T 20 goes to Pakistan

well.... as promised, the t 20 world cup came up with more surprises than ever... the underdogs who were written off by most experts went on to win the covetted trophy... pakistan was never in the fray but unexpectedly it won the cup beating the mighty lankans who were unbeaten through out the tournament... as i pointed out in by earlier blog post that pakistan is the most unpredictible team in the world and rightly so the men in green showed they are ..... a few months ago pakistan cricket was thrown into the turmoil with attack on sri lankan team at lahore ... and strangely , the two teams involved in that incident were in the finals of the t20 world cup... this seemed pre ordained by destiny... and this is the fitting culmination of all the events that unfolded... this victory is a shot in the arm not only for the pakistan cricket but also for the pakistani paople who had nothing to cheer for almost last 2 years as the country is witnessing the worst phase in its history with threats from the terror outfits and attacks every second day.... The heroes for opakistan in this world cup were shahid afridi ,who bowled well initially and later in the semi final and finla shoed his batting prowess to dazzle the cricket field... umar gul picked up 13 wickets and the off spinner saeed azmal with 12 wickets were main contributers.... not to forget the role of captain cool yunus khan ,who was confident about his selection and also adamant to a certain degree when he pressurised the selectors to send abdul razzaq in to replace the injured yasser arafat .... and razzaq proved his captain right by taking 3 wickets in the final....
Sri lankans played great cricket upto the finals but faltered when it really mattered.... but it does not take anything away from this grt island nation which continues to bring new talents .... there are a lot of positives for sri lanka from this world cup... the emergence of tillekeratne dilshan as an explosive opener(dilshan was top scorer of the tournament with 317 runs and was awarded the man of the series), the discovery of isuru udana , angelo mathews and jehan mubarak will strenthen their side too..... above all the captaincy of sangakkara was good too... tillkeratne dilshan's trademark shot over the keeper's head will always be remebered by fans.... and from now on this shot may be called dilshan shot....
this tournament destroyed the established myth that t20 is all about batsmen .... the bowlers like umar gul, ajmal, malinga, mendis, afridi etc proved the theory wrong.... from now on the teams will have different approach to the t 20.... the t 20 version is a new one and is still evolving so there might be few more theories to come up and surprise us in the future.... one thing is for sure....t 20 is the most entertaining form of cricket and i just get the feeling that it is going to harm 50 over cricket in the long run, exactly the way 50 over cricket did to test cricket 3 decades ago.....
talking abt south africa, i am really sad that the proteas yet again fell prey to the semi final zinx and gave in tamely to the comparatively weaker team,without giving any fight .... The cricket south africe should look into the psychological aspect of the whole issue ....why the team loses inspite of being hot favourites..?? there are many more questions asked and believe me they wont be easy to answer for the proteas think tank.....
Pakistan winning the world cup is in a sense nature's justice too....bcoz last time they lost inspite of the wonderful performance by misbah ul haq... so this would compensate the loss of 2007 w cup....and misbah will sleep easy now,as i i know the poor guy would hav had a terrible time after the failure at 2007 cup.... with the frentic pakistani fans are very emotional and impulsive ............

India will hav a tough time in west indies as the team is struggling with injuries and zahir,sachin,sehwag and raina missing out the tour owing to injuries courtesy I.P.L.
so wait n watch..... the team india and its captain should always remeber that "just when u think that u hav got the game in ur grip,the game gets you" so nothing is bigger than the game... no individual is indispensable.... right mr dhoni?so change urself or u will be changed......

India ends it t 20 world cup with yet another defeat

The Indian chase had self-destruction written all over it. 130- A target definitely tiny by T20 standards was what India needed on the surpass. India began well with openers Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma getting off to a brisk start hitting boundaries regularly off the fast bowlers to take India to 48/0 in 6.2 overs.

Graeme Smith soon played the ‘spin’ card calling in Johan Botha who struck immediately removing Gautam Gambhir for 21.India then lost some quick wickets with Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma playing some reckless shots. India at 56/3 before the halfway-10 over mark.

