CHENNAI: Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga on Thursday backed his Mumbai Indians teammate Sachin Tendulkar’s idea of revamping the ODIs by splitting 50 overs into four innings and said it will give bowlers a chance to reverse swing the ball quite often and negate batsmen’s advantage.

“I am bowler and I did not like personally the change of ball in the 34th over as per the existing 50-50 match rule. If they play four innings, they will be changing the ball more times. Also, we have chance for reverse swing only after 15 or 20 overs. But, if they cut down that possibility, all the favour is going to a batsman,” Malinga said.

Tendulkar had written a letter to the ICC to change the format of the ODIs from two innings of 50 overs to four of 25 overs each like a Test match but the world body’s chief executive Haroon Lorgat had rejected the idea.

Malinga, who is in India to represent his IPL team Mumbai Indians in the Champions League Twenty20, said his team is not under any pressure as they take on Chennai Super Kings in their tournament opener on Saturday.

“We always try to perform to our strength during a match and the result come at the end of the day. All the players in the Mumbai Indians team will be performing to their strength and that is it.

“We do not have any pressure. I think we know our abilities and trust our abilities. We have lot of young players but some have not played much of T20 matches. But, we have good senior players in our team. They have always supported young players,” Malinga said.

“Big names does not matter to me as I bowl to my abilities. I have to trust in my ability and I will do that,” the Sri Lankan added.

Malinga also stressed on the importance of taking wickets in a Twenty20 match.

“I think if we are playing three or five bowlers, it is the job of the bowlers to take wickets. Otherwise no point in playing for that side,” he viewed.

“While playing for Mumbai Indians I have always tried to take wickets. It does not matter whether it is in early overs or fag end of the match.

“I get only four overs and I try to take wicket with every delivery. Sometimes, I take wickets early and sometimes in the later part of the match. Most important thing is how you can use your abilities,” Malinga added.

He said he always tries to sharpen his toe crushing yorker during the practice sessions.

“In my practice sessions I try the technique of yorking the batsmen. If you want to do something in a match, it is important to try and master that at the nets,” Malinga said.

September 23rd, 2011 | Write an article
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London: The ODIs are perceived to be on the decline and it’s none other than Sachin Tendulkar who has now come out publicly in support of revamping the current 50-over format having written a letter to ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat. Tendulkar, the world’s highest run-getter in both Tests and ODIs and someone who is on the threshold of his 100th international century, wants ICC to make “a radical switch” from 50-50 to four 25-over innings.

Apart from reducing the number of overs per innings, Tendulkar has also proposed several more changes for the ODIs. The Indian batting icon had spoken about this new concept in television interviews in the past but had never written a letter to ICC in this regard. “I have been capturing my thoughts on what I think would be the way forward to ensure that all three formats in the game co-exist and ensure value creation,” he wrote in the letter.

He argued that four alternate innings of 25 overs for each side in an international would be the fairest way of balancing the advantages gained by the team that won the toss when pitch and weather conditions mean that a match can virtually be decided by the spin of a coin. Tendulkar’s letter also proposed changes in voluntary Powerplays. In each 25-over block, Tendulkar wants only two Powerplays at the behest of the batting side but suggested that up to four bowlers should be allowed up to 12 overs each, rather than the present limit of 10.

One of the prominent matches featuring India seemed to have been lost after spin of coin was 1996 Wills World Cup semifinal when Lankans batted first on a square turner. The match was awarded to Sri Lanka by the referee after a crowd riot which stopped proceedings after India lost eight wickets. Again, Sri Lanka were unlucky when they were forced to chase a large Australia total in fading light towards the end of the 2007 World Cup final in Barbados.

Tendulkar also cited two games in the most recent World Cup when evening dew helped England to achieve a tie in their classic qualifying game against India in Bangalore but then counted in favour of Ireland during their famous run chase against England at the same venue. A split into two equal innings a side was often proposed for the final of the domestic county competition in the UK – originally the Gillette Cup – in the days when it was invariably an advantage to field first, the report said.

The hover cover, instant outfield drainage and sophisticated drying equipment have ensured that matches at Lord’s almost always start on a dry pitch these days, but that is not the case everywhere. In Australia last winter, the inter-state one-day tournament, the Ryobi Cup, was played over 45-overs-a-side, split into two alternate innings of 20 overs followed by two of 25. The format was generally rated a success by Cricket Australia (CA). There were more close finishes, more runs, more wickets and larger TV audiences. Significantly, the new regulations appeared to overcome the relatively dull and predictable middle-over phases of 50-over games.

(PTI)

September 23rd, 2011 | Write an article
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The Superman of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, will turn 38 today. We have collaborated with Tendulkar Opus to gather all the fan messages from across various websites & communities on a single page hosted on TendulkarOpus.com.

