This is an effort to preserve some of the very good articles about cricket and in general, related to cricket.
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/story/221278.html
Monday, August 27, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
What a team.
Been unbeaten in World cup for 29 consecutive matches. Three world cup wins. Struggled but won in 1999. Moved through gracefully with slight hiccups in couple of matches in 2003. Completely dominated the tournament in a clinically professional way in 2007. Well , in 2003, there was nothing more that this team could achieve as they had already won the world cup once unbeaten. What more could they possibly do? Is there something more. Ask Ponting, Gilly and the Pigeon. They would say , there is! They still can not only win matches but dominate and crush the opposition. Well, that s what they did in 2007.
What is amazing with this team , is not their ability alone.Lot of other teams are as talented as they are, but what differentiates the Aussies from the others are their work ethics and the professionalism they bring on to the field.Be it against the Netherlands or the Lankans, the Scots or the Springboks, they being in the same intensity to the field, an aspect which can never be told about any other team which plays cricket during these times. This intensity just grows multifold when the match is an important one.
One other aspect of this team which raises many eyebrows is their ability to raise the level of their game on a consistent basis. They just keep raising the bar and it is now unimaginable for the other teams to even come a close second. I guess, the other teams have to be satisfied with just a distant second.
To even think that this world cup was considered to be a open one after the recent peformances of the Australian team. It was thought that the other teams would catch up and when the world was thinking that Australian cricket was history, they came back and raised the bar so much higher, that the other teams were not even able to have a look at the bar.
True, some time in the near or far future, other teams would catch up and the aussie cricket would falter and there could be other invincible teams, but for the moment, take a bow to the team which has won the last three world cups. WHAT A TEAM!
What is amazing with this team , is not their ability alone.Lot of other teams are as talented as they are, but what differentiates the Aussies from the others are their work ethics and the professionalism they bring on to the field.Be it against the Netherlands or the Lankans, the Scots or the Springboks, they being in the same intensity to the field, an aspect which can never be told about any other team which plays cricket during these times. This intensity just grows multifold when the match is an important one.
One other aspect of this team which raises many eyebrows is their ability to raise the level of their game on a consistent basis. They just keep raising the bar and it is now unimaginable for the other teams to even come a close second. I guess, the other teams have to be satisfied with just a distant second.
To even think that this world cup was considered to be a open one after the recent peformances of the Australian team. It was thought that the other teams would catch up and when the world was thinking that Australian cricket was history, they came back and raised the bar so much higher, that the other teams were not even able to have a look at the bar.
True, some time in the near or far future, other teams would catch up and the aussie cricket would falter and there could be other invincible teams, but for the moment, take a bow to the team which has won the last three world cups. WHAT A TEAM!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Tour of Bangladesh - One day XI
It is that time of the year when people talk about the casualities of the world cup and the season to look forward to. It is that time, when the selectors come up with their version of the Future Team India, the one which they hope will be a start for the renaissance of Indian Cricket. The selection is done and the 15 players who will be representing Team India in both the tests and One dayers have been picked.
It has been an interesting selection though. Now, the flavour of Indian cricket over the past month or so has been youth. The BCCI officials wanted a young team led by an experienced captain. The media and the Cricket fans wanted a young team. Lot of names were thrown into the ring with the likes of Tiwari, Rohit Sharma , Badrinath and others being brought into discussion. There were also talks about giving the tried talent like Kaif and Raina another chance. Overall, the much celebrated word has been Youth. But when we really look at it, we would be at loss of words to explain the selection of couple of players who cannot be put into the category of youth and we also have to be clear on the fact that, Team India performed badly in the ONE DAY world cup and so the theme of youth applies to the One day team and not so much to the Test Team.
