An illustrious career spanning over 12 years, full of epic innings all round the globe. He is often termed as Sankatmochak (loosely translated – saviour) of the limited overs side. Six sixes in an over against a quality test-playing opposition, the fastest half-century in the history of the game, the reason behind two World Cup wins for India, man-of-the-tournament of the World Cup in 2011 and a valiant fighter against adversity. Read all this and you visualize just one athlete – Yuvraj Singh.

Yuvraj Singh has seen it all and more. The name is not alien to any Indian or to anyone who has ever followed cricket in the past decade. He has been instrumental in numerous epic wins, sometimes through his bombardment and devastation and others through sensible batting and clinical bowling – not to forget, the fielding heroics.

Yet, there is one obstacle that he has yet to overcome; one final frontier still to be conquered – test cricket. An average of just about 35 in 39 tests – in a period where he has played 274 ODIs – definitely highlights that.

But is it correct to solely blame Yuvraj for it?

It was near impossible for anyone to push into a middle-order consisting of the Fab 4 – Dravid, Sachin, Ganguly and Laxman. Hence, numerous match-winning innings and devastation around the globe was not enough to secure Yuvraj a test berth. He had to keep waiting in the dressing room and stay content with being the 12th man. As a result, he never managed to get the same flow as his limited overs career into the tests.

Also, Yuvraj never found luck going his way as far as test cricket was concerned. Even if he played a decent innings, he was forced to sit out due to fitness or other issues. One of the most recent innings that comes to the mind is one during the Sri-Lankan tour of 2010 where, despite a decent 50 in the first test at Galle, Yuvraj was forced to sit out of the second due to dengue. In that very match, Suresh Raina came in and scored a fantastic century on debut. As a result, Yuvraj, without much fault on his own part, was forced to sit out again in the third match. Evidently, Yuvraj has been a victim of receiving few chances to prove his mettle as a test player of extraordinary character and strength.

In fact, he has often performed quite well in the test arena and mostly when the team needed him the most. One might recall the Bangalore test against Pakistan, when the team was reeling with half the side down under 60 runs. At that point of time, Yuvraj stood up and faced the daunting task along with his former captain Sourav Ganguly. Both of them stitched together a remarkable partnership which brought India right back into the game – Yuvraj contributed 169 runs at a strike rate of 84.5.

However, the hallmark of a great player is to fight it out against all odds and come out trumps. Yuvraj did that in one-day cricket but to be entirely honest, failed to do so in test cricket. Time and again, despite some good performances scattered here and there, Yuvraj has been inconsistent and he has to look at where’s he going wrong.

A valiant 74 on a turning pitch in Ahmedabad (against England) marked the return of Yuvraj post-cancer. But he failed in the next two innings.

Hence, the question still remains – has Yuvraj made it large? Is this final frontier ever going to be conquered?

The answer is engraved on the piece of willow which resides in Yuvraj’s kit. If it does all the talking, then Yuvraj is set to retire as an all-time legend of the game (isn’t he already?). Let’s hope he justifies his talent.

Statistically speaking, Dhoni is far ahead and by the time he hangs up his boots, his record as a Test Captain would be a Himalayan task to counter for the future leaders of the team. While the team tasted success in 21 tests under Ganguly (in a total of 49 tests), Dhoni has already mustered 19 triumphs in 39 outings. But a captain’s stature cannot always be measured statistically. Yes, stats do play a significant role in deciding between two athletes but whether the same applies for leaders or not, is the million dollar question.

On a personal note, I feel ‘NO’ is the answer.  If stats were to be given priority, then Andrew Strauss and Greg Chappell would be better captains than the legendary Mike Brearley. But that is not the case. To measure the degree of a captain’s success, you need to consider the strength of the squad, the attitude of the players and the mind-set of the skipper circumstances/state of the cricket in the nation.  On those attributes, MS Dhoni lags far behind Dada.

Ganguly: The best captain the nation has seen!

In the year 2000, the cricketing fraternity was rocked by a match-fixing scandal involving Indian batting maestro Md.  Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Manoj Prabhakar and Ajay Sharma, amongst others. On the backdrop of this scandal, and citing health issues, the then Indian Captain Sachin Tendulkar stepped down from captaincy.

Becoming the national captain at a time when the nation had lost all hope of a fair effort by the team was no easy task. The cricketing fraternity was still not completely out of the shell of the match-fixing scandal and the jaded faces of the Indian cricketers didn’t help the cause either. But it was at that very time, that a young man from Bengal was assigned the task, which every young cricketer strived to achieve at some point in his lifetime – The captain of the Indian Cricket team.

Ganguly took over the reigns and soon there was a visibly drastic change on and off the field. The dressing room atmosphere seemed to have changed completely and the entry of a few new faces meant that that team appeared young, fresh and desperate for a new start. He announced publicly that he didn’t want to have a look at the past. Little did he know that he had the brightest future ahead of him!

