Adil Rashid's Surprise Recall in England 13 Man Squad for First Test at Edgbaston

England have named their 13 man squad for the First Test at Edgbaston. The most surprising debatable controversial selection has been that of leg-spinner Adil Rashid.

Critics have slammed the decision. Both ex-England captains Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain along with Rashid's county side Yorkshire management have strongly criticised the move as they feel it downgrades value of county cricket. Shortsighted, backward move.

I see their point. As Rashid himself has decided to stay away from longer formats. He was solely focused and playing only limited overs cricket this year. Both for his county Yorkshire and for the national side. He has has not played Test Cricket since the tour of India in December 2016.

So to overlook other spinners in the side and those playing in county circuit shows English cricket in poor light. Vote of no confidence for current crop of spinners or sign of desperation or a backward step. English selectors will have their fingers crossed, hoping Rashid reaps their faith or they will have to cope backlash from English media and fans.

Rashid though surprised by his inclusion in the team. Has slammed his critics. His supporters like Bairstow and Botham though have backed him to do well against India and prove his critics wrong.

England Squad for First Test:

Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes.

Ashwin or Kuldeep Yadav - Spin Weapon of Choice for Captain Kohli

With the first Test Match between India and England to start in a week's time ( August 1st in Edgbaston ), there has been heated debate in cricketing circles on who should be Captain Kohli's No.1 Spinner.

 While some back Ravichandran Ashwin purely on merit and experience. He was the fastest Indian bowler to the 100th Test Wicket in his 18th match. In 2017, playing his 45th Test, Ashwin became the fastest player to pick up 250 Test wickets, bettering Dennis Lillee, who had achieved the landmark in 48 Tests.

Then apart from Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis he is the only one to bowl the carrom ball.  With four centuries in his Test career so far (all against the West Indies), Ashwin has earned the tag of a bowling all-rounder.

Then Ashwin has been instrumental in many series wins in Indian subcontinent. He has topped the ICC Test Bowling Charts in the past and has also won the ICC Cricketer of the year and ICC Test Cricketer of the year in 2016.

But his critics have rightly pointed out that so far he has been far less successful outside the Indian subcontinent. He has proved to be less effective in places like Australia and England where the wickets are generally seamer friendly and not spin friendly.

Now coming to Kuldeep Yadav. He has recently done quite well in shorter formats and lately English batsmen apart from Root (who too was initially bamboozled) have struggled to pick and play him with ease.

But the Million Dollar Question is can the slow left-arm chinaman bowler can spin his magic in Tests too. He looks like an exciting prospect and stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Graeme Swann have backed been mighty impressed with his attitude and performances and have backed him to do a good job.

So the Question now is whether as Indian Team sources suggest Kohli will play safe, be conservative and prefer Ashwin for the First Test match. Or will he go with his attacking instincts and play Kuldeep Yadav as his Trump Card. Lets Wait and Watch! :D 

MS Dhoni - Hitting Prowess Dips Yet Best Best for World Cup at Present

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the former Indian Captain is widely considered one of the BEST finishers in World Cricket. He is also still the safest bet behind the stumps in White Ball Cricket.

Yet in last one year his batting form has dipped. Just recently in last two one dayers in England, he was booed and jeered for struggling to score runs fast enough. Gavaskar claimed through his column that Dhoni's knock at Lord's (scoring 37 off 59 balls) reminded him of his own infamous knock of 36 not out.

While we all agree that Former Indian Cricketing Great should not be booed by the public, it is all true that Dhon's hitting prowess especially chasing big targets has been on the wane in recent times. And not just during the recently concluded One day series in England.

In nine innings since the 2017 Champions Trophy, Dhoni's strike rate has dipped to 65 when India have batted second. Dhoni's strike rate is among the lowest in the last 20 overs in the last one year at 84.

In the England ODI series, he struggled to score in the middle overs against the spinners. He was not able to hit boundaries or rotate strike consistently to put pressure on English bowlers even as asking rate kept rising.

Unable to hit helicopter shots and big sixes like in the past, Dhoni has preferred to bat in the middler order where he gets a chance to build the innings, but he has not been able to get going often enough.

I completely agree with Sourav Da that Dhoni still has the game and should look to play his shots freely. Look to express himself, go hard for boundaries and then as he gets confidence, singles will come more easily as field spread out.

There had  been some rumours that Dhoni is retiring after he took the match ball from the Umpire after the 3rd One Dayer. But Indian Team Management esp. coach Ravi Shastri dismissed all speculations.

Let's sincerely hope MSD will be back with a bang when India play Asia Cup in United Arab Emirates. As CSK Skipper likes to say in ads ala Rajnikant style, Mind It! :D

Indian Squad Selection for Test Series in England - Review

India's Test Squad for first three Tests in England have been announced. Selection has more or less been on expected lines. There are some new names in the 18 man squad, in part due to injury to key players like Saha, Bhuvi and Bumrah.

The India Test squad for first three Tests against England: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur.

Kuldeep Yadav is welcome inclusion in the squad given his commendable performances against England in recent T20 and ODI matches.  Former England spinner Graeme Swann claims Kuldeep can be a handful as English batsmen barring Root struggled to pick him. So he can be a Trump card for India as pitches are favoured to spin this hot dry summer in England. He has urged Kohli to play him ahead of Ashwin and Jadeja who don't have great record overseas.

