For a coach who wanted 4, or was it 11, captains for his team, it is no surprise that he couldn't settle on a single title for his book. John Buchanan's literary offering on cricket appears to have two titles on the cover. The Future of Cricket comes on top, The Rise of Twenty20, follows. That apart, the cover also has a strap line: When money talks, cricket listens. How big money, administrators are powering a new cricket world: an inside account. Phew! Can't this guy keep anything simple?

The book's juicy parts have already made national headlines. When you write adversely about Gavaskar, Harbhajan and Yuvraj, you are sure to grab eyeballs. And when you write lines such as in T20 "you have to be inventive, fearless. And I don't see those qualities as part of Sachin's make-up at this stage of his career. Sachin Tendulkar is still a great player, but not in this arena of T20," everybody is eager to find out what you say next.  Buchanan may have led KKR to the bottom but the book demonstrates his genius for marketing himself.

Reading the book one gets the impression that Buchanan is a mastermind at predicting the distant future. But he is not so adept at dealing with the present or the immediate future. He certainly didn't know that KKR will finish last in IPL2.  And that he will get the boot Read more...

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About a fortnight ago when I wrote the blog, Why Pakistan must win Twenty20 World Cup, I was flooded with colourful abuses. An overwhelming majority of respondents labelled me "unpatriotic."  Many appeared convinced that India was going to win the World Cup and that Pakistan will be knocked out in the first round.

They had their reasons, I guess. Some were political and had little to do with cricket. But for a variety of reasons, many genuinely believed that Pakistan wasn't going to put up a good show. To begin with, Younis Khan and company hadn't seen much of international cricket in recent times. That apart, none of them had played in IPL2. Even in the practice games, the team hardly inspired confidence.

So how come Pakistan is playing Sunday's final while MS Dhoni's million dollar boys nurse their wounds. Let us try to analyse:

1. Unlike us, Pakistan improved with every game: Younis Khan and his men looked rusty in the warm-up matches. But rather than being dismissive or cocky, they worked on their shortcomings... Read more...

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Rejoice Kolkata Knight Rider fans! There's life after death. Coach John Boka-known, oops Buchanan, has been sacked.

Barring KKR, every IPL team will miss him. But for his genius, Ajantha Mendis might have played and won a few more games for KKR in IPL2. But for him, Umar Gul might have played more than a mere five matches in IPL1. Only the greatest of talent spotters would have ignored Mendis and opted for the Henriques and the Van Wyk's of the world.

Just look at the performances of Gul and Mendis in the T20 World Cup. They have been winning one game after another for their country. Read more...

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