'Everything is blown out of proportion' - Dravid © AFP

Dravid didn’t hide his disappointment when asked about the media “blowing up” what Chappell had told the team, telling them about how they “slouch” and “joke” and “loiter” and blah. “It’s a very unfortunate incident when a private conversation between a coach and players were heard and used out of context,” he said. “People obviously haven’t understood what he was saying or what he was trying to say. I’ve played with 7-8 coaches and I haven’t heard anything different. It’s the times that we live in where everything is blown out of proportion. If people want to evesdrop on someone’s private conversation, so be it. That’s not what I would have done.”

But, irrespective of the times you live in, don’t you expect to be overheard when you’re just a few metres from the media? Or maybe the media needed to bring out their earmuffs and silently slink away, starting their own private conversations.

	Narhari Amin, the president of the GCA, was at the gate to welcome the throngs that flocked to the India-West Indies match © AFP

The Punjabis are famous for their hospitality, and if you’re covering cricket you’d certainly know what I’m talking about. The officials and staff at the Punjab Cricket Association in Mohali are among the most courteous, efficient and helpful. It was something you got nowhere else in India. Until now. It might not please Mr. Bindra and some of his colleagues, but the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) is now, officially, the venue that makes you feel most comfortable, covering cricket, in the country.

Covering cricket at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, used to be a nightmare. When I first came here, for the New Zealand Test match in 1999, the reception was far from warm, the press box a shambles, and the whole area a dustbowl. But now, it’s a completely different story. If you have a minute, listen to a couple of stories.

After a long, long day at the ground, watching practices, attending press conferences, writing stories, a friend and I were standing outside the stadium, in the dark, in the hope of hailing a cab to get us back to the city, about 15 kilometres away. As the cars sped by, and hope began to wane, one came out of the stadium and pulled up along us. A man we’d never seen before insisted we come with him, and drove us to the doorstep of the Gujarat Sports Club, where we had been booked rooms by the cricket association. As we stepped out of the car he introduced himself as Umesh Belsare. Turns out he helps out at the GCA, and also, that he played first-class cricket for eight years.

Continue reading "Motera is the new Mohali"

	Ajit Agarkar - the matchwinner with a difference - as predicted by the astrologer © AFP

Whether India is cricket crazy, or Indian-cricket crazy, or Indian-cricketer crazy has become a gentle rumbling debate over the last few days as stands have been gapingly empty for most matches in the Champions Trophy, while India matches have drawn large and boisterous crowds. But if you'd like a sample of a certain kind of craziness, you need look no further than one story that appeared in a newspaper in Ahmedabad on the eve of India's match against West Indies.

After a detailed tale about how the betting for each match has crossed Rs. 250 crore - and it is well known that there's plenty of illegal gambling in Gujarat, on everything from politics to sport - the report claims that bookies have pegged, surprise surprise, Australia as favourites to win the
Champions Trophy. But, as if to counter the many unnamed punters who have kindly provided these inputs, the newspaper runs a story alongside saying what a "leading astrologer based in city" had to say.

Continue reading "It's in the stars"

	Sanath Jayasuriya: putting family first © AFP

“Diwali aur naya saal Mubarak” (Happy Diwali and a Happy New Year) is the one phrase you heard more than anything else in Ahmedabad when the cricket came around to the city the second time around in the Champions Trophy. It began with the taxi driver at the airport, continued to the staff at the hotel, reached fever pitch with Gujarat Cricket Association officials at the ground, and finally tipping point when an English cricket fan, who has traveled half the way round the world, pointed it out. “Even Tony Blair’s said it in his message, mate,” he said, putting his Union Jack away and cursing this state for being under prohibition. Alright then, saal mubarak to you too. He couldn’t be serious … Blair?

A quick check of the British prime minister’s press office reveals that he did indeed put out a message to his subjects on the day. “It is a time when the family is centre stage. An opportunity, more valuable than ever with the frantic pace of modern life, to reflect on what we have achieved - and on our hopes and ambitions for the future,” says the note. It’s a good thing he didn’t revisit that other Diwali theme – the victory of good over evil, as England had just been thumped by Australia and, for all practical purposes, been knocked out of the tournament.

