Arsenal -  the new BPL champion team in making......?      

                 Talking tactics: The reasons behind Arsenal's renaissance

They may be five points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League but some would question whether they are able to hold on to their lead and become champions for the first time since 2004.

Given the club's eight-year run without silverware that is perhaps understandable. Even so, there can be no doubting Arsene Wenger’s men are in a fabulous groove right now; a fact illustrated by their barnstorming 2-0 victory over in-form Liverpool last weekend.

With a pivotal clash away to Manchester United approaching this Sunday, it is the ideal time to study how and why the Gunners are making such positive strides

Defensive misconceptions

Many assumptions are made about the way the Gunners defend and they tend to be historical and misguided. Descriptions of their off the ball work in the media continue to regularly include phrases such as 'easy to play against', 'defensive frailties' and 'vulnerability'. Yet the truth is Arsenal have worked incredibly hard to successfully eradicate that perceived aspect of their play.

Last season Arsenal boasted the division's best defensive record away from home - shipping a measly 14 goals - and they finished second only to Manchester City when it came to goals conceded over the course of the season. In 2011/12 it was different; they were eighth-best.

How has this improvement occurred? Well, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny have formed a central defensive partnership of real quality that should be beyond reproach. As shown in Table 1 below they have tasted defeat just once in the 22 Barclays Premier League matches they have started alongside one another since the start of the 2012/13 campaign, and it really is not a coincidence. With the giant German reading the game expertly and Koscielny being one of the best man-markers around, the duo click perfectly and possess natural chemistry. Either side of them, full-backs Kieran Gibbs and Bacary Sagna have been the model of consistency too.

As a team Arsenal now play with far greater aggression and discipline than in previous years. Where possible they will press high up the pitch - Mesut Ozil has turned the ball over 18 times already in the opponents' half - but the side are also equally content to funnel back into solid positions behind the ball. Here, they will block spaces and crunch into more tackles than they used to, and an example of this more thoughtful and combative approach is outlined in Image 1 above.

Accusing the Gunners of lacking leadership in the middle of the park is also outdated. Aaron Ramsey has made 47 tackles this season, more than anyone else in the league, while defensive midfielders Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini both have tremendous records when it comes to winning duels (58.2% & 56.4%), tackles and interceptions. Strong characters are not in short supply.

Arsenal may have been caught out by the occasional counterattack this season but that is the exception rather than the rule. From the goalkeeper to the centre forward, Arsene Wenger's men are as well-drilled without the ball as they have been in years.

Adrian Clarke looks ahead to Sunday's clash between Manchester United and Arsenal

• 
  Pic 1: Arsenal tackles v Liverpool in 2012 (left) and in 2013
• 
  Pic 2: Playing counterattacking football Arsenal produced 19 shots on goal at Fulham
• 
  Pic 3: Arsene Wenger's system has been tweaked regularly this season
• 
  Pic 4: Arsenal's tactical shape has become more flexible

They may be five points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League but some would question whether they are able to hold on to their lead and become champions for the first time since 2004.

Given the club's eight-year run without silverware that is perhaps understandable. Even so, there can be no doubting Arsene Wenger’s men are in a fabulous groove right now; a fact illustrated by their barnstorming 2-0 victory over in-form Liverpool last weekend.

With a pivotal clash away to Manchester United approaching this Sunday, it is the ideal time to study how and why the Gunners are making such positive strides…

Defensive misconceptions

Many assumptions are made about the way the Gunners defend and they tend to be historical and misguided. Descriptions of their off the ball work in the media continue to regularly include phrases such as 'easy to play against', 'defensive frailties' and 'vulnerability'. Yet the truth is Arsenal have worked incredibly hard to successfully eradicate that perceived aspect of their play.

Last season Arsenal boasted the division's best defensive record away from home - shipping a measly 14 goals - and they finished second only to Manchester City when it came to goals conceded over the course of the season. In 2011/12 it was different; they were eighth-best.

How has this improvement occurred? Well, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny have formed a central defensive partnership of real quality that should be beyond reproach. As shown in Table 1 below they have tasted defeat just once in the 22 Barclays Premier League matches they have started alongside one another since the start of the 2012/13 campaign, and it really is not a coincidence. With the giant German reading the game expertly and Koscielny being one of the best man-markers around, the duo click perfectly and possess natural chemistry. Either side of them, full-backs Kieran Gibbs and Bacary Sagna have been the model of consistency too.

As a team Arsenal now play with far greater aggression and discipline than in previous years. Where possible they will press high up the pitch - Mesut Ozil has turned the ball over 18 times already in the opponents' half - but the side are also equally content to funnel back into solid positions behind the ball. Here, they will block spaces and crunch into more tackles than they used to, and an example of this more thoughtful and combative approach is outlined in Image 1 above.

Accusing the Gunners of lacking leadership in the middle of the park is also outdated. Aaron Ramsey has made 47 tackles this season, more than anyone else in the league, while defensive midfielders Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini both have tremendous records when it comes to winning duels (58.2% & 56.4%), tackles and interceptions. Strong characters are not in short supply.

