T20 and Tests: A Strange Parallel

It has been almost one and a half decade since the inception of cricket's newest format the T20. And as we stand today at the brink of the birth of an even shorter format - "The Hundred", I have a few ramblings about the comparisons between the longest format of the game and the current shortest format the T20s.

It has always annoyed me when I see many self-proclaimed purists of the game dismiss T20s as being too simple or being too heavily loaded in favour of batsmen. I am here to argue that T20 cricket should be played on the flattest possible decks and with short boundaries. (I can already sense the rage of the "purists"). However, please give me a chance to explain. The crux of my argument is that the traditional lovers of the game do not give enough credit to quality bowling in limited overs. Think about  Yuzavendra Chahal for instance. For the most part of his IPL career, he bowled on the flattest deck in the country with the shortest boundaries - the Chinnaswamy a.k.a "Bowler's Graveyard" (I know the conditions have changed now).  It requires an enormous amount of skill from the bowler to end up with an economy of less than 7 in those conditions. It irks me to no end that people still do not see such a bowling performance with the same eyes of appreciation they would a batsman playing out a new ball in bowler-friendly conditions. To me, they are very similar. 

My argument is that there is a direct correspondence between playing on a first-day green pitch on a cloudy day with a red-duke ball and playing on a flat deck with 65m boundaries in final five overs with the white ball. In the former, all the cards are with the bowler. Only the very best of batsmen can survive. Bowlers with even limited skills can thrive if the batting is of poor quality. In the latter, the tables have turned. All the cards are with the batsmen.  Only the very best of bowlers can survive. Batsmen with even limited skills can thrive if the bowling is of poor quality. In the Test Match, all the eyes are on the batsman. The questions being asked are ... does he have the technique? Does he have the temperament and patience? What separated Rahul Dravid or Jaques Kallis from the rest? They could survive on the greenest of surfaces on a cloudy day and against quality swing bowling. Even when all the aces were with the bowlers, they could find a way not just to survive but even to score. Where else can they showcase their skills but on a green top? On a flat deck, everyone scores. How can the best batsman show the world, why they are the best? 

In the last five overs of white ball cricket, all the eyes should be on the bowlers. It is a test for the bowlers when all the odds are against them. What separates Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah from the rest of the pack. Even if you give them a flat wicket, even if the boundary sizes are small, they have the skills to go for less than 7 an over. This is a very rare skill. How else will they be able to showcase this skill if not for a flat deck? If the surface is not flat and it is hard to score, then almost every bowler would be hard to get away. How can quality bowlers show-off their skills? How can quality bowlers stand apart then?

The correspondences don't just end here. Just like only, the very best bowlers can make full use of the helpful conditions and take a five-for in the morning session, only the very best batsmen can make full use of the conditions and score at around 15 runs per over. 

Just like the morning of a test match is a time for quality batsmen to show off their skills and stand head and shoulders above the rest, the death overs is a time for the quality bowlers to show off their skills. Just like flat decks in Test matches would result in lesser batsmen not being found out, bowling-friendly decks for T20s/ODIs would result in lesser quality bowlers not being found out. 

Kohli in South Africa

So the tour has ended. It was after a long time that I had watched a tournament so closely and with so much interest. I have woken up at 3 AM on almost every match day and it has been extremely fulfilling.  This blog is about the freak in the Indian team who goes by the name of Virat Kohli. This tour confirmed for me the greatness of "Virat Kohli, The Player".  As far as his captaincy and tactical prowess go, I think there is a lot of work to be done. In this blog, I will talk only about Kohli - The Player. 

After the third and final test match at Johannesburg, Kohli moved up one spot in the list of all-time great Indian batsman that I have seen. He pipped my boyhood hero Rahul Dravid to get to the second spot in my list. My list now reads Tendulkar, Kohli, Dravid, Laxman. The two innings at Johannesburg were not his biggest innings in terms of the number of runs. He merely scored 54 and 41 in the first and second innings respectively. It was, however, batsmanship of the highest order.

These two innings were a follow-up from incredible 153 that he had scored at Centurian. The pitch was not easiest to bat on. Most batsmen struggled to get going. Though not a quintessential South African wicket with pace and bounce, the slowness of the surface had made strokeplay incredibly difficult. While every other batsman struggled to get their timing, Kohli thrived. It seemed as if every other batsman was driving in the bylanes of crowded metropolitan while Kohli coasted along on an empty highway. India had lost the test match; a number of decisions as a captain were under question, but as a batsman, Kohli was in a different league.

Now cut to Johannesburg. India is 2-0 down in the series. Kohli is getting all the criticism for his captaincy - perhaps rightly so. Leaving Rahane out was blunder which has cost him the series. Leaving Bhuvaneshwar out was a bizarre decision. Kohli probably knows it. He won't admit it though. Graeme Smith says he has doubts about Kohli being a long-term captain. A green top. Kohli wins the toss. Bats First. A rare tactical brilliance. Importantly Rahane and Bhuvaneshwar are back in the team. While most captains would have fielded first after looking at the pitch, Kohli-Shastri combination figured that batting would keep getting tougher. KL Rahul and Murali Vijay started batting. Rahul looked clueless. Within seven deliveries Philander got him. In walks Pujara. But, Vijay leaves him. Out to Rabada. It all looks so familiar now. Kohli walks in. Has batting first back-fired? What will he say in the press conference? Is it heading towards another 3-0? Yet another overseas whitewash? Was Graeme Smith correct in his judgment?  What about all the macho-statements before the series? He doesn't have time to think about all this now. He has a job at hand. India is in serious trouble. Like in Centurian, the onus is on him, once again to bail India out of trouble. Rabada bowls him a full delivery. Kohli has the full stride forward - drives him past cover for four. Incredible Stroke. On a green pitch that is some courage.  Meanwhile, Pujara has faced 51 balls and he is still batting on zero. Just puts into perspective how difficult the conditions are. Kohli gets another full delivery. He is no mood to let them go. He drives it again. Connects it again. Four more. Moves on to 15. Rabada pulls his length back. Kohli cuts it past point. Four more. Plays a fierce pull-shot to get past 50. This time he will not get a hundred. Gets out for 54. Kohli had spoken about "intent", in the press conferences. He was mocked for it. At the Wanderers, Johannesburg, he showed what he meant. As he walks back, I think this must be his best under-100 innings. The freak is not done yet.

Cut to second innings. Kohli comes in at 58-3. A slightly better position. Still precariously placed. The Indian ship is barely floating. It is up to Kohli again to steer it - to take it to the other shore where victory resides. The sea has become extremely rough though.  Philander bowls. Gets an absolute snorter first up. Somehow survives it. Once again as soon as the ball is pitched up. Kohli drives. Drives past cover. Get off the mark. The pitch has become a snake-pit. The bowlers are Rabada, Morkel, Ngidi, and Philander. Three of them are bowling at nearly 145 km ph. There are whispers that the game might be called-off as the pitch has become dangerous. The batsmen have been getting hit as the balls are awkwardly rising from a good length. The commentators are criticizing the pitch.  Rightly so. Micheal Holding says he would give the pitch 2 marks out of 100. Kohli is not concerned about all this. He wants to win the game at all cost. A ball from rises from a good length and smashes on Kohli's gloves.  Kohli however, is not flustered. He is in pain for sure. He will not show it. Murali Vijay enquires if he is okay. Kohli waves at him. He will continue to fight.  Anything pitched up Kohli will come forward and drive. On a pitch like this, where the balls are jumping off the good length and smacking the gloves, most batsmen would hang back on the back-foot and miss out on scoring opportunities. Lesser mortals would think survival. Not Kohli. There is not a negative bone in the man. You pitch short. He will pull. You pitch it up, he will come forward and drive. He gets hit, he will wear the bruise with pride. He will not complain. At every moment he will let you know that he is the contest. Kohli moves on to 41. Already an incredible knock. It takes a vicious fast off-break-like delivery from Rabada to get him. In one match he has played two gems. In my book, he is just one step below Tendulkar now.

Postscript:  There was another incredible knock played in the same innings by Ajinkya Rahane who had scored 48 golden runs. 

