Enjoy watching Tendulkar as long as you can

The World cricket has already been poorer by expected retirement of the Indian WALL -- Rahul Sharad Dravid, so it would be inept and unjust for those media experts and ex-players cooling off their heels in air conditioned rooms to ask Sachin Tendulkar to quit the game.

Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid have been once in a generation, or perhaps once in a century phenonmenon and we've been lucky to have them play together for India in similar era. And what a partnership they've had for the 3rd wicket in 100s of Test matches over last 15 and half years. And thats a sad fact that this partnership wont take guard any more in the Test cricket for India in future and we've been blessed enough to have witnessed those innumerable rearguards launched by this stalwarts of Indian cricket.

No words on any of the cricketing sites, blogs or forums are enough to describe the legacy of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. People this days love to trash the greats, question their commitment for the country and even ridicule them or joke about them on social networking sites and news channels.

Little do they forget that this players scored 1000s of runs for a country which was deprived of the milestones or winning habit. Though for some time, that winning habit seems to have been forgotten, yet their legacy and contribution to the Indian cricket is unparalleled and would be untouched in the history of the game.

In a country woefully short of sports role models, the players like Tendulkar and Dravid are idles of success, humbleness and modesty. Never has anybody seen this two icons lose their cool in the middle or seen crossing the acceptable on field behavior like Mahela Jayawardhena does so often under the guile of passion. Dedication, concentration and work ethics are emanating out of this 2 proud cricketing sons of the country and it would be just unfair to trash their contribution for past 8 defeats in 8 overseas Tests.

I concur with Sir Viv that lets enjoy the Sachin phenomenon as much as we can as that day of announcement from the master blaster is not years away, but just few series or months away. And i cant imagine the day when I'd be left to watch an Indian team which would never have Tendulkar play for, something which I have witnessed for most part of my cricket watching time (23 of 27 years).

Mahi madness

MS Dhoni for sure has gone nuts and his press conferences explaining the reasons for the defeats in the games are not amusing anyone.  At the max, they seem to be case of sour grapes.  If he feels having top 3 can be detrimental to the fielding department and being slow they can leak runs, then let him remember the catches taken by Gambhir in the T20I win against Australia, then by Sehwag in that earlier game against Australia (or Sri Lanka) and then the miscues by the so called agile fielders in the latest ODI. Rohit Sharma peeked in between and dropped a sitter for 1st slip, which was none but Tendulkar. It was for Wade very early in the game and later on he went on to play a match turning innings. 

The so called agile 4 fielders haven’t been in their best of batting form and haven’t made contribution of substantial amount in any of the games barring Kohli.  If the top 3 are slow, if you for a moment agree to Dhoni’s assertion, then I am sure if they are given the long run, they would immediately find some form and make far more runs than they leak. And more than the so called agile fielders save on the field. 

Another reason he gave for the defeat was the cramps due to heat. Now Indian team is used to playing in lot more hot conditions than this in India and they are also used to playing in scorching heat of April and May in IPL. Now this kind of excuses don’t come up when this players (read fast bowlers) have to turn up for their franchisees and himself MS Dhoni has to turn up for his elite CSK franchisee.  The players for all kind of money they get in the IPL business don’t even bother to tell the BCCI about their injuries (Yuvraj Singh played through IPL with supposed tumor in his body, Sehwag delayed his shoulder surgery until DD was kicked out of the tourney and that cost India big time in England, WI and Zaheer Khan did play a few games for RCB with the injury he had and as a result missed most of the season post world cup victory).  And during IPL any kind of fatigue or schedule or injuries doesn’t affect this players. Suddenly when it comes to international tours, the injuries, heat cramps, schedule comes into play.

And isn’t MSD being stubborn again in not changing the middle order?  Rohit Sharma is a talented player, we all know, but he hasn’t stomped his authority in the country where he first marked his arrival. Suresh Raina hasn’t made a 50 in long time and his cameos are not worthy his place in the team.   Virat Kohli is inconsistent, but he can be spared for the moment, he is too good a player to go through form slump for long time. And less said about Lord Jadeja, the better.  Not worthy to bowl at Gabba, he proved to be a flopstar with the batting too making 18 off 35.

Not sure if this is the correct times or good times to watch the stupidity going on in the national team.  This doesn’t look like to be the world champion team.  Not even a shadow of it.   Not sure how long will the fans digest this madness.

Fuckindra Jadeja immovable again!!!

Another example of strong backing for Fuckindra Jadeja -- Ashvin dropped but not Fuckindra. Is he  a better batsman or a spinner than Ashvin. Anyone's guess.

Jai ho Fuckindra baba ki!!!

