Rant

I hate to write it on anything Sri Lankan, but the huge moral standing from their players leave me baffled and amused on how much crap emanates out of their players. Its no secret to the world that Lanka are nothing in Test cricket after the retired lives of Malinga and Murali have begun in full flow. They have struggled to take 20 wickets in last 11 tests they have played post Murali retirement and not to mention that they haven’t won either of those tests.

They almost lost the first test in the desert safari, thanks to the penchant of their ex captain to score double hundreds aided by butter chickenesque fielding from their opponents, they were able to save the test. They were bundled out for 197 runs in the first innings and they scored this runs at a snail’s pace on a flat track. Not only this, the stani players too were surprisingly sedate and yawning for the poor spectators. They scored 500 odd runs at a poor run rate of 2.something and in the end when Taufeeq Umar got to his slowest 100, they declared. Perhaps the result in the hindsight should have motivated or prompted some thought process in their camp on what the story could have been if they would have played little faster when they batted.

In the end they were left to chase 168 runs in little under a session (less than 30 overs) which they didn’t and called off the game after 10 overs. This was the only logical conclusion as this was a 5 day and not a timeless Test match.

“We showed a lot of character coming back into the match and saving it, but we shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place”. No single article from Sri Lankans is complete without the utterance of word “character”. Now character means to Sri Lanka is totally different from what it means to the rest of cricketing world. If a Sri Lankan bowler or batsman would attain a personal milestone in the course of a test match, then the bosses of Sri Lankan cricket team (playing XI or the 15) are happy to term it as “character”. They don’t care the fact that they haven’t won a test or their record in 3 elite Test countries remain patchy or something to be shameful of. But that’s hardly something that bothers the Lankans. They are happy carving personal milestones, batting records and of course write out some real crap after a game.

“We showed a bit of quality to get a lead and put some pressure on Pakistan. They were negative and decided not to chase the target. We ended up being on top of the Test, and hopefully we can take that momentum into the next one”

SL ended on top of the test? A test match where in they just managed to get out of the jail, they appeared to be on the top. Its good to be positive to motivate the young inexperienced lads of the team, but to motivate them with false statements is insane and criminal.

Who were negative? SL managing to bat even after the tea until they got all out isn’t negative. But Pakistan declining to chase 168 in 20 odd overs is negative. Did MJ get in the T20 mode in whites?

Why does he even write this stuff ? Who reads them? Perhaps me, one of those few to rile him. I haven’t been a huge fan of this man or the team for the sheer way they play their cricket. Negativity emanates out of their style of cricket right their inception in 1982/83. Ranatunga taught them if you draw a test match, it’s as easy as winning the test match. And the team mates took him so seriously that his legacy is passed on even generations of the Sl test players. Their bowlers continue to bowl negative lines before and after Murali thus choking the other team for runs. And when they bat, they bat for long. Days pass by, their batting doesn’t end.

Remember the 952 test match, the Indians batted day and half and made 539/8 dec. Last few wickets were lost forcing the pace to ensure the team got time to bowl out SL twice, and it was boosted when Nilesh Kulkarni got Attapattu off first ball in test cricket, but what followed over next 3 days was torture. Every one batted and every one got runs. 340 happened, 225 happened, 576 happened and then even Vaas got a 70 odd. MJ debuted in that game. What a pity!!!

And then the 624 game when MJ and Sangakara batted on and on. Poor South Africans, they were so tortured that they collapsed badly in their 2^nd innings and lost the game.

Then Ahmedabad 2009, they had huge chance to win their first test on Indian soil after reducing them to 4/32 on day 1 and then bowling them out for 400 odd runs on day 2. MJ got into the act and made 275 runs, highest by a visitor on Indian soil. SL declared on 760 for 7. Day 4 and 5 were safely negotiated by Indians who had got wise after the first innings debacle. Indians never let Lanka come back in the series and they won the other 2 games to take the series 2-0.

Their history is ripe with such instances of penchant to bat longer and longer. Enuff said, the Lankans would never be a quality Test side lest they improve on their mentality to bat long and play negative cricket. Perhaps its their inherent inferiority complex over something historical or the age long civil war that has led them to go with such a mentality in the test cricket. And the solution has to come from them itselves and somebody has to do an honest review keeping Sangakara and MJ out of it on the way they want to play their cricket and the way they want their cricket to go in the future now that they don’t have Murali to do the slogging anymore for them.

India wins the payback series

India won yet another game vs England in India. They now lead the series 3-0 and if everything goes the way it has for past 3 Odis, the story would soon be 5-0 and yet another whitewash for England in India. England have been hammered top, right, left and center in India over last 5 years. The scorelines of 1-5, 0-5 and probably 0-5 now read a very sorry figure. They have been competitive in their own conditions, but they have been very poor abroad. They showed up better performance in World Cup with some enthralling finishes and tight contests. But this tour, they simply have come abject with nothing good to show on the paper, no positives, no gains, no player gaining that extra mile in his career or benefitting from playing in this conditions.