The Kohli-Kumble Saga

I am writing a cricket blog after a really long time. Truth be told, I had not really followed the game for a while now. There are several reasons, first being a busy PhD programme. Perhaps the more important reason was India had such an amazing home season and the games were so one-sided for the most part of the season that I did not have the patience to beat the time-difference and watch/follow the game. The Australia series was the only series where I kept track of the scores on Cricinfo. However, I am in France right now, doing a rather relaxed internship and I not just followed but watched the entire Champions Trophy. I had had my heart broken in the final and actually felt sad about it for almost two entire days. However, that is not what I am going to write about. I am going to write about the entire Kohli-Kumble episode that has unfolded in the past few weeks. Before I give my opinion on this, I must tell my readers that I am huge Virat Kohli fan and in his playing days I used to adore Anil Kumble. Thus, when he became the coach I thought it was a match made in heaven. For me to see this partnership fall apart has been a truly difficult experience.

It is extremely hard for us, sit outside and pass a judgement about who was right and who was wrong. Typically, we tend to bring our likes and dislikes about a certain people or a perception we have built about the players and then come to a conclusion which may be so far from reality. In the past few weeks, I have read so many anecdotal stories which try to corroborate the guilt of either the captain or the coach. Since we are so far away from the "action", we can only speculate. 

This incident, in fact, asks a more important question. What is the role of a coach in a cricket team? And how are the responsibilities between the coach and the captain divided? I find it rather hard to answer this question. One of the things that one needs to recognise is that cricket is a very different game from most other sports. Here the captain is a far more important character in the team than in most sports. Most of the strategic decisions have to made by the captain. It is the captain with whom the buck finally stops. A captain with a strong personality might want to run the team both on and off the field. Thus I could imagine that a strong personality like Anil Kumble (who may not be comfortable taking a back seat) might have created two power centres. Consider the past coaching partnerships that worked and failed. Saurav Ganguly - John Wright was a great success. Ganguly - Chappel was a disaster. Dravid - Chappel was not bad. Dhoni - Kirsten was a success. And now Kohli - Kumble has been a failure. The pattern that I notice is that, whenever both the parties involved seem to be people who would not be ready to play a second-fiddle anywhere, the partnership just broke down. My sense is that, during the Chappel-era, Dravid did play a bit of second fiddle and it was Chappel who ran the team which is probably the reason why the partnership was not a failure. For this latest incident, I think it is entirely possible that neither Kohli nor Kumble are actually at fault. But the partnership was just not meant to work. I have no doubt in my mind, that if there is coach-captain conflict in cricket, the coach has to go. This is just due to the nature of the sport where the captain is a far more important cog in the wheel compared to the coach. It is very essential for the smooth running of the team that the team gets a coach with whom the captain is comfortable working. Although I am extremely disappointed that this match did not work, I think the right thing has happened. Now that Kohli has got his way, it is up to him to perform. Things will not be easy for him with a barrage of away tours coming his way. I'd be curiously watching how he fares.

 

I'm back ... hopefully

For the past two years, I have been off the radar and have not been posting anything. In fact, it is strange that after Sachin Tendulkar retired, I have not posted anything. It may seem that I have lost interest in the game after the great man's retirement. However, that is not the case. A rigourous Masters Program in Computer Science and ill-health have put me away. I hope to be back soon! A lot a has happened in the world of cricket. A lot of catching up to do.


cheers,
Adithya

Joy of Sachin

On Thursday - 10th of October, Sachin Tendulkar announced that he would retire from all forms of cricket after his 200th test in November. His announcement was not a shock but it did leave a sense of sadness. The fact that, after November we won't see those exquisite straight drives is a really hard pill to swallow. To be honest I have absolutely no idea how Indian cricket would be without Sachin. In fact by the time I was born Sachin had already scored a test match hundred to save a game. And by the time I was old enough to appreciate the game he had become great. And yet, I could enjoy around 14 to 15 years of his cricket. Thus for my generation of cricket fans - cricket meant Sachin and nothing else. Thus, we have never seen Indian cricket without Sachin Tendulkar. For my generation of cricket fans, a conversation about the game of cricket was always incomplete without discussing Tendulkar's contribution in the game. A question about India's score had to be always followed by, asking Sachin's (perhaps in many cases it preceded).

It is a great time to reflect back on all those wonderful memories that Sachin provided. One of my first Tendulkar memories was when he played an absolute blinder against Pakistan in the 1999 Chennai test. I remember seeing the game with my father. We continued to watch the game even when we lost 5 wickets for 80-odd on the board. Sachin was still playing and there was still a hope. He conjured 136 magnificent runs enduring pain and the Chennai heat. He made us forget about everything else. It almost felt as if the world came to a standstill and all it mattered in the world was the way Sachin plays. He literally hypnotised us with his batting. He took us tantalisingly close to the win. As Tendulkar fell to a doosra by Saqlain Mushtaq, at home we were heart broken. It almost felt as if we had encountered some great personal failure. I remember the disappointment I felt as an eight-year-old watching that game. The disappointment was more because of the fact that Sachin could not take us over the line than the fact we lost. The fact that his valiant effort went in vain hurt more than anything else. My another favourite Sachin memory is the World Cup innings of 98 he scored against Pakistan. It was just two days before my 10th Class board exams were beginning. I saw that innings without any worry about how I would write my exams. Such was the magic of Sachin that he took you into trans and made you forget that there existed the world which was not centred around him. I saw the double hundred in my hostel TV room. It was another breathtaking experience. Watching the games in the hostel had a special effect. So, many people watching the game together - shouting and cheering used to almost recreate the stadium atmosphere for us. The 175 against Australia at Hyderabad was another innings I had seen in the hostel TV room. I remember the heartbreak we all had. We spent hours cursing the rest of Indian batting lineup for not taking us above the line.

The Tendulkar-effect I have had is so hard to describe in words. Whenever I read a praise of Sachin, it brings an instant smile to my face. There is a sense of joy I experience - a sense of joy as if the praise was directed towards me. There is a difference in the levels of happiness I get when Sachin gets a hundred and when some other Indian gets a hundred. A Tendulkar failure has a completely opposite effect.  Harsha Bhogle once said, 'Sachin effects your senses' and that is completely true. And as he also said, India truly slept well when Sachin played well. Tendulkar could never be "just another cricketer for India". In the dark years of the nineties, Sachin was India's proudest possession - and he still continues to be. He gave Indians a sense of pride. The fact that the best batsman in the world was an Indian made us feel proud of belonging to India.

As Tendulkar retires, the 5th ODI between India and Pakistan at Kanpur on 15th April 2005, where Sachin scored 1 run becomes very important for me. I was there at the Green Park stadium for that game. I had endured a very sluggish Indian innings followed by a Shahid Afridi blitz in the Kanpur heat. But, that was the only occasion I saw Sachin Tendulkar bat in flesh and blood. Probably, 50 to 60 years down the line, I could tell my grandchildren and great-grandchildren with pride that I saw Sachin Tendulkar bat in flesh and blood - although that experience lasted for only 10 deliveries.

It is a pity that I cannot make it to the stadium for his final game, but I am sure the kind of reception he would get in Mumbai, no other sportsman in the world would have ever got. I am certain he is the most loved sportsman in the world. To me, the most astonishing thing about Sachin Tendulkar is how he could impact so many people's mood just by playing a game.

So, would there ever be another Sachin Tendulkar? I think there is always a possibility of the emergence of some other player who could match the numbers of Sachin Tendulkar, albeit that the possibility is quite remote. But, I can hardly imagine any other player being born who will capture the imagination of such a large number of people.

The greatness of Sachin transcended all jealousy. We lived in an era, where no one would have been ashamed to say that, he always remains in awe of Sachin Tendulkar. Consider yourself really lucky and privileged, if you had the opportunity to enjoy the Joy of Sachin.

The Find of the Series - Richard Kettleborough

So, finally series has finished. India completed the 4-0 whitewash. It was not really a huge surprise that India did so well in the series. It was a very inexperienced Austrilian team. 4-0 victory is a nevertheless fantastic achievement. As people normally do at the end of a series, I was thinking who is biggest find in the series? Ravindra Jadeja? Mittchel Starc? Steve Smith? Bhuvneshwar Kumar? No. For me the biggest find of this series is not a bowler or a batsman. He is not a wicket-keeper either. He is the most important part of a cricket match but is very scarcely noticed. He is an umpire. Richard Kettleborough was the find of this India-Australia series as far as I am concerned.

