boloorsportsmania

[boloorsportsmania]

Diamond jubilee lady hits the BULLSEYE 🙂

Just as my mom Smt. Sanjeevini Rao turns 75 tomorrow ,here are 7 special moments which makes me feel proud of her. I call her The Iron Lady for these very special qualities. A gritty , focused and tough lady had a very special 70 years. Along with these special achievements, her biggest victory is how she battled Lymphoma Cancer. She braved through 6 full chemo treatment to fight the cancer. Having will power, dedication and focus to get through cancer with a positive attitude is not everyone's cup of tea. Hat's off mom. Keep rocking!!!Just as photo describes, she has hit BULLSEYE in this aspect .

Moment 1 : Period 1984. Place Bhadravathi. Dad was in transferable job as he had moved to marketing role. We got transferred from Bangalore to Bhadravathi. Me and Seema joined St Charles school. Mom and Dad were curious to see how we would fare in school considering change of school is not always easy to adapt. I was in 2nd standard and Seema in 5th standard. St Charles was a very competitive school with loads of bright students. In mid term exams, we did well. Results were to be announced after festival holiday break. Mom had put in a great effort to get me accustomed to new syllabus and new school. St Charles had a tradition of announcing top 3 ranks of each class in morning assembly. This was to encourage the students. I was literally chatting my friend Ashit during the assembly when all of a sudden something shocking happened. They announced my name for 2nd rank. In our class, we had 2 students by my name. They had not announced initials. They again announced my name with Boloor tag to it. I was shocked more than surprised. My hands were almost trembling when I ran towards the stage. I had shock expression in my face even when I received marks card from principal. Seema also came 2nd in class in that exams. Mom was thrilled . Dad was even more as he felt a bit guilty of being transferred to Bhadravathi. He literally picked me and threw into the air. My head almost touched the roof the hall in the house. Well, fun just started here. Seema was always a student who would excel consistently. I was like Ravi Shastri, happy in hitting a few sixes and then get out of form 😉 In Nov exams, my rank dipped to 10th and in Dec exams to 23rd. During this period, my aunt Sharath was in Bhadravathi. As soon as I showed my marks card to mom, lecture started as expected from mom. I expected that as her oratory skills was like legendary Indira Gandhi. Hard hitting words with spot on points. I had my face covered in hands as I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. She made a comment “ Your marks has fallen off the mountain, from the peak to the bottom. In next exam, I guess you would dig the ground and go further down !!”. Sharath aunty felt bad and tried to calm mom. I started getting a bit nervous. Things calmed post that. The way she expressed her opinion, I know she was more hurt that I scored less marks. Mom then didn’t say a thing for a week. She then prepared a daily time table of what to read. Seema on the other hand had secured first rank in both the exams. Mom never pressurized me by comparing to Seema. She knew both are of different mould. In today’s sporting world, She was Virat Kohli and I was a mere Rishab Pant with a few sixes here and there. I put in loads of effort post that. I managed to get 5th rank in final exams. This was my first face off with mom’s anger. I can relate to this anger even now. I am a bit tempered. Beneath anger, I knew she wanted me to do the best.

Moment 2 : A couple of years later, mom felt the need to work as it would improve the financial state of the house. She was always fond of teaching. She had done B.Sc in Maths and was even a rank holder. She decided to pursue B.Ed which would open up teacher roles for her. Unfortunately, there was no college in Bhadravathi which had this course. She enrolled into a college in Shimoga which was about 1 hour drive from Bhadravathi those days. So at the age of 38, she decided to do B.ED which was remarkable since she had to do on top of normal household work. She would get up at 5 AM, get household work done, then leave to Shimoga at 7 AM. She would return by 5 PM. She would have some assignments too. She would help me in my homework as well. This routine would go for 1 full year. It needed a lot of guts and determination to do this. By the time, she completed her B.Ed, dad came to home with news of being transferred again. Mom had the expression in her face which would say “ When one challenge is completed, other follows like a shadow!!”. We moved to Bangalore again !!!.

Moment 3 : Period 1988 to 1990. This was a phase we led a rapid life. I was super happy as our house was right in front of massive APS college ground. Mom happen to be teacher of the same school where Seema studied. Infact, she was Maths teacher of Seema for 9th and 10th standard. I was busy playing. The moment I return from school, I would rush to the ground. Mom and Seema would return from school together. This was period where Seema would win loads of awards. Mom was super proud of her. She won 2nd price in Hindi debate competition for whole of Karnataka which was splendid achievement. She won loads of awards in school competitions too. 2 moments brought maximum happiness to Mom during this phase. One was Seema winning Hindi debate competition and another was me winning 3rd prize in science exhibition. I enrolled my name at the last moment and didn’t have any idea what to present. Mom gave the idea of liquids getting heated faster than solid. Example was simple. Have a stand to place a cardboard box. Fill the box with water. Place a candle under the box with enough distance between them. Its observed that water catches fire faster than cardboard box. Mom gave me explanation points around it too which revolved around some molecular theory. I memorized it well as I had a knack of doing it. Judges were some college professors. 70 students had participated in it. Judges heard each student’s explanation. There were some interesting ones too like volcanic effect by my classmate Niranjan. I explained my part well. My only worry was that I had just 2 cardboard boxes. I had to use it smartly. I had to start the experiment just a few minutes before judges came to my seat. I did that well. Judges were impressed. I felt relieved. Post lunch, one of the teachers came and made 2 announcements. One was that parents and teachers would come around to see the displays between 3-5 PM IST. 2nd was the 3 winners. I was shocked more than surprised when they announced my name as 3rd place winner. It made my day. Mom couldn’t come to watch my experiment since she would return from school only 430 PM. I had a bigger issue in hand. I didn’t have any cardboard box left. I went around sweet shop near my house. He spared me 4 old boxes without charging a penny. We would constantly buy veg puff there. So he knew me well. Post 5 PM, I ran to house to announce my results. Mom was super happy. She couldn’t control her wide smile. She and Seema came for prize distribution later too. Actor Srinath was the chief guest that year. It was cool to receive the prize from him. Mom made science and Maths simple for me which helped a great deal in later years to come.

Moment 4 : In 1990, we got transferred again. This time to Madras. It took ages to get settled in the TN capital. I used to call it MAAADDDras with specific emphasis on Mad. I made good friends though but life style was so different. In school too, focus was all on studies. In the school I studied, there was no sports period as well. That’s when we as a family got really close. We literally became friends for each other. To top the pain, our TV had gone to maker’s factory for insurance claim. For 6 months we didn’t have TV. I literally followed 1990 world cup soccer on news paper only. Due to this, we had loads of time though. We used to go for long walks post dinner. We used to live in Ashoknagar which was really a good place. Mom got her job in school pretty fast. She directly approached principal of Jawahar Vidyalaya. They had a post open at that time. Her career really picked up from there. In initial years of tough life in Chennai, mom held us together. This was very critical since we led next 10 years of life in Madras.

Moment 5 : I had a crazy way of studying for my exams. I liked to read while walking. I walked around the house as if it is a temple. This is not just it. I had to have TV on with some sports channel on. I would constantly focus on scores as and when I come in front of TV. When I study, others don’t get to watch TV !! . Mom somehow managed to bear my crazy style of studying. The pace at which I would walk would increase as and when I get further in studies. Infact, I even studied Maths like this. I studied Maths also mentally rather than practicing it. During engineering days, books would get heavy. So I would tear books into 3-4 parts !!! Any other mother would lock their kid in a room and make them study if they study in such a idiotic way. She always smiled when I walked with an expression “ You are one unique specimen !!! “ . She kept saying to his students who came to tuition though that this is exactly NOT the way to study !!! 😊 . What she couldn’t say to me she said to her students. Speaking of making your point in a unique way !!

Moment 6 : I had met with a major accident 2 months before my XII board exams. I was bed ridden for almost 2-3 weeks. It was critical phase for XII as all revision exams and tuitions was scheduled during that phase. Any other parent would have panicked. But mom being mom, she just told me to give it all once I am fine. She did sound a bit nervous though. Mom and dad didn’t want to make me nervous though. Once I recovered, I just had a little more 4 weeks left for exams to start. I decided not to go final revision as well as that would reduce time for preparation for final exams. Though it was a bold move, mom felt that would be the best as well. I prepared a strict timetable. In X board exams even though I did well, I just managed to score 80% marks. Any such dip would make dad’s life difficult as management engineer quota was expensive. I just put my mind out of all this and just focused on studies. I still watched TV and still walked around the house though !!!. I did reasonably well in exams. When the day came for the marks to come, mom decided to stay back home and took off from school. She was a bit nervous but didn’t show it. My marks was like Bulls eye for engineering seat. I got 96.5% in PCM which mattered. I just got 85% in rest. But that was enough. Infact, I was topper in the class in PCM% which was a shocker for me. Had mom not given the freedom to study the way I did, I would not have fared so well. It mattered a lot as management quota seat would cost 40-50K per year but free seat would just cost 6.5K per year. I managed to get the later. Dad was so thrilled that he too came back from office earlier than scheduled with a box of sweets. I finally had a moment which made mom and dad proud and I was proud of it !!!

Moment 7 : Well, this has got to be Singapore trip . Mom, dad, Seema and Sanjay came to Singapore when I was posted there for an onsite assignment. We really had good time there. Mom had a wish to visit a foreign country and she was smiling all through the trip.

Cheers to Mom for her “ Never say die “ spirit. Though there were few moments where our thoughts didn’t match , it was negligible when compared to the respect we have for each other. Mom rocks at 75 !!! Many cheers to the IRON Lady who turns 75 tomorrow !!!!

[boloorsportsmania]

#866 Pre-Independence born and ex IISc graduate turns 80 !!

#boloorsportsmania

In era where upgrading skill is core aspect of career and life , my dad has done it all. A man who was born in pre independence era , having heart of 60s and 70s but mind is as active as new GenAI era. He was rank holder in BSc Maths and completed engineering in IIsc via scholarship. He started his career in electrical later moved to marketing. He retired as AGM in SAIL.

We celebrated his 80th birthday in style which he loves. A banana leaf meal with family. 90% of food is home cooked with contributions from all. A day to cherish for him and us as well.

Time for some flashback now. A few memories of dad which has and will stay with us forever.

