Kunal Diwan

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  • Time for Fletcher to deliver

    The Indian coach now has a full year to prepare a team that can compete abroad.

    By Kunal Diwan | Yahoo! Cricket – Sat 16 Mar, 2013 3:42 PM IST

    Chief selector Sandeep Patil (L) speaks with coach Duncan Fletcher.

    There is little that validates Duncan Fletcher's largely undeserved second term as India's coach. Fletcher's work and India's returns in the last two seasons have been dissected no end - by everybody, apparently, except the men who matter - and indicate utter stasis. From a situation that was to herald a golden age following a fabled World Cup win and the No.1 ranking in Tests, India have lapsed back into their conventional strengths and weaknesses.

    Under Fletcher, India have won at home against sub-standard opposition and deflated shamelessly when rivals with a semblance of quality and spine have turned up. Forget about overseas results, the coach's former employers England came from behind to overwhelm the hosts 2-1 late last year.

    That was when it was assumed that irrespective of the outcome of the series against Australia, Fletcher would not be granted an extension.

    Fletcher to remain India coach for another year

    How surprising it is then that the stony face, shaded eyes and Read More »

  • Where is the ugly Aussie?

    Australia's famous fight has been sorely missing on this tour.

    By Kunal Diwan | Yahoo! Cricket – Tue 5 Mar, 2013 3:35 PM IST

    Australia have been missing Ricky Ponting's domineering ways with the bat.

    The ugly Aussie would have been most welcome. At least he’d have put up a fight. Australia’s dispiriting collapse to go two-nil down against India has now solidified the suspicions that hung over a team of limited experience on a tough sub-continental tour. 

    The visiting batsmen have failed to save their team. The manner in which they have trooped out however can scarcely be put down to inexperience alone. In just thirty-something overs on the last morning eight Australian wickets fell; a majority to recklessness than to anything devious in the bowler or the pitch. A counterattack isn’t always recommended and the need of the hour then was to burrow deep for, say, ninety-odd minutes, and carry on to make best use of set eyes and assured feet.

    This was precisely what Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay did for India when they ground out a whole session to begin the second day. Vijay, especially, sensing a chance to cement himself into India’s opening scheme, curbed his instincts to Read More »

  • Comebacks are always hard: Harbhajan

    Off-spinner fancies his chances against the inexperienced Australian lefties.

    By Kunal Diwan | Yahoo! Cricket – Sun 10 Feb, 2013 6:29 PM IST


    MUMBAI: Harbhajan Singh is back in the Test fold. The 32-year-old off-spinner was on Sunday selected to India’s squad for the first two home Tests against Australia and may play his 100th match at Chennai, where the series begins on February 22.

    Also see: Harbhajan leads ROI to Irani win | Gambhir dropped

    What made the occasion doubly joyous for Harbhajan was the fact that he had also led Rest of India to victory in the Irani Cup match against Mumbai. Speaking later, he said he was looking to resume the battle with old foes Australia, against whom he has a decidedly good record in Tests.

    “It’s always nice to play against the Aussies. They have relatively new line up and a lot of left-handers who have not played Tests in India. It will be a challenge for them and we’ll put them under pressure from the first day.”

    Harbhajan: back in favourHarbhajan will join R. Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha as the spinners on duty against Australia. He was dropped after India lost the Kolkata Test to England last year and was since plying

    Read More »

  • Rest of India retain Irani Cup after dull draw

    Jaffer gets a hundred in aborted chase on the final day.

    By Kunal Diwan | Yahoo! Cricket – Sun 10 Feb, 2013 5:27 PM IST

    Mumbai were set a tall target of 507 on the final day.

    MUMBAI: Rest of India won the Irani Cup on first innings lead over Mumbai as a most listless encounter drew to a close at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

    There was no semblance of intent from either side as both went through the motions for the better part of the day, before the match was stopped at 3:15 p.m, but not before a few inconsequential overs of spin had been turned in to check the over rate.

    UNLUCKY RAINA

    Rest’s victory on first innings lead was inevitable on the fourth day itself. But the final day was not without its moments, what with the backdrop of a selection meeting going on concurrently.

    The visitors resumed on 296/4 and declared on a lead of 506 an hour to lunch, soon after Ambati Rayudu had completed his 150. Rayudu’s overnight partner Suresh Raina made a blunt push towards another century in the match.

    His effort, and his aspirations to the Test squad, was terminated prematurely after a spate of big hits. The left-hander from Ghaziabad was sidelined for the crucial Read More »

  • Rayudu century puts Rest of India in charge

    Irani Cup: Ambati and Manoj help ROI build on their lead against Mumbai at Wankhede.

    By Kunal Diwan | Yahoo! Cricket – Sat 9 Feb, 2013 5:36 PM IST

    Mumbai: Ambati Rayudu’s hundred marked a day of drudgery and attrition at the Wankhede Stadium as Rest of India assured themselves, through ways far from spectacular, of retaining the Irani Cup. A dogged and uninspiring first session followed by an outright attack towards close allowed Rest to end the fourth day on a lead of 413 over Mumbai.Ambati Rayudu (File Photo)

    More than admiration for Rayudu’s 14th first class century – a knock that switched gears radically mid-way – it was frustration over Manoj Tiwary’s wayward fifty that filled out the first half of play. There was irritation again at Mumbai’s slow over-rate – a trend that continued for the fourth day running, but was later checked by the introduction of spin – and nothing save for the two early wickets on the morning and a flurry of hits near stumps saved the contest from slipping disappointingly into meaninglessness.

    Rayudu (118*) and Suresh Raina (40*) added 89 brisk runs for the fifth wicket, every hit pulling the match away from Mumbai, as the

    Read More »

  • Irani Diary - Day 4

    India’s cupboard of bowlers looks scarily empty.

