It's In TeH GaMe !!!

Come On Windies!

2009-12-19T22:21:00.002+05:30

Coming into this test match, this was possibly the best chance Windies had altogether. Now they are facing a tough task ahead with 51 runs more needed and only 1 wicket for Australia to take the series 2-0.

BDV-522643-BDV

ODI At Its Quickest:2nd Match

2009-12-19T10:30:00.006+05:30

This match was supposed to be played at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh but amidst a hostile political situation in the state, organisers thought better to shift to the New Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.

One's' loss is others' gain.....Nagpur stood witness to another action packed (And Runs packed) game between hosts India and Sri Lanka.

India won the toss and elected to bat first, but Dhoni's calculations went wrong as the Delhi Duo ( Viru & Gauti) was dismissed cheaply. Gambhir getting out in a rather byzerk manner as he collided with Chanaka Welagedara failed to reach back to the bowling crease, trying to complete a cheeky single with Sachin. Virat Kohli & Sachin were now left to rebuild the inning, they managed to put on a 62 run stand.

Kohli Completed his fifty but fell soon after on 54. Raina and Dhoni took charge at the middle having a century patnership at nearly run a ball, setting the Indian innings for another 300 + score.No Lankan bowler was spared and debutant S Lakmal (8-0-57-0) hammered the most, a late fury of runs saw India finishing 301-7 & MSD completing another century.

Anyone who the 1st ODI knew that 302 wasent unbeatable. The Lankan start set the platform for a successfull chase, Tharanga (37) & Dilshan (123) having a 102 run stand in just 14 overs,

Tharanga fell first (To Harbhajan), Sangakarra was run-out soon after. Dilshan had a solid patnership with Jayawardene in the middle overs. Dishan & Jayawardene's wickets gave hopes for an Indian comeback, but it wasent to be. Angello Mathews's quickfire 37 (Of 25 balls) took Lanka to the finish line, this being Lanka's 1st successfull 300+ chase in the subcontinent, T Dilshan being adjudged Man Of The Match.

Indian bowling & fielding had its share of problems. All regular bowlers (Exept Jadeja) were taken for runs, Nehra (10-0-72-0) for the most. In addition, Captain MS Dhoni has been banned for 2 ODIs on grounds of slow over rate, Sehwag or Yuvraj set to lead the side in his absence.

Now with the series level at 1-1, the contest is set to be all the more exiting. I can only hope India comes out on the top.

Fast Bowling returns to haunt Ponting

2009-12-16T20:04:00.006+05:30

For the first in his career, Ricky Ponting was forced to retire hurt.

First Ishant and now a budding express speedster Kemar Roach from West Indies...a place better known for tall legendary fast bowlers like Ambrose, Walsh, and many more against whom almost every batsman in this world feared to face them. Last two years while facing the fast bowlers have been horrid for the Punter. Coming from amidst all the hype just like Sharma, Roach was expected to do what he has done to Ponting in WACA...rip the batsman's body parts apart.

While Ishant during his long battle against Ricky fired the ball at a torrid pace and bounce mostly towards the chest and the ass, Roach nearly broke Punter's arm. But during both the encounters, Ponting was left hoping and sometimes in pain at the crease. One must appreciate though for the way he was determined to continue playing despite in pain. BRAVO the blunted Punter!

T20 at its very, very best: Ind V/s SL 2nd T20

2009-12-12T22:09:00.004+05:30

What a match we have had, last time I thought the match displayed a wonderful game of T20 cricket, but today the game was much better. Fortunately, this time India won the match, and that too successfully chasing down such a high total. Just like the last match, this match also witnessed bad fielding, but this time from both the sides. Surprisingly, the good fielders seem to be dropping easy catches. The Indian bowlers failed to save themselves from the rude batting of the Srilankans, and I could not do anything except to praise the batsmen and criticize the bowlers. The Srilankans maintained a good, healthy run rate throughout their innings, and I would like to give the credit to the sloppy Indian fielding. Looks like the new fielding coach doesn't bring in good fielding spirits. Sangakara looked to continue from where he had left in the earlier game, and believe me whichever side you might support, he was a pleasure to watch. Birthday boy Yuvraj played a match winning innings along with the Srilankan bowlers and fielders, who did their best to lose the match. Whatever you may call this game, a batting paradise, fielding nightmare, or whatever, those who witnessed the match live in the stadium had their money worth. One would have surely seen the classic T20 action even in this game and plenty of excitement.

