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Cartoon: Ravi Shastri is the ‘director’
Ravi Shastri has been appointed ‘director’ of the Indian cricket team for the ODI series.
The Big Test: Post-mortem analysis
The carcass that is Indian cricket is laid out on the coroner’s slab. The post-mortem begins afresh.
It all seems to be an exercise in futility.
Every serious Indian cricket lover, ex-cricketer, administrator or even current cricketer knows what ails Indian cricket. But not one wants to make a concrete effort to alter the status quo.
The ‘chalta hai’ attitude comes to the fore.
“All this will change when we play in India on our dust-bowls” is the constant refrain.
And that is how it has panned out. The die-hard fans are consoled by wins eked out at home in conditions that suit flat-track bullies.
And the sponsors are happy all over again and our cricketers are worshiped as demigods once more.
What is wrong with Indian cricket?
Why are our players “Lions at home, lambs abroad”?
It is a combination of several factors.
There exists a paucity of quality fast bowlers to take advantage of conditions abroad because Indian pitches do not encourage them. They prefer to be medium fast rather than bowl their hearts out with little reward.
Diagram showing the correct grip for bowling a fast ball in cricket. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Except for Mohali, there are very few pitches that offer the fast bowler any help. It is time that the BCCI drew up a plan to create sporting pitches that will dot all the Test venues in India. It should be a mandate dictated from the top.
Imran Khan wished his team to win abroad and at home in all conditions. He institutionalized a culture of encouraging raw pace as well as facilitated pacy wickets on the north-west Indian sub-continent.
There are no excuse for saying that it cannot be done. Look due north to our ‘Pathan’ neighbours for inspiration.
Fast, bouncy wickets at home would also make sure that our batters adapt quickly to English, Australian or South African ones.
Secondly, the Indian team selection especially for overseas tours has to be such that core players are constantly challenged by the fringe ones. No one should be allowed to rest on their laurels. A place in the side has to be constantly earned. There should be no passengers in the chosen 16.
Fast bowlers should be groomed and rotated so that they do not succumb to injuries.
Additionally, certain batsmen and bowlers with special or limited skills should be set aside for a specific format. You would expect a Ravindra Jadeja or a Stuart Binny to be a useful asset in one-dayers or T-20s. But expecting them to play stellar roles in Tests is wishful thinking. Similarly, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma are well-suited for Test cricket only.
A system that rewards format specialists is the need of the hour. The BCCI could look into that.
Yes, the Indian team would do better if they had all-rounders in the side. But the unfortunate truth is there is none of the calibre of a Kapil Dev or even a Manoj Prabhakar. The cupboard is bare.
The Indian Test team is thus better off with six front-line batsmen and five strike bowlers.
The series in Australia will show if the lessons learned from the unmitigated disaster in England have been absorbed.
If not, the Indian cricket fan can expect his cup of woe to overflow. Certainly not a good augury for the World Cup to follow!
Parupalli Kashyap: Asthma, inhalers and Commonwealth gold
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/139585236
Parupalli Kashyap is the latest male star to bedazzle the Indian badminton circuit.
The Hyderabadi pulled off a minor miracle when he beat Singapore’s Derek Wong to clinch India’s first ever Commonwealth games gold medal in badminton in 32 years. Kashyap trains under Pulella Gopichand, a former All England champion, in his hometown.
Kashyap is in distinguished company. Prakash Padukone and Syed Modi are the only other Indians to have accomplished the said feat.
For the 27-year-old, public recognition may
English: kashyap is a indian badminton player (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
have finally arrived. Indian Men’s badminton, in recent times, has been overshadowed by the exploits of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Jwala Gutta, their female counterparts.
Kashyap might just be the man to continue Gopichand’s legacy.
The Padma Bhushan awardee won the All England championship in 2001 but knee injuries cut short his promising career in its prime.
At the 2012 London Olympics, Kashyap reached the quarter-finals only to lose to top seed Lee Chong Wei.
Very few are aware that Kashyap is asthmatic.
Morten Frost of Denmark was another badminton great who suffered from asthma.
The lanky Indian athlete has to renew his TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemption) certificate from WADA every year.
Kashyap was diagnosed with the chest ailment in 2005. It almost brought his fledgling career to a standstill.
But the fighter in Kashyap came to the fore.