Jadeja is undroppable, immovable, non-performing player

MS Dhoni is incredibly cool and all words, adjectives fall short for him. 

But what word do you find for Ravindra Jadeja who is like an immovable object in the team.  He along with R Ashvin, Vinay Kumar form the core players who are never touched, who are never benched, who are never rested, who are never dropped.

Ravinder Jadeja cant bat, cant bowl, cant hit 6s, yet he is # 7. Irfan Pathan who made a decent comeback today, the swing was visible, he touched 130 occasionally, got a wicket and even hit a 6 before getting run out, would be dropped for Sunday's game when Zaheer / PK return.

Jadeja wont be touched. Tendulkar / Sehwag / Gambhir are rotated to accomodate him. He must have a serious backing to be in the team and not deliver, not perform. Its the sight of this bastard that makes me turn off the laptop / TV and stop watching the game, no matter even if Sehwag or Tendulkar are to bat or MSD is batting. 

I dont remember any such run given to any player in the past who did not perform for such a long time. Any player who played for India for this long (54 and counting) at least performed once or twice or contributed decently in a win. I dont recall any such performance for this lad.  

It's a sad reality that Jadeja would be a permanent fixture in Indian limited overs team irrespective of his performance. Lads around him would continue to be dropped or benched or rested or retired, but he would be an integral part of the team. He just got picked up by the most powerful and of course most corrupt and idiotic man of Indian cricket -- N Srinivasan.

MSD the Batsman saves the day for MSD the ODI captain

Dhoni, the captain was saved today by Dhoni, the ODI batsman. And he is a master class in ODIs batting.  Ice cool, soaks up the pressure, doesn't allow the things going around him affect him, doesn't even allow unreasonable plays from Ashvin and Jadeja batting around him. 

And today he has won India a game through his batting after long time, probably first time after that historical and forever cliched in memory the World Cup winning six. But probably it doesn't take away the question marks around his selection of the playing XI. 

Continued inclusion of Jadeja at 7 and rotation of openers is haunting the team even though it has been winning the last 2 games. But those games have been won too late and in first place they should not have gone this far after the knocks from Delhi lads. But Raina and Sharma have not been able to convert their starts to big ones. And probably once the tournament progresses and if this lads are not able to make big scores, then one of this lads will have to be dropped to accommodate all 3 openers

The bowling attack too looks predictable. Zaheer and Umesh have been top class, but the rest have struggled. Ashvin is inconsistent, Vinay Kumar ditto. And less said about Jadeja, the better. He just has nothing to prove that he deserves this prolonged run in the team. He has played 52 games and till today he has been on the mercy of captain, chief selector and BCCI chief to intervene and book #7 spot for him. He cant hit, he cant run, he cant bowl. Just fielding is decent asset for him. Gives long hop, gives away too many 6 hitting deliveries, no variations, no spin, short dolleys -- thats all he has got. 

And its futile to expect Irfan Pathan or his brother to comeback to the team soon. Any day he is better bowler than Vinay Kumar and Ravinder Jadeja. He is a good fielder and a good batsman too. Not to forget he was often promoted to # 3 spot in ODIs and Tests too and he has scored 50s and 1 Test 100 as well. He might not have pace, but he does have a lot of variations, lot more than Jadeja and for that matter he makes an ideal # 7 player. So that would give an option to play 2 spinners to MSD on a turning track.

But who is going to explain this to the team management ? 

It is correct to say in today's context :" Sachin Tendulkar was dropped / rested to accomodate Ravinder Jadeja". 

The team selection has been a laughing stock all over this tour and its the likes of Ravinder Jadeja and Vinay Kumar who are in the team based on external entities influence and not on basis of their performance. Guess if this was possible in the era of Sourav Ganguly, when there were no freebies places offered to players who didnt perform and it was the magic of Ganguly that converted then considered ordinary players to genuine match winners. 

India's failed tactics

India’s tactics in Melbourne for accommodating the new millionaires was baffling.  To play with all slow bowlers in Australia is something that would never win any game for you. When the attack reads PK, VK, RJ, RS and of course R Ashvin, the odds for winning go very high. 

Baffling to see the world cup winners Sehwag and Zak rested / dropped. Also Umesh Yadav who would bowl with much pace than VK+PK combined, was rested.

Tactics ?

No, mental disintegration of the team management whoever forms it. Selector, captain, vice-captain and of course good for nothing coach Duncan Fletcher. Such a move would have been impossible in the days of Gary Kirsten or even John Wright.

