Uefa Super Cup

The game was set. It was Mourinho vs Guardiola. Chelsea vs Bayern Munich meeting for the first time after Bayern suffered a heartbreak in the Champions league final between the two sides, losing on penalties , eventually winning it the following year. The match was set and it didn't disappoint. It was a sensational final, a complete joy to watch no matter whom you were supporting.
It just had to go to penalties. Though this time it was Bayern who emerged victorious. It was Lukaku, the man said to be capable of being replacing Drogba, whose penalty was saved by Neuer. This was a damaging but necessary experience for Lukaku.
   Chelsea were the underdogs going into the Super Cup, humiliated by Athletico Madrid last year with Falcao scoring a first half hat-trick, playing against a 'Perfect team' as termed by Mourinho. Bayern, winning a treble last season, were arguably the best side in the world under new boss Pep Guradiola who won 15 trophies in 4 years as Barcelona coach. It was time to re-ignite the rivalry between Mourinho and Pep from the time when they were mangers of Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. going in with 7 wins and 5 draws in 15 matches against Mourinho, Pep bettered his record.
  It started briliantly for Chelsea as the opened the scoring early in the first half  with Torres netting in from Andre Schurrle's cros after some fantastic run by Eden Hazard. Bayern threatened but could only find an equaliser 2 minutes in the 2nd half. Ribery voted Europe's best player last night ahead of Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo equalised with a brilliant strike as Bayern displayed attacked aggresively. Chelsea kept on threatenng on the break with some fine display of counter-attacking football.
  Chelsea received a big blow when Ramires was sent off for second yellow card after a foul on Mario Gotze with the game looking to in extra time. Even with 10 men Chelsea looked to attack in extra time and went into the lead again with a superb strike from Eden Hazard displaying somegreat control.
This started a serious of ferocious Bayern attack. Petr Cech with some astounding saves looked determined to get Chelsea through. He first saved a header from Mandzukic and then a header from Martinez. He made another freat save against a Frank Ribery free kick. Petr Cech almost looked invincible, unreal, The 2nd half of the extra time was played in the Chelsea half with Neuer coming to the halfline on a couple of occasion.
And then in 56th second of the 1 minute stoppage Matinez EQUALISED. Bayern kepting on firing the ball in the hole and Chelsea heading it all away, missing the one that was enough for Bayern to take it to the penalties. The first nine spot kicks finding the back of the net, with Ashley Cole close to missing after the ball hit the sidebar and went in, it all come to Lukaku' penalty.Manual Neuer made a comfortable save after anticipating correctly, making it the 2nd consecutive Super Cup loss for Chelsea.

It all led to an Anti-Climax

Much was expected from the Manchester United - Chelsea fixture yesterday, unfortunately it didn't hold up to the billing. The marque event was termed as the battle of "The Special One" and "The Chosen One" and much was expected of it only to end up as a dull draw making Liverpool and Spurs the only team with full marks. This was David Moyes's first home game, with the fixture against a formidable Chelsea side with the much loved  Jose Mourinho back as manager making it a tough start for Moyes. It was  a good result for Moyes who as an Everton manager has never won at Old Trafford though he would be a little disappointed United looked far more threatening and looked a better side while attacking.

Mourinho on the other hand looked to be going for a draw as soon as the whistle was blown. Opting to start without a striker, Chelsea remained mainly in the midfield hardly creating any chances. Many expected Lukaku to start considering his hat-trick last season at Old Trafford, and he played well in the little time he was given against Aston Villa. Torres was introduced at the hour mark as a substitute for De Bruyne. He had little impact in the game as it headed towards a goalless draw.

Much excitement in the beginning was to see Rooney play against the rivals who opening had stated him being their only transfer target. His performance justified Chelsea's chase for the troubled United star whose pictures of non-participation in the celebration of his teammate's goal in the first week of EPL was all over the internet. Rumor had it that Chelsea were going to make a last bid of supposedly £40 million for the striker. Rooney was almost everywhere yesterday, attacking, creating chances, winning the ball back, helping out the defense.

