IPL 2019 - CSK vs RCB - A Perfect rivalry to Kickstart the twelfth version

Has RCB addressed their death bowling concern, which has always haunted them in defending big scores in the past ?

If we look at the combination for this year, Coulter Nile, Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav are the bowlers who need to step up for RCB. Tim Southee is known for yorkers and sensible slower ones. Their bowlers have to be heavily backed by the management. RCB have to learn from the likes of Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, who have premier bowler, who would play every match of the season and are great death bowlers too.

Interesting addition is Shimron Hetmyer. With the backing of Virat Kohli, he could be a batting sensation for RCB. We all saw what he could do, when he showed his consistency against Indians in ODI encounters, when West indies toured India. RCB is a batting powerhouse, and this season would also feature loads of runs from them and no doubt Virat Kohli would lead them. Mr.360 degree would enjoy too and that would be dangerous for the opponents.

CSK has retained most of their players from their trophy win last year. Mohit Sharma is a value add player for their death bowling. CSK's strength has always been their all rounders, who would contribute when it is least expected. Kedar Jaadav would be available throughout the tournament and MSD would use him wisely, as his fitness is crucial for World cup and Dhoni himself would keep that factor alive for himself.

Chepauk would host CSK, which was missing for a long time. The best fan club in the world and knowledgeable cricket crowd would love to be part of this mega clash between arch rivals. CSK leads the race, with 14 wins to 7 against RCB and 23rd encounter would happen on 23rd March 2019. This statistics alone would tell the story, why CSK are hot favorites.

Lungi Ngidi would be unavailable for CSK, but they have a wonderful combination in Mohit Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Bravo, Tahir, Jadeja and Santner. One won't be surprised if Santner plays regularly as his all-round skills would be utilized by Dhoni, as MSD is a big fan of slow bowlers to control the game for him. Chepauk wicket is spinner friendly, with lot of bounce and turn. RCB also have a good slow bowling combination, as Chahal would lead the attack and Washington Sundar along with Moeen Ali could control the game for RCB.

A wonderful match on the cards and a scintillating start to 12th edition of Vivo IPL would hook everyone to the match. Let us all enjoy...

A Deserving 2-1 Series Lead for India against Australia

On a green top Melbourne Boxing day wicket, Virat Kohli won the toss and batted first, with 2 new openers and not many gave a chance for Indians, especially after losing the test match at Perth. Hanuman Vihari provided a solid start and could not convert his effort into a personal milestone, but in the event of a win, his time at the crease was highly significant. Mayank Agarwal was not only brilliant with the bat, but also showed lot of promise as a bat-pad catcher. His 2 catches at forward short leg and 1 at silly mid-on was outstanding.

Pujara and Kohli played with a mission. They curtailed all their strokes and batted time to stitch in a match winning partnership. 215 runs at the end of 1st day and 228 runs on the 2nd day raised eyebrows as to the manner in which, Indians went about building the score. It turned out to be a great strategy, as the wicket started helping the bowlers, as the game progressed. Indian fast bowling trio, Bumrah-Ishant-Shami were unstoppable, especially Jasprit Bumrah bowled a match winning spell by picking 6 wickets and helped Indians bowl out Australia for a paltry score of 151 in their first innings.

A Lead of 292 runs was sufficient for Kohli and team, considering the bowler friendly Melbourne wicket and a weather forecast of heavy showers on Day 4 and Day 5. Much to everyone's surprise, Kohli decided to give his bowlers a rest and batted again. This decision did not hurt India too much, but the 2nd innings performance, both with the bat and the ball was no where close to a number one Test team's performance. Pat Cummins picked up a 6 for 27 in his 11 overs and wickets were gifted by Indian batsmen, as they played too many loose shots down the leg side.

Indians could add only 106 runs by losing 8 wickets and Kohli declared the innings to set Australia 399 to win the 3rd test. Shuan Marsh, Travis Head, Tim Paine and Usman Khawaja failed to convert their starts into a big one, pretty much the same story in this series so far. Pat Cummins fought with lot of grit and a lonely battle to score 63 and he could not stop Indians from going 2-1 up in the series, nor rains could save the aussies.

While Indians can cherish the victory, they could not hide some selection woes for them before the Sydney test. One can never get convinced that Rohit Sharma is a permanent fix for No.6 slot, as his shot selection is too loose for a Test call. In his first innings score of 63 not out, he did survive a drop catch by Peter Siddle, when he had scored only 15, Nathan Lyon being the unlucky one. Still, Kohli might not meddle with Rohit Sharma in Sydney. Ashwin would be fit for Sydney and Kohli should decide, whether he would play 2 spinners to increase his chances of winning the series 3-1. Kohli could think of bringing in Ashwin in place of Rohit Sharma.

