T20...Really?

The Indian domestic season has changed dramatically in the last four years.
I would follow the Ranji Trophy on Cricinfo and would also read about performances that stood out through the course of the tournament.
Last year, Rajasthan won it. I don't think many people will remember this useless bit of information.
However, most people remember that the Rajasthan Royals won the first IPL.
If players like Manish Pandey had never been the first Indian to make an IPL century, would people know who he was?
At least in Pandey's defence, he hasn't played international cricket as yet.
The BCCI, for the last four years, has been selecting players on the basis of their T20 performances.
It's probably why RP Singh wonders why he is in England at the moment.
Indian cricket has its moments of peaking and plummeting. This period i.e. the last two years have been good for us. However, I see a plummet happening following the retirement of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman.
T20 is not going to help our cause because despite what Ricky Ponting says, it will not improve a cricketer's performance in test cricket.
I'm not going to criticise Sehwag because he's not had match practice and he's rescued India on more than one occasion across the globe. But what about the others?
You can't even blame them. The BCCI barely pays anything to Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and Duleep Trophy players. These guys are better off playing for two months at the IPL and spending the remaining 10 eating at home. It serves their life and purpose.
What the BCCI needs to do is send its emerging players and current players as part of India A and India B groups and get them to train in Australia, South Africa and England. This kind of exposure in sides that have strong domestic circuits.
If they don't then, the test team can continue playing 20 overs and getting out and watching teams make 700 runs in two days. 

The rants of an Indian cricket fan

I suggest that all of you watch that scene before you read the rest of the post.
India went as the Number 1 team to England. They had successful tours against The West Indies, a decent series against South Africa and even won the World Cup.
They were on top of the World.
Then they went to England, who after a great Ashes, got rogered in the World Cup.
So everyone assumed that India would do well.
I was the pessimist and was ridiculed.
I feel like scum, but I should become a bookie, given how my predictions usually work out.
India is getting its ass kicked and it looks like the drubbing won't stop.
Who is to blame?
1) The BCCI: Overworking the players has resulted in a burnout. As Nasser Hussain said in the commentary box, the Indians spend most of their free time eating. So we have unfit and injured players. Double threat. Yay!
2) Indians prefer club over country. The IPL proved it. The IPL should never have started. They should have stuck to the ICL and not killed so many careers. We need smart business plans and make Indians who cannot play international cricket be part of the IPL. Get the retired guys as well. Keep important players out of these tournaments. They're millionaires anyway. Too much money is bad. Get the oldies and youngsters. Throw in some cheerleader to tell us what the players do at a party and we can read about the IPL orgy.
3) Give our players a county stint. I have written about this before.
4) Stop behaving like the English when you're losing. You've gotten fucked in the ass. Don't cry. Learn. Don 't act like you're getting fucked by your boss from 10 am to 5 pm. Don't pray for rain because you're playing in England. This will never work.
5) Pray to the Jesus. He may have mercy and not shove a trigger up your ass and make it go 'click'.
6) Stop asking Sachin to make his 100th century. The fucker has enough pressure already
7) Thank God that Dravid allows you to go beyond 250 

Rahul Dravid: India's unsung hero

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I wanted Sachin Tendulkar in my all-time XI.
Now, I've changed my mind.
I love Sachin, no doubt, but I cannot count on him to deliver all the time. After the Lord's test, I'd rather depend on Rahul Dravid.
I wrote this piece on him in a website that is a client of our company. They will go Live on Friday and I'll be a regular contributor here.
So here it is:

Fifteen years after making his debut, Rahul Dravid made his first century at Lords. In his first match, he made 95, which is a sensational debut at the Mecca of cricket. But then Saurav Ganguly went on to make 131. When India played Sri Lanka at Taunton during the 1999 World Cup, Rahul Dravid made 145 in a ODI match. The score is excellent, but Saurav Ganguly made 183. In a ODI played in Hyderabad against New Zealand, Rahul Dravid made 153, but Sachin Tendulkar made an unbeaten 186. And in what is probably the greatest test match played last decade, he made 180 against Australia at the Eden Gardens, but VVS Laxman made 281.

Despite being second best in the scorecards, Rahul Dravid is the best batsman we’ve had for a very long time. People speak of Sachin Tendulkar and his records and his greatness. I agree with all of that, but if I wanted an Indian batsman to save a test match, I’d turn to Dravid.

Dravid finally got his dues in the 2002 series against England, when he was unstoppable. He was making century after century and the English had nothing left in their armory to bowl to him. The form continued when he went to Australia and made a double century at the Adelaide Oval to ensure that India beat the then test champions in their home ground.

