Dukhi mann mere

Kishore Kumar's melancholy notes in the song 'dukhi mann mere' from Fantoosh depict my mood, after witnessing the massacre of the Indian cricket team at the hands of Australia in the recently concluded series....a series in which the Australian batsmen and bowlers bludgeoned the Indian players and their spirits, and steamrolled them to the ground. 

And to think the pundits called it the best chance India had to win a series abroad...sic.

I am ready to look forward to an Indian team minus any of its greats. It can't get any worse than this even with 11 blatant rookies, will it ?

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I am fast beginning to believe that by the time I am done with cricket, Sehwag will have been the more fearsome batsman that I would ever have seen in my life. 

I began to watch cricket with some degree of seriousness since India's first world cup win (1983). Since then, I haven't seen a more monstrous batsman than Virender Sehwag, bar none. Just one of the many reasons why I think so is HERE

It is a different matter that his mercurial nature gives way to an inconsistent batting career, but one has to admit that his peaks tower above others when they come. You never know when this guy will erupt, and when he erupts, it is a show unlike anything seen on the pitch. The Tendulkar's and Dravid's may provide the protein, but Sehwag is the real spice in the curry.

Recapping my 28 years of viewership to date:

Batsmen I'd pay to watch, given my money may not get its worth --> Virender Shewag, Adam Gilchrist, Brian Lara

Batsmen in whose stocks I'd invest in without hesitation --> Sachin Tendulkar.

Batsmen who I'd collateral my house against  --> Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Steve Waugh.

Wish I could write like this

As I wait for that next big inspiration to write something of matter on this blog (not to say anything so far has been material), I think for the time I am better off marveling at other's works.

I wish I could think and write like Gideon Haigh, one of my very favorite cricket writers....in Cricketing parlance, if I were to compile my all-time Cricket Writers XI, Gideon Haigh will probably open with Peter Roebuck :)

On the eve of the 1997th Test match (the first match of the West Indies v/s India series at Sabina Park - Kingston Jamaica), Gideon Haigh wrote: "Cricket owes the Test match everything. The one-day international was born into the global estate Test cricket created, like an heir with all the advantages; Twenty20 has come along in the last five years like the proverbial third-generation thick-head with a silver-spoon sense of entitlement, good for nothing but money".  So true.

Check Gideon nail it HERE

May Madness

The IPL begins. 2 months of madness.

Can't but help notice something American about the IPL. Just like in all professionally managed American sports, fans will be subject to the viewers-trauma of having to remain loyal to not a 'person' but strictly to a 'team'.

Do not get too attached to Malinga, he may play for Kochi next year :)

Jai Ho..... ICC = India's Cricket Cup

A fantastic end to a campaign that started a bit unconvincingly for India. In the end everything came out right when it mattered like the stunts and fight scenes in a Jackie Chan movie. The bogies which initially looked all over the place eventually got lined up behind the engine, and the team built the momentum of an unstoppable locomotive as the tournament grew older. At the crescendo, the Indian team looked like true world champions shaving off 275 under lights with the purposefulness of someone who already decided his destiny and wouldn’t accept anything else.

The Indian batting lineup has reached a stage wherein an occasional failure of the 'God' is actually allowed.  If the 'God' trips, there is ample manpower in the team to pick him up and the scoreboard too. How good a feeling is that ? Batting first, India averaged a solid 306 runs in this World Cup, keeping true to it reputation of being a monster batting team.

Has this World Cup washed away all of India’s past sins? The horror of 2007? The decapitation at the hands of Ponting and company in 2003? The dramatic slide in the semifinals of 1996? Perhaps not. Some scars will remain, but at the same time the Indian team of 2011 has shown signs of having the capability for an extended reign over the World Cup. Perhaps nobody can emulate Australia’s feat of 3 successive world cup wins, but if there is any team which seems to have the horsepower to come close to doing something as crazy, it is indeed the one which lifted the Cup 3 days ago. 

In perspective, the tournament – among its usual suspects for the crown - had the usual choker, a sore loser from across the border, a defender whose two left feet never really helped it launch, a silent finalist and a gracious loser, and an inspired winner who lived to the hype. There were a few awesome upsets too, adding spice to the stew. However, had all this been condensed into 3 weeks, it would have been a smashing tournament. The 43 days allotted to the tournament made it drag. The gaps between the thrills were just too wide.

Striking moments from this world cup will remain in memory for a real long time. Triple figures #47 and #48 for the God; Ross Taylor’s barbaric assault on Pakistan; the imperious flattening of England by Kevin O-Brien’s hammers; the discovery of Imran Tahir; the two dramatic collapses of touted champions South Africa – first against England and then against New Zealand when it really mattered; the 2.5 meter rule for the Hawk-eye system; Peterson’s last over assault to take South Africa past India; Ireland’s resolve; Yuvraj’s string of MOM performances; Ponting’s masterful century against India after a drought of 13 months; Strauss’s awesome counter-punch innings in the tie against India; Kamran Akmal’s disloyalty to the ball behind the stumps; Nathan McCullum’s catch of the decade that wasn’t; the supersonic duo of Shaun Tait and Brett Lee getting treated with utter disdain by an unknown Hiral Patel; Zaheer’s just-in-time breakthrough’s when India needed them; Dhoni’s golden sixer; and one too many to note.

