Difficult to keep gritty Dada down - Jyoth Kohli

Who says Sourav Ganguly has fans only in Kolkata? This man can pull a hugecrowd even for an inconsequential match played on a Tuesday afternoon. I went to the stadium to catch Dada in action during the Deccan Chargers vs Pune Warriors game in Hyderabad on Tuesday. A few minutes into the match, I realised there were many like me. Dada was cheered for everything he did, even a mis-field. The crowd gave him a warm welcome and he didn’t disappoint with the bat. There was a huge cheer when he got off-the-mark. When he slashed Ishant over cover for his first boundary, I saw people around me jumping and giving giving high-fives to each other. This man is still loved by everyone. It’s been an emotional ride for Ganguly and his fans. Just when everyone thought he was finished, the old man is back. Some hate him, some love him and some are crazy about him. But surely everyone admires his passion for the sport and his fighting spirit. There’s just something special about this man. He may not be the best batsman, but inspires me when I’m down. As he once said, “It’s always easy to give up. All you need to say is — I quit... but the harder part is to carry on.”

Courtesy : Jyoth Kohli

-- Fans Corner --

Read More

DADA-Only cricketer to stop two double centuries in ODI

Another amazing fact about Dada....he is the only cricketer who have stopped two double centuries in ODI cricket...

One was against Pakistan when Saeed Anwar was batting at 194..an amazing and impossible catch by Dada stopped the would be first double century by Anwar..

The second one was against Sri Lanka when Jayasuriya was batting at 189 and dada came to bowl....a very clever delivery came from Dada which was called a wide...but Jayasuriya chased it and was stumped....end of hope for yet another would be double century in ODI....

In both the games this happened when it was not the last over...so batsmen who were on fire had ample chances....

But unfortunately they had our Dada in the opponent team playing......so ...that stopped all their hopes....and saved India from some bigger shame...

SOURCE : CRICINFO

PROOFS :1) http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65900.html

2) http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/66113.html

Read More

Challenge to ESPN's voting of Best ODI Batsman

Date : 21/10/09


These are the top run getters in ODI's :
SR Tendulkar (India) - 16,903 (Runs) 44.48(Average) 430(Matches)

ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) - 13,377(Runs) 32.54(Average) 441(Matches)

Inzamam-ul-Haq (Asia/Pak) - 11,739(Runs) 39.52(Average) 378(Matches)

RT Ponting (Aus/ICC) - 12, 044(Runs) 43.17(Average) 324 (Matches)

SC Ganguly (Asia/India) - 11,363(Runs) 41.02(Average) 311(Matches)

R Dravid (Asia/ICC/India) - 10,765(Runs) 39.43(Average) 339(Matches)

BC Lara (ICC/WI) - 10,405(Runs) 40.48(Average) 299(Matches)

JH Kallis (Afr/ICC/SA) - 10,328(Runs) 45.10(Average) 294(Matches)

AC Gilchrist (Aus/ICC) - 9,619(Runs) 35.89(Average) 287(Matches)

M Azharuddin (India) - 9,378(Runs) 36.92(Average) 334(Matches).

In above Players Jaysuriya Played the most Matches, So i m calculating the runs they wud hav got if they hav played the matches equal to Jaysuriya. I ll calculate runs according to their Carrer averages........

Sachin -17392
Ponting-17094
Kallis-16958
Ganguly- 16695
Gilly-15146
Dravid-14787
Lara-16153
Inzmam-14229
Jaysuriya- 13,377
Azharuddin-13328.

And if we know that after ganguly's comeback.he had average of 45.......and by considering this average Ganguly's runs wud be 17213 runs and this is second highest after sachin, and even sachin is not far, Sachin is just 179 runs ahead of ganguly. and most importantly Ganguly was captain but sachin wasnt.

Note: This thread is for ESPNSTAR. They shud hav look to that thread and they ll find who the best ODI Player is.

Read More

HOW DADA WON MATCHES CHASING.... ????ALSO CHECK OUT HIS WHOPPING AVERAGE IN THOSE MATCHES~~~

NOW LET ME TELL U THE REAL THING!!!

SITTING DOWN WITH THE CRICINFO PAGE OPENED I STUMBLED ONTO THIS FACT...

WHEN DADA SCORED CENTURY CHASING A TOTAL OUT OF 7 TIMES 6 TIMES HE HAS WON THE MATCH FOR INDIA.(ONLY TIME HE MISSED WAS 100 AGAINST AUSSIES IN MELBOURNE)

"HE AVERAGES A WHOPPING 695 IN THE MATCHES HE WON!!!"

