Outside the seventy yard field, the fondest punching bag across Indian cricket has to be the selection committee. Till today, their selections are allegedly influenced by nepotism, bias, preferential treatment and regionalism. The foundation for building good teams starts at the selection table. However, the selection committee has had its own history of being equally forgettable as well as memorable. John Wright seldom minces with words. He says, “Picking the right people is more important than coaching.” From the days when it was an honorary job, Indian cricket has come a long way by appointing a full time paid selection committee.

I have rarely seen selectors given credence for their master-strokes, but every time a player is picked from their zone and hardly lives up to the expectation, they would have to cop unabashed denunciation.

Sandeep Patil’s selection committee has been extremely imposing in their short tenure post World T20 in September last year. Like his inimitable self, Patil’s selection has been crisp, sharp, brave and fearless. I had met the man a few years ago for an interview. He exuded confidence in the way he spoke. He was brutally honest about his fear for fast bowlers and at the same time, strongly believed that the bouncer is hardly a wicket taking delivery.

Since the day Patil has taken office, he has been put under a test many-a-time and has come out successfully. While Sehwag and Gambhir looked a shadow of their past, he gave them an extended rope through the Tests against England and even in the ODIs against Pakistan. After a series of ordinary performances which led to an England series win at Kolkata, Patil and his men came up with some stirring decisions. It is not often you get to see seasoned Indian stars being dropped, and that too in a cluster. We started to see it with that selection.

India’s finest seamer, Zaheer Khan was axed for obvious reasons. Everyone knew Zaheer wasn’t performing, looked over-weight and less athletic on the field. Despite all this, Zaheer’s tenure prolonged more because Dhoni hardly had a quality replacement. But that shouldn’t warrant a place for the leading seamer, which is exactly what the selection committee did. Harbhajan looked out of sorts during the England series and his comeback was short-lived. Yuvraj’s selection, in the first place, was deemed emotional than logical. And so, when he failed to deliver at Mumbai and Kolkata, he was also given marching orders.

That Virender Sehwag hardly contributed with the bat in ODIs since his epic 219 vs West Indies was a fact everyone in this world knew. But little did Srikkanth and his group do to send the message across to the players. Gautam Gambhir had a very patchy form in the limited overs cricket and had not scored a Test hundred for 46 innings. When the new selection committee had to take the tough decisions on some of India’s favorite stars, there was no second thought.

Just like how he would have whacked a half-volley through the covers, Patil set the tone right by getting rid of India’s most successful opening pair. It is not often that Indian cricket will see such radical selections ) that had all the makings of a coup d’etat of sorts.

If axing India’s superstars was bold, brave and made a lot of sense, the selection of few Indian cricketers since the England debacle is also worth appreciating. The foremost of the lot has to be Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s selection. Like most other Indian fast bowlers, Bhuvaneshwar lacks pace, but swings the ball like a banana. He was called the better tempered version of Praveen Kumar. I don’t think many of us saw that coming. In the past few months, he has steadily grown across formats, bowling some sensational spells.

Ravindra Jadeja’s selection in the Test format still raises eye-brows. While he fills the all-rounder’s slot, he hasn’t yet answered the critics who point at his batting credentials. Having said that, Jadeja has been magnificent with his spin bowling in all the Tests he has played so far.

Murali Vijay had a very ordinary Ranji season between the two huge Irani Trophy knocks. What that suggests is anybody’s guess. To persist with him was a risky proposition, as we all saw at Chepauk why he is denigrated so much. His temperament was long doubted and that came to the fore at the Chennai Test. However, persistence paid off at Hyderabad and Mohali as Vijay came to his own. Decision-making for the selectors mostly is about identifying the right person for the job and instill the confidence in the personnel you’ve chosen. As with everything else, it would always take time for the seed sown to grow and display its real colors.

So far, the newest selection committee has made the right calls. With a lot of tours abroad being lined up, the panel will be at the helm to make the correct moves. The decisions taken inside board rooms will go a long way in the eventual result that the players would strive to achieve on the field. For starters, I hope Cheteshwar Pujara walks into the Indian ODI team immediately.

Dhoni’s men would walk on the turf at Kotla knowing that they have already won the series convincingly. It is the first time India has taken a 3-0 lead in a series after about twenty years or so. They have never won a Test series 4-0! They might do that in Kotla next week. It could catapult them up to No. 3 spot in ICC Test rankings. But does this resounding victory signal the growth of the team? Have the wounds of England 2011, Australia 2011-12 and England 2012 started to heal? Are the replacements capable enough to carry the torch across the world? There are a lot of questions for which the answers are built either on ambiguity or on hope.

Fresh faces have been blooded into the team since losing to England. Of all the players, the left-arm spinner from Saurashtra has been the biggest surprise package. While he can provide that balance in home conditions, Dhoni and Fletcher will have to see if he can be a long term investment for Test matches abroad. At this point, I don’t think Ravindra Jadeja will get a run in South Africa. That the South Africans possess the greatest fast bowling line-up in the world currently, means that the batting should to be reinforced with more technically strong batsmen to counter the strengths of the opposition. Every time Jadeja has walked in to bat so far, the  commentators have talked about his triple tons and within minutes, he has found a way to get back to the pavilion!

Against the likes of Steyn, Morkel and Philander, Jadeja’s inclusion in the XI would be a matter of hoping against hope than being pragmatic. India’s newest openers would be put to stern test in South Africa. The openers have copped a lot of criticism for focusing more on style than substance. An air of scepticism hangs over their selection even now.

Apart from the confidence factor which would exist for the time being, Indian cricket would carry nothing forward when they play their next Test. After the loss at home to England, this series victory is nothing more than a mild redemption of sorts. The gap between the final Test at Kotla and the first Test in South Africa is huge. In the contemporary world, if a country plays a Test after eight or nine months, there is very little that a team can gain out of its previous results in that format. It is that much harder if you have to eke out something credible outside your comfort zone.

Cheteshwar Pujara has claimed that he would judge his batting based on his performances abroad and his judgement time would arrive soon. His rise to the top level has been a story filled with success in West Indies, England and Australia at junior levels. If that is anything to go by, he will be one of the most celebrated Test batsmen in India’s modern cricket history.

While Kohli’s challenge will be within himself, the captain has to survive the conditions. For a large part of his career, he has been fantastic on flat tracks but has come a cropper against the ball which swings and bounces more. When Dhoni fires, the whole complexion of Indian batting order changes, just like how we saw at Chepauk recently. It was in 2011 that Dhoni said he will review his plans of either continuing or retiring from one of the formats to prolong his career at international level. If he has hinted that he will retire from Tests to defend the World Cup title in 2015, then the selectors have a job at hand. That leaves the team with wicketkeepers like Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik and upcoming talent, CM Gautam. Each of these ‘keepers have had a good 2012-13 domestic season.

Among Ashwin, Ojha and Harbhajan, only one would be playing in the series abroad. With the way things have panned out, Ashwin looks to be the candidate for the lead spinner on an away tour. His successful series against New Zealand was sandwiched between ordinary performances in Australia and against England at home. Will the rejuvenated Ashwin be a force to reckon with in South Africa? The answer is anybody’s guess. India’s fast bowling resources should get mightily replenished with the inclusion of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron for South Africa along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma. On tracks that aid quality fast bowling, Umesh Yadav could be the trump card for Dhoni.

This is the weakest Australian team that I have seen play in our country. There was even a talk that the Zimbabwean Test team that toured India in 2000-01 posed more questions than this side. Whatever said and done, Dhoni and Fletcher have managed to arrest the slide for now. As another day opens up with bright sunshine, we would get to see in the winter of November whether the Men in Blue are moving in the right direction or not! For now, it is a time to relax and celebrate the moment, for the real test hasn’t even begun yet.

Among many developments, the support staff that every international and IPL team is endowed with these days shall always be marked as a frailty. Modern day cricket has gone through so many changes that it is almost unrecognizable compared to the way it was played a few years ago.

Not before 2000, did India have a foreign coach. But since then, the board’s theory has changed. The board’s opinion on foreign coaches are taken as gospel to imbibe a better work ethic, set up never-before-heard processes and deliver greater results. We have recently seen a similar effect with regional teams as well, with the likes of Orissa and Maharashtra bringing in foreign talent for coaching.

While such stories are mostly seen and heard with the sub-continent teams, teams like Australia, England and South Africa pioneered in dividing responsibilities. With a head coach in the group, teams now have specialized batting, bowling and fielding coaches. Australia also hired personnel from an entirely different sport for improving their fielding standards. England had Mushtaq Ahmed coach spin, while Gary Kirsten brought the Indian, and now the South African team, a mental conditioning coach for the players.

When the England team tours, a 15-member support staff accompanies the 16-member squad picked to play cricket. During their recent tour to India, they had a managing director, team manager, team director (head coach), fast bowling coach, spin bowling coach, batting coach, assistant coach, sports analyst, doctor, physiotherapist, strength and conditioning coach, psychologist, masseur, media manager and security manager! Now, the same England cricket team have also gone a step ahead by appointing different coaches for different formats of the game. Think about where we were in the 90s. A touring team would not even have half of these assigned roles.

The woes don’t even start here. While roles are divided very well with such a strong list of support staff, the decision making process becomes quite arduous, as each of the support staff will have his own inputs in the decisions that are taken behind closed doors. So who is, after all, the decision maker for the touring party?

Quite famous as an anomaly, the Indian team which won the Test series in England (2007), the 2007 T20 World Cup, the Perth Test (2008) and the CB Series (2008) didn’t have a head coach. They travelled with Lalchand Rajput, Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad to England, South Africa and Australia to claim glory. So why do you even need a coach? Cricket is mainly run by the captain, unlike a sport like football where the manager calls the shots. A coach is part of the support staff to help players improve their performances on the field.

The past decade has been a witness to many player-coach altercations. Dean Jones remarked that a coach cannot play the role of a selector and cites his own state of affairs with Bob Simpson for the same, when he was controversially dropped. More often than not, the confusion has been on who runs the team. Is it the captain or the coach?

Shane Warne openly stated that he disagreed with John Buchanan all the time. He believed that the team had to listen to Buchanan’s verbal diarrhoea, and that Buchanan over-trained his players needlessly. All this with a team which was easily the modern-day invincibles. How can we forget the famous dual-captain theory that Buchanan brought to the table with the Kolkata Knight Riders?

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 25: Australian captain Michael Clarke (2nd R) talks with Australian Chairman of Selectors John Inverarity (R), Australian coach Mickey Arthur and Australian Cricket Team Physiotherapist Alex Kountouris (L) during an Australian nets session at Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 25, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

The Ganguly-Greg Chappell dispute, where the matter was about overpowering egos in public, the Kevin Pietersen-Peter Moores controversy, the Gayle-Ottis Gibson saga, the Mike Hesson-Ross Taylor discord, and now the homework gate involving Mickey Arthur and four Australian players, have all been examples of situations where the coach has exercised more powers than merely provide support to his side.

The role of the coach at international level should be a lot more subtle than what it is, say with an Under-19 or a domestic team. Players are seasoned and are better trained at the international level. You don’t often see players grooming themselves at the top level. If anything, it has to be more to do with the mental development that players need to build in order to prepare for the toughest battles at the highest level. There would, of course, be instances where players would have to work on their techniques. Even in such cases, we have seen that someone like R. Ashwin goes back to his coach in Chennai to work on his off-spin bowling, while Raina hires the personal services of Praveen Amre to help improve his technique.

Of the more successful coaching stories international cricket has seen in recent times, the Gary Kirsten tale should be the one that many of us remember better, along with Andy Flower’s in the English set-up. I don’t remember how much Andy Flower contributed during the Pietersen texting controversy last year. Pietersen had to interact a great deal with the ECB and Strauss, more than anyone else. Gary Kirsten acted as a mere bowling machine at times during his two-year stint with the Indian team. He would tirelessly send down a thousand balls in the nets for Tendulkar and the others. According to his teammates then, Kirsten focused on the aspects of preparation and mental conditioning that could get the best out of his wards. He made sure that his players knew their value and their role. He always communicated that well.

Dileep Premachandran quotes: “Kirsten comes to a press conference when no one else wants to, when the team’s had the sort of day that’s best forgotten. He’ll sit behind the microphone and defend each player, regardless of how badly they’ve performed. It’s that sort of unequivocal support that has made him so adored within the team. From the first minute of a net session to the last, he’s either giving throw-downs, hitting catches or talking to someone.”

Maybe the coaches should be reminded that we would indeed need to draw a line in the sand with their responsibilities. For God’s sake, please let the captain run the show in cricket!

The new year is well and truly here and so is a new challenge that awaits both Indian cricket and MS Dhoni. The test is not just for ‘captain’ MS Dhoni but also for a certain ‘batsman’ MS Dhoni. When Tendulkar retired from ODIs, the captain came out saying that he was happy to be the punching bag for the team in media circles. It is time Dhoni proved his critics wrong in the Test arena.

While he continues to sizzle in the ODIs with breath-taking knocks, Dhoni the Test batsman has been questioned, scrutinized and criticised a lot. It can’t get any worse than critics claim that he is in the Test team as a captain rather than a batsman.

Adam Gilchrist has certainly made life very tough for wicket-keepers who have played the game after him. The role of a wicket-keeper has changed considerably. Wicket-keepers have to do more than just be glovesmen. They can’t stay in the team merely for their ‘primary’ role. However, even today, only a handful around the world have had half of Gilchrist’s impact.

Among the wicket-keepers from modern era, only Andy Flower (53.7) and Adam Gilchrist (47.6) showcase outstanding Test batting averages. Flower was a proper middle-order batsman who could walk into any team of the late 90s and early 2000s as a batsman. Gilchrist was phenomenal and any comparisons with him are only going to be farcical to say the least, for he is arguably the best wicket-keeper batsman ever.

One of England‘s best, Alec Stewart, averages 34.92 in Tests in games where he has kept wickets, while Mark Boucher averaged 30 throughout his career. Among contemporaries, Denesh Ramdin averages 25, Kamran Akmal averages 30 and Brad Haddin averages 35.82. Only Matt Prior (43), AB de Villiers (47 in 13 games) and Matthew Wade (42.5 in 9 games) average better than Dhoni. While Dhoni’s overall Test batting average (batting at #6 and #7) is 38.06, his batting average as captain is 41.71. Can these numbers, of a Test wicket-keeper batsman, be deemed as those from a misfit? Seen from this perspective and with contemporary relevance attached, Dhoni’s numbers match and in many cases, better those of any wicketkeeper-batsman.

Such numbers only make us wonder why it is difficult for wicket-keepers to score like other batsmen. Matt Prior is easily the best wicket-keeper batsman currently, but he averages only 43 in Test cricket. The reason has to be the situation most of these batsmen walk in. I can’t recall too many Test match openers who’ve been wicket-keepers. The workload behind stumps can be mentally draining and it must be close to impossible to walk in before the fall of the 4th or 5th wicket. It is even rarer for these batsmen to bat with the top order. More often than not, it is the lower order batsmen who are with them for company. If numbers 9, 10 and 11 hardly know how to hold a bat, then scoring runs is going to be tougher.

Take a look at what CM Gautam of Karnataka has done this season. He now holds the record for the highest season-tally in Ranji Trophy history by a wicket-keeper. But it must be noted that he bats at No. 4 for his state and that has enabled him to score better; there is more to Gautam’s performance than just his ability.

If anything, Dhoni has raised the bar himself through his one-day performances but when talking of Test cricket, he hasn’t completely utilized his potential. There is a huge difference in someone who is a total misfit in Test cricket and someone not converting one’s potential completely. Dhoni belongs to the latter group.

Time and again, in trying circumstances, Dhoni has pulled off some memorable Test knocks. Since the 2011 World Cup, he has scored fifty or more once in every 4 Test innings. He has shown glimpses of his steely nature in the recent past too. Down in the dumps at 277-6 after the first session on the 4th morning of the first Test at Centurion (2010), Dhoni battled with Tendulkar in a 172-run partnership that tried to delay the inevitable. Hopes of a miracle, however, came to an end when he was dismissed four overs before stumps.

When the team was floundering at Birmingham (2011), he came up with knocks of 77 and 74*, scoring without support at the other end. Among his knocks in the recent past, the 99 he scored at Nagpur against England will be long remembered for the grit that he showed.

