who’ll break into a jig whenever he can. He smashes sixes with terrifying calm and the rest of the team follows suit. Against Australia for example, they had 14 sixes and just 13 fours.


Now the thing about the six is that there is no way to stop it after it leaves the bat. The fielders morph into onlookers and even if you have played dot-balls, one shot allows you to rapidly climb back into the match. In 14 balls against Australia, the West Indies scored 84 runs. For the rest of the time, they were just cruising.


Australia skipper George Bailey couldn’t stop giving an embarrassed sort of smile in the post-match press conference. He had been beaten fair and square by one man.


“Chris Gayle can do that to you. I thought we bowled well early on but you just need to take wickets. He didn’t have to force his hand at all. He could bat at the absolute tempo he wanted. And when he did go, as he does, he went beautifully,” said Bailey.


In fact, Bailey believes, perhaps rightly so, that the left-hander alone stands between Sri Lanka and winning a world title at home.


“If they can get Chris Gayle out for under 20 runs, I think they will win. If they don’t, I think the West Indies are too strong,” said Bailey. “Sri Lanka are a pretty well balanced side. It will be interesting to see. I think you can get 160 against the West Indies with their bowling attack. I am sitting on the fence a little bit there.”


So how will Gayle respond to the pressure? Probably by doing the Gangnam.


“I saw the video a couple of months ago,” said Gayle. “When it came out, there was a lot of talk about it. That’s how I got into it. It depends on what sort of mood I’m in. It’s a good dance to be honest. I enjoy it. Everybody does.”


Not so sure, Sri Lanka will enjoy it if West Indies power their way to what will go down as a famous win.


“It’s going to be a thriller against world-class players but it’s going to be good fun. We’re enjoying it, but at the same time we want to win the final. We struggled to reach this far. Some in the media might have had us as favourites but we did struggle. Now there’s just one more hurdle and there’s no pressure on us.”



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News Network
March 5,2020

Mumbai, Mar 5: Former India spinner Sunil Joshi was on Wednesday named chairman of the national selection panel by the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which also picked ex-pacer Harvinder Singh to the five-member group.

The CAC, comprising Madan Lal, R P Singh and Sulakshana Naik, picked the two selectors with Joshi replacing South Zone representative MSK Prasad.

In an unprecedented decision, the BCCI said the CAC will review the panel's performance after one year and make recommendations accordingly.

"The committee recommended Sunil Joshi for the role of chairman of the senior men's selection committee. The CAC will review the candidates after a one-year period and make the recommendations to the BCCI," read a statement from BCCI Secretary Jay Shah.

Harvinder was chosen from central zone and replaces Gagan Khoda in the panel.

The existing members of the selection panel are Jatain Paranjpe, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh.

"We have picked the best guys for the job," Lal told news agency.

The CAC had shortlisted five candidates for interviews -- Joshi, Harvinder, Venkatesh Prasad, Rajesh Chauhan and L S Sivaramakrishnan -- from a list of 40 applicants.

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Agencies
July 21,2020

New Delhi, Jul 21: With the T20 World Cup's postponement clearing the decks for a full-fledged IPL, the glitzy event's Governing Council will meet in a week or 10 days' time to plan its next course of action, eyeing UAE as the host this year.

An IPL between September and early November has been made possible by the ICC's decision on Monday to postpone the T20 World Cup in Australia, scheduled for October-November, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The IPL GC will meet within a week or 10 days and all decisions (including final schedule) will be taken there. As of now, the plan is to have a full fledged IPL comprising 60 games and most likely in the UAE," Patel told PTI.

Asked about the main challenges in conducting the event in current scenario, Patel added: "Just the operational side of it. Whether you do it here or outside, it doesn't matter (with no crowds)."

The franchisees had already been working on their plans for the IPL even before the ICC announcement.

With majority of the Indian players not having access to grounds amid the pandemic, teams will need at least three to four weeks to get them match ready.

Foreign players will fly in directly to the UAE from their respective countries.

"Our players will need at least three to four weeks of training, if not more. We will finalise all our plans once the BCCI announces the dates. It looks like the IPL will be in the UAE and we are ready for that," a team owner told PTI.

Since India tour Australia for a four-Test series right after the IPL, training of the Test players is also an important issue.

Test specialists like Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari, who are not part of the IPL, are likely to train for the eagerly-awaited series in a bio-secure environment at the newly-renovated Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad during the time of the IPL.

A few fringe players are expected to join them at Motera along with the Indian team's support staff, which is free during the IPL.

Work from home has become the norm amid the pandemic, therefore, there is a possibility that IPL commentary will happen from the comfort of the living room, a safer and cost effective-option considering the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, who is 71, are involved.

The viewership is expected to be a record one with people craving for live cricket, something KXIP co-owner Ness Wadia has said.

However, it remains to be seen how much the broadcasters and teams are able to attract from the sponsors in the current financial climate.

More moot points and questions ahead of the IPL GC meeting:

1) More double headers expected (original schedule had only five double headers).

2) BCCI will need to provide a Standard Operating Procedure to IPL teams even though they will have their own SOPs in place.

3) Will the BCCI compensate teams for not being able to generate gate money this year?

4) Will there be virtual commentary from Star Sports? It was seen in the recent 3TC event in South Africa with the likes of Aakash Chopra, Deep Dasgupta and Irfan Pathan commentating from home.

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News Network
May 7,2020

Melbourne, May 7: Australia opener Joe Burns is eyeing the Tests against India should they take place later this year, to stabilise his stop-start international career, saying "you want to play in and do well in" in this kind of series.

India is scheduled to play four Tests in Australia in December-January, a series which is currently in doubt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed over 2.5 lakh lives across the world.

"They are obviously world class team. I think the two teams going at each other will be very exciting to watch and players playing against each other as well," Burns told reporters in a video conference on Thursday.

"You look at the world ranking, they were number one and now we have got to number one, so I know that series will be anticipated by everyone and as a player this is a sort of series you want to play in and do well in."

With the coronavirus also threatening the T20 World Cup, Cricket Australia is under financial stress and has gone on a cost-cutting drive, which included standing down 80 per cent of its staff at 20 per cent salary.

There are also speculations that the Sheffield Shield for 2020-21 would be curtailed to cut costs.

Burns, however, hoped it won't be tinkered with.

"I love the fact we have a really strong first-class system. The 10 games, where you play everyone twice," Burns, who was struck down by a fatigue illness after an indifferent season, said.

"It leads to world-class players coming into Test teams. You don't want to see that get changed.

"Obviously it is unique circumstances at the moment and There's a lot of things to work through ... the players' association is consulted on those things."

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