Brett lee’s days in whites are over—Australian pace ace Brett lee has finally called it a day and has officially retired from test match cricket. Lee made this official in his statement to the media on the 23rd of February. Lee took 310 wickets in 76 test matches at 30. All of this with 5 ankle operations. A true testament to his character. One of the fastest bowlers in the world, Brett lee will be remembered for a long time to come.

Although he won’t be hurling in right between the members stand with white clothing on, lee still has a lot of cricket left him—lot of T20 and ODI action. Lee is 33 and would be a walk into any club team. The Australian selectors have shown faith in lee by picking him in the top 30 probable’s that would be going to the Caribbean to play the 3rd edition of the T20 world cup. His defining moment still remains when he was unleashed on the Indians in the December of 1999 and picked up a memorable 5 wicket hall on debut including picking up Rahul Dravid twice in the test. Brett lee always played with a smile and was one of those few Australians who won fans all over the world. One of the most defining moments of 2005 saw lee being consoled by Andrew Flintoff in the 3rd ashes test at Edgbaston after England won the contest by 2 runs.

One year on— Over a year now since the tragedy broke out on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore on their way to the gaddaffi stadium. Thilan samarweera who had scores two double centuries in the previous two matches was one of those who was gravely injured. Paravitharana and Mendis were amongst the others who were injured gravely. The memory still seems to haunt all those who were witness to it. Chris broad still speaks about waking up in the middle of the night getting nightmares about that particular day.

The IPL— The IPL is a week away and this time its back in India. The excitement seems to be mounting by the second. With the advertisements and sponsors already started their marketing, this season promises to be nothing short of amazing. As far as the players are concerned the Australian and new Zealand test players won’t be there right until the end or might even consider giving it a miss as their test series would be followed with the world twenty 20 in the Caribbean and the players would want some much needed rest. The first match of the season kicks off on the 12th of march in Mumbai’s DY Patil stadium where the Kolkata Knight riders will face the defending champions of 2009, the Deccan chargers. This season promises to be an enthralling one. So, sit back and enjoy…

Mitchell Johnson and Scott Styris—Mitchell Johnson and Scott Styris had more than a verbal exchange when the duo clashed in the 46th over of the innings of the 1st ODI at napier. The incident occurred when Johnson was hammered for two consecutive fours. Johnson was seen head butting Scott Styris. The duo were both found guilty, in fact both pleaded guilty in order to skip the entire hearing. Scott Styris was charged 15% of his match fee while Johnson was charged 60%. Perhaps Johnson must go and thank his mate Brad Haddin who saved him from losing some more of his money.

ICC Presidency— Former Australian prime minister, John Howard has been nominated for the ICC presidency post by both Australia and New Zealand. He has been extremely passionate about cricket since his childhood. What remains to be seen is that whether he will be able to win the votes of the sub-continent. Howard said he would be privileged to serve the ICC and would do it well if given an opportunity of doing so.

Muttiah Muralitharan— Veteran Sri Lankan off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has decided that he will quit all forms of the game after the end of the 2011 world cup. He has been a tremendous servant to not just Sri Lankan cricket but also world cricket. He is the leading wicket taker in both test and one day internationals. Murali has faced a lot of controversies and has come out of it strongly. Often castigated by a lot of former players murali has fought the odds and come out on top. Whatever said whatever done, he will be the leading wicket taker for some time to come—it’s in the record books!

On the 24th of February 2010, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar added another jewel to his already priceless crown. Sachin scripted history at the captain Roop Singh stadium as he broke all records smashing the first ever double century in One day international cricket. It’s been nearly 4 decades since the format was recognized, Sachin has been there for nearly half its age and even the master took 20 years before he finally accomplished this humungous task. Shows the grit, the determination, the passion, the love for the game this godlike man still possesses in spite of being in the thick of things for over 20 years now.

The man is simply incomparable when it comes to career to career stat. As Australia’s skipper Ricky Ponting neared Sachin’s test record, the tiger was out of the cage. Sachin was roaring again. 4 consecutive test centuries and he’s back with an 8-ton lead. The stats said it when Ricky Ponting was voted by some websites leading player of the decade. This did not seem to go down to well with the master as he has been seen amassing 3 of his highest scores in One day internationals in the last one year and 4 consecutive test centuries to go with.

The innings was reminiscent of Sachin’s 175 a few months back against the visiting Australian side. The trailer to the movie to be shown was seen there. It would take a lot of courage to call Sachin’s 175 a trailer but, if only a man knew what records were; the ease with which the man breaks it. Not a single South African bowler was spared as Sachin Tendulkar smashed them to all parts of the ground. His cheeky innovativeness along with superb cricketing shots, that can be seen only from the bat of the master.