The openers haven’t been able to give them good starts, the middle order has got starts, but rarely they have converted to big 100s or 90s except one or 2 out of the blue scoring occasional 90s. The late middle order has flourished but only sporadically. The bowling attack has been sorted out with ease, the same bowlers who were menacing in rainy conditions in England are looking ordinary. Only Steven Finn looks a bit better, but the rest of the pack are just ordinary. None of Bresnan, Dernbach or Patel do have skills to take wickets and stop the 2nd string Indian batting from scoring runs. There is no Sehwag, Yuvraj, Tendulkar in this batting lineup and the openers are part timers in Patel and Rahane, who any given day would sit out of any Indian team if they have full strength team available to play.

Simply said, England don’t have skills to win in conditions which don’t seam or swing. And even in seaming or swinging conditions in England, where they won 3-0, they had to rely on rain rules to win. Take this series win out and you’d find for most part of this decade, India have had a strong over England in ODIs and Tests too (barring 4-0 loss). England haven’t won a ODI series in India for 27 years and that stretch would just get longer after today’s defeat.

For India today there was a new batting star born in Ajinkya Rahane, the Mumbai batsman who has been pitched in as an opener in absence of regular ones. Very lucky to have been playing ODIs still as the seniors are out injured and selectors impressed to pip regular opener down to # 3, the batsman has picked up his chances good enough to have a suggestion drawn from Harsha Bhogle that he should be opening in all forms of cricket he plays in. That to me, is a far fetched suggestion. What happens when normal openers return to the team in ODIs – Sachin and Sehwag? Even if Sachin gives up ODIs soon, then we have Viru – Gauti pair to fall back upon, would still Rahane open? And this was just one inning of substance from him. At the max, it’s a stepping stone to the bigger things. That doesn’t indicate by any means that he should open in all forms in international cricket. Should the seniors continue to be injured, there are lot of other players who are good openers and natural openers – likes of Uthappa waiting to play.

Parthiv Patel shouldn’t even be in the 15, let alone playing 11. Dropping Gambhir to 3 to accommodate Patel is insane. Drop Patel and get in Manoj Tiwary for next 2 games. Let Rahane and Gambhir open, Kohli at 3 and so forth.

India’s bowling continues to be pedestal and the likes of Vinay Kumar, R Ashvin don’t inspire any form of confidence. Ashvin isn’t getting bucketful of wickets, the way he used to get in IPL (for same captain), he is happy stopping runs, who wants this kind of spinners who are happy containing? Basically that’s the main reason why Harbhajan was dropped and if Ashvin does the same thing, then let him go back and play for Tamil Nadu team. Play Rahul Sharma for next 2 games, at least give him few games before he is handed out the treatment similar to Ojha and Mishra.

The core group who’s won India the 3 games is the same – Kohli, Gambhir, Raina and of course well MS Dhoni. Raina flopped today, but Kohli and Dhoni batted sensibly in the stretch when England threatened to come back with 4 quick wickets. MS Dhoni is back among the runs and back in the job he does the best – finish the game. He has been not out 28 times in India’s victories and when he has been not out, India hasn’t lost a single game chasing. Remarkable statistic.

Its time for some experimentation over the next 2 games in terms of opening in batting and few pacers. Varun Aaron can be played in place of Umesh Yadav and probably Sreenath Aravind in the 5th game in place of Vinay Kumar. Rahul Sharma in place of R Ashvin. But would team management tinker the winning combination, that remains to be seen.

And yes Duncan Fletcher still is the coach of Indian team, if people forgot that.

India vs England 1st ODI Review

India has won an international game after 4 months and few days.  Last game it had won was the 1st test vs West Indies and then the only game it didnt lose was the tied 4th game in England. A lot has happened since then. 

But its always good to get to the winning start and winning in own backyard is always pleasent. 

India has just lost one game in India in last 2 years or so.  And that was against South Africa in this year's world cup in Nagpur and then a little time back last year, just after that 200* game in Motera to the same team.. Perhaps that was the start of the times for India to play depleted side in ODI until the world cup 2011 and then the same practice is back this year. 

Its a pity that the world cup winning team hasnt played another game together after that memorable night in Mumbai on 4/2. Chances are that the same team might never step on the field again to play another ODI, let go a bunch of games.

India started off sluggishly to reach 4/139 in 34 overs with both rookie openers, Gambhir and Kohli out and there were signs of a collapse, but Raina and Dhoni put on some sensible partnership and India were able to get to 300 mark. 

