Archive for the ‘Articles’ Category

  • 11 Sep

    Posted by


    Category

    The board needs to think about how to handle injured players

    0

    Despite the Kolkata Knight Riders saying that Gautam Gambhir will be looking to take his own decision on the participation in the CLT20, it is a surprise that it is not the BCCI who is getting involved in the decision-making of the injury problems around Gambhir.

    Gambhir’s concussion was a serious enough injury and it should be the board’s prerogative to decide on who should be allowed to play in the domestic tournament and who should not be allowed to play – given that the players have signed the contract with the board.

    Thus, it means that even if Gambhir is less than fully fit, and he decides to play on, the BCCI will not interfere in the matter and it will mean that the side will be looking to get him on board. What happens if then, the player gets injured again and misses the series against England and even the West Indies?

    Doesn’t the board have any affinity towards international cricket? Doesn’t it have any kind of duties to protect its own players? Sad state of affairs this is.

  • 09 Sep

    Posted by


    Category

    Harbhajan shouldn’t be allowed to play CLT20

    0

    The Champions League T20 is only around a week away and the sides are beginning to form units in the preparation. The big news comes from the Mumbai Indians camp as Harbhajan Singh has declared himself fit for the tournament, which is no surprise given that the format is hardly difficult, physically speaking, on the bowlers.

    So, instead of taking rest at home and trying to get the spin right for the rest of the series in the year including the ones against England at home and the one against West Indies and later against Australia, he has decided to go ahead with the Mumbai Indian games for the CLT20 games.

    The time has come where the board takes a strong stance, that is, if the player has missed a series before the CLT20 or the IPL because of an injury, he needs to give the lucrative tournament a miss as well, and rest enough to get the bearings right for the international series.

    However, the problem is that the BCCI will never be doing such a thing to annoy the money churning franchises. Because it is not the international results but the money that BCCI only worries about!

  • 07 Sep

    Posted by


    Category

    Somerset to go for CLT20 with depleted side

    0

    Somerset will find it difficult to play in the Champions League T20 with their full squad after the side would have to miss out on many of their star players in the tournament. Amongst the others, there will be no place for Marcus Trescothick, Joss Buttler, Craig Kieswetter and Kieron Pollard, all of whom had played a huge part in getting the Sabres through to the CLT20 playoffs.

    Trescothick’s issue is that he does not travel outside of his home and has, one expected lines, withdrawn from the tournament. On the other hand, Kieswetter and Buttler have not been named for the tournament by Somerset because they would be selected by the national side and that would mean that the Somerset team will be without some of the best players they had used to qualify for the tournament.

    The other issue is that of Pollard, who will be plying his trade for the Mumbai Indians, leaving the Somerset side without too much traction.

    Instead, the side will have the services of Alex Barrow, a 19-year-old, as a wicket-keeper, whose experience of playing in India hasn’t been the greatest.

    Somerset squad: Alex Barrow, Jos Buttler, Nick Compton, Adam Dibble, George Dockrell, James Hildreth, Gemaal Hussain Murali Kartik, Steven Kirby, Craig Kieswetter, Craig Meschede, Arul Suppiah, Alfonso Thomas, Peter Trego, Roelof van der Merwe.

  • 06 Sep

    Posted by


    Category

    New South Wales are my favourites, who are yours?

    0

    While the fans concentrate on the Indian teams in the Champions League T20, it will be interesting to see how the other, non-IPL sides perform in the tournament. Apart from three teams who have made it directly to the final round and one in Kolkata Knight Riders, who are a part of the qualifiers, there are nine others, who will look to compete and win the trophy.

    These nine are; New South Wales, South Australia, Leicestershire, Somerset, Cobras, Warriors, Auckland, Ruhuna and Trinidad and Tobago.

    To me, New South Wales would be the one team worth looking at, simply because not only have they won the first Champions League in 2009, it was also played in India, where their bowlers were able to get the ball to keep low and make things difficult for the opposition.

    While the captain hasn’t been decided yet, there is a good chance that Simon Katich could lead the side and given all that he has gone through with the selectors in the last couple of months, it may result in him going in full tilt.

    Who are your favourites?

  • 05 Sep

    Posted by


    Category

    Can the Mumbai Indians win the CLT20 with all their injury issues?

    0

    The Mumbai Indians side could be bereft of some of their star cricketers with the kind of injuries that they have been suffering.

    For starters, there is a foot issue with their captain Sachin Tendulkar and if he is declared unfit for the rest of the series against England, it will be interesting to see if he will be fit enough to play in the Champions League T20.

    The one player who should definitely be out of reckoning is Rohit Sharma, who suffered from a broken bone in his hand. This meant that he will be out of competitive cricket for around a month and it will not make sense for him to risk playing.

    Then, there is Harbhajan Singh who flew back from England to rest his stomach muscle which could be tested in the CLT20 if he opts to play for it.

    If all three do not play in the tournament, not only will the side be without three of the better players they have, the Mumbai Indians will miss having a proper captain as well for the Champions League T20. They would be out of reckoning then, to win the Champions League T20.

Page 2 of 19«12345»10...Last »