It is often we wonder if Pujara is the new Dravid? Some news channels called Kohli the new Sachin. After Dhawan's innings we thought if he can be the new Sehwag. When Irfan Pathan came into the Indian team, we all wondered if he is the new Kapil Dev. We are all obsessed with labeling people as the "New" someone. I will also venture along the same lines in this post. I will stick my neck out and call Richard Kettleborough the new Simon Tauffel. After Tauffel retired from umpiring I thought he left a void in cricket. It is not common to have such young umpires. I can hardly recall Simon Tauffel making an error. In some ways Richard Kettleborough reminded me of Simon Tauffel. Maybe because, he too like Tauffel has started at a very young age. Also the fact that he got almost everything right, expect probably one LBW shout against Sachin.

The most impressive thing about Kettleborough's umpiring was that he was having the most difficult conditions to umpire. With ball turning and bouncing so sharply, and with all the close-in fielders around with the amount of appeals going around and to add to all that, with the amount of noise in the stadiums, it can become a nightmare of the umpires. India playing three spinners meant that there pressure always there on the umpires. The amount of concentration that goes into while umpiring in these conditions is immense. In the LBWs, they have to decide in a few seconds if the ball had hit the pad first or the bat. In the backdrop of all the noise in the crowd, they have got to listen very carefully to  the sounds from the bat hitting the pad, bat hitting the ground, ball hitting the pad, ball hitting the bat and decide exactly what happened. They cannot loose their focus with all the appeals going around. It must be one heck of a job. After 90 overs of work, the umpires must be completely exhausted. They must mentally drained.

Now just to put everything into perspective it was Richard Kettleborough's first tour of India. Here everything is different from what he finds back home in the UK. Just like the players, it must be really tough for umpires to adjust to different conditions. But, Kettleborough did manage to adjust and did extremely well.

I think it is just like when we see a young overseas player play really well in his first tour of the sub-continent or a young Indian player in his very first overseas tour finds no problem with the bouncing and the swinging ball. When we see something like this, we get excited and tip him as the next big thing for that team. In similar terms, to perform so well in his first tour of the sub-continent I reckon Richard Kettleborough is the next big thing in the umpiring world! 

About me...(A Cricket Lover)

Favourite Format of the Game: Tests!
The Cricketer I admire the most:  Rahul Dravid
The Best Test Batsman I have seen: Brian Lara
The Best ODI Batsman I have seen: Sachin Tendulkar
The Best Test Bowler I have seen: Shane Warne
The Best ODI Bowler I have seen: Wasim Akram
The Best Wicket-Keeper batsman I have seen in ODIs: Adam Gilchrist or MS Dhoni
The Best Wicket-Keeper batsman I have seen in Tests:  Adam Gilchrist
Favourite Captain I have seen (Tests): Micheal Vaughan
Favourite Captain I have seen (ODIs): MS Dhoni
Captain I wish I had seen: Imran Khan and Arjuna Ranatunga
Favourite Art of Bowling: Classic Leg-Spin
The Greatest Test Match I have seen: Kolkata, 2001 India versus Australia
The Greatest ODI  I have seen: The 434 chase South Africa versus Australia at Wanderers
Indian cricketers I wish I had seen play: BS Chandrasekhar , GR Vishwanath, Kapil Dev
Foreign cricketers I wish I had seen: Gary Sobers, Malcom Marshall, Don Bradman
Cricket Matches I wish had seen: Tied Tests (both Chennai and Brisbane),  and  1981 Headlingly Test (Botham's Test Match)
The Greatest Test Match innings I have ever seen: Laxman, 281
The Greatest ODI innings I have ever seen: Gibbs, 175
The Test innings I wish I had seen: GR Vishwanath 97* versus West Indies in Chennai
The ODI innings I wish I had seen: 189*, Sir Viv Richards
Favourite Cricket Writer: Ed Smith
Favourite Cricket Book: Out of my comfort zone, Steve Waugh
Favourite Moment on a Cricket Field (Indian): Harbhajan getting Glenn McGrath LBW and India winning the Kolkata Test, 2001
Favourite Moment on a Cricket Field (non-Indian): The end of the 2nd Test, Ashes 2005- Flintoff putting his hand over Lee after England's two run victory 
Favourite Commentator: Harsha Bhogle
If I could change a result in Cricketing History: 1999 World Cup semi-final; I wish South Africa had won
One thing I wish had not happened in Cricketing History: In fact, there are two: one, Mohd. Amir spot fixing ; two, South Africa being ostracized from Cricket
My Cricketing Wish: West Indies regaining cricketing supremacy; Bangladesh becoming a competitive cricketing nation
Favourite Test Series:  Australia's tour of India 2001 and the 2005 Ashes
The current young Indian player who I believe would become a great: Cheteshwar Pujara

View on DRS: Power of using it should rest with third-umpires; Should be used to remove absolute bloomers
Day-Night Tests: Brilliant Idea! Am surprised that despite so much technology we have not been able to come up with the ball with lasts 90 overs.

Views on IPL: Good for the game! (Despite being a Test Devotee)
Views on Switch Hit: Should be allowed; but even the bowlers should be allowed to change arms if they are ambidextrous
Views on no-runners in Cricket: Sad! I would rather have the authority to assign a runner or not with the umpire
Views on Spirit of the Game: Very important; I am against Mankanding (unless warned) ; In fact, I am also against run-outs (non-striker) of a straight-drive when bowler gets a finger tip



Please post your views on these (at least some of these) as comments. Would love to know

The Dhawan Blitz

Shikhar Dhawan made probably one of the most extraordinary debuts I have seen till now. A century in 85 balls and then to continue it to be unbeaten on 185 of 168 deliveries is an astonishing feat. This is an astonishing innings even the context of this game. After Australia scored 408 in a 4-day game, cricketing logic implied that if any team could win this game, it had to the Aussies. Dhawan's extraordinary innings has changed that. 

Yes, it was a flat track. The bowling was quite average. But, despite all that let us bear in mind that Shikhar Dhawan was making his debut. To play with so much courage in the very first test match is incredible. He charged down the track to Peter Siddle when he was on 98. Then took a very sharp single to bring up his 100. That really showed the mindset Dhawan was in.

The great feature about Dhawan's knock was the way drove through the offside. And it almost never seemed that he was in a real hurry. It just happened to him. It was like in his mind, he was not playing a test match but just having net-session. It was that breathtaking. It was just that kind of day, where he could do nothing wrong. When he tried the reverse-sweep - it worked, when he tried the lofted stroke- it worked, when he advanced down the track to the quick bowlers- it worked. Surely, Dhawan was in that "zone" which batsman keep talking about. The "zone" where the batsman is almost thoughtless. He just reacts to the bowling and deep down he knows that whatever happens he cannot be dismissed. 

This was the kind of onslaught which Micheal Clarke would have least expected. You would expect Sehwag to inflict this kind of pain - You would expect Dilshan to play a blinder like this - But not a bloke playing his first ever test match. Clarke completely ran out of ideas. His spinners went for aplenty. So, did the quicker men. He tried Steve Smith - did not work. Dhawan dispatched the full-tosses with disdain. To the long hops sliding down the leg-side, he played strokes which I find hard to describe in words. Probably, reverse-on-drive is the best description someone suggested in commentary or on twitter. Nothing could stop the boundary flow from Dhawan's bat. 

He reached one landmark after the other. Fast ever century on debut and then the highest individual score by an Indian on debut and he would have his eyes set on the fastest double century on debut when he comes out to bat tomorrow. 

He played like a rock-star today. Not getting affected by the enormity of occasion - just getting on with the business. At tea, the rock-star walked back curling his mustache - a style which I am sure would be copied by many youngsters if tastes more success at this level.

Now, the questions would be raised. Can he do the same in South Africa? Can he play against the likes of Morkel, Steyn, and Philander? Have we found the replacement for Sehwag? Is he the new left-handed Sehwag? I would say, let us forget about all those questions and enjoy this moment. It was simply an astonishing innings. It was astonishing for an experienced cricketer. For a player on debut, it was simply unbelievable. 

I am curious to see...

The India-Australia test series so far has been on the expected lines. The Australians have succumbed to the spin. Micheal Clarke seems to be the only batsman, who is able to negotiate the Indian spinners. The shot selection by the rest of the Australian batting lineup has been bizarre.

In the meanwhile, a few Indian players have really impressed. Albeit against a very weak Australian side, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja's performances have been really impressive. So, now I am curious to see how the home performances carry forward when India travel abroad. I would keenly watching these players.

