MAHASANGRAM ??

Finally, can we expect to see the grand battle that this World Cup never gave us ? Can we expect to see to champion teams go head to head, not a quarter given, none asked for ? Not a close encounter between two no-hopers like England and West Indies, nor an upset which South Africa caused over Sri Lanka in the Super 8, not even an admirable yet evidently insufficient fight by a lesser opponent in the England-Sri Lanka game ... this World Cup has given us these three good matches - but none of them has been a battle among equals like this one, one would hope to be. For when can one expect a battle between two powerhouses going at each other with full gusto if not in the decider of the most prestigious trophy in the World ??

History however shows that World Cup finals have seldom been such grand contests. In fact in my cricket-watching memory, never can I remember a classic World Cup final - semifinal, yes, Birmingham 99, but not a final. In the last three finals Australia played an Asian team and only way back in 1996, when they actually lost did the game come close to being a contest.

One can always hope, however. On paper, the teams seem to be well-matched though even here Australia clearly have an edge. Here is a look at the respective strengths and weaknesses of the teams.

1. Explosive Keepers: Adam Gilchrist v Kumar Sangakarra
Neither has had a World Cup to write home about by their own lofty standards. I would say neither team shares an advantage in this respect. Gilchrist has scored 304 runs at an average of 34 with 2 fifities while Sangakkara has scored 296 at the marginally lower average of 33 with 3 fifities. Both have done well in the keeping department.

2. Vintage Baldies, Goldie Oldies: Matthew Hayden v Sanath Jayasuriya
Both have had excellent tournaments. Hayden is the leading run-scorer with 621 and all set to break Tendulkar's World Cup record. He averages a mammoth 78 at better than a run-a-ball with 3 hundreds. Jayasuriya has done well but nowhere close to the lofty Hayden. He averages a "mere" 45 at almost a run-a-ball with two hundreds. Australia will enjoy the clear advantage in this battle.

3. The Senapatis: Ricky Ponting v Mahela Jayawardene
Hayden and Jayasuriya may be the destructors at the top of the order but these are the players who control the direction of the battle, not just on the field but also with their bat. Jayawardene's hundred in the semi-final was an all-time classic and enough has been written about Ponting's innings in Johannesburg 2003 to be convinced that these are the players who can rev it up when it matters most. Ponting has scored 523 runs at 71 at a rate of almost a run-a-ball with a hundred and four fifties, while Mahela almost matches him - he has scored a few more runs at a slightly lower average of 67 and lower strike rate. But essentially I don't think either leader has a weakness that will let one team get the advantage over the other.

4. The Young Guns: Michael Clarke v Upul Tharanga
Clarke clearly enjoys the advantage being in better touch throughout the World Cup without really looking like he was threatening to make the tournament his own. Tharanga went through a pretty lean patch mid-series, however he has scored in some of the most crucial games including the semi-final. He has this tendency of never looking as if he is out there to dominate yet surprisingly often goes on to play the big innings. I'm going to stick my head out and say this will be an even contest despite the contradictory information provided by the figures. Clarke averages 86, Tharanga a mere 29.

5. The Hitters: Andrew Symonds v Chamara Silva
This might sound like a bit of a mismatch but make no mistake, when Silva first came into the Sri Lankan side he was in there for his big hitting. He can hit some huge sixes. We all know of course what Symonds is capable of, sometimes painfully so, but fact of the matter is he hasn't had much of a hit in the Cup, Silva has had a very fruitful one so I shall stay even on this one too.
Symonds 55, Silva 47

6. The Finishers: Mike Hussey v Russell Arnold
Ditto 4 and 5. In almost every situation a clear-cut no contest, except perhaps this one. Hussey has had a surprisingly subdued World Cup in large part because he hasn't had much to do, yet fact is he hasn't really had much of a feel for the conditions. Mr. Cricket he might be and we all know his obvious calibre especially in comparison to Arnold, this will make me say he only has a slight advantage in this particular scenario. Arnold averages 39 at a strike rate of 82. Hussey, make sure you hear this correctly, averages 17 at a strike rate of 75.

7. The All-Rounders: Shane Watson v Tillekaratne Dilshan
Watson hasn't been dismissed in the tournament scoring 142 runs in just 82 balls overall in the 5 innings he has been in. Dilshan has a more modest strike rate of 82 and an average of 34 but on the plus side he has been in more situations and worked his way out unlike Watson who missed half the thing and had to basically do a blasting job alone in the other half. It is as a bowler however that Dilshan completely outshines Watson, though differing very much in style. Plus, he is a brilliant fielder. I believe Watson could be the one man Sri Lanka should look to target in what is clearly an attack with hardly any loopholes. On the other hand Dilshan could be the man who will do a lot of bowling especially if the fourth bowler (a major weakness for Sri Lanka, as we shall see later) flops. So all in all, I'd say a decisive vote in favor of Dilshan here.

8. The Battle of The Spinners: Brad Hogg vs Muttaiah Muralitharan
This has been discussed in detail in an earlier post. This should have been one advantage Sri Lanka could have easily exploited and mind you, Murali has done nothing wrong, contrarily he has been outstanding. It is just that Hogg has also bowled really really well and though he will never be a Murali he has done enough to negate Lanka's edge here. So, only a slight advantage to the Lankans in this case. Hogg has picked up 20 wickets at an average of 16 at an economy rate of 3.9. Murali obviously has bettered that - 23 wickets at 13 with about the same economy rate.

9. The Support Bowler: Nathan Bracken vs Dilhara Fernando
No contest whatsoever. Australia win this hands down and I predict that this will be the key difference that could decide the outcome of the match, on a close par with the Hayden difference. Figures should be enough to settle this - Fernando 4 wickets at 51 apiece and an economy rate of 5, Bracken 15 wickets at 15 at a rate of would you believe it 3.4 !!!

10. The Whacky Slingers: Shaun Tait vs Lasith Malinga
Again a very close one with Sri Lanka perhaps edging it. Both are young, both are new, both are fast and have slinging actions and have that X-factor about them. Both have had brilliant tournaments. Tait - 23 wickets at 18 at a slightly high rate of 5.4, Malinga 16 wickets at 16 and a more economical 4.7

11. The Metronomes: Glenn McGrath vs Chaminda Vaas
What fantastic bowlers both have been over the years - both would have a legitimate right to include the word accuracy in their names, although in Warnakulasuriya Patabandige Ushantha Joseph Chaminds Vaas' case that would be rather cruel to add another one in there. But McGrath I believe has that little bit of extra edge more than just the accuracy and that would help him edge out this contest. McGrath has been slightly expensive at 4.4 runs per over this series by his own lofty standards but he has been more attacking - the leading wicket-taker with 25 at an average of 14 breaking the World Record of who else but WPUJC last time, Vaas has been miserly as ever with the runs 3.3 the rate but has been less wicket-taking this time - he has picked 13 wickets at 18

Battle Of The Spinners

Im hopping over to the finals. Normally, Muralitharan vs Hogg would have been a no-contest but in this particular World Cup, look at these figures.

Player	Mat	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	Ct	St

Hogg 10 79.5 6 313 20 4/27 15.65 3.92 23.9 2 0 4 0
Murali 9 77.4 1 307 23 4/19 13.34 3.95 20.2 2 0 5 0

They are almost identical, another contest within the contest that is really close.

I plan to come up with a series of contests within contests for the finals that will help us to see why both teams are so well-matched and yet the Aussies will be favorites. The fact that Hogg has managed to match Murali is certainly one of them - one big advantage Sri Lanka would have enjoyed has been blunted to some extent.

News

My good friend Atul joins me on this blog. I respect his views and believe that having him here will enhance the quality of the blog and make it more interesting. Join me in welcoming him.

The Second Semifinal

Australia v South Africa.

South Africa in tatters at 104/8.

Can Kemp pull off a Klusener ? He needs to look back at this match to see that things can still be kept open.

11:06 CDT- What do you reckon the best SA can hope for in this situation ? 180 ? To stay in with some chance ?

11:31 CDT- Nel cannot hang in there long enough. Gee, now this is going to be tough for Kemp to make it even anywhere near worthy of consideration.

When The Game Bows Down To An Individual ...

... it is said that the game is always bigger than the individual.

But what when the whole game itself decides that it should stand as one to salute the individual ???

What if the World Cup which has seen empty stadiums so far, for this last game produces a grand setting with several thousand supporters cheering for one man ??

What when those supporters are not just of his own nation but also of the opposing team and from every other nation that understands this the greatest game of all ??

What when the opening batsman after playing a splendid innings gets out but rather than feeling disappointed hugs the indivdual on his way in coming in ?

What when the whole world cricket community stands up in applause ??

What when the opposition provide the guard of honour right at the time he walks in ?

What when even the umpires don't feel like being left out ?

What when that individual has scored over 20000 runs and broken nearly all individual records in batting ?

What when that individual has time and again single-handedly carried a pathetic team, on occasions, declaring it was upto him to bail the team out and then gone on to live up to his word producing some of the most amazing unbelievable innings in living memory ?

What when he has given every cricket lover in the World moments to cherish for a lifetime ? Strokeplay that will quench the thirst of the most insightful eyes ? Produced innings of audacity in times of most difficult and challenging circumstances ? Been a source of inspiration and joy to all and sundry ?

What when that individual is a living legend ? The Last King Of Trinidad ? The last link to an era of glory in one of the ancient powers in cricket that is now in ruins ? A beacon shining amidst a heap of coal ?

What when that individual answers to the name of "Sir" Brian Charles Lara ?

