How does Cricket ball swing and spin?

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The game of Cricket is as much as a science as it is an art! And the most trending questions about Cricket are how does a Cricket ball swing and spin? Today, each team has to have a few good swing bowlers and a few good spin bowlers to be able to take wickets in home and away matches.

So, how does Cricket ball swing and spin? I found below two videos out of many there on the internet which explain the Science behind this beautiful art.

Science of Swinging ball

Science of Spinning ball

I hope the science is revealed..!

Source: Youtube.com

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Why Cricket is not part of the Olympics?

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But at first place, what makes the Olympic Games different than other sports events?

Why Cricket is not part of the Olympics?

The Olympic Games are one of the biggest sporting events of our time. Athletes from the entire world take part in this traditional event. Their achievements are watched from both near and far by hundreds of millions of spectators and the Olympic medals become Country’s status symbols and athletes’ pride. The Games are held every four years. They are the largest sporting celebration in terms of the number of sports on the program.

The Games are also part of a broader framework which is that of the Olympic Movement. The purpose of the Olympic Movement is to:

- Link sport with culture and education

- Promote the practice of sport and the joy found in effort

- Help to build a better world through sport practiced in a spirit of peace, excellence, friendship and respect.

The obvious question comes to a Cricket Lover’s mind is why Cricket is not a part of the historical Olympics?

And that brings us to the basic question as to what are the criteria for a sport to be part of the Olympic game? After thorough search, I found official explanation from none other than the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Explanation offered:

...The IOC sets the program and decides which sports will be included. The IOC also has the right to accept or refuse any proposed new sport, discipline or event.

Sport - For a sport to be made an Olympic sport it has to be governed by an International Federation recognized by the IOC.

e.g.: Swimming at the Games is governed by the International Swimming Federation (FINA)

In case of Cricket, it is International Cricket Council (ICC)

Discipline - an Olympic sport comprises one or several disciplines.

e.g.: Water polo and diving are disciplines of swimming.

In case of Cricket, Twently20 makes the optimal choice

Event - a discipline includes one or more events or competitions. An event gives rise to a result for which medals are awarded.

e.g.: The 10m platform for women is a diving event; the men’s 500m is a speed skating event.

A football style or Cricket World-cup Cricket format can bring a winner to whom medal can be presented

Above basic notions are to be followed by IOC for selecting a sport. In addition, below criteria should be met by the sport itself to push its case forward to IOC:

Asia Cup 2012

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While excitement for CB Series 2012, as to who will be playing finals against Australia, is still on, there comes buzz about the Asia Cup 2012 with the controversies surrounding the Team India selection. While Sehwag (and selectors) claim that he has been rested, nobody can buy this statement considering Sehwag's poor run with bat Down Under. Second, Gambhir is still in the team, why suddenly Virat Kohli was made Vice Captain? Anyway, any team selection cannot satisfy 100% of people and there will always be debates going on about what is correct and what is not- till the team wins!

Coming to the facts, following is Indian Squad selected for Asia Cup 2012:

CB Series 2012 Points Table

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After India's historic win over Sri Lanka, where they chased 321 runs in 36.4 overs at the loss of 3 wickets and claimed the bonus point, the race for finals in CB Series 2012, is still wide open. If Australia beats Sri Lanka in last league match, India will qualify for finals. Find out how:

Following stats are updated after the 11th CB Series Match played today.

CB Series Points Table:

India vs Australia Boxing Day test match

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When India and Australia meet down under, one can rest assured that it's gonna be mouth-watering cricket. The boxing day test match between India and Australia was a perfect showpiece of  how interesting test matches can get. The balance of pendulum kept swinging in the direction of both teams - almost every day. On first day, both teams looked balanced, on second day, India looked on top with firm grip on match. At the stumps of very next day, again Australia had slight edge with respectable lead but India also in well within game. On stumps of 3rd day, Indian media almost declared that Indian team will give a good news on 4th day. But on contrary, 4th day ended with result in favor of Australia. The series which has been named as 'Agneepath' series (road filled with fire) in sensational promotional videos, is indeed Agneepath for both the teams.

Indian team has now lost 5th consecutive abroad test match. Has failed to cross 300 runs mark in last 9 innings. Though there were some brilliant individual performances, big guns have failed to perform when it mattered the most. And, Sachin again 'failed' to fulfill dreams of over a billion people by not scoring 100th 100.

Sometimes while appearing for exam, one feels that he is weak in certain area and when exam actually begins, he performs exceptionally well in that area and he fails to deliver in area where he was supposed to perform the best. The same thing happened with Indian team.