Rishabh Pant deservedly got his maiden call-up to the Indian Team on back of good performances in Ranji, IPL and India A tour games. Though in all likelihood, experienced Dinesh Kartik will get to don the gloves after injury to Saha. Still, it will be a golden opportunity for Pant to learn and absorb the atmospherics and improve his game.

Rohit Sharma as expected was not included considering his poor track record in overseas. He last played 2 Tests in South Africa with not much success.

While untimely injuries to pacers Bhuvi esp. who is  likely to miss the whole Test series considering he is a world class swing and seam bowler and handful in English conditions and is a decent bat down the order too.

But I think we have enough quality in pace department to be competitive. Shami, Umesh and Ishant are all experienced good bowlers and capable of delivering the goods.

So, lets hope that The Test Series will be a real cracker and India comes out on Top! :D 

Poem to Describe What Sachin Tendulkar Meant to One Billion Indian Cricket Fans

I can still vividly recall
when Sachin went out to Bat
the whole Nation would come to a standstill

There would be an air of expectation
joy and excitement
a Time for Celebration
around the ground and nation

He Was and Still is
Nation's Hero
India's Pride
Nation's favorite Son

The Chants Sachin Sachin
still ring loud in my ears
The clapping and cheering
every time Sachin went out to Bat
Went on for eternity

He calmly shouldered
the crazy expectations
that whole nation had
likely Only He could

He went into the Battle
Against all Odds
And came out Victorious
Almost every Time

Bradman saw himself in him
He combined attacking prowess
of Vivian Richards
And solid batting style
of our very own Sunny Gavaskar

Sachin Tendulkar
a Perfect Role Model
a Perfect Gentleman
On and Off the Cricket Field

He deserves all the accolades
He deserves all the praise
He deserves all the awards
He deserves it all

Sachin may have retired
from the game
But he still is the Heart Beat
of the Whole Nation
One Billion People

He has been idolized from Sehwag, Dhoni to Kohli
He may have passed on the mantle
Yet He will continue to inspire and epitomize
The Spirit of Cricket
As we strive for excellence
in whatever field we work and play

Thank You Sachin
The Superman
The Batting Champ
The One Man Army

THANK YOU
For all the wonderful memories
For all the great performances
For keeping us all entertained
For making we Indians so very Proud! :)

INDIA - One-Day Series Loss to England; Missed Opportunities and Selection Woes

In the first One Dayer at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, India totally outplayed England with a commanding clinical performance both with the bat and the ball.

First, Kuldeep Yadav (with figures of 6 for 25) flummoxed the strong English batting lineup to restrict the hosts down to a below par score of 268. His magical spell left the hosts clueless.

And then Rohit Sharma with a Brilliant Hundred ( 137 not out) ably supported by Virat Kohli who scored a fluent half century (75 runs), INDIA won in grand style winning by 8 wickets (with 59 balls remaining).

England Bounced Back in Style with a series-levelling 86-run win at Lord's.
First, England posted 322 riding on Roots classy hundred, Morgan and Willey's half centuries. Then English spinners (Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali) alongwith Plunkett who took 4 for 46 restricted the visitors to paltry score (236 runs).

In the Series Decider at Leeds, Rashid and Willey took 3 wickets each and helped restrict visitors to below par 256 runs. England comfortably chased it down winning by 8 wickets thanks to Root and Morgan's who scored bulk of the runs.

Though England were partly luck with the toss in 2nd and 3rd games making best use of conditions and pitch. Still India has lot to learn if they are to win in One Dayers in all conditions. Also, they need to pull up their socks for the World Cup in England next year.

The Hosts are tough nut to crack in their backyard. But India's middleorder woes, Dhoni & Pandya's indifferent form, Injuries to key players like Bhuvi and Bumrah and India's endless experimentation at no.4 position has meant overeliance on Top 3 which is not a good sign for Indian Cricket.

Let's Hope India does better in Upcoming Test Series in England in August 2018. 

INDIA - Winning T20 Series is Good Start to Long England Tour

India has started their tour of England on a good note.

They won the first match at Old Trafford thanks to splendid hundred from KL Rahul and fifer from Kuldeep Yadav who spun a web around the English batsmen.

The Englishmen bounced back in style at Cardiff. They easily chased down the target of 149 with 5 wickets and 2 balls to spare. Alex Hales scored a fine half century for the hosts.

In the decider at Bristol, England set India a stiff target of 199 in 20 overs. Thanks to sparkling half century of Jason Roy. With Hardik Pandya the main wicket taker for India taking 4 wickets.

In reply, thanks to Rohit Sharma's Brilliant Hundred ably supported by Kohli and then Pandya who hit few lusty blows down the order. India made light of the set target and romped home in style in 18.4 overs. India won the match by 7 wickets. India also won the series 2-1.

Kudos to Indian Team for the thrilling win. India's record in bilateral T20 series has been great for last couple of years, and this series win only bolsters their T20 match credentials.

Indian fans will be hoping Indian Team does well in One Dayers and Tests too!