Midweek Madness : On this Year's UCL semi-finals

What the football world witnessed this week was nothing short of two absolutely sensational comebacks. On Tuesday night, Liverpool did the unthinkable at Anfield beating a very formidable Barcelona. A day later, Tottenham went a step further at Ajax to change the two legged tie within a half. What is amazing about these comebacks is not even the ardent fans of these two clubs expected something quite like this. To cap off an amazing UCL this year is an all England final between teams who just don't know how to give up, no matter the odds stacked against them. That this feat came without the presence of  Mohammed Salah and Kane just adds another feather to their glorious runs. To reign supreme against adversity is something both these clubs have made a habit of. Let's try to recapture the madness that took place this week!

Magnificent Liverpool!

As I have written in one of my previous blogs, Klopp has made sure that last season's UCL success for Liverpool was not a one off success. He has sustained that form for Liverpool for so long that they are genuinely considered one of the best teams in the world specially at home. Turning a 3-0 drubbing against a Leo Messi masterclass to a 4-0 rout is not a mean task. That it came against high quality La Liga champions and in the absence of Salah, Firminho and Keita shows the mettle this Liverpool team possess. Going toe to toe with Manchester City in the league, they might finish as the second best in EPL this Sunday, but they still have had an incredibly successful season. A large part of that success is owed to Klopp's tactical genius. While his counterpart Valverde took out Coutinho and brought on another defender with the Leg tied at 3-0 , Klopp brought on another attacker and the move paid dividends. Week after week, match after match, Klopp has proved himself to be a great tactician and his record at Anfield will only get better. He's here to stay and might well be coined the Premier League's 'Special One'.

Counter Attacking Spurs!

If the quarter finals against Manchester City were any indication then Spurs were not expected to be beaten without a fight. However, all of that resilience came int question at half time. With Ajax leading the home leg 2-0 and effectively 3-0, any sound football follower would not have dreamt of the drama that would ensue on that night in Amsterdam. A team devoid of the services of one of the best strikers of this generation in Harry Kane were not expected to counter attack in the manner they did. Lucas Moura scored a hat trick, with the last one coming with virtually the last kick of the match. If there were any doubts on Spurs's ability to rise to the occasion on the biggest stages of the competition, then they were all put to rest. Spurs have not signed a player in an year and the emotions that Pochettino showed on the field shows how much this club has grown from being an underdog to everyone's favorite. They may or may not win the Champions League but they've shown everyone what belief can do to a set of players willing to put a fight till the end. Spurs are the common man's hero and Pochettino a very admirable figure. 

It promises to be an aboslute thriller of a final. One every football fan is waiting for. Two pretty evenly matched teams with a great flair for counter attacks. With the availability of Kane and Salah, make no mistake, this promises to be the best final in decades of UCL history!

Revival of the kings of comebacks : On Manchester United

Ole Ole Ole!!!

Yup, that's the name doing the rounds in the streets of Manchester after the amazing comeback win at the home of PSG. Every Manchester United fan felt a nostalgia about the famous 'Fergie' time when Rashford scored that penalty in injury time yesterday. This was a team, which 3 months ago, was a mid table team lying at the 7th position and way off the champions league contention for the next season. They had sacked the 'special one' in Jose Mourinho and were looking to rebuild. Then came the mercurial Ole Solskjaer, the same man who helped United win the 1999 Uefa Champions League in injury time. The way he has turned United's fortunes can be gauged by the fact that United have now won 8 straight away games since he came on as interim coach. 17 games, 14 wins, 2 draws and just a single defeat makes United the team to fear under his stroke of genius. Top teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and now PSG have come up short against this rejuvenated side.

Back to the glory days!

The key essence of the Manchester United teams from the past was their ability to bounce back and win games when they conceded early. Unfortunately for their fans, after Sir Alex retired in 2013, Manchester United had lost the art of comeback. Teams earlier used to fear the late goals from United but until now United had a very defensive approach every time they used to get a lead or concede early. Ole's arrival has brought a sense of purpose and attacking demeanour in all the players. They are not satisfied with 1-0 wins or draws away from home. They want more. United's goal difference when Mourinho left was 0. In 10 league games ever since, this has now gone up to 20. That's an average of 2 goals victory every game! Surely an amazing feat considering the drab draws and the defeats in the early part of the season.