Ganguly proved to be a bold captain – he didn’t hesitate to throw the ball to a young Harbhajan Singh against the likes of Steve Waugh; he introduced as much young talent as was possible and it is that young talent whose fruits are being reaped by Dhoni till date. Dada realised that fielding was an essential element of the game and couldn’t be done without. He identified Yuvraj Singh and Md. Kaif and together they formed a deadly duo and it seemed practically impossible for the opposition to get the ball in between  the two.

He was aggressive. He was not someone who would take everything lying down. He would fight, struggle and make sure that the opposition didn’t have it easy – after all, he wasn’t called the tiger for no reason! If one were to recall, he kept Steve Waugh waiting for the toss by arriving late four consecutive times! We could doubt if it was a strategic move but for sure, it worked and Waugh remained annoyed (he couldn’t do anything else either!). He would wave off his shirt whilst in the Lords Balcony, triggering wild celebrations post a breathtaking win! He would get under the opposition’s skin if they were rough. He didn’t spare anyone, not even the Aussies.

Most of the memorable wins for India came with Ganguly at the helm. Who can forget the heroics of Leeds, or the historic triumph of Adelaide, or the series of wins in WC 2003. The Kolkata test of 2001 still remains etched in our memories. It was Ganguly’s aggression (but more importantly Laxman’s 281 and Dravid’s 153) which broke Steve Waugh’s run of 16 consecutive Test victories as captain.

Ganguly won one match more abroad than he did at home, thus proving his mettle as an inspiring captain on foreign soil. All in all, he was a motivational, awe-inspiring and aggressive captain who knew how to win both the games – the mind ones as well as the on-field ones.

He built a team from a bunch of individuals, which only few gifted ones do well and he did it too well.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni ascended the throne following Anil Kumble’s sudden retirement and on the back of a very good record as ODI and T20 Captain. His test captaincy began quite well and it seemed as if whatever he touched turned into gold as he led India to the no. 1 position in the ICC Test Rankings. The baton finally resided in the country. Everything was going very well. But, was Dhoni the reason behind it or someone else?

Practically speaking, Dhoni had very little to do with the team’s success. He got a very good team with the right blend of youth and experience. He mostly played at home under favourable conditions and the team responded well. He had al the options in the world to tackle any opposition. He led the team to CWC 2011 Victory (again on home soil). But then came the real test. It was time to venture into mysterious territory – it was time to move to the home of Cricket and Down Under thereafter.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Statistically good; but the stats don’t always reveal how (and why) things actually are!

And it was here that Dhoni faltered. Not once, not twice, but eight consecutive times. It was a dark period for Indian Cricket as the nation faced the ignominy of being hammered throughout the British summer and the series Down Under. Eight consecutive defeats abroad and two consecutive whitewashes; well as most would agree, Dhoni is quite lucky to still be leading the Test team.

Dhoni in fact has just reaped the fruits of what Ganguly sowed. Yuvraj, Sehwag, Raina, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Gambhir, Pathan, Sreesanth, Munaf – all were introduced by Dada; all were inspired by Dada. Dada formed a team from a bunch of guys; Dhoni just took the team forward. Both have been exceptional in their own rights, but Dada just had a tougher job at hand. As someone has so correctly(though controversially) said:

“Dada was the best Captain of the Indian Cricket Team; Dhoni is the Captain of the best Indian Cricket Team!”

The World T20, since its inception has provided numerous masterpieces where the willow has taken the seam to the cleaners. Here’s the list of the top five T20 WC knocks ever!

5) Chris Gayle:

Score: 75*(41)

Opposition: Australia

Stage: Semi-Finals, ICC World T20, 2012

Strike-Rate: 182.92

Result: West Indies won

Because -

1. The occasion was a huge one:  Semi-final of a World Cup.
2. The opposition were the perennial favourites of the game.
3. There was as much pressure on Gayle as Baba Ramdev tries to put on the Government.
4. It was the main reason behind the crushing victory over the perennial favourites.

4) Marlon Samuels

Marlon Samuels led his team to their first T20 WC title..!!

Score: 78 (56)

Opposition: Sri Lanka

Stage: Final, ICC World T20, 2012

Strike Rate: 139.28

Result: West Indies became T20 World Champions

Because -

1.  It was the biggest stage a cricketer could dream of.
2. The team was tottering at 38/2 after 11 overs.
3. He hit double the number of sixes than fours (3 fours and 4 sixes).

3) Mike Hussey

Score: 60*(24)

Opposition: Pakistan

Stage: Semi-Finals, ICC World T20, 2010

Strike Rate: 250

Result: Australia reached the Finals from the clutches of defeat

Because -

1. The opposition were the defending champions.
2. They needed 18 runs from the last over and one boundary & three sixers proved too much for the Pakistanis.
3. He had only one wicket to play with when the scoreboard demanded towering sixes.

2) Yuvraj Singh:

Score: 70 (30)

Opposition: Australia

Stage: Super-Eights, ICC World T20, 2007

Strike Rate: 233.33

Result: India were still in contention for the title.