Till 1992, we always thought that Radhakrishna Rao ( my dad) was born on 25-Dec-1943. Even dad had the feeling that this was his birth date as it was in all his records. My grandfather had a family book where DOB of all Boloorians were kept as record. We all of a sudden realized in 1992 that he was born on 29-Oct-1943. He was a Scorpion like mom. Mom was born on 31-Oct-1950. We saw it as 2 days difference between their birthdays. Dad had another jovial angle to describe it. He used to say mom was born 2 years after independence. He had a wicked sense of humor sometimes!!

Today that great man is turning 80 !! Time has flown too fast for this Bsc Maths rank holder, engineering student in prestigious IIsc , retired AGM of VISL (a subsidiary of SAIL) , stocks champion, “Can talk on any topic !!“ master, a thorough gentlemen , a self-proclaimed YOGA guru and sweet-loving guy. By sweet loving, I really meant sweets. He can’t live a day without eating a sweet which he totally adores !!. He might still manage to live without sweets but don’t think he can without yoga and stocks study. He has been investing in stocks since 1981 (if I am not wrong !! ) . He never shows his excitement or anger when stocks jump or dips !!. Probably his body language gives an indication. Just for the love of stocks, he learnt to use Microsoft XLS at the age of 60, tablet at the age of 72 , laptop at the age of 74 and even boasts a google finance account which he monitors through his mobile (bought a smart phone just for this !!). His past time always goes in calculating capital gains and analyzing what stocks or MF to buy !! . I am completely opposite to him. I do like finance but not to the extent this freak does !! (I do call him freak sometimes). Once newspaper comes in the morning, he detaches the sports edition and hands over to me. He calls me an Urdu sports freak sometimes!!! In all newspaper, sports edition is there in last few pages. I always read the newspaper from last page to first. So the name Urdu Sports freak !!

It’s impossible to list down moments with dad which I cherished as there are so many. One of the most memorable one was the day Seema won 2nd prize in Hindi debate (2nd in entire Karnataka) . He was so happy that day that his eyes was glowing. He was immensely proud. Each time Seema would win a competition ( I felt she was born talented. She would win most competitions, was a charm in plays and was always topper in studies. It was a deadly combo and I always felt she was a magician), dad looked very happy proud. Her multi talent is evident in her career too. She was a BSC Zoology student, worked in IMRB for IA Flying returns and now running a host of sessions on story telling very successfully. That’s as varied set of talent a human can get. Seema was always dad’s pet due to this rare talent. He would proudly tell about her deeds to his friends. I was a kid who was born other side of planet probably. I hardly won any events, was an above average student (thanks to mom for that!! ) and was a sports fanatic. I owe my passion for sports partly to dad’s interests as well. 2 instances was the real trigger for that.

1982 Asian games and 1983 world cup were 2 key calendar years for India. Dad had literally got TV imported from north India just to watch these events (at least I always felt that he bought TV for these events !! ). It looked like a magic box for me. None of our neighbors had TV . Even our rich landlord was watching our TV. How cool was that !! 1982 Asian games was held in India for the first time. It was a grand spectacle. Best was 1983 world cup which India won as underdogs. Host of dad’s cousins had come from native to watch the finals. Our house was small . TV was kept in hall. There was a huge window which was opened to allow neighbors to watch TV. Atleast 30-40 people watched the finals. Snacks would come from all the houses. I just can’t imagine watching a match like that in current generation. Crackers was burst across Bangalore when India won the finals. I was all but 6 by then. That day was the first instance which triggered the sports madness in me. Post that I got bat and ball from dad.

2nd instance which triggered another nerve of sports madness in me was when I first watched tennis. It was era of Martina and Mconroe. I hardly knew a thing about tennis. It was dad who taught me on how points worked in tennis. In mid 80s, only Wimbledon was telecasted in DD post SF matches. We used to wait for that weekend with eagerness. The first finals which I saw was Martina vs Evert. Martina won the match after losing her first set. It was her 6th Wimbledon title and 12th slam overall. In men’s tennis, a new 17 year old kid had made great stride to reach finals where he faced Kevin Curren. It was a tight 4 setter but Becker won in 4 sets. It was amazing to see him serve with so much power, dive around the net with ease and play with such soft and silk touch around the nets. He was named BOOM BOOM Becker after this win !! He was in all sports headlines that week.

If people blame me for being crazy for sports, dad had a great hand in that!! In mid 90s, when I started watching golf, he started staring me with a look “ Its game for retired people!!..Why are you watching it?? “ . Moving on, other than sports he has inspired me in a lot of other things. Money management, time management and health focus being key of them. I can’t recall a phase in his career when he had a tummy which is crazy. Half my life, I have stared at my tummy when I bend my head down !!! He never visited a gym but ensured he walks, jogs or does yoga throughout his life. He had slip disc when he was in mid-40s but that didn’t stop him from exercising. He couldn’t jog anymore. So he did loads of walking and yoga. He was so addicted to walking that he once walked at 330 AM in the morning thinking it is 530 AM. His alarm had rung 2 hours early. He reached home asking why sun was not rising !!. Mom gave him a stare and told that it was not even 430 AM !!

In Pre TV era, all he made us do was walking which we sorely miss in today’s life. After dinner, we would walk for 30 min , chat all along and then come back home and sleep. Gone are those days !! My son Shreyas can’t believe we lived such a life !! Another thing which I owe to dad is love for food. Irrespective of how the situation of his purse was, he ensured that he took us out for dinner in regular intervals. In mid 80s, when we were in Bhadravathi, a new restaurant had started which served North Indian food. It was first of its kind in the small town of Bhadravathi. We made regular visit there. Eating Manchurians, naan and various sabji was just a treat to my tummy. I have always been a fast eater. It helped me immensely when I visited hotel with my parents. Once I finished my share of food, dad and mom would some share of theirs too to my plate !!. The era of fast-eating-by-Mr-Sandeep has not stopped since then. I enjoy eating fast now and just can’t eat or drink anything slowly !! The secret behind that is revealed now !!.

Dad’s work ethics is 2nd to none. Since he has got retired, he virtually plans what work he needs to do each day. His usual work starts with a watch of NASDAQ stock numbers before 8 AM. That gives an idea of how Indian markets would fare. He would then walk along to Geojit office to get some analysis of some stocks. He does further study of that stocks fare over a period of time. Based on the analysis, he does day trading of few stocks here and there. It is not the amount of stocks sold or bought that counts but the process. One can do for 1 day or at the max for 50 days. But has done this for 90% of the days since 2001 (when he moved to Bangalore post retirement). That’s some discipline. If I am able to achieve even 50% of the discipline which he has, I would pat my back.

Even 8 years is not enough to write about “Man of Steel “ Dad. For now, I need to logically end this blog which is a tribute for his 80th birthday. Hope this blog bring him an inch of happiness which would make my day. Having said that, mom is turning 74 two days later as well. A year later, another blog would be presented.

Entire boloor clan wishes him a grand a fabulous 80th birthday. Just like his kids and grand kids say , 80 is just a number. Cheers !!

[boloorsportsmania]

#865 A Perfect Dress Assemble 😁

In 23 plus years of IT career, if I am asked a moment which made me smile or even laugh , then it has to be the day of The Perfect Dress Assemble.

Year 2002. Period: mid may summer . Mood : upbeat though life could have been better. From 1999 to 2002 i had my fair share of struggles due to recession, bad luck and my careless attitude . My career was still not stable as i expected to be working in a far better company in a much better role. I had squandered 2 chances in Infosys in last 3 years. Mid may 2002 offered me my 3rd chance. Recession had ended and companies were hiring back which was good news. In a hot Saturday morning, i was invited for a test by Infosys in famous st Joseph school near mallya hospital. I didnt have happy memories of that school as i had written quite a few tests in that school for various companies with no good result . Considering it was a Saturday, i didn't even bother to wear formal dress. I was in casual jeans and t shirt combo with ultra comfortable hawaii slippers on.

Test commenced at 10 am which lasted for 60 minutes. I knew the pattern and did pretty well. Results were supposed to be announced by 2pm. I had a good lunch in Kamat hotel near by. Results were put on school notice board in typical old school corporate type. Atleast 900 of them had attended test. I had to wait for my turn to look for my result. I was not surprised that i had got through test but was shocked to know that interview would be conducted in koramangala Infosys office at 4pm. In most occasions, companies conduct interviews a day later but not on that day. It was already close to 2:30 pm. I looked at my dress and didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Guy next to me pulled my leg citing that i would be first guy to attend Infosys interview in a hawaii slipper. I went to a local pco and called up mom. I just had 200 rs in my pocket. So no chance to buy a new dress. Mom suggested me to go to Nalini aunts house. I never drove a scooter beyond 60 kmph . For the first time i had to go in excess of 90. I knocked door of Nalini aunts house. She was not there. Her son and my cousin Anuj gave me a welcome handshake. He asked me why i was sweating so much. I told him my hawaii slipper wala story and he couldn't control his laughter. His grandmother Sandhya doddamma was there too listening curiously. I needed a formal dress set , a file and a copy of my resume. Both took me inside to check which dress would fit in. I tried shirts and pants of trimurti brothers Ajay , Anup and Anuj . It was like fashion show. Again, I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. I managed to fit into shirt of Ajay , tie of Anup who was doing his bbm those days and shoes of Anuj. Pants of neither of them fitted me though. I even tried their dad's pants. No luck. Sandhya doddamma then had a plan. She went to her cupboard and got pants of grandfather of Ajay, Anup and Anuj. It was a typical 70s pants. That fit me . I wore shirt of Ajay , tie of Anup , shoes of Anuj and pant of their grandfather. Anuj gave me a spare file which was in his father's table. Anuj and doddamma couldn't help smile after i got into this assembled dress. Anuj gave me directions to Infosys office and stationary shop were i could get my resume printed.

All throughout interview, i had smile on my face thinking about the dress assemble. That made me relax too. I gave the perfect interview which had 2 rounds. I drew back to aunts house who was waiting for me. She offered me some hot snacks. I ate full snacks in 2 minutes flat. Aunt couldn't control her laughter after hearing about the dress assemble. I knew i had finally clicked interview in a good company.

So what makes me smile till date and what made me click a big interview was all due to the perfect dress assemble. Their luck and blessings were all in it i suppose. 3 cheers to my lovely cousins , aunt and doddamma ( rip wherever you are) and 3 cheers to 2002 mid may summer. A day with a perfect dress assemble has to be my most precious day in small IT career. Cheers !!!