Australians have lot of thinking to do now, as they are under tremendous pressure to square the series in Sydney. Tim Paine has to deliver more, both with his strategy and his contribution with the bat. Batsmen need to convert their starts into a big one and the same bowling combination would try to stop Indians from stitching partnerships. A wonderful series finisher coming up in Sydney and Indians have a great chance to create History.

Wonderful chance for India to conquer Melbourne

It was a strange sight for cricket lovers to see Melbourne wicket, low and slow, on day two of a test match. May be, the ground was under prepared as the Sheffield tournaments and Big bash league hosted several matches prior to the boxing day test. The runs did not come easy for Indian batsmen, as they had to spend quality time and play a quality innings to build a tall first innings score.

Mayank Agarwal played a dream test debut innings, as he was tested by Australian bowlers with high quality pace, movement and bounce. He left the bouncers with precision and played Nathan Lyon with lot of assurance, which was missing even from some experienced players in Indian batting line up. He left a strong message to the selection committee that he is one of the answer to top order worry. His knock of 76 was well appreciated by cricketing legends and everyone felt that a debut hundred would have been icing on the cake.

The openers toiled and the seniors stood up for the efforts of the 2 youngsters, when they backed it up with classy individual efforts of their own. Yet another classy hundred from Chetheswar Pujara, Kohli and Rohit Sharma's fifties and Rahane's crucial partnership with Rohit Sharma extended our first innings to a sizable score.

Australia batted for only 6 overs after Kohli declared the innings, when India reached 443 for 7. The six overs had its challenges for both the Aussie openers, as the wicket kept low, even with the new ball. Ravindra Jadeja will have a role to play and Kohli might even throw the ball to Hanuman Vihari, in absence of Ashwin, who would have made it tough for Australian batsmen to settle and play a long innings.

Day 3 would be crucial for India's chances to gain a lead in the series. The only benefit for Australian batsmen is the slowness of the wicket and if Australia could bat out time, they could push the Indians to play their second innings too, as they could target the follow-on score with couple of good partnerships. It is very tough to score runs at a faster pace in this wicket. Indians should get Australia all out before first session of Day 4, so that they could pull a win out of this boxing day test.

Kohli should use his bowlers wisely, as longer spells for the need of the wicket, would tire his fast bowlers quickly. Ravindra Jadeja and Vihari should help the Indian fast bowlers to stay fresh in their spells, which should ideally be result oriented in form of wickets. Test match is poised nicely and Indians have placed themselves strongly to effect a win from here.

Boxing Day Test - Australians would start as Favourites

Australia would start as favourites, when the third test begins at Melbourne on the Boxing day. 1981 was when India won a test match in Melbourne. Australians have ruled us here, with the exception of the 2014 test match, when M S Dhoni and Ashwin batted time out to effect a draw. Virat Kohli has fond memory, as he smashed a big hundred with Ajinkya Rahane in 2014 test match. These two would try to repeat their sweet performances. Other staunch reasons for australia being the favourite are,

Captain's Trust

Indian opening batsmen and few others in the team, are not getting the support from the captain as expected. To win in overseas condition, a team needs to have a settled opening pair, else it would be tough to regroup even with match winners like Kohli, Pujara and Ashwin. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja are the two players, who do not earn captain's trust in crucial encounters.

Settled Aussie Line-up

Australians would not change their playing eleven, irrespective of the nature of the wicket. Nathan Lyon and Hazelwood are the prime wicket takers and Pat Cummins & Mitchell Starc are wonderful support bowlers and all the 4 would continue to hunt in packs, which would be very tough for Indian team. Tim Paine stuck to the same playing eleven, even after losing the test match to India in Adelaide. It speaks volumes of the trust he had on his playing eleven.

Ashwin's Injury

Ashwin is often compared to the likes of Nathan Lyon in this series and to me, their individual performances have contributed to their respective teams winning a test match. His Injury has come at a wrong time, when Indian team has the best chance to beat Aussies at their own backyard. Kohli would miss his services, as australian playing eleven has lot of left handers and Ashwin has a good chance to get the better of them.

Weak Indian Middle Order and Tail enders
The middle order and the tail order needs to be packed with bowling all rounders, which is crucial for stitching partnerships, that would be defining the match results. Indians miss this trick, while Starc, Lyon and Pat Cummins are stitching crucial partnerships for Aussies, which is disrupting India's plans to effect a win.

Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane & Pujara are the three batsmen in form, while all the others fail to impress. This does not help India's cause, especially going into the boxing day test, with Australia winning the last match. Two new openers would add more pressure to these 3 batsmen.

Ravindra Jadeja is a good addition to the playing eleven. He would give his 100 per cent, as he always does. Yet, he would not be a regular feature, because he is a classic example of playing in case of an emergency and not the captain's obvious choice. One doubts Rohit Sharma's performance in test matches, as he would not put a heavy price on his own wicket, time and again. But, he is definitely one of the captain's favourite.

