Cricket: Media management Dada style

Saurav Ganguly's attempts to stay in the media focus, with his team poised to do real well without him in Pakistan, is getting more curious every passing day. After IMO unwisely speaking out against the decision to declare the innings before Sachin got a double ton in the 1st Test, he now asserts that Yuvraj Singh will play in the 3rd Test.

Apart from characteristically trying to squeeze out as much credit as possible for past decisions this statement makes little tactical sense. The team is still battling it out in the Lahore Test where Pakistan currently is in a better position. And Saurav's assertion would only undermine Akash Chopra's (the likely scrapegoat in case of Yuvraj's inclusion) confidence in the 2nd innings. Saurav's defensive attitude in trying to protect his interests is surprising for he still is India's first choice captain on merit. This current round of media management will only confirm that like his detractors Saurav too is coming around to the view that he isn't among the 6 best Test batsmen in the country now.

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A Very Very Special finish

V.V.S Laxman finally sorted out his footwork by initially playing more on the front foot and the results were well - very very special (report). Showcasing his continued growth as a one day batsman in this vital game V.V.S scored his 6th ton - the first against Pakistan & the 4th in this calendar year. The telling statistic of his recent form being that the last 5 times he's crossed 50 he's gone on to make a big one. For a change Saurav&Sachin too played their part in a final and the tail - like in the rest of the series - played with great spirit. I thought that Saurav slowed down (unnecessarily) in a bid to score a fifty and cost us some 10-15 runs by getting out at the wrong time. Anyway it didn't matter in the end as Irfan Pathan finished off the game in the first 15 overs itself with 3 super strikes. The dew and maybe a bit of complacency made the later stages a bit more dramatic than it should have been. But it was probably the right way for such a close series to end.

Apart from being a historic first ever oneday series win in Pakistan as a bonus we overtake them to place fifth in the ICC One Day International Championship Table. So now the stage is set for the real battle in the Test matches to begin and actually quite similar incentives are in place for that format too. India have never won a Test series in Pakistan and if they create history by achieving that, they will overtake Pakistan to place 3rd in the ICC Test Championship Table. Most of our bowlers are coming off injury breaks and I'm somewhat disappointed the selectors didn't pick Munaf Patel. But with V.V.S rediscovering his touch the signs are all starting to look good. The Wall too needs to stay firm since succeeding against Pakistan is probably the last missing stat in his C.V as a great Test batsman. And Sachin has to settle the debate once & for all that he can win matches with the bat. Since most of his past baiters (Javed&Imran) will be watching, the setting is ideal for God to give his followers deliverance.

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Cricket: Of Phonies & Zealots

Vinod Mehta, editor of Outlook in the column Delhi Diary questions the rationale behind current hysteria over the Pakistan tour, terming cricket as a "colonial hangover at best and a rather silly game at worst." He goes on to take several more jibes, some specific to the game, others cultural and all apparently to be taken in a lighter vein. Cricket he states is frightfully expensive (?), elitist (?), inscrutable, protracted and frequently tedious. So he wonders if its popularity lies with a Hindu Bharat's dislike for contact sports or a Indian love for complexity and other similarly 'oh so clever' put downs aimed at the game. Well I found none of this particularly original and am way too caught up enjoying all the great action on the field to take any offense. But his closing comments did made me think quite a bit.

Just last week Zaheer Khan in an interview to the Pakistan Daily Dawn had said that Mr. Bal Thackeray was a secular leader and not anti-muslim as made out to be. Zaheer also said that he was quite safe in Bombay. The overwhelmed Shiv Sena supremo had gushed at a public function 'main aaj ye zahir kar sakta hoon ki mujhe Zaheer pe fakr hai' (I can announce openly today that I am proud of Zaheer). Later he stated:

One statement from a self-professed card-carrying pseudo-secularist, the other from a non-apologetic Hindutva icon¹. I would normally let similar statements pass but then they are talking about cricket after all. And I have, as a crazed up fan of the silly game, raved about Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan a fair bit for the past 3-4 months. For Irfan is indeed quite an uplifting sight in full flight - albeit not in the way Mr. Mehta envisages. Even no less than Ian Chappell(my favourite commentator!) can't stop gushing how the ball seems to swing each time it is in his hands regardless of the ground conditions. Zaheer on the other hand is now our spearhead and is well on the way to becoming a world class fast bowler. Despite Mr. Mehta's enlightening words I still can't place Irfan Pathan in terms of where he hailed from or what divine entity he believed in. Nor do I look upon Zaheer any differently after Mr. Thackeray's certificate of citizenship. For whatever this game might be to different people, such acts and words I clearly know are not quite cricket.
[Sidenote: In the N-E people could arguably be grouped as:
Pseudo-Secularists: loves the Congress/left parties who protect foreigners(both Hindu & Muslim) that steal our lands and serve as their vote-banks.
Hindutva supporters/ true secularists: loves the BJP/Shiv Sena/Sangh Parivar who seek to banish the Muslim & while protecting the Hindu foreigners.
Others(i.e. parochial, anti-national&secessionist): hate all national parties and want all foreigners out of their homeland.]

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Strike two for The Wall!

Rahul Dravid guides India to a famous series levelling win.
Now it's time for Sachin, Saurav, V.V.S & Sehwag to come to the party on Wednesday to make it a perfect script for an Indian fan. Will they be able to deliver? I can't wait to find out.