And The Empire India begins...

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Cometh the hour, cometh the Champion!

Mission Accomplished

Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was Team India. The process that was started around 10 years back, under Captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, has reached its peak under the Leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The process saw its lowest point at 2007 world cup when Team India thrashed out in league matches. Come 2011 and I can say with very much pride that INDIA IS WORLD CHAMPION after 28 years! The warriors of team India who Changed the game and made India proud:





MS Dhoni: Emperor of World

Leading from the front

Midas Singh Dhoni touches and converts in Gold- 24 carat. He is in true sense the greatest leader(!) India has ever produced. Picture this: 114 for 3, India need another 160 odd runs with 6 runs per over. MS Dhoni with poor run with bat throughout WC. And boy, he promotes himself up to carry on left- right batting combination against wild Malinga and unplayable Murali.

How many people would come at that situation when your team is under huge pressure to rebuild innings that too in Big World Cup Final, your own form is the worst in career and people are talking about your position in the side, opponents are high on confidence (and perhaps skills), 121 crore fans expecting you to Win from  bottom of their heart  and none another than Yuvraj the best player in the tournament is waiting in dressing room!
In fact, if Dhoni had not come, it would have been a safe game for Dhoni himself. But a real warrior Dhoni is, did it, not to prove anything to anyone but to prove himself. This was the occasion, this was the challenge, his team required him the most, but nobody expecting him to confront this situation as Yuvraj was the option available, but Dhoni had different plans, he decided to took all the responsibility on his shoulders and finished the mission with unbeaten 91, smashing winning six.. This event separates him from a good captain  to the greatest leader. Now, he has gone beyond captaincy. He is being a captain with great success in the past as he has won Twenty-20 World Cup, 1st Ranking in Test Cricket, IPL Championship, Champions League Trophy and remember he is yet to loose a series in Test cricket. But, I think this is not just a captaincy, he is a great borne leader and he built a team knowing strengths and weaknesses of his team and opponents. He took bold decisions through out the World cup too. Many a times he was criticized  for his experiments when few went wrong, but he is great person to admit his mistakes. In fact he learned from his mistakes every now and then. But the best thing is that he never frightened to commit a mistake. People call Dhoni is Lucky, I don't think so. Dhoni writes his own luck  and that is what he has done in last 4 years for India!
Dhoni- the Emperor in India Cricket.

Yuvraj Singh:

Yuvi gives Indian team the aggression- I say arrogance- that a World Champion team needs to carry with them. Not to show off, but to lift the spirit of their own team! And don't forget, arrogance is acceptable when you are MoM for 4 matches and Player of tournament in World Cup! It suits you only when you score 362 runs with a massive average of 90.50 and claim 15 wickets in World cup tournament!
This is Yuvraj for you, 'Yuvraj' of Empire India!

Youngistaan:

Dream come true!

The brilliance of Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohali, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin was shown whenever required. Who can forget Gambhir's 97 runs- chasing 275- in WC final- when Sehwag and Sachin got out within first 6 overs? Probably Gambhir has played greatest inning of his life.
Virat, to whom India looks as future captain is good batter, athletic fielder. And Suresh Raina- my favorite- is superb finisher the best fielder and partnership breaking bowler.
You can invest your hopes in Generation next of Indian Empire!




Zaheer Khan:

To build an empire, you should be the best in all departments. Exception is Indian bowling, which is faaaar away from tag of best bowling unit. But standing out tall is Zaheer. He claimed 21 wickets- sharing top wicket taker spot in WC with Shahid Afridi. He led the attack from front and produced match wining performances- produced crucial wickets just when needed. All other bowling is still a big concern- though empire is built!

And...

Sachin Tendulkar:

India beat Pakistan, yet again..!

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Let's go to Mumbai..!

Nothing satisfies Indians more than beating their old rivals Pakistan. Add to it the situation- World Cup semifinal, presence of the top political leaders from both countries, business tycoons, bollywood starts and the most important entire subcontinent which counts more than 140 crore population expecting only their team to win..! Mohali was turned into battle field with thousands of army personnel, special commandos, surface to air missiles around the stadium. But in the end 11 Blue Commandos won the war for country without a single drop of blood..! This can go in history as one of the biggest wins of Indian Cricket Team, no doubt.

