Finally, a day for bowlers to remember. I can not recall when was the last time the ball dominated the bat in both games on a single day, right from WACA to Centurian. Chris Tremlett had a dream return to test cricket.
This batting show was least expected from India specially after the kind of efforts put in by Kirsten & others during practice sessions. As it now stands, SA bowlers 1, Indian batsmen 0.
Hope the dream bowling continues tomorrow and we see similar performance from Indian bowlers.

puys, who do you think is the best coach in world cricket ? Andy Flower or Gary Kirsten.

And how do you rate Gary Kirsten performance as Indian coach as compared to that of John Wright. Who has contributed more to Indian cricket ?

Rather than comparing, I will try to point out their common attributes that helped the players and ultimately the team. Both of them did not impose themselves on the teams, showed tremenduous faith in players and did not try to alter their natural games. But yes, as some one pointed out in earlier post, the turnaround in case of Wright was more pronounced. More than the game itself, it was change in attitude of the players during his tenure that brought desired results. Ganguly also deserves to share the credit. After going through his account(Indian Summers), I would say that Wright was a better man manager and his role demanded him to be a better man manager than being a technician or consultant.Kirsten, though more professional, has had to share different responsibilities in present scenario.Talking about Flower, he might be the best batsman in English dressing room these days, but it is too early to comment about his coaching skills.

They say Majid Majidi is a genius and is easily one of the best film makers around. The movie The Color of Paradise is certainly a gem and proves the statement beyond doubt.
The movie rides high on emotions and deals with strained relationship between a father and his blind son. Under what circumstances does the father realizes the love for his son, whom he always treated as a burden and an obstacle in his second marriage forms the crux of the story.
The way the director explores and presents every character and also the relationship between them is heart warming. Masterpieces are the scenes in which the child relishes and appreciates the beauty of the nature with his hands. The nature never looked more beautiful in any other film.
This is a masterpiece from the director but would not have been same without the superb performances from the actors. The performance by the child is certainly one of the best ever by a child actor. Dialogs are brilliant and add to the emotions of the movie.

My take for this classic : Must see

Totally agreed mate.. banning Randiv is too harsh. Such incidents are bound to happen once in a while. Even MCC has admitted that there are certain loopholes present in the rulebook which leads to such incident. This was an exceptional case and whatever Randiv did was well within the rules of the game.

BTW, few months back, during last stages of IND-SA 2nd test match, when India needed 1 wicket in 3 overs, it was Sehwag who kicked the ball outside the boundary, so that Amla couldn't retain strike for the next over. Though Umpire awarded (1 run + 5 penalties) on that occasion, and Amla faced the 1st ball of next over.

True mate..now that incident is sure to grab some headlines.

Bdw, found a very nice article on such similar incidents.
Cricinfo XI: Players who were done out of landmarks by their opponents Regulars Cricinfo Magazine Cricinfo.com

Now to another big cricketing event. The ICC awards.

ICC news: Amla, Sehwag, Bollinger in the race for ICC awards Cricket News Cricinfo ICC Site Cricinfo.com

Share your picks puys.

My picks

Cricketer of the year : Greame Swann &/or Sachin Tendulkar

Test Player of the year :Virender Sehwag or Sachin Tendulkar or Shane Watson or Hashim Amla(Thats a really tough one)

ODI Player of the year : Shane Watson or Sachin Tendulkar(for that 200* of course) or Tilakratne Dilshan (Sachin Tendulkar has not played an ODI since 200*, so slightly difficult for him)

Emerging Player of the year : Mohd.Amir & Umar Akmal(Not sure about other awards, but this has to be shared by the two)

Associate and Affiliate player of the year: Ryan ten Doeschate(Must confess not familiar with all names)

Twenty20 international performance of the year: :Michael Hussey 60*v Pakistan(Give it to the occasion)

Women's Cricketer of the Year: Sarah McGlashan(again not familiar with all names)

Umpire of the Year: Rudi Koertzen(Give it to Rudi now...he has retired)

Moment of the year : That 200* special

Will try to come up with more precise answers soon.

The Randiv-Sehwag incident has really been blown out of proportion. What was done can not be considered right under sportsmanship spirit, but it was well within the laws. After the post match presentation, Sehwag response was fueled by media at the conference & SLC under the impression that this might hamper their relations with BCCI, tried to resolve the matter quickly. The issue should have been closed with Randiv apology. There was no need to ban him.

Watching Sehwag bat & listening to him, it appears that cricket is a very simple game. I am sure there would be hue & cry after what happened today but just listen to the man's remarks. No fuss at all. No regret, no complaints. It is after all a game. Truly remarkable.

Could not follow Indian innings, will try to catch highlights later.
But, can't keep my curiosity under control. What was that?
What transpired? Was the ball moving too much under the lights? Did pitch deteorate? Did NZ bowlers bowled well or did Indians just gift their wickets? And where was Virat Kohli?
There has to be some reason for this show.

Just caught glimpses of ongoing test match between Pakistan & England. James Anderson is virtually unplayable in these conditions. How you play this guy who can move the ball both ways from similar angles? I bet even most established batsmen will find it tough against him let alone a new look Pakistani batting line up under a new captain. He ceratinly is the best swing bowler around these days. Pakistan did well in removing England lower order rather quickly, but under these conditions & against this kind of bowling they will find it hard to avoid innings defeat.
Meanwhile, another very very special gem was produced by our very own VVS. All talks about the demons in the pitch were put to rest by his brilliant display.
So now we have another Ind-SL series coming up. Thank God we have NZ as well to accompany them.
Ten Sports is supposed to launch a new channel Ten Cricket this month. Would it be available in India on all operators? Any news?

Who would have thought that Mendis with a bat in hand would make India dance to his tunes? Sure he did this with a ball in hand last time.
The pitch is getting tough with odd bounce evident in the last session of the day. This is going to be a tough task for Indians with as many as 3 threats looming, Malinga, Mendis & Randiv.

IPL is going to be a more brainer this time in season 4.
Indian Premier League: Gavaskar outlines player retention method Cricket News | Indian Premier League 2011 Cricinfo.com