Between these gems came a string of low scores that is very unlike Dhoni himself. He obviously lacks the technique against the swinging ball. But his grit could do a world of good for him. The mentally strong have greater chance to excel in Test cricket than the ones who are only technically strong. In the subcontinent, Dhoni holds firm authority across formats. The series against Australia couldn’t have been timed any better. In the past year, Dhoni averaged 46.75 in Test cricket, much more than many of his teammates who are struggling to find their touch.

He has had a good run against New Zealand and England in home conditions. He has been tremendous with his ODI form. While it is absurd to call Dhoni a misfit in Test cricket, he has to do a lot of work to enhance his reputation as a batsman in this format. The series against Australia gives him this chance. The challenge opens up at Chennai, his second home, later this week. Hyderabad will give him run-scoring opportunities and so will Mohali and Delhi.

Will Dhoni continue to play Test matches? Will he continue captaining the team across all formats? We will get the answers soon. Come December 2013, the team will be travelling around the world once again. The timing is just perfect for him to become better, considering his recent form and the upcoming challenge.

Each one has had their effect on me in one way or the other. Years down the line, when I would find all the time in the world sitting in a rocking chair, I would tell my grand children about these men. They’re among all time greats and modern day legends by their own right.

They could walk into any team straight away for the levels of class, skill and passion they possessed. Each of them had his own identity. The first one who left very early in 2012 was the most pertinacious. For most part of his career, he would duck at the bouncers hurled at him. And then there was another moment when he would go on to charge against Allan Donald at Durban. “Take me on Donald. Let’s see what you got.”

Dravid was an instant hero in my home too. These are days when respect for women in India has hit rock-bottom. There is a revolution that refuses to die down. Back then, he was still a boy working hard to seal his spot in one-dayers. MTV carried a spoof-programme fooling celebrities. If only India needed a hero to inspire, you had one teaching a lesson to all those perverts!

He was part of some cult classics. The way he worked his way to score his first ODI hundred in the Chennai heat that night won my heart. He wasn’t the most skillful batsman in the line-up. But his flicks, back-foot punch leaning into the crease and the pull shot would make jaws drop for even the best. He loved England and so did I. Every afternoon in the summer of 2002 and later in 2011, he batted as if he was born to rule England. The 2002 story was about a batsman scoring runs at his peak. But the 2011 segment was about one man standing tall amidst ruins. Broad and Anderson swung the ball at great pace. His team-mates kept falling like nine pins while he blossomed at an age when you generally notice that batsmen tend to lose their power of their vision, their wrist work and reflexes.

The second of my heroes who signed off this year was an artist. He was very very special. VVS belonged on another plane. He showed me that Cricket can be artistic. For a long time in the early part of his career, he struggled to gain an identity for himself. Once the millennium dawned, I saw the mother of all Houdini acts at the city of joy. It wasn’t a mere career saving 281. Laxman resurrected his country’s fortunes for another decade with that epic innings.

He was a pleasure to the purist’s eye. One way of measuring greatness is by assessing the way men seize big moments against the very best in sport. He made the Aussies run around the park like mad men searching for a clue that was non-existent.

Need to save a Test? Ask VVS. Need to play safe with the tail? Ask VVS. Need to play a pivotal knock at Perth and Durban? Ask VVS. Without him, Indian cricket wouldn’t have achieved even half of what they did in the last ten years. Like most of India’s cricketers hailing from South India and especially from that princely state of Hyderabad, he possessed great wrists. The style of batting has changed and with time, it is going to be rare to see a wristy cover-drive!  He created angles that would excite mathematicians. He would pick a leg-spinner turning away from the right hander outside off stump, and deposit that aesthetically between the mid-on and mid-wicket fielders.

The third was a fighter renowned to not give up without a hustle. For a long time, I hated him. He was the bad man for Indian Cricket fans. He punished us by scoring hundreds at ease and then send flying kisses to his wife. It was that easy for him. Maybe he was that good! To be consistently compared with Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in itself is the greatest achievement, Ponting could have earned as a batsman.

Irrespective of the general hatred, I could not stop appreciating his innings at Old Trafford (2005). He wasn’t as cocky as what he was a few years ago. I could see him enjoy his cricket. Maybe we Indians gave him that extra life in international Cricket. But even in times of distress, he certainly was the greatest ambassador of the pull shot. He would, quite often, produce a knock that defined the fighter in him. Srinath would have almost chopped his head twelve years ago. After dishing a mouthful, he smashed the leather to produce a fine Test century. He wouldn’t leave the bout without a fight. Such was the man’s passion for cricket. Being on the other side, I would have probably seen it as too aggressive. If I were an Aussie, I might have seen his attitude differently.

The fourth was the one and only Superman of Cricket. He was born to thrill masses and spread cheer among billions across the world. But this Christmas, he chose to drop a bomb. Twenty three years. That’s my association with Sachin Tendulkar. My life’s most important moments have been defined by Cricket and he was almost there everywhere. Talk about my school days at fifth or sixth grade, I would recall his match-winning effort to win the semi final against South Africans. As I was falling into the confusions of love and infatuation in my ninth grade, he continued to display his mettle with an emotional world cup hundred against Kenya. I had failed in my second semester exams. He brightened the evening by smashing Caddick to Pietermaritzburg. He promised an entire nation that they will rise to the occasion. The captain didn’t talk. He did!

Life without him was unimaginable. In a way, when he announced his retirement, I realized how old I have become. I am not the same old school boy in green uniform running helter skelter from school to watch him bat in the 1996 Cricket world cup!

The ODI format was completely his territory. Who else in this world has made us go mad, plunge into bucketful of tears, walk on the road with pride and at the same time carry a smile even during the toughest periods of our life? There will be none like him. His wasn’t just a name of an Indian cricketer. His name meant billion dollars of business. His name made Indians proud abroad. If ever you needed a superman to do the unthinkable, you know the name of the man who would do it. Sachin Tendulkar.

2005 was a time in my life when I had had enough of Michael Bevan. He was the ultimate finisher the ODI format has ever seen. Bevan went. Huss entered. Michael Clarke went on to tell recently that, if anyone has worked hard to earn the baggy green, it has to be Hussey. 79 consecutive test matches is by no means a small effort. It is a rare case of a man who had scored over 10,000 runs in first class Cricket and then earn his test cap!!

He was a captain’s delight. Hussey was part of a rare breed of Aussie cricketers who earned respect and love all over the world. He is a story of a mentally strong cricketer, a symbol of grit and passion. If not for all those attributes, he wouldn’t stand as the man with the most Test runs for batsmen who’ve debuted after turning 30.

All through his career, Hussey has produced magic across formats. His average is one of the most closely monitored numbers in the game for his first three years in the Test side. It reached 86.18 after back-to-back centuries against Sri Lanka. Think of the ODIs and T20Is and he would be there too. He was one of the shining stars of an Aussie side that was on the slide.

Time and again, each of these cricketers remind us, the fans, that we better cherish and celebrate them when they’re available rather feel sad after they go out.

Young boys of tomorrow who hold the bat for the first time will not have these super heroes for inspiration. Stars of today have more responsibility towards the sport than just score runs and help their team succeed. Every young Indian cricketer swears the BC and MC word today. It has become a style statement now. Even the most fearsome fast bowler lets out the grunt with anger after dismissing batsmen. I agree that you should try to be yourself but that said, it shouldn’t affect the way young boys look at you. What do boys of today see on television? – Players swearing and kicking the turf out of anger. Success in sport should make a man smile. These men taught a generation about it.

I won’t forget Dravid running and kissing his cap after scoring the winning runs at Adelaide. He was smiling. After reaching a milestone a minute, VVS would hug Dravid as if it was his routine. He was smiling. Every time the great man touched a milestone, he would look up to the skies and have his arms aloft. There is an unsaid calmness about this Tendulkar gesture. He was smiling. I remember the hundred Ponting scored against India last year at Sydney. A direct hit from Zaheer Khan would have been curtains for Ponting. You could see the relief when he dived at the crease, took a few seconds to gather himself. He was absolutely beaming, raised his bat to his wife and child – a champion silenced his critics! Hussey was no different. Cricket was a joy for him. Every time he would dive full to take a catch at gully or a deep-square-leg, he would run with all smiles.

The stars were born. They lit up my sky for a long time and now it is time for them to fade and give space for a new star to thrill me for another decade!

Indian cricket sunk to a new low at Mumbai when the visiting English team demolished all the hopes of a 4-0 revenge series victory.

At this point of time, there are more questions in Indian cricket than answers. The defeat is indeed the right assessment of Indian cricket in test arena. Fans might get agitated with this performance, after thumping England at Ahmedabad only a week ago.

Cook, however, showed signs of remarkable recovery at Motera itself. It was just that he couldn’t accomplish better results at Motera. England were on the mark from ball one at Mumbai. Jimmy Anderson didn’t get a wicket for 152 balls at Motera. Here he consumed Gambhir in only his 2^nd ball of the test match. Since then, England has been completely on top for most part of the Mumbai test.

I had said, Mumbai test was the right assessment of Indian cricket in test arena at the moment. There is a strong reason behind that. India’s batsmen aren’t world’s greatest anymore. For a long time in the past decade, they were the best batting unit in the world by a distance. The quality of batsmen was the reason why India managed to reach the top of the test rankings. The batting order doesn’t exude the same quality now. India’s batting hasn’t looked as vulnerable as what it is now, for quite a long time.

Gautam Gambhir is nowhere close to his best. He is still in search for that moment when he would gain confidence in his strokes once again. He looked every bit jittery even when he scored the half-century in the 2^nd innings. It was a stark difference from his innings at Napier, three years ago. It was probably the most dogged, assured and fighting knock every played by an Indian batsman. However, he now lacks a lot of assurance with his shot selection, balance and footwork.

Sehwag could claim that he had scored his first test ton in over 2 years. But that hasn’t reflected on his performance at Mumbai. He didn’t look like a batsman who has walked into the test after scoring a hundred only a few days ago. Monty Panesar had him in spin which is rather unlike Sehwag. I am delighted that he respects spinners nowadays. You could, these days, visibly notice the caution he brought in his game but somewhere he throws us clues that he is caught confused between batting aggressively and conservatively. That has largely been the undoing for Sehwag.

While Kohli has thrived against lesser opponents, he hasn’t made it big against stronger opponents so far. He lacked the fluidity and confidence in both the tests. His form going into the series was very important as he was India’s best batsman before the series. Kohli’s scoring rate and shot selections will leave lots of fans gasping in frustration than anything else. He has bogged down without playing naturally more than once in this series already.

Yuvraj Singh sparkled at Ahmedabad but had no answers against Swann and Panesar at Mumbai. Even though he has scored huge in domestic cricket recently, you can’t overlook the fact that Yuvraj has been fast-tracked into test arena quite earlier than what even he would have imagined.

After so many years in the international arena, Yuvraj hasn’t yet managed to seal his spot in India’s test line up. I don’t think he starts as a certainty for the Kolkata test even though we all know Dhoni seldom makes sweeping changes to his teams.

MS Dhoni’s batting is falling into pieces in test cricket. If it was someone else donning the gloves instead of Dhoni, that player would have been long dropped by now. Despite his repeated failures, he continues because we don’t have a replacement for him as a skipper. Who has the ability to lead India now? Each of India’s batsmen has their own set of problems to address. That in itself doesn’t allow someone like Dinesh Karthik back in the mix. Karthik is scoring well this season. But that is not going to take him to next level in the near future.

Sachin Tendulkar is beyond all criticisms and comments. But the load of not scoring a test hundred in close to two years will now start to put more pressure on him. He is slowly waning off the scene and it is getting evident by every passing day.

So far, Indian batting has been only about Cheteshwar Pujara in this series. While others have failed to apply themselves, Pujara has done everything right so far. The form factor also has to come into picture. Only Pujara looks in prime touch to take on the English bowlers. A friend of mine told me that we as fans, we expect the worst even before the second innings begins for India. That suggests how poor we bat second time around in test matches.

If you look deep into India’s reserves for replacements, you shouldn’t get disheartened. Cheteshwar Pujara, S. Badrinath and Ajinkya Rahane were the names doing the rounds for a long time now. Two of the three are in the squad. One of the three has already sealed a spot in the batting line up. Rahane could soon seal one too. Badrinath has had an ordinary Ranji season so far. So he is not in the radar now. How much faith would Indian selectors invest in Rohit Sharma? Manoj Tiwary isn’t calibrated for the test format yet. Suresh Raina has failed to use his chances. In the Ranji season too, he hasn’t set the scene on fire so far. Abhinav Mukund and Murali Vijay are unfinished products and aren’t figures who would push players like Gambhir and Sehwag to perform better. So where do you go? It is a question that hangs without an answer!

Sport is all about competition – competing with your opponents, with your own team-mates for places and within yourself to only get better.

The reserves aren’t the greatest at the moment. So how much ever the main eleven fail, you would have to stick with them, rather than choosing the untested young batsmen. Of all the players who are vying for a test spot, only Ajinkya Rahane looks good to take to test cricket immediately.

India’s bowling resources too, are something we can’t be proud of. Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav looked really good in the first test. Zaheer bowled good in the 2^nd test too. But with Umesh Yadav’s injury now, the game of revolving doors is open once again. Ishant Sharma might as well play at Kolkata. But what has Ishant done to make this comeback? Not many have an answer for it. Ishant lacked penetration at Australia and England despite bowling a lot of overs.

Aaron’s fitness hasn’t been in his favour

It has to be seen with much hope, whether Ishant manages to rediscover his glory days once again. Who are the back-ups for these fast bowlers? Australia has plenty of resources. So do England and South Africa. Where are India’s fast bowlers? Players like Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and Jaidev Unadkat have all been thrown into obscurity over a period of time. Questions hang over Varun Aaron’s fitness also. Are all these bowlers good enough to earn their next India cap in the near future? If not, who else is pushing for that fast bowler’s slot? It is a question for which we don’t have a convincing answer.

What’s worse than that? The number of quality spinners in the circuit. There was a time in Indian cricket, when we felt sorry for a large number of spinners who couldn’t earn their India cap because of the quality already in the side –  the likes of Bishan Bedi, Venkataraghavan, Erapalli Prasanna and Anil Kumble never let the thought of replacement come in selectors’ mind. Now you don’t have any reserve spinner to feel sorry for!

When you have a certain Harbhajan Singh as India’s 3^rd best spinner at the moment, it tells you the dearth in the quality of spinners in the country. We can’t blame the selectors for bringing Harbhajan into the squad because he is indeed India’s 3^rd best spinner at this point in time. Murali Kartik has gone past his sell-by date. Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla have long gone out of selectors’ favor too.

Still, India’s 3rd best spinner

It is a sad state of affairs in Indian cricket as it has touched a new low with the loss to England at Mumbai. But it was only fitting that this team lost a test at home. Given the form of the players and the quality of reserves, it will push the main players to perform better.

What is life without hope? Back in 2001, when India’s revival kick started at Eden Gardens, the sword was over VVS Laxman’s head. Dravid had to silence a lot of critics. Tendulkar was the lone sparkle in India’s batting order. Ganguly produced a rare gem but was a failure for long phases in his career once he took up captaincy. Anil Kumble was injured and that brought Harbhajan Singh into limelight. Zaheer Khan was raw. India’s openers in that series weren’t as good as what India possess now. Matthew Hayden, like Alastair Cook, scored aplenty. But the team conjured a great fight back against one of world’s best ever sporting units. The fight back begun only after the team reached Eden Gardens following a massive 10-wicket loss at Mumbai. The script isn’t too different now. It’s easy to say, but now is the time when Indian cricket needs to discover its new Dravid and Laxman to revive the life in Indian cricket!

For a long time now, I stand fascinated whenever I see cricket match photographs either on newspaper dailies or on Cricinfo’s images section. In the last 5-6 years, there has been lesser access to newspapers. But I continue to browse through the photographs in Cricinfo. Photographs make a greater impact. There is a certain amount of artistry involved with photographs as they capture moments for a lifetime. For many, it is these photographs that get printed on posters inside their living rooms. I was one crazy cricket poster collector. At one point of time, my entire home was filled with cricket posters from Sportstar. A lot of action, and on-the-field photographs were part of it. My cubicle at work lives with cricket posters too. Cricket wouldn’t be the same without photographs for many and cricket photography is very much an integral part of the sport.

