cricket

Rahul Dravid: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Rahul Dravid Is Ready For The IPL

What he said:

"I’m preparing for the IPL."

Rahul Dravid jokingly answers a query as to why and how he uncharacteristically slammed a couple of sixes in his 36th ton in the second Test at the Eden Gardens against the West Indies.

Dravid said:

For six weeks with your IPL team, you’re hitting shots all the time.But I don’t think it’s just that. Whenever I’ve been in good form in my career, everything seems to flow. I pick up the length better and get fully forward or back. It’s also about not missing out on the fours.

What he really meant:

“Isn’t that more believable?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“IPL is excellent preparation for the ardours of Test cricket.”

Kapil Dev: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Kapil Dev Bridges The Generation Gap

What he said:

"You can never compare a son with his father. The fathers never had the modern day gadgets that their sons are used to nowadays. Yet they worked tirelessly to get everything for their kids. That’s why it is unfair to compare two generations. But you always want your son to be better than you."

Kapil Dev cavils at comparing his generation of cricketers to the current one.

The former Indian captain was in Durban for the second edition of the World Cricket Legends.

Kapil called Dhoni’s boys “the best Indian team ever”.

Kapil said:

"When you have so many records, so much experience and have done so well, you can’t complain about anything at all."

The former all-rounder said that the next generation “will be better than the previous one”.

“If it is not then we aren’t moving forward as a society. If you at all have to compare, I would say this team is far better,” added Kapil.

What he really meant:

“The child is father of the man.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Gadgets R Us.”

Jeff Dujon: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Jeffrey Dujon Wants A Lively Pitch at Eden Gardens

What he said:

"At 80 years of age, he [the Eden Gardens curator] has got more life than this pitch."

Jeffrey Dujon, former West Indies wicketkeeper, is caustic about  the Eden Gardens wicket for the second Test at Kolkatta.

Prabir Mukherjee is the curator at Eden Gardens.

What he really meant:

“80+ Mukherjee could bat on this pitch.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Bend your backs, boys.”

Greg Matthews: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Greg Matthews Fumes Over Punches Not Thrown

What he said:

“One thing he got wrong was that he did not put one on Clarke when he should have.”

Former Australian off-spinner, Greg Matthews, opines on the spat between Australian opener Simon Katich and current skipper Michael Clarke.

Katich and Clarke were involved in an altercation in 2009 during which Katich grabbed Pup’s throat.

Cricket Australia have summoned Katich to a disciplinary hearing for claiming that Clarke was responsible for his Test sacking. Clarke denies the accusation.

Speaking to Foxsports, Matthews said:

"Can anyone truly, and I don’t care if the press are here or not, can anyone just truly say to me what did he get wrong?”

Matthews added:

If a guy speaks his mind, wouldn’t you rather hear what’s really going on in there, the way it really was?
Who would you rather go into war with? This cat (Katich) or Clarke? Or Andrew Symonds for that matter? Everyone forgets about Andrew Symonds getting flicked as well. Truth doesn’t happen in this game anymore.

Matthews feels that Katich would have made a better skipper:

"Pick this guy (Katich) as captain, get (Tim) Paine in as vice-captain I tell you what, we’d be doing a lot better than how we’re doing today."

The disciplinary hearing is scheduled for November 21, 2011. Katich is represented by sports lawyer, Darren Kane.

In related news, Australian radio broadcaster, Alan Jones, threw his voice behind the disgruntled opener.

Speaking to the Sun Herald, Jones said:

These people want robots. Cricket Australia don’t employ Simon Katich. What’s he guilty of? He’s guilty of having an opinion … There’s not one sporting person in Australia who would agree with what’s being done to Katich.

[Cricket Australia] could not justify dismissal on merit. Now, is he a bad example? Has he behaved badly? He’s a role model to all cricketers. His standards, his manner, his values and courtesy have shone and they’re the reasons why he was touted as a future Australian cricket captain and why he was brought from Perth to captain NSW.

And now he’s being presented as some sort of pariah. It won’t wash … Cricket Australia are playing with fire.

What Greg Matthews really meant:

“What’s a punch-up without a punch?”

What Greg Matthews definitely didn’t:

“Who’s punch-drunk?”