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Cricket: Looking beyond the numbers

Cricket experts(just like us fans) often tend to exaggerate the heroic past feats of batsman. Or continue to expect an encore when similar circumstances present itself again. While keeping tabs on the recent game I was just reminded of this through an ad in a F.M channel here that glorifies some career stats of Yuvraj Singh. These particular numbers have been made popular after being often cited by various experts in describing his value in a one-day team. The ad rather smartly proclaims that almost every time (12 out of 13) Yuvraj makes 50 or above India wins. But that alone is quite misleading and doesn't present a true picture. Yuvraj is a pretty good player but those stats are a direct reflection of his position in the batting order and the responsibility it brings. So when entrusted with the task of finishing the innings it is but obvious that when he makes a contribution India often wins.

A better reading of his abilities emerges when you start to recall the no. of times he has played the lead role in a big run chase. And apart from the brilliant Natwest trophy finals such instances have been too few & far apart. On the other hand most of his great knocks have come when he had the support of a senior player at the other end (mostly Rahul Dravid). This clearly indicates that he still needs to improve his temperament to be rightly considered a match winner. Much of the same reasoning holds for Kaif too. Also both of their averages which hover in the early 30's need to go up for us to close out games like the Rawalpindi onedayer. And that could only happen when they become stronger mentally. On a related note the one person who often takes refuge in numbers when put on the defensive is Saurav Gangully. His great past record as a top order one-day batsman now threatens to overrule current form and the teams best interests. In almost any other team his current dilemma with the short stuff would have seen him coming down the batting order. Especially when Rahul Dravid & even Yuvraj Singh have shown in recent times that they can play quite effectively at the top 4. This holding on to the past can be quite detrimental to the team as illustrated by his struggle to score at a quicker pace at Rawalpindi.

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Cricket: The Final Frontier

I was watching a bit of India's practice match with Pakistan A yesterday and couldn't help reminiscing how little things have changed in the last 15 years. A big part of the entertainment value of these matches still is the commentary by the PTV broadcasters. Apart from the eloquence that words in Urdu bring, their 'experts' so aptly capture the passion of the home team supporters. Every mistimed hit by an Indian batsman is an awful shot to be dissected for faulty technique while any lapses in fielding are to be followed by a critique of fielding standards. And when the batsman in question is Rahul Dravid facing his first ball or the fielder is Yuvraj Singh struggling with the vagaries of a bumpy ground you get a clear pointer of what to expect. It is almost a pity that the Ten Sports commentary team, which will largely have a neutral composition, is likely to cover rest of the matches.

Our first game went along expected lines initially with the batsmen(Rahul, Sehwag & Sachin) showing that they have carried their form from the tour down under. But our bowlers struggled miserably on a flat pitch conceding 200+ runs within the first 21 overs itself. It was a no-contest from there on as Pakistan A walloped the full strength Indian team reaching 336 in just 46 overs. Practice matches of course are quite inconsequential but Pakistan will take heart from the way Imran Nazir(65 of 32balls) & Taufeeq Umar(104 off 89 balls) smashed Zaheer & Ballaji around. Also Shoib & Sammi would have noted that Saurav fell yet again to a bouncer aimed at his body, this time by a not so quick Umar Gul. If they hold their nerve Pakistan might well have the edge in the one-dayers(at least on the flat surfaces) as they potentially have got more big-hitters.

Anyway it's the Test matches that I'm really looking forward to. To maintain our performance levels against lesser sides(than Australia) there has to be proper planning & equally hard work. I'm hoping also that our selectors are bold enough to give Munaf Patel a go. He has done reasonably well in the India A matches so far and with Pakistan likely to prepare pitches favouring their fast bowlers, the setting is ideal for him. Our bowling attack still needs a genuine quick to win matches regularly abroad and it's time we found out if he is up to the task. Also going into the Tests with 3 of the 4 frontline bowlers(Ajit, Zaheer & Kumble) coming back from injury might not be a great idea. Already in Australia we saw how ineffective Nehra was after making a comeback. And maybe it'll be a good idea to use Partiv Patel in some matches to enable Dravid to stay fresh for the Tests. Even though Laxman made a real impact in Australia I still think Rahul Dravid holds the key to our chances of achieving a historic first ever Test series win in Pakistan. And Sachin will have at the back of his mind the not so flattering remarks made by past Pakistan cricketers like Imran Khan & Javed Miandad about his batting. This just might be the right time for him to make a statement in the best possible way.

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Cricket: Reality check time

After all the media hype about our chances down under, the first two matches have been an eye-opener. For a team supposedly brimming with talent (Adam Gilchrist recently called us potentially their biggest challenge now) and more organised than ever as per Dada, it has been an awful start. Batsmen expectedly are having a tough time with the bounce and 2nd string sides have already exposed our inexperienced bowling attack. Last time when the Aussies were in Test match action, Hayden was hitting sixes to the 20th row off mishits. And without the two in-form bowlers Murali & Salvi, our bowling looks likely to suffer a similar fate. Already Bhaji was taken apart by Brad Hodge in the 1st tour game, suggesting that the Aussies are going to be aggressive while facing him. Harbhajan's ineffectiveness could also be a sign of not fully recovering from the finger injury he suffered in the WC. Zaheer might well struggle too as his length has been too short (ever since the WC final!) and at his pace it will be tough to bounce the Aussies out.

