'Yasir Shah is the best bowler in the world, he's ranked no. 2 in the ICC rankings'.

by Girish Menon

There is no better friend than an England Test match when you are lying in bed unable to get out of it physically but mentally still alive. The recently concluded test match was such a friend as I recovered from an ailment. But this piece is about cricket and not my ailments and here are some of the things that I noticed in the radio commentary:

1. Ramiz Raja is the family's favourite commentator. He was critical of Shoaib Malik and his use of a leg slip, "Why is Shoaib using a leg slip, he should attack more on the onside, maybe he should bring a silly mid-off".

He also said the following in the same breath, 'Yasir Shah is the best bowler in the world, he's ranked no. 2 in the ICC rankings'.

2. They were extra harsh on the English spinners viz. Ali, Rashid and Patel while similar harshness was visited on English batsmen who collapsed for the 18th time in 25. Joe Root's failure to deliver was never mentioned.

3. The name of KP was not discussed.

4. The statistician Andrew Sampson was awesome with his brilliant comparisons, especially the possibility that Hafeez might break Bannerman's record of the highest contribution by a player to the team total.

5. Tuffers was awesome with his take on National Cliche day. That's when I realised that all language is cliche and Britons seem to revel in it.