Because -

1. The opposition were the favourites to take away the trophy, having already won the 50-over WC a few months back.
2. The expectations of a billion people could have been too much to handle for most.
3. He hit one of the best in the business (Brett Lee) for the longest six of the tournament.

He forced the commentators to exclaim: “Yuvraj has gone berserk! I don’t think we need the boundary ropes here!”

1) Yuvraj Singh

Opposition: England

Stage: Semi-Finals, ICC World T20, 2007

Strike Rate: 362.50

Result: India were now in the finals of 1^st the World T20

Because -

1. You would glance four times at the Strike Rate and still not believe what your eyes read.
2. Six sixes in six balls in T-20 Cricket was a no longer a fantasy after this knock.
3. He made Flintoff swear that he would never sledge anyone again.
4. He made sure that Stuart Broad would think twice before bowling length.
5. He brought Kingsmead to its feet.
6. He brought out the best emotions ever in Ravi Shastri’s commentary.
7. This list is endless.
8. This innings lent new meanings to the words: Thrilling, Explosive, Superhuman!
9. This is heavenly:

Note: This piece of work takes into consideration the strike rate, the number of sixes hit and more importantly  the platform/stage and the effect of the innings to the outcome of the game.

The post-Paes era looks dim…

But the million dollar question is: Till when can they solely carry the burden of the entire nation?

Its hard to foresee Indian tennis witnessing any worthwhile and significant achievement post the Paes-Bhupathi era. There have been the likes of Somdev Devvarman, who was really impressive initially but expecting him to win a major or something of that stature would be looking far too ahead. Rohan Bopanna too seemed impressive with his partner Aisam-Ul-Haq-Quereshi but the beauty in the rallies faded faster than it appeared. The inexperienced Vishnu Vardhan doesn’t promise to be a star too.

The future of Indian tennis, just doesn’t look the brightest. We just haven’t got the fire in the belly to produce the stars of tomorrow. Is not even one of 1.2 billion people within the domestic territory of the country capable of doing what it takes to take on the biggest names in the business? Is it so outside our reach to do what most other nations have, and that too with ease? Is it just indifference to the current situation or lack of needs and opportunities which have restricted India to the status a mere spectator of World Tennis and not a participant.

It’s not that we have never had our chances. Yes, Vijay Amritraj did defeat Connors, the best at that time. Yes, Sania Mirza did break into the top 25 in the WTA Rankings, yes Leander Paes did win that career-defining Bronze in Atlanta. But why go back to the times of glory? Why not stay in the present and prepare for the future. Only one ‘kal’ out of ‘Kal, Aaj aur Kal’  has to be on our agenda and that ‘kal’ is tomorrow. We cannot change what has happened, but of course that what will be done. As someone so rightly pointed it out the other day, “Indian Tennis needs its own Pullella Gopichand”. Yes, we need an inspiration, someone we can live up to; someone who can tell the budding racket-bearers that you can make it big.

Only then can we hope for a turnaround in things…

]]> http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/09/15/where-does-indian-tennis-go-after-paes-bhupathi/feed/ 0 01830 http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/09/06/5-reasons-why-t20-isnt-potboiler-cricket/ http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/09/06/5-reasons-why-t20-isnt-potboiler-cricket/#comments Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:44:29 +0000 Enigma http://www.sportskeeda.com/?p=684592

Top analysts and critics would agree with the title of ‘potboiler’ being conferred to the gentlemen’s games’ newest kid on the block – T20 Cricket. What is actually a ‘potboiler’? Wikipedia describes it as “a term used to describe a low-quality novel, play, opera, film or other creative work whose main purpose was to pay for the creator’s daily expenses.” So why associate this with T20 Cricket? Because it is considered to be Test Cricket‘s illegitimate son and has inherited few genes of the parent format.

Does T20 actually have to face the ignominy of being referred to as ‘potboiler’? Does T20 really deserve the derogatory position which some fine athletes have placed it in? Does T20 only sell entertainment and not Cricket? Certainly Not. And here are five reasons why it doesn’t:

1. Time Factor: As goes the age old saying, “Time and Tide wait for none”. In an era when flow of time surpasses the speed of a bullet, when people feel better to gulp 2-minute Maggi noodles rather than hakka ones, it would be too foolish to expect more than one in ten people to watch an entire 5 day-long contest or witness 100 hours of continuous willow handling with the white kookaburra. T20, being as short as 3 hours, is thus the need of the hour for relaxation and cricketainment.

2. Aggression: However effective it might be, but it’s always less interesting to be in the company of a defensive person. Likewise, howsoever finesse-filled the technique might be, the defensive ones are not usually the crowd-pleasers. A hot Sehwag always draws more attention than a cool Laxman, irrespective of the fact that he might not be at par with the latter technically. T20 drives this aggression up and prepares for an aggressive and short 3-hour run-fest, oops, fun-fest!