Lack of strategy or lack of vision. Stubbornness, adamant, hell bent to play Jadeja no matter if he doesn’t perform or gives too many Six hitting balls.  Whatever you want to call it.  MS Dhoni is now trying to sound as a captain who has a feeling of “I cannot go wrong any time”.  He’s got a 17 strong squad and 2 pace bowlers, 1 bowling allrounder who has proved his worth in this country are resting the bench and the lads like Vinay Kumar and Jadeja who for no worth of their own got million dollars in their bank played in the team.

Result : Jadeja was spanked for 41 runs off 16 balls.  How many runs did he make or save? If you sum them, they wont exceed 41.  So is that an allrounderesque performance?  One game on same ground (different format though) you give 16 runs in 3 overs and immediately the next game 41 runs off 2.4 overs? What about the confidence / momentum/  consistency? Now that he is in CSK, he would virtually be immovable in the team and none can touch him.

Australia were 2/35 in 11 overs when rain stopped the game and when they returned they scored 181 in 21 overs out of which 167 runs were scored off spinners.  R Ashvin and R JAdeja are CSk properties and they would be given an extended run of play in all formats of game irrespective of their performance.

Compare the performance of Ashvin in IPL and then in international games where he has come in place of Harbhajan Singh. And the reason for Bhajji’s ouster ? Not taking enough wickets and more of containing bowler. So how has Ashvin corrected those to justify his continuous inclusion? Why would anybody not doubt that his allegiance to CSK and Srikanth is sole factor for him being in the team and not wickets / performance. He cannot run, he gets run out every 2nd game.

His performance from England tour :

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/26421.html?class=2;spanmin1=01+Aug+2011;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

20 wickets in 15 games. 16 of which are against weak England team in 10 games. And if you remove them then the figures are very poor. 4 wickets off 5 matches. 4 of which are against West Indies in India. 4 in 4 in India are sorry figures. Where are the wickets? Where are the carom balls? Where is good damn performance?

A look at his T20I and T20 career reveals even more stark contrast:

T20Is

6 games, 6 wickets,  Average of 47.5, economy of 7.91 and best figures of 1/22.

Compare that with the T20, most of which are in IPL:

60 games,  74 wickets, 4/18, 6.35 economy rate,  S/R of 18.4 half of T20Is

He has to take wickets and become an aggressive spinner as opposed to the version he is now.

And if India has to compete in Australia and “defend its title”, then they have to respect conditions and chose their sides accordingly.

And you don’t have to rest a player who has hit the highest score in an ODI in his last game.  

My XI for today’s game:

1.      Tendulkar

2.      Sehwag

3.      Kohli

4.      Sharma

5.      Dhoni

6.      Raina

7.      Pathan

8.      Ashvin

9.      Praveen

10.     Zaheer

Lord Jadeja and Sir Vinay Kumar are now Millionaires

Ravinder Jadeja and R Vinay Kumar, the two most hated Indian players, are now also most highly paid IPL players. More than Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni himself. More than the likes of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. More than likes of Zaheer Khan and Irfan or Yousuf Pathan.

Life set for both this guys. Jadeja, as expected nabbed by MS Dhoni's CSK. Pune Warriors not taking part in auctions, serious fun for CSK.  Now he would be undroppable, immovable,  non-performing player for India. Who knows he might even make a Test debut soon.

R Vinay Kumar based on some hidden talent, which noone except Kris Srikanth and now Vijay Mallaya have seen, rode to a million dollar booty. If this big money really inspires him to put up a credible show on the field, is a million dollar question. The answer is known. NO. There is no talent, there is no variation, no pace in the guy. Yet he is amongst rich players of IPL.

There is no cricketing rationale or logic behind the high auction price for this 2 players who at the best are very ordinary and unbankable players. Yet their bank balance is all set to grow fat and fat. The patience of already frustrated fans would go more thinner and thinner to see this jokers  get chances ahead of more deserving Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav.  Why Umesh Yadav didnt play T20s is a mystery, but that's expected when you have Chennai Pooper Kinks boss and Brand ambassador heading Indian cricket.

Lord Jadeja all set to grab riches in Indian cricket

First win down under, thanks to soop star Ravinder Jadeja would now mean he would continue to play at 7 in ODIs and would also grab a million dollar IPL contract. From what is reported in media, CSK are gunning for him and then if he does make it to CSK, then he would be a fake Tamilian and then the rest shall be taken care by N Srinivasan, K Srikanth and well of course MS Dhoni.

Majjani life Jadeja bawa

Dhoni running short of ideas

MS Dhoni is so defensive and insipid in his captaincy that a newcomer as captain beat him in field placings and tactical acumen in the first T20I yesterday. Pity what a stage MSD has reached in his captaincy within a year of winning the world cup. If that was a peak, then certainly the descend to the bottom has begun and begun very fast. And perhaps that's why he has been making some real weird statements like.