They then chugged along to 67/3 when disaster struck; M.S Dhoni run-out for 5 courtesy a misunderstanding with Yuvraj Singh. Yusuf Pathan also chose to be a part of ‘the series of unfortunate events’ offering a simple catch to AB de Villers off Van der Merwe to leave without troubling the scorers. India were now looking extremely shaky at 69/5. Like South Africa India had self-destructed after a good start and also failed to read the slow bowlers.

With 60 required off 35 balls Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh struck a few boundaries to offer a faint hope of victory. But then Murphy’s Law seemed to be in operation. Harbhajan Singh called for a runner after being struck on the heel. Voila! In came Dhoni, unfortunately he didn’t have much running to do as Harbhajan Singh fell soon for 14. When India’s last big hope Yuvraj Singh went caught behind for 25, defeat looked imminent. Eventually the number 12 proved to be the losing margin.

Earlier South Africa won the toss and opted to bat first. With the score at 13, opener Herschelle Gibbs had just one stump standing behind him after an inside edge from his Glenn and Moore blade saw R.P Singh picking up India’s first wicket. His replacement AB de Villiers decided to attack from the start and with skipper Graeme Smith for company brought up South Africa’s fifty in 6.3 overs.

Dhoni introduced Harbhajan Singh who had Graeme Smith caught after the South African skipper’s attempt at clearing the mid wicket boundary only resulted in a top-edge that found the cupped hands of Ravindra Jadeja. South Africa were then at 59/2 in 8.3 overs. With India’s spinners gaining control, AB de Villiers kept one end tight bringing up his half-century.

M.S Dhoni then brought about his eighth bowling change in the form of Suresh Raina. Dhoni himself stumped J.P Duminy to justify the move. The pitch was clearly offering turn and the South African batsmen were finding it hard to find the boundaries. Consequently AB de Villers found himself suffocated for the want of boundaries and was out caught and bowled to Ravindra Jadeja for a 51 ball 63.The scoreboard at Trent Bridge read 110/4.

Zaheer Khan had keeper-batsman Mark Boucher caught by Rudra Pratap Singh at long-off in the final over as South Africa finished their innings at 130/5.

A total one felt would be a cake-walk. Instead of eating it India chose to throw it and slip over.

श्री लंका सेमी फायनल में

Mendis (3/9) ran through New Zealand's middle order to trigger a batting collapse as the Kiwis, in their pursuit of a 159-run victory target, were bundled out for 110 runs in 17 overs.

It was an abject batting capitulation by the New Zealand with just three batsmen; Martin Guptill (43 off 34 balls), Aaron Redmond (23) and Brendon McCullum (10) -- managing double figures as their last eight wickets fell for just 48 runs.

Earlier opting to bat, Mahela Jayawardene struck an unbeaten 41 while Tillakaratne Dilshan's made a classy 48 to help Sri Lanka post 158 for five on the board.

Defending the total, Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara's experiment to start with Sanath Jayasuriya did not really click as Redmond got New Zealand off to a flier, picking up 14 runs of the third over.

Redmond clobbered Jayasuriya for three successive boundaries and then followed it up with a six over long-off.

But Isuru Udana struck gold in the next over, getting the crucial wicket of McCullum, caught by Jehan Mubarak.

Lasith Malinga then foxed dangerous Redmond with a slower full toss and Chamara Silva made no mistake to end the right-hander's 13-ball stay. Mendis then proved why he is regarded so highly in world cricket, getting the wickets of Ross Taylor (8) and Scott Styris (2) in his opening over to deal twin blows.

He foxed Taylor with his first ball of the match and Sangakkara completed an easy stumping and then disturbed Styris' timber with the fourth delivery.

Guptill, however, carried on the fight single-handedly and hit Dilshan over the short long-off fence.

Udana struck in the last ball off the 13th over, clean bowling Jacob Oram and then Jayasuriya drived the final nail in New Zealand's coffin, getting the vital wicket of Guptil caught by Angelo Mathews at deep backward square leg.