The page has already received thousands of messages from facebook, twitter & other websites so be part of one of the largest online congregation of Tendulkar fans ever to mark this special occasion.

Post your message:

http://tendulkaropus.com

April 23rd, 2011 | Write an article
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April 4th, 2011 | Write an article
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Here’s the preview for the battle of the tournament so far- India vs Australia. In the recent past, the India vs Australia battles have upstaged rivalries such as the Ashes & the India-Pakistan with some of the best cricket played in ODI & Test match history. The teams are lining up once again today for a fierce encounter in today’s quarter final.

Australia: RT Ponting*, MJ Clarke, CJ Ferguson, BJ Haddin†, JW Hastings, DJ Hussey, MEK Hussey, MG Johnson, JJ Krejza, B Lee, TD Paine†, SPD Smith, SW Tait, SR Watson, CL White.

India: MS Dhoni*†, V Sehwag, R Ashwin, PP Chawla, G Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, V Kohli, A Nehra, MM Patel, YK Pathan, SK Raina, S Sreesanth, SR Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh.

ODI History:
Matches: 104
Australia wins: 61
India wins: 35
No result: 8
Advantage: Australia.

Oz will have a slight psychological edge against India as they have traditionally dominated India. India have been resurgent in the last 15 years but Australia have maintained the dominance in the big matches. Many Indians fan would like to forget the India vs Australia World Cup final where Ricky Ponting & co. had taken away the match from India. But in recent form, India is a force to reckon with and has performed exceedingly well in all formats of the game. Australia are ranked number one on the ICC ODI ranking with 130 points while India is ranked second with 119 points as of March 19th.

Captains:
Australia: Ricky Ponting
India: MS Dhoni
Advantage: India

Ricky Ponting has been under immense pressure to perform on the field. His age seems to be catching up and he doesnt want to leave the crease until the umpire holds a mike and screams him OUT! Nothing is going right for the Oz captain now and he’s known to get VERY ANGRY (and make faces popularly known as the Ponting face) during a crunch situation.

On the other side, India’s captain cool is in a spot of bother too. Many cricket fans are questioning his strategy and cricket acumen. But Dhoni does not have to deal with criticism on his batting nor does he carry any bad luggage. This is his first world cup and he’ll be positive, fresh & naturally motivated.

Batting:
Australia: Ponting, Clarke, Haddin, Hussey & Watson
India: Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Gambir & Kohli.
Advantage: India

India have Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag & Yuvraj Singh who have dominated Australia in the past and continue to do so. These batsman are in great form, especially Sachin who’s already scored two hundreds in this world cup. However the worry for India is the fitness of Virender Sehwag and the batting collapse which mysteriously triggers after the end of a good partnership. It’s also time for Kohli, Yusuf Pathan,& Dhoni to come to the party. Especially Yusuf Pathan who’s been very hospitable to the bowlers to say the least.

Australia will rely on Ponting, Haddin, Mike Hussey, Watson & Clarke to delivery the goods today. Ponting has no other option but to perform so he may chose this occasion to perform. Having tasted success on the Indian pitches during the IPL, Watson will be a prize catch. Hussey can frustrated the Indian bowlers with his singles, twos & occasional boundaries. All looks good for Australia except the fact that they dont have a Sachin, Sehwag or a Yuvraj who can blast their way through the opposition. To be honest, they will upstage the Indian batting only if the Indian bowling performs badly. So, its hypothetical unlike the Indian batsman who can steamroll any bowling attack on their day even if the Australian bowlers have a decent outing.

Bowling:
Australia: Johnson, Krejza, Lee, Tait & Watson.
India: Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan & Patel.
Advantage: India

The Motera pitch is reported to be flatter than a formula one circuit so any hope of getting bounce or spin is like a mirage. The flat batting track will leave the bowlers frustrated & angry so patience is the key. Between Lee & Zaheer, Zaheer has an edge as he has a rich experience of batting onslaughts on Indian pitches and will not panic! Lee does not have the venom and his pace is ideal for the likes of Sachin & Sehwag to whack the ball. And between Krejza & Harbhajan, the turbanator has an obvious edge. Now the bowlers to secretly track – Ashwin & Watson. Ashwin’s underexposure during this Cup will benefit him as he will be fresh while Watson is gritty & understands the conditions.

Verdict: India
Myverdict is India. India has the X factor going for it with huge stakes, playing at home & Sachin’s last world cup. Australia on the other side will relax as its one of the rarest games where they will NOT be considered as favourites(which is not bad). At the end of the day, I believe its going to go India’s way.

Finally, would like to wish Sachin Tendulkar all the very best for today’s match.

What do you think? Let us know.

By Arjun

March 24th, 2011 | Write an article
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