Pre-WC '19 Games - India-NZ Tour - 5th ODI - Redemption Time

I feel this game was one of the better game for a team to come back from a such a major setback from the score of 18/4 to win the game shows the depth of Indian batting and bowling. But most fondly considered a World Cup is round the corner. Really a great win for India.
I really feel it was a great decision done by Rohit Sharma when he decided to give a challenge to the Indian side by batting first on a pitch which had a lot of juice in it.
I still feel it shows the importance of batsmen and bowlers like Hardik Pandya, Kumar Anand Rai do we have some great batsmen who can give challenge to the likes of Jadeja In the middle order.
But the biggest diff was the 3 extra batsman. And though India went to even worse state of 18/4. The 3 extra Batsman gave the runs for Bowling a chance.
Great Boaster for WC. I think even better than the win in Aus or 3-0 lead against NZ earlier.
What are ur thoughts?


CricBuzz Post Match Analysis - Harsha/Gautam & Zaheer

AFC Championship Game Thoughts - Seeing God last time or Seeing his Usurper

In the Pre-Game, everyone said the offense of KC and Maloney would crush the NE. In addition, LII winner and last year’s runner-up, the team have won 8 AFC championship winner. The team that defeated Kansas Chief in the regular season were still called the underdog. However, Tom Brady showed why he is called the best QB or even best Football player ever. And why he with Belichick is considered the best combination ever maybe in any sports. AFC championship win, with so many things going against them, tells it all and after LII Overtime win - see SI coverage - as they saw "Brady does it again against all odds".
(On the side note - will never know why KC went for the field goal at 3rd down and 10 yards and not tried for covering the 10)

What is will the historical perspective of this AFC win especially with Super Bowl a repeat with LA RAMS and Groff? We all know that Patriots are the best team of the Superbowl era and Tom Brady is the best Quarter Back of Superbowl era (I think they got this epithet after Superbowl LII). Though he has great players under Edelman Androweski and the new running black Hogan. This year might be seeing the greatest paradigm change in how Football is been played. I think we saw that in AFC Championship and will see that been played out in the Super Bowl.

The offense is taking over Football like I have never seen. See this article in NY Times "How Offense took over N.F.L.". What this article points of why this season was so different from any other seasons

• The 1,371 touchdowns scored in the 2018 N.F.L. regular season were the most for a single season in the 99-year history of the league
• Quarterbacks threw more touchdown passes than ever
• For the first time, both teams in a regulation game scored 50 or more points. 
• Dozens of individual and team offensive records fell as players raced up and down the field, 
• The AFC Championship was one of the greatest game I ever saw - it saw 4 changer-over. 4 times.
• The offensive power could be seen when one of the best QB, was resorting to running plays. Brady taking one of longest touch-downs for him, ever.

What really happened in the last few years, which started with the Rams? After relocating from St. Louis back to Los Angeles in 2016 and posting a dismal 4–12 season in 2016, the team's fortunes changed with the hiring of 30-year old head coach Sean McVay, the youngest head coach in NFL history. Under McVay and second-year quarterback Jared Goff, who recovered from a lackluster winless rookie season to record a triple-digit passer rating, the Rams improved to an 11–5 record in 2017. Then in 2018, they won their first 8 games and finished the year with a 13–3 record, tying the Saints for the best record in the NFC, this was followed by 2017 NFC championship win against Saints. Getting a bit more details The Rams offense ranked second in the NFL in both points scored (527) and yards gained (6,738). Goff continued to improve in his third season, setting new career highs in passing yards (4,688, 4th in the NFL), passing touchdowns (32), passer rating (101.1), rushing yards (108) and rushing touchdowns (2). His top receiver was Robert Woods, who caught 86 passes for 1,219 yards and 6 touchdowns. Brandin Cooks, an off-season pickup from New England via trade, also made a big impact with 80 receptions for 1,204 yards and 5 scores. The team's #3 receiver, Cooper Kupp, suffered a season-ending injury after catching 40 passes for 566 yards in 8 games, forcing Goff to rely heavily on other targets like Gerald Everett (32 receptions) and Josh Reynolds (29). Pro Bowl running back Todd Gurley was the team's leading rusher with 1,251 yards (4th in the NFL) and 17 touchdowns, while also catching 59 passes for 580 yards and 5 more scores. His 17 rushing touchdowns led the league, while his 22 total touchdowns gave him 132 points, 5th in the NFL. Running back C. J. Anderson, who made the Rams his third different team in 2018 after signing up with them in December, also was a key aspect of the running game, finishing the season with 405 yards and leading the team in rushing in both of their playoff victories. On special teams, JoJo Natson returned 26 punts for 280 yards, while kicker Greg Zuerlein made 87.1% of his field goals, including a franchise postseason record 57-yard kick to defeat the Saints in overtime in the NFC championship game. [ Details from Wikipedia]. Though they lost to Brady it showed what the paradigm shift in Football had already started.

