Rishi Markenday

It is 230 in the morning here and I am enjoying the game. I thought that you need to be complimented for your typing speed and your command of english. Do keep up the good work and don't fall to the cynicism of some neitzens.
Best Regards
Rishi Markenday
Springfield, Virginia, USA

------

Chirayu Sapre

Hello Prem

You are doing a great job! Keep it up ... for all cricket crazy people
away from the TV!!
I hope you wont take all the 4 letter words starting with F (like Fish)
seriously! :)

Regards
Chirayu

-----

Sanjay Bhatnagar

Hi Prem,
 
This mail is from Sydney, Australia.
 
Who complained about spelling mistakes ?
 
They must be real pessimists , negative characters.
 
YOU ARE INDEED DOING A GOOD JOB. PRETTY IMPRESSIVE, I WOULD SAY
 
Cheers
 

-------

Anand Iyer

Hi Premji,
 
Today I am sure this will be another match lost by India. After two up only India can lose the series. If a team can't defend 317 in 48 overs, what else they can do ? That is the match which gave Pakistan the boost they want.
 
Anand

------

Vikram Desai

Pream,

U are talking all crap,talk something intetesting or shut up your
nonsense writing.

Bob

------

Sreedharan Surendran

Great job Prem!  Your typing is pretty good... and like you said, you were typing blind, and trying to keep up with the balls.

I had a number of other sites open... but you were always way ahead of the others, sometimes by more than an over! 

Keep it up!

Sreedharan Surendran
GE Healthcare
Technologies

-------

John Page

Hi Prem,

Thank you for doing a great job. Do not let people's complaints about typos
etc throw you off.Keep it up.
Suggest you use short forms like ITLO (in the last over) or Sc for Score.
I think it is too late to consider this for now but maybe in the upcoming
series, you can implement the system.

Thanks,
John (from Melbourne, Australia)

--------

Raj Mahadevan

Why is Dravid not allowing Yuvraj to bowl. Just a small comparison between
the wall and SG. In fifth one dayer SG wouldn't have brought Anil Kumble [Images]. It
was a big blunder by the wall.

Raj

--------

sagar

dear prem
 
if you are exposing yourself to the world and are working as net commentary expert then you should not give excuses as you have to type fast so that you land up in making mistakes.
 
--------

Raghav

thanks for the gr8 job on commenting on the indo-pak matches; cannot but
imagine how guys like me, who, for one reason or another, live away from
our homeland, would get a feel of the proceedings without your taxing the
keyboard, and your gray quotient.

is this series going to be a wake up call for our team?  the loss to pak
aside, we have, after decades of invincibility on home soil, lost to
aussies, and other lesser known teams in the recent past.

and, what do you think of the appointment of a coach from another country?
somehow, the idea doesn't gel (with me).  if the team playing cricket is a
rediff xi, or a mohan bagan xi, it makes sense, but not for a team that
dons national colours (i don't buy the bcci xi take; how then did we
participate in the commonwealth games).  if our coaches aren't any better,
or are worse off than others outside our country, so be it.  can we, for
example, hire clinton as our political premier either because he is
'available', or from the fact that he will wield his magic wand, and lo and
behold, we have ridden ourselves from poverty forever.  guess, the 'coach'
issue needs as much debating as that of the captaincy.  the question, i
guess, is not what wright has done thus far, but what we have not been able
to do for ourselves.

your coments, plz.

-------

Arpan K Chowdhury

What is the condition of the pitch ? Is it breaking alarmingly ?
 
 I had a nightmare of last Asia cup final. Please give your thought.
 
I had a feeling of using Ajit only with old ball with wicket to wicket. But this ball change will cost India 15 runs I believe. Agarkar need to work on it to get it reverse.
 
India is a back seat now. Let's see how it goes ?
 
Arpan

--------

Manish Bahnot

dO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT TO COMMENT ABOUT??

--------

Jalaj Gupta

I think this is again come back of India in the match, Harbhajan did well,
Sachin also. In batting today Sachin, Dravid and Sehwaag will crack the Pak
bowling.

Wat a come back !!!!!! congrats to INDIA.........

------

Amit

Do you think pitch is  getting Slower ??...  What do you think  good
target on this pitch  which can be achieved ?

Is pitch looks under-prepared  ?? Is pop of dust coming in as bowl
hitting the ground ??

Thanks

------

Feroz

Dear Prem,

Hi!, you are doing a great job. One question which has bugged me very often. When something is working do not repair it, that is fine. When something or nothing is working you need to do something. Now if Yuvraj, is not going to bowl, if Shewag is not going to bowl. Why develop them in areas never going to be of any use. Last match Sachin was under used. If your front line bowlers are getting hit try something. We want active captain. Else like in Davis cup, we can have non playing captain.

-------

Palash Bera

Great commentary Prem! I appreciate you do need to write a lot in a very short time.
 
Here is how Agarkar has been able to sneak in the India team so often. Some decent bowling again Kenya, Bangladesh or similar teams and once in a blue moon some pinch hitting. Now he bowled Malik and if he gets few runs while batting - he will be back in the business again, snicking in the Indian team.
There must be better cricketer in India than Agarkar. We must find HIM!!
 
thanks

-------

Anish here from Chicago, buddy!