A Poem on Sachin

2009-12-11T18:49:00.003+05:30

Who said

AnIdle Mind is A Devil's Workshop

A statement which I can prove false. I was sitting idle, so I decided to compose a poem on cricket, wasn't able to do so and wrote one on one of my favourite players- Sachin Tendulkar. Th e poem is not too good, but I believe it is fine as my literature and poetry isn't too good. You might find some useless things, but I had to write something. So please excuse me.

Sachin Tendulkar is my favourite cricketer,
He is also a good wicket- taker.
He runs behind the ball to get his prey,
He seems to get famous day by day.

He is a person whose qualities can't be possessed by anyone,
Out of thousands, he is the only one.
Sachin, casts over everyone a magic spell,
Without him our lives would surely have been hell.

It is hard to believe how easily he sets records for himself,
His opponents are afraid of playing against him, which I've seen myself.
He runs hard and hard to get the 'catch',
The game doesn't get over unless he becomes the "man of the match".

Shanav Kakkar
New Delhi

New Blog, New Story

2009-12-11T17:16:00.003+05:30

Hello friends, I've got a new blog, but this one is only for people who have interest in social and political issues. My new blog, The Inside Story has a lot to offer and most likely our partner Satya Mathur is going to join me. Unfortunately, Rishabh can't join us because he doesn't take interest in fields other than cricket. I will continue to write cricket articles on Crick-o. So if you do take interest in political and social issues, do visit my blog.

T20 at its very best: SL V/s ind 1st T20

2009-12-09T21:02:00.003+05:30

As I close the television set in frustration, I can watch the Srilankans celebrating their victory, in the 1st T20 at Nagpur. Irrespective of the result, we surely had a wonderful game of cricket, infact I believe it was among the best T20 matches played by India, the best was surely the 2007 World T20 finals at Johannesburg. Those of you who have been lucky enough to watch the action live on television would have seen how the game managed to put on perfect T20 excitement.

All cricketers gave their 100 percents, the fielder hitting the stumps on more than one occasion, the bowler coming back to the stumps as quick as he can to collect the ball and the batsman diving to save his vital wicket. Though the wicket gave a bit of extra joy to the batsman, the game lost its excitement only in the last few overs.

Some standout performances included those of Kumar Sangakara, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Angelo Mathews, Kapugedara and this time for his bowling, Sanath Jayasuria.
Kumar Sangakara displayed if what class is he made of. His spectacular innings of 78 runs saw 2 sixes and some splendid strokes. His fifty coming of only 21 balls.
And the batting star for India was its latest wall- Gautam Gambhir, whose fifty came even faster-19 balls.His half century was studded with 11 boundaries and those too on consistent basis.
Mathews proved his value for the team once again, while the old man did it again, but this time for his bowling and he snatched the match of India's hands.

At the end of the day, Srilanaka were a better team, infact India was the worse team, dropping catches and losing quick wickets. The butter-fingered fielders dropped many catches and committed many misfields. At a time when Gambhir seemed to be unstoppable, he himself made a mistake and had to part away with his wicket. After his wicket, India completely made a mess of it. I was shocked to see the wickets fall at such a healthy rate. Bowling wasn't a big problem, it was just too good batting by the Srilankans.

I am eagerly waiting for the next T20 and hope India will bounce back in that match.

The brainchild of BCCI that has led to India's shaky No.1 position

2009-12-07T20:05:00.006+05:30

Now, most of you must have got the idea from the title itself. Of course, it is the IPL and Mr.Lalit Modi who have struck again. And they along with the whole BCCI individual giants are encouraging a format, where India doesn't even rank in top 5. Come on BCCI...why do you always have to something atrocious and harmful for the team in your control? Bring in some more tests please :s ...before we, the fans of Indian Cricket break your luxurious, exquisite office made from the money-through-IPL into bits and pieces.