Mendis picked up his third wicket when he made Peter McGlashan to edge one straight to Mubarak at backward point.

As if it was not enough, Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills ran themselves out and then Daniel Vettori fell to Muttiah Muralitharan.

Earlier electing to bat, Sri Lanka made a disastrous start to their innings, losing the dangerous Jayasuriya in the very first over.

Vettori's ploy to start the proceedings with off-spinner Nathan McCullum worked wonders as Jayasuriya feel to the trap, top edging a sweep to Ross Taylor at short fine leg.

Next man in Chamara Silva hit Mills for two boundaries before perishing, caught at mid-on by Jacob Oram off the pacer's second over. Sangakkara and in-form Dilshan then shared a 47-ball 62-run fourth wicket stand to bring back the Lankan innings on track.

Dilshan was going great guns and struck Ian Butler for three boundaries in the sixth over. He struck five fours in his 48-run innings that came off 37 deliveries before Vettori outsmarted him in the 12th over.

After Dilshan's dismissal, Sangakkara took the onus of guiding the Sri Lanka innings in his own hands and played the role of a sheet anchor as new man Jayawardene donned the hat of aggressor.

Jayawardene made it clear that he was not there to hang around and lofted Vettori straight over his head off a free-hit delivery to mark his arrival. He hit Mills for three consecutive fours in the 16th over to up the tempo.

When it looked the duo would ensure a big score for Sri Lanka, Vettori once again broke the dangerous looking partnership, picking up Sangakkara but not before the Lankan skipper had made a useful run-a-ball 35 that was studded with three fours.

Vettori was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers with two wickets, while Butler, Nathan McCullum and Mills scalped a wicket

अब २० २० वर्ल्ड कप में क्या रखा है?

भारत के बाहर होने से हमारे लिए २०-२० वर्ल्ड कप बिल्कुल ऐसे हो गया जैसे कि अमेरिकन फुटबाल या शीत कालीन ओलंपिक खेल ........ जिसका भारत में कोई महत्त्व नही है.... । खैर कोई तो इसको जीतेगा ही... साउथ अफ्रीका,श्री लंका, पाकिस्तान और वेस्ट इंडीज़ में से कोई एक टीम के हाथो में २१ जून को विश्व कप कि चमचमाती ट्रोफी होगी.... मुझे लगता है इस बार साउथ अफ्रीका जीतेगा....वैसे वर्ल्ड कप में साउथ अफ्रीका बहुत बदनसीब रहा है...कई बार वो खिताब जितने का दावेदार रहा है लेकिन एन वक्त पर उसकी किस्मत दगा दे जाती है .... १९९२ विश्व कप में भी साउथ अफ्रीका जबरदस्त खेला लेकिन इंग्लैंड के ख़िलाफ़ हुवे सेमी फाइनल में बारिश के कारण हार गया, १९९९ वर्ल्ड कप में भी उसकी बदनसीबी ने साथ नही छोड़ा और सेमी फायनल में उसका मैच ऑस्ट्रेलिया के साथ टाई हुआ, और लीग मैच माँ जीत के आधार पर ऑस्ट्रेलिया फायनल माँ जा पंहुचा .... आज भी लांस क्लुसेनेर कि वोह पारी याद आती है जिसमे उसने आखिरी ओवर में ३ चौके लगाकर मैच बराबर कर दिया लेकिन ३ गेंद में जीत का १ रन नही बना सका ओर एलेन डोनाल्ड रन आउट हो गया ... २००३ में भी यही हुआ जब श्रीलंका के ख़िलाफ़ साउथ अफ्रीका ने डकवर्थ लुईस कि ग़लत गणना कि ओर टाई मैच के कारण वर्ल्ड कप से बाहर हुआ.... इस बार मैं सचे दिल से चाहता हु कि साउथ अफ्रीका कप जीते ..... आख़िर कब तक किस्मत उनका साथ नही देगी?