Tell me something, based on what you have seen of Karthik in the tests and Dhoni [Images] in the one dayes...who has  better glovesmanship?
 
As for batting, we will have to judge Dhoni by how he bats in tests...he might do a shewag and proove everyone wrong who thinks he is a flat track bully
 
------

Anand Sharma

Only 52 runs added in the past 13 overs. They were 150 in 25 overs. Now 202 after 38. We have bounced back strongly. Agarkar is the surprise package today ! IF there was a 7th game, Woolmar would have probably worked out a strategy to counter Agarkar !
 
warm regards

------

Aurn

With the boundary being so small, is it possible to defend
any total in this stadium ?

------

Mahesh Dorai

Hi Prem,

In my futile attempts to find some website showing (I am in North
America) the cricket live, I found a rather funny post on a website.
The guy who posted it claims that the columns written by Javed Miandad
can simply not be written by Javed himself ( Knowing Javed's English,
it is kind of difficult for me to believe that he write it, as well)
and that you actually translate his ideas/thoughts into words.

Not that I am going to ask you if this is true, but just that you
might find it funny ;)

-------

Perumselva Pandiyan

Panicker saar: You are telling Pakistan is not having skin and India will bat out Pakistan skin and chase match for winning.

How India can chase Pakistan skin? Like that nonsense why you are telling public type of commentary? You are telling cricket commentary means you tell cricket commentary - why you are telling about skin and all? India also is not having skin because it is getting defeat in three times from Pakistan.

Also Tendulkar is Oozing, Balaji is Oozing and all India fellow is Oozing - bit Mohammed Kafi is not oozing because he is not brinjal eating fellow. But also I am putting open bet on you - you are having mustache means you take bet. I am telling starting for straight and putting bet: India will not win saar. If India win means I will wear komanam and run around your house and I will not keep mustache. If India is getting defeat means you except that Pakistan is super type of fellows and India name is in public toilet. Also please don't keep mustache. Mustache is for male type of fellow. You are male type of fellow means you keep open bet.

Also Agarkar is useless only. Also Kumaran is best bowler for India why he is not getting chance? Also peoples are always telling that Aktha is putting 150 meter per second his balls, also Bert Lee is putting 150 meter per second in his balls. Kumara is bowling 200 meter per second in his balls. But Kumaran is not getting chance. Why you are not telling for Kumaran getting chance? Can you tell in open type of way? Are you seeing Kumaran's balls in Ranji match and Test match in Australia? Even Steve Waugh is seeing Kumaran's balls and getting afraid of his balls swinging and reverse cutting.

Kumaran is Tamilan and Dravidan man. He is not false Dravid like Dravid and he is also not false Tamilan like Balaji and all. Kumaran is clean Tamilian. Give Kumran chance also for showing reverse balls.

                          Yours Faithfully

Also Kumaran is original Tamilan with chest, mustache and all.

-------

Sampath

Prem,
When better bowlers Balaji,Pathan and Kumble are not playing and none of the
promising other youngsters are not playing but Agarkar finds a place, then
there is no reason for India to win the game. Even any of those off form
players are better on any day than Agarkar who never fails to give a
boundary in any over. I think this is the biggest difference between Ganguly
and all other Indian captains. Ganguly supported promising and talented
players even when they failed. Dravid does not seem to have that talent and
it is just a matter of time before team India has more baggage than talent.
I doubt if Agarkar would have played if Ganguly was the captain.

----

Sriram S

You are doing a great job man. Faster than the cricinfo guys. But I also feel that it would be better if your commentary is a bit more objective.
 
You rock dude :)

------

Vishwanath Swarup

Prem, I hope you can publish this somewhere...
Pl let me know if you do-- I'll like to know ur and others reaction to it..
i think u r one of the few ones that r actually cutting some slack for Mr.G
 