A promising opening pair might bring in some surprise for Indians, but Mayank Agarwal and Hanumant Vihari has to face the brunt of a settled Aussie attack. Australia would try to dominate from first session and win this test match to go 2-1 up, before Sydney. Indians are already on the back-foot and would try hard to stop aussies. A very good test match on the cards...

AUGUST BEGINNING TO A CHALLENGING TOUR - TEST MATCH AT EDGBASTON

To begin with, England's record in Edgbaston against all countries is very impressive and especially against Indians, out of 6 test matches, england have won 5 matches and one match was drawn. The top 5 bowling performances in this venue, includes performances from legends like Imran khan, shane warne and muthaiah muralidharan. Chethan Sharma from India has a ten wicket haul in the one and only drawn encounter for India. Bowler's efforts become crucial, if India has to deliver the knock out punch.

The bowling combination becomes key. Kuldeep Yadav would be a definite pick, either Ravindra Jadeja or Ashwin will feature in the playing eleven, depending on the number of left handers to be played in the England playing eleven. Cook, Stokes, Jennings, Malan, Broad, Anderson, Sam curran are all left handers and ideally Ashwin should play ahead of Jadeja. Fast bowlers should be Umesh yadav & Ishant and Hardik Pandya would fit in as a bowling all-rounder. This would ensure that Virat packs the side with much needed seniors, who are familiar with england bowling conditions. Bhuvaneshwar kumar would be missed for sure.

The batting combination is a tricky one. Knowing Virat's selection methodology, he will not mind taking a hard decision of dropping Shikhar Dhawan and Pujara, if need be. K L Rahul has done his part right by performing well in the warm up match against Essex. Dinesh Karthik should play in as a wicket keeper, unless Virat brings in a surprise there too by backing Rishab Pant to fetch him a test cap. Virat Kohli would put high price on his wicket and would want M Vijay and Rahane to build partnerships along with other batsmen. The tail-enders needs to stretch some partnerships and Bhuvaneshwar kumar would be missed here too.

One wishes Kuldeep Yadav and K L Rahul to be the sensations in this test series for Indian team.

England would rely on Alistair cook's experience with the bat and Broad-Anderson duo with the ball. Adil Rashid is a good choice after his performance in the ODIs, but his adaptability to test match is an interesting sight to watch. Joe Root played Indian spinners really well in the ODIs and Bairstow, Butler could be match winners with their contributions. Ben Stokes could be disruptive with his bat rather than with his ball. Moeen Ali's spin tricks could be irritating for Indian test team too. All in all, England is a complete side in their backyard, with hardly any loose ends.

The conditions would be dry and would favor the batting teams and there would not be enough swing. Although Indians could benefit out of the weather conditions, the important question is whether the summer would extend throughout the 5 match series, one needs to wait and watch. The  2nd and 3rd test match is scheduled to be played in Lords and Trent bridge, which are favorite hunting grounds for India and at the end of 3 test matches, if Indians could place themselves in a 2-0 or 2-1 lead, we have a fantastic test series on the cards for Indians creating history.

If Indians bat first, first innings total of 400 and beyond is crucial and we need to restrict england to less than 350 to take control, if we bowl first. Virat Kohli is in right frame of mind to create a record in england, both for himself as well as team India.

India in Safe Hands - Wicket keeper Batsmen after Mahendra Singh Dhoni

IPL performances is an additional entry channel for youngsters, who only utilize the opportunity to play fearless cricket. Consistency in their first class career should still be the pivotal option for selectors to decide on a talent.

Rishabh Pant, after his brilliant hundred is spoken as a replacement for MS Dhoni in ODIs and T20s. He has definitely improved his power hitting, while his running between the wickets and build up to an innings is still a work in progress. Going by the mere volume of scores, people are already speaking about his inclusion in the squad as a lead up to the world cup 2019. Unfortunately, he has few other boxes to click right. It was a delight to watch him smash 128 not out in DD's encounter against Sun risers Hyderabad on 10th May 2018, especially after 2 run outs for which Pant was to be blamed. The onus was on him to finish the innings not out and he took up the responsibility really well.

Let us look at some statistics - His first class average is 53, has 4 hundreds in 30 innings that he has played. He has to really improve his scores at that level and be more consistent to earn ODI cap permanently. He has age by his side. 2023 world cup should be his primary target from now on. Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan are all sensations of IPL, but yet to establish themselves in their first class careers. If we look at their careers, they also need to show more consistency and they have done nothing wrong in IPL for their respective franchises.

Before anyone talks about comparing these talents with the likes of MS Dhoni, they should track them in their first class careers and not only with IPL performances. 2019 world cup would be Dhoni's last world cup and we have plenty of talents for wicket keeper batsmen after MS Dhoni to choose from. This is a great sign indeed for Indian Cricket. Coming to the discussion on Dinesh Karthik, Indian selectors have done the right thing in keeping both MS Dhoni and Dinesh karthik for England tour in ODI and T20. I would love to see MSD bat at number 4, making it a permanent spot for him going forward. Sad that Rahane did not get picked but the competition is plenty, as K L Rahul is showing his class too. Dinesh karthik can play the role of a finisher along with Hardik Pandya, after his heroics in Nidahas Trophy final against Bangladesh.

