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February 28, 2009

Note from Christchurch

Posted by Cricinfo - on 02/28/2009 in Extras

Nothing would have prepared Ishant, Gautam and Munaf for the surprise of not being recognised by taxi drivers. On the flipside, it presented an Indian couple and one friend of theirs with an opportunity of a lifetime: to drop the trio to Nandoo’s restaurant and have a few photographs taken with them.

Harbhajan may have thought he was on a different planet, while queuing up for a subway at Cashel Mall in Christchurch. Sehwag enjoying a smoothie, Yuvraj’s cruise around the city, irfan’s jog at Cathedral Square have all provided the Indians in New Zealand something spicy to talk about and a high point of their life in Christchurch last week.

What’s more, many among the fans have been happily obliged by their stars with brief chats, photographs and autographs.

In the midst of all this excitement, Indian fans have also been careful to respect the privacy of the cricketers and allowing them the space to enjoy this beautiful part of the world and the slow pace of life, which can be a rarity in India.

For Indians living in Christchurch, life at present is full of happiness and it feels like Diwali after 6 long years. If India wins a few games, there will also be fireworks like never before.

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My flag is bigger than yours

Posted by Cricinfo - on 02/28/2009 in Extras

Now I'm as patriotic as the next man, though the next man in this case is probably serving a life sentence for high treason. Life is too complicated and fragile a thing to be carrying on your back a bagful of rocklike grievances which you solemnly unpack and hurl at anyone who questions your motherland (or fatherland, if that's your thing). But that's just me.

I'm a traitor to good old Blighty. The Barmy Army? Face-painting? Booing Shane Warne? Well, if you must, but there are few sights less attractive than a bunch of boorish drunks singing badly transposed football songs that don't scan in the general direction of a game they aren't really watching. For six hours. But I digress. And actually there is a less attractive sight than the aforementioned Englanders boiling in the Barbadian sun. It is the angry scrawl of a bile-inspired invective fired into the comments thread of a Cricinfo article.

In the past week two perfectly reasonable articles, one about the Aussie tradition of the victory song and another about the Karachi wicket, have trailed in their wake such a litany of hate and unreason, you'd have thought we were in the middle of a cricket war. Have we now reached the stage where it is not possible for members of one cricketing nation to discuss matters pertaining to another? Do we really only watch cricket to revel in the triumphs of our nation? Was George Orwell right about sport? Are we to look forward to another bout of flag-wrestling when the IPL begins and Cricinfo is deemed to be insufficiently critical/supportive?

So enough dear reader, restrain the angry patriotic beast that stirs in your breast, because like most beasts, he has no table manners, he urinates in the street and he will make you look foolish in public.

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February 27, 2009

Three Seasons In One Day

Posted by Cricinfo - on 02/27/2009 in Extras

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February 18, 2009

Call for Entries

Posted by Cricinfo - on 02/18/2009 in Extras

Comments (12)

Dear Dr. Mallya

Posted by Cricinfo - on 02/18/2009 in Extras

Secondly, Dravid was criticised for the recruitment policies adopted by your franchise. In actuality, Martin Crowe in his role as cricket operations officer was most responsible for the recruitment of players. However, even players who were suited to the Twenty20 format such as Cameron White, Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis (at least with the ball) underperformed, while the same can be said for Misbah ul-Haq who you personally recruited. On the other hand, someone like Wasim Jaffer who cost only US$100000 scored a 40 and 50 but was widely criticised despite being injured for the majority of the season. Ultimately if the players don't perform there is little the captain can do.

Indeed, despite all the doom and gloom Bangalore still won 4 games, including one against eventual finalists the Chennai Super Kings, and suffered close losses against Kolkata Knight Riders by 5 runs, Delhi Daredevils by 10 runs and Chennai Super Kings by 13 runs. What's more, they finished comfortably ahead of Deccan, who were supposedly far superior to Bangalore's 'Test team'.