But as the firecrackers went off at each ground – and apparently costing a tidy packet to the Board of Control for Cricket in India – the Diwali spirit was certainly doing the rounds. But, more than being an occasion for children to set off fireworks and adults to put on their best clothes and play cards all night, it is a time of the year when you put cynicism aside and celebrate the victory of all things good over the darker forces. It’s a time to renew faith, a festival, if you’ll bear with me, of rebirth.

Continue reading "Diwali aur naya saal mubarak"

	Got your number: What appeared to be a stab at team bonding ultimately turned out to be 'wardrobe malfunction'? © Getty Images

It was great news for New Zealand just before the game against Sri Lanka began. 27 and 56 were fit. Then, after winning the toss and choosing to bat, 7 said 70 and 50 would have to sit out. Confused already? New Zealand, known around the world as the Black Caps, for their distinctive black gear, simply had numbers printed on the back of their shirts, not names, as is the common practice for teams around the world.

The International Cricket Council, though, said that there was nothing in their rules or norms that stipulated that teams needed to have the names of players on kit. “The teams are required to give us the squad numbers of each player,” an ICC spokesperson told Cricinfo. “There’s nothing that states that players have to wear their names on their shirts.”

But for anyone who has played sport at any level, it’s a pleasure to wear a shirt bearing your names. I won’t easily forget the thrill of being handed my No. 7 shirt, with Vasu on the back, when I made my school’s football team as a kid. Scores of matches later, and now years since kicking a ball, the jersey is still around, tucked away safely in a loft. So it was a bit surprising to see New Zealand out in the middle with just numbers, and no names on their shirts.

Continue reading "Cricket and wardrobe malfunctions"

	Inzy, is that you? © Getty Images

Inzy is here. Not the real one but the look alike. Mukesh Sukhwani, who’s often spotted in Indian grounds, has arrived in Jaipur.

He is deeply disturbed by the events that have occurred around the Pakistani camp over the last couple of days and has pledged his full support to the team.

He’s even willing to pad up if needed.

Around two hours before the start of the Pakistan – Sri Lanka clash, around 100 local Shiv Sanaiks, the Hindu fundamentalist organisation, staged a protest outside the Sawai Man Singh Stadium. The group was supposed to have represented the local district association of Shiv Sena. Those involved in the protests held banners that read ‘No place for terrorists’ and ‘Go back to Pakistan’. However, the police sprung into action immediately and hushed up the protesters without too much ado.

Not long ago, Suketu Mehta wrote a riveting book on Mumbai and its underbelly and ever since, television channels reporting events in the metropolis are referring to it by the name Mehta gave it – Maximum City. It should surprise no-one if Mehta’s sequel – if he ever gets down to writing one – is called Minimum City. For in the same breath, it is both Maximum and Minimum, and the incongruity of it all came home at the Brabourne Stadium, when South Africa took on New Zealand.

While the stands were nowhere near full – no-one is even expecting that to happen but for high-profile India matches – there was a decent smattering of fans in the stands. The East Stand, the cheapest of the lot, where you had to sit on benches, in the full glare of the skin-peeling October sun, where gatekeepers wouldn’t let you out for a cigarette all day, the real faithful put in a stellar effort to watch cricket. In the stands to the left and right of the press box, where you paid up to Rs 5000 to occupy a plastic chair, and were mercifully in the shade, there was a good turn out.

Continue reading "Incongruous City"

	The post-match fireworks made an early appearance © Getty Images

What seems to have happened, according to some, is that the person responsible for the fireworks had forgotten to set the show off during the dinner break. Probably realising that the match wasn't going to last too long, he seems to have ignited the crackers. Now the fact that it was enacted when Irfan Pathan fell and Dravid entered, appears to have been a mere coincidence.

Now whether Dravid's concentration was hampered because of these theatrics, one will never know. Dravid will know he played a poor shot but he might also wish that the celebrations had been kept for a little bit later.

	One of the pedigreed sites of Indian cricket © Getty Images

India's favourite game returns to the Brabourne Stadium, one of the glorious old ladies of Indian cricket, and it is in some style that this is happening. Those fortunate to be watching matches at the Cricket Club of India will find it difficult to return to the Wankhede Stadium, where difficulty and inconvenience prevent good viewing, unless you're in one of those plush corporate boxes.