The World Cup is often taken as a tipping point for many a career. The question of Sachin’s retirement post World Cup 2011 must be the most asked question in the history of the world. Sachin aside (we always keep him aside and away from everyone else don’t we), we did see some prominent announcements during the world cup. Three batting stalwarts and prominent captains announced their disconnection from some element of the sport after the 2011 World Cup. Graeme Smith gave up on captaining the South African ODI side. Ponting gave up captaincy as whole and Sangakkara followed suit. Daniel Vettori gave up on T20’s. Among non-captains, Muralidharan, the Bradman of bowling, took his final bow as did the eccentric yet eminently watchable Shoaib Akhtar.  Adbul Razzaq, the renovated all-rounder announced earlier that he would be going off the radar after this World Cup. Chaminda Vaas, someone who has been around since Sachin was in diapers, is mulling over retirement. Among the second ranks, Shaun Tait gave up on ODI’s. If it matters, John Davison the Canadian blizzard – once the owner of the fastest century in world cups – will not be seen playing any more too. A few noteworthy players had kept the 2011 world cup as the tentative milestone for retirement, Mahela Jayawardena being one. All in all, quite a stir in the pot.

Harsha Bhogale raises a just question in one of his tweets: “ I have always wondered how bollywood starlets get to watch a cricket match at short notice while serious cricket fans cannot” Seriously, are the  Priety Zinta’s, the Shilpa Shetty’s, the sob-soap stars more deserving cricket fans than I am? 

The Wankhede Stadium has a capacity of 33,000, of which only 4,000 seats were sold at the ticket house. 29,000 tickets were allocated/awarded to organizations, corporate houses, VIP’s and so on. This is absolutely, absolutely, pathetic. Perhaps cricketing Gods like Sachin Tendulkar should address this by taking a stand on it, (if they care, that is). A ‘God’ should be available to everyone, not just the elite. Peter Roebuck wrote in one of his columns, “It is a truth often repeated that locals follow not cricket but cricketers…”. Absolutely true. 

Confession:  I have a fear (which I suspect I share with many others), that I have the capacity to jinx the entire Indian cricket team. This World Cup was a test of my resolution to not put a jinx on the team, and I am happy to say I did well. I did not watch India bat, (with the exception of the final 35 runs between Yuvraj and Dhoni in the final moments of the Final). Basically I voluntarily missed watching India score 2436 of its aggregate of 2471 runs in this tournament...and my sacrifice paid off :)

YES !!!

YES !!!
WE COULD, AND WE DID !!!

Crosslinking

Found an old keyboard-breaker of mine on a friend's blog.

http://kharkarprafulla.blogspot.com/2009/09/sachin-tendulkar-vs-sunil-gavskar.html

So now if Prafulla posts a link to this posting of mine on his blog, will it be an infinite loop between his blog and mine ?

Unfulfilled

Tendulkar is now 51 centuries old. He is becoming the most predictable super performer of our time. 

I recollect a phase in Tendulkar's career when people  - out of envy, or, ineptness, or, disillusionment, or, a total lack of knowledge about anything Cricket - had begun to scrutinize his stay at the crease and count the days left in his career. The way he has converted their envy into adulation over the years without uttering a bad word or doing anything unworthy, is a priceless lesson of life. 

On a completely contrasting note, here is a well compiled write up by Shashi Tharoor...the man who besides being a brilliant writer, is also the man who wasn't the Secretary General of the UN despite having everything in him to be one. So fitting is the topic of his essay - India's unfulfilled talents.

Read here:  http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/495687.html

50!!!!

50!!!!!!!
The God takes up three digits on the score column for the 50th time....

50 Test centuries. 
7285 runs amassed in total century scores.
Average century score of 214.

Mark the date for a spot on "Kaalnirnay" as "Tendulkar Shatak-Pannashi Ekadashi"  from now on......

We are like this only !!!! Hail Steyn!

Exactly as expected, India started a series on a disastrous note. 

India closed the first day of the tour at 136/9 at Centurion Park, and effectively kicked themselves right out of the match.

Dale Steyn, once again, is the missile launcher from the Smith Army that got the job done (with due regards to Morkel's five-for). Bagging three of the most prized wickets in today's Cricketing world in a single session - Sehwag, Tendulkar and Laxman - he has basically thrown India in the trash can already....and not the first time in memory that he has done so.

I do not see India even manage a draw from this point on....(which is just 40 overs into the match, by the way). Indians do die quick when they do, don't they? :)

Should we look to the second Test, now that this one is a done deal already?

Mitchell Johnson, in the meanwhile is having a hell of a match against England at WACA-Perth. After top-scoring in Australia's dismal first innings, he also secured the bowling honors with 6 wickets in England's first innings to put Australia right on top.....Would be interesting to see if this one gives us any result other than England's (imminent) loss.

