Opinions On...Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi

The one-eyed Prince

India's youngest captain

But even with one good eye, he is bigger than Tiger Woods; at least in India

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Future not bleak for India in ODIs

In the run up to the World Cup and in the immediate aftermath of the victory, I was chuffed about India's bench strength. India seemed to be able to win matches despite some of their best players not playing games. They seemed to be able to cover for the stars when they were gone.

India unearthed some serious talent in Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan this way.

However, when I ran Statsguru to check India's record when Tendulkar, Gambhir, Sehwag, Yuvraj and Zaheer were all not playing, I found that India had won only one game out of five. India have always needed some of the big guns to deliver in the ODIs.

Naseer calls Indian team bus "An Ambulance"

The latest comments by Naseer Hussain, while commentating on the abandoned first ODI has created a stir that is likely to put India's tour at risk. BCCI has threatened to call off the tour and some reports even indicate that a private Jet is on standby to take the Indian cricket team home. For those concerned about the health and safety of Indian patients....err....cricketers, the Jet is staffed with the world's best Sports doctors and hospital facilities.

After alleging earlier in the week that India had "3-4 very good fielders"; a comment that has no basis in facts; questions were raised as to whether Naseer Hussain was on the BCCI pay roll along with Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri. 

Any such suspicion was laid to rest by what happened today

Even before the dust had settled over the controversy over his "3-4 very good fielders" comments, Naseer Hussain has created another one by referring to the Indian Team Bus, as "An Ambulance". 

India's Schedule for 2012

Following heavy criticism and accusations of subjecting its players to in human work load, the BCCI has published a more humane schedule for the Indian National Cricket team. One that is designed to make cricket games involving India more competitive.

JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH
India tours Australia. 4 Tests, 2 T20 and a 5 match ODI series v/s the Maddington Village Second XI. Maddington Village is one of Perth’s fiercest cricket team made up mostly of retired club cricketers now suffering from age related arthritis. Sponsors - BENGAY		4 weeks of rest and rehabilitation. BCCI to conduct free seminars on helping patients Indian cricketers deal with hearing loss, sore hands and weak intermittent eyesight. Sponsors -  OIL OF OLAY (Age Defying Lotions)
APRIL	MAY	JUNE
IPL 6453 x 10^6 games in 12 weeks followed by 762 games of a quick eliminator style playoffs where a team has to lose just 67 games in a row to be eliminated. Sponsors – Indian Economy, Political Parties, Film Industry, and ICC. For a complete list visit google.com and type the name of any business
JULY	AUG	SEP
India hosts the Royal Pensioners Association from Wellington, New Zealand. Tour is organized and sponsored by the ‘Bucket List Foundation’ – A British  not-for-profit organization, that helps retired farmers fulfill their life-long ambition to play Test cricket for their country	Sachin and Roger’s Honeymoon
OCT	NOV	DEC
India in South Africa – Warm Up Games 5 T20s with Durban Girl’s High School Cricket Team	Full Series with South Africa 2 Tests One off T20 International (Bishen Singh Bedi and Chandu Borde will make their T20 debuts) 7 ODIs The games are optional for all. Full strength team is required for the Toss after which players are free to use the time to mend injuries (from warm up games), relax and call off matches if players are bored to force a result Sponsors – Tourism Ministry of Dominica