If you tuned into last week's opening Test between India and South Africa at Chennai, you would have wondered why such a fuss was being made about it being ''the race to be No.2.''
Ever since the South Africans have landed here, the pundits have been going ga-ga about it being a contest between two teams to decide who would claim the no.2 spot in the ICC Test rankings. For an outside observer this suggestion would seem absurd to the point of being ridiculous since he would think that neither of the teams had any sort of bowling prowess to take the much cliched ''20 wickets'' required to win Test matches.
However such an observation would be inncaurate. No, the two bowling attacks are not paper tigers. Every performer requires an occasion to perform, but sadly the series organisers chose to deprive these performers of their occasion. They prepared a pitch on which, as Geoff Boycott would claim, his mum could make a century. And no, he would not be entirely incorrect.
What cricket administrators in India need to realize is that they cannot take their place for granted. With the emergence of T20, Test cricket is in troubled waters. People simply do not have the time, or for that matter, the inclination, to sit through five gruelling days of cricket.
The least they could do is to ensure that all pitches are result-oriented ones. No one these days would be too happy if you tell them that all they would get after watching 22 men battle it out for 8 hours everyday for 5 days is a result which found that there was nothing that could separate these sides. They would be much happier to come down after work, watch the ball being belted out of the ground, grab a beer, ogle at the dancing girls and go home. All done and dusted in 3 hours.
Bowlers are an oppressed lot in cricket these days. The regulations, the incresing size of bats, the decresing size of boundaries, and the increaingly aggressive attitude of batsmen is enough to make anyone throw their hands up in despair. It might even prompt some to throw in the towel. And then when you have to play on a pitch as dead as the one at Chennai, that is asking for a bit too much from these players. Of course, not everyone is in complaining, ask Virender Sehwag. Or Neil McKenzie for that matter. These two people, among several others, made merry as bowlers from both sides scrathched their heads, thinking of ways to commit suicide.
So don't rejoice if you see a scorecard that says that not more than 24 wickets could be taken over 5 days, it just puts to shame all hopes of a good contest between bat and ball.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Going, going, gone......
Cricketers from the world over went on sale this past week in Mumbai as the much publicized IPL auctions took place at a 5 star hotel, where beer barons, film stars and industrialists happily coughed up millions to get leading international players into their franchisees.The Indian captain, M.S.Dhoni was bought by the Chennai ''Super Kings'' (how ridiculous a name is that for a team?) for a mind-boggling 1.5 million USD, nearly 4 times his reserve price! Well,MSD sure got a lot of USDs !Poor joke, point noted. However he wasn't the only one who found his bank account get doughed up, Aussie Andrew Symonds, inspite of his monkey business, and those pathetic dreadlocks, was signed up by the Hyderabad team for 1.35 million USDs ; becoming the highest paid foreign player.
Now, what are we getting into here? Is the IPL, as its inventors claim, a godsend for the country's pathetically hopeless domestic scene? Or will cricket's newest baby end up ringing the death knell for good old Test cricket? We have players around the world being wooed with 6 figure sums by the richest cricket board in the world, all because they couldn't bear to watch someone out of the system set up a league which rivals their numerous and frankly, quite mediocre domestic competitions. The palyers themselves, are of course, only too happy to participate in this noble cause of uplifting India's domestic scene from it's present misery. Who wouldn't, really, given that while playing T20 matches for a couple of months a year, you could end up making twice or thrice of what you would, while playing for your country, slogging it out against the world's best? Its more of an attraction for the ones reaching the end of their careers, rather than the newbies, who are still struggling to keep their noses above international cricket's deep waters. The recent spate of high profile retirements, noticeably, those of Shaun Pollock, Stephen Flemming, and a few others, is no coincidence, I say.
And now along comes Andrew Symonds, who has been crying himself hoarse over (well, apart from monkey business, of course,) Australia's upcoming, or cancelled, or postponed, or shortened or oh well...let's just say scheduled tour of Pakistan and how he wouldn't want to be a part of it because of the security situation in that country. And now, having been bought by Hyderabad as their star recruit, he recently said that he probably wouldn't be going there afterall. And to think that Symonds claimed he was racially abused in India last October during a bitter 7 match series! I guess money talks more than honour does.