For me Cheteshwar Pujara has been the most impressive player in the Indian lineup. When Rahul Dravid retired, I had written that he was the last in the lineage of traditional test batsman. I would be so happy if Pujara proves me wrong. He does show signs of being a 'Giant' in the game. Before throwing up such huge words, it is important for us to remember that he has played only 11 test matches so far. He is still untested in foreign conditions. But let me confess, I have a quite confidence that Pujara will succeed. Firstly, I was looking at one his dismissals in his first tour of South Africa. Dale Steyn bowled a near unplayable delivery to him. The ball angled into his pads and then going away, hitting him plumb on the pads. Any young Indian batsman would have tried to flick such a delivery probably have his stumps shattered. But, Pujara played that ball with a straight bat. It is a different story that he still got beaten and was out. But, the approach was correct and that is what was impressive. Secondly, Pujara from his interviews comes across as a player who judges himself on his overseas performances. His discipline while at the crease is unbelievable. The price he keeps on his wicket is very high. So he has all the ingredients to be a very successful test cricketer. I would be highly surprised, if Pujara is not a big hit in the South African tour.

Now Ravichandran Ashwin -  I am not as positive about Ashwin as I am about Pujara. Ashwin had a torrid tour of Australia. We still have not seen him how he would perform when the ball is not turning as sharply as it has been the home games he has played. To his credit though, he has some fantastic numbers. The big question his can he translate the home success into success in the overseas. Ashwin has shown tremendous improvement after a very disappointing home series versus England. Is it because he has really remodeled his bowling or is it just because the Australians are really poor players of spin? If I cross my heart and answer that question - the truth is 'I don't know'. That is why I am very curious to see if he would perform well in South Africa.

Finally Ravindra Jadeja - Let me make another confession. I have never been a Jadeja fan. But in this series he has really impressed me. There are couple of things in him which are very likable. First, he gets through his overs very quickly. Second, he bowls an impeccable line and length. He can just dry up one end. It may surprise everyone, but there is every chance that Jadeja would be successful in overseas conditions because of his amazing accuracy. I am not expecting him to star in South Africa, but I won't be surprised if he does.

I am just very curious to see these three players play in the South African tour.  

One of the greatest Test Match innings

I know I am a bit late writing this post. Nevertheless, I find it very important to write about the innings MS Dhoni played at Chennai. MS Dhoni's 224 was one of the best Test Match hundreds I have ever seen, at least by an Indian. It is fair to say that the innings MS Dhoni played at Chennai really deserved the word 'Great'. 

Tactically the innings was superb. Dhoni had come into bat at a fairly difficult situation. India had just lost the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar. Lyon had just started getting enough purchase from the surface. Not many runs were scored in the first one hour of play and it almost looked that the game was slowly drifting in Australia's favour. And the Dhoni entered. He entered and he counter-attacked Lyon - India's biggest threat on the turning Chennai wicket. His calculated risks pushed the fielders back. And then, he could milk Lyon and take him out of the attack. Lyon was the biggest threat to the Indian batting and Dhoni with his counter-attacking cricket took him out of the attack.

But what stood out for me, in the Dhoni double hundred was his running between the wickets in the fag end of the day. Dhoni was ready to convert the ones into twos even in the last few overs of the day. There is little doubt that MS Dhoni is the fittest member of the Indian team. Just to put things to perspective, it is important to remind ourselves that MS Dhoni is full time wicket-keeper, captain and an important batsman in all the three formats for India and he does it for his franchise as well. Even with all this workload he never misses a game due to an injury. Now, that is quite commendable.

Would this innings mark a beginning of more consistency from Dhoni the batsman in Test Match cricket? This is a question which only time would answer. He is a very useful Test batsman, but not quite the force which he is in ODI cricket. In ODIs, he has surely done enough to achieve the "Great" status. I would like to believe that this knock would begin the making of the "Great" status in test match cricket.

I am writing this post after the Indian win in Hyderabad, with India 2-0 up in the series. One would realise the impact of Dhoni's innings carried forward to next Test match as well. It actually resulted in Australia leaving out Lyon for the second test match. I believe Lyon was the biggest threat for India.

Although late to write the post; it was truly an incredible innings by MS Dhoni.  

India versus Australia: A Preview

Over the past decade and a half a India-Australia has created a rush in the cricketing community. There has always been a lot of spice associated with this series. We have seen some compelling cricket in the Border-Gavaskar trophies over the past 10-15 years. I think it all began with the India's home series in 2001. Steve Waugh had called India the final frontier. The series was decided in the final session of the final day of the final test. That series set up the tone for the rest of the India-Australia series' to follow.

This series is no different. It brings with itself a lot of excitement. The excitement though is for different reasons. This is probably the weakest Australian team touring India. And, it is also the weakest Indian team hosting Australia. Both the teams are going through a transition phase. A lot of big names have retired from both the teams. Both teams are trying find their feet back in international cricket. 

The Spin

Whenever a touring team comes to India, one topic that is always discussed is how to play the Indian spinners. Of all the Indian teams till now, this Indian team probably has the least threatening spin attack. In fact, the English spinners out-bowled the Indian spinners!! That was quite unheard off. The Australians though do not have spinners of the quality of Swann or Monty.  So, unlike England, Australia will have to rely on pace and reverse swing to get their wickets. The question for India, is whether the play 3 spinners or two? Would Jadeja play the role of a containing spinner who can bat a bit? If they play two spinners who would be left out? This is a very interesting situation. Never before did India have to think so much about their spinners. 

The Indian Batting and SRT

One of the major strength for India over the years has been their batting. In home conditions, India have always been able to post huge totals that would allow the spinners to have men around the bat and create the pressure. Over the last one year, that has changed. The middle order is not the same any more. The big question is people like Dhawan, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane step up those big totals. I would be keenly watching all these young Indian batsman. It would also be interesting to see how Sehwag plays. This series could well be his last chance. Gambhir after being left out has scored a hundred in the 'A -Game'. That would put pressure on the selectors. 

If we are talking about the Indian batting, it is incomplete without a discussion about Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar has prepared quite extensively for this series. He played the domestic season. He looked quite brilliant in that Irani Trophy game. The big retirement question would always be looming over him. So, can he battle all that produce some master pieces? 

The Captains

I would be really keen to see how the two teams are led. MS has till now not been able to make  a huge impact with his captaincy in Tests. He has always given me the impression, of going into the defensive too early. I would be interested in seeing if he has made adjustments to the way he leads the team. To be fair to MS, he really doesn't have the best bowling attack in the world. That does not make his life easier.

Micheal Clarke has impressed me with his short stint as a captain. Captaining in the sub-continent though, would be a completely different ball game. The huge noise, hot days, long partnerships - Can Clarke hold his nerve through all this. He has been in some terrific batting form. He would also be the most priced wicket in the Australian line up. His performance with the bat would be quite crucial.  

Favourites?

I would pick India as favourites, not by much though. 2-1 victory line to India is what I am predicting. Let's see what happens. It would a very very interesting series.

Sachin's Swang Song

Warning: This is a very emotional post. It comes from a die-hard Sachin Fan.

Dear Sachin,

I got up this morning and like every morning the first thing I did was to open my laptop and go to Cricinfo. Today I was taken aback as I saw the headlines as 'Sachin Tendulkar retires from ODI cricket'. It took me a few seconds to believe what has actually happened.

Sachin, Thanks a lot for all that you have provided for us. Now that you have decided not to play the limited over format, it makes me sad.  It is hard to imagine how a full-strength Indian team would look, without the name 'Sachin Tendulkar' on it. And, so I am never going to see you play that exquisite straight-drive in coloured clothing. Never again would I see you open the batting for India. Never again would I be so nervous when India starts batting in an ODI. Never again, would I sit on the same chair and ask my mates not to move while the game is going on.

I knew it was coming but did not expect it this way. There were no warnings -- no farewell match - nothing. You just quietly moved away. I knew it had to happen some day - but when it has actually happened, it is not sinking in. I was so eagerly waiting for the Pakistan series to watch you bat in ODIs. But as the adage goes - All good things have to come to an end. I truly consider myself blessed to have been born in the same era as you have played your cricket.

Sachin, I thank you not for the runs you scored or the boundaries you hit. I thank you because even the gloomy days of Indian cricket you were the reason we smiled. You brought a smile to my face even when India lost; especially those days in the 90s. I still remember that disastrous tour of Australia we had in 99. I used to get early in the morning to watch the match, despite knowing that India had no chance in the game. But, I knew that I would not be disappointed as you were batting.