Mark Taylor: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

What he said:

“I thought I’d missed a whole day of my life.”

Mark Taylor wakes up to discover Team Australia in dire straits in the first Test at Cape Town.

Australia scored 284 in their first innings,then  bundled out the Proteas for 96 only to collapse for a paltry 47 in their second innings.

When Taylor went to bed, South Africa were 1-49 at lunch. Taylor was woken up by his phone ringing at 1:10 am (AUS time) to discover his home side 7 down for 21.

South Africa went on to clinch the Test scoring the required 236 in 50.2 overs.

What he really meant:

“What’s Test cricket come to when I can’t get a good night’s sleep?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“The Big Bash’s arrived in South Africa—early.”

Greg Chappell: What they said, really meant and definitely did not

Greg Chappell Does Not Call It ‘A Clash Of Cultures’

What he said:

"The mistakes I made were not particularly ‘western’”.

Former India coach, Greg Chappell, ruminates on his failures with the Indian cricket team in his autobiography, “Fierce Focus”.

Chappell had a stormy tenure from 2005 to 2007 ending with the team’s first round exit at the 2007 ODI World Cup.

The Australian great regrets his tiff with icon Sachin Tendulkar when he insisted that the master bat revert to his No.4 position in ODIs.

Chappell wrote:

My biggest regret was falling out with Sachin over him batting at number four in the one-day team. It was a shame because he and I had some intense and beneficial talks together prior to that. My impatience to see improvement across the board was my undoing in the end.

Chappell elaborates:

The mistakes I made were not particularly ‘western’ but the same kind of mistakes I’d made as a captain in my playing days. I didn’t communicate my plans well enough to the senior players. I should have let guys like Tendulkar, (VVS) Laxman and (Virender) Sehwag know that although I was an agent of change, they were still part of our Test future.
When I did communicate with them, I was sometimes too abrupt. Once in South Africa, I called in Sachin and Sehwag to ask more of them, I could tell by the look on their faces that they were affronted.

Later (Rahul) Dravid, who was in the room, said ‘Greg, they’ve never been spoken to like that before’.

What he really meant:

“Autocrats are not an exclusively western phenomena, are they?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Change is a one-way process.”

Sanjay Manjrekar: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Sanjay Manjrekar Finds Test Centuries Easier To Get Than a No. 11

What he said:

“Courtney found it a little more difficult than me, but trust me Test centuries are not easy to get.”

Former India batsman, Sanjay Manjrekar, taking a playful dig at fellow commentator, Courtney Walsh, points out that Test tons are not facile.

Sachin Tendulkar missed out on his 100th international hundred once more in the first Test against West Indies at the Ferozeshah Kotla.

Tendulkar has not scored a ton in his last five Tests; he averages one in three.

What Manjrekar really meant:

“Courtney made it a lot more difficult—for most.”

What Manjrekar definitely didn’t:

“Courtney was the best night-watchman you could wish for.”

Martin Crowe: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Martin Crowe Scratches His 14 Year Itch

What he said:

“Well, people think I’m having a mid-life crisis. And I can only say ‘too right!’”

New Zealand’s finest batsman ever, Martin Crowe, returns to club cricket in his 50th year.

Crowe says:

“Call it a silly little selfish challenge, just like someone trying to run a marathon at 49. Well, I can’t do that because of my knees so I’m going to have a bit of fun with a bat in my hand again.”

Crowe terms his comeback “a long-shot experiment to see if a 50 year-old can still wield a bat.”

The Kiwi hopes to turn out for the MCC against English county champions Lancashire in Abu Dhabi next year.

“That game’s being played with a pink ball, which I’m a big supporter of as a member of the MCC World Committee, who have been driving the idea for three years. To be selected would make all the hard work worthwhile for me.”

Crowe feels up to fresh challenges:

“I was bored. When you reach 50, you’ve got to think about doing things to keep on top of your health. I was tired of the gym; I don’t swim, cycle, climb or run, so I thought ‘why not do something I love?’”

The maestro feels that he still retains the hand-eye co-ordination of his heyday.

Actually, I feel just as good as a batsman now. I’m playing late, playing straight and timing it. It’s just a case of how the body can cope with a long innings; the fatigue factor just kicks in a lot quicker.

