from the commentary box

This is my first post this year and I thank all of you for the support.For some people cricket is more than just a passion, and so I dedicate this to them.Here is my view on how to approach a 50 overs game. Experts will be analyzing the game closely and interpreting it in a unique manner .Fascinated by it I've made a humble attempt to shed some light on a few critical aspects of the game.

Dividing the innings into three phases 
  0-15 overs   piling  
15-40 overs   building  
40-50 overs   finishing 
The Piling
A great start and a great finish can be the determine the winner in a limited overs game. 
An opener has to negotiate the new ball and adapt to the conditions quickly.Green-tops predominantly favor seam bowlers and more so for the hit the deck kind of bowlers who get the ball to climb at you.Hit the deck bowlers become lethal if they can get the ball to move in the air making it difficult for a batsman to j

udge the ball.Going by the book the best way to play swing I reckon is by playing it late.It gives a batsman the extra bit of time to watch the ball as it moves through the air.It is difficult to counter the occasional out-swinger and the more conventional in-swinger as the ball pitches in the corridor of uncertainty. Push the fielding side by converting singles to doubles and look for scoring options and invent game plans according to the situations.Good partnerships in the beginning are necessary to post a solid total or even while chasing down a mammoth target. 

 Assessing conditions and bowling according to them comes with experience. Having good field awareness and a definite plan helps the cause.
Outside the off-stump good length deliveries trouble the best of batsmen.Striking the right line and length can be crucial in building momentum.Moreover it creates pressure on the opening batsmen forcing them to play tentatively inducing edges or causing unsure footwork.Always look to hit the good length on pitches that assist batsmen.With seaming conditions on offer look to pitch the ball right up to the batsmen.When the wicket has got pace and bounce bring your quickest bowlers and hit the deck hard bowling in that region between short of length and good length.Opening with a spinner can be a good option because the ball is hard and easier to grip.Some balls will drift through the air and a bit of lateral movement is expected considering the new ball's shine.
Most good teams tend to capitalize on this phase and dominate the game from the word go.
The Building 
Rotation of strike is the most important aspect along with the odd boundary. Batting in the middle overs is all about constructing an innings. While chasing, this becomes a very crucial period which can potentially change the dimension of the game. I reckon the best approach is to play fearless cricket like Sir Vivian Richards. The natural attacking style is something many batsmen of this generation try and imitate. 
 Spinners rule the middle overs simply because of their variety and the ability to build pressure. Subtle variations in the air and off the pitch can catch the batsman off-guard.
Once a good platform is created it is easier for the team heading into the last ten overs.
Teams having good slow bowlers who can take the pace of the ball are ideal making the batsmen take risks and create the scoring options.On their day any good spinner can be far more lethal than a world class seam bowler.Wrist spinners can wreak havoc with the extra bit of flight and turn. Seamers can be a handful with the old ball if they can get it to reverse.Using new balls from both ends has it's advantages.“The Kookaburra ball is better to grip and spin when it’s slightly new. You get extra bounce when it lands on the seam.”-Anil Kumble,leg spinner,former India Captain,3rd highest wicket tacker of all time in tests
What about the pacers and reverse swing? Javagal Srinath believes it won’t be too much problem. “They used to change the ball after 34 overs and while the replacement was still an old ball, it’s not the same. You work on the ball, shine it on one side and all that wasn’t there with the replacement ball.

And if you playing in sub continental conditions, you can actually get the ball to reverse after 15-16 overs. So, the two new balls will be a news of joy for pacers. We have to wait and see of course if it hampers reverse swing but overall the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.”-Javagal Srinath,former India fast bowler,currently ICC Match Referee
The Finishing 
Cricket history is full of everlasting heroism in Batting Department. But There are Few batsmen who will remembered for their fantastic batting in the closing moments of the match.One of them was the legendary Sir Vivian Richards
In a nutshell The man who gave “swagger” new meaning in cricket, Richards was the most destructive batsman of his era, and while there are many with greater records, few could take on, intimidate, and rip to shreds bowling attacks like he did. Also Was The One of best Finishers In the history.