So, what were my favourite knocks of yours? I love the 175 you scored at Hyderabad. We lost that game by a whisker. But you played one of the most outstanding knocks I had ever seen. Then the 98 you scored against Pakistan - 2003 WC. I love that knock because I feel you enjoyed it the most. Then the desert-storm at Sharjah. I was too young to understand the game when you played it, but I have seen it over and over again on YouTube. Of course the 200* against South Africa. We had a huge celebration in our hostel rooms when you became the first person to break the 200 - barrier.

But Sachin, numbers will tell their story themselves. I do not need to say anything. 49 hundreds, 18,426 runs at an astounding average and strike-rate may never be matched again. The entire India is grateful to you, not because you were the greatest batsman of your era but for the amount of joy that you gave. There was a time when India slept well when you played well. If you had a bad day, I am certain, the average happiness in India was low.  We treated your success as our personal success.

Sachin, wish you fantastic luck with the rest of you cricket career. I am sure, you have few more master-pieces left which you would unveil soon.

Wishing you great success ahead,
A TRUE FAN

India and Test Cricket?

I have been a supporter of the T20 revolution. I have always welcomed the IPL with open arms. I am not the one who says, "T20 is not cricket". I do believe playing Twenty 20 does require a completely different set of skills which are worth appreciating.

Recent developments in Indian cricket worry me. Are we disrespecting the purest form of the game? It is not just the 8-0 away defeats that really bother me. I am also not particularly concerned about the fact that two English spinners were able to run through an Indian batting line up. I do understand that in sport, such things do happen. Did we not bowl out South Africa for 80 odd on a green top a few years back. Then, did we not win against South Africa in Durban on another green top? And the WACA win? Playing on extreme conditions have backfired for so many other teams (while playing against us). So, the Mumbai loss is not a concern for me. Even as we stand at the brink of losing another test at Kolkata, it is not the result that really concerns me.

What bothers me is no one in our cricket administration seems to be really concerned about the away loses. There seems to be no preparation for our next away tournament in South Africa. What is the batting line up we would have? Would a Sehwag - Gambhir opening combination still work? Despite the failure in 8 matches, would we persist with the same combination? Who will bat at number 6. And at number 4? Is Sachin going to South Africa? If he is not going to South Africa, isn't it better that a youngster gets chance to bat in home conditions before heads to South Africa? What about our bowling attack? Would Zaheer go there? If he is not going, would it not be better to give a young pacer a go, before an important overseas tour? There are so many such questions to which our administrators seem to have no answers.

It almost seems to me that India is not giving enough respect to Test cricket ; in fact we have stared disrespecting the purest form of the game, which is really sad. I am not calling for sacking Dhoni, but no question marks on a captain's place even after losing 8 away games is unheard off in any cricketing administration. India's nonchalance towards this entire issue shows that we are really not concerned about doing well in Tests. 

Let me get one thing quite straight, I rarely whine about the Indian team losing. I honestly do not mind it. I understand that in sport sometimes things just do not work. But, I get irritated when the team is not sad about doing so poorly. I get a feeling that the only people bothered about India doing well in Test match cricket are fans like me, the commentators and columnists.  

I am not a fan who wants India to win all the time. I know it is not possible. And by that I am actually asking for too much. All I want is an honest effort every time they take the field. I want to see in the intensity. The rush of the blood because they are playing for India. It is that intensity that has driven me to watch the game. But now, that seems to have gone. I have become quite nonchalant with the results; because I get the feeling I am the only one who cares.

I know there is a lot of talent in India. We can still surprise everyone and win in South Africa. But for that something has to change - The Attitude. If that requires to drop MS, so be it.

Well as an Indian fan my line up for the first Australia Test is:

Unmukt Chand, Abhinav Mukund, Cheteshwar Pujara (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Manoj Tiwary, Wridhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Ravi Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha.  Ravindra Jadeja (12th Man)

The World Rejoices when they win

I was told there were crackers being burnt on the streets of Bangalore as the final of the World T20 concluded. The Bangaloreans forgot their differences with it's neighboring state over the Cauvery issue and plunged into joy as the World T20 concluded. No, they were not celebrating an Indian win - but a win of a cluster of American nations miles apart - the West Indies. I am certain the West Indies win must have brought joy not just to Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana or Antigua but every part of the cricketing world - and probably even to Sri Lanka. 

They are just that kind of a team. It is that brand of cricket they play, that makes everyone fall in love with them. It is the brand of cricket for which I cannot use an adjective; for there is none. It is just the Caribbean way of playing the game. They play it hard and yet they are always aware of the fact that it is just a game. They play the game with a smile, irrespective of the match situation. They are a kind of team, you do not want to see on the losing side. It is just inexplicable, how they charm everyone irrespective of their nationality. Probably it is the way the celebrate - they make us feel part of the triumph. Or probably it is the smile with which they play that casts a spell on us. Or probably it is that boisterous laugh they manage even in between a tense contest. Or it is just their approach to the game which gravitates us towards them. They remind us of the way we played cricket (or any sport) when we were kids; desperately wanting to win but in the complete consciousness of it being 'just a game'. Compete fiercely while playing but forget about the game and share a joke with the opponents moments after the game concluded.

During the entire tumultuous period of West Indian cricket, the one that remained constant was the way they played cricket - the attitude towards the game. And thus they have more well-wishers across the globe than any other country. When Australia was the most dominant side, everyone outside Australia would have celebrated an Australian loss. I am sure, that was not the case when the Windies dominated. The world has loved to see the West Indies play cricket. Whether it was Sobers, Richards, Holding, Marshall or it was Lara, Walsh, Ambrose or the modern day players like Gayle, Pollard, Narine, Samuels there is one thing that is always common - the amount joy that pervades when they play cricket.

These bunch of West Indians might not have all the cricket records to their name. These bunch might not be ranked among the greatest cricketers of all time. They are no Richards or Holding or Roberts. But these bunch of West Indians at Colombo have touched the hearts of the entire cricket watching public. They have brought a smile on the faces of all those who have followed this edition of World T20. I know for sure that this West Indies team has been the reason many watched this WT20 and there can no bigger compliment than that. No record would give you the joy than the fact that you have become the reason for people to watch the game.

I had written previously that a victory in World T20 could begin the much-awaited revival of West Indian cricket. Now, that has happened. I really hope this does embark a new era in West Indies cricket. Their cricket has definitely improved in the past couple of years. I really wish and hope that this is the beginning of the things to come for their is no other team (barring my home nation - India) whose success tastes sweeter to me.

MS Dhoni: Has he already created a place for himself in history?

On April 5th 2005, at Vishakhapatnam, a young lad with long hair from Jharkhand, a state which has almost no cricketing history announced himself in the international scene. From then on Dhoni's career took off. Just 2 years after that knock MS Dhoni captained India to a T20 World Cup Triumph in South Africa. Dhoni's rise in cricket has been quite dramatic. It has just been around 5 years since Dhoni captained an Indian team. In this span he has ticked almost all the boxes - won the T20 World Cup- won the 50 over World Cup - lead his side to world no. 1 in Test Cricket - became the first Indian captain not to loose a test series in South Africa- Has never lost a home test series - Has won a couple of IPL silverware - Has won a Champions league silverware - Has been a part of the ICC ODI team 6 times (4 times a captain) - Has been a part of the ICC Test team twice (on both occasions as a captain) - Has won the ODI player of the year twice. 

These are great achievements for any player. But when you take into consideration that it has not even been 7 years since MS Dhoni has made is Test debut, these achievements become simply astonishing. Put his wicket-keeping also into perspective and then those achievements look quite mind boggling. Anyone who has played the game or even seen it enough would know that wicket-keeping is one of the most tiring jobs in cricket. To captain side while keeping for the length of the time he has done and with the success which he has is quite remarkable. And he does it without a break - he does wicket keeping even for his franchise team, CSK. Which means that throughout the year, he plays all the three formats as a wicket-keeper batsman who captains his side (whether it is India or CSK). This is quite incredible. A great virtue of MS which goes unnoticed so many times is his extraordinary fitness. Playing almost 8 years of international cricket (5 of them as a captain), he has not once faced any fitness issues. On the contrary he has remained arguably the fastest runner between the wickets in the country (if not in the world).

One criticism that Dhoni has always faced is his batting in overseas conditions. People have often rightly pointed out that he is not quite the batsman he is at home when he plays overseas. Although that statement is perfectly true, I have not seen any wicket-keeper batsman who has batted with the same success he does at home in the overseas conditions.