The team selection in the 2nd tour game was quite curious too. Nehra surely needed to play both games before the first Test as he's coming off an injury break. And after being smashed around in the 1st game it was surprising to see Ballaji get another chance, since the choice clearly is between Irfan & Agarkar for the 3rd seamer slot. We have started to go defensive already, what with Deep Dasgupta being tried out at no. 3. Since the openers apart from Ramesh have not got going, already the option of a wicketkeeper-cum-opener was being explored. This by their train of thought could allow Sehwag, who has been all at sea so far, to play in the middle order. Dasgupta of course only lasted a few deliveries in both innings, exposing how silly that theory was, along with his initial selection for the tour. I know that early tour games are not the best indicators of a team's form, since different strategies are being tried out and motivation levels of players vary. But the portents so far are not good and my expectation levels are fast coming down from a team perspective to one focussed on individual performances. As is usually the case before each tour abroad :-)

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Cricket: Mental disintegration

That's been the buzzword in Australian criketing fraternity for a while. Off the field it usually starts with the Aussie captain making certain comments aimed at provoking a reaction from the opposition captain or leading player (e.g. Steve Waugh vs. Saurav in 2000 home series). Then the most distinguished player in the Aussie lineup takes the onus to target individual players that they think play vital roles in the opposition (McGrath vs. Saurav, Sachin & Dravid in the same series). On the field it's a follow-up of the same. The process has started now before India's tour down under:

I agree that V.V.S Laxman does play loose outside offstump and maybe isn't' exactly the greatest hooker/puller of bouncers. Though I think after being taken apart in Eden & Sydney Brett Lee, Gillespee & McGrath might well disagree. Knowing V.V.S's nonchalant ways he'd probably in the manner of Pistol Pete¹ say he has never needed to play otherwise against them.

I never bought Hayden's sudden Zen-like modesty after becoming the highest run scorer in an innings and getting the deserved accolades. So the arrogance of the following backhanded compliments doesn't surprise me.

I know Hayden's been the most prolific player for the last 2 years but that doesn't mean he's become fit to tie Sachin's shoes laces yet. Leave alone make crude comments about his abilities. Dravid's got to prove himself down under and being in the form of his life I think he'll do exactly that - with or without a great deal of shots! Actually come to think of it, I don't buy Matthew's supposed love for India & it's culture either(I'm sure he's memorized Steve's tour diaries!). And I think he looks positively funny sitting on the pitch before the game starts. How come he's discovered the merits of doing that just after reaching the top of the PWC cricket ratings ? Considering the 12 years Sachin's been at the top or thereabouts it's a good thing he didn't pull off similar stunts. Or he'd have to sleep a month in advance on the pitch by now :-D With the current form of our bowlers we are bound to struggle even drawing a game in Australia. So this whole exercise of psycho-babble apart from being totally unnecessary is rather amusing...
[note: 1. Greg Rusedski after losing to Pete Sampras in the 2002 U.S Open 4th round said "Pete's at least 2 steps slower than at his peak. He'll never be able to win the whole thing now". Sampras characteristically retorted "Playing him I didn't need to move any quicker". Pete of course went on to win the U.S Open.]

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V.V.S. Laxman: Death or glory...

Some three seasons back just after his epic innings at Eden, V.V.S. Laxman was asked in an interview what goals he had for the future. Laxman had said rather confidently then that he wanted to be remembered as a batsman who won or saved matches for India in Test cricket rather than just as a consistent performer. It might have seemed arrogant then but he has gone on to do precisely that in the next 3 years. In the 25 Tests since Eden, Laxman has averaged 53.3; while in the 16 Tests since India's tour of West Indies last year, he has averaged 62.5. With his Mohali heroics, I make it 3 matches won - Eden(2000), Chennai(2000), Port of Spain(2002) and 2 saved - Eden(2002) & Mohali(2003). It is probably too early to hail V.V.S as the Indian Stan McCabe¹, to our own version of the Don in the form of Sachin. But if he keeps playing this way that day isn't far off...
[note: 1.Death or Glory was the term used to describe Stan McCabe's brilliant but inconsistent batting by peers who compared his feats to Bradman.]

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Cricket: Early season blues...

Our team looked lost on a good wicket on the last two days of the 1st test. We are too used to spinners firing in balls short of a length on featherbed pitches and getting cheap wickets. So all Saurav did was toss the ball to Kumble and Harbhajan and wait. For large periods of time he mystifyingly had a defensive field with a deep cover on the off-side. Maybe he actually was not well for he failed for once to motivate his bowlers, which is one of his real strengths as a captain. Sachin, the only bowler who flighted the ball and actually managed some sharp turn, wasn't used early enough for a proper spell either. The end result was disappointing but the post match whines about the pitch are silly. The truth is that we need more pitches like this one, which don't crumble, for our test cricket to get better. Kumble and Harbhajan the over-hyped 'spin twins' were rightly exposed for what they were - good accurate bowlers who don't have variety/guile enough to run through a side on a good pitch.

In early season my tolerance levels are down, so I'm a bit worked up over a silly column in ET by Bobbilli Vijay Kumar yesterday. Mr Kumar laments that 'The Wall' has been Ruling from the shadows for too long. In arguing his case he uses an old theory, that Dravid is always overshadowed by his teammates when he makes a crucial contributation. He cites the usual examples from the past - Laxman's epic 281 vs his 180, Gangully debut ton to his 95, Saurav's 183 at Taunton to his 145 and Sachin's 193 to his 140 at Leeds. All clearly showing his fascination with numbers as a tool to judge the value of an innings. The last innings cited, possibly Rahul's best ever, fetched him the MOM so is the silliest example. This argument IMO is typical of people solely focussed on one-day cricket and only reveals the failure to appreciate the value of a defensive batsman. Dravid's stability at the top of the order holds the key to the freedom with which more attacking batsman like Sachin, Saurav and Laxman play. So equating his contributations in terms of runs is naive and not becoming of people who earn their living writing about the sport.