Finishing is about getting the team over the line and players like Ab De Villiers and M S Dhoni are examples of the best finishers in the current generation. While setting targets the 10-20 runs could be the deciding factor. Chasing needs a different approach altogether and someone like MS Dhoni is tailor made for such situations. 
Bowling at the Death

• Bowling at the death, as it is often called, requires a great deal of mental strength. It's usually the section of a team's innings when the most runs are scored, so bowlers need to continue believing in their ability even if they are conceding a lot of runs. The payoff for the bowler is that more batters tend to get out in the death overs, so bowlers have better chance of picking up wickets.
• Bowling at the death may be a thankless task for most, but Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga seems to thrive under the pressure and consistently deliver yorkers. His most famous death bowling exploits came against South Africa at the 2007 World Cup, where he took four wickets in four balls to almost pull off a stunning win for Sri Lanka. Fortunately for the Proteas, Robin Peterson and Charl Langeveldt held their nerve to get their team over the line, and Malinga's efforts became a footnote.

Death bowling is an art that can be mastered with experience. The ability to bowl yorkers and vary pace are among the basic skills required during the death overs. Try and restrict the run flow by bowling to their weakness. Variations are key to thriving in these conditions and spinners find it more difficult to hold their own during the death.

the think-tank

Modern cricketing era has witnessed an incredible transition with the popularity of the limited overs format.The shortest format of the game has certainly lived up to its expectations to showcase the unpredictable nature of game.Lopsided matches are a rarity in the limited overs format.Ergo,for teams to win those cliffhangers picking the right combination is imperative.Having a couple of match-winners doesn't always help you get over the line.
"The face of the team are the people who're playing on the cricket field. The team is not about one individual."
Gautham Gambhir,India batsman part of world cup winning team 2011,captain of Delhi,KKR

Ideally the equation for a perfect winning combination involves the classical approach.

Starting with the bowling point of view ;Two good seam/swing bowlers preferably those who can work up a decent pace around 85-90 mph is a must.
The pace duo of Wasim AKram and Waqar Younis were unplayable in their prime and forged a lethal partnership.This deadly duo was a batsmen's nightmare.They were exceptional with the new ball and with the old ball they extracted huge amounts of reverse swing.
Swing and seam bowlers can make of use of the shiny new ball and occasionally get some assistance from the pitch.For a hit the deck kind of bowler bowl upfront with genuine pace.A good yorker and bouncer more than being wicket taking deliveries come in hand during the death overs.Death bowling is an art which comes with experience.
Death bowling techniques range from mixing up pace,varying line and length,then some new additions like slower bouncers used by Tim Bresnan ,and Zaheer Khan's knuckle ball became effective.Reverse swing is a weapon which every fast bowler must have in his armory. Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram were popular exponents of this art and had great success.
A couple of specialist spinners add another dimension to the attack.The fifth bowler's slot is a very crucial position and preferably an all-rounder's slot.These five bowlers constitute the core of the bowling unit.Besides them part timers can be added to the mix.They have a tendency to lure set batsmen into a false sense of security.More often than not this gives them an advantage and presents a higher chance of getting wickets.

The odds are high if there is a quality bowling all-rounder in your side.Australia has been dominant in the shorter format of the game because there is no dearth of bowling all-rounders.Fast bowling all-rounders are a really asset to every team.Slow bowling all-rounders are becoming more common nowadays, some of them being real match-winners.Bowling all-rounders have an edge over batting all-rounders as they can turn the match on its head.

Contemporary batting has evolved with the advent of the t20 format.Innovation and improvisation has introduced us to the switch shot,reverse slog sweep,ramp shot,scoop shot and the paddle sweep.Building an innings becomes equally important when conditions favor bowling.The temperament of every batsman needs to be considered before selecting the batting order.Batting order plays a decisive role in forging a formidable batting unit.

Openers must look for consistency and assess the conditions before playing big shots.
Top order batsmen need to anchor the innings and try to rotate the strike as much as possible.Two players with the same temperament should never be placed in adjacent positions in the batting order.
For example, there is a batsman at no.3 who can construct an innings and a batsman at no.4 who is comfortable playing with the same temperament.
If one of them averages a strike rate of 60 in the first 50 balls and the other one manages 70 that considering they bat out the overs from 15-40.The most likely scenario would be that one of them would be forced to play the aggressor ,this would mean one of them has to change their game and go out of their comfort zone and play attacking cricket.

Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakara piled on runs building platforms and propelling Sri Lanka to massive totals.While chasing as well they looked a class apart and complimented each other beautifully.

Hence the batting order becomes very crucial.The middle order forms the heart of a batting line up.Any team with a solid middle order are likely to win the match.Finishers are modern cricket's contribution and t20 brings the best out of them.Finishing is much more than entertaining viewers with breathtaking stroke play.Ideally a team needs two good finishers irrespective of the conditions.

