All is not lost for Indian cricket as of now.

                         

So finally the unthinkable has happened and India has lost 2 back to back home test matches against England. The usual halaboooooo is going around on all the news channels and the knives are out as far as the Indian team and the performances of some of the key players are concerned. While everyone is baying for Dhoni’s blood, we need to put some things into perspective and I would humbly like to suggest some systemic and some changes in the attitude of the cricket loving fans of India. While we have lost 10 out of the last 13 tests there are some remedial measures which need to be taken to bring the Indian team on track.

1 )  Prioritizing of test cricket is paramount.-  we need no rocket science to understand that BCCI has placed the limited overs format far far ahead of test cricket. Whether we like it or not but clearly the IPL has been given way too much importance by the top officials of the board. This is not to suggest that IPL is not at all beneficial for the game but there are ample evidences of young and callow Indian players choosing to play IPL for an entry in the national side. Compared to Australia and England   we play a heck of a lot of meaningless one dayers and  test cricket has suffered as far as India is concerned. All the players still want to perform and cement a place in the test side but the methods which are being followed are not going to work in the long run. Even players like Tendulkar and Sehwag do not want to miss the cash rich league and are being allowed to take rest in the longer formats of the game (Tendulkar opted out of the test series in the Caribbean in 2011) while it is all clichéd that test cricket is the purest form of cricket and it is at this level where the real character and the temperament of the players is concerned, enough of this eye washing statements. The administrators need to really prioritize test cricket in India and for that the first class cricket will have to play a major role in doing so. Surely a tough season of first class cricket or even a county season stint for young batsmen and bowlers will do no harm at all. Meaningless overdose of one dayers should be strictly avoided so that the players get enough time to recuperate between the tours. Here again the BCCI places financial needs ahead of Indian cricket betterment. The recent test debacles can also be accounted for the failure to adapt to the longer format by the batsmen as far as bat speed and shot selection is concerned. Sometimes I wonder whether the players have forgotten that test cricket is played over a duration of 5 days and that is where the temperament and the patience levels of these modern day champions of the t 20 format is found wanting to great extent.

2)  Knee jerk reactions from all and sundry should be avoided.- yes cricket is not just a mere sport or a source of entertainment but is almost revered all over the country. The lack of a sporting culture among the Indian society in general is the reason for the over the top and knee jerk reactions almost every time the team loses a major game. Every time India losses a match all the news channels have lengthy post mortems of the game with their usual so called cricket  ex cricketers and pundits of the game. Media bashing is not my intention but when I see the levels of such shameful discussions as a true Indian cricket fan, it makes my blood boil. We as a society in general are guilty of over the top reactions whether we win or lose. The players who perform well are hero worshipped to such a greater extent by the media and the fans all over  and the same player when starts to dip in performance levels is completely brought down to reality.the hooliganism of the general public on the streets ( I doubt whether even 1 % of these so called fans even understand the finer nuances of the game ) who indulge in stone pelting of the players houses and burning posters of their own cricket heroes is a sign of the lack of tolerance and sportsmanship. The willingness to accept that even the opposing team is allowed to play well and the touring teams have started faring better and better every time they play in the sub continent. As a cricket loving fan we must be able to take defeat in our stride. Imagine if one of us common people do not perform our job to the desired level and our houses being pelted with stones and posters being vandalized.  As professionals even the players are hurt by the losses and just because they are famous people we should not make them soft targets and victims.

3) Selection process should be made more transparent. If the selection committee chairman or one of the selectors is not allowed by the board to attend the press conferences after the team selection then why bother with the press conferences at all?  The secretary of the board comes to the PC and all he is instructed by the top BCCI officials to comment is statements like ; I would not like to comment on the selectors decision and so on then the board is itself allowing the media to speculate and spread rumours as far as the selection is concerned. Surely the average cricket fan should have access as to the reasons why a particular player is selected or not and what has been the basis of the selection. The cricket team captain should be allowed a say in the selection meetings and he should be empowered to have the team he desires which will make him more accountable and based on poor performances for a sustained period of time, he should be subject to the removal. The selectors who are all former cricketers should select the team based on the principle of perform or perish. Too often the selection committee does not take futuristic decisions and passes on the buck of taking the tough calls on the next selection committee to remain in the good books of the BCCI. Sometimes the selection is done based on the regional dynamics and the IPL   performances are being given preferences over the first class cricket.

4) Communication between players and selectors- the player to selector rapport is very essential. There are apparently very few examples in Indian cricket where a player has had a one on one meeting or discussion over a player’s bad form or over the impending retirement. The classic case of Sachin Tendulkar is before us all and the selectors should have discussed with him regarding his future plans for ODI as well as test cricket. Too often it has happened that senior players like Laxman, Kapil Dev and others have been humiliated and been forced to retire.I have absolutely no doubt that whatever transpired between Laxman and the selection panel must have left a bitter taste among the player leading him to announce his retirement with immediate effect even though he was planning to play for the entire season. the current process of selecting 1 selector from each of the 5 zones should be scrapped and a panel of 3 selectors who are best suited for the job irrespective of  which part of the country they represent should be the ideal way forward. Too often our selectors select players based on their statistics which can be very misleading. The selectors should have the balls to pick a talent and back him to the hilt irrespective of his initial performances. Too often ours is a result oriented system where short and narrow goals are given priority as compared to the longer goals.

Hang on a moment, Dhoni and Co there are no freebies in test cricket.

         

After a resounding performance at Ahmadabad everybody including me expected the Indians to wrap up the Mumbai test in 4 days or so. After the first test, MS Dhoni commented in a press conference that he wanted the playing surface to turn from day 1 for the rest of the test matches. It was one of the most bizarre statements made by a responsible player in a long time. If dhoni was expecting his spinners to roll their arm over and skittle out the English on a turning pitch at Mumbai, he was proven completely wrong by the manner in which the visitors handled spin on a spin friendly Wankhede wicket. Well yaaaah  the test match sure got over in less than 3 and a half days,( I was a live  witness to the test in Mumbai). The result shockingly went in favour of the English team which won the test match in impressive style by 10 wickets. There are several reasons for this defeat. The most important reason is the unwillingness on the part of the Indian team to work hard for test victories on home soil. If the team is expecting to just turn up on the field and roll the opposition over twice by virtue of spin friendly wickets, they are living in a fool’s paradise. This ploy might work against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe but certainly the English team has come to India with a very definitive resolve to win the test series.

If we have a look at the test victories which India achieved against Sri Lanka and England in 1993 -94, the 3 spinners Anil  Kumble, Venkatpathy  Raju and Rajesh Chauhan had to toil hard and bowl a lot of overs in the sun to defeat the opposition. The demand of MS Dhoni for a  pitch which should turn from day 1 is absolutely ludicrous. If he was playing mind games with the England team, it has clearly not worked in Mumbai. The pitch at the Eden gardens in Kolkata is going to be a slow turner and India will have to work hard for better part of 5 days as there are no easy victories in test cricket. The Indian batting display in the second innings at Mumbai was highly pathetic. There are batting collapses which happen in test cricket but the manner of dismissals of   the likes of Sachin, Kohli, Dhoni  and Yuvraj were painful to the eye. I have never witnessed so many Indian batsmen being dismissed in slips and bat pad dismissals against any spin bowling attack in a single innings The likes of Panesar and Swann bowled beautifully but I fail to understand the reluctance of the top order to use their feet and dominate the spinners.  The Mumbai wicket had no devils in it as Pujara, Cook and Pietersen exhibited. Surely if R Ashwin can come down the wicket and attempt to dominate the spinners, the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvraj will have to do the same.

Indian players are considered to be the best players of spin bowling but I do not remember any Indian batsman barring Navjot Sidhu and Virender Sehwag on some occasions, consistently trying to dance down the wicket and alter the line of the spinners. The Indian batting line up has a lot of soul searching to do and the spin bowlers will have to show the willingness to earn wickets the hard way. Preparing turners is not going to benefit the Indian team in the long run, but Indian captains have seldom thought about this issue. Dhoni and his team will have to regroup and remember that test cricket is played over a period of 5 days and the limited overs mentality will have to go out of the window if India   wants to win on home soil. I sincerely wish the Indian batsmen at least try to dominate the English spinners and the spin bowlers to work on their lengths if they are expecting to win in Kolkata and Nagpur.