It is at moments like these that World Cricket stops .... to salute one man ... to salute the greatest batsman of the modern era ... and of the rare magicians the game has every produced ...

Australia vs Sri Lanka (THE BIG ONE)

... and a dress rehersal for the final ? Almost surely, barring miraculous upsets.

And Sri Lanka seem to be in the woods a bit at 38/3 in the 12th over with Jayasuriya, Tharanga and Sangakarra back in the pavillion. But Jayawardene has just signalled his intent with a most gorgeous hook shot and I do believe this is not really a done and dusted affair yet.

The big news today - Sri Lanka have "rested" Vaas AND Muralitharan - for most people, at first glance, could look like a stupid move - one that if results in a loss might lead to a loss of momentum and brownie points, but IMO this is quite a well-crafted decision.

The idea is to tell the Aussies - let us see what you can do when three of our best are out. If you have a tough time beating us with this team, just wait for what we have got when we come to the finals. The key for this move to pay off is that the team needs to put off a challenge. Absolutely no harm in losing here - the key is they should be able to make Australia sweat. If they can do that and then have to endure defeat in this game, it might be well worth it in the bigger scheme of things.

10.38: Some super-hitting by Jayawardene ... his innings while they last are always masterful and classy ... the big question is how long will this last ??

Bangladesh v England

Bangladesh 123/8 as I write. Will the results against India and South Africa still be categorized as "upsets" and not "wins" ? After today's show one might tend to go with this line of thought again. How many times have we thought Bangladesh had turned the corner only to follow up with something like this ? Admittedly, a challenging pitch, but still ...

A thumping win here will keep England in the tournament and Bangladesh out of it ... well not entirely, but almost.

14.42: Did I speak too early ... yet again ? I left with England at 48/2 anticipating a stroll in the park, when I return it is 110/6 and this is a tense scrap yet again ! The Desi Boys seem to have finally arrived on the big stage and they are here to stay. Or are England just too weak ? I do think they will manage to scrape through this one though.

West Indies v South Africa

HUGE game this for both sides more so for the West Indies and once again right at the start they seem lacklustre as usual. After 9 good overs they have given up 27 runs in the last 3 with Kallis and Devilliers looking really aggressive.

Hmmm. One thing I cannot understand though is why the experts keep saying this is a do-or-die for the hosts. As I can see it, even if they lose this game, they can still go on to beat Bangladesh and England to get 6 points. If South Africa win this they will have 6 points and stay on 6 if they lose to New Zealand and England. England will have 6 points too and it would well be a 3-way tie for the fourth slot.

11.04: 183/1 in 33 overs as I write and I am frankly quite aghast at the West Indies performance so far, well as Kallis and deVilliers have batted. I don't want to sound a cry-baby but I can guarantee that even a team like India would not have given as poor an account of themselves in the field as the hosts have. Quite frankly, West Indies have looked by a wide margin the worst team in this Super 8 stage with both Ireland and Bangladesh looking far more impressive. Brian Charles Lara or Chris Gayle may yet go on to produce a miraculous innings that takes them home in this one but that cannot and should not take away from the fact that the West Indies do not look like they belong at this stage; they should not belong here. Nothing is as untolerable for me in a cricket side as lacklustre fielding. The fielding today has been quite diabolical to say the least. While players like Lara and Bravo are still trying their best to prop up the fielding unit, others like Bradshaw, Pollard, Powell just to name a few have been thoroughly listless.

11.45: Some astounding hitting by AB Devilliers; but yet again that 200 in ODIs remains elusive. Bit of a soft dismissal but Collymore has no reason to really beam and gesture - this is a hopeless effort by the West Indies - notwithstanding the fact that they can still win as I said earlier. Now Mark Boucher is at the crease and would you believe it, Lara has STILL not taken the third powerplay !!!

New Zealand v Ireland

After a surprising run of good contributions the New Zealand's tail has finally come a cropper against Ireland. The experiment of promoting the tail-end batsmen like Fulton, Marshall, Styris, McMillan and Fleming (to a lesser extent) continued today but unlike the earlier games they could not quite make it big and hence and finally the big guns like Oram and McCullum will get their chance to get a good time in the middle. Of course Peter Fulton one of the strongest tail-enders is filling his boots against lowly Ireland today.

11.29: After a well-compiled innings, Fulton gets out on the stroke of lunch. This surely is a blessing for New Zealand. Wonderfully commited though Fulton's innings was this will give their best batsman McCullum an opportunity to get set before he can launch into the onslaught. Now, New Zealand's top two batsmen at the crease.

11.38: Oram out !! Is there going to be a hint of another upset in the air ?? Although New Zealand have a strong "middle" order in Vettori and Franklin to follow.

Nightmarish Commentary !

If nightmarish commentary was the criterion, which teams would win it ??

I bet Rameez Raja-Aamir Sohail would play against the deadly combination of Ranjit Fernando-Laxman Sivaramakrishnan in the finals !! And it would be a close game.

Gavaskar-Shastri would lose in the semifinals.

Your thoughts ?

Standings

1. Australia
2. Daylight
3. New Zealand
4. Daylight
5. Sri Lanka
...

Australia v England !

It's the Ashes contest and so far a cracking game. Unfortunately, Ian Bell is out after a most well-played innings - now it is down to Pietersen, Collingwood and Flintoff to make sure England put up a challenging score - so far, the fight is on, the Aussies are under pressure and I'm loving it.

10.46: Colly out. Must say a bit of a disappointment after his exploits in the CB series.

11.13: If Collingwood has been a "bit" of a disappointment, Flintoff has been a massive one. Things going decidedly Australia's way now; but I think England would be better off now aiming lower - 250ish - than aim too high and implode. As I said it has not been easy chasing in this tournament and in the later stages of the innings it is difficult to get the ball away.

14.31: What do you guys think ? Nicely balanced, eh ? Australia need 152 from 28; 8 wickets in hand. Ponting biding his time. Anyone's game at this point ...

15.38 So Ponting chose the moment to open up. Sajid Mahmood has been nothing but rubbish, really, today. So Aussies now coasting home. They are showing yet again to the rest of the World how totals should be chased. What was a keen contest for about 80 overs has become a bit of a stroll in the last 5-6. Is there still a twist left ? I would think not ... but can never say ...

15.55 Ponting run-out and maybe I'm just being too optimistic and naive to think there still could be something in this ???

Bangladesh v South Africa (should have been India v South Africa)

... and tell you what ... I don't really regret that it is not India playing today for Mohammad Ashraful is playing wht in my opinion is a gem of an innings probably one of the best of the tournament so far in terms of quality of strokeplay on display, the artistry of the strokes, the quality of the opposition and the game situation. Keep in mind, I say this, in the light of some stupendous innings by Hayden, jayasuriya etal in this event.

Magnificent innings. And note, I'm usually not very genrous with these terms. He just played an inside out shot over extra cover that was one of the most miraculous shots ever and prompted the great Barry Richards to say that there was an element of a young (emphasize young) Tendulkar in that shot.

He has just got out for 87 but make no mistake, this is an innings that will be remembered for years to come in the annals of Bangladesh cricket.

Update: What a magnificent victory ! Now this innings will definitely go down in history. The Desi Boys have shown the Saffers their rightful place and thrown this tournament open - open enough for themselves, England and West Indies to have a hope. This is the just the tonic that this tournament needed - now if the Poms can pull one over the Aussies tomorrow - that will really put the cat among the pigeons !!!!!!!!

England v Sri Lanka !!

This could well turn out to be a match !! So far in this tournament, totals of 240+ have been defended easily, while those below 210 have been chased down easily. This total is likely to fall nicely in between these 2 points and so should be an exciting afternoon !

Man Of The Series ?

So who is likely to be the Man of This World Cup Tournament ? I say likely to be, because I believe it has not really yet begun in the true sense - only when the top 4 teams have played against each other will I believe that we will come to know something.

My vote goes to Shane Bond. I believe he can be the single largest factor in influencing this tournament. Figure this - the top 4 teams so far have been Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa. Sri Lanka and South Africa played a really close game and South Africa were thrashed by Australia. So I think going with the old school thought of bowlers being the one winning matches, I think the attacks of South Africa and Sri Lanka though good still don't measure up to Australia. But what the Aussie attack lacks is that X-factor that Bond provides.

The name is Bond, SHANE Bond.

Finally The Bugger Speaks ...

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/288710.html

What he has said might be utter crap, of course, but at least he has shown the effort to speak rather than hide in his Bandra home ...

Ireland vs South Africa (should have been Pakistan v South Africa)

... another one to put me to sleep ...

Rain ... almost a relief ....

Bangladesh vs New Zealand

What, in your opinion, would be a good nickname for the Bangladesh national cricket team ? Bengaboys ? Desi-Boys ? Pour in with your ideas ...

Meanwhile Shane Bond has returned obscene figures of 10-4-15-2, both wickets in the same over clean bowled, were a treat to the eye though.

Grrrr.

It's World Cup Time ...

... the action has already begun, as I write.

The first group of warm-up games that took place yesterday threw up quite a few interesting tidbits.

1. Bermuda have a 270-pound left-arm spinner. Apparently he was bigger but he lost some weight for this tournament. He bowled a really tight spell against England. Bermuda are in India's group. You put two and two together. Tight, irritating left-arm spinners, Tendulkar, ... we know where this could go ... Ashley Giles, Ray Price, Paul Harris .. ring a bell ?

2. South Africa just scraped through against Ireland. This is the World's Number 1 team for God's sake ! They also played their whole squad with the exception of Ntini ! Minnows are not to be taken lightly this World Cup !