[boloorsportsmania]

#boloorsportsmania

Football

Fifa world cup 2022

SIR MESSI HAS SHAKEN HANDS WITH PARADISE AND HOW !!!.

MBAPPE A DEFINITE HEIR TO NEXT GLOBAL SUPERSTAR IF HE IS NOT ALREADY. HE IS JUST 22 !!

- no team for a reason had won back to back wc titles since brazil in 1958 and 1962.

- Argentina were all over france in first half

- a tumble inside penalty gave Argentina chance to score.messi obliged

- few minutes later messi reverse flicked to alvarez who passed in stunning manner to mac allister.. he ran like a horse to pass onto Maria who obliged

- maria had scored goal for Argentina in 2008 Olympics final, 2021 copa America final and now

- 2nd half again saw Argentina dominate

- france waited for an opening. They got one 10 minutes before close of play.

- france got penalty. Mbappe obliged

- mbappe scored stunning goal 2 minutes later to equalize

- match thrillingly went to extra time. France goalie saved a stunning messi stunner to keep them in game

- in 2nd half of extra time , messi gave Argentina lead again only to hand france another penalty few minutes later

- mbappe completed hatrick. ICE MAN

- MATCH went to penalties. Messi and mbappe scored in first chance

- post that legend of martinez rose. Just like qf match , he saved next 2

- Argentina scored next 3. Montiel won winner

- Argentina win 3rd wc 4-2 in penalties

- sir messi has ended his career on an absolute high

- only spain im 2010 have won after losing opening game

[boloorsportsmania]

#863 Anderson-Leach masterclass helps England humiliate India in first test; Rizwan can do nothing wrong as his century helps Pakistan beat SA in first T20; WI has edge in 2nd test vs Bdesh; Keeper blunders cost Liverpool against ManCity;Thiem and Djokovic survives 5-setter scare; Nadal, Zverev, Medvedev and Tsitsipas still on target to reach to 2nd week of Aus open; Kenin, Kerber and Andreescu knocked out in ladies draw; Serena, halep and Osaka favorites in ladies draw and more..:-)

On day 4, India continued their good work as Ashwin and Sundar took India past 300. Just when it looked like they would take India past follow on target, Leach struck, Once Ashwin was dismissed for 31, India lost last 3 wickets for just 32 runs. Sundar remained unbeaten at 85. India made 337. Ashwin’s 5-fer helped India skittle England for just 178 in 2nd innings. Root again impressed with a classy knock of 41. But there was hardly any pressure on him. India had to play 13 overs on day 4 and full of day 5 to save or win the game. Target was 420. Leach gave England a brilliant start as he dismissed Rohit with a beauty. Rohit played completely the wrong line. On day 4 and 5 putches in India, batsmen need to play as much late as possible. He put a forward stride well before ball s;pun and didn’t cover the turn. India ended day 4 at 39-1. On day 5, Leach gave England a dream start when castled Pujara. Virat and SHubman then played well for few overs before Anderson completely changed the game towards England, He castled Gill for 50 and Rahane for duck in the same over with a reverse in swinging deliveries. India 92-4. He dismissed Pant with an off cutter soon after. India 110-5. Bess dismissed Sundar for duck. India 117-6. Though Virat and Ashwin tried hard for 18 overs, writing was on the wall. These 2 batted for almost an hour post lunch. Leach dismissed Ashwin again for 9. Virat fought hard for his 72 but was dismissed by an inswinger from Stokes which kept low. He played well though. India were dismissed for 192. England won by an innings and 227 runs. It is a massive loss for India in India. This is India’s first loss in Chennai since 1999 when India lost to SA. This is just 2nd loss for Virat at home as captain. This is the first match where Ashwin grabbed a 5-fer at home but India ended up losing. India were literally humiliated. They need to pump themselves up for 2nd test. It looks like 2nd test would produce a turner. India could well Kuldeep or Axar or even both. Siraj might make way for Ishant.

In first T20, Rizwan’s 64 ball unbeaten 104 helped Pakistan to 169. Pakistan keeper cant putb a foot wrong these days. In last 10 international innings, he has scored 4 fifties and 2 centuries. SA reached close but lost match by 3 runs. They needed 19 runs of last over and 6 of last ball. Abdul; Qadir’s son Usman Qadir shined with the ball. In 2nd test, gritty fifties by Bonner, Joshua De Silva and Alzarri Joseph helped WI to a score of 409. Gabriel reduced Bangladesh to 11-2. Bangladesh ended day 2 at 105-4.

In EPL, ManCity vs Liverpool was a marquee match. Liverpool had City’s number in last 2 years. City made all the moves in first half. They even had a penalty but Gundogan missed as he sailed high. That put pressure on City. But same German star gave City the lead early in 2nd half. Post that Salah equalized for Liverpool. Just when it looked like reds would up the ante, their keeper made blunders which helped City win the match 4-1. Gundogan scored 2 goals and was the star. City now lead ManU by 5 points, Leicester City by 7 points and Liverpool by 10 points with an additional game in hand.This was City’s 15th successive wins across competitions. They are infact unbeaten in last 22 games since 21-Nov when they lost 2-0 to Spurs. Interestingly they face Spurs next in EPL.

In Australian open, all top 8 seeds in mens baring Schwartzman are still alive. Match of the week was Kyrgios vs Thiem in 3rd round. Kyrgios won the first 2 sets 6-4. Thiem came back to win next 3 6-3 6-4 6-4. Kyrgios deserved to win this but didn’t know how to close it in 4th and 5th set. Djokovic won first 2 sets against Fritz before he had waist injury. That enabled Fritz to win next 2. Just when it looked like we would witness 8 time champion being knocked out, he found some gas in final set to win the match 6-2. His injury could be serious though and it would be interesting to see if he can recover within 2 days. Zverev reached 4th round too Nadal, Medvedev,Rublev and Tsitsipas all reached 3rd round. In ladies section, Kerber and defending champion Kenin were knocked out. Osaka, Serena and Halep are now favorites to win. Andreescu also was knocked out. Pliskova could be dark horse. Will Serena finally win her 24th slam which ahs eluded her from last 2 years??

[boloorsportsmania]

#862 Bess -Archer combine to push India back to the wall in opening test; Pant and Pujara shine for India; Rizwan century give Pakistan great chance to win series against SA but Markram-Dussen help SA fight back; Kyle Mayers became first player to score double century on debut in 4th innings; WI beat Bangladesh chasing 395 by 3 wickets; ManU under pressure after draw against Everton and more..:-)

With a bit of luck, England tail wagged and made 578. Ashwin and Bumrah picked 3 wickets each. Indian players had tired legs after fielding for more than 2 days. Archer got the new ball to move a bit. He dismissed Rohit Sharma early With a ball with just left the batsman. India 19-1. Gill played few delightful strokes before he was dismissed for 29 by Archer when Anderson caught a smart catch in mid on. India 44-2. Virat joined Pujara. India went to lunch at 59-2. India needed these 2 to bat as long as possible. Post lunch, India had horror 20 minutes. Virat who has not been in great touch off late tried reaching for a ball from Bess. He just made 11. India 71-3. Rahane was dismissed trying to attack early. Root caught a stunning diving catch towards his left. India 73-4. India looked like getting dismissed in first inning inside 3rd day. Pant did what he does best. He attacked and was well partnered by Pujara. Leach was taken to cleaners by Pant. India went to tea at 154-4. India had to play till tea on 4th day to have hopes of saving the match. Post tea, they completed century stand. Both completed fifties. Against the run of play, England had more luck. Pujara hit a short ball from Bess directly to forward short leg. It hit his back and bounced towards mid wicket where Burns caught with ease. That was as unlucky a dismissal once can get. India 192-4. Pant kept attacking. He reached yet another 90s. He tried to hit a wide delivery towards extra cover for six but was caught at the boundary. He played a splendid knock. This is what we get from Pant. He plays his game. To be fair that attitude won us the aus series and helped draw in another. India 225-6. Sundar and Ashwin battled for last 17 obvers of the day to take India to 257-6 by end of day 3. England have India on the ropes. Can Ashwin and Sundar repeat what Vihari and Ashwin did in Sydney? They need to bat for atleast 1.5 sessions if not 2 to have hopes of India saving the match. If India get allout by lunch, England will be firm favorites.

Rizwan played a very gutsy knock . From 76-5 in 3rd innings, his unbeaten 115 took Pakistan to 298. Nauman Ali played a handy knock of 45. He and Rizwan had a gutsy 97 run stand for 9th wicket. Linde grabbed 5 wickets. Afridi dismissed Elgar early for 17. SA 33-1. Markram and Dussen then did what they did in 2nd innings of first match. They mixed caution with aggression. That worked as they ended day 4 at 127-1. SA need another 243 runs to win on final day. It will be a thrilling finish in an evenly contested series.

In first test between Bangladesh and WI, century by Mehidy took Bangladesh to a score of 430. Mehidy starred with the ball too as his 4-gfer helped Bangladesh dismiss WI for 259 in first innings. Haque’s century helped Bangladesh declare at 223-8 in 2nd innings. They set WI a target of 395.  WI were reduced to 59-3. It looked like WI would lose yet another match against Bangladesh.  Bonner and debutant Kyle mayers then played out of their skins. They had 216 run 4th wicket stand to give hopes to WI. Bonner was dismissed for 86. Blackwood just made 9. WI 292-6. Kyle Mayers then attacked Bangladesh out of the park. He had century stand with Joshua De Silva. His unbeaten 210 helped WI beat Bangladesh by 3 wickets. This was the first instance that a debutant has scored double century on debut in 4th innings. Stunning effort.

In EPL, ManU were held to a 3-3 draw by Everton. ManU led by 2-0 only for Everton to make it 2-2. Mctominay took ManU ahead in 70th minute. Lewin scored Everton the winner in injury time. Should ManCIty beat Liverpool today, They can take a 5 point lead with an additional game in hand. Today’s match will be crucial for Mancity and more so for Liverpool who are 7 points behind Man City having played a game more.

