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

[vamos_rafa]

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

Yes. I have seen cricket through the 90's and he certainly was a magician with the bat. He might not have the tightest of games, but when on song he could give the best in the games a run for their money in the entertainment value.

[vamos_rafa]

Sachin also never removes his helmet while batting. May be some superstition.

[Jersey #10]

What are the chances of you being the Saurav Ganguly? good read

[Laaloo]

Sachin also never removes his helmet while batting. May be some superstition.

Laxman: I think it is a special feeling to play here. It is a great place to play cricket, mainly thanks to the spectators. Even though many people weren't here, it is still a very good experience to play in Kolkata. We get value for shots in India. Once it clears the infield, it is almost surely going to reach the fence unlike other grounds like Barbados. The wicket has become a bit slower than how it used to be. It will start turning, and will get difficult on the last day. It will be a very good Test match. I always sit near Sachin when I come to this ground. We are very superstitious and I make sure we take the particular seats in the dressing room. It's not only in India, we do that everywhere in the world. This was a very very important knock especially after the England tour. As a team we didn't do well there so we needed to get some confidence. The ODI win against England was very important for us, and the Delhi Test was good as well.

[carnish]

too bad he got involved in match fixing... was a great guy and loved his fielding too although not too great, for that era of indian fielding he was much better than others... onli jadeja and robin singh were better than him

[Vijay.Sharma]

too bad he got involved in match fixing... was a great guy and loved his fielding too although not too great' date=' for that era of indian fielding he was much better than others... onli jadeja and robin singh were better than him[/quote']Not too great??????????\ He was the world's best fielder until a certain Jonty Rhodes came on the scene. Have you even seen cricket in the 80s and early 90s?

[vamos_rafa]

too bad he got involved in match fixing... was a great guy and loved his fielding too although not too great' date=' for that era of indian fielding he was much better than others... onli jadeja and robin singh were better than him[/quote'] He was better than Jadeja for sure.

[carnish]

Not too great?????????? He was the world's best fielder until a certain Jonty Rhodes came on the scene. Have you even seen cricket in the 80s and early 90s?

nope i started watching cricket in 1995 just before Wills WC... i was 6 yrs old den :--D however while i saw azhar in the late 90's i saw him dropping a few catches though he was great in ground fielding and so i said not too great... :beee:

[carnish]

He was better than Jadeja for sure.

maybe but jadeja was quicker

[vamos_rafa]

maybe but jadeja was quicker

Not even one-bit.

[zen]

Loved Azhar for his batting and fielding .... He used to wear a taawiz around his neck, and once it popped out of his shirt, you knew he was going to get a big one Too bad that he got involved in match-fixing. I remember in one of the gamescat Sharjah, he was constantly trying to runout Tendulkar. Tendulkar being smart ran Azhar out .... Azhar is a horrible example of a hero reduced to a zero by his own actions

[Magneto]

Hmmm. Sachin and Laxman seem to bond quite well. Even yesterday after the match, when all the Indian cricketers were on the ground doing laps, playing football, doing throwdowns etc. both of them were conspicuous by their absence. Thanks Yoda, Ganesh, Karan, transparent - that means a lot. @ transparent - The chances of me being Sourav Ganguly are as good as of you being 'The Undertaker'.

[gaurav92]

Welcome to ICF :icflove: A great report man :nice:

[Magneto]

Thanks Man! Glad you liked it!

[ganeshran]

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.

It was Dravid who declared at 194 :hmmmm: IIRC Dada didnt play that match.

[Magneto]

You are right that Dada didn't play that match. But if you remember, Saurav was seen in the dressing room talking to Dravid an over before the declaration happened. That made many people (conspiracy theorists, essentially) to wonder whether the declaration was Saurav's brainchild, whether he forced Dravid to do it. Basically, whenever Saurav is seen near a dressing room, a declaration happens (depriving someone of a double ton :-p) For recap, see this link: http://www.liveindia.com/cricket/Tendulkar3.html

[Magneto]

Some school students from Kashmir was seen in the stadium today. Wonder whether they bunked a whole week to see this match!