For MSD and Co. somehow provided the icing on the cake by first marking Indian Cricket's 100^th test win, and then of course, taking India to numero uno. Now that playing against minnows like Bangladesh is going to give India not even one single point in the table, and with the NZ test series still not confirmed, I doubt if India might even slip to as low as 3 or 4 in the rankings. Possible enough? Isn't it? Here is where, MSD's golden luck will come into play. Don't forget how SL players were left licking their wounds due to the lacking of UDRS. Had it been there, at least the 3rd test could have resulted in a draw. And now in the present and the future, if by god's grace, the Aussies and the Saffas could fail to make amends of the opportunities coming at them, it is going to be Dhoni's luck again.

Still though, credit has to be given to the whole Indian team, not only the one in the present but right from the 90s when our legendary heroes were cementing their place in the side right to youngsters coming in the side and doing well of late. Needless to say, it has been a long journey, and the whole of Indian Cricket deserves to cherish these precious moments. Who knows..kal India No.1 ho ya na ho?

Mohammads have done it for Pak at last!

2009-12-06T22:17:00.003+05:30

Last time they did their best, yet they could not save their team from the clutches of defeat. This time, they'd overpowered their performance from their previous game along with another Mohammad, who is leading their team in a strange manner. In blogging circles, he's better known as MoYo.

In all, a fantastic game played by Pakistan. They pretty much outplayed NZ especially with MoAa(Aamer) and MoAs(Asif) blowing the Kiwi batsmen like 10 skittles(of course 1 remains unbeaten in the end).

Now there is a lot to ponder about for Dan and his boys before they take the field in Napier on Dec 11. How are they going to fight complacency as predicted by Vettori. Oh and how are they going to counter the Pakistani duo of MoAa and MoAs?

Meanwhile there is some more disappointing news for NZ as Ian O'Brien is retiring from international cricket only to make a living in UK. Sigh...the beard goes :(

Sehwag-Bowler's Enemy...Viewers Friend

2009-12-06T07:37:00.005+05:30

Balls are a Bowlers best friends and to see one's best friend being smashed out mersilessly and repeatedly generates some anger and frustration. Maybe thats why bowlers fear and hate bowling to Virender Sehwag. But you cant blame Sehwag for his bad reputation amoungst the bowlers, because there is only one way in which he knows how to play...That Being The 'Hit Hard & Play Fast' Way...And we shouldn't just pity the Lankans, after all its not the first time that Viru has gone on such a rampage, he's gone past the 300 run mark twice allready..309 (Vs. Pakistan) and 319 (Vs. South Africa).....and we hope more big innings come from his bat in the future. On Friday he got out on 293, just 7 short of 300, but his inning has captured the imagination of people from all over (Exept the Lankans). It seemed that India was playing a prolonged one day international Inning. Sehwag had smashed a lot of balls down the ground in the match....but one Muthiah Murlidharan delivery (The 254th of His inning) got the better of him, he was out Caught & Bowled. He was out, but the match had to go on....and so it did. Dhoni managed to complete a selfish yet elegent 100 as India managed 726-9 Dec. The Lankan Batting fumbled (exept Sangakara) Leaving India just 4 Wickets away from Top Rank in Tests with a days play in hand. But I belive that the match's soul had departed after Sehwag's dismissal and the players are just completing the formalities.

Test cricket has nothing to fear if players like Sehwag are there.....

India Sights Top Rank

2009-12-05T16:14:00.006+05:30

Yes you've heard it right, India might have lost a chance to grab the first place in the ODI's but they don't want to lose their chance to the first place in the highest version- Tests. If Sehwag's blow was not enough, Sri Lanka lost their way in the afternoon session fourth day of the third test at Mumbai. A win here and the Indian side will deservedly go to the top. Though Sangakara is still standing firm at the crease and Sri Lanka trailing only by 60 odd runs, India seem to have complete control of the match. This Indian side is daring and energetic as compared to others. India do deserve the top spot because of their recent performances. This third test will surely make it to the record books, even if India lose, simply because of the various records set in this wonderful test. Test matches are taking place all over the world(India, Australia, New Zealand) and all of them telling us that Test is not dead for sure. Those who have been fortunate enough to see Sehwag's innings would have wondered thet why was Twenty-20 made when we can have much better in the tests. Well going back to our main focus- India V/s Sri Lanka where India have a wonderful chance to clinch the top spot in ICC Test Rankings, India can show the world what is their test team made of. :)

Till then lets hope for the best and India win the match and with that the first spot.

God, Save Sri Lanka from this Aggressive Assault!

