Everyone who follows the game of cricket has, at some point of time, come up with his / her own dream - team. There are lots of famous dream teams by hugely popular celebrities of the game. After following the game for close to 25 years & also reading & seeing the videos of earlier players, I thought it's time to pen down my own dream-team. Ofcourse, I am no pundit of the game & the list is purely based on my observation & assessment of the game. I do not boast of having the deepest knowledge of the game, but I have tried to analyze the said people in the list & this is what I have found out.
No. 1: Sunil Gavaskar (Captain)
The best opener that India has ever produced. Not just because of his staggering 34 centuries, including a few of them against the "dreadful / dangerous" Carribean attack in their own backyard, without a helmet. He is arguably one of the best opener the game has ever seen, atleast in recent times. Also, being a great student of the game, he led the team quite brilliantly, maybe the records don't speak of him highly, but his tactics had largely been good. So I am putting the additional burden of leading my dream-team.
Replacement: None.
No. 2: Virender Sehwag
With one of the best technicians at the other end, I would require someone who is contrasting in nature, yet not dominating in the partnership. Someone who is hungry for the strike, but also sensible enough to rotate the strike when the chips are down. Not many fit into the bill, hence I am choosing Virender Sehwag here. He is one who can keep the scoreboard ticking at a higher pace while Gavaskar blocks one end & there is a possibility of a good partnership building. Ofcourse, here I am assuming that Sehwag plays little bit more sensibly than his usual see-hit attitude.
Replacement: Wasim Jaffer, he has scored hell lot of runs in domestic & hasn't really failed on the few overseas tours he has been with the team.
No. 3: Rahul Dravid
A tricky position. Dravid has glorified the No. 3 position like no other in Indian cricket. He is not just a Wall, he has scored important runs when it mattered. He is old-school bat when it comes to test cricket, but still has scored more than 10000 runs in shorter time than Gavaskar. No. 3 is generally the position where you send the one whose technique / temparatment / attitude is unquestionable.
Replacement: Gundappa Vishwanath, everything that Dravid is, minus the height; he is shorter than even Gavaskar. Very wristy & artistic batsman.
No. 4: Sachin Tendulkar
No doubt in mind, whatsoever. For statistics-lovers, his records speak for themselves. For purists, his approach & beauty of strokes, way of building the innings, taking control of the game, etc is good enough. Plus, he can bowl his turners on any pitch, a reliable fielder (only marred by his height)
Replacement: None.
No. 5: Mohammed Azharuddin
For those who would shout about his match-fixing involvement, I am considering his batting (& fielding) skills in this list. Like Vishwanath (& today Laxman), he was a brilliant wristy batsman & one of the best fielders in world cricket at that time. Someone who can score 3 centuries on debut, certainly can bat.
Replacement: Virat Kohli, just as good as Azhar, maybe even better. Hope he can keep himself cool & calm & doesn't bowl.
No. 6: Vinod Kambli
I still feel, he could have been a bigger & better cricketer than Sachin, had he focussed on his cricket. He was in the news more for wrong reasons than his batting. He faded soon after his twin-double centuries against England in 1991-92. He was strong & hard-hitter of the cricket ball & had a good technique. I would even go bit further & call him a left-handed Sachin. Also being a good fielder & left-handed helps his cause.
Replacement: VVS Laxman, a brilliant wristy batsman & a good slip fielder. The only reason why I am preferring Kambli ahead of Laxman is Kambli's hard-hitting, & left-hand bat. I haven't ignored Laxman's Indian cricket changing 280 against Aussies in Kolkata (2001).
No. 7: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Not the bestest wicket-keeper in India, but certainly innovative & aggressive in terms of batting, hence the natural choice. His hard-hitting is what is usually required from wicket-keeper batsmen at No. 7, & his running between the wickets would shame a 100-meter sprinter.
Replacement: Farokh Engineer, people may argue that there have been better wicket-keepers, Naren Tamhane would certainly be one of them. But I have seen old videos of Mr. Engineer & keeping wickets for the legendary spin-trio, especially in sub-continent conditions, is nothing short of brilliance. Plus, he has opened batting for India, which also suggests he was good at batting skills. Only because Dhoni can change the course of the game in short time with his batting, I have chosen him ahead of Farokh Engineer
No. 8: Kapil Dev
The best fast bowler (& all-rounder) India has ever produced. No parallels in terms of bowling on any pitch.
Replacement: None.
No. 9: Zaheer Khan
To compliment Kapil Dev at other end, we would need someone who is equally good at swing & fast bowling. I haven't seen India produce many fast bowlers in the past 70+ years. Zaheer certainly comes close to Kapil in that sense. His control on the swing, his technique of hiding the ball in the hand till delivering it, and ofcourse his little batting skills (alas we never really saw them with some rarities) make him an automatic choice for the 2nd pacer in the team.
Replacement: Ravi Shastri, one of the finest left-arm bowlers I have seen in the past 3 decades. He has also opened the batting for India on some occassions, so he can bat.
No. 10: Anil Kumble
The best spinner (?) India has produced. His never-say-die attitude, hard work & skill of running through the tail-enders & finishing the innings makes his automatic choice. Since he relied more on his top-spinners & bounce, he could bowl on most pitches with good success
Replacement: None.
No. 11: Erapalli Prasanna
One of the golden-trio who served Indian cricket, chosen purely because he was an off-spinner. He could turn the ball on any wicket & was mightily accurate with his line-length like others of the trio.
Replacement: Bishen Singh Bedi, Srinivas Venkatraghavan
Friday, April 19, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
South Africa calling...
India's new opener, playing his first test, scored 187, the fastest on debut and in the process became the highest scorer on debut for India. Shikhar Dhawan is the 13th Indian to do so (according to records). The elite list includes Indian batting greats like Lala Amarnath, Gundappa Vishwanath, Mohammed Azharuddin, Saurav Ganguly, Virendra Sehwag & others who haven't really made it big, but nevertheless scored a century. Out of the above, Azharuddin scored 3 centuries in his first 3 tests, Ganguly scored 2. They went on to become quite respectful captains of the Indian team.
Dhawan has been waiting for long, warming the bench, ever since he became a household name in IPL, playing for Delhi Daredevils to start with & last year he played for Mumbai Indians. He has also been scoring big in domestic arena. Murali Vijay too has scored 2 centuries in row now against Australia in the current series. So has India found the best opening combination after Sehwag-Gambhir? Well time will tell. India next plays a full-fledged Test series in South Africa in November & that is the place where both these openers are going to be tested. All South African wickets are going to present bounce & swing which will be exploited to the maximum by the Proteas bowlers, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel & others. So as far as the current series goes, yes, we should be sticking to the current pair & look to win the series; if not this match, then the next which is incidentally the home-ground for young Dhawan.
India is on recovery-path in terms of gaining back the reputation of a formidable side & the transition phase is yet to complete. India is going to miss the services of Dravid & Laxman who retired last year, especially in South Africa. We are surely going to need a no. 3 who would be doing the recovery work, often associated with the WALL & Cheteshwar Pujara has to prepare well in the coming 6-7 months to work on his technique. So do the current pair of openers, assuming they get selected on the team to RSA. The grand-old-man of Indian team is going to need to pull up his socks, dig deep into his bag of experience & try his best to put his team into respectable position, one-last time. This, is going to be his last tour to RSA & Sachin seems knows it well. He is not going to play ODIs till November & there is no domestic series between June to September thanks to monsoon. So wonder, how is he going to be in prime form before the all-important tour. His last 2 overseas tours (England & Australia) have been too poor by his own standards in terms of runs scored. He is going to need a hell lot of homework before he appears for the test. Strange, even after 23 years of international career, he would need to go back to basics. Is it the end? Time will tell.
