Gods must be crazy

Just until a few hours ago he was a God who could do no wrong. It took him half an hour today to show that he can still be human. It was unfortunate that he chose the most crucial half hour of the tournament to prove his humanness.

Requiring about 100 in 8-some overs for the ultimate glory, and with 7 wickets in hand, how on earth could Harbhajan Singh and Ambati Rayudu be sent up to bat ahead of Saurabh Tiwary and Kieron Pollard ?

Hindsight is always 20/20, but even as events were unfolding live before our eyes it was clear that the God was not thinking as he should have...or perhaps trying too much to do the unusual. 

Just wasn't Mumbai's night. The best team of the year was beaten. Captain Marvelous and his team prevailed. IPL3 is a closed case.

I am !

Still unable to overcome the pile of work I am in. It is like going in to bat with a lead of 700 runs on the head, with no option to bat for a draw :)

So what does one do for relief when the 'lead' is overbearing ? Take 5 minute sabbatical and head off to Cricinfo, what else. One of my favourite features on Cricinfo is the Q&A columns from the on-board statisticians and historians who answer to the curious readers. Today's "Ask Steven" on Cricinfo was full of amusing info.

Sachin Tendulkar is one of few players who have registered a Test win at home and away against all test playing nations, bar one (and for no real fault of his....Bangladesh is yet to tour India). So is Ponting, so is Dravid and so is Inzamam. All of them have won in 17 of 18 possible home/away Test combinations.

Mark Boucher and Jaques Kallis are the only two to actually accomplish this full-set, winning against all 9 Test playing nations at home and away. Some bragging right, that.

Bradman once made 100 in 22 balls in an exhibition game, hitting 10 sixers in the process - precisely 4 sixers more than he had done in his entire Test career of 6996 runs.

Also, until 1910, a sixer was a sixer only if the ball flew out of the stadium clean. For all shots that went over the ropes but still stayed inside the stadium, the batsman only fetched 4 runs. Tough. I think by that standard even Yusuf Pathan would have had to work hard for his title of sixer king :)  

Alec Bedser

Sir Alec Bedser, a legendary Cricketing figure from the post World-War-II era is no more.

A man who secured a spot in Sir Don Bradman's fantasy XI. A man who figured in Wisden's Greatest Post-war England XI.

A man who claimed Don Bradman 6 times, Arthur Morris 18 times, Neil Harvey 12 times and Lindsey Hassett 9 times in his career.

A man who retired from Test cricket with the record for the most number of wickets.

Until yesterday, he was the last man alive to have taken Don Bradman's wicket.

Ping

Not posted anything for a few days now. Running a busy show lately. I'm down but not out yet !

Here's a quick thought after watching the IPL madness over the past few days. 


I have a good reason to believe that had Atul Bedade, the original Baroda Bomber, been 15 years younger, the IPL would have been his kingdom to rule.