Wicket-Kepeer	Batting average at Home	Batting average overseas
MS Dhoni	45.42	31.72 *
Adam Gilchrist	47.42	38.72 **
Mark Boucher	30.30	28.54 **
Alec Stewart	39.30	28.45 ***
Matt Prior	42.61	39.54 ***

* By away I mean (Australia, Englans, SA and NZ)
** By away I mean (the sub-continent and England)
*** By away I mean (the sub-continent and Australia) 

Only one wicket-keeper batsman stands out as absolutely outstanding in both alien and home conditions. He is Zimbabwe's Andy Flower. Barring Flower it is clear that the batting averages of other wicket-keepers do dip considerably when they play in alien conditions. Dhoni's batting average is quite respectable in front the legends of wicket-keeping of the past decade or a decade and a half. It is also important to make note that none of these keepers led their side for the period of time Dhoni has.

So, has MS Dhoni made a place for himself in the annuls of cricketing history? I would say 'YES'. Dhoni is easily one the greatest ODI wicket-keeper batsman the game as ever seen, along side Adam Gilchrist. Dhoni as a batsman is more versatile, he can be the accumulator as well the demolish-er. In test cricket he is definitely one of the greatest India has ever seen. In the world stage, when people talk about the really good wicket-keepers who have played MS's name should definitely pop up.

As a captain in Test Cricket, many times he might have erred with his field placements. He has been criticized for going into the defensive a bit too early. But on the positive side, MS never gives you the impression that he runs out of ideas. He maintains that same calm yogic demeanor irrespective of the match situation. He never lets his shoulders drop and even in the most difficult of circumstances, his body language makes you believe that there is another trick up his sleeve - a very important trait for a captain. Even if Dhoni is clueless about what has to be done, he never lets anyone know what he feels.

Dhoni is just 31. I believe he has quite a bit of cricket left in him. I am pretty certain when his career finishes MS would be a much better Test batsman. With the amount of work load Dhoni carries, he stretching beyond the 2015 WC looks difficult. But when goes, he would one the greatest ODI cricketers of all time and a very fine test cricketer.

The Cricketing Poet: VVS Laxman

As VVS Laxman retires, it brings an end to an extraordinary career. As one does on such occasions, I would like to look back upon the career of this wonderful batting genius. Laxman played cricket for India in a very special era. It was an era where India had arguably its best ever middle order. VVS Laxman was one of the major pillars of the Indian batting in that era. Out of the four giants of Indian batting, I had found VVS was the most attractive. His batting was almost like the manifestation of the divine. When Laxman batted, it was not just about the number of runs he scored but also the manner in which those runs came. When he batted, the context of the game, the opposition and everything else lost meaning. There was an artist's touch to his batting. When Laxman played, he did not merely hit a boundary. He wrapped it with his magic.

Blessed with divine timing and freakish wrists, VVS conjured some breathtaking shots. The brand of cricket that Laxman played can never be taught to anyone. It is an ability one has to be just blessed with. He could gracefully cover drive a half-volley to the boundary for a four. He would flick the same delivery to the mid-wicket boundary just as gracefully he had cover driven the ball. In fact he could play at least four different strokes to the same delivery and each of those strokes would be leave you gasping, with mouth wide open. 

Laxman was not all about this mystical player who could play these seemingly impossible strokes. I had always thought there are two kinds of batsman. The first charmed you with their grace. They kept you riveted to their batting - pulled of shots from impossible angles, almost as if they were defying gravity. The second were the 'get the job done' kind of players. These were the guys you needed in tough situations. They fought hard with courage, may not be looking elegant but got the runs. Laxman combined these two diverse batting methodologies. He was gritty and yet so elegant.

Laxman had built the reputation of being India's crisis man. When the chips were down, when it looked gloomy and bleak, VVS Laxman found his comfort zone. When the rest of the team faltered, Laxman rose to the occasion. Laxman has scripted many improbable wins, pulling victory from the jaws of defeat. It began in Kolkata against the mighty Australians. The 281 he scored against Australia in that historic test match of 2001, is regarded as the greatest innings ever played by any Indian in test match cricket. From that day Laxman has given hope even in the darkest hour. 

Another great quality of Laxman was his ability to play with the tail. He brings out the best of what the tail-enders have got. Whether it was Ishant Sharma in Mohali or Zaheer Khan in Durban, Laxman rallied with them and produced match winning partnerships.

In the 134 matches VVS Laxman played, he scored 8781 at an average of 45.97 scoring 17 hundreds. These outstanding statistics for any cricketer. But when you put the fact that for the better part of his career he batted at number 6, these statistics look even better. I am certain that if he would have batted at number 3 or 4, he would have scored at least 10-15 centuries more and averaged may be 5 - 8 runs higher. But Indian cricket was best served with him batting at number 6. This is what Laxman has always stood for - putting the team's needs above his. Laxman's career can never be judged by the numbers. His contribution is way beyond those 17 hundreds he scored. 

Laxman has never been the darling of the masses. He has rarely featured in advertisements. That is purely because Laxman was a cricketer of the elite. Like Shakespeare or Milton, whose work can only be appreciated only by the connoisseurs of English language, Laxman's batting was an art that could be understood and appreciated only by the devoted fans of cricket. 

As Laxman calls it a day, poetry stops in Indian cricket. In my opinion he would the cricketer who would be missed the most. Rather than getting bogged down, he faced adversity face to face and invariably thrived in such situations. I have been privileged to be born in an era where I could follow the career of the greatest poet of Indian Cricket.   

Wrap up of the Olympics!

The Olympics has concluded and indeed on a very historic note as far Indian sport is concerned. On the 12th August 2012, Sushil Kumar became the first ever Indian athlete (individual athlete) to win back to back Olympic medals. Sushil Kumar bettered his performance from Beijing and won the silver medal. 

Now that the games are over it is a good time to sit and reflect back on how India fared in the games. Although the Gold remained elusive till the end, this was India's best ever medal haul. In fact India doubled it's medal count from Beijing. From Atlanta and Sydney where we had just won one Bronze or the years before that when we had a long dry spell, to finish with 6 medals is an astounding achievement and I am thrilled with this performance. At this point, I would like to address a really flawed argument - 'How can a country of 1.2 billion produce only 6 medals?'  We need to realize the fact that we not a sporting power house. 76% of the medals lie in Track/Field events and aquatics, where India does not have any history. I would even go on to say that perhaps we are not naturally built, to produce great Track/Field events. The weather conditions that prevail, the diet of the Indians and probably the genetic factors does not make Indians naturally very athletic which is important for these events. To corroborate that, even in our most celebrated sport- cricket, we have produced really few genuine fast bowlers- Fast Bowling being an art which requires genuine athleticism. In India, traditionally the brain takes precedence over the brawn and probably there is very little tradition of taking part in such events. Keeping all this in mind, having won 6 medals is indeed an achievement to be proud of.

Vijay Kumar, the Subedar from Indian Army and Gagan Narang by winning medals have made shooting India's most successful individual sport. In the past 3 years India has won 4 medals in shooting.

Fighting all odds, from a village in the eastern most state of the country Manipur, came the mother of two 5 year olds - Mary Kom. Mary Kom's story is both inspiring and historic. She stood on the podium when the event was introduced for the first time in Olympics. Also, when we keep in mind that she was fighting in a higher weight category than her usual fly-weight category, which was not there in Olympics, the success tastes sweeter.

Saina Nehwal's story has been that of sacrifice and single-minded devotion towards the game. The hours spent in the training translated into a Bronze Medal. This achievement is also a story of another great Indian player - Pullela Gopichand who is living is dream of winning medals through his student. Gopichand's contribution to Indian Badminton as a coach has been fantastic.

Yogeshwar Dutt brought a different success story. He is a seasoned wrestler and was competing in his 3rd Olympics. He was tantalizingly close to a medal in Beijing and almost fell short again in London when he lost his pre-quarter final bout. Fortunately, he entered the repacharge round. In a span of 40 minutes Dutt fought his heart out and won 3 bouts. In the Bronze Medal match he came from behind to win his bout. Dutt's story has been that of an ever lasting hunger and the desire for the Olympic Medal. It is to Dutt's credit that despite the disappointments he was able to his passion and desire alive.

By bettering his Beijing performance Sushil Kumar has etched his name in the pages of India's sporting history. Sushil Kumar became the only Indian to have multiple medals in an individual event. Despite illness Sushil fought his way to a Silver medal.