While it means nothing but a mere record capture for a few, it means much more to the ones involved in the photograph and even more to the ones who adore their hero, even sitting miles away from them. Watching cricket in Indian stadiums is a story of extremes. You could live the moment of a lifetime and at the same time, spend the most worthless minute ever. It could be chaotic yet beautiful. I remember standing in those huge queues ahead of the crucial India vs England World Cup game in Bangalore. You could feel the energy and enthusiasm even before the first ball was bowled. Beautiful chaos at its very best.

While that is at one end of the spectrum, the other end has bad stands, poor seating arrangements, costly food, along with ventilation and restroom issues. I must say that a lot of them have improved in the last 5-6 years. Stadiums have become swanky with bucket seats. The pricing also has increased for those seats. But along with all this come the restrictions and bans in the name of security.

Anjali Doshi writes spectacularly well on Wisden India when she says: “You need Indian cricket more than Indian cricket needs you.” The converse, however, is also true. The spirit of Indian cricket is very high, so much so that despite all the backlashes, the fans will still love the game. The administrators know it is a resource that shall never cease.

You could walk into any sporting event in the world, including the Olympics, with a camera around your neck. How many times have we seen friends post photographs from the Wimbledon or the Rod Laver Arena on social networking sites!! How many times have we seen photographs from MCG !!! In case you try to do that in India, you and your camera won’t be spared.

Back in 2008, I had a lovely time with my friend’s camera watching the India-Australia test in Bangalore. It was the first time I came close to sports photography. We had the best seats in the stadium – straight over the bowlers’ head. So the view was fantastic. Since then, my love for photography has gone only one direction. I think a few Indian stadiums care less for tests. You can carry your camera inside the stadium for test matches. But if it is a domestic T20 game or an ODI, the same stadium would not allow you to take the camera inside.

I still carry lovely memories from that test match. The photographs made it even more memorable. A year later, I managed to carry it for an IPL game between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Mumbai Indians. It was a dream to photograph Tendulkar. I didn’t possess the greatest of lenses and cameras then. So I had to manually focus every time to get the picture tack sharp.

A little later in the beginning of 2010, I could get easily into Gangothri Glades, Mysore to watch and photograph the Ranji final. There was hardly a hassle to click photos, even though there was a massive security blanket for a cricket ground in Mysore. In hindsight, the only qualm that will remain is my inability to make better photographs out of such rare opportunities.

Chennai remains a fortress for passionate photographers, I believe. The security refused to allow cameras when I had been there for an IPL game in 2010, and worse was to follow in 2011. You buy a ticket for such tournaments, and on the back of the ticket you will see a hundred rules which mainly includes things which you should not carry to the stadium. There was a time back in 2004 when my mother would pack us lunch for the test matches at Chepauk. Now, you’re not allowed to carry food into the stadiums either.

I knew that the cameras would not be allowed. But how about placards and posters? Even they were not allowed inside.

We had stayed late the previous night before the World Cup game against West Indies at Chepauk. All the security managed to do was to throw it away as rubbish!

Thankfully, it was still in the same place after the game, so we could manage to get our posters back. One of them still stays in my cubicle. I certainly know security and terrorism is a concern in the country and hence the administrators take stringent action against the spectators. But even that has a limit. Getting in a placard or a camera is not going to crash the roof of the stadium.

Enough security arrangements are already in place at the entrance and I can’t understand why security in the grounds can’t ever be friendly with the crowds. Most of then turn hostile in situations that put them in a fix.

At another IPL game in Bangalore, guys would just open their mobile cameras and click photos. Within a few minutes, a couple of guards would come to meet them and seize their phones. They wouldn’t return the mobile phone until the game was over. Would we ever get to see this anywhere else in the world?

A myriad such incidents have occurred in Indian cricket for an average spectator. For the most revered domestic competition, which is least followed in Indian cricket, it is a security breach if you take a camera inside. Why can’t the stadium administrators be spectator friendly? In many ways, the administration needs to take efforts to make it once-in-a-lifetime-experience for the spectator in the stadiums.

A friend from Australia tells me that spectators in the stands also have a few restrictions with respect to photography. They’re not allowed to carry 300mm lenses to the stadium. The maximum that they can carry is a 200mm lens. In India, these things sadly don’t work!!! There is no respect for the common man on the stands. He stands the right to celebrate and capture the moments he wants to relive all his life. The administrators are trying their best to kill the spirit of many such people around.

The value for spectators is the lowest in India. If we can’t allow fans to be what they are at the grounds, how do you expect spectators to throng the stadium? Anjali Doshi once again posts a curious question about empty stands – “You lost your chance to bid Ganguly farewell. You never got a chance to say goodbye to Dravid or Laxman. Will Sachin Tendulkar play the last few test matches of his career to empty stands? I really hope not.” Spectators have been long taken for a ride by the bureaucrats at BCCI. It doesn’t look like it will ever change. These are the same administrators of the game, who are in a conflict with some of world’s biggest photo agencies now. Where are we to get noticed?

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 26: Virender Sehwag of India bats during the One Day International match between Australia and India at Sydney Cricket Ground on February 26, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Back in 1999, it was a rarity to see an Indian fielder throw the ball a long way over the keeper’s heads from the third man region. It was rarer to see someone take the attack against the visiting Australians. Until then, only Sachin Tendulkar could do it with finesse. But this lad had no fear of the fast ball. Shoaib Akhtar would run in the hard yards to only find the ball race past the point fielder like a tracer bullet.

A 70 ball 100 is a breathtaking score in this day of T20 frenzy. Put that into perspective back to the days of 2001. That was Sehwag. He belonged to a class entirely owned by him, very early in his career.

He reminded us of Sachin Tendulkar with his every move at the crease. Be it the back-foot punch or the wristy flick or the minimalistic straight drive. Even Anjali Tendulkar couldn’t figure out who was batting when he and his hero batted together in the middle.

Virender Sehwag is a genius unparalleled. He still instills fear in his opponents, the way he did ten years ago and doesn’t seem to change his approach at all. We know batsmen who’ve toned down their aggression over years. Even Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag’s hero himself did that in the later part of his career to achieve what the opponents fear the most – consistency!

While Sehwag looked a Tendulkar imitation for some time, he has carved his own legacy and has well and truly come out of the shadow of the great man. There is no comparison with Tendulkar anymore. Sehwag holds a place for himself in Indian cricket now. I don’t think anyone in world cricket has ever scored over 16,000 international runs with the kind of audacity he approaches his game with.

While that makes him special, the audacity has gone overboard in the last few years. There is a very thin line to maintain the audacity and yet be consistent. I can only think of Adam Gilchrist to have cast a similar effect before and now, Shane Watson is doing it consistently across all formats.

The other side of the park has Sehwag’s neighbor, Shahid Afridi. For all the batting talent Afridi came with, he has frittered away very quickly with his reckless approach. Afridi’s batting has come under heavy scrutiny among the Pakistani fans, former players, experts and media. But he doesn’t seem to worry about that.

Slowly but surely, Sehwag is crossing the Gilchrist boundary and delving into the Afridi zone. As Sehwag moves into the Afridi zone, Indian cricket is losing a genius by giving away free rein to smash bowlers all over the park. The level of aggression he displays these days should worry his fans a lot.

For the first 5 years of his test career, he cracked some virtuoso performances, both home and away, to take India to the top of the rung in test rankings. Sehwag’s batting built the foundation for many test victories abroad. He was the hero India waited to see for a long time. India seldom had good openers and he stood out with his contributions. Some rightly called him the best since Gavaskar. There was a time in his career, when he used to cross 150+ scores every time he scored a test hundred.

There was something special in him that allowed him to keep going. Even recently, he scored 293 against Sri Lanka (2010). Scoring 293 in test matches needs a lot of temperament. But in the recent past, such gems from Sehwag has become far and few in between.

When the whole of Indian batting line up were mystified by Muralitharan and the rookie, Ajantha Mendis in 2008, he smashed a double hundred all by himself at Galle to set up a test win for India. These days, he is succumbing to his own tactic. The first 5 years of his test cricket (from 2001-2006), Sehwag’s test batting strike rate has been 75.68 runs per 100 balls. In the last 4 years, his strike rate has risen alarmingly to 91.27 runs per 100 balls.

He could get away with such tactics in subcontinent tracks. But it doesn’t work well against the likes of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and co. on seaming and swinging tracks. His test average abroad in the last 4 years reads 33 and this definitely is not a mark of a genius.

Surely it is not the case of lack of skill. Teams still fear Sehwag. The question for Dhoni, the team management, the selectors and his fans is- will Sehwag ever rise to the occasion? Somewhere, Duncan Fletcher and Dhoni should make him realize that his wicket is extremely valuable for the team’s chances in all formats.

For the hate of Greg Chappell, Indians might not be ready to agree to his comments on Sehwag. But I certainly find that there is lot to chew upon with his assessment. Isn’t it obvious with the kind of temperament he showed in his comeback knock at Adelaide, 4 years ago? Sehwag simply desists himself from going through the rigors. No wonder Chappell believes Sehwag truly writes his own destiny.

His recent dismissals in ODIs and T20Is are worth noticing too. He thinks there is no spinner in the world who is worth playing along the carpet. Jeetan Patel snared him very easily in Bangalore test a month ago. Against South Africa a few days ago, he tried to boss over Robin Peterson only to lose his wicket. Against Shapoor Zadran, he was clueless. The ball was moving and Sehwag could only poke to that delivery moving away from him at a decent clip. Somewhere he didn’t seem to possess his strong entity – clear mind.

Roll back a few months and you would notice that both Australians and Sri Lankans managed to take Sehwag’s wicket very easily Down Under. Anything short and wide deserves punishment. But his aggressive instincts brought his downfall, as they managed to get him caught regularly at third man.

The recklessness against fast bowlers and more so against spinners isn’t doing any good for Indian cricket. This is a time in Indian cricket, when the team is looking to reclaim its glory days across all the formats. Sehwag is an important cog in this wheel and without his sterling starts, the Indian team is not the same. The time has come for Sehwag to either realize what the team needs best or give way to a youngster to take his place. If the former happens, Indian cricket could well be back to the good ol’ days, reviving the golden generation. If the latter has to happen, we might as well be sowing the seeds to unearth another batting genius.

Down south it is a common phenomenon. In a place like Tamil Nadu, you would realize within an hour or two about how crazy Tamils are about their demi-gods. You don’t need an IPL to see how things work out in Tamil Nadu. Some of these legendary actors who garner more mass than top political leaders in the country, have moved into politics for the only reason that the crowds simply love them and will do anything for them. The levels of fanboyism touches new heights in Tamil Nadu. People go to the extent of immolating themselves at times for their ‘idols’.

And then the film stars. Rajinikanth is a household name in Tamil Nadu. No one can dare talk anything against him. They fondly call him “thalaivar“. The number of fan associations these stars have is beyond numbers. The love and craze they generate is unconditional and come what may, they would never give up on their hero. Someone like “thalaivar” gives an average Tamil three hours of unadulterated fun. But the bonding between this Tamil and his thalaivar goes a long way beyond the silver screen. They follow their “thalaivar” very closely. Even if he is 61, he is still the Super Star for his fans. While no one else in this world will accept a 61-year old romancing with one of the world’s most beautiful ladies, it can always happen with Rajinikanth and Tamil Nadu.

When “Thalaivar” fell ill recently, the amount of affection the Tamils showed for him went way beyond the skies. They offered prayers across different religions. They went on fast. They went on to have “mann-soru” . And when he finally arrived, half a million fans crowded the airport. The route he took to reach home was filled with so many good wishes on huge vinyl boards on either side of the road.

It is an event in itself to watch first-day-first-shows of such on-screen heroes. For people from other parts of the country, it could be an event that raises eye-brows or drop jaws! Milk is showered on huge cut outs of their larger than life demi-gods. Poojas are performed and pumpkins are broken on the road to wash away all evils. It is an achievement if you can manage to even listen to a dialogue when you watch the movie on the first day.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is almost there with his own set of fanatics in this region now. For those who don’t follow Tamil film industry or the political environment here, IPL is the window that shows the world how much Tamils adore their heroes. Cricket in Tamil Nadu is a part of everyday life as much as cinema. While Tamils have a lot of on-screen heroes to relate with the cinema industry, they have not had too many cricketers from the region to worship. Even in the national set up, the success of Tamil Nadu cricketers has been sparse. Even if they’ve succeeded, not many manage to create an aura about themselves; someone like Tendulkar or Sourav Ganguly, for example. So until the IPL came up, the most loved household cricketing hero in Tamil Nadu was a Mumbaikar named Sachin Tendulkar. That enumerates with the fact that some of Tendulkar’s stellar performances have come at Chepauk. He has also gone on record stating that Chepauk is indeed one of his favorite venues.

With on-screen demi gods like Thalaivar or Kamal Haasan or Ajith or Vijay, fans could relate to them with their stardom, charisma and style. Apart from a certain Kris Srikkanth, Tamil Nadu cricket never produced cricketers who could pull masses. Then arrived the Indian Premier League, and Chennai Super Kings were born.

The biggest master stroke till date by the CSK owners will be the buying of MS Dhoni in that first auction. He was the biggest buy that year and was the costliest cricketer sold that season. Super Kings had a reason to spend all the money on one man. While Punjab had Yuvraj Singh, Kolkata had their son of soil – Sourav Ganguly. Bangalore were happy to have Dravid and Kumble by their side. Mumbai had Tendulkar and Delhi had Sehwag. Each of these teams had a huge icon to represent from their own land. Chennai did not have home grown super star who could be the symbol of the city. MS Dhoni was made one.

Honestly though, Dhoni has carved his own legacy with the Super Kings and their fans since then. What other IPL teams couldn’t manage to do, he did it for the Super Kings. Brand CSK had to become the biggest pride of Chennai, eventually. Tamils all around the world had something to cheer about when it came to cricket on the field.

There is an air of charisma about Dhoni. He is nonchalant, stays simple and comes from a background very similar to Thalaivar. While Thalaivar spent his early life as a bus-conductor in Bangalore, Dhoni in his early days was a ticket collector in Railways. While Thalaivar came through stage dramas, Dhoni’s cricket basics are from tennis ball cricket. Both own a style of their own and that separates them from the masses.

If not for the on-field performances, MS Dhoni’s rise in Chennai wouldn’t have been the same. He has managed to win the IPL trophy twice in a row and also win the CLT20 trophy once. Not once has his team finished below the semi-final spot. With all this success, he has made an average cricket loving Tamil walk proudly with his head held high. That display on the field now makes him a demi-god here. Many people think that he is among them, a part of the crowd. I don’t know how many people in Chennai, in years to come, would know that MS Dhoni isn’t a Tamil (by origin), just like Thalaivar. While Rajinikanth made it big in Tamil Nadu emerging out of a Marathi family, MS Dhoni has his roots from Central India in Jharkhand.

The Tamils now have a hero to worship on the field. CSK’s promotions, marketing and brand building exercises revolve around MS Dhoni, he is the image of their campaign. Ever since CSK was born, it was Dhoni’s face which reached the masses. Dhoni was at it again when they composed the theme song for Super Kings. The video at the end shows Dhoni roaring and eventually turns into a lion that continues roaring! The lines of Whistle Podu prominently feature Dhoni in it – “Enga Thala Dhoni-kku Periya Whistle Adinga“. Every time he walks on the field, Chepauk roars in approval. When Mumbai Indians faced off against the Super Kings in Bangalore recently, one of the posters read – “Sorry Mrs. I love Dhoni more than you.” That speaks volumes about his growth, his mass appeal and his following down south.

The day is not too far when you would be grilled if you say something wrong about Dhoni when you are in Chennai. On Facebook and Twitter, you have fans who love Dhoni much more than anyone in this world. Right through the season they make loud statements on public forum that irks anyone who supports other teams. They could be, on occasions, outrageously illogical. But that’s the way these fans are. They’d never drop their swords down when critics lay stinging attack on their heroes. Traditionally, it is a character of Tamils to show unabated love and worship to someone who brings smile on their faces. They, at times, cross the boundaries too. But that is all because their hero has made them walk with pride. A Super Kings fan is always near you – look at the way he brags about his achievements. Talk about Dhoni to him and you will realize what MSD means to him and to his people. Some fans indeed support Super Kings for the sheer love they have for Dhoni.

When Sourav Ganguly recently made an entry into Eden Gardens for the Pune Warriors, many experts believed that the love Kolkatans have for Sourav is much more than what Mumbaikars have for Tendulkar. Hold on Sourav, hold on Sachin. Now you have another competitor in the zone. MS Dhoni and his yellow battalion are in the house. They go nuts about their “Thala” and Super Kings!