However the larger issue here is that, most shockingly so, current players are refusing to turn up for that country, now that they have been faced with astronomial sums they wouldn't have got their hands on, while on national duty. Clearly, the ICC must do something to nip this trend in the bud...or international cricket will go to the dogs.
And with all the news of the players raking in the moolah, what would the young 'un playing in the street against his mates think? Surely, that Test cricket, techique, good old forward defence be damned, i'll just dance down the track, bring out the slog sweep and send the ball into orbit. Afterall, going by the current scheme of things, T20 is the way forward. You wouldnt want to stop your kid from playing cricket these days, he could be the next ''Super King''!!!
Now, what are we getting into here? Is the IPL, as its inventors claim, a godsend for the country's pathetically hopeless domestic scene? Or will cricket's newest baby end up ringing the death knell for good old Test cricket? We have players around the world being wooed with 6 figure sums by the richest cricket board in the world, all because they couldn't bear to watch someone out of the system set up a league which rivals their numerous and frankly, quite mediocre domestic competitions. The palyers themselves, are of course, only too happy to participate in this noble cause of uplifting India's domestic scene from it's present misery. Who wouldn't, really, given that while playing T20 matches for a couple of months a year, you could end up making twice or thrice of what you would, while playing for your country, slogging it out against the world's best? Its more of an attraction for the ones reaching the end of their careers, rather than the newbies, who are still struggling to keep their noses above international cricket's deep waters. The recent spate of high profile retirements, noticeably, those of Shaun Pollock, Stephen Flemming, and a few others, is no coincidence, I say.
And now along comes Andrew Symonds, who has been crying himself hoarse over (well, apart from monkey business, of course,) Australia's upcoming, or cancelled, or postponed, or shortened or oh well...let's just say scheduled tour of Pakistan and how he wouldn't want to be a part of it because of the security situation in that country. And now, having been bought by Hyderabad as their star recruit, he recently said that he probably wouldn't be going there afterall. And to think that Symonds claimed he was racially abused in India last October during a bitter 7 match series! I guess money talks more than honour does.
However the larger issue here is that, most shockingly so, current players are refusing to turn up for that country, now that they have been faced with astronomial sums they wouldn't have got their hands on, while on national duty. Clearly, the ICC must do something to nip this trend in the bud...or international cricket will go to the dogs.
And with all the news of the players raking in the moolah, what would the young 'un playing in the street against his mates think? Surely, that Test cricket, techique, good old forward defence be damned, i'll just dance down the track, bring out the slog sweep and send the ball into orbit. Afterall, going by the current scheme of things, T20 is the way forward. You wouldnt want to stop your kid from playing cricket these days, he could be the next ''Super King''!!!
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
All done and dusted
After the dust settles down, this contest will go down as one of the best in recent times. The stage was set for a major showdown, and boy, did we have one! In a series which proved that Test cricket will always retain its place as the King Of Sports inspite of the emergence of T20,
Monkey calls, court hearings, disputed catches, umpires who refused to lift their fingers, one captain who thought only 1 side played with the spirit of the game and his opposing number who spit venom on anyone who doubted his integrity added plenty of spice to the contest that in my opinion, stands side-by-side with the Ashes as the game’s blue ribbon rivalry.
In the end,
Melborne: Aus win due to toothless Indian batting;
All said and done, both the squads should give themselves a pat on the back for treating the great game’s spectators to a scorching summer of cricket. All of this sets up things nicely for this October, when the ‘Roos turn up in
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Our heads hang in shame, again
At the end of it all, in what was one of the most eventful Tests this beautiful game has seen, the first test of the new year will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. India could argue that the Aussies got away with having 2 additional players on the field and one more off it....as the umpires decided to play Santa and gift the reigning champions an oh-so-sweet test victory over arch-rivals India. The Aussies , on the other hand, could thank their stars and messrs Bucknor, Benson and Oxenford for letting them get away with a win in a match for which a draw would have been a just result.