He says:
“It was a big shock for me. Many thought my career was over. But I was determined to fight back and put in a lot of hard work to overcome the disorder.”
He adds:
“It used to be very, very bad. I used to be sick at every tournament. I had to keep taking antibiotics and I would feel ill all the time.”
Once his condition was diagnosed, the shuttler went from strength to strength.
Kashyap says:
“Before 2005, nobody told me my condition was asthma. But once it was diagnosed and I started the right medication, I grew quickly in strength. I could eat well and I got healthy. I’m still asthmatic and I take medication once a day, but I’m fine otherwise.”
Kashyap carries an inhaler (or two) on court for every game and does extra endurance work.
On asthmatics and sport:
“Basically, asthmatics have to keep on working on endurance. You can’t build it up and stop working on it for a while, like the others. My endurance goes down if I don’t work on it. So I do endurance workouts even during tournaments, when other players don’t.”
At the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth games, Kashyap had clinched bronze defeating compatriot Chetan Anand, perhaps now better known as Jwala Gutta’s ex.
Kashyap was awarded the Arjuna award in 2012.
A little-known fact on Indian men’s badminton: India has more players in the top 100 than any other nation.
Kashyap says:
“That’s a great achievement. But if you want to consistently be in the top 10 or have a number of players winning big titles that is tougher. We have very good bench strength now in men’s singles especially. But going ahead and winning big titles, you need a ten-fold investment.”
Kashyap believes that if he works hard enough he can meet the levels of Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei, the current top two in the game.
Kashyap’s journey to the top has just begun. Let us hope for many more medals from the young man lighting up an Indian future in the Chinese-dominated sport.
Of Bharat Ratnas, Dhyan Chand and Sachin Tendulkar
The late Major Dhyan Chand is in the news once more this time of year. And again it is connected with speculation that he might be one of the recipients of the Bharat Ratna.
When there was a debate about whether sports persons should be awarded the Bharat Ratna , and if so , who first, yours truly along with many others felt that arguably the world’s greatest hockey player was preeminent among all current and past Indian sports persons.
But the Indian government played to the gallery and awarded the country’s most prestigious award to Sachin Tendulkar on the eve of his retirement from the game.
This is not to deny Mr. Sachin Tendulkar his spot in the sun. God knows, he did not need another award. He is the most beloved of all sports stars on the Indian firmament. But surely Dhyan Chand and his descendants were done a disservice.
Sachin is in the news too; this time for his leave of absence from the Upper House of Parliament. ‘Aap la Sachin’ is not the dedicated parliamentarian—neither posting any questions in the house nor spending his quota of allocated funds for his constituents’ betterment. And now, he has decided to go AWL (Absent With Leave) citing personal and professional commitments.
It does make one wonder if Tendulkar considered the Rajya Sabha selection as just yet another award and not a call to service—a thought echoed by Pradeep Magazine in his column for the Hindustan Times.
The man cannot be solely blamed. Politics is a different kettle of fish—a fact that Amitabh Bachchan can attest to.
Humiliating innings defeat completes the debacle at Old Trafford
Team India conceded the initiative and the series lead once again. The Indian team capitulated in three days at Old Trafford. It could have been all over sooner if it was not for the twelfth man for the Indian side—the rain.
The signs were ominous from the start. Pankaj Singh retained the confidence of his skipper and his place in the side.
Varun Aaron came in at the expense of Mohammad Shami. I truly feel for the UP bowler; he has been bowled into the ground since his début and is not the bowler he was at the start of his exciting career.
Aaron did enough to justify his place in the side. The inclusion of Ishwar Pandey could have made things even more interesting. I would rather have an express bowler in the side than a medium pacer on these pacy wickets especially when the journeyman is not a Zaheer Khan, that is, he lacks variety.
But the real story was that our much-vaunted batting line-up failed once more; the senior bats were made to look like novices against the moving ball.
The attitude of the new batting stars should undergo a sea change. Instead of muttering that things will be different when the English come to India—it was not, they beat us 2-1—it might be better that Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli consider a stint in county cricket to build their technique in overcast, murky conditions. The question is how and when? Will their IPL and Team India commitments allow them to do so? Or are these fancies to be indulged in only by players on the fringe of national selection?
What can MS Dhoni do to stem the rot?
Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan failed to deliver when it mattered. It is time that the selectors selected in-form batsmen for crucial overseas tours and not hope that they strike form on tour—a strategy fraught with obvious dangers.
Dhoni can gamble and have Naman Ojha or Rohit Sharma open the batting. I would go with the latter.
There appears to be no option but to persist with Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli and hope that their twin failures galvanise them to improve their performances and live up to the reputations of their predecessors—Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.
Ravindra Jadeja is another perennial favourite with his skipper. It is time he sat out.
Why does one have a sneaky feeling that the Indian skipper prefers either his Chennai Superkings teammates or players from the North?
Ishant Sharma makes his return to the side conditional on a full recovery from his ankle injury.
Pankaj Singh—at last—made the record books claiming two wickets in his second game. He is more suited for the shorter format of the game where containment is the name of the game.
My team choice for the Kensington Oval:
Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron, Mohammad Shami/Ishwar Pandey.
The Big Test: India fail at Southampton, options for Old Trafford
It was the same old story all over again. Ishant Sharma, the hero of the Lords test, looked on dejectedly, while his teammates squandered all his hard work and repaid him with a Sisyphean task for the final Test—if it comes to that.
Sharma injured his ankle and will be sitting out the fourth Test as well.
His replacement, Pankaj Singh, proved to be an inadequate replacement. His time is past though he is a game trier. A few chances of this bowling went a begging but if Dhoni was brave and honest with himself, he would have admitted that Varun Aaron or Ishwar Pandey were better bets. You do not replace your main strike bowler with a medium-pace trundler.
Rohit Sharma’s entry into the squad in place of Stuart Binny upset the balance of the squad. Just four main bowlers and two-three part-time spinners is hardly the recipe for a side looking to seal the series.
The Indian skipper does not have a lot of trust in his top order and preferred to either go in with an extra batsman or a couple of all-rounders. This decision seemed sound in the first two tests in retrospect; it was the lower order that saved the team blushes in the first three innings.
It is time MS Dhoni had a hard look at his resources and what he’s trying to do with them.
Gautam Gambhir should come in. Shikhar Dhawan exits.
Gambhir has the gumption and the patience to play long innings. Bring to mind his effort at Napier, New Zealand in 2009.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli stay. Class will tell.
Rohit Sharma goes out. The talented Mumbaikar has even his most ardent fans tearing their hair out in frustration; I am but one amongst them. Duncan Fletcher should have a quiet word with the young man and tell him that if this continues he will be touring a lot more—with the India ‘A’ side.
Dhoni continues and should back himself to the hilt about being aggressive with the bat.
At the start of the series, Dhoni said:
“I’ve realised that I have to be far more aggressive in my batting because I play much better that way than when I try to play like a proper batsman. It’s important to back your instincts and not think too much about the situation. I shouldn’t look to bat out time because there are other batsmen who can do that. If the ball is in my slot – whether it’s the first or the last – I should go for it.”
Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay have done more than enough to silence all debate.
They were not the most heralded of the Indian bats when the series began. But they have quietly become the mainstays of the line-up.
Ravindra Jadeja, bat and moustache twirled, sits out. Ravichandra Ashwin comes in.
(How the selectors could overlook Amit Mishra and Praghyan Ojha for such an important series is anybody’s guess. Among the back-ups, are two wicket-keepers who may probably never get a game. It is effectively a 15-member squad.)
Varun Aaron and Ishwar Pandey lend much-needed support to Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami.
My side for Old Trafford:
Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, B Kumar, M Shami, V Aaron and I Pandey.
India versus England: Ishant bounces out the Pommies
Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson fielding during a tour match against Northamptonshire during the 2009 Ashes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ishant Sharma at Adelaide Oval (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ishant Sharma came to the party and how! Since he made his debut in 2008, the lanky pacer has disappointed more often than not. So much so that Indian fans came to believe that his name was not Ishant but “I shan’t”.
But on a Monday afternoon, the Delhi native bent his back with the old ball and destroyed the much-vaunted lower half of an English side in rebuild mode. Joe Root and Moeen Ali may have hoped to lead England to a much needed morale-boosting victory, especially for beleaguered skipper Alistair Cook.
But it was not to be. Once Ishant Sharma started bouncing them, it was all over bar the shouting.