Motivated Players

Under the reign of Mourinho, there used to be some sort of mutiny among the players. For 2 years players of the calibre of Lukaku, Herrera and Pogba never really played upto their potential. They performed amazingly well at the 2018 World Cup. So it seemed all was not well with the management of Manchester United. Mourinho has had problems with players in the past. Despite of being a very shrewd tactician, he seems to lack management of his players. This was where the best decision came from the board of this club. In hiring Ole as the coach, they not only instilled a sense of belief in the team but also kept someone who knew the ideology of the club and who has achieved plenty of success with this team. Ole knows how to keep a team United and firing. He knows what to expect from the 20 time champions and its players are more motivated than ever to stomp their mark on European territory again after a decade of failures and frustrations. Let's hope United return the favours and give the permanent job that he so thoroughly deserves!

Unstoppable Novak : Australian Open 2019

The first grand slam of the season got over yesterday and fans wouldn't be disappointed with what they saw over the last two weeks in Melbourne Park. The ladies singles and the men's singles saw a repeat winner of the US Open. The ladies singles final was a close affair between Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova. The match went the distance but the 21 year old Osaka prevailed and established herself as the best women's singles player in the world. She's also the youngest World No.1 after Caroline Wozniacki in 2009 and became the first player since Serena Williams to win back to back Grand Slam tournaments. The men's singles saw Novak Djokovic establish his greatness once again and move into the record books. More than his win on one of the greats of all time, Rafael Nadal, it was the manner in which he pulverized the Spaniard. The scoreline 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 aptly describes the dominance of Djokovic. He hammered 35 winners and committed only 9 errors in the whole match. He never let Rafa settle down and dictated play according to his own terms. He now has more Australian Open championships than any other male player in the history of game and is now third on the list of all time Grand Slam wins with 15, just 2 behind Rafael Nadal and 5 behind Roger Federer. He now stakes the claim to be the greatest player of all time along with Nadal and Federer. The following points go in his favour:

1. Winning the Career Golden Masters

Ever Since the creation of the "Masters 1000" in 2009, Novak Djokovic is the only player to claim all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.This fact alone shows his versatility and the ability to adjust his game on every surface. He's also the holder of most masters singles titles in a season and boasts of an incredible 32 masters titles. After the 4 Grand Slams and the ATP finals, the Masters 1000 series is the toughest competition in Tennis and he has performed at an optimal level in this series. The masters 1000 tests a player's endurance and fitness. To excel in that after a gruelling schedule is a testimony to his mental toughness and all roundedness.

2. Holding all 4 Grand Slams together

Since Rod Laver won all the 4 Grand Slams in 1969, no male player ever won 4 consecutive tournaments until Djokovic, in 2015-16 won 4 consecutively, although in a non calendar year. Winning 4 Grand Slams is without doubt the toughest achievement in Tennis and at no point Novak was challenged. He appeared invincible at times, just like he demolished Nadal, a 17 time Grand Slam winner, last night at the Melbourne Park. When Djokovic is in form, he's unbeatable. He chases every ball, is perhaps, the best returner the game has ever seen and has an impeccable sense of all the angles and possesses a deadly backhand down the line. 

3. Rejuvenated Champion

Sports is cruel and even someone as tenacious as Djokovic found it after his 2016 French open success. His performances were marred by injuries and he found it tough to compete at the highest level. He was fighting multiple injuries. His elbow needed several surgeries. He had doubts if he could ever compete at the top level and challenge the likes of Federer, Nadal and Murray. 2017 saw Federer and Nadal win all 4 Grand Slams. However, he fought all the odds and emerged a champion again. He won Wimbledon, the US Open and now the Australian Open. He's the best player in the world again. He has done all this when his main rivals include two of the greatest players of all time in Federer and Nadal. It's time to give Djokovic the respect and admiration he deserves. He is relentless and every bit as good as the other two. Against both Federer and Nadal, he has an advantage head to head (25-22 against Federer & 28-25 against Nadal). He's 31, in his prime, hungry for me and looks good to win for another couple of years. If he goes past Federer's Grand Slam records, there's no reason why Novak Djokovic should not be considered as the greatest of all times!