While India started their world cup campaign with favorite's tag, Pakistan, it seemed at that point, was just to show presence. But during the course of tournament, India could not find it as smooth as they would have expected. On the other hand, Pakistan played with aggression complemented superbly by bowling, led by inspiring captain Shahid Afridi, outplayed teams like Sri Lanka, Australia with ease. That is why, at the time of semifinal, it was going to be a crunch game- and it proved to be!

I know there is no need of post match explanation. I am sure, each and every Cricket Lover in this entire universe would have watched it ball-by-ball. I also heard Government declared half-working day in Pakistan..! Only 3 points I would like to raise here for Pakistani think tank:

• When India were on 141 for 4, Tendulkar playing tentative, why didn't they attack in field with more men saving singles and catching? (and please, you cannot drop Sachin Tendulkar 4 times and still hope he should not make runs..)
• Why Misbah played at 5th and out of form Younis played up the order? (was Misbah too late to attack Indian bowling?)
• Timing of batting power play was utterly wrong, or the think tank simply forgot to have it?

These are the questions which they need to answer to Pakistani fans. But having said everything, I must agree, Pakistani players showed tremendous courage to fight against Indians. Indians played their natural game according to situation. Tendulkar played such an innings which he himself would NOT be proud for. But runs count, and his knock of 85 stood out as others failed to occupy crease.

MS Dhoni must be on cloud nine after this win. His heartbeats must have returned to normal by now. Dhoni, smart Dhoni accepted it was mistake not to play R Ashwin, rather he failed to read wicket. India can party for a while. But with the Final on 2nd April, they cannot simply sit and relax.

"We will do the job in Mumbai" are the words of Sachin in post match presentation..! Imagine, Tendulkar- (almost) 38 years of age- playing his last world cup match (?) in career- a final- that too in Mumbai- his home town- and scores a 100th international 100, wins the match- Cup for country... and

Quarter to Semifinals

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5 days or merely over 100 hours from now and we will be discussing about semifinals. But in those 100-plus-hours, action we are going to encounter is enormous. No team can afford to put a foot wrong. If they do- simply put- their world-cup 2011 will be over. That is why Yuvraj said ‘this is what you play for- your moment of life!’

As imagined, before the start of world cup, all small teams are out of quarterfinals. Though team like Ireland, Bangladesh created some excitement in group of death- B. But that was not enough to qualify themselves for quarter finals. So, expected 8 teams will be fighting for place in semifinals. Take my words; this is going to be super week for all of us.

Now, I thought why shouldn't I put my feet in Paul- the octopus’s shoes and start predicting the results. Yes, yes, I know Paul was god-gifted. But nothing wrong in guessing- using brain (and heart- when it comes to India..!)

Let’s start:

Pak vs WI:

Pak team is on song… Momentum is with them, high on confidence after beating Aussies. They have passion do to the best for their country this time, even more than anytime in past. And versus West Indies- rather dull performed, low on moral, but talented and unpredictable side. My guess: Pak wins. Cheer up Pakistani fans…!

Aus vs India:

Cricket World Cup 2011 Updates: Tie, Upsets, Hat-trick, Records.

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We are now towards the end of the First round of the World Cup and already we have seen many exciting games of cricket, few upsets and crowed and cricketing fans are really enjoying the tournament. Every team is trying their best to reach at the quarter finals and that too grab the top two positions in the group. The reason being, if you are in top two, then in the quarter finals, you are playing with bottom two in the other group.  In this article let us see major highlights of the World Cup 2011 so far:

Major highlights of the World Cup so far:


9. England Survived against West Indies:


It was a great game of cricket, in fact it was do or die for England and again England fought a closed game and they managed to Win it by 18 runs. Batting first, England managed to score moderate 243. West Indies started their inning with very attacking manner, as if they wanted to finish the game in just 35-40 overs. But, when spinners came, suddenly WI started loosing wickets and game shifted in England's way. But, again 7th wicket partnership brought WI into the game, but England spinners did well towards end and claimed 7 wickets between Swann and Tredwell and won a close match for England. This win has survived England's hope for the quarter final berth.

Group 'B' has very interesting results in this World cup. SA beat Ind, Ind beat Bangladesh, Bangladesh beat Eng, Eng beat WI, WI beat Ireland, Ireland beat England and England beat SA. It means all teams are unpredictable, they can beat any team and they can loose against any team. Is this group become a 'Choker's Group'?   