He also claims that Dravid is now playing more shots to get out of the shadow of Sachin and Saurav(?). And the key according to him, is Dravid keeping wickets in the one-dayers, which for reasons he doesn't explain has made him - run quicker between wickets, rotate the strike better and actually enjoy his cricket more in Test matches. Rahul's innings of 222 is also cited as example of his gradual transformation into a dominating batsman. My personal reading of Dravid's form is a lot simpler. At age 30, he just is a good batsman who has reached near his peak potential and is ready to take steps towards greatness. He also constantly uses a strategy some more talented players don't persist with enough - hard work. After his failure in the tour down under in 1999-2000, Dravid has buckled down and put in the extra yards & spent more hours at practice. So now he knows how to play with soft hands to get his singles or can hit the ball through extra-cover regularly. And right now, after his smart choice to train off-season with Scotland in the county season, he is in a zone. Since he's unlikely to make too many mistakes, it's up to the bowlers to produce something special which in this particular test didn't materialize.

Sidenote: My indicator for reasonable tolerance levels are reactions to the anchors of our cricket broadcasts. I take it as a sign that I'm enjoying my cricket when I manage to overlook their banalities, prejuduices and confusion with the one-day & test format. Charu Sharma who feels "Zaheer sprays the ball and so was rightly used sparingly by Saurav" still irritates me so I'll need to wait a bit more...

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Kiwis still can't breach 'The Wall'

Stephan Fleming tried all his tricks - innovative field placements, specific lines to bowl at each batsman and a fair bit of gamesmanship. The bowlers complied to an extent with the plot, showing great discipline in choking off the runs. After lunch they almost triggered a mini-collaspe getting Chopra & Sachin out in succession to make it 120 for 3. Sachin's shot in getting out to a slow ball from Styris was probably one of the most horrendous in his career. Saurav wary of his wretched form predictably demoted himself, sending in V.V.S Laxman instead. And then it was back to business as usual. Rahul Dravid looked like he still was in his county stint, lording over the proceedings in his calm calculated ways. The Kiwis rate him the best Indian Test batsman, not surprising as he has scored 4 hundreds now in the 8 matches against them. V.V.S for some unknown reason deemed to be on trial by the Indian media, looked circumspect at first. But like Dravid he rarely fails to deliver when India are in a tight corner. After settling in he started to slowly play the shots which probably make him the most elegant Indian batsman to watch in full flow. At stumps Rahul was unbeaten at 110 and all set for lots more while V.V.S was at 56 n.o.

The Indian media of course have continued to harp on how important this particular innings was for Laxman. Here are some interesting stats I pulled out from crickinfo. For the last 4 years in test matches Ganguly has scored at the avg. of 30.79, Sadagopan Ramesh at 38, Sanjay Bangar at 29.37 while Laxman's average stood at 37.66. Also add the fact that Laxman's won us at least 2 Test matches(Eden- 2000, Jamaica -2002) and saved another at Eden(2002). The unfair media focus on him makes for a nice mystery isn't it...

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Cricket: New beginnings...

This coming season should be an interesting one for Indian cricket. Some good things have started to happen before the test matches begin from tomorrow. The election of Syed Kirmani as the new chairman of selectors being the news that pleases me the most. Kiribhai has been on record stating that he will seek to introduce genuine wicket-keepers in the one-dayers rather than carry on with the Dravid experiment. A move I whole-heartedly support. Burdening one of your top batters to do a specialist's job is not on. I don't buy the "He brings balance/depth" argument. We should look for better batsman if the present 6 are not proving capable enough of winning matches regularly, rather than stuff the team with 7. Rahul's not getting any younger and he's too valuable a test/one-day batsman to continue this hopeless task of making up for young players who aren't delivering consistently enough in the one-dayers.

Came across this report today which says that New Zealand captain Stephan Fleming got into a bit of trouble with local authorities at Rajkot. Apparantly he was doing a ad shoot for an alcohol brand on the eve of the team's match at Rajkot - a city that adheres to the strict prohibition laws of Gujarat. Political parties including Congress(I) and BJP promptly issued statements against Fleming's "insult to the people of the state and to Gandhi". So the Kiwi captain had to issue an apology saying that he wasn't aware of the impact it would have on the culture as it was just a photo in plain clothes on a dam." I'm sure Saurav for one won't mind this added stress on the Black Cap's best player just before the test series :)

Last week I saw quite a bit of Munaf Patel in the 3 day match and was very impressed. He looks a strong young man with a natural action. Probably still too raw for the tour down under, but it won't be long before he takes the new ball for India. He got the 2 best Kiwi batsman Fleming and Astle in both the innings with balls that beat them for sheer pace. Not an easy feat on our slow pitches. Akash Chopra batted well but he did get out to a bouncer after being hit by some short balls by Oram. So the test matches will be tough for him as the Kiwis would likely continue in the same vein. Sadagopan Ramesh on the other hand dominated the bowling and should consider himself unlucky to miss making the team for this series. His footwork has improved and he's playing with a straight bat these days. He should make the trip to Australia as a reserve opener and going by past tours should get a chance to play later in that tour.

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Cricket: A pro version of D/L method now !

A new more comprehensive version of the Duckworth/Lewis method to decide targets in rain-affected matches is to be in effect from the South Africa-Pakistan series(report). This revision was done to rectify inconsistences in high-scoring matches. The new method will be much more complicated and thus entirely computerised. Inconsistencies in the earlier version were apparantly highlighted in the World Cup Final when India had a chance to win the game at the 25 over mark.