The Cricket Club of India is a far more attractive venue - it's stands are orderly and welcoming, a far cry from the concrete monstrosities that intimidate at the Wankhede. The outfield is superbly even, and the one complaint could be that the boundary ropes are as short as 65 yards at some points, and this might mean the spinners take a bit of tap. Then again, that's what the spectators love.

Continue reading "Remembering Merchant"

	Ramesh Powar takes a look at the equipment © Siddhartha V

What they were actually trying to test was video-analysis equipment involving high-speed cameras. Designed by Play View, a company specialising in providing video tools in sport, and implemented by Eight Hills, a USA-based company, the machinery is one of the several
infrastructural additions to the Rajasthan Cricket Academy, one that is expected to be one of the best in the country. The equipment allows one to capture footage and stores it in a database that allows for future analysis.

	Indian team physio S Ramakrishnan beside the high-speed camera © Siddhartha V

A Sony high-speed camera attached to the top of a movable structure can record Ramesh Powar's batting in the nets. Routing several such video footage to a software would enable detailed analysis of Powar's batting. The software allows for tagging and filters - one can get a list of all Powar's cover-drives over the last 20 matches - and promises to be a valuable tool for coaches in the days ahead. More importantly, it allows him to see it instantly.

S Ramakrishnan, the video analyst of the Indian side, felt that such technology would be an ideal tool for players to improve themselves. "Such a system is good for the players to get instant feedback. They don't have to wait till they get to the hotel, instead they can analyse what they are doing wrong then and there."

Of course, all associations may not be able to afford the equipment - each camera costs approximately Rs 150,000 (US$3300 approx) - but it's no doubt, especially in the era of the super-coach, that it's going to be the way forward.

	'Indians can sledge too' © Getty Images

It was the first time I was going to see him, Ponting and Symonds at a live game, albeit just a practice match. However, a few hours later with Shane Watson hogging the bowling I began to feel drowsy in the comforts of the air-conditioned press box.

So I decided to take a stroll and found myself in the middle of around 100 raucous fans (there were only about 500 in all) intent on proving that Indians could sledge too. Their favoured target: Ponting. "Remember 434" they chanted, "Gibbs is back" they roared. Ponting had fallen for 24, a sharp low catch at point. "It wasn't out, fight with the umpire" quipped the jeer leader, no doubt aware of Ponting's run-ins with officialdom. Someone even brought up that touchy matter of Ashes defeat last year and they chorused "Flintoff, Flintoff Flintoff".

Most Australians received a curious mixture of jeers and cheers from the crowd. Brad Hogg kindly showed them how to bowl a chinaman and was applauded like he'd hit a hundred. Minutes later he was subjected to cries of "Hoggy is a doggy". But the moment Adam Gilchrist made an appearance, the crowd adored him. "Gilly, Gilly you are the best. Gilly should be captain, Ponting resign," they cried. And when Gilchrist accepted the adulation with a casual wave of his hand, the 50-strong crowd went into raptures. After all he was Mahendra Singh Dhoni's idol. When Ponting acknowledged their presence with a smile and a wave, their jovial hostility vanished. Simply recognise their antics and they'd be on your side.

The crowd wanted entertainment and when Symonds provided just that by hoisting several into the stands, they began to concentrate on the cricket. Soon there was an invasion of school children, a majority of whom pressed close against the railing, standing on each other's toes while the rest of the stands remained empty, to get the closest glimpse of the Australian team. One kid went up to Graeme Vimpani, Australia's media manager who was sitting among the fans and talking about playing with Shane Warne and Paul Reiffel in Victoria, and asked "Where (sic) Matthew Hoggard?" probably meaning Hogg, an innocent mistake from a nine-year old.

When the Australians took the field the crowd got after Glen McGrath in good humour. "Sachin, Sachin, Sachin," they cheered to which McGrath seemed to mime "Sachin who?" after which he acted out an edge to the wicketkeeper. Come October 29 in Mohali he'll be aiming to do exactly that.