On the one day front, there seems to be a mix of selections and omissions, interesting as well as bizarre. Tiwari and Chawla seems to be pretty interesting and exciting selections, It would be interesting to watch how Tiwari takes to international cricket and if he does justification to the talent he has shown at the Ranji level, it would be a very profitable development for Indian cricket. Chawla seems to be the one who can answer to the call of Indian cricket for a leg spinner. It has hardly been a month since one of the greatest cricketers to play for India hung his boots at the One day level and it would be great for Indian cricket if this rookie could fill in the boots of the legend. The omission of Irfan Pathan from the team does not seem to be too fair to him as he didnt get too much opportunities in the World cup to improve himself and in the warm up games that he played , he gave a decent account of himself and looked to be improving by the day. It would have done him a world of good, if he had got this opportunity to play against the Bangla tigers and pull himself into some kind of form ahead of the England tour.
Two notable omissions from the team are the probably two of the greatest One day cricketers produced by India in Sachin and Sourav. The selection committee has to be appreciated for setting an example of "resting" such players to give opportunity to the youngsters. Be it resting or dropping, this definitely is a very bold move which would not augur well with their corresponding fans. Atleast Tiwari, who probably replaces one of the above two, is a good selection. But the other replacement (Mongia or Gambhir) have been tried and tested and discarded over a period of time and they have not done much over the past season to warrant a recall into the national side. A spot in the national team has to be earned and I do not think these two have earned it. It would have been much better for Indian cricket if a fresh face had been picked instead of the tested ones.
Some of them would count themselves unlucky for having missed out on a place in the team, the likes of Badrinath, Rohit Sharma to name a few. But, when the selectors pick a team of 15, they are bound to miss out on few deserving players. All in all, they could have done much better, with all the hype that went on about the youth policy and "looking forward" messages that the officials sent to the selectors. Hope the Tiwaris and the Chawlas do justice to their talent and the hope that the selectors have placed upon them.
It has been an interesting selection though. Now, the flavour of Indian cricket over the past month or so has been youth. The BCCI officials wanted a young team led by an experienced captain. The media and the Cricket fans wanted a young team. Lot of names were thrown into the ring with the likes of Tiwari, Rohit Sharma , Badrinath and others being brought into discussion. There were also talks about giving the tried talent like Kaif and Raina another chance. Overall, the much celebrated word has been Youth. But when we really look at it, we would be at loss of words to explain the selection of couple of players who cannot be put into the category of youth and we also have to be clear on the fact that, Team India performed badly in the ONE DAY world cup and so the theme of youth applies to the One day team and not so much to the Test Team.
On the one day front, there seems to be a mix of selections and omissions, interesting as well as bizarre. Tiwari and Chawla seems to be pretty interesting and exciting selections, It would be interesting to watch how Tiwari takes to international cricket and if he does justification to the talent he has shown at the Ranji level, it would be a very profitable development for Indian cricket. Chawla seems to be the one who can answer to the call of Indian cricket for a leg spinner. It has hardly been a month since one of the greatest cricketers to play for India hung his boots at the One day level and it would be great for Indian cricket if this rookie could fill in the boots of the legend. The omission of Irfan Pathan from the team does not seem to be too fair to him as he didnt get too much opportunities in the World cup to improve himself and in the warm up games that he played , he gave a decent account of himself and looked to be improving by the day. It would have done him a world of good, if he had got this opportunity to play against the Bangla tigers and pull himself into some kind of form ahead of the England tour.
Two notable omissions from the team are the probably two of the greatest One day cricketers produced by India in Sachin and Sourav. The selection committee has to be appreciated for setting an example of "resting" such players to give opportunity to the youngsters. Be it resting or dropping, this definitely is a very bold move which would not augur well with their corresponding fans. Atleast Tiwari, who probably replaces one of the above two, is a good selection. But the other replacement (Mongia or Gambhir) have been tried and tested and discarded over a period of time and they have not done much over the past season to warrant a recall into the national side. A spot in the national team has to be earned and I do not think these two have earned it. It would have been much better for Indian cricket if a fresh face had been picked instead of the tested ones.
