• Graeme Swann's stock continues to rise with his 10 wickets against Bangladesh - and he now has to be regarded as the best spinner in the world.

     

    The key to his game is that he knows his art very well, and that can only come from years of hard graft and patience - in that sense, Swann has served his time and is now reaping the rewards.

     

    He has proven his quality against the world's best, and the next challenge for him will be to produce the goods in India, where he began his international career.

     

    If you look at the other spinners on the international circuit, you would have to say that Swann is the best out there at this moment.

     

    Danish Kaneria, Nathan Hauritz, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Harbhajan Singh: you would be hard-pressed to prove that any one of those players are better than Swann on current form.

     

    The England spinner has natural variation, magnificent control and flight, and a fine arm ball. He may not have a doosra, but often it is about mastering the basics

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  • The Chennai Super Kings haven't started off on quite the right note as I would have liked, but Adam Gilchrist was just excellent on Sunday night. He started out aggressively like we all know he can do and it was his innings that put us on the back foot right away: actually it was the onslaught in the first four overs that set the tone for the match.

     

    It wasn't that we played badly, it was just 20-odd runs that was the difference between Deccan Chargers and us. A par score on wickets here in India is 170-180, and it was those extra runs they got that made it tough.

     

    On Tuesday, we meet the Kolkata Knight Riders who look an improved side and it should be a good encounter. They already have two wins under their belt, but we have to stay confident and not give in to any panic. We need to believe in ourselves and put pressure on KKR. We are a good side and it is Kolkata that will need to keep playing well and maintain the standard they have set this season. 

     

    Their bowling looks

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  • It's back to entertain, to be the talk around the cricketing world. In its third avatar, the IPL has not lost any of the aura that was first seen in India in 2008 and again in South Africa the following year.

     

    It was a whopping success the first time out and remained a whopping success even when it was conducted outside India, silencing the cynics who said it would not ring the right bells away from this country.

     

    All the same, it is great to have the IPL back in the country of its origin complete with its razzle dazzle, its glamour quotient and cricketainment value par excellence.

     

    Let's face facts. The IPL has caught the fancy of cricket lovers the world over. Its unique concept, the presence of the world's leading cricketers in the game's most popular format, the bonding together of cricket and Bollywood - the two most popular forms of entertainment in India – all packed together in one enthralling package is the stuff that dreams are made of.

     

    If Twenty20 struck a right

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