Dhoni hit his 4th consecutive 50 in ODIs and first one in winning cause after the world cup win. It seemed that he is still in that world cup final mode and he just carried ahead where he had left in Mumbai. He played his helicopter shots, most of them came good and he was hitting balls all over the place yet again. People had criticized him for giving away his natural style of play ever since he was the captain of India. 

He has been one of the best finishers in the ODI game in last few years and his average has gone back to 50+ again.  And also he is the best runner between the wickets in the modern Indian cricket. 

He was supported by Jadeja(hate to write this) and later Ashvin and PK to help India reach 300.  Jadeja is back in the team and having him play for the world champion team is a huge insult to the world champion tag. No matter he contributes or he doesnt, he shall always remain a jinxed player and someone who always comes good in losing cause. 

He also caused collapse in the English batting lineup after Cook was gone and surprisingly he ended up with 3 wickets. Ashvin, the other IPL guy got 2. And for time being Harbhajan Singh would be continuing to left out of the team. Perhaps that might give him the time to boost himself for tougher Test challenges ahead(Read Australia). 

Its on him how he takes this drop as. Whether he takes it positively and comes back hungry for success, nothing better for himself and the team. And if he takes it in a negative sense, then again himself and the team are going to lose a lot out of it. 

Umesh Yadav was expensive, got 2 wickets and had some pace too. Vinay Kumar continued to be useless, Praveen Kumar was his usual self and the 2 spinners caused the collapse in the English ranks to win a game by 126 runs. 

England have been horrible in India for last 5 years at least in ODIs.  And Friday's game just extended that run. How do they come back in next 4 games would be very keen for every one of us to watch. Unless they play well here, no one is going to take their claim as being best in the world seriously. But then they were never good in ODIs in last 20 years. They stopped being good ODI outfit since  that World cup final loss in Australia 1992. And as usual after a series win out of nowhere, the English start some rants and this series would decide, if that rant continues for longer or meets its natural end after the series. 

As of India is concerned, they have started to show what they really are in their own backyard. 

A win after 4 months is a good thing and if it continues further, it shall just play a huge role in getting the disgruntled and hopeless fans back to watching India games after that disastrous England tour.a

Removal of Butt, DRS flip flop and Spot Fixing

There have been some interesting happenings in world cricket in past few days visibly:

1. Ijaz Butt being replaced as a PCB chief by some banker.

2. Spot fixing trial being on in England and as it happens during any trial, some random names are being taken up and this time its been Indian and Australian players being named.

3. ICC goes flip flop in usage of DRS in a bilateral series.

Ijaz Butt has been one attrocious chief for PCB and his shenangians as PCB chief have been very well documented. Double digit captaincy changes, rollbacks on bans, punishments, multiple retirements, rollback, selection chiefs resigning, changes in coaches and stuff like that plus loose canon statements in 3 years, Lahore attack in 2009 and world cup drama have been the highlights of his tenure. Not to mention the spot fixing saga, fleeing of a wicketkeeper on the pre-text of threats from bookies, disastrous English and Australian tours, handling of players like Yusuf, Younis Khan, Afridi, Kaneria and Malik, relations with BCCI over IPL and bilateral series, tussle with ICC which led to an ultimatum to fix its internal governance or run the risk of expulsion from ICC. All of this issues have been mishandled by the great chief in general of PCB.

There is a distressing thought that he might have agreed to step down from the post in lieu of assurance that PCB and BCB would put him as ICC vice presidency candidate. If true, then it would take more than necessary efforts for the other boards than what were done to block John Howard from Australia, to block out Ijaz Butt from stepping into world cricket governance. One can only hope that Pakistan cricket shall progress in terms of every aspect under new chief and the ridicule it has invited over the years would yield to some respect in coming months and years.

Spot fixing trial has commenced in England and the 3 players in addition to the player agent in question have been cross examined and what has come out of it is a wide detail account of how the spot fixing was setup in England last year and what else was in the offing, but was prevented from execution owing to the bust up from the now defunct NOTW. Some Indian and Australian players were named as the ones whom that agent had an easy access to. No wonder, those allegations were promptly denied by CA and BCCI and the players themselves.

As the hearing is going on, more details are tumbling out of the closet of the spot fixing and thats just making the lives of those 3 tainted players more difficult and their return to international cricket being more unlikely even after serving the amount of sentence handed over by ICC. What was also distressing out of the details that emerged was the ease with which Pakistan players agree to lose / throw a match to disown their captain or bring the captain under the hood for some egoistical / weird reason. It's been the age old story of their country and their cricket ever since their inception since 1947.