[boloorsportsmania]

#861 Root and co removes each and every stem and root of Indian attack in DEAD FLAT Chepauk pitch; Root shines with 20th century in 100th test match; Became first player to score century in 98-100 test matches; Pakistan hold edge against SA in 2nd test match; Nortke, Hasan Ali , Babar Azam and Ashraf shine; ManCity continue to rule EPL; ManU thrash Southampton; Liverpool shocked by Brighton; Australian open draw is out and more...:-)

India vs England test series finally kick started in Chennai on 5-Feb. 2 things kept me guessing. One was the pitch and other was Indian team composition. Chennai was producing sporting pitches till 2001. Post that it has produced dead flat pitches which is sad to see. 2006 match against SA, 2012 match against Aus and England and finally 2016 match against England were all huge run fest. 200 and 300 have been scored on this ground. Sehwag and Karun nair both scored triple centuries here. Nothing changed in Chepauk as once again they produced flat pitch. When sporting pitches is played across India and over the world, it is sad to see them repeat this again and again. England won the toss and chose to bat. India have lost toss in 6 of last 7 test matches. As far as team composition goes, there were 2 surprises. Nadeem played ahead of Kuldeep which was strange. If Axar had been fit, they would have played Ash, Kuldeep and Axar. But with Axar being injured, India think tank went ahead with more batting depth. Other surprise was no place for Siraj. Ishant and Bumrah were the pacers selected. Ball did not swing from ball one. Burns and Sibley played well and cautiously to start of with. Just before lunch on day 1, Burns was dismissed by Ash trying to reverse sweep. England 63-1. Bumrah trapped Lawrence for duck soon after. England 63-2. India looked good when they went to lunch at 66-2. Post lunch, Root and Sibley didn’t give even hint of a chance. England went to tea at 140-2. Post tea, they batted more freely. Root looked in ominous touch. He was making batting look easy. Pitch was flat but his batting was all class. He brought about his 2oth century in his 100th match. He became first played to score century in 98th, 99th and 100th match. He became 3rd England batsmen to score century in 100th test match.  Both took England past 250 with ease as well. Just when it looked like England would have another session without a wicket falling, Bumrah dismissed Sibley for 87 with an beautiful yorker. Yorker seem to be the only delivery which looked like taking wicket on this pitch till 4th day. Bumrah could have dismissed Stokes early on 2nd day but yorker just missed stumps by a whisker. Bowlers need luck on such pitches but India were having none. They were keeping it tight but wickets were not falling. Stokes and Root took England past 300. Stokes upped the ante post that. He also scored a fifty. Against the run of play Nadeem dismissed Stokes for 82. England 387-4. Root and Pope took England past 400. Root also scored double century in the process. He and Pope took England past 450. India dismissed both in quick succession. England were reduced from 473-4 to 477-6. Root made a stunning 218 from 377 balls. Butler and Bess took England past 500. Ishant dismissed Butler and Archer of consecutive deliveries. England 525-8. They could have been 9 down but Rohit dropped a sitter of Bess. England ended day at 555-8. They would look to score past 600 and then declare or else might get out. This is the first time any team has scored 500+ runs under Virat’s captaincy. Since he took over full captaincy in 2015-16, India has not conceded 500+ in first innings to any team. Such has been domination of Indian bowlers. No team has declared against India in first innings since Virat took over captaincy. This match would hurt him. In such a pitch, very little can a captain do. Closest India got to dismissing Root, Sibley or Stokes was runout. This pitch is not good for international cricket. It puts so much importance to toss. Teams batting first will have massive favor. India need to bat till end of 4th day once they get a chance to draw the game. Winning this match is out of question for India now. Hope Rohit does what Karun or Sehwag does as this pitch will suit him.

In 2nd test, SA reduced Pakistan to 22-3.  Babar then took charge. He and Alam took Pakistan past 100. They ended day 1 at 145-3. Both were dismissed soon after on day 2. Pakistan 149-5. Babar made 77. Faheem Ashraf played brilliantly with bottom order to take Pakistan to a total of 272. He was unbeaten at 78. Nortje starred with 5-fer. Nobody from SA got going. Hasan Ali’s 5-fer helped Pakistan dismiss SA for 201 in first innings. He was reverse swinging ball brilliantly. Bavuma was top scorer with 44 for SA52 run stand between Mulder and Bavuma saved SA from humiliation. Rabada dismissed Imran Butt early for duck. Maharaj got SA back to the game when he dismissed Abid and babar. Pakistan 45-3. Maharaj has dismissed Babar in 3 of 4 innings played in this series. Linde bolwed well to reduce Pakistan to 76-5. Rizwan and Ashraf saved Pakistan from further slide with 52 run stand. Ashraf was dismissed by Linde just before close of play. Pakistan ended day 3 at 129-6 with 200 run lead. Chasing anything beyond 230 would be tough on this pitch. Advantage Pakistan for now.

In EPL, ManU thumped Southampton 9-0. Eight different players scored goals for ManU. ManCity outclassed Burnley 2-0 to maintain 3 point lead over ManU with an additional game in hand. Jesus and Sterling scored goals for ManCity. Leicester City beat Fulham 2-0. Shock of the week was when Brighton beat Liverpool 1-0. Alzate scored the lone goal for Brighton. Chelsea beat Spurs 1-0. This is 3rd consecutive defeat for Spurs. Mourinho would be under pressure after this.

Australian open draw is out. Potential Mens QF would be Djokovic vs Zverev , Thiem vs Schwartzman, Medvedev vs Rublev and Nadal vs Tsitsipas. Djokovic could face Thiem in SF and Nadal could face Medvedev. Without Federer, draw is slightly open but Djokovic should be favorite to win his 18th slam. In ladies draw, potential QF could be Barty vs Pliskova, Kenin vs Svitolina, Andreescu vs Osaka and Sabalenka vs Halep.  Cant wait for Australian open to start.

[boloorsportsmania]

#860 Masterclass innings by Root and Alam help England and Pakistan to fantastic victories;  Anderson became oldest bowler outside Asia to grab 5-fer in Asia since 1987; Nauman became oldest debutant to grab 5-fer since 1949; Stunning to see these feats in era where fitness is altogether at different level; ManCity storm to top of EPL after being at 11th spot 2 months back and more..:-)

After winning first test convincingly, England were tested more in 2nd test against Lanka. Century by Mathews and good fifties by Chandimal ,Perera and Niroshan took Lanka to a score of 381 which looked very good for that pitch. Anderson grabbed 6-fer and in the process became oldest player to bag 5-fer in Asia since Hadlee had grabbed back to back 5-fers in India tour in 1987. England were on the mat when Embuldeniya reduced England to 5-2. Bairstow and Root dug England out of a hole again. Their 111 run stand helped England gain some momentum. Root was batting beautifully. He was sweeping and reverse sweeping with great ease. He was picking balls of right length which was great to see. England were reduced to 252-6. But a 81 run stand between Root and Bess took England past 300. Enhgland were eventually bundled for 344. Embuldeniya grabbed 7 fer. Root hit a majestic 186. His innings was all class and looked effortless. This was just his 4th century as captain outside Asia. 3 of them has come in last 1 year. Lanka had handy 37 run lead though they looked like getting 100 plus lead at one stage. Lanka played carelessly like they did in first innings of first test. They played poor shots and didn’t show application to withstand pressure. Bess and Leach grabbed 4 wickets each. Lanka hardly troubled England as they won the match by 7 wickets thanks to unbeaten 56 by Sibley. England have won 6 matches in a row in Lanka which is great to see. They are in right form and frame of mind to face India in India. They have shockingly left out Bairstow who has so much of experience of playing in India thanks to IPL.  They will have full force seam attack though with Archer and Stokes back. Can Bess and Leach do what Swann and Panesar did almost a decade back?? Would be really surprising if it happens.

In opening test, SA were well placed at 108-2 when Faf and Elgar were batting well. Pak Spinners then dismissed SA for 220 form that spot. Debutant Nauman grabbed 2 wickets and Yasir 3. Rabada and Maharaj reduced Pakistan to 27-4 by end of day 1. Azhar and Alam rescued Pakistan from that spot. Their 94 run stand settled the nerves in Pakistan dressing room. Alam scored 2nd century in as many months. His effort and some late order hitting helped Pakistan to a handsome total of 378. Alam took 4188 days to score his 2nd test century but scored 3rd in lesser than 30 days. SA played brilliantly to wipe off Pakistan lead for loss of just 1 wicket. 127 run stand between Markram And Dussen put Pakistan under pressure. It looked like Pakistan would get 150-200 target. But Yasir and Nauman turned on the match on its head. From 175-1, SA were dismissed for 245. Nauman became oldest debutant to grab 5-fer since 1949. Great effort. Pakistan won the match by 7 wickets as they chased 90 with ease. SA were in good position in both the innings at 108-2 and 175-1 but their middle order couldn’t show grit to bat longer.

In EPL, ManCity thrashed West Brom 5-0 to move to top of EPL points table. They were placed outside top 10 2 months back. They have won 8 of last 10 games (drew other 2) since losing to Spurs on 21-Nov. That is quite a comeback considering De Bruyn, Jesus and Aguero were injured. They have 1 point lead over ManU ,2 points over Leicester City and 4 points over Liverpool with ana additional game in hand. Liverpool beat Spurs 3-1 to get back to winning form. This was their first win in last 5 games. Sheffield beat Manu 2-1. Arsenal beat Southampton 3-1.

