Millions are set to
watch 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup action.
The Tenth Cricket WC will kick off with Bangladesh playing India on 19th
Feb 2011. 14 teams are in the fray and 42 preliminary matches would
determine the 8 qualifiers – then on it is KO – who delivers the powerful punch
– 3 wins in a row could see the Team lifting the Cup – the dream of every
cricketer.
Few days back Team
India was announced and it was :
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar,
Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh,
Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin,
Ashish Nehra. But 11 days before,
Praveen Kumar is yet to recover from the elbow injury and the
consultations with the noted orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Andrew Wallace has not
turned him match fit. He is likely to be
replaced by S Sreesanth, to be approved by ICC’s technical committee.
Meantime, do you remember John Michael
Davison ? and can you answer who is the player from Tamilnadu who would be
playing in this WC (apart from Ravichandran Ashwin) ?
The Indian team is
governed by the BCCI but Team Canada is
their National cricket team run by Cricket Canada. Politically, Canada is a North American
country consisting of ten provinces and three territories and is located in the
northern part of the continent, extending from
Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and
northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by
total area. Like many other countries,
it was land of aboriginal people, explored and settled by British, French and
others. The country is a federation
governed as a Parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen
Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual nation with both English
and French as official languages at the federal level.
Canada is not
sanctioned to play Test but takes part in One dayers and plays regularly
against non-test playing nations and their rivalry against USA is strong. The ODI No. 2752 played between Canada &
West Indies on 24th Aug 2008 – Scotiabank Series Final’s result played at Maple
Leaf North- West Ground, King City, is
not great significance but is relevant to the Question on top. West Indies won that match by 7 wickets with
135 balls to spare. This man bowled 7
overs conceded 50 and took 2 wickets on his debut in that match.
Canada played 1979
version with no success and were back in SA in 2003. Its squad was a delicate mixture of players
from the India, Pak, Lanka and W Indies.
All rounder John Davison carved out a niche. In the Intercontinental Cup against the USA,
he took 17 wickets for 137 runs. In 2003, they had the ignominy of being
dismissed for paltry 36 by the Lankans.
In the next game, John Davison scored the fastest ever WC century but
Canada lost the match still. He scored
111 (100 off 67 balls – then quickest century) and made 50 off 23 against New
Zealand.
Now
coming to the other Tamilnadu Player – he is not playing for India. Once upon a time the U19
Team that toured Srilanka in 1997 had hosts of Ranji players including
Joti Jadav, Shiv Sundar Das, Akash Chopra, Amit Pagnis, Ajit Agarkar and WD
Balaji Rao. Balaji had been there with
the previous U19 teams as well.
The Canadian
challenge is led by Ashish Bagai, who is also from India. The team features some players who have come
through the ranks from their youth programme.
Jamaican born Tyson Gordon has been picked but he is awaiting his
confirmation of citizenship.
Wandavasi
Dorakanti Balaji Rao, born in Madras in 1978 played for Tamilnadu and Railways
in Ranji trophy. He was a left handed
batsman and good leg spinner. He made
his debut for Canada against WI as written above and has played T 20 also. Once touted as a national prospect, Balaji
rao withered into wilderness after playing for India Youth in 1995 against a
strong England team. He could never
break higher despite his talent and shifted his base years later. Now he would be coming back to his homeland –
though Canada is not playing any in Chennai.
Seen in this photo : Balajirao (bowler) – Nayan Mongia appealing against Jason Gillespie.
Canada is led by Ashish Bagai who was born in Delhi, a
right handed batsman keeper.
Regards – S. Sampathkumar.
Cricket in Canada has a long history. In 1844 the first international match was played between Canada and the United States and in 1859 the first overseas cricket tour took place when George Parr's professionals visited first Canada and then America. Apart from a brief period in the late nineteenth century cricket in Canada has been played by immigrants. Firstly it was immigrants from Britain who sustained the game in Canada, but throughout the last century immigrants from the West Indies and then India and Pakistan predominated. If you want to know more about the history of cricket in Canada visit my web page: www.historyofcanadiancricket.pbworks.com
ReplyDeleteI wasn't very fond of cricket a few years ago but slowly and surely I began to understand the beauty of this game. Way more nice than baseball.
ReplyDeleteCricket is awesome. A gentleman's sport. Always loved it, always will. Very relaxing.
ReplyDeleteW D Balaji Rao was touted to replace Anil Kumble.. Such was his calibre.. politics doesnt allow people with great talent to prosper in Indian Cricket.. only money does:-(
ReplyDelete