WELL HE OPENED IN EACH AND EVERYONE OF THEM AND REMAINED NOT OUT IN 5 OUT OF 6!!!!

AGAIN TAKING CONSIDERATION OF THE MATCHES WE SHALL SEE THAT HE WON 5 OUT OF THOSE 6 MATCHES SINGLE HANDEDLY. EXCEPTING THE ONE AGAINST ENGLAND
WHEN HE SCORED 117* ALONG WITH A CENTURY FROM SEHWAG IN THE ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY..

IN ALL HE HAS WON 6 MATCHES FOR INDIA BY SCORING A CENTURY WHILE CHASING AND 5 HAVE BEEN SINGLE HANDED WINS OR INNINGS WHICH CAN BE TERMED AS MATCH WINNERS!!!


-CHECK THE LINK PROVIDED EARLIER FOR FURTHER DETAILS

LINK : http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/28779.html?batting_fielding_first=2;class=2;filter=advanced;orderby=start;result=1;runsmin1=100;runsval1=runs;template=results;type=batting;view=innings

Read More

WHY SOURAV IS THE BEST EVER CAPTAIN???

Captain is born not made. Leadership is your trait –in your genre. Either you have it or you don't have. There is no in between. Sourav like England's Mike Brearley or Nasser Hussain can be in the team just because of his leadership qualities. Unlike Brearley, whose Test batting averagewas under 23 or Hussain whose Test average was 37, Sourav's average is nearly 41. In the 2003-04 series against Australia, Sourav's century at Brisbane set the tone for one of the best performance by India in an away series. it is beyond doubt that he has brought the killer instinctto the Indian team that was sorely lacking..

• No wonder every Indian skipper goes through a bad phase. Azharuddin being a prime example .same goes for Dravid. Generally when he leads India, his batting nosedives. Consider this. In Tests, as a player he averages 60.46, as a skipper his average 17.25.

In one-dayers, as a player he averages 40.22, as a skipper 29.22. It's no different abroad. Take for example Michael Vaughan, England's highly successful skipper, as a player in Test his average is 50.98, as a captain it is down to 35.94, lower than even Ganguly's 37.03. All batsmen go through bad patches. Even Rahul Dravid has gone through this phase. In 1999-00 during a 13-month period he went through 16 innings without a fifty.

• Sourav is an expert in "Man Management". Words such as 'Groups' and 'Camps' have vanished from the Indian dressing room. That is why we saw the name "Team India" because in Ganguly's era there is no in-fighting. The other great asset of Sourav is that he has risen over parochial interests and backed players on their talent. That is indeed revolutionary when compared to the policies of the past skippers who made it open secret in picking their favourites. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, from Jharkhand, Kaif from Uttar Pradesh, but they are all equal in Ganguly's eye. The only thing he believes in is talent.

Yuvraj Singh, Kaif, Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Sanjay Bangar, Murali Kartik, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Parthiv Patel, Zaheer Khan, Dinesh Kartik, Dhoni, Balaji, Nehra all have done India proud because Sourav have backed them through thick and thin. Even Players like Srinath gave his best while coming back to limited overs cricket under Sourav Ganguly.

• Sourav has won six Test matches away from home, a huge improvement over any other skipper

Sourav as Captain for Team India :

•There is no debate over the very fact that Sourav has rechristened Indian cricket in last five years—2000 to 2005. Indians have never had a captain who has looked at the opposition in the eye and forced them on the backfoot even before a ball is bowled.Azhar, Sachin, Srikkanth, Kapil and Gavaskar did not have the sort of aggression which Sourav does! As a player and a captain he has given a new looked Men-in-Blue, a blend of youth and experience. This team proved its merit as it raced to the finals of the World Cup 2003.

•He has never shied away from responsibilities and always stood up for his boys. Perhaps for the first time Indian cricket got a captain whorose above petty parochial regionalism and fought with BCCI to select the best talents available in the country. Few promising youngsterslike Juvraj ,Harvajan ,Pathan , Dhoni or player like Sehwag –all are mentored during the tenure of Sourav . Below statistics vividly manifests the very fact that he is always a big tournament player and big challenge motivates him immensely. He literally brandised Indian cricket with the help of his Men -in -Blue. Let’s analyse his performance as captain..

