The Umpire Strikes Back

The India Vs Australia clash yesterday was a fun encounter. It was tight and had its moments of intense cricket which resulted in an Aussie win (Yes, I can hear Bart sniggering)

What was the highlight of the game for me was the umpiring!

First the Harbhajan runout without the ball in his hand - After that bit of drama, you knew the Umpires were Hadding a bad day.

Then came Sachin and his caught behind. That was possibly the most ridiculous call I have ever seen, thank god there was a live relay on the ground. Ricky Ponting is heading for trivia glory for being the Australian Captain with the most lost match fees for arguing with the umpires. Give it up, Punter! (Of course, he has no fear of being banned because he is not a brown cricketer)

Just as you thought the whitecoats could do no worse, the caught behind that poor Bhaji was handed out was a very Rauf decision. A pity, the result might just have been a wee bit different had he managed to stay there.

Wonder what we're going to see next!

Riggs

Raising the Steaks

This is going to be quick and painful - I told you so.

P.S: Someone PLEASE tell Mort to stop believing Dravid has the slightest clue about what's going on. I'm beginning to get worried for his sanity.

Sachin 65, Bart 0, Riggy 1

My good friend Bart is baa-ing. It's what comes from being sheepish. No sooner did Bart finish ranting, the Indians played some Collapso Cricket of their own. At 78-6, my good friend chuckled away and decided the timing of the Morning Rant was spot on. I may even go so far as to say, Bart thought 'No Ganguly, whadya expect?'

I am glad Mr.T had other plans. He played the most awesome innings last time around and this time, I was so sure he would have scored another if not for that freak run out. At 162 all out, even the most diehard Indian fans would have thought we were coming home.

The rest, shall we say, is history. I am not going to talk about that. What I am going to do, however, is nudge Bart in the ribs and say 'Heh Heh, tell me, this Captain LumberJack, the great Indian Circuit, Chapeli, all of them, nitwits all,would like to know how humble pie tastes'.

As for the steak, this Sunday, I hear you're buying?

Bart, DO TELL!

Why does it always rain on me?

At the outset, I must mention that Mort is one of my favorite people. That's the caveat. The real point to be made is that he's been getting on my nerves lately about how I've abandoned the blog. Obviously, it is lost on him that there is only so much room for fabrication of profound opinion on Mr Ganguly. And let's scroll down and notice I've pretty much used it all. It has now become about as easy to root for Saurav Dada as it is to get Morty to discuss his secret admiration for Karan Johar.

Well, regardless, while I'm here, allow me to opine briefly on the latest bumblings of Captain LumberJack. This way, Mort can shut up about my flak-ish tendencies for atleast a week and I can gloat over the Great Indian Circus' latest antics. Surprise, surprise - the Aussies and the West Indians are far better prepared for this faux League than all the good men who attended a clandestine training camp somewhere south of the Vindhyas. Mr Tendulkar is now done with his yearly quota of brilliance. We can now look forward to a series of 29's and 14's. And it turns out Mr Chappell is way too busy to bother with budding talent and way too dynamic to stick to one friggin' batting order. Mort, what was it that we wagered a steak on? It wouldn't be on the endless gold rush that Mr Dravid is on, would it? Not to rain on his parade or anything - because apparently that is a good thing these days.

- Bart

The Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game

Another funny cricket conversation on the Yahoo Messenger with my good buddy Qwerty (http://ahnooie.blogspot.com)

Ahnooie: well come to my town - i'll get you to meet your favorite cricketers too

Riggs: Of that I have no doubt .... but Kirti Azaad is not my fav cricketer heh heh. I think he is the 2nd ugliest indian test cricketer? the first being Ashok Malhotra?

Ahnooie: heh heh - i'll make sure you don't meet - kapil dev. he can't understand English - you can't understand Hindi

Riggs: arre ? hum shud hindi mein vartalap kar sakte hain. dhanyavaad.

Ahnooie: oh there in a lost list - only the new cricketers take care - about personal grooming - even will all that - see Arun Lal? i mean you catch him outside the stadium - and you'll ask - Moongphali hai?

Riggs: hahahahahaahaha


I leave you faithful readers to judge this dubious beauty contest!




Arun Lal




Ashok Malhotra



Kirti Azad

The King is BACK!

246 minutes, 148 balls faced, 141 runs scored, 13 x 4, 5 x 6, 95.27 Strike Rate - Need we say more?



Sachin Tendulkar is back. And how. Yes, I hear the doubting Kumar's say he started patchy, he had a live whilst on 5 , he scored many runs through slips. Yes. Okay. 141 of them. So pipe the heck down.

I agree, it wasn't one of Sachin's best. But it was his 40th ODI Century. Yes, you are reading that correctly. His FORTIETH. Coupled with the 35 he has in Test cricket as well. What a player.

Much has been said about his tennis elbow, his has-been batting, his retirement and all that jazz. I really don't care. I had a smile as wide as my waist last night when he reached his hundred. Post his hundred when his bat went boom boom boom and the ball kept flying into the stands, the smile went to a chuckle and finally that turned into a yell with a bunched up fist. His last six was magical, one from the old school.

I am glad he is back and scoring runs in the manner in which he was born to do. I just hope this form continues until after the World Cup. The last World Cup was all his - I have never seen him bat better. With this knock, he looks ready for an encore.

I end with my favourite pic of the day. After synchronised swimming, we have some synchronised batting. Sehwag and Dhoni - Cute !