Continue reading "Sachin who? and other stories"

	Indian scorers continue doing their tedious tasks in the hot sun for Rs 600 per match day © AFP

It’s one the most vital aspects of any cricket game and ironically it’s something cricket board officials across the country pay uniformly least attention to. While the lives of players have changed dramatically with decent wages finally being paid for domestic cricket, umpires’ fees and pensions being hiked, officials – though honorary – have prestige and power to show for their efforts, the scorers’ lot shows no sign of improving.

Here at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, there are seven scorers on duty. Two each at the press box, the official scorers’ desk and the main scoreboard, while one loner gets to man the small scoreboard. When we walked into the ground for the second game at Ahmedabad, the painters were frantically painting the last panel on the Zimbabwe team for the main scoreboard – Tafadzwa Mufambisi.

Continue reading "The score issue"

	Ntini: 'For my people, I am just Makhaya, not a South African fast bowler' © Getty Images

Makhaya Ntini doesn't usually walk, he bounces. He believes he's the fastest in the world, doesn't mind letting the world know. Ask him about the slower ball, and he says his job is to bowl fast; ask him what he's thinking when he gets hit for runs, and he booms, "I try and knock the batsman's head over". During the media conference in Delhi, he barged into the hall with bluster, almost challenging the awaiting pressmen to a duel. There's too much energy in him, and no sign of it drying up.

Shoaib Akhtar doesn't usually walk, he strolls. He too believes he's the fastest and doesn't mind letting the world know. Ask him about people comparing him with Brett Lee and he sniggers, "There's no comparison, mate"; ask him how he copes with so many injuries and he says, "I just wish I could get through one day of cricket without pain". During the same media conference, he casually walked in a good five minutes after the rest of the team and tried his best to stay inconspicuous. Obviously, he ended up hogging all the limelight and was soon whistling his way down the red carpet, taking a dig at his team-mates who were busy with interviews.

Continue reading "Chalk and Cheese"

There’s something about cricketers. I have to admit, that one of the biggest apprehensions, as years of cricket journalism rolled by, was that I’d meet my heroes and they’d turn out to be awful human beings and my image of them would be shattered forever. It’s happened once or twice, when someone you thought was a legend of a man turned out to be merely someone who handled a bat well, and not much besides.

But still, I’m old fashioned that way. Just that fact that someone has played cricket at a high level, forget international – but a good spell at club cricket in a competitive league, or first-class – and you have me. I’d be glad to have a chat, preferably over a few drinks, at an old club, and listen to stories about games that took place when I was still in short-pants.

Continue reading "The unassuming kind of cricketer"

	Marlon Samuels and Brian Lara at the Sabarmati Ashram © AFP

Before they arrived for the usual motions – net and fielding practice – the two teams visited the ashram, situated on the banks of the Sabarmati river. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi stayed at this very ashram for close to two decades, and left on a note that no-one can forget – the 240-miles salt March that he and 79 of his supporters embarked on. When he was looking for a suitable site for the ashram, and came upon the place it was located, Gandhi is reported to have said, "This is the right place for our activities to carry on the search for truth and develop fearlessness - for on one side are the iron bolts of the foreigners, and on the other, thunderbolts of Mother Nature."

The main attraction at the ashram today is "Hridaya Kunj", the hut in which Gandhi lived. In it you can still find some of the items he used every day – a writing desk, a khadi kurta, yarn spun by him, and even some of his letters. The players had a look around, and as you can imagine, the young children who were present when Brian Lara entered were rather un-Gandhian in their exuberance, and quickly the place was enveloped by excited chatter as the players mingled with the children.

Moving on, the players looked at Vinobha Kutir, the hut where Vinobha Bhave stayed, which is also referred to as Mira Kutir, the residence of Madeline Slater who learned about the Gandhian way from Romaine Rolland's book, and stayed in the ashram from 1925-1933. Madeline was christened Meera by Gandhi because of her great devotion.

The players may or may not have picked up on all of this, but in these days of tight security and jam-packed tours where the closest the players get to a foreign reality is on their PlayStations in their plush hotel rooms, the visit to the ashram was certainly a welcome excursion.