India seem to have found a good opening pair, & with Sehwag & Gambhir trying to come back in the team, the signs are good. For now, even the no. 3 position can be called safe & I am still happy to bet on no. 4 who, I think, can come good in the SA conditions. But, the big question is of no. 5 & 6 (if Dhoni continues to play at 7). The once strongest middle order of Indian team has now become the weakest after the exit of Saurav Ganguly & VVS Laxman, especially the latter. Unless, Kohli puts up a better show in this & the last test the future seems to be bleak. Hope the bouncy wickets of South Africa will help him play his shots & natural game. Indian team has experimented a lot with no. 6, with Raina & Yuvraj. It's time Ajinkya Rahane gets a chance. He has been "marked" as middle-order player, for some strange reason & since then he has been warming the bench, becoming the "Batli-Boy" of the team, delivering drinks & bats/gloves/helmets to the team on field. Any player not in the 11, does that, but he has become the specialist in that rather than his batting. I hope the team management gives his his due. Or else, send him back to his domestic team & let him score some runs instead of warming the bench.
Indian team seems to have found a new swing-bowler after Zaheer & Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has done justice to his selection by picking up early wickets swinging the ball both ways even on our dead pitches. He would relish the South African conditions. Ishant Sharma has been improving & we still have a good fast-bowling (if you wish to call them fast bowlers) talent on bench. However, they all are inexperienced & Zaheer can make a comeback if he is fit. So the fast bowling department looks good. The ball is not going to spin much, so we could do well to play just 1 or maximum 2 spinners. Having said that, the big worry is that the batting tail starts at no. 8 & it is pretty weak, rarely showing any resistance. So no. 5 & 6 is still going to be having the heaviest burden on their shoulders, especially if the previous 5 batters have not played to their reputation. We can think of including Sehwag in the team & put him in middle order, at no. 5, a place where he can come good. After all he has scored his first runs in South Africa & he has a good record against the spinners or the tired fast bowlers. No. 6 can go to Kohli or Rahane, whoever gets selected or even Dhoni if he decides to promote himself up the order.
Seems, we have a huge task on hand. Hope, the selectors & team management takes some sensible decisions, put up a good mix of experience & youth. Now that Fletcher has got an extension of a year, his task is cut out. Pull the team together, prepare them for the SA tour & produce some results. Vijayi Bhav...
Dhawan has been waiting for long, warming the bench, ever since he became a household name in IPL, playing for Delhi Daredevils to start with & last year he played for Mumbai Indians. He has also been scoring big in domestic arena. Murali Vijay too has scored 2 centuries in row now against Australia in the current series. So has India found the best opening combination after Sehwag-Gambhir? Well time will tell. India next plays a full-fledged Test series in South Africa in November & that is the place where both these openers are going to be tested. All South African wickets are going to present bounce & swing which will be exploited to the maximum by the Proteas bowlers, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel & others. So as far as the current series goes, yes, we should be sticking to the current pair & look to win the series; if not this match, then the next which is incidentally the home-ground for young Dhawan.
India is on recovery-path in terms of gaining back the reputation of a formidable side & the transition phase is yet to complete. India is going to miss the services of Dravid & Laxman who retired last year, especially in South Africa. We are surely going to need a no. 3 who would be doing the recovery work, often associated with the WALL & Cheteshwar Pujara has to prepare well in the coming 6-7 months to work on his technique. So do the current pair of openers, assuming they get selected on the team to RSA. The grand-old-man of Indian team is going to need to pull up his socks, dig deep into his bag of experience & try his best to put his team into respectable position, one-last time. This, is going to be his last tour to RSA & Sachin seems knows it well. He is not going to play ODIs till November & there is no domestic series between June to September thanks to monsoon. So wonder, how is he going to be in prime form before the all-important tour. His last 2 overseas tours (England & Australia) have been too poor by his own standards in terms of runs scored. He is going to need a hell lot of homework before he appears for the test. Strange, even after 23 years of international career, he would need to go back to basics. Is it the end? Time will tell.
India seem to have found a good opening pair, & with Sehwag & Gambhir trying to come back in the team, the signs are good. For now, even the no. 3 position can be called safe & I am still happy to bet on no. 4 who, I think, can come good in the SA conditions. But, the big question is of no. 5 & 6 (if Dhoni continues to play at 7). The once strongest middle order of Indian team has now become the weakest after the exit of Saurav Ganguly & VVS Laxman, especially the latter. Unless, Kohli puts up a better show in this & the last test the future seems to be bleak. Hope the bouncy wickets of South Africa will help him play his shots & natural game. Indian team has experimented a lot with no. 6, with Raina & Yuvraj. It's time Ajinkya Rahane gets a chance. He has been "marked" as middle-order player, for some strange reason & since then he has been warming the bench, becoming the "Batli-Boy" of the team, delivering drinks & bats/gloves/helmets to the team on field. Any player not in the 11, does that, but he has become the specialist in that rather than his batting. I hope the team management gives his his due. Or else, send him back to his domestic team & let him score some runs instead of warming the bench.
Indian team seems to have found a new swing-bowler after Zaheer & Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has done justice to his selection by picking up early wickets swinging the ball both ways even on our dead pitches. He would relish the South African conditions. Ishant Sharma has been improving & we still have a good fast-bowling (if you wish to call them fast bowlers) talent on bench. However, they all are inexperienced & Zaheer can make a comeback if he is fit. So the fast bowling department looks good. The ball is not going to spin much, so we could do well to play just 1 or maximum 2 spinners. Having said that, the big worry is that the batting tail starts at no. 8 & it is pretty weak, rarely showing any resistance. So no. 5 & 6 is still going to be having the heaviest burden on their shoulders, especially if the previous 5 batters have not played to their reputation. We can think of including Sehwag in the team & put him in middle order, at no. 5, a place where he can come good. After all he has scored his first runs in South Africa & he has a good record against the spinners or the tired fast bowlers. No. 6 can go to Kohli or Rahane, whoever gets selected or even Dhoni if he decides to promote himself up the order.
Seems, we have a huge task on hand. Hope, the selectors & team management takes some sensible decisions, put up a good mix of experience & youth. Now that Fletcher has got an extension of a year, his task is cut out. Pull the team together, prepare them for the SA tour & produce some results. Vijayi Bhav...
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Home advantage...?
You must have heard the line "apni gali me to kutta bhi sher hota hai" in numerous Bollywood movies. There is a lot of truth in it. You know the conditions, the area, the people, the skills better. Relate that to Test cricket. When any team travels/visits another country the conditions are alien. How the pitch works, how the wind flows, how the sun behaves, all things are alien to the visiting team. Although you might have visited the country many times before, still every year, every visit is different.
When we travel to England, South Africa or Australia, the pitches are different. England has lot of swing. Australia has lot of bounce. South Africa has a mixture of both pace & bounce. Our team's history isn't all that great in all 3 countries. We have almost never won in South Africa, barring a couple of tests, if I am not wrong. We have rarely won in Australia & England. The record has been better in past decade, however, our last visit in 2011-12 was something we would want to wipe out from our memories ASAP. Our visit to England before the 'Tour Down Under' was forgettable too, but I would still want to discount the Indian team for lack of quality pacers & bowling overall. We just weren't capable of taking 20 wickets.
The point is that the 'home-teams' took full advantage of their home conditions, used proper pace attack & more importantly their bowlers bowled to the field set for them. If they are free to use the conditions to their liking, if they are free to prepare pitches to their strengths, what's the harm if Indian team decides to go for square turner pitches which turns from day-1?
A simple question, however, creates lots of issues in the long run. And it sometimes does more harm than good. Indian team reached the Number-One ranking in sub-continent conditions (in Sri Lanka) and played most of their cricket for the next 18+ months in home conditions. And the fact that we retained the ranking for such a long period makes it amply clear that we were winning most of the matches & rarely losing. So why the need of a square turner now? And how good that policy is going to be in the near or longer future? Post world cup 2011, we have had only a couple of real testing matches in England and Australia, rest all Tests (they were only handful) were in the sub-continent. There are 9 test playing nations in the world including us & 5 of them are reliant on pace than spin.
