India Continues to Gamble with All-rounder Slot

With three matches to go in the on-going Natwest trophy, India’s quest for a complete all-rounder is still on. Indian team has underperformed in all the four ODIs so far and their batsmen have let them down yet again. The team filled with super stars faces deficiency in their batting line up, killer instinct in their bowling department and their fielding is no where near international standards.

The impact of pyjama cricket has resulted in batsmen easily manage 300 runs in single day of a test match. A decade back a score of 225 was considered to be a challenging one in the limited version but today teams easily chase 350 plus totals. If you carefully look at the transformation that the game has undergone you would notice that batsmen at No.7 & 8 have contributed far more with bat and ball than it was in early days of cricket.

Today teams like England, Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa play with eight batsmen and six bowlers who can do the job at any given time. For England, this summer, contributions from Stuart Broad, Ravi Bopara has been outstanding in all departments. And not to mention Paul Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff, they have always delivered when it most mattered. The former has been their mainstay for the past two years and the later has a big heart and fires every time with bat and the ball. Stuart Broad batting at number eight has the ability to hold the crease and also to hit some boundaries at will. England’s fielding is a big plus, especially in this series against India. They managed to save nearly 30 to 40 runs every match because of their eye-catching field work.

Looking at the other side, India was clearly outplayed in three of the four matches played so far and the absence of a complete all-rounder has exposed the team under the bad light. The only match they won at Bristol was a narrow escape by nine runs after scoring a mammoth 329 was over shadowed by the brilliance of Dimitri Mascarenhas with the bat as the required run rate was reaching the sky. This just proves the importance of having a quality all-rounder at number eight.

This same Indian team was highly successful in 2005 during which they even managed a record 17 successful chases in trot. The only difference now and then was the presence and the thriving performances of Irfan Pathan. Many looked and portrayed him as the next Kapil Dev in the making but that hope took a twist when he lost his rhythm completely. He is out of the team for nearly eight months now and his current performances in the African tour with the A side was not up to his potential.

There are not many in the wings to fill that slot either, and that is a huge concern for the team management as well as the selectors. Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla have not contributed with the bat and their failure has taken a big toll on the other members of the team. In the ODIs at Edgbaston and Old Trafford both these players failed to occupy the crease, to rotate singles and give the strike to Yuvraj on both those occasions and neither of them managed to clear the rope consistantly.

Ajit Agarkar still surprisingly considered to posses the all-round ability from selectors point of view has never managed to contribute significantly with the bat throughout his ten year career. He is one of those rarest breed of cricketers who has been consistent in being in and out of the team and probably has made the most number of comebacks!

Though Sachin, Sourav and Yuviraj provided India with the option of some slow bowling, they haven’t seen any success in this series so far. The trio have bowled 26 overs at an economy rate of 5.65 with just one wicket between them.

With India struggling to fit in six bowlers and players who can contribute some valuable runs at number 7 & 8, the presence of two wicket keepers in the side is to be questioned. It is accepted that keepers who can contribute well with the bat are considered to be an all-rounder but what is the point in keeping one as a specialist batsman when the team is in need of someone like Jacques Kallis. Taking no credit away from Dhoni and Karthik, I believe one of them should be dropped to accommodate someone who can bat and bowl well.

There are not many in the pipeline, though there are the likes of Praveen Kumar from Uttar Pradesh, who can bowl some good medium pacers and has the ability to vary his pace and can be handy at during the final overs. The other is the elder brother of Irfan Pathan, Yusuf who is an off spinner. Both these players are hard hitting batsmen. Yusuf has been provided with an opportunity to exhibit his talent and Irfan, a proven match winner has been provide with a comeback platform as Pathan brothers are set to tour South Africa for the Twenty20 World Cup this month. Praveen Kumar should consider himself unlucky to miss the flight but he can keep his hopes alive as India is set to play more ODIs in the days ahead.

The Natwest series might be decided today at Headingly but India should be prepared to look ahead and give many of these hopefuls a look in.

It’s high time that the selectors throw these talents in the deep as India is set to play more ODIs against Australia and Pakistan at home. There cannot be a better stage for these youngsters to prove themselves than their own backyard.

The Indian Cricket League Saga

The surfacing of Indian Cricket League (ICL) promoted by Essel Group is a development that could have a long term impact on Indian Cricket. However, will this be a positive development or will it carve up the already dispirited Indian cricket into two rival factions? This will be the question that will do the rounds in the minds of every cricket fan in India in the coming days.