•Out of 49 test matches where Sourav played the role of Chieftain, 21 Victories by any standard (almost 43% win) is a glorious feat! Out of which in seven cases win by an innings (33% of all win --- that means out of 3 wins, one will be always by an innings!) quite impressive and comprehending victory over opponents. Statistics again reveal that Ganguly was keener on chasing the target to victory. Vis a vis other players, captaincy did not hamper Sourav’s batting average much(down from 40 to 37 range ).A very interesting fact is whenever India own the match,Ganguly played a very key role in the side to victory. His near about 50 batting average in those 21 matches ( where India won the test under his stewardship) clearly points out that Ganguly was very much instrumental in team success and led the side from the front in victory. All through these victories, Ganguly contribution as captain in batting was phenomenal. In those 7 innings victories, his batting average is astounding 72.42 .even in those 11 matches where, India won by chasing target , Sorav’s contribution is healthy 42.57 !

•Nevertheless such a lead-from-the-front approach, the critics still keep on making Noise! We really appreciate their audacity and no-cricket-sense stance!Sourav in test definitely did well in away tests in opponent soil! There is lot of hue and cry made by his critics that he can’t play fast bowler well. For them his performance as a captain against Aussies (batting average 47.33), England (58.50) and west Indies (53.66) is enough to shut their mouth!

We know that those three teams have more formidable fast bowlers than spinners.
Right?

•The performance in one day is also comparable like test. Here also the same out of 147 matches where he led team India, in 76 matches India won and in those matches Sourav’s average 51.37, only re strengthen the very fact Sourav Ganguly can easily claim the lions share as batsman and captain in team’s success .His performance is quite magnificent in world cup and ICC championship where his average is resounding 58.12 and flabbergasting 83! I think after all these statistics there should not be any further argument over the fact –who is real mentor of Team India. As captain and as a batsman – it is Sourav Ganguly –“The Prince of Calcutta”.

☛DADA - THE BEST INDIAN SKIPPER EVER MADE☚

Read More

How sachin is the king when situation is easy and fails when tough time prevails and DADA is reverse???

For an overseas batsman, runs scored in Australia often means more than runs scored anywhere else. Apart from the relatively bouncy pitches, the batsmen also have to overcome the challenges posed by the most potent bowling attack in world cricket, and one of the meanest fielding units around.

Even in Australia, though, some venues have been more hospitable to overseas batsmen than others. Adelaide, for instance, has almost always produced a flat pitch - thanks to Les Burdett, their curator - with little assistance to the bowlers. Sydney, meanwhile, has often helped spinners more than the fast bowlers. At both these venues, the bounce and seam movement has been less pronounced, allowing batsmen from outside Australia to feel more at home with conditions and get among the runs.

At the other three regular Test venues, though, the story has been entirely different. "Brisbane has mostly helped the fast bowlers, and often hosts the first Test of a series, leaving overseas batsmen with little time to adjust to the Australian conditions. Melbourne has been quite bowler-friendly as well, while the trampoline-like bounce in Perth has often been far too much for the batsmen to get on top of. The best bet for most batsmen has been to make extra runs in Sydney and Adelaide, so that the overall numbers still look good after the damage from the other three venues".

The table below checks out the numbers for overseas top-order batsmen (Nos. 1-7) since 1990, and the difference in numbers between the two sets of numbers is stark: batsmen score 26% more runs per dismissal in Sydney and Adelaide than in the other three grounds.

Overseas top-order batsmen in Australia since 1990 :

VENUES : TESTS RUNS AVERAGE 100s/50/s

ADELAIDE AND SYDNEY : 40 17,660 35.67 34/ 81
Brisbane, Melbourne & Perth : 55 19,958 28.30 28/ 108


The table below lists out the batsmen with the highest difference in averages between the two sets of venues (at least four innings at each set of venues). The two England captains lead the way: Paul Collingwood averages more than 90 in Adelaide and Sydney and less than 27 in the other three grounds, while Michael Vaughan isn't far behind. However, Vaughan and Sachin Tendulkar, the next batsman in the list, have done reasonably well in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth - the high difference in average is largely due to their exceptional records in Sydney and Adelaide.

That argument doesn't hold for Brian Lara, though. He has a superb record in Sydney and Adelaide, with five 50-plus scores - including two double-centuries - in 15 innings. His stats in the other three venues are dismal: in 18 innings there, he has been dismissed without scoring four times.