3. Both England and Sri Lanka, easy victors though they were had some tense moments during their innings. This could well be the kind of tournament where minnow bowlers have a bit of a honeymoon while the batsmen suffer - a low-scoringish affair if the early signs are any indications.

4. Then again, I believe the venues for the warm-up games are almost totally different that what are going to be used for the main event. So we might never just know.

This tournament keeps whetting the appetite more and more ... can't wait for the real thing to begin ...

Plan To Be Back ...

So it seems the ball was coming straight out of the middle of the bat and resultantly the Outside Edge out of the picture for the last few months. Well, with the good news that my friend Kartikeya's CricketingView has been nominated for the Indibloggies award for Best Sports Blog (evidence that the efforts of cricketing experts like him are indeed appreciated) one is inspired to resume blogging. Now, would be a perfect time considering that the World Cup is upon us and it is not quite end of semester hectic time.

Watch out this space for more ...

India Fielding Pathetic

India's fielding display today has been quite despicable to say the least with Munaf Patel being the major culprit. But the others haven't been angels either. Dravid, Sehwag, Kumble, Zaheer all have at various times appeared extremely lacklustre. Sehwag's catch to dismiss Smith was the only saving grace.

However, Munaf reminded one of Ashish Nehra. Words are hard to find to describe the abysmally low levels of fielding he stooped to on both days. His throws were directed about 100 feet in the air and way short of their mark, several balls were let towards the boundary through various gaps in his body appendages and singles were converted to twos and twos to threes when the ball went to him with remarkable and predictable ease. Often he was specifically targeted for these purposes. Also his running gave an appearace of an absent-minded giraffe much like Nehra did.

Earlier there were a few angry and grumpy faces when he displayed these skills but towards the end the rest of the team had pretty much given up even moaning about him. It was taken as granted that he would come up with another diabolical effort everytime the ball went to him.

That he is coming back from an injury is known. But this is completely inexcusable behavior. If he was not completely fit he should not have been playing at all. And it is not as if he has done anything special with his bowling either.

How Much Are 10 runs really worth ?

A question that boggled my mind while I was proctoring an exam today ? So what difference does it make if an opener gives a quickfire start of 30 runs or 20 runs ? Is it that big ? What is the difference between a 0 and a streaky 10 ? Between a 40 and a 50 ? A 90 and a 100 ? A 50 and a 60 ?

From an opener ? From a pinch-hitter ? From a tail-ender ?

In the slog ? In the middle overs ? While chasing a huge target ?

While batting on a minefield ? On a batting beauty ?

In all these multitude of scenarios what is the value of 10 runs ?

Clearly it is different, clearly it depends a lot on all these circumstances, maybe initially I thought it was not too much but maybe I need to analyze this further.

Actually the motivation I had for this question was initially quite different. I was working on the fact that prior to the start of 2004 Sehwag averaged 35, since then he averages 28. Is that such a drastic decline as is made out to be ? Well I guess for that I have to look at other avenues, like considering more than just averages.

But I hope I have raised some interesting questions and look forward to the opinions of all of you.

Such Are The Ways Of World Cricket ...

... particularly in the ODI format.

So Australia still are the World Champions. They finally managed to win the one tournament that had eluded them and also won the DLF Triangular prior to that against opponents who were at that point of time considered, well, dangerous.

However on both these occasions they dropped one game to the West Indies and people began to talk about the West Indies emerging as a serious challenger to Australia in the near future. The same West Indies however, are not having too easy a time in Pakistan. That Pakistan who was absolutely annihilated by South Africa last month. Yes, the same South Africa whom the West Indies thrashed in the ICC Champios Trophy.

Confusing enough ?

Let us try to summarize: Australia are still the World Champs, but West Indies emerge as a strong contender by beating them a couple of times and reaching finals before losing to them. On the way they thrash South Africa whom had in turn annihilated Pakistan. But now West Indies find the going tough against Pakistan.

Such is cricket, really. So I guess one shouldn't really devastate oneself too much over India's travails in South Africa. Because it all comes around in circles ...

How Cumming ?

People might think of several weird interpretations of the above title but believe it or not, it is opening pair that New Zealand has put up against Sri Lanka in this current test match ?

How cum ? You might want to ask ...

Interesting Piece Of Trivia ?

Other than England, which country holds the record for maximum born players who went on to play the Ashes for England ? Name these players if possible.

...
...
...

Answer: Not South Africa, as many might guess, but India. The more prominent among thse include Ranjitsinghji, Duleepsinghji, Douglas Jardine, Nawab Pataudi, Colin Cowdrey, Bob Woolmer, Nasser Hussain.

Others are Emmett, Wynyard and Young.

Why These Obituaries ?

Read a fine piece by Osman Samiuddin that gave Shoaib the cricketer a lot of praise while rightly lambasting his shortcomings as a sportsman. However what I wonder is why he so readily concludes that this is not merely a 2-year ban but the end of Shoaib's career. After all he will be 33 when his ban ends. Remember Shane Warne was already 34 when he was banned and yet we all know where he stands today.

Is this due to the implicit (and quite likely true) assumption of Shoaib's lack of mental strength ? In any case there is always a possibility that this will give him some time to introspect and return with a fervour for what will be the last 2-3 years of his career. Maybe this will provide him the strength to channelize the energies he lacked and come out and prove to the World his innate unfulfilled potential.

There is always reason to hope, right ?

What An Utterly Boring Affair !

Just when you think they could possibly go no lower, the ICC comes up with something even worse. The first couple of editions of the ICC Champions Trophy (or the ICC Knockout) were fine as they were. Then they were not satisfied with the number of games because that meant less money.

Then under the guise of giving teams a second chance the ICC increased the number of matches by making 4 groups of 3 teams each in 2002 and 2004. Of course we know what happened. Each group had one obvious weakling and 8 of the 12 group games were no-contests.

So now just to give an appearance that they are doing something different they come up with this stupid round roubin qualifying round idea where it is as clear as daylight that West Indies and Sri Lanka are going to make it to the main draw without any hassles. Really pathetic stuff. I could not care less about what is happening in these meaningless matches.

Now They Cast Aspersions On Our Civility ...

As if creating a ruckus in World cricket by the Inzy incident was not enough the ICC have essentially declared that the subcontinent is not a place safe enough for gentlemen like Hair to officiate and that people living here are uncivilized brutes who are likely to waste no instant in shooting down the man at the first sight of him. That is what I interpret from the decision to not appoint Hair for the Champions Trophy on security grounds.

Excellent going.

So what does Mr. Hair get ?

So the guy who was proven innocent of ball-tampering is slammed with a 4-match ban for an action that was a direct consequence of Mr. Hair making what have now been proven false accusations against him. And what does the man who sought to tarnish the reputation of one of World Cricket's greatest and most likeable cricketers and a true genteleman get ?

Nothing.

Oh yeah, perhaps $500000 ? Wasn't that what he wanted ?

True Colors

So Ravi Shastri has finally shown his true colors. Remember less than a month ago, this guy was equating Dravid with Steve Waugh as batsman and captain !!

Flintoff The Right Choice

I fully support Andrew Flintoff's appointment as England captain for the Ashes. Mind you, I believe Strauss had done an excellent job with the team as well.

But Flintoff had led superbly in tough conditions in India and hence should be rewarded with a return to the throne upon comeback.

The only question mark that should remain will be about his fitness. He will get a chance to prove that in India.

Humble Tribute

To The Great Sir Clyde Walcott who passed away yesterday in Barbados.

Hypothetical Super Series

Stuck in the mire of ball tampering, national honors, cheating and forfeiture and the glue that holds all this together, the Spirit Of Cricket, I thought why not move away from all this for a little while, take a breather and talk about a totally different *cricketing* issue. This is a favorite pastime of mine. To make XIs. It was around this time last year that the ICC World teams were prepared to take on Australia in the Super (Flop) Series. Although there can be no doubt that the series flopped, I rather liked the idea at that time and continue to be thrilled about picking a World XI again today to take on Australia. Let us start off today by picking an XI for Test cricket. Because that is easier and more interesting. I shall list it first and then elaborate.

Sehwag (Ind)

Strauss (Eng)

Dravid (Ind) - CAPTAIN

Yousouf (Pak)

Younis (Pak)

Sangakarra (SL) -- KEEPER

Flintoff (Eng) – VICE-CAPTAIN

Kumble (Ind)

Hoggard (Eng)

Muralitharan (SL)

Ntini (SA)

So my captain is Rahul Dravid and the vice-captain Andrew Flintoff. There was no debate in my mind about the captain. However there were several contenders for the vice-captain’s slot viz. Sehwag, Strauss, Younis and Sangakarra. But Freddie took it in the end.

Sehwag has had an inconsistent year. He had an astonishing 254 against Pakistan but other than that had pretty lame series against England and Sri Lanka at home before returning to some sort of form in the West Indies.

Strauss has also had an up and down season until the recent series against Pak but of course he had that crucial hundred against India at Mumbai.

But despite not quite being at their best these 2 were the best openers on show. Hence Sehwag retains his spot and Strauss picks it from Graeme Smith, last year’s captain who himself has had a pretty poor injury ridden year. Besides, Sehwag was the one shining success in last year’s game.

Dravid was clearly quite the opposite in the fixture last year, an abject failure. Yet such is the class of the man and his consistent form over the season makes him an automatic reselection at number 3.

Mohammad Yousouf has quite easily been a revelation this season and easily grabs the #4 spot. The incumbent Brian Lara has had a poor year (a century in Adelaide apart) and finds himself out.

