Champions Trophy Vs Congress Atrophy!

We're talking about cricket here, from the point of view of Indian cricket; but mixing it with politics isn't something that was never heard of! We published here kind of a rant post during the disastrous down under India tour which was so, not primarily because of the run-less performances of the stalwarts, but also because of the politics of selection and clout. The heavyweights naturally cannot be disposed of easily which is why they figure in the Team for Champions Trophy-2025 too. 

Leaders and politicians spend a helluva lot of time announcing the CM or PM faces as the case may be. Similarly, the cricket mandarins and selectors have managed to announce the squad only after more than ten days of serial huddles. This is typically political! Isn't this? 

Now, Congress--the oldest national political party of the country--is in the throes of deadly atrophy! So much so that quite a few parties of the Alliance which was formed recently, have threatened to abandon Congress while one or two have already decided to fight the elections on their own. Why? Because Congress is still being run by the old guards, in their seventies to nineties, as per their whims or no-scruples and thus effectively preventing young blood to get into the body, apart from the so-called dynastic clout. 

You see the point now? The Team India squad is the 'cricket' example of the heavyweight politics where many meritorious youngsters cannot ever manage to get into the body. Experts justify this by citing the difference between the red and the white ball cricket. But basically, they don't have the balls to protest enough! 

Politics runs through everything--let it be elections of any kind, governments, bureaucracy, sports or even family homes. With the billions lurking everywhere, Indian cricket thus has the biggest stakes for all who do politics and love to influence and rule!  

IPL-2021: The Last Of The MSD?

The MSD of Indian and world cricket has been a phenomenon in terms of aggression yet simple approach, skillful captaincy in all three formats of the game, unorthodox right-hand batsman with raw yet powerful hitting, one of the best examples in wicket-keeping in world cricket, one of the fastest runners between the wickets and always smiling and composed in the field. MSD simplified means the one and the only—Mahendra Singh Dhoni. On October 15, 2021 in the IPL-2021 final in Dubai which was MSD’s 300^thmatch Dhoni led his franchise CSK (Chennai Super Kings), since 2008, to its 4^thChampion title defeating KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) convincingly by 27 runs. The earlier title wins under Dhoni’s captaincy were in 2010, 2011 and 2018.

 

There have been rumors floating around in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) about the 40-year-old star cricketer’s retirement after IPL-2021 which seems realistic now that he has played the 300^thmatch and also winning the title, creating a moment of glory in leaving. However, the unpredictable, as far as retirement is concerned, cricketer has denied all rumors and made it clear that if not as the captain of CSK he’d continue to be available as a player. After the final encounter of the IPL-2021 MS Dhoni also said that with two new teams coming for the auctions for IPL-2022 the best of interests for CSK would naturally be kept in mind and the Indian cricket board BCCI would be the final authority to decide on his position or place in the team. If he retires indeed then we have seen the last of the MSD here in Dubai, and unfortunately we missed seeing him bat as it was not necessary for him and there was also the rare drop of a catch behind by someone who is never known for such lapses. But fortunately, we had again seen him in the role of a ‘finisher’ in the Qualifier-1 where he hit the required 13 runs in the last over to take CSK straight into the Final, defeating DC (Delhi Capitals), the top team in the points table.

 

As for the IPL-2021 Final Dhoni’s CSK almost sealed the encounter when its top four batsmen took the winds out of KKR—the batting explosion led by opener Faf du Plessis with 86 runs off just 59 balls and significant contributions by opener Rituraj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa and Moeen Ali—posted a mammoth total of 192 runs on the board. KKR, the team that performed brilliantly in the UAE leg of the tournament, basically consists of 5 or 6 contributing players—the two consistent openers of Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer, the three spinners of Narine, Chakravarthy and Shakib (a late addition in the absence of the unpredictable Andre Russel), and pacer Mavi, at times joined by batsman Rana. All others, unfortunately, were more of liabilities than assets including most prominently the KKR captain Eoin Morgan and wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik—their glaring inability to lead the team when required. In the Final too, despite an opening partnership of 91 runs in good time, the following batsmen failed miserably including Narine on whom the team depends as a batsman too. Also, the point to be mentioned here is that KKR played most of their matches in the relatively sluggish pitches of Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, and won mostly low scoring matches, their trio of spinners and Mavi restricting the oppositions to less than 150 most often. The high-scoring match on an easy pitch the CSK total score was literally beyond KKR standards.

