India v West Indies at Kolkata : News, views, opinions and discussions

[carnish]

had i been JAGMOHAN DALMIA, i would send free passes to all school children... and passes to all cricket clubs in kolkata including family.... atleast 40000 seats should be filled... this is pathetic seeing all indian stands barren and even in ODI's the seats werent half filled anyweyyz 20000 in tests is great when only 27000 bengolis arrived to watch the ODI against ENG

[Mariyam]

:hatsoff: I'm saddened by the fact that Rahul Dravid wasn't in our ODI world cup team. He's an all time great and a winners medallion would be an apt feather in his cap. :hatsoff:

[kabira]

I don't understand why we don't get school kids in the stadium, they will love it.

[carnish]

:--D i was not born during that series

[Yoda-esque]

Only thing I remmeber was umpiring decision. Azhar was not out' date=' bowl going down the leg..[/quote']

[rkt.india]

I don't understand why we don't get school kids in the stadium' date=' they will love it.[/quote'] School kids will be in school or in stadium on week days.:nervous:

[akshayxyz]

I don't understand why we don't get school kids in the stadium' date=' they will love it.[/quote'] I doubt. Aaj kal ke bachchey are more interested in MUFC, Barcelona etc.

[kabira]

^not all.

[SachDan]

A dejected Azhar hitting his pads with the bat while walking back to the pavilion after being adjudged LBW is the first cricketing action I remember watching live on TV.

[Yoda-esque]

A dejected Azhar hitting his pads with the bat while walking back to the pavilion after being adjudged LBW is the first cricketing action I remember watching live on TV.

Phir tou aapko bhi

[Rightarmfast]

I was a kid, very very young. I remember there was a car parked outside our house and my dad was so superstitious. When Azhar was on 199, the driver moved the car and Dad was so irritated and he said, Azhar might get out coz the good luck charm ( the car outside ) was gone ... And true to the word, Azhar got out the next ball !

[Vijay.Sharma]

I was a kid' date=' very very young. I remember there was a car parked outside our house and my dad was so superstitious. When Azhar was on 199, the driver moved the car and Dad was so irritated and he said, Azhar might get out coz the good luck charm ( the car outside ) was gone ... And true to the word, Azhar got out the next ball ![/quote']LOL!

[The Dark Horse]

:hatsoff:

[Magneto]

Observations from Eden - Day Two Day Two of the ongoing India-WI Test (Nov 14-18, 2011) started on a rather gloomy note because of the weather. Here are the highlights: a) Morning shows the Day - An unusually gloomy morning in Kolkata was a bad sign for the day to come. The sun was seen for the first time only for a few seconds at about 9 am when I was entering the stadium. Otherwise, it looked like doomsday, as if there would be no tomorrow. 2012 is coming folks! b) 1% percent attendance - When I walked in, there seemed to be some 500 people. But there's something about the acoustics of Eden or the noise-making capacity of Kolkatans, even these 500 were creating quite some noise to keep the atmosphere chirpy and lively. Among musical instruments, shankh/conch seems to be the favourite, and what an impact the shankh creates - it can beat a vuvuzela by miles in any contest. Maybe we can teach the South Africans how to use a shankh. c) Yuvi's lbw - The irritating thing about giant screens in a stadium is that they never show a seemingly controversial decision. The replay of the leg-before of Yuvi was never shown to the spectators, and for that matter replays of no leg-before or close run-out calls are shown on the giant screen. d) Virat Kohli cheerleading squad - For some reason, Virat Kohli keeps coming on to the field for no reason whatsoever, and his zillions of teenage fans create a huge ruckus with their super-shrill voices. I would dare to say that Virat seemed more popular than any other Indian cricketer (including Goddy). e) Fidel Edwards vs Kemar Roach - Edwards looks really exciting with his run-up and action, whereas Kemar Roach (when he runs in) doesn't look more than military medium. Edwards also seems to extract more pace and bounce, whereas Roach seems to be a pale shadow of the form he was in last year during the World Cup (I saw him in Kotla against Holland) f) Player spotting - When bored, the crowd's favourite pastime is to spot West Indian players - "Oi je Chandra Paul ... Oi je Bishoo'. Apart from Chanders, Fidel Edwards, Roach and Bishoo, the crowd has no clue as to who's who; though Barath can still be distinguished because of his height and fielding position. g) Bad Light Part I - At about ten thirty, it is unbelievably dark. It seems that when light was offered to the batsmen yesterday, it was brighter. Today, the electronic hoardings seemed brighter than the light on the ground. The lightmeter reading must have been between 3 and 4 and I was wondering how they continued to play for a few overs. After they walked off, there was bit of moisture hanging in the ground, and there seemed to be a thin layer of haze as well, so much so that the other end of the stadium was not clearly visible. h) Laxman and helmets - I noticed that Laxman never takes off his helmet while playing. Even when Dravid and Dhoni were playing against the spinners without a helmet or a cap, Laxman would stick on to his heavy helmet. Anyone knows why? i) Shot of the day - For the audience, Dhoni's paddle-sweep at 97 to score two runs was undoubtedly the shot of the day. Got him more cheer than any other shot. Dhoni's six off Kemar Roach (just before he got out) was scarily flying exactly towards me, and fell a few feet away from me. j) Dada, dada - At the club house, (located exactly beside my block), suddenly a loud cheer was heard. One glance revealed the reason - flanked by two men on both sides, the Prince of Kolkata has appeared from nowhere. The score was around 625, but for one entire over no one was watching the match, with the crowd (of about 10,000 now) trying its best to attract their Dada's attention. Someone chirped - "Since he is here now, he'll make sure than that the declaration happens before Laxman gets to his double (like it happened in Pakistan with Sachin's 194*)." Funnily enough, Dhoni declared after a couple overs. k) Post-match games - After the match was halted for bad light, the entire Indian team (excepting Laxman and Goddy) came down to the field to play their own games. Rahul Dravid went jogging around the field (for at least three laps) attracting comments about his dedication, fitness, sincerity and all that he's well known for. Sehwag and Gambhir practised some throw-downs while the rest were busy playing football. Kohli played football like a Delhi boy, while Yuvraj can be called a pie-chucker in football as well. Ishant seemed passionate about the game (no wonder he remains injured all the time) and scolded Rahul Sharma bigtime for conceding a goal against Yuvi. Tomorrow promises to be an interesting day, but I wonder how many will actually turn up to watch the game.

[Yoda-esque]

Another great report Saurav! Keep them coming.. :two_thumbs_up:

[ganeshran]

Interesting post today as well :two_thumbs_up:

[Karan114]

Nice read, thanks!

[Tapioca]

Twice during the innings, Azhar hit straight drives that broke the middle stump at the bowler's end and he got no runs for them.

[vamos_rafa]

I was not born then, but the stories are so nice to hear. Azza was so damn famous!!

[Vijay.Sharma]

I was not born then' date=' but the stories are so nice to hear. Azza was so damn famous!![/quote']Azza had made his debut just recently then...about 2 years back. He was definitely the artisan to carry forward the wrist-work legacy from Vishy and boy did he have supple wrists or what? When it comes to wrist work I still believe Azza is ahead of Lax...the bugger could hit a ball from outside off for six over midwicket and square leg like he did in Gwalior versus England in 93