The current number one ODI bowler in the world, Dale Steyn also couldn’t prevent a hammering as Sachin pummeled him for 89 in his ten Overs. But, it was all okay as the South African’s were to witness what in some eyes was the greatest one day innings of all time.

Critics did raise their point about there being 55m boundaries, an ordinary bowling attack (barring Dale Steyn) and a placid wicket. But, critics are critics—if it’s one man who knows how to answer them, the man is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Sachin endorsed his sponsor (Adidas) beautifully after his mammoth 200 knock proving that indeed ‘Nothing is impossible’.

In spite of all this critics still seem to be shooting their arrows at him comparing him with ponting. Sachin is the greater batsman without a doubt. If a comparison can be made it has to be a decade comparison with ponting being the superior one from 2000-2010. But, the day when Sachin gets a 100 international centuries, he will seal the debate as the best batsman to have played the game.

It was truly an innings of master class an innings which can never be replicated or matched (except by the master himself), the greatness of the man all in one innings. Indeed, Nothing in this world epitomizes god more than Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Three games, three heroes

It was a disappointing end to the one-day series for India. They had a great chance to score a whitewash against the South Africans for the first time, but they preferred to rest their key players and tested out the bench strength, which resulted in a rather one-sided victory for the Proteas. Yet, the matter of the fact was that India won the series rather handsomely and there were some memorable performances even in such a short series. Presenting a rewind of top three performances of the series.

Game 1, Jaipur

Jadeja’s all-round act (22 and 2/29)

In a high-scoring game, where most of the batters were at ease, it was Ravindra Jadeja’s tight left-arm spin that made the difference. The Indian pacers, Ashish Nehra and S. Sreesanth went for plenty, and though they did pick up three wickets among themselves, they also ensured that South Africa stayed in the hunt. On the contrary, Jadeja not only kept the runs down, but also picked up two wickets, crucial ones at that, to derail the Proteas’ chase of 299. He cut short one-day specialist Herschelle Gibbs’ promising knock and later cleaned up AB de Villiers, who was also looking dangerous.

His cameo with the bat towards the fag end of the innings also came in handy, considering that India ended up winning by a solitary run, thanks to a late surge by the African tail. Jadeja is certainly turning out to be a good utility player for India.

Game 2, Gwalior

Sachin makes history (200 not out)

This was Sachin Tendulkar’s show all the way. Virender Sehwag fell early after India won the toss and batted. But, that did not deter the Indian master. He went on the rampage from the word go and the carnage did not stop till the very end. Come pace or spin, Sachin had an answer to every trick of the South African bowlers. He cut, pull, drove and lofted the bowlers with disdain on a ground that seemed too small for the Indian giant.

Dale Steyn, who destroyed India in the opening Test, was despatched for 89 from his quota of overs. Worse, Wayne Parnell went for 95. The others weren’t spared either. Charl Langeveldt went for a somewhat respectable 70 while Kallis and Duminy combined to leak over the 80. The Sachin magic was very much at display in Gwalior.

There were other handsome contributions in the game as well. Dinesh Karthik registered his highest ODI score of 79 while Dhoni slammed a hurricane like 68 not out. A B de Villiers too impressed with his sublime ton, but the match with undoubtedly be remembered for the indelible Sachin Tendulkar touch.

Game 3, Ahmedabad

de Villiers winning ton (102 not out)

The series was gone. However, the South Africans still had a lot to play for. After all they had never been blanked by India in a one-day series. And that record will stand, albeit with a little help from India themselves. They decided not to field a full-strength and de Villiers decided to take full toll of the inexperienced Indian attack. His 59 ball 102 included 11 hits to the fence and 3 over it. It was as if he was avenging the humiliation meted out to them at Gwalior, with great support from skipper Kallis.
The Indian bowling figures read similar to those of the Proteas in the previous game. Here was Sreesanth’s chance to lead the attack, but he failed miserably, conceding 83 in nine overs. As such, much couldn’t be expected from rookies Sudeep Tyagi and Abhimanyu Mithun. All were slammed. The de Villiers magic was in full bloom and the Indians had no answer to it.

There are cricket stadiums and then there is Eden Gardens. Yes, a match at the Lord’s of India brings along with it humongous expectations every time, that of a historic Indian win. Mohammad Azharuddin always scored runs here — even when he batted with his eyes closed, his protégé of sorts VVS Laxman has scored four hundreds and over a 1,000 runs in nine Test, and Harbhajan Singh would die to play cricket over here game after game.