Why do we do it ?
Ganguly is a loser -- a big loser. This is what the media, sorry Indian media wants you to believe. Lets for a moment agree with them. He is the worst player ever and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he doesn't deserve a spot in the GREAT INDIAN cricket team. Makes me sick to my stomach.
From where I see, they, the media, ex-players, commentators and the self assigned critics are the biggest losers on the face of this earth- yes I mean it. Now let me, as any of these experts back-up my claim however I will not quote any statistics or any particular series or any tournament as they (the same they) quote in every article. Let me address the cricket fan deep inside every Indian  let me ask you this how do you feel about our cricket team today and how is it different from what you felt about them 10 years ago, lets try 20, or may be 30. I have never, yes never, felt better. Try to remember the old impressions about the team Lack killer instinct, A team of individuals, Play for record books, look good on paper, chokers, loose their nerves against Pakistan, etc etc to put it in a civil way  I grew up with the impression that our GREAT CRICKET team was always a looser but we still loved them. You can stop reading right now if you've had a different impression about our teams from the past.
So now if you are with me and still reading this-- I consider my self not a critic or an expert but an ardent Indian Cricket Team Fan, and will not accept anyone questioning that fact. So now cutting to the chase, these greats of the past, Gavaskar, Shastri, Manjerakar (biggest looser), Srinath (another looser) who have nothing but individual and only individual records to be remembered by are trying to gun for this Icon's (yes I called him an Icon) blood. What audacity do they have to even begin to consider themselves equal to Ganguly. It is this ICON who has been able to undo what these pant-shitters bred as a culture in the team (remember Gavaskar vs Kapil and Azhar vs the rest). Yes Ganguly did not produce or give birth to a Sehwag or a Kaif or a Pathan or a Yuvraj, or a Bhajji, or now a Dhoni. But he created a culture that basically said play hard and don't give a rats ass of what anyone says and he'll back you. It is this arrogance that defines Ganguly's character. He is a leader (not the best batsmen) who has been able to clean up the shit left over by them (the same they). He has been able to create an image of world-beaters, and Pak beaters even the Assuies take us seriously--- it's a paradigm shift. And mind you I am not talking about just the Sub-continent. It seems that these greats have 2 articles ready for every bold move Ganguly makes lets say Dhoni's move worked praise Dhoni if it failed o ya Ganguly is so screwed up can't even think straight. As fan what we have to realize that this is sport sometimes it will work and sometimes it won't but you need huge balls of steel to make a move and not be a wuss.
At a deeper level, I think we Indians are just to soft we have an inherent desire to be liked by everyone, to be popular, to take a non-confrontationalist approach (even if it means compromising on our principals), we want the west and the east to love us but I ask why. Why can't we have a spine and do what works for us and not worry about what they (its the world now) will think about it. Why can't we be Ganguly. I am sure that if it was softie Tendulkar or the good boy Dravid they would have resigned by now but this guy hats off to him and his service to the country, knows better (and has balls) to fight through this. As a CEO of a company you are not supposed make that spreadsheet  your job is to create shareholder value and yes the G-Man has done just that created value - respect for Indian cricket. When the legendary Waugh tried to conquer the final frontier and used his (with the support of Assusie media and ofcourse our unbiased spineless Indian media) this man made him wait for the toss showed up in shorts which the king of sledging  (yes I am still talking about Waugh) found deplorable I felt great. And thanks to the ICON called Ganguly I feel great. However the questions wtill remains why do we do this to ourselves why cant we tell them (back to the same them) to shut the F up and go and hide in their wives or G/F's pallu/skirt.Why cant we feeljust happy that for once we Win and win well and consistently (than before). Why Why. If you know the answer please let me know.

Vishy

------

Sabu John

Hi Prem,

You really disappoint us after a few occasions of promising and doing well. A commentator should be one who narrates what is going on the field and not the technical advisor of One team (here INDIA). He should be very objective and devoid of prejudices. You have a lot of prejudices regarding a few players. What you do is destructive criticism when you comment about Ajit Agarkar [Images] by even questioning  his presence in the team. You express your pleasure and happiness when he is taken off from the attack. I think that you are so biased. I also think that it is nobody from your household who have taken those 203 wickets seen against the name of Agarkar. You may be also so relieved to see the back of Ganguly. We pray for you to become a better person and stick to what you are expected to do!

Reagrds Sabu John

------
  
JAVED.M.HUSSAIN

Hi there,
Can u give me any  reason y Agarkar is even considered in the country's top 30 players.
He has not showed anything in the last 2 yrs and I think the board either drops him to get someone (even Mongia ,will do in this case) or drop themselves, Iam sure Wright must be under a lot of pressure to include him'coz i dont see any reason otherwise.Ur comments pls..
 
The British School of Kuwait
http://www.bsk.edu.kw

------

Mukund Joglekar

Prem:
 
I also like your commentary because it shows
much less `patriotic' bias crap.  It's a delight to
see you praising good footwork, no matter which
player it came from. `Ours' or `theirs'!
 
Right Awn, brudder.
 
-----

Dr Rizwan Manzer

hello Prem
this is time to use regular bowler like agarker not for 5th bowler

------

Rajvinder Singh

Good job Prem, improving with every match, Keep-up the good work. Also
thanks for taking viewers advice.

Roman Bawa
Editor-in-chief
Punjabi Haak Canada [Images]
Toronto, Canada

------

Shyamprasad Reddy

Cool  Prem You describe very well. Keep up the good work.

Even I agree with u when u say Not very clear what his utility to the side is, Agarkar's I mean. He is not pacy enough to trouble batsmen, seems out of match form, and coming on nicely for both batsmen."

May be they wanted to surprise the Pak batsmen with a NEW Bowler ?

TATA Consultant at AEC - Riyadh

-----

Sree Ram

Prem,
Why is Agarkar playing you were wondering the answer??? He is Tendulkar's
Personal Puppet or Pet if you want to call that, Or else how can one explain
him finding a place in the 15 let alone the playing 11 and someone like Laxman
kept out.   All the more reason why you don't feel so bad if we lose to the
arch rival.

Though it may seem a little funny there is truth beneath it if you carefully
analyze. 