Last years  hero Michael Carrick had another good outing. His positioning sense, tackling and off the ball movement was quite immense. Though last years Marquee signing Robin Van Persie was MIA most of the match. Moyes made his displeasure felt at Frank Lampard's handball waived off by the referee and not being given a penalty. He would need to start preparing for United's visit to the Anfield against Liverpool who with a spectacular performance by Sturridge has made a great start to this years Premier League.

Positives for Chelsea would be their defense with John Terry and Ashley Cole giving a solid performance. The ever reliable Petr Cech has now kept 200 clean sheets for Chelsea. With a great mix of young and experienced midfield to choose from, Chelsea's only problem looks to be the striker's department. With Lukaku not being given enough chances and both  Torres and Ba giving mediocre performances, a signing at the Stamford Bridge is imminent. This Chelsea side will be really tested against Bayern Munich as the play for the Euro Super Cup. With Bayern playing some of the best football ever with a treble last season and Pep Guardiola at the helm it would be interesting to see whether Mourinho will be able to pull off a spectacular victory against his nemesis or would Chelsea's struggle continue? 

India doesn't play any cricket till the tour of South Africa in November later this year giving the players a much deserved break. Their performance has been quite phenomenal from the "Brown-wash" of Australia to the 5-0 rout of Zimbabwe. In between they won the Champions Trophy in England and the triangular series in the West Indies. This performance right after the humiliating defeat against England and the IPL spot-fixing scandal is a welcome sight for cricket fans.

A lot of changes has undergone since the tour by England. India has a new opening combination. Sachin retired from one day cricket. India's bowler has performed very well without Zaheer Khan or Harbhajan Singh in the picture. In a tournament consisting of teams like South Africa, Australia and England , India's fielding was standing out but for the right reasons this time. 

The new opening combination of Dhawan-Rohit in the One Day Format has worked quite well. They have complimented each other quite well. Opening with Dhawan has worked in Sharma's favor. Dhawan explosive batting removes the pressure of scoring at a brisk pace and gives Sharma time to settle and just rotate the strike till he gets in stride. Sharma isn't in the best of form. But the positive side is that he has stuck in there and scored some valuable 50s and 60s. Moreover they have given India a good start more often than not. 

Dhawan has gone to destroy the opposition after getting starts and will be quite feared in the test series against South Africa this November. As for Sharma it's difficult for him to get a game. Murali Vijay will partner Dhawan in the test. Sharma's recent performance for India A in South Africa may work in his favor to get a game. It's good that players like Dhawan, Pujara, Sharma, Raina are getting good exposure to South African conditions as part of their stint in India A. 

Dhawan-Rohit partnership is similar to Sehwag-Gambhir combination in the sense that both are left-right combination and one of them bats quite aggressively and gets the run-rate going. Hopefully this new partnership will too help India win as many matches as  possible.

It's quite rare in test matches that both the teams are going for the win in the 2nd innings. The 3rd Ashes test gave hope before bad light and rain swept. It made cricket the real loser.
But Australia might feel like a bigger loser. Nothing seems to be going right for them.
There batsman showed some individual quality but never threatened the English bowlers before the 3rd test.
Steven Smith, Philip Hughes, Chris Rogers, Usman Khawaja all got half centuries but never got close to That century which could make the difference. Watson remained in the twenties and the thirties and there were opening stand of 50 plus but until Clarke's century in the 3rd test, Australian batting looked toothless with Clarke having not much impact. There highest scorer was the 11th man Ashton Agar with a brilliant 98 to give Australia a chance to win the 1st test.
Going into the 3rd test knowing just a draw would help England retain the Ashes both teams were looking to win. And that looked the same till the bad lights stopped play on the fourth day.
This win would have done wonders for Australia. They would have gone into the 4th test with much more determination and confidence but now they would just look like dejected lots on the field.
Things always seem to go the wrong way when you down and seems to be case with Australia, coming so close to filling this series with life.
This test had some of the most amazing moment leading us to the climax - the way Michael Clarke played against Swann, Kevin Peterson's century, Mitchell Stark's aggressive batting- but it's a shame it had an anti-climax. 

The Ashes 2013

As oldest rival in test cricket starts tomorrow, it would be good to have some great test cricket action. Though test cricket maybe be dying, it will always remain that beautiful cricket where the shots are played with such grace and finesse which is missing in the limited over formats.