But I had my hand-eye co-ordination and balance tested by the optometrist who did it back in 1992 and he’s found I’m 20 per cent faster than back then. I’m finishing every session with a smile on my face.

Here’s one cricketing great who has no complaints about the improvements in technology:

“Today’s equipment? Unbelievable. I dread to think of the damage that Ian Botham and Viv Richards would have done with them.”

What Martin Crowe really meant:

“Well, at least, I’m not spending it all on a sports car and a fresh wife (Crowe is married to former Miss Universe Lorraine Downes).Isn’t that customary? “

What Martin Crowe definitely didn’t:

Greg Chappell: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Greg Chappell Says That Aussie Cricketers Are ‘Hippier’ Than Their Indian Counterparts

What he said:

“It was so hierarchical, it made Australian teams look like commune.”

Former India coach, Greg Chappell reveals the bureaucratic nature of the Indian dressing room during his tenure.

Chappell, in his autobiography “Fierce Focus”, salutes current Indian skipper, MS Dhoni, as his “go to man” and the voice of young players.

The Australian maintains that the young players were overawed by their seniors and would not contribute in team meetings for fear of incurring their (seniors) displeasure.

“The real ray of hope for the Indian team was Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of the most impressive young cricketers I’d ever worked with. He was smart, and able to read the game as perceptively as the best leaders," Chappell wrote.

Chappell said:

If I wanted to know what was going on in the middle, Dhoni became my go to man. He would eventually break down one of the biggest problems in the India teams.

…the youngster would say, ‘I can’t speak before so-and-so. If I speak up before a senior player, they will hold it against me forever.’ Some were petrified, flat out refusing to say a word in a meeting before, say, Tendulkar had spoken.

Chappell elaborates on his relationship with Saurav Ganguly, the stormy petrel of Indian cricket.

His idea was probably ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’.

He expected I would be so grateful to him for getting me the job that I’d become his henchman in his battle to remain captain. I, on the other hand, took on a job with the primary responsibility to Indian cricket and the Indian people.

There were a billion of them and only one of Sourav. I wanted to help India become the best cricket team in the world.

If that means eventually they could only become that team without Sourav, then so be it.

Chappell adds,that on the field, "there was no bigger panicker than Sourav."

Chappell is none-too-pleased with Indian players aversion to confrontation:

When I sat down and talked with him about it, he would agree to everything I asked, but then go his own way. Some other senior players were similarly expert at Gandhian passive resistance: saying ‘Yes yes yes’ before doing the exact opposite. Each time he agreed, then didn’t do it.

What Greg Chappell really meant:

“Indian bureaucracy was truly alive and kicking in the national cricket side.”

What Greg Chappell definitely didn’t:

“Now, you know why us Ozzies love visiting Goa.”

Waqar Younis: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Waqar Younis Calls On Shahid Afridi to Endorse ‘MouthShut.com’

What he said:

“It is time he just kept his mouth shut and focused on his cricket.”

Waqar Younis renews the war of words with Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi.

Afridi announced his comeback to international cricket following the exit of former PCB chairman, Ijaz Butt.

Afridi is a staunch critic of Butt and former coach Waqar Younis.

Younis was evidently responding to Afridi’s latest claim that Younis did not quit as team coach but was sacked by the PCB.

Waqar said:

All the time he is criticizing somebody and using distasteful language. It is time he just kept his mouth shut and focused on his cricket.
To me it seems as if he always on the lookout for cheap publicity by making unwarranted and unhealthy comments about somebody or someone.

The former fast bowler added:

For months now he has been criticizing Ijaz Butt and saying all sorts of things like Butt is old and he should go home, this is not the way to talk about a former player and head of the board. He has problems with everyone and wants the world to believe he is the victim.

Afridi, surprisingly, had no comment to make about Younis’ latest remarks:

“I don’t want to make any comments on Waqar has said. I just want to play cricket for my country.”

What Younis really meant:

“Afridi can’t bat and bowl with his mouth open, can he? The mouth should come into play while fielding—queries (and cricket balls).”

What Younis definitely didn’t:

“I’ll keep my mouth open and focus on my commentary.”