[boloorsportsmania]

#859 ONCE in a LIFETIME victory by India cause DEEP PAINe to Australian cricket; Gill played brilliantly, Pujara took all the bullets on his body and Pant ripped apart Australian SHIRT filled with EGO in style; Match for the ages; Series for the ages; Memory for the ages .. :-)

Final day of an exhilarating series started off with whole of India expecting a bit of rain which would help India not only retain Border Gavaskar trophy but also have one foot on World Test Championship finals. Play started 30 min ahead of time to cover up for loss of time due to rain on 4th day. Australia had a perfect start when Cummins dismissed Rohit for 7. Rohit was literally poking at delivery which was bowled at 7th stump line. Rohit has shown promise in this tour but 52 is still his highest score. His highest score outside Asia is still 67. He has played 34 tests and almost played for 8 years. Not a record to boast of. Pujara and Gill then steadied the ship. Pujara was rock solid as ever. Gill was timing the ball beautifully. He plays with easy elegance much line Ganguly and Rohit. For his age, he has shown great temperament in this tour and it was on display again today. There was hardly any chance. 38 overs were bowled in first session. India were comfortably placed at 83-1. Shubman Gill reached his 2nd fifty. He was playing innings of a lifetime. In 64 stand till lunch, Pujara had just scored 8 runs as against 56 by Gill. It was thrilling to watch both style of play. If at all India would go for the target, they had to make a move in 2nd session and they did. Gill upped the ante with a couple of glorious six and some silky drives. Pujara also upped the ante. They took India past 100 . They even had century stand. Gill reached 90s. Against the run of play, Lyon grabbed wicket number 398 when he managed to grab an edge of Gill’s bat. It was wonderful innings of 91. India 132-2. Rahane and Pujara had a plan where in Indian captain would go for the total and Pujara would stay solid. There was barrage of bouncers bowled at Pujara. He took quite a few blows on the head, back and chest. Rahane was timing the ball well. India were 154-3 at tea. He hit 22 ball 24 before Cummins had the better of him. Rahane has looked solid only in Melbourne when he scored a century. From his batting perspective, consistency has been key. He is one good innings per series player and that trend continued. His focus has been more on his captaincy where he has excelled without any doubt. India 167-3. Pant joined Pujara. Indian keeper started slowly just like he did in SCG. These 2 took India past 200. Pujara scored his fifty as well. He took 4 hits on the helmet and 6 times on the body in his 196 ball 150. It continued past his 50 as well. Against the run of play, Cummins trapped Pujara for 56. Pujara had done his job just like he did in SCG. India 228-4 With his wicket, it did look like India would push more for a draw. Mayanks wicket for just 9 almost confirmed that. India 265-5 in 87th over. India needed 63 from close to 12 overs. Sundar’s cameo and Pant’s counterattack rattled Paine. He all of a sudden was playing for a draw with fielders in the boundary. He lost the plot there. It gave India the license to attack. Sundar’s 6 and 4 of Cummins over started the attack. Pant hit Lyon for 2 fours. 26 runs came in 2 overs. 25 was needed last 5 overs. Sundar was dismissed by Lyon for his 399th wicket. His 22 was vital. Shardul was dismissed soon after. India 325-7. Pant scored the winning boundary. His unbeaten 89 was one of the most impactful innings in recent history.He just gave one chance when Paine missed his stumping. Baring that he was brutal. He specifically attacked Lyon. Few of his shots was almost impossible to think off. In one over, Lyon bowled a ball which hit the crack and turned square. Pant came out of the crease to hammer Lyon for a six of very next ball. Execution of Pant was legendary. What Sachin couldn’t do in Chepauk in 1999 and Virat-Vijay couldn’t do in Adelaide in 2015, Pant did it in style Gill-Pujara-Sundar contributed brilliantly.

This series is for the ages. India entered Australia with all anticipating it to be whitewash in all 3 series. It started in similar note when India lost first 2 ODI. They gained momentum to win next 3 matches ( 1 ODI and 2 T20). They carried that momentum into tests. Though India were shocked in Adelaide when Hazelwood Tsunami struck Indian batting to dismiss for 36. After being dismissed for 36 , India showed great character to win in Melbourne , draw in SCG ans shock Australia in their DEN-The GABBA. They had not lost in Gabba since 1988, they year Virat was born. They lost next when Virat Kid was born. RAhane’s captaincy has been exemplary. Though Virat will again get his captaincy back in England series, Rahane could potential be test captain in longer term if Virat and BCCI feel Indian champ’s batting needs more focus. When Virat started off in 2015, India were ranked number 7th in test. He , Ravi, Dravid and Bharat Arun deserve lots of credit to build a team which can compete in world cricket. Virat’s captaincy started off with improving fitness. Ishant, Shami and Bumrah look far more special now due to their fitness. That legacy has now been carried by Shardul-Siraj as well. Rahane luckily had a team who can deliver. But his leadership skills and guts shown by new players was inspirational. India found new champions in each match. Be it Siraj-Bumrah-Rahane in Melbourne, Ashwin-Vihari-Pant-Pujara in SCG and Shardul-Siraj-Pant-Pujara in Brisbane. Indian bench strength is miles ahead of rest of the teams now. Only area to improve is to play under swinging conditions in NZ and England where they have not yet excelled. India would get another chance later this year in England. India made a mistake by picking all bowlers who bowl to the deck. That is half as effective as swinging bowlers. Shardul-Siraj-Bhuvi should be picked in those conditions. Gill-Pujara-Pant combo would be vital in England again.

India has picked squad for first tests of England series as well which will be played in Chennai. Hardik and Ishant makes a comeback. India play with 3 spinners usually in India, especially in Chennai. India would definitely have Rohit Gill Pujara Virat Rahane Pant Sundar Ashwin  and Bumrah. Last 2 spots would be between Kuldeep, Ishant, SHardul and Siraj. It is a good headache to have. Ishant and Siraj both grabbed 5-fers in their last test played. Shardul was close to being best player in Gabba. Kuldeep would be handy in Chenni.

Cant wait for first test to start against England. After giving PAINe to Australia, it is time to dismantle the Root of England Cricket. Game on !!!!

[boloorsportsmania]

#858 Shardul makes a SUNDAR statement to all bouncers bowled by Australian bowlers, ended up rattling them up with an EPIC 123 run stand; Hazelwood shines; Mathews-Thirmanne played brilliantly to set England a target of 74 in first test; England favorites to win though; Chelsea and Leicester City win EPl and Athletico Madrid in La Liga and more..:-)

Pujara and Rahane started day 3 on right note ,mixing caution with a bit of aggression. A few of Rahane’s edges flew between 3rd slip and gully. They took India’s score past 100. Against the run of play, Hazelwood got one to pitch on off stump and straighten. Pujara had to play and edged it to the keeper. India 105-3. Rahane continued playing in similar style. He was a tad lucky to survive. Paine did well to close gap between 3rd slip and gully. Once that ploy is set, Rahane had to avoid driving on the up. But he did exactly that to Starc and Wade caught the ball at 4th slip. It was a bit silly from Rahane. He should have waited for balls to pull or which came or half volley. He scored 37 but could have scored much more. Baring that classy century , he has been a bit ordinary in rest of series batting wise. India 144-4. Pant and Mayank took India to lunch at 161-4. Mayank looked assured at 38. He was playing in his zone and didn’t try to drive on the up. Post lunch, he did exact same thing off just 2nd ball. India 161-5. Australia on top. Pant hit a few blows to reach another 20s in Australia. At 23, he needed one more run to reach 1000 test runs. Hazelwood got one to rise which Pant cut. Green grabbed a sensational catch at gully. India 186-6. It did look like India would get dismissed for under 200 since India had a long tail with no Jadeja and Ashwin. Shardul Thakur joined Sundar. Shardul hit his first runs in test via a six of Cummins. He and Sundar played with great maturity. They took body blows and hit runs off bad balls. Both had great defense which was great to see. Indian A tours to Australia were paying dividends. These 2 took India past 200 and then past 250. Australia were getting rattled . When they are rattled, they just bowl bouncers almost every ball. They didn’t bowl even one yorker which was so shocking to see. Starc and Cummins are master at bowling yorkers. Both scored fifties. Shardul scored fifty with a six of Lyon. Both played very impressively. They reduced Australia lead to under 100 and even took Australian score past 300. Just when it looked like we would see a miracle in the form of India overtaking Australian score, Cummins castled Shardul for 67. Shardul got a standing ovation from the crowd too. India 309-7. Sundar then showed more intent. He hit a six of Lyon without seeing where the ball landed. It’s a No-Look six which shocked Lyon. That was pure classy shot. Saini made just 5. Siraj hit a few lusty blows. Sundar was dismissed by Starc for 62. India were dismissed for 336. Hazelwood starred with yet another 5-fer against India. Warner attacked India right from the start. He hit Siraj for 3 boundaries. He was hungry for runs as he has been poor in 3 innings so far. Australia ended day 3 at 21-0. Should rain interrupt last 2 days, Australia would rue that 123 stand between Shardul and Sundar. It had as severe an impact as Ashwin-Vihari partnership had in SCG.  Australia are still favourites to win this test but India have showed great character to stay alive in this match and series with literally India C team. That shows Indias bench strength. Shastri, Bharat Arun, Virat and Dravid need to be appreciated for that. They have created a circle of players who can readily perform at international level.

Thirmanne scored a classy 111. This was his first test century after almost 8 years. Mathews’s 71 and key contribution from lower order helped Lanka to 359. Leach shined with a 5-fer. Lanka played much better in 2nd innings. Had they scored even 200 in first innings, England would have found it tough to chase 150 plus. Embuldeniya dismissed Sibley in first over. England 3-1. He dismissed Crawley in 5th over. England 12-2. Root weas unnecessarily runout. England 14-3. It could have been 14-4 but Lanka missed running Bairstow out. He and Lawrence took England to 38-3 at stumps. They need another 36 runs to win the first test.

In EPL, Robinson’s goal helped Chelsea beat Fulham 1-0. West Ham beat Burnley 1-0. Maddision and Barnes’s goals helped Leicester City beat Southampton 2-0.  In La Liga, Athletico Madrid continued to impress. They won 2-0 against Sevilla.  They have 4 points lead over Real Madrid with 2 more games to play. That’s a huge gap. They look favorites to win la Liga this season since Real and Barca’s form has been indifferent.