Ashes may be considered as the greatest rivalries by both the countries, it looks more of a one sided contest. England having won the two previous Ashes, looks set to win   it the third time. They have a great team in good form. They have the home advantage. They were the deserved finalist in the recently held Champions Trophy. They have a batting line-up suited for test cricket. Then they have a great skipper in the form of Alastair Cook leading them from the front, and is capable of surpassing Sachin Tendulkar as said by Kevin Peterson. Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell both look in good touch. Then there's the destructive Kevin Peterson said to have the capability of changing the match in a single session, who looked raring to go in the warm-up game. They have the best bowling line-up in the English conditions lead by the arguably the best swing bowler of current time and one of England's great spinner. Any top team would be worried to face such an England side. 

Then there's their rivals Australia. Now many years ago they were a feared side. Many teams could only dream of winning a series against them. They seemed quite invincible. But nothing lasts forever and so did their golden period. They are coming into this series after a disappointing Champions trophy, failing to win a single match (though one of their matches was washed out and they were missing their captain Michael Clarke). They were the one humbled 4-0 by India in India. The team looks in shatters and is always surrounded by controversy. The banning of four players in the India series for not submitting their homework on time. Warner's outrage on Australian journalist on twitter and again Warner's fight with an England player during the ongoing Champions Trophy.They replaced their coach just days before the Ashes series, clearing indicating all's not well with this team. With Warner's selection doubtful, this Australian teams batting line-up is highly dependent on Shane Watson and Michael Clarke. Both looks in good touch but other batsman would have to contribute if they are to challenge for the Ashes. Though their bowling attack looks good, it won't be enough to win them the match if their batsmen perishes against the James Anderson lead attack. Maybe the change of coach may change the fortunes for Australia.

 It has happened before that an underdog team have won the Ashes and there is no reason that this Australian side couldn't achieve that. Maybe that's what makes it the greatest rivalry ever.

Wimbeldon so far

What a Wimbeldon this has been. First Nadal, then Federer and now Andy Murray is tied at 2-2 against Verdasco in the quarter-final. He may still be able to go through to the semi-finals but it's clear that the top seeds have been given a run for their money.
 Except Djokovic all have struggled with Federer and Nadal knocked out in the second and third round respectively.
Djokovic looks set to win the tournament, not having drop a set yet. But Del Potro will be a tough opponent and it won't be shocking to see him win the tournament.
This Wimbeldon advertised some epic matches with Federer meeting Nadal in the quarters and the winner meeting Murray in the semi-finals.
But thats the beauty of sports, isn't it? It all comes down to who was better that day. Ranking and achievements doesn't matter at all. Atleast that would be going in the mind of Stakovsky and Darcis, both 100+ ranked, when they deafeated the defending champion and the french open champion.
Nadal had a disappointing Wimbeldon last year too and did struggle with his knee a little bit during his match.
The more shocking and difficult to digest defeat was of Roger Federer. The seven time Wimbeldon champion could have easily gone through, losing the match 6-7 7-6 7-5 7-6 . Watching Federer play is a delight and it was disappointing to see his exit on the 3rd day itself.
Del Potro is two game away from glory. Verdasco is a game away from ousting Murray. The top two women seeds are both knocked out.With many pulling out with injury and some shock results this could be anybody's Wimbeldon. Maybe this Wimbeldon belongs to the Dark Horse or Djokovic and Murray will control the balance of power yet again.

An Expected Disappointment

It was never a shock that Tsonga defeated Federer in the quarter-finals of the French Open. Federer was never the favorite to win the French Open. This has been a disappointing year for Federer, having reached just one final and failing to win any tournament.
   He struggled in the pre-quaters, having being 2-1 down. In the match against Tsonga he made many unforced errors. He never looked in the game.
  When a player of Federer's class makes a double fault in such a high profile tournament you know something is terribly wrong.
 Tsonga has incredible power and he moved quite well on the court, getting effectively to Federer's dropshots. If he can continue with his immense power and a little more consistent accuracy he can easily be a big threat to the big four.
  It's always heart-breaking to see Federer lose. But lets just hope we can see the old dominating Federer in the Wimbledon.