Dhoni is relishing this patronage now because of all the success he has earned for both CSK and India. Go on the streets of Chennai, I am sure you would find Dhoni’s paintings on the walls, hoardings, Vinyl boards and your TV screens. And they would be as many as what any top Tamil film hero would garner these days. He has earned the love and respect of Tamils. They love him blindly. It is almost the same effect of what happens when Thalaivar comes on screen or waves a hand to a million audience watching him on stage. It’s the aura. Maybe you would realize the charisma of these men only if you are a fanatic like them. If you needed a better understanding, here it goes – even if your best friend commits a heinous crime, you would stand by him. Here are a million fans or probably more than that who love this man from Jharkhand unconditionally and trust me, this relationship will only keep growing!

As Chennai Super Kings embark on their flight to Jaipur from Mumbai, they would realize that the team has to do to the impossible. The team which has gelled has a cohesive unit over four years now, is in familiar territory once again. On most occasions in the previous editions of the Indian Premier League, they have conquered the mighty impossible.

But this season looks so different from others.

With the way the season has panned out for the defending champions, it looks like this could be their “heart break” season in IPL history. The team has managed to reach the play offs / knock out stages every single time. However it doesn’t look like they would end up in the final four this season.

Inconsistent performance

Every time the team has won a game this season, they’ve lost the subsequent game. This has been the trend this year for the defending champions. While the converse could be a subject of relief that they’re not losing successive games and more importantly that a win is round the corner, CSK are in a position from where they cannot afford to lose even a single game. This inconsistency is the most worrisome factor among other issues.

This season the team has not won more than two games in a row, which is appalling to say the least; it is very unlike Chennai Super Kings.

Slow Starters

It has taken close to 11 games for the defending champions to sort their batting order. The form of the Indian batsmen has also been a point of worry throughout the season. Suresh Raina, the team’s mainstay, was out of touch. Raina couldn’t find the flow for quite a long time.

The success of Indian players in the CSK ranks was one of the important reasons for all the achievements in IPL and CLT20 tournaments. They’ve been consistent as a group until this season. For a major part of this season, they’ve failed as a group. None of the Indian batsmen in the squad has lit up the IPL so far.

Having said that, the only positive is that the batting unit finally looks sorted out. Raina is finally looking like the leading run scorer in the league history now. Murali Vijay, after a horrendous count of low scores, looks hungry for runs now. The fluency and the freedom with which he has approached both games against Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians, shows a lot of promise.

But has this intent come a little too late? RCB, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab are breathing down the neck with some quality performances time and again.

Strategically too, they had messed up with the way Dhoni used Albie Morkel – the batsman. Jadeja’s inclusion in the team is the only major difference from the side that featured last season. Dhoni tried his best to give him the best batting slot in the team in the first 10 games. However, it looks like Bravo and Morkel are sure to bat ahead of Jadeja in the remaining matches.

Where is the aggression?

If anything, the team has lacked the aggressive display right through the season. This team’s strengths lie with (a) their batsmen, (b) their spinners and (c) fielding. CSK have the longest and the strongest batting order among all IPL teams. In fact, I don’t think there is a stronger batting order than CSK in any T20 team around the world.

With so much of firepower in their arsenal, it has been shocking to see the way they have utilized it this season. It has been sedate for most parts of the season while on other occasions, has flattered only to deceive.

Dhoni has been uncharacteristically slow and nobody apart from Faf du Plessis has tried to play on top gear. Murali Vijay, to an extent, showed the way against Mumbai Indians yesterday. Apart from a couple of knocks, it has been largely defensive mindset from other batsmen in yellow jersey.

The moment the batsmen play with freedom, the aggressive spirit will fall into place, thus making the team a fearsome unit. Albie Morkel has also acknowledged this aspect of CSK’s game.

The bowlers have been largely impressive. Even though they’ve had a low score on scoreboard increasing the pressure, they have managed to take few games to the end. R. Ashwin has not picked as many wickets as his captain and the Indian selectors would have liked to see. However, he has still managed to control the runs and at times got good turn off the surfaces he has played on.

Bizarre playing strip

The pitch at Chepauk has been a major point of concern for the home side. While they lost very badly in Champions League last year due to the re-laid 22-yard strip, the fortress in Chepauk has been breached three times so far because of the same reason.

Dhoni has cried aloud saying that this wicket isn’t conducive for his stroke makers to make merry. But nothing seems to change much in reality. Even the spinners would love to have a pitch with extra bounce and pace which gives them the opportunity to pick wickets.

Losing at home

Historically, teams which emerge as strong sides are almost always unbeatable at home. Super Kings had an unbeaten home run last season, thus ending up winning the title comfortably. This year though, they’ve already lost to Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders at home.

Two of those three losses might as well come back to haunt the Super Kings if they don’t reach the final play-offs. It might still haunt them even if they reach the play-offs. It robs a certain luxury of finishing in the top two also. 4 points at this stage is like premium gold.

The slip up against the teams from Punjab and Kolkata has meant that the pressure to win away has increased manifold. Super Kings are traditionally a team that hasn’t done really well away from Chennai. They win games occasionally away from Chennai but not on a regular basis.

Losing tight games

The loss in Wankhede yesterday was a heart-breaker to say the least. CSK have traditionally won such tight games very regularly and such games have helped them become stronger and successful as a team. But now, they’re on the receiving end in such matches.

This is a trait that is spotted with Mumbai Indians these days. While some might call it “lucky”, I would prefer it to give it to Mumbai for the nerves of steel they’ve displayed time and again this season.

What lies ahead

While the batting for Super Kings looks almost settled, the bowling would probably call up for a change with Hilfenhaus giving way to Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Kulasekara. Kulasekara has performed exceedingly well in conditions which are very familiar to him. He has gone without a wicket in only 1 of his 4 IPL games this season. In addition to that, his economy rate deserves a special mention. His ability to swing the new ball both ways, ability to bowl yorkers and slower deliveries consistently and the ability to hit the ball a long way should find him a place ahead of Hilfenhaus for the rest of the games.

Kulasekara probably lacks in a bit of pace when compared with Hilfenhaus. But his overall ability to vary the length and pace should earn him a spot in the XI, especially against Royals in Jaipur, Delhi in Chennai and Knight Riders in Eden Gardens. All these surfaces are much slower than what we got in Mumbai and someone like Kulasekara might be the right foil in the mix for the Super Kings.

The Hilfenhaus-Kulasekara swap could resolve a small issue. However, this team is now facing a mountain to climb. If they have any dreams to defend their title, they have to get their act together and most importantly, cannot afford to slip at any point of time in the next 3 weeks. That however, looks improbable to happen.

A new champion is surely waiting to be crowned this year.

There can be no greater satisfaction for sportsmen than breaking the shambolic shackles of the slump and emerge with epochal triumph. That is probably the redemption sportsmen seek to achieve when ditched by poor form. The journey during this phase could be demoralizing. Everything you touch turns out to be a failure. The world looks like a place you’d rather not live in.

One of the most common mistakes that sportsmen attempt to do is to get too anxious and eager to perform better. Highs and lows, victories and defeats are supposed to be part and parcel of sport. When you’re on a personal low it becomes very tough to even accept the cliche. The anxiety makes you work harder than usual to make yourself better. Patience becomes key, especially when you are on a low. But seldom sportsmen remain patient in such a phase. No one loves negativity. Hence, the eagerness to perform really well increases thus losing completely on the aspect of patience. More often than not, you tend to lose yourself. You would wonder where all your strengths have vanished all of a sudden. Only in such phases of life, the real temperament is tested.

Cricket for instance, is a sport that carries a brilliant uniqueness of providing the individual space like no other yet holding the essence of team game. As a bowler, you tend to try too much. You would know that you’re not going to pick up a wicket each delivery. But the anxiety pushes you to do the same. More the effort you put to pick a wicket each ball, more the energy you expend. And that’s it. You wouldn’t get the results !

These days, I find Sachin Tendulkar pushing himself that extra mile to achieve that elusive landmark of his 100th ton. In that process, he has failed to achieve that landmark on 33 occasions, for over a year now. Just like how a bowler attempts to pick up a wicket off every ball during dull periods in his career, I reckon the batsman in Tendulkar tries a lot to get that hundred. Or at least, that is the picture that I get to see from outside. It is almost like attempting to push that monkey off your back as early as possible. A wicket could do wonders to the confidence of a bowler. On similar lines, you would be able to see a different Tendulkar once he eventually touches that landmark.

Team sport, has got its own set of advantages and disadvantages. When the team does well and you continue to flounder, the team provides you the bandwidth to stage a comeback. It can afford to carry a player who fails regularly. I clearly remember how bad Sourav Ganguly‘s form was between 2001-05. He failed consistently. For a batsman of his caliber, Ganguly merely averaged 35.86 in Test cricket. He, however, found a way to get carried along with the team. But the moment the team started failing, Ganguly was among the foremost to be dropped!

Such travesties in team sport only suggests that the game is much bigger than the individual. The team cannot afford failures because of the individual’s failures. It gets even tougher when the competition keeps growing for places in the team. With individual sports like tennis, golf and badminton, the competition and failures take a completely different meaning altogether. However it isn’t the same with team sport.

When form deserts you, you start thinking everything around you will go wrong. More often than not it is with this restless mind that all problems start swelling even more. As a batsman, you would start hitting the full tosses straight into the hands of the close-in fielder. Remember, Tendulkar’s latest dismissal? You would fall for poor umpiring decisions and on other instances, in an attempt to do a jail-break, a rash shot would be the reason for your failure. Adding to that, a moment of brilliance by the opposition might also lead to the dismissal. You tend to think, “Why do you have to do this to me now?“. The bowlers have their own set of problems to worry about. The bowlers tend to over compensate a lot. If you keep bowling short in one game, in an attempt to correct it, the length goes way too full. If you consistently miss your line, the effort to correct the line also goes awry. The wide would remain a wide. It is just that the line would change from leg side to off side. The pace drops. The wrist position, the run up and even the follow through gets affected somewhere or the other. Mentally, the preparation takes a beating. When that happens, you are most likely to get on the field half-baked and under prepared.

There would always be a million questions running every minute in your mind when you keep failing. Most of them would put you in a fix. They would be the ones you would find very hard to get an answer for. One of the most common questions that lie in minds of sportsmen is – “When I can do well during practice, why is it that I am unable to replicate it on the field?” There are few questions for which only time has the real answer. You could stroke the ball beautifully every time you walk in and yet not continue to score. Then there would be the other occasion when the feet just simply don’t move for a swinging delivery. The result – caught plumb in front. As a bowler, you might keep missing the line you tend bowl day-in and day-out. Above all, the mind remains cluttered.

How much do we love Tendulkar when he bats in a relaxed manner? How much do we see the same relaxed Tendulkar these days? Staying relaxed on the field is a very important aspect for a sportsman at any point of time in his career. But it is again, easier said than done. The willingness to break the cocoon and get out to breathe the air of freedom remains the top most on the priority list for the procrastinated mind. On the field, you tend to lose yourself. The cluttered mind wanders unnecessarily. There is silence written all over you. Larger the field, the lonelier you would feel. You wonder, if you would ever get to reclaim your wonderful past once again. The desire grows!! Advice and criticism pour out from all parts of the world around you. Do this. Do that. Sadly you turn out to be deaf and resistant to all .

The cluttered mind pushes you to choose the easiest option – give up. It is understandable that each sportsman walks in with an expiry date. Any attempt to extend beyond the expiry date would only turn out to be futile. When you’re particularly close to the expiry date, the mind traverses into a territory that questions your mere ability to perform and compete on a level playing field. Can you continue contributing to the team’s success? Do you still love the game as much as you did five or ten years ago? The best solution to such a situation is to not even try answering them. On all probabilities, the answer would only be negative because when emotions run high, you lose the balance in your thoughts itself.

At the other end of the spectrum, as a green horn, you have a lot to prove. When you’re hit hard by failures, it tests your mental ability to stand back on your feet once again. More than the technique, the mind is tested a lot at the top. Until you get into your comfort zone, life would be very hard. You might still think of – giving up – as an option. But think again! There is a long route of glory, success and joy waiting for you.

At the end of it, it is just a moment of magic that would change the fortunes. May be little luck would also help. A beautifully timed stroke or that out-swinger crashing on the timber unexpectedly or that lovely forehand spin across the court that you’ve missed for so long! The game is a lot like life. Success and good form don’t always follow you. The beauty of sport lies in such challenges. The day you conquer failure and banish the darkness, you would emerge a much stronger personality. That day, you would see the man walking with a bucketful of satisfaction. That day, you would see the man with a relaxed mind and clarity of thought.

Until then, it is a gruesome duel within you.

Sri Lankans have been a major part of my cricket life, much like the way it is for Indian cricketers these days. Being a Tamil myself, the link with the Lankans is far more regular than what you would expect any other Indian to have. I loved watching the stylish Roshan Mahanama and that elegant left-hander who became Kapil Dev’s 434th victim, Hashan Tilakaratne. Even today, if I meet my school friends and talk cricket, Tilakaratne’s elegance would be one of the foremost topics to converse about. There were other characters we try to imitate, Pramodaya Wickramasinghe being the most prominent among them all, as young cricket fans. The bowling action was a little different with him doing a little jig with his fore arms before releasing the ball. There was also this young Chaminda Vaas, who troubled my hero the most with his swing!

And then the 1996 World Cup. While I thought Tendulkar had done enough to beat the Lankans at Kotla, I was hit hard! It took some time to recover after what I saw with Sanath Jayasuriya’s belligerent batting. Thus started the great Indian relationship with Sanath Jayasuriya. For a long time since then, no one else in this world would have made the spine chill for the Indian fans as much as what Jayasuriya did for those few years. The face of Sanath on television dreaded the worst fears in me too. Just as he would adjust his helmet, box and pads before getting set for another ball from Venkatesh Prasad, Debasis Mohanty and Javagal Srinath, I would close my eyes longing for a miracle.

He was a man of raw power. For those few years in the late 90s and early 2000s there were other batsmen and then there was Sanath! I had to endure through endless one dayers watching him use his powerful forearms to square cut with a gruelling demeanour. In a way, Sanath made me speak to god much more than anyone else, even my school exams.

He used to hammer the ball through the off side. Until then, I had seen no one belt the ball so fiercely that it would puncture the boundary bill boards creating a hole within a couple of seconds. A famous joke that goes around the circles is that, Sanath keeps waiting for Prasad’s delivery to reach him and before the ball reaches he would sip his cup of tea in a relaxed manner and still manage to get the bat on ball right on time to send it outside the ground for a huge six. The Sharjah memories of him smashing Venkatesh Prasad for 73 runs in his 7 overs on his way to record his best ever score of 189 is something, I can’t forget. What’s worse, Sri Lanka inflicted one of the worst defeats you’d ever see being handed to India. 54 all out. Wrecker-in-chief : Chaminda Vaas!

If Sanath left an indelible mark in the minds of Indian cricket fans, Aravinda Desilva managed to cast the same impact with his choice of delectable stroke play. While I jumped in joy seeing Sanath and Kalu back in the hut in that World Cup Semi Final, here came the man, Aravinda Desilva stroking a beautiful 66 off 47 balls on what was supposed to be a rank-turner against Anil Kumble! Within a few overs, the momentum shifted once again and eventually went on even rock the whole nation into a state of delirium.

Over those 5-10 years, Sri Lanka ruled the roost of every Indian team in both tests and ODIs. Between the start of 1996 and 2002, the Lankans had won 18 of the 32 encounters. India’s W/L ratio stood at 0.66 during this period. Put that in perspective with Australia during the same phase, the team had a W/L ratio of 0.6 which is slight worse than the ones against the Lankans. That tells a tale about how tough it was to beat Sri Lanka during that period.

It wouldn’t be a gross mistake if I tell that, the Indians have managed to give it back to the Lankans in the last few years. I famously remember, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid taking the Lankans (especially Eric Upashantha) to the cleaners at Taunton during the ’99 World Cup. The 2003 World Cup game was another notable victory. But such performances were far and few in between until MS Dhoni arrived!

While Tendulkar continued to dominate the Sri Lankan bowlers regularly, I never found that astounding impact that Sanath had on me, while Tendulkar was in the middle against the Lankan bowlers. May be it had to do with the eventual result which always boils down to the team effort. India, on most occasions was all about Tendulkar and only Tendulkar.