Unfinished Player : The Resurrection of MSD

India completed their Australian tour on a high with a 2-1 victory in the ODI's, the same margin as the tests and in the process, there's a definite answer to the question on who India should play at the all important no. 4 position in the upcoming world cup. For so long, MS Dhoni has been criticized for taking too many dot balls at the start and failing to make up for it later, leaving the team with a lot to do. His match finishing innings in the second and the third match should put all doubts to rest. In the second match, he played the role of a perfect sheet anchor who took his time and then attacked after Kohli's dismissal. His strike rate was above 100 which shows he made up for his slow start. In the series deciding 3rd match, he again played his role to perfection. Chasing a modest total of 230, he took a lot of balls to get in and made sure India get over the line in the last over. It is very evident that Dhoni now needs some time to settle before he can unleash his big shots, which is precisely the reason he should bat at no. 4. With him batting at no.4 , there'll be a sense of calmness in the team. Dhoni can hold one end till the final overs while the likes of Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik can hit the big shots around him. It also gives Dhoni enough time to settle and prepare him for the final onslaught.

Despite all his brilliance, Virat Kohli needs someone who can guide the spinners on what lengths to bowl or how to vary their pace. Most of the time he's fielding at long on and can't dictate the terms. This is where Dhoni with all his experience of captaincy, field placings and wicket-keeping is a real asset to the team. Moreover, his presence on the field has a calming effect on the players around him. He is still the fastest runner in between the wickets and has a lightning hands when it comes to wicket keeping. For India to win the world cup, Ms Dhoni holds a vital place and he must bat at no. 4 to provide the stability to the team and allow the finishers to do their job. Dhoni might be at the fag end of his career in 2019, but when the match situation is tense and you require 15 runs of an over, he's still your best bet to achieve the target. His ability to pierce the gaps and make the bowlers bowl as he wants him to stands apart. He has made India win numerous games with this instinct and I believe, bowling to Dhoni, the pressure on the bowler is more than on Dhoni. Let's hope he can replicate his form in the upcoming series against New Zealand and maintain his form and fitness till the world cup. A firing Dhoni will be the biggest tick in the checkbox and take the pressure of Virat and the openers. 

In the fast lane : 2019 season of Formula 1

As the new year of Formula 1 beckons, fans have every reason to be excited about the new season of  youth and experience of two of the top teams in the past decade. With Kimi Raikkonen now at Sauber having completed his second stint at Ferrari, the time is ripe for young Charles Leclerc to show the world what he is made of. A blend of youth and experience in the form of Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel bodes well for the sport as it will ensure Vettel will find the internal competition that has been lacking at Ferrari. Leclerc had an incredible season at Sauber and came to F1 last year on the back of an impressive championship reign in Formula 2 in 2017. Add to that Pierre Gasly's move at redbull and we have 3 young drivers in Max Verstappen, Gasly and Leclerc in two of the top teams of the sport. Lewis Hamilton will again be Mercedes's main driver with Valtteri Bottas playing the supporting role. The midfield battle looks better with Daniel Ricciardo, hugely frustrated by engine failures at Redbull, now at Renault and the return of Robert Kubica, after a gap of 8 years to Williams. However, the ultimate battle would still be at the front with Hamilton, now a 5 time world champion competing against Vettel, the youngest quadruple champion of the sport. Expecting Leclerc to compete from the word go would be a massive mistake and Vettel should remain Ferrari's best hope to win their first drivers title since 2007. Beating Hamilton with him being on his A-game is nearly impossible if Ferrari keep repeating the mistakes of the last 2 seasons. Here's a few things they might want to do to reign supreme again!