Younis Khan also has had an outstanding year and although he has not vowed audiences like Yousouf with the beauty of his bat, his scores have been just as if not more impressive. He takes the place of injury-ridden and off-form Jacques Kallis from last year.

Sangakarra is the keeper batsmen. Quite clearly he deserved this place last year too. Really Mark Boucher was no competition. Well he gets his deserved spot anyway.

Flintoff – despite suffering an injury he is there. The fact that this is only an on-paper team helps. He is the vice-captain. He was quite superb as captain in India IMO. And his all-round skills speak for themselves.

Kumble – he gets his rightful place replacing Daniel Vettori. Admittedly Vettori did well in the ODI series last year but really in 5-day cricket (and assuming this match will again take place at Sydney, hence the 2 spin-theory) Kumble has to make it. Besides he has given a match-winning and historic series-winning performance for India in the West Indies.

Hoggard – Again IMO deserves his spot, despite a below par series against Pak simply because of his consistent performances prior to that. In India mainly. Hoggard is also an additional bowler replacing Inzamam from last year’s squad.

So I have shifted to a 5-bowler attack where Freddie does not have to bear the burden of opening the bowling like he did last time.

Murali – period.

Ntini – replaces Harmison in last year’s squad. Has had a good year and is continuously on the up.

So finally in the XI we have

3 Englishmen (Strauss, Flintoff, Hoggard) as opposed to 2 last year (Flintoff, Harmison)

3 Indians (Sehwag, Dravid, Kumble) as opposed to 2 last year (Sehwag, Dravid)

0 Kiwis () as opposed to 1 last year (Vettori) – which I still maintain was a quota choice

2 Pakistanis (Younis, Yousouf) as opposed to 1 last year (Inzamam)

1 Protea (Ntini) as opposed to 3 last year (Smith, Kallis, Boucher)

2 Sri Lankans (Murali, Sangakarra) as opposed to just Murali last year

0 West Indians, Brian Lara dropped from last year

The players who merited consideration were Kallis (of course), Inzamam (again, of course), Jayawardene (in great form, unlucky to miss out), Pietersen (also in good form) and Brian Lara (patchy season) among batsmen; no other bowler really came close. Shoaib has had a decent year. Asif has had 3 great tests but he is only starting out, he can wait.

So would like to know what you guys think about the team.

SENSATIONAL !!!

Absolutely SENSATIONAL is all that I can say at the moment about the now-made-public news of the offer by Darrell Hair to resign for $500000. Well pardon me for being at a loss for words just at the moment, but this will take some time to sink in before analysis.

The Saga Goes On 2

Guess what? Turns out I was a bit too cynical in my analysis yesterday. Well at least as far as Pakistan is concerned, they do want the issue to be sorted out early. Can’t say the same about the ICC though whose number one priority seems to be greed as The Burnt Bail here agrees. But I fully sympathize with the Pak team in their desire to get this matter dealt with before playing. Who would want to play with the sword hanging over their heads knowing they will be branded cheats at any possible time?

Meanwhile, here is a very interesting piece by John Stern on Cricinfo. I particularly like the part where he lays down the reason for ICC’s shift to Dubai – that they need more sand to bury their head in.

Also from Cricinfo is an article by Andrew Miller where he talks about bringing the dark arts into light. I don’t quite necessarily agree with all his suggestions but I do agree as always with the pro-bowler theme. Basically, in this hedonistic era of batsmanism, anything that can assist the bowlers in any way should be encouraged. While protecting the doosra even though it is engulfed in clouds of chucking theory is one important aspect of it, the other equally important aspect is reverse swing.

After all the doosra and the reverse swinging delivery are wonderful sights. Miller talks about Simon Jones’ delivery to castle Michael Clarke in the last summer’s Ashes, according to him the most ‘orgasmic’ delivery of the series. He talks about the wonders displayed by Wasim and Waqar. He goes on to argue that “ball-tampering”, which let us face it, is clearly a practice widely followed but never officially acknowledged except on occasions such as these, is an art, a creative, even innovative art and rather than being looked down upon as cheating should be allowed to blossom openly (within certain limits of course.) Yes, I agree. Anything to get one back on those greedy batsmen. I shall always remain a bowlers’ man.

Meanwhile, South Africa have said they would be happy to play England in case Pak pull out. Sure you would, you …’s. Not for you that London is probably as much vulnerable at this time as Colombo, isn’t it? It’s not really purely about security is it ?

The Saga Goes On

So now the ODI series will be on because Ranjan Madugalle is (conveniently?) unavailable for the moment looking into personal issues.

Apparently Malcolm Speed looked for other alternatives but it seems “England and Pakistan both wanted Madugalle because of his immense credibility.” Funny I never thought of him as a particularly credible person not even in the short stints of commentary he did. But such are the ways of the World

OK maybe I was being a bit too cynical about the reason for Madugalle’s unavailability. Apparently he did have this personal matter planned in advance and in fact was the match referee for the first 3 tests before handing over to Proctor. Still does not change the credibility stand as far as his refereeing goes though.

Meanwhile if Inzy is indeed banned there is bound to be loud repercussions worldwide, the merits of which is another issue altogether. So yeah, this was the best way to get this series out of the way, cool the tempers a bit and then see what happens.

Here is a question – how about Srinath, the latest entrant in the referee panel, doing the hearing instead of Madugalle ?

Also Bob Woolmer asks for the ball tampering law to be scrapped and while that may sound a bit extreme he usually has a point.
Again at first glance his suggestion that players be allowed to use all natural means to change the ball and get it to assist the bowlers might sound ridiculous at first but on deeper thought it makes lot of sense. After all he goes on to add that all bowlers in the past have tried various ways that are by today’s standards illegal to change the ball and this is unknown to umpires who have never played the game. So, isn’t this similar to the whole chucking issue where history is littered with almost all bowlers bending their arms ? Woolmer’s point about ball-tampering being similar to prohibition is one that makes a lot of sense.

Meanwhile here is a delightful story about another controversy involving Darrell Hair. Thanks Rick for the link.

Also look at this very balanced piece of analysis from The Burnt Bail.

Today's Stories

Andy Flower – Batsman/Keeper – England ?
After yet another disappointing and listless performance by Geraint Jones with the bat and despite his improved keeping, the calls are getting louder by the day for his ouster. So who will replace him? Well Chris Read is the local favorite, there are a couple of new names that I haven’t even heard of – but one name I have heard of is Andy Flower. Now he has almost qualified to play for England hasn’t he? Surely, if merit be the sole criterion, once he qualifies he should be a serious contender even at this age given the class of the man.

471 runs – Sangakarra Jayawardene
The old firm is at it again. A record 3rd wicket unbeaten partnership. One shudders to think where they will end up. With 3 whole days left, the World Record is definitely not an impossibility.

Today's Stories

Prem Panicker talks about the foolishness of rushing back Sachin. I tend to agree, then again, we did have problems with our batting in the ODI series in the West Indies and any match from now on till the World Cup is important from the point of view of maintaining the momentum so …

To Improve Your Average ... PRAY !

Since converting from Christianity to Islam, Yousouf Youhana has increased his average from an impressive 47 to a very impressive 52. And his average in that period is a whopping 83. He puts it all down to praying 5 times a day.

Courtesy this Steven Lynch Column on Cricinfo.

And The Predictable Follows ...

Dalmiya now says that he does not expect any loyalty from Ganguly and that the email does not concern him nor did he leak it … Fountainhead anyone ?

RUBARU .... Roshni !!

Finally ...

By the way how many of you who have read The Fountainhead agree with me that the characters in this saga have a bit of a matching with those in the book:

Sourav Ganguly = Peter Keating
Jagmohan Dalmiya = Ellsworth Toohey
Rahul Dravid = Howard Roark
Greg Chappell = Gail Wynand

More Injury Worries For England

Here we go again.

Are We ...

... seeing an abrupt, premature, unfulfilled end to one of the more promising careers in recent times ?? This is pretty sad news.

Four Out Of Four

The Sri Lankan juggernaut keeps rolling. They have now taken a 4-0 lead with victory at Old Trafford. Most notably it is a second consecutive hundred for skipper Mahela Jayawardene, one of the most stylish and one of my favorite batsmen in World Cricket at the moment, not least because I believe he is grossly underrated and to be fair a huge underachiever, particularly overseas.

England meanwhile won't learn their lessons, 20 wides and a few no balls in a 33 run loss once again with Harmisson being responsible for 9 of those wides. Phew !

Interesting Questions

How many times has a batsman hit a bowler for 6 consecutive fours in an over?

Off the top of my head I can remember 3. Sandeep Patil off Bob Willis, Chris Gayle off Matthew Hoggard and recently Ramnaresh Sarwan off Munaf Patel. Interestingly, Willis was a really accomplished bowler and Hoggard as of now seems to be well on his way there. Munaf too has shown a lot of promise in his young career. Clearly being thrashed about once is not such a big deal, it seems.

Talking of Munaf, he seems to be taking a lot of his wickets either bowled or lbw. Who are the other bowlers in history to do this? Off the top of my head I can definitely remember Waqar Younis and to a lesser extent Shoaib Akhtar. To an even lesser extent, Wasim Akram. The key factor here? Reverse swing, a liking for Yorkers.

Staying with Munaf he definitely seems to be a long term prospect for India. Oh hang on. Haven’t we been down this path before? How many bowlers have in the recent past promised so much only to let us down? Off the top of my head and leading the list definitely Zaheer Khan closely followed by Ajit Agarkar and Ashish Nehra. One who seems to be going that way (I hope he doesn’t) is Irfan Pathan.