Years later, Dhoni’s fireworks (183) in Jaipur lit the city a day before Diwali. That innings, had the Sanath effect. It was an innings filled with boundaries that was a brutal assault on the leather. The usage of strong fore arms, innovating angles to score runs and most importantly a barrage of sixes to go with makes that a special knock.

Since then, India have been mostly on top of Sri Lanka both home and away. I remember the team under Dhoni to win quite a few tournaments, most recently the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. The test team have also done well to erase the memories of Mendis Menace (2008)!

While the route to this reversal of fortunes haven’t completely been one-sided, I remember how the Lankans ensured we were out of the 2007 World Cup. Tilakaratne Dilshan still bats with disdain and with that touch of Sanath magic against India at times. Sangakkara trusts India to get him back to form, just as they did in Hobart recently. Mahela loves to score big runs against his neighbours.

However, the reverse has also been true. Sehwag, both home and away, feasts on Lankan bowlers. He has big and truly aggressive hundreds against them. Gautam Gambhir has good numbers to show against Sri Lanka. While everyone else were at sea in 2008, Gambhir’s quick feet movement against Mendis and Muralitharan was one of the rare features of that test tour. Only a couple of years ago, Indians managed to score 414 against the same opponents although Sri Lanka making 411 is another story to talk for another day.

The World Cup Final victory was almost the right revenge taken for the defeat in Eden Gardens, 15 years ago. Dhoni and Gambhir scored some of the most crucial runs of their career, once again against the same opponents!

Virat Kohli has been part of 24 games against Sri Lanka since his ODI debut. Sri Lanka have been the team against whom Kohli has played most of his ODI matches already. May be that also directly shows at his prolific run scoring ability against the islanders. In 23 innings, Kohli averages close to 50 in ODIs with 7 half-centuries and 2 centuries including the one he scored yesterday.

There could be an argument that there is an overkill of India-Sri Lanka cricket these days. But surely the tide has changed. Yesterday’s game proved it once again. While there is odd brilliance from Sri Lanka time and again, India have pulled their socks against their neighbours in the recent past.

India’s W/L ratio now against the Lankans is 1.5 (Winning 21 of the 38 ODIs since the start of 2008). Who knows, the teenagers in Sri Lanka who have just started to follow the game now might feel the same pinch that I felt, fifteen years ago! Who knows, these boys might dread seeing the faces of Kohli, Gambhir and Dhoni! Life goes on….

The concept of dual role isn’t new to the Indian audience. They embark into the world of Hindu mythology with characters playing more than one role, right in their childhood. Ramayana and Mahabharata have stories to elicit the same. Indian cinema has never failed to deliver smash hits with super stars playing dual roles. Amitabh Bachchan’s Kasme Vaade, Don are part of Bollywood’s folklore. Down south people rave Rajinikanth’s Thillu Mullu even today. The characterizations of AAK Chandran and Indiran are epics in their own right. In cinema, dual roles give the actors a chance to show their versatility with characters that are black and white. But on a cricket field, it is not often that players change colors. When they do, more often than not it is questioned and criticized.

My earliest memory of Sachin Tendulkar remains as the man who was the only Indian batsman to torment bowling attacks. In that Indian line up only one man could consistently scorch magnificence. To an extent, Mohammed Azharuddin made his presence felt with some eloquent flicks.

1998 remains his best cricketing year. I remember how he took on that Australian attack, not once but twice at Bangalore and Chennai. At both instances where he went over a personal score of 150, Tendulkar not only smashed the leather but dented the confidence of one of the legends of cricket named Shane Warne. He was arguably the best player of spin in his era. The 90s saw Tendulkar stand tall over some really tough challenges against Shane Warne, Saqlain Mushtaq and Muthiah Muralitharan. His foot movement could best be described as a silky dance down to connect the leather with the willow. The straight bat and the loft over bowlers’ head will go down memory lane! During both these special tons his strike rate was well above 80 runs per 100 balls.

Tendulkar rarely lets the tempo down when he dons the blue jersey for India. I was stunned to see Tendulkar’s strike rate hover around the 90s in the 50 over format. That number fascinated me even more when I put that against my personal favorite and idol, Sourav Ganguly’s strike rate. Tendulkar’s ability to play more than 2 strokes for any delivery at any point of time in the game was one of the reasons to help him score runs freely than his peers.

One of my favorite moments was best described by John Wright in his book, Indian Summers. It was the big India-Pakistan game in the 2003 World Cup. He goes on to say, “As our openers walked down the long flight of stairs to begin the chase, Viru told Sachin, ‘Don’t say anything to me about my batting except “go and lagaao”’ – basically, go for it. Sachin replied, ‘I’m going to get these guys.’ Such was his intent.

Bangalore which witnessed the destructive Tendulkar in 1998, hosted a test against Pakistan in 2005. Against the likes of Arshad Khan, Danish Kaneria and Shahid Afridi, I remember Tendulkar struggling to tick off a single. It was a moment so unreal that I had to pinch myself to understand the reality. It was true that, India were staring down the barrel with a mountain to climb. Tendulkar was losing partners at the other end. Between a space of 16 overs, Indians lost the trio of Laxman, Dravid and Ganguly. All this while, Tendulkar was the witness at the non-striker’s end.

Quite strikingly, I found a defensive Tendulkar hard to concur. The famous BBC Sport which quoted, “Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don’t know, something beyond scientific measure”, had a different meaning altogether. The agony came to an end when he was eventually dismissed for 16 off 98 balls. On another day, he would have taken the Pakistani spinners to the cleaners.

Moments such as these are very few to deeply analyze and correlate. But as time has passed by, I witnessed more of the defensive Tendulkar who shuts the shop way too early.

India went into the Cape Town test of 2007, with the series leveled 1-1. After piling up 414 runs in the first innings, the game was all in India’s hands. And they let the South Africans into the game with their defensive stroke play yet again. This time again, Tendulkar was in the middle when the game started to change. Tendulkar and Dravid crawled against the left-arm spin of Paul Harris. They blocked. They jabbed. They poked. They choked. For a little over 15 overs, the partnership garnered 14 runs at a pace slower than snail’s average speed.

It would remain one of Tendulkar’s most ignominious knocks ever. 14 runs came off his bat in 62 balls when the game had to move on! South Africa comfortably pouched on this phase of play and ended up winning the test. These are moments that let you wonder why a champion batsman like him would get too much on the defensive.

Just a year ago, he was on the duel against a top quality fast bowler from South Africa. So you cannot clearly attribute to these defensive tactics to his age. You wonder why Tendulkar even reveres some of these spinners he played defensively against. It wasn’t against a Muralitharan or Shane Warne he chose the option. It was against the lesser known mortals has Tendulkar struggled on occasions.

The tour down under was a hugely expected event for Tendulkar fans. The rivalry Tendulkar holds against the Aussies is as old and nicely scripted as the celtiberian tombstone from Clunia depicting the man versus bull fight in Rome. Each time, he has toured the toughest backyard in world cricket, Tendulkar has managed to rack in at least one hundred to his name. This year though he failed to convert the one hundred the world looked up to.

When he walked into bat this time, he had that extra baggage of 100^th ton loaded on his shoulders. He might shrug off saying he wasn’t thinking of the landmark. His team-mates might say they looked at the bigger picture. But certain instants showed that the record overweighed the present situation much more than it has to. In a way, that pushed him down too.

He sparkled at Melbourne with a fluent half-century in the first innings. If cricket was a boxing ring, he always wished to deliver the opening punch in a heavy-weight encounter. I remember how he came out with all guns blazing at Mumbai (2001) against the same opponents. This innings which started on the right note ended very bizarrely at the end of the day. Somewhere at the corner of his mind, I felt he shut the shop off, a little earlier than he would usually do.

While Dravid had to battle against getting castled again and again, the experts believed Tendulkar played the same ball far better than Dravid. In short, he looked in song until the catastrophe struck. Once again, in the second innings, he dazzled every one. While his team mates fluffed, he stroked beauties. The Boxing Day test remains the best of Tendulkar, I’ve seen this Australian summer.

At Sydney, the batting collapse didn’t help matters. However with Dhoni still around, I felt Tendulkar chose to block, rather unnecessarily. Of his final 32 balls in his first innings, he struck three gorgeous boundaries including an upper cut. But the rest of the 29 balls earned him just 2 singles.

The closest he could have got to that 100^th ton on this tour was in the same match. When you thought he wouldn’t lose the flow by blocking and prodding, he exactly went into the same territory once again. You wished he wouldn’t!

Between the overs, 68 and 78 before the new ball was taken Tendulkar was dished out the slow left arm spin from Michael Clarke and off-spinners from Nathan Lyon. In this period of play, he managed to tuck off 13 runs off the 33 balls he faced. He couldn’t strike a single boundary in the same period of play and finally fell for Michael Clarke’s spin. It was a painful dismissal for any Tendulkar fan. You’ve watched him go on the carnage against the world’s best spinners in the past. Now you find him in a territory that you rather not spot him ever again. However, the worse was to follow!

After the Perth debacle, where Tendulkar was haunted by the leg-before-wicket-demons, he turned up at Adelaide. The hype of the 100^th ton didn’t die down at all. A leading newspaper daily in India quoted that it was expected that Tendulkar would achieve the landmark at Don’s home.

At Adelaide, he managed to scratch his last 17 (out of 25) runs off 59 balls first time around. While the pressure from the fast bowlers was understandable, what perplexed me was his batting approach against Nathan Lyon. Tendulkar’s, possibly, last innings in Australia showed him in very dim light. Of the 34 balls he faced only 6 balls were against Ryan Harris (of which he scored 3 runs). The others were against Nathan Lyon where he never tried to gain the upper hand. Eventually, Tendulkar was dismissed by Lyon himself.

You wouldn’t want to watch this Tendulkar wake up and go into bat. He looks very much a mortal when he goes on the defensive. At times, you find it extremely enigmatic when you try to decode why he plays it that way against the lesser known spinners whereas punishes the world’s best!

Harsha Bhogle made a concoction of nicely chosen words for a very important question – “So which Tendulkar will the rest of 2012 showcase? If it is the second (someone who carried a tent with him and chose to go within for long periods), there is an element of the finite to it all; if the first (free-scoring colossus) vanquishes its current captor, then who knows!”

For a great who is revered for his brilliance with the bat, Tendulkar should find out a way to ensure he doesn’t dwell on dull periods for a long time. It is not his territory. The world will only be a better place if he prefers to stroke boundaries with his bat rather than use it as a piece of wood to simply shield his wicket.

Last week, I was watching the dying moments of Perth test in utter disbelief. Yesterday, I woke up early to watch Australia register a famous subjugation on the visitors. For the eighth time in a row, this Indian cricket team which had learnt to fight out of their skins, had encountered meek surrender. The one-man show, the bicycle effect, the inconsistent lengths from bowlers, the flashy strokes away from the body outside off stump have all crept into the team once again. It was a blast from the past. For many, like me, who grew up watching India play abroad in the 90s, the recent development was rekindling the haunting losses India had faced then.

A look at the big picture gives us harsh facts that we have to accept. The failure of this Great Indian batting line up was an accident waiting to happen. The fact that the team was not renowned for world class bowlers to threaten the opposition was always going to hit the team hard, especially in times such as this. Take this for example – India’s fourth best seamer bowls at 125 kph. The ball touches the ankle of MS Dhoni at WACA. India’s rise to Numero Uno in test rankings will mainly be attributed to the batsmen from the golden generation and to an extent the lone warrior with the ball, Zaheer Khan.

THE AGEING MIDDLE ORDER

Let us accept the fact the trio are ageing and surely, they are not at their best now and it is not lying ahead of them. Adelaide test results (in the first innings) supports my theory here. They’re in their twilight of their test careers. The promise was there. And nothing more than mere promise! Sachin Tendulkar promised to deliver the hundredth hundred every time he walked in and found himself in precarious positions either because he lost partners at the other end regularly or because he went into sleep mode for reasons unknown. Dravid’s second wind also promised to deliver more. The English summer brought back memories of vintage Dravid from 2002- 03. He wasn’t falling over while playing the flick and the forward motion was poetic every time he put his front foot in line with the ball to play those exquisite cover drives. His quick hands were at work with the square cuts against the rising delivery. He was batting on a different wicket in England, while everyone else looked all at sea. The Very Very Special of Indian cricket promised to haunt the Aussies once again. He said, he relished batting on Australian wickets. The promise!

When on song, India’s batting order can be compared with the best ever batting line ups to have graced Test cricket till date. But in turmoil, you find them to fall like nine pins. They’re generally together even with failures. They strike hot form in unison or fall flat together at once. Tendulkar’s dramatic turn-around (recently) with the series of resplendent performances juxtaposed with Gambhir’s rise in world cricket as Test opener. Laxman was the magician who stroked his wand like no one else. Sehwag had the odd sparkle and miracle. Dravid was the only one who looked out of sorts for most part in the last two years. But even he produced quite a handful of memorable acts.

It’s time to decommission the old tanks.

Success and failure go hand in hand for sportsmen. Even the mighty Windies had a great fall. We saw how Australia were demolished not once but twice by England in two years. It touches upon the philosophical territory, moment we get into success and failure. The fans, who form the real base for the sport, at least want to see some fight even if you lose. The Kohli-Saha partnership in Adelaide was a rare show of that attitude on the field by Indians in Australia. No one questioned you for the losses in Australia during the last tours. So what’s the difference now? Meek surrender!

India didn’t have injuries to deal with during the tour or during the test matches, unlike England. Well if that was one reason to lose in England, can the team give any reasons for this embarrassment down under? It has to boil down to the inept batting sans temperament on bowler friendly surfaces. We might find it embarrassing, but Ashwin regards this only as extreme disappointment.

Somehow the criticism of India’s golden trio isn’t going to work in favor of them. They’ve to choose how their Test careers are going to pan out. The selectors have to plan the way to phase them off. India aren’t playing a Test series for the next six months which in effect is going to take six more months out of a certain Laxman and Dravid. The next tour away from sub-continent will happen in December 2013. Many of us can bet that Laxman and Dravid will not be part of that touring squad. The gap is long enough to make them rusty. Do you think there is lot of cricket really left in them to make an impact in Indian cricket? Can Laxman really revive India’s chances once again like he did in 2001? Do you really expect any more magic from the magician? I’m afraid, I have “NO” as the answer for all these questions!

The big middle order failure has taken another important trouble, the Indians are facing these days. The batting form of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag. Opening partnership is a very crucial part and in many cases, backbone of huge scores in test cricket. Each time India has lost a test in England and Australia in the 8 months, they’ve failed to strike an opening partnership. The word “woeful” might suit their current state of mind. Gambhir has had a torrid time in Australia. Except for the 80-odd, he scored in Sydney, Gambhir has never looked settled even if he has faced more than 50 balls. Sehwag’s style of batting will have to come under scrutiny some day. His shot making was reckless in the 2nd innings at Adelaide. Apart from that, he looked a batsman lost in mind completely. Soft dismissals must have left his fans stunned. He seldom moves his feet. But, neither his bat moved much. The swing from Hilfenhaus did him in consistently throughout this season.

THE FUTURE?

Who is India’s future? Rohit Sharma or VVS Laxman? Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli? Rahul Dravid or Cheteshwar Pujara? Do a certain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have their best years of cricket coming up? If the answer is yes, the real way forward from here then is to blood in youngsters. Virat Kohli has made a case for himself after this special hundred at Bradman’s home. Kohli was the batsman whose head was waiting to be chopped after the Sydney Test. Now he remains the lone centurion for India in this tour. The trio have gained a lot of respect that they can choose their way out of Indian cricket and I believe they’ve earned that! But that shouldn’t hamper the team’s progress.

A young Tendulkar made the world stand up and take notice when he scored a hundred on a bouncy Perth wicket. A 23-year old Dravid came to the fore in 1996, when he made tons in England. Sourav Ganguly on debut, brought down Lords’ with one of his finest hundreds till date. VVS Laxman stroked his future in Sydney to enchant everyone with a career-defining 167 in 1999-00. Virender Sehwag smashed the leather in the middle order at Bloemfontein against the South Africans. He later impressed one and all as a Test opener in England. What’s common in all these cases? Success abroad as batsmen!

The future?

As long as the million dollar babies of today in Indian cricket keep playing on flat beds at home be assured that they’d never grow. The cricket calendar isn’t going to help them flourish abroad either. Until the end of December 2013, India are going to stay at home and these two years aren’t going to mean much to the growth of young India. By the time December 2013 comes, we would have forgotten all our embarrassments we’ve suffered and bask in the glory of convincingly thrashing teams in our own den.

