The team chosen to represent India in the world cup is pretty much along the expected lines. Given that India had finalized close to 13 players of the required 15 members, the only surprise the selectors threw was, picking Piyush Chawla ahead of Rohit Sharma. India were expected to go in with an additional batsman in their squad, instead they chose to play an additional spinner. The 2 vacant slots were expected to be filled in by either Ojha or Ashwin and the other by Rohit. Rohit had a few decent outings in South Africa but the strength of the batting order and the lack of variety in spin bowling might have tilted the scales against him. Ojha has fallen out of favour in ODIs and Ashwin has been India’s preferred choice as a second spinner. Ashwin has strung together strong performances in ODIs off late and was rightly chosen as the man to partner Harbhajan. However, India face a glut of off spinning options thanks to the likes of Sehwag, Pathan and Raina, and it is highly likely that India would chose to play the 3 pacers and 1 spinner combination. However, many of the chosen fifteen are still recuperating from injuries and it is expected that all of them will be fully fit by the time the World Cup commences. A fit and raring team will immensely help India go the distance.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Saturday, 8 January 2011
How to get the Australian Juggernaut up and running
England have achieved what they set out to when they boarded their planes from Heathrow. Apart from their rare below par performance in Perth and a road of a pitch in Brisbane, England would have achieved a whitewash down under. The fact that all their three wins were innings victories stands testimony to the yawning gap between the two teams. England have now set their sights on securing the No. 1 ranking, whilst Australia have a bunch of issues to ponder over. It might be of great relief to the Australian selectors that they don’t have to sit down to pick a Test squad at least till late July, a good six months away. However, there are a host of issues that merit their attention. Foremost amongst them is their choice of the man to captain Australia in Test Cricket. The call for Ponting’s head are increasing with each passing day and is dismal form with bat is not helping matters either. The inability to find an alternative for Ponting has been one of the decisive reasons for Ponting having survived thus far. Clarke who was anointed as the one to take over the reins from Ponting has been through a rough patch with the bat and there are concerns over his ability to lead the team at such a crucial juncture. The best alternative that Australia could elect is to take a leaf out of India’s book. When Rahul Dravid decided to put down his papers as the captain of the Indian team, there was none worthwhile to take over the reins; India took the appropriate option of appointing Anil Kumble as a captain and grooming Dhoni as his understudy. The Aussies might consider somebody like Haddin as a stop gap measure while at the same time grooming somebody like Watson or White as someone who can take over the captaincy eventually. The captaincy conundrum though is dependent upon the shape Ponting’s career takes which will be influenced by the outcome of the world cup. If Ponting can match what he has achieved in the previous two versions of the world cup, he might continue at the helm for a good amount of time.
Another major issue that needs to be addressed is their choice of batsman for the No.6 position. Australia have tried three different batsmen- North, Smith and Haddin. North’s form has been heading south for some time now and was duly dropped after the first two tests. Smith is somebody who is still a budding cricketer and his credentials with the bat are not good enough to be trusted with the No.6 position. By playing Smith Australia find themselves both a bowler short as well as a batsman short. Bits and pieces cricketers are never to be trusted in Test matches and by playing Smith Australia have made a blunder. Haddin is a respectable wicket-keeper batsman but by playing him at No.6, Australia are finding themselves a batsman short all the time. The alternatives for an ideal No.6 are people like White, Ferguson, Marsh, and Hodge. All of them have played reasonable amount of international cricket and have been consistent in the domestic contests. It’s high time that Australia rewarded such people.
The next issue that requires diligence is their choice for No.3. All of us are aware of Ponting’s greatness; however, it looks like his age is catching up with him. It would be in right earnest if he considers a move down the order. Khawaja looked good in the solitary test match that he played and it might not be a bad move to give him a good run at No.3. However, it all hinges upon what Ponting decides to do with his career. If he is stubborn about batting only at No.3, then he must be given sufficient chances to get his touch back. After all, he has been one of Australia’s modern day greats and he does deserve a certain amount of reverence.
The choice of spinner is the most arduous issue that the selectors might encounter. There have been numerous tweakers who have turned up for Australia after Warne’s retirement but none have been able to prove their worth. Hauritz has till date looked the best spinner available and bringing him back into the team will be an appropriate decision. Hauritz failed miserably in India; nevertheless, India has never been kind to any overseas spinners including Warne and Murali.
The Australian selectors have to don their thinking caps and it’s high time they take a few brave calls. It’s just not been the Ashes where Australia have been found wanting. They have been on the decline for quite some time now and it’s high time the rut is stopped and Australian cricket is revived. The Juggernaut needs to resuscitated sooner rather than later.