Some of them would count themselves unlucky for having missed out on a place in the team, the likes of Badrinath, Rohit Sharma to name a few. But, when the selectors pick a team of 15, they are bound to miss out on few deserving players. All in all, they could have done much better, with all the hype that went on about the youth policy and "looking forward" messages that the officials sent to the selectors. Hope the Tiwaris and the Chawlas do justice to their talent and the hope that the selectors have placed upon them.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Indian team led by Mr Anonymous.
Nothing much happening in the Indian cricket to match the previous couple of weeks but one particular article caught my attention while googling on cricket. This is an article by Kadambari Murali on Hindustan times, which points to the pitfalls in the the current setup of Indian Cricket, the money hungry organisation which runs it leaving the players in a catch 22 situation.
The article takes a dig at some of the decisions taken in the working committee meeting held couple of weeks ago. I particularly like the point she makes about the players not having the freedom to talk openly while the sources from the Board happily leaks "interesting" information to the bloodthirsty media and the hungry journalists. I am appalled at the fact that nothing was made out of the SMS sent by the coach to the journalist, while an interview out of frustration by a player to clear his stand has been met with a show cause notice. The Board officials can talk endlessly about the players and the Coach can feel free to send personal emails to his journalist friends and they would be left scot free while a player cant come out in the open.
The signal that is being sent out is that, while it is acceptable to remain anonymous and let out secrets, it is prohibited to come out in the open without anything to hide and clarify yourself. But one thing that the show cause notices have done to Indian cricket is that, now anyone would think twice before talking to journalist coz if it happens to Sachin, it can happen to everyone. But this seems to be the sorry state of the Indian Cricket. Well I hope the players are not prohibited from wearning their names of the back of their shirts or else we would have 11 anonymous players on the cricket field representing Team india.
The article takes a dig at some of the decisions taken in the working committee meeting held couple of weeks ago. I particularly like the point she makes about the players not having the freedom to talk openly while the sources from the Board happily leaks "interesting" information to the bloodthirsty media and the hungry journalists. I am appalled at the fact that nothing was made out of the SMS sent by the coach to the journalist, while an interview out of frustration by a player to clear his stand has been met with a show cause notice. The Board officials can talk endlessly about the players and the Coach can feel free to send personal emails to his journalist friends and they would be left scot free while a player cant come out in the open.
The signal that is being sent out is that, while it is acceptable to remain anonymous and let out secrets, it is prohibited to come out in the open without anything to hide and clarify yourself. But one thing that the show cause notices have done to Indian cricket is that, now anyone would think twice before talking to journalist coz if it happens to Sachin, it can happen to everyone. But this seems to be the sorry state of the Indian Cricket. Well I hope the players are not prohibited from wearning their names of the back of their shirts or else we would have 11 anonymous players on the cricket field representing Team india.
Monday, April 9, 2007
My Take on the Working Committee meeting decisions.
Wow.. Another world cup, another POST-CUP BCCI meeting and it was expected to be one filled with the aromas of the samosas and the chaai s. Although much was expected from the meeting, there was a feeling that nothing much would come out of it. But to the surprise of many, if the decisions that have been made in the Working committee meeting are carried out, then we are in for some good times for the Indian cricket, in general.
Ofcourse, some of the decisions are those which are normally taken every now and then, but they are just that. They are those which , had it been followed , would have done India lot of good but which have only been in paper and not in action. But it would be good if this time, after such a disastrous world cup, they are taken seriously and acted upon. The ones that come under this category involve preparing live pitches, making sure that the international players play the Domestic games and some more on these lines. These are some of the items which would be present on the agenda of every BCCI working committee meeting, but not much has been done to improve the state of the pitches or for that matter, the state of domestic cricket.
It is particularly interesting and heartwarming to see the item about the zonal representation of the Selectors. I have always felt that the zonal representation of the selectors would do no good for the Cricket as it would only increase the regional bias of the selectors. The zonal selector has to go back to the states they represent and the boards of those states and the affiliation to the state boards takes precedence as far as the selection of the marginal players are concerned. Now, the decision to scrap the Zonal representation in the selection committees and to appoint people with credibility based on their qualification as a player and a selector makes it look more professional. To give them a 2 year contract and have a remuneration makes them accountable. Going forward, the selectors will not be doing a honorary job but a job which is paying them and for which they would have to do justice. Hopefully, this would clear the selection system of the evils which has killed the careers of many aspiring upstarts who then become seniors in their respective state side, become leaders and become mentors and fade out into the horizon without even getting a shot at the international recognition.