[boloorsportsmania]

#857 Indian NewAGE bowlers haunt Australia again; Drop catches ,classy century by Labuschagne and inability of Indian bowlers to dismiss lower order yet again gave Australia the breather; Root’s splendid double hundred and 5-fer by Bess have put England in commanding position in opening test against Lanka; ManCity continue good form in EPL and more..:-)

Getting into final test, biggest question was what would be playing XI. Pant was fit. So he would keep wickets. Mayank replaced Vihari which was expected. All expected Kuldeep to replace Jadeja but net bowler Sundar made debut. Ashwin and Bumrah also was not fit. Shardul Thakur and Natarajan replaced them. India picked Sundar over Kuldeep for his batting. Sundar has just played 13 first class games. There were so many players in India who were probably more deserving like Axar patel or Nadeem or Shreyas Gopal. But you need make the most of the luck when it comes to your grasp. Sundar and Natarajan have done exactly that. They smiled back at the luck when luck smiled at them. Australia won the toss yet again. They have won toss in 3 of 4 test matches and 6 of 10 games in this current Indian tour. India started like a dream though when Siraj dismissed Earner in very first over for 1. Australia 4-1. Natarajan bowled steady opening spell. SHardul grabbed wicket of his first delivery when Harris hit the ball directly to Sundar. Australia 17-2. Labuschagne and Smith then played well and with confidence like they did in SCG. They took Australia to lunch at 65-2.  Just when it looked like they would have 3rd consecutive century stand, Sundar dismissed Smith. It was an ordinary but Smith again didn’t manage to keep it down and hit ti directly at Rohit who was in short mid wicket position. Smith was shocked as he looked good for another century. Australia 87-3. It could have been 91-4 but Rahane dropped Labuschagne . It was a sitter of a catch at gully. Saini got injured in the same ball. He was taken off for scan. India have lost a bowler mid way through the match for 4th consecutive match now ( SHami, Umesh, Jadeja and Saini). Labuschagne had another life when ball went between Pant and Pujara who was at wide slip. Labuschagne has been dropped 6 times in this test series. No wonder he was top scorer in this series. He made most of luck. He and Wade took Australia past 100 , 150 and even 200. Things looked ominous for India when both looked in great form. Labuschagne scored his 5th century in the process. When India looked down and out, Natarajan got India back. He dismissed Wade for 45 and Labuschagne for 108 off short deliveries. Australia all of a sudden 213-5. It could have been 6 down when Green hit directly at Thakur but Indian bowler dropped the catch. India have dropped 13 catches in 4 matches and 25+ in entire tour. Something is seriously wrong. Australia have also dropped 15 catches . Australia ended day at 274-5. Indian inexperienced lineup struggled in last one hour to keep focus and bowled a few loose balls. Over all they still did well considering they had so much less international experience. Both Green and Paine continued good work on day 2 morning. They took Australia past 300. Australian bottom five  have scored 100 plus runs in atleast 1 innings in all 4 matches this season. Against the run of play Shardul dismissed Paine for 50. Australia 311-6. Sundar dismissed Green immediately after that. Australia 313-7. Shardul trapped Cummins soon after. Australia 315-8. Just like it happened for India, tail haunted again. Lyon and Starc hit a few lusty blows to take Australia past 350. Sundar castled Lyon for 24. Australia 354-9. Hazelwood also hit a couple of boundaries before Natarajan castled him. Indian bowlers need to bowl yorkers at lower order. They continue to bowl length and short balls which will not work. Bumrah, Shami and new lot need to learn from Starc who cleans tail with precise yorkers. Cummins gave Australia a dream start when he dismissed Gill for 7. India 11-1. Rohit looked solid. His defense looked good. He avoided driving which was good. He didn’t waste any short balls which was brilliant as well. Runs started coming at brisk pace. This is a pitch where Rohit should enjoy and he did. He and Pujara took India past 50. Just when it looked it he would get another 50, Rohit had a brain fade. He attacked Lyon and hit the ball directly at mid wicket. It was a poor and irresponsible shot. With such an inexperienced line up, he had to bat longer. Another 1 hour of Rohit and he could have been near century too, His highest score outside Asia is 67 and it is this brain fade which was prime reason for that. Lyon had dismissed him 6 times in tests. This was Lyon’s 397th wicket in 100 tests. Rahane and Pujara took India to 62-2 at tea. It started raining hard in Brisbane post tea. Not a single ball was bowled in last session. India need to bat for 5 sessions which would help them a long way in saving the match.

In first test match, England rattled Lanka. Broad and Bess reduced Lanka to 25-3. Kusal Mendis scored his 4th consecutive duck. Mathews and Chandimal had 56 run stand before Bess ran over Lanka. His 5-fer helped England dismiss Lanka for 135. Embuldeniya reduced England to 17-2 to raise hope for Lanka. Root erased all those ideas. His brilliant 228 and Lawrence’s 73 helped England to a total of 421. They were at 372-4 at one stage. Kusal Perera and Thirmanne had century stand . Against the run of play Sam Curran dismissed Petrera for 62. Lanka 101-1. Kusal and Thirmanne had 54 run stand before Leach dismissed later for 15. Lanka ended day 3 at 156-2. They trail England by 130 runs. They need a strong day 4 to put pressure on England. A chase of 180 could make things interesting on final day.

In EPL, Man City beat Brighton 1-0. Foden scored the winner just before interval. Spurs were held to 1-1 draw by Fulham. ManCIty now have 32 points from 16 games and just 1 point behind Liverpool with an additional game to play. ManU lead EPL currently with 36 points though they have played a game more than Man City.

[boloorsportsmania]

#856 Australia threw everything in the sink at Indian team- Great bowling, sledging, abusing , Racially abusing, changing crease guards of players , etc; Indian team responded in champion manner; Its a statement to Australian crowd to never EVER  RACIALLY ABUSE Indian team as it pumps them like no other ENERGY drink does; TAKE THAT AUSTRALIA !!!! and more.. :-)

Indian team had back to their walls at start of day 5. Things got worse with Rahane getting dismissed soon after for just 4. India 102-3. India looked like losing the match within lunch. Whenever India is pumped up by media or abused by crowd, they have shown great girt in last few years. This was no exception. With Vihari’s form not great, Pant was sent ahead of him. It made sense considering he would face Lyon more. Pant took time to get going. He battled hard to score just 5 runs from first 34 balls. Post that he opened up. He played like a dream. He was dropped at 3 and 56 by Paine. But Indian keeper went on in typical Pant fashion. He attacked Lyon like no one did in recent memory. By the time India went for lunch, they raced to 206-3 with Pant himself scoring 73 of those runs. Australia were a bit rattled. They are a team who like winning and a team who fight till the end. They did both in 2nd session. Pant raced to 97 with 2 crisp boundaries. Score read 250-3. India needed 158 runs in 52 overs of play. A rare victory looked in sight. Smith tried dirty trick of cleaning up Pant’s crease guard of Pant to disrupt Pant’s focus. Against the run of play Pant was dismissed attacking Lyon for 97. It was gem of a knock and one for the ages. To hit 97 against arguably best attack in world right know in SCG on 5th day speaks volumes of the innings from Indian dasher. India 250-4. Pujara completed 6000 runs in the process in tests. He scored 2nd fifty of the match. He showed intent when he hit Cummins for 3 consecutive fours. He lost focus a bit when Hazelwood castled him for 77. He occupied for 205 balls. India 272-5.  It was a good knock. India still had to bat close to 50 overs. Ashwin joined Vihari. Both took India to tea at 280-5. First ball post tea, Cummins bowled a bouncer which hit Ashwin’s arm guard. Umpire declared him out. Ashwin survived via DRS. Post that Australia bowled barrage of bouncers. Vihari and Ashwin kept defending or bending down. They didn’t go for any runs as Vihari had hamstring injury. Both showed great courage. They were beaten a few times . In Adelaide, India edged everything. Luck was a bit on India’s side. Lyon bowled long spell post tea. He had huge success against India in prior tours but this time India had answer to most of ploys. Ashwin played him like a champion. Paine looked frustrated and even sledged Ashwin. He used words which could have been and should have been avoided. Ashwin gave his piece of mind in calm and typical Ashwin way. He is an absolute class act and made Australian captain like a cheap domestic cricketer. Adding to that Paine even dropped Vihari when 10 overs were still there. He had dropped 3 times on final day. His keeping skills seems to be even worse than Indian star Pant. It was India’s day and Australia agreed for a draw with one over pending. Ashwin-Vihari batted for 256 balls and got bruises all over the body but battled hard to save the match for India. With no Kohli, SHami and injury to Vihari, Pant and Jadeja, India still managed to grab a draw against mighty Australian team in their own den on a final day pitch in their favorite ground SCG. This day is one for the ages. Australian crowd should learn one thing for ever. Never abuse and specifically never racially abuse Indian team. They can bite back so hard that it starts embarrassing opponents.  Hope India take this fight to Brisbane. It would be interesting to see who is fit for Indian team for Brisbane. For now, just lets celebrate 3 things on this special day. Indian draw which is as good as loss for Australia. Indian team’s apt gift for Dravid on his birthday. Finally Virat-Anushaka were blessed with baby girl on the same day !! What a day to savour !!. Take this AUSTRALIA!!!!

[boloorsportsmania]

#855 Cummins , silly runouts and injury on field helps Australia gain control of 3rd test; Smith, Labuschagne, Green shine; Rohit showed glimpse of what he can do in test before getting dismissed; Australian fans who racially abused Indian players taken out of stadium; Messi-Griezmann help Barca win 3rd match of the week and more.. :-)