2009-12-03T20:56:00.014+05:30

And the one who assaulted them had this to say in the post-day chat:

I just wanted to hit the bad balls.

Lmao! So did the Sri Lankan bowlers bowled only bad deliveries throughout the day? What in your opinion is a good ball Mr.Sehwag? :brow

Once SL was bowled out for near about 400 runs, they must have felt some security within their minds. They might have not thought of Sehwag showing them nightmares in broad daylight.

He is very close to achieve a feat where noone has stepped up yet - 3 triple hundreds. And what more, a chance to break Lara's record individual score. I won't go much into the details of his whammy-jammy innings for it might jinx him again. Oh did I say Jammy? How could I forget him ? For the first time India's run rate didn't go below 5 per over even when he came and batted for at least 130 balls. Is he trying to prove that he can play the ODIs?

One must applaud Vijay's effort as well. He made sure that Gambhir can have a memorable wedding party of his sister.

Yet again, like the last game, this match depends totally on how SL will bat tomorrow(they should, if Viru is there till at least the morning session.)

For now, let's just hail the blaster(yet not the master)!

End Of Times Of The ICL?

2009-12-01T21:27:00.009+05:30

When did you last watch a live Indian Cricket League (ICL) match on your T.V.? At least not in 2009 I'd guess because the last match that the ICL conducted was on November 26, 2008 between ICL World and ICL Pakistani. The latter managed to win the match but their fellow countrymen (The Terrorists) ensured that it was their last win....Or for that matter their last game. A lot has changed since 26/11 for everyone....The Indian Cricket League hasent been exempted either.

All matches of the ICL World Series (Season 2) had been suspended after the attacks, and action still hasen't resumed. Earlier this year, the BCCI offered amnesty to all players who would terminate their ICL contracts and would start playing in the domestic circuit (The Ranji Trophy,etc). Obviously almost all of the nearly 150 agreed and ditched the ICL. Thats not all, Tim May (The CEO of Federation Of International Cricketers' Association) has recently said that the ICL owes millions of dollars in outstanding payments to its players, officials and support staff.

On the other hand, the players who left the League are proving useful for the respective teams they play for. Punjab, for example, which saw a majority of its players leave for the ICL in 2007, has had a remarkable start in the 09-10 Ranji season. Players like Rohan Gavskar and Ekak Ahmed, both of whom played for the Royal Bengal Tigers, have now joined the Kolkata Knight Riders of the lucrative Indian Premier League.

Clearly, with no matches taking place and most players opting out of it, the future of the ICL is a stub. So, the moral of the story is that the next time you wake up early morning from a dream in which you have created a private cricket league that has overthrown the biggest and richest national cricket board on Earth....Trust me, Switch off the lights and fall asleep again.

Bad Luck Amit Mishra! Caption this -

2009-11-30T22:03:00.003+05:30

Ever since Sreesanth and Harbhajan are back playing together, Mishra has just been watching them from the sidelines. Though for Mishra's ommision, Ojha is more responsible, but I couldn't resist myself from blaming Freesanth a bit. Even in their friendship talks, Amit is now kept aside like this -

Well Done NZ!

2009-11-28T18:09:00.004+05:30

Test Cricket is certainly not dead. Sometimes it can just be a nail-biter too. And fine example is the 1^st Test between Pakistan and New Zealand. So...T20 and Lalit Modi can and have to wait. And so can One day Internationals. The Vettori led and coached inexperienced team managed to get better of Pakistan in time. I pity Umar Akmal though. A veteran from Pakistan could have blamed the pitch for deteriorating or anything wrong happening, but this young boy has spoken everything with his bat. This shows the failure of rest of the batsmen to chase a score as low as 250 runs. These many runs are certainly considered low in test matches.

Vettori must have got thousands of hugs from his female physio now. Poor fella!

Mohammads For Pakistan

2009-11-28T11:21:00.004+05:30

Mohammad Asif has made a wonderful comeback to Test cricket, and with his counterpart- the young sensation Mohammad Aamer, he managed to destroy the New Zealand batting order. Unlike the first innings where Vettori and his boys made better of the Pakistani bowlers, both Asif and Aamer wre very good and bowled good lines. This new Pakistani bowling lineup seems to be very good. Both the Mohammads have the ability to swing and seam the ball, but what Mohammad Aamer is doing for his country at such a young age is really remarkable. He has really proved himself and Asif requires no introduction. Though Pakistan have lost the match because of some great bowling by the New Zealanders, one can say that this new bowling pair is looking very dangerous. This pair has the ability to match India's recent successful bowling pair of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. The two Mohammads can do it for Pakistan and I wish them all the very best for the rest of the series.