Why is Dravid such a valuable asset to the Indian side? Reason is simple: he has always been comfortable playing second fiddle. He has never changed his game by watching Sachin, Sehwag, Dhoni, Saurav or VVS bat. He has been the Wall for the Indian side. As a cricket fan wrote on Facebook after Dravid’s century, Sachin, VVS and Sehwag may be the Gods of Indian cricket, but there is always a wall to protect the Gods. That is Rahul Dravid: India’s unsung hero.

You got to be kidding me...

The next time the ICC decides to ask people to take an all-time XI test team, the people who submit their votes should be subjected to an IQ test before becoming selectors.
No wait. That sounds wrong. I'm sure that most selectors are a brainless bunch of idiots. So I take back what I said. I'm sure that experts cringed when they saw the all-time XI. Geoff Boycott said it's a 'joke' and I agree with him. I'm no expert, but this is an insult to cricket and cricketers and their achievements in general.
So I look at this 'All-Time XI' squad and put it up against Clive Lloyd's West Indies, Ian Chappell's Australia  or Steve Waugh's Australia and I know that they will lose. No disrespect to some of the players in the squad, but the names raise eyebrows, resulting in the players themselves questioning the authenticity of the way this team was selected.
I am sure that people reading this blog will either agree with me or flame me. The true cricket lover will agree, but the guy who thinks that T20 cricket is exciting will probably flame.
So here's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to do a swat analysis of players I believe should not be in this squad

 
Virender Sehwag
Sehwag is the best opener in world cricket today. He's exciting, carefree and can destroy a bowling attack from the first ball. His technique (or the lack of it), enables him to play on every wicket across the world. He has centuries on bouncy wickets, green tops and subcontinent turners. He has two triple centuries to his name, which is incredible. He could be in so many all-time test squads, but then there are Len Hutton, Jack Hobbes, who are the purists. And then there are Gordon Greenidge and Barry Richards, who are Sehwag's with technique. So yeah, along with Gavaskar, whose game is similar to Hutton and Hobbes, I'd go for Barry Richards. Another option I've always had is Len Hutton and Barry Richards, which was also chosen by Tom Graveny in his book The Ten Greatest Test Teams
 
Brian Lara 
Lara is a great batsman, but I'm not a fan. On his day, he's the greatest. Unfortunately, that day comes rarely. The 153 I saw him make against Australia is the greatest test innings that I have seen. He was the only guy to reach triple figures in a three-test match series against Sri Lanka, while the others struggled to reach double figures. However, Lara for all his greatness, is flashy and inconsistent. In my opinion, he could have averaged 60 in test matches, but his early susceptibility outside the off-stump and his initial shuffling across the crease always got him out  


Kapil Dev
When you have an all-rounder like Sir Gary Sobers at your disposal, the other all-rounders, despite their brilliant records, don't stand a chance. Kapil has the wickets and has made the runs. But sadly for him, he isn't Sir Gary and he will be gracious enough to admit that himself.
  
Shane Warne 
Shane Warne is great. The greatest legspinner that I have ever seen bowl. However, he could never taste success against India. He had only one five wicket haul against them in a test series. Each time he thought that he could make an impact, but ended up failing. It's a tragedy, but it's the fact of life as well.





 Glenn McGrath
I love McGrath. He was accurate and consistent. He could take wickets regularly, but he could also be belted. Sachin Tendulkar has done that to him. So has Brian Lara. So has Michael Vaughan and so has Herschelle Gibbs. Also, he's not express, which we need in an all-time great side.




I have reservations about Gavaskar and Ambrose as well. However, they could be in another cricket lover's world XI, which is why I'm not putting them down in the SWAT list.

So here's my final XI

Sir Len Hutton
Gordon Greenidge
Viv Richards
Sachin Tendulkar
Don Bradman (c)
Sir Gary Sobers
Adam Gilchrist (wk)
Wasim Akram*
Malcolm Marshall
Denniss Lillee
Bill O'Reilly

* I debated between Imran Khan and Wasim Akram, but since I needed a bit of variety in my attack, I chose Wasim
But as for the original All-Time-XI, I'll say this again: Are you kidding me?

PS: I'm sure that there are names that have been ignored. Ambrose, Holding, Steve Waugh, the Chappell brothers, Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Sunil Gavaskar, Sydney Barnes and other great names that I can't remember now will probably fit into the side that faces my all time-XI

The new minnows

Ask an Indian cricket fan of their favourite test series in the last two decades and they will all say the 2001 series between India and Australia. That series was a great one, no doubt, but I don't agree with them. For me, the 1999 series between West Indies and Australia was the best series that I have ever seen. The series ended in a draw - an apt way for it to end, but to me that was test cricket at its very best.