 

Coming back to the MSD phenomenon, we still remember him as the long-haired young boy from a small town Ranch in Bihar, running enthusiastically around the field—hitting the ball very hard, keeping the wickets and even bowling on rare occasions. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was selected for Team India in 2004 for the shorter format (ODI) and made his Test debut the next year. In 2007 he took over captaincy from Rahul Dravid in the ODI format and became the Test captain too in 2008 taking over from Anil Kumble. The disastrous result in the ICC Cricket World Cup-2007 when India was eliminated at the league stage was a huge setback for Dhoni; but in the same year in the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup T20, named as its captain too, Dhoni led the team to his first ICC World Cup defeating Pakistan in the Final. MSD played 90 Tests amassing nearly 5000 runs with a healthy average of 38, 6 centuries, a double century (the highest of his career at 224) and 33 fifties. In 2013 under his captaincy India became the first team in 40 years to have whitewashed Australia 4-0 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy played in India. During his tenure India occupied the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for the first time. He brought aggression into the team, paradigm shifting the team’s usual ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’ to ‘snatching victory from the jaws of defeat’.

 

In the ODI format (one-day international) MSD played 350 matches and amassed more than 10000 glorious runs, the fourth Indian to do so, with 10 centuries, 73 half-centuries and an amazing average of 50.53 (his highest and a memorable score of 183 against Sri Lanka in 2005).  He also became the first wicket-keeper in the world to complete the 100^th stumpings. MSD raced to his second ICC World Cup by winning the ICC Cricket World Cup-2011 in India by holding the fort in the Final against Sri Lanka in Mumbai forming a winning partnership with Yuvraj Singh, and the ecstasy that followed that we cannot ever forget. His third ICC World Cup came in 2013 when India won the ICC Champions Trophy -2013 played in England, first started by the ICC as a knockout tournament and called the Mini World Cup, post-2017 it got replaced the T20 World Cup), defeating the hosts in the Final that got reduced to 20 overs each due to rains. So, MSD became the only Indian captain to win all the ICC World Cups, apart from two Asia Cup victories. In the T20I format, Dhoni played 98 matches amassing 1612 runs with a healthy average of 37 and two half-centuries.

 

The MSD phenomenon has been getting tremendous praise both nationally and internationally by famous cricketers. He has earned the title of ‘Captain Cool’ for his simplicity and easy manners on the field, and is also known for his ‘helicopter shot’ signifying his raw hitting power and unorthodox approach to the game. He initially started as a lower order batsman, but was promoted to the top order thanks to his prowess and utility, and then settled more or less as a middle-order batsman. He has been given the honor of figuring in the ICC World Test IX 3 times as captain, a record 8 times in the ICC World ODI IX of which 5 times as captain of the team along with ICC ODI Player of the Year in 2008 and in 2009. In India, the modest boy from Ranchi won Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2007, Indian civil honors Padmashri in 2009 and Padma Bhushan in 2018.

 

The MSD phenomenon has not been without its share of ups and downs, criticisms, controversy and unpredictable behavior. He suddenly laid down his captaincy from the ODI format ahead of a series in 2017 making himself still available as a player. More dramatically, he announced his retirement from Test cricket amidst a Test Series in Australia in 2014-15 leaving it all to Virat Kohli to handle. He retired from all formats of international cricket on 15^th August, 2020, perhaps prompted by his famous run-out against New Zealand in the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup-2019 thus failing to ‘finish’ the match, and the aftermath of his non-selection for the international matches by the BCCI. Dhoni had also been criticized by his moves to oust the stalwarts of Team India one by one bringing in new blood, of course seemingly favoring some players, and of late for his inability to accelerate in batting. In the aftermath of the World Cup-2007 disaster for India Dhoni’s Ranchi residence was vandalized by perhaps disappointed fans. His IPL franchise CSK was involved in a bitter match-fixing controversy that started in 2013 for which the franchise was banned for two years in 2015, and Dhoni was purchased by Pune for one year after that. In 2018 he came back to lead CSK again and won the third Championship title that year.

