< 1 minute readGautham Gambhir played very well, but MS Dhoni is unique. He wasn’t Lord Megachief of Gold for no reason. People talk about big match players all the time, but they often mislabel matches as being big when they’re no such thing. Genuine big matches are rare and genuine big match
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We’re supporting Zaheer Khan
< 1 minute readWe’re supporting India, but we’re struggling with that because we’ve got quite a big reservation. A win for India would, to some extent, be a victory for batting over bowling and we hate batsmen. For us, much of the joy of cricket is in the fall of wickets and we
Continue readingTendulkar v Murali
< 1 minute readWe wrote about the various World Cup storylines during the quarter-finals. The stories of Tendulkar and Murali, two ageing greats, seem to be the strongest now, but that’s mostly due to hindsight. All the same, it makes for a good narrative. There’s also a minor subplot that no-one will care
Continue readingMisbah-ul-Haq shot down in a blaze of bathos
< 1 minute readChasing 261 against India, Misbah-ul-Haq didn’t panic. As the run-rate climbed, Misbah kept his cool and as wickets fell, he stood firm, maintaining an almost tangible air of lack-of-intent. Dead-batting the ball again and again, Misbah sought to wear down the Indian attack to the extent that the match had
Continue readingSeven-match series suck out all the jeopardy that will make this match so exciting
< 1 minute readWe might have made our point in the title. The first match of a seven-match one-day series nobody cares about. There are plenty of matches in which to recover, even if your team loses. The second match of a seven-match one-day series nobody cares about. There’s still plenty of time
Continue readingIndia v Pakistan in Mohali, Wednesday March 30th
< 1 minute readMake a note. This could barely be a bigger deal even if it had a tumour in its pituitary gland. It’s India v Pakistan. It’s Shahid Afridi v MS Dhoni. It’s Pakistan’s lethal bowling attack against India’s jaw-dropping batting line-up. It’s India’s two-and-a-half frontline bowlers against Pakistan’s two-and-a-half competent batsmen.
Continue readingIndia beat Australia in the World Cup and everyone is happy
< 1 minute readIndia are through to a World Cup semi-final. Australia are out. Ricky Ponting’s proved his class with a hundred. Everyone’s happy. There are no losers in this situation. None whatsoever. No-one who matters is in any way disappointed with the events of today. It is one of those rare moments
Continue readingCricket World Cup storylines
< 1 minute readThe great thing about actual, proper tournaments is the way that narratives develop. Every remaining team already has a good story in place if they eventually go on to become World Champions. Pakistan – Would defy what was a catastrophic build-up to the tournament even by their standards. Being as
Continue readingIndia hate batting powerplays too
< 1 minute readWe’re really warming to the batting powerplay. Brought in to try and give the idiots more fours and sixes, you’ve got to love the way cricket has micturated all over those well laid plans. If England bat out five maidens in their batting powerplay losing one wicket in the process,
Continue readingIndia and England World Cup tie – three key points
< 1 minute readWhat a match. Here are three things that struck us about it: Boundaries “People want to see boundaries” – you always hear people say that as if it’s a fact, but this match wasn’t exciting because there were 76 boundaries; it was exciting because it was a close match. Andrew
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