MS Dhoni, who is always aware of the competition involved, has raised his level of game in Vivo IPL version 11. His Strike rate is the best in all the 11 years that he has played this T20 version. Dinesh Karthik is leading the KKR side and plays the role of finisher for his side, though not in a similar fashion as Dhoni does for CSK. Nonetheless, DK can do it for India and he has prior experience of playing in English conditions too. Keeping in mind, the world cup 2019 and beyond, Indian selectors have done the right thing to stick with MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik and not getting biased with IPL sensations knocking the door hard.

Indian wicket keeper batsmen is in safe hands after Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

India Pakistan Final on a Sunday - It does not get bigger than this !!!

Champions Trophy - 2017 campaign starts and ends for India with Pakistan. While the first match was a cake walk for Indians, I feel there would be more nerves, as it is a final of a mini world cup. Indians are a much more evolved side than Pakistan in 50 over game and still, there would be nerves. Indians have better mix of experience and youth and still, there would be nerves. 

Indian batting line up is one of the world's best as of date and still, there would be nerves. Indian bowling line up has more wicket taking options in their kitty and still, there would be nerves. Indians are a much better fielding unit and still, there would be nerves. That is because, it is India Pakistan final and it is much more than cricket for both the teams.

Indians would play this game as any other match and still, when the actual game begins, there could be score board pressure and team members will put their hand up to come up with match winning performance for their teams. Pakistan especially would play it with a do or die attitude and it would show on their performance. It would be a battle field and when the national anthem starts before the match, the player's emotions reaches another level and fans would feel the pulse too.

Mohammad Aamir, Junaid and Hasan ali along with Wahab riaz can be a lethal combination on their day and their spin attack is very weak. Hafeez and Shoaib malik along with Sarfaraz are the big names in their batting line up. Azhar ali, Fahim and Fakhar zaman play fearless cricket and they should continue to do the same and trust on their senior batting unit to play along side them to build totals, be it setting the target or chasing a target.

Indians on the other hand would continue to pile up huge partnerships, which was their focus in earlier games too. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are in sublime form and together with Kohli would try to set it up for the likes of Yuvi and Dhoni to attack right from the start. They are in great form too, as they have contributed in earlier matches with their bat. Bhuvaneshwar kumar and Bumrah bowl well in partnerships, so is Ashwin and Jadeja. Hardik Pandya has to share with Kedar Jaadhav his quota of 10 overs and Kohli would not prefer Jadhav as a wicket taking bowler, as what had happened in the semi final match against Bangladesh.

Both the captains would want the other one to win the toss and decide, as India would prefer to do anything, but Pakistan might prefer to chase. Kohli would prefer to do away with that decision today. There are rumours that Ashwin might not play due to injury. Pakistan do not have too many left handers and Umesh performed well in the last encounter against Pakistan, so he is not a bad bet either.

All in all, a wonderful match on the cards and truly, it does not get bigger than this.

Moving Day - Moved an inch closer to India's Chances

The 3rd day completely belonged to the Indians, who quickly wrapped up aussies in the 1st hour, by taking the remaining 4 wickets by giving away only 38 runs. Jadeja had a role in all the 4 wickets that fell this morning. A great catch to dismiss Mitchel starc and followed it up by picking 3 wickets. A commendable effort by the bowlers to restrict the first innings lead to below 100 runs.

The confidence rubbed on the first wicket partnership in our batting too. Mukund and Rahul stitched a nice partnership of 39 runs, while every indian fan would have ideally wanted them to wipe off the deficit. Cricket is a game that has psychological aspect hidden in it too. The moment Indians wiped off the deficit with 9 wickets to spare, the dressing room and indian fans started to look at the test match as an one innings match. K L Rahul played a fantastic knock of 51 and he got out to a spectacular catch by Steve Smith, who has taken many blinders like that. The pitch did not look threatening at all, when K L Rahul batted. He proved that he grew up in this wicket right from his young days. His shot selection was much more refined and matured in his second innings.

Cheteshwar Pujara showed to the world, why such players are crucial for a test match. He might have several drawbacks, like he might never be a good runner between the wickets, but he has the quality to trust his technique in testing conditions like this. We could not forget his gritty hundred against Srilanka in foreign conditions. Today, he carried his bat through and remained not out by scoring 79 crucial runs for him as well as for his team. He had his chances, but he used his feat well to negotiate the turn and bounce. We pray that he would go on to get a match winning hundred tomorrow.