The other interesting point that has come out of this meeting and which has an even bigger impact on Indian cricket is the decision to improve the Under 19 and the A team tours. These tours play a key role as they throw out the futre Sachins, Dravids and Souravs. We watch in awe as men after men come and adorn the Australian colours and perform. Their bench strength is amazing and they have a very good domestic structure to back their National team. We can definitely improve our bench strength if we have tours for the under 19s and the Indian team hopefuls to tour the different conditions in Australia, England and the other countries to play in the different pitches and conditions for them to be well prepared when they put on Team India colours. These tours are one area which has to be given utmost importance for the bench strength to improve.
The decision to put up a younger team to tour Bangladesh under an experienced captain is a welcome decision, simply for the fact that, Indian cricket will not be helped much by a full strength Indian team going to Bangladesh and scoring all those big hundreds. It would be worse if the full strength team loses in Bangladesh, for then, we would be in a position where we would know that the current players are no good but would not have the repository to fall back and pick a team. This team of young players will be a good pool to pick from , for the future tour to England.
Not much to say about the payment related decisions of the meeting as it would obscure the real point of discussion which is about developing Indian cricket and not about the bank accounts of the cricketers. It would be better to allow the players and the boards and the financial specialists to discuss this.
One item which caught my eyes immediately is the showcause notice to be sent to Sachin and Yuvraj on their report to the media and it would require lot more space to put my views on the merits and demerits of that decision and I would leave it to a later blog but by issuing the notice to Sachin, who carried India through his entire career but for the last couple of seasons and to yuvraj, probably the one who will carry India s batting through the next phase in Indian cricket, the BCCI Working committee has issued a stern statement that they are taking the media relations seriously and when it comes to Indian cricket, No one is bigger than Cricket itself.
Last but not the least is the decision to appoint Shastri as the interim manager and to have Prasad and Robin Singh as the bolwing and fielding coaches respectively. This seems to be a wonderful decision at the outset though we would have to wait for the execution and the results to fully contemplate the decision. Prasad and Robin are two people who have tremendous coaching experiences and we need not look beyond Robin for dedication. Here are two dedicated perfomers who, though not superstars in their own field, gave it all when it came to Cricket and made good use of the limited ability that they had. The Indian team would benefit a lot from having these two as coaches . For Ravi Shastri, well, he is one who has been there, seen it all. He has a good head on his shoulders, communicates well and has a good rapport with the seniors in the team. The seniors would respect him for his knowledge about the game and the juniors would respect him for his experience. He might not change anything big in the next three months, but he could be a starting point. He can lay the stones for the foundation.
Over all, it could prove to be very interesting three months leading upto the Bangladeshi tour and these three months can very well set the tone for the rest of the year.
Ofcourse, some of the decisions are those which are normally taken every now and then, but they are just that. They are those which , had it been followed , would have done India lot of good but which have only been in paper and not in action. But it would be good if this time, after such a disastrous world cup, they are taken seriously and acted upon. The ones that come under this category involve preparing live pitches, making sure that the international players play the Domestic games and some more on these lines. These are some of the items which would be present on the agenda of every BCCI working committee meeting, but not much has been done to improve the state of the pitches or for that matter, the state of domestic cricket.
It is particularly interesting and heartwarming to see the item about the zonal representation of the Selectors. I have always felt that the zonal representation of the selectors would do no good for the Cricket as it would only increase the regional bias of the selectors. The zonal selector has to go back to the states they represent and the boards of those states and the affiliation to the state boards takes precedence as far as the selection of the marginal players are concerned. Now, the decision to scrap the Zonal representation in the selection committees and to appoint people with credibility based on their qualification as a player and a selector makes it look more professional. To give them a 2 year contract and have a remuneration makes them accountable. Going forward, the selectors will not be doing a honorary job but a job which is paying them and for which they would have to do justice. Hopefully, this would clear the selection system of the evils which has killed the careers of many aspiring upstarts who then become seniors in their respective state side, become leaders and become mentors and fade out into the horizon without even getting a shot at the international recognition.