Make Vettel the outright number 1

Even though Vettel was the better performer for most of the last 2 seasons, he never officially was recognized as the number 1 driver at Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen was sometimes asked to move over for  his team mate but during crunch times of the title race, Vettel was often left behind his own team mate. The prime examples of these things are the Singapore Grand Prix in 2017 and the Monza Grand Prix in 2018. In both of these races Vettel went into the race competing with Hamilton and at the end of both, he had the feeling of missing out on the title. In both of these races, had Raikkonen taken a back seat and allowed Vettel to storm to a win just like Bottas does with Hamilton, Vettel would have been able to extend his advantage and maybe even win the championship. For Ferrari to land a title this season, it's imperative that Vettel enjoys the number 1 status and Leclerc holds off Bottas. This will bode well for them in the World Contructors Championship too. Anything less than that and we can be pretty sure of seeing Hamilton being crowned as the second 6 time Drivers Champion of the sport after the legendary Michael Schumacher.

Consistency for Vettel

Despite the internal advantage being more of an issue at Ferrari than Mercedes, Vettel certainly has not converted the opportunities he has been presented with. The most notable one being the German Gp of 2018, where he squandered the opportunity to go 20 points clear at the top of the standings. He led for 3/4th of the race distance only to spin in the rain and let Hamilton win the race. That was a race to consolidate the standings since Hamilton started 14th and Vettel started on pole. Then came the failed overtaking manoeuvres on Verstappen and Ricciardo which led to him spinning and fighting to get to the top 5 while Hamilton slowly increased his lead. Vettel needs to not let the fact that he has a faster car to his disposal get to his head and needs to be more consistent while overtaking marginally slower cars like that of Redbull. This is where Leclerc's arrival at the team will keep him on his toes. He now has a team mate who can challenge him more and perhaps, even win a few Grand Prixs himself, thus, serving as a motivation for Vettel to maintain his position in the team.

Strategy the key for Ferrari

The past two seasons have proved beyond doubt that Ferrari have a better straight line speed, something which has eluded them for well over a decade and is the best car on tracks which require greater downforce and street circuits like Monaco and Singapore. They have the best race pace and their tyres hold well at most tracks. All they now need is a good strategy when it comes to tyre choices and timing of the pitstops. They need to give Vettel a clean run and ensure he does not waste his tyre life overtaking the back markers. If Ferrari and Vettel can finally get their act together after two seasons of disappointment against Hamilton and Mercedes, the F1 fans are in for a treat this season!

Worthy winners Down Under

India scripted history as they beat Australia 2-1 in the series down under to become the first Asian side to achieve this feat. This win will undoubtedly go down as the finest hour of Indian Cricket. Led thoroughly by a very animated Virat Kohli, gone are the days when Indian Teams used to be sitting ducks for the opposition in foreign conditions. Boasting of perhaps the most lethal fast bowling attack, bolstered by a good backup fielding unit and a resilient middle order and a rookie in Mayank Aggarwal, the Indian Team has come of age this series. Often criticized for their selection policies, head coach Ravi Shastri and captain Kohli both made bold changes after the failure in Perth. And how the team reaped the rewards is for everyone to see. The roping in of an inexperienced but hugely talented Mayank Aggarwal and the introduction of Ravindra Jadeja were moves that paid dividends and invigorated a struggling top and lower middle order.
As we celebrate this monumental win on Australian soil for the first time, let's look at a few highlights of the tour and moments that sealed the series for India.

1.  Resilient Pujara
     
For Indian fans who have for long wondered if we were ever going to find someone as dependable at the number 3 spot as Rahul Dravid, this series was a real treat. Cheteshwar Pujara has always had the virtues of a proper Test Batsman. His technique, patience, and the ability to grind the opposition down with tireless hours of batting has never been in question but he had failed to perform big outside the subcontinent till now. Since that first test in England this year when he was dropped, citing bad form and low confidence, he has faced more balls in Test Cricket than any other player in that time. He has also scored more hundreds than anyone else and has been a vital cog in the wheel for Team India. In the era of flamboyance and batting innovations of the T20, Pujara thrives in the classical old form of cricket. He only plays the red ball cricket and plays county cricket during the IPL. He was the defining factor for a fragile top order and had more than 500 runs at an average of above 70 combined with 3 big hundreds. In Adelaide, it was deja vu for the Indian fans once again when they woke up to see India reeling at 41-4 in the series opener. Pujara helped us get through and reach a respectable total. The win in Adelaide set the tone and Pujara, the Test Batsman rose a notch higher. The message has been sent. Never Drop Pujara. 