------

Javed Hussain

Hi there,
Must say that U r doing a great job.
Pls clarify 2 questions if u can..
1) If we r looking for consistency in the batting lineup and somebody who can play a long solid innings why dont we promote yuvraj singh up the order.Players like Dhoni are great when the pitch is true with predicatble bounce, but on pitches like Kanpur somebody like Yuvraj singh [Images] should have been given the res[ponsibilty to go at no 3 and try and settle down.Given the situation he is also capable of Big hitting whenever required, that way we make better use of the 15 overs.Pls comment on that.
2)In case we want to play 7 batsmen and still lose we should atleast make sure that the replacement for a batsmen (ganguly in this case) should be done with somebody who is not 'ordinary' at the interantional level(Mongia in this case)...Surely there are better players in the country than him and I still dont understand y the selectors have to persist with him.A case in popint is Bangar, he always impressed whenever he got the chance to play and was also able to Hit the ball.Pls comment on these, will be eager to see them.
Thank u.
JAVED.M.HUSSAIN
The British School of Kuwait
 
-----
 
Ajmal

Prem, I think Pakistan will make around 335. I believe
India can easily chase it in Delhi if the batsmen play
with some sense.

Thanks for updates

------
Malli

Prem,
I am a big fan of yours. You are a genius man. You really are. I read every article you write, whether it is about tendulkar, hinduism, kashmir or BCCI. I really miss all those long articles you used to write. Can I know if you are writing some place else or you just stopped writing??
Regarding this match, I would love to watch india chase a target and win. Do you have access to Indian team? If so, please pour in some of your cricket knowledge into the brians of whoever is making decisions on the field. Hope you comment on this in your live commentary.. Pllzzzzzzz
 
Thanks

-------

KrishReddy

This is krishreddy from Australia.

Thanks a lot for considering my suggestion. Now, The Commentary looks more exciting with Over.ball. We (staff working for an MNC) are all going through your commenatry. It's really interesting and amazing.

It is sad to know that some people blaming you. We do not understand why they are criticising. Anyway ignore all such and keep going.

Regarding the Match, We did not understand why Agarkar, Dinesh included?

When there are very good players like Balaji, Kumble , VVS Laxman. Selectors should not make good players to sit with One bad game, that is dominated by one player. We do agree that we will be in short of a bowler if VVS Laxman in there. But this can be compensated through Sehwag, Youvraj, Sachin. The Selectors should re-think about this on long term aspect.

Whats your opinion?

-----

Saad

Hi,

Well forgot to add in my last email to you. Normally umpries on the field are good at giving reasons for their mistakes. Mind giving me the reason of mistake by a third umpire? Let me tell you the reason pure prejudice and bias. Nothing else.
Anyhow, if thats how Indians like to win their games. I wish them all the luck.

Can Hariharan [Images] give even ONE fair decision against Pakistan. I guess that'd be probably too much to ask from him. Gah! And then the Indians cry foul when Sachin is given out in a wrong fashion. I'll read all your papers want to see how much will your side write against one of your own umpires.

------

Mohammed Anwar Ali

Hi!

Ia that OUT!!! Third umpire calls that out. Touch and go, that, I would have thought there was slight doubt there and that benefit should go to the batsman. Here, you see the ball hit the stumps, one frame has the ball about to hit, and the bat a half inch short, in the next frame, the ball has hit, the bail is off, the bat is just across the line. You need that in between frame, to show ehre the bat is when the ball strikes, but you dont have that here, so that is guess work and when you are in that position, you tend to rule for the batsman. Third umpire Hariharan calls it for the fielding side, and Youhana looks shocked.

Anwar

------

Manish Bhanot

With little knowledge youopen your mouth as wild as an aligator,,stop assuming you are the boss! There are better people than you. I am not sure why they hired you. Boooooooooo..........

--------
Bait Al-Sahwa

hi prem,
 
in nehra 11.6 ball youhana dispatched the ball for 4, i'm also following live commentry on cricinfo here he gives different commentry "Nehra to Yousuf Youhana, FOUR, good length delivery, angling across the right-hander, Youhana stands tall and drives it away well wide
        of the backward point fielder, Tendulkar at fine leg had no chance, excellent placement"
now who is correct ???

------

Ashish Sharma

just like some other games where the coach can communictae with the players and captain on the field why cant it happen in cricket so that the strategy can be changed according to the game? point in case- just like u are saying now about not bowling on the offside
 

Anil Kumble should have played at this venue where he took all 10 wkts against pak. what say?

-----

Gautom Dey

Mr. Paniker:  You seem to be the perfect monday morning quarterback.... seem to know everything ...but in retospect. The typical armchair critic. Lately you have even started with your 'Mr. Knowall prognosis'.  Even before the game started you said ....."The answer is simple, really: First, remember that centuries in 40 balls dont come every day, so don't panic when you see him taking guard.".....Cut that crap and do the job that you are supposed to do. We have followed you for some time and we know you are quite parochial in your feelings. Rediff is really going to pay for giving you too much latitude. They took you off the columns...it's time they took you out of the commentary too. To you regionalism comes first...Team India Second.

------

Anand Sharma

The Javed Miandad column on how ro bowl to AFridi was a real eye opener - but we hav not learnt anything from it. He suggested to mix up the pace and bowl short at times.
 
Today, perhaps in an effort to "cramp" him, we are bowling too far down the leg side. He is just planting his foot across and swinging.
 
regards

------

Ashish Sharma
 
who's a better choice to coach the indian team now that John Wright [Images] is history, do you think one of our indigenous veternans can do a better job than say chappell or mooddy?
 
virginia, US

--------

Mohan Jadeja

Hi prem,

u r doing great job,thanx.taking back to sourav, u know Aussies improved under Mike Taylor,then he suffered on his own form there was pressure on him for few seasons to step down, when he went Aussies became even better under steve same with hussain preparing good team for England [Images] and I think they r now far better under Vaughn.