Steve Bucknor, the Jamaican umpire on the ICC ''Elite'' list is best known for two things...one-for having stood in more tests than any other umpire and two-for being India's bugbear time and again. And true to his reputaion, he once again played a leading hand in denying India a well deserved draw. He turned out absolute howlers with disheartening regularity, and surprise surprise...against who else, but India? It would be difficult to believe that the man is not biased against India after taking a look at his decisions that have repeatedly served to put the Indians on the backfoot on numerous occasions in the past. Sourav Ganguly had famously given him a rating of zero in the captain's report after a test on the Australian tour of 2003-04. Whether or not Anil Kumble chooses to follow in his footsteps this time is yet to be seen, but that doesn't take away from the fact that umpires like Bucknor, who have reached the ripe old age of 61 need to be removed from the panel. There is bound to be an obvious decline in their ability to adjudicate with passage of time and the cricketing fraternity will be witness to such poor umpiring if such measures are not followed.
The other umpire, Mark Benson does not come out in shining light either. Alongwith the TV umpire Oxenford, the two on-field umpires did Australia favours time and again over each of the 5 days as they recovered from a precarious 134/6 to post 463 on the board in the first innings. Andrew Symonds, the main beneficiary, should have been back in the pavilion while he was on 30 but he went on to make 162 not out, after being let off thrice through ridiculous umpiring. Together the trio accounted for 8 pathetic decisions, 7 of them in Australia's favour...which is a damning comment on their son-called ''Elite'' status.
It would be difficult to say what might have been if this would not have happened, though for sure, cricket lovers would have been able to see a match won, lost or drawn on the pure basis of the competing teams' ability, or the lack of it. And even though Harsha Bhogle might say that cricket is not a game of ''what might have been'', it would be difficult, Mr Bhogle, to discount the effect that 8 such '' what might have beens'' would have had on the outcome of this match.
Steve Bucknor, the Jamaican umpire on the ICC ''Elite'' list is best known for two things...one-for having stood in more tests than any other umpire and two-for being India's bugbear time and again. And true to his reputaion, he once again played a leading hand in denying India a well deserved draw. He turned out absolute howlers with disheartening regularity, and surprise surprise...against who else, but India? It would be difficult to believe that the man is not biased against India after taking a look at his decisions that have repeatedly served to put the Indians on the backfoot on numerous occasions in the past. Sourav Ganguly had famously given him a rating of zero in the captain's report after a test on the Australian tour of 2003-04. Whether or not Anil Kumble chooses to follow in his footsteps this time is yet to be seen, but that doesn't take away from the fact that umpires like Bucknor, who have reached the ripe old age of 61 need to be removed from the panel. There is bound to be an obvious decline in their ability to adjudicate with passage of time and the cricketing fraternity will be witness to such poor umpiring if such measures are not followed.
The other umpire, Mark Benson does not come out in shining light either. Alongwith the TV umpire Oxenford, the two on-field umpires did Australia favours time and again over each of the 5 days as they recovered from a precarious 134/6 to post 463 on the board in the first innings. Andrew Symonds, the main beneficiary, should have been back in the pavilion while he was on 30 but he went on to make 162 not out, after being let off thrice through ridiculous umpiring. Together the trio accounted for 8 pathetic decisions, 7 of them in Australia's favour...which is a damning comment on their son-called ''Elite'' status.
It would be difficult to say what might have been if this would not have happened, though for sure, cricket lovers would have been able to see a match won, lost or drawn on the pure basis of the competing teams' ability, or the lack of it. And even though Harsha Bhogle might say that cricket is not a game of ''what might have been'', it would be difficult, Mr Bhogle, to discount the effect that 8 such '' what might have beens'' would have had on the outcome of this match.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Our heads hang in shame
Australia marched home today to their 15th consecutive Test victory after soundly thrashing India in the Boxing Day test at Melbourne. The much-anticipated and hyped duel petered out to a no-contest as the rampaging Aussies handed the touring Indians a swift fall from grace on the back of the visitors' first series win against Pakistan at home in 27 long years.
India's much vaunted batting lineup folded up for less than 200 in both innings as a good show by the bowlers went in vain. In a match in which they were competitive for all of 1 day, the Indians would do well to realize that once you've got the Aussies on the mat, you've got to keep 'em there, no matter what.
However that didn't happen as the advantage was surrendered with a poor batting display: the Dravids, the Laxmans, the Tendulkars, the Gangulys and the Dhonis managing all of 196 and 161 among themselves...surely, they could do better.