If Rams changed it - it certainly took on Steroids, with Kansas Chief again new coach - Andy Reid and Rookie Quarterback Patrick Mahomes - see this beautiful article on SI - The transformation that went in Kansas Chief. What Andy did was a very fluid offense which morphs’ into whatever form it needs to confront the offense. As Bruce Lee's said - "be shapeless, formless like water".

As it was put "To watch Kansas City’s offense in 2018 is to participate in a sort of shell game, striving to keep track of movements as objects are deftly rearranged in front of you. Reid’s Chiefs send someone in presnap motion more often than they don’t. And through Week 8 they’d sent three or more players in motion 15 times, more than any other team in the league. Their two most dangerous pass catchers, Hill, and tight end Travis Kelce, dart all over the formation, creating for quarterback Patrick Mahomes endless possibilities for where to go with the football". [From SI Article]. 

This where I really think Chiefs' Andy/Mahomes combination might be one of the biggest change that in AFC or even football. Though there run ended a bit earlier but then again the reason why they were pitched as the top-sided team in AFC. So I am sure we are going to see many more of Chiefs and Mahomes. And with the end in sight of Brady's and Belichick's Football lifetime, we are certainly going to see some AFC Championship or even rings under Mahomes. That is why in my understanding with his age and explosive power, he is the next God to Brady.

This makes the Championship game so much interesting. Even if, it will a repeat of last year. This year is a very different side. Patriots who had matured against quality offense the new and upgraded Chief with Mahomes, winning twice against the Chiefs awesome offense. Rams on the other side had even a better season than 2017. Jared Goff and Rams are now more matured, after their first Super Bowl with the God of Football - Brady, and Team. So will give a much tougher fight than last year.

Pre-WC '19 Games - India-NZ Tour - 4th ODI - Debacle at hands of Boult

So what was the 4th ODI debacle,. It was debacle where the ground had bit of juice ( good swing and bounce) and where we saw how a good swing bowler can complete cripple, the Indian side (Boult - 5/21 in his 10 with 4 Maidens - Out of 60 balls/50 were dot balls and out of 21 three were 3 fours and 1 six). 

5

. Getting to the crux of the problem was Harsha Boggle (see the attached video) The problem with India is if they lose 1st 3 batsmen cheap, you know you got India. So the biggest question now is - in England the Mecca of swing bowling where we will have WC soon
1. When England already has exposed Indian sides inadequacy of playing swing losing 4-1 to them
2. Still looking for the 2nd opener to Rohit Sharma
3. Besides England and now New Zealand has some great swing attacks including our arch Enemy Pakistan - 2017 Champions Trophy defeat.

So the question should remain how should India prepare or choose the side? We know how badly India plays in England can be understood that out of top 5 defeats in ODI's - 2 are in England. See the link - Sportskeeda- Top 5 Embarrassing Defeats For India In ODIs. The 5th was 1975 England WC and 3rd in 2017 by Pakistan seamers in England also. 

