It is common knowledge that the T20 World Cup tournament 2010 commenced on April 30th in the West Indies. What is not so commonly known is the fact that the same country will also host the Women's T20 World Cup tournament simultaneously. Men's cricket hogs all the media attention, however insignificant the match may be. Women’s cricket sadly has few takers. The inaugural edition of the Women's T20 World Cup was held in 2009 along with the Men's Cup. The English team emerged as winners. This year's tournament starts on May 5th and ends on May 16th. All the group matches will be played at the Warner Park Sporting Complex in St. Kitts whereas St. Lucia will host the semifinals. The finals will be played in Barbados. There are 2 groups: Group A: England, Australia, West Indies and South Africa. Group B: New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The Indian women will play their 1st match against New Zealand on May 6th. They will play Pakistan on May 8th and Sri Lanka on May 10th. The Indian Women's team members: Jhulan Goswami (Capt.), Poonam Raut, Anjum Chopra, Anagha Deshpande, Gouhar Sultana, Diana David, Rumeli Dhar, Sulakshana Naik, Priyanka Roy, Reema Malhotra, Soniya Dabir, Amita Sharma, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet KaurThe players of note are captain Jhulan Goswami who has claimed more than 100 wickets, batswoman Mithali Raj, the former captain Anjum Chopra and the the all-rounder Rumeli Dhar. In the ICC Women's ODI ranking, Jhulan tops the bowlers' charts while Mitali leads the batswomen charts. The major problem in women’s cricket is of course lack of sponsors, as it does not command mass support as men's cricket does. The BCCI needs to build up interest around this game. The media is also to blame; it is interested even in a non-performing men's team and ignores a performing women's team. Case in point was last year's T20 World Cup. The much hyped men's team lost all the super 8 matches whereas the women's team reached the semi-finals. In spite of this, a few days ago, newspapers prominently featured news of Dhoni and his men embarking on the West Indies tour. … [Read more...]
Vinay Kumar: Team India’s lone new face
Ever heard of the Davangere Express? No, I am not referring to any train that goes to Davangere, a small town in Karnataka. Rather a promising cricketer from Karnataka, who hails from this place has been given this epithet by his Ranji and IPL teammates. March 26,2010, turned out to be a memorable day for 26 year old R. Vinay Kumar, a day his labours of many years bore fruit. His father was formerly an autorickshaw driver and his mother is a homemaker. For his middle-class parents who had sacrificed a lot for their son, tried very hard to make arrangements for their talented son to hone his bowling skills, it was a dream come true. Though he was the eldest child, his parents never pressured him to shoulder any responsibilities. Instead he was left with the task of doing what he did best- playing cricket. Family, friends and friendly coaches chipped in to help the young lad play cricket without any impediments- financial or otherwise. This right arm medium pacer debuted in the Ranji tournament in the 2004-05 season. He has played 54 first class matches in all and has scalped a total of 202 wickets in the last 6 seasons. In the 2007-08 season, he was the second highest wicket taker. It was this performance which prompted the Royal Challengers Bangalore team to pick him up. A youngster himself, he also turned mentor to Abhimanyu Mithun and S. Arvind, both fast bowlers of the Karnataka team and himself dismissed 46 batsmen this Ranji season. In fact, his spectacular performance helped Karnataka reach the Ranji finals after 11 long years. Inspite of playing well for so many years, a call from the national selection board had eluded him. Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid , both cricketing stalwarts from Karnataka egged him on whenever he doubted his own abilities. An all-rounder stands a better chance of being selected in the national team. Realising this he even worked on his batting and is a decent lower-order batsman. His performance in the 2 IPLs also must have been surely noticed by the selectors. He has dismissed Sachin Tendulkar once each in the 2nd and 3rd editions of IPL, a prized wicket for any bowler. From a place in … [Read more...]
