Sports Then and Now

As an avid fan of MS Dhoni, I was extremely excited when I heard the news about a film depicting his journey to being one of the best captain in modern limited-overs international cricket. 

Of course, when the official release date was revealed, I couldn’t help but look forward to September 30, 2016. 

I remember watching the film for the first time and being completely engrossed on learning about the life of MS Dhoni and how he rose to become one of the most recognized cricket players in the world. His life story is indeed inspiring and the film greatly made me feel motivated to reach for my personal goals.

The film portrayed the life of the infamous Indian cricket player who was also the former captain of the India national cricket team. On top of that, he is the current captain of the Chennai Super Kings for the Indian Premier League — the most popular sports league in India. 

MS: Dhoni: The Untold Story began with a flashback to 1981 in Dhoni’s hometown. His father, Pan Singh was at the hospital to welcome the birth of his son, who he named Mahendra. 

Fantasy Cricket is just what happens when you add a smartphone, an app and a working data plan to your undeniable passion for cricket. It also requires a profound knowledge of the game, information on players and playing conditions for the best results to show up. These are three terms bracketed by fantasy cricket tips and tricks on popular blogs. For the pros, the virtual variant of the sport packs a complete punch with its exciting reward structures- and its time you use your love for the game in a completely new dimension to carve a space for yourself too!

This new online variant helps you be in perfect sync with the next game of cricket that you’d be watching on your TV set or possibly in a stadium. While you could be busy with the game, you can create your squad with some expert fantasy cricket tips and tricks. You can take to your game without going on a leather hunt even as eleven players on the screen are doing just that, and you can best use that time sipping a cup of coffee in your drawing-room. It’s fun, easy and a lot of fun, especially with some match-centric fantasy cricket tips by your side! 

Reading Fantasy Cricket News and Updates

It is vitally important to follow your preferred sport carefully. By the term ‘carefully’, we imply being in sync with all the fantasy cricket news and updates that would affect your game directly. You could count a variety of factors in it, as under:

• Playing conditions
• Pitch and weather conditions
• Toss
• Opposition
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Top batsmen and bowlers
• Captain and Vice-Captain
• Injury or recovery
• Availability of chosen players
• Uncapped Players
• Previous experience of playing against the same opposition
• Current form and track record
• Batting or Bowling order
• Players who can score Bonus Points
• Players you think could play their best on a certain day

One of the best fantasy cricket tips an expert could offer you is to know who your opponents are and where they are playing. Several top players of fantasy cricket in India usually forget to take this crucial point in consideration while forming their virtual squad and then realize their mistake when it’s too late. 

Cricket is an exciting sport that has been around since the 18th century. Though some people believed that cricket had been played earlier around the 16th century, it still boiled down to the fact the sport has been around for a while. 

Interestingly, betting on cricket, like every other sport, is popular and comes with its thrills. Betting is a common practice in the world of sports, so far sports are being played, bets are staked. And fans who have a passion for the sport and understand the betting odds of the game enjoy staking their bets on cricket. 

Online Cricket Betting

As a popular game played in several countries in United Kingdoms, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, cricket is the sport with largest fanbase in India. And this means all through the year there are loads of online betting options on cricket. More so, with the advent of technology, bets on cricket are quickly wagered on mobile and desktop devices.  

Online betting on cricket is similar to that of other sports in that the operators understand the ins and outs of the business. And for you to win against the bookmakers, you have to know how to analyze cricket betting odds. The truth is, relying on your guts on matches without proper analyses will only make fall in the category of other bettors who lose loads of money to operators. Beyond the substantial winning opportunities on cricket betting, fans can as well bet only for the thrill of betting and fun of the game.

After every two years, Australia and England gear up for head to head clashes in one of the biggest test competitions in the international cricket; The Ashes. It’s a unique test series and also one of the longest-running rivalries in the history of cricket. Whosoever wins the Ashes take the trophy away. The series is held alternatively between Australia and England. This time, it was the latter who hosted the tournament. 

Why is the series called The Ashes?

“In affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at The Oval, 29th August 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances, RIP. NB The body will be cremated, and The Ashes were taken to Australia.” Reginald Shirley Brooks, a young journalist, wrote this mockery that appeared in the Sporting Times in 1882. He had to do so because Australia marked their first victory over the full strength England team at the Oval. It was shocking for everyone, especially for the English audience. 

The calypso kings are venturing down under to contest Australia in the summer of cricket 2015-2016. The battles between the West Indies and Australia over the last century have brought about some of the most exhilarating and exciting matches through the highs and lows of both teams. Some of the most exciting matches have come over the Christmas and New Year period. Australians will be keen for their ‘Summer of Cricket’Boxing Day odds will provide an exciting contest. However, the West Indies are a mixed bag with an amazing field of talent, but tend to be inconsistent across the different forms of the game. They will be facing a ferocious Australian side that beat them in Kingston in June 2015. The West Indian team have been a class act in Twenty20 forms but have struggled with their performance in test matches due to player unavailability and struggles with the West Indian cricket board. If they are to have a chance with toppling the hosts, the team and the board will need to become a cohesive force that commit to winning their first test match in Australia since 2003. This series will only see 2 test matches played with Australia only requiring a draw in one of the matches to retain the Sir Frank Worrell trophy. Read the rest of this entry →

The Ashes is one of the most desired and certainly one of the most interesting trophies in sports.

In this year’s Ashes, England has returned with a stunning series of victories to win back the Ashes for the third time since 2009. A poor showing from the Australians, combined with an inspiring display of force from the England team, has well and truly put to rest the embarrassingly dry spell of losses experienced in the 1990s.

The Ashes is perhaps one of the most famous trophies of any sport in the world, not just in the cricketing sphere. Its emblem – a tiny urn just 11cm high – stems from a mock obituary for “English Cricket” that was published in the Sporting Times in 1882 after a humiliating loss for England after a match at the Kennington Oval. The memorable quip – “The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia” – began to overshadow to the upcoming tour in Australia, in which captain Ivo Bligh vowed to bring back the Ashes for England.

Since then, the two countries have played over 300 Test series. Both teams have tended to use Gunn and Moore cricket bats, available from cricket retailers such as Talent Cricket.

1932-33: The Bodyline Tour
The genteel world of cricket is not usually known for its controversies. Nevertheless, the 1932-33 Ashes have gone down in history thanks to the questionable “bodyline” tactics employed by the England team under Douglas Jardine. Bodyline was a style of bowling employed primarily to counter the superb skill of Australia’s batsman Don Bradman, considered perhaps the best Test cricketer of all time. Bodyline delivery involved bowling the ball towards the batsman’s body on the leg stump side, in the hope that the resultant leg-side deflection could be handled more easily by fielding England players. It was intended to intimidate, hoping to break the extraordinary skill of Bradman. Read the rest of this entry →