The Non-Medal winning Heroes

It has not just been the medals that makes me feel happy. There were so many other heartening performance. Joydeep Kamarkar's effort in Men's 50m Rifle Prone was one such performance. There were so many moments in the game, when Joydeep looked good to win a medal and in the end it was just a matter of couple of points between him and the Bronze medal winner.

Krishna Poonia (Women's Discus Throw) and Vikas Gowda (Men's Discus Throw) were other positives. As I have already mentioned India has never been a country which has excelled in track/field events. So, the very fact that they qualified for the finals is something to take pride in and celebrate. Krishna Poonia became only the 6th Indian to qualify in the finals of a track/field event. The 7th Indian to qualify also happening in the same Olympics in the form of Vikas Gowda is a very positive sign. Milkha Singh, Gurbachan Singh Radhwana, PT Usha, Sriram Singh and Anju Bobby George are other Indians to have qualified for the finals.

Irfan Thodi finished an impressive 10th in the 20KM Walk race. Yet again, such a performance is really refreshing.

Cynics may say that by celebrating the mere qualification of our athletes into the finals or celebrating an athlete finishing in the top 10, we are setting our bar too low. I do not share that view. We need to remind ourselves that in athletics, India has almost no history of great achievements. Putting that into perspective, we would realize that 3 of our sportsmen doing well in athletics is indeed something to take pride in. I hope this rather than being an abrupt peak be the beginning of the gradual improvement in India's performance at athletics.

The 20 year old boxer from Manipur, Devendro Singh is one of the biggest non-medal winning heroes for India. In fact the AIBA chairman believed that the verdict of his quarter-final bout should have gone in his favor, which would have meant that he was at least ensured of a bronze medal. But, not getting into the problems we had with our boxing verdicts, Devendro Singh Laishram is a great talent to be watched closely. The amount energy with which he fought his bouts, was indeed great to watch. His pre-quarterfinal bout was against Mongolia's Purevdorjin Sedamba, who was the Silver Medalist in the 2008 Games. Contrary to all expectations Devendro trounced the Mongolian 16-11. I am certain, if groomed properly, Devendro Singh would be a huge medal hope in Rio.

18 year old wrestler, Amit Kumar's was another performance, which has kindled hope for the future. Though beaten in the quarterfinals, and not being able to win his repacharge rounds (one must keep in mind that he had lost the toss both the times in the repacharge), he has shown, with proper coaching he is a wrestler to look forward to.

The performance of Parupali Kashyap, in the Men's Badminton and Jwala Guttha and Ashwini Popanna (in Women's doubles) were other such highlights. In this Olympics along with the medal winners, there were many such inspired performances which showed, India does have a very decent pool of sportsmen. 

The Downers

There have been a few disappointing moments - Deepika Kumari in Archery and Ronjan Sodhi in Double Trap Shooting were big downers. Perhaps, we could have had a few more medals in boxing if the rub of the green would have favored India. In Tennis I feel India definitely had the potential. The events that happened prior to the games were really disappointing. I believe those events extinguished any chances of winning. It is a pity, that two India's greatest doubles Tennis players - Leander Paes and Mashesh Bhuapati will have finish their careers without a single Olympics doubles medal. 

The biggest disappointment was Indian hockey. India failed to qualify for the Beijing Games and when it qualified for the London games they finished last (12th) loosing all the games. Expecting India to win a medal was too far-fetched. I had believed that a top 6 finish would be equivalent to a medal winning performance. But, coming 12th is indeed disheartening. The answer to the question whether we can get back the lost legacy in hockey seems more and more in the negative which is really sad. 

This Olympics has shown that Shooting, Boxing and Wrestling could be India's forte with a lot of talent emerging from these areas. Now, we look forward to 2016. Let's hope that in Rio we touch the double digits as far as the medals are concerned! 

The Rise of West Indies?

When the New Zealand and West Indies are playing test cricket, it is hard for me to decide whom to support. One one hand I want the resurgence of West Indies cricket on the other hand I fear  the demise New Zealand cricket. West Indies and New Zealand both are very important members of out cricketing family. West Indies add a very unique flavor to the game. The style with which they play the game- the kind of cricketers they produce are the ones who compete fiercely on the field but at the same time do not the game too seriously. New Zealand on the other side have been this poor kid who has always tried to maximize what he has. They have never been a team of stars. Sir Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe are probably the only two starts that NZ have ever produced. Despite the paucity of stars, NZ have always been competitive at the world stage. It is the resilience of NZ that has always fascinated me. Thus, it is really hard to see any of these two teams lose. 

This series has kindled a hope for the long awaited resurgence in West Indian cricket. The arrival of Chris Gayle has had a very positive impact on the team. It was so important that Gayle used all his talent for the betterment of West Indies cricket rather than draining it away playing for the T20 leagues all over the world. Marlon Samules finally seems to realize the potential he is with the bat.  Powell and Bravo are a few other good batsman in the West Indian ranks. Shiv Chanderpaul has always been the crisis man who fights the solitary battle for the WI.  

Sunil Naraine and Kemar Roach add a great strength to the Windies' bowling attack. Roach in particular has been extremely impressive. One attribute which is so rare to find in modern fast bowlers which Kemar Roach has is that he rarely gets injured. He does display good fitness levels which are very important for a quick bowler. Darren Sammy may not be a great batsman or a very penetrative bowler but he does give the impression of being a very good man-manager which is very important for a team like West Indies which is going through a very turbulent phase.

I am not saying that this performance over  NZ will mark a revival in the WI cricket. To expect them to be a side of 80s and 90s is too far fetched. I understand that it has a long way to go. But, things do look much brighter now. With the arrival of Gayle, the batting looks much more solid. With bowlers like Naraine and Roach WI look like a side which can pick up 20 wickets. It does bring a ray of hope and probably their is indeed light at the end of the long tunnel of darkness which the WI cricket has traveled through. The performance of WI in this series, keeping aside the wins does send a glimmer of hope.

I suspect this World T20 could be the turning point in WI cricket if they do well. Sometimes all teams need is an inspiration. WI on paper do look a very potential side. With Gayle, Pollard, Bravo and Naraine they are side to reckon with. If they indeed become the World T20 champions it would go a long way not only to inspire it's cricketers do well in other formats but would also re-kindle the interest in the game in the Caribbean which does seem on a steep decline.

Thus it is important that the administration and player alike keep their vested interests away move forward for the betterment of cricket in the West Indies. They surely have the potential to be a force to reckon with again. The question is can the potential be tapped properly and used completely. The last thing cricket wants is young talented blokes in the Caribbean wiling their time away playing just beach cricket.

Bodyline Revisited!

I have been enjoying a long vacation. One thing I usually do in my free time is search YouTube for some cricket videos. Recently I stumbled upon one fantastic TV series called the Bodyline. It beautifully portrayed the three protagonists of the Bodyline incident - Douglas Jardine, Harold Larwood, and Sir Donald Bradman. I strongly recommend every cricket fan to watch this TV Series. 

In order to give a preamble to my post, let me narrate the Bodyline story briefly. By 1931 Don Bradman had already built the reputation of being the greatest batsman to have ever taken the field. If England had to get the Ashes back, they would have to find someway to stop this almost supernatural batting displayed by Don Bradman. After a bit of controversy, Douglas Jardine was appointed as the captain of the England team. Against the wishes of the selectors, Jardine demanded a strong fast bowling unit. Jardine had in fact thought of a plan to restrict the Bradman dominance. He asked his bowlers especially Larwood to bowl fast and at the body of the Australian batsman. He had set a predominantly leg-side field, with fielders there waiting for a catch in case the batsman fended one of the balls aimed at the body. In fact, with this kind of bowling, the batsmen were left with only two options, either to fend the ball to the fielders or to get hit on the body. This ploy worked and England had won the series 4-1. But for this ploy to work, Jardine required a fast bowler who could tirelessly bowl at extreme pace and accuracy. For this Jardine had found Harold Larwood. 

What Jardine did was perfectly within the laws of the game. To be fair to Jardine, he did not have enough options if he wanted to win the Ashes.  In the opposition was a batsman blessed with almost super-human abilities whose could single-handed performance could win the series for the Aussies. What does one do when one faces such a player - Use everything at one's disposal to win the game or surrender to the greatness of the player. Jardine was not the kind of player who ever surrendered. In fact, Jardine had gone on to infamously say -  "I have not travelled 6000 miles to make friends but to win the Ashes."