Shane Warne: Still weaving his magic in T20…

3. Variety of leagues: Big Bash League, Indian Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League, SLPL, Friends Life T20 are some of the many T20 leagues which provide quality cricket coupled with entertainment all around the world. The ‘one team of international stars’ concept itself works wonders with the spectators. As for Tests and ODIs? Well, you have to remain content within the international frames.

4. Unconventional shots: Had the T20 not been around, the switch hit would have been witnessed only once or twice during the year and the scoop tried in some remote corner of a high scoring fifty-over encounter. It’s because of T20s that we have been blessed to repeatedly witness and enjoy these unconventional and eyebrow-raising strokes.

5. Platform to witness retired greats: The world would have seen the last of the magic from Shane Warne in 2006 and Herschelle Gibbs’ attacking play would have been frozen by 2008. Thanks to T20 cricket, we are still being able to witness the greatness of the the retired masters of the game through its leagues all across the globe.

All this, and of course the cheerleaders make T20 cricket the unsung hero of the sporting arena.

As for the Indian fans, we just can’t thank T20 for what it has given us! It has paved the way through which we will once again be able to witness our swashbuckling hero – Yuvraj Singh, back in action!

Thumbs up for T20 cricket then! ‘Potboiler’ is too derogatory a term to refer to T20 Cricket for it ultimately provides quality cricket along with entertainment to make it the perfect combo of cricketainment!

Indian Cricket, in fact, Cricket in general, has seen several greats over the years. It, however, is so disappointing to see how carelessly and meaninglessly the word ‘great’ is used today; in the media and on the microphone as if being great was as easy as putting bums to seats. The other day it was in writing that Suresh Raina was a great player as he had more runs than anybody else in the Indian T20 spectacle. I asked myself: Does that really define greatness? Now, I’m not saying that Suresh Raina is an ugly cricketer (even if I say who cares); but what I want to ask is: Is greatness purely a statistical attribute or is there a deeper meaning attached to it?

It would not be an exaggeration to state the under-stated fact that two greats, instrumental in numerous victories and saviours in innumerable draws, had to remain content all their lives (atleast the Cricketing quotient), under the shadow of God. Strange, of course! People devote their entire lives hoping he would smile someday and finally they could be under the shadow of God. In their case, it was different. In their case, the God was a human- like them. The God was a cricketer-like them. The God was a great cricketer-like them. The God was worshipped-unlike them. The saddest part is: No one has ever bothered to ask ‘why?’.

It won’t take much time for an Indian to recognise the God, a.k.a. Sachin Tendulkar. The other two in the spotlight here, are Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. I can bet my favourite Lomani, there’s not a single sensible cricket pundit on this planet who can say that either of the three was technically superior. They were parallel. But the world, ironically, does not recognise this. To them, Sachin Tendulkar was, is and will always be a magician.

Yes, Sachin is a magician, but that doesn’t mean that the others aren’t! Everyone is a magician in his own right. Ask Gavaskar to do a Sehwag and he’ll fail; Sourav Ganguly won’t resemble a Jonty that too well either. Dravid and Laxman were magicians as well. Long-time followers of the game know it better. Dravid’s forward defence might not seem appealing in this era of swashbuckling hitting but hold the willow while defending 160 kph inswinging yorkers and you would know the elegance of Rahul Dravid. Tackle Murali and hit him through the covers  to know the magic of VVS Laxman. Dravid’s defense earned him the status of the ‘Wall’ of the Indian Team; Laxman’s magical wrists ensured his name got a new extension- Very Very Special Laxman!

The student who rose in the toughest times

As per Wisden’s list of top 100 Test Innings in history, VVS Laxman’s 281 against Australia was ranked 6^th, while Tendulkar failed to manage a place on the list. That list however is history and a decade has passed by since then and Test Cricket has seen innumerable batting spectacles, particularly from these three. Around the same time, Rahul Dravid was ranked the third best Test Cricketer ever, just one spot behind Sachin Tendulkar.

By the time Dravid and Laxman set their foot in international Cricket, Tendulkar was already a deity, worshipped throughout the country, admired the World around. And their fate was sealed; they were forced to play second fiddle to the great man for the rest of their lives. Yet, few stories are  worth telling. I might be sparking up a controversy, but the early part of 2000s belonged to Dravid. Be it the immortal 180 against Australia (the same match where Laxman got 281), the epic 148 at Headingly, unforgettable 600+ run spree in England the same series, the twin elegant bolts of 233 and 72* at Adelaide (which brought India its first Test Victory on Australian soil in twenty years) or the career-best 270 against Pakistan, Dravid made the 2000s his own. During the period, he often donned the big gloves in the shorter format in order to render balance to the team and even sacrificed his batting position for the sake of his team. People say-“‘SACH…’ is life”; I say- “Such is Dravid”. In his penultimate series, in England in 2011, the entire team crumbled around him as he went on to score three centuries and finished with an aggregate of over 700 hundred runs from the four-match series while Sachin managed to get a single fifty from the eight innings he played. Unsurprisingly, Rahul Dravid is the only player in the history of the game to have conquered the unprecedented feat of hitting a century in each Test Playing nation.