Virat Kohli was defeated by DRS and umpire Nigel Long gave him out LBW thinking that the batsmen did not hit the ball. DRS never questions the umpire's decision and there was not a conclusive evidence whether the ball hit the bat first or the pad first. It was unfortunate that on field umpire's decision had to stay on. Then came an important captaincy decision of promoting Jadeja up the order. Though it did not help india's cause, Kohli should be appreciated for taking such calculated risks in a test match. I do not feel that it was done with the intention of demoting Ajinkya Rahane. Kohli wanted to use the attacking instincts of Jadeja to unsettle Aussie bowling.

Pujara and Rahane stitched a 93* run partnership and ensured that india go wicket-less in one whole session. Bangalore pitch condition would get slower and lower as each day progresses. We have stretched the lead to  126 runs and if we bat well tomorrow and push it right till Tea on day 4, then we could put aussies into lot of trouble. The current batting pair of Pujara and Rahane, along with Karun Nair (the local lad), Saha and Ashwin should help the indians stretch the lead beyond 200 runs. Then the pyschological aspect would start to play its way in the result of this match, assuming indian bowlers would repeat the performance of their first innings.

One cannot get their eyes off, when we have this kind of an evenly fought test match....

Day 2 - Shared between the Two

Great bowling by the Indian team on day 2! Virat Kohli and the whole fans should be proud of the Indian bowling unit, who came up with an exceptional performance. 10 wickets and 229 runs on day one beats 6 wickets and 197 runs on day two. Having said that, Indian bowlers created lot of chances and Aussies had to fight and graft their lead, which is now extended to 48 runs with 4 wickets in hand.

When such a fight goes on between the two sides, who would be worried about pitch conditions, definitely not me. Ashwin has bowled 41 overs for just 1 wicket and Umesh Yadav got his first wicket after bowling 21 overs. Ishant Sharma was asking questions almost 2 balls in each of the overs that he has bowled so far. Jadeja comes and picks the wicket so easily, after the other 3 bowlers dries up the runs. This is tremendous team effort.

My heart goes out to Renshaw. According to me, he played one of the greatest test innings in this modern cricketing times. Technique was exemplary and he had a smile on his face while he was facing a hostile bowling attack. Warner got out to a beauty from Ashwin and Smith got out when he took Jadeja's bowling lightly. Aussies were showing such grit and determination, even indian supporters applauded every individual fifties and 50 run partnerships of Aussie batsmen.

Kohli did a brilliant job of keeping his 4 bowlers fresh for their spells, by switching them at regular intervals. I felt, he missed a trick by not having enough men in the slip cordon for Ashwin and Umesh yadav. But, he was always fighting for a combination of attacking and defensive fielding positions as Indians had put on only 189 runs in their first innings.

The second person, whose effort might go unnoticed is Wridhimann Saha. He was brilliant behind the stumps. The attempt to catch the edge from Mitchel starc was treat for the eyes. We wish every half chance to be taken easily so that we have our nose ahead all the time. That's the beauty of Test cricket. It pushes you to do something spectacular, time and again. If Kohli would have had 2 slips for Umesh Yadav, may be it would have been an easy catch for the 1st slip. All said and done, great 2 days of Test cricket. And of course, Shaun Marsh's contributions was vital, but he had his chances too. 

Test cricket needs characters like Steve Smith, Ishant Sharma and Virat Kohli, who made the day 2 lively for all the followers. As if the contest between the bat and the ball was not enough, Ishant and Smith started mimicking each other and nobody could draw a line. Virat and Smith exchanged words and Umpires could do nothing, as the captains themselves were involved. The Cameras on the ground captured every facial expression of the cricketers and it was funny, definitely not for the players, but for the crowd.

On Day 3, Indians have to come and get aussies all out as soon as possible, keeping a steady check on the first innings lead. Whichever team bats well in the second innings would go on to win the test match. Both the teams so far, has stuck to the formula of defense to build their innings. May be attack is the best form of defense in this pitch. It would be great to watch, as to how Virat Kohli goes about his second innings in this wicket. My gut feel says that Ravindra Jadeja's contribution with the bat in the second innings would prove vital for India's chances to win this test match. His batting style is also aggressive and he might push the lead beyond what aussies might look for.

Day 3 is the moving day of a test match and it is evenly poised as of now.....

2nd Test - India Vs Australia - Day One belong to the Aussies

Aussies dominated the Indians on all 3 sessions of the day and Steve Smith was brilliant in his field placements and bowling changes. Of course, it augurs well, if you have world class performers like Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. Starc was bowling at high 145 kmph and Indian batsmen would have felt like playing him on Australian soil rather than Indian wickets. Hazelwood bowled the nagging off stump line and Spinners were fantastic too. Lyon bowled with such control through out, that he has raised an open challenge to Ravichandran Ashwin to match his performance and to let the world decide, who is the best off spinner in business ?

