Virat Kohli: India’s latest sensation!

Virat Kohli reminds me of Gautam Gambhir. I remember Gambhir throwing away his wicket, playing unnecessary pull shots during his initial days. He was criticized for his casual approach towards the game. But sooner he realized the importance of consistency. Gambhir is now considered to be the most consistent player in all formats of the game. Kohli has the same talent. He had impressed with his knocks while playing for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the IPL season 2, but on a number of occasions he was out trying to be extra aggressive. But Kohli has been transforming his game pretty well for quite some time. He has been able to differentiate between the role he has to play in a T20 and an ODI.

In the last one month or so Kohli has played innings which might prove to be the turning point of his career. May it be his first ODI century-107 against the Sri Lankans in December 2009, 91 against Bangladesh a couple of days before or 71* against the Lankans followed by 102* against Bangladesh, they all have been innings which prove his maturity as a player. He values his wicket more than before and has learned the art of performing under pressure. You need not hit a six every now and then just to prove that you are a good one day player. He lacked consistency and obviously patience which he has now adopted into his style of batting. He is now only the 3rd Indian after Tendulkar and Raina to have scored two ODI centuries before reaching the 22yr age mark.

He came into highlight while he scored 90 runs playing against Karnataka on a day when he lost his father way back in 2006. Though his team desperately needed him yet his team mates were surprised when they saw him return to play for Delhi. At the age of 18 such spirit for the game is highly commendable. Players like Tendulkar have gone through the same phase earlier.

Kohli seems to be a promising talent. The former under 19 captain for India has a huge female fan following and the girls keep asking about this guy with good looks (they hardly bother how good a batsman he is). His captaincy had been praised a lot when he led his side to win the won the Under 19 World Cup which took place in Malaysia in 2008. Besides being a reliable batsman and a medium pace bowler Kohli’s fielding is one of his USP’s. His bowling action which is quite similar to Ian Harvey (Australia) can be effective at times as well.

Now he reminds me of Gambhir as I mentioned his approach towards the game was quite similar to that of Gambhir’s earlier. But now I guess Gambhir- Kohli partnership has turned out to be a match winning one for the past one month or so. Both of them started their careers playing for Delhi. So as Gambhir is now an inseparable part of the Indian team, Kohli is leaving no stone unturned proving that he deserves to be a part of the regular Indian squad. Looking at the 2011 World Cup and the way he is playing, he might be India’s favorite trump card!

Tendulkar’s 175- The best inning of 2009

Hyderabad was the venue where huge crowd had turned up anticipating the master blaster to reach another milestone of 17,000 runs in ODI cricket. It was long awaited.

Australia scored 350 at the end of 50 overs and off the very last ball of the match Tendulkar took a brilliant catch to dismiss Cameron White and the way he reacted clearly suggested he had something special going in his mind.

Chasing has never been easy for the Indian side and a gigantic score of 350 runs was close to a mission impossible (who can forget the 2003 World Cup Final). Yet the crowd cheered as Tendulkar came to bat as reaching 17,000 runs was what they were expecting him to reach first. As soon as Tendulkar completed his 17,000 runs the crowd went gaga. Indian flags dominated all other colours of the stadium and the roar was deafening! The commentators righty said, “It’s not just Sachin Tendulkar’s runs these all are runs that the crowd feels are their own”. But even these fans didn’t know that they were supposed to watch one of the best innings ever played on the very same day by the legendary master! Tendulkar was in a different mood and though wickets kept falling on the other end the master continued to play at his very best. The Aussies clearly knew that the master was capable enough to win the match for his side single handedly. Punter tried his best but Tendulkar was in no mood to give away his wicket. The only bad shot he played throughout the day he was the one which got him out. India still needed 19 runs off 17 balls and the stadium paralyzed with the wicket of Tendulkar. The master got out at the score of 175runs off just 141 balls which included 19 fours n 4 sixes. He had scored exactly half of the Australian total and unfortunately the rest of the team couldn’t score the rest half. In spite of the best efforts India fell short by 3 runs.