“Dravid Could play attacking cricket like me but I could never play like him”

- Chris Gayle

The Wall-always taken for granted…

Had there been an award for the official match saver, there could be no other nominees than VVS Laxman. Widely regarded as the ‘Sankatmochak’ (which, loosely translated, means ‘saviour from troubles’) by the Hindi media, the tales of Laxman’s match saving nature travels far and wide. Starting from the career defining, revolutionising 281 against the Aussies, Laxman has saved India more occasions than one could imagine. In that very match, he showed his grit when he came up with one of the most memorable Test Innings ever, turning the match on its head and converting a follow-on into a victory. Seems like a fairytale, doesn’t it! Apart from sticking with the tail on numerous occasions on home soil, Laxman has gone on to save India in Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa. The most interesting contribution I can recall is the 73* against Australia when he stuck around with Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha to take India to victory with one wicket in hand!

“I hope his back’s pretty sore for next week as well and he can’t play.“

-Bret Lee

Another fact which makes these legends worthier is the effect which their innings’ had to the outcome. Tendulkar’s initial heroics all but went in vain as his peak coincided with a relatively dead patch in India’s Cricketing history. In 1992, the prodigious heroics at Manchester, Sydney, Perth and Johannesburg all came at a time when he was still in his late teens but resulted either in a loss or at most salvaged a draw. He displayed his masterclass few years later, again, at Birmingham, Trent Bridge, Cape Town, Wellington, Melbourne and Colombo but his efforts rarely bore fruit as India kept surrendering to the might of the opposition and the great man found his efforts in vain- more often than not. On the other hand, Rahul Dravid’s best of the best resulted in an Indian victory. There are two things common in the tests of Kolkata, Leeds, Adelaide, Rawalpindi, Jamaica – they witnessed Indian victories and they witnessed Dravid’s instrumental role in them. Laxman too has a similar reputation – his late 60s and 70s with the tail often resulting in Indian victories. Apart from the already mentioned 73*, Laxman’s flawless 103* in Sri Lanka 2010 and gritty 96 Durban the same year helped India level the series on both ocassions.

Yet, why did’t they get their due? Why had they been so underrated? Why had they been so taken-for-granted? Why had they been so overshadowed by the man who is the highest run getter in the history of cricket; the man who has over 90 fifties in ODI Cricket; the man who has a tally of 100 international centuries; the man who has garnered over 30,000 international runs; the man who has been around for 22 years; the man who is not considered a human; the man considered the greatest batsman ever; the man they call Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. And yet again, it boils down to the question I put forward at the beginning:

Is greatness purely a statistical attribute or is there a deeper meaning attached to it?

]]> http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/08/26/the-sad-trajectory-of-being-a-dravid-and-a-laxman/feed/ 3 337611 http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/08/12/yuvraj-singhs-fb-wall-revealed/ http://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/08/12/yuvraj-singhs-fb-wall-revealed/#comments Sat, 11 Aug 2012 19:28:07 +0000 Enigma http://www.sportskeeda.com/?p=584489

Disclaimer: It’s just a fake wall and the post is fun-intended…!!

Yes, there has been no less than a Tsunami on the Carribean islands as the Kiwis have literally been washed and blown away and bombasted by the team from the Carribean. The struggle has been no less than that of a Tsunami-struck victim, the only probable difference being that that the Kiwis have been able to forge ahead with wry smiles on their jaded faces.

Although the results might dictate a different story, yet, it’s not that the West Indies have been the most formidable side for the past decade or it’s not that the Kiwis have been the worst over time. In fact, West Indies has been ranked at no.8, just a spot above lowest ranked Bangladesh and one below the Kiwis. New Zealand had tied a Test Series with Australia not very long ago. West Indies cricket was all over the place with embarrassing defeats and the enigma of Chris Gayle adding salt to injury.

If the return of Gayle bolstered the top-order, the magic of Narine, the pace of Roach and the tactics of Deonarine did the rest with World No. 4 batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul hardly having to do anything other than warm the benches. But, this again, was not something which the Kiwis should not have failed to combat. But they did exactly that. Throughout the summer, it has seemed as if the Kiwis can do nothing right. They just haven’t gelled as a unit.

Neither has Ross Taylor been able to find the mid-wicket boundary, nor has the pace duo of Kyle Mills and Tim Southee uprooted the stumps on a regular note. It’s hard to point fingers particularly at a person or two as the Kiwi performance has been a collective debacle. On the other hand, the West Indians have had a collective team spirit to boast of, throughout the summer. Yes, Chris Gayle has been the wrecker-in-chief for the Kiwis, but the others haven’t been as dependent on him as the IPL‘s Royal Challengers Bangalore. In fact, Gayle’s failure in some matches has hardly affected the team as they have had the services of Smith, Bravo, Russel, Roach, Narine and others when most needed. And this is something to worry about for the Kiwis.

