General Cricket Thread ...

[PKBasu]

No, Jay, he's been dropped in favour of Rahane. Bad decision, in my opinion, because the selectors seem oblivious to the fact that Rahane is a poor player of spin. Dropping a triple centurion in the next test is a courageous but thoroughly wrong-headed decision.

[prasen9]

I have said that I would have dropped Pujara, moved Rahane to #3 where he will face more of the new ball, and play Nair at #5. It does not need to be a straight Rahane-Nair exchange.

[jayakris]

I'm just stunned to see that we did something like this. Normally I would be thrilled to see India make that kind of a bold decision, and showing that we are so self-confident in our normal team's abilities to not be blinded by a singular achievement by a player. Based on a quick google search, it seems like the cricket writers and fans are also pretty confident, as I didn't see much complaint about the decision either. But now I also wonder if we picked up some bad karma, seeing that unbelievable batting collapse we just had. I think there had got to be at least one batsman in the team who could've been dropped in favor of a triple centurion (that too, one who did it only in his 3rd test, and broke all kinds of record doing it too). Interesting.

[Rajiv]

HK T 20 Blitz has commenced and one can watch today as well as the rest of the matches until Sunday, live on this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shNO_Hr1y3U

[Rajiv]

Today Hong Kong Island United tool on JD Jaguars with James Franlkin , Darren Sammy ,Johan Botha in their ranks
and JD JaGUARS were cruising untill one brilliant catch by MY BOY changed the complexion of the match and HKIUnited went on to win the match


Saeed Ajmal bowling to Darren Sammy and see what happens at 3:08:25 onwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhvYKoQJnr0

[Varma]

Wow...that was an amazing catch, Rajiv! Your boy turned it around for his team at the right moment! Congratulations!!!

BTW, he looked very fit and sharp. Good to hear nice words about Devang from the commentator. Good luck and best wishes to him for the remainder of this tournament and beyond!

- Varma

[jaydeep]

Yes, that was a superb catch ... Congrats Rajiv.

[Omkara]

wow what a catch

[Rajiv]

Thanks Omkara , Jaydeep ,
Vermaji thank you for your kind words and the commentator was Simon Cook , present Hong Kong Head Coach and an Ex England and Kent County Player and whenever in UK always invited Devang to train and practice with the Kent County training sessions.
And in this excitement totally missed out on Yuki completing his R1 victory , Go Yuki grab the title...

[suresh]

What a catch -- great timing!

[kna]

That was a terrific catch! Great athleticism. It was fun to watch!

[prashanthm]

Amazing pluck by the young man!

May this be the first of many more to come....

[PKBasu]

What an absolutely fantastic catch from a son of the Sports-India.com family! Congratulations Rajiv!

[PKBasu]

Here's the match scorecard with a reference to that superb catch by D Balsara (should be DR Balsara ):
http://www.espncricinfo.com/hong-kong-t ... 85610.html

It must be wonderful to share a dressing room and dugout with a 17-man squad that includes the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Saeed Ajmal, Ian Bell and Samuel Badree (http://www.espncricinfo.com/hong-kong-t ... 85698.html). All the best to Devang Rajiv Balsara in the rest of the tournament, and cheers to the family on this momentous occasion, Rajiv.

[Rajiv]

Thank You , Thank You very much PKB for your wishes , Since past one week it is just stories after stories going on about cricket in the house it hasn't stopped , Not only Ian Bell , Badree, Misahabh , Ajmal as team mates , but with rest of the international players , Sangakara , Botha , Franklin , Dwane Smith , Darren Sammy , DIlsahn and atleast 15 more International Cricketers at the daily evening dinners ,

HongKong has now appointed Trevor Penny as a Fielding Coach and Devang Shares a good Rapport with Trevor , The catch which Devang took had Trevor Penny written all over it , Trevor Penny was India's Fielding Coach for many a years , so now even have a complete ringside view of the Indian Cricket as well
Devang says what he has learned about cricket in the past one week is much more than what he learned in the last 14 years.