The board has, thankfully, realized the importance of A-tours. For a few years now, the A-tours weren’t happening and the only time the top domestic cricketers get to play abroad in bowler-friendly conditions is at the Emerging Players tournament. The selection for Emerging Players tournament raised a few eye-brows with the IPL stars finding a place to play the long version of the game. I hope the IPL doesn’t become the criteria to select the best cricketers for such tournaments. It gets extremely important for the future India cricketers to get a feel of the conditions abroad. But would that only be enough? The change should happen right from the root. Aakash Chopra recently tweeted, “The quality of cricket and cricketers we produce is directly proportionate to the quality of surface we prepare.” This Ranji season has seen extremes ! While a Ranji semi final got over in just over two days, the final saw Rajasthan bat the first innings for three days.

Forget the defensive attitude the Rajasthan batsmen displayed during the final. To an extent, the rules in the system make teams to play for the first-innings lead. The pitch that was used for the most important domestic final was poor to say the least. Dinesh Karthik went on to add, he would have preferred to play in Mumbai or Baroda (which according to him has a result oriented track) rather than in Chennai, which neither supported the fast bowlers nor the spinners. Change has to start here. If India’s fortunes have to change, such tracks can’t have a place in our cricket.

A lot of chatter has also been about India’s athleticism on the field. How can we even forget Nasser Hussain’s comments that created so much furore back home during the England tour? With my first hand experiences in the first division games played in Mysore, I can assure you that not much has gone to the roots of Indian cricket to develop athleticism. Fielding will remain a disappointing aspect of Indian cricket until the grounds aren’t improved. Some of the grounds here in Mysore and Mandya have extremely poor outfields that no one can even think of diving around. When this is the case with Tier-II city in India, I can leave it to your imagination to assume the state of the facilities that first division teams would get at other places in the country.

The importance of playing the longest format of the game is also lacking in many parts of the country. The losses in England and Australia have somehow got more limelight on test cricket than ever before. KSCA came up with revamping junior level cricket, about a year ago. Now, Punjab Cricket Association have banned IPL for its local cricketers until they are 21. More importantly, even they are going back to the drawing board to focus on three and four day cricket matches. Its just the right direction, state associations have to go forward.

As Harsha Bhogle pointed out, the change has to be effective and shouldn’t be superficial simply because Indian teams till date haven’t showed the ability to beat Australia in Australia and South Africa in South Africa. The day, an Indian team wins test series in foreign soil (especially in Australia, England and South Africa) you can proudly claim that the change has had its effects. The change, we hope, begins as early as possible.

]]> http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/01/29/on-a-sticky-wicket/feed/ 5 545819 http://www.sportskeeda.com/2011/09/16/rahul-dravid-the-classy-carnatic-musician-amongst-the-band-of-rock-stars/ http://www.sportskeeda.com/2011/09/16/rahul-dravid-the-classy-carnatic-musician-amongst-the-band-of-rock-stars/#comments Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:58:32 +0000 Ananthasubramanian http://www.sportskeeda.com/?p=64465

Classy, adaptable and ever dependable – For his grand services to Indian cricket in ODIs, Dravid automatically selects himself as one of India’s finest ever in his country’s favorite format.

Play on the flat tracks with true bounce. Disregard him. Play on swinging conditions. Put him on high alert. Play on bouncy wickets. Get him to do his job. Somehow, the way Indian cricket has dealt with a certain legend, Rahul Dravid in the shorter format of the game, has left too many questions unanswered on the quality of India’s batsmen against testing conditions. At the same time, it has been soundly proven that Dravid is a timeless champion. A savior in the true essence of the word, Dravid’s presence has been the single most influencing factor in the way India’s ODI fortunes have changed holistically since the dawn of new millennium.

“Bahut sochta hain” apparently was the reason why Dravid found himself out of the Indian team for the first time way back in 1997. Indian cricket celebrates him today as a living legend, but it is surprising to note that Dravid at one point of time early in his career was short of confidence and had to consult a sports psychologist. Add to all that, the levels of abuse the Mumbai crowd got into, when Dravid was eventually out for 1 off 21 balls against Bangladesh in 1998!

Careers for young cricketers could make or break at such moments. He was called, Rahul “The Well Left” Dravid for his slow-paced batting. Ashish Shukla on rediff.com wrote, “Fate presented him with one more chance, and Dravid abdicated. Two dismissals that owed to good cricket by the opposition, and two others that owed more to his own inner tensions, and there is an air now of finality about Dravid’s one-day career.”

To be called a “test” batsman among India’s youth (a criticism Cheteshwar Pujara is going through currently) points to defensive style of batting with text book strokes. It is something now they would never want to be associated with. Dravid had to fight hard to shred off that tag.

Mr. Adaptable

Rahul Dravid Version 2.0, released in New Zealand (1998-99), was the one which had covered almost all his weaknesses, previously noticed. There was urgency in his stroke play. While he was earlier found to sweetly hit the ball straight to the fielder, here was the batsman who started to pierce the gaps freely and rotate the strike, much better than others, at times.

This prompted Sachin Tendulkar to speak up for his mate,

“Let us accept that there was a time when he struggled to rotate the strike in one-day internationals. His strike-rate was not upto the mark. Every player goes through such a phase, but the better ones come back hard and Rahul did just that.”

One of his more memorable individual performances since that was the hard working century at Chepauk (he scored that one at a strike rate above 90!) against Pakistan.  Dravid’s big hundred in World Cup against Sri Lanka showed a renewed image of someone who, when on song, can sketch strokes freely and even overpower the bowling attack with finesse. Devendra Prabhudesai who authored Dravid’s biography, “The Nice Guy Who Finished First” went on to compare the strokes in that innings with strokes of cricket’s finest batsmen –

“Rahul’s on-drive were as elegant as Chappell’s, his straight-drives as graceful as Gavaskar’s, his cuts as flawless as Crowe’s, his cover-drives as stunning as those played by Richards and the lofted drives he essayed later in the innings as spectacular as Botham’s.”

While his test career was in full motion, Dravid’s adaptability and his skills in the shorter-format reached another level in the same game when he replaced Nayan Mongia as the ‘keeper.

Being Ganguly’s deputy, Dravid did complete justice to his role with his performances throughout. Throughout those years in the early 2000s, when India’s performances across the world were noticed, Dravid’s double role as wicket keeper and the batsman at No.3 helped Ganguly pull in an extra batsman to beef up the batting order.

It is hard to even find a person who has sacrificed so much and done more than one could actually do for Indian team than Rahul Dravid. Probably, Navjot Sidhu put it in the best possible way – “Rahul is a player who will walk on broken glass if his team tells him to.” With all due respect to Tendulkar and Ganguly, it is hard to imagine if they would go so much distance to do for the team, as much as Dravid did in his whole career.

Playing second fiddle… Unfortunately

Each time, Dravid scored an ODI hundred, someone else stole the show. While it was Anwar in the opposition ranks at Chennai, it was Ganguly at Taunton. However India’s coach during the tour Anshuman Gaekwad carried an interesting sentiment about his knock at Taunton -

“It was Rahul who initiated the onslaught. That was the day he proved beyond doubt that he was as capable of overpowering a bowling attack in a one-day international as anybody else.”

When Dravid scored his only 150+ score in Hyderabad against Kiwis, Tendulkar stole the show with his record breaking 186. When India were in deep trouble (87-5) in the opening game of ICC Champions Trophy in 2002, Kaif’s century took away the shine off Dravid’s crucial 71!

A work ethic like none

Dravid’s always been one of India’s cricketers who believed in “first-to-arrive-last-to-leave” attitude towards practice. His efforts leading to the World Cup in 2003 were ones to remember and be inspired from. He practiced against a bowling machine at indoor nets in Bangalore with a bat just two-and-a-half inches wide. The machine was programmed to deliver balls landing short of a length outside off-stump. He was rising and patting deliveries down in front of square on the off-side. According to one of India’s leading commentators, Charu Sharma, “The idea was to play them in an unmanned region of the field and steal a single. The thinking obviously was, “If I can middle the ball with this narrow bat, then I can middle anything.” He practiced this drop-shot for hours and hours.”

A savior in its true essence, Dravid’s presence has been the single most influencing factor in the way, India’s ODI fortunes have changed holistically since the dawn of new millennium.

The shot was very much in motion during that dramatic chase at Motera against West Indies (2002), where Dravid scored yet another crucial hundred. He was an exponent of that stroke to steal the single, during that memorable Natwest Tri Series (2002).

His fitness levels have been thoroughly amazing. Dravid has been a thorough professional competing with young boys after 15 long years of international cricket. India’s physiotherapist, Andrew Leipus had his own say on Dravid’s professionalism,

“In my initial days with the team, I would look to identify some enthusiastic guys and work hard on them, hoping that the improvements they would make would inspire the others who were not as enthusiastic about fitness or training. Rahul was one of the enthusiastic players I identified as a ‘leader’.

“The responsibility of wicket keeping meant that he had to do additional work on the lower back and hamstrings. But then, he was so fit in the first place that it was merely a case of conditioning himself to the demands on keeping. His fitness enabled him to adapt quickly.”

Crisis Man

Hindsight is such a wonderful thing! To see some of Dravid’s essays now makes me notice his real class in times of crisis. While today’s youngsters are still searching for the perfect balance between the right amount of aggression and defence, a look at Dravid’s finest days shows the class of the man he actually is.

Every time India played in New Zealand, England, Australia and South Africa, India wanted Dravid.  And they were ready to pick him from obscurity too. He was a class apart! With no compromise in his fluent and text book strokes in an era of Dilscoops and Palti Hits, Dravid showed what was missing among youngsters’ ranks – the technical skill to play the rising ball and the mental skill to develop temperament.

While many called his inclusion in the team for the Champions Trophy in 2009 as a step backward, Team India had no options but to prefer the man during crisis. And the story never ended there.

The moment the tour was over, Dravid wasn’t in the selectors’ radar for another 2 years in the 50-over format. When he found his touch in the test series when every other batsman on tour struggled, they had no option but to retain him for the full tour, including the T20s. Who knows, the selectors might still put him on duty during the tour Down Under later this year!

He was that classic Carnatic musician who walked into the stage filled with celebrated band of rock stars performing to the audience! While people found him odd on the stage with other stars, the classy musician in him composed tunes that made the rock music crazy crowds sit up, take notice of him and appreciate his talent.

The crisis man handled not just swing, pace and bouncy tracks. He also had to take up the leadership from Ganguly at a time when Indian cricket was in jeopardy. It was, as many call, a dark period in Indian cricket. Chappell’s influence and his decision making in the team was publicly disapproved by his players. Despite all that, Dravid, the ODI captain led India to one of the more memorable team records of recent times in India’s shining cricket history – Most number of consecutive ODI wins while chasing (17). Dravid alone led India to victory in 15 of those games.

It is true he has had his set of failures, both as a batsman as well as captain in ODIs. Unlike many cricketers who’ve lost the battle of minds early in their career, Dravid showcased himself as an inspiration for many young cricketers to make it happen when the whole world turns against them.

Classy, rock solid and ever dependable – Rahul Dravid has done so much to Indian cricket in ODIs with the bat, behind the stumps, as a deputy and as a leader that he automatically gets selected as one of India’s finest ever one-day players. It would be hard to imagine for someone else to take up his favorite #3 position even in ODIs.

Ten thousand runs are a testimony to his longevity in that brand of cricket where people betted that he would choke down. Unlike the test arena, Rahul Dravid had to struggle to find an identity for himself in the one-dayers. He was that classic Carnatic musician who walked into the stage filled with celebrated band of rock stars performing to the audience! While people found him odd on the stage with other stars, the classy musician in him composed tunes that made the rock music crazy crowds sit up, take notice of him and appreciate his talent.

Rahul Dravid – Take a bow!

While one of them is successfully arresting a major slide, another team has re launched itself amazingly to reach the top of the tree. Amidst all the rise of different kinds, a team from subcontinent has taken an alarmingly risky free fall in the past month.

India-England: One’s loss is other’s gain

DUST OFF!

Our generation of cricket-following public hasn’t got the fortune to realize the impact West Indies had on world cricket in the 70s and 80s. But, Australia helped us understand how the Caribbean teams of the yesteryears where, when they took on the field every time. There was ruthlessness. There was an amazing level of professionalism to their whole game. Each of them, who represented Australia during those years, had earned their spot and they had to endure their share of struggles, successes, agony and joy. You can sense an air of invincibility with each win they recorded all over the globe.

The way Australia started sliding gradually in the past couple of years suggested many that they would take time to get back to their glory days. There was a general feeling and fear in the Australian camp that they would not want to go the West Indies way in the way they kept falling.

However, the team has done spectacularly well to have achieved what they’ve done so far in Sri Lanka especially after Ricky Ponting stepped down. The Argus Report showed the way forward. It was very important for Australia to do a thorough introspection on what had gone wrong and what needs to be done to correct their way to reach their favorite spot in world order.

Michael Clarke took over the new Australia. The selectors were sacked! That search for the spinner’s slot is still on, this time with Nathan Lyon. Like other spinners who have made their debuts for Australia recently, Lyon’s story is also a kind of rags to riches.

The player loan system within the states to promote better quality is a brilliant move to strengthen the domestic structure. The move allows the best players to get promoted to the next level. Having been beaten at home now by South Africa and England, Australia’s reputation is damaged considerably.

Unlike Ponting, Clarke is having a set of rookies at his disposal. He doesn’t have a bowler like McGrath or Warne. Clarke doesn’t have an intimidating opener like Matthew Hayden. Clarke hasn’t exactly found a trusted opening partner for Watson yet. Neither is Brad Haddin, an Adam Gilchrist. Ponting and Hussey, the senior most in the team are in the wrong side of 30s. They probably would have fuel to carry them for another couple of years.

However, this team is developing a tremendous spirit of fighting out hard on the park. Ryan Harris, for one has shown a steely resolve and has all the makings to become a very successful test bowler for Australia in years to come. The hunger to do well in dry surfaces is a welcome attitude for bowlers. More so, when the team is coming off a rough patch.

For starters, the step Australia has taken has been on the positive note. They’re still Numero Uno in the One day format. The way they won the ODI series in Sri Lanka reaffirms their position in this format, despite losing the World Cup earlier in the year. Coming into the test series, they had to show off the quality of resources. And sure they have done it already.

Usman Khawaja is highly spoken of and has shown sparkling promise. Shaun Marsh who took Ponting’s place for Pallekele test has showed the world what lies ahead of Australia’s batting in the future. Philip Hughes is somehow failing to convert starts. T20 specialist, David Warner has grown in stature and is now part of the Australian test set up.

The fast bowlers are probably the most important of the resources to win test matches. The quality suggests that Australia are on the way up. Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger, Ryan Harris, and a young Trent Copeland offer so much of variety. The likes of Peter George, Clint McKay and Mitchell Starc waiting in the wings make it a healthy competition for the fast bowlers.

One of the main reasons for Australia to lose the Ashes back home was their insipid display on the field. And it looks like they’ve worked extremely hard on it. Michael Clarke took a stunner earlier today to dismiss Mahela Jayawardene while few will forget Michael Hussey’s effort to remove the same batsman in the first innings.

Life wouldn’t have been more challenging for Clarke and his men. In the next few months, they would play some very important tests against South Africa and India. Their performances would determine where they head to.

The dust after demolition has certainly settled down in Australia’s case. The resurrection has also begun in the right note in one of the tougher places to tour and perform! If not for the persistent rain, Sri Lanka would have lost the test series too.

NEW CROWN! NEW THRONE!

Finally the inventors of cricket are crowned the kings of the game! It has been a tremendous journey for most of these English cricketers and for their predecessors. The likes of Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan have as much stake in this rise as much as does Andrew Strauss. Although, Hussain shrugs off his credits, it is almost unimaginable the path England has taken without him leading them through the tough phases, much like how Sourav Ganguly did it for India in the early 2000s.

Deep in the dumps, England had only one way to go to the top. A 12 year journey, that has seen them take some important decisions, is one of the truly inspiring stories for administrators and strategists. The role, Duncan Fletcher had played in England’s reformation is a separate episode to shoot a documentary upon.

