Test Cricket: Wisden Test XI for 2008

If the world wasn't surprised by India making inroads into the test arena, The latest announcement of the Wisden test XI brings in more surprises. Five Indians make it to the list of 11 test cricketers in the WISDEN TEST XI FOR 2008. When i read the news story in the news papers this morning, I was happy to see the inclusion of five indians but had to raise a few eyebrows about the selection of few other players. Taking a look at the team for the second time makes me realize that the selection is based on the batting order in which they line up. Each one of them has been the best in the world throughout the year 2008 for their respective teams.. Read on as we discuss the team and the players..



THE WISDEN TEST XI OF 2008
Opening the batting for the Wisden Test XI will be the dashing Indian opener Virender Sehwag who with his batting skills overshadowed all the critics in 2008. The man has already scored two triple hundreds and 9 out of 10 test centuries over the score of 150. The aggresion that he brings into the team and the rate at which he scores his runs put team India in winning situations more often than not. No wonder he became the obvious choice for No.1 spot in the batting order.

At No. 2 is the South African captain Graeme Smith. He played some courageous knocks over the last year. Who can forget the scene of watching him walk on to the pitch on the last day of the Adelaide test bandaged all around his body. Smith walked into batting with a fractured rib and broken right hand to help his team save the last test. South Africa lost the test, but won the series 2-1. Smith won more accolades than ever for his effort with the bat thro the series. He led the South African team to the number one spot in both Test and one day rankings, therefore deserves his spot at no.2 in this team.

Most important position in any batting order is no.3. This one went to the Austrlian Captian Ricky Ponting. Not in the best of form with the bat through 2008, and with his captaincy over the year, Ricky took the suprise third spot in this team. Gautam Gambhir who scored over 1100 runs in the last year with an average of above 70 could have been an ideal choice for this spot, but like i said, the choices are depending on where these batsman and bowlers play in their respective teams.. Given that no other No.3 batsman around the world did better than Ricky Ponting in the test side, Ricky won this spot hands down.

At No.4 is the Little master, Sachin Tendulkar. He has played well through out the year and has been one of the success stories for India's run through the test arena over the last year. Known to trouble the opposition by his batting, Sachin Tendulkar spelled disaster for the kiwi side as he picked some quick wickets in the last inning of the last test match in the recently concluded test series in new Zealand which India won 1-0. The man does magic with both ball and bat, If there was a vacant spot for No.4 in this team, Sachin Tendulkar should be the obvious choice.

The costliest player os season 2 of the Indian premier League (IPL), Kevein Peitersen takes the surprise No.5 spot in the team. If i thought the team was picked based on the regular batting order, this proves me wrong. My personal choice for this spot would have been Austrlian batsman Micheal Hussey or South African new-born JP Duminy. Both these players have proved to be the success stories for their sides during the last year. Not to forget Jesse Ryder, he could have well made to this team had he played more games during the season.

Only west Indian to make it to the side this time is Shivanarain Chanderpaul at No.6. If West Indies has done well in the test series in 2008 it's because of this man and Ramnaresh Sarwan. Chanderpaul makes the cut for his witty style of batting and his ability to change gears at will.

No prizes for guessing who should be the captain of this team. Team India captain Mahinder Singh Dhoni has been named the captain of his side for his consistent performance with the bat and his ability as a captain. Ex-Cricketers from around the world are all accolades for Dhoni and his style of leading the team. If ever there was a reason for India's success in 2008, Dhoni is just one of them. Dhoni has been slated to bat at No.7 for the Wisden Test XI.


Fourth Indian on the list and at no.8 in this team is Harbhajan Singh. Having picked 16 wickets, most by a bowler in the recent test series against New Zealand Harbhajan becomes the lone spinner in this wisden XI. I can't think of any other spinner who has out done Harbhajan in the wickets department. He bats at No.8 in this side.

