Dear readers,

Generally one must beat the opposition to qualify for the next round; a draw is never good enough. But in all probability a draw will do the job in this year's Ranji Trophy semi-finals. Both matches, though at neutral and Test venues, are being played on flat batting surfaces where the toss almost decided the outcome of the game. These are perfect win-the-toss-and-bat-first conditions. And to make matters worse for the team losing the toss, the match is only a four-day game and a first-innings lead is adequate to decide the match.

When you know that you don't have to bowl the opposition out twice to ensure a place in the final, the approach while batting changes, especially when batting first. One wouldn't want to force the issue as time is never going to be a concern. One must bat on and on for as long as they possibly can and try to bat the opposition out of the game.

There are two aspects of posting a big first-innings total. Scoring anything in excess of 400 would consume a lot of time and then, whether the opposition manages to chase it or falls short, the reply would also take a lot of time. So, by the time each team has batted once, regardless of who gets the lead, it would be near the end of the third day's play. Now, with only a day to play none of the teams would be able to set up the match for a desired result. A five-day match for the knockout stages would therefore be preferable. It's unbelievable what those three extra sessions on a wearing fifth day wicket could do to the outcome of the game.

We, Delhi, conceded a fifty runs first-innings lead in the final but since it was a five day game we knew there might just be enough to get even by the end and we did. One could argue that even a five-day match won't produce a result on such good surfaces. That too is a factor and it brings us to the state of the pitches.

Personally, I think there are few types of tracks which could ensure good cricket. The ideal track would assist the quick bowlers on day one and partially on day two as well, becomes a good batting surface on days two and three and starts helping the spinners on days four and five. But that seems like asking for too much especially in first-class cricket. So the next best option would be to either have a track where the ball does a lot in the first innings, say days one and two, ensuring that both the first innings are wrapped up relatively quickly (I dare not suggest the track provided for Delhi-Orissa game where the match got over in 120 overs), or a track where the batsmen make merry for the first two days before the spinners take over the proceedings for the remainder of the game.

But what we're witnessing in the ongoing semi-finals is the regular kind of track we're used to seeing in India. The track was good to bat on at the start and remains to be equally conducive for batting till the end, with just a hint of spin creeping in, but still, far from doing enough to force a result within four days.

A five-day match and a slightly more responsive surface might just do the trick at this level.

Cheers

PS: My book Beyond the Blues is releasing on January 8, so please wish me luck.

If you've been following my blog you might remember that I'd written about the horrid time we had en route to Vijaywada. Incidentally we were in the same city for New Year's Eve as well. There was a small party organised in one of the posh hotels which was obviously not the hotel we were staying in. We paid our way to the party and found that it was a family affair with comedians, poets, singers taking the stage. There was some kind of a live band playing too but it was more of a sit-down function. It wasn't the ideal way to celebrate New Year's Eve but we made do with what we had.

I also remember a night in Mumbai. We were playing a Ranji Trophy game and I was not out on 46 at the close of play on the December 31. Hoping to score big the next morning, the options were very limited for me. I decided to stay indoors in the city of dreams while a few of my team-mates (the one's who had been dismissed, the bowlers and the ones not playing) had a blast. Well, I had a job to do, I told myself. As luck would have it, I got to my half-century off the first ball of the new year and got out soon after. I couldn't stop thinking that I too should have gone out last night. Hindsight is a wonderful thing indeed. My team-mates were quick to rub salt into my wounds by asking me sheepishly about what I did the previous night. I probably also became one of the only batsmen who had to wait a year to complete his half-century.

That was the last year a first-class match was scheduled on New Year's Eve as the captains voiced their displeasure during the captain's meeting (a meeting between the board officials and the captains of all state teams is held every year after the season) and to the board's credit they complied to it. Nowadays, we don't have any matches on Diwali and New Year's Eve. But my poor Christian fellows still end up staying away from home on Christmas as there's invariably a match scheduled for the 25th of December.

I also vividly remember being away from home for age-group tournaments and celebrating New Year's Eve in various other cities. One such time we were in Pune for some Under-19 one-day matches and we celebrated New Year's Eve with some tea at a roadside vendor's who stayed open till midnight. We prayed to God looking at the moon for some reason and went to bed soon thereafter; after all we had a match to play the next day. Looking back at all of it now, it seems so strange that we couldn't wish our parents or friends till the evening of the January 1, after the game got over. Those were the pre-mobile phone days.

Then there was the New Year's Eve at the Sydney harbour in 2003. The entire Indian team was on a cruise ship and I had the best time of my life.

Now that we're home and with our families, we must make the most of it as we really don't know what the future has in store for us. Though, personally, I wouldn't mind staying away on New Year's Eve with the Indian team once again.

Cheers.

Dear all,

Umpires with a ball gauge in one hand inspecting the state, or to be precise the shape, of the ball was a fairly common sight during the quarter final game between Tamil Nadu and Bengal. Well, I was not at all surprised to see that happen as that's routine in first-class cricket. Once the ball goes out of shape it ceases to travel with the seam, which means without the seam getting wobbled in the air, and hence puts the bowlers at a disadvantage. And let me assure you that it happens at least twice or thrice during an innings. Hence the requests are valid and the change of ball mandatory. But that brings another question to the fore. Why do balls go out of shape so often? These are the same balls also used for the Test matches and it doesn't go out of shape so regularly in Test cricket. The make of the ball (SG) and the grade (TEST) is the same but obviously there's some difference which is not visible to the naked eye that makes the ball lose its shape. I doubt the mystery behind this phenomenon would ever be known to us and so I won't even try to solve that riddle. But I will tell you about all that transpires on the field of play.

As an opener you want to bide your time till the ball gets a little old both in terms of shine and hardness. If you survive that long, batting becomes relatively easier. But in domestic cricket the ball often goes out of shape in 15 to 20 overs and then the ball is promptly changed. Umpires select a ball from the spares, which are supposed to be in a similar condition to the one they want to change, and this is determined by the number of overs bowled. These spares balls are marked indicating the number of overs bowled with them.

But in any case it's impossible to find a ball in exactly the same condition as the one you're trying to replace. Now what happens very often is that the umpires run out of spares pretty early in the game and are left with very few options for the rest of the match. They're forced, thereafter, to rub/scruff up a brand new ball to provide for an adequate replacement for the old, out-of-shape ball.

The problem is that though you could take the shine off by rubbing it on the ground (or with sand paper), the hardness remains. And in any case it takes only a few overs to restore the shine. One can't blame the umpires as their hands are tied too. But it isn't a pleasant thing if you're a batsman. The moment a ball is changed you'd see the faster bowlers being reintroduced to make the most of the hardness of the ball. This is exactly what happened in the recently concluded Delhi-Rajasthan game when umpires rubbed a new ball to replace the old one after 45 overs.

Then there's the small matter of being cheeky as well. If the ball isn't doing enough or has lost its hardness (the ball can't be changed for losing hardness) invariably the fielding team starts complaining, which means showing the ball to the umpires after every alternate over. And if you have a big name in your side (read a current international player) it surely helps. I remember playing a Ranji Trophy game almost a decade ago where the opposition's captain was at the helm of Indian cricket. The balls were constantly getting changed (I don't know what was doing the trick — the out-of-shape ball or the presence of a certain someone). We made our peace with all that alright but when the umpires decided to rub a brand new ball to replace a 60-over old ball, we cried foul. Of course it was well within the umpire's right to do that but we were the losers.

This is an issue where both the umpires and the players are on the same page. So much so that one of the umpires recently told me that I must write about this in my blog.
Sir, if you're reading this, this one is for you.

Cheers.