First Match Blues

The two best teams in Test Cricket take on each other today onwards.

Indians have traditionally been bad starters in a series...more so against South Africa.

Will the trend continue or would the #1 team show us why it is #1?

Santa Baby

If you are not already, then I'd highly recommend you follow Andy Zaltzman's blog on Cricinfo. He is a class statistician with the wacky wit of Johnny Lever (the Hindi film comedian, not the English left handed quickie of the 'vaseline' fame). 

In today's script Andy points out in his typical stats sprinkled humor that Sachin Tendulkar and Christmas don't go very well, and fears for Sachin's well being in the series just about to begin in South Africa. Made for some rib-tickling reading.

I quote an extract from Andy's blog:

" Since 2002, excluding that mauling of Bangladesh, Tendulkar averages just 30 in December Tests. And this grievous problem is exacerbated when the opponents are South Africa – he averages a pitiful 24.3 against South Africa in December, compared to 43.4 against them in other months. Overall, this suggests that, when the greatest batsman of his era plays South Africa in December, he is only 42% of the player he usually is. (Please do not concern yourself with how I unearthed these statistics, nor with the effect they have had on my family life, or the way my wife looks at me when I’m using my computer.)

The only rational conclusion to this is that Tendulkar’s main – perhaps only – weakness as a batsman is, evidently, that he gets overexcited about Christmas. Indeed, if those last eight Christmases since 2002 are anything to go by, he finds it increasingly difficult to focus on his batting when he is thinking about what Santa Claus will bring, or has just brought, to him. 

I realize that Tendulkar is not a Christian, but Christmas crosses religious boundaries these days, and you simply cannot argue with statistics. Or with the rumor that the South Africans have been leaving large, bulky presents in the Indian hotel with little tags reading “To Sachin”."

Ho Ho Ho.

All 10 in the North-West quadrant.

Will we ever in our life see anything like this on a Test match field ?


Ian Chappell sets field for Dennis Lillee to bowl at ..... 5 slips, 2 gullies and 2 points...all 10 fielders behind the wicket.

While I sympathize with the perplexed batsmen, this must have been a bigger challenge for the bowler. Imagine bowling one wrong delivery to this field. No margin for error whatsoever..... 

Austra-laid.

Time-stamp: Adelaide Oval, as of 5th December 2010, in the Ashes contest of 2010-11.

When was Australia last seen struggling so much at home ?

Counting on from the first ball of the second Innings of the previous Test at Brisbane, Australia have so far conceded a mind-boggling sum of 1068 runs for the purchase of just 5 England wickets, and also given up 5 centuries (including two doubles) in the process.... a pedestrian effort that is a complete antithesis of the Australia I know.

I do not recall Australia get dominated so much by a  touring England, or perhaps even by any other touring side, in my life time of Cricket.

Agreed that the bowling Australia is a very young side. All the 5 main bowlers taken together clock just 64 Tests between them, but a pathetic 1000+ runs for 5 wickets on home turf belies whatever  previously held images of a fighting/resourceful Australian spirit that I had held for myself.

It sets me thinking about a similar scenario that may become of the Indian batting in 2011/12, after the stalwarts in its line up go away. Will the likes of Kohli, Vijay, Raina et-all do well enough to absorb the shock coming from the pothole of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman's absence ?

Naiyaa paar....

Was diverted on the other blog for the past few days....

So finally India did win a Test against New Zealand in a 3 Test series. Harbhajan Singh was impressive in the series....as a batsman. 

Tendulkar fell , yet again, to a rookie bowler (in the third Test).

Vettori will go home proud having staved India off much better than the Australians could manage just a few weeks earlier. 

Why a #7 ranked New Zealand gets to play 3 Tests in a series against India, and Australia just 2, is another one of ICC's sinister mysteries.

The last time India lost a series was 2.5 years ago, to Ajantha Mendis's unplayables. Since then the Indians have won 7 and drawn 2 series. Both drawn series were against South Africa.

All said and done, India is still the top ranked Test country (with perhaps the 4th best bowling attack). Lets drink to that, until we tour South Africa next.....

By the way, I notice that my man, Virender Sehwag, is the second fastest to 7000 Test runs...and certainly the fastest post World War-II because the person above him is Wally Hammond who did it in 3 less innings, in 1946 !  


Current fastest to 8000 is Kumar Sangakkara in 152 innings, and to 9000 is Rahul Dravid in 176 innings....a bit surprising to me, to be honest. I fancied seeing someone from the usual 'monsters' of the game like Tendulkar/Lara/Ponting/Sobers/Hayden/Richards etc on the top of these two columns. 

While I'm on silly stats, how about this one. For all the enormity of its batting might, India is the only country among all the major Test playing nations to not feature in any of the highest partnerships for any wicket.

Sri Lankans rule this one with 4 of the highest recorded partnerships for each wicket (the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th wicket partnerships. 

Check here: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/254836.html