 No doubt Ganguli has form very good team here and I think I may become even better with Dravid.I think lots of cricket still left in ganguli,he needs to sit out few,thanx broad.

 And yeah, As u said other day Dravid can surprise everybody.Ask Sachin!!

#115,433 Pinestream Pl,NE

Calgary,AB,T1Y3A5.

-------

Tarique

Dear Prem
This is Tarique from Australia watching the score on the internet. I thank you from the deepest end of my heart for becoming an indispensible tool of cricket live commentary. Please keep your self esteem high and entertain us the way you do. Don't worry about people like Stephen. I only think that your commentary is very fair and excellent
Good Luck and thank you for the good work you are doing.
Regards
Tarique

-------

Stephen Bentley

Mr prem

        U seem to be pretty rude person . I am being polite to u .. well wat I mean is that all of the media n the people incharge of the game have to be responsible globally to present cricket as a game. The spirit has to be there  but u as a commentator have to call it ball by ball. Not as if there is a war going out there u r catering to the world  u must remember it mr. prem. I understand ur patriotic out brusts .. but imagine commentators on tv  doing it like if sunil gavaskar saying commentary the way ur writing it . its just a game . hey hope u get my point . Be responsible .. keep ur passion and patriotic feeling but be non  biased while writing .

----

Dushyant Navlakha

Hi Prem,U have been doing a wonderful job,thanks.I would like to know why is it that inspite of some low scores by Tendulkar and some other seniors can't take the responsibilty upon themselves and quit for couple of games for India.Are they more important than indian win that BCCI is continuing with them based on their reputation and good performances in the past.

------

Sandeep Kumar

Hello prem
i must first say that you doing a fine job in rediff , i wanted toask you why this guy ashish nehra gets so many chances after so many failures every one if lose today   everyone will blame sachin dravid and all saying our stars failed but isnt a bowler supposed to bowl he always gives a away so many runs and even does not take any wicket how many matches has he gone wicketless like in  ahmedabad we lost coz of his poor bowling he didnt even redeem himself even in last spell when the match was tight hardly bowled any yorkers  and neither he is  a good fielder or useful lower order batsmen see today he gave away so many runs in his first over itself (20 odd runs ) that after that captain has always played catch up if i remember  correctly even the BCCI match in kolkata he didnt pick wickets and gave away runs he honeslty cant be picked in an indian ODI squad at all if media can be harsh on ajit agrakar then why not on nehra

-----

Sanjay

Dear Mr. Panicker,
just read about Mr. Bhanot telling u to shut up the nonsense.... well sitting 25000 km away from india, i am getting the update of match ball-by-ball.... thanks to you and thanks to rediff... pls keep up the good work... and dont even bother to respond to such crap from the likes of mr. bhanot!
 
my compliments
sanjay
embassy of India
brasilia, brazil

-----

Vivek K

Prem....
Just curious....Just wanted to know how many guys feel
that this series is fixed?..I sure you'd recd at least
a few mails saying its fixed etc...
For the record,I feel its fixed..I'm not saying its a
Cronje type fixing....Its a 'live and let live' kind
of fixing....we could have won the test series without
much ado..but we made sure that the b'lore match is a
crucial one...we could have won the one-dayer at
Ahmedabad....we made sure that the delhi ODI is a
crucial one....if we win this , we can also say that
we are not chokers....Also , I'm just thinking...
of all the non-triangular one day series played here (
ie involving just 2 teams) last matches have always
been crucial...one way or the other...

Just look at the mail which I send my friends...(most
of them abused me in pure 'mallu' galis after
this)...Thats why I wanted to know how many in this
world believe that it is fixed..

Thanks for your patience prem and keep the good work
up..
Vivek

-----

 Aliyans,
 If you think that the current series is fixed say it
 right now...not after the match....After the match
its
 very easy to err...
 
 I feel it is fixed..'conspiracy' would be a better
 word....This is a fixing where the whole fraternity
is
 involved.....not like just a captain setting a
packed
 offside and bowling legside...
 
 players , bcci , pca , state boards , tv channels
and
 media , other (even remotely) related businesses ,
 politicians are all happy....nobody is going to
 complain ( can you name a groupn who is not
 happy?..I'd like to know..answers like 'people with
 patriotic blood in their veins' is not
acceptable...i
 need realistic answers).....This is like like
watching
 a rajnikanth movie , applauding when he cuts a
bullet
 into two....its not true...but we still appreciate
it
 and then also discuss about it and eagerly await its
next edition...his mere existence
 creates tremendous business opportunities...
 
 Now , let see if my views change after todays
 result..I expect an indian win in a thriller..

-----

Rohit

Hi Prem,

It is not that our bolwers are stupid enough not  to realize the leg  stump is a bad line.  Have you ever considered a possibility that our bowlers may not have enough talent to bowl a consistent line ball after ball , over after over.

------

Misal Panchal

hey prem, thx fo the commentry yaar...would be even better if india played better!! afridi is gone, maybe it will get betta!!