How many times recently have Sri Lanka beaten England convincingly? 4. The Trentbridge test and the 3 ODIs were as comprehensive thrashings as you can imagine. Throw in a close win in the 20-20 game in there as well. Sri Lanka are clearly a team on a high finally delivering the promise they have held and converting potential into performance in a foreign setting. England meanwhile have serious problems. The Ashes is now only a distant memory. Since then they haven’t managed to win a single test series and have lost ODIs faster than you can say … well ODI.

Munaf 3 out of 3

Munaf Patel was thrashed for 24 runs in 1 over including 6 boundaries in a row by Ramnaresh Sarwan yet he has been the most impressive Indian bowler in this Test judging by the fact that he has picked up all 3 wickets to fall. Interestingly, all 3 have been bowled or lbw. Munaf is a bit of an enigma for me. At times he looks to have it all, pace, bounce, length, seam and looks like a World beater. At other times he just seems disinterested which makes it kind of difficult to assert whether he is indeed the next big thing in Indian fast bowling. After all haven't we been flattered to be deceived so many times in the past ? Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar are the names that come to mind immediately.

Test Cricket Is Alive ...

... and kicking.

Meanwhile in ODI cricket, SL is on a rampage ... having been on a roll since the test at Nottingham, they now look well set to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Three In A Row

First in the test match, then in the 20-20 game and now in the ODI. From Nottingham to the Rosebowl to the Home of Cricket Sri Lanka have defeated England and seem to be on a roll.

Good job Lankans. Nice slap on the face for those critics who used to ridicule this team for being pushovers abroad. Let us not forget they also reached the finals in Australia earlier this year and gave the Aussies a scare.

Also an eye-opener for those who ridiculed our own series victories over Sri Lanka at home.

Cricket Was The Winner

It was bound to happen. A draw was probably the right result for this fantastic see-sawing game of Test cricket. Neither team really deserved to lose, nor win.

India, for one, had definitely gone in with a less than optimal combination. While the decision to play 6 batsmen (and hence to omit Harbhajan Singh) was understandable if not agreeable to all, the decision to omit Irfan Pathan was baffling to say the least. Agreed, he was off colour and looked out of form, but with him there is always a chance that he can return to form any time and when he does he change matches with a couple of wickets at any crucial time; something that for all promise shown VRV Singh cannot do as of now.

Then India capitulated for 241 on the first day. While the fightback was commendable indeed remarkable, it was not quite enough to seal victory. Nevetherless India can proudly claim the honors in the draw. Unfortunately honors do not count as far as series results go and India will have to put in strong performances up front in the next few games as opposed to come from behind efforts if they are to make sure they do not rue this very close miss.

For the West Indies too surely holding out for the draw was an achievement. When Sehwag nailed Ramdin there were a good 20 overs to go and with only 3 wickets in hand India were red hot favourites. But the efforts of Bradshaw, Mohammed, Edwards and Collymore deserve handsome praise. Havind said that it was pretty ordinary cricket that got the West Indies in a situation where they had to fight hard to save the match. Having taken a lead of 130 their bowlers failed to create any sort of impression in the second innings although it must be said Jaffer rode his luck well.

Even as one might argue that the few overs lost due to the Dhoni incident cost India valuable balls it cannot be forgotten that the West Indies got a couple of awful umpiring decisions on the last day - the wickets of Chanderpaul and Bradshaw. Then again the ball that got Dravid in the first innings was a no ball.

All in all, not the best of games as far as umpiring goes but a good example of how despite human errors cricket can still come out the winner. Indeed a great manifestation of the greatness of test match cricket. Is it conceivable to find such drama in an ODI ? Oh Long live test cricket.

Who Is Going To Be England Captain ?

For the first test against Sri Lanka ?

Will it be Marcus Trescothick who is back after a mystery illness that took him out of the tour of India and who has been the deputy to Michael Vaughan all these years ?

Or will it be that great warrior Andrew Flintoff who led the team with distinction in the toughest of circumstances in India, who forgoed a trip back home for the birth of his child on account of his country's desperate call and came out with flying colours ?

Update: Latest reports indicate it is likely to be Freddie Flintoff. Good move I should say - Trescothick should pay some sort of price for running away with a "mystery illness"

What An Utterly Boring Affair

Well sorry that I have been rather loathe to update my blog these days; well not putting in any long posts at least; but hell when South Africa are playing New Zealand and Zimbabwe are playing West Indies what can one really do ??

South Africa and New Zealand are according to me 2 of the most boring unattractive dull drab and clinical prosaic sides in World Cricket.

And Zimbabwe the less said the better.

I Am Utterly Disappointed

... that Asia has won the bid to host the 2011 World Cup.

This just removes all doubts that fairness and cricketing sense still exists in the ICC and is further confirmation is that all that matters is money power and clout. There is no doubt that an increased vote is why Bangladesh was pushed for test status by the Asian bloc and now I won't be surprised if teams like Fiji (Australasia), Namibia (Africa) and Holland (Europe) are pushed by their respective test-playing neighbors for test status for this purpose as well.

Must Take A Look ...

Here

Confidence - Great to have but shouldn't it be realistic ?

Within the last few days 2 players have made statements regarding confidence and I find both a bit optimisitc.

1. VVS - I am confident of making it to the WC Squad.

2. BC Lara - I am confident of receiving support from all (players officials etc)


Your thoughts ?

Udti Udti Khabar Suni ...

That the great man Sir Brian Charles Lara is back at the helm of affairs of West Indies cricket.

That is great news. Congratulations !

More later ....

Akram Defends Tendulkar

Or at least so says Prithviraj here.

Ironical, for a man who had attacked Tendulkar, the batsman with ball in hand made such a breathtaking spectacle, him defending Sachin with the pen looks rather pathetic.

Did Sachin appoint him as a lawyer ?? Did Sachin ask for a defense ? Defense against what ??

Strike !

When the iron is hot or when the heat gets too much to bear ??

Tim May says that the Aussie cricketers will strike if the ICC keeps organizing meaningless ODIs with no heed to player workload and I completely back the idea.

Always a supporter of any means to reduce quantity in a bid to improve quality.

This is precisely what Tim May says in terms that are in no way uncertain and every word carries a lot of weight and truth.

"We're frustrated, we're concerned, we're disappointed the ICC and the member countries aren't abiding by principles that are supposed to be abided by in the scheduling of tours," May, president of the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA), told The Sun-Herald from Austin, Texas.

"It's very, very high risk. It devalues the game because your players aren't at their best. The guys don't have time to prepare professionally for games.

"The stakeholders, the spectators, miss out. You get rotation policies but even that devalues the games and the teams and the spectacle.

"Guys start going through the motions. Their bodies are extremely fatigued. They just can't keep doing it. I don't know what the next step is. Some players might take it into their own hands."

Shahid Afridi "retiring" from Test cricket at the age of 26, Marcus Trescothick's mysterious "virus", the abrupt ending to the career of Chris Cairns, all these are early symptomns of a disease that is threatening to shake the very foundations of the game.

Indeed, the ones who seem to be still enjoying their game in their old age are the players who have quit playing ODI cricket like Lara, Warne or those who have been forcibly left out like Kumble and Laxman.

Get your act together Mr. Money, or strike it will be.

The Best Against The Worst !!

... It just keeps getting better !!

Now isn't that a pretty good demonstration of use of adjectives and antonymns and medians and etc etc ??

The Best Against The Worst !!

This is unbelievable and definitely amazing. On Day 1 Bangladesh have thrashed an Aussie bowling line up consisting of Lee Gillespie Warne and MacGill for 355 runs for 5 wickets.

Absolutely brilliant. I have great belief in this young Bangladesh side and some of their talents are quite a joy to watch, none more so of course than Mohammad Ashraful but Aftab Ahmed, Shahriar Nafees, Alok Kapali all very gifted players and today Nafees has done his country proud.

Ricky Ponting clearly made a big statement when he admitted that he was wrong earlier about Bangladesh not deserving their test status and maybe Warne will have to write a sorry-note to Murali of whom he complained of using the Bangladesh batsmen to boost his wicket tally.

If you were just told the scorecard at the end of Day 1 I'm sure you would not be correct in guesstimating just who has been bested by whom !!

The Best Of Dhoni

The best part of Dhoni according to me is not his average wicket-keeping or his audacious strokeplay or his great ability to chase down mammoth asks with ease or even his new found adaptability.

The best part of Mahendra Singh Dhoni is his attitude to the game which is symbolised by the smile he always sports even when sharing the success of his teammates as was evident when he took the men of the matches for a ride (literally, not figuratively).

In fact this attitude of Dhoni is shared by almost all young members of this Indian side. Irfan Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan and others - they all seem to thrive in each other's success and really seem to be enjoying themselves. This is quite a change even from the immediately preceding generation - we all know what great cricketers and human beings Sachin, Rahul, Srinath, Kumble, Laxman are and how sincerely they played the game with great passion but somehow this freewheeling attitude is a thing of this new generation. And Indian cricket is the better for it.

That is what makes me fully sympathetic towards Sehwag and Kaif and no matter how many chances they are given I feel they deserve them because they are team-men to the core, through and through. Not a long time ago they were piling on the runs when someone like Yuvraj was going through a lean trot and now the situation has been reversed. Maybe it will reverse again some time in the future. But that important thing is the team work. When one guy is out of form the other contributes and compensates for him and vice-versa.