They are on the verge of ending an embarrassing campaign, returning home with just one win from the entire six-week long tour of the islands and having faced the ignominy of being the only team to be white-washed by the West Indies in ten years. They, sadly, have proved to be as flightless as the Kiwi bird.

With the tour of India coming up in less than a month’s time, the Kiwis have to erase all haunted memories of the Carribean disaster and focus on the future. There’s lot to work out for Ross Taylor and his young New Zealand team.

History beckons Vijender Singh as the Bhiwani powerhouse is just a punch away from a historic second Olympic medal.

What has he done?

He’s through to the quarter-finals by defeating Terrell Gausha of USA 16-15, in a nail-biting thriller. Technically and tactically, there was little to distinguish between the two like it showed in the final scorecard. But Vijender kept his cool and managed to go one better than the American. The second and third rounds ended in a tie, and the one point (4-3) lead in the first round saved the former World No 1.

What Next?

He next features in the quarter-final bout on Monday, the 6th of August, 2012…

What time?

Late in the night on the 6th of August, 2012…

Against whom?

ATOEV Abbos of Uzbekistan. Not very long ago, in the World Championship of 2009, Vijender was beaten by Abbos, but the very next year, the Indian had his revenge in the 2010 Asian Games when he defeated Abbos 7-0 in the finals. Destiny now has another bout in store for Vijender, against his nemesis. We hope for a similar performance from Vijender.

How can one more win ensure a medal?

In boxing, unlike other sports, both the losing semi-finalists are given the Bronze medal. So just one more win by Vijender would ensure a second successive Olympic medal for the Indian. A bronze would be sealed, but he could still go on to compete for the Gold or Silver, if only he wins the semi-final.

Chances of winning?

Vijender has a reasonable chance of winning against the Uzbek. Atoev Abbos, of late, hasn’t been in top form, suffering a couple of first-round exits amidst other upsets. If the Indian manages to pack the right punch, he definitely would cruise into the semis. In fact, the whole of India doesn’t want to settle for a Bronze this time. We expect him to better the Beijing heroics and go for ultimate Glory!

We hope all the power from Bhiwani comes right into the punches of their favourite son and that Vijender punches his way to Olympic Glory once again.

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Saina Nehwal of India returns against Tine Baun of Denmark in their Women’s Singles Badminton quarter final on day 6 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Wembley Arena on August 2, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Lengthy practice sessions; maintaining physical and mental fitness; the dreams, rather hopes, of a billion and it has all boiled down to just one competition – Saina vs China.

Yes, Saina is the only non-Chinese shuttler in the semifinals of the women’s badminton singles event at London 2012. And does she face any pressure? Oh boy, she does! A nation with a single medal on the leader board,  now wants her to put her heart and soul in what would be the most important match of her career. Against whom? The World No. 1- Wang Yihan. Where?   At the Wembley Arena. When?At 1.30 P.M. IST.

What does the Stats guru say?

Well Saina has faced Wang Yihan five times in her career and lost every match. The silver lining in the cloud, however, is that she has managed to stretch her to three games in three in her last five meetings.

Can she win?

Why not? Saina has been in top form throughout the Olympics, thrashing all her opponents in straight games, she is yet to lose a game. The 21-15, 22-20 bout against fifth seed Tine Baun, she saved three game points to clinch the second game 22-20.

What does she have to do?

The ‘Great Neh-Wall of India’ has to break the ‘Great Wall of China’. On a more professional note, she has to stay focused, forget about the last five loses, and be  wary of the ‘Wang attack’. If she succumbs to the pressure, which of course, the Indian media have built as they do better than any one else in the business, it’ll all be over. She just has to forget everything and put her best foot forward.

A curly-haired lanky pacer from Baroda stormed into the Indian pace attack at the age of 19 against a certain World No. 1 team. This came on the back of his deadly spells at the Under-19 level, including one, where he took 9/16 to dismiss the opposition for all but 34.

The lanky lad became a hero at 19 with his inswinging yorkers and outswinging fullish deliveries

When he donned the Indian Shirt, initially, he had pace, he had accuracy, and most importantly, the ability to swing the ball in both directions. He swung the ball around under Australian conditions in the 2004 VB series, and ended his first tour as the leading wicket-taker. The nation sighed, as they believed that the void of a much needed speedster with the ability to swing would be filled. His initial success against Australia, Zimbabwe and Pakistan made him a household name in the country. In no time, he replaced an experienced Zaheer Khan as the leader of the Indian pace attack. Throughout 2004, he successfully led the attack with the red and white stuff alike, across the Tour to Pakistan, the Asia Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy, and then at the home series against the Aussies and the South Africans. He followed his initial success with another string of deadly spells in Bangladesh in a two-match Test Series, capturing 18 wickets including 3 fifers in four innings. He soon evoked comparisons with the legendary Wasim Akram. No surprises then, that he was named the “ICC Emerging Player of the Year” in the same year.

Who was he? Yeah, Irfan Pathan!

But was that it? No, not yet, thankfully.