Undoubtedly, this ground at Kolkata holds special memories for India. Can we ever forget that miraculous turnaround in 2001 against Australia? It was only fitting then at India retained their numero uno status with yet another superlative performance against the chief contender for the throne, South Africa.

So what is it about the Eden that makes cricket viewing such an amazing experience? The main reason, without an eye blink, has to be the wonderful crowd (1996 being an exception of sorts) that turns up in huge numbers to witness a Test on all five days of a game. Rarely, even in India, will we see a full house for the traditional version of the game.

It happens only in Eden! Sad then that the venue doesn’t get a chance to host enough Tests, while lesser venues keep getting opportunities time and again despite producing dull draws. A lot of it must be due to the political battle between Bengal’s cricketing association and the BCCI in recent times. True, the crowd too isn’t the most sporting when India loses, but then that isn’t reason enough not to give the ground its due, at least not yet.

After all, the Eden Gardens has given us so many wonderful, unforgettable memories. It was here that VVS Laxman became Very Very Special and Harbhajan Singh turned into the Turbanator. Some of the shots Laxman played during that knock of 281 will be etched in our memories till time immemorial.

And for not one moment during that innings did he ever come even close to getting out. Once again, it was the Eden magic at work. The unbelievably high decibel of noise the crowd makes gives the opposition the illusion that they are playing against 60-70 thousand people instead of 11. Laxman has played many good knocks elsewhere, but it’s at Eden that he has always looked at home.

Same is the case with Harbhajan. This was the same ground at which he had resurrected his international career with a match-turning bowling performance against the Aussies. Before this game, he was miserably struggling to find his rhythm. But look what the return to his favourite venue did for the heavily under-fire off-spinner.

Not only did his performance lift to incredible heights, but the team’s fortunes turned around astoundingly as well, despite a Nagpur-like start for the South Africans with the bat. One is not sure if Harbhajan will repeat such heroics at other venues, but be rest assured that the next time he steps on to the Eden turf, he will deliver something out of the ordinary.

Yes, that’s the magic of Eden Gardens!

In a two-match series, when you are 1-nil down, it is next to improbable to make a comeback. But, the present Indian team, under MS Dhoni has made it a habit of constantly delivering the goods when the chips are completely down.

And the second Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens was no exception. India had been humiliated at home in the first Test, a rarity in itself, and two of their main batters weren’t fit for the Kolkata challenge. There was extreme pressure on Harbhajan Singh, in particular, to perform following the team’s miserable bowling effort at Nagpur.

Add to it, there was hardly a few days’ gap between the two Tests and there was plenty of pitch talk, pertaining to the grass on the wicket. Yet, when the moment arrived, Team India stood up to be counted.

The South Africans, who were ruthless in the opening Test, floundered with their batting after winning the toss, and it was just the window of opportunity India needed to comeback into the game.

Zaheer Khan, who unfortunately could not bowl much in the second essay, was brilliant in the first innings and set up the game nicely for India. He has had the knack of grabbing the big fishes, and did exactly that at the Eden Gardens.

For the other experienced bowler Harbhajan, it was almost like a do-or-die game. He hadn’t performed well in the recent past and was severely criticized in the media, some of it was fair and some rather derogatory.

But, the offie took things in this stride and answered the critics in the only way a cricketer can. He must thank his stars that he was playing at Eden Gardens, without doubt his favourite ground. Once he got a wicket, he was a different bowler altogether.

The manner in which he foxed Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy on the final morning reminded one of the carnage the Aussies were subjected to by the Turbanator at the same ground 9 years ago. Of course, he has lost a lot of the zip he possessed in those days, but if he can come up with more such performances, there is no reason why he still can’t remain India’s number one spinner.

Harbhajan’s lack of success has been attributed to the absence of Anil Kumble, who retired two seasons. While that’s a pretty fair assessment, the good news for him is that Amit Mishra proved he can be quite a potent weapon.

I am in no way comparing Mishra to the legendary leg spinner, but the delivery with which he took out Jacques Kallis was hint enough to suggest that he could be the next special thing in Indian cricket. That’s still a long way away though. For starters, he needs to maintain consistency over a reasonable period of time, and provide the requisite support to Harbhajan.

And while it wasn’t surprising that India put up an exceptional batting performance, they still need to be credited for it. After Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar played their part, India still could have been in trouble.

But, VVS Laxman demonstrated why he was so sorely missed at Nagpur. It was his and Dhoni’s ton that buried the Proteas. And though Hashim Alma and the tail kept India at bay till the closing moments, the magic of Eden had the final say.