The curious Rahul Dravid saga gets murkier by the moment....appointed captain after then coach Greg Chappell's huge public showdown with you-know-who, accused of playing into the very same wily old coach's hands, leading the side on a forgettable World Cup campaign, controversially resigning after the successful England tour, being axed from the one day side and now being thrust into the opener's slot to do the dirty work of wearing out the brand new Kookaburra so that the others can work on their averages while smacking the thing to all parts of the ground.
What the team management has to realize is that the opening position is a specialist one...you might have a few successes with the odd makeshift opener (read Dinesh Kaarthick in England ) but that will not save you from trouble against better sides in the world. So while Dravid, the gentleman that he is, may agree to bat wherever the team wants him to, playing makeshift openers against Australia won't get them too far I'm afraid. Rahul is best suited for the no.3 slot and it's no secret. So to play him upfront, just so that Yuvraj can get into the side is sheer myopia, nothing else.
And probably the most bemusing aspect of this opening dilemna is that man called Virender Sehwag. Picture this: the man doesn't figure in the 24 probables list, then mysteriously gets called up for the tour in the 16 man squad, is one of the three genuine openers in the squad : Wasim Jaffer (the regular) and Gautam Gambhir (injured ) being the other two, doesn't play the warm up tie, ditto for the first test as he cools his heels in the dressing room while the others face the heat: both on and off the field ! I wonder what is he in the squad for? Just making up the numbers, presumably. Well good for him...there won't be any skin off his back while the rest will have tough questions to face ! Maybe all that's missing now is maa-ke-haath-ki kheer!
And so as we look forward to the New Year's test at Sydney, it begs the question: will India rise from the Ashes like the Phoenix did, or will it once again pummel to even greater depths ?
I, for one, hope it's the former and not the latter.
India's much vaunted batting lineup folded up for less than 200 in both innings as a good show by the bowlers went in vain. In a match in which they were competitive for all of 1 day, the Indians would do well to realize that once you've got the Aussies on the mat, you've got to keep 'em there, no matter what.
However that didn't happen as the advantage was surrendered with a poor batting display: the Dravids, the Laxmans, the Tendulkars, the Gangulys and the Dhonis managing all of 196 and 161 among themselves...surely, they could do better.
The curious Rahul Dravid saga gets murkier by the moment....appointed captain after then coach Greg Chappell's huge public showdown with you-know-who, accused of playing into the very same wily old coach's hands, leading the side on a forgettable World Cup campaign, controversially resigning after the successful England tour, being axed from the one day side and now being thrust into the opener's slot to do the dirty work of wearing out the brand new Kookaburra so that the others can work on their averages while smacking the thing to all parts of the ground.
What the team management has to realize is that the opening position is a specialist one...you might have a few successes with the odd makeshift opener (read Dinesh Kaarthick in England ) but that will not save you from trouble against better sides in the world. So while Dravid, the gentleman that he is, may agree to bat wherever the team wants him to, playing makeshift openers against Australia won't get them too far I'm afraid. Rahul is best suited for the no.3 slot and it's no secret. So to play him upfront, just so that Yuvraj can get into the side is sheer myopia, nothing else.
And probably the most bemusing aspect of this opening dilemna is that man called Virender Sehwag. Picture this: the man doesn't figure in the 24 probables list, then mysteriously gets called up for the tour in the 16 man squad, is one of the three genuine openers in the squad : Wasim Jaffer (the regular) and Gautam Gambhir (injured ) being the other two, doesn't play the warm up tie, ditto for the first test as he cools his heels in the dressing room while the others face the heat: both on and off the field ! I wonder what is he in the squad for? Just making up the numbers, presumably. Well good for him...there won't be any skin off his back while the rest will have tough questions to face ! Maybe all that's missing now is maa-ke-haath-ki kheer!
And so as we look forward to the New Year's test at Sydney, it begs the question: will India rise from the Ashes like the Phoenix did, or will it once again pummel to even greater depths ?
I, for one, hope it's the former and not the latter.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
'Guru' Greg's pearls of wisdom
You would be forgiven for thinking that poor old Gregory Chappell was the most tortured soul in India during his eventful 2 year tenure as the national team's coach from mid 2005 to March this year.The ''Guru'' had to suffer,what according to him,was racial abuse from hostile crowds and furthermore had to make do with an ''old and selfish'' team which had been handed to him for the much publicized but eventually disastrous 2007 World Cup campaign.
