Spirits Cricket

Video clip Score: 5 / 5

Shane Warne is probably better known throughout the world for being one of the best cricketers of all time. The Australian’s bowling skills have made him famous and his career has spanned time with the Australian National Cricket Team, the Australian domestic cricket team of his native Victoria and the English domestic cricket team for Hampshire, where he was captain for three seasons. However, he is not only a talented cricketer, but has also proven himself to be rather formidable when it comes to playing the game of poker.

During his time as a cricketer, Shane would play poker with his teammates as they travelled around between matches. This gave him the practice to develop his skills and finally take them further, so much so that he is now known throughout the poker world as well as the sporting one. (more…)

Movie Ranking: / 5

Up and coming Indian batsman Rohit Sharma believes that getting a chance to share the crease with Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has benefitted him a lot and he has picked up a lot by playing with him. Speaking to the media after the Mumbai Indians thrashed the Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata at the famous Eden Gardens stadium, Sharma added that Sachin is obviously a legend of the game and in spite of having been played at the top level for almost 23 years now, he seems to have the same hunger as he had when he was a youngster.

Sharma was still in his nappies when Tendulkar made his Test match debut for India against arch rivals Pakistan at the tender age of 16 years in 1989 and although he didn’t get to see the beginning of his career, Sharma is convinced that there have hardly been any changes in the way The Master Blaster played the game.

Sharma, however, stole the thunder from Sachin Tendulkar on the day when he scored a blitzkrieg century just after The Little Master was felicitated by the Cricket Association of Bengal for scoring 100 centuries in international cricket, a feat that has never been achieved and the chances of which being repeated are pretty slim. Sharma has been playing some brilliant cricket himself and he added that whenever he played good shots, The Little Maestro would always come up to him and acknowledge it.

Although Tendulkar missed out on a big run at the Eden Gardens, Sharma feels that he is one player who can win matches without anyone’s help and that is what makes Sachin Tendulkar still so dangerous an opponent for any team he plays against and hopes that he would get many more chances of batting with him.

Alastair Cook’s ability to lead the England Cricket Team in One day Internationals has been vindicated after the side managed to win the first match against Pakistan with a margin of 130 runs at the United Arab Emirates, after they were brushed aside in the test series, being whitewashed 3-0 by a side that was not given much of a chance ahead of the series against the number one Test playing nation in the world.

Cook’s ability to captain a side of the stature of England has come under immense scrutiny from time to time especially by many former cricketers. Ian Botham showed his dissatisfaction at the decision of the England and Wales Cricket Board or the ECB to appoint Cook as the captain of the One day International side last year.

He further added that Cook should be replaced by Stuart Broad, the captain of the England Cricket Team in Twenty 20 Internationals who was doing a much better job than Cook. Moreover, the 5-0 series loss to India in the subcontinent last October also did not help Cook’s cause much. But he is sure to see this win against Pakistan as vindication to all those comments on his ability to captain the side, especially since the win came after a 3-0 demolition in the Test series.

Alastair Cook also managed to let his bat do the talking with a score of 197 off 142 balls, his highest score in One day International cricket so far. Speaking in the post match press conference, Captain Cook added that it was important to get the win as a confidence booster for the side which had lost badly against the Pakistan side in the Test series and was looking forward to winning the ODI series for the England Cricket Team by leading them from the front.

Movie Rating: five / 5