“Out and out commercial venture," says BCCI President, Sharad Pawar in his latest stand on ICL. Since the time Essel group has taken the step of fledging ICL, there has been a stir in Indian cricket with the game’s governing body Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has taken a tuff stand.

It all started with the Subhash Chandra, Chairman of ZEE Telefilms announcing the name of former cricketer Kapil Dev as the Chairman of the newly formed league with the vision of grooming young talents. This has certainly left the heavy weights of BCCI in unrest. As a result, the Indian board threatened to ban the league as well as withdrawing the player’s benefits such as pension.

Kapil is presently employed with BCCI as Chairman of National Cricket Academy.

"Players who take part in the ICL will never be eligible to play for the country again. It is up to the players to decide what they want to do," said Niranjan Shah, BCCI secetary. If you look at various such statements made by the BCCI officials’, one just gets a feeling that they are unnecessarily disturbed with the emergence of ICL.

On the other hand, there a few serious questions that are unanswered by the ICL. This being a Twenty20 format, how you expect a young cricketer to learn the nuance of cricket. There is no way one can learn the finer points of the game by playing the new version of cricket. All one can expect is some slam-bang power hitting and nothing else.

Already the toll of One day internationals has its effects on test cricket and there are not many classical test innings where the player is equipped enough to play the whole day to save a test match. There are not many batsmen who have a perfect technique but still have managed to survive in international cricket for many years. But then their flaw in technique comes wide open in test cricket. Hence, the new breakaway league cannot create bench strength as they claim.

Meanwhile, there are lots of former International players being approached by ICL and Brian Lara became the first international to sign to play for them. The huge money involved in the process has definitely tempted a few current crops of cricketers like Stephen Fleming to think of an early retirement. Sri Lanka’s Marvan Attapatu who is struggling to get back into the national team has now got his annual contracted terminated from his board to play in the ICL tournament. Next in line are all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Habibul Bashar, and JP Yadav, who most likely will be the first Indian to play for the league.

The list doesn’t stops here, there are like of Glen McGrath, Shane Warne and many other names are doing the rounds.

The ICL, as a significant step has now done something that even the cricket’s powerhouse BCCI is yet to do – launching an official website. All this has added spice to the spat of the two biggies, with a few questions have been raised over the BCCI’s administrative efficiency.

Joining the war of words was yet another prominent political personality, Lalu Yadav, the Union Railway minister and also the President of Bhiar Cricket Association coming forward to offer the ministry’s grounds for playing matches. This has certainly added spice to the whole issue.

Another interesting thing that one should wait and watch is, Is this the beginning of a World Series Cricket style breakaway league? Although media mogul Subhash Chandra said he will never do a Kerry Packer, there is every sign that his Indian Cricket League could well become one, if Chandra's ploy succeeds.

The birth of ICL has received mixed response so far from various former and present cricketers. As for as I am concerned, ICL’s intentions are very clear that this nothing but a money making venture.

ICL can never be a parallel body to BCCI. Therefore, it’s high time that the Indian board focus on developing the game in the country rather than loosing its sleep over ICL.

Board of Currency Collection in India?

The eagerly awaited World Cup is all over with Aussies ruling the roost yet again, stretching their unbeatable streak in the world cups to 29. On the other hand, the hopes of billions of Indians came crashing after the team’s shocking defeat at the hands of minnow neighbours leading to an early exit.

As expected, there were significant changes in the team management with Ravi Shastri appointed as cricket manager though only for Bangladesh tour. Former cricketers Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh took the role of bowling and fielding coaching respectively.

Now the Indian team is all set for a new action packed season starting from the Ireland series at the end of June. India will be playing a mammoth 45 ODIs and 15 test matches in the coming year up to April, 2008 compared to Australia’s 26 ODIs and 9 test matches and England’s 20 ODIs and 11 test matches. No other teams are playing as many matches as India is. This means 120 playing days leading to nearly eight months of hectic traveling.

The team is suffering from frequent breakdowns and loss of form of many key players, especially fast bowlers. This kind of a packed schedule is not going to help them either. A detailed view of the schedule reveals yet another hardship to the players. That is the number of practice matches the team will play in every tour. Two, three day match before the start of the test series against England, against Sussex and England A teams. In its tour down under they will play a solitary three day match against Victoria before heading on to play four test matches on trot.