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Cricket: Is Akash Chopra the choosen one ?

Delhi opening batsman Akash Chopra gets another chance to make an impression on the selectors in the 3 day game vs the Kiwis that starts today. Considering that he is the only player who has been selected for both the tour games, its obvious that he is considered a serious contender for an openers berth for the tour down under. Most former players in the Delhi cricketing fraternity rate him as a better opener than the media favourite Gautam Gambhir. And judging by what I saw in the first warmup game, where he scored an unbeaten hundred, he seems to have a more compact technique. He showed good temperament and shot selection too in that knock. But these are still early days in his career and it remains to be seen how well he copes with the short-pitched stuff. This report suggests that the Rajkot wicket will help seamers, so if Oram and Tuffey play it should be a good test for him. Munaf Patel who is likely to play his first 1st class game will be keenly watched too. Same goes for Punjab speedster R.P Singh who came in for praise from none other than Sachin at the training camp.

[Update: Munaf Patel rocked the Kiwi's with 3 quick wickets in his 2nd spell. The look on Nathan Astle's face, as he was caught plumb in front even before his bat came down on a fast inswinger, was priceless :) ]

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The Don's secret dalliance !!

Some old letters have now cropped up hinting at a possible secret affair Bradman had with a mysterious young woman named Nina while on the Ashes tour of 1930 in England. The Don was then officially bethrothed to future wife Jessie. These 5 letters written to a close friend & mentor Bert Kortlang are to be offered for auction in Sydney next month with a price estimate of up to $20,000. The vendor, Bradman's goddaughter, Jan Steele who inherited them from her late father Mr. Kortlang, claimed that "these letters were historically significant and provided a rare window into the man."Richard Mulvaney, director of the Bradman Museum at Bowral called it "a latest example of the way the batsman's reputation has been sacrificed in a mad feeding frenzy to cash in on any association with him since his death in 2001." Both are correct in a way. Jan is cashing in on an obscure reference & yes the letters do offer us a view of the young Bradman, uncluttered by the encomiums that now surround his legacy.

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Cricket: The four lettered F word strikes!

Just noticed some interesting announcements being made by our cricketers prior to the upcoming winter series against New Zealand. V.V.S. Laxman reverted back on his old stand that he be considered only as a middle-order batsman in Test cricket. Now he says that he is willing to open the batting if selected in the team. Some days later, Virender Sehwag who's one of our regular openers says that he prefers to bat in the middle order. And reminds everyone that he had only taken up opening the batting as no one else was available. Harmless statements both and of course the players were within their rights to do so before the selection process get underway with the training camp on & selection games to be held in a few weeks from now. But then why do I think that these statements have nothing to do with playing a Kiwi side without Shane Bond & Chris Cairns on benign pitches at home. And more to do with the trio comprising of a pair of New South Wales paceman & a 6ft 5in South Australian who will take turns with the red cherry down-under. Maybe because I think Sehwag pretty much knows what to expect there - lots & lots of perfume balls i.e. balls in the other half of the pitch which will make him smell the leather. And that V.V.S knows he isn't a certainity in the side. And after taking apart 2 of those trio of bowlers in Sydney 3 yrs back; and again a pair of them more recently in his Eden epic I somehow have a feeling V.V.S isn't the one struggling with the f word :)

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Cricket: Wasim Jaffer stakes claim for opener slot !!

After a steady begining to the England tour with the India A side, Wasim Jaffer finally seems ready to claim back his opening slot in the Indian test side. Today he hammered a masterly 214(269 balls, 38 fours, 1 six) while following-on to Warwickshire's mammoth first innings thus helping maintain India A's unbeaten record. He played quite well against the South Africans(the best attack India A has faced so far) too, hitting 2 fifties in that match. Now he also is the leading run scorer on this tour with 528 runs at an average of 58. Our bowlers haven't made any similar impact so far, though Amit Bhandari is having a good 2nd half of the tour picking up 2 five wicket hauls. Salvi(of whom I still have high hopes) has been hampered by injury for most of the tour. His best 4-92 coming against the South Africans.

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CRICKET: Pebbles from glass mansions...

Javed Miandad has some interesting observations in his recently released autobiography 'Cutting Edge'. Cutting edge predictably is full of his versions of various confrontations with Indian cricketers(our guys tell a different tale) and 'helpful' advice on how India should improve its cricket abroad. The only cricketer(apart from himself) Javed heaps encomiums on is Sunil Gavaskar the "...one person who personifiaed cricket greatness". He also calls Sunny the best batsman India ever produced, raising doubts on the quality of bowling attacks faced & innings played under pressure by Sachin. Well McGrath, Ambrose, Donald, Walsh, Akram, Waquar, Gillespe, Lee, Bond, Shoib Akhtar might well disagree that this era's bowling is any less talented. But I do tend to agree that S.M.G has played more memorable big knocks under pressure. A cursory look at the numbers too seems to support Javed's analysis at this stage.