-------

Madhav Deshpande

I was watching the past matches, but your comentry is somethinnk very close to watching in person.  At present both the batsmen are hitting at strike rate of ~200.  If they bat like that for 15 then India will not win the match for sure. Sachin will as always not deliver while chasing and India needs it badly.You cannot count on WALL Mrs Dravid for chasing when asking is above 6. As the wall doesnot move. It just stays where it is.

Looks like India will have to chase over 350 And if Afridi lasts long  may be even 400.  One request though Yr comentry just read "Prem Panicker : 5.6: Nehra to AFridi, on leg, played to midwicket, and that was a bad single called for. STraight to the fielder (???) no run there, and a direct hit would have sent Afridi back. The fielder missing by a whisker, one to end the ofver, 53/1 in 6 Pak " But does not tell us who the fielder was.    If you can add up sime emoticons to comentry like when a wkt fails or a 4/6 is hit it will be gr8.  May be something for Rdiff techies to add on.

Thanks again 

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Sri Kris

Unlike Mc Grath and Pollock who can bowl on the spot even if they are waken up at the middle of night and asked to bowl, who have tremendous control on the ball, our guys hardly have control on the ball and that is why 2 out of 6 balls fall on the leg side. I hope this clarifies your doubt on why our guys bowl down the leg side

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Akshay Desai

It is interesting to see that there have been no extras so far in the 65 runs scored.

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Bella

I have a question...that you are a commentator...you should be neutral...and should appreciate the team who plays well.....but when pak hits a four you say BAD BOLLOWINF....four......you should appreciate the batsman on his wonderful batting......i think you should think over it....iam an indian but i appreciate the team who gives us a good match to enjoy...Bella

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Jaan Pro

Yaar, you make soooooo much sense. With John Wright leaving, I think they should pick you for the next coaching job :)

Keep up the good work.

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Nitin Bansal

There is no point talking about the Indian bowlers length and line as all the bowlers (barring indian) knows the folly of bowling on leg side. But then Indian bowlers are jokers who never learn and they love feeding the batsman's fav areas.

Anyway thanks for commentary and one can sense your anguish and frustation from the commentary.

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Krishna

I am here in California- follwing the match through your commentary. Now way for me to see the field placing on the leg. Could you shed some light here? It would seem quite strange if by now if Nehra and Zaheer do not know the ramifications of pitching on the leg. It could just be a matter of not having proper delivery control. Anyway what does the field look on the leg?

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Mahesh

It seems strange to me that India does not posses bowlers who can simply bowl line and length(leave the pace out), Look at McGrath, you wake him up at 2 in the morning and ask him to bowl 6 balls at you and he will pitch them all in the same spot, that awkward length and rearing up to you.  Why is it that we haven't seen bowlers like that ?

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Aditya Khatod

You know what I have started to feel. India has taken money to loose today. The way they are  bowling, this is all ridiculous. there is no way every ball can be bowled on the leg even after the previous ball are hit for 4's and 6's.

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Raj Shekhar

Good job. Keep it Up! Can some one ask India team to bring in Yuvraj with Sehwag as opener and Tenulkar at number three?

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Ravi Narayan (California)

Love the way you are emotionally involved while providing this commentary :-)

BTW, Zaheer and Nehars know that they have to bowl on the off, short of good length. The intent is there, the body does not not always co-operate and they misfire :-)

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Bhagwat

Shouldn't dravid have started with agarkar (right hander) and khan instead of nehra (left hander) and khan?

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Sank

Why Kumble was taken out? Why Agarkar being still continued even after being bowling badly? Why can't bring Tendulkar on when Bajji bowling tight other end? Dont you comment now on Dravid's Captaincy?

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Sunil Rayan

I live in the US and have been following your live commentary from the test series until now. Congrats, you do a wonderful job of keeping us Indians in touch with cricket, and specifically having opinions on how things should be done..Very similar to when I used to watch cricket with friends and family in India. Thanks for that..

I noted the terrible voice commentary on TV when I was in India last year (especially people like Sanjay Mangrekar and Maninder singh)..geez don't know how these guys can speak so miserably on TV.

My question is HAVE YOU TRIED BEING A VOICE COMMENTATOR and if not then WHY NOT? You will do well ..

Anyway, good luck..

Cheers

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Rahul Tyagi

Why are you responding to the stupid personal messages of people on the commentary? Forget about the fact that it is probably exactly what they want, it is actually pretty unproffesional, don't you think? The readers want to know your thought about cricketing matters so commentary (and answers to cricket related questions) should probably be what you should have at that page IMHO. it just looks so stupid reading all those ridiculous things here.

PS: great commentary though! try to continue this in other  big series too.

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Tarique

You are absolutely right. I don't find nay reason to have Agarkar or Nehra in the team. They are proving to be a disaster for India.

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Nidamarthy

Prem, You criticized lot about Ganguly before. What's happening now? It's all about our cricketers fear against Pakistan. Atleast Ganguly made some difference to Indian cricket. If our bowlers bowling wrong line on leg side, what the great people like Dravid and Tendulkar doing there? Please dont critcise like kids and spoil your name.

Cricket Lover.

