Ever since I found my cricket archives collection at my Delhi home which was gathering dust for over 10 years, I have been going through them and recalling some of the old memories I had of important moments in cricket history. These moments mark important milestones in cricketing history and I am going to share three of them here.

Kotla Pitch Fiasco before Indo-Pak Test Match

In what was a major fiasco for security agencies, Shiv Sainiks damaged the pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in early January 1999 just before the start of the first Test Match. It is to be recalled that this was the first Pakistan tour after a long time and there were a lot of politics and emotions involved. The match was later moved to Madras with the second match scheduled for Delhi (the one where Kumble took all 10 wickets in an innings ). Here this picture captures the Shiv Sainiks damaging the pitch in the middle of the night.

1999 World Cup Semi Final

Nobody can forget the 1999 World Cup semi final between Australia and South Africa which was dramatically tied leading to Australia entering the finals. It is to be recalled that South Africa needed 9 runs to win in the final over with Lance… Read the rest

There are not many leg spinners in world cricket today. Neither were there 20 years ago, until Shane Warne (along with Anil Kumble) brought it into fashion again. Leg-spin is not only about skill, it is like an art, and like all work of artists, watching him bowl is always a treat to watch. When he begins to ‘walk‘ his short run up, it is marked by the ball being tossed from the right hand to the left by those artful wrists. With eyes and mind focussed on the plan, the ball is released from his hands towards a batsman who is confused about the flight, the dip, the speed, and the amount of turn the ball will take after pitching.

Two decades before he came onto the international scene, fast bowlers have ruled world cricket like never before. Despite the fact that executing and mastering leg-spin is extremely difficult, he came up trumps and made his own bewildering English and South African batsmen with a puzzle which they will never solve. His humiliation of Mike Gatting and many other batsmen by his enormous turn, masterful googlies and surprising flippers made for a wonderful sight for cricket lovers who… Read the rest

This was the World Cup everybody hoped for after the debacle in 2007. With India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka reaching the last four, and an Indian victory, the ICC could not have asked for a better script. This World Cup will also be remembered for a dream of a billion people getting fulfilled, and Sachin Tendulkar getting this one final jewel in his bag of crowns, which was no secret. India won the World Cup after 28 years, putting Dhoni right among the top when it comes to captaincy greats.

This World Cup will also be known for some extraordinary and unexpected performances from few players, like how Pakistan rallied behind Shahid Afridi the bowler to surprise many and reaching the semis, or how Yuvraj marked his comeback with superb all round performance which won him four man of match and the man of the series award. It was also marked by the clear end of Australian dominance in ODI cricket. England proved the most entertaining team of the tournament, losing to Ireland and then winning against South Africa, who in-fact, did a deja-vu by confirming their ‘chokers’ tag by losing to New Zealand in the quarters.

How my… Read the rest

As the ICC World Cup starts in under two weeks on what are going to be batsman friendly pitches of the subcontinent, a lot of records are going to be broken and new ones made. Considering the small grounds of the subcontinent and the hot weather, it is expected that bowlers will take the heat and a lot of batting records are to be made. Below I am trying to predict some important statistics and records that this world cup might see. I will evaluate these figures again at the end of the world cup.

There are 14 teams participating this time in the World Cup hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. There will be 49 matches in total, two less than the 2007 world cup. The format will be similar to the 1996 World Cup, with a knockout round of quarter finals, semi finals and a final after the round robin league of two groups of 7 teams each. The tournament starts on 19th Feb 2011 and ends with the final on 2nd Apr 2011. Lets now get to the predictions…

• Most sixes in a single over – I reckon there will be at least… Read the rest

It has been almost a year now since the Indian media has been blasting Australians for racial attacks on Indians down under. After all, it makes for good news which people watch. And who cares for the facts!! It it sells, then show it on prime-time TV or make it front page news… and people will watch too. But do we try to wait and understand what actually is Racism, and is it racism what is happening in Australia?

Racism is defined as “any discrimination or prejudice based on race“. Going by this definition of racism, is it not racism when political parties like MNS and Shiv Sena protests, most of the times violently, against North Indians? Is it not racism when we have reservations for certain “backward” classes for the last 60 years? Is it not racism when we have many temples in our country where non-Hindus are not allowed? In the Sabarimala Shrine in Kerala, women between the age 6-60 are not allowed inside. There are even some shrines where men are not allowed.

Dalits, who represent 16 percent of India’s 1.1 billion population are often beaten or killed for using a well or worshipping at a… Read the rest