The Australian,whose tumultuous stint as coach was marred by a massive spat with then captain Sourav Ganguly,the shocking descent of India's form in ODI's and less so in Tests,allegations of disrespect to crowds,leaks of confidential team talks and fears of factions within the team has made the above allegations in his new documentary titled ''Guru Greg'' to be telecast on Australia's ABC TV next week.
Chappell had resigned as India's coach after the ill-fated World Cup adventure in the Caribbean this March.Recently,the BCCI had extended an invitation to the former coach to be the mentor for young kids at Rajasthan's cricket academy and not surprisingly,now that the Aussie has accepted the invitation,it is understandable that the ''master strategist'' would seek to downplay his comments.
Australian newspaper ''The Herald Sun'' has this to say about him...''But despite the disillusionment and the many frustrations, he is still trying to help a nation in which cricket is treated like a religion. ''
And Chappell himself offers re-assuring words...''If they give us a free hand, which they are, I think we can set something up that will help them."
Ah profound kindness, thy name is Greg Chappell !
While some of his observations about the obvious presence of politics and lack of professionalism in India's cricket administration is undeniable, the truth remains that Greg Chappell,inspite of his ''vision'' and revolutionary coaching techniques failed to transform a bunch of talented youngsters and experienced statesmen into a force to reckon with,despite promising to do so from the very outset.
And perhaps the most distasteful thing to happen was that after the early World Cup exit,he washed his hands of the entire debacle,declining to accept responsibility.Surely the ''Guru'' could do better.
Moving on, one of my pet peeves has always been seeing the way in which world champions Australia conduct themselves on and off the field.While admittedly, no other side in the world can match up to Aussies in terms of sheer cricketing talent,application and dominance as their record over the last decade only proves; it's high time that the Aussies got a hold on their distasteful attitude which smacks of cockiness, arrogance and narcissism.
Surely fans can expect the champs to maintain an attitude that is truely representative of how a champion side should conduct itself.
Their captain Ricky Ponting has been crying hoarse over lack of competition from other teams and how the crowds haven't been turning up in large numbers to watch Test cricket at their grounds due to complete dominance by the champs over other teams in recent times.The Australians would do well to remember that the last Test defeat that they faced at home was against India in 2003-04.
The Sri Lankans haven't been able to challenge the Australians so far this summer.Let's see if the touring Indians can change the trend and put some of the inflated Aussie egos in place.
The Australian,whose tumultuous stint as coach was marred by a massive spat with then captain Sourav Ganguly,the shocking descent of India's form in ODI's and less so in Tests,allegations of disrespect to crowds,leaks of confidential team talks and fears of factions within the team has made the above allegations in his new documentary titled ''Guru Greg'' to be telecast on Australia's ABC TV next week.
Chappell had resigned as India's coach after the ill-fated World Cup adventure in the Caribbean this March.Recently,the BCCI had extended an invitation to the former coach to be the mentor for young kids at Rajasthan's cricket academy and not surprisingly,now that the Aussie has accepted the invitation,it is understandable that the ''master strategist'' would seek to downplay his comments.
Australian newspaper ''The Herald Sun'' has this to say about him...''But despite the disillusionment and the many frustrations, he is still trying to help a nation in which cricket is treated like a religion. ''
And Chappell himself offers re-assuring words...''If they give us a free hand, which they are, I think we can set something up that will help them."
Ah profound kindness, thy name is Greg Chappell !
While some of his observations about the obvious presence of politics and lack of professionalism in India's cricket administration is undeniable, the truth remains that Greg Chappell,inspite of his ''vision'' and revolutionary coaching techniques failed to transform a bunch of talented youngsters and experienced statesmen into a force to reckon with,despite promising to do so from the very outset.
And perhaps the most distasteful thing to happen was that after the early World Cup exit,he washed his hands of the entire debacle,declining to accept responsibility.Surely the ''Guru'' could do better.
Moving on, one of my pet peeves has always been seeing the way in which world champions Australia conduct themselves on and off the field.While admittedly, no other side in the world can match up to Aussies in terms of sheer cricketing talent,application and dominance as their record over the last decade only proves; it's high time that the Aussies got a hold on their distasteful attitude which smacks of cockiness, arrogance and narcissism.