The difference is almost as much for two former opening batsmen. Michael Atherton averaged more than 50 when batting on the true pitches of Sydney and Adelaide, but it dropped to less than a third of that figure when the conditions got tougher - his highest from 18 innings in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth was 54. It was a similar struggle for Gary Kirsten, whose average dropped from 52.63 to 23.80.

A few Things came to my notice which made my belief that ,DADA is A much Better Test Batsman Than his credentials Show,MuCH more Stronger.

I will key it in 2 set of stats : (plz click these two pics and view it for clear focus) :





Not too many batsmen fall into the next category, but there have been a few overseas players who have flourished in conditions that most have found too difficult to conquer. The list is headed by an unlikely candidate: Mark Ramprakash managed an average of just 36.50 in Adelaide and Sydney, but he was consistency personified in the three tougher venues, with four 40-plus scores in eight innings. Sourav Ganguly has often been pulled up for his problems against pace and bounce, but surprisingly, he has done much better in Brisbane and Melbourne than in Sydney and Adelaide.

Two of the most consistent batsmen across all venues in Australia have been Jacques Kallis and Kevin Pietersen. Pietersen scored runs at almost every venue on England's tour in 2006-07, but Kallis' achievement is even more creditable, since his runs have come over three different series: he averages almost 50 in Sydney and Adelaide, and only marginally lesser in the other three venues.

courtesy : s.rajesh(stats editor of cricinfo)