India resumed at 96-2 at start of day 3. India had to play out day 3 to have any chance of winning or saving the match. Rahane showed good intent early on. He hit a couple of good boundaries before he was castled by Cummins for 22. India 117-3. Vihari and Pujara played very cautiouasly. Infact only 4 runs came in first 6 overs of their partnership. Australia like when teams play in that mode. They knew India would falter at some stage and they did pretty soon. Vihari called for a non existent run. Hazelwood hit the stumps on the move to dismiss Vihari for 4. Vihari’s time seems to be running out. He has not made good use of chances . With no Virat, Pujara-Rahane-Vihari at 3-4-5 seems to be a poor combo. All play at same pace . Virat at 4 keeps runs flowing.  That is missing in current combo. India needed Rahul or a Mayank in that position. This pitch could have suited him as well. India 142-4. Pant did what I was speaking about. He kept scoring at good pace. Pujara was scoringat his own pace though. He played the way he knew. Both had a 50 stand. Just when it looked like these 2 would take India close to Australian score, India lost momentum. It started with Pant getting hit on elbow. He couldn’t focus due to pain. He was soon dismissed for 36. India 195-5. He had looked in good touch. Cummins had his bunny Pujara for 50. India 195-6. Ashwin got himself runout unnecessarily. India 206-7. Jadeja should have protected Saini but didn’t. Starc dismissed Saini soon after. India 210-8. Jadeja ran Bumrah out. India 216-9. Some late hitting by Jadeja helped India from further embarrassment. He got hit in his thumb in thr process. Later it was found that his left thumb was fractured. India were eventually dismissed for 244. Had Pant and Jadeja not got injured and Pujara showed some more focus, India could have reached close to 300. Lead of 94 is too much on such a surface. Bumrah had to give India some early breakthrough to get India back. He bowled a bit poorly to be fair. Siraj gave India early breakthrough . Aus 16-1. Ash had Warner for 13. Australia 35-2. Smith survived early LBW appeal. Post that he and Labuschagne took charge. They played flawless cricket against India bowlers who were a bit low on confidence. They ended day 3 at 103-2. Bumrah had to show more intent but he bowled at just 50% of his ability which is a shame. Labuschagne was dismissed early on day 4 for 71 by Saini. Australia 138-3. Saini dismissed Wade for 4 to give some hope to India/ Australia 148-4. India allowed Green to settle. Match was as good as over post that. Steven Smith’s 81, Green’s 84 and Paine’s 39 took Australia 312-6. Paine declared at this point setting India a target of 407.  India dropped catches in 2nd innings too. Rohit dropped Paine. India has dropped 10 catches in 3 matches so far which is ridiculous. If there was appraisal cycle, India fielding coach would get D band. Including ODI and T20 series, India has dropped easily 20+ catches which is staggering. Rohit and Gill started off well. Gill survived a DRS early on. Both played with ease and took India past 50 for 2nd time in the match. Since 2006, this is the first time, India openers had 2 50 plus stand in a test match. Just when it looked like both would take India to end of day 2 without any loss of wickets, things changed as expected. Hazelwood dismissed Gill first for 31. India 71-1. Rohit completed his fifty. This was a good innings from HITman. This is his only 50 in first class match in 4th innings. Just when it looked like he would get close to his first hundred in overseas conditions, he pulled unnecessarily directly at backward square leg . He made 52 but looked good for more. India 92-2. He needs to pull the ball towards the ground in test matches. It works in ODI when one pulls in the air. He could have played with more focus in test. India ended day at 98-2. Situation is similar to how it ended on day 2. India need to bat out day 5 to save the match. In last one decade, India have never batted full day on day 5 to save the match. India saved a few when Sachin-Dravid-VVS-Ganguly when they were at peak. Pujara and Rahane should show that they have the game to save the match. As of now, it looks like Cummins and co would take Australia to 2-1 lead in the series. With Jadeja and Pant not fit, they would probably need just 6 more wickets. Australian crowd can be really of poor taste as we have observed in past. Same happened in SCG when crowd racially abused Siraj and Bumrah. In Day 4, Siraj went to square leg umpire and complained. Rahane joined. 6 people from crowd who were abusing were taken outside the stadium. CA need to ban such fans so that it sets a precedence for future of cricket. Making fun is fine but racially abusing is disgusting and disgraceful.

In La Liga, Barca won 3rd match of the week. Griezman and Messi scored 2 goals each against Granada. Barca won 4-0. Real Madrid’s goalless draw against Osasuna means that Barca are just 3 points behind them. Athletic Madrid though are miles away at 38 points (11 points ahead of Real) having played 3 games less. It would be tough to catch Suarez and co this season in La Liga.

[boloorsportsmania]

#854 Steve Smith shows his class with a stunning century but India found their way back with of help of their TRUE 3D player in the form of Jadeja; Labuschagne shines and Shubman Gill shine too; Williamson- Nichol’s epic 369 run stand and Jamieson’s brilliant 11-fer helped NZ thrash Pak in 2nd test; Elgar and Nortje help SA win series against Lanka; ManCity, Arsenal, ManU win in EPL; Liverpool shocked; Barca win 2 matches in a week to move to 3rd spot; Athletic Madrid still rule La Liga this season and more..:-)

Australia won the toss yet again and chose to bat without any hesitation in Sydney. India got back Rohit Sharma for Mayank and Saini made his debut to replace injured Umesh. Siraj gave India a dream start when he dismissed Warner for 5 in just 4th over. There was long rain break shortly after that. It helped Australians to ease their nerves. Post break, Pucovski and Labuschagne took Australia past 50. Pucovski had 3 lives in short span of 20 minutes. Pant dropped 2 cathes, one of Ashwin and other of Siraj. India missed a runout chance too. He played some delightful shots in between. Some cut shots off Ashwin from backfoot were a delight to watch. He scored 62 on debut before Saini trapped him in front. Australia 106-2. These had exact 100 stand. Saini was introduced late. He took time to find length on debut. In the process, he leaked runs too. Ashwin was finding surface too slow. Smith started confidently as he attacked from the word go. He and Labuschagne took Australia past 150. They ended day 1 at 166-2. On 2nd day, these 2 looked on song. It looked like they would take Australia close to 450. Both took Australia past 200. Against the run of play, Jadeja dismissed Labuschagne for 91.  These 2 had another century stand. From 206-2, India reduced Australia to 249-5 at lunch. India gained back some momentum. Jadeja grabbed 2 of these and Bumrah one of them. India further made in roads post lunch. Bumrah castled Paine for 1. Jadeja castled Cummins for duck. Australia 278-7. Starc gave Australia some hope when attacked India bowlers. He and Smith took Australia past 200. Tail had started wagging again against India. Bumrah somehow hesitates bowling yorkers in test match. He either bowls short of length balls.  Saini finally dismissed Starc for 24. Australia 310-8. Smith completed his 27th century and 8th against India in the process. It was a classy innings from a determined player. He hit some late blows before being finally runout by direct hit from none other than Jadeja. Australia dismissed for 338. Jadeja starred with 4-fer and cracking runout. Smith ended at 131. Rohit and Gill played with assurance against Australia. There was hardly any movement off the pitch. Pitch was slow too, Both batsmen had ample time to play late. Runs came in brisk pace as well. Both played some delightful shots and took India past 50 in the process. This was India’s first opening partnership of 50+ outside Asia since 2010. When it looked like Rohit would play a huge knock, He hit a ball directly at Hazelwood and was out for 26. Typical dismissal from Rohit in test matches. India 70-1. Gill brought up his maiden fifty post that. Just after that He was dismissed for 50 by Cummins. India 85-2. Rahane and Pujara played out last 13 overs cautiously to take India to end of day 2 play at 96-2. It was majorly India’s day though they would have liked to have one of the openers still batting.  India need to bat out day 3 to have any chance of saving or winning the match.

Azhar’s 97 and 61 by Rizwan helped Pakistan to 297 in 2nd test vs NZ. Pakistan reduced NZ to 71-3 before Nichols and Williamson had epic 369 stand before Nichols was dismissed for 157. Mitchel scored maiden century and Williamsons cored 3rd century in lats 4 innings. He made a brilliant 238. He and Nichols were dropped 3 times which proved costly for Pakistan. NZ declared at 659-6. Jamison grabbed 2nd fifer of the match and 4th in just 6 test matches. His 11-fer ensured NZ won the match by an innings and 176 runs. In 2nd test, SA dismissed Lanka for just 157. Nortje grabbed 6-fer. Elgar’s century took SA to 302. They were 218-1 at one stage. Vishwa Fernando’s 5-fer Lanka keep SA for just 302. Karunaratne raised Lanka’s hopes with a brilliant century He and Niroshan had 67 run stand and took Lanka to 176-4. SA bounced back to dismiss Lanka for just 211. SA scored 67 without losing a wicket.

In EPL, Arsenal thrashed West Brom 4-0. Leicester City beat Newcastle 2-1. Mancity beat Chelsea to take 5th spot in EPL. Gundogan, Foden and De Bruyne starred for Man City. ManU beat Aston Villa 3-1 to tie with Liverpool who were shocked by Southampton 1-0. Ings scored the lone goal. Spurs beat Leeds 3-1. Liverpool are level in points with ManU at 33 but have played a game more. Leicester city are 1 point behind. Spurs , Man City, Everton and Southampton all have just 29 points. Man City has played 2 game less than Liverpool and 1 less than ManU. In La Liga, Barca gained some momentum as they won 2 matches in a week. They initially beat Huesca 1-0 before outclassing Athletic Club 3-2. Messi scored 2 goals in this vital match. Real Madrid beat Celta Vigo 2-0. Athletic Madrid continued red hot form as they beat Alaves 2-1. LLorente and Suarez scored the goals. They are leading La Liga with 38 points from 15 matches. Real Madrid have 36 points from 16 matches. Barca have 31 points from 17 matches.

[boloorsportsmania]

#853 India become first country in this century to win back to back MCG tests; Rahane’s team complete epic comeback; Faf’s 199 derails Lanka as SA win the match handsomely; Alam-Rizwan’s 165 stand goes in vain as Jamieson and co again find a way to win test match at home and more..:-)

India entered 3rd day in a dominating position. Rahane-Jadeja played with ease for first 20 minutes before Jadeja ran Rahane out for 112. Indian captains seem to get runout at wrong time in this series. Jadeja was in a hurry to complete his fifty. He did complete post that. Australia though bounced back. They dismissed India for 326 . India were 294-5 when Rahane got runout. Jadeja scored a very useful 57. Rest of tail didn’t contribute like it has happened in all tests in 2020. India had handsome lead of 131. Umesh Yadav gave India a dream start when he dismissed Burns with a beauty for 4. Australia 4-1. Umesh got injured post that. His calf injury forced him to retire. It was good that India had picked 5 bowlers. Labuschagne took the attack to India. Ashwin changed the strategy to bowl around the stump. Australia no 3 played a wrong line to incoming delivery and ended up edging to Rahane. Australia 42-2. Smith and Wade took Australia past 50. Smith atleast started to get his foot moving. He looked in better touch. But he moved to off stump too early to Bumrah’s delivery. Ball brushed the pads before hitting the stumps. Smith couldn’t believe his eyes. India has their number on Smith in this test series. Australia 71-3. Australia were rattled and it showed. Siraj and Jadeja then reduced Australia to 99-6.  Green and Cummins took Australia to 133-6 by end of day 3. They took Australia past 150 to raise hopes of Australia. Lead of 150 could be handy on this pitch. It was Bumrah again who got India back. He dismissed Cummins with a snorter. Australia were dismissed for 200. They reached 200 for the first time. Siraj starred with 3 wickets for India. Last time any debutant had grabbed 5 wickets in Australian soil was Abid Ali who happened to be another Hyderabad pacer. Siraj has been only Hyderabad pacer to represent India in tests since then.  Though India lost Mayank and Pujara early, Rahane and Gill took India home. India won by 8 wickets. Only for 2nd time has India won chasing in this century in Australia. It was Dravid who scored winning run in 2003 and it is Rahane now. It is a splendid comeback after being shocked by a Tsunami in first test. Difference between 2 sides has been catches. India dropped 6 in first match and Australia dropped 6 in 2nd match.

