No, even a fly within the walls of the ICC committee that decided on the world T20 XI wasn’t allowed. Yet, the cricket mole has his sources, and one of them is a reasonably big-shot in the uppermost echelons of the international committee. And the buzz within the ICC is this, that choosing the team looked to be the last thing on their minds, the discussion was more...

Last night was fun night. The Cricket Mole will be covering India’s tour to West Indies, and left for the Caribbean by the same flight as the entire Indian team. No, I do not think that the Skipper yet realises that the Cricket Mole sitting in the same plane was also one of the apparent media guys in that same room that saw the Skip call the entire team to the room....

The Cricket Mole waited with bated breath as the selectors read out the list of those who made it to the rum-cola-land. Somewhere else, there was another list of players who were doing exactly the same; hoping and praying fervently that they do not make it to the squad, and it could be seen on their faces. Once the list was finally announced, it was very evident that...

Alright, so here’s the deal. Apparently, the Skipper was so miffed by Mr. Butcher and the media intervention that he was on the verge of resignation; probably at the spur of the moment. He would listen to no-one include the coach, and was almost on his way to tender his letter when, of all the people, it was India’s best player who was called upon to have a chat! Now...

The Cricket Mole attended yesterday’s press conference by the Indian skipper, before the England game. Now, the mole has attended many a press conferences by the Indian captain, but never seen him so morose. The general consensus there was that this was a put-on, after having had a nasty tete-a-tete with the media and his blow-up with the deputy skipper. Certainly...

Oooh, the frosty calm at the captain’s press conference after the West Indies game was there for everyone to see! Once a darling of the media, the captain looked to be at loss for words on more occasions than one and there were uncomfortable questions directed towards him for the woeful batting performance, save Yuvraj’s pyrotechnics in the end! The captain answered...

The Cricket Mole had been in the hiding in the last couple of days because it had been him that had broken out the Dhoni-Sehwag rift here (put the link to that Dhoni-Sehwag rift post here), and there was a decent chance that fingers would have been pointed out. He was inside the press conference yesterday when Dhoni lost his cool, and man, what a site it was; probably...

Ah, now that is what the Cricket Mole calls an upset; a team that has never before come close to beating another test playing side, almost takes out the host off the last delivery of the game! Way to go Holland! Yet, Cricket Mole’s nature is such, that it is rather easy for him to be suspicious of everything around him. Well, must add, almost everything; there is stuff...

The Cricket Mole wonders whether Virender Sehwag is actually injured or is there something more than what meets the eye. It does look like the official word on his injury is that he is suffering from a shoulder strain, but no word on how he suffered from that strain overnight. Even when quizzed about who will open the batting when Sehwag does get fit, Dhoni had no answer...

The Indian squad consists of fifteen playing members like all others. What surprises the Cricket Mole is that of the 15, there are only six, who can be termed as frontline willow-wielders in conditions as foreign as the ones in England; Gambhir, Sehwag, Raina, Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma and captain Dhoni. The rest who can hold the bat are Yusuf Pathan, brother Irfan and Ravindra...