 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni remains in UAE for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup T20-2021 where he will play his role as a ‘mentor’ or ‘mental conditioner’ for Team India. No one could be better positioned for this role. He has been known to be very close to India captain Virat Kohli (who has recently announced his stepping-down as captain from the T20 format after the World Cup), and the latter gained immensely as captain from Dhoni’s guidance on the field as MSD was still playing for the team in the shorter formats. In actuality, nobody would ever tire of watching the MSD phenomenon in some kind of a role, playing on the field or otherwise. Such is this player of cricket who has continuously been showered love and affection throughout India and elsewhere.

Cricket: India Clean Sweep Zimbabwe 5-0, Complete Hattrick Of Tournament Wins!

First, the ICC Champions Trophy-2013 with Team India remaining unbeaten throughout, second being the Celkon Mobile Cup Triangular Series in West Indies where Team India fought back from the brink of elimination to win the title and now the bilateral five-match ODI Series in Zimbabwe with Team India white washing the hosts 5-0 most emphatically and convincingly and winning the second Celkon Mobile Cup within a month. The latest Indian sweep and the completion of a hattrick assumes some significance considering the fact it was almost a junior Team India that basically and later most effectively tested India’s bench strength. There is not much to write home about the hapless Zimbabwe team with the Indian media mostly discussing the utter lack of cricket funds in that country and the contrast between Indian and Zimbabwean cricketers in terms of money. In the absence of Indian captain MS Dhoni vice-captain Virat Kohli did a commendable job leading from the front and never failing to inspire the young players—particularly the bowlers. Amit Mishra—after almost two months of exile—came back strongly to capture 18 wickets in 5 matches and achieving a six-wicket haul in the last ODI played yesterday. Pervaz Rasool, spinner from the state of Jammu and Kashmir, could have become the first ever cricketer from the state to play for the Indian eleven, but he could not get a chance which attracted political comments. Skipper Kohli defended the decision saying that Rasool did not fit the team’s bowling plans and that he would soon get to play lot of cricket as he figures in India A team visiting South Africa in near future.

 

Ravindra Jadeja

New updates of the ICC ODI Rankings were announced last evening after the Indian sweep. Team India continues to dominate as the number one ODI team although just one point was gained after the latest triumph. More significantly, flourishing all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja became the number one ODI bowler with 38 wickets from the last 22 matches. He thus becomes the first Indian bowler to have this honor after Anil Kumble in 1996, and the fourth ever Indian bowler to do so.

Team India thoroughly deserves about two months rest after its triumphant return home. Australia is scheduled to visit India for seven one-day matches in October-November. Of course, in between there will be a Champions League T20 Tournament to be played in India in September where some IPL teams would be participating. Take a break from cricket for the moment! 

India Do A T20 To Lift The ICC Champions Trophy-2013!

It was a miracle of a match. Rains being a spoilsport in the most important encounter of the tournament the final between India and England in Edgbaston finally became a T20 match with one-day rules. England in the morning won the toss and looking at the weather decided naturally to field first. Then the rains, rains and rains. The crowds never gave up hope though. Some genuine cricket lovers of genuine cricket cursed the ICC for not keeping a reserve day for the all-important final involving the hosts England and the best undefeated team of the tournament India.