Mitchell Johnson leads the Australian pace bowling attack in the absence of Brett Lee. The Australian-Slinger as they call him has picked wickets consistently through 2008 and has been the only bowler to stand out with performances in the absence of the experienced bowlers. His ability with the bat puts him at No.9.

At. No.10 is the South African quickie Dale Steyn. A reason for South Africa's success in Australia. Dale Steyn picked up crucial wickets even on the flattest of batting tracks all through 2008. His recent 4 for in the second one day against Australia who were at one stage 20 for 5 finds the 10th spot in the Wisden XI.

The last spot in the team, and a well deserved one goes to Zaheer Khan of India. Zaheer has never looked back since his comeback to the team in 2006. Three years after his comeback Zaheer continues to bowl with the same pace and accuracy, only spilling more poison into every delivery. If Ishant Sharma has been a revelation for team India, Zaheer has been the man who's led him from the front. Zaheer takes the most deserving 11th spot in the team.

The 12th man was not announced, But my choice would simply have been Gautam Gambhir who has remained consistent through out the year and has continued to show his skills with both offensive and defensive style of batting.





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England In West Indies: 5th ODI Preview : Match on

With the series hanging in balance at 2-2, the decider one day between England and West Indies was still in doubt. The West Indies Cricket Board had been locked in crisis talks with the Players' Association, with the threat looming, not only of a boycott of Friday's fixture, but - going forward - a mass withdrawal from the tour of England which commences later this month, and clashes head-on with the lucrative Indian Premier League. Chris Gayle in a statement with the media cleared all doubts, "The Final ODI will be played at St.Lucia" said Gayle.


West Indies would have had to make 11 team changes if the controversy wouldn't have ended. Thanks to the decision by the players, it was down to only one. Tall, Left arm Orthodox bowler Suleman Benn has been named in the playing 11 in place of Nikita Miller who hurt his back trying to smash the ball out of the ground off a free hit during the last match. His omission was something of a surprise to England, given his starring role in the Jamaica Test victory, as well as two Twenty20 triumphs, starting with the Stanford Superstars in Antigua last year.

West Indies Playing 11: 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Lendl Simmons, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Lionel Baker, 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Fidel Edwards.

As for england, there couldn't have been a possible change, their bowlers did well in the last match, the batsman have been doing well. Pietersen and Flintoff will play in the final ODI, after doubts were raised of whether they would be fit as both were nursing injuries on the hands. Pietersen was forced to leave the field after the injury while Flintoff require heavy strapping to continue in the match. Scans revealed no fractures or significant damages to the fingers allowing them to be a part of the series decider.

England 11 (Which hopefully will eb unchanged) 1 Ravi Bopara, 2 Andrew Strauss (capt), 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Owais Shah, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 James Anderson.


It's been an exciting series so far. WI could have led the England team in the sixes department with a score of 23-3, but thanks to complex logic of the Duckworth Lewis England managed a win in the second match after rain forced play to abandon the match. The series is tied at 2-2 and if the weather stays good, we should have a exciting finish with both teams playing for reputation over the other. Do join me for review later this week.

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England In West Indies: 3rd ODI Review : WI win after Humiliating innings from England

March 27,2009:Dwayne Bravo, A man whose return to the WestIndies team has already sparked the members of the team took 4 wickets to dismiss England for a humiliating 117 all out in 41.3 overs. Fidel Edwards took 3 While Pollard and baker chipped in with 2 and 1 wicket respectively. Mascarenhas scored 36 in what was a below par batting performance from the touring side. Earlier, West Indies won the toss and elected to filed after a delayed start due to rain.



The match was reduced to a 44 overs per side affair as England kept losing wickets at the start of play. First it was Strauss who handed a catch to Gayle in slips off Edwards, then it was Bopara who handed a catch to Sarwan off Edwards. England at 17-2 off 6.4 overs never really took off. They lost Pietersen soon to bravo who handed a catch to Pollard. Owais shah soon followed as he lost his wicket in the very next over to baked out caught by darren Sammy. Flintoff returned after a long time but was out for a duck and survived only 6 balls before he was out caught by Edwards off the bowling off Bravo.