Against the top 4 sides of their respective eras
Sunil Gavaskar's performances are:
* M    runs    H.S     Av.    100's  50's
  27   2749    236*   65.45    13      7   (West Indies)
  20   1550   172    51.66      8       4   (Australia)
  24   2089   166    56.45      5      12   (Pakistan)
   38   2483   221    38.20      4     16  (England)

Sachin's performances similarly are:
* M    runs    H.S     Av.    100's  50's
  15   1406     177   50.21     6        5  (Australia)
  14    948     169    36.46     3       3  (South Africa)
   8     572     136    40.86     2       3  (Pakistan)
  16   1683    193    70.12     6       8  (England)

But numbers need to be augmented with other variables like:
1. Amount of cricket played  2. Pitch conditions  3. Bowling Attacks faced  4. Changes in rules 5. Chronological patterns

Filling in those qualitative factors in totality would require a much deeper awareness of incidents over those periods of time. But Sachin's current figures do tell me that he still has challenges left in the game. His averages against the top teams(particularly S.Africa) can be improved and he's yet to score a double hundred abroad, or a triple ton. Lots more to do I think, before he can be hailed as one next to 'The Don' himself.

At any rate Javed, who typically calls himself Pakistan's greatest batsman(with some justification), should know a thing or two about quality fast bowlers. Considering all the bad experiences he had when touring Australia(avg: 38.07) & W.Indies(avg: 33.75). Of course he was discriminate enough to avoid facing W.Indies quickies at their peaks. From his debut in 1976 to 1993 he played only 7 Tests in the W. Indies. He unfortunately didn't do too well at home either. In the 9 matches in Pakistan, he averaged a measly 26.81 with just 4 fifties to his credit. A far cry from his awesome overall average of 61.38 at home.

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COUNTY UPDATE: Kaif & Yuvraj not Test-class...(yet?)

Yuvraj Singh(av: 15.85) and Md. Kaif(av:21.30) continue to struggle against journeymen bowlers who can't find places in England's test side. Maybe I was wrong in hoping that they would both move up a class in this county season to stake their places in the Indian Test side for the upcoming winter tours. Sehwag for all his technical problems against short-pitched stuff has relied on his natural shotmaking skills to now currently head his county's averages (47.80) in the county championship. With Gambhir and Raydu also continuing to pile up the runs for India A(albiet against mostly 2nd string sides), Kaif & Yuvraj's chance to make the grade in test cricket may well be gone...

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CRICKET: Dravid, Gavaskar, Badani hit tons

Indian A batsman continued to shine in their England tour as they marched on to 3 successive wins. Bowlers aren't doing that well though. For reasons known best to the tour management Aviskar Salvi hasn't played a game so far(maybe he is injured?). Also most county sides are playing their 2nd string sides so the stats are skewed to say the least.

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County Cricket Update: Veeru matches India A openers !!

Virender Sehwag carried his recent form to the county matches blazing away to a almost run-a-ball 137. His first hundred for his county also comes at a time when the India A openers Gautam Gambhir(128 vs British Universities) & Shiv Sunder Das(125 vs Durham) have started well in the first few matches on their England tour.

County Championship
June 27: Somerset vs Yorkshire(won by 10 w)
Yuvraj scored 5(10 b, 1 four) & took 1 wicket
June 27: Northamptonshire(won by 180 runs) v Derbyshire
Kaif made 28(54 b, four 4's) & 0(8b)
June 27: Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire (draw)
Sehwag made 137(151 b,25 fours).

Current County averages:
Virender Sehwag: 44.16 , Md. Kaif: 11.75 , Yuvraj Singh: 24.50

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English County Update: Veeru finds touch as overs shorten !!

Well finally they are showing the games on Espn . Though our guys never seem to perform when I happen to catch them on air. Here's a weekly update on all the stats:
Sehwag finally put some decent scores on board as the 20 over competition got underway while Yuvraj seemed to maintain his form. Kaif had just the 1 good knock.

June 24: Yorkshire (won by 18 runs)vs Nottinghamshire(20by20)
Yuvraj scored just 4(9b 1 four) & took 1 wicket as his side won by 18 runs.
June 24:Leishestershire vs Derbyshire(20 by 20)
Sehwag scored 15 (12 b, 3 fours) & took 1 wicket as his side won by 1 run
Kaif scored 53(40 b, 6 fours & 1 six)
June 23: Derbyshire vs Durham:(20 by 20)
Kaif scored 4(5b, 1 four) as side won by six runs
June 22: Derbyshire vs Lancashire(20 by 20)
Kaif scored 7(12b 1 four) as his side won by 7 wickets.
June 22: Leishestershire vs Yorkshire(NCL)
Sehwag scored 65(80 b, 11 fours) as his side won by 18 runs
Yuvraj scored 50(46 b, 7 fours & 1 six)
June 20: Yorkshire vs Durham
Yuvraj scored 22(9b 3 fours 1 six) as Yorkshire won by 55 runs.
June 20: Derbyshire vs Nottinghamshire(20 by 20)
Kaif scored11 not out (1 four) as Derbyshire won by 9 wickets.
June 19: Lancashire(won by 7wickets) Yorkshire
Yuvraj scored 13(11b, 3 4's)
June 21:Leishestershire vs Nottingham(20 by 20)
Sehwag took 2 wickets & scored 26 of 17 ball (4 fours & 1 six) as L won by 1 wicket
June 20:Leishestershire vs Lancashire(20 by 20)
Sehwag scored 26(17 b, 4 fours & 1 six) as his side won by 22 runs
June 19:Leishestershire (won by 46 runs) vs Durham(20by20)
Sehwag scored 14(11b 3 fours) & took 3 wickets
June 17 :Middlesex vs scotland :(National Cricket league)
Dravid made 6 runs as Scotland were thrashed by 112 runs

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CRICKET:To walk or not to walk?

I came across this very nice article in a local paper looking at attitudes of cricketers both past & present on this eternal Hamletian dilemma for batsman. Some selected excerpts:

"When in Rome" - Mike Brearely to an Australian wicketkeeper who had asked him why he was not leaving the crease after nicking the ball.
Related quote: "Australians walk only when their cars run out of petrol".