We always remember England as '83 WC but forget the worst WC for India was also England, The '75 and '79 WC and 1999 England WC. The WC of '99 is especially relevant as then we have the best batsman lineup, I would saw ever for any side in ODI. In the bowling, with Javagal, the of Agarkar and Kumble had decent bowling attack. Still might have been the worst performance by India in WC, only maybe after B'Desh debacle of '07.
See the Post Match Analysis especially both the takes from Harsha and Gautam Bhimani (son of stalwart cricket commentator Kishore) of what went wrong and what should be the WC cricket squads both for Indian and NZ.

Video Link
Cric Buzz - Posst Match Analysis - Harsha/Bhimani/

Table Tennis Epoch Moment has more Historical Significance

Though sports in general had great moments of change which are epoch, but none could be as big as 1952 and Hiroji Satoh in Bombay. And the more I think about it the more I feel it was not just one player discovering sponge to win an edge and win championship there were more things coming to play.

How Technology can give an Edge - We have seen it happen in cricket, baseball, tennis or football. But I do not think any sports saw such a big tranformational aspect than this

Sponge creates level playing field between physical gifted assets and cerbral

Re-emergence of Asian after over 150 years or subjugation. Especially using the same forces that subdued them at first to learn from them and defeat the inventors or last master. As gun powder was discovered by China but it was the Western Countries, especially the British who

overcoming the ego of self pride to mutual self respect and then re-emerging. China/Japan how they vastly underestimated external power and blocked themselves from outside world ( the Ming dynasty's marine expeditions)

Aligning of the new world, change in human evolution. Where brute strenght did not matter as much as cerbral strenght. Emegernce of the Electronic era. Again why did the pre-emergent power leave sports of equal fooitng to take up gladiator like only strenght sports like Basketball or Football over baseball.

Some Links
http://www.ittf.com/museum/TTIscans/TTI60TurbulentFifties.pdf
Time Shift - Documentary "Planet Ping Pong" - http://www.ittf.com/stories/Stories_detail.asp?ID=11123&Category=&General_Catigory=general&

World Cup - Great Ads

As Cricket andWorld Cup brings emotions so does it comes out in all the Ads

Some great Ads

My List
Khaamosh woh toot ta taara.- OLX.in Ad for Old Bat
#LetWhatYouLoveLive - The Cricket Bat 


Ad to advertise the first Hindi Commentary in Star Sports with Amitabh and Shohaib Aktar

ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP 2015 SHAMITABH COMMENTARY PROMO

Interesting Pakistani Ad

Creative Funny Ads Cricket India Vs Pakistan Kidnap Commercial

And offcourse the most famous

India vs Pakistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Mauka Mauka Ad

And the Official Ad
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Official AD
Another One

India@WC - India vs Pak - The Battle of the Battles or was it 10 years ago

When he could not walk with the gods, he was humble to be mortal

February 15, 2015 18:00 IST

'It was a good performance,' M S Dhoni said after the match. It was a little bit more than that, in that it came just when the team needed to reverse trends, to find self-belief, to be able to look ahead rather than behind.'

Prem Panicker's match report card, for Rediff.com

Virat Kohli averages 50-plus in one-day internationals over the past 12 months with three centuries and three other scores of over 50 (plus a 48 and a 49).

Yet, the talk leading into India's opening match of World Cup 2015 has been around his 'loss of form' -- a debate that is a little less about performance and a little more about the stature he has attained in a universe shorn of Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag.

Kohli's fan base expects him to perform prodigies each time he walks out, and his demeanour suggest that he shares that expectation. His run of 9, 4, 2 not out and 8 in the recent triangular series is thus a personal let-down.

Today, when he walked in at number three after the early loss of Rohit Sharma, he resembled nothing as much as Hamlet in a helmet.

For the major part of his innings he prowled the battlements around his wicket, face taut with tension, eyes narrowed in absolute concentration, occasionally indulging in soliloquies that may have had Oedipal subtexts.

When he is in rude batting health, he signals it early with his signature cover drives and pulls. Today saw a different Kohli -- one prepared to concede the need to grind his way back to his peak. He ostensibly avoided the cover drive for much of his innings; he shocked himself by mishitting a pull off Afridi that almost got to a running, diving Yasir Shah at wide midwicket.