Revenge ; the last thing on Dhoni & Co ‘s minds

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The English team is acclimatizing to the sub continental conditions after  playing warm up matches  against India A and   Haryana  and they have had a decent workout in the middle. With less than a week to go for the first test against India in Ahmedabad. 5 of their top 7 batsmen scored half century or more and Petersen top scoring  with an unbeaten ton to boost his confidence. This knock would have set up \ K P  for  the upcoming series after the recent unfortunate  sequence of events in the last couple of months. Everybody in India is excited about the series against the team which tormented India last year with a 4 – 0 drubbing in England. Experts and enthusiasts have already started calling this home series as a chance to take revenge of the last years whitewash. Hang on guys surely it is not just about revenge which India will be looking forward to when they take on England in the opening test in Ahmedabad.  Somehow the  word ‘revenge’ has just no business when it comes to sporting contests however keenly contested they might be.  In fact revenge should be the last thing on the minds of the Indian team. One of the great joys of playing a sport is the passion and the genuine love for the game and the urge to perform at the top level for the country which should be the topmost priority for any sportsman.

The point is well taken when people say that the top level sport has a competitive edge to it which makes for a riveting contest on the field but the feeling of  taking revenge for  the  last year’s defeat will only make the job of winning the home series even more daunting. Playing at home Indian team will be under the pump with Sachin Tendulkar hogging the limelight by stating the need to reconsider his continuity in international cricket after the series against England this winter. Barring a couple of series against the Proteas, India have enjoyed an unbeatable record at home for the last 20 years. But with the test team undergoing transition after the retirements of Dravid and Laxman, the young and inexperienced middle order will be facing the heat against a decent English attack in sub continental conditions. The English team under Alistair cook will be looking to emulate  the feat of David Gower’s team in  1984-85 by defeating India  at home . India has a lot to play for and the captaincy of Dhoni at test level will be under intense scrutiny and any mishap on his part could lead to the shifting of the guard as far as test captaincy is concerned. The pitches  in all fairness will assist spinners at least in Mumbai and Kolkata. India has a great opportunity to redeem themselves in test cricket. The paramount thing for an Indian series victory will be the role of the bowling attack. Ashwin and Ojha have started off on a good note in the last couple of home series against the  west indies and the kiwis but if the likes of zaheer khan ( subject to fitness ) and umesh yadav do not provide the initial breakthroughs the spinners will have a tough job at hand dismantling the English  batting order. One of the key factors will also be how do the 2  sides make use of the old ball and whether they can make the ball reverse alarmingly to make life tough for the lower middle order. The Indian batting lineup is not as strong as it used to be with the likes of Rahane,Pujara and Virat Kohli all trying to cement a place in the test side.

The English bowling lineup is pretty good with the likes of James Anderson, Tim Bresnon, Stuart Broad all having the ability to use the new and the old ball at decent speed and they will be well supported with the likes of Swann and Panesar who will be handy on the spin friendly tracks in India. The English batting line up seems to be fairly inexperienced as far as sub continental conditions is concerned. The likes of Bairstow, Eoin Morgan and Nick Compton are talented players but their ability to play spin on turning tracks will be tested to the core and might well be the deciding factor in the end result of the series. The return of Petersen will definitely boost the visitors because he is one of the most impactful batsman of the modern era. The Indian team on the other hand will be looking up to its young guns to step up to the plate and make themselves counted. All in all it should be a riveting contest and may the best team triumph at  the end.

Indian Fielding: A perennial problem child.

                      

Indian cricket has evolved over last several decades and we have produced a long list of wonderful batsmen and some quality   medium fast bowlers and spinners who have mesmerized the batsmen with their guile and craft. India has always been an excellent batting side with a couple of bowlers to rely upon in the team. The lack of athleticism and quality fielding standards has been the bane of Indian cricket. India has never been a good fielding side and barring a handful players, the rest of the players have been very average as far as the fielding skills are concerned have always wondered regarding the reasons behind being a poor fielding side. Some of the popular belief is that the small kids are encouraged to stress on batting or bowling skills and as a result from the young age they are not made to realize the importance of excelling in the fielding department. There are several reasons which prevent a youngster from developing and honing his fielding skills from a younger age.

The batting and bowling facets of the sport are emphasized majorly while the fielding aspect of a youngster has always been neglected, this situation is improving over last decade or so but still a lot of legwork needs to be done as far as the fielding aspect is concerned. A good coach will always emphasize on improving the fielding skills whether it is catching or ground fielding. Fielding is the only aspect of the game which can be vastly improved by virtue of putting hard work and where very little skill aspect of the game is relied upon. Fielding skills can be vastly enhanced by merely enjoying the fielding drills and practice sessions. A good fielder is the one who anticipates the movement of the ball and adjusts himself accordingly wanting the ball to come to him. There are ample evidences of young Indian fielders shying away from fielding drills and not wanting the ball. Over the last few decades there have been merely a handful of international class fielders. The late Eknath Solkar was an absolute dream at forward short leg. Standing close by to the batsmen he took a number of brilliant reflex catches off Prasanna, Chandrashekhar and Bishen Bedi thus contributing significantly to their test wicket tally. Kapil Dev Nikhanj was a brilliant all round fielder who was supremely fit in all conditions and remained injury free virtually for the major part of his long career. In the 90’s, Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja were among the best in the world when it came to saving runs on the field and taking spectacular catches. Yuvraj singh and Mohammad Kaif emerged on the international scene in early 2000. Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma are top class fielders who are a plus for the rest of the mediocre Indian fielding side.

It is just appalling to see the likes of Zaheer Khan,Munaf Patel and R Ashwin who are very poor fielders and a liability on the field for any side. The Indian pacers regardless of their age have always been mediocre fielders in stark comparison to Brett Lee and a couple of other overseas pacers who have been athletic fielders even in their mid 30’s. The overall hard and bumpy Indian maidans and grounds are responsible to some extent for the fielders being slightly wary of diving and sliding to save some runs.  Over the last few years there has been a marked improvement in the outfield conditions in most of the Indian cricket stadiums and not surprisingly a lot of young brilliant fielders are emerging on the first class circuit. But still clearly a lot of legwork needs to be done in order to improve the overall fielding standards of the Indian team. Indian cricket team cannot match the fielding standards of the likes of Australia and South Africa but by instilling the importance of being an athletic fielding side can do wonders in due course of time. Long gone are the days when a good batsman or a bowler could do his job of scoring runs or picking wickets and just languishing at third man or fine leg. In today’s competitive atmosphere, every player regardless of his stature needs to contribute on the field by virtue of his fielding skills.

Should Dhoni be relinquished from test captaincy?

M S Dhoni  made his debut for India in 2004 against Bangladesh and by the sheer volume of runs which he scored in the ODI cricket, he was  entrusted with the responsibility of leading the side in the shortest form of the game  in a world cup in 2007. India shocked all other top teams and went on to win the world cup which looked a distant dream when the tournament started in South Africa. What was very refreshing to see was the attitude of   Dhoni while captaining a fairly inexperienced  T 20 squad. One of the marquee features of   Dhoni as a captain was his ability to  take  a few calculated risks on the field. Whether it be changing the batting positions of some key players or giving the last over to  a Joginder Sharma instead of other experienced bowlers in the  T20 world cup final against arch rivals Pakistan. Luckily for Dhoni  his unconventional moves paid off during his early days as captain. Dhoni enjoyed tremendous success in his initial 2-3 years of captaincy. Later in  Dec 2009 he even lead India to the numero uno position in test cricket after beating Sri Lanka 2-0 at home.