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Satish Telu

Hi guys,

Guys,guys be cool, India has a weak bowling attack thats what Prem is trying to say, take it with a sportive spirit.  Indian bowlers should try to maintain line and length that's what Sri Lankans do as their bowling is more meagre than Indians but they perform better than us in bowling.

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Chandresh Sanghavi

Excellent commentry.. Gone are the days when our stupid commentrators were describing the weather or the city all the time and we could easily make out what should have happened. I remeber one our old hindi commentrator saying - Asaman me ghane badal mandara rahe he..Bharat ki team kafi tanav me khel rahi he.. etc.. etc..

Good improvement on your side, I now see FOUR , SIX and OUT!!! instead of four, six,,

Keep it up Pal..You are cool pal..

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Saad

Though a Pak team fan, I still find your commentary really cool and to some extent neutral :), just that you spend more time correcting the Indian team and just shower praise on Pakis on some extra ordinary shots. Anyhow, a job really well done.

Keep up the good work.

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PV

Do players ever go thro video footage of previous games and see where to bowl to get a guy out or what field to place for him, which areas hes more comfortable in and so on? If the captain and the bowlers prepare for the game this way, they may be better off.

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Dhiren Kumar

What's the plan here, Pakistan can just milk singles and reach 300+, we need wickets here stop the singles, this is pathetic Rahul Dravid's [Images] brilliant captaincy at display for all to see...................no aggro back to the pre Ganguly era.....

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J Ahmed

It's fantastic reading u, and Manish have no idea what he is talking about. I reckon he is just having bad time.

Melbourne

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Viplov Sen

I appreciate ur commentary, our indian team needs to have a scientific, retrospective and methodic approach to facing pakistan. I can see India losing this already.

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Bosco and Celina Fernandes

Hi Prem,

Thanks for all the cricket update. Its just like watching the match live on TV. Keep up the good work.

Regards

Bosco (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)

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Easr Arafat

Througout the series Afridi and Malik treated the Indian bowlers like Golly players. Shameful!

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Anand Sharma

94/2 in 14.1 is not bad actually ! But NOW is the time to tighten the screws. I dont think we can chase a high score under pressure.

regards

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Siva (Harrisburg, PA)

Hi Prem,

What's with the Indian team these days ? Have they stopped thinking and reverted back to their pre-John Wright days ? They gave away too many easy singles in ODI 4 and 5. Now, in this match, the bowlers dont know where to bowl or looks like they have forgotten it. Are the good times already over ?

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Nandakumar

Utility of Agarkar?? like one of you guys had written, cow-pisser on a rock..

In fact I had once written to the cricinfo, that Steven guy, to do an analysis of percentages of how many games India has played with Agarkar in the team and lost and won when he is out of it...

Ask one of your minions to do it.. He is neither fish nor fowl, man nor woman, and the meanest harbinger of misfortune to the Indian team; you acting rationalist wouldn't believe me, but get that analysis done..

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Subhash Agarwal

Hi Prem,

Big Fan of yours.

Want to know something. Is there some Hanky-Panky going on with Indian Team. We (Media) have been focussed too much on the Indian Wins. But look at this say. After that Famous Indian Victory in the Series over Aus (2001), India have visited ZIM, SL, WI. NZ, AUS, PAK, Eng And Bang. After playing well in one match they have invariably lost match. If I remember correctly, the only series India has won abroad is in BAng and Pak, of which they still lost a match against Pak. None of the one-day series are won 3-0, 4-1 or 5-0, it is always 2-1 or 3-2. Is there something that we all are missing? Can a team lose form collectively in a follow-up match after they have done tremendously well?

Pls ignore the English, I am half-asleep right now (in USA east coast).

Thanks and appreaciate the hard work you put in for all of us.

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Mukund joglekar

Apologies for `shoolteachering', but `practiSe' is the verb, `practiCe' the noun.  (Same no. of keystrokes, same amount of time to type.)

I admit you're in a hurry to type, and rightly so.  If you had more time, you'd probably not make these.  If these suggestions make you mad, tell me and I'll can them.

Your commentary's excellent, though.  Got to admit that.

And keeping it so would be our top priority.  I'll never stop wanting to improve a good thing.  Even a great thing.

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Muralidhar Ambekar

Going by the way , first 14 overs have gone i do not think much planning has gone into this match by indians .

Be it bowling leg side line /field placements , they seem to go thru the motions.

After the match RD said (paraphrasing) " nothing much can be done once afridi gets going" , looks like he really meant it , so his stratergy was to PRAY i guess.

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Ramas  (Seetharaman Sankara Ramasubramanian)

Bringing Agarkar back is a backward step and against Afridi, this will backfire big time. I am very disappointed with this move. He has never delivered in a critical match before and bringing him now in such a crucial match is a bad mistake. We can write off about 70 runs now from Agarkar.

- New Zealand [Images]
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Puneet

On your comment on including Agarkar, the only reason could be his wicket taking ability. He goes for runs, no doubt, but cracks wicket as well - that too early. Seems management want him to provide one such early break.

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Vinay

Why Agarkar? Why? Is there really no one on the bench that India can invest in for the future?

This thing about bringing him in for a match here and there is such a waste!

PS: Hope you are doing well in India.