FRM THE ABOVE STATS, ITZ CLEARLY SHOWN THAT GREATS LIKE SACHIN ,LARA AND ELSE PLAYED WELL IN ONLY SOFT CORNERS LIKE ADELAIDE AND SYDNEY and not in tougher venues like brisbane,melbourne and perth.. BUT ITZ MY SOURAV GANGULY HAS DONE MUCH BETTER IN THOSE TOUGHER VENUES THAN SACHIN AND LARA.....

~~~HOPE ALL WILL REALISE THE CLASS OF DADA IN TESTS TOO~~~

Read More

WHY SOURAV GANGULY IS A BEST CAPTAIN?

Why Sourav Best Captain

• Captain is born not made. Leadership is your trait –in your genre. Either you have it or you don't have. There is no in between. Sourav like England's Mike Brearley or Nasser Hussain should be in the team because of his leadership qualities. Unlike Brearley, whose Test batting averagewas under 23 or Hussain whose Test average was 37, Sourav's average is nearly 41. In the 2003-04 series against Australia, Sourav's century at Brisbane set the tone for one of the best performance by India in an away series. it is beyond doubt that he has brought the killer instinctto the Indian team that was sorely lacking

• No wonder every Indian skipper goes through a bad phase. Azharuddin being a prime example .same goes for Dravid. Generally when he leads India, his batting nosedives. Consider this. In Tests, as a player he averages 60.46, as a skipper his average 17.25.
In one-dayers, as a player he averages 40.22, as a skipper 29.22. It's no different abroad. Take for example Michael Vaughan, England's highly successful skipper, as a player in Test his average is 50.98, as a captain it is down to 35.94, lower than even Ganguly's 37.03. All batsmen go through bad patches. Even Rahul Dravid has gone through this phase. In 1999-00 during a 13-month period he went through 16 innings without a fifty.

• Sourav is an expert in "Man Management". Words such as 'Groups' and 'Camps' have vanished from the Indian dressing room. That is why we saw the name "Team India" because in Ganguly's era there is no in-fighting. The other great asset of Sourav is that he has risen over parochial interests and backed players on their talent. That is indeed revolutionary when compared to the policies of the past skippers who made it open secret in picking their favourites. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, from Jharkhand, Kaif from Uttar Pradesh, but they are all equal in Ganguly's eye. The only thing he believes in is talent.
Yuvraj Singh, Kaif, Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Sanjay Bangar, Murali Kartik, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Parthiv Patel, Zaheer Khan, Dinesh Kartik, Dhoni, Balaji, Nehra all have done India proud because Sourav have backed them through thick and thin. Even Players like Srinath gave his best while coming back to limited overs cricket under
Sourav Ganguly.

• Sourav has won six Test matches away from home, a huge improvement over any other skipper

Sourav as Captain for Team India :
There is no debate over the very fact that Sourav has rechristened Indian cricket in last five years—2000 to 2005. Indians have never had a captain who has looked at the opposition in the eye and forced them on the backfoot even before a ball is bowled.Azhar, Sachin, Srikkanth, Kapil and Gavaskar did not have the sort of aggression which Sourav does! As a player and a captain he has given a new looked Men-in-Blue, a blend of youth and experience. This team proved its merit as it raced to the finals of the World Cup 2003.

He has never shied away from responsibilities and always stood up for his boys. Perhaps for the first time Indian cricket got a captain whorose above petty parochial regionalism and fought with BCCI to selectthe best talents available in the country. Few promising youngsterslike Juvraj ,Harvajan ,Pathan , Dhoni or player like Sehwag –all are mentored during the tenure of Sourav . Below statistics vividly manifests the very fact that he is always a big tournament player and big challenge motivates him immensely. He literally brandised Indian cricket with the help of his Men -in -Blue.

The performance in one day is also comparable like test. Here also the same out of 147 matches where he led team India, in 76 matches India won and in those matches Sourav’s average 51.37, only re strengthen the very fact Sourav Ganguly can easily claim the lions share as batsman and captain in team’s success .His performance is quite magnificent in world cup and ICC championship where his average is resounding 58.12 and flabbergasting 83! I think after all these statistics there should not be any further argument over the fact –who is real mentor of Team India. As captain and as a batsman – it is Sourav Ganguly –“The Prince of Calcutta”.

Read More

GOODBYE MAHARAJA

Goodbye Ganguly :

Because when you announced your retirement, you said "Hopefully we will end up on a winning note". We did.

Because you were the only guy referred to as the royal Prince and the high-street bully "Dada" at the same time.

Because when you scored that classic debut century at Lord's, some thought you will be a one-knock wonder. At Trent Bridge, you stunned them all again with a double barrel.

Because when you played those heavenly cover drives, Rahul Dravid said "There is only God and then Sourav Ganguly on the off-side". Maybe even the Almighty would have just moved to mid-on.

Because you took over as captain when match-fixing clouds hung over, but you made the right bets for the team.

Because with Sachin Tendulkar, you made ODI opening a treat for Indians, and a nightmare for the opposition. It was left right, left right, alright.

Because when Andrew Flintoff ran naked chest on national display at Wankhede, you lost your shirt.

Because when the Oz threatened you with chin music, you played hip-hop with them at Brisbane hitting a majestic hundred.

Because you never quite understood the logic and rationale behind being dropped even after scoring 10000 runs plus in ODIs and in good nick. You are not good at reading whodunits.

Because they burnt your effigies and hurled stones at your team in 2003, and then you led India to the finals of the World Cup in South Africa.

Because you discovered youngsters, groomed, encouraged and inspired Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Irfan and MSD to become our future heroes.

Because you suffered the humiliation from Greg Chappell and several critics with humility, dignity and grace.

Because you proved that the word "age" is not a four-letter word.

Because when axed, you concealed your hurt and disappointment, went and played local tournaments and sneaked back into the team. Then Johannesburg happened. Your fairy-tale return had happened.

Because you have redefined the word, comeback. And grit. And determination. And fighting spirit. And leadership. And many unmentioned superlatives.

Because MSD seems to have taken the leadership baton from you, for the good of Indian cricket.

Because you never traded your self-respect, and when they dropped you for the Irani Cup, you said---Enough!

Because you taught Indians to fight back, not turn around in defeat.

Because even 7000 Test runs and 10000 ODI runs is sometimes insufficient to measure your heroics for Indian cricket.

Because the 2001 series win against Australia marked a historic victory in one of the greatest series ever. You were India's captain.

Because if it exasperated Steve Waugh, you let him wait for the toss.

Because hopefully, we will still see you in black shining armour, Prince, for the KKR in IPL next year.

Because on the Lord's balcony, we discovered that you were not six-abs-pack.

Because at Nagpur this time, you had the last laugh, and India, the last hurrah. The final frontier is recaptured.

Because you did a Pepsi ad for your team, even as you stood silently alone in Kolkota.

Because you will not be ever seen in whites again. Scoring runs, bowling those deceptive medium pacers. And perhaps, even misfielding.

Because your fans will borrow from a new TV ad, and say "We miss you so much, it hurts".

Because it is time to let you go home to your family, and friends.

Because now you can watch colleagues like Sachin and VVS and Ishant on the television like all of us.

Because tomorrow morning you will join Gavaskar, Vishwanath, Bedi and Srikanth as a "former" player. 

An ex.

Because you can now perhaps play football as well at Eden Gardens.

Because it's time to say good-bye.

Because you did us proud.

Because you never gave up.

Because if you don't deserve the salutations from us all Indians, who does?

Read More