He settled down to work. He hit into the ground almost as often as along it; he found fielders as many times as he found gaps. He absorbed the pressure of 53 runless balls out of 126 faced; shrugged off two chances (the other a simple one to stand-in wicket-keeper Umar Akmal); he ran brilliantly to accumulate through 56 singles and eight twos; he ran as selflessly for his partners Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina, and he proved -- to his own evident satisfaction as manifest by his sober celebration of a 22nd ODI century (107 off 126) -- that when he could not walk with the gods, he was humble enough to be mortal.

Confronting his own inadequacies was equally the subtext of Shikhar Dhawan's innings. Having come to grief too often square of the wicket and behind, he curbed his propensity to slash hard; he took fresh mental guard when, in the 3rd over of the innings, a lifter from Irfan had him fending a thick edge just wide of second slip; he played with an almost pedantic focus on meeting the ball under his eye with the middle of his bat; he ran hard in Kohli's slipstream and he only flexed his heavily tattooed muscles only when the delivery merited it.

Given recent form, it was a surprise that he was still there after the first sharp opening spell from Mohammed Irfan and Sohail Khan; given the way he batted on the day, it was a bigger surprise when he got out for 73 (76 balls), just when a century seemed his for the scoring.

Even here, the fault was not his so much as that of Kohli, who called him for one and sold him a dummy for Shehzad, a noticeable stand-out in an ordinary Pakistan fielding side, to hit the stumps with the nerveless precision of a sniper.

Suresh Raina (74 off 56) was a beneficiary of early largesse from Pakistan skipper Misbah ul-Haq, who allowed the left-hander just enough breathing space to settle in against spin before testing his nerve against pace and bounce.

Promoted to number four to replace the left-handed Dhawan, Raina quickly settled in against spin and by the time the quicks came back on, had found the range and timing of his muscular hitting, particular to leg -- an area he pounded with four of his five fours and all three of his sixes).

At the top end of the innings, Rohit Sharma was the antithesis to Dhawan and Kohli -- a player so sold on his own 'talent' that he seemed unwilling to accept that scoring sometimes entails a grind.

Tied down by sharp pace and good lines and lengths from Irfan and Sohail Khan, he launched into a predetermined pull at a Sohail delivery not short enough for the shot; the ball got big on him off length and the top edge lobbed for a simple catch to mid-off.

India's strategy of batting within themselves in the mid overs and keeping wickets for the final dash almost paid off, when they batted themselves to a comfortable 165/2 at the end of 30 and a threatening 217/2 after 40 overs. 56 runs in the overs 41-45 set up the climactic assault, but Misbah got his two best bowlers Sohail Khan and Wahab Riaz together for the last five.

Both were, if anything, quicker than at the start of the innings; their lines and lengths were tight and India, looking to hit out, lost 5 for 27 to a combination of skilled death bowling and the batsmen's own imperative to pummel or perish.

Misbah continues to grow as a captain; barring his choice of bowlers against Raina initially, he hardly put a foot wrong -- if anything, he has reason to feel aggrieved that the two bowlers he would have looked to as his spearheads -- Mohammed Irfan and Yasir Shah -- proved to be the weakest links.

The three hundred India finished up with in its first innings would have been the end of the argument even in the previous edition of the tournament.

In 2011, there were 17 scores of over 300 in 49 games -- of which 11 were against the lowly ranked teams. This time around, the first four games of the Cup have produced four 300-or-over first innings scores -- three against the more than decent bowling attacks of England, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

It is indicative of the changing ODI mindset that 300 no longer seems a winning total. It is, after all, a six runs per over ask; the restriction that you can have only four fielders outside the circle (only three during the 15 power play overs) added to the use of a different ball at either end mean that batsmen are not confronted with an old, soft ball at the business end of the chase.

The question therefore always was whether India's bowlers could come to the party as a unit, contrary to their recent practice of bowling dross at one end to let off any pressure built at the other. They did.

Equally, the question was whether Pakistan's batsmen had the nous to resist the pressure of history -- five defeats in five World Cup meetings is a weight on the collective soul, no matter how much a team talks of putting the past behind them and concentrating on the present. As it turned out, they didn't.