8. India - South Africa Close contest:

It was bound to be the best contest in the tournament as it was not India Vs SA, but it was World's best batting attack Vs World's best bowling attack!
India started this game with immense determination and Indian openers dominated  World's best bowling attack for almost 41 overs of an inning. Thanks to Virendra Sehwag and none other than Great Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar was in supreme form and he took attack to the opposition since the beginning. His hook shot to Steyn  was superb, it reminded me the similar shot he had played to Caddik in the past. Now a days he plays this shot very rarely, but this time playing against World's best fast bowler was something special and treat to watch. His straight drive to Morkal was again the trade mark shot from he master. It was an awesome inning I guess, where he made 111, completing his 99th international century and 48th ODI century.
But, when he departed, India collapsed and lost 9 wickets for just 29 runs! Can you imagine? and India could set a target of only (?) 297. (At one time, it looked like India were targeting 360-370 at least.)
Thanks, to the 'Power Play' which happened to be the best bowling spell. But, it was just a poor performance from Indian batters who were attacking each and every ball in the power play and that too against Steyn and Morkal. Result was simple, the great collapse!

When Pro teas chased, it was also not a convincing chase. They also struggled a lot and at one point of time, it looked like that, the match was escaped from their hands, but Pieterson did it well and scored 13 runs in the last over of the match against Nehara and won the match for South Africa.
One should not blame Indian bowlers, as average score on that track was 316 and India managed to score 20 runs short from the average and that too when they were in a position to score, 40-50 runs more than the average score.

A great lesson to Dhoni and Co and there must be special preparation going on on how to play in Power plays, especially batting power plays. At the time of post match presentation, Dhoni said a right thing, " In Power plays Players should play for their country and not for the crowed'" Brilliant statement ! but, the timing was little late, if he could have said it when he was batting on the other end and watching how everyone got out, then result could have been different. Anyways, ifs and buts have no meaning and post match analysis, was on right track i guess.

7. England Beats SA:

Who says low scoring games are boring? This was a really nail bitting low scoring game and ultimately England held their nerves and Won it by just 6 runs. England batting first managed to score only 171, thanks to Ravi Bopara for his 60. After a flying start 63-0, at one stage it looked like South Africa will steal the game in no time.  But, from 124- 3, SA collapsed to 127-7. What a turn around by England. Towards end Steyn batted beautifully but was not enough to win the game and SA again showed their weakness of loosing games in pressured situation. I think, this upset has kept Group B table wide open for top two spots. India would like to claim either of the top two spots so that they will have to play against slightly less powerful opponents in the quarterfinals.

6. Ireland fought well against India:

India beat Ireland by 5 wickets but this was not a comprehensive win at all. Indians were obvious favorites for this match but team having the strongest batting line up were required to use their all 7 batsmen to chase 207. Credit goes to Irish bowlers and their wonderful fielding who saved at least 30-40 runs in the game. 

World Cup - the Number Game.

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Hello Friends,

It's a World Cup euphoria every where among cricketing fans and every one is busy in predicting their favorite teams to Win the World Cup 2011. I thought, it will be helpful for you, if you just go through what happened in the past 9 World Cups; and therefore in this article, i am presenting important achievements and statistics related to past World Cups. 

World Cup tournament is the most important cricketing event and it is world's 4th largest and most viewed sporting event. The teams and players who have performed their best in this prestigious tournament are really special ones. Team like Australia who have won the Championship four times, which is an incredible  achievement. Players like Sachin Tendulkar, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Pointing have consistently played their best cricket in this tournament which makes them greatest players of the game.

The table below provided an overview of the performances of teams over last 9 World Cups.

World Cup 2011 Favorites!

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Hello Friends,

World Cup 2011 - This is 10th World Cup Cricket Tournament in the history of ODI cricket and 14 teams are participating in this event; which comes only ones in Four years. This time, the tournament is been hosted by sub-continent countries viz. India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh.

Sub-continent batting pitches are very Flat where batsmen can score lots of runs and you will find good teams scoring near about 300 runs in many matches. Credit goes to Twenty Twenty Cricket as well, as it has improved  pace and style of One day cricket too. Traditionally sub-continent pitches help Spin bowlers rather than pacers. We have already seen that, quality spinners are making a big difference in this tournament.

Now, lets come to the favorites of the tournament to win the World Cup 2011. If you believe in statistics then in the last 5 consecutive  World Cups, a sub-continent team has reached in the World Cup Finals. ( 1992- Pak, 1996- Sri Lanka, 1999- Pak, 2003- India, 2007- Sri Lanka) and out of those 5 finals 2 have been won by a sub-continent country. (1992- Pak, 1996- Sri Lanka), but on the other hand in those 5 World cups, Australians have reached in the finals 4 times (except 1992, all) and have won 3 World cup finals, that too consecutively. Isn't it interesting? Is it something Australians Vs Sub-continent Countries going on for last 2 decades?