Arsenal may have been caught out by the occasional counterattack this season but that is the exception rather than the rule. From the goalkeeper to the centre forward, Arsene Wenger's men are as well-drilled without the ball as they have been in years.

Final thought

Arsenal have opened the scoring in nine of their Barclays Premier League matches this season, and having lost on eight of their last 10 visits to Old Trafford they will be looking for another fast start on Sunday.

No one knows if they have the strength in depth or mental staying power to maintain their outstanding start, but the Gunners have definitely proved they are good enough to lead the pack at this stage.

It will not be easy but if they can preserve their current formula over a whole season it would be foolish to write off Arsenal's prospects. And a win at Old Trafford might, just might, mean they are finally taken seriously as title contenders.

Arsenal travel to Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League on 10 November. For more details about that match, just click on this Matchday Live link.

TABLE 1: KOSCIELNY AND MERTESACKER CHEMISTRY
	Premier League matches together	Wins	Draws	Losses	Average goals conceded
2012/13	14	9	5	0	0.71
2013/14	8	6	1	1	0.875

Mohammed Shami reminded me of Waqar Younis: Sourav Ganguly.

Not just entry into the record books, Mohammed Shami earned praises from the cricket pundits after India beat West Indies by an innings and 51 rung in the first Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Friday. 

Son of the soil and former India skipper Sourav Ganguly was all praises for Shami as the local lad used reverse swing to floor the visitors in the first Test. Ganguly even compared Shami to the stalwart of reverse swing Waqar Younis. 

"I have seen the best of Waqar Younis, and this reverse swing bowling from Shami is as good as anyone that I've seen," Ganguly said while doing commentary after the Bengal pacer ran through the West Indies middle order to hasten the visitor's demise. 
Shami had two successful spells in the second innings with the older ball, reading figures of 7-0-18-2 and the final one that won the match read 3.1-0-8-3.

Shami, who foxed the Australians in the rain-marred Ranchi ODI recently with his pace and movement, didn't look like a debutant to former India Test stalwart VVS Laxman. 

"Shami hardly looked like someone who is inexperienced and is playing his first Test match. Very pleased with the way he bowled," Laxman told NDTV in an exclusive chat on Friday. 

The 23-year-old Jonagar-born seam bowler took a record 9 wickets to become the most successful Indian pacer on Test debut. Narendra Hirwani's 16 for 136 against the West Indies in Chennai in 1988 is still the best show by any Indian debutant.

Ironically, it was a 'reversal' of fortunes when Ishant Sharma handed fellow-pacer Mohammed Shami his Test cap at Eden Gardens on Wednesday morning. Shami was replacing a 'senior' quickie whose form took a massive beating during the recent India versus Australia ODI series that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's boys won 3-2. Shami was at the fountainhead of India's decisive win in the final ODI at Bangalore.

Former Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar too praised Shami for his excellent swing bowling skills. "On an unresponsive pitch, the way Shami managed to get the out-swing going and the way he read the batsmen was a huge plus. He assessed a batsman's weakness and what the pitch had to offer and conquered all," Gavaskar told NDTV in a post-match chat. 

Former India opener Arun Lal also lauded Shami's debut exploits by saying, "Shami had the quality pace to upstage batters and he bowled a good line and length."

Star TV India is taking a calculated gamble. It is putting in a substantial Rs 20,000 crore in the next three to five years to revamp its sports channel offerings.

STAR is not just content buying expensive broadcasting rights. For one, it wants to develop and push non-cricketing sports, So, it is going to buy equity stake in properties in sports like hockey and badminton and build them up (like it has done by buying 30 per cent stake in the Indian Football League).

For another, it is aggressively marketing hitherto untouched properties like university cricket.

And, it wants to buy sponsorship rights so that its brand is synonymous with sports (it took title sponsorship rights for all the 13 international cricket matches to be held in India between October 2013 and March 2014).

To meet its objectives, STAR is revamping its sports channel portfolio. It is retiring the ESPN brand name (it had bought over ESPN) and pulling out STAR CRICKET, a channel almost exclusively dedicated to the sport. Instead, it will have six sports-star sports 1 to 4 and two high-definition (HD) channels.

What’s in a name, one might ask. But there is a method to the madness. The broadcaster decided to scrap Star Cricket, for example, because having a dedicated channel for a sport which has so much of content available was affecting its image. Sanjay Gupta, the chief operating officer says when an international match was on, it was not able to air a simultaneously-held Ranji match on the same channel, sending a wrong message to viewers.

But STAR now has an array of uniformly-branded channels to air such content. Star Sports 1, for instance, will concentrate on international cricket matches in which India is one of the teams. About 65 per cent of its content will be cricket and in English.

It will have Star Sports 2 for company, which will have cricket as about 50 to 60 per cent of its content, and air Ranji matches, university and womens cricket and international cricket matches that don’t feature India.

