Akshay Iyer

Blogger

Akshay loves everything to do with cricket and has been a supporter of the South African team since 1991

Blog Posts by Akshay Iyer

  • Dark side of the IPL

    The alleged spot-fixing scandal is a golden opportunity for the IPL to try and clean up its act.

    By Akshay Iyer | Yahoo! Cricket – 15 hours ago




    Sting operations and cricket now appear to be almost synonmyuous, and at the end of such stings, more often than not journalists succeed in getting cricketers to spill the beans on their underhanded dealings. The cash-rich and glitzy Indian Premier League (IPL) now has fallen prey to an alleged spot-fixing scandal, and the rose-tinted glasses surrounding the league have now been firmly removed as the darkest and most talked secret of the league has come tumbling out of the closet.

    The worst fears of former players as well as administrators of the game since the inception of the IPL in 2008, now appear not to have been unfounded following the suspension of five uncapped Indian cricketers from the league for alleged indiscretions, including spot-fixing.

    The cricketers - Abhinav Bali, TP Sudhindra (Deccan Chargers), Mohnish Mishra (Pune Warriors), Amit Yadav (Kings XI Punjab) and Shalabh Srivastava (Kings XI Punjab) - were exposed following a sting operation by India TV.

    The game of

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  • Knight Riders spoil Ganguly's home coming at Eden

    Gambhir's 36-ball 56 laid the foundation for Knight Riders' score of 150 for 5 and this proved to be seven runs too many for Pune Warriors.

    By Akshay Iyer | Yahoo! Cricket – Sat 5 May, 2012 8:11 PM IST

    Marchant de Lange took two early wickets in Pune Warriors' run chase.

    Scorecard| Match gallery |  Mini Pune descends at Eden | Ganguly comes home



    The Gautam Gambhir-led Kolkata Knight Riders continued on their winning ways as they notched up their fifth consecutive win in IPL-5 today evening at the Eden Gardens as they defeated Sourav Ganguly's Pune Warriors India by seven runs in a topsy-turvy match. Gambhir led from the front with both ball and in the field in the most anticipated match of IPL-5 even as the Kolkata crowd cheered for Ganguly, but most of them were rooting for the home team.

    Ganguly was the icon player of Knight Riders for the first three seasons, but had a turbulent time with the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise; and those problems have been well-documented. In a decision then that didn't go down well with Kolkatans at all, the Knight Riders team management decided against buying Ganguly at the 2011 auction; for that matter neither did any of the either IPL franchises. Ganguly got his IPL lifeline when he was signed up by Pune Warriors in

    Read More »

  • West Indies - Defeated, but not disgraced

    Darren Sammy's team gave Australia a tough fight in the recent three-match Test series.

    By Akshay Iyer | Yahoo! Cricket – Thu 3 May, 2012 12:40 PM IST

    Kemar Roach took 19 Australian wickets in the three-match Test series.



    The wins may not come as often as the players, administrators or fans would like; but the fact that the current West Indies team led by Darren Sammy and coached by Ottis Gibson have been giving a good account of themselves over the last year is cause to be optimistic about the future of cricket in the Caribbean. Sammy's team may have lost the recent Test series 0-2 to Australia, but the scoreline doesn't quite do justice to the fighting spirit shown by the hosts against tough opposition.

    There were indications early on in the Caribbean - the drawn one-day and Twenty20 International series - being the prime examples that Australia wouldn't have it easy against West Indies on the slow and low pitches. And, that's just the way things eventually played out as Australia had to rely on their experience and overall superiority to win the defining moments that eventually helped them come out trumps in the three-match Test series.

    West Indies did have their moments in the Test series, but it wasRead More »

  • Clarke's blueprint for captains

    Clarke has admitted his ploy of making brave declarations could backfire, but he is still willing to adopt the aggressive route.

    By Akshay Iyer | Yahoo! Cricket – Mon 30 Apr, 2012 10:03 AM IST



    Michael Clarke had been earmarked for captaincy almost from the time that he made his debut for Australia; and when he occasionally took over from Ricky Ponting when he was his vice-captain, his acumen for the job was for all to see.