Indian Batsmen are getting tested on their grafting skills and their patience against a world class bowling attack. Including the first test in Pune, in all the 3 innings, Indians have exposed themselves out. Virat Kohli is currently making errors in his judgement as to which balls he should play and which ones to leave. Rahane is a free flowing batsmen and always had looked comfortable against pace bowling. He is terribly weak against spin bowling and he is due for a big score for long time now. Nathan Lyon completely blocked his run scoring options with smart field placements from steve smith and they planned Rahane's wicket neat and clean. Others are all inexperienced and aussies utilized it to their advantage.

All the bowling all rounders who performed really well so far against other attacks are surrendering without any fight against Aussies. Ashwin, Jadeja, Jayant Yadav have no answers against aussies so far. Virat Kohli has some pride to not fit the same playing eleven in 2 consecutive matches. Is it a healthy way to test your bench strength ? As of now, Aussies have planned for each member of our indian squad and the scores in the 3 innings are testimony to that. Our Batting unit has to click so that our bowlers fight with their heads high. Ashwin is a champion bowler and he should also have a solid score behind him to put up a fight. 1-0 down and winning the toss to bat first, was ideal scenario for our batsmen to set the series alive. 189 all out would obviously make the bowlers droop their shoulders down.

K L Rahul's innings was well appreciated by everyone, but I still feel that he has to go a long way to become a better test batsmen. He is still vulnerable outside the off stump and his shot selection given the field placement is also questionable at times. A Handy lead of 100 should be enough for Aussies to rule the second test. If Indian bowlers create any chance by restricting the lead to less than 50, then we are in for a good test match, as Aussies would find it tough. The 4th innings would pose such a challenge for them to score even 150 runs. Jadeja and Ashwin would be crucial, but the pace attack of Umesh yadav and Ishant also has to pick wickets to create a winning chance.

Looking forward for a good second day...

Oscar Nauhaus - Cricket Coach and Beyond

My Cricket Coaching career started in the year 2015 and it has taken shape really well, having been associated with RX Cricket academy, one of the top 10 in the city of Bangalore. Year 2016 got even better, as the summer camp was led by a foreign coach, Oscar Nauhaus. My association with him started from 28th March 2016, one of the important days in my Cricket coaching career. He comes from South Africa, a great cricketing nation, which produced Legends of the game like Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, AB De Villiers and Allan Donald. He has worked with Allan Donald as supporting Coach and he came to India to pass on the knowledge, an opportunity created by RX Muralidhar.

He brought so many new things to the table from day one and made everyone realize that coaching is an art which is not every one's forte. You just need to be well informed of the things that it takes, to make a player gain in the areas of skills and attitude. He clearly laid out plans for the Kids to excel themselves over the 2 months. Coaches need to send a strong message to the Kids that learning a Sport is god damn difficult, as it involves a complete dedication from everyone and cannot be restricted to the couple of hours spent everyday. The programmes scheduled for the Summer camp should send across the same message too. That is where, an experienced coach like him scores over the others. He not only communicated those, but scheduled intensive programme for the Kids.

Another appreciable effort was theoretical sessions, which was a first time effort in RX camp. This is not only new, but very essential for the kids. Some of the talents would take up this game very seriously in future and they would realize the importance of these sessions. It covered step by step approach, right from Identifying a talent to honing the skills and attitude of an individual. Lot of emphasis is put on the time spent with the Laptop, analysing the game, opponents and many other strategies. Such theory sessions are also integral part of the Coaching.

Oscar is great with the Kids, not only because of the obvious reason that he is a foreign coach for Indian Kids, but also because, he brings lot of positive energy and enthusiasm along with him. He is self motivated and passionate about the game. Strange but true, that he sometimes comes hard at the guys, when it comes to discipline and behaviour, but that's what brings him close with every one too, because he treats everyone the same way. The passion and execution of his ideas is for everyone to see and parents did not mind staying back to watch their kids learn from him.

He is Loud and Clear all the time and hardly one would notice him running out of ideas, because he has Plan A, Plan B and sometimes Plan C also ready with him. Some of the important things, he passed it onto the coaches at RX Camp are highlighted below.

• The Value of 1 Run - The toughest aspect for a Coach to teach and a cricketer to learn. It opened doors to the reality of coaching. Coaches spend hours correcting the basics of the game, but forget to pass on this important learning.
• Fitness Schedules - 25 meter run, short sprints, long sprints, squats, push ups etc. were thrust on to the kids every monday, setting a wonderful tone for the entire week. As coaches, we could see visually, the kids becoming more athletic and turning into wonderful fielders for the camp. He wanted to rate the "fitness improvement scale" of each player. He passed on the message to the kids that Self evaluation is the key to success and made each and every player take responsibility for his fitness. Few took it very seriously and had a fruitful discussion with him to shape themselves up.