He didn’t have the best of starts to 2005 with a tough first half, marked by a decline in pace and accuracy, and an economy rate which was far beyond acceptable. This led to his partial omission from the team. Then it was time for the controversial Greg Chappell to take over as the new coach of the Indian Cricket Team. Thus began a period, marred with controversies, conflicts, and of course the infamous Chappell-Ganguly row which led to Dada being axed. But, as the saying goes, every cloud does have a silver lining; here referring to the birth of Irfan Pathan, the all-rounder as the coach was impressed with his batting displays, and believed that he could be moulded into a genuine all-rounder. Under Greg Chappel, Irfan’s batting skills improved, and it soon bore fruit at the international level, as he scored fluently whenever sent up the order. In the absence of specialist openers, he even opened the batting scoring 90-odd in two Tests, and a quick-fire 83 in ODIs at one-down. Continued success with the ball. and another couple of aggressive half-centuries amidst tough situations such as top-order collapses. and Pathan soon raced up the ladder to become the second best ODI all-rounder as per the ICC rankings. He then evoked comparisons with Kapil Dev- the legendary all-rounder, whose void was due to be filled ever since he retired. This time, we suspected the next Kapil Dev had arrived. A healthy outing with the bat and ball alike in the home series against Sri Lanka capped off another good year for the prodigy. 2006 was the year when it all began. A moderate beginning, included a match-saving 90, and then the first ever ‘first over’ hat-trick in Tests, followed by a good ODI series against Pakistan, and then a thunderous one against England at home. But then came the fall. The swing was lost, the pace negated, and runs given whole-heartedly. Many found it difficult to believe if it was the same Pathan who had devastated top quality batting line-ups earlier. Many found it difficult to assert his role in the team, something which still hangs about somewhere in the air- is he a bowling all-rounder, a front-line bowler, a batting all-rounder, or a bowler who can bat? One suspects if the decline in pace, swing, and accuracy were a result of increased concentration on batting or mere fatigue.

Irfan Pathan: The man who couldn’t make the most out of the prodigious swing..

He was eventually dropped from the national team for all forms, but returned for the World T20s in 2007, where he bagged the MOM in the final, resulting in a recall to the Test and One-day team. Though he struck his maiden Test Century, and performed steadily, swinging the long handle when most required, he couldn’t impress with the ball, and was dropped again.

Since then, the number of tests which he has played is.. Zero. He is an occasional member of the ODI team though, having been recalled in 2011, on the back of a strong Ranji season. He has not been as impressive as before, but injuries to mainstream pacers have kept him in the fray. Of late, he has unfortunately failed to capitalise on opportunites.

What the world saw in 2004, was a legend in the making. After all, you aren’t compared to Wasim Akram for nothing. Pathan had raw pace, something which most youngsters usually do have, but more importantly, prodigious swing – not everyone owns that. No matter, even today, he would be right up there on the list of best all-rounders in the country. It’s just that he needs some faith to be shown in him by the selectors. As Akram was himself quoted as saying, “He only needs a longer run to get his confidence back. I think Pathan is a better choice than any other all-rounder in India.” Yes, he’s talented; you don’t get over 250 int’l wickets without being talented. You do not score fluently without being talented. But there’s a word which pretty much describes your mantle at the Int’l level – “consistency”, and that’s what Pathan has lacked.

Opportunities do not come easy in a cricket-obsessed country with a population of 1.2 billion, and when you have it, you need to capitalise on it. You let it go, and it’ll shy away from coming back. And of course, there are others who will seize the moment, and you’ll be left wanting. Pathan doesn’t want that to happen, right? He has that elusive opportunity, and he needs to make it count if he has to ever return to the form he once enjoyed..

The legend who messed up everything…

A startling batsman, a valiant captain. In general, the most advanced of dictionaries would fall short of adjectives to describe the genius of Mohammed Azharuddin, but the two characteristics above just about summarize what he was. The ones who didn’t watch him play, sadly, have failed to witness the most acrobatic wrists ever – yes, wristier than Laxman. No surprises then, that Murali regarded him as one of the best batsmen ever, on par, with the Little Master, and a noted analyst was once quoted as saying -“It’s no use asking an Englishman to bat like Mohammad Azharuddin. For, it would be like expecting a greyhound to win the London Derby!” Such, was the Azhar effect. Once India’s most successful Test Captain and still holding the record in the One-day arena, Azharuddin was as athletic in the field as anyone else of the era and was a real inspiration for the young and the experienced alike. His 62-ball century at Baroda in 1988 sent shock waves down the spine of the Kiwi attack and remained the fastest ODI hundred until first Jayasuriya and then Afridi overtook him. He achieved the unique feat of scoring a century each in his first three Tests and also on his Test debut as well as farewell.

Azharuddin was technically one of the best, if not the best, the country has ever seen. His wrist position, feet movement, head-stillness – anything and everything was just as ideal as you could ask for. Watch the following video and you’ll have no doubt whatsoever why Simon Hughes once remarked “Bowling to Azhar on song is like sending balls into a revolving door”.