India started batting with the opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma making a relatively good start, though repeated rain interruptions did not help them much. England had them on the mat at 65/5 in the 14^th over. But thanks to the most incredible all-rounder for India in this tournament Ravindra Jadeja with Virat Kohli took his team to a fighting 129/7 in the allotted twenty overs. While not even the most optimistic really thought India would win India had England on the mat at 46/4 in the 9^thover Bopara and Morgan almost ensured an England win. Then the miracle of miracles.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni brought on his most expensive bowler of the chasse Ishant Sharma in the 18^th over saving his most precious spinners Jadeja and Ashwin for the last two overs when most cricket expert said the match would almost be over by then as England needed just 30 runs off three overs with six wickets remaining. Ishant was hit for a six...to make matters worse he bowled two wides next…and then…he took two wickets in two balls. England batsmen got into a maze giving India an extremely avoidable run out. With the unplayable spinners in operation England had a hard task hauling up the required 19 runs off the last two overs. Finally India won the match by a miraculous five-run margin and became the deserving winner of the ICC Champions Trophy-2013 played in England and Wales.

What a way to compensate for the domestic unrest regarding the IPL Spot or Match fixing scandal. That there was not even a single firecracker burst in Mumbai said volumes about people’s loss of faith in the game. But mind you, even the deftest and experienced bookies, betters, punters, brokers and fixers just could not have had a clue to this match of unpredictable twists and turns. More seriously, the tale of utter devastation and sufferings and loss of lives in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand following torrential rains and cloud bursts could be one crucial reason for the apathetic response to a most memorable Indian win.

The Scorecard!

That India now has the ICC Champions Trophy too in its bag is still some good reason to celebrate a little. At least some good to get over the ugly to some extent. In our opinion poll eighty percent voted for an Indian win. We thank all of you for participating.

Champions Trophy: England Vs South Africa! India Vs Sri Lanka!

On Monday the full semifinal line-up has finally been completed for the ICC Champions Trophy- 2013 currently on in England and Wales. On Sunday in a crucial Group A encounter England faced with elimination if defeated managed to beat New Zealand by 10 runs in a rain-curtailed match reduced to just 24 overs each side and booked a berth in the semis—the first team in that group to do so amassing 4 points. New Zealand with 3 points missed the bus thanks to their wickets falling in heaps, but stuck on to their hopes that Australia beat Sri Lanka and stay below NZ's much better net run-rate.

Mercifully there was no rain threat on Monday yesterday. Australia put Sri Lanka in winning the toss to be perhaps on a better position to track the required run-rate for a semis berth. For Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jaywardene played a superb innings of 84 runs batting tactically lower down the order and brought his team into real contention. Set a competitive target of 254 runs to win Australia pushed hard aiming to haul it up within 30 overs ensuring victory as well as place in the last four. But they lost too many wickets in the effort and when they were out of contention for semis past 30 overs the real agony began for Sri Lanka.

At 168/8 a win for Sri Lanka seemed a mere formality. However the last two Aussie pairs—AC Voges (49) and CJ McKay (30) for 24 runs for the ninth wicket and then McKay and XJ Doherty (15 not out) for the last wicket partnership of 41 runs—had better ideas and fought real hard for a honorable victory not bothering how improbable or impossible that looked. The hapless Sri Lankan bowlers tried every trick under the sun, but to no avail. The last dogged pair brought their team within 21 runs of an incredible win. The Aussies were in no hurry as there was a huge number of balls left. The vocal Sri Lankan supporters fell into deathly silence and the clueless Sri Lanka cricketers started appealing pitifully for everything. They knew that an Aussie win would eliminate them and put New Zealand in the semis. Finally when a desperate Dilshan leapt to his left to take a brilliant catch of his own bowling it was more relief than ecstasy in the celebrations! This pulsating phase brought out the excitement of cricket that could make you bite your nails irrespective of your team loyalty. Sri Lanka entered the semifinals for the sixth time in the last eight world cricket tournaments.