• Intensity that a Voice of a Coach creates - Few coaches like myself became more interactive with the kids at the end of the summer camp and credit has to be given to him, because he influenced the coaches to be more vocal with the Kids at the camp.
• Discipline - He hates Cheating and punished, not the individual, but the entire team and this is more fitting for the game of cricket. It is after all a team game and kids learnt that their individual behaviour reflected on the whole team.
• Fielding Techniques - "Communication" amongst the fielders is an important thing and he suggested some fielding drills, which focused on this aspect. Coaches did the normal routine of half moon catching drills, which was outdated and he completely stopped that practice in RX Camp. Yet another example of his influence.

• Visual Drills - This is another effort, which improves the concentration level of the kids. Everyone should throw the ball onto the wall and catch it. The challenges are aplenty - the size of the ball is very small, students should use only one hand and within 30 seconds, they should catch maximum number of balls. Some of the Coaches were pushing themselves for this challenge too, as it was fun and learning guaranteed.
• Right Technique for Right Skill - Throwing technique for fielding, bowling technique, head position while batting and bowling, wrist position at the time of delivery and many such techniques were communicated in a manner easily understandable for the Kids.
• Theory Session - He is always well prepared and his theory session would make an MBA Management official proud, as his usage of PPTs and slides are very professional and relevant.

Apart from the ones mentioned above, there were many other drills and sessions, which was a first time experience for coaches like me. Sad that he is not continuing with RX camp at the end of summer, but he left so many things back with the coaches and I would not forget the learnings. 

Life is beautiful for these reasons, wherein a person walks in and touches another person's life and expects nothing in return. I would like to thank my beloved sport "Cricket" for this opportunity and a sincere thanks to RX Muralidhar, who brought Oscar Nauhaus into our lives. And last, but not the least, a special thanks to Oscar Nauhaus for walking in and changing my Coaching style.

INDIANS AT THE RECEIVING END OF "WIN THE TOSS, WIN THE MATCH" SCENARIO

Indians lost the toss, but failed to come up with a champion material performance on the day of the Semi finals. Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav started off well, especially the latter claiming the price wicket of David Warner. In walked Steve Smith, who played exceptional cricket on the day to come up with a knock, which set the tone for Aussies to dominate. His individual 100 and 100 run partnership with Aaron Finch did hurt the Indian badly. Credits to our bowlers, we pulled it back nicely from the 2nd Batting power play onwards with regular wickets. At one stage, Aussies were threatening to post closer to 375 runs on the board.

Ashwin and Jadeja were the pick of the bowlers in the 1st innings. Ashwin dismissed Maxwell in his 9th over and reduced the impact of onslaught. He set up Maxwell to play slog sweep into the hands of Rahane and the bait ball was his previous delivery, when he bowled a flighted off spinner and deceived him off the length. It was a treat to watch Ashwin containing the Aussies during the middle overs. Michael Clarke has never hit form in this whole tournament, thereby it was for Shane Watson, Haddin and Faulkner to finish things on a high for Aussies. Surprisingly, Mitchell Johnson came up with a blitzkrieg and Indian bowlers' death over weakness was utilized. Mohit Sharma alone used his slower ones effectively, but Yorkers were missing and as our captain rightly pointed out, bowlers in the end overs could have done much better. Still, 330 runs was just above par and on a good day, Indians could have achieved it.

The method to achieve the impossible target was Partnerships and to allow Dhoni to walk in to the crease, when we require another 100 runs. The Openers had their due luck, when Rohit Sharma edged a slip catch to Shane Watson at 1st slip, which bounced just as it was about to be grabbed and Brad Haddin dived to his left to spill one off Dhawan's bat. No Doubt, Aussies were under pressure, as they felt that they posted 40 runs short of their planned target and added to that couple of dropped chances made all their face go red. Shikhar Dhawan utilized this and exploded whereas Rohit was calm at the other end and openers raced to 76 at the end of 13 overs. Dhawan threw his wicket, when he tried to play a lofted extra cover drive and Maxwell took an easy catch in the deep.

Kohli faced a maiden over from Jason Hazelwood and made up his mind to attack Mitchell Johnson, who bowled a smart bouncer wherein Kohli could not control his pull shot and Haddin took an easy catch behind the stumps. Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina got out in a similar manner, as the ball prior to their wicket rocketed to the boundary lines. Of course, Rohit Sharma's dismissal was a beauty from Johnson which clipped the bails, but Raina tried to be too cute to take a single, a nice diving catch from Brad Haddin ended his short stint at the crease. We were 108 for 4 at this time and still were deprived of the partnerships, the key element to chase big scores.

Dhoni and Rahane stitched 70 run partnership, but the pace at which it came up did not help the cause. Australians bowled brilliantly during this phase and their fielding was top notch. Indians attacked James Faulkner and Shane Watson, but allowed Maxwell to slip in quietly his 5 overs for 18 runs. It was clever from Michael Clarke, as Indians were rebuilding at this stage, after the top order collapse. Once Rahane got out, it was for Dhoni to achieve the impossible. His mind was working like a calculator, as the final requirement was 120 from 8 overs and Dhoni scored 2 consecutive sixes, took a single and we had 13 runs from 3 balls in Shane Watson's over. But to repeat that over on top of another over is humanely impossible and Dhoni had lost Jadeja at the other end for a waste of a wicket... Run Out!