ICC also has gone back on the mandatory usage of DRS (Dravid Removal System) in bilateral series. BCCI had been vocal in the criticism of DRS and though it diluted its stand in England tour, the happenings in England were good enough to indicate BCCI that DRS in current form has no future unless those acrimonious issues over Hot Spot usage and ball tracking technology have been addressed. India has suffered out of the DRS usage in whatever series it has accepted, be it SL 2008, or world cup 2011 or England tour of 2011. The BCCI has been adamant in its opposition to the DRS, thought they havent taken the pain to go ahead and explain the reasons for their opposition. That has never been BCCI's strong forte to offer detailed explanation for its views and stand over issues.

What is further baffling is the time ICC took to understand that DRS in current form is not good enough to be imposed as mandatory in all bilateral series. Instead of resolving the open issues that are meeting eyeballs, the ICC has chosen to keep the issue under the carpet and sit over it. Take a stance, revert back. Thats been ICC theme for 2011. Be it usage of DRS or the World cup 2015 format banning out the associate nations and then rolling back. What is Sharad Pawar doing ?

ICC has also been harping on the primacy of Test cricket and when its coming to the implementation of plans of test championship, it is developing cold feet. Its now saying that the proposed Test championship might be delayed until 2017 cos the broadcaster wants to lay stress on profit earning ventures like a T20 WC every 2 years and an increasingly obsolete 50 overs Champions Trophy, not to forget the T20 tamasha of Champions League T20.

This is also a start of the time period in world cricket when all 10 teams are going to be busy in cricket.

India vs England Preview

A depleted India begins its first home series after being crowned as World Champions in 2 days time against England, the team which they failed to get past single time this entire year. The World Cup game was a tie and then in England there was one more tie and one wash out and then there were 3 losses. The similarity in the England series and this series is that the core players who won India the world cup 6 months back are still out injured and the bowling too looks thin in absence of four first choice bowlers. The game is in Hyderabad, the same venue where England made 219 and 367 in the tour games and where English bowlers enjoyed a lot of success.

India are without the services of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Yuvraj in batting department and there is no Ishant Sharma, Munfa Patel and Zaheer Khan in bowling. There are replacements, there are question marks over those replacements. Over the quality and of course on the nature of the selection for those replacements.

Injuries, fatigue and too much of cricket is an issue that still exists for India. The best example is MS Dhoni. He has been playing non stop cricket for over a year now. The only gap came in the ODI series vs NZ last year and then in the West Indies series this year just after World cup (or after IPL). In between he has played SA series, the World Cup, the IPL, West Indies tests, full England tour and league phase of CLT20. He just earned 10 days of break since his franchisee failed to get past the league stage. Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli are other lads who have been playing cricket continously for most part of the year. They have played all LOIs in last year. They also fulfilled their IPL obligations for their franchisees.

How much fresh and rejuvenated they would feel in a supposedly grudge series, is anybody's guess.

Gautam Gambhir has had his stints with the injuries -- shoulder in IPL saw him miss West Indies tour, then a concussion in England tour saw him miss ODIs and then once he recovered, he had to lead KKR in CLT20 and then one of the Challenger teams. It seems he is going to miss the final of that tourney and probably he has joined the Indian team.

So the issues that bogged India down in England still exist and there has been no steps sadly from team management and the board. Duncan Fletcher seems to have been disappeared totally. No one remembers if he is actually the coach of Indian team. Since he has taken over, the fortunes of the team have dipped drastically. One wonders whether he is assertive enough to stress the need for rest, injury management and player management. It may be too early to judge him, but in a cricket frenzy country like India it would be very good for him to get his act and experience together to see the team he coaches out of the rut. Else the cruel network of fans and media shall be gunning for his head. He better remember the fate of Greg Chappell in 2007.

There is no Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra in the ODIs. The spin department would be with Chennai's R Ashvin, debutant Rahul Sharma and of course much abused and maligned Ravinder Jadeja. The pace bowlers read S Arvind, Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav. Its an insult to genuine allrounders to label the likes of Jadeja -- an allrounder. So the probable XI imo looks something like this:

1. Gambhir

2. Rahane

3. Kohli

4. Raina

5. Dhoni

6. Tiwary

7. Jadeja / Patel

8. Praveen

9. Sharma

10. Ashvin

11. Aaron / Vinay

5 pace bowlers on docile flat Indian wickets is another question mark over the wisdom of selectors. Just 2 specialist spinners with no option for the 3rd specialist one is another ? mark. The only bold move selectors made was to drop Harbhajan rather than rest him. Perhaps him winning the CLT20 for MI and taking his challenger team to the final might see him coming back for 3rd ODI ownwards.

But if India lose this series too at home, then more than the players' performance, it would be the blame to be put on selectors for their poor team selection and BCCI for their injury mismanagement.

For record purposes India has not lost an ODI series to England in more than 27 years. They won 5-0 in 2008, 5-1 in 2006, drew 3-3 in 2001 and 1993. And also they have not lost the home ODI series in last 4 years since losing 2-4 to Australia in 2007 which was Dravid's last home ODI series.