So then, England meet South Africa in the first semifinal to be played tomorrow, the 19^th of June at the Kennington Oval in London and India meet Sri Lanka for the second one to be played in Cardiff on Thursday the 20^th of June. The grand final between the winners would be played on 23^rd June at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

The first semifinal is evenly poised as both England and South Africa had to struggle to meet each other. While England would be enjoying the home advantage South Africa would try hard to shake off the ‘chokers’ tag this time. Playing their main attack bowler Dale Steyn is more or less confirmed. 

Labeled the best team of the tournament so far India enjoys an edge over Sri Lanka. Team India looks more balanced and stronger than Sri Lanka at the moment. In fact, India would have felt better to face their traditional rival rather than New Zealand—an unpredictable entity capable of turning the tables against any team on their day. Sri Lanka would hope for great knocks from Sangakkara and Mahela and for their attacking bowlers including Malinga prominently to fire. The sub-continental cricket fans are waiting for the big encounter with abated breath.

Champions Trophy: India Rout Pakistan Despite Rains And D/L!

India have demolished a listless Pakistan by 8 wickets with nearly three overs to spare in the ICC Champions Trophy last Group B match cut short and shorter by innumerable rain interruptions followed by Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) revisions. It was a huge occasion with the archrivals playing each other and crowds filled in to the brim in the Edgbaston stadium apart from millions of viewers glued in to their TV sets on Saturday. Everybody expected exciting cricket and they desperately wanted it to be of full fifty overs. Well, a poor batting display by Pakistan made it a one-sided affair and frequent rain interruptions dampened the excitement further. But Indian fans still have a cause to celebrate while the Pakistan fans can only feel sorry as their team let them down.

The match started as a full fifty-over encounter, but shortly afterwards rains made it forty-overs. Pakistan could not even last that many overs and got all out for a paltry 165 with two balls to spare. D/L method revised the target to 168 to win for India.

The Champions Indian opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma started in style and looked to be in no trouble at all when another rain interruption made the target 157 to win in 36 overs. Then a major rain interruption and D/L reduced the overs to just 22 and the target 102 to win. Dhawan missed his fifty by 2 runs and shone as ever making 48 entertaining runs in 41 balls. Rohit was the first wicket to fall for India. Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik took their team to victory never showing any sign of complacency. The terrific form of Karthik is a good sign for Team India. The Scorecard:

India kept its Group B slate clean winning all the matches and emerging as the top team. They have also bagged the unique honor of being voted the best fielding side of the tournament too so far. Who would be their rival in the semis is yet to be decided as the Group A is still wide open and no team has made it to the semis so far.

Rains have been playing the spoilsport of late in the ICC Champions Trophy matches. But for a change it proved lucky for the ‘chokers’ of big tournaments South Africa on Friday. For the first time since the 2003 World Cup disaster South Africa got a favor from the D/L calculations. It was again the case of just one ball in that match cut short to 31 overs each. At the end of 26 overs West Indies were ahead of South Africa as per D/L at 190 for five. If the first ball of the 27^th over was left alone West Indies could still have won in terms of losing less number of wickets. But Pollard played a wild shot and got out, and the rains came pouring down. D/L calculations ruled the match tied and South Africa sailed into the semis thanks to their better net run-rate. A thoroughly disappointed West Indies could not still blame Pollard because at that particular moment he could not possibly have anticipated rains.  

Champions Trophy: India Going Strong, Pakistan Out!

While Indian Cricket made all the wrong headlines thanks to the IPL Spot Fixing scandal the Indian Cricket team in England and Wales for the on-going ICC Champions Trophy-2013 played the best of cricket so far. India became the first team of the tournament to sail into the semifinals outplaying West Indies in their second Group-B match on 11^th June. Earlier in the Championship opener on 6^th June India edged out South Africaby 26 runs in a toughly competitive and high-scoring encounter. In both matches Shikhar Dhawan, the sensational new-find for India, made brilliant back-to-back centuries contributing hugely for the team victories. In fact, this is Shikhar’s 3^rd consecutive hundred if we take into account his brilliant Test century against Australia in Mohali after which he got injured. With Rohit Sharma this opening duo seems to be doing extremely well at the moment and cricket fans would hope they make the pair Team India has been looking for after the failures of the Sehwag-Gambhir duo. India’s powerful batting display in English conditions has won special praise.