Whaddup with Gauti?

2009-11-27T18:22:00.003+05:30

I did forget to mention Gautam Gambhir in the previous post. He is perhaps the most wanted by the villan - Complacent. LOL! I could not have thought of any name for this villan. Suggest me one if you know anything better than this. Someone's comparing him with Sunil Gavaskar, someone is awarding him checks of big amounts and few precious trophies, someone thinks he will lead India in the future. When I had a debate with my friends on this future captain of India, all they said was "Abbe pehle future tak usse team mein toh rehne de"(At least let him be in the playing XI in future). They were right on spot with this answer. He still faces a stiff competition from players like JP Duminy, deVilliers for world glory. There are many more that I can't remember.

In my opinion he is yet to face the real test on fast pitches like the ones in West Indies, South Africa. I didn't mention Australia above for the reason being that he did pretty well there last year.
Like any other young promising batsman in India, he has been a lion in his backyard. He looks technically perfect to be honest. The only problem that lags him behind is there aren't going to be many tests his country will play. And well...he is missing the next test too due to his sister's wedding. Seriously, a bad time for the wedding season to come in India. This also showcases his weaknesses. His biggest being the lack of ability to clear big grounds. But as there is this commonly known phrase says -

When there is a will, there is a way...

He is best known to bisect the gaps easily courtesy some good timing. He cannot loose these skills overnight. All he can loose is his form and fitness thanks to Lalit Modi and Co. for their business league, better known as IPL. It will be interesting to see how he carries himself in the future.

Play on India!

2009-11-27T17:42:00.003+05:30

First of all, congrats to Team India for their 100^th great win against still a weak team in tests - Sri Lanka. Now you might think I am mad for calling a World No.2 team weak. Apologies to all SL fans out there. But hey, beating a side that did not even tour with the dangerous slinger and the Matara Marauder is still weak. Moreover, if you see, all the recent sucess that Sri Lanka has tasted has been against lower ranked test nations - New Zealand and Pakistan. To me this win doesn't mean much. There is still a long way to go. Let's hope India doesn't be for what it is best known to be - Complacent. They win 1-2 games, become complacent and this is it. The series is gone out of their hands. And one fine example is the thumping received against a depleted Australian lineup in the ODI series.

Sreesanth looked good, so did Ojha. Bhajji seems to have secured his place in the playing XI at least till the tour against Bangladesh. I pity Ishant and Mishra. Seems like they too had a dose of complacency. And now they are found warming up the bench and having some doses of painkillers.

Now the question comes...can this so-called potential World Champions guard against complacency and go on to win the whole series against the hurt lions still searching for a win in India?

Coming back to this game though, as I had hoped before, the pitch did start to deteriorate once Dilshan and Paranavitana came out on Day 2. And well...you all know the story there on. Ojha took a nervous catch on the first ball, Sreesanth probably bowled the best spell of his career so far(I hope there are more to come), Zak looked average though. Bhajji as said before, bowled in right areas.

Certainly, I have been gifted my birthday present this year by team India!

Back to the business, play on India.

An all Indian day!

2009-11-24T19:18:00.007+05:30

Finally after a long time we have experienced a solid opening partnership by Gauti-Viru. In ODIs one might blame Sachin for blocking the next Ganguly-Sachin like opening partners. But hey, even he is doing his job well.

Never mind, back to the present game. After already witnessing two great tons, I do hope as an Indian supporter to see Dravid and Tendulkar cementing their positions on-field and score a ton tomorrow. But who knows, the pitch might just get better for the bowlers later. In fact if you see, even in the last game played at Kanpur where both Gambhir and Sehwag featured in an opening partnership was against South Africa in 2004 where they took the toll to 218 runs.
That game resulted in a draw. Let's hope it doesn't happen this time around. I won't say the pitch will continue to be a batting paradise for whole 5 days like the one in Ahmedabad. I just think the Sri Lankans weren't up to the mark, especially Mendis. It could have been much better for them...really better had Mahela not dropped Sehwag when he wasn't even off the mark. Sehwag really did punish all the bowlers after that cautious little period early during the morning session.