राज्य सेवा में आठ वर्ष .... भाग 2

पिछले दिनों राज्य सेवा में आठ साल पुरे होने पर एक ब्लॉग लिखा.... जिस पर कई दोस्तों बेच मैट्स के फ़ोन आए... कुछ ने तारीफ़ की, तो कुछ एक ने यह शिकायत की कि उनका उल्लेख नही किया.... पहले उन सब को धन्यवाद जिन्हें ये संस्मरण अच्छा लगा...और उन सभी से क्षमा मांगता हु जिनका उल्लेख नही कर पाया .... दरअसल इतने कम समय में वो ब्लॉग लिखा कि सब दोस्तों का उल्लेख नही हो पाया जिसका मुझे भी मलाल है , लेकिन इसका मतलब यह कतईनही कि जिनका नाम नही ले पाया वो महत्वपूर्ण नही है...वो सभी साथी मेरे लिए उतने ही ख़ास है जितने कि वो जिनका नाम मैंने अपने ब्लॉग में लिया है....क्योकि ऍफ़.सी। कि यादें उन सभी १०८ साथियों के साथ जुड़ी है जो ३ महीने तक साथ थे .... ट्रेनिंग काल से जुड़े कई किस्से हैं जिनका वर्णन इसी ब्लॉग में भविष्य में करूंगा हो सकता है उनमे कई दोस्तों का उल्लेख हो...... चलो आज क लिए इतना ही .....

२० २० का सपना टूटा ....

जैसा डर था वैसा ही हुआ ....भारत २० २० वर्ल्ड कप से बाहर हो गया.... एक अरब लोगो का सपना एक मिनट मे टूट कर यथार्थ के धरातल पर औंधे मुह आ गिरा .... सुपर आठ में वेस्टइंडीज़ और इंग्लैंड से हार कर भारत खिताब की दौड़ से बाहर हो गया..... धोनी की कप्तानी पर भी अब सवाल उठने लगे है .... वेस्ट इंडीज़ के ख़िलाफ़ ख़राब बल्लेबाजी और इंग्लैंड के ख़िलाफ़ बैटिंग आर्डर में रविन्द्र जडेजा को ऊपर भेजना वाकई एक रणनीतिक भूल थी जिसका खामियाजा भुगतना पड़ा .... इंग्लैंड के खिलाफ जिस तरह से भारतीय बल्लेबाजों ने शुरुआत की, उस से साफ़ लग रहा था की टीम दबाव में है ... निस्संदेह सहवाग की कमी खली,लेकिन १५३ का लक्ष्य २०- २० के लिहाज़ से कोई बड़ा लक्ष्य नही होता..बेशक अंग्रेजो ने अच्छी बोल्लिंग की लेकिन मेरा मानना है किये लक्ष्य आसानी से प्राप्त हो सकता था यदि टीम बिना किसी प्रयोग के नॉर्मली खेलती... २००७ कि विश्व विजेता टीम और इस टीम में यही फर्क रहा कि ,२००७ में टीम बेखौफ होकर बिना दबाव के खेली और वर्तमान टीम इस दबाव में खेली कि हम विश्व चैम्पियन हैं, और हमे ये ताज बचाना है... येही दबाव उनको ले डूबा ....
अपने नैसर्गिक खेल को छोड़कर धोनी ने बहुत ही रक्षात्मक खेल खेला.... धोनी को यह समझना चाहिए कि विश्व क्रिकेट में उनकी धाक एक विस्फोटक बल्लेबाज़ के रूप में है और उनके इसी रूप के कारण बड़े बड़े गेंदबाज़ उनसे डरते हैं.... उन्हें कप्तानी के बोझ को भूलकर अपना नैसर्गिक खेल खेलना चाहिए वरना जो टीम इंडिया ऑस्ट्रेलिया को चुनोती देती दिख रही थी वो वापस पहले जैसी कमज़ोर टीम बन जायेगी....इरफान पठान अब पहले जैसे खिलाडी नही रहे, सेलेक्टर्स को अब नए ऑल राउंडर कि तलाश करनी चाहिए...