    Well Adam Gilchrist did buck this trend in the World Cup this year & for a while became a bit of a saintly figure. But later he betrayed his true motive when he stated that he did so to shame the Englishmen who had refused to take the word of fielders in the Ashes tour recently. Third umpires rule in the batsman's favour most times because the camera's used currently(not wide-angle) give the impression of a bump ball when the ball is close to the ground.

   Other famous walkers have had their inconsistencies. Especially when their teams are in trouble or their own careers are on the line. Take the case of Brian Lara, who memorably walked in sight of a maiden Test century at Mohali some years back. He however preferred to stay at the crease in the 2nd one dayer at Barbados against Sri Lanka recently, going on to score a 100.

    From the past another case is that of Gundappa Viswanath, who is seen eternally as a walker. Doing what was morally right when he knew what happened was Vishy's approach. Famously he had once declared himself lbw in a Ranji game because he thought the umpire was too scared of his reputation. But he did not walk in a Test in Delhi in1981 when his own career was on the line, going on to make 107. His religious Mom dropped a silver bat of 107 gms at Tirupathi in thanksgiving. This bat cost Rs. 222 then & in a strange coincidence Vishy went on to score 222 in the Chepauk test in the same series.

   Bradman himself did not walk on a famous ocassion when he had edged a catch to slips claiming it was a 'bump' ball. Forever a Bradman baiter Bill O'reilly wrote later "To get a bump ball to go shoulder high at a speed sufficient to spin Ikin(the catcher) sidewise needs some uncanny propulsion seldom seen in cricket."

   Our very own little master Sunil Gavaskar admitted recently that he still regretted that he did not walk in the opening game in 1975 world cup when he had edged one to the keeper. Of course some cynical people would say that it was more regrettable because Sunny went on to 'carry his bat' in that innings scoring 30 odd not out in a 60 over match.

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Bottomline: Walking is on most occasions a moral crutch that batsman use, sparingly so in the modern era. And what with technology exposing the inconsistencies of Umpiring like never before most batsman are prone to take the"It all evens out in the end" approach letting the man in charge take his decision.

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English County Update: Indian stars shine at last !!

Haven't kept in touch with the county performances for a while. So it was nice to find out that (finally) some of our batsmen have got going in the English League. Sehwag though hasn't done much so far having scored 2 ducks in succession recently.
Recent results:
June 16: Leishestershire vs Yorkshire ( 20 by 20 cup):
Sehwag got out for a duck off the 3rd ball he faced while Yuvraj Singh smashed a 37 ball knock of 71 studded with 14 fours & 1 six. Leishestershire won by 16 runs.
June 15 : Derbyshire vs Lancashire(National Cricket League)
Md. Kaif scored only 12 as Derbyshire lost by 5 runs.
June15: Leishestershire vs Worcestershire(National Cricket League)
Sehwag got out for a duck on the 4th ball he faced. His side won by 2 wickets.
June 14:Scotland vs Somerset(National Cricket League)
Rahul Dravid hammered 10 fours & 3 sixes enroute to a 97 ball knock of 120(not out*) but still ended up on the losing side as Scotland lost by 1 wicket.
June 14: Yorkshire vs Derbyshire (22 20 cup)
Yuvraj scored 44 in 41balls with the help of six 4's while Kaif got out for a duck off the 2nd ball. Derbyshire won the match.
June 14: Leishestershire vs Pakistan(5 wickets)
Sehwag scored 19 (28b 3 4's) as Pakistan won by 5 wickets.
June 11: Derbyshire vs Surrey(National Cricket League)
Kaif scored 81(85b, 7 4's) & got his first MOM award for his county.
June 10: Worcestershire vs Leishestershire(National Cricket League)
Sehwag scored just 2(17 b) as his side lost by 75 runs.
June 8: Kent vsYorkshire(National Cricket League)
Yuvraj scored just 9 as his side lost by 22 runs.

Current Batting averages:
County championship:
               M    Inns   Runs   H.S      Avg    50's    100's    0's
Kaif         2       2      19     13        9.5      0        0         0
Sehwag    3       5      128    81     25.60    1       0         1
Yuvraj     2        4       93      56      31.00    0      1       0

National Cricket League(One-day):
               M    Inns   Runs   H.S    Avg      50's    100's    0's
Kaif
Sehwag    4       4      92     54    23.00     1       0        1
Dravid     2       1      145     120    145.00    0      1       0
Yuvraj     2       2       43      34    21.50    0       0       0

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COUNTY UPDATE:

Lancashire vs Leistershire:
Sehwag scored 30 in 1st innings; was demoted to no.4 in second innings; got run out for 5 as his side lost yet again.
Glamorgan vs Derbyshire:
Kaif scored 13 & 6 in his first outing for his county Derbyshire as they lost by an innings.
Scotland vs Pakistan:
Dravid got out first ball as Pakistan won by 1 run.

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Indians playing in the the English county season haven't got going yet. Yuvraj Singh did get his first 50 against Durham but wasn't able to do much in the second innings(only scored 1) as Yorkshire crashed to a 146 run beating. Sehwag continued to dissappoint as he made just 14 & didn't even get a bowl even though 7 bowlers were tried by Leistershire captain Defreitas in their one day encounter with Gloucestershire. They lost by 3 wickets. Sehwag incidently had picked this county as they agreed to let him open the innings in both forms of the game.

Kaif is set to make his debut this week for Derbyshire. He has gone on record that he wants to use this oppurtunity to perfform well & hopefully press for a position in India's Test side. So we can rest assured that he for one is taking his venture with a lot of seriousness.