The other semifinalist from Group B is likely to be decided in the crucial encounter today between South Africa and West Indies—both teams with one win each. In a virtual quarter final the winner will go straight into the semis. There is a worry of rain over the match and in case the match is abandoned both teams would be locked at 3 points each making net run-rate coming into play.

The scenario in Group A is far more complex. Sri Lanka on the brink of elimination fought for dear life last night and convincingly beat a strong England by 7 wickets with 17 balls to spare. Chasing a big target of 294 runs Sri Lanka won in style thanks to a scintillating unbeaten century by Sangakkara. The England-New Zealand tie on 16^th June is set to be another quarter final where the winner would go straight into the semis. However if New Zealand is defeated they would still stick on for the last match of Group A between Australia and Sri Lanka on June 17. If Australia win Sri Lanka will be eliminated and New Zealand-Australia will be tied with 3 points each making net run-rate decide the second team to go into the semis.

Unfortunately for the sub-continental cricket fans Pakistan got eliminated very early due mainly to their uninspired performances. They lost both their matches against West Indies and South Africa. However, the much-awaited blockbuster encounter between Pakistan and India is yet to be played. Whatever the stakes for both teams and the lack of it an India-Pakistan match is always a mouth-watering prospect. Pakistan is eliminated no doubt, but they would love to exit with the satisfaction of beating India. And India would like to make its slate clean winning all group encounters and play the semifinal with tremendous confidence. The respective fans would not settle for anything less than a win. Stay tuned tomorrow for the big one! 

The Teams As They Stand Today the 14^th of June:

Group A

Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
New Zealand	2	1	0	0	1	3	+1.048	139/36.3	138/50.0
England	2	1	1	0	0	2	+0.289	562/100.0	518/97.1
Sri Lanka	2	1	1	0	0	2	-0.517	435/97.1	432/86.3
Australia	2	0	1	0	1	1	-0.960	221/50.0	269/50.0

Group B

Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
India	2	2	0	0	0	4	+0.979	567/89.1	538/100.0
South Africa	2	1	1	0	0	2	+0.410	539/100.0	498/100.0
West Indies	2	1	1	0	0	2	-0.086	405/90.4	406/89.1
Pakistan	2	0	2	0	0	0	-1.108	337/100.0	406/90.4

Champions Trophy: India Beat South Africa In A Close Encounter!

Shikhar Dhawan

India beat South Africa by 26 runs in the first one day international of the ICC Champions Trophy at Cardiff in Wales on Thursday. It was a high scoring entertainer with both teams getting more than 300 runs each. It was the first one day match at Cardiff where the team batting first won and the chasing team also crossed 300 runs for the first time. Maybe due to the new one-day cricket rules the Cardiff pitch made its reputation of being a batting one a little stronger.

On a windy and chilly morning South Africa won the toss and put India in. India made a rollicking start thanks to a opening partnership of 127 runs between Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma who opened as Murli Vijay was rested. A sensational new-find Dhawan went on to score his maiden one-day century (114) and was around till the 38^th over. The initial momentum of the innings was maintained throughout despite fall of too many wickets in the latter phase. The target of 332/7 looked mammoth and decisive, but the Cardiff pitch did not flinch an inch. A late charge by all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (47 not out) helped achieving the big total.

South Africa started shakily, but soon raced to a commanding position thanks to a well-paced partnership between Peterson (68) and AB deVilliers (70). The run-out of Peterson proved to be a turning point putting the match back in India’s favor. However, the highest individual score was yet to come. All-rounder McLaren played a ruthlessly effortless innings of 71 and with good contributions from others again threatened to snatch the match away. Exceptional Indian fielding and effectively utilized spinners finally sealed the victory for Team India. South Africa maintained a terrific run-rate throughout enough for winning the game, but lost too many wickets for the effort. They ended up for 305 giving a margin to 26 runs which hardly set the rivals wide apart. The Scorecard:

A new-look Team India rocked by spot fixing and all cross connections and corruption did quite well to start with a win. They can rest and regroup well for the next match.