The other interesting point that has come out of this meeting and which has an even bigger impact on Indian cricket is the decision to improve the Under 19 and the A team tours. These tours play a key role as they throw out the futre Sachins, Dravids and Souravs. We watch in awe as men after men come and adorn the Australian colours and perform. Their bench strength is amazing and they have a very good domestic structure to back their National team. We can definitely improve our bench strength if we have tours for the under 19s and the Indian team hopefuls to tour the different conditions in Australia, England and the other countries to play in the different pitches and conditions for them to be well prepared when they put on Team India colours. These tours are one area which has to be given utmost importance for the bench strength to improve.
The decision to put up a younger team to tour Bangladesh under an experienced captain is a welcome decision, simply for the fact that, Indian cricket will not be helped much by a full strength Indian team going to Bangladesh and scoring all those big hundreds. It would be worse if the full strength team loses in Bangladesh, for then, we would be in a position where we would know that the current players are no good but would not have the repository to fall back and pick a team. This team of young players will be a good pool to pick from , for the future tour to England.
Not much to say about the payment related decisions of the meeting as it would obscure the real point of discussion which is about developing Indian cricket and not about the bank accounts of the cricketers. It would be better to allow the players and the boards and the financial specialists to discuss this.
One item which caught my eyes immediately is the showcause notice to be sent to Sachin and Yuvraj on their report to the media and it would require lot more space to put my views on the merits and demerits of that decision and I would leave it to a later blog but by issuing the notice to Sachin, who carried India through his entire career but for the last couple of seasons and to yuvraj, probably the one who will carry India s batting through the next phase in Indian cricket, the BCCI Working committee has issued a stern statement that they are taking the media relations seriously and when it comes to Indian cricket, No one is bigger than Cricket itself.
Last but not the least is the decision to appoint Shastri as the interim manager and to have Prasad and Robin Singh as the bolwing and fielding coaches respectively. This seems to be a wonderful decision at the outset though we would have to wait for the execution and the results to fully contemplate the decision. Prasad and Robin are two people who have tremendous coaching experiences and we need not look beyond Robin for dedication. Here are two dedicated perfomers who, though not superstars in their own field, gave it all when it came to Cricket and made good use of the limited ability that they had. The Indian team would benefit a lot from having these two as coaches . For Ravi Shastri, well, he is one who has been there, seen it all. He has a good head on his shoulders, communicates well and has a good rapport with the seniors in the team. The seniors would respect him for his knowledge about the game and the juniors would respect him for his experience. He might not change anything big in the next three months, but he could be a starting point. He can lay the stones for the foundation.
Over all, it could prove to be very interesting three months leading upto the Bangladeshi tour and these three months can very well set the tone for the rest of the year.
Friday, March 30, 2007
To retire or not to retire - Leave it to Sachin.
I thought I should move on from India and Sachin and write about Cricket in general but one article which I read today put me off so much. This is an article by Ian Chappell, considered to be amongst the best of thinkers of the game. The article had been about Sachin to review his future. Sachin for one is revered by many as God and by others as a great batsman and anyone who is on that pedestal would not want to demean their name just for a couple more extra centuries.
He has had it all. The name, the fame, the money, the cricketing records, his share of great knocks and his share of a dent in the moral s bowlers. I dont think he would be so naive to throw it all after 17 years of building it up. What more records does he need. He has seen it all. After almost 15K One day runs and 12 K test runs, I dont think he is playing just to increase them by another thousand or so. I feel he ll know better and earlier than most as to how and when would he retire. During the 2003 world cup, when he was asked to play down the order, he expressed his displeasure and stated his preference to open the innings. But four years older and definitely wiser, this time around, he didnt mention any preference and was most happy to play down the order. Had he been playing for himself and the statistics, he would most definitely have preferred to open the innings and no one could have been against it. But Team India had a plan and for the plan to be successful(atleast on paper), it required Sachin to play at No 4 and he did that against his wishes. He has changed his style of play to suit the team. True, he has not met the standards , a very high one - mind you, that he had set for himself and he too would know that.