But, we all know that cricket is a unique game. It has more to it than, just the laws governing it. So much so that in English, the phrase - "It is not cricket" refers to something which is not correct. Almost the entire cricketing fraternity feels that Jardine by employing those tactics breached the code of conduct. The supporters of Jardine would say that it is the responsibility of the lawmakers to ensure that they have covered all grounds. On the other hand, many others believe that it is the responsibility of the sportsmen who are the custodians of the game to play it in the spirit of the game.

While I am here not here to either defend Jardine or to condemn Jardine, I must point out, amid the copious amount of criticism being shed out, one must not forget to appreciate Larwood - the Bowler. It takes a lot of skill to bowl with that accuracy and pace as Harold Larwood did.

At the same juncture, it is worth examining the other Bodyline-like events that have taken place in the modern era. The famous Bodyline series is succeeded by numerous incidents where a few players have taken advantage of a loophole in the laws of the and a few have refused to do so. As I have already mentioned I feel a debate on what is correct is not really fruitful.

The Australians were very upset with the Bodyline tactics. The then Australian captain Bill Woodful even went on to say that only one team was playing cricket. Jardine went on to become the most hated man in Australia. On the occasion of Jardine's death, Bradman refused to give him an obituary.  On February 1st, 1981 Half a century after the infamous Bodyline Series took place the infamous Underarm incident. This time it was an Aussie who was the perpetrator. Greg Chappell asked his brother Trevor to bowl a ball underarm (all along the ground), with New Zealand requiring 6 runs off the last ball to TIE the game - Not to win, but to tie the game. Like Jardine, even Greg Chappell did not do anything to break the law. Neither Jardine nor Chappell were guilty of 'trying to win by hook or crook'. They did not cheat in any way.  They simply used, (if I am permitted to say) the loopholes in laws to their advantage. While Jardine's was a planned tactic, Greg's was the one that came in the heat of the moment. Whether they were right or wrong is a debate that has no end.

One more such incident, which is not talked about too often happened when the Indians toured West Indies under Bishen Singh Bedi in 1976. Sunil Gavaskar describes what happened at Jamaica as barbarism. More than trying to get the Indians out, the West Indians were trying to get them injured. Gavaskar in his autobiography Sunny Days says that the crowd rejoiced every time an Indian got injured. As many as five Indians were absent hurt in the second innings of the test match. It is true that this bowling did differ from the Bodyline in one major regard - The field placements. Nevertheless, that strategy adopted by the West Indies has to be in question from the point of view of the spirit of the game. As a bowler, if one continuously aims at the body of the batsman rather than the stumps, then there is something wrong going on.

Now, there is a question of Mankading. It was started by the Indian left-arm bowler Vinoo Mankad the 1947-48 tour of Australia, when he ran out the Australian batsman Bill Brown while delivering the ball (While Bill was backing up ).  There have been quite a few instances since then where batsman have been mankanded by bowlers like Greg Chappell did it in an ODI and so did Kapil Dev. Few bowlers have refused to mankand.  For instance, quite famously in the 1987 WC Walsh refused to Mankad Salim Jaffer and that cost the WI a place in the semi-final. In 2003, The Bangladeshi bowler Mohammad Rafique refused to mankand Umar Gul. Pakistan won that test match by 1 wicket. If the mankading was done, Bangladesh could have had historic Test win.  Quite recently, there was an incident involving Ravichandran Ashwin and Lahiru Tirhumanne. After Ashwin mankanded Tirhumanne the stand-in captain Virender Sehwag withdrew the appeal.

In Christchurch, there was another incident that sparked a bit of controversy. It was test match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Kumar Sangakkara was batting with the last man Muttiah  Muralitharan. Sanga took a single to get to his hundred. There was never a second run in it and both the batsman knew it. Murali casually tapped his bat in the crease, assuming that ball was dead (which was not the case), and with no intention of the second went towards Kumar Sangakkara to congratulate him. Since the ball was not yet dead, Brendon McCullum ran out Murali.

A very similar thing had happened in 1974 at Trinidad. Tony Grieg and Alvin Kalicharan were the men involved in that incident. Kalicharan had assumed the close of play for the day and Tony quick to realise that the ball was still in play ran him out. This resulted in a huge outbreak in the crowd. The next day the English camp decided to reinstate Kalicharan.

A more recent incident of this kind happened when India toured England in 2011. In the second test match at tent-bridge, Ian Bell after playing the last ball before tea started walking towards the dressing room as the ball was still in play. The Indians quick to realise this ran him out. But after the interval, they  withdrew the appeal for the sake the spirit of the game.

In fact, after the bodyline incident, there have been so many incidents that have happened (I have just narrated a few of them that came to my mind) in the game which have asked the same question. The question that remains is if it is okay to be within boundaries of the laws of the game and not worry about the manner in which the game has to be played or should we remember that there is much more to our coveted game than the thick law book.

All these incidents, especially the Bodyline series has helped the game evolve. Since ours is a very complicated sport with a Law Book which almost resembles the advocate's law book with so many laws, it can only improve and become perfect when it learns from such incidents.


Please let me know your thoughts by posting your comments down here 

I let my imagination go wild

If you have read few of blog posts you would know about my love affair with cricket. Cricket has, in fact, hijacked the major part of my brain. Every form of cricket excites me. I love the history of the game and am keen to know how this great game came to being. I often wonder if we could pass this heritage to our future generations or will it be lost somewhere in the tide of time. Amid all this, there is one regret that I have. The regret is I do not know how to play cricket. The fact is that I am a terrible cricketer - Not even good enough to make it into the Departmental Cricket Team of my University. 

Despite my inadequacies, I have always wanted to play Test Cricket at Lords', the MCG, the Eden Gardens and every other hallowed venue. And I have done all that - in my imagination. Imagination is the greatest gift that a human has received. It is here where a man can fly and a blind can see. And it is here where all my cricketing ambitions are fulfilled. 

In this post, I would like to describe the events that have taken place, but since they took place in my imagination, no one else but me knows about them. 

My favourite story of imagination is winning a test match for my country, battling an injury and batting with the tail in the fourth innings. It is this imagination that gives me the greatest joy. We would be chasing some 270-280 runs in the final day of test match, probably at Chennai. The pitch has worn out. The ball is turning square when the spinners bowl and the odd ball from the quickies keeps low. It is a typical Chennai day. Grueling heat and humidity would be the conditions prevailing. It would be a full-house (although it is a rarity  in the modern day). Batting in Chennai heat would make me loose a lot of fluids and I would be suffering from some cramps. The top-order has succumbed  to the spin and low bounce and we would reeling at 150-160 for 7. I would be in resolute avatar, battling the turn and low bounce- sweating it out- taking the hard singles despite the pain - sometimes limping and yet maintaining a stern face. Sometimes I would come down the track and take the odd risk. None of these stories are complete without a tense finish. With 10 runs to victory, we would loose two quick wickets back to back. I would be on strike for the fresh over. Loads of things would going through my mind. 'Should I take a single or should I go for the big hit. I can't take a double because of my cramps.' Out of no where I pull off two boundaries. With two runs separating us from victory, the field is pushed in. I am restricted, and it goes to the last ball of the over. I take a chance and it pays off. We run to the dressing room in joy and my imagination closes with emotions running high! Probably a victory lap and the crowd chanting my name.

I have often imagined myself as a young batsman probably 18 or 19 making a debut in the toughest of conditions - probably Perth or Durban. My imaginations expand even to bowlers having a go at me. Probably Brett Lee after bowling a lethal bouncer would raise his eye-brows and say a few words to be. Perhaps, he would say 'This is test cricket...not a school game'. I would simply wear a shy smile but at the same time, my heart would be pounding. The senior batsman at the other end, would come down and calm me down. Like all the other imaginations, this too does have a fairy tale finish. After battling the fiery spell of fast bowling, which had included various words being said to me, I would end up scoring a well fought 100. The innings would include everything: fierce pulls, graceful drives and even some brisk singles. The crowd would stand up in applause. I would remove my helmet and look at the dressing room which would also be standing in appreciation. The opposition players would come to shake my hand and congratulate me.

Well, there is a lot more that has come and gone from my imagination. Sometimes I have captained the side to improbable victories. At other times I have bowled the opposition out of nowhere. Sometimes spun my team to victories and at other times it was my pace that has done the job. In the God's greatest gift to mankind - the mind, I have scripted so many stories which I wish had occurred.

How many of you other cricket fans have scripted such stories? :)