Hearsay

I missed out all the matches yesterday thanks to the Deepavali commotion and holiday-spirited relatives visiting.

Going by what newspapers, 606'er and what Uncle J's blog said, it appears Pakistan played a fabulous game to win the second ODI. Australia appear to have taken command of the first test down under and the Kiwis managed to pinch Saffers in their own backyard. Also, Kumble is the India captain for one series.

The four bowler theory didn't work and Zak again opens. When a team fails to defend a huge score it usually means they erred in many aspects. Dhoni is missing a trick here - playing Zak as opening bowler is a mistake and a traditional way of thinking...nothing new and certainly not agile thinking. The series is now wide open and the Pakistan team has overcome its nerves and will be that much more difficult to contain.

So he didn't get the captaincy crown after all an I'll be a little churlish and say, "good!" If he hasn't figured out that Zak needs to come on first change and Pathan should open with RP, then he better wait for the crown.

Kumble - its mixed feelings here. Happy that an old soldier is getting a chance but on the other hand, captaincy isn't something that just goes around...that too by default. The BCCI too missed a trick to enter a new era. Looks like Dhoni needs to win this one-day series against Pakistan and perhjaps the strength of his personality scares the insecure BCCI mandarins (Shah et al).

Sri Lanka didn't pose any problems it appears. Australia just went about their job though Uncle J feels they scored lesser than they should have. There's plenty of batting left to do now for them.

The Kiwis are themselves two down but they have created a chance for themselves by bowling out SA on the first day itself for a smallish score. This is turning out to be an interesting match.