Surely fans can expect the champs to maintain an attitude that is truely representative of how a champion side should conduct itself.
Their captain Ricky Ponting has been crying hoarse over lack of competition from other teams and how the crowds haven't been turning up in large numbers to watch Test cricket at their grounds due to complete dominance by the champs over other teams in recent times.The Australians would do well to remember that the last Test defeat that they faced at home was against India in 2003-04.
The Sri Lankans haven't been able to challenge the Australians so far this summer.Let's see if the touring Indians can change the trend and put some of the inflated Aussie egos in place.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Captain, oh captain !
Sachin Tendulkar has reportedly turned down the offer to be India's new Test captain.The apparent explanation given by an unnamed source attributes the development to '' some personal reason.''
The development will surely come as a surprise to the BCCI which was to name the Test captain for the upcoming tests against Pakistan and the tour to Australia later in the winter.Evidently it was by and large assumed that Tendulkar would accept the job but his refusal has thrown up some interesting possibilities.
Tendulkar's previous stint as captain was dismal with just 4 wins in 25 tests,a success ratio of a meagre 16%.More importantly each of the 4 wins came at home with not a single overseas win.In fact when India toured Australia in 1999/00 under Tendulkar's captaincy,they were whitewashed 3-0,not an impressive record considering that the Aussies will host India in a month's time.
Other possible reasons might include the worry that captaincy would affect his batting.However this might not be true as Tendulkar's average while captaining in tests is 51.35,marginally lower than his overall average of 54+.
With Sachin bowing out of the race,newly crowned ODI and T20 captain M.S.Dhoni is the frontrunner for one of the toughest jobs in world cricket.Dhoni however is not too experienced in the longest version of the game, with just 20 Test caps and a single century against Pakistan in 2006.
However with Dravid stepping down as captain after the England tour and Ganguly unlikely to be looked at,one might say that there is no other viable candidate for the job.The veteran leggie Anil Kumble had recently said that he would accept captaincy if given the honour.He might have an outside chance of making it.Kumble has no previous experience of captaincy,except a lone ODI against England in 2001,in which he led India for the first and last time.
It would be fair to say that the team would not have found itself in such an embarrasing situation had Rahul Dravid not stepped down as captain after the tour of England this August.It might be recalled that Tendulkar had led the side against Sussex at Chelmsford in a practice game during the same tour.Incidentally,he had also scored a sparkling 170 odd knock during the same match.
The development will surely come as a surprise to the BCCI which was to name the Test captain for the upcoming tests against Pakistan and the tour to Australia later in the winter.Evidently it was by and large assumed that Tendulkar would accept the job but his refusal has thrown up some interesting possibilities.
Tendulkar's previous stint as captain was dismal with just 4 wins in 25 tests,a success ratio of a meagre 16%.More importantly each of the 4 wins came at home with not a single overseas win.In fact when India toured Australia in 1999/00 under Tendulkar's captaincy,they were whitewashed 3-0,not an impressive record considering that the Aussies will host India in a month's time.
Other possible reasons might include the worry that captaincy would affect his batting.However this might not be true as Tendulkar's average while captaining in tests is 51.35,marginally lower than his overall average of 54+.
With Sachin bowing out of the race,newly crowned ODI and T20 captain M.S.Dhoni is the frontrunner for one of the toughest jobs in world cricket.Dhoni however is not too experienced in the longest version of the game, with just 20 Test caps and a single century against Pakistan in 2006.
However with Dravid stepping down as captain after the England tour and Ganguly unlikely to be looked at,one might say that there is no other viable candidate for the job.The veteran leggie Anil Kumble had recently said that he would accept captaincy if given the honour.He might have an outside chance of making it.Kumble has no previous experience of captaincy,except a lone ODI against England in 2001,in which he led India for the first and last time.
It would be fair to say that the team would not have found itself in such an embarrasing situation had Rahul Dravid not stepped down as captain after the tour of England this August.It might be recalled that Tendulkar had led the side against Sussex at Chelmsford in a practice game during the same tour.Incidentally,he had also scored a sparkling 170 odd knock during the same match.
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