India look good enough to take the team total to at least 600 runs if they don't collapse. Tomorrow's first hour could be an important one especially for Dravid if he wants to capitalize his innings and score about 150 runs. The Indians have a strong line-up to come. But on a day even the line-up loaded with the likes of Laxman, Yuvraj and Dhoni can falter. And as I said before, if the pitch starts cracking up...expect Murali and Mendis to take revenge. In fact only these two, all the bowlers could come very handy.

Some Shocking Decisions

I turned my Television on at around 8:30 AM waiting for toss only to here the changes made in the lineups of both the teams.

First up was India - Sreesanth comes in for Ishant, Ojha for Mishra. The former one in my opinion was totally atrocious. How can Dhoni and Co. loose confidence in him. Did Dhoni forgot how he used to show confidence in players like Yuvraj(during his early reign as captain) who were once going through bad form? Ishant has to be considered a bit unlucky. If you see, he did well in the first two games against Australia during the ODI series. Yet when he got a little expensive figures to show in the 3rd ODI, he was dropped for the rest of the series. And yet again, Dhoni expected him to bring in some wickets for the team on a dead flat batting track.

Mishra's exclusion was no less than atrocious too. Again, Dhoni seems to have lost confidence in a young talented spinner bringing in another young turner. I anyways won't say much about it...after all it is Ojha's birthday today!

Then came the Sri Lankan captain. At once I thought Sangakkara might have made a good decision to bring back Mendis for injured Damika Prasad. But later, when he was taken apart by all the Indian batsmen, Sanga might himself be ruing this decision. Well...he has at least shown some faith in Mendis.

By the tomorrow is my 15th birthday. And so as a birthday gift, I do hope to see the Indians end this match as well as the whole series on a winning note.

Cricket Revolution - The Perfect Cricket Game

2009-11-22T20:21:00.005+05:30

A drought is certainly over. This one was for cricket games which lasted for whole 2 years. First came Ashes Cricket 09.Then came my very own much anticipated game - Cricket Revolution. But why was I anxious for it more than AC09? Here is the answer why -

Pakistan's First Cricket Game launches:
Yeah! You heard it right. A first for Pakistan in 3D gaming industry! Developed by Mindstorm Studios owned by two Pakistani brothers - Babar and Faraz Ahmed, this game was first supposed to release on 18th September on the fantastic game distributing platform - Steam. After a lot of demand for the boxed version as well from the fans, the release date was postponed to 30th October. Just before the game released, a closed beta test was conducted for a week or so. And I was part of it. That was the real turning point for my love and anticipation for this game increased. This game didn't really create much hype compared to Ashes Cricket 09 from Codies. Yet for me...this game is by far the best played so far.

The Real Turner -

There has been some criticism about other cricket games where they lack realism in their gameplay. But this is not the case with CR. You can't really hit every ball out of the ground like in other games. This is where CR has overpowered all others quite convincingly.

Though it doesn’t have the so-called complete 360° batting control or any analog keys(or whatever EA featured in Cricket 07), but hey, you have a vast variety of shots( a lot more than any cricket game so far). Total 34 in number! Right from defensive strokes, single key shots to combo shots and slogs and lofts. My personal favorite is the slog hit over Mid-wicket region.

Bowling is much like EA Cricket 07, other than the variety again. You have fast bowlers, swing bowlers, medium-fast bowlers and of course spinners. Another major difference is something you might find difficult to cope up with. That is the bowling marker. But with a bit of Practice you can master it.

What has really enhanced this game is the AI. Again, you can’t bowl them out cheaply. They are much intelligent than AI’s of other games. They will bowl you out with perfection. The margin for error is low but not zero. In a 10-10 over game you can score around 60-70 runs if you hit the ball in vacant areas. But timing and your positioning is everything. Unlike other games, where if the ball marker is a bit away from the batsman and still he manages to play his shots on the leg side, this is never going to happen here. If you’ll try this you are about to snick the ball to either the slips or the short-thirdman (AI always places a fielder in either of the places). As far as the timing is concerned, it is really important to be perfect here…if timed early, the ball will fly in the fielder’s hand and if timed late, a lofted or slog hit just rolls down the ground.

