Gandhi-Mandela Test series; a threat to Brian Lara’s World Record

AB de Villiers, the South African batsman has caused a serious threat to the current World record held by the Great Brian Lara who scored an Individual 400 not out in a single innings of an International Cricket Test match.

Brian Lara, West Indies

A record that personifies exceptional talent along with destructive aggression, rock solid will and strong determination to overcome such a mammoth score appears to be on AB de Villiers’s radar for the forthcoming test series.

Since AB de Villiers landed on Indian soil for the on-going Cricket series between Indian and South Africa, he has appeared to achieve phenomenal heights and prove to be a step ahead of all the current crop of master batsmen around the world. One of the batting ability is to adapt to all three formats, which only a few cricketers posses these days, AB de Villiers has proved to be the best amongst all.

The Test series which would begin on 5^th of this month shall allow loads of runs at the beginning of India’s cricketing season with relatively flatter pitches. The ‘spinning web’ to which batsmen across the whole world have fallen prey to, would not be as fatal as it is in the later part of the cricketing season.

AB de Villiers, South Africa

Hence, AB de Villiers with all his batting proficiency, the arsenal of strokes he posses and with the strike rate which he gathers his runs at, is destined for greatness and one such record he would be proud to achieve is that one held by Brain Lara.

Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium, AB de Villiers’s home ground of Royal Challengers Bangalore and the venue for 2^nd Test Match would possibly the prospect where he shall target his record at. The flat batting pitch at Bangalore has historically proved to be batsman’s paradise. And if, AB de Villiers scales this peak he would be crowned to be the second best batsman who has ever played this game till date, leaving behind likes of Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting and many more.

All the best AB de Villiers!

-The ardent Indian Cricket fan

Freedom series-India Vs South Africa

Time flies. The World cup has just gone past. So is the annual IPL. And the Ashes. The emerald isle of Sri-lanka has been conquered after a gap of astonishing couple of decades. Hush!!! The African's are in town now. For a full-fledge Cricket series comprising of T20's, ODI's (Good to know that) & 4 Test matches (5 would have been great. Nevertheless!), under a marquee of Gandhi-Mandela, both needing no formal introduction. All these seem to happen at a blink of eye-lid speed. 

Tendulkar is history; so is Kallis. Both being the stalwarts for their respective teams during previous encounters and have played impact innings to stamp their authority on being the best batters. These days both the teams are coping with changing times and change in personnel. Although India shall bank heavily on flamboyant Kohli, Amla has climbed similar heights. de Villiers and Dhoni boast clam in respective batting lineup. The teams appear on similar ladder till we reach the bowling arsenal.

Indian team, as always will look upon spinners like Mishra and Patel to ably support the department spearheaded by Ravi Ashwin and make South African batsmen dance to their tunes. While the African counterpart will heavily rely on pacers (and they should be right in their own respect) to terrorise Indian batters with steep bouncers and toe-crushing yorkers. The bowlers on display in the first T20 at Dharmshala appeared fast, accurate, lethal and purposeful. For the first time touring team in India would have got along the high quality seam attack one like the African's have brought for the freedom series. Abbott, Rabada, de Lange and Morris bowled fiercely and will compete for their place in playing XI once the Steyn's & Morkel's return. India on a contrary; as correctly stated by their director Ravi Shashtri has just a option left, that is to play 'aggressive'. Perform or perish is the simple mantra. The season beginning pitches will favour fast bowling which the African's have a plenty to harvest from.

There is no doubt that MS Dhoni has his work cut-out to keep the faith alive in his team, to live up to his own expectations, to answer his critics and importantly to fight hard till the very end.

Looking forward to this exciting series that potentially has ingredients of becoming on of the great series that shall be remembered for long. 

Quinton DeCock – Emergence of a quality batsman

In our age of Cricket, the cricketing prowess of a batsman is established by his hitting powers while the skills such as temperament, determination appear to have become a distant history. In such times of fast-food Cricket the heart of an ardent cricket fan that looks for quality softens a bit when he/she sees the emergence of a batsman who satisfies his inner thirst which defines the very purpose of his existence. The 20 year old South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton DeCock has acquired the focus of that keen follower who is craving to watch quality over quantity in this fast paced world.

DeCock’s recent centuries in the one day arena has proved that he posses those qualities required by a batsman to climb steep mountains in his international cricketing career. Couple of things that stand out in his batting are; a) his technique & b) his heart.

In the technical department DeCock has exhibited maturity above his age. The most difficult stroke to play technically is the cover drive that requires a fabulous hand-eye co-ordination besides a steady head and exceptional body position through nimble foot movement. In his short international career which span about a year or so, he has shown that he belongs to the class of Tendulkar and Richards while playing the cover drive. Also his wrist that generates enough power allowing the ball to gather momentum towards reaching boundary line has all but class written over it.

Although the inner mantle i.e. ‘Heart’, of DeCock is yet to be tested as the Indian bowling attack is not the one which can prove his competence in this area and also he needs to establish himself in test matches too. Still one can credit him for the matter that the South African team is going through a rough patch that has now lasted for more than a year and DeCock has answered all the critics in the best possible manner. 

Coming years would prove whether this little cricketer who has raised high hope in the mind of the astute cricket follower will acquire higher lengths in his cricketing career and while doing so would be a blessing for the cricketing fraternity itself, or else would be lost in the ‘speed of lightening’ like cricket played in his generation.

We await and wish Quinton DeCock to become and be known for the former.