We wanted to play Rahul Sharma bcos he has done in IPL.

We wanted to play Ravinder Jadeja cos he gives the balance to the team.

Wonder what influence Duncan Fletcher is bringing to the team. 

 

Australian tour going England way

The Australia tour is turning out the England way. The maiden win is elusive and the pattern of defeats is disheartening from the fact that the Indian team is just not showing up the fight or desire to fight. The excuses are readymade and put up after every debacle. Rain in T20 defeat, the pitch in first 3 Tests and lack of fight in the 4th one. Seniors were the scapegoat for the Tests whitewash, who’d be the scapegoat for the T20I whitewash, which is a game away.

The new folks have arrived, the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and of course Lord Ravinder Jadeja, the next IPL multi-millionaire.  A lot of noise was made on why Rohit Sharma was not played in Tests especially in Adelaide when Lax was having disaster of time in the middle. He was supposed to be the god sent savior to the losing Indian side. Unfortunately he didn’t have any magical wand that could have turned the defeatist attitude, lack of fight to a winning one. He lasted a ball and was bowled to the daddy of international cricket,  Brad Hogg first ball.

The selection of the playing XI was ridiculous:

• No Zaheer Khan or Irfan Pathan in the playing XI. The seamers who played were Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar. One was returning from injury lay-off, the second one was exposed in Test in Adelaide, yet somehow he continues to find a place in XI.  He bowled decent enough, but not good enough to justify his continued selection in the team. No pace, no variation, no skills. Vinay Kumar for you,  the reason that seems he is in the team is just cos of South Indian lobby that now (Chennai, to be precise) rules Indian cricket.

• Ravinder Jadeja at 7.  He is deemed to be a person who gives the team as balance. Balance as in a bowling allrounder or batting allrounder?  He concedes 23 runs in 2 overs, he makes 7 runs and saves a few. Saving and making still fall short of conceding. So where is the balance?  He cannot contribute when needed and often plays when all is lost (like he did in England T20).  MS Dhoni is in awe of him and that is harming the team.

• R Ashvin.  Supposedly new age bowler who can bowl anytime, the bowler who can do no wrong. He proved his worth for CSK in IPL and CLT20, but when it came for impact on international stage, he froze. He continued bowling full tosses and down the leg side. Easy meat for someone like David Warner to display their switch hit skills.  The only reason he still plays every game and Harbhajan doesn’t is he is from Chennai and represents Chennai Super Kinks whose captain, owner and brand ambassador occupy strong posts in Indian board.

• Virender Sehwag is fast turning out to be a flat track bully. I hate to say this, as I still feel he is a great, but he has done his reputation no justice on this tour.

• Gautam Gambhir and Kohli would probably rue the way they got out and their dismissals gave Australia an opening that was match winning in the final context of the game.

• And MSD, the man who once could do nothing wrong, now can do nothing right.  He has been stubborn, defensive, defeatist and strangely passive and switched off from the proceedings. When Ashvin got hit for runs in 2nd over, he still found himself bowling 3rd over in trot.  Ashvin completed his quota before 10th over was bowled and that suggests the blind faith of MS in him and also a glaring proof of being stubborn and close to experimenting.  Rahul Sharma was introduced late in the attack and he did impress in bits and pieces.

• Part time spinners might work in India, but not in Australia.  And there were plenty of them. When the runs were scored, there was no pace around to put some brakes and get some wickets. Only options available were Raina or Jadeja or Sharma who might grab wickets in India, but would be hit for runs elsewhere.  I don’t get the fascination for part timers for Indian captains off late.  Ganguly did use part timers but they had some quality – Yuvraj, Sachin and Sehwag then did use to take wickets and break partnerships. Jadeja actually gifts away runs, easy runs to the opposition. He might have got few wickets against England, but then who wouldn’t against England? They are such pitiful spin players. And based of that success, he finds himself part of every limited overs team India puts up.

The patience is long running thin and unless there is a drastic change in the mindset of the captain and the team, the fans would be forced to switch off  from watching the games. I spoilt my night yesterday sacrificing 5 hours of sleep to watch the flop show of the team who once was world champion in this format.

What an irony, the team of country that hosts the richest T20 league in the world, doesn’t have players who can combine as a team and win games consistently.  The top 7 of this team or top  8 are star players for their respective franchisees in IPL, but in the Indian team they are zilch contributors.  That makes the fans pose questions on the mindset and attitude of this players – do they really want to play for India to win or just turn up and grab their booty from BCCI and not bother to show up a fight.

I think the latter one is fast turning out to be a reality and unless addressed soon, the IPL would become a monster who would be hated more than it is loved.