Well, there are few things to consider before going for turner tracks. If you want the pitch to turn from day-1, it has to have lot of dust, or one that has lots of cracks from the outset. Either one of them or mixture of both means bliss for the spinners, and we often have atleast 3-4 specialist spinners in our squad. But, such a pitch, which is typically a day-3 or day-4 pitch can also backfire because the pace bowlers too can wisely use the cracks, the foot-marks (on subsequent days) & the ball can have variable bounce which could create doubt or problem in best of the batsmen's mind. The wicket of Sachin Tendulkar on day-3 of the first test in Chennai was enough to show how the ball misbehaved if used intelligently. Ofcourse, Dhoni's innings was that much more special because he didn't allow any bowler to settle. But the phase and time in which Sachin was batting was also crucial. He was in defensive mood to let the first hour or so go in the favor of bowling team & that's where the wicket came from.
Michael Clarke persisted with his pace battery and it was actually a good move, because he knew he didn't have quality spinners to take advantage of such conditions & James Pattinson bowled his heart out on that pitch. However, our openers failed & if Sachin-Virat-Dhoni not played their respective innings, we would have been staring at another loss at home. Not too long ago Australia had won the series in India under Gilchrist's captaincy (2004).
Its an old line used by most of the commentators, Indian team is the best player of spin bowling. Well, lets put that line to dust & let it rust there. It was true half a decade back. The truth is that there are few players in the current team who know how to best tackle spin bowling. Virat is still new & learning. Viru gets out too early to face spin. Dhoni comes in bit too late to get time to attack the spinners. And Sachin is not getting any younger. The biggest disappointment is lack of footwork at all from most the team-members. We allow the ball to spin & then decide the shot and gift our wickets. Sir Gary Sobers was once asked what's the best way to play spin bowling. He had said, I don't go to the ball, I let it come to me and then decide what I should do. Hey, that was Sobers, one of the all-time greats. Not everyone is capable of doing that. For us mortals, it's best to reach to the ball & not allow it to spin & show it's magic.
The point here is that, although spin is your strength, your batsmen too need to play their shots, put up a defendable total on the board & then let your spinners wreak havoc. And when teams like Australia travel to India with 4-5 specialist pacers, who are as potent or lethal as Starc/Johnson/Pattinson/Siddle, it's best to be able to handle the pace on a deteriorating pitch from day-1. Imagine, we are batting second and, god forbid, we are batting on day-2 or day-3. The pitch would play it's wonders, but against us.
I personally feel, the need to demand spin-friendly pitches might have risen because of two things. First, the failure of our openers. If the pitch is going to turn from day-1, it would most probably be acting like a day-3 pitch on the first day & usually the day-3 pitch is good for batting. The ball doesn't bounce much & Dhoni might be expecting Viru & whoever the other opener is to play some good innings & give a platform for the middle order to build a respectable score & then get the visitors out twice and finish the match in 4 days max. The second reason might be lack of quality pacers. Whatever the current picture shows (a Bhuvaneshwar Kumar or Shafi Ahmed, Umesh Yadav), we still put our best wishes & hopes on spinners in Indian conditions. Its a open secret that spinners take more than 70-75 % of the wickets for India. So, why not bank on spinners? The problem is that it is doing more harm to the pitches & we are just trying to create a happy-happy scenario, hiding our inability to play pace & bounce, our inability to put up good score and give the bowlers something to fight for. We were not losing matches earlier with sporting pitches that would turn from day-3. So it's simply childish & ridiculous that we want spinner tracks. Yes, we should have home conditions that supports our home team, but that doesn't mean you change something that was working fine & then do something that might have the potential to make you fall flat on your face. Not every time a Dhoni is going to save you from biting the dust, not for long Sachin is going to be there to stable the ship. Not every time a Virat is going to be playing a mature & sensible innings curbing his natural flamboyance.
Jago Indian Team, Jago. Things were going fine the way they were. Don't hurt the pitches & don't create a fracas. Just have normal pitches that will support the spirit of the game. Don't disappoint the loyal & faithful Test cricket fans and don't finish the match on day-3. No wonder, Test cricket is losing its spectators, losing its glam, losing its importance. Let it be a 5-day affair. You still have some exciting, interesting games that last for 5 days.
When we travel to England, South Africa or Australia, the pitches are different. England has lot of swing. Australia has lot of bounce. South Africa has a mixture of both pace & bounce. Our team's history isn't all that great in all 3 countries. We have almost never won in South Africa, barring a couple of tests, if I am not wrong. We have rarely won in Australia & England. The record has been better in past decade, however, our last visit in 2011-12 was something we would want to wipe out from our memories ASAP. Our visit to England before the 'Tour Down Under' was forgettable too, but I would still want to discount the Indian team for lack of quality pacers & bowling overall. We just weren't capable of taking 20 wickets.
The point is that the 'home-teams' took full advantage of their home conditions, used proper pace attack & more importantly their bowlers bowled to the field set for them. If they are free to use the conditions to their liking, if they are free to prepare pitches to their strengths, what's the harm if Indian team decides to go for square turner pitches which turns from day-1?
A simple question, however, creates lots of issues in the long run. And it sometimes does more harm than good. Indian team reached the Number-One ranking in sub-continent conditions (in Sri Lanka) and played most of their cricket for the next 18+ months in home conditions. And the fact that we retained the ranking for such a long period makes it amply clear that we were winning most of the matches & rarely losing. So why the need of a square turner now? And how good that policy is going to be in the near or longer future? Post world cup 2011, we have had only a couple of real testing matches in England and Australia, rest all Tests (they were only handful) were in the sub-continent. There are 9 test playing nations in the world including us & 5 of them are reliant on pace than spin.
Well, there are few things to consider before going for turner tracks. If you want the pitch to turn from day-1, it has to have lot of dust, or one that has lots of cracks from the outset. Either one of them or mixture of both means bliss for the spinners, and we often have atleast 3-4 specialist spinners in our squad. But, such a pitch, which is typically a day-3 or day-4 pitch can also backfire because the pace bowlers too can wisely use the cracks, the foot-marks (on subsequent days) & the ball can have variable bounce which could create doubt or problem in best of the batsmen's mind. The wicket of Sachin Tendulkar on day-3 of the first test in Chennai was enough to show how the ball misbehaved if used intelligently. Ofcourse, Dhoni's innings was that much more special because he didn't allow any bowler to settle. But the phase and time in which Sachin was batting was also crucial. He was in defensive mood to let the first hour or so go in the favor of bowling team & that's where the wicket came from.
Michael Clarke persisted with his pace battery and it was actually a good move, because he knew he didn't have quality spinners to take advantage of such conditions & James Pattinson bowled his heart out on that pitch. However, our openers failed & if Sachin-Virat-Dhoni not played their respective innings, we would have been staring at another loss at home. Not too long ago Australia had won the series in India under Gilchrist's captaincy (2004).
Its an old line used by most of the commentators, Indian team is the best player of spin bowling. Well, lets put that line to dust & let it rust there. It was true half a decade back. The truth is that there are few players in the current team who know how to best tackle spin bowling. Virat is still new & learning. Viru gets out too early to face spin. Dhoni comes in bit too late to get time to attack the spinners. And Sachin is not getting any younger. The biggest disappointment is lack of footwork at all from most the team-members. We allow the ball to spin & then decide the shot and gift our wickets. Sir Gary Sobers was once asked what's the best way to play spin bowling. He had said, I don't go to the ball, I let it come to me and then decide what I should do. Hey, that was Sobers, one of the all-time greats. Not everyone is capable of doing that. For us mortals, it's best to reach to the ball & not allow it to spin & show it's magic.
The point here is that, although spin is your strength, your batsmen too need to play their shots, put up a defendable total on the board & then let your spinners wreak havoc. And when teams like Australia travel to India with 4-5 specialist pacers, who are as potent or lethal as Starc/Johnson/Pattinson/Siddle, it's best to be able to handle the pace on a deteriorating pitch from day-1. Imagine, we are batting second and, god forbid, we are batting on day-2 or day-3. The pitch would play it's wonders, but against us.