As this World Cup is being played on the sub-continent pitches, definitely home teams are having advantage. They are getting utmost Crowd support as well. In such conditions, I guess Australia, South Africa, India and Sri Lanka are the favorites to win World Cup 2011. Lets see why?

Shame shame..!!!

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What am I supposed to write over the stupid incident that happened on the field of cricket? It's a shame for entire cricketing world and rather it is a crime on the cricketing ground, if found as done deliberately. You must have understood the subject of this post. In simple terms, Sehwag was denied a hundred by Sri Lankans because of their ill-minded-game-strategy which has no essence of game spirit or rather they don't know what the game spirit is all about.

For those, who are yet surprised, and want to know what the hell has happened, I will just brief you a bit. India needed 1 run to win, Sehwag was on strike on 99 runs. But Randiv, the bowler at that time, bowled the "historical" NO BALL. The story doesn't end here. Sehwag hit that ball out of park and guess what? The final score card-the official scorecard shows Sehwag 99* (Not out) only. Questioning why? Because (as explained by many experts on TV shows etc) the no ball was bowled first before the six was hit, and that's why India won before the six was hit. And once ou score last run, you can't score in further runs obviously.

Time for Tests in flood lights?

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Consider yourself. You have bought a  Cricket Match ticket. You enter the stadium in the evening and suddenly see the players in white jersey and maybe pink ball. And suppose the score board says 3rd day of Test Match between India and Australia... You will get a shock, right??? But this will be no longer a dream!!!

The crowd for the Test Cricket is decreasing, thanks to the faster versions of the game T20 and ODIs. The  ICC and MCC and all Cricket Gurus are thinking about the invention in the Test Cricket that is Day and Night Test Cricket. The committee members like great Steve Waugh strongly advocated the idea saying, "I think it would be great," he said. "There's always resistance to change because it takes people out of their comfort zone, but I think back to World Series Cricket back when I was a kid. It ignited the spark among the spectators, and as players it's exciting. Like Twenty20 cricket, it would be something new and challenging, and as a player I'd really embrace that." The former Australian captain has hit the bull's eye.

"We should not delay in presenting day-night Test cricket as an option for those Test-playing countries that are struggling to attract an audience," John Stephenson, the MCC assistant secretary was quoted by a cricket website as saying, "We say this form of the game is viable now. We proved it in Abu Dhabi with the four-day game under lights."

As spectators, it will be even better for us. Instead of watching the very boring Saans-Baahu and stupid TV shows, Cricket Lovers can have all the time to watch the Tests in the home or at the stadium in the evening- nights. And note it down, this new format can be more exciting that the ODIs. Men in White Jersey, Pink ball and no one is in hurry to score as if he wants to bat all the night! :D

The only negatives are that this concept is new and thus out of comfort zone for many. And still, more research has to be done over the format. But considering the statistics that only 11% of cricket watched in India was Test matches- the country with the highest cricket fans..! And if one trick is not working, the management has to find out the different version to pull back the crowd, fans to the cricket field, otherwise, Test Cricket will lose its ground...

So, what's your opinion on the Day and Night Test Matches? Will you bat for D/N Tests? I will..!

By Abhijeet.

The rivarly

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It is more than Lights Camera and Action, this is better than any suspense story, it is raises the pressure on heart than any other live action, the contest is more thrilling than the Ashes. Yes, when it is India vs Pakistan encounter, it is more than just a game- it is war on ground with ball and bat as weapons and intensified exchanges of words as the mind games..!

The two teams had met around 10 months before in the Champions  Trophy, when Pakistan beat India. This time, Pakistan was in such a situation, that if they lose, they would go out of the tournament. So, Pakistan was playing for survival and pride. India was playing to settle the accounts of Champions Trophy.

ICC T-20 World Cup: Keep your fingures crossed..!

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Guys & girls, (if this were a Test World Cup, I would have greeted you "Ladies & Gentlemen..!") get ready to experience another T-20 series. And no doubt, it is far bigger than IPL just because the nations will fight against each other...

I have already used a phrase- "The game of uncertainties" in last post. But let me today explain it a little more. MS Dhoni said in a press conference, 'India will not take Afghanistan lightly'. Captain of one mighty side is saying about a debutant squad that it is not a weak team. That must not be 'so kind of Dhoni'. There must be some X-factor in back of the minds of every captain.

What T-20 format has done is,