The coming week has some scrumptious humdingers in store for sports buffs in a wide array of sports. England would look to recover from the mauling in the test series, to regain some self-esteem in the shorter format against Pakistan, top faces fourth in La Liga as Madrid vie to extend their lead at the top, the Champions League is back and there is a massive clash between the top dogs in the East in the NBA.
OUT-SPINNING ENGLAND AGAIN
After the whitewash – green-wash, clean sweep or any other detergent related pun that you care to sermon – of the English side, their maladroit approach to spin bowling was made pretty conspicuous. One feels that England never really recovered from being out-spinned in the first session of the first test, and the mere sight of one of our spinners sent a barrage of chills down the collective spine of the English batting. Hence, it seemed a no-brainer that Pakistan would once again be counting on its spinning repertoire to outdo England in the ODI series. Cue Shahid Khan Afridi.
While the ‘full sleeved’ demon Saeed Ajmal would once again look to conjure up his haunting array of varieties to set the stage for another Middle Eastern massacre, it would be Shahid Afridi, who would look to add to the English horror tale, with his own bag of menace. Then there is Mohammed Hafeez and potentially Shoaib Malik as well with their off spin to add to the daunting duo. In fact, the way the English batsmen play spin bowling, we could even try out our leg spinning duo of Imran Farhat and Younus Khan; and if the test series was anything to go by, the English batsmen would make them look like Shane Warne and Abdul Qadir respectively.
However, the fact that it’s a fresh series and a new format, could give England much needed confidence to start from scratch and build up from there. The first game of any series is important, but the game on Monday would be of paramount significance for England. A loss for Alastair Cook’s men would result in that repugnant sensation of déjà vu, and they might find it hard to recover from that. The English selectors seem to have learned a thing or two from the test series catastrophe and have looked to freshen up the squad with an influx of youth, for what they’d be hoping is a fresh start. Craig Kieswetter would join the skipper at the top of the order, with Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pieterson and Eoin Morgan constituting the core of their middle order with Ravi Bopara at six and one of Jonathan Bairstow and Samit Patel battling for the number seven slot. The bowling lineup should be quiet similar from the English test squad, with Tim Bresnan likely to join James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann in the attack.
For Pakistan, the batting would again be under the microscope, and the return of Afridi, Umar Akmal and possibly Shoaib Malik would inject much needed aggression in the middle order. Malik possibly has the most number of gears in our lineup and his inclusion in the middle order could provide the bridge between our anchors and the lower order flamboyance, even though he is yet to trace any inkling of his former self ever since his return.
All in all, Pakistan look like the favourites for the series, and if they win the first ODI, the scoreline could be humbling again for England.
REAL LOOK TO EXTEND LEAD
Even though Barcelona have a firm grip over Real Madrid in terms of their head to head, it is the Madrid side who seem to strengthening their control on the La Liga trophy, especially after recent events which has seen Jose Mourinho’s side extend their lead to seven points. With rumours of Jose Mourinho’s departure from Madrid gaining momentum, Real would do well to focus on the challenge at hand and ensure that they get the better of the only side barring Barcelona that has beaten them this season.
Levante have had a stop start season, even though they find themselves in the top four. Their current league position is courtesy a breathtaking start to the season; but they are traversing a six game winless run, to vindicate the claim of them being patchy. Levante would be without Jose Javier Barkero and Juanlu Gomez today who are out injured and Xavi Torres is out as well; while Juanfran remains a doubt. The club from Valencia beat Real earlier on in the season, but pulling off a similar result at the Santiago Bernabeu would be nearly mission impossible, especially since they have had to bear an assortment of injuries and exodus of key personnel ever since that momentous triumph and hence the early season cohesion is long gone.
For Los Blancos Hamit Altintop could be out for a month, with Marcelo also remaining on the sidelines. Nevertheless Sami Khedira and Angel Di Maria could return as Real Madrid continue their quest of ending Barca’s hegemony over Spain.
MILAN FACES TOUGH TASK
The Champions League is back as the business end of the tournament is underway. Four Round-of-16 clashes would be played this midweek and four the following week; and the pick of this week’s ties sees Arsenal visit AC Milan for the first leg on Wednesday, with the other three matchups being Lyon vs APOEL, Bayern Leverkusen vs Barcelona and Zenit St Petersburg vs Benfica.
As far as AC Milan are concerned, they were on a purple patch prior to the Derby della Mandonnina, but their wheels seem to have come off after that. Milan’s old guard is feeling the stress of a strenuous season already, and on current form they would struggle against a youthful Arsenal team. Even though Arsenal’s own mental fortitude has come under question many a time – something that they share with Milan as things stand – what is definitely not under question is the permeation of exuberance within the Arsenal ranks; and with the gaping disparity between the collective squad ages, Arsenal can run the Milan side absolutely ragged – both home and away.
With Antonia Cassano, Alberto Aquilani and Alexandre Pato all dealing with a wide gamut of injuries, the attacking prowess has definitely been affected. Couple this with a shaky defence – which only has Thiago Silva as a genuinely world beating presence, following Alessandro Nesta’s injury enforced absence – and things look bleak for the Milan giants ahead of Wednesday.
BOSTON CHALLENGE NEXT FOR BULLS
Much like the Milan-Arsenal matchup on Wednesday, tonight’s Bulls-Celtics clash sees an age disparity between the sides; but one doesn’t get the feeling that the ‘youngsters running the oldies ragged’ façade comes into play in this one. Celtics are a very smart team, and when they realise that they can’t outpace a team, they end up outthinking their opponents more often than not. Another thing Celtics have is that they peddle quintessential teamwork and it’s never a one man show with them. And hence it comes as no massive surprise that Boston are clicking as a unit this season.
Paul Pierce, easily one of the greatest small forwards of all time, looks healthy, Rajon Rondo is back from his injury layoff, Kevin Garnett looks on song and then there is Ray Allen who is having an extremely lucrative year. We’re talking about players who are in the hall of fame and some of the greats over here. And with so many really competent players in the side, the opponents can’t go into the game targeting a particular player to shut down. The Bulls are in for a tough ride tonight.
Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, Derrick rose et all, know that they need to be at their very best in Boston tonight, if they really want to assert themselves as the top dogs in the East, and throw out the gauntlet to Miami, and tell them that Chicago is vying to go one better this year… at least.