I personally feel, the need to demand spin-friendly pitches might have risen because of two things. First, the failure of our openers. If the pitch is going to turn from day-1, it would most probably be acting like a day-3 pitch on the first day & usually the day-3 pitch is good for batting. The ball doesn't bounce much & Dhoni might be expecting Viru & whoever the other opener is to play some good innings & give a platform for the middle order to build a respectable score & then get the visitors out twice and finish the match in 4 days max. The second reason might be lack of quality pacers. Whatever the current picture shows (a Bhuvaneshwar Kumar or Shafi Ahmed, Umesh Yadav), we still put our best wishes & hopes on spinners in Indian conditions. Its a open secret that spinners take more than 70-75 % of the wickets for India. So, why not bank on spinners? The problem is that it is doing more harm to the pitches & we are just trying to create a happy-happy scenario, hiding our inability to play pace & bounce, our inability to put up good score and give the bowlers something to fight for. We were not losing matches earlier with sporting pitches that would turn from day-3. So it's simply childish & ridiculous that we want spinner tracks. Yes, we should have home conditions that supports our home team, but that doesn't mean you change something that was working fine & then do something that might have the potential to make you fall flat on your face. Not every time a Dhoni is going to save you from biting the dust, not for long Sachin is going to be there to stable the ship. Not every time a Virat is going to be playing a mature & sensible innings curbing his natural flamboyance.
Jago Indian Team, Jago. Things were going fine the way they were. Don't hurt the pitches & don't create a fracas. Just have normal pitches that will support the spirit of the game. Don't disappoint the loyal & faithful Test cricket fans and don't finish the match on day-3. No wonder, Test cricket is losing its spectators, losing its glam, losing its importance. Let it be a 5-day affair. You still have some exciting, interesting games that last for 5 days.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Miss you Sachu...!
Finally, the inevitable happened. The most loved cricketer has put down his bat, albeit in shorter format. Sachin had already retired from T20, which I think was a very wise decision. Although he has been one of the most attacking player of his generation, the truth remained that at 33-34 he won't be the most feared batsman and it would require hell lot of energy. After playing for more than 15 years (at that time) and having a very busy schedule for that period it was important he focussed on more important version(s) of the game & not played the funny format. I strongly feel he should have retired on 2nd April 2011. That was the day he fulfilled his dream of winning the World Cup. That was the best time to retire. He hasn't added too much to his tally of ODI runs after that.
That, he has retired from ODI is not a big loss to the game because he hasn't been playing regularly in the format for a couple of years now. So it was only a surprise than a shock. Surprise, because Indian's strongest arch-rival Pak team is coming to play a few matches & it would have been good to have him play against them. He has often succeeded against them and been an important player in almost all World-Cup games we played against them. He has been Man-of-Match in 3 out of 5 WC games we played against them; 1992, 2003 & 2011. But then, only he knows what he is going through his mind. Maybe the pressure upon him would be doubled because of non-performance in earlier series, maybe the body isn't really giving him the positive signals to cope up with the ever-growing pressure. Especially the pressure of playing against Pakistan would be much higher than normal. Sadly, even after playing for more than 2 decades & being successful for most of the years, the pressure upon him is way more than others. That tells you the fact that he has always had the burden of expectations. Maybe it just got better of him now.
Over the period, he had already started choosing the ODI series to play which was a good move to retain & maintain the fitness of his body to prolong his illustrious career. But the problem was that he was playing less. For a person who has known nothing but being in the middle for better part of his life, it becomes little bit more difficult to adjust the ever-growing demands of the rigors of the game. Also, he seemed to be out of touch of batting. What he needed was more match practice. That's why I always felt, that he should have played more domestic games when "resting" from international games. He would have not lost his "form".
One allegation on him was that he was blocking youngster's place. I haven't seen a better joke for ages in cricket. Firstly, he was an opener in ODI format. Yes, Gambhir often had to sacrifice his opening slot for Sachin whenever he played. But, Gambhir didn't come to the game as an opener. It was always Sachin-Saurav or Sachin-Sehwag. Gambhir was a makeshift opener in absence of Sachin. Sachin had already made it clear, he would want to remain as an opener in ODI format. In recent times, even Gambhir hasn't been in good touch in the ODI format. He was just nudging the ball around even in the shortest format of the game. Even he was in his early 30s. So there is no question of Sachin blocking the place of Gambhir. There was another cry of Ajinkya Rahane not getting place in playing 11. But then who said Sehwag was having time of his life in recent times as an opener. Even Sehwag was failing regularly. Ajinkya could have replaced Sehwag easily. Manoj Tiwary has been warming the bench even when Sachin wasn't playing ODIs. So Sachin, wasn't blocking his place either.
Scoring 18,426 runs in 463 games with 49 ODI centuries & 96 half-centuries at an average of 44.83 is just a statistic that the cricket-records would throw. Ofcourse, these are humongous numbers and it is very difficult to believe these would be broken in another couple of decades atleast. But even if they are broken, it doesn't negate his contribution to the Indian cricket. If Sunil Gavaskar is credited to bring India on cricketing map with his heroics (batting department of the game), particularly against the giants of Carribean, Sachin has taken the name to a different level. Yes, there have been other performers with the likes of Azhar, Dravid, Ganguly & Sehwag, one name has always shone head-and-shoulder above all others; Sachin Tendulkar.
When he batted, you would rarely notice the non-striker even if it would be one of the abovementioned. When he scored, others would be over-shadowed. This was not only because he was a great batsman, but because he was artisctic, his approach seldom surrendering and his hunger/desire to excel in any given scenario was unquestionable. The way he batted was amazing, scoring shots when others would defend, placing the shots in gaps where others would give easy catching practice to opponents. He was a true master in batting even in ODI format and thats what sets him apart from other contemporaries who have graced the game. He can only be compared to Brian Lara, not even Ponting.
The only thing I can say is "MISS YOU!". Miss you, for all the joy you have given to us for these 23 years. Miss you, for fulfilling our dreams of winning games when we had lost all our hope after the match-fixing scandal. Miss you, for the unchallenged records you made & made it a routine for us who always thought our team can never win. Miss you, for the intensity & hunger you brought to the team. Miss you, for you changed the face of Indian cricket. Miss you, for the quality & ability to stay firmly rooted to the grounds despite of all the adulation & fame you have received. (Hope youngsters are listening!) It has been a well-thought and good decision. Yes, it was bit late. (Sorry Sachu, I hate to say this.) But, watching ODIs without you, knowing the bitter fact that we would never see you wearing the blue colors for India, I don't think I would be able to digest it. You are the only reason I got attracted to the game. Earlier, I was one of the countless number of people who played gully-cricket and understood only one thing, see the ball & hit it. But you made me learn the finer aspects of the game. And now that you are not going to play regularly (only Test format) I feel like disconnected from the game. There is a big-bigger-biggest void.
I sincerely hope this decision would help you prolong your Test career & you play well against the coming Aussies. The Test team certainly needs you. But please continue to play in domestic games. The domestic game has been desperately hungry for your contribution.
That, he has retired from ODI is not a big loss to the game because he hasn't been playing regularly in the format for a couple of years now. So it was only a surprise than a shock. Surprise, because Indian's strongest arch-rival Pak team is coming to play a few matches & it would have been good to have him play against them. He has often succeeded against them and been an important player in almost all World-Cup games we played against them. He has been Man-of-Match in 3 out of 5 WC games we played against them; 1992, 2003 & 2011. But then, only he knows what he is going through his mind. Maybe the pressure upon him would be doubled because of non-performance in earlier series, maybe the body isn't really giving him the positive signals to cope up with the ever-growing pressure. Especially the pressure of playing against Pakistan would be much higher than normal. Sadly, even after playing for more than 2 decades & being successful for most of the years, the pressure upon him is way more than others. That tells you the fact that he has always had the burden of expectations. Maybe it just got better of him now.