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Arpan

Prem,

 Thank you for the last time for the superlative and coomitted work from the great Prem. I thoroughly enjoyed your work and live by it at the nights. Thank you once more.

 About you say, pitch is unpredicatable and not sure about the toss decision. But one thing for sure, Inzi knows about the predicatability of Indian blues in run chase in a high profile all important match. Nothing unpredicatable about it.

 But it is now upto us to prove that Natwest was not a fluke. And also they need to win this for the great coach who was there with them for last 5 years. Let's win it for John.

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Jas

Prem,

You have a job to do but if India doesn't get Afridi in the first 5 overs, I am going to bed.

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guru

The suggestions being given by you are thrilling.. you shud keep a messenger who can pass these to dravid staying out there. all the 3 matches i could see that they were just doing the opposite of what you were saying and lost.
keep it rolling.

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Stephen Bentley

Mr prem  u seem to be quite a biased person. Ur role as a commentator  is to tell the score and what happens . in a way u should promote the game . but u seem to write well when india does well and when the opposition is doing well u run out of words. Promote the game not the teams . be responsible , numerous people r following ur comments. Its time we create an atmosphere of friendship. Remember its only a game. And who so ever plays well should and will win. U should behave in a responsible manner. Hope u got the point

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Puneet

On your comment on including Agarkar, the only reason could be his wicket taking ability. He goes for runs, no doubt, but cracks wicket as well - that too early. Seems management want him to provide one such early break.

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Veera

India in a mess right now..top choice bowlers not performing...in comes Agarkar...i thought his career was long over....how come he gets back into the team at the 11 hour always...beats me....and why the hell drop balaji..that bloke has proved himself thru the test series and had a couple of bad games thats all...

my opinion is the perfect team right now would include balaji and laxman instead of agarkar and mongia...agreed we lose out on a bowler with laxman..but form is temporary...class is permanent...ur thoughts prem?

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Rajesh Sajita

Its sad to say that it was only Ganguly who selected players on merit. He had made his entry the tough way into indian 11 and always promoted form of the player rather than the area to which he belongs.

When teams are are thinking forward all over the world, by adding Ajit agarkar India has again gone back to old days. Whatever the outcome of the match surely it will not help TEAM SPIRIT

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John Pothen

I'm John Pothen from the U.S. and I really appreciate and enjoy your commentary. Agarkar's inclusion in the side, while unusual, does not completely surprise me. He is an inconsistent player, the selector's know this. But when he plays well, he plays very well, however, that scenario is often not the case. Perhaps the selectors are hoping that today he will play well, and swing things india's way. (or seam as the case may be, pardon the pun)

Thanks a million for the commentary.

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Dhaya

Batting first is always advantageous in kotla. because of the small ground size you can post huge total easily and put a pressure on the opposition straightaway. the opposition, when comes to bat, say facing a total of 300+, is always under pressure from the first ball.

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Srinivas Bharadwaj

Agarkar is an interesting choice and it has a lot to do with the fact that if Kumble is going to go for 60 off 10 why not then Agarkar who might make up for this with his dodgy yet sometimes enterprising batting. Fields ok too.

The choice of Agarkar or Pathan however is tricky. On a surface that aids fast bowlers usually Pathan is the choice, but it may be that Agarkar might exploit the bounce. (given his natural tendency to pitch short). As for the rest, I guess Bhandari and Patel, would have worked possibly.

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Subramaniam Ranganathan Iyer

Hi Prem,

Morning and great to have you back in the commentary box.  The team selection looks quite cool for India.  As you rightly said, Afridi cannot have a ball of a time everyday and that too three games in a row.  I believe rather than Afridi, India shud plan to stop the run roll, trying to stop singles.  Another major headache is Inzamam.  I think India shud have a game plan for him.  This guy day in and day out has been scoring.  Any comments

Cheers!!

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Krish Nukam Reddy

This is krishreddy from Australia. I am really enjoying with your commentary. For the people like us who cannot view the Match, Your comemntary giving more exciting.

Few suggestions

1. For every ball kindly type Over.Ball, Runs. (For example 2.1 FOUR, )

2.  Please update us about the Pak president news.

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Ravi Bemra

Prem Bhai,

Appreciate the excellent commentary.

From this current 5th ODI, can anyone recall home many times Dravid has held firm with his team in early trouble?

Not to get too personal, but a few non-cricket items:

You've used the word "prolly" in the past, probably to mean "probably"?  Could not find it in most online dictionaries, but � considering several Keralite friends' accents � it sounds like they'd say it J. Perhaps the desi feedback on your last name wouldn't be as quizzical (to English-speaking Westerners, for sure!), if you'd spell it like it sounds, likely Panikker (2nd syllable as in Mani)?

Continuing on Western accents & mispronunciations, I've found (in last 20+ years in US), desis are so self-effacing that after a while they start saying their own name the incorrect `gringo' way!  As for myself, I've tried telling 'em yanks: it's Mani (a self-effacing friend) as in $money, not Manny and Ravi as in ravine, not ravioli.  Some have got it, others reverted back to draggin' out the 1st vowel.  I've always ribbed my bro. since we got here: are you "an AND" or "a NAND", as in logic gates J

Confusion to the enemy, cheers!

HOI (Hopes on India)