The only disappointment comes with the missing of Autoplay and replays.

Online Play –

Certainly it is another important aspect of the game. It can be a bit disappointing at times since P2P(peer to peer) online gaming means that gaming conditions are perfect only if you play somewhere in your country or somewhere around that. Anything above a ping of 300ms could result in bad lag. But it doesn’t really matter sometimes even if it goes above as long as you run your brain well. Sometimes the online matches are real fun. You have the option of playing either friendly or ranked ones. Ranked matches do affect your account ranking in the Leaderboard. In fact not only yours, but your country’s rank as well. Again, the point where it has edged out AC09 is the online quitters. You quit a game yourself, and your opponent is declared the winner. So there’s no place for losers.

But the problem is that you can’t beat cheaters…no matter if quitting games results in being counted as loss. They use dirty tricks to win games. They will ball you at a negative line well outside the off-stump. Sometimes they place the fielders at the boundaries straight down the ground, at the mid-wicket and the cover region. And they will flood you with over-pitched deliveries just to hit it straight to their throats. But if you are intelligent enough, you can easily beat them. Let them place their fielders anywhere…it’s you who have to place your shots.

Sound effects and Music –

The music track is pretty good. Even quite a lot of sound effects such as the sound of the bat while hitting the ball, the background sound such as police siren and such are realistic. The only disappointment there is the ball hitting the advertising boards just ahead of the ropes. They sound more like drums than regular wooden boards.

Oh and did I tell you that there is no commentary in the game at present?! For some it is sad, but I am pretty happy with it. The reason for my happiness is that I anyways mute the commentary after a few matches in other games.

Graphics –

They need a bit of improvement. Not a bit…in fact much. For instance the ball looks well above the fielder’s head yet he catches it at chest level. It gets funny at times as well as annoying when that freakish catch becomes the turning point of the game.

Formats and Tournaments in CR –

Currently only 10,20 and 50 over formats are available. Sad to see no test match mode. Test cricket is dying quite possibly. But the developers have said that they will most likely add it in the future.

In CR there are three types of tournaments – Exhibition mode, Fast-paced knock-out better known as Revolution Cup and a league known as Revolution League.

Other Features –

In online play, you will be able to create your own clubs soon. Another feature that will be available soon are the Awards and Achievements.

Meanwhile, in case you don’t want to play with a test-playing nation, there is a massive list of other countries you can choose for offline modes.

Conclusion -

A casual gamer might not be comfortable with Cricket Revolution. In my opinion this game is meant for real hardcore cricket gamers.

Total Score –

Gameplay – 8.5/10

Sound and Music – 7/10

Online Mode – 8/10

Graphics – 5/10

Customization – 9/10

Overall – 8/10

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Story of Ind-SL 1st test...So Far

2009-11-18T20:42:00.005+05:30

My first post after a long time!

It couldn't have gone any worse for the Indian team. They really seem to be out of colors ever since the IPL. Oh well...in a way ever since I wrote my last post. They seem to be lacking the self-confidence and form that they carried with them coming into the year 2009.

The 3rd day was totally dominated by the Lankans thanks to some over-defensive tactics by MSD. This is one kind of a situation where Aussie captain, Ricky Ponting found himself when his team came to India for a four match test series last year. All strange tactics, flat fielding and bowling resulted in zero-pressure on the Lankan batsmen. But you can't really steal the credit from their batsmen as well. They seemed to have batted India out of this game totally. The current lead is around 165 runs. Expect the lead to increase to at least 250 runs, and then the SL bowlers would have enough time to test the so-called experience batting order of Indians.

What really annoyed me was the fact that the singles kept coming on quite easily. I wouldn't have set such a field even in shorter formats of the game. MSD seems to be lacking his out-of-the-box thinking. Or if you would like...his stars are not shining, therefore his gambles not paying off well. But why blame him alone? Some non-sensical and lousy bowling also resulted in Jayawardene duo getting away. Mishra just kept bowling from around the wicket, outside the leg to both the batsmen expecting the ball to turn miles(which of course even Warnie would have been able to do). Bhajji still seamed to be confused and a bit insecure. And part time bowling of Yuvi was at its worse. Either he bowled short, or bowled non-turning half volleys with 5-6 fielders outside the 30 yard circle. Ishant and Zaheer too looked decent enough.