Over the period, he had already started choosing the ODI series to play which was a good move to retain & maintain the fitness of his body to prolong his illustrious career. But the problem was that he was playing less. For a person who has known nothing but being in the middle for better part of his life, it becomes little bit more difficult to adjust the ever-growing demands of the rigors of the game. Also, he seemed to be out of touch of batting. What he needed was more match practice. That's why I always felt, that he should have played more domestic games when "resting" from international games. He would have not lost his "form".
One allegation on him was that he was blocking youngster's place. I haven't seen a better joke for ages in cricket. Firstly, he was an opener in ODI format. Yes, Gambhir often had to sacrifice his opening slot for Sachin whenever he played. But, Gambhir didn't come to the game as an opener. It was always Sachin-Saurav or Sachin-Sehwag. Gambhir was a makeshift opener in absence of Sachin. Sachin had already made it clear, he would want to remain as an opener in ODI format. In recent times, even Gambhir hasn't been in good touch in the ODI format. He was just nudging the ball around even in the shortest format of the game. Even he was in his early 30s. So there is no question of Sachin blocking the place of Gambhir. There was another cry of Ajinkya Rahane not getting place in playing 11. But then who said Sehwag was having time of his life in recent times as an opener. Even Sehwag was failing regularly. Ajinkya could have replaced Sehwag easily. Manoj Tiwary has been warming the bench even when Sachin wasn't playing ODIs. So Sachin, wasn't blocking his place either.
Scoring 18,426 runs in 463 games with 49 ODI centuries & 96 half-centuries at an average of 44.83 is just a statistic that the cricket-records would throw. Ofcourse, these are humongous numbers and it is very difficult to believe these would be broken in another couple of decades atleast. But even if they are broken, it doesn't negate his contribution to the Indian cricket. If Sunil Gavaskar is credited to bring India on cricketing map with his heroics (batting department of the game), particularly against the giants of Carribean, Sachin has taken the name to a different level. Yes, there have been other performers with the likes of Azhar, Dravid, Ganguly & Sehwag, one name has always shone head-and-shoulder above all others; Sachin Tendulkar.
When he batted, you would rarely notice the non-striker even if it would be one of the abovementioned. When he scored, others would be over-shadowed. This was not only because he was a great batsman, but because he was artisctic, his approach seldom surrendering and his hunger/desire to excel in any given scenario was unquestionable. The way he batted was amazing, scoring shots when others would defend, placing the shots in gaps where others would give easy catching practice to opponents. He was a true master in batting even in ODI format and thats what sets him apart from other contemporaries who have graced the game. He can only be compared to Brian Lara, not even Ponting.
The only thing I can say is "MISS YOU!". Miss you, for all the joy you have given to us for these 23 years. Miss you, for fulfilling our dreams of winning games when we had lost all our hope after the match-fixing scandal. Miss you, for the unchallenged records you made & made it a routine for us who always thought our team can never win. Miss you, for the intensity & hunger you brought to the team. Miss you, for you changed the face of Indian cricket. Miss you, for the quality & ability to stay firmly rooted to the grounds despite of all the adulation & fame you have received. (Hope youngsters are listening!) It has been a well-thought and good decision. Yes, it was bit late. (Sorry Sachu, I hate to say this.) But, watching ODIs without you, knowing the bitter fact that we would never see you wearing the blue colors for India, I don't think I would be able to digest it. You are the only reason I got attracted to the game. Earlier, I was one of the countless number of people who played gully-cricket and understood only one thing, see the ball & hit it. But you made me learn the finer aspects of the game. And now that you are not going to play regularly (only Test format) I feel like disconnected from the game. There is a big-bigger-biggest void.
I sincerely hope this decision would help you prolong your Test career & you play well against the coming Aussies. The Test team certainly needs you. But please continue to play in domestic games. The domestic game has been desperately hungry for your contribution.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
England should win the series 3-1...
The series is 2-1 at this stage & still one more test remains to be played, at Nagpur. However, at this point/stage it seems to be a lost series. If we draw the next match England wins the series by 2-1. Even if we win, still the series is lost in the minds. We could have played better and the result could have been better. It is obvious to analyse the team's "performance" even before the series officially ends. So here we go:
1) Dhoni: He clearly fell short of ideas, not just here, but overall in the past year or so. His ODI & T20 captaincy has been somewhat good, apart from the shoddy performance in England & Australia. Till the time Indian team was No. 1 in Test rankings & till we won the 50-over World Cup in 2011, all was good & rosy. Suddenly one England tour happened & we started losing matches & we haven't seem to recover. Winning against Sri Lanka, West Indies & New Zealand isn't something to be proud of. Sri Lanka has some new talent which is yet to be tried & tested & their bowling attack is somewhat dented by Murali's retirement. West Indies & New Zealand clearly struggled against our spinners in our home conditions. But we failed to seize opportunities against England in England & here, & against Australia in Australia. The field placements didn't really seem to be impressive either. Time has come, Dhoni hands over the reigns to someone (but who?) and relieves himself of the workload. Sometimes he becomes too defensive these days.
2) Sehwag: It maybe due to his fallout with Dhoni (arguable a imaginative news) or his desire to come down the order or maybe age is catching up fast. But he clearly seemed to be a pale shadow of the Viru we know. The Viru, who smashes the bowlers to all parts of the ground. The Viru, who shows no respect to the conditions, to the names of the bowlers, to the match situation, to the score board, to the pitch, who plays only one way and piles up runs, sometimes faster than in T20. India's winning ways were largely propelled and structured around Viru's smashing centuries & we started winning overseas once Viru established himself and settled as an opener. There is no doubt to that. But here, even in home conditions suitable to his batting, he failed except in the first match.
3) Gambhir: He has been out of form for more than a year, almost like Sachin, scoring runs here and there, but not an opener's innings. He has been seen pushing at deliveries more often than playing them. Moreover, Sehwag's failure didn't help either. He quickly needs to work out a solution to the pushing-mindset.
4) Sachin: The biggest star of the country & probably of the cricketing world failed miserably. I would still say his failure was not due to loss of form or cracks in technique. But he needs to really sort out his mindset. For the past couple of years, in test cricket, he goes into shell too often and that is not helping him. If only he can sort out the mind-demons. Else, time has come to pull the shutter down before it falls down.
5) Lower middle order: We have been left with too big a void by Ganguly & VVS's departure. Yuvi and Raina are still not doing themselves any justice. Often they go into T20 modes or in shell like Sachin; sadly their techniques not good for defensive play. Rohit Sharma loves to not do justice to his immense talent & Tiwary is selected in the team only to pass on the water bottles or bats. Dhoni hasn't been the batsman we know for long in Test arena. So the tail is exposed too early.
6) Spinners: We clearly failed to extract the pitch's help like English spinners did. The bigger reason is that we tried too many experiments. You may have a mystery ball or carrom ball, but it is virtually ineffective if you use it too often or without close-in fielders. We went into defensive mode after seeing lesser score by the batsmen and that meant that close-in fielders were rarer than what we used to have in Kumble-Bhajji era. It didn't help that Ashwin seemed to be more in T20-ODI mode even in bowling, and we never forced them to make mistakes. Only one or two partnerships happened in English team, but they were big ones and we failed to stop them in conditions that were suitable more to our spinners.
7) Pacers: Our pacers, especially Zaheer, lacked the initial sting with the new ball. It is understandable that the focus was more on spinners, more than ever. But our pacers simply didn't work at all. They toiled hard and their counterparts, the English pacers were more effective than ours.
8) Overall Batting: Indians are supposed to be the best players against the spinning ball. Well, it seemed true till the "Fantastic Four" were in operation. But over the past couple of years, we seemed to be "worst" players of spin. Although Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar are good spinners, Swann being the best off-spinner currently, we shouldn't forget that our batsman simply lacked the desire to wait at the wicket. As the old adage goes, "stay at the wicket and runs will come". Sadly, it didn't seem to be the case with us. The pitches weren't as bad as they turned out to be. We could have played session by session. But the current lot of batsman clearly & dearly lack the composure & application of a Dravid or a Laxman or even a old-Tendulkar. Sachin did grind it out in the first innings of Kolkata & showed that he still has the desire to go back to the basics when needed. But overall the entire batting line-up failed on that front. Even in England & Australia, there were only a few partnerships, where their batsmen grinded it out, waited patiently and built their innings. Take those partnerships out and even their teams struggled. Sadly, we never had any such partnerships in these 11 test matches. (4 in England, 4 in Australia & 3 here). The fact that we are performing acceptably in ODI & T20 format, the truth remains that we as a Test batting side are losing heavily. And, sadly, the future is gloomy too.