Javagal Srinath

I love the way this bloke does commentary. Many people have several objections (and valid ones) towards his commentary. His difficulty in communicating with precision in English language is the primary of these. Some feel he does not add enough insights.

But tell me which of Gavaskar and Shastri adds any new profound insights to the game ?? I think Sri's observations on fast bowlers are very very interesting if one listens with a keen ear. Also since he has played with quite a few of the current players he knows their personalities better than most.

But the best part of Srinath is that like Manjrekar he is very very candid. Unlike Manjrekar, he is not shrewd. He is therefore an open book and that is what I love about him the most.

Why I Am Always Skeptical About Ganguly

So the stories about Ganguly are doing the rounds in the media again.

They are saying that with Tendulkar out and the top order in poor form Ganguly is likely to make a comeback again.

Which is all fine. But why do all of these stories have to have some kind of political implications associated with them ?

Sample these excerpts from this article in the DNA.

Ganguly had a long meeting a couple of days back in Delhi with Arun Jaitley, president of the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association and a political heavyweight. Jaitley, currently in Kolkata, is likely to meet the left-handed batsman again. Though he declined to comment on the issue, it was widely known in cricket circles that Jaitley favours Ganguly’s return. Sharad Pawar, BCCI president, had also said recently (in Nagpur) that he was confident that Ganguly would make a comeback.

I mean either these are meaningless rumors or there is something still shady about the issue and I tend to think it is the latter. I fail to see why he cannot be reinstated if needed and found desirable based on his own ability and potential.

Even in all those glory years his constant hobnobbing with Dalmiya left uncomfortable questions in the mind. He is not helping his cause either IMO by holding meetings with the Jaitleys and the Pawars.

For God's sake just do one thing - bat and score runs - and let the politicians sort out their things.

The Good The Bad And The Ugly

The Good:
Suresr Raina signalled his arrival on the international scene with a superb innings. It came when India desperately needed it. It was full of brilliant strokeplay reminiscent of a combination of Yuvraj and Ganguly of yore that is what makes so many people see a potential star in this youngster. Personally I believe Yuvraj is more naturally gifted than him but he is nevetherless a damn good player.

The Bad
The Indian top order continues to struggle. Sehwag got a start and threw it, Gambhir did it yet again, Dravid was out to a foolish run out. Kaif's run of single digit scores is a bit of a worry and Yuvi has dipped a bit since the unbelievable heights of Pakistan.

The Ugly
The brutes that call themselves the police crossed all limits today as scribes and fans were mercilessly attacked for no rhyme or reason outside the stadium. Perhaps what they show in Rang De Basanti is not such an exaggeration after all. Horrifying pictures of a 9-year old girl bleeding in her face have flashed across the national news channels. She has been admitted to a hospital in Delhi and is in the ICU. My prayers are with her and her family. Also reports indicate that several youngsters were assaulted. One such bleeding profusely was refused to be taken to a hospital by the police.

Really, this needs to be taken care of. The villains should be punished and the venue needs to be stripped off international status for a couple of years at least.

India's Reliance on Pathan

Increasingly it is becoming clearer that when Irfan Pathan does well with the ball India are in good shape. When he does not, we struggle.

Let us rewind the clock back to September-October 2005 when Rahul Dravid took over. Since then here is a summary of the performances of Irfan and the effect it had on India.

ODIs

v SL at Nagpur - Pathan picks Atapattu early - India win
v SL at Mohali - Pathan picks 4 - India win
v SL at Jaipur - Pathan has an off-day, India still win thanks to a magical innings by Dhoni
v SL at Pune - Pathan is average picks late wicket but India win thanks to Agarkar's brilliance
v SL at Ah'bad - Pathan rested, India LOSE
v SL at Rajkot - Pathan picks 3, India win
v SL at Baroda - Pathan picks 3, India win
v SA at Hyd - Pathan flops, India lose
v SA at B'lore - Pathan picks 3, India win
v SA at Eden - Pathan flops, India humiliated
v SA at Mumbai- Pathan picks 3, India win
v Pak at Peshawar - Pathan flops, India lose
v Pak at Pindi - Pathan picks 3, India win
v Pak at Lahore - Pathan picks 3, India win
v Pak at Multan - Pathan picks 3, India win
v Pak at Karachi - Pathan rested, India still win thanks to the great efforts of Dhoni and Yuvi
v Eng at Delhi - Pathan picks 3 India win

So you see in 17 matches India has won 13 and lost 4. Out of the 13 wins Pathan has played a role by picking up an early wicket or 2 on at least 10 occasions. Out of the 4 losses Pathan has been wicketless (or not played) And make no mistake invariably at least one if not 2 of his wickets is an early one - within his first 2 overs.

Digest some of these facts.

1. Track back through the last nine ODIs, dating back to the first game against South Africa, and you find that Irfan Pathan has broken through in his first or second over on five different occasions. Here, he made it six in ten.

Courtesy Prem Panicker on Sightscreen

2. One Wicket in his 1st over of a odi : 8

Two Wickets in his 1st over of a odi : 2

One Wicket in his 2nd over of a odi : 13

Two Wickets in his 2nd over of a odi : 1

14 times wicketless...india won 3 lost 10 n/r 1

Overall record for india :-

Mat Runs HS BatAv 100 50 W BB BowlAv 5w Ct St

overall 53 706 83 27.15 0 4 91 5/27 24.61 1 8 0
matches won 29 260 83 37.14 0 1 65 5/27 16.30 1 5 0
matches w/ no result 1 - - - - - 0 - - 0 0 0
matches lost 23 446 65 23.47 0 3 26 3/34 44.07 0 3 0

When matches won he averages 37 with the bat and 16 with the ball..when we lose its 23 with the bat and 44 with the ball...

Courtesy, Saurabh Malhotra, of SachinTendulkarFans.

Now often people in discussion groups have lambasted Pathan for his so-called lack of pace and a couple of average results particularly in the Pakistan series. What they forget is for now Pathan is India. Munaf and Sreesanth may be good but so far they have not been able to make the difference consistently like Pathan has. RP Singh IMO can never be anything more than a support bowler.

Now turning our attention to test cricket and this is what first brought this topic to my mind - the question of why we are doing so averagely in test cricket while being brilliant in ODIs - this is exactly where Pathan has been less successful. However note that the 2 disasters that we have had in recent times, Mumbai and Karachi (second innings) was when Pathan was unsuccessful as with the couple of drawn games in Pak. He gave us the early breakthrougs in Mohali (first innings) Nagpur and in the Sri Lanka series. In fact the second innings of the Mumbai and Mohali tests were the only exceptions where Pathan flopped and we still restricted England. Unfortunately in Mumbai too much damage had been done in the first innings. And in Mohali that was not the case precisely because Pathan had delivered the breaks early.

Such is the reliance on Irfan Khan Pathan, 21. I think we need to give the chap a break. Stop worrying about his "loss of pace" and leave him alone. He is far from perfect but he has the golden touch and he will deliver more often than not. And when he does India will prosper, as has been proven above.

Duniya Hain Mere Peechche ... Lekin Main Tere Peechche ...

Perhaps this is not the best time to write this piece what with Sachin Tendulkar suffering a shoulder injury and having to undergo surgery and all. But this was a very pertinent observation made by Navin Desai, a mate whom I interact with in a Yahoo! Group - the SachinTendulkarFans group.

So we were on about this discussion about Sachin's poor form. And we were wondering what it was that was possibly responsible for it. We first thought about and summarily dismissed the idea of a lack of inspiration or motivation because looking at the enthusiasm he shows in the field and with the ball that certainly does not seem likely.

So what is it that is causing this ?? Surely his skills have not deteriorated, not to that level anyway. No, it has to be something mental.

So Navin's theory goes thus. Over the years there is practically nothing that Sachin has not earned. He has been compared to Bradman himself by the man himself, he has been the destroyer, he has been the World's greatest, he has held all the conceivable records in batting in both forms of the game. If there is one thing that he has not achieved that is the tag of being Mr. Reliable or Mr. Dependable that Dravid has earned. He has never been that man whom you want out there batting for your life when the chips are down.

And that is what he perhaps aspires to. It is ironical because all batsmen and that includes Lara and Dravid have at times in the past wished that they possessed so many of the great qualities that Sachin did (does).

Sachin Tendulkar ...

since his 35th hundred averages less than 19 in 10 innings ... hmmm.

Dream Teams

Here is an interesting exercise. I try to come up with 4 different teams to play 5-day cricket consisting of current players only but these are not your usual World X1 teams - their selection criteria are quite different and hopefully, very interesting.

I have tried to keep the teams disjoint, so while some of the players might fit in more than one team I have put them in the team that they fit best in and put in other players more suited in the other team.

My first team will consist of cricketers who are not very elegant, not superstars nor have outstanding career records. Yet, they are tough fighters and you can bet they will fight every team you put up against them by sheer bloody-mindedness and determination. These are the ones who have often performed rescue acts, while letting others hog the limelight.