Indian Batting in the 1st Innings -

The first half or so of the game sent shockwaves throughout the dressing room. Right after the 6th ODI against Australia played earlier this November, this was another top-order collapse. I remember Viru once said how fatherhood has made him more responsible even in his game. It seemed true for quite a while. Sehwag injured...he came back and with him came back the showdows of his gameplay during his early days when he used to get out trying to hit every ball out of the park. As one senior batsman, one does not expect this out of him. And the collapse continued to follow...Sigh. But again, the SL have stolen the credit for utilizing the early conditions well, especially Welegedara. Yuvraj,Dhoni and Dravid played extremely well to help India reach a total which looked completely out of India's reach.

What Can really Happen Now?

For India, it's near to nothing. They failed to attack Lankans the way a top team is expected to do. As an Indian supporter, I do hope to see India coming back well and at least saving their skin by drawing the game.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka have got an excellent chance to register their first win on Indian soil. Tomorrow's day is going to be very interesting and important one!

An update big time!

2009-11-18T11:49:00.001+05:30

Alright so...after a long break we are back! I had a long chat with Shanav and Satya and finally we decided not to blog this blog even an inch anywhere outside Blogger.com. Even I was having a tough time developing on Wordpress(Ah! A long story...never mind 'bout that).

Let me inform you though, we are looking for a new refreshing template for Crick-O. Nevertheless...WE are really back this time around.

Am I back??? Not really.

2009-10-15T20:26:00.003+05:30

So after a long...very long absence indeed, I am posting something here. But this doesn't really mean I am back.

I have learnt a lot during this period. And now I am busy with currently shifting the blog. So yes, I will be back soon along with Shanav and Satya. And So Crick-O will be in a new look and out refreshed with a new name!

Hope to see you guys soon. Will try to keep an update on how the things are going to proceed.

Anyways, thanks and see you all later.

Pakistan Beat India

2009-09-28T10:26:00.004+05:30

Not at all a good news for Indian fans.You all must have watched the match between the two arch rivals and have witnessed India's mistakes in such an important game. But one can't ignore the fact that this wasn't a full strength Indian side and surely missed world class players like Yuvraj, Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. I will highlight some of the things that went against India.
Firstly, Dhoni decided to have his par-timers bowl when India were going good and Yousuf and Malik were new to the crease. Had he continued with the pacers or even introduced Harbhajan Singh, India could have avoided the record partnership.
Bowlers bowled short on a track which seemed to be favouring the batsmen. India leaked away too many runs in the region behind square. They got the first tirthy overs right, not giving too many runs, but in the last twenty overs India conceded over 160 runs with a run rate over 8.
Gautam Gambhir made up for the early loss of Sachin Tendulkar and played a magnificent ininngs
before he got himself run out, this probably cost India the match, because he seemed to be simply unstoppable.
Middle order batsmen weren't able to maintain the run rate fell victims to Boom-Boom Afridi. Afridi's double blow consisting of Kohli's and Dhoni's wickets.
Suresh Raina being ruled out unjustly as the umpire did not notice the big inside edge. He lost his wicket just after striking two huge sixes. He along with Dravid planned a good recovery, but finally failed.

It has now become a knockout tournament for India, as Dhoni said. India must improve their feilding standards and the lines and lengths of the bowlers before the crucial game against Australia. I wish the Indian team ALL THE BEST!!!!!!!

Dravid for ODIs?

2009-07-06T22:11:00.005+05:30

Don't believe me, better do so. Rahul Dravid, one of the best technical players in the world and my favourite cricketer is among the 30 probables for the Champions Trophy this year in September. I was totally shocked when I saw the news flash on the television, but it is completely understood why he is being considered for the One-dayers. Indian batsmen like Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and many more have struggled to face the short delivery well. Dravid's inclusion, I believe will surely give a new atmosphere to the Indian dressing room and will surely add pressure on youngsters to perform well in order to secure a place in the playing XI. Though we've seen Dravid play some long innings with strike rates around 30, but Dravid's performance in the IPL and the Test series against NewZealand have proved that he still has the ability to strike the ball at a good rate. I feel Dravid if selected will surely hold up to the expectations I have from him. Till then let's wish him luck for his one-dayer comeback.