This may indeed be the time that he has to quit or there could still be some time left for him to do some things which he has not done in the past 17 years. But that is not for others to decide. Till this point, he has decided the course he has taken. He decided at 17 that he had it in him to make it to the top. He decided the shots he played and the deliveries he bowled. He decided to take the captaincy and then relinquish it. Just like all the things he has decided over the past 17 years, I think he would decide the time best for him to call it a day. After all, he has been our best batsman through the 90's and the lack of form in the last four years has not displaced him much from his place as the very best.
Again, this could be the time to retire or to come back strongly with vengeance against the detractors but whatever it is , it is for him to think and decide and not for others to pour their thoughts in. Whatever the decision is, we can be sure that it will be taken keeping Team India s well being in mind. Afterall, he has done the same over the past 17 years. He has been there, seen it all.
He has had it all. The name, the fame, the money, the cricketing records, his share of great knocks and his share of a dent in the moral s bowlers. I dont think he would be so naive to throw it all after 17 years of building it up. What more records does he need. He has seen it all. After almost 15K One day runs and 12 K test runs, I dont think he is playing just to increase them by another thousand or so. I feel he ll know better and earlier than most as to how and when would he retire. During the 2003 world cup, when he was asked to play down the order, he expressed his displeasure and stated his preference to open the innings. But four years older and definitely wiser, this time around, he didnt mention any preference and was most happy to play down the order. Had he been playing for himself and the statistics, he would most definitely have preferred to open the innings and no one could have been against it. But Team India had a plan and for the plan to be successful(atleast on paper), it required Sachin to play at No 4 and he did that against his wishes. He has changed his style of play to suit the team. True, he has not met the standards , a very high one - mind you, that he had set for himself and he too would know that.
This may indeed be the time that he has to quit or there could still be some time left for him to do some things which he has not done in the past 17 years. But that is not for others to decide. Till this point, he has decided the course he has taken. He decided at 17 that he had it in him to make it to the top. He decided the shots he played and the deliveries he bowled. He decided to take the captaincy and then relinquish it. Just like all the things he has decided over the past 17 years, I think he would decide the time best for him to call it a day. After all, he has been our best batsman through the 90's and the lack of form in the last four years has not displaced him much from his place as the very best.
Again, this could be the time to retire or to come back strongly with vengeance against the detractors but whatever it is , it is for him to think and decide and not for others to pour their thoughts in. Whatever the decision is, we can be sure that it will be taken keeping Team India s well being in mind. Afterall, he has done the same over the past 17 years. He has been there, seen it all.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Revelations.
Wondering where we are going with the new culture of revealing emails and SMSes. Just saw a news item in a news papers website about a text message from Greg Chappell about the team composition and how he was not fine with the team.
I fear we are entering the age of revelations particularly with the Indian cricket bureacracy. Things which are to be kept as private emails and SMS es are being put out in the open for everyone to see.
There was the case of Greg Chappel s private email being leaked. Then we had the official report from the tour manager in South Africa being published. . Now the SMS from Greg Chappell telling about his unhappiness with the team composition has come out to the open.
I dont think the revelations are necessary and this spreading culture will not take Indian cricket anywhere.
I fear we are entering the age of revelations particularly with the Indian cricket bureacracy. Things which are to be kept as private emails and SMS es are being put out in the open for everyone to see.
There was the case of Greg Chappel s private email being leaked. Then we had the official report from the tour manager in South Africa being published. . Now the SMS from Greg Chappell telling about his unhappiness with the team composition has come out to the open.
I dont think the revelations are necessary and this spreading culture will not take Indian cricket anywhere.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)