It is not easy to shake up a strong establishment from the foundation. More so when it is as big an institution like English cricket. It was one of the biggest turning points in English cricket history. For a group of players who believed county was bigger than country, Fletcher’s views imparted the opposite. With Hussain on top, the team moved on to achieve bigger things on their way to the top.

If a team in this world surely deserves to be World’s No.1 at this point of time, then it has to be England. Much like the Argus Review, Australia had now, England went on with the Schofield review after their 5-0 white wash down under. The suggestions the review had was widely criticized. However, a few of them were implemented. Four years down the lane, as Strauss took over the role from Pietersen via Flintoff, England made their mark world over with the brand of cricket, Australia were famous for a decade ago.

One of the pillars of this success has been the resource strength England have at their disposal. Each of the fast bowlers has looked threatening throughout this summer. There has been no loose deliveries for the Indian batsmen to cash on. When runs have come it has been through some exquisite shots by batsmen.

James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Tremlett, Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach and Ajmal Shehzad make up a wonderful set of fast bowlers for Strauss to look upon. We haven’t seen much of Ben Stokes. But, the news is that he is another real quick bowler who can crank up to 90 miles an hour regularly. Each English quickie can bowl in excess of 85 mph regularly!

Much like a resurgent Aussie unit, the English possess extremely good variety in their pace attack. Even the Australia of 90s and 2000s possessed a devastating attack even without the likes of Glenn McGrath Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie. There were days when Andy Bichel, Stuart Clark, Michael Kasprowicz and Brad Williams shared a lot of spoil between them.

The backup pace battery has always proved the difference between good and great test teams. Along with the wicket taking ability of the fast bowlers, Graeme Swann’s emergence as a wicket taking option has meant that the opponents have no space to breathe, when they play this England team.

They’ve got all the right makings of a test team that could rule the cricketing world for a long time. Their fast bowlers have a big road ahead in their careers. England’s young batsmen have also thoroughly impressed. Ian Bell and Alastair Cook have shown steely resolve and character in the past couple of seasons.

Strangely, these two batsmen have been found way too soft for international cricket a couple of years ago. They somehow lacked the strength to make it to the next level. It is hard to not see what Flower has done on these batsmen. There is fluency and at the same time a stubborn approach in their game nowadays.

England have a brilliant batting line up to boast of. There is also a right combination of left-right handed batsmen in their line-up. This again reminds me of the Australia of the 90s and 2000s. Cook, Strauss, Trott, Pietersen, Bell and Morgan have all the makings of a batting unit that can amass runs against quality bowling attacks all over the world.

Another important decision that Andy Flower and co took up with respect to the players being wrapped up in cotton and wool, is their presence, or rather their absence in IPL. The English stars haven’t been lured much by the dollars IPL throw away so easily. The fast bowlers, especially, who’ve turned on the heat against India have all been nicely primed for the series, first with a few county games and then with the test series against Sri Lanka.

It must be said that this English team led by Strauss and Andy Flower do a lot of homework behind the doors. The planning has been absolutely impeccable, be it with the tactics against opponents or with the selection policies.

The road ahead would be extremely dodgy for England. They’ve never been in this territory before. But, they definitely have the arsenal to stay on top and defy the Proteas and Australians for a long time, who I reckon would challenge much more than what Indians would do from here on. England, unlike India, have all the right resources to stay on top in international cricket. The administration, the public, the players strongly support test cricket. The county cricket adds lot of value to the longer version of the game. The technology used in England is of the highest quality. The grounds are extremely well maintained with excellent draining facilities.

If anything, England must be proactive in finding spinners as a backup for Graeme Swann. Samit Patel and Monty Panesar look more like the only readily available choices. However, they aren’t as good as Graeme Swann. The news from Lancashire could make English fans feel good about the future. Former England coach, Peter Moores strongly believes that the 22-year old left-arm spinner, Simon Kerrigan is all ready for international cricket despite having played only 17 first class games.

In all accounts, the change in the top had to happen one day. England have worked very hard for years together to put up a team that can be called World beaters. They’ve conquered a number of countries on their way to top. But, their big test would come in the winter of 2012 when they tour India. Anything but a win would doubt their real quality; the same India had to endure this English summer.

Welcome home, the new kings of cricket!

BRUISED! HUMILIATED! THRASHED!

This was totally the unexpected; a script that would certainly not be destined for Captain Cool. For a captain who hadn’t lost a test series until then, losing it 4-0 wouldn’t even be the last thing he would have imagined before landing in London a couple of months ago.

Except for Dhoni and his team, I guess the cricketing fraternity were waiting for the fake emperors to have a crash landing. And sure, they did crash very badly. The over reliance on Zaheer Khan to provide test victories regularly was something India had to do away with. Unfortunately, all their plans were blown apart right on the first day of the Lord’s test.

Dhoni and co. write their destiny themselves. The World Cup victory was completely theirs. So is this debacle Indian cricket is at, now. Injuries are part of the professional sporting set up. It can’t be given as an excuse especially when the player burn outs were waiting to happen in Indian cricket.

The lack of good wicket taking fast bowlers has always been a problem with Indian cricket. Till date, Indian cricket doesn’t even have a half-decent replacement for Zaheer Khan, who is sure to quit cricket sooner than later. With the spate of injuries, Zaheer has had to handle in the recent past and with the age creeping up slowly towards the wrong side of 30s; Khan would hardly be a long term option to trust upon.

Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar did a very appreciable job in England, bowling those long spells. The two in the tour have proved that they are strong both mentally and physically, but when the situation demanded, both of them couldn’t fill the boots of Zaheer. Adding to their woes would be India’s miserable fielding standards. On the tour, where the bowlers had to change the game in supportive conditions, India’s bowlers and fielders had a forgetful outing each time.

With India’s lead spinners not getting any purchase of the wicket, it became increasingly difficult for Dhoni to win with this combination. This will remain an issue even in sub continent. The batsmen will rack up runs with no assistance for fast bowlers, while the spinners will be rendered ineffective!

Former West Indian legend, Michael Holding says India will soon see the damaging effects of IPL on them very soon. He adds on that this is just the beginning and India are waiting for far worse things in international cricket, especially test cricket. Former England test captain, Nasser Hussain also believes that IPL is death for fast bowlers and that has been the difference in the test series.

It is very hard to disagree with the comments these legends have put up. The IPL and the Champions League T20 will be part of Indian cricketers’ calendar from now on and there is no way out of this chaos. If anything, there should be some individual planning for each player and the talent pool should get bigger. We might as well see players retire from international cricket at a very early age.

I don’t think there is any difficulty in finding batting talents. The likes of Pujara, Kohli, Raina, Rohit Sharma and now Rahane are sure to get their chances to make it big in test cricket. However, the quality, the temperament and the experience of Tendulkar-Laxman-Dravid in the middle order will be irreplaceable. R. Ashwin looks to be the successor for Harbhajan Singh in test cricket. But the trouble comes in the pace department.

As long as the pace battery isn’t charged up as much as what South Africans or Australians or English charge up, it is going to be difficult for India to perform very well all over the world. Bowlers need to pick 20 wickets in test matches. Most of the wins, India has had on their way to the top has been mainly because of their batsmen, and a certain Virender Sehwag who has given ample time for his bowlers to pick up wickets and change the game completely.

As Holding said, the worse is yet to come for Indian cricket. Although they were on top of the test ladder for close to two years, they never really looked invincible. They fought hard each series both at home and away. The West Indies tour was a major give away when India had the chance to seal it 2-0. The defensive tactics adopted in Caribbean and the subsequent white wash in England thereafter has taken the total gloss away from the World Cup victory.

Much like England, India had to fight hard for a decade to reach the top spot which saw the team move on from Ganguly to Dravid to Kumble to Dhoni. The journey was long and hard. Dhoni’s men had the torch to reach the final stretch in the race.

The truth however remains India never really got their act together when they were crowned “champions”. The team looks good to be called “challengers” but not “champions” of the world. They might still bamboozle a few by doing really well in the test series in Australia. As long as they don’t find good reserves in each department, India would have to be prepared to face dangerous consequences which they might not have even dreamt in their worst nightmares.

Surely five years down the line, Dhoni should have done way too much to have India at No.1. Anything less, India would definitely find themselves in hot soup with trouble from all quarters in the form of T20 specialists, the administrative politics, the choice of the youth, empty stadiums for test matches, the money to handle for budding cricketers, the skill level of batsmen to face quality fast and spin bowlers, the general fatigue of cricketers playing throughout the year and much more.

Two years ago, the world cricket saw India reach the top of test cricket, while Australia were still on their way down-hill, while England showed continuous progress towards overtaking India. 24 months on, the fortunes have changed.

India are on a free fall now and it looks like it cannot be arrested whatsoever. Australia are showing resolve while the new champions have all the characteristics to remain invincible for years together.

Sehwag’s mere presence has been more domineering than any other batsman in the contemporary cricket world. His resurgence since early 2008 has been exemplary. For a batsman of his caliber to not even be selected in the provisional squad that toured Australia in 2007-08 will probably remain the harshest treatment he has received in his career. Critics believed Sehwag was always a batsman who set up the game for you (his test average supported that theory even more) and not the one who helped you finish or save test matches. Boom! The Adelaide act was an assortment of patience, grit and shots from the Brand Sehwag factory.

A couple of months later, Sehwag laid notice for chastisement of South African fast bowlers at Chepauk. Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel were dealt with severe thrashing at the hands of Sehwag. The ease with which he managed to score runs on that scorchy afternoon in Chennai, demolished all hopes of revival for the tourists.

Sehwag instills fear. He creates panic in the opposition camp with his all-attack strategy. Within the first hour of play, opposition captains are left scratching their heads. (c) Getty Images

Fast forward a few more months, the winter saw gruesome attack on Mumbai by terrorists, followed by the touring English team heading back home based on security grounds. They, after negotiations and deliberations, headed east once again to play a couple of test matches at Chennai and Mohali.

It was a season when Sehwag served everything hot on the table. However, he went without a test hundred since that match-winning double century at Galle in July that year. His strike rate, however, remained well above 85 throughout this period.

English would not forget that particular evening session at Chepauk, once again, when Sehwag turned the game completely. In what looked like an impossible win for the hosts, Sehwag’s counter attacking methods against Steve Harmison and James Anderson brightened the chances for an Indian victory. 83 off 68 balls set things up nicely for Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh to take India to one of its most memorable victories in its glittering history.

The swashbuckling genius would be missing. You don’t need to dig up the statistics too much to realize how crucial Sehwag has become to India’s fortunes nowadays. The recent test series against West Indies is a good enough proof to show how much the Sehwag factor helps India wrest the early initiative.

Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund showed what mere mortals can do and what someone like Sehwag will swivel out to factor quality fast bowling on a tough pitch. On most occasions, it has always been tremendous to watch how Sehwag ends up being the lone scorer on tough tracks and against some real good bowling attacks.

The centuries he scored in New Zealand (in 2002) when the team was falling apart for a cumulative score of 100, the double century at Galle when the whole team’s score was merely 300, his fifties along with Gambhir on the same Lankan tour against the much dreaded Mendis, his first day onslaught of the Australians at the Boxing Day test of 2003, proves that he is quite the master of his style of play and it is better off that he only does that.

Indians have generally been slow starters on tours. That showed up once again when they played very poorly against Somerset. They almost always start on the back foot waiting to draw things back. Now at Lords’, India will once again have a new opening pair in Abhinav Mukund and Gautam Gambhir. The likes of Anderson, Broad and Tremlett will heave a sigh of relief to not see Sehwag at the other end of the 22 yards.

Sehwag instills fear. He creates panic in the opposition camp with his all-attack strategy. Within the first hour of play, opposition captains are left scratching their heads. Even if he fails, he would still have got some start going for the team. He plays his strokes on offside with utmost dismissiveness. Anything that is slightly (read the units as millimeters) would be dispatched behind the point region. And, the ball races!

Take this scenario now for a better understanding. India ended up 10-2 in 12 overs at Barbados with both Dravid and Mukund gone. The team is already fighting for survival, with all guns blazing down.

Throughout the tour of Caribbean, India missed that good start. Except for a brief while when Laxman was at his poetic best and Raina with streaks of brilliance, the Indian batting never looked to attack the opposition. The pace at which the game was played was unlike the way it is usually played in the recent past. The run rate was well below 3, when the world is running helter-skelter at other parts.

The bunch of bowlers, who India will face in England are far more equipped to create trouble in bowler friendly conditions. Tremlett has been at his best since Ashes down under. Anderson is slowly getting his lost rhythm back. Broad has been unlucky, whilst he has delivered some really good spells against the Lankans last month. Bresnan is still waiting in the wings to let his hit-the-deck style of fast bowling do all the talking. Graeme Swann can proudly claim the tag of being the “best spinner in the world” currently. So, there is no breathing space for India even when the spinner is in operation.

England have got almost got all their bases covered. May be, a left-arm fast bowler would make their variety “complete”. Their bowling unit though can dismantle, what is believed around the world as possibly the best batting unit ever, consistently.

England start the tour as favorites and more so overwhelming now, with the Indian team going into the test series without the services of Nawab of Najafgarh.

Almost a decade ago it was here at Lords’, Sourav unleashed his biggest master stroke that revived Indian cricket holistically. Sehwag packed a punch in his 84 on the second day of the test. Nine years since, India step into the English summer for the second time without Sehwag. Few openers have caught the imagination more than what Sehwag has done, in the recent past.

Indian cricket history don’t have too many solid openers to boast of and here is one for all seasons. He may be called a flat-track bully. He may be criticized as the one who doesn’t play for situations. He may look volatile. He may give you chances. But, no one has ever displayed such consistency collaged with audacity.

Indian cricket history don’t have too many solid openers to boast of and here is one for all seasons. He may be called a flat-track bully. He may be criticized as the one who doesn’t play for situations. He may look volatile. He may give you chances. But, no one has ever displayed such consistency collaged with audacity ; a simple strategy which is not that easy to actually implement against the best bowlers in the world. Sehwag has been a revelation and this touring Indian team will be waiting to get him on the park as soon as possible, for he is indeed the team’s biggest weapon to handle the fiery English fast bowlers in their back yard.

Test matches are all about capturing important moments of the game over a period of five days. Sehwag lets you capture the first few moments, more often than not. It’s a gamble that is worth taking for he lets you down very rarely.

He is as much a captain’s delight, as much as he is a nightmare. You might find him stay put on the field for a whole day scoring runs at a speed faster than a Formula One car. On another day, you would find him sit in the dressing room watching his team-mates amass runs after he might have got out for a silly shot early in his innings.

Here is one cricketer who completely embodies the Brownian motion of randomness. Here is one cricketer who can defy Gerolamo Cardano’s method of building a probability space. Here is one cricketer who doesn’t know what it means to be “in the zone”. The Name Is Virender Sehwag.

In a corner of the world called Perth, the teenager in Sachin Tendulkar scored, what is probably his best test hundred till date. The hundred was a template of sorts for years to come. Sachin Tendulkar, literally typified, India’s chances in every game they played in the 90s. Despite another ten cricketers forming the team with Tendulkar, the 20-year old carried the baton for a decade with his willow, all alone.

Tendulkar used to sporadically spark happiness among his countrymen with some high-class centuries. The game, for millions, started and ended with Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Sachin Tendulkar remained the only batsman in the Indian lineup who could really take on the opposition and administer the proceedings. That showed with the results too. An individual can hardly win you every game. While the batsmen and spinners showed they are tigers at home, they languished as poor tourists throughout the 90s scared of the bouncy and swinging conditions. Tendulkar used to sporadically spark happiness among his countrymen with some high-class centuries. The game, for millions, started and ended with Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

As a cricketing nation, the team didn’t own too many inspirational and encouraging leaders in their arsenal. Through the 90s, the mantle moved on from Mohammed Azharuddin to Sachin Tendulkar to Ajay Jadeja to Sachin Tendulkar and then, once again to Mohammed Azharuddin. The country didn’t have leaders to look for and hence, the role of captaincy kept switching between the top batsmen in the country. The leadership qualities were hardly tested before giving them a job. However, Azharuddin did a remarkable job with the team by not losing a single test series in home throughout the 90s.

With Warrior Prince, Sourav Ganguly turning up as the new leader in 2000, the country matured to register important test wins with its golden generation of cricketers. The signs of confidence with young India showed off with the brand of cricket the team started to play especially in tough alien conditions. The emergence of MS Dhoni as wicket keeper – captain has been the icing on the cake for Indian cricket.

