World Cup musings…

Total prize money up for grabs for 200+ players participating in 2015 ODI World Cup…
$10 million.
Yuvraj Singh’s fee for just appearing in IPL 2015…
$2.5 million.

The World Cup jinx…
Sri Lanka has never beaten Pakistan.
Pakistan has never beaten India.
India has never beaten South Africa.
South Africa has never beaten anyone in a knockout match.

A Tale of Three Summers…
Team India went from an Indian Summer to an Australian Summer and will return to an Indian Summer again.
Instead of a long rest, they’ll rush into a 1.5 month long IPL.

1992—India has beaten you in a World Cup. Will you give it back to them?
Pakistan—‪#‎WeWontGiveItBack‬—1996, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2015.

These versions by Sunil Rajguru

Columns on MS Dhoni

Hero Dhoni becomes Villain No. 1 (like many before him!)
January 21, 2016, Sify.com

Stoic Dhoni: A true victim of intolerance
January 10, 2016, Sify.com

2015: Annus horribilis for Dhoni
December 16, 2015, Sify.com

Dhoni: Rest as captain to prolong batting career!
July 7, 2015, Sify.com

Dhoni still best bet against Aussies…
March 30, 2015, Sify.com

Dhoni and the great team bubble
March 27, 2015, Sify.com

Has Dhoni’s golden era ended?
March 27, 2015, Sify.com

The Dhoni-Kohli show finally ends
March 26, 2015, Sify.com

Seven Things That Set Dhoni Apart
January 4, 2015, Sify.com

Dhoni’s Test captaincy in numbers
January 1, 2015, Sify.com

Dhoni symbolizes this era perfectly
December 31, 2014, Sify.com

MS Dhoni – A man who didn’t play for landmarks
December 30, 2014, Sify.com

Is it the end of the Dhoni era?
November 19, 2014, Sify.com

Why the BCCI won’t sack Dhoni!
August 20, 2014, Sify.com

3 Test myths about MS Dhoni…
July 22, 2014, Sify.com

Dhoni: A strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
01 February, 2014, Sify.com

7 reasons why Dhoni is a great leader
12 July, 2013, Sify.com

Is Dhoni our greatest player ever?
24 June, 2013, Sify.com

Dhoni: A strange but successful captain
18 June, 2013, Sify.com

Dhoni begins his second innings in style
19 March, 2012, Sify.com

Dhoni takes India out of the ICU
27 February, 2012, Sify.com

“Last minute” Dhoni strikes again!
20 May, 2012, Sify.com

The Mad Max Trinity
29 March, 2012, Sify.com

Is Dhoni the world’s greatest finisher?
27 October, 2011, Sify.com

10 change-makers: From Pataudi to Dhoni
26 September, 2011, Sify.com

The Revival Man of Indian cricket
16 September, 2011, Sify.com

Cometh the hour, cometh the man
14 May, 2011, Sify.com

The Myth of the Lucky Captain
Sify.com, 21 October, 2010

Brisbane Test Day 4 musings…

Ref: Second India-Australia Test at Brisbane.

For Steve Waugh, India was the final frontier.
For India, every country is the final frontier.

No matter what day of the Test, when India begins its second innings, it is always just one session away from defeat.

Bharat ko videshi Test jeetna mushkil hi nahin, naamumkin hai…

If Winnie the Pooh led the Australian Test team, they’d still thrash us 4-0.

What Shikhar Dhawan may have wanted to say after his 81 at Brisbane…
I was inspired by the great Australia batsmen during their batting in the first innings.
I kept counting the milestones one by one.
First I went past Lyon (23) then Hazlewood (32) and finally Starc (52).
My only regret is that I couldn’t go past the great Mitchell Johnson’s 88.
All these great batsmen can give a few tips to our top order batsmen.

These versions by Sunil Rajguru

Brisbane Test Day 3 musings…

Ref: Second India-Australia Test at Brisbane.

Overseas Tests…
Play pathetically: Lose.
Play badly: Lose.
Play well: Lose.
Play really well: Lose.
Play awesomely: Draw.
Once in four years: Win.

The Indian attack is great at getting batsmen out.
It just can’t dismiss the bowlers.

After Kapil Dev, India has produced 25 fast bowlers faster than him, but not even one who remotely matches his fighting spirit.

Lightning strikes once.
Rare if it strikes twice.
If it strikes 10 times, then you’re the Indian bowling attack hit by the tail.

True Test parity…
At home we watch Indian batsmen doing The Great Escape.
Overseas, we watch the opposition batsmen doing The Great Escape.

India should stop importing foreign coaches and start importing foreign bowlers.
That’s the only way to save foreign Tests.

On foreign Test pitches, some tails last more sessions than Indian batsmen last balls.

If the Indian bowling attack took 19 wickets in 3 days on a foreign Test pitch, then you can be sure that the 20th would elude them for the next two days.

We won one foreign Test in 2011.
After that in 2014.
So the next is coming in 2017.

This is MS Dhoni’s 59th match as Test captain and Steven Smith’s first.
Frankly, it looks like the other way round.

On foreign Test pitches, the opposition’s last pair is better than India’s opening pair.

Overseas Test rules…
If India is 300-5, they can be 325 all down.
If the opposition is 300-5, they can go to 600.

In an overseas Test if India scores 450 and the opposition is 200-5, the Indian fan asks…
Can we somehow have a miracle and draw this match?

India’s DRS = Decisions Really Suck.

These versions by Sunil Rajguru

Adelaide Test musings…

Ref: First India-Australia Test at Adelaide.

Aus series he kya?
Nahi, Aasu series hai.
‪#‎IndVsAus‬

Kohli, Viru ya ho Dhoni,
Fast bowling, spin ya kuch bhi anhoni,
Foreign pitches pe bas wohi hi honi.
‪#‎IndVsAus‬

2011: Can’t play fast bowlers on foreign pitches.
‪#‎Eng‬ ‪#‎Aus‬
2012: Can’t play spinners on home pitches.
#Eng
2014: Can’t play spinners on foreign pitches.
#Eng #Aus

These versions by Sunil Rajguru

Ab ki baar Kohli ka waar…

cricket-players-2027502_640Form is temporary, Kohli is permanent.

There is one department in which Virat Kohli is a total Zero.
He simply can’t play the dot ball!

Jab captain ho Dhoni,
Aur batsman ho Kohli,
Jab sub-continent pe spinners,
Tab India hai winners.

Gavaskar—King when Tests ruled.
Tendulkar—King when ODIs ruled.
Kohli—King when T20s rule.

Therefore, India’s slogan before every cricket match…
Ab ki baar Kohli ka waar.

These versions by Sunil Rajguru