    He is the perfect man for the job at a time when Australia is striving to reclaim its top ranking in Tests. Clarke has come into his own after taking over the captaincy full-time from Ponting a year back. He is also not averse to taking and backing the tough decisions as the Australian captain along with the coach is now part of the selection panel following the Don Argus review.

    Clarke's captaincy record in the last year is impressive to say the least - Australia have won nine, lost two and drawn three of the 14 Tests he has been in charge. The wins have included a 4-0 whitewash of India at home as well as an inspired victory against South Africa at Johannesburg days after Australia was bundled out for a mere 47 in Cape Town; while the losses have includedRead More »

  • Winds of Change

    The scrapping of the Champions Trophy and expanding the T20 World Cup are two laudable decisions taken by the ICC.

    By Akshay Iyer | Yahoo! Cricket – Wed 25 Apr, 2012 2:12 PM IST

    The Australian team celebrate with the ICC Champions Trophy after defeating New Zealand in the final played at …


    The International Cricket Council (ICC) is often at the wrong end of allegations of not being proactive enough, but every once in a while, the game's governing body takes decisions worthy of their authority.

    Three such important decisions were taken by the ICC executive board last week in Dubai - increasing the number of teams to 16 in the Twenty20 World Cup from 2014; scrapping the Champions Trophy after its 2013 edition and agreeing to go for a constitutional amendment to spilt the role of the president by creating a new post of chairman who won't have any voting rights.


    FAREWELL CHAMPIONS TROPHY
    Rahul Dravid, who is now a former India international cricketer, during the course of his much-lauded and appreciated speech at the Sir Don Bradman Oration in December 2011, touched upon a range of topics including the need to review the scheduling of international matches, especially one-day internationals (ODIs).

    Dravid said, "We now realise that the sport's three formats cannot be played in Read More »

  • Is Pakistan really ready?

    It is imperative that Bangladesh's short tour of Pakistan passes off without any on or off the field problems.

    By Akshay Iyer | Yahoo! Cricket – Wed 18 Apr, 2012 9:26 AM IST

    A view of the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore.


    After more than 37 months of Pakistani players and fans' waiting and hoping, international cricket is all set to be revived in that country in end-April with Bangladesh agreeing to a very short tour. International cricket was suspended in Pakistan after a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in March 2009.

    In a strange coincidence - Lahore - the city where the terror attack took place, will play host for the only one-day international on April 29, and a Twenty20 match the following day. As preparation for the historic and eagerly awaited series, the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is undergoing renovation work even as a security wall is being constructed outside the main gate.

    This though will not be the first visit by an international team to Pakistan since March 2009, as earlier this month, the British Universities XI had played a couple of matches in Lahore. Kamal Alam, the touring team's captain was effusive in his praise for the security arrangements, and said: "One of the mainRead More »

  • The magical Steyn

    Steyn produced one of the best bowling spells one can hope to see in the IPL match against Mumbai Indians.

    By Akshay Iyer | Yahoo! Cricket – Wed 11 Apr, 2012 4:35 PM IST

    Richard Levi is clean bowled by Dale Steyn [unseen] at Vizag on April 9, 2012. (AFP/Getty Images)


    South Africa pace spearhead Dale Steyn isn't considered to be amongst the best fast bowlers of all time for nothing. Steyn is at his lethal best in Test cricket, where he can take some time to find his rhythm; but there are also occasions when unfortunately for the opposition batsmen, the Protea pacer gets into the groove early on in the shorter formats of the game as well. When he's on song, there are hardly any better sights in cricket than watching Steyn make the best batsmen look like novices.

    Most recently against Mumbai Indians at Visakhapatnam on 9 April 2012, Steyn produced one of the best bowling spells one can hope to see across formats, let alone Twenty20 cricket where even his South African counterpart Richard Levi found him too hot to handle. Steyn, playing for Deccan Chargers, had figures of 4-1-12-3, and each of those 24 deliveries were an exhibition of world-class bowling as he also worked up some serious pace; but despite this he was mighty unfortunate to end on the Read More »

  • Munaf at his petulant worst!