[Magneto]

Observations from Eden - Day Three Day 3 of the India-WI match (November 14-18, 2011) started on a bright note. The dark clouds have been banished forever and Kolkata was shining in the glory of the morning sun. These are the snippets: a) The crowd missed Ashwin's wife - Unlike yesterday, Ashwin's wife's close-ups weren't flashed on the giant screen. Some spectators seemed really bothered with that, asking each other ('Osshiner bouta kothay? (Where's Ashwin's wife?) Aajke mathe asheni? (Hasn't she come to the field today?). Despite all this, everyone unanimously agreed that Ashwin has chosen the right girl for his marriage. b) Is it all over today? - After WI got bundled out for 153, people argued that WI will lose the match today itself their logic being - "If they have lost eight wickets in two and half hours, they'll surely lose the other ten in the next five hours". At the end of the day, the argument turned to whether Chandrapaul can score a double century and save the match for WI. c) Drinks van - A flaming red Maruti Omni serves as the Drinks Van. I hope they get a Ferrari someday for this purpose. What about Sachin's Ferrari? :-p d) Bowling speeds - One disadvantage of being on the ground is that the giant screen hardly ever shows the bowling speeds of the bowlers. So unless you are tracking a cricinfo commentary or something similar through your mobile, there is no way to find out the speed of the Umesh Yadav delivery that went by the batsman like a rocket. e) Words of wisdom - An elderly uncle sitting beside me was sharing his expert opinions and more often than not knew what Dhoni is going to do next. He's been watching the game for 25 years now from the ground. He told me that he once wrote a letter to MCC stating - 'If a bowler has to stop bowling after 10 overs in a one-day match, then a batsman should also not be allowed to bat after batting for 20 overs in the same match. Why can the batsman keep performing throughout when the bowler cannot?' MCC apparently accepted acknowledgement of the letter but did not respond. He also said how pitches used to be kept open in the Rest Day of Tests previously, and why Sunny Gavaskar's 4th innings performances are infinitely superior to Sachin's or Laxman's (for the same reason). f) Mexican err... wave? - The poor crowd tried out the Mexican wave a few times but soon learnt that you cannot do a Mexican wave in an empty stadium. g) Hats VS caps - Three guys (Sachin, Laxman and Sehwag) in the Indian team wear hats while fielding while the rest wear caps. Superstition? h) Spot the celebrity - In the afternoon, people from my block started pointing at the upper tier of Block B talking about someone. As everyone looked that way trying to spot the celebrity and got confused, he was eventually spotted - a bare-bodied man waving a huge Indian flag madly. Well, he's supposedly Sachin's biggest fan and has become quite a mini-celebrity himself. i) Coffee, anyone - A mini cup of bland coffee (less than 100 ml) costs 20 bucks at the Eden. And the so-called Food Court had no dustbins around. There was one on Day One but it disappeared from Day Two. j) Bowling change of the day - The whole crowd unanimously cheered and agreed when Sehwag got the ball. The enthusiasm dampened very soon by Chanders' six. k) Ballboy par excellence - There is a physically challenged man who hangs around with the Indian team while practice. His legs are paralysed and he walks on all fours. During the throwdowns on the field (at lunchtime, tea or post-match), he fields along with all the other fielders and dives at the deliveries coming towards him. If the ball runs away, he chases the ball on all fours with remarkable agility. Apparently, Sachin sponsors all his travel, food and match-watching arrangements all throughout India. Anyone knows anything about him? Tomorrow, in all probability would be the final day of the match. When you watch a match for three days, you realize that a Test match is nothing without its crowd. Their opinions colour your opinion in strange ways, not in terms of correctness but in terms of being the predominant thought of the moment. Very much the way a commentator's opinion on TV or radio can colour your opinion. In a cricket ground, the crowd is actually the commentator and the Indian cricket board has to ensure in some way that we don't lose the crowd in our stadiums again. P.S - Nargis Fakhri is damn hot

[ganeshran]

Dude, wonderful writeup.

He also said how pitches used to be kept open in the Rest Day of Tests previously, and why Sunny Gavaskar's 4th innings performances are infinitely superior to Sachin's or Laxman's (for the same reason).

Nice to know that you met Dandaroy :nice:

[Yoda-esque]

Class writeup...I am now looking forward to your next posts. I agree that only Bengalis can argue the way you wrote.