2.  Attacking Fast Bowling 

While the Batting has always been India's forte, India's Bowling has generally struggled in overseas conditions. This year though, every time they came out, they bowled with a lot of intent and purpose. As a result, the opposition batters were always under the hammer. Be it South Africa, England or Australia the fast bowlers for India performed at an unprecedented level. The consistency of Ishant Sharma, the reverse swing of Mohammed Shami and the pace and variations of Jasprit Bumrah stood out. The trio was so good that they picked up a scarcely believable 130+ wickets, thus outperforming the great trio of Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall. The stat itself is a testimony to the brilliance of this triplet. For an Indian Cricket fan, it was a sight to behold. Indian bowlers bouncing out the opposition in alien conditions was a thing we could not have imagined a few years back. This has also served as a warning to every other team in the world that they could not get away with preparing green bouncy tracks anymore.

3.  Daring Captain

While Kohli the batsman has been the best batsman bar none in the away tours this season, his captaincy has copped a fair bit of criticism for being too defensive or the perceived selection errors. He indeed, has faltered a bit but one has to remember this is a very young team which heavily depends on his brilliance and looks upto him for inspiration. In the process, he has become the only Asian captain ever to win a test in South Africa, England and Australia in a single year. His field placings and bowling changes in both Melbourne and Sydney were spot on. His decision to not enforce the follow on in Melbourne gave his bowlers the extra rest they needed to bowl out the opposition twice. As a viewer, things only look bright when he does all this backing it up with his flamboyance with the Bat. It's time to applaud the team efforts and the captain for his bold and fearless leadership. He has instilled an obsession in this team to win overseas and it's only fitting that he became the first Asian captain to win the series Down Under.

Up and Running : The Steyn Gun

Over the years, the cricketing fraternity has seen fast bowlers shine, win test matches for their teams on foreign territories and become a folklore. In the last few decades, we've seen legends like Malcolm Marshall, Dennis Lillee, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and many more bamboozle the great batting line-ups with their art, skill, swing and pace. Personally, having never seen these legends bowling live is an unfortunate event for me. And this brings me to Dale Steyn; a bowler I've admired long for his determination, fitness, strength and skill in an era where the bat has dominated the ball invariably. Dale Steyn has been a true leader of the attack for South Africa in the past decade. His greatness needs no endorsement as his record speaks volumes of the talent he possesses with the ball in hand, especially in Test Cricket. His ability to swing the ball both ways at the start, to reverse swing the ball later, to crank it up a notch and trouble the best even in those dead pitches of the sub-continent makes him a truly wonderful asset to South Africa and World Cricket. He stakes the claim to be hailed as not "One of  the greatest" but the greatest fast bowler bar none in the history of Test Cricket. Reinforcing these viewpoints are few of the following stats:

1. Steyn was top of the ICC Test bowling rankings for a record 263 weeks (a testament to his fitness)

2. Steyn's career strike rate is insanely good at 42.0, meaning he takes a wicket every 42 balls, a genuine wicket taker.

3. Steyn is the quickest fast bowler in history to get to 400 wickets in Test Cricket.

Best of this generation
Records will still say that James Anderson is the best fast bowler of this generation but the batsmen and the contemporary greats of the game will tell a different story. That this champion has done all this in 89 tests is a further proof of his greatness. Off late, Steyn has been plagued by injuries. It is a shame in the last few years injuries have cut short his incredible career. Since 2015 he has missed more than 25 tests. In the mean time, Anderson has surged ahead. Taking nothing away from Anderson and going purely by statistics, Steyn would have been close to 550+ Test wickets had he not succumbed to those injuries. Wherever he went, home and away, Steyn left an indelible mark on every crowd, every fan, every lover of the art of  fast bowling and infused new life in an otherwise lifeless era for bowling aided by flat heavy bats and lifeless pitches. Steyn is 35 now and hopefully, has a couple of injury free years ahead of him. So, let's sit back and enjoy a master ply his trade till the time it lasts.