In India domestic cricket has always been a sorrow picture with no fan following, no credit given to the domestic level players. In the last decade, there have been hardly any members of Indian cricket team played in domestic tournaments. This has also taken the shine away from it. Above all that, there has always been a wrong perception that no leading cricketers prefer playing domestic cricket. Now tell me, where is the time for them to take part in such tournaments?

Such a scrambled schedule will only expose players to more injuries. The players won’t have any time to sit and reassess their performance every now and then and recharge their confidence. It will only add unnecessary pressure on the cricketers. The Indian board seems to doing nothing to address these issues. On a recent comment by skipper Rahul Dravid on improper scheduling of matches, BCCI Vice-President, Lalit Modi counter attacked him saying, the rotation policy is in place to solve the issue of player burnouts.

It will be a welcome sign if BCCI working committee from hereon include former cricketers or the senior cricketers of the team to have their say on such matters. It looks like BCCI consisting of top politicians and powerful businessmen are not bothered about all these except milking money. They should remember that it is the name and fame of these cricketers that is bringing in the big bucks.

Also, the selection of coach has drawn a lot of speculation among the media. It seems that there is no proper plot in place to choose a coach. The BCCI was once again in a poor light handling such issues. There had been many occasions when the big boys of BCCI complained about the jaded administration of International Cricket Council (ICC). And now, it's time for them to have a look at their own back.

Such a senseless administration will only show the way to repeated failures of the team on the field and agitation among die hard Indian fans taking away the interest and FANatic following, the game has in this country.

BCCI needs a revamp!

The Greg Indian Tamasha

Greg Chappell’s appointment as Indian team coach came in with huge expectations, considering his reputation as great thinkers of the modern game. However, his promise of ‘Commitment to excellence’ was unfazed by the challenges.

Chappell stressed attitude and commitment from the players. He had a logical reasoning behind grooming youngsters, as their good performances will build pressure and push the seniors to deliver. He reacted quickly when Indian pace attack failed miserably in the Karachi test match which India lost. He made sure that Zaheer and Pathan are out of the team and brought in fresher like Sreesanth and Munaf, the Australian way. These two lead the Indian attack in its tour of West Indies with unlimited success, with India winning the series 1-0. His spat with former India skipper Sourav was a familiar one, having said that, Chappell was the first to shake hands with Ganguly when he rejoined the Indian team at Potchefstroom before the tour match.

Chappell was instrumental in bringing youngsters in the team providing them with various challenges. Things fell in place for the Indian team as they kept winning series after series in the home turf. The so called experiments were carried out as the oppositions were clueless and they deteriorated to the Indian game plan. It looked like the captain and the coach had good understanding of the game and the needs of the team. As the experiments clicked one after another, India went to a high of winning 17 ODIs chasing on a trot. At this point, one thought India is one of the strongest contenders of cricket’s showpiece event.

Here came the first jolt with BCCI annual meeting, which brought up a change in the national selection panel. Kiran More, the man who favoured fresh blood in the team, who nodded head to Chappell’s wishes was succeeded by ‘the Colonel’ Dilip Vengsarkar. The change in the selection panel with just four months away from the world cup left the Indian think-thank shaken.

Adding woes to the selection problem was the dent in Pathan’s form as it disturbed the team’s composition. The team management continued with their experiments to try and fill someone in Pathan’s role ended with no success. This had a great impact in team’s success as they faced defeats after defeats. The poor results had a huge impact, disturbing the mind set of many players, the most affected being Sehwag.

The whole scenario looked improbable with no answers to the problems in hand; the management went back to their old warriors in Ganguly, Zaheer and Kumble. This move did not appeared in favour of the Australian, as he made it clear that he was unhappy with the team. The differences in approach and thinking amplified the gap between the seniors and the coach. The problem is Greg being vastly experienced and rated as one of the greatest thinkers of the game handling someone like Sachin Tendulkar who is nearing two decades of international experience with more than 70 international hundreds to his credit. It’s not only with Sachin, but Sourav, Dravid and Kumble. Each having vast experience of their own, they would think and like to do what they feel is right. Here is where the seniors and Chappell contradicted each other.