Were the English recalling the pummelling they received at the hands of a venomous Mitchell Johnson in the recent Ashes series down under? Or did they feel they could pull off a Ravindra Jadeja as well? Whatever the reasons, the spectators were bemused to find a procession of English batters making their way back to the pavilion. The English plan to counter-attack merely provided catching practice for the Indian fielders.
The spectacle prompted Bob Willis to remark:
“I have seen fewer hookers in Soho on a Saturday night.”
India had its first win at Lords in 28 years.
The similarities between MS Dhoni and Kapil Dev keep piling up eerily.
India go into the next three Tests leading 1-0. They will hope that they can emulate Kapil’s Devils of 1986 and clinch a memorable series win. This Indian side does not look very strong on paper, lacking experience at the highest level. But most members of the squad have put their hands up and performed when needed, unlike the side of 2011.
A captain is only as good as his team and , right now, Dhoni’s boys are making him look so much better than the recent past.
London, Rio De Janeiro and Nottingham: A Tale of Tests in Three Cities
Lionel Messi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Novak Đoković vs Roger Federer on 2010 Rogers Cup Semifinal game in Toronto, Rexall Centre 1:2 (1:6, 6:3, 5:7) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Roger Federer is still a champion.
Flying under the radar, the 17-time Grand Slam winner fought tooth and nail taking the championship match into the final set last Sunday.
Novak Djokovic may have clinched his seventh Slam. But no guesses for who walked away with the plaudits and the kudos.
Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov are amongst heirs-in-waiting to the Big Four. But for now, they are just that.
Brazil’s shocking disintegration against Germany in the semi-final and the consequent shellacking had their fans in tears.
No consolation for them in the third place match either. Holland walked away with the honours—a meeting their coach Van Gaal derided as leaving one team feeling a loser despite having reached the semi-finals. His exact words:
“But the worst thing is, I believe, that chances are that you lose twice in a row. A tournament where you’ve played so marvellously well, that you go home as a loser just because you could possibly lose the last two matches. So, this has got nothing whatsoever to do with sports, not in my view.”
It’s Germany versus Argentina tonight in the final. Two former champions, two great gladiatorial sides.
Germany hold the edge on current form. But Argentina have Lionel Messi.
The Barca galactico was completely out of sorts in the quarters and the semis; the man-to-man marking rendering him ineffectual. Can he do a Maradona and take Argentina home?
Knock-out games are less about scoring and more about attrition. It’s about waiting and hoping that your opponent makes a mistake and then capitalising on it and drawing the shutters down.
That’s how Holland and Argentina played out their semi-final. It made for extremely boring viewing. Van Gaal repeated the mistakes of the 2010 final against Spain when Holland played hard and foul ruining any possibility of their moment in the sun. Hoping to win on penalties should be a strategy for relative minnows such as Costa Rica, not for the team that has dazzled the world with its brand of Total Football over the past four decades.
The first Test Match between India and England got underway this week at Trent Bridge.
The hosts presented the visitors an Indian wicket: flat and lifeless.
The match has already produced a record of sorts. The final wicket partnerships in the first innings produced two hundred-plus partnerships.
If Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami showed that the wicket held no devils, Joe Root and Jimmy Anderson rubbed in the curator Steven Birk’s face in it with their world record stand of 198—the highest ever in Test cricket.
Birks copped some criticism for the state of the wicket.
Birk said:
“We wanted to produce a pitch with pace, bounce and carry which hasn’t happened unfortunately. There’s quite a lot of moisture underneath but it’s a hard surface on top which is why it’s lacking pace. The moisture readings taken earlier in the week were quite high and we haven’t seen enough of the sun to really bake it out.”
Ian Botham’s take on the pitch:
“You might as well be playing in Chennai with this wicket.”
Jimmy Anderson had similar views:
“Two days out we could see the pitch was not going to have huge amount of pace in it. That is something you just got to try and put out of your mind. We are as frustrated as everyone else watching.”
Has the mandate to ensure matches last into the final day hastened the death of Test cricket? Indian fans stayed away—their ratio a paltry 10:90.
Draws occur in Tests all the time. It’s the nature of the result that makes all the difference to the enthusiasts.
Trevor Penney: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t
Related articles
India fielding coach defends Pujara for spilling Cook(sportskeeda.com)
Coach defends Pujara for dropping Cook(timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Trevor Penney still feels India can make a comeback – Cricket News Update(blogs.bettor.com)
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Make Time For Sports. 