Friday, 7 January 2011
A tribute to our little master
Our very own Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has added another accomplishment to his chequered career. By achieving what nobody has ever managed to in the history of the game, Sachin has made it certain that his name is etched in the annals of the game, as one of the greatest players ever to have played the game. The feat is all the more glamorous when one realizes the fact that the next man on the list of players with the highest number of test centuries is Ricky Ponting who is still a good 11 centuries behind. (Kallis scored 2 centuries in the 3rd test to move to the second place with 40 centuries). Given the gloomy state of ponting’s career as a consequence of the dismal series loss to England, only Jack Kallis posts a realistic chance of overhauling the master.
Anybody who has played Test cricket is well aware of the hardships involved in scoring a test hundred. To score 50 test centuries is no mean feat. Sachin has so far played 177 test matches and scored 51 test centuries. A quick back of the envelope calculation revels that he scores a century about every 3.5 matches which is close to a century every series in addition to the numerous half-centuries he has scored.
The biggest reason why Sachin has been able to achieve such great deeds is the passion with which he plays the game. Sachin’s innate ability to adjust his game according to the state of the game, faster than anybody else playing the game today, speaks volumes about his genius. However, Sachin is not just pure genius; whatever he has achieved till date is not only due to his natural talent. There have many players who have been extremely talented but have frittered away thier talent, they haven’t been able to achieve anything anywhere close to what Sachin has surpassed. He has a tremendous work ethic and follows it religiously. He never flinches to put in the hard yards; the discipline and the way he carries himself both on and off the field are traits worth emulating by all budding cricketers. He is probably the only modern day player to have played two decades of cricket and his passion has been the sole reason.
There have been reports of Sachin’s name being recommended for the Bharat Ratna. Personally I feel that he is the most qualified person to whom the award can be conferred upon. Sachin has achieved glorious triumphs for our country in the realm of Cricket and has kept our flag flying high for close to two decades. Conferring the Bharat Ratna would be a great recognition of his services to this nation.
Saturday, 11 December 2010
A Blog dedicated to cricket
How to kill Test Cricket— ask the curators
Being a cricket aficionado I adore test matches. I still consider it to be the purest form of the game and one were great cricketers are differentiated from good cricketers. However, of late watching test matches has become an arduous task and it no longer captivates me. With the advent of T20; test cricket seems to be losing its sheen throughout the world. Hastening the decline is the quality of pitches being dished out for test matches across the world. Pitches across the world have gotten increasingly batsman friendly and there is seldom a contest that provides an equitable contest between bat and ball. The pitches for the India-New Zealand test series, Sri Lanka-West Indies Series and the ongoing ashes tests stand testimony to this. India which was once hailed as the land of spinners rarely produces a track that offers any kind of assistance to the spinners and somebody like Harbhajan Singh had to publicly criticize the quality of pitches and make a request for tracks which provide greater assistance for bowlers of his breed. The once dreaded wickets in Caribbean have become propitious to the batsmen and are probably one of the best places for batsmen to pile on runs. The pitches in England, New Zealand known for their assistance to medium pacers have gotten flatter too. Australia which was known for its penchant to provide tracks which produced results has also joined the bandwagon. The first ashes test was played on a track which was so benign that batsman from both the sides piled on the runs and the game meandered to a predictable draw.
With more and more games getting predictable and the result almost certain by the end of the third or the fourth day, the excitement in the game is completely washed out. An American was stupefied when he came to know that test cricket was played for five days and still games ended without a result. One of the primary reasons why tracks have gotten increasingly benevolent has to do with the demands of broadcasters who after paying huge sums of money to the cricket boards, are highly distraught when the matches get over within three or four days. They face huge financial losses and are increasingly demanding pitches that remain innocuous for over five days.
Bowlers around the world are feeling the pinch, they have become more prone to injuries because of the volume of cricket that is being played and also due to the nature of the tracks they get to bowl on. They need to exert themselves really hard to get the better of the batsman and the increased effort coupled with the lack of inadequate resting periods have made them highly susceptible to ailments.
The lack of a fair contest between bat and ball has afflicted cricket at its grassroots too. Increasingly the motivation to become a bowler amongst the younger crop is fading away and this has had a direct impact on the quality of bowlers coming through.
However, the need of the hour is not tracks where the ball turns square from day two or tracks where bowlers run through line-ups within hours. What we require is tracks that provide an even contest between bat and ball.
The ICC needs to take stock of this situation and device a mechanism similar to the one that addresses the issue of tracks that are deemed too dangerous for the game to go on. Tracks that are deemed too benign to bowl on must also be dealt with in the same vein. This would ensure that curators take sufficient care in preparing quality pitches and thus ensure an equable contest. Cricket boards across the world, must also take into account the long term prospect of the game before awarding broadcasting contracts. The clout being enjoyed by broadcasters in deciding the nature of the pitches has to be dealt with strongly. Only when there is a level playing field, the level of uncertainty in the game increases and more people are fascinated by the game. Test cricket is hailed as the mother of all forms of cricket and sufficient care must be taken to prevent it from losing its sheen.