About Me

I am a Software engineer by qualification, a cricketer by birth. This is no understatement. My aim is to play my profession, free hit away my burdens and slog sweep happiness. Well! What better profession than being a writer for my second love! Don’t ask about my first love!:-) I believe dreams are next to reality, failures are only second best to success. So, bat, bat and bat on till you win the game. Cheers mate! Check my blog "cricofreak.blogspot.com" and you will certainly know that my profile can't be valued by votes alone!!! (being a bit optimistic here)

I am the most fanatic RCB fan because...

The Chinese consider Red as holy, the Indians consider Red as aggression. Well! I think of Red for victory! I wonder how “The UB Don”; Mr. Mallya got the name so correct!!! With the likes of Kumble and Dravid in the team, there is no better name than Royal Challengers! The Sting of Steyn, the Tanginess of Taylor, the fruitfulness of Dravid, the plumpness of Ryder and the fullness of Kumble. There is no better palatable cricket than what we serve! When it comes to Champions League it is either Anfield or Bangalore!

Strategy Map for RCB - Airtel Champions League

My preferred line up :

Jesse Ryder Manish Pandey Jacques Kallis Ross Taylor Rahul Dravid Virat Kohli Robin Uthappa Mark Boucher Anil Kumble Roelof van der Merwe Dale Willem Steyn Praveen Kumar

why do I prefer this line up :

Ryder is Newzealand's Shewag and he is more than a handy bowler. Opening along side him, the young gun pandey, they both can take the game away from the opposition in the wink of an eye. Kallis is Mr.Consistent with both bat and ball and Taylor is the trump card for the RCBs. He can up the ante during the middle stage of the innings when the run rate is bound to drop considerably. With dravid, there is always the assurance of a sheath anchor. With the likes of Uthappa, kohli and Boucher there is enough ammunition in the armory to rattle down any attack. The bowling attack will comprise the astute and witty Kumble leading the attack, the new star of the proteas, van der merwe and with the scorching pace of Steyn, the swing of Pravin Kumar and with ever probing Kallis, the attack has got the variety and potential to win the match with the ball as well. Having Uthappa, Kohli, Pandey and Taylor will definitely compensate for the old legs of Kallis and Kumble on the field.

My opening match strategy:

The RCBs will take on the Nashua Cape Cobras in the opening encounter at the M A Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on October 8th. Two evenly matched sides and with plenty of International experience it will be a humdinger of a contest. Strategy: Cape cobras would be relying heavily on their strong batting line up to win it for them. If the spin of the coin favours the RCBs then, it wouldn’t be a bad option to bat first and put the runs on the board. Smith, Gibbs, Duminy as always will be a threat to any line up. Smith has showed us that he is vulnerable against the incoming deliveries and has been found wanting in technique when faced with good in swingers.I would suggest that Steyn goes around the wicket for Smith because that would bring the LBW option into play as well. Gibbs will always give you a chance with every delivery. With Gibbs, if getting him out early on is ruled out then, plan B must be opted to dry out the runs and switch to a much defensive field setting because, he is one batsman who would not like to be bogged down and would take a few chances. Duminy is the danger man; he will bat through the innings and will try to consolidate. This is where Kumble has to bring in all his experience and take him down because he has not seen much of Kumble and is bound to be tentative in picking up Jumbo’s wrong ones and the zooters. As far as taking on the Cobra’s bowling attack, Charl Langeveldt will lead the attack. Their attack looks relatively inexperienced to their batting strength. As far as spin department goes, it is left to Henderson, Ontong and Duminy. In sub continent wickets, a weak spin attack means advantage to the opposition and this is where I feel, the Royal Challengers must capitalize and score heavily.

My best T20 match:

Venue:

Johannesburg

Date:

24 September 2007

Change is inevitable and cricket is no exception to this rule. The Nano format of the game proved to be an instantaneous hit among the cricket loving public. What an entry for the new format of the game with the inaugural T20 World Cup proving to be "The Big Daddy" of close encounters. All the more satisfying was the finals of the tournament with the fiercest arch rivals in the history of the game, India and Pakistan locking horns for the coveted trophy. A match that reserved the best for its last moments has since then become the quintessential game of T20 format. Who can ever forget this famous phrase from our own Ravi Shastri “Up in the air and Sreeshanth takes it, India win”? This was the final nail in the coffin for Pakistan’s dream of clinching the 2007 T20 world cup. The final has by far been my favorite T20 game till date.