    By Kunal Diwan | Yahoo! Cricket – Sat 9 Feb, 2013 4:51 PM IST

    Pace raceSreesanth is on the comeback trail. (File Photo)

    Speed guns belong in the same despicable category as breath analysers and bad drivers. Unless they’re on television showing up fast bowlers for what they’re really worth. One such implement records Rest of India’s S Sreesanth, Abhimayu Mithun and Ishwar Pandey averaging about 130 kmph all through Friday. Not a patch on the kind of bowling Sachin Tendulkar and possibly Ajinkya Rahane will be up against in the four Tests versus Australia. The pace battery of Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird and Mitchell Starc functions at a completely different level. Although a majority of wickets in England’s epochal series win in India last year fell to spin, Australia’s last triumph on the sub-continent – under Adam Gilchrist in 2004 - was beget by the pace of McGrath, Gillespie and Kasprowicz. Will a dwindling India’s vulnerability to genuine quick bowling cost them another home series?

    Barely there

    India’s own cupboard of bowlers looks scarily empty. Fast bowlers

    Read More »

  • My focus is always on cricket: Sreesanth

    The temperamental pacer hit the deck hard and tested a rampaging Sachin Tendulkar with a string of bouncers.

    By Kunal Diwan | Yahoo! Cricket – Fri 8 Feb, 2013 6:53 PM IST

    Mumbai: Shanthakumaran Sreesanth is known as much for his antics as he is for his bowling. On Friday, on the third day of the Irani Cup match, the Kerala fast bowler turned in a heartening performance on comeback and assured later that his well-documented dancing skills will never come in the way of his primary calling - cricket.Sreesanth (File Photo)

    "I've never missed a game because of my dancing. My focus is always on cricket. Everything else comes later."

    Ton-up Sachin gets back to business

    Although the 30-year-old claimed just one wicket in 21 overs against Mumbai, he hit the deck hard and tested a rampaging Sachin Tendulkar with a string of bouncers.

    “It was my birthday a few days ago and it was my dream to take Sachin’s wicket that day. Obviously, when you play against him you need to do your homework. So I was bowling short to pin him on the backfoot, but the great batsman he is, he still managed to come to the front foot and hit me.”

    Sreesanth last played a Test match over a year ago before being

    Read More »

  • Tendulkar ton helps Mumbai recover

    By Kunal Diwan | Yahoo! Cricket – Fri 8 Feb, 2013 6:07 PM IST

    The Little Master batted like he hadn’t in a long time. (File Photo)

    Mumbai:     A Sachin Tendulkar century, in the eyes of his fans, surpasses almost every other experience the world has to offer. The effect is rather more pronounced when it’s scored before his home crowd at the Wankhede Stadium. And when the manner of its achievement is as exquisite and chanceless as it was on Friday, it’s time to start thanking one’s stars for being in the vicinity of the maestro while he’s at work in the middle.

    Tendulkar’s unconquered 140 against Rest of India failed to give Mumbai the all-important first innings lead in the Irani Cup, but it showcased the best of his batting, skills upon which repeated, recent failures had cast a miasma of doubt. Was he too old? Had the inevitable drag of time arrested his apparently ceaseless flight into an even grander greatness? Agreed the bowling on display – although consisting of four players with Test experience – was not of the highest quality. That took little away from Tendulkar, who batted like he hadn’t in a long time, Read More »

  • Irani Diary - Day 3

    Sidelight from the Mumbai vs Rest of India game

    By Kunal Diwan | Yahoo! Cricket – Fri 8 Feb, 2013 4:59 PM IST
    Selection muddle

    India’s opening combination in Tests, always under the scanner, is presently being examined with an electron microscope. Virender Sehwag, for all his massive impact, has been inconsistent of late. Gautam Gambhir, despite maintaining a respectable average, has not inspired any confidence. This means the way is clear for at least one experimental change at the top of the order. So, who will it be? Will it be Ajinkya Rahane, who displaced Sehwag in ODIs and batted fluently for 83 in the Irani Cup fixture? Will M Vijay’s hundred for Rest of India against a mediocre Mumbai attack throw him into realistic reckoning despite a horrible domestic season? It rankles a few that the batsman who deserves a look-in – Punjab opener Jiwanjot Singh, the season-aggregate topper – is not at the Wankhede. Jiwanjot, however, is part of India 'A' that will take on the touring Aussies in Chennai. There is a case too for Wasim Jaffer, ever-consistent and easy on the eye on the domestic Read More »

  • I wanted to score heavily: Raina

    The Rest of India batsman plundered a weak-looking Mumbai attack aided by No. 8 batsman Mithun.

    By Kunal Diwan | Yahoo! Cricket – Thu 7 Feb, 2013 6:41 PM IST

    Abhimanyu Mithun: Full points for effort.

    MUMBAI: Suresh Raina plundered Mumbai’s attack for 134 quick runs, 98 of which came on Thursday. But all his brilliance would have come to naught had it not been for medium pacer Abhimanyu Mithun, who partnered the southpaw in a crucial 153-run stand for the seventh wicket.

    Asked if his experience of shepherding the tail in the shorter formats had come to his aid in the Irani Cup match, Raina said, “I know how to bat with the lower order. There was good communication between us and I know that it’s always good to trust your partner.”

    Raina's 11th First Class century could not have been more timely, as it comes just ahead of the Australia Test series with India's middle order bearing a decidedly unsettled look.

    “I wanted to score heavily in this match to come back into Test match reckoning. I’m hitting the ball really well. I was unhappy to miss out on an ODI century against England recently, so I am glad to get a hundred today against Mumbai, who are a very strong domestic team.”

    As he Read More »

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