M S Dhoni and his team became the toast of the nation when they won the cricket world cup held in the subcontinent defeating Sri Lanka in the finals. Dhoni played a captains knock in the final scoring 91 runs and guiding India to victory. What was even more impressive was the  confidence he had in his own ability when he promoted himself as against Yuvraj Singh who was having a dream run in the tournament while Dhoni was himself struggling to get a big score. The real test for Dhoni started when India toured England and Australia where the team was routed losing all their 8 test matches on these tours.  Dhoni was criticized justifiably for his over defensive field settings and unimaginative tactics on the field. What made matters worse was his public remarks about the senior players criticizing them for being too slow on the field thereby justifying his rotation policy in the tri series  down under. Although Dhoni had some valid points but the stage which he chose was certainly not called for especially when the team was on a losing rut. There has been enough written about his spat with Virender Sehwag . The two senior players have never enjoyed the best of relations. There have been instances when Dhoni has dropped Sehwag on the ground of fitness however Sehwag has publicly declared himself fit thereby  adding fuel  to  fire. Dhoni has not distinguished himself during some of the press conferences where he has openly criticized some of the senior players. There also seems to be a stubborn attitude as far as selection of some of the players is concerned. Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma are classic examples wherein Dhoni has persisted with these players despite their poor performances. Suresh Raina is a decent one day player but until he develops ways of sorting the short ball, he will be a dead duck in the longer format. Backing a talented player like Rohit Sharma is indeed laudable but despite giving him numerous chances, Rohit Sharma has come a cropper so far which begs the question as to why are other first class players not getting opportunities to prove themselves?

In the test matches, Dhoni seems to be a leader who fears losing and therefore is a bit too conservative in his approach especially during the overseas tours last year where his captaincy was found wanting. Far too often have we witnessed Dhoni going on the defensive as far as field placings are concerned. In the recently concluded T20 world cup against Proteas, when India needed to restrict them under 122 in order to qualify for the semis, Dhoni bowled Rohit Sharma ahead of  R Ashwin at a critical juncture when the Proteas could have been made to work harder in order to achieve 122 runs. I sincerely that looking at his overseas  performances in tests Dhoni does not warrant a place in the side purely as a batsman. Dhoni clearly has lost the midas touch and should be relinquished from captaincy as far as test matches is concerned. He can continue leading the team in the ODI’S as well as T20 but from a long term objective, his shelf life as an Indian captain has surely expired. It is quite possible that freed from captaincy, Dhoni can play the role of an aggressive no 7 in tests. Looking at the present form his test career seems to be in a jeopardy.

A shot in the arm for west indies cricket.

                        

What a thrilling finish to the T 20 world cup last week. This year’s world cup was easily the best in terms of quality of matches being played between the top teams despite the weird format for the super 8 stage of the tournament. The final was played between the hosts Sri Lanka and the unpredictable West Indies team. Strangely enough  even before the world cup was to begin many of the cricketing pundits fancied the west indies team to surprise all the top teams and gave them good chances of winning the world cup in the shortest form of the game. Looking at the unpredictable nature of the T20 format and the fact that the Caribbean team had an enviable batting line up boasting of Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith  and Kierron Pollard who are ideally suited for the T 20 format and the fact that many of these batsmen are outstanding fielders and come in handy with the ball as well made things pretty rosy for the West Indies. the west indies team has failed to capture the imagination of the fans world wide over the last couple of decades and has failed to play as a unit and recreate the magic of the 70’s and 80’s west indies sides.

In these last few decades, west indies lost a lot of natural talent and athletes to basketball and thus could not produce genuine fast bowlers who could instill the fear in the batsman’s mind as their predecessors did in the 70’s and 80’s.  Not surprisingly the west Indian team went on to win the T 20 world cup and finally managed to win an ICC  trophy after a gap of 8  years. The last time west indies had managed to overhaul England in the finals of the 2004 champions trophy in England. What was evident was the fact that the players from different islands played together as a team and tasted much awaited success. What was even more evident for all to see was the public display of sheer joy and happiness by the players even during tense moments of the keenly contested matches. We have rarely seen batsman laughing and expressing  joy by making a few grooves and hand gestures like those displayed by Chris Gayle while playing against Australia in the semi final match. The attitude of the west Indian team is very refreshing to see. All the fans around the world seem to take the game of cricket a tad too seriously and while watching the game we sometimes get a feeling as if the 2 countries are waging a war when it is just a game of cricket which is going out there in the middle.

It has been a very   unlike west Indian approach where a feeling of team unity and togetherness has been given top priority by the team management over individual brilliance of a few top players. From the onset  it clearly was there for all to see that the west Indian players rallied together as one strong unit and seemed to enjoy and revel in each other’s success. One of the vital aspects of this west Indian team is that they are an excellent fielding unit. The multi faceted players like Kierron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo added to the opponents woes. The fact that Chris Gayle was outstanding at the top helped the team immensely. Chris Gayle has to be easily the best T 20 batsman among all his contemporaries. With the Caribbean team winning a world cup after 33 years ( albeit  T20 ) must have given the people of the Caribbean islands a much needed Philip and must have raised hopes of a much needed revival in the cricketing circles. This could just be a watershed moment in their cricketing history and it might just become a launching pad for the immensely talented  and emerging athletes which agus  well for the future of west indies cricket. After tasting success in the T 20  form at this team could well go on to become a decent enough test and one day side in the upcoming years. I personally rooted for the west indies after India was knocked out of the world cup and was very happy to see a brand of attacking cricket which was on display by the west indies team. Darren Sammy as a captain   has been  crucified   ( somewhat justifiably )  by the critics and he has answered them all in the best possible manner.

I am a huge fan of the kind of cricket which the west indies teams have played and their simple fun loving approach has been very refreshing to see. Seeing the wild celebrations of the entire team one could not help but imagine a situation whether the Indian cricket team would be able to display such emotions of joy and delight if they managed to win a major trophy. If the west Indian team does go on to become an improved side it would be a terrific news for world cricket. It could mean one more team vying for a place at the top and could make the game even more competitive.

What Sachin means to me.

                              

The world knows Sachin Tendulkar as one of the greatest batsman the world has ever known. Sachin means different things to different people in India and all across the world. His innocent  face and the squeaky voice is still as endearing as he was 22 years ago when he gave the famous interview to Tom Alter As a 15 year old youngster. Ever since he made his debut for India, every lady  in India wanted to mother him, cuddle  and  to tender him so likeable was his personality. In the 90’s India was so dependent on Sachin’s performances that when he failed it literally meant that India had very little chances of winning the game. He was the lynchpin around which the team revolved. By the time the new millennium dawned, India’s over dependency on Sachin reduced as players like Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman and Sehwag played some of their best cricket and India also started winning tests outside Indian subcontinent.

With the emergence of these great players, Sachin Tendulkar could breathe easy as the pressure to perform at any cost  reduced considerably. Sachin   changed his style of play and became a much solid batsman and  his strike rate reduced  considerably and today  approaching 40 he still is very very good at his art. With the emergence of young players, Sachin has become a mentor for them. The youngsters can learn a great deal from him just watching him prepare for the matches.. His mere presence   is very reassuring for the dressing room. In India he is treated and worshipped as a god. For the opposition he is still a nightmare and has the ability to turn a match by his inimitable genius.  I have often wondered as to what Sachin means to me as a person and as the cricketer.  I have   had the absolute privilege of watching him bat for over 19 years. I still vividly   remember him playing against England in the home series in India in 1993.  The first innings which really caught my attention when he scored 82 runs off 49 balls against New Zealand in Auckland. In 1994.  I remember rubbing my eyes and waking up to watch the match at 4 am in the morning. Tendulkar had come in as an opener for the first time in one  dayers. He absolutely smashed the Kiwi bowlers all round the park. What struck me about his innings was the freedom and the audacity with which he played the shots.

Sachin  has given me millions of moments of incredible joy and sheer happiness for which I am truly indebted to him. Such is his magnetic quality that I have actually bunked schools and colleges just to watch him bat. Even today as a   businessman I still  literally scamper  from my office to  my house when Sachin is nearing a hundred. Over all these years, I have also had  my share of heartaches watching him bat. I still remember Sachin getting out  LBW on 98 to a part timer called Marcus north  on the 3^rd October 2010 against the Aussies at Mohali. People would wonder, What is the big hue and cry about him getting out in the nineties?, as he has been dismissed in the nineties the most for any cricketer. Yaaaaah  well  3^rd October happens to be my birthday and I was shell shocked  to say the least. I get enraged seeing him getting out to some of the most ridiculous bowlers. I recall Sachin being tied down against the bowling of Arjuna Ranatunga in 1997 home series. Ask him personally and he will tell you that it is these innocuous bowlers of which he is most weary. Sachin has often described the likes of Hansie Cronje, Dion Nash as being the most difficult to face. I have watched almost 95 of his 100 hundreds albeit on TV. I surely must be one of the youngest at 26 to have watched these amount of  hundreds.  Last year I  watched 2 of his hundreds against England and South Africa live at Bngaluru and Nagpur respectively.  What’s more these 2 hundreds were the 98^th and the 99^th of his career. I desperately wanted to watch his 100^th hundred and for that singular reason I went to Mumbai on 23^rd  of November 2011. Mumbai was the venue for the final test match between India and West Indies. On day 2, I was sitting in  the North Stand just alongside the Sachin  Tendulkar stand in the hospitality chamber. West indies were still batting and they were dismissed  not until the 3^rd day morning. West Indies had scored plenty of runs and Sachin came in to bat around mid afternoon.

I thought to myself that I would have to stay for another day if I had to see him score a century.Tendulkar was unbeaten on 67 at the end of day 3. I remember going to the Marine Drive at 7 in the morning. I was so nervous and wanted to enter the Wankhede stadium. All across the street I could see thousands of people waiting with baited breath and in anticipation for the master to score those elusive 33 runs to score his 100^th hundred. Finally at around 8:40  I got into the stadium with my dad. Tendulkar started off briskly and even upper cut Fidel Edwards for a magnificent six over third man. He was batting on 94, I thought just 6 more runs to go and I would be one of those elusive people to have witnessed his 98^th, 99^th and the 100^th hundreds live on the ground. Little did I know that destiny had something in store for me. Tendulkar just tried to scoop a short of length delivery off Ravi Rampaul and was caught in the slips of Darren Sammy. What made it even worse was the fact that I had seen his mode of dismissal with those zoom in binoculars and literally followed the ball from his bat through to Samuels in the slip cordon.

I was absolutely stunned and could not believe that this was happening to me. The man for whom I had travelled all the way from Pune to Mumbai and I  could see the somber  Tendulkar walking off after being dismissed. It was 10 :20 in the morning and I waited for about 15 minutes and then headed off to Pune. Life taught me a priceless lesson that day. We do not get all the things in life which we desire. What made matters even worse was the fact that through my train journey which lasted for just about 3 and a half hours, R Ashwin of all people scored a century. All these years Tendulkar has managed to bring a smile on my face every time he bats. Even in the evening of his career, he still manages to enthrall me with his strokes. With every failure the murmurs  of his retirement become louder and louder. As far as his retirement is concerned, my personal opinion is that he should concentrate on the tests and help  the team during the transition phase. His run scoring will stop the day he stops playing this great game. Thank you Sachin for all the glorious and innumerable moments which you have provided me right throughout your career. All through my childhood years you were the only person  on whom I could rely upon to give me happiness when I was down and out. Even today I marvel at your passion and love for this game. Even today after so many years of watching you bat, I still wait anxiously for you to come to the crease. I  am truly indebted to you for just bringing a smile on my face.

The lines written below are best suited as to what I would like to say to the great man if I get an opportunity to meet him.

    “   ABHI NAA  JAOON CHOOD KAR KE DIL ABHI BHARA NAHIN.”

MY ALL TIME GREATEST INDIAN TEST XI

The other day I was just surfing different sports channels on T V  and on one sports channel they were showing the test match between India  and England played at the Oval in 1979 where Sunil Gavaskar scored a monumental 221 in the last innings of the match . Chasing 438 runs India almost got there scoring 429 / 8 and  the match ended in a draw. On the other channel, I was watching the Adelaide test match where Rahul Dravid scored 233 and 72 runs to help India win the test match in 2003. I was very fascinated with the idea of seeing Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid  playing  at the same time albeit being from different era. There and then I started imagining an Indian team comprising of players from different era. What if Sehwag could have Sunil Gavaskar as his opening partner ? What if Kumble and Kapil Dev could bowl from 2 ends and make  life miserable for opposing batsmen. So I have decided to pick an all time test team which could take on the teams from across the world. While picking this team I have had to leave out some of the very best Indian test players who proved their mettle at the international level. It was indeed a thankless job of picking the all time best test team representing India.  So here is in my opinion the best Indian test team which can give any other team a run for their money.

For the opening slot the first batsman which I   would pick is an obvious choice . Sunil Gavaskar, the man who scored hundreds against the best bowling attacks of his era in trying circumstances. Gavaskar played some of the finest innings against genuine pace. He had a technique with which he could score runs against pace as well as spin irrespective of the pitch. The knock of 96 which he played against Pakistan on a rank turner while chasing  in the 4^th innings was a true masterpiece  against the likes of Iqbal Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed is still widely regarded as one of the finest innings played by an Indian batsman. The opening partner for Gavaskar is a truly great player in his own right. Virender Sehwag will open with Gavaskar. We cannot possibly find a more diverse opening pair of batsman in Indian cricket, where Gavaskar’s technique is one of the finest in world cricket, Sehwag hardly moves his feet against fast bowlers but he is in a very good position at the time when the bat makes contact with the ball. Sehwag is very well balanced while playing against any kind of bowlers. The one thing which is common with these 2 great opening batsman is the appetite for big runs which is exactly which is needed for test cricket. The impact that Sehwag has had on world cricket for the last decade is there for all to see and having a strike rate of over 80 is very unique in test cricket.

For the number 3 position I would bank on Rahul Dravid one of the greatest no 3 players ever to have graced   this sport. Just like Gavaskar, Dravid also has a water tight technique and can bat for long hours if the going is tough. The number 4 place belongs to the one and only Sachin Tendulkar. His record speaks for itself and the passion with which he has played the sport for the last 22 years is awe inspiring. Just like his childhood hero Gavaskar, tendulkar has scored hundreds in difficult  situations against Australia which  has been the best team for majority of tendulkar’s career. The first four batsman are enough for any bowling attack to be weary of. For the critical batting position of no 5 I would choose G R Vishwanath who was a wonderful player to watch. Vishwanath’s knock of 97 against the likes of the rampaging Andy Roberts and Co   at the Chepauk is comparable to Gavaskar’s 96 against Pakistan in Bangalore. Vishwanath was a fierce cutter of the ball and for sheer courage against the Aussies and the feared foursome of the west Indian pace bowlers, Vishwanath truly deserves a place among the pantheon of great Indian batsman. For the no 6 position I was tempted to consider Mohinder Amaranth, V V S  Laxman and Mohammad Azharuddin, who have been all fine batsman in their own right. but I choose the all rounder Vinoo Mankad. Vinoobhai, as he was affectionately called was essentially an opener but he would adjust his game at no 6 , not forgetting his credentials with the ball. Vinoo Mankad was one of the best left arm spinners which this country has produced along with Bishen Bedi.

For the no 7 position of a wicket keeper I would choose M S Dhoni ahead of Syed  Kirmani for his  sheer  attitude towards the game. He is a fine batsman albeit he must improve his batting in overseas conditions. Kirmani was a very fine wicket keeper –batsman  and I would do grave injustice to him by not picking him but Dhoni is an attacking batsman which is the need of the hour in today’s day and age. Dhoni is also a decent wicket keeper and I would also   choose him as the captain of this great team. For the number 8 position of the team I would choose the legendary all rounder and without a doubt the greatest  medium fast bowler India has produced. down the order Kapil Dev can change the complexion of the game within a short span of time. His  genuine swing bowling will be required if the pitch is helpful for the fast bowlers. Kapil Dev is indeed the cricketer of the last century as far  as Indian cricket is concerned. For the number 9   position  I would choose Anil Kumble the greatest spinner India has produced . Kumble with his fighting attitude and his sheer competitiveness and perseverance to think the batsman out was indeed of a rare breed . The greatest match winner for India as far as bowling is concerned just cannot be left out of this team. There have been  great spinners who have played for India, the likes of Subhash Gupte, B S Chandrashekhar and Bishen Singh Bedi whose contribution cannot be forgotten. But for the number 10 position I would choose the off spinner Erapalli Prasanna who would mesmerize the batsman with his guile and flight. When Prasanna tossed   the ball, the batsman would invariably be drawn into playing a false sense of security and would be invariably castled or caught in the out field. For the last position I would choose a fast bowler yes you all read it correct. India did produce a genuine quick fast bowler named Mohammad Nissar who according to C B Fry was quicker than Harold Larwood. Mohammad Nissar had the ability to demolish a batting line up within a spell as he showed during  his short stint when he played for India. Today’s generation does not even know of Mohammad Nissar but according to cricket experts he was genuinely quick. So my all time great Indian test team looks like this.

                        Sunil Gavaskar

                        Virender Sehwag

                        Rahul Dravid

                        Sachin Tendulkar

                        G R Vishwanath

                        Vinoo Mankad

                        M S Dhoni  (capt and wk )

                        Kapil Dev Nikhanj

                        Anil Kumble

                        E A S Prasanna

                        Mohammad Nissar

Wicket keepers - The ultimate unsung heroes.

Imagine asking  an under  12 or an  under 14 kid to stand behind the stumps and watch the batsman making  runs merrily  by waiting for the bad ball and playing the good ones on its merit  and the bowler bowling his heart out trying his level best to outthink the batsman with his variety or  changes in pace. Most   kids would   not have enough motivation or the patience to keep wickets when the entire centre of attraction  is either on the bowler or the batsman. I have often wondered what does it take for a young kid to take up wicket keeping when it is arguably the most thankless and the most demanding   job   besides   umpiring. What kind of motivation do the coaches provide for the young kids who are aspiring to become good   wicket keepers?  Unless the kid is really motivated enough and has the passion to become a good wicket keeper, it is a bloody tough job.

In today’s day and age an international player has to  be good at  least 2 skills to survive at the international level for a considerable duration of time. When the selectors sit down to select a 15 or 16 member squad for an upcoming series, they must at least pick 2 specialist wicket keepers. What do we mean by specialist keeper ? A wicket keeper must   necessarily be sound behind the stumps and there has come a time when he must be able to contribute decently   with the bat. A good wicket keeper adds value which is no less than that of a good batsman or a quality bowler. A good wicket keeper motivates the tiring bowler when the bowler is in the middle of  a longish spell or when the wicket is really dead and there is nothing happening of the deck. The wicket keeper is   in a position when he is able to read the batsman’s  body language  through his demeanor and his general feel even though he is standing behind the batsman. Wicket keepers of the yesteryears, the likes of Allan Knott, Rodney Marsh or even a Syed Kirmani had one great quality besides being agile and skillful behind the stumps, the ability to recognize the  USP so as to say of the bowler. His strengths and his weakness against a particular batsman. these great wicket keepers used to provide valuable insight and make the bowler realize his strength and contribute in a  major way to the dismissal of the batsman.

One of the unfortunate things about cricket as a sport is that the wicket keepers are an unheralded lot and in many ways the unsung heroes of the sport. When a batsman is dismissed bowled through an in swinger or is caught by the deep square leg, everybody appreciates the bowler and the captain for setting the batsman up. The fact of the matter is that the wicket keeper  has also contributed on several occasions in passing on the insight into a batsman’s weakness.  I distinctly remember the Hobart Test Match where Australia was playing against Pakistan and it was the last over of the day’s play. Basit Ali the batsman was playing well and Shane Warne was the bowler, just before the last ball was being bowled, Ian Healy stopped the bowler and spoke with  Warnie for about a minute or so. It is believed that Healy was asking Warnie  about his evening plans. The last ball Warnie went round the wicket and the ball pitched well outside the   leg stump and Basit Ali offered no shot and the ball spun around  between his legs to hit the stumps. Everybody lauded Warnie for his magical delivery but very few would have realized  that by making the batsman wait for some time, Healy was playing  with the temperament of the batsman which led to the loss in concentration of the batsman.

The demands of this modern day sport are such that the wicket keeper is expected to contribute with the bat consistently and with the majority of flat tracks the wicket keepers tend to spend a lot of time in the blazing sun. Imagine bending down for a couple of minutes and get up repeatedly, we all will appreciate the effort of the wicket keeper who has to repeatedly  bend down and get up as the ball is delivered. The bowlers and the fielders get a respite between overs, but the wicket keeper always has to keep his focus on the job at hand. The best wicket keepers are the ones who make the fewer mistakes. A wicket keeper only gets noticed and cops heavy criticism when he has dropped a catch or missed a stumping ,forgetting that just like the other players even he is liable to make some mistakes and can have laps in concentration because even he is human at the end of the day. One of the other qualities   required for a quality wicket keeper is his anticipation and the willingness to want the ball and be alert for another catch after he has spilled one earlier, rather than brooding on the missed opportunity gone by. The wicket keeper is a captain’s   best confidante when the captain is planning a fielding or a bowling change because  he is in a very good position to suggest some innovative move which can turn a match on its head. The wicket keeper is also expected to play a   fighting innings down the order, When the chips are down. The likes of Adam Gilchrist, Mark Boucher   have revolutionized the concept of wicket keeping. Not to forget wicket keepers like Kumar Sangakkara and MS  Dhoni who   are fantastic batsman besides being good wicket keepers. Ask the great bowlers the role which the wicket keepers have played and they will tell you their success story had a lot to do with the wicket keepers of their teams.

All Rounder - An Endangered Species.

Cricket is a beautiful game comprising of a variety of players adept at different skills like  great batsmen who  score tons of runs and majority of   these  great batsmen score runs at crucial juncture of the game when the game could go either way.  These batsmen have the nerve  and the temperament to seize the vital moments and help win the games for their country. Then there are the bowlers whether it be fast bowlers who hurl the ball at lightning speed and  take crucial wickets and strike terror in the opposing camp. Even the spinners have a huge influence on the outcome of the game. These slow bowlers lull the batsman into a fall sense of security and spin a web around them. Besides all these different breeds of players who have  excelled  in one dimensional skill there are a very few  select breed of cricketers who excel in multidimensional skill. These are the all rounders who are the players providing  the right balance to their side. If we have a look at the great teams, all these teams have had at least a couple of all rounders, who have contributed with the bat and the ball at some point or the other. The Indian team  would give anything for a half decent all rounder as it   has been looking for a quality all rounder ever since Kapil Dev’s retirement  and has been unable to find a suitable replacement since. The entire balance of the Indian team goes awry. Even the likes of Irfan Pathan have been tried out but to no avail. An all rounder needs to do justice to at least   one primary skill and be half decent at the other skill.

A quality all rounder according to me is the one who can command a place in a side either on his bowling or batting prowess alone. There are different kind of all rounders. There have been the batting all rounders whose primary forte has been   batting  . The likes of Jacques Kallis, Gary Sobers   and so on. Then there have been the bowling all rounders, the likes of Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Ian Bothom whose primary forte was bowling. The era of 70’s and 80’s especially saw the emergence of some great all rounders who won their teams several matches   both with the bat and ball. Who can forget the 1981 ashes series which was called   ‘Bothom’s Ashes’, when at Headingley he scored a whirlwind hundred and contributed with the ball to single handedly win a match which was lost for all money. Now that kind of performance is what adds value to the team and helps in striking the right balance in the team. Unfortunately since the 90’s and the early decade of this new millennium there has been a dearth of quality all rounders on the world stage. Jacques kallis, Shane Watson are some of the few quality all rounders left on the scene. The question arises as to why has there been such a dearth of all rounders especially in this decade. Quite frankly it is not rocket science to point out that too much of meaningless ODI tournaments and the emergence of T20’s which is a money spinner has contributed chiefly to this rare breed of species called all rounders being on the verge of being extinct. Imagine a batsman like Kevin Petersen announcing his retirement from ODI’s because of the toll his body has taken over the 7 odd years since making his debut by the sheer volume of matches he has played although he is likely  to reconsider his decision and play ODI’s again. But still this trend of players opting for one form of the game rather than being available for all 3 formats is going to become an ongoing trend.

When a batsman like Peterson or a bowler like Lasith Malinga opts to play only a certain form of the game, imagine the plight of the all rounder when he has to concentrate on at least 2 out of the 3 skills to survive in the game .Now a days there are different kinds  of all rounders which are emerging, like the wicket keeper is expected to contribute substantially with the bat besides being an efficient man behind the stumps. Like a Sangakkara or a MS Dhoni who are decent wicket keepers but are known more for their consistent contribution with the bat.  Then there are the kind of semi - all rounders who can do a part time job with the bat or ball. The likes of Shahid Afridi, Irfan Pathan and Anjelo Mathews are players who are not exactly specialists in any one skill but still prove to be effective when the overall balance of the team is concerned. The demands of modern sport are   such that it is very difficult for a quality all rounder  to play all round the year and that is why it is even more noteworthy that a player like Jacques Kallis regularly plays all the forms of cricket seldom  missing any series due to injury or does not even opt for any rest over a period of 15 odd years.. Being a performing and consistent   all rounder in the current scenario of hectic cricketing calendar is a rarity these days. That is precisely the reason why the breed of multi skilled cricketers needs to be preserved and nurtured for the future.

The sublime and classy style of batting Part 2

In the first part of my article I mentioned about 3 world class batsmen who have impressed me and a million others with their stylish strokeplay. The world of cricket has seen many such magicians with the bat  over the last 3 decades. I would like  to mention a few more batsman whose style of batting has  impressed one and all.

Brian Lara is one of the greatest batsmen the world has ever seen. He   has scored more than  ten thousand runs in both the forms of cricket scoring over 50 international hundreds but the aspect which has always stood out in his batting is the finesse and the style with which he has scored his runs playing in a  weak team which has lost more matches more than it has won. I still vividly remember the test series against Sri Lanka where he  scored more than 600 runs on spin friendly wickets against murali and co. While   the West Indies lost 3-0 but what stood out was his  quick footwork and his ability to play the ball late on a turning track. It was one of the best exhibitions of batting against high quality spin bowling. Lara has always scored runs at a quick pace and pace and spin   have been treated with equal disdain. His fierce square cut and elegant cover drives with the perfect sense of timing have been the hallmark of his batting. The high backlift makes his strokes all the more attractive and the way in which he  late cuts the ball of slower bowlers bringing the bat down  to meet the ball like a rapier is a sheer delight to  the eye. Over the years   he has always   made some slight changes against quick bowling. In his last few years he used to jump back and expose his leg stump while trying to play on the leg side. The bowler would always feel as if he had a chance to have his stumps rattled but with the genius that Lara is he always used to get his bat down just in the knick of time and play it on the leg side.

 Mohammad Yousuf ( formerly known as Yousuf Youhana ) was one of the most stylish batsman  from Pakistan. The key to his batting was to play the ball as late as possible especially in swinging conditions and on dry wickets he used to maneuver the ball on both the sides of the wicket of the spinners. The fielding captains always had trouble keeping the run rate down when   Yousuf was at the crease because he was always on the lookout for singles and would find gaps in the field with consummate ease. He also broke the world record held by Vivian Richards for most runs in a calendar year when he scored 1788 runs with 9 test centuries from 11 test matches in 2006. His elegant cover drives and the uncanny ability to   play late was one of the major reasons for his success despite not having a great footwork. The ability to stay calm and unflustered despite adverse conditions was the key to his tremendous success in test cricket averaging over 50 with 24 test hundreds. Mohammad Yousuf was  one of the mainstays of Pakistani batting lineup along  with Inzamam ul Haq. Mohammad Yousuf will always be remembered as one of the modern stylist batsman of his era.

Mahela jaywerdene has been around the international circuit for over 15 years now. When we think of finesse and style he just has to be included in this category, Whether it be his effortless driving on the off side which oozes class or his ability to play at the very last moment of spinners down to the third man region. When Mahela comes to the wicket in a matter of few overs he gets on with his job and by the time the opposition realizes he has already reached   a score of 30 or 40.His inside out shots of the spinners and his sense of improvisation against the quicks is a treat to the eye. Whether it be scoring hundreds against Australia in difficult conditions or in England where the ball darts around he has always stood up to be counted. His hundred against India in the finals of the 2011 world cup albeit in a losing cause was an absolute masterpiece. He is a supremely fit guy scoring hundreds in hot sultry conditions against the toughest of attacks. Currently the captain of the team he always leads the team with example scoring runs with unmatched style and providing sublime touch to his batting.

The sublime and classy style of batting Part 1

                   

Over the past 3 decades or so there have been various kind of batsmen who have graced the international scene in test and one day cricket. Some of them have been technically correct as far as the footwork and batting technique is concerned like Sunil Gavaskar, Geoffrey Boycott, Rahul Dravid. These batsmen have been known for their long stay at the crease and impeccable powers of concentration .Then there have been others like Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Shivnarine Chanderpaul who have looked ungainly and a bit out of place with their batting techniques and  foot movements. These batsmen although have never looked pretty while batting but have managed to score tons of runs and at important juncture of the game to help the team succeed. Then there have been the batsmen like Sehwag and Gilchrist who have murdered bowling attacks the world over. Besides all these batsmen there are a special brand of cricketers who have dazzled the spectators with their stylish strokeplay and imperious batting displays. These have been the batsmen who would please the true blue romantics of the game. Over the 2 parts of my article I would make a humble attempt to  present the  most stylish and classy players whom I have seen and who  have enthralled the viewers all around  the world  and my sincere  apologies to all if I have  not included someone truly worthy   of this select brand of batsmaship.

Mark Waugh or junior as he was always called by his teammates might not have the greatest of test records like his more illustrious brother Steve but what he exhibited in batting was pure joy to watch and a style which was unmatched by any batsman of his generation. Often considered to be casual and easy going by nature his batting also reflected some of these qualities. I am sure he must have hated being slotted as ‘casual’ because even he worked as hard if not harder as anybody going around the circuit. When he was at the crease his trademark on side flicks and gorgeous cover drives would make the spectators gasp in excitement and often enough he would score pretty 60’s and 70’s and would be out to a soft dismissal and people would often feel robbed of the entertainment feeling frustrated. Yes Mark Waugh did frustrate people when he would lose his concentration and often throw his wicket away when he seemed set for a long innings. Everything about him seemed so casual and at times he would make batting look ridiculously simple and would score runs without any fuss whatsoever. It is not surprising to note  that he never managed to score a test double hundred when clearly much inferior batsmen have scored a test double like Jason Gillespie and Wasim Akram to name a few. Batting for long hours was clearly not his forte barring on some occasions like his match winning 116 against South Africa at Port Elezabeth. In one of his rare patient and gritty display of batting  he helped Australia win the test chasing a stiff  4^th innings target. He was equally adept against pace and spin often scoring hundreds in England and also in the sub continent.

Saeed Anwar was one of the finest opening batsmen certainly in limited forms of cricket and he was one of those rare quality  opening batsman from Pakistan who enjoyed success at the highest level of the game for a considerable period.  A stylish left handed batsman who would score runs at a brisk pace was one half of the successful opening pair (Aamir Sohail being the other ) from Pakistan. Saeed Anwar also was equally good of pace and spin who would use his wrists to maneuver the ball in the gaps with consummate ease. He was also one of those free flowing batsmen who would score pull shots of anything short of length and despite being from the subcontinent he was a wonderful puller and hooker of the short deliveries which was a rare quality among the subcontinental breed of batsman. The stylish whip of his pads and the free flowing cover drive was indeed very delightful to watch. Like mark Waugh even Saeed Anwar also failed to score a double hundred in test cricket. He was often accused of chucking his wicket away when in prime form. Saeed Anwar scored hundreds in England and Australia against good bowling attacks certainly proving his class as a test opener. Anwar in his prime would destroy an attack as Indians faced the left hander’s wrath when he was at  his murderous best  in Chennai when he scored 194 in an ODI which was the highest ODI score at that time. A certain lazy elegance and wristy style of batting made him a sheer pleasure to watch.

VVS laxman has enthralled people the world over with his magical and audacious strokeplay against spinners and genuine quickies the world over. He was often a shaky starter at the start of the innings being beaten several times due to the obvious lack of footwork. His tendency to hang back would make him vulnerable against the swinging ball but after getting through the initial tough phase he would often score runs at a fair clip always dealing in boundaries even against the top bowlers. Laxman was one of the few gifted batsman who had the ability to score runs on both sides of the wicket. He was good against fast bowlers as his record against Australia down under would suggest. Against spin bowlers on a turning track for a ball pitched on virtually off stump, he had the rare ability to score a booming cover drive on the off side and for the very next  ball pitched on virtually the same spot he could whip it for an on drive or a flick on the on side. I have often wondered how the hell could he manage to treat the same ball to 2 very different corners of the field. Like Mark Waugh even Laxman seemed casual at times especially when he was going through a phase of his career in early 2001 when he would score pretty 30’s and 40’s and then throw his wicket away when the whole world expected him to score big runs . This was a phase just after his majestic 281 against Australia in Kolkata. Later on he went on to become one of the top batsman of his era and scored many hundreds against his favourite Aussies in their own backyard. The hard and bouncy pitches down under were just perfect for a predominantly back foot player like Laxman.  With dodgy knees laxman was not the swiftest movers between the wickets but he more than made up by dealing in boundaries with his imperious and sublime timing.

All these 3 batsmen would make batting look ridiculously simple for the viewers and for the sheer classy and effortless batting they will always be enshrined in the memories of people the world over.

Lively test wickets: The need of the hour for Indian cricket.

           

“Pitches are like wives, you don’t know how they might turn out to be” used to say a former great England opening batsman Geoffrey Boycott during his stint as a commentator during his pitch report. Certainly the surface on which a cricket match is played is of uttermost importance and more often than not dictates the proceedings out there in the middle. Certainly in Test cricket, the pitches have a huge bearing on the result of the match. As compared to other sports, the surfaces vary greatly depending on the country in which the matches are being played. The sub-continental pitches are invariably slow and low with very little assistance for fast bowlers and these surfaces are tailor made for slow bowlers where the spinners rule the roost for most part of 5 days. The pitches in South Africa and Australia are hard and bouncy in nature where there is a lot of help for fast bowlers for the majority of the test match. If we go to England and New Zealand the conditions are a bit damp which assist the traditional swing bowlers and there is a bit of juice for the initial 2 or 3 days.

During a test series the home team has the prerogative to prepare surfaces which suit their bowling strength and style of attack. Invariably the captains and the coaches have a say in the nature of the surfaces that are being prepared by the pitch curator. The major problems with the captain and the coach having a say in the nature of pitches being prepared is that the decisions are taken with a very short sighted vision of winning the home series and ignoring the away series in the long run. Obviously there is a lot at stake when the team is preparing for its home series and their argument is always that when they travel abroad they are going to be at a distinct disadvantage when they encounter surfaces which are very unfamiliar to the ones on which they are accustomed to playing regularly at home, So why not produce pitches which offer home advantage to the home team. There is some merit in this argument but the results when these teams travel abroad can be abysmal to say the least. To cite an example of India, when India plays at home it invariably plays on pitches where the spinners have a field day and India  has been virtually unbeatable at home, barring a couple of series against South Africa and Australia since the last 2 decades. The scenario drastically changes when India travels abroad (look what happened in the 2 recent overseas series against England and Australia.)

It begs the question as to why do our curators not prepare the sort of pitches which we might encounter while travelling abroad? Either the BCCI does not encourage these curators to prepare sporting pitches, or the curators simply are not capable of preparing a sporting track. There are a whole lot of factors which are to be considered while preparing a good cricket wicket. The overhead conditions, the inherent soil mechanics of the ground are very vital factors and a thorough knowledge is required by the curator if he is hoping to prepare a track which will last the entire duration of the match. A sporting track after all is not that difficult to prepare if there is a concerted effort by the home cricket board and the curators committee. There have been a few good cricketing wickets in India, the Mohali and the Wankhede track have always had a bit of juice for the fast bowlers. But invariably even these wickets have died down and especially the Mohali pitch which was once considered the fastest pitch in India has now become as dead as a dodo. Even the Mumbai pitch which was considered to be one of the best cricket wickets in India has started taking vicious turn from virtually day 1 and some of the matches have finished in less than 3 days. If the BCCI takes a tough stand and orders the curators to prepare tracks which offer some assistance to the pacers for the initial couple of days and later on from day 3 onwards if the spinners get some help out of the wicket, then all the variety of bowlers can have an influence on the result of the match.  The practice of producing surfaces which are underprepared and turn out to be rank turners is very detrimental when the team travels abroad, the surfaces which they are going to encounter are vastly different in nature to the ones on which they have grown up playing.

The process of preparing sporting tracks should really start from the domestic level, where the first class players become accustomed to playing on greener and more  livelier tracks which will stand them in good shape when they play at the international level in foreign condition. By preparing sporting tracks there is a distinct possibility of losing a few home test matches against strong teams,. But India’s poor overseas record will drastically improve and we might not experience the kind of annihilation which we saw a few months back in England and Australia. The true mettle of a cricketer is judged by his performances in overseas conditions where things are adverse rather than in home conditions where even an average player can score loads of runs against opposition. The BCCI has a great opportunity this season by ensuring that sporting pitches are prepared when majority of cricket will be played at home and we can prepare for the tougher series in a couple of years to come.

Modern day style of captaincy leaves a lot to be desired.

The game of cricket has evolved by leaps and bounds since it was first played internationally  in 1877. Some of the aspects of the game have improved drastically while some of them have deteriorated over the passage of time. One of the disturbing aspects of the modern day cricket is the lack of innovative style of captaincy. There has been a debate on what are the qualities of a good captain. Some astute experts on the game of cricket suggest that a captain is as good as his team, some might suggest that a captain should be able to command a place in his team by virtue of his performances. All said and done a captain of a national cricket team must be able to earn respect from his fellow players and he should be a good reader of the game always a step or two ahead of the game. Some of these prerequisite qualities are missing from a majority of the modern day captains. The approach of some of the captains seems to be baffling to say the least.

The first charge (if you could call it that) is the over defensive mindset of a fielding captain when the opposition team is under pressure. There are plenty of instances where the batting team is in a precarious position with a new player at the crease who is yet to get his eye in properly and adjust to the pitch conditions, what does the captain do? instead of building pressure on the new batsmen he places an in out field whereby the batsmen is allowed to maneuver the ball into the empty spaces and ease himself  at the very start of his innings. We rarely see close in fielders trying to save the single inside the inner circle. Secondly, the modern day captains lay too much emphasis on placing fielders for bad bowling. After every couple of deliveries the fielders are shuffled all over the field and this takes up way too much time. No wonder the bowling rates are appalling to say the least. Very seldom do we come across a captain who along with his team manages to complete the requirements of finishing 15 overs in an hour in tests as well as ODI’s .

Very often we see the bowlers getting the top batsmen out quickly but due to the defensive captaincy the tailenders hang on for far too long increasing the frustration level of the entire team which has a demoralizing effect when the fielding team goes out to bat. It is indeed baffling to watch a fielding captain placing defensive fields when a pair of an established player and a tailender is at the crease. The fielding team very rarely tries to get the recognized batsman dismissed quickly but instead only tries to scalp the tailender gifting precious runs to the batting team in the process. Even when the tailenders are slogging, the captains invariably place 4 or 5 fielders on the boundary giving way too much respect to the tailenders. Modern captains invariably run out of ideas when plan A or B does not work and lose focus on the job at hand. For an attacking player like Sehwag, fielding captains invariably place deep point and deep square leg even at the start of his innings. All they are doing is playing in to the hands of the batsmen as he is much too smart and chooses to take easy singles which are on offer every time. Very rarely do we see some ‘out of the box’ bowling changes like Martin Crowe started with a spinner like Dipak Patel during the ‘92’ world cup which proved to be a masterstroke.

One of the bane of modern day captaincy is the lack of innovative ideas when the onslaught is going on in limited overs cricket or when the pitch is very dead and flat during the test match. Even during the time of declaration of the innings the captains take far too long to declare erring on the side of caution as supposed to giving such a target which the batting team can attempt to chase down and might lose wickets in the process which could make the match very interesting. Captains like Mark Taylor would announce sporting declaration and would try to make a match out of a virtual dead test match. At a time when test cricket is being seriously challenged by the T20 format, it is all the more prudent for captains to be proactive rather than reactive in their captaincy so as to produce more and more results in the longer format of the game. The modern captains might argue that they have very few match  winning bowlers at their disposal and especially when more and more test matches are being  played on tracks which offer too little for the bowlers. Even though there is some merit in this argument, all the more reason to play 5 bowlers instead of 4 by taking the gamble of playing with a batsman short when the wickets are batting friendly. The modern captains also argue that they have a lot on their plate with all the media scrutiny and they have to manage various things off the field, but with handsome monetary rewards and recognition, captains must bear in mind that they are professionals at the end of the day and should consider themselves lucky when they are at the helm of affairs of  the entire team. Captaincy is a very crucial aspect of cricket unlike other sports and it has a substantial influence on the overall result of the game.

Need for the Ranji trophy to be revitalized

Rajasthan team winning the Ranji trophy 2011- 12

The glitz, glamour and the razzmatazz of the IPL is over and now it is time for some international and domestic action. India will be travelling to the  emerald island Sri Lanka. Meanwhile after some months, the premier domestic tournament Ranji trophy will commence. Having said that, Is the Ranji trophy of any importance? If you are anybody associated with the BCCI, then Ranji trophy does not matter as much as it used to till the cash rich Indian Premier League was launched. Clearly the priorities of the board have changed as far as the Ranji trophy and the Duleep trophy are concerned. The board is busy making money out of the IPL. The Ranji trophy till a few seasons ago was the one platform where the players could demonstrate their talent as well as character in a Ranji match and could have a chance of being considered for national selection. Since its inception in 2008 the IPL has become an easy option for the fringe and domestic players to get instant recognition and fame besides making moolah out of it by playing for a month and a half.

The major downside to the IPL is that the young Indian players at a very young age are influenced by the money and the glamour associated with the IPL and are reluctant to represent their state teams at the first class level. Add to it the fact that the selectors have started considering one odd impressive performance in the IPL as basis for selection in the national team. Imagine the plight of a domestic cricketer who is not considered by the franchisee for the IPL when he notices the fact that however impressive his performance at the first class level, he is going to find it difficult to be considered for a call at the national duty when one odd performance at the IP catches the eye of the short sighted selectors who directly draft these IPL players into the Indian team. There are loads of players who have consistently scored heavy runs at the first class level or have taken truck load of wickets year after year but they have been ignored for the Indian team and some good performances in a T20 format like IPL have been preferred. It begs the question why is the Ranji trophy being organized after all.  There was a time until the arrival of the IPL when good performance in the Ranji and the Duleep trophy were rewarded with national births. Players like Sachin Tendulkar,Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly who went on to become great cricketers were all a product of the first class system.

Another downer to the players being selected from the IPL is that in a T20 match a player with mediocre skill can also have a huge impact on the outcome of the game within a  couple of overs. A batsmen can smash the bowlers in the IPL but when it comes to playing the longer format of the game and for sustained period of time, then he is found wanting. The skill and the temperament  to adapt to different conditions  with the passage of time during a test or a first class match cannot be  developed by giving priority to the IPL over first class domestic tournaments. This is where the BCCI will have to keep aside their own selfish motives and    prioritize the Ranji trophy and the Duleep trophy tournaments. The selectors should reward consistent performances at the first class levels over the IPL performances. A player after proving himself at the first class level for a sustained period of time can deliver good performances when he is selected at the international circuit. Until very recently the players used to get peanuts for representing their state teams but the BCCI very rightly had taken a firm stand  by increasing the pay scale of the first class cricketers manifold. This has encouraged the first class cricketers to a certain extent but clearly it is not enough. Even the crowds at the Ranji matches are very sparse and they need to be brought in large numbers to bring  the dying first class matches to some much needed life. The players like Sachin Tendulkar and other senior players also need to play some of the matches when they are not on national duty. Clearly these players also do not make any concerted efforts to play in the Ranji trophy which will subsequently make the domestic matches more competitive and will bring in more spectators  to the stadiums.

Timing the exit of a very very special career

In February- march 2001 the Aussies arrived in India for a 3 match test and 5 match ODI series. Steve Waugh had already called it the final frontier after his team were on a juggernaut winning their last 15 test matches in a row. It was indeed a phenomenal achievement and they wrapped up the first test in Mumbai inside 3 days, winning it by 10 wickets. The second test was at the famous Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It was here that VVS Laxman decided to take hold of his career by the scruff of the neck. He had been a very talented player until then but always failed to live up to his immense talent. He scored a stellar 281 in the second innings after following on and miraculously India beat the Aussies by 171 runs and stopped the Aussie juggernaut. Since then VVS has not looked back and has become one of the top batsmen of his era.

Laxman has always struggled in the shorter form of the game and in his 16 year long career he has failed to play a single world cup match. But it is at the test level where he has excelled in his art. He is easily one of the most pleasing batsmen to watch  when in full flow. There are very few batsmen who can enthrall the viewers with their magical stroke play.  If we had to pick a team consisting of the most pleasing batsmen to watch, Laxman would easily walk in this team among the pantheon of other great batsmen of the game. He has had a fulfilling career scoring nearly 9000 runs at the test level with 17 test hundreds and over a hundred catches. Over the last few years he has carved out some of the most valuable 4^th innings chases and with  his cool demeanor, India has managed to chase some tough 4^th innings scores against top oppositions. His knock of 72 against Australlia at Mohali in October 2010 and his memorable hundred chasing a tough score   against Sri Lanka in the deciding test to level the series in the same year are some of the few innings which instantly come to mind. But having said all this the last 2 overseas tours of England and Australlia have proved that it will be very difficult for Laxman to survive the entire upcoming season. His failure in England was not much of a surprise as he has always been susceptible to the moving ball and with his limited footwork and the tendency to hang  back from the crease was going to create major problems in England. It was in Australlia against his favourite opposition where one thought that Laxman could weave some magic with his effortless sense of timing and subtle wrists but clearly age has caught up with him and even on bouncy and hard pitches which are best suited for his kind of stroke play, Laxman was found wanting.

Nevertheless he is still a very good player and all throughout his career he has been well known for his impeccable timing and it would be very fitting for him to announce his retirement from test cricket after the Hyderabad test against the Kiwis in August this year. It would be the perfect swansong for the stylish Hyderabadi playing in front of his home crowd..One of the striking things about Laxman has been his stellar record against the best team over a majority of his career. His test average against the Aussies is almost 50 even better than his overall test average including 6 test centuries.against his favorite opposition  Over the years Laxman has enthralled the viewers with his languid and imperious stroke play. Add to that his ability to make slip catching look ridiculously simple in test cricket where he has taken some blinders in the slip position. People might argue that he has dodgy knees and it has affected his running between the wickets but he has never been a great athlete over the years and he has had knee problems even when he has been on the top of his game. Having said that I seriously think it is time for him to go, not because there is anybody to replace him as such players cannot be replaced and their value to the team cannot be undermined but because all throughout his career  one of the  aspects which we all have enjoyed is his sense of impeccable timing and it would be very unlike him to stay on for far too long and drag his career. The real aspect is that he has very little to offer as a cricketer at this stage of his career.  This would be a fitting farewell to one of the best Indian batsmen of all time and an even more likeable individual off the field.