Kevin Pietersen has been touted as a possible captaincy candidate. However, it should be remembered that England players will only be available for the first 3 weeks. Pietersen would certainly not be setting a good example as captain by leaving. It should also be remembered that Kevin Pietersen's only allegiance to Bangalore is money. His services are loyal only to the highest bidder. This attitude is in stark contrast to Dravid, who is a Bangalore boy through and through and without whom the idea of city-based franchises, and indeed the idea of the IPL, would never have been possible. Dumping Dravid as captain may alienate many Bangalore supporters whose allegiance to their team was due to their local boy captaining the side, which could result in lower ticket sales and thus lower profits, which in this recession-hit world is certainly something to be avoided if possible.

However, the biggest reason not to install Pietersen as captain would be his ego which, as proved by the Peter Moores saga, is incompatible with figures of authority. His stint as England captain has raised serious concerns about his ability to deal with people, and with new coach Ray Jennings also being a strong personality, it is difficult to see how the two can work together, despite Jennings' statements. Indeed, Jennings' belief that the Moores saga will motivate Pietersen even more as a captain is indicative of the fact that Pietersen is motivated by himself and his ego only.

In contrast, Dravid comes across as a gentleman who always puts the team ahead of his own needs, which is an important attribute for a captain to have. Thus, I believe that you should retain Rahul Dravid as Bangalore Royal Challengers captain for the second season of the IPL. I hope you remember what Rahul Dravid has done for Bangalore is far more than Kevin Pietersen or even you will ever do, because if you alienate the people of Bangalore you may find that the damage will be irreparable. I trust you will do the right thing.

Comments (27)

February 12, 2009

Penalising a genius statistically

Posted by Cricinfo - on 02/12/2009 in World cricket

If not for Sachin and Sehwag, India would have struggled to pass triple figures. Thanks to Cricinfo, you can check every one of the nine centuries scored by Tendulkar when India have lost. Perth, 1992. Edgbaston, 1996. Cape Town, 1997. Wellington, 1998. Bangalore, 1998. Chennai, 1999. MCG, 1999. Bloemfontein, 2001. Sydney, 2008.

To many, the very mention of these matches would evoke memories of some splendid innings by Tendulkar. See the scorecards, see the fall of wickets and you would struggle to chose the best among these centuries. In case you were fortunate enough to have watched these matches, most would make it to your list of Tendulkar's best. See the scorecards again, see the number of centuries in the 'India' column and the same in the opponent's column. Not much of a difference. Check the result. It was a convincing defeat. And now see the scorecards again. Erase the name Tendulkar and many of them would make for India's own version of the Sabina Park collapse.

India lost these matches mainly because the rest of the batsmen hardly made any runs or the bowlers were too profligate. And yet the only thing the only Indian to have lent dignity to these matches is reminded of is that they were not matchwinning centuries, simply because the other batsmen failed and India lost. What was Tendulkar's fault? He made runs when others did not. If so, then that was the bigger fault of his closest competitor in this era - Brian Charles Lara.

Only 31% of Sachin's 50-plus scores have come in winning causes. Perhaps if his team-mates had matched him in half these matches, the figure would have risen to 35%. And then he would have become the greatest Indian Test player. And oh, I forgot Tendulkar would have had six to seven Man-of-the-Match awards in victories and maybe a better average too. Apparently, these are important "logical" criteria for being a great player. Thus claim the authors of the Holding Willey report.

The authors are not the first and neither will they be the last to use this really bad statistic to quantify match-winning ability and believe they have presented a logical argument. I have heard such arguments being wrongly levelled against Tendulkar many times and every time I have seethed in anger. This time I decided to let it go against all those who throw a few convenient statistics and question his match-winning ability. Fact is, ability is not quantifiable. And I hope at least some of you concur with me.

If you think, this is just a ranting of a Tendulkar fanatic, let me dissect some of the other criteria the report talks about and lay them bare for all to see. Each of the criterion is actually more indicative of the team's ability to support their champions than the individual itself. Percentage of 50-plus scores in victories: Lara - 29%, Ponting - 70%, Hayden - 63%, S. Waugh - 60%, Richards - 50%, Gavaskar - 16%, Sehwag - 39%, Dravid - 37%.

Man-of-the-Match awards in victory : Lara - 4, Hayden - 8, Ponting - 10, S. Waugh - 13, Richards - 4, Gavaskar - 4, Sehwag - 4, Dravid - 5, (Richards and Gavaskar's Man-of-the-Match awards aren't accurate as they played in an earlier era.)