9) Bench strength: Our bench strength must have become specialist bench-warmers by now. We took Ajinky Rahane out of Mumbai duty and gave him the duty of being a replacement fielder or water bottle transporter. We took Ashok Dinda in the team, and put him on bench on his home ground. We overlooked Manoj Tiwary. Unmukt Chand is still too young to play international matches in Test format. Sadly, the list ends here. There have been numerous domestic talents. But either they are not so good when they come at international level or they look out of sorts because their first aim has become to secure a place in the national side.
After having a look at all that has happened, it is imperative that I want the English team to win. Not because I like that team & support it. Not because I don't have any faith in this Indian team. But because, time has come that we shook ourselves awake and enlighten ourselves on the fact that we are not the side which was a few years back. Because, we need to really go to the basics & have someone who plays Test cricket in Test form & not ODI/T20 form. Because, there are some tough decisions to be taken and a loss here will only strengthen the selection committee to take hard but good decisions. If we win in Nagpur, there is a possibility that the same team might play in future series & same mistakes are committed. A 3-1 result is surely welcome if we are going to learn from it. There is nothing wrong in losing by 4-0 even in home conditions, as long as we put up some strong fight, as long as we are fighting till the last ball of the match. Ofcourse, the Indian team is fighting. Not that they are not. But the way they are doing it, it looks like the desire, the killer instinct, is not there. It looks more of mechanical sorts, just doing it for the sake of it. Something really needs to be done.
From here, post this series, I am hoping for some changes, changes not for the sake of it, but for the sake of Indian cricket.
1) The biggest change expected is to have some Test specialists. In Dravid/Laxman we had named them as Test specialists and they were rightly in those roles. We need to quickly find someone who are in their mould, who are not affected by T20s. Not just in batting, but in bowling too.
2) Push Sehwag down the order, maybe at No. 5 or 6 and get a proper opener. Someone like Rahane or Tiwary can be of good help. We still need Sehwag for his swashbuckling hittings, carefree attack and big centuries.
3) Ashwin has been a good find, a good thinking bowler, but I strongly feel he is more suited to ODI & T20 format than Test. If Bhajji is good enough for Tests, which he is, we more importantly need a good leg-spinner. If we are going to continue with Ojha (he has seemed a far better bowler than Ashwin), we certainly need a leg-spinner with variations. A Piyush Chawla or Amit Mishra can be helpful, they can bat a bit too.
4) I would like to see Zaheer resting and not play Test cricket for some time. He is not unfit, but it is difficult to hide him in the fielding side and his batting is not helping either. We could play him in overseas conditions where the ball swings.
5) Sachin should think of his role. He could continue to play Test cricket, if he is retiring from ODIs. An ODI demands more energy and stamina levels for the day. Test cricket is not that demanding physically, especially when he has 23 years of experience of every ground in the cricketing world. If at he is to retire, then this is the right time. Further extending his pain and expectations, can hurt him more.
1) Dhoni: He clearly fell short of ideas, not just here, but overall in the past year or so. His ODI & T20 captaincy has been somewhat good, apart from the shoddy performance in England & Australia. Till the time Indian team was No. 1 in Test rankings & till we won the 50-over World Cup in 2011, all was good & rosy. Suddenly one England tour happened & we started losing matches & we haven't seem to recover. Winning against Sri Lanka, West Indies & New Zealand isn't something to be proud of. Sri Lanka has some new talent which is yet to be tried & tested & their bowling attack is somewhat dented by Murali's retirement. West Indies & New Zealand clearly struggled against our spinners in our home conditions. But we failed to seize opportunities against England in England & here, & against Australia in Australia. The field placements didn't really seem to be impressive either. Time has come, Dhoni hands over the reigns to someone (but who?) and relieves himself of the workload. Sometimes he becomes too defensive these days.
2) Sehwag: It maybe due to his fallout with Dhoni (arguable a imaginative news) or his desire to come down the order or maybe age is catching up fast. But he clearly seemed to be a pale shadow of the Viru we know. The Viru, who smashes the bowlers to all parts of the ground. The Viru, who shows no respect to the conditions, to the names of the bowlers, to the match situation, to the score board, to the pitch, who plays only one way and piles up runs, sometimes faster than in T20. India's winning ways were largely propelled and structured around Viru's smashing centuries & we started winning overseas once Viru established himself and settled as an opener. There is no doubt to that. But here, even in home conditions suitable to his batting, he failed except in the first match.
3) Gambhir: He has been out of form for more than a year, almost like Sachin, scoring runs here and there, but not an opener's innings. He has been seen pushing at deliveries more often than playing them. Moreover, Sehwag's failure didn't help either. He quickly needs to work out a solution to the pushing-mindset.
4) Sachin: The biggest star of the country & probably of the cricketing world failed miserably. I would still say his failure was not due to loss of form or cracks in technique. But he needs to really sort out his mindset. For the past couple of years, in test cricket, he goes into shell too often and that is not helping him. If only he can sort out the mind-demons. Else, time has come to pull the shutter down before it falls down.
5) Lower middle order: We have been left with too big a void by Ganguly & VVS's departure. Yuvi and Raina are still not doing themselves any justice. Often they go into T20 modes or in shell like Sachin; sadly their techniques not good for defensive play. Rohit Sharma loves to not do justice to his immense talent & Tiwary is selected in the team only to pass on the water bottles or bats. Dhoni hasn't been the batsman we know for long in Test arena. So the tail is exposed too early.
6) Spinners: We clearly failed to extract the pitch's help like English spinners did. The bigger reason is that we tried too many experiments. You may have a mystery ball or carrom ball, but it is virtually ineffective if you use it too often or without close-in fielders. We went into defensive mode after seeing lesser score by the batsmen and that meant that close-in fielders were rarer than what we used to have in Kumble-Bhajji era. It didn't help that Ashwin seemed to be more in T20-ODI mode even in bowling, and we never forced them to make mistakes. Only one or two partnerships happened in English team, but they were big ones and we failed to stop them in conditions that were suitable more to our spinners.
7) Pacers: Our pacers, especially Zaheer, lacked the initial sting with the new ball. It is understandable that the focus was more on spinners, more than ever. But our pacers simply didn't work at all. They toiled hard and their counterparts, the English pacers were more effective than ours.
8) Overall Batting: Indians are supposed to be the best players against the spinning ball. Well, it seemed true till the "Fantastic Four" were in operation. But over the past couple of years, we seemed to be "worst" players of spin. Although Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar are good spinners, Swann being the best off-spinner currently, we shouldn't forget that our batsman simply lacked the desire to wait at the wicket. As the old adage goes, "stay at the wicket and runs will come". Sadly, it didn't seem to be the case with us. The pitches weren't as bad as they turned out to be. We could have played session by session. But the current lot of batsman clearly & dearly lack the composure & application of a Dravid or a Laxman or even a old-Tendulkar. Sachin did grind it out in the first innings of Kolkata & showed that he still has the desire to go back to the basics when needed. But overall the entire batting line-up failed on that front. Even in England & Australia, there were only a few partnerships, where their batsmen grinded it out, waited patiently and built their innings. Take those partnerships out and even their teams struggled. Sadly, we never had any such partnerships in these 11 test matches. (4 in England, 4 in Australia & 3 here). The fact that we are performing acceptably in ODI & T20 format, the truth remains that we as a Test batting side are losing heavily. And, sadly, the future is gloomy too.