Now there is this popular saying "catches win matches" and I can't agree more.Fielding has evolved quickly and we have witnessed some world class fielding in the recent times.Good fielders are irreplaceable in a team.“Collectively and individually fielding is largely a matter of thoughts and discipline.” I. A. R. PEEBLES
Positions like backward point,cover,mid-wicket and square-leg need specialist fielders.A good wicket-keeper is equivalent to 3 slip fielders. Slip fielding and close-in catching determines the strength of a good fielding unit. 

The legendary Jonty Rhodes answers a question on the technique of fielding in slips 
"Fielding in the slips needs soft hands, like when you're batting. A guy like Mark Taylor, he's right up there. He had great hands, no matter if it was Shane Warne bowling or Glenn McGrath. He took some fantastic catches. I've tried to field in the slips and my hands just aren't soft enough. Also, you need to be a more relaxed kind of guy rather than an excitable, jumping-around kind of person like me."'Fielding isn't work when you're enjoying it'

Every South African fielder has had a role model to look up to: Jonty Rhodes, Peter Kirsten and Sybrand Engelbrecht explain why the country has never lacked fielding talent.A B De Villiers continuing the tradition of South-Africans.  'If you hit in the air against SA ,expect to be caught"

Fielding at the boundary line requires speed and agility.Presence of mind is a prerequisite for a boundary fielder.Knowing where the line is and also the awareness of the fielders around you is necessary.
Playing good cricket needs good understanding of the game.'Try and stick to the basics'-the instruction of every coach.The key is to read the conditions and develop a strategy accordingly.Concluding with the quote of the legendary spin wizard:

"To me cricket is a simple game.Keep it simple and just go out and play."-Shane Warne,Legendary leg-spinner,second in the all time list of leading wicket takers in tests

test cricket-a fast receding tradition

The passion towards this gentleman's game has driven me to the extent of writing this blog.As an amateur I request you to give me your sincere and valuable feedback.
This is my debut. 

The advent of t20 cricket has revolutionized the entire cricketing world.We are witnessing the age of t20 cricket.The shortest format has attained worldwide recognition and the entertainment value is rated several notches higher than other existing forms of contemporary cricket. The popularity of t20 cricket threatens the existence of the longer formats of the game.Test cricket seems most vulnerable now and it's relevance in the current era is debatable.
Test cricket represents the oldest form of contemporary cricket.It is an undisputed platform for showcasing talent at the international level.For what its worth test cricket defines class and caliber.
Test cricket is viewed as the examination of a cricketer's resolve.
Playing test matches is rigorous and takes a toll on the fitness of players particularly fast bowlers.Bowling around 90 overs per day in a test match spread over 5 days is difficult for the fielding side when the conditions are unfavorable.Bowlers are forced to bring out their A-game if they must succeed in the test level.

Challenges present themselves with opportunities to succeed.Several legends were born exploiting such opportunities.Consequently the art of reverse swing ,the googly and the doosra were brought to the fore(Origins shall be mentioned in detail in following posts).Batting looked better than ever with elegant stroke play.Not to mention the game was enhanced by the classic cover drives,on drives,straight drives,square cuts and the fancied pull shots.

The famous bodyline bowling( A bodyline delivery is one where the cricket ball is bowled towards the body of the batsman on the line of the leg stump, in the hope of creating leg-side  deflections that could be caught by one of several fielders in the quadrant of the field behind square leg)  was the highlight of several unforgettable test matches.The use of forward short-leg,silly point,leg slip and even a third,fourth slip is seldom seen in limited overs cricket.

Over the course of five days the pitch suffers deterioration as well as the impact of bowlers foot marks.This affects the behavior of the pitch and determines the end result .
The art of playing the new ball as well as using the new ball wisely can be attributed to test match cricket.A batsman's judgement and the bowler's craft are equally put to test.
Test matches invoke vivid display of the cricketing mind.The trick is to read the conditions and devise the perfect strategy.

Captains are seen adopting various strategies to suit the changing circumstances.
Fielding team:On some situations when the advantage is with their team captains tend to push for a win with attacking field sets and bringing on their strike bowlers.On the contrary when their team is looking at an inevitable defeat the approach would be to contain the runs.  
Batting team:With victory in sight the captains back their batsmen to play their natural game while chasing a modest target.When they are staring down the barrel of defeat the approach would be to bat out the remaining sessions and salvage a draw.

With test matches offering so much variety and unpredictability I reckon even the associate nations must be invited to be a part of this fast receding tradition.This trend must change and test cricket must be promoted extensively. 
Tests must always remain an integral part of contemporary cricket.Enough said.