Average in matches won : Lara - 61, Hayden - 55, Ponting - 62, S. Waugh - 69, Richards - 52, Gavaskar - 44, Sehwag - 52, Dravid - 66.

Averages (Overall, Home, Away): Lara - 53, 59,48. Hayden - 50, 58, 42. Ponting - 54, 60, 50. Waugh - 51, 55, 47. Richards - 50, 50, 50. Gavaskar - 51, 50, 52. Sehwag - 51, 51, 51. Dravid - 52, 48, 56.

From these statistics, the ranking would read thus: Steve Waugh, Ponting, Dravid, Sehwag, Gavaskar, Richards, Lara and Hayden, barring one or two minor changes. Guess what, according to these numbers, Lara is way below Waugh, Ponting and Dravid. And how many of you agree with this?

In general most of the Australian greats would have pretty decent numbers when you compare any statistic related to matches won. The reason being that the team has rallied brilliantly behind them and helped them win matches. In effect, this statistic tells us more about a team's performance than about the player himself.

The final word shall not be mine but of Nirmal Shekhar's from Sportstar who had this to say when Wisden didn't deem it fit to include any knock of Sachin's in their list of 100 best innings in 2002: "Surely, you cannot penalise a genius for the mediocrity around him." And that's precisely what the statistics in the likes of the Holding Willey report do.

Comments (36)

February 11, 2009

From fear to belief

Posted by Cricinfo - on 02/11/2009 in Indian cricket

That seemed to change with the Fab Four holding centerstage. They had some memorable "same-day"s. Taunton twins, Eden phoenix came like a breath of fresh air. But we all wanted a breeze to inflate the sail of Indian cricket. And then came Dhoni.

His name initially drew taunts, much like those shots he played. Brute power - everyone said. I was amazed by his hitting on that 183 he made, it seemed that he could go on and on and on. And that celebration - machine-gun style, we had our gladiator. But everyone needs a bit of luck - and it came in the smallest of parcels - T20 WC. The big four didn't want a shot at the T20 cup, and Dhoni was more of a forced choice. But under him India did something which they seldom did - held their nerve and won. In crucial matches, in bowl-outs, Dhoni showed his boys what staying cool means. And that has now become his trademark.

Maybe without success he would be brushed aside as "casual", but the success moulded that coolness into a belief, and he has kept hammering at that belief till it got transformed into match-winning confidence. I have been watching and following Indian cricket madly for the last 25 years, and only now do I sit confidently in front of my TV-set when India are 135/6 chasing another 50 runs in 40 balls. We owe that to the present team.

It takes a lot to rub on the confidence of a single man to 11 and then pass that on to a million others. Thanks you, Dhoni, for giving us the confidence to support our team.

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February 10, 2009

How Relevant is Law 41.5 Today?

Posted by Cricinfo - on 02/10/2009 in World cricket

I assume the law was drafted to counter Bodyline tactics, which was probably fair enough since in those days batsmen didn't have adequate protection and were not trained to deal with that form of attack - targeting the body rather than the stumps. One of the stronger arguments of the day was that it went against the spirit of cricket. But honestly, when we have restrictions on how many bouncers can be bowled per over, these arguments become irrelevant. Batsman today expect short pitched deliveries and are adequately trained and protected to face them.

Today the spirit of cricket is usually only invoked to divert attention from an ugly incident. There can be little doubt that the game has shifted firmly in favor of batsmen nowadays, and all this law does is take away a legitimate form of attack for the bowling side. The law has virtually cast a death sentence on one of the more interesting fielding placements in cricket - the leg slip. Which is a shame. When the fielding side can have someone at short leg, and two men out at behind and in front of square on the on side it is pretty clear what the tactics are. This is legitimate and considered a test of the batsman's ability to handle short deliveries aimed at his chest. Why then do we have to stop short of a full out attack and restrict the number of fielders that have to stand behind the popping crease on the on side, for tradition?

There are already laws, notably 42.6, which protect batsmen from dangerous short pitched bowling. Bowlers are penalized with No Balls, warned a couple of times and if they persist in banned from bowling further in the match. The skill of the player facing the deliveries is taken into consideration. Similarly, negative tactics are also put in check. So while the law is woven into the rich fabric that is cricket history, I believe it honestly has no place in Test cricket today, or even limited overs cricket for that matter. It takes away attacking fielding positions for both spinners and fast bowlers and therefore also specific lines of attack, which could only add variety and intrigue. If nothing else, at the very least it gives the appearance that the game is not batsman-centric, something we might well forget with all the new restrictions and laws in the shorter formats of the game.