So here goes:
THE FIGHTERS
Justin Langer
Andrew Strauss
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain)
Paul Collingwood
Jacques Rudolph
Mohammad Kaif
Kamran Akmal
Abdul Razzaq
Ashley Giles
Rana Naved
Matthew Hoggard

My second team is the team of the most supremely gifted elegant players. These may not have career records as outstanding as some of their peers but have often delighted crowds with their fantastic artistic skills. Well this list also includes a couple of names (note fast bowlers, wicketkeepers) who may not conventionally make the list, but it is so much more difficult to talk of these in terms of art than just batsmen so I have allowed myself the luxury of including some cricketers with supreme skills in their field.
THE ARTISTS
Salman Butt
Marwan Atapattu (captain)
Yousouf Youhana
Mahela Jayawardene
VVS Laxman
Damien Martyn
Andrew Flintoff
Irfan Pathan
Tatenda Taibu (Difficult to classify a wicket-keeper batsman as an artist but whatever)
Shane Warne
Shane Bond

Now come the power merchants. They too do not rewrite the record books nor are they necessarily a delight to the eye. But they are great entertainers in their own right in that they can be brutal.
THE BRUTES
Virender Sehwag (captain)
Chris Gayle
Kevin Pietersen
Shahid Afridi
Andrew Symonds
Jacob Oram
Mahendra Dhoni
Brett Lee
Shoaib Akhtar
Steve Harmison (or Ntini ? Lost for a choice here)
Anil Kumble (as close to powerful as a spinner can get)

And now the World Beaters. The record holders. The prolific run scorers and wicket takers. The one with the greatest averages.
THE CHAMPIONS
Matthew Hayden
Rahul Dravid (captain, opener (SORRY) had to fit in 4 other players)
Ricky Ponting
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara
Jacques Kallis
Adam Gilchrist
Shaun Pollock
Chaminda Vaas
Muttaiah Muralitharan
Glenn McGrath

Even after asking Dravid to open I still cannot accomodate Inzy !! Wow that's the only team that I faced a problem of plenty. Also I put Dravid ahead as captain over Ponting. Whew ! Eagerly awaiting your thoughts, suggestions, criticisms, better balance ideas ...

Of Great Matches

With all the brouhaha over the 434-game between Australia and South Africa I was dying to at least catch a glimpse of the highlights to see what all the fuss was about. Well I still haven't had time to watch the whole thing but I did see the first 30 overs of South Africa's innings (ie. the Hershcelle Gibbs (and Graeme Smith) show) and it was no doubt breathtaking. Perhaps once I get the whole thing I will be able to appreciate it better ??

But then after that I watched the highlights of the Ashes again ... and immediately it was patently clear again what real cricket was and what just a show.

Once again, Long Live Test Match Cricket.

Random Post

Okay ... so I was away for 55 hours and I come back to find that nothing is quite what it was like before nor will it ever be. Because of this.

Well, when I first heard of the news I was kind of awestruck. Then after a few minutes when reality sank in I was disgusted.

Now I'm still not quite sure where I stand. Is this the greatest match ever as Cricinfo and several other sources so blatantly proclaim ??

Is it just an anomaly that needs to be applauded and moved on from ?

Is this the death of cricket - which is what my reaction was in my disgust - a feeling apparently shared by the great Barry Richards ?

Or am I being too gloomy and failing to appreciate a great display of batsmanship ? Of courage and unbelievable belief and determination in the face of a monumental challenge ?

Or is it something much more dangerous ?? Is this a trend where no total is ever going to be enough ?? Where the toss is going to more and more often decide the game ? Another milestone in a journey that is taking cricket to a place where the contest is only between bat and bat ?

Longer Series Please

The events in Mohali have further strengthened the case for a 5-Test series. This is the third time in the last 3 series involving India that at least one test has been badly affected by weather. Luckily against the Lankans we were overwhelmingly dominant in the other 2 tests, so it was not such a problem. But against Pak we were faced by a meaninglessly flat highway in Faisalabad that precluded all possibility of a result and in Nagpur neither team was strong enough to force the issue.

The net result: a shoot-out in Karachi and now for all practical purposes, in Mumbai. Eventually we lost the entire Pakistan series on the basis of 1 innings. Something which is really not desirable.

Contrast this to the great Ashes series - so many ebbs and flows, so many twists and turns - from the routine 200 run Aussie win at Lords to the 2-run thriller at Edgbaston, to a scintillating no-result at Old Trafford to the euphoric close win in Trentbridge and finally to a bit of a let-down at the Oval.

Consider now if the Ashes had been a 3-Test series and the 3 tests had been the Lord's, Oval and Old Trafford ones - what a completely different picture it would have painted ain't it ??

Hence once again I urge the administrators to get rid of those stupid God-damned ODIs and play at least 4 if not 5 test series at least with teams like Australia, England and Pakistan !!!

A Tale Of Two 21-Year Olds

Alastair Cook took the cricketing world by storm and proved to be a real thorn in India's side in Nagpur. However, for some reason, he never gave me the impression of being invincible and that it was only a matter of time before some weakness could be found in him. That was found today by Irfan with relative ease and plenty of aplomb and that is a very good sign, that this team is picking out weaknesses in opposition quickly.

Also a thought that had struck me earlier and one which was reconfirmed by the Sky Sports team yesterday was that Cook looks a lot like Nick Knight when batting.

Now coming to Irfan, I must say he has done really well in this series so far. Harshly ridiculed for his poor performance in Pakistan (which btw included a first over hat-trick and a 5-fer in Karachi) and his general lack of pace, he has consistently provided the early breakthroughs this series as he did in the Sri Lanka series earlier. Who cares about lack of pace if you are picking up the wickets anyway ?? I am confident Irfan will turn out to be a sterling performer for India over the next 10 years and will not go the Nehra or Zaheer way.

Aashayen ...

... khule Dil Ki, Ummedein Hasein Mann Ki, Ab Mushkil Nahin Kuch Bhi ...

That famous song from the wonderful movie Iqbal should have been played when Munaf Patel made his debut for India at Mohali yesterday.

For Munaf's rise to glory is nothing short of a fairy-tale, a real life Iqbal if you may (except that he is not vocally and audibly impaired as the character in the movie is). Lots of articles on the boy from the village appearing in the media last couple of days and one which says that perhaps he is the only Indian cricketer who does not have even a TV and a phone at home. Well, didn't anyway, till recently.

Of Rising And Falling Stocks

Whether a player's star is on the rise or in decline can often be found from his place in the pecking order. Yuvraj Singh, at the start of the Sri Lanka series was clearly fifth favorite for the middle order slot behind Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly. (Some might make a case of even Kaif being ahead of him thanks to his (Yuvraj's) failures in meaningless matches in Zimbabwe.)
But now he has not only leap-frogged Kaif and Ganguly but also Laxman. Clearly the team sees him the third most important middle order batter after Dravid and Tendulkar.

Not so happy is the story of another Singh - Rudra Pratap - under slightly unfortunate circumstances. In Pakistan he was almost #2 behind Pathan once Agarkar flopped and got injured. But now he is not even at #3 with Sreesanth and Munaf both having sped past him.

Clearly a case of 2 Singhs singing 2 different tunes ...

Coincidence Thwarted

Sreesanth's unavailability for the Mohali test due to illness has put paid to the chances of a grand coincidence. In December 2001 at the same venue against the same team India had as of now gone for a complete reshuffle of the seam bowling department. At that time Tinu Yohannan of Kerala and Iqbal Siddiqui of Maharashtra were making their debuts.

Strangely this time too another Maharashtra player (further a Muslim again) Munaf Patel stands on the doorstep of possibly making it big. Just a pity he won't be able to partner Sreesanth of Kerala again.

Just hope that these 2 youngsters make it big and do not fade away like their predecessors of 4 years ago.

A Grand Achievement

Muttaiah Muralitharan just completed his 50th 5 wicket haul in test cricket. 50 !! That is some number, man !

Try to remember the whole hype created around Tendulkar's 35th century. For a bowler a 5 wicket haul is equivalent to a century by a batsman. And now compare 35 to 50 !!

Really, this World is a cruel place where bowlers continue to be treated like second class citizens.

Fourth Innings Blues

Several cricket fans I interact with on cricket discussion groups or sometimes in person often wonder why a huge deal is made of batting in the fourth innings. If a team can score 400 at 4 an over in the first second, third innings why not in the fourth ? Why is it that when faced with anything close to such an ask teams go for the draw from the word 'go' and are happy to achieve it ? Why is it that this happens even on good pitches ? Well, needless to say most of these are lay fans who do not understand the intricacies of the magnificently beguiling game that is Test Match Cricket.

Here Richie Benaud in his book The ABC Of Cricket explains exactly what this fourth innings blues phenomenon is and I quote:

I have seen many games where the fourth innings has gone well for a time, very few where the impetus is maintained right through the innings for victory. It all comes down to fear. Not physical fear, but fear of losing and fear of the fourth innings syndrome in a cricket match. It's all right being 448 behind when you start your own first innings; you have a second chance, but to be that many in arrears when you are playing your second innings is another matter. You have no second chance. It is this psychological block that poses problems as soon as a wicket falls. Two quick wickets and suddenly there is a mist across yourr brain as batting captain and you are becoming very nervous...

Thanks Prem, for the link. Read Prem's thoughts here.

Also note that the context in which Benaud makes these comments is that of a game between Australia and England in 1995 at the SCG where the SCG wicket on the fifth day was still an excellent one for batting. Australia chasing 448 in 4+ sessions were already 139/0 at the end of Day 4 ... and yet it was not at all easy chasing down 309 runs on the last day. They ended up with 344/7 - note 205 runs on the last day !

Something for armchair critics who have been vocal in their criticism of Dravid and India in their early part of the innings on the last day in Nagpur, especially people like Tim de Lisle who have wasted no opportunity in trying to score some points by straightaway saying that if Ganguly had been captain he would have gone for it. Bull crap in my opinion. We saw what India did in a similar situation at Bangalore against Pak last year when Ganguly was captain and Dravid was out early.