राज्य सेवा मे आठ साल पूरे होने पर कुछ यादें ताज़ा karein !

आज राज्य सेवा मे आठ साल हो गए ....समय कैसे गुजर गया पता ही नही चला.... जैसे कल की ही बात हो हम सब साथी अपने समान के साथ ओ.टी.एस मे दाखिल हुए मन् मे कई शंकाए और आँखों मे अनंत सपने लिए .... ११ जून २००१ का वो दिन हम सभी १०८ साथी कभी न भुला पाएंगे ! ओ.टी.एस की यादें हर पल हमारे साथ रहेंगी.... कौन भूल सकता है वो पी .टी के समय होने वाली भागम भाग को? हम जैसे आलसी लोग जो एन वक्त पर जागते थे और ऐ.सी.शर्मा साहब की डांट के डर से अनमने भावव से पी.टी करने आते थे और पुरे टाइम पी.टी मे उंघते रहते थे.... वहीँ कुछ साथी बड़ी सीरिउस्ली पी.टी करते थे ... भवानी सिंह जी के मधुर व्यक्तित्व और योगेश कुमार भास्कर की पी.टी के समय अनोखी आवाजे निकालना हमारी सुबह को और भी हसीं बना देते थे .... योगेन्द्र फौजदार ,कमला जी ,रवि जैन, उमाजी, आदि कुछ साथी पी.टी मे सक्रियता से भाग लेते थे॥

मेस मे खाना खाते समय होने वाली मीठी नोक झोक आज भी याद आती है तो होठो पे मुस्कान आ जाती है.... ये नोक झोक मेस मे मिलने वाली खीर(जो कभी कभी मिलती थी) से कही ज्यादा मीठी होती थी... आज भी याद है एक baar खीर बनी थी जो काफ़ी seemit matra मे थी ,तभी light chali गयी और हम जैसे badmaash लोगो ने अंधेरे का faydaa उठा के दुसरे saathiyo की hisse की खीर chat कर li थी .... मेस से smabandhit एक किस्सा सबसे jyada याद ata है जब shri mojawat ने मेस मे aadhi रात को danga कर दिया जिसके कारण prakash जी जैसे सीधे आदमी को नोटिस मिल गया thaa जबकि prakashji का kasoor सिर्फ़ इतना ही thaa की वो mojawat को कंट्रोल करने की कोशिश कर रहे थे....

रात को होने वाली gap goshthi मे saathiyo की rachnatmakta खुल के सामने आती थी जिसमे विशेष रूप से mojawatji और dinesh का nritya yaadgaar है,, kanawat जी का kapasan सभी साथियों की shradha का केन्द्र रहा ....शायद उसका mahatva वैसा ही रहा है जैसे धर्म के लिए kashi और haridwar का है.....

शायद ही कोई ऐसा व्यक्ति होगा जिसको ये लम्हे याद नही आते हो..... क्लास रूम मे चलने वाला डेली न्यूज़ पेपर रीप टाईम्स जिसमे सभी दोस्तों का योगदान होता था बहुत ही शानदार होता था जिसमे समसामयिक विषयो के कार्टून होते थे... दोस्तों के स्नेह मे हम मेस के ख़राब खाने को भी स्वादिष्ट पकवान समझ कर खा जाते थे...

