Hello and welcome to the....er...third edition (I think so) of Pitch Report (Its been such a looong break). Its cricketing action almost daily but its all in the domestic scene. They call it the IPL. Starting off with international news; the Aussies have just had a undeafeated test summer. Now they have requested Cricket Australia to schedule all their tests only during the summer, be it in the Northern or Southern hemisphere. They do like to turn on the heat on their opposition.
In other news, the IPL continues unabated in India. Oops!! Hope I am not pulled up by Lalit Modi for mentioning IPL as other news. The most scarce resource in the IPL has been superlatives with almost every one of them used. Maybe they will borrow from Spanish or French for the remaining of the tournament. Gautam Gambhir more than others sure needs a lesson in superlatives.
As the IPL has progressed, Kings XI Punjab have emerged as the most feared team. Opposition teams are terrified because losing to them means a setback to their semifinal efforts and also they have to face the ignominy of losing to the Kings XI. And who says you have to be a winner to be feared.
The IPL is being considered as a great innovator but that can be limited to commercial endorsements. Innovations are being talked of elsewhere. ECB has declared that ODI county championships will have two innings - a Tendulkar idea. And Steve Waugh has been latest to endorse pink-ball day-night test matches. The IPL continues to ponder about tactical breaks to go with strategic timeouts. Set Max is smiling.
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