Rarely are we delighted after an Indian defeat. This match was an exception. Everybody knew that the Indians fell short by 3 runs but the Indian hearts were so much privileged to watch Tendulkar’s fabulous knock and it almost didn’t matter what was the result as everybody kept repeating the same sentence “What an innings Master! What an innings!” We all are truly privileged to watch this innings. One of my friends rightly says whether the upcoming generation would ever be able to understand what cricket is without Tendulkar.

During the match presentation Arun Lal asked the master what kind of motivation does he carry when he goes in to bat in such situations, the master replied in the most subtle manner as he always does, he said, “It’s the passion. I care about playing for India. It has always been a dream and I am absolutely honored that I have been able to do that for the last 20 years” He has been living his dream to play for India since his debut and it is our dream to watch him playing as long as possible! All the best master!

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Boon-Boon Afridi gets Pakistan the T20 trophy!

The final match of the T20 World Cup was a match where Shahid Afridi had the chance to wash away all the criticism he had faced in the past. He played one of the finest knocks he has ever played. It’s not that he wasn’t aggressive but he was sensible enough to finish the match for Pakistan. The Lankan Tigers didn’t have any answer for the approach with which Pakistan had planned their innings.

The Lankan Tigers won the toss and decided to bat first. The left arm seamer bowled with an accurate first over and he was awarded with the prize wicket of brutal Dilshan. Dilshan tried to clear third man and was caught doing so. Maiden first over with the wicket of Dilshan was all that Pakistan dreamt of as a brilliant start. Three balls later Jehan Mubarak fell for a duck of the bowling of Abdul Razzak. In a matter of time Razzak took two more wickets and the Lankan Tigers were struggling at 32/4.

Few overs later the score board read 62/6 and the Sri Lankans fans certainly looked disappointed. But after losing six wickets Sangakara and Mathews had an unbeaten partnership of 68 runs of just 42 balls. This partnership helped them achieve a very much defendable total of 138 runs. It was a great fight back by the Sri Lankans after they were struggling at 62/6. Now with their M4 pacer attack a score of 138 was quite defendable. Morover as compared to 62/6, 138 was a huge total to chase for the Pakistani batsmen facing the lethal Sri Lankan bowling attack.

But Pakistan had adopted an altogether different approach. They had partnerships which proved to be very crucial and made them the champions. Kamran Akmal and Shahzab Hosain were very conscious and sensible at the same time while opening the innings for the initial few overs. Against South Africa Akmal had scored 23 off just 12 balls and had looked very aggressive. In the final match we was both sensible and aggressive. By the end of 6 overs Pakistan had scored 39 without any loss of wicket. In the 6th, 7th over Akmal hit two sixes making it sure that the asking run rate doesn’t leap up too much and things are under control.

In the 8th over off the very first bowl bowled by Jayasuriya Akmal was stumped by Sangakara as he went down the wicket. The Lankan Side had the reason to smile as they got their first wicket. Soon Hosain who kept struggling departed as well after which Afridi and Malik began reconstructing the innings. Afridi who has grown so much into confidence played sensibly and played big hits whenever the run rate asked for so. Malik kept rotating the strikes and in the last 5 overs Pakistan needed just 36 runs to win with 8 wickets in hand.

Afridi scored his second consecutive fifty and with some power hitting towards the end gave his side one of the best memories to cherish forever. Shoaib Malik on the other end remained not out as Afridi boomed all the way! Pakistan won the match comprehensively by 8 wickets! Afridi remained not out on 54*(40 balls) and Shoaib Malik returned not out on 24*(22 balls)

Last time they had missed the trophy by just one hit and they have compensated it this time. Misbah Ul Haq would be a glad man to see his side winning this time. Afridi has made the real difference both with the bat and the ball. He proved his worth once he was promoted to number 3 slot and no doubt he has finally got his due for Pakistani cricket. Hats off to the champion player!

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