To Mohammed Shami goes the credit for setting India up for the win. With the second ball of his second over, he produced a razor-sharp bouncer that steepled off length at sharp pace, catching the experienced Younis Khan by surprise.

The batsman aimed to duck, but the ball followed him, tried to pull but was cramped, and ended up gloving to M S Dhoni behind the wicket.

It was a crucial early wicket, because the Pakistan batting is set up for its young stars to revolve around the experience of Younis and Misbah.

The Indian opening bowlers were sharp and, most of the time, on target -- but their effort received real teeth thanks to the fielding. Haris Sohail, promoted to number three, played with great skill. His driving was fluid, the ball resounded off the middle of the bat, his feet moved with precision.

Shot after shot looked set to end up at the fence; time after time Sohail got nothing for his effort thanks to bowlers who adhered to the prescribed off and outside line, and a four-man off-side inner cordon in which Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli variously combined to superb effect. Sohail managed a mere 36 off 48 -- if each shot had earned what it merited, he would have doubled that.

Though Pakistan was ahead of India at the end of the first ten over tranche, the seeming impossibility of finding gaps on the off began to tell; Ravichandran Ashwin then added to the pressure with an opening spell where he finally looked the off spinner he is.

He slowed down his deliveries; he used his height to loop the ball over the batsman's eyeline and his long fingers to impregnate the ball with real spin, and suddenly looked a far different, more dangerous bowler.

Two of his first three overs were maidens; the fielders were buzzing around the batsmen -- even filtered through a TV screen, you could feel the pressure ratchet up. And it told -- the left handed Sohail fell as you expect left handers to fall to off spinners: Ball on length just outside off drawing the batsman forward, turning on hitting the deck and getting sufficient bounce to hit the edge high. Rohit Sharma completed the dismissal with a sharp catch to his right at slip, and from that point on, it never looked like Pakistan was in the game.

The fielding only got better and India's bowlers for once never slackened or lost focus. The most expensive was Raina, who bowled just one over for six runs; the second most expensive was the all-rounder Jadeja, whose ten went for 56, against which he found the outside edge of Umar Akmal before that accomplished batsman had scored.

Umesh Yadav had a 5.0 economy rate for his two wickets; Shami bought his four wickets for 35 at 3.8; Mohit Sharma went at 3.9 and got two wickets; and Ashwin had an outstanding day, his spell of 8-3-41-1 and relatively expensive 5.12 economy rate belying the pressure he exerted in each of his spells.

India went in with two spinners and three pace bowlers -- all five got wickets, and that perhaps is the most noticeable fact behind its first win in the three months it has spent in Australia.

Misbah alone played as you expect a batsman to play at cricket's marquee tournament, easy and in control against pace and spin alike in an innings of 76 off 84 -- but no one batsman can do much against a target of 300 backed by committed bowling and razor-sharp fielding.

The 76 run margin of victory reflected the all-round difference between the two sides; that Pakistan for the sixth time in as many World Cup outings finds itself on the losing side against India owes to their inability to absorb the palpable pressures attendant on such contests.

You hear the word 'momentum' used more often in the commentary box than in a convention of physicists, these days. And that word is due for some over-use in the interregnum between this win, and India's next outing, February 22 against South Africa.

For me, it is about opportunity for planning, working towards an ideal. Having field-tested a combination against decent opposition today, India have the time to work its perceived weaknesses and subject itself to an intense examination against the pre-tournament favorites next weekend.

'It was a good performance,' M S Dhoni said after the match. It was a little bit more than that, in that it came just when the team needed to reverse trends, to find self-belief, to be able to look ahead rather than behind.

Prem Panicker, for Rediff.com

#We Would'nt Give it Back - Will the dream get realized

It is March 26th, Thrusday. Tommorow India will be two step away from the illusive dream of  retaining the World Cup.
India vs Australia - Semi-Finals, and all over is the energry of Finals. Including this google India.

But as it has happened with this WC. I have been surprised caught up in this fun. And the biggest fun will happen tomorrow. This game including the last semi-finals I should have not seen it, ie.e not seen in India But luckily