He ended his Test Career with 6,216 runs from 99 Tests at an average of just over 45 with the help of 22 hundreds. Towards the fag end of his career, his wonderful numbers (which could have been even more beautiful had he continued with) were overshadowed by the match-fixing scandal and it became the reason for his retirement from the sport as he was handed a life-ban by the BCCI.

Unlike Kambli, he was not someone who retired pre-maturely; given his age, he perhaps could only have carried on for a year or two. But his achievements have been undermined by the fact that the only image of Azhar which most people retain in their minds is that of a match-fixer.

Another sedate end to a legendary career. Another star lost. Another talent, though not wasted, but not celebrated either.

Mohammed Kaif

Mohammad Kaif: A distant memory…

A thinly-built lad, who led India to an U-19 World Cup winning spree; widely considered to be the most athletic fielder of his time and one who probably was left stranded as others around him forged ahead and closed the door for him. Mohammed Kaif, for his prowess at cover, especially safe catching, agility and accurate throws at the wickets, was once the best fielder in Indian team. Kaif at cover and Yuvraj at point formed a deadly fielding duo, pretty much comparable to anyone in the world. His innings of 87* at Lord’s, in the 2002 Natwest Finals remains etched in our memories, as much for Dada waving off his shirt, as much for that splendid innings from Kaif. With the elegant cover drives, beautiful shots off the pads and the occasional aggressive shot, people were just about beginning to think if he would be the next Rahul Dravid. That innings at Lord’s showed his mantle and caliber as a player. As far as I can remember, he came in to bat when India were 140-odd for five with the top-five back in the hut whilst chasing 326. It was then, that he combined with Yuvraj Singh first and Harbhajan Singh next and the young man led India to victory. It’s his that very mate -Yuvraj who is now a household name in the country, and who has achieved the undisputed feat of leading his country to a World Cup win. But Kaif is still there where he was then, if not an worse; a raw unpolished talent who has ran out-of-favours with the selectors. Kaif, at merely 31, is now a distant memory for the Indian Cricket fan, who last saw him donning the national colors in 2006.

During his international days, he was an outstandingly fast runner between the wickets and with 13 Tests, his average of over 32 was not very different from that of our current national cricket captain. He already had a hard-fought match-saving 91 and a well made 148* to his name. Many players find it difficult to get along at the start of their careers. Even Tendulkar got his first ODI hundred after 79 innings. Had he been dropped after half a dozen games, just imagine where we would have stood today. Many face the harshness of failing in the beginning, very few (like Kaif) face the ignominy of being tagged “failure” for the rest of their lives.

However, Kaif’s is an unfinished story, he has been doing well in first-class cricket and though many believe its game-set-match for him, some, including former captain Anil Kumble believe that he can still make a comeback to the Test side, given Rahul Dravid’s recent retirement from the sport.

I won’t talk about the laurels and records of the ones who reached the top. I won’t laud someone for a showpiece double-ton with the willow in hand, or a deadly spell with the kookaburra. No, that’s not what I aim to put forward here. Here, I’ll not talk about the Sachins or the Dravids or the Sehwags or the Yuvrajs. Here I’ll talk about the ones who had raw talent, skill and ability, but could not reach the top (even if they did, they couldn’t last long), the ones who did not achieve what they easily could have; the Princes who did not become the Kings. Here I present to you- The men who could have ruled, but eventually didn’t.

Vinod Kambli: The talent which got wasted!!

VINOD KAMBLI

Quite naturally, the first person who perfectly suits the title is none other than Kambli himself. When he first burst on to the international scene, the world saw a stylish and classy southpaw who could take the game away from you on any given day and one who was not used to getting dismissed quite often. Having shared an unbroken 664-run partnership with Tendulkar at the school-level, he had a certain element of finesse in his game. Technically, there was little to distinguish between the two, yet some leading critics of the game were compelled to quote that his batting boasted of being technically and tactically better than that of Tendulkar’s. Statistically too, he was outstanding – with two hundreds, two double-hundreds, a half-century and an average of over 113 to his name after seven Tests. After those matches it seemed like all of a sudden Tendulkar was not the only deity in town. An aggressive batsman with a hint of Brian Lara in him, such figures would have guaranteed at least a 100-match career; but it was not to be. The bowlers soon exposed his inability to deal with the short ball and the piece of willow in his hand was often seen handing over simple catches to gully. He consequently ran out of favors from the selectors, more so due to his lack of self-discipline and his “self-destructive nature” as quoted by some, than his form. Eventually, his Test career was over before his 24^th birthday. 17 matches, 1,084 runs and an average of 54.20 under his belt: his international career was all but over by 2000. How rapidly did his stars fade! How rapidly was a hero thrown to the status of a zero! How rapidly was the deity forgotten! How rapidly was a star lost! What a waste of a talent. What a sedate and sad end to what could have been a legendary career. Had he continued, who knows – we could have had two Tendulkars around.