Carlton Tri-Series Cricket: India Beaten Out, England-Australia Final On Sunday!

England have entered the final of Carlton Mid Triangular Cricket Series played in Australia beating a listless India by 3 wickets with 19 balls to spare in the 4^th ODI of the Series in Perth today. England now face unbeaten Australia in the Final to be played in same city on Sunday, the 1^st of February 2015. For a change a better performance by Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan (38) and a half century by Ajinkya Rahane (73) gave India a good start and with Virat Kohli coming at No.3 for the first time in this Series India looked to be in a sound position to push for a formidable total. But, the ‘Calypso’ collapses that seem to have become a part of Team India reduced the team to 136 for 5 from 102 for 1 and then 165 for 9. Mohammed Shami, the last man standing, hit a lusty 25 to make India reach 200 at least; else India would have done exactly the same as they did last time against England. This is despite the presence of two confirmed all-rounders in the team. The famed batting line-up of India could not even utilize full 50 overs. For England all their pace bowlers shared the wickets with Finn capturing 3 scalps.

The total of 200 was never going to be enough. However, a 3-wicket burst by Stuart Binny put England under a lot of pressure at 66 for the loss of 5 wickets. But well known for their inability to apply and go for the kill India let the situation slip out of control and the way Taylor (82) and Butler (67) played it seemed there was never any pressure. The two match-winners finally got out, but then it was too late. England have emerged the deserved winners and they were the only second team that looked to stop the Australians. 

The Scorecard:

India have finished the tournament winless and before that they have lost the Test Series against Australia. If you talk of the run-up to the ICC World Cup 2015 which will played in Australia and New Zealand India have prepared disastrously with hardly any positive coming out for the team. The Srinivasan factor is also looming large over the scenario and the ‘dirt’ of Indian cricket needs to be finally thrown out. While Srinivasan reportedly wants to exercise the option of giving up IPL franchise CSK so that he could still fight the BCCI elections for President the ICC has so far done nothing to him and in fact announced that the next ICC World Cup T20 would be hosted by India in 2016.  How Team India recoups and regroups from here only time would tell. And, time is really running out.

Carlton Tri-Series Cricket: Virtual Semifinal India Vs England!

If Team India is proven third time lucky tomorrow then they will definitely play Australia in the Carlton Mid Tri-Series Cricket Final on 1^stFebruary 2015. India got what they wanted on 23^rd January when Australia defeated a resurgent England overcoming a huge 300+ target with three wickets in hand and just a ball to spare. India proved lucky again on India’s Republic Day, 26^th January, when they got hold of two precious points through the backdoor as their crucial match against undefeated Australia got washed out due to persistent rains. India did not look to be in a sound position to hope vanquishing a dangerous Australia in that match. Now, with these two points, India just needs to defeat England who have 5 points from the match against India including a bonus point straight and simple without bothering about bonus points or run rate pressures. Their two injured players, Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma, have come back into the team and this could be crucial in the Perth encounter tomorrow. Therefore, if they are lucky and professional enough in tomorrow’s virtual semifinal they will be through to the final. Australia is already through to the final with 15 points.

However, England with their batsmen in form, and pacers Finn and Anderson already proving lethal against the shaky Indian batting line-up would try very hard indeed to ensure a place in the final. England would also be looking for some extra bounce in the Perth pitch to pressurize the Indian batsmen like they did in the last encounter. They have a score to settle with Australia too after two consecutive defeats.

For India the biggest worry continues to be opener Shikhar Dhawan who has a string of failures so far and it is difficult for the captain to drop him because of World Cup prospects and that Rohit Sharma is yet to be declared fit. This crisis of options is set to haunt India in the coming World Cup too and a lot depends on how they would deal with the questions we raised in these pages. Amabati Rayadu is not looking comfortable at No. 3 and only God knows why Virat Kohli is not being played at his customary No. 3 position. If they are to win the match tomorrow, give a good contest in the final and to have positive run-up to the World Cup-2015 they must settle their issues now. Anyway, we are in for a big match tomorrow in Perth.

IPL Verdict By Supreme Court: Finally N Srinivasan Given Out Caught!

Nine months after forcing BCCI President N Srinivasan to resign the Supreme Court of India has virtually demolished the big-money-powered cricket clout of India in a landmark judgment delivered today on the IPL Spot Fixing Scandal and Conflict of Interest case. The court said that Srinivasan created the conflict of interest himself by bringing in an amendment to the constitution as BCCI Chief. The court struck down this controversial 6.2.4 clause that allows BCCI officials to own IPL teams and have commercial interests. Scrapping of this rule means that Srinivasan cannot contest the BCCI elections which the court ordered to be held within next six weeks. Supreme Court gives Srini one option though—you can fight election if you give up your IPL team Chennai Super Kings. This is not one of the easiest options to make use of because of obvious ‘cricket’ lobbies, players, business and revenues. Furthermore, the court constituted a three-member panel of judges to decide the fate of Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals along with implicated team or franchise officials as per the Mudgal Committee report and recommend changes in the BCCI constitution. The IPL, Season 8, supposed to come up in April this year is now under a cloud and there is no clarity for the IPL auctions that are to start shortly. The panel will give its report in six months.

The historic judgment effectively finishes off the cricket monopoly enjoyed by the BCCI for so long. The court holds that the Indian cricket Board functions are public functions and like all public functions by any organization BCCI is also open for judicial review. The BCCI can longer be the executor and the judge too. It can no longer punish or benefit anybody within the Board. BCCI did not adhere to prescribed procedure too while conducting probe in IPL spot fixing scandal. One must also give full credit to Cricket Association of Bihar for bringing the Conflict of Interest syndrome first time into litigation and the Mudgal Committee for its commitment to clean up Indian Cricket.

All escape routes for the most powerful cricket administrator cum beneficiary of Indian cricket seem to be closed now. He is finally right royally adjudged out ‘caught’ by ‘conflict of interest’ by none other than the apex court of the country. What the International Cricket Council (ICC) does to N Srinivasan next would be his immediate concern. As expected, many cricket ‘experts’ and ‘lovers’ are already crying hoarse for the sake of the IPL in the spirit of the game, India’s prestige and interests of innocent cricketers. But, the IPL must severe its dirty underbelly and stick only to cricket if it wants to continue as a tournament. And, hope is all there. Hail the Supreme Court for this. Hail the Operation Clean-Up Indian Cricket. Jai Ho!