The Doosra - Cricket Blog - Times Online - WBLG

Who's a lucky boy then?

After all the talk of discipline and exemplary punishment, the Board of Control for Cricket in India have slapped Harbhajan Singh on the wrist...with a marshmallow. A five-match ban from one-day international cricket, when India play over 40 of them a year, is about as much of a punishment as a flea-bite. Financially, it will set him back just over 12,000 pounds, a drop in the IPL ocean, and with a meaningless tri-series [in Bangladesh] and the Asia Cup scheduled in June, he won't even miss the Champions Trophy.

The Express returns on a dark day

Those of you that missed it can watch Shoaib Akhtar's return to action here. Pakistan cricket may have washed its hands of him, but as he showed in front of a delirious crowd at the Eden Gardens, the man still has a lot to offer. It's also debatable whether a Pakistan team mired in mediocrity can afford to ignore him.

The return of the Balaji smile

For nearly three years now, Lakshmipathy Balaji has been Indian cricket's answer to the aircraft that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle. There would be occasional stories of sightings, but a succession of injuries to match Andrew Flintoff's woes had reduced a once-promising career to a what-might-have-been story.

Chennai win super last-ball game

I missed 10 overs of Chennai's reply while walking down to the Eden Gardens, but was just in time to watch the finish on television. It wasn't surprising either that two of the best teams in the competition contested a last-ball thriller. For the Super Kings, who had lost three in a row after a perfect-four start, it was a huge result, while the formidable Delhi Daredevils are now due a bout of navel-gazing after two successive defeats.

The IPL sack race begins

Having nearly matched Mukesh Ambani and the Mumbai franchise in the top-dollar stakes, it wouldn't have taken a genius to figure out that Vijay Mallya was far from thrilled by the start made by his Royal Challengers. The Bangalore outfit have been the worst team on view in the Indian Premier League so far, and their two narrow wins [from seven games] were in tune with scrappy and unconvincingly performances.

The right to appeal

Soon after his team had slumped to a fourth successive defeat, Sourav Ganguly was asked whether he would be in favour of the IPL adopting an appeal system for poor umpiring decisions. Already in trouble after the war of words with Shane Warne in Jaipur, he opted to let the question pass, saying it was for the IPL to decide. You couldn't help but think though how much such a system might have helped his Knight Riders on a Punjabi night when pretty much everything went wrong.

Ol Man River

Got my first glimpse of Glenn McGrath in IPL action last night, as the Delhi Daredevils held their nerve for a third win in four outings. How many could bowl at 125 km/hr and still be so potent? His figures of 4 for 29 were the best in the competition so far, and he won each little battle. Batsmen who struck him for fours would have an illusion of dominance, only for reality to bite with a delivery that bounced a little more than expected, or was just wide enough to induce the mistake. Cricinfo has more on the man whose mastery of the basics is beyond compare.