Tidbits from here and there

Sorry been extremely busy lately and no real time for concerted blogging. But here are some of the tidbits picked up in the news today.

Selectors are a weird species. And the Aussies are no exception. Today they have come up with not one or two but several incomprehensible pieces of selection that would make Kiran More and co. look like Einsteinesque wise men.

So Kasprowicz makes a comeback in place of McGrath (note Kasprowicz NOT Gillespie), Tait fills in for Nathan Bracken, Shane Watson has not been considered and Symonds preferred over him and most bizzarely Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke BOTH picked over Brad Hodge who had incidentally had a huge failure against South Africa in Perth - a minor matter of a double century a couple of tests ago.

Well I could go on and on criticizing and questioning these decisions but what do I care ? So I choose to enjoy the humor they create. What strikes me though is a few vital points:

1. Gillespie was always more incisive than Kasper. With McGrath out, it would have been better to have a bowler who less than a couple of years ago was considered almost on par with McGrath than one who around the same time was not even in the reckoning. Simply Gillespie is more of a wicket-taking option than Kasper I feel.

2. Shane Watson may not have impressed and may be overrated but I do believe he has greater skills with the ball than Andrew Symonds and could reasonably turn into a better all-rounder.

3. By picking Martyn, Clarke, Kasper and Tait they have basically gone back to the defeated Ashes side - I dont know what these players have done on the domestic circuit that have made this U-turn possible. I do know they haven't exactly set the World alight with their ODI performances in the last few months. So if any of the Aussies want to put in their thoughts please enlighten me. Anyway this is definitely a backward-looking selection IMO and I just hope that our Indians do not take a cue.

For surely now, the Gangulians will be up in arms demanding the reinstatement of Ganguly citing how the best team in the World has chosen to take a step backward.

Meanwhile I remember criticizing the selectors harshly for 2 moves last week -
1) Picking VRV Singh over Munaf
2) Picking Jaffer over Gambhir

Well the first was promptly corrected and in the second case the selectors turned out to be right. A superlativer performance by Wasim Jaffer that and I am extremely pleased for the much abused Mumbai lad. Not only were the runs vital - I mean how many Indians have actually scored a hundred in the last innings on the fifth day to save a test in recent times ??

Of the top of my head I can't remember any. Hell I just remember 3 and all of them were losing efforts.
a) Sachin Tendulkar v Pakistan at Chennai 1999
b) Ajit Agarkar v England at Lord's 2002
c) Yuvraj Singh v Pakistan at Karachi 2006

Oh yes, on a more detailed recollection I can remember that the last time an Indian scored a 100 in the fourth innings on the last day to save a test was in fact the great Mohammad Azharuddin himself against Sri Lanka at Colombo 1997.

Speaking of whom Nasser Hussain says and I agree that some of Jaffer's shots through the on-side remind one of the great man himself. So all in all a wonderful innings not just in the context of the match but also in terms of quality of strokeplay.

Nass was quick to point out however and I agree again that he does have a serious technical difficulty playing the cover drive where he tends to close the face of his bat. Now that is something major but hopefully something that can and will need to be sorted out. If he does that I hope he can go on to be a long term opener for India.

Now coming to the latest entrant into the side - Munaf Patel - and I have a soft corner for him for he plays for my Ranji team (although not quite a home-grown product). I wish him all the very best if he is selected in the squad come Thursday. Hopefully he can do Maharashtra proud something which the likes of Kanitkar and Siddiqui only promised but didnt really deliver upon.

The Nagpur Test As It Stands

End of Day 2 and India still hold the edge but only very slightly. The day belonged to England just as Day 1 belonged to India. Luckily India managed to win the last session otherwise they would have been in deep trouble.

Here is how the session tally goes as I see it

Day 1 DII
Day 2 EDI

So India has won 3 sessions while England just 1 and 2 have been even stevens. Yet India are only marginally ahead. THat maybe because one of the sessions I attributed to India was very marginal (Day 1 session 2) and the first session of yesterday was comprehensively England's. On second thoughts maybe I should give England the edge on Session 2 of Day 2 too. Yes that would make much more sense.

Anyway 393 was very much a par total and India need to bat well. The odds still favor them and this is not just me speaking. The fact that England got 100 runs more than they should have does not alter the fact that India need to get 550+. That is very much a constant.

I dont think it will be easy to score fast here. 300 runs a day is the max I think can be achieved. So if India find themselves around 440/5 or 440/6 with a Dhoni and a Pathan out there they should be more than happy with themselves.

England on the other hand have got to get wickets. If you dont get these batsmen out early they will make you pay. Luckily they have a chance in the morning. Overnight rain means that the outfield will be soggy play could be delayed and the pitch might have livened up. Therein lies England's chance.

The Batting:

Paul COllingwood was just superb - no 2 ways about that. No amount of cribbing about our poor bowling should take away credit from him. The way he picked the gaps was great and he showed that he had the big shots too when he lofted Harbhajan for 2 huge sixes. Harmisson played a cameo as he is capable of every now and again, but the real surprise was Monty (and a pain he was) For India, both jaffer and dravid batted really well - did the best they could given a negative (err, tight) line bowled by England. Initially I thought they could have taken a bit more initiative - but the end result was good for India and that probably justified the means. For all the beautiful shots Jaffer played I do think he has a technical vulnerability that will be exposed in places like England and New Zealand to the ball pitched on and coming in. Lack of a long stride forward and a tentative prod is what I see. Though he is better than Gambhir at leaving balls outside off and judging them. but i didnt happen to see any horizontal bat shot from him (not that the wicket allowed it) so cant yet comment on that aspect of his batting. Skipper Freddie OK .. I will hop to Freddie - I think he was too negative ... bowled a line well outside off and a length very short - and I don just mean Freddie the bowler but England in general - so trying to judge Freddie as captain here - Hoggard alone was looking dangerous. On a wicket that was slow and occasionally kept low it made sense to bowl wicket to wicket but it seemed the English were too afraid of the strokeplay of the Indians on the on side. India played well, really the way england bowled it would not have been possible to score much quicker without taking some risks.

Waiting Like Vultures

I log on to MSN Messenger and happen to glance at the MSN Today thing (one thing whose purpose I have never really understood) and am irritated but not totally surprised (nor sad) to read a feature titled "Battle Ahead". It alludes to that great artist Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman and says that there will be no great tears shed if Laxman is dropped.

OK. It is fashionable in Indian cricketing circles to demand that Laxman be dropped. Just as it is fashionable to say that Agarkar is useless, that Kaif has no class, that Dravid cannot lead and until recently that Yuvraj is just a overhyped superstar who never delivers. Apparently when you say such things you are considered "mod".

So cricket fans from all cross-sections of Indian society say these things. In particular they allude to the fact that Laxman should be dropped either directly (in informal face-to-face meetings) or suggest that although he is making decent scores he is looking completely out of sorts (Prem Panicker on his rediff blog) ** I would have provided the link but that extremely annoying interface on rediff is so user-unfriendly that it takes an age to search for a post, so you go figure.

And then there are the Gangulians who are waiting for another big fish - here too I sense 2 categories - one who feel that by dropping Laxman somehow they will feel less bad about Ganguly's dropping. The others feel that by dropping Laxman more Indian fans will be antagonised against the GC-RD combo and hence their pro-SG stand will gather further strength.

Such is the pathetic state of affairs. That people are waiting with bated breath like vultures for the fall from grace of God himself. Hence no surprise on that diabolical MSN Today Headline. Irritation yes, because despite awareness of this underlying pessimisti, ill-wishing current for a site to come up with a statement that says no tears are likely to be shed if he is dropped even before the poor guy has come in to bat is downright deplorable.

However I am not too sad because I have full faith in VVS as well as the RD/GC combo. RD knows that VVS is too good a player to be sacrificed just like that. What I am not sure about is how much mental strength VVS has to cope with this extremely cruel pressure put on him. If it was RD himself I would have been confident that he would come up with a performance that would slap the critics bang in the face. But VVSs forte is not his mental strength - it is his God-given skill with the bat - it lies in his wrists, his eyes, his instincts, not in his feet or his mind.

Note that up until now I have not even tried to defend VVS simply because he does not need any defense. In fact if you just look at his recent performances, he has really only failed in Karachi where all batsmen except Yuvraj failed (and I stress ALL, I consider Ganguly's two thirties as failures). Prior to that he has had a fine 90 at Faisalabad, a superb backs-to-the-wall hundred in Ahmedabad and a lovely breezy 69 at Delhi. So basically in his last 4 tests that he got a chance to bat he has at least scored 69+ in one innings of 3 of them. Of course there is no point in defence because if someone's arguement is that yes, he is making the scores but he is looking like a fish out of water what can I say ? (again arguement of Prem Panicker)

So now consider this - back in the early 2000s when he was making scores of 30-70 which were extremely pretty he was being slammed for writing a beautiful short piece of poetry where a serious dissertation was needed. Now that he has decided to knuckle down people accuse him of "not quite being VVS and being a pain to watch".

Hell, just forget it. I ask you people to just clear your poisoned minds for a second. OK. Now go back to March 2001 and relive that innings of 281 - that innings which prompted writers to term it as a Laxmanayan, that innings which ensured that VVS would be immortalized in history books even if he had retired the next day - just let your head get the fact that the person you are talking about is not some average test batsman like Sourav Ganguly - he is one of the greatest artists India has produced in the last decade along with AR Rehman.

Enjoy his art while it lasts. Do not try to quantify it in terms of averages please. Please, pretty please, do not hope for and rejoice in his fall - a fall which is existent merely in your corrupt minds.