When Maxwell ran Dhoni out, shutters were closed for India's chances of defending the World cup. We did go down without a fight and Steve Smith's innings was the difference between Australia's win and loss. He continued from where he left in the Tri-series and booked a place for Aussies against New Zealand at MCG. For Indians, it was a wonderful world cup and Dhoni, with his young team brought out the best from all, even when nobody gave them a sniff of a chance at the start. Bowlers were outstanding through out and our Batsmen just had one bad day in the Semi finals and that would not wipe off the fact that Indians played like champions.

AT MCG, it would be a chance for New Zealand to stop Australians from lifting the trophy again. 2015 world cup is a repeat of 2011 world cup, where the Hosts are the finalist and it does highlight that Home advantage is a key element in any sports.

Was it the Rain ? Was it the Duckworth Lewis ? NO, It was the PRESSURE

South African had planned the day perfectly, when Faf Du Plessis played the Sheet-Anchor role to perfection. AB De Villiers was playing like a man Possessed. The Openers could not make it count, but Rilee Rossouw along with Faf was setting it up for the likes of ABD and Millers to pick it up. The first challenge was obviously the Rain, which demanded a different approach from ABD when they walked out after rain break, which lasted for an hour and half. Yet, South Africans responded brilliantly, when ABD and Miller utilised the 5 overs to the fullest extent and posted 281 for 5 at the end of 43 overs.

Brendon Macullum set up the chase brilliantly with his blitzkrieg of 59 from 26 balls. He ensured that NZ could plan their chase after him, as the Required run rate was brought down to 6.5 runs when he got out. Considering the small ground size, they were in the run chase and it was always a matter of one good partnership, which eventually came from Elliot and Corey Anderson. In spite of Ross Taylor trying to spoil the party by running out Martin Guptill and failing once again, New Zealand could pull it off, as their asking rate did not jump way too high. Such was the impact of Brendon Macullum's innings. Corey Anderson played his part brilliantly when he stitched a hundred run partnership with Elliot.

Last 5 overs was when, the pressure of a semi final encounter crept in and RSA fumbled too many chances to end up on losing side. Faf Du Plessis' catch to dismiss Corey Anderson was such a high pressure catch, that RSA team felt that they turned the tables in their favour. But, Vettori and Elliot used their experience to stay calm and pull it off for New Zealand. One could discuss each of the missed chances from South Africa and analyse in detail, as to why and how, but it was all pressure and South Africans could not handle it. Even ABD, the man who could do nothing wrong in a cricketing field, fell a prey to the P Word.

South Africans would be hard done by, after New Zealand successfully chased 298 in reduced overs. DL method helped South africans much against the scenarios that existed in the past. One could argue that South Africans would have gone past 360, had it been full quota of 50 overs. But this RSA team challenged all the hurdles that came along and only the semi finals pressure got the better of them. Of course, New Zealand had the benefit of playing the match in their home ground, Auckland Eden Park and they were cheered for every one during their chase, but South African fielding efforts pushed New Zealand right to the limits.

Whether Duckworth and Lewis would have predicted such an onslaught from David Miller and ABD in those 5 overs after the Rain ? These two could only add 18 runs to the overall total and gave New Zealand a revised target of 299 runs from rain reduced overs of 43. New Zealand had the benefit of planning their chase without having to worry about Rain or any other hurdles, which South africans were obviously deprived of. Just like how Statistics are sometimes irrelevant, one feels that DL method is also a formula, which never understands cricketing complexities, with due credits to the effort in coming up with a formula. Unless a better alternative comes up, DL method is there to stay....

The Crowd witnessed a great Semi final along with the world, who stuck to their television and at the end of the day, the game of cricket won more than New Zealand and South African team won the hearts of millions across the world, when their tears told the world, the amount of pressure a player goes through in those tense moments. The crucial catches dropped and Run outs missed were testimony to the pressure that RSA team went through. One cannot say that Matthew Elliot from New Zealand was completely in control of things, as the pressure got into his nerves too, when he mistimed those pull shots and tried to run himself out once and almost ran Vettori out, when he turned off a single.

On the day, South Africans were a better team and New Zealand won it and It's a cruel sport for South Africans considering it is yet another Semi final loss. Heart goes out to the South Africans, who gave us a wonderful Semi Final, just like 1999 semi final clash against Australians. May be they do not need a trophy to prove to the world that they are a team to beat on any given day. India's world cup 2015 campaign started off really well, when they beat South Africa in their 2nd match. They have always been the best, right from their 1st world cup campaign in 1992 till date and may be Trophy is for other teams to prove to the world that they are champions, but not for South Africans. Thank you South African cricket team for making this game a tough one for Trophy holders. It will not elude you for long........