9) Bench strength: Our bench strength must have become specialist bench-warmers by now. We took Ajinky Rahane out of Mumbai duty and gave him the duty of being a replacement fielder or water bottle transporter. We took Ashok Dinda in the team, and put him on bench on his home ground. We overlooked Manoj Tiwary. Unmukt Chand is still too young to play international matches in Test format. Sadly, the list ends here. There have been numerous domestic talents. But either they are not so good when they come at international level or they look out of sorts because their first aim has become to secure a place in the national side.
After having a look at all that has happened, it is imperative that I want the English team to win. Not because I like that team & support it. Not because I don't have any faith in this Indian team. But because, time has come that we shook ourselves awake and enlighten ourselves on the fact that we are not the side which was a few years back. Because, we need to really go to the basics & have someone who plays Test cricket in Test form & not ODI/T20 form. Because, there are some tough decisions to be taken and a loss here will only strengthen the selection committee to take hard but good decisions. If we win in Nagpur, there is a possibility that the same team might play in future series & same mistakes are committed. A 3-1 result is surely welcome if we are going to learn from it. There is nothing wrong in losing by 4-0 even in home conditions, as long as we put up some strong fight, as long as we are fighting till the last ball of the match. Ofcourse, the Indian team is fighting. Not that they are not. But the way they are doing it, it looks like the desire, the killer instinct, is not there. It looks more of mechanical sorts, just doing it for the sake of it. Something really needs to be done.
From here, post this series, I am hoping for some changes, changes not for the sake of it, but for the sake of Indian cricket.
1) The biggest change expected is to have some Test specialists. In Dravid/Laxman we had named them as Test specialists and they were rightly in those roles. We need to quickly find someone who are in their mould, who are not affected by T20s. Not just in batting, but in bowling too.
2) Push Sehwag down the order, maybe at No. 5 or 6 and get a proper opener. Someone like Rahane or Tiwary can be of good help. We still need Sehwag for his swashbuckling hittings, carefree attack and big centuries.
3) Ashwin has been a good find, a good thinking bowler, but I strongly feel he is more suited to ODI & T20 format than Test. If Bhajji is good enough for Tests, which he is, we more importantly need a good leg-spinner. If we are going to continue with Ojha (he has seemed a far better bowler than Ashwin), we certainly need a leg-spinner with variations. A Piyush Chawla or Amit Mishra can be helpful, they can bat a bit too.
4) I would like to see Zaheer resting and not play Test cricket for some time. He is not unfit, but it is difficult to hide him in the fielding side and his batting is not helping either. We could play him in overseas conditions where the ball swings.
5) Sachin should think of his role. He could continue to play Test cricket, if he is retiring from ODIs. An ODI demands more energy and stamina levels for the day. Test cricket is not that demanding physically, especially when he has 23 years of experience of every ground in the cricketing world. If at he is to retire, then this is the right time. Further extending his pain and expectations, can hurt him more.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Shutter down?
Runs have stopped coming, suddenly. The hand-eye co-ordination which enthralled the world for more than 2 decades has suddenly been under scanner. The footwork seems to be missing or doubtful. The head is full of cobwebs that have formed due to constant pressure from media & the so-called pundits asking questions about his retirement. Yet, one thing has been constant. The usual drills and net-sessions. The child-like eagerness to bat. The quest for perfection on already perfect technique. Sachin Tendulkar is yet again in the firing line-up and taking all the blows, this time from his own people who loved him for more than 2 decades.
Is he really past his prime? Has he really started showing signs of age? Is he really such a big-failure that people want him to retire? First of all, who are we to ask him to retire? It's not just about Sachin alone. For that matter, any person from the sports fraternity cannot be asked to retire just because they are not performing. In this matter, there is a system known as BCCI (Selection Committee) which has the rights to do the same. They can very well drop him from his next venture. Why are we crying about it? We are not paying Sachin to perform; we just pay to see him perform. If he is not performing to our "expectations", we have the option of not watching him, be it a stadium ticket or television set. It is upto the selection committee and the captain to play or drop him from the next match/series.
It is obvious that age has been trying to catch up with him. There have been numerous players have played well beyond 40 age and have played reasonably well. The problem with Sachin is different than them. Firstly, he started playing (international matches) at a very tender age of 16. This means, although he is just 39, he still has 23 years of international cricket behind him. He has spent his most important years of life on cricket ground. By doing so, he has gained so many runs and such an experience that has left many of us dumbfounded. But that also means, the bar of expectation has been raised so high that anything below (even if it is a 70-80) is not acceptable to the people. Obviously, a single-digit score would be almost criminal.
In my opinion, there is no problem at all with Sachin's age, technique, reflexes. Talking about reflexes, he still has good reflexes that is seen when he plays his trademark shorts, when he fields. The biggest problem is that, now after all those years, it seems he is getting burdened by the expectations. He probably expects too much from himself, constantly trying to match his own standards. He is at a stage where he should be relaxed and enjoying his game, not thinking about other things, almost like how Sehwag plays. That surely doesn't mean he has to play like Sehwag, but if only he can keep the burden aside, he can play like he did in 2009-10.
He has time-and-again proved that he is human, he gets bogged down when he nears a landmark. He failed miserably when he kept thinking about 10000 Test runs, about getting past Lara's record, about scoring 35th Test century, about scoring 50th Test century & about 100th century. He has to keep all these thoughts aside and stick to what he always says, you should continue to play, records happen alongway. The more he thinks about these thinks, the more he is going to fail. One failure will put more pressure and then second, then third, and so on. The first thing he probably needs to do is to find some psychological help, someone who can help him overcome his anxiety.
The second thing he needs to do is to stop over practicing. Every time he gets out cheaply he heads towards the nets and practices like anything. He has the most perfect technique anyone can have and that has been tried and tested and polished over two decades. He doesn't need to worry about his technique, its all in minds now. He needs to just do the normal drills and net-sessions.
The third thing he needs to do is to stay away from everyone, no matter who he is, former player, current player, media, anyone. He can even go for a small holiday after the test series, relax, freshen up and come back rejuvenated for the ODI series.
As Lara said, he still has a year or so in him. Who knows, the prospect of reaching 200 tests might ignite another spark in the fading light and he will retire on a higher note. Kapil Dev rightly said, he should have retired after World Cup win. But if he hasn't then we just leave it to him. If he underperforms, he can be dropped or rested. But let us stop talking about his retirement. I have seen many people who have been pathetic in playing the game, but they are now so-called experts. One piece of advice, if they were asked to stop playing, they shouldn't take revenge on Sachin.
Is he really past his prime? Has he really started showing signs of age? Is he really such a big-failure that people want him to retire? First of all, who are we to ask him to retire? It's not just about Sachin alone. For that matter, any person from the sports fraternity cannot be asked to retire just because they are not performing. In this matter, there is a system known as BCCI (Selection Committee) which has the rights to do the same. They can very well drop him from his next venture. Why are we crying about it? We are not paying Sachin to perform; we just pay to see him perform. If he is not performing to our "expectations", we have the option of not watching him, be it a stadium ticket or television set. It is upto the selection committee and the captain to play or drop him from the next match/series.
It is obvious that age has been trying to catch up with him. There have been numerous players have played well beyond 40 age and have played reasonably well. The problem with Sachin is different than them. Firstly, he started playing (international matches) at a very tender age of 16. This means, although he is just 39, he still has 23 years of international cricket behind him. He has spent his most important years of life on cricket ground. By doing so, he has gained so many runs and such an experience that has left many of us dumbfounded. But that also means, the bar of expectation has been raised so high that anything below (even if it is a 70-80) is not acceptable to the people. Obviously, a single-digit score would be almost criminal.
In my opinion, there is no problem at all with Sachin's age, technique, reflexes. Talking about reflexes, he still has good reflexes that is seen when he plays his trademark shorts, when he fields. The biggest problem is that, now after all those years, it seems he is getting burdened by the expectations. He probably expects too much from himself, constantly trying to match his own standards. He is at a stage where he should be relaxed and enjoying his game, not thinking about other things, almost like how Sehwag plays. That surely doesn't mean he has to play like Sehwag, but if only he can keep the burden aside, he can play like he did in 2009-10.
