AbhiVarta

IPL was started with much fanfare in 2008.It was regarded as the next big thing in cricket.Under the able guidance of Lalit Modi , it started of really well.It was inspired by the highly popular EPL (english Premier League).Since its inception,it has caught the eyes of players and viewers alike.It brought in Bollywood and corporates under one roof. It resulted in huge amount of money poured into the game. Presence of bollywood stars during matches raised the glamour quotient. Pay package of international players, increased by leaps and bound. Players who appeared for a season, started drawing much more than what they were paid by their respective boards. This has lured a number of international cricketers to cut short their international career. Many others have become free lancers. This has resulted in question being raised over player's loyalty for his country. There is nothing harm in the players opting for these leagues which offer them lucrative money but definit...

Retirement of Dravid and Laxman in quick succession has left a huge void in the Indian middle order . Once reputed for its FAB4 (Dravid, Sachin , Ganguly ,Laxman),the batting line up suddenly looks brittle.Worse enough,we still have not found a replacement for Ganguly, who had retired from test cricket wayback in 2008. Yuvraj and Raina were considered to be the most suitable replacement for Dada. Both of them promised a lot but none of them delivered . Cheteshwar Pujara , the run machine from the domestic circuit was drafted into the Indian team owing to his potential of playing long innings. He had a promising debut against Aussies and he carried his form on to the tour of SA. It was widely felt that the search for Ganguly's heir apparent was over. Unfortuantely, it was short-lived as Pujara while appearing for KKR in an IPl match, injured himself. The injury was so grave that he was out of action for more than 5-6 months. Last year was a forgettable year for the  Indian t...

Virat Kohli , the lad from Delhi has been the most consistent batsman for India in the last 2 years. He averages ov 52 in ODIs with a strike rate of around 87.0 that is simply phenomenal. The good thing about Kohli is that whenever he comes on to bat, he is really calm and composed and can switch gear at will. He has a wide array of shots which makes him a potent player. When he is at his destructive best, he  makes the best bowlers look ordinary. He is from the younger generation that doesen't wilt under pressure and love to face challenges. As a skipper of U-19 team ,he guided the team to World Cup glory in 2008 . The transition from U-19 to senior level never been a smooth ride for the players in past. In the past we have seen a number of U-19 cricketers making it to the senior level at an early age but soon they were lost into oblivion.Kohli was no exception. After his heroics in the U-19, he was considered the next big thing in the Indian cricket fraternity . As a result ...

After India's third successive Super 8 exits, voice over axing Dhoni has grown strong.Former cricketers and so called cricket pundits have come up of theory of having different captains for different format.Some even believe that dhoni should have been stripped of his captaincy after the debacle in Australia itself .Though everyone is entitled to have his opinion but I just want to put forth one question to them : Do we have a replacement?  Indian team has performed exceedingly well under Dhoni. The same crictics had hailed him as the one of the best captains.I understand that recent overseas performance especially in Tests were not up to the mark. A captain is always as good as his team and when the team is not performing to its potential, there is little a captain can do.Having said that a captain should shoulder much of the blame for he is is the man in charge when team takes the field.But to drop him after couple of series loss is totally unfair.One should ...

India again failed to make it the semis. It seems to be nothing new as per few angry fans for they expected it to happen. Third time in a row, India had failed to reach the knockout stage. Nevertheless,  it was a much improved  performance. In the previous two outings, we did not win a single game in the Super 8 stages. Still this did not augur well with the former cricketers and cricket pundits.  Swords were drawn against Dhoni and experts began to question whether he was the right person to lead the team. Suddenly, a man who was supposed to be one of best captains of India, was considered to be lacking motivation and will to lead the team. The bigger question is do we have his replacement? Under Gambhir KKR were crowned the IPL champions but the man is struggling with his form of lately in all formats. Viru's attitude is neither helping his batting nor the team as a whole. Kohli is terrific played probably the best ODI player in the world at this time but he is to...

Having seen Champions league involving soccer clubs all around the world, I am  somehow perplexed to see the format of the T20 Champions League. Is it really the League that involve the champions club from all over the world? The answer to that is no. Just have a look at that soccer clubs that feature in UEFA Champions lLeague. It comprisesof clubs from all over Europe competing in away and home matches for the ultimate glory, thats Champion of Europe. Most importantly, they are the champion clubs from the respective European nations. After all Champions League involves champions, isn't it? Sadly, T20 Champions League does not provide equal representation from all the member countries. We have 4 IPL teams , 2 from SA, 2 from down under and 2 other teams( top 2 teams from the qualifiers) that make up the list. Even, startling is that clubs from few member countries like Zimbawae and Bangladesh are not even invited to participate in the qualifiers. Why can't we have top clubs...

Having grown up in the era,where I have been used to see Dravid and Laxman bat whenever India played a test. It would be quite unusual to see an Indian test team without these stalwarts. They were just not important for the indian middle order  but were a key component of the slip cordon. If its a test match, slip cordon is definately the lifeline for the pace bowlers. So, its impeartive that you have your specialist fielders in there, VVS and Dravid were those fielders for India. If Dravid was "the Wall" ,then Laxman was always Very Very Special. Though both of them had won numerous test matches for India, there match wining partnership in Eden Test against Australia in 2001 was by far the best. India were made to follow on and might have faced an innings defeat . Sadly, for the Aussies these gentlemen had other plans. They forged a partnership of well over 300 odd runs which just not saved India blushes of an innings defeat before a capacity crowd, infact it gave india a s...

7th Oct 2012 was the day, when the West Indies were crowned world champions in T20 World Cup. It was a night to remember not just for the Carribean people but for the whole world. We have heard about the West Indies of the past. The 70s era was truly the time, when the WI were a force to reckon. It was the time when WI boosted of the Holdings,Marshals and Lyods. This team did not have any superstars but it was fiercely competitive. They definately weren't underdogs for how can a team comprising of players like Bravo,Gayle,Pollard and the mystery spinner Narine would be considered a weak team by any means. A strong West Indies cricket team  was the need of the hour. But some how it was not happening owing to contract related fights between the players and the WICB(WI cricket Board). So this victory was good for the game of cricket and hence was appreciated by  fans from all over the world. No body enjoys or shall I say are more passionate about their game than the Carribeans. ...