Wickets kept tumbling as Collingwood was out lbw to bravo leaving England at 54 for 6 off 19 overs. Mascarenhas joined Prior who could only add 14 to the partnership after Prior went to Pollard scoring only 7. Broad followed Prior 2 balls later out caught behind to Pollard. Batty and Mascarehas restored some pride taking england past the respectable 100 run mark. But the Duo could only last as long as 116 when Batty was out caught by Sammy off Bravo. He scored 17 off 47 before he lost his wicket. Mascarenhas tried hard, but lost his wicket and England's 10th to edwards caught by Bravo in the deep. England all out for 117.

WestIndies started in blistering fashion as Chris Gayle scored some fantastic runs to take WI past 50 in the 6 over off the match. Gayle would have wanted to long till the end, but lost his wicket when he was on 88 bowled to a straight Anderson delivery. With WI at 98 for 1 and most of the job already done, Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Simmons did the mop p job and took Wi to victory in the 15th over. WI Lead the 5 match ODI series 2-1.

Score Card Courtesy: CRICINFO






Andrew Strauss , the England captain, has said his team's defeat in the third ODI against West Indies in Barbados was "pretty humiliating and fundamentally pretty embarrassing". West Indies dismissed England for 117 and then routed them by eight wickets after chasing down the target with 176 balls to spare."There are 11 guys in that dressing room right now feeling pretty down on themselves," Strauss said. "It wasn't a contest, we didn't play well. There wasn't enough thought in the way we batted, but we have to take it on the chin."We didn't react well to the wicket. We all made the same mistakes. The crucial thing is you learn from your mistakes but, if we're honest with ourselves, we have done that kind of thing batting wise too often."

Do Join me later for more action.

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Kunal Janu

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IPL 2: Pietersen and Flintoff to lose millions by IPL's delayed start

Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are set to lose over a million dollars after the IPl was announced to start week later. Both players are now busy playin against the WestIndes with the series tied at 1-1. Andrew flintoff is said to return in the next match starting tomorrow. He was earlier sidelined on the bench following a back strain. Kevin Pietersen was sold to Royal Challengers in bidding carried out to add new players to the already available pool of international players. Pietersen was bought for about 8 million dollars roughly about Rs.7.25 Crores ranked as the costliest player of the tournament. Flintoff cam running second when he was sold for just a million rupees less to the Chennai Super Kings.




Rule changes came about for the second season of the IPL to make things more interesting. Each franchise is now allowed to have 10 international players as against 8 in the last season. lalit Modi announced this considering the fact that most Pakistani players refused to play in the IPL which led to a setback to teams like Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkatta Knight Riders who banked on these players. This rule change was of course announced well before the bidding process.

Amonsgst the other popular players selected are Tyron Henderson and Mashrafee Mortaza who went to the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkatta Knight Riders respectively. More drama was seen when Priety Zinta, owner Kings Punjab XI and Juhi Chawla, associate owner for the Kolkatta Knight Riders went about the proceedings raising stakes in million dollars for Mashrafe Mortaza. he was finally sold to the KKR for a whooping Rs.2.5 Crores. Hopefully Mortaza will provide as much entertainment during the matches as he provided during the bidding.

What makes IPL an interesting affair is the kind of rules it has. Player Transfers is a onfusing yet interesting rule where in a Team management can either suspend or terminate the contract with the player for the next season. A player suspended by a team continues to belong to the team until his three years with the team are complete as per the contract. A player if terminated from the team is put up as a potential player to be bought or transferred to another team at a certan cost. No player transfers have been seen so far, it will be interesting to know who gets transferred at what price:) For now IPL2 is set to start on April 18th in South Africa and hopefully it will provide the same entertainment as the first season.

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