20-20 debut for India or not??

Finally India are gonna play their first 20-20 international today IF WEATHER PERMITS.
Can India register their first win of the tour??? My answer would be YES.
No doubt, the man to watch out for India is MS Dhoni.The way he has shaped up so far in the tour makes me believe he will do it for India today.
SA's big guns will be missing but the younger lot are not bad either. It would be tough for the visitors but they have a fair chance.

Lets hope the rains stay away so that one could witness a cracking encounter.

No place for Monty, yet again...

How cum there is no place for Monty Panesar in the England team playing in Adelaide??According to me, this is a big selection blunder from Duncan Fletcher. With these sort of selection blunders, England cannot retain the Ashes.Monty Panesar has started his career with the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, and then went on to become their best bowler in summer against Sri Lanka and Pakistan (two teams who play spin well).What else can a bowler do to get a place in the eleven? Its for all to know that Giles is Duncan's favourite but Monty is a much much better bowler than Giles.England may win this test, but still not playing Monty is a big mistake.

Yousuf breaks Viv's record but....

He is still a few steps away from greatness. No doubt, he is a player of great quality, elegance, substance but he is yet to prove himself totally. Against Australia in Australia, he averages about 33 and in SA against SA just about 16.He has let the team down many times abroad, especially in the above mentioned countries.I agree, 2006 has been great for him but most of the time, he played against moderate attacks or in very good batting conditions.
So, once he does well Overseas( especially in Aus and SA), helps his team win more consistently and be more reliable, I put him in the class of Ponting,Dravid and Kallis.

Indian Team Selected...New Vice Kaptan..

Surpise Surpise....VVS Laxman appointed Vice-Captain for the Indian Test Team..

According to me, its a very very good decision for many reasons.
a) Laxman has always been captaincy material, captained Hyderabad, South Zone, India A and so on.
b) Its like informing Sehwag that 'U r no longer a permanent member, u dont pick for yourself, u need to perform'.
c) Thrusting responsibility on Laxman will make him even better player.
d) Lastly, Dravid and Laxman have great understanding (played together a lot, u-19,zone etc).

Well Done Mr.Vengsarkar!!

Ganguly's 3rd innings...Coming Soon

Hold on..I have not gone mad..It would , infact be his 3rd innings.

Ganguly was a part of the Indian squad that toured Australia in 1991/92 although he could not make his Test Debut.
He played some tour games but failed to create any sort of Impression. He made his debut in ODIs though, against the West Indies but failed.
Subsequently , he was dropped and it was the end of his first innings.

June 2006: Ganguly debuted in Tests and all of us know what happened since then. If the 1st innings lasted for mere months, 2nd innings lasted for about 10 years.If I were to name a player who has seen it all, it would be Sourav Chandidas Ganguly.Loss of form, spat with Chappell, change in Board leadership, one thought have put an end to Dada's 2nd innings, or should i say Career.


Breaking News: Ganguly likely for Test Callup
This is one news that all Indian National news channels have been beaming since last night(28th Nov).

Now, its all but confirmed that SC Ganguly will be part of the Test Squad which is going to be announced on 30th November.

So, Get ready for the 3rd innings...