Faf’s marvelous 199 took SA to 621. Maharaj starred with a 73 as well. Though Kusal Perera tried with 64, Lanka were dismissed for 180. They lost by an innings and 45 runs. SA had taken revenge on SA after Asian Lions shocked them in earlier visit. NZ declared at 180-5 in 2nd innings to set Pakistan a target of 374 with 5 sessions left. Pakistan ended day 4 at 71-3. They had to bat a full dayout to save the match with outside chance of winning if they save wickets. Azhar Ali was dismissed inside 5 minutes on day 4. Rizwan and Alam then had an epic stand. They played for close to 4 hours and had 165 run stand. They took Pakistan to 240-4. Against the run of play Jamieson trapped Rizwan for 60. 3 overs later Alam was dismissed by Wagner for 102. Alam had scored a test century after 11 year wait. NZ had the momentum post that. They won the match by 101 runs. Had Pakistan batted for 4 more overs, they could have saved the match.

[boloorsportsmania]

#852 Gutsy century from Classy Indian captain helps India stay ahead of Australia in 2nd test match; Australia’s poor catching hurt them as they drop 5 catches and 3 were of Rahane; Williamson scored his 2nd consecutive century to help NZ to a huge total in opening test vs Pakistan; Elgar-Markram’s 141 opening stand helped SA get back into the match against Lanka in opening test; Arsenal shock Chelsea in EPL ; Man City win and move to 5th spot and more..:-)

India started day 2 on shaky note. Gill and Pujara were beaten a few times. Gill was even dropped by Paine. In the midst of this, they played some good strokes as well. They took India past 50. Just when it looked like Gill would score fifty in his debut match, he played a loose shot without moving his foot for 45. Cummins had his first wicket. India 61-2. 2 obvers later, Cummins dismissed Pujara with a beauty. Pujara’s poor run post 2018 AUs series continued. He has just scored 5 fifties at 27 average since that series. Vihari joined Rahane. They played with caution early on. They missed a few as well but showed great focus which was lacking in Adelaide. They took India past 100. They even had 50 plus stand. Against the run of play, Lyon dismissed Vihari for 21. Vihari has showed in promise in NZ and here as well but has not carried on after good start. He could well lose spot to Rohit in next match unless he shines in 2nd innings. Rahane started timing the ball well at this stage. His form has been similar to that of Pujara. He has not scored a century in SENA countries since 2014 AUs tour. He showed some form in WI tour. He is a player of great skill and thrives playing under pressure. He probably felt the pressure since his fault in running Virat out in first test match probably cost India the match. It is very difficult to let that go and Adelaide 2nd innings duck. He needed a bit of luck which he got. He edged only for the ball to go between Paine and wide first slip. He scored fifty. Pant gave him good company. Pant looked in good touch. He became just 3rd player in history to score 8 consecutives score in excess of 20 in Australia. He and Rahane had 50 stand as well. Against the run of play, Starc dismissed Pant for 29. India 173-5. India were still 22 runs behind. In form batsmen Jadeja joined Rahane. They played very cautiously and gathered run by run. India went past 200. India became first team in last 35 years to gain lead in 4 consecutive matches in Australia. That’s a staggering feat. Huge credit should go to Indian bowlers and bowling coach for that. Rahane was dropped again by Smith he was at 73. Smith is having a nightmarish match !!. India need to v=be vary of him in 2nd innings as he will take all frustration out at Indian bowlers. India had to get as much lead as possible. Both took India past 250. They even had century stand which helped India gain control of the match. Rahane brought his 12th test century and 2nd in Australia and 2nd in MCG. It was a classy and gutsy innings. He had a bit of luck but he deserved that with the way he performed that today. He became 2nd Indian player to score 2 centuries in MCG after Vinod Mankad. In last 6 captains who played in Australia, baring Kumble and MSD, all (Azhar, Sachin, Ganguly and Virat)  have scored centuries in Australia. Rahane joined that gang today.  He had blunted Aussie attack in the same way Pujara did in last tour. He was dropped again at 104 by Head. He had a bit of thumb injury. It started drizzling as well. That ended day’s play at 277-5.  Jadeja was unbeaten at other end at 40. He just hit one boundary in 104 minute knock. His and Rahane’s partnership will be vital for India to take lead past 150. India would be in driver seat if they score beyond 400. India need to playout first hour tomorrow for that to happen. Cant watch for match to resume tomorrow.

Williamson’s 129 and fifties by Niochols and Watling took NZ score 431. That was fabulous comeback after being down 13-2. Pakistan ended day 2 at 30-1. In form jamieson dismissed Masood for 10. Shanaka’s late hitting and maiden test fifty helped Lanka to a score of 396. Debutant Siapmla shined for SA with 4-fer. SA started in style. Elhgar and Markaram were on song from ball one. They had 141 opening stand before SA collapsed a bit. SA were reduced from 141-0 to 220-4. Markaram scored 68 and Elgar was unlucky to be dismissed for 95. SA recovered to end day 2 at 317-4. Faf was unbeaten at 55. Match in interestingly poised. Staggering 713 runs have been scored in 2 days so far.

In EPL, Man City outclassed Newcastle 2-0. They could have won by bigger margin but missed several chances. Gundogen and Torres were goal scorers. They moved to 5th spot with this win and are 5 points behind leaders Liverpool who are at 31 points. Arsenal sho9ocked Chelsea 3-1. This is just their 5th win in 15 matches this season.

[boloorsportsmania]

#851 Bumrah-Ashwin help India rattle Australian batsmen yet again; India have now dismissed Australia for under 250 on 4 occasions in Australia since 2018; Williamson-Taylor help NZ take control against Pakistan in first test; Lanka impress in SA yet again; ManU held by Leicester City and more..:-)

India had dominated 80% of first test match before Tsunami took India over in the form of Hazelwood-Cummins. India made some forced replacements and some tactical ones. Shaw, Virat, Saha and SHami made way for Shubman Gill, Jadeja, Pant and Siraj. Australia won the toss and elected to bowl. Burmah and Umesh started off well and beat openers Burns and Wade handful of times. Bumrah dismissed Burns early for duck. Australia 10-1. Wade was dropped by Gill early but it was a tough chance. He attacked Indian bowlers like he did in earlier matches. Rahane introduced Ashwin early on just Virat did in first test match. He got rid of Wade in his 2nd over for 30. Australia 35-2. Ashwin dismissed Smith for duck which happened to be his first duck in tests since 2016 and first ever duck in first innings of the match. He definitely has Smith’s number currently. In last 3 months he has dismissed him 3 times including that in IPL. Leg slip ploy which was in place in first match came to use now. Australia 38-3. Labuschagne survived some close LBW shouts. He survived DRS 2 times. Rahane slightly lost the plot 20 minutes before lunch when he introduced Jadeja instead of Siraj. That allowed Head and Labuschagne to settle down a bit. Runs started to flow in. Australia entered lunch at 65-3.  Post lunch, Rahane introduced Siraj straight away. He bowled decently but with no venom. Australia took score past 100. Would that lack of intensity before lunch hurt India like dropped catches did in first match?? . Against the run of play, Bumrah dismissed Head for 38. Australia 124-4. 86 run stand had helped Australia pull things back. Siraj then dismissed Labuschagne for 48 thanks to another leg side catch. This time at gully. Labuschagne had run his luck out. Australia 134-5. Green and Paine took Australia past 150. Paine should have been runout. In one angle it looked like Paine was short but in another angle it looked like he just made it. It was 50-50 call which went in favour of Australian captain. Siraj trapped Green in front for 12. Australia 155-6. Bumrah dismissed Starc with a bouncer. Australia 164-7. Lyon hit few lusty blows especially against Bumrah. Bumrah was again bowling length to tail enders. He hardly uses yorkers to tail enders which is a bit strange. He eventually dismissed Lyon for 20. Jadeja dismissed Cummins finally for 9. Australia were dismissed for 195. Indian bowlers had again bowled well. Catching was better. Had Rahane not given jadeja 4 over spell in pre lunch session, India could have dismissed Australia for under 160.  India have now dismissed Australia for under 250 for 4th time in last 3 years in Ausralia. That’s a fabulous achievement by Indian bowlers. Lot of people question Virat’s captaincy. Potent of Indian bowling attack has gone up only post his captaincy. He should get due credit for that along with bowling coach. Rahane has done well as stand in captain. He needs to make a big score. His and Pujara’s batting would be key in India taking lead in this match. Starc dismissed Mayank in first over with an inswinger. India 0-1. They could have been 4-2 but Labuschagne dropped Gill of Cummins bowling. Gill batted well post that. He showed confidence and so did Pujara. They hit some lovely strokes. Australia didn’t get the swing they got in Adelaide and they bowled a touch short. Gill and Pujara were beaten a handful of times. They edged everything in first test 2nd innings but luckily missed  the edge today. !! India ended day at 36-1. 36 number haunted India in first test and it probably has given them some confidence now. India need to take 150 lead minimum as batting last against Australia would be a daunting task.

In first test, Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl against NZ. Shaheen Afridi gave Pakistan dream start when he dismissed Blundell and Latham cheaply to reduce NZ to 13-2. Taylor and Williamson then resurrected NZ again. They had 120 run stand before Afridi dismissed Taylor for 70. Nicholls’s 42* and Williamson’s 94* helped NZ take score to 222-3 by end of day 1. It does look like NZ will take control, of this match by day 2.

In first test, Lanka won the toss and chose to bat against SA.  Lanka became first Asian nation to win test series in SA 2 years back. SA pacers reduced Lanka to 54-3 before De Silva and Chandimal helped Lanka resurrect the innings. They had 131 run stand before De Silva was forced to retire hurt at 79. Niroshan and Chandimal then had 99 stand to give Lanka the control of the match. Some late wickets helped SA gain some control back. Lanka ended day 1 at 340-6. It already looks like a good score. Chandimal played well for 85. Mulder starred for SA with 3 wickets.

In EPL, ManU were held to 2-2 by Leicester City. ManU lead twice only for Leicester City to come back. 2nd goal was infact a own goal.