Star Sports 3 will replicate Star Sports 1 but in Hindi. Introducing a completely Hindi sports channel for the first time, STAR believes telecast in English has a limited audience.

If the experiment works, Gupta says STAR might spin off separate regional language sports channels in Tamil, Bengali, Marathi and Kannada.

Star Sports 4 will concentrate on other sports which include international football (soccer), European soccer leagues, badminton, tennis, and Formula-1 racing.

“Through this move, for instance in 2014, we will be able to double our cricket content through the various Star Sports channels. For instance, we used to show very limited amount of international cricket where India was not playing,” says Gupta.

STAR will be able to double the content and show over 290 days of cricket in 2014. It has rights for over 100 days of Indian international cricket, 30 days of university and womens cricket, 80 days of domestic cricket and another 80 days of international non-India cricket matches.

Having channels not pegged to a game also gives STAR more flexibility. Gupta makes it clear that there will be many properties which would be shown across all channels.

The new India leagues which include hockey, badminton and soccer will be telecast on Star Sports 1 to 3 next year, to reach a larger audience. Some of the international matches could also be shown across all channels.

What led to STAR’s big thrust on sports? It brings in the moolah as it targets the male youth – a segment which many brands concentrate on. And, of course, cricket constitutes over 10 per cent of the annual TV advertising pie (that is estimated to be Rs 14,000 crore). In 2011, when the Indian Premier League and the World Cup were held, it raked in over Rs 2,000 crore in revenues.

Unlike general entertainment channels (which draw 60 per cent of their revenues from advertising), subscription constitutes for over 60 per cent of a sports channel’s revenue. More viewers, then would mean more revenue through subscription.

But the challenge is how to increase the share of sports channels which are only at 4 per cent, compared to 50 per cent of GECs. One reason is almost all sport programmes are in English with limited viewership (at only 2 per cent) for which it now has Star Sports 3.

The re-branding addresses the second – showing cricket across channels and increasing the overall content available on the game to attract more viewers.

It is now attempting to resolve the third key problem – 70 per cent of viewership in sports is for cricket – through its focus on other sports.

It is also innovating on new content for sports lovers. It is starting a programme, “Star Power”, which will provide updates on sports thrice a day. “There is no where a consumer can get an update of all the happenings in sports in a day, this programme will provide that” says a STAR India executive.

STAR is putting the big bucks on sports. The question is whether consumers will give it a thumbs-up, or will it be bowled out.

Ishant Sharma retained for final four one day's vs Australia ------ How many chances will he get now...?

                Ishant sharma  --  " Flirting with danger "

At an age when fast bowlers toil in the domestic circuit striving to break into the national squad, 25-year-old Ishant Sharma is already a veteran of 51 Tests. And with that wealth of experience, a bowler is expected to graduate into the leader of an attack. Sadly, Ishant hasn't. Ishant made his debut at the age of 19 in 2007, and the cricket world took notice when Adam Gilchrist called him "lethal". But the six years since then have seen Ishant wax and wane between disappointing and average, with an exceptional performance coming only as a flash in the pan.

  Following the last one-day match (19th oct-2013) vs Australia when India was cruz-ing towards victory with Australia needing 44 of 18 balls with 4 wickets in hand that time it looked like india will win this match but in 48th over which was given to Ishant sharma he conceded 30 runs including 4 massive sixes and 1 four by Australian James Faulkner. 

       He is given soo many chances now to prove himself. Yet after all this he is unable to. His bowling economy in first 15 overs is 5.33 whereas in death overs it increases to 7.78. He just can't bowl yorkes in death overs . Indian captain M.S Dhoni expects Ishant to be Sphere-head of his bowling attack because of his Experience but Ishant is still not delivering as per expectations.

   The players who played important role in winning world-cup for India like - Zaheer khan, Munaf patel were shown way out from team when they were not performing well for the country. So, it's time now to take same step for Ishant sharma because he is not performing well. For this series India is having Jaidev Unadkat , Shami Ahmed in the team who dun have much Experience but they should be given a chance to prove themselves looking at Ishant is not

performing well. Along with it Today there was selection of team for last 4 one-day's against Australia, But Ishant is again given a chance in the team. I don't know what selectors are thinking . " HOW MANY CHANCES WILL ISHANT SHARMA GET NOW? "  

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Avg.	Econ	Sr.	4w	5w
Tests	51	89	9849	5471	144	6/55	10/108	37.99	3.33	68.3	6	3
ODIs	68	67	3169	3011	96	4/38	4/38	31.36	5.70	33.0	3	0
T20Is	14	14	278	400	8	2/34	2/34	50.00	8.63	34.7	0	0
First-class	77	133	14608	7758	238	7/24	11/51	32.59	3.18	61.3	13	5
List A	91	90	4332	3909	135	4/25	4/25	28.95	5.41	32.0	7	0
Twenty20	88	88	1903	2437	69	5/12	5/12	35.31	7.68	27.5	0	1