कुछ बातें जो हमेशा याद आयेंगी....mojawat जी के तीखे बाल जिस से वोल्ली baall अक्सर पंक्चर हो जाती थी.... प्रकाशजी और देवासिजी के बीच फेयर एंड लवली क्रीम के लिए होने वाली लडाई ,क्योकि देवासिजी को इस क्रीम से एलर्जी थी... सुभाष और प्रदीप सान्गावत के बीच स्वस्थ प्रतिस्पर्धा .... गोपाल मेवाडा का भोलापन और अनुराग भार्गव की सुंदर हस्त लेखन कला..... राजेंद्र सिंह जी के अनमोल वचन , कानावत जी का कपासन प्रेम , ब्रिजेश सोनी की अदाकारी और मिमिक्री , राजेश गुप्ता का बांकपन , राकेश मोहन जी की मुस्कान , पूरण सिंह जी की रहस्मयी दुनिया, कलुरामजी का सरल अंदाज़, हेमंत का अंग्रेज़ी गाना, उमेशजी और रवि का संगीत प्रेम, अर्चना जी की कविता, ज्योति निष्ठां की दोस्ती ,रेनू जी की मधुर गीत ,कमल यादव की मॉडल वाली चाल, समीर ओर पारस का डॉक्टर क्लब..यशपाल जी की उर्दू शायरी , जय सिंह जी का व्यक्तित्व , राजेश मील का एक ही गाना जो वो हमेशा गाते थे.... sumant सिंह क दर्शन ज्ञान ओर sahityik ज्ञान .... pankaj ojha की french कट daadhi .... naazim जी का जोश , ओर भी कई baatein हैं जो आज ८ साल बाद भी नही bhoolai जाती..... काश वो लम्हे waapas आ जाए..... काश ! कोई लौटा दे मेरे बीते huve दिन!

20 20 world cup

The 20-20 world cup in england has thrown quite a few surprises for the fans....first england was beaten by The Netherlands in a cliff hanger , followed by west indies humbling the outspoken aussies in a one sided match,thanx to chris gayle's scintillating batting.... Now with Sri Lanka knocking the Aussies out of the World cup,the thrill is at its pinnacle......India started off its campaign well with a win over bangladesh and the team looked in good shape inspite of all fitness worries and rumors of rift between Dhoni and Sehwag.... though Zahir jkhan ddnt look 100 % fit.... i was pleasantly surprised with the eprformance of Pragyaan ojha,who really bowled well and wasnt afraid to toss the ball, which harbhajan has forgotten of late... Yuvraj's cameo innings was the turning point of the game .... because at one point india didnt seem to reach 150 to say the least... but yuvi set the tone with his breath taking shots all over the park. With Rohit Sharma doing well up the order,dhoni should not be worried about the opening pair inspite of viru's unexplained fitness problems?? Irfan pathan looked out of form...ever since he lost his swinging ability,irfan has looked very ordinary.. its about time for him to introspect at get back to the basics before its too late... I hope he comes out of it.... Gambhir also struck some form iin the match against Bangladesh,though he is still not that threatening as he was a season ago.... India has a dangerous middle order with likes of Dhoni,YUvraj, Raina, Yusuf and irfan... on its day this batting order can demolish any bowling attack.... india,s next fixture is against Ireland, which India should win comfortably,but they should not be compalcent against Ireland, who have defeated Bangladesh and qualified for the Super 8s.... Dhoni should be aware of the fact that the team should maintain the winning momentum..... winning is a habit and it should be continued ...

super 8 scenario has changed big time, much to the surprise of cricket pundits .... with Australia being knocked out and also bangladesh beaten out of the competition by ireland.... even pakistan is also on the verge of elimination if they dont beat holland comprehensively... if this happens the tournament will become more interesting ... India, Ireland, West Indies, Sri lanka, South Africa,New Zealand and England are already thru to the super 8 stage..... todays match between Pakistan and Netherlands will decide the 8th team... I personally want Pakistan to qualify as it would add the flavour to the tournamnet as pakistan is the most unpredictible team in the world, they can be brilliant one day and very mediocre the very next day....

From the present scenario it seems India will have a tough group in super 8 with west indies, england and South africa.... whereas the second group will consist of Sri lanka, new zealand, ireland and possibly pakistan... well the picture will be clearer tonight..... everything said and done, its going to be a thrilling roller coaster for all the fans in the next week and a half as we will see sizzling display of instant cricket ... 20-20 is hotting up now and so are the teams for the next stage.... so folks! sit back and enjoy the extravaganza... may the best team win! all the best to the men in blue!