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Forget the Ashes, England

Posted by Cricinfo - on 02/10/2009 in Australian Cricket

The hysteria surrounding 2005, when England thrillingly won to breathe life back into the contest, was a good example of how much they revere the contest, and how much it means for them to win. There were some that hadn't ever seen the urn in England's trophy cabinet following its capture in 1989 and subsequent long term possession by Australia. I don't blame them for going mad and then giving MBEs top the victorious team. They did the same for the English Union team when they won the World Cup in 2003, having knocked off, you guessed it, Australia for the title.

England were widely rumoured to be treating this tour as an 'Ashes warm-up'. How that has now backfired spectacularly. Their reliance on Kevin Pietersen is beginning to grow with every Test, especially with the continually lean showings of Alastair Cook and the spineless Ian Bell. Their bowling, apart from the luckless yet venomous 'Freddie' Flintoff, is rather frail. Stuart Broad is developing but can't hide a lack of real pace. Ryan Sidebottom is steady and accurate, but can be negotiated by a good batting line-up. He went wicketless at Kingston, and that might be playing on their minds. The less said of Harmison and Jimmy Anderson the better. Neither are the answer for England's bowling woes.

Harmy is way too inconsistent and has problems with his attitude. Now that he is on the wrong side of 30, they need to cut off from a talented but highly enigmatic bowler. Anderson is a real conundrum. He can bowl prodigious swing at a good pace at times but when he has an off day, which is quite often, he can be plundered for many runs. He was highly ineffectual in the last Ashes series, and the Australian batsmen will be licking their lips if he comes into contention for a place. Monty is certainly their best spinner. And one would hope he finds his mojo, as he can be considered a far better spin bowler than anyone Australia can muster at the present time. England needs to have a long think, and so do all you Pom supporters out there. Do you really think you can win the Ashes with this inconsistent bunch of underachievers?

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February 7, 2009

Mumbai, the First City of cricket

Posted by Cricinfo - on 02/07/2009 in Extras

Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar were both born to very similar middle class Marathi lineage and honed their cricketing skills in the playing fields of Dadar, which to use an old Duke of Wellington allegory, has won as many cricket matches for India as did the playing fields of Eton for England in battle. Actually this particular piece of evidence is staggering enough to convince any jury of Mumbai's case.

Which other city can boast of a contribution of 75 odd Test match hundreds and close to 22,000 Test runs within five miles of each other and with Sachin still in unrelenting form, we are standing and counting. Add Dilip Vengsarkar and Vijay Manjrekar, two other stalwarts from central Mumbai residence and cricketing education, we are talking over 100 Test match centuries and over 30,000 Test runs. That is pretty much an unbeatable statistic!

If it were just the odd four or five cricketers , one might have presented this as a statistical aberration, but these are just four of the very best that one mentioned to prove the case. In my possession as one of my 5th wedding anniversary presents, is a priceless memorabilia of a scorecard of a Test match in England in 1971 signed by the great Gavaskar. The Indian batting card reads thus: Gavaskar, Mankad, Sardesai, Wadekar, Vishwanath, Solkar and Engineer. Aside of Vishy, the entire batting line-up is from Mumbai with players who have grown up and played cricket within a square mile of each other.

Such has been the staggering dominance of Mumbai that as a city it has won more than 50 percent of the India's national championship, Ranji Trophy. The credit to plant the seeds of cricketing tradition lay in Lord Harris, Governor of Mumbai in the late 1800's and a serious cricket aficionado. While the game initially was played by colonial Englishmen, soon the local cosmopolitan population took to it with gusto in the various Maidans (or green fields across the city). The commencement of the Pentangulars, where teams were divided in what would be now regarded as hopelessly politically incorrect religious barriers (The Hindus, Parsees, Catholics, Muslims and hence the gymkhanas along Marine Drive), further strengthened the city's cricketing ethos. This tournament was pretty much India's first national championship and brought together the best cricketing talent of the country and also inspired locals to pursue the game with intent.