He has time-and-again proved that he is human, he gets bogged down when he nears a landmark. He failed miserably when he kept thinking about 10000 Test runs, about getting past Lara's record, about scoring 35th Test century, about scoring 50th Test century & about 100th century. He has to keep all these thoughts aside and stick to what he always says, you should continue to play, records happen alongway. The more he thinks about these thinks, the more he is going to fail. One failure will put more pressure and then second, then third, and so on. The first thing he probably needs to do is to find some psychological help, someone who can help him overcome his anxiety.
The second thing he needs to do is to stop over practicing. Every time he gets out cheaply he heads towards the nets and practices like anything. He has the most perfect technique anyone can have and that has been tried and tested and polished over two decades. He doesn't need to worry about his technique, its all in minds now. He needs to just do the normal drills and net-sessions.
The third thing he needs to do is to stay away from everyone, no matter who he is, former player, current player, media, anyone. He can even go for a small holiday after the test series, relax, freshen up and come back rejuvenated for the ODI series.
As Lara said, he still has a year or so in him. Who knows, the prospect of reaching 200 tests might ignite another spark in the fading light and he will retire on a higher note. Kapil Dev rightly said, he should have retired after World Cup win. But if he hasn't then we just leave it to him. If he underperforms, he can be dropped or rested. But let us stop talking about his retirement. I have seen many people who have been pathetic in playing the game, but they are now so-called experts. One piece of advice, if they were asked to stop playing, they shouldn't take revenge on Sachin.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Is Virat Kohli the next big thing?
Virat Kohli has been in superb form with his batting in 2012, having already scored a good number of ODI centuries. More importantly he has tried to be on the wicket till the end, succeeding in quite a few attempts. Everyone is going gaga on his form, temperament, attitude, technique. Many are saying, he is the next big thing in Indian cricket. So is he? Well, I am penning my opinion based on what I have observed. So here we go...
No doubt, Virat has emerged as an exciting new talent, and has already started making an impression, although it has been somewhat darkened by his so-called arrogance and antics on the field. Afterall, he has tasted success at a very young age, and the breed of people who taste success at raw age and still keep their feet on ground is fast vanishing. Perhaps, he should learn some tips from the most famous cricketer of our age how to keep himself cool and calm and take the success in his stride; referring to "aapla Sachu".
There are four main things that I consider in a sportsperson, more importantly a cricketer and even more importantly a batsman, as that's what Virat is known for.
1) Technique
2) Temperament
3) Attitude/Approach towards the game/situation
4) Hunger/Desire to excel
I would try to evaluate him (& at times compare him) on the above.
1) Technique:
There is no doubt, that Virat Kohli has the technique. He does have a wide array of strokes and often relies on text-book shots, which are almost perfect in execution. He has a good defense, however, that is yet to be tested in test matches in hostile conditions. Yes, he scored a century in last match of the Australia series. But it is not the century that matters, it is the consistency of using the right shot at the right time. It wouldn't be fair to judge him so early as he has played too less of test cricket. But for the time being his technique is quite a useful one for ODIs and T20s. His way of playing reminds more of Sachin's younger days where he would tackle the bowlers head-on and often dominate them. So presently, his technique is more than enough and he can excel in sub-continent conditions even in test matches. (4/5 for ODIs and T20s; 3/5 for Tests)
2) Temperament:
This has been a bit of problem area for Virat Kohli. You don't need a attacking player remain calm and composed every minute. There are frustrations, there are emotions and even the best of the best players are unable to control them at some stage. Even the otherwise-sage like Rahul Dravid would show some amount of frustration when he witnessed a mis-field or a dropped catch when he was the captain. But, there have been numerous occasions, where he has let go emotions without any control and that's not a good sign. People would surely misinterprete it as over-arrogance which usually comes to people who taste success at a very young age. Temperament would also mean how a player functions in testing situation and if you are not able to control your emotions, the performance get affected. He has a long way to go. (3/5)
3) Attitude/Approach toward the game/situation:
Recently, Virat has shown the maturity to play sensible cricket, bat through the innings. And that is commendable. He has quickly learnt how to keep things going, how to keep scoreboard ticking by rotating the strike and how to control big shots when not needed. All he now needs to do is to implement this knowledge in test cricket whenever he gets chance. He has always tried his best to make most of the chances he got. So I don't think he lags behind on this aspect. He has the ability to keep cool while batting & he is a thinking cricketer. (5/5)
4) Hunger/Desire to excel:
That is one aspect in which Sachin stands heads-&-shoulders above anyone who has played the game. Inspite of ruling the batting for more than 2 decades he still goes back to the nets, tries to improve upon something that he has not liked. He tries to adapt himself to various things before any series and that's why he is where he is now. I don't mean to say that Virat should follow his footsteps, but he needs to focus more on his skills in the small time he gets between two series. I am sure he is doing that. (4/5)
Total 16/20 for ODIs & T20s and 15/20 for Tests)
No doubt, Virat has emerged as an exciting new talent, and has already started making an impression, although it has been somewhat darkened by his so-called arrogance and antics on the field. Afterall, he has tasted success at a very young age, and the breed of people who taste success at raw age and still keep their feet on ground is fast vanishing. Perhaps, he should learn some tips from the most famous cricketer of our age how to keep himself cool and calm and take the success in his stride; referring to "aapla Sachu".
There are four main things that I consider in a sportsperson, more importantly a cricketer and even more importantly a batsman, as that's what Virat is known for.
1) Technique
2) Temperament
3) Attitude/Approach towards the game/situation
4) Hunger/Desire to excel
I would try to evaluate him (& at times compare him) on the above.
1) Technique:
There is no doubt, that Virat Kohli has the technique. He does have a wide array of strokes and often relies on text-book shots, which are almost perfect in execution. He has a good defense, however, that is yet to be tested in test matches in hostile conditions. Yes, he scored a century in last match of the Australia series. But it is not the century that matters, it is the consistency of using the right shot at the right time. It wouldn't be fair to judge him so early as he has played too less of test cricket. But for the time being his technique is quite a useful one for ODIs and T20s. His way of playing reminds more of Sachin's younger days where he would tackle the bowlers head-on and often dominate them. So presently, his technique is more than enough and he can excel in sub-continent conditions even in test matches. (4/5 for ODIs and T20s; 3/5 for Tests)
2) Temperament:
This has been a bit of problem area for Virat Kohli. You don't need a attacking player remain calm and composed every minute. There are frustrations, there are emotions and even the best of the best players are unable to control them at some stage. Even the otherwise-sage like Rahul Dravid would show some amount of frustration when he witnessed a mis-field or a dropped catch when he was the captain. But, there have been numerous occasions, where he has let go emotions without any control and that's not a good sign. People would surely misinterprete it as over-arrogance which usually comes to people who taste success at a very young age. Temperament would also mean how a player functions in testing situation and if you are not able to control your emotions, the performance get affected. He has a long way to go. (3/5)
3) Attitude/Approach toward the game/situation:
Recently, Virat has shown the maturity to play sensible cricket, bat through the innings. And that is commendable. He has quickly learnt how to keep things going, how to keep scoreboard ticking by rotating the strike and how to control big shots when not needed. All he now needs to do is to implement this knowledge in test cricket whenever he gets chance. He has always tried his best to make most of the chances he got. So I don't think he lags behind on this aspect. He has the ability to keep cool while batting & he is a thinking cricketer. (5/5)
4) Hunger/Desire to excel:
That is one aspect in which Sachin stands heads-&-shoulders above anyone who has played the game. Inspite of ruling the batting for more than 2 decades he still goes back to the nets, tries to improve upon something that he has not liked. He tries to adapt himself to various things before any series and that's why he is where he is now. I don't mean to say that Virat should follow his footsteps, but he needs to focus more on his skills in the small time he gets between two series. I am sure he is doing that. (4/5)
Total 16/20 for ODIs & T20s and 15/20 for Tests)
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