I speak of that series with fondness because I feel sad for West Indies. Today, despite loving the game, I can't watch a series that involves the West Indies anymore. There was a time where i'd sit up and watch a test match till 3 am and go to sleep because it was fun.

If the West Indies are scrapped of test status, maybe
it'll be good for them to rethink their game

Despite their decline over the last two decades, I would still enjoy watching Ambrose, Walsh, Rose, Dillon run in and bowl. At the same time, while I'm not a fan, it would be fun watching Lara, Jacobs, Samuels, Sarwan, Gayle, Hinds and even for that matter despite the ugliness of his game, Chanderpaul. Now there is no Gayle. Lara and Jacobs have retired. Nobody knows whether Samuels has been given a clean chit over his match fixing allegations. Sarwan is woefully out of form and Chanderpaul, if you thought it possible, has made his game look uglier.

When I hear Tony Cozier, Michael Holding and Ian Bishop talk into their microphones, I feel sad. Tony Cozier has been around forever. He has seen the side touch the peak of sporting greatness as well as plummet to the very bottom of the rankings. Holding was part of arguably one of the greatest cricketing teams to have ever played the game. He now watches and we can only wonder what he's thinking when West Indies lose the way they do. Bishop, unfortunately, didn't get to play too much cricket. A great career was hampered by a career-ending back injury. He tries to be neutral, but you can sense the disappointment in his voice when he's talking about the West Indies.

Other greats like Sir Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd and more recently, Andy Roberts have tried to do their bit, but have failed. These are the same guys who were instrumental in winning the West Indies two World Cups and spoke of unity and Caribbean pride. Sadly for the team today, there is no pride. The players play like they're doing the world a favour. There is wayward bowling. There are batting collapses. Now with Chris Gayle unable to sort out his issues with the WICB, is there a chance that the West Indies could become vulnerable in front of teams like The Netherlands and Ireland?

There are burst of brilliance. This was seen in the World Cup against Bangladesh. It was seen in the Champions Trophy final when they beat England. Unfortunately, even minnows have moments of brilliance. Ireland had it against England, as did the Netherlands during the recent World Cup.

I would be crucified for making this statement, but maybe that's why the ICC probably reconsidered minnows playing for the 2015 World Cup. That way, the West Indies could have played some games for pride. Maybe if the ICC would consider doing to West Indies what they did to Zimbabwe, things may be different for the game. And maybe we'll have more test matches like the West Indies-Australia 1999 series.

Hashan Tillakaratne and the ghost of cricket past

Hashan Tillakaratne alleging match fixing in Sri Lankan cricket is a bit of a surprise. Not because he's made the allegation, but the timing.
Throwing a game away in cricket for money never went away. We all know this. It is an open secret, which even the ardent die-hard optimistic cricket lover cannot deny. Today, for me, watching a test match is poetry in motion. But at the back of my head, I always think something is amiss.
When Hansie Cronje confessed to killing the game and selling his country, I like millions of cricket fans was devastated. It comes to a point that sometimes when Sachin Tendulkar makes a century, I'm delighted. Other times, I think, "Was this century gifted to him in exchange for a house overlooking the Cape of Good Hope?"
Tillakaratne's allegations earlier involved cricketer-turned-politician Sanath Jayasuriya and cricketer-turned-administrator Arvinda de Silva. He then backtracked saying that he said no such thing.
Just before the West Indies tour, Suresh Raina was caught on camera with a bookie in Shirdi. His excuse was that the bookie could have just been in the frame at that time. While Raina can be justified with that excuse, he can't explain why the bookie was holding his arm.
We have an ICC chairman, who has alleged ties with Dawood Ibrahim. We have a former player, who has been accused of popularising match fixing in South Asia, coaching an IPL team, as well as being on a channel's commentary team. We have a politician-cum-commentator with a murder charge against him. Unfortunately, the poor bastard cannot be blamed. Most politicians in South Asia have a criminal charge against them.
Tillakaratne's charges just make the game a lot uglier. Sadly for cricket, it is not like that.

Times are changing

Here's an interesting piece of history.
When we won the World Cup in 1983, we had a home series against West Indies. A West Indies team that was pissed off and wanted to show the world that India's victory was just a fluke.
And they did just that.
If I were to be polite, one word I'll use is buggered.
Now in 2011, we're going to the West Indies after winning the World Cup. (I will not count the IPL as a tournament).
We're going as favourites, despite having a second string side.
I can hear the purist yearn for the good old days where Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding would take pleasure hitting the heads of batsmen.
But now, West Indies has Ravi Rampaul and a team of slow bowlers.
It's times like these when we can truly say times are changing