Of India's first three truly world class batsmen, the famous triumvirate of Vijay's (or victory), two, Merchant and Manjrekar came from Mumbai. The third, Hazare was from nearby Baroda. India's first great all rounder, Vinoo Mankad also came from the city but played his cricket for the erstwhile principality of Nawanagar of Ranji fame. But his son Ashok, ended his career as one of Mumbai's great captains and an Indian opener.

While Mumbai may not claim Vinoo, one the other magnificent all-rounder, Polly Umrigar, there is no doubt. Polly Kaka as was affectionately called, was a master batsman, especially of fast bowling, and competitive bowler and unlike many of his contemporaries of the time a great fielder. Later Dattu Phadkar, Ravi Shastri and Eknath Solkar were to continue Umrigar's legacy of producing word class all round talent.

However, Mumbai's greatest contribution would be to classical batsmanship, a tradition dating back to Vijay Merchant. Bred on a tradition of highly competitive club cricket and stern coaching, Mumbai produced a long line of traditional and classical batsmen (barring the odd exception like the mercurial Engineer) who were to form the backbone of the country's batting for decades on end. This tradition reached its glorious culmination with the emergence of Sunil Gavaskar, a batsman whose technical craftsmanship and classical style finds few parallels in the history of the game. And to think that his reputation could be marginally bettered by his peerless successor, the magnificent Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, without doubt along with the beknighted duo of Don and Viv, the three best ever batsmen.

If there are still doubts about resting Mumbai's case, let me in conclusion present a possible all time Mumbai-XI. Gavaskar and Merchant to open, followed by Vengsarkar, Tendulkar, Vijay Manjrekar and Umrigar in the middle order. Engineer at No 7 a super wicket keeping all rounder. Zaheer and Ramakant Desai to share the new ball followed by Subhash Gupte and Paddy Shivalkar on spin. A team that could easily take on any best all time eleven. And by the way, a second Mumbai XI could read thus: Sardesai, Shastri, Wadekar, Ashok Mankad, Sandeep Patil, Phadkar, Solkar, Tamhane (wk), Agarkar, Ghavri, Nadkarni.

If I had to choose my favourite Mumbai cricketer, it would have to be Ekkie Solkar. Born of a groundsman from Dadar Gymkhana, Solkar epitomized the best of Mumbai, not just as a cricketer but as a city. Gritty and tenacious, he was a competitive batsman and deceptively difficult bowler (as Geoff Boycott would testify!). And as a short-leg fielder, just simply incredible. Every time there are reruns in television of the Chandra inspired 1971 Oval victory, I wait for Alan Knott's dismissal with Ekkie flying on from short leg to pick up the catch inches of the ground literally in front of the batsman's toes. Solkar was a great example of Mumbai's ability to recognize and nurture talent without any bias to background and class.

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Another year. Another bowler

Posted by Cricinfo - on 02/07/2009 in World cricket

He got out to Mendis only once and Murali twice. They never made him look like a novice. But when you are Tendulkar, unless you make the bowler look like a novice, it counts against you. The one-day series would have provided redemption chance but yet another injury deprived us of the fascinating encounter. With Sri Lanka not being commercially viable to BCCI, it seemed the revenge duel might never take place. But, How quirky fate can be? With the humbling still fresh in memory, Tendulkar gets to face M&M again.

Even if this series had been years later, one can bet Tendulkar wouldn't have forgotten his miserable last series. Champions don't take failures lightly. And the best players are doubly dangerous when they are looking to avenge for failures. Murali has already spoken of revenge. It is to the credit of Dhoni's men that there have been nothing more than whispers about Sachin in the pre-series coverage. More than his scores, I would be curious about his methods against M&M. Will he take the bull by its horns? Unlike in Tests, when he seems sometimes caught between attack and defense, ODIs demand him to attack more - which is his natural game. This will work greatly in his favour.

I guess he might treat M&M with the respect their varying experiences call for. He will probably try to work Murali around. In ODIs, Murali is probably the bowler he has played most cautiously after McGrath. And as for Mendis, expect nothing less than a first-hand demonstration of his batsmanship that made many pundits place him only below Bradman amidst batting greats.

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