    Munaf and Harbhajan should consider themselves mighty lucky that they have got off with very light punishment.

    By Akshay Iyer | Yahoo! Cricket – Tue 10 Apr, 2012 6:14 PM IST

    Mumbai Indians bowler Munaf Patel (3R) gestures towards Deccan Chargers captain Kumar Sangakkara. (AFP/Getty I …


    India and Mumbai Indians' medium-pacer Munaf Patel had a good outing against Deccan Chargers at Visakhapatnam on Monday night in the ninth match of the ongoing fifth edition of the Indian Premier League.

    Munaf bowled an exceptional spell at the start, middle and end of the Chargers' innings to finish with figures of 4 for 20; and he also took a good catch at long-on to give Lasith Malinga his third wicket of the match. But, Munaf spoilt what should have been a memorable night in one moment of petulant outburst when he launched a sustained verbal assault on the umpires after a decision went against him.

    In the third ball of his third over and the 13th of the Chargers' innings, Munaf thought he had clean bowled the opposition captain captain Kumar Sangakkara, who had added 36 runs for the fourth wicket with Daniel Christian. 

    Sangakkara attempted to drive a full delivery, but dragged the ball onto the stumps; however square leg umpire Johan Cloete of South Africa thought the ball had comeRead More »

  • Calm Rohit stars as Mumbai Indians steal win over Deccan Chargers

    Rohit (73* from 50 deliveries) shifted gears in the last three overs of the match with his team needing 37 runs to win.

    By Akshay Iyer | Yahoo! Cricket – Tue 10 Apr, 2012 12:27 AM IST

    Mumbai Indians bowler Munaf Patel (C) and teammate Rohit Sharma (L) argue with the umpire about the wicket of Deccan …


    Action in images | Scorecard| Finger still not looking good: Tendulkar



    Rohit Sharma anchored Mumbai Indians' chase of 139 against Deccan Chargers brilliantly at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Monday night as Dale Steyn ended on the losing side despite a brilliant bowling performance. Mumbai Indians needed 18 runs to win from the last over of the match bowled by Dan Christian, but Rohit hit two sixes, including one in the last delivery to steal a five-wicket win for his team and get them back to winningw ays.

    There was also a hint of controversy in the dismissal of Deccan Chargers' captain Kumar Sangakkara; but despite that unfortunate event, this was the kind of match the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League desperately needed.

    Steyn gave the Chargers the perfect start when he brilliantly caught T Suman off his own bowling and then bowled an excellent maiden over to his South African counterpart Richard Levi before clean bowling him with a swinging yorker to leave

    Read More »

  • Cricket should be more inclusive

    The Twenty20 World Cup could easily have included at least six countries from the qualifiers.

    By Akshay Iyer | Yahoo! Cricket – Wed 4 Apr, 2012 1:37 PM IST

    Paul Stirling of Ireland bats during the ICC World Twenty20 qualifier final against Afghanistan in Dubai. (Getty …


    Last month, 16 Associate and Affiliate member nations of the International Cricket Council (ICC), competed against each other for the right to qualify for the 2012 Twenty20 World Cup to be hosted by Sri Lanka in September-October.

    The 16 countries were Afghanistan, Netherlands, Canada, Papua New Guinea, Nepal, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Denmark, Namibia, Ireland, Scotland, Kenya, Italy, United States of America, Uganda and Oman with Afghanistan and Ireland qualifying for the Twenty20 World Cup.

    The qualification process started in early 2012 with 81 member countries who had to gain promotion from their respective regional Division 3 to Division 1 before eventually booking their place in the World Twenty20 qualifier which was held in UAE. Breaking it down further, as Afghanistan, Ireland, Canada, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland automatically qualified for the main qualifier, there was place only for 10 qualifiers from the regional Twenty20 tournaments that were played across Africa, Asia, Read More »

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