Rahul Dravid too arrived embarking on his second season in English county cricket this time for Scotland in the one-day tournament. His will be a promotion(for Scottish cricket)-cum honeymoon as he is accompanied by his wife. Apparantly funds were raised by N.R.I businessmen in Scotland to pay for his expenses. He too fared moderately in his first outing scoring 25 in a losing cause against Hampshire.

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CRICKET MEDIA Part 1
As seen in more advanced societies in the west the role of media people is under increased scrutiny. There is often a clash between objective interpretation of what one perceives & what one thinks is his/her responsibility i.e the bigger picture. In my view we are best served when subjective analysis is not tempered with any supposed 'bigger responsibility'. A case in point is the current panel of cricket analysts in our country. Most of them are ex-cricketers.
Quite a number of them curiously have had a not so happy end to their playing careers:
1) Ravi Shastri:A knee injury coupled with increasing chants of "Shastri Hai, hai" when playing playing in his inimitable style at home.
2) Navjyot Siddhu: Infighting with Azza, a mysterious exit while touring England & later(unproven??) allegations grounded the glib sikh.
3) Arun Lal: Failure to get into the team as an opener despite doing reasonably well the few times he was selected.
4) L.S.Sivaramakrishnan: Great start, unwillingness to work hard enough cut short his career when he was still in his 20's.
5) Sanjay Manjrekar: Mr Technique lost his technique shuffling across his stumps & having little clue to bouncers by the end of a frustratingly underacheiving(for fans like me) career.
6) K. Shrikant: A Rebel player association & Wasim Akram finished his career just when India seemed to have found a innovative captain.
7) Robin Singh: Age(as in a number not in the playing field) caught up with this reliable one day player.

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So the team for the India A tour to England has been announced.

From the team that went to West Indies the ones left out surprisingly are:
1) Akash Chopra(2nd highest run scorer behind Gambhir in the last trip).
2) Connor Williams (3rd highest scorer of runs in that trip).
3) Ajay Ratra(tidy behind the stumps, averaged 24 with bat)

The Team comprises of:
New picks
1) Satyajit Parab (on the fringes for a while..)
2) Rohan Gavaskar (not good enough to represent Mumbai, but...)
3) Vijay Bhardwaj (Tamil Nadu quota ??? ..)
4) Parthiv Patel (thought he was already our no. 1 keeper... maybe to keep him match fit)
5) S.S.Das(surprisingly left out last time now back as captain)
6) Wasim Jaffer( match winning knocks in the Ranji finals ..should have been there last time)
7) Amit Bhandari( good work in Ranji matches)
8) Irfan Pathan( on promise more than performances...19 yrs & left armer to boot)
9) S.Sriram(Good season & ...selectors did not want to pick S.Ramesh)
Retained:
10) A.Raydu (potential to be the next star??)
11) Hemang Badani (Hundred & a 50 in the Finals...though he failed miserably in the West Indies.)
12) Gautam Gambhir
13) L. Ballaji(Did bowl well in the Ranji semis & finals..very poor in the West Indies though)
14) Aviskar Salvi
15) Amit Mishra
16) Murali Kartik
Demographically:
2 players from Bombay (which won the Ranji Trophy)
4 from Tamil Nadu
2 from Delhi
2 from Baroda
1 from Hyderabad, Orissa, Haryana,Gujrat, West Bengal

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India A is to tour England next month. The team is going to be announced soon. Hopefully Aviskar Salvi will continue to do well on this tour too. With Srinath unlikely to continue much longer we need fast bowlers who can play in both forms of the game. Agarkar is too frail in his mental outlook to pass the rigours in the longer version of the game. He did bowl well in the ranji semi-finals & finals though.

Of course he is bound to have his supporters once the new season of Indian cricket starts in October. It helps to have Mumbaites in the commentry box after all...( I'll cover that some other time). Right now it is important to plan the next 5 months so that all the talent in the country is given a good run in preferably foreign conditions. So this tour is a right step. Players like A .Raydu, Akash Chopra, Gambhir have to take a step up if they are to seriously push the seniors for a place in the Test side. Even Yuvraj, Kaif have done the right thing in grabbing the oppurtunity to play in the county sides.

As far as I am concerned there are a lot of positions in the current side that are 'open':
1)The opening slots (Bangar is a stop-gap arrangement unlikely to last, Sehwag's shortcomings against the short ball are likely top be exploited by all sides now).
2)No 5 & 6:(Gangully is in only because he is captain, Laxman has had a honeymoon period after the Eden epic & now will be asked to deliver or else...).
3)One Fast bowler to partner the 2 left armers.

The Australia tour in December might make/break a few careers. Realistically we would do well even if we manage to win 1 out of 4 test matches there. Considering the lack of ability to play short-pitched bowling in all our batters(barring Tendulkar & Dravid) & the inability of our spinners to deliver on tracks abroad it seems like wishful thinking.

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This season the English county scene has an Indian flavour to it. As many as 5 members of the current Indian one-day squad are set to play for various counties in the coming weeks. Virendra Sehwag is already in England playing for Leistershire. He did find the going tough initially. Low scores in the first 2 matches but a match-saving 81 in the 3rd match & a fifty in the 4th match.

Srinath has been amongst the wickets in Durham(nothing surprising there!!). Initial media reports suggested that he has decided to call it quits as far as test cricket is concerned. Will be sad that... he is still our best bowler. But subsequent reports suggest that he is still undecided on his future plans.

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