Are you a great Cricket fan .. did you follow all these happening today ?? Ranji has reached a new dimension with many new teams in fray – today Madhya Pradesh were 184/2 against Punjab – and the man who opened and scored 31 is newsworthy !! Downunder, Fox Cricket promised they'd bring viewers closer to the action after securing the Australian cricket broadcast rights but this might not have been quite what they had in mind.The player well known to Indians - Glenn Maxwell skied a hoick smashing Fox Cricket’s bird’s-eye camera suspended above the Gabba pitch during the first Gillette T20 International today.As per the International Cricket Council's playing conditions, it was ruled a dead ball, with India spinner Krunal Pandya conceding two runs off the following delivery. The incident occurred in the 16th over of Australia’s innings with the hosts on 3-151 and Maxwell on 44 off just 22 balls having belted four sixes to lead Australia's fightback following a shaky start.
To a small extent the
rain-rule and to a large extent, Indian inability ensured a loss at the start
of the Series. Marcus Stoinis had 13 to
be defended off the last over.IPL star Krunal Pandya who bowled just badly was at the
crease – will India make it as the Q ?the first one was a slower one wide outside off – Pandya ran two. o pull
through midwicket. It's off the toe and to long-on's left.2nd Krunal shuffled, missed and no
run; 11 off 4 – 3rd another slower ball, slog sweep goes high on air,
Maxwell running in slides and takes a good catch. Dinesh Karthik batting so
well (30 off 12) had crossed over, bringing in newer hopesbut flat batted another slower one straight
to Behdrendorf; next was a wide and off the 5th Bhuvnewsar Kumar
sprinted 1- KUldip hit the last ball
for a boundary – match over - Australia overcame India and their own
considerable self-doubts to claim victory in a rain shortened affair. Good show
after that point when India required 70 from 32 balls.
Chris Lynn and Aaron
Finch, the captain, had given Australia a fair platform, but it was Glenn
Maxwell and Stoinis who provided the heft to an innings reduced by three overs
due to a rain delay of more than an hour. Kuldeep Yadav bowled artfully for
India, though his spin partner Krunal Pandya was taken for 55 damaging runs. Shikhar
Dhawan kept India in touch for the bulk of their pursuit, while the hosts fared
far better against Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli - they managed just
24 off 28 balls between them. Left with an enormous salvage job, Dinesh Karthik
and Rishabh Pant hammered out a stand of 51 from 23 balls to have every
Australian at the ground biting what was left of their fingernails. However,
Stoinis was able to keep composed, much as he had done in Adelaide for Australia's
previous home win of the season, to take his side to a scrappy win.
Back home in
Ranji trophy matches - Bengal 147 and 5 for 1 trail Kerala 291 (Saxena 143,
Porel 4-69, Shami 3-100) by 139 runsShami was told by BCCI to bowl only 15 overs but Bengal made him bowl 26
overs. Strange instructions !
Meghalaya is
playing Ranji too. Its captain Jason
Lamare runs an adventure-sports business in Shillong, and bungee jumping is
next on the expansion agenda. And when asked if he'd let any players do it, he
laughs and tells ESPNcricinfo, "Definitely. It will be a punishment - if
you don't bowl well or bat well, you're going to jump!" Before the Vijay
Hazare Trophy that marked Meghalaya's entry into senior-level cricket, the team
bonded by trekking up Shillong Peak in the rain. The north-east has for long been looked at as
football country in cricket-crazy India. It might have stayed that way had the
Lodha Committee recommendations not mandated the BCCI to include all of its
states in the cricket fold. Nearly all of the cricket in Meghalaya is
concentrated in the capital city of Shillong, which has a grand total of one
ground. There's the captain himself, who
at 35 is one of the oldest members in the team. He played for Assam before the
Meghalaya Cricket Association was formed, and this, he thought, had ended his
cricket career prematurely. So did his cousin Mark Ingty, who is 42. Ingty made
his first-class debut in January 2002, when fellow fast bowlers Lakhan Singh
and Dippu Sangma were in kindergarten. Fun fact: the combined ages of Lakhan
and Dippu fall short of Ingty's.Fast bowlers Chengkam Sangma and Dippu Sangma's
journey to the senior team was an arduous trek, literally. Chengkam stays in
Tura, home to the Garo indigenous group. It's 323 kilometres of mountainous
terrain from Shillong. For Dippu, Tura is the closest "big town" - he
lives a further 100-plus kilometres away, in Baghmara.
Getting back
to the 1st para - Rewa in Madhya Pradesh is a far different world to
the opulence of South Mumbai. The cement unit of the Aditya Birla Group - a
billion-dollar enterprise - is headquartered in the city. Therefore, when
Aryaman Birla, the son of the billionaire industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla,
moved there, it wouldn't have been outlandish to assume he was there to learn
the ropes of the business. However, the real reason for his move was his first
love - cricket. It was he who scored 31 against Punjab. This was a significant
because MP are looking to fill the void left by the retirement of their
long-time talisman Devendra Bundela, the most-capped player in Ranji Trophy
history.
Before concluding
T10 league is happening at Sharjah, live on ESPN.Today Sindhis made 94/6 before walloped by
Rajputs who reached the target in 4 overs (36 balls to go & 10 wickets in
hand) Brendon McCullum scored 21 off 8
but was far outsmarted by Afghan
wicket-keeper dapper Mohammad Shahzad who made 74* off mere 16 with 8 sixers and 6
fours !!
With regards
– S. Sampathkumar
21st
Nov. 2018