Cricket And Fixing: ICC Champions Trophy Begins!

The ICC Champions Trophy-2013 in England and Wales begins with the inaugural match between India and South Africa today. At a time when cricket or more specifically Indian cricket has been hyped to the height by the media for all the wrong reasons. The raging IPL Spot or Match Fixing scandal has cast a shadow of grievous doubt on players of Team India, its bosses and administrators. Fittingly enough Team India has a captain who had been right royally gagged by his corrupt cricket Board bosses and the right royally loyal captain has been obsequiously  observing the gag order even in England. Add to this his alleged conflict of interest concerning a management firm where he acquired stakes and put in his favorite cricketers as clients for whom he enjoyed the absolute authority of selection for the national team. Why bother! His cricket Chief had a more sinister conflict of interest with his son-in-law—the boss of an IPL franchise CSK captained by the Indian national captain—in jail and yet nobody dared ask him to resign. Therefore finally it is the ‘conflict of interest’ for the genuine Indian cricket fans who will continue to have doubt over all the possible results for India—victory, loss or tie. Only abandonment of matches due to rains is above doubt, because rains cannot possibly be fixed!

However, from the extremely ‘cricket’ part of the scenario Team India seems to be in a good nick for the tournament after winning the first warm-up match against Sri Lanka and crushing Australia in the second. But the top order batting is yet to deliver, and it was largely thanks to Dinesh Karthik and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni himself plus the young Indian fast bowlers. Like India South Africa is also a line-up of young and relatively inexperienced players, but more worryingly without the services of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis who opted out due to personal reasons. While all Indian players have benefited from the ‘cricket’ of IPL despite the mess, the South African ‘cricket’ stalwart of IPL Dale Steyn also looks doubtful. Cardiff pitch is likely to help both batting and pace bowling, and considering Indian vulnerability to pace in greener pitches South Africa still could dominate India. Tagged as ‘perennial chokers’ in big tournaments South Africa too could crumble if Indian batsmen and fast bowlers deliver. Fixing or no fixing any of the three possible results are immensely plausible in this big match.

Another ‘cricketing’ highlight of the ICC Champions Trophy-2013 is the new set of rules for one-day cricket becoming effective from this tournament. As a big help to bowlers now there will be two new balls from both wicket ends which may of course negate out reverse swing and the bowlers can now bowl two legal bouncers an over. The other rules are; five fielders will have to kept within thirty yard circle throughout the matches and there will only two sets of powerplays—the first mandatory ten overs followed by the batting powerplay that will have to be taken before the 40^th over.

So then, there is lot of ‘cricket’ despite fixing. What if all cricket legends who still maintain ‘loyal silence’ flocking back to egg you onto cricket! What if all the ‘paid to comment’ cricket experts flocking back to take you ahead in the encounters! You are still absolutely your own master to decide what to do with ‘cricket’ and ‘fixing’!

As for the ‘fixing’ part, Gurunath Meiyappan and Vindoo Dara Singh were granted conditional bail by a court in Mumbai on 4^th June even after being remanded to judicial custody till 14^th June on 3^rd June. More hopefully, Delhi Police had applied MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act-19990 against all 26 bookies and cricketers including Sreesanth on June 4. This will enable Delhi Police to file charge-sheets within six months and the accused will be able to plea for bail for at least one month. Since yesterday interrogation of the boss of Rajasthan Royals (RR) and his business associates by Delhi Police has been going on. As per latest reports Delhi Police say that RR Boss Raj Kundra, husband of joint owner and Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, had confessed to placing bets on his own team and his passport had been seized. After Gurunath of CSK Kundra becomes the second team boss who have been used to betting on their own teams revealing strategic information to the bookies.