Ganeshbabu Venkat - ARTICLES

I lamented on the use of referrals and how ICC should prompt the use of technology to the fullest extent in cricket last year during the fourth test between West Indies and England at Bridgetown, Barbados. Daryl Harper, the TV umpire from Australia was at the hot seat for a period of play on the final session of the third day during that Test when he gave two absolute shockers which baffled one and all. As the year went by ICC had realized the importance of technology and to eradicate umpiring errors implemented the UDRS (Umpire Decision review system) from October 2009. When this announcement came out, I was elated that ICC had taken the step in the right direction to help the game, the players, the umpires and the fans.

I have been of the firm opinion that people who run ICC do not watch the game. I could go one step further and claim that they don’t know much about cricket or rather don’t care about the game or its fans.

There are not many West Indians who are happy with the showing of their cricket team in the ICC Champions trophy and many are boiling with rage that the best team was not selected even after the Bangladesh whitewash.

There are only a few who have played the game as only they can play, Sir Don Bradman, The great Gary Sobers, King Viv Richards, Prince Brian Lara and The sheik of Tweak Shane Warne.

India is a country obsessively in love with two things, Bollywood movies and Cricket. A typical Bollywood movie features a hero, a heroine, a villain and a huge supporting cast.The movies can be uninspiring to say the least but there are times when even lackluster movies are taken to lofty heights by some brilliant work from the supporting cast.Indian cricket over the period of time has seen many such characters who were part of a brilliant Support cast, none better than Robin Singh, who belongs to this category of outstanding support actors and remained an unsung hero throughout his career.

Cricket Web presents the Best XI of the tournament comprising the players with the best performances.

Today we preview Group C, the “group of death” which includes the world ODI champions, Australia, The runners-up, Sri Lanka and the mercurial West Indies.

Of the four groups in the T20 World Cup, Group A is almost certainly the easiest. It features the defending champions India, dark horses Bangladesh and minnows Ireland.

There is absolutely no merit or logic in having a reciprocal series between two teams before two years let alone two months, and certainly not when all eyes are trained on the IPL and their gyrating cheerleaders.

Continuing the detailed two part analysis of the DLF Indian Premier League and how the rest of the teams match-up and how they could fare in the 2009 edition of the tournament. This edition features the Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Bangalore Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers.