TEAM SELECTION IS always a thankless job. No wonder many of our selectors promote talent from their region, knowing that whichever way they go, they will get brickbats. At least, every region gets to see their favourite players play for India, and that's cricket socialism for you :). On a serious note, selection cannot be just performance oriented. If performance is the sole criterion then just a computer can do the job and more importantly we will have no one to blame or write songs about.
Almost all of us are selectors and we show it with our teams, time and again. Even, we don't go by mere numbers. We base our selections on our perception of a particular player. We form a judgement based on the perception and numbers. We may not even see a player in action, yet form judgments based on what we hear and read. Chances are high that one will bat for a seen and proven talent than an unseen / less seen talent, however hyped up and promising it may be. The mantra of selectors, generally is to 'Err on the side of caution' than 'Err on the side of daring'. If you make a daring selection and err, you will have to answer more queries and may even lose support subsequently
I was reading SP's article and some interesting comments at http://www.straightpoints.com/2010/09/how-do-you-feel-about-yuvraj-getting.html. The case in point is the selection of Yuvraj / Kaif for tests ahead of Badrinath in mid 2000's. We all know that Badrinath is a prolific scorer in domestic cricket. Yuvraj / Kaif made it pretty early with their Under 19 exploits. They didn't disappoint, in ODIs, though Kaif (unfortunately) faded away. Every opportunity that came up in the test side, due to injuries, went Yuvraj / Kaif's way. And when Ganguly retired, Yuvraj was given the first opportunity to fail. Badrinath is a player in classic mould and touted as a test prospect. He was probably in the prime of his batting when ignored by selectors after Ganguly's retirement. He is now 30 and may not do a Hussey from here. When he was in the reckoning for selection and not picked, two things could have gone against him. One, Yuvraj's success in ODIs blurred selectors' view of Badri or two, in selectors' judgement Badri did not belong at the top level. Surely Badri's supporters not going to take the second view. May be Badrinath should have been given a chance to fail when Ganguly retired. But whom to blame?
When the whole system is loaded up against daring decisions, how can selectors ignore a guy who hit Stuart Broad for six sixers in an over for a guy who is notching up hundreds in domestic cricket? How easy it is for them to judge Badri as a better test talent than Yuvi? Also Yuvi was in fantastic form in 2007. I assume that the mandate for selection committee is to select teams that win matches. If this is true then I won't blame the selectors for not picking Badrinath ahead of Yuvraj. Yuvraj was winning matches and it's hard to ignore him for tests saying that he is winning only in ODIs. Also he was playing regularly for the Indian ODI team and that left him with little opportunity to hone his test batting skills. How could selectors have denied him a place when Ganguly retired? In hindsight, we are able to rubbish his selection over Badrinath but how easy it is for selectors to foresee Yuvraj's performance in tests and decide in favour of Badrinath? Where is the flaw? In people or in the system?
This also bring us to a point of discussion on what to do with such dilemmas? If there is a separate and different selection committee for tests would they do a better job and give due recognition to test talent? Can a selection committee that knows what is test match talent and how to spot it do better and give Badri's, Pujara's, Rahane's and Mukund's their due in time? It may work but then it may also make it difficult for people who shine in ODIs and have little time to hone their skills for the longer format. But all said and done it's worth a try. To me a test match talent is one that has three T's (technique, temperament and tenacity) backed by performance. By technique I don't mean the text book stuff but the ability to effectively cope with what is thrown at them. A selection committee that can combine numbers with these Ts in the context of international cricket may do a better job. But they can't hope to end our complaining :)
Monday, 27 September 2010
Do we need a separate test match selection committee?
Friday, 24 September 2010
Whistle Podus vs Game for More
| Whistle Podus | Game for More |
|---|---|
| M Vijay | R Uthappa |
| S Raina | V Kohli |
| Bowlers for WC 2011...hmm | Kumble's already retired |
Awright! Tonight, at 2100 hrs IST, one of them's going to set their fortune rolling on the better track.
Our declared interest is to look for probable ICC WC 2011 selectees.
We have identified four players for the shortlist, of which one of them is a certainty. The grappling is between the other three for maybe two spots at the most. Could easily be just the one spot between the three too. The four we speak of are all batsmen, two from each side. The four batsmen are Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay from the Whistlers and Virat Kohli and Robin Uthappa from the Gluttons.
No bowler has been shortlisted by us because Anil Kumble has retired, Praveen Kumar is a certainty according to us, and the rest don't matter. Jakati interests us, but he's not going to figure anyways ahead of others. At least not at this stage of the season. Sorry, but true.
Their head to head record should be 4-3 in favour of the Podusses, if I've got it right. The thing to watch in that head to head business is it has a pattern - contests between the two have seen alternation of victory and defeat like a whirring karma chakra. By that token, the red Gormandizers must be looking forward to an early Diwali. Rich prizes await those in the finals; the glory of it all being a great bonus.
M Vijay has done his bit to merit being checked out one last time in the ODIs leading up to the World Cup for temperament issues. Can he concentrate for 30-40 overs, is the question that plagues us. If he does play that long, a hundred is given and India should benefit. Of course, he'll have to be a shadow to either Gambhir or Sehwag.
Uthappa hasn't really fired and he's had an unfortunate run out too. He may merit a looki-see as a finisher. If he can play wll today, he might have advanced his case for an ODI review.
Kohli, according to me, is in. I think he deserves to be in the WC squad and can play at any position.
Raina needs to show consistency. Now that his bowling is taking off, we need that batting consistency to continue and he turn into a solid asset. Just in case Yuvraj's presence and his SLO isn't available for one reason or the other.
As for today's match, I hope chaps turn up with their right games and give us an entertaining match.
Good luck to both and may the better team on the day win. Read More......
Things are looking much better
One of our favorite historians is repeating this mantra in a seriously delirious manner - 'things are looking much better' - and, perhaps to check his state of consciousness, is being repeatedly prompted by a studio denizen to utter the same lines over and over again. At one time the studio denizen enquired of our historian if things weren't looking much better than the entire past week? Our historian replied that things were indeed looking much better on the ground.
Let's leave the two to outdo each other with the repetition of the same phrase. You know like that game kids play - where one imitates what the other says till one of them breaks down in irritation? Meanwhile, let's take our own shot at guessing why things are looking much better.
It's simple actually, it has stopped raining in Delhi for the past two days. Things are bound to look much better on the ground!
Why pull punches?
A few months ago, maybe a year ago, a prominent badminton player had pulled no punches in criticizing Indian cricketers on different issues. A popular TV news channel also began to feature the said badminton player as a 'panellist' for a period of time whenever Indian cricket needed to be kicked at.
Of late, I have seen a singular reluctance on the part of the very same eloquent and freely opining badmintonist, on the rare occasions the very same news channel now asked, for opinions on the CWG controversy, to land any punches with the same vehemence and mischievous excitement written all over the face while laying it across Indian cricketers...thickly, richly, vendettaistically...upon those fellow sportspersons, but unfortunately, of Indian cricket.
I wonder why the athlete is pulling punches now, skirting issues and soft-pedalling well documented doings in the CWG when asked about it all?
The duality and opportunism being indulged by the said athlete back then pi$$ed us off so much from our adoration of the said athlete that we were unable to wholeheartedly applaud the sportsperson's own success. You need to have stature and genuine quality content to earn unstinting admiration, like Rafa Nadal gets...a player who is always respectful to fellow sportspersons.
Catching up !
The cameras caught up with Shoaib Akhtar. For some reason, I appeared to have missed that footage till today. I saw the clip appended within a Shahidbhai interview.
It was a light moment to see Afridi's humorous candour when the interviewer asked him about the current Akhtar ball tampering fever. With a laugh, Afridi replied with something to the effect that he was the last person who should be asked about views on ball tampering. Some acknowledgement that!
Coming back to Akhtar, the similarities of the camera footage with those of one Stuart Broad and Anderson, taken at an earlier time, were striking. But there were differences, a few very obvious ones. For starters, the camera zooming on to the hand holding the ball revealed a more brownish hued hand than Anderson's. Further, the sleeve leading up to the hand and the pants flaring down to the ankles, had a distinctly light green...fluorescent green to be precise...colour to it instead of the familiar extra white flannels in the case of Broad.
I thought I'd have both videos alongside to better understand the similarities. I found about a million videos of Shoaib Akhtar with a simple Google search whereas all of Broad's ball tampering videos have been either removed, replaced with pornographic videos, or with misleading videos. Even perth.now.au has removed the video.
Well, we protest all ball tampering and hope the same degree of punishment and effacement is meted out to Akhtar as was apportioned to Broad. We cannot allow Shoaib Akhtar to escape without penalty which poor Broad had to suffer, and continue to enjoy the stardom via millions of video uploads while Broad has to languish in enforced anonymity.
We protest the injustice of it all....we demand the same penalty be given to Akhtar as well which poor Stuart Broad had to suffer. And we also protest vehemently the preferential treatment being given to Akhtar who is being popularized at the expense of Stuart Broad via visual literature such as video clips on the web. Stuart Broad's efforts captured on camera and saved for posterity by lovingly created clips by adoring fans of Broad, have been defaced or pulled down and that space taken over by Akhtar video spawns. We protest this high-handed goondaism vehemently as well.
I found an image though. Broadly stepping.
We urge ICC match refs to step on it and apportion the same strict punishment.
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Why are you a cricket watcher?
I wonder sometimes, why is it that I watch cricket? I can reel off many reasons depending upon the mood I am in and to what degree I am prepared to delude myself.
I just want, merely out of curiosity, to know why you all watch cricket. Is it a rational recreation?
I shall appreciate if readers can leave a short note in the comments section explaining their reasons. Obviously there isn't much counter-comment to be made on such statements unless it is banter, so I request you to please feel free and also to humour me. Maybe you could consider it a survey of sorts.
I shall make this a sticky post in the left navbar.
Thank you.
Going away for developing
It's a romantic idea, one which we love to advocate too, that is to identify the problem and take a step back and give yourself just that bit of time and comfort to work out the solution and establish it. Our suggestion has been most consistently and frequently directed towards Yuvraj Singh over the years. he doesn't go away to develop of course.
Madhusudhen is an unlikely Panesar - you may attach Madhusushen with Singh, but to have it alongside Panesar, is not common. So let's call him Monty. Now Monty is an unusual Singh. He has decided to improve his craft. He has chosen to listen to the analysis about him and go out and work upon the point to return stronger. Well, we still don't know yet if he'll perform well upon return, but England is bubbling all over agains at the prospect of watching Swann and Monty bowl together.
On paper, England, of all teams, have one of strongest bench of players in reserve. that Monty and Swann will happen, one doesn't know. Looking at the transitions likely to occur by next year or so around the world, tha chances are that they could rule a bit.
Monty even went off to South Africa to work upon his game with a different perspective. He was with the Highveld Lions for a season. And he is said to have bowled quite beautifully for his new county.
We will form our opinion on his 'reformation' when he is put to the test.
If only our Singh, the more mundane Yuvraj, had listened and worked upon his immense but incompletely developed talent.
Panesar back in Ashes team
The eleventh player
Going by this article, the suggestion is that Mr.Hilfenhaus and Mr.North may turn out for the Australians against India. With Mr.Hauritz being the first choice spinner, and a three-prong pace attack in the shape of Messrs. Bollinger, Johnson and Hilfenhaus being suggested, that would leave out all new faces including Steven Smith.
Given that Mohali tends to favour quicks, Australia is not very wrong in formulating such an attack.
Let's see who we have who are likely to form the Australian team for the first Test:
1) Mr.Ponting ( captain )
2) Mr.Clarke (vice-captain )
3) Mr.Katich ( who can also double up as a Chinaman bowler )
4) Mr.Hussey
5) Mr.North
6) Mr.Paine
7) Mr.Johnson
8) Mr.Bollinger
9) Mr.Hilfenhaus
10)Mr.Hauritz
That leaves just one spot - a toss up between Messers. Hughes and Watson.
Advantage suggests the selction of Mr.Watson, given the good form he has been in lately and his experience of playing in India besides the ability to convert the three-prong into a four prong attack. Australia could end up with potentially six bowlers on a pitch likely to help bowlers. Bit of unrelenting, untired stuff likely to come India's way. Until they are dominated of course.
Mr.Philip Hughes offers a possible batting security. Given that India's opening bowling, as the subsequent bowlers, will rely mainly upon cleverness than mere employ of pace, Mr.Hughes, young chap that he is, may be encouraged to pit his wits against the variety Indian bowlers are lining up to offer.
Does Mr.Hughes offer a greater return as the eleventh player for Australia?
India, whichever way it goes, will have a tough fight on its hands to take and maintain the ascendancy over the visitors. The advantage India will face with this possible selection is that all opposition players are familiar. India does tend to wobble initially to new names.
It's a bit deflating
To watch a match when you know that both teams could qualify irrespective of the result. Of course, in yesterday's case, as in that famous Sachin vs Australia Sharjah match, the margin of defeat could dictate qualification for either team. But unlike that match, one team definitely had to end up winning - Chennai Superkings simply had to win unlike India in that Sharjah match - and Chennai did win a low scoring T20 match. That was the uplifting part of yesterday's match.
I didn't watch it live, and I must say while Raina disappointed, Vijay played a partial role with Hussey. We had, in a short preview yesterday, called for the return of Hayden despite his poor form. Well, we were proved wrong by Mr.Cricket.
Not having watched the match, limits our ability to comment upon it.
So by this curious turn of events, one thing is assured now - an IPL team ( out of the three who were foundering initially ) is certain to feature in the finals. The other team being Royal Challengers of Bangalore.
What may not be as assured is if that IPL team that qualifies further, will be able to put it across the winner of the Southern Redbacks versus the South African Chevrolet Warriors encounter.
Kohli, Raina and Vijay, and Ashwin-Jakati will be persons we'll continue to watch for more things. Raina has slipped into poor form.
Murali Karthik has declared a forgotten truth. That he is the best spinner after Harbhajan in the country. 34 is reckoned a bad age to hold ambitions in cricket, but I don't know.With spinners and those who are fit, it may not quite work that way. Karthik could be a horses for courses selection for WC 2011, however less the chance may be, but let us see what the Indian spinners here on view can dish out further.
Scorecard
Stout brew ó thar an Pháil : Eoin Morgan
Éire has exported many wonders; none as famous as its richly flavoured Stouts. But here is a lad, Eoin Morgan, who plays the English game of Cricket, and can easily match those famous Irish flavours and the effect of their stoutness. This is one great import brought to us all by England from beyond the pale.
We have raved before at the new kids in the England limited-overs cricket team, who have brought a new attitude for the British to wear upon their minds as they go to watch a game of limited overs cricket. No longer to Englishmen slip around the forums and commentary boxes embarrassedly, having to don an air of nonchalant unconcern, perhaps even a mask of disgust, at the 'games' being played on cricket's turfs. Thei team shamed them so...
But now things are different. Giles Clarke, the cat's whiskers of English cricket, has a vision beyond the pale of fuddy-duddy cricket. He hasn't been pulled down yet, but like Bindra-Dalmiya and later, Modi, instituted progressive changes in Indian cricket, Giles Clarke is roiling up the English cricket scene. He wants colour. He wants life. He wants vibrant cricket. For that will bring success and the money and power that always comes with it.
So, there has been a gradual formation happening in the English camp towards this end. Boundaries and barriers have been broken, the stiff pali of Victorian application of dogmatic technique to beating a ball with the bat have been realigned...reset to allow a degree of individual science to blossom atop the technique.
Flower, Pietersen (okay he is not playing now but is one of the prime-movers of this recent new change), Keiswetter, Morgan, Wright, Swann, Prior, Bopara, Collingwood - many of these are émigrés from far territories but a few are locals who are quite taken up by the color of it all and are willing for the adventure. Even Strauss doesn't act coy about the limited overs game anymore. He knows the value of it within the system. He knows, even more now, the value of success in it.
Yesterday, Sasana was in trouble again. Eoin Morgan, tá an fear óg as Baile Átha Cliath ndeisceart, the young man from southside Dublin, stepped up to rescue England once again. Like he had done at Mirpur last season, when England were at a precarious 108-4 against the fiesty Bangladeshis who had raised 260. Or, from England's point of view, against Australia earlier this year, when Morgan charged England beying the finishing post after Strauss's England was reduced to 97-4 chasing a challenge of 267 thrown by Ponting's men. Incidentally, Josh Hazlewood, who has pulled out of the India tour due to injury, was another youngster fighting a gallant battle for his team that day.
It may not matter much to Eoin Morgan or England now, but long before his exploits for his adopted colours, he had also once powered his homeland beloved, Éire, to a large total with a brisk hundred against Canada to 308. Yet Ireland lost that ICC Division One match, as Canada's Ashish Bagai replied with kind and steamrolled Ireland. Somewhere around that time, it was felt by the English cricketing garrison stationed in all counties of England, that Morgan himself would be better served if he played for them instead of Ireland. By the time Irish cricket got anywhere, the reasoning might have gone, Morgan might have been a wasted old man. I wonder if Andy Flower, along with brother Grant, ever thought so when he joined David Houghton in building an international class team for Zimbabwe. And Flower has left behind many romantic adventures he undertook and succeeded in for Zimbabwe, who knows what kind of legacy Morgan might have created with Ireland, for Ireland and himself?
Coming back to yesterday and one of the testiest series in recent times, England were again in dire straits in a match they would have hated to lose very much. Shoaib Akhtar, the 'Pindi Express was knocking the Englishmen over with a combination of pace and swing. Umar Gul, the man who had almost singlehandedly bowled out England into a questionable corner in the previous two matches, was revving up again to get that reverse swing going.
At 106-4 in 27 overs, England was on the brink. Sasana gá le spiorad láidir, le ceann diongbháilte agus nuálaíoch,, England needed a strong spirit, a strong and inventive one too. All wrapped up in a confident and level-headed bottle. Morgan turned shepherd once again and herded the Englishmen to a safe haven. His 107* at better than run a ball lifted his team to a competitive 250+.
Then Swann, the modern off-spinning monster arisen out of the East Midlands region, chomped up the Pakistanis for a snack before supper. Almost with the same speed that laps are gobbled up by the racy equines at the National Hunt, or Formulas, the miles at Silverstone.
Pakistan batsmen were demolished before they even stirred up to deliver anything.
from the English point of view, it was a fine ending to an ill-fated summer fixture. On the other hand, Pakistan are sure to take some positives out of it all, as Shahid bhai was saying after the match.
But let us rejoice this young strong Stout from Éire, even if he's now bottled in England. At least by that we are assured of regular supplies of this rich brew.
Éire go brách! Fada beo Stout na hÉireann! Fada beo fís mhór Shasana! And all that jazz...
- - -
Related: A 2008 cover-point.com (Irish Cricket) article on Eoin Morgan's migration titled Why Eoin Morgan is wrong to commit to England
Open Letter to Morgan by Rob Quin at Cover Point.
Also, Is Eoin Morgan the greatest Irish traitor since Dermot MacMurrough? from Politics.ie forum.
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Awash
The scary amount of rain has finally lifted the Yamuna from its bed and let it wade through the roads and lanes of Delhi. The city is now flooded. It appears as if the Bay of Bengal has been overturned on us in one monster waterfall. Or as if all the Himalayan ice has melted and poured on us.
The CWG should be upset by this turn of events, but what about Mohali? Has it rained as much there too? The BP XI vs Australia match might suffer as well. We don't want that do we?
Been a while since one has been eagerly waiting for a tour match. For gifted youngsters, who are also achievers, have been selected on merit to play. Australia too has promising new faces. For India, it is a time when things are ideal and where each selectee stands to gain from a good performance against the visitors. Hope the rain blows away and chaps can play.
Raina's game again
Chennai have to win big. Whether they bat first or second, their batsmen will have to be brisk in gathering an emergency state pile of runs. Raina will have to be the pump in the likely absence of Morkel. Even as a bowler. Local bowlers have to support Bollinger and Murali. While Raina has a clear job description, Vijay needs to show us pressure temperament too, and seal a spot for ODIs later in the process. Somebody will have to do a Kohli and Kumble for the Kings. And bring back Hayden. The Warriors will fight as hard as the Bushrangers.
Read More......Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Kohli and Pandey did perform after all
WIn the short interval post titled Important game for Pandey and Kohli, one was keen to watch what kind of attitude these two youngsters would show when their innings would start.
Our interest is in drawing from these small tests within bigger battles, players who can man India's World Cup 2011 challenge.
Kohli and Pandey accepted responsibility and played more freely than they could against the Redbacks. In the proces taking their team into the semi-final. During their partnership, one's attention was called to their quick running between the wickets and recalled to us the Kaif-Yuvraj partnership run methods.
Indis will need these kind of things beside big hitting in the world cup next year.
I am not for once suggesting Pandey has earned a spot, far from it, he has some way to go. For instance, he gave it away without provocation, without ensuring the total safety of his team. It was Kohli who managed the show after a brief hiccup with Robin Uthappa and running between wickets.
When the ask began to become dire, Kohli stepped it up. In Cameron White, he had an able ally at te crunch time.
Considering his felicity as a fielder and his ability to send down an over or two, or a couple more if required, and, conjugating it all with his batsmanship, we have a product who needs to give direction and useful purpose to the boundless energy raging inside him. at the moment, there are times his attention is shorted with explosions of this energy. It is a rare intense desire to win he has and possesses courage to last the distance as we have seen last season in ODIs, what remains is his need to commit hiself to a task from beginning to the end of it without wavering in between.
According to me, he has the game (which can be tightened up by exercising better judgement outside the off stump) and attitude to be in the World Cup 2011 team. Raina and he can man the square boundaries on each side as well.
Pandey: 44 (36)
Kohli: 49* (29) - MOM.
Scorecard
Bound to elicit debate
The Herald Sun of Australia, dated 21st September 2001, comments during its report on a book release in England for the publication titled In a League of Their Own: 100 Cricket Legends Select Their World XI, upon Sir Garfield's observations in its Foreword.
The newspaper comments thus in an article titled A Sobering slap for Shane Warne
Sobers uses his foreword to shoot down the widely held perception in Australia, and most parts outside of Muthiah Muralidaran's homeland of Sri Lanka, that Warne was cricket's greatest slow bowler.
Sobers nominates India's Subhash Gupte as the finest leg-spinner of all.
I am averse to these comparisons and compilations across time. Somewhere I had mentioned, in a discussion on VVS Laxman's omission from India's Greatest XI, that these lists have commercial value and purposes or are time fillers when the cricket season is slow. Also, they create a cerebral aura around the profound task of cricket watching. Which cannot be all that bad a feeling and why chaps engage themselves so.
My feelings upon such listings have always been clear on such things - these are always opnions and opnions vary from person to person.
First of all there are any number of uncontrollable variables which make comparisons across large spaces of time very tricky and less objective. No matter what statistical calisthenics are employed to create parity and comparability, it is only a false sense gained unless you forget the assumptions made to create the data analysis and weighted interpretations.
On top of that there are human variables in forming of such opinions. For instance, any chap who first saw Shane Warne being pounded by the Indians - all six of them as promised by the then captain Md. Azharuddin prior to the matc, would feel Shane warne must be an extremely poor bowler. That memory will linger in such a spectator. The fact that perhaps Warne was bowling with an injury wouldn't register alongside. The cpectator would naturally ask when suggested with this fact, why would Warne be selected in the first place and he play then?
Whereas, anybosy who grew up watching Warne bowl to Englishmen of the 90s would swear he was the cat's whiskers. This is a point we have made often here - the 90s Englishmen were supposed to be vulnerable to leg spin. They were designed so, Gatting especially in that period, to allow balls to spin across his generous rear bumpers. The 90s Englishmen had a thing about leg spin and specifically Warne. So the peron who grew up watching mainly this aspect of Warne's cricket would think he is a wizard. In fact out of the top fifteen of the batsmen he has dismissed most times, Warne has nine Englishmen out of top fifteen in his personal list! It could be just that he has played Englishmen more and hence preyed upon them to a greater extent. But wouldn't that alos be limiting? So this can be endless.
Such things shape personal opinions and there can be no mathematical way to normalize all affecting factors.
Then the sheer weight of number of wickets - both in the case of Murali and Warne - would tend to make one believe they were far superior to anybody else. Perhaps they were, perhaps weren't. These are matters of personal opinions just as when Murali thinks Bedi was an ordinary bowler simply because he had x number of wickets for his own y number of wickets. The fact that Bedi was questioning how those y number of wickets were acquired will not enter conversation. Bedi was offering his opinion, which may not be correct, or may be. Murali was offering his openion and he may or may not be correct.
A hundred panelists were offering their opinions and selected a panel - from my own field where we function on opinions and panels of opinion makers, I know a 100-strong panel can be wrong too.
Then, there is a tendency to show affinity towards players of one's playing days or best watching days. That's human nature.
So such things have to be looked at as a tome of opinions only. Each has his reasons for his opinions and they are more interesting as stories than the listings actually. These opinions are then statiscally dressed up...you can have a range of tailors designing the perfect look to suit the occasion...for consumption as some eternal gold standard or godspeak.
I read them with a bit of interest, reserving most of it for the stories behind the selection of that list, if available. They allow you to understand more about the genesis of the particular list and shares information which you might not have.
What Sobers said in that Foreword,
"Someone who is called great from today's game is Shane Warne, but I have got my reservations about Shane," Sobers writes.
"I think he is a great bowler, but I'm not sure how well he compares with spinners overall.
"I think people get carried away with this man's ability as he hardly ever bowled a good googly.
"To me, Shane Warne is a great turner of the ball. I like his aggressive attitude, I love the way he attacks batsmen and I give him 100 per cent for that as not enough spinners bowl with that approach, but in my estimation Subhash Gupte was a better leg-spinner."
It would be more interesting to learn about how and why, and under what circumstances, did Sobers end up rating Subhash Gupte so highly.
Too much importance is placed on lists and list-making, everybody gets into such an exercise some time or the other, and I feel that public list making and coverage of it is all part of marketing them. All such listing do is elicit debates that eventually degenerate into hate-filled rants. But that's precisely what helps their marketing or making money off them via clicks.
Warne, for me, was among the very best of the era I watched cricket in.
I never saw Gupte bowl, not even in documentaries, and all I had to go by was my father's version. And Gupte was all he spoke about when it came to leg spin. We would engage in Gupte versus Chandra chatter while watching a match at Kotla. I doubt if my father saw very much of Warne because he declared his innings closed just a couple of years into Warne's career. I guess in much the same way my son would feel about my comments about players he never saw play. TV and DVDs help nowadays. Read More......
The colourful Englishmen
We thought the colour had gone out of the English team with the retirements of Sidebottom yesterday and Flintoff last year. But looks like we are mistaken as smh.com.au tells us
Ashes bowler James Anderson is doing his bit to crush the staid image of English cricket by posing naked for a gay magazine.
[...]editor Matthew Todd said the paceman proved a perfect fit for the October edition
James Anderson's own comments are revealing
"I think I probably will get some stick for it but I'm more than prepared for that,"
"I'm quite happy to take it, because I'm delighted that I've had the chance to do it. I would never change it.
"If they want to give me some stick, let them give me their best shot!"
"I think doing this could be fantastic for cricket. Hopefully this will attract a new sort of fan."
Posing naked in possibly smutty magazines being good for cricket is of course a matter of opinion. It must certainly have been good for his bank balance without any doubt. And he's happy to take the stick. In the context, guess that's all that matters.
The tone of the article suggests that while Anderson is the first to do such a thing, that employ of 'first' could also mean there are seconds to follow in the pipeline.
Earlier, a few English players, including James Anderson, got together to pose naked behind black bats for another good cause. Read More......
Running away with the Natwest Trophy and more
When one refers to THE Natwest Trophy, cricket followers usually know which one is being spoken about. Call it whatever - Nasser's Cup or Kaif-Yuvraj Tango, one knows which one is the topic.
That match threw up certain challenges for Indians who batted second. 326 was a tall score and a stiff target. India were reduced before long with the established players dismissed all too quickly with another two hundred runs remaining towards the fulfillment of the target. Two youngsters were left with the task of putting those numbers up on the scoreboard.
With nothing much to follow them by way of reliable batting ability, Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh, the two youngsters charged with this test of character, assumed responsibility and began running towards their goal.
At first sharp and edgy singles, which everybody laughed off as nervous tics of two kids in a hopeless situation, The singles turned to cleverly stuffed twos in between disdainful fours. The 121 runs partnership in 17 overs between the two which brought India within range was built as much upon boundaries as with running between the wickets.
Not only did it keep the partnership ticking, never allowing pressure to for eddies around one batsman, it also confounded the English plans. The right-left combination made them dizzy and soon enough, the cheekiness of the running got to them. These Indians weren't supposed to run between the wickets this way!
Kaif completed the remaining deficit, cleverly shepherding the tail and employing run-making techniques between the wickets to great effect. The match was won eventually in a running canter.
The match was a watershed for many reasons. For the first time, talk about 'Young Turks' and 'new way' of playing cricket in India began. The partnership firm of Yuvraj and Kaif would run away with many more matches in time. India haven't had that quality of running between the wickets consistently since, This cricketing revolution didn't quite happen as anticipated. Sure, there was a phase, especially that young team which went to Pakistan and won the series easily there, that India had good running methodology working well. The team to Pakistan had also big hitting to complement their running.
None of the existing players likely to be selected are going to start running suddenly overnight. It will be an aspect India will miss in ICC World Cup 2011 along with fielding. warching the Kohli-Pandey partnership in today's CL T20, while it lasted, reminded me of that Yuvi-Kaif running partnership firm.
Important game for Pandey and Kohli
They are young and by now quite the main muscles of Royal Challengers of Bengaluru batting line up. This is the game for them to show they have the right stuff and take their team into the semi-finals. Anil Kumble has set up the match for his team by battening down the Highveld Lions with a 1-13 performance off his four overs, for under 8.00 rpo. And that's the target for the young turks. A small but definite test of their character.
Let's see how the young men respond. Pandey had scored a hundred at Jo'anna in IPL-02 to emerge into the limelight.
By the way, Dravid may choose to respond as well!
Callum Ferguson
It wasn't very long ago that Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, was appreciating the youngster and tipping him to be the man to replace Mike Hussey in the Test middle order. Then the injury happened. In the ICC Champions Trophy, while fielding, he injured his knee and split the ligaments there. The Southern Redbacks star looks to be in fine shape, back in the thick of things after his knee reconstruction.
We may not see him this season in India, for his recovery and return must be progresing along a prescribed gradient, but we are sure to see more of him if his knee hold out and he can earn back his Australian contract. Without the injury, we are certain that he would have been selected for the current tour of India.
Ferguson, in 25 ODIs, has about 600 runs at over 46 average and has played couple of key innings for Australia, especially against the Englishmen in the 2009 ODIs after Australia had lost the Ashes series earlier. Now he's doing his bit for the Redbacks in the CL T20. He also averages 35 from 47 First Class matches.
Ponting on Ferguson a year ago.
"I've played a bit of state cricket against him over the years but the moment he came into the Australian side last year, you just look at the way he goes about it and he looks every bit a Test player as well"
"Age is on his side. He's got a number of years left in him, so we will just keep our fingers crossed and hope he makes the most of every opportunity he gets"
"Callum is doing everything he possibly can. He's played beautifully in almost every game he's played since he's been picked in our side"
Guyana, unnu nuh shame mih bredderin!
The other day we felt Gyana hadn't really shamed themselves against Mumbai Indians when some of our friends in the West Indies were quite uncharitable in their grief. Our storyline in that post was "My point is, Guyana didn't shame themselves. They lost by a big margin, but they were not shamed." In that post we wrote that Bishoo did rather well and Guyana lost out because of a special busrt by Pollard and nothing more. They were after all chasing 180-odd against Malinga and co.
In another previous post on the Redbacks, we had wondered - "The spidermen are a team which looks like it can chase down 250 without breaking into sweat, given the nature of bowling attacks in the fray. The key men making that happen are their openers - Klinger and Harris. I'm sure chaps lower down the order are also capable men and that is why they are in the team, but I'm wondering what might happen if, say, Klinger, Harris, or both, were to be out within the first 40-50 runs."
Today, Guyana did that. They prised open the opening claws of the Redbacks, but discovered that inside, still, Callum Ferguson is quite a potent poison in the company of Borgas.
We had also felt that despite everything, Redbacks have an attack which will give a few runs away. Guyana did well against them to score the 176 they did. Sure they lost but not quite so abjectly as say Mumbai Indians or Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to the South Australian team.
It is the batting which is holding up South Australia and their bowlers are doing just enough to keep opposition under control. They have a good thing going as long as they can sustain it. In matches ahead, teams will try to upset this fine balance. That said, Redbacks should do very well in this tournament - Bushwhackers and Warriors notwithstanding.
15 runs is an over's effort in T20. So Guyana did well to push it this close against rivals who have easily vanquished opposition in this tournament thus far. They were in with it as long as Ramnaresh Sarwan was scattering the Redbacks. Ronnie played a lovely innings today and should have muted a few critics of his. Richard Ramdeen looked a capable T20 batsman and the match was on as long as the two and Steven Jacobs were batting. In the end, the Guyanese were not as balanced a team as the Redbacks and that told in the final stretch. Branwell and Foo didn't quite do it for Guyana.
This tournament, one of the players I had earmarked to watch, was Jonathan Foo. In the regional tournament of West Indies leading up to here, he played quite an excting brand and quantum of cricket. Foo hasn't played long enough for me in this CL T20 to arrive at any conclusion about his reputation which has clearly preceded him.
Scorecard
Those final Two Overs
Yesterday, it was a toss up between watching two no-contests in cricket on TV - Bushrangers versus Wayamba was threatening death by inevitability on one channel and on the other, a series of low credibility was playing, which we had given up watching anyway.
Chaps will still insist and split finer lines than the thinnest fiber man can create, that spot-fixing doesn't in any way affect the match result. Spot fixing may or may not affect the end result depending upon what the end result is, which of course, in spot-fixing...according to the logic... we'll never know beforehand to compare with.
See, if a segment of fixing leads you to lose eventually then it would have affected the result nah? And every dolt knows that segmentl fixing does not matter if you have won the match...that's unless others are also on the take.
Anyway, since this was getting all boring - we firmly believe, having seen plenty of this in the years since Hansie Cronje's break out moment, that nothing will come out of this after all the hulla-gulla and England and its law agencies will back off and instead turn to blame ICC/affix responsibility with ICC while England and Pakistan can return to be langotiyaars - we had given up following the very late night ODI series between Pakistan and England.
But yesterday, the clear one-sidedness of the CL T20 match made one take a chance with the other match.
The game was insipid mostly - Hafeez and Alam building profiles in their opportunity - and quite predictable with Afridi smacking a few, eliciting wonderment yet again, and going bust as fast and as predictably. But then the final two overs happened.
England, who were dominating quite a lot till then had Anderson and Bresnan to wind up the innings. In two overs, they transformed the game by conceding 21 runs each and 42 runs in all. The game which was dull and inching to a respectable score, suddenly, in a mere two overs, shot up in interest potential and took Pakistan to a total from where they could visualize a win more easily than, say, if they were at 220. truly amazing those two overs were and Razzaq was naturally all white-toothed as he walked back from his cameo.
Given England's batting form has also begun climbing up a greasy pole, up and down this series, pakistan bowlers were in with a chance. And Gul 9again) and Akhtar, ensured England would fall short by a healthy 38 runs. In retrospect, Pakistan might even have defended a total of 220-225.
Abdul Razzaq was the difference - he was deservingly the Man of the Match.
This match certainly became watchable from the 49th over of the first innings and far better than watching Wayambans being inevitably trounced by Victoria. No surprises in that match.
Now, with this situation that has resulted, a dead and dying series can be climaxed with a final where winner takes it all! Wow! I must make sure to tune into the finals.
Earlier, we had suggested that England and Pakistan (especially when all its players return) are strong teams for the WC 2011. Keep watching them. One would like to know more about England's durability. Make no mistake, despite these losses and up and down performances, England packs a punch and remain important contenders for the title at EC 2011.
Monday, 20 September 2010
Bottoms Up!
Colourful England left arm pace bowler, Ryan Sidebottom, happened to glance up at the big clock and has since decided to end his international career. He claims to be old now, and would like to concede the opportunity to someone younger.
To be frank, he isn't all that old - barely 32 years, but England has been enjoying a rare crop of young bowlers these past two summers. They are jostling behind the backs of those ahead of them, eager to play their version of the game.
Sidebottom was always young for us - he grew old in the England team. It was refreshing to see a player harking back to the Love Child era, and a pace bowler no less, who was also a left armer and could swing the ball both ways and have the batsmen swaying to his tune. Who would have thought a bloke with Jesus Christ looks and locks would wear the flannels for England! That he would be an attention grabber was ensured by his skills and looks, but he also had a quaint name to go along.
Not many Sidebottoms might have played the game of cricket other than Ryan and his Pa, Arnie. A certain William Sidebottom is said to have played for Tasmania, Australia, much earlier. So he grabbed our attention straightaway.
Being partial to left arm pacers, we were quite impressed with his prowess against India and Sri Lanka.
Because of his expressive nature and body language, his photographs also lent themselves to creative manipulation by us for the Cricket Art series we once used to run on this blog. So in more than one way he was interesting to us.
He did cease to convey that rebel imagery with every game he played, but yes, a colourful presence in the English side will be missing.
Good luck Ryan Sidebottom. Thank you for pepping up cricket watching while you played.
India Squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2010
The squad to meet the visiting Australians has been chosen by the selectors yesterday. It is surprising that they have opted for 15 members when players can be summoned on short notice.
What this suggests is that one of the three spinners selected is a wasted entity and will sit on the bench for the short series. Going by MS Dhoni's predeliction, that benchmarker is likely to be Mishra. It might have been better for either Ojha or Mishra to be playing in the Rest of India team, who will be in battle simultaneously with last season's Ranji Trophy champions, Mumbai, in the Irani Trophy.
Also, it was quite pointless to select three batsmen who will sit out when they could have done with a match under their belt. Out of Raina, Vijay and Pujara, it appears that Raina will get the nod ahead of the other two based on his recent Test performances and his envisaged position in the team. M Vijay would have benefitted with a good innings against Mumbai.
The selection of Pujara is also curious in this regard - there isn't much point in selecting him for a home series if he isn't likely to play. That said, at least one extra batsman must be available for last minute injuries to regular batsmen. Maybe this logic is also applied to the spinners. But we are playing at home and Jaipur is just a hop away from Chandigarh. But if the intention of his selection was to check his credentials against Australian bowlers, then he must play for that sake.
| S No. | Player | Skill |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | MS Dhoni (Captain) | Batsman/Keeper |
| 02 | Virender Sehwag | RHB/Offie Opener |
| 03 | Gautam Gambhir | LHB Opener |
| 04 | Rahul Dravid | RHB No.3 |
| 05 | SR Tendulkar | RHB No.4 |
| 06 | VVS Laxman | RHB No.5 |
| 07 | CA Pujara | RHB |
| 08 | M Vijay | RHB |
| 09 | Suresh Raina | LHB |
| 10 | Zaheer Khan | LHMP |
| 11 | Ishant Sharma | RHF |
| 12 | S Sreesanth | RHF |
| 13 | Harbhajan Singh | Offie |
| 14 | Amit Mishra | Leggie |
| 15 | Pragyan Ojha | SLO |
The selected Indian team has batting depth of rich quality - no problems on that count despite what Australian captain, Mr.Ponting, feels could happen if his bowlers do all things right. Of course if someone does everything right he is bound to have his dream result, but that's assuming all efforts are from one-side like shooting at a fixed target; not a moving one which the quality of Indian batsmanship can present.
If questions are to be asked, it will have to be on the effectivity of the Indian bowling selection. Many times in the past few years such questions have been asked of various Indian bowling formations which have been employed, and inevitably, almost all of them have delivered to a greater extent than lesser. Yet doubts remain, for on is never certain of Zaheer Khan's fitness, Harbhajan's penetrativeness, Mishra's form and Ishant or Sreesanth's minds and confidence. Sreesanth also has fitness problems.
Between Ishant and Sreesanth, I'll go with Ishant if only two pacers are to play at Mohali. Simply because he showed signs of some recovery of his bowling skills and methods on the last tour of Sri Lanka. He needs to be encouraged, and who knows what the sight of Mr.Ponting - Ishant's designated bunny till last played - and a possibly helpful Mohali pitch might do to Ishant's recovery. Together, they might hasten his healing. Hopefully he shall extract lift from the pitch and be able to swing the ball in the cooling weather of pre-October Mohali.
Sreesanth's pace might also be of some utility and if his ability with the seam persists, then in the thick air of rain-drenched cool Mohali, it could be useful. There may be no question between him and Zak, unless Zaheer Khan is unfit yet again following his exertions in the Champions League for his corporate employers, Mumbai Indians. We never know with Zak and fitness.
Mohali will be seeing thundershowers in the coming week - it is pouring every day in northern India for the past week - humidity is high and the temperature has come down drastically (and cooling) to be in the early-to-mid twenties. Centigrade, of course. The grounds will be fresh and the grass will be moist. There will be overnight dew if not frank precipitation. The pitch will have life no matter what, unless somehow the curator has manged to lay out a cadaver. It might also be a tad underprepared considering the extended monsoons we have had this season.
If one is confident of one's batsmen, it might pay to play five bowlers in what will be bowler friendly conditions if play isn't terribly interrupted by rain. Oh yes, by October, at Mohali, bowlers should feel like running in to have a shot at the batsmen.
The Board President's XI fixture is sure to be hit by patches of rain in between 25°C (or thereabouts) sunshine. Cloudy skies could dominate the tour match. By October, the rains should clear up if the Meterologists are to be believed.
"The low pressure area over northwest Madhya Pradesh and adjoining southwest Uttar Pradesh and east Rajasthan still persists. The monsoon trough is passing through Ferozpur, Hissar, Gurgaon, Agra, through the centre of the low pressure area Daltongunj, Chaibasa, Balasore and then southeastwards to east central Bay of Bengal. The western disturbance will also continue to affect the western Himalayan region and adjoining parts of northwest India for another day. This will bring widespread rain to Uttarakhand, HP, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi with chances of isolated heavy to very heavy showers in some areas,'' said a Met official.
- Times of India
We hope they are right and at least the Test match is not affected. We'd have loved to have clear weather for the Board President's XI too. Read More......
Yuvraj Musn't Wallow
For there's a World Cup coming up soon and, according to me, he is still an important cog in the Indian ODI set up. There's work to be done Yuvraj!
Two years ago, we were talking about the same thing pictorially - the quick disappointment of Yuvraj and a kind of 'fear' of having to invest a season or two in domestic and A team tours to make himself pucca in all respects. So in a sense, Yuvraj shouldn't be surprised that time is overtaking him. He needed to make the bold moves in the big game.
It was no secret to anyone that his Test game was not going anywhere new. One understands he was not given a run of sorts in Tests and when he was in, injuries came in to extract their pound of him.
I wish he motivates himself once again to have a glorious World Cup 2011 and make a strong bid for the next Test spot opening up after that. He's young and next year, there will be Test spots coming up after the World Cup.
I am not yet done with Yuvraj Singh and I wish, at least this time, he doesn't slip into the 'disappointed' outlook, takes this opportunity instead to realign his game, looks at the possibilities opening up, and roars like a lion with the bat instead.
There is life ahead for Yuvraj if he can see it at least now.
Selection is just another step
Just as I logged in, one came across the good news of Cheteshwar Pujara's selection for the Indian Test team to take on Mr.Ponting's Australians who will be touring here shortly. I must say that this selection committee has impressed me more than a few of its predecessors.
Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara is a man who has earned his selection purely on meritorious performances whenever he has been put to the test. Never once did he complain about being overlooked or allow self-pity to distract him from his purpose. Instead, he utilized all the time and opportunities cultivating his game and a temperament to match. He walked into every corner of age-group, domestic and A Team cricket, in every situation, and came out marching with his head held high. His is not a short-cut story of one inching through the ODI and T20 quotas of selection. Pujara has chosen deliberately develop himself into an all-round batsman first - for wisdom had dawned early upon him that if he were so, it wouldn't matter what format he would be playing in future. A good batsman would succeed in every format.
Pujara's ascent to the tem is the very antithesis of the career graph of the man he has replaced. Pujara chose to walk on brambles first, saving the rose petalled highways for later. In 49 FC matches, the lad averages over 60 with 302* being his best effort.
It is easy to forget Pujara is just 22 years old when you see that he has been around for five years now on the FC circuit. There is not a single wasted season, where he has played more than one match, in these five years. That is the kind of commitment the student Pujara has shown in these five years.
| Season | Trophy | M | I | NO | R | HS | Avg | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First FC Hundred = vs Goa in his second FC match at 17yrs and 11 mo | | |||||||||
| 2005-06 | Ranji Plate A | 03 | 04 | 00 | 181 | 145 | 45.25 | 01 | 0 |
| 2006 | Top End Series (Aus) | 01 | 02 | 00 | 08 | 06 | 4.00 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006-07 | Ranji Elite A & Duleep | 08 | 14 | 02 | 600 | 177 | 50.00 | 02 | 03 |
| 2007-08 | India A v Zim XI | 02 | 02 | 00 | 108 | 100 | 54.00 | 01 | 00 |
| 2007-08 | India A v Kenya | 01 | 01 | 00 | 09 | 09 | 9.00 | 00 | 00 |
| 2007-08 | vs South Africa A, Ranji, Duleep | 13 | 22 | 05 | 907 | 151* | 53.35 | 03 | 03 |
| 2008-00 | v NZ A, Ranji, Duleep | 12 | 19 | 03 | 1049 | 302* | 65.56 | 04 | 01 |
| 2009-10 | Ranji, Duleep | 06 | 10 | 01 | 741 | 204* | 82.33 | 02 | 05 |
| 2010 | Yorkshire, West Indies A | 03 | 04 | 02 | 322 | 208* | 161.00 | 01 | 01 |
This tall right handed batsman has shown that he learns from match to match, season to season, and that is the quality India wants in its players. he has shouldered the responsibility of his home team, Saurashtra, and after pitching them into the Elite group of Ranji from Plate group (his first FC season), along with his competitive team mates, has kept Saurashtra in the big league since. In the process he has played some soul-stirring innings in adversity against good domestic attacks.
His overall FC stats are as follows.
| M | I | NO | R | HS | Avg | 100s | 50s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | 78 | 13 | 3925 | 302* | 60.38 | 14 | 13 | 58.43 |
He drives well and plays on the backfoot with equal felicity. He recognizes the quality of a ball bowled at him instantly and has no hesitation in paying respects to the better ones. He plays all around the wicket and selects his strokes to suit the occasion and the ball. He can charge the spinners like a champion just as smoothly as he can bow down and play a zero-risk forward defensive. he is mainly a player of the 'V' but with abilities to dissect the settings at will. Pujara is cultivating strokes to stand by him at all times and in all formats and it is here that he could sometime falter. The paddle sweep he plays is ungainly and doesn't always come off well. Can even be suicidal. Then, his back foot sometimes slides out while stretching forward and that could keep keeprs and spinners interested. But the kind of player he is, these are technical points he is sure to improve upon.
Pujara's gretest ally is his patient character and thirst for a challenge. He loves the worst case scenario to walk into and turn it around with his bat. When he is doing it, he looks quite professorial, concentrating, studiously dispersing the gloom and doom, and fielders soon follow. Creating space for sunshine to recapture lost ground, Cheteshwar is not acquired by his success or defeat off the previous delivery. Neither is he troubled by the wickets tumbling at the other end. By the time one realizes, the sun is shining all over the field again - such is the turnarounds he creates. It is obvious he relishes the challenge, like a Guru presented with a tricky problem for explanation by a bright student.
For some reason, perhaps due to the determined nature of his back-to-the wall innings for his home team, he acquired an image - one of a player unsuited for the modern game. Which is acrually quite in error as his List A record shows.
It is after a long while that a man rising up through the ranks of domestic cricket has been selected at the appropriate time. Not when he is past his hope and ambition. It is an example set by this team of Ntional Selectors and worth emulating by others in future.
Previous panels had so abused the shortcut system to push their candidates or proteges from their academies that it was the cadidates who suffered.
Kaif and Yuvraj are two perfect examples of needless fast-tracking. What did they do? Most times they were riding shotgun with the India team like spare tires when it was time for them to solidify all aspects of their game. Not that there were no options - Hemang Badani, Dinesh Mongia and a few others were there who could have been given those seasons.
One might turn around and say, what better school than international cricket? If you are ready for it, you are ready for it. It doesn't quite wok like that. For the odd glorious LOI tournaments or matches, Kaif and Yuvraj's overall cricket careers were sacrificed. And because of them, chaps like Badani couldn't display their game at the next level. So many cricketers were destroyed in a hurry. And what about Mazumdar?
A more recent example is Rohit Sharma. If I remember correctly, this boy was linked to an academy with whom Dilip Vengsarkar had something to do. I could be mistaken but I recall reading something about ELF Academy or something like that in relation to Sharma and Vengsarkar. Then there is the bullheadedness, that just because a player is from Mumbai, he's gotta be a prodigy because Sachin and Kambli emerged from there. Because Mumbaiwallahs are born with cricket bats and cricket balls coursing through their blood instead of red and white corpuscles, Rohit Sharma would automatically do well once pitchforked into the the league anywhichway.
It was grossly unfair to Rohit Sharma and the poor lad looks as confused as he probably is inside.
There was also an elemnt of fear or a belief that once you get close to the axis, one shouldn't even think about participating in domestic cricket or ask for chance to play in it instead of warming benches and toting kitbags across continents. Adevertising kicks in - it doesn't pay for anybody to be seen to be playing and polishing your game outside the blue circle.
Not everybody is a Sachin and people make mistakes thinking they can manufacture Sachins at will - parents, youngsters, coaches and gurus.
Gift propells, hands paddle one along, but the hunger which makes one rise to conquer is self-developed, hard earned from participating in battles big and small. No battle is too small or too big for one who is seeking growth from them. It was therefore surprising that youngsters...young appendages to the Indian team began to spurn chances for their growth by blindly aping the habits of their seniors who abstained from domestic cricket and used that time to do other new things which had cropped up around Indian cricket.
Perhaps some of those seniors had the quality to remain viable or had the quality and domestic experience to elide inter-series periods without losing their game. Not everybody is that way, certainly not those youngsters who were picked very early.
I do not blame Yuvraj here, one feels sorry for him, one only wishes he had the courage to stand up and say, when The Fabulous Four were ruling, that he needed a season or two under his belt instead. To be in long-playing form. He might have saved himself some wear and tear too. Imagine what a product he might have been, ready to take over from Ganguly's retirement! Sagacity was lacking on the part of selectors then.
Cheteshwar Pujara must be a happy man, but one hopes he is firmly grounded and doen't forget to be the level-headed chap he has been till now.
He has only been selected into the team...not the playing XI yet. That's th next step. And after that, he has to perform well. And after that, he might have to wait for another chance. Meanwhile, if he gets a good innings, he could be bowled over by what goes on around Indian cricket. If he gets a poor innings in, he could be banished by eccentricities of people who take these decisions. Tht could break his heart...like Kaif who was banished from Tests (he made his debut for India seniors in Tests before ODIs) and could return again only as a mercy case. Pujara would do well to maintain his equinamity under all circumstances, knowing that it is that which has brought him this far. he must trust his own instincts and qualities and persevere with the same spirit and attitude he has played with till now.
Good luck Cheteshwar Pujara! Hope you make it to the playing XI and also do well in your chances. Read More......
Sunday, 19 September 2010
Two overs?
If this Scyld Berry article is stating the correct facts, which ,by the way, we do not know as yet from either The Sun report or from ICC media releases, I am struck by two conflicting thoughts. First of all I asked myself, can that not happen in any two over segment in any match played by any team?
Anybody watching LOI cricket, played anywhere by anybody, over the past two decades would have realized that often scoring doesn't match our ambitions. We fret and fume, and amongst friends watching with us, froth at the edges as we desperately urge our favorite batsmen to wake up from inexplicable slumber. The more balanced among us then point out to us a few things we miss in our eagerness to race ahead of the scoreboard's pace. They explain to us about good bowling, excellent fielding, spot-on field placings, the newness of the batsman at the crease, the waiting for the right ball to thump it, the cleverness of the bowler in preventing it, and, at the end of it all, luck is always a factor. Somewhere at the back of our minds, we accept or do not accept those explanations as we continue to move along with the match. Maybe nothing matters anymore if our favorites thump a few in the subsequent over. Or they win. Maybe they all return to the discussion if our team loses. Every team has seen these phases of two-three overs which fans have always pinned in discussions as causes of defeat (if their team has lost) or to drop a player and bring in another who might not drop off to sleep while at the crease.
For example, Indian fans who watched ODIs in the mid-to-late nineties would easily recall that one of cricket's and our greats, who was then just starting out as a youth, found himself in a phase where he found it difficult to match his scoring rate with that of fans. He was accused, often wrongly, for having slowed down a good start or things like that.
Then, there were teams in the 90s which were either coming to grips with the changing philosophy of ODIs or with their own inadequacies. For instance England, who pretty much played highly obsolete brands of ODI games...or the South Africans, who infamously ended up acquiring the crown of chokers. In the case of Saffers, perhaps some doubt could be assigned as the Late Hansie Cronje revelated, but not all the time. Things haven't changed much for Saffers even after Hansie in this regard.
To label all these things in a competitive game as suspicious would be incorrect.
The second thought which struck me is, it is precisely because of such natural uncertainities of LOI combat that segmental fixation of matches arises. Like a trojan filled with the unexpected, segmental fixation employs the natural camouflage provided by the nature of the game's fickle characteristics to mimic the very same. As if it were natural play. When such a thing is predicted well in advance, no matter how brief the segment, then the chances of it being a trojan show increases while those of it being part of natural play go down.
This is an unfortunate weakness of the game, just as it is also the strength of the sport. The fact that in gnuine combat anything can happen attracts us to watch sports, but that is also its inherent weakness which can be exploited.
Having two over segments of 'fixing' may be a refinement of the 10-over segments mentiones in Scyld Berry's article. Like pathogens acquire immunity and develop new methods of eluding our defence mechanisms, likewise, this pathogen afflicting cricket can easily mutate it's genetic structure to code for a different set of mimicry to slip past the scanners.
Two over spells might be the latest high in betting circles. Who knows what excites those junkies? For the betmaker, reducing segments into smaller parts is a business innovation - like that which corporate entities undertake to take their businesses into the next dcade or millenium.
It is likely to be less detectable first off. It is also easier for those who will implement the script to function effectively in short segments. Especially during the heat of battle. Then, smaller segments increases the number of investing opportunities for the betmaker and his clients. Two over segments can mean 50 slots in a 100 over game. Further, with the increasing difficulty in communicating with the players on the field, it may make sense to have lesser need to send the waterman out with a message. The recruited 'players' can be given a compact hand of 2-3 short segments each, which they can easily remember and execute.
The thing is if the second thought is correct, then how is one going to ever prove it beyond doubt as the law requires?
Then, after proving it, how will punishment be imposed? We have seen that there is great variance in the nature of punishments imposed. Cricket Australia might have done something to Warne and Waugh when they 'interacted' with some suspicious elements back then. Just that I cannot recall now, after all these years, what sanction exactly did Cricket Australia impose on the men. Then there were some Pakistan cricketers who continued to play through all convictions and had fruitful careers which were rounded off nicely with guards of honor. There were some murmurs about a few English players in the past. Again, one cannot recall what imposition was placed upon them.
West Indies, South Africa and India have made examples out of a player or two of theirs, but it is evident that such spot-punishments have no meaning or effectivity when the trojan runners can see there are other spaces from which they can attack. Where penalties are not levied under some pretext or the other. Ditto for their virus spawns...or if a penalty is indeed levied upon the spawn of viruses, it is as easily overturned by the governing machinery. In this scenario, I cannot see how a solution can be found to the problem.
It is easy to kick ICC's butt...no pun intended...but all ICC can do is ban and unban for arbitrary lengths of time. It has no policing powers. It cannot go into countries and communities and grab and punish the bt makers and their spawn. It can do nothing if the governing authority of a nation doesn't heed its suggestions or advice. Even its ability to ban is under question.
I'm sorry, call me a cynic or whatever, but I do not see this problem ever solved completely. If Pakistan is accused of protecting its viruses, then England will never even hear about a possibility that one of theirs could be involved. And so on and so forth with others. When you have such a scenario, forget about any concerted, unified, multisectoral action to control, or eradicate if possible, this infection which is afflicting cricket.
Winter is approaching in the northern hemisphere; this turn of cricketing events will provide its denizens with debating heat during it. Maybe rivals can box each others ears off for fun. If debating fails to generate heat, one can alway employ ICC to be the football in a game where one can vent their frustrations at our own inabilities by landing useless fruitless kicks on a soft and spongy ICC.
That should make us all feel good and everybody can get on with the game. Do wake me up please, if anything different happens.
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Buttalalia
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Read More......Counter Butt-e-Ijazi
In a rebuttal to allegations cast on S Butt and others, I Butt spake thus via Cricinfo
Conspiracy to defraud Pakistan cricket
[...] Ijaz Butt has hit back at what he believes to be a "conspiracy to defraud Pakistan and Pakistan cricket". In an astonishing, prepared statement read out to ESPNcricinfo, the board chairman also indicated that suspicion should be cast on England players from that loss and that the PCB will soon reveal the names of those parties allegedly involved in the conspiracy.
They say there is more to follow from Butt.
If one looks back into recent past, we can easily guess the loop-the-loops likely to be churned out by Butt.
However this will be interesting if Butt can throw out some evidence to back the words he's spitting out at all and sundry. Butt may quell the Englishmen and Scotland Yardies with sufficiently more of such expulsion.
But give us the evidence! Give us the proof! Give us videotapes or sound recordings! Read More......
Where is the Indian? Who is he?
In the folklore of cricket, who is an Indian? What is he?
Upon the cricket grounds and in the libraries of the game, it is easy to bump into an Englishman, a West Indian, and even the Australian and the odd South African. They are distinct, in their unique typecasts of play and description. They have been set apart by their littérateurs. To their cricket, there appears to be given an origin, purpose and continuing ends. The same is inseparable with their men who have played the game.
The grammar and idioms of their cricket and lore are uniquely individual to them. The West Indian has described himself in his own language - with his own idioms, phrases, metaphors, rhymes and verses - quite differently, from Cardus's cricket. In the pages, he might have borrowed at times from the Englishman, but has essentially written his own stroy.
The figurative language of their cricket and description has uniqueness, nonimitation - for the West Indian more than an Australian's who could tend to the same imagery as the Englishman in both play and description.
There is rebellion and release and a declaration of identity in a West Indian's cricket and its literature. There is a statement of his culture in his own words. There is as much in his cricket that stands apart as there is which aspires to imitate the Englishman.
but where is the Indian? Who is he? What is his struggle? What is his song? What is his purpose in playing cricket? What is his identity in the game of cricket? Where is his own unique grammar, his own play and description...we talk figures all the time but where is our own figurative language? Unborrowed, original, representative?
Who is an Indian cricketer? Who is an Indian cricket writer? What is Indian cricket? What is Indian cricket literature? Where is the cricket as he see it? What is the Indian culture of cricket?
We have players who inspire with either bat or with the ball and more, but where is the Indian who inspires with his inimitable pen?
SoopahKings Victorianly Bushwhacked
In the end, orthodox strategy prevailed over unorthodox craftiness.
The Victorian Bushrangers walked into the Soopah Ova with a tried and tested virile strategy of sending their main batsmen, and who were also primed by the previous innings.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Soopah Kings is a cunningly cold chap - he espied in this situation a wonderful opportunity to erect a man out of this Ashwin lad, whose bowling was earlier spanked by the same batsmen, and duly sent him in to bowl again in the Soopah Ova. Bollinger huffed off into the SoopahKing's court, we were told by commentating observers, quite miffed at this childish turn of events. The hot Rayner, bowling usefully till then, must have been chilled too.
11 ordinary kings on 99% of the board plus one percent superman add up to one Chennai SoopahKings - I wonder what mood their courtroom is in with their C-in-C having conceded vital territory with his fantastic adventure.
The match was interesting to watch till the bowler to bowl in the Soopah Ova was decided. The SuperKings were quite common from that point on.
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We were watching Murali Vijay in the match.
He did well and I'd like to see if his wellness extends only to the yellow uniform or he play as committedly in a blue uniform as well.
Saturday, 18 September 2010
Wasn't Butt the ringleader yesterday?
If I recall correctly (I may be mistaken for I haven't followed the news closely), wasn't Butt's name mentioned in the media a few weeks ago as the alleged ringleader of anticricket?
Today, The Sun says this
The Sun is withholding details of the alleged fix while the investigation continues - but we can reveal that horrified ICC chiefs launched their investigation before the Pakistan innings had even finished. The probe centres on an individual within the team camp who is believed to be the ringleader, taking money from bookies and ensuring their orders are carried out.
Obviously there is a different ringleader then. Or, the ring is passed along with leadership.
I also seek a clarification - how did Pakistan fix a win for themselves? I mean what is it that you can do...can you fix both a win AND a loss? These Pakistanis must then be godmen to win and lose at will.
Bloody confounding, I say! Read More......
I seemed to have missed a series of articles
Not very long ago, a few months earlier this year, chaps were going hysterical about cheerleaders and Indians during the IPL. In the British media, there was space for even guest authors willing to have a go at it. The West Indian populace and their hangers-on appeared to pounce upon this aspect to call Indians all sorts of names. Of course, nobody says it, but indirectly it was an extention of their private jabbing between Afro-West Indians and Indo-West Indians of the region. It was but a step from there, for some publications in American cricket circles, to follow suit and ape the strange impressions aired on Cricinfo, a major British newspaper portal and the prevailing mood in other cricket nations of the Western hemisphere.
I see none now, despite skimpily clad cheerleaders, crazy camera angles, and plenty Saffers men vying for their attentions and dancing along.
But, all quiet on the western front...and on the pseudo-westerners front.
And I see no male dancers either. Wasn't that one of the requirements of the mad hysteria, of the men who wrote what they did back then?
One of the authors who wrote a piece for a British newspaper was unbelievable - to me he appeared sodden, either with the good stuff or with plenty of the bad stuff, while writing the most inane lines one has ever read, where he took broad swipes at all Indian males in a fit of armchair nonsensology. Methinks for that gent, Indian males represented his father, and he was taking swipes at him actually.
Well, that's the kind of logic he was employing but our usage of the same will probably hold better professional scrutiny.
Like I said, I miss those articles now, maybe I failed to catch them this time around.
Murali Vijay versus Peter Siddle and Dirty Dirk
I'm going to watch this closely even if it is just a Twenty20 compact. I think M Vijay has potential to be a useful India player. Our special interest is in the construct of our hypothetical Indian team for ICC World Cup 2011 and we envisage a role for M Vijay or Uthappa (or both) in it.
I rate Siddle, and Dirty Dirk's bowled for us in IPL, so we know his worth. Will be a good examination of Vijay's temperament on a pacy Proteas pitch.
Josh Hazlewood's out
In New Australian Faces we had a quick look at some new, and others relatively new, Australian players selected for the short tour of India. Josh Hazlewood, the last U-19 WC's MOM of the Finals, and tall pace bowler figured prominently in our thumbnail sketch. He is now out with, guess what, stress fracture of the back!
This teenage sensation was put through the grind during the off season at Australia's Academy, where the emphasis was on developing super-fitness.
One doesn't know if Josh was sent to join an Australian commando unit or not, but maybe Greg Chappell, head honcho of Cricket Australia's Centre for Excellence at Brisbane, could tell us.
So the young boy drops out of a possible debut - we suspect he might have played ODIs instead of Tests and was on an educational spot in the team mainly. Australia are looking for the rebirth avatara of Glenn McGrath, who himself was a stronger avatara of talented Bruce Reid who was knocked out by injuries.
In Hazlewood's place, two bowlers are being sent - 20-year olds Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson.
Pattinson is with the Victorian Bushrangers in the ongoing CL T20, and is a right-hand paceman.
On his FC debut for Victoria two years ago, he took 3-43 in his debut innings against the Western Australians with Victoria winning the four-day encounter comfortably.
Shaun Marsh, Pommerbasch, North, Voges and Ronchi were some of the batsmen he bowled to alongside Peter Siddle, Dirk Nannes and others. he drew a blank in the second innings where senior bowler, Damien Wright commandeered it all with five wickets.
The next FC match Pattinson played was against the South Australians a year later - a peculiar match in that not one innings was completed by way of a team being bowled out, yet Victoria won. Three innings were declared and the fourth was a shootout which Victoria won in a canter.
South Australia batting first racked up a largish one - 546 runs for 6 wickets - before declaring, with james pattinson opening alongside his elder brother, Darren Pattinson. He didn't pick any wickets in that innings, nor did he take any in the short South Australian second innings. Incidentally, Victoria declared their first innings plenty behind at 246 for 6 wickets, but went on to win! Graham Manou was the Redback skipper punting on his team and the match there. Poor sod!
This year against Tasmania, Pattinson took four first innings wickets in a drawn encounter. Not many well known names in that Tasmanian batting line-up.
Later this year, he played the Lankan A team for Australia A in the second 4-day 'Test' and took five wickets in all as australia A thumped Sri Lanka A by an innings-and-a-bit-more margin.
He has played List A, Twenty20 and Youth cricket, and four FC is all. Australia is checking out the youngsters for perhaps one spot on the WC team?
Incidentally, this is what The Age has to say about Pattinson - Pattinson's recent seasons have been largely interrupted by injury - he had back stress fractures in 2008-09.
Young chaps are playing too hard or training too hard.
Mitchell Starc is a New South Welshman, a southpaw, bowling fast. He has 25 FC wickets from ten matches.
More about Starc later. Have to rush now.
Who's the odd one?
The three best teams on display in this year's CL T20 are, Redbacks, Superkings and Warriors, without a shred of doubt.
The Chennai team has balance in batting and bowling and can field well. Their batting has variety and aggressive batsmen who an score at will when in form.
The Redbacks - one hasn't really seen their middle order tested. Bowling is steady and can be dangerous if Tait finds the inspired lengths. Fielding is standard issue Ozzie, which cricket followers would be familiar with. But, one must point out here, that a coupla have gone down unOzzily. Redbacks can develop slippery hands.
Warriors can be scary as fielders. Their batting is working well, has a good mix of batsmen, and has depth. Their bowling is also varied and can sting hard first up. Almost like Superkings, but with better fielding.
I see these three in the semi-finals and will be good to watch.
The question is, who will be the pretender? The fourth team in the circle of excellence? Will the Fourth prove a surprise giant-slayer?
Regarding Pollard versus Guyana
Followers of West Indian cricket would know of its peculiarities. The intense, inter-island, inter-nation rivalry is just one of them. Guyana are quite low in the pecking order of 'respectability' in West Indian cricket where Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados vie with with each other for honors. Also peculiar is the flamboyance of TnTian claims and their particular affinity with the ultra-short version of the game in comparison to others in the reason.
Despite Chris Gayle, the devastating T20 playah being from Jamaica, TnT supporters come across rather possessive of the game. In support of their 'ownership' of the game in the region, Keiron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo are the blue chips proferred by them. Of course, everybody then just piles on the TnTies, ripping out their beautiful cricket carnivaal feathers by pointing out to the average 'other format' performances of their trump cards in comparison to, say, a Jamaican or Guyanese cricketer or two. And they go on playin' poker till the rum goes dry and the jerked chicken's all been consumed to start again the next day.
Then, for some reason, WIPAites are identified with TnT and the others are loosely grouped into the WICBites in the Caribbean region. At least respective supporters behave so and nobody disputes it or tries to dispel the notion. In the latest round of horn-locking between WIPAites and WICBites over the monies to accrue from CLT20 participation and control of player image rights, as usual, TnTies found themselves slightly to one side while the others appeared aligned on the other side. It must be said, in all fairness, that this time the dibide was more blurred than ever before - supporting chaps being tired of the recurring WIPA-WICB routine, but that tangy flavour was also textured in to this 'face-off' between TnT and Guyana - Guyanese having initially stood alongside WICBites in the latest round.
Now, when Mumbai was playin', it was actually the still smarting TnT playin' by proxy. Smarting because they they didn't win the regionals and the 'Muddies' from the mudlands of South America won! TnT truly believe they belong on every stage where T20 cricket is played. So, there was a kind of grudge...maybe 'grudge' is too strong a word...but you know how it is with supporters and regional bias...when Guyana shaped up to face TnT-MI.
There was glee, albeit pained and quite restrained, because a West Indian team was beaten by West Indians. But there was glee nevertheless among a section, that the muddies were chopped up right and propah by the Trinibagians. Keiron Pollard (the world's first all continent mainly T20 playing multi-millionaire with at least three qualifications to CL T20) being the butcher was a factor in particular. Multi-milllionaires are said to be aligned with the provocative 'ites' unlike their poorer cousins without much image value.
Guyana was condemned as having shamed themselves and all West Indies with their CL T20 innocence.
Fine I say, fine...but beyond a point it is quite silly.
A team with limited exposure and difficult playing conditions at home, scored over 150 runs against a TT-Mumbai team which contained some of the best bowlers of their respective nations - Zak of India, Malinga of Sri Lanka, Bravo and Pollard of West Indies, Harbhajan of India - that's some frontline bowlers Guyana has scored 153 against in conditions they are not said to be exposed to!
Considering their bowling was weak and their 'pace' bowling isn't quite like what it used to be in the Windies, and spin plays a big role in Guyanese regional performances; while their spin may be dangerous in the Windies regional circuit, it isn't likely to trouble many outside. I mean 'West Indian spinner' is still an oxymoron. And given that, it isn't supposed to pose many problems. But their spinner, Devendra Bishoo, did rather well against some good players! And the off-spinning Crandon held it up well too for a decent economy rate. And Mumbai Indians didn't exactly end up scoring 200 or so against a 'weak' attack...they scored as many runs against Guyana as they did against the South Australian Redbacks!
And if it weren't for the explosion of Pollard upon familiar rivals and mates, pumped up by the earlier 'smarting' I referred to, Mumbai Indians would have found themselves on a different page of the story - they were scoring only at 6.00 rpo by the end of the 15th over! The last five overs of bowling and perhaps Sarwan being out cost Guyana a good win.
The weak attack did better than expected and the weak batting did better than expected for Guyana in this match with Mumbai Indians. These chaps are said to be playing on pitches in Guyana where the ball barely rises to the knees.
My point is, Guyana didn't shame themselves. They lost by a big margin, but they were not shamed. Mumbai were crouched down, trickily at one time, but they managed to wriggle out. Only one thing didn't change - a West Indian knocked out West Indians. And it is possible, this 'victor' of a small battle may even be knocked out of the bigger war!