Five World Cups before the 2011 edition and Tendulkar could hardly get a hand on the trophy! The way the team evolved cannot be told better than this story. Disappointments loomed large since ’92 at every World Cup for the Master Blaster. The ’96 mortification at home (despite Sachin’s heroics) was followed by despondency at the final post in Jo’Burg 2003. The 2007 edition saw the team touch a new low, an unexpected downfall. Later, with Dhoni at the helm, India’s youngsters started to regroup once again as a team and showed the world that they can win without the services of Tendulkar in a big World Cup Final. That moment marked the culmination of the successful evolution of a team which once relied on Tendulkar’s batting fortunes to win a game of cricket.

The grand economic liberalization was in full swing in the 90s and money started to pour in the game slowly with the Cola companies. “With the spread of television and the growing integration of India into the world market, cricket has successfully consummated its marriage with consumer capitalism. The makers of chocolates and ice-creams and refrigerators and whisky all choose top cricketers to model for and market their products” says Ramachandra Guha in his widely appreciated book, A Corner of a Foreign Field.

Indian teams which were earlier dominated by players from big towns and cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh and Chennai, now had players from Srirampur, Cuttack, Lucknow, Baroda, Ranchi, Kothamangalam and much more. In many ways, the infusion of players from little known cricketing centers into the national set up helped the country slowly get away from the clutches of biased selections also. The fiscal ascension of India as a whole has to be the only reason for such an evolution. Cricket was no more perceived as a risky career.

The economic-boom witnessed a spectacular rise in Indian cricketers’ income. While there were days when Indian test players were paid Rs.50 per test match, the late nineties saw the cricketers earn close to 100,000/- every day. Sachin Tendulkar remained the highest paid sportsman in India for a long time. Now that Dhoni has overtook him like a storm, gives us more than a hint about how much capital is in the system now. The Board of Control for Cricket in India which was earlier earning 2 crore rupees a year, started earning close to 300 crores every year. With every passing year now cricket in India, financially, is growing like a dangerous giant waiting to eat up the whole world with its incredible power. Former England captain, Tony Greig recently went on to say that he is waiting to see India’s reign to end in ICC as they are heavily influencing the decisions totally based on the finances.

Greig’s fear can be plainly put upon the Indian Premier League that has taken world cricket by storm. Domestic cricket has never been so rewarding. Twenty 20 cricket has been viewed as the best way to make money out of the game like never before. Earlier, cricket as a career was viewed as high risk and middle-class families would hardly allow budding cricketers to take the sport as a means to win bread. The perception towards CRICKET – THE PROFESSION has definitely changed with the advent of T20. Every state association now has a league of its own that pays zonal level cricketers handsomely. So, all it means is, you really don’t have to sweat out to earn big bucks. While an India cap is still elusive and the ultimate pride, quick wealth can be amassed to save lives by playing local T20 tournaments that’s growing like mushrooms in rain every day.

It sounds really weird, but the truth is, there was a time in history when international cricketers made efforts to skip India tours. At this point in time, it is almost inconceivable for players to skip India tours.

The nineties were also a time in history when professionalism was totally irrelevant in the whole picture for the support staff and administrators in the game. Twenty years ago, world class stadiums was something an average Indian cricket fan can yearn for, can dream for. Today, the funds have ensured that the spectator gets a bucket seat to watch the game comfortably. Nagpur, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata have got refurbished stadiums that on any day challenge some of the best maintained cricket stadiums in the world. The country now has full time paid selectors who are accountable for their job. There is a video analyst, physio, trainer and assistant coaches for each skill in the game. With Duncan Fletcher now in the hot seat, Indian cricket has now seen four foreign coaches to have taken the game to the next level. Talk about Foreign Direct Investments! Wright remarked the amount of professionalism he saw in the national players, when he first signed up as the coach in his book – Indian Summers. With no uniform jerseys, cushion chairs around the nets area and waiters with tea in the gym, the players looked more like princes on vacation rather than sportsmen who are a part of an international unit.

When Wright took over he found the team had no uniform jerseys, cushion chairs around the nets area and waiters with tea in the gym. The players looked more like princes on vacation rather than sportsmen who are a part of an international unit.

2011 as I see, Cricket is a zillion dollar industry that grows exponentially every year in India. None would have imagined to see three TV channels dedicated completely for cricket, say even five years ago! Broadcasters know that cricket sells in a gargantuan manner here and hence keep feeding the audience with unlimited amount of cricket. The Board, in its part, has tour programmes planned with absolutely no breaks for the big-dollar earning demi gods. Indian cricket today, reminds me of the famous golden goose fable once told by Avianus and Caxton. The impression the administrators of the game in India give is that their greed to earn more dollars in growing incessantly. The day is not so far off when they would attempt to kill the goose to get all the golden eggs!

When the ’96 World Cup came home, four hundred million people watched the matches. Rohit Brijnath, an India Today journalist covering the show breathlessly captured the impact of it all: “In Calcutta paras, youngsters hurl themselves across the concrete earning sobriquets like Jonty-da. Employers peer at sheaves of leave forms and don’t wonder why. At street corners, motorcycles are being bartered for tickets. Firecrackers, stores from Diwali, are sold at premium. Exams are arriving, but Newton’s Third Law of Motion must make way for an examination of Wasim Akram’s strike rate. Fathers start pontificating about the ‘good old days’ of Test cricket, while mothers keep asking what a Chinaman is doing on the field. Cricket anyone? Make that everyone.”

Fifteen years since, the team, the administration, the players and the economics might have evolved for the goodness and at times, for the evilness of the sport. But, deep down the heart, the love for the game of cricket in every Indian is still the same. It is a sweet romance that will never die down, come what may in its way.

]]> http://www.sportskeeda.com/2011/06/25/twenty-years-of-time-twenty-thousand-steps-towards-evolution/feed/ 0 071621 http://www.sportskeeda.com/2011/05/17/the-first-test-of-invincibility-for-cricket-india/ http://www.sportskeeda.com/2011/05/17/the-first-test-of-invincibility-for-cricket-india/#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 16:36:29 +0000 Ananthasubramanian http://www.sportskeeda.com/?p=35615 Six weeks after Mahendra Singh Dhoni lifted the ICC Cricket World Cup in Mumbai, the Indian Cricket selectors met up for the first time to pick the squad for the ODI leg in the full Caribbean tour the Champions would embark on in the first week of June.

The final sixteen in the touring party included – Gautam Gambhir (captain), Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, S Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha (wk).

This tour will be the first real test of sorts for the selectors, the players, the viewers and more importantly, India as a champion cricket country.

The selectors have made some crucial decisions to provide rest to senior and important Indian stars by the likes of MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan. From the World Cup winning squad, both Piyush Chawla and Sreesanth have got the cut too!  Five replacements and with Gautam Gambhir being vested with the role of Indian captain means that the selectors have gone gallant with the squad selection and also to an extent, learnt the importance of resting and rotating players.

Such a selection is absolutely inconceivable a decade ago. When teams like Australia, had the chance of rotating and resting players, Indian selectors had a smattering of good players in the reserve to rotate. But the other side of the story is that, cricket then was hardly as demanding as it is today.

This is the first ODI series for the Indian cricket team since the World Cup win. So, it becomes that much significant for the selectors to pick the best possible team. Now that, they have gone with replacements, it adumbrates that they’re looking forward for the team to evolve as a whole and in addition, lay trust and confidence in the players they have picked to do the job. If the team disappoints at Caribbean, be rest assured about who the media will make the villain for the result.

In more than one way, the rotation policy is a blessing for the players who have spent most of the time on the fringes of Indian selection. For players like Subramaniam Badrinath and Parthiv Patel who on a hot fine day, will find it really hard to get into the Indian middle order or in Parthiv’s case, replace Dhoni, this one-day series will be yet another chance to put their case forward in the best way possible!

Their biggest fortune comes up only when the players from the main line up, either get injured or in a positive frame, be rested and rotated. If not for such a chance, a certain Rohit Sharma or Vinay Kumar, who has been in the fray since 2006, will not get their second life to prove their mettle against a top international team, away from home. Importantly, most of these players who will board the flight to West Indies truly deserve this chance to play for India. It is just that they have been denied the chance by a group of cricketers, who belong to the golden generation of Indian cricket. In this new squad, apart from producing impressive individual performances, the Indian stars would also have to carry forward the good things Dhoni and his men did during the World Cup. A defeat in West Indies will not at all be good for the champions. With the amount of cricket that India has played in the last year, and the amount of cricket that India is waiting to play in the next six months, it is important for the selectors to have as big a pool as possible, to pick players from. That is an ideal scenario.

For players like Subramaniam Badrinath and Parthiv Patel who on a hot fine day, will find it really hard to get into the Indian middle order or in Parthiv’s case, replace Dhoni, this one-day series will be yet another chance to put their case forward in the best way possible!

Situations like what Virender Sehwag is facing right now, is bound to happen anytime in international cricket, and with the quantity of cricket, teams play these days, the risk of getting injured seriously, goes a notch higher. With a bigger pool, replacements can always be sought out. You might not get another Sehwag to fill in Sehwag’s spot, but at least there will be more than a half-decent replacement.

The competition for places in the Indian team is at an all time high. Only two of the top five run getters this Ranji season have found a place in this ODI squad, a squad that doesn’t feature Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dhoni. None of the top five wicket-takers this season are part of this ODI squad. The likes of Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar have particularly been very impressive this season. With a tour of England and Australia in the horizon, a good combination of swing and fast bowlers is what the selectors would look out for.

The falling TRP ratings every week in Indian Premier League is a telling factor of how knackered an average Indian cricket viewer is. There has been way too much cricket sold on TV than ever before. This season, 2011-12 will easily be the biggest year in Indian cricket if both quantity and quality are taken into consideration. A World Cup win is already done and dusted. IPL is almost in its final leg. The full tour to Caribbean will be followed by England and Australian tours with India hosting a couple of countries between these two tours abroad. Half-way through IPL, the viewers have started to pick and choose the matches they would prefer to watch. With the West Indies tour starting off in just a week’s time and oddly set time zone differences would mean that the most ardent of the Indian cricket follower, might prefer to take a break!

This, in effect, will also be a test for the fan, who must have spent over 100 hours of Indian cricket already, this year.

The cynical way of thinking about this selection and this first step since the World Cup glory, is to say that after all this team is touring a fallen group of islands where cricket is no more the most prominent and popular sport, islands who are striving for separate representation in the world stage, a group of islands who’ve registered their first test win over two years!

On a brighter note this Indian team is slowly maturing into a serious champion side. There are still noticeable chinks in the armory, especially with the fast bowlers. However, the most promising change is India’s ability to move on without Sachin Tendulkar – the batsman. For a major part of the year in the lead up to the World Cup, India played ODIs without Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. This tour will provide ample opportunities for young batsmen to show that they can carry forward the legacy of India’s great batting history.

In this new squad, apart from producing impressive individual performances, the Indian stars would also have to carry forward the good things Dhoni and his men did during the World Cup.

This line up, sans Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dhoni still look as formidable as any batting unit in this world and on any given day, have all the ability to score loads of runs against top class bowling units in testing conditions. This is one of the most important features of top sporting units around the world. They keep winning consistently, even without some of the most important individuals on their side.

These are signs of Indian cricket moving towards that elusive zone of invincibility and mercilessness, that once West Indies were in and later the magnificent Aussies thrived in for a long time. Being World Test Champions and now being crowned the World One-Day Champions, India have accomplished the grandeur they yearned for a long time. Now that they have reached the top, the only way is downhill. But, champions know how to prolong their stay on top, until someone truly better comes and pushes them down!

This is certainly Indian cricket’s first test towards their quest to extend their stay on top. The longer the stay is, the more the ruthless, the more the forceful, the more the fearful and more the invincible they would become.

As the world order in cricket is slowly changing, with teams like West Indies, New Zealand and Pakistan slowly losing their way and Australia struggling with inconsistent performances, Bangladesh look promising for better things with a World Cup being played at their home now.

The Co-Hosts

A look at the groupings for the World Cup reveals the chances for Bangladesh very evidently. Being the co-hosts along with India and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh get a chance to play all their group games in familiar and favorable conditions. Five years ago, no one would have given a chance for Bangladesh to win in their home against the top flight teams. But, the team has improved wonderfully well under Jamie Siddons in the last couple of years.

They are pitted against India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Ireland and Netherlands. In their own backyard, Bangladesh can definitely feel confident of winning against Ireland and Netherlands. West Indies aren’t anymore the force they used to be. If they indeed go on to beat the Tigers, it might as well be called an “upset” of sorts. On the contrary, if Bangladesh can achieve a resounding win against the Caribbean nation, the Tigers will be very close to finishing in the top 4 at the end of the league stages.

Now, when the time has finally come, even the harshest of the critics, will not blindly rule out Bangladesh from springing a surprise or two!

Three league wins might easily put Bangladesh in the radar to reaching the quarter final stage. But, if they motivate themselves and put up a spirited show as they did in West Indies (2007) by beating India and South Africa, in their den, then you would have a team totally dressed up to conquer peaks which they wouldn’t have ever dreamt of!

There is no secret about the kind of turf, the visitors would be playing in. It would be slow and low. The dew will play a huge role in the evening. The pitch would also carry some turn that would help the home team’s spinners.

If they go on to reach the Quarter Final, Bangladesh will again have a great chance to knock out the opponent. Let us take this scenario. If New Zealand end up playing Bangladesh in Bangladesh, what are the chances of Bangladesh reaching the semi final stage, considering their current form and their historic series win they had against the Kiwis recently? Teams like Australia and Sri Lanka might pose a tougher battle, but again, if Pakistan turns up against Bangladesh, you never know, what’s in store.

The semi final and the final will then be, one-off games where it all boils down to what the teams do on that day. It would in many ways, be a great achievement for Bangladesh, if they do make it to the semi final of the 2011 World Cup. It is a dream, accepted, but something that isn’t impossible to achieve either.

The Team

Bangladesh Squad – Shakib Al Hasan (C), Tamim Iqbal, Abdur Razzak, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Mahmudullah, Mohammed Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Raqibul Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Shahriar Nafees and Suhrawadi Shuvo.

Every time, I look at this Bangladeshi outfit, I am strongly reminded of the Sri Lanka of 1996. Pack up the bowling unit with spinners who keep the run flow check, add a couple of explosive top order batsmen along with handy all-rounders in the middle order. What more, most of the players are young and are very good as a fielding unit.

Tamim is as explosive as you can ever get for the opener’s slot. The lad is extremely talented and his form through the last year suggested that he is in for bigger things. He has been out due to injury for some time now.

Two of the world’s best young players currently, Shakib and Tamim will share the bulk of the responsibility on the field. Their skill levels have also elevated them to the role of the captain and the deputy of their team now. Tamim is as explosive as you can ever get for the opener’s slot. The lad is extremely talented and his form through the last year suggested that he is in for bigger things. He has been out due to injury for some time now. He would never get such a golden opportunity to make it big very early in his career. There is lot of stability in the Bangladeshi batting order nowadays. Junaid Siddique, Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Shahrias Nafees and Shakib Al Hasan offer great strength to the side.

Over the last year or so, the side has performed really well with the bat. They’ve seldom lost the plot and floundered opportunities. In fact, in the last 12 months, Bangladesh has scored less than 200 only once at home, when teams like England and New Zealand have toured the nation. When queried at a higher level, statistics suggest that the team’s lowest score last year has been 167 (at Dambulla) despite travelling to England, Scotland, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Surely, their batting is in good shape, in the lead up to the tournament.

Bangladesh’s real strength lies in their bowling. Rubel and Shafiul should mostly play all the games! They’re genuinely quick bowlers who can be quite a plentiful even on a slow track. Both the bowlers are experts with slower deliveries. However, the real game changers are their spinners. The games would mostly be decided when Abdur Razzak, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Suhrawadi Shuvo and Naeem Islam will be operating. Indian fans need not go any further than their opening game in West Indies, four years ago. India were never allowed to getaway and that meant, India couldn’t post a winning total.

It is never a mistake to dream! But, it would be unpardonable a mistake, if we never work towards our dreams. Bangladesh has travelled miles around the world over the last year or so. With the distances travelled, they’ve added on lots of pages of maturity and experience in their diaries! Now, when the time has finally come, even the harshest of the critics, will not blindly rule out Bangladesh from springing a surprise or two! And yeah, don’t be surprised if the “Tigers” are on the hunt at Mohali on 30^th March 2010, a couple of months from now on!