The situation was like tug-of-war where two teams at each end of the rope trying to pull each other. The team that crosses the mid-point looses. But unfortunately for Indian cricket, the rope was cut down in the middle as the coach and the seniors never went hand in hand.

Now or Never

In sports, there is nothing as prestigious as winning the World Cup and is always a big dream for everyone to be a part it, starting from fans to the players themselves. We cricket fanatics in India had never lost hope on our boys in blue and nothing has changed this time either. In India, which is considered to be the Mecca of cricket, the height of craziness has no limits.

K Sudhakar, a creative car designer using sports apparel from Hyderabad, using his creativity has designed a car in cricket bat shape, is all set to present the Indian team if it wins the World Cup!! He has 150 such creations under his belt. But above all this there are two legends of the game who will be ready to give anything and everything in them to taste the cherry.

One of them is the senior most cricketer in terms of experience among the contemporary cricketers, the other nothing less worth it. Both have been a part of World Cup squad of their respective teams since 1992. One bats right, the other left. Their batting styles are different but their intentions on the field have been the same – devastating and dominating. They share a lot more in common – passion for the game, legends in their own right, big fan following, bowler’s nightmare and captaincy without much success.

They have batting records to their name – one is the highest century maker in test cricket and the other highest run scorer. Their batting averages ticks above 40 in both versions of the game. However, there is one thing that is missing in their kitty – World Cup.

For Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and Brian Charles Lara so far this has just been a dream and this will be their last chance to make the most of it. Lara will be having his thumbs up leading the host team for one last time in the mega event. His form with the bat has been good and with players like Gayle, Chandrapaul, Sarwan, Bravo in his line up, also having the home advantage the stage can’t be a better than this one for him.

And for Sachin, a man born to play cricket has achieved all laurels in both forms of the game. He holds the record for most number of centuries in both forms of the game, holds the record for most runs in international cricket, fastest to reach 10,000 run mark in both forms and also have 100 plus wickets under his belt in One day format.

Apart from personal highs, he has always been a dedicated team man. He his efforts to get India to the final of the Coca Cola cup in Sharjha in the 1998 against Australia still remains the most defined moment of Indian cricket. He single handily took India to the final scoring a scintillating 143 almost won the match for India that day. His down the track sixes against Shane Warne still lingers in the memories of all. He didn’t stop there; he went on to score another towering knock against the same opposition on his 25^th birthday sealed the match in India’s favour.

His knock of 136 against Pakistan in Chennai test match is another feather to his cap. He not only battled with Pakistani pacers but also with a severe back pain. He almost won the match for India, falling short by 12 runs in the end. He has always stored his best for the World Cups piling 523 runs in 1996 edition and 673 runs in the last edition in South Africa. His effort of 193 runs against England at Leeds in Headingley test match was a match winning one.

Sachin tops the fan following list among cricketers in the world and it will be like a king without a crown if team India fails to win the Big Prize. Hanging up his boots without a World Cup honour will be a huge disappointment not only for him but for the whole nation. Let’s hope that his glorious career comes to a memorable end.

Now the stage is all set for these two greats to realise their dream, to end their illustrious career in grand style. The two men with one dream, one vision will have one eye on the cup but there can only be one winner!! Will be interesting to see who among the two will end up smiling :-)

The last word – it’s Now or Never for Sachin and Lara.

The Final Lap

In preparation for the world cup, now just a month away, Indian team has reached its final lap before finalizing the team for the mega event. With just two more matches for the selectors to make up their mind, skipper Rahul Dravid said that he is happy and satisfied with the way things are shaping up for the team.

Many players being a certainty to travel to the Caribbean Islands, the selectors’ job will be to identify the fringe players who can fit in well as a back up, providing variety and flexibility to the team’s requirements according to the match conditions.

A good thumping series win against the Windies might have lifted the team’s morale, yet the Indian team has to address some fitness problems which in luring them that bounced from no where. Yuvraj Singh with a stiff back, Irfan Pathan with a sore shoulder and Munaf Patel who just recovered from an injury have to prove their fitness and form.

Fitness concerns, if solved, India looks a strong contender for the crown, at least on paper. The team is desperately lacking, in number of genuine all-rounders they have at their disposal. Irfan Pathan is the only one whom we can rely upon to do the dual role but his poor form with the ball has put the team’s strategy into jeopardy. It is vital that he proves his form in the limited opportunities he has.

Munaf Patel is the next man in question. He has just now recovered from an injury making his way back into the team after a long lay-off. For him proving his from with the ball is not the only concern, his reputation of showing poor application on the field might hold against his selection for the world cup.

The batting order after being under the scanner since Guru Greg took over as coach, finally looks settled to fire. On the other hand, Sri Lankan side without Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan cannot be underrated either. Their batting looks solid with the old war-house Sanath Jayasuria firing all cylinders since his comeback could be a huge threat to any formidable bowling attack. With Jayawardane, Sangakkara and Attapatu anchoring the middle order it will not be an easy task for the India bowlers to root them out.

The Hero Honda cup will be a significant one not only because it is a preparation for both the team before the world cup but also that they will once again face-off in their preliminary round of the mega event. Hence, they will try to have that psychological advantage over the other.

The stage is set for some interesting battle on the field and also in the minds of selectors. Let’s wait n watch!!

Assuming the players will be fit, my Indian team for the world cup:

Rahul Dravid, Robin Uttappa, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mahender Singh Dhoni, Virender Shewag, Dinesh Karthik, Anil Kumble, Harbajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel

The Verdict: Perform or Perish

The national selection committee met at Rajkot yesterday to send across a clear message to the players as the team selection for the first two one-day internationals against West Indies were on expected lines.

Dropping Sehwag was on the cards after he failed to find his feet on the ground for a too long time. Selectors made all the right moves by dropping out of form Kaif and Dinesh Mongia and bringing in experienced Sourav Ganguly. It is a little surprise that Irfan Pathan had failed to convince the selectors considering his role as an all rounder in the team.

Now that the Ranji super league matches coming to an end and Delhi not making into the semis will prove too costly for Sehwag being ruined of an opportunity to perform. All that he can do now is go back to the nets and get his basics right.

Irfan’s fate is much better for the fact that only his bowling has been the problem where he has clearly struggled to get his rhythm right. He lost his swing which was his potent weapon helping India to get an early break through. The message is loud and clear form the chairman of selectors, India needs Irfan – the bowler.

The only ray of hope for these two players is that they will have a chance to make it into the team provided they perform in domestic competitions. However it is not the case with Kaif and Dinesh Mongia as they might find it extremely difficult to make it into the team even if they perform well as the there is only one slot to compete for. Successful come backs from Sourav and Zaheer should enlighten their hopes.

On the other hand, the decision to pick four openers in the squad bemused everyone. With Skipper Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina and Dhoni being the regular middle order bat in the team it raises question of finding solutions to India’s batting woes. Suresh Raina has been provided with a life line and he should make it count. Dinesh Karthik has been rewarded for his gritty performance in the limited opportunities that came his way during the South African tour. His ability to adopt and excel well as a team player has to be appreciated.

The Indian fans will be pleased to see the reunion of Tendulkar – Ganguly partnership at the top of the order. The duo still holds the world record for the leading opening pair with 5,621 runs that include 16 century partnerships! One has to wait and see the role of Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uttappa in the team. With Sachin Tendulkar making his intensions clear to open the innings, one among the later will accompany him at the top. Sourav might have to bat in the middle order to provide some stability to the batting line-up.

The inclusion of Haryana’s Joginder Sharma is surprising too with just eight games to go for the world cup. He is making a come back into the national team after a two year hiatus. His last appearance for India was against Bangladesh in the three ODI series where he managed a solitary wicket. If he makes it into the playing eleven the selectors will want him to fit into the No. 7 slot expecting him to play some cameos at the end of the innings and provide some good spells with the ball.

The bowling department didn’t throw any surprises as Zaheer and Sreesanth back from a rewarding South African tour will shoulder the burden. Ajit Agarkar is an experienced bowler and his ability to bowl in the depth will be crucial.

Harbhajan Singh has a good track record in the limited over version of the game in last one year and his spells in the middle stages of the innings will be vital. Ramesh Powar has retained his place in the team and RP Singh recalled into the team will be hoping to come up with good performance.

Not very often you see big names hit the selection headlines in Indian cricket. Now that the BCCI making sure that they will just take care of the administrative matters, the on- field cricket will be controlled totally by the selection committee, the coach and the captain. The board has also decided to pay the players according to the teams performances is